A War for Three

by caryalaciniosa

Two years after the Butterfly Incident, the struggle between Griffin & Kryuger and Sangvis Ferri continues unabated. To many, the countless IOP androids employed by Griffin are merely a tool. But even T-dolls have true warriors, worthy of the highest praise. The stories told here are but a few of such individuals.

8. OTs-12 Chapter 2

"Are you awake?"

OTs-12 came to with a gasp. The first thing she felt was the cold. It seemed to bite at every inch of her being, it was everywhere, piercing and unforgiving. Her hands and feet were numb to sensation, every inch of her body was slack, and the idea of trying to move any muscle made her head hurt. Hurt more, anyway, because it was already in agony, a piercing throb in the nape of her neck. The inhalation had been involuntary, and now her chest and throat hurt too.

The voice had come from her right, she could tell, familiar to her ears. It hurt anyway, just as much as breathing and thinking did, and her hearing rang for a short time. OTs-12 tried to remember where she knew the voice from, but it was so hard to call to mind something like that, her head hurt so bad.

"OTs-12," said the voice again, softer. "It's SV-98."

Es-vee ninety-eight, OTs-12 thought. What was that… a rifle. A sniper rifle. Her sniper rifle, from Yew team. But SV-98 was gone, seized by that Sangvis in the forest. OTs-12's anxiety spiked at the thought of the forest pursuit. That was a clear enough memory, all right, but the end was forgotten to her. SV-98's voice came again.

"Sorry about the pain, but I really need to speak. I guess it's just because I've been so lonely…"

OTs-12's headache was still just as bad. The doll wondered if it was damage to her neural cloud, which would be unfortunate. The migraine manifested itself as a strong pressure behind her eyes, and she felt like they would pop out of her skull any moment, pushing out past her closed eyelids. She didn't want to open her eyes. The prospect of seeing her surroundings was terrifying, though she could not say way. It was terribly cold, wherever she was.

"Maybe you aren't awake," SV-98 pondered aloud. Shut up, thought OTs-12. She didn't really hate SV-98, but the pain from hearing the words was so intense that she would murder to put it to an end. She wondered if she had suffered physical damage, or if everything was mental. It felt physical, but pain was such a fickle thing, especially to a doll like herself. It was all simulated.

Something shifted, and OTs-12 heard the scrape of rock, a sound all too familiar from her time in S17. SV-98 sniffed, and the sound reverberated for a moment. A cavern. So at least she knew that. How she got there was the question, and which cavern. There were so many in S17, and most were uncatalogued, even more outside of anyone's knowledge in the first place.

OTs-12 came to the conclusion that she was in Sangvis hands. SV-98 has been seized by Sangvis, and if she was with SV-98 then that meant that OTs-12 had been seized too. She had no recollection of such an event happened, so she assumed that it had occurred in the forest. Additionally, it was not like Griffin, even Commander Kerr, to throw dolls into a cold cave for any reason.

She first tried flexing her fingers before she remembered that her entire hand was numb. SV-98 seemed not to have noticed, so OTs-12 tried to move her arm at the elbow. A head splitting pain ran up her arm from the effort, and she had to stop just to breathe at the agony. Even only taking air into her lungs was painful, so she took only shallow breaths, but it was still a while before she felt ready to try bending her arm again. This time she steeled herself against the soreness before moving. She felt her forearm lift up before she quit tensing the muscle, feeling her forearm slap against the floor heavily.

"OTs!" SV-98 said, and OTs-12's ears rang again. Don't call me that, OTs-12 thought, but couldn't muster the effort to voice her complaint. "So you are awake."

OTs-12 heard SV-98 stand up and walk closer to her. "Let me get you sitting up… this may hurt a little."

SV-98 slipped her hands under OTs-12's armpits and pulled up. Though her feet were numb, OTs-12 could still sense her heels being dragged across stone, and after a moment her back was resting against the rough cavern wall.

"You can open your eyes," SV-98 said, keeping her voice soft. "It's pretty dark in here."

It was painful to open her eyelids, but OTs-12 tried anyway. The headache throbbed just as much, but it was no worse with open eyes. The cavern was pitch black, not a single source of light to be found. SV-98 placed her hand on OTs-12's right arm to let her know where she was.

