"It's just a summer cold! He doesn't need-!" It began with a cold summer.
.̷͎̬̓̐̀̑̉̑.̷̖̮̒̈̂͝.̶̪̓͒̓̈N̷̔̓͑͘ͅo̶͍̯͖̳͐̒͐́̓̕v̷̧͖͚͕̞̈́̂͝ͅe̸̞͚̾̅͠ṃ̷̡̠̟͖͉̓̎̊̈́͠ḅ̷̣̀e̷̻͖̬̼̤̽̉̓͝r̵͎̮̩͐̓̏́͝.̶̧͔̠̩̬̰̍̽͆́.̷̜͚̽͗̊̇.̷̣̼̫̱̟̍̃͛̑Z̶̧̨̧̳̬̞̓͊̅͆ě̶͕̯r̸̗̰̙͆͒̃̎̔ô̴̺͚̂̀̓.̵̢̡̗̘̽͌̕͝.̷̡̮͋̎̔̆.̷̪̞͌F̸̙̞̱͔̱͛͂͝͠ì̶̲̈́̽͠v̴̨͍͓̯͓͖̂͝ė̶̗͖̀͠.̴͔͕̞͉̇.̵̺̞̟̠͔̩͂̌̌͘.̸̖̻͔̣̻͈́̊͘Ǎ̴͈̙̰͐l̷̢̘͉͑̏͑̀͒p̷̤̞̞͍͎͍̀͊͆̇̎h̶̝̩̐͆͘a̵̧̾.̷̦̖̪̟̱̠̏͐̿̏.̷̯̥̻͠.̷̨̭͗͗͑̂͜
"Put him in that bed! Contact Valeriya back at the Mountain and see what she knows about treating the early stages of ELID infection! Commander?! Stay with me Comman-"
.̴̳̈́̀̌̈.̸͈͚̰̲̦̀̊̅̒.̷̙͇͊Y̴͖̓a̵͇̘̕n̸̛̖̣͎͌̃͋̀k̶̨͔̬̀̋̋̚͘̚ẽ̵̛͚̟͇͉̬͉̽͋͐̚e̷̪͕͔̳͉̓̓͐.̵̬͔͔̃̀̓͛̇̽.̸͓̪̳̩̔́̽̕.̵̡͇̠̔̊̓͂̆͘A̴͇͓͈̱̘͒͌̎l̸̞͚̑̊̑͛̈́͘p̶̧͈̩̯̋h̶̘̻̮̊͋à̵͖̭̩͊̀͐͋.̷̗̙͉̦͇͛.̶̣̺͓̹̯͉̀͆̈́.̷͔͌Ẑ̶̨̘̟̪̘̲̄̊̈u̷̍́͐̀͜l̷̢̦̬͚̤̄͌̐̇̉͜ư̵̳͍͒̈̍.̷̡̭̥͓̮͌̕.̵̺̪̬͝.̵͇̯̱̄͌͊͒͆Ṫ̶̨̳͉̣̥͆͗h̴̫̙̭̗͐̏̔̋̊̈ṙ̷̫̩̤̲͐͜͝e̷̮̼̟̿͘ę̵̩̟̝̞̅͛̓̄.̷̧̳̟̹͗̌̅.̸͎̩͖̰̃̈́̽͒̑̊͜.̷̝͔͚͎͆̔̄͌̕͝
"I got really sick one winter to the point I was bedridden for a whole week. After-" It festered into a warm winter.
