"Well then, here we go. Command authorization has officially been rewritten, and she has no idea. She'll wake up like nothing had happened."
You dummy said, after the code had been written, uploaded, and finally executed. The act was done, she will now follow any orders you might give her. Of course, as said previously, she will not notice. As squad leader, she already has to follow your commands concerning battle coordination and the like. The only orders she will get suspicious of are the ones that go directly against those give by higher authorization, those that she's not even aware are already gone. She will continue to carry out any orders she was given before because she's not yet aware she doesn't have to anymore, however she might feel the absence of the pull pushing her to do so. Only time would tell. For now, she's clueless, and that's what matters.
"Well, that was fun. Always an adventure to infiltrate an I.O.P. doll's brain."
The dummy was clearly pleased with itself. Did that mean you did? Either it took over the emotion of self-satisfaction as it has to use some emotion of yours to have character, or it's precisely because you don't feel satisfied with yourself that it does. Whichever it may be, you idly made your way through the core systems, your dummy stretching her arms over her head.
"Oh, right, what was that other thing you wanted? Memory files of that radio talk show? What, you a fan?"
"Wouldn't you know if I was?"
"True. Well, gimmie a sec, I'll compile the files…"
You give a nod to the dummy and she does her thing, taking a turn while you go onward. You help her by continuing to stroll along, looking through memory nodes. They seem to be rather spread out, seems her thoughts about this particular subject are all over the place. You continue down, passing through the neat arrangement of data-vortexes not too unlike a server room. Having a walk in the digital realm like this feels kinda…
[ ] Calming. It's rather soothing.
[ ] Wrong. You shouldn't be here...
[ ] Exciting. This is fun, thrilling even!
[X] Right. Like you're meant to be here.
[ ] Worrying. It's scary in many ways…
As you contemplate on your feelings for the world of code your consciousness currently resides in, you spot something in the distance of the seemingly endless pathway. The geometry and data vortexes here were rather well organized with a neat sense of symmetry, so such a random inconsistency seemed out of place. You focus your gaze, and after a moment with a burst of sharp realization you dash to the side, hiding behind on of the data vortexes.
"What is she doing here?"
"Hm… isn't that troubling…"
Your dummy has joined your side in hiding before you even noticed it's back. You kept quiet as to not be discovered. What you saw down there was the host of this digimind herself, AA-12. She wasn't looking your way, so hopefully she didn't notice you. But her presence here is worrying if anything, what could she be doing here? You give a look to your dummy, as if expecting an answer.
"Hell if I know." she replied with a shrug "This is her digimind, I can't tell what she does. Last time I checked she was subconsciously doing cleanup in some outer layer systems. And seeing how still everything here is, that is not her conscious self, rather a subroutine doing maintenance."
Your eyes narrow at your companion.
"C'mon, I can't tell you everything there is to the dangers of digimind infiltration. You learn from tripping on your toes, no?"
She gives you an apologetic smile, one you're not sure how to take. It's like looking into a mirror, but you can't believe it's you that it's reflecting. It's ironic that one does just as much of a good job at reflecting what's in front of it as the other, just in different ways. You turn back to the problem at hand, checking behind the corner to confirm the shotgun's silhouette once more.
The way she was moving and looking seemed too robotic, even for a T-doll. She stopped at seemingly random intervals, checking various data nodes and vortexes along the way. No slumped down stance, no movement wasted, you couldn't even see her breathe. Not that it was necessary in this form, but a lot of habits still carry over, and this one's almost instinctual.
"Don't worry, she shouldn't pick up on what we did. But if she picks up on us, she'll wake up and that there will become the legit her. Then we'll be in real trouble."
Finally, the image of AA-12 takes a turn and leaves your vision. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, you take a path that'll put more distance between you and her. You give another look to your dummy, and she already knows what you're about to ask.
"Yeah yeah, I managed to compile all the files. Download complete iiiiiin… now. And don't worry about your sloppy performance, I covered your tracks. A gift, from you, to you."
You would've rolled your eyes if this wasn't you you're talking to, would seem a bit hypocritical and self-degrading. Then again, almost everything relating your dummy is. Either way, with the data gathered and all signs you were ever here covered, it was time to jack out. You didn't need your dummy's assistance for that, though she did still oversee it just to make sure you do it smoothly and without alerting AA-12's digimind at the very last second of the operation. Would be awkward.
It only took several seconds. You closed your eyes, and the next moment you had left AA-12's digimind. Back you were to your own, the clean and stock appearance it had. For some reason your digimind was rather bland looking, like straight out of the factory, unaltered and unpersonalized. Yet you can tell your body is rather modified and different from whatever you must've looked like when you were first built. Maybe even the internal changes are locked behind memory encryption. Perhaps the previous state of your digimind will revert once you remember certain files, or it might be lost forever, meaning you'd have to do some redecorating yourself. Either way, you can now safely say that was enough time spent in the virtual world for now. There's some light faintly scratching at your eyes, enough of a wake up call.
