()||9<黑屏1>0,10BGM_Empty: ()||<回忆><黑屏2>98:Two days ago, Massegis, a temporary position behind the frontline. ()||:"The vast majority thinks that warfare's composition is that of fighting ."+"Not so."+"It is waiting." ()Communicator||AVG_whitenoise:Zz...zzzz... 98k(3)Kar98k||Explode:Command, this is No.350109 of the 7th Doll Infantry Division, requesting support. We are requesting support! ()Communicator||AVG_whitenoise:Zzzz...Krk. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Command, come in! Command! 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||10227:Save the effort, Cap, they're leaving us here. 98k(3)No. 239481<同时置暗>||: A rout in all directions. Not to mention, on our return, there was no lack of human wounded left by the roadside. 98k(3)Kar98k||:... 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:What should we do? 98k(3)Kar98k||:Let me think. ()||Explode:Coiled up in the narrow trench, I look upwards at the sky.+As the sound of artillery booms endlessly, the onyx sky lights up time after time, like a moribund firefly's last breaths of brilliance.+And we are to dissipate like this broken darkness, too, sitting ducks. If we were to look for an exit without orders, we'd be executed on the spot as deserters. ()No. 239481||:How about we go and become illegal Dolls?+I hear that merc groups made up of illegal Dolls exist; we could handle that with our capabilities. ()No. 340848||:Illegal Dolls? But we're elite Dolls under a military force... ()No. 239481||:And what good has that done? We're still being left here in a ditch to die. ()No. 340848||:... 98k(3)Kar98k||:Proposal denied. 98k(3)No. 239481<同时置暗>||:Captain, do you ever think about what it'd be like to live for yourself?+We wouldn't have to be thrown away like garbage anymore. We can live peaceful, stable lives.+With a simple home, maybe even a little cat... ()||ClothingUp:The Doll clambers to their squad leader's side. A soot-covered face could not hide the light glistening in her own two eyes. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Your proposal has too many uncertainties involved. Did you see how many outposts there were on the way here? Dubious if we could even make it off the battlefield to become illegal Dolls. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:...Are we destined to die here? 98k(3)No. 239481<同时置暗>||:... ()||:The light in the Doll's eyes dies. She did not return to her original position, only leaning on her leader's shoulder. ()No. 239481||Explode:I don't wanna die; I still have so many things I want to do... 98k(3)Kar98k||:We won't die here. At least, not now. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:Let's come pray together! Like those people, and hope for a miracle! ()||:The Doll reverently kneeled in the trench's grime, repeatedly muttering the words of prayer they've heard in times before.+Another Doll joins them, hands together, forming a congregation on this strident battlefield.+The two were bloodied and disheveled, the fresh color of blood concealed by layers of mud. Still, they nevertheless exude a certain power that calms the mind. 98k(3)Kar98k||:... ()Communicator||AVG_whitenoise:Zz...zzzz... 98k(3)Kar98k0.1||:Command?! ()Communicator||AVG_tele_connect:Zz...This is Captain Reynard, gathering all scattered soldiers.+If you are capable of combat, please immediately converge on Captain Reynard's command station, coordinates... ()No. 239481||:Captain Reynard? Isn't that our boss' boss'... ()No. 340848||:Shh. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Command, this is the 7th Doll Infantry Division, requesting to join the battle. 98k(3)Communicator<同时置暗>||:Received, request cleared, please immediately proceed to the following... 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:We've... we've got a commander again! 98k(3)No. 239481<同时置暗>||:Welp, there goes the illegal life. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Forget that daydream. We have a new mission. ()||<黑屏1>:...+War is composed of countless waits.+Awaiting the next battlefield, the next order.+The next miracle.+The next annihilation. ()||<黑屏2><关闭蒙版>15BGM_Empty: ()||<边框>2:Lae's expression became visibly complicated. Falling silent briefly, she looked at me. NPC-Lae(0)Lae||<边框>2:You were the Doll squad of cannon fodder? 98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:Yes, we received an order from Captain Reynard to attract enemy fire on the main junction until she successfully took control of the enemy position. NPC-Lae(0)Lae||<边框>2:...+Insanity. 98k(3)Kar98k||<黑屏1><边框>2:We had no other choice. ()||<回忆><黑屏2>4110230:Two days ago, Massegis, outside the main junction. ()||ExplodeAVG_20Winter_Burnfire_Loop%%type_id=2%%duration=1%%delay=0.1%%range=8:BOOM—+The explosion illuminates the surroundings in close vicinity as if it was daytime.