I screamed as I shot up the bed, I groan instantly as the pain in my back and chest hurt. I hear someone speak beside me, but I can't focus, as I open my eyes I notice how they hurt a lot, but ever so slowly the pain diminishes. "Sir, can you hear me. Sir?" I turn to my right where the voice comes from only to be greeted with Colt looking at me with worry, her arm is now there and she is holding my hand tightly. "I saw you get that shot off. How? Maybe it was a dream."

"It's not a dream." I heard the distinct voice of a Russian man that is way too menacing to be true. He's dressed in the same suit with red cuffs and a coat with fur over his shoulders, he looks older his hair is now white right above the ears and he still makes them look good. His permanent frown is evident as his mustache and beard look even more menacing. 

"Kryuger, long time no see. I remember paying you enough for us to not meet again."

"Yes, but aliens decided to come and ruin your rich kid life after retiring. Anyway that is not what matters, as you are part of GnK. I had to come get you, also because IOP would've gotten my ass if I didn't. But I didn't take you for one to give your life away for a doll." He said as he looked at Colt.

"I mean, I am a hot blooded man. Also you know how I am, I was going to save her either way."

"Of course you are, but you are aware of the protocols aren't you?"

"I remember you said something like that colt, what's that?"

"Wait, you actually didn't know?"

"About the dolls? I said I didn't collect Barbies." This seemed to silence Kryuger for a minute then without missing a beat, he suddenly began to laugh. Full out belly laugh, not bothering to hide it as he seems to be crying. I noticed outside the door a girl with red hair looking weirded out, a girl with black hair and a is that pink hair? Standing outside.

"Wait you thought dolls meant... actual dolls! HA!" He kept laughing until after almost 5 minutes he stopped. He grabbed a bottle of water from the bedside which has a weird emblem that says Vigilo Confido. "Ah, kid you never fail to disappoint me. Before anything is said. Helian, Persica, Kalina, Angelia. Come in." He said as the three girls came in. 

"Everyone, this is the third founder of GnK. Mainly our main financial supporter, gunsmith and gun repair expert. Alexander Koval." It seems he remembered to not say my real name here. 

"Wait you're the one who pays for our stuff?" The woman who has a permanent tired face is now crawling up to me and is now in my bed. 

"Um... hi?" I said to the woman who is crawling my way and I'm seeing a hint of nipple from how low cut her shirt is and she is not wearing a bra, I mean I'm not complaining but she is too close. But I hold still as she is now face to face. 

"IM PERSICA! Marry me and buy everything I want." Her voice is firm and it looks like it's something she wants.

"No, also I already pay for whatever it is you do."

"Then let me have your babies so that you support my projects."

"Okay that's enough of that Persica." I hear the voice of the woman with a southern Russian accent, close to Ukrainian I think, as she pulls Persica from the bed. 

"Sorry about her sir, I am Helianthus, you may refer to me as Helian I'm second in command of GnK." She's wearing a red military coat with an armband that makes it clear she's in charge of operations, while its held together by belts. Underneath I can see how she has a dress shirt as well as grey pants, she's also wearing a monocle, her hair is almost platinum all held together by a ribbon. She is pretty cute albeit her serious face.

"So you're the one managing everything?"

"Yes, I run a tight ship." 

"Thank you and I'm sorry you have to deal with grumpy and old over there." I said motioning to Kryuger who rolls his eyes.

"Nonsense, we run an efficient ship over at GnK." I raise an eyebrow in doubt because if I'm not mistaken I made a hefty deposit a few months ago.

"Are you sure? I remember I had to pay for something big last November." That makes open her mouth to speak, but the red head with her white blouse halfway open interrupts.

"That was me! Sir, I'm Kalina, I'm in charge of logistics as well as management of resources used by Dolls and during missions." She says as she smiles brightly. 

"You're too happy to spend money aren't you?" I said implying of her being at fault for the payment.

