A/N: Decided it would be best to get this out before Singularity as I'd probably get too distracted otherwise. I had a lot of fun with this chapter.

A Doll's Inner Demons
Chapter 2
Landfall (II) – The Dawn of an Ensign

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It was at times like this he was reminded that as much comfort as his music brought him, it could never compare to the emotions one felt from a real recital.

Sadly, it was an opinion few of his fellow recruits seemed to share with him. When the dinner ceremony had first begun, his table had originally seated eight. Now, he sat alone, the others having left either to get an early rise the next morning or continue in their pursuits of acquiring new team members amongst the Dolls present.

He couldn't fault them for their disinterest. For many of them this chance with Griffin was an opportunity to change their lives, and as such, they had little patience for anything they considered 'distractions'. Unfortunately, the skill of differentiating genuine obstructions from masked opportunities was a rare one, and unless they learned that in the coming week, it was likely many of them were going home empty-handed.

He sighed. Speaking of distractions…

The harmony was beautiful, to say the least, which was made all the more impressive when it was revealed to be a unique composition. It was part of a string of performances put on by Griffin and its T-Dolls, and while the other girls had in no way been lacking, there was a subtle difference between those who were playing their instruments through artificial data uploaded to their neural clouds, and those who truly pursued music as a hobby. The solo violinist currently on stage was definitely a member of the latter.

The T-Doll herself was no strain on the eyes either. The black dress she wore was a perfect complement to her wine colored hair, and her red eyes likely made her quite the spitfire when she fought in combat. He wasn't ashamed to admit that the combination of the allure blessed to her as a T-Doll, as well as the elegance of her piece, left him mesmerized. Or at least in a state resembling the closest he could come to such a thing.

Because even distracted as he was he still noticed the person approaching him from behind, turning to face them once they got drew close only to find he'd traded one beauty for another.

"Have room for one more?"

He shrugged, gesturing widely to the empty chairs that surrounded him.

"Thank you. Please pardon my intrusion, then."

As she moved to take the seat next to him, he noticed the fragrance before anything else. As if the brown apron covering a white chef shirt wasn't enough, the scent of sugar and honey that followed her made it clear this girl spent much of her time perfecting her skills in the kitchen. The green eyes that glimmered with a hidden amusement, and the copper colored hair styled in a long ponytail merely finished the image of a woman who could've passed as anyone's older sister.

Her amusement was reflected in her voice as she giggled. "I don't think I've ever seen someone watch WA-chan so intensely before. Penny for your thoughts?"

He wasn't sure what was more embarrassing. That she'd caught him staring at a girl she seemed to know personally, or that she'd managed to see past that to the thoughts he'd been trying to ignore. He thought back to his early days in SEES, to a time when most of the group was startled when he so much as smiled. He considered everything that had happened in the time between. Were his emotions really so easy to interpret these days?

Putting aside his vanishing status as the mysterious loner, he couldn't say he didn't appreciate the offer. For while his eyes had focused on the performances, his mind had been focused elsewhere. Perhaps what he needed was a second opinion.

"Do you think it's wrong for a commander to hesitate in sending his dolls out to fight?"

The T-Dolls he'd met earlier that day, G36 and G36C, had made the request to join his first echelon. Or more specifically, G36 had, while her sister included herself meekly afterward. He had no reason to refuse. Not only was it part of the requirements Griffin had made for him to become one of their commanders, and as such was a stage in completing his personal goals, he'd also grown fond of both of them in the short time he'd known them. So after a brief moment of surprise at their initiative, he'd accepted.

He couldn't shake the anxiety he was making a terrible mistake.

With their gratitude clear to see, both T-Dolls had made the promise to follow his every order from that day forward, before separating from him to make the necessary preparations to be transferred into his unit. The sincerity of that promise, however, had the opposite effect on him than what it was supposed to. Instead of confidence, he found himself crippled with hesitation, as he began to consider what being a commander really entailed.

It was the first time he'd hesitated with anything since Igor had asked him to become the Great Seal.

How far was a T-Doll willing to go in her desire to follow orders? That question made him think back to his first days with G41, of the devotion she displayed with every task he gave her. That loyalty had eventually made her irreplaceable, but how much of that sincerity had originated of her own volition? How much of it did she really have any control over?

He remembered her reaction to when she'd first seen Thanatos, that her trust in him was so unfaltering that even when faced with Death she'd run forward with excitement. He imagined what would've happened had Death in that instance not been a Persona just as loyal to him, and suddenly the memory wasn't so amusing anymore.

Death wouldn't be so forgiving in war.

But back in the present, his question had apparently not been one his companion expected, if the sudden intensity of her stare was any indication. Her cheeks tinged pink as she seemed to realize what she was doing though, and while the intensity disappeared, her look of contemplation didn't.

"While I don't think it's my place to question a commander's motivations, would it be alright to provide my thoughts on a similar problem dolls are faced with?"

That got his curiosity. His expression must've said as much.

"In that case, one of the questions every T-Doll must answer for herself is why she exists. She must understand the purpose for which we were created, and come to terms with it in her own way. Unlike humans, T-Dolls spend much more of their time struggling with the latter rather than the former, as our answer is much easier to find. It's on every IOP handout, after all."

"Perhaps humans might consider it pitiful, to the point some even come to resent us for it, but every doll finds her purpose in helping humans. We T-Dolls were even built to die in their place, if the need arises. To take that away from a T-Doll would be the same as taking away her meaning of existence. For us dolls, there's no crueler punishment in this world."

He understood that, but what worried him was: "And what if there was a fate worse than death?"

She paused, closing her eyes as she contemplated an answer. Eventually… "Then I'm sure we'd accept that as our fate too." She laughed. "Though I hope you can forgive those of us who might complain about it a little."

"And if you were assigned to a commander who failed in his duties, one who wasn't worthy of the title? Would you still sacrifice yourself to fulfill his orders?"

"Ah, I see." Green eyes softened with understanding. "Yes, I would, and is that what worries you? Our devotion to our orders? That each T-Doll is resolved to follow her commander to the end? Perhaps it's true we're incapable of direct disobedience, but don't mistake us for those mindless girls of the first-generation. If a commander fails to meet our expectations, we'll either do everything in our power as T-Dolls to see him become a man we're proud of, or criticize his unsightly appearance into an early grave."

That… was not a figure of speech, was it?

Ignoring the fact he could feel Death's pride from within the Sea of Souls, he asked what he felt was the most important question of all.

"And how do you know these feelings are your own?"

"Because these were not questions I was programmed to answer. This is the first time I've ever had a conversation like this." Her smile suddenly reminded him of a mother amused by her children. "You're a bit odd for a human, aren't you?"

He returned her smile with one of his own. He had no rebuttal to that, but she also had no idea how right she was.

He spent the remainder of his evening enjoying the rest of Griffin's musical recital, though none quite stuck out to him the same way that violinist had. He'd have to thank her for her performance if he ever got the chance. During that time, he never asked for the name of his companion. He had a feeling this wouldn't be the last they'd see of each other.

When the performances came to an end, and they went their separate ways, the soft whisper directed at his back told him why.

"So this is the kind of commander she likes, huh?"

That night, he had another one of his nightmares.

