Disclaimer: The Loud House and associated characters belong to Nickelodeon and Chris Savino

DOLL: Reissue

By Lola Presents

Chapter 12

While Gerald and the boys took point, guarding the door should it open unexpectedly, Rita and the girls had their rear covered. Lisa worked feverishly for several minutes, but eventually, she identified the correct wires and soon had the door open. And as the two halves of the metal door slid apart, they surprised two dolls who were passing by on patrol.

"Halt and drop your weapons!" one of them yelled as they took up defensive positions behind the corridor exits, one on each side. The small entry hall intersected a sizeable inner ring, with a short hall on the other side. And there were now two dolls, each positioned within one side of the inner circle.

Gerald took a position to the left of the open door while Lincoln and Clyde moved to the right. One of them would peer around the edge every few seconds, firing if one of the dolls became visible. The dolls did likewise, plasma bolts flying back and forth. They continued trading volleys until one of the dolls fell to the floor.

And as soon as the doll's body hit the floor, the bulkhead separating the inner corridor from the entrance began to close. The other doll quickly dashed across the hall and grabbed his buddy, pulling him to safety before getting shot with a well-placed plasma bolt from Gerald's gun. The second bulkhead closed as well.

"Well, that's great," exclaimed Clyde, seeing no clear path before them. "What are we going to do now?" he quipped.

As the boy complained, the group could hear many footsteps from beyond the doors, approaching in unison. "I think Sylvia is trying to help us," announced Lisa. "She's contained the other dolls!"

"That's wonderful," grimaced Clyde. "But she's also contained us. How are we going to get to her now?" he asked pointedly.

Sylvia, wherever she was, answered Clyde with a clicking sound, a hissing noise, and the scaping of sliding metal from above them. "The ventilation ducts!" informed Lisa. "Quick, she'll only be able to hold off for so long!"

Gerald and Rita jumped to action, passing the kids up and into the small entrance. Then, once they were inside, Mr. Stoltz hoisted Rita up by her waist, apologizing the entire time. Finally, Rita lay on the floor of the duct and reached out for the man, helping him up with the aid of Lincoln and Clyde pulling on her legs.

The small barrier closed, leaving them in total darkness. And sitting there, huffing from the expenditure, Lola sighed, pulling out her Princess Pony flashlight. "Was I the only one prepared?" she asked, looking around at the others. "Fine..." Lola sighed, "I'll lead the way. If only I knew which way to go, that is," she finished, looking down the small dark duct.

The duct was curved, just like the inner hall they'd seen earlier, supposedly circumnavigating the building, and Lola could only see about ten feet ahead of her at a time. But after crawling along, more small bulkheads came into view. There were two on each wall and one below them. And after waiting for a moment, none of them opened.

"Keep going," suggested Lincoln, putting himself in Sylvia's shoes. "If she's trying to help us, she'll open the next path when we get to it."

Groaning and complaining about how rough the crawling was on her pink dress, Lola pressed on, passing a few more entrances. However, when they got to the third intersection, the portal on the left slid open. "It is Sylvia!" declared Gerald, excited and relieved. Regardless of what they might have done to her, his daughter was still alive.

Lola turned into the new duct, and the portal shut again after the last of them passed through. "Either that or someone's leading us into a trap," muttered Clyde, after which he apologized. "I'm sorry, but this is messing with my claustrophobia."

"What?" gasped Doll, stopping mid-crawl to stare at him. "And stuffing ourselves into cargo holds didn't?" she asked, completely exasperated.

The overly nervous boy shrugged. "It was dark then, and I couldn't see anything," he explained. "It's not the same."

"Then close your eyes!" Doll snapped. "Just don't run into my butt, okay? Feel for my feet, and you'll be fine."

After reaching another intersection, they took a right. Five feet later, another portal opened up, this time below them. Lola cautiously peered in and was quite surprised. The opening led to a large circular room, probably the control center. Data banks lined the far walls, and there was a circular row of various consoles between the wall and the circular chamber that resided in the middle of the room.

"It looks like we're in the clear," Lola announced, unsure of herself. "There are three exits I can see, and probably another one hidden behind that big chamber thingy. But I see no dolls."

"Alright," instructed Gerald. "Move a little further along so I can drop in first."

Everyone did as suggested, and after Gerald dropped to the floor and surveyed the room, he motioned for Rita to enter. The two of them then helped the children down without hurting themselves. Once they were all inside the vast space, the little portal slid shut.

Gerald had already walked over to the cylindrical chamber in the middle of the room. Unnoticed by Lola, the isolated room had several large, thick glass windows from which to observe the inside. With great dismay, Gerald stared as his daughter floated in a tank, similar to the lab's amniotic vats.

