Amatoth stared.

Esariuan stared back.

Awkward silence continued for some time as the assembled drones glanced between the two, the tension an almost visible thing between them.

"Soooo…" N said, an awkward smile on his face. "This is Amatoth. We met her on the way here!"

The harlequin did not break eye contact with the necron girl. "You happened to stumble onto a necrontyr. Just like that. And you did not think it suspicious?"

V snorted. "Not anymore than you showing up in N's room when he was recovering was." She glared. "And at least she fought with us. Can't say the same for you so far. For all your promises of help, you've done little but warn us."

Amatoth chuckled meanly, glaring at the eldar. "Ah yes. Their kind is quite good at that; Ominous warnings, whispers of the things to come… but when it comes down to it, they seldom ever actually act."

The harlequin tilted their head. "Not sure about that one princess. Making your kind hide away for millions of years because you kept losing to us seems like a pretty active accomplishment. Still sore you lost the war?"

Amatoth's grip tightened on her weapon. "Lost?! At least we didn't degenerate like your kind did and let some damn primitives take over the galaxy! And don't try and claim the glory of your ancestors!" She pointed at him. "I was there when the ancient eldar still traversed the galaxy, and you are nothing more than a pitiful candle comparing itself to a star!"

The harlequin tittered. "My, my. It sounds almost like you admire them. And I wouldn't exactly throw stones from that glass house of yours… how did that biotransference go again?" The harlequin leaned forward, venom dripping from his every word even as Amatoth took a step back, her mouth opening as if trying to breathe. "The years have been as unkind to your people as ours; How many of your own have failed to wake up? How many barely remember who they are, made little more than automatons? How many…"

"Enough!" Uzi slammed the butt of her rifle into a nearby table, the sound startling the two aliens. "We get it, you hate each other! But this is our planet, OUR home, and you're all here as guests! So you're going to behave and stop going for each other's throat, or we're kicking you out!" She pointed her finger at Amatoth as she went to protest. "I don't care what your dad says! This might be his territory, but Copper 9 is NOT from your galaxy!"

As Uzi spoke N slowly stepped forward, grabbing Amatoth by the shoulders and pushing her away from the harlequin gently. "Uzi's right. We've got bigger problems to deal with. The orks are becoming a bigger and bigger problem, and without Cyn we don't have the firepower to deal with their numbers."

The harlequin nodded. "I apologise. I let ancient grudges get in the way of our agreement." N gave him a grateful look at that even as Uzi roled her eyes. "However, I can assure you I have not been passive. You see, for some time, before even our meeting, my kin has been working to build a network of webway gates on this world."

Amatoth's eyes widened. "YOU!" She snarled, grabbing her weapon only for N to grab her wrist, his eyes narrowed.

"Didn't you hear Uzi?" He said, his voice not harsh but with some reproach.

"You don't understand N!" She said pleadingly. "Webway gates is how the eldar move their armies! They must be preparing an invasion!"

The drones glanced at the harlequin. "It is true." He easily admitted. "I have also requested aid from the nearest craftworlds… before I even came here. Military force is the only way to deal with the greenskins after all. I had hoped you would have accepted my help."

"And if we had refused?" J asked sharply.

"We would have left." The harlequin said simply, eliciting disbelieving looks from all but N. "Your cooperation for the next step of our plan is necessary. Any attempt to force you would have doomed it to failure, and so it was my belief that it would be best to simply accept whatever decision you made."

"See?" N said with a smile. "He meant well! They're here to help."

Amatoth snarled. "You do not need the help of his kind! I can contact my father and have him bring in his own forces, wipe the ork filth from this world!"

V shrugged. "I mean, it goes a bit past the orks…" She said, glancing at the harlequins.

J shook her head. "I'm uncomfortable making this kind of decision without Cyn anyways."

"Bootlicker." V said with narrowed eyes, nearly spitting the words.

J snarled, whirling on V with gritted teeth. "Oh get off your fucking high horse!" The sheer rage in the words made V's eyes widen. "None of us can beat Cyn! NONE OF US! And no, purple over there can't either!" She said, pointing to a glaring Uzi. "If she comes back and is unhappy, she might, oh I don't know, PULL A SECOND GA…" J's words cut out with a choke as she turned away, holding herself tightly.

