The two birds nesting in Kar98k's window tweeted to each other as they jumped around the rim of their nest, careful not to disturb the newly laid eggs in their home. Here, in this potted plant, in what looked to be a human home, is where these birds chose to begin their family. The symbolism and meaning was lost on them; they were just happy to have a place they could shake off the autumn chill. Central air was also a concept lost to them, but they certainly understood its effects. More important than warmth, was the many gifts that the dolls provided to them. Food was in abundance here, as was the protection provided by their presence. Many large predators knew to stay away from any domiciles that looked like they could house humans, while the loud noises and activity were more than enough to reinforce this. The silver haired owner of the room the birds lived in was even kind enough to chase away any cats that tried to hunt here, while the blonde one would occasionally come to sing alongside them. Here, amongst creatures whose existence the birds did not understand, did they find a place to thrive.

Today, Kar98k was relaxing at her desk while one of the echelons was out on a simple logistics mission. Her personal attention wasn't required, leaving MP40 to lead the team without oversight. Kar98k was preparing herself some tea before reading reports from the other commanders and their operations. She had acquired a fancy custom blend from Pierre's cafeteria, which meant she had to use a small tea infuser rather than just dipping a tea bag into hot water. While she didn't care for how pretentious it made her feel to track down a tool few people in this modern era used anymore, she had to admit that the custom blend was exceptionally good. While that French chef may have a funny limp from the war, Kar98k couldn't deny his exceptional culinary skills. Leaning back in her chair, she decided to relish the sound of birds chirping as she spun her chair around to look outside the window. This was a pleasant moment, something to savor and enjoy. She smiled as she saved this memory to her neural cloud to look back on.

A knock at her door let her know that she was no longer alone in this world, and she sighed as she returned to her desk. Pushing a button to let them in, Kar98k put her tea down on the desk with care not to spill it. Fredrick walked in, tablet in hand to show her something. The birds nesting in the room chirped angrily, not happy to see a real human. "Hey Commander," he walked in, ignoring the once tranquil moment as he pulled something up on the tablet, "I found some weird data I wanted to show you."

Kar98k raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't send this to me electronically?"

Fredrick scoffed. "I figured it would be better to do it in person." He placed the tablet in front of her to show the relevant data and information as he explained the situation. When he was tasked with restoring StG44 to a new body, her core had received extensive damage from the explosion that killed her. While MP41 was able to retrieve her neural cloud before it completely fried, parts of it had been heavily damaged and lost forever. What followed was an extensive procedure where Fredrick then had to splice much of the missing information from StG44's backup data into the damaged neural cloud. With MP41's help, they were able to restore a good portion of her memory from the most recent operation as well. However, during the process he couldn't help but notice several irregularities in her neural cloud backup that he made a mental note to check up on.

"What kind of irregularities?" Kar98k asked.

"That's the weird thing," Fredrick explained, "it's nothing malicious that will inhibit her or her abilities, I think. It's more like data that seems like it's a copy of a copy."

"What does that mean?"

"Hell if I know, probably just some higher up taking data remotely." Fredrick shrugged. "Still, I cross referenced the data from her backup with the information I have from her neural cloud and I think it may have caused her to develop in an unintended way."

Kar98k sighed. "So you're saying she fell in love with Kurtis because her neural cloud is bugged?"

"Probably, but it's different than that. Her neural cloud understood that she needed to be close to him and form a bond with him in order to complete her mission. The attachment to him came from a sort of splicing of her mission parameters with a similar imprinting they used to make you guys love your guns."

"Are you saying this splicing happened because of her glitched neural cloud problem?"

"Well, I figured we just accidentally stumbled upon a doll learning human emotions, until I checked everyone else's backups." Fredrick pulled up data on the rest of the echelon and their neural cloud back ups. "Everyone that has a backup stored in our system has been bugged in some sort of way."

Kar98k stared in awe at the data before her. "What's causing this and can we fix it?"

Fredrick took his tablet back. "I told you, it seems like someone is taking the backup data, copying it, and giving us those in return."

"I'll get in touch with high command and find out what they can do to investigate."

"And I'll get in touch with the people at IOP and see if they have anything they can do. Maybe the crazy cat lady at 16Labs can fix this for us if she's not too busy doing mad scientist shit."

They were promptly interrupted by an urgent buzzing noise from Kar98k's computer. MP41 was apparently summoning her to the cafeteria for an emergency brawl between StG44 and G43. Kar98k sighed as she dismissed Fredrick to deal with this new issue. She could feel rage building within her core as she stormed over to the cafeteria to break up the fight. Bursting through the doors, the two girls were still rolling on the ground, trading blows with each other. Apparently, they had just started to get physical after she was called down. Pushing past the gathered crowd of dolls, she grabbed StG44 and yanked her off of G43, who seemed to mostly be defending herself. She practically threw the doll into a chair while C96 came to help up G43. "What in the name of hell are you two doing on the floor!" She yelled, making sure everyone heard her anger.

Quickly, G43 and StG44 began desperately defending themselves, throwing petty accusations back and forth. Having none of it, Kar98k ignored them and looked to MP41 to explain the situation. Smiling at the great trust placed upon her, the little hacker doll explained that G43 had slipped on the floor while StG44 was mopping, spilling her tray of food all over the freshly cleaned area while getting some of it on StG44 as well. What followed was a shouting match between the two of them, prompting G43 to say something about what she had heard happened during the last mission. This threw StG44 into a frenzy, and they began fighting. "It also doesn't help that StG44 has been consistently drinking ever since full functionality has been restored." MP41 explained. "Want to see the pictures of her sneaking into town to buy beer that Pierre can't track?"

"No thank you." Kar98k said, turning her attention to StG44. "You, come with me."

StG44 bowed her head in shame and stood, slightly wobbly as she tried to stand still. Kar98k grabbed the doll by the collar of her dress uniform, stretching and wrinkling the well maintained fabric, and pulled her like a misbehaved puppy to the maintenance bay. StG44 didn't put up a fight, accepting her punishment for her mistake. It was good to see she had remorse, but she also knew better than to let this kind of thing happen in the first place. While she was here, Kar98k was hoping that Fredrick could possibly attribute this behavior to the newfound quirks in her neural cloud. Pushing open the doors to maintenance, Fredrick was already prepared for whatever mess Kar98k was going to bring him. Still, he gave StG44 a surprised look. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph," he exclaimed, "you look like shit, Princess."

"Someone here has been sneaking out to get drunk," Kar98k continued, still holding the doll by the collar, "I'd like you to purge her system for me so she can be sober for what I have to say to her."

Fredrick clapped his hands and exhaled, not excited to commence a system purge on the neatest doll living in base. "Alright Princess, you know how messy this can be. Let's get you in a gown and-"

"Oh no," Kar98k interrupted him, "she wants to go behind my back and screw around, then I want her to know her actions have consequences."

Both Fredrick and StG44 gave her nervous glances. Fredrick sighed and pulled out his work tablet. "I'm going to need you to get on the workbench and lock yourself down to level II consciousness then. I'll try to be quick about it."

It wasn't long before she was unconscious on the work table while Fredrick prepared her for the operation. He tried to be respectful in moving her uniform out of the way for his operation, carefully pushing any fabric out of the way while making sure he didn't rip or tear any of it. Kar98k stood, arms crossed and foot tapping, as he opened her lower torso to reach the processing unit that served as an artificial stomach. Just about every doll had one for the purpose of "consuming" food to maintain both an appearance of normalcy while also allowing for the food to be used as an emergency power source. Alcohol has an interesting effect, as the method of breaking down food and drink creates a potent burst of energy from liquors and booze. This energy burst can come as a shock to a doll's neural cloud, creating an effect similar to inebriation. For some dolls this effect can be a major boon, allowing them to deal with the quirks that are naturally inherent in dolls. For most, like StG44, it was more of a detriment to their ability to operate. Usually, this was solved by opening up the processing unit and pumping out the alcohol before the doll hurts themselves or others. Upon reactivation, the doll would undergo a quick system purge as the processor resets itself. This purge was similar to a human vomiting from a hangover and usually resulted in other similar consequences as well. While there were many advancements that dolls still needed to undergo to be human, at least one can take solace in knowing they can easily share in the punishments of enjoying human vices.

Finishing the pumping process, Fredrick grabbed a bottle of water and emptied it into the system before closing it up. "Having something to purge can be messier, but makes the process a lot faster and easier to deal with besides dry heaving for an hour." He explained, grabbing another water bottle for himself to drink. "While I'm sure you're pissed off at her, I don't want to listen to her retching."

"This isn't like her at all."

"Well no shit." Fredrick drank his water and put it on the table next to StG44's unconscious body. "The poor girl fell in love and had her heart broken for the first time. Considering how many guns and explosives she has access to, you should be happy she's only been drinking."

Kar98k had to admit, he had a point. "Then what do you suggest we do about this? I can't exactly have her behaving like this."

"You girls are children in the bodies of adults, who were told to be soldiers." Fredrick sighed. "When I wake her up, let me talk to her first."

Kar98k sighed and nodded her head. If there was one person that understood the more human behaviors and emotions, it would be one of the on base humans. Fredrick reassembled StG44, careful not to leave any last marks of his work on her as he put her stomach region back together. I

He left her clothes out of the way, knowing she was better off once the heaving started. He sat her up and placed an empty trash can within her reach. Grabbing his tablet, he began the process of waking her back up. Typically this was done left an open door on her level II consciousness, allowing her to come back of her own volition. Her body quickly ran a quick diagnostic to make sure it was operable, then she opened her eyes and returned to the world. Then, her pupils widened as her body began the purging process.

Fredrick looked away as StG44 retched into the trash can, her body forcing the water in her stomach to forcibly vacate from her system. As a show of kindness, he pat her back as she threw up, trying to show some camaraderie to her in this rough time. "Let it all out kiddo." He cooed, keeping his tone softer than usual.

This went on for about ten minutes, a process that usually takes excruciating hours depending on the processor and how prepared a doll was for the purge. Kar98k stood and watched the spectacle, her own stomach turning at the sight. At the end of which, StG44 was handed a towel to clean herself up before she redressed. While she buttoned her shirt, Fredrick reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gold ring from his pocket and handed it to StG44. "Do you know what this is?" He asked, keeping his softer tone of voice.

"A wedding band." StG44 muttered, running her fingers over the golden circle as she silently read an inscription on the inside.

"Do you know where the other one is?" He asked again, a slight tonal shift in his voice. It was barely perceptible, but it was there. StG44 shook her head. Nobody knew, a marriage wasn't even listed on his file. "If we're lucky, it's fused to the hand of a corpse somewhere in the Norwegian black zone from the Northern Lights contamination."

The following silence was so palpable someone could cut it with a knife. Fredrick stared deep into StG44's eyes, deep enough he could probably physically manifest himself in a neural cloud by force of will alone. "We were married for almost a year, just two long time sweethearts barely out of school. She was on vacation with her family in Norway when it all went down."

"I'm so sorry." StG44 muttered, unable to find words.

"She loved kids, wanted to be a teacher." He went on, taking the ring back. "Personally I hate the little bastards, but robots and machines are my specialty. Dolls like you just so happen to be our common ground. All the personality of children with the usefulness of a machine. She would have loved you guys."

"Not to be rude, but are you telling me this?"

"Because you also had someone you care about taken away from you." Fredrick tried to explain slowly. He didn't want her to lose or misinterpret anything he had to say. "However, you can still try to reach out to him, to say something or speak to him. I read the reports and poked around your neural cloud memories, you guys still care for each other."

Kar98k spoke up, trying to help Fredrick's point. "I could see about getting you in contact with him, maybe even an opportunity to talk things out now."

StG44 looked at the ring Fredrick was holding before he slipped it back into his pocket. She thought for a few minutes, weighing her options. She was obviously torn between moving on with her duty and following her emotions. Ultimately, she made a decision. "Maybe it's for the best that I don't," she settled, "especially if feelings like this are just going to get me into trouble."

"I understand," Kar98k nodded her head, trying to emphasize with StG44, "the offer still stands if you ever change your mind."

Fredrick gave a sigh of relief and went back to usual duty of sitting at his desk reading comics and listening to old music. "Alright Princess, put your clothes on and get out then." He kicked his feet up as he settled in.

"Thank you?" She said, bowing her head at him.

"Head to my office," Kar98k ordered, a stern tone returning to her voice, "we still need to talk."

StG44 realigned her uniform and left without a word, waiting for her eventually ass chewing from the Commandant. As Kar98k watched her leave she turned to Fredrick and asked "how much of that was true?"

"I would never lie about that kind of thing." He never looked up from his comics. "She needed to hear she wasn't the only one that misses someone, all kids do."

Kar98k was starting to understand why he cared so much about taking care of them and keeping them safe. In a strange way, he was sort of like a teacher or caretaker for them, making sure they felt like more than machines with guns. Data reports even showed that maintenance with Fredrick had a slight morale boost, most likely due to having an engineer that treats them like people rather than objects. "I appreciate what you do for us." She thanked him.

"I'm just doing my job, Commander."

"One of these days I'd like to hear more about her." Kar98k offered.

Fredrick looked up at her, an incredulous look on his face. "Sorry ma'am, professional setting and all."

"What about an unprofessional setting?"

"You're not my type, I don't go for dolls." Fredrick smiled and laughed to himself.

Kar98k picked up a small socket for a wrench and tossed it to him, bouncing it off his shoulder. "I didn't mean like that, jackass."

Fredrick kept laughing. "These days most people have some kind of sad story about someone they lost," he explained, "I'd have rather kept mine to myself and just enjoy the life I still have."

"You call working for a bunch of bugged out dolls enjoying life?"

"She wanted to be a teacher." He said, returning to his comic and ignoring any further conversation.

Kar98k waited for a moment, processing his statement before it clicked. With a small laugh, she left him alone to his comics and music, knowing what his true passions and love were. She was going to have to make a note to the other girls to be a bit more respectful during their post mission inspections, maybe make her life a little better. For right now, however, she had to exchange a few choice words with StG44 about sneaking out of the base and making the company look bad. The military and civilians already had a hard time accepting G&K and their dolls, they didn't help to exacerbate those feelings. If anyone should care about personal appearances, it should be her. However, she made a point to go easy on the girl, knowing it probably wasn't her fault. Whatever the backup glitches were, Kar98k was not excited to find out what was causing them.