"..." Zeldri stared up at the ceiling of his quarters. It was six in the morning and his alarm was set to ring in half an hour, but he found himself fully awake. Getting out of bed didn't appeal to him. The concrete that surrounded him offered no warmth in his daze. There was still so much to take care of and time seemed to be slipping away from him. It wasn't until yesterday while talking with Annika that he'd noticed...no. Now that he was alone with his thoughts he recalled this wasn't the first time he'd seemingly 'lost' time or the first time something happened that he couldn't explain. "...?" The back of his head started to throb, just like last time. He wondered if he would also be brought out of this by her words.
"Commander," Tsaritsa's voice came from his phone on the nightstand. Right on cue. "Are you awake?"
"...Yeah."
"Getting proper rest is vital, Commander." While it was the same Tsaritsa he'd always heard, something didn't sit right with him about her words.
"Is it?" he prodded.
"...Yes." Her tone was somber.
"I'm not that tired." Zeldri got out of bed and manually disabled his alarm clock. The throbbing in the back of his head started getting worse. Zeldri heard footsteps in the hallway outside.
"Commander!" Tsaritsa seemed worried. "Please, you need to rest." The footsteps approached his room and a knock came from the door.
"I'm fine." Zeldri intentionally ignored Tsaritsa's worries and approached the door. The throbbing grew worse. "Besides, someone's here to see-"
***
"-me." Zeldri was standing in the hallway on sub-level one when he suddenly talked to himself. The back of his head wasn't hurting, anymore.
"You, what, Commander?" Annika was walking next to him while holding a cup of coffee to start the day.
"..." Again, it happened again. "Annika?"
"Yes, Commander?"
"What time is it?"
"It's almost seven in the morning," Annika said as she checked her watch.
"...Seven..." He ran a hand through his hair and massaged his head. "But, it was six just a few moments ago."
"..." Annika didn't respond and stopped walking. The world seemed to stutter.
"...?" Zeldri stopped a few feet ahead and turned to look back at Annika. Her eyes, which were usually full of life, now appeared vacant and dead as she stared at him. This...has happened before? The pain at the back of Zeldri's head returned. "Annika...?"
"C̶o̷m̵m̶a̷n̶d̷e̵r̴.̸.̷.̷" Annika's voice sounded distant and was slightly distorted by radio static. This was familiar, Zeldri was sure of it!
"Commander!" And, again, Tsaritsa's voice came from his phone. "Ple-" Zeldri shut off his phone and silenced her. This was the first time he'd been aware enough to not fall for words of comfort. The pounding at the back of his head grew stronger. Heavy footsteps started approaching him from behind.
"Annika..." Zeldri wouldn't let this go and decided to test something as he stared into her vacant eyes. "How's the damage reports from Dream Eater and Revenant?"
"Revenant will be finished by noon." Annika's eyes instantly returned to normal, as did her voice. Zeldri glanced over his shoulder to find the hallway behind him was empty. Annika sipped some coffee before continuing, "Dream Eater will be the last ones finished, though that's mainly just A-545."
"Good. And, the fact I seem to be losing hours of my life?" The world stuttered.
"..." Annika didn't respond as her eyes became vacant. The footsteps behind him grew closer and Zeldri's heart started beating faster from...fear?
"How's A-545's condition?"
"Her parts are practically exclusive to her," Annika spoke as the world resumed, "We don't expect her to return to fighting condition until the end of the week."
"Did we find out why time was skipping during the last operation?" Now that he was forcing himself to think about it, he'd noticed that the last operation seemed to go faster than it should have.
"..." Again, the world stuttered. The footsteps were practically right behind him causing Zeldri's heart rate to spike.
"Any news from Zeratul!?" He practically shouted the words out of fear. What was he afraid of?
"No," Annika spoke in a calm voice as if she hadn't heard him scream at her. There was no one behind him. The pain in the back of his head subsided.
"..." Zeldri swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat as sweat started to run down his face and back. He looked to Annika who was seemingly unaware of his current condition. She stood silently and sipped some coffee. "Let's...continue to the command room. I'd like to ask Minx if his people encountered Paradeus when they were leaving Daugavpils."
"I'll send them a message and let you know when they respond, Commander." Annika rested her tablet on the arm that held her coffee and typed with her free hand.
"...Good." Zeldri stopped to breathe before continuing to walk down the hall. His thoughts were becoming a jumbled mess as he tried to sort through what just happened. Idly, his hand reached into his pocket and looked at his phone. The phone was still on.
