The trio stood right outside the nyto's classroom in the kindergarten sector. The commander and M4A1 looked at SOPMOD, rubbing their chins in deep thought.
"I can see what you mean, commander."
M4 walked besides SOP II and stared at various parts of her body.
"I mean... the horns, the fangs, the claws, pale white skin and red eyes..."
"Almost like you're describing a fairy-tale monster."
SOP II started to get a little annoyed.
"I'm RIGHT HERE, you know?"
"Of course we know. we wouldn't be talking about this behind your back, that'd be rude."
M4 walked back beside the commander.
"So what do you think we should do?"
"Hmm... well we can put corks on her horns, for a start."
"W-what?"
M4 caught up with the commander's line of thinking, while over time SOP II sounded more and more distraught.
"Big sunglasses for those scary eyes."
"But-"
"I can ask Springfield for some oven mitts."
"That's-"
"But the main problem..."
The commander pondered for a moment.
"What do we do about her skin?"
M4 looked over and answered without hesitation.
"Spray-paint?"
"Spray-paint it is. Something like bright green will do."
"STOP IIIIIIT!"
SOP II burst with anger because of their shameless bullying, while M4 and the commander couldn't hold it in anymore and broke into laughter.
She lowered her claws once they both offered a hug of apology to her, and she begrudgingly accepted.
"Okay, jokes aside, you need to be really careful with the nytos. They've gone through a lot and some of them are a little sensitive."
"I know, commander... I've been hearing that from you two all day."
"Because you've been looking surprisingly anxious all day."
SOP II averted her eyes to the side, playing the fool and pretending she doesn't know what he's talking about.
"What about you, M4?"
"Protect the nytos if necessary and keep SOPMOD in check, I know my orders."
"And that's it?"
M4A1 smiled, looking over to her sister.
"Well, if everything goes well, it should be pretty fun. I'm looking forward to it."
The commander chuckled, then cleared his throat to regain his composure.
"Alright then, let's begin?"
The two dolls instinctively saluted, but quickly stood at ease when they remembered how peculiar this 'operation' was.

They opened the door and stepped inside.
Each room only housed a small number of nytos so that they'll find it easier to build a personal connection with their caretaker dolls; Despite the additional workload, most dolls didn't mind.
The nytos in the room finished their studies for the day and were playing around with what amenities G&K could provide.
A few were drawing, some were running around playing tag, and some were perfectly content just taking a nap in the corner.
When the commander and two dolls entered, the room went quiet and all attention was on them.
They could feel the nytos being slightly on edge. Unsurprising, considering their room was devoid of any familiar doll and three strangers in military apparel just entered their room.
M4A1 decided to try and break the ice, and stepped forward.
She used what limited knowledge of child psychology she knew and prioritized showing the nytos she was no threat.
M4A1 got down on one knee and presented her open arms. SOP II and the commander watched from behind and were surprised to see how quickly a few nytos approached her.
"Hello, my name is M4A1."
They timidly approached her, carefully inspecting her outfit and combat gear.
"Em four ay one... Why do dolls have weird names?"
"Well, it's just how my job requires me to be named."
The older nyto children got a bit closer and poked at her armor. They've seen plenty of dolls walk around in casual clothes before, but seeing a doll dressed for combat was a new experience.
"Why are your clothes so tough? Isn't it uncomfortable?"
"They're not just clothes. They're for protection, thermal insul- uh- to keep me warm, and to help me carry heavy things."
Though M4A1 wasn't completely confident in her approach, her friendly smile and calm demeanor while answering their innocent questions helped the nytos relieve their tension around her.
She reached out her hand to one of the nytos who was brave enough to poke at her arm-guard.
Though she hesitated at first, the nyto slowly wrapped her fingers around M4's hand, and the rest of the nytos felt brave enough to come closer.
M4 looked over at SOP II behind her, whose hands covered her mouth with bliss in her eyes.
"Come here SOP, introduce yourself too."
SOP II cleared her throat in preparation, kept all the warnings in mind and slowly mimicked M4's movements while the commander stayed behind.
"Not coming too, commander?"
"Oh, I'm not good with kids. I'll just let you girls have your fun."
SOP II slowly approached the nytos and tried to replicate what M4 did.