.̸̣̰͈̖̞̯̅͐͌͗.̴̝͓̜͓̱̈́̄̊͌̾͛.̴̧̛̞̬̮̽̃̋Ḿ̴̡̛̀̅͌ḯ̵̡̘͕̯̘̭̄̋̚͠k̸̘͗è̷̤͍̻̠͋͋͊̑̚.̵̗̬̆̋̓̌̍̋.̷̪͑͌ͅ.̵̘͈̪̜̀̕ͅO̵͎̲̦͔̩̊͗̅͘̕ṅ̶̬̓̽̋̀ë̴̢̝̤̪̜̏̅͝.̵͇̘̯̇̚̚.̶̡̪͎̗̓͜.̴̳̳͋̾Y̶̛̩̟̩̺͉͇̿͛a̴͚͈̥͍̓̈́͌͝n̴̲͗͛̈́͝k̵̨̝̝̥̘̜̋̆̍̎͘e̶̯̬̣̹͙̓e̷̹͐̒͌͊̅.̷̛͔͎̀̂̐̃̆.̸̨̛̲͌̈͒̽͘.̶͍͂̈́͂̈́͠͝A̷̦̜̺̳̩̟̅l̷̘̀̇͆̂̓̕͜ͅp̶̹̂ḧ̷̭̦̫̠̣͙ą̷͈̺͖͕̔̏̌̾͠.̶̢̖͈̅̔ͅ.̵̜̠͎̜͙̃̑͊̇͑̕.̵̖̄͗̋̌
"His vitals are stable, somehow... Valeriya and the medical staff are standing by when we pull into sub-level four. All t-dolls are to head to the repair bay when we get back. As for you, Scarecrow-"
N̸̞͇̣̿̄e̸͎͈̹̰̓͌̄̈́ǵ̶̝͎̟̭͑̑̄l̶̛̮̼̀̇i̵̻̓͜g̴̤͔̚e̵̢͉͂̎̅n̶̖̣̄c̶̙̙̖̑̃̔e̷͚͈͆̇̃͝,̸̡͙͍̣̈́̚ ̷͉͚̺͘ȏ̴̭̫̲͉̔h̵̥̤̠͑͌ ̶̛̮̩͓̐V̶̻̄͒͗ạ̷̠̟̓̎̒͠n̸͇͆̈́͠y̸͕͆́a̷̛͈̝͝,̷̲̿ ̵̡̫̊̈̊͘ͅa̵̼̒́̇͜l̵̫̿̋̿͘w̶̧͒̒̋͐ả̸̙͐̎y̶͓̏̔͑͜s̷͈̒͑̂̎ͅ ̸̢̡̣̝͌̈́̄͝ẏ̷̼̝͖̎͘̕ȉ̴͔͙͔̬̑ẽ̸̠͎̭͓̽̈l̶̟͋͆̚d̴̢̻͆̓̓͝s̶̟͈̞̞͒̃̚ ̵̛̞͚̳̾͌͐ͅa̶̙̔̓͑n̷̛̺̻͇̔̚ǹ̶̞̮̞̾͠͝i̷̧̡̥̻͠͠h̶̡̘͕͔̅̏̆̔i̷̜̗̎́̀ḻ̴̬͇̀̊̂a̸̞͙̞͂t̴̨̞̟͒ͅḭ̴̡̮͍̔̌̇ȍ̴̘̣͍̉̂̇n̵̙̙̓̀͗͝.̷̞̙̱̙͛̀
Z̷̧͔͔̔́͋e̴̱͙͛͠l̸̻̚d̵̩̹͆͑r̴̥̱͝ȉ̴̭̫̖,̴͓̮͒ ̴̧͋́e̸͔͈͋̈́ṉ̴͝s̴̨͖̔̓ŭ̵̙̬̘̈́͒r̵̳͋̃̇i̸̛̟͋͌n̴̲̣̦̎̀g̵̛̖͖̃̓ ̴̫͌̓m̶̭͊͒y̸̥͔̟̐̎͆ ̵̺̃ḽ̶͖̌́i̴̡͕͗̑̒n̶͍̪̒͝e̵̮͈̐̇͌a̶̦̅ͅģ̸̮͆e̷̡̩͔͝͝ ̵͔̩̾̊ÿ̶̞͍ĩ̶̢̕e̷̝͖͎̋l̴̬͒̀͂d̴̰̃́̌s̴̟̉̇͊ ̶̼̎̑a̸͚̫͒̈̕͜s̷̝̊̈́č̸̙̯̗̏̂e̵̛̪̹͑̚n̵̺͋s̷͍̫͗̏͝î̸̖̞̥o̷̧͙͍̍́n̸̯͈̦̓̿͗.̵̜̉̑̑
"Have I captivated the heart of a soldier? I am still shingle and ready to mingle, you knoooow~?" Will spring be any better?
