"Enemy at bearing 218." Aleah's cold voice rattles off in my ear.
"Yeah, I got that." I hiss, reloading my pistol. "Can you tell who it is?"
"I do not have that information."
I curse under my breath.
For a frame of reference, it's been roughly a day since that fiasco in Rud's mansion. In that time, I've done a whole bunch of things, like-
The bark of the tree I'm hiding behind suddenly bursts away, bullets moving too fast for my eyes to register stripping the bark away almost mockingly.
My assailants know where I am and they want me to know.
I take a deep breath trying to calm my nerves. I can make it out of here.
I blind fire the pistol to where I think the bullets had come from, then sprint to the left, aiming for a new piece of cover, hoping the thicker forest will provide me at least a little bit of cover.
"New target approaching, bearing 307."
On Aleah's notification, my eyes snap to the side in time to see two bright green points of light pointing right at me.
I snap my pistol into a firing line and squeeze the trigger.
The two green points disappear behind the muzzle flash, and for a second, all is quiet.
...Maybe I got her?
The unmistakable sound of a shotgun racking comes from behind me, and I slowly turn around to look.
M500 stands there, a wry smile on her face.
"Sorry Commander." She sights down the barrel of her gun. "It's nothing personal."
Then, everything goes black.
Roughly one day earlier-
The doctor shakes his head. "I'm afraid that it's too far gone."
I look down at the purple and black mass that was my hand only a few hours ago.
The sun filters through the hole in the roof of the mansion and lands almost perfectly on the now-barren dance floor, which minutes earlier had played home to what is now the most stressful moment of my life.
"So… what do we do?" I fight the bile in the back of my throat. "Are we… just gonna cut it off?"
He drums his fingers on his leg. "Yes, amputation is preferable to letting it rot. However, this is not the place to do it. For now, I'm going to wrap it back up, and once we're back to base, we'll see about getting it amputated."
He leans down to my eye level and makes sure I'm paying attention to him. "Son, I really hope that whatever you were doing that made you wait to destroy your hand was worth it."
I look away, unable to hold his gaze, and coincidentally my eyes fall onto four dolls. Two in matching black dresses, one in the most over the top white and blue ball gown and one in a simple sundress.
9 laughs as 416 pulls a chunk of debris from the roof out of her hair. UMP 45 smirks slightly, her eye wandering over in my direction.
Our eyes meet and I hastily look away.
The doctor raises an eyebrow before looking the direction I had. "Ah."
I open my mouth to protest, but I realize I have no way to make anything I say convincing. "...At least it was for a good cause?"
"As long as you can live with it." He finishes wrapping up my hand. "Now I don't think I need to tell you this, but then again, I'm told your hand wasn't initially this bad, but… Do not hit your hand on anything else."
I nod furiously. "Trust me, I one hundred percent agree. No hurt the dead hand."
He eyes me, making sure I'm taking him seriously. Once he's convinced, he stands up and turns towards Gentaine, standing a decent distance away.
My attention is drawn away from my commander and towards the doll that suddenly is sitting in my lap. "Hey, G11."
She looks up at me for a few seconds before burying her face into my shoulder. I awkwardly pat her with my good hand as the other three members of 404 surround me.
"Sounds like you're not doing so well." UMP 45 comments dryly.
"Well, you know…" I shrug. "I figured you all were worth more than my hand."
"Aw, he's so sweet." 9 pulls her hands close to her chin and lifts up her leg in an outdated lovestruck pose. "Hey, 416, mind if I borrow your boyfriend?"
"Yes." 416 sits down next to my dead arm, turning her nose up into the air like a noblewoman might. "I think I would mind."
"Eh." I glance in her direction. "I…"
"Maybe ask him first?" UMP 45 says, a grin spreading across her face. "After all, what if he's taken?"
"Then he would have told us." 416 turns to me. "Right?"
"Right…" I blink. "So-"
"Commander?"
I look down at the little girl who interrupted me. "Yes?"
"Thank you for rescuing us." G11 beams at me before once again burying her face in my shirt.
"I… you're welcome?"
"Hey." 9 brings my attention back to her. "So, are you dating anyone or not?"
"I-" I begin, but get cut off once more.
"Hadwin, I need to talk to you." Commander Gentiane steps up next to 9 and UMP 45. She glances at the four dolls. "Sorry, G&K business."
"Aw. Well, see you later, Haddy." 9 blows me a kiss with a wink and I just shake my head. UMP 45 smirks at my response as the two walk away.
416 and G11 refuse to move however.
"Er, G11? Can you please move?"
She shakes her head.
I turn to my side. "416?"
"Not until I know you're okay."
I look at Commander Gentiane who sighs. "If you don't mind their presence…"
"It's 404." I deadpan. "If they want to listen in, they could probably hack my cell phone or something."
"...Yeah." She puts her hand on her hip. "So, I'm gonna fill you in on what you missed after you pulled that stunt with S.A.T."
"Stunt?"
She glares at me. "Running towards the enemy with an unloaded weapon?"
"...Right." I stop patting G11 long enough to scratch my face. "That was a bit risky."
"A bit? I'd call it suicidal." She sighs. "In any case… well." She starts ticking items off on her fingers. "Myroslav is paying us an exorbitant amount for saving his hide. Didn't have much room to negotiate though. We did have to back off slightly because of a certain someone blowing up the roof of the mansion."
"Whoops." I say flatly.
416 turns her nose up even higher.
"In any case, Kalina was drooling over the final sum, so I hope we're good for the moment." She moves on to her second finger. "On another note, Anisim disappeared with the key thing. As such, I expected not to get paid for that job, but it turns out our client was Mister Havier all along."
"...Really?"
"Yes. I hate the way he does this cloak and dagger bullshit, but I suppose he had some dumb political reason or another."
"Where is he?"
"He left during the confusion. Vanished into thin air." She waves her hands like an amatuer magician. "In any case, Mister Havier told me to keep the money and that you're to get a large bonus for your work tonight."
I raise an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I get it, he's out of his mind, but whatever. We'll use some of it to fix up your hand since prosthetics aren't cheap, but we'll-"
"He WHAT?!" UMP 9 shrieks from behind Commander Gentiane and we all look in her direction. When she notices everyone's stares, she schools her face into something approaching normal and waves us away.
"...Uh, we'll see about procuring you a new one." Commander Gentiane blinks. "A new hand, I mean."
"Sounds good. Er, how long is that going to take?"
"Probably a week or two." She shrugs. "It's unfortunate, but we're not going to bend metal into a hook and expect you to use it."
I nod. "So, I'll be out of commision for a while then-"
A hand clamps down on my shoulder and I glance back to see two very serious Russian dolls standing behind me. AK-12 has her eyes shut for now, but her hand is really heavy.
"Commander, Miss Angelia is asking for you." She states calmly.
"Again?" Gentiane groans. "Hadwin, we'll talk later." She turns around and trots back towards an encampment I can see just outside the hole I had 416 blow in the wall.
AK-12 still hasn't let go of my shoulder, so I glance back up at her. "Is there something you need?"
"I seem to recall Commander Gentiane telling you that, should you do anything risky to harm your hand further, you'd be abandoned in an ELID infected forest with only a knife."
I hesitate. "She… she did, but she wasn't serious." My eyes shift back to where she had disappeared. "I think."
"Well, if she wasn't, make sure we know so we can come get you." AK-12 finally releases some of the pressure on my shoulder.
"Make sure to inform me as well." 416 says. "I will protect you."
G11 hums in affirmation into my shirt. Y'know, she's acting like she's less than 10 years old. I can't think of any twelve-year-olds that act like this. Sure, she looks younger in that dress, but it's not like that should affect her mind… right?
"I'm pretty sure bringing along Tactical Dolls isn't going to be allowed, given the 'only a knife' restriction." I plaster a sheepish grin on my face.
"Oh, no need to worry about that." AK-12 gestures to AN-94 who holds out a small black disk. I take it and start examining it, but it has no identifying features.
"That is a tracking beacon." AK-12 announces. "Put it in your shoe so we can find you no matter where you get sent."
"Huh." The disk is maybe a centimeter thick. "This looks… uncomfortable."
416 glares at the device for a few seconds as I turn it in my hands, only looking away when the UMP twins come back.
UMP 45 looks at the black disk, her eye narrowing slightly, but ignoring it after a brief glance. "So, what are we doing?"
"Making sure Hadwin doesn't fight off a horde of ELIDs with only a knife." AN-94 responds.
"...Why would he be doing that?" UMP 45 gives the Russian T-doll a look.
9 starts staring at me for some reason.
Meanwhile, some more faces I recognize come up from outside. P90 waves as she gets close, Tokarev and S.A.T. following closely behind.
Looks like this is gonna be a party.
"Commander Gentiane told Hadwin that if he screwed up his hand any further, she'd ship him off." P90 answers UMP 45's question as she comes within talking distance. "Hey 12, don't leave me out of this!"
