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Dushevnaya (GFL2)/Profile
| Dushevnaya (GFL2) | Story | Profile | Quotes |
"I can't sleep yet, I still have work to do..."
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Record 1
Dushevnaya was originally created as a nursing Doll, but her subsequent abandonment in a nursing home led to her developing a very strong desire to be needed. Before she lost her neural logs, questions like "Would things have been different if I had done a little better?" often resounded in her heart.
In Griffin, she was a capable Tactical Doll known as KSVK, and her desire to be needed was satisfied. Therefore, when Griffin underwent its restructuring, she did not choose to return to her job as a nurse. Instead, she and her friend DP-12 chose to be reassigned, and they were placed in a certain large corporation as bodyguard Dolls.
However, Dushevnaya's new lease on life did not go too well—after accidentally stumbling across her employer's secrets, she was slated for destruction. While she barely managed to escape that fate thanks to being rescued by her friend, she could not maintain a hold on her neural logs. During her flight, she lost her trusted friend once again, and her neural logs were repeatedly erased and scrambled during this time, like the scattered stars in the night sky. It was only when Suomi discovered her ruined frame that she finally managed to swim free from the riptide of a destiny that was beyond her control.
Due to her repeated instances of memory loss, Dushevnaya is particularly sensitive to the topic of abandoning items and friends and occasionally ends up losing faith in herself. However, she often hides her true feelings with her exaggerated manner of speaking. The most common impression that her friends have of her is: "I have no idea what Dushevnaya is talking about sometimes."
That said, while Dushevnaya's friends might not fully understand what she's saying, her earnest and hardworking attitude transcends mere words. She carries out every given task with complete sincerity and cherishes all her friends. Anyone who treats her with kindness can expect Dushevnaya to do her best to fulfill their requests lest the other person be disappointed in her.
The most important thing to Dushevnaya is protecting her friends. In order to keep others from worrying, she rarely mentions her desire to recover memories, but she still holds on to the hope of doing so—and, perhaps, the key to unlocking the vault of her memories is right beside her.
Record 2
After the mission ended, Dushevnaya sat in silence on the return flight.
"Why the long face?" DP-12 asked with a smile.
In response, Dushevnaya stared out the window, as though she were thinking about something. However, a careful look revealed the truth—she was simply spacing out.
"It's the sunrise. See, the sun's coming up," Dushevnaya said as she pointed out the window. "It made me think of those bright and happy days..."
"Those days in Griffin?" DP-12 chuckled as she heard her answer. "Or perhaps those days with the Commander?"
Dushevnaya blushed; perhaps DP-12 had hit the nail on the head.
"We hardly ever get to go on missions together, so why don't we talk more? Perhaps I might be able to tell you some news about the Commander."
Though two of them were working as bodyguards for a certain family in the Orlog Financial Conglomerate, there were many Dolls in the conglomerate, and Dushevnaya could not always be partnered with DP-12 on missions.
Unfortunately for Dushevnaya, she had an exceptionally long maintenance session scheduled after the end of this mission, so she would not be able to meet DP-12 for a long time.
"Please, enlighten me about the Commander! I so sincerely plea—
Even more unfortunately, the aircraft touched down before they could get the conversation going. DP-12 patted the dejected Dushevnaya on her head, and then the two of them disembarked in an orderly fashion. Since they were assigned to different groups, they bade each other a simple farewell and then parted ways.
"..." There was a hint of disappointment in Dushevnaya's heart.
She wasn't sure if it was because she didn t get to say goodbye to DP-12 properly or because she never learned what she needed to say.
Next time... next time, she'd try to get the maintenance session done ahead of time.
As she pondered the idea in silence, Dushevnaya boarded the bodyguards' cabin on the train.
Record 3
"Can you tell me another story?" Gloria entered the warehouse, then sat down beside Dushevnaya, and imitated her in gazing up at the sky through the hole in the roof.
"..."
Dushevnaya did not answer, and only shook her head.
Ever since that captured Doll had called her "KSVK", Dushevnaya had undergone a change. In the past, she used to follow Gloria around, but recently, Dushevnaya had been spacing out by herself.
"Then... then I'll tell you a story instead!" Several seconds of silence passed, and Gloria swallowed the impulse to ask what was going on. While she didn't know how much longer she could keep doing it, she didn't want to break this silence, at least not for the time being.
"Long, long ago, there was a hero who lost her memory. Through the wilderness she roamed... in her hands her destined arms. Hoisted upon her back, rested the hopes of her village..."