She got on one knee and showed her palms, but the nytos backed away from her or hid behind M4.
"U-uhm... Hi there! You don't... need to be afraid!"
But the nytos did not budge.
SOP II looked around but whenever any nyto caught a glimpse of her piercing red gaze and narrow pupils, they looked away or hid their face behind the nearest cover.
Deciding to help her sister, M4A1 stood up and walked over besides SOP II, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, she won't hurt you. She was actually really excited to meet you!"
Though hesitant at first, seeing M4A1 so carefree around the pale doll made them more confident and some slowly approached SOP II, closely inspecting her robotic arms and facial features.
"It's okay! You can come closer, I won't bite."
The brave few who stepped forward were still visibly nervous around SOP II. Though the commander described SOP II like a monster as an offhand joke, to the nytos she might as well be one.
"...Why do you look so scary? the other dolls are so cute or pretty..."
SOP II put on her best friendly smile.
"Ah, well, I was made for combat. I'm scary so bad guys will be too scared to hurt you!"
It was hard for the nytos to process the idea of a monster trying to protect them, on top of their shared trauma which eroded their trust in adults.
"Why are you arms like this?"
"I use them to protect you, they make me very strong! Here, let me show you."
SOP II held her arm to her side and motioned the nyto to grab it. M4A1 smiled from the side.
"Don't worry, she won't harm a hair on your head. We're both really here to protect you."
Her words had slightly enchanting properties on the nytos, and one particularly brave nyto timidly obliged.
She held SOP II's arm tightly, not really sure what to expect, and then she was swooped to the air in one quick motion.
The nyto panicked a little at first, yelping slightly as her feet left the ground, but when she opened her eyes she realized that there's nothing dangerous going on and was just harmlessly hanging in the air off SOP II's arm.
The other nytos excitedly looked at SOP II's peculiar example of playing with children.
"Wow... that's so cool!"
The other nytos got jealous, and walked over to take part in her strength showcase despite their initial hesitancy.
SOP II was overjoyed seeing the expression of fear slowly leaving their cute faces.
"Don't worry, I can lift even more of you!"
She readied herself again and held both her arms out. The nytos squabbled a little trying to get to participate first, and SOP II ended up with 2 children grabbing each arm.
"Hehehe, are you ready?"
A collective "Yeah!" was just the response she was looking for.
"Here we gooo!"
SOP II stood back up and the nytos hung off her arms. With her military grade servos and sturdy body structure, she stood completely stable even with the nytos hanging off her and flailing their legs in excitement.
Her feet were planted on the ground like roots and her arms motionless like branches, a feat of strength that seems almost impossible for a doll with a body as small as hers.
After lifting all the nytos at least twice they felt much more comfortable around her, happily chatting away with the strange blond doll.
"What's your name, strong doll?"
"My name is M4 SOPMOD II!"
The nytos returned a slightly confused look.
"em four sopp mod two... that's even weirder than em for ay wan..."
"Just call me SOP, then!"
"SOP... okay, SOP."

The nytos continued inquiring about her strange appearance, but SOP II noticed one nyto sitting alone in the corner of her sight.
She seemed slightly bigger than the other nytos, with noticeably deep purple eyes hovering above a paper she was drawing on.
She gently moved between the nytos that gathered around her and walked towards the lonesome nyto, who seemed too busy to care about the visitors to her class.
SOP II stopped behind her then called her out, reaching her arm out.
"Uhm, hello there."
The unexpected voice slightly startled the nyto, but what actually stood behind her spooked her even more.
The room was only lit up by a few windows behind SOP II, so all the nyto could see from her perspective was a shadowy, horned creature with glowing red eyes baring its claws at her.
The nyto only managed one terrified squeak as her fight or flight instincts kicked in, and she threw her chair at SOP II. The chair harmlessly bounced off SOP II's solid chassis, but the nyto used the diversion and sprinted off into the closet, closing the door and hiding inside.
The commander noticed the nyto running away, and walked towards the culprit.
"SOP II, what did you do?"
"Nothing, I swear! I-I think..."
SOP II pointed at the closet the nyto ran into, and the commander motioned her to stay behind her as he walked over to it.
He knocked on the door to make his presence known, then slowly opened it and tried calling out to the girl.
