The metal was cool and rough on her palms.

OTs-12 stepped off the bottom rung and raised her rifle to cover the door as SV-98 climbed down after her. It was quiet down underground, and every footfall and shift of clothing was as loud as a gunshot in the empty concrete corridors. It was something that she had gotten used to – long, sleepless nights in the forests of S17, stalking Sangvis, or being stalked; the exploration of abandoned facilities, the long trek across the mountainside they had made in the first week. All of it had gotten her used to the hours, even days of solitude and silence that characterized their self-imposed exile.

Now, they were closer than they'd ever been to putting it all behind them.

SV-98 jumped off the last rung and pulled her rifle off its sling. She was still using the Mosin-Nagant they had picked up at the camp, just as Tiss was using the AK-12. The Kalashnikov wasn't her weapon, not by any means, but it was familiar enough that she didn't have much trouble operating it. Gesturing for SV-98 to cover the entrance, OTs-12 leaned forward with one hand outstretched, cautiously turning the doorknob and pulling the door open with a breathy whine of the hinges.

The room beyond looked dark and empty, just like the rest of the facility. Tiss pushed the door the rest of the way open and led the way in, rifle raised and eyes alert for any sign of Sangvis in hiding. No surprises awaited them, however, to OTs-12's silent relief. Only dusty furniture and computers filled the room, in pristine condition after having been sealed away for several years. I feel like we're entering a crypt.

Satisfied that the room was safe, the doll slung her rifle and reached for her backpack, pulling the map out and unfolding it. SV-98 had snatched the pre-Butterfly schematic when she spotted it at the last facility they visited, and it had proven invaluable in navigating the underground facility underneath the abandoned Sangvis factory. In fact, the biggest problem thus far hadn't been gaining access, it was slipping by the Griffin cordon in order to reach one of the entrances. That had pained Tiss the most since the run in with that echelon a week or so ago – sneaking by dolls she had once called an ally. We're here, she wanted to say, we're Griffin too. But that was the sort of thought that would get you killed, and she and SV-98 had a job to do that she doubted any Griffin unit would be able to complete.

"We're finally on the right level, then," SV-98 said softly, studying the schematic. OTs-12 nodded, tracing their path with a finger and committing it to memory. She had less mental storage than she used to since the Ringleader's tampering during their capture, but it could hold a small map. "So I guess it's not that much further…"

Tiss folded the map and stowed it. Then she looked back to SV.

'Still have to find it. Could be anywhere,' she signed.

The blonde doll pouted. Tiss wished she'd stop doing that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Can I have your Grach?"

Tiss yanked the pistol free of its holster and handed it to SV-98, switching the safety off as she did so. The other doll would have a hard time maneuvering the long Mosin-Nagant in the confines of the underground facility, especially if the Ringleader set upon them in close-quarters. Not that the pistol will do much in the way of defense. She pulled her AK-12 off her shoulder and put it back in her hands, gesturing 'forward' with a single point. The assault rifle was quite functional despite years of abandonment, but Tiss was reluctant to use it for much of anything. Guns were loud, and she had come to find that silence was preferable when it was just two dolls against a sector's worth of Sangvis and a Ringleader with an uncanny ability to be anywhere right when it shouldn't be. Not to mention that the 5.45 cartridge wasn't worth much when faced with the Sangvis's armor. Maybe up close, Tiss wondered. It wasn't a theory she wanted to test.

It was just as empty in the next room. OTs-12 rubbed at her throat as she lowered her rifle momentarily, scanning the place once again for anything useful or of note. Her scar was just as bothersome as ever – her body's automated healing system was strained to its limit, she knew – but she had become more aware of its ache as she and SV-98 drew closer to finding the Sangvis. It was a reminder of what the Ringleader had taken from her, in that darkened cave all those weeks ago. For all the memory problems caused by its meddling with her Digimind, she could remember that moment as clearly as what she saw in front of her right now.

"Nothing here. I don't think Sangvis uses this facility," SV-98 said, setting down a dusty booklet that looked like an owner's manual. Tiss remembered seeing that sort of stuff at Griffin–

No, she couldn't think about that.

