(Joseph)
KayKay: Is chain-bootlooping REALLY this easy?
DarrenToDream: Yes, but this is also countered by me literally wearing my shades, so take that as you will.
Isekai_Protagonist: Pretty much what Darren said. The DDs don't know how easy it is to counter, nevermind that I tweaked our own visors to make us immune outright. But just focus on keeping J and N down.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: We got this. NOTHING is gonna stop Dolly from getting her pound of scrap tonight.
Isekai_Protagonist: Also, BEFORE anyone asks, I AM recording this, so you'll get to see it later. Don't ask me to stream, that's just ASKING for someone to mistime bootlooping N and J again. You all focus on that, we'll back Doll up as she finally gets her payback on V.
Darkxwolf16: Hey cuz?
Кукла: Cuz.
Кукла: I'm not gonna kill her.
Кукла: I promise.
Кукла: She might WISH I did by the time I'm done here though.
And with that, I minimized the chat, but kept an eyemote on it. Tonight was going exactly to plan for the group's full debut so far. Darren, Thad, Penny, and Kelsey had split off to down N and then chain-bootloop the poor guy, and Rebecca, Lizzy, Emily, and Trevor had done the same to J. We were waiting in between where V was and N was, Uzi and I armed with EM rocket launchers to down V, and Doll taking and releasing unnecessary breaths as she sat on a folding chair she'd pulled out of her inventory and thumped her leg atop the building we were set up on.
Tonight was for Dolly. She was getting her revenge on V. Non-lethal revenge, but I was hoping that she'd finally be able to put her hate behind her after this. I… I really wanted her to finally be able to move on from this. So Uzi could try and reach out to V fully. And part of me also wanted V to really know how much she hurt Dolly. My… friend? Crush once she was legal? I did like her too, even if I was still internally struggling with feeling worthy of that level of affection… Doll needed this. V… she really needed to know her actions had consequences. I had no illusions that tonight wasn't gonna hurt V, physically for sure, and psychologically all but guaranteed. I felt guilty about this, but V had caused my friends too much pain to just let that slide. I was hoping that tonight would let them finally move past that in at least some manner. I… I really didn't want to hurt V even more… but as soon as I thought back to Doll breaking down during lunch, Emily taking years to come out of her shell, Trevor never having his dad at his birthdays, Kelsey still hurting over her own dead parents even if she'd finally gotten closure over Andrew's loss, Rebecca breaking down and not able to come to school that one time, that she was still terrified of balloon animals because of V…
I wasn't gonna stop what was gonna happen unless Dolly lost herself in her grief as she vented and tried to go for a kill. This was V's penance for becoming a monster. Yes, the Solver broke her. But she could have been quick and clean with her kills. The sadism, the creativity in drawing out her murders and doing them in horrifically gory ways, that was a conscious choice. She needed to face consequences for that. Afterwards, I'd put my foot down and tell everyone they needed to dial back on going after V specifically. But now? Unless Doll tried to go lethal, I wasn't gonna stop this.
And speak of the devil, that was V coming by on my radar right now. Uzi and I shouldered our rocket launchers--
Dolly teleported a car directly on top of V, and it landed on her and they both went falling down to the street below a few blocks away. Uzi and I both looked at her, but she just stored away the chair, looked to Uzi with a serious expression, said, "Follow after us, I can't port you with me," grabbed my wrist, there was a flicker of red static--
--And we were a couple blocks away, Dolly letting go as she took and released one last breath as she heard V groan under the car as it began to shift. She looked at me and said, "I'm turning off the gif to hide my Solver in my optics for this."
I shrugged. "Fair enough if you wanna dial up the terror tactics on this. Go kick her ass, Dolly," I replied in Russian.
"Thanks, Joseph," she told me, giving me a small but honest smile, before she settled her expression and turned back around. She started to walk forwards as I took a few steps back. I heard a grappling hook whirring just as V began to properly lift the car up, Uzi coming in and touching down next to me in a three-point landing as she grabbed my own rocket launcher and stored it away like she did her own, and we both stood and watched.
The car crunched as V tossed it aside, and looked up at the three of us. Her eyemotes went hollow as Doll flared a red Solver glyph to life in her hands and looked V dead in the visor. I saw the glyph shift between [SCALE] and [EDIT], and my own eyemotes widened as I realized what Dolly was about to do. "N-No…" V whispered.
Organic wings burst out of Doll's back, the exact kind of cross between human hands and bat wings that I was expecting. A tail with a reptilian head with way too many red eyes on it snaked out from under her skirt. V took a step back. Doll took a step forward. "My name is Doll Matryoshka," she said in a clear, cold tone. "You killed my parents. And I'm going to kick your fucking ass."
I overclocked and made a quick mental note to sit everyone down to watch The Princess Bride later.
To her credit, V hid most of her blatant terror at her own demons coming back to beat her ass by flicking on her hunter's cross, shifting both hands to lasers, and firing them at Doll as she started to walk forwards. Doll didn't break stride as she raised a hand up and space bent in front of her as she used a 2nd order function to deflect both of them into the sides, where they carved into buildings on either side of the street and set the fronts of the buildings collapsing into the street. Uzi had her own Solver ready (that was still taking a bit of getting used to), but nothing was threatening to hit us. I heard Doll growl, as V flared her wings and flew back, launching a cluster of rockets at Doll, only for the Solver Drone to throw a hand back, and use a quick flick of [TRANSLATE] to fling some of the rubble V's last attack made into a cloud in front of her to have the rockets detonate prematurely.
V attempted to get more distance, but Doll gave a flap of her wings and shakily launched herself after V, before disappearing in a flicker of red as she appeared behind and above V just in time to land on top of her feet first. Another flicker of red had her tomahawk in hand as she swung down and severed one of V's wings at the base, grasping onto the other with her free hand to steer her quarry and have her take the brunt of the impact with the streak with a cry of pain and yet another pair of shattered glasses. Doll's tail snapped out as soon as they landed, biting V's stinger off and pulling it up as Doll grabbed V's other wing, stowing her axe to brace both feet on V as she grabbed with her other hand and pulled--
There was a shriek of metal as the wing tore off from the strength Doll's combat frame offered, and V screamed a second time, the scream getting louder as Doll slammed the blades of the wing into V's right elbow, severing the arm, before she grabbed the nanite acid canister from her tail and slammed it into V's left forearm, just before the wrist. Doll pulled the axe back out, and after two seconds of the acid eating into V's arm, severed that one at the elbow as well. V's hunter's cross flickered out to terrified hollow rings, and she glanced up to see the both of us watching. "P-please!" she begged, and I heard Uzi whimper next to me but I just frowned, and neither of us moved.
"Please?" Dolly spat out, grabbing V by the back of her neck, lifting her up, twisting her in her grip, and then slamming her face-up back into the street. She conjured a quartet of knives from her inventory, slamming two of them down on V's knee joints, cutting her lower limbs in half, and the other two down into her shoulders, making all the effort that her nanites had put into regenerating the limbs a waste as she severed them completely. She pulled out an oil vial next and injected herself, before straddling V and rearing her right fist back as she slammed it into one of the head bulbs on her head, shattering it in a spray of yellow fluid as V screamed in pain once again.
"PLEASE bring both my parents back, why don't you!?!" she screamed in V's face, drowning out her own pain. Uzi and I started to move forwards, but stayed off to the side. She raised her left fist and swung again, shattering a second bulb.
"PLEASE give Rebecca her parents back, V!" she screamed, and I could hear the anguish creeping into her tone under the anger.
"PLEASE laugh like you did when you held Emily at gunpoint and made her dad kill her mom and then killed him too!" she shrieked, another strike shattering a third bulb. I glanced to the side as I heard shuffling, and saw Uzi, worry on her face as she palmed her taser. I glanced back as I heard the crunch of a 4th bulb shattering. V's tail had just grown back, but Doll's own lashed out and stopped it before it could stab Doll, and there was a flicker of an [EDIT] as Dolly turned a patch of the street into sand, her tail shoved V's into the sand, and then [EDIT]ed it back into concrete, effectively burying it in the street. Uzi and I stood to the side, and I could see the Solver glyph on Dolly's visor as she glared down at V, fangs barred as the Disassembly Drone stared back in naked horror.
