Artifact Recovery

"I can't sleep yet, I still have work to do..."

This article still needs to be completed. You can help us by contributing.

Artifact Recovery (遗珍回收, designated rogue in game files) is a rogue-like game mode introduced during Mimisbrunnr's Loop in December 2024 in CN and July 2025 in EN. Each playthrough is a mission given by Underground Brokers to recover valuable materials from the contamination zone. The goal is to go through randomized events and battles using randomized Dolls and upgrades to take down the final boss. Defeat in battle ends the run, but EXP and Research Points are kept regardless of the outcome to unlock permanent upgrades. New seasons are added every few months and previous seasons remain available.

Final bosses in this mode are extremely resilient even in the lowest difficulty, requiring excellent synergy between the Dolls and Plugins to defeat.

Artifact Recovery was originally planned to be a time-limited mode, but it was made permanent in April 2025 with the second season (遗珍回收·二期) during Deep Oblivion. The third season "Phase Turbulence" (遗珍回收·异位紊流) was added in July 2025 during Corposant and the first and second seasons were merged into one under the title "Iterative Cycle" (更迭流转) in the seasons menu. The fourth season "Ashen Tale" (遗珍回收·烬墟逸闻) was added in December 2025 during Dawnforger. Phase Turbulence was added to other servers on 6 November 2025 during Turbulent Undercurrent and Ashen Tale on 26 February 2026 during Corposant.

Starting with Ashen Tale, Artifact Recovery contains story scenes.

Exploration

A run begins by selecting a Tactic which influences which Plugins will appear (Multi-Pronged Attack focuses on skills, Self-Empowerment on basic stats and Tactical Coordination on gameplay mechanics), a starting Plugin, and four starting Dolls from a random list of six.

Events

• Normal Encounter: a normal battle. Grants a plugin of increasing rarity as the run progresses, as well as a random amount of Artifacts and Strengthening Terminals. The battles can include objectives like base defense and target protection.
• Perilous Encounter: More dangerous enemies for more rewards and high-rarity Plugins.
• Abominable Challenge: Fight against a boss enemy.
• Final Siege: Last battle of the run against a powerful boss.
• Force Replenishment: add a Doll to the team from a randomized list of three.
• Sudden Event: randomized boon.
• Support Terminal: shop to buy and sell Plugins in exchange for Artifacts. Unwanted Strengthening Terminals can also be sold.
• Limited Fortification: Spend Strengthening Terminals to unlock fortification levels for Elite Dolls. Standard Dolls start with full fortification, while Elite Dolls start with three out of six.

Plugins

Plugins are special gameplay modifiers unlocked through random events and by winning battles. There are 178 plugins at game mode launch, split between Simple, Standard and Perfect rarities. Aside from their individual effects, plugins also belong to one of nine sets, and three, six and nine plugins of a set activates a new set effect:

Burn Assist: This set favors out-of-turn attacks and is suitable for Burn-element Dolls.

• Burn Assist [3/3]: At the start of battle, gain 3 stacks of ThermogenesisAttack is increased by 15%, stacking up to 10 times. At maximum stacks, ignores damage reduction from cover and damage reduction from stability. This buff cannot be cleansed.. When dealing damage, gain 1 stack of ThermogenesisAttack is increased by 15%, stacking up to 10 times. At maximum stacks, ignores damage reduction from cover and damage reduction from stability. This buff cannot be cleansed..
• Burn Assist [6/6]: Damage taken is reduced by 30%. After making an out-of-turn attack, deal 3 instances of fixed damage to the target equal to 50% of attack and 2 points of fixed stability damage. If the target is a boss unit, reduce their attack by 50% for 1 turn.
• Burn Assist [9/9]: After a Out-of-Turn AttackIncludes Support Action, Emergency Support, Interception, Counterattack and any other such attacks made outside of this unit's turn. all skills' cooldown is reduced by 1 turn. After using an active skill or an out-of-turn skill, at the end of this unit's action, apply OverburnUpon gaining this effect and at the end of this unit's action, this unit and all allied units within a 1 tile centered on this unit take fixed damage equal to 10% of the applier's attack. Considered a Burn debuff. and Overheat CombustionBurn damage taken is increased by 30%. Upon gaining this effect and at the start of this unit's action, this unit and all allied units within a 3x3 area centered on this unit take fixed damage equal to 20% of the applier's attack. Considered a Burn debuff. to the enemy unit with the highest HP and deal 2 instances of fixed damage equal to 200% of attack.

Cryo Safeguard: This set favors shields and is suitable for Freeze-element Dolls.

• Cryo Safeguard [3/3]: If this unit has a shield when attacking, damage dealt is increased by 100% and critical rate is increased by 100%. For every 1% of excess critical rate, gain 1% critical damage.
• Cryo Safeguard [6/6]: At the start of the turn, attack is increased by the amount equal to 30% of defense. When shielded, attack cannot be lowered and is immune to displacement and movement debuffs.
• Cryo Safeguard [9/9]: All applied instances of Frost BarrierWhen ShieldEffect description missing from page "GFL2 Status Effects". or Frost BarrierEffect description missing from page "GFL2 Status Effects". is destroyed, apply FrigidEffect description missing from page "GFL2 Status Effects". for 1 turn to the unit that destroyed it. This is considered a Freeze buff and cannot be cleansed. are converted to Frost BarrierWhen ShieldEffect description missing from page "GFL2 Status Effects". or Frost BarrierEffect description missing from page "GFL2 Status Effects". is destroyed, apply FrigidEffect description missing from page "GFL2 Status Effects". for 1 turn to the unit that destroyed it. This is considered a Freeze buff and cannot be cleansed. lasting for 4 turns, absorption amount becomes equal to 150% of attack, to a maximum of 300% of Max HP. When shielded, attacks ignore 100% of the target's defense.

Corrosion Torrent: This set favors AoE damage and is suitable for Corrosion Dolls.

• Corrosion Torrent [3/3]: At the start of the battle, the ally unit with the highest attack gains 100% additional critical damage and Diffuse ResonanceAfter dealing AoE damage, deal 1 additional instance of fixed damage equal to 100% of that damage. This buff cannot be cleansed..
• Corrosion Torrent [6/6]: When using an Ultimate skill, deal 1 additional instance of fixed damage equal to 150% of attack. Each time this effect triggers, critical rate is increased by 15%, to a maximum increase of 75%, while damage multiplier is increased by 30%, to a maximum increase of 300%.
• Corrosion Torrent [9/9]: At the start of the turn, recover 2 points of Confectance Index, recover HP equal to 30% of Max HP, reset all skill cooldowns and increase attack by 30%. After using an AoE skill, gain 1 stack of Wide-Area CondensationIf this unit has 5 stacks of this effect after making an active attack, expend all stacks and gain 1 instance of Extra Action, stacking up to 5 times. This buff cannot be cleansed., stacking up to 5 times. If this unit has 5 stacks of Wide-Area CondensationIf this unit has 5 stacks of this effect after making an active attack, expend all stacks and gain 1 instance of Extra Action, stacking up to 5 times. This buff cannot be cleansed. after performing an active attack, expend all stacks of Wide-Area CondensationIf this unit has 5 stacks of this effect after making an active attack, expend all stacks and gain 1 instance of Extra Action, stacking up to 5 times. This buff cannot be cleansed. and gain 1 instance of Extra Action1 action can be taken.. In addition, deal fixed damage to the enemy target with the highest HP equal to 1500% of attack. When Extra Action1 action can be taken. is active, Wide-Area CondensationIf this unit has 5 stacks of this effect after making an active attack, expend all stacks and gain 1 instance of Extra Action, stacking up to 5 times. This buff cannot be cleansed. cannot be gained.

Hydro Mending: This set favors healing and is suitable for Hydro-element Dolls.

