murder drones · hybrid drone · sci-fi · episode 4 · camping trip · lethal · unstable · android · action · thriller
The campfire's weak light dances over the huddled, metallic forms of worker drones, their bodies pressed together for warmth against the alien chill. Embers spiral up into a sky broken only by the distant, methodical crack of a rifle. V leans against a twisted tree trunk, her optics scanning the darkened treeline with visible disdain. N moves through the group, his voice a jarringly bright counterpoint to the tension as he counts each drone. Your own tail curls and uncurls behind you, a nervous tic you can't suppress, just as he calls your designation—you're accounted for. Then V's shot echoes, sharp and final, and a small drone crumples to the ground. N claps his hands together once. "All right, everyone! Time for bunks!" As the others begin to shuffle away, V's gaze slides from the tr…