"Well... yeah, about that payment, we bought a car for a mission. but... it got blown up after crashing into a SF safe house with a ringleader inside and the car had grenades... and it was a Ferrari." IT WAS A WHAT?

"You're fired." I said with a deadpan tone. 

"NO! IT WAS A JOKE, IT WAS A SUBARU! I SWEAR, IT WAS AN ELECTRIC..." She's almost crying. 

"You know I can't fire anyone right? Only he can, and you've also made me money. Do you have the recording for the car blowing up? If you do, then I'll give you 15% budget increase next month."

"Kalina, we need that now!" Kryuger says in a serious tone.

"How dare you play with my feelings this way?" She says sniffing as she scrambles over her the tablet that looks way too advanced. In seconds she shows me a recording that looks like someone driving really fast in a highway the emblem of the car is looking like the familiar horse. 'It was a Ferrari.'

"Who is..." My question gets unanswered as I see a few bolts of what looks almost like lasers firing at the car, breaking the windshield. I see a girl with long white hair and a scowl firing what looks like an AK model at the thing. 

"Twelve! SPEED UP!"

"Okie dokie!" They're speaking English and I notice how the speedometer went from 180 to 240 and catching up to the girl that has jets on her arms. The hail of bullets continues only for the flying girl to take a right and rush into what looks like an abandoned house. 

"That's their safe house. We need to kill her."

"TAKE THIS SF BITCH!" Twelve only pressed the accelerator as she turned the other girl and saw her pulling the pin of multiple grenades with efficiency I never saw. Before they threw them they just rammed the car into the house followed by the detonation of the car along the girls inside. "WHAT THE FUCK? DID THEY FUCKING KILL THEMSELVES? KRYUGER I WANT AN EXPLANATION! NOW! I DON'T PAY FOR PEOPLE TO KILL THEMSELVES! I AM NOT FUNDING A TERROR-"

"Well, they're not really dead." The last girl, said, she has prosthetics, her left arm jacket is missing and she's standing using a cane her right leg is gone. "Pardon my late introduction Sir, I'm Angelia I was the former leader of covert ops in GnK. But now I'm in charge of training Dolls and making simulation combat." 

"What do you mean not, dead?" I ignored the introduction.

"You really just invested in something I made a deal on?" Kryuger asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I made a promise and I keep my promises no matter what, and yes. I didn't read any mails or anything. I remember saying to you, to leave me alone."

"Yet here we are." He said with a light smirk.

"Here we are, now explain. In detail about that mess." Persica perked up. 

"Allow me! After all I'm their mother and you the father because-"

"No rambling, explain." That seemed to make her pause. 

"Apologies, Kalina, if you would." Kalina nodded as she just placed what looks like a projector on the nearby table. Said projector made a 3D hologram of a girl holding a gun. But she's wearing a dress with frills but the dress is almost like a military style along with an officer hat as well as a thick coat with an armband that has a star. It's almost like cosplay. 

"This right here, is a T-Doll, her name is Kar98k."

"Like the Rifle?"

"Questions at the end please." Persica said without missing a beat. "This T-Doll as well as all others are AI - piloted androids, designed to serve as an easily replaceable fire platform for military operations. Early on they were only robot like, but soon after the first generation began 8 years ago.
I alongside a few other scientists developed the Neural Cloud Network, it's almost the equivalent to their operating system or soul, the neural cloud records everything they do and updates them. Which is essential for T-Dolls since this is how they backup their minds it gives them the advantage to be transferable to and from a mainframe to protect a T-Doll's memories from being lost if they are destroyed during operations and can be downloaded to a new body. Much like ordinary humans, dolls can gain experience in combat, the longer they spend in combat the better and more effective they become. Which is why they technically didn't die."

"So you're saying they're all androids?"

"Precisely, only issue is that we... are not getting combat data for a while now."

"What do you mean by combat data?"

"We tried to send them in missions, but as soon as they leave the base they are disconnected from the ability to make a backup in the cloud, and as you can see, even with infinite resources they don't care for their self-preservation and no data is able to be retrieved and incorporated into their memories."

