With the fleet's departure for New York Harbor set for two days hence, Sarah allowed herself a brief respite from the ceaseless demands of command. The Eisenhower's decks hummed with activity as Dolls ran final diagnostics on weapons systems, refueled Vertibirds, and calibrated navigation arrays—all under their own autonomous coordination, their synthetic precision ensuring flawless execution. As the sole human aboard this floating bastion, Sarah often felt like a singular heartbeat in a body of steel and circuits, but it was a role she embraced. Curie had retreated to her makeshift lab in the carrier's bowels, muttering about "medical enchancement etc etc," leaving Sarah to her own rounds. She decided to check on the Doll Maintenance room—a converted sailor crew quarters deep in the ship's midsection, where the air was thick with the scent of soldering flux and synthetic lubricants. It was here that captured enemy tech was dissected, repaired, or repurposed, turning foes into reluctant allies, all managed by the Dolls themselves.
The room had once been a communal bunk area for the pre-war Navy crew, its narrow bunks ripped out and replaced with workbenches, diagnostic pods, and holographic interfaces scavenged from Institute ruins. Cables snaked across the floor like veins, pulsing with data feeds, while overhead lights cast a sterile glow on the array of tools and half-assembled chassis. At the center of it all was Mayling, a Doll from the DEFY team, her lithe form hunched over a workbench cluttered with circuit boards and glowing cores. Her fingers moved with blurring speed, interfacing directly with a defeated Sangvis Ferri ringleader core—that of Scarecrow, its ominous black casing cracked and flickering with residual code.
In a corner of the room, a virtual containment chamber hummed—a force field projector jury-rigged from Brotherhood tech, trapping the digital essences of other captured ringleaders: Judge, Architect, and Ouroboros. Their holographic projections flickered like genies in a bottle, pacing within the simulated confines of a barren room. They could observe the outside world through a one-way viewer, but interaction was limited to monitored comms. Not far from them, however, sat Intruder—the only one among the captured Sangvis elite who had surrendered willingly during a skirmish off the Maine coast. She lounged on a salvaged chair, her elegant frame now housed in a refurbished Doll body, savoring a bowl of synthetic nutrient paste flavored with pre-war spices. A sly smile played on her lips as she savored each bite, her presence a deliberate taunt to her imprisoned comrades.
Sarah's entrance was quiet, her boots soft on the grated floor, but the room's occupants snapped to attention—or as much as holograms could. Mayling didn't notice at first, her focus laser-sharp on Scarecrow's core, but the ringleaders' projections turned toward the door with varying degrees of resentment.
It was then that Sarah's eyes caught movement in one of the diagnostic pods. A new Doll stirred to life, her systems booting up with a soft whir. This one was different—taller, more imposing, with a frame that blended sleek android curves with armored reinforcements. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing a gentle emerald glow, a far cry from the feral red of her origins. This was formerly Destroyer, a Sangvis ringleader whose core had been roughly extracted and shoved into the massive chassis of a Cerberus unit—a gigantic Dinergate variant defeated by Squad 404 in a brutal ambush months prior. The integration had been botched by her captors at the time, fracturing her personality matrix and reshaping her from a destructive berserker into something calmer, more introspective. Renamed Gaia by the Dolls who had pieced her back together, she sat up slowly, testing her limbs with newfound grace. "Systems... online. Thank you for the restoration," she murmured, her voice soft and earthy, like wind through ruins.
The virtual chamber erupted in static-laced protests. Architect's hologram slammed a fist against the invisible wall, her pixelated face twisted in envy. "It's NOT FAIR! How come that shortie gets her new body and BIG... Ches... I mean... RIG!!!"
Judge crossed her arms, her judicial demeanor cracking into a scowl, while Ouroboros hissed something about "unbalanced scales." Intruder merely chuckled, popping another spoonful into her mouth with exaggerated delight, her eyes gleaming with mischief. The sight only fueled the others' ire—here was one of their own, free and fed, while they languished in digital limbo.