N walked up to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. To Uzi and V's surprise, J didn't knock it away. "...J is right. I'll be the first to point out that Cyn may be trying to be better, but we have no idea what goes on through that head of hers. If she decides that us going against the initial plan while she's away is some form of betrayal…"

"She might react badly." Uzi said with a grunt. "I mean, I'd be pretty pissed if I was in her place. But then again, I'm not a complete psycho like she is."

"Debatable." V snarkily said.

"Oh bite me!" Uzi said, glaring at her.

V tilted her head. "You know? You keep saying that. I think I just mi…" She stopped as the barrel of Uzi's railgun gently poked into her stomach, making her eyes hollow out.

"Come on then." Uzi said calmly, a dangerous smile on her face. "Try it."

"Uzi!" N said with a sharp voice. "And V! Both of you! That's going too far!"

The two drones glared at each other before looking away. "Fine. Whatever." Uzi said with a grunt.

"...Not bad pipsqueak." V said, grudgingly impressed.

Uzi glanced at her, before shaking her head. "I mean, I know that was my only shot at stopping you with the solver. You're pretty damn fast."

"You're not terrible yourself." V admitted, giving the worker drone an amused look as N sighed deeply.

"Oh robo-jesus, I'm never going to understand the weird relation you two have…"

V snickered. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the only 'relation' she wants to have is…"

Uzi slammed the butt of her rifle into V's chest as the disassembly drone laughed, N and Uzi both blushing massively.

J sighed, turning back to Amatoth and the harlequin, both looking at the byplay with varying expressions of confusion. "Apologies for them. They're idiots, you see." She said, ignoring the cries of protest. "Amatoth, we appreciate your offer of assistance. But whilst I wish the eldar had told us of the webway gates before…" She glanced meaningfully at the harlequin, who had the decency to give a remorseful nod. "Their military presence here is not a surprise, nor a cause for alarm."

"But…" Amatoth said, struggling to find the words. "You can't trust the eldar!"

J sighed. "How many times do we have to say it? We don't trust ANY of you." She said pointedly. "We've only recently met you lot, and so far this galaxy has sucked majorly. We don't have your history, your context. We're working with the fragments we're given and whatever piece of information Cyn feels like giving us when she's actually around." She frowned. "Speaking of which, she's been gone for a while. Wonder what she's up to…"

Cyn walked through the empty streets of the hive city. Normally, at this time of the day, they would be absolutely packed with people.

Now however there wasn't a trace of anyone. Not a word, not a whisper. She could feel them, hiding in their hab-blocks. Terrified of the horrors that had poured out of the city to slaughter the orks, too afraid to face them in battle. Those few that had tried had been slaughtered wholesale; The modified servitors had little love for the rest of humanity which continued to live their existence whilst their suffering went ignored.

Still, she had sent out a simple order to avoid causing trouble through the network. It had been listened to with near religious fervour, the servitors pouring out of the city to massacre the remaining orks. Within the hour, the last of them would be scoured from this world. The spores would remain, of course, but that was hardly Cyn's problem.

It might be Zorial's eventually. But the bastard deserved some trouble for what he had made Cyn go through… even if he could not have foreseen what had happened.

For a split second she found herself once more in that moment. Her powers gone, locked down by some outside force pressing down.

She hated it.
SHE HATED IT.

The sound of creaking and snapping metal brought her back to the present, finding the entire street around her turned inside out. Buildings had been caved inwards, pipes torn into pieces… all over a subconscious lashing out.

She was strong. Powerful.

Compared to humans. Compared to the mortals of this realm.

But the Gods still eclipsed her. She was strong enough to hold out their influence when confronted with it in the material realm, but…

It wasn't enough. She thought it had been, but it wasn't. The orks should never have been able to cut her off from her power.

And if she had it her way, they never would.

She wouldn't eat this world, no matter how much she wanted to. Regardless of what Zorial would think, whilst N was… definitely willing to overlook some morally dubious things, annihilating an entire planet's worth of people would be a step too far. At least, now that she was trying to show him she was capable of being more than the monster he feared.

It wouldn't be the first time she did it after all.

But there were many, many uninhabited worlds out there.

And she had a lot of potential hosts more than willing to do as she asked of them.

Her visor displayed a text box.

[PINGING TERMINALS]

[EXECUTE PROJECT: FEAST]

[LET'S EAT :)]

Cyn's visor returned to normal.

Excellent. When it came to pass, this should give her a much needed power boost.

In the meantime, she really should return to Copper 9 and check in on things.

Especially given…

Her awareness looked over to the message received during her fight with the warboss, left unread as she had been unable to receive it with her powers stifled.