"Or me." Tokarev shoots G11 a glare that G11 completely misses, before Tokarev sits on my other side and leans on my right shoulder.
"She's not going to ship me out somewhere stupid." I sigh. "That was clearly a joke." I try to hand the tracker back to AN-94 but she refuses to take it.
"Still, having a tracker would be handy." S.A.T. muses. "It'd be a lot harder to lose you on a simple drive."
UMP 45's eye slides slowly over to meet S.A.T.'s face. "Oh?"
S.A.T.'s almost permanent smile turns to a disapproving frown for the first time since I met her. "Yes, I don't think I'm the kind of doll who would dump a human in the middle of nowhere."
"It wasn't the middle of nowhere." UMP 45 retorts. "It was in M16's oh so capable hands."
"Wait." 416 turns to her leader in confusion. "You KNEW she was there?!"
"No." UMP 45 frowns at her suddenly agitated subordinate. "I knew there was a Sangvis signal, which isn't unusual from a Sangvis transport ship. It's an old distress beacon, so I assumed it was abandoned." Her voice lowers to a grumble. "I made a mistake."
"In any case." AK-12 speaks up, finally letting go of my shoulder. "The tracker will make sure this never happens again."
"Yeah…" I glare at the disk. "I don't know…"
"Oh, just do it." P90 swings around behind me and places her elbows on my shoulders. "If you don't, someone's gonna slip a tracker on you anyway, and you won't know where it is."
"..." I stare down at the disk.
"Hey." 9 says, her voice is kinda harsh too for some reason.
I look up to see her still glaring in my direction. "Yeah?"
"You have lipstick on your face." She states in a deadpan.
"I do?" I rub my lips with the back of my hand. My hand comes out clean, so I rub once more, before I realize that every single doll in the area has frozen completely in place, staring at me.
I suddenly realized that, whatever had prompted 9's question, I had confirmed that I had been kissed by trying to wipe the lipstick off.
P90's elbows suddenly clamp down on me, forcing me to sit in place.
The two DEFY dolls circle around and AK-12 has her eyes open.
"So." 9 crosses her arms. "Sounds like you have some explaining to do."
"..." I chew over several variations of the phrase "Who, me?" before rejecting them all. "I don't think I do?"
"Hadwin, why did you think you had lipstick on your face?" Tokarev asks, her mouth right next to my ear.
"CPR?" I ask in a small voice.
Understandably, the dolls are not impressed, but I gain salvation in the form of Commander Gentiane. She strides up, pushes her way past the frozen T-dolls, and then stands in front of me. "I need you outside right now."
"Yes ma'am." I try to stand up but I still have a doll in my lap and one pinning me in place. "Uh… P90, let go."
She reluctantly releases the pressure on my shoulders.
"G11, please let go."
"Nein."
Commander Gentiane crouches down. "G11, I know you're trying to protect him, but I need him for a discussion. He'll be right back."
"Nein." She turns her head to look at Gentiane. "I want my turn."
"Your turn?"
"If Hadwin's kissing us, I want my turn." She insists.
My stomach turns, and judging by her expression, so does Gentiane's. "Alright, I don't care what's going on, but I need him now. You can all fight over him after. Also, you're not going to be missing 'your turn', he's busy." Her voice is firm and G11 reluctantly vacates my lap.
She practically drags me away from the cluster of dolls that watch me go with much suspicion.
"What the hell did you do?!" She whispers as soon as we're out of earshot.
"I didn't do anything!" I protest, similarly in a whisper. "She kissed me, not the other way around!"
"Who?"
"...UMP 45."
"Oh, Hadwin." She pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Look, I was as surprised as anyone, okay? If she was a human, I'd call the police on her, but somehow I don't think that's an option."
She stands up straight and combs her fingers through her hair a few times. "Okay. Okay. So…" She licks her lips. "Look, we'll talk back at base. I did come up with that excuse to get you out of there, but I could use your input on something."
"Oh?" I ask, eager to put as much mental distance between the events of the past few minutes and me.
"Yeah…" She waves to Angelia, who follows us over to a table located under a canopy. The table has dew on it from the early morning and as I set my arms on it, it soaks through the sleeves of my suit as I sit down. There's a box of doughnuts that's mostly empty and a box of coffee on one side.
Commander Gentaine pours herself some coffee before settling down across from me. "Okay, so DEFY tells me that Myroslav has a loose tongue."
"Specifically," Angelia sits down within arms reach of the food and snags herself a doughnut. "AK-12 told me that he might've mentioned some… odd things about the key."
"Yeah…" I tap the table with my right hand. "I mean, he said it was a key to a vault of knowledge or something." I hesitate for a few seconds. "He also said it was aliens, but that's stupid."
"Yes. Stupid."
I look between their faces. "Wait. Waaaait."
"This is gonna be hard to swallow-"
I cut Commander Gentiane off. "No way, there are no aliens. That would be absurd!"
"Well…" Angelia scratches her cheek. "ELID is certainly not from our planet and from our investigations into Paradeus…"
I look back and forth between the two of them. "Please tell me you're joking."
"Nope." Commander Gentaine grimaces. "Right now our outstanding goal is to locate something left behind by these aliens."
"...I think I need to lie down."
Angelia fishes a doughnut out of the box and offers it to me. "Low blood suger'll do that to you. Here, eat this."
I eat the doughnut slowly as the two explain some stuff to me that honestly, I'm not sure if I'm ready to believe. This lasts until MP40's squad finishes preparations to leave and we all pile into a limo, much nicer than the cars we scavenged up for the operation.
There, the dolls all stare at me with varying levels of intensity, and they don't let up until we get to base.
For only being there for like a day and half, the sight of G&K's temporary Serbian base is somehow relaxing, like I just made it back to Sector 3.
"Home sweet home." I mutter to myself, only for my ears to catch a worrying sound.
"Com-man-der!" The voice starts quiet, but it rapidly builds as the speaker sprints towards me at a prodigious speed.
I barely have time to glance to the side to see the red and black blur hurtling my way before I'm disoriented by someone pulling me around and 416 stepping in to intercept the murder puppy before she can slam into anyone else.
"Scheisse, you're heavy." 416 growls.
"Huh?" SOPMOD blinks. "Oh, hey 416." She glances over at where AK-12 had pulled me. "Hey Commander, I was looking for-" She blinks, and her eye starts twitching. "Who hurt you?" She snarls.
"Calm down, Dummkopf." UMP 45 sighs. "He's already dead. I made sure of it."
"Good." Sop stops pushing against 416 suddenly and 416 lurches forwards as Sop moves towards me carefully, sniffing near my bandage. "That doesn't look good."
"It's… it's dead." I say, resigned. "I'm gonna need a replaceme-"
Three hands slap over my mouth, but not before Sop's eyes light up like a Christmas tree.
"Now you did it." P90 comments.
"Well, I'm off to the kitchens." S.A.T. stretches. "Springfield?"
Springfield nods. "I would like to see if my cafe is ready to open yet."
"Oh, good idea!"
The rest of the dolls start to filter away and I turn to glare at AK-12, 416, and Groza who all have a hand over my mouth.
They reluctantly let go and Sop steps in close. "Hey, Haddy, let's go! Let's go!"
"Go where, Sop?"
"I have a bunch of stuff in the back!" She starts tugging on my good arm. "Come on, I've been reading up on how Angelia's prosthetics work, and I'll probably be able to make something work!"
"Probably?" I ask in alarm. "How long have you been reading about this?"
"About thirty seconds." She pulls harder. "Come on! I have so many cool ideas!"
I turn to the three dolls that had unsuccessfully tried to cut me off. None of them appear willing to try to free me from Sop's clutches.
I guess I'm following Sop.
She drags me into the warehouse and into the back corner where a large pile of Robotic corpses are lying in various states of disrepair. At first, I assumed them all to be Paradeus, but a quick glance showed me that there's also some Sangvis units...
...and some familiar faces from our own forces. I try not to think about it, but now this feels a lot more like grave robbing.
Sop puts out two stools next to a crate and gestures for me to sit at one, then she grabs a bunch of the limbs from the pile, dumps them on the table, and grabs some tools from around the warehouse.
"So!" She plops down across from me. "You need a new hand?"
"...Yeah." I frown. "I mean, Commander Gentaine is already preparing to buy me a new one, so-"
"Nah, I'll make you a better one." She holds her own hands up so I can see them, the claw looking especially sharp today. "And, well, if you don't like it, you can order some other one." She looks away petulantly.
"...Okay, why not?" I glance at the pile of arms. "It's gotta be better than nothing in the mean time."
"I've never made a hand for a human before." She licks her lips. "Any requests? I can add all kinds of stuff to it."
"Just a hand, please."
She frowns at me. "But that's so boring. I could add-"
"Please." I interrupt her. "I just want to be able to hold things with two hands again."
She taps her sharp fingers on one of the arms, making sharp pings with each finger strike. "Fiiine." She picks one of the T-doll arms out of the pile and starts tearing off the outer skin layer.
It's kinda gruesome, but I find myself watching in sickened fascination.
"Er…"
I start to ask, but Sop's hands stop moving and she looks up at me. "Yeah?"
"What's the skin made of?" I grab a roughly 10 centimeter square patch. "It feels real."
Sop grabs my arm with one of her hands and touches a patch of the skin on the arm she's stripping. "It's really close, you're right." She releases my arm and goes back to stripping the arm. "A doll's skin is made of some sort of rubbery plastic. You'd have to ask Persica exactly what it is."
"Huh." I stretch it and it doesn't really deform that much. Like skin. There's holes running through it, through which I assume coolant flows for the simulated pulse. "Man, I really don't know much about T-dolls."
Sop's eyes flick to mine. "You don't?"
I shake my head. "If you remember, Sector 3 had an issue with dolls."
"Oh yeah." She points the half stripped arm in my direction. "You thought we were humans at first!"
"Right. So, I don't really know much about how you're constructed." I hastily append more words upon seeing Sop's narrowed eyes. "I-I don't mean any disrespect, I'm just not familiar with how dolls work."
She slowly resumes stripping the skin off the arm. "Well… I think I have a good idea of how I'm built, at least." She sets down the arm. "I have an idea!"
"Yeah?"
"You can ask me a question, but then you have to answer one of mine!"
"Okay." I blink. "Sure, sounds like a good way to pass the time."
She grins. "Okay, lay it on me!"
"Well…" SOPMOD's not the type to get offended, so I can probably ask this. "Um, where is your charge port located? You know, so you don't have to eat food?"
She reaches up and grabs her hair pulling it to the side and pointing to her neck. "Most IOP dolls have it on the back of the neck or down by their hips. There's a plate disguised to make it harder to spot, but you can feel the notch in case of a total power failure."
"Huh." I watch as she finally rips the rest of the skin off the arm, grabs a few small screwdrivers and starts unscrewing the wrist joint from the firearm section.
"My turn." She continues working while talking. "How do you think?"
"Eh?"
"Like, I have a bunch of computer cores supporting my neural cloud. How do humans think?"
"Oh." I think back to my biology class and Lucas' talks on the subject. "Well, there's a bunch of neurons, which are these specialized cells, that carry small electrical impulses around the body. Brains are large clumps of neurons." I frown. "Last I heard, nobody understands how jamming a lot of them in one place enables thought."
"Huh." She grabs my hand and places the newly freed doll hand on top. "Too small, gotta adjust it." She starts peeling the skin off the hand as well, though a lot more carefully like the skin is a glove. "Your turn."
"Oh. Uh." I rack my brain. "Soooo… how do emotions work for dolls?"
"Well… I'm not too sure on that one." She admits. "It's like an overriding signal that forces my head to think certain things. Like, if I'm angry, it makes it hard to think of happy thoughts. I can't shut it off, so there's gotta be a reason Persica added it in here, I just can't figure out what." She glances up at me briefly. "So how do emotions work for humans?"
"Well, parts of our subconscious releases chemicals that force different effects on different cells. For anger, a large part of it is adrenaline, which speeds up reaction time, and it also releases some stuff to make it harder to feel pain." I blink. "So all of your emotions work like someone pressed a switch in your head?"
"No, it's not on or off, it goes through a gradient." She tweaks something with the skeletal hand and the thumb falls to the side. "I can be half angry, or quarter angry, and sometimes every emotion there is, and it's hard to form a thought that doesn't conflict with any of the moods."
"Man, Persica really went above and beyond in the realism department, huh?"
"Humans feel that way too?" She asks, not looking up from her project.
"Yeah. Sometimes I'm super mad, but scared, and my brain refuses to do anything I want it to." I shrug. "Humans are generally a massive bag of chemicals that do lots of weird things when not in balance, affecting our moods."
She tweaks something else, pulling the fingers apart and lengthening them, borrowing my hand again to check for size. "Okay, so, what chemical do you have for being happy?"
"There's actually four." I'd hold up my fingers, but Sop's still using my hand as a template. "Serotonin, Dopamine, Endorphins, and Oxytocin. Each of them do different things. Serotonin is produced when we do something like achieve a goal. Dopamine is the chemical our bodies release to drive us to a goal, like a nudge in the right direction. Oxy-"
"Hold on a sec." She sets down her work and her bright eyes stare directly into mine. "That didn't make any sense. Can you give me an example?"
"Hmm…" I tilt my head. "I guess completing a mission successfully releases Serotonin and… You practice shooting, right?" She nods. "When you do a good job, do you feel happy and want to do even better next time?"
"That's Dopamine?" She tilts her head.
"I mean, for me it would be. I doubt you have it labeled that explicitly in your core." I frown. "Then again…"
"You said there's four types?" She prompts, returning to her work.
"Yeah, next is Endorphins. If I remember correctly, it's like a natural painkiller. When you stress your body out, it releases these and it makes you feel like you accomplished something."
"Okay." She frowns. "That one sounds stupid."
"I… I'm probably explaining it badly. The last one is oxytocin, which is released during favorable physical contact."
She perks up. "Hmm?"
"Humans like to touch other humans they like." I give her a slight grin. "It also helps us form bonds with others and basically makes us social creatures."
"So… when Commander Jakoby was being… um… he was being weird, so he was trying to get some of the oxy-stuff?"
"...Probably." I shiver. "Man, this Commander Jakoby sounds like a tool."
"M4 told me that he did a lot of weird stuff to us dolls. Once, he grabbed my boobs and I almost took his arm off."
I blink. Okay.
"M4 stopped him that time, but he still tried to grab me occasionally. I had to be really wary of him."
"I see." I'm no psychologist, but I don't think most humans can stand in place and recount getting molested in such a detached way. It's actually making me uncomfortable and I'm just hearing about it second hand.
"In the end I got him back though." She says happily. "I found an undetonated Goliath on a battlefield and I gave it to him as a present. I meant to disarm it first, but I forgot, and he triggered it by accident."
"...Riiight."
"Oh, don't worry." She looks up at me with a smile. "I make doubly sure not to give anyone I like explosives, and as long as you don't grab me, we'll be fine."
"Duly noted." I exhale. "Not that I was planning on getting handsy with anyone, but… duly noted."
She pauses. "RO told me that if I like someone, I can let them touch me. Does that apply to you?"
Wow, this is uncomfortable. "That's something you need to decide, I think." I grimace. "I can't tell you to want me to touch you any more than Jakoby could."
"Hmm." She looks back down at her project and starts moving the fingers around. Satisfied, she stands up and heads over to a shelf of parts, only to come back and set it down in front of her, pulling out several parts. I don't understand how they work, or even what they're supposed to do, but she's certainly attempting to put them in there. "I don't think I mind you touching me. Seems like it'd be hard to avoid in combat."
"...Okay, well, glad to know I'm not going to lose my other hand by touching your shoulder." I grumble. "I think RO might've meant it in a more intimate way though."
"Oh." She turns bright red. "Like dating?"
"Yes. Like dating." I briefly wonder who taught Sop and why she has such massive holes in her education.
"I see." She sets the robotic hand down on the table, face still bright red. "I, um, I'm not ready to date anyone yet."
"That's perfectly fine." I lean back in my chair and cross my arms, kinda wishing a meteor would hit me right now. "Do whatever you want."
"So, are you dating anyone?"
I hesitate. On one hand, I might be. I have to actually talk with UMP 45 at some point. On the other hand, do I really want to tell the most open book on G&K base that I'm dating her?
"Not at the moment." I eventually state.
"Oh!" She perks up again. "Maybe once I'm ready I'll ask-" Her left hand, the claw, falls to the top of the crate with a bang, her arm remaining in the air. We both look at the dropped appendage. "...oops."
"What happened?" I appreciate the distraction from what might've been SOPMOD asking me on a date, but I'm not sure she should be shedding limbs.
"Well, I need to test that the new hand works properly, so I'm gonna hook it up to my system for a test." She slots the wrist to her left arm and the fingers start to twitch. "You don't have a wrist mount like this, do you?"
"Nope." I watch as she puts the hand through its paces, stretching the fingers back and forth and then moving each finger back and forth. It's kind of cool to see all of the small parts moving in conjunction to move the hand in a realistic way. From what I can see, everything seems to work properly-
The ring and pinky finger suddenly move in an odd fashion and reveal something sharp. A blade suddenly snaps forwards, about 6 inches, or 15 centimeters long.
"Really?" I give her a look.
"It's useful!" Sop protests. "Everyone needs a knife sometimes. I keep five!" She detaches the newly modified hand and holds up her normal claw. "See?"
"I guess. As long as it doesn't interfere with my range of motion."
"Yes!" She pumps her fist. "Next, we're gonna add a small gun in the pointer finger-"
"No."
"Aw, but-"
"Sop, maybe work on getting it to interface with my arm."
"I have to do some more research before I can do that." She huffs.
"Well, thank you for making this for me." I tap the hand. "I really appreciate the work you've put into it so far."
"Oh, it's no problem." She cheers right back up.
I hesitate, but decide to ask the question anyway. "Do all dolls like modifying themselves?"
Sop shakes her head. "Most of them hate it. It feels weird, but I ignore it because of all the cool things I can add to myself. Most dolls stick to standard IOP upgrades."
"Like, improved targeting modules?"
"Yeah, or stronger arms or better optics." She taps her finger on the crate we've been using as a table. "This crate has some upgrade modules we ordered recently."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yep!" She grabs all of the arms and other parts off of the crate top and sets them carefully on the floor. "Here, look." She pries open the top, the nails creaking as she forces the wooden top off of the box.
I peer in and read the label. "Wombforce- What the fuck!"
"Oh, so that's where those went." She peeks into the box. "This container was supposed to be filled with feet designed for fast sprinting."
The picture on the side of the box gave me a disturbing idea of what the device in those boxes is probably made for. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is."
"Um, they're artificial wombs so that a human and a doll can-"
"Yeah! No, I don't care!" I cut her off. "Thanks for the hand, I'm gonna go see a doctor about getting the old one cut off, and maybe see if he has eyebleach!"
"Eyebleach?" Sop follows me out of the warehouse. "Hey, Haddy, what's eyebleach?"
It's almost noon when I get out of the medical ward. The doctor had snarked that I was not only the first patient to need the ward, but also the second.
Sop followed me all the way to the medical ward only to talk the ear off the doctor, who eventually gave her a prosthetic mount to look at. I don't think he was expecting her to modify it, but she somehow had something working by the time I woke up from under the anesthetic.
So, now I have a robotic hand, and it's the focus of attention in Springfield's cafe as I eat lunch.
It moves with a thought, and honestly, it's scary how easily I'm adapting to it already. I don't really get much physical feedback from it, just a faint sense of how hard I'm grabbing something, and the first glass of water I tried to pick up shattered because I tried to grip it too hard.
As I put down my fork and glance at where Sop and MDR are having a conversation, Tokarev pokes the new hand. I don't feel the poke, but I do feel my arm move, the skin where my flesh meets metal stretching slightly as the hand moves.
"Yeah, Toka?"
"This is a modified T-doll hand, da?"
"That's correct." I nod. "Why?"
"So, now you're part T-doll?" She looks at my eyes curiously.
I hesitate and Sop is suddenly in my face. "Wait, we can turn Haddy into a T-doll?!" She cries, and those in the cafe that weren't already paying attention to our conversation look our way.
The excitement in her eyes makes me worry. "No Sop, it's a cybernetic like Angelia's, it's just made from doll parts. It'd take a lot more to make me into a doll completely." Sop narrows her eyes and I turn to look at a different one of my table-mates, NTW. "S-So! How did everything go outside the mansion while I was busy?"
NTW frowns. "We had few issues. I was able to retrieve my rifle from our vehicle, and between M200 and I, we were able to take out the APCs. Team 404 started the ambush." She stops and thinks for a second. "MP40's team did a good job of rounding up the enemy if they left their vehicles."
"No casualties?"
She shakes her head.
"Ah. Good job, then." I nod. "I'm glad everyone made it out okay."
"Aside from you." Tokarev pokes my new hand again.
"Well, I'm not that important." I shrug. "I'm not that useful in combat, so it's more important you all survive."
Several of the dolls look like they want to disagree with me, but they don't get a chance to argue.
AEK-999 bursts into the room. "Hey! Is Hadwin in here?"
Springfield points in my direction and the energetic green dolls strides up to me. "So, how'd it go?" She asks as she slides onto the bench seat opposite me, next to NTW. NTW's expression is vaguely hostile, but AEK-999 doesn't seem to notice.
"...It went fine." I state. I don't know exactly what she's talking about, but- "Do you need something from me?"
"Yeah. You and I are gonna have that music contest tonight. I asked Glänzender Stern if we can use their stage tonight. We're on at 1800, you're on right before we're up." She grins. "I hope you have a band all set up, or I'm gonna win our wager."
I have to think back a bit. "Oh, yeah. What was it? The loser has to do something the winner says?"
"Yeah." She nods. "So, you got your few days and now it's on." She stands up. "So, get ready."
"Right…"
She leaves as swiftly as she had arrived.
"Well shit." I blink. "I'm hopeless at music."
"I can play the guitar." Sop raises her hand. "And I know someone who can play bass."
I give her a look. "Well, that's wonderful and all, but I still can't play any instruments."
"I'm sure we can think of something." Sop gives me a toothy grin. "So we need a few more band members."
NTW slowly raises her hand. "I can drum."
Really? She doesn't look the type… "Okay. Then, you can join." I sigh and sag back into my seat. I don't really have any way of vetting anyone's ability in the music department, so I'll have to take what I can get.
"Isn't M200 good at playing the guitar?" Tokarev asks after a few seconds of silence.
"Yeah, she is." I mutter. "Can a band have two guitarists?"
"Well, yeah." Sop crosses her arms. "Steals some of my limelight though."
"So who do we need?" I ask.
"A vocalist and a keyboard player." NTW asserts.
"Hmm."
"Oh!" Sop jumps up. "I might know a keyboard player!" She's halfway through the door as she turns back to our table and shouts "I'll see about getting a practice space too!"
"I guess I should go ask M200 if she's willing to participate." I drum my fingers on the table, noting how loud it is now that the fingers are made of metal.
"If I think of anyone that can sing, I'll tell you." NTW says solemnly. "In the meantime, I'll grab some drumsticks."
I stand up along with the other dolls at the table and carefully grab my dish to return it to Springfield.
She gives me a smile as I hand her the dirty plate. "Good luck, If I'm not busy, I may just check out this concert of yours."
I return her smile, but mine's a bit weak. "Please don't. I think it's likely to be a disaster."
"We'll see." She shoos me away. "Better hurry, you only have six hours."
"Don't remind me." I walk out of the cafe with a wave, NTW and Tokarev heading off away from the dorms. I have to go see if M200's available, so I head towards the dorms.
M200's easy to find. All I had to do was follow the sound of her guitar in the main hallway.
She looks up, pausing her rendition of a song I swear I heard before, but I can't place when I step up to her. "Commander?"
"Hey M200, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor." I blink. "Another favor, I mean."
"Another infiltration mission?" She asks, her soft voice carrying a hint of amusement.
"No, this time it's just a concert." I give her a run down of the challenge between AEK and I.
"Well, I don't mind…" A small frown forms on her face. "Who else is performing?"
"Well, technically me." I hold up my mechanical hand to count people. "SOPMOD says she can play guitar as well and she apparently knows a bassist and a keyboard player. NTW offered to play drums."
"No vocalist?"
I shake my head. "Not yet."
"Maybe you should ask P90?" She suggests, pointing her finger at some other dolls sitting in the other corner of the room.
I look over to see three dolls I recognize, though P90 isn't among them. Five-seveN, FAL, and FN2000. I could ask them where P90 is…
"Good idea, M200." I pat her head and her cheeks flush slightly. Oh crap, maybe I should stop doing that. "Anyway, sync up with SOPMOD so we can practice. Thanks again for helping me, now I owe you another favor."
Which means, if I don't win this contest tonight, I'll owe more favors than if I just didn't show up…
I decide not to focus on that and instead head over to P90's echelon members. "Hello."
"Bonjour!" Five-seveN beams at me. "Do you have something you need?"
"Yeah… Do you know where P90 is?"
"Oui." FAL points behind me.
I turn around to see P90 walking in the front door, holding a toolbox. She notices me and heads my way. "Heya, Haddy!"
"Hey P90. I was wondering if I could ask you a favor." She hesitates and I immediately backpedal. "If you don't want to, you don't have to."
She sets down the toolbox. "Eh… I'm kinda busy, what do you need?"
"A singer for a band." I scratch my head. "If you're busy, don't worry about it."
"I'm really busy, but..." She grins. "A band, huh? When's your first gig?"
"According to AEK, tonight." I grumble. "I shouldn't have made that dumb deal with her earlier. Anyway, if I don't have a singer soon, then I'm gonna have to, and-"
"Er, Commander?" FN2000 taps my shoulder.
I look to the side to see MDR, her two different colored eyes sparkling. "Hello?"
"Oh, don't mind me." She says, glee evident in her tone.
P90 suddenly grabs my shoulder and starts pushing me out of the dorm. "Merde, MDR heard you." She curses. "Okay, soon everyone's gonna know about this concert, so be prepared for that."
"Eh?"
"MDR's the primary source of rumors of Grifchan." She sighs. "So, it's gonna be up there soon no matter what anyone does."
"Oh. Whoops."
"Don't worry about it. Good luck, and I'll be in the crowd tonight."
I shake my head with bemusement as she gently pushes me out the door and closes it, clearly indicating I'm not welcome there at the moment.
Okay, so scratch that idea.
The door suddenly bursts open from behind me and I whirl around in time to see Sop dragging a doll I've never met behind her. She spots me immediately, holding the hapless doll off the ground a few centimeters. "Haddy! I found a keyboard player!"
I blink at the doll. She's wearing a short, plain black dress and appears to have spilt green paint on herself at some point. If I hadn't just been talking to her, I might have mistaken her for P90. They have similar hair styles, if this new doll's hair is a little less poofy.
"Hi?"
"Hello. You're the new Field Agent, right?"
"Yes."
"I'm AmRFB. Just call me RFB." She glares at Sop, who is still holding her in the air. "Do you know why this oaf is dragging me around?"
"Keyboard!" Sop crows.
"Yes, I have a keyboard, what do you want with it?" RFB growls.
"Uh… I'm setting up a temporary band and NTW indicated we need someone to play keyboard. I didn't think Sop would be this… enthusiastic, but I guess I should have known better."
RFB rolls her eyes. "You got that right, and I don't play a musical keyboard. I play video games. With a computer keyboard." She returns to glaring at Sop. "So, LET ME GO!"
Sop's face falls and she lets go of RFB unceremoniously, the shorter girl crashing to the ground, barely keeping herself upright. "Crazy Anti-Rain…" She trails off as she turns back to me. "Why are you making a band?"
"...A dumb bet."
"I see. Well, good luck with all of that." She turns around and heads back inside the barracks.
"Why do they call both of those things keyboards?" Sop asks, dejection and frustration lacing her words. "Call one of them a keyboard, and the other… I don't know…"
"A piano?" I shrug.
"Exactly! It's already like a piano, just call it that!"
"Well, we can probably do without it." I shrug. "So who is this bass player you know of?"
"Oh yeah." She stops in place and stares out into the distance for a second or two. "She'll meet us at the practice area."
"Sure." I shrug. "So, let's go and see what we can scrape together in the time we have."
"Yeah, but first…" Sop laughs nervously. "I need to go back in there and get my guitar and Amp."
After a few minutes, she re-emerges from the barracks with her gear in tow.
The practice area ended up being an empty warehouse floor with a bunch of electrical sockets around. M200 has two guitar cases on her back, NTW is wheeling around a large crate, and there's already a bunch of speakers set up here and there.
Sop's guitar ended up being a homemade rectangular hunk of steel with what looks like thick spikes on each of the four corners. She strums a few notes on it and it sounds pretty good though, so I guess it's not gonna be an issue.
NTW sets down the stool she's been carrying and sets it behind the large center drum, setting up the bits of her set. "Did you find a keyboard player?"
"No… Sop was talking about RFB." I shake my head. "M200? You good?"
She nods. "I have my acoustic guitar and my electric guitar just in case."
"The electric one'll probably be better." Sop muses.
"Depends on the music we're playing." NTW states.
"Hardbass?" Sop asks.
"I was thinking of something lighter, like soft rock." M200 pokes her fingers together.
"Punk?" NTW asks, only for the other two to shake their heads.
They all look at me.
I raise my hands in a defensive posture. "Don't ask me. I only know normal music."
"...Normal?" NTW asks.
"You know, the stuff mom and dad have." I hesitate. "I guess it's stuff from forty years ago, but it was the stuff everyone knew."
"So, pop?"
"Bleh." Sop sticks her tongue out.
"Hey, I'm not saying that's what we should play-"
The door opens behind me and I turn to find G11 and HK 416. G11's holding a guitar over her shoulder.
I stare at the young looking doll for a few seconds before I make the connection. "You play bass guitar?"
G11 shakes her head. "No."
"Eh?" Sop stops playing her guitar and looks up at G11. "But-"
G11 opens her gase and pulls out… "Uh, what is that?" I ask.
"It's a keytar."
"A what?"
"A keyboard guitar." She holds it up so I can see. Indeed, it's a keyboard but grafted onto a guitar frame.
Well, that solves the keyboard issue. Now I just need a bass player and a vocalist. In the meantime- "Hey 416."
"Hello, Commander." She stands herself up straight and, for the first time, I notice that she's basically the same height as me. "G11 tells me you need a vocalist."
I blink. "You can sing?"
"I can." She states simply.
"Well…" I look at the five assembled dolls. "Uh, can anyone else play bass?"
"Commander, you needed something to do, right?" NTW asks.
"Uh-"
"I can teach him!" Sop says excitedly.
"Hey! We don't have time to teach me to play, we have to play something tonight! It'd be better if we don't waste time on me and you guys practice instead." I protest.
"No need." NTW taps the drum a few times. "Does everyone know 'Like a Stone' by Audioslave?"
The other dolls nod and get into position. Before I realize what's happening, NTW starts up the beat and the rest of the T-dolls come in perfectly. They stop playing about a minute in and I collect my jaw off the floor.
"We can sync ourselves up a lot better than humans." 416 lifts her nose in the air. "So we can perform anything. As long as we know the song, at least."
"O-okay."
"So, time to teach Haddy to play the bass!" Sop cheers.
"Alright." I frown. "Does anyone have a spare bass I can borrow?"
Several hours and about as many band-aids later, I stand next to a stage.
Well, what's supposed to be a stage. It's not raised off of the floor, and to be honest, we haven't really moved more than a few dozen meters from where we've been practicing all afternoon. When AEK came in with her band and a few more dolls, one of the others is named P38, who… well.
"-so then we decided to hold a concert and Deagle over there-"
She seemed shy at first, but as soon as I started talking to her about music, she told me she's an idol, and started to talk all about how her group got started. She's still talking about it and the show is about to start. I recall way back in Sector 3 I was warned about the dolls that think they're idols by AR-15. I'm starting to see what she meant. P38's talk shifts to the other musical group in G&K, AEK's band, ATK.
AEK had introduced me to her entire group before P38 got to me. M950A, or Calico, is the vocalist. Thunder is the drummer and TMP is the keyboard player. Much to my amusement, AEK is the bassist, and she made a big deal of being my rival since we're playing the same instrument. What surprised me is that K2 doesn't actually play any instruments. No, she's the manager.
Instead, I was directed to a computer screen and shown a girl called Clear. She's apparently a program they had found some time ago that plays music and she's since been recruited into this band.
Most of their performances are on level 2, apparently. For this event, they're going to dress up some other spare doll frame temporarily. Most of the time spent after setting up the stage was dedicated to getting Clear ready.
Once ATK was ready, dolls started to file in to watch the concert. It seems like ATK is actually fairly popular inside of G&K, so we're going to have a decently sized crowd. Here I was, hoping there wasn't going to be anyone to watch me screw up, but oh well. I peek around the curtains we had erected to form a backstage.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Deagle steps out onto the stage and gestures grandly. "We've got something special for you tonight!"
The crowd cheers and I take a deep breath. P38 seems to realize she's been talking at me for a while and blushes as she trails off to listen to her teammate.
"I'm sure you all have at least heard of our new Field Agent? He's joined up with a few of our dolls to play our opening set tonight! Then, our very own ATK will be playing live for the first time on this stage!"
Cheers erupt from the crowd.
"We in Glänzender Stern will be closing out the night." Deagle smiles. "I hope you all stick around for the entire concert."
More cheers.
"Without further ado, let's welcome Dóloma to the stage."
Dóloma is the Greek word for "Decoy." Sop picked it. I only accepted it because Deagle insisted she needed something to refer to us by and we ran out of time to consider options.
I straighten my back and follow the others out from behind the backstage curtain. The crowd cheers and my stomach ties itself into a knot. I don't look forwards into the crowd again until I reach the spot I was supposed to be standing on the stage.
NTW sits down behind the set of drums, while I'm positioned in front of her and to the side. Sop's on the other side of the drum set, with M200 slightly further out. HK 416 steps to the center stage where a microphone is set up. G11 stands next to me, plugging her keytar and glancing up at me, the sleepy look calming.
I plug in my own instrument and pluck out a few of the chords I had been hastily taught.
They picked songs for me that weren't too hard to play on bass, just simple patterns. Put fingers here, strum, move fingers. Still, I had to practice for a while just to be able to keep on beat. I was judged "acceptable, barely" by 416 just before we had to stop so the stage could be erected.
NTW raises her sticks in the air, taps them four times to establish a rhythm, and then the music starts.
As much as I might wish to remember it for later, the next twenty minutes are a blur. I barely register anything other than the beat of the drums and instrument in my hands. I barely register the others on the stage, playing their own instruments or singing in 416's case.
I make a few mistakes, fairly obvious ones too, but the rest of the group plows on, and I keep playing to keep up with them.
Four songs. I just have to change my patterns to match what's being played. Just gotta keep playing. I'm not sure, but my new left hand might be better at fingering the notes on the guitar neck than I really should be. I wonder if Sop added some sort of music program to them, but that's probably absurd.
When the pounding of the drums stops and doesn't immediately restart after finishing, I realize we're done and I look up, the fog around my thoughts lifting.
When I finally start seeing the world around me again, the crowd is cheering again and the rest of my band is bowing. I hurriedly join in, almost losing my footing as the blood rushes around my head and threatens to have my skull explode.
Deagle comes back on stage, taking the microphone from 416 graciously. The rest of the impromptu band starts disconnecting instruments from amplifiers and I once again follow their actions.
It's only once I'm backstage and collapsed onto one of the seats someone had dragged back here that I realize that it's over. Vaguely, I can tell I must have been hyperventilating because I'm breathing pretty heavily.
"That was AWESOME!" Sop cheers suddenly.
M200 and G11 share tired smiles and 416 has the barest hint of a smile on her lips.
NTW's dour expression hasn't shifted, but she seems immensely satisfied. "It was pretty fun."
"I feel like I just had a heart attack." I gasp.
Sop grabs my hands. "Didja have fun?"
The other dolls look in my direction.
"Well…" I scratch my head. "I guess overall, yeah, but I hardly remember being on stage." I shrug sheepishly.
"I'm sure someone recorded us." NTW shrugs. "I'll track down a copy in case you want it for memories or whatever."
"Thanks." I nod in her direction and she nods back.
I watch as AEK approaches me. "Well, we're up."
"Break a leg." I deadpan to her, and she grins.
"Make sure to watch how a real band performs."
I just give her a thumbs up and turn to watch as ATK sets up for their performance.
I have to say, it's really impressive.
They play very energetic songs, Calico's voice floating over the crowd in what has to be at least three different languages. One of them was mangled english and I had to make sure I wasn't falling asleep and imagining it.
Someone brought glowsticks and a section of the crowd starts waving them around in sync.
After their performance, I can't help but clap along with the rest of the crowd. It was truly a wonderful performance. I'm so caught up in the celebratory mood that it takes me a while to realize that AEK most certainly won our bet.
Ah well.
G11 sits next to me, her keytar once more in its case. "We did well, Commander."
I scruff up her head. "Yeah. You performed excellently."
Her smile grows slightly. "We should play more music together."
"I don't know about that." I can feel my eyelids twitch.
"Please?" Her face falls into a pout. "I had a lot of fun though."
"...Maybe." I give in slightly. "Depends on how busy I am with other tasks."
"Okay!" She cheers up and starts kicking her legs back and forth.
416 sits down on my other side as ATK's set winds down.
"You performed admirably, Commander." She says quietly. "I think it would be nice if we could perform together again."
"Yeah… we'll see." I give her a non-committal response.
ATK strolls backstage, Thunder holding on to Calico's arm, Clear and TMP discussing something, and AEK lazily looking around.
Once AEK spots me, she steps up to me and plants a hand on her hip. "So?"
"You won." I acknowledge. "Good job."
"You didn't do too bad yourself. I might want to play with you next time instead of against you. In any case, I'll be extracting my prize later. See ya!" She waves and leaves before I can respond.
"'Extracting'?" I wonder aloud, not liking the implications.
"She's not really into guys, so you should be safe." NTW says calmly. "She's more likely to ask you to help her fix her bike. Or maybe just play music with her."
I get a horrible flashback to Beak at the mention of a bike, but suppress my shudder. I'll deal with AEK later.
416 glances at me out of the corner of her eye at me. "How was my singing?"
"It was really good!" I say, basing my reply on our practice session as I still can't clearly recall the actual performance.
She seems satisfied with that and closes her eyes, raising her face as if to bask in the sun.
"Hadwin."
My eyes snap to the entrance to the backstage area to see Commander Gentiane standing there with her arms crossed. She looks particularly upset.
I quickly rack my brain but… I didn't do anything this time! I get up regardless. Maybe I'm not allowed to play in bands?
As I walk, the rest of my new band follows right behind me as I approach the Commander.
Gentaine turns to the doll. "Sop, I need you to go get the rest of your squad. We have to discuss the next operation." She turns to the rest of the dolls in the group. "Echelon 2, you're scheduled for patrol in an hour."
NTW blinks slowly and M200 cocks her head. "I'm pretty sure we weren't?"
"Yeah well, Echelon 7 called in a favor. Talk to NZ for details." Gentiane turns to 404. "416-"
"Ja, 45's already pinged me." She grumbles. "G11, we're going."
"Wha-?! But I wanted to hang out with-!" the door slams behind them before she can finish her thought.
And suddenly, it's just the Commander and I backstage. I get very nervous all of a sudden.
"Hadwin, follow me." She gestures.
"Where are we going?" I ask once we're outside. I realized she didn't want any of the dolls listening in, but what-
"My room."
I can't help but give her a look.
She rolls her eyes. "It's the one place I know how to completely lock down. I don't want certain others to be able to listen in. Don't worry about it."
Despite her reassurance, I'm still extremely wary as she has me drop off my cell phone in a lockbox, cutting me off from the outside world. She was angry with me only a few moments ago too… I guess it'll keep any of the hackers from listening in, but I don't like it.
I kinda wish I had a small pen microphone or other spy type listening gadget.
She shuts and locks the door behind me as I step into her extremely messy quarters. For only being here a few days, the room is already covered in paperwork. It's strangely orderly though, like… there's piles, but the piles seem to be sorted.
She sits down on the edge of her bed and gestures for me to sit on the desk chair. I sit down and take a deep breath. She takes her beret off and starts fiddling with it.
"Soooo… what's so important?" I ask, breaking the silence.
"..." She studies my face for a few moments. "I told you that if you wanted to date a doll, I'd talk to you about it, yeah?"
"Er…" I think back to the party last night. "Something like that?"
"Well, if you're gonna be physically intimate with them, there's a bunch of stuff you need to know."
"Uh-"
"Now, I know this is gonna be weird. I'm your commander, for god's sake. Still, someone needs to tell you things before you have an incident."
I remain silent.
"So, I know you kissed-"
"Eh, she kissed me." I interrupt. "I was kinda too surprised to reciprocate."
Gentiane is nonplussed. "That's not the point here. Look, you treat dolls like they're human, right? Well, if you end up falling for one, or falling prey to one, I've got some stuff I figure I should share with you."
"Okay." I fidget nervously in the chair.
"So… first of all, remember that they're androids- I know!" She cuts me off before I can protest. "I know that you and I don't see them like that, but they are. They're a lot stronger than we are, they're faster, and most importantly, they don't think like us."
Seeing the serious look in her eyes, some of my weirded out panic fades and I pay more attention to her words.
"For example, most of them are happy if you pay them even the slightest lip service. I spend some time when I can just to exchange greetings with them, and for some of the dolls, that's enough for them to decide they like me based on that alone. For most of the dolls, you have to try harder, but that's the low end. Next, Dolls are capable of sharing."
"What."
"Yes, I know. But, most dolls are happy to be chosen, it doesn't really matter if others are chosen too." She pulls out a black box and sets it in front of me. "This is an oath ring. It's totally not a marriage ring according to IOP, but anyone paying attention sees how the dolls react to it. They come in pairs, one for you and one for the doll."
I stare at the ring in stunned silence.
"You can have as many oaths as you want, assuming the dolls agree. I know a commander with ten." She sighs. "He's kinda dickish though, so maybe don't go that far. In any case, don't be afraid to date more than one doll if you want."
"I don't think that's going to happen." I say, bile rising in my throat.
"You've got quite a few dolls after you, so unless you get a lot better at saying no, especially now that a few dolls are trying to come in second in terms of kisses."
"What...?"
"You need to head to Grifchan after this meeting." She shakes her head. "In any case, oath rings have a serial number on them, paired with the partner ring. Otherwise they're identical, so if you're dating more than one, make sure you have the correct one on your finger when on dates."
"Seriously?"
She shrugs. "Some of them care about that, understandably I'd say." She pulls another box just like the one she gave to me out of her bedside drawers and opens the box up to reveal a single ring. "I forgot, I was going to prove to you I know what I'm talking about. See… I try not to advertise it, but I'm dating a doll myself."
All higher order thoughts in my head grind to a halt.
"Now, I know right now you're still confused about UMP 45, but don't just give her the ring without thinking about it. To a doll, this is a commitment that you're going to be with them for as long as you're both alive. If it was anyone inside of G&K, I'd be slightly less insistent on this point, but she's kind of… not friendly."
"I… I noticed." I rub my chest when my rib had been broken unconsciously. "Why does IOP have wedding bands?"
"Because Persica is a sick and twisted individual." Gentaine shakes her head. "The 'funny' part is that the rings actually allow a doll to use a little bit more of their processing power. IOP claims it's because they're willing to go that much farther for their oathed one, but I think it's something else." She clears her throat. "In any case, just like if you decided to pick a human partner, think about it first and don't just throw a ring at anyone."
"I understand." I pull the rings out of the box she had handed to me earlier.
"We don't really have much time, so I'm gonna blast through these next two topics." She grimaces. "Remember that conversation you, Sop, and I had back in Sector 3?"
"...No?"
"Well, there's this thing called wombforce-"
I can feel my face glowing all of a sudden. "Wait, yes! Yes, I remember! Stop!"
"Do you know-"
"I saw one of the boxes earlier, I think I have it figured out." I hang my head. "I don't want you to give me a bird and bees talk. It was awkward enough the first time with my parents."
"Just be careful if one of the dolls you like installs one of them. We're kind of busy out here and can't spare any frames for a few months for gestation."
"Yeah, I got it, can we please switch topics?" I ask desperately.
"Okay, last thing." She sighs. "Please remember that all of the dolls here are owned by G&K until they buy their own freedom. If you end up dating one, they're still going to be sent into combat no matter how much you don't want them too."
My throat dries up and I have to swallow.
"I get that for you this will come as a bitter pill to swallow, but they're hired to fight. We can't have you flipping out because we sent your beloved to war."
"...I understand." I nod slowly.
She seems to verify I'm taking her seriously, before standing up. "We really need to get moving-"
There's a knock on the door.
I hadn't realized it until now, but Commander Gentiane had dropped her 'commander aura' while she was talking about it, and she just put it back on herself. It's kinda weird since she didn't do anything but straighten her back and shoulders.
She opens the door and a maid walks into the room. The maid glares around the room, her eyes narrowing as she spots me.
Commander Gentiane turns to me. "Hadwin, this is G36."
G36 curtsies. "Guten abend, Herr Field Agent." She doesn't drop the glare though.
Gentiane wraps her arm around G36's shoulders and G36 looks at her commander in surprise. "She's the doll I'm dating."
G36's glare softens slightly before she appears to give up and reaches into her apron pocket for a pair of glasses. Her eyes soften completely once she's able to see.
...Who the hell makes a robot that needs glasses to see?
"Ah." I smile at the doll. "Nice to meet you."
G36 nods at my greeting before turning to Gentiane. "Is it wise to tell him?"
"It's fine." She says. "Anyway, we're going to go brief the next mission to Anti-Rain. You want to come along?" She asks. "I mean, technically it's on level 2, but you can pop in to watch the meeting if you want."
G36 tilts her head for a moment. "Nein, I must clean up in here. I will await your return."
I turn away awkwardly as they embrace, staring at a pile of paperwork to give them as much privacy as I can.
Then, Commander Gentiane calls to me. "Hadwin, get going. I want to go to bed, and the longer we delay this meeting, the longer I have to stay awake."
I find myself eager to leave, both this room and the conversation.
I'm back in level 2 with Aleah assisting me for the meeting Commander Gentiane was talking about earlier.
In the last two weeks, I had forgotten a lot of stuff that had happened. Like, that there's a reason we're in Serbia, and I had helped find some data on a project called Project Theta. I mean, I didn't get much sleep those first three days after the explosion in Sector 3, but you'd think I'd remember finding that massive bank of computers and taking a man from Paradeus hostage.
I certainly remember the one I distinctly didn't take hostage.
In any case, Commander Gentiane is back in her 'bunny with bat wings' form and is giving us a rundown of the current situation.
"So yeah, all we really know is Paradeus is doing some shady shit in this town, and we gotta clean it up." She concludes.
The other commanders groan. It seems like Commander Gentiane has a bad habit of summing up things as "we're fucked".
One one side of me, AR-15 sits a lot closer to my side than usual, one hand gripping the sleeve of my avatar's shirt almost unnoticeably. On the other side, RO had planted herself down and crossed her arms. I'd guess she didn't want to sit near me from her attitude, but there's plenty of other seats.
Sop's on RO's other side. She keeps falling asleep. M4 is sitting in the row behind us, listening intently. Aleah's next to M4, remaining perfectly quiet.
Commander Riccardo and Commander Kylie are sitting off to one side, whereas Commander Mikhail is front and center with a doll I'm unfamiliar with by his side.
"So, the prisoner's not cooperating?" Mikhail asks.
"Worse. He's dead." The bunny grimaces, a most disturbing sight. "I don't know how, but in the confusion of moving him from the hotel base to here, he managed to get his hands on a suicide pill. I'm having Kalina review records now and I'll keep you updated."
"Did we get anything out of him?" Ricardo asks.
"Well, he twitched once when we mentioned Project Theta to him, but that's the most reaction we managed to get. Thanks to Hadwin, we have a name and an abbreviated account of the project, but no concrete details."
An orange tabby cat appears suddenly next to Commander Gentaine. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but you told me to tell you if anything came up-"
"Yeah?" The bunny gestures for her to continue.
"That data 404 recovered from Sangvis shows that the KCCO remnant is moving to the sector we're heading to as well. If they're moving to our AO, then there's a decent chase there's a Pike Node there."
Pike Node?
"Pike node?" Sop asks, apparently awake again.
"It's one of those alien artifacts." AR-15 hisses at her teammate. "It's also the thing we've been looking for the past two weeks."
I avoid shuddering. Aliens. Maybe if I pretend they're not real, things will make sense again.
Commander Gentiane presses on. "Okay, well that's great news. We're in the right area, now instead of fighting only Paradeus, we can fight the KCCO too."
Commander Kylie snorts. "Right, great news."
"With any luck we can get them to fight each other and swoop in to sweep up the mess." Commander Gentaine asserts.
I check out mentally as they discuss strategy. The overhead maps on the screen behind Commander Gentiane fill with colored arrows and words hastily scrawled with phrases like "maybe we can enter through the sewer?" and "Is Paradeus attempting to hide their takeover?" as the evening progresses.
Eventually, I'm unable to stifle a yawn.
Commander Gentiane notices this, then glances at her bunny wrist. "Well, I suppose that's good for tonight. We've got a good basis for our attack plan, I'll keep everyone updated."
The humans and M4 all log out relatively quickly, but RO, 15, and Sop stick around. I was about to log out myself, but Sop reaches past RO to grab my wrist. "Hey Haddy!"
"Yeah?"
"Since we're gonna have to fight soon, wanna go practice?"
"...Huh?"
"She means simulator practice." RO informs me. "Sop, maybe wait until tomorrow."
"Aw, why?"
"Because." RO points to me. "He's falling asleep in his seat."
15 pinches me and my eyes snap open. "Ow! I'm awake, I'm awake!"
"Heh, yeah… Haddy, let's spar tomorrow, okay? I'll see who I can get." Sop lets go of my wrist. "Actually, I can turn it into a tournament…"
"Sounds good, Sop." I nod to her. "With that, I'll be going." I glance at the silent figure behind us. "Aleah, would you please help me log out?"
Aleah nods silently and the world melts around me.
When I open my eyes, I'm in my room.
Alone.
It's 2148, so I have a few minutes before I really need to go to sleep, but I'm so tired.
Still, I haul myself up and force myself to brush my teeth and change out of my uniform. I collapse back into my bed and close my eyes, hoping sleep comes quickly.
Then, there's a knock on my door. Of course I'm not going to get to sleep on time. That would be against some sort of universal rule.
"Come in." I call.
15 pokes her head into the room, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Good evening, Hadwin."
"Hey Star. Doing okay?"
Her blush intensifies slightly at my appellation. "Yes, I'm fine." She steps inside fully and closes the door. "How's the hand?"
"Well…" I glance down at the contraption welded to my wrist. "I was able to play a guitar with it, so it works fine I guess."
"Sop generally does a good job." She bites her lip. "Can I sit down?"
"Yeah, just sit down wherever."
I expected her to pick the chair, but instead she sits down on the edge of the bed. I struggle to get myself into a sitting position so she's not towering over me.
"Aside from your hand, how did the mission at the mansion go?" She asks.
I give her an overview of the night, leaving out unnecessary details like needing help to get dressed after I hurt my hand and… and pretty much anything to do with UMP 45.
When I was done, she turns to me deliberately. "You owe me a dance too, got it?"
I can't help but smile slightly. "Of course."
She nods decisively. "As long as you realize. In the meantime, I…" She trails off, her face getting redder. "Um, there's been a rumor going around that you kissed someone."
I sigh. "It's not like I was planning on kissing anyone, but..."
She fidgets and turns towards me. "I was wondering if I could-"
Something hits my door hard enough to cause both of us to start. 15's hand shoots to the knife at her hip and I scramble for the pistol… that I forgot to grab ammo for.
"Who is it?" I ask.