• Hydro Mending [3/3]: When healing is received, gain 1 stack of VortexBefore active attacks resolve, generate Tideway tiles in a 5x5 tile area around the enemy target for 2 turns, and deal fixed damage to the target equal to 40% of Max HP. This effect stacks and all stacks are cleared after this effect triggers. This buff cannot be cleansed..
• Hydro Mending [6/6]: When healing is received, gain 1 stack of Fate's VortexAfter being attacked, deal fixed damage to the attacker equal to 8% of Max HP and recover HP equal to 4% of Max HP. This effect stacks and all stacks are cleared after this effect triggers. This buff cannot be cleansed..
• Hydro Mending [9/9]: When healing is received, if this unit's Confectance Index is less than 6 points, recover 1 point of Confectance Index. This effect can trigger a maximum of 10 times per round. Every time the effect triggers, gain 1 stack of Turbid WardDefense is increased by 10%, stacking up to 20 times. Defense-type buff, cannot be cleansed., to a maximum of 20 stacks.

Kinetic Crush: Focused on lowering enemy defense, suitable for Physical teams and Dolls.

• Kinetic Crush [3/3]: Defense ShreddingWhen dealing damage to the target, if its defense has been reduced by more than 100%, for every additional 1% reduction of defense, damage dealt is increased to the target by the equivalent amount. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. The ratios are as follows:
  Additional defense reduction percentage <100%: 0.5%;
  100%≤ Additional defense reduction percentage <200%: 0.75%;
  200%≤ Additional defense reduction percentage <300%: 1%;
  Additional defense reduction percentage ≥300%: 1.5%. is converted to Reversed Assault IIncrease the following multipliers for the damage of Defense Shredding:
  300%≤ additional defense reduction <400%: 1.5%;
  ≥400% additional defense reduction: 2%.. At the start of the battle, gains Reversed Assault IIncrease the following multipliers for the damage of Defense Shredding:
  300%≤ additional defense reduction <400%: 1.5%;
  ≥400% additional defense reduction: 2%. for 3 turns. Each time the team deals damage, gains 1 stack of Penetrating SealWhen attacking, ignores 5% of the target's defense. Can be stacked, considered a buff, cannot be cleansed., up to 10 times per turn. When taking damage from an enemy unit, deals Physical damage equal to (Penetrating SealWhen attacking, ignores 5% of the target's defense. Can be stacked, considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. stacks)*20% of defense to it. This effect can be triggered once per turn.
• Kinetic Crush [6/6]: When attacking an enemy target with 0 defense, applies BanCannot use active and passive skills. The applier is immune to damage from basic attacks. Cannot be cleansed. to the target for 1 turn. If the target dies or is a Boss unit, applies BanCannot use active and passive skills. The applier is immune to damage from basic attacks. Cannot be cleansed. to the enemy unit nearest to the target. At the end of the allied turn, if 4 instances of Physical damage were dealt during this turn, expends 5 stacks of Penetrating SealWhen attacking, ignores 5% of the target's defense. Can be stacked, considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. at the start of the next turn and gains 5 stacks of Charged ERAThis unit's defense is increased by 40%. When attacking, reduces the target's defense by 40% before the attack. This effect has a maximum of 50 stacks. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. for 1 turn. Otherwise, gain only 1 stack of Charged ERAThis unit's defense is increased by 40%. When attacking, reduces the target's defense by 40% before the attack. This effect has a maximum of 50 stacks. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. for 1 turn. Defense ShreddingWhen dealing damage to the target, if its defense has been reduced by more than 100%, for every additional 1% reduction of defense, damage dealt is increased to the target by the equivalent amount. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. The ratios are as follows:
  Additional defense reduction percentage <100%: 0.5%;
  100%≤ Additional defense reduction percentage <200%: 0.75%;
  200%≤ Additional defense reduction percentage <300%: 1%;
  Additional defense reduction percentage ≥300%: 1.5%. is converted to Reversed Assault IIIncrease the following multipliers for the damage of Defense Shredding:
  300%≤ additional defense reduction <400%: 1.5%;
  400%≤ additional defense reduction <600%: 2%;
  additional defense reduction ≥600%: 3%..
• Kinetic Crush [9/9]: When attacking an enemy target with 0 defense, applies AmokThis unit randomly attacks an allied unit within range of its basic attacks. Cannot be cleansed. to the target for 1 turn. If the target dies or is a Boss unit, applies AmokThis unit randomly attacks an allied unit within range of its basic attacks. Cannot be cleansed. to the enemy unit nearest to the target. Penetrating SealWhen attacking, ignores 5% of the target's defense. Can be stacked, considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. will no longer be expended (included by chip effects). At the end of this turn, if 4 instances of Physical damage were dealt during this turn, then at the start of the next turn, gains 10 stacks of Charged ERAThis unit's defense is increased by 40%. When attacking, reduces the target's defense by 40% before the attack. This effect has a maximum of 50 stacks. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. for every 10 stacks of Penetrating SealWhen attacking, ignores 5% of the target's defense. Can be stacked, considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. (rounded down). Defense ShreddingWhen dealing damage to the target, if its defense has been reduced by more than 100%, for every additional 1% reduction of defense, damage dealt is increased to the target by the equivalent amount. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. The ratios are as follows:
  Additional defense reduction percentage <100%: 0.5%;
  100%≤ Additional defense reduction percentage <200%: 0.75%;
  200%≤ Additional defense reduction percentage <300%: 1%;
  Additional defense reduction percentage ≥300%: 1.5%. is converted to Reversed Assault IIIIncrease the following multipliers for the damage of Defense Shredding:
  300%≤ additional defense reduction <400%: 1.5%;
  400%≤ additional defense reduction <600%: 2%;
  600%≤ additional defense reduction <1000%: 3%;
  ≥1000% additional defense reduction: 5%..

Stability Break: Focused on inflicting Stability Break and Stability Break damage conversion effects, suitable for stability damage-oriented teams and Dolls.

• Stability Break [3/3]: At the start of the battle, gains Crushing Strike IWhen dealing stability damage to enemy units with 0 stability, every additional 1 point of stability damage deals the appropriate phase damage for this unit equal to 15% of attack. All applied stacks of Superframe Strike are converted to this effect. This effect can be triggered up to 8 times per turn. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed.. This unit's max stability is increased by 8 points, and for every 1 point of stability, attack is increased by 3%.
• Stability Break [6/6]: Crushing Strike IWhen dealing stability damage to enemy units with 0 stability, every additional 1 point of stability damage deals the appropriate phase damage for this unit equal to 15% of attack. All applied stacks of Superframe Strike are converted to this effect. This effect can be triggered up to 8 times per turn. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. is converted to Crushing Strike IIWhen dealing stability damage to enemy units with 0 stability, every additional 1 point of stability damage deals the appropriate phase damage for this unit equal to 20% of attack to the target and all enemies within 3 tiles of the target. All applied stacks of Superframe Strike are converted to this effect. This effect can be triggered up to 8 times per turn. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed.. At the start of the turn, recovers 5 points of stability. For each point of stability, defense is increased by 3%. After triggering Crushing Strike IIWhen dealing stability damage to enemy units with 0 stability, every additional 1 point of stability damage deals the appropriate phase damage for this unit equal to 20% of attack to the target and all enemies within 3 tiles of the target. All applied stacks of Superframe Strike are converted to this effect. This effect can be triggered up to 8 times per turn. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed., additionally trigger an instance of Phase DemolitionDeals 1 additional instance of Burn, Freeze, Electric, Corrosion, Hydro and Physical damage based on this unit's attack. (Does not trigger support attacks or other such effects) equal to 30% of attack.
• Stability Break [9/9]: Stability damage dealt is increased by 12 points. At the start of the battle, the Doll with the highest attack inflicts Stability Break on all non-Boss enemy units. When inflicting Stability Break on an enemy target, triggers and instance of Phase DemolitionDeals 1 additional instance of Burn, Freeze, Electric, Corrosion, Hydro and Physical damage based on this unit's attack. (Does not trigger support attacks or other such effects) equal to 90% of attack.

Expeditious Gambit: Focused on inflicting damage through moving, suitable for teams and Dolls which can move often.