This setup sounded vaguely familiar to Dushevnaya. At last, she looked down from the sky and at the girl. "This hero from this story... Am I her? You're talking like me too..."
But the truth was, despite losing her memories, Dushevnaya's instincts still told her that this was not where she truly belonged. Apart from the girl beside her, nobody here truly considered her a friend.
No, perhaps even this girl...
"So, you realized it, Beryl." Gloria batted her eyelashes, and then smiled at Dushevnaya. "So, won't you stay here? The 'village' needs a hero like you, and I... I need a friend like you too... So please, don't leave me."
Clearly, Gloria had realized something.
"..."
Dushevnaya didn't know how to process this complex blend of emotions. She was terrified of being abandoned, and right now, someone desperately needed her.
Yet at the same time, she had to discover the truth about the place where she ought to be—
In the end, Dushevnaya didn't say anything. She simply raised her head again and looked up at the sky in silence.
Record 4
Amidst a vast expanse of sand, Dushevnaya clambered up toward the top of a sand dune. Fine grains cascaded down the cracked soles of her feet.
Then, the wind gusted up into a miniature sandstorm. Dushevnaya had long since run out of strength, and it blew her into a patch of sand not far off, sending her further and further away from her destination.
There was a dull metallic crunch as her hip joint finally gave way, accompanied by an alert informing her that she was dangerously low on power. Her frame was practically scrap at this point, and she couldn't even get to her feet, let alone get past the dune before her.
"...'Tis be mine end, it seems." As Dushevnaya realized that she would die alone in this place, she muttered to herself like a hero facing her noble end.
As for why she was in this place, that was because Gloria's bounty hunter team had captured a Doll, who said the name Dushevnaya used when she was still in Griffin.
Dushevnaya chose to place her faith in the captured Doll and set out for the location she had been given—namely, the other side of this sand dune—in the hopes of learning about her past.
In fact, she had even pointed her gun at those bounty hunters just so she could leave them.
Dushevnaya's fingers brushed up against something that seemed broken.
Her worn hydraulics shrieked as the broken metal of her "fingerbones" closed around something in her breast pocket, and then she brought it out before her eyes.
"This is..."
It was a motorcycle-shaped ornament made from nuts and bolts. Several of the pieces holding it together were broken, and the motorcycle fell apart before her eyes.
"Was it because of the ELIDs? Or was it when I rolled over those stones just now..."
Before she sank into sleep mode, Gloria's tear-filled face flashed through her mind.
"...Alas, her heart shall find no forgiveness for me."
Record 5
A teeming sea of memory fragments blended together in Dushevnaya's neural cloud, filling her mind with chaos.
She didn't always do her creative work under such conditions, but this was an exception—it was the first time she had been so conscious while "dreaming", which was why she wanted to put all the fragments which filled her mind down onto the canvas as quickly as possible.
Inside a simple room in the Doll Community, Dushevnaya set out the canvas and paint that her friends had helped her find. Then, she closed her eyes, and the fragmented scenes from her neural cloud appeared in her mind's eye.
A pitch-black examination room, stark white lights, long blue hair, gray-colored eyes, dark golden parts, the sight of rusted metal, and the blood and tears mixed with them all.
"Is this a sign from my destiny about committing my hidden past onto the artist's easel... Will doing this lead me astray, or is this the right choice?"
Dushevnaya's hands only stopped moving after she finished painting. She curled up, clutching her searing hot neural cloud module, and muttered to herself.
"What ARE these fragments... what else is there... what haven't I recalled yet?"
"And most importantly—the one who truly has command authority over me... who are they???"
Who exactly are they?
Dushevnaya looked up, staring at the painting before her, longing to find the answer within her brushstrokes. The pigments were not fully dry yet and they glinted with a moist radiance.
A cracked, rusted ID card was vaguely visible amidst the riot of colors. It bore the Griffin logo and seemed to belong to someone.
"Commander..."
Dushevnaya leaned in closer, no matter what she did, she could not make out the name on the card.
Record 6
Shortly after Dushevnaya boarded the Elmo, certain idiosyncrasies of hers led to me paying close attention to her for a while.
"Idio...syncrasies? Commander, what might you mean...?" She had a puzzled look on her face; clearly, she did not see anything unusual about her actions.
"While I don't intend to interfere with your life, it seems you made quite a commotion in the lounge last night."
"Ah... If I may so declare, as the moon fills the sky with its full splendor, the past and future are revealed unto the Slab of Truth."
Dushevnaya put on a mysterious air, but when I looked hard at her, she glanced off to the side.
"To sum it up, you ran into the lounge wall. In fact, the security camera footage indicates that you practically headbutted it." I sighed. "So, was the past and future you were hoping for revealed to you?"
"The, uh, the truth has not yet been made known... But someday, the light of enlightenment will shine on every corner of this land. I'm certain of it!"
It would seem that vigorous impact didn't manage to restore her neural cloud.
After our reunion with Dushevnaya, Mayling and I performed extensive frame repairs and neural restoration procedures on her, but we didn't manage to recover her neural logs. It was clearly eating away at her, and she ended up trying various ways and means to get them back. Quite a few of them were rather, for the lack of a better word, "intense".
"So, were you going to try the 'lightning strike' method again to get your memories back?"
Thunderstorms were a rare occurrence in the contamination zones, but one was brewing above the Elmo. The sky was overcast, illuminated solely by the occasional flash of purple lightning. Dushevnaya was standing out in the open had I arrived a moment later, she might have ended up becoming a lightning rod for the Elmo.
"But if I were struck by the adamantine arrow of enlightenment..." Dushevnaya quietly muttered.
"No, there's got to be another, more reliable way than this. Would you like to come indoors?"
"Um..." While Dushevnaya cupped her chin in thought, I took the opportunity to whisk her inside.
"Commander, what do you think of roleplaying? I've heard that when you reenact the past, everything will be restored to its original and proper place!"
...It would seem she was going to make me accompany her in live-action roleplay.
"Let's go with that, then. In any case, I absolutely forbid you from doing anything this dangerous again."
Record 7
Dushevnaya was coming to my room far too often recently.
While hardworking Dolls like her were never in short supply on the Elmo, it was plain to see that Dushevnaya wasn't the sort who was passionate about housework or cooking.
"So... what exactly are you up to?"
Had her intrinsic nature as a nursing Doll awakened at last?
Or was this just a clumsy attempt to buy my goodwill?
At 7 a.m., I found myself waxing thoughtful over a serving of "Courage Roast" Dushevnaya had served me. She, on the other hand, was busy casting a "healing spell" on the meal in the form of a none-too-polished violin solo.
"I, uh, I'm preparing a meal for an adventuring companion, of course."
"Commander, would you like to hear about my adventures to go with your breakfast?"
Right now, my gut was churning with enough suspicions to fill me up.
"Commander, do you have any quests for me? I've been grinding out experience recently, so I should be able to help out with a lot more stuff!" Before I could say anything, Dushevnaya had already fired off another question.
"Let's leave work aside for now... Instead, why don't you tell me why you've been so gung-ho recently?"
"Er, um, well, you see, if I wanted to solidify our bond... it all goes back to actively trying to raise your affection points with me, right?" Her sudden change of tone made me sense that she was feeling a little nervous.
Upon seeing a doubtful look on my face, Dushevnaya's face turned bright red as she continued speaking.
"During my adventures... I've met countless companions, some of whom qualified as bosom buddies. While I've forgotten a lot... I-I'm sure that you are the only one who's special among them, s-so I want to—"
"I want to... I want to forge an eternal bond with you, one that's different from my other companions!"
While the delivery of those lines was quite forceful, I could clearly sense that Dushevnaya was very tense. Her true feelings were on display to me, and not even the most flowery turn of phrase could hide that.
"Sure, I accept." I put my hand on Dushevnaya's head and gently ruffled her hair. "This shall be our... er... how should I phrase this... our oathbonding ceremony. Therefore, there is no need to worry about all those things that have been bothering you."
"Ah... yes! I understand!"
At last, Dushevnaya laughed merrily, grabbing my hand and nuzzling her cheek against my palm.
Record 8
"Alright, next up is..."
Dushevnaya rarely got embarrassed during character roleplay, but she paused for a moment, as though she was having trouble bringing herself to say what was coming next.
"...Oh, hero mine, you have come to rescue me." I said, delivering my line and playing my part.
"Indeed, I have come to rescue thee, my Princess!" Dushevnaya's eyes gleamed as she looked at me, and then went down on her knee. "No wait, since I'm a girl, would it be better to call you my prince instead?"
"Er, I'm okay with anything. Just do what you like."
In truth, I wasn't particularly bothered by that. Rather, what I wanted to know is why on earth do I have to play the role of the hapless hostage who gets kidnapped by the demon king?