"...?" As Zeldri's mind returned to him, he was woken up by a beeping sound next to him. He forced his eyes to open and found himself in the familiar light blue room of the Mountain's medical ward. A vitals monitor beeped next to him. "...I'm back." Zeldri noted that his voice sounded extremely hoarse so he looked around to see if there was some water nearby. But, instead of water, Zeldri found A-545 lying next to him on the bed. Her hood was pulled up and her eyes seemed vacant as she was in a standby state.
"...Mmm?" As Zeldri stirred, A-545 came fully back online and looked around.
"..." Zeldri stared at A-545.
"..." A-545 silently stared back.
"...Good morning?" Zeldri hesitantly asked as he watched her sit up.
"Good morning, Commander," A-545 replied. Her eyes never left Zeldri. Despite her calm tone of voice, her gaze was a bit unhinged.
"Could I have some wat-!" A cup of water was thrust in his face as one of A-545's dummy links came from around the privacy curtain. Now he had two A-545's silently staring at him. "...Thanks."
"When you finish, you should get some more rest, Commander," A-545 stated as she took the empty cup from him and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
"No," Zeldri said as he moved to get up, "I need to know what's going o-"
"You need rest." A-545 quickly straddled herself on top of Zeldri, put her hands on his shoulders, and forced him back down onto the bed.
"Hey!" She wasn't holding back as Zeldri couldn't even budge with her forcing him down. "A-545, get off!"
"Then rest." There was a tremble in her voice.
"I feel fine," Zeldri lied. In truth, he felt extremely sore and having A-545 force him down just brought fresh pain to his shoulders. "Now, get off."
"No."
"I'm ordering you to-"
"PLEASE!" A-545's voice cracked as she suddenly screamed. The outburst broke the calm façade she was maintaining revealing how truly distraught she was. Her hands were trembling. Her arms and body shook with anxiety. And, her gaze was desperate and on the verge of tears as she pleaded with him, "Please, Commander..."
"..." Seeing her like this made Zeldri completely forget she was a doll. To him, A-545 looked like a genuine human being.
"When the coup happened we couldn't get in contact with you," A-545 started explaining as she continued to pin Zeldri to the bed. "Tsaritsa activated the Nightmare Protocol and we immediately started looking for you. But... When we found Anto and PPK's bodies... And then you show up with Scarecrow in that state!? I-" Her body was shaking too much for her to continue, so she stopped talking and took a shaky breath to try and cool her systems. She desperately pleaded with Zeldri, "I can't lose you."
"A-545..." Zeldri paused as he thought about what to say. While a part of him wanted to order her to stand down so he could get back to work, another part knew that doing so would do more damage than good; to both his health and his relationship with A-545. He breathed a heavy sigh and said, "I'll stay and rest... But, you are hurting me."
"!" A-545 immediately got off Zeldri as she realized how much strength she was using. She reached out a hand to check on his shoulder but pulled back as now she was nervous that he didn't want her to touch him.
"You're fine," Zeldri tried to reassure the panicking t-doll. "Could you get Valeriya? I won't work, but I'd like to at least know how my body's doing."
"...Yes, Commander." A-545 sent a message to the Mountain's medic and within minutes Zeldri was surrounded by Valeriya, Annika, and a bunch of t-dolls. Valeriya attempted to do her job despite all the panic everyone else was in before eventually kicking everyone else out of the room to give them some space. A-545 refused to leave, so Zeldri gave her the okay to stay.
"Jeez," Valeriya complained as she finally shooed out the last t-doll that was desperately trying to stay. "Sometimes your popularity is a hindrance, Commander." While Valeriya's words were harsh, Zeldri knew she just talked like that to deal with the stress of being a medic.
"It's only bad at times like this."
"Yeah, so could you please work on not coming to my ward so often, anymore?" She grabbed a tablet from one of the nearby tables and wheeled over a chair to sit next to the bed.
"But, then you would have to give my designated bed to someone else." Zeldri had noticed that every time he was sent to the medical ward, he had been placed in the same bed.
"That would be an improvement." Valeriya tapped away at the tablet as she jotted down some notes. "Honestly, when I got the call from Annika, I was expecting to break out a body bag."
"...!" A-545 sent a glare at Valeriya, but Zeldri put his hand on her head and distracted her with a head pat.
"Is it that bad?"
"Quite the opposite." Zeldri raised an eyebrow so Valeriya continued, "You had an open wound in a Collapse saturated area. I heard some people even instantly turned into ELID infected. And, yet..." She handed Zeldri her tablet so he could see his medical exam sheet. "You're basically fine."
"...?" Zeldri scanned the medical sheet. The more he read, the more confused he got.
"After I fished the bullet pieces out of you I immediately worked on bandaging the wound while giving you some stimulants to try and keep a handle on your ELID exposure... That was two days ago." Her eyes scanned Zeldri as she paused for a moment to let him process what she had said. "Yesterday, when I came to replace the bandage, the wound was completely closed."
"...!" Zeldri lifted the shirt he was wearing to check his stomach. Only a scar was left.
"You looked like you were on death's door when you came back, but after two days of rest with some proper care you're only a little pale as the color has mostly returned to your skin." Valeriya reached over and grabbed a test tube filled with blood. She stared at it for a few moments before continuing, "I checked your blood for ELID contamination only to find you were back to safe levels. If anything, it seems you've developed semi-immunosome."
"...I'm immune to collapse radiation?"
"Somehow," Valeriya admitted as she twirled the test tube between her fingers. "While I knew you're body was healthier than most when you started training with Jericho, I never expected you to be able to shake off bullet wounds and ELID infection. Do you have some kind of weird family medical history I don't know about?"
"..."
.̷͎̬̓̐̀̑̉̑.̷̖̮̒̈̂͝.̶̪̓͒̓̈N̷̔̓͑͘ͅo̶͍̯͖̳͐̒͐́̓̕v̷̧͖͚͕̞̈́̂͝ͅe̸̞͚̾̅͠ṃ̷̡̠̟͖͉̓̎̊̈́͠ḅ̷̣̀e̷̻͖̬̼̤̽̉̓͝r̵͎̮̩͐̓̏́͝.̶̧͔̠̩̬̰̍̽͆́.̷̜͚̽͗̊̇.̷̣̼̫̱̟̍̃͛̑Z̶̧̨̧̳̬̞̓͊̅͆ě̶͕̯r̸̗̰̙͆͒̃̎̔ô̴̺͚̂̀̓.̵̢̡̗̘̽͌̕͝.̷̡̮͋̎̔̆.̷̪̞͌F̸̙̞̱͔̱͛͂͝͠ì̶̲̈́̽͠v̴̨͍͓̯͓͖̂͝ė̶̗͖̀͠.̴͔͕̞͉̇.̵̺̞̟̠͔̩͂̌̌͘.̸̖̻͔̣̻͈́̊͘Ǎ̴͈̙̰͐l̷̢̘͉͑̏͑̀͒p̷̤̞̞͍͎͍̀͊͆̇̎h̶̝̩̐͆͘a̵̧̾.̷̦̖̪̟̱̠̏͐̿̏.̷̯̥̻͠.̷̨̭͗͗͑̂͜
"...Not that I'm aware of," Zeldri said as he handed Valeriya her tablet back. "I always chalked up my health to the effort I put into maintaining my body."
"Hmm." Valeriya tapped the tablet against her chin as she thought. "Well, whatever the case, I'm mandating at least a full week of bed rest under my observation to make sure you're fine. I even found a rather willing assistant to make sure you stay in bed, too." She glanced over at A-545.
"The Commander won't leave this bed!" she declared with a rather unsettlingly determined look in her eyes.
"...Can I at least use the bathroom across the hall?" Zeldri jokingly asked. And, to answer his joke question, another of A-545's dummy links walked out from behind the privacy curtain while holding a bucket. "...Valeriya!"
"I'll leave you to rest now, Commander," Valeriya had a smug smile on her face as she got up to leave. "I'll be back around dinner time to check up on you."
"Oi!" Zeldri reached out and attempted to get up only for his arm to be grabbed by A-545.
"Commander." Her voice was dangerous and she had an iron grip. "You promised me you wouldn't leave the bed."
"A-545-"
"Am I interrupting something?" As Valeriya left, Horris walked into the ward. He raised an eyebrow amusedly as he watched Zeldri and A-545 struggle with each other.
"No," Zeldri said and gave a defeated sigh as he let A-545 push him back down onto the bed. "Did you need something?"
"What, I can't come to make sure you're okay?" he joked.
"The Commander can't work," A-545 declared as she looked over to Horris. "Come back after a week."
"...Unfortunately, this can't wait a week." Horris' normally jovial tone shifted and became serious.
"I sai-"
"A-545, enough." Zeldri's words caused the t-doll to fall silent. "I can't leave, so is it something I can do from here?"
"I just need your approval, is all."
"Approval for what?" Zeldri wasn't liking where this was going.
"During the later stages of the failed coup, I.O.P. unveiled a new line of dolls they are now selling to Griffin; the HOC line. As well as the Neural Upgrade system."
"HOC?" Zeldri already knew, to an extent, about the Neural Upgrade system from talking to A-545 about her past, so he focused on what he didn't know.
"Heavy Ordnance Corps," Horris clarified, "T-dolls are imprinted to single soldier weapon systems, but HOCs are a team of a-dolls imprinted to heavy weapons such as launchers, gun emplacements, and artillery."
"...They were approved for that?" Zeldri knew how strict the government had been with its PMC laws. So, to hear about this new development made him uneasy.
"Apparently," Horris admitted and gave a shrug. "This new development will allow Griffin to field previously unavailable levels of firepower to combat new threats."
"Like the white faction." Zeldri recalled what Scarecrow had said about the chaos of that day.
"Awfully convenient, isn't it?" Horris bitterly chuckled. "On the day Sangvis Ferri was supposed to die and Griffin's job gets finished, a new enemy reveals itself and I.O.P. just so happens to have an answer that was last minute government approved."
"..." Zeldri wanted to tell Horris to stop spouting conspiracy theories, but this was far too coincidental to brush off.
"Conspiracy or not, this also gives you a rather unique opportunity." Horris fidgeted nervously as he finally reached his request. "With the threat of the white faction, and I.O.P. releasing HOCs, I would like your permission to create my own HOCs for the Mountain."
"...Clarify."
"I want to rearm the vehicles and link some t-dolls to them." Zeldri looked like he was about to protest, so Horris cut him off, "You just got blindsided by the military, Zeldri. Not to mention, this new white faction has tech that dwarfs even the stuff Sangvis Ferri had! The number of enemies just tripled and their tech advantage just skyrocketed! If you want any chance against them or even just a chance at survival, you need to pull out all the stops."
"..." Zeldri clenched his fists in apprehension. Getting some HOCs from I.O.P. would be one thing, but rearming some of the heavier-grade vehicles of the Mountain? "Do we even have enough dolls?" Even if Zeldri gave this idea the time of day, they suffered losses during the failed coup, and I.O.P. was no doubt getting flooded with t-doll requests by other commanders.
"All your combat echelons already were assigned vehicles before, so they can just have their vehicles rearmed while others can get upgraded to a better one. We've found plenty of scrapped BTRs to get a few going along with ammunition for them. But, there is one, in particular, I want to get going."
"You want the T-14, right?" During their many excursions around the sector, Zeldri's echelons had found many abandoned military vehicles. One of his echelons had even found an old T-14 main battle tank that was mostly intact aside from some damaged exterior panels and no fuel. At the time, Zeldri said it was too risky so they left it while marking the location on their map for later retrieval.
"Your father's already pulling strings for this base. The fact I.O.P. is now legally allowed HOCs means the T-14 could be something the FSB can overlook if we use it sparingly. Besides, the ones who found it, who you aptly thereafter named Fireteam Tankery, are down to three members which is the needed crew size of the T-14. So, we can use them as the dolls for the HOC conversion."
"Down to three?" Zeldri asked, "Can't we just pull the downed teammate's digiminds into new bodies?"
"..." A somber air fell in the room as Horris became silent.
"Commander," A-545 decided to speak, "After Parapluie was released, the military released a virus of their own. This virus not only countered Parapluie, but it corrupted our connection to Griffin's backup servers."
