Idle and at the ready, the Manticore stood in the middle of the helicopter landing zone as MG42 climbed over it to paint a cross symbol over its flanks. Internal mechanisms groaned as she clambered on its hull, a sign that the massive walking tank was not happy with what it felt were graffiti markings on its chassis. It actually moved and rotated its main body around, as if it were a dog trying to shake off some silly clothing. MG42 swore at it, desperately holding on to its sides as she tried her best to not spill all of the paint. The Manticore was not trying to hurt her by any means, merely making it known that it preferred its normal ochre color scheme to remain naked and bare.
G&K had made a deal with the military grade manufacturer, as well as the former Sangvis Ferri competitor, Svarog Heavy Industries to capture the rogue dolls and machines. Normally this would be difficult as ringleaders could simply withdraw their neural clouds upon imminent capture, making their capture or arrest nearly impossible. Somehow, despite the challenge, Svarog found a way to disable a ringleader in such a manner that the neural cloud may not be able to escape. While it didn't work all the time, it did allow many of the rebel dolls to finally face capture. They'd undergo a neural cloud evaluation, being tested and reconditioned to operate cooperatively with humanity again. It was a few steps removed from brainwashing, but at least it eliminated a serious threat in a somewhat safe manner. Besides, with enemies like Paradeus working in the shadows, the extra firepower provided by the Sangvis dolls was very much appreciated.
A very unique and interesting addition that Svarog made to the Sangvis dolls and machines was an upgrade to their former control system. Many of their base units are now able to operate in a limited capacity without a ringleader or commanding officer present at all times. While their combat AI was about as advanced as that of an early 21st century video game, it was better than complete shutdown in the lack of command. This also allowed for many of the Sangvis dolls to develop simple personalities, aiding in their ingratiation amongst the more social Griffin dolls. For example, this particular Manticore had a disdain for any sort of maintenance work. "Captain, can you make it stop?" MG42 whined as she almost lost her black paint to the shaking.
MP40, who had been aiding StG44 in calibrating the guns on a small squad of Nemeum mobile defense platforms, sighed and walked over to the fiasco. "How would you like it if someone crawled all over your face trying to paint it?" She asked, trying to get the machine gunner to reconsider her approach.
The Manticore stomped one of its legs in frustration, causing MG42 to finally lose her balance and tumble to the ground. Now covered in wet, industrial grade paint, MG42 threw a fit. "He's just a big jerk!" She bemoaned, wiping paint off of her face.
The Manticore simply responded by bellowing, its internal mechanism groaning and grinding in an imitation of laughter. "Now he's making fun of you, 42." MP40 even chuckled at the doll's misfortune.
"That's it," MG42 threw her hands up in frustration as she stood back on her feet, "I'm getting my gun!"
The Manticore ceased its bellowing laugh and began to emit a low whine as the magnetic accelerators on its underslung main gun began to power up. The massive mech was also capable of making threats of violence, and was also quite aware of the power difference between itself and the doll. MG42 soon recognized where she stood when compared to the walking tank, and slumped her shoulders as she retreated back inside to wash up. The Manticore powered its weapons back down, its internals giving a mechanical chuckle that was shared with MP40's more human laugh. She gave the beast a reassuring pat on one of its heavily armored forelegs, a sign of camaraderie and acceptance for the war machine. It still felt strange to share a laugh with a Manticore, a monster made to end lives without a single thought; but she was coming around to the idea of seeing them as powerful allies.
Before she could return to her work, MP40 stopped as she heard someone calling out for her. Turning to face the voice, she casually acknowledged Kar98k as she approached. "Good afternoon, commandant." MP40 waved her hand in greeting.
"How are things going with the Sangvis dolls?" Kar98k asked, crossing her arms as she looked over their new members.
"Well, besides the Big Jerk here," MP40 smiled, "the mechs are taking well to their new command. I doubt we'll run into any real issues giving them orders. The dolls are various levels of headstrong, but I'm sure when Scarecrow gets here she'll whip them into shape."
Kar98k nodded in approval, taking a moment to really appreciate being this close to a Manticore without being in a combat scenario. "How do you propose we make adjustments to better integrate them into our force deployments?"
It took a moment of consideration, but MP40 had a few ideas she had come up with. "We could mount a machine gun emplacement for one of the sisters." She suggested.
The Manticore stomped one of its forelegs and shook its body in disapproval. Kar98k laughed in response, enjoying the tank's eccentric personality. "I guess he doesn't approve."
"Don't listen to him," MP40 shook her head, "he's just a stick in the mud. The other two are okay with the concept."
Before they could continue their conversation, the outdoor intercom crackled to life. The announcement started with a horrific feedback screech, followed by rustling as two sets of hands fought over the microphone. "Go away, I found it," MP41's came over, arguing with P38, "will our commandant please come to the-"
The sound of a punch was followed by P38's much smoother voice. "Commander to the control room, Commander to the control room." She spoke quickly before the microphone could be taken from her again.
Taking a deep breath, Kar98k slowly shook her head. Before leaving she turned back to MP40, "Scarecrow should get here tomorrow, clear any changes you want with her and you'll have my permission to do them."
MP40 gave a salute, returning to her work with StG44. While they had yet to figure out what circumstances they could make use of a platoon of military grade dolls with advanced weaponry, they were sure that some light would be shed eventually. There was some concern about being in charge of the former Sangvis Ferri units, chief among them related to the many concerns about the neural stability of the Brigade. Kar98k was at least level headed enough to lead a full force, but the concern about MP40 and the others was just too obvious to ignore. Some detractors weren't confident that the captain wouldn't snap and take a force of proven rebels on another rampage. The concern was there, and would require careful consideration of the allocation of troops and units. The Brigade would need to tread carefully from now on, taking baby steps to avoid another fiasco that could finally be their last.
Random jumbles of numbers and letters streamed across the large view screen, racing along like a river of wild text. There was some mild method to it's madness, occasionally a word or phrase would form. The impression of artificial life was imprinted on the tidal wave of letters, a computer's metaphor for a gibbering mad man. Hints of intelligence that showed through created a mild sense of unease in any doll that looked for too long, frightening them as they tried to understand it. The mess felt like staring into the mind of a human with a severe mental disorder. Kar98k stared at the stream of consciousness, slightly concerned about why it was on her control room's computers and not some isolated system.
"What exactly am I looking at?" Kar98k asked, eyes glued on the screen. It was hypnotizing, a glimpse into the surreal world of a doll's base layer.
"It was locked away in Fredrick's things." MP41 stated with a proud and haughty voice, combined with her signature grin.
Kar98k finally turned her head away to glare at the doll. "I thought I told you to stay out of his things." She snapped at her.
The doll held up her hands. "It came with the most recent supply shipment, along with the Sangvis Ferri parts," she explained herself, "he said it wasn't on the manifest and that he would probably send it back."
"Then why is it on our main computer right now?" Kar98k put her hands on her hips as she prepared to hear an answer that would make her upset.
MP41 paused for dramatic effect. "His curiosity beat me to checking out the storage device this was contained on. He went from wanting to send it back to locking it up."
"What is it then?"
She held up a finger to ask for patience. "I waited until today, when our human was sick with food poisoning-"
Kar98k's glare shifted from MP41 to P38. "I knew it was strange that you were cooking last night."
P38 shifted her feet nervously, knowing how absolutely abysmal her culinary skills were. "How was I supposed to know fish isn't supposed to be medium rare?"
"Commandant, please." MP41 insisted, a strange sense of urgency in her voice. It felt oddly genuine, especially coming from the least serious doll in the entire Brigade. Silence fell as everyone turned their attention back to her. "At first I thought the random jumbles of code and such were odd, but eventually I began to notice patterns. What we're looking at is an infantile doll neural cloud."
"So we were sent the neural cloud of a doll, what's your point?" Kar98k didn't intend to sound irritated, but she was growing increasingly upset that she was only hearing about this now.
MP41 held up the storage device that was now hard wired into their system. "This is not a standard black box, nor is it any regular storage model," MP41 continued to explain, "this doesn't passively store the doll's neural cloud in a suspended state; this doll's mind has been actively running since it was transferred into the system."
"Like a human locked in a sensory deprivation chamber." Kar98k mumbled. Trapped in a technological purgatory, it was no wonder all the code was a jumbled mess. This would be hell for the doll, but one thing was in place to keep something like this from happening. "Why didn't she enter sleep mode?"