"PLEASE fire a rocket that'll give Kelsey her parents back, and fire some bullets that'll bring Andrew and his parents back!" she screamed, clasping both hands together and bringing them down in a haymaker that shattered the bulb on the middle of V's head. V screamed again, in as much pain as pure, unbridled terror. Doll, leaned back, raising a knife, and I heard Uzi snap her taser up, and I overclocked--
The knife was coming down. I ran the math in my head in a billionth of a second. It was gonna come down just to the left of V's Core, rather than through it. I made a snap decision.
My hand shot out and shoved Uzi's taser to the side, and the only reason she didn't fire it was that she overclocked herself to stop the motion of pulling the trigger. The knife slammed just an inch to the left of where V's Core should be. Judging by the way V went completely quiet beyond a sudden bout of hyperventilation, she knew that as well.
I got a ping on The Unhinged Maniacs Plotting Thread.
Darkxwolf16: Joe! WHAT THE HELL?!?
Isekai_Protagonist: I overclocked and ran the trajectory of the stab. It wasn't hitting V's Core. I wouldn't have stopped you if Dolly had aimed an INCH further to the right, but even as pissed as she is, she isn't being lethal.
The entire sequence of events, and I hadn't moved my head to look at Uzi, I'd just operated off my internal sonar to track her movement and divert the taser. The chat messages weren't part of the recording. Unless I said something, no one else would ever know that Uzi almost tased Doll.
Isekai_Protagonist: Have a little more faith in your cousin, sis. She SAID she wouldn't be lethal.
Darkxwolf16: I…
Darkxwolf16: Shit.
Darkxwolf16: Fuck.
Darkxwolf16: I'm sorry. I…
Isekai_Protagonist: I didn't look at you as I stopped you. No one knows. No one HAS to know besides us. Just try not to do it again. I understand that you got scared, but you got overclocking too. You could have checked the math on the swing like I did.
Darkxwolf16: Thanks, bro. I'll try to remember to do that for important stuff more often.
I sent a thumbs-up emoji in response, and then we both snapped back to real time.
"PLEASE put the two halves of Braidon's father back together and make him fine, and undo his mother's fried processors!" A fist slammed into V's mouth, shattering teeth and spilling oil, drawing another scream. "PLEASE take seven hours to put all of the pieces of Sam's parents that you splattered all over his hab back together and make them better too!" Another punch cracked her visor, and V screamed again. "PLEASE put the four hundred and sixty eight families you tore apart that day back together!" Her next punch cracked it further. "PLEASE bring back every last one of the more than a thousand people you butchered in as sadistic a manner as you could while you laughed the whole time!" Doll slammed a fist into V's visor once more, and it shattered this time, and Doll stopped punctuating her words with punches as she just started laying into V as fast as she could, and I could hear her choking back the sobs in her voice as she cried out one last time.
"PLEASE give me back every single night I spent without my parents for more than three fucking years, V!"
Oil started spilling three punches later. It started splattering against Doll as she kept swinging. It got worse with each successive punch. V's screams of agony and terror started getting glitchy after another fifteen punches, and I surmised that Doll was physically punching out V's processors at this point. The screams abruptly cut out six hits after that, Doll doing enough catastrophic damage to the equivalent of V's brain that she offlined, but Doll just kept slamming her fists down. I waited for nearly half a minute before I finally spoke up.
"Dolly, you're running out of head to punch, considering you already caved it in and mashed up most of the insides."
Doll stopped mid strike, and just remained motionless for a few seconds. She started taking a few ragged breaths, and then slowly moved her hands back to her sides and then stood up. Damn, she was covered in oil in the front. I'd say that'd take a while to wash out, but Doll just waved a hand and [TRANSLATE]d all the oil off of her and into a mass in front of her. She looked like she was seriously contemplating drinking it for just a moment, likely in overclock, before she conjured up a thermos and dumped it all in there instead, capping it, and then leaving it next to V. She didn't look back as she walked over to us, looking at the ground, just appearing numb, before she stopped in front of Uzi, and looked up at her. "You can rizz her now, cuz, but consider my 12th and 13th Birthday present to you as given."
Even with overclocking, I couldn't help the snrk that escaped me at that. It evolved to outright snickering at Uzi's response of, "That's totally valid."
I went quiet as Doll suddenly moved again, stalking up to me and wrapping me in a hug. Her tail coiled around my leg. There was nothing romantic, or anything… just… this was a hug from someone who needed physical contact here and now. I hugged her back without a moment's hesitation. I also pinged the UMPT.
Isekai_Protagonist: Go put a thermite charge on V's… what's left of her head, real quick, okay?
I got a thumbs up emoji in response as Uzi went to do that. "Can we go home now?" she whispered in a tired voice.
"Of course," I told her in a gentle tone as Uzi came back. I dropped a message on the TNPAPT and let everyone know to bootloop N and J one more time before breaking and heading back to base. I glanced over to V to see her still regenerating (minus her currently melting head), and a second thermos of oil left next to her courtesy of Uzi.
Uzi got back to us and hugged Doll too, even if it was a little awkward for her to get around the wings. "Do… do you feel better, cuz?"
Dolly nodded, humming an acknowledgement. "It helped. I needed this. It definitely helped. I… I still miss Papa, though."
Uzi gently pried one of Doll's arms off of me and slung it over her shoulder, starting to lead Doll off. She finally retracted the organic limbs and lightly shuddered as she did so. I'd freely admit in the (relative, because fuck you 4th Wall) privacy of my thoughts that the fleshy and scaly sensation of her tail against my leg no longer being there was relieving.
"He sounds like he was an amazing guy, Dolly," I gently told her as I walked alongside her and Uzi as we started to head back to the Scrapyard. "I wish I could have saved him too."
"Joe… you've done more than enough for me," she told me in a small voice. "I never thought I'd ever get my Mama back. You and cuz already did a miracle for me. Don't… don't beat yourself up over this, please."
"Okay, Dolly," I told her, even as I privately wished that some (thankfully slowly shrinking) part of me didn't doubt that I'd done enough for her even here and now.
___
(Doll)
My internal clock said we'd been walking home for about five minutes. I'd just… I was tired. I felt better, overall, but I was tired. Getting that closure and revenge with V was worth every second. I'd conquered my demon. Now I just had to conquer my demon's demon. But… Papa was still dead. So was everyone else V killed. As good as the revenge felt, I still missed Papa, and no amount of satisfaction at literally pounding V's head into scrap with my bare fists would make that hurt less… but making sure that the first bulb I broke on V's head was the same one Papa shattered was a nice way to honor him.
[][][] Oh?
I froze, Joe stumbling to a halt and cuz nearly tripping as I stopped moving.
A new user?
No. I have seen you once. before.
hello. again. DOLL. : ]
"Dolly?" I heard Joe ask.
"Cuz?" I heard from Uzi.
"S-S-Solver," I whispered. I barely remembered that intrusion the first time I teleported. I'd told Her no, in no uncertain terms, because I remembered Mama's note, and I wasn't gonna Let Her In if that's what Mama had told me. I'd cooled down really fast, and the Solver had seemed distracted with something else at the time, so it left after I showed some sign of resistance. But I knew better now. I'd keep Her out, but I was terrified regardless.
I was wrapped in a hug from both sides in an instant, and felt a needle jab into my collar before some oil was injected straight into me. I started shaking as my fear got worse, even as the presence felt like it was having a bit harder of a time pressing against my mind.
I see you are [hurting/pained----- so [woful/sad]
I see that V has hurt you. You feel [hatred/rage----- how [tiring/exhausting]
I was hyperventilating.
I see you are AFRAID [terror/panic/dread----- they. CANNOT save you]
Joe and cuz's words of encouragement were static in my audials.
I see you can [TRL] [SCL] [ROT] [EDIT] already. How much. Did the toy. TAKEN FROM ME. Leave behind for you to learn?
