~0400, Feb 1st, 2062
M4's eyes fluttered open. Instantly her eyes were stunned with a strange, vibrant display of greens and yellows, reds and purples that seemed utterly foreign, yet entirely familiar.
She found herself sitting on cold gray stone, surrounded on all sides with floor to ceiling greenery of all kinds, reaching up to the glass enclosed roof for the yellow rays of sun which streamed down onto her.
She was stunned, her eyes not able to blink nor mouth quite able to shut itself.
"Wo…?" her lips spoke, the word sounding a little strange to her ears.
Her eyes danced around the space, the garden she thought. Her eyes wandered around the strange space, dancing between the sunlit plants and hanging vines. It was warm, she thought, familiar too. Safe.
Then it all winked out as if a switch had been thrown.
The next thing she noticed was the slight tingling that prickled at her cheek. Like a dozen little needles poking her. The sensation slowly spread from there, wrapping her head, neck, chest, arms and legs until her whole body was consumed by that feeling.
Then came the cold, again from that same cheek. With this however, it remained more local. Her body was held in a cool grip, but her cheek seemed to be pressing right up against a block of ice.
Her eyes slowly peeled open, still feeling heavy as her body recovered.
Dark, but not Pitch. Her senses came to and she began quickly running through system diagnostics. Inertial guidance was offline, GPS offline, internal clock offline, wireless comms array offline, Firewall showing signs of recent attempted breach.
Still, everything else was green, even fire control. Her arms tensed a little, but she found them bound together, and the story was similar with her feet. Chains wrapped around all four limbs and binding her to a little hook inset into the floor.
What was that before? A dream? Can dolls dream? It was so warm, familiar. She ran a check of her memory, but saw no new additions since 2250, Jan 31st. No sign of that scene. The last memory she had was…
Right, she'd been captured.
M4 glanced around the room, trying to stay as still as possible so that any observers wouldn't realize she was awake.
She was in a massive room, easily seven meters between the floor and ceiling, and there appeared to be a few structural steel beams lurking in the gloom that were partially inset into the wall. A small warehouse maybe?
Slowly, she fed a bit of power into her Rad scope.
Nothing within one meter.
Five Meters.
Ten.
She froze internally. Something, a doll, was eleven meters from her. It looked to be the closest thing in the room to her.
After a split second she realized that the signature, though quite faded, was familiar.
Shrugging off her SERE programming she flopped over to get an angle.
"Star?" She called into the gloom.
There was a pale form huddled against the far corner of the room they were in, her hair draped in ragged, dirty strands over a pair of glowering eyes. M4 struggled to get her eyes to focus on the doll, the bounds constricting her effectively.
"Yeah, it's me," Her sister's voice answered, ragged and distorted.
M4 rolled herself onto her side, at the same time numbing her tactile sensors and reducing her cold sensitivity until she no longer felt so much of a painful bite. She studied Star for a moment, taking in her ragged appearance while trying to process the potential reasons for it.
"Quit staring at me you idiot," Star mumbled, her chin rising just a bit to throw some indignation into the words.
M4 glanced away, "Sorry."
Star was here, wherever 'here' was.
M4 glanced back at her as she heard the doll stir. Star's hands were bound, and there was what looked like an iron collar around her neck. As she moved, shuffling her feet so she leaned more fully against the wall behind her M4 also heard the rattling of a chain.
A pink, glowering eye glowed through Star's messy mop of hair.
M4 braced herself for what she believed was an inevitable barrage of criticism, yet her sister said nothing. Instead, she stared, on and on and on, like she was trying to burn a hole into her cranium with just her eyes.
"Tch," Star said, finally breaking the silence, "Go figure."
"Huh?" M4 replied, taken aback," Star wha-"
"Shut it, " Her sister cut her off before turning her gaze to just past her, "We aren't alone."
There was silence for a minute, M4 staring at Star, who in turn was staring just past her. There wasn't concern on Star's face, but rather some kind of mix of annoyance and exhaustion.
"What gave me away?" A chillingly familiar voice asked.
"You think I don't know every square centimeter of this place by now?" Star snapped.
"That so…?"
M4 strained back to find the voice, head and neck craning as far as her bonds would let her. Still, there was enough leeway for her to catch a glimpse of the ringleader emerging from the shadows on the far end of the room.
She bore a passing resemblance to an SF Jager, possessing the same build, hair the same color and done in the usual ponytail. However, it was clear this doll was no mere regular model.
To start, she was moving almost silently towards them, despite wearing boots on a concrete floor, and she also didn't register on M4's Rad scop until she was within five meters of her.
"Who are you?" M4 growled, "Sangvis scum."
"Oh no need to be so snippy, I get plenty of that from your sister already. My name is SPr26 Operator. Pleased to meet you." Operator got within a meter of M4 and knelt down beside her, "We don't have to be enemies you know. "
M4 clenched her jaw, "You strong armed me into surrender, that doesn't make us friends."
There was a soft, almost curious look in Operator's eyes, quite unlike the typically boastful and aggressive looks that she'd grown used to with Executioner. The doll wasn't trying to make herself look big, nor powerful, yet M4 was far more unnerved by her than she'd ever been with that sword wielding maniac.
"I kept my word, didn't I? That little Griffin base is in exactly the same state that it was when you surrendered, not even one human dead either, though it did cost us more than I expected."
"It's the least you deserve."
Operator simply shrugged, "We underestimated them a bit, so maybe you're not wrong."
The ringleader's eyes shifted, losing their softer appearance and growing cold.
"Still, We weren't as far off as some would have you believe," she muttered, shooting a glance towards Star, "I'm afraid you girls won't be spending much time together. Agent will be here in a few days for M4."
M4 felt phantom fingers wrap around her throat once more as she remembered the piercing gaze of that doll. Just before the AR team had split, they'd been attacked by Agent, and M4 had very nearly died to her then.
"What about Star?" M4 asked.
Operator glanced back at her, "I believe we'll be letting her go.
"Humph, just like that?" Star grumbled, "Why keep me for so long if you were just gonna let me go?"
"You were a contingency, one we no longer need."
"And here I thought I was gonna be leverage to get that one to behave," Star spat back.
"Mmmm," Operator nodded, "there was talk of that, but Eliza's confident it won't be necessary."
"Why are you telling us this?" M4 asked.
Operator glanced down at her, and she felt Ar-15's eyes staring.
"Would you rather I not tell you anything?" Operator asked.
"I-," she pursed her lips, "no, but why?"
Operator turned her gaze to the ceiling in a thoughtful motion, "I'm really not telling you all that much, but I know I'd like to know what was happening to me if I were in your position. Call it empathy."
"Empathy, from a Sangvis Ferri doll," Anger swelled up in M4's chest, driving the words from her mouth, "As if you are capable of that."