• Expeditious Gambit [3/3]: For each tile of maximum mobility, attack is increased by 5%. After moving, generates Pathcutter Bomb IWhen this unit stops moving or at the end of this unit's action, deals corresponding phase damage equal to 120% of attack to all enemy units with a cross-shaped area 5 tiles wide. in the path of movement.
• Expeditious Gambit [6/6]: Mobility is increased by 1 tile. After moving, Pathcutter Bomb IWhen this unit stops moving or at the end of this unit's action, deals corresponding phase damage equal to 120% of attack to all enemy units with a cross-shaped area 5 tiles wide. generated in the path of movement are converted to Pathcutter Bomb IIWhen this unit stops moving or at the end of this unit's action, deals corresponding phase damage equal to 180% of attack to all enemy units with a cross-shaped area 8 tiles wide, and also applies 1 stack of Defense Erosion and Movement Interference for 1 turn..
• Expeditious Gambit [9/9]: Mobility is increased by 1 tile and this unit becomes immune to movement debuffs. At the start of the turn, reduces all skill cooldowns by 1 turn, and gains Extra Action1 action can be taken.. If a total of 50 instances of Pathcutter Bomb IWhen this unit stops moving or at the end of this unit's action, deals corresponding phase damage equal to 120% of attack to all enemy units with a cross-shaped area 5 tiles wide. or Pathcutter Bomb IIWhen this unit stops moving or at the end of this unit's action, deals corresponding phase damage equal to 180% of attack to all enemy units with a cross-shaped area 8 tiles wide, and also applies 1 stack of Defense Erosion and Movement Interference for 1 turn. have been generated, then at the end of this unit's action, summons a All-Range Pathcutter BombInherits 300% of the summoner's current attack. When the summoner's side's turn ends, deal AoE fixed damage equal to 3000% of attack to all enemy units on the battlefield. on an adjacent tile.

Summon Alliance: Focused on summoned creatures, suitable for all summoning-oriented teams and Dolls.

• Summon Alliance [3/3]: After an allied Doll uses an active skill, summons a Fertilizer ScholarConsidered a summoned unit. Inherits 200% of the summoner's current attack and 100% of the summoner's other based stats. beside them. If there is already a summoned Fertilizer ScholarConsidered a summoned unit. Inherits 200% of the summoner's current attack and 100% of the summoner's other based stats. present, applies 1 stack of Aid AccordDamage dealt is increased by 5% and critical damage dealt is increased by 5%. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. to it. After an an allied summon attacks, it applies 1 stack of Aid CommandAttack is increased by 3% and defense is increased by 3%. Maximum of 20 stacks. Considered a buff, cannot be cleansed. to all allied units.
• Summon Alliance [6/6]: At the start of the battle, the allied Doll with the highest HP summons a Production ExpertConsidered a summoned unit. Inherits 2000% of the summoner's HP and 100% of the summoner's other based stats..
• Summon Alliance [9/9]: At the start of the battle, the allied Doll with the highest attack summons a Patrol SupervisorConsidered a summoned unit. Its initial HP is 1000 points, initial attack and defense are 1..

Omni-Adaptation: Has no set effects. These plugins work well with any Dolls.

Recovery Route

Recovery Route I, II and III define the difficulty level of the run. Higher difficulty means a higher score multiplier. Each difficulty must be unlocked by completing a run in the previous difficulty.

Recovery Missions & Upgrade Chart

These permanent missions grant Collapse Pieces and Special Intel, which is used to unlock nodes from the upgrade tree. Upgrading grants permanent stats boosts and other beneficial abilities for Artifact Recovery's features.

Recovery Level

Each run grants Retrieval EXP, which is tallied into the Recovery Level rewards ladder, spanning levels. Each of the 60 levels grants some general resources.

A rogue-like mode made of a series of randomized events, which will grant Plugins to enhance combat power, Artifacts to exchange for goods, add Dolls to the team, enhance the Dolls with temporary Fortification, or start a battle. Defeat in battle before killing the final boss ends the run. Before each run, the player selects a Tactic, a starting Plugin, and four Dolls among a pre-established pool. The player accumulate EXP and Research Points regardless of the outcome of the playthrough. Completing Retrieval Missions grant Special Intel, which is used in the Upgrade Chart to unlock permanent bonuses from the upgrade tree.

Story

Ashen Tale

This story occurs at some point after Antiparallel Part 2 - PA-1-3, when the Elmo and the Doll Community have started their agricultural plans.

During one of the Doll Community general meetings, Springfield announces the organization of a treasure hunt to distract the Dolls from the recent tomato cultivation work. Teams will be dispatched to unexplored buildings 70km from the thermal power plant and attempt to recover the most valuable items. Chief among enticing rewards is the special grand prize: a turn in the Cyber Media Custom Couple's Neural Cloud Rest Capsule to experience a private virtual vacation with the Commander (who wasn't informed of this prize in advance). Every single Doll immediately get motivated and departs.

Each team is more or less successful in their exploration. The treasure hunt has revealed that the nearby area is too populated by various factions to be settled by the Doll Community, but can be used for trading. The activity also lowered the neural turbulence rates of the Dolls, which means it was relaxing for them, and Team Ksenia and Team Qiuhua were novel team rosters that yielded useful tactical data, while the pairing of Colphne and Florence worries the Commander. The team mingle with each other while displaying their spoils: Suomi listens to the CD Groza brought back for her, Dushevnaya tries to convince Vepley that her "sword in the stone" isn't a stand micorphone, Lewis tries to strongarm the other Dolls into tasting her team's dish even though it gave the organizer food poisoniong and made Sabrina crash, and even Qiuhua is having second thoughts. Only Voymastina managed to eat some without breaking her poker face, while Klukai and Makiatto are sulking since they didn't get the grand prize. The Commander interrupts Lewis' rampage by announcing that even though Team Groza got first place, everyone will still get to have a turn with them in the sleep capsule, including the Dolls who didn't formally take part in the hunt like the Pioneer Team, Suomi or Faye.

This season contains many references to Project Neural Cloud.

Endings

There are 10 Endings in this season. Each ending consists of the final Bizarre Encounter of the route and text recaps of the route's events.

Homeward Bound

Homeward Bound - Ashen Tales 1

Before the start of the great treasure hunt, the Commander assigned Springfield to build a pioneer team to ensure the safety of the contest area and the contestants' routes. Springfield chose Dolls from various teams, who handled different tasks, and even those from different roles and created a special Doll team. They might not have been the strongest fighters, but each member was perfectly capable of standing on their own two feet. After helping themselves to the supply blind boxes prepared for them by Mayling, the pioneer team and the Commander ventured forth on the road of exploration.

"The members of this team all have very balanced abilities."—Alva.

"It is an honor to be allowed to go out on a mission with you, Commander."—Daiyan.

"If you'd like, I can accompany you by myself next time."—Loreley.

"Everyone here is a most trustworthy teammate."—Ullrid.

"It's been a long time since I've been part of such a quiet team."—Robella.

"Looks like you're very pleased with this team, Commander."—Springfield.

Homeward Bound - Ashen Tales 2

The reason why the Commander formed the pioneer team wasn't just to safeguard the contest area, but also to verify a personal guess. This team, composed of Dolls with different origins, personalities, frames and coming from different squads would be an experimental unit used to validate the Commander's tactical hypotheses.

While fighting ELIDs and Varjagers, this team used their coordination to make up for their shortcomings during medium, close and long-ranged combat, and in suppression, breakthrough and even decapitation battles, demonstrating a startling amount of fighting strength.

"Loreley and I will handle long-range suppression."—Springfield.

"Ullrid and I will take care of close-range combat and skirmishing."—Robella.

"Mid-range fighting has always been the domain of assault rifles."—Daiyan.

Homeward Bound - Ashen Tales 3

During the exploration, the pioneer team verified the location of the human village and claimed a treasure map and lab keycard from the Varjagers. After that, they took a short break in the electronics plant. Robella and Ullrid were fascinated by the Mysterious Warrior gachapon and teddy bear doll machines. In order to relax and to help build mutual understanding, the pioneer team decided to plan how to help them win their desired prizes.

"I didn't manage to get the Mysterious Warrior figure, but the Lupus is also a good prize."—Robella.

"Well... my likes are... no, never mind."—Ullrid.

Homeward Bound - Ashen Tales 4

After a full day of exploration, the pioneer team finished their initial investigations of the plant area and ensured that there were several areas that were usable for the treasure hunt. However, they were attacked by a Boojum on the way back. As their ammo and other supplies had been depleted, the pioneer team was forced to mount a fighting retreat while using the surrounding terrain to their advantage. In the end, they managed to slay the Boojum through everyone's cooperation.

The pioneer team returned safely and the Commander was originally going to give them a reward. However, Springfield actively volunteered to handle the task of purchasing the prize. The naive Commander did not realize they had been outmaneuvered by their own Doll until it was too late. In the end, the Commander was forced to make a special decision after the treasure hunt ended.

"(Sigh) I fell for it."—Commander.

"But it was a better outcome than you expected, wasn't it?"—Springfield.

Blaze Support

Separate Ways - Blaze Support 1

In order to seize the top spot for the great treasure hunt, Cheeta chose to partner up with her familiar teammate Qiongjiu. While passing by a ruined building, she found a huge door set into the ground. Since it was so solidly secured to the surface, she decided to explore inside it. After contacting the Commander and with Qiongjiu's help, she forced the door open, revealing a hidden passage that led underground.

"My instincts were on the money. Won't you praise me, Caretaker?"—Cheeta.

"Your instincts definitely deserve praise, but we need to have a long talk about how you opened the door and the various illegal actions you took that after that."—Qiongjiu.

Separate Ways - Blaze Support 2

Due to an unexpected tunnel collapse, Qiongjiu and Cheeta were trapped in an underground chamber, which turned out to be an abandoned chemical plant. After stumbling into an ELID nest, they reached the core of the chemical plant—its abandoned control room, where Cheeta's fiddling unexpectedly reactivated the old equipment. Her attempts to gain control of the plant machinery instead resulted in a reactor overload.

"Let me make one thing clear! This was the fault of the thermal regulation system, and not because I was pressing buttons at random!"—Cheeta.

"Next time, PLEASE ask your team leader for permission before doing anything."—Commander.

Separate Ways - Blaze Support 3

Even for Dolls, the massive temperature spike was hard to bear, and so Cheeta searched for a way to shut the reactor down in order to avoid any secondary complications that might be caused by the reactor overload. However, neither shutting off the power or trying to force a shutdown prevented the reactor temperature from surging, and the pair were forced to withdraw to the control room. Just as all hope seemed lost, Cheeta's mention of the word "genius" accidentally activated the plant's smart assistant. However, the inflexible Genius Loci assistant refused to obey Cheeta's and Qiongjiu's wishes. With no other recourse, the pair were forced to take extreme measures and averted a reactor explosion by seizing control of all its programs.

Qiongjiu and Cheeta returned with the smart assistant's core hub as their prize for the treasure hunt. After taking into consideration the fact that the device was largely intact and that its simple neural cloud was quite unique, the organizers, pioneer team and numerous appraisers collectively decided to award the pair third place.

"Why did we only get third? Are you SURE there's nothing fishy going on behind the scenes, Caretaker?!"—Cheeta.

"This mission highlighted some of my inadequacies, which I will work to improve in future."—Qiongjiu.

Frozen Defense

Separate Ways - Frozen Defense 1

The hero Dushevnaya and the paladin Helen embarked upon a perilous adventure. While passing by a ruined building, they were blessed with an encounter with a witch's familiar—a rabbit. While they ultimately failed to find the familiar in question, they unexpectedly gained a legendary treasure and laid the foundation for future journeys.

"It seems the witch's familiar has granted its approval to our heroic band."—Dushevnaya.

"Paladin Helen, hm. Not bad, I like that title. I will continue to defend the Commander and Dushevnaya."—Helen.

Separate Ways - Frozen Defense 2

In the depths of the ruins, the hero Dushevnaya and the paladin Helen found the legendary sword in the stone—Excalrebar. At the behest of destiny, the hero Dushevnaya decided to draw forth the stone-bound blade and become a true hero. The Commander and Helen's encouragement helped the hero Dushevnaya to vanquish the horde of evil minions (ELIDs) guarding the stone, and she successfully pulled it forth. Bathed in the light of Excalrebar, Dushevnaya became the mightiest hero in the land.

"Dushevnaya, please stop by the ops room afterwards. We need to have a discussion about how you write your combat reports."—Commander.

"Ah... er... um... okay."—Dushevnaya.

Separate Ways - Frozen Defense 3

The hero Dushevnaya and the paladin Helen continued their journey. Though her body was branded with levinform scars, the hero Dushevnaya nevertheless overcame the black curse upon her and reached a lode of blessed mithril—an abandoned mine. Unfortunately, what should have been a holy site was overtaken by a daemonic infestation. After a grueling battle, the hero Dushevnaya overcame the obstacles before her and arrived at the hiding place of a great treasure, where she faced her final obstacle, a great dragon.

The hero Dushevnaya and the paladin Helen engaged the wicked dragon in a battle to the death, and in the end, they managed to bring home large quantities of mithril. The pair gifted this mithril to the Commander, but fortunately, the hero Dushevnaya still had the holy sword Excalrebar with which to continue the contest.

"Why did we get a consolation prize..."—Dushevnaya.

"It's okay, we'll do better next time."—Helen.

EM Strike

Separate Ways - EM Strike 1

After hearing that Klukai had taken part in the treasure hunt, Leva and Lenna decided to take part as well, partly out of curiosity but mainly because they wanted to mess with her. Being very sensitive to electronic signals, they immediately detected a very suspicious signal and backtraced it to an electronics manufacturing plant. Although the devices produced here were all old stuff, its security system was exceptionally sensitive. Despite some minor hiccups, these old electronic devices failed to waylay the pair.

"Hehehe, I haven't gone out on a mission with you in a while, Leva."—Lenna.

"Hohoho, you've grown again, Lenna."—Leva.

Separate Ways - EM Strike 2

Leva and Lenna discovered a production line for game consoles. Driven by a playful desire, the two of them decided to connect to a game console in order to win a prize from it. After an enjoyable interlude, Lenna obtained the cartridge for the game and prepared to bring it home to share it with everyone on the Elmo.

In the production line's central control room, they saw records of a sweatshop company that mercilessly exploited its employees. After that, they broke through the security systems and mechanical arms in the plant's reject recycling area. After that, Leva and Lenna arrived at the finished product warehouse.

"I think Mechty was playing "Pixel Warriors" when Klukai kidnapped her for the treasure hunt."—Lenna.

"Hohoho, the leader of our H.I.D.E. 404 is truly harsh."—Leva.

Separate Ways - EM Strike 3

The finished product warehouse contained large quantities of high-end manufactured goods. Naturally it also included a security system to defend its contents. Leva and Lenna were forced to wreck the defense systems in order to take the items with them. However, the run-down warehouse was on the verge of collapse after a string of battles. While it was a bit of a shame to leave the trove within the warehouse behind, Leva and Lenna decided to focus on staying safe and withdraw with some of the items.

Since the two of them only managed to bring back some obsolete products and games, the organizers could only give them a participation prize. However, the copy of "Pixel Warriors" that Lenna brought back became a big hit on the Elmo.

"Hehehe, this treasure hunt was fun. Klukai doesn't seem to happy about it, through."—Lenna.

"The Loving Sweetheart Award... pffft... That's hilarious."—Leva.

"..."—Klukai.

Miasma Breakdown

Separate Ways - Miasma Breakdown 1

Klukai joined the treasure hunt with one objective: to win. Therefore, her partner was the teammate she knew best—Mechty. The pair discovered a small band of Varjagers just as the contest began, and after a "friendly exchange of views", Klukai obtained a piece of intelligence from them—the location of a mysterious treasure.

"Addendum: Mechty fell asleep during the mission. Future training sessions to address Mechty's shortcomings are in order."—Klukai.

"Are you a devil?!"—Mechty.

Separate Ways - Miasma Breakdown 2

Klukai followed the information obtained from the "friendly exchange" with the Varjagers and charged into a Varjager encampment with Mechty in tow. Thanks to the sheer weight of fire that the two elite Dolls could bring to bear, the duo managed to destroy the Varjagers' stronghold and escaped across a canyon in physics-defying fashion. The peak beyond the canyon was the location of the treasure in the intel. While the Varjagers were also trying to scale the peak, it was not a difficult task for an elite Doll.