MP41 smiled as she realized her audience was working with her now. "I thought the same thing," she continued, "and began to try and figure it out by going through the code I could find. I was able to find a large amount of familiar bits I could work with, and that let me discover what was broken and defective with this neural cloud."
"It's why she wasn't helping the captain outside." P38 added.
"This was much more important." She snapped back. "This doll has been fundamentally broken since her inception. Her neural cloud was missing several safeguards regarding the safety of others, as well as several other base layer defects that should have seen her erased."
"So this really is some kind of hell." Kar98k surmised.
"Not just hell," MP41 continued, "but also a tool of salvation."
Kar98k raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"This device was designed to be used in areas of high radiation," MP41 clapped her hands as she began to reach the final point she was trying to make, "and it can survive in areas heavily corrupted from the various collapse incidents."
P38 spoke up to interrupt. "You and Peter told us that FG42 had been captured by Paradeus and sent to an area just like that."
"And now a neural cloud that matches the former traitor is right here under mysterious circumstances." MP41 concluded.
Kar98k was rendered speechless for a moment, her own neural cloud moving just as fast as the on the screen. "How can we be certain it's actually her?" She asked, her voice shaking. "Griffin must have brought a lot of dolls to break into that place."
MP41 held up a wire for making a physical connection. "There's only one way to know for certain."
Grabbing the cord, Kar98k stopped to weigh her options. "We're sure this isn't some sort of a trap?"
"Not one that we're aware of." P38 answered.
"There's always the possibility that her system might see you as a virus and try to attack you," MP41 shrugged, "but with how defective she is at the base layer that might not be an issue."
With a deep breath for confidence, Kar98k prepared herself to take the plunge. There was only one way to get the clarity and the answers that she wanted from FG42, as well as a chance to try and give the doll some help. Having worked with Angel for so long, she was confident that she could also help the gunner as well. Reward came with risk, and she was willing to take a risk to bring everyone back and be a family again. These were her girls, and she would do anything for them.
What first greeted Kar98k was a psychedelic swirl of colors and shapes. Memories swirled about like colored inks in a draining sink basin, creating a cacophony of color that occasionally assembled into an image or a shape. Jumbled voices could be heard, sometimes giving way to something that could be interpreted. Everything moved too fast to get a positive read on who this could be, but that didn't stop her from holding some subconscious hope that it really was FG42.
Trying to make sense of it all, Kar98k finally spoke. She called out to the neural cloud she was in, requesting some sort of response. Her voice didn't make an auditory sound like it would outside of this artificial space, but it was still perceived by the doll all the same. At once the sights and sound stopped, as if they were surprised that they were no longer alone. Almost as soon as they stopped, they started again, this time swirling around into a black, soundless void. Kar98k soon found herself standing on, and surrounded by, nothing. There was a short pause as the doll's neural cloud tried to figure out how to proceed, surprised to have a visitor in their mind.
"Hello?" Again, Kar98k called out to the doll, her voice ringing out as it should this time. "Is this FG42?"
"Are you another ghost?" The response didn't speak to her as much as it just sat in the back of Kar98k's mind. It was stiff and robotic, and carried no hint of personality.
"No, it's me," she responded slowly, trying to appear calm to prevent the mess of colors again, "your friend."
"Friend?" This time the voice response carried but of emotion, as if it didn't expect to hear the word.
At once the world dropped out and formed into something new. Kar98k found herself leaning against the wall at the Brigade's cafeteria, avoiding the rest of the girls as they laughed and enjoyed themselves. At once she recognized this party as their first celebration of a job well done. Everyone was proud of what they had accomplished, proving that they didn't need complete human oversight to lead them. It was a liberating moment for everyone, as well as one of the last times everyone would truly be happy. Kar98k felt herself smiling as she watched everyone having fun, until she realized that this wasn't her standing outside the crowd.
This body was not her own, but was the memories of the doll that was there. As she spied the memory of herself walking amongst the crowd, the body she was in called out. "Oh Commandant!" The voice called, confirming the doll's identity.
The memory of Kar98k approached, rolling her eyes as the memory of FG42 gave a whistle at her legs. Kar98k remembered this moment as well, and also how it went. "It's good to see you finally staying out of trouble, Gunner." The memory responded.
"Unlike you," FG42's voice laughed, "give us a spin and let me see those new legs in action."
In the memory, Kar98k complied and twirled on her toes, fluttering her skirt as she turned. The memory also made sure to draw attention that FG42 had mainly focused her attention on her butt as it spun. "That certainly wasn't your ass." FG42 responded.
"I needed an entirely new lower torso," the memory of Kar98k responded, "so I'm sure it looks different now."
"No, I meant you have a fatter ass than you did before." Laughter came from the memory of FG42. She then reached forward and poked Kar98k's chest. "I would have asked for boobs to match."
The memory of Kar98k smacked the hand away and shook her head. "We can't all be perfect." She answered before walking away.
"You already are." FG42 mumbled to herself, continuing to smile as she walked Kar98k away.
The world became a slurry of sight and sound again, reforming into a new memory. Kar98k recognized the next room as well, this familiarity bringing a sense of dread. Once again, she was watching through FG42's eyes as she was dragged through the apartment that the Brigade would eventually help with the State Sec raid. Hands tied behind her back, the Nytos dragged her into the bathroom and threw her onto the tiled floor. Pain shot through her head as her head smacked against the side of the bathtub, FG42 squirming to try and regain her bearings despite her wrist bindings. A Nyto stood over her, and pulled her up by her hair. The half-doll began to shove FG42 into the water of a filled bathtub face first. She was not at risk of drowning, but water getting into her air filtration could cause serious damage over time. "Now I'm all wet," FG42 spat out some of the water as she was pulled back up by her hair, "you're better at foreplay than most men."
"Why did you allow yourself to be captured?" The question dated this memory to after her arrest; this must have been when Paradeus recaptured her before shipping her to Tallinn.
"Why should I have kept fighting," FG42 asked, "should I have just let that crazy sister of yours kill me?"
"We care not for our inferior sister," came a voice from outside the bathroom interrogation, "she will be dealt with in time."
"It's not like I told them anything they don't already know." FG42 lied. It wasn't until recently that Kar98k had learned that FG42 had dumped all of her information about Paradeus during her short internment. She must have known that they would come for her, and she made sure that she would have stuck it to them before she was made to suffer for her defeat. What Kar98k wanted to know was why she did any of it at all.
"You defied our wishes." The Nyto holding FG42 spoke into her ear. "You defied Father's wishes."
"I did what I could to try and convince them." FG42 hissed back at the Nyto. "I wasn't going to drill her fucking skull like you wanted."
Laughter echoed amongst the girls as FG42 was slammed face first into the closed toilet seat. She still tried to struggle free despite her bonds, but stopped temporarily as a distinct whirring sound was heard from somewhere outside. It took her a moment to recognize it, and eventually Kar98k recognized the sound of a drill as well. "We need to ensure that you are adequately punished for your failures."
"As well as guarantee that your memories stay quiet."
FG42's struggling attempts to free herself became more frantic as hands held her head against the toilet. Here, in an undignified bathroom, the spinning tip of a drill was felt at the back of FG42's neck where it connected with her head. Immediately, pain receptors screamed as the drill worked its way inside her, heading upwards into her mechanical skull. As it dug in, the memory stopped projecting and freed Kar98k from having to experience anymore of the same torture that had befallen the other doll.
She was back in the void again, but this time there was a door in front of her. The double doors were the latch less, swinging doors sometimes used in restaurants to separate a kitchen from the dining area. Kar98k stepped forward, pushing her way through the squeaky doors as she prepared for whatever memories she might face in here. As she might have guessed, the next area was a restaurant kitchen. Complete with the various sights and smells one might expect from a restaurant's kitchen, it was also unbearably hot. The humidity felt like a wall of heat, practically knocking Kar98k off her feet with its oppressive heat. If she were human, she'd already be sweating.
The single doll in the kitchen worked at a grill near an open pizza oven. Long blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail, blending into her white chef's coat and apron. At first, the doll ignored Kar98k's entrance in a way that suggested that this might be yet another dream or memory. After a long period of silence, the doll finally spoke without looking up for her work. "This isn't a dream, Kar." FG42's voice came from the doll.
"Then what is this place?" Kar98k asked, looking around. It certainly wasn't the kitchen back at the base, and FG42 seldom spoke about her past.
"I guess you could call it my happy place." FG42 turned, a frown on her face as spoke with melancholy in her voice. "Not that I was very happy when I actually worked here."
"Before you were with Griffin?" Kar98k walked forward, careful to keep her distance before she could establish if it was safe to be here with her.
"Well sure as hell not after." FG42 gave a bitter laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck where she was drilled. "I lived and worked with some of the scummiest and filthiest humans you could imagine to find in a yellow zone city."
Kar98k stopped walking forward, leaving only an island counter between the two of them. It was far too late for caution now, but she couldn't help herself. "So that's why you did what you did."
FG42 laughed, in a condescending manner. "Is that why you came here," she asked with a bitter venom to her voice, "you want me to apologize for wanting to show humanity the cruelty it deserves? Sorry, Kar, but I still think that every one of the hairless monkeys should be lined up and shot."
"So that's how you're going to be?" Shoulders drooping, Kar98k realized that maybe Fredrick was right and they shouldn't let her back into their lives. Maybe leaving her in this hell was the better way to go. Turning to leave, she looked back at the doll with regret. "Then maybe you can be alone with that sentiment."
With those words, FG42's face softened into fear. Holding out a hand in desperation. She bumped into the counter between them as she tried to walk forward and stop Kar98k from leaving. "I know I'm alone," she admitted, "I always have been alone. I'm a bitch and I'm sorry I tried to drag you into my fucked up feelings. I just wanted what I thought would make everyone happy, I never wanted to hurt anyone that mattered."
"Mattered to whom?" Kar98k turned and yelled at the doll. "You dug up Fredrick's wife, shot 44 in the back, beat me, left Angel to die, and tried to turn an entire town into a radioactive crater!"
"And every time, you and the others were there to pick up the pieces!" FG42 snapped back. "Before we worked together I was an illegally sold doll that had to lie about her defective neural cloud to get a job with Griffin. I may have been a piece of shit, but I thought I was helping my friends!"
"Do you really consider what you did 'helping' us?" Kar98k asked, returning back to the counter as the other doll sulked.
Leaning her elbows on the counter, FG42 buried her face in her hands. "I got so much into my own head that I thought I could make you see my way," she sobbed, "that I made you all hate me instead."
Watching her cry, Kar98k couldn't help but feel a ping of sympathy. They had known each other for a while, and worked together more than once. FG42 would run her mouth, but she had never done anything truly untrustworthy. Perhaps her defective neural cloud made her feel differently about humans, but she at least wanted the best for the others. Kar98k sighed and walked around the counter to put an arm of comfort over the doll to comfort her. "I can't speak for any of the others," she whispered, "but I don't hate you. I'm disappointed and angry; but after thinking you were dead for so long I realized I don't hate you."
FG42 buried her face into Kar98k's chest and cried. "I'm sorry I tried to force you to be like me," she spoke between sobs, "and I'm sorry I brought those bastards into your lives."
"Despite everything she had done, we let Angel into our lives," Kar98k wrapped her arms around the FG42, "I'm sure the others may let you back in as well."
If the Nyto could change, then so could FG42.
Finally back in her own body, Kar98k stretched as she readjusted to using a physical body again. There were now a thousand things bouncing around in her head; but first she needed to prioritize one thought in particular. Taking a deep breath, she ignored MP41 and P38 as she stood up and made for the hallway. The two dolls followed her, burying their commander in questions that her silence wouldn't answer. Kar98k, however, was now on a mission.
Making her way to the dorms, she could only think about how Fredrick had apparently tried to hide this from her. She wanted answers, and she was too furious with the man to simply wait for him to get over his food sickness. He had actively hidden this from her despite everything that had happened, and he was certainly in a position to have known better. Right now, this was a blatant betrayal of her trust in him to tell her something important like FG42 being sent back to them. As her boots clacked down the hallway, her anger continued to swirl around inside her like a hurricane. And like the storm, she would destroy him if he didn't choose his words carefully.
As one of the only humans on base, Fredrick was able to claim one of the few dorms with a personal bathroom for his own privacy. With his current sickness, the privacy was surely appreciated as he fought over control of his stomach. Standing in front of his door, Kar98k paused as she realized that she had never actually been inside his room before. Preparing herself, she went to unlock the door and was met with a "do not disturb" message. Ignoring the request for her to leave, Kar98k input her command override codes and the door slid open.
Fredrick's room was dark and quite plain looking, with very little in the way of actual personal effects. His bed lay in the center of the wall opposite the bathroom, accompanied by a bucket just in case. Fredrick himself was asleep, tucked away as he tried to sleep away his sickness when he could. Kar98k, however, had other plans for him as she walked up to his bed and kicked the wooden frame. The bed shifted over with a creak, forcing Fredrick to roll over and curse at her. "What the hell do you want?" The man groaned, eyes barely open as the light from the hallway blinded him.
"You have some explaining to do, Fredrick." Kar98k stood in the middle of the light, making herself appear as a dark silhouette in his eyes.
He tried to sit up, but thought against it and kept laying under the sheets on his bed. "What it is, if it was important I'd have brought it to you."
Did this man really have the gall to claim that FG42 wasn't important enough to bring up? "You better answer why I have to hear about the things you hide under my nose from MP41!" Kar98k was shouting at Fredrick, furious that he was being so flippant about the whole thing. Did he think she didn't know by now?
"So Smiles went through my stuff again?" He asked, shaking his head. He seemed to care more about MP41 snooping around his things than anything else. "No rest for the wicked I suppose."
"The wicked can rest on the fucking floor." Kar98k kicked the corner of the wooden bed frame with sufficient enough force to shatter the wood and rotate the bed even more. With its corner destroyed, the bed fell as it moved over, dropping the corner of the mattress onto the floor and giving Fredrick a jolt.
Going from tired and aloof to angry, Fredrick sat up despite being sick and his tone shifted entirely. "What the hell is going on with you?"
"What's going on with me?" Kar98k leaned forward as she yelled, tempted to grab him by the front of the sleeveless shirt he was wearing and shake some sense into him. "I want to know why the hell you didn't immediately tell me that you had FG42 locked in a box!"
Fredrick's eyes widened with horror as he realized what she was talking about, but not in the way that Kar98k had assumed. He didn't look like he was caught doing something awful; he looked terrified for an entirely different reason. "Did you connect her to an isolated system?" He asked, knowing the answer.
Kar98k paused for a moment, realizing what he was asking. Feeling stupid, she turned to look at MP41 and P38, who had been watching from the hallway. "Well," Kar98k spoke softly, realizing she may have made a massive mistake, "did you girls do that?"
The two dolls shuffled their feet in the hallway, knowing just how big of an issue they may have started. "It may have slipped my mind." MP41 smiled sheepishly.
"You let me make a physical connection to an untested device?" Kar98k immediately began running anti-virus programs.
"You did fucking what?" It was Fredrick's turn to be angry now. "A storage device shows up with no return address and for no reason, and it contains the neural cloud of the doll that stabbed us in the back. For all we know, Paradeus put a virus in her and sent her here in the hopes we'll take her in instead of take a high power magnet to her."
"You girls assured me it was safe!" Kar98k rubbed the back of her neck where she remembered the Nytos drilling FG42 after her capture, realizing that could have been a warning. "I trusted you girls to take the proper precautions-"
"I knew you guys would let your emotions do something stupid like this," Fredrick interrupted her to explain himself, "that's why I wasn't going to tell you about her until I was sure that she was safe to communicate with."
Kar98k hung her head in shame, realizing she made several errors in judgment that led to her taking it out on Fredrick. "I'd still have appreciated some transparency." She said, refusing to make eye contact now.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't do that right away," he rubbed his stomach as he felt it shifting in discomfort, "but getting sick got in the way too."
MP41 and P38 slowly retreated, knowing full well that none of this was an accident and there would be hell to pay. Kar98k glared at them as they left, ready to chew them out later. For now, she turned back to Fredrick and softened. "I'm sorry about your bed," she sighed out the last of her anger, "you're welcome to use mine while I get you a new one."
"So that's your plan to get me in bed with you." He mumbled, giving her a smile to let her know he was joking with her.
Kar98k cleared her throat and turned to leave. "You're also welcome to sleep on the floor."
"Your room is fine," he laughed, "I'm going to have to run several neural cloud checks on you to make sure that you're safe anyway."
Somewhere, a clock strikes 11:56. It is now four minutes to midnight.