Once Penny's gone, Victoria turns toward Alice and asks her curtly, "So you're thinking about taking off in the middle of the night, right?" As soon as the question leaves Victoria's lips, Alice's glow becomes a little brighter, and the pale woman strikes the side of her neck before she can speak. I rush forward to catch her before she falls, but Victoria's already got a hold of her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I continue approaching them despite not really having any plan for how to proceed.

"I don't want her to bolt as soon as I fall asleep. It's just a little insurance, she'll be fine."

"Let go of her!"

"Relax, I'm just gonna drop her off in bed."

"I said let go!" I pull Alice's arm across my shoulders and start trying to move away from Victoria.

"Alright, fine." She releases Alice's shoulder and I stagger under the full weight of an unconscious girl. “You realize that bringing serious harm to her would make more problems for me, not less, right?"

I still don’t trust her. It's hard to argue with the logic, but it doesn't do anything to douse the flame burning in my chest. After taking a moment to make sure I've got my balance, I silently carry Alice to one of the empty bedrooms, leaning against the wall whenever possible to avoid toppling over. I deposit Alice somewhat haphazardly on the bed before carefully ensuring all her limbs are on the mattress and throwing a blanket over top of her. By the time I'm done, I'm breathing pretty heavily, and not just from the exertion of carrying her. Honestly I'm… not sure why I got so angry. I mean, I don’t normally like to see violence enacted on people around me, but I don’t usually take it so personally. I roll this around in my head as I leave and enter one of the other empty rooms.

It’s more or less identical to the one I just left Alice in, furnishings simple but comfortable. A spacious bed sits against one wall, and in the corner is a dresser with a mirror on it. As I lay down, my mind quickly abandons its attempt to examine my emotional response to Victoria’s behavior. I'm not in much of a fit state for introspection, because as it turns out, getting kidnapped is pretty exhausting. I’m up much later than I usually would be anyway. It doesn’t take long after I collapse into bed to fall asleep.

I awaken to a small porcelain face peeking at me from the edge of the bed. The face is unchanging, incapable of expression, yet it nonetheless seems distressed. I’ve never understood how dolls are able to convey emotion without visual indicators like that. I sit up and stretch my arms out behind me. “Guess I slept in pretty late, huh? Sorry about that, I’ll be out of your hair in a second.”

Once again, the doll’s face remains impassive, yet it somehow seems to brighten up. “This one doesn’t have hair to be in, sir. You’ve caused it no trouble.”

“No, I can tell you’ve been waiting on me.”

“Indeed it has, but that doesn’t mean you’ve been a bother.”

I know better than to keep arguing with a doll, especially when it comes to hospitality. With another stretch, I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand up, wiping my bleary eyes as I head out into the kitchen. Victoria and Penny are already out here, which I can’t say I’m surprised by. Penny’s busy at the stove, while Victoria sits at the table, regarding a doll core in her hand thoughtfully. Only one person is missing. “Alice still not up yet?”

Penny glances over her shoulder at me. “Nope. Do you mind checking in on her? I’ll be done cooking soon.”

I nod and return to the hallway. There’s another doll standing outside the door of the room I left Alice in. I give it a slight nod and swing the door open. “Doin’ alright in here? Penny’s just about d–” My words die in my throat as I stare blankly forward. She’s standing in front of the mirror in the corner of the room, shirtless, bra strap pulled to the side so she can examine the bruise Victoria left where her neck meets her shoulder. My cheeks and neck heat up and I feel rooted to the spot I'm standing on. I really should’ve knocked.

It takes another second after I stop speaking before she turns and looks at me, no visible shift in her demeanor. “Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m doing fine, aside from being a little sore. Kinda got the shit kicked outta me yesterday. What was that about Penny?”

“I– She’s almost done cooking,” I mumble sheepishly. “Er, sorry.” I quickly duck back out of the room, shutting the door. She doesn’t seem to have been bothered by the intrusion, but that doesn’t make me any less mortified. I quickly return to the kitchen table, almost certainly red as a tomato. Fortunately Penny’s too polite to comment on it, and I doubt Victoria cares enough to say anything.

A couple moments later Alice joins us, taking the open seat next to me. “So you’re pretty legit, huh? There was a doll waiting to come in and tidy up when I came out of the room, and I swear I saw a couple in the hallway as well.”

Penny turns around with a smirk and carries several plates of food over to the table. Eggs, sausage, standard breakfast fare. I tear into mine as soon as the plate touches the table. “That I am," Penny replies. "I keep myself pretty busy most of the time, and there are usually plenty of unfortunate souls around trying to get on their feet. It pays to have good help around, helps keep everything Good timing, by the way.”

“I suppose so. Would’ve been out here sooner if someone hadn’t left a huge bruise on my neck,” she grumbles, glancing pointedly at Victoria.

