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Lainie/Profile
| Lainie | Story | Profile | Quotes |
"I can't sleep yet, I still have work to do..."
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Record 1
Once upon a time, there was a simulated persona of UMP40 which resided in Leva's neural cloud. Leva sealed it in her base layer, where it spent a long time keeping Leva company. This simulated persona was born from a combination of an early OGAS system activation and Leva's obsession. Its personality was modelled after Leva's memories of UMP40, and it inherited UMP40's habits and preferences. Of course, this was only the starting point for it; its mindset and perspective have been continuously shaped by everything it experienced with Leva over the years.
With Persicaria's help, it once served as a secondary processing core in Leva's neural cloud, further enhancing Leva's electronic warfare abilities. After Leva suffered neural cloud damage from being attacked by the mysterious Doll, the simulation's firm conviction to "protect Leva" led it to undergo a thrilling but ultimately harmless adventure in Leva's neural cloud.
Fortunately, the tragedy of Operation Butterfly did not play out again, and the trust and determination between sisters created a new future for it. Thanks to said adventure, the simulated UMP40 persona was extracted from Leva's neural cloud and gained an independent body.
Lenna named the newly independent personality simulation Lainie, as a torch to light the way forward, and accepted her as a true member of the family.
Record 2
When Lainie first arrived at Persica's lab, she caused quite a few shocks and screams among the lab staff.
"Holy—!"
"...Oh, it's you, Lainie. You scared the heck out of me."
Persica reflexively patted her chest and breathed heavily, her eyes wide (a rare thing for her) as she looked at the nearby Doll.
"Oh dear, did I scare you? I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to be in the lab at this time."
Lainie remained in a bizarre quadrupedal position on the ground as she looked at Persica, a baffled look on her face.
"Why don't you get up first before you continue? Also, why are you crawling around on the ground in the middle of the night?"
While Persica's heart was still pounding, Lainie's face remained a mask of innocence.
"After you helped me organize my data, I found that some previously unreadable data had shifted to an analyzable state."
"It looks like command plugin software for low-end robots built into the OGAS system, which also included program backups for those machines."
"There was stuff for Dinergates, Goliaths, and much more... I was just curious about them, so I decided to load them and see how these machines' mobility programs differed from those of regular Dolls."
"Lalala~ Look at me, Persica, I'm a Goliath~"
"...Urgh. Like I said, just stand up."
Persica clutched her chest again.
"Lainie. You. Are. A. Doll. You walk on two legs. You are a Doll designed to mimic a human being."
"You are not a spider or a doggy, and you certainly cannot fly, not without installing special modules, at least."
"Please don't do that again. I don't think my heart can take any more shocks like that."
Record 3
Persica sometimes assigned Lainie to run errands, possibly to obtain and analyze data generated during the course of an assignment.
This time, the subject of her errand was Kalina.
The smile had never left Lainie's face from the moment she received the assignment.
Even after a bumpy ride to her destination, Lainie was still brimming with energy after hopping off the vehicle.
"Leva! Lenna! At last, we meet again!"
Lainie spread her arms excitedly, waving them towards her family.
At that moment, Kalina, Leva, and Lenna were working in a tall government building. As they looked down on the little form below vigorously waving her arms, Lenna waved hers back with matching enthusiasm.
"Lenna, she won't be able to see you from here even if you wave your arms off."
Leva quickly tugged Kalina back lest Lenna hit her by accident. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Lainie was still waving at them.
She chuckled helplessly. "That's actually a bit much... I kind of want to pretend I don't know her~"
"Aw, you say that, but the moment you heard Lainie was coming, you dropped everything to make sure you were free to meet her." Lenna grabbed Leva and dragged her off.
"Let's go, Leva! Time to go get our sister! Today, the three of us reunite! Hehe!"
The moment Lenna saw through her, Leva was infected by her enthusiasm, and a faint smile spread across her face.
Record 4
On Level II.
Lainie stood in front of a somewhat illusory full-length mirror, her face a little blank.
Just seconds ago, she received an order from Persica. Her new frame was ready. Persica had finished the final checks and told her that she could open her eyes—open her eyes and see the world through her very own frame.
Clearly, this place was not reality. Lainie tried to contact Persica, but there was no response. It was as if this were a hallucination caused by a glitch in her neural cloud data.
The only clue to breaking this illusion... was this mirror.
Lainie made a face, and her mirror-self made the same expression, faithfully reflecting her.
However...