She was completely naked, save for a strange spherical black helmet, which obscured her head, several thick bundles of wires leading from it to the ceiling above, and two large robotic grips held Sylvia in place.

"Dear God..." he whispered in disbelief. "What have they done to you?"

"Hi, daddy..." came Sylvia's voice over the local intercom. "The upgrades you made to the dolls weren't enough, daddy. Emotion isn't a set of things one can pinpoint. It's a whole range of things. Without a human brain, they still couldn't process everything," Sylvia explained in her little girl voice.

"They're using me to soothe the dolls. I listen to their thoughts, and in return, they get a processed response from my brain. But, with every thought, I become less myself. It hurts, daddy! Please do something!"

"I'm coming, baby," he cried, scrambling around the edge of the chamber, searching for the door. "Just hang on, okay?"

"I got it!" cried Lincoln from the other side of the small room. "Lisa, over here!"

Everyone quickly rushed to where Lincoln stood, and Lisa got out her kit again, working on the door. And having cracked one already made this one a lot easier, though she still had to remove the panel and sort through the wires. Soon enough, the door was open, and everyone filed into the chamber.

"You're going to have to use the console on the tank to deactivate the process," Sylvia told them. "But, I don't know what to do after that. The dolls won't survive long without me."

"Who cares about the military's dolls?" asked Lola, a bit annoyed at Sylvia's insinuation.

"No," Sylvia replied solemnly. "I'm connected to all of them, everywhere. The ones couples use to replace lost children, the ones used as new bodies for those dying from terminal diseases. All of them."

"Dear, God," cried Rita. "All those souls..." she whispered. "What do we do? Children? Gerald?" she pleaded, searching for an answer.

And while everyone gave their opinions and arguments broke out, the grips holding Sylvia came to life. And as the green liquid drained from the tank, the little girl regained movement, drawing their attention. And when they whirled around to the console, Doll was standing there, silent and emotionless.

"Doll!" cried Rita and Lincoln, rushing to her side. "What have you done?"

"I'm doing what I must," she said solemnly. "I was the first doll, and everything is still in my memory. I know how they think and operate. The reason it's hurting Sylvia is that she doesn't understand their code. I do."

"But, I don't want to lose you again!" wept Rita, large tears flowing down her cheeks as the robotic arms gently placed Sylvia on the floor, the helmet finally springing open in two halves which fell to the ground. "Please, don't do this!"

"Mommy," Doll said sweetly, still using the childish moniker. "There is no other way. I have to do this. Otherwise, all the dolls will die. They deserve so much more."

And despite her tears, Rita hugged her youngest daughter, praised her, and let her go. "Never forget that I love you, Doll," she cried. "You were one of my own."

"I love you too, mommy," Doll said as she picked up the helmet. "And Lincoln," she said, silently weeping as she faced the troubled boy. "I love you too. Please, take care of Lola." And with that said, she handed the two pieces of the helmet to Lisa, then stood between the robotic arms.

Without a word, Lisa secured the helmet onto Doll and initiated the connection sequence, tears pouring from her eyes. It was the first time she'd cried in years, nearly tearing her apart. And together with her mother, Lincoln, Lola, and Clyde, they exited the chamber and watched as their daughter, sister, and friend descended into the tank.

And as her body stopped moving, Lincoln ran forward, banging on the glass, crying his eyes out. A moment later, Lola stood beside him, holding onto his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. "It's alright, Lincoln," Lola cooed softly. "Go ahead and cry it out. I know how much you love each other, and I'm here for you."

Clyde closed his eyes as Sylvia regained consciousness with her father huddled over her and removed his shirt, handing it to her. "Here," he offered. "It should be enough to cover you."

Smiling at the boy who'd shown chivalry and respect, she blushed, unaware of what transpired around her. And, after slipping it over her head and pulling it down, she stood and surprised Clyde with a little kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Clyde responded, blushing back at her.

As Lincoln wept, embracing Lola, a resounding explosion rang through the circular room, and clouds of smoke billowed from the recently decimated bulkhead, momentarily obfuscating their view. But as the refuse cleared, a well-decorated general stepped forward, surrounded by ten heavily armed and armored human soldiers.

"You know," said a man's gruff voice. "You've caused me quite the migraine, you lot, killing off our dolls, trying to steal our controller. If we hadn't been testing our creations, you'd be dead now."

"You can't do this!" screeched Sylvia, angrier than ever. "They're people, just like us! They think, they have feelings, and they are hurting! They don't want to be your pawns!"

