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*BOOM!!!*
This had to have been the worst storm Copper-9 had seen in at least a century. The winds roared at incredible speeds, lightning seemed to strike every few seconds, and thunder had been a constant throughout the night.
The WDF, as they typically did, was busy playing cards valiantly defending the bunker from any and all threats. Their current game practice exercise was rudely interrupted by the alarm going off.
Tom, one of the old veterans, checked the notification. “Ah hell. Door 1 just blew open.”
“Wh-What!?” Carl, one of the new drones exclaimed. “D-Does that mean we have to g-go outside to fix it? I don’t wanna go outside! I don’t wanna have to do something! The only reason I took this job is because we never have to do anything!”
“Calm down, kid.” Tom said, picking his cards back up. “Tomorrow’s crew can worry about the door. Let’s just focus on the game.”
“But couldn’t a m-murder drone get through if the door’s open?”
“They’d have to get past doors 2 and 3, and it’s not like there’s an easy way around those.” Tom answered. He turned to look at the monitor, showing a camera feed of the storm raging outside. “Besides, even a murder drone would have to be stupid to be out in this.”
“And don’t even think about coming back inside until you’ve patched up everything, got that!?” J ordered with her signature scowl.
“Yes boss!” N said with an enthusiastic salute, although J had already turned her back to walk back to the pod. N’s smile waned, but he still turned around to do his job.
The storm was far more intense than anyone could’ve predicted, to the point where the corpse spire was at genuine risk of collapse. Many of the corpses that composed its shell had been blown off by the wind or destroyed by lightning, and N had been tasked with going out and repairing any damage, while J and V sat comfortably inside of the spire.
He took a step outside, and was immediately hit by a wind more intense than any he had ever felt before. The sleet and hail pelted him so intensely, that had he been human, he would’ve been bruised on his entire body. He raised a hand to protect his visor and walked out into the storm.
*A few hours later*
V was bored. She sat in one of the pod’s swivel chair mindlessly spinning in circles. She had already exhausted the few games she had downloaded in her system, and her bubble wand had run out of fluid several hours ago. Normally she would be hunting, but the storm made that impossible tonight.
The spire creaked and groaned as it continued being beaten by the wind and hail. Poor N had been outside working diligently through the night to patch any holes that appeared and to keep the structure secure. Actually, now that V thought about it, she hadn’t heard from N since he had first gone outside. He had finished patching all the holes a while ago, and could’ve been waiting inside for more to appear, but he wasn’t. She pursed her lips.
“Hey, J?” She called. J was currently in her “office” doing “paperwork” (aka figuring out the more professional/corporate way to sign her designation). J made a sound of acknowledgment. “Have you heard from N recently?”
“Pfft, no.” J answered nonchalantly. “He hasn’t needed to repair anything for about an hour, but he hasn’t come back in.” V only grew more concerned at that. “Maybe my prayers have finally been answered and he was swept away or struck by lightning.”
V bit her lip and looked outside at the raging storm. “I’m gonna go outside to check on him.”
“Ugh, why?” J asked in disgust. V didn’t bother answering that, as she simply walked out of the pod.
The storm had only intensified since N had first gone outside. She could hear the wind roaring, hail pelting the metal bodies, and thunder booming. She stood at the entrance to the spire and found herself hesitating. Was she really about to go outside in this? I mean, it was just N…
And with that thought she finally stepped outside.
Immediately she was beginning to think she had made a mistake. The hail crashed against her metal chassis at speeds that could rival a bullet, and the wind was so strong she had to actively fight to stand upright. She was forced to raise her arm to protect her visor. Still, she took a few more steps out, looking for any sign of N.
Any footprints he may have left in the snow were long since blown away, and the visibility was so poor V could hardly see in front of her (compounded with her already faulty optics, she practically blind). “N?!” She called out; although she had no idea how audible it would be over the wind. She got no response. “N?! Can you hear me?!”
“V?!” It was almost impossible to hear, but V was just barely able to make out someone call her name. She began walking in the direction of the call, and it wasn’t long before she saw a figure emerge from the fog. “V, what’re you doing out here?!” N yelled over the screaming wind. “You should be inside!”
“J told me to come out here and check on you to make sure you weren't dead or whatever!” She lied.