"The pain'll go away," she said quietly. "Just wait it out a little bit, and let me know when you can talk."

That might take a while, OTs-12 thought, but she was much happier regardless. SV-98's hand was oddly reassuring, and it wasn't until she had been touched that she realized how scared she had been. It would've been much worse to wake up without SV-98, no one to guide her in the chilly dark. OTs-12 wondered exactly how big the cavern was, or how deep it was in the rock. SV-98 probably didn't know, unfortunately, and she couldn't ask to find out.

After a few minutes, OTs-12 realized that she had let her eyelids droop shut, and opened them again. It was a simple movement, but it took everything out of her to do it. Repetition breeds strength, she thought. The more she opened her eyelids, the easier it would become, and that was the first step to getting to her feet and talking to SV-98. But thinking was much easier than doing, and OTs-12 still felt very tired for several minutes until she was able to keep her eyes open without concentration.

"I'll be right back," SV-98 said, and the weight of her hand was suddenly gone from OTs-12's shoulder. No! She felt the urge to cry, and her eyes became weak. That wasn't right. OTs-12 shouldn't be crying because SV-98 was leaving for a minute. But the cavern was cold, and the darkness was ever-present, always pressing closer, and fear and anxiety filled OTs-12 up like an overflowing cup. The tears broke away from her eyes and ran down her cheek.

Plip, went the tear as it fell onto OTs-12's hand. Well, where she believed her hand to be, judging by where she felt her forearm. The hand itself was numb. OTs-12 blinked to clear the tears, but only more rolled out, falling onto her hand too. Run self-diagnosis. The program took no time at all, but its results were less than inspiring. Her body was frigid to the artificial bone, nearly every nerve of her extremities disabled or frozen. The damned mountain cold was no end of woes to her. She hated the reassignment to S17. She hated Commander Kerr for the endless reconnaissance missions. She hated herself for handling the forest chase so poorly. She hated SV-98 for leaving her alone in the cold dark, when she'd barely been awake for five minutes.

Or had it been five minutes? It was certainly longer now, ten, or fifteen. Time was so hard to guess at when you weren't doing anything. OTs-12 wanted to cry again, even before the last tears had dried to stains on her cheeks. It wasn't fair. She didn't deserve to die in a cave, cold and alone, with no one to remember her. SV-98 didn't count; she could die unremembered too, and she had left OTs-12 in the dark to die anyway. What if SV-98 wanted OTs-12 to die? What if she was a cannibal? Did T-dolls cannibalize? Could they cannibalize? OTs-12's mind raced the fastest it had since waking up, despite the headache. SV-98 had always been quick to a conclusion, and what if she drew a bad one? What if she had faulted OTs-12 for it instead of Kerr, and took it out on her? What if she had defected to Sangvis Ferri?

"I'm back," said SV-98, footsteps echoing through the cavern. OTs-12 wanted to shout in surprise, but instead a fresh wave of tears came, and she was suddenly glad for the darkness. SV-98 was very mean when it came to crying. The doll placed her hand back on OTs-12's shoulder and sat down next to her. Every fibre of OTs-12's being wanted to roll over to her right, to get up on her knees, to hug SV-98, to feel her in her arms, her warm body around OTs-12's, comforting and real.

OTs-12 resolved that she had to at least move her arms. Her hands were still numb, however, which would be problematic. What could she do to stop that? Well, if they were numb from cold, sustained heat would do the trick. Perhaps SV-98 could help, if she got the hint. OTs-12 readied herself to move her arm again, headache be damned. She would do it now. OTs-12's forearm folded back to her shoulder, and she felt SV-98's hand flinch away.

"You scared me," SV-98 said. "And jeez, your hand's so cold."

That's right, thought OTs-12. SV-98's hand disappeared from her shoulder for a moment, then grabbed OTs-12's forearm, and she felt it pulled away from her.

"I put your hand in my armpit," SV-98 whispered after a moment, her voice much closer to OTs-12's ear. "I read stories about people in Siberia who put food there to keep it warm enough to eat while they traveled."

OTs-12 hoped that SV-98 wasn't warming her hand up to eat it. The thought was absurd, though – why would SV-98 do that? There was plenty of normal meat in the world, even after the incident. Granted, they were in a cavern, but for how long they had already been down in it OTs-12 didn't know. T-dolls could go for a while without food. Probably. SPAS-12 being the exception.

