(Joseph)
Realistically, I had the oil ready to bring to my hab less than 20 minutes after getting to my lair. Most of that time was spent working my way through hacking all the CCTV cameras the Outpost had between my lair and hab, because while I'd never be as much of a hacking wiz as Uzi, I still wanted to practice my own skills at the craft. If Uzi got miffed that I did it before she could, too bad for her. I'd taken Darren and Rebecca with me, and they were working on fabricating an adult-sized combat frame based off of Yeva's height (that I'd gotten by measuring her in my hab months back). My rationale for that was that there was a decent possibility that we'd end up removing Yeva's Core from her body as we tried this, and at that point, we may as well put her into a combat frame rather than her old body. Hilariously enough, Rebecca had gone off two thirds the way through printing everything to "work her magic" on making a new wig for Yeva that hadn't been "stained with her own viscera and then left sitting like that for more than three years, because like, even I can't fix that kinda bad hair."
I ran through some last minute stuff in my head as I ran around the lair to make sure everything was in order and that potentially volatile stuff was secure, and gave myself a sardonic grin. Haven't even brought her back yet and I'm already planning to kit Yeva like a fucking space marine Librarian, I thought. I sobered up quickly though. "Gods, I hope this fucking works," I muttered to myself. " Per favore, lascia che questo funzioni ," I repeated, this time in Italian. I spent the rest of the day worrying myself sick checking in with Uzi to make sure that Doll was as okay as she could be with the anticipation and uncertainty metaphorically killing her. They'd already moved to my hab a while back. Everyone else had trickled over there while I was sneaking an entire fucking barrell of oil taller than I was over to my hab, with Darren and Rebecca making sure I didn't run into anyone while we did it.
We got there without incident, and Darren opened the door for me so I could wheel the barrel inside. I appreciated my sense of narrative irony in the privacy of my thoughts, because it was atop the same trolley that I'd wheeled power cells in during the first days of setting up my lair, the very same one I'd used to wheel Yeva and Mikhail over to my hab back during Operation: Hide the Bodies.
I glanced around the barrel as I watched seven sets of wide optics (since Uzi, Darren, and Rebecca were already aware) stare at the barrel I rolled in, and then Lizzy was the first drone not in the know to speak up. "Okay, where the hell did you get an entire barrel of oil?!?"
"Trade secret?" I hedged.
Lizzy actually gave me a glare, and that… that made me feel uncomfortable. I'd given my confession of sorts earlier today, and while I still wanted to wait until she was legal and was also aware of who I really was before I tried to commit to a relationship for the first time in… two lives, that hurt . "No, this is ridiculous even for you !"
I sighed. Well, I'd been planning on dealing with one of those two issues shortly regardless of how this turned out, so saying what I was about to say wasn't really an issue. "If this works, I promise I'll tell everyone afterwards," I told her, and I didn't miss every set of eyemotes gathered staring at me. I overclocked in anticipation of a conversation in the span between seconds, and wasn't disappointed.
Darkxwolf16: Are you sure, Joe?
TotesBestGirl: I mean, I was like, expecting this when you had Dare and I start fabricating a combat frame for Doll's mom, but damn, you're actually gonna drop the reveal on everyone else right after this?
DarrenToDream: Well, that's ONE way to reveal it to everyone, I guess.
Isekai_Protagonist: Been thinking about it all day. I'm sure.
That wasn't entirely the truth. I had doubts. I was scared . That they'd hate me. That I'd just lucked out with Uzi and Rebecca and Darren. That everyone else would feel betrayed that I lied to them for years . That Liz would realize the truth and be disgusted by me, and all I'd done today was set myself up to have my core broken. That Dolly would hate my guts for sitting on the knowledge that I could have tried bringing her mom back for more than a year and a half. I didn't want them to hate me. Gods , I was terrified about what was gonna happen after this regardless of how the Mechromancy attempt turns out.
Darkxwolf16: I got your back, Joe. Just like you've always had mine.
TotesBestGirl: We're in your corner.
DarrenToDream: You can rely on us.
I sped up my overclock even more for a microsecond or three to calm myself down.
Isekai_Protagonist: Thanks, all of you. I… Words can't describe how thankful I am to you.
I got a bunch of thumbs up emojis in response, and then snapped back to real time just in time for Liz to ask me, "And what if it doesn't ?" Doll flinched, and Lizzy looked back and offered her a quiet apology, which Doll gave a small nod to.
I took another breath. I'd been doing that a lot more than I usually did today, which was above the norm for drones to begin with, but considering what I planned to drop on everyone right after this, I quite frankly didn't care if that was sus. "Then we give Doll time to grieve, and then I'll tell you."
Doll flinched at my words too, and that made me feel awful , but it still needed to be said. Just in case…
"You're gonna tell us all your secrets?" Kelsey asked.
"Wait, for real?" Trevor inquired.
Emily, who'd literally been sat next to Doll and was praying for success on the Mechromancy-- damn, I swear every time I thought I can't feel more guilty at her pointless death in canon she proves me wrong, I thought --perked up and gave me a glance, but kept up her current prayer, something a quick overclock and internet search told me was a translated Russian Orthodox prayer for the souls of the deceased. Knowing Emily had chosen Roman Catholicism as her faith made the gesture for Doll's sake that much more potent.
"You're… actually gonna tell us all your secrets tonight?" Lizzy asked, flabbergasted.
"Seriosuly?" Thad asked. "That's… actually pretty cool of you." We'll see if you still think that later, I thought, as I grabbed a small automatic oil pump I'd also brought along, a big ass mixing bowl (like, one of those huuuuuuuge mixing bowls… I'd fabricated it so I could use the cookbook Liz and Dolly got me to make a fuckton of robo-carbonara on more than one occasion), and hooked it up to the barrel to start filling the bowl with oil.
I sighed again, really past holding up any pretenses at this point. It honestly felt kinda liberating to know I could stop pretending soon, regardless of the reactions I'd get. "Yeah, really," I told them.
Penny walked up to me, and suddenly gave me a quick hug, and that made me feel more guilty. "Thanks for trusting us, Joseph."
I had to overclock to fight down a full body flinch, because damn that drove the guilt deeper. The bowl finished filling. "Doll?" I asked.
Doll froze from where she'd been sitting on my couch, thumping her leg-- since when did she pick up that habit I have ? I wondered --and looked right at me. " Joe ?" she asked, in a small, scared voice.
I understood the context though. She wanted to know if I was ready. Wanted me to ask if she was ready. I took a moment in overclock to take some enjoyment in the trust in that expression, because I didn't know if that would be gone or not by the end of the night. Then I walked up to the couch and held a hand out as I obliged. " Are you ready? " I asked her in Russian.
She blushed just a tiny bit at that, but nodded, and said, " I'm ready ." She reached out, and I tugged her up to her feet, walking over to the room that used to belong to Andrew's parents, and now housed Doll's own. She didn't let go of my hand as we went there, and I rubbed my thumb on the back of her palm to help calm her nerves… and realized with the Solver that saying as much might actually be closer to the truth at this point. It was kinda weird how Solver Drones would probably have the best idea of what my own dysmorphia was like.
