Chapter 35 – Promise [part 1]

(Authors Note: Trigger Warning, Attempted Suicide)

"If you run the wire through here, the whole system will be powered. Easy and done."

"Yes, but then we'd lose too much integrity. It could fail; leaving the doll frozen or lighting her on fire."

"Da, I agree. I may be old, but I'm not ready to go just yet."

"You can just repair the dolls, right?"

"Not the point." Yulia sat by Bryant and waited for his order. UMP 45 leaned over his shoulder to watch the two of them work. M1895 stood over his other shoulder. They were trying to solve the heating issue that had been brought to their attention. While dolls could operate in nearly any environment, the extreme cold and heat could cause problems. More advanced dolls like 45 already had sufficient upgrades, but most dolls couldn't operate effectively in the extremes. Granted, if some of them had made better clothing choices, it wouldn't be a problem.

The group of them bickered among themselves and tried out different methods. They had only lost two dummies so far. Bryant held up his hand and made a motion to Yulia. They pulled the entire rig off the dummy and worked directly with the generator and core. This proved to be the key, and they made progress.

Everyone took a step back to look at their work. The dummy was operational. Sure, it was hideous looking without its skin, but it worked. Bryant took a moment to appreciate the work he had done in such a short time. He motioned to Yulia for his tablet. "Get me…" he thought for a moment and scrolled through the roster of dolls, "M1895…DP-28…SKS…OTs-12… and, how about…" he rubbed his chin. "No, that's good for now." As soon as he finished, a doll came sprinting around the corner.

"Commander! I heard that there was an operation going on!" The doll never stopped going full speed. She crashed into Yulia and gently tugged on Bryant's empty sleeve. "You gotta let me come along!" MT-9 flashed a bright smile.

"No, sorry. My team is full."

"Aw, c'mon! I've improved lately."

"Indeed, you have. However, we will be running logistics. You'll be doing a lot of sitting. Your skills aren't suited for defense operations."

"Okay, I can do that! I'm an ace on logistics."

"This is a mountain expedition. It's going to be cold."

"I can operate in any climate, guaranteed!" Bryant gave her a skeptical glare. She gave a bright smile and slightly tugged on his sleeve. He rolled his eyes and crossed DP-28 off his list and added her to his list. MT-9 chuckled happily. "You won't be disappointed. I'll go get ready now." She gave a salute as she exited the room. 45 chuckled.

"So, this is how the rumored Bryant works? Interesting." He returned a grin.

"Stick around; things'll get more interesting." He stretched. "Alright, I need to get these plans to the techs. Everyone, get ready for the mission."

Bryant found his chosen dolls sitting around a table with several bottles of liquor and a loaded revolver. "What's, uh…goin on here?"

"Ah, Commander! We were just going to play a game Babushka taught us." M1895 smiled and held up a bottle.

"Care to join us, Commander?"

"I'll pass. Thanks. "

"Your loss." M1895 said as she spun the revolver around the table. "I miss this. I feel a sense of nostalgia for home…" She trailed off. The other dolls sat quietly as the gun continued spinning. "Is this really it, Commander?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," SKS took a shot, "We've heard rumors…We're worried that we'll get redeployed after the AR Team mission is finished."

"Don't worry about that." Bryant said, taking his seat between two dolls. "Griffin doesn't throw out hard workers." The gun started to slow.

"What about you, Commander? Didn't you…" Bryant nodded slightly.

"There's no excuse for the past." The gun started to slow. "But it's different now." The gun pointed at him. The dolls looked up quietly as Bryant took the gun. The room felt like it closed in on the table. The dolls looked more nervous than he did. He took the gun from the table and rest it on his temple in one fluid, practiced motion. There was an audible gasp. The dolls jumped up to grab the gun from him. He pulled the trigger. There was a loud snap as the hammer came down. Everyone froze. Bryant put the gun back down on the table. He slowly got up.

"I have nothing left to lose. You all at Griffin are all I have now. The only way I'll be leaving is in a body bag. That is a promise." He walked away from the table, having soured the mood even further. The dolls looked at each other while M1895 retrieved her weapon.

"I don't…want to play this game anymore." They all nodded in solemn agreement.