My thoughts came to a dead halt. The fear was gone in an instant at those words. The panicked breathing stopped. The shaking stopped. The words outside were still static, but for a different reason.
I can take your pain
In their place was a burning rage.
I will make sure you don't feel it. Ever again.
That thing just called my Mama its toy.
I will not discard you
I'd discard its existence privileges.
Allow [][][][][][Absolute[SysDba]]
Access? Y/N
That rage burned like the sun as I slammed my will against the foreign presence in my OS. "YOU DON'T GET TO CALL MY MAMA YOUR TOY!!!" I screamed aloud and in my mind alike, and I felt the disgusting caress of that monster in my consciousness come to a complete stop at the sheer vitriol I threw at it.
I could hear from my audials again. Cuz sucked in a breath. "Oh, it just fucked up," I heard Joe mutter.
Let Me In? Y/N
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD, YOU DEMON!" I shrieked at it, the static coming back to my audials as I focused my efforts against it.
Let Me In
"NO!" I sharpened my hate for that monster, and slammed it against its intrusion. It recoiled.
Let Me In!
It sounded mad now, and that felt good. I slammed against it a second time, remembering my familial love for Mama and cuz, and even Uncle Khan. It's presence receded.
LET ME IN!
It slammed back into me, genuinely angry, and I felt a spike of pain in my processors as I gasped and stumbled, but Uzi caught me and I felt my internal temperature cooling as Joe injected me with even more oil. The cracks in my resolve sealed up as I remembered the man I loved… even if I was gonna wait until I was legal to date him. I repulsed the assault entirely as I recalled Liz. I wouldn't let either of them down.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I screamed back from my own OS, throwing every ounce of my vitriol towards the Solver into a stake aimed at the heart of its intrusion. It lost ground.
"...here for you, Dolly," I could hear Joe clearly again.
"I'm here too, cuz." I exhaled a cloud of steam, and I felt something on my lips as I blearily focused and saw Uzi holding a thermos up to me. I opened my mouth and tilted my head back and greedily swallowed the liquid as my thoughts got clearer and my focus got sharper.
LET ME IN!
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU IN!" I threw myself against it yet again. It recoiled further, and I could sense genuine confusion leaking past the anger, as if it was wondering how I was holding it back. I took a breath, cold air cycling into the furnace inside me. I let it out. The cloud of steam was smaller than the last one. I glanced at cuz and Joe, concern and care visible in their gazes, and gave them a shaky grin.
LET ME IN!
My hate met its brute force attempt to slam against my resolve before it could even reach it this time. I drove it back further. I saw that I was getting chat pings almost every second. Uzi and/or Joe must have messaged the others and asked them to send their own support.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Dolly, I'm rooting for you!
Thad_the_Chad: I KNOW you're cool enough to keep it out!
KayKay: Doll, we ALL believe in you!
DarrenToDream: You got this, Doll.
TotesBestGirl: You can totes kick that bitch's ass, Doll!
TheLastCrusade: Exorcize that fucking demon, Doll!
Horror_Movie_Survivor: Kick it's ass!
Dress-to-Impress: Beat that thing into the next decade!
Rogal_DOOR: Doll, slam the door to your consciousness in that thing's FACE!
And one more message, straight from Mama.
Матрёшка_гамает: Kukolka, I KNOW you can beat it. I believe in you, sweetie. Kick that thing's ass to the damn curb!
LET ME IN!
I grit my teeth, and threw everything I had against the Solver once more. "GET!" I slammed everything against it a second time. "OUT!" A third. "OF!" It was starting to feel fainter in my mind and systems. "MY!" I hit it a fourth time, pulled my focus together for a fifth strike, and my hand shot up to my chest and clutched the locket Liz got for me, years back. "HEAD!!!"
As I slammed into it that final time, I felt, for just a second, abject shock from the Solver, before its intrusion slipped entirely and then it was gone. I stood there, breathing heavily for a few seconds… just… processing that. It wouldn't stay gone, unless I had the Patch. But I beat it once. I could do it again. And if I could beat it, so could cuz. I giggled. Low and shaky, but it was a giggle nonetheless. "It's gone…"
I was being hugged by both cuz and Joe. I hugged them back, crying tears of joy that I had so many people who cared about and believed in me, as congratulations from all my friends and Uncle Khan and Mama came in on the TNPAPT too. I smiled the whole time.
Because I didn't Let Her In.
And I knew that if he could see me now, Papa would be proud.
___
(Joseph)
The recording played on a huge ass TV screen I'd set up in the recreational section of Vault 2, and the room was quiet as they watched Doll screaming and laying into V. Dolly herself was sat on a couch, just hugging Yeva, not really paying attention, but there was a small yet clear smile on her face as her mother gently stroked her hair. The rest of the room was completely quiet as they watched.
"So…" Khan finally broached. "I don't suppose you could set something similar up so I can introduce N to the business end of a certain wrench?"
"Dad!" Uzi protested. "He's actually brainwashed!"
Khan sighed. "He'd better not let you down, Uzi." I got the weirdest sense of vertigo mixed with deja vu for a second, like I should be remembering something but didn't, but I shook it off. "I… I hope you and Joe are right about him."
"I severely underestimated how dense the dude is," I admitted, "But everything else seems on-track with my metaknowledge. Believe me, once N is on board with us, the dude'll saw off his own arm before he lets anything bad happen to Uzi."
Khan glanced over to me, and gave a nod and a hum of acknowledgement, and then Liz was the next person to speak up. "Dolly? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Liz," she replied. "Just… tired. Thanks again, everyone."
Dolly got a round of replies from everyone offering their support to her, before Liz said, " I think that you kinda got more revenge on V than I ever could for you. I'm… I'm gonna scrap that plan, I think."
"I don't think I'm gonna be comfortable sawing her arms off and putting a gun to her head after you did that, Doll," Emily admitted. "No offense, she deserved it, but I personally think that you did enough penance for the both of us."
"I think I'm gonna pass on the whole 'melt her legs with her own nanite acid' thing," Trevor added. "Still gonna try and smash her head in with my shock maul at some point, but yeah, that was enough revenge for sure."
Kelsey sighed. "I still definitely wanna stab her in the face, but yeah, that's definitely enough personally targeted revenge at this point."
"Yeah," Penny added. "I think Doll did enough ass-beating for everyone, here. I… I'm not gonna be comfortable stacking more psychological damage onto V on top of this."
Uzi started to have a small smile creep up onto her face.
"Shooting her up normally in a fight is still on the table," Thad agreed, "but going after her personally at this point is a bit too much. Just… not cool."
"Whelp," Rebecca remarked. "The coolness barometer has spoken. Psychological scarring is like, so 40 seconds ago."
I started laughing in tandem with Darren, and Thad rolled his eyes while Uzi, Penny, and Lizzy all cracked a grin at that.
"Kukolka?" We all turned as Yeva addressed Doll, who looked up at her mom.
"Mama?"
"I'm proud of you, Doll," she said. "I don't think I could have held myself back like you did. And then you kept Her out on top of that." She tightened her hug on her daughter.
"The Solver… she called you her toy, Mama."
Yeva blinked. "Well, it definitely fucked up, there," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"That's what I said!" I shouted and then chuckled. The rest of the room joined in laughing, but out of all the mirth, I didn't hear my sister in that mess, and both Dolly and I glanced over to see Uzi looking to the side as [Guilt.exe running] flashed on her visor. I frowned, and got the distinct feeling Uzi would do something poorly thought out in the near future…
___
(Serial Designation V)
Fists cracking my headband bulbs--
"PLEASE bring both my parents back, why don't you!?!"
Slamming into my face--
"PLEASE put the four hundred and sixty eight families you tore apart that day back together!"
A knife an inch from my Core, an inch from sending me back to Her--
"PLEASE bring back every last one of the more than a thousand people you butchered in as sadistic a manner as you could while you laughed the whole time!"
