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Ruby stared through the window of the Atlas facility, Penny at her side. A small girl was laying on a medical table, her eyes closed. Various tubes and wires sticking out of her connecting to a computer system that beeped in an endless drone. Scientists and doctors hovered around her like bees, fixing equipment and tightening bolts. Ruby's smile never faltered as she watched them. She was almost finished, her and Penny's child. Her little Dolly Rose. She was about six, at least her body was. Her hair curled around her neck in dark ginger waves and her closed eyes Ruby knew were a brilliant green. Her limbs were connected by joints to her body like a china doll and her skin shone like porcelain.

Ruby looked over at her wife, her eyes shining with joy.

Penny grinned back. Finally another synthetic human, a robot with a soul just like her and she was her and Ruby's child. She wouldn't be the only one, she wouldn't be alone. She hopped from foot to foot in impatience. After months of work, she was almost done.

Ruby wrapped an arm around her wifes shoulders to calm her, pulling her close.

A man walked behind them. He had weathered hands and a thick beard, Penny jumped out of her wifes embrace and clung to his arm, giving her father an adoring gaze.

As soon as Doctor Gepetto heard of his daughters marriage, he immediately ordered a child to be built for them. Sometimes he regreted Penny not having the ability to produce children herself but this new robot turned into a passion project for them and Ruby. They went back and forth on designs, upgrades, personality and hardware. But finally a final design was set and put into production. He had to admit he was just as excited about this as his daughter was as the final pieces were put into place.

A female voice came over to intercom "We're ready for the first test, Doctor"

He pushed a button on the side of the window. "Fire away" he answered.

A whirring sound could be heard as the computers hummed to life. Tubes glowed and wires went rigid as all the months of hard work came to life. After it moment it stopped. Everyone was still, nobody dared to breath.

A tiny breath of life pervaded the silence and Dolly Rose opened her eyes for the first time.

Two Months Later

'Come on Dolly, we're going for walk" Ruby called from the door, attaching Crescent Rose to her back.

The tiny girl skipped up to the door, she was wearing a pretty green dress and smiling widely with Penny following behind her. "Coming, Mommy" she called out

It was a sunny spring day and the Rose family decided to take leisurely stroll in town. Dolly held her parents hands as they wandered downtown Vale, birds were singing, squirrels ran up trees and the sidewalks were crowded. Ruby and Penny smiled at each other and swung there arms. Dolly laughed with glee as she was lifted up, swinging forward. After a while they stopped at a vendor, Ruby and Penny survayed it's wares. Dolly let go of their hands, her eyes scanning her surroundings.

Something glittered in a alleyway a little ways away from the vendor. She fixed her sensors on it, trying to determine what it was. She looked back at her parents, their backs were turned and they clearly weren't paying attention. It wouldn't hurt to take a quick look.

She skipped over to the alleyway and peeked in. It was dark even such a sunny day, every nerve told her to turn back but the item flashed again, drawing her attention. She cautiously entered the alleyway, listening for any unusual sounds. She finally saw the glinting object, it was a marble. Forgetting her fear she grabbed it, turning it around in her hands.

She didn't notice the presence behind her until it cast a shadow over the marble. She looked over her shoulder.

It was a girl, a pretty girl. She was short and her hair was pink and brown. Any regular child would be scared of a stranger approaching them in an alleyway. But since Dolly had been programed to be the perfect little companion, stranger danger never even crossed her mind. She stood and smiled at the girl. "Hello" she greeted in a cheery voice.

The girl said nothing, simply staring down at her with a scowl. She pulled out a cracked scroll from her pocket and handed it to the gleeful child. Dolly's eyes lit up as she took it "A new toy, how fun" she said innocently

If she were a normal child she would've clearly noticed the initials R.T inscribed on the front of the scroll. She immediately pressed a button the front of the scroll to turn it on.

ERROR ERROR VIRUS DETECTED SYSTEMS FAILING

Dolly dropped the scroll and grabbed her head. Error signs flashed in front of her eyes, her body spasmed as the virus swept through her hardware. Her arms dropped to her sides and her legs buckled as she fell to her knees, but still the signs persisted.

FAILURE IMMINENT

She stilled, her eyes turning blank. Only then did she notice a trio of children on the other side of the alley.

Neo watched the girl with growing disdain. As she turned to leave only one thought entered her mind "This is vengeance, Red"

Ruby heard screams and cries. She immedietly looked down to check on Dolly but she wasn't there. Her heart rate quicked, she immediately grabbed Penny's shoulders. Her gaze shited to a nereby alleyway

Dolly was holding onto the collar of a young boy shaking him, despirte him cries to stop. A little girl ran up behind them.

"Leave him alone!" She screamed

Dolly turned to the girl, her eyes cold and blank. She picked the boys off his feet, her hardware strong enough that he weighed less then a feather and shoved him at the girl, knocking them both over. A younger boy crying against the wall caught her attention. She was at his side in an instant, grabbing his hair. He screamed louder as she picked him, hanging him in midair by his dark locks and threw his at the other children, he landed in a pile.

She turned around, grabbing a lead pipe that was attached to the side of a wall. It made a low creaking sound as she ripped it off. She walked back over to the bloody, bruised children, brandishing the pipe like a club.

'Dolly stop!" Ruby screamed

Her and Penny arrived to find their daughter brandishing a pipe over a group of frightened children. Penny ran over behind the mindless girl, grabbing her under her arms and holding her still. Dolly thrashed letting out only low grunts. The children took the oppertunity to run, hiding behind Ruby.

Penny struggled to keep ahold on her little girl "What's gotten into you!?" She cried

She tried to grab the pipe from her hands but Dolly took advantage of her change in posture. Grabbing firmly onto the pipe she turned on her heel, connecting the weapon with Penny's stomach and sending her flying back.

'Penny!" Ruby cried, the terrified children were still cowering behind her legs.

She was about to run to her wifes side before Dolly turned back to her. Her face was blank and emotionless and her eyes were a glowing red. Ruby's eyes widened in realization, she had seen that look before. The fall of Beacon Academy flashed through her mind. Gunfire, smoke and burning eyes of Atlesian Knights affected by Cinder's virus. They thought the virus was gone so they never installed Dolly with any anti-virus software.

Ruby's eyes shifted down spotting the cracked scroll on the ground. What a stupid mistake, what an incredibly stupid mistake. Of course a sliver of the virus would still exist and of course someone would use it against her family. The virus attacked the motor controls of whatever machinery it come in contact with making it impossible to resist it's commands. Anything under it's control had only one instinct, to kill.

Dolly was gone

Ruby's eyes started to water as she reached for Crescent Rose. Her final act as a parent would be to make sure that Dolly never has to live such a terrible existance. The children scattered as she removed it from her back, keeping it in it's gun form she pointed it at her daughter. Dolly was still holding the pipe. She raised it above her head advancing towards Penny who was still sprawled out on the ground, raising the weapon above her head.

BOOM

Dolly stopped, her hands releasing on the pipe. It clanged noisily as it hit the ground. She stared down at a gaping hole in her chest. Her eyes turned black as she fell forward.

Penny reached out, stopping her fall and cradeling her child's head "Dolly, Dolly!" she cried She looked up, Ruby was holding her gun, her eyes wide with fear. She met Penny's gaze and fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

'I'm so sorry" she wailed

Ruby sat alone at the Atlas robotics facility, clutching her childs hand. Penny had stopped coming a while ago, it didn't matter. She couldn't stand the accusatory looks or judgemental silence to know how she felt about her, the divorce papers said enough. All she needed was her little doll. Dolly layed silent on the cold, metal table, her wound had been patched with a crude, metal slab.

They all said the same thing, the doctors always did. She'd never wake up, she was to damaged. Any motor functions not ravaged by the virus were destroyed by Crescent Rose. Ruby ignored them. She didn't care if she ever woke up anymore, she'd given up on that a long time ago. Some of the staff offered to salvage some of her functioning parts and rebuild her but Ruby refused. They could give her a hundred bodies but without the soul of her beloved child what was the point. So she sat there, day after day keeping watch over her precious china doll while the computers beeped in an endless drone.

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