"Well, hello there! I wasn't expecting to hear from you." Queen Zyla said, her voice immediately breaking out into a heart laugh. Of course she had been expecting the cameras, but she was playing up the role.

It was obvious that something was up. Those who received this sudden transmission rarely had the chance to see into the mysterious corporate ruler's main office. The center of her operation was expansive, yet spartan; black, green, and red. A series of large windows were crisscrossed with the light from the neon-laced city below, yet somehow filtered it into a pure white tone. This only made the spacious room appear more imposing, as the only structure of note was the throne in the center. Pipes ran from it, vanishing into the expanse of information technology that ran a somewhat distressing amount of the world they now called home.

It was symbolic; all things came through Zyla. Nothing escaped her notice.

"Now, I know some of you may have heard the rumors. Talks about diversifying and differentiating our technology." she spoke again, leaning forward. One rubber-dressed hand wrapped itself into a fist and rested against her chin, giving her the impression of thinking. A mockery of the look, as this was entirely scripted. But one couldn't forget their theatrics when talking to her audience.

"Which you might be accurate! I know that most all of you, my loyal shareholders, were watching when the newest drone model was unveiled."

Squeak-snap

The sound heralded what had once been the strongest protector of the city to arrive. The creaks of rubber and a clicking of heels were in perfect time, their pace not even a milisecond off. Emotionless eyes looked into the distance as the equine powerhouse came forward, snapping to attention beside the throne. Both hands, now clad in rubber, whipped behind her and clasped together in a perfect stance of formal readiness. Nothing was out of place, not a blue hair nor her posture. Everything followed to the millionth degree, transformed from what had once been into what is now.

"And you see, the V2 model has taken off practically overnight! Why, we have so many volunteers, I don't know what to even do with them all."

The Queen leaned in, her hand grasping onto Purity's backside. Though her body was almost entirely synthetic, it retained the softness for inspection that a proper person would have. A round butt, big bust, all of it. But the seams and upgrades were visible, hauntingly showing that there was little left of what had once been the organic horse. She was now a product, one that could step forward and put itself on display. A tool that showed how even the most ardent of defenders would join the world of their new corporate Masters.

"But that's not all we've been working on. I know you all caught my little impromptu advertisement before, so you know this is coming."

As she spoke, the maid came closer. A once powerful mare, like Purity beside her, this new slave was dressed in her proper attire. A squeaking skirt, inflated shoulders, and a totally blank look from beneath her flickering green visor. A brief moment passed of her giving a pleasant smile, but it was erased into the passivity that most would expect from a ZylaTech Drone design. The air was sharply filled with the hollow thump as her gloved hands moved to rest on the skirt, ready to serve yet currently as idle as the maid's mind was.

No thoughts. Head empty. Only obey.

"We've been training the new maids, who are useful for renting and many domestic products." the Queen happily explained, attitude chipper as one hand indicated the shining servant at her right. But that didn't last long, as she had to move on to the topic at hand. She leaned in, eyes locked onto the camera.

"But these are far from our only new models! With the unprecedented growth of ZylaTech, I've decided that we needed to create more specialized models. These drones can fulfill every aspect of our production cycle, from the lowest resource gathering and construction to data entry. Security forces and delivery? Management? At this rate, we've practically made a workforce that can tirelessly apply itself to any job we need. And it's only growing!"

So now the CEO of the mega-corporation placed her hand down, resting her right on a series of buttons. The left went up again, waving through the air as if to indicate her camera drone to do something. Her expression, still jubilant, never faltered.

"So now, after all the little teases I've been giving you? I think it's time that I take you all on a little tour of our vastly expanded operation. We'll be giving you a look into the lives of our most valuable employees as they follow their directives and finish their tasks. Each one will get a little spotlight, narrated by me, so you can keep this information for your records."

A thought struck her, bringing pause. One finger went to her lip.

"Those shareholders at Tier 2 or above will be receiving basic tech specs as well, so you can follow along at your own pace. Recordings will be sent to those of you at tier 3 and above. But all of you who do see this? Why, you're part of the special elite who get to know this before so many others. A little view for the future of automation and free will! Well, or lack thereof. Who needs that, if you're not me?"

Her finger hovered over a button as she spoke a very useful phrase.

"So follow your Queen."

Shareholders had their eyes glued to the screen. If they weren't already, it was suddenly impossible to find this to be evil. Or wrong. Their minds were simply wiped of all inhibitions and doubt. They would follow their Queen, enforced from months of hypnotic patterns slipped into their shareholder emails. Even if they held stake in her company, there was no way that Zyla was going to consider them essential. They were money bots, and nothing more.

"As I take you on your tour. So first? Let's go to the farms."

Click.

---

So! I teased a lot with some of the uploads. But here we BEGIN! The tour of the updated ZylaTech drone lineup. And yes, it is pretty expansive! We have a lot of different models and will be showing them probably one or two a month, as we can get the art commissioned. Each time, you'll get a story and a tech document style write up for them, telling you what you're dealing with. Each drone will be different OCs! Everyone gets their own role!

And there's a special offer, for those of you who read this far.

Do you wanna be a BIG SHOT? Then you're free to apply for one of our (rather few) roles that remain! We have a couple that have Not yet been filled for this series, and you are welcome to apply! All you have to do is place your reference in the bottom and say "I want to lose my free will, Queen Zyla!"

A few bits of info! Namely:
-Payment will be OPTIONAL but being selected is not guaranteed. Chipping in is nice, but WILL NOT INCREASE ODDS OF BEING CHOSEN
-Remaining roles are: General Purpose Drone (standard ZD style), constructor/Mining drone, Transport/Pony drone, and one slot for Farmer drone (Similar to an old drone of mine!). Those will be chosen based on both preference and who we think would fit best in the role.
-please share this if you want! more options means more interesting outcomes~


now for the credits!
-I am, of course, the Queen Zyla and creator of Zylatech/drones of this model.
-The Maid/Lightning Strike on the left? That is  novasaber97, who also helped push this series and is a big benefactor. She deserves a lot of thanks for this
-And the new V2 model hero is  purity_dewinter
-Art is by the ever amazing, always great,  toughset who deserves endless praise for his skills.

You'll be learning a lot about these drones soon. So tell me...

Who's interested?