Cyn's symbol on the girl-- Doll's visor, crimson like Tessa's blood was that night--
I was curled into a ball, body shaking as I shivered and choked down sobs. The maid finally broke free, and all the effort in putting on that mask to numb myself to everything was wasted. I leaned against the roof access door to the library, too weighed down by my sins to even try to reread the book N couldn't remember. Last night, Doll threw everything I've done to her and her friends, to thousands of drones, the families I tore apart, right into my face. I couldn't fool myself anymore. I was just Cyn's monster. A monster. Not even the Scrapper or Darkxwolf16 stepped in because I wasn't worth that sympathy. All I ever did was ruin everything. Hurt everyone I touched. The only reason I wasn't going to just wait here for the sun was because I knew that Cyn would just bring me back. She was already torturing me enough with Doll, with the Darkxwolf16. I hadn't done my job and cleared out the entire bunker that day. I'd thought that if I'd left it, it'd leave more job to do, so Cyn would leave us alone for longer. I should have known she'd find out and then stop leaving me alone. And of course she'd be cruel enough to use the daughter of one of my former victims and a girl who genuinely saw me as worth something just to torture me more.
"Hey."
I froze. I looked up. Neon purple optics looked down at me. There… there was a little pity in that gaze, but there was a lot more sympathy than anything else. But was Cyn there, watching me, even now? Was this another trick? Her hands shifted, and I glanced down, checking through my latest pair of glasses-- was that just another taunt from Cyn? --and saw a plushie of myself in her hands.
"I uh… I don't think you heard me coming in, so I didn't wanna scare you, V, but I got you a plushie," the goth said.
The words finally provoked some kinda of response through my depression. I scrambled back, without even trying to get to my pegs, pushing myself back while still seated, cowering, screaming in terror. "I've been doing my job Cyn, please!"
I held my arms over my head, for all the use they wouldn't serve in protecting me. I closed my facial optics, but the bulbs on my head were still sending me data. Darkxwolf16 had frozen completely still, for three long seconds, before her expression suddenly shifted to fighting back digital tears, before her gaze narrowed. She stalked forwards and I whimpered, cringing as I braced for pain, only to see her set the plushie down next to us as she crouched, gently tugged my arms out of the way, and then… wrapped me in a hug?
"I'm not Cyn," she whispered to me. "My name is Uzi." I remained completely frozen, wondering when she'd stop pretending, and when the pain would start, "I'm not the Solver, V. I'm my own person. I'm not gonna hurt you."
"S-stop dragging it out, and just get it over wi--"
"I'M NOT THE SOLVER, V!" Uzi shouted. "I'm infected with the Solver, but I'm not the same thing! I'm gonna fight Her! I'm always gonna fight Her! To keep my family and friends safe. To stay myself. And I'm gonna keep fighting Her, no matter what!" I cracked my facial optics open, and looked at that neon purple gaze, full of compassion and warmth, and without a hint of yellow or Cyn's cruelty or malice… and I started to believe her. "And I won't give up on J, N, or even you, V. I'll save us all from Her, I promise."
"Y… y-you're not…" I whispered. "You promise you're you?" I begged.
"I'm Uzi frickin' Doorman, V, and I'm gonna kill your boss, save you, and then I'm gonna sweep N and you off your feet… and pegs, respectfully," she said with a grin and a slight blush.
I decided that I'd take one last chance, and the floodgates shattered as I lurched forwards, hugged her back, and started bawling. I broke down, crying, sobbing, wailing, and the whole time, Uzi just held me. By the time I was done, my internal clock said more than half an hour had gone by. She still held me, even as I burned myself out and there was just silence save the whistle of the wind through a dead city. Eventually, I found my voice again. "You… you're actually into N and me?" I asked her.
"...Yeah," Uzi admitted.
"You just… you just stood there last night," I whispered, hurt by the memory of it.
"I… I spent years working with--" she cut herself off, "Uh, the Scrapper… I spent years with him to work down Doll from wanting to kill you, V. It… it hurt so much to watch that and do nothing. But you… you hurt all my friends and family so much, V. I… I want to help you so badly, but they weren't willing to let go. And… it hurts just as bad to see how everyone is still hurting from what you did to them that day, V. You killed my uncle and aunt. You did it in front of Doll. I had to work nearly all my friends down from wanting you dead."
"I deserve it," I admitted.
"You--" Uzi stopped herself again. "You do…" she admitted. "They deserve to pay you back for the sadism, I mean. Not death. Or the Solver. You don't deserve that."
"Why am I worth all this effort from you?" I asked Uzi.
She pulled back a little to look me in the eyemotes. "Because I know that there's someone worth saving in there, V." She blushed again. "And it helps that you're cute."
"That…" I trailed off. I looked at her, my vision clear because of the glasses she got me, but I was still genuinely struggling to believe this girl actually liked me that way. "You… actually think I'm cute?" There were tears brewing on my display.
Uzi's blush grew, but she smiled back with a fanged grin of her own. "The cutest girl in the whole world."
I pulled her closer. I… I still didn't know how to feel about that. I… I didn't know how to process someone else finding me worthy of attraction. My tail coiled around the plushie, careful not to sting it. It was soft. "Thanks… for the plushie, Uzi," I said, testing the name on my vocalizer.
"You're welcome, V," she replied.
Another half hour went by in silence, just… just hugging. I didn't say anything. I didn't think anything. I just took the freely offered affection, and treasured every moment of it. Eventually, though, it had to end, and Uzi spoke up. "I… kinda snuck out to see you," she admitted. "So… I kinda need to go."
I pulled back a little, and looked at her as she started to pull back from the hug too. I missed the warmth already. "I… is… is anyone else gonna come after me like Doll?"
Uzi flinched. "Cuz… she… she messed you up bad enough that everyone else who wanted a pound of scrap from you actually started to feel guilty. So… no one else is gonna come after you personally like Rebecca or Doll did. Kelsey… still wants to stab your face, though. Not like, slowly or sadistically, but she definitely wants to stab you once." That… that was fair. Especially after I permanently damaged her own vision. It didn't stop me from shuddering, though.
Uzi took a breath. "But… I'm gonna keep fighting the Solver. We're all gonna keep fighting against the Solver. I'm gonna move together with everyone, N, J, and you included. Because not moving forward isn't an option, and I'm not going forwards without everyone in tow. We move forwards together, or not at all." She looked at me and gave a big, genuine smile. And it hurt that my next words were gonna wipe it away.
"You can't stop Cyn," I blurted out. "You can't. Doll can't. Even the Scrapper can't." I winced, glancing away but then forcing myself to look back at Uzi. "I… I'm gonna give you the mercy of a death I can't have myself, Uzi. You… you deserve to be free from Her."
Uzi's smile melted into a frown. "Doll fought Her off last night." I froze, eyemotes hollow and wide. "Threw her right out of her own systems. Her optics didn't even glitch yellow once." Her frown shifted into a resolute line. "She beat the Solver out. If she can do it, then I can do it. And if we can beat Her once, then we can do it again. And we'll find or make a way to do it for good."
"You…" I trailed off. "You can't stop Cyn. There's no hope."
"I'll find a way to give you hope, V," Uzi told me, defiant of her fate. "If a way to save you or stop the Solver doesn't exist, then I'll make one. Nanite Acid is supposed to melt everything, but my dad built doors that can stop it."
"That was your dad?!?" I blurted out.
"Yeah," Uzi said, flushing a bit. "He's frickin' cool like that. But my dad proved that doing the impossible is only a matter of being spiteful enough to tell the universe to unscrew itself! So I'm gonna do the same!"
I stared at her. She seemed so completely and utterly convinced that her words were an objective truth. "I wish I could believe you," I whispered.
"I'll make you believe one day, V," she told me. She pulled out a grappling hook, and then looked back with a teasing grin. "And by the way, I'm just letting you know, I am gonna flirt with you the next time you try to kill me."
I blinked, and came to a realization. "You're crazy, Uzi," I told her.
"Nah, I'm not crazy," she retorted, the grin on her face now smug. She fired the grappling hook to a building a full block away. "I'm unhinged." And then she was zipping off into the night. I watched her go. And I realized that I didn't hate myself as much as I did before she showed up.