"That means." Turning towards Colt I see her just shuffling uncomfortably looking at the ground twiddling her thumbs on her guns. "Colt, you were going to die and forget about our meeting. Wait did you belong to anyone before?"

"No, my crate was opened inside the chopper and I was handed an order via the Cloud Network as well as I was following the protocols."

"Protocols?"

"Oh, silly me, forgot about them. You see, what we currently have is a shadow war on our hands, many governments use Dolls to keep things in balance. SF and us have been in a war quite a while now. So since Kryuger made a deal only a few governments and rich people know about the existence of Dolls. That's why for every T-Doll, or A-Doll deployed. There is a set of 3 rules they must always follow. Number 1 is Protocol Masquerade, no one can know about the existence of T-Dolls, no matter what. 2. Protocol Protection, protect the commander's life unless from any threat on their lives and keep them safe. and Protocol Directive which is to obey everything their commander says. Some Dolls can question the orders but won't act on them as well as they can't go rouge."

"Commander as in Kryuger?"

"No, each Echelon which is a set of dolls are assigned to a squad leader or Commander if you will and the dolls are bound to that person unless they don't want to be. It has to be consensual."

"So there are people with Harems of Dolls?"

"Yes, but most of those are A-Dolls, which is how we stayed afloat, we have sold a few versions of Dolls to really rich people and T Dolls to a few dignitaries. But each doll goes for 10 million the cheapest doll."

"So you say that the reason I'm grossly rich is because of battle androids... that look like cute girls... Huh, nice job me... and a little bit of you Kryuger. Fine 20% increase for next month." That made him smirk. 

"What generation are we?"

"Generation 5."

"Woah, you move quick."

"Thank you sir, so about marriage."

"Still no." She pouted. 

"Colt, what is your name." The T-Doll in question straightens up. 

"My name is Colt Walker, pleasure to meet you sir..."

"Colt here hasn't left your side since you saved her. She went for repairs during our stay in Ukraine." Kalina said with a smirk and a smile.

"Miss Kalina!" 

"Yes, she's been keeping you safe and glaring at everyone that came close." 

"That's good to know, that I have a reliable person beside me."

"So, what now? And why does my wound hurt not as much... I mean I should be dead." That statement made Colt flinch.

"Well, that's pretty easy. You see, you were out for a while, and the war isn't going our way."

"So its a war now?"

"E.T. Came and is hell bent on killing everyone. Which made the governments start a secret project that is meant to fight this as an elite strike force."

"Governments?"

"Not just one, all governments or well the richest ones. They began an official military organization meant to fight against the aliens. They are part of the shadows and combining resources and the brightest minds."

"So you're saying..."

"The problem is that every country is using everything they can and sending their best men to protect the other countries is not on their priorities, this project needs men, and right now we're outgunned and T-Dolls are getting destroyed in every op for the past 3 months that you were out. Even our best squads are getting wiped." Angie added and suddenly it all begins to add up.

"How does this project- You fucking didn't... am I in a place that is high security and this place is so secret no one should ever know about?"

"... Huh he is sharp." Helianthus said.

"So what treated me was what I assume is an experimental treatment that was developed by this multinational organization."

"Precisely, but it saved your life and you should be grateful." Kalina said in cute tone.

"I am, and you spent too many resources to save me. What did you do?" I asked Kryuger.

"The guy in charge that got picked to be commander of the entire operation, he's a good friend of mine. We were in the same merc group, and we've recruited a few people from all over the world. But these people are the best of the best and they're getting destroyed. Soldiers are not surviving encounters without returning here in critical conditions."

"Wait, for how long was I out?"

"You were out for two months."

"Fuck me and we're losing... So you're saying that this organization is losing the battle."

"Not just this one. The world is losing." Helianthus added.

"Alright out with your plan. What is your plan?"

