Mech Pilot who you accidentally activated, setting in motion a sleeper agent early

[amiserablepileofwords]

Note: This is a repost-as-is of a snippet I posted on Cohost on the 10th of February 2023 in response to a Prompt from the Making-up-Mech-Pilots account.

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"Look, man, I didn't mean to." Kris wheedled. "She didn't mean to. She'd never. It was an accident. You have to believe me." Pleaded. "How was I to know whistling that jingle from that old chewing gum commercial — you know, the one that goes..." Their foot tapped as they briefly hummed something that sounded like 'huminy homana nanana bubbly good' under their breath, half the lyrics long forgotten.

"... would cause all..." A weak gesture at the roaring inferno around them, their words barely audible over the panicked braying of the base klaxons. The wails of the wounded and bereaved. The intermittent crash of collapsing buildings. It was ridiculous. Impossible. Inconceivable. Indescribable. They finally settled on a lame "... this."

"Uh-huh." The SecuTex guard that'd accosted the pilot, his own once pristine white uniform covered in soot and blood, didn't seem inclined to believe them.

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