The silence in the room was deafening as Nemo worked to activate the cloaking systems. We knew we had made a grave mistake in restoring J to its most obsolete version, and the pulse the enemy had detected only confirmed how vulnerable we were. However, Nemo, ever relentless, was quick to act.
"[Activating holographic cloaking. Simulated erroneous signal.]" he announced in his usual mechanical tone.
The base trembled slightly as the systems reconfigured themselves, projecting an illusion around us. The interference was designed to look like a minor glitch, something enemy patrols would overlook.
Doll, for her part, couldn't contain herself. The laugh she let out was sour, but loaded with nervousness.
— "God, this lie won't convince anyone," she muttered as she kept her eyes on the controls, obviously holding back the embarrassment of the excuse she'd made up about J's lost memory.
I knew my lie wasn't the best, but at that moment she'd had no other choice. J, disoriented, needed a quick explanation, and the idea of her working for me was the easiest thing I could come up with. The problem was that the machine was still processing its new, pathetic reality.
— "Listen, J," I said as she watched me with those empty eyes, "there was an… incident. You're here to help us. You were working for me before you lost your memory."
J seemed to hesitate, as if she were trying to put together the broken pieces of a puzzle that didn't fit. His body, stiff and unfamiliar, responded awkwardly. There was no trace of the deadliness that had defined his previous existence.
"I understand…" he finally muttered. "I'm… your assistant."
I bit my lip, aware of how ridiculous this all sounded. It wasn't the answer I was expecting, but it was a step in the right direction. Before I could add anything, Doll scoffed once more.
"Да, да, конечно," (Yes, yes, of course) she said in a tone that did not conceal her contempt for the situation. "его ассистентка." (your assistant).
I ignored her. The most important thing was to buy time for Nemo to keep the base off enemy radar. If the pulse signal gave us away, we were done for.
"Nemo, how safe is this camouflage?" "I asked, trying to bring the focus back to the urgent.
"[Estimated efficiency of 98%. Minimal interference with surveillance signals. Detection probability: low.]" Nemo replied coldly.
A temporary relief washed over me, but I knew this would only buy us some time. If we didn't do something soon, we'd be buried alive.
Meanwhile, J continued to examine her body, bewilderment deepening on her face. The machine that had once been one of the most feared weapons was now little more than a shadow, a prototype maid with no memory or abilities. Seeing her like this gave me an uncomfortable mix of pity and guilt. We had toyed with something bigger than ourselves.
"I only remember…" she began, her voice shaking with a vulnerability I had never associated with it, "serving in a mansion."
Nemo, as always, gave his cold assessment:
"[Analysis: Incomplete memory. Maid memories present. Advanced combat functions: disabled.]"
A chill ran through the room. J was not only unarmed, but completely useless for the purpose we needed her for. We were cornered, and time was running out.
Doll, in an attempt to diffuse the tension, muttered in a joking tone,
"I don't know, maybe we can get her to clean the storage room?"
I let out a sigh, already exhausted by the absurd situation we were in. We needed more than sarcasm to get out of this.
"J, do you remember anything useful? Something we can use." I asked, trying to hold on to any hope that deep within her systems there was still something valuable left.
J was silent for a moment, his eyes shining as his circuits tried to find something relevant.
"I remember how to make tea perfectly."
My patience was at its breaking point. **Tea**. At that moment I realized we had lost J completely. There was no trace of the relentless war machine he once was.
Doll could no longer contain herself and let out a loud laugh, bending over the controls.
"I'm surrounded by incompetents…" I muttered, more to myself than to the others.
"Fine, you," I said, pointing at Doll, "hand me the oxygen mask." I then turned to Nemo. "Redirect all ventilation power to camouflage. That should give us at least 30 more hours."
Doll, still smiling, tossed the mask towards me, while Nemo confirmed the process was underway.
Finally, I turned to J, who seemed uncomfortable by Doll's laughter.
"And you… make me that tea," I said, half-heartedly.
She nodded, clearly relieved to have a simple task to accomplish.
As J moved toward the small makeshift kitchen, I turned to Nemo, my patience exhausted.
— "Nemo, could you at least give her back her damn personality? I can't stand this version. I prefer the arrogant J to this one…"
— "[Warning:"Personality restoration can reactivate advanced functions." Nemo responded immediately.
I sighed. I knew it was a risk, but we were already in a desperate situation.
"Do it. I'd rather deal with his attitude than inefficiency."
Doll gave me a look, clearly surprised, but didn't say anything. The seconds dragged on as Nemo processed the order.
Finally, she spoke,
"[Personality restoration in progress. Estimated time: 10 minutes.]"
I knew those 10 minutes were going to feel like an eternity.
After the whole mess, I barely managed to drag myself to my bed, exhausted. I knew Nemo and Doll could handle the situation with J… at least that's what I wanted to believe. The moment my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep. Halfway through what felt like the best sleep I'd had in weeks, something started knocking insistently on my door.
"No… not again…" I muttered, burying my face in the pillow, trying to ignore the sound.
But the knocking didn't stop. They even seemed to intensify, as if whoever was on the other side knew I was resisting.
Finally, I stood up with a grunt, shuffling my feet to the door. Opening it, I was met by J. This time it wasn't the clumsy, confused J from before. His posture was perfect, his eyes shining with that air of superiority I knew all too well, and his hands were crossed in front of his chest impatiently.
"What the hell do you want now?" I asked in exasperation, rubbing my eyes.
J looked at me with disdain, as if I was completely useless for not already being aware of what was happening.
"I've been observing the sorry organization of this base, and I cannot allow such a mess to continue. It's… insufferable. If you expect me to work under these conditions, I need to correct it. Urgently."
"What did you do?" I asked, although I already feared the answer.
"I've restructured the storage area. Supplies were scattered in no logical order. Plus, your weapons… they were all over the place. How do you expect to survive in these conditions? Frankly, it's a miracle you haven't died yet."
Exhaustion hit me even harder as I listened to her. The last thing I wanted or needed was for J to reorganize the entire base to her absurdly high standards. I looked around, as if somehow the chaos she described was evident even from my room.
"Perfect," I said sarcastically, trying to contain my irritation. "So you're waking me up because you decided everything was wrong. Great, J."
J didn't flinch. If anything, she seemed prouder of herself.
"Of course. I did it for your own good. Someone has to keep this place running, and you clearly can't do it alone."
— "J, Nemo gave you back your arrogant personality, he didn't ask you to destroy what little order we had," I said, frustrated.
She raised an eyebrow, her tone full of sarcasm and smugness.
— "If you call the mess you had here 'order', then I see what the problem is. From now on, I'll be in charge of keeping this base in tip-top condition."
Doll appeared behind her, clearly enjoying the situation.
— "Ты сам это на себя навлек." (You brought this on yourself.) — Doll said, shrugging her shoulders and a mocking smile on her face.
— "Thank you, Doll, very helpful as always," I murmured.
Before I could respond, J spoke again, as if she had remembered something important.
"Oh, and one last thing… The ventilation system needed adjusting as well. It was inefficient. I've rerouted it to maximize cloaking power. That'll buy you more time… though you should thank me for all this."
I stared at her, unable to believe what I was hearing. Not only had she restructured the entire base, but she'd touched the ventilation system, something critical to our survival. Sure, technically she did it for a good reason, but that didn't make it any less irritating.
"It was fine before, J…" I tried to argue.
"No, it wasn't," J interrupted without blinking. "But it is now. Though if you prefer inefficient chaos, I suppose I could reverse it. It would be… a challenge to my patience, but I could do it."
"No, don't worry," I quickly replied. "Just leave it as is."
J nodded, pleased with herself. I couldn't say I preferred this arrogant version to the shy and clumsy one, but at least I knew what to expect with her like this. Her perfectionism could be useful… if it didn't drive me crazy first.
"Alright, if that's all…" I said, hoping they'd let me go back to sleep.
"For now, yes. But if I find anything else out of place, I'll correct it immediately." J paused, then added with a small, haughty smile. "You should rest. You clearly need it."
Doll let out a laugh from the doorway, and I just sighed, not having the strength to argue further.
"Thanks, J. Goodnight," I said, closing the door before either of them could say anything else.
I threw myself back into bed, hoping the next awakening would be less… chaotic.
After tossing and turning a few times in bed, trying to catch up on the sleep J had ruined, I gave up. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully knowing that she was now rearranging the base like it was her personal project. So, with a sigh, I reached for the communicator and called Nemo.
— "Nemo, ¿me copias?"
"[Connection established. What do you need?]" she replied in her usual tone, devoid of any emotion.
"I want you to keep an eye on J, just in case… I don't want her to break anything while playing manager of the month. You know her, she can be a little intense."
"[Understood. J's monitoring activated. Monitoring in progress.]"
"Oh, and one more thing," I added, remembering Doll's little detail, "hide all of Doll's tools. I don't want her running any of her dangerous experiments. You know how she is. If she leaves them lying around, who knows what disaster she might cause."