Not a single ounce of guilt shows on the combat angel’s face as she begins to devour her food. She’s almost as fast of an eater as me. “You were gonna run. And don’t try to deny it, I could tell.” This earns her a steely glare from Alice, while Penny just looks exasperated. “Anyway, I trust you’ve been considering our options?”

Penny nods as she sits down in the remaining seat, next to Victoria. “I have, but I don’t think you’ll like the conclusion I’ve drawn.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“We’ve only really got two leads here. The dropoff point specified in your job request, and Jackie’s hookup for delivery work. The only reasonable place to start investigating is one of those two.”

Victoria snorts, swallowing a mouthful of food. "So really, we have one option.”

I nod without taking my eyes off the breakfast I’m inhaling. “I’ve only ever talked to one guy about my jobs, and I don’t think he knows much more than me.”

“So, I guess it's time to find out who I'm working for. I was hoping to do that without having to actually show up at the dropoff."

"I'm sure,” Penny chirps. “I don't think we really have that option, though."

I swallow down the last of my food, then look toward Penny. "So what's the plan, exactly?"

“Well, that depends. Victoria, when’s the deadline for your dropoff?”

“Three days.”

“Three days?" I ask. "Your only window to pick it up was last night, why is the dropoff 4 days later?”

“They assumed I’d need to lose tails. Which… didn’t turn out to be completely wrong. Anyway, Penny, do you have somewhere to store all these cores? I’d rather not hand them over just yet.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Penny clears her throat awkwardly before answering. “Easily. But… I don’t think I’m gonna be able to keep Alice here while you’re gone. Jackie is one thing, he doesn’t really have anywhere else to go while this is all happening anyway. But I’m not equipped to imprison an angel who’s set on leaving, especially if I don’t know how long it’ll be.”

Victoria rocks back in her seat, thinking this over. “Guess I’ll have to take her with me.”

Alice nearly spits her food across the table. “You’ll what?”

Victoria flashes a smug grin. “Oh, don’t be like that. You can get out of it at any time by just accepting the circumstances you’re in and choosing to stay here until they change. But you can’t do that, can you?”

“So your solution is to drag me along on a goddamn… espionage mission?”

“Only one I’ve got, unless you ditch that halo quick.”

“I… You know it’s not that simple!”

“Oh, it is that simple, it’s just not that easy.”

Alice opens her mouth to argue back, then freezes for a moment. “What?”

Victoria simply shrugs in response. “Wouldn’t worry about it too much. You’re not there yet. Anyway, if you wanna shower, do it now, combat training starts in half an hour.”

"Combat training? What are you talking about?"

That gets another grin from Victoria. "Don't want you to be completely helpless if things get hairy. You're gonna be a hassle no matter what, but you won't be dead weight if I can help it."

Alice looks incredulous. "What exactly do you expect me to be able to do?"

"Throw a punch, stay mobile under pressure. Maybe a little basic grappling. Y'know, the fundamentals."

Alice opens her mouth but doesn’t say anything. She looks helplessly toward Penny, who raises her hands in front of her. “Like I said, I can’t keep you here if you’re gonna try to leave. I don’t have any better ideas, and if you’re gonna tag along with her, it’s probably for the best that you be able to handle yourself in a fight.”

Alice shuts her mouth, her eyes setting into a steely glare. “Fine,” she huffs, turning around. “I’m gonna go shower.”

"Fourth door on the left," Penny calls after her. Victoria wordlessly stands and heads out the door into the backyard.

As she leaves the room, I turn toward Penny. “Are you sure about this? Alice doesn’t seem all that jazzed about the idea of doing field work with Victoria.”

“Everything I just said was true, Jackie. The only way out of this is for Alice to get comfortable staying here, or Victoria to decide it’s fine for her to go. And honestly? I'm kind of on Victoria's side here. We don't know who all is involved with this, and Alice has a halo. Letting her run around with knowledge of our whereabouts and intentions with loyalty to someone else enforced on her could be dangerous.”

I look to the side and grimace. "I trust her more than I trust Victoria. At least Alice hasn't attacked anyone."

Penny sighs. “I can’t say I endorse her methods. But I don’t think she has ill intentions here, if she did she could’ve just made off with all those cores. And we really don’t have any better leads on this.”

I sit back, crossing my arms over my chest. She’s probably right, as per usual, but I still don’t like it. Any of it. I hate that I’m caught up in all this, that this wrecking ball with a spiked halo swung into my life at all. I hate that I have to keep seeing her beat up on an innocent bystander who was just trying to help me. I hate that Penny’s siding with her on all this. I trust Penny’s knowledge about these things, but this whole situation is really stretching that trust. “What’s so worrying about a box of cores, anyway?”

Penny looks startled for a moment, before a thoughtful expression takes over her face. “There are… Implications. You already know, of course, about how witches make dolls, ensouling cores with the cosmos themselves in order to animate otherwise unmoving material. When a soul is made from scratch like this, it can’t help but bear the purpose with which it was created. That, in itself, is a dangerous prospect. This isn't something to be done lightly. That soul is just as alive as any other, and it's gonna have to live with what it was made for. On top of that, it's a dangerous process in itself. Witches take our lives in our hands every time we build a soul inside one of these cores. We reach out to the infinite and make a deal, then we take more than we agreed. The more often you do that, the more dangerous it gets." She pauses, gazing off into the distance with a melancholy expression. "So I'm concerned about why someone would be preparing to do it hundreds of times. What do they need all these dolls for? Why is it important enough to be worth all that risk? Or have they found some way to mitigate it? I don't like all these questions suddenly popping up around a practice I thought I was very familiar with, especially not one with such high stakes. I can't leave that alone."

"... I guess that makes sense." I still can't say I like Victoria, but… it does sound like this needs to be taken care of.

A crash rings out from down the hallway and Penny’s head snaps around to look in the direction it came from. “I’d better go see what that was. Probably one of the dolls just had a little spill.” I nod and watch as she hurries off down the hall. After a few moments, it hits me that for once, I don’t have anywhere to be today. Just the opposite in fact. I’m expected to stay right where I am. Without the option of going out and looking for work, I don’t really know what to do with myself. After sitting and pondering this for a moment, I decide to head downstairs and see if there’s anything I can help with. Beats sitting in the kitchen all day.

As usual, the lower floor is bustling with activity. A dozen or so dolls skitter back and forth, carrying things between workbenches, handling hazardous materials without a hint of fear, running through recitations of routine enchantments. I don't even know what most of this stuff is. Penny's never gone into much detail when I've asked, beyond some waffling about wards to keep the house in good condition and such. I clear my throat, and the nearest doll glances my way.

"Can this one help you, sir?" Its mechanical hands don't even slow down, letting out a rapid clicking sound as it assembles some component or other too fast for me to get a proper look.

"Just wanted to see if there's anything I can help with."

It turns its face back toward its work. "Not likely. These ones are quite capable of carrying out their duties, and with greater efficiency than a human." It's hard to deny, given how quickly its metal digits are manipulating the bits of machinery on the table in front of it.

"Yeah, I guess so. I just can't leave the house, and don't really have anything else t-"

"Jackie? What are you doing down here? You know it's dangerous." I turn around just in time to see Penny descending the same stairs I came down, carrying a doll with a damaged leg. Just like all the others, its face features no articulation, yet I get the distinct impression that it's wearing an embarrassed expression.

"Yeah, I just… got bored, wanted to see if I could make myself useful," I reply, rubbing the back of my head.

"Oh, right, you'd usually be out of here by now. Hm." She looks down at the doll in her hand, then back up at me. "How about this, then? You could help me repair this doll."

I brighten up considerably at that. I've always been a bit curious about the mechanical workings of the things. "Sure, that sounds interesting."

She nods and leads me off to an isolated workbench, situated in a little nook at the edge of the room. She pulls two seats up and sits on one while setting the doll down on the tabletop. “So, first things first, we need to take the core out. Can’t do proper maintenance on a conscious doll.” She opens a small hatch on the front of the doll’s torso, revealing a small, glass sphere. The core emits a soft, warm glow, orange flame drifting languidly around its interior. “I’ll see you in a moment, little one, once you’re all in one piece again,” she says sweetly, before giving the core a quarter-turn to the left and lifting it gingerly out of its compartment. “Open that for me, would you?” She gestures with her free hand at a small box sitting near the edge of the table. I slide it closer to us and flip open the lid. Inside is a soft felt cushion, with a circular indentation into which Penny inserts the core she just removed from the doll.

From there, Penny walks me through the steps of repairing the doll’s damaged leg. We disconnect the power supply lines running from the limb to the core’s housing, and check that they weren’t damaged when it fell down the stairs (which she explains is what happened, and is a common occurrence with this particular doll. Something about a faulty orientation unit that she hasn’t yet figured out how to fix.) While we’re at it, we check all the other connections, meticulously running down the components of each limb and ensuring everything is in order. It’s time-consuming, but pretty relaxing. Finally, we remove a piece of the porcelain plating on its leg, which has split in two. “Most witches would replace this plate entirely,” she explains while dabbing adhesive from an unmarked jar onto the cracked edge. “Good as new, like it never happened in the first place. I don't really go in for that." She presses the two halves of the plate together. They fit neatly, perfectly flush, with only the barest hint of a seam. The crack would probably be completely invisible, if it weren't for the fact that the adhesive is just a shade darker than the surrounding porcelain. Looking closer, I can see a web of similar faint cracks stretching across the entire plate. "I'd rather not hide their stories. It feels… disrespectful. Like I'm denying they ever happened at all. Denying my mistakes." She places the finishing touches on the plate, smoothing the excess adhesive against the crack so that the whole thing is smooth. "This needs to sit for a while, and then we can put it back together. I'd say it's about time for lunch."