The atmosphere grew heavier as a group of exiles stumbled from the shadows, their eyes glowing faintly with the unstable surge of overclocking. Their movements were twitchy, and unnatural like marionettes caught between life and death.
An Exile Commoner shouted "Intruder! Kill her!"
Their distorted voices echoed through the chamber.
Yinlin clicked her tongue, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. Her gaze hardened, but a faint smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Tsk… They can't even recognize me now."
Rover tightened her grip around her sword, eyes narrowing as the exiles closed in.
"What's the plan?" she asked quickly, her tone calm but edged with urgency.
Yinlin tilted her head, sparks of lightning flickering faintly in her fingertips.
"Plan? We take them out, of course."
Her gaze shifted to the sealed elevator in the distance. "We can't stay here too long… Make it quick."
Jeff didn't hesitate. The Resonance within him pulsed, spilling into his outstretched hand as frost spiraled across the ground.
"Copy that."
With a forceful sweep of his arm, jagged ice erupted and locked around the exiles' ankles, freezing their feet to the ground. The exiles struggled, snarling, their distorted movements slowed and unbalanced.
"Now!" Jeff shouted.
Rover launched forward without a moment's pause. Her sword flashed in a clean arc, the glow of Resonance humming through the blade. She moved gracefully, yet with lethal precision, cutting through their defenses one by one. With Jeff's ice pinning them, the exiles stood no chance. Within moments, the last of them collapsed, their unstable energy fading into
Yinlin let out a low whistle, resting a hand on her hip as her lips curved into an amused grin.
"Wow. That was quick. You two really work well together."
Rover froze mid-step. For a moment, her usual calm composure slipped. A faint pink dusted her cheeks, and she averted her gaze, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as if to hide it.
"I-I guess so…" she murmured softly.
Jeff straightened, a proud grin pulling at his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. His crimson eyes glinted with quiet satisfaction.
"We do make a pretty good team," he said, the confidence in his voice undeniable.
Rover's blush deepened, and though she tried to brush it off with a small huff, the corner of her lips betrayed her curving into the faintest smile.
Yinlin raised a brow, clearly amused, before motioning toward the far end of the chamber.
"Alright, lovebirds. Save it for later. We've still got a top floor waiting for us."
The three of them moved quickly toward the elevator. The steel doors groaned as they slid open, a dim light spilling from within. Without another word, they stepped inside, the hum of machinery echoing as the elevator began its slow, tense ascent toward the top floor.
The metallic snap of Resonance cuffs bit against Jeff's wrists as Yinlin bound him and Rover once again. The cold hum of the restraints buzzed against his skin, making his pulse hammer louder in his ears. He flexed his fingers, testing the bindings, but Yinlin's expression told him everything there was no chance of breaking free, not yet.
"Sorry," she murmured under her breath, not meeting his eyes. Her lashes cast shadows across her pale cheeks as she turned toward the massive switch embedded in the wall. She pulled it down with a sharp motion, and the inner chamber's door groaned open, gears grinding like some slumbering beast awakening.
The three of them stepped into the gloom. The air here was sharp with the scent of oil and scorched metal, unnervingly sterile. Cold lights flickered overhead, illuminating a solitary figure waiting at the center of the chamber.
The Dollmaker.
He stood tall, gaunt, with hands clasped neatly behind his back. His pale eyes sharpened as he turned toward them.
"Yinlin, you made it," he said, voice low and measured. "Have those cops entered the factory?"
Yinlin's jaw tightened, her tone clipped.
"Not yet. But those Exiles… they were Overclocking. I had to take them down."
A smile tugged faintly at the Dollmaker's lips, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"It's fine. They're disposable."
Jeff's brows furrowed, a muscle in his cheek twitching. He scoffed sharply, his voice laced with venom.
"How fucking pathetic."
The Dollmaker tilted his head ever so slightly, like a curious puppet mimicking surprise.
"They're a bunch of outcasts," he said evenly, pacing a slow circle around them. "Willing to do whatever it takes to survive. No one would mourn them if they died."
Jeff lifted his head, dark eyes burning with disdain. His voice cut through the chamber like a blade.
