Famas crouched low behind a crumbling concrete wall, her namesake rifle held steady in her grip as she peered cautiously around the corner.
The smell of spent gunpowder and plasma hung lurid in the air, and not far from her a pair of SF Vespids lay dead on the ground.
"Court, be advised: No further enemy units visible on scopes. We're doing another pass on the drones to confirm though, so sit tight," announced the commander on comms.
"Wilco," Famas replied.
Around her, Famas' dummies took up positions to secure her immediate area. Likewise she also noted G36, Ots, PP, and Vector all doing the same nearby, effectively forming a ring of security around the group.
Famas' brow furrowed though, as M4 didn't report her position on the net.
"Sop! Star!" M4's voice called out into the empty city streets.
Famas glanced up at the sound, spotting the doll standing out in the middle of the street about ten meters ahead of her.
"Merde!" she cursed, dashing forward towards the doll, "M4, get to cover!"
M4 turned her way just before Famas reached her, shocked eyes meeting her own. Famas quickly snatched the doll's wrist, and dragged her back into cover.
"B-but… Sop, Star…" M4 protested, "isn't it clear?!"
"Later," Famas hissed. "We don't know that."
M4 nodded hastily, and Famas shoved her to the ground. They were both now out of position, a block away from the rest of their team.
"Tsk," Famas scowled, "Court, move up to us."
Four acknowledgements replied. Shortly after, half of her team made a dash across the street towards them, while the other half remained to cover the advance. Once the runners had made it, the others behind followed suit under the cover of their guns.
As they did however, a single plasma bolt slammed into a dummy's head and sent it tumbling to the ground.
Instantly every available gun trained on the source, a small window in a two story building further down the street. A whirring drone above their heads then transmitted targeting data, showing a faint signature coming from the window.
"Wait one," Famas ordered.
She reached down to the trigger of her underbarrel grenade launcher, and after carefully aiming, sent a grenade hurtling into the window with a solid pop.
Smoke and flame burst out from the window just after the grenade had sailed into it. Shortly after the signature on scopes died.
"Likely a kill. However, I recommend you investigate to confirm," said the commander.
"Wilco. Vector, 'Tiss. Go, we'll cover you."
Vector and OTs took off, dashing across the street as the rest covered their movement. However, it proved unnecessary, as the two and their remaining dummies made it across to the building without incident.
"I'm sorry," M4 apologized.
Famas glared at M4. The latter was visibility wilted despite staring down the length of her sight towards the street beyond.
"I just… I really miss them," M4 muttered. "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me."
"Just be patient, M4," G36 advised. "We will find them soon enough."
"Hopefully," Famas added, which earned a scowl from G36.
They fell into quiet once more.
"Commander, enemy is KIA. However, I think we've found something else too," reported OTs at last.
"Share it."
Shortly after, images appeared on the net, and immediately Famas turned back to M4.
She was gone.
Famas looked at G36 in puzzlement, but G36 looked equally as confused as her.
They looked around in bewilderment, confusion and panic starting to take hold - and spotted M4 sprinting into the building across the street.
"Stay here," Famas ordered her two teammates nearby as she scrambled to pursue M4 once more.
When Famas finally caught up inside the building, she came upon M4 kneeling beside a pair of small bags that were leaned against a concrete wall. They were small, black, and plain, and scattered around them were solar chargers, cooking utensils, and discarded plastic wrappers. .
M4's hand shook as she gripped the strap of one of the bags, running her thumb over a small tag woven into it, emblazoned with the same yellow and black symbol that M4 wore on her armband.
Famas knelt down beside her, placing an arm on her trembling shoulder.
"These are their bags?" Famas asked.
M4 nodded.
Famas glanced over her shoulder at Vector and 'Tiss, the pair standing idly around them.
"Anything else?"
Vector pointed to the wall beside Famas. "Bullet holes. Something high caliber and possibly with explosive filler, based on the scoring."
Sure enough, there were a series of large holes peppering the wall at about head level. Famas took a look out of the dirty window on the far side of the room, and saw a number of buildings and the rolling hills beyond them.
"You two, search the immediate area for any more signs of them," Famas said without looking away from the window. "G36, PP, conduct a search of the outskirts. Look for any sign of Ar-15 or Sopmod, or the ones who attacked them."
With another round of acknowledgements, her team deployed once more.
Famas knelt back down beside M4. "Are you alright?"
She felt a bit awkward trying to comfort her. It was obvious the doll was barely holding it together, but she wasn't too sure how best to help.
"Where are they…?" M4 muttered under her breath.
?
The cold and hard concrete floor pressed against her cheek, the tendrils of bitter numbness seeping through her skin and muscle and eventually coming to rest in her cheekbone.
"Is this how it ends, Ar-15?" asked a frigid, even voice.