I opened the door and there were Doll's parents, still frozen in the positions they died in… Yeva's upper torso still intact. Dolly let go of my hand and walked over to Mikhail first. I idly noted that if the Mechromancy attempt worked, I'd actually be able to ask Yeva if the dude was actually a Mitchell who brain-uploaded himself to a drone or not. She slowly raised a hand and gently set it on his shoulder. She sniffled. Once, twice, three times, and then started to quietly cry. " I miss you, Papa," she whispered. " I… I know you're… you're… " she sobbed. " I know you're dead… " she got out. " I love you. I'll… never stop loving you… or missing you. I… I'm gonna try to bring back Mama now. I… I hope Emily is right… and that you're in a better place now. I… " she sobbed again, and tightened her grip on my hand. " I hope you're watching over me… and that I'm making you proud. I… I'm gonna stop the Solver. I promise, Papa. I'll stop it for you. I'll make sure to work with Joe and cuz and avenge you and Aunt Nori. And… and if… " Doll grit her fanged teeth and sobbed again. " If we… if we can't bring Mama back, then I'll avenge her too. But… But I'm gonna live . With my friends. I'll… I'll be a big girl for you both, I promise. " She gripped my hand even tighter, red flickering around her grip, but I trusted that she wouldn't hurt me with her Solver even if she lost a bit of emotional control. " I'm always gonna miss you, Papa. I love you. But… I… I need to say goodbye. " She suddenly let go of my hand and lunged forward, wrapping her arms around her father's corpse. I felt like I shouldn't be here, but she'd wanted me to come in in the first place, so I just stood there quietly and let her cry, sending a quick DM to Uzi to ask her to tell the others to give us a minute.
For once, I didn't check my internal clock while I quietly and respectfully waited. After what felt like five or so minutes, Doll started to calm down, and started to speak in a low voice again. " You… I told you both not to be scared. I… I think I understand now why you were… and you and Mama both chose to accept what was going to happen to you so I'd be safe despite your fear. I'm still scared. By what's coming. By what's happening to my body. That my friends will get hurt or die. That I could lose Uzi. That this isn't going to work, and I'll be grieving Mama all over again. But I'm gonna try anyway. And I'll keep trying going forward. Because you saw death coming and accepted it to give me a chance. And I won't accept not doing my best to give everyone else a chance to live, myself. I'm not going to waste your sacrifice. " Doll tightened the hug for a few more seconds, and then finally pulled back from her father. She stood up, sniffling again as she stared with teary optics. " I love you, Papa. I'll miss you. I'll always love and miss you. But now I need to move forwards. Together with everyone, or I'll never move on at all. " I had to overclock to hide my surprise. That… was was some heavy fucking character development right there, and the parallel to Uzi's line from Episode 3 hit that much harder after my own traumatic rewatching of it earlier, even if that scene was a bit after where I left off.
Doll turned towards me, freezing up for a moment, as if just remembering I was in the room. I just raised a hand and mimed zipping my lips shut. She gave me a small smile. I grinned back. " Thank you for being such an amazing friend, Joe ."
Well, that was my guilt coming back, but considering what I was about to attempt for Doll's sake and the emotional weight of what I just witnessed, for once I managed to stomp it the fuck down without issue, and said aloud in Russian, " You're welcome, Dolly. "
Her smile got a little bit bigger. " You're still the only person who's ever talked to me in Russian, " she remarked.
I gave her a bigger grin myself. " Do you want me to carry your mother ?"
Doll blinked, and then looked over to Yeva's body. " I… actually forgot she was non-interactive. "
I couldn't help myself, and I snrked . Doll did the same a moment later, and then we were both giggling like idiots, though only for a few seconds. She recovered first, and I overclocked to catch up. " I would… appreciate that, Joe. I'd be up to doing it with my Solver, but… well, I don't think I can bring myself to do it physically, " she said, glancing to the side.
"Thanks for trusting me, Dolly," I told her, back to English. "I… regardless of anything else, thank you so much for trusting me. It means more to me than you'll ever know."
She cocked her head, confused, but gave me a nod. " You're welcome, Joe ."
Slowly, carefully, and almost reverently, I picked up Yeva's body. The weight was nothing when faced by my combat frame. Doll took a moment to take in the sight of me carrying her mother in front of me, almost in a bridal carry, and then steeled herself, before turning to go open the door again, and I followed her out. The rest of the group quieted down as they took in the sight, silent as I walked over to an empty chair and respectfully set Yeva down in it.
"You know, Liz," Rebecca remarked. "As much as I gotta give kudos to Joe and Uzi for literally being willing to hide them here, I need to give you a kudos for knowing about them since day one and keeping it a secret that whole time."
"Wow," Trevor muttered. "That kinda didn't sink in until just now."
"Really, Becca?" Darren remarked.
Liz stared at her like she just grew a second head. "Like, seriously, that's what you're focusing on right now?"
Rebecca shrugged. "Just saying, that's something that actually closes on the same ballpark as Joe's secret." I raised an eyemote, but again, I was gonna be laying everything on the table soon enough, so I just embraced the liberating sensation of not caring .
Liz turned to look at me. "Okay, I am seriously wondering what the hell you're keeping if Rebecca thinks that blows all of this out of the water."
"Yeah," Penny agreed. "I am really curious."
"Please don't tell me this somehow tops Mechromancy ," Thad asked.
"I can't promise that, Thad," I told him, and his eyemotes hollowed.
"Dude, what the hell is your secret, Joe-bro?" he questioned.
Emily and Kelsey just quietly stared with concern filling their expressions.
I rolled my optics. "After we're done here." I turned. "Doll, can I open your mother's chassis to get a look at internal damage?"
Doll glanced at her mother, and then back to me, took a moment to compose herself, and then looked me in the eyemotes. " Yes ," she said. Lizzy walked over and grabbed Doll's hand. Doll turned to look at her, and then smiled and intertwined her fingers with Lizzy's. " Thanks for being such a great friend, Liz ."
I got a DM.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Robo-god PLEASE let bringing her mom back make her stop friend-zoning me!
I walked forwards and carefully removed Yeva's Cabin Fever lanyard. Huh, it was backwards , I thought. Didn't realize that the first time I looked , because I was more focused on checking for damage.
Isekai_Protagonist: Yeah, this is painful even for me.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: I KNOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!
I took Yeva's shirt off, passing it to Penny, who carefully folded it. I drew Doll's Gift from its customary spot at my hip, and slowly and carefully wedged the head of my entrenching tool in the seam between the front and back of her torso. I gently but firmly pried at it, the damage on her lower torso making it a bit difficult for the average worker, but I was literally just built different, so the entire front of her chassis popped off in just a few seconds. Definitely not in the way it was supposed to be taken apart but nothing some regeneration or just popping Yeva into a new frame entirely couldn't fix. No sooner did it clatter to the floor and expose her internals then everyone took a look at what was inside and started to panic.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Thad screamed out.
"Oh Lord that is not right ," Emily whispered.
"Oh I am totes having nightmares about that," Rebecca muttered. I made a mental note to pass everyone the program to remove dreams later.
"Yeah, that's some serious body horror I'm feeling right now," Darren stated in a horrified tone. He went and hugged Rebecca, who hugged him back in mutual support.
"Emily?" Trevor asked. When the girl turned to him, tearing her gaze away from what was in front of her, he said, "I think I need a hug too." The two also embraced.
"Oh my robo-god that's actually gonna be inside me ," Uzi murmured, and then she gagged and turned to the side. "Urp! Give me a minute." She averted her gaze further. The UMPT pinged.
Darkxwolf16: REALLY thankful you kept me from unlocking the Satan powers, Joe .
I used my poker face gif to hide rolling my eyemotes.
Isekai_Protagonist: You're welcome, Uzi.
"Well, that's definitely driving in the Eldritch Horror factor of what we're facing," Penny remarked.
"Doll?" Kelsey said in a small voice. "I don't think any less of you, but I am absolutely going to have a nightmare about growing meat eyes behind my visor because of this."
I revised my previous plans, and just dropped the file for that program in TNCoO3(&T) .
Isekai_Protagonist: Coded a program to shut off dreams a while back. Can't have nightmares if you can't DREAM in the first place. No need to thank me.
I still got a bunch of thumbs up emojis in response, and finally walked around to take a look with my own optics. Yeah, that was ( ketch ) organic matter inside Yeva's chassis, alright. A concerning amount paler than Nori's, but it showed no real signs of rot or decay despite everything. And sitting housed in the middle of her upper torso, physically unharmed, was a Solver Core. Tentacles, flesh, the only things off compared to Nori was how pale it all was and the fact that the lights were off.
"Dolly?" Liz asked. "Even if you have that inside you right now, you're still my bestie, and no amount of body horror is gonna change that," she told her other crush, and I glanced over to see Doll's eyes locked on Yeva's core, hollowed to pixel thick rings.
"Dolly?" I asked myself.
Doll suddenly stumbled a few steps away from Liz before doubling over and vomiting right onto the floor. I dimly noted I was gonna need a lot of bleach for that later. She heaved a second time, the contents of her stomach steaming and hissing , bubbling in a way that was organic , and it suddenly became much more apparent to me just what level of body horror Doll had to be dealing with not just right now, but in general. I stalked forwards and held her from the side, and she hurled a third time. Liz ran over and helped me move her back to a chair, Penny grabbing a garbage can, while Thad shook himself out of his own stupor and went to a closet with Kelsey to get some cleaning supplies to take care of the vomit. Liz and I held Doll as she puked a fourth time, Penny having just gotten the garbage can in front of her before she did. Uzi used overclock to shake herself out of her horror at being physically faced with how she'd change once her Solver went active and walked over to Doll, hugging her cousin tight. Dolly puked a fifth time, again into the garbage can, and I turned and gave a thankful nod to Thad as he just unscrewed an entire bottle of bleach and just started pouring it onto the mess on the floor while Kelsey got a mop ready. Emily was holding her rosary and her mouth was moving in a silent prayer, Trevor still holding her, but he gave me a glance and flashed on his visor [U got a Flamethrower for that?]
[Haven't actually made one yet] I flashed back, [But I'm going to now] I added.
He gave me a nod before he focused back on Emily.
"Dare?" Rebecca said, her own boyfriend holding her. "I think I finally found a piece of gossip that wasn't worth gathering." Darren mutely nodded and hugged her tighter. The TNPAPT pinged
TotesBestGirl: Like, knowing that, versus SEEING IT, are two ENTIRELY different things.
DarrenToDream: Dude, how are you handling this so well?
Isekai_Protagonist: I was a meat-person for 25 years. This is definitely disturbing, but ironically, NOT an existential crisis for me.
" That… " Doll hissed out, panting, but her stomach seemed under control finally… " That's in me right now, isn't it? "
"Dolly," Liz started, but seemed at a loss for words.
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it," I said, "You probably do have that inside you right now."
" Joe? " Doll asked me, and I turned to give her a concerned gaze. " Thank you so much for giving me that program to prevent dreams ."
"Anytime, Dolly."
We all kinda just stared at Yeva's exposed internals for a moment. I was familiar with this, yeah, but it was still entirely new territory I was treading. For once, my meta knowledge was only a loose guide for context and plausibilities, rather than a crutch I could rely on. Thad and Kelsey mutely cleaned Doll's puke off the floor while we just looked for a moment.
"Sooooo…" Trevor finally broke the silence once the vomit was dealt with. "What the fuck do we do now?"
"That's a good question," Darren said. "Do we just pour oil on her? Try to hook up a pump?"
" T-that's my Mama , Darren! " Doll protested.
"I'm all audials for any ideas you have!" he backpedalled.
The room suddenly erupted into ten other drones on the cusp of adulthood arguing around me about how the hell we actually went about getting oil into Yeva, Liz of course backing Dolly on not doing anything that might have been disrespectful to Yeva's body, and Uzi trying to mediate. Doll actually got to her feet as she started arguing with Rebecca about an idea she had, albeit a bit shakily, so I was left to my own devices unless I wanted to argue myself. Listening to the arguments around me at what the fuck we were supposed to do at this point, I myself couldn't help but stare at Yeva's exposed core, and realized that it wasn't really secured that heavily inside her body. Which made sense, considering it was supposed to be able to survive independently of said body. It occurred to me that with my enhanced strength, I could legit pull it out of her chest cavity with just a light tug. I then had a very stupid idea. Solver cores needed oil. There was a large bowl full of oil a few steps away from me. I don't think I needed to explain things further to my 4th Wall audience.
I broke off from everyone else, walked to the inanimate body in the room, reached into Yeva's corpse, grabbed her core (it was squishy , which I hated ), gave it a yank, and it popped out with a disgusting fleshy squelch. I was already halfway to the counter before people even noticed it was in my hands, and they were all at most only just opening their mouths to ask what the fuck I was doing before I held Yeva's core just inches above the surface, appendages already trailing into the oil, and gently dropped it in.
PLOOP! it went as it disappeared under the surface of the oil in the bowl.
Everyone froze for a second, and then Doll asked in a very scary tone, one that genuinely made me think that I'd have to answer very carefully to avoid gross bodily harm, " Joseph? What the fuck did you just do with my mo-- "
Bloop
Everyone froze, and turned back to the bowl, just in time for--
Bloop
--another bubble to come up from beneath the surface of the oil--
Bloop. Bloop. Bloop.
--that was starting to pick up in speed--
BloopBloopBloopBloopBloop
--and rapidly became constant, accompanied by the level of oil in the bowl steadily dropping.
BloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloop
"...That was Plan A," I remarked.
" That was Plan A?" Lizzy asked me, throwing an incredulous stare at me.
BloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloop
"Yeah?" I said, slowly reaching over to my hip, grabbing my entrenching tool and slowly winding it up overhead, sharp end ready to cut through ( ketch ) Solver Flesh.
"Uh, Joe? What are you doing with that?" Kelsey asked me, and all focus was on me once more.
BloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloop
"Do you have any idea what's happening?" I asked her.
"Not at all," she replied.
BloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloopBloop
"Neither do I," I said, "So if whatever is happening ends up with the cybernetic drone core currently defying the conservation of mass by draining that bowl awakening and it's not Doll's mom? I'm swinging , no questions asked."
"You know, that's entirely valid," Thad remarked. " Horrifying , but valid."
Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop
" Joe--" I cut Dolly off.
"I am not risking our lives if we accidentally awaken a robot demon by feeding it the equivalent of blood!" At least, that was my reason aloud. Internally, I was partly panicking because this was entirely new territory I was treading, and partly desperately hoping that the Patch Yeva had still worked on her after all this time (it should , but we were in an AU of some sort, so nothing was guaranteed on that front), as well as worked on Solver cores in general. If the eye light on that core came on and was yellow instead of red, I was fucking swinging immediately, consequences be damned. Dolly could hate me for the rest of time as long as she was alive to do so.
"He… kinda has a point," Emily said.
Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop Bloop
The constant bloop -ing from the bowl was slowing down, said bowl almost entirely drained of oil by now. The pale ( ketch ) flesh of Yeva's core had its color back to it now, and we all watched with bated breath (metaphorically, of course) as it literally slurped up the last of the oil in the bowl. I thought for the briefest of moments that I saw red static flicker as ([ the F L E S H drank the last of the offering from the Anomaly turned to O R E greedily] ) the last drops disappeared, but a quick review of my memory files turned up nothing. Slightly worrying, especially considering I'd felt a sudden spike of vertigo , like I was being watched , but I had plenty of stuff to make sure nothing was monitoring me in here, the front door was encrypted and locked, and so I chalked it up to a manifestation of the vertigo I'd sometimes get in my first life when going somewhere for the first time or doing something completely new or otherwise unknown to me. I'd dealt with it several times before in this life, after all.
A few seconds passed in silence.
"Do you think we should… refill the bowl?" Uzi asked.
A second later, there was a red flicker on the screen where the eye light should be, and then a moment past that , a singular eye of that color lit up on the core, staring blankly ahead. I slowly lowered Doll's Gift as everyone else stared in silence. Just as I holstered my weapon, the eye blinked, and then darted around as much as it could as it… she… took in the view.
" W… wh… what? " a weak, almost crackling, as if it was talking through a radio, voice asked in Russian. It occurred to me that since the owner of it didn't have any voice lines in the show, this was the first time I was hearing this voice.
"Yeva?" I asked, since everyone else in the room seemed too gobsmacked to say anything themselves. To be completely fair, if I hadn't known what I did, I'd probably be in the same boat as the rest of them. Even Uzi, Rebecca, and Darren, who were in the know, were flabbergasted, because this was almost certainly Uzi's aunt back from the dead .
And Doll herself?? Doll had frozen the instant she heard that voice, and her visor was currently displaying the early progress of a mental reboot.
" Y… yes?" the core, Yeva , asked me, eye locking onto my visor. You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed that confirmation.
Then her core's eye immediately shrunk, digital rings surrounding it to show her blind panic.
" Doll!" Yeva shouted, desperate, almost manic, " Where's Doll?!? Is my daughter safe?!?" Her eye was looking around frantically, her core flopping a bit as the sheer desperation to ascertain her kid's well-being let her start to move her unfamiliar form. Which, you know, understandable. She must have just remembered V literally ripping her apart and drinking her dry, while her daughter was hiding in a cabinet mere feet away. I'd be having a panic attack and would desperately want to make sure my kid was okay if I was in her place, suddenly waking up after those events had been my apparent death.
I looked to my left again, and caught Doll still frozen, her optics displaying the progress of her full mental reboot at 87% and rapidly increasing. It finished in just five more seconds, and her visor shifted to hollowed optics locked directly on her mother's core. I very wisely began to step out of the way. I had the distinct feeling that within the next few seconds, physically being between the daughter and mother who both had the power of Satan and Anime on their sides would be incredibly hazardous for my continued health.
" Мама? " Doll asked in a weak voice, sounding several years younger than she currently was. I dimly noted that the word wasn't being auto-translated, for some reason. But I was far more focused on my more emotional reaction to the scene, because holy shit , the raw vulnerability in that single word seemed to freeze the room in time.
Though the moment ended just as fast when Yeva's eye flicked up to see her daughter towering over her, very obviously in a larger frame than she last recalled, with a different hairstyle, and different clothes to boot. But she recognized her kid all the same. " Doll? "
Doll staggered forwards, stampeding right through where I was just seconds ago, knocking the bowl onto the floor, completely ignoring it clattering to the floor with a loud banging of metal as she scooped up her mother's core and held it tight.
" Мама! " she shrieked , her legs giving out as she sunk with her back to the counter, sobbing desperately.
" Мама! " Doll gasped out again, rocking back and forth as she clutched the seeming impossibility in her hands, as if she was terrified that if she relaxed her hold even the slightest bit, her mother , back from the dead, would disappear for good.
" Мама! " she whimpered, digital tears pouring down her visor display, years of emotion and nights spent alone flowing out all at once.
Despite lacking the biological organs to do so, the best way I could describe Doll at the moment was "completely bawling her eyes out," Yeva's core looking around with slight alarm for just a few moments, the surprise evidently catching her off guard, before her tentacle… claws… appendages, twitched a few times, and then clumsily wrapped about the arms holding her in the best approximation of a hug that she could give back.
" I… I'm here, Doll," Yeva spoke up, very clearly confused but equally clearly resolving to put aside said confusion in favor of comforting her child, who was still crying profusely, the sniffles and sobs only interrupted by quiet, desperate utterances of " Мама ," over and over and over again. " I'm not going anywhere, Kukolka, " she said.
Doll just clutched her mother's core tighter, Yeva's eye hollowing as she forced down a wheeze, a claw tapping Doll's wrist a few times before she let up slightly.
Alright, this was getting too personal for me; this was clearly a family moment that none of the rest of us should be intruding on. It was plainly evident at this point that the shot in the dark Uzi and I had taken with trying to revive Yeva hit the bullseye perfectly , so there was no more reason for anyone else to spectate. And beyond that, as wholesome as it was, for me it was also bittersweet, because it was reminding me of the family I'd left behind from my first life. I thought I'd finally come to terms with it, but I guess even after moving on, that the past could still hurt.
Especially since I still couldn't recall how I ended up on Copper 9 in the first place. Did I just disappear on my parents and my brother one day? Did I get hit by the classic Truck-Kun, dead on the spot, and my family found out from the hospital? Did my consciousness get duplicated, and I was shunted over here while an identical copy of me that was none the wiser continued living my life? Was I the copy? A whole lot of questions I didn't normally ponder, because I didn't have any answers nor did I think I'd find them any time soon, and that doing so would only give me existential dread that would distract me from surviving the coming storm.