"Uh, are you in here? The closet's no place for a young lady."
The commander moved away some hanging clothes and saw the nyto curled up.
She looked at him and he returned a gentle smile, but then she noticed SOP II standing right behind him and hid her face.
SOP II looked around the room; Though the nytos cared a lot for each other when the three strangers came in their classroom, gathering together like a unified group, she noticed they didn't show any sympathy for the nyto she startled.
The commander tried to reach his hand out to the nyto.
"Uhm... It's okay now, the scary monster is uh- Well, she's still here, but..."
He was grasping for straws trying to find what to say. Trying to console a scared child was too different from his daily routine and his skills as an orator fell apart.
He stood back up and looked over to M4A1, who was almost to her neck in a nytos.
"M4, can you help me out here?"
After M4A1 snapped out of her cuddle-pile induced bliss, and asked the nytos to wait for her for a moment. The nytos let her go and she walked over to the commander with a slight spring in her step.
While the commander explained the situation to her, he couldn't help but notice the rosy tint to her cheeks and a satisfied smile. He also noticed SOP II staring at them from the side, both in guilt and slight jealousy.
Once she knew the situation at hand, M4 kneeled at the closet's entrance and spoke to the nyto.
"Don't worry, little one. You're safe here, nobody here will hurt you. I promise."
She reached out her hand into the closet, the nyto inside looked up to see whose hand it was.
Seeing M4 made the nyto calmer somehow, and after a short moment her little fingers grasped M4's hand.
"There we go!"
M4 gently led her out, and called SOP II over.
"See, this is who spooked you. She's not that scary, isn't she?"
SOPMOD kneeled before the pair to be on eye level with the nyto, who carefully inspected her features.
"...I guess not."
SOP II was visibly glad there were no hard feelings, and reached her hand out to the nyto who took a few steps back.
"We got off on the wrong foot, let's try again! I'm SOP II, what's your name?"
The nyto glared with worry at her clawed arm, and only answered back when SOP II noticed and slightly retracted her hand back.
"My name is Aite."
"Nice to meet you, Aite!"
She put her hand forward again, and after a gentle nudge from M4, Aite put her hand around SOP II's index finger.
SOP II moved her hand up and down in a playful handshake, though she didn't close her hand around Aite's.
"I wanted to ask you, why were you sitting all alone, Aite?"
M4 cringed a little at the bluntness of SOP II's question, but being blunt was the only way she knew.
"No reason."
Aite averted her eyes, but SOP II kept staring at her with a friendly smile.
"Well, being alone is no fun. Want to hang out with me for a bit?"
"Hang out? But I'm not allowed outside."
SOP II called over the commander to come.
"Hey hey, commander! Is it okay if Aite goes outside if I'm accompanying her?"
He looked over at the nyto beside her and besides her unusually colored eyes she seemed harmless, so he found no reason to refuse.
"I don't see why not. Just remember everything we've talked about."
"Roger!"
She turned back to the nyto.
"See? We got the okay!"
The commander was still unsure if this was a good idea, but he found it hard to believe something that can make SOP II so happy could be a mistake.
"Come on Aite, let's go!"
"Go... Where?"
SOP II smiled widely.
"Outside! together! But only if you don't let go of my hand."
SOP II showed her palm to Aite and she took a hold of her index finger. Her grasp was weak, and SOP II tried to move her arm as little as possible to not throw her off.
Once she was ready, SOP II happily walked over to the commander. He waved for M4 to join them and the four of them left the classroom after the dolls shared many hugs and goodbyes with the nytos.
Once they exited and stood outside the door, the commander and SOP II thanked M4 for her time.
She left for her dorm and the commander looked back at the pale doll and little girl standing behind him.
"So now I gotta worry about two of you..."
SOP II smiled ear to ear, the commander sighed and Aite nervously looked around, grasping tightly at the doll's clawed finger.
None of them knew how much their life would change from that point on, though at least 2 of them were looking forward to it!


-Author's notes:

(Edited 07/11) Rewrote Aite's introduction, wrote the commander to be less child-proficient. No Gary Stues if I can help it.
When I was originally writing for this series I was too busy putting random fun ideas I came up with instead of making a cohesive story, but now I want to take this series more seriously which requires some changes to the base before I continue.