As always, he made for the nearest vantage point upon his 'transition' between the two worlds, the first stage of a process he'd long since worked out through trial and error. Before long, he found himself atop one of the buildings of Griffin's compound, thanking whoever was responsible that the terrain continued to be a mirror of the waking world. Other than that small aspect, however, the details of this world much more closely resembled that of another he was familiar with.

The world was cast in a sickly green hue, shadows stretched further than that which was possible, and red liquid puddles dotted the landscape. Light of any sort ceased to exist, and the only reason the screen of his music player still shined was because of the Kirijo Group logo etched into the back. The last detail, however, was also the most ominous. He craned his neck to look to the sky above him…

And the eye of Nyx stared back.

He still wasn't sure what the catalyst was, what it was that brought him here. His first thought was that this had all been a fault of his own. That this nightmare wasn't tied to Nyx, but to the Sea of Souls, and that it had merely followed over the threshold when he'd called forth the souls linked to his. The issue with that theory was that the apocalyptic events he associated with the Fall had happened decades before his arrival, so it was difficult to believe the two were related.

In fact, his Persona had told him they had no direct connection to this world to speak of, and that despite the similarities, this was not the Dark Hour. It was a confirmation of suspicions he'd already had beforehand. For one thing, the entrance was associated with his dreams, rather than any specific time of day. The other, arguably more important reality was that the Dark Hour had been a precursor to the Fall, an impact on the time continuum as Shadows ran amok in the world. The Fall was an event that had already happened in this world, and as such precursors were no longer necessary.

It was his best explanation as to why there wasn't a Tartarus. There was no need for one when the world in its entirety had become Death's playground.

Left with nothing else, his only remaining theory was that these visitations had something to do with insight. That they were a consequence of learning the fatal truth of this world. It was the best explanation he could think of that explained the suspicious timing in how these nightmares had started shortly after he'd realized this world wasn't his own. He just tried not to think too much on the idea of how improbable it was he was the first to stumble onto such knowledge, and what fate had awaited the others who'd ventured too deep.

He shook his head of those dark thoughts. In the end, he supposed none of it really mattered. The answers wouldn't change the reality of what needed to be done. The evoker was in his hand in a second. He didn't waste another in pulling the trigger.

He called, and they answered.

Those monsters below would fall to nothing else.

With a flick of the wrist he gripped one of the black kogatana sheathed at his side. With another, the legendary spear Gungnir was suddenly grasped in his hands. Armed, and surrounded by an army that would've made even the most reckless men pause, he leaped.

The unfortunate creature that met his decent suddenly found itself impaled through the entirety of its torso. Its brothers became prey to the lightning storm that followed.

"""▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅––––!"""

With that opening, the battle began with earnest.

As always, after that first attack he retreated as his Persona pushed forward. He did so not out of fear, but at their insistent urging. For while it was true he couldn't die, that didn't mean he was immune to pain, and as a part of him, that pain carried over to all his Persona. As he put distance between himself and the front lines though, he got a good look at the monsters they faced.

With rotten skin calcified and covered in abrasions, wrapped in bloodied bandages as well as tattered remnants of clothing, the creatures were as gruesome as they were human. On more than one occasion that contrast had given him pause. It hadn't been hard to identify them though, and considering how much of this world's population had fallen victim to the virus, it didn't surprise him this world's Shadows had taken on the forms of ELID.

Though some of those reports had reminded him of Strega and their fanatical following, of the effects that had on the Dark Hour. He swore, if he came across some religious cult that worshipped these things, so help him…

The monsters weren't what concerned him, however. As if to state why, a wall of flame rose from the ground to engulf the creatures charging towards him.

Asterius passed shortly afterward with his gargantuan bulk, his laughter thundering along with the ground beneath him. His powers over fire and the earth itself would ensure only the most determined of Shadows would escape destruction, and the enormous axe in the Persona's hands would ensure even those survivors met their end.

What worried Minato was the faceless automatons that followed in the Minotaur's footsteps, each wielding the weapon which represented them.

Manufactured emotions without an identity, without a sense of self, but just as devoted to their purpose as their owners were in life. He found it ironic whenever he heard people complain of the pointlessness in having T-Dolls simulate emotions, that the military units were so much more 'effective' because they weren't built with such a feature. He found it ironic because they had no idea that such a 'pointless' feature was the only thing saving them.

After all, it was all thanks to these little protectors that humanity could still persist even after the Fall.

It turned out they were the perfect weapon in this place. They could exist and fight in this world because of the emotions they carried, while the Shadows ignored them because of their artificial nature, choosing instead to single-mindedly charge either captives like himself, or the defenseless coffins that dotted the landscape. It wasn't difficult to picture who had the upper hand in such a fight, but that didn't mean the conflict was entirely one-sided.

It was those exceptions that he fought to prevent. He had come to understand that there was nothing more tragic in this place than a doll overcome by depression.

[[To your right!]]

A clear voice resonated from the headphones resting on his neck. He turned, but he barely managed to catch sight of the new pack of ELID headed his way before, in the religious personification of an airstrike, the archangels Uriel and Gabriel rained down arrows of light onto the ground below. The impact was immense enough that he almost lost his footing, and when the dust settled, all that remained was a crater several meters in depth.

[[Your subconscious connection with these constructs of yours never ceases to amaze me.]]

He could never understand how she was able to do that, to comment on things as if she were watching them at his side when it should've been impossible for her to do so, but then again he supposed that was another one of the advantages that came with the whole 'Advanced Artificial Intelligence' thing. Still, as the only companion he had in this dark world aside from his Persona, he nodded in appreciation of the compliment.

"You've been silent a lot lately. Is something wrong?"

[[Forgive me, but your new employers have me concerned. I agree you made the right choice in chasing after that young doll, but this Griffin and Kryuger is an organization with connections I'd rather we maintain our distance from. Please continue to keep our companionship a secret for the time being. If the wrong party were to discover my existence, my burdens will soon become yours.]]

[[However, should you ever be in need of assistance, I'll offer what little support I can. Contrary to its archaic appearance, this device has a surprising amount of unused memory, and the transceiver should be strong enough to allow me to interact with similar devices in your immediate vicinity. Retrieving the data chip which housed this fragment of mine was no small task, and you'll always have my gratitude for that. The least I can do is make what small offerings I can with the hope of one day repaying the favor.]]

While he personally didn't think such repayment was necessary, he nonetheless offered her a small word of thanks. They both knew, however, that finding her had been an act of chance, not one of intent. It had been in a rare moment of frustration after G&K had taken G41 to send her to one of their maintenance centers, in which he'd traveled from dead city to dead city within this nightmare killing every Shadow in his way.

Amidst that, one of his Persona had alerted him they'd come across something strange, something which didn't belong in this place. When he'd investigated, it was to find a facility of some sort relatively unscathed, and in this world, that was more than suspicious in and of itself. Before he had a chance to investigate further though, a mind-searing static had blasted through his headphones, and then the next thing he knew a clear female voice was speaking to him.

To question him. To direct him. To beg of him.

Sympathetic, he found himself venturing deeper into the facility until he found himself faced with a strange console that matched the advanced making with that of the rest of its environment. When instructed to eject what was inside, he found what appeared to be a computer chip that could fit comfortably in his palm, and when he agreed to bring it with him the voice thanked him with one gratitude after another.

He'd learned that day that AI were just as afraid of this place as any human.

[[Still, the one who gave you this? You say she was a friend? Hm, she did not trust you to keep yourself out of harm's way, did she?]]

Was this of Elizabeth's doing? Perhaps Igor's? While it was Mitsuru and her company he had to thank for the electronic gift that could still work even when under the influence of Nyx, the last he'd checked it had otherwise been nothing more than your everyday mp3 player. Now if a futuristic AI could use it to communicate with him, he had to deal with the paranoia of what other manner of surprises the attendant had left in store for him.

He smiled. Even separated by worlds and decades of time, his friends still found ways to help him.

"Have you discovered any others?"

[[No, I'm afraid. Or perhaps I should say I'm grateful. It seems that I really am the only fragment that ended up in such a place. If this really is a world belonging to Death as you say though, it makes me wish that I could remember more of my past, and how it was that I ended up in such a state in the first place. If we discover anything resembling myself on the other side…]]

"I'll be sure to make it a priority to investigate further."

[[Thank you.]]

He nodded silently, slipping into battle-honed instincts as his mind shifted to other topics. He was not idle in the meantime. Even steeped in thought as he was, he found himself fighting back-to-back with heroes like Siegfried, fired arrows of hellfire from the shoulders of dragons like Kohryu, and killed off the survivors left in the wake of a united charge by the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

All of which were feats he accomplished in the span of a few minutes. Or to phrase it another way, the power of the Wild Card left him with no shortage of stories to share with a certain T-Doll.

"Do you think it's wrong to hesitate like this?"

[[I see you're still worried about it. Normally, I'd have no reservations in offering my advice, but that look in your eye tells me you've already made your decision, haven't you?]]

He had. It didn't mean it was the right one.

[[So even someone like you can have doubts. For all your abilities, I sometimes forget you're still human. And yet every time I'm reminded it brings me more comfort than I can say. In that case, let me offer you words from a phrase you humans use so frequently: Just do what feels right.]]

The hesitations he had in becoming a commander had nothing to do with the coming battles with a rogue AI faction. It pertained to what he knew would come afterward. The strength of his Arcana and the bonds within him guaranteed anyone he connected with would discover the truth of Nyx, and as such, his fears were twofold: he feared what would happen when the nightmare first took them, and he feared they would resent him for keeping it a secret in the first place.

Or at least he had.

The conversation he'd had earlier that evening reminded him that T-Dolls lived to protect humanity, and that they found satisfaction in that. As small of a service as it was, he couldn't help but feel that they deserved to know the full picture of just how important they were in return.

Now in addition to that he was also reminded of something equally important, if a bit more selfish. He dearly missed the company of that little faceless dummy who had never left his side. Who, even as an empty shell of emotion, rode on the shoulders of gods and demons alike with small arms raised in delight.

With her, he truly had been able to think of this as something other than a nightmare.

"Guten morgen, Master."

He already had to give G36 some points. A gentle greeting as his morning wakeup beat a full body tackle any day.

A second voice added hesitantly, "Um, good morning, Commander. I hope you don't mind, but we already made breakfast for you. I hope it's to your liking."

…and now he was going to feel like a bully if he didn't get out of bed.

It was only a short time afterward that Minato came to the realization of just how good of a card he'd drawn as a Commander with these two. According to his friends he'd made it something of a habit to subvert expectations, but not even he was immune to the phrase regarding a man's heart and his stomach. Or as Yukari would say, he was just your typical glutton.

Between cold takeout and his own cooking, it was the best breakfast he'd had in months.

In any case, there were a number of things he needed to address before the day started.

"Do you need any help settling in?"

Without turning away from her current task of washing the dishes, G36 shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, Master, but it's already been taken care of. Rarely do T-Dolls have more than a few personal possessions, so most of our moving is merely our weapons and other equipment. We should be set up in our new quarters before noon."

As part of the living arrangements provided to him by Griffin during his period as a recruit, he was offered a personal dorm complete with the normal furnishings. He just had to use the 'personal' term lightly, as while the apartment was only listed under his name, there were two more bedrooms in addition to his own.

T-Dolls registered with an echelon were also expected to share the same quarters as their commanders.

It seemed it was another part of the psychological testing G&K was so fond of when it came to their training regimes. He supposed it made sense. If a commander couldn't handle sharing their living space with their dolls, as well as manage the various eccentricities that inevitably came with that package, then it was likely they'd be unfit to serve long-term. Of course, the question remained as to why Griffin allowed IOP to program their T-Dolls with such eccentricities in the first place. The best answer he could come up with was that whoever designed the things was just an introvert who had no idea what a normal personality was.

The other reason G&K assigned such accommodations had made itself apparent thanks to the noises made by an overly affectionate neighbor and his new echelon members the night before.

Putting the recruits in close proximity with their new T-Dolls also meant putting them in close proximity with several women designed to be attractive. He'd assumed the intent behind their appearances was so that T-Dolls could defend their clients while also blending into society, but apparently he'd miscalculated just how dedicated IOP was to the task. Griffin had no official stance or restrictions on commanders fraternizing with their T-Dolls, but he imagined they also had no use for, well…

Some guys just couldn't keep it in their pants.

It was a concerned G36C who brought him back to the present conversation, watching him from the other side of the dining table. "Commander, did you have trouble sleeping last night?"

He wasn't sure how to answer that. These days, a peaceful rest merely meant a night in which he let his Persona do all the fighting, but it was true something else had been bothering him. Perhaps it was about time he stopped asking for the advice of third parties.

"Why did you two join me?"

"Master?" "Commander?"

Apparently he was too abrupt. It was clear the sudden question had confused both of them.

"This partnership… isn't some kind of temporary assignment, yet you chose me to be your commander despite the fact we haven't even known each other for a day. Why?"

This time they did understand. It was G36 who answered, turning to face him while drying her hands on her apron.

"Master, if it's not overstepping my bounds, could I ask you a question instead?"

He nodded.

"How would you describe a T-Doll?"

Now it was his turn to be confused. Was there something specific she was looking for? Perhaps it was best he list out a few things and hope he got close. "You're dedicated. Always seeking for ways to help. Excited by simple things. A bit immature. Wise beyond your years. Unflinching in a fight. A bit too sacrificial for your own good."

His opinion might've been a bit biased. He only really knew one T-Doll, after all.

Nonetheless, a soft smile graced her lips. "What you just described are all human traits, Master. That's why we chose you. The best commander a doll can ever hope for is one who sees them as more than a tool. One that strengthens her with the confidence that when the time comes that she has to sacrifice herself for the mission, it won't be in vain."

G36C added quietly, "You might think otherwise, Commander, but most of us don't want to sacrifice ourselves. We just understand that T-Dolls were built to die."

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't argue with that.

"You aren't afraid of dying." It wasn't a question.

G36 replied, "T-Dolls don't fear death, Master. We fear losing our memories. We fear being rewritten into someone else. We fear being forgotten. But death? Our bodies can be rebuilt, and our souls recovered from backups, all at the press of a button. What is 'death' to something that can't die?"

He thought of Erebus, and the despair of humanity. He thought of what might've been different, had his own world been blessed with these girls.

So this was why Thanatos liked them.

He almost told them then and there. The secrets hidden within a nightmare. The true identity of Death. But he didn't. Instead, he made a promise. Another he added to a growing list.

No more hesitation.

"Hmph, if you can't even handle a bit of criticism, then you're not worth my time."

"Tch, whatever. It's not like I'm interested in a T-Doll that doesn't know her place anyway!"

