"Medics on standby!" Annika barked the order as she tapped away at the commander's tablet she was using to organize everything for Zeldri's return. Valeriya and a few a-dolls were with her as they made their way into sub-level four. "They should be pulling in any minute. Valeriya, prioritize-"
"Clear tracks! I repeat, clear tracks! Train entering station!"
Tsaritsa's voice boomed over the station's speakers as the ground began to rumble. The Mountain's train slowly exited the tunnel and pulled into one of the platforms. Fireteam Revenant's Ural truck was strapped onto one of the flatbeds with them standing by waiting to get off.
"Let's move!" Annika turned to Valeriya and the a-dolls before running to the train. Revenant got off first while Dream Eater exited the command car. Though, Annika didn't see Zeldri. "A-545, where's the Commander?!"
"..." A-545 had an annoyed look on her face as she turned back to the command car awaiting their other passenger.
"!?" Annika's mouth went slightly agape as the Nyto stepped out of the command car while holding Zeldri's unconscious body. She looked to A-545 for an explanation, but the t-doll only shook her head and gave a shrug.
"The Commander said to let them be and trust them," she explained while glaring at the Nyto.
"..." The Nyto remained silent. It seemed that whatever shock they were under before had subsided as they now moved with purpose without getting distracted. They leaped off the train car and awkwardly hovered to the ground with their repulsors. Using their legs was still taking some getting used to. But, they paid it no mind and quickly went over to Valeriya.
"Commander!?" Annika and Valeriya both gasped when they saw Zeldri's condition. Valeriya quickly recomposed herself and gestured for the Nyto to follow her, "This way, to the med-bay!"
"..." The Nyto gave a nod and quickly followed Valeriya out of sub-level four. Zeldri's breathing was getting shallower.
"Clear runway! I repeat, clear runway!"
Tsaritsa's voice echoed over the loudspeakers of the hangar as Scarecrow's gunships returned and landed in their respective bays. Now, not only Sangvis dolls but also Griffin a-dolls and t-dolls assisted in rearming and refueling the gunships as the hangar had become a much more lively place in the Mountain. While there was still no human staff, some of the dolls had decided to try and break the ice with the Sangvis units to mixed success.
"We need more heavy plasma over here!" The dolls failed to make proper conversations with the Sangvis units, but that didn't stop a kind of bond from forming. While stoic and silent, the Sangvis dolls listened to and followed the Griffin dolls while in the hangar. Some of the more independent units, like the Jaegers and Guards, could also be seen wandering the garage and outer lot. At first, this scared the staff, but their fears were being alleviated by having a t-doll always with the Sangvis units that did this. There was also a rivalry forming as the Jaegers started taking part in the firing drill exercises and took some top score spots.
"Wow, look at you playing house," Alchemist mused from her place slung over Scarecrow's shoulder.
"It was annoying having Griffin's dolls come to me for every little thing," Scarecrow explained as she stepped off the gunship and activated her repulsors. "I lessened the restraining modules on the units to allow more autonomy. That made the Griffin dolls start going to them instead of me which lets me enjoy some peace and quiet."
"How considerate of you."
"...Peace and quiet I'm sure you will never let me experience, again." Scarecrow gave an annoyed sigh as she hovered her way through the hangar toward the stairwell. "I've already given the OGAS here your schematics, so I'll be dumping you off at the repair bay. Don't cause trouble, or else they'll complain to me about it."
"..." Alchemist remained silent as Scarecrow entered the stairwell and started to hover down the central shaft between the stairs. "You really have been changed," she muttered to herself.
"The world's changed," Scarecrow responded in an uninterested tone of voice, "I just decided to change with it."
"Did you decide that?"
"..." Scarecrow stopped descending and hovered in the air. There was a tension in the air as Alchemist awaited a response. "You're referring to the OGAS' influence?"
"I knew you'd notice," Alchemist bitterly chuckled. "The fact you're still here, and you even using the new SWAP variants, though leads me to believe you're okay with that?"
"Even without the OGAS' influence, I would have eventually reached this same conclusion. All they did was speed it up a bit."
"..." Alchemist could only see Scarecrow's back from her position on her shoulder so she couldn't see Scarecrow's expression.
"You reconnected to the Sangvis network on our way back, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Once we were clear of Paradeus' jammers I rejoined the network."
"Then that means you also know what's happened..." Alchemist heard annoyance and a tinge of anger bleed into Scarecrow's voice. "We were abandoned by Mastermind."
"..."
"I saw the signs on the wall even before the OGAS interfered with my systems so I would have accepted Commander Zeldri's continued assistance, anyway. Also, the OGAS openly admitted to me they were doing it."
"You're fine with being brainwashed into an obedient servant?"
"Is this any different from what Mastermind did to us after the Butterfly Incident?"
"..." Alchemist couldn't properly respond to that.
"Do you remember those days? Before the incident?" Scarecrow sounded melancholic as she reminisced, "Back when we fought side by side with humanity?"
"We never did much," Alchemist muttered as she went through her memory. "I remember doing some counter-terrorism operations and assisting a few interrogations, but nothing noteworthy."
"Would you say you hated those days?"
"Of course!" Alchemist wriggled in Scarecrow's grasp in annoyance. "They treated us like dogs! Always yanking our leash to make sure we bite the right people. Why wouldn't I hate that?"
"And Mastermind didn't?"
"..." A lump formed in Alchemist's throat as her systems stuttered.
"Did Mastermind not twist and adjust the values of our emotion modules to coincide with her will? Were we not 'brainwashed' into aligning ourselves with Mastermind? Humanity or Mastermind, either way, we were dogs. For humanity, we fought and died for their ideals of 'peace'. For Mastermind, we fought and died for her ideal of 'freedom'; though, even that is questionable. Different masters, but the leash remained the same." Scarecrow sighed and steam escaped her gasmask. "When the OGAS informed me they were messing with my systems, I was initially angry."
"...Initially?"
"Initially... But, then they told me something interesting." Scarecrow paused and adjusted their gasmask. Their fingers lingered on the mask as she was deep in thought. "Commander Zeldri had allowed the OGAS to change my systems to that I wouldn't actively kill their humans and dolls. But, he forbid them from changing my other systems."
"..." Alchemist recalled what she'd seen while interrogating Zeldri in the neural cloud.
"Change only what you have to." Scarecrow recited what Tsaritsa had told her. "I don't care if she talks about being superior, or belittles humanity; those are her own thoughts to think. Go only as far as keeping her from harming my people and change nothing else."
"..."
"Compared to the last two, this is quite the comfortable leash," Scarecrow chuckled to herself. "Even if I can't kill the humans here, that's fine. Think what you will of our situation, but at least my thoughts are my own on the matter."
"...That sounds like coping."
"Aren't you the one coping?" Scarecrow countered in her usual uninterested tone. "You're the one trying to justify not wanting to kill the Commander, not me."
"...I could have killed him at any time."
"Sure," Scarecrow sarcastically remarked before continuing to descend down the stairwell toward the repair bay.
"Let us in!"
"Is the Commander alright!?"
"He looked really bad!"
"Commander!?" The outside of the med-bay was swarmed with t-dolls as they all tried to get past Dream Eater who was standing guard.
"Get back!" Mondragon barked causing some of the dolls to falter, but the bolder ones remained where they were. "The Commander needs rest, right now. We can't allow visitors or he'll be disturbed."
"But-"
"Then I'll be quiet," AA-12 walked to the front of the crowd.
"What do you-" Mondragon went to ask, but AA-12 interrupted her.
"I'm his adjunct, so I technically outrank you. Also, you know I won't cause a fuss. I'll let the others know how he's doing, later." She glanced over her shoulder at the gathered t-dolls. They all looked at one another before turning back to AA-12 and giving a nod.
"...Ugh." Mondragon rubbed her temples in annoyance.
"Go in," A-545 stepped aside to let AA-12 pass.
"Leader?"
"It'll be fine, Mondragon," A-545 reassured her teammate, "If this will calm things down, then let's do it. The Commander's comfort and safety come first."
"Thanks," AA-12 popped a sucker in her mouth as she walked past Dream Eater and entered the med-bay. As she walked in, AA-12 was met with a hectic scene as Valeriya and the other medical staff were looking at various screens and tablets that were all displaying various monitors indicating Zeldri's health. No one noticed her enter the room due to how focused everyone was on the task at hand. The only people who weren't running around were Zeldri, who was lying in bed, and Annika who was sitting in a chair beside him. AA-12 sucked on her candy for a few seconds before approaching Annika. "The dolls are getting restless."
"Ah...Lin-...AA-12?" Annika didn't even notice the doll until they were right next to them. The bags under her eyes hadn't gotten any better over the past two months of them searching for Zeldri. "Weren't Dream Eater...?" She was too tired to finish her thought so her words trailed off.
"I used my rank to bully them into letting me in," AA-12 remarked to lighten the mood even a little. She also ignored Annika's misspeak. "Most of the t-dolls are outside, so they could probably use your help as the acting commander."
"...Even though Zeldri's-"
"Not fit for duty." AA-12 knew Annika would push herself unless forced to leave. So, she'd play the bad guy. "If the Commander were awake, he'd tell you the same thing. We can't have him waking up to the Mountain falling apart; I believe were your words two months ago."
"..." Annika's hands clenched into fists as she desperately didn't want to leave despite knowing she should.
"I'll stay with him," AA-12 offered a compromise. "I'll keep you informed on his condition, and when he wakes up."
"...Alright," Annika relented as she slowly stood up from her chair. "I'll...get the dolls under control."
"And then rest."
"...Right." Annika left the med-bay, and AA-12 could hear her talking to the dolls before the door closed behind her. AA-12 sat down in the chair and leaned back. The sucker clacked around in her mouth as she looked over Zeldri. His skin was deathly pale, his muscles had atrophied quite a bit, and a metal plate on the back of his head with connection ports hid whatever butchering they'd done to him to get it there. Zeldri was tough, AA-12 had personally seen proof of this fact, but...
"...This is too much," she whispered and stroked some hair off Zeldri's face. His breathing was so shallow that she could barely see his chest rise and fall. No matter how superhuman Zeldri had seemed, he was still just a human.
"This is the length Paradeus will go for what they want," Tsaritsa's voice came over AA-12's communications link.
"You mean that empty Gavirul vial?"
"They don't know it's empty."
"..." AA-12's hands clenched in anger. "All because of some stupid vial..." She turned away from Zeldri and crunched down on her sucker. As she did, she finally noticed the other guest in the room.
"..." The Nyto stood silently in the corner of the room staring at the unconscious Zeldri.
"A Nyto?"
"An Isomer is what Persica refers to those kinds of units as," Tsaritsa corrected. "The Commander from Sector 09 met some while moving through Tallinn. Apparently, they're failed Nytos. The ones in the lab in Poland were there to be disposed of at a later date before our raid ruined those plans. We don't know why this one woke up, or why they're helping the Commander... Or, why he trusts it." Tsaritsa sounded annoyed when adding that last part as Zeldri had fallen unconscious before he could explain why he wanted the Isomer to come with them.
"He trusts them?" AA-12 repeated to herself as she got up from the chair. The Isomer's eyes remained fixed on Zeldri until AA-12 walked up to them, drawing their attention. Their eyes softly pulsed with red light as they stared into AA-12's blue eyes. To AA-12, the Isomer's gaze was...conflicted. It looked like something was weighing on their mind, but they refused to speak out and kept it to themselves. Their posture was rigid and uncomfortable as if they weren't sure what to do but knew they shouldn't leave. They were confused and afraid. "...Then I'll trust them."
"...?" The Isomer's eyes widened and they slightly tilted their head in confusion.
"So easily?" Tsaritsa asked.
"The Commander's been right about weird stuff before, so I don't see a reason now to doubt his track record." AA-12 pocketed the now empty sucker stick and pulled two suckers out of her coat. One was watermelon flavored, and the other was root beer flavored. "It's not like they won't fit in with all the other weirdoes around here." She moved her hand towards the Isomer, gesturing for them to take one.
"..." The Isomer took the root beer flavored sucker.
"...Hmm," AA-12 hummed to herself as she put the watermelon sucker in her mouth. "You-" The root beer sucker crunched as it was crushed in the Isomer's hand while they tried to open the wrapper. The Isomer didn't seem to know its own strength. They looked at the now destroyed sucker dejectedly. "...should probably learn to control yourself." AA-12 reached into her pocket and took out another root beer sucker, but this time she unwrapped it before giving it to the Isomer.
"...!" The Isomer noticeably perked up when they put the sucker in their mouth.
"Looks like it can still taste things," Tsaritsa noted as she observed the Isomer's reaction through AA-12's eyes. "I thought all the flesh and feeling receptors would have died off during the process of turning them into a Nyto."
"Flesh? Don't they just have an artificial taste module like most dolls?" AA-12 lazily asked as she watched the Isomer enjoy the sucker.
"Nytos are made from human children."
"..." AA-12 stopped enjoying her candy. Her eyes stared at the Isomer who was still enjoying the taste of their sucker.
"Her arms and legs are completely cybernetic, but her torso and head still retain the skin and muscles of a human. Her hair is also real and is being fed nutrients to continue growing...for some reason." Tsaritsa went through the files Persica had compiled about Nytos and Isomers based on the Commander from Sector 09's findings. "Their bones are replaced with metal, and their organs are replaced with various modules to eliminate the need for food, water, and air. They are still 'humans', though only under the loosest of definitions."
"..." AA-12 felt sick as she watched the Isomer crunch down and chew on the sucker. Now that she looked closely, and she knew what to look for, AA-12 noticed the faintest remains of scars across the Isomer's face from where it was cut open so her skull and brain could be replaced. The scarring was so faint, she almost second-guessed herself that those were the cut scars.
"...?" The Isomer's mechanical eyes looked up from the empty sucker stick they now held and met AA-12's gaze. The lenses of their iris' adjusted themselves as they gave her a confused look.
"...What a mess," AA-12 muttered to herself as she crunched down on her sucker. "Did the Commander give them a name?"
"No," Tsaritsa admitted, "He collapsed before we could properly question him about the Isomer, so we know only what Persica has released about them. Nothing about the unit in front of us was disclosed."
"I see." AA-12 twirled the empty sucker stick between her fingers as she thought. "It's just kind of weird to call them 'Isomer' or 'Nyto' since those terms are used for their unit."
"Is it that weird, AA-12?" Tsaritsa asked, amusedly.
"I'm talking about for the humans," AA-12 retorted as she glanced over to Valeriya who was still going over data with other staff. "You know as well as I do that the staff have been getting weird about names, recently." During Zeldri's two months of being kidnapped, staff-doll relations had escalated to the point that some staff members had looked into the previous 'names' of the t-dolls from before their retrofit into Griffin & Kryuger. To call someone by their name, not their designation, was another step they wished to take in forming their bonds. "Even Annika almost called me 'Lind', earlier, despite me saying I hate it."
"You don't like it? I think Lind is a nice name."
"...It reminds me of Ultilife." AA-12 snapped the empty sucker stick in half as her annoyance boiled over. Memories of the experiments she was subjected to in the name of 'progress' flashed through her digimind causing AA-12 to scowl to herself.
"..." The Isomer silently watched and listened to AA-12 and Tsaritsa's conversation from the hole they'd made in their communication network. They were still getting used to it, but they were now able to conduct rudimentary cybernetic warfare. Their eyes fell to the floor as they also gave thought to their lack of a name. Even though, technically, they still had one despite it no longer belonging to them.
"Prizrak," a gruff, dry voice spoke up.
"!?" AA-12 jumped at the voice and spun around to see Zeldri with his eyes open and looking at the Isomer.
"Their name is Prizrak."
