NieR to Death - Coolguybest (2024)

Chapter 1: An Unwelcome Arrival

Chapter Text

The wind is soft against the building as you drift up from consciousness. The surface you’re resting on could be a bit softer, but you can’t judge too much since you were resting on top of it for so long. You start to stretch and sit up. It feels like you haven’t been sleeping in the most comfortable position, but your body must have deemed the sleep it received as far more necessary than the need to readjust in the night. You open your eyes as you start popping your shoulders, and you notice crumbling concrete walls and ceiling.

This is worrying. You’re not one to fall asleep in an abandoned building, especially ones like this. You have a home, you have a bed. Did something go wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be there? You stand up and head toward one of the cracks in the wall. It’s large enough to see though, thankfully, and what you see…

Something’s wrong here. You don’t just find yourself in the middle of what seems to be an abandoned and overgrown city without some sort of reason. You start running through your memory, but everything relating to how you showed up here is turning up blank. You can remember your parents, your name, your best friends, all of that.

So what happened?

As these thoughts occupy your mind, you start meandering around, trying to get a better grip on things. For the most part, there’s nothing but chunks of concrete in large piles of rubble. You’re starting to think that this building has been abandoned for a really long time- there’s nothing here but the piles of rubble, and going up the stairs nestled in the corner only reveals more of the same. Empty floors, broken concrete, nothing of interest. The third floor up, you notice someone sprawled out, near the middle of the room. You run closer, elated to finally meet someone else. You were getting so worried! Your mind idly goes over the order of questions you’d ask- if they’re alright, if they know what’s going on, why you woke up here. You flip them over when you reach them and-

The lifeless body clanks over itself as you pull it face up. Your eyes settle on its expressionless face. Its skin- or what might be skin- was torn off in multiple places, leaving a couple tatters left over barely clinging to a metallic skull. You could see nearly every metallic muscle, all of the wires beneath them, some of which poke up between shards of metal like maggots. In its new position, something black and viscous starts to leak out of both its mouth and nose. Its dulled silver eyes silently look at the ceiling .The wiry remnants of its hair stubbornly clung on to their roots.

Taking a step back, you regard the mess that was its body. How desperate were you to find someone else that you ignored all of this? Its left arm was twisted in an unnatural angle halfway to the elbow, broken tubing spilling out of some of the cracks. Its right leg was broken off, two wires were the final vestiges keeping it tethered to the hip.

Normally, thinking of the smell of decomposition would make you retch. Instead, the acrid smell of industrial chemicals and oil are pulling the weight. The human-like body was as lifeless as the concrete it rested on. You stood up and screwed your eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening, you told yourself. This just can’t be happening. But when you opened your eyes, the broken and twisted body adamantly refused to be just a figment of your imagination.

A dulled shockwave reached your ears, shaking you from your thoughts. Some floors beneath you were the undeniable sounds of combat. Who was fighting who, you couldn’t say, but you didn’t want to come face-to-face with them. You remembered a pile of rubble downstairs, which was practically seated right against the corner. You could hide yourself behind there, and hope they wouldn’t think to look in that nook. Hope. Would you really need to bank on hope? You shuddered. If those people down there were willing to fight and cause those explosions, they’d be willing and far more than able to off you without a second thought.

You crawled into position just as the fighting died off. Not a moment too soon, you think. A few seconds later, two sets of footsteps tap up the stairway you vacated, and thankfully continue their ascension. You strained to hear what was going on after they got to that floor. It was hard to figure out what those two were doing- the concrete muffled any noise that would help you indicate just what was happening. You think there was some conversation, anything else they were doing was too muddled to make out. Things were quiet for a minute, then you heard them walk down the stairwell. You release the breath you didn’t know were holding when you hear that they pass the floor you’re on. After giving them a few seconds so they wouldn’t hear, you started to head back up to continue where you left off. Surely, you could find something if you looked enough, right?

When the rubble stopped blocking your view, you froze in place. The metallic mannequin you saw earlier. It was upright. Its left arm was completely broken off, wires sparking every few seconds. The right leg was reattached crudely, causing the robot to stumble as it hobbled down the stairs. What frightened you the most is that its eyes were open- one was functioning, the other was nothing but a hole- ripped out, as you could surmise from the surrounding material.

The robot landed past the final step and scanned the room. For the longest second, it fixed its eye on you. That dead, soulless, unnatural silver eye relinquished its grip on you when its owner turned to make its way down the next stair. It seemed far more interested in following around whoever was working with it more than you, and you weren’t too anxious to find out more. As soon as it was clunking down the stairs, you bolted past it and up the stairs, still trying to minimize the sound you made.

Two floors up, you had to pause to rest. They shouldn’t be able to hear you now, and you can continue searching for… whatever you were looking for in the first place. Just what was going on?

Chapter 2: Fishing up Survival

Chapter Text

The next few hours of scavenging turned up little, but you hoped it would be good enough for now. You found a really good place to set up base- sure, you had to crawl through a doorway almost completely blocked with rubble, and the aperture was only barely large enough for you, but there was no other way to get into the room beyond. There was also piece of rusted sheet metal you could use to cover up the entrance- no one would know it’s there!

You also found something that could work like a canteen, but you’d need to find a water source. Considering some of the plant life you’ve seen past that bridge three floors up from your base, a scouting expedition there could turn up something. Food, you found, was rather lacking. Your growling stomach reminded you that you’d been working for hours. You had found a fair amount of firewood and something that could be used as a knife. You weren’t great at fishing, especially without a pole, but you were willing to try. And that’s what’s important, right?

Right?

