Even I wanted to punch myself in the face for that pun.
"So, what exactly is in this storehouse that we need again?" Jonny was surprised no one else had thought to ask the question. He'd assumed that the plan was to burn the dolls in the basement now that they had tools to start a fire. Now Aya was talking about the storehouse. It seemed like they couldn't focus on anything for five seconds.
"Hm." Aya thought for a moment. It was a good question. "Well, I was hoping to get some wire for my torch, which reminds me, we should stop by the dressing room. There's also food down there. Actually, I've been meaning to ask. Do you guys eat?" The three exchanged glances.
"Ya know? I don't think so. We've never needed to before." Jonny replied.
"It is odd though," said Reginald. "I get how the stands can give us energy, but where do we get our nutrients?"
Jerry tapped on his drum, explaining the situation. The other soldier seemed captivated by his explanation.
"Oh, of course! Why didn't I think of that?" Reginald exclaimed.
"Yeah, it just makes sense when ye put it like that!" Jonny nodded in agreement. Aya wished someone could translate for her.
Jonny translated for Aya. "Right so, s'like magic, see? Well, I suppose it is magic. Anyway, you ever read any o' those, oh waddaya call 'em? science fiction books?"
"Oh yes! Father always loved those."
"Right well, it's really like sumthin' outta one of those really. See, humans can't make everything they need on their own wit jus' energy, right? They need to eat 'n stuff. Well apparently, we can make all o' dat stuff because of 'ow the Doc built us. The reason we need to charge so much is because it takes a lot o' energy to do all o' that."
"Does that mean you could go on for longer if you had food?" Aya wondered if she may have found a solution to their handicap. The soldiers pondered the question.
Jerry suddenly remembered something. He relayed his message to the others.
"I see, so that's what those upgrades were for!" Reginald had been wondering what those strange operations the Doctor did on them the other day were for.
"Huh? What upgrades?" Aya was really confused now.
Reginald clarified. "The Doctor did some kind of work on us last week. He explained what it was, but it was all jargon. The old sod never bothered to ask whether we understood it." He said the last part through gritted teeth. "Apparently, yes. We can eat now and build up energy, but since we haven't actually done it before, we'll need to have the stands' help supporting the digestion. Our bodies aren't yet accustomed to supporting the digestive process."
"That still sounds useful. Maybe we could try it now that we can get into the storehouse?" Aya placed her finger on her chin, pondering the situation.
"If ye wanna try it out, ye gotta be prepared to go without us for a bit, luv. Make sure you know what yer doin'." Jonny cautioned.
"I agree with Private Andrews. I know you're a capable girl, but it's of the utmost importance that you're prepared for this." Reginald added.
Jerry nodded in agreement.
"If you're going to be going through the basement, you'll need the energy. We can't drag those stands with us or we'll never make it. It's better to try it now." The soldiers couldn't argue with that.
Eventually they managed to agree on a plan. The squad would get to work relocating their stands to the basement entrance. Once they recovered, it would be best to be as close by as possible. Aya would stop by the dressing room for some more cloth for the torch. It was really just a precaution, but it couldn't hurt, and she needed to kill time anyway. She would then sneak into the storehouse for supplies.
Aya made her way down to the dressing room and headed over to the old dress. Maria planned on discarding it, so she figured there was no harm in taking a few strips of cloth. She pulled out her grandfather's dagger and cut off the front of the skirt, cutting the cloth into strips. She pocketed them and left the room. As she did, a mannequin fell over. Aya didn't even pretend to be afraid at this point. It was getting old.
Took me a while to come up with a title for this one.
I know this one was short, but it seemed best to split things up this way.