I kick a bit of the rotten concrete off the side of the building, the walls long since gone. I try to pretend like I'm not standing on more of that rotted concrete, but the evidence surrounding me makes that hard.
The chunk of concrete falls for a few seconds before hitting the ground with a loud clattering, and I get a look from 416.
"You shouldn't be alerting anyone to our position."
"I'm… sorry." I grumble, trying not to let my frustration out at her. "But we've been standing here for two hours and we haven't seen a soul."
"I'd say that was a good thing." 9 shrugs. "I personally prefer jobs where we're not getting shot at."
"Haven't had many of those recently." G11 yawns. "I'm gonna nap."
"...There's missions where you don't get shot at?" I raise an eyebrow at 9.
"Yep." She holds up her hand and starts counting on her fingers. "Sabotage missions, infiltrations, data collection, assassinations… most of those are safe as long as you don't get caught."
"Huh…"
"We generally cannot afford to go into full on combat on a regular basis." 416 lifts up her jacket so I can see the stomach scar she got the day I met her, the skin melded back together, but still obviously torn at one point. "We don't have the repair facilities to afford straight firefights."
I ponder this for a moment. "So since I joined you-"
"We've had atrocious luck." I turn around to see 45 is back awake, her arms stretching like she's tired. "Or, maybe it's just that you keep getting us caught."
"...Right." I flick the safety selector on my Honey Badger from safe to semi-auto and back, eyes once more looking out over the dead city.
Nothing moves.
"What's Anti-Rain up to?" 9 asks 45.
"Mmm, they're still looking for the command terminal to open the first wall. M4 seems to be under some sort of assault though, her connections are being probed fairly hard."
I briefly wonder if that's a euphemism before I'm distracted by 416 walking up and standing at my side, also looking out over the city.
"It's a nice view." She says quietly.
"Really? It's kinda depressing to me." I look out at decaying ruins all around, overrun with plant growth.
416 tilts her head to the side, but doesn't say anything else.
I let my gun dangle at my side, hooking her arm in mine and grabbing her hand.
"Hmm?" 45's voice grows alarmed. "Looks like Anti-Rain has run into the city's defenses."
"What kind?" 9 checks her weapon for the hundredth time.
"Shielded turrets." Her voice and gaze are distant, and I can only assume she's mostly with AR-team, at least mentally, for the moment. "Looks like M4 was able to shut down most of them… hmm."
"Is that even possible?" 9 tilts her head. "I mean, it would be easy for you but-"
45 gets to her feet. "Well, it doesn't matter right now. We have new orders."
I reluctantly let go of 416's hand and turn around to face my other girlfriend. No, my other-other girlfriend.
I need help.
"We're finally getting off this death trap of a building?" I ask, not bothering to disguise the hope in my voice.
"Ja, and instead we're going to blow up the power plant." Her evil smirk is out in full force. Seems like it's still operational, and that's what's controlling the turrets Anti-Rain is encountering."
"Not to be that person, but we don't have explosives." 9 sighs. "I don't know why Gentiane assumes we have mountains of C4 just lying around."
I heft the AT4 I had begged off the HOCs higher on my shoulder. "This won't be enough, will it?"
"Nien." 416 checks her bag. "And I only have a few grenades."
"We're in luck, Commander Kylie is sending some fairies over with explosives." 45 looks roughly the direction we had come from.
I follow her gaze, but… "Fairies?" I whisper to 416.
"Small support drones." She whispers back. "They're very annoying, buzzing around like gnats, but they do sometimes provide aid."
"I see."
After a minute or so, P90 highlights a spot in the sky and I see a few black specks flying our way.
They come in closer and closer, and I can see that they're octagonal drones with two wing-like pods on either side, and all three of them are toting bags. When they finally reach us on the building, three shimmering outlines appear in the air, three… uh, stylized drawings, one each.
"One order of explosives!" The first one chirps.
"Danke." 416 reaches up and snags the first bag, 9 grabbing the second drone's burden.
I walk over and grab the third, lowering it to the ground. "Thanks."
"Hey, you're that human!" The third drone swings around me, zipping about and forcing me to stand in place lest I crash into it. "What are you doing on the battlefield?"
"Battlefields aren't for humans, stupid!" The second one laughs. "You'll die!"
"Yes, well-"
"He's probably just a sacrifice." The drawing on the first drone changes, now having crossed arms. "After all, us robots are much better than the meaty fleshbags."
…Oh boy.
"Ja, ja, you're the superior ones. Tell the Commanders that you did a good job and that you deserve a reward." 45's walks over, her teeth gleaming. "Make sure to keep asking until you get it."
"Rewards? Yay!" The drones turn around and fly off before anything else can be said.
"Y'know, I think I remember being told about fairies." I mutter. "They're worse than I imagined."
"Just be glad you're not on a long operation supported by them." 9 opens one of the bags and verifies its contents. "This should be enough to take down a power plant as long as we can get into it."
"Now, we just need to get there." 45 gestures for us to follow. "I've got a route picked out."
"Why am I stuck with you?"
I shrug at 9's comment. "I can go back. I offered to scout ahead, it was your sister that sent you out with me."
She sighs.
We've been walking through the frankly massive sewer system for the past ten minutes, eyes watching the still-unpowered turrets that hang from the ceiling and other recesses that contain enemy units, at least according to 9.
"It's because I know what I'm doing, and you'd just figure out a way to blow these up in your face."
I move the singular bag of explosives from one hand to the other, giving my shoulders a break. We'd only brought one of the bags with us, and I had volunteered to carry it. "Fair enough."
"We should be nearing the power plant soon anyway, it would be pointless to head back now." 9 looks at the markings on the walls, large letters forming words I don't understand. "Just keep your eyes out for anything moving."
I once more scan around the tunnels, which are still illuminated by decaying fixtures embedded in the ceiling. Nothing is moving aside from us. I haven't even seen any rats around.
…It occurs to me that I hadn't heard any birds in the dead city either.
That's… unnerving.
"Nothing." I report back.
"Mmm." She walks over to the wall and tugs on a metal gate, seeing that it's locked by a padlock.
I turn around and keep her covered as she slips a lockpick set out of her jacket and starts to work on the lock.
A few seconds later, the padlock clatters to the ground and I turn to see the gate swing freely, the hinges protesting loudly due to disuse.
9 hesitates before walking up the stairs beyond. "Well… this is the place."
"Want me to signal 45?"
"Nah, I'll do it." Her eyes glaze over, and I check my weapon once more.
It's not changed since the last fifteen times I checked.
"They're on their way. We're going on to finish scouting."
"Great." I look back at the stairs. "Do you want me to go first?"
"What, and risk you getting us noticed?" She snorts. "What did I say about not wanting to get shot at?"
"Ladies first, then." I gesture. "I'll be right behind you."
"Uh huh."
I carefully follow her up the steps, keeping my gun pointed carefully away from her and looking for potential ambushes.
It's only after about three sets of stairs that we come to another door, and 9 pauses as her hand touches the doorknob. "We're almost out on the street. You really need to keep your eyes open, they're likely to be guarding the entrance."
"Roger."
She carefully opens the door, and the two of us carefully step out into the sun once more.
The street looks empty-
A Dinergate leaps at 9, whose reflexes are so fast that it's dead before it reaches her, the broken machine skidding to a halt at her feet. It had come from behind the door.
"Scheisse." 9 sighs.
Suddenly, the street comes to life, emplaced turrets springing to life and all sorts of assorted Sangvis units starting to come out of the woodwork. I set my gun to semi-auto and start picking off the enemies one after another.
9's faster though, her gun tearing through the smaller robots with relative ease.
Then the turrets kick in, and I have to dive for cover behind a concrete barricade. 9 also hides.
"'What did I say about not getting spotted'?" I mock.
"Shut the fuck up!" She snaps. "Anyone would have gotten tripped up by that! 45, please tell me you're close!"
"It seems that the sewer has a few more surprises than we thought." 45's voice is punctuated by bursts of gunfire from both G11 and 416. "We're working on it. As soon as I have a spare moment, I'll shut them down."
"Wonderful!" 9 throws her hands up sarcastically. "We'll just be here, trying not to die to the turrets!"
"..." I glance at where P90's ghost sits in the corner of my vision, and she glances back at the turrets.
"I… might be able to take over one of them." She licks her lips. "I need you to get closer."
I get to my feet, but remain in a crouch to avoid being shot to pieces. Let's see, the closest of the enemy turrets is-
"What are you doing?!" 9 demands.
"Trying to not die!"
I vault over the concrete barrier dividing the two sides of the road, gun already aimed at the closest Sangvis unit.
I manage to fire three whole shots in my mad sprint toward the nearest turret, skidding to halt at its base.
While I'm pressed against it, it's unable to look down far enough to track me, and none of the others have line of sight from this angle unless they're willing to blow each other up.
9's head pokes up long enough to fire a burst, taking out a few more of the scattered Prowlers and Dinergates walking around.
"P90?"
"It's closed off, I need a hard connection! Pull off that access hatch!"
My fingers grab the metal handle and I pull hard, the locked panel warping under the strain and eventually buckling. Once that's gone-
"Now, listen carefully. See that diagnostic port on the bottom of the panel? Plug the cable from the Linker into that."
The exo suit snaps away from my arms as I reach over and unplug it, my legs suddenly locked in place as the wire disconnects.
Well, now I'm fucked unless P90 can get control of the turret.
I plug the cable in, and she starts concentrating on that. Meanwhile, I pick my gun back up and start firing at the smaller robots that are trying to flank around the turret to get to me.
"Done!"
