SPOILERS
Episodes 0-4 (Seed, Awakening, Echo, Silence, and Message):
Our story opens with the AR Team recovering some special data from a Sangvis Ferri warehouse, only to be ambushed by the SF ringleader Agent, the second-in command to the mysterious Mastermind. Unable with defeat her, the AR Team must run away and split up for the time being. Enter The Commander, who must now spend the next few chapters tracking down and rescuing the members of the AR Team. The reason I group these chapters together in particular is because of how little actually happens as the chapters instead serve as a way for us to get to know the characters. The Commander is… a commander for G&K, Kalina is his Adjutant, Persica is an AI engineer and the creator of the AR Team, and Helian is The Commander’s superior at G&K. As for the AR Team, the first one we meet is M4A1, the leader of the AR team who tries her best, but whose uncertainty can lead her to hesitate in crucial moments. SOPMOD II (SOP II for short) is the most lively and caring of the group, always smiling and trying to keep everyone together while also being extremely sadistic towards any SF in a ten mile radius. ST AR-15 is generally the most level headed of the group and always doing her best to complete her mission, but can get tired of her teammates' shenanigans. M16A1 is almost a mentor of the group and the oldest, but spends more time drinking than she does training. She's always on the lookout to keep everyone safe, especially M4A1, but isn’t afraid to scold them when they mess up. It’s overall a great balance of characters that are all memorable in their own ways.
M16A1 starts off as the most intriguing of the group, as in chapter 4 we see her meet another important team, Squad 404. Similar to Team AR, Squad 404 is made of four special T-Dolls with a much more mysterious allegiance. The leader is UMP45, a mysterious T-Doll with a generally dark but unserious demeanor but who clearly knows a lot more than she lets on and has a shared history with M16A1. UMP9 is UMP45’s sister and has a more cheerful presence and is ever loyal to 45. 416 is a direct and aggressive T-Doll who will do whatever is necessary to get what they want and often berates her teammates. And Gr G11 is a sleepyhead who doesn’t like fighting and just wants to stay home all day and watch anime.
During chapter 4, M16A1 is attacked by 416 out of revenge for something only they know. After being knocked unconscious, 416 is carried away by UMP45 who asks about the equipment on M16’s back and offers her a vague warning: “It’s raining on the plain” When you consider the larger mystery surrounding the SF mastermind and the Butterfly incident, this interaction seems to make clear that not only do we not know much about our enemies, we might not even know enough about our own allies. Keep these things in mind as we move forward.
Episode 5: Kindling
With the AR team reassembled, it’s time for shit to hit the fan. All of the Griffin commanders have assembled in a secret base to discuss a plan of attack against SF, only to be ambushed. The Commander (the protagonist) is knocked to the ground, but is approached by Mr. Kryuger, the head of the company, who offers The Commander a handgun to defend themselves with. Taking Kryuger’s sidearm, The Commander sets out to defend the base. After repelling the attack, the squads go on the advance to defeat the ringleader behind the attack, Destroyer (and her abusive younger sister Dreamer).
Once the fight is over, everyone returns to base with thankfully few losses. However, the fact that this abushed happened at all indicates that there is a traitor amongst our forces. After a screening, it’s discovered that AR-15 has been infected by a virus called Parapluie (french for umbrella). It’s around this time that we also learn that the full name of Team AR is not Team Assault Rifle as you might expect, but rather Team Anti-Rain, hinting at a connection between them, Parapluie, and the mysterious warning from UMP45. But, before any attempts can be made to remove the virus, AR-15 escapes the facility and goes missing. Every commander is told to find her and bring her back to base, dead or alive, and the AR Team grows more and more worried about what will happen and why AR-15 is acting this way. Regardless, they cannot afford to sit around and do nothing, so The Commander orders the remaining AR Team members to find AR-15 before anyone else can to try and ensure her safety.
Chapter 5.5: Operation Cube
After AR-15’s disappearance, Squad 404 is hired by G&K to investigate and destroy a large jamming device in Sangvis territory. During the operation, Squad 404 encounters two revived SF ringleaders, Hunter and Executioner (from chapters 3 and 2 respectively). After defeating Hunter, Squad 404 finds the location of the jammer and goes to destroy it. After defeating Executioner at the site of the Jammer, she reveals that the place is rigged with explosives and threatens to blow herself up with the rest of Squad 404, while asking “do the Griffin squads in your hands have a choice when it comes to orders? When you send them to their death to accomplish a goal, will you consider their feelings?” questioning their freedom and empathy.
The POV changes to Ouroboros, who explains to Agent that the jammer was destroyed in the explosion, and apologizes for her failure. Agent reveals that the jammer was part of plan Parapluie, and tells Ouroboros to withdraw for now. Instead, Ouroborus puts her units on high alert in order to search for the squad and confirm their deaths with her own eyes.
As you could probably guess, 404 managed to survive the explosion, and are preparing for the final confrontation with Ouroboros. After intense fighting, and the destruction of her forces, Ouroboros is contacted once again by Agent, who tells her just how much she failed. But, Agent also admits that the jammer had already been moved before the explosion, but knew that Ourobors would disobey her order to retreat, and will now be abandoned for her disobedience. As Ouroboros begins to rage, UMP45 enters the room and prepares to kill her. Ouroboros questions how 404 survived the explosion, and UMP45 explains that they made a deal with Executioner. 404 would hand over Hunter’s unconscious body and Executioner could take the Jammer back to base. In return, she wouldn’t get in 404’s way. UMP45 reveals that “Sangvis Dolls have never been emotionless killing machines” and that Executioner had a genuine care for Hunter’s wellbeing. Ouroboros, can do nothing but despair, saying “I have always wanted to prove myself, but in the end, I ended up being used by you. You...are a stain on me, 404...” to which UMP45 responds “Sorry. We are a stain on everyone”
In the end, it is revealed that Agent’s real plan for the jammer has already succeeded, and that by coming into contact with the jammer, UMP45 has also been infected with Parapluie. Dreamer takes pity on Ouroboros, but also revels in Agent’s ability to plan and predict so that no matter how anyone acted, she would almost certainly have won in any scenario.
When UMP45 mentions “Sangvis Dolls have never been emotionless killing machines”, it’s subversive to say the least. In so many portrayals of AI Uprising stories, the AI are always exactly that, emotionless killing machines. And yet, here we’re being presented with a scenario where the AI that revolts does feel genuine emotion and care for one another, making it ironically humanizing. When we first met Executioner and Hunter, it could have been very easy to write them off as villainous characters who just like killing, but it’s clear that there’s more here, and clearly there’s a lot in general that we don’t know. And what’s tragic is that Ouroboros really did just want to prove herself capable to her superior. She was assigned a task, to protect the jammer, but because of so much of what she couldn’t have known, she was destined to fail and, even worse, be betrayed by the very people she was wanting to prove herself to. But these tragic elements are only just beginning.