"Well, unlike you we aren't pre programmed to like each other, or feel much of anything. It's up to us to develop those feelings. Some of us do, some don't, but that's better than having some human make all the choices," She turned to Star, "right? Ar-15?"
Her sister didn't answer.
"Thought so."
M4 didn't have a rebuttal either, the ringleader's words ringing in her ears as she stared at her impassive sister. She'd never seen Star look so defeated.
Operator stood, dusting off her pants before looking back down at M4, "Well, I think I've said enough for now. You two try to get along."
M4 watched the ringleader slowly circle around her as a low rumbling began to shake the floor from behind her head. M4 flopped over, finding a large set of steel doors slowly opening, washing her in stark white light.
Operator stood silhouetted in the doorway for a moment, looking back at her.
"One last thing for you, M4. That woman you were with at the bar, she's a doll, correct?"
M4 furrowed her brow, "What's it to you?"
"Merely curious."
M4 averted her gaze, earning a tut from Operator.
"I can always find out the hard way I suppose, can't guarantee her safety if I have to though…"
Dammit she believed her. If Rs survived she'd likely be back at base by now, so getting to her would mean doing harm to more than just her.
"Tch, yes, she is."
"Ah, thank you. Mind giving me her name?"
"RS9."
With a small little victorious hum, Operator stepped out and the heavy doors began groaning shut behind her, choking the little rays of light streaming through until they winked out. M4 lay there staring for a while, processing.
"She's not completely wrong, you know," Star spoke.
"What do you mean? She's just trying to get in our heads."
Star sighed, "Well, maybe. But I trust her word more than any commander we've ever had. Least she's honest about how fucked we are. "
"Star, what's with you? Did they do something to you?"
"Yeah," Star said, raising her hair back just enough to reveal her left eye socket which should have held another pink iris, "You could say that."
M4's eyes widened, "Did she-?"
"No, the other one. Operator lets Hunter in here if I misbehave, or lie to her. Good cop bad cop, you know."
M4's fist clenched tight, "Goddamn Sangvis…"
"Oh don't get so worked up, I doubt she'll let Hunter touch you."
"No that's not why-"
"Save it," Star grunted, "If you're gonna say you're worried about me, don't bother."
"But Star…"
"It's all programming. Me, Sop, even M16. We're all programmed to like you, to want to protect you. I wouldn't hesitate to take a bullet for you."
"I-" M4 began, "I just want to protect you all."
"Well you don't get that luxury. We're expendable, you aren't."
M4's lip quivered, "thats- thats not true."
Star sighed, "It is and always has been. I don't have a choice but to die before you."
"Stop it," she pleaded.
"I can't."
0940, Feb 2nd, 2062
"Ma'am… seriously, after all this we're just giving up?," said a fuming Matt
"On M4A1, yes," A terse Helian replied, the holographic image of the woman hanging above the main data table seeming to hang over him.
Rs clenched her fist from across the room, seated off in a dark corner out of sight from Helian.
"Ma'am there's still a chance she's within our reach."
"It doesn't matter, Mr. Reyes. Do the math, your base has outstanding obligations and not enough dolls to fulfill them. One doll, no matter which doll it is, does not justify abandoning your responsibilities."
"And what of the other two members of the AR-team, are we giving up on them too?"
"If you come across them and are able to recover them without sacrificing your other duties, you may do so. Further we believe Sangvis Ferri may pull back now that they have M4, so it's entirely possible that they maybe able to simply come to us."
Matt let out a deep, heavy sigh as he placed his hands on the holotable, head hanging, "Understood, Ma'am."
Helian's expression softened half a degree, "Do take care of yourselves commander. I know recent events have been hard on you all."
"We'll try, Ma'am."
Helian took a moment, gazing down on Matt with a mostly muted expression. The woman was hard to read most of the time, keeping herself as rigid and professional as possible, but Rs could've sworn she saw a glimpse of sympathy in her.
"Very well commander, That will be all."
Matt nodded, pressing the appropriate button on the holotable to terminate the call.
Rs stood. "Well, guess that's that."
"Yeah," Matt replied bitterly.
"Heh, feels a little too much like old times," she mused, "Can't say I miss this feeling."
"Me neither."
Matt hadn't moved, still just looking down at the console, body tense and ready to snap.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah." Matt huffed, pushing off the table and stretching out his arms, "I think I need a walk."
"It is getting a little cavey in here isn't it."
Matt began marching towards the door of the TOC, slow enough for Rs to jog up to catch him before he reached it. The two proceeded out of the dark room into the sunny hall outside, lit up by the morning sun streaming in through the East facing windows.
They moved in silence down the hall, passing by a few boarded up windows and crumbling walls. It was a quiet morning, the dolls had been working nonstop the last few days, but now they finally were allowed rest.
They made their way upstairs, sneaking out onto the roof and leaning against the rail overlooking the white and brown fields beyond the base.
Rs slipped a hand into her pocket, pulling out her carton and carefully pulling out a cigarette for herself, then tilting the box and offering one to Matt.
"No thanks, not a smoker," He said, waving the box away.
"Suit yourself," she replied, putting away the box before beginning to flick her lighter.
"Yeah well I do actually need to worry about my long term health you know."
"You're in the wrong business for that," she grumbled.
"Ha, yeah that's true. Can't imagine all this excitement has been too good for my poor heart."
"You know, as much of an ass as she is, Helian is right. We do need rest."
"Changed your tune, have you?"
She rolled her eyes, "look I'm not happy about it, but it's true."
"We've both been through worse, you know that."
"We didn't have a choice then, it was press on or die. Not the same."
He nodded, slowly, hints of a bitterness in the movement.
"Anyway, it's true for the dolls too. Might surprise you to know but we're actually better equipped for long term stress than them."
"Oddly enough, it doesn't," he answered almost wistfully.
"Mmmm," she hummed.
They fell into a quiet for a while, each of them taking in the sights and sounds of this peaceful morning. Rs occasionally taking wispy puffs off her cigarette, blowing out a cloud of the acrid smoke for the wind to carry away.
It didn't last.
They heard her first, a thunder of charging footsteps pounding against the concrete stairs they'd come up minutes prior. Both of them turned their heads to look just as a figure burst out onto the roof.
"Mr. Commander!" A dark clothed figure shouted, charging out right at them.
Rs watched amused as Matt was suddenly accosted by the figure, a doll who he stood head and shoulders above. She slammed on the brakes just before running into him, before shooting her eyes upward.
"Uh," he stammered, looking to Rs for support but getting only a barely contained grin from her before looking back, "you are?"
"M4, SOPMOD II !" she yelped, practically bouncing up and down as she introduced herself.
Sop seemed to realize Rs was also present a moment later, shooting a half-interested glance her way, then doing a double take and rushing over to her next.
"RS9 right?! HI!" she said, waving a little too enthusiastically for how close she got to her.
"Hey kid," Rs greeted as warmly as she could manage, "Surprised to see you on your feet so soon."
