Chapter 27 – A Growing Collection

USP stood patiently behind the blue line about twenty feet from the hospital doors. The hospital staff kept their eyes and guns trained on the little doll while they waited for the word to let her in. She slowly fixed her hair and adjusted her hat. One of the guards waved her over and they let her pass. They were not happy, to say the least. USP walked through the scanner, which beeped and turned red as she passed, and kept walking up to the front desk. She stood on her toes to see over the desk. "I am here at the request of Commander Zachary Bryant."

The receptionist just nodded. "Yes. He's down the hall." USP thanked them coldly. The receptionist made a disgusted grunt as she walked off. She ignored him, just like she ignored the glares she got as she walked towards Bryant's room. She rounded the corner and stood in the doorway of his room. One of the nurses was helping him get his jacket on. His face was pale, but he looked much stronger than he had last time. Occasionally his face would light up in pain as he moved the wrong way. The nurse looked at USP and paused.

Bryant, thankfully, broke the silence. "Ah, you're here." He thanked the nurse and slowly stood up. He stumbled forward, caught himself, then put his hand to his side. He muttered a low curse and took another step. This time, he was steady. "I'm ready. Could you get my bag, USP?" The doll lifted his things and followed a half-step behind him. The stares and off-color comments seemed to double as Bryant exited the hospital in his brilliant red jacket. USP didn't care, really. Until Bryant gave her the order to, she couldn't do anything anyway.

The two of them walked the empty streets towards the waiting helicopter. Bryant's empty sleeve flapped somberly with each step. "Ursula told me about your adventures." He said with a slight grin. "I'm glad that issue with your neural cloud has been taken care of. Still annoys me that we," he stopped and put his hand out to a nearby wall. He hissed in pain. "Still annoys me that we didn't' find out what caused it."

USP opened her mouth to say something. She stopped, mid-sentence and turned abruptly. "An SOS signal. Not Griffin or…." She muttered. Bryant raised an eyebrow, but let her lead. She started walking off the main street, deeper into the twisting side streets. Bryant followed close behind, keeping his hand close to his weapon. The two of them attracted many gazes. Several doors and windows were locked as they passed. Every noise and movement brought a surge of adrenaline. USP stopped in front of a narrow alley.

Dozens of dolls had been broken up and tossed into the darkest corners of the city. The expensive or important parts had been taken, likely sold as scrap or repurposed. The end result was the same: a mass grave for machines. Bryant and USP stood by for a moment. There was a glint of purple. USP reached for her gun and began shooting. Before Bryant had a chance to seek cover, the engagement had ended. "No more Sangvis signals detected."

"Good shooting. But why didn't we spot them sooner?"

"Perhaps the building blocked their signal? Or, maybe they were trying to hide?"

Bryant shook his head and examined the broken dolls. "No, something doesn't seem right. SF doesn't mangle and destroy other dolls: they disable it or convert into one of them." He thought for a moment. "USP, take their cores. I want to take a look at base." The doll got to work breaking them open and extracting the core. Bryant exited the alley and kept watch.

The gunshots had attracted little attention. A few people peeked out of their houses as the local police arrived. Bryant explained everything and showed some identification. They showed some obvious distain, but let him off with a warning. Bryant thanked them and waited for USP to finish. As the crowd dispersed, Bryant felt a gaze focus on him. It latched onto him and bored straight through him. Observing him, but also judging him.

The gaze belonged to a doll. She stood in the middle of the street, unmoving. Several pieces didn't belong. Whether they had been scavenged or built was unknown, but they were on rather prominent display. This doll either didn't fear the scavengers and android-haters here in the city, or she was challenging them. Her hair was tangled in knots, her hands and feet were a mess of wires and strips of cloth, and her flesh had become a sickly grey from dirt and dust. Even through the wear and tear, Bryant recognized the design. If she had been produced as a T-Doll, she would be a USP model doll. The A-Doll watched as her T-Doll counterpart emerged from the alley.

The two dolls locked eyes, the confusion spreading through both of their faces. USP seemed concerned to see her doppelganger. The A-Doll remained unflinching and unblinking. "Um…Commander? Where did this doll…?" USP asked quietly. The A-Doll tilted her head. Her exposed eye flickered slightly as it adjusted.

"C…omman…der?" The A-Doll's voice was distorted. Strained.

"Do you have the cores, USP?"

"Y-yes, commander."

"Good. We're leaving then." The two turned to leave, but not before USP took another look at the A-Doll. The Doll kept her distance, but followed. Every couple of feet, the two would look over their shoulders, and the Doll would pause until two started moving again, like a lost puppy or starving animal. The A-Doll was quiet and patiently followed them.

The helicopter was in sight now. Bryant stopped and turned around for the last time. The A-Doll stopped and watched. Bryant sighed. "USP…deal with it." His words were like ice, void of feeling. USP looked to him again. He nodded slowly. USP put her bag down and approached the A-Doll.

"Please leave immediately."

"No."

"'N-no'?! You cannot refuse."

"I am only instructed to listen to humans." The A-Doll looked to Bryant. USP snapped to get the attention back to her.

"I've been given Command Authority by a human."

"I am…not a soldier." The A-Doll said, getting closer. "…I failed the test." The doll looked straight at USP. "I was thrown out. I hate it here. Let me try again. Take me as scrap. Use me for target practice. Just…" USP turned to Bryant.

"Commander…I don't…"

Bryant sighed in defeat. "We can't just adopt any stray we find. We don't have enough room on base." USP and the A-Doll looked at him. He could feel sadness from both of them. "Plus, she already failed the test. We can't assign her to T-Doll work without an etching." USP and the A-Doll exchanged a glance. USP looked back to Bryant while the A-Doll looked at the ground. Bryant sighed and turned to the helicopter.

"Alright, fine." Bryant said.

"Wait, really?!"

"Yeah, yeah, y'all suck." He muttered. "Guilt tripping an injured old man." Bryant stormed off to the helicopter. "USP, I'll be counting on you to keep up the good work," Bryant held out his good hand towards the A-Doll, "and you, little A-Doll, had better pass the test this time. Otherwise, I'll be pissed."