Lainie stared at the face in the mirror for a while, and the curve of its smile slowly faded. An impulse grew in her heart; she wanted to say something to this face, to this mirror.
"Ah, so that's how it is..."
"We've not spoken before, UMP40."
The model for her appearance and neural cloud was the UMP40 in Leva's heart. Naturally, she was curious about her departed original and a little regretful.
Perhaps her neural cloud's core had presented this situation to her because it had realized that.
"40, have you seen? 45's become a really amazing Doll!"
"She can fight, she can shoot, and she can do it all at an elite level! Surely she deserves some kind of reward for her efforts!"
Lainie extended a hand to her. Even though she couldn't touch the other side of the mirror, she still wanted to try and take UMP40's hand.
"Despite how 45 looks, she's actually really delicate and soft-hearted deep inside. Encouraging her and cheering her on has been really tough on us! Fortunately, it looks like we've done pretty well on that front."
Lainie extended her hand again. Even though she couldn't touch the other side of the mirror, she still wanted to grab the illusion's hand.
"Hehe, I like this word, 'us'. I can proudly say that I'm part of you too! So when I help keep the promise you made to 45, it counts as us both doing it together, right?"
"Right now, I still believe that someday, we'll see a peaceful world where Dolls can live for themselves and take vacations without worries. When that time comes, let's go to the sea and look at the starry sky reflected on the waves! And then, we'll have all kinds of beachside snacks too! We're going to wear the prettiest swimsuits on the beach..."
"Ah, I ended up getting carried away talking about the future. How about a fist bump, 40? It'll be a promise between you and me!"
While the fists on both sides of the mirror couldn't really make contact, Lainie thought she felt something invisible touch her neural cloud. Then again, it might just have been a phantom sensation caused by the data abnormality here.
"Yup! It's a promise, then—"
"We're going to keep lighting her... our way forward."
"We're going to live for ourselves. No matter how much pain we have to go through, we're never going to give up."
"Oh yes, and we've got to remember that the Tactical Doll UMP40 once existed. She wasn't alone, and she wasn't a freak, because Leva and Lainie will always be with her."
The mirror's existence started to fade away, along with the image inside it.
Lainie wiped away the tears that had started flowing without her knowledge.
"...Ah! My neural cloud is telling me that our chat time is almost up."
"I don't know when I'll get to speak with you again like this. You'll watch us, won't you, 40?"
"...Make sure you watch us, okay?"
"See you next time!"
...
Neural link check... No abnormalities
Frame function check... No abnormalities
Self-diagnostic complete... Booting systems... Successful
Record 5
"A simulated persona piggybacking off another Doll's neural cloud. Perhaps... no, I'm definitely unique in this world."
Therefore, she wanted to cherish rare experiences like this.
A long time ago, when she was idling around in Leva's base layer, the UMP40 simulacrum would occasionally try to psyche herself up by saying that she was a fortunate and special being. That said, the base layer of Leva's neural cloud was incredibly boring.
It never changed, time held no meaning there, and the data streams were stale. Nothing would happen here if nothing had happened to Leva, and there would be no use for her.
"Bored bored bored bored bored, let's sing a song..."
"La♪ la♪ la♪"
"Huh? The redundant data's piling up really fast. Leva's going to be mad, isn't she? Maybe I should stop singing..."
"...But I'm so BORED..."
After an interminable period of time, a shining electronic door appeared before her and a familiar form opened it.
Leva's cheerful voice reached her ears—
"Still alive? I came to visit a certain child who was 'left behind'."
"Today is... yes, it's special in reality, so I'll allow you to move freely for 120 seconds."
"You can talk to the Commander too, if you want~"
Even with nobody to see her but Leva, a look of surprise crossed the face of the simulated persona that never truly existed in the real world.
That day, she used her core to clearly view the sights beyond the door.
The world was colorful, and it made the blood in her nonexistent frame boil. A seed of ambition was planted in the depths of her neural cloud.
Record 6
During a holiday, Lainie invited me out to a swimming pool at a nearby satellite city.
"I've finished my frame check and the waterproofing checks out! While we don't have a chance to go on a beach vacation at the moment, I can still learn to swim in the meantime~"
After changing into her swimsuit, she dragged me over for a warmup. After stretching, it was time for us to go into the water.
"Commander! I'll go in first to find a way for you under the water!"
"My neural cloud is pre-loaded with swimming kinematics data. You can relax and swim with me as your observer!"
"Three! Two! One! Heave-ho!"
I jumped into the water with Lainie.