They sat in the dark for a while, though OTs-12 could not tell how long exactly. She became aware of SV-98's quiet breathing and matched her own breathing pattern with the other doll. It felt strangely reassuring to breath in tandem, perhaps because it was the only action OTs-12 could take independently besides blinking.

If there was one good thing about the cave, it was a lack of breezes. It was one thing to have the stone sapping away whatever warmth she had left in her, but another for there to be a wind blowing at her skin, like it did on the surface. For all its chills and rocks and sparse vegetation, the mountainside seemed like a dream to OTs-12 right now. It was free and open and sunny and she could see up there. The cavern was every way the opposite.

But at least she wasn't alone. SV-98 heaved a big sigh that echoed around the cavern a few times. OTs-12 tried moving the rest of her body that wasn't her right arm. The pain that had faded away flared back anew, and she had no choice but to lay still in agony. Sword tips and axe blades drove their way into her kneecaps and elbows, between her eyes and under her shoulder blades. And her right hand hurt too, a curious sensation far less painful then the rest. OTs-12 had felt it before, when she stayed out in the cold for too long. SV-98 had told her it was called "pins and needles" by humans, and she found it accurate. But the feeling from then was nothing compared to the discomfort she experienced now. Hundreds of points pricked at her skin, and her fingers desperately wished to twitch in every direction at once to avoid the needle points.

It took OTs-12 a minute to realize that this meant she could move her hand. At once, her spirits lifted. SV-98 was right about the trick to keep things warm, it seemed. Indeed, OTs-12 could feel it now – not the thick, blank numbness of the cold, but the stinging warmth as her hand was heated. OTs-12's excitement at movement quickly turned to guilt. Was that really what she had fallen to? Excitement for fine motor functions? The prickling started to fade away, so she flexed her fingers experimentally.

"Oh!" SV-98 said in shock, and OTs-12 felt cold air touch her hand for a moment as SV-98 flinched. "You scared me again. I guess you can't talk, huh?"

OTs-12's cheeks turned redder, if they weren't already from the cold, and she was once again glad for the dark. She felt so much like a child, someone who couldn't survive without a parent. The thought embarrassed and enraged her. She reassured herself that it was just because of her physical condition. She had perfectly control of her mental faculties, and that was what mattered. One of Commander Kerr's oft-cited pieces of advice was "mind over matter", though OTs-12 doubted how much that would help her here.

Her right hand was suddenly exposed to the cold air, and OTs-12 nearly gasped in shock, though stopped her breath just beforehand. It still hurt to breathe, so she stuck to short breaths with lots of space in between.

"Flex the fingers," said SV-98. OTs-12 did so and found that they moved quite well. SV-98's own hand slid across OTs-12's and felt each finger in turn. "Keep doing it."

SV-98 let go and stood up, and OTs-12's hand fell onto her stomach. It was frigid to the touch, and she couldn't feel her hand on it, so she assumed that it was numb too.

"Other hand," SV-98 said as she sat down on OTs-12's other side and took ahold of her left arm, putting it under her armpit in the same style. As she waited for it to warm, OTs-12 continued to flex her right hand to keep it warm, and she started to move her hand over her stomach. Only after feeling her navel did OTs-12 realize that she had no clothes on. It was no wonder that she was so cold. But OTs-12's mind immediately went to why she was naked. SV-98 was not the type to undress someone in the dark for no reason. Perhaps it was Sangvis Ferri. Regardless, she was glad that it was dark. Seeing her naked body frozen to the bone was not a pleasant thought.

OTs-12 became a great deal colder after realizing her nudity, though she believed it to simply be a mental trick her subconscious was playing on her. She could not really be any colder than she had been. At least her other hand was warm again. SV-98 released it from her grip, and OTs-12 placed it atop her other hand.

"Feet next, I guess," said SV-98. "They'll be a bit awkward, though."

No, thought OTs-12. She could walk with numb feet, humans with prosthetics did it all the time. It would take some learning, but it would be feasible, and she didn't want to waste time trying to warm them. OTs-12 tried to speak out to SV-98 to tell her to stop it, but her throat still hurt. She resolved that the pain would have to wait, and sucked in a deep breath to prepare herself. Her chest was aflame from the hurt, but she kept going anyway.