"Uwah... Klukai still loves emphasizing how elite she is..."—Mechty.

"Your lesson plan has already been sent to your terminal."—Klukai.

"You devil! You monster! You're abusing your authority for workplace retaliation!"—Mechty.

Separate Ways - Miasma Breakdown 3

Despite the incredible brutality of their methods, Klukai and Mechty managed to beat their competition to the location of the treasure, which was a gigantic secure vault. However, Mechty had completely run out of energy while trying to bypass the lock and fell asleep. Still, with the Commander's help and Klukai's assistance, she soon regained her strength. In the end, the Varjagers resorted to a desperate gambit and tried to blow up the ruins. In a practically-impossible feat, Klukai dragged off the entire vault with her bike. From that day on, a legend spread of a collapsed ruin, large numbers of Varjagers going missing, and a security vault flying through the air.

After much difficulty, Klukai and Mechty brought the vault to their designated end point. After opening it, however, they found that it only contained a bit of expired, fake medicine. Although they didn't know what exactly this medicine was made of, after considering that it might end up being useful in the otherwise resource-poor Yellow Zone, the organizer decided to jointly award them the Loving Sweetheart Award.

"(Sigh) Well, that was a bust."—Mechty.

"..."—Klukai.

Flow Recovery

Separate Ways - Flow Recovery 1

Colphne had always been deeply interested in her fellow medical Doll Florence. Her prior accomplishments in the field, her ten years as an unlicensed doctor, the fact that Florence's neural cloud had been the forerunner for those of many models of medical Dolls, all these and more fascinated Colphne. For that reason, she did not partner up with her teammates for the treasure hunt, but instead chose Florence. On her part, Florence had also reached out to team up with Colphne, probably because she had sensed the latter's intentions. During a sandstorm, they found an unconscious patient trapped in a ruin, and they managed to awaken him with their excellent medical skills.

"Hehehe, I like how daring you are, Colphie~"—Florence.

"You're a far more outrageous Doll than what the rumors implied, Florence."—Colphne.

Separate Ways - Flow Recovery 2

Colphne and Florence's patient told them that there were other humans in need of help besides himself. Being medical professionals, providing medical aid to those in distress would always be their top priority. Thus, they followed the man to a human village, only to find that it had been overrun by ELIDs. After some difficulty, the three of them finally managed to gather the village residents, whereupon Colphne and Florence began triaging and diagnosing them. During the process, they discovered that the humans here had been subjected to an extremely unusual form of radiation exposure. Each of them decided to investigate the matter on their own, and they ultimately met up in an underground waterway.

"A doctor can't abandon her patients, no matter the circumstances."—Florence.

"While her treatment methods are quite extreme, and in fact just about everything she does is quite extreme, she is most definitely an excellent doctor."—Colphne.

Separate Ways - Flow Recovery 3

Colphne and Florence found the mastermind behind the entire incident in the waterway. It was a severely irradiated infected creature that was in the process of mutating into an ELID. While they tried to administer emergency treatment, they were ultimately unable to save its life. Being doctors and Tactical Dolls both, they put down their medical equipment and took up their weapons to give the poor thing a clean sendoff. The human village's drinking water problem was solved, and the grateful villagers gave Colphne and Florence supplies they had gathered from scavenging. These supplies helped the pair take second place.

"Colphie, let's give the Commander a comprehensive physical together next time. "—Florence.

"No problem, I've already made a list of tests I'm going to perform."—Colphne.

"I think I shouldn't let them team up again."—Commander.

Comprehensive Ops

Separate Ways - Comprehensive Ops 1

With Colphne pairing up with Florence on her own and Vepley running off to hold a concert in parts unknown, Groza, Nemesis and Krolik came together to form Team Groza and they agreed to meet up in a nearby industrial plant. However, when they arrived at their destination, they found that the way to it was barred by a huge chasm. With teamwork built up over countless missions, they crossed it without incident and successfully reached the long-dormant audio/video factory.

"...The clamorous flock... echoes to the sky..."—Nemesis.

"Hah? Who are you calling a careless dork? I got here just fine, didn't I?!"—Krolik.

"Krolik, Nemesis, don't fight."—Groza.

Separate Ways - Comprehensive Ops 2

Team Groza investigated the factory's disc production line, the adjoining screening room and the recording studio. They recovered many valuable supplies from them such as industrial-grade raw materials, movie discs and music records. While doing this, Nemesis' attention was drawn to a specially-preserved CD and Groza felt that the CD might have some kind of special unknown value. After that, Team Groza used the nearby equipment the preserve the audio file within it.

"...The forgotten melody resonates and plays ♪..."—Nemesis.

"I'd have gotten Vepley down here if I'd known we'd have to deal with a voiceprint verification system or whatever... Oi, Nemesis! I saw that! You think I can't do it, huh, is that it!"—Krolik.

"...Krolik, Nemesis, don't fight."—Groza.

Separate Ways - Comprehensive Ops 3

On the way home, Team Groza are attacked by the Varjagers, who sought to relieve them of their rich spoils. With the Commander's leadership, Team Groza overcame their opposition. During the final judging, the song on the CD, "A Song For My Home", turned out to be a repository for the region's collective memories. It deeply moved the organizers and as a result, the team won the highest honor for this treasure hunt—the first prize.

"While I have no idea why a song is worth more than a pile of resources, first place is place. We won!"—Krolik.

"Hehe, I'll handle the celebration party, then. Commander, what do you think of cake and wine?"—Groza.

Delve Efficiency

Separate Ways - Delve Efficiency 1

Qiuhua and Makiatto were always planning to join the contest, but they were so far away when they found out that they only managed to arrive at the last minute. After some debate, they teamed up with Lewis, who had gotten lost during the treasure hunt and wandered back to the starting point. The trio's destination was different from that of most of the other teams; they arrived at a food plant in the hopes of finding some kind of treasure which they could use to take part. Through the power of teamwork, they managed to breach the plant's interior and began their search.

"Now that I think about it... Why am I searching for a recipe with a pair of taste-impaired dorks?"—Qiuhua.

"Taste-impaired? Who?"—Makiatto.

Separate Ways - Delve Efficiency 2

The three Dolls stocked up on food from a vending machine and began searching the plant's warehouse area. After a long battle of wits with a punch-clock machine, they obtained a wealth of special ingredients and headed over to the kitchen. Through their efforts, the trio started the kitchen back up again, and prepared to face their final challenge.

"Come to think of it, we should have brought those cooking utensils back too. They were all good stuff."—Qiuhua.

"That's true, I wanted to give them cute decorative ribbons too. What kind of color would look good on a frying pan handle?"—Lewis.

"Purple."—Makiatto.

"Wait a minute, aren't those flammable? Why are you even putting something like that so close to a naked flame?!"—Qiuhua.

Separate Ways - Delve Efficiency 3

The team finished restocking, prepared their ingredients, and fired up the kitchen. Everything proceeded in an orderly manner. However, their opponent was a harsh examiner—the domestic robot Bax from the main culinary lab, who would judge the quality of their dishes. Qiuhua and company presented their signature dishes, but could not win Bax's approval. However, they did not give up in the face of Bax's fault-finding but instead made more and more daring attempts. In the end, they conquered Bax's tastebuds and won his recipe.

Since the organizers had not studied the recipe, the three of them decided to make their own versions of it, with "small amounts" of extra seasoning and modifications. However, the final product was rather terrifying.

"Could I not judge this, please... I wasn't told this job would be an active threat to my life."—Main Organizer.

"I'm, uh, I'm very sorry about this..."—Qiuhua.

"The Commander is currently unable to vet this combat report due to food poisoning."—Groza, serving as proxy.

Phase Dominion

Separate Ways - Phase Dominion 1

Ksenia had sensed a business opportunity in this treasure hunt. Both the potential for a wealth of tips and the grand prize of some alone time with the Commander appealed to her. After considering that her own fighting power was average at best, Ksenia decided to pick teammates from among her friends. In the end, she decided to go with the friends she had made in Magrasea—Lind, who craved the candy listed among the prizes, and Jiangyu, who was all alone because Daiyan couldn't take part. However, since Klukai, the strongest fighter of the Oasis, had already set out long ago, Ksenia called in a real heavyweight of a helper—Voymastina.

"How on earth did you even persuade her to help?"—Lind.

"Trade secret."—Ksenia.

"She said it was an order from the Commander."—Voymastina.

"I've been exposed!"—Ksenia.

Separate Ways - Phase Dominion 2

Ksenia had once heard a series of rumors on the cloud, which, combined with the search area for the contest, resulted in her quickly locking down her target destination. However, her journey did not turn out well. For starters, they accidentally captured an innocent exchange trader Doll and were then locked out of their destination by its main door. After much difficulty, they made their way into the lab area, but were hampered by the lab's security systems. Lind, whose senses were exceptionally keen, suffered terribly during all this. And in the end, they gained nothing from all their struggles except a Varjager attack.

"(Heaves) Please don't make me remember those smells."—Lind.

"I feel like we've done nothing but open doors throughout this mission."—Jiangyu.

Separate Ways - Phase Dominion 3

The Varjagers had been eyeing the location for some time now, but they had been stymied by their inability to breach the main door. They attacked Ksenia and company to try and seize the lab, but the massive difference in combat power soon ended in a complete rout for the Varjagers. While the four of them discussed how to handle the Varjagers with the Commander, their reinforcements unexpectedly attracted a huge swarm of ELIDs. The four of them were forced to withdraw into the lab, but discovered that there were ELIDs in there too. After some twists and turns, Ksenia finally found the treasure of the labs—a custom-made anti-ELID bomb. While it had a lot of flaws and hadn't been properly tested yet, it served well enough as a grenade for the four of them to escape.

Ksenia and her team finally made it back to the Doll community in one piece, but they had used up all the bombs during their escape and in the end they didn't even receive so much as a participation prize.

(Sob) Oh, woe is me! My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined!"—Ksenia.

Frontline Ops

Separate Ways - Frontline Ops 1

As the overall umpire for this event, the Commander could not directly take part in it. However, both Helena and Melanie were very interested in participating. After taking into account how important they were and the dangers of exploring the Yellow Zone, Mayling decided to install streaming gear onto a command-type assault vehicle so they could experience the joys of outdoor adventures through the comfort of a big screen. However, ten minutes into their enjoyable excursion, the assault vehicle got stuck for unknown reasons. After several less-than-successful attempts to break free, the assault vehicle plunged into a mining shaft below a set of ruins.

"Outdoors, fun! Helena, wants to go!"—Helena.

"This is actually pretty fun."—Melanie.

Separate Ways - Frontline Ops 2

The sudden accident caused a huge change in their planned route. After learning that the mine could produce ores, Helena got the idea of searching it for pretty stones. Melanie was quite curious about Helena's interests and after learning about what Helena wanted, she secretly asked the Commander to get Helena a stone she would like. However, the mine's layout was very complex and the mine shafts were inhabited by ELIDs, which resulted in several instances when the assault vehicle was almost lost.

"It's a childish interest, but I don't dislike it."—Melanie.

Separate Ways - Frontline Ops 3

After some searching, the Commander and Mayling confirmed that this area was a large test plot converted from an abandoned mine. However, the ravages of time had wiped away all traces of what its original crop was supposed to be. While they searched, Helena learned that Melanie was a big fan of flowers and secretly asked the Commander to get a gift for Melanie. The two similar girls had made similar choices. After tangling with an abandoned answering machine and large quantities of ELIDs, they managed to find an amber and a flower growing out of a wall crevice.

The Elmo finally recovered the assault vehicle after overcoming many obstacles and the girls took out the gifts they had prepared and gave them to each other. Perhaps this was just an insignificant little interlude in the world, but for the two girls, it was a most memorable day.

"Helena, Melanie, like."—Helena.

"Don't say that, you'll make me blush."—Melanie.

Bizarre Encounters

There are 80 Bizarre Encounters in this season.

