The late night training with Aleah ended with a massive headache and a little progress, though Aleah did confirm the bad news: The better I got at resisting attacks, the more I was subconsciously pushing her and her assistance out of my head.

As the sun peeks over the horizon, the window in my room letting the light spill onto my face, I wake up feeling…

Well, I realize I just got a sane amount of sleep. A full eight hours. And, no nightmares either!

It's kind of a strange feeling.

Aleah's voice drifts out of the docking station on my desk. "Good morning, Hadwin."

"Good morning, Aleah." I sit down at the desk and tug my laptop out from behind her station. "Anything interesting on the 'net?"

"There are rumors of what the next mission is going to be, though they are largely conflicting. Gentiane's fourth anniversary of working with Griffin and Kryuger is next month, and several dolls are organizing a party. P7 has apparently sabotaged several of the buggies by loading the wrong type of fuel into them. It might actually have been an honest mistake this time, so it's being investigated rather than assuming it was malicious."

"...Okay."

"Onto personal notes: Commander Gentaine requests your presence in her office at 0800." I glance at the clock, it's only 0632. "You have several requests for meeting from various tactical dolls. Miss Kalina has provided you with your banking information. Lastly, unit P90 has been restored to combat functionality."

I was halfway through typing the password provided with the laptop when Aleah drops that bombshell on me. "Wh-What?"

"...I apologize. What I meant to say was, the new P90 frame is initialized and walking around. She's not the same P90 you know. She's filled in her place in Echelon 10, which is now at max combat capacity."

"...I-I see." I realize I'm hyperventilating a little bit. "W-Well, that's good to hear."

"I will avoid mentioning her in the future."

I don't respond, not sure how I should respond. Do I want to know about the new P90? I'm not sure. In any case, I finish typing in the password and open up the emails. Looks like there's a wifi signal in here, which makes me wonder about the internet jack I had swapped over to Aleah's dock, but I decide it's not worth thinking about.

Sure enough, the default email client loads up and there's a bunch of stuff in there. Most of it's from Kalina, unsurprisingly. Lots of forms, information about my pay, and some presumably helpful guides on how to get along with T-dolls, dated back when I first joined Griffin and Kryuger. A little late for that.

Opening my bank account, I can't help but whistle. It's more money than I ever thought I'd get. Now, the deductions for damage to property and also for a prosthetic that I completely forgot about are not insignificant either.

Looking through more emails, I find one from Kalina with a doll brochure. She's right, a doll frame isn't that expensive given my current pay. I start clicking through the pages of Dolls, picking a few I recognize out at random. It's very strange to see a limp, lifeless face I recognize as belonging to S.A.T., but with different clothes, no gun…

It makes sense, this is an A-doll magazine. They don't sell T-dolls.

"Ah." Aleah exclaims as I pass another option.

"Hmm?"

"Do you see frame ?"

I scroll back up a bit. "Yep."

"That's the frame I would like."

"That's fast." I look at the frame closer. Long light pink hair, red eyes… "Okay." I add it to the cart.

"You're not required to purchase that for me."

"No, but I'm gonna do it anyway." I say.

She doesn't respond.

The last email I see is from Gentaine again, giving me a location and a brief message. 'Report to Commander Kylie's unit at 0830'.

Once I make myself a mental note to get there on time, I check all the emails and set up a rudimentary sorting system, clean myself up, and head for breakfast.

I make it halfway to Springfield's cafe before I start to wonder about the main cafeteria. I could head there. Less T-dolls.

Less chance of running into 15, 416, or 45.

No, I'm already almost there, might as well eat here today.

I push open the doors, and immediately head for the counter. "Hey Springfield."

"Hello, Commander. How may I help you?"

"One black coffee please." I grimace. "And I need to pay for last night."

"You're covered." She smiles. "Would you like anything with your coffee?"

"..." I glance at the chalkboard. "I guess I'll take a blueberry muffin."

"Coming right up." She swoops back behind the doors leading into the kitchen.

While she gets me my food, I glance behind me at the dolls in the cafe. It's peaceful, the low murmurs of a dozen conversations mixing together in a pleasant fashion.

"Here you go. Fresh from the oven." Springfield places the drink and muffin in front of me.

"Thanks." I take a bite of the warm food. "Holy crap, this is good."

Springfield beams, before running off to help the next customer.

"Yo."

I glance to the side to see AEK sliding onto the stool beside me. "Hey, nice job on Monday."

She gives me a look. "What, you mean… in combat?"

"Well… yeah." I sip my coffee. Delicious.

"I didn't know you were watching." She grins. "I might've done up my hair."

I roll my eyes, and in the process, notice that the seat on the other side of me has been filled by none other than S.A.T. "Hey! Haven't talked with you in a while." I smile at the Italian.

"Ciao, commander. Been keeping safe and fed?" She beams at me.

"As much as could be expected, I guess."

AEK leans over the counter. "Hey, S.A.T. Coming to the defense training tonight?"

S.A.T. leans forwards as well and I contemplate leaving my seat so they can talk. "Si! Need to keep our skills sharp, no?"

AEK splays out on the counter. "I suspect we'll just be covering Monday night. I already went through it, I'm not exactly in a hurry to relive it."

I glance between the two of them. "Defense training?"

"That's right." S.A.T. leans back in her seat. "We run weekly simulations to train for different situations. Tonight is a defensive one, holding a position. It's been scheduled for the past few weeks, but given Monday's events, we're probably going to adapt the material to cover what happened."

"I see." I continue to eat.

AEK frowns. "Hey man, you gonna join?"

I give her a look. "I don't think so. I'm already up to my neck with… stuff." I sigh. "I'll keep it in mind in case my evening is free."

"Alright." AEK waves down Springfield.

S.A.T. taps my shoulder. "So, Commander, um… Are you doing anything for dinner?"

"Not yet." I try to speak around a bite of muffin. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a meal."

"Sure. That sounds like fun."

AEK starts grinning like a loon. "S.A.T.'s got a date~" The singsong voice seems to pierce through the quiet establishment and draw an unnecessarily large amount of eyes.

"It's… It's not like that." S.A.T.'s cheeks start to turn red.

"Of course it isn't." AEK never drops the mischievous smile. "If you're late, I'll tell the Commander you're too busy getting it on."

"AEK!" S.A.T. smacks her hand down on the counter, the wood creaking under her blow, face absolutely aglow.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." AEK waves over her shoulder. "See you later, Commander."

"Y-yeah." I realize I'm probably a little flushed myself and down the rest of my coffee to hide my face for a second. "You know, I have a meeting with Commander Gentaine, I really shouldn't miss it." I turn to S.A.T. "What time do you want to have dinner?"

"...1800." She looks away as her face slowly loses it's flush. "I'll send you the location later."

"Sounds good." I nod to Springfield, confident she'll just charge my account as usual, and step out the door to head for Gentaine's office. It's a bit early, but I want to escape the awkward situation.

It's not that far of a trek, and I get there with ten minutes to spare, at least. She doesn't answer a knock on her office door, so I head back to the front of the building and sit on a crate sitting outside. It's got lots of letters and numbers on it, but I don't know what they stand for.

I get a few curious looks as I sit, for once not in a rush to go here or there. I ignore them all by closing my eyes and letting the sunlight warm my face for a few minutes.

"Field Agent?"

I crack open an eye to see an amused Commander Gentaine. "Commander."

"That eager to have a meeting?"

"Well, now I'm enjoying the sun." Checking my watch, I ascertain that I still have two minutes.

"Hmm." She purses her lips and sits onto the next crate over. "I guess we can have the meeting out here."

"I dunno, this doesn't seem that secure."

"Bah. My office has more microphones in it than a live concert." She sighs. "The things I put up with to keep 404 around."

I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. "Is that why you do all of your paperwork in your room?"

"Yeah. That, and since I'd never get it done otherwise." She grumbles. "Anyway, meeting."

"Right."

"So, you may have heard that we've got this mission in Kruševac."

"...I think so?"

"I told you about it when you onboarded. It's a major white zone, and it's where we were planning on heading two weeks ago before the Panagos escort job went sideways. In any case, it looks like the place has been taken over by Paradeus."

I bristle slightly, thinking of Sector 3.

"Rather, it might have been in Paradeus' hands for a while, but they only went public with it recently. That data you got on their Project Theta points towards some sort of large research facility in that city. The data has been corrupted a few times by our 'guest' so I'm not sure how much of the actual technical data they have, but…" She sags forwards slightly. "If half of it is true, they might have a Pike Node."

Pikes.

WMDs that blast collapse fluid everywhere and atomize anything within a blast radius. Almost brought the earth to ruin. Pike nodes are the control units, supposedly. I only know this because apparently, Pikes are the design of an "Unknown Civilization" that Russia and the US dug up and immediately started using on each other, Angelia and Gentaine had briefed me during the alien talk that I totally paid one hundred percent attention too and didn't check out because ALIENS and all.

"Uh, right, Pike node." I shudder slightly. "Not a good idea to let Paradeus have a Pike."

"No. Especially since we saw the lengths they'd go to if they thought they could get one in Belgrade. Unfortunately, we don't have a level playing field."

She pauses for a few seconds as a few T-dolls pass by us, giving salutes to Commander Gentaine and waving cheerily at me.

She continues once they're out of earshot, or what would be human earshot. I don't know how sensitive- "In Belgrade, we got there before Paradeus could settle in. In Sector 3, Paradeus had just started trying to get their hooks in. In Kruševac, they're deeply entrenched and we're going to have to evaluate our options once we get there."

"What options?"

"Best case?" She looks like she would like to have a heavy drink in her hands. "We don't do anything and leave them alone."

That sentence sends my brain into a hard stop. "H-Huh?"

She nods before continuing. "For all that I hate Paradeus, they're a secret, shadowy organization that has a ton of money and power. If they decide to crush us, they probably could. They've tried a few times and I keep barely making it out."

"And we're just gonna… leave them to the city?"

"Well…" She hesitates. "Like I said, it's an option. Paradeus is doing abhorrent things to it's followers, but to the general populous they're not too bad. Yet. If we go in and destabilize the area, all we're gonna do is provide an easy recruiting ground there for Paradeus in the future."

"...Oh."

"So, it'd be best if we don't have to butt heads with Paradeus and make ourselves enemies of the city. It's not likely though, what with the aforementioned Pike Node. What's a lot more likely is that we send in a few teams undercover during the upcoming festival, find out the goal of Project Theta, and get out before they have a chance to try to crush us." She glances at me. "You'll be boots on the ground if we go that route."

"...Which is why I'm doing that stealth training with Commander Mikhail."

"No, that's just a happy coincidence. But, to that end, I've asked the other commanders to help you bring your skills up in various fields. You'll keep up with it, and hopefully in two weeks when that festival arrives, you'll be ready to handle the mission."

"Got it." I take a deep breath. "Two weeks."

"Eh, more like… nine days. Today's Wednesday, you have until next Friday."

"Great." I let the sarcasm creep into my voice.

"You'll likely be handling three teams of T-dolls. Since you're still not up to on your tactics, I'm sending you to work with Commander Ricardo today." Her eyes narrow and she draws herself up straight. "After Monday's… command structure oddities, I questioned a bunch of the dolls and the HOCs. D'you know what they told me?"

"Nope."

"AT4 told me that they wanted to help you get your revenge, and 'Fan ta konsekvenserna!' which I have to assume means that they're going to continue being a pain in my ass. AEK told me she figured you were taking charge because you had seen something nobody else had, presumably because you've been on the ground with them recently. The opinion was shared with a lot of the others, though a few were of the opinion that you'd be heading out if your orders weren't followed, and were just trying to avoid you trying to face the Hydra alone."

"..." I was going to charge out there to face the Hydra regardless, but I was stopped. "I see."

"Now, due to this being fairly unprecedented- I've never seen a T-dolls ignore orders from a Commander for a lower ranked officer before- I've warned them all that following your orders over that of mine and the other Commanders will be punishable by dismissal. For now though, they are free to follow your orders as long as there's nothing directly from us countermanding those orders."

"I understand."

"You'll do more than understand." Her voice is sharp, and my spine pulls myself even straighter. "This time it wasn't that bad, but you could get people killed. You could lose more dolls unnecessarily. You need to learn to give good orders, not just orders."

"...I understand. I do!" I hold my hands up in defense. "I'll make sure I learn how! I don't… I don't want to see any of them die." P90's face flashes in front of my eyes, a mirage brought about by-

Wait, no.

P90's standing there, with the rest of Echelon 10.

I'm halfway off the crate when Commander Gentaine grabs my arm.

"Hadwin, that's not the P90 you know!" She hisses in my ear. "She doesn't know you either. You were told that we were putting her back into service."

I stand there, straining for a second longer before collapsing on the crate, head in my hands. For a second…

No, Gentaine was right. I was told, I shouldn't be surprised-

"Er… Hey Commander. Er, Commanders. I don't think I've met you yet?"

I look up at the sound of the familiar voice to see a familiar face. She leans in and examines my face, just like she did when we met.

"P90, not now-" Commander Gentaine snaps, but it's too late.

Way too late.

My vision swims a bit and I vaguely realize I'm starting to panic again.

"C-Commander? What- What's going on?" P90's voice is starting to sound panicky, mirroring my own feelings.

"Five-seveN!" Commander Gentaine barks out an order, though it sounds like it's coming down a tunnel. "Get your teammate, NOW!"

"Oui!"

At that point, I fall off the crate that I had been perched on and lose my breakfast.

By the time I'm aware of my surroundings again, there's a few more people and dolls surrounding us. 15 is crouched beside me, rubbing my back, and looking at…

At P90, who looks terrified.

She's being glared at by several dolls, Commander Gentaine is saying something to her and she's frozen in place. A few of the maintenance workers are watching the whole situation unfold and talking among themselves.

That's… that's wrong.

This isn't how it should be.

I climb to my feet against several protests, wipe my mouth to get rid of the sticky vomit and stagger over to her.

P90's eyes glue to me as I approach, before glazing over as she presumably retreats inside herself.

"Leave her alone." I manage to get out, turning around to block the glares as I reach her.

"Hadwin-" Commander Gentaine grimaces.

"I'm fine!" I growl. "I was just… just surprised. Leave her alone. She didn't-" I choke on the words, they hurt so much to say, but I press on. "She didn't know."

I can see P90 start to move behind me and I turn to her slightly.

"Um… I'm really sorry, I didn't know you were friends with the- um, past me." She's wringing her hands like she's trying to extract blood.

"It's not your fault. It's… I was just not prepared. I'm sorry for… this." I wave at the others gathered around.

"No, it's… it's fine." She looks around. "Should… should I go now?"

"I think it'd be for the best." Commander Gentaine sighs. "Everyone, disperse."

15 steps up to me to check me out again. "Are you okay?"

"...No, but I need to be." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "She's not the same, but she… she seemed so…"

"Yeah." She seems to make a decision and grabs my hand. "We're robots. There's always a new one to fill in the old. We're replaceable." The bitter edge in her voice isn't lost in my haze.

"Not to me you aren't." I open my eyes to find some of the other dolls are standing around as well, staring.

And some of the humans too.

Commander Gentaine coughs as 15 suddenly lets go of my hand. "I said to disperse. Don't make me make it into an order."

I rub my temples as the rest of the sudden crowd starts to back away, a group of dolls already closing in to hound 15. I'd help, but Gentaine's hand lands on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry about that." Commander Gentaine frowns. "I should have realized you weren't ready for that." She pauses for a few seconds as I wipe my face again. "You did good defending her though. With how much the other dolls like you, She might've been shunned."

"It's not her fault." I repeat, half to myself. "She doesn't remember." I clamp my eyes shut and force myself to breath as evenly as I can. The pain in my chest makes it hard, but I keep at it nonetheless.

"...Are you fit for duty?" She asks, stepping back. "You need to get cleaned up, but if you're going to fall apart on me-"

"No!" I interrupt. "Er, yes, I think I'll be okay. Just… just give me a few minutes."

G36 arrives into my line of sight, stepping up to Gentiane. "Commander? I heard there was a disturbance around here…"

"Just a bad case of seeing ghosts." Commander Gentaine turns to her adjutant. "Can you tell Commander Ricardo we'll be late?"

"Ja."

Wait. Commander Ricardo? "Uh, don't you mean Commander Kylie?" I ask, though my voice is surprisingly weak.

"No. You need to come with me to see Commander Ricardo." She looks at me askance. "Why?"

"You sent that email to meet Commander Kylie at 0830, right?"

"No." She turns to G36. "Can you verify I didn't send something like that?"

"You have not."

I frown. "But…"

"36, tell Ricardo we'll be very late. I'm going to detour to see what Hadwin's talking about."

A new cold feeling settles into my gut as we head towards my room. I could have just gotten the wrong name, right?

Before long, I load up the computer and open the email client.

Sure enough, it says to meet up with Commander Kylie at 0830, and the 'from' line says Commander Gentaine.

Gentaine's face twists. "This is going to be a major problem."

After getting myself cleaned up a bit, Commander Gentaine grabs my arm and marches me out of my room, a determined look on her face. She puts a small earpiece onto her ear and taps the button on the face. "G36?"

The radio, recovered from M4 previously, is currently clipped to to my chest rig and squawking with the words Gentaine says, and eventually G36's terse response."Receiving."

"I need you to get M4 to Commander Kylie's location ASAP. Also, I need UMP 45 to come to Hadwin's location immediately."

"It will be done. Though, I am unsure as to Miss 45's location."

Gentaine huffs. "She's listening in, no doubt. If not, just start broadcasting something about them and-"

"That won't be necessary." 45's voice comes out of the radio to nobody's surprise. "I'll be there in thirty-two seconds."

Oddly specific.

"Oh, and 36?" Commander Gentaine hesitates. "Prepare a trauma unit. I don't know what to expect, but better safe than sorry."

"Roger."

She starts muttering under her breath. "It's after 0830, so it can't be a timed bomb…" Then she turns to me. "Hadwin, turn down your radio a bit. Don't want an inopportune message to show our position."

"I- okay, but what are we doing?" I adjust the volume down to what I hope is acceptable levels.

"We're going to go see who sent that message." She replies, already pulling me along again. "Hopefully without springing the trap."

"Shouldn't we contact base security or something?" I wave nowhere in particular, referring to the men and women stationed around the base for what I would assume is exactly this scenario.

"If I could trust them all, sure. We're dealing with the traitor here, so we can't take the chance that whoever responds isn't also working for Paradeus."

"...I hate this traitor business." I grumble.

"Yeah, well, until we get rid of them, we're going to have to be-"

UMP 45 drops lightly from the roof of the nearby building, cutting Commander Gentaine off, gun already held, safety off.

"Did you just run across the rooftops?" Commander Gentiane asks.

"Ja, fastest way here." She looks at me. "32 seconds, as I said."

"Right." I wasn't keeping time and Aleah- I realize Aleah's not going to be aware, since I don't have the Linker on. I pull it on and flick the switch.

"Hello, Commander." Aleah's voice greets me. "I see there are some problems."

"You could say that." I grumble. "The email from Gentaine wasn't from Gentiane, is probably an ambush, and we're headed right for it."

"Sounds about right." I swear I almost hear her sigh at that moment. "I'll keep monitoring."

"Thanks."

45 falls in step with me. "Do we know who it is?"

"No." I shake my head. "I got an email from who I thought was Commander Gentaine, but it was someone else. We're assuming it's the traitor right now."

"...And if it's not?"

"Then it was a prank in very poor taste." Commander Gentaine responds, before suddenly holding a hand up and drawing her pistol.

I follow suit, and 45 takes a stance, her own weapon raised. Commander Gentaine pokes her head around the wall we've plastered ourselves against, only to draw back and point to me and 45, then to a crate.

45 nods, grabs my arm, and pulls me along behind her as she sprints for the crate.

I get the point quickly enough and start running myself, plastering myself to the crate like 45 does. After a second to catch my breath, I dare to peek around my improvised cover.

...It's just a bunch of T-dolls, along with Commander Kylie. I can see M4A1 and 15 moving towards her, clearly on alert. Nothing clearly suspicious.

"Uh… What are you two doing?"

I attempt to turn around to see the voice, but in my crouched state I only succeed in falling over and landing on my back, losing hold of my pistol.

"...Hey, SV-98." I groan.

She squats down, grabbing my pistol and handing it to me. "Here, you dropped this. And you didn't answer my question." She adds as an afterthought.

"We're looking for a suspicious person." 45 says smoothly. "Seen any?"

"Aside from the Field Agent and the illegal T-doll hiding behind a crate in broad daylight?"

I hesitate. "Yeah, aside from us."

"Nope."

"Well then." 45 stands up, letting her weapon drop to her side. I struggle to my feet, noticing that Commander Gentaine has also broken from cover, heading over to M4, 15, and Commander Kylie.

I tuck my pistol back in my tac vest, feeling vaguely ridiculous. Part of me hopes that nobody's recording this, but I realize pretty quickly that with all of the dolls around that's a pretty vain hope. Then again, if this was a prank of MDR's and she's recording somewhere around here, at least I could laugh about it and tell her never to send a fake email again upon penalty of death.

Still…

Something's wrong. I feel it, but I can't put my finger on it.

SV-98 steps up to me. "Hey Commander, do you want to get lunch with me?"

I give her a look. "It's not even 0900."

"Yeah, but…" She looks oddly uncomfortable. "Um, I'm hungry."

45's eyes narrow.

I feel my brow furrow. SV-98's acting weird. "Unfortunately, I have some stuff to do." I state. "You'll have to get something by yourself.

"Aw, but I really want to eat with you!" She grabs my hand, desperation creeping into her voice. "Please?"

I almost accept, but out of the corner of my eye I see 45's head shake subtly. "No… I think I'm going to stay here."

"I-I want to use that favor you owe me!" She snaps her fingers. "You promised me you'd do something with me if I took that guard shift!"

"...What's gotten into you?" I ask.

45 steps directly behind SV-98 and disengages her safety.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She turns to glance over her shoulder. "Um, if you're not going to eat with me, why don't you go talk to Commander Gentaine over there?" She points to where the two commanders are talking.

"...SV, I'm not going to move from this spot until you tell me what's going on." I cross my arms.

"Okay, I'll tell you, but let's do so over there, yeah? I don't care if Miss 45 follows us, but let's go over there." She points to a set of benches on the opposite end of the clearing.

45 audibly racks her weapon, discarding a bullet from the chamber, but it startles SV, who jumps a little, still, she looks straight at me, not looking at 45.

She's desperate to get me away from here…

Her eyes flick to the side for the briefest of moments and I glance to the side. The crate.

The crate, sitting near a crowded area, kinda in the path, and large enough to hold all kinds of stuff.

I step over to it and start undoing the latches holding down the top.

"Uh, C-Commander, don't do that!" SV-98 starts to panic.

45 plants her gun into SV's side and she shuts up.

I open the lid, pull off the foam covering the top to find…

"Uh, 45?"

"Ja?"

"What is this?"

She steps forwards a few steps, dragging SV with her to peer into the tall crate.

"...Ach, du schlampe." She slams the lid down. "BOMB!"

The radio on my chest buzzes and I realize that she broadcasted that, as well as yelling it.

I turn and start to run, 45 already backpedaling and cursing in her native tongue. SV-98 also starts running, eyes glued to the container.

Then, without any warning, 45 crashes to the ground and SV-98 leaps at me, tackling me to the ground. I yell out, already trying to get my hands up to push her off of me when a thunderous boom drowns out all else.

Immediately, the light in SV's eyes goes out. She collapses on top of me and the full weight of her body keeps me pinned to the ground.

I can see 45 crawling away from the growing tower of smoke, and past the crate in the distance, I can see Commander Gentiane and Kylie barking orders, though I can't hear them over the ringing in my ears.

Copious amounts of orange-red liquid start leaking out of SV-98, soaking into my jacket and shirt. It smells vaguely of coolant.

Oh no. No no no no. Not again!

I grab her shoulders and start to shake her, even as debris from the sky starts to fall. "SV! SV! Wake up!"

Her eyes stubbornly remain unlit.

I glance at 45. She's taken shelter behind the nearest building, eye to the sky in case of falling shrapnel.

As my hearing comes back, I start to make out the loud, wailing fire alarm.

I lose all strength in my arms and I collapse back into the dirt, hoping nothing comes at me.

After what must have been at least thirty seconds, the sound of shrapnel clattering to the ground stops. 45 runs over to me and pushes SV off of me, her eye scanning for wounds. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but SV-" I choke on my tongue as I glance at SV. Her back is shredded, and there's a large section of the metal crate that was containing the bomb embedded in what would be her spine if she was human. "Oh god."

"Hadwin, don't panic." 45 orders. "Scheisse, don't move. Your leg-"

"45!" I grab her shoulders and she looks at me in surprise even as my panic builds. "Run to the T-doll repair bay! Don't let them delete SV!"

She blinks at me once, and then she's gone, bolting in the direction of the repair bay.

I sit up, once more glancing at SV's corpse. The metal shard is clearly gone straight through her core, and given all the sparking from the leaking fluid… yeah, this part of her is unrecoverable.

I close my eyes for a second, praying to who knows who to make sure SV is safe.

Then, I open my eyes again and see that maybe I wasn't so okay.

My right foot appears to be completely gone, severed at the ankle- wait, scratch that, it's still hanging on by some tendons. I feel like puking again, but I don't have anything left inside of me. Instead, I flop back down as the sounds of yelling start to overpower the tinnitus.

Yeah, sorry Commander Ricardo, we're gonna be really late.

I barely hear the doctor's lecture as I roll my brand new, shiny metal ankle and foot. It's pretty similar to my left hand, actually. I guess that's because it was 'designed' by Sop. She's been doing her research and it integrated in without any issues.

It's a nice foot, but I can't help but wonder if there's a weird gimmick to it like my hand.

"-see you again in the next few days, I'm going to put you in a medical coma for your own good!"

"I'll be careful." I respond.

He still looks exasperated, but turns away and lets me grab my things to go.

"Hey there, Field Agent!"

I glance up to see Commander Ricardo. "Oh, hey! Sorry about not showing up." I hold my shiny foot up and wiggle my metal toes. "I was kinda indisposed."

"I heard." He looks around the room as I gather my stuff. "You're out already?"

"Griffin's medical tech is something else." I slip on the pair of sneakers 15 had brought me. "Anyway, I need to go to the repair bay."

He raises an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that you were told to go back to your room and not come out under penalty of, what was it, 'a forced medical coma'?"

"Eh." I yawn. "Commander Gentaine sounds like she doesn't want me sitting on my butt waiting to get better."

"What if I told you I can keep you training without risking being put to sleep?"

"Sounds nice." I grab the paperwork the doctor had left for me, glance through to make sure none of it needs to be handed to the staff immediately, and then leave the building.

As Ricardo gets out of the building, he stretches his arms out wide. "Man, today's been a hell of a day."

I glance at my phone. 1639. "Yeah, I need to stop missing days by being in the hospital."

He gives me a smirk. "At the rate you're going, you'll be a full cyborg in no time. Then, you don't have to spend all your time in the hospital, but the repair bay instead."

"Oh, ha ha." I keep my tone of voice dry. "Speaking of…" I veer off towards the repair bay myself.

"What's up?"

"I need to check on SV-98."

"Ah. I did that earlier, and well, there's good news and bad news."

"Bad news first." I grunt.

"UMP 45 reportedly made it to the repair bay seconds after the deletion started."

My stomach sinks.

"The good news is that she got there before anything from more than seven hours before the incident occurred was erased. SV-98 basically woke up and thought it was the morning."

"That's a relief." I stop walking, noting that my foot isn't keeping still, but constantly balancing. Lifting it up, I've stepped on a rock tall enough to not provide a stable footing. I'll have to be more careful in the future. "Then again…"

"Hmm?"

"She… said some odd things before the bomb went off." I shrug.

Ricardo's brow furrows. "Like what?"

I open my mouth to respond, before stopping. What exactly was she doing? "I don't know."

"Damn. I was thinking she was forced to go along with whoever the traitor is. We don't have many reports of what she was doing all morning." He looks me in the eyes, planting a hand on my shoulder. "Make sure to write down anything you remember. It could be important."

I nod. "Yeah, I will. I guess I don't really need to head to the repair bay, then."

"Then you should get going to your space then. If you log onto Level 2, I have a class of sorts that'll bring you up to speed on what we're going to learn today."

"Thanks." I give him a worn out smile. "I'll see if I can get to it tonight."

"See that you do." He gives me a friendly slap on the back that nonetheless sends me a few steps forwards and almost sends me over due to the new foot. "Whoops."

I recover my balance and hold my arms up like a gymnast who just completed a routine. "I didn't fall!"

"Nope."

I turn back to him. "Alright, thank you very much for your concern. I've got a few things to prepare for tonight and I'll get to your thing when I'm done."

"Good kid." He smiles. "If you have any questions, give me a call. If I'm not sleeping, I'll talk anytime."

I wave as we split our own ways, me to my room, he to… I guess the command center most likely.

Still…

I pull up my Linker and turn it on.

"Hello, Commander."

"Hey Aleah. Can you contact SV-98?"

Instead of a response, SV's face appears in a window in the sky. "Commander?"

I'm caught a little off guard by the instant connection, but I recover quickly. "Hey SV. Are you doing okay?"

"I am." She smiles. "I'm still here after all. It's a bit weird to lose a few hours of memory, but I'll be fine."

"That's good." I sigh.

"I've spent the past few hours helping Commander Gentaine retrace my steps. I apparently did some strange things while out."

"I'll say." I hesitate. "Oh yeah."

"Hmm?"

"You don't remember it, obviously, but you mentioned it earlier. I still owe you for taking over that shift for me Friday. I was wondering what you wanted to do with that?"

"I don't know yet." She looks away as she thinks, eyes occasionally flicking to meet mine. "W-well, I might have an idea, but I have to ask Commander Gentaine if I can."

I shrug. "Well, once you know, tell me. I like to repay my debts in a timely manner."

She smiles once more. "Oh, is that so? I guess I'll talk with the Commander soon then."

"Glad you're okay, SV." While I was talking, I made it all the way to my room. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you for checking up on me."

"Anytime."

The connection cuts and I lower the Linker around my shoulders. Now, I can relax for a bit.

Having been under anesthesia all day, I may have just been a little out of it. So, you can understand my surprise when I open my door to find four T-dolls in my room, all of them glaring at me.

"Hadwin!" 416's teeth are grinding so hard, I feel like I should be able to hear them.

"What the hell was that?" 15 snaps, her arms crossed over her chest.

RO and 45 just sit on the edge of the bed quietly, though their gazes are no less hostile.

It occurs to me that three of the four dolls in this group are ones that have expressed feelings for me in one way or another. Is this about 15 sleeping in my bed? Or, 416's kiss? Or 45's?

...I have a lot to feel guilty over, don't I?

"Uh... Are… are you talking about today?" I ask, trying to suss out some more information before I shove my shiny new foot in my mouth,

"What else would we be talking about?" 416 snaps.

"I don't know!" I hold my hands up in defense.

"So, explain." 15 demands and I see RO nod in agreement.

"Okay." I close the door behind me, and sit down in the unoccupied desk chair. "Let's see… I ate breakfast, then I met Gentaine, then when I went to go to another meeting from Gentaine, she told me that I had it wrong, she hadn't sent the email. So we headed over there after informing 45 and M4, and… there was a bomb."

"...Yeah, we know that." 15 grumbles. "I want to know why you went there after you knew that whoever planted the bomb was after you specifically."

"Eh?"

RO leans forwards to inject herself into the conversation. "You got an email, and only you. You were the target of a bomb and then you walked right into the blast radius."

"I… Huh." I blink a few times. "I hadn't thought about that."

"Of course you didn't." 416 sighs. "Dieser Dummkopf schaut nie, bevor er springt."

"What?"

"She's telling you to think before you do dumb things." 45 finally speaks up. "Nice foot by the way."

"Thanks." I give her a quick once over. "You don't look like anything particularly large severed a limb, so I guess you're good?"

"Ja. Still whole." She holds up her definitely not whole arm, held together by red tape.

"And you." 416 whirls on her superior. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Me?" 45's eye glints. "I was ordered to find him, not keep him from the premises."

"Since when have you followed orders?" 15 glares at 45.

"Since I decided it was convenient for me." 45 retorts.

"Hey." I say, probably a bit louder than I needed to. Still, it brought everyone's attention to me. "She didn't do anything wrong."

RO sighs. "Hadwin, you have to realize 45 has the experience to be able to see that for a trap. There's no reason for her to have done anything else but pull you away from the area.

"..." I glance at 45, who shrugs. "Well, I'm not dead, so we're good."

416 looks like she wants to argue, but she glances at 45 as well and appears to give up. "Fine."

"So!" 45 claps her hands together. "Time to discuss the reason we're really here."

RO stands up. "While your lack of self preservation instinct is depressing, at least we know something now. Whoever this traitor is, they're getting pretty desperate."

I glance at 15 and 416, but neither of them seem surprised. I guess they've been clued in. "Desperate?" I ask.

"Yes. Up until now, it's been subtle things that could have happened by accident. Things that can be swept under the rug and largely have been. This was a direct attack in broad daylight." RO starts to pace back and forth. "Also, we now know that you're likely the main target."

"Seriously? I'm not exactly important around here."

The dolls give me looks.

"...That aside." RO continues. "I told you I was going to see about getting together those that are willing to help. I've been talking to several dolls in Level 2, so we'll have a good idea of who's interested by the end of tonight. From those that are willing, we'll organize a rotating bodyguard."

It takes me a second to understand what she's saying. "You mean, for me?"

"Who else?" 15 asks rhetorically.

"Isn't that overkill?" I glance between the participants in this discussion.

"It might be if you didn't walk blindly into traps." 416 continues to stare straight at me, face neutral.

"In any case." 45 stands up on top of my bed and stretches. "Looks like we're going with bodyguards after all. We'll discuss logistics tonight."

"When?" I ask.

"When you're busy screwing around with S.A.T." RO jabs her thumb at the door. "Speaking of-"

I look at a clock. 1730. "Aw crap, I have-"

"Yeah, you do." 45 cuts me off. "Ladies, let's move."

"Huh?" 15 glares at 45. "You don't get to order me around. Besides, what's this about S.A.T.?"

RO sighs before placing a hand on 15's shoulder. "Let's go, he'll be safe with S.A.T. until we get done."

"Wha-" 15 looks at me, then back to RO as the latter pushes her way out my door. She decides to chase her superior out with "Wait a minute! What are-" and then the door closing cuts her off.

416 turns to me. "We'll be back, Commander." With that, she grabs either side of my face and pulls me in.

Her lips are millimeters from mine when I feel a hand on my collar.

"Now now, let's let the Field Agent enjoy his date with S.A.T." 45 has a hand on 416's stomach as well as pushing her back.

416 has a scowl that could probably curdle milk, but she doesn't challenge 45 and storms out the door.

"Uh-"

"Shhhh. Don't worry about it." 45 pats my shoulder. "She needs to wait for her next turn. She already got her first one."

"...You know about that?" I ask weakly.

She just laughs and walks out the door, leaving me alone.

"...Wait, next turn? There's a turn order?" I ask the closed door.

The door stubbornly refuses to answer, along with the T-doll outside.

Oh well. I better clean myself up before my 'date' with S.A.T.

As much as I hate to admit it, my best clothes are actually my Griffin uniform. I don't think that's appropriate for a date though, so I ended up in the nicest T-shirt I own and my jeans with the non-frayed edges. I left behind everything work related, like my Linker (and Aleah, hooked into her charging cradle), gun, tac vest, etc. The only item I have on me is my radio.

Just in case.

S.A.T.'s in her usual clothes anyway, so I don't feel too underdressed.

As much as she had insisted this wasn't a date earlier, it certainly feels like it is. The reason for that is just how much effort S.A.T. is putting into this whole affair.

Instead of eating at Springfield's cafe like I had expected, she had spent the past hour or so preparing a picnic basket with food. When I met up with her, she had told me she found a picnic spot just outside the walls of the base.

So now we're walking together towards the gate.

"-which is when Signorina IWS tripped over her own feet, sending flour everywhere." S.A.T. finishes her latest story with a fond smile. "Commander Hackett came in to find her covered head to toe, scooped her up, wiped her tears away, and carried her to her dorm."

"No chocolates, though."

"Sadly, no. But, he and Signorina IWS have been inseparable ever since."

"Good for her." I glance around at my surroundings as we walk, a cold feeling dripping down my spine as I look at the damages from Monday night. "Are they still together?"

"As far as I am aware, si." S.A.T. grabs my arm with her free hand. "This way."

I follow her lead as we pass the dolls guarding the perimeter, both of whom acknowledge us with a nod.

"How far out are we going, exactly?" I ask.

"Not far. We'll be able to see the base easily." She reassures me. "After all, it wouldn't do for us to be caught out there without being within hailing range of the base."

"Makes sense."

She leads me to a small clearing that is indeed only a few dozen meters into the forest. I doubt we can be seen easily from the base through the foliage, but the tall garage, damaged as it is, is still easily seen.

S.A.T. pulls a ground sheet out of her picnic basket and starts to lay it down. I silently assist her, laying the sheet out as flat as you can on the untamed ground.

Once the ground sheet is laid out, S.A.T. kneels down by her basket and starts pulling out food.

She hands me a bowl full of… something as she unpacks, I pull the wrap off of the top to sniff it.

It smells good.

"That's a Farro Salad." S.A.T. provides helpfully. "I also have a stromboli, some salad and-"

"You made all of this?" I can't keep the surprise out of my voice.

"Of course." She sits back on her heels. "I'm proud of my Italian heritage!"

"Right." I say slowly. "Well, I can't wait to dig in."

"Bon appétit!" She hands me a paper plate and we start loading up the dishes.

After we both settle into a comfortable position for eating, I turn to S.A.T. "Thanks for making all of this."

"My pleasure. I like cooking." She smiles.

"Have you always been a cook?" I spear some of the salad with my fork and bring it to my mouth. Delicious.

"No, not always. When I was made, I was commissioned to work in a daycare for preschoolers."

I stop chewing for a second. I need to stop forgetting that dolls are made in factories already.

"I loved that job, taking care of little children was very enjoyable."

"Oh yeah?"

"Of course! Children are so bright, unsullied by the worst the world has to offer. So inquisitive too. Every day was a new experience. Sadly, those days had to come to an end."

I remain silent, but my eyes never leave her mouth as I take a bite of the… farro?

...Holy crap, this is good.

"The daycare shut down when the townsfolk were moved to the neighboring city which was a white zone for their safety. I was sold to a temp agency, and from there I was able to do many jobs."

"Like what?"

"Oh, you know. Bartending, assisting with orphanages, attending to the elderly in retirement homes, anything I was hired to do. Much like I am today, actually. Back then, the jobs were less…"

"Violent?"

"Si."

"Did you learn to cook when doing odd jobs?"

"Si. I was sent to an Italian restaurant once where a man had lost his arm. He was unable to cook for a while and needed a replacement cook that would be able to do exactly as he said. I was sent in and he taught me wonderful things. When I transferred to Griffin, it was the most important thing I kept from my old life."

"Wow." I rub my chin. "Er, feel free to tell me to shove off, but why did you join Griffin? You seemed to be enjoying your life in this temp agency."

"I don't mind speaking of my past." She takes a bite of her own food, her expression one of contentment as she chews. Once she swallows, she looks back at me. "I was generally content to stay in the white zone, truth be told. I was happy to remain in the city helping those in need. I probably would still be there if not for an incident about two years ago.

"I was in a convoy being sent outside the walls of the city to help cater to an outdoor party. The party went well until it got dark and a bunch of bandits showed up."

"...Why were they having a party beyond the wall?"

"I don't really remember." S.A.T. shakes her head. "In any case, the T-dolls the host of the party had hired were able to force the bandits to retreat without anyone from our side dying, but the party was ruined. On the way back, I asked one of the T-dolls how she was able to take lives."

Her face starts to look wistful. "She laughed at me and told me that she just had to think about the other people behind her and her finger was steady on the trigger. I spent a few days thinking about it before buying my freedom from the temp agency and coming here to work with Griffin, the agency that protects people. At least, that's what I believe. I feel like now I can help more people than I could back in that one, tiny white zone."

"Who was it?" I blink. "Uh, the T-doll that convinced you to join?"

"She wasn't trying to convince me. In fact, when she found out I had joined up, she was taken aback. She told me she didn't think I was cut out for the job." She grabs a bottle of wine from the picnic basket and stares at it for a few seconds, though her eyes seem to be looking through the bottle into the past rather than at the label. "Griffin took a personality test, saw how much I liked my Italian side I had inherited from my job at the restaurant and my protective nature and assigned me my weapon. It's true, at the start I found it hard to fight, but I learned. After all, if I couldn't fight, I couldn't be the protector."

Yeah, sounds like S.A.T.

I give her a big smile. "Well, you're certainly up to the task now. You've saved my life a bunch of times and you're certainly no slouch in combat." I recall the axe kick that took out a truck and subconsciously glance at the patch S.A.T. pinned to her jacket. "I think I lucked out when I asked you to come along with me on Sop's rescue mission."

"I'm glad I can be of service." Her smile is once again content.

I did notice that she didn't tell me who her inspiration was, and decided that I'm not gonna ask. She specifically didn't say anything. I'm gonna respect that.

I finish off the food on my plate, and before I can decide if I want seconds, she scoops a bunch more of that farro stuff onto my plate. "Eat."

I snort. "What, worried I'm going to wither away?"

"Si."

Her blunt affirmation surprises me. "Really?"

"I… forgive me. I had Signorina 45 break into your doctor's report. Several of the others and I had noticed you've been having some mood swings lately, and I was worried enough that I violated your privacy."

Eh. I'm a bit conflicted, she clearly did it because she cares, but it's certainly weird. "...Don't worry about it."

"Gratzie, Hadwin. That's a weight off my shoulders. Well, I found out that your body isn't doing too well in the diet department. I think that between the increasingly active lifestyle and how many meals you miss just because of the weird schedules, you're not keeping up with the food requirements you need. Since you seem to not be aware of it yourself-"

I recall the conversation from this morning when she asked if I had been eating right. I guess I haven't been eating well, despite my words earlier. Certainly not since P90...

"-I decided to take matters into my own hands."

"...Well, now I feel guilty, like I'm taking advantage of your kindness." I look down at my empty plate. Man, I ate that fast. "I'm certainly eating all of this though. It's delicious."

"I'm glad you appreciate it. Please don't feel like you're taking advantage of me either. I decided to do this of my own free will, and…" She hesitates, something she doesn't tend to do.

"And…?" I prompt, curiosity eating away at me even as I load up more stromboli.

"And, you're our protector." She states. "You're doing your best to take care of us, so I'm going to do my best to take care of you."

"...Thanks, S.A.T. That means a lot."

"We can't have you getting sick because you're not eating!" She stands up and makes a fist. "Why, if I let that happen, I'd be a disgrace to Italians everywhere!"

I can hold back a short laugh and she grins down at me.

"So, what you're telling me is that I need to eat more of this delicious food?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Si! You must eat until you have the energy to protect those you care about. You promised, after all."

"That I did." I load my plate up for a third time. "Meant it too."

"I know." She sits back down facing me. "May I ask a question about you?"

"Certainly. I pried into your past, so it'd be pretty rude of me to say no."

She smiles gently at that, but a small frown overtakes her features. "Why did you join Griffin and Kryuger?"

"Well… to protect you all." I scratch my face. "I'm not sure how well I can do that, but nevertheless I feel like it's something I should do."

"Were you raised to be a fighter?"

I hesitate. "No, not really. I know you talked with Lucas back in Sector 3 and I remember us talking about how I used to do the whole 'distract the bully' thing as a kid, but you have to remember, I always lost those fights."

"Then why didn't you stop?"

I open my mouth to respond, but no words come for a little bit.

S.A.T. waits patiently for me to continue.

"I… I dunno."

"Did you want to be a hero?"

"Nah." I shake my head. "I guess I just hated seeing the other kids getting pushed around." I pause, something clicking in my head. "Maybe it's my dad."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah. He's a defense lawyer and he's the guy who makes sure that innocent people don't get thrown into prison. As a kid, I figured him as a superhero who saves those in need." I snort. "Then, I learned how much he gets paid for it and there went the superhero image."

"Huh." She purses her lips. "So you did want to be a hero."

"I…" Mentally replaying my words, I realize that I kind of did equate dad to a hero. "Well, not in the traditional sense. It's not like I wanted to be standing in front of crowds to get medals, I just hated seeing people hurting and wanted to help, to be the kind of person who helped instead of standing on the side."

"Seems like you've been fulfilling that." She lays down on the ground and all is silent for a few moments. "How do you justify killing people to yourself?"

I can feel myself tense up, but she was staring up at the leaves and probably didn't notice.

"I had to tell myself that for every life I take, be it a human, doll, or robot, is a life saved somewhere else. That I'm not a scourge on the world." She says very quietly, almost to the point I have to strain to hear her. "I was hoping I could hear your perspective on it."

"...I guess you wouldn't know, but every time I've aimed a gun at a human or a doll, my hand shakes. I'm not built for this, I don't think." I look at my metal hand, my face distorted in the reflection. "It's just always been me or them and I'm too scared to die to just let someone else take me out without a fight."

"But you're always out there with us." She turns her head to look at me. "You were hired as a cook. I heard Commander Gentaine talking to you when she pulled you out of the Paradeus HQ, and you said that you were hired for that."

"Yeah… technically." I sigh. "Didn't last long though."

"Why do you risk your life for us then? If you're scared of dying and you don't have to be there with us, why would you face death voluntarily?"

"...Because watching you all die scares me far more than my own death." I try to keep a level expression on my face, but I think I feel the stress leak through.

"Remember back in Sector 3, when you took charge of the room?"

"Yeah." I also remember the panic attack that followed it.

"When you stood up on that table, I was really impressed with how you took charge. You announced that you were willing to walk into a wall of steel with us to protect even people that hated you. That's when I decided that I would follow you. You have the same goal as me, after all."

I laugh self-derisively. "Nothing so noble as that. I feel like you're the one who's got the right idea, with the shields. You're doing the protecting, that's what's really impressive."

"Is that how you see it?"

"Sometimes. Most of the time, I just feel like I'm clawing my way to survival and helping you all along is the best way to achieve that."

She doesn't respond for a few seconds. "Hey, Hadwin?"

"Yeah?"

"Want to watch the sky with me?"

I clean up my mess and lie down on the sheet. It's not that large, so we're pretty much right next to each other.

Still, staring up at the leaves to the reddening sky beyond, the only sound the rustling of said leaves in the wind, I feel peaceful.

S.A.T.'s hand finds mine and I hesitantly return her grip.

I'm still wary about just how many dolls I might be leading on. I'll have to work that out soon.

But for now?

For now, I think I'll stay here and comfort S.A.T. as she tries to comfort me, and everything will be fine.

Once the sun had set, S.A.T. and I return to the base, heading for that simulation thing AEK was talking about. Our only stop was my room to grab Aleah and my Linker.

S.A.T. had wanted to return her picnic basket to the dorm, but after a quick glance at the clock, we had determined that we indeed spent too much time on our date. Despite S.A.T.'s insistence to the contrary, that was clearly a date.

As I open the door to let S.A.T. into the simulator building (attached to the T-doll dorms, didn't know it was separate) I can see AEK's grinning face.

"Sup?" She strides up to us. "Enjoy your date?"

"It wasn't a date." S.A.T. once more insists and I have to hide my face to avoid laughing. "I was just feeding him. He's not been eating right."

"So you keep saying." AEK's grin only gets wider. "Well, you two lovebirds are the last two to arrive. We'll be starting shortly."

"We're not-!"

"S.A.T., haven't you heard the phrase 'methinks thou dost protest too much'?" A new voice joins the conversation.

I turn to look at the new arrival only to have me bounce off something and crash to the floor.

In the next few seconds, three faces appear over me. S.A.T.'s, full of concern, AEK's with barely contained laughter, and a third I don't recognize who is looking down at me curiously.

"Ouch."

AEK falls over laughing. "I- I can't take it! That's just classic!"

"Hadwin, are you okay?" S.A.T. holds out a hand to help me up.

"Y-yeah, must have lost my footing or some… thing..." I trail off as I get very distracted very quickly.

The doll in front of me is slightly taller than me. Her eyes are a bright orange, hair a light brown. She's wearing a cross necklace, a white dress and a second black skirt under the frills of the dress.

Of course, I noticed all of this after I noticed the prominent text "M37" written on the side of one of her breasts.

Her very, very large breasts.

I have to rip my gaze away. I feel the heat on my cheeks and feel like I want to hide my face for an entirely different reason.

However, S.A.T.'s holding my arm from when she helped me up, and even as I try to turn away, M37 follows me around, seemingly intent on seeing my face.

"Is this the Field Agent?" M37's voice is oddly elegant, I'd expect the voice to belong to a victorian era lady or something. It's an odd fit for sure.

"Yes, this is Field Agent Hadwin Galanis." S.A.T. responds for me, since I seem to be overheating at the moment.

With my free hand, I slam myself in the face. Calm down, idiot. "I, ah, yeah. I'm Hadwin." Eyes on her face.

Eyes. On. Her face.

She leans forwards to get a closer look at my face.

Dammit.

"You were commanding us during the attack Monday evening, correct?"

"I was for a bit at least." I drag my eyes back in line. "I didn't see you in the repair bay, so I guess you made it through okay."

"Indeed." She finally stands up straight, but then she crosses her arms and- "Well, I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise." I grunt. Hopefully we'll be separated by at least enough distance that I'm not being constantly distracted.

"You like them large, huh?" S.A.T. asks.

"Wha-"

AEK, who had finally gotten to her feet after collecting herself, bursts out laughing again and leans on a wall for support.

"You know, I wear a compression shirt to remain agile in combat, I'm actually-"

"You don't need to tell me!" I cut her off desperately. "I was just caught off guard!"

M37's head tilts. "You're allowed to admire me if you wish."

I give her a baleful look, thankfully to her face, before turning back to S.A.T. "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"...For staring at M37."

"She just said you're allowed."

I pinch my brow. "I can't tell if you're annoyed at me, teasing me, or T-dolls are just different."

AEK recovers enough to stand up straight and slap a hand on my shoulder. "Bro, your reactions are gold. I can't wait until you meet DP-12."

"Oh please no."

This sets AEK off into another laughing fit.

"By the way," M37 leans into my field of view and she really needs to stop doing that. "Please call me Ithaca."

"Got it." I grit out.

I'm soon saved by the arrival of another human. Commander Gentaine.

I'm slightly gratified to see her own eyes flick to Ithaca's chest before she gets a hold of herself. "Alright ladies, if you're ready, we can get started."

"Of course." S.A.T. drags me along with her, and since AEK's still holding onto my shoulder, I'm partially dragging her behind me.

We enter the next room in this weird conga line to find a bunch of dolls plugged into a central computer hub, chairs arrayed around it, most of them filled with dolls.

Looks a lot like Commander Mikhail's setup, but more organized.

"Field Agent, go sit in that chair there. Put on your Linker, plug it into the server, and you'll be dropped into the simulation."

"Got it." I plop myself down in the seat, fiddling with the cable and the Linker.

AEK lands on one side of me, and Ithaca on the other.

I look up to see S.A.T.'s eyes are narrowed ever so slightly at the two before she decides to take the seat on the other side of Ithaca.

"So." AEK leans in and whispers. "How did your date go?"

"Wonderful." I inject as much sarcasm as I can into my voice. "We went skipping through a field of flowers, found a time machine, found out the meaning of life, and still made it back in time for work."

"Well, it'd be pretty bad if you managed to miss your appointments when you have access to a time machine."

I just sigh as she snickers to herself, reaching for a cable and plugging it into her neck.

I slip the Linker on and flick the switch.

"Hello, Commander."

"Hey Aleah. Level 2 time."

"Understood."

When I next open my eyes, I'm in an auditorium filled to the brim with T-dolls. Many more than would fit into our little server room.

S.A.T. appears beside me. "You made it inside okay?"

"Yeah, I did." I look around again. "Who are all of these...?"

"These exercises aren't just limited to our base." S.A.T. points to the stage where all the seats are pointed. There, a bunch of people dressed up as commanders are discussing something quietly. I don't recognize many of them at all. "Griffin's kind of a big organization."

"I can see that."

Ithaca suddenly pops into existence beside me. "Ah. Hello, Commander."

"Hello." I turn back to S.A.T. "So, how does this work?"

Instead of the blonde Italian answering, One of the commanders on the stage below taps the microphone and the crowd quiets down. She looks kinda familiar- "Welcome all. We'll begin in a few minutes. Today, we're doing some attack/defense training. We'll be splitting you all into two teams. Half of you will be attacking, half of you will be defending."

Commander Gentaine steps up. "My outpost was attacked recently, so we're going to be using this as a training opportunity."

"I knew it." AEK says quietly from directly behind me. I turn around in my seat to see she's leaning on the backrest.

"We're automatically assigning groups based on real world location this time, so you should be familiar with your squadmates. Prepare for combat."

Suddenly, I find myself outside the base in the rain.

AEK groans. "It wasn't raining Monday night."

"It adds to the mood, does it not?" Ithaca asks.

I turn to the side slightly and find Aleah's mannequin form sitting on a crate off to the side. "Are you participating?" I ask.

"Not this time." She shakes her head. "I will observe."

I nod to her and turn to the others-

Whoa.

I figured I was going to end up working with AEK, Ithaca and S.A.T., but it looks like half of the T-dolls in this simulation are looking in my direction.

"...Hi?" I wave nervously.

"This is the Field Agent?" A haughty woman asks.

"It is! I saw a pic of him on the 'net."

"He doesn't look that reliable."

I sigh. "Shouldn't we be preparing for an assault?"

"Yeah, so, what are your orders?" AEK asks.

The rest of the crowd falls silent, ears perked. Literally, in some cases. I can see M500's ears twitch about.

"What, me?" I point to myself.

"Duh."

"Isn't that what Field Agents are supposed to do?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Okay, give me a second."

I wonder how accurately the forest outside the edge of the base is modeled and if the swampy area is still there. Hell, I don't know how accurate anything is here. I expect that buildings can be destroyed…

"I'm not familiar with all of you, so I'm going to be very general, so feel free to speak up if you're not suited to do what I'm telling you to." I take a deep breath. "I need everyone who can take some damage to provide a defensive line between the garage and this warehouse." I point behind everyone. "From what I understand, this should mostly be shotguns. I want the assault rifles and SMGs to form into two squads. Rifles, take however many handguns you need to fire effectively and leave the rest for me."

The dolls start to move even as I step forwards into the space between the two buildings, shotguns advancing with me.

"What's this plan of yours?" Ithaca asks.

"I'll get to that in a second." I glance at the two buildings. "I don't suppose anyone has explosives?"

"What for?" AEK asks.

"I need to put a few holes in the buildings. It's too open out here-"

Ithaca walks up to the garage, pauses for a second, and launches a kick at the wall. The metal wall tears under the might of her kick, leaving enough space to poke a gun out of. A few additional yanks with her hands and it's good enough to work as an improvised cover.

"...I guess that works."

Some of the other shotguns start punching and kicking holes into the walls on either side.

I turn to the crowd of dolls behind me that is still sorting itself into groups. "I want everyone who's not built for survival inside the buildings. If there's equipment inside, move it to reinforce the walls." I point to the second level of the garage. "Snipers, please head up there. You'll need to make your own portholes."

"...Roger." The snooty doll from earlier turns on her heel, and the rest of the rifles follow her into the building.

"Alright then." I turn to the two groups of assault rifles and submachine guns. "One of your groups is to head into the garage and stay on the first floor. The other group gets the warehouse."

"What about us?" AEK asks, gesturing to the remaining handguns and the machine guns.

"You are going to scatter into the two buildings as well." I point to the back corners. "Closer to the back, so when the shield wall retreats as we come under fire, you can fire across the zone without hitting anyone on our side."

"Makes sense."

"Oh, and put a few handguns looking to the sides to make sure nobody decides to sneak around the back." I frown. "Maybe tell that to the assault rifle teams too."

AEK throws what might have been a salute or might've just been her wiping her brow, then turns to get herself set up.

"Commander, where are you going to be?" S.A.T. asks.

"Front lines." I check my weapon, making sure I have ammo in my weapon. "I'm not going to sit somewhere and twiddle my thumbs as the rest of you fight."

Ithaca and S.A.T. share a look, then take up a position on either side of me.

"Sounds good." Ithaca remarks casually. "We'll be able to protect you here."

S.A.T. ripples, a blue shimming shield flaring into view around me, Ithaca and herself for a fraction of a second.

I toggle my weapon off of 'safe' and stand where I think the front line should be. The six shotguns line up three to a side, physical shields out and braced for impact.

The haughty rifle's voice appears in my ears. "The enemy's in sight."

"If you've got a shot, fire." I reply.

The crack of a rifle firing sounds out a fraction of a second after the words leave my mouth.

Immediately following, all hell breaks loose.

A bunch of dolls come sprinting out of the treeline, running with no regard to the incoming fire as the shotguns struggle to aim at the approaching crowd. From either side of our blockade, the assault rifles on our side are firing out of the buildings as well, but not having much luck.

A few bullets scrape past the shield S.A.T. has put around me and more ping off the metal shields the dolls on either side are bracing.

I level my own gun and start firing, though I realize quickly that I'm not going to be of much use here. Submachine guns are quick, far too quick for me to be able to draw a decent bead on them. Still, I fire at them hoping to get a lucky shot in.

The first enemy doll reaches our position and M500 suddenly bullrushes the approaching doll, knocking her off her feet where M500 is able to pump a few rounds into her.

The corpse of the doll fades away, and presumably she returns to the real world.

The rest of the enemy submachine guns plaster themselves around the wall and I prepare to peek around the corner and start firing at them when-

"Counter-snipers!" Someone blurts into the radio.

"What?"

"Get away from the windows! They're picking us off!"

Oh shit, if our supporting fire stops-

"Front line, retreat to the rear corner!" I holler, before stepping backwards carefully.

At that moment, the enemy sends a wave of assault rifles out to the treeline, firing their weapons in our direction, forcing us to completely focus on defense as we step backwards.

When we get back to the rear corners of the buildings, we stop retreating. Incidentally, the enemy stops firing as well, charging forwards to find their places among the submachine guns on the far end of the killbox.

Our machine guns open up on the enemy as they peek around the corners.