Turning her back to the fifth recruit that'd approached her that morning, WA2000 decided the best way to respond to his scathing remark was to ignore it entirely. That said, even if she knew the words weren't worth her acknowledgment, that didn't make them sting any less. A pain which seemed to serve no other purpose aside from limiting her combat potential. What was the point in giving something like a T-Doll emotion, when their only purpose was to follow orders?

It wasn't the first time she'd asked herself that question. She knew it wouldn't be the last either.

She was beginning to regret taking part in last night's performance. As she'd hoped, it'd given her some exposure with the new recruits that Griffin had hired, and the number that approached her, compared to the day before, had risen noticeably. Unfortunately, from what she'd seen of this batch so far, it only consisted of men with easily-bruised egos. Naturally, she'd rejected all of them.

That didn't mean she could hold out forever though. While the chance to choose their commanders was a rare opportunity for any T-Doll and was one of the highlights of this training facility, it came with a few conditions tacked on. First, that freedom was only offered when G&K was also in the process of training a shipment of new commanders. Second, the period between recruitment batches was a few months at the shortest, while T-Dolls underwent their training and calibration at a continuous rate.

What that meant was that there were no second chances. If a T-Doll either never aligned herself with a commander, or she chose one that would end up flunking out of the program, the same treatment would await her as the rest of their sisters commissioned straight off the assembly line. In short, she'd be placed under whoever it was that Griffin command designated her to, her training would largely take place in the field, and the rest would be left up to fate.

This would be her only chance to take that fate into her own hands.

She was already aware of what her greatest obstacle in accomplishing that would be. She was not so foolish as to ignore the truth. She knew she had something of an… abrasive personality, and that changing that wasn't likely something she could do on her own. She also knew that the new commanders went through regular psychological reviews, and if the recruit she chose showed problems of working with her because she unwittingly said something to hurt his pride, then it was likely he would fail those tests at some point.

Truthfully, the last thing WA2000 wanted to do was to turn down anyone, and in fact, she'd been so excited when that first recruit had asked her to join him she'd nearly said yes before he even finished asking the question. However, the one thing she feared, even more than losing this chance at choosing her future, was to be the one responsible for her commander's failure. As such, she'd decided before the new recruits had even arrived that she'd only consider joining one in the case he showed the patience to brush off her unintentional insults.

Unfortunately, what she hadn't taken into account was just how nervous adding that condition would make her. Nor the natural manner in which those concerns would continue to build, until the point she became nothing more than an agitated mess. Nor the way that would all come back around and inevitably backfire on her, as she unconsciously went out of her way to offend every recruit that so much as looked at her.

Springfield always said her greatest skill was self-sabotage.

"Excuse me?"

She wasn't sure what to do at this point. If this process continued, her anxiety would only continue to increase, which in turn would make it that much more difficult for her to control her reactions, which would drive away the next commander that approached her…

"Can I help you?"

…which would lead to her becoming even more distressed, which would encourage her to take it out on the next guy, which would further destroy the image she'd spent so much time cultivating on base, which would eventually get around to the other commanders before she even met them…

"Are you okay?"

…and then what would she tell the others when the rest of them all ended up getting recruited aside from her? The last time they'd spoken she'd been so confident she'd end up with one of the best commanders on base, and if Springfield ever found out what actually happened the older T-Doll would never let her live it down, and then G36 would give her that pitying look that made her want to bury her head in the dirt, and then…

"Uh, if you keep walking towards me like that…"

The hand that was suddenly pressed against her forehead was like a bucket of ice water, courtesy of P7.

"Hah? What?! Who are you?! Whosaidyoucouldgetsoclosetome?!"

Even while she was trying to backpedal as quickly as possible, her digi-mind continued to make as many observations as possible, the sudden load it was under adding even more heat to her face than the past couple seconds had. Unkempt blue hair, matching blue eyes, a shorter build than most, a black uniform, and a commander's armband. Fortunately, those observations gave her the time for the rest of her thoughts to settle, and suddenly the last couple seconds finally caught up with her too.

Distracted as she was, if this guy hadn't stopped her, she would've run straight into him. Springfield had made her sit through enough romance movies for her to guess what would've happened next.

Great, now she could feel her cheeks heating up for an entirely different reason.

Her growing embarrassment didn't go unnoticed, unfortunately. "Did I… interrupt something?"

Not really. Just the downward spiral of her sanity.

"Hm?" Ignorant of her mental commentary, he tilted his head, apparently recognizing something. "Oh, it's you. Thank you for your performance last night. That was a beautiful piece you put together."

…

"Eh?!"

And like that, her thoughts were once again thrown into total disarray. She hadn't been ready for a compliment to be randomly given to her like that. In fact, now that the subject seemed relevant, was it possible for a T-Doll's face to suddenly combust if she became flustered enough?

"With talent like that, I'm assuming you already have a commander?"

She still had the cognitive awareness to shake her head.

"You don't?" The look he gave her made it apparent he found that hard to believe. However, that doubt quickly became intrigue, and suddenly there was an intensity in his stare that made it difficult for her to look him in the eye.

"Hmph, if my face really interests you that much, then the least a so-called commander like you should be doing is showing the proper appreciation."

Even as she outwardly scoffed at the perceived audacity, she was internally placing her head in her arms as she mentally cringed. Admittedly, it wasn't the most insulting thing she'd said today, but this was hardly the best time for her disdain to show itself. Surprisingly though, the only thing her words seemed to do was shake the boy from his trance.

Focused as she was from making herself any more of a fool, WA2000 could be forgiven for overlooking the new understanding in his eyes which hadn't been there before.

"Nervous about finding a commander that understands you, are we?"

"Hah, as if I…" She stopped. Did he just…?

The small smile he gave her told her he had, and for the second time in less than a moment, she was stunned into silence. What WA2000 didn't know, what she had no way to know, was that she'd started wearing her insecurities like they were meant to be some kind of cloak of protection. What she also didn't know was that the boy in front of her was… somewhat experienced in the field of helping people with their insecurities.

It certainly helped that girls like her were a common stereotype back in his own world.

It was a little unfortunate that because that was all unknown to her, she chalked it all up to a lucky guess. That didn't stop her digi-mind from pausing for the third time when he asked the inevitable question this whole conversation had been building up to, however.

"If that's so, would you mind joining me then?"

She tried her best to give him an answer like he deserved, but when it was all said and done, WA2000 simply wasn't that good at being honest with herself. Her ego questioned what kind of merits a short kid like this had to offer. Her heart reminded her that she was getting desperate, that the boy in front of her had already surprised her several times, and that if she didn't join somebody soon, it wouldn't be long until she alienated every recruit on base.

So, conflicted as she was, and distrusting what she might say when she opened her mouth, she stuck with nodding instead.

It took a moment for it to set in. What she'd just done.

Unaware of the T-Doll's mounting terror, with an indifferent expression and a slouched posture, her new commander continued walking in the direction he had before. He left behind a T-Doll who was quickly realizing she'd just hastily concluded what was supposed to be the most important decision of her life.

And on top of that she… she didn't even know his name yet. What had she just agreed to?

This time around the conflicted parts of her were in agreement, as she outwardly groaned while placing her head in her hands, wanting nothing more than to turn the other direction and ignore this entire encounter having ever happened. Unfortunately, she was T-Doll of her word, and as such, she followed the boy who might very well be her partner for as short as a week before he was sent home unqualified. Her thoughts shifted towards the few friends she had on base, and naturally, she began making comparisons.