There was a brief silence, as if Nemo was processing something.
"[Access to Doll's tools restricted. Secure storage activated.]"
I smiled at the memory. The last time Doll had attempted an experiment, she had ended up creating a makeshift EMP. Sure, the idea was good… but in her enthusiasm, she forgot to calculate the power properly and, to our surprise, the device shut her down for about two hours.
"I can't believe I almost died laughing that time," I muttered to myself, remembering how Doll was left lying on the ground, completely out of action. It took me several minutes to regain my composure.
"[Event log: Accidental EMP. Doll shut down for 127 minutes.]" Nemo confirmed, as if he remembered it just as clearly. "[Reason: Error in discharge capacity calculation.]"
"Exactly," I said, smiling again at the memory. "I'd rather avoid something like that from happening again, especially while J is in perfectionist mode and might do something… drastic."
"[Preventative measures implemented. Risk of incident minimized.]"
Finally, I felt like I could relax a little. At least Nemo would be keeping an eye on things, and with Doll's tools out of reach, the chances of anything exploding in my absence were greatly reduced.
"Thanks, Nemo," I said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Now I can, hopefully get some uninterrupted sleep."
"[Continuous monitoring activated. Rest recommended.]"
I hung up the communicator and lay back down. Despite all the chaos, there was at least a small chance that the rest of the night would be peaceful. As I closed my eyes, I imagined J walking around the base, with that look of disdain on her face, and Doll pouting because her toys had been taken away. While I would probably complain in the morning, deep down, I knew I couldn't deny how fun it was to watch them interact… as long as they didn't blow things up.
Finally, I settled into bed, and for the first time that night, I felt sleep falling over me again.
While I slept soundly, leaving all the chaos to Nemo and Doll, the base was far from peaceful. Nemo, following my instructions, kept a close eye on J and Doll, making sure neither of them did anything to endanger us.
**J: The Perfectionist**
J, her personality restored, walked around the base with the confidence of someone who always knows what she's doing. Her movements were precise, her gaze calculating. Though her combat skills were still blocked, her analytical mind and perfectionist nature were intact.
"This place is a mess," she muttered as she walked through the halls, adjusting everything as she went. She checked control panels, rearranged tools that were out of place, and made corrections to the power systems. "I can't believe I've been here this long without noticing how inefficient everything is."
Nemo, as always, watched without intervening, but was prepared to act if J tried anything beyond her current limitations.
**Doll: The Frustrated One**
On the other hand, Doll was dealing with her own battle. She had started to notice that all of her tools were missing, probably hidden by Nemo following my instructions. The frustration on her face was evident as she searched every corner of the workshop, trying to find a screwdriver, soldering iron, or anything else she could use.
— "Где черт возьми мои инструменты?"(Where the hell are my tools?) —she complained in Russian, kicking an empty drawer.
J's entrance into the workshop only added fuel to the fire.
— "Looking for something, *assistant*?" —J asked with a cocky smile.
Doll, clearly irritated, turned to her with her arms crossed.
— "I'm not your assistant, J. Get out of here."
J simply raised an eyebrow and continued to inspect the workshop, completely ignoring Doll's irritation.
— "You should be more careful with your things. Maybe if you organized this place better, you wouldn't lose everything so easily," J said as she adjusted some settings on a control panel.
Doll snorted, clearly annoyed by J's attitude, but knowing that arguing would only give her rival more power. Instead, she decided to focus on her search, although it was becoming increasingly clear that Nemo had done a good job of hiding everything dangerous.
**Nemo: The Impartial Watcher**
While the two of them were indirectly facing each other, Nemo was emotionlessly following her instructions. He had hidden all of Doll's tools to prevent her from creating another disaster, like that EMP that shut her down for two hours last time or another invention that could explode by accident or much worse... cough. In addition, he kept an eye on J, who kept adjusting everything he found "imperfect."
— "[Monitoring complete. Minimal alterations in the system. No threat detected.]" —Nemo reported in his cold and mechanical tone.
**Meanwhile, I... slept deeply**
In my room, oblivious to all the drama unfolding at the base, I enjoyed a peaceful sleep. Neither J's obsessive adjustments nor Doll's frustrated grunts could disturb my rest. Although I knew that when I woke up I would find a new mess, at that moment, nothing mattered more to me than getting a little more sleep.
Maybe when they woke me up to bother me again, I'd discover that Doll and J had found a way to coexist… or maybe I'd have to intervene to stop them from killing each other. But for now, it was all out of my hands, and that seemed like the best thing to do.