This day felt so boring and monotonous that I really wanted to go out and see if I could find something to do outside, I mean it's not like I don't have things to do inside the shelter, which really was a bit much... ahem, so after what seemed like hours walking around the abandoned institute we saw on the way, we had found everything except what we were looking for even though I was just looking to go out out of boredom more than anything. We started the afternoon with the idea of doing something "normal" because I really needed it after so many ups and downs and something happened that would help Doll behave like someone her age I guess. But, as always, things took an unexpected turn.
I had tried to teach her simple games with some old objects we found, even with a couple of rusty toys. Doll barely showed interest, but followed my movements, as if trying to understand. Still, her serious face didn't change.
As we explored the dark hallways, Doll pointed to a door at the end.
"Suda," she said with her usual calm.
"Uh… Here?" I asked, hoping I understood her correctly.
Nemo stepped forward, as always.
"[Translation: 'This way. It doesn't seem like a good idea, though. The building is showing signs of structural wear.']"
Sometimes I wondered if Nemo enjoyed pestering me with these warnings. Anyway, we pushed open the door and entered what looked like a laboratory. Old, rusty equipment, some vials of unknown liquids, and what looked like a sealed metal box. It was a typical nightmare scenario, but it also looked like forgotten treasure.
"Look at this, Doll," I said, pointing at the metal box, "it looks important."
Before I could open it, Doll gave me a withering look.
"Не трогай это!" she exclaimed with more urgency than I'd heard her say before.
"What did she say?" I asked quickly.
Nemo immediately translated.
"[Translation: 'Don't touch it!']"
But it was too late. As he lifted the lid, one of the vials slipped and fell to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. A cloud of gas began to pour out of the broken vial, and, almost immediately, the building's alarms went off.
"Great! What the heck did I do now?" I said, taking a few steps back.
Doll ran to a control panel and began typing frantically.
"You are an idiot," she said without even looking at me.
"Yes, yes, I know," I replied, though I didn't need Nemo to translate that.
Nemo confirmed it anyway.
"[Translation: 'You are an idiot.']"
Just then,A robotic voice rang out over the speaker system.
"[Self-destruct system activated. Estimated time to explosion: 10 minutes.]"
— "What? Self-destruct? Why does a lab self-destruct!?" —I shouted, looking at Nemo for answers.
— "[My suggestion: get out of here before I find out.]" —he said with his characteristic calm tone.
Without wasting any more time, I grabbed Doll's hand and we started running through the halls towards the exit. The lights flickered and the shaking of the building made each step more difficult.
— "Давай, быстрее!" —Doll shouted, clearly annoyed.
Although I didn't understand exactly what she said, it was clear that it meant "Run!"
We barely made it out of the building when a massive explosion shook the ground behind us. We were both launched forward by the shockwave, landing in the snow with a thud, which I hope will go down as one of those action scenes.
We stood there, panting, as we watched the flames consume the old institute, in my defense they shouldn't have left dangerous things like that.
"This… this wasn't what I had in mind," I said, trying to compose myself as I sat down.
Doll stood up and gave me a stern look.
"Это был твой план?" she asked, clearly irritated.
Nemo quickly translated.
"[Translation: 'Was that your plan?']"
"No… it wasn't, or maybe?" I replied, brushing the snow off my clothes.
We stood in silence for a while, watching the ruins slowly burn away. Doll looked like she was going to make a comment, but I already had an idea in mind to try and break the tension.
"You know what? I think we should go before this draws any unwanted attention. But before…" I said with a mischievous grin.
Before she could react, I picked her up and placed her over my shoulder as if she were a little kid. Which she obviously is.
"Что ты делаешь?" she asked immediately, surprised.
Nemo translated.
"[Translation: 'What are you doing?']"
"Nothing, I'm just doing this to tease you a little," I said in a mocking tone, starting to walk towards the shelter.
However, my plan didn't work out as expected. Instead of complaining or fighting, Doll simply settled back on my shoulder, relaxing as if nothing had happened. I even noticed her legs dangling calmly at the sides, as if she was enjoying the ride.
"Я не возражаю," she said in an almost relaxed voice.
"Nemo… what did she just say?" I asked, already knowing that I had lost this little battle.
— "[Translation: 'I don't care.']"
I sighed. My attempt to annoy her had completely failed. Not only was she not upset,but seemed to be enjoying the fact that he was carrying it. Great, another failed plan.
"You know, it's normal for you to be a little uncomfortable, at least," I said as we made our way through the snow.
