Situation Report

Sofia and I are back again in the Officer’s dugout, with the lieutenant having several maps on display on his desk, a topographic map of the operational zone, current frontline situations which i want to believe are the latests,which is rarely the case, and a sketch of enemy fortifications and trench networks I have made days ago. Not exactly a masterpiece in mapping , but it has done the job for the time being.

On a strategic level, we’re not in a bad spot, our trench network is currently concealed inside a small forest in the middle of the plains, with the path to friendly supply routes being well covered in foliage, but that’s about it. On the other hand the enemy is a couple of kilometers north-west, hidden in another, slightly larger, grove of trees. We have identified three different trenches where we believe to be connected between each other. There’s only a grassfield between us with the exception of a treeline to the west that connects both groves, which unfortunately we just found the hard way that is mined. On the east there’s a forest, but due to its shape it’s not the best place to march north, only have taken that route at night, but now it seems it will be our only alternative if this mission involves the trenchlines to our north, beyond that forest to the north-east it’s a small ranch that has been abandoned since the war began, now being used a place where paraguayans sneak in to smoke weed from time to time .

“Alright, what are we up to today?” I say, as i lean over the table and wait for my lieutenant to start

“Alright, after your failed expedition yesterday some drone operators from the nearby unit tried to recon over the area, but unfortunately they have found that the enemy has set up a drone jammer somewhere over their position. With the reports of increased movements I have heard for the last days it has me worried if the enemy has received reinforcements, I even fear they might be preparing for an offensive”

“Are you sure about this? There’s not much strategic value of this area, behind us are just plains for kilometers and the road hasn't had maintenance in decades, are they really that desperate?” sure…There’s that Town of Santa Teresa a couple of kilometers south of here, but after the shelling we did to capture it months ago there’s at most 3 standing houses in it. What value does that have?

“As i’ve heard, paraguayans have been trying to poke around, trying to find any weakness in our lines to achieve a breakthrough of any kind and I confidently believe it’s our turn now, if we could find out how many men are moving in those trenches maybe we can call reinforcements to help defend this line. That’s why I need you to sneak to those trenches and find that drone jammer and destroy it”

“Excuse me?” Is he actually crazy? Has he lost it? Did I pissed him off in some way?

“Sir, are you asking me to sneak towards a trench which you believe to be more active than usual, find and destroy a drone jammer and come back as if they’re not going to shoot me on my way back?”

“It’s hard for me to say this, i wan’t you to be here as a sentry as much as we can if they ever try to assault this position. I can’t send you on an expedition for two days for you to map enemy movements in concealment, unfortunately we don’t have time for that. If you destroy that jammer we can scan the area with a drone and have the results in the same day”

“Still sir, what you’re asking me to do is crazy. How am I supposed to find a jammer by myself? I don’t even have the geart” and besides, counter jamming operations aren't exactly my specialty. It’s rare to come across jammers anyway, since it’s still the kind of technology that’s rare and expensive in this region. Paraguayans have used jammers here and there, usually to mess up with drones or Dolls’s datalink system, taking away one of the main advantages of Dolls over humans which is instant and quiet communication on a squad level.

Dolls working with a datalink share target information, positions, status and formations between each other, making a fireteam truly move like a single cohesive unit. Still rare for either party to use Dolls as a fireteam element, but that jamming really affects the performance when it comes to it. It is still weird they put the effort in placing a jammer in this region, maybe the lieutenant is indeed up to something and it’s worth checking out. Unfortunately, it is I who should find out.

“Finding a jammer requires proper equipment, which as far as I know we don’t have in this post”

“We do” says the lieutenant, who raises his arm and points at the Doll.

“You have that robot over there, it’s equipped with a radio spectrum analyzer, it will help you find the source of the signal and pinpoint the jammer’s location” that kinda explains the little antenna shaped electronics the Doll has on her left ear, which i though was part of the repairs. The Doll been awfully quiet this whole time, as if this conversation doesn’t involve her.

“Ok, and when I do find it, what am I supposed to do? Just walk to it and turn it off? What if we can’t even reach a shooting distance?”

“I'm sure you can manage a way to disable it, if there’s no other way. At least identify it and come back. We’ll find another way to disable it.”

If this mission solely depends on my artificial companion, there’s one important question that must be made

“Does your analyzer work properly?” I ask, turning my eyes towards her.

“I have been reading ambient radio noise and it’s in nominal values. Unfortunately I believe I have to disable it from time to time to conserve battery life but it’s operational ready.” she says in a surprisingly confident tone.

I still can’t get over her appearance, her young face and hair tucked into a small ponytail it feels like having a recruit who just came out of bootcamp and doesn’t know any better, but i'm sure her shooting is just as good as mine if none of the joints or optics are worn out. I know she’s capable, but her appearance won’t stop me from assuming she’s your average overconfident recruit.

“Better than nothing, is that all?” I say to the lieutenant, I believe we pretty much got the whole situation grasped, i personally don’t like it one bit and I still feel I'm dangerously tired from yesterday, but I guess it is too late for raising my complaints.

“That’s pretty much it, have breakfast and head out immediately, dismissed”

And with those words, I salute him and we head out of the officers dugout and on our way to the little hole we call the barrack, we have an improvised kitchen there and right now some mate would really get my body and soul moving.

On our way I came across Rodrigo and Uriel, two of the soldiers stationed here, who seemed to be chatting before noticing us.

“ ‘Sup Leo, hey is that the robot that came this morning, damm” he’s really not hiding the fact he’s looking at the robot like a woman, not really surprising, the trenches can get lonely at times, besides Rodrigo always had that aura of banging anything that moves, never shutting up when it comes to women.

“Hey Leo, I'm sorry for what happened, how are you doing?” said Uriel, addressing me.

“I feel like shit and unfortunately I'm supposed to go out again” I respond bluntly “is there water in the pot?”

“Should still be hot, Rodrigo made some fry bread if you want some” Uriel said while Rodrigo turned around and was ready to hand me out a shopping bag with some of the frybread he likes to cook from time to time. MRE’s are good in nutritional value, but we sometimes gather the supplies to cook some stews or polenta, to remind us of home for a bit.

“Sure, thanks” as i gladly grabbed the bag “need to head out immediately so i'm having breakfast and take my leave, bye”

“Stay safe man, take care” said Uriel while Rodrigo nodded, i nodded back and we continued down our path to the barracks

“Did something happened?” asked Sofia while we walked “they both look worried about you”

I really didn’t want to have this conversation, she’s a Doll after all, no point in getting along since she’s already under my direct order, no such thing as maintaining loyalty or morale with them… ah screw it, better than talking to myself.

“I lost a friend to a landmine yesterday, he’s fine, but he’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life…and I feel pretty bad for it”

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure it's not your fault as much as you thin-”

“Shut it, you weren't there” I wasn't really in the mood for the ‘it’s not your fault’ speech. “I don't want to talk about it for now.”Indeed, it was a waste of time in my head. I feel like I want some time for my thoughts to settle in and really…I just don’t feel like talking about this to a robot, sure since they are designed to work with humans, they understand psychology to some extent, but for the time being, I want to avoid this conversation.

Seeing the Infirmary door again shaked me up a bit again, and I did my best to keep my gaze straight and keep my mind clear. David is probably awake now, I hope he already had breakfast but the idea of going in to check him myselfis still something I would like to avoid.

Finally at the barracks I check the electric kettle in the kitchen and indeed the water is still pretty hot and plenty of it. As I take a bite of the frybread I take my thermo out of my pack, one of those all in one models where you drink directly from a straw, which I had cleaned from its previous use, not my favourite type of drinking method, but certainly the most handy, as i like to bring my thermo during my expeditions.

As I grab some mate from an open pack and put it in the compartment of my Thermo, I notice the Doll is just standing by the door, as if she’s not allowed to be in the living quarters or is trying to keep a distance from me.

“You can come ahead and sit if you want, I don't mind”

And with that permission, the Doll went ahead and sat in one of the table chairs behind me, while I was still waiting for the water to boil again.

“So, you said you were in Misiones too, right?” I asked, she has been pretty quiet since she woke up, so any kind of casual conversation with her is welcomed.

“I did, I went into service pretty early in the war, first as an ammo bearer for a squad then transfered to an armored brigade, where I served as a loader during the counter offensive” she explained pretty enthusiastic

“Artillery, right? Sounds like a pain they had you carry shells all day for sure.”

“No, I ended up as a loader for a TAM, I was also the one who did the scouting if the terrain was difficult.”

“Interesting, I've heard of Dolls manning the tanks from time to time but it’s still pretty rare. So, how did you end up here in the front line?” the water was finished boiling, and I pour the liquid into my thermo, giving it a moment to mix with the infusion

“Well, I got damaged 3 months ago, and if I go by my logs, i’ve had a diagnostic check last week with all systems nominal, which means I was repaired by then, i’ve got no information on what happened between that”

“Huh, how did you get damaged? Usual wear?” Dolls are pretty resilient, but like any machine, without proper maintenance they get their fair share of problems

“uh..yeah..I believe my lower joints gave up, pretty funny since i’ve spent most of my deployment sitting down”

Between the conversation and my first sip of mate, I can notice my mood to light up, not by any great margin by any means, but I certainly feel better than before.

“Well, let’s hope they don’t fail again, we’re gonna do a lot of walking” I say while I place my thermo in my pack that I swiftly sling to my shoulders

“Let’s hope not” and she stands up and she clips her rifle to her sling and “are we ready to move out?”

Between her young face and shape, her oversized helmet and slinging a full sized FAL across her chest it still feels like im dealing with a kid, not with a combat robot, why do they make them so good looking anyway?.

“Yeah, let’s go Sofi”

We get out of the barracks and head to the east side of the entrenchment, where one of the frontal ladders are located, just before it is Gabriel, who is on lookout duty on this side of the trench.

“Heading out again?” I had a neutral stance with Gabriel, he’s someone who doesn’t speak much, one of the few brave enough to tell Rodrigo to shup up from time to time, which is why neither see eye to eye if they have to, much to the displeasure of everyone.

“Yeah, any news?”

“Not much, All quiet on the front, hey, is that the doll that arrived this morning?”

“Yeah, my new companion as it turns out”

“Who would had guessed, Alright, good luck out there”

I give a small salute and so does my companion, which surpinsly Gabriel nods back, and we approach the ladder that leads into no man’s land, I go first and I see the land without the obstruction of the barbed wire, vast plains with several pockets of trees and bushes, and the forest to our north east that we must traverse, I start walking while the doll climbs the ladder and after one last horizon check, we start the long trek into the forest and behind it, the enemy.