"MMM!" she hummed, spinning around, "I'm back and ready to rip some Sangvis heads!"
"Good to hear it."
"Oh that's right…" Matt said, "Dam ordered parts for all four after M4, must be why she got fixed up so quickly."
"Ah that makes sense."
"M4! Where is she? I've missed her so much!" she squealed. Sop's eyes glittered at the mention of M4's name, the doll starting to run all around the rooftop and peer over the edges as if hoping to find her.
Rs shot an alarmed look to Matt, who was looking much the same as he watched her run around. There was a silent bit of communication between them, a nonverbal debate which she lost pretty quickly with an expectant nod from him in the dolls direction
She glared at him as she pushed off the rail and began slowly making her way over to her.
"Hey, Sop…"she began.
"Hmmm?" Sop hummed, cocking her head as she looked back at her, "What's up?"
A toothy grin sprouted on her chin, which seemed to lose a bit of its vibrancy as Rs somberly walked up to her.
"M4, she's not here anymore."
"Why not?" she asked, sounding more confused than anything else.
"Sangvis ambushed us when we were headed back here. They took her."
Rs had braced herself for an explosive reaction, or a meltdown, really she thought it could've gone either way based on her quick assessment on what kind of character Sop was.
Instead the doll fell quiet, her smile dying and all energy seeming to just leave her.
"Can we… save her?"
Rs glanced at Matt.
The man realized it was his turn to bear the bad news, clearing his throat, "we are not in a position to mount a rescue against any determined opposition. This is both my and HQ's assessment."
Sop turned away from them, gripping the roof railing with both hands and squeezing it tight. A tremor passed through the doll's body.
Rs approached carefully, arm outstretched until it came to rest on Sop's right shoulder.
"Hey, I'm sorry," Rs whispered to her, "You'll be okay."
Sop nodded, tears forming in her eyes. It looked like she was trying desperately to hide her feelings at that moment, shaking away at them unsuccessfully.
"Why…" she choked out.
"Oh Honey," Rs said, wrapping her arm around the doll and pressing her in close.
"Wha-, what about 15, and 16?" she asked between barely suppressed sobs.
"We'll still try to find them if we can. Do you know what happened to Ar-15, you were with her at one point right?"
Sop nodded, "15 got taken by that ringleader. Hunter."
The name was familiar, one of the many Rs had studied a few months back as she got acquainted with their foes. Frontline combat and harassment type, built as a complementary trio with Executioner and another ringleader by the name of Scarecrow.
"Hunter eh," Matt said aloud, "Lovely."
"She was probably the one leading the assault here too, unless there's yet another in our area we don't know about yet."
"Hopefully," he mused, "Sop, any more intel on her? Where she may have taken Ar-15."
Sop shook her head bitterly, "not much, she has a base somewhere behind Griffin lines, but we never got a good fix on it."
"Well that explains how she got the drop on us, we'll need to find that base."
Rs nodded, "Of course assaulting it is still beyond our reach for a while, even if we do."
Below them a door slammed shut, Rs' gaze drawn to the sound and finding two figures clad in flight suits strolling across the open ground between the main building and the two blackhawks sitting on the pad. Aloha and Monroe, heading out for another round of logistics runs and ferry their dolls to and fro.
Matt checked his watch, "Damn, ten already huh."
"Mmm," Rs hummed, before patting Sop a couple times on the back, "hungry kid?"
Sop nodded without a word.
Rs bought Sop breakfast, sitting her down in one of the many empty seats within the barely populated cafe and waving over to Springfield working at the bar. The auburn haired doll strutted over towards them with a warm smile, notepad in hand.
"Morning Springfield," Rs greeted her, "This's Sop, M4's sister."
"Oh lovely, a pleasure," Spring greeted Sop with a brilliant smile.
Sop regarded the doll nervously, her chin tucked into her chest but eyes tilting upward to look at her. "Hi," she managed.
"Can I get you two started on anything?"
"Just coffee for me," Rs said, before looking over to Sop.
The doll was still tucked in her mental shell and trying to curl up in her seat.
"Sop, what do you want?"
The doll shrugged, "I dunno…"
"Hmmm, how about what M4 usually gets?" Springfield offered.
Sopmod nodded hesitantly.
"Alrighty dears, I'll get right to it.
Sop's gaze lifted as Springfield walked off to make the order, watching her as the doll slipped back into the kitchen.
"What does M4 usually get?" Sop mumbled.
"Cup of decaf and chocolate chip pancakes," Rs said.
That lit a little spark in Sop, which Rs couldn't help but smile at as her eyes widened ever so slightly at the words 'chocolate chip pancakes.' It was the only thing M4 had ever gotten for breakfast the few times she'd eaten at the cafe, in fact the first time she'd chosen it so quickly off the fairly sizable menu that Rs had wondered ever since if there was some special significance to the dish for her.
"Rs?" Sop asked suddenly.
Rs shook her thoughts away before refocusing on the doll, "Hmm? Oh what's up?"
"What happened to M4? Why didn't Sangvis kill us?"
Rs let out a breath, "I- don't know, honestly. I was out of action from the start, so I didn't see what went down."
"Oh." Sop deflated even further, "And, they attacked here too?"
"At the same time, yes."
Sop set her jaw, "tricky bastards."
Fire entered her eyes, flickering for a moment before it all crashed right back down.
"It was impressive," Rs admitted, "they're a lot better led than we'd assumed."
"Hunter was real sneaky… always trying to ambush us, lull us, outsmart us. But it wasn't until we tried to escape that she got Ar-15…"
"Yeah that's how it goes, you're at your most vulnerable when stationary."
"M16 says that alot."
"M16's right to."
"Hehe," Sop giggled under her breath, a little life returning, "she's always telling off Ar-15 about stuff like that. She never listens…"
"No? Why not?"
Sop cracked a thin grin."15's too proud for her own good, that's what 16 says."
Suddenly the doll's attention was dragged away, drawn to Springfield's sudden emergence from the kitchen with a plate and two mugs in hand. She set the food down in front of Sop, and a mug before each of them.
"Danke~" Rs chimed.
"Of course, let me know if you need anything else."
Sop didn't say a word, she didn't move, didn't even look to be breathing. Instead her entire body was locked onto the plate before her, the tempting fluffy pancakes having hypnotized her.
"You can dig in, kiddo," Rs chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee.
Sop was in motion before she finished her sentence.
Sop tore into the food with animalistic fervor, mouthful followed by mouthful.
"Good?"
"MHMM!" she hummed between bites.
Rs leaned back in her chair, watching the doll chow down with amusement hidden behind her mug.
Then it hit her. A quick, deafening burst of garbled static and voices that flashed into her comms. For a split second it drowned out every other thought and feeling.
Then it was gone, passed in just a split second.
Rs was stunned, her mug trembling in her hand. Across the table Sop was similarly frozen, halfway through a bite.
"What the hell?" she gasped finally, breaking the spell.
"Tha- that was," Sop fumbled over her words, "15?"
"Huh?"
"It was tagged on Zener. Ar-15 sent that," Sop said, her eyes wide, "Is she nearby, maybe she broke free?"
"I-" Rs stammered.
"Rs, the commander wishes to see you in the TOC," G36's voice suddenly stated.
"Uh, okay. Should I bring SOP?"
There was a pause, likely as G36 asked Matt that very question before her voice returned, "Ja, bring her."
1520
"What the hell…" Rs muttered as she stared up the structure before her.
It was a wall, about ten meters high and made of concrete. What looked like gun emplacements lined the top, but the weapons themselves were absent leaving only the squat cylindrical mounts just barely visible from the ground.
One section of this wall was missing, or rather, retracted. Two massive slabs had been pulled into the rest of the wall on rails, forming an opening wide enough to move a tank through with room to spare.
Cautiously, Rs, Wa, 14, and Sop began slowly moving towards the opening. They'd been sitting outside, slowly creeping closer to the source of the ping for about half an hour after Aloha had dropped them off. It was a warm day, warmest of the season, so it was a messy, muddy trek through the Ukrainian hills.
"How did they hide this?" Wa wondered aloud beside her.
"I have no idea," Rs replied, feeling almost mystified.
"Maybe they have a cloaking device!" M14 suggested.
"That'd be cool! Maybe we could steal it!" Sop added.
"Let's hope not, that'd really make our job complicated if they do," Rs groaned.
The signal they'd received was a high power Zener ping, too corrupted to make out whatever it had said, if anything, but the network had triangulated it here. Initial scans had revealed only faint radiological and electromagnetic signatures, and next to no thermals, but one could never be too cautious.
It'd been hours since the ping, a consequence of their low readiness and helicopters flying near constant flights. It took far too long just to recall and refuel them. If they'd had any element of surprise to begin with, it was long gone now. Any SF present would likely be ready and expecting them.
This base resembled old Soviet style raid resistant bases, save the Sangvis Ferri Logos painted here and there. However, depending on how far the resemblance went there could be thousands of meters of underground tunnels lying beneath their feet. At any moment legions of SF dolls could come pouring out at them from one of a dozen entry and exit points.
They slipped past the gate, each of them glancing around with their weapons raised and taking in the sights. Lines of warehouses sat on either side of the main road into the base, which ran from the gate straight to what must've been the main building at the far end.
"It's so quiet," Wa whispered as they began trekking down the main road towards said building, its angular form looming over them.
"Maybe they're scared!" Sop squeaked.
"This might also be a trap Sop," Rs chided, "Keep your heads on a swivel, any sign of trouble and we bug out."
"Fine…" Sop whined.
Their steps echoed against the concrete walls, hushed chatter seeming amplified against the stark confines. Rs swore she could hear her own racing heart beat reflected off those walls.
Suddenly M14's rifle jerked off towards a rooftop, instantly catching all their attention. Rs reacted on instinct, her rifle raised and pointing the opposite direction from 14 to cover her.
"Got something?" She hissed over her shoulder.
14 was quiet for a moment, long enough for Rs to sneak a peek back over at what the doll was staring at. When she looked, there was seemingly nothing there.
"I don't see anything," Sop reported.
Still 14 stayed quiet a spell longer, until she let out a breath and lowered her rifle, "Sorry, must've just been a bird or something."
"It's okay, We're all a little jumpy, but keep an eye on it just in case," Rs reassured her.
M14 nodded, the anxiety evident in how jerky she performed the motion. For their parts Sop and Wa seemed a little more composed, but even they were tenser than usual. Wa's grip on her weapon was tight, body coiled like a spring, while Sop could almost be described as having her hackles raised in how she was carrying herself.
They pressed on further, pausing outside each of the numerous warehouses so Sop could do a quick sweep with her sensor suite. Each and every one.
They found nothing in the first few. According to Sop the only things with an electric charge were a few small battery powered smoke alarms.
About halfway down the base the line of warehouses broke, revealing a train depot on one side with several lines of rail that wove around before sleeping under a pile of rubble that was probably a tunnel at one point.
"I suppose that leaves just one," Rs mused, staring up at the five story building hanging over them.
"I hope she's here," Sop mumbled.
Rs didn't reply, biting her cheek. Best not to give her too much false hope. Instead, she just patted the doll twice on the shoulder, and began making her way up to the main door to the facility.
No controls, no handles, not really any evidence as to how the massive indented slab of black colored metal might open.
"Wa, let's set our door knockers."
Wa unslung her pack and began pulling out several pale colored bricks wrapped in wires. She tossed one to Rs, then to Sop and M14, and they all began pressing the bricks to the door and switching on the devices pressed into them.
Then they began strolling away from the door.
The four of them hopped behind the nearest corner, a thin path between two warehouses on one side of the road. Sop looked at her with an excited, toothy smile.
Rs nodded, handing her the detonator.
Sop pressed the red button on the top.
BOOM!
The explosion shook the ground, sending tremors up through Rs' legs and body. A smoky, acrid scent filled the air.
"Heehee!" Sop giggled with glee.
The four of them poked around the corner, finding a ragged, crumbling hole where that door had once been.
"Okay, door knocked. Lets see if anyone's home," Rs muttered.
They stepped out into the open once more, moving up in a diamond towards the smoking breach. At any moment she expected a burst of plasma to spring out from within, SF dolls to come swarming out. Her body readied itself for the moment, her heart pounding.
Again, nothing. Instead they stepped into the dark interior of the building. NODs went down and IR lights turned on. In night vision Rs noticed Sops eyes glowed, the doll having night vision built in.
The interior was surprisingly mundane. Minus the lack of lights, the halls just had a typical military esque feel, even the occasional cork board or FPE sprinkler.
"Almost looks like home," M14 commented.
"Yeah…" Rs agreed, taking a passing glance at an old notice stapled onto one of the cork boards attached to the wall.
The paper was clearly old, the words faded and a bit difficult to read. It was written in Russian, and dated in the corner.
"2054…"
"Whats that mean?" M14 asked, leaning in.
"I don't know," she mused, "I wonder how long this place has been here."
"You don't think SF built it?"
Rs shrugged, "Maybe."
They kept going. Sop led them on like a hunting dog, even stopping on occasion and moving her head around like she was searching for a scent. At the stairwell, she chose to lead them further down into the facility, winding down stairs and through twisting halls.
As they descended the facility became increasingly dilapidated. Crumbles of concrete scattered across much of the floor, coils of wires and fallen pipes laying to the side, and a few doors were even popped off their hinges or just barely hanging from one.
"What happened here?" Wa wondered aloud as they passed by one section where an entire wall had collapsed into the room beyond.
