Chapter 6: I'm Back.

2062

Gentiane sips her eighth cup of coffee, wondering if she's gonna develop an addiction.

These dumb Sangvis robots-

A bright pinprick of light draws her attention, seeming to hover in space.

She blinks, rubs her eyes, and looks again.

Yup, still there.

"G36?" She calls, her hand already going for her pistol.

"Ja, commandant?" G36 pokes her head in. "What is-"

She also sees the bright point, but instead of drawing a firearm she holds out her broom and swats at the light.

It has no effect, aside from possibly making it bigger.

As the two watch, the light grows so fast that Gentiane hardly has time to call into her communicator.

"Emergency alert! We've got some sort of-"

Blinding white light, confusing and somehow warm at the same time.

At least, until all of it bursts into color and I start to fall.

"SON OF A FUCK!"

I hit the floor hard and with a meaty slap as my bare ass hits the cold tile.

Owwwwwwww…

"HANDS UP!"

"HÄNDE HOCH!"

I look up to see G36 and Gentiane pointing weapons at me. Or… I suppose a broom is a weapon in a doll's hands. "Oh. Hey Gentiane."

She seems to stumble over herself. "Wh- How do you know my name?"

G36 whacks my head with the broom she's holding. I give the doll a look, and she, predictably, is nonplussed.

"Uh, Gentiane?" I turn to my commander. "We worked together for a few months? Killed a bunch of Paradeus assholes?" I pause as the light of recognition doesn't enter her eyes. "We blew up a pike node together?"

"A pike what?"

…Huh?

I glance at G36, who is raising the broom like a bat for a second swing. "G36-"

She swings, and this time I grab the broom handle to stop the swing, only for the wooden stick to snap in half. Ah, she must have been putting some strength into that one.

I drop the head of the broom to the floor and cross my arms. "Alright, can you stop trying to hit me? Something weird is going on."

"I'll say." Gentiane mutters, as if to herself but much too loudly to be a private thought. "A naked woman just teleported into my office."

"Naked?" I look down at myself. "Eep."

G36 pauses her next attempt to beat me with a stick when I try to cover myself. "...Commandant, should I locate some clothes?"

"Probably. If she can block a blow from you…"

"Understood. I will ask Frauline Thompson to come act as a bodyguard."

"Er, that… probably isn't necessary?" I say sheepishly. "I'm on your side. Though I gotta say, you've done a crazy amount of renovation since that time I was in your office."

"You've never been in my office." Gentaine crosses her arms. "And I certainly don't know if you're on my 'side' or not. Normally allies don't teleport into my office, naked and unannounced."

"Well, I don't exactly know what happened either. I'm just gonna go with the standard maxim: 'If it's bullshit, it's Precursor tech in Persica or William's hands'."

"...Who?"

I give Gentiane a long look. "William? The… the guy who keeps screwing with us?"

"Alright. Who's this Persica?"

…Uh-oh.

"G36, I think we might need to find a medic. Gentiane's memories are going." My brow knits as I contemplate what could have caused this. Usually ELID doesn't affect memories, but I have no idea what else. She hasn't been on missions recently, so it's not like anything could have hit her head.

The door opens and a familiar face pokes in. "You called, kraut?"

G36's glare shifts from me to the gangster doll. "Ja. We have an unexpected and uninvited guest."

Thompson peers at me, eyes hard to see behind her shades. "Hello there, missy. Wanna explain what you're doing in Gentiane's office?"

G36 leaves the room, presumably to get me some clothes. Much appreciated in the cold of the office.

"I was sleeping in my quarters as usual." I sigh. "Suddenly, I was woken up by a bright white light, which overwhelmed me and suddenly I was landing here." I glance down at the goosebumps forming over my skin. "And without my pajamas either."

"Mmm…" Thompson casually taps her firearm against her thigh. "Where's your quarters?"

"Three doors down." I frown at the doll. "You just helped me install that new security door."