Heels clicked against the concrete ground, stalking around Ar-15's head. She struggled to twist her head to find the source, but the tight bonds pinning her to the ground offered very little freedom.
"I was careless," she said.
"Hmph, trash is trash. Even if the Ar-team is the shiniest in the pile, it doesn't make a difference."
Ar-15 rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You only caught one of us. What does that make you if you got outmaneuvered by mere 'trash'?"
"Hmm, true. I must say though: I'm disappointed. Our report made you out to be a cold, calculating killer, yet you let yourself get emotional."
"Yeah. I'm a real softie. It might be time to update your database."
SF's assault had been a shock. Within minutes of her transmission to M4, they'd been on her and Sop. It was all they could do just to evade and try to escape, and in the chaos she and Sop had been separated.
In the end, the ringleader, Hunter, had been the one to force her surrender after an embarrassingly short pursuit.
"Oh I will, but that can wait until after I capture my prey."
"M4? Why do you want her so badly?"
Hunter knelt down beside Ar-15's head, wrapping her fingers in her hair and lifting her head a few centimeters from the concrete. Her follicles strained and pulled at her scalp as the ringleader ruthlessly twisted it around to face her sadistic yellow eyes.
"It doesn't matter why we want her," Hunter whispered. "Just that you're gonna help us get her."
Hunter sent Ar-15's head slamming back down to the ground with a painful impact. The blow made her vision go fuzzy. Her pain sensors were jammed wide open thanks to some meddling SF had done to her body, and the throbbing result of the impact were making even thinking difficult.
"That's enough, Hunter," spoke a new voice, made tinny and distorted as AR-15's neural systems tried to recover from the shock it'd just received.
Still, even in her dazed state Ar-15 could feel the disappointment radiating off of Hunter.
"Humph. Yes Ma'am," Hunter replied, her heels clicking back and away from Ar-15. She heard the heavy metal doors to the warehouse SF was holding her in screech open as Hunter left the room. It wasn't until the massive steel doors finally shut again with a reverberating boom that the other speaker resumed.
"Sorry about her," the new voice began. "She gets a little too into it sometimes."
Ar-15 could just make out the source of the voice as her vision cleared. It was another Ringleader with very dark purple hair, just a shade or two off of true black, and violet eyes which glowed like an ominous, haunted lantern in the dark room. She didn't recognize the doll from the SF catalog, so she must be a new model, likely a ringleader. She had no idea how long she'd been standing there, and she'd not heard her enter at any point.
"And you're any better?"
The figure began strolling towards her, her boots making just the barest whisper of sound against the concrete. "I like to think so."
"Good for you. What do you want?" She asked.
The figure came to a stop in front of her, then took a seat on the ground where Ar-15 could see her without too much strain. "Just a quick request, one which I'd like you to consider at the very least."
"Go to hell. Do you really think this good-cop bad-cop routine is going to work?"
The ringleader shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm simply trying to cut a deal and save us both some pain."
"Why would I want to help you?"
"Well, I imagine you don't. However, helping me will also help you, not to mention your sisters..."
Ar-15 let out a small gasp, an involuntary response she immediately regretted as the ringleader smiled. It was an expression which confused Ar-15 as it looked pained rather than sadistic or joyous.
"So you are sisters then. How curious."
The fact that she'd given that away pissed Ar-15 off. It was so stupid, what point did the distinction make? They were dolls, they didn't have 'family' or relations, yet those attachments had been baked into her code from the moment she'd been booted.
"What do you want with them?" Ar-15 growled.
"Me? Nothing really, I'm just doing my job. All I know is our boss wants M4, alive."
"Why? She's already sent the data off, and she'll never cooperate with you."
The ringleader shrugged. "As I said, I don't know the reason. I do know however, that she only wants M4A1 alive. The rest of you are to be 'disposed off' once we have her."
"You bitch…"
"Well, see, that's actually where I'd like to intervene. I figure that even if you girls are uncooperative, you'll be of far greater value alive and together. Honestly you'd probably just be used as leverage for M4's cooperation, but even that sounds better than being dead, right?"
Ar-15 scoffed once more. "It sounds like Griffin's giving you a hard time."
The ringleader's shoulders slumped a little as she let out a tired sigh. "Yes, well - on that front we may have taken a step back so as to take four steps forward, so to speak. Let's just say that our loss has convinced our higher ups to lay off the micromanaging. Next time we engage Griffin, it'll end quite differently, I assure you."
"Sure it will."
There was a dangerous confidence in the ringleader's eye - not the typical boasting of SF ringleaders, but a quiet self-assurance in her words. "It will."
Ar-15 wasn't quite sure how to respond. She was almost willing to believe the doll, despite having no real reason to. If she was correct, if she could secure M4 and Sopmod without her help, then maybe…
"What do you want?"
