Heartbeat

**Overview**GalleryTranscript

## Video

**Heartbeat** is the second episode of *Murder Drones* and it premiered on YouTube on November 18, 2022. An early screening was shown on the 12th and 13th of November in Los Angeles and Berkeley, California.

## Synopsis

In Elliott Manor, James talks to other humans, with N as a butler, who appears holding a serving platter. N and his fellow Disassembly Drones appear to resemble Worker Drones for this scene. N runs into V; they both spill their held items. As they pick them up, they accidentally touch hands, a spark exchanging between them. They blush as they gather up their spilled items, only for J to cut in and begin talking to Tessa, who then introduces a new drone to the three of them.

At the corpse spire, N awakens from slumber to Uzi calling his name. Uzi and V have a quick exchange over the strange symbol on Uzi's visor. Uzi informs N that his cap is actually a pilot's cap. N questions Uzi if the plan to kill all humans is actually moral. Uzi responds that it is, that humans have it coming since they sent his group off without communications and reformatted their memories. V questions Uzi, taunting her that her story does not make sense and that the Worker Drones are only pretending to be innocent. N attempts to defuse the situation by pulling the two apart, and when N attempts to pat Uzi's head, V narrows her eyes.

Back at Uzi's colony, Tim assigns Frank (whom he misidentified as "LadderBot 5000") to fix the hole in the roof caused by N's departure in the previous episode. Frank attempts a repair on the roof, only for J's corpse to mysteriously crawl away. Upon investigating, he discovers a strange biomechanical spider-like device which then spawns a massive creature that assimilates him.

Khan arrives at a parent-teacher conference. The teacher informs him that Uzi has been absent for some time. Khan ponders this and the teacher's suggestion that Uzi may have damaged programming. Khan wonders if he didn't spend as much time as he should have with Uzi. A worker interrupts to inform Khan that a situation is happening in the colony.

Outside the spire, Uzi and N talk. N asks if Uzi is alright, only for Uzi to proclaim that she is God. Uzi calms down from her power trip when she notices Thad, who then hands over her railgun. Uzi awkwardly accepts the railgun back and listens to Thad's request to look at the area she shot J in. She, Thad, and N, head back to the colony.

Meanwhile, the creature assimilates several more drones, including Tim who had previously assigned Frank to repair the roof.

At the entrance to the colony, a worker stops Uzi, Thad, and N before they head in. He particularly questions N, N giving the drone an apology card drawn in crayon expressing his guilt over killing the previous drones stationed there. Ron tearfully accepts it, and asks N to "not do it again."

The trio witnesses a group of drones investigating a crime scene. Uzi overhears that her father is in a parent-teacher conference over her, and as the drones discussing this find it "cringe". N asks Uzi if she's okay, with Uzi telling N that she's fine, and the trio creep further into the colony. The drone leading the investigation then discovers that everyone there was actually a hologram puppeteered by the monster. She is subsequently taken and assimilated as well.

Back at the conference, Khan goes off on the teacher about how Uzi is not doing that bad. Lizzy asks Doll where her parents are, only for Doll to reply in Russian that they are deceased. Lizzy then sees a copy of herself outside the door and tries to let the drone in.

Uzi, N, and Thad investigate the room they fought J and V in. Uzi remarks that she didn't know that Disassembly Drones could make the strange, crawling trail she observes. N informs her that he does not understand what he is observing regarding this aspect. Thad catches their attention and directs them towards some boxes, which previously had a strange pattern burned into them by the creature. N notes that the pattern contains the same symbol seen on Uzi's face. Uzi reads the text and comes to the conclusion that the "AbsoluteSolver" is a back-up program that activates when Disassembly Drones lack material mass to reconstitute their forms in the event of major damage. The creature then enters the room and captures Thad. N and Uzi chase it into a cryosleep chamber and the monster creates an intentionally bad hologram of Thad, possibly to trick Uzi into thinking that its holograms are terribly obvious. Uzi and N quickly pick up on the fact that it is a fake (as planned) and free Thad, who runs off but not before inviting the both of them to a party 'for the cool kids'.

The creature finally confronts them face-to-face, where it reveals that is trying to repair J as per its directive. When Uzi calls it a program, it responds that the drones are “cute puppets” to it and shows a hologram of Uzi’s mother, remarking that its feelings are hurt that Uzi doesn’t remember it. When Uzi stands in defiance of it, it adds a killing of Khan to its performance before tricking Uzi into giving her railgun to a much more realistic hologram of N, who knocks it away, and then tries to assimilate Uzi, only for the real N to come in and saw off its appendages. The monster destroys Uzi’s railgun, but the blast it creates when it self-destructs vaporizes the creature, while N shields Uzi from the explosion. Khan’s body is revealed to be another hologram, and N stabs the solver device multiple times as it makes a very poor attempt at a stealthy escape. It then collapses into something that resembles a black hole and floats away. N tries to help Uzi up, but she refuses his help, shaken, consequently causing N to be shaken as well.

The real Khan and several WDF members run into the cryosleep chamber, finding Uzi. Khan is at first confused, but then Uzi hugs him. His men search the area, only finding N, who quickly runs off.

Doll is seen holding a piece of paper. A robot cockroach is then seen running up her arms. It then cuts to the scene when Lizzy and Doll were baited by the Solver. As Lizzy attempts to open the door, Doll somehow crumples the door telekinetically, rendering it inoperable, leaving both Lizzy and the monster to abandon their task. In the present, Doll looks at a photograph of a Disassembly Drone, likely V, and the roach crawls on the photo, Doll wills it to explode and licks its remains off her face.

At the spire, V remarks on how much she usually hates N's normal personality, but dislikes N being downcast much more. After getting no response, she softens a bit and scoots her now broken chain links together, feigning annoyance at N. In the colony, Uzi looks up at a web of theories involving the AbsoluteSolver program on her bedroom ceiling.

## Characters

### Main Characters

* Uzi Doorman (voiced by Elsie Lovelock)
* N (voiced by Michael Kovach)

### Antagonists

* AbsoluteSolver AI / Eldritch J (voiced by Allanah Fitzgerald)
* V (voiced by Nola Klop)

### Supporting Characters

* Thad (voiced by Sean Chiplock)
* Khan Doorman (voiced by David J. Dixon)

### Minor Characters

* Lizzy (voiced by Caitlin Dizon)
* Teacher (voiced by Liam Vickers)
* Ron (voiced by Jasmine Yang)
* Doll (voiced by Emma Breezy)
* Tim (voiced by Edwyn Tiong)
* Frank (voiced by David J. Dixon)
* Sarah (voiced by Nola Klop)
* James Elliott (flashback, voiced by David J.G. Doyle)
* J (flashback, voiced by Shara Kirby)
* Tessa (flashback)
* Cyn (flashback)
* Nori Doorman (hologram)

## Deaths

Total of On-Screen deaths: 2

* Tim at 4:37
* Robotic Cockroach at 16:41

Total of Off-Screen Deaths: 12

* Frank at 4:06
* 7 Unknown Worker Drones
* Unnamed Detective Drone at 9:05
* Doll's Family (Only in Flashbacks) at 9:30

Total: 14