Suddenly, the turret beside me turns away from 9 and focuses on the nearby Sangvis units, blasting them away. I take the moment to reload and do my best to peer around the side of the turret with my legs still bound.
P90 grins as she steps out into the road in front of me, arms crossed, and declares "That's what you get!"
I shake my head and push my gun back out, facing the still incoming horde of Small robots.
Until they all shut down at once.
P90 blinks. "Wait, what just-"
"I got it." 45's voice comes through the Linker. "All the local networks are down."
"...My turret…" P90 whines, and I unplug her cable so I can walk again.
Ah, freedom.
9 vaults over the concrete wall and looks at the carnage. "I can't say I'd mind seeing you chewed up, but my sister and 416 would, and I really don't want to have to deal with that. Don't do the suicidal things, m'kay?"
I give her a look. "I thought this entire thing was a suicide mission?"
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean you should be going on ahead of them." She glares at my right hand, adorned with three rings. "Doesn't your promises mean anything?"
"...Next time, I'll let you hack the turret then."
Her lips curl into a faint smile. "Not on your life."
416 bursts through the door back down to the underground tunnels, eyes flicking along the road to get a sitrep and after finding all the Sangvis units dead and 9 and I just standing around, she slows down and walks over. "Everything's secure?"
"Yep." I turn to her. "And look! It's the power plant!"
"Ja." She eyes the decrepit building. "It doesn't look like it's well maintained."
"Well, this city's been abandoned since WWIII." 9 shrugs, grabbing the bag of explosives and heading toward the entrance.
"I'm going back to get G11." 416 walks back, and I see 45 stepping out into the light, eye looking around for something.
"WWIII? But…" I kick at a Dinergate corpse. "These are Sangvis units… right?"
"Ah, right, you were raised in a sheltered city." 45 steps up to me, much too close to have an easy conversation. I wrap my arms around her as she continues. "Sangvis was a drone manufacturer for a long time before their AI went off the rails. You'll notice there's none of the Doll forms since that tech didn't really exist back then."
"Huh." I look around, and yeah, there's just the more robotic looking units, none of the human looking ones I saw when I was captured by M16.
The door creaks open and 45 pushes herself off of me as 416 steps out, dragging G11 behind her.
"We need to get this powerplant offline as soon as possible." 416 drops G11 at my feet. "Babysit her while we arm everything."
45 nods and shoulders the last bag. "Keep an eye out."
G11's awake enough to look around while 416 and 45 disappear into the power plant. "Are we done yet?"
"We found the power plant." I sit down on a decorative stone fence that must have once been containing a garden. "Everyone else is inside planting those bombs."
"Oh." She looks around. "So, I can go back to napping?"
"Sure."
She stands up, walks over to me, and collapses into my lap, using me like a chair.
"Uh…" I start to protest, but she's already out like a light.
Eh, this is fine, I suppose.
It's about five minutes later when the other three come out of the building. "We've got ninety seconds." 45 informs me.
"Ah shit. G11, we've got to move."
"Five more minutes." She mumbles, eyes remaining closed.
416 strides over, slings the smaller girl over her shoulder and starts running.
I get to my feet quickly and keep pace. They're not going particularly fast, so maybe it's not going to be a super large-
The sky turns white.
A pressure wave hits my back, and I stumble forward, my ears ringing from the blast.
Still, 404's voices are transmitted into my head via the Linker, and I can hear them over the ringing.
"Schiesse, that was close." 9 complains.
"AR-Team is indicating that the turrets are down." 45 reports. "Looks like we got the job done."
416 nods, but I notice she's looking up at the sky. "When did it get foggy?"
I look around, but… "Uh, 416, there's no fog."
"No, she's right, I see it too." 9 frowns. "That wasn't here a moment ago."
"What are you talking about?" I raise an eyebrow. "It's still-"
"Uh." P90 speaks in my ear, and I almost jump. "Actually…"
Suddenly, a haze so thick I can barely see where I'm trying to put my foot down on the ground appears, and I have to keep myself from stumbling around in surprise.
What the fuck-
45 looks at me curiously, but turns to her teammates. "I think these are a mass of external connections. M4 was being probed earlier, but it looks like it's our turn. The overwhelming intensity is showing up as visual feedback."
Oh. I silently ask P90 to stop blocking my view.
416's hands wave around. "It's so thick, I would never have guessed it's not real."
"If we're gonna have to fight in this, I don't like our chances." 9 bites her lip.
"...I may have a solution." 45 turns to me. "You can still see well, ja?"
"Yes."
"Then, make sure nothing sneaks up on us while I do this, okay?"
"Sure."
"Train's inside the city safely, but the interference that sprung up is very hard to cut through." Commander Mikhail drags on his cigarette. "We're sending dolls out to look for the other quarantine wall control and also to act as relays to get signals around. It's still pretty sketchy, as you can tell."
I nod. "Alright. 45 thinks we're best off heading to the control station to meet back up." I glance at where 45 is finishing up with G11. "We should be on our way soon."
"Roger."
45 stands up a few moments later, sighing and stretching. "Done."
"I can see!" G11 cheers in her tired way.
I walk over to them. "So… what did you do?"
"I was able to shut down everyone's external connections." 45 taps her duct-taped arm with her other hand. "Once we're not being bombarded with attempted connections, the fog is gone."
"But we're not able to use the Zener network either." 416 steps up next to me. "So we're not able to coordinate normally. We're going to have to use spoken word."
…Oh, I barely noticed we were talking aloud. It's too easy to switch back and forth.
"So I just have to shut down all my access ports?" P90 mutters. "But then I'd have to disconnect from Hadwin…"
I direct my thoughts at her. "Do you want me to turn you off?"
"Nah, I can just look through your eyes." She shrugs. "It's not ideal, but-"
"Hadwin?" 45 walks up to me. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." I shake my head. "Let's get a move on."
She falls in step beside me as we start moving. Ahead of us, G11 is being dragged by an alert 416 and 9 is busy peeking into alleys with her gun at the ready in case anything is hiding there.
"So many signals." 45 muses aloud. "We certainly woke up the city with that."
"Wonderful." I deadpan. "Do you think the natives are going to welcome us with open arms?"
"Probably." She reloads her namesake firearm. "ELIDs tend to be grabby."
"ELIDs?" I blanche. "What-"
416's gun starts to fire, and I bring my own gun up to see she has already taken out a lone ELID that had wandered into view.
The gunfire echoes through the concrete canyons, only for a new sound to come back at us as the burst of gunfire fades away.
The screams of the dead.
I flick on the laser on my gun, get a good grip on it, and fall into formation with the group as G11 wakes up and 9 returns to the group to prepare for the incoming enemies.
"It feels like all we've been fighting has been ELIDs recently." I grumble. "What happened to fighting easy things?"
"Easy things? What, like Patrollers?" 9 rolls her eyes.
"...Fair point."
An ELID pops around the corner, and once more 416 pops it before it can do more than glance in our direction.
But, behind that one is another.
And another.
And then more and more start to show up.
I raise my gun, red laser dot hitting one of them, and I pull the trigger.
Gunfire spews forth from our little group as we press forward through the city toward the station we're meeting up at.
After the initial ball of ELIDs that got in our way, we were able to move faster, the enemies trickling in through side alleys and out of buildings long since abandoned rather than fighting an ever increasing horde.
It's stressful, but nowhere near as stressful as fighting a horde.
During a lull in the oncoming enemies, 416 tugs on my sleeve.
"What's up?" I turn to see what she's looking at, only to find…
A doll.
Not one I know, personally, but I've seen her around.
I run up to her and kneel by her side. "Hey. Hey!"
416 walks up behind me. "She's not out of power. She should be responding."
"...I think I understand what's going on here." 45 strides up. "Looks like our target went through here."
"We have a target?"
"Ja." 45's eye dances around the doll. "The one causing this mess."
I shake my head. "So, she's not dead, right?"
"No." 9 sighs. "She's… I guess 'unconscious' would be the closest human analogue."
"Should we grab her core?" My hands start to itch, an odd feeling for the fully metal version. "We can't just leave her here."
"Nein." 416 stands up straight. "We'll stash her somewhere close by and signal another Griffin squad to come get her."
"...Okay." I stand up, not managing to tear my eyes away from the sight of her eyes staring straight up into the sky, unmoving. "I'll move her."
"Oh? Gonna get handsy with another one?" 9 elbows me in the ribs, harder than she really needed to.
"No, I'm just 'useless with a gun'." I lift the doll up in a fireman's carry, P90 providing me with instructions on how to even perform the maneuver. "You can aim better than me, yeah?"
"Well, yeah…"
"Let's keep going." 45 announces. "Like it or not, we're on the clock."
I tuck the doll into a storefront, sitting on a chair so that she would be easy to spot and… well, assuming she's still awake in there, just unable to move, she'll be able to see.
I have to run to catch up after setting the doll in place, only to find that there's another body lying on the ground, mere meters away.
45 walks over to the corpse, one that looks suspiciously like M4A1. It's not wearing her distinctive clothing, and its face has tattoos that M4 doesn't have.
"This is… a Nyto?" I ask, unsure of myself.
"Ja. A dead one." 45 frowns. "No weapons, no friends… No signs of combat. I wonder what killed her?"
I shrug. "Maybe the ELIDs?"
"No tearing or breakage of her torso." 45 leans down. "I'm going to see if I can get anything out of her mind."
"...Isn't she a clone?" I scratch my face. "I'm still a bit confused on that."
"We're… not entirely sure." 45 sighs. "She does look a lot like M4 though, doesn't she? Odd for a creature that bleeds blood instead of coolant." She pulls a cable from her arm and plugs it into the Nyto.