She knew Springfield was waiting for Mr. Perfect, and she couldn't deny that the girl deserved it, even if her standards were a bit on the weird side. However, considering the number of recruits that had shown up in the most recent batch, it would probably be another day or two until she managed to sort out the guy who fit all her expectations.

What surprised her was the last time she'd spoken to G36, and she'd noticed the maid wasn't referring to every human as her master anymore, which meant she'd already found someone. Considering the maid's only concern had been her sister, and what she personally knew of the less assertive G36C, WA2000 had thought for sure her decision would take a lot longer.

She could only imagine what kind of commander the assault rifle had chosen, considering he'd managed to impress the strong-willed T-Doll in so little time. He was probably nothing like the lackluster excuse she'd just saddled herself with, and she couldn't say she was looking forward to meeting what kind of T-Dolls had already agreed to join him. Still, she did her best to straighten her expression and posture. The last thing she needed on top of all of this was to make a bad first impression with her new comrades.

Wait. Those two were…

"Ah! WA-san! Guten tag."

"Good afternoon, WA. If I may, though I suspect I already know the answer, could I ask for the reason you're accompanying my master?"

"EH?!"

Damn that woman. Leaving her to do the dirty work.

Her irritation lasted for another few seconds, before she sighed, shaking her head of the pointless frustrations. She was well-familiar in how FAL liked to operate, and while there were certainly days where she wanted nothing more than to see her fellow T-Doll's firing module removed, Five-seveN would be the first to stand in the way of the commander who ever considered actually doing such a thing. As loathed as she was to admit it, others usually saw the woman as calculative and cold-blooded, and it was her duty to stand at her back when the assault rifle needed it most.

Such was the nature of her relationship with the T-Doll who was both her best friend and detested rival.

Still, even if she had to agree with FAL's assessment that she had the talents of a natural flirt, ordering her use that and chat up every recruit she stumbled on was pushing things a bit far. Frankly, she only agreed to do such because she understood the end goal. Seriously, if they were summarily thrown off by a few suggestive comments and a tender touch or two, then what use would such a man be when faced with the distractions of actual combat?

What she hadn't planned for was the added benefit of it revealing the commanders who had… smaller interests. On the one hand, she finally had an answer for why those child-series models of herself existed. On the other, it was hardly information she could say she was pleased to have. She swore she'd seek permanent deletion before she ever let FAL find out.

But back to her current task, the few who passed her initial inspections had their profiles added to her digi-mind, which she'd later sort through with FAL to decide who the best prospects were. That would be when FAL's own data gathering would come into play. They'd need someone who was both talented as well as compassionate if the two of them were to accomplish their dream of making their own squad one day.

Unsurprisingly, most of her potentials were female recruits so far. Cold fish like Helian may have been a dime-a-dozen these days, but she'd be damned if they weren't efficient.

Her current target, however, was a reference that'd been passed to her through the rumor mill. The recruitment period was only two days in, but it seemed one of the big players had already made her choice, and there wasn't a T-Doll on base who didn't know of G36 and her high standards for each of those she worked with. For her to have accepted someone on the first day of recruitment spoke volumes for itself, but it was the smaller detail that seemed to go largely unnoticed by the other girls that had her attention.

While the fact G36 was with him undeniably spoke of ability, the fact her younger sister had chosen first spoke of an even greater deal of integrity. If she could get a promise for her own squad out of him now, then she could trust him to pull through when the time came later. In this world where human backstabbing seemed to be such a common occurrence, let alone bothering to mention how much further down a T-Doll came by comparison, that trait was perhaps more valuable to her than any other.

The problem was the guy was apparently pretty average looking, which made it that much harder to identify him since it seemed it wasn't often that he wandered about in the open, and T-Dolls were restricted from visiting any of the human dorms without the right authorizations. As evidence to that, it wasn't as if she was the only T-Doll looking for him by this point, and yet reports through the Zener protocol indicated that no other dolls had found him. It was like he'd all but disappeared the moment the rumors started.

Well, he'd probably turn up somewhere eventually, so it served no purpose to concern herself about it too much. In fact, she had just the thing in mind to get her thoughts off of all of this recruitment business. One thing she'd discovered early on in her time after being assigned to this base was that the facility guard towers didn't see much use anymore outside of field operations, and if she hurried, the west tower offered a wonderful view of the evening sky around this time.

As she made her way up the stairs that spiraled around the outside of the tower, what Five-seveN expected was a quiet evening to herself. What she found instead was a blue-haired boy standing on the top-most overlook in silence, arms crossed over the railing in contemplation.

She giggled, instantly recognizing his figure from the information she'd collected. There was some irony in the fact she found her target while doing something most dolls would disregard as too 'human'.

"Mind if I join you?"

Looking at her from over his shoulder, he shrugged, and she took that to be the invitation it probably wasn't.

Naturally, she chose to stand close enough to him that their shoulders just barely touched. The look he was giving her by that point warned that going any further would be crossing a line, but otherwise didn't seem to disapprove of the proximity. Didn't appear surprised by the fact she'd chosen to stand so close to him either though. She could only assume he was already familiar with T-Dolls and their habits, as well as the fact that many of them either didn't understand or frankly didn't care about the general human desire for personal space.

Observing him as closely as she was, however, she didn't miss how she only caught a second or so of her own amber eyes reflected in his gaze, before those eyes of his briefly shifted up and down. While normally she would've used that to get some teasing in, she was admittedly a bit disappointed when he ended up looking away with disinterest, and she realized all he'd been doing in that time was identifying the handgun she had holstered at her waist.

Her pride as a girl would've been offended by that if the T-Doll in her hadn't picked up on a small additional detail. His posture had also relaxed as he'd gone back to what he'd been doing before, and she realized that rather than ignoring her, this was his way of accepting her sudden intrusion.

It was a far cry from the first meeting she'd envisioned, but from the perspective of a doll who could still measure her life in days, that just meant this was something her core hadn't been programmed to expect. For T-Dolls, who treasured their memories as much as they did, such new encounters were always enough to excite them, and she was no exception to that. In fact, if her interest from before could've been described as mere intrigue, now she found herself invested. The only real criticism she had regarding their interactions so far was with the silence that had settled between them, and that if the limited experience uploaded to her core were to be believed, that meant her acquaintance wasn't much of a conversationalist.

But even then, there were certainly some benefits that came with taking the lead in a relationship, and if it meant she could get some questions in, then...

"So this is where you've been hiding. Not one to appreciate the limelight, are you? Seems at least a quarter of the other girls on base want to meet you, and here you are tucked away in one of the last corners anyone would think to look."

As she expected, the inquisitive look he gave her from the corner of his eye told her he had no idea where she was headed with this. Seeing him like this, she was struck with the impression of a person who was used to fading into the background, the type that only stood out to those who knew what to look for. It was likely that he wasn't accustomed to being the center of attention like he currently was.

It was simply his misfortune that one of the most observant T-Dolls on base had just so happened to have stumbled onto him, and already figured all of that out.

"That maid of yours is rather well known amongst us T-Dolls. Getting not only her approval but also her loyalty in so short a time has turned some heads across the Zener network."

"I see."