• Common
  • Enhancement Program: The squad finds a program capable of enhancing Doll neural clouds in an abandoned Doll manufactory. It contains a "Judgement Mode" used for improving the capabilities of individuals, and "Concerto Mode" used for improving the capabilities of the squad as a whole. "Concerto Mode" is a program seemingly created by Cyber Media, a company that appears capable of developing programs that improve Dolls' combat power despite not being a military-industrial enterprise. "Judgement Mode" is marked with 16Lab's icon, and the Commander feels they saw this program before.
  • Super Trader: The squad meets the "super broker" Hanako, a Doll with fox ears and tail, who appears both familiar and suspicious to the Commander. She offers special services free of charge in exchange for future business opportunities.
• Homeward Bound
  • Pioneer Team: Comprising Alva, Daiyan, Loreley, Robella, Springfield and Ullrid, the Pioneer Team assembles the leader of several Doll squads to serve as a stable test case for squad reconfiguration (minus Groza and Qiongjiu who couldn't let their teammates run wild without them). The team picks up the supplies allotted by Mayling, who asks the Commander to spare her rice wine.
  • Foodstuffs Plant: In an abandoned food processing plant, Daiyan finds an Universal Anything Services ad about "Millau's Choice". The Pioneer Team disables the security measures of the plant to make it safe for the next visiting teams.
  • Human Village: The Pioneer Team finds a small human settlement stockpiling supplies. The Commander elects not to reveal the team so the Doll Community remains secret, but to help them indirectly by taking out roaming ELIDs.
  • Varjager Infighting: The Pioneer Team investigates tyre tracks leading to a Varjager group fighting over whether to follow a treasure map or investigate an abandoned lab. If the player chooses not to intervene, the Varjagers accidentally blow themselves up with a rocket launcher misfire.
  • Relaxation Time: The Pioneer Team investigates an electronics factory and Robella finds an amusement area. Ullrid is interested in the claw machines and Robella in the Mysterious Warrior gachapon. The team finds the token production line, but Robella only ends up pulling Corrupted Mysterious Warrior Ω instead of the warrior of justice she wanted and Ullrid makes the sobering experience of playing claw machines.
  • Final Verification: The Pioneer Team prepares to wrap up the survey of the treasure hunt grounds, but finds a Boojum roaming in the residential area. The team leaders perfectly synchronize to use their environment and strength to take it down.
  • Homeward Bound - Ashen Tales: The Pioneer Team wrap up their survey of the area, leaving the detailed exploration for the participating teams to pilfer. Loreley laments that the leaders won't get to have a reward, but settles for Springfield's proposal to spend more time with the Commander by helping them prepare the other prizes.
• Blaze Support
  • Behind The Door: Cheeta notices an interesting reinforced trapdoor and bugs Qiongjiu and the Commander to investigate it. She finds it unlocked.
  • Collapse: Exploring behind the trapdoor, the floor collapse below Frostfall Squad, who are stuck suspended to a rebar. After convening with the Commander, they determine that the floor below isn't dangerously far and drop into an abandoned chemical reactor.
  • Nest?: Frostfall finds an ELID nest in a factory and Cheeta uses her special high-power explosives to take them out, with little regard for the team being danger close. Next, they bring the power back to the factory.
  • Repair Time: To investigate the nature of the factory's products, Frostfall reactivates the main reactor.
  • Emergency Stop: As the reactor goes haywire and security robots become threatening, but the main computer suddenly becomes responsive when Cheeta laments that she'll meet a pitiful end for a genius.
  • Genius vs Genius: The factory turns out to be under the control of an AI that also calls itself a genius and can't be reasoned with, so Cheeta yanks out its core servers, bring the factory under control.
  • Separate Ways - Blaze Support: Cheeta is confident that the server containing the factory's AI will grant them first place, but Frostfall ends up in third because Cheeta tampered with it, lowering its value.
• Frozen Defense
  • Mr. Bunny: Inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Dushevnaya decides to follow a white rabbit with Helen in tow. The Commander prays they don't get isekai'd but they just end up gathering some resources.
  • Sword In The Stone: Dushevnaya finds a vaguely sword-shaped steel rebar embedded in concret and claims it is Excalibur, while the Commander makes a reference to the salted fish swords from Shadow Trails in Azeroth. After doing battle with nearby ELID to prove her worth, Dushevnaya pulls the "sword" from the "stone", but it breaks in the process.
  • Fatal Curse: After tripping and hitting her head, leaving a mark, Dushevnaya is convinced she's been marked with a curse. Soon after, a metal pot falls on her head and she considers herself saved by this "grail".
  • Underground Mine: Dushevnaya uses "Excalibur" to open a box with resources in an abandoned tunnel. She then tries to distract ELID by shooting a put near them, forgetting that her weapon will attract their attention a lot more. She then tries to be cool by acting as the rear guard, but the Commander orders Helen to take her and run so she doesn't pull a Gandalf on them.
  • Dragon's Lair: Dushevnaya and Helen are exploring a "dragon's lair" (a landfill) in search of treasure. Just as Dushevnaya is about to collect some crystals, they're attacked by a horde of ELIDs, which awaken an enormous ELID defending its territory.
  • Separate Ways - Frozen Defense: At the end of the contest, Dushevnaya submit her "Excalibur" as spoils, while she and Helen offer the crystal they got from the "dragon" to the Commander as a gift.
• EM Strike
  • Signal Source: Leva and Lenna are investigating suspicious signals and infiltrate a building defended by an electric fence.
  • Drone: The building is an electronic factory producing D■■-Pock■t drones and Leva hacks into an aggressive one. Even though the parts should be long outdated, the Dolls find a compatible charging port to top up.
  • Gaming Console: Leva and Lenna follow the signals into another production line that used to make arcade machines such as "Pixel Wars". The two Dolls patch themselves into a cabinet to fight the last boss, the Pixel General, and defeat it with their "Thunder Punch". Their reward is a cartridge of the game to bring back to the Elmo.
  • Central Machine Room: Following the arcade cabinet's network connection, Leva and Lenna enter the plant's server room. They find the plant's secret production files and a map leading to the warehouse of finished products, across a recycling station.
  • Waste Processing Station: Lenna and Leva cross the recycling station safely after deactivating its machines and find a coin stash left behind by an engineer.
  • Product Vault: After Leva hacks the warehouse's security robots, the plant's systems go haywire and the two Dolls separately take out the sanitation system and conveyor belts. Before the plant collapses, the Commander orders Team Leva to take one of the game consoles, "the legendary N■■", to run Pixel Wars on.
  • Separate Ways - EM Strike: Leva and Lenna only get a participation prize for the random bunch of electronic parts and products they brought back, but their true treasure is the copy of Pixel Wars that will expand the Elmo's Crimson Arcade collection.
• Miasma Breakdown
  • Motley Crew: Klukai, very motivated by the grand prize, drags Mechty with her on her bike. They find a gathering of Varjagers and Klukai sends Mechty to eavesdrop, but she falls asleep on the way. Going after Mechty when she's late to return, Klukai learns that the Varjagers are digging for a supposed treasure.
  • Entry Forbidden: Klukai and Mechty attempt to go around the main Varjager force but are noticed. Klukai takes the local leader hostage to enter the dig site.
  • Deep Infiltration: Klukai and Mechty drive down the dig side with hordes of Varjagers on their tail. Mechty uses explosives to take a cliff down on the pursuers, but she uses too much and the bike only barely makes it to a suspicious suspension bridge. Mechty is about to ask Klukai how much she weighs but wisely doesn't finish the question. The bridge snaps when the Varjagers attempt to pursue, but Klukai and Mechty reach the other side of the cliff just in time.
  • Race: Klukai and Mechty find a Varjager party climbing a cliff and steal their climbing equipment. They find a huge vault door at the top and Mechty finally falls asleep from exhaustion. After tying her to her bike, Klukai races past the Varjager looting party and through the door.
  • False Negotiations: While Klukai attempts to crack the old vault behind the door, she puts Mechty in charge of holding back the Varjagers, and the Commander in charge of motivating Mechty. The Commander promises her three days off and she starts taking the mission seriously. The Varjagers ask to negotiate, claiming they have the key to the vault. Mechty buys time by trying to negotiate loot with the Varjagers, then claiming she needs to run the negotiations through the chain of command. However, it turns out the Varjagers were also buying time to plant explosives around the vault.
  • Rich Haul: The vault plummets as the ruins around it crumble from the explosion. Klukai and Mechty use the vault to lure the Varjagers and pick them out until they give up and flee. With no other way out, Klukai straps the vault to her bike and follows the fleeing bandits.
  • Separate Ways - Miasma Breakdown: Back at the power plant, the Underground Brokers break the vault open and find expired fake medicine in it. The Commander promises to reward the disappointed Klukai and Mechty, and Mechty requests the Commander to give her a lap pillow.
• Flow Recovery
  • Call For Help: Colphne and Florence find a wounded settler in the ruins. After the Dolls used a worrying variety of syringes, they awaken and beg Colphne and Florence to save their family too.
  • Village: The settler brings the Dolls to their village, which is well-equipped but where an illness is spreading.
  • Colphne's House Call: Colphne convinces a kid to get their shot by saying they need it to protect their family. The kid reveals they were wounded in a cave near the village, and Colphne encounters ELIDs when she investigates.
  • Florence's House Call: While Colphne is saving her patients, Florence uses more worrying methods to cure her own patients. She has to be convinced by the Commander to properly use anesthetics. A patient attempts to run away but Florence reins him in saying he might spread the illness again. The patient suggests the illness may be caused by the water from the well, so Florence explores the bottom of the well, expecting something exciting to happen. She ends up in the same cave Colphne was exploring.
  • Specialist Consultation: In the cave, Colphne and Florence find a passive ELID beast similar to an infected stag or bison, the ulcers of which are contaminating the water. Florence claims she studied under veterinary Dolls and attempts to operate, but the sight of the Dolls frightens the ELID who calls its comrades, exhausting its last strengths. The two doctors can't help but be saddened by its death, and Colphne anesthetize it to grant it a peaceful death while Florence keeps the other ELIDs at bay.
  • Separate Ways - Flow Recovery: Colphne and Florence return from the village with a haul of high-end electronic parts, and they receive the runner-up prize. Florence requests an extra reward from the Commander, and working with Florence leaves Colphne interested in learning from her.
• All-Around Excellence
  • Broken Bridge: Groza, Nemesis and Krolik face an audiovisual factory, but the bridge leading to it has collapsed. If they follow Nemesis' advice, they climb down and find a secret entrance to the factory. If Krolik attempts to jump over the broken bridge, she nearly falls due to string winds and is saved by Nemesis.
  • Production Floor: While exploring a CD manufacturing chain, Groza, Nemesis and Krolik are bothered by a cleaning bot that wants to "clean" them, but its logic has been corrupted and it sprays them with dust instead. After picking up some undamaged blank CDs, they find a projection room.
  • Projection Room: The projection room is attended by a service bot. The team tries to purchase tickets to enter but payment is expected in ■■■ dollars, a unknown currency. The robot consider the trio as bad payers and tries to attack them with a taser. After taking it down, the team must select a category of movie CDs to take with them. They find a sci-fi film about humans fighting AIs to rebuild civilization. Krolik comments that it sounds more like a documentary.
  • Recording Studio: The next area is a music recording room. After putting the power back online, they must pass a "soundwave verification system" which works like a karaoke machine. Groza fails the test and they must break in. They find many rare CD editions, and Nemesis also notices a personal record titled "A Song for My Home" they decide to also preserve.
  • Breakout: On the way out, Groza, Nemesis and Krolik are attacked by Varjagers trying to steal their spoils. Each team member's use their respective strengths to break through while stealing some of their resources.
  • Separate Ways - Comprehensive Ops: The organizer doesn't rate the team's spoils very highly compared to what the other teams brought back, saying they don't have a good resell value, but she completely changes her mind after listening to "A Song for My Home", which lifted the locals' spirit as they rebuild their homes after a disaster.
• Delve Efficiency
  • Foodstuffs Plant: Team Qiuhua, which includes Lewis and Makiatto, explore a food processing plant starting with the canteen. Qiuhua hopes to find long-lost recipes and Lewis rare food to give them an edge compared to the other teams who focus on tools and parts, but Makiatto is skeptical they will find anything. To everyone's surprise, Qiuhua picks the old lock using a soup spoon.
  • Dining Area: The only thing left in the canteen is a vending machine furnished with Sarsa■■■■, Gr■■■■s and ■■■■■■ Herbal drink. Since the buttons don't work, Qiuhua drop-kicks the machine, causing it to release security automatons. After destroying them, the Dolls acquire a Beef Energy Bar, a packet of Strawberry & Cream Candy and a box of Teddy Cookies. Lewis finds a toy in the cookie box.
  • Storage Area: To unlock the door to the storage area, the Dolls find a employee ID abandoned in the canteen. The shelves are stocked with many rare ingredients like marble wagyu and king crab legs, but they settle on more common meat pieces easier to make into a recipe later.
  • Kitchen: The Dolls find an automated kitchen with robot workers. After sorting out the haywire robots in the preparation area and acquiring a base meal, they move on to the flavoring step. If the Commander chooses to make a spicy dish, Makiatto silently wonders if they're an M.
  • Head Chef's Lab: The Dolls enter the lab of "Bucks", the AI chef, who promises a prize to contestants who can prove their cooking abilities. Qiuhua presents it with a Guo Bao Rou, but Bucks bizarrely complains about the lack of tomato sauce. The next step is drinks, if the Commander suggests to use a drink from the vending machine Bucks flies into a rage and has to be pacified. The final step is dessert, and Lewis sways Bucks' tastes with a biscuit castle that's fun to eat. The reward is a cooking book titled "Bucks' Cyclopedia of Stews", which gives Qiuhua the idea to use all the ingredients they gathered into a stew.
  • Separate Ways - Delve Efficiency: Faced with a stew made of breaded pork, color-changing mushroom and powdered coffee, the organizer gives the team the creativity award. Makiatto asks the Commander for a dessert buffet as her real reward.
• Phase Dominion
  • Exclusive Intel: Ksenia is leading Jiangyu, Lind and Voymastina on a route that was revealed to her by a big shot reporter. She intended to shore up some serious firepower by also recruiting Lewis, Florence and Klukai, but convinced Voymastina instead since they weren't available. Ksenia's plan starts showing some cracks right away as her teammates choose to attack a mysterious unknown Doll before trying to talk first.
  • Searching For The Lab: The mysterious broker Doll, Hanako, points the team towards an abandoned lab. "As planned", Ksenia entrusts the Commander with how to open the door, which can be forced open by Voymastina. Lind complains she'll be forced to bear the smell inside since she can't turn off her sensory modules.
  • Active Defense System: The team is quickly assaulted by a horde of security drones. The Commander can once again ask Voymastina to just destroy the all bare-handed to conserve ammo. Examining the drones reveals they are Svarog Heavy Industries models, and their logs show the lab was lasted visited 12 years ago.
  • Where's The Treasure?: The lab turns out to be pretty empty, apart for some lollipops salvaged by Lind, and Ksenia's little helpers are growing bored, until a group of Varjagers who had their eyes on the lab ambush them from the entrance. They're quickly brought down by Voymastina and their leader begs to spare their lives in exchange for their resources. The situation becomes even messier when a horde of ELIDs show up instead of the reinforcements the Varjagers expected, and the Dolls go deeper in the lab while leaving the Varjagers to handle the beasts.
  • The Lab's Secret: As they go deeper into the lab, the Dolls are faced with a locked door they force open as the battle between the Varjagers and ELIDs approaches, but behind the door is a giant Thoad. They lure the Varjagers into fighting it too.
  • Last Chance: The Dolls find the last room they can reach, which contains a crate with Svarog's logo. Beyond the last door, the rest of the base has been flooded by an emergency system. When they try to open the box, automated guns attempt to defend it, and inside they find a grenade launcher with four ammo. The manual describe it as an experimental anti-ELID special payload created as a joint research by Svarog and UltiLife, but the prototype was a failure. The Commander orders them to secure the ELID research data and use the grenades to blast a way out.
  • Separate Ways - Phase Dominion: Team Ksenia returns empty-handed (except for Lind with her lollipops). The Commander gives them a consolation prize, a tip for Ksenia, a martial arts movie for Jiangyu and 4-tonnes training equipment for Voymastina.
• Forward Command
  • Excursion Adventures: Mayling fields the remote-controlled command assault vehicle so Helena and Melanie can take part in the contest from the safety of the Elmo. The vehicle get stuck in a ditch early on, but in her frustration, Helena fixes the situation by firing a rocket that sends the vehicle through the ground into an abandoned quarry.
  • Underground Exploration: Mayling maneuvers the assault vehicle through the quarry to search for an exit and find interesting ores for Helena, who likes when Colphne give her "shiny pebbles".
  • Surprise Encounter: While Mayling performs repairs on the vehicle, Melanie secretly asks the Commander to help her find rocks for Helena. Mayling finds a set of ancient mining tools but can't make them work. Helena loses interest in the trip and starts talking with Melanie, declaring herself the big sister since she met the Commander first, and asking her what she likes. Melanie is miffed to be considered the little sister when she's the more mature one, and replies that she likes flowers since she was always surrounded by them before coming to the Elmo. Melanie also helps Helen drink the bitter medicine she needs to recover, promising her a gift. Mayling discovers that the quarry is actually an experimental agricultural field with valuable plants. While exploring it, they find a piece of amber for Helena.
  • Way To Leave: As the search for an exit continues, Helena secretly asks the Commander to find a flower for Melanie. Mayling hacks into the transponder they found earlier, which hosts a primitive AI predating Gen I Neural Clouds. The AI can deliver resources and share a map of the facility, which also reveals that the experimental field was funded by a private individual before the site was abandoned 20 years prior. While the tunnel the assault vehicle took to enter appears to be the only entrance, the Commander deduces that another entrance must exist for ELIDs to have made their way in. They stake their hopes on explosives remaining in storage, while stopping by the flower fields to pick one for Melanie.
  • Mine Escape: After using the transponder to lure out the ELIDs from the flower fields, Mayling picks the last surviving flower. The way out is through an ELID nest, and Mayling rushes through, aiming at abandoned explosives nearby to take out pursuers. While the explosion isn't powerful enough, the Commander has already moved the Elmo near the exit point and prepared a Doll team to recover the vehicle.
  • Separate Ways - Frontline Ops: Melanie and Helena give each other the gift recovered by the command assault vehicle, though they still can't agree on who's the big sister and the little sister. The Commander also gives Mayling a bottle of rice wine for her efforts. The Commander hopes to have another successful field trip involving the rest of the Elmo family in the future.

