Shadows stretched further and further as the midday sun slowly turned into evening, but the shadows of Angels past still lay etched into the pavement. This city was where FG42 had planned to trap Kar98k, and the scars of the battle that ensued were still clear as day. Most prominent was the rising conflict between the human and doll population, with a ghetto of artificial life growing where Juliet's temple once stood. The building itself was destroyed after the trap had failed, but its rubble still remained for all to see. Juliet's body was probably still buried there, as well as the Nyto that had been killed by the Commander.
Angel stood in front of the steps that once led into the warehouse turned temple, waiting for her employer to arrive. Memories continued to flood her head, unable to truly be rid of them. Even amongst the hodgepodge collections of dolls and mechanical life, she was an outcast. While her cybernetics made her appear like them at first glance, her movements were still too fluid and the look in her eyes was too real. However, she still felt welcomed by them.
As she waited, a police model Cyclops with a black and white paint job trotted up to her. Usually employed as battle droid fodder, the Cyclops came in other flavors and varieties for civilian use as well. Despite their heads being emotionless boxes with a single glowing eye, some of the police models still featured basic personalities to help integrate them into populations. This one, it seemed, understood to introduce itself with a friendly handshake. "Greetings, you must be Griffin," his voice was tinny and lacked tone, "I am Officer Charon."
Angel shook his hand and bowed. "The name I have chosen for myself is Angel."
"A beautiful name." He nodded his head, but his lack of emotion made him hard to read.
"You flatter me." She pretended to be flustered, silently hoping that he wasn't being serious. The more robotic dolls were often too subtle and difficult for her to understand.
Charon only nodded again. "I trust you understand why you're here?"
"I was given a briefing on your situation, and I even have an idea of where to start." The city had a severe issue with dolls and machines being sold on the black market. Even before Angel's first visit, humans abducting dolls to be sold for parts and scrap was quite common. After the battle, dolls began to move into the buildings cleared by Sangvis Ferri for their own protection. A few dolls with the processing power were able to keep some of the remaining SF dolls around to serve as security as well, but this only encouraged the abductions to happen at night instead. Officer Charon was their attempt to try and protect themselves, having been purchased by the dolls that remained. The attacks persisted, and now the androids were getting desperate. Fortunately for them, Angel was quite familiar with the black market here.
Some time ago, during Operation Romeo
"I do not understand your insistence to incorporate the unfaithful into our grand strategy."
FG42 sighed, taking a swig from a flask of alcohol she carried on her person. She often filled it with various mixed drinks she would concoct in back at the base with Addy, whenever the two of them weren't scheming away. She currently sat in one of the church pews that had been constructed for Juliet's Paradeus temple, reclining as she waited for the woman upstairs to come and speak to her. There was no way that FG42 was going to play along with the charade and have a conversation with a supposedly reformed Sangvis doll.
The white Nyto stood over her, disgruntled that she was being ignored. "One day you'll see the value in scorning the unclean ones from your sight, rather than welcoming them into your home."
FG42 continued to ignore the Nyto as she rambled, upset that after all of this time she still didn't understand. Eventually she'd end up butting heads with the zealous members of Paradeus, but for now she had to appreciate what little autonomy she had. "One of these days that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble." She finally muttered before sipping from her flask again.
"Oh, and is there some wisdom you'd wish to impart unto me?" The Nyto responded, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Sometimes you need to ask someone for help," FG42 explained, hoping that the Nyto wouldn't connect her feelings to Paradeus, "even if you'd rather work by yourself."
"The blessings bestowed upon me by Father are more than enough to fulfill our duty." The Nyto stood high, confident in herself. Despite this, she remained ignorant of what the purpose here was.
"I don't give a shit about you," FG42 smacked her hand onto the pew for emphasis, "I'm not doing any of this for you! For all of this to work, it needs to be their choice."
The Nyto scowled, clearly upset with the doll. It was totally within the power of Paradeus to bring an end to all of this sneaking around. Father was growing tired with waiting, and was about to abandon the project. The Nyto placed a strange drill device on the pew next to FG42. "Father does not care about their choices," her tone was cold, "and gives you this to bring the doll back home."
FG42 picked up the nightmare device and looked it over. The device was meant to physically crack into a doll's systems, tricking its software into believing it was an aftermarket addition. It would then integrate whatever code into the doll that the intruder saw fit. The entire process was incredibly painful for the doll, and had a large margin for error. It was incredibly similar to the process of lobotomizing a human, and was just as barbaric of a process. While electronic warfare was a serious threat, drilling into a dolls skull to rewrite their minds was outright torture. FG42 placed the drill back onto the pew, looking away from it in disgust.
"Go find those black market assholes." She struggled to keep her voice level as she realized that her plans were no longer under her control.
"I believe that I can handle Scarecrow myself-"
"I said to get the fuck out of my sight!" FG42 screamed at the Nyto, wanting her gone. Her loyalty to Paradeus was an issue, and she would need to be dealt with before she became a serious threat. For now, the white haired half-doll simply scowled and left.
FG42 sighed as she leaned back in the pew, coming to terms with what she needed to do. Someone had to have tipped off Scarecrow to draw her in here, but there was no time to deal with that now. She needed to figure out how to bring Kar98k with her, without letting Paradeus tighten their leash entirely. Bad enough that their control systems were so intrusive, at least Fredrick was kind enough to remove those for her, albeit too early for her liking. The thought that Kar98k might reject her offer had crossed her mind a few times, and FG42 had steeled herself for what she would do in the event that came to happen. She would never let those Paradeus bastards keep her life's work, opting to destroy it all before she let it be taken away. They were her dolls, and she would make sure that they stay that way.
Angel rolled up her sleeves, exposing more of her metallic arms to the cool night air. Slowly, she removed her belt after undoing the lower buttons of the crimson Griffin jacket she wore, ensuring that her legs would be exposed as she walked. She wanted the world to see how much of her was metallic, and to be tempted to come for her. Whether she was a doll or a human with prosthetics, she would be worth a lot of money to the destitute humans of this city.
Gripping the thick leather belt, Angel wondered if anyone might recognize her from the battle. The stink of Paradeus and its cult still festered within the city, gaining even more traction after the combat. Part of her wondered if any of the weapon stores were untouched, allowing her arm the dolls for further defense. First, however, she needed to remind the humans just where the Nyto stood in the rankings of Paradeus. While nothing more than nameless fodder to her sisters, Angel still stood above most humans when it came to combat. Knock a few heads and word would spread quickly. As her fingers gripped the belt tighter, she knew what she needed to do.
It didn't take long to find trouble, especially with her superior hearing. A scream came from an alleyway, prompting Angel to spring into action. Peering around the corner of the ruined brick building, a group of thugs were struggling with a child sized doll in the dark passage. Two of the men were trying to restrain the doll, while a third wrestled with a dog that tried to defend the girl. Stepping into the alley, the streetlight behind her cast a long and intimidating shadow over the scene. To get their attention, Angel slapped her belt against the wall to create a whip cracking noise. The loud snap echoed through the brick walls, ending the ruckus and turning the eyes towards the Nyto.
Silhouetted against the light, her typically pale appearance was cast in shadow as she spoke. "Is this how you honor the light of Paradeus?" Angel's voice was projected through the alley, bouncing around between the walls to make her sound even more intimidating.
The thugs looked between each other. "It's those religious freaks." One of them muttered.
"I am an angel of Paradeus!" Her voice boomed, offended at the lack of recognition. "I chased the beasts of Sangvis Ferri away and this is how the unfaithful thank me? Perhaps I should have left you to your filth and squalor."
"What the fuck do you want?" One of the men brandished a knife as if it would protect him. "We'll fuck you up."
Angel approached them, closing the distance in case they had a firearm. "You starve in the streets, yet you turn to cannibalize a creature with no meat to give."
"You assholes pay us for the toasters!" The man stepped towards Angel, reaching out to grab her.
Using the belt as a whip, she slapped the man's hand with the buckle. Keeping her momentum, she swung the belt around to hit the second man in the jaw with the heavy metal buckle, breaking some of his teeth. The third thug that had been holding down the dog let the animal go, which immediately turned around to attack him. Angel swung the belt around more, using it to pull the first man closer to her body. Bringing his face closer to hers, she slammed her forehead into his nose and let him stagger backwards. The man with the bleeding mouth tried to stab at her, but she simply grabbed him by the wrist to stop the attack. Before they could struggle for the blade, she lifted her leg up and kicked him in the knee. The bones snapped as the leg bowed back in an unnatural way, accompanied by a sickening crunch. Angel delivered a swift punch to the stomach of the first man, knocking the air from his lungs and forcing him to cough.
The doll that had been attacked called the dog back to her, allowing Angel to grab the chewed on third man and pull him to his feet. She glared into his eyes, hoping he saw the fire and hatred she held for him. "Filth like you that preys on the weak has no place in the world of Paradeus." She growled before tossing him away.
The two remaining thugs grabbed their wounded friend and limped away into the night, hopefully to find better jobs. Angel took a deep breath to control her adrenaline before turning her attention to the child sized doll. "Are you alright?" She asked the doll.
The girl, clutching the massive hound for support, nodded with confidence. "They weren't expecting me to put up a fight," she explained, "but I guess they weren't expecting you either."
"What brings you out into such dangerous nights?" Angel asked.
The girl ruffled the dog's fur, who happily wagged his tail. "This one loves his nighttime strolls."
Angel couldn't help but smile at the sight of a girl and her dog. "Hopefully your walks will be safer from now on."
The girl frowned. "Unless you patrol the streets every night, things will only get worse."
Angel considered the girl's words, realizing that it was impossible for her to be everywhere at once. Perhaps if she still commanded an army, she could protect the dolls on a regular basis. Unfortunately, she no longer controlled the forces of Paradeus in combat anymore. By pretending to still be a loyal Nyto and shouting the gospel of Paradeus, she had hoped that the more religious folk would take a more active role in controlling their less civilized kin. However, there was another solution to this fool's errand that she figured she should investigate.
Looking back to the girl, Angel concocted a plan. "Are there any dolls here rated for heavy construction?"
Officer Charon made a whistling noise as Angel rolled pulled up on the metal garage door, exposing the sights inside to the outside world for the first time in months. She had searched for this place over the rest of the night, trying to find at least one cache of Paradeus weapons and supplies that she had not unlocked during the battle with Sangvis Ferri. Luckily, inside this locked garage were a dozen idle Strelets standing at attention, waiting for their activation. She was just as surprised as Charon to see they were still operable after all this time. "This is quite the valuable find, Angel." Charon remarked as he walked around the armored soldiers.
"The local Paradeus faithful had been maintaining them all this time," Angel surmised, seeing no other reason why these Strelets were still operational, "but lacked the proper codes to activate them."
Charon stopped to look her over. "And you have these codes?" He asked with a hint of accusation. He had every right to be suspicious of her if she could control the foot soldiers of a military cult.
"My command is gone with my allegiance," Angel shook her head, "but I did know where to track down some of these codes for you to use."
Exactly as Angel had predicted, Juliet's ramshackle cathedral had gone unmolested since its destruction. With the aid of a few construction dolls and some excavators, Angel was able to locate the corpse of the Nyto that had been killed by Kar98k and the Brigade. While her organic half had long since begun rotting away, Angel was able to retrieve some data that was stored in her large ocular implant. This allowed her to track down the command authorization that they had used for the forces here, which she more than happily transferred to Charon to use.
"It troubles me to know just how in depth your part in this city's strife is," Charon stepped forward to offer Angel a hand, "but it makes me happy to know that you may have just helped us turn it around."
Angel gave him a smile and took his hand. It was bulky and built more for holding onto a firearm and not much else, lacking the dexterity and finesse that her hands possessed. "My hope is that the local followers of Paradeus will see this and help you clean this city up."
"I can only hope that they follow in your footsteps." If Charon had a mouth, he'd have been smiling.
While her lips were smiling, Angel knew that this was only a temporary solution. She had given Charon the authorization of a black Nyto, the lowest she could afford to him. It was only a matter of time before Paradeus proper would catch wind of this and send one of her sisters with higher authority to investigate. She could only hope that by that time, Charon was no longer relying on the Strelets to keep the peace and things could work. Hope had saved her life before, and she was betting on her hope to save the lives of both the dolls and humans of the city as well. Angel wasn't sure if she could live with herself if she killed the same city twice.