The ringleader didn't outwardly react. There was no victorious grin or even much of a change in her posture.
"Where might Sopmod be going? Is she headed for the Griffin base, or will she attempt to reach a different destination? What's her planned route, any evasion pattern she might be utilizing, what resources will she need to acquire before she'll reach friendly lines?"
"You want to head her off."
The ringleader nodded. "I do. You girls have proven to be quite evasive and I'd like to get this done on schedule."
Ar-15 gritted her teeth. "You'll never find her."
The ringleader sighed and clambered back onto her feet. "Cling to hope if you want. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable and getting more of your family killed."
"Go fuck yourself."
The ringleader actually cracked a grin, and even chuckled silently to herself. "Hunter was way off on her assessment of you, wasn't she? I kinda like it."
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"Okay, Okay," Operator said. "I'll leave you to it then. Just remember, the clock is ticking."
It was a rotten morning. Or perhaps, it had been a rotten week.
M4 threw herself out of bed at the crack of 6 AM, quickly got ready and stumbled out of the door and down the halls. She scraped together some breakfast and decaf in haste, and was walking into the TOC by 7.
M4 settled down into her seat with a huff, and stared at the pile of papers that had been stacked at the edge of her workspace. Beside it lay an old laptop computer, which undoubtedly held even more such forms for her to handle.
She stared at it with two tired eyes, her body unwilling to progress any further in her work.
She could feel somebody's gaze on her. A glance to the side showed Rs and Kalina both hastily looking away from her, the pair scurrying to get back to work.
Eventually she picked up the first file and thumbed it open.
Burying herself in her task, M4 found her feelings slowly begin to mellow as she began scanning, processing, correcting, and submitting the various forms she was tasked with. This had been the rhythm she'd fallen into the last few days, and it wasn't bad work either.
Rs and Kalina both appreciated her. According to them she cut the time they spent daily on this by a considerable amount.
But that was almost a downside for her. Once the day's paperwork was completed she'd be left idling for the rest of the day with nothing but her thoughts to accompany her. Even now as she worked, her swirling thoughts still clung the edges of her mind.
Still, she pressed on. Report after report, applications, and receipts, electronic and physical. She went through them at a steady, slow pace. She was in no rush after all.
However, her pace stalled when she reached a certain report, squinting at the laptop screen. Her mind pulled itself slowly from the slog of paperwork, kicking into gear like an engine that takes a few tries to start.
The report had been filed by PPD-40, one of the dolls that was stationed in the city of Chernivtsi. The city was the largest - and really the only - remaining city south of the Prut River in the area, and so fell just within the bounds of Griffin's contract with the government. PPD was there as a sort of liaison to the local government, a point of contact. Her reports were typically short and well written, but provided a small window into what the distant metropolis was like that often had M4 fantasizing about the place.
This one however, was unusual. It included mentions of a market, and some photos PPD included. M4 was fixated on one in particular, which showed the destroyed upper half of a Sangvis Ferri doll.
She wasn't too concerned with the doll itself, or that it was half destroyed and illegally on sale in an open vendor stall. Those, and their implications, had all been concerns PPD herself raised in the report.
No. M4 was concerned by how it had been destroyed.
Deep, parallel gouges had been torn through its body. Its eyes looked to have been ripped out roughly, and a few bullet holes marked the area near where its core ought to have been.
"Rs, Kalina, can you take a look at this?" M4 called without daring to look away.
The pair quickly shuffled over, clearly curious as they leaned over both of her shoulders to take a peek.
"Oooh, Scavs found a vespid huh?" Kalina said. "Lucky bastards."
"Looks like something used it as a chew toy though. Doubt they'd get anything but parts out of it," Rs added.
M4 shook her head. "I know who did this."
"What do you mean, who found it?" Rs asked.
"No, I know who killed it," M4 stated, turning back to the pair. "It was SOP, I'm pretty sure."
The pair looked concerned, Rs furrowing her brow with doubt while Kalina hummed behind pursed lips.
"You're… sure?" Rs eventually asked, crossing her arms.
"I am. I've seen Sop rip dolls apart like this a hundred times, I know it's her."
Kalina raised an eyebrow. "Your sister rips dolls apart? Like, with her hands?"
M4 raised her right hand. "She has clawed fingers, for the purpose."
Rs blinked a couple times in disbelief. "O-kay… well, that's certainly something. Still, if you're sure."
The adjutant leaned back over, looking at the image closer this time.
"I'm certain."
"Alright… we can check it out then. Talk to the vendor. Maybe if we can find out where and when he got it, we might get back on Sop's trail," Rs said, nodding.
"Shall I contact PPD?" Kalina asked.
Rs grinned. "No, I'll go talk to her myself. M4, wanna come?"
M4 blinked, confused. "Um, sure?"
"Alrighty," Rs hummed, stepping away and beginning to walk towards the door leading from the TOC.
"Uh, Rs, comms console is that way," Kalina said, pointing towards the large central table that lay in the opposite direction to where Rs had been headed.
"Oh, I'm gonna go talk to her in person, maybe see the vespid too. Probably better that way, right?"
Kalina sputtered. "You're just using this to get out of work!"
Rs shrugged, and turned a shit-eating grin back to her. "Well… what can I say? When you're right, you're right!"
With that, she dashed from the room.
M4 was left staring at the now empty doorway, incapable of moving.
Beside her, Kalina sighed. "You'd better go after her."
M4 turned back. "A-are you sure? I don't want to just leave you."
Kalina shook her head, a near-imperceptible smile on her lips. "Nah, I'll manage. You go have fun."
A lone Griffin-marked Humvee rumbled across the snowy Ukrainian hills. The old vehicle chuffed and rumbled as it shifted gears, clawing its way up the hillside before taking off at a sprint back down.
M4 stared out the window, her head resting in her palm as she idly watched the scenery go by, her mind fixated squarely on the SF doll.
In the front of the vehicle, Rs and Cano, the latter of whom had practically demanded to be included, were singing along to the song on the radio.
I spy, something made of wood.
M4 rolled her eyes.
Outside the window, a blur of barren trees and snow capped hills whipped past, broken up only by the occasional cluster of concrete buildings that stood rotting along the highway. The world outside showed no signs of life, just an empty, white wasteland.
"Is it a tree?" M4 muttered under breath.
I'm trying.
She rolled her eyes again.
"So, not that I'm complaining, but why are we rushing out here in such a hurry?" Cano asked from the front seat. "I mean, I get that we want to find Sop ASAP, but this isn't much of a lead, is it?"
"I saw the chance and took it," Rs chuckled, "You're the one who said all I do is work. This is me taking a break."
"I don't know if this counts, you're still on the job."
"Eh," Rs shrugged. "We check this out, maybe find her sister, and hit the town! Sounds like a good day off to me."
"Again, I feel like you're oversimplifying this."
"Well, fine. Besides that, the guy we're after sells at a market that only runs on weekends, so we'd have to wait a week to talk to him if we don't go today. No guarantee he'd even remember this SF doll by then."
"I guess," Cano muttered, then glanced back at M4. "You alright back there?"
"I'm fine."
"Bored?" Rs asked.
"A bit."
"We're nearly there, just hang tight."
Sure enough, a few minutes later M4 spotted a sign along the road stating that their destination was only a few kilometers away. Shortly after that, the edge of the forest they'd been passing through also appeared.
M4 glanced forward just as the Humvee breached the treeline, the densely packed, barren trees giving way to a wide expanse of snow covered fields. These fields were not the abandoned, empty ones she was familiar with. Houses dotted the landscape, with fences that stuck up and out of the snow crisscrossing the plains.
Cars passed them by on the road, humans within wearing normal, civilian clothing. There was even the occasional pedestrian walking to the edge of their driveway to collect mail.
In the distance, though, was the most impressive sight.
Rising up out of the faraway gloom was a mountain of steel and concrete; a gargantuan structure that could be seen from kilometers away. A poignant monument to the world that had built it.
A quarantine wall.
The structure only grew more imposing as they drove closer. It seemed to shoot up into the air until it became so high that M4 could no longer see the top.
Eventually they came to a stop near the base of it, joining a short line of vehicles patiently waiting for their turn at the security office window. The office was manned by a pair of bored-looking Soviet Army reservists, each wearing standard service uniforms and service pistols at their hips.
As each vehicle rolled up, they exchanged documents with the soldiers, who briefly checked them over before letting the vehicle through the gate that led under the wall. Once in a while though, the vehicle would be stuck waiting on the soldier for minutes on end. To M4's eyes, the man seemed to be deliberately inconveniencing certain travelers by processing everything as slowly, and thoroughly, as possible.
Why? To what end? She didn't understand. Surely there was a good reason though.
Maybe he's just a bored asshole in a dead end job?
M4 sighed.
"Yeah, probably."
Eventually, it was their turn. Cano pulled their vehicle up to the post and rolled her window down.
"Griffin?" The soldier in the office asked. He spoke with slightly accented Russian, and seemed a bit agitated by their presence as a scowl crept across his face.
Rs leaned over Cano, presenting herself and a company ID for the man to take. "That's right."
"Reason for your visit?"
"Business," Rs stated.
The man sighed. "Anything we need to worry about?"
"Spodіvaimosia, Lieutenant," Rs answered him, smiling.
M4 blinked in confusion, her language systems not understanding the word Rs had just said.