The rubble from the wall was entirely in the hall, Rs glanced around the edges of the collapsed wall, noting that a few bent iron rods were bent outward at the edges. Inside the room there were blast marks and a crater near the center of the room.
Explosion, right in the middle of the room. But uh, why?
Any clues there might've been were long gone, which she supposed might've been the point.
They eventually came upon a staircase and poked in, However they found the stairs completely collapsed just below their landing.
Not phased, Rs unslipped her backpack and pulled out a long climbing rope, which she then wrapped around a few sturdy pipes that she was pretty sure would hold. She then carefully formed a harness of rope around her legs and hips, holding the slack end out in one hand, IR flashlight in the other with her rifle strapped over her back.
"See ya in a minute," she chimed to the dolls, before slowly leaning back over the edge of the landing and sliding down into the darkness.
She flashed her light around, the eerie green rays barely reaching a couple meters into the murk. Slowly she let her slackline slip a little in her hand, her body shuddering as it dropped down further into the dark.
Something glinted in the dark as her light passed over it. Rs quickly returned the light and descended even further until a bowed door frame came into view. The top was bent, sagging in the middle and the door nowhere in sight, but still looked passable.
Rs cast her light further down, but still found the darkness swallowing the beam up. They were already two floors beneath the earth, how far down does this damn shaft go?
"Hey 14! Could you drop a glow stick?"
"Yeah, one second!" the doll called back, her voice echoing in the well.
Above her Rs heard the doll crack the stick, then saw the little light come tumbling down into the dark past her. The stick clicked off the wall, flipping end over end, until it too was swallowed up by the darkness.
"Uh, can you see it?" Sopmod asked from above her.
"Nope!", she sighed, "Uh, okay, well there's at least one doorway here. Pretty sure I can make it in from here. Just watch the rope, make sure it doesn't start to slip."
" 'kay!"
Rs descended a little further, lining herself up with the door the best she could before she began to swing. Back and forth, back and forth, slowly building momentum on her rope and growing closer to that doorway with each pass.
Then on the last one, she let a little slack out of the line at just the right moment. Her body flew out and skidded against the hard concrete floor just within the door, rifle hiking up and dragging. The hard stock pressed into her back, causing a good deal of pain and probably ruining the zero on her scope.
As she recovered, Rs discovered she wasn't alone. Nearby, sprawled across the floor, was a Sangvis Ferri regular doll, its type non-identifiable due to the intense plasma burns all across it, and all around it were several dozen plasma score marks burned into the concrete.
"I made it!" she called, eyes still drawn to the body.
"Should we come down?"
"Wait a second!" she shouted, finally breaking her transfiction.
Rs flashed her light around the hall she now found herself in, which turned out to be a near exact replica of the one she'd come from. She quickly found the twins to the pipes she'd used at the top end of the rope, and began tying her rope around it before pulling it taut.
She glanced back to the doorway, finding the rope pressed up against the sagging part of the door.
"Okay, ropes secured, take it carefully and one at a time!"
"On my way!" Sop chirped.
Rs heard gloves rubbing against rope, and a second later she heard Sopmod smack into the doorway with an oof. The doll had tried to slide down fireman style, and her momentum carried her right into the frame.
"Sop, what part of that was careful?"
"All of it-?" she pondered aloud as she clung to the rope.
"Come on," Rs waved to her.
Sop unfurled herself from the rope, now dangling from her hands before throwing herself into the doorframe and onto Rs.
"Sop…" Rs groaned, "get off."
"Sorry!" she squeaked, hopping off.
Wa made the descent next, and 14 followed her, each managing to not only not hit the door, but also swing into the door without tackling those already there.
"That," Rs said, ruffling Sop's hair, "is how to descend a rope safely."
They collected themselves, then began to make their way down the hall. Their lights didn't penetrate far into the darkness, the lack of light almost pressing in closer to them and making Rs' breathing feel strained. Strangely though, this floor seemed in better condition than the one above, minus the stairwell door.
Sop froze, her body pointing forward at some vague shape laying on the ground. Rs came up beside her, glancing quickly towards her and finding the doll's crimson eye's focused ahead.
The doll scooted up just a little more, Sop's IR lamp revealing the form of an SF Vespid laying on its front, its gray helmet resting upside down nearby.
The four of them scooted forward, Sop keeping her rifle on the doll, Rs pointing forward, and the others watching their rear until they came to surround the doll.
Sop knelt down, pushing the doll with her muzzle.
No response.
She flipped the doll over, and they found the reason for the doll's inaction. There was a gash in the center of its chest, dried coolant splotched around it and a mess of wires and skeleton within.
"Stabbed," Sop concluded, "weird, looks like its core was cut out."
"Let's keep moving," Rs hissed.
Sop nodded, and they kept passed through what felt like a kilometer of those labyrinthine halls. It was so quiet, save for their footsteps and clattering gear. Her mind grew numb as they passed rounded corner after corner, the floor seeming twice as large as the one's they'd cleared before.
They passed by a pair of heavy metal doors painted with some long faded writing. Sop took a quick moment to peek through the crack in the center and presumably perform a scan before moving on.
Rs froze as she passed them, the dolls taking two steps further before realizing she'd stopped.
"Rs?" 14 asked.
"Shh," she hushed her. Rs took a deep breath through her nose.
Fresh air. She'd grown so used to the stuffy air that it struck her as incredibly out of place. Rs peeked into the doors, eyes flicking back and forth but not seeing anything within.
"There was nothing in there," Sop said.
"There's air here," Rs muttered, "Let's check it out."
Unlike upstairs, this door had actual controls. However, pressing every one of the buttons got them nowhere. Instead Sop and Wa each took one of the doors, and began straining with all their strength against the stubborn metal doors.
With a jerk that sent dust tumbling down from the ceiling, the doors began screeching open as the two girls groaned.
They got it open just enough to slip between the two doors. Rs went in first, slipping off her rifle to fit and going in with just her pistol and IR flashlight. The room was way bigger than it first appeared, the ceiling easily twice as tall as the doors, and the far end was well beyond what her flashlight could illuminate.
She glanced behind the door and found a slumped body flopped over beside it, quickly revealed to be another SF vespid, its chest gashed open like the previous. Beside it the manual crank override for the door was open with a single plasma scar burned into the lock.
She found the rifle that'd presumably been used for the effort nearby, laying on the ground.
"The hell…" she muttered.
Sopmod slipped in behind her, taking note of the same things she had before glancing around the rest of the room.
"What could this have been for?" Sop wondered aloud, "Looked like they had enough storage up top."
"And so far underground…" Rs muttered as she moved further into the room.
She noticed little objects glinting in the IR light, which on closer revealed themselves to be attachment points sprouting out from the concrete that presumably would've been used to chain something down. They didn't appear to be new additions, the concrete around them looking just like the rest of the floor. Each of these were spaced at regular intervals, forming a grid over part of the floor.
"Hey Rs, should we come through?" M14 called.
"No, stay and keep watch, no guarantee everything down here is dead."
Sop and Rs spaced out and began moving, keeping separation enough to cover the whole space, but not too far that they couldn't see each other at all. This had the effect of turning Sop in barely more than a shadow and two glowing eyes in the murk.
Then they came upon another Sangivs doll, dead like the rest due to the plasma burns that'd all but ripped it apart. Sop and Rs paid it little mind, Sop would detect if it began to power up and they had more than enough room to maneuver in here, even if cover was nonexistent.
Then they found another, a ripper this time, the curly purple locks being its most obvious indicator. This one was down an arm and was face down, body aligned with the direction they were headed.
Rs checked her pistol chamber, even though she already knew it was loaded.
A third SF doll, Vespid.
A fourth. Then a fifth. All cut down while apparently traveling the way they were now headed.
"Hmmm?" Sop hummed, stopping.
"Problem?"
"There's a tiny signature just a head. Like I'm talking really really small, like a- flashlight or something."
"Huh," Rs said aloud, "well lets see, how far is it?"
"Couple more meters."
Rs stepped over an SF doll as they began converging on the signature, her IR light revealing another dead doll ahead, and its weapon.
She glanced back down at the one she'd just passed, realizing it lacked its weapon. In fact now that she thought about it this was the second SF gun she'd found, the first being the one by the door.
Ahead another dozen of the guns appeared, piled up together. There was a weak ozone smell here, just acrid enough to tingle her nose.
Rs came upon another slumped, ragged body, and as it happened, the wall. She noticed the scent of air was strongest here. She glanced up, searching around with her light for a source. She carefully stepped over the body, eyes cast up, and felt in one small spot the faintest of drafts coming down on her.
Her light revealed nothing, but there was definitely something above that was letting in a little flow of air.
"Hey Sop, do you have a white light?" Rs called to the doll, who was wandering around her side of the room inspecting the wall.
"Hmm, oh yeah, what's up?"
Rs pointed upward.
A second later the whole ceiling was illuminated in a brilliant light, too much for her NODs. Rs pulled up the goggles, and squinted.
Sure enough there was a fault in the ceiling, not wide enough for light to pass through but apparently enough for a little air to pass.
"Huh, I guess that's where that's coming from," she said, slipping her NODs back on as Sop switched off her light.
Rs glanced over towards Sop, a casual grin on her face. Sop was frozen, staring at a point below Rs.
"Sop?"
"A-a-ar-15?" she muttered.
Rs followed the doll's gaze down, finding on closer inspection that the body she stood over didn't look typically SF. The shoes, ragged though they were, were definitely Civilian type shoes, low cut, laced.
Rs knelt down to the doll she stood over.
It was St Ar-15. She lay slumped against the wall, body ragged, burned, and an eye missing. Rs carefully moved the doll's head forward, intending to get Sop to jack in to see her status but found the Doll's UDC port occupied.
She followed the plug to a tangle of wires that were practically wrapped around her, and all connected to a small set of objects carefully placed behind her.
Doll cores and power cells, all linked together and wired into Ar-15.
Sop, having come over, reached out to her sister's face. However it was like her hand was being repelled by some invisible force, shaking while outstretched.
"Sop you said there was a small signature in here, is it her?"
Sop nodded.
"14, Wa, get in here we need your help!"
Rs yanked on Sop, whirled her around and began pulling open her pack. She ripped into it, carelessly pulling out everything she'd packed until Rs came upon a small cylindrical object.
She quickly unspooled the UDC cord from the base of the solar charger, pulled out the mess of wires plugged into the Ar-15, and plugged the doll into the device. Over her shoulder Rs heard M14 and Wa's boots clattering against the hard concrete as they rushed over.
"15, 15…" Sop mumbled, her eyes wide with panic.
15 wasn't moving, the charger was showing green but she just wasn't moving.
14 and Wa tore up to them in a clamor of noise, "Hey, whats-" 14 began.
Rs glanced at her, "Any ideas?"
"Wha- what's wrong with her?" 14 asked.
"She's alive, barely. Might be low on power but she's not charging "
Wa strutted up, grabbing one of the SF weapons that'd been laying by themselves. She turned it over, stared for a moment, then jammed her fist into and ripped a piece out.
"Was she plugged into this?" Wa then asked, pointing to the odd array of cores and power cells.
Rs noticed that the object the doll held was exactly like the type plugged into the weird array. She nodded.
Wa casually knelt down, Yanking out the UDC cord from the array and began affixing it to the cell. She then fiddled a bit with the cell, before offering the cord to Rs.
"Try this," she said.
Rs tentatively took the cord from the doll, who was for once the most level headed in the room, and reached around Ar-15, once more swapping the cords.
Then Wa pressed something on the powercell.
"GAH FUCK!" Ar-15 yelped as she slammed forward, smacking right in Rs and sending her toppling to the ground.
"15!?" Sop cried.
"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUCK!" the doll yelled, clawing at and ripping out the cord in her neck.
Rs stared at Wa in disbelief, "what did you do?"
"Hmmm, oh, she needed a power surge to knock her up from Level III."
Kinda like what she'd done to Cano all those months ago. Why hadn't she thought of that now? "Isn't that insanely dangerous?"
Wa shrugged, then pointed to the array, "she survived that, figured one more wouldn't do too much more damage."
"Fuck," 15 cried.
Rs glanced back at her, noticing her clutching above her chest.
"15, what's wrong," Sop asked.
"Fuck," she gasped, "Core… gah this hurts!"
"Core? Is something wrong with your core!?"
The doll leaned back, huffing heavily with obvious pain in each breath. She opened her mouth, as if trying to say something but nothing came out.
"Why isn't she dampening the pain…" Rs wondered, then turning to Wa and 14, "Okay, any other ideas?"
The request proved unnecessary, as M14 just pointed back to Sop as the doll was just finishing bridging a connection between herself and Ar-15. A moment later, 15's breathing grew steadier, her hand loosening from its death grip.
And then she sent a chop straight down onto Sop's head, bonking the doll on the head and earning an almost adorable surprised squeak from her.
"Didn't I say not to go into my head without permission," She hissed as Sop rubbed her head.
Rs knelt down beside her, the doll shooting a glare right into her as she did.
"Ar-15? I'm RS9, I'm with Griffin."
"Huh, about time you showed up," the doll scoffed.
"Sorry, we're not in the best shape back home right now, we came as fast as we could."
"Not fast enough," Ar-15 growled, "If you came hoping to find M4, you're about five hours too late. Sangvis took her when they left this place."
There was quiet for a moment, a despondent look washing over Sopmod beside her as the words sunk in.
"That close," Rs mumbled, "why did they leave?"
Ar-15 shrugged, "They began bugging out when I sent my message. I was hoping you would be fast enough to catch them."