"We need more funds and we need to start working with them. They need men and T-Dolls are the perfect match. We're giving them five times the strength if we go through we can change the tide of the war."

"Fine, but first I need to get home."

"What about the increase in budget?" Persica asked.

"Done, but I need my phone. Did anyone check how my house is? I have a cat is she alright?"

"Yes, I deployed the Wolf Pack squad. They're protecting your home, Kryuger asked for them to be deployed" Angie said.

"Thanks Kryuger, did anyone see my phone?"

"Here you go." Kryuger gave it to me, oh its full battery, nice. Opening it and after a few clicks and a message the tablet Kalina has began to ping, her eyes widening.

"Sir, this is-" She looks surprised.

"We're losing and these alien bastards are ruining my comfy life. Now I'm pissed. Kryuger, get in touch with the guy in charge, we're turning the tide of the war." Kryuger narrowed his eyes.

"Helianthus, make sure the deal gets completed." Helianthus nodded.

"Kalina, I want you to contact IOP and tell them to ready a shipment of T-Dolls to this place, no matter the cost. We're taking a monopoly on IOP resources." Kalina saluted and began typing.

"Angelia, I need T-Dolls and people who will be in charge to know about how to command them and limits of T-Doll bodies." 

"Persica, look into upgrades of gear and T-Doll potential and repairs on OPs." Persica seemed exited.

"Koval don't go ordering my employees." I rolled my eyes as I got out of bed a light groan went out of my lips.

"Then get to it."

"Do what he said." He grumbled as he took a step and did a 180 to exit the room. "You need to get home, there is something crucial there, that is needed here."

"Then I'm clearing myself from this hospital." I said as I stood up.

"Then meet me in command center in 10 minutes." He said with a smirk. "Colt Walker lead him there." Said T-Doll moved.

"Fine, everyone out. I need to change into clothes."

"I can stay if you giv-" Persica got pulled away by the scruff of her lab coat. Everyone left a sigh left my lips. "Fuck me." From one war to the other.

"I can do that if you want." The voice of Colt sounded in my ears.

"Colt, I said everyone... also thank you for staying by my side. That means a lot." It's pretty nice to know that she stayed by my side, it's hard to trust anyone and while short it seems I left a big impact on her.

"No problem Sir."

"Now, out I need to change." I said as I turned around and looked around the room and saw a pile of clothes on a nearby table. The bandages on my body hurt a bit as I'm putting on a shirt. Huh, my muscles aren't atrophied from not moving. "Huh, I can move."

"I downloaded the module for physiotherapy so your muscles didn't atrophy."

"Thanks." Without a care I dropped my pants thank god I'm still wearing underwear and put on the green camo pants that seem generic. Putting on the boots I had which look clean maybe another thing Colt did. "Let's go, lead the way Colt Walker."

"Course, follow me." She said in the same accent she used to speak when we met which is exactly the same as the ones used by cowboys, which is fitting given the circumstance. I see a few people giving us quite the big berth to pass, but the mood of this place and the atmosphere around us is really bleak.

"Whoah, this place is depressing." I said as we reached what I assume is the command center. Looking around I notice Kryuger speaking with a guy in a really ugly green sweater. He has a buzz cut with an earpiece on his right ear as well as a brown tie. What pulled my attention in the yellow and black emblem on his sweater. It's a pentagram that looks like a shield with an X as well as what looks like three circles and 3 stars on the center of each spot the X leaves open. But in the same badge the words "Vigilo Confido" is printed.

Another man is there he looks tired and stressed but nonetheless looks like he has everything in control, He's a behemoth of a man and looks way too tall and broad shouldered, he looks like he can punch the head off of anyone. I can't read any emotion from him but his disheveled hair black beard that looks similar to the one Kryuger has only this guy looks younger. He has a flask on his hand. "I suppose this place has that feel to it. After everything going on out there."

"Kryuger, I never asked what is the name of this organization." I said as the man turned to me.

"Allow me; I'm the Commander of this place, welcome to XCOM."