'Bad for large troop movement. Not their style. Ringleader, maybe.' Tiss waited until SV-98's face changed – it was quick, the doll had quickly become good at picking up on OTs-12's hand movements – until picking her rifle back up.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. All these narrow hallways aren't good for big armies and stuff."

Tiss merely nodded curtly before moving to the next door. The Sangvis facility was as labyrinthine as the Griffin sector base–

Damnit.

As labyrinthine as… well, she thought, grasping for another comparison and coming up empty. Tiss wasn't as learned as some others. The Sangvis facility was by no means simple. They had already gone through four main levels, each with six sublevels under it, and were now on the sixth, working their way toward the room that they guessed the Ringleader was in. It was more OTs-12's guesswork than SV-98's, since it was she who had been able to sense where the Ringleader was, insofar as a gut feeling counted as that. But she knew that it was here, and knew that it was lurking in the lowest, and biggest level of the facility. Tiss planned to end the Sangvis's life as soon as she could. She did not want to live like this any longer.

The doll berated herself as she and SV-98 worked their way through room after room. She absolutely could not afford to think about anything from the life they had left behind, if only temporarily. Talking to and escorting the crashed Griffin dolls had been a huge risk that OTs-12 only took because she wasn't willing to see another echelon of dolls become the next Yew incident. And with two humans, to boot. But she had come out of that fine, even if her core was shaking every step of the way. She assured herself that it would be over soon. It had to be.

As they squeezed through another door, Tiss flinched as she saw what looked like a Sangvis – but it was just another human corpse. They had encountered a few of them as they journeyed through the facility, a grisly reminder of what had occurred here after the Butterfly Incident. SV-98 crouched by the body and inspected it, careful not to disturb it any more than she had to.

"Here, a keycard," she said, blowing some dust off and holding it up to her flashlight. Tiss looked over her shoulder. It was a high-level pass, which could be useful. SV pocketed it as they moved on.

After passing through several chambers, Tiss tapped her partner on the shoulder and told her to hold here while she closed her eyes. It was tough to focus on the sense of the Ringleader, and she had to divert processing power from several other functions in order to concentrate on that feeling, that tugging at her mind, in order to locate –

Yes, there. 'Still far. We have time,' she signed to SV-98, who nodded soberly. This room had a large, angled wall of windows in front of a set of consoles, looking out on a room of inky blackness. Their flashlights were of little use, the glass merely shining light back in their eyes, so Tiss pulled the schematic back out.

"Oh, a stairwell," SV-98 said, observing the map. Tiss nodded, then pointed to the chamber it linked to, then the glass, then the door on the other side of the room they were in now. "I'll follow, then…"

If possible, the hallway beyond that door was even more claustrophobic than the airlocks and narrow chambers they had passed through already. SV-98 had slung her rifle and taken out the pistol, which she used to cover the back while Tiss led them forward. They would periodically stop and listen – the Ringleader wasn't near, but OTs-12 was paranoid enough that she had to make sure that nothing was following them. The hallways were empty for all that she could see and hear, however, and when they reached the door, she opened it without event.

Even if they didn't have their flashlights, Tiss could still feel how large this chamber was. Their footsteps echoed as they stepped out of the hallway, and Tiss shone her flashlight around to get a sense of the room. Two sets of railroad tracks ran across the ground, and at the far left end was a large, round door blocking the tracks, at least double their height.

Their target was beyond that hatch. OTs-12 looked around for a control panel, some way to open it, but the room was empty, save for the tunnel to the right. It went farther than their lights could see, to some unknown destination. The doll did not want to imagine what might lie in wait further down the rails. She turned back to SV-98.

'Control room. Open.'

"Ah…"

When they arrived back at the room, Tiss set her rifle down on top of the row of window consoles and sat down, analyzing the system. It was an intentionally analog design, better for security, but she supposed that with enough studying she could puzzle it out. After all, it couldn't be that difficult. The station powered up just a few seconds after pressing the button, to her surprise.

"Huh, that's odd. This is supposed to be shut down," SV-98 said. Tiss frowned, befuddled as well.