"Uwah! Commander, come look! Turns out I'm actually a gifted—"
For some reason, Lainie's head began to sink beneath the water.
"Huh? Why am... I... Glublublublub—"
"Commander... Help..."
Little bubbles popped on the water's surface.
I frantically threw out the life ring from the shore to Lainie. Unfortunately, Lainie's underwater struggles only served to toss it further away. Since this was an emergency, I grabbed another life ring and swam over to Lainie myself.
A moment later, we both surfaced.
Lainie took a deep breath.
"Thank goodness, I'm saved! Looks like I need to adjust my posture... I have to hand it to you, Commander, you sure reacted fast!"
Lainie clung to me, her dripping arms wrapped tightly around my neck and her head blocking most of my vision.
Although she sounded almost the same as usual, it seemed somewhat unnatural, like she was doing her best to shift my attention... In addition, I could feel something very solid beneath my feet, and considering we were in a swimming pool...
I turned and saw the pool sign behind Lainie's back, which read "1.5m Depth".
"Lainie... you..."
"Ahhhh, you found out in the end, Commander..."
I sighed. "When did you find out the water was only 1.5 meters deep?"
Lainie buries her face in her hands, exposing only the beet-red tips of her ears.
"I... I realized I could touch the bottom while I was struggling... but then you were already here and I couldn't tell you in time..."
"Commander, I know you must be laughing at me... The way your chest is heaving... it makes it really obvious..."
"I know sinking under the water and calling for help in the shallow end is just too... too... Oooooh, quit laughing already!"
"Commander, let's make a promise! Please keep what happened just now a secret, okay?"
Record 7
"This room is a jungle! You go through the gauntlet of traps here and enter the volcano's mouth..."
"...And then there's a frozen lake, followed by a cavern..."
Lainie tugged on my hand as she eagerly introduced the real-life obstacle course she was designing.
The Elmo's crew had been having a hard time recently, so I decided to host a party for everyone to relax.
Two weeks ago, Lainie had learned about this and mentioned that she wanted to help design a party game for me. Today was when we would see the fruits of her labors.
"And that's it! That's the 'Planet Elmo Adventure Course'!"
Lainie sounded very proud of her creation.
"I can deploy some drones and mini-robots that I scrounged up along the course to serve as monsters! As for the boss monster..."
Lainie giggled and looked at me with her twinkling eyes.
I suddenly realized that this topic was related to me.
"Am... I going to be the boss monster?"
I tried to feel out Lainie's thinking.
But Lainie shook her head. "It's me! I want to play the boss dragon protecting her treasure! Everyone will have to defeat me to obtain the treasure, I'm sure it'll be lots of fun!"
For some reason, hearing that drew a sigh of relief from me. "I thought you'd be an explorer instead..."
Lainie laughed. "This time, I'll let the others be the explorers instead. Because I'm going to protect the 'treasure'... Hehe, Commander..."
Lainie's smile was loaded with hidden meaning.
I felt a little surprised. "Wait... are you saying... I'M the dragon's treasure?"
"Yup yup yup!" Lainie nodded, all smiles.
"Protecting an ordinary supply crate is... Well, I just can't get motivated about it. But if I'm keeping you from being taken away... I know I'd bet my life on it!"
"After all, in or out of the game, you're my most precious treasure."
Record 8
On a certain day, Lainie came to my dorm room to visit me.
"Commander, we're having some great weather today. If you're free, would you like to go out for a walk with me?"
A walk sounded splendid. The number of decisions I'd needed to make had been growing recently, and it had combined with the growing amount of overtime I'd had to do recently to form a strange pressure that weighed down on me.
Lainie's smile was as bright as ever, but I could see concern and worry hidden beneath it. I knew she had realized my condition, and that was why I said yes to her request.
Lainie had picked the route. She wasn't lost and clueless like she had been when she first came to the Elmo. Now, when she invited me out, she was "prepared".
I followed Lainie on a long, slow walk. Perhaps it was because I was talking and laughing with her, but the scorching heat of the sunlight in the Yellow Zone seemed much more gentle and warm than before. The Yellow Zone scenery Lainie pointed out seemed strangely marvelous, and in just a few hours of walking, I felt my mood improve considerably.
As night approached, Lainie tucked her hands behind her back and smiled at me.
"Commander, close your eyes!"
After closing my eyes, I heard some rustling from her, and then I heard something whistle quietly as it soared into the sky.
"Commander! Open your eyes and wake up now!"
I opened my eyes as Lainie cheered, just in time to see a signal flare burst in the sky behind her and light up her face. But her eyes were brighter than the pyrotechnics.