Wrong, as it turns out. Yes, you found a river a ways past the bridge, and yes, it had fish, but you’d need a lot more experience fishing before you could get enough in one go. You sighed. This trip did provide enough for now, you suppose. The next problem would be where to place the fire to cook these fish. There wasn’t too much ventilation in your room, so it would be imperative to place it somewhere else. It probably wouldn’t be too good to put it right outside. Maybe a floor up, where there was a huge hole in the wall? That would probably be good enough.

You finally reached your base, where you dropped the fish and picked up some firewood and tinder before starting the fire. A thought crossed your mind: how long was today, anyway? You remember that you kept glancing up at the sun to gauge your progress during the day, but you hadn’t seen it budge an inch up there. The curiosities here seemed to build up when you weren’t paying attention.

You had to go to sleep in full daylight, which was quite the experience. Thankfully, ‘day’ two brought with it the discovery of various pieces of cloth, varying in size. One was large enough to mostly cover up the ‘window’ in your base, and the other, smaller bits you found afterwards were piled together to make a makeshift bed/ pillow/ blanket. It wasn’t much, but it was better than the cold concrete beneath. You also found a real knife to replace that rusty shard of iron you used to gut the fish. As time wore on (as you couldn’t really call it days, anymore, could you) you felt more and more comfortable with everything you had to do. It was becoming a routine: after waking up, go out to the river to fish, return to prepare the fish and have some, then go out scavenging.

You were especially thankful for everything the river was bringing you. Even after a good haul from scavenging, another glance at the river turned up at least one or two more items you could find useful, even if it was just another piece of cloth. You noticed a number of strange items in there from time to time. Was someone just throwing machinery into the river? Maybe those parts matched up with some of the robots you’d see out of your window from time to time, but the quantity of parts strewn around was worryingly high, at times. It couldn’t have been thrown out because it was past it usefulness. Was there some link to those people who reanimated that metal skeleton a while back?

As time wore on, you couldn’t shake a feeling of isolation. Where was everyone else? Did something happen to them? Why were you in some sort of abandoned city with no one else in sight? Why were there robots just meandering around on the long-shattered roads? Just what was going on?

A few days later, you were returning after an average scavenging day. You were starting down the stairs between the first and second floors down from the bridge, about to head toward the fire to get something ready to eat. Some of the more useful objects from river or ruins was usually keeping you occupied so you wouldn’t jump at the slightest of sounds. You went down a few steps when you heard something that made you freeze. A voice.

“The machines wouldn’t make this.” It was a boy, by the sound of it. Not too young; you’d guess mid- to late-teens. There was an unplaceable air about how he spoke. Curiosity dampened artificially. Hadn’t you heard his voice before?

“At the very least, it’s a sign of recent habitation. We should sweep the area again, make sure that there isn’t some machine hiding from us.” That was a girl talking. Her voice was flat emotionless, but seemed to have some undercurrent of deep-seated anger. The realization hit you- these two were the ones who (re-)animated that metallic skeleton. The ones who fought floors beneath you.

The ones who wouldn’t be afraid to kill.

“I’ll make a report to base, and then we’ll head out.” The boy was inadvertently buying you time. You turned around and tried to, as quietly as possible, hurry yourself up the stairs and set everything you were carrying out of sight. With that done, you bolted up the stairs and over the bridge. You had expected that, if anything were to go wrong, you would be able to hole yourself up in your base and wait for it to blow over. Now where would you turn? You made a mental list of places that were close but well-covered in the abandoned buildings past the river. You had to make a guess, but it was the best you had to work with. You quickly searched the area it should be as you turned a corner. There it was, just past the rusted-out fire escape. You climbed up and squeezed into a space barely wider than you.

Then you waited. It was all you could do in this situation, after all.

Chapter 3: Like two peas and a...

Chapter Text

You eventually made it back without being spotted, but in the days following, you couldn’t help but jump every single time you saw something abnormal out of the corner of your eye, or when a sound echoed around the abandoned buildings. You hadn’t laid eyes on whoever it was that found your camp, and you were thankful you hadn’t. Sometimes your mind wandered to thinking just what kind of people they would be. Was this area abandoned because of the ferocity of the people who inhabited it? Were they actually kind people in a sea of destruction and destitution? Fear was overpowering reason for you, mentally. Your thoughts kept on turning toward how much danger they could pose toward you. How much they might see you as a problem that needs to be fixed. You keep talking down those fears. They were baseless, you kept repeating to yourself in the quieter hours, and yet those fears kept you awake night after night.

You had gotten used to hearing the sounds of combat near your building from time to time. Problem is, any time you had the chance to look outside while combat was occurring, you couldn’t see who the combatants were. However, if there hadn’t been fighting for a while, and if you were lucky, you might see a few robots milling about.

There wasn’t much interesting with these robots- well, for the majority of them, anyway. Every robot you saw was completely covered with brown rust, and their heads were little more than spheres dotted with either yellow or green glowing circles, reminiscent of eyes. Most of the robots you’ve seen were short- you had some difficulty gauging how large they were, but they couldn’t be any taller than your waist. Their hunched bodies limited them to waddling as they meandered around. What you’ve been seeing more of recently are the larger robots. They tower over anything around them, and they seem to actually be built to look like people rather than oversized wind-up toys.

One day, out of boredom, you decided to pull back the curtain in your room and watch the robots meander around. You spent quite some time scavenging- so you were sore, but weren’t tired yet, so you thought you’d just bide your time. Sure enough, there was a small group of robots milling about on the street below. It stuck you as odd how little they seemed to notice each other. They just stared dead ahead, and sometimes they’d miss each other by mere millimeters. You watched them for a bit, and when you were just about to close the curtain and head off to bed, you noticed something right on the edge of the window. Were those...