The soldier also seemed a little surprised, but to M4's eyes it was a pleasant surprise for him. He returned Rs' grin.
"Dobre, harnoho dnya."
And again, M4's language system's didn't pick up most of the soldier's reply. However, it seemed to have been a positive statement as he waved them through with no more hassle.
"What were you saying?" M4 asked Rs.
"Hmmm? Whatcha mean?"
"I couldn't understand what you said to him. Was that Russian?"
"Ah," Rs chuckled, shaking her head. She tapped on her upper chest, roughly where Soviet uniforms bore name tags. "Ukrainian. He had a Ukrainian surname, so I figured I'd give it a try. Are you not programmed for it?"
M4 shook her head, "Only English and Russian."
"Huh," Rs furrowed her brow. "Not programmed for the second largest language in the region…?"
"Since Russian is the official language of the NSU, IOP probably thought that we wouldn't need anything else," Cano interjected as the car trundled along beneath the wall.
The world went dark briefly as they passed below the quarantine wall, the hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete and steel above their heads blotting out the sun and sky. Only a few thin strips of LEDs lit the interior.
"But you speak Italian," Rs said.
"Because I was originally made to work in Italy."
"Ahhhh," Rs grinned.
"How many languages do you speak, Rs?" M4 asked.
"Fluently? Three," she stuck up three fingers, "German, English, and Russian. Though I'm passable in a few others, including Ukrainian."
"Why so many, doesn't that take up a lot of room in your neural cloud?"
"It's worth it, I think. Humans are friendlier when you speak their native language."
"Humans are weird," Cano concluded, to which Rs offered a nonchalant shrug.
They came out of the wall, the sky opening up once more. Life was present on this side, far more than it had been before. A greater number of homes and even some shops began to dot the landscape, still sparse at first, but growing in density as they rolled closer into town.
Eventually, the buildings began to grow, and the skyline sprouted into a forest of buildings in the distance. Humans and dolls alike roamed the streets, sat at tables outside cafes, and talked with one another. White skeletal trees still lined the streets, but were placed deliberately now, not falling at the whims of nature.
Old, classic apartment buildings surrounded them, white stone and brick forming beautiful towers on all sides. Interspersed as well were the much less beautiful Soviet khrushchyokva blocs, towers of gray rectangular concrete that stood in stark contrast to the older, more carefully-designed buildings.
As they got closer into the city center, a third type of building appeared: skyscrapers. While modest by the standards of Moscow, Kyiv, or St. Petersburg, they still towered over the rest of the city.
M4 found herself staring up out of the window towards the top of one as the Humvee pulled into a parking space near the center of the city.
The three of them dismounted, and each stretched out their cramping bodies and took a few steps around to loosen their stiff joints. They then slipped on warmer clothing. Rs wore a puffy dark blue jacket that went well with her dark jeans, Cano a lacey light green and white overcoat made of a thick fabric atop matching slacks, and M4 her freshly repaired tan coat.
"How's that working for you?" Cano asked on seeing her putting the jacket on.
"Good, thank you for fixing it," M4 said.
"It was my pleasure," Cano smiled.
"Where is PPD? She said she would meet us," Rs said a moment later, looking around.
"There she is." Cano nodded down the street.
PPD-40 was a doll on the shorter side, about five feet two inches tall, and was dressed in a lacey blue-green overcoat and matching Soviet-style komisarka cap that covered her blonde, braided hair. She waved to them with a smile on her face as she approached.
"Welcome to Chernivtsi, comrades. I hope the drive wasn't too long?" Her voice was laced with a Russian accent - not as heavy as Nagant's, but still noticeable.
Rs scoffed. "You know how long it is, PPD."
PPD shook her head. "I usually sleep through it."
Why didn't you do that?
"I thought about it," M4 muttered.
The drive had been nearly two hours total. Not terrible, but not fun. M4 wasn't looking forward to the return journey.
"If I recall correctly, you want to speak with the vendor I mentioned in my report, da?"
"That's right," said Rs.
PPD nodded. "Well, he does usually sell both days of the market, so you're probably in luck. He's an older guy though, and doesn't really respect dolls."
"We can handle it."
"If you say so. Shall we? It isn't far."
"Lead the way." Rs nodded.
The market was… overwhelming. Hundreds of humans, as many - if not more - dolls, swarming around in along a tight closed-off street. Food, spices, home goods, clothing and knick-knacks of all kinds filled the displays of the different shops. Homemade and professionally-printed signs hung from the tops of the vendor's tents, advertising the homespun brands on sale.
M4 was very quickly separated from the rest of the group in the crowd, though they all stayed in contact on comms.
"PPD, where is this guy?" Rs asked
"He was set up on the far side of the market from here, though sometimes they move their tents around."
"Copy. Cano and I will head there. M4, PPD, search around the rest of the market in case he moved."