Host Doll disconnected from the network.

Well now that wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all.

Isotatekh hummed softly to himself as Nori and Doll quietly conversed, the elevator bringing them back towards the surface.

It dinged, the necron phaeron leisurely strolling into the open corridors of the Cabin Fever Labs.

"...And really, I know I told him to build doors, but this is… a concerning amount of affection for a door." Nori was saying. Poor dear, her husband sounded like he really had lost it, at least on some level. A shame, truly. He'd have to see if he could offer some assistance… marriage counseling, perhaps? Though given that her daughter likely believed her dead… perhaps family therapy was more appropriate.

"I did not know it was you who told him to build the doors." Doll said thoughtfully. "In his defense, they really did save us when Cyn's murder drones came."

They arrived at an opening leading further up the cabin fever labs, reaching all the way to the actual surface. Unfortunately, there was not a trace of staircase or elevator that they could use to reach upstairs.

"How inconvenient." The phaeron said with some amusement. "Oh well. Teleportation it is." He glanced back at the two. "Will you require assistance getting up?"

Nori shook her… core? Before pointing to a large sheet of metal with her crab like claw, summoning to her with the solver and hoping on, indicating to Doll to do the same. It then began to levitate upwards rapidly, taking both drone and drone core all the way to the surface under Isotatekh's amused look. He vanished in a flash of green light, reappearing on the surface next to them…

And a group of very surprised orks.

They were not surprised for long, roaring in beastial excitement as they descended towards them…

Only for Isotatekh to blast them all away in under a second, annihilating them down to their primary components.

Doll stared at the disintegrated orks, before looking back to the phaeron.

"Uzi is going to be so jealous."

Nori poked her in the shoulder, eliciting a look of annoyance from Doll. "Oi. No bullying my daughter or I punt you into a wall."

Isotatekh laughed. "Indeed. I would ask you to treat Nori's daughter well. She is a friend after all." He was surprised to find himself sincere on that. Despite only having met her recently, Nori Doorman had been an absolute delight. Determined, resourceful, a good conversationalist, and an absolute spitfire… with many, many family issues.

It was a familiar combination.

Doll rolled her eyes. "Fine. I suppose I can make the effort."

Isotatekh's attention was turned upwards as knowledge made itself known to him. The fleet was approaching; It would be here in a matter of minutes. Good.

A Cairn-class battleship along with its accompanying warfleet should be enough to remind the primitives who really ruled the galaxy.

But then, another message.

And to his horror, something much, much bigger materialized into the space above Copper 9.

And another.

And another.

By the C'tan.

There were three craftworlds above Copper 9.

Ancient, primordial fear gripped him. Memories of dreadful warriors with the power to sunder cities with but a thought, of bringing down battleships with a wave of the hand erupted in his mind. Echoes of wars millions of years old, of a galaxy in flame from the mistake of his kin and the bitter resentment towards those who refused to help them.

And now they were here.

Three craftworlds. One alone would be a nightmarish threat to face, but three?

He did not have the forces to face this. Not with just the one fleet that was arriving. Even if he summoned all of them…

But his daughter was here.

Resolve surged through him as he gripped his communication device, sending a message through the entire tomb network of his domain. Though dozens of worlds, across millions of entities.

AWAKEN.

THE ANCIENT ENEMY IS HERE.

And to his wife, a second, calmer, yet more fearful message.

The old one's pets are here. Three craftworlds.

Amatoth is here.

Within a nanosecond he had received a response.

I am coming. Hold the line. Keep her safe.

His eyes narrowed at the three craftworlds, each of incomprehensible size for most but very much comprehensible to him.

"Isotatekh?" Nori asked nervously, her and Doll both staring up at the immense ships in orbit, each as large as a small planet. Even at the vast distance they still found themselves, they were clearly visible from planetside, the admittedly beautiful craftsmanship of the eldar rendering them as deadly tapestries in the sky. "Are those yours?"

"No." Isotatekh said, his voice cold. "They are not."

N stared at the sky above.

The harlequin hadn't been lying. They were here in force.

"I apologise for the lack of information regarding this." The eldar said, standing just a few meters behind him. "I was quite frankly unsure how many would choose to answer the call."

"They're so big." N whispered, eyes hollowed out as he stared up at the craftworlds. "How do you even build something like that?"