I quietly raised my hands, waving to get everyone else's attention. A multitude of eyemotes looked at me, and I jerked a thumb to the door, signaling that it was time to step out of the room. I began to quietly step towards the door myself, looking my friends in the optics as I flashed my visor with the text [Let's give them a minute]. Thad gave me a respectful nod, Uzi a thumbs up, and despite how hard she was clutching her rosary, Emily had a beaming smile on her face as she watched the mother and daughter reunited, before she turned and tugged on Trevor's hand, the young man snapping out of his own stupor and following. Rebecca turned from the scene and gave me a nod, and Darren a thumbs up as he went with her. Kelsey had a bittersweet smile on her face, probably remembering the people she lost, but the joy in that smile beat out the melancholy in real time as I watched, before she turned around and filed out as well. Penny took one more look at Yeva's core, actually looking analytic , and I realized that she was actually thinking ab--
Dress-to-Impress: You think I could design a dress for her while she's like this?
I had to overclock to not burst into highly inappropriate laughter at the DM she sent me, and she had a gremlin smile of her own on her face as I gave her a begrudging grin at that, before she also headed out. And lastly… Lizzy looked uncharacteristically serious as she watched Doll and Yeva. She had a beaming smile on her face though, turning to me and flashing a [I'm so happy for them] on her visor… and then swapped it to [Robo-god I hope she lets me date Doll].
I had to overclock not to burst into laughter a second time, and replied with the text [Total. Disaster. Bisexual.] on my own display. Liz blushed, but actually smiled back at me instead of getting completely flustered, and I had to repress my guilt at that. Assuming she didn't hate me after tonight was over, I still had to wait until her next birthday regardless. She broke my gaze after that, before quietly following the rest of us as I allowed her out, turning back to check on Doll one more time as I passed her, before shutting the door behind her. Fifteen seconds later, we all flopped onto the couches in my living room, just staring blankly ahead as we all processed what we just did, and what just resulted from it.
I'll be completely honest to my 4th Wall audience (assuming that they were watching me and weren't spectating Doll or Yeva right now, which, you know, totally valid) in the privacy of my own thoughts. This entire operation here was a complete unknown for me, with pretty much nothing from canon even suggesting it was more than plausible . Hell, it had even been a potential risk, and I'd been fully prepared to get yelled at, spend hours consoling a devastated Doll whose only mistake had been daring to hope , or even getting thrown out of my own hab unit entirely. This? Resuscitating Yeva on the first try by literally just dropping her core into a bowl of oil? Success beyond even my wildest expectations. And also a reinforcement to keep living by the maxim of "If it's stupid, but it works , it's not stupid." But I digress. Just, putting aside the obvious boons of having Yeva alive again in terms of The Plot, I'd just given Doll her mother back. And fuck , man, that felt good. Not even in a "mission accomplished" kinda way (though it did feel a little like that). No, I did an unequivocally good thing for my friend. And, thinking back on it, that was the reason I had even thought up the possibility to begin with. I hadn't even thought about the doors I could open with it. At the time, what had been going through my head when Uzi had brought up the idea for the first time was that Solver Drones could regenerate with oil, and if Yeva's core was intact enough, I could give my friend her mom back. And… that felt nice . That I did it for Doll because she's my friend . Not because she's Doll, and getting Yeva back might make her have less of a murder boner for Murder Drones . Not because her mother is Patched. Not because of how it could benefit me if it worked. But because my friend was still hurting, even years after the event, and I could do something to help her feel better. I had a big dumb grin on my face right now, but oddly enough, I didn't care.
I took a few moments to enjoy that warm, airy feeling, before finally refocusing. Much as I didn't want to, I'd just made a very big fucking change to events, and I needed to… no, "run damage control" was too fucked up, it implied that there's was something bad about reviving Yeva. That was a hard fucking no from me. Consequences to the timeline be damned, I did something good here, and refused to even think otherwise. I needed to face the… results of my actions, make sure everyone understood the implications, and figure out how the hell to explain to the rest of Outpost 3 that we brought someone back from the fucking dead, and make up a complete bullshit yet plausible excuse of why this was a one-off event… actually, fuck that , that was way too much of a headache to deal with on top of planning to drop the Isekai Reveal on everyone else tonight, which now included Yeva too . I had spare rooms in my lair. We'd just smuggle the bodies over there instead, and Yeva could live there either until I came up with a way to address that or much more likely decided to keep her a secret from the general population until I was ready to open Vault 1 to the public.
So, I overclocked to come up with a plan. And then dimly wondered, You know, I've been thinking about react fics recently. Do these planning sequences just have a poorly animated chibi version of me inside a thought bubble doing stuff as I narrate? Or is there a rendition of me as a human but with my body reduced to a black silhouette with white eyes like Tessa in N's memories pacing around as he thinks aloud? Once again, though, I was digressing, even if I technically had all the time in the world to do so because of overclocking. But still, I refocused on the task at hand.
First off, my internal clock said we'd been here less than 40 minutes. Still hours before anyone else would be awake, provided we were quiet. We could give Doll a bit of time with her mom, and then wrap Yeva's and Mikhail's bodies up to hide them and smuggle them both to the lair. We could at least put Dolly's dad in a coffin, or if Yeva was okay with it, we could try to bring him up to a park or something on the surface to bury him. I really needed a fucking name for my lair, though. It was fine when it was just me, or me and Uzi, or even when we added Darren and Rebecca to my little deicide plotting club. But I was gonna have a dozen people in the know now, and I needed to pick something official. The Isekai Cave was tempting just from the stupidity factor and the mental image of unironically crying out "TO THE ISEKAI CAVE!" alone, but if and when knowledge of at least its base layer became public, that'd raise questions I didn't want to answer. Given that I'd designed the place as a simultaneous workshop, secret lair, R&D facility, fortress, armory, and generally as a headquarters for a planetary scale campaign against Robot Cthulhu Satan, and that I was fully leaning into the whole An-Syn thing, maybe something like The Revolutionary Redoubt? Or-- oh, I thought. I'm an Anarcho-Syndicalist. I'm called the Scrapper. I'll call my secret lair The Scrapyard! Fuck yes! All-fucking-righty, name settled for sure!
But once in the lair, I could see about plugging Yeva's core into the combat frame we'd made. I wanted to be sure she wouldn't die again, and making her into the kind of powerhouse that could throw hands with Murder Drones without the Solver seemed like a great fucking start to making that goal a reality. So! Plan recap!
Give Dolly about 10 minutes to just hug her mom, or let her come out to us. Whichever comes first. Tell everyone I'm taking them to somewhere where we can fix up Yeva's body. If Yeva insists on using the rest of the oil barrel to try and fix her old one, then say I built a better one to put her in that will make her harder to kill again. Say that it's part of me telling everyone everything. Wrap up Yeva's original body and Mikhail's body and transport them to my lair-- The Scrapyard, while bringing everyone else along. Bring them in, bite the bullet and get the Isekai Reveal done. Probably the hardest parts of that are gonna be convincing Doll and Yeva to go along with my plans to not murder the fuck out of V… especially considering that from Yeva's perspective, V murdered her husband just hours if not minutes ago… ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh… I thought. Forget Doll , Yeva is not gonna like that Uzi's trying to rizz the Murder Drone that killed her husband. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, that's gonna be a painful topic to go over. Whelp, I dug this grave, and so I was gonna lie in it and back my unofficially adoptive sister with her romantic interests. And not even because I shipped it (I totally shipped it though), but because I made a promise to have Uzi's back, and so I was gonna keep it. She was my unofficial adoptive sister at this point, damnit. I was not gonna let down a sibling! My younger brother from my first life would find a way to cross the 4th Wall just to kick my ass if I did. Not that he'd need to though, because I was gonna back Uzi up regardless!
I opened up the group chat, taking and releasing a breath through my vents as I slapped together a sub-thread on TNCoO3(&T) with everyone but Doll, to give her a bit more time with her mother. And of course , I opened of the conversation with:
Isekai_Protagonist: Ladies and Gents, call me the Mechromancer, because I just BROUGHT THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE!!!
Darkxwolf16: Joseph "Scrapper," the Mechromancer. You're REALLY just trying to collect titles on purpose now, aren't you?
Thad_the_Chad: REALLY Joe?
Horror_Movie_Survivor: I HATE that that's technically valid.
TheLastCrusade: "Scrapper?"
TotesBestGirl: So, like, you know how the Murder Drones might be sapient?
KayKay: You totally spied on them, caught them TALKING, they started calling YOU that, you decided to take on the title for YOURSELF because you're just UNHINGED like that, and weren't sure how to approach us with that knowledge, right?
I sighed, long and tired.
Isekai_Protagonist: Yeah.
DarrenToDream: We've been talking TO them. Sorta.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: WHAT?!?
Isekai_Protagonist: To be completely fair, we've definitely confirmed that two of them have reformatted memories and genuinely think they're working for humans instead of the Solver. I… may have interrogated one and had witty combat banter while throwing hands with a different one.
TheLastCrusade: What about the third one?
I sighed.
Isekai_Protagonist: I want you to keep in mind that the Solver is their system admin. That at literally any point, the Solver can take direct control of them and make them prisoners in their own body.
Darkxwolf16: From what we've learned spying on them and engaging them… and that one time Joe verbally TRAUMATIZED her, V, the same one who broke in a few years back, is aware she works for the Solver, but is forced to work for it under the threat of physical and psychological torture from which even DEATH isn't an escape, because the Solver can somehow back up the Murder Drones and that apparently transcends death because Eldritch Bullcrap.
TheLastCrusade: How did you learn THAT?!?
Isekai_Protagonist: That has to do with my own secrets, and I'll be explaining that soon enough, but for now, I can promise you it's the truth.
TheLastCrusade: Wait.
TheLastCrusade: So my initial guess that they were possessed by demons was actually reasonably close to the mark?!?
TotesBestGirl: Yeah, actually. Again, like, sorry for ever doubting you on that one.
DarrenToDream: Technically, they're not possessed, it's more that two of them are brainwashed and the third (and technically the other two even if they aren't aware of it) have their souls owned by a nightmarish demon beyond mortal comprehension that is blackmailing them and can torture them for all eternity while simultaneously denying them even the mercy of death.
Isekai_Protagonist: Holy SHIT, Darren. That was completely on the money, but fuck that was dark.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Yeah, that was like, REALLY dark.
Darkxwolf16: Technically true though.
DarrenToDream: Introspective and abstract thought's actually pretty fun, lol.
TotesBestGirl: And it's cute, Dare.
DarrenToDream: Love you too, but probably not the best time, Becca.
TotesBestGirl: Fine.
Dress-to-Impress: So was the psychotic laughter as she slaughtered most of our families part of her being blackmailed by Robot Cthulhu Satan?
TotesBestGirl: As far as we can tell, it's a REALLY shitty coping mechanism for all the psychological trauma of being forced to be a genocidal monster. Just trying to fake enjoying it so hard she actually believes the lies. Bitch FELL APART when I threw what she did to my parents in her face before I dumped lasfire into her chrome dome.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Victim or not, she's still a parent-murdering genocide robot.
Isekai_Protagonist: Oh no, we aren't disputing THAT. I'm just saying that killing her only sends her back to the Solver and informs the Solver that there's someone on the planet capable of doing so.
KayKay: And while Robot Cthulhu Satan is going to come to Copper 9 sooner or later, we'd all prefer it to be later?
DarrenToDream: Exactly!
Babeatron-Queenthousand: We can still fuck her up as long as we don't kill her though, right?
Darkxwolf16: What do you THINK we've been doing ever since we've been running surface expeditions?
TotesBestGirl: That's like, literally what I did the first time Joe and Uzi took us on an engagement with them. Fucked that bitch up without killing her.
Thad_the_Chad: How many times have you fought the Murder Drones up there?!?
TotesBestGirl: Dare and I personally? Once.
Isekai_Protagonist: Uzi and I? Ambushes were we just blew them up or shot their heads off and then disengaged, used traps on them, or blared excessively loud music outside the Corpse Spire during the day to fuck with their ability to sleep? DOZENS of times. Actual up close engagements and gunfights? ALSO dozens of times, but significantly less.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: You're blaring loud music outside the Spire? LOL!!!
Isekai_Protagonist: Ikr?
Thad_the_Chad: I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST THE ONE ENGAGEMENT AND THEN A BUNCH OF SPYING AND AMBUSHES!!!
Darkxwolf16: Thad? You good?
Thad_the_Chad: HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU TWO BEEN RISKING YOUR LIVES?!?
Isekai_Protagonist: Thad, dude, trust me when I say these combat frames I designed are BUSTED GOOD. I got thrown into a BUILDING at 70 MPH and literally walked it off without a scratch. I can IGNORE direct hits from the 9x19mm Parabellum the MD SMGs use.
TheLastCrusade: YOU WERE THROWN INTO A BUILDING?!?
Horror_Movie_Survivor: You've been SHOT?!?
KayKay: Multiple Times?!?
Babeatron-Queenthousand: JOE!!!
Darkxwolf16: What part of IGNORE BULLETS did you miss?
Isekai_Protagonist: This shit was never gonna be without risk. I have PERSONALLY thrown hands with Murder Drones in melee, solo, more than once. I am genuinely experienced with it at this point. I have the tools, gear, hardware, and software to keep up with them, stuff I'm gonna be SHARING with you all once I explain things after this. I have taken EVERY precaution I reasonably can, and have almost ALWAYS had Uzi backing me up, and very soon I'm gonna have the rest of you too.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: I'm holding you to that, Joe.
Isekai_Protagonist: I promise, Liz.
TheLastCrusade: So you've actually been making the Murder Drones pay for their sins on a regular basis for months?
Darkxwolf16: Yep!
DarrenToDream: Becca and I joined them on the last run.
TotesBestGirl: They totes know what they're doing. If anything, WE were holding THEM back. Some of the software stuff Dare and I got is absolutely INSANE. But they've MASTERED that stuff.
Dress-to-Impress: That's actually pretty cool.
Horror_Movie_Survivor: Dude, I am REALLY looking forwards to finding out what the hell you've been doing.