"Copy," M4 replied.
M4 had no intention of doing so. She made a beeline for the stand's reported location. She had to see. Pushing through the milling shoppers and dodging sales pitches, she crossed the market quickly.
Then, M4 spotted him. An older man sitting behind a small kiosk, bundled up in several layers and sipping a mug of some steaming liquid. His booth was displaying dozens of doll related items, including some larger, rarer, and even dubiously legal items. M4 recognized him immediately from his photograph in PPD's earlier report.
She instantly made a move, pushing through the crowd towards him and made it to within a half dozen meters before a tight, steely grip wrapped around her upper arm, yanking her back.
Cano was there, gripping her arm with hard eyes, and RS stood right beside her.
"What are you doing?" Rs asked, her tone even, but not friendly.
"I-," M4 glanced back at the man. "I'm going to ask him about the doll."
"How?"
M4 blinked.
Yes, what is your plan?
"Shut up!" M4 shouted, ripping away from Cano and staring at her and Rs with a ragged glare. "Why are you stopping me?"
Rs glared, the expression melting M4's resolve.
"M4A1. Do not tell me to shut up. Do not run over there without thinking. If you walk up, demanding answers with a creepy-ass photo of him, identifying yourself as an authority, what do you think is going to happen? You really think he'll tell you?"
Rs' every word cut into her core. She realized she was right.
"I'm sorry," M4 mumbled.
"Let me handle it," Rs spoke again, her tone softening slightly. "This isn't my first time in the ring, you know."
M4 nodded sheepishly, and took a couple steps away from the stand, letting Rs pass and head over.
PPD joined them shortly after. Together the three of them watched Rs slowly creeping through the crowd, not showing much obvious interest in the stand, but still drawing closer.
It was painfully slow, though. The old man had a small line of shoppers outside his tent too, and Rs' indirect approach was beginning to wear at her.
"Let's go do something else, let her sort this out on her own," Cano suggested.
"Like what?" PPD asked.
"Hmmmm… I know!" Cano exclaimed, whirling around with a goofy grin on her face. "Let's get some warming gifts for Sop."
Beside M4, PPD's face lit up, "Oooh, that sounds fun! What kind of stuff does she like?" She asked M4.
M4 rapidly looked with bewilderment between the two, both showing a level of enthusiasm she was unprepared for. "Um, she's… she likes sweets, and doll parts?" she offered.
PPD and Cano formed a huddle, the pair whispering to each other just quietly enough that M4 couldn't make it out. She crept a little closer, trying to figure out what they were saying.
Before she could, they both sprang apart with even bigger smiles on their faces.
"M4! We are going shopping!" Cano declared.
With that declaration, M4 was led away from the doll stand and back into the market.
"I love your outfit by the way," PPD said.
"Oh thank you!" Cano beamed, doing a little flourish to show it off. "I made it myself."
"Really? You're pretty good! Were you a seamstress once?"
"Nope." Cano shook her head. "Built up as a T-doll."
"Ohhhh, so you're self taught. Even more impressive."
"Hehehe, thanks," Cano giggled.
The trio wandered around for a while. PPD led them into a few different stands, offering different options to M4 based on what she'd said. Candied apples, apple cakes, even some interesting fried cookies, not to mention the dozens of different doll-related stands they passed by.
Will none of these do? We've passed by so many.
"They don't feel right," M4 muttered.
What do you mean, feel? You haven't touched them.
She sighed. "Too literal."
Her voice shut up.
Still, M4 could see similar feelings building on PPD and Cano's faces. So, a couple stands later she decided to just get something, anything. She picked out a couple different sweets that Sop would probably enjoy, and let Cano and PPD handle the purchasing.
She browsed the nearby shops absentmindedly a bit while PPD and Cano haggled, looking around at what else was on sale, who was buying and selling what.
Then something caught her eye. A scarf, knit tightly with black fabric that was accented by a gentle red at its fringes.
She suddenly found herself at the stand, running the fabric between her fingers.
So? What's this feel like?
"Still too literal."
But you're touching it…
Ignoring her, M4 glanced up.
"Um, excuse me. How much is this?" M4 asked in Russian to the attendant, a young man wearing a few knitted items similar to those on sale.
The man's face turned to a mild scowl as he leaned forward to see what she was talking about.
"For that…" He said with the same accent as the soldiers at the security office, "Four and a half thousand."
M4's brow furrowed. "Isn't that a bit much?"
The man leaned back, scoffing. "My Babushka makes these by hand. If you think her work isn't worth it, go somewhere else."
After a moment of quiet contemplation, M4 placed the scarf back and turned away, only to find Cano, PPD, and surprisingly Rs leaning over her shoulder. She also noticed that Rs was holding a small wreath in one hand, like what one may hang over their door for a holiday.