People?

They were. Even though you were floors up in this abandoned building, you could still make out that there were three people walking up toward the group of robots. Mental red flags were immediately being raised. Why were they all wearing black? Why did they have giant swords (and a spear, for one of them) on their backs? Why were they blindfolded?

The questions continued to pile up without answers as they neared the group of robots. Before another question could congeal in your mind, the blindfolded people started attacking. The robots stood no chance at all. Explosions sounded one after another as each successive robot fell to their collective might.

You didn’t know if you felt better or worse now knowing who was behind all these attacks, and how easily they could end your life if they wanted. Their attacks were seamless. They cut through those metal bodies as if they were paper, and didn’t seem to tire, even after their showy attacks launched them across the battlefield. They also almost seemed to weave around each other, covering their partners as they paused during their relentless assault. They-

They were heading toward your building.

Your grip on the wall and curtain suddenly became like iron. Those madmen, who fought blindfolded, who could cut through metal. They were potentially heading your way. You dropped the curtain as you felt your pulse begin to race. There was no way you could fight them. If they found you, you would be absolutely screwed. Your thoughts raced to find some means of safety. Running might not be an option. They showed no stopping while fighting. Why would they feel any exhaustion from running? No. You had to hide. You tried to calm your rapid breathing, sat down, and focused as much as you could on being quiet.

Seconds turned into a minute, which stretched into two. What was going on? Perhaps they didn’t go into your building. Maybe you were just overrea-

The sounds of several pairs of shoes tapping up the stairwell cuts your thoughts off immediately. You told yourself, again, to take slow and quiet breaths. Maybe they’d start talking- you edged yourself forward, closer to the wall with the exit. You strained to hear what they were saying.

“Yep, this looks like it,” she wasn’t the emotionless one. Her voice was focused and strict, and much lower than the one before. “7S, search the above floors and see if the other remains are where they are. You have the pictures, right?”

“Yeah. Heading out.” You weren’t quite sure if he was the same person as last time. It was probably safe to assume he wasn’t. Something about the wording, you mused as you heard another set of footsteps climb the stairwell. Wait, 7S? Did you hear that right? Was someone’s name really an alphanumeric combination?

“It was almost a miracle we got here. Why do we always have to suffer with equipment that’s just about to fall apart?” New person, still not the emotionless one. “This pod couldn’t even open up a map. Why couldn’t we use the one we’ve always been using?” Her higher voice showed no trace of hiding her disdain for her current situation.

“32B, you were the one who demanded that pod 017 should be taken in for repairs. You lodged 57 individual complaints during the previous mission alone.”

“15D, were you an Operator for a short while? Because you’re giving me information I didn’t ask for.”

“The way you act, I’m considering a stint just to get away from you. Pod, connect back to base. Opening a connection will take a while.”

“It wouldn’t take as long if we had 017.”

“Will you just shut up about that? Complaining isn’t-”

“Error in connecting to network.” Okay, that was a new one on you. There was emotionless, but that was downright robotic. That was the voice you thought those robots down on the street had.

“This stupid pod!”

“32B!”

A fraction of a second later, the entire building around you shook as something slammed on the other side of the wall. As you blinked in surprise, you noticed a new crack stretching from halfway up the wall all the way up to the ceiling, whose branching cracks spanned an impressive area. Smaller cracks had shown up across the ceiling as dust started to flit down. You hurried to cover your mouth and nose so a sneeze or cough wouldn’t give you away.

“What was that?” A voice called down from a few floors up. 7S, wasn’t it? “Were you guys ambushed?”

“No,” 15D, you think it was, called back. “32B just threw another tantrum over another minor perceived slight against her. Keep working.”

“I’m already done. Heading down,” 7S responded.

“Just leave it, 15D,” 32B said angrily. “We’ll tell bunker that the pod finally bit the rust.”

“Fine,” 15D sighed, “you probably did it in, anyway.”

“Let’s be honest. I did them a favor, ridding them of that useless bucket of bolts.”

“I won’t lie for you if they ask me directly.” She called up, “7S? Think you could take a few photos for us?”

“With your functioning pod?” 32B added. “What?” she defensively asked a second later.

“On it,” 7S called down. After a small pause he continued far more clearly, “Oh jeez, 32B. Really?” He probably got to this floor.

“You’d leave that faulty gearbox behind, too, if 362 had to be sent in for repairs.”

“32B,” another robotic voice intoned. This one was feminine. “Careless disposal or destruction of YoRHa materials will be reported to the Commander directly. Reminder: 32B is not on good terms with the Commander due to previous infractions.” 32B sighed.

“I get it, I get it. I need to curb my anger problems. Just shut up already, I’ll deal with it later.”

A minute or so passed by in silence.

“Alright, I got them. Let’s go before 32B destroys anything else,” 7S said.

The group began to descend the stairwell. You heard another conversation start up, but they were too far away to listen to. You waited until you were sure that there was no chance someone was left behind before you knelt down to crawl through your sole entrance/exit to your base. You slid the plate which blocked entry first an inch, then all the way once you ascertained there wasn’t anyone on the other side. After standing up, you turned around to see the damage that 32B had done.

Yeah, she certainly did a number on your wall. The cracks were impressive on your side, but they were downright worrying on the outside. The web of cracks splintered outwards from… a small rectangle of metal. You reached forward and tried to pry it out of the concrete it was embedded in. It took a few tugs, but it finally came free, dislodging a number of larger chunks which tumbled to the ground. You turned the metal- pod, was it?- over and over in your hands. It was dented, yes, but that didn’t mean that 32B had to just throw away a perfectly good-

“Warning: It is not permitted for non-YoRHa units to utilize tactical support units.”