Thad_the_Chad: What the HELL, you guys?
KayKay: Look, this is REALLY interesting, but we should probably get back on topic and talk about the more pertinent issue rather than beat around the bush of Joe's secrets when he's going to TELL us in less than an hour anyways.
TheLastCrusade: That's fair.
TheLastCrusade: So.
TheLastCrusade: We… brought Doll's mom back from the dead.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: And Dolly's mom is some kind of cybernetic flesh crab around a drone core that's still alive right now, and that same thing might be inside Doll right now, and will also end up being inside Uzi.
Uzi gagged.
Darkxwolf16: PLEASE don't remind me about that.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Sorry, Hot Topic.
Darkxwolf16: Just, like, don't do it again.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Got it.
Horror_Movie_Survivor: So yeah, let's toss aside the ethical concerns of Mechromancy-- btw Joe, I HATE that the name you picked is so good for it --WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO NOW?!?
Dress-to-Impress: Oh my robo-god, how do we TELL PEOPLE about this?!?
KayKay: oh… that's a problem.
TheLastCrusade: They're gonna ask how we did it.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: We are NOT putting Doll OR her mom through that trauma.
Thad_the_Chad: Can we even get her back into her own body?!?
I decided to interject.
Isekai_Protagonist: I have a solution.
Isekai_Protagonist: I have space to house people indefinitely back where I got the oil from.
Isekai_Protagonist: We can house Yeva there and sidestep the issue entirely. We're closing on industrialized oil production to boot.
Darkxwolf16: Aunt Yeva can fit in cuz's coat pocket right now. Which is a REALLY disturbing yet equally funny mental image. We wrap the bodies in traps, load them and the barrel onto Joe's trolley, and take them all over there.
Isekai_Protagonist: It's private enough that we can discuss everything I gotta tell you just fine, a place to house Yeva, lay Doll's father to rest, and a steady oil supply, and it's where I can start equipping you all PROPERLY for the future.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Joe, you are an AMAZING friend.
Thad_the_Chad: Joe-bro, do you have a secret lair out there or something?
In perfect sync, the four of us in the know replied with:
Isekai_Protagonist: Yes.
Darkxwolf16: Yes.
DarrenToDream: Yes.
TotesBestGirl: Yes.
Thad_the_Chad: WHAT THE HELL?!? JOE!!! STOP DOING THIS!!!
Isekai_Protagonist: I really wish I could, but what I'm gonna tell you soon tops even THAT.
KayKay: Joe. What the hell?
TheLastCrusade: Are you planning an ACTUAL WAR against the Solver?
Isekai_Protagonist: Yes.
There were a few seconds of silence.
Horror_Movie_Survivor: I think I might have just hit my suspension of disbelief.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: I think I have too. Holy crap…
Dress-to-Impress: Ngl, that's pretty cool.
Everyone glanced over at Penny.
Dress-to-Impress: What?!? It IS!!!
TotesBestGirl: Totes based, Penny.
DarrenToDream: Lol.
Darkxwolf16: You're AWESOME, Penny.
Isekai_Protagonist: Thanks, I've been working on it for three years, lol.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: That was BEFORE we knew about the Solver…
Isekai_Protagonist: I'll explain everything when we get there, Liz, but we gotta get there first.
Thad_the_Chad: I WANT that explanation, Joe.
Isekai_Protagonist: And you'll get it, but we gotta get some stuff done first.
Isekai_Protagonist: Uzi? Can you work your magic with all the cameras in the path?
Darkxwolf16: On it.
Isekai_Protagonist: Rebecca? Darren? Can you get Doll's folks on the trolley?
TotesBestGirl: We got it.
DarrenToDream: No prob.
Uzi pulled a laptop out of a backpack I'd left for her here specifically for events like this, and Darren and Rebecca got going on their own task.
Isekai_Protagonist: I'll load the oil barrel onto the trolley again.
I stood up and got cracking on that even as I kept typing with thought-to-text.
Isekai_Protagonist: Liz? Can you get Dolly to take her mom with us? I'd prefer to get going sooner rather than later. And if she wants to get back into her old body right now, tell her to wait. We built a BETTER one, up to specs with our own frames, for her. Gonna make SURE she can't get killed again.
Thad_the_Chad: YOU WHAT?!?
TheLastCrusade: I am REALLY looking forward to those answers, Joe.
KayKay: Ditto.
Dress-to-Impress: I just realized, we're going to your SECRET LAIR!!!
Darkxwolf16: LOL Penny!!!
Horror_Movie_Survivor: Yeah. Nope, I DEFINITELY hit suspension of disbelief, because I'm just rolling with you apparently being able to build a better replacement body for Doll's mom in less than a day after finding out this was even a possibility.
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Joe?
Isekai_Protagonist: Liz?
Babeatron-Queenthousand: Is… is whatever you're gonna tell us gonna hurt Dolly?
I overclocked to figure out phrasing on the reply.
Isekai_Protagonist: There's gonna be stuff that I'll tell ALL of you that's gonna cause you distress. There's stuff you're gonna learn that you'll wish you didn't. EVERYTHING I have done that I'm gonna tell you soon though, has been because I wanted to not just keep you all safe, but let you all be able to ENJOY your lives. I NEVER wanted to hurt ANY of you. But the sad fact is that I think the truth is gonna hurt REGARDLESS of what I want…
Babeatron-Queenthousand: I know you don't want to hurt her, Joe. I trust that you're gonna do your best to avoid it. I'll get Dolly and her mom ready to go.
Liz got up and headed to the doorway where Doll and Yeva were in. I didn't deserve her in my second life , I thought. I used my enhanced hearing to listen into the conversation, just in case some kind of disaster happened and I needed to intervene.
"Doll?" Lizzy hesitantly called into the room.
" L-Liz ?" I heard Dolly's voice, still raw with emotion.
" Who's… That's Lizzy ? " I heard Yeva exclaim. " You've grown as much as Doll has. "
"Thank you, ma'am," Lizzy said.
" W…what are we gonna do now, Lizzy? " Doll asked, and I grimaced at the fear in her tone. " We… we can't just tell people Mama is back from the dead. "
"Joe thought something up already," Liz said, and from her tone I could just tell she was rolling her eyemotes.
I could imagine Dolly blinking twice as she took in that information just as clearly. " I really shouldn't be surprised by now ."
"Like, I know, right?" Lizzy giggled. "But… Joe apparently has stuff to fix up your mother better than ever somewhere else, and he wants to take us all there right now to do that and also explain everything."
Rebecca and Darren had finished wrapping up Mikhail's body respectfully and then tied it down to the Trolley. I had the barrel ready to go, and was pointedly looking away from everyone else while Uzi and my co-conspirators got to waiting outside the room for permission to get to work on getting Yeva's former body ready to move.
" Who's Joe? " I heard Yeva ask.
" He's a friend of mine, Mama, " Doll said. " If he says he has the means to fix up your body, then I trust him. "
" Are you sure , Kukolka? "
"Ma'am, you've been… incapacitated… for a long time. Doll has a lot of friends besides me, and we've been friends for years. If Joe says he has something to fix you up, then we all trust him to be telling the truth."
There was a moment's pause, before, " If you have more oil, I could just regenerate in my own body , no tools needed. "
Lizzy was quiet for just a bit longer than Yeva was. "He said he built you a new body outright, out of stronger materials, and that he has more oil where he has it too."
" What? " Doll asked
" What? " Yeva echoed.
"Joseph said he's gonna explain everything when we get there. We're basically just waiting on you at this point," Lizzy said.
" Mama ?" Doll asked. " Are you okay to go ?"
" Where… did my husband …"
I grimaced, irrational shame that I couldn't save a man who died before I even woke up here burning in my mind, and glanced over in time to see Lizzy wince in the doorframe. " Papa… Papa's gone Mama… " Doll said.
There were a few seconds of silence. "I'm so sorry for your loss," Lizzy whispered.
" I… I thought he would be… but… " I heard a sniffle. " Mikhail… oh Mitch… "
I grimaced. V was gonna be a problem topic. I knew that well before today, but this just drove that reality in harder. And Uzi's crush was gonna be worse . How the fuck do I even bring up: Your honorary niece is romantically attracted to the person that murdered thousands of us, half our parents, the guy who's body I woke up in, your husband, put you in a coma for three and a half local years, and also traumatized the fuck out of your daughter.
" Papa… I saw him… through the cabinet. That… that monster was gonna claw your chest… where… where your core was when we brought you back today. Papa… tackled her off you, and then punched her in the face. Made her bleed from one of those head bulbs… She… she killed him afterwards… but… he saved you, Mama… "
My optics were wide, overclock forgotten as I got hit with the exact lore for whatever was going on in this timeline with Doll's parents having died indoors. Fuck, man, Mikhail sounded like a gigachad. Really regretted that he was super dead. And that "Mitch…" I really had a burning curiosity to confirm whether or not that crack theory about Mitchell was true or not. Now was not the time to ask, but it was definitely on my to-do list…
There was another sniffle. " Of course he would-- " there was a sob. " Of course he would have… "
" Mama… I miss him too… but I think we should go… we can mourn once we get you fixed up wherever Joseph wants to take us ." A beat, and then, " You… you could fit in my pocket, Mama… "
" Who made you that coat, Kukolka? It's… very nice …" I could tell from the tone, and a voice that was barely holding it together, that she was trying to distract herself from her loss. I felt like shit knowing what I'd have to tell her concerning V.
" Another friend of mine named Penny. She made clothes for all of my friends, Mama. She's really talented. But… can we go? So we can get you… back in your body… so I can give you a better hug, Mama? I can… I can introduce you to all my friends later."
"I'm really sorry, ma'am, but we should go sooner rather than later," Lizzy said, her tone a perfect picture of a Renaissance diplomat. Godsdamnit, I was so proud of her for going so hard on that Machiavellian ideal.
" Okay… " I heard Yeva say, and I started moving the trolley to the front door of my hab.
"Can… can we get your body ready to move, Ma'am?" Darren asked, him and Rebecca moving into the door frame.
There was a pause. " I… suppose you can… Rebecca , is that you? " Yeva asked.
"Hi," the girl said in a nervous tone. "It's… it's great to see you alive again, Miss Matryoshka."
Darren led his girlfriend into the room, and I heard movement of metal, tarp, and plastic as they started to bundle up Yeva's body. "So…" Lizzy said. "This is really awkward."
I had to overclock so as not to laugh, and a quick glance at Uzi to see her suspiciously straight face told me she was doing the same.
" Not… not every day you watch someone move your own corpse while you're still alive and not inside it ," Yeva remarked, still forlorn, but I admired her spirit for trying to inject levity into that. " Where… where are we, by the way? Why are there no adults ?"
Liz sucked in an unnecessary breath. "So… we might have figured out that Doll could regenerate earlier today, realized you could probably to the same, and then revived you with no adult oversight, so… we're the only ones who know what just happened… and also, we're in Joseph's hab, because Doll… kept-your-bodies-after-you-died-for-a- really -long-time, until-Khan-was-going-to-do-a-wellness-check-on-her-hab-so-then-she-panicked-and-Joe-offered-to-move-your-bodies-to- his -hab, and-here-we-are," she let out in a rapid-fire-stream.
I counted seven seconds before Yeva spoke. Darren and Rebecca were trying to be as fast as they respectfully could be as they carried Yeva's body out of the room and began to bundle it to the trolley. Uzi clicked the laptop shut and gave me a thumbs up for the camera out of the corner of my field of view, but everyone had eyes on the doorframe Lizzy was still standing in. " Doll ?" Yeva asked.
" M…Mama ?"
" You kept… our bodies after we died ?"
" I… I couldn't let go, Mama… and… and it led to me getting you back! " Dolly said in a scared voice.
" Oh, Kukolka, " Yeva said in a comforting tone. " I'm not mad at you for hurting… I'm gonna scrap Khan for being that negligent, though. "
"Uncle Khan got better!" Doll protested. "It took a few years, and Joseph punching him in the face," I snrked at the delivery of that, "but he got better, became a better dad to Uzi, and then even let me live with him and cuz."
" Cuz ?"
" I… I reconnected with Uzi after you were gone… I know… I know you said to stay away-- "
" Doll, " Yeva cut her off, " I was wrong about that… I'll… I'll talk about it later, but I was wrong to do that ."
I glanced over to Uzi. We both stared at each other with wide optics.
Isekai_Protagonist: We are going to get SO MUCH LORE from Yeva, aren't we?
Uzi blinked a few times, and then rolled her eyemotes.
Darkxwolf16: Freakin' Fromsoft-Style Lore Junkie.
Isekai_Protagonist: Lol. Totally true, but still, lol!
Focusing back on the conversation, I heard Doll saying, "... an explanation on that later, Mama. You… you know I threw tantrums over that. "
" I'll tell you everything, Doll, but Lizzy is right. We should get going to wherever your other friend intends to take us. " A beat and then, " Are you sure you trust this other friend. "
" He's been helping me for years , Mama. Including with my Solver. "
I heard Yeva gasp… however the hell Solver Cores managed that. "Your Solv-- Doll-- "
Doll cut her mother off this time. " We'll talk about everything once we get where we're going, okay ."
" I want answers, Kukolka ," her mother replied.
" We're all gonna get answers, Mama. "
A moment, and then, " Let's get going, then. "
Yeva's body secured, I got up to the door, and everyone else started piling up on the exit as well. I waited long enough to see Lizzy take Doll's hand as she got to the door, Doll's other hand in a suspiciously bulging pocket that undoubtedly had Yeva's Core in it, and met her gaze. I gave her a small smile, and flashed on my visor [Happy you got your mom back]. Her eyemotes widened, and she gave me a small smile back, along with a nod, and then I turned around to open the door and get going. I had a date with destiny at the end of this walk, and it was gonna have a long and undoubtedly unpleasant talk accompanying it. I saved that smile from Dolly in my memory files, and hoped it wouldn't be the last one she ever gave me.