"...So then...?"
"Every t-doll lost that day is permanently gone. We'll need to wait for I.O.P. to send a replacement, but even then it will be a factory-fresh version of the t-doll. It won't be the doll we lost."
"!" Zeldri shot up in bed.
"Commander!" A-545 tried to push him back down, but Zeldri grabbed her wrists to stop her.
"Who did we lose?" Zeldri's voice was quiet and barely controlled.
"...Kord, DSR-50, Type 79, CR-21, and MG34 are gone. Others were damaged to critical conditions, but their respective echelons managed to recover the main bodies and supplied them enough backup power to make it back to the Mountain for full repairs. We even saved one of commander Anto's echelons before they could be destroyed and they've agreed to join us." A-545 somberly relayed the state of the echelons. "Even after two days, the repair bay is still packed with t-dolls waiting for their turns. Though, all critical condition t-dolls have been stabilized and repaired to a functional state."
"Alright, next batch!" a technician shouted as he waved over the next group of waiting t-dolls. The repair bay of the Mountain was filled with damaged t-dolls and human staff trying to get things sorted. But, with their limited capacity to repair only a few dolls at a time the process of bringing everyone back to fighting strength was grueling. And, that was assuming they even could be brought back to full strength.
"We're in the next batch," Makarov relayed as she stood next to her echelon members. Her clothes were torn up and the synthetic skin on her right leg was missing. The rest of her team didn't look much better.
"Mmm," MAC-10 grunted as she continued to stare at the floor. She was missing an arm, and the arm she still had couldn't close the hand all the way because of some damage.
"...We..." Skorpion tried to find words, but couldn't as she scratched the singed synthetic skin on her arm. "We'll learn from this, right?" She tried to lift their spirits. "You learn from everything, y'know?" A forced smile played on her face to no avail.
"...I'm sorry everyone..." OTs-12 mumbled, "I should have performed better... As a secret wea-"
"Will you shut up!" MAC-10 snapped causing OTs-12 to flinch away. "You talk about being some secret weapon, but that didn't save MG34's-!"
"Enough!" Makarov grabbed MAC-10 by the collar and forced her to look at her. "We're all high-strung. But, don't you dare put that kind of weight on OTs-12!"
"I know that!" MAC-10 grit her teeth in anger, but didn't push Makarov away. "I know... I just..." She couldn't bear to meet Makarov's gaze and looked towards the floor. After a few tense moments, Makarov let MAC-10 go. "...Sorry...OTs-12," she sheepishly apologized.
"...It's alright..." OTs-12 accepted the apology. She knew MAC-10's personality and that she was also having trouble coping with what was happening. As a secret weapon, she had to be better. Her eyes wandered over to a corner of the room that no one stood in. A makeshift shrine was created with the weapons of those who didn't make it back. For MG34's sake, she would be better.
"...Блядь (Fuck)," Zeldri cursed to himself. While his losses could have been far worse, the fact some of his dolls were permanently gone brought back the bitter taste of when he lost Darby and the other soldiers that fateful day.
"..." A-545 once again, more gently, pushed Zeldri back down to rest on the bed.
"...Horris," Zeldri finally said after taking a minute to collect himself, "Take Tankery to the T-14 along with some fuel and get them imprinted. We can talk about the Neural Upgrade system later." If Horris said it was possible, then Zeldri would believe him.
"I'll get my things," Horris affirmed before giving a slight bow and exiting the medical ward.
"...A-545," Zeldri asked when Horris left.
"Yes?"
"Is Scarecrow causing any issues?"
"...No. She's stayed up in the hangar with her units and hasn't said a word."
"I see." At least something wasn't trying to add fuel to the fire. While he still didn't trust Scarecrow, she was at least staying quiet which would allow him to focus on his own health.
"...Commander?" A-545 looked over to Zeldri. His expression was grave as he stared silently at the ceiling completely lost in his own thoughts. "..." Deciding not to disturb him, A-545 quietly laid down next to him. She stared at him, but she softened her gaze. Neither said a word, and A-545 prayed her presence was at least somewhat comforting to Zeldri.