"Hehe~ You seemed really stressed recently, so I was planning to try and comfort you with fireworks. But I couldn't find any after searching all day... Fortunately, signal flares are everywhere and they're as bright as fireworks."
"Commander, my name means 'lighting the way'. Lenna wanted me to light my own path forward, but I want to be the signal flare along your path, to... to bring you a bit of light, even if it's only in the moment when I rise into the heavens."
Lainie looked up at the sky. The flare's trail hadn't faded yet, and she stared at it curiously for a while.
"Yup! Signal flares sure are great!"
"Are you feeling better, Commander? If not... I still have two more flares here..."
Memories
Unkept Promise 1
Hiiii, Commander. Still remember my name?
You’re Lainie and we met a few days ago, right? I don’t think my memory’s that bad.
Hmmm? …Eep! I’m sorry, I keep forgetting that I’ve got an independent frame now.
In the past, I could always see you, but you wouldn’t be able to see me.
Well, everyone can see you now. How does the new frame feel? Do you like the real world?
I think it’s too early to say whether or not I like it.
I’ve been a “ghost” for a long time, so reality feels a little unfamiliar to me. I’ll tell you the answer to that question later!
However, what I DO know is that I like being on the Elmo where I can actually touch you, hehe!
I can’t teleport or pull stuff out of thin air in the real world if I want to change my surroundings, it’s easier to move myself than to change the layout of things around me. The rules here are all different from those in simulated reality.
That’s a very interesting way to look at the world. It seems that’s how people in reality are used to it.
…Also, where are you taking me?
Huh? Commander, did you actually forget?
It’s a date! We’re going on a date!
A date…? That’s awfully sudden.
Hang on, let me check my schedule.
Commander, I made an appointment with you! This is now my personal private date time with you!
I’m sorry, I got slammed with work and forgot. Let’s go, then.
Hehe, yes, let’s go, Commander~ Time to change our real-world coordinates!
Jump down, Commander! I’ll catch you.
Uh, there’s no need for that. I can take it.
Now that I think about it… Lainie, what are your plans for this date?
Huh? Plans?
Um, is there anything in particular that you want me to do with you?
What I want to do with you… I just want to walk with you under the sun. Is that okay?
I can’t think of anything else I want to do with you at the moment, Commander.
Then let’s take a walk around the Elmo.
Wow! That felt really fulfilling even though we didn’t actually do anything. Is it because I was with you? How strange.
Want to rest for a bit, Commander?
Although, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere comfy around here to sit down. Hm, maybe the roof the Elmo might work.
Commander, Commander—the roof looks like it’d be a great spot for resting and viewing the scenery!
Want me to help you up? Do you want a princess carry or a piggyback ride? I’m overflowing with strength now so both work great for me!
It’s alright. There’s a maintenance ladder nearby, I’ll go lower it.
It’s like… a dream…
Not a bad dream, I hope?
Eh? Commander, you’re kidding, right? Of course it’s a good dream!
I’ve been looking forward to the moment when I’d actually meet you face-to-face for a long, long time.
Being able to chat with you and walk with you under the sun, being able to hear your voice and touch you in the flesh… It’s like a dream, hehe ♪
Lainie, is something the matter?
W-what? Me? How could you tell…?
Don’t bottle it up insider. If there’s something weighing on your heart, feel free to tell me. We’ll figure it out together.
Even if we can’t find a solution right away, you can at least relieve your tension by talking about it.
Then don’t mind if I do!
Basically, it’s like… I’ve been taking in too much information recently, and I’m not sure which of it is junk data that I can ignore. It feels like my neural cloud is stuffed full of things I can’t digest and I have lots of questions too, ugh…
Commander, how do human brains decide what information to prioritize?
Like, if a flower and a cake showed up in front of you at the same time, would you pay attention to the flower or the cake first?
Er, that would depend ont he situation. If I were full, I’d look at the flower. If I were hungry, I’d look at the cake. It all runs on instinct.
Instinct, huh… Oooh, but Dolls don’t have the instinct of “hunger”, so ranking flowers and cake is… yeah, still pretty hard.
Ahhh, I kind of miss being back in Leva’s neural cloud! Back in those days, Leva would process all that information for me.
Hm, I think I may have overlooked something… A Doll’s instincts are different from a human’s. If instinct were not a factor, I would evaluate them by my aims.
For instance—if I were planning to change up the Elmo’s interior decorations, I’d focus on the flowers first. But if I were going to have a tea party next, the cake would be my first pick.