+Flush against cover, I extend a shard of a mirror, scouting ahead.+The chassis of a tank burns with a fury in the reflection. 98k(3)Kar98k||Stop_AVG_loop:Target successfully destroyed. Make sure to keep a tab on the other one's location.+239481, come back. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:...+Her signal's gone. 98k(3)Kar98k||:...+Understood, let's go. We'll reclaim her core, and make sure that there are no survivors in the tank. ()||AVG_Cloak_Whoosh:Noticing that my teammate did not follow, I paused my footsteps. 98k(3)Kar98k||:What's the matter? 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:Let's run. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Why? 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:Why?! We're just a Doll squad of three; even if we include the other temporarily included Dolls, we're nothing in the face of this firepower...+Not to mention that it's only us left... We had to do this much to take care of one tank, and according to 239481's intel, there's still one more...+There's not a chance! 98k(3)Kar98k||:We won't all die here. If we can delay the other and wait for Captain Reynard— 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:We're just the cannon fodder here!+The Captain never expected us to eliminate the enemy, only to buy time with our lives! 98k(3)Kar98k||:I know, but I won't allow all of us to go down here. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:You know... so why aren't you angry at all?!+This entire war, we've been nothing but cannon fodder, wherever the going is toughest, that's where we go, to die, to die and what else? ()||Explode%%type_id=2%%duration=1%%delay=0.1%%range=8:...+The final squadmate crumples down behind a piece of cover. Her eyes were grey and dead as if she had already stopped functioning. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Stand up. We haven't lost yet. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:... 98k(3)Kar98k||ClothingUp:...+When this is all over, we'll leave the military to be legal mercenaries, alright?+Just like you said, we'll take what jobs we can handle, we'll have a simple little home, and when we're doing well, we'll get a little cat...+Our sacrificed squadmates will be back, I have their cores right here. Everything will be fine again, so long as we're all together. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:... 98k(3)Kar98k||:Trust me once more time, alright? ()||AVG_ElecSpaceBGM_Empty:Beep—239481's infrared detector gave a hit. 98k(3)Kar98k||:...+The other tank appeared, do not waste what 239481 has left for us. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:Yeah. ()||Select:340848 loaded their weapon again, standing up and looking at me. Her gaze went through me, focusing on that infinitesimally idealistic point. 98k(3)Kar98k||:We'll make it back home. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:Do we... really have one? 98k(3)Kar98k||:... ()||AVG_Cloak_Whoosh<黑点1>:Brushing past me, 340848 moves in the direction of the enemy by their lonesome. ()||<黑点2>10082:Hiding behind a piece of cover on the street corner, I observe the situation. +239481 was the squad's eyes, but those sockets now lie empty. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Field of vision is narrowed. 340848 will temporarily take 239481's place. I will take point and attract firepower and create an opportunity for the deployment of explosives...+Likelihood of success is less than 30%, but still worth attempting. ()||AVG_whitenoise:Adjusting the previous combat plan, I immediately send it through to my only remaining squadmate, only to have synchronization be rejected. 98k(3)Kar98k||:No. 340848? Are you having signal issues? 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:Negative. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Take note of the combat plan. I've made adjustments. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:Just a strategy to sacrifice yourself so that I get to live. 98k(3)Kar98k||:...+That's not it. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:I've had enough of dying here, dying there. Don't know if living is hell, or if death is. ()||:Picking up on the pessimistic elements in her speech, I pushed down the restlessness in my heart, acting as if I was perfectly calm. 98k(3)Kar98k0.1||:No. 340848, immediately retreat. Do you hear me? Immediately retreat. 98k(3)No. 340848<同时置暗>||:If you can live, run.+Be your own illegal Doll. Don't know if you could make a whole lot of money with how you are, but you could live a quiet, stable life.