"Gonna just say this now." She crouches down in front of me and tips her glasses down so I can see the burning light in her eyes. "Never met you before, and I've certainly never helped you install security doors."

That gives me pause.

"Commander?" Thompson looks over at Gentiane. "What are we doing with her?"

"For now, G36's getting her clothes. From there… we might need to see if the outpost has a cell."

"A cell? Really?" I say, but then a sobering realization hits me. "Wait, so none of you know me?"

"No." Gentaine crosses her arms. "Care to enlighten us?"

"Alex. Uh… I used to be Hadwin? You remember Hadwin, right?"

Gentiane shakes her head.

"Alright…" I blink. "When's the last time you've been to Sector Three?"

"We're in Sector Oh-Nine." She states frostily. "I don't even know which Sector Three you're referring to, but if you mean Ukraine-"

"I mean Greece." I bite my lip.

"Never been. Why?"

"...It's where we met."

"Interesting. Why would I go to Greece?"

"It was the protection duty of Mayor Panagos- ah, she wasn't mayor then but…"

No recognition, still.

"Okay." I hold myself tighter as the shivers start to overtake me. "Something is clearly not right."

"I'll say." Thompson leans back on the wall. "What's my name, kid?"

"I'm twenty three." I grouse. "And, you're Thompson. One of the first dolls capable of utilizing the Shield module, gangster wannabe, and one of the worst people to play cards against."

Thompson glances at Gentiane, who licks her lips.

"So, you have information on our dolls. Are you a Sangvis spy?"

"Sangvis spy? We're working with Sangvis now, aren't we?"

"Ma'am?" Thompson's fingers go for a cigarette, which she sticks in her mouth without lighting. "Permission to stick the broad in the looney bin."

"Denied."

"She ain't makin' sense!"

"No, she isn't. I need to figure out why."

"Okay." I take a deep breath. "So, whatever just happened to me made it so you don't know who I am. Was it relic tech?"

"Relics." Gentaine hesitates. "Those kids' tales?"

My jaw practically falls off my face. "W-"

"Clothes." G36 enters the room with a bundle of cloth.

"Oh, thanks." I hold my hand out for it.

Gentiane snatches it before I can accept the clothes though. "Wait a minute."

"Really?" I groan. "Heat up your damn office if you're gonna keep me naked."

"I need to ask you more questions."

I sigh. "As long as you're not delaying just to stare at my boobs."

"W-Why would I do that?"

"Boss, you like women?" Thompson grins at Gentiane. "Wait, is that why G36 is always in your room late at night?"

Gentiane's mouth works wordlessly for a few moments before her brain manages to string a sentence together. "She's just helping me clean!"

"Yer blushin."

"YOU!" Gentiane changes the subject with sheer volume. "What's your name?!"

"Alex Galanis." I pull my legs in tighter. "Formerly Hadwin Galanis."

"Where are you from?"

"Sector Three, Greece."

"When were you born?"

"April 17th, 2044."

Thompson's eyes glaze over, and G36 looks at Gentiane. "Shall I hand over the clothes now?"

"Hmm? Oh, sure."

G36 turns back to me and offers the garments, which I gratefully accept.

At least, until I pull the first part off the pile and realize it's a frilly white apron. "Is this a maid uniform?"

"Ja. It is what I have on hand." G36 bows her head. "I apologize if it is not to your expectations."

"I'd prefer pants, but it's much better than nothing. Thanks for the spare uniform." As much as I want to go change somewhere else, this is one of those situations where I can't exactly ask for privacy.

And it's not like they haven't all seen me naked a lot. Fuck, mercenary life is weird sometimes.

"Name, place and date match." Thompson grunts. "Hadwin Galanis, 18, lives in Sector Three in Greece. A male student who just graduated High school." Thompson gives me a look. "It doesn't match a woman who claims to be twenty-three though."

"Did your math module break?" I roll my eyes at her. "2067 minus 2044 is twenty three."