"These are quite nice," Cano commented.
"Mhhm, I think I'll have to have one," Rs replied.
"Mmm, me too, I need some good mittens," PPD added. "It is quite cold these days."
The three of them began picking through the items on display. Cano grabbed a white and pink scarf while RS snagged a pair of beanies, some mittens of her own, and that red and black scarf. Finally PPD decided on a pair of dark mittens with a blue and gold set of stripes around their wrists.
"Mi vіzʹmemo cі, budʹ laska," Rs said to the attendant, piling the items on the table.
"Ce bude koštuvati 18000," the man replied.
"Ha?" Rs exclaimed. "Vi serjozno namagaєtesja nas zіrvati? Ŝo podumaє vaša Babuška?"
Rs seemed to be calling the man out. M4 caught the mention of his Babushka, but was still not catching the full conversation.
The man groaned. "14000."
"12500."
The man stared Rs9 down for a moment, then rolled his eyes. "Dobre, do pobačennja."
Triumphant, Rs9 placed the notes in his outstretched hand, then wrapped two arms around the pile of knitted clothes.
"Let's go!" She said, beginning her march away.
"Rs, thank you…" M4 said as they pushed their way through the crowd.
"'Course. Here." RS handed her the knitted scarf, as well as a black beanie with a green stripe circling its brim.
"Oh, that's for me?"
"Mhmmm, It's cute."
M4 slipped the beanie on. It was as soft as the scarf, and very warm as well as it hugged her head.
"Little plain, isn't it?" Carcano commented, prowling around Rs9 as she inspected her beanie.
"Well, maybe I'd be willing to commission a certain fashionista to decorate it. If she behaves herself, that is," Rs9 said with a wink.
"Jeez, threaten me with a good time," Cano joked, chuckling. "So, how did it go?"
Rs smiled, slipping on her new hat. "We have a lead."
"Did you get to see the doll?" M4 asked with all the enthusiasm she could muster.
"He said he sold it off already. But, apparently he got it from a scavenging group, and he gave me the address." Rs waved a little slip of paper. "So, let's go."
New intelligence secured, they made their way back to the truck and drove over towards the address indicated. There they found a series of warehouses, guarded by some thugs who weren't too pleased to see them.
Or they weren't, until Rs paid them off. That done, they proceeded unmolested into the relevant warehouse and began inquiring for the scavenger who'd found the SF doll.
"He is not here," one of the other Scavs reported. "Apparently he is leaving town."
"Any reason why?" Rs asked.
The man sat atop a stack of boxes, which were set in a sectioned off part of the warehouse's interior. There were dozens of similar areas throughout, each labeled carefully with names. Scavs were not well-liked by the government, but were tolerated. They received no official support, so would band together to afford housing and security for their loot. Based on the warehouse's contents, these scavs were doing quite well for themselves.
Nearby were some storage lockers, and what appeared to be some anti-ELID med cases on a table.
"He made a big haul a few days ago. Got a lot of money for it and is off to a better life."
"You know what he found?"
The man shrugged. "Random shit mostly. Couple mangled dolls, car batteries, a couple old guns, so on. No idea what got him all of the cash."
Rs shrugged. "Was one of the dolls an SF frame?"
The man nodded. "I think so."
"You said there was more than one? What were the others?"
The man chuckled. "Just one more. I couldn't tell you what it was, it barely looked better than a pile of scrap."
"Do you know what happened to it?"
The man shook his head. "He said he sold both, but didn't say who the buyer was."
Later, outside, the four of them stood around the Humvee, in a small circle. Rs took the opportunity to light up a cigarette, flicking her lighter in a cupped palm to hide it from a frigid breeze.
"Well, that was disappointing," Cano concluded. "Looks like we just made a big circle."
"Yes." M4 sighed.
"What now?"
All eyes turned to Rs.
The adjutant sighed, and stamped out her cigarette, "Let's take a break to cool off. PPD, any suggestions?"
PPD thought, and then a smirk crept across her face.
"I can think of a few things."
PPD led them throughout the city, taking hops in the Humvee to cross town, then walking for the rest of the way to their various destinations.
They visited a coffee house, Rs, Cano, and PPD all partaking in the house specialty while M4 watched absentmindedly. They seemed to enjoy it.
M4 later found herself wandering around a small museum, staring in the direction of various works of art without being able to focus on any. The other three all dashed around, exchanging comments about the various pieces.
Every so often, M4 found one of the others looking at her, always with unhidden concern written across their face. Sometimes Rs or Cano would ask in hushed tones if they could do anything for her to cheer her up. She'd force a smile and say no, and to not worry.
At some point, Rs took the lead from PPD. M4 couldn't really understand why.