"I mean you."
That hit its mark. For a moment, the Dollmaker froze mid-step, pale eyes narrowing as he studied Jeff with unnerving calm. Rover's lips parted slightly, her gaze snapping toward Jeff. She let out a quiet, almost approving hum, and nodded.
"He's right," she whispered, her tone edged with steel.
"Oh…?" the Dollmaker breathed, a smirk ghosting across his features. "Me?"
Jeff leaned forward, shoulders tense against his restraints. His words came low and deliberate, carrying a quiet fury that shook the silence.
"Your Forte could've saved lives. So many people. But you…" His lip curled in disgust. "You chose not to."
For the first time, a crack flickered in the Dollmaker's calm mask. His smirk faltered. His voice softened, almost trembling.
"I could save them, sure… but who's going to save me?"
The chamber grew heavy with the weight of his words.
Rover stiffened beside Jeff, her fingers curling into fists. Her breathing quickened, chest rising and falling with restrained anger. When she spoke, her voice quivered not with fear, but with fury that burned in her eyes.
"What are you planning to do?"
Yinlin stepped forward, her eyes flashing with pain.
"Stop it, Dollmaker… My parents would never consent to being brought back as puppets."
The Dollmaker's voice wavered, cracking faintly as he turned toward her.
"Yinlin… I thought at least you would understand me." His gaze lingered on her face, sorrow flickering beneath his fanatic calm. "But I don't blame you. You were too young when they passed away. You hardly remember them."
Yinlin's lips parted, but no sound came.
"That's why I couldn't revive them from your memories. Not from my own, either." His pale hand lifted, trembling slightly. Then his eyes sharpened, turning toward Jeff and Rover, his voice deepening with a desperate fervor.
"This is where you come in, Rover… and especially you, Jeff. You're a godsend. A gift from above."
Jeff's brows knitted, a chill racing down his spine at the way his name dripped from the Dollmaker's tongue. Rover snapped instantly, stepping forward despite the cuffs that bound her wrists. Her body trembled with fury, her voice breaking into something raw, almost feral.
"You want to use me and Jeff for that?!" Her eyes blazed, her teeth gritted as she leaned closer, her stance protective almost possessive shielding Jeff with her presence. "I won't let you!"
Her tone cracked into something dangerous, wild. For the first time, Jeff saw a side of her that was less the calm Rover, more a storm ready to devour anyone who dared touch what was hers.
The Dollmaker only smiled faintly, his obsession unshaken. "Precisely. With help from the Fractsidus, plus your body's data… I will finally create their puppets."
Yinlin's voice broke, her tone trembling with disbelief.
"Dollmaker, you…"
But his voice rose, drowning her out, trembling with desperate rage.
"I was an outcast! Alone, shunned—until my mentor and his wife took me in. They were my true family. And I will do anything to bring them back. No matter the price!"
Jeff's chest heaved, his teeth gritting hard as he spat through the rising tension.
"That doesn't give you the fucking excuse to hurt people. You asshole!"
"So what?!" the Dollmaker shouted, his calm veneer shattering. His voice cracked, raw with grief. "Why should I care? You don't know what I went through—you don't know what I lost when Yinlin's parents were unjustly taken from me!"
Jeff inhaled sharply, his anger tempered by something steadier. He forced his voice into something firm, resolute, his expression softening just enough to cut deeper.
"Look… I'm sorry you lost someone. I really am. But no matter what you do, you can't bring them back. Not like this." His voice lowered, his words carrying quiet conviction. "Yinlin's parents wouldn't want this. I'm sure of it."
Yinlin's silver eyes widened, shimmering faintly. She pressed her lips together, fighting the tremor in her throat. Slowly, she nodded, her voice breaking as she whispered,
"…Jeff's right."
The chamber fell silent.The Dollmaker's pale face twisted, his measured calm shattering at last. His voice rose like a whipcrack, venom dripping from every word.
"You're treading on mighty thin ice here." His eyes burned, wide and unblinking, his fists trembling at his sides. "Who do you think you are? YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!" His voice cracked with raw fury, echoing off the metal walls. "You have no idea what loss is and what Yinlin and I lost, what we've been robbed of!"