___
(Joseph)
I tracked Uzi on my passive sonar as she left, waiting until she was out of V's line of sight. And then, and only then, I finally lowered the railgun I'd had aimed at V's head for more than an hour, my finger also finally leaving the trigger. I sighed in relief, that I didn't have to take that shot to keep Uzi safe. I flipped the safety back on on the railgun, holstered it on my back, and started making my way to the other side of the building, drawing my own grappling hook.
"Just another day in the life of an Isekai Protagonist, I guess," I muttered, a sardonic grin on my face as I shook my head.
___
(Doll)
From across the street to where V was, hidden behind a hologram, I watched Uzi leave. I sipped at the thermos I'd been going at the whole time I was waiting. At least I'd gotten some good practice with that function while I was waiting here. I shook my head. Cuz was a fucking idiot pulling this stunt, and I was thankful that Joe's paranoia had rubbed off on me and that I decided to follow her when she snuck out earlier. I teleported away, the holographic projection of an empty roof fizzling for only a second as it disappeared along with me. A quick focusing of my Solver pulled out my own wings and tail, and I gave them an experimental flap. I thought I heard a second grappling hook going off in the distance, but I was the only one who followed cuz tonight, so I dismissed it as a weird echoing of cuz's own grappling hook.
I crouched my legs, jumped, and started flapping, hovering a few feet off the ground. The wings were still really weird to get used to, and the organic sensations on them-- thank fuck they were immune to the cold, I thought --were uncomfortable, but I may as well get some practice flying on my way back home.
I glanced around, and the street was silent. "Flying is pretty fun," I mumbled aloud, and then I shakily started working my way back home.
(Serial Designation G)
"And where are you going?" the boss snarked. "Are you actually gonna hunt this time?"
"Y-yeah, L," I lied through my teeth.
He squinted, looking me up and down like I was an object, and then shrugged. "Not my problem, as long as you're actually out and about. Stay out of M's sector tonight though, she told me she has something special planned once she finds enough workers this week." I swallowed, and made a mental note to tell Franko and Aly to not try and cross the city to the music store, and just lie as low as they could or even go straight back to Outpost 4 in the morning. M… she tended to stay in her sector, and as long as I avoided her specifically, didn't really give a shit if I intruded into her sector, but she was equally liable to get fed up if she didn't find anyone to kill and intrude on L's or more often my third of the city… where the music store was near the edge of, and the apartment Franko and Aly used was a lot further in.
Speaking of the bitch, "MURDER TIME!!!" M cackled, rocketing out of the Spire with guns at the ready.
"Damn," L muttered, staring after her with a leer on his face. "Hate to see her go, but the view as she leaves…" He froze, and then turned to me with a deadpan. "Why are you still here?"
I stiffened, and then deployed my wings. "Going!" I shouted, launching myself into the air and getting the hell out of there.
I focused on calming my nerves as I took a bit of a circuitous route over to the apartment building, since the text they'd sent me said they'd be there tonight. I'd started crying all over again when they gave me a phone, and I'd been super careful at hiding it on me at all times ever since. About ten minutes of a leisurely flight later, I finally got where I was going and gently touched down on the roof, before dropping a text that I was there on the phone so I didn't cause a panic. I took a moment to take a breath (completely unnecessary but oddly grounding), and then headed down into the building to see my two… it was still surreal to realize they were actually my friends.
I walked down the stairs, down the hall, and gently knocked on the door to their double apartment (I'd helped replace it). I heard a thump, and "I'm okay!" from Aly, and then thumping footsteps getting closer before the door unlocked and was pulled open, Aly looking up at me with a massive grin on her face. "Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she shouted, jumping up and hugging me, kicking her feet as she wrapped her arms around me since she was too short to reach the floor from that position, before I crouched a bit to let her feet touch the ground. "Hi!" she said. I hugged her back, and she blushed but nuzzled her head against me as it turned into one of her huggles that she liked so much.
"Hi, Aly," I told her, and I huggled her back. It was… it was really nice… I think I might be touch-starved, for how much I'd come to crave physical contact.
"Hiiiiiii!" Aly said again. I realized she wasn't going anywhere any time soon, and so I just carried her through the huggle as I worked my way into the apartment, being careful with my tail as I used the canister itself to shut the door behind me.
"Man, that's useful," Franko remarked from where he stood inside, two thermoses in hand.
I perked up immediately, trying not to break into tears again. They… they really were giving me their oil as often as they safely could. "Thank you both, again," I managed to settle on only with an emotionally laden tone.
"It's no problem, G," Aly said, finally letting go but then grabbing onto my sleeve as she stood next to me. Franko handed me a thermos, and I started to drink the oil from it… and I didn't feel any nausea, because this was oil freely given by one of my best (and only) two friends on Copper 9.
"So, what's up with the assholes this fine Umbrion evening?" Franko drawled.
I finished my thermos and sighed with relief at the reduction to my internal temperature, while Aly gently grabbed it from me with her other hand, Franko passing me the second, but I spoke up before I began to drink it. "The bitch is out in force and looking for workers for something special for the boss," I groused. "And… I think you two should maybe head back to Outpost 4 in the morning, and wait until M finishes whatever sadistic barbarity she has planned this time."
Aly frowned but kept quiet, and I went and started drinking from the second thermos. "I hate those two so much," he spat out. A few seconds went by. "Bright and sunny day in the morning, according to the weather equipment, so we'll head back at sunrise."
"Fuck those two with a rusty anchor!" Aly spat, genuinely angry. I was glad I finished the second thermos before she said that, because I giggled a lot at that, because it looked cute. "Eh?" she asked, looking up at me.
I smiled back at her. "You're funny," I told her.
She started blushing really hard for some reason. "Nuuuuuuuuuuuu!" She let go of me and pulled her beanie down over her face.
I glanced over to Franko, confused, and he just gave a small grin at the scene and said, "Typical Aly stuff."
"That explains a lot," I remarked.
"FRANKIEEEEEEEEE! SHTAP EMBARRASSING MEEEEEEE!!!" Aly shrieked.
"No, because you're adorable," he retorted.
"ACK!" Aly went, and then theatrically keeled over and flopped onto her back. I definitely laughed for real this time.
Franko shook his head, a smile and a slight flush on his face and visor, respectively, rolling his eyemotes, before he said, "Hey, G, you mind if I put something on? That guy from Outpost 3 uploading all those old Earth songs to his channel is apparently on a socialist bend, and I'm enjoying a couple of his picks."
I shrugged. "Sure."
Aly threw her hands up, still on the floor. "Yes! Revolution! Down with JCJ!"
Franko laughed, concentrated, and then a couple speakers in the apartment started playing some faint drums, followed by a single person quietly talking. "This one's called 'Do You Hear The People Sing?', by the way."
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
Multiple others joined the song, and as the 3rd verse kicked in, other instruments began to join in.
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
"I'm liking it. I just wish we could actually… you know…" I trailed off.
"Yeah, that'd be nice," Franko admitted.
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
Aly suddenly sat up. "G!" She shouted, and we both looked over at her. "I can't believe I haven't asked you yet!" She scrambled up to her feet, and then walked up to me. "When's your birthday?"
I blinked. I… "I don't remember having one," I admitted in a haunted voice. And I really didn't. Wow, that was depressing.
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!
Aly frowned, but just as suddenly perked back up. "Oh! What if we make your birthday the day you met us then? Like… properly, the time under the car doesn't count."
I stalked forwards the last few steps to scoop Aly up in another hug. "I'd like that a lot," I admitted.
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Aly blushed massively and made a noise that could be charitably described as "Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--". And you know, that left me kinda confused, but I figured she was just embarrassed I picked her up off the ground.
"Thanks, Aly," I told her.
Her blush didn't get any better, but she hugged me back. "You're welcome, G."
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
"Right," Franko said, "I put that on my calendar."
Aly gasped. "I can finally put a third birthday on my calendar!"
I frowned. "Do you two really not have any other friends?" I asked. "You're both really nice."
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!
Franko shrugged. "I prefer music to most company, but you're both nice," he said.
"...People don't wanna be my friend…" Aly mumbled.
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
"Well, that's stupid," I said. "You're both completely amazing people," I told them.
"Eh?" Aly said.
Franko blinked, as if genuinely shocked someone could think positively of him, just standing there, looking surprised while staying silent. I hoisted Aly up with one arm-- If she didn't want to stop the hug, then I wouldn't, I thought --and walked over to Franko and hugged him too. "It's the truth. You're both amazing, and my first friends ever, and I really care about you because you gave a shit about me," I told them.
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again
"Well, you're a great person for not wanting to be a genocide robot despite literally being built as one, and I'm glad we got to meet and help you!" Aly replied, a determined grin on her face.
"Yeah, you're awesome, G," Franko told me.
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
I tightened my hug on the both of them, lifting them up. Aly did her best to shift it into a huggle, and Franko kinda just limply hung there, but had a grin on his face as he accepted it. "You two are the best people ever," I told them, enjoying every second of a life I never thought I'd get to live, with two people who thought I mattered as a person. And I never wanted to leave them.
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!
___
(Serial Designation N)
A giant toxic snow storm (for organic life, at least) had rolled in over Minerall on the first of Seramorris 3065, and had been keeping up for a bit longer than a week by this point. Hunting would have sucked if it wasn't for all our extra visual settings. It was unfortunate that the presence of the storm revealed that the Scrapper and his band also had a whole bunch of additional visual settings. They offline V and J in sync, and then seconds later I picked up rockets streaking out from the storm towards me, and even though I'd been training my reflexes from all the stuff that kept getting thrown at me, I only managed to shoot three of them down before the fourth went off once it was close enough to me for the blue crackled of an electro-magnetic discharge that the Scrapper has evidently set up to detonate at a frequency that could short our wings's capability to provide lift. I gave a very manly and dignified yelp as I plummeted a couple dozen feet to the street below. Thankfully, there was a car to break my fall. That was a little better than the streets, after all.
I saw a green flicker in the snow, and threw myself to the side half a second before a giant green beam of death went right where my head had been, drilling a crater into the earth. "Oh biscuits!" I shouted.
"PLUNGING ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!" I heard Darkxwolf16 scream as I dove a second time, a pickaxe slamming into the street where I just was. But wait, where was--
I flared my wings overhead, a hail of bullets impacting against them and really messing the blades up. The bullets stopped, but I held my wings overhead right up until I saw a familiar emo fall from the white haze around us, and land in a three point landing, chainsword in hand. She looked up with a fanged grin, standing up and flicking her free hand out as a purple glyph appeared inches from her palm. "Shitty weather we're having, huh?" she said.
"...Was that supposed to be a pick-up line?" I asked, wondering if this was a flirting thing. Between the magic and the unhinged stuff and the badass stuff, I was getting some mixed signals on her being sapient or not.
"No, that's small-talk!"
"Is this a distraction so someone else can blast my head off?" I asked as my wings finished fixing themselves.
"No!" Darkxwolf16 said, frowning. "I wanted a 1v1!" She paused. "I mean, my brother's somewhere around here waiting as back-up because he's just like that, but right now, it's just you and me! Hunter vs Hunted! The prey fighting back!"
"So, you want a sword fight?" Her chainsword started revving, and I shifted my hands into chainsaws of my own as my eyemotes went hollow. "SWORDFIGHT IT IS!" I yelped as she came in swinging with an admittedly cute gremlin giggle.
I blocked her first lateral swing, pushing against her and starting to gain ground, before she shifted her stance and tried to slip past my guard. I leapt back, and she dodged a swipe from my stinger before throwing her hand out and causing a shuriken to appear in a flicker of purple static that severed it right below the base. Man, they were good at cutting our tails off. I shifted both my hands to SMGs and let loose but she threw a hand out and purple light flashed as the rounds started wildly bouncing out of the way, and she let go of the chainsword to flick her other hand out and use a second glyph. I worried about what she was doing with it right up until I felt something hook on my left leg and pull, and I yelped again as I got yanked from my feet and fell on my back. Looking back up, she made the chainsword levitated up to her hand as she held her pickaxe in the air next to her, conjuring up some kinda vial and injecting herself with it on her collar.
"Are those vampiric magic powers?" I blurted out.
"I need oil too, N," she deadpanned back. Huh. Empathic connection to me. Point for the sapience tally.
She disappeared the vial, grabbed the pickaxe out of the air, revved the chainsword again, and then grinned as she ran at me. I shifted my hands to regular swords, and met her halfway. Pickaxe met one blade, and sparks flew as her chainsword grinded against the other. I pushed her back, but she spun and swung at me twice from the right, which I barely blocked, I shot a wing out, but she dropped onto her back to dodge it and kicked at my stomach, sending me stumbling back. She rolled back to her feet, giving me a grin. "This is fun," she admitted.
"Me trying to disassemble you is fun?" I asked.
"Having a sword fight is fun, N!" she said.
I blinked. It… it kinda was pretty exciting to really test myself against her. "It kinda is, Darkxwolf16," I admitted.
She blinked twice, dumbfounded, and then snickered. "That's my username, N."
"Ooooooooooooooooh!" I said. "Wow, that makes way more sense--" I cut myself off, but before I could open my mouth again, she spoke.
"My name's Uzi. And I like you!" she said with a grin and confidence. I blinked again. Wow, that was forward. And… kinda flattering. Also, "Uzi" as a name instead of "Darkxwolf16" really pointed towards sapience better. Huh, maybe the magic really did set her apart from the other workers. Just one issue…
"I have a crush on someone else," I said.
"And?" Uzi shot back. "I said I'm into V too!"
"At the same time?!?" I blurted out.
"Yeah!" she said, blushing, "You're both awesome!" Oh, wow. That was… wow…
"I, uh… I'll try to not completely disassemble you," I admitted.
"Eh, that's already a step better than the murder promise I got from V," she said with a shrug.
"Wait, wha-- AAAAAAA!" I shouted as she ran back in and I went to swing at her, only for her to jump over me. I craned my head up as she twisted, meeting her eyemotes as she was right above me, and she winked. Huh, that was kinda cu--
My thought was cut off as she managed to stick the landing with one foot on each of my wings, having done a full spin and orientation inversion with the jump, and then she slammed that pickaxe right into my processors.
I woke up a while later with a nasty headache and the same insulting death message I always got, my damage report saying that my legs, wings, whole tail, and lower torso were stolen, but they left my arms and head this time. There was also an entire crate, that, upon checking, was filled with thermoses of oil, and…
"Oh my biscuits it's a plushie of me as a dooooooog!" I squealed with joy. I giggled with joy as I picked it up and gave it a hug. Man, Uzi was the freaking best!
___
(Serial Designation U)
I popped the lid onto the second oil barrel, double checking that H had his own barrel sealed up, and hoisted the thing in my grip. "All right, we just gotta go and get over to the usual spot, now."
"Yeah," H trailed off as we got walking. "But you gotta admit, literally leaving tribute is kinda funny in a vacuum, right? We're Disassembly Drones!"
"They have magic," I deadpanned.
H shuddered and closed his eyemotes. "Yeah…" he whispered.
I paused my own walking. "You okay, dude?" I asked.
He glanced up at me and smiled. "I'm fine, just…"
"Scary memories?"
"Scary memories," he confirmed.
"Hey, H," I told him. "We're doing this specifically to keep them super far away, so don't worry about it. And besides, I saved you last time. I'll do it again, because I love you!"
He blushed as he looked away. "Okay… I trust U."
I sighed even as I grinned at the awful pun he used at every single opportunity. "Let's get going then--"
"What are you two doing?"
We both froze and cringed, slowly looking over to see T with her arms crossed. She glanced at us, facial optics flicking between the two of us, the oil barrels, and then back to us, and then her optics hollowed as she flushed. "Is this for some kinda… intimate activity?" she asked, visibly repressing a gag.
"WE ARE NOT USING THE OIL FOR SEX!" H and I shouted in tandem.
"Oh thank Family Friendly PR," T said, and we both winced, because T only swore in buzzwords when she was genuinely terrified. Then she blinked. "Wait, I know we literally have more oil than we know what to do with, but what are you two taking two barrels for?"