"It's… 2062, Alex." Gentiane says quietly.

"...Huh?" I pause, black skirt only half secured around my waist. "Wait, that's impossible. I wasn't turned into a girl until 2064, if this is 2062, I should still be a guy-" A few gears click into place. "Oh, bullshit."

"What?" G36 tilts her head.

"Did I get sent back in time?" I glance around. "You said this was Sector Oh-Nine? Like, where you were tasked to deal with Sangvis when you joined GnK?"

"Yes… I was appointed to this position a month ago." Gentaine folds her arms. "The future, huh."

"Look, can you get Persica-" Wait, she doesn't know who that is. "Can you get… Miss Helian on the line? I need to talk to a scientist GnK works with."

"Why should we? This could be a weird ruse to get us to let down our guard. You show up out of nowhere and start saying things that don't make sense." Gentaine starts to pace. "You seem to be knowledgeable about who we are, but so would any decent spy."

I nod along. "Yeah, I know. So, unless I actually know something from the future that we can verify, I'm suspicious. I've watched those sci-fi movies too."

"Alright then, prove it."

I think for a moment. I spent an inordinate amount of time talking to the dolls of GnK, even once I quit. Both times I quit, actually. I should be able to remember a story…

"So… have you found the Parapluie virus yet?"

"Para… what?" Gentiane narrows her eyes.

"Okay. This must be really early in the Sangvis campaign." I think harder, hands idly playing with the headdress G36 had thoughtfully provided.

I'm not wearing it, but it was thoughtful of her.

"What is this virus?" Thompson asks, curiosity apparently piqued. "Some kind of biological warfare?"

"Nah. It's a doll virus. It takes over Neural Clouds and tries to grow a new personality. It's part of-" I cut myself off. "Uh, it's one of the reasons M4's special."

"M4?" Gentaine glances at G36, who shakes her head subtly. "We don't have a doll by that name."

"...M4A1." I can't keep the incredulousness out of my voice. "Green stripe in black hair? Massive cannon? Two more, slightly smaller cannons? Has a bunch of really, really complicated sisters?"

"Nope." Thompson crosses her arms. "Gonna have to elaborate, boss."

"So, I joined GnK as a Field Agent in 2064, so I'm just going off an account from Star here, but you guys are the ones who rescue them after one of their ops go really, really wrong. You're only able to pick up M4 at first, but you quickly get the other three sisters-"

The large screen on the wall suddenly lights up, indicating an incoming call from Miss Helian.

Gentaine holds up a hand. "Wait a moment."

The screen changes to Miss Helian's face where she's apparently being buried under a mountain of paperwork. "Oh, Gentiane. I hope you're finding your new post acceptable?"

"It's…" She glances at me. "It's been going smoothly until today."

"Oh?"

"This lady teleported in a few minutes ago." She gestures to me. "We're trying to figure out what happened."

"As… interesting as that sounds, you need to get together your best team immediately."

"A mission? Now?"

"Yes, now. We have a team currently on the run, and you need to rescue them. These dolls are a high priority to recover, even higher than your own dolls' frames."

G36 and Thompson both narrow their eyes, but don't complain.

"Hold on now." Gentiane rubs her temples. "Who's this scientist? Why am I rescuing dolls? Can't you just back them up?"

That earns her a glare from Thompson, but she doesn't notice.

"These ones are special." Helian reiterates. "The rest you'll have to hear from the horse's mouth."

"No horses on base, Ma'am."

Miss Helian's patented glare manages to cow even Gentiane, at least for now. "I am going to connect you to Persica, a scientist with IOP. You are to follow her instructions, are we clear?"

"Crystal, ma'am."

"Good. Connecting you now."

The connection changes, and Gentiane looks back at me. "You know this Persica?"

"Yeah… she's bad news." I let my head droop. "And the only one who understands dolls well enough to create AR Team in the first place. She's the designer of the Neural Clouds IOP uses."