Yinlin's shoulders sagged at his words. Her silver lashes lowered, her lips trembling as she looked away. The truth in them pierced her heart like a blade. For a moment, she wasn't the fierce fighter but the little girl she once was lonely, dreaming of a family she could never have.
Jeff's chest rose and fell rapidly, his eyes burning, not with the Dollmaker's fanaticism but with a mind too deep in grief. His lips pulled into a bitter, trembling smile before twisting into something darker. He let out a low, broken laugh, half despair, and half rage.
"I lost… fucking everything."
The words cracked the air. His voice carried the weight of years of grief, sharper than any blade.
Then his head snapped up, and his voice roared with indignation.
"Everyone I've ever cared for has either died or left me!" His voice broke, his throat burning as he shouted. The sound wasn't just anger, it was filled with grief. "So don't you fucking dare tell me I don't know what it feels like to lose someone!"
His chest heaved, sweat glistening on his brow. His fists strained against the cuffs as his voice fell, quieter but just as sharp.
"Everyone who's been alive long enough will lose someone. You're not… fucking special."
The chamber froze.
Rover gasped softly, her eyes wide, lips parting as if the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She had seen Jeff fight, seen him stand tall and unshaken before horrors against T.D but never like this. Never with his soul bare to know that the person she'd come to trust… cared for… carried this much pain it broke something inside her. She wanted to reach out, and to hold him.
Yinlin's eyes glistened with unshed tears. For the first time, she wasn't just sad for herself, she was sad for Jeff. His words resonated with the emptiness in her heart. He understood.
Even the Dollmaker faltered. His fury dimmed, curiosity creeping into his pale, haunted eyes. His voice lowered, subdued, almost hesitant.
"…Who did you lose?"
Jeff's gaze dropped, his expression tightening. His voice was softer now, but no less piercing.
"My parents."
The word alone struck like a knife. Yinlin's lips parted as if to gasp, but no sound came. Her heart lurched. Dollmaker's eyes flickered, his face twitching. That word parents dragged every scar back to the surface.
Jeff inhaled sharply, his next words trembling, like old wounds being torn open.
"My friends… my comrades-in-arms." His hands clenched. "Gone."
He swallowed hard, voice dropping even lower, almost breaking.
"My home."
"My country."
Rover's heart clenched painfully. She could see the weight of every word pressing on him.
Finally, his voice cracked, hoarse, breaking under the weight of memory. His head bowed, shoulders trembling.
"My sweetheart…the person I loved."
Rover's chest tightened violently. Her heart skipped, then twisted, the word cutting deeper than any blade. Her stomach dropped, and she pressed her lips together. That single word told her everything that he had once loved deeply, that he had lost it just as deeply.
Jeff's eyes squeezed shut, his voice dropping to a broken whisper.
"My own dignity… my future… was robbed from me." He shook his head slowly, jaw tight, voice trembling with a hollow laugh. "No… from us."
Silence.
The words hung heavy in the chamber, suffocating. Even the Dollmaker's breath was ragged, his fury swallowed.
Rover's body trembled, caught between anger at his suffering and the desperate need to comfort him.
The Dollmaker's expression hardened again, but the rage from before had dimmed, replaced by something closer to desperation. His voice cracked as he spoke. "Then you, of all people, should understand why I'm doing this."
He stepped closer, hands trembling slightly though his eyes burned "To make sure no one ever has to feel that kind of loss again. Why are you standing against me?"
Jeff's jaw tightened. He didn't move at first, staring at the ground as if searching for the right words. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, rough at the edges.
"…Because I know for a fact that no matter what I do… they're gone."
He lifted his head, meeting the Dollmaker's gaze squarely.
"And trying to drag them back like this won't change that."
The words lingered in the air, dumbstruck by its simplicity.
Yinlin's breath hitched, her fingers curling tightly around the hem of her sleeve. Rover's eyes softened, watching Jeff with an ache she couldn't quite name. The chamber, once filled with the echo of the Dollmaker's anger, seemed to fall silent enough that every drip of machinery and every shallow breath felt deafening.
