The world shuddered as the white haired doll limped down the passageway, bracing against one wall to keep her body from collapsing under its own weight. Above her, a rolling roar grew closer and louder with each moment while below, staccato gunfire punctuated by an occasional heavier thump shook the walls.

Each step brought her closer to the one who'd rendered her into her current state, legs barely holding, body unbalanced and vision blurry, but it was a race against time.

The roar above her was the Baltic sea, the waters rushing down through the submarine base, sweeping halls and aiming to smother her, released by that Griffin Commander.

It was a bit ironic really. That commander and her had the same goal: to take her down and with her the terrible secret in the bowels of this place.

Another thump shook the walls, for a moment silencing the gunfire.

She reached the stairwell that led further down, staring down into the darkness below, wondering if she was too late.

Not so, as the gunfire resumed, and so did she.

It was all growing louder, the ocean crashing and the fighting drawing closer. She managed to limp down the stairs, though nearly stumbling with each step.

"Come on," she grunted through gritted teeth, driving her feet forward, "Come on, come on."

She was close, so close now. Just ahead was the doorway, a pair of massive sliding doors with just the smallest of cracks in between them. She could see a faint blue glow beyond them.

She stumbled into the door, body nearly giving out once again as she desperately clung to the surface to keep her on her feet.

The gunfire stopped just as she slipped inside.

M4 was there, her sister standing with a still smoking rifle that was her namesake in her hands. Past her, the little form of Elisa was hanging limp from a massive apparatus that attached to what looked like a big power generator set on its side.

M4 looks upward, "Dandelion, what have you done!?" she shouts into the void.

She didn't hear the reply, but clearly M4 did, "Didn't you say you'd sever my connection, why can I still feel the starfish in my Neural cloud!?"

Again no response, but M4's words send chills through her core. All around them, a blueish green glow began to slowly increase, prickling at her skin. Collapse radiation. It began to form an orb around the room, surrounding her, M4, and even Elisa.

M4 began to sink to her knees, " I… Can't stay conscious."

She begins to hobble over to her, desperately trying to reach her faltering sister.

And then, M4 goes stiff, eyes wide and unblinking. At the same time, she freezes as well, and in that split second M16A1 realizes what is happening.

"...So that's how it is," M4 mutters as she begins to rise.

M16 limps over to her, "You did it… you've become the key."

"16," M4 says, turning back to look at her with soft, kind eyes, "We can all go back home."

M16 shook her head, "There's no going back now, You've set calamity in motion, no one can stop it now."

"I know, it's worth it to me for everyone to get home safely."

16 stumbles the last little bit to M4, toppling into the doll as the last of her strength leaves her and she wraps her arms around her, "You're a damn fool."

"I know," M4 mutters, "Will you stay with me?"

"Of course, I-" she chokes, "I'm always on your side. But… can we?"

"We will," her sister says, "eventually, we will return together in some way."

The orb forming around them begins to solidify into a pure blue wall, blocking out the surrounding area and then enveloping the three of them. The roar of the seawater reaches a deafening crescendo as the light begins to burn away at M16, tearing at her body and mind.

The last thing she sees is M4 looking right back at her. However, that grin she had been holding, suddenly slipped. Her sister's eyes widened, a frantic energy gripping her as mouth opened, as if to shout something.

Then it was all gone, winked out into nothingness.


A sharp, hot pain slammed into her like a runaway freight train, for a moment lighting up every pain receptor in her body.

M16A1 jolted awake with a yelp, sending a flurry of trash and debris flying off of her as her arms flailed wildly.

She was in a hall… no wait she could see the sky. An alleyway?

16's head jerked left and right, quickly assessing her surroundings. The multiple green dumpsters with colorful lids and rough condition of the asphalt quickly backed up her initial guess.

"Yep, an alley…" she muttered.

Not the first time she'd awoken in one, though those had been happier times. Typically the result of a few too many rounds of Jack.

Tallinn? Probably? That was the only city nearby, but that was nearly fifty kilometers away.

How on Earth could she be back there?

"M4, where are you?" She called out into the airwaves, but after waiting a couple minutes she found the usual frequencies dead.

Could be damage to her internal comms, or maybe M4 was simply unable to respond.

Suddenly a notification popped up. Low power, 8 percent. About 9 hours remaining at nominal operations.

"Great," she grunted as she struggled off the ground. Her body protested, the hacking from before still keeping her slow and making every little motion painful.

She rubbed her dead right eye under her eye patch, feeling the odd numb feeling she'd never quite gotten used to as she thought.

She'd have to find food or a working outlet. Probably not gonna be easy in a dead city…

Her good eye widened as a pair of humans shuffled past the far end of the alley, each rolling a suitcase beside them and wearing a backpack.

She thought she was malfunctioning, seeing things, until another group passed by.

Then another, and another. Pretty quickly it became a steady stream of humans. A few glanced her way, but none spared more than a quick look.

They looked like refugees.

She grit her teeth. Paradeus was shipping in more refugees, like lambs to the slaughter. She'd seen the mountain of corpses that the previous batch had become, she wasn't too eager to see it again.

"Do no- Proceed quickly to y-"

There was a noise in the distance, probably a couple blocks away. It sounded like someone shouting on a megaphone. She made out a couple words, not much that made sense but it sounded kinda like the shouter was directing people. Possibly worth checking out, it could be some Paradeus official.

Carefully, 16 slipped out of the alleyway and onto the street.

There were dozens of humans, chatting in different languages and hushed tones, or staring silently ahead with wide eyes.

There was something odd about them, they seemed to be wearing older fashion, perhaps a product of their economic situation. However a few seemed remarkably well put together. Soccer moms and white collar workers, kids wearing clean shoes and often a smile.

It seemed though she didn't fit in at all. She was getting odd looks, kids were staring.

16 ignored it as well as she could, following along with the flow of traffic as the shouting voice got louder.

Up ahead she noticed a sign on a street corner, reading 'evacuation point A37' with an arrow around the street.

It seemed that was where they were headed.

Just prior to that corner, 16 stepped off the road and ducked back into another alleyway, creeping along it as it wound between a pair of three story apartments.

As she was creeping along, a door swung open in front of her. A man stumbled out, trying to hold open the apparently heavy door while holding onto his bags. Behind him a woman waited patiently.

She passed by them without a word, and came up to the next street shortly after.

More lines of pedestrians, but now they were bunched up and stationary.

But that wasn't what grabbed her attention, no rather it was the man with the megaphone down the street.

He was standing atop an MRAP, and dressed in a pre-war infantry kit while shouting instructions to remain calm over the crowd. Behind him more men dressed like him were standing guard around several parked buses which thin lines of people were piling into.

Above the shouting man a sign reading A37 was haphazardly hung off a light post.

These were not Paradeus, certainly not the Spetsnaz with equipment as dated as they had. National guard possibly, or another pmc. Either way they probably wouldn't try and kill her if they spotted her, which was a nice change of pace from the last few weeks.

Deciding that prudence was still wise, despite being a little more willing to let her guard down, 16 stuck to the edges of the crowd, slowly inching closer to the guards and awaiting buses. She heard murmurs as she waited, and noted the anxious glances around the refugees and even the guards were giving. There were real fears, and a lot of confusion. No one seemed to really know what was up.

She noticed quite a few of the more anxious refugees pulling out and inspecting little white paper cards, turning them over, putting them away, pulling them back out. They looked approximately like business cards, though despite never being able to get a good look at one she was pretty sure it was something a little more important.

It wasn't until she got closer that she realized what they were for.

A refugee would present the card to one of the guards, who would scan it, then point to a bus. So far no one had failed to produce one at the gate either. Despite the apparent unease in the crowd, no one was pushing or panicking, and if her math was right those buses should hold about the same amount of people as were present here.

A planned evacuation.

They had been in Tallinn not even two days ago, and it'd been empty then. So in that time Paradeus had dropped off more refugees, then the government noticed and was able to mobilize an orderly evacuation? That'd be an incredible feat of logistics and bureaucratic efficiency, and she didn't believe for a second the NSU was capable of either.

No way in hell. Something else was up. Perhaps she'd been out for longer than she assumed?

She needed answers, and up ahead she spied someone she thought might have a couple. A young man, near the back of the group of soldiers with a pair of small silver stars on his collar.

As the crowd began to noticeably thin, 16 began wading through towards him. Presumably he noticed, as by the time she'd arrived he was standing a bit closer to the edge of the crowd.

"Are you in charge?" she asked him once she thought she was within earshot.

He raised an eyebrow, "who wants to know?"

"Uh, I'm just a little lost, that's all."

"Ah, well you're at Evacuation point A37 if that helps." he stated.

16 shrugged," doesn't really mean anything to me."

He gave her an odd look," have you had your head under a rock? Evacuation schedules were distributed weeks ago."

Weeks?

"No, no I-" she paused, quickly putting together a story, "I only just got into town."

"Hmmm?" he chuckled, "You picked a bad time for a vacation."

"Not a vacation, I'm looking for my sister. She was supposed to be here. What's going on, why are you evacuating?"

"Orders," he stated simply, "there's been outbreaks of fighting, I'm sure you've heard even if you only just arrived."

She nodded, "I see. Has my sister passed through by any chance?"

"What's her name?"

"Um… Lunasia."

The man nodded to one of his soldiers, who quickly produced a clipboard and handed it off.

"Lets see," he began, thumbing through the pages attached, "Nope, no Lunasia. Any chance she went by a different name?"

16 sighed, "knowing her, it's possible."

"How about this, do you have a photo?"

"Mmm," she nodded, reaching into her jacket and producing a tattered old photograph, "here, she's in the middle beside me."

The man took it, then pulled out an old cell phone and snapped a quick photo before handing it back, "Those other two are also your sisters?"

"Yeah, I'm the oldest."

"Must be stressful, you're going grey already!, "he barked a laugh, pointing to her hair in the photo, which had been brown at the time, "Well, I'll put the word out, maybe we'll find something."

"Thank you."

"In any case, better we get you out as well. Do you have your ID on you?"

"No," she shook her head, "left it at the hotel."

"Well, Tarkov PD will help you get scheduled. I believe the old precinct up the street is still handing out cards, check in with them, they'll get you sorted. Just make sure to grab your ID first."

"I will," she nodded one last time, turning back into the now sparse crowd still waiting evac.

The conversation had been short, but fruitful. Yet she couldn't really feel too happy about it.

She'd noticed something on that soldier's uniform, in fact on all of theirs: They were marked with the flag of the old Russian Federation. Not only that, there was the name he'd dropped so casually: Tarkov. Now that she was looking she noticed it everywhere. 'City of Tarkov' on the manholes along with the Russian eagle, Bank of Tarkov, Tarkov waste management.

Tarkov wasn't a city, it wasn't a town, it wasn't even on any map she remembered. And yet here was the real life City of Tarkov, somewhere within a country which should no longer exist.


Night had at last set in over Tarkov, but M16 was far from thinking about sleep.

No, she was in for a long night.

16 was set up on the second floor of a police precinct, one from a district that'd been evacuated early so the local cops were all out of the city or helping with the evacuation elsewhere.

The cops had disabled and locked up their equipment, computers and servers unpowered and disassembled, but nothing had been removed or destroyed yet.

It was slow going, and of course every system was password locked and encrypted. However the encryption was rudimentary at best compared to what she was used to. A little EW, a couple educated guesses for the passwords, and she was off.

"Good news for me~" she sang, rolling backwards in an office chair as a printer behind her chimed.

Laying flat at the receptacle was a temporary ID slip with her face on it, but a different name. 'Anna V. Tsoi', a name she was requisitioning from someone she'd known once. Should be normal enough to pass, plus the only person who should recognize it was M4, so if she happened upon it her sister would know it was her.

16 held the card aloft, admiring the paper slip that was the culmination of hours of work and sifting through these archaic computers. Now to get out of this city, all she needed was a spot on one of the evac buses.

Simple enough, as it turned out. There were plenty of empty slots listed in the coming days, probably for those who'd missed their designated slot previously so they could be reassigned, so it was a simple matter of sliding her chosen name and face into one of them.

She chose one at A37, figuring it was probably still the closest and she'd get the chance to talk with that Lieutenant again. The closest open slot was in a few days from that point, so hopefully he'd have some word on M4 by then.

That sorted, she saved the document, hit print, and listened as the printer behind her dutifully began to whir.

As she reached back to grab it, a gunshot cut through the air outside. Her body froze, hand hovering not far from the card as she waited in silence, listening.

Suddenly a rapid explosion of gunfire erupted from somewhere outside, sounding like just a couple blocks away from her. From the sound, multiple AKs and a slower firing, but louder weapon she wasn't able to ID from the reports.

There was a pause in the fighting about thirty seconds after it began, before three final shots rang out in quick succession.

She quickly dashed across the room and flicked off the lightswitch, before creeping back over towards the window and scanning the street below.

She waited there for quite a while, at least half an hour, until she was satisfied that whoever had been shooting wasn't heading this way.

Still… that was really close.

16's hand went unconsciously to her shoulder, feeling around for a rifle strap she knew wasn't there. She'd dropped her namesake weapon; it was probably sunken beneath the Baltic sea now. It was uncomfortable, like a piece of her was missing.

She'd had that exact rifle for years, a huge portion of her life. Certainly longer than she'd known M4. Now it was gone, the first time it hadn't been within arms reach.

16 curled up by that window, her body leaning up against it. Up above she caught a glimpse of the starry night sky. It was sparse, the light pollution from some of the distant lights of the non abandoned portions of the city diluting much of it out, but she still could make out a few stars.

She took a long breath, and looked down at her right hand. She rubbed the simple titanium band wrapped around one of her fingers, and felt a little warmer.

She'd found something else on that old computer. The date. It was late September, 2012.

50 years and some change earlier in time than it should be.

Where the hell was she?

A bleating reminder flashed.

1% remaining.

"Oh fuck," she yelped, hopping back ot her feet, snagging the card still laying on the printer, and vacating the dark room for a fluorescent lit hallway.

She quickly navigated through, winding back towards a door she recalled from when she'd first entered the building. It was an unassuming little door, merely marked 'lounge', but it was her best bet.

It was dark inside, stepping the lights behind her shone into the room and revealed a few rows of benches, with a set of old appliances on the far wall. Among them, a refrigerator.

Gen II dolls were built to emulate humans, to an extent, and while the methods used and care given varied, a few features were near universal. Among them, a biofuel reactor that could convert most anything a human considered food into usable energy.

She was about to put that to the test.

She grimaced, looking over the food choices. The fridge was powered, sure, but most of this seemed more than a week old.

A few were outright moldy, which she set aside in case there was literally nothing else, as well as a few which smelled suspicious. She also set aside a reasonable looking salad dressed in some kind of vinegar; she did have taste receptors after all.

16 settled on an okay looking, half eaten burger to start, followed by some cold, lentil soup.

"Maybe the Mic works," she wondered aloud.

Turns out, it did, thankfully. Doll or not, hot meals are better than cold ones.

She got halfway through the meal when a door slammed shut somewhere in the building. Not too loudly, but enough.

She froze.

Footsteps, multiple, moving with a purpose nearby. They weren't light either.

Meal in hand, she got up and moved to the far end of the room, near the second door. As the steps got closer, she weighed her options.

Confronting these people could work, but she was disarmed and still suffering the lingering effects of M4's EW attack. If they were armed, smart, or in a large group she could be in real trouble.

Stay here? Maybe, maybe not. She didn't know who they were, so she couldn't say if they would have reason to enter this room.

She flicked off the light and slipped out, stepping into the unlit hall and soft-footing her way towards where she knew a fire exit was. She had no problem navigating, perks of built in IR sensors, and with the burger now devoured she had enough power to safely use the system.

A laser flashed in the hall ahead of her, piercing out from a connecting hall across where she had been about to step.

She froze, staring at the line of thin IR light hanging in the air. It swept a little from side to side, in time with footsteps growing closer.

She backpedaled, stumbling back into one of the doors she'd passed. It creaked open into a small locker room.

"Hey, you hear that?" She heard a muttered voice ask from just out in the hall.

The laser appeared once again in the darkness.

She quickly found an unlocked locker, slipped in as quiet as she could and shut it with a dull click she was hopeful they didn't hear.

A dark figure passed through, a mere shadow through the grate. She could make out the laser's source though: a gun shaped shadow in his hands.

"Clear."

"What about the lockers, could someone fit in there?"

"Don't be dumb, that's just in movies."

Suddenly, she heard a faint radio garble, and some tinny voice speaking words she couldn't quite hear.

"Copy. Moving up to join you. Out."

The two men quickly left, moving with quick, military efficiency.

16 didn't linger. Quick and quiet, she slipped back out. She spied the men at the end of the hall, now clearly visible in IR. Tall, helmeted with NODs attached at the top of their helmets. Each carried an AK with non-standard attachments. The men stepped into the room at the end of the hall, which was the computer room she'd been in earlier to print her card.

Her eyes narrowed. Had they seen her light, or was their presence a mere coincidence?

Not eager to find out, she made towards an exit. She skipped the fire escape, since she knew they were some kind of military, leaving out that way could be trouble. If someone was watching it, there would be no way to conceal her exit from that way.

Instead she made for the first floor, along the side of the building. There were dozens of offices here, each with a window that partially opened.

She picked one, and got to work disassembling its window. Once it opened enough to fit her, she squeezed through into the cold night air.

From there she made for the fence, careful to stay in the darkest shadows and to move slowly.

This proved wise, as on reaching the fence she noticed a small group of armed men watching the front entrance. They watched all directions, and she heard muttered radio chatter. Clearly she'd not been spotted, else the AK's they all carried would have been her first sign she got of them.

She got up and over the fence with no issue, it was meant to be an obstacle to humans, not dolls afterall. Once clear, and with one last quick glance to ensure she was still unnoticed, M16 disappeared into the night.


Days later, M16 approached the checkpoint, which was still in the process of opening and so had comparatively few civilians around it.

It had been a strange few days. She'd transferred with the few hundred rubles she had in her pocket, and had found a local hotel where, due to the sudden drop in demand, that had been enough money to secure a few nights and food, so her run in with those armed men had been a one off.

She also managed to acquire some clothing from the laundry there, forgotten by its previous owners, including a knit hat to hide her rather distinctive hair.

Still, with the city emptier everyday, and firefights in the streets more common, it hadn't been too comfortable, but it was plenty familiar.

The lieutenant recognized her as she approached, waving to her as she wove through the small crowd that was just starting to form.

"Welcome back," he greeted her.

"Any word?"

He nodded, " as it happens, someone else asked for that same name. A girl, apparently matching the description you gave, and around the same time you asked."

M16 nodded, "figures, where?"

"G-28, across the city I'm afraid, near the river."

"Is she due to be evacuated from there?"

He shrugged, "not by the name you gave, but I told the guards there to look out for her if she returns. What about you, did you get sorted?"

16 retrieved her card," yep, got lucky."

The man took the card, reading it carefully before returning it," ah, Anna, you're in the second wave today, when the buses return."

In the building behind the man, 16 shot a glance to a window. It was open, and she was certain it hadn't been moments prior.

Pushing concerns aside, she replied, "I see, perhaps I'll get some food and return later then."

He nodded," I'll put a notice out, let your sister know you'll be evacuated today if any of our units meet with her."

She smiled as she began walking off," thank you sir."

He returned the smile, " of course."

She wandered back out of the crowd, and strolled back up the street. The streets were emptier than when she'd first arrived, but not totally lifeless. A few shops remained open, mostly those selling food and booze, those were popular.

She had no need for food at the moment, the hotel had working electricity and chargers on request. It was a little bit of a hassle, since they didn't have any standard doll cord, but she made what was available work with a bit of creative splicing.

Instead, she walked and thought, weighing her options.

She could leave, the military seemed to be uninterested in her, and even willing to help, so it wasn't a bad option.

She could stay, but who knows what would happen. Clearly the city was being cleared for a reason, and the ever more common firefights were indicative of what could be expected once the evacuation was complete.

Either way, if M4 chose differently from her things would be difficult.

She turned the corner, coming upon a police checkpoint. She'd passed this more than once, and so simply nodded to the officers as she stepped past them. They weren't looking for anyone, she figured, but simply were using their presence to calm everyone nearby.

Suddenly, an explosion of gunfire roared to life in the distance. The cops, clearly jumpy, flinched at the sound before their brains realized it was nowhere near.

Aks and Ars, multiple of each tearing away from at least a few kilometers away. They were only interrupted by the occasional heavier blow of what were probably grenades.

This was not a unique event, and 16 could only speculate on their sources.

The western weapons were odd, she'd seen plenty of Ak derivatives, but few to none western equivalents in the hands of soldiers or police. She heard them often though, and it made her wonder.

M4 should've kept her namesake weapon, she'd had it when they'd been transferred, but 16 hoped her sister would be wise enough not to get into firefights.

But if it wasn't her, and not the local forces, then who?

She wandered for a few hours more, taking note of the different parts of the city nearby. Sources of food, shelter, power, and so on. She noted which houses didn't have cars, which she saw people emerging from with bags.

Eventually she began to head back to checkpoint A37, coming back to the point just as the buses returned with their Tigr LAV escorts.

She noticed the young lieutenant still there, and they exchanged nods before one of his subordinates came up behind him, holding a radio phone up for him.

He took it and began to walk away as the guards opened the evac point and began accepting cards.

She decided, M4 would most likely try to leave, and so would she. She wasn't exactly trusting of the government forces, but it seemed clear that this was not the same government she knew.

As M16 handed her card to the guard, she happened to look up.

There was a barrel sticking out from that window, the one she'd seen open hours ago.

It shuddered, the lieutenant's neck exploded in a spray of blood. He fell to the earth, collapsing into a heap, and then all hell broke loose.