+With a simple house, maybe even a little cat... 98k(3)Kar98k0.1||:No, stop it, you come back, come back! ()||:I could no longer hold myself still. I made the decision to retrieve 340848 myself. ()||AVG_Cloak_WhooshBGM_Empty:But in the moment I stand up, I see that 340848 had already found an ideal position in front of the tank. All she would need to do was get under the tank, place the explosives, and retreat.+340848 wears a placid smile on her face, one that instills a hanging dread in me. 98k(3)Kar98k0.1||:No. 340848...+Stop your current course of action! Immediately stop! ()||Rope:I wanted to use my never before used authority to stop the Doll's actions. I was one step too late. ()||RunStep<黑屏1>:No. 340848 sprints forward in the face of the enemy's fire, diving below the tank... ()||Explode9<黑屏2>%%type_id=2%%duration=1%%delay=0.1%%range=8:BOOM— ()||:Splendid sparks dance in front of my eyes, devouring that little figure. ()No. 340848||<黑屏1>:If you can live, run.+Be your own illegal Doll. I don't know if you could make a whole lot of money with how you are, but you could live a quiet, stable life.+With a simple house, maybe even a little cat... 98k(3)Kar98k||<黑屏2>9810258:Is this what you wanted... ()||:Only the crackling of fire remains on the great square. The fires thin down my shadow, almost to the point of nothingness.+If I disappear like this, no one would come after me.+Even as a part of an elite Doll squad, we're not the same as formal military Dolls. At the end of the day, we're nothing more than temporarily enlisted Dolls, and the military would pay no attention if we went missing.+Can just be mass-produced, anyway.+I could slip away into the black market and become an illegal Doll mercenary. It might not even be that difficult to. 98k(3)Kar98k||:But... ()||Rope<黑屏1>:I grip my squadmates' cores tightly.+That would mean drawing a boundary with the past, severing all previous ties.+The past laughter, tears, the faces of those by my side, the small talk and chatter we would make. To forget all of it... ()||<黑屏2>1:...The forest, near enemy command.+According to Captain Reynard's plan, I went to where she could be. I wished to see, with my own two eyes, what our sacrifices meant.+There was nothing to be found save for gore and bloodshed, the sheer carnage of it making me recoil. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Are there... survivors... ()||AVG_Slime_Movement:The earth, submerged in blood. The leaves, wrapped in blood. The rivers, bleeding red...+I walked past it all in quietude, till I came up in front of Captain Reynard. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Captain Reynard... ()||:That woman who once stood before me, arrogant and aggressive, foolish beyond belief, died in such a manner, here in an unnamed forest.+The wounds on her face, probably caused by close-range pistol shots.+Most likely someone on her side.+Now, my commander was truly gone.+I could hear my teammate's voice whisper."Run." 98k(3)Kar98k||:... ()||AVG_whitenoise:The figures of my sacrificed squadmates seemed to glance at me between the trees, the darkness of despair and light of hope shining in their eyes. 98k(3)Kar98k||:I won't run.+...+I'll fight to the end.+For all of you, until the very end. ()||<黑屏1>:The mirage in the trees seems to be saying something, but my mind is set. I slowly stand up— ()||<黑屏2>9AVG_Cloak_WhooshBGM_Empty:I strip the Captain of her uniform, and find her lost helmet.+Then...+I don the Captain's uniform and put on the Captain's helmet. ()||AVG_Camera_Focus<黑屏1>:In a shattered mirror by the roadside, I see myself—+A Doll, perfectly encapsulated in the Captain's identity.+The Doll that would win victory with the name of Reynard Renfield. 98k(3)Kar98k||<黑屏2><关闭蒙版>15GF_21winter_avg_mahaline<边框>2:Using various methods to get past command, I finally found some military Dolls in my command.+In name they were at my disposal, but in reality were nothing more than eyes on me.+Upper command had long since lost all trust in Captain Reynard. NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:No wonder why you'd never let me go. NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:You're good. Massegis is no place for you to die. NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:... 98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:Come with me. If we were to die like this, we'd fail those who gave themselves for us. NPC-Lae(0)Lae||<边框>2:Even if we did... what meaning would that have?+I've lost my home, and you're a Doll who never had one in the first place, moving from one coliseum to another. ()||ClothingUp<边框>2:I hold Lae's hand, pressing Annett's watch into her hand. The bullet and watch, icy to the touch, dance together, eternally in a moment in the past. 98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:I do not understand, to a human, what meaning is, and why meaning is so important.