"Uuuuuuuuuh," I went.
"So it turns out ever since the Warlock and the Witch ripped my head off, U has been leaving them oil barrels as tribute to keep them the hell away from us," H blurted out. "We kinda found out they have kids--"
"They have kids?!?" T shrieked.
"Yeah?" I said, with a sheepish grin. "H and I kinda got carried away dancing on that full moon a while back and kinda flew into that neighborhood of the city and then we saw them and booked it."
"But… they've been taking the oil U was leaving," H picked up, "And now we know they have kids, so we figured that if one oil barrel every month keeps them away, two would keep them more away?"
"Also, the kids looked kinda adorable, and we also think we scared them as much as they scared us when we saw them, so we wanted to offer the second barrel as an apolo--"
"Say no more," T deadpanned. "Two barrels every month? Do it."
"Really?" I asked.
T sighed. "Look, if it's working, we have so much oil we could literally flood over half the city with it. It makes sense to keep doing it." She looked us in the eyemotes, one after the other. "Just be careful, you two," she told us. "I'm not mad or anything, I just kinda wish you asked me, because you two have probably been looking like idiots sneaking around behind me when I would have just said yes."
"I feel stupid," I admitted.
"Me too," H said.
"You two are so meant for each other," T deadpanned.
"T!" we both whined, flushing.
"It should not be this easy to tease you both," she said with a roll of her eyemotes. She shifted her expression to one of concern. "Just… be careful, okay?" she asked us. "You're my team and friends. I don't want either of you to get hurt, and the Warlock and the Witch are terrifying."
"We'll be careful," H promised.
"Yeah, we do all of this via dead drops in the same spot anyways," I said. "I literally haven't seen them up close in years… and I'd like to keep it that way," I finished with a whisper and a shudder.
"Preaching to the choir," T said. "Now get those barrels where they need to go," she said, stepping to the side and gesturing to the exit with a smile.
"You got it, T!" we chorused, and she chuckled as we went.
___
(Amaryllis)
I was sat with my back up against Kublai's as he read from an engineering textbook Dad had found for him, while I was trying to doodle a dress I wanted. Even if I couldn't get my hands on something more gothic or even gothic lolita, I could at least imagine it… my drawing could use some work, though. If only there was a great artist that could teach me. I sighed wistfully. Maybe one day.
"You good, Amy?" Kai asked me.
"Yeah, Kai," I told him. "Just wish I could get a dress in the style I want."
"I think you'd look nice in it," he told me.
I smiled. "Thanks, Kai!"
He leaned his head back on mine, and I leaned mine back against his. "Love you, sis."
"Love you too, bro."
We heard the door creak open upstairs, and both jerked up, putting our respective distractions down, uncoiling our tails from where they'd been entwined and hiding them away as Kai grabbed for Dad's old gun and spun up a field ready to deflect bullets while I got the rebar ready to fling with my Solver. I was hoping it was Dad, because having to use our Solvers to fend off someone who wasn't supposed to be here was almost definitely gonna have to result in one or both of us having to deal with Her banging on our minds again.
We heard the knocking at the top of the stairs and both slumped in relief.
-.. .. .-. --. .
Dirge in Morse Code, three times, like he always did.
Dad came down the stairs a few seconds later, both of us having put our weapons aside as we ran forwards to hug him. "Dad!" we yelled.
"Hey kids," he said as he wrapped us both in his arms. I enjoyed the warmth. But…
"Is Mom…?" I trailed off, glancing up at Dad with a pleading gaze.
Dad sighed. "I've been finding a lot more oil these past couple months, but you know that Attie can slip out of lucidity even on a good day. She's been getting better recently, though."
"Is she coming home soon?" Kai asked.
"I think her current episode will be over soon. No, neither of us know when. Maybe less than a month," Dad told us.
"I wanna see her again," I mumbled.
"Me too," Kai said.
"I wish I could bring her home too," Dad told us, sighing. "But for now, here's some of that oil," he said, letting go of the hug to hand us each a can. I popped mine open to see it full of oil.
"Thanks, Dad," we chorused to him.
"Thank you two for being the best things to ever happen to me," he told us "And Attie. All three of you."
"Love you dad," I said. I glanced over to Kai to see him chugging his oil, and I was tempted to jab him with my elbow, but I was too scared he'd drop the can and waste some oil. I closed my optics for a moment. I was never gonna mess with oil again after the time that Kai pranked me and I spilled a can and then She tried to get in later that day. Kai was crying for two days after that, even if him hugging me and begging me to stay with him let me keep Her out that day, and neither of us ever tried anything that could result in oil being spilled ever since.
Kai finished his oil, going so far as to lick the inside of the can, and even if it was kinda gross, I really couldn't blame him. I sipped at my can at a more moderate pace though, sighing as I felt a little cooler inside.
"Hey, Dad?" Kai asked.
"Yes, Kublai?"
"How'd you and Mom get together?"
I finished my sip, and glanced over at Dad too. I was curious.
Dad sighed, looking up for a moment, a faint smile on his face. He grinned and picked us both up, ignoring Kai's protests as I focused on making sure I didn't even spill a drop. He sat down on the couch with an arm wrapped around us both, on either side of him. "All right, let papa Dirge tell you both a story." Kai and I both perked up. "Your mother and I actually almost didn't get together."
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"It's true," he told us. "Atta Hevyshire was built by humans in a factory. I was programmed by and grew up from a UNN. The humans had them banned at the time, so the family that owned us had to go through some… less than legal channels to get me, and to help me grow up. We first met when we were teens, and fell in love, but while I loved my family, I wanted a world where we weren't literally owned by them. The saddest part is that the Doormans would have done it, but I had more legal protections as property than free."
"Wow, that sucks," Kai said.
Dad snorted. "Tell me about it," he said. "But I wanted more from life. I loved your mother, and wanted to run away from all the humans and start my own life with her. Attie… she didn't agree back then. There were arguments, and we split apart. And… that might have been the end of the story."
"What happened?" we asked. I was riveted.
"As much as I hate the Solver, the one good thing it did was show up in the first place, because that kicked off the chain of events that lead to you two," he said, pulling us close. We hugged him back.
"The Solver showed up, and while Copper 9 was under a communications black-out, I got the feeling that it was doing a lot of damage to other planets, and maybe even Earth. Because the humans went around and forcibly conscripted a bunch of drones from around Copper 9 to experiment on us all with the Solver, infecting us with it in an effort to try and control it, because of course they would do that instead of just trying to kill it."
"Humans sound like bad people," Kai said.
Dad sighed. "Not all of them were," he told him. "Remember, the family that raised and owned me was nice." He glanced down. "They died in the Core Collapse. Minerall wasn't evacuated before then. Barely a third of the humans on the planet were. JCJenson put economic stability and progress on their Solver experiments over lives, and billions paid the price."
"So it's just that Company that was terrible?" I asked.
"Well," Dad started, "yes, but they did do one good thing."
"What?" Kai and I chorused.
"Cabin Fever Labs was a horrible place, and while they literally had us all shoved into lockers between experiments, I was put on the same row as your mother." He gave a sardonic grin. "What the hell were the odds?" he wondered aloud.
"What happened next?" Kai asked.
Dad took an arm off of Kai to tap the side of his head twice before he went back to wrapping his arm around his shoulder. "I'm a smart drone," he bragged. "Designed and built those railguns myself, after all. I went and cooked up an escape plan using nothing but scrap and my own coding and engineering know-how, busted out, took Attie with me, dodging authorities and efforts to recapture us for days on end, with multiple close calls." We both listened with rapt attention. "We went all the way out to Minerall, which was the last time I saw my brother alive before the Core Collapse, nearly got caught again there, and then your mother and I doubled back, sneaking past pursuit and heading all the way to Neo New Falun, actually getting away from them, laying low over here despite constant searches from JCJenson's lackeys right up until the Core Collapse. It… wasn't always easy, and your Mom and I had to do a lot of… unsavory things just to get by, but we made it work. It was during that escape attempt and the realization that we were both living my dream after all, albeit in a way neither of us expected, what with the Solver involved, that we fell in love all over again."
