...
...
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"...Wake up, Commander, you're screaming again."
...
...
"Commander-"
"-failure won't be forgiven!"
"!" Zeldri quickly brought up his forearm crutch to deflect Jericho's strike. Their crutches clashed and Jericho held the pressure to start pushing Zeldri back.
"I've got two chocolate bars on Jericho," MDR chuckled as she watched from the sideline while glancing at her phone.
"I'll raise you three on the Commander," AA-12 lazily replied from her seat. Currently, they were in one of the warehouses that occupied sub-level three of the Mountain which had been turned into a make-shift gym. Jericho, MDR, and AA-12 were the only dolls since only humans needed to use a gym. There were only a handful of people around during this otherwise lazy Wednesday which suited Zeldri as he underwent his training with Jericho on using his forearm crutch as a weapon for close-quarter combat.
"Geh!" Zeldri's leg was pounding with pain and his workout clothes were drenched in sweat as Jericho hadn't given him a moment's rest since they started.
"Compensate!" Jericho chastised. She broke off the clash and launched a flurry of strikes against Zeldri's chest. While some might think Jericho was being overly cruel, this was actually what Zeldri wanted from her. He needed to know everything he could and couldn't do with his bad leg and the best way to do that was by pushing himself to the limit. Fighting a t-doll also doubled as an excellent workout routine which allowed Zeldri to keep his strength and stamina from his days as a soldier. "If all you do is defend, then you're nothing more than a man waiting to die!"
"I know!" Zeldri deflected a blow and drew his Makarov.
"!" Jericho drew her own gun while moving to evade Zeldri's first shot. This was also one of Zeldri's requirements for their training; using their guns. While Jericho had, through much effort, convinced Zeldri to have them both use blanks it didn't completely eliminate the possibility of a deadly accident. Despite advancements made to blank rounds to be even safer than before for the entertainment industry, being at such close distance too rapidly expanding gases could still be lethal. Not for a t-doll, obviously, but Jericho still had to check herself as her opponent was a human. She also needed to act like Zeldri's gun had live rounds in it to make for a more realistic fight.
"Oooh~, the fun part!" MDR had a big smile on her face as she recorded the fight with her phone. Jericho and Zeldri continued to trade blows and take pot shots at each other to throw the other off balance.
"Is this your everything?" Jericho went for a finishing strike and batted Zeldri's Makarov out of his hand. But, that was what Zeldri was waiting for and intentionally released the pistol so his hand was free to grab Jericho's crutch. "Eh!?" Zeldri yanked her towards him, let go of her crutch, and wrapped his left arm around her right arm. Jericho quickly went to bring up her gun to Zeldri for a finishing shot but stopped as she soon found the world spinning as Zeldri used his own forearm crutch to weave between her legs and lifted her up into the air.
"!" A sharp pain erupted from Zeldri's leg as he supported the weight of a t-doll over his head. Quickly adjusting with his good leg, he spun and slammed Jericho onto the floor. Zeldri went down with her with his good knee coming up to land on her back and pin her. He grabbed his Makarov which he made sure would land next to him and placed the gun to Jericho's head.
"...Well done, Commander," Jericho said with a smile as she looked up at him over her shoulder.
"Don't underestimate me...just because I'm a human." Now that the fight was over, Zeldri could start controlling his breathing. His lungs were on fire as they were desperate for air while his heart did its best to keep up with his body's demands. On shaky legs, Zeldri stood up, holstered his pistol, and offered a hand to Jericho.
"I'll make a note for future sessions." Jericho accepted Zeldri's hand and got to her feet. "Though, that definitely caught me off guard. I didn't know you could lift me." Dolls were significantly heavier than humans despite their size. Zeldri also had the strength to keep Jericho in a hold despite dolls being physically stronger than the average human.
"Looks like I still got it despite my leg," Zeldri proudly stated as he shook his arms to loosen up the muscles.
"To think you can still do that with your bad leg," Jericho mused, "Were you always like this, Commander?"
"No," Zeldri admitted, "It wasn't until around when I was in secondary school when I started training for the military."
"And, your durability?" Jericho always did a basic examination on Zeldri when they finished a spar to check for any serious injuries since she didn't hold back with her crutch. However, despite her onslaught of attacks Zeldri would barely have a bruise on him. Today was no different as she lifted his red Griffin & Kryuger sleeveless shirt to find his body had no visible injuries.
"About the same time," Zeldri said as he haphazardly brushed Jericho's hand off his shirt, "I got really sick one winter to the point I was bedridden for a whole week. After I got better was when my dad helped me put effort into building up my body." He flexed the fingers of his right hand which had gone rigid from clutching his crutch so hard. "Never had anything worse than a small cut or light bruise since; aside from my leg."
"Well, I'm glad you're in such good condition and have reliable luck, Commander," Jericho said with a nod of approval. "Especially since you seem to enjoy putting yourself into dangerous situations that end with explosions."
"...Haha," Zeldri sarcastically laughed at Jericho's terrible attempt at a joke. Though, as he thought about it, he realized he did have great luck considering he'd been through not one, but two situations where he was practically next to artillery strikes, and all he got was an injured leg. Maybe he should start gambling?
"FUCK!" MDR bitterly yelled which caught the attention of Jerich and Zeldri. She tossed three chocolate bars at AA-12 who caught them mid-air and put them in her coat pockets. "Jericho usually wins these!"
"That's because the Commander's improving," Jericho remarked as she holstered her gun and glared over at MDR, "Something you could learn from considering your training score's stagnated recently."
"Go easy on her, Jericho," Zeldri walked over to the sidelines and accepted the water bottle AA-12 offered him. "She's been busy looking into some things for me."
"Yeah!" MDR said as she scrolled through her phone. "Speaking of, Commander, I wanted to report to you about that."
"...Alright, let's hear it."
"Ahem!" MDR cleared her throat as she brought up the note she made for herself on her phone. "GAVIRUL-"
"Why'd you yell it!?" AA-12 cut MDR off and plugged her ears in annoyance.
"Because everything I found has it written in all caps," MDR remarked.
"MDR..." Zeldri gave an annoyed sigh.
"Fine, fine," MDR relented. "The word 'Gavirul' is actually the name of a specimen from the relic precursors found by the Chinese at Beilan Island."
"...!" Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation. Zeldri rubbed his chin in contemplation as he continued to listen.
"Gavirul is the only known specimen humanity's ever found of the precursors. Since they invented Collapse tech, many thought that they could use Gavirul to activate other relic sites. They thought Collapse tech might respond to Gavirul's DNA, so its body was picked for all it was worth with samples ending up all over the world. But, as you can probably tell by the lack of advanced Collapse tech, it didn't work."
"...And?"
"And, that's it," MDR proudly declared.
"That's it!?" Zeldri asked dumbfounded.
"Hey! Do you know how many people I had to dox just to get this much?!" MDR retaliated. "There's, like, nothing out there on this thing. Even finding anything on the precursors is hard since most info out there is just talking about Collapse bombs, and stuff. There were some leads I dropped, though, since they led me to some really sketchy places I didn't want to poke around. The name 'Black Lily and White Rose' came up as a project relating to Gavirul, but I never found any details about it other than the name. For all intents and purposes, this is it."
"Damn," Zeldri silently cursed as he took another swig of water. Now he knew what the vial was for which meant the Mountain was originally a place that held a Gavirul sample which then meant the Heart was actually a deterrent to protect the sample; or a failsafe to destroy it. But, that didn't explain why the vial was now empty. Also, since it was empty, then did the FSB really just want an off-the-record nuke, now? If so, why would they leave the cargo container with the empty vial? Zeldri's brain was starting to hurt from thinking so much about this. And, now that he was thinking about it, did the black-cloaked woman have anything to do with this? He normally paid her presence no mind unless she was physically there with him, but since his mind was trying to connect every dot then he had to think about her. She usually showed up when something had to do with the Heart, and she also showed up when he found the empty vial. Now, his brain and the back of his head started to hurt.