You froze. Was that the robot you were holding in your hands?

“Error: Tactical self-destruct failed. Subsystem not responding.”

That was definitely the robot talking. You turned it so it faced you (at least, that’s what you thought the front was).

“I’m sorry,” you started to explain, “Could… Could you please repeat that? What am I not permitted to do?”

“Request accepted. It is not permitted for non-YoRHa units to utilize tactical support units.” Well, it was louder when it was facing this way. More evidence that this was its front.

“Well, I’ll be sure not to, uh, utilize you then.” You had trouble processing just what was going on in front of you. If it didn’t want you to use it, it would just refuse, right? “You alright, by the way? That crater didn’t look fun to get into.”

“Response: It was not. Structural integrity at acceptable levels, several subsystems inoperable.” Today just wasn’t this guy’s day. “Query: To which group is the unit in front of this pod allied?”

“Allied? I’m- I’m not allied with- I haven’t even met anyone to ally myself with!” What is this robot getting at? “You. Who are you allied with?”

“All tactical support support units work with their assigned YoRHa unit. Query: is this unit correct in assuming that you are unaligned?”

“Wha- fine, yes, I’m unaligned. Were those people who were here before a few minutes ago with,” what was that name? “‘Your ha’?”

“Affirmative.”

“So what were they doing here?”

“Classified. This information should not-”

“Were they here to take photos of this area?”

“...Affirmative.”

“Well,” you sighed, “I pretty much had that figured out, but oh well.”

“Query: Whereabouts of Scouting subgroup 15-6a.”

“Pardon?”

“This unit wishes to return to the group it was assigned to.” You paused. Were you really going to break the news to this poor thing?

“They… They left you here,” you paused, and continued when the pod did not speak. “It was fairly clear that they didn’t want to have to…” You trailed off. It really was harder than it seemed. Why was it so hard? He’s just a metal rectangle with arms! You should be able to-

“Searching auto-recorded history.” The robot went silent for a few seconds. It spoke slower when it resumed. It almost seemed depressed.

“Conclusion: This unit was left to rust by Scouting subgroup 15-6a.” You were thinking. If this thing didn’t have group to go with, maybe...

“Hey, want to come with me? I could-”

“It is not permitted for-”

“Yeah, I got that. No non-’your ha’s. I won’t be using you, you’re just going to be… with someone, instead of sitting in a heap, forgotten.”

“This request is not against protocol. Request accepted. Warning: attempts to request assistance will be denied.”

“Fair enough.” You felt proud, almost. You gained a new frie- well, someone to talk to so you won’t go mad.

If he’ll respond.

Chapter 4: ...Or a pea and...

Chapter Text

“So…” You looked over your new companion. It was little more than a tall box barely taller than your hand that had two pairs of arms attached, the larger pair being accented with red paint. The white metal housing had a few major dents and a good-sized chip taken out of one side. It was edged with four bevels, one on each corner of the face. A panel on one of its arms was coming loose but hadn’t fallen off. The box was featureless, with the exception of a red-tipped antenna, which stuck out the top of the box on what would be its front-right corner.

“Request:” the pod shook you from your thoughts, “Please let go of this unit. Auto-locomotive mechanisms will allow this unit to move freely.” Auto-locomotive? This thing could move itself? You raised your eyebrows slightly in surprise and complied with its request.

Gravity brought the obvious to pass, as it clattered into a face-down position.

The pod didn’t look worse for the wear- well, not too worse than it had been. You crouched down to it, a worried look on your face.

“You alright?”

“Diagnostic complete. Auto-locomotive subsystem non-responsive.” Its voice was quieter than normal, being dampened by the concrete it was talking into. “Request: Please pick up this unit.” As you picked it back up, you made sure nothing had been damaged too much on its body. It looked as if it hadn’t landed on its arms or antenna.

“So you’re alright?”

“This unit is currently running diagnostics for all system and subsystem operational ability. Current estimated time remaining: four hours and twenty-three point nine seconds.”

“So you’ll be at it for a while. Look, I’m about to go to sleep. Let’s get back inside the base and you can run that then, alright?” It remained silent for a few seconds, which you took as a go-ahead. You dropped him on your shoulder, knelt down, and went through the tunnel into your base. Thankfully, he took the cue to hold onto your shirt.

Once inside, you set him down and got ready for bed. He didn’t move a lot, you noticed, but this could be because he’s looking over everything that’s going wrong inside of him. Considering that impact he took, that may keep him occupied for a while. You lay down on the bed and let sleep roll over you.

You rolled over when you awoke, and tried to gauge if that robot you found had moved while you slept. You half expected it to be on the other side of the room- or even to not be there at all-, but there it sat. Still facing away from you. You stood and started your morning preparations in your base. When it came time to head up two floors for breakfast, you picked up the little robot and started heading out.

“By the way,” you said to it, hoping it was awake, “what’s your name?”

“This unit has the designation of Pod-904.”

“904, got it.” It was slightly unnerving to call someone- even something- by a number. Your thoughts moved to the people who left this pod behind. Their names were an alphanumeric combination, weren’t they? How could they stand to call themselves by something so cold and impersonal? Your thoughts continued to meander as you climbed up the two flights to your campfire. You grabbed two fish and your knife and set out for the river. Maybe it would be a good idea to talk with the pod, get to know it.

“So what were the results? Everything okay in there?”

“Multiple subsystems are damaged, including ocular scanners and long-range communication. Auto-repair is attempting to repair itself, putting other damages at a lower priority.” Well, that wasn’t a good start for conversation, now is it. You briefly considered dropping the conversation entirely when your thoughts turned to fishing. Specifically, the part where you were going to be in water, and he was a robot.