'Other visitors?' she signed quickly before getting back to work. Maybe the station had been left running on standby mode, or else Sangvis was planning on taking up residence and had already restored power. If there was someone else beside the Ringleader in the facility, it could very easily throw a wrench in the works. They did not have the skill to take on a large Sangvis host, and if it was Griffin, well, that was a huge risk in a completely different way.

Tiss glanced back at SV-98 for a moment. The blonde doll had taken a seat on one of the office chairs, watching the door while she had the Grach rested on one leg. She looked as dejected as she probably felt. It had been hard for the optimistic doll, especially when she had to really come to terms with the situation. Tiss just hoped it wouldn't be too late for her to get back to Griffin and return to her normal self.

The system was quite functional. Tiss let it boot up, text scrolling across the screen before it cleared and gave her what she was looking for.

/SYSTEM ONLINE

/PLEASE SELECT A FUNCTION

Tiss raised an eyebrow before choosing "Security".

/SECURITY

/PLEASE INPUT CREDENTIALS

"Hey!" SV-98 held up a hand as Tiss shined the flashlight in her face to get the doll's attention. "What's that for?!"

'Keycard,' she fingerspelled in reply, not having a proper word for it. SV pulled the card out of her pocket and handed it to Tiss, who inserted it into the console's receptacle and let it process the card.

/CREDENTIALS ACCEPTED

/SECURITY

/CAMERAS

/DOOR CONTROL

/LOCKS

/SYSTEM

Tiss tried the cameras just for the hell of it, but they were predictably offline. She went for the door control, selecting the big tunnel door, and was confronted with a confirmation message. That gave her pause. Opening the door would definitely alert the Ringleader to their presence, and whoever else was in this part of the facility. They'd go from quiet to loud in one moment – and even though they had plenty of ammunition, "guns blazing" was not quite their style. She just hoped the place was as abandoned as it had been so far. They had only encountered a few Sangvis on the upper levels, which were quickly dispatched. Either way, the two of them still had a ways to go until they reached the Ringleader, if Tiss's instincts were right.

She selected YES. The screen blinked in affirmation, then the room beyond was lit up as the big ceiling lights came to life, nearly blinding Tiss. She let her eyes adjust before looking again. It was a huge room, the door taking up most of the wall. Despite the years, it appeared to be in good repair, with only a few spots of rust. Everything was still for a moment longer until the orange hazard lights on the flanking walls flared up, spinning around in unison as an automated voice called out:

"ATTENTION PERSONNEL. RAILWAY AIRLOCK IS NOW OPENING. PLEASE STAND CLEAR."

That's loud. Tiss winced at the noise, but continued watching eagerly as the door mechanism went to work, slowly but steadily swinging the immense hatch to one side. Tiss observed with bated breath to see what might lie ahead of them – would this be a Sangvis storeroom, full of weapons? A depot for androids? Or maybe a secret lair of some sort, inhabited only by the Ringleader. Despite her pessimism, OTs-12 couldn't help but feel a bit excited. SV-98 had come over, leaning forward the console and watching through the bay windows as the door creaked open.

More railroad lay beyond. More than that OTs-12 couldn't see, since that room was unlit. She pursed her lips, letting that sink in, before rising and taking her AK-12 in her hands.

When they reached the tracks again, a slight wind blew through the now open door, pulling at Tiss's hair. She had done her best to braid it like how she used to, but with only SV-98 to help it was a pain to do and didn't look nearly as good. She had also found a military beret and earmuffs to replace the pair she had lost. The beret was a dark red, something she had found at an abandoned Soviet base and appropriated for their cause, much like their just-too-large fatigues and non-standard weapons. Oh, Tiss wanted her gun back. She still didn't feel whole without it.