Opening your eyes so quickly might've not been so smart, but you adjusted to the light quickly. The winter sun in area S09 isn't blinding, and it's still only morning. But there's some slight pain in your head, a kind of pain you know, but you didn't think you drank that much yesterday. Probably should've checked the alcohol levels in your system, if they're to be trusted after a couple of glasses. You move to sit up on the couch you slept on, not as comfortable as a couch should be but definitely better than the cold floor. Besides, your small size helped you find a soft spot. You look towards AA-12, who is still laying in her bedroll, plastic stick once having been the support of a lollipop now hanging at the side of her mouth, light shining onto her darkened eyelids. Didn't take look for her eyes to slowly flutter open as well. She groans for a moment, rolling around to try and avoid the light.
[ ] "Good morning, AA-12."
[ ] "Rise and shine!"
[X] "Get up, it's 7AM."
[ ] "..."
After several unsuccessful attempts to keep the light of day at bay, the shotgun eventually gives up and sits up. Her hair looks messy, stick no stuck on her cheek, her gaze still dreamy. She notices you already up at the corner of her eye and gives you a little wave. Either she didn't hear you and didn't care. She reaches into the pocket of her hoodie laying next to her, pulling out another treat to nobody's surprise. Does she need those even in her sleep? As soon as she plucked it into her mouth, she sighed and the morning became a lot more brighter for her.
"Morning Veresk… Oh, I mean... Heather."
She sounded dreamy. Definitely not a morning person. She yawned, and started getting out of her bedroll. You too got off of the couch, the floorboards creaking slightly. Next was getting dressed, and checking your gear. Everything was in order, you put on your skirt and poncho, pull on your gloves, look out the window to see the snowy street below already buzzing with a few of the townsfolk. They'll be expecting you down there once you're ready.
You turn back to see if AA-12 is ready yet. She was dressed, and currently in the process of combing her hair. You never noticed her combing her hair, you weren't even aware she had one…
"She's worried about her hair, and other aspects of her outside appearance, apparently. The previous times she was already done before you woke up."
That explains it. Wait…
"Yeah, I'm still here. Going through the files we downloaded. This shit's boring, I tell you. They're all mostly just complaining or talking about shoes…"
Your dummy's words remind you to check the files yourself later. But for now, a short summary would suffice.
"She's worried about her skin n' stuff, and that some dolls might be snatching from her stash… oh, you wanted something more useful? Well… seems like AA-12's the kind of girl that often forces herself into things she doesn't want to do or isn't comfortable with, usually ending up regretting it right after. Her previous commander demanded her to be all prim and proper all the time, which made her figuratively vomit whenever he wasn't looking, you could tell how whenever she tries to act professional it doesn't last. All that sugar doesn't just help her body..."
You take in the information. It's… workable. Not too much you couldn't deduct yourself, but this useful. If the source can be trusted. Not that you don't trust yourself, but even though that radio show is called a consultation office, not everyone would spill all their deepest secrets for everyone listening. And it seems a lot of Griffin dolls are listening to this miss Kalina.
"Maybe you could appeal to her by… uh oh, she noticed you staring. Quick, say something!"
One disadvantage of conversations only you and the other person can hear is that to everyone outside the bubble, you're just staring into whatever is in front of you. That whole time you've just been watching the shotgun fix her hair, and she finally caught you doing so, as she's holding a strand of hair with one hand and combing with the other, holding her star shaped hairpin with her mouth. Now she was looking at you, and an awkward aura rose around both you and her. You better say something before it gets too embarrassing.
[ ] "Your hair's so nice, how do you keep it so alive?"
[ ] "Could I maybe use your comb once you're done?"
[ ] "Heh, sorry, couldn't stop myself from staring~"
[ ] "I-I wasn't staring! N-not that I wouldn't… would! W-would not... I mean… there's something on your, um…"
[X] Just look away.
There is a slight pause as she processes what just happened, her hands stopped in motion rather awkwardly, and when she seemed like she was about to say something, a loud knocking at the door interrupted the whole scene.
"Wake up, ladies! There's work waiting for you!"
You half expected the knocker to walk in, but before you could muster a response he just left, footsteps being rather audible up here. Either he respected their privacy and didn't care beyond making sure you're up. Must've been sent by the village leaders.
"Smooth… well, I'm gonna leave now, I'm just taking up processing power anyway. Cya, me."
It was a welcome distraction, allowed both of you to focus on something else again. AA-12 finished up fixing her hair, putting on her hairpin and looking towards you. She extends her hand to you, comb sitting on her palm.
"... seems like you could use a comb… you look terrible."
No matter if that was or wasn't meant to be offensive, you didn't need a mirror to know it's true. Your hair, reaching down to your shoulders, has been a right mess for days now, the Fortress of Solitude didn't have any sort of hair care products, and it wasn't a priority anyway. You graciously accept the comb as you can hear your lilac hair begging for the care it needs. Turning to the window that slightly displays your reflection, you begin fixing it back to the state it was in before, the hairstyle you wore the most during the time following up to your capture. A [X] ponytail.
AA-12 seemed rather interested, watching you take care of your lilac locks, perhaps she didn't notice you could see her in your reflection. Perhaps she was interested in yours because she feels insecure about hers? Only thing you can go off of from the data you fished out of her.
"Hey… you wore any headwear?"
[ ] "Yeah, I had a (Write-in), but I lost it after my capture."
[X] "This poncho has a hood, if that counts."
[ ] "No, no headwear."
"And… any accessories?"
[X] "Yeah, a multi-tool with a lockpick set."
[ ] "No, not really."