"Verily, I seek to repay thine courage, but our kingdom has long since fallen. Now, if thou art willing to embark with this humble soul upon..."
What an excruciatingly long line...
Dushevnaya looked eagerly at me, completely oblivious to the fact that I'd trailed off halfway. Instead, she sprang up and hugged me.
"Yes, I will! This hero will always be worthy of thine faith!"
For a moment, I could almost see a tail wagging happily behind her.
"So please, Commander. Promise me you'll never abandon me."
That quiet addition was not part of the script, but when I looked at her in confusion, there was no way I could say no to those expectant eyes of hers.
Memories
Moon In My Palm 1
Moon In My Palm 2
Moon In My Palm 3
Moon In My Palm 4
Beginning of the Journey
Private Meeting Logs
The forces of evil writhe, advancing to attack the great Hero.
The mighty, well guarded kingdom trembles. The future is uncertain.
Commander, please lend the Hero your strength and let us vanquish evil together!
You truly are the Hero's eternal friend, Commander! Thou hast the Hero's unshakable trust!Berserk Form Of Steel I
Waaaaah–Watch out, Commander! Mine Hero’s body is malfunctioning! An emergency council is being held, but no one is able to convince another; they’re all bickering to no end!
Quick! Move out of the way! Commander, we're going to collide!
Woah!!! Owwww…
Ah… The hero needs… a brief respite…(She executes a backward somersault at an unexpected angle just as we were about to collide. Dushevnaya slams into the ground in an awkward posture.)
(Dushevnaya’s mechanical limbs twitch uncontrollably as her frame lies limp on the ground.)
(I squat down and pat her head gently.)Uuuuuu… Commander…
You seem to be dealing with something troublesome, Dushevnaya. Are you having issues with your frame again?
The Hero has failed to pass the trial. Evil’s punishment arrives at this very moment…
Um… I don’t really get it, but can you try to stand?
The Hero, will try…
Slowly does it, mind your center of gravity…
That’s right, don’t rush. Well done, Dushevnaya. A little more and you'll be back on your feet.Such trifling troubles won't faze the Hero. The crown of bipedal walking will ultimately be seated upon the Hero’s head!
Mmhm. It’s good that you’re enthusiastic about it… Huh? Wait!
C-Commander–! My leg–
Ugh… (Cough)
C-Commander, you’re not going to let the Gravity Demon defeat thee just like that, right?
Has the arrow of fate struck your invulnerable Achilles body in the heel?(Coughs) …I’m fine, just that I’ve lost all sensation in my arm…
Dushevnaya, could you let go of my hand? I need to check my arm.Commander, I–the Hero has committed a crime! The Hero has committed the horrific crime of causing her dear friend to lose one’s left arm–
I didn’t lose my arm…
But I’ll have to pay Colphne a visit. Dushevnaya, please carry me and find Colphne.Uuuuuu… My dear friend! You must hang on, I shall revive thee at the church right away!
Berserk Form Of Steel II
Oh, my dear friend, the Hero hast wronged thee. The Hero would like to express her most sincere apologies.
The Hero is willing to go through fire and water for you in return, there will be no complaint even if the Hero has to die a thousand deaths.Through fire and water… a thousand deaths… who taught you those phrases? Never mind, it’s not important.
Uuuu… My dear friend! This is all the hero’s fault! This is so shameful that the only path forward is self-destruction!
No, don’t! Absolutely don’t! Actually, my arm has almost made a full recovery now… No need to bring me to Colphne. Just let me check on my arm for a bit.
The arm of a human is so different from the one attached to my frame…
Structurally similar, but fundamentally different…Interesting. The other Dolls have made similar comments too.
The Hero has to pursue new knowledge with passion to be able to defeat the demon king!
Never mind what I said… Anyway, looks like my arm itself is actually fine, but I do have a dislocation from falling down too hard.
A dislocation?
It’s like if the bearing at the end of your arm got separated from the socket that connects your arm to your torso. When that happens to a human, the condition is called a dislocation.
Ohhh. So that’s how it is… So, like this?
Is mine attempt demonstrative of such an explanation, dear friend?
I… guess…. Ah… Um… Basically. Yeah…
This matter happens to my frame on a regular basis, so I am highly familiar with the solution to this problem.
Demon named Dislocation! This Hero swears to destroy you–!...
My dear friend! Allow me to defeat the Dislocation Demon within thy vessel as well!
No, no that’s okay! I’ll handle this myself!
Now i really have to get help from Colphne… Can you help me, Dushevnaya?
U-understood! My beloved dear friend, I shall now send thee to a church in a flash!
D-Do that slowly…
Berserk Form Of Steel III
My left arm will need some time to recover, so do try to mind that in the meantime. Anyway, what’s happening to your frame, Dushevnaya?
I, too, have sunk into the mire of doubt. Old memories show no record of such a severe limb conflict.
Such difficulty must be punishment from a Demon, I, I…I swear to guard my cherished friend even if I’m trapped in the deepest pits of desperation
(Hisses in pain) Dushevnaya, I appreciate the sentiment, but be a bit more gentle…
I know you grabbed my shoulders, but if you do it too hard and too suddenly, the shock will travel to my arm as well.I-I’m so sorry…
(Her hair flaps lower like a sad puppy.)
(I pat her head with my right hand, as if I was comforting a sad puppy)Don't worry about it. Are your limbs going out of control a lot recently?
Yeah.
Is it getting more frequent? Have you checked with Rosalind and Mayling? Any maintenance reports?
Why didn’t you go for a checkup?
T-there’s something that I must protect…
Dushevnaya, I’m glad for your desire to protect people or things, but you should prioritize the condition of your frame.
Besides, a functioning frame with no abnormalities will enable you to better protect the things and people you love, don't you agree?I-In any case… The stars have foretold that it would be unwise to engage in matters of frame maintenance for these few days!
My dear friend, thy goodwill is remembered within mine heart. But say no more, for my decision on the matter of this frame is decided!
What is most important now is that my dear friend rises from the seating position. Rise, my dear friend–(Sigh)
If you don't want to give me an answer right now, then I won't press the issue.
But you cannot leave this severe case of frame control loss untreated indefinitely.
I know you won’t be happy to hear this, but I’ll get Rosalind or Mayling to conduct a full check on your frame next week. Repairs and replacements will happen if necessary.
Do you understand, Dushevnaya?Your will is clear to me!
Berserk Form Of Steel IV
Dushevnaya, it’s time for your checkup. Where are you?
Dear friend, I-I’m doing my best–
Can I enter?
The hourglass of time needs to be flipped for a moment…
Alright. I’ll wait for you.
(The door to Dushevnaya’s dorm room opens slowly after a while.)
(Dushevnaya’s limbs appear to be fully functional, but her fingers and toes seem to be producing slight twitches. They look soft and powerless, as if there are no bones present within.)My frame is perfectly fine, dear friend. No need for a checkup–
Give me your hand.
Dear friend…
Your fingertips are trembling. Not only are your phalanges joined together incorrectly, they also twitch sporadically.
These are some really old scratch marks. It’s hard to sustain scratches this deep on the Elmo. Did you swap out your hands, Dushevnaya?Mmm…
Let’s have a seat on that sofa.
S-Sorry…
Let’s sit down first. I need to have a look at your legs.
T-there’s no need for that… My legs are fine, dear friend. I haven’t changed them. No problems!
My dear friend…
Does it look like there’s no problem? Dushevnaya, I will have Mayling do a full inspection even if I have to go against your wishes. You agreed to this last week.
I-I must not abandon this frame, dear friend… To be honest, I went for a checkup after our last conversation, and indeed, this frame is troubled with numerous issues. But these are issues that I am willing to endure, as the complications happen at a very low rate…
You had Mayling check your body? Ah… So that anonymous test report was for your frame. She wouldn’t tell me who it belonged to no matter what, saying that the Doll in question asked her to keep her identity a secret.
Dushevnaya, I can understand why you don’t want to change your frame. The parts that make up your frame may not be highly compatible with each other, but they do provide you with combat performance far exceeding that of a normal frame. It is for this reason that you don’t want to change it out, right? But if you let this drag on…I know, but mine ultimate purpose and meaning is to serve as a guardian for my dear friends. This is my power, a born talent bestowed to me by the will of the universe, and I must not reject it!
Things will get really bad if your frame goes haywire in combat… You know this, right, Dushevnaya?
...Yes, I know. Not only would the Hero meet her demise, her actions would also endanger her precious teammates.
But… I-I… simply can’t bring myself to replace this body…I understand how you feel, Dushevnaya. Hmm… Based on what I read in the report, a way to keep your frame does exist.
It’s just that we’ll have to update the engineering technology we use aboard the Elmo. I’m afraid I’ll need to trouble Mayling with a bunch of overtime again… I’ll talk to Mayling about this, so make sure to thank her.You have my deepest gratitude, my most beloved friend!