The eldar looked up, a hint of nostalgia in their voice as they spoke. "With time. Effort. And a lot of desperation." He looked back to N. "This will ensure the Imperium does not interfere with this world. They are wary of crossing paths with even a single craftworld; Three would be a death sentence to even a crusade fleet."

"I thought you said that your people would only deploy in small numbers for most engagements." J spoke up, landing next to them. N didn't even look back at her, his eyes still fixated above. "This does not look like small numbers."

Silence for a time. "It is hard to explain." The eldar said eventually. "The importance of Isha to outsiders. She is the mother of our people. The goddess of life. In this grim and dark galaxy… she is a spark of light and hope many of us have long since given up on. Our kind has its disagreements, and oft struggles to find common ground on many issues." He gestured to the three ships above, standing as three new moons far above the edges of Copper 9. "But when a god comes and proclaims the time for saving another has come? Few can resist answering the call. Iyanden. Biel-tan. Saim-Haan. And even now, the rest of our kin are dispersed through the galaxy to prevent outside interference; Even Commoragh would not dare interfere with such a matter."

"Commoragh?" N asked, glancing back at the harlequin, his curiosity peaked.

The harlequin's distaste was palpable as he spoke. "A horror of our kin, a mistake that should have long been razed to the ground. But that is none of your concern." He gestured to the immense structure that had been all but invisible but a few minutes before; A gargantuan circle of bone-like material, glistening even in the pale light of the dark sun of the Quartus system. "We promised you assistance against the orks. Allow us to make good on this."

N's attention, along with J's, turned to the circle, watching as it came to life with a great swirl of blue energy. J let out a soft gasp next to him, eyes hollowing out.

Then another portal appeared.

And another.

Uzi and V landed next to them, Amatoth materializing in a flash of green light, glaring at the eldar before freezing in shock at the sight above her.

"By the Silent King…" She whispered in horror. "Three? Three craftworlds?" She swayed, her grip on her weapon trembling. "Father…"

"A warning to you and your kind, necrontyr." The harlequin spoke as from the portals streams of eldar began marching out, numbering at first in the dozen, then the hundred, and soon the thousands. Aspect warriors, with their flamboyant armor marching in perfect formation with a coordination that seemed otherworldly; Rows upon rows of phantasmic warriors, the long dead souls of Iyanden brought back to a form of life as they animated the deadly wraithguards; These constructs made of the strange wraithbone material, each wielding weapons capable of rendering tanks into smoldering wrecks and with a strength that outmatched a space marine. Vehicles soon joined the marching formations, from the quick and agile jetbikes soaring into the skies alongside larger vipers, wraithfighters surging into the skies in squadrons as they descended onto unprepared ork flyers, clearing the skies in an instant. War serpents and falcons serving both as transports and heavier supports flanked the powerful fireprisms, capable of tearing through a baneblade with a single shot. "This is not one of our usual rivalries. This is not a skirmish, or a petty dispute over long overdone grudges." A single colossal leg emerged from one of the portals, the giant it belonged to soon following behind; The phantom titan, easily the size of a large building, striding past the other eldar with the casual ease of a man on a stroll, unnatural grace present in the movements of such a massive construct. N felt his breath catch at the sight of it, instinct making him nearly cower as more began emerging until an entire cohort of titans were advancing ahead of the eldar army, bolts of light and projectiles appearing in the streets of the ruined cities as they began engaging the orks. Buildings crumbled under their might, tanks were crushed afoot and orks annihilated by the hundreds with a single shot. "The full might of the Asuryani marches to war. And we will respond to any aggression with all the power we are capable of mustering."

Uzi let out a whistle, eyes hollowed out. "Robo-jesus… you guys don't mess around huh?" She said softly. "Well that's… both terrifying and awesome."

V's eyes were narrowed as she took it all in. "And you built all of these portals without telling us? Able to drop an entire army within the blink of an eye, and didn't think to tell us?"

"These portals were being built before I even approached you. The moment you arrived, in fact." The eldar said, catching looks of surprise from the drones. "Our farseers foresaw a path that could… allow the current plan to unfold. The demon's True Death was confirmation the path was unfolding as foreseen, and prompted me to reveal myself."

Amatoth raised a shaky finger. "I… I warned you! Deceit and manipulation, plans within plans! You can't trust the eldar, no matter how it may seem!"