She had to hold herself back from clicking her tongue as their discussion slipped back into another round of silence. There had to be something she could say that would get him to loosen up. The only other thing she could think of was…

"So, is there any reason you're up here in this old tower rather than wandering the base to continue building up your team? With all the rumors going around, you could probably make your selection from amongst the most popular T-Dolls in all of Griffin without much issue. Even if you're not someone craving for attention, it seems like an obvious waste to ignore such an opportunity."

Looking to her, he raised an eyebrow in exasperation as he responded, "I'm not exactly the one you should be telling that to, I think."

"Eh?"

It only took a slight quirk of his lips to make it clear his exasperation had a very strong undertone of amusement to it. "One of the girls with me is still struggling with her confidence. I made the mistake of being too forward with some of my recruiting and made her think I was looking for a replacement. That maid you're speaking of decided it would be best to lock me up in this tower until things blew over."

"…ehehe."

The look he gave her this time clearly said she wasn't the first person he'd had to explain this to, though the others had likely been company staff sent out to look for him. It also said that this wasn't the first time that his audience had reacted just as she had after hearing of his misfortune. She could imagine that by this point his story had been passed along to just about every instructor on base.

"Forgive me," she managed to get out, even if her laughter made the apology seem largely insincere.

He shrugged with a soft smile in his expression, a silent message that there was nothing to forgive, and went back to gazing at the darkening sky.

It was obvious from his reaction that he'd misunderstood. It wasn't his bad luck that had her laughing so, but rather, it was a result of her excitement rising beyond her ability to contain. Perhaps to him, such a series of events were a normal occurrence, something he could quickly put behind himself and laugh about later, and if that was true, she was more than a bit interested in hearing what his past entailed for that to be so. However, in a world ravaged by civil unrest and incurable disease, such positivity had apparently become a rare sight amongst humans according to the information provided to her. That was the primary reason outside of labor needs that A-Dolls, who were often purposefully programmed with amusing character quirks, had become as popular as they had.

People needed something they could laugh at, regardless of how far in the depths of apathy they'd fallen.

Personally, it was with that rationale that Five-seveN chose to believe her model's popularity among G&K staff members could be attributed to the natural optimism programmed into her default personality, as well as what explained why she had such a trait in the first place, yet that line of thought also led her to its obvious conclusion. Whatever traits and quirks she'd been given had been done so out of need, and that need in this case happened to be that her future commander wouldn't be exempt from the problems facing the rest of humanity. Whenever they were unmotivated, whenever they were discouraged, whenever they chose to simply stop caring, it would be part of her responsibility to drive her commander forward in their duties despite that.

It was only now that she realized she'd spent so much time thinking the same thing that she hadn't ever considered the possibility she could end up working with a commander who wasn't in need of any of that.

The boy next to her wasn't neglecting his duties on account of a lack of drive as she'd first suspected. Rather, it was a consequence of him possessing too much of it.

It was sudden, and it was brief. It was likely only because the setting sun had always managed to make her feel melancholic, and that in this case that was made all the worse thanks to her feelings being stuck in the heat of the moment. But nonetheless, the thought drifted in her core that the average-looking silhouette standing next to her just so happened to be one of the most attractive things she'd seen since coming online.

Wait, was she blushing?

It was perhaps that last realization, more so than any other, that lead Five-seveN to her decision. Even if it was contrary to their plans, those had only truly ever been FAL's to begin with, and frankly, that girl had never been great with unexpected developments like the one she was currently facing. Just as calculated plots was that girl's strength, understanding people was hers, and right now that gut instinct was telling her she'd regret letting this chance slip by.

Any guy who could get her flustered was simply too interesting to let go. On that, she was sure even FAL would agree.

"So, are you still willing to accept any applicants in the middle of your exile?"

His knowing smile was within her expectations. What he said next, on the other hand, was not.

"Not sure if I'm in a position to answer that at the moment. I think you'll need to ask that of the one responsible for all of this in the first place. She shouldn't be hard to find. I'm pretty sure I've been in her crosshairs for the last couple hours."

He directed a bored look over to one of the other towers, and it was at that moment Five-seveN noticed a girl with wine-colored hair on an overlook very similar to theirs, who even now was struggling to aim her gun in their direction while she wrestled with a girl in maid clothing.

So that's where all that screaming was coming from.

She could actually feel his sigh more than she could hear it. "She was too embarrassed to be any closer while guarding me."

This time around she didn't even try to hold back any of her giggling. How else was she supposed to react to the sight of two of the most respected T-Dolls on base reduced to roughhousing like school children? However, even distracted as she was Five-seveN didn't miss the nostalgia in that boy's eyes as he watched his echelon be reduced to such a state.

Perhaps doing this wasn't contrary to FAL's plans after all.

Her response was already on her lips by the time she finally managed to curb her amusement. "That looks like permission if you ask me."

Seeing the look he gave her then, wordlessly wondering how she ever came to that conclusion, made her feel as if she'd just won some unspoken contest between them. He only added strength to that feeling when with a shake of his head, he gave her a small smile, as well as his surrender. "Minato Arisato. My best regards."

It was only natural she returned that smile with one of her own. "FN Five-seveN. You better take care of me, Commander, because I'll have you falling in love with me soon enough."

'Sorry, FAL, but I think I'll make this decision on my own for this one.'

"Are you surprised?"

As was in her nature, she got a start to her day that morning bright and early, knocking on his door before the kitchens had even finished their preparations for breakfast. That said, she had to admit her surprise at seeing it was him who answered the door, instead of the maid she knew accompanied him.

The bored look he gave her said more than he ever could. "Not really. G36 expected you'd drop by at some point."

Green eyes sparkled with affection hearing the name of a dear friend. "But T-Dolls aren't supposed to be back here, you know."

His bored expression changed to one of annoyance. "G36 already explained the special authorizations both of you have."

It always had been in that girl's nature to spoil her fun before it could start. "Always the reliable one, that girl. You only need one more addition now to complete your first echelon, correct?"

"I do."

A sympathetic tone entered her voice knowing what that meant. "Well, being the mediator I'm supposed to be I can hardly ignore it if both WA-chan and '36-chan have joined the same commander, now can I? I apologize for any trouble those two have caused you as of late. They really are good friends, even if it doesn't always look like it."

He shrugged. "Only best friends can bicker like those two can."

She nodded in agreement, delighted beyond words she didn't have to explain further. "Exactly. Thank you for understanding."

As a silence settled between them, it took him probably longer than it should have to realize it wasn't exactly proper to leave her standing as she was in the hallway. Brushing aside the hair covering the right side of his face as he grimaced in apology, he asked, "Should I just invite you inside? Or am I supposed to say something important here?"

She had to stop herself from teasing him. It wasn't fun when it was this easy. "I don't need you to roll out the red carpet, if that's what you're asking. Just point me in the direction of where those two currently are, and I'll get started."

"WA's still sleeping. Second door to the left. '36 is setting traps in the bathroom."

"I see Kevin is still causing her trouble as usual."

He raised an eyebrow hearing that. "You call it Kevin?"

"It's a long story."

"I'm guessing it's best if I don't hear it."

"I'll let you answer that question yourself."

"Right. I'll leave it in your hands then." Saying so he stepped aside, gesturing behind himself in an invitation to come in.

She did a quick bow in appreciation. "M1903 Springfield, ready to serve, Sir. If there's ever anything I can do for you, Commander, just give the order."

