Girl's Frontline: Field Agent

by Johnny Wycliffe

Sometimes, life comes at you like an explosion through the storefront. A young man, Hadwin Galanis, finds this out the hard way as his life is turned upside-down by a PMC and Paradeus, forced to pick up a gun and fight in a war fought by machines.

24. Chapter 24: Loose Ends

Author's notes:
Yes, Syndonai, that is my car, the 404 itasha. You might say that I'm a wee bit obsessed with GFL. I love seeing the faces of my favorite T-dolls in the morning before a drive.

Beta Notes:
And having body pillows in your car while driving...

---

A quick stop back to my room to recover the confiscated KCCO shotgun and I'm back out the door.

By the time I get back to Sop's body, M4, 15, and RO are standing over it, eyes glowing brightly.

The scowls and the rage apparent on their faces is matched by my own.

"They're leaving."

I glance back to see 45 walking up.

"416's in pursuit, but there's two of them, and she's unable to get a clear visual." Her lip curls into a sneer. "They've got some nifty anti-recognition hardware."

"Where?" I demand.

"They're heading to the garage." 45 points. "Looks like they don't want to be here for long."

I turn to the three from Anti-Rain and we start running in that direction, 45 sidling up next to me.

I glance back at her. "Can you inform-"

"Everyone who needs to know already knows." Her single eye flicks to meet mine. "G11's on her way, along with DEFY. 9 is heading to the repair bay to lock things down. The rest of our little coalition are also aware and heading for the garage."

I nod. "Where are the other commanders?"

45 is silent for a few seconds. "I'm not sure."

"...How?"

"Commander Kylie disappeared from her hospital room thirty minutes ago. I was busy tracking that down when the sirens started. Commander Ricardo was on patrol and seems to have lost radio communication. Commander Mikhail is currently in the helo hangar with a squad of dolls, but all communications with that building have also been cut."

"What the fuck is going on?" I spit. "Okay, fine. I need you to double back and keep an eye on Negev and the network. Make sure to monitor everything you can."

She nods and falls back. It's nice I have someone I can rely on.

Probably.

No use thinking about it now.

We get to the building next to the garage, the warehouse that still has battle damage from… multiple confrontations now, and I see two figures there.

AK-12 and AN-94, both in full battle mode.

We come to a stop as a burst of gunfire comes from the direction of the garage and 15 grabs my arm to pull me into cover.

I'm still new to this, but that gunfire didn't sound like any gun I'm familiar with.

"They made it here first?" I ask rhetorically and AN-94 nods.

"Looks like it's three people." AK-12's voice is perfectly even. I've noticed she's a lot less expressive when her eyes are open, but now's not the time to question her on that. "All of them have an interference field that scrambles camera feeds."

I sigh. "Right, because otherwise we'd have a visual on them by now. How does that even work?"

AK-12 hesitates and RO snaps at me. "Not the time, Hadwin."

Right.

I once more check my shotgun and peek around the corner. I can't see anyone-

A bullet slams into my shotgun, almost ripping it from my grip. Surprised, I almost missed the fire blossoming from the end of the rifle held by the person shooting from the roof.

"Roof!" I call out and M4 immediately steps around me and fires back as I inspect the weapon.

It's… It should be fine? The barrel was hit, but it's still straight.

M4 steps back into cover and turns to us, cold grey eyes shining in the dark. "15, RO, take the Field Agent and flank around. DEFY, please stay with me so we can distract them."

"Roger." RO and 15 immediately turn and I follow quickly. I don't think M4 technically outanks me, but hell if I'm gonna challenge her on that right now.

As we sprint around the side of the building, I see several dolls gearing for combat. It's the sniper squad, Tokarev, Mk23, M200 and NTW.

NTW sees me first and corrects her course to intercept mine. "Commander!"

"Head up to the roof." I point to the building we're currently rounding. "Make sure if they attempt to leave, they're penned in."

The entire group immediately course corrects towards the fire escape, which at this point is probably the safest way up.

"Sound decision, Hadwin." RO comments.

"They're snipers." I reply. "That's what they're good at."

"Doesn't stop the other commanders using them as recon units." 15 mutters.

RO grabs my arm and brings me to a dead stop before I round the next corner, letting 15 carefully peek around the corner.

"It's clear." She says, and all three of us sprint for the garage.

The garage had become somewhat familiar to me recently, what with all the secret meetings in there, and we're quickly able to find our way inside.

RO and 15's footfalls immediately become silent, and once again, I find myself in the unenviable position of being the loudest thing in the immediate vicinity.

Over the Linker, RO's voice reaches my head. "Whoever it is, they're most likely trying to grab a vehicle that's in good functioning order."

"How many of those are there?" I ask, carefully peering around a fallen support beam. You have to wonder just how stable this place actually is with all this damage. Sure, it hasn't collapsed yet-

"As of this morning, we had three functional APCs, six buggies, and two quads. The official record doesn't keep track of personal vehicles, so I couldn't tell you how many of those are functional."

I shake my head. "It's more likely that they want an APC anyway, if they can use it."

"One of the APC's is already deployed." 15 states. I can see she has her radio plugged into the back of her skull, which seems to be allowing her to talk to us through the Linker. "Commander Ricardo is using it during a patrol."

"Got it." I take a few more steps up to my next piece of cover, eyes flicking around like crazy to try to spot anything out of the ordinary.

As we carefully move deeper and deeper into the gloom, gunfire starts back up.

15 looks up. "Sounds like it's coming from the roof."

"More than one target, too." RO adds. "Why are they on the roof though?"

"Shouldn't they be heading for the vehicles?" I peek around a pillar to see a few vehicles parked in a line, waiting to be used. There doesn't seem to be anyone around them.

"That's the logical assumption." RO frowns. "45? Are you listening in?"

"Of course." The evil doll's voice intrudes into the conversation.

"Can you contact the HOCs? Make sure they know to shoot down anything trying to fly away from base."

"...Done, but-" 45's voice cuts off as a new signal joins the list connecting to my Linker.

"Commander." Two acid green eyes appear in front of me and HK416 steps out of the shadows. "From my observations, restricted as they are, all three entities in this warehouse are dolls."

"Really." I frown, glancing to the side to see RO spacing out, presumably talking to 45 and 15 glancing around impatiently. "So, the actual traitor isn't in here."

"Is this a distraction then? Just to waste time?" 15 muses quietly.

"If it is, what's it a distraction for?" 416 glances around.

RO turns to us. "There's a helo taking off currently." She reports grimly. "Commander Mikhail is aboard."

I curse.

"Do we know where he's going?" 15 snaps.

"It's not like he filed a flight plan." 45 snarks. "The HOCs in the area aren't going to be able to intercept if he maintains his current course though."

"Can we get anything into the air to bring him down?" I ask.

"Negative. We've only got small transport craft available at the moment, and those aren't ready to head out in any case."

"FUCK!" I keep the scream to the Linker channel, but I really wanted to yell it out loud.

M4's voice appears on the channel. "45, I am sending DEFY to the hangar. Please inform the crew to prep a helo for immediate deployment.

"Affirmative." 45's voice is cold. "M4, reinforcements arriving in…"

"...45?"

"Correction: Reinforcements arriving from the South, potential hostiles approaching from the North-East."

"Who is it?"

"Commander Kylie and five dolls."

I glance at the three dolls standing around with me.

416's eyes narrow. "We're not letting anyone leave base."

"If we decide to stall Kylie-" I start, but RO cuts me off.

"-We can't stop Mikhail for the moment. We'll have to track his movements via radar and try to intercept him. For now, we need to focus on containing everyone else, just in case."

I sit in place for a few seconds, considering her words before cursing again. She's right, of course, but...

More gunfire outside reaches my ears. We're too far inside to really be able to determine the direction of the shots from the sound, the dull thumps reverberating around in the shattered building.

"Looks like AEK and Ithaca are currently engaged with Kylie's forces." RO comments.

"G11 should be arriving soon, if she hasn't fallen asleep. Again." 416 mutters.

"Tell them to be careful. I don't want to lose them." I look around as the three dolls in the room stare at me for a second before shaking their heads.

"We do need to consider that Commander Kylie could be coming here to stop the traitor as well." RO reminds everyone. "And that she may think we're the traitors, if she's not aware of the other three dolls that arrived here first."

I tap my finger nervously on my firearm. "So, how do we stop her without killing her?"

"Leave it to me." M4's voice is cold. "Don't worry, she's no match."

I glance at M4's sisters, who both just shake their heads. "Good luck."

"Thank you." M4's voice lightens a minute fraction. "You as well."

"Well… let's go." I gesture for the others to follow me deeper into the garage.

15 and 416 take their favorite positions right behind me, while RO takes a position a few steps behind them. As a unit, we start to carefully probe further into the garage.

As we go, I can't help but notice the hiding spaces all around us. It's not exactly like the warehouse I had been hiding in back in Sector 3, but having once hidden in a crate from a much larger security force, every hiding space feels like a trap waiting to be sprung.

Worst of all is how poorly night vision works in this environment. There's hardly any IR light, so there's deep shadows and large blind spots as we look around.

Definitely not the kind of conditions I want to be hanging out in.

I do find it comforting that dolls at least give off some IR, a product of them being almost human temperature I assume, so our targets should also glow under night vision.

Yes, targets. My stomach churns at the idea, but I've already considered that I'm going to probably have to put down all three T-dolls. They're either re-programmed to be hostile or they're voluntarily traitors, and given they're combat ready, it's probably not a good idea to saunter up and try to reason with them.

So it's going to be a fight. I really, really hope it's nobody I know…

"Looks like the first floor is clear." RO says at length. "Looks like they're not trying to escape yet."

"So, we need to check the next floor?" I turn to the section of the parking deck that leads up-

In the gloom, two bright red points, though too deep to be someone like Sop, shine from that direction.

I barely have the time to bring my gun around before the eyes disappear around the corner.

15 steps up next to me, her own weapon trained on the passage. "See something?"

"Yes. Targets." I lick my lips. "Well… time to go."

We move carefully forwards, 416 taking point by stepping right in front of me, deliberately pushing me back half a step.

When we get to the corner, RO gestures for us to halt. "I'll go first. Watch our six and be prepared to back up in a hurry."

Two affirmatives from 15 and 416, and I nod my head, turning back around to cover our rear.

Sitting here, it reminds me of a horror FPS I used to play with Rakim. You could barely see, and actually shooting anything meant everything went very, very wrong, but looking into the destroyed garage, I'm definitely getting those kinds of vibes. Of course, the danger here is a hell of a lot more real, which is slightly less than comforting.

Hell, if ELIDs popped out of the shadows, I'd probably just accept it at this point. I mean, I'd probably lose my head literally or figuratively, but I'd accept it as happening.

"Fire!"

Gunshots burst from up the stairs and I turn around to bolt around the corner.

Funny thing about humans. We'd probably rather dive into a firefight with people we know then face the darkness alone. I know that at that moment, I certainly did.

And what a battle it is.

From the flashes of gunfire and the glow stick someone had tossed into the center of the parking area, there's got to be at least six enemies. They're moving really fast, and-

I blink.

Most of them are glowing slightly, a faint blue glow.

A bullet whips past my head and I barely duck back into cover behind some crumbled concrete before more metal projectiles take my head off.

I start to wonder where my teammates are and the Linker helpfully outlines them.

Okay then.

"Scheisse! They're slippery!" 416 ducks back into cover after a burst to reload.

"How fast are they? I can't hit them!" 15 grows.

I peek up to see where the enemy is and watch the hazy forms with red eyes dash around.

They still have that weird glow…

"Why are they glowing?" I ask.

"What?" RO crouches behind her cover and looks back at me.

"They're glowing slightly." I push the Linker up over my eyes for a second, and yeah, the glow is still there.

Now that the enemy isn't retreating, I can tell what they look like. Or, what they appear to look like.

Imagine a mass of splintered wood, charred black, or maybe just obsidian. Now, arrange the splinters into a vaguely human shape and have them melt and fracture in and out of each other, creating an ever shifting form. Finally, to complete the look, red lines line some cracks especially in the face.

They're pretty nightmarish.

Still, the blue haze around them seems to remind me of something. Maybe they're shielded?

Then, my brain makes the crucial connection and my stomach sinks down to my boots.

I poke my head around once more, counting the nightmares. 6, which is the expected number… I pull the Linker carefully down so it's not interfering with my vision, and I look at the glow covering each of them.

Sure enough, one of them is hardly glowing, unlike the other five.

"RO."

"Yes?"

"Fire at the one to your left. Near the back wall. That's the real one."

"The real-?" She hesitates for a second, before aiming her weapon at the enemy unit I had indicated. Her weapon shreds through the garage, gunfire illuminating the gray interior. After a second, 15 and 416 follow suit, their own weapons adding to the cacophony.

Pinned under the assault of three dolls, the hazy form in question is trapped and falls to the ground riddled with holes. The other, brighter forms vanish into thin air.

Two more dolls scramble up the far ramp, and despite 416's pot shots, they both vanish upwards and out of sight. I hadn't seen them participating in the battle, presumably leaving it to the simulated enemies that had been running around.

I stand up, my stomach already twisting into a knot, marching past the friendly dolls and go stare at the corpse we had created.

"…Is that P90?" RO asks quietly, coming up from behind me.

"Yes." 15 confirms.

"That explains why the traitors were so hard to pin down. She must have been hiding them."

416 walks over to me. "Are you alright, commander?"

"No, but I'll get over myself." I swallow the bile trying to rise up in my throat. "Uh, 15, can you please get her core? We need to assume she was deleted and we'll need to figure out her role later."

"Of course, Hadwin." 15 walks over to the still way too identifiable corpse and flips her over, but I have to look away after that.

RO steps into my field of view. Did you see who the last two are?"

"No." I shake my head.

"I think one of them was Bren." 416 spits. "British bitch."

"Bren?" RO sighs. "No wonder."

"Huh?" I recall that Bren was the doll on guard earlier, but not much else. I think I might've seen her before, but I can't recall where at the moment.

RO turns to me. "Bren is one of the security officers working with Welrod and Commander Mikhail. That explains how much they were able to access."

"So…" I hesitate. "It's probably Mikhail then?"

"It looks like it." RO sighs again. "For now, we'll operate under the assumption that he's the likely culprit, but keep in mind that it might be one of the others."

15 returns and pushes a core into my hands. I tuck it into my tac vest.

"Last floor." 416 reloads. "Time to make them pay."

I nod, and once more we fall into formation.

As expected, as soon as we round the corner, the bullets start flying once again. A single bullet sails right past my head and chips a good chunk of concrete away, before a hail of bullets chases us right back around the corner.

"That first shot was a sniper." 15 states.

"Right." RO glances at me. "Hadwin, ready to do something stupid?"

"Would it matter if I said no?" I sigh and check my gun once more. "Sure, ready."

"Follow me on my mark." She peeks around the corner. "You two stay behind and provide covering fire."

"Wha-" 416 squawks, but is cut off by RO.

"Mark!"

I sprint after RO, the room illuminating from the gunfire of the four dolls aiming at each other. RO slides into cover like a baseball player sliding home while I collapse to the ground beside her.

Bren's gunfire hammers our hiding spot, sending little chips of stone raining down on my head. I glance at RO, who points to another chunk of concrete. I nod and try to get my feet under me, but she holds me down.

"What?" I ask finally.

"Wait for Bren to stop firing."

I shake the stone chips out of my hair with my free hand. I wonder what she's trying to accomplish-

Out of the corner of my eye, I see more eyes open up in the dark, see the glint of something, and pull RO to the ground as a bullet rips through where I had been.

15's gun bursts to life, firing at the assailant that had slipped around the edge of the deck level to flank us.

"SHIT!" I scramble back as Bren's fire starts to bounce off the ground near where I had landed. "416, now would be a great time for a grenade!"

"What?! NO!" RO's eyes snap up to meet mine, but before any of us can do anything, 416 fires the grenade up and at Bren.

It impacts the tall dark haired doll, who doesn't even try to dodge, seeming to accept her fate head on. The explosion engulfs her and blasts away her weapon. The image of a twisted Bren gun is seared into my vision by that bright flash.

I don't really have much chance to see what happens next. The floor, already less stable than it was supposed to be after last week, is unable to withstand the explosion. The floor starts to buckle. RO leaps away, heading for the ramp downwards, but I'm not quite fast enough on my feet.

The ground crumbles under me and I start to fall. I scrabble for purchase on the crumbling structure, but it's futile.

I slam onto the second level, the exo suit taking the brunt of the fall. I start to choke on the concrete dust filling the air, my efforts to wave it away useless in the collapsing structure.

God damn, this exo suit has saved my life more times than I'd like to count.

Glancing up at the rim of the hole I had accidentally ordered 416 to create, I see three pairs of eyes looking down at me from the ramp-

And the set belonging to the last doll on the other side of the hole, a rifle turning in my direction.

I whip my shotgun around and fire, startling the three dolls on the ramp into action.

Under the sustained fire from RO, 15, and 416, the enemy doll is forced to jump down into the hole where I am and I get my first good look at her.

It's… it's SV-98.

I had already aimed my gun at her, but now my finger refuses to pull the trigger.

SV's eyes look… haunted. She raises her namesake weapon up to point at me, and it's only then that I realize what a bad position I'm in.

"HADWIN! GET OUT OF THERE!"

I duck down to avoid her first shot, then sprint to the side towards some cover.

It's less than effective, she bolts right after me. I see her rack her weapon, ejecting her spent shell and bringing the barrel up again.

I finally pull the trigger and buckshot blast in her general direction. I hadn't aimed that well and the buckshot barely scrapes by her arm.

She ducks behind cover as I rack the shotgun for a second round, fire at her cover, and repeat.

The gun clicks empty, and before I can really react, SV has popped to her feet, rifle already aiming at my heart.

Not really having any options, I toss my shotgun at her.

She fires, bullet tearing through the stolen weapon and destroying it, before racking the bolt back once more.

This time, I draw 416's pistol and fire it a few times in her direction, but she's able to leap out of the way.

I curse and turn to run away-

Only to find my foot over open air.

I once more enter freefall, landing painfully on the roof of an APC on the ground level.

I get to my hands and knees as more gunfire comes from up above, recovering my pistol just in time to see SV land behind me, escaping the fire from above.

I can hear 416 cursing through my radio, but I don't have any time to respond as they start scrambling down to get me.

I roll off the roof, grabbing the roof rack at the last minute so I can land on my feet.

SV leaps off the opposite side.

I brought my pistol to bear, but she ducked down and started to move, tracking her in the low light conditions, only possible through brief glimpses of her form and the occasional glint of her red eyes.

So many questions whirl through my head, but they all really boil down to one question, so simple I'm able to yell it access the battlefield.

"Why?!"

My only response is the glass shattering on a nearby buggy as her bullet sails past me once more.

I once more drop to the ground, realizing that down there the armored vehicles will provide some protection, and I can crawl under most of them as well.

I've completely lost sight of SV though.

"Hadwin, what's your status?" RO demands.

"Hiding among the vehicles." I respond. "SV is somewhere, but I don't know where."

"We're on our way down, Commander." 416's voice is hard as a rock. "Do not die before we get there."

"Really wasn't planning on it." I grumble. Now, where's SV?

I stay as still as I can for a second, before I spot her lurking around the exit. She's clearly looking around, trying to escape, but something outside is keeping her from leaving.

I raise my pistol, but she turns and spots me, bringing her rifle around once more.

A bullet smashes into the APC beside me and I realize that I'm running out of time.

Actually-

I climb inside, careful not to expose myself to fire while scrambling in. I get into the driver's seat, only for the heavy-duty plastic windshield to crack as SV's bullet smacks into it faster than the speed of sound.

But, I can still see well enough.

I find the ignition switch and throw it, grateful these military vehicles don't require keys.

The APC coughs and chokes, but rumbles to life. It doesn't sound that healthy and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be smelling that much diesel, but I'm not going to worry about that right now.

She tries to get out of the way, but I'm able to cross the short distance quickly. The APC dies abruptly as it rolls right into the wall, pinning SV in between the front of the APC and the concrete wall. She drops her gun on impact.

I step out, pistol already aimed at her head.

Her arms strain against the side of the heavy vehicle, but it's in vain. I guess despite being a T-doll, she's not that strong.

As I get closer, I can see she has tears in her eyes.

"Why?" I repeat my question from earlier.

"I-I didn't want to!" She wails. "I was told- I was told-" Her voice seems to hitch a few times and her face contorts in frustration. "He told me I can't tell you anything! I didn't want to, but I can't disobey, even though I want to."

Her hands never stop trying to free herself.

"Who ordered you?"

"I can't tell you."

"Did you know about the bomb?"

"I… probably."

I lower the pistol. "Can I override your orders?"

She shakes her head. "No, only Commander Gentiane…"

We stand there in silence for a few seconds, the only sound is the scraping of her fingers on the side of the APC.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"Y-yes. I- I don't want to, but I have no choice!" The tears in her eyes refuse to fall and she looks at me pleadingly. "Please don't let me!"

I realize what she means quickly and I almost lose my balance. No, I… I can't! That would just be wrong.

But, she's asking me to stop her.

Could I just lock her up?

In what? I don't have access to a jail cell. If she has access to a gun, she could take my head off.

Too much of a risk.

"I… I'm sorry, SV."

"D-don't be." Her face twists into a pained smile. "It's n-not your fault."

I raise my gun to her head and pull the trigger.

Her arms immediately stop moving.

I stand there staring at her corpse until 416 comes running up behind me.

"Commander, are you okay?"

I respond by walking a few steps away and puking.

15 steps up to me and starts patting my back. "It's okay, it's okay."

RO grimly steps up to SV's corpse and reaches down to extract her core. It'll be useful later when we're trying to figure this all out, I'm sure.

I spit the last bit of puke out of my mouth and wipe my face on my sleeve. "S-so, what's the situation outside?"

"M4's successfully subdued Commander Kylie." 15 replies. "She's been cooperating."

"Yay, good news." My voice is still shaky despite my attempt at sarcasm. "So… we need to go after that helo, right?"

"Yes." 416 nods. "We should probably load up an APC with dolls."

"We're just going to have to hope we can follow that Helo and get close enough to it when it lands." RO climbs into the APC and starts pressing buttons. "Or… We're going to have a problem."

"Huh?"

"Fuel line's been cut. It barely had enough to move in the first place."

"...Well, that explains what those dolls were doing in here." 15 shakes her head.

"Dammit." I curse. "How do we bring down a helicopter?"

"Without having a HOC active in the area, it's pretty much impossible." 416 informs me. "Maybe if G11 was available and had a good shot at the rotors…"

"The helo's already three klicks out." RO informs the German doll. "Well outside the range of even our best snipers."

"...Only three?" I ask.

RO nods. "It's waiting for something, but purposely staying out of HOC range."

So, I have a moment to think.

"Hey, RO?"

"Yes?"

"Are any of the buggies still in working order?"

"Let me check. 15, give me a hand."

"45?"

"Ja, commander?" Her voice is slightly mocking, but I ignore it.

"What's the status on the transport helos?"

"Two of them are prepped and ready."

"And the HOCs?"

She pauses. "AT4 and 2B14 are online. Neither have the ability to hit the target."

"That's okay. Can you send AT4 my way?"

"...Of course." 45 sounds a bit curious. "Got another plan brewing?"

"I wouldn't call it a plan, per se-"

"This buggy's still intact!" 15 calls from the far end. "They must not have gotten this far."

"But it might just work." I finish.

"What plan?" M4 marches into the garage, supporting a very sickly looking Commander Kylie.

"...I'll tell you in a minute." I turn fully to Commander Kylie. "So."

She gives me a look. Not quite a glare, but certainly not amused. "Field Agent. Seems like you've cleaned up in here."

"Yes." I pull the core of SV out of my vest. "M4, keep this safe. It's one of the traitor's dolls cores, we're going to need them later to figure out this mess."

M4 takes the core without comment.

"What, you all listen to him?" Kylie snarks.

"No, I'm working under her orders." I point to M4. "She's just had me charge head first into this death trap of a building. If I was in charge-"

15 smacks the back of my head. "-you'd be in here anyway."

416 nods solemnly.

"...Maybe I wouldn't be." I grumble.

"So are you just going to let the real traitor get away, or are we going to hold me hostage?" Commander Kylie snarks.

"I'll be going after Commander Mikhail soon." I give her an apologetic look. "Sorry, but we're trying to have everyone under watch at the same time, and having people take off in helos and running around in APCs isn't helping."

"...I get it." She sighs. "Y'know, when I signed up for Griffin, I wasn't told I was going to be tied up by people a lot lower rank than me."

"Sorry."

"Eh. I've come to realize that the details of the contract might as well have been 'be prepared to be attacked for no reason'."

"...I think I might just agree with you." I turn to see AT4 walk into the garage, along with the last piece of my plan.

---

"This is so stupid." I mutter to myself. Sure, it was all my idea, but-

FWOOSH

From beside me, a rocket lances out at the fleeing helo, a shadow in the dark sky, barely visible in the moonlight.

Yes, fleeing.

It's been evading for the past few minutes, ever since we caught up with it. Never straying too far from base, like it's waiting for something. Not sure what, but it's important enough to keep it here.

Who's 'we'?

Well, driving the buggy to my left is M4A1. In the back is a team of dolls collectively named AT4, who are using the buggy as a mobile launching platform.

Maybe if either the buggy or the helo wasn't moving or if it wasn't dark out, we'd have hit it by now, but it's at least keeping the helo on its toes, so to speak.

I had most of the dolls under my command head for the transport helos still on base. If Commander Mikhail decides not to stick around any longer, we'll need them to deploy ASAP.

So we're out here trying to bring them down before that can happen.

Of course, since I didn't have a vehicle that was functional, I had to hitch a ride on the only one that was-

"WHOOOOO!"

AEK purposely steers her motorbike up a log to get some airtime, forcing my heart into my throat.

-which happened to be AEK's bike.

We slam back down, the doll I am currently clinging to for dear life whoops again, expertly putting the front wheel of her bike down on the path.

I thought being on the back of Beak's ride in the forest was bad.

This is terrifying.

"TREE!"

"I see it, I see it." AEK swerves at the last second and I swear I was close enough to see the patterns on the bark, despite the darkness.

Beside us on the dirt road, the AT4 team tosses the rocket tube, one of the members holding a new tube up for the one responsible for firing.

...Do they have individual names, or-

FWOOSH

The rocket soars past the Helo as it jukes out of the way. Its chin gun swivels around to track us and sprays a few bullets in our direction.

Well, roughly our direction. I don't think AEK slows down at all or even really changes course.

I close my eyes. I'm gonna die out here. I've somehow made it through the last two weeks of hell, but this is going to absolutely wreck me.

"Need a hand?"

My eyes snap open as the roar of another motor joins our little parade, leading the charge.

One of the APCs, and judging by the voice on the radio, it's got Commander Ricardo in it.

"Can you take down a helicopter?" I ask blandly.

"Don't know until we try!" He crows, only for the hatch on top of the APC to open up and a doll I don't recognize to poke her head out. She levers a big ass machine gun into some mounting brackets before letting it rip.

Brass spews through the air, some of it pinging off the front cowling of the motorbike, and the Helo swerves to get out of the line of fire.

The doll that's in charge of firing the rockets for AT4 lines up another shot and fires.

This rocket hits true, smashing into the side of the helo and raining shrapnel down over our parade. Its motor starts to whine as fluids spray in a dark rain from the back end of the helo, which has also ignited from the explosion, lighting up a trail that starts to eat into the trees and dead leaves on the ground.

The Helo starts to descend, canting slightly to the side, but the pilot keeps it from doing that death spiral you see in movies.

Still, it's coming down pretty fast, and before long, one of the fuel pods on the sides of the craft catches on a particularly high tree and the helo rips itself apart, spinning sideways as the tree resists the forward motion.

Our convoy skids to a halt on the dirt road, AEK literally putting us into a reverse wheelie to avoid slamming into the heavy APC.

"Everyone out!" Commander Ricardo orders and the APC doors open to show about ten dolls, who pile out and check their weapons.

I glance at M4, who nods at me. "45, tell the helicopters to get in the air and to our position ASAP. Maybe some medical personnel, Commander Mikhail's helo went down hard."

"Understood. Hadwin, I know you're bad at it, but don't do anything stupid."

"You know me, 45." I check my borrowed pistol once again. "I try to keep my head down."

"If you die, I'm having Persica figure out how to revive your corpse so I can kill you again."

"Love you too." I snark.

She laughs before closing the connection.

AEK releases her weapon from the straps on the side of her bike, M4 sliding up beside me in 15's favorite spot.

Commander Ricardo finishes sorting out his two squads and looks at me. "Ready, Field Agent?"

"Yeah, let's go." I glance up at the fire reflecting off of the cloud of black smoke over the crash, acting as a beacon leading us in.

Carefully, we move off the road and into the forest, guns held at the ready.

Sure, the helicopter crashed, but I have no idea who was in it. If there were enough T-dolls, we might still have a significant fight on our hands.

Before long, the wreck is in sight. I keep my pistol aimed, and for once even AEK is seriously holding her weapon at the ready, mouth set in a thin line.

"...Do you see anything?" One of Commander Ricardo's dolls asks.

"No-" Another one starts, but her head disappears as the report of a rifle sounds.

Everyone scrambles for cover and my Linker helpfully traces the shot back to where it had come from.

Using various parts of the downed chopper for cover, four T-dolls are entrenching themselves, guns braced on twisted metal. The fire illuminates them, but also interferes with my night vision, necessitating me turning it off.

Behind them, another few dolls are scrambling around a body on the ground.

AEK lands on her stomach beside me, slamming the bipod into the soft earth and letting loose. Her bullets trace up the damaged armor, but don't penetrate through.

M4, for her part, is picking at those that dare poke their head up.

I remain relatively still, given all I have is a pistol and I can't really contribute right now.

Still, I take a few pot shots. More bullets is better, right?

Around me, Commander Ricardo's forces also start returning fire, pinning them all down.

Actually…

I turn to M4. "I'm going to flank them."

Her gray eyes flick to meet mine and she nods.

I carefully get to my hands and knees, trying to keep myself hidden in the underbrush so as not to be filled full of holes. I'm not sure any of them would be able to see me anyway with all the gunfire and regular fire around, but I'm not going to take any chances.

Commander Ricardo's voice booms in the Linker. "M14, move around the side! MP5, get up there and pop your shield."

As I move around the side, I can see the dolls doing as he commands, forcing the enemy to change formations and scramble to combat the enemy.

The further around I get, the more I can see of Commander Mikhail. He's… looking pretty bad, to be honest. Welrod and a doll I'm not familiar with are patching him up frantically, but that looks really nasty.

Still-

"HADWIN!" 45's voice is near panic. "RUN! MORTAR INCOMING!"

"Wha-"

A high pitched whistling sound comes down from the sky about a hundred meters to the far side of the helo. Where the whistle ends, a fireball goes up.

"WHO ORDERED THAT?!" M4 demands, but she gets no answer. "2B14, do not fire!"

"Another mortar is in the air!" 45 reports and I get to my feet in a hurry.

Seems like everyone else got the same memo. Dolls scramble in all directions-

Aw shit.

The next mortar comes down on the wreck, sending a new wave of shrapnel flying through the air. A chuck of molten metal sticks into my left arm, instantly melting the flesh around itself and forcing me to drop my weapon.

I scoop it up in my right hand and take stock of the situation. Shit, my magazines fell out-

Wait, four of the dolls are escaping with Commander Mikhail!

M4 must have seen this as well, because her next words are orders for me. "Hadwin, go after them! We'll deal with those that are here!"

I don't even stop to acknowledge, just running before another whistling death ball can come down near me.

As I start running as fast as the exo suit will allow me, I try to identify the dolls currently carrying the Commander into the woods.

Welrod is there, as is the medic doll. Then, there's a woman in a blue and white bikini top with a teddy bear attached to her coat. Lastly…

9A-91.

The nightie wearing doll turns to me, her rifle raised and prepared to shoot.

Guided by the targeting of the Linker, my bullet finds her neck, and she stops running as her sensory array is cut off from her core.

Next is the one with the bikini top. Her eyes are panicked, and she aims wildly behind her as she runs, bullets going every which way.

Frankly, this is more terrifying than if she was aiming. If she was aiming, I could at least juke out of the way-

She loses her footing, tripping over a tree root as she tries to turn around to see where I am, and I only come to a stop long enough to kick her rifle away and shoot her in the throat.

Only two left.

I catch up to the two dolls who are supporting Commander Mikhail, their running speed lowered due to having to lug his body around.

Welrod realizes I'm on their heels, and the two of them stop. Carefully, they set the Commander down on the ground and Welrod turns to face me.

She doesn't draw her pistol, but instead leans down, grabs a rock, and hurls at me.

I barely register the motion before the rock reaches me, my right arm shooting up to block the projectile-

It smacks into my wrist, but I hardly notice as my exo suit suddenly locks up completely.

As the rush of blood in my ears fades slightly, I can hear Welrod panting. I can't see what's going on though, my eyes are being blocked by my arm.

"What are you doing?" I snarl.

"Commander-" Welrod's British accent is trembling. "-please! I don't want our commander to die!"

"Release me, right now!" I command.

"N-no!" She moves slightly into sight and I can see tears on her cheeks. "Not until you promise me you'll get him help."

A brief silence.

"Is he the traitor?"

"No." She shakes her head. "But, I don't think you can take my word for it. My memories have been… fragmentary... recently."

I curse.

Welrod continues to force the exo suit to hold me in place as the other doll is patching up her commander.

"Fine." I spit. "I promise not to kill him until such a time I get a confession or we deem him guilty."

Welrod releases her grasp on my exo suit, which starts throwing errors into the Linker. She crouches down next to Commander Mikhail, assisting the black-haired doll in patching up a bunch of burns.

I step up to the Commander, face contorted in pain, and wonder what the hell he was trying to accomplish.

Slowly, I become aware of the sounds of a helicopter nearing. A channel opens, and a man's voice starts talking in my ear.

"Field Agent Galanis, M4A1 told us to follow your beacon."

"Good." I glance at Welrod. "We have a critically injured Commander Mikhail down here. Be careful, he was resisting arrest a bit ago."

"Roger."

The helicopter positions itself overhead and a few rappel ropes drop down.

416 and G11 slide down the ropes, along with a few of the doctors I had become all too familiar with these past few weeks.

One of them nods to me before moving over to where the unconscious commander is lying. They start tending to him as 416 and G11 point their weapons at Welrod and the other doll, who despite being threatened with guns look happy that their commander is getting treatment.

I'm not gonna lie, I feel like my heart is gonna rip in two. I've seen that look on a doll's face, though it's usually pointed at me.

They just want their beloved Commander to be alright.

After watching the medical crew airlift the former Commander out of the forest carefully, we force the dolls to march back to the road, where the second helo has landed and the APC is waiting. On the way, we recovered the cores of AS-VAL, who 416 recognized, and 9A-91.

Firefighting efforts have already started, thankfully the fires haven't had too long to fester and grow, and they're contained fairly quickly, restoring the darkness of night to the forest.

As we get back to the group and the road, I tuck 416's pistol back into my chest rig and collapse against a tree, holding my head in my hands.

It's over.

It's finally over.

And I feel like shit.

M4 sits down next to me. So quietly, I almost don't hear her, she speaks out loud. "Good job, Field Agent."

Faces of dead dolls flash in my head. P90's especially, and I have to fight from puking again. "Bleh."

"I'm going to take everyone back to the base. We're using the APC as a prison for the captured dolls and I'm going to be guarding them. Would you like to be there with us?"

I shake my head. "No… I'm… I'm going to do some thinking. You can go ahead." I pause. "Do you ever get a victory that doesn't feel like you lost?"

She places a hand on my shoulder. "Never. If I ever do, I feel I'll have to have lost something inside myself to see it that way."

"This job sucks." I fall down sideways onto the soft earth.

"Yes. Yes it does." She pats my shoulder once more. "Hadwin, you did a good job. When Commander Gentaine wakes up, I'll be sure to report how you did."

"Thanks M4." I close my eyes. "Make sure to tell your sisters that I'm okay."

"They've been informed." Her hand leaves my shoulder, and I hear her standing up. "It's about time to head out. Looks like 416 would like to talk to you though."

I open my eyes to see 416 standing over me. She crouches down to sit on her heels. "You survived."

"Yep." I sigh. "I did."

She moves her gloved hand to my forehead and flicks it gently. "Don't make me worried like that."

I can't help but let out a sad, helpless laugh. "Of course, I keep forgetting."

She moves her legs around so she can sit next to me. "Are you okay?"

"Well, I have this shrapnel in my shoulder." I point with my good arm. "Other than that, I"m good."

"Mm. How about mentally?"

"..." I open my mouth a few times. "Y'know, I'm probably not doing too well in that area."

She nods, before scooching closer and laying a hand on my shoulder. Unlike M4 a moment ago, this feels intimate, like she's trying to convey something.

"Thanks, 416."

"Anytime, Hadwin."

Commander Ricardo pops into view. "Hey, everyone pack up and get going! We need to get the Traitor's dolls back to Gentiane as soon as possible." He glances back to see 416 and me sitting down. "Hey 416, I need you to guard the prisoners with M4. I don't trust that all of the dolls assigned to guard in there are on our side and I'd like you to make sure they get back safely."

416 glance back at me. "I'm in charge of protecting the Field Agent."

"Yeah, I know." Commander Ricardo sighs. "Okay, I'll see who else can do it."

I turn to 416. "You can go ahead."

She turns to me, uncertain.

"I'll be in the next vehicle down. You don't have to worry about it."

"Ja, well, if you're sure." She follows the Commander to the back of the APC.

Meanwhile, I head to the back of the buggy the AT squad had arrived on, only to find it full. Rather, it's overloaded, the shocks already compressed fully due to the seven or eight dolls clinging to it.

A doll I don't recognize immediately looks down at me as I approach. "Er, sorry Commander. Commander Ricardo told us to make sure we got back ASAP."

"We'd let you take our space…" A twin-tailed doll pokes her mouth with her finger. "But our orders…"

"Don't worry about it." I back up a bit. "I'll catch a ride on the APC instead."

"That's already full too." The first doll, one with a large white hat speaks up again. "There's room on the helo."

I stared at her for a second before turning back to see the Helo 416 and G11 had arrived on lifting off and heading for base.

"Sooo…" Twintails starts glancing around. "Maybe we should get off? We can walk a lot farther than a human can."

"M14, Commander said we are needed back at base." White Hat tells Twintails.

"Don't worry about it." I smile wanly. "I'll be okay for a little until you can send something back to get me."

M14 and White Hat look at each other.

"Sounds good to us." M14 tells me. "Stay put please. We'll have a hard time finding you in the forest."

"Sounds good to me." I back away from the Buggy as the driver turns on the engine and starts following the APC down the trail to base.

As the sounds of engines fade into the distance, I shiver. It's freaking dark out, and now that the fire's been put out, it's a bit harder to locate where the helo crashed.

I lean against a tree and start thinking to myself.

Once everyone gets back to base, we're going to have to interrogate Commander Mikhail. If he's anything like the Paradeus man I met before, we're going to have an uphill battle to get any information out of him.

So much still doesn't add up though.

I shake my head and start thinking about other things. Like, the fact that there's a tonne of red warning signs in my vision that I've been ignoring.

I read one and it says that the exo suit needs to do a full scan and reboot. I pull myself out of it, but leave the Linker plugged in. A text window starts flashing words at me too fast for me to read, and I mentally push the window to the side and start thinking about everything that's happened since the disastrous party in the mansion.

Let's see… P90's been working for the traitor. If we assume that happened before she was reset as well, that explains why she was reset. Bren's part of the security forces, along with Welrod.

I can see both of them being forced to participate through being ordered. Bren's probably the one that told Commander Mikhail that we were onto his KCCO forces, which explains why they found out so fast. I was constantly with P90 for a while before, which means that Mikhail would be able to keep close tabs on me.

Something that really doesn't add up though, is SV-98.

She's nothing special, at least by doll standards. She doesn't have any access to critical systems, she's not particularly stealthy, nor is she particularly intertwined with my group. In fact, she's been drifting away since she's been too busy to work with me much. Which could be the Traitor's influence, now that I think about it...

She's not even one of Mikhail's dolls, she's one of Commander Ricardo's.

Was it just a coincidence?

I shake my head and glance at the stream of text dumping into the corner of my display. The exo suit is still diagnosing, or something. I probably should send it to the repair bay for a real repair, given that the spine is currently fashioned out of parts from a cyclops. Whatever Welrod did also did a number on it and falling onto my back in the garage certainly didn't help.

I pull the Linker off my head and look up at the stars. The chill of the night wraps around me and I feel very, very alone all of a sudden. Without the Linker, I can barely see in the starlight, making the world around me eerie. I'm all alone, with my feelings of guilt.

I wish someone was here. 15, or 45, or 416… hell, any of the dolls. I'd even take Sop-

I blink.

Sop.

I pull my Linker back on and note that the suit is done rebooting. It's still got an error or two, but not nearly as many as it had earlier.

"Hey Linker, can you point me towards the helo crash site?" I ask.

In response, an arrow appears in thin air in front of me.

I trudge off in that direction, quickly arriving at the crash site. The suit has a noticeable grinding sound with each step and I resolve myself to get it properly repaired as soon as I have a chance.

I'm under no illusions that I can actually find Sop's core in the twisted and bombed wreckage, but I figure I can at least search for her core. Maybe it survived, and we can plug her back in, and everything can go back to normal.

Normal. Right. I don't think I'd recognize normal if it bit me on the face.

I start kicking through the ash, moving panels carefully with my metal hand to not cut myself, and poking through the melted husk of the downed flying machine to see if I can find a 10cm cube. A cube that could have been launched out during the crash, or tossed away earlier, or...

If it sounds futile, it's because it is.

But I need something to do so my brain doesn't go into a dark place.

Crunch

I freeze in place.

No, that had to have been my mind playing tricks on me, right?

Crunch

I reach for the pistol at my chest, drawing it out. Suddenly, I realize that I hadn't reloaded, and I reach for my magazines only to realize the spots on my vest for the magazines are empty. I hadn't fired that much, had I? In horror, I remember falling after that mortar and losing my spare mags-

Crunch

I eject the current magazine to find it only has a round left. With one in the chamber, that makes two…

Crunch

I almost made to sneak away from the sound, but I remember just in time that the suit is currently making a lot of noise. I'd have to ditch the suit.

I quietly disengage the arms and legs so I can step out of the suit, but before I can remove the cable between the Linker and the exo suit a voice causes me to freeze up.

"Ah-hah! I knew he had it."

Carefully, ever so carefully, I lean around the sheet of metal blocking my line of sight.

Commander Ricardo, holding up a laptop computer, balancing it on his leg as he types away frantically. His face is lit by the screen of the laptop.

My brain grinds to a halt.

I watch as he accesses a bunch of files, each time nodding to himself.

"Looks like everything's here." He nods, before turning to look-

Right. At. Me.

His smile turns predatory. "Hello, Field Agent. Are you lost?"

I duck back into cover, mind running a thousand miles an hour. My hand grips the pistol so hard my knuckles are turning white.

I got it wrong. It wasn't Commander Mikhail.

It's Ricardo.

"Oh, don't pretend you're not there." He chides. "I've got a beacon on you, I know where you are at all times. You've been such a pé-no-saco since you showed up and I've been trying to deal with you for so long."

I pop over the barrier and fire both rounds at where he had been, but he had moved to the side, his own weapon level with my head, so I have to duck away. Not that I could do much after wasting my last rounds.

Shit.

I glance at my exo suit. I don't have any ammo, but maybe I can overpower him?

No, I don't have hand-to-hand skills.

But, maybe-

Seconds later, Commander Ricardo rounds the corner, a large revolver in his hands. I have my hands up in the air, trembling in the cold and, to be honest, a decent amount of fear. The pistol lies at my feet, clearly visible with the slide locked back.

"There you are." He smiles, a kind smile I've seen most times I've seen him before. "I didn't expect you to come back here. You should have been on the transport." He chuckles to himself. "Ah, but of course, you're the massive pain in the ass as always."

"Wh-what are you doing?" I ask, more out of desperation to interrupt his dialogue with something else.

"I think that should be fairly obvious." He shrugs. "I'm the traitor you've been looking for. I'm trying to get Paradeus this information." He holds up the laptop he has in his left hand. "You would not believe the effort I had to go through to get this off of the Griffin computers just to ensure they didn't have a copy of it. 45's really good at her job."

I swallow. "W-why did you betray us?"

"Betray?" His face contorts into a scowl. "I didn't betray Griffin and Kryuger, they betrayed me!" He starts to pace back and forth, though he keeps the revolver pointed at me the entire time. "Commander Gentaine promised me that I would be able to spend my time planning assaults on Sangvis bases, not that I'd be slinking around, afraid of my own shadow! Then she and her dolls go ahead and blow up a whole contingent of the KCCO and now we're on the run. I haven't had the time to play any games, or even relax!"

He stops pacing and turns to face me again. "I was promised a cushy desk job, but no! Gentiane just had to go and start this little crusade of hers."

"So you betrayed us all to Paradeus?"

"It wasn't that simple, but yes. You see, Anisim really found an interest in Commander Gentiane after she escaped from their clutches six months ago. He wanted an inside man and he wanted her so he could conduct some research on her. Nothing lethal, of course."

"..." I lick my lips. "So…"

"I was going to offer up Sector 3 on a silver platter, but you came along." His gaze turns venomous. "First, you help Anti-Rain rescue that idiotic politician, then you constantly get in the way of my work. I had Anisim contact 404 to get rid of you, but that failed too. I left false clues and a confiscated Sangvis doll behind to lure Sangvis into dealing with you. Hell, I even tried killing you with a faulty simulation!"

I blink. "Y-you mean… the simulations you prepared for me?"

"Of course. Too bad you never actually used them." He snorts. "I've realized one thing since you've started. With how much the dolls care about you, I had to stop resorting to just trying to get you shot. I had to get rid of them, and when that wasn't going fast enough, I had to step in myself. It would've been a tragic accident if you'd actually ever tried to link in. From what I understand, you're pathetic when it comes to mental defenses."

"Okay… so-"

"Look, I know you're trying to delay for the others to get back, but unfortunately, the APC and buggy have both been sabotaged by the dolls under my command. The helos will also be sabotaged before they can fly again, so we're going to just wait until my ride gets here."

My shoulders sag. No backup then.

"Though, since I'm going to kill you anyway, I might as well answer you some questions to kill the time. I'd be so bored if I had to wait here alone for-" He checks his watch. "Half an hour."

"...When you were in the tunnels under Sector 3-"

"Yes, I was helping Anisim get away. You should've seen how hard those Anti-Rain girls searched, I had to basically tell them not to check a specific area because I needed to let him get away."

"How did you pull off the fake radio transmissions?"

"Oh, please." He waves his hand. "Did you not notice my Adjutant was Bren? She's part of the intelligence brigade. With her skills, I was able to take over Welrod whenever I needed to."

Oh. I think back to the two times I had seen her, and yeah… it had slipped my mind. Really should have paid more attention to that detail.

"So you pulled SV into this too?"

"Yes, though she did her absolute best to fight my orders." He sighs. "I kept getting more and more strict, but she never managed to off you."

In my mind, I can see SV excitedly relaying how she had helped inside Sector 3… "You're a sick bastard."

"I've been called way worse." He shrugs. "Now, you're actually starting to get on my nerves, so maybe we should wrap this up. Stop you from being a loose end."

"Can I ask two more questions?"

"Alright." He levels his revolver at my head. "Two more questions."

"What did you do to SOPMOD's core?"

He grins an evil grin to rival 45's. "Oh, that?" He reaches into his pocket. "Here." He tosses the core at my feet, it bounces a few times before coming to a stop against 416's pistol. "One question left."

"Why didn't you kill Commander Gentaine?"

He pauses. "Well, that's because she's my type. I asked Anisim if he'd limit his experiments on her to non-lethal ones, and after he's done with those, I'll 'rescue' her, she'll fall in love with me, and I'll have everything I ever wanted."

I stare at him. Blink twice. "Um…"

His eyes narrow. "What?"

"Didn't you know? She's dating G36. She's not into guys."

The air between us is heavy.

"You're lying."

I point to my face. "I'm incapable of lying convincingly, right?"

"No! NO!" He steps forwards and pushes the revolver into my forehead, face livid. "You're a LIAR! She'd never stoop to your level, dating those dumb fucking robots!"

A grin spreads across my face. "Oh, she is. She's happily engaged, or whatever that Oath ring means. I've seen it myself."

"YOU-!" He pushes me back a step with the revolver. "YOU'RE LYING! SHE'D NEVER-"

I raise my left hand up, right hand covering my heart. "I swear, upon punishment of being sent to fight the ELIDs with a knife."

His face goes blank.

It's now or never.

My left hand, already out, splits apart and I stab the protruding blade into his shoulder.

He howls in pain, pulling the trigger of his revolver, but his aim is far enough off that I'm safe.

I rush him, slamming him backwards-

And right into the waiting grasp of the exo suit, which immediately clamps down around him, hard.

"Wh-What…" He looks down at himself as he finds himself unable to move. "This wasn't here!"

"No." I grab his revolver from his hand. "It wasn't."

He looks down at himself and I can see his muscles straining under the exo suit. "Okay, I'm curious." His voice is calm, like he hadn't just flipped out over Commander Gentaine. "How?"

"I just told it to walk around behind you." I shrug and point to the Linker dangling from the wire.

"But… that's not possible." His eyes narrow. "Linker's have neural clouds, yes, but not full neural clouds. They can't make decisions."

I shrug. "If that's not good enough for you, I don't know what to say."

"No, seriously, something's up with-"

I jam my thumb into the wound I had created in his shoulder and he grits his teeth hard enough that I hear something crack. "That one's for Sop."

"Ha! Is that all you've got?" He snarls. "I won't break under torture!"

I point the revolver at his head. "I don't need you to break." His face remains steady as I start to squeeze the trigger, barrel rotating a round into place as I imagine P90's face-

Wait. wait, wait wait wait. We need him to tell us what he did. He can't do that if he's dead. We'd be doing him a favor by killing him now.

But… he killed P90.

And we can kill him for that later. For now, don't do anything you can't undo.

I lower the revolver and release the trigger, turning away so I don't have to look at his face. Still, he calls after me.

"Ha! I knew you didn't have the balls." Ricardo snorts. "You're just a sniveling brat that can't do anything without a robot whore to hold your hand."

I turn back to him slowly, fingers itching to go for the trigger.

"Yeah, that's right. All you've accomplished by being here is being a massive pain in the ass!" He hocks up something and spits it in my direction.

The phlegm lands short of me, though I don't think I would have particularly cared either way. I walk around to grab Sop's core, tucking it carefully away, grab 416's firearm and releasing the slide, then walk around behind Ricardo and grab his laptop. I'm sure RO or 45 can get into it.

"So you're just going to hand that over to the other commanders? Gonna be a good little boy?"

I step around in front of him. "I have no idea what your end goal is here, but… you turned friends against me. You tried to kill me a few times. You tried to overthrow my city." I lean in. "Most importantly; You killed P90 and tried to kill Sop, SV, and a whole bunch of others. Right now, I'd love to blow your head off-"

"Do it, coward."

"-But I'm fairly sure someone's gonna want to question you."

"How does it feel to be a spineless wimp?"

I bite my tongue hard enough to draw blood and pinch the bridge of my nose. How do I deal with this?

Inspiration strikes. I pop the Linker back on my head, standing behind Ricardo due to the short length of cable connecting the Linker to the exo suit. "Linker, march him back to the main road, please."

Ricardo starts yelling as the suit forces him forwards against his will, me trudging behind him to not let the cable rip out, which I predict would end poorly.

I also quickly lost patience with his yelling.

I remember Rakim telling me a while ago that he looked up torture methods and discovered that torture doesn't actually get results. Human minds will make up things that the owners are absolutely sure are true just to satisfy the torturer. So, torturing Ricardo for information is probably a waste of time. However, on the idea of getting him to do what I want-

"Ricardo, shut up."

"FUCK YOU KID!" He snarls. "I don't wanna hear shit from a punk like-"

"Linker, break his finger." I state out loud, despite the command really being a mental one.

"...What?"

As I watch from behind, the exo suit cranks backwards on his index finger on his right hand.

"W-wait! Linker's can't…"

A wet popping noise, followed by a cracking like someone punching a hile through rotten wood is followed shortly by a scream.

"Okay, so let's keep walking."

"F-f-fucking hell." Ricardo grits his teeth. "I-

"Shut. Up." I growl over his shoulder.

"No! Fuck you-"

"Break more fingers until he shuts up."

I look away as the screams redouble, the snapping happening one after another, like popcorn kernels in the microwave.

It's oddly cathartic.

"Huh. I might understand why 45 acts the way she does."

We reach the road shortly, and I check the revolver to find it missing only a single round. I make sure that the five remaining shots are lined up next, then remove the Linker after ordering it to hold Ricardo perfectly still, breaking more of him if he opens his mouth again.

I position myself out of sight of any approaching vehicles, resting the parallel of the revolver in the crook of a tree. I'm expecting company, after all.

---

Forty-five minutes later, I roll up to Griffin's base in a Paradeus buggy, one frothing traitor in the passenger seat, hands reduced to bloody pulp. The blood of the Strelet that had been driving the buggy coats the interior and soaked into both occupants. One very, very tired Field Agent in the driver's seat gets out and looks at the dolls surrounding him with weapons drawn.

"Someone get M4." I say. "Because she's going to need to help clean up another mess."

---

Half an hour later, I'm in the command center, sitting in a chair, handcuffed. The Linker I use is set on the table in front of me and the exo suit is currently being cleaned of bits of Ricardo's fingers. The laptop I had recovered from him is lying on the table, open and spewing data into the Griffin network, courtesy of 45. Arm's been patched up, though it's not going to be okay until tomorrow.

Commander Kylie is sitting in a chair opposite me and Commander Mikhail sits next to her. Also in the room are 45, M4, and RO.

Oh, and Sop. She refused to let go of me once I put her core back in. With my hands cuffed in front of me, I'm able to stroke her hair, calming the hysterical doll.

I'm just glad she's not dead.

"I've analyzed all of the suspected dolls." 45 sets a few cores on the table. "All of the ones under Ricardo, along with a few others that have been rounded up and sent for maintenance, have shown signs of having their neural clouds tampered with."

"Fortunately." RO picks up where 45 left off. "We've been able to verify a timeline of a lot of events, now that we can order all of the affected dolls to tell us what happened."

"And why couldn't we before?" Commander Kylie asks, head held in her hands.

"Ricardo was relieved of his command, which allowed us to rescind all of his orders." M4 states. "45 still has to confirm all of his software is out of our systems, but it looks like there's no more humans involved."

Commander Mikhail, bandaged practically from head to foot, sighs in relief. "That's a load off my shoulders."

"When is Commander Gentaine supposed to have a full recovery?" RO asks.

"She should be up tomorrow." M4 states. "We've been lying about her status to keep the Traitor from doing anything to her. She's been running everything through me since yesterday morning."

I continue to pet Sop's head. "Good news."

"Yes." M4 turns to me, a grimace on her face. "Of course, there's the matter of what to do with you."

Silence falls on the room.

"Is it true you decided to cause unnecessary pain to a captured prisoner?" Commander Mikhail shifts uncomfortably, though whether from the topic of conversation or just the sheer amount of pain he's in I have no idea.

"I don't consider it unnecessary." I shrug.

"But, you did."

I hesitate. If dad were here, he'd tell me to keep my mouth shut. A blabbering defendant is a guilty defendant. "He would've given away our position if I hadn't shut him up. I had to ambush the Paradeus Strelet to get back to base."

Commander Kylie stares right at me. "You could have stuffed a sock into his mouth. I know you know that trick, I've looked at your file."

I shrug. "I didn't have time to remove my boot."

Silence fills the room after my outrageous lie. I'm sure it shows on my face, but at this point I think I'm going to exercise my right to not blab everything right this second.

Commander Mikhail breaks the silence with a short bark of a laugh. "Okay, okay. You did what you had to do."

Commander Kylie turns to him. "Mikhail, this isn't a laughing matter! Torture could get us sanctioned!"

"We're already on the run." He turns to his fellow commander. "As long as he doesn't make it a habit, it should be fine."

"I dunno." 45's arms land on my shoulders and around my neck, and she rests her chin on my head. "I approve of it."

"UMP 45, please don't encourage him." Commander Kylie pleads.

"Don't worry." I smile at those in the room. "As long as we don't have anyone else erasing T-dolls, I think I'll be fine."

M4 gives me an inscrutable look, but after what feels like an eternity, she reaches over and pulls off the handcuffs with little ceremony.

The Commanders don't seem to be too thrilled with her decision, but I'm not going to complain.

I rub my wrists where they had started to chafe, and I notice that Sop's stopped crying and is now looking up at me. Oddly, there are no tear stains…

I stand up, yawning and stretching, brain officially off for the night. I'm going to have a headache the size of the base if I don't get myself rehydrated and get some decent sleep soon. "I'm going to bed."

"Yes, that's probably for the best." Commander Mikhail's eyes follow me. "Please refrain from causing any more problems tonight."

"You act like I did all of this on purpose." I grumble, before tapping 45's shoulder, getting the Linker off the table and grabbing Sop's arm. "Let's go."

Sop gets to her feet, RO helping her up, and 45 steps up to my right.

I make it a full 20 meters before I'm accosted. 15 and 416 step out of the shadows, eyes glowing brightly.

"Hey 15, 416." I nod to each of them.

15 nods back before her eyes shift over to meet RO's. "He's not going to get charged?"

RO shakes her head. "Seems like they'll let it go for now."

15 seems to consider this for a moment before stepping right up to me. "Well, if that's settled, let's go."

"Go where?"

"To your room, of course." She raises an eyebrow.

"...Rrrright." I frown. "Uh, I don't think I need more bodyguards…" My tired brain catches up with my mouth. "Er, I'm fine with you coming along." I gesture to the three dolls behind me. "We'll have company though."

"That's fine." She glances at 45, who just grins all the wider.

"...Am I allowed to go?" 416 asks.

"The more, the merrier." I deadpan.

"Should I invite AK-12 and AN-94?" Sop asks, head tilted in confusion.

"No, Sop." RO rubs her excitable sister's head. "It's already going to be crowded in there with just six of us."

"Seven." I correct.

RO looks at me, her two different colored eyes narrowing in the shadows. "SOPMOD, 15, 416, 45, you and me."

"One more." I nod. "We need to go get her."

45 mocks a surprised gasp. "Wait, don't tell me you've been cheating on us with another doll?"

"Us?" 15 glares at 45.

"Ja. Us." 45 grins and gestures to the dolls in the immediate vicinity.

Sop glances around. "But… I'm not dating him."

"She's just teasing, Sop." RO sighs. "Hadwin-"

416 steps right up to me, so close that I instinctively try to back up, but 45's currently standing right behind me. "If we're dating, then I should be allowed to-" She grabs my shoulders and leans in-

"Hey!" 15 throws her arm in between us. "Don't do that in public!"

...Not, 'Don't do that to my boyfriend?'

416 glances at the slightly shorter doll. "So it's fine in private?"

"...I guess." She grumbles.

416 lets go and takes her accustomed position. "I will wait then."

I glance at 15, who just shrugs at me. No, this is where you're supposed to-

"So, if Haddy's dating a bunch of dolls…" Sop's face starts to flush. "...does that mean he's going to be having a lot of sex?"

Silence descends on the group.

"Sop, where'd you learn that?" RO asks evenly, though her voice has an edge like she's trying to restrain her anger.

"Oh." She blinks, glances at me, and then sticks her finger in the air like she's teaching someone. "I looked it up on the net."

RO obviously caught Sop's glance my way as she turns back to me, hand on her hip. "Seriously?"

"Hey." I point back at her. "It's not my fault you never told her."

RO pinches the bridge of her nose and 45 bursts out laughing.

"Can we please continue moving?" I ask. "I'm not getting any less tired."

"Ja, that would be for the best." 416 nods.

"You just want to get to somewhere 'private'." 15 grumbles.

"And what if that's the case?"

I start walking, those two squabbling, their positions right behind either shoulder making it sound like an angel and a devil sitting on my shoulders. Not sure which one is which, but-

RO steps up in front of her teammate and turns to me. "Hadwin."

"That's me."

"I was talking to 15 on the helo." She glances back at the bickering dolls, then leans in. "You're dating 15?"