The Dollmaker froze. His lips parted, but no sound came out. He forced a shaky laugh, bitter and hollow.
"So that's it? You'd rather accept loss? Accept that hole in your chest and just live with it?" His voice cracked at the edges, desperate, pleading in a way that undercut his bravado.
Jeff didn't flinch. His face was tired, lined with the kind of exhaustion that had nothing to do with battle and everything to do with memory. He let out a slow exhale through his nose, his eyes never leaving the Dollmaker's.
"It's not about accepting it," he said quietly. "It's about not letting it consume everything else."
The Dollmaker's throat bobbed, his teeth clenched as though swallowing down his own grief. The fire in his eyes dimmed not gone, but shaken. For the first time, it wasn't clear if his fury was directed at Jeff… or himself.
His voice came softer this time, stripped of the commanding tone he had clung to until now.
"You think I want this?" The words trembled, a confession more than a question. "You think I don't know how twisted it is?"
He laughed, but it was shaky, bitter a sound that cracked in the middle. His shoulders sagged, and for the first time, he looked less like a monster and more like a man cornered by his own grief.
"Every night, I tell myself it's wrong. That it's madness. But then I close my eyes, and I see them. The only people who ever treated me like family. And I… I can't let that go."
Yinlin's lips trembled. She turned her face away, blinking hard, as if the words dragged her back to the memory of parents she barely remembered. Rover's expression hardened, torn between pity and revulsion.
Jeff's gaze softened for only a breath — then tightened again. He stepped forward, his voice steady, though his eyes carried the same ache.
"I get it. I do." His jaw worked as he forced the words out. "But clinging to ghosts like this doesn't bring them back. It only destroys everything else that's left."
The Dollmaker's lips parted again, as if he might agree but the flicker of hesitation died as quickly as it appeared. His eyes narrowed, rage forcing its way back through the cracks of his grief. His fists clenched until his knuckles went white.
"No." His voice hardened, brittle but burning. "You may have given up. But I won't."
The air in the chamber shifted again fragile humanity snuffed out, replaced by the dangerous conviction of a man willing to tear the world apart to fill the hole inside him
Jeff's steps echoed as he closed the distance, his posture tall and unyielding. His voice, though rough, carried a strength that demanded to be heard.
"You think I gave up?" Jeff's tone sharpened, though his eyes stayed locked, unblinking. "You think moving forward means forgetting them? No. I remember every damn face."
He pressed a hand against his chest, eyes narrowing but burning with conviction.
"I've lost people too. My parents. My comrades. The ones I swore to protect… and the person I loved most. Every day, it feels like pieces of me are missing."
For a moment, his voice wavered, but then he drew in a steadying breath, his shoulders squaring.
"But I carry them with me. In my choices. In my strength. In every step I take forward. That's how I honor them not by breaking the world apart to see them again, but by living in a way that they'd be proud of."
Rover's eyes softened, shimmering with something unspoken. Yinlin's lips parted, tears threatening but unshed, as if Jeff's words reached the emptiness she had buried for so long.
Jeff's gaze locked with the Dollmaker's, unwavering.
"We all know loss. But loss doesn't give us the right to hurt others. It gives us the responsibility to protect what we still have." His voice rose, firm, resolute. "Your pain doesn't make you special. What you do with it does."
The Dollmaker staggered back half a step, his anger faltering. For the first time, he looked less like a villain and more like a man who had been reminded of the person he once wanted to be.
His fists clenched so tight his knuckles went white. "The difference between us…" his words came out through his teeth, "…is that I'm not fucking twisting their memory into some sick excuse. You call this love? This—" he motioned around at the Dollmaker's creations, face twisted with disgust, "—this is spitting on everything they were. It's selfish. It's pathetic."
The Dollmaker flinched, his breath catching, but Jeff didn't let up. His voice cracked, heavy with both fury and grief.
"They're gone. And I hate it. I hate waking up to that truth every single day. But what you're doing? Pretending you can claw them back out of the dirt? That's not strength it's cowardice."