"..." Without Zeldri realizing, a tense air came over the dolls around him. The other staff who were working out also stopped and looked over at Zeldri. Everything froze and all sound stopped. MDR's eyes slightly narrowed as she blankly stared at Zeldri, and her right hand let go of her phone and reached for her rifle. But, a hand motion from AA-12 stopped her.
"Commander?" AA-12 got up from her seat and walked over to Zeldri.
"Not no-"
"Commander." Her voice left no room for argument causing Zeldri to turn and face her. Something about her eyes- "Stop."
"...What?" Seeing AA-12 actually being assertive made Zeldri lose his train of thought.
"You're thinking too hard about annoying things, again," she said and popped a sucker in her mouth. "It won't solve anything, so leave it be."
"..." Perhaps AA-12 had a point? He was too distracted by too many things to try and focus. All he was doing was wasting energy when he needed to conserve and focus. "Alright." He set aside his thoughts about Gavirul to come back with a fresh mind. There was no need to focus on it. He should think about something else.
"Good," AA-12 lazily stated. MDR's hand moved away from her rifle and returned to her phone. The staff returned to working out. And, the world continued. "You have a ping from Mrs. Helian." She handed him his commander's tablet.
"So I do." Zeldri saw the request and quickly finished his water. "I'll see you, girls, later."
"Of course, Commander," Jericho said with a bow.
"Laterz." MDR gave a wave as she stared at her phone.
"Mmm," AA-12 grunted as she watched Zeldri leave. Her eyes lingered on him as he left. A tear rolled down AA-12's cheek that she quickly wiped away.
"...Why are you dressed like that, Commander Zeldri?" Helian's image was displayed on a large monitor in one of the briefing rooms of sub-level one. She had a raised eyebrow as she looked at the sweat-covered Zeldri in a sleeveless shirt.
"You caught me in the middle of some training," Zeldri answered a finished the water in his bottle.
"Proper attire is required for our employees when conducting business, Commander." Helian was in complete 'business' mode right now and her unamused tone proved it.
"..." Zeldri took a quick glance at the background behind Helian. It looked like she was in her office and was by herself. Zeldri was also alone in the briefing room. A sly smile crossed his lips as the dopamine from working out was still flowing through him so he playfully replied, "I mean, the last time we saw each other you didn't have sleeves, so I thought it'd only be fair."
"...!" A light blush crossed Helian's cheeks and she quickly looked around to make sure she was alone. "...You..." She tried to sound angry and glared at him over the video call, but the slight tremble of embarrassment in her voice only made Zeldri think she sounded cute.
"Our dress code aside," Zeldri had gotten what he wanted so moved the subject along, "Your request said you had something urgent for me?"
"...Yes." Helian dropped Zeldri's clothes and earlier remark. She cleared her throat to refocus herself, but her cheeks were still slightly red. "Recently, one of our field commanders has acquired some intel about an unknown Sangvis Ferri plan codenamed 'Parapluie'." Her eyes looked at another monitor off-screen as she looked over the findings. "While we don't know what Parapluie is, it will undoubtedly pose a threat to Griffin as this data was only acquired after dealing with multiple Sangvis Ferri Ringleaders."
"Multiple!?" Zeldri's eyes widened in surprise. He'd had difficulty dealing with just one Ringleader, and he only managed to make Scarecrow retreat with the Mountain and the Heart. Yet, there was a commander out there that could deal with multiple Ringleaders?
"Yes, the commander in Sector 09 had to fight multiple Ringleaders to extract Persica's AR Team; an elite team of t-dolls that was tasked with intelligence gathering operations."
"...Huh." Being a man of action, Zeldri was curious about this commander who could best multiple Ringleaders. He remembered Helian talking about them when he was in the city, but not much other than their sector and that they were new. Zeldri really wanted to meet and talk with them.
"Which is why Mr. Kryuger has decided to call an emergency meeting at one of our secret bases near Sector 09 to discuss countermeasures with several of our field commanders." She tapped at her keyboard and a file overlaid itself on Zeldri's screen. It was a list of commanders that had been invited to the meeting. Zeldri took a quick glance at a few of the names of the invitees; Sara, Yuri, Alexander, Nikolay, Melvin, etc. "The meeting will take place this coming week. Since your base is located in the Urals, I contacted you separately so you could make it in time."
"I see, thank you for the advance invite." Coordinates to the secret base were also sent and Zeldri started planning a route in his head. He didn't want to use the train since so many people were going, so he decided to use one of the Black Hawks they had. "Is there anything, in particular, I should bring to this meeting?"
"Yes," Helian refocused back to Zeldri, "Oftentimes when our field commanders meet, they like to perform joint drills with each other. So, bringing along one of your echelons would be appropriate. Officially, it's to test the current efficiency of our t-dolls to update HQ's database."
"And, unofficially?"
"..." Helian gave a slightly disgruntled sigh and she looked rather annoyed. "Unofficially, many commanders use it to show off their skills, or high star t-dolls. In either case, it would be a good opportunity for you to meet some of your fellow commanders since you're so isolated."
"High star..." Zeldri echoed Helian's words, and a thought crossed his mind. "Mrs. Helianthus?"
"Yes, Commander Zeldri?"
"Could I get a brief dossier on the commanders?" Zeldri had an idea. "As you said, I'm quite isolated out here which means I know next to nothing about the other commanders. Having even basic information on them would help me interact with them on good terms."
"Hmm," Helian tapped her fingers against her keyboard as she thought about it. "I don't see the harm in it. I'll have them sent to you by tomorrow."
"Thank you, again, Mrs. Helianthus."
"..." Helian's eyes narrowed and she seemed annoyed about something as she stared at Zeldri.
"...Is something wrong?" Zeldri didn't think he did anything wrong, yet.
"Helian," her voice was quiet as if she was trying to hide what she said from any potential listeners.
"...What?" Zeldri raised an eyebrow as Helian looked around her office, once again, to make sure it was empty.
"I told you, last time, to call me Helian," she did her best to keep her professional tone, but there was a slight sheepishness that bled into her voice.
"...!" Zeldri was caught off guard at Helian's sudden reminder and the shift in her voice. He couldn't help but softly chuckle to himself. "And, I told you last time, that Helianthus is a beautiful name." Helian's cheeks started to go red again. "But, if you insist, Helian."
"...That will be all, Commander Zeldri." Before Zeldri could retaliate, Helian cut the transmission.
"Well then," Zeldri chuckled once again. He would need to find time to tease Helian more, later. For now, though, he had something to do. Glancing down at his commander's tablet, which was connected to the briefing room's monitor, he started typing away and sent a request to I.O.P. for a call with Persica. "Might as well get changed while I-!" There was a ping from his tablet as a call request came immediately from I.O.P.
"Commander Zeldri." Persica's face appeared on the screen. Even despite his apparel, Persica made no remark about it. If anything, she looked a little afraid. "What can I do for you?"
"..." Daniil was a good cleaner, but Persica was smart and paranoid enough to connect dots. While she had no proof relating to the cause of Maxim's death, she most definitely had her suspicions. In that case, Zeldri's idea would handle two birds with one stone. "Good afternoon, Persica. I was wondering if you had time to talk about a t-doll acquisition?"
"Of course," Persia's voice was carefully controlled and friendly. "How many do you need, Commander?"
"Just one." A smile played across Zeldri's face.
"...One?" Now, Persica was getting worried and her cat ears instinctively twitched.
"Yes, and before you respond or start imagining anything, I'd like you to listen to my full request, first. If anything, I have a feeling you'll be more than happy to help me once you hear it."
"..." Persica could easily say no, or just throw the rules in Zeldri's face. But, Zeldri's connections, and his suspected willingness to use them, stopped her. "Alright... Let's hear it."