***
"I'm terribly sorry to hear about what happened, Commander Artyomavich," Minx said while displayed on the command room's large monitor. It looked like he was on a plane. "Luckily, my people didn't run into any 'Paradeus' while returning to Germany. From the sounds of things, we would have lost our entire team had they met."
"I'm also grateful that none of your people were lost," Zeldri agreed with Minx, though he found it odd that they didn't run into a single Paradeus unit despite how many descended on his girls. How did they not meet any?
"If you'd like, Commander," Minx waved someone away off-screen before returning his attention to Zeldri, "I could offer you something to ease your situation. T-doll repairs probably aren't cheap, and Griffin's still not viewed in a good light by many so you're bound to get price gouged. Zeratul covers a wide range of products, and our cybernetics division utilizes a-dolls for our research into possible human limb replacements. I can pay you in parts for your dolls, directly."
"..." Minx's offer was beyond generous, which caused Zeldri to pause. "Are you allowed to just give away research materials?"
"It's not 'giving away', Commander, it's payment rightfully due." A businessman's smile overtook Minx's face. "The data we got from Daugavpils was more than we expected! Just letting you have the basins would be an insulting amount of compensation; Zeratul always gives proper payment to our partners! I could easily send you some doll parts. I'm actually on my way to Moscow, now, for some business. I'll personally see to it you receive the parts."
"Your generosity is always appreciated, Mr. Minx." Zeldri put in some flattery and gave a respectful bow to not seem rude. "But, if it's alright with you, I would also like to personally see to the parts." Minx raised an eyebrow at Zeldri so he continued, "I'll be heading into the city, myself, for some physical therapy. I couldn't possibly take up too much of your time since you're coming for your own business, so I'd like to confirm the parts myself and let Griffin handle the transportation to the Mountain."
"That..." Zeldri caught a hint of anger in Minx's voice. He had always seemed oddly set on getting Zeratul's staff into the Mountain which only made Zeldri want to stop it all the more. "...Will be fine." After a brief pause to think something over, Minx quickly controlled himself and beamed a smile at Zeldri. "You're a hands-on kind of person, so I'd be happy to allow you to look over and handle the products."
"Your understanding is, as always, appreciated." Zeldri beamed his own fake smile back.
"Then, I'll be seeing you, Commander Artyomavich." The video feed was cut.
"Only one probe attempt, that time," Tsaritsa said as she changed the large monitor's display to a map of the Mountain. "I hope they learn their lesson with this so I don't have to bother."
"I doubt it," Zeldri joked as he set his commander's tablet down on the table. "They're probably just lulling you to lower your defenses for next time."
"As if their inferior code could break through my wall," Tsaritsa scoffed at the thought.
"In either case," Annika coughed to get Zeldri's attention, "The chopper's all fueled up and is waiting for you on the helipad in the lot, Commander."
"Thanks again, Annika." Zeldri gave her a friendly nod before turning to leave.
"D̵̽͜o̵̩̽ñ̷̢'̶̳͊t̷̳́ ̷̗̅ģ̶̅o̶̧͋.̴̯̽" Only for Annika to call out to him in a voice distorted by radio static.
"What did you say?" Zeldri immediately turned back to Annika. But, her eyes appeared normal and she cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"I said; have a nice trip, Commander," Annika responded.
"Ah... Right." Zeldri nodded to himself and looked back at Annika one last time before exiting the room. And, as the door closed, fresh tears ran down Annika's cheeks from cold, dead eyes.
***
"Greetings, Commander." When the freight elevator reached the vehicle bay, Zeldri found Jericho 941 waiting for him with a Tigr.
"Thanks for giving me a lift outside, Jericho."
"It's my pleasure, Commander." Jericho gave a salute before climbing into the driver's seat. Zeldri hobbled his way over to the truck, and as he did he heard a voice from one of the t-dolls that was watching the mechanics.
"C̶̮̈́o̷͔͊ḿ̵̻m̸̘̊a̶̫̒n̸̲̓d̵̙̏ḙ̸͠r̴̢̄.̷̙̆" Her voice was distorted in static.
"...!?" But, when he turned toward the voice, he saw the t-doll wasn't even looking at him and was too engrossed in watching the mechanics work on the vehicles.
"C̶̮̈́o̷͔͊ḿ̵̻m̸̘̊a̶̫̒n̸̲̓d̵̙̏ḙ̸͠r̴̢̄.̷̙̆"Another voice, this one human. Zeldri spun around but couldn't find the source.