"Wow," SV-98 murmured as they walked through the door. The room beyond felt like it was even larger. Tiss swung the flashlight around and found the edge of a platform, as well as a blank television and a pedestrian overpass. Was this some sort of transit hub? The doll went to the edge of the platform and climbed up, helping SV-98 up after her. They both shined their lights around the platform, finding benches, wastebins, old timecharts, and the occasional corpse. Tiss swung the flashlight beam up to find a map – one that matched up with her schematic. Yes, the map did say that there was a transit center here. This map was color-coded, however, and featured several pamphlets in a tray at the bottom. SV-98 pulled one out as Tiss studied the schematics once again.

"Sangvis Ferri, building a bridge to a better tomorrow," the blonde doll read. "Here at our premiere doll production facility in the Ukraine, we work to create the next generation of combat androids…"

Tiss took one of the pamphlets for herself, opening to the catalogue page. It wasn't a complete list, but she searched it anyway. SP721… 65… There was no sign of anything remotely close to the Ringleader that had stolen her voice box. None of the lily white Sangvis shared its black carapace, nor did they feature the same abilities. Maybe this was one of the post-Butterfly models. OTs-12 carefully scoured her memory banks for any recollection of official Griffin information on Ringleaders.

"I guess this place used to be really busy," SV-98 said, breaking into her thoughts. Tiss looked over to see the other doll gazing around the transit center with an oddly melancholic look on her face. She reached over and bumped her on the shoulder.

'Focus,' was all she signed.

"You were the one who zoned out reading a pamphlet."

Tiss smiled a little to appease SV. She then pointed to the map, tapping at an area past the transit hub. It was a large rectangle labeled "SUPPLY DEPOT AND TRANSFER HUB".

'Should head there. Only other way to the surface. Ringleader could be near.'

"That's a ways away." SV-98 continued looking around the transit hub. "We could take a train, they might still be working."

OTs-12 simply shook her head. She was not eager to use one of the trams sitting on the rails. They were loud and conspicuous, and she wasn't even sure if they had power. Someone on the facility had gotten generators running, since the door control console worked, but running a tram was different and Tiss didn't believe that they had the power generation necessary to do so, especially if most of the facility was still unlit.

She wondered what this place had been like, before Butterfly. Had it been just as loud and bustling as the Griffin base?

Tiss plotted out a route in her mind and turned to head back to the rails. SV-98 hesitated, but followed a moment after, exhaling audibly. That sort of behavior was a mimicry of human habits, Tiss reflected. SV-98 was sighing like organics did when they were annoyed or exasperated or disappointed. The silver haired doll was unhappy with how things had gone with SV-98. The sniper had turned toward sadness during their exile, which pained Tiss, who had always known SV as one of the happier dolls in S17. She might not have cared about it so much had they not grown so close. It was only natural, Tiss supposed, that after weeks of being alone they would become more than just fellow soldiers. They could only talk to each other, only ate with each other, only slept with each other, only had each other when something went wrong. They were not the kind of dolls who would inherently get along when alone together, but by nature of their situation such a partnership had arisen.

She's holding up quite well, Tiss thought as she jumped back down onto the rails, looking back at SV-98. It was funny, in a sad way, to think that Tiss had been the one most scared when she first woke up in the cavern, numb and blind. Now she seemed to be the one leading, as she had when she was with Griffin. She still thought of her team every once in a while, when she let her guard down, but Tiss was careful not to let her memories of Griffin surge back. It was dangerous – dangerous with the bug in her Digimind, lurking in the recesses of her neural cloud. Thinking about specifics was just an excuse for it to jump out and attack.

The two of them entered the tunnel. It narrowed considerably, just one track, the concrete walls festooned with thick electrical cables and the occasional unlit light fixture. The close quarters muffled most sound, so the only thing Tiss heard was the occasional rattle from their weapon or backpacks and the scuff of their shoes. She kept her weapon up high, sweeping with the mounted flashlight, but found only dust.

Dust and echoes.