Treasure Gallery

There are 40 Treasures in this season.

• Classic Document
• Auto-Adaptive Processor
• Storage Crate
• Tactical Notes
• Cyber Laika
• Tremor Reaction Pod
• Detector Goggles
• Automatic Trade Agent
• Precious Antique
• Broken Vending Machine
• External memory Cache
• Overclock Algorithm
• Black Card
• Wishing Coin
• IR Optics
• ???
• ???
• Force Shield Generator
• Multiport Interface Dock
• Emergency Medical Kot
• Universal Upgrade Key
• Bounty Hunter's License
• Mysterious Black Box
• Mysterious Warrior's Mask L: A spooky mask that only covers the left side of the face. The other half is nowhere to be found. When worn, it grants a Doll great power. For some reason, it feels strangely familiar.
• ???
• Judgement Mode: An unknown program from 16Lab which can converge the capabilities of other neural clouds into a single one. This isn't the first time such a program has surfaced... the military also fields a similar program.
• Concerto Mode: A piece of technology developed by Cyber Media and based on the E-Orchestra's neural cloud. It greatly amplifies the capabilities of other Dolls, but the mainframe unit will have to bear the neural strain of doing so.
• Shattered Mirror
• Survival Guide
• Cooling Vest
• Lucky Bag
• Thermal Tracker
• Cryoprobe Tracker
• Electro Scanner
• Vitriolic Analyzer
• Moisture Locator
• Broad-Spectrum Sensor
• Overclock Converter
• Harmonic Reaction Device
• Vehicle Transmitter