“Oh!” N looked… disappointed when she said that, which just caused her core to clench.
“But why are you still out here?!” She asked. “You finished like an hour ago! You could’ve come back in at any time! It’s dangerous out here!”
“Ah, that… I uhh…!” A small blush appeared on his visor and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I was uh… busy…!”
“Doing what!?”
“It’s uhh… Do… Do you remember yesterday when I told you about this storm?!”
She could remember it clearly. She had been in the middle of feeding a toaster his own entrails, when N showed up trying to talk to her. She had blown him off by pretending not to know who he was (an action that never got easier no matter how many times she did it) and flew away; leaving him alone.
“No!” She once again lied.
“Ah…! W-Well you see…! I uhh…! I was umm…!” He was stuttering, and his blush grew more intense. “I was gonna ask you if you wanted to umm…! Actually, it’ll just be easier to show you! I-If you want to that is…!”
On the one hand, V really didn’t want to be out in this storm any longer than she needed to be. Her body was already sore from all the hail, and being made of metal, the chances of one of them being struck by lightning was pretty high. On the other hand, the look N was giving her reminded her of a sad, lost puppy, and she could never say no to that face.
She sighed. “This better be worth it!” N’s face immediately lit up, and she could see his tail start wagging. She had to suppress a smile at that. N turned around and began leading her through the storm.
After a few minutes of trekking, they had arrived at the largest skyscraper in the city ruins. N told her that their destination lay at the top of the building. Unfortunately, they were forced to climb up the building, as the wind would easily sweep them away if they attempted to fly. The wind and ice made the climb harder than it needed to be, but it still only took them a few minutes to reach the top.
N pulled himself over the side and onto the roof effortlessly, and V followed close behind. The wind was blowing even harder up here than the ground, and there was a thick layer of ice gather on it. The second V took her first step, she tripped and nearly fell off.
Luckily, N caught her. “Whoops, sorry. It’s a bit icy up here.” He wrapped his arm around her and pressed her in close to shield her from the hail and to keep her stable. Curse him for having been built with actual feet, rather than pegs.
He quickly led her to a small makeshift shelter, made of tarps and rope, which was just barely surviving the onslaught of the storm. He quickly pulled her inside. She took a moment to bask in finally being out of the wind and hail.
“Alright, so what’s this thing you were so adamant to show me that you dragged me through hell to get here?” She asked.
N nodded his head towards the shelter entrance with a proud look on his face. “Look.” V turned to look at what he was talking about, and she gasped.
She could see for miles upon miles up here. The view of the city was already breathtaking, but it was only amplified by the storm itself. Due to Copper-9’s uniquely toxic atmosphere, the lightning wasn’t the standard white lightning that she had seen back in Earth. Instead, it streaked across the sky in brilliant reds, greens, blues and other colors, lighting up the entire sky in a beautiful display every few seconds. The flashes reflected off of all the ice and snow in the air and on the ground, resulting in every flash looking like a million stars shining at once.
It was the most beautiful thing V had ever seen.
After a few minutes of admiring the view, V suddenly felt N’s tail accidentally touch hers. She blushed as she suddenly became hyper aware of the position they were in. She was still pressed up against N’s side, and his arm was still wrapped around her shoulders tightly. She was about to pull away, but paused when she saw his face.
He was staring out into the distance, with a small somber smile on his face. When was the last time she had seen him truly smile before tonight? His visor reflected the lightning in the distance; making him look like the entire universe was reflecting off it. Maybe there was some competition for most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. V bit her lip before doing something unthinkable; at least since the manor.
Slowly, she wrapped her tail around N’s, and reached up to grab his hand that was around her. She intertwined their fingers and leaned her head on his shoulder. She felt N stiffen up, and turn to look at her. Without even looking at him, she could tell he smiled widely and their intertwined tails began wagging. He squeezed her in closer and rested his head atop hers. She closed her eyes and let out a content sigh. She hadn’t realized how much she missed this.
They stayed in that little shelter watching the storm until the sun began to peek over the horizon the next morning.
Suffice to say, when they returned to a completely beaten up and nearly toppled over corpse spire the next night, J wasn’t exactly happy to see them.