Gentiane looks like she's about to respond, but the connection goes through, and the perpetually caffeinated woman appears on screen. "Yes, hello? You're the commander for Sector Oh-Nine?"

"That's me." Gentiane tilts her head. "What's the problem?"

"I have a bunch of elite dolls that I need to have rescued from Sangvis forces in your sector. You must hurry, they're being hunted as we speak."

"Yes, I understand." She glances back at me once more before opening her mouth. "Who… who are we rescuing?"

"M4A1, and the other dolls with her if they're still intact." Persica confirms. "M4A1 is the priority."

"Oh. Good." Gentaine lets her head fall into her hands. "So she's not just insanely good at guessing."

"So why you on this bird, Alex?"

I glance at Thompson, hands still operating the unfamiliar firearm in my hands. "Because… we need to get M4A1?"

"Naw, I get that, but why are you here?"

"Gentiane recognized my innate talent of being disposable cannon fodder, and decided to put my to use?"

"If you're cannon fodder, what are we?"

"That's not funny, Miss Thompson." A shy looking doll comments as we continue to fly straight out into the snowy landscape.

"It's alright, Genny doesn't actually consider you expendable." I yawn. "She'll make sure everyone gets back if at all possible. I'd still hope you have a backup."

Some of the others look at each other nervously.

"...Alright then, just let me go ahead." I hang my head. "Keep yourselves safe, mmk?"

"Uh… Alex." Thompson draws my attention again. "You're a human, yeah?"

"Yup."

"So, d'you have a backup?"

"That seems impossible to me." I glance away. "Well, William managed it, but he also started a war to get the funds, so-"

"Alright, alright, cut the stupid future shit. Just… I don't wanna have to protect a human out there, alright? I have enough to worry about with my crew."

"Oh, sorry. Don't mind me, I'll be fine on my own."

"Alright kid, I know you think you're some sort of hotshot. If you die, though, Genny's gonna kill me." She lowers her glasses to look at me directly. "I wish we hadn't wasted space on this Helo to drag your ass out here, nice as it is."

"Flattered, but I have a girlfriend. And, I've been in more combat than you have."

"I fought in WWIII."

"I've been in more combat." I stare her down.

"I call bullshit."

"Then you can watch." I charge the SMG I've been given. "Trust me, I'm not wasted space."

She gets a sardonic smile. "Alright. But you're still a squishy human."

Despite my best efforts, my lips curl up into a grin. "Wanna bet?"

"I don't get it."

"What don't you get, Miss Thompson?"

"I don't get how she can move that fast. It's inhuman!"

"Maybe she's a doll in disguise?"

"Then we'd be able to get some sort of signal off of her, yeah?"

I ignore the peanut gallery, insteads focusing on the goal of our mission, a shy girl holding an M4A1. Very shy. Like, I don't recognize this doll as the same one I knew that liked to string up Gentiane during sex.

Still, the voice is the same, and the clothes, though they're nowhere near as ratty.

"Did you see my sisters?"

"No, sorry." I sigh. "They're resourceful though, right? You'll see them again before long."

"I will?" She looks up at me, eyes glistening.

"Yeah. I'm sure our Commander will give you a hand. Might need to play the stupid bureaucracy game, but we'll find Sop and Star soon enough." I yawn. "Fuckin' 16 though. Need her to calm down."

"W-Why would M16 need to calm down? She's always calm."

"We'll… We'll get to that."

M4A1 nods. "Okay. Thank you, um…"

"Alex." I offer my hand.

She shakes it, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. "M4."

"...Nice to meet you."

You know, I recall back when Star and I had a fling. Her face was real similar to M4's right now-

Oh god.

I'm NTRing Gentiane in real time.

I close my eyes and rest my head on the side of the Helo, vibrations drowning out everything else. "Today is the worst."

Thompson leans over. "Worst day… so far!"

"Gee, thanks for reminding me."