I get this sinking feeling that we've already let them gain way too much ground against us, but I'm not going to roll over and die. "Both Assault rifle teams!" I bark. "Spread around the sides of the buildings so that they can't box us in!"

"Roger!"

"Commander, we can't get anywhere near the windows. They've got them covered."

"Shit. Can you get to a new location?"

"I don't think so."

"Aw, crap! Commander, the enemy's MGs and SGs just caught up!"

I glance at the forest edge, and once more dolls are pouring out, but this time at a slow pace. Enemy shotguns in front, machine guns in the back, carefully keeping each other covered.

"Alright. Rifles, pivot to face the killbox so you're not exposing yourselves if you can. Machine guns, keep firing at anything that enters. Assault squads?"

"Engaged with the enemy!"

I turn to the shotguns at my sides. "Three to a side, get behind the wall!"

We split apart and I ended up on the side with S.A.T. and M500.

This is going really poorly.

The enemy's heavy units are marching slowly closer and closer. Our side is firing, but I can tell that the rifles are being suppressed by the enemy as the bullets tear through the walls on either side of the killbox.

"Commander, we're starting to push back the assault on the garage side."

"Same on the warehouse side." Another voice reports.

"Okay, that's great. Don't expose yourself to sniper fire, keep back if you have to."

"Rog-"

One of the voices cuts off abruptly and I can help but feel my stomach twist into a knot. She's not actually dead, moron.

The enemy shotguns line up where we had initially and dig in, their machine guns positioning themselves behind the wall of shields with barrels poking out.

Our own machine guns are firing, but the enemy's shields are holding.

I watch as one of our snipers gets a good shot in against the enemy before getting shot herself.

It looks like we're starting to trade casualties at a prodigious rate. I think this is called… a war of something. A war of attributes? No, it's-

"Found you."

I whirl around to see Welrod standing right behind me, gun pointed at my head. She definitely wasn't on my team.

"Wha-" I glance to either side to see both of our handgun scouts are gone.

"Better luck next time, sir." She fires her gun with a quiet cough, the barrel inside the shield S.A.T. is providing me-

Suddenly, my world freezes.

I'm not dead yet, but the world around me has completely frozen. There's no noises, and all of the dolls are completely still.

Oddly, Welrod's bullet hasn't hit me, but remains suspended in midair.

"Uh… hello?" I call into the silent world, but there's no answer.

I poke the bullet, but it feels like I'm trying to push a mountain.

"Did Level 2 glitch out?" I muse aloud. "I really hope it didn't…"

"Hadwin."

I whirl around again to find a mannequin approaching steadily.

"Oh, Aleah." I hold a hand over my heart as it threatens to beat out of my chest. "You scared me."

"You've been forcefully disconnected from the match network." Aleah states calmly. "I am unable to trace the source of the disconnection."

"Why?" A feeling of dread crawls down my spine.

"Again, I have no way of knowing. The only reason you have not completely returned to the world outside is because I 'caught' you before you could leave."

"...Is something happening outside?" I can feel the panic welling up in my voice.

"I don't know. However, since something tried to force you to wake up, I think you should be very careful as you wake up. I am, unfortunately, losing my grip on your consciousness."

"Fuck. FUCK!" I scratch my scalp furiously. "Okay, after you let go, signal Commander Gentaine and UMP 45."

"Got it. Letting go in three, two, one-"

I fall through the void into an inky blackness, followed by a crushing weight.

This isn't how coming out of Level 2 usually feels. In fact, aside from the suddenly very, very overbearing headache, I feel like someone laid a metal cabinet on top of me to pin me in place.

My lungs struggle against the object crushing me to draw in breath.

The panic from Level 2 isn't fading as the world around me refuses to resolve-

Hmm?

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a faint flicker of light. My eyes track that way to find…

Well, it's a computer monitor about ten meters away.

Suddenly, a bunch of things click into place. I'm out of Level 2, I'm back in the real world. Someone had, for some reason, turned the lights off in the building leaving us in complete darkness.

As I strain to see the computer screen, a shadow passes in front of it for a brief second, and I realize that there's someone out there. I start to call out, only for the great pressure on my chest to force all the air out before I can form anything coherent.

And then I realize that if someone is sneaking around in the dark, they might not be up to any good.

I close my eyes, count to ten to try to calm myself, and then think at the Linker. "Aleah?"

No response.

"Aleah, can you hear me?"

Nothing.

In the quiet, I hear some soft footsteps moving around. I'm already finding it hard to breathe, so holding my breath is out of the question, but I try to breath as shallowly as possible without choking to death.

The steps pass by me once, then turn around and pass by me again, then turn once more. Whoever it is, they're pacing back and forth in front of the row of dolls linked into the server.

Am I being held in place for some reason? I can figure out why I would be, but I'm certainly completely restrained. My arms are held in an iron grip, and I can't see anything due to the darkness.

...If I was going to be killed, I'd already be dead. No need to restrain me. So whoever's out there is trying to capture me. But if so, why pin me in place instead of dragging me off-

"Did you find him?" A low voice I don't recognize growls. Actually, rather than not recognizing it, it's purposely disguised with heavy distortion like you hear in movies.

A second, more feminine, but similarly disguised voice replies. "The server says he's connected to this node, but he's not hooked up to any of the connections."

"Fuck. They're a few steps ahead of us." The male voice snarls. "Again."

"Not necessarily. He could just be hooked up to another node, possibly in his room."

"Then we need to head there before any of them wake up and realize what we've done."

"Yes. Let's go."

Two sets of footsteps leave the building, the door opening and shutting softly as they leave.

They were looking for a 'he' hooked into the server. That couldn't be anyone other than me, right?

I once more struggle against the weight against me, but I can't get it to budge in the slightest. I don't exactly care about being quiet as the threat presumably just left.

Come on! COME! ON!

I put all my strength into moving my right arm away from where it's locked into position, straining to get any movement-

Suddenly, whatever's got me captive releases both arms and both of my legs at once, causing me to sprawl outwards in surprise. Hair I hadn't felt due to the crushing weight slides past my face as the weight leans forwards and disappears entirely.

I suck in air as I am finally able to breathe again. After I suck in two or three lungfuls, I glance up to see a pair of bright orange eyes studying me.

"You are safe, Commander." Ithaca's gentle voice drifts down to me. "I apologize for the discomfort."

Suddenly, two cerulean lights appeared to my side as S.A.T. stands up. "I'm contacting Commander Gentaine."

"Please. I'll keep the Commander safe."

Suddenly, the door bursts open with a loud bang.

"HADWIN!"

Ah. That's RO.

"Here!" I call weakly.

On either side of me, the shotguns take a stance and ready shields. For the second time tonight, the blue energy shield also flickers briefly in the darkness as it establishes itself.

Ithaca whispers back to me harshly. "That might not be RO! Be more careful-"

The lights suddenly come on, and RO comes sprinting around the corner, gun aiming around as she acquires targets. "Status!" She snaps at us.

"Two assailants, looking for Hadwin." Ithaca responds calmly. "They're currently on their way to Hadwin's room to see if they can find him there."

"Fucking-" RO grits her teeth, pausing dead still for a fraction of a second. "45's been informed, she's routing there now. Hopefully she'll be able to intercept them. What else happened?"

"Hadwin here left the simulation early." Ithaca replies. "Since I was taken out, I logged out to see what was up and found the room dark. Fearing an attack, I decided to sit on top of Hadwin and restrain him so he would not attract attention to himself. When the enemy was starting to check who was attached to the server I was able to keep him from sight."

"Is that why you were on his lap?" S.A.T. asks with a hint of incredulity in her voice.

"Yes." She turns to me and ducks her head. "I apologise once more for the discomfort. I realize you're not as robust as I am and I fear I might've crushed you."

"No! No, you're fine." I nod. "Thank you, seriously."

More dolls start filing in, guns drawn as well. 416, 15, SOPMOD...

As my eyes finally adjust to the point the light isn't painful, I start looking around. The first thing I notice out of the ordinary is that there's footprints on the ground. Red footprints.

R-red?

They lead out the door and disappear outside, but the way they originate…

My eyes trace back to the area with the control computers. The footprints originate there.

I run to where the footprints lead, already fearing what I'd find-

And there, to my horror, is Commander Gentaine lying in a pool of her own blood.

Author's notes:
"It's hard to tell who has your back, from who has it long enough just to stab you in it..." -Nicole Richie.

Beta Reader Notes:
Welp, that was a rollercoaster of twists and turns this chapter. HOPe NOthInG goEs BAdlY.