Sometimes, a lengthy introduction to a life-long partnership just wasn't necessary.

"Master, the chief officers request your attendance of the-"

G36 stopped, surprised not at finding her commander in his usual place within the base's courtyard, but at the state of the company that was with him. More specifically, her sister's, who was currently sleeping soundly with her head resting in their commander's lap, his fingers idly brushing the submachine gun's hair.

Minato nodded, having already checked the message sent to him with the tablet now discarded just within arm's reach. A recent gift, now that he was an official recruit in Griffin's registry.

"I know. I've already asked WA to attend for me. You know how thorough she is when she's asked to do something."

Under normal circumstances, he would've attended in person just because he had nothing else better to do, but he'd already been preoccupied with the current matter by the time he'd gotten any notification, and he hadn't the heart to wake her. It seemed the higher-ups were holding an unofficial meeting in a few minutes for the recruits who were still on base after having accomplished their first mission, and along with being a time for celebration, they'd also be receiving the details of their next task.

That said, attendance wasn't mandatory. They'd be receiving the same details through messages later that afternoon. The only reason he'd gone as far as to send WA-2000 to act in his place was because of the personal request of the doll in question, who'd expressed her concerns that skipping out on such a meeting would tarnish his image. It was rather cute how she would feign dissatisfaction with the echelon she'd found herself in, yet would also be so protective of the reputation of himself and her teammates with such fierce pride.

Fortunately, the chances were low she'd drag too much attention to herself even if she felt the need to do so, seeing as the recruits had been invited to bring their echelons as well. It was just that such a thing was hardly a motivational factor for himself, as he wouldn't have been able to attend with anyone other than WA and G36C anyway.

As it was, even if the T-Dolls in his first echelon were officially listed as his, it wasn't as if that somehow cleared them of their previous obligations. That would only occur after his official reassignment. G36 making it back this early was rare considering the large list of her responsibilities elsewhere, and Springfield was no less relied on by the other T-Dolls on base.

On that note, he actually wasn't sure what it was Five-seveN got up to when left to her own devices, as she'd usually leave with nothing more than a vague excuse and a disarming smile. From what she'd been willing to share, however, she was currently working with another T-Doll she was close to with the intent of getting the other doll assigned to him under the beginning of a second echelon. Still, if that was all there was to it, he couldn't quite understand what all the skulking about was for. Perhaps she was just secretive by design.

If that wasn't the answer, then he was lost, as it wasn't as if it'd be difficult to put together another echelon. While it was true every trainee was required by contract to command at least one echelon to remain a valid commander in G&K's rosters, there wasn't any upper limit placed on the number of T-Doll's a recruit could take in during their time here while being so close to headquarters. All the dolls here were waiting for assignment anyway, so a recruit taking on more than one echelon merely meant less time that Griffin logistics had to spend in finding a place for her.

They were offered such freedoms because this too could be said to be a part of their training. For while there wasn't any strict limitations on the number of dolls they could select, every commander had a stipend allotted to them based on their rank within the company, and along with paying for their own living expenses, commanders were also expected to use those funds to care for the needs of their T-Dolls. That meant any maintenance or manufacturing demands that they had were expected to come straight from a commander's pockets, and it was a common belief of the recruits as a whole that falling into bankruptcy was easily the most humiliating path that would get you sent home.

Having previously gone over the numbers with G36, his newly appointed adjutant, he estimated that with his current funds he could support no more than four echelons.

Said adjutant was currently narrowing her eyes in his direction, clearly displeased with his lazy attitude. It was a common occurrence between the two of them by this point, but it never annoyed him. After all, before he'd met Junpei and the rest of SEES, he'd regarded relaxing moments like this as a waste of time too. It was only after they were gone that he'd truly come to understand how worthwhile those afternoons spent playing video games or hanging out at the mall had truly been. Perhaps it was about time…

"G36, you're working too hard."

Her narrowed glance sharpened to a glare. "Master, might I remind you what still needs to be accomplished today?" Without waiting for a reply, she began listing off tasks off her fingers. "Munitions procurement, meal requisition, T-Doll recruitment requests, vacuum dismantlement, simulator trials, correspondence with the-"

"G36. You're working too hard."

A sigh. "I'm just following orders, Master."

"And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, '36. You're just missing the forest for the trees."

"Master?"

"Taking care of yourself is also one of your orders. Since appointing you as my adjutant, however, you've been working nonstop."

"As your adjutant, it's my responsibility to-"

"It's your responsibility to make sure this team is fighting at its optimal capacity. You need more than just orders in a battle, '36. You need a reason to win."

It was clear the maid had another argument on the tip of her tongue, but she chose to pause instead, confusion written in her green eyes. She struggled like that for a few minutes, while her sight settling on two handguns who were chasing each other on the other side of the courtyard. Eventually…

"I apologize, but I fail to see the point of this conversation, Master. Perhaps I should ask what it is you want me to fight for."

This time, he didn't respond to her. The point of this conversation was that if she was going to be his adjutant, she needed to start thinking beyond the mission, beyond just the orders handed to her, but as for what that meant, that was only a question she could answer on her own. Instead, he went back to how things were before, his eyes shifting back up to the clouds overhead, a soft smile playing on his lips as he patted the head of the girl in his lap.

The head patting. It never stopped.

…

"…I see."

A silence settled between them after that. He was almost surprised when it was broken by the sound of his adjutant approaching the two of them, before sitting down in his unoccupied side, close enough that their shoulders just touched when she wrapped her arms around her knees.

"Pardon the intrusion, Master."

Well, he supposed, this was certainly one answer.

Within the depths of an IOP secret facility, listed on encrypted records as belonging to the development team named 16Lab, a group of several monitors illuminated the face of the team's only surviving founder.

In spite of the fact it was late in the evening, it looked as if she'd just rolled out of bed, her white lab coat hanging haphazardly on her shoulders, several of the buttons on her shirt left undone, and her legs swinging about barefoot. The bags under her eyes made it evident she'd gone several days without sufficient sleep, while several empty mugs laid out on the desk next to her clarified how she was getting by despite that. As for the odd cybernetic accessories on top of her head styled like cat ears, it was probably better for the mind to just ignore them.

It was a difficult truth to swallow that such an unscrupulous woman was one of the greatest technical minds of the modern era.

Laid out on the screen in front of her was the holographic representation of a T-Doll's digi-mind, hundreds of lines of code scrolling past the screen each minute. Nonsense to the uninformed. Child's play to the woman in question. A good portion of it was her own, after all.

Her name was Persica, and she was facing quite the conundrum.

She'd already lost count of the number of times she'd watched this footage.

On the screen to her left was a video, which was currently displaying a creature of… some sort. Crowned with an iron helm which appeared to serve as its face, wearing an outfit that wouldn't have felt out of place at a funeral, and with strange coffin-shaped objects floating ominously behind it, it looked to be something straight out of fantasy. Hard to say what though.

Mythology was not her strong suit.

The footage wasn't what concerned her, however. She merely kept referring back to it because it was the closest thing she'd found resembling a clue which might answer her actual questions.

It had all started thanks to her bad habit of scrolling through a T-Doll's data while their digi-mind was checked for corruption and memory leaks. Apparently, the doll behind her had been through quite the ordeal to get the data she'd wanted, though it seemed that Helian had gotten a new commander out of it, so all was well. Or at least, it should've been.

It was a small detail. So insignificant in fact, that she could only attribute it to chance that she'd stumbled onto it at all. A single line of code in the T-Doll's neural cloud.

But it was a line of code that wasn't supposed to be there.

And thanks to that discrepancy, the girl was no longer registered as property of either Griffin or IOP. All her attempts to alter the code failed. Each time she refreshed the system the code would revert to how she had found it.

She wasn't sure how such a thing could be possible. A T-Doll altering the code of their neural cloud was like a human changing the structure of their DNA. Sure, through certain methods it was possible, but it wasn't something that just happened by chance!

A third-party had to be responsible. Yet skill with artificial intelligence such as this, if it was genuine, could arguably be considered to be a rival to even that of Lyco's.

Protocol dictated that she dump the doll at the nearest retirement facility and then wipe her hands of the subject, but as far as she could tell, the change was harmless besides a switch to a mysterious new authorization. An authorization that shared the same style of data as the encrypted video playing next to her. As far as Persica could tell, there was only one thing that linked the two.

If her suspicions were true, than to quote G41's own words, her commander was someone quite special indeed.

So even if it was contrary to protocol, her mind was made up, mostly in part because she had too many questions regarding all of this to just 'forget about it'. The uncertainty alone would drive her insane. That meant she needed to make a decision as to how she would proceed further, as her search so far had made it evident that she wouldn't find any more leads on the subject without new information.

Asking the commander directly was obviously a bad idea. There were too many ways such a plan could backfire, most notably because she had no way to gauge how trustworthy he was, and even worse, it would make him wary of any mistakes in the future. Interrogation could possibly yield favorable answers, but she'd never been a fan of such heavy-handed methods, not to mention the fact there was still the slim chance that her suspicions could be wrong. The safest plan she could come up with was a mole, someone or something which was feasibly harmless that could also feed her information without the new commander ever catching on to her interference.

Then who could she…?

Her eyes shifted over to the data drive that had started all of this, a simple black box in appearance. Though all it had done was confirm her suspicions, on it had been the last piece of information she needed to confirm which of Lyco's safe houses contained what she was looking for. Now she had no hesitations regarding the mission she'd recently sent to Kryuger going forward as planned.

Except…

Yes. Yes, that might be exactly the method she was looking for. Two birds with one stone, was it?

Her newest project would be reassigned to Griffin and one of their commanders once their mission was over. Perhaps it was about time she pass along her recommendation to Helian.

End: You didn't think someone like Minato would be afflicted by something as mundane as your average nightmare, did you? This is a Persona fanfic, you silly goose. Things are always far, far worse than they appear.

Did I mention that I'm also a fan of Bloodborne?

Suppose I should've included this in the first chapter, but for those of you who play on the EN server, UID is 854 for those of you interested in a friend with 10 dorms and an anti-Judge support echelon. It's about time I clean out my friends list of the randoms who haven't touched the game since the month it started.

I do apologize if this chapter came off a bit too introspective because of that though. I blame the fact the game's command mechanics are actually incredibly dark if you consider them within context of the lore.

I mean, looking at the commands we give in-game, if you tell your T-Dolls to charge an enemy ringleader that vastly outguns them, do they do it? If you tell them to do so without ammo or rations, leaving them helpless to do anything other than die pointlessly, do they do it? If you tell them to make a suicide run towards giant gun emplacements meant to kill crowds of them with each shot, do they do it? Do they at any point stop doing it, even when they've lost all trust in you as a commander?

The stuff I think about when I can't sleep, I swear.

Anyway, putting aside my bad habit of asking existential questions of a waifu collection game, and shifting the focus onto the cute dolls doing cute things, I'd have to say WA was my personal highlight this time around. How else am I supposed to react when Minato's swag only lets her react with *embarrassed tsundere noises*?

There's also the little detail of what she also brings in store for the future. As an example, while in the context of this story G41 loves ghosts, let's not forget that canonically WA is absolutely terrified of them. Considering who her commander is, and what it is he does, that's going to be fun to bring up again.

But yeah, as always, appreciate any feedback you guys have to give. Do you like these third party perspectives? Do you prefer the story more commonly from the protagonist's view? How likely do you think this is to get best girls AK-12 and AN-94 to come home?

Answers to that and more, whenever I can be bothered to stop staring blankly at my screen and actually update this thing again.

Oh, and before I forget…

Chapter 2 Side-Story
Meet Kevin, the Ultimate Rival

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As a Persona-user, there were often times where he thought nothing else could surprise him. Of course, it usually wasn't long until reality saw fit to prove how naïve that assumption was. He was still deciding if this was one of those moments.

Despite his attempts otherwise, he still couldn't rationalize what he was watching. He turned to G36C who was sitting beside him, silently asking if she could give him an explanation. She instead wilted underneath his stare, blushing in mortification as she quietly muttered a response under her breath.

Fortunately, listening had been a skill of his even before he met SEES.

"I'm sorry, Commander. It seems in her time here, Nee-san's developed something of a rivalry with it."

He looked over to where G36 was currently crouched. He turned back to G36C. And he looked back in the maid's direction one last time just to make sure.

"That's a Roomba."

"It is."

"Your sister is in a rivalry with a Roomba?"

"Yes, Commander."

Said sister was currently crouched in front of the little robot, warding it off with a broom every time it tried to move forward. He almost would've called it cute, were it not for the fact her eyebrows were scrunched in a glare so intense he was worried she'd somehow summon Death into the room even without his consent.

"I'm cleaning here, so please go somewhere else."

Did he mention the fact she was also talking to it as if she expected as response?

Uncaring of her complaints, the little-vacuum-that-could pushed forward.

"Do you hear me?!"

Unsurprisingly, the Roomba stayed silent. With all the responsibilities she seemed to take on upon herself, he'd expected that one of these days he'd see the T-Doll lose her cool. This… was not how he imagined it happening.

"By the way, Commander, you should probably know the score is stuck with Mr. Roomba in the lead."

Huh?

"Your sister… is losing in a rivalry with a Roomba?"

"Yes, Commander."

He didn't know what else to say to that, so he went back to watching. He immediately regretted it.

"Let go you trash bucket!"

He continued his silent vigil even as the vacuum grabbed hold of the bristles to the broom G36 was brandishing. He raised an eyebrow as the silly game turned into what should have been the most mismatched case of tug-of-war he'd ever seen. He raised the other one when the smaller robot suddenly spun to realign itself, and took the T-Doll with it.

He would later erase the next couple second of his memory forever.

When it was done, he found himself left in open-eyed wonder, as a little Roomba rolled away from that scene, leaving behind a panting and red-faced Tactical Doll who looked like she'd just lived through a wrestling match with a bear.

Was that actual steam pouring out from her ears?

"Nee-san overheats quickly whenever she gets mad. Don't worry, Commander. She'll be fine in a few minutes," G36C commented.

Concerned with the manner in which she casually dismissed her sister's state, he thought it best to say something. He stopped, however, when he turned to address her, and noticed the empty stare of disappointment in his companion's red eyes. He realized that perhaps the real victim in all of this wasn't the girl passed out on their carpet.

"He's very good at his job, don't you think, Commander?"

Hearing the cold monotone in which she said that, he couldn't help but wonder if Nyx really was a merciful goddess.