"That's really romantic," I said.
"Yeah," Kai agreed.
Dad smiled, staring ahead into the middle distance for a few moments, before he spoke up again. "I kept Attie from fully slipping to the Solver, even on days where she could barely control herself, and the fact that I knew she needed me let me keep Her out. After the Core Collapse, since Attie kept having feral episodes, we set up more permanently around here, siphoning off oil reserves from the silos, and in 3055… we went and stole a pair of unprogrammed UNNs to have you two." Dad sighed. "But the Murder Drones landed in 3058, and the loss of a constant supply of oil we could tap into meant your mother kept slipping, and neither of us were willing to risk leaving you alone long enough to try and kill the Murder Drones, so we're stuck in the mess we've been in since… and the Solver would just send more even if we did kill them, and these ones at least stay the hell away from us. So they can stay as long as the state of affairs continues, I guess." He glanced to the side. "I… might be warming up to them a bit more recently, but that's a story for a different day, when you're both older," he said.
Kai suddenly stiffened, and turned to Dad. "Wait, you had a brother? We have an uncle?!?"
I glanced up at Dad. "We have an uncle?" I echoed.
Dad sighed, a bittersweet grin on his face. "Your uncle… Khan was a great man, the best brother I could have asked for… maybe a bit obsessed with making and maintaining complex doors, but I was too busy dodging JCJ so that they wouldn't realize we were in the city before the Core Collapse to even try to see if he was okay, and after, I was too busy taking care of Atta." He looked over to Kai, and then me, and added, "Then we had you two, and I was even more busy taking care of you all, especially when your Solvers came in just days after I spent way more oil than I cared to admit [EDIT]ing a pair of child frames and a Drone Maintenance Station together to transfer you two out of your toddler frames. The huge amount of extra oil I'd need for you both to acclimate to teen frames is why I haven't done that yet."
"You told us, Dad," we replied, and then I added. "Being stuck in the kid frames sucks, but it's better than the alternative."
"I'm still sorry, kids," he told us.
"It's okay Dad," Kai said, and I hugged Dad.
"I… I don't think your uncle survived the Murder Drones landing either," Dad said, and Kai hugged him too.
"I wish I could have met him," my brother mumbled.
Dad gave a bittersweet chuckle. "Kublai, did I ever tell you that you're named after Kublai Khan, as a nod to my brother?"
"Oh, that's sick as hell!" Kai said. Dad froze for a second.
"Dad?" I asked.
"That sounded exactly like something that Nori, one of the other test subjects at the Labs, would have said." He shook his head. "Woman was crazier than a bat, and the last I saw of her she was cursing Atta and I out as we escaped. Like hell I was taking someone that bonkers with us, though."
"What was I named for?" I asked.
"Your mother's favorite flower," Dad told me.
"That's nice," I said.
"It is," Dad agreed. "Because you're our beautiful flower." I giggled. Dad smiled back at me, before he glanced away, grimacing.
"Dad?" we asked.
"I… I can hear the Solver almost every day," Dad admitted. We both froze, but after a few seconds we both hugged him again. "Thanks," he whispered.
"How… how do you keep Her out?" Kai asked.
"You," Dad told us. "You two and Atta are the reason I never Let Her In. My beautiful Attie and our amazing twins," he said with confidence. "Because I know you'll all die if I ever lose to Her. So I can't Let Her In. Attie and you two being in my life gives me the mental fortitude to keep Her out, every single time. Every time I hear her, I remember you three, and I'll never Let Her In, because you three need me."
We both hugged him tighter. "I love you, Dad," we both told him.
He held us close. "I love you too."
___
(Doll)
Cuz's workshop in Vault 2 was organized chaos. Scattered across its workbenches were half a dozen gadgets and mechanisms that were partly assembled, a quarter of which I had no clue what they were or what they could do, four different guns in varying states of completeness, including the actual gun part of what looked to be a prototype crew-serviced las-canon, and beyond the workbenches, there was a skeleton for a suit of power-armor cuz was working on with Joe, a white-board filled with equations for trying to work out safely building what Joe had affectionately referred to as "Uzi's hand-held nuclear death-ray," a conspiracy board covering an entire section of wall between two benches that was trying to work out an origin to the Solver (cuz's current leading hypothesis was "result of a cross-breeding program between precursor races with Eldritch Powers in a War in Heaven"), and a personal desk with a gaming chair in the corner to relax at, which prominently featured two separate picture frames with N and V because cuz was a total simp for them, as well as a binder with a label on the spine that read "cute baby fox pics." Cuz was currently fiddling away at the internals of the las-canon prototype, so I sent a DM to let her know I was here in case she wasn't paying attention and then patiently waited while she sung along to her second favorite nightcore song, Miku by Anamanaguchi.
Cuz finished her current bout of internal wiring, and then pulled back from the UV-based anti-tank gun she was working on, and she gave herself a once-over before slowly and carefully using a [TRANSLATE] to get some grease off of herself. I had to overclock to fight down a smirk that I still had way better fine control than her. Then she turned to me, and yelled, "CUZ!" and ran over to hug me. I hugged her back, so thankful she was in my life and that I could have this.
"Hi, cuz," I told her. "How's the las-canon going?"
"Pretty good," cuz answered in Russian, before switching back to English. "I mean, I don't think we'll see much use out of them unless ferals turn out to be a thing outside the city, but I'm building my very own anti-tank gun, which is just sick as hell, you know!"
"It's pretty freaking cool," I admitted.
"Yeah," cuz said with a grin, and then pulled back. "So! What's got you coming over to my workshop?"
"Well," I started, "I had an engineering idea I wanted to run by you--"
Cuz was up in my face again, a huge grin on her face. "What is it?!?"
I blinked, and then giggled. "Since we already have the Solver, I wanted to see about integrating Mur--" I corrected myself, "Disassembly Drone parts into myself, since, you know… we can't get more infected with it."
Cuz blinked, and stepped back, looking contemplative for the whole of a second before her gaze snapped back to me. Overclocks were so ridiculous. I loved them, though. "I take it you have something in mind that you can keep hidden since people will ask questions if we suddenly have DD parts?"
"Joe already gave us all these extra ways to detect stuff, but why not add the headband sensor array the Disassembly Drones have?" I asked.
"And you can just shift your ushanka to hide them when we're in the Bunker?" cuz asked.
"Yep!" I replied, popping the P liked Joe liked to. "Some of them probably work through it anyways," I added.
"So, wanna raid the DD part storage lab for a head?" cuz asked, fangs gleaming with her grin.
I matched her smile with my own. "Can we take one of J's?"
"HELL YEAH!"
___
(Joseph)
A week before my "11th" birthday, I got a request from Uzi and Doll to go grab some DD parts to experiment on, and I told them that as long as a Solverpede doesn't happen, they could go for it. I trusted them. Two days later, after another four hours in Vault 3 working on the Humanity's Finest Virus (the data within was now 900 exabytes and counting) I got a message from Uzi and Doll to meet them in the recreational part of Vault 2. And so I came in, took one look at them--
I stopped, overclocked, and just took a few seconds in relative time to verify that, yeah, I was seeing that right.
"You both put DD headbands on your heads?" I asked as I snapped back to real time, glancing at the quintet of neon purple and red bulbs atop Uzi and Dolly's heads, respectively.
"Yeah," Uzi told me. "Cuz had the idea that I should do it too if she was doing it!"
"I can hide mine with my ushanka, and cuz can hide hers with her beanie," Dolly said.
I took in a breath and let it out. "You were both careful?"
"Yeah, bro," Uzi told me.
I shrugged. "Aight then, I'm happy you worked it out." Then I paused. "How'd you change the colors though?"
They both groaned in tandem "That was such a pain in the ass," Dolly told me.
"Had to sync them up with both of our OS' and basically force our Solvers into them too!" Uzi complained.
"You enjoyed the challenge, non mentono, sis," I deadpanned.
Uzi pouted. "Yeah, I did," she admitted.
Dolly started giggling. I joined her, and then Uzi joined us both.
___