+I only know that once you die, there is nothing. If you live, there are countless things you can do. NPC-Lae(0)Lae||<边框>2:... ()||<边框>2:I show Lae the Doll cores in my collection, staying by my side as they were. They hold no temperature, but they give me warmth. 98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:As you said, Dolls don't have the concept of "home".+But a friend told me home is where everyone's gathered in a simple little house and lives simple and commonplace lives, with a little cat if things are going well.+After that, I began to piece together the image in my head. What a warm and safe place it would be, I thought. Maybe one day, I could find such a place. NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:If you were alive, that is, right? NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:Yes.+I know that you've been seeking death. NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:.... NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:You knew that I was the fake Captain long ago, but you cared not. If someone could give you deliverance, then it didn't matter who.+I had a squadmate once, with the same look in their eyes as you. I wasn't able to stop her from making that suicide attack. NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:So you want to look for comfort through me? NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:No, when conditions allow, I'll find a way to bring them back.+Dolls and humans are different. So long as the neural core is preserved, there'll always be a way for them to come back to my side.+But if a human falls, their souls fade into the mud, like snowflakes thawing. NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:Snowflakes... NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:So, don't die. 98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:I need you alive, for a favor. ()||AVG_Cloak_Whoosh<边框>2:I handed Lae the Captain's uniform. 98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:Return this uniform to the Captain for me, please. NPC-Lae(0)Lae||<边框>2:What are you... NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:Let's leave this story on the ending where Captain Reynard roused the troops, led the charge herself, and miraculously captured the enemy position.+Afterwards, she perished bravely in a sneak attack by the enemy. NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:And you? NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:Me? I'll become a byline in the history books.+"The only surviving Doll to witness Captain Reynard's glorious deeds." NPC-Lae(0)Lae;98k(3)||<边框>2:I hardly like this ending. NPC-Lae(0);98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:That ending is only for Captain Reynard. For us, everything is just starting.+I'll leave the military, and look for the home my friend spoke of. +And you, you'll have a new life. NPC-Lae(0)Lae||<边框>2:You'll no longer be 350109, and I'll no longer be Lae? 98k(3)Kar98k||<边框>2:When that day comes, I'll let you know. NPC-Lae(0)Lae||<边框>2:...+As a condition, if that day truly comes, I'll leave the dead Lae's watch in your hands. ()||Rope<黑屏1>BGM_Empty<边框>2:Taking the Captain's uniform, Lae's silhouette disappears in Massegis' night... ()||<黑屏2>313:Today, Falzheim, the bar. ()||AVG_20Winter_Drink_Tea:The Commander taps at the side of their glass in thought. ()Commander||:So it was Lae, after all, who asked you to meet today... ()||:The Commander looks at the time, seeing that it was 8:50. ()Commander||:Where did you agree to meet? The time on the postcard nears.+Right, could I maybe meet this Miss Lae? 98k(3)Kar98k||:She's a very obstinate person. It'll depend on whether or not she wants to see you. 98k(3)Commander<同时置暗>||:How do I tell, then? ()||AVG_tele_connect:Beep—The Commander's terminal rings. ()Commander||GF_21summer_avg_Demon:Eh, why didn't you communicate as scheduled, MP41? And why is it so dark where you are? ()MP41||:Save me—Commander!+I've been kidnapped by an evil lady!!+She, she said that in ten minutes she'd take me apart and sell me off! Save me, quickly! ()Commander||:What's going on?! 98k(3)Kar98k||:Seems like an emergency. ()MP41||:Help me!!! My coordinates are— ()Commander||:Ok, I've got it. I'm on the way.+Kar, something sudden has come up. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Yeah, I heard. ()||RunStep:Nodding at me, the Commander hurries out of the bar's doors.+I do not rush to follow, instead looking out the window—+That familiar figure rests by the windowsill since who knows when. NPC-Lae(1)Lae||ClothingUp:Long time no see, No. 350109. 98k(3)Kar98k||:Long time no see, Lae. ()||:Through the bar's rain-dyed window, we exchange a knowing smile. ()||<黑屏1>: