Colo stood in the center of her workshop.
Scattered drone parts littered the floor.
Rusty tools hung from crooked hooks.
Half-finished inventions blinked weakly on cluttered tables.
Wires drooped from the ceiling like spiderwebs, swaying gently in the cold air.
The room stank of oil, solder burns, and scorched circuits.
It was chaos.
But it was her chaos.
She adjusted her grip on her electric rockstar guitar and stepped toward the main console. Her fingers danced over the cracked keys, typing in a sequence of commands.
The monitor flickered to life, casting pale light across her face.
A blurry feed appeared.
The outside corridor.
There he was.
Rt1.
Just… standing there.
Waiting.
Humming.
Not attacking.
Colo narrowed her eyes.
What's wrong with this robot? Why isn't he trying to break the door down like the others?
She leaned in closer, flipping on the speaker.
"Are you seriously just... waiting?" she asked, confused and suspicious.
"Yup!" Rt1 replied cheerfully through the comms. "Honestly, I'm not super good at the whole killing thing. S says I get distracted. And… I guess I do! I mean, this bunker's pretty cool! You built it all yourself?"
Colo blinked.
Did… did he just compliment me?
She shook off the thought.
"What do you want?" she snapped, trying to bury the heat rising in her face.
"To talk?" Rt1 said with an almost boyish tone. "Also, maybe not get bonked on the head? That'd be nice."
Before she could respond, the bunker shook.
BOOM.
An explosion somewhere nearby.
Sparks rained from the ceiling. Alarms wailed in a harsh, glitching pitch.
Colo stumbled, catching herself on the edge of the console.
She looked back at the screen.
S had arrived.
And he wasn't there to talk.
He crashed through the wall like a missile, wielding a glowing neo-orange spear.
A feral grin twisted his face.
"Enough stalling, Rt1! She's an android! You know what we're made to do!"
Rt1 hesitated. His voice cracked.
"Actually, I was thinking maybe we—"
Too late.
S charged.
Colo threw open the second blast door.
A hiss of smoke rolled out.
She stood in the haze, weapon raised.
Her fingers gripped the strings of her electric rockstar guitar.
With a deep breath, she struck a single note—
BANG!
A blinding burst of green energy erupted from the guitar's headstock.
The blast hurled S back, slamming him against the wall.
He growled, dented and furious.
"YOU BITCH!"
Colo didn't flinch.
She stood tall, eyes glowing with fury.
"Back off, metal Ken doll. This is your only warning."
Rt1 darted between them, arms spread.
"Guys—maybe we could not kill each other for, like, five minutes? Please?"
S shoved him aside with a snarl. His claws glinted. Rage burned in his eyes.
"You always screw things up, Rt1. Always."
Rt1 looked genuinely hurt.
But then—he stepped forward again, planting himself between S and Colo.
"…Maybe I do," he said quietly. "But I'm not letting you kill her."
Colo's eyes widened.
Why… is he protecting me?
For once, she was the one speechless.
And for the first time in her life—
In this cold, dying world—
She didn't feel completely alone.