"SV," she managed to croak. The doll's movements stopped.

"OTs?"

Don't call me that, she wanted to say. "Don't waste time on feet," OTs-12 choked out. She was shocked at how hoarse her own voice was, but supposed that it was all part of being half-frozen.

"That's fair," SV-98 whispered. "A lot of your body's still freezing, though."

It took OTs-12 a moment to realized that SV-98 was waiting for an answer. With some painful effort, she swallowed a ball of phlegm and tried to speak again. "Clothes."

SV-98 clucked her tongue. "We don't have any."

A fresh chill washed over the parts of OTs-12 that had feeling. "What?"

"It was Sangvis, I guess," SV-98 said. "I woke up naked, and found you that way too."

OTs-12 blushed again. "Where?"

"I don't know. Every communications channel is blocked, and so is my internal GPS. It's total isolation."

OTs-12's spirits, so recently risen by the warming of her hands, dropped. They were truly alone. Not in the sense of isolation there had been on the long-range reconnaissance mission. In the cave, there was no radio to the base, no backup ready to reinforce. There wasn't even a way out. It was just her and SV-98.

It occurred to OTs-12 that it was highly unusual for Sangvis to take prisoners. Their dolls were emotionless killers, trained to shoot, not to capture. But she had no recollection of her capture. SV-98 wouldn't either, she guessed. The last thing OTs-12 could think of was running through the forest. She hoped that FG42 and RPD were okay, though G17 she couldn't speak on. Maybe she was a prisoner too, knocked out like OTs-12 had been. If she was, SV-98 seemingly believed mention of her unnecessary.

OTs-12 had to stand. She took her hands off her stomach and set them on the floor. It was colder than she was, the stone rough to her palms. SV-98 stirred at her movement and stood up as OTs-12 struggled to the same. The doll reached through the dark to the wall behind her as a support and slowly got to her feet, hoping that they were in the right spot. Believe it she might, but walking on numb feet would certainly be a challenge, especially in the dark.

SV-98's hands wrapped around OTs-12's shoulders. "I'll hold you if you fall," she said gently. OTs-12 so desperately wanted to shrug off the help, to tell SV-98 that she could do it herself, but was too focused on holding herself upright to do anything. Slowly, carefully, she transferred her weight to her heels, loosening her hold on the wall. The blackness rushed towards her eyes, and she felt as if she was falling for a moment, but she was still standing straight. OTs-12 set a foot forward, feeling nothing past her shin. It appeared stable, so she tried the next, and then she stumbled and SV-98's grip tightened.

"Careful," said the doll, and OTs-12 cursed her helper's tone of utter seriousness. She could walk, damnit! SV-98 was not her parent or sister. OTs-12 regretting thinking about the latter. OTs-14 was so good at night operations, she could probably handle a pitch black cavern with ease. OTs-12 pushed the thought of her older sister out of her mind and focused on her balance. She had never quite realized the importance of feeling the ground as well as seeing, and without either to help her, it was a great deal harder to move at all, let alone quickly.

She got five steps the next try. SV-98 made a grunt of approval before OTs-12 stumbled, but the doll got back to her feet as soon as she could and continued walking. "Wall," she intoned, and SV-98 led her back to the wall. OTs-12 shrugged off the other's hands and leant against the stone surface.

"It took me a while to work sensation back into my feet," SV-98 said. "It's about getting the coolant flowing, though it tends to be over-efficient in this cave.."

Damn useless advice, OTs-12 thought. She just wanted to walk around. OTs-14 did that sometimes, pacing around the briefing room floor as she thought about how to run an operation. OTs-12's motivations were a bit more practical, however. She wanted to determine how big the cavern was for herself, and find a way out, if possible, though something told her SV-98 had already tried the latter. OTs-12 cursed Sangvis again, and Kerr for her stupid reconnaissance missions.

OTs-12 began walking again, holding herself up against the wall. This time, SV-98 only kept pace with her, and she slowly became more and more surefooted as she went. Perhaps it was luck through guesswork, but it worked nonetheless. She was walking, tedious and slow as it may be, and that was good enough.

What came next was getting out.