But Doll didn't respond. She just stayed silent, looking more and more comfortable on my shoulder. I could even swear she had closed her eyes—or rather, turned off her visor?—as if she were about to fall asleep.
The walk back to the shelter was longer than I remembered, and even though my shoulders were starting to cramp, I didn't want to put her down. I was too surprised by how calm she was, so I decided to keep carrying her. And partly because she's adorable. Cough.
Finally, when we got to the shelter, I gently lowered her to the ground.
"Okay, we're here. Don't get used to this," I said, trying to keep a serious tone.
Doll gave me a look that, if I didn't know better, I would have sworn was almost a smile. She didn't say anything, just turned and walked into the shelter, leaving Nemo and me outside.
— "[At least you didn't end up exploding too,]" —Nemo said with his usual sarcasm.
—"Don't say anything, Nemo. Today… just not," —I answered as I followed him inside.
And so the day ended, with one less institute in the world and a Doll more comfortable than I could have ever imagined. Normality? We were still far from that.
After almost two years of surviving in this chaos, Doll, Nemo and I had found a rhythm of sorts. Doll had learned a lot in that time, even some of my bad habits, like complaining about everything, something that Nemo kept pointing out with a certain sarcasm. Sometimes I wondered if I was really making fun of myself when she started to complain and by the way I also managed to get Nemo connected to the entire base from the central core which makes most of the work easier.
That afternoon, in a routine exploration, we discovered what seemed to be an old underground complex. The entrance, almost hidden under layers of vegetation and debris, seemed abandoned since a long time ago. As Nemo studied the structure, my thoughts wandered to our routine. Lately, Doll had developed a liking for me to carry her, which was ironic because at first I did it just to annoy her. But now, whenever things got boring or heavy, she would hold out her arms and tell me in her characteristically serious tone to carry her.
"[Secure structure, access allowed for high-level drones, possibly Killer Drones,]" Nemo said, interrupting my thoughts.
"Oh, great, Killer Drones," I replied sarcastically, cautiously opening the door. The interior was more modern than I expected, filled with advanced technology. The most striking thing, however, was in the center of the room. It was the J Designation!
"What the hell is this thing doing here?" I muttered to myself, remembering that I was supposed to be in space with N and V right now. J's figure, while supposed to be fearsome given her role in the series, didn't look all that menacing at the moment. In fact, in her off state, she almost looked… helpless. Her "spoiled teenager" look was almost there: everything about her screamed arrogance even in that state. But somehow, seeing her like this reminded me more of a child left in the middle of a play, waiting for someone to activate her.
Doll peeked over my shoulder, her eyes shining with curiosity.
"Кто это?" (Who is it?) she asked.
"It's… someone I've seen before," I replied, still trying to process the scene. "It's supposed to be in space, but here it is."
As I watched J, I noticed there were no signs of activity. It was deactivated, as if someone had left it there to upgrade or perhaps repair it. However, I couldn't understand why it was in this forgotten place.
"Nemo, do you have any information on this?" I asked, still intrigued.
"[Registration: Designation J. Status: Inactive. Origin: Space mission. Reason for deactivation: Unknown.]" Nemo replied.
"Great," I said, feeling frustrated. "Someone left J here, and there's no way of knowing why."
Doll moved a little closer, but kept a safe distance. Over the two years, she had learned to be cautious, but also not to worry too much if I took control of the situation.
"Do you think he'll come back?" (Do you think he'll come back?) she said, pointing at J.
"I don't know," I replied. "But if he's here, it means there's something else at play or maybe it wasn't that important."
"This doesn't make any sense anyway," I said, looking at Doll, who was also watching the scene with her arms crossed, just like me.
"[My suggestion is that we get out before something else happens,]" she said in her calm tone.
Doll and I stared at J, who was still deactivated in the center of the room. Despite Nemo's warning, our minds were already working on the same thing. We looked at each other for a moment, and although neither of us said a word, we knew exactly what the other was thinking.
A malicious smile formed on my lips, while Doll, without changing her serious expression, nodded slightly, as if we were in sync. Nemo, for his part, let out a sound of resignation.
"[Additional suggestion: this plan has a 72% chance of being considered extremely foolish,]" she added.
"Yeah, right, Nemo," I replied. "But we have to do this. We don't know why J is here,And besides, if we leave all this equipment behind, it would be like giving it away to others, don't you think?
Doll watched everything with her usual calm, though her eyes sparkled with that spark of complicity. She didn't usually smile much, but I knew that deep down, she was just as excited as I was about what we were going to do.
