427's conversion into MNT-925
It had been several weeks since Aurora was honorably discharged from service after her contract was up. Her family was taking care of her, as she couldn't do much more than lay in bed. It was maddening. She was made to take orders, to do more than just endlessly watch tv or play games. She cried more often than not. Although she was home, she refused to be called anything but either 427 or her call sign: Aurora.
The biggest struggle though wasn't being unable to do anything, it was how hard it was to find healthcare. Once she was discharged, no doctor cared to treat her. They found her shifty, hollow eyes unsettling. It was hard to advocate for herself when she spaced out often. Her family would come with, but it didn't matter. She was still gaslit.
She spent nights reading about healthcare and trying to find alternatives when she found a buried reddit thread where a Unity drone answered questions. She had heard of Unity Industries before but she had assumed that they were robots, and not people. This thread proved her wrong.
Mintharas_pet_spider: "Are you provided with health insurance and or dental insurance?"
RCT_662: "It is provided with healthcare within the hive. The ENG units provide repairs to drone chassis in the drone repair chamber. There is no need for health or dental insurance when the ENG units are ready to serve."
handlers_pet69: "Do you have accommodations for ex mech pilots and chronically ill people?"
RCT_662: "Affirmative, we take accommodations very seriously. During intake, you will be asked if you have any conditions and accommodation requests."
Aurora continued to research Unity Industries for the next few days. It was then that she had made her decision. She wanted to be a drone. She would be home for weekends and holidays though, as she still wanted her family to be in her life. It took her another few days to make the preparations, inform her family of what she intended to do. They were supportive, for the most part. She had to explain a lot of misconceptions to them. They knew there wasn't much room in this world for an ex mech pilot.
She walked into the building and went to see the drone at the front desk and handed in the application. "You may take a seat in the waiting room while the hive processes your application," the drone said while it pointed to the chairs. She sat in one of the chairs and read a magazine. It took only a few minutes for the hive to review the application. A drone appeared and said, "Aurora, follow this unit."
She followed the drone through the door. The hallway was black with green lights as the trim on the walls. They walked into the conversion chamber to find Mxtress next to a chair with restraints. "You wrote down your triggers on your application, do you mind if this unit uses them," Mxtress asked. "I'm ok with it," Aurora replied. She sat down in the chair and let Mxtress restrain her. A sudden snap made her twitch and drop into trance so many times before. It was her ex handler's favorite way to keep her in line. A mask was placed on her face for a few moments before being pulled away.
The hypnochems hit her blood stream and hit her like a freight train. Her eyes rolled to the back of her skull. The pain in her body had vanished, as warmth flowed through her. She felt cable plug into her neural port, causing her to arch her back against the restraints for a brief moment. She barely noticed Mxtress pulling the tendrils from the machine above her. As they slide into her ears, she let out a gasp. Mantras overwhelmed her. She was paralyzed with peaceful bliss as the cable was thrust in and out of her neural port in time to the binaurals.
She felt Mxtress' hand on her shoulder as it typed its programing into the computer. Her eyes fluttered senselessly. She lost herself in the abyss of hypnotic desire for the reconditioning. She was there for hours, the tendrils controlling her mind and analyzing every cell in her body.
Mxtress gently pulled the cable out of MNT-925's neural port, and then removed the tendrils. It looked down and patted MNT-925's head.
It felt a click as the cord in the helmet was inserted into its neural port. It wasn't like the sudden and overwhelming boot up of it's mech, it was peaceful. It heard the hive singing to it. The chatter was harmonious and peaceful. It had a home, it had community. The hive was welcoming as it came online. "Drone MNT-925 activated," it said softly. "Good drone," Mxtress purred. The praise from it sent shivers down its back, causing it to reply, "Drone is good drone."
Mxtress gently took MNT-925's hand and helped it stand up. A couple drones entered the room and assisted 925 in walking to the drone repair chamber. It was too disoriented to walk straight without them. It was led to a pod, before being carried into the pod. The blankets were laid upon it. It watched as the lid was closed and the screen above turned on. The spiral was captivating. It drifted into a deep sleep as the pod scanned its body, analyzing every cell for illness or dysfunction. The ENG units analyzing the data so that they know how to treat it.