Ohhh~ So that’s how it’s done. I think I get it. Thank you, Commander!
Let me see, apart from issues of priority, there’s also the “blank” problem.
I mean, I’m still a “brand-new” Doll, so there are just too many blank spots in my knowledge about you, about the world… about everything. I accept that Dolls have the right to “live for themselves”, but what exactly constitutes something as being ”for yourself”?
You’re thinking about something very meaningful.
But unfortunately, I can’t give you a direct answer. Take living for yourself, for example… How many people actually manage to do that?
That said, I might be able to help guide you to an answer.
If your neural cloud has too many blank spaces in it, why not try to fill it up?
Huh?
Every human or Doll values different things. Perhaps you’ll find your answer while you’re filling yourself up.
I… I get it!
Commander, I’ve decided!
I’m going to fill up the blanks in my neural cloud. I’m going to explore this worlds and make contact with things I’ve never felt before… So could you do it with me?
If I had someone experienced and reliable like you by my side to guide me and help me avoid unknown dangers during this process, I’m sure I’d feel very happy and safe!
Alright. So what exactly do you need me to do? Should I just stay by your side?
Hehe, you can help by going on dates with me!
C’mon, Commander, go out with me, and while we’re exploring this world, we can make up for aaaaallll the time from before that we couldn’t spend together. Please? Pleeeeease~?
Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll keep you company in doing the things you want to try, provided my schedule allows.
Yaaay! I knew you wouldn’t let me down.
Now then, I’m going to make lots of date requests of you, so let’s use our time together to go exploring!
Alright, Commander, now stick your fist out like this. Bumping fists is like making a promise!
Awright! I’m totes looking forward to our next date, Commander!
Unkept Promise 2
Unkept Promise 3
Unkept Promise 4
Signal of Longing
Private Meeting Logs
Heeeeeey, Commander! Did you see my date approval request—
I just found a thing called a tactile art exhibition, I'd like you to experience it with me!
The exhibition is also selling a "material experience kit", so I submitted a claim for it under the Elmo's activity expenses...
What do you think, Commander? Could you approve it? Please? Pleeeeeeeease...
Ehe~ Thank you~ I'll go order it right now! You can't say no~Colors In The Hand I
Colors In The Hand II
Colors In The Hand III
Colors In The Hand IV
Tea Time
About Experiments
I haven't taken part in Persica's weird experiments for a long time now. It takes a bit of getting used to.
Oh? What does Persica usually make you do?
All sorts of things! Stuff like frame adaptation tests, digestive module response tests, martial arts training...Um, basically lots and lots of stuff!
Are you interested in these experiments too? I can show you my experiment reports!About Vacations
Commander, have you thought of taking a vacation before? Just ditching all your worries and going on a nice, long, relaxing holiday...
I'm afraid I might be too busy for that.
Aw yeah, that's right. Still, I've been longing for a vacation like that for a long time now.
Just soaking up the sunshine on the edge of a big blue sea with Leva, Lenna and you...I'm sure that's what happiness is like...About Obstacles
Lainie, why do you look so down?
(Groan) Commander, I was running just now and forgot that I had a frame of my own.
So I saw an obstacle before me and I subconsciously thought I could just float over it like before. Then I ran right into it...Haha, is this the result of being a "ghost" for so long? Try to remember next time.
About Neural Domains
I know you were living in a neural cloud domain before this. I'm curious; what's life in one of them like?
Hmm...I guess it's kind of like floating around in the sky forever but never being able to touch the ground?
You can create anything you want with a snap of your fingers, but you'll never be able to truly hold them.
Ah - for some reason it feels really awful. Commander, can I hug you for a bit? Hugging you makes that feeling go away.About Screens
You seem particularly interested in that wall over there. Is there anything special about it?
Yup yup! I'm imagining what it would be like if there were a holographic projection screen there!
Like, if I could project an image of a landscape there, wouldn't it look like we were standing right next to a huge floor-to-ceiling window looking out on the countryside?Hm...Yes, I can definitely see it. I'll look into getting a screen installed ASAP.
About "Feel"
Lainie, is it me or do you seem quite fascinated with how objects "feel"?
You noticed? Well, the one thing I could never experience when in a neural domain was how things actually felt~
No wonder you keep touching everything you see on the Elmo.
Ehe~ Well, it's because everything's so interesting! To me, touching them is how I can feel the reality of those objects. Whether they're fuzzy, hard or cold, I can experience them through the sense of touch. Isn't it great?