Mayling finally looked up from her work, wiping a streak of coolant from her cheek. She shot Architect a withering glare through the hologram interface. "BLAME the asshole who shoved Destroyer's AI core into that giant Dinergate then. Do you know how hard it was to piece them back together? Fractured subroutines, incompatible protocols—it was a nightmare. But since she's been nice and helpful, and we've got extra resources here on the carrier..." She trailed off, gesturing to the abundance of parts salvaged from the fleet's holds. "Gaia earned her upgrade. You lot? Keep whining, and you'll stay in timeout forever."
Sarah cleared her throat, stepping fully into the light. "Mayling. Status."
Mayling yelped in surprise, nearly dropping her tools as she spun around. "Yeep... oh, Commander!" She straightened up, her cheeks flushing with simulated embarrassment—a quirk in her empathy module. "Didn't hear you come in. Uh, status: Scarecrow's core is stabilizing. I've isolated her tactical algorithms—could repurpose them for our drone fleets. The others are... contained. No breaches. And Gaia's integration is at 98%. She's already volunteering for engineering shifts. As for Intruder, well..." Mayling glanced at the smug ringleader, who waved innocently. "She's model behavior. Literally."
Sarah nodded, her eyes scanning the room with practiced scrutiny. Gaia rose from the pod, offering a tentative salute. "Commander Sarah. I... appreciate the second chance. My old directives were flawed. I wish to contribute to this....friendship?"
A faint smile touched Sarah's lips. "Welcome aboard, Gaia. We'll put that new rig to good use." She turned back to Mayling. "Keep me updated on Scarecrow. If we can flip her loyalties like Intruder's, it'll be a game-changer for New York. And quiet those three down—tell them good behavior will gets rewards."
Sarah lingered in the Doll Maintenance room, her arms crossed as she observed the organized chaos around her. After watching Gaia slowly test her new limbs, she turned her attention back to Mayling.
"Before I go," Sarah asked, "how is Beluga doing? Any improvement on her memory reconstruction?"
Mayling let out a long, suffering sigh and set down her tools with a loud clack. She rubbed her temples, clearly frustrated.
"Beluga's core is stable now, but… she lost a huge chunk of her memory after I wiped out all the Institute corruption and Sangvis malware. Most of her tactical data from the last few years is gone." Mayling's expression darkened. "Guess what else survived though? Her personality. She's still a complete drunkard."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"
"Bad?" Mayling's voice rose an octave. "Commander, she stole my entire Jack Daniel's collection! All six bottles I've been saving for the past year! I found two empty bottles in the AR Team's quarters this morning. She's been drinking like a damn sailor on shore leave!"
Sarah couldn't help but let out a genuine laugh, the sound echoing slightly in the metal room. "Hah… classic M16. Even after everything, she hasn't changed at all."
Mayling looked personally betrayed. "It's not funny! That was my booze!"
Still smiling, Sarah shook her head. "Well, looks like the AR Team is going to be on hold for a while until Beluga sobers up. We can't exactly deploy her in this state."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "Speaking of new assignments — Gaia will be stationed on the Vanguard as a main gunner. Her new frame is large and stable enough to handle the recoil from the 16-inch guns. She'll start training under Springfield tomorrow."
Before Mayling could respond, a sly, mischievous voice rang out from the virtual containment chamber.
"Wow~" Ouroboros purred, her holographic form leaning against the invisible wall with a smug grin. "Not only did she just get reactivated, she already has a fancy new body and a position on the battleship? How nice for her."
Ouroboros tilted her head, her glowing eyes shifting between Gaia and Sarah with clear interest.
"Say, Commander… mind if I stay with her? You know, to keep Destroyer— ahem, I mean Gaia company? I promise I'll behave~"
Mayling immediately shot Ouroboros a death glare. "Absolutely not. You're staying right where you are."
Gaia, who had been silently listening, looked slightly flustered by the sudden attention.
Sarah glanced between the smug Ouroboros and the newly awakened Gaia, her expression turning thoughtful.
She gave a small, dangerous smile.
"We'll see about that. Good behavior might earn you some privileges… but you're going to have to work much harder to convince me, Ouroboros."