You’ve been told those two things don’t work well together.

“904, I’m going to be fishing.”

“Alert: this unit cannot assist in that activity due to non-functioning auto-locomotive subsystem”

“I was going to ask if you wanted me to leave you on the shore. You know, where you wouldn’t get wet.”

“Negative. All YoRHa units are verified to continue standard functions when submerged up to 100 meters without retrofittings.”

Alright. If he says he’ll be fine…

True to its word, 904 kept holding onto your shirt as you were fishing. Even as you were continuously fumbling around, desperately trying to secure your meals for the next few days, even slipping and plunging completely into the river, every time you glanced over your shoulder, it was there with its iron grip. Come to think of it, you were struggling for so long and doing all of this work. Why was it so silent now?

As you were heading to the bank of the river, dropping off the last fish you caught for today, 904 decided to pipe up.

“Alert: signal detected. Approximate location: 236°, 5.02 meters.” You stopped slogging through the waves.

“What?”

“Signal detected. Proposal: Halt current procedure and attempt to secure signal source.”

You blinked in disbelief. Was it telling you to just drop what you were doing and find something it wouldn’t name? You lobbed the fish you were carrying at the rocks, where you had the other fish, turned, and started the march back to the middle of the river.

“What am I looking for?”

“Unknown.”

“Great! Big help you are. Look if you want me to help-”

You caught a glimpse of something poke up above the water before sinking back down. The object was a very dark gray- you barely saw it against the rocks and the water, and would have missed it completely if you hadn’t seen also seen its green antenna.

A green antenna that looked a lot like 904’s.

“Hold on,” you barked back to 904. It was a fast current that was carrying this new pod downriver, and you’d have to swim quickly to reach it. You were never good at swimming, but you hurriedly pushed yourself faster and faster to catch up with it.

You were almost there. You reached out- and slipped as your foot failed to find solid purchase. You gasped as the water rushed up, and flinched when it slapped straight into your mostly-shut eyes and seeped slightly into your mouth. The world dropped into silence as the water swallowed your ears. You unconsciously held your breath, willing yourself to get your bearings and, hopefully, not drown.

The moment stretched into an eternity as you flailed about, hands and feet trying to get you some purchase on the surprisingly slippery stones. As you broke the surface, something sharp slid along your right foot. You grit your teeth and tried to open your eyes amongst the water pouring down off your hair- the new pod was still almost in reach! The fact that your shirt was being pulled back, almost off your shoulder was proof enough for now that 904 was still holding on.

You lunged once more at the mostly submerged pod. Water splashed again into your eyes as you screwed them shut. You were sputtering, trying to keep out the river water. Your right foot felt another stab of pain as you pushed off another rock. You could do this. Just a bit-

Something bounced off the outside of your hand. You desperately swung your hand out to the side and closed around anything that was there. The first time, there was nothing but water, but the second time, your hand closed around something cold and hard.

Good enough, you thought. You steeled your grip and started to pull back to the banks of the river. The biting flows were relentless as they threatened to once again plunge your world into a roaring silence, but you eventually made it to shallower and slower waters. Your breathing was labored as you marched out of the water. You felt light-headed. You were coughing up water every few seconds. Your right foot left a crimson trail behind you as jolts of pain raced up your leg, reminding you of the errors you made in the moment.

But you got it. You managed to drag the old pod out of the river.

You turned it over in your hands. It looked surprisingly similar to 904. The metal on this one was dark gray, nearly black. All of its accents were green and it didn’t have as many dents as 904- with the exception of the one on its back which dominated that entire face. A dawning sense of dread filled you as you noticed that its arms were limp and unmoving as you turned it over.

“904?” You asked, to no response. “Was this thing emitting the signal?”

“Affirmative.” You felt your head slowly turn over your shoulder, until you were looking almost squarely at 904.

“This thing.” You gestured toward the pod in your hands. You could feel your hands start to shake. “This. Lifeless. Thing.”

“Affirmative.”

You didn’t know what to call this feeling which was building in you. Anger, indignation, something between the two.

“You wanted me to try and rescue this,” you shake the deactivated pod, “this… this useless-”

“Alert: Recovered pod is not useless. Pod was emitting an emergency signal, so at least some operations are still possible with the recovered body.”

Exasperated, you stormed over to the pile of fish you caught for today. You started to gather up today’s catch when you realized you were missing something.

Your knife.

You thought back to when you could have lost it. It would have had to have been while you were in the river. You had thrown the newest catch at the shore and then took off after the new pod. The realization struck you- that’s what you cut your foot against. You turned back toward the river. It was extremely unlikely that you’d be able to find that thing again, even if you searched for hours. By now, the river could have taken it anywhere from where you usually fish to down near the next bend. You felt your head drop forward. A wounded foot and a lost knife for some useless pod?

“904? You said this pod could still work?”

“Affirmative.”

“Any idea what it can do?”

“Unknown. This unit will run diagnostics on the deactivated pod. Estimated time until completion: 6 hours.” You were starting to regret offering to help the poor pod.

“I’ll just drop you off at base. Just do what you need to while I go out scavenging.”

“Understood. Query: Approximate length of scavenging expedition.”

“I don’t know. Until I’m done.” This was apparently a good enough answer, since there was no response as you crossed the bridge home. After making it into your base, you set 904 and the new pod down near each other. You didn’t know what diagnostics would entail, but you set them close to each other, and had 904 face the other pod. You limped over to the pile of cloths you had. You knew that a few days ago, you did find a couple of scraps that were long enough to tie. After tearing them to a more suitable width, you set to tying it so they wouldn’t fall off. Satisfied that it was tight enough, you stood up and glanced over at the two pods. Neither of them had moved.

“904? You are running the diagnostics, aren’t you?”

“Affirmative.”

Must be wireless, you thought.

“Alright. I’m heading out.” You neither expected nor received a response as you crawled out the exit. Stuffed in your pocket were a number of rags for you to switch out later, with at least one to be used after you swung by the river to wash off and re-bandage the wound before heading out to scavenge. More than anything else, you wanted to find something to replace your lost knife. You sighed as you limped up the stairs- it was harder going up than going down. A thought lodged in your mind- you had been lucky so far, but what would happen if something would find and chase after you? You were just going to have to be more careful in the coming days.

You ran over your track record- it was more luck than skill that kept you undiscovered.

Chapter 5: Just Visiting

Chapter Text

Scavenging was always a hit-or-miss operation. For the first hour or two, you kept wanting for a new knife, but you kept finding tattered books, warped metal, a few vials of a viscous fluid- probably useless for you. As you mindlessly sifted through building after building, your thoughts turned to the two additions to your life in this abandoned world.

There was the pod left behind by those three people yesterday. 904 was quiet- was that normal? You’d expect someone to ask questions about who they’re working with, except he had a bunch of systems on the fritz- maybe that hasn’t occurred to him yet, or maybe his thoughts are occupied with something else.

Then there was the new pod, on which 904 was working. Was he doing so to see what he could get running? Was he going to scavenge it for parts? 904 had been left behind because he was malfunctioning. Why was this new pod thrown into the river?

The more these thoughts flew through your mind, the fewer answers you realized you had. After an hour of moving through buildings and having thoughts moving through your head, you stopped and sat down to check on your foot wound. Turn by turn, the cloth slowly pulled away. You started to flinch as you reached the last three layers, as they stuck not only to each other but to your foot as well. Why did it have to be on the bottom of your foot? As you pulled out your makeshift canteen, you did the mental math and found you were noticeably slower now than you were earlier. After washing the cut again, you pulled out a new strip of cloth. If worse came to worse, how much trouble would this cut cause you on your way to safety?

You turned that thought over and over in your head as you wrapped your foot up again. You didn’t know too much about dressing wounds- you hoped that you weren’t doing it wrong. As you rose again, you managed to convince yourself that you couldn’t think it through much more without more information. You planned to go a little further before heading back. Hopefully there would be some development with the new pod in the meantime.

You had already set everything down that you got from the trip, then picked up supper and started to head to base. You know that the two pods should still be in there as the metal plate covering the entrance hasn’t been moved. It made little sound as you pushed it aside, then crawled through to safety. Your eyes were closed as you sighed in relief as you stood up, as you were finally safe from the nightmare that was outside these secure walls.

You opened your eyes to a grey box hovering mere inches from your face.

You don’t remember there being a gray box here before.

You took a step back to get a better view of what was right in your face, and it catches you off guard what comes into view. Wasn’t that the new pod? You realize the only reason it would be up there is because it would be resting on top of someth- Wait, no, there’s nothing beneath it. Your brain struggled to fit everything together. Was it… floating? There really couldn’t be any other answer, could there?

You kept eliminating impossible situations. What remains, however improbable, had to be the truth. The pod was floating.

You stared at the pod for what felt like a minute before a voice spoke up.

“Alert: The pod in front of you is enumerated Pod 320.” Your gaze shifted down a little to where 904 sat. Just before you could say anything, 904 continued. “It appeared you were expecting 320 to be introduced. While 320 possesses a functioning voice synthesizer, the speakers are malfunctioning.”

“So,” so asked to 904, “you know this how?”

“320 established a connection after booting. Early diagnostics results showed a necessity for the continued connection.”

“Is he working fine besides that?” You watched 320 hover around you and settle into a position slightly behind you, about a quarter meter above you.

“There are a number of non-functioning subsystems, but 320 was unwilling to share many detailing the results of the diagnostics. 320 has also erroneously set you as their parent unit.” You had expected everything to be sorted out by the time you got back. Why wasn’t 320 being cooperative? Didn’t he understand the situation you were all in?

“Meaning…” You didn't like the sound of being a 'parent unit'. You doubted that it meant anything daunting, what little sense there was left in the world seemed to care little for you.

“The aforementioned statement signifies that the pod has granted exclusive usage permissions to you. This is an obvious breach of protocol 598-17, considering they have not properly ensured security in network connections” 904 paused for a second. “This unit expresses a high level of concern that you appear to lack information concerning the usage of tactical support units.” Your patience was wearing thin after an entire day of pushing onward and enduring pain. Now he was trying to push this endless verbose barrage at you? You glared down at him.

“Well! I’m sorry that you find that I’m lacking this sort of information! Look, I just spent an entire-”

“Alert:” 904 interrupted. Oh, what now? You felt your eye twitch.

“904, this better be important. You don’t just interrupt someone else when they’re speaking.”

“Initial scans from 320 denote a lack of a functioning black box signal.”

“Is this a problem?” You asked though nearly gritted teeth.

“Lacking a black box indicates that a certain unit is not YoRHa.” Yorha- didn’t he mention that name before? “While tactical support units are supposed to work with their assigned YoRHa unit, extenuating circ*mstances may permit exceptions.” You sighed and turned. You were tired and just wanted to be left alone.

“As long as there isn’t a problem, don’t bother me.” You nearly threw yourself down onto your makeshift mattress. You were frustrated and just wanted today to end.

You were pulled into consciousness when a light spilled into your room. You had trouble falling asleep, and now you were wrenched into starting today before you even wanted to. Was today going to be another frus-

Wait. Why was light shining into your room?

A voice broke your thoughts, seized your body, and threw open your eyes.

“9S to 21O. I have have visual confirmation of the anomaly.”

Chapter 6: Conjunct

Chapter Text

Your eyes darted over to where the intruder stood in the room- right at the window facing out. He looked similar to the people you saw at a distance on the street. Blindfolded and wearing all black from the neck down, except for his shorts, apparently. He was holding the curtain to the side slightly. His pod- a grey one, slightly darker than 320- had a light pointed outside. This made little sense to you, but if it meant he was focusing so much on the outside, he wasn’t looking at you. That, for now, was enough.

As you stood up, making as little noise as possible, you saw 320 hover closer to you dangling 904 beneath it. You put a finger to your lips, trying to stress as much as possible to them to stay quiet. Whether they understood or not, they made no sound. You started moving toward the tunnel out, keeping an eye on the short infiltrator.

“It seems like the anomaly had holed up in an adjacent room- the entryway had mostly caved in, and he seems to have covered up the entrance with a piece of free sheet metal.” By this point, you had gotten on all fours, and your shoulders were in the tunnel. “I should be uploading a picture of the anomaly I took before calling.” Those words struck you like a sledgehammer. They know what you look like. No, no, you’ll never get out of here like this! They going to find you, they’re…

They’re going to have a hell of a time doing so if you have any say about this. You waged a fierce battle between your fear pushing you forward and your caution slowing you down. As the invader to your peaceful home rambled on to no one in particular (you hoped), you managed to worm your way out of the base. You breathed a sigh of relief. You were free! You all you had to do was-

A voice to your left hummed in interest. Startled, your head and eyes jerked to the side to see a woman kneeling near your scavenging pile. Two smaller piles of items lay to her left and right- apparently, she had been sifting through everything you had found from the nearby buildings. Both she and her snow-white pod were completely engrossed in this mundane task to notice you were no more than three meters from them.

The stairs were right there . On the other side of her. You put your right foot first and nearly recoiled in pain when you stepped on a chunk of concrete which pressed right into your cut. It had been healing up so well, too. You shifted your foot before pressing onward.

As you soundlessly moved step by agonizing step toward the stairway, you thought to the boy in the room. He had taken a photo of you, and that would be ending soon. How much time did you have left before he would notice? What would they do to you?

Your pulse sounded in your ears the whole way to the stairwell. Your head was still trained on the woman in the room, and as luck would have it, she was in full view of the entire staircase. As you rose the first few steps, you saw her turn her head to the room.

“Hurry up, 9S.” The tone was stern, and louder than you expected. You heard that before. They were the ones who found your base in the first place! They were back. Oh, God. What were they planning on doing to you? Were they going to kill you? Did they see you as an intruder?

“Yeah, yeah,” came the muffled nonchalant reply from your room. Your safe place. One of the only places you could call home. You felt something gently land on your shoulder, silencing your heart and making you whip around to face it. It was just 904, who 320 had placed there. You turned back to the problem in front of you. The further you were from her, the less she could hear you. It hurt to swallow with your mouth so dry. You were almost there. Just a few more steps, and she hadn’t even noticed you were there! You were almost home-free from her line-of-sight. Just four more steps…

Three…

Two…

“2B!” The shout rang out through the silent and still building like a gunshot. You stopped mid-breath. The woman on the floor below whipped her head around to her left.

Time slowed down when her blindfolded gaze focused on you. Your blood turned to ice. A moment stretched into infinity as her partially covered face seemed to scan you top to bottom. Your survival instinct yelled at you. Run! Run ! She seemed to stand as still as you were. You had to make run, and now. The more you yelled at your muscles to move, the stiller you seemed to stay. Finally, you managed to wrench your locked body into motion. You steeled your will. You were going to get out of this. You were going to leave them behind. You nearly doubled over in pain when your right foot nearly missed the step and slammed the corner straight into your bandages. The aftershocks of the pain coursed up and down your leg as you somehow managed to stagger up to the next level.

No, I can’t give up now. You pushed your body further, taking steps two at a time. Over the blood rushing in your ears, you barely heard footfalls carry their way up the stairwell you left behind. You didn’t want to look. You didn’t want fear to once again rear its head. You had to keep your eyes forward. Keep on the straight path. Don’t look back, don’t give them the advantage. The next floor up came into view. You reached out to grab at what was left of the banister so you could use it to swing up to the next set of stairs. Was there something behind you? No, just one more step and you should be able to-

Something landed underneath your left foot before it found true purchase on the next step. As you twisted to regain your balance, your momentum caused you to lurch forward. Your right foot rose into the air against your will, causing you to careen forward, onto the floor. Thankfully, you missed the steps- and a hard and painful fall- entirely. 904 lost his grip and skittered out onto the floor past you. Unfortunately, you were sprawled out, face-down: entirely defenseless. A cold point of metal pressed itself into the back of your neck. You weren’t entirely sure if it was the girl doing this, but you figured that wasn’t as important in the scheme of things. A few seconds later, you heard the sound of footfalls racing up the stairs, with someone calling up.

“2B!”

“I have the anomaly here.” Her voice was as emotionless as you remembered. “Seems to be non-belligerent.”

“I can’t believe he almost managed to slip past me!” He finally reached the top of the stairs. ‘ Almost? ’ you thought, ‘ I did manage to sneak past you. ’

“Stand up,” the metal lifted from your neck as the girl gave her command. You complied, slowly, so as not to draw their ire. You wanted not your head separated from your neck. As you stood up, you caught a glimpse of 320 attempting to pick 904 up. You tried to subtly give a ‘stay back’ gesture to 320. You didn’t need them risking your life in this situation. Whether he got the message or not, or even if the two major interlopers caught it too, you weren’t sure. You turned to face your potential executioners. It was frightening, seeing two people wearing all-black clothes with snow-white hair. The girl held a katana which easily could have been as long as she was tall. She began to speak.