The door opens and two smiling dolls walk into the room. 9 and UMP 45.
Needless to say, their smiles are very, very hostile.
"What have we here~?" 9 asks in a voice so sweet it'd make you puke. "I didn't know Haddy was in a relationship with any of the Anti-Rain bitches."
15's mouth snaps shut and her knuckles go white.
UMP 45 shrugs nonchalantly. "Who he sees in his spare time is none of our concern. Though, I would like to ask Miss 15 to leave since we have some very important business to discuss."
15 looks like she's about to snap at them, so I gently place my hand on her shoulder. She glances in my direction, but after she meets my eyes she nods and lets go of her knife. "Hadwin, I'll be outside if you need me."
"Thanks, St- uh, 15." I give her a tired smile. "I think I'll be okay though. I'll catch up with you tomorrow."
She nods to me, glares at the UMP sisters before closing the door behind her.
"So." 9 immediately crosses her arms and glares at me. "Who did you kiss?!"
Huh?
Behind her sister, UMP 45 holds a finger to her lips, a smirk spreading across her face.
Wait, so she didn't tell her sister? Why? The answer comes to me almost immediately. Because she's going to enjoy teasing me about it.
I can't hold back another sigh. "It's not really any of your business, 9."
"Of course it is!" She throws her hands in the air. "I have to know if I have to kill you for kissing my sister or G11 or 416!"
"Why do you think it's one of them? It could have been anyone else at that party." I point out.
"Oh, please." She folds her arms. "Commander Gentaine said that you kissed a doll when she dragged you to her room earlier, so it's not a human. Then, it can't be any of the G&K dolls because none of them could keep it a secret from us for so long!"
"...I think you have a really low opinion of G&K dolls." I mutter.
"Whatever." She rolls her eyes. "In any case, spill."
"Wait, how did you listen to our talk earlier? Commander Gentiane told me the room was secure. I even left my phone outside."
She hesitates, so UMP 45 leans forwards. "We planted a tracker on you."
"...Where?"
"Not telling." 9 pouts. "Get back on topic. Tell me."
I subtly glance at UMP 45. Her eye narrows and she shakes her head almost imperceptibly.
Do I want to invoke UMP 45's wrath?
"Sorry 9, maybe I'll tell you later." I yawn, one of those yawns that hurts. "I'm going to bed for tonight."
"Hadwin!"
"9, let it go." UMP 45 places a hand on her sister's shoulder. "We'll just participate in the tournament tomorrow."
"What?" I ask.
"Oh yes, SOPMOD organized a practice tournament for tomorrow morning." UMP 45 turns to me fully. "She said the winner gets to go on a date with you."
I blink at her. "What?"
9 rolls her eyes again. "Fine, but know this, Hadwin. I'll drag the truth out of you. I'm really good at learning secrets."
"Okay." I yawn again. "Good luck."
I wait for the two of them to leave my room, UMP 45 turning back at the last second to give me her signature evil grin and blowing me a kiss before closing the door behind herself.
It takes me a minute to process that. Then, I lock the door and collapse back into bed, the comfort of the pillows drawing me into the darkness...
So that's how I came to be chased by T-dolls through a level 2 jungle first thing in the morning. Sop must have spread the word far and wide, because it feels like the entire base's complement of T-dolls is coming after me all at once.
M500 pulls the trigger on her preferred weapon and my vision goes dark as someone tackles me to the side.
I pry my saviour off of me to find it's RO. She stands up and hauls me to my feet, pointing her weapon at the surprised shotgun, who barely ducks out of the line of fire in time.
Before I can say anything, RO grabs my arm and starts sprinting through the forested area at breakneck speeds.
"Uh, thanks RO." I call to her. "But what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to make sure you don't die like an idiot." She pants. "What were you thinking, standing there like that?"
"'Oh shit, 416's right in front of me, I better shoot at her.'" I snark. "Though, I actually only saw her eyes."
"Next time, save your ammo and fire at a target that you might actually be able to kill!"
She stops dead in her tracks and aims her weapon, firing a short burst back behind us. Someone cries out as her bullets find their mark.
"Now my question is, why is everyone trying to kill me?" I mutter. "This is a tournament. Whoever's the last one standing is the winner, not the person that kills me."
"I don't think anyone was paying that much attention to Sop's very convoluted rule explanation." RO snarks again. "In any case, this will be good practice for the next time you find yourself in enemy territory."
"Right." I check my weapons and reload the rifle dangling on the shoulder strap. "Let's go."
RO's taking the whole exercise very seriously and I suppose that's a good thing as far as the original intent of this simulation. It's supposed to be a survival training simulation, not a battle royale for a date.
The two of us stalk through the simulated forest, weapons at the ready. RO's reaction time is clearly better than mine, as is her perception. She guides us around several ambuses by less aware dolls, all of whom we sneak up behind and stab with virtual knives, kicking them from the simulation.
I have to rely on Aleah to get information half as good as RO is able to provide.
It's actually kinda funny how my time sneaking around with 404 would help me this much out here. It's going fairly well until-
"Found you~!"
Sop's voice is disturbing, like she's liking her chops in anticipation of peeling the flesh off my bones and devouring it.
I freeze in place when I hear it, the unbridled lust for pain scaring me to the core.
The only reason I don't get pounced is RO's reaction time, her weapon swinging around to intercept the bloodthirsty doll before her pounce can pin me down and she can rip my ribcage open.
The two go down to the forest floor, and RO shouts to me. "I got her, run!"
"But-"
"RUN!"
I turn and bolt. Stealth isn't an option anymore and I keep my pistol drawn and my finger in the trigger guard. Yeah, it's bad practice, but the only thing out here to shoot is 'enemy' T-dolls.
And then I trip over a root.
I go head over heels, tumbling a few times before slamming into a tree.
"...owwww."
"Hello?"
I'm resting against the tree mostly upside down and, from the path I just carved through the underbrush, a face appears.
I barely have a second to register it's P7 before I have the pistol up from underneath me and I'm firing in her direction. One of my bullets clips her nun's habit and she yelps as she dives back for cover.
...I should just give up and let myself die. Then I can go to breakfast and just wait to see who wins this stupid tournament.
I slide off the tree but remain lying down. I could just go back to sleep. Sleep sounds nice.
"Found you."
I glance back to see 416, rifle aimed right at my head. Her acid green eyes are hard. "Goodbye, Commander."
"Goodnight, 416." I sigh and drop my gun.
There's a loud bang and then my eyes adjust to see the ceiling of my room.
"Field Agent, you have been eliminated as player 13 out of 48. Please reflect on your score." Aleah's voice chimes out, simultaneously both neutral and infuriating.
"...Yeah, thanks." I sit up and pull the Linker off of my face.
Yeah. I'm just going to go grab something to eat. I'm too tired for this shit. It's still only 0800 too.
By the time I'm cleaned up and in Springfield's cafe, there's already a significant number of the participants in the cafe, chatting.
Springfield places a cup of coffee and a doughnut in front of me. "Have fun?"
I grimace. "Not exactly."
Suddenly, all of the dolls freeze up for a fraction of a second, like a frame dropped in a streaming video. I blink and the moment is gone.
"Uh-"'
"Looks like the match has been decided." Springfield says cheerily.
"Who…?"
One of the other dolls in the cafe raises her phone. MDR. She points the screen my way. "Looks like it's RO!"
Dead silence in the cafe for a few seconds.
Then, the shouting starts.
"What?"
"How?!"
"Why was she even participating?"
Seconds later, RO and Sop walk into the cafe.
"-bloody manic!" RO finishes reprimanding Sop before looking at the way the entire cafe looks right to her. "Um. Hello?"
The other participants that had gathered in the halls swarm the doll with the orange and yellow eyes. She protests the attention, but is quickly buried in a mound of robotic flesh, all of which is shouting questions at her way too fast for her to be able to respond.
I turn back to my breakfast. Sometimes, life with T-dolls is just too much. Maybe I should figure out where the human cafeteria is.
"My, it sure has been exciting since you came to base." Springfield rests her cheek on her hand.
"Yeah." I glance back at the dog pile. "Exciting." Yet, as the chaos builds and RO's protests start to get louder and louder, I realize I don't think I'd trade it for anything.
Author's notes: Funny how the DJ Max collab re-ran just as I was writing this chapter, huh? Maybe I'm prescient. Or maybe it's just a giant coincidence. Yeah, let's go with that second one.
In other news, both of my major car shows are out of the way so I might have some time to actually write for a week or two. Beta and I have most of the older chapters updated and I will be uploading them as soon as feasible. There's nothing major that's changed, just cleaning up the grammar and clarifying some truly atrocious wording.
Beta notes: Being more than two weeks behind schedule says otherwise… TOTALLY not calling out on the Author due to irl stuff or anything...nope, not at all.
Also: MEEEEETSUKITA~ -Some T-doll with an electric Guitar