Common Denominator - Chapter 5: Water Under the Bridge
Sten Mk. II yawned as she walked down the main road in the village, squinting at the morning sun hanging low the sky ahead of her. She didn't sleep very well last night, partially because of the strange circumstances the Griffin team found themselves in, partially because she had been sleeping outside on a cardboard sheet in single-digit temperatures. Sten looked ahead at a Sangvis doll a few steps in front of her who was named "Magic." Although the doll was not much taller than Sten herself, Magic carried herself with a certain air of maturity and responsibility. Sten looked at Magic in contemplation, although M590 already briefed the Griffin dolls on the situation last night, Sten still found it hard to believe they were actually going to be working side-by-side the Sangvis dolls. Although Sten had her reservations, M590's orders were final, and she realized that she was just going to suck it up and get it over with for the sake of the mission.
"Aahh!" Sten suddenly yelped as she tripped over something, falling forward onto the ground.
"Oww…" Sten groaned as she pushed herself onto her knees. She dusted her hands off, looking for any scratches or dirt marks on her body.
"Hey, Sten," Magic called out, "You alright there?"
Sten shifted her gaze up to the doll in front of her, seeing Magic's outstretched hand in front of her head. Sten looked at it for a brief moment before grasping onto it, pulling herself back up to her feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks…" Sten muttered, forcing a smile as the two continued down the street side-by-side. Although Sten was still a bit nervous, she considered herself lucky being partnered with someone like Magic; apparently some of the other Sangvis dolls were way less friendly.
"So, uh… Did you get the message?" Magic asked, trying to build a rapport with the Griffin doll. "I meant, protocols on how we're going to be operating, that is."
"Yeah," Sten responded, looking at the road ahead. "Basically, I'm going to help you talk to the people here, and I'll help you carry some equipment around and stuff, right?"
"More or less," Magic replied, "We decided to let the ones with more EOD experience handle the actual bomb-handling, I hope you don't feel left out or something, haha."
"No, no," Sten smiled, "I want to stay as far from the bombs as possible. I'd rather not blow up today."
"That's… Fair enough," Magic chuckled.
"You're an EOD specialist, aren't you?" Sten asked, raising an eyebrow. "I couldn't imagine defusing bombs on a daily basis, I'd go insane from the nervousness!"
"Aha, well, to be fair, we don't do this every day," Magic replied.
"But still, isn't it scary?" Sten inquired.
"Scary? Sure. But I guess I'm just used to it," Magic shrugged, rubbing her hair. "The stomach butterflies never truly go away, but I guess being a doll makes it a bit better…"
"I see…" Sten murmured.
"I mean, I guess it's like that for a lot of things, isn't it?" Magic continued, "You do something you don't like, or agree with… But after enough time, you kinda just get used to it and stop caring as much, whether for good or bad…"
Axiom stood up after setting up a demining drone, watching as the drone slowly rose into the air and began a series of diagnostic tests. She crossed her arms as she watched the drone with her naturally stern expression. She had already brought it down and recalibrated it twice, its sensor parameters not meeting Axiom's strict standards, but it seemed this time Axiom was finally satisfied with the diagnostic results. As Axiom commanded the drone to initiate its search sequence, she turned around to face the Griffin doll standing behind her.
"Tac-50," Axiom said, narrowing her eyes at the Griffin sniper standing uneasily in front of her. Axiom's orange eyes drilled into Tac-50, who was forced to avert her gaze from the Sangvis doll's face.
"Axiom…" Tac-50 sullenly replied, cursing her luck to have been picked as the one who had to accompany this very unfriendly Sangvis doll. Tac-50 stood still as Axiom slowly walked a circle around her, inspecting her gear with hawk-like precision.
"Hmph, follow me," Axiom finally ordered, seemingly satisfied with Tac-50's preparation. Not wanting a repeat of yesterday's incident, Tac-50 made sure to thoroughly memorize the instructions M590 sent her and follow them to a tee. It seems like her efforts have paid off, at least for now.
"I expect you to know what we're going to be doing today," Axiom said during the walk, not turning her head as she addressed Tac-50.
"We'll be doing a demining in the areas marked C3 to F9," Tac-50 recited, "double-layered GPR deconvolution sweep in each area, followed by a nuclear quadrupole resonance sweep on ambiguous marks. Straight-line pathing to UXO locations, sweep with pole-mounted metal detectors while minimizing contact with uncleared land. If we have a confirmed hit, you'll deal with it."
"Good enough," Axiom muttered, "I see you've read the protocols."
"Yes, I have," Tac-50 stiffly replied, "I was a bit careless yesterday, but I won't let that happen again today, so don't be worried."
"Listen closely," Axiom growled, suddenly stopping and swivelling around until her face was mere inches from Tac-50's. "I want to make it very clear here: I don't hate you, but what I said to you yesterday was fully justified."
"Huh?" Tac-50 asked, taking a step back. "What does that mean?"
"Like I told you yesterday," Axiom replied, "I only care if you're competent. So if you can prove to me that you are, then I've got nothing against you, understood?"
"Okay…" Tac-50 affirmed, "I'll try-"
"That's not good enough," Axiom impatiently interrupted, "Do or do not, there is no try. Can you do what you need to do?"
"I…" Tac-50 stammered, momentarily hesitating from Axiom's clearly dichotomous question.
"If you believe you are unable to fulfill your duty, you should step aside now while you still can," Axiom warned, "But if you believe you are capable, I need you to act like it!"
"…I understand!" Tac-50 responded with determination, having made the decision to trust her abilities and preparation. "I won't let you down!"
"Good…" Axiom muttered, narrowing her eyes and giving Tac-50 a rather intimidating smile. "Then I look forward to working with you…"
Sten and Magic continued walking down the street in silence. Sten and Magic were assigned to an area within the formerly "Sangvis side." Although the distinction really didn't apply anymore, seeing as dolls from both sides would be acting in tandem throughout the village, Sten still felt a bit nervous as they approached the main intersection dividing the village in two.
"Hey Kia!" Magic suddenly shouted up ahead towards a brown-haired doll sitting on a folding chair behind a table, "Good morning! How ya doing?"
"Morning! We're doing good!" Kia beamed back, "We managed to give everyone a dose yesterday, the Griffin medicine is really a lifesaver!"
Sten looked at the clinic. There were several tables set up in it, with four dolls sitting around on chairs waiting for people to visit them. Behind one of the tables sat RFB and GSh-18—two dolls who Sten has seen several times at base before but didn't know too well. Kia—the Sangvis doll with the brown ponytail—remined Sten of Springfield with her radiant personality and general appearance. Sitting beside Kia with her head rested on her arm and a bored expression on her face was a doll with a long dark purple ponytail.
"Wait a second…" Sten muttered as she did a double-take at the purple-haired doll, narrowing her eyes as she examined her face. Why does she seem so familiar? Sten thought to herself, Have I seen her somewhere before?
Sten start curiously walking towards the purple-haired doll, wanting to get a better look at her face. As Sten approached, the doll slowly sat up from her chair and rubbed her face, her yellow eyes moving to match Sten's gaze.
"Wait…!" Sten and Acre blurted out in unison, staring at each other in disbelief.
"Y-y-you're that doll from…!" Sten stammered, pointing at a wide-eyed Acre.
"Wait- you… I-" Acre replied with her mouth agape, clumsily shooting up from her chair as she watched the familiar red-bereted doll approach. Although Acre had previously seen this doll for mere seconds, Acre could tell this was unmistakeably the girl from her memory.
"Huh? Acre?" Kia asked, looking at the two in confusion along with the other dolls nearby.
"You were that doll from Point Cobalt!" Acre exclaimed as she began recalling the memory of her first battle in vivid detail, "We were in the house together-"
"And I was running through the corridor-" Sten gasped, "And I looked up at the stairs and I saw you…!"
"Yeah," Acre continued, remembering the time shortly after the Griffin assault began. Having been ordered to retreat, Acre had been running down the stairs of the house she was defending. She could still recall the time she first saw the red-bereted doll emerge from the hallway; Sten's shocked expression back then was nearly identical to the face she displayed right now.
"I was coming down the stairs, and you were running through the hallway…" Acre recalled, "And…"
"…And then…?" Kia asked, tilting her head sideways. "What happened?"
"You shot me!" Sten exclaimed, holding her hand up to her forehead.
"I- I'm sorry!" Acre stammered, red-faced. "I- but-"
Acre froze as she stared at the short Griffin doll in front of her, utterly unprepared for what just happened. Last time, Sten appeared so suddenly that Acre instinctively opened fire without even consciously thinking about it. Now, the very same doll was standing right in front of her. To Acre's immense surprise, the Griffin doll suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter.
"What?" Acre exclaimed dumbfounded as she watched the Sten fight to stifle her giggles. Acre turned her head towards Kia, who was holding her hand over her mouth with an amused expression on her face.
"Ironic," Kia chuckled.
"Whuh-?" Acre demanded as she swiveled her head back to Sten, "What's so funny?!"
"Sorry, I- It's just a bit weird meeting each other again in circumstances like these," Sten explained, "I mean, we were trying to kill each other just a week ago, but now…"
"Oh. Yeah…" Acre muttered, still unsure why Sten found it amusing. "I guess it is pretty weird, but…"
"You know, I'll admit you got me good back there," Sten noted with a playful smile, "But killing me wasn't very nice, you know?"
"Um… I'm sorry, I guess?" Acre flustered as she tried to figure out how to respond, "But to be fair, you were about to shoot me too, so…"
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it," Sten giggled, "Besides, at least you only destroyed one of my dummy links, not my mainframe."
"Right, of course," Acre replied as she tried to force a small chuckle, not wanting to disappoint the—in her opinion—overly friendly Griffin doll. "You're not mad at me… are you?"
"No, not really," Sten assured Acre, "I mean, I was pretty mad at how we got beat by you guys later that day… But you seem nice enough, so I forgive you."
"Wait, so did you survive the battle then?" Acre asked.
"Yeah, I was one of the lucky ones who made it out…" Sten recalled, "We couldn't break out of the encirclement, you see, so we-"
"Ahem. Sten!" RFB called over, "You probably shouldn't be disclosing all this to Sangvis Ferri!"
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Sten gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "Looks like I've said too much already!"
"Uh huh…" Acre muttered.
"Yeah…" Sten cheekily shrugged.
Just as the conversation was beginning to turn in an awkward direction, the group was distracted by the sound of a distant helicopter. Acre and the others turned their gazes towards the horizon, watching as the silhouette of a heavy-lift helicopter gradually grew larger in the sky.
"Is that a Taru?" Acre muttered, blocking the sun out of her vision. "Looks like Sleipnir 1 is finally here…"
"Yes, and not a moment too soon either," Kia replied, watching as the helicopter approached and began its descent. Attached behind the helicopter's cockpit was a large cargo pod filled to the brim with all sorts of equipment and materials. Compared to the construction materials and munitions typically carried by Sleipnir 1's Mi-290 Taru heavy utility helicopter, their current payload would be considered rather exotic. Whereas most people would be confused upon seeing boxes of flower seeds within the cargo pod, Kia knew that they were the fulcrum upon which the life and death of the villagers delicately rested.
"Azure Shield," Kia murmured, "It's finally here."