I keep my thoughts to myself, quietly wondering if it's not M4 that's the weird one out in this arrangement.
"45-nee?" 9 asks after a few moments. "Hey, 45?"
"Relax, she just entered-" I start, only for the fake twin to give me a hostile glare.
"It shouldn't take more than a fraction of a second! Now, let me-"
She pulls her goggles down over her eyes and her body locks in place.
I nervously look at 416 and G11, who are both walking backwards toward us, guns at the ready as two of our teammates are suddenly out of commission.
I bring my own weapon up, finger slipping into the trigger guard. It's so quiet out here, like a scene in a zombie movie. I remind myself that if I do see anything, it's gonna be an ELID which is close enough to a zombie to count-
"Scheisse!" 45 shouts suddenly, and my finger reflexively tightens, sending a round into a nearby building. "We need to move!"
45 and 9 spring into action, and 416 has to dodge from being bowled over in their hurry.
"What-" I ask, only for 45 to snap back over her shoulder at me.
"They know where M4 is!"
I take off with the others, my exo suit pushing me as hard as it can while 404 runs around as well.
"The fog is clearing." P90 reports to me.
"It is?" 45 and 416 look back at me and I meet their eyes. "Ah, uh, the fog-"
"The Nytos stopped trying to mass connect to us." 45 reports back. "They reversed my hack and managed to rummage around in my neural cloud long enough to find their target."
"I want to know how you knew M4 was a target." 416 glares are her teammate, her stride unbroken. "Seems like it would be crucial information."
"The Nyto told me." 45 says flippantly. "It was obvious with the way they were trying to find someone in any case."
"It was?" I ask, eyes seeking 416's for confirmation.
"I suppose." She turns to face straight ahead and continues moving.
"What I wanna know is-" 9 complains loudly. "-where the hell are we going?!"
"The commanders have moved the train into the main terminal." 45 announces. "We're heading that way. I got in touch with M4 just now, and she told me a few things. We still don't have access to the quarantine wall, but she's working on that."
9 snorts.
"Why are we running then?" G11 moans. "We can walk, right?"
"We don't know what the Nytos are planning." 45 shakes her head. "Until we know why they want M4, our job isn't done."
I look up into the sky, clear as can be, and wonder just how bad this day is going to get.
"We're getting reports of dolls being approached by people they can't see properly, likely due to connection density, being given a set of coordinates. Then, the mysterious figures leave."
I nod to Commander Mikhail as he finishes his update. Everyone's able to move for the moment, and are regrouping at the train.
45 had called a halt to our movements shortly after G11 had decided to protest our pace by collapsing face first on the street. 416 is still cleaning her up, while 45 and 9 speak to each other in hushed tones, and I talk with Mikhail in a vain attempt to figure out what the hell is going on.
"By the way, stay away from any flowers you see." He continues. "They'll kill you.'
"...Huh?"
"This place was set up as a dumping ground for Paradeus. They've even gone so far as to plant flowers called Epiphylla that absorbs collapse radiation and then lets it all out in a burst. They've been sending refugees here to die."
I blanche, and 416 glances over at me with worry. 45 hasn't had time to reconnect everyone to the Zener network so I'm the only one who gets reports normally. 45 is still connected to M4 somehow, at least according to 9.
"Anti-Rain discovered this when they were clearing out the terminal." Mikhail concludes. "We've managed to get into contact with someone who used to be close with Paradeus-"
"Wait, back up." I cut him off. "Who…"
"Persica. She's the one who figured out Neural Clouds, and built the Anti-Rain team especially. Apparently, she used to know the guy pulling the strings." His voice becomes suspicious. "I don't think I'm going to trust her though, it's a bit too convenient, if you ask me."
"I've yet to hear a single good thing about Persica."
"Fair enough. She's kind of-" He's cut off by a voice that I can barely hear muttering from behind him. "Ah, looks like I'm needed. M4's being ordered to connect to whatever's out there."
"You mean the Nytos?"
Mikhail pauses a moment. "You've seen Nytos?"
"Yeah, a few dead ones. They look like M4." I hesitate a bit. "Did… you not know that?"
"No… we've not gotten any visuals, and they lock every doll they encounter in place."
"Oh, great."
"M4's opened a connection." 45 announces suddenly. "I'm going in after her."
9 nods and sits down next to her sister, pulling her goggles down over her eyes and plugging herself straight into 45's arm.
They're going into M4's Neural cloud, apparently. I don't know why since I wasn't let in on the reason we've been monitoring the quiet girl in the first place. I mean, aside from the fact that the Nytos look like M4.
And that she's their target.
Yeah… I was warned M4 wasn't normal before, but I'm starting to realize just what everyone meant.
"Eh?" 9's voice mutters out after a moment or two more. "I got kicked out."
"Is 45 okay?" I ask, but 9's already back to her statue impression, not a movement to be seen in her frame.
"What's going on?" Mikhail asks.
"45 and 9 are busy with M4, I think." I glance back at the twins. "I hope everything's alright."
"So do I." Mikhail lights up a cigarette and starts to suck on it. "How far away from the train station?"
"Maybe a kilometer." I quietly thank P90 for the quick information display. "We're going to get going as soon as we can."
"See that you do. We'll be waiting."
The connection drops and I turn to see 416 is done wiping G11's face off and is walking my way. "What is going on?"
"Well… if we encounter more turrets, we should be fine if we find a small bracelet around." I start. "Those are apparently keyed to the turrets. Also, M4 is connecting to the Nytos."
She frowns. "That seems like a bad idea."
I shrug. "It should be fine, right? M4 knows what she's…" I glance over at 45 to see her body is turning red and steam is rising from her skin. "What the fuck-"
416 runs over and plugs herself into the same network 9 is, leaving just G11 and I out in the open.
The young-in-appearance girl and I exchange a look, and I step a few steps closer to the groups clustered up.
416 jerks awake, and a few moments later 9 also snaps her eyes open.
"45!" 9 cries out, shaking her sister. "45!"
"She didn't make it out?" 416's eyes flick to meet mine for a moment. "She's still in there?"
"What do you mean, 'still in there'?!" I demand. "What's going on?"
"45-nee's stuck in M4's neural cloud." 9 opens a connection to me and P90 'helpfully' shows me several images. "Quick send those out to the commanders! They need to know before it's too late!"
"P90?" I ask.
"Already on it."
"Sending." I move up to 45, impossibly still. "She'll… She'll be alright, yeah?"
"We can only hope." 416 scoops up the frame and turns to me. "Here, you carry her."
The body lands in my arms, hot enough to be uncomfortable even through clothes that are showing signs of heat damage, but not so hot as to force me to drop her.
Every joint is limp.
416 readies her gun. "We'll figure something out."
"Yes, we will." 9 spits vehemently. "We're not losing her!"
"Yeah!" G11 gets to her feet. "Though, if she does go away, I can sleep longer-Ow!"
416 bonks her charge on the head. "Let's get moving, back to the train terminal."
I heft 45's frame in my arms, shifting her into a more comfortable holding position.
416 better be right.
As we walk, 45's body cools off rapidly.
The heat in my arms fades away into the cool air, her body completely still.
I've seen doll corpses before.
Many, most of them caused through my own stupidity.
This one isn't like that.
I have her in a princess carry, and I can see the ring she had slipped onto my finger poking out from behind her. She's wearing the matching ring around her neck on a loop of paracord, tucked out of sight.
Before, it was always someone I cared about. This time, it was someone that I love and I can't get back.
But, the worst part of it all is… I can't do anything about it. I never had a chance to help. This situation is so far outside my abilities, I barely understood what 9 had tried to explain to me as we continued to move forward toward the train station.
45's consciousness got stuck inside of M4A1's neural cloud. Her core is empty, the data stream normally flowing around in there sent through some sort of signal into someone else's head. A concept so alien to humans that I wonder if I'm the first person to be so unlucky as to have his girlfriend absorbed into someone else electronically.
At least with the others, I could point out my own mistakes to myself. P90 died because I wasn't fast enough, her ghost notwithstanding. S.A.T. and M37 keep getting hurt because they have to protect me. Those always hurt, but at least I can blame myself and get better so there isn't a next time.
This time though…
Intellectually, I know she's alright. Or, as alright as she can be inside someone else's mind. Still, holding a body that is completely empty, one that might remain empty since she doesn't have a backup, I…
I try to stuff my panic down as hard as I can, as I have been every time I have this same set of thoughts over and over again.
She'll be alright.
She's the best hacker out there. Everyone else keeps telling me she's in another league compared with everyone else.
But what if she isn't?
My legs move a little faster, though I'm still lagging behind the rest of 404. Even G11 suddenly seems motivated, her gun held properly in her hands and eyes wide awake, looking for enemies. It doesn't help that things keep moving in the shadows.
We're not alone here.
Out of the corners of my eyes, I can see people barely poking their head out from around buildings or running down back alleys. Whenever I try to get a good look, they always vanish, but I swear they look just like M4.
Nytos.
Up until now, I've met a whole six or so of them, and they've all tried to kill me outright. Just from the number I've seen walking the same direction as us, even assuming that a lot of the glimpses I've gotten are of the same Nyto, there's got to be dozens of them.
M4 is supposedly connecting to them, or attempting to… I'm not really clear on that.
In any case, she's doing it because we just don't know much about the Nytos, apparently. It's mostly what we can glean from their corpses after combat-
"M4, you are ordered to avoid connecting to the Nytos!" A voice I don't recognize calls out.
Gentiane's voice comes out soon after. "All units, make sure to stop any of the Nytos that come in."
I glance at 416, who stiffens up and turns to aim her gun down the nearest alley, but doesn't fire.
"What's going on?" I reply back.
"It's a trap! William planned this, somehow!" The woman's voice sounds both exhausted and afraid, a mix I've become all too familiar with. "How long… 3 years? 5?"
"Get a grip, Persica." Gentine cuts in. "We need to stop the Nytos from merging with M4."
"Rog-" The channel suddenly blasts static into my brain, and it takes P90 a second to cut it off for me. "...Ow."
"They're making their move." 9 bites her lip.
"How can you tell?" 416 asks sarcastically, only for us to get an actual response when 9 points up ahead.
I hadn't been paying much attention to my surroundings, mostly just to the forms dressed in all black and the inert body in my arms, but we had gotten very close to the train station.
All around the station, dolls that had been performing security duties or just been off the train to stretch their legs had all frozen in place. A few particularly unlucky ones had been caught mid stride and had fallen over on the ground.
My pace had unconsciously slowed down as I immediately started to prepare to help the others, but 416 places her hand on my shoulder before I can even internalize a next course of action.
"We're likely the only ones still able to act. We need to wake 45 up as soon as we can so she can help them."
"...Right."
We run into the train station, past fallen dolls, past corpses of ELIDs and less-mutated folk, past scattered flower petals that remind me of the warning I had received.
We run until we see Anti-Rain in person.
RO and Sop are frozen in place, eyes dim. 15 is plugged into the back of M4's head, and-
"Stay the FUCK away from them!" I howl, and the Nyto that had been caressing M4's chin turns to us.
"Oh? I missed a few?" The Nyto turns to us, her voice level. "I can fix that."
I almost bump into 416 as she comes to a complete stop in front of me. 9 and G11 also freeze in place.
"I can't move!" G11 wails.
"I can't… aim my gun!" 416 growls.
"But, I closed off all my open ports…" 9 mutters.
"I'm not here to fight." The Nyto's voice remains level, but somehow gains a hint of condescension. "I have seen too much death. Our conflict is meaningless. I have come to welcome her, who will then take us away.
Only through connection did I finally understand that I could never become her, whom others looked-"
BANG
She turns to look at me, or at least at the barrel of my pistol that I had drawn after setting down 45 carefully while she was muttering something stupid.
My shot missed her since my hand was shaking.
"...A human. A human with a most curious child assisting him." The Nyto gestures with her finger, and suddenly P90's assistance disappears, and my vision fills with a rainbow void like the first time I had tried to use the Linker.
Well, not quite. I can make out some things. And, I can tell where my arms and legs are, and I can move them. I reach up blindly, hoping against hope that I can flick off the Linker and regain my senses enough to-
Wait, if I turn this off I'll be stuck inside the exo suit.
Release.
RELEASE!
The exo suit springs open under my red Griffin coat, and I struggle to pull my arm out of the trapped sleeves. Eventually, I tumble out and unsteadily get back to my feet.
I force myself to calm down and focus, the random static in my head clearing as I struggle to comprehend the noise the Linker is feeding me, unfiltered by an assistant AI.
I'd been told it was possible, but I haven't tried since my first day-
I manage to struggle to my feet, walking over to the Nyto that had apparently entirely dismissed me, and pushing her from her pose of prayer in front of M4. She falls over, as empty as 45's shell is now.
Shit.
I look back to see the three from 404 are still stuck in place, but their eyes are still active.
"Are you alright?!" 416 demands.
"She… did something to my Linker." I manage to get out. "Are you guys alright?"
"She attacked us despite our precautions." 9 grumbles. "We can't move! She got control of our frames!"
"Can I help?"
"Nein." 416's eyes meet mine. "Go in there and get 45."
"A-Alright." I grab the cable from the exo suit and move closer to 15 and M4, looking at how they're connected. Is there a spare port?
15 is so still… She's not trapped like 45, is she?
Panic starts to overcome me, and the static in my brain from the Linker gets worse again, blinding me to the world, which only serves to increase my panic.
Shit. SHIT!
I bite my lip hard enough to draw blood, and I focus on the pain long enough to get my focus back.
I lift up the flap of fake skin on M4's neck where the wire front 15 to M4 is, and I look at the panel. Uh, the socket is circular…
There isn't a spare port in the same shape.
I turn to 9. "H-how do I-"
Suddenly, everyone else starts to move. 416 leaps forward and grabs me, and seconds later 45's eye opens.
"Ah, looks like I'm ba-"
I don't particularly care that the floor is hard, I almost tackle her down as I wrap my arms around her. My arms pull her as tight as I can, face buried into her chest.
9 is able to move a fraction of a second later, also collapsing to her knees and touching 45's face as the girl pats me with amusement. "Well, I wasn't expecting a welcoming party."
I let go of her so she can stand up, and then I notice more movement.
RO blinks. "...When did you get here, 404?"
"Just now." G11 replies, then shudders violently. "We got frozen in place. That was scary."
RO makes eye contact with me, then glances at the abandoned exo suit. "What-"
"Is… this the real world?"
I turn to see 15 blinking and looking around.
Once more, I leap and wrap my arms around her, stumbling the still half asleep girl, though she manages not to fall over, unplugging the cable from her neck and then returning the hug. "I didn't expect to see you here."
I can't find any words, just holding her tightly for a moment more before letting her go.
"Looks like everyone's waking up." RO says, looking around. Indeed, more of the others are starting to collect themselves, their guns up and at the ready, looking around and asking for orders over the radio.
"...We're going to need to find a new way to get the Auth codes for the quarantine wall." M4 says quietly. "I lost my chance to get them."
"Plan B then." 416 shrugs, then gestures to Sop. "Isn't she good with explosives?"
Sop nods. "Yeah, but where would I get-"
The ground shudders, and a massive explosion rocks the station. Multiple smaller explosions can be heard following up, and everyone grabs their guns.
"What the fuck-" I mutter.
"Before I disconnected, I felt one of the Isomers make an outbound connection to someone outside of Tallinn." 45 says calmly. Of everyone in the station, she's the only one still talking casually. "It seems that now that the culprit in M4's mind has been revealed, they are going to bury us here."
"Commander!" A doll with blue hair, a matching left eye and a pink right eye suddenly makes a connection. "The KCCO's train! It's here!"
416 turns and runs from the room, and I immediately chase after her.
"Where-" 416 throws open a stairwell and starts taking the steps two at a time.
I chase after her, but I quickly run out of stamina and start lagging behind. By the time I reach the roof exit and almost collapse from the exertion, 416 is already at the edge of the roof, staring intently to the south.
I manage to walk over to her, still gasping for air. "W-what is it?"
She points. "The train."
I look where she's pointing, the evening sun dying the hulking metal contraption blood red. Several Artillery turrets are swiveling about, finding firing solutions while the still-moving train continues to approach.
"That is extremely bad news." 416 mutters, and I have to agree with her.
"So… whatever they found inside of M4 is why they've been after us?" I ask.
"Most likely. You'd have to ask 45 though." She turns to me. "We're going to be going into combat once more, I would think."
I nod. "Y-yeah… Stay safe."
"You will do the same." It's not a question.
She reaches out and pulls me into a kiss, and then turns to walk back down the stairway we had arrived at.
"What's the situation, 416?" 45's voice arrives over the radio.
"The KCCO is making their move." 416 replies. "It looks like they brought an armored train, not a regular one."
"Well, that's going to make this hard." 45 comments lightly. "So, AR team, how should we be preparing?"
Even I notice the edge to 45's voice, and I glance at 416 who just frowns.
"I just got in touch with Gentiane." RO supplies. "They've already relocated… I think they must have been expecting this, somewhat. We're supposed to set up a defensive line."
I open the door and let 416 through, only half listening to the radio.
"Looks like you still have time, M4!" 45 chirps.
"Time for what?" M4 replies, sounding confused.
"Parapluie is irreversible." 45 continues. "You don't really believe OGAS is gone, do you?"
M4's voice is a bit unsteady. "I don't understand what you're getting at."
I frown to myself as we take the stairs down at a much more reasonable pace.
"Don't you intend to retrieve the important thing you've lost?" 45 prods further.
"I… haven't lost anything important."
"Is she talking about M16?" I ask 416.
Her lips curl into a frown. "I… do not think so."
"I see, you're planning on running away." 45's voice is nice and bright, setting the hair on the back of my neck standing at attention. Then- "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"
416 pauses and looks back at me. "Scheisse."
"Yeah."
We take the rest of the stairs down two at a time.
"Do you still think you're some tragic heroine?!" 45 demands.
"Let go of her!" 15 snarls back.
I get to the doorway just behind 416, and just in time to see 45 shove M4 back. "I thought you were pretty impressive, being able to contain OGAS. Seems like it's a waste of your specs though."
I realize that 404 and Anti-Rain have subconsciously moved to form smaller groups, and I'm kind of standing off to the side between them. I see hands going for guns, but-
"What are you talking about?" RO demands.
"Haven't you been paying attention?" 45 rolls her eye. "She's been talking to nobody, she's been hacking things even dedicated EW dolls have trouble with. Even on this mission, she was able to grab several turrets at once, which is pretty impressive, I might add."
"Um… M4?" Sop's voice is quiet. "You're not hiding anything from us, are you?"
M4 glances at 15, and 15 holds her gaze for a moment before her bright pink eyes flick my way. "I… think it's time you let us all in on your secret. We're your backup, you don't have to bear it all alone."
45 sighs. "Ja, you ARE special, but if you let this go on, you will end up getting yourself, your team, and the entirety of Griffin killed. This is the moment of truth, M4A1. This decision may cost you your peaceful status quo, but running away will cost you your entire future. You think just because that voice disappeared, everything's over? No, this is merely the beginning!"
"I… understand." M4 bites her lip.
The tension drained from the room slightly, and I walk over to 15. "What is going on?"
She hesitates. "Er… it's a really long story. M4 was fusing with the Nytos and… uh, they wanted to take her over." She frowns. "Actually, she took the OGAS in my head too…"
"...Oh, the thing that meant you couldn't use your radio!"
"...Yes." She blinks a few times, looking out into the darkness of the room we found ourselves in. "I should reconnect to the Zener network."
"...I'm glad you're okay." I place a hand on her shoulder.
"Of course I am." She looks at her sister, who seems to be screwing up her courage. "I think M4 is going to tell us something, but I don't know if she's going to be willing to tell you."
"So I should leave?"
She nods. "Go see if you can help 404 more."
"Got it." I squeeze her shoulder then turn away and walk over to 404.
45 raises an eyebrow. "Back so soon?"
"Yeah, looks like they have the entire situation under control." I shrug. "So, what are we doing?"
"First, we've got to scrape what we can out of the wrecked train." 416 informs me.
"...Wrecked train?"
I hold my breath as an Orthrus stalks past, dog-like head moving around and sniffing.
416 has her hand over my mouth to keep me from talking, and her other hand on a handgun aimed at its vital points.
G11 is once more awake, her gun aiming down the narrow alley we had tucked ourselves into, the frame pressing into my side.
The three of us don't really have room to move in this tiny alley, and to be honest, if it finds us, we're pretty screwed.
The Orthrus walks on and 416 keeps me still for a few more seconds before releasing me.
I stumble out of the alley despite my best efforts to remain upright, and 416 barely manages to make it out of the alley to snag my collar and keep me upright before I fall face first.
I didn't realize how much P90 was helping me up until now. The Linker was starting to give me a migraine headache as I tried to use it without her help, so I had to ditch it and the exo suit at the temporary base the Commanders were setting up.
Speaking of, nobody told me the train blew up. I learned when I walked up to it and several of the cars in the middle were just missing, the tracks below twisted.
Some of the dolls were busy repairing the tracks, but the train is a lost cause with all the damage done to it. I managed to scavenge my small amount of stuff out of the relatively untouched caboose and put S.A.T. in charge of handling it.
Then 45 had informed me that it was time to go on a mission.
I put as much ammo as I could carry into my vest, grabbed the radio and throat mic I always use to talk to 15, tucked the handgun in, and-
"Did you really need to bring the launcher?" 416 asks quietly.
"It's the KCCO, yeah?" I reply at the same volume level as I shift the AT4 strap higher on my shoulder. "They have tanks."
"We're trying to sneak in." G11 gives me an annoyed look. "That's not sneaky."
"But it will be really useful if we get spotted."
The radio buzzes. "Let's not let that happen, ja?" 45's voice is calm as usual. "These defenses are pretty heavy."
"They're definitely wary of us." 9 grumbles. "You'd think we had our own tanks with how high their guard is."
"They're not here to give us a fair fight." 416 gestures for me to follow her, and I carefully pick my way across the abandoned road, gun raised and looking for anyone that's going to spot us.
"Why are they even on such a high alert anyway?" G11 asks.
"So nobody tries to turn off their turrets?" I turn to her. "I mean, it's what we're doing."
"But it's so annoying!"
…I'm starting to think I like sleepy G11 better.
"45-nee and I are almost at the train." 9 cuts in. "I don't sense any signals from the train, so it's likely we're going to have to get inside-"
An Aegis walks around the corner of the next street, gun raised.
416's quick on the trigger, firing a few shots into the Aegis' frame before it is able to respond, the unit crashing to the ground.
Then several more come around the corner.
"We're compromised!" 416 snaps into the radio.
"Oh, come on!"
I manage to shoot one of the Aegis units before it can raise its weapon, G11 takes out two more, but the rest open fire and we're forced to scramble for cover.
"Change of plans, 404?" RO's voice comes over the radio.
"There's a lot more sentries than we bargained for." 45 states. "We can't really back out either, we're in too deep."
"Where exactly are you?" 15 asks.
"Just outside the city limits. They seem hesitant to enter the city for some reason."
416 tucks herself behind the concrete barrier that I had taken shelter behind, and she mutters just loud enough for me to hear "Ja, I wonder why with how crazy Gentiane's plans tend to be."
"On the plus side, we can verify that they're not preparing their cannons to fire. It seems like they just wanted to destroy our train."
"Looks like we're going to have to switch plans." RO mutters.
"We're frail and delicate dolls that are only good for dirty work." 45's voice sounds like she's trying to put the charm on. "Maybe it wasn't the best idea to send us to seize a large hunk of metal?"
"Then why did you agree to do it?" 416 grumbles, pulling out her grenade launcher.
I keep her covered as she loads a grenade and carefully aims over the concrete barrier, the dull thump of the round launching into the air filled a few seconds later with a small explosion a few meters away.
G11 pokes her head out and takes out the last few remaining stragglers, allowing 416 and I to get out of our location.
"Well, Gentiane asked us to take the pressure off of you by firing on the train's defenses. You're still going to need to get to the train to disable the cannons though." RO's voice comes through the comms.
"Wunderbar…" 416 snarls.
"416!" G11 cries out. "Orthrus!"
I turn around to see the robotic dog that we had barely hidden from had doubled back, and is running toward us at speed. My fingers flick my Badger to full auto and I pull the trigger.
.300 blackout scrapes along the bot's armored frame, and a second later G11's rounds start to punch away at it, but at the speed it's going…
416 grabs me and yanks me down as it pounces, my reaction speed too slow to execute the dodge the way I had intended to. The Orthrus sails overhead, and 416 raises her rifle to fire as it skids to a stop on the other side of us.
It turns to face us and throws up a force shield, 416's rounds stopping in the air in front of it and clattering to the ground.
I reload my gun and poke the barrel around the side of the barrier. There's no other targets for now-
The barrier shatters, and the Orthrus prepares to leap once more.
I fire a few rounds that glance off its head, one of them piercing its eye and sending it reeling back.
416 takes advantage of the opportunity, leaping over our cover to gun the dog down.
I climb out from behind the cover, G11 right behind me.
"So, what's the plan now?" I ask.
"Simple." 45's voice comes from right behind me, and I turn to see the twins have made it back to our position. "We still need to reach the train, or else we're going to be stuck here."
"...Right." I think back to our shattered train.
45 walks up in front of the group. "9 and I found a path that is hopefully less crowded than just charging the train head on, and should get us close to the control center. Follow me, and keep your weapons ready."
I lick my lips and swap my half-empty magazine for a fresh one.
The dolls enter a light jog that is just about at my capacity for movement without my exo suit. I have to keep on my toes to not trip over things they seem to avoid with ease, and I hardly have time to register enemy presences before one of the others gets it.
I decide to just focus on running, but I can't help but look up at the train-
"MOVE!" I yell, and dive for cover.
The rest of 404 scatters just in time to avoid an artillery shell crashing down on top of us.
My ears ring, and I feel a hand grab my arm and start pulling me, 45 desperately trying to get me to move.
I follow her, glancing back only once to try to see where the other had gone, but with the cloud from the explosion still hanging in the air, they're all obscured.
"Sound off!" 45 snaps.
"Here."
"I'm alright!"
"I wanna go home!"
That's everyone.
"The train was waiting for us to get closer for it to use its cannons." 45 stops dragging me. "This is going to be a problem."
I bend over while trying to catch my breath, unable to participate as the conversion continues.
"...We're gonna need someone to distract the train." 416 mutters.
I attempt to stand up, but 45 puts a hand on me and disconnects the radio. "Ja, 9, get in touch with AR team. Let's see if their high spec frames live up to the hype."
"Got it!"
"45…" I pant. "W-wait!"
"Hadwin…" She closes her eyes. "I know you want to help, but right now you don't have your exo suit. You're practically a sitting duck for those cannons. Right now, we need you to help get us into that train." She sets down her gun and holds my cheeks in her hands. "I'm sure 15 will be okay. She's a survivor."
"...Alright." I finally manage to stand up straight. "I hope you're right."
"I always am." She smirks. "Now, let's make sure they aren't spending a moment longer dodging those than they need to."
"Okay." I grab my weapon from where it's dangling on its lanyard and fall in behind 45 as she continues to move forward cautiously. "Where are the others?"
"We're all moving along different paths, we can't afford to go back and regroup."
"...Yeah."
She tosses me a grenade from her jacket. "Hey, pull the pin on that, but hold down the spoon until I say so."
"Uh-"
I got so distracted by the grenade that I almost didn't notice that we arrived within about half a kilometer of the train across open ground until gunfire from the cannons mounted on top drew my attention.
They're firing in low arcs, and judging by how much they're moving around back and forth they're targeting individual units on the ground.
Anti-Rain.
I spare a thought for their safety before being brought back to reality by 45's shout. "Hadwin, there!"
I lob the grenade where she points, practically holding my breath for the five seconds it takes to detonate-
A cloud of smoke suddenly cuts us from view of the train, and 45 once more breaks out into a full out sprint. I can't keep up, but I do my best to follow where she's going without falling over any of the decade old debris littered about.
She leads me into another alley and doesn't stop moving, leaving me to try just a bit harder to catch up, my lungs screaming at me.
"WHOA!" Sop's voice cuts in. "I'm losing dummies!"
"Keep moving!" 15 snaps. "We can't afford to stop!"
"HOCs are on their way." RO's voice is strained. "ETA 30 seconds."
"We don't have that!" 15 yells back.
"Tough!"
I bite my lip. Just keep moving, just keep moving!
45's weapon comes up and she sprays a volley at a bunch of Cyclops units that are looking around for us.
I follow suit, though my aim is all sorts of shot as my muscles strain to keep me even slightly on target.
They duck for cover, and I continue after 45, not bothering to fully take them down.
Seconds later, 9 joins up, leaping down from a rooftop to street level and shooting at some smaller units that I hadn't noticed. "Found you!"
"Mmm." 45 fires her gun a few more times. "Let's not stop to chat."
I'd laugh, but I have no air to spare for such frivolous activities.
That's it. If I make it out, I'm gonna run every day until this isn't hard anymore.
"416 and G11?" 9 asks a moment later.
"Still en route." 45 replies.
I fire my gun at an Aegis approaching with a stun baton, slowing down just enough to get a good shot before turning back and continuing my mad dash.
The train comes into sight, UMP 9 pulling out a grenade and tossing it ahead of us, more smoke providing cover as it detonates.
The sound of incoming artillery chills my blood, but when I look up the specks in the sky aren't headed for us.
They come down on top of the KCCO train, hard. Fireballs envelope the cannons the twins put on another burst of speed.
"YEAH!" Sop cheers. "I'M GONNA TEAR YOU GUYS TO SHREDS!"
"Sop, Priority is to board the train!"
I bite my tongue and sprint harder than I've ever sprinted in my life, straight for the large metal contraption.
I see 45 and 9 reach the door of one of the train cars, opening it with ease-
A few cyclops units are waiting, guns at the ready.
I skid to a halt in the open, pulling my gun up and barely checking the laser dot is above 45's head before yanking the trigger back.
My rounds take out the majority of the units still inside the train, with 9 pulling the last survivor out of the train with her hand and using a large knife to pry apart its armor plating and kill it.
I try to once more run toward the train, but find my legs aren't working anymore, the muscles burning with the intensity of a thousand suns.
Subsequently, I topple over.
I barely have time to get to my elbows and knees when a blue blur runs out of the smoke 9 had dropped, grabbing the back of my tac vest and bodily hauling me into the train.
Once inside, 416 sets me down and starts patting me down all over.
"I… I'm okay." I reach out weakly to reassure her. "I… I ran too hard… give me… a few minutes… to catch my breath."
"I… ja, I will."
G11 stumbles into the train car, and 9 slams the door shut, cutting us off from the gunfire.
45 is already pulling panels off the walls of the wide train, exposing large bundles of wires. "9, come here and help me get this shitty train under our control."
9 immediately crowds up to 45, both of them yanking wires out of the fuse panel.
"Uh, 416? I need you to grab this wire." 9 calls out to the green eyed doll beside me, and she immediately goes to help.
G11 is also called over in short order, but I'm unable to assist myself, trying to catch my breath sitting against a wall of the train.
We… We did it?
We got to the train-
15 yells into the radio. "RO, we need more covering fire!"
"The HOCs are reloading!" RO replies. "Don't stop to kill individuals, just keep going!"
"Easy for you to say!"
Sop's laughter can be heard in the background.
I take a few more deep breaths.
Okay.
I can do this.
I get to my feet, only 416 looking up as I manage not to stumble around, though my legs are still twitching something fierce.
"Going somewhere?" She asks, and 45 also looks my way.
"Gotta help 15." I get out.
"Hadwin-" 45 starts, but I cut her off.
"I'm gonna go help her, and Sop and RO." I bite out, raising my hands and pointing to the rings on my fingers. "You four get the train running."
"Ja, Commander." 9 snarks. "I was gonna just sit here leisurely-"
"Whatever!" I cut her off as well. "And don't call me-"
"You're giving orders." 416 points at the door behind me. "Try two cars down, Commander."
"...Fine, call me whatever you want, just make sure they don't die."
45 throws up a mock salute, the last thing I see from the ground as the door automatically closes behind me.
Two cars down.
I rush through whatever the car I found myself in, past a table mounted to the floor and parts of guns I don't recognize. The car is thankfully empty, and I'm able to reach the next one in short order.
I throw open the next door only to be greeted by yet more Cyclops. I bring my gun to bear, but they're faster.
I fall to the floor as bullets start destroying the interior of the train car, the metal ping of what feels like hundreds of ricochets coming from every side.
A few of the bouncing rounds graze me, and one even smashes a deep gouge in my bicep.
Adrenaline keeps the pain at bay, and I empty my magazine trying to take out all of the enemies that are now coming into the car even as I scramble backwards along the floor with my legs only as I keep my gun aimed.
One of the cyclops' corpses lands in the doorframe, forcing the door to stay open.
There's still three remaining, all of them back in the other car when my gun clicks empty. Hearing this, the last cyclops with a shotgun rounds the corner.
I have my handgun drawn at lightning speed and I pull the trigger four times rapidly, the close proximity making it hard to miss.
It goes down, and the other two poke their rifles into view.
I fire the remainder of the magazine and then roll away as the two cyclops walk forward to press their advantage.
I tuck myself under one of the workbenches and shakily reload my pistol, adrenaline now saturating my system to the point where everything is moving constantly, even if I want to be still.
The first of the Cyclops comes into view, and I immediately open fire, bringing it down.
The last enemy obviously realizes my position, and a full magazine of whatever they shoot is emptied into my cover.
The metal workbench buckles and bends, but it holds against the rounds long enough for the cyclops to run out of ammo and be forced to reload.
I take the opportunity and empty the rest of the magazine into its face, bringing it down.
…Okay, I just survived that.
I had no business surviving that.
I can barely climb over the cyclops corpses with how hard my hands are shaking at this point, but I do make it eventually.
I swap out my expended pistol magazine for my final fresh one, and take the third-to-last magazine of .300 blackout off of my vest. I'll have to hope this is enough.
Once I have myself ready once more, I open the door to the outside of the train, yanking as hard as I can on the heavy metal door to get it open without letting go of my Badger.
Outside, 15 and Sop are desperately attempting to ward off a pair of Hydras. My hackles raise, and I open fire on them.
Sop looks back to see where the fire is coming from, spots me, and her face lights up. "15! Haddy's here!"
"Get in!" I holler at them as my gun once more clicks empty.
15 throws a block of something at her opponent and runs away, the brick detonating moments later as it hits the KCCO mech.
I let my gun dangle and rab the door, ready to shove it closed as soon as the two are inside the train.
Sop makes it first, claw grabbing into the metal flooring and creating a handhold for herself to drag herself in. 15 follows moments later, both guns in her hands firing as fast as she can pull the trigger, forcing the KCCO forces back for just a seconds longer.
That second is all I need as I put all my effort into closing the door, shutting the enemies out.
It slams shut with a loud thunk and I'm left with nothing but the ringing of tinnitus in my ears.
15 leaps up to her feet and grabs me in a hug. "That… was too close." She mutters into my chest.
We sit there for a moment before a third set of arms joins in, Sop hugging the both of us. "We made it!"
"We did." 15 looks around, though her view is largely limited by being held against me by her overenthusiastic sister. "Where's 404? Did you find the control center?"
"They're working on it." I reply.
"This isn't a simple patch job!" 45's voice complains. "If you want us to get the train under our control, keep the KCCO off of us!"
Sop lets us go finally, and 15 turns to the door back outside. "Okay, so now we have to defend the train."
RO's voice comes over the radio. "Alright, I'm bringing some dolls in! ETA four minutes."
15 glances at me. "Ammo?"
"Two mags."
"You stay back here then." She puts a hand on the door.
"Wait!" Sop rummages around in the pile of corpses I had generated and pulls out a shotgun. "You know how to use this, right, Haddy?"
"Yeah-" I reach out to accept the gun.
"He's going by 'Commander' now." 9 corrects Sop.
"Oh! Yes! You're finally gonna be our new commander!" Sops face lights up, and my protest dies on my lips.
Sure, whatever makes her happier.
I accept the shotgun and 15 helps me collect a few extra shells… last time I used this I had an exo suit on and it still kicked like a mule. I'll need to be careful.
"Ready?" 15 asks and I nod.
"Ready!" Sop crows and 15 opens the door.
The Hydra we hadn't quite been able to kill is still waiting for us on the other side of the door, and it immediately opens fire once the door is yanked back open.
15 swings around the door and uses the momentum she gains to get out of the direct line of fire, while Sop charges straight out like a bullet.
I remain behind the cover of the skin of the train, but that doesn't mean I lack targets.
More KCCO than I think can fit on the train continue to march toward us, and I find that it doesn't really matter where I point my borrowed weapon, I'll find KCCO to destroy.
I line up a shot, mindful of the painful lesson I learned about using a stock with NTW before, and fire at a particularly close Aegis unit.
The shotgun does try to throw me off my feet, but it's not quite as bad at the NTW, so I'm fine.
I regain my footing on the slick metal floor, rack the gun, and fire another shell at the army outside.
The Hydra suddenly explodes, a grenade from Sop's launcher stumbling it enough for the over-excited murderpuppy to climb on top and start ripping plating off of its back.
15 is busy using both of her guns to fend off incoming attackers, firing bullets one at a time with enough precision to take out one enemy with each shot.
Meanwhile here I am, trying to manhandle a shotgun to provide any help whatsoever.
I keep bracing, firing, regaining my footing, and repeating until the tube is empty, then I ram a few more shells into the port and rack it to load it, starting it all over again.
Each time I poke my head out, any progress we might have been making seems to just disappear in the crush of KCCO forces.
15 hops back onto the train after a bit, ducking out of sight of the encroaching enemy. "I'm red on ammo."
"There should be an ammo car near you." 45 barks out. "Go find some of that!"
"Oh, yeah, just stop defending the train and search for ammo! That's gonna go really well!"
Sop is starting to fall back to the train as well, though she's managing to remain out there by using a dead Aegis as cover.
"RO, HOC support?" 15 asks.
"They're setting up! They can't fire from just anywhere!" RO's voice is punctuated by gunfire.
"...45, we don't have time. We need the train started."
"10 seconds." 45's voice is strained.
"What?"
"I can activate a part of it." 45 clarifies. "Namely-"
"I got it!" 9 cries out. "Transferring authority!"
"Namely, the cannons we didn't blow up with the HOCs." 45's voice carries a hint of smugness now. "AR team, you've got control of the grenade launchers. Make them regret it."
Sop's grin spreads wider than I thought it could.
The cannons start to hammer away at the enemy, and I collapse to the floor of the train once more, my body deciding that, no, it's done for the day.
Standing is too hard.
15 collapses to the floor beside me.
"Good job."
"You too."
She leans her head on my shoulder, and I wince as she leans on a scrape from one of the ricochets earlier.
Still…
I close my eyes and bask in the short reprieve from the insanity.
"Here you go!"
Honey Badger hands me her three spare magazines.
It's only been fifteen minutes, but I can't afford to rest any more. 45 and 9 got the train running under our authority, and Gentiane had shown up with the rest of our forces and equipment to shove them into the train.
An armored train.
Crazy.
I hold up the three mags Honey Badger had handed to me. "Thanks."
"No problem!" She chirps.
416 hops down out of the car she was working in and walks up to me. "Resupplied?"
"Yes." I tuck the magazines into my vest and turn back to Honey Badger. "Are you sure you won't need these?"
"I'm gonna be moving stuff around on the train. If I was out there defending it, I would need them, but I think I'll be fine for now."
I nod. "Okay then. Thanks."
"I'll be in the train if you need me!"
I turn to 416. "How far along are we?"
"Almost loaded up, Commander."
I hold myself back from sighing, and instead look at the train as I walk past it. "Good to know. Uh, tell me if I'm wrong, but is that a helicopter?"
"Ja. Seems like the KCCO have a landing pad car for their train. If it wasn't a double track train it wouldn't be able to land."
"...I wonder if it can land while moving?"
"Let's not find out. I don't trust any of the Griffin dolls to fly it. Now, if it was me-"
I wrap my arm around her shoulder. "Yes, yes, I know."
She blushes slightly, but keeps her head held high. "Anyway. Now that we've captured the train, why don't we-"
An explosion cuts her words off, a nearby building collapsing as its structural supports give way.
The strike missed us by a good hundred meters, but-
"Where the fuck did that come from?!" I look around, and the first thing that catches my eyes is Sop running pell-mell down the tracks toward us.
"A SECOND TRAIN! THEY HAVE A SECOND TRAIN!"
Oh.
Oh fuck.
I grab my gun and look down the tracks to see another KCCO armored train, rolling down the tracks. It's almost identical to ours, but with less battle damage from either Griffin forces trying to evict the KCCO from inside or vice versa.
Beside us, the train starts to move, and the cannons all come to life, turning to face the incoming train behind us.
"Oh, that's not good." I mutter.
Gentiane's voice comes through the radio. "All forces, we're advancing! We can't sit here and wait for the inevitable."
There's a chorus of affirmatives, and I start walking backwards, unable to tear my eyes off the second train.
"Commander, we need to get back on the train." 416 grabs my arm.
"Y-yeah." I finally tear my eyes away from the incoming threat. "Let's hurry."
Sop catches up to us and leaps onto the side of the train car, hauling the door open and turning to extend a hand.
The train isn't moving that fast yet, still just about jogging speed but with how hard I've been running…
I reach out to grab Sop's hand.
BOOM
A deafening explosion slams me to the ground, sharp gravel digging into my hands and face.
For a few seconds I can't actually process what happened, only coming awake when 416 hauls me up to my feet and starts carrying me toward the door with Sop in it, which had somehow gotten a lot farther away all of a sudden-
BOOM
This one was a bit farther away, but not by much and it knocks 416 off of her feet.
I pull her tight and do my best to protect her back as we crash to the ground.
"Scheisse!" She snarls, staggering to her feet. "We're going to fall behind!"
I get up after her, and I realize her knee joint isn't completely intact anymore. It's still functional, but it's not up to spec. "Can you run?"
She hesitates, but shakes her head. "Nein, you need to catch up quickly."
"I'm not leaving you-"
"GO!"
I stop in place and put her arm over my shoulder, helping her limp along.
Sop realizes what's going on and hops off the train herself, running over. "Hurry, hurry!"
"Trying!" I grit out from between clenched teeth.
"What's going on?" 45 asks over the radio.
"Had- uh, the Commander and 416 are hurt and we're not on the train yet!" Sop responds. "Slow down the train!"
"We can't do that." Gentianes voice is quiet. "Everyone get on the train, or try to get out of the line of fire."
"W-we can't just abandon-" RO's voice is shaken.
"We are NOT abandoning anyone!" Gentiane yells suddenly. "You three, get off the side of the tracks and into cover. Everyone else-"
45 leaps off the train.
416 also notices this and her scowl deepens. "What the hell are you doing, 45?"
"I'm not leaving you to the wolves if you're both injured."
"Wait for me!" 9 also leaps from the train, and G11 almost faceplants getting off but manages to keep her footing.
The train's built up a lot of speed now.
I see another door open up, and 15 pokes her head out. "Hadwin?"
"Oh no you don't!" Gentiane's arms reach out and yank the doll back inside and the door closes. "You're needed here! I order you to stay!"
"But!"
"Hadwin, for fucks sake, get off the tracks and into hiding. Once we're clear of the KCCO, we'll get that Helo we jacked into the sky. 404-"
"We're following our Commander." 45 cuts Gentiane off. "And we'll get your puppy dog back to you in one piece."
Sop looks around. "Uh… oops."
Another blast hits the train, destroying a chunk of the armor plating. This time, we're far enough away that it doesn't knock us down.
A shield bubble like S.A.T.'s energy shield pops up over the whole train, and the further barrages start hitting that.
"Let's get moving!" 9 insists. "I don't want to be caught in that any more than you do!"
416 and I hobble off the side, the rest of 404 and Sop walking backwards to keep us covered.
"Oh, we are screwed." G11 whines. "The enemy train is getting closer!"
"We need to get out of sight-" 45 starts, before wincing.
Actually, now that I see it, they're all wincing.
"W-what's going on?"
"Someone is broadcasting on an open channel." 9 snarls. "Shut up would you? I don't want to have to decrypt this!"
"...Decrypt?" I turn back to look at the approaching forces.
The train is flanked on either side by a Hydra, taking slow, methodical steps to stay inline with the metal beast.
As I watch, one of the Hydra's front indicator lights flashes red twice, and it starts to move out of formation.
"Hey, 9?"
"What?!" She snaps at me.
"I don't suppose the message is basically a very polite 'I'm going to kill you'?"
45's eye narrows and 9 nods. "Yeah. How did you know?"
"I'll bet every credit I have that's И1704." I gesture to the approaching Hydra breaking formation and picking up speed. "And it hates me."
"...Didn't know they had the capacity to hate." 45 mutters. "But it sure seems to be telling you it's going to gut you like a fish."
"Can… can we run away?" Sop looks apprehensive. "Commander's injured so-"
"It's no good to wait here." 45 snaps. "Let's keep going."
With an agonizing slowness that I curse myself for, we retreat into the city streets.
45 and 9 insist we're heading in the right direction, but I can't really tell.
Also, my injuries and exhaustion from sprinting have compounded to make me almost useless. I can barely walk without help, and I've resorted to leaning on Sop to get going.
416 is able to walk, but she is noticeably limping to avoid putting any undue strain on her weakened knee.
"Quarantine wall!" 15 suddenly radios us.
"What?" Sop perks up.
"We're stuck at the quarantine wall! Try to catch up to us before then, or-"
Sop scoops me up, and 9 gets under 416's shoulder to provide support.
"We're on our way." 45 affirms. "Be advised, the Second train is arriving with an escort."
"Not much of one." RO replies. "We watched a significant chunk of those forces head after you."
I can't help but laugh a little. "So, we're still the fuckin' decoys."
"...Hadwin, I swear to Persica-" RO growls, only to be cut off by 15.
"Just stay ahead of the KCCO and get back to us. We're holding here until the wall opens up."
"When's that happening?" 45 snarks.
"...Trust in M4." RO says, and then the radio goes silent.
In our reduced state, the timing of the KCCO catching up to us is a matter of 'when', not 'if'.
'When' came a lot sooner than I would have liked.
И1704 fired a shot past us down one street we weren't quite able to duck off before it acquired us. The shot destroyed the foundation of a building, crumbling it away and forcing us to halt our progress.
Looking back…
Nah, I don't think we're gonna get out of this alive.
"There's an alley." 416 calls out quietly. "It's our only shot.
"Does it go all the way through?" 45 asks.
"I didn't see."
"Well, let's hope fortune is on our side."
On an invisible cue, all five of the dolls bolt for the indicated alley, Sop still carrying me along for the ride.
Behind us, the KCCO units that had followed us open fire, and a wall of gunfire meets us head on.
Sop is able to keep us from being shot full of lead, and we all make it to the alley with only minor scratches.
However, one glance down the alley shows that it's but a temporary respite.
A dead end. Well, there's door into the buildings on either side-
"Scheisse." 45's voice is devoid of emotion, the singular words coming from her lips slowly. "It seems we're trapped."
416 looks up at the buildings on either side of us. "We can climb up."
"That'll trap us as surely as we're trapped now." 9 complains. "Hell, it might even be worse!"
"Nein, it will be better." 45's eyes narrow. "I have an idea."
Seconds later, I'm inside the building to one side of the alley.
Alone.
Sop wanted to come with me. 416 wanted to come with me.
45 told them that, for the plan to work, She needed their firepower. I agreed.
The stairs are where 45 said they would be, and I start climbing them, leaning heavily on the railing.
Outside, the sounds of the KCCO marching closer and closer to the building reach me even over my panting, just trying to get up as high as I can, as fast as I can.
Which isn't that fast.
45 had noticed when we got trapped that the aley led into both buildings on either side of the alley.
One of them was still relatively intact, in obvious disrepair, but still functional as a building.
The other has had the walls fall off due to decay, making each floor look like a rib stretching up into the sky.
I'm in the second building, climbing up the central spine where the staircase is, which 9 had assured me was likely the most sturdy part of the whole building.
The rest of the group is in the other building.
This probably sounds stupid, but theres a very good reason for us splitting up like this.
И1704 has some sort of vendetta against me. I know it does, I don't know why or when it started, but it clearly does. So, if 45 tells it that I'm on one of the towers, it's going to come find me.
Probably.
And, since the rest of the KCCO are following И1704, they will be heading up with it.
Probably.
And, that allows the others to fire at them from random spots in the other building, which will have a lot more cover with the walls and such while this building provides very little of that.
Probably.
The plan was made in a few seconds, and explained on the run as Sop set me down and pushed me through the door. It's not like we had time to make anything more detailed or reasonable.
So I'm climbing the steps, listening to the sounds of hundreds of metal feet clanking around at the base of the building, trying my hardest not to pass out from the effort of climbing these stairs and praying things go as planned.
They won't, but-
The sky is dark now, the sun having set during our battle to take over the KCCO train, and above me I can see stars through gaps in the walls and stairwell. I need to get as high as possible as fast as possible.
"It's at the base of the building." 45 reports through the radio. "It's…"
I hear some crumbling concrete and some electronic screeching, but I don't have the luxury of trying to find out what exactly is going on with my own eyes. "What?"
"It's climbing up the building." 9 finished for her sister. "It's punching holes in the floor above it to climb through."
"Makes sense." I wheeze out. "It can't… fit up… the stairs."
"What are the rest of them doing?" 416 asks.
"They're heading down the alley." 45 reports. "Some are going into each building, they're not all just following the Hydra."
"That's not good." Sop mutters. "How're we gonna cover our backs and the Commander's at the same time?"
"Carefully." 45 replies.
"What… floor… am I on?" I ask.
"You're on the sixth floor, only four more to go until you get to the top. И1704 is on the second floor-"
Below me, there's the sound of a cascading rockslide.
"Third floor." 45 finishes.
"It just took out some of its fellow units!" Sop marvels. "I didn't know they could do that!"
"I've never seen it before today." 9 mutters. "And I'm seriously wondering if this one is just completely corrupted or something."
"Well… let's just hope… I got this."
"Of course you do!" Sop cheers, and I hear more concrete crumbling below me. "Just leave the others to us."
"Speaking of-" 416's voice is cut off by a spray of bullets from the other building, taking out a few of the Cyclops that had shown up.
I don't have much time to stop and stare, but as I go back and forth on the stairway I catch glimpses of the firefight echoing from below. Once or twice I even saw flashes of light from inside the other building, behind the glass as the KCCO units flow up toward 404 and Sop.
I want to help them, but I remind myself that by distracting the big unit and keeping them all out in the open, I'm doing more help than if I tried to turn and fight.
As I finish reminding myself, I arrive on the roof of the building, or at least what had become the roof. The stairwell leads further up, but there's not a floor above to stand on, so I guess I'll be getting ready here.
I give myself exactly five seconds to get my breath back, which is way too short, but I don't really have the luxury of time here.
Then I slide the AT4 off my shoulder and start preparing it to fire.
What was it again? Squeeze the front safety, or…
"Shit! Shit shit shit!" I hear 9 cursing over the radio and glance over at the next building over. In the dark, I can only make out where the light of gunfire illuminates, and very quickly I realize that 9 is being chased by an Orthrus, and has gotten separated from the rest.
"9, are you-"
"I'm being chased by a fucking dog!" She snarls. "Kill it!"
I set the AT4 down and pull out my Badger, tracking 9's movements by her gunfire. The barrel of my gun tracks the Orthrus through one-two-three flashes of 9's gunfire-
And I pull the trigger.
.300 blackout spews forth, shattering the panes of glass in the way of my target, and the laser dot finds the charging dog, followed by several chunks of metal going slightly under the speed of sound.
It doesn't die, but it is knocked around, and it stops to throw up its shield, glowing a bright green against the dark night.
This makes it a great target for the others who had just rounded the corner inside the building, directly behind it.
The Orthrus dies there, and I once more let my gun dangle from my lanyard while I scoop the AT4 back up.
Or, as I try to.
"SOP, NO!" 416 yells, and I see a flash from the building cross over to this side in almost an instant-
The entire building rocks as an explosion, presumably from Sop's grenade, the old weathered concrete giving way in sections.
The AT4 starts to troll away from me and I have to chase it to the edge of the building, snagging it just before it's able to get to the edge.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" 416 shouts.
"I… I was trying to help!" Sop's voice sounds like she's at the edge of tears. "I'm sorry Commander!"
"It's fine!" I call out. "Just focus on shooting at-"
The concrete flooring cracks again, and I scramble back to avoid falling off the side.
The crack widens, and a long metallic leg pushes through. Then another.
I'm still trying to get back from the edge of the building as И1704 pulls itself up through the concrete like a crab digging itself out of the sand. I have the AT4's strap in one hand, but I'm not ready to fire it.
И1704 climbs out onto the topmost floor of the building, legs splayed wide to distribute the weight out more and try not to disintegrate the building beneath it.
I manage to get to my feet, but I'm not quite so sure my own footing is secure.
И1704 pops open its grenade pods, and I have only a moment of stunned realization before it launches a few.
Fortunately, the wind up here is high, blowing the grenades off course and past me, into the building behind me, one that looks even worse off than this one in many respects. Too bad the grenades still detonate when they hit it though.
The multiple consecutive blasts once more knocks me off my feet, and I start to slide once more toward the edge of the building as the floor starts to sag as its moorings come loose.
My hands scrabble for purchase, fingers eventually finding some exposed rebar and hooking onto that for dear life as the building continues to sway under the force of the explosions.
"Hey, you trying to kill us both?!" I snap at the large enemy, though I realize it's an empty threat at best. It has a backup. I do not. Kamikaze attacks are a win for its side.
As if in response to my thoughts, И1704 gets to its feet and starts moving my way. It doesn't matter if the building collapses, as long as I go down with it.
I've made a horrible mistake, but I guess I was kind of asking for it climbing up here in the first place.
For a brief moment, I considered jumping to the building with 404 in it. Without the exo and with my body in this shape, I don't think I'd make it, but it might be better than being buried under a ton of rubble. Then, reality sets back in and I try to pull myself up as И1704 takes another step closer.
And then its leg punches right through the concrete, smashing its underbelly canon into the ground. Now stuck, it starts to try to yank its leg out of the hole, light on the 'face' flashing a bunch of colors in succession, showing a deep frustration.
Meanwhile, I make it to a flatter area that I can stand up on, and raise the AT4.
Okay, those are the safeties, hold it like this, make sure nobody's behind you-
I glance over my shoulder at the bright starfield behind me, where no creature can go.
In my tired, exhausted, thoroughly adrenaline saturated state, my brain hitches on the view of the stars for just a moment, but that moment is all И1704 needs.
It yanks its leg from the ground successfully, then bellows its anger at me.
It rocks back on all four of its feet, as if to pounce.
I raise the AT4.
И1704 leaps forward.
I fire.
The rocket impacts the front left leg of И1704, sending it scrabbling as I fall to the concrete having lost my footing. Its three remaining bulky legs fail to find good purchase on the crumbling surface and it falls past me, crashing down to the floor below.
For a few seconds, I just lay there, the sounds of gunfire sounding so distant, and yet so close.
I hope the others are-
A giant leg stabs up through the concrete, and the section I'm on crumbles away, sending me crashing down to the floor, right beside И1704.
My head strikes a chunk of concrete, and for a minute, all I can see is stars. Even when I close my eyes!
И1704 towers over me, positioning itself to aim its massive cannon right at me, but as much as I know I need to get away, I can't figure out how to get up.
"HADDY!"
Fwump
Another pretty streak of light slams into И1704 right as its belly cannon goes off, sending a spray of warm liquid over me. The grenade detonates, roasting me and shoving И1704 to the side.
Where it begins to fall, screaming digitally the whole way down.
My hand goes down to my side, because it feels a bit painful, and it comes away wet with blood.
I struggle to sit up, but the pain I feel when I try…
Not happening.
I eventually, despite my worsening brain fog, get my cell phone out and take a photo with the flash on.
Oh.
I'm missing half my side.
All energy leaves me, the phone dropping by my head.
In the distance, from kilometers away, someone is screaming my name. Someones? Plural?
I don't know any more.
My eyelids are so heavy, I find I'm unable to keep them open as a loud explosion hits the building from below…