They walked for about five more blocks, the city transforming from a commercial area into a more residential area. Soon enough M4 found herself walking alongside the bank of the frozen Prut River, staring out over the icy water.
The wind began to pick up as they walked, great whirls of powdery snow flying up into the air.
In the distance, shapes loomed out of the snow - five tall obelisks surrounded a hooded figure. On closer inspection M4 noticed the figure had a swaddled baby clutched in its arms, and that there was a faded inscription on the base of it reading '05/13/2050'. It was set upon a barren pad of concrete, overlooking the river with nothing else nearby.
Rs walked right up, Cano following a little after
How desolate. I liked the museum more.
"What is this place?" M4 asked.
"It is a memorial to the war," PPD looked solemnly over to the frozen river. "Death came to this city from the river during that time. Those who survived decided no one should forget."
M4 looked over towards Rs, who was gently laying the flowers at the base of the central statue. Cano stood just behind her, looking down onto her somberly.
"The people of this city, they are good people," PPD said. "In spite of the tragedy in their recent past. Perhaps because of it."
M4 took a quick look at PPD. Her light blue eyes were hidden beneath the brim of her cap. Her fist was clenched, and a small shudder passed through her with each breath she took. M4 looked back to see Rs and Cano returning, both wearing solemn looks. The wreath lay where Rs had set it, propped up against the central statue.
"Alright," Rs sighed. "Sorry. That was something I needed to do."
Both PPD and M4 nodded, comprehending the feeling despite not knowing the cause.
"So… what now?" M4 asked.
Rs sighed, and looked to the western sky where the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon. "We should probably head back."
"But… we've come so far," M4 weakly protested.
"I know," Rs' shoulders slumped. "For a moment I thought you might've really had something. But this trail's cold, kiddo. Let's not waste time on chasing a ghost."
Rs began to stroll away slowly, heading back along the riverside path in the direction of the Humvee. PPD followed her, looking back after a couple meters as M4 didn't move to follow them.
Then Cano stepped up beside M4.
"Did you have fun today?" She asked, offering a small smile to her.
"I-" M4 stuttered, then frowned as she thought back on the day. "I don't know."
Cano's expression shifted towards sympathy. "Too focused on your sister?"
M4 nodded.
"I have a sister too, you know?"
M4 looked at her, surprised. "You do?"
Cano nodded. "She's a strange one. Most don't really understand her, and while I only met her a couple times, I felt like I did, and that she understood me. It's strange, isn't it?"
M4 managed a weak grin. "I know the feeling."
"Is that why you're so sure Sop killed that vespid?"
M4 nodded again.
"If I was in your position, I don't think I could've done anything but fret about my sister either. I also don't think I could just let this go."
Cano looked over towards Rs, who had stopped and was staring back towards them.
"Rs also has a sister. It's been even longer since she got to see her, though. I think she would understand how you feel."
M4 took a minute to think, processing what Cano was saying. Then, she began marching towards Rs, keeping her eyes fixed on her as she approached.
"I can't give up."
"Huh?" Rs blinked, "What are you talking about?"
M4 grit her teeth. "I know Sop. I know she killed that vespid. I don't know where or how, but I'm certain I can find a path to her in this city somewhere. I have to keep trying."
M4 stared into Rs' gaze, meeting her with all the steel she could muster. For her part, Rs betrayed little emotion, simply staring right back with a blank look.
Cano came up behind her, placing a hand on M4's shoulder.
"Rs," Cano said with a low voice. "Please."
Rs let out a tired sigh, and turned to gaze out over the frozen river, her eyes distant.
"Well, there is one other option…" She muttered.
Cano cocked her head. "Just now?"
Rs didn't reply to her, instead whirling around to stare directly at M4 with hard eyes. "You're 100% percent sure about this?"
M4 briefly recoiled in surprise, but then nodded. "I am."
Rs set her jaw, appraising M4 for an uncomfortable amount of time. However, despite the discomfort she felt, M4 stared right back at her.
Eventually, Rs nodded, and turned back in the direction of the Humvee once more. "Alright. We do have one more option, though I'm not all that happy about it. PPD, about three weeks ago we had you scope out an apartment building on the west side of the city. Do you recall?"
"I do," PPD answered.
"Can you take us there?"
"Sure…" PPD replied, clearly confused.
NOTES:
Alrighty, rewrite done. Once again, massive, MASSIVE shoutout to Alighieri for his help on this. this would not be nearly as good without him.
Now, as stated at the top of the chapter, there are some inconsistencies with the ending here and where chapter 11 currently picks up. I'll rectify that when Chapter 11 gets rewritten, but in the meantime, heres a short tldr for the missing piece.
They meet Dier at the apartment Rs mentioned. 404 was thought to be there but is not presently.
And that's about it. If you have any comments questions or concerns just hmu here or on the gfl Fanfic discord.