"Don't shoot, they're friendlies!"

Having only just seen the flash of movement in the near distance, Val makes the split second decision to trust M4A1's judgement. Lowering her weapon, Val staggers in relief as several Griffin dolls burst into plain sight.

"M870, M200, P90!" M4 greets them all by name. "Somebody did pick up on my distress call after all."

"You can thank her." P90 points at M200. "It came to her first, and she had us all on alert even when it came through to the rest of us several minutes later."

"Thank you all." M4A1 relaxes visibly.

M870 squints at Val.

"Hey, who are you?"

Oh shit. Helian never covered what to say if anyone asks who I am. Neither did M4A1, for that matter.

"Uh..."

Thankfully, M4 is quicker on the draw than Val - much quicker.

"Oh, don't you worry about her."

M200 eyes Val up.

"You can't be M4, because M4 is standing right next to you... You aren't a doll, are you? M4A1, I'm sorry to ask, but what is a human doing out here with you in such a high-risk area? She's obviously Griffin, but why is she wearing civvies?"

M4 skillfully deflects the question.

"Like I said - don't worry about her. Even I'm not too sure of that myself. Now, that being said, we're headed back to base now. I think we'll be alright for now, since we've crossed the line into Griffin territory. Thank you for responding to our call."

"No problem."

P90 and the others vanish just as quickly as they appeared, with the exception of M870, who lingers for a few seconds longer to stare at Val before parting ways.

"I'm calling in for a chopper to come and pick us up, since the rest of the way back to the base would be a good forty-five minute walk. There's a main road nearby that supply convoys come through pretty frequently that's the flattest part of this area. I'll send our coordinates to Ellis at HQ and he can send over a bird."

M4A1 patches in to the base, and after confirming the location of the rendezvous point, motions to a long, winding stretch of gray in the distance.

"There's our road. We just need to get down there and wait. ETA for that chopper is T-minus 10 minutes."

M4A1 sets off in the direction of the road with Val following close behind. Even in friendly territory, her blood is still rushing and the hairs on the back of her neck are still raised up.

As if sensing Val's anxiety, M4 slows her pace.

"Nothing's going to happen here. This is friendly territory. Also, by the way, you did a fantastic job back there. I know it probably feels to you like you were in the middle of a breakdown. At least you didn't react to it the way I did when I ran my first mission."

Val decides not to probe, and instead continues forward. Every step she takes hurts, but relief courses through her veins and drives her onward.

"Thanks, M4."

"I'll admit I have no clue why you got assigned to this team in this capacity, and a human at that, but you're a solid addition to Anti Rain."

"Hopefully in the future you won't have to baby-step me through every part of an escape procedure the way you did for me today."

"It'll come with time. Ah, here's the road, and would you look at that. There's a convoy already on its way towards the base."

Val sits down on a nearby rock at M4's invitation.

"One vehicle, M4? That's not much of a convoy."

M4 looks again into the distance.

"You're right. I'm a little concerned, in fact. It's standard operating procedure for Griffin vehicles to travel in pairs or groups. This is unusual."

Not again...

Val sighs and stands up, letting her rifle hang against her chest.

"Should we hide and let them pass?"

"No, I am detecting a clear Griffin signal coming from that vehicle. It appears there is a single tactical doll in control of that Humvee. I will let them pass."

Something pops into Val's mind as she stands and stretches.

"Hey M4. Isn't that vehicle coming from the direction we just came back from?"

M4 looks up from inspecting the barrel of her rifle.

"It's coming from the same general area, yes. Why?"

"Isn't there someone on Anti Rain with blond and red hair? Two antennas on the top of her head? Another M4 or something?"

M4A1 freezes for one second before standing upright immediately and snapping her gaze into the distance.

"Is it really... SOPMOD! M4 SOPMOD II!"

M4 dashes out into the middle of the road and waves her arms frantically. Val immediately shifts into low ready as the Humvee pulls over on the side of the road and the driver disembarks. Val can hear the sounds of laughing and shouting as she carefully approaches the vehicle, flipping the selector of the rifle off safe.

A shorter tactical doll with blond highlights and a headband with what appears to be two antennas pointing upwards is wrapping M4A1 in a bear hug enthusiastically. It takes a moment for the unintroduced doll to notice Val standing nearby, and she immediately takes her red eyes off of M4 and locks onto Val's.

"M4, who is this?"

M4 rubs the other doll on the head, messing up her hair slightly before turning her attention to Val.

"My apologies! Val, this is M4 SOPMOD II, but you can just call her SOP-II. She's a member of Anti Rain team. SOP-II, this is Val. She's... she's my new adjunct."

SOP-II's eyes widen in delight.

"A new person!"

Before Val can do or say anything, SOP-II launches herself at Val and gives her a hug so enthusiastic it could only be described as a squeeze.

SOP-II pokes Val's stomach and giggles.

"A human? What are you doing out here?"

SOP-II's enthusiasm and bright smile has already won Val over, and she just shrugs off the stomach poke with a grin.

"Trying to find you, uh... SOP-II."

"Well, I'm here now! I like you already, Val. You're a cool human."

"Uh, thanks, I guess?"

M4 glances over at the Humvee. "SOP-II, where did you even find this?"

"Oh, that thing? I... uh, it's a long story and I'm tired. Can I tell you after we get back to base?"

M4 glances at Val before answering.

"Of course. We have a chopper en route, it should be here very soon to pick us up. I don't see any reason why they can't take you in the bird as well. Just grab any belongings you have in that truck before it comes."

SOP-II jumps back into the truck and reappears a few seconds later with her rifle.

"That's all!"

Val picks up the sound of displaced air just as M4A1 looks up.

"Looks like they're a bit early, but I'm definitely not complaining. Come on, SOP-II. Let's get you home, and then we can discuss what to do next to find AR-15 and M16."