The harlequin shrugged. "You need not trust me. I have not lied since my arrival. Our intent is to rescue Isha, and we need the assistance of the Anomaly to do so." He gestured to the eldar troops as they swept through the city like an unstoppable tide, crushing the orks underfoot whether they met them. "I am sure you of all people can understand the value of precaution when it comes to dealing with… Cyn."

V looked away with a scoff, but did not argue. J simply nodded, crossing her arms.

N sighed. "Well, I guess at least this will make it easier to eventually get home."

Amatoth gulped, her mouth opening wide, her robotic pupils dilated. "I… I need a minute!" she said with panic in her voice, teleporting away.

N glanced over to Uzi, who gave him a nod, the message 'I'll hold the fort' appearing on her visor as she gave him a quick thumbs up, N giving her a grateful nod before he took off after Amatoth.

Uzi turned back towards the eldar… for a split second, she allowed the solver to appear on her visor, reaching out for one of the massive constructs.

Interactable = true.

Well.

That was a relief at least.

A flash of red in the corner of her eye.

"Well, that's great news to see you guys are going to take care of the orks." Uzi said, stretching. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to go… over there. For no particular reason." V, J and the harlequin both gave her looks. Ah. Not as gullible as the WDF, as expected. Well that was fine! Uzi was used to making social situations awkward as hell. "See ya!"

N would understand.

Now to find out what Doll wanted…

J and V looked at each other.

"So…" J started. "...How are you doing V?"

"Fuck off boot-licker."

"Oh, you really want to do this?! I'll have you know…"

The harlequin looked between the two of them before looking down to his kin battling far away.

Well, he'd dealt with worse.

Better than Commorragh at least.

N found Amatoth leaning against the counter in the kitchen of an apartment that was missing a wall, exposing it to the outside. He flew inside silently, letting the sound of his wings folding behind him alert Amatoth to his presence.

She glanced at him, expression tired, her voice measured and almost out of breath. "Ah… N. My…" She gulped. "My apologies. I was merely trying to regain my composure."

N gave her a friendly smile, waving at her. "Hey, come on now. You don't need to apologise for that." He gestured to a chair next to her. "Is it cool if I come over?"

She sighed. "And expose you to my shame further? I suppose I am already humiliated enough…"

N shook his head as he walked over, sitting down next to her. "You're being a bit harsh with yourself there, Amatoth. Trust me, if there's a bunch that would get you, it's us." He gave her a sad grin at her disbelieving look. "I know a panic attack when I see it. I have my own often enough."

"You?" She said, surprised. "Truly? You seem so cheery…"

"You'd be surprised!" N said with a soft chuckle. "V, J and I have all been through some pretty nasty stuff. Sometimes… sometimes it hits me, and I just freeze up. I become completely useless, and I cannot tell you the amount of times I've had to be bailed out by someone else when that happens."

Amatoth gave him a contemplating look. "Huh. That is…" She looked down. "I am sorry to hear it. I suppose it is quite selfish of me to focus on my own problems…"

N shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, you have to learn to help yourself before you help others right?" He said with a grin.

She stared at him, having now fully turned towards him. "So, do you think you help yourself enough?"

N blinked, caught off guard. "I…" He hesitated. "I don't know. I try, I really do. It took a lot for me to realise I wasn't actually okay with how people were treating me… no matter how much I tried to make myself realise it." He smiled softly. "It took someone really amazing to get me to see it myself and get me to stand up for myself. And well… I've decided to try and let others in, and accept help when it is offered. I mean, I have to practice what I preach right?" He said with a soft grin.

Amatoth stared at him for a while before looking away. The formal speech seemed to fade away as she spoke, something far younger and uncertain entering her voice. "I… I sometimes have memories of before. Phantom feelings of when I was still organic. My body might have adapted… but my mind hasn't. I don't think it ever really will." Her hands clenched the counter, crushing it effortlessly. "See? I mean, I know how much strength I can exert on a mechanical and mathematical manner, but I'll still have a moment of surprise when I do something like that. Sometimes…" She shuddered. "Sometimes I feel the urge to breathe. To have air fill my lungs. And I try, I really try. But I've got no lungs to fill, no ability to breathe in… and even though I do not need to, I'll start to feel like I'm choking, like someone is smothering me and stopping me from breathing…" She closed her eyes. "It gets too much. And I know I'm not the only one of my people. Even dad… even mom…" She shook her head, her tone growing more formal. "I… I apologise N, I did not mean to trouble you with this, but the sight of these eldar ships…"

She froze as she felt arms embrace her, her eyes snapping open wide. N winced. "Ah biscuits, sorry I did that without thinking! You just seemed so sad and…" He went to move away but her hands snapped to his arms, keeping them in place.

