...with no balls?

"Don't worry, you look very pretty."

I lift my head out of my hands for a moment to see that AN-94 is trying to offer me an olive branch of peace. It's misguided, but I can see it's there.

"...Thanks, Antja." I give up, doing my best to smile at her. "Though, I kinda wish I got to wear what you've got on."

"Nonsense." AK-12 beams. "While she must wear a suit, it would be a real shame if we forced you into one."

I smooth down the folds in the dress that I had been practically forced to wear by everyone on base. After MDR got that footage that showed that I wasn't entirely myself anymore, the news had become public knowledge almost overnight.

A parade of dolls had insisted that I change from my planned suit instead, shoving me into a dress that shows way too much skin, and instead of hiding my newly developed breasts actually accents them, pushing them up from below so they look bigger. The hem is also too short, forcing me to check every few minutes that my underwear isn't showing.

It hasn't happened yet, but I presume it's only a matter of time.

"I'd much rather a suit than this." I gesture at my dress. "I'm not comfortable in this body."

"Not comfortable yet." AK-12 smiles. "Don't worry, we'll protect your innocence."

"...Right." I sigh.

"Hey." P90 elbows me in the ribs. "It could be worse."

I glanced at the pretty girl beside me, one of the few dolls that hadn't really seemed to care much about my abrupt gender swap. "How could it be worse?"

"You could be stuck in between a guy and a girl. That always sucks."

I open my mouth to argue but realize that she's probably right and lapse back into silence, looking out the window of the vehicle we had appropriated as the mansion this dumb party is at looms ever closer.

The glass reflects my face a bit in the dim evening light, and I console myself that even if someone I know was there, which seems unlikely due to the high profile of the party, they wouldn't be able to recognize me.

Five-Seven and FAL had insisted on doing my makeup after MDR had spread the news far and wide through Griffchan, and it had radically altered my appearance. If it wasn't me I might have even called my face pretty.

Five-Seven also insisted on doing my rapidly growing hair into a waterfall braid, which I had to admit looks nice, but once again, it's on my head and that just makes it feel wrong.

The car pulls up to the front doors of the mansion and we pile out of the car, AK-12 hooking her arm through one of mine and AN-94 hooking my other.

As such, the three of us walk into the building, make it through security with relative ease after Lee Enfield shows up, and then we walk out into the main part of the event.

A swarm of people, almost crushing in their volume and presence. Worse, they keep looking at us.

Sure, the blind woman in a suit is unusual, and the not-so-blind woman is pretty, but all of the stares pointed my way make a relative wallflower like me shrink away. It doesn't help that all of the gazes I'm getting are pointed south of my neckline.

I knew it was a problem that everyone looks at a woman's breasts, but come on.

At least AN-94 picks up on my discomfort and leads both myself and AK-12 over to the food tables.

I almost reject the food, but my stomach reminds me that I haven't had much of an appetite recently anyway and I really need more nutrients with all the changes happening to my body.

Once my plate is loaded up, we all head over to a table near the dance floor, and I dig in while AK-12 and AN-94 make small talk.

"Oh, I wonder if the DJ takes requests."

"I suppose he might." AN-94 peers at the man disc-jockeying behind a laptop pretending like he knows how to DJ. "Should I go ask?"

"Yes please," AK-12 says politely.

AN-94 leaves, and then 12 turns to me with a coy smile. "So, Hadwin. I think you need a new name."

I pause, a fork full of food halfway to my mouth for a minute. "...Huh?"

"Hadwin is a man's name. We need to get you something more feminine." She taps her chin in thought. "Maybe Anastasia?"

"Uh, no."

"Vera."

"That sounds like I drink a bottle of wine a day."

"No, that's 'Vino'. How about Sasha?"

"I'm not a minigun."

"It's also not 2007. They want their memes back." 12 grins.

I sigh and look out at the dance floor, where an older woman dressed in a Griffin uniform that I don't recognize is trying to dance with a guy. The guy eventually just stops dancing and leaves the floor, leaving the woman alone. She hangs her head, monocle almost fallout off of her face, before turning and heading back to her table.

Ah, here's where Gentiane went.

"Lucia, I'll be right back."

"Oh, leaving the blind girl by herself? You're horrible."

"Fine then, you can come with me." I walk around the table and help her up. "I hope Antja realizes-"

Two larger, muscular men step in front of me as I help 12 to her feet, her arms snaking into mine.

"Hello, Ladies." The older of the two, taller and with darker hair, grins and grandly sweeps his hands about. "How are you finding the festivities tonight?"

"Oh, they are lovely." AK-12 beams. "The music is especially well coordinated and the food is delicious."

We haven't eaten yet…

"Excellent!" The younger man with blond hair and sharper eyes claps his hands together. "Would you two lovely women like to come with us to grab a drink at the wet bar?"

"Er…" I hesitate. "I'm not really-"

"Of course, we would love to." AK-12 elbows me sharply. "Lead the way."

She turns to me as the two men, who seem to be brothers, exchange a high five. "Those are Myroslav's sons. Tall and dark is Danylo, younger and the blond is Yaroslav."

"Okay?! Why are we getting drinks with them then?"

"Because they might have access to the vault."

I bite my tongue and reluctantly continue to push through the crowd behind the two men, leading 12 along.

We get to the bar shortly, and when I sit down, 12 sits to my left and Yaroslav sits on my right, with Danylo taking 12's other side.

"Barkeep! 4 shots of the good stuff." Danylo orders, and the well-dressed man behind the counter immediately starts working on his order.

"So, why don't you two introduce yourselves?" Yaroslav asks.

"I'm Lucia, this is Alexandria."

Oh, good. She picked a name for me. "Nice to meet you."

Yaroslav nods. "I'm Yaroslav, and my bro's Danylo. We're actually the ones hosting this party."

AK-12 gasps. "Oh? I'm honored you'd talk to us!"

"For two pretty girls such as yourselves, anytime." Danylo accepts his glass as the waiter hands it to him.

"You… you think I'm pretty?" 12 asks shyly.

I have to stare into my drink to avoid staring at her incredulously. I mean, she's obviously acting but-

"Of course!"

"Oh, that's a relief. I'm blind, you see, so I'm never quite sure if I put on my clothes inside out or not."

Yaroslav snickers. "Oh, trust me, they're on correctly. Anyway, now that everyone's got their drink-"

I realize 12's not picking up her drink, gently grabbing her wrist and leading her hand over to her glass.

"-a toast to tonight!"

We all raise our glasses and start to drink.

The liquid burns the entire way down, and I have to try to keep myself from coughing.

As I try to get my body under control, 12 turns to Danylo. "You two are the sons of the man that owns this mansion, yes?"

"Yes," Danylo smirks. "We've set this whole party up for dad, though he was in charge of the guest list."

Yaroslav leans over the counter. "He's got more connections than us for sure. I'm glad though because I wouldn't have had a chance to meet you two if I was relying on my own connections."

"Oh, you flirt." 12 laughs lightly.

The two grin and I realize that 12's playing them like a fiddle, but her attitude is still throwing me for a loop.

"I'm kinda surprised you have enough space to have this party here." I glance around the room. "I would have thought you'd have, you know, rooms."

"Heh, our great-great-great-grandpa built this mansion as a meeting place." Danylo turns around in his seat and sips his drink. "The original building was destroyed during World War II, and it was remade like this. There are still living areas in the back and a few of the underground parts are still original."

"Underground?" 12 asks, tilting her head.

I jump as my earpiece activates, UMP9's voice coming through. "Hadwin? It's UMP 9."

I lean my head down to disguise what I'm doing, tapping the earpiece on and muttering. "What's up?"

"Security down here is too tight unless we want to cause an unnecessary disturbance. I tried to distract the guard with my charms but he just laughed at me…"

"...What do you want me to do?"

"Cause a large enough distraction up there. Otherwise, we're stuck and can't get to the vault."

"Right." I mutter into my glass. "Well, we might have a solution. Wait a few minutes." I sit back up straight and start paying attention to the conversation once more.

"-now, that bomb shelter is a vault." Danylo grins.

"Wow," I speak up, cutting whatever 12 was about to say off. "Do you store money down there?"

"Nah, mostly paperwork," Yaroslav smirks. "But we do have some old family heirlooms."

"Like what?" 12 asks.

"Oh, you know… a sword, an ornamental shield from the medieval era, stuff like that." He continues. "Actually, Dad's got that Key down there-"

Danylo's voice chills. "Yaro."

Oh, that's got to be what we're looking for.

Yaro bites his tongue, but 12 doesn't relent. "You aren't supposed to keep keys in a vault, you're supposed to keep them so you can get in!" She laughs. "Did you lock yourselves out?"

"It's not that kind of key." Yaroslav's voice is more subdued.

"It's kind of like the Rosetta Stone." Danylo explains. "It's got a lot of information stored in it."

"Oh." 12 makes a show of being disappointed.

"So it's a box?" I frown.

"...You know," Yaroslav rubs his chin. "Since you two are so curious, why don't we show you around? It'd be fun!"

"Really?" 12 turns to me and grabs my hands. "We should go!"

"Y-yeah." I try to smile, but my lips are slightly uncooperative.

"Don't worry." Danylo grins. "We're not gonna trap you down there."

"Can I get my sister?" 12 turns back to Danylo. "She should be around the DJ booth."

"I'll go get her." I slide off the stool, tugging at the dress as the hem starts to ride up. "I'll be right back."

Actually fetching AN-94 is a simple affair, she sat back down at our table and spotted me fairly quickly.

"Where's Lucia?"

"She's talking with Myroslav's sons. They're going to take us on a tour of the vault."

"...How did you-"

"Lucia's a sweet talker."

"That she is."

We get back to the bar to find Yaroslav has moved closer to 12, who has turned around to get up.

94 runs up to her 'sister' and gently taps her, performing her duties as Lucia's minder as they all get up and start guiding us further into the building.

12 leans in close to me as we enter into the darkness. "They're planning on bringing us to their rooms afterward."

"...What? Why?"

"They're rich, and we're young women." 12's voice is quiet. "Do the math."

I shudder as I come to the realization. "No, no no no!"

"Don't worry, it's not going to come to that." she continues to whisper. "If they try anything, 94 and I will take them down and you can escape with the Key."

"Great. Just, great." I groan quietly. "By the way, how did you figure out what they're planning?"

"They were making hand gestures to each other." She smiles. "After all, a blind girl can't see those."

I can only shake my head.

We're led down into the basement of the mansion, past guards down a long hallway, and finally, let through the large door of the vault. At some point, I see four sets of eyes open up in the dark as we walk past 404, all of whom had hidden in the shadows. The singular yellow eye burns into my skull as I pass, and I have to intentionally keep myself from shaking.

"Here we are!" Danylo gestures grandly. "For my lovely Lucia, I will describe what we have down here. On the left is our collection of-"

I tune out slightly, looking around at the stacks and stacks of paperwork. I guess these are important to somebody, but my mind keeps wandering to 12's warning.

I have a handgun on me, but…

"-and over here, we have the Key!" Yaroslav cuts through my thoughts with his announcement. "Here let me get it out so you can hold it."

"Yaro-" Danylo's voice grows sharp once more, but Yaroslav turns to his brother.

"Come on man, we promised to let her see it, but she's blind. She can hold it for a minute, yeah?"

"...Fine, but be careful with it. It's priceless."

"If it's too much of a risk, I will be happy with a description." AK-12 pipes up.

"No, it's fine." Danylo sighs and his voice warms back up. "It would be a shame to deny someone as beautiful as you the experience."

I watch as Yaroslav lifts a black and gold lump about the size of a baseball up and carefully hands it to 12.

She rubs her hands all over it, face blank as if lost in thought, 94 beside her peering down at the small object.

I was about to join 94 when I heard footsteps coming from the entrance to the vault and turned around.

Oh shit.

Myroslav Rud, a man I had only seen in pictures before, and Anisim.

The man that had turned me into… this.

My hand goes to my gun, but I quickly realize that I'm heavily outmatched even with both 12 and 94 here as the guards also move to enter the vault.

"Antja-" I call, only for my warning to get cut off by a much louder voice.

"BOYS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Yaroslav and Danylo turn on the spot faces full of guilt as their father enters the vault. "I was talking with a delightful young girl when I got word that you two are down here screwing around with some women again. Can't you two keep it in your pants for five seconds? Especially when I told you both specifically not to come down here!"

"...Sorry," Danylo grumbles.

"It's going on display later anyway," Yaroslav complains. "I was just giving them a sneak peek."

"No, it's not." Anisim smiles and steps forward, eyes flicking between 12, 94… and mine, before I avert my eyes and look down at the floor. "I will be taking possession of it. This party has some uninvited guests."

12's hand goes to her mouth. "It does? How horrid."

"Yes, quite." Myroslav looks at his watch. "You ladies should be getting back to the party. Yaro, Danylo, please take them back up to the main hall. Miss, if you could hand me that-"

Myroslav takes the Key from 12 and hands it to Anisim, who examines it for a moment before tucking it into his pocket.

Danylo approaches 12 and 94. "Hey, let's go back upstairs, yeah?"

"I'm sorry to be a burden." 12's face falls. "If I had known-"

"You two are not in trouble." Anisim pats them on their shoulders. "After all, you two are just being dragged along by those two." He turns to me, my eyes catching his feet turning toward me and walking closer. "You, however…"

I look up slowly, trying to school my features. He's staring at me intently, eyes flicking over my frame in a way that almost feels slimy like he's licking me with his eyes.

"I think you and I should have a chat."

"I'm sorry but-" I try to move away from him to join up with 12 and 94, but he places a hand on my shoulder.

"Why don't we go upstairs and grab a drink? I'm Anisim, by the way, what's your name?"

His smile creeps me out, but… My eyes track back down to the floor, incidentally looking at the pocket where the Key was stuck into his jacket. "I'm Alexandria… and I suppose I can grab something with you."

"Excellent!" He throws his arm around my shoulder and starts guiding me back the way we had come, with Myroslav stopping by the door of the vault to reprimand the guards.

12 and 94 are walking ahead of us, and I see the two Rud boys take them a different way than back to the party. I want to try to contact them, but I'm kinda in the arms of the enemy.

We manage to make it all the way up to the main floor before he speaks again. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet, not." I shake my head.

"Then let's go grab some plates."

After loading both plates up with food, he leads us to a table… right next to Gentiane and several other people I don't know, one of which is wearing a Griffin coat. I try to ask them for help with my eyes, but they all ignore me as I walk past, though Gentiane's eyes do track me.

"So," Anisim smiles brightly as he sits down next to me at the small round table. "Those two kids can be quite a handful, hmm?"

Is he talking about 12 and 94 or the Rud boys? "...Ah, I suppose."

"Honestly, I think Myroslav needs to keep them on a tighter leash. This Key-" He taps his pocket. "-is very important to my business."

"Oh? What do you do?" I ask on autopilot, my fork picking at my food.

"I'm the lead researcher for GeneLab." He beams. "I've been developing several new prosthetic technologies with my team recently. We also do some work with dolls-"

Why is he telling me his life story, and why is it wrong? I know he's not a researcher, he's in charge of those white robots over in Paradeus. Sure, maybe he's using this as a cover story, but why tell me the entire thing? What's he trying to do?

I continue to eat, half to disguise my confusion as to what he's talking about, and half because I'm actually really fucking hungry.

Eventually, he pauses to catch his breath. "Oh, I'm sorry, I get so trapped inside my head when I start talking about work that I forget about the drinks I promised you. Would you like me to get you something?"

"Um, yes please." I try to smile at him.

He gets to his feet and walks toward the bar.

As soon as the press of people closes in around him, Gentaine and the other woman at the table turn to me so quickly I jump.

"What did you do!?" Gentiane demands.

"W-what? I didn't do anything!" I hold my hands up.

She rubs her temples. "Oh, this is going to end poorly, I know it."

"Why?" I look at the faces glancing my way, and realize that more than just a few of the dolls we had brought with us are luring around, blending in with the environment, but definitely staying in this general area. "Did I screw up?"

"Screw up?" The older woman's lips quirk up. "Hadwin, yes? You've got him wrapped around your finger."

"Huh?"

Gentiane stands up and places her hands on my shoulder. "He's smitten with you."

My brain goes blank.

She continues hurriedly. "We had 45 and 9 run a check on the stuff he's telling you and it's all true, that's his civilian persona. He's been telling you all about himself in an attempt to get you to like him."

"...He tried to kill me."

"I don't think he recognizes you." Gentiane shakes her head. "He came up to us earlier, and despite being polite, he wasn't so… talkative. No, he's definitely crushing on you."

…Oh god. "He's like 40 years old! And, I'm a guy!"

Gentiane grimaces. "He's thirty-six, and right now, you're an attractive 20-year-old girl. I hate to have you do this, but… you might be able to get the Key from him if-"

She suddenly turns and scoots back to her seat, and I glance around to find Anisim coming back with two drinks, one in each hand.

He sets one down in front of me and then sits down in his own seat. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"No, I was…" I look around and see that we're close to the dance floor. "I was watching the dancers."

"Do you like to dance?" His voice grows hopeful.

"I can't say that I've had enough of a chance to learn."

"Then, would you be willing to dance with me?" He extends his hand. "I'm able to teach you if you'd like."

I look back out at the dance floor, and I realize that the song is coming to a close. Gentiane asked me too… 12 would have just agreed outright, and she almost got us what we needed. I should follow her example. "Sure."

He helps me out of my seat and leads me to the dance floor as the DJ cues up a song. It's "Waltz no.2" by Dmitri Shostakovich if I'm not mistaken.

Anisim's arm wraps around my waist and he grabs my hand with his other one. It's a slow waltz, and though I said I never learned to dance, I at least know a basic waltz. It's just stepping in time with the music.

"I feel like this is fate." He comments as we start to sway around to the music.

"Hmm?"

"I mean, I'm here just to get something tonight, but when I go to get it, I meet a beautiful girl."

…Ooooooh god.

"And wouldn't you know it, you're still here with me." His mouth spreads into a goofy grin, nothing like what I had seen on him up to this point. No hint of his cold, calculating personality is left. "I feel like I have been blessed by an angel."

"Oh, really?" I answer weakly. Yeah, he has no fucking idea who I am, does he?

He chuckles. "Probably not, to be honest. I have many enemies, and I fear heaven might be one of them."

…He's playing up his bad boy angle. Someone save me before I puke.

"Excuse me, sir?"

We both turn to see a woman, about my age, wearing a butler uniform. It's not anyone I recognize, though I swear I caught a glint in her eyes that's familiar…

"What is it?" Anisim snaps. "I'm busy!"

She draws a handgun. "Hand over the key."

Behind her, I see Gentiane leap to her feet, her hand reaching for her own gun, only for several of the guests I don't know to also draw guns.

Then, the hall erupts into chaos.

Anisim tackles me to the floor, pulls a gun out from his suit jacket, aims it at the waitress, and fires. The bullet brains the doll, the metal body seizing and falling over.

People start to scream, and gunfire breaks out from all angles, dolls I know and ones I don't get into a firefight while the regular people freak out, screaming and running around or fainting to the floor.

I put my hand on my handgun, only to have it yanked away by Anisim, who grabs my arm and starts pulling me along with him as he starts to make his way across the dance floor, gun poised to shoot.

In the background, the music moves on from the waltz to a much faster song. "Ballroom Blitz", I think?

"Ow! Ow!" I complain as his hand threatens to break something in my wrist. "Wh-where are you taking me?"

"O-oh! Sorry." He actually looks genuinely scared as his hand lets go of mine like it's on fire. "It's… it looks like there are a few dolls that have decided to join the party, and they don't want to play nice."

I notice that he hides the gun behind his leg as if I wouldn't notice it. "Why did they decide to shoot you?"

"...I told you, this key is important." He pulls the Key out of his pocket. "It's got valuable knowledge that will help with several of my projects."

"Enough that people will kill you for it?"

He nods, then his eyes widen. "Actually, I have something I'd like you to do."

I glanced back at the combat, noticing P90 had drawn her gun and had started to dance around, returning fire at some of those other dolls that had drawn earlier. Weird, I would have thought we were the only ones here with a doll contingent… "You need me to go out there?"

"What?! No, who would ask a lovely lady like you to do something that dangerous?" He hands me the Key and pushes me behind him. "Please get out of the mansion before they lock everything down. I'll make sure everything in here gets solved, and I'll come to get you."

I stare at the Key he had just handed me. "W-where do you want me to meet up with you?"

"...Well, there's a bar in town called 'The Black Rhino'. Meet me there tomorrow evening, okay? Don't let anyone else have the Key, it's very important."

"Okay."

"I'm trusting you here." He places his hands over mine, slightly awkwardly what with me holding the Key and him holding a gun in his right hand. "I can't wait to see you again."

I stand in place for a few seconds and he moves back out, ducking behind an overturned table for cover with his handgun drawn.

He seriously just handed me the Key.

What the fuck.

Someone taps my shoulder, and I whirl around, my hand actually drawing my gun completely this time.

AK-12 deflects my hand upward before I can shoot her head off, and smiles at me. "Shall we go?"

"...Y-yes, let's get out of here."

I missed the rest of the night's chaos, though according to P90 it was a riot. Quite literally too, a terrorist group deciding to steal the Key had been in charge of the Dolls that had attacked Anisim and me.

Now, I sit around a table back at base, the commanders discussing some things amongst themselves while I talk with the two DEFY dolls that had helped me through the night.

"So they did take you up to their rooms?" I ask.

12 nods.

94 shudders. "Yaroslav said he liked girls in suits, but 'I like it better when it's on the floor and then he tried to pull my jacket off."

"Danylo also tried to stick his hand into my dress." 12 smiles.

"...Uh-"

"Don't worry, we paid them back." 12 cuts me off, seeing the look on my face. One of her eyes cracks open and her expression becomes ruthless. "Assuming they weren't killed, neither of them will be able to use a urinal ever again."

I blink, not comprehending.

94 blushes. "I shot his dick off."

"Just punishment for rapists." 12 sniffs.

Oh. I wince but have to admit they had it coming to them.

"Hadwin?"

I turn to face the table, seeing that the Commanders are done talking amongst themselves.

"It's Alexandria." 12 chimes in.

"Huh?" Gentine's frown deepens.

12 throws her arms around my shoulders, and I find that unlike when Anisim had done it, her arms are warm and friendly. "Her name is Alexandria."

"It's not-" I start to protest, but before I can Ricardo's eyes snap up to meet mine.

"You're… name is Alexandria?"

"It's the name 12 gave me while I was undercover, yeah." I shrug. "I forgot to give myself a female name before heading in. 'Hadwin' would've set off alarm bells."

He nods slowly. "You know, I really wish Gentaine had told us you turned into a girl. I didn't realize that was you until we got out."

I shrug. "I didn't want it to be known myself, but… MDR."

"MDR." Gentiane agrees. "She's in the doghouse for that stunt, rest assured."

"So." I poke the Key sitting on the table. "What are we going to do with this?"

I sit down at my laptop, staring at the blank email I'm attempting to write to my family. I have to explain the past two weeks since the Mansion job and just how crazy my life has become.

I've been staring at it for an hour already…

Fuck it, I'll just cover the most important things.

"Dear mom, dad, and Lexi,

It's Hadwin. Or, I used to be Hadwin. See, several things happened while I was away, and they're really, really crazy…"

I proceed to detail what had happened with the serum, how I'm now a woman, and a fact that I had eventually come to terms with since I had the help and support of those around me. I told them about how I had just been released from my contract with GnK, and some of the whacky things that had happened between then and now. Even wrote that Ricardo was a traitor! Glad we got rid of him pretty soon after I turned into a girl.

The last thing I write about is the Paldiski submarine base, an abandoned structure with a Starfish inside of it. I don't tell them what it was for, and I really don't know myself either. We just went down into the depths of the base and got it, fairly anticlimactic.

I thought we were going to have to fight our way in and out of there, but since we got the Key before anyone else had a chance to look at it, I guess we were the only ones that showed up.

I wouldn't have enjoyed trying to fight in the collapse radiation suits we had to wear to survive in the red zone either.

Once I finish my brief explanation of events, my fingers pause over the keyboard.

"Gentiane gave me a choice to either stick with Griffin or leave and return home. For now, I'm going to come home, since I really miss you guys. But, I also like it here with the dolls. I'll make up my mind soon, but for now, I'll be coming home.

Your daughter, Alexandria."

I check that I didn't say anything too weird, that I said everything I needed to, and take a deep breath, mouse hovering over the send button.

A hand wraps around mine, a finger pushing mine down over the button. "So you finally decided to send it?"

I nod, feeling the warmth of my girlfriend's arms as she drapes herself around my shoulders. "I wasn't going to send it yet, but… well, it's on its way now."

"Yep. So, come to bed."

I look back up at her, eyes glowing in the dark. "Okay. And, thank you for being there for me."

She grins. "That's all I can do. Now, let's get to bed."

I close the laptop and slip under the sheets, glad that I can have some time to relax with my favorite person in the world…

Our hands link under the blanket, and I fade off to dreamland to the warmth of her presence.

Notes: Aaaand that's it. The official story following dear Alexandria is complete. There is more I would want to write, of course, but I can at least be satisfied if more doesn't get written than the "main plot". As always, this chapter wouldn't be possible without Field Agent's original author helping to get the right 1st person tone.

...maybe I'll get my Nier:Automata X GFL story going again after this. But for now, just what is a popular and beautiful hero (with a large inbox full of prospective job offers) to do when she leaves G&K? Who does she end up with? How does the Galanis family react to suddenly having another daughter? We've got some ideas, but you let us know your thoughts, dear readers.