“We have reports indicating some individual settling in this section of the city ruins. More specifically, the reports noted that the settlement style has varied wildly from any other type encountered before. Obviously, you’re no runaway machine. You have no black box signal, so you’re not a runaway YoRHa unit. This leaves us with one possibility: you’re running from the Resistance. So where did you get the pods?”

“I found them,” you replied. You did! They were both just left behind, as far as you knew.

“You found them?” the boy asked, stepping forward. “Pods aren’t just left behind. Are we to assume that you stole them?”

“Stole them?” You were incredulous, “How could I have stolen them? They both-”

“We’ve seen things like this before.” First they blame you for something you didn’t do, and now he just interrupts you? Just what is wrong with these two?

“Listen here,” you pointed at the one now in reach, “I am innocent here, and you have no way to prove that I sto-” You were interrupted by him grabbing your wrist and pulling it down.

“No, you listen here,” you could feel your pulse press against his iron-like grip, “members of the Resistance have no reason to be in possession of YoRHa materials. If we wanted to, we have just cause- right now-” he emphasized these words by squeezing even harder. Before he could finish that threat, the other person- 2B, you remember- spoke up.

“9S, that’s enough. We are neither judge nor executioner.” She turned to you. As she talked, you felt his grip on your wrist slowly lessening. “We would like a more detailed description of what has occurred for you to-” At this moment, 9S said something, causing you to lose what both of them had said. 2B frowned and turned to him.

“What did you say, 9S?”

He was shocked. So shocked, it struck you as odd that his skin was still so flush. But odder still were his next words.

“Y-You’re a human!”

Chapter 7: Unveiling

Chapter Text

“Y-You’re a human!”

You arched an eyebrow. What was with this... child? He had to be lost in his reasoning. Both you and the girl turned to face him, and it felt that a few more did the same.

“9S,” 2B took on an air of exasperation, “please refrain from making statements like that.”

“I’m surprised to say this,” you add, “but I have to agree with her. There’s really no use in stating the blatantly obvious.” You closed your eyes and sighed. How are you ever going deal with him? One step at a time, you think. When you opened your eyes, you were caught off guard seeing both individuals staring at you instead. 9S stood with his jaw agape. You noted that even their pods, hovering a foot above them both had turned their fronts on you, where before they stared dead ahead.

Something clattered to the ground behind you. You looked over your shoulder, and saw 904 and 320 rattling on the ground, eventually coming to rest. 904 emitted a spark seemed to be twitching. You turned back to the stunned individuals. Really, what was with them? What did you say that was so wrong?

9S was failing to form sentences, or even words. Several times, he would open his mouth to start talking, then found himself unsure of which word he should use to start. 2B was standing stock-still. Was- was she okay? After a minute of the only sound being 9S stammering and 904 emitting the occasional spark, one of their pods spoke up.

“Suggestion:” the robotic voice was feminine, “9S and 2B should contact the Bunker.” 9S wheeled, turning toward her.

“Y- Yes! Pod, connect me with 21O!”

“Connecting.”

You didn’t know what to make of this situation. 9S looked so relieved to have someone else who knew what to do. 2B was still broken, and her pod appeared to be in the same state. A light suddenly flickered on in 9S’s pod as a projection sprung to life in front of him. It appeared to be an almost-square hologram, with data covering your right side of the screen and a face on the left. Her short, blond (at least, you thought it was blond. Stupid black-and-white connection) hair framed a face mostly covered up by a piece of cloth which blocked most of your view of anything of her face from her nose down, although you were able to make out her lips, if barely. 9S spoke immediately as soon as the interface came up.

“N-9S to 21O!”

“21O here. 9S, calm down.” Her voice sounded less like she was disconnected with her emotions and more like she found she couldn’t care any more about the minor details she was being bombarded with. ‘Kind of like a sleep deprived mother,’ you thought. “Have you determined the nature of the anomaly?”

“Yes! 21O, there’s a reason for all the strange deposits!” Good grief, if he was like this half the time, you couldn’t blame her for being so disconnected. “It’s with the anomaly! It all makes sense!” 21O’s face screwed up in confusion.

“Deposits? What deposits? We’re talking about the anomaly.”

“The deposits around the anomaly’s base! It’s a human that’s doing this!”

21O held her confused stare for a short while.

“...9S, you are aware that-”

“Yes, I know, but there’s one right here! Pod, show her!” The dark gray pod slowly turned around, trying to keep the screen viewable to 9S while getting you in-frame, apparently. 2B was still in shock, although her pod was now starting to come back to reality.

At this point, 21O was apparently staring down at you through a hologram. You weren’t entirely sure what to do. You awkwardly waved. You didn’t like all of this attention.

“9S,” 21O asked, “how do you know he’s a human?”

“This is why!” 9S dove toward you, and put your other wrist in a death clamp. “Pod, forward this information to 21O.” The wide grin 9S was wearing was starting to make you a bit nervous. A few seconds later, a small window appeared on the hologram over the rest of the data, which was now on the left due to the pod turning around. She probably had the data on her left, too, since her gaze trained there. A thin white line lazily made its way across the windows, looping around when it got back to the end. You didn’t know what information it conveyed as it wobbled up and down. Her eyes opened wide. She blinked a few times. You heard frantic typing as her eyes kept darting around her screen.

Just what was going on?

She slumped back into her seat (which was out of camera) as she ran a hand through her hair. She said something under her breath, which seemed to end in a ‘k’ sound. