Common Denominator - Chapter 4: Preventive Diplomacy

"Come on!" a brown-haired doll shouted over her shoulder as she ran through a dim forested path towards the village. The doll stood about 162 cm tall and wore a large blue hooded jacket whose thick fabric flapped in the wind, revealing a yellow-green undershirt and an orange lanyard underneath. Her loose shoulder-length brown hair bounced over an icebox which contained frozen ELID vaccines that the village desperately needed. Two additional refrigerated packs were rattled against her tan ballistic skirt as her knee-high boots crushed the twigs and grass on the ground. In her hands, the doll carried a sand-coloured rifle chambered in 6.5x39mm caseless developed in the late 2020s: the American MX assault rifle.

"Slow down, MX, I can't keep up!" another voice called out from behind. Tactical doll MX stopped briefly and turned around, waiting for GSh-18 to catch up.

"Sorry," MX said as she brushed her bangs away from her eyes, adjusting the light-olive headset sitting on her head as she checked the thermometer on her ice box. "We gotta hurry though, we can't let these vaccines get too warm or else they'll denature and become useless."

"I know, I know…" GSh-18 panted as she caught up to MX. Unlike the assault rifle-wielding doll in front of her GSh-18's body wasn't designed to carry heavy loads, and the poor doll was beginning to overheat. After taking a few more deep breaths, she looked up to MX, "Alright, let's keep going."

"M590, this is MX," MX announced into her radio as she raced across a grassy plain on the outskirts of the village, "We're nearing the village of Kurilev now, what's the situation there?"

"MX, Tac-50 here, good to see you!" Tac-50 replied as she walked towards the edge of the village, "M590 is busy demining, so I'll fill you in for now."

"Ah, Tac, we meet again!" MX smiled as she and GSh-18 crested a small hill, the buildings of the village coming into view. "Sounds like things haven't completely devolved into pandemonium yet, eh?"

"Not yet, thankfully," Tac-50 laughed, "Honestly, the whole situation is a mess. The villagers are all riled up and nobody really knows what's going on with the collapse fluid, but at least we're still cleaning up the UXO, though from what I've heard things have been slow. Come on, I'll tell you the rest in person once you get here."

"What, so you're telling me that all this time, you guys haven't been talking to the Sangvis dolls in the village?" MX asked Tac-50 as they and GSh-18 briskly walked down the street. "How are you coordinating your actions then?"

"No, MX, you've got it wrong," Tac-50 responded, "We aren't working with Sangvis Ferri at all right now. We've basically divided the village into two halves; it's the iron curtain all over again."

"What?" an astonished MX asked, stopping in her tracks as she turned towards Tac-50. "Why aren't we working together during such a time-sensitive operation?"

"Are you saying we should work with Sangvis Ferri then?" GSh-18 cut in.

"MX, I know you're still relatively new here at Griffin, so you probably don't get certain parts of the culture we have here…" Tac-50 explained, "But cooperating with Sangvis Ferri is pretty much out of the question for most of us here…"

"Well, it's not out of the question for me," MX replied, shaking her head and continuing down the street. "If they're willing to talk, then so am I."

"Well, in that case, you should probably talk to RFB," Tac-50 sighed, "G17 and her are pretty much the only ones who are willing to interact with the Sangvis girls, and G17 is off aiding the humans. I dunno how much headway you'll get though, the Sangvis dolls don't seem very friendly."

"Thanks, Tac," MX replied, heading towards RFB's location. "If you're not busy, you should come with us too. We're gonna need help administering the vaccines."

"Acre, hand me the ampicillin," Kia said as she examined a young man in the makeshift clinic she set up earlier in the main village intersection. Kia didn't know back then that the villagers were all suffering from low-level collapse radiation exposure, but everything made sense now. Many villagers presented with infections that were exacerbated by the immunosuppression caused by ELID; the man in front of Kia had a streptococcus infection, but the antibiotics from Kia's bag that Acre just fished out would hopefully resolve the issue.

"How are you holding up, Acre?" Kia asked the purple-haired doll after sending her patient off, "You having fun?"

"I'm holding up alright," Acre responded, "But how could this be considered fun?"

"I think it's fun," Kia cheekily grinned, "Well, or at least I think it's enjoyable and fulfilling."

"Mm, can't say I get the same feeling," Acre shrugged as she organized the contents of Kia's medical bag, "I mean, I suppose it's good to help people in need? But is it worth it at the end of the day?"

"Worth it?" Kia asked in amusement, "Why else would we be out here fighting?"

"I mean, I thought we fight to protect those we care about. Our friends, our sisters-in-arms, right?" Acre responded, "Is that not what you think too?"

"What about society as a whole, or these villagers?" Kia posited, "Do you care about them too?"

"I… I don't know, should I?" Acre questioned, "I mean, I've never really given much thought to those beyond the Mobile Task Force…"

"If all we do is to continuously protect only ourselves and strengthen our own position, then what would it all have been for in the end?" Kia asked, "Power is just a means to an end. It's what we do with that power that truly matters."

"And you think we should use our power to defend the weak?" Acre asked.

"Precisely," Kia responded, "Only through cooperation can society sustainably flourish and advance."

"That's not what most of the ringleaders seem to think," Acre pointed out.

"That's what Archangel seems to think though," Kia responded.

"Well… Archangel is pretty weird, isn't she?" Acre chuckled.

"In more ways than one," Kia laughed, "But maybe that's not so bad after all. She's a good person, you know?"

"So you think I should care more about the humans then?" Acre asked.

"I'm not telling you what to think, per se. I just want you to challenge your worldview by telling you mine," Kia responded, looking at the distant sky. "Everyone fights for a different reason, and part of life is about finding that reason..."

Acre stared across the street in contemplation, watching as a woman displaced by the spreading radiation made her way across the street with a blanket and food in her arms. Unlike Kia, who seemed to care deeply for anyone and everyone, Acre couldn't bring herself to feel the same level of empathy for the villagers. Acre didn't know why, but she knew she wasn't alone in her stance; most of the SFMTF girls were generally indifferent towards the humans in their territory, although very few of them actually hated them due to Archangel's influence. Acre knew that helping the humans meant that it would divert valuable resources from other needs, but somehow she felt deep down that it was the right thing to do. Acre couldn't identify the source of this thought, but it conflicted with the cold hard logic that she usually relied on to make decisions. Is this my personality module talking? Acre asked herself. She was about to sink deeper into her thoughts when she heard a voice appear from down the street.

"Kia!" RFB called out, walking alongside MX, GSh-18, and Tac-50 towards the two Sangvis dolls at the clinic. Acre turned her head, warily gazing at the approaching Griffin dolls, fighting the urge to reach for the rifle on her back.

"Oh, hey RFB, what's going on?" Kia asked as she stood up, walking over the approaching group.

"Kia, this is MX and GSh-18," RFB said, introducing the two new dolls. "They're here with the ELID vaccines and medication."

"Ah, excellent!" Kia replied, clasping her hands together in delight. "Let's not waste any time then. We already have a clinic set up here, you should come and set yourselves up."

"Do you have a generator?" MX asked Kia as she moved began unloading her cargo beside an alert Acre, "The medicine is beginning to get warm."

"Of course," Kia responded, "Acre, can you go get a generator from Veritas?"

"Thanks," MX flashed Kia a quick smile as Acre began jogging towards the Sangvis truck, "But before we begin distributing the medicine, there are some things we need to discuss…"

"I still don't get why I've been pulled here," Axiom grumbled as she glared at M590, who was standing several metres away and eyeing her up with a similar degree of hostility.

"You told me you wanted to talk, MX," M590 said, her eyes scanning the circle of dolls that have now gathered in the main intersection of the village. "Why are they here?"

MX sighed. With the help of Kia and RFB, she managed to get a handful of dolls from both sides to meet up in the middle of the village to discuss the situation. M590, GSh-18, and Tac-50 stood on one side of the circle while Axiom and Acre stood on the other. Connecting the two sides were Kia, MX, and RFB, approximately forming a ring of dolls. MX felt gazes from both sides boring into her as the gathered dolls waited to hear what she had to say.

"Look, everyone…" MX began addressing the group, taking a deep breath as she chose her next words carefully. "We're both doing the same thing right now…"

"What?" M590 asked, confused.

"Can everyone agree with that premise?" MX asked, looking around. "We're all conducting demining operations in the village right now. Right?"

Murmurs of agreement slowly appeared throughout the circle.

"M590," MX continued, looking at the Griffin squad leader. "Is it true that we're having difficulties with the demining?"

"Why are you asking me this?" M590 asked.

"Come on, 590, just tell us for transparency's sake," MX requested, "Please."

"Ugh, fine," M590 relented, trying to avoid Axiom's contemptuous stare. "We… We're currently short-staffed… We don't have enough people on-hand who have the proper skills to perform the demining duties."

"No fucking shit," Axiom growled, her orange eyes piercing through her messy black bangs.

"Axiom," Kia hissed, to which Axiom rolled her eyes. "Come on."

"And Kia," MX continued, turning her head to look at the Sangvis medic. "You told me things haven't been going too smoothly on your end either."

"Axiom?" Kia asked, "Care to explain?"

"…Hmph, okay I get it," Axiom finally relented under the gaze of the group, "It's the fucking humans. They won't let us in their property. They're obstructing us from doing our jobs."

"Where is this going?" GSh-18 asked MX.

"It's clear we're both having difficulties," MX stated, "I would like to propose a solution that would fix both issues."

"Go ahead, MX," Kia encouraged.

"In order to create a demining force that possess both the technical skill and trust from the residents…" MX slowly began, looking at all the dolls around her.

"…I suggest we create mixed teams-"

"Don't even think about it," Axiom snorted, "Not a chance in hell of that."

"Axiom!" Kia exclaimed.

"She's right," M590 interrupted, "I also disagree with this idea."

"Tell us why then," MX replied, "Tell us."

"Because…" M590 began, "We aren't allowed to work with Sangvis Ferri… And we wouldn't be able to cooperate properly with each other anyway due to differences in our methods."

"Says who?" MX questioned, raising her arms up and earning herself a few surprised looks from the others for her brazen confrontation of her squad leader. "Our mandate is to protect the people in the village, and I'd say that supersedes us not being allowed to work with SF. And how do we know we wouldn't be able to mesh with them unless we tried?"

"Well…" M590 began.

"I'm not asking for us to become friends, but surely we are professional enough to put our personal grievances aside for the mission at hand!" MX continued, slowly raising her voice. "We were both sent on a mission to save these villagers. If they end up dying due to our petty squabbles, their blood would be on our hands!"

"Look, MX. I understand how you feel. I even agree with what you're saying to a certain extent," M590 sighed, rubbing her temples. "But I don't know if the others would agree to something as drastic as this…"

"I'd agree," MX offered, giving M590 a small shrug.

"Yeah, I know," M590 responded, unimpressed.

"Um, me too," RFB added in, causing everyone to shift their gazes to her. "I agree with MX."

"Well…" M590 muttered, putting her hands on her hips as she tried to think. "Tac-50, GSh-18, what are your opinions on the matter?"

"I… I wouldn't be against giving it a try…" Tac-50 muttered, scratching her head.

"Y- yeah…" GSh-18 hesitantly replied.

"Well?" MX asked, turning around to look at Kia and the Sangvis dolls.

"Not a chance," Axiom defiantly replied.

"Do you have to be so difficult?" Kia beseeched, "Tell us why then!"

"This is my operation," Axiom uttered, "I will ensure it's completed successfully, and I sure as hell am not going to let you incompetent fools screw it up."

"Not this again…" M590 sighed, putting a hand over her face.

"Well, in that case, think of it this way," Kia said, "If you agree to work with Griffin, wouldn't that mean you can keep an eye on their actions, and make sure they don't do anything incorrectly?"

Axiom glared at Kia.

"Think about it," Kia continued, "This is how you can make sure you fulfill your orders to the best degree, right?"

"Well, I think that went better than expected," Kia casually noted, preparing a set of alcohol wipes for the vaccination station. "Nobody got shot, for starters."

"Yeah, better than expected…" Acre muttered in reply. She looked at the other plastic table set up a few metres from her, where RFB and GSh-18 were setting up another station. Kia was right, the two parties managed to finally give agree to cooperate much to Acre's surprise, and MX's mixed-team suggestion was actually accepted. Of course, it was too late in the day now to continue with demining, with the evening sun painting the sky in a warm golden glow. Now, the main task would be to check up on all the villagers and get them to come and receive a dose of the emergency ELID vaccine. Tomorrow, the dolls would begin anew under a new paradigm, something that reminded Acre of an evening not too long ago when she first stepped foot on the battlefield.

"There, I think that about does it," Kia said, dusting her hands as she walked back to examine the table.

"Now we just wait for the villagers to come, huh," Acre asked.

"Yeah, most of the Griffin dolls are running around spreading the message," Kia replied, "Axiom and the others are discussing something with Archangel, I think."

"Um, I'm sorry if this question comes off as rude…" Acre began after a while, an uneasy expression on her face. "But is what we're doing here even going to make a difference?"

"Huh?" Kia asked.

"Err… I meant, are we really going to be able to save the villagers with these drugs?" Acre asked, "I mean, the radiation's not going to go away, so…"

"It's true that these vaccines and pills aren't going to save the villagers on their own," Kia admitted, "But what they give them, is a chance."

"A chance?" Acre asked.

"A chance to survive," Kia continued, "If we give up here, then the villagers will undoubtedly be done for. But as long as we keep fighting, as long as we keep buying time…"

"Buying time… for what?" Acre prodded.

"I don't know," Kia admitted, an uncertain look on her face. "I think Axiom's trying to figure out that right now, but…"

"I think Acre is right," RFB interrupted, walking towards the two Sangvis dolls with a grim look over her face. "M590 just got back from talking to the Commander. We don't have the means to deal with the radiation at hand here. It'll be game over if we don't figure something out fast."

"Yes, I know…" Kia frowned before turning on her radio, "Axiom, what's going on over there? Any idea how we're gonna clear out the collapse fluid?"

"No good ideas," Axiom replied, "But there is something…"

"What is it?" Kia asked.

"I think you can guess, Kia," Archangel's voice suddenly appeared over the radio, "Azure Shield."

"Oh," Kia replied, her gaze wandering into the distance as her face developed a conflicted expression.

"Azure Shield?" RFB asked, "What's that?"

"Project Azure Shield is an initiative to bioengineer a strain of Epiphyllum flowers that can efficiently soak up collapse fluid from the ground," Kia explained, "It's shown promise in controlled trials so far, but it's never been tested in the field yet…"

"Epiphyllum flowers?" Acre asked, "The same flowers that cause deadly radiation outbreaks when they bloom?"

"Yes," Kia replied.

"But how do we know it's safe?" RFB questioned.

"If we can collect the flowers before they have a chance to release their radiation-laden pollen," Kia explained, "We can prevent them from releasing it into the air, which is the main concern."

"I see…" RFB murmured.

"Nyx is already preparing the mobile lab, we can ship the stuff out to you by tomorrow morning," Archangel continued, "Azure Shield may be untested, but for these villagers it might as well represent their last hope."

"And as long as there's hope, there's the possibility for survival," Kia added in.

"Indeed," Archangel agreed, "Tomorrow will be a new day, and you will each be faced with unfamiliarity and hardship. But I firmly believe that you all have what it takes to adapt and overcome. Godspeed."