"Please." She said in a whisper. Ashamed of her own weakness almost immediately.

N relaxed. "Right." He said softly. "...For what it's worth, I don't want anyone to fight. The eldar are here to help us… or at least, they're here to get our help. There's no need for you guys to fight."

She laughed bitterly. "You say that like it's so simple. Like it's just a matter of us… getting along."

"Who said anything about getting along?" He said with a sad smile. "J hates me. She always has. I'm not sure she still does, but she did for a long time. We still worked together for years… even if it wasn't the best." He grinned. "I'm not asking for you guys to become best buds or anything. Just… not fight each other here. It's not up to me to tell you what to do out there… but this is, as weird as it is, kind of my home now. And I won't let anyone mess it up without a fight."

Amatoth was silent for a long time. "I… I suppose I could discuss it with my father. Perhaps a temporary cease-fire… after all, there is little to be gained fighting so many eldar." She said softly. Cautiously. "I should likely return to him regardless. He is here, on this world. I can tell. There is no chance he missed the arrival of the craftworlds. He must be beside himself with worry."

"Do you want me to accompany you?" N offered kindly as he broke the hug. "I mean, you can clearly handle yourself, but…"

She laughed gently, getting up. "I appreciate the offer. But I believe your friends will be concerned if you do not return soon."

N sighed. "If you're sure." He gave her a concerned look. "And well… we might have only just met, but for what it's worth, I'd say you're our friend too, you know?" He gave her a smile, opened his wings and took off.

Amatoth watched where he had just left before sighing deeply, slumping over the chair. "Ugh… Uzi is so lucky." She thought back to the expression he'd had when he talked of his own problems. That softness he hadn't had any other time but when looking at the purple drone. "...Damn it." She said softly. "Come on Amatoth. You'll have time to feel sorry for yourself later. You've got a dad to reassure… and a war to prevent."

Uzi reappeared in a flash of purple glitching, a flash of green behind her making her spin around, crossing her arms and trying to look cool. They'd gone some distance away from the others, the sound of battle distant as they stared at each other. "Yo." She said, glaring at the red eyed drone that was giving her an impassive look. "It's been a bit." That had been a green flash. And not one that resembled the Solver. What the hell had Doll been up to?

"I have been busy." Doll said, glancing around. "Cyn has not returned yet?"

"She hasn't." Uzi said with a frown. "I thought you had a better handle on her with your solver than me."

"I did." Doll acknowledged. "But that is part of what I was hoping to discuss. You…" Doll hesitated. "You are more powerful with the solver than I was. More independent from Cyn. You were able to steal away those two murder drones, and she would not have let that happen if she had been able to prevent it."

Uzi snorted, a smug look on her face. "Oh trust me, she tried. But you don't beat the Uzi in a hacking match."

"That was so cringe I think I might die."

Doll's words made Uzi flush in embarrassment. "Bite me." She glared at her. "You're implying something about the Solver."

"I am." Doll said with a nod. "You remember the keybug."

Uzi gritted her teeth. "Oh yeah. I remember alright. I was in the middle of something when you showed up and stole it."

"Irrelevant." Doll said with a wave of the hand. "What matters is that I went to the place that keybug unlocked. A location known as Cabin Fever Labs." The name made Uzi look sharply towards Doll. "You heard it before. Good. I went there… and learned of some things whilst confirming others. They were experimenting on drones. Solver hosts, like us." She threw something at Uzi, making her reflexively catch it. A laminated office pass with a picture. Uzi's eyes widened. "They were trying to find a cure for the Solver. A patch."

Uzi stared at the image on the pass. An image that was all too familiar to her. "...Mom?" She said, her voice trembling.

Doll nodded stiffly. "Yes. Mine as well. They were involved in the program. It is why we were similarly cursed with the Solver." She shifted uncomfortably. "They did not successfully finish the patch. Cyn managed to possess one of the hosts and initiate a partial core collapse… but was thankfully stopped before it could be completed. It is what happened to render Copper 9 inhospitable." Her eyes flickered to the ruined city. "And I suspect that before the dimensional shift, she was here to finish the job."

Uzi continued to stare at the image of her mother, her mind racing with countless thoughts. "...I… I can't…" She gulped. "Mom? Cyn? All of this… it's…"

"A lot to take in?" Doll said with a hint of sympathy. "I know. But you can freak out later. There's more."

Uzi's hand clenched on the pass. "Oh come on! Give me like a minute to process the fact my mom was apparently part of some… some human experiment with the Solver! Nevermind that Cyn is apparently here to eat the damn planet like she did with the others in the star system!" She was breathing too hard, she knew, her core temperature fluctuating wildly.

"I am unsure she still plans on that to be quite frank." Doll said simply, giving her a wary look. "She seems quite intent on mending things with N, and that would upset him considerably I believe. Whether she is sincere here or if this is yet another game of hers…" Doll shook her head. "But I digress."

"You do. Get to the damn point!" Uzi said, the solver flickering to life for a second.

Doll glanced at the symbol floating mid air as it disappeared, giving Uzi a long look. "The Solver within me. It is…" She hesitated. "Not gone, but close. Dormant. Contained."

Uzi's eyes hollowed out. "...What?" She whispered.

"There was a patch. The humans had made some progress, but it was imperfect. Someone continued working on it. Made improvements. I found them." She pointed to herself. "The patch worked… but not entirely. It wasn't able to fully purge the Solver within me, but it rendered it as good as dead."

Uzi's eye flickered to the solver symbol. Doll still registered as an uninteractable entity… but there was an addendum.

Solver host disconnected.

"Holy shit." Uzi said. "You're not lying."

Doll nodded. "I would give you access to the patch as well…"

But Uzi shook her head. "No. No, we need… someone able to stand up to Cyn." She grinned. "You said it yourself. I've got a better handle on it than you do… and without it, I'm…" She looked away. "Well. Once Cyn is dealt with, I'll consider it at least."

Doll grunted. "I believe it a foolish thing to do… but I have little recourse against Cyn. Albeit, I have made a friend that may be able to assist with her."

Uzi glanced at her. "That person who worked on the patch you mentionned?" She frowned. "It's not a human is it?"

Doll laughed. "No. Absolutely not. And no, it isn't the person who worked on the patch… though…" Doll paused. "We'll get back to them afterwards. I feel you deserve to know, no matter what they think." She snorted to herself. "No, the one I was referring to is a being known as a Necrontyr. I believe you met their daughter?"

Uzi was snapped out of her half daze by that. "Wait, you met Amatoth's dad?!" She said, eyes wide. "How?! Where?!"

"He was there when I showed up for the patch, and at the Cabin Fever Labs underground cathedral." Uzi gave her a look of complete and utter confusion, mouth open as if about to say something yet remaining silent. "Yes, I was a bit confused as well. Regardless, he has offered his assistance when it comes to Cyn… at least in making sure she won't flip and kill us all. Maybe in the long term we can secure his help in putting her down for good."

"N won't be happy." Uzi blurted out before shaking her head. "Wait no, that's not the important part! You met Amatoth's dad! And you know about Amatoth! Have you been…" She paused. "Actually ignore that. Of course you've been spying on us. You did before. But like, you need to go back to him and tell him that the eldar are here and that we don't want them to fight!"

Doll winced. "About that… he's already aware of the eldar's presence. And I believe he intends to make a… statement?"

Uzi's eyes hollowed out. "What." She shivered. "Okay, new plan, we go to see Amatoth's dad and convince him to chill before he starts a damn war on the planet." She glanced in the direction of the eldar army wiping out the orks. "Another one, that is."

"Not a bad plan, Doorman." She said, reaching out. "I'll bring us to him."

"Wait, actually I wanted to ask. How the hell do you teleport around if you don't have the Solver anymore?" Uzi said, crossing her arms.

"Necron technology. Isotatekh was quite generous with it." Doll said, a smug smile coming to her face. "And also, he gave me this." She opened the palm of her hand, something materialising in it… a long, green glowing rifle. "It is called a Synaptic Disintegrator."

Uzi stared at it. "What does it do?"

"It disintegrates synapses. Amongst other things." Doll smugly said. "But now is not the time. We need to go, now."

"Damnit Doll! You can't just show off your cool new gun and move on!"

"I can and will." She turned to Uzi, placing the rifle on her shoulder. "Follow the trace of my teleportation using the Solver. I know it is capable of doing that, I have used it before in such a manner." She paused. "Oh, and just a word of warning." Doll gave a pitying glance over to Uzi, a sympathetic grimace on her face. "Your mother is still alive."

And with that, Doll vanished in a flash of green.