I lower my voice to match hers. "Well… yes." I tug at the Linker around my neck uncomfortably. "Why?"

"Do you want us to take our leave? It's Sop's and my turn to guard you tonight. But we can can leave it to her if you'd like some time alone-"

I swipe my hand to cut her off. "Despite… what Sop said, I'm not going to do anything. In fact, I'd rather we had you in the room as a voice of reason and even Miss Innocent back there to keep these other two in check."

"What about 45?" RO asks and I glance back to look for the evil doll.

Suddenly, I realize it was a bad idea to leave her alone with Sop. She has her left pointer finger out, poking it through a circle made by her right thumb and forefinger.

"45!" RO snaps. "What are you-"

Sop's head is literally steaming, the water in the cold air boiling off of her overheating flesh. Her expression is frozen in a state of shock, but her legs are still moving so she's not completely out for the count.

"Looks like nobody needs to explain sex to Sop anymore." I mutter. "Uh, RO, you might want to go do damage control."

She nods and stops walking.

"Actually-" I stop myself and draw five sets of eyes. "If you're all going to my room, grab anything you need to stay over, and just head straight to my room from there. I'll go grab-"

"Nein." 416 shakes her head. "I'm going to ensure you're protected."

"Same." 15 puts her hand on her hip.

"Okay…" I sigh. "Then, can the respective teammates grab stuff?"

RO nods, and 45 shrugs. "Sounds good to me."

I nod and continue on as 45, RO, and a still sputtering Sop walk towards the doll dorms.

"So…" 15 asks once we're out of hearing range. "Who are we here for?"

I point towards a figure standing stock still exactly where I had left her.

We come up from behind her, and the other two dolls stop about four meters away. I continue around into her line of sight, bright red eyes opening and tracking me as I position myself in front of her.

"Aleah, Good job."

Her frame relaxes slightly, having not moved a millimeter since I had told her not to move. "I assume this means I'm absolved?"

I nod. "I apologize for suspecting you. I… well, you know."

She offers me a small smile. "I do know. Should I also assume the true culprit is caught?"

"Most likely, unless we're in one of 45's twistier fantasies." I offer my hand for a handshake. "We're good?"

She takes my hand and shakes it firmly. "We're good."

"Alright… And, this is awkward, but do you actually have a space in the barracks?"

"Miss Kalina assigned me a bunk, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Looks like five dolls are going to be camping in my room tonight and I wanted to give you the option of joining or leaving as you see fit."

She turns so she can see the two dolls standing behind her. "I see. Well, If I won't be a burden."

"You? Never. With the amount you've already helped me, I don't think it would be fair to consider you a burden."

"Careful." Her smile spreads just a little too wide. "That's the kind of talk that gets a girl to fall for you."

"God, please no." I roll my eyes. "Let's go-"

She grabs my shoulder and whips me around, pulling off my feet and bending me backwards in her arms. Her face gets real close to mine and I can hear 15 and 416 squawk in protest.

She leans in very close-

-Before tapping the index finger of her free hand on my lips. "Boop."

"...Boop?"

She sets me back on my feet. "I'll be joining the party. Let me go get my things."

She takes off before I can regain my senses properly.

"...What the fu-"

"Hadwin, you really need to get better at rejecting the advances of dolls, or you're gonna end up dating half the base." 15 steps up to me.

"There's ever more competition." 416 grouses.

"Okay." I shake myself. "From now on, I need a bodyguard to protect me from T-dolls."

"Good luck with that." 15 snorts.

---

I rub my temples as I watch the clock tick over from late night on the exceptionally long Thursday that started in the hospital monitoring Commander Gentaine and culminated in us capturing the traitor, to a fresh, brand new Friday. One week left until we head out to Kruševac, trying to unseat Paradeus from another city.

One week to be ready to infiltrate a city, with a bunch of dolls, against a shadowy force.

My life is starting to sound like a bad novel, if it hadn't already.

Just as I had expected, I had developed a headache through lack of sleep. I swear I would have passed out an hour ago, but the chattering of happy dolls is kind of loud.

I do have to say, I didn't consider the effect capturing the traitor would have on the dolls. They're significantly more relaxed, no longer constantly on alert. I hadn't even realized the toll their vigilance must have been taking on them.

I nurse my plastic cup of something alcohol based, lost in my thoughts in the middle of a party.

If I didn't notice that, what else might I not be noticing? Looking at 15 who's currently playing a video game with 416… If I can't see what she's thinking, can I really date her in good conscience? What if she's just humoring me, or…

I drink down the rest of my cup. I think she actually likes me, so I'll just have to trust in that for now.

I offer the cup to RO, who obligingly pours more alcohol. So, how about 45? She claims she has a thing for me, and given her behavior, I'm inclined to believe her. She doesn't seem to want it to be public knowledge, though. I guess I'll just respond to her advances in turn. If she decides she doesn't like me dating 15, she can leave. It's not like I'll stop protecting her if I can, but I'll stop… being kissed by her.

After confirming she's still staring down Aleah, both of them grinning like psychopaths, I take another swig of my drink as I realize that I've never actually been able to stop her. Or 416, for that matter. Probably wouldn't have been able to stop Aleah if she had tried to kiss me earlier instead of just 'boop'ing my lips.

I wonder how I could realistically stop dolls from trying to make moves on me. They're all stronger and faster than me, and all of them are capable of giving me a bullet enema if they get irritated by me.

15's right, I need to get better at saying no… and I hope most dolls will accept no as an answer.

"Fuck." I curse into my cup.

RO leans in closer. "Hadwin?"

"15 was right. At this rate, I'm going to be dating half the base."

RO blinks.

In my drunken state, I don't wait for her input to continue talking. "Like, I'm gonna have a hard time telling everyone no. I gotta make sure nobody's gonna shoot me for rejecting them, and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Er… You're not going to get shot." RO tilts her head. "Why would you think that?"

I point to 416 and 15. "Okay, so I'm dating 15, right?"

"...Right."

"416 really hates you guys for whatever reason. If I tell her I'm not going to date her because I'm already taken, then she might not take it well."

"W-well…" RO scratches her chin awkwardly. "I don't think it'll be a problem. Most dolls are fine sharing."

"You're like the fourth or fifth person to tell me that." I grumble.

"Really? Who else?"

"Well… Commander Gentaine, Angelia, and 15. And 45, I think, indirectly. I might be misremembering."

"So… why are you still worried about it?"

"I dunno… just feels weird." I suck more of the alcohol down. "Maybe I just am in disbelief that more than one person could actually like me."

RO smiles sadly. "I'm pretty sure we all like you."

"Yeah, and that's half the fuckin' problem." I drain my cup and flop back, the room spinning as my eyes lose focus. "I don't think I can take care of a whole bunch of girlfriends or wives. One, sure. Just gotta listen and pay attention and not be a piece of shit."

"And you can't do that for more than one?"

I squint my eyes at her to try to focus, but I can't actually get a clear picture of her face. "Well, maybe. But I don't think it's fair to try, especially if I get someone hurt, y'know?"

"I understand." She leans in, grabbing my empty cup. "I think you should get some sleep. You've had quite enough for one night."

I close my eyes and nod. "Yeah, you're probably right. You're always right. So fuckin' dependale and shit." I roll over onto my side. "Sorry to put all that on you."

"No problem, Hadwin." I feel a hand on my shoulder for a few seconds before her weight leaves the bed. "Okay, time for bed." She announces to the room at large.

"Awwww." Sop groans. "But-!"

"We can talk in the morning." RO cuts her sister off. "For now, Hadwin's just about to pass out so we should really let him sleep."

"Sounds good to me." 416's voice is level as always and someone sits on the side of the bed.

Another person sits on the opposite side and I'm tempted to open my eyes, but after much internal deliberation I decide I don't really have the energy to worry about who's crawling into bed with me.

I might regret it in the morning, but I'm too tired and drunk to care right now.

"Goodnight." I mumble, before darkness overtakes me.

---

Author's Note 2: Revenge of the Author's note: And with that, Arc 3 comes to an end. Arc 4 starts with Chapter 25. As of last chapter, #23, I also passed a full year of writing Field Agent.

I swear that at one point this was a one-shot. I had put just enough thought into it that I could maybe have, like, ten chapters of material if I was careful and drew things out. Now, It's looking to be about 40 chapters, assuming each arc remains about eight chapters.

I've been keeping a writing pace of roughly 7.5k words a week, which at my slow ass writing pace, is about ten hours a week on average of writing. I also did some research (Though, most of it is offloaded onto my beta now, thanks bro) and had to plot all of Ricardo's devious plans behind the scenes without giving his identity away along the way.

At this point, this is the single largest project I've ever worked on. It's certainly been a journey.

Thank you all for reading this far. I'm eternally grateful I have an audience that actually likes the work I make.

Here's to two more arcs!