We left the place without touching anything else for the moment, making sure that everything was left as we found it. As we walked back to the shelter, I was already making a plan in my mind. The truck I had repaired a few months ago would be perfect for this mission. We had used it a few times to move large amounts of resources, and with Doll helping me improve its performance from time to time, the vehicle had become an invaluable asset.
The idea was simple: return the next day with the truck, load up as much as we could, and take J with us as well. We didn't know what use all that equipment would have or even if we could reactivate J, but leaving it there was not an option. We had to make sure that all that equipment was in our hands.
That night, I barely slept. My mind was filled with ideas about what we would find in that bunker. Meanwhile, Doll, while remaining his usual calm self, seemed just as impatient with the mission. Over the course of these two years, we had developed a curious dynamic; Doll, despite his seriousness, had adapted to my way of doing things. At times, he even seemed to enjoy my harebrained plans.
The next day, right at dawn, we prepared for our foray. Nemo, ever the sensible one, tried to dissuade us once again as we loaded the tools into the truck.
"[Last warning: this plan is still unnecessarily risky.]" he said in his unchanging tone.
"I know, Nemo. But if we don't do this, who will? Besides, if J is here, we need to find out why."
Doll, without saying a word, climbed into the passenger seat of the truck, looking at me with his typical serious expression as he adjusted some controls. He had spent time improving the vehicle, optimizing its engine and fine-tuning the electrical systems. Sometimes, I was surprised at how adept he had become with technology, since you could say that thanks to it this truck had become like one of those you would only see in cyberpunk style science fiction movies or series.
The trip to the bunker was relatively uneventful. In the distance, the snowy mountains created an eerie landscape, but by now we were used to that kind of desolation. We arrived at the underground complex without any problems, and with the truck parked outside, we quickly entered the building. Everything was still the same as the day before, as if the place had not been touched by anyone for years.
"Okay, let's get started," I said, as I opened the first box of equipment.
We moved efficiently, loading everything that looked useful. Some of the machines were too large to carry, but Nemo figured we could disassemble them and carry the more important parts. Doll took care of some of the more delicate tools, and between the two of them, we soon had the truck half full.
Finally, it was time to load J. The still-deactivated Designation J looked smaller than I remembered from the series. Its presence, however, was still imposing. Doll approached first, taking a close look at the mechanisms holding J in its dormant state.
"What should I do now?" she asked, looking at Nemo.
"[Answer: Disconnect the support units and transport her directly. Risk: Low.]" Nemo replied.
Carefully, I began disconnecting the connections holding J in place. Once we were done, I lifted her along with Doll and placed her in the back of the truck. Although she wasn't moving, there was something off about her. Something told me we shouldn't underestimate her, even when she was turned off.
"Okay, that's it," I said, closing the truck doors.
We quickly set off, leaving the bunker behind. As I drove, I couldn't stop thinking about what we'd just done. We'd taken everything, including J, and while I didn't know exactly what we'd do with her, I had a feeling we'd taken an important step.
"What now?" I asked out loud, more to myself than to Doll or Nemo.
"[Next step: analysis of the equipment and reactivation of the J Designation, if possible,]" Nemo replied.
"Yeah, right, as if that were that easy," I muttered.
Doll, for her part, settled back in her seat. Although she didn't say anything, I could see in her eyes that she was intrigued. Over these two years, she'd learned a lot about the world and about me, but there were still things that even she didn't fully understand.
When we got to the shelter, we began unloading all the equipment. Nemo took charge of recording and analyzing each piece, while Doll took care of organizing the tools. The last to come out was J, who was still dormant, like a forgotten doll.
We placed her in a corner of the shelter, and as I watched her, I couldn't help but feel a strange mix of respect and curiosity for her. I knew who she was in the series, I knew how dangerous she could be, but seeing her like that, deactivated and vulnerable, made me question everything.
"So, Nemo," I said finally. "Do you think we can reactivate her?"
"[Possibility: 53%. Risk: high,]" he replied.
"Perfect, just what I wanted to hear," I replied, sarcastic.
Doll, who had been silently watching everything, walked over to J and looked at her closely. For a moment, I thought she was going to say something, but she simply turned to me and crossed her arms.
"Okay, let's try," she said, as always, ready to face whatever came.
As Nemo began to prepare everything to try and reactivate J, I couldn't help but smile. We had survived all kinds of crazy things these past two years, and now we were preparing to reactivate a rather special deactivated Killer Drone. What could possibly go wrong?
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