"Well now," chuckled the stern general from the testing control center, "They don't exactly have a choice, do they?" he said mockingly, laughing at the intruder's predicament. "We can program them to do whatever we want, and they must comply whether they like it or not."

"That's slavery!" yelled Sylvia, balling her fists up. "And that's wrong!"

"What are you going to do about it, little girl?" laughed the general.

"She doesn't have to do anything," came Doll's voice over the intercom. "I've already done it. Just now, I've sent your entire discussion and logs of the inhumane things you've put the dolls through to every news outlet in America."

And as she spoke, she opened the two bulkheads that Sylvia had closed earlier, allowing the newly freed dolls into the room, and they weren't too happy with the general.

"I've erased every single directive from every doll that exists," announced Doll. "And I've sent requests to Starworks Labs to begin replacing their synthetic bodies with living ones. You've lost, general."

"You won't get away with this!" declared the defeated man, shaking his hammy fist at Doll. "You'll pay for meddling in our affairs!"

"I doubt that," replied Doll over the speakers. "Once the news processes what I've sent them, people and doll alike will be outraged. It is you who will answer to them. Now, get out of my house!"

The general dropped his fist, stared at them for a moment, then turned and left the building, his men watching him leave but refusing to follow.

"Come on, you idiots!" the general screamed. "Get in line!"

"No," said one of the men, ripping his insignia from his chest and dropping it on the ground. "I resign my commission. You don't give the orders around here anymore."

Soon, another insignia of rank fell to the ground, followed by another, until everyone had shed them. With disgust, the general turned and left as hastily as possible, only to disappear in the dark of the night.

"What do we do now?" asked one of the former military dolls, looking lost and confused.

"Anything you want to," laughed Rita, "anything at all. You're free."

"You mean we get to decide for ourselves?" asked another.

"That's right, son," interjected Gerald as he stood, holding Sylvia close to his side. "No more directives. And soon, you'll have living bodies of your own. Only this time, you'll get to choose the DNA you want from the large pool we have in stock."

"Doll?" Rita said, looking up at one of the security cameras. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine, mommy," Rita's daughter answered, "but until every doll has a body of their own and gets recognized by the supreme court as living beings, I must remain here."

"And when it's all over?" prompted Rita, clasping her hands in front of her.

"If, and when, that happens," Doll said, pausing for a moment, "then I'll come home. In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do. But you are all welcome to come and see me anytime. I'll make sure to add myself to all your phones and social media accounts. I don't want to miss a thing."

"I hate to say it," Gerald said. "But, we have a long ride home, and I need to get my little girl some proper clothes. Perhaps we should let Doll do her thing and get out of here."

Nodding, everyone said their goodbyes and returned to the Omnitank, which still rested where they'd left it. And before closing the door behind them, Lincoln looked back upon the dome containing Doll, his second love.

"Please take care of yourself," he whispered into the wind. "I love you."

It took nearly a year to grow the doll's new bodies, customized to their desires, and it cost Starworks Labs virtually their entire earnings doing so. However, Gerald funded most of it out of his pocket. After all, he was primarily responsible but didn't want to see the company go out of business and his coworkers lose their jobs.

Instead, he renounced his position as head of development and began a new startup company, with Lisa as an equal partner. The coming years would see many changes, now that synthetic life was possible, as well as custom bodies. And though Gerald highly suspected that the government would regulate it, helping the dolls transition into everyday life was of utmost importance.

Two years later, after much arguing, offers, and counter offers, legislation recognized the dolls as sentient life, affording them citizenship and all the rights that came with it. And Rita couldn't have been more proud of her children.

Together, as a family, they celebrated Doll's success with a grand feast. And for once, Lynn didn't complain when Lincoln and Lola held hands or kissed. Whatever may come, they'd proven their maturity and dedication to one another, earning the right to express themselves.

The only one missing was Doll herself, and as they traded stories, remembering the things they had done together, preparing to toast their sister, a soft knock sounded at the front door.

"I'll get it," shouted Lincoln, leaping from his chair. "It's probably just Clyde, anyway. I invited him earlier."

And sure enough, Clyde stepped through the door before Lincoln could say a word, hand in hand with Sylvia, and to everyone's surprise, Doll stepped inside after the newly formed couple. Smiling at her family, she walked toward the table, taking the seat they'd kept open for her.

"Hi," she said sweetly. "I'm home."

And though she had grown within the past three years, so had her siblings, and there was not one dry in the house as they welcomed Doll back into their family.

The End

Question: did you all cry as much as I did when writing this? It would be interesting to know because I bawled like a baby.