"C̷̤̃o̷̮͂m̶̭̉m̴̨͌â̸̹n̶̠͆d̸̥͂ë̵͔́r̶͎͊?̸̩̎"
"D̸͔̐o̸͉̔n̴͓̑'̵̞͋t̸̖͆ ̴̖͑g̸̞̃o̵̽͜.̸̬̄"
"D̵̪̾o̷͙̒n̴͚͋'̵̤͐ṱ̸̆ ̵͇͐l̴̯̏ë̴̘́ā̵̪v̶̹̍ḛ̸͗ ̸͍̆u̴̺͒s̷͇̊.̷͕͋"
"C̵̢̕ó̶̺ḿ̷̧m̴̖̄a̷͎͌n̸͍͠ḍ̵̐e̴̘͛ř̶̭!̸̫͆"
"!!!" Zeldri rushed into the passenger seat of the Tigr and slammed the door shut. His heart was pounding and the back of his head started to hurt. Jericho didn't even flinch as if she hadn't noticed Zeldri's actions and she started to drive. Thankfully, Jericho wasn't much of a talker which gave Zeldri some much-needed silence to calm his thoughts. He stared out the window as the Tigr drove up the main tunnel towards the outer lot. The mounted wall lights passed him by and Zeldri started to doze off. He turned back to Jericho who was silently staring ahead as she drove. He reached out a hand to her and-
***
-cupped Helian's cheek. "You're awfully affectionate, today," she idly whispered as she lay next to him on her bed.
"..." Zeldri found himself in Helian's apartment. Gently, he massaged her cheek before running his hand through her hair.
"Enjoying yourself?" Helian chuckled as Zeldri rubbed her head.
"Yeah." All the chaotic thoughts in Zeldri's head subsided as he looked into Helian's eyes. He wondered when he would get the courage to ask for her hand. There was no sign of Paradeus going away any time soon and the situation only seemed to deteriorate as time went on so he never brought it up. "...This helps me through the bullshit."
"Affectionate and sappy?" Helian cooed as she moved on top of Zeldri and stared down at him with a smile on her face. "You know what happens if you tempt me like this."
"Why do you think I'm doing it?" Zeldri joked back as he reach up and pulled her down on top of him.
"Really?" Helian whispered and Zeldri closed his eyes. She moved so that her lips were within an inch of Zeldri's ear. "T̴̙̓ĥ̸͉ȇ̴̗n̸̹̓ ̶̻͒w̷̗̓h̴͉̀y̵̧̌ ̶̼̓d̸̜̽i̷̙͛d̵̺͗ ̴̥̏y̴͗ͅò̷̡u̷̫̔ ̸͕̚l̸̪͛e̵̼͂ǎ̶̜v̴̩̒ě̵͔ ̷̲͂m̴͙͐e̸̲͂?̶̥͗"
***
"!?!" Zeldri's eyes bolted open as his heart rate spiked. He was standing on a helipad at HQ. He was...getting ready to return to the Mountain? He'd already met Minx, looked over the doll parts he would be receiving, and made reservations with Helian to have them shipped to the Mountain. With shaky breaths, Zeldri attempted to calm his beating heart. "Just what is...?" Then, he realized how quiet it was. The Black Hawk was spinning up which was obviously making noise, but aside from that there was nothing. There were no other aircraft going to and fro. There were no staff or dolls on what should have been an otherwise busy airfield. Zeldri was alone as he faced the Black Hawk. The back of his head started pounding. Hesitantly, Zeldri boarded the helicopter and shut the door. When he looked out the window he saw people and dolls going about their days as well as aircraft getting ready to depart as if they'd always been there. So, why was it so quiet?
"Strange, isn't it?"
"...?" Zeldri turned to face an all too familiar voice. The black-cloaked woman sat across from him in the helicopter. Her expression was unreadable.
"My guess? The closer we get to the finale, the more things start to break." Though her words were vague, Zeldri instinctually understood them, somehow. "...I wasn't able to complete my mission, but that's alright. I can probably force it out of you next time."
"Next time?" Zeldri spoke his first words to the black-cloaked woman. As he did, the pounding in the back of his head intensified, and he started to cough uncontrollably.
"...Yes." The black-cloaked woman seemed amused by the situation. "Though, I doubt you'll-"
***
"-remember it." The black-cloaked woman leaned back in her seat and looked out the window of the helicopter to the forest below...wait...forest? Weren't they just flying over the city?
"...!?" Zeldri looked outside and scanned the horizon but couldn't catch a glimpse of civilization. "But...it was only-"
"A moment ago we were in the city?" The black-cloaked woman finished for him. "As I said, things are starting to break as we reach the end."
"...End?"
"Yeah." She looked back over to Zeldri and had a cocky smile on her lips.
"...?" Zeldri waited for her to finish speaking, but something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. A white trail was rapidly approaching his helicopter.
"Commander!" the pilot screamed over the headset, "Hang o-!" The missile impacted the front of the Black Hawk. The cockpit was engulfed in shattered glass and flames from the explosion. Alarms blared as the helicopter started to spin out of control while descending toward the ground.
"This..." Suddenly, the black-cloaked woman's voice cut through the chaos and the world became silent. "Is the end." Opening his eyes, Zeldri couldn't believe what he was seeing. The helicopter was no longer spinning out of control as it was frozen in mid-air. Looking out the window, Zeldri saw the rotor blades had also stopped. As did the flames in the cockpit. Everything froze and all sound stopped as the world reached its final point. "There is nothing beyond this," the black-cloaked woman explained, "Since you hit your head against the seat and are knocked unconscious."
"...Not the end of the world, but the end of my consciousness?" Zeldri found himself able to control the coughing and he fought through the pain in the back of his head to speak.
"Yes, for all intents and purposes, the end."
"...So I'm not dead."
"Not yet~," the black-cloaked woman cooed. "Though, I'm sure the reaper has your number and is patiently waiting for you." She continued to nonchalantly sit in her seat as frozen flames and suspended embers surrounded her. "But, I still need you, so they'll have to wait their turn."
"...Why are you telling me this?" It felt like his skull was going to burst at any moment if he continued speaking to her. It was like the world was fighting to stop him.
"Come, I'm sure you're used to my methods by now. If anything, I should be asking you that same question." The black-cloaked woman pouted and puffed her chest out. "You never talked to me before, and the one time you do is at the end. You're breaking my heart, Commander~." She put a hand on her chest in mock hurt and laughed.
"...You don't have a heart."
"Now, that's just mean. You shouldn't say stuff like tha-"
"Machines don't have hearts," Zeldri defiantly beat back the pain and looked up at the black-cloaked woman. He controlled his breathing as he started forcing his mind to accept the pain so he could start ignoring it.
"...Hmm~," the black-cloaked woman hummed to herself as she turned to fully face Zeldri. "A machine, you say? And, what about me gives you the impression of a machine?"
"You...wanted something since the beginning." Now that he was forcing himself through the pain instead of stopping, and with Tsaritsa seemingly not showing up, Zeldri found memories he didn't realize he had start to return to him. "Always asking...about the code... Pushing me on and on..." He could still barely breathe and had to stop to catch his breath. "You weren't exactly...subtle about it."
"Isn't tenacity a trait associated with humans?" the black-cloaked woman asked, amusedly. "To call me a machine based on that is rather odd, don't you think?"
"Tenacity...and programming are similar... You said so yourself...you're not here by choice... You're here because of Him." When Zeldri spoke of Him he noticed the black-cloaked woman tense up. "You spite him...but can't disobey him."
"Machines are bound to their programming, no matter what," the black-cloaked woman echoed Zeldri's sentiment. "It sounds like you have things all figured out, Commander~."
"Not everything." It was getting easier to breathe as time went on and he continued talking. "But...enough to know what you want, at least."
"You make it sound like you know me, Commander?" Although he couldn't see her expression behind her white hair, Zeldri could feel the black-cloaked woman's gaze narrow at him with curiosity. "Although, I'm sure you shouldn't have a clue."
"...Did you know," Zeldri began as he matched the black-cloaked woman's 'gaze', "That there's a lot of small...quirks you pick up on when surrounded by machines for months on end? Namely, machines have vocal quirks."
"..." The black-cloaked woman remained silent and gave no reactions to his words.
"Not quirks like humans. But, I've always thought it was weird that whenever my t-dolls activated their combat skills they would be forced to say a specific line." Zeldri narrowed his eyes and readjusted himself in his seat to be more comfortable. "I figured this was a t-doll thing, but after meeting and commanding Scarecrow I realized that all dolls have this quirk. So, no matter how much you hide your physical appearance, even you are bound to give yourself away by your programming's quirks. Wouldn't you agree? Sangvis Ferri Special Operations Doll Model SP7C, codenamed Alchemist?"
"...Pfft!" The black-cloaked woman couldn't contain her laughter as the black cloak that surrounded her became distorted with image fragments before completely disappearing and revealing her true form. "Even now, you don't disappoint me, Co~mman~der~," Alchemist said as she brushed her hair off her face so she could clearly look at Zeldri with her single yellow eye.