"Damn Cowards!" Sop growled, her fist clenching.
"It's not like we could've done much had we gotten here fast enough," Rs chided her, "Sop the four of us here are about half of the effective combat troops we have left."
Sop's eye glowered, "I know, but-"
"Hahaha…" Ar-15 chuckled weakly, "It was that hopeless? Why did I even bother?"
"It's good you did what you did, 15. It might've been a lot longer before we could've gotten to you had you not sent that message."
Ar-15 rolled her one eye, "For all that's worth."
1800
For M14, the ride home was an awkward one. Seated right across from Sop and the newly recovered AR-15, she was given a front row seat to the somewhat depressed sibling dynamic as it played out.
Sop would lean against her sister, nuzzle her, seek some kind of affection or attention, only for AR-15 to ignore her for as long as possible before weakly pushing her away. Often that would come with an angry outburst from the pink haired doll which would send Sop into a deeper depression.
By the end of the flight, Sop wasn't even looking at her sister, instead leaning her head against Rs' shoulder.
She must not have been the only one feeling the awkwardness, as when the Blackhawk at last set down and its door slid open to reveal their home, a silent wave of relief spread through them all. She and Wa scrambled off the Helicopter, followed by Rs who was essentially carrying Sopmod off the aircraft.
Last of all, Ar-15 stepped off and took her first steps into their base.
The doll looked around, a blank expression on her face as her one eye moved from side to side, taking in the area, the damage, and even fixating on the heaped carcass of the Hydra that was in the process of being moved into one of the empty hangers.
Then without a word, she hobbled past them all and made her way towards the Main.
"14, gimme a hand?" Rs called to her as she watched Ar-15 walk away.
"Huh," she said, whirling her head around and finding Sop starting to fall out of Rs' grip. Quickly she rushed over to the doll and took her right arm over her shoulder, Rs taking the left, and together the two of them began hefting the despondent doll towards home.
"M4…" Sop muttered.
"I know kid, I know," Rs comforted her.
"It'll be okay," 14 added.
Sop's eyes cast their gaze down, "Miss her…"
"We all do," M14 said.
Sop's right arm gripped 14's jacket, taking it and balling it up in her fist as M14 and Rs hauled her inside. They quickly brought her over the nearest chair inside the entrance, setting the doll down in it as gently as they could.
Rs and 14 all but collapsed into the seats flanking Sop, Rs tilting her head upward and letting out a breath while 14' body crumpled in on itself. Her mind was exhausted, thoughts causing little twitches of pain as they came and went, and just the idea of getting back up caused an overwhelming sense of dread.
Sop whimpered beside her, something too quiet to pick up.
Despite it all, despite the hollowed out feeling in her core, M14 forced her arm up and over the poor girl's shoulders and pulled her in closer.
Rs leaned forward, smiling a little at M14.
"You two look cute," she commented.
14 managed a weak grin of her own, then leaned her head against Sop's. There was something whirring within the doll, a monotone vibration that showed life still in her.
Rs stood, stretching around the doll and holding out her hand, "Here, I'll check your gun back in and grab some food. Just stay with her would you?"
M14 nodded, carefully snatching at the gear strapped to her so that she wouldn't disturb Sopmod too much. She handed each item off to Rs one by one, the adjutant stuffing her pockets and at last slinging 14's namesake rifle over her free shoulder.
"Thanks, Rs," M14 mumbled.
"No worries kiddo, you two stay cozy."
"Will do."
"Mmmph," Sop grumbled, the doll's crimson eyes lazily tracking Rs through half open eyelids.
Rs departed, leaving the two of them mostly alone. This room was the primary entrance to the Main, so there was a front desk nearby manned by a garrison doll 14 hadn't met, but said doll was absorbed in some other task and didn't pay them much mind.
14 sat there a while. Sop was clinging to her like a vine, wrapping her arms around her own and pressing her mop of blonde hair into her shoulder. 14 stroked the doll's hair rhythmically, mimicking what Rs had done to her a couple nights before.
After a couple minutes, she decided to check the Grifchan boards, see what had been happening around base while her team had been gone.
It was mostly boring stuff, complaints about work hours, short staffing, and shitposting from the usual suspects. Interestingly there was a board post about Ar-15 already, some garrison doll commenting on the sour looking doll who'd shouldered past her into the den.
"15…" Sop mumbled.
14 glanced down at the doll, finding Sop slowly raising her head.
"Hey," She cooed, "you okay?"
"M'fine," the doll grumbled.
M14 watched curiously as Sop managed to prop herself up into her seat, the doll then looking around her with a confused spark in her expression.
"Where?"
"We're in the main."
"Where's Ar-15?" Sop asked.
"Being repaired I think."
"Oka-y," Sop said, trying to stand, "I'm gonna go see her."
14 gripped the doll's sleeve, "just wait a little more for Rs to come back okay?"
Sop looked at her, "But I wanna go see her now."
"If you wait just a couple more minutes we'll all go together!" 14 said, trying to inject a little pep in her voice.
Sop stared at her for a moment, then shifted her gaze to the hallway at the far side of the room.
"RS, where are you?" 14 pinged on Zener.
"Coming back, what's up?"
"Sop wants to go see Ar-15."
"Ah, uh she's being repaired right now. Not the best time."
M14 glanced at Sop, whose gaze had not wavered in the slightest. She could've sworn the doll was leaning a little more forward than she was a moment ago, like she was getting ready to bolt for the den.
"We don't think Sop cares."
"One second," Rs sighed.
M14 began hearing boots clicking rapidly against the ground just down the hall, and sure enough Rs returned moments later with three black containers in her hands.
The tension left Sop's body as she appeared.
"Rs!" Sop cried, trotting up to her, "Can we go see Ar-15, please!?"
"Hey kiddo," Rs greeted her, "Ar-15's supposed to be getting repaired right now, she may be under already."
Sop's shoulders dropped, "That's okay… I just wanna see her."
Rs glanced over to M14, "You want to come along?"
She shrugged, then stood, "sure."
Rs looked back at Sop and put on a strained smile, "okay, sure! But first," she began, handing Sop one of the food containers, "dinner. Eat on the way if you like."
Sop snatched the container, then began marching off down the hall in the direction of the den. Rs and 14 lagged behind her, walking side by side as they watched her go off.
"Thanks for watching her," Rs said, handing 14 her own container.
"No problem!" 14 chimed, "we think we needed a break too."
Rs nodded, "Yeah, I get that. You girls have been pushing hard lately, but we're hoping things will calm down now."
"You just jinxed us," she pouted.
Rs rolled her eyes and began drifting off to the side of the hall as they walked. The next time they passed by one of the wooden doors, she knocked on it before rejoining 14.
"Happy?"
"Mhmmm!" she nodded eagerly.
The pair of them made it to the stairway and down to the basement without tempting fate further. Ahead Sop stood staring at the Den's entrance, the doll shooting expectant glances towards the two of them as they approached.
"Come onnn," she whined.
"Alright alright," Rs groaned, jogging up to the door. She pressed her badge against the scanner, causing it to beep and the door to slide open a second later.
Sop charged in, disappearing into the dark room. Rs and 14 took a more leisurely entrance, strolling in carefully to avoid the tangles of wires and heaps of trash within.
"Dam! You in here!?" Rs half shouted.
"Eh-?" a sleepy sounding Damek replied from somewhere within the office.
Rs flicked on the lights, casting the half awake engineer in stark bright fluorescent light. The man's eyes squinted and he tried to fend off the light with a clumsy hand.
"Did you put 15 under yet?"
"No," he mumbled, "I'm still doing diagnostics."
Rs strolled over to him, leaning over his shoulder and staring at the different monitors glowing in front of him.
"So, what's wrong with her?"
M14 carefully tiptoed in behind them, leaning against the server rack that dominated the wall behind Damek's workstation.
"Lots," he said, "her transmitters are fried, power cells barely hold a charge, just about every bit of her endoskeleton I've checked so far is fractured, core's lost about twenty percent of its capacity, and obviously she lost an eye somewhere along the way. Not to mention the plasma burns."
M14 glanced out into the repair bay, noticing Sop already by Ar-15's bed and trying to chat with her. 15 seemed to have mellowed out a tad, at least she was looking at her sister while she talked.
Rs whistled, "And yet she walked it off."
"16Lab builds them tough," the man chuckled, though it died shortly, "there was one more thing, she mentioned her pain receptors were jammed wide open."
14 felt a chill run through her at the thought. Dolls could numb the pain sensors, but also could increase their sensitivity to well beyond what a human would feel. For her to take that level of damage with maxed pain reception…
"Is that what Sop shut down?"
"No, it's still active, Sop just cut it all off from her neural cloud. 15 asked that I keep her in level III when I go to fix it up."
"Mmm," Rs hummed with a nod, "Did she say what happened to her?"
Damek shook his head, "Same to you then?"
She nodded.
15 had barely said a word to them as they extracted her. They'd asked questions of course, but she'd simply ignored them each time. Hardly even looked them in the eye.
M14 speculated, putting together the different things they'd seen. In particular she'd noticed how RS had focused on certain things, the adjutant had better instincts than her so she was a good litmus test on what details may or may not matter.
There were a few ideas she came up with, from Ar-15 busting out and causing chaos to a freak accident involving some old Soviet superweapon.
On second thought, maybe she should keep those ideas to herself. This seemed to not be the right mood for fun thoughts.
It took her a moment, but M14 noticed a shift in Rs. She was stiff, body not moving. She moved up towards her, leaning over her shoulder to see.
It was Cano, laying still with eyes shut in the bed beside Ar-15 as the repair machines worked on her. The doll looked almost just like she always had, from the shoulder's up at least. Below that things began getting messy.
"How's she doing?" Rs choked out.
"Work in progress. I needed to send out some machining orders so it may be a while."
Rs nodded without immediately replying.
Something in 14 churned, a little swell of discomfort as she looked at her dead teammate.
"What are you working on with her right now?" Rs then asked.
"Core housing came in this morning, currently installing it."
"Can you… pause it for a minute?"
Damek didn't move for a moment, the man trying to suss out whatever.
"Uh, yeah sure," He then mumbled, pulling up a new window on his display and beginning to modify the repairs process.
Through the window the repair arms working on Cano began to slow and fold up, retracting upward above her bed. Rs pushed herself back fully onto her feet, slipped around side M14, and entered the repair bay without a word.
14 followed her after a moment, trailing behind like a duckling. Rs plopped herself down on Cano's bedside, slowly reaching over and taking Cano's hand in her while looking downward with a thin smile.
It was the first time M14 had seen her look so exhausted, it was like she visibly aged up to resemble someone far, far older.
Beside them Sop hadn't apparently noticed the two of them enter, the doll still trying to engage with her sister. Ar-15 however, was staring carefully at them. Especially as M14 wove in between Rs and her bed, leaning up against the wall between the two beds.
"So who's that?" 15 asked after a little bit.
"Cano," M14 said, "one of my teammates."
"She was with M4 and I when we went to rescue Sop. She died in the ambush," Rs added.
"So you were there too?" Star observed, "why didn't you die?"
Rs shrugged, "got lucky."
"And yet you didn't stop M4 from surrendering."
Rs glanced up, "she surrendered?"
"That's what the ringleader said happened."
"Hunter?"
"No, different one, goes by the name 'Operator', now that I think about it she was interested in you. Wanted to make sure you were a doll and what your name was."
Rs' eyes narrowed. She looked down, in what M14 thought was deep thought.
"I've never heard of an 'Operator'," M14 said aloud, "Is she new?"
Ar-15 shrugged, "I never had either, but she didn't say."
"Why would she care about Rs?' Sop asked.
15 glared at Rs, "You tell me."
There was an uncomfortable quiet for a minute, just Ar-15 glaring at Rs, who glared right back. 14 was worried they'd start a fire with just the intensity of their stares.
"So," 14 nervously interjected, "Um, miss Ar-15. How did you send a zener message from that base-?"
By all rights it made no sense. Zener was a mid range comms system at best, a doll could maybe hope for a couple thousand meters of good connection with their onboard equipment. Yet somehow Ar-15 had sent a message powerful enough to reach every doll on this base from over fifty times the accepted range.
"Easy," she scoffed, "just a matter of putting enough power into the signal."
"So that's what that little battery box you made was for?" Rs asked, "give you more power."
"Yeah."
"That's pretty clever," 14 said.
"That's amazing!" Sop cheered, "How did you do it? They were all sangvis cores right?"
"Weapon and core power cells, only things that'd survive being removed from a regular type."
"Sounds like you're an expert," Rs said, "that was damn reckless, nearly killed you."
"16 gave me the idea, I guess she's done similar things before. She never told me I might fry my core doing it though."
"That's 16 for ya! And it's not like you actually fried it!" Sop squeaked.
Ar-15 rolled her eyes, "I almost did."
"And I saved you!"
Ar-15 glared past them all to the observation window where Damek was working, "Can I go under now please? I wanna be done with this."
Notes:
Its here, at long last! Sorry for the major delay folks, but I had writers block something fierce back in January when I was first trying to plot out this section of the story. thankfully, after all the re-writing, which will be continuing by the way, I'm happy to say that we're back to business as usual. thanks for sticking with me this far, and enjoy the ride.
Anyway, as for this chapter, couple things. First off, Star is a freaking badass. I won't outright say what she did here, as I'm debating whether or not to actually show it later, but suffice to say she sent SF running for the hills with what she did off screen here, though she did pay the price. Look forward to more in the near future ;)