This chapter is due to be rewritten. It bridges into the next arc, but contains references to older material I've revised. If something makes no sense or a reference seems to be missing, this is why (I also am bad at writing, so it could be that too)


?

The cold and hard concrete floor pressed against her cheek, sending tendrils of cold numbness through her skin and muscle, even reaching deep into her cheekbone.

"Is this how it ends, Ar-15?" asked a cold, even voice.

Heels clicked against the concrete ground, stalking around Ar-15's head. She struggled to twist her head to find the source, but the tight bonds pinning her to the ground offered very little freedom.

"I was careless," She said.

"Hmph, Trash is trash. Even if the Ar-team is the shiniest in the pile, it doesn't make a difference."

Ar-15 rolled her eyes, "You only caught one of us."

"Hmm, yes indeed. That I will give you credit for, though I must admit I was surprised. My data indicated you were cold and calculating, yet you made such an emotional decision, I had hoped we would be speaking the same language."

"Yeah I'm a real softy, might be time to update your database."

SF's assault had been a shock. Within minutes of her transmission to M4 being sent, they'd descended upon their position with hundreds of their fast moving Dragoon units. She'd known immediately that there was no outrunning or outgunning the SF forces, but she'd also figured she could draw them off Sop long enough for her to escape.

In the end, the ringleader, Hunter, had been the one to force her surrender after a rather embarrassingly short pursuit. Ar-15 had been hoping to buy days, not hours.

"Oh I will, but that can wait until after I capture my prey."

"M4a1? Why do you want her so badly?"

Hunter knelt down beside Ar-15's head, wrapping her fingers in her hair and lifting her head a few centimeters from the concrete. Her follicles strained and pulled at her scalp as the ringleader ruthlessly twisted it around to face her sadistic yellow eyes.

"It doesn't matter why we want her," Hunter whispered.

Hunter sent Ar-15's head slamming back down to the ground with a painful impact. The blow made her vision go fuzzy. Her pain sensors were jammed wide open thanks to some meddling SF had done to her body, and the throbbing results of the impact was making even thinking difficult.

"That's enough Hunter," Spoke a new voice, made tinny and distorted as AR-15's neural systems tried to recover from the shock it'd just received.

Still, even in her frazzled state Ar-15 could feel the disappointment radiating off of Hunter as the ringleader stood over her.

"Humph, yes Ma'am," Hunter replied, her heels clicking back away from Ar-15. She heard the heavy metal doors to the warehouse SF was holding her in screech open as Hunter left the room. It wasn't until the massive steel doors finally shut again with a reverberating boom that the other speaker resumed.

"Sorry about her," the new voice began, "She gets a little too into it sometimes."

Ar-15 could just make out the source of the voice as her vision cleared. It was another Ringleader with very dark purple hair, just a shade or two off of true black, and purple eyes which glowed a little in the dark room. She didn't recognize the doll from the SF catalog, so she must be a new model, likely a ringleader. She had no idea how long she'd been standing there, and she'd not heard her enter at any point.

"And you're any better?"

The figure began strolling towards her, her boots making just the barest whisper of sound against the concrete, "I like to think so."

"Good for you. What do you want?" She asked.

The figure came to a stop in front of her, then took a seat on the ground where ar-15 could see her without too much strain, "Just a quick request, one which I think you'll want to consider at the very least."

"Go to hell, do you really think this good cop-bad cop routine is going to work?"

The ringleader shrugged, "maybe, maybe not. I'm simply trying to cut a deal and save us both some pain."

"Why would I want to help you?"

"Well, I imagine you don't. However, helping me will also help you, not to mention your sisters..."

Ar-15 let out a small gasp, an involuntary response she immediately regretted as the ringleader smiled. It was an expression which confused Ar-15 as it looked a little pained rather than sadistic or joyous.

"So you are indeed sisters then, how curious."

The fact that she'd given that away pissed Ar-15 off. It was so stupid, what point did the distinction make? They were dolls, they didn't have 'family' or relations, yet those attachments had been baked into her code from the moment she'd been booted.

"What do you want with them?" Ar-15 growled.

"Me? Nothing really, I'm just doing my job. All I know is our boss wants M4 alive."

"Why? She's already sent the data off, and she'll never cooperate with you."

The ringleader shrugged, "As I said, I don't know the reason. I do know however, that she only wants M4A1 alive. The rest of you are to be 'disposed off' once we have her."

"You bitch…"

"Well, see, that's actually where I'd like to intervene. I figure that even if you girls are uncooperative, you'll be of far greater value alive and together. Honestly you'd probably just be used as leverage for M4's cooperation, but even that sounds better than being dead right?"

Ar-15 scoffed, "It sounds like Griffin's giving you a hard time."

The ringleader's shoulder slumped a little as she let out a tired sounding breath, "Yes, well on that front we may have taken a step back so as to take four steps forward, so to speak. Suffice to say that our loss has convinced our higher ups to lay off the micromanaging. Next time we engage Griffin, it'll end quite differently, I assure you."

"Sure it will."

There was a dangerous confidence in the ringleader's eye, and not the typical boasting of SF ringleaders but a quiet self-assurance in her words, "It will."

Ar-15 wasn't quite sure how to respond. She was almost willing to believe the doll, despite having no real tangible reason to. If she was correct, if she could secure M4 and Sopmod without her help, then maybe…

"What do you want?"

The ringleader didn't outwardly react, no victorious grin or even much of a change in her posture.

"Where might Sopmod be going? Is she headed for the Griffin base, or will she attempt to reach a different destination? What's her planned route, any evasion pattern she might be utilizing, what resources will she need to acquire before she'll reach friendly lines?"

"You want to head her off."

The ringleader nodded, "I do. You girls have proven to be quite evasive and I'd like to get this done on schedule."

Ar-15 gritted her teeth, "You'll never find her."

The ringleader sighed and clambered back onto her feet, "cling to hope if you want, all you're doing is delaying the inevitable and getting more of your family killed."

"Get bent."

The ringleader actually cracked a grin, and even seemed to chuckle silently to herself, "Hunter was way off on her assessment of you wasn't she. I kinda like it."

"It's incredible how little I care."

The ringleader shook her head while maintaining her grin, "Well, I'll leave you to it then."

She turned to leave, but turned back just as quickly, "Oh, do let me know when you change your mind, though understand that the longer you take the less I can guarantee my end of the bargain."

"How generous of you," Ar-15 said, rolling her eyes.


0559, Jan 31st, 2062

It's hard to put into words just how intense M4's disappointment was when, after hours of slogging through wave after wave of SF dolls, after days of searching and scanning and searching and scanning, of chasing every hint, the commander had called off their search for Sop and Star.

M4 was now staring up at the dark ceiling of her room. Her cold, empty room in her cold, empty dorm which the commander had kindly cleared out for her. There were three other beds in the room, paired in bunks against each wall, and with four dressers to go with them.

Internally, her clock ticked and ticked, each second passing at a glacial pace as she waited for 0559 to become 0600 so she could begin the day.

She was fully clothed, and had been for hours. It wasn't so much that she didn't need sleep, like most dolls sleep was an important part of maintaining the complex and delicate neural network which made up her mind, but it was more that she couldn't.

Her systems refused to accept that she could, that after spending so long on her own and only ever sleeping when absolutely necessary it didn't know any other way.

The clock ticked over to 0600, prompting M4 to swing her legs up over the edge of the bed, her body following them to the ground.

After locking her door behind her, M4 meandered through the now familiar halls, shouldering past dolls and humans without so much of a glance. She was aware of who she passed, of course, but she was far from in the mood to talk to any of them.

On entering the TOC, M4 found RS9, Carcano, and Kalina chatting in hushed tones over something on Kalina's Laptop. It was unusual for RS9 and Carcano to spend too much time in here, so it piqued M4's curiosity as she strolled over to them.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Oh, good morning M4!" Kalina greeted her, "Take a look at this!"

Kalina turned her screen around, and M4 leaned in to get a good look at an image displayed. It was an SF doll, vespid by the looks of it, laid flat in some doll shop. It was unusual to see SF dolls in such places, Griffin never sold what they got on the battlefield to civilians.

What was really interesting about it, however, was what had obviously been the dolls end. There were a series of claw marks running down the dolls face, tearing through its helmet, and a gaping hole through the things chest where its core would've been.

"We're speculating on what did her in. I'm thinking of a bear, but Cano seems convinced it must've been something smaller," RS9 explained.

M4 felt her breath pick up a bit, "Where was this taken?"

"Doll collectors shop in Chernivtsi, name is…" Kalina said, pulling the laptop back and scrolling down a bit, ", huh, it's just called 'Doll parts', figures I guess."

"Do we know where they got it?"

"Uh, PPD sent this in with her report. She asked, but the owner wouldn't say."

"So probably the underground," RS9 concluded.

"Underground?" M4 asked.

"Yeah, blackmarket, mafia, whatever you wanna call it. If civilians want SF stuff these days you either find it yourself or go through them."

"We had a run in with them a few months back," Cano added, pointing to herself and RS9, "They try to steal Griffin dolls on occasion, so we're not on great terms."

RS9 added a silent nod in affirmation of that.

M4 placed a hand on Kalina's laptop, "May I?"

Kalina nodded, and M4 scrolled back to the image, inspecting it closely to confirm what she suspected. The claw marks were in patterns of four, with small separations between them which suggested a claw about the size of a human hand.

"We need to find where this doll came from," M4 concluded.

"Why?" RS9 asked.

"Sop did this, I recognize the marks."

The three others were quiet for a moment, staring at her unblinking.

"Sop… did this? She clawed a doll to death?" said Carcano.

"She did, her left hand is clawed and she likes to get up close. It'd take a T-doll level of strength to punch through a Vespids chest like this too, and the marks are too small to be a Bear."

"Hmmmm," RS9 hummed, rubbing her chin in thought, "The shop owner probably doesn't know where it came from, we'd have to talk to the guys who picked it up."

Kalina sighed, "You know we've had our girls looking for them non stop since we picked you and Carcano up. They cover their tracks well."

"True, but I know a few folks in town who may know more than us."

"You do?"

"Yeah, they're pretty elusive themselves and pretty far into the underworld, who better to send us in the right direction.

"Sounds like a road trip," Carcano said with a grin, "I'm coming."

"Kalina?" RS9 offered, glancing at the girl.

"Can't, reports are due tonight, and if I'm not getting M4's help I'll be at it all day."

"Then tell Matt I'm taking a Humvee and some cash," RS9 said as she began making her way out of the TOC.

"How much?"

"Enough," RS9 said, waving over her shoulder.

Carcano trotted after her as she left, the door sliding closed behind them. M4 stood in place, still thinking over the chance that she may have found her sister.

"Hey, you better get going after them," Kalian chided.

"Hmmm? Oh, right," M4 said, shaking her head before dashing off in pursuit.


1110, Jan 31st, 2062

M4 had never been to the city of Chernivtsi, or any city for that matter. The only times the AR team had ever been in a settlement was to make quick stops for supplies, so she'd never gotten the chance to actually tour one. White zones had little need for elite T-dolls after all.

The first sight she caught of the city was the defense wall, a towering block of jagged steel and concrete with little slanted gun emplacements dotting its top. It stretched so far up that it seemed to pierce the solid wall of grey clouds above, and act of defiance against nature itself.

She knew from her reading that the structure formed a half moon shape along the city's southern edge, meeting on both ends with the Prut to form a barrier. It was an imposing sight, towering well above the miles of snow capped trees and ruined houses which dotted the landscape separating them.

The wall only grew in size as they approached, until it filled the entire horizon as they awaited entrance to the city at its base. Ahead of them was a short line of cars and trucks, most looking half a century old or more, queuing patiently at the main gate.

A military officer in his grey coat and brimmed hat was walking down the line with a clipboard in hand, leaning to each car's window to take the identifications of the occupants. Past him two enlisted sat smoking around the checkpoint office, exchanging chatter and laughing on occasion.

As cars went through the gate, the line would inch up only to stop again a couple meters later.

Carcano brought their Humvee to a stop near the checkpoint, and the officer rapped a knuckle against her window, prompting her to roll it down.

He took a quick glance around the cabin, noting M4's presence and RS9's in the passenger seat, as well as the three weapons cases which sat beside M4 in the back. Doubtless their presence was suspicious, but their association with Griffin should allow them through.

"Goodmorning Ladies," He greeted in slightly accented Russian, "May I see your Ids?"

The three of them each handed him their company Ids, which he took and flashed with a purple handheld light before handing them back to them. Strictly speaking dolls weren't permitted through most such checkpoints, though Griffin associated did provide an exception to the rule in certain areas. Still, M4 couldn't imagine that the officer was too happy about three well armed dolls passing though.

"Purpose of your visit?"

"Business, and maybe a bit of recreation if we've the time," RS9 replied.

"Anything we need to worry about?" He asked, nodding towards the stowed weapons. M4 noticed behind him that the two soldiers had started paying attention, one even unslinging his AK. they'd likely want to search the vehicle, not a major issue, but certainly a major inconvenience.

RS9 grinned, "Сподіваймося, лейтенанте. * "

M4 was surprised to find herself losing track of the conversation, her language systems not picking up most of what RS9 had said. It sounded similar to Russian, yet different at the same time.

After a moment of brief surprise, the officer returned the smile, "На все добре," He said in the same language, waving them forward.

Carcano rolled her window back up, "What was that about?"

"He's Ukrainian," RS9 replied, as if that were enough explanation.

"I thought for sure he was gonna search us, What'd you say?"

"Just that we weren't expecting trouble."

"And that was good enough?"

"Ukrainians trust their own, speak the language and they'll tend to lighten up since only Ukrainians speak it."

"Humans are weird."

"Mhmmm."

Carcano rolled forward, past the raised barrier and brought them through under the wall's gate, casting them in a brief shadow as they passed underneath the colossal barrier.

The northern side wasn't quite what M4 had expected. Instead of the glimmer sights and sounds of a bustling city, they found almost the exact same scene as on the other side. Farmland, houses, snow draped trees, and small hills stretching on and on. Notably the houses and farms did appear lived in and active as opposed to the dead husks from before, but otherwise it was back to the same sights.

At least until Cano cleared the long inclining hill which the highway ran up.

There just past the crest, the city found M4. The outskirts began as small rows of squat white and grey buildings along the road, but they began to diversify in size, shape, and color as they drove.

She spied humans and dolls roaming the sidewalks, huddled beneath thick coats and hats as they marched across the ice frosted streets. Some carried bags or cups, while others walked in tight packs of three or four, bunched together for warmth. At one point she even thought she spotted a familiar doll model, a short blonde one humming along with a rather large box which her tiny arms barely managed to wrap around.

As they drew close to the city center, the buildings jumped a little in height, now typically three to four stories tall, with distinct stone arches over their doors and windows as well as brown canted roofs. White skeletal trees dotted each side of the road, whipping past her window in a blur of motion.

The marks of the old Soviet regime were also present in the city. A few blocky concrete monoliths rose over some of the more traditional buildings, and as they approached their apparent destination the street names began taking a more revolutionary tone.

Carcano parked their vehicle on the far side of the street from one of the smaller brutalist rises. At the curb was a doll, who M4 recognized from her report as PPD-40. The blonde doll wore a long trench coat and matching cap, and waved them down as Cano brought the Humvee to a stop.

"Greetings comrades, welcome to Chernivsti," She greeted them.

"Thanks PPD, watch the car would you?" said RS9.

PPD groaned, "very well comrade, enjoy your stay…"

With that, RS9 strolled off, prompting Carcano and M4 to follow. Looking back, M4 noticed PPD pouting as she popped open the Humvee's door and slumped down in the passenger seat. The doll wasn't quite what she'd expected, her reports had always been pristine and punctual so M4 had a positive opinion going in, but now...

"LIke a spoiled brat," Carcano concluded, evidently thinking along the same lines.

"Ja, quite the character," RS9 answered.

"Why would IOP make such a doll…?" M4 wondered.

"She's far from the only weird doll."

"Yeah, like G36, or SPAS, or…" Carcano began.

"You?" RS9 interjected.

"Hey!" Carcano protested," I am not weird."

"Al Contrario, signora~"

"And how am I weird?"

"How long did that coat take you to make?"

Carcano's coat didn't look too special, a simple brown and fuzzy thing with buttons running up the center, although said buttons did feature small white ribbons attached at their stem. M4 hadn''t actually paid it much mind, she and RS9 were wearing similar jackets afterall.

"Ten hours, seventeen minutes, and forty-two seconds,'' Carcano said with hints of pride.

"Yep, which means that you, a T-doll, took that long to make a piece of clothing you could've bought at a store for what, three and a half thousand rubles?"

"Oh don't be like that Rs, I know you're just jealous. If you want me to make you something I can do that."

"If it's anything like that 'masterpiece' you keep in your closet, I'll pass."

Carcano looked genuinely insulted, "How dare you…"

"Um, Miss Carcano?" M4 interjected, wanting to de-escalate things, "I think your coat is quite lovely, where did you learn to make it?"

Carcano stopped dead in her tracks, her cheeks turning a bright red hue M4 didn't realize was even possible for T-dolls.

"Thanks… I -uh, I'm self taught."

RS9 stopped walking as well, a small grin forming on her chin, "now you've done it M4, give her a week, she'll quit Griffin and- OW!"

M4's hand stung a bit as she slapped RS9, letting the adjutant stumble back onto the snowy sidewalk as she held her cheek.

"Be nice, RS9, she is your friend after all."

For some reason RS9' grin deepened, "Asimov be damned… uh yeah, fine, I'll shut up."

M4 was suddenly quite conscious of the few dozen pedestrians that'd stopped walking as well and were quietly observing them. She felt a little cornered, despite none being less than five meters to her.

"Done resting grandma?" Carcano asked, offering RS9 a hand.

"Yeah yeah…" RS9 took her hand, letting the doll haul her up off the ground.

The city center wound up not being too far, only a few blocks away from where they'd parked. Here the older white marble apartments lined each side of the street. M4's head was wandering from sight to sight, taking in the charming old architecture, the different colors and sounds, the smells.

One street they turned onto was narrow and lined with vendors selling products. There wasn't much in the way of foodstuffs, but trinkets and clothing were common sights. At one stand she noticed an older gentleman being assisted by a doll of the same make as Mosin. The little doll seemed cheerful, and was chatting away with one of the man's customers.

"Want anything?" RS9 asked.

"Hmmm? Oh no, I'm okay," M4 replied, shaking herself back to attention.

"Alright, well if something catches your eye let me know, my treat."

"Oh- thank you."

RS9 patted her shoulder, "no worries, get something to share with Sop."

M4 scanned the area for something that might fit that description. There was nothing in the immediate area, but the market seemed to stretch out for a few blocks and the throngs of pedestrians made a grander assessment difficult.

She pushed her way through the crowd, inspecting each of the stalls with a careful eye. Trinkets and jewelry were easily eliminated, as was anything art or cooking related as such things would fail to capture Sop's attention.

Food or chocolate would be best, but the selection was slim. Maybe a game, or something doll related, or perhaps…

At one stall, a pair of humans, girls who looked close enough to be twins, were browsing through a selection of what looked like hand knitted clothes. Socks, scarves, sweaters, and soft hats. They had a variety of designs and colors, some with the blue and gold colors associated with Ukraine, while others featured simple two color designs.

M4 rushed towards the stand, perhaps a bit two quickly as she seemed to startle the two girls who'd just been browsing.

"Sorry, sorry…" M4 apologized to the reeling twins as she began pondering over the selection.

There had been one piece that'd drawn her eye, a long black scarf, accented with red stripes which wrapped around it like those on a candy cane. The ends were fringed with little knotted strands, and it was incredibly soft in her was perfect for Sop as she wore black and red near exclusively.

M4 allowed herself a small grin imagining her sister wearing it. Still gripping the scarf, she began looking around the stand for a price tag.

"Um, excuse me. How much is this?" M4 asked in Russian to the attendant, a young man wearing a few knitted items similar to those on sale.

The man's face turned to a mild scowl as he leaned forward to see what she was talking about.

"For that…" He said with a bit of an accent, " four and a half thousand."

M4's brow furrowed, "Isn't that a bit much?"

The man leaned back with a scoff, "My Babushka makes these by hand, if you think her work isn't worth it, go somewhere else."

After a moment of quiet contemplation, M4 placed the scarf back and turned away, only to find RS9 and Cano leaning over her shoulder. Strangely, each was holding a bouquet of flowers.

"These are quite nice," Cano commented.

"Mhhm, I think I'll have to have one," RS9 replied.

"Mmm, me too, I need some good mittens."

RS9 and Carcano handed her their bouquets before weaving around and beginning to pick through the items. Carcano grabbed a white and pink scarf, as well as a pair of matching mittens, while RS9 snagged a pair of beanies, some mittens of her own, and that red and black scarf.

"Ми візьмемо ці, будь ласка," RS9 said to the attendant, piling the items on the table.

"Це буде коштувати 18000" the man replied.

"Ha?" RS9 exclaimed, "Ви серйозно намагаєтеся нас зірвати? Що подумає ваша Бабушка?"

RS9 seemed to be calling the man out. M4 caught a mention of his Babushka, but was not catching the full conversation.
The man groaned, "14000."

"12500."

The man stared RS9 down for a moment, then rolled his eyes, "добре, до побачення."

Triumphant, RS9 placed the notes in his outstretched hand, then wrapped two arms around the pile of knitted clothes.

"Let's go!" She said, beginning her march away.

M4 noticed the twins still standing to the side, watching their group stroll away with some kind of curious expressions.

"RS9, thank you…" M4 said as they pushed their way through the crowd.

"'Course, here," RS9 handed her the knitted scarf, as well as a black beanie with a green stripe wrapped around its brim.

"Oh, that's for me?"

"Mhmmm, It's cute."

M4 slipped the beanie on. It was as soft as the scarf, and very warm as well as it hugged her head. Similarly, Carcano slipped her scarf around her neck and pulled on her gloves, while RS9 placed her own simple black beanie on her head.

"Little plain, isn't it?" Carcano commented, prowling around RS9 as she inspected her beanie.

"Well, maybe I'd be willing to commission a certain fashionista to decorate it. If she behaves herself, that is," RS9 said with a wink.

Carcano watched RS9 step past with a surprised, and perhaps excited expression. After a moment, she began to follow, and M4 followed suit.


The Prut was frozen over, and as such a few dozen children were scattered over its frozen face, some skating, some stumbling, and quite a few sliding around and giggling. A light fog also hung over it, and as they'd been approaching the grey clouds above gave way to a dusting of snow fluttering down.

More children, accompanied by a nanny doll resembling a taller Mosin, dashed past them while squawking with joy. The kids rushed through a series of statues ahead of them, weaving between the five obelisks that were positioned in a circle around a central point.

M4 stepped past the obelisks, noticing that they were engraved with rows and rows of names. At the epicenter sat another statue, this featuring a hooded figure hunched over and clutching a baby in its arms. The snow made making out the details difficult, but the inscription '05/13/2050' was still visible along its base.

RS9 pushed past her and stood before the statue. She was quiet and still for a moment, but then leaned down and placed her bouquet down at the statue's base.

"Cano."

Carcano handed her the other bouquet, which RS9 placed beside the first. RS9 stayed crouched down for a few moments, just staring at the hunched figure.

M4 glanced at Carcano for an explanation, but the doll just put up a hand to stay her question while shaking her head.

When she turned back, RS9 was back up to her feet.

"Ha, fuck…" The adjutant exhaled with hints of relief, as if she'd just slipped off a heavy weight.

"Good to go?" Carcano asked.

RS9 glanced back, her face looking a little weary, "Yeah, lets go."

The three of them left the circle, waving and smiling to the nanny doll as she watched over the kids playing near the shore. The river shore was lined largely with snow dusted trees, though a few buildings did dot the area as well.

A few other figures were making their way through the snow, many looking as if they'd just come from the market. In fact, M4 even spotted one of those twins from before trudging her way through the snow, heading in the same general direction they were for a time before she took a turn down a different street.

"Who are the contacts?" M4 asked.

"Doll Mercs, go by the name '404'," RS9 answered over her shoulder.

"Doll Mercenaries? Isn't that illegal?"

RS9 shrugged, "Helian hires them from time to time, and they should have some idea where we need to go to meet the scavs."

The apartment building they were headed to was about two blocks south of the river, and was a series of squat concrete buildings arranged in blocks. Windows were spares, concrete ever present, but at least the center of the complex had some nice open spaces with trees.

The wind bit at M4's face as it rushed through the trees, but her hat and the scarf she'd wrapped around her neck proved effective. Luckily, they didn't need to go too much further as RS9 entered one of the buildings. They clambered up the echoing stairwells to the top floor.

"I should probably mention that we're not expected," RS9 said as they approached the door.

"Will that be a problem?"

"Hope not."

" 'scuse us, we're looking for a group of illegal dolls for information, oh and did we mention we're from Griffin?" Carcano smarmed, "I see no problems."

"Then I'll knock, save you the worry of getting bullet holes in your coat," RS9 shot back, raising a knuckle to one fo the off blue doors lining the hall.

A couple quick raps against the door, and then they waited, and waited, waited. About two minutes passed with nothing happening, so RS9 tried again.

Nothing.

"Cano, scan it," RS9 ordered.

M4 noticed a rise in the EM emissions coming off Carcano as she brought her sensors online. On her own Rads, the doll glowed with an eerie blue light, with her eyes in particular glowing the brightest.

"Nothing, walls are too thick I think," Carcano announced after a few moments.

"Damn, well then let's Kick it d-"

The door clicked open, then slowly swung open to reveal a young man of maybe fifteen, with jet black hair and dressed in a yellow jacket holding the nob with a sour expression. From the outset M4 could tell he was human, the lack of an EM signature made that quite clear.

"Can I help you?"

RS9 raised a brow, "404?"

The kid seemed confused for a moment, "who and why?"

"Griffin, and we need information. We're looking for someone."

He stared at them for a moment through slitted eyes, but eventually did relent and open the door wider.

"Fine, come in."


NOTES:

Well, this took a while. Sorry 'bout that.

Anyway, there is a bit of a time skip here and as you can see, last chapter's ending was a bit of a misdirect. ;)

This Chapter is mostly establishing three things, the city, the memorial, and the dynamics going into the plot here.

So, throughout the chapter, RS is speaking Ukrainian when anything is written in Cyrillic. AFAIK, Ukrainian and Russian are about as cross-comprehensible as Italian and Spanish. Dolls are going to have more difficulty bridging that gap than a human, and since this chapter is (mostly) from M4's perspective, I decided to portray it as mostly incomprehensible for M4. If/when I show Rs' perspective on this, it'll be translated. I am in no way an expert on the language, so if you know better, LMK.

As for Operator and Star's talk, I figured I'd use that to build up more of a relationship between the two, This is very much Operator's big debut, so I'm hoping to show off just what makes her distinct from her peers.

and yes, that is Dier at the end. 404 tends to be separate from the plot until about Arctic Warfare, so I decided to integrate them a bit more early on. As for how Rs and co knows about them, well, I'll get to that. Think about how Helian contacts 404.

next chapter will *hopefully* be out soon, but Finals are very close so we'll see.
-Cheers

ps- no shade PPD enjoyers, I skimmed her wiki. I'm sure there's more to her