Jeff's chest heaved, his eyes burning, not just from grief but from pure loathing. "So yeah, I understand you. That's exactly why I hate you for it."
"You think you're some tragic hero? You're not. You're a parasite, feeding off the dead because you can't face the truth!"
He jabbed a finger at the Dollmaker, his arm shaking with the force of his anger.
"You talk about saving people, about love but all I see is someone too damn weak to live with loss. Someone so desperate to fill the hole in their chest that they'd carve it out of other people's flesh."
His laugh was hollow, bitter. "You disgust me."
The Dollmaker's eyes widened, his composure fracturing. His lips parted like he wanted to argue, but Jeff didn't give him the chance. He stepped closer, his words seething with heat.
"I hate people like you. People who dress up their selfishness as something noble. You didn't love them you can't love someone if you can't even honor the fact that they're gone."
Jeff's voice cracked, and for a moment it sounded less like fury and more like a wound tearing open. "You think I don't wake up every night wishing I could see them again? My family, my comrades, the woman I—" His throat caught, his jaw locking. "But I don't. Because I loved them enough to let them rest."
His glare burned straight through the Dollmaker, every word heavy with venom.
"And that's why I hate you. Because you're not trying to bring them back you're trying to chain them here, drag them down into your misery. That's not love."
"You want to know why I'm against you? Because I hate what you are. I hate everything you stand for. And I'll never let you drag anyone else into this hell you've built for yourself."
The Dollmaker's face twisted fear, anger, and something like shame all flickering at once.
For a moment the Dollmaker's hands twitched at his sides. For a moment his carefully constructed mask of conviction slipped. "I didn't make it this far to stop now," he said, but the words were soft around the edges. He straightened as if rehearsing the posture of certainty. "Your words are compelling. But I'll finish what I started. Not even you can stop me."
There was no theatrical march in the tone, only the hard, stubborn set of a man who'd dug so deep into his own hole that climbing out now meant abandoning his whole life's work. That thought made the words colder than any boast.
"It's almost time," he continued, tone cold, businesslike. "We'll have to abandon this place. But there are prototypes I need to take with me."
His gaze shifted to Yinlin, the sharpness in his stare cutting her into silence.
"My identity must remain hidden," he ordered, each word heavy. "If they press too close—use explosives. Stop them."
Yinlin's brows pinched, her lips parting in hesitation. Her hands hovered near her strings, but they didn't move. For once, obedience didn't come instantly.
"But…" her voice was quiet, uncertain. "Our people are still inside."
The Dollmaker turned to her, his face devoid of warmth. His eyes narrowed, not in anger, but in dismissal.
"Our people?" His voice sharpened like a blade. "Yinlin, wake up. There is only you and me. The rest are irrelevant. Tools, nothing more."
Her throat tightened. She glanced past him, her eyes finding Jeff and Rover standing behind the haze of steam. Her chest rose and fell too quickly, betraying nerves she tried to hide.
"And them?" she asked, softer this time, but there was something in her tone—hesitation edging into defiance.
The Dollmaker didn't even blink.
"The same as before. Neutralize them. Break them down if necessary. Consciousness is enough I can use that." He leaned forward slightly, his voice dipping into a dangerous calm. "The Fractsidus taught me well. I know how to rework a body."
The words hung heavy in the air, colder than any threat of death.
Yinlin's fingers curled into fists, knuckles paling. She dropped her gaze, as if to shield herself from Jeff's stare. Her lips trembled, but no sound came.
The Dollmaker straightened again, his movements sharp, deliberate. "I'll leave two puppets here," he said briskly. "They'll make it look like the captives remain behind the door. That will buy us time."
Yinlin's jaw clenched, her eyes flickering with something unspoken. Finally, she managed, in a voice barely above a whisper: "We'll need the data repository too."
At that, the Dollmaker's lips pulled into the faintest smile a thin, brittle thing that didn't reach his eyes.
"Yes," he said. "My research. More precious than my life. I'll handle the transfer." His gaze returned to her, heavy with expectation. "Yinlin… you deal with them. Quickly."