Tiss felt herself overcome with an odd mix of anxiety and depression as they trudged along. They were walking steadily closer to the Ringleader – to the end of their exile, be it in death or victory. Tiss thought long and hard on that. She had already considered death: a quick escape, painless too. A single shot through her core. It was a simpler solution than victory, if that was indeed achieved. The virus would not simply leave her Digimind once the Ringleader was defeated, she believed. Nor would she seamlessly integrate back into Griffin ranks as if nothing had happened. The same went for SV…

Something kept her going, though. It was no one thing. In part, it was her programmed instinct to survive, but it was also a desire to see SV-98 back at Griffin, safe and happy. But another reason pushed her along: the ache to exact vengeance upon the Ringleader. Tiss reached up and rubbed her throat again. She could feel the empty spot where her voice box ought to be. The Ringleader had stolen it. Her voice was with it, squirreled away, and she intended to retrieve it. Silence was a horrible ordeal. Tiss had to sign everything in the simplistic sign language she and SV-98 had made up, unable to say something with a kind or motivational or happy tone. It was worse when they couldn't use Zener. By taking her voice, the Ringleader had robbed Tiss of something she hadn't even realized was so important. That was the reason for the doll's hunt for the Sangvis – she wanted to feel whole again.

Tiss had tried learning how to speak manually, in the beginning. Dolls spoke with the voice box, which was the module which automatically converted thoughts to speech. Humans spoke by propelling air and contorting their mouths, whereas such actions by dolls were just programmed in order to mimic humans. It was difficult for Tiss to actually do that: to propel air up from her air cooling system, through her mouth, and then come up with the right way to move her tongue and lips and jaw to make the sound she wanted. It was a wonder that organics could do it. Tiss had stuck with hand signals after the first few tries.

Something seemed to hit her Digimind and glance off the side. Tiss froze for a moment, unable to move, feeling every artificial muscle and servo in her body tense up. She struggled against it, sending commands to her body, urging it to move, but it was unresponsive. Her Digimind felt constricted, a band tightening around it, one that OTs-12 couldn't break or pull off. SV-98 seemed to notice her inaction and went to her side, placing a hand on the silver-haired doll's shoulder.

"Tiss, what's– what's wrong?"

Get away, Tiss thought, but she could do nothing. Her efforts were focused on her mind, trying to push away that dark presence, to get it out–

And just like that, it was gone, and Tiss had a sudden, startling moment of clarity. She could see the ringleader, see it front of her, yet so far away. One hand stretched out to grab its black, armored arm, the other reaching for her AK-12, but by the time she had pulled the weapon up the Ringleader was gone, disappeared into thin air.

"Tiss!" SV-98 was beside herself with worry, her eyes searching Tiss's face frantically. "Are you okay? What's wrong? What happened?"

A ghost is here. Tiss kept her rifle up, taking a hand off only to tap SV's Mosin. The blonde doll nodded and wordlessly unslung her rifle.

The Ringleader was close. Tiss imagined they would meet it at the end of this tunnel. The prospect excited her, even as a fresh wave of fear washed over her Digimind. Their salvation, or some small part of it, was at hand. It had been too long for Tiss, too long since… since anything had been normal. Her appropriated fatigues were rough against her legs, her rifle didn't fit her body, her earmuffs sat differently on her head. Everything about her reality felt out of place. It was the Ringleader's fault for turning it upside down, but Tiss felt responsible as well. It was her fault, really: her inability to protect her team, to fight the Ringleader, to win. She was supposed to be a capable doll. But she had let everyone down, getting dolls killed or, in SV-98's case, robbed of a life.

They reached a curve in the tunnel. As they turned it, Tiss noticed a light, very faint, shining from the far end. Could that be the end? It must be the depot on the map, she thought. Gestalt would be there. Tiss's core was starting to work faster in anticipation. The light was steady, unwavering, something for Tiss to latch onto as they walked. The end of the tunnel did not seem to draw closer, remaining far away, so far that Tiss started to feel dejected again. They plodded along the tracks, ready and waiting for anything, but there was nothing there save their footsteps.

Tiss's Digimind was raging now, demanding that she pay attention. The Ringleader's presence in her mind was stronger now, more perceivable, and Tiss no longer had to focus to tell how far aways the Sangvis was. It was a curse upon her mind, a reminder of what lay ahead – as if Tiss needed to be reminded.

SV-98 inhaled sharply. "Tisstisstiss–"

Tiss looked up as SV-98 put her cheek to the stock. A form had appeared that blocked the light partially, and it seemed to be running toward them. There weren't many things that could be down here…

Without trying to sign anything, Tiss grabbed SV-98 and pushed her to the side of the tunnel, continuing to follow the tracks. There had to be– yes, there, a service door in a recess in the wall. Tiss shoved SV into the recess and then reached for the door handle. Locked. A stab of fear went through her Digimind as she looked out to see the figure still running, drawing closer to them. She could shoot the lock and see if that did anything, but it was risky. I don't suppose it's a Griffin doll, Tiss thought, then she ducked behind the wall. She and SV had their rifles pointed forward, anticipating a fight, tense like a spring, bristling like a porcupine.

The running footsteps slowed.

Tiss ordered herself to stay focused. Her mind was screaming at her that there was danger, the Ringleader was near, that she had to do something.

She waited.

The clip of metal heels on concrete drew closer. Tiss felt the hard steel of the door against her back. They were totally cornered, vulnerable, and unable to run. The Ringleader was here, right by them. OTs-12 had been waiting for this moment for weeks, but when it had finally arrived, she shied away all the same. Cowardice…

Then, without warning, an echoing crack, stunning Tiss andd nearly making her pull the trigger. Had that come from the end of the tunnel? She looked to SV-98, who was looking back, just as confused. As the gears in her Digimind started turning, the footsteps started running again and another gunshot sounded, resounding for a few seconds after. The Ringleader was drawing closer – if it passed their hiding spot then it would be past them and could run away – Tiss knew the decision she had to make.

Before she could doubt herself again, the doll sprung out from the recess and onto the tracks. Not ten meters away, the black-armored Ringleader ground to a halt. It was still towering, still ominous, still evil in every aspect of its form. Its hands dangled at its sides, hand brushing the grip of its large handgun Tiss's flashlight shone in its mask, illuminated its fake features, and painted the perfect target. She squeezed the trigger, and the Sangvis was suddenly peppered with bullets as Tiss's AK-12 spat fire and lead. SV's Mosin cracked, hitting the Ringleader on the shoulder, but before the two could do anymore, Tiss was charged. A hard shoulder caught her in her chest as the Ringleader bulled into her, throwing her back against the metro wall. Not again. That had gone wrong too fast. Tiss managed to raise her rifle and fire off another burst, but the Sangvis smacked the barrel aside and made to pull the rifle out of her hands. The Mosin cracked first, however, and the Ringleader jumped away as SV chambered another round. Tiss moved to cut off its escape, maybe even drive it back the way it came, firing bursts at it at the same time.

To her surprise, the Ringleader seemed not to be very aggressive. It managed to dodge bullets or simply absorbed them with its armor, but it didn't want to attack. Tiss took it as a sign of weakness and started pushing it, stepping forward, one foot after the other. The Ringleader didn't seem to be looking for a prolonged fight, but OTs-12 was getting her voice box back, no matter what it took.

With a final burst from the AK-12, the Ringleader broke and started running away back down the tunnel. Tiss was shocked, but the retreat only made her more decisive. She beckoned SV-98 forward as the sniper pushed a strip of bullets into her rifle. Move, they had to move–

Another shot echoed down the tunnel, punctuated with the crack of concrete. Tiss sidestepped to the right instinctively, searching for where the shot had come from. Was the Ringleader shooting back at them? Or perhaps there's someone else here. A Griffin team, a hunter-killer squadron. That would make sense. The Ringleader would be trapped between the Griffin T-dolls and Tiss, with nowhere to run.

The concrete was hard under their feet as they pursued.

This is it, Tiss told herself.

She put a fresh magazine into her rifle and racked the bolt.

The Ringleader was moving faster, pulling away from Tiss and SV-98. It had produced a large handgun, firing forward – that had been the nearby shots she had heard earlier – and was drawing steadily closer to the end of the tunnel. The light was getting brighter, and she could see the depot ahead.

OTs-12 rubbed her neck.

They were almost out of the tunnel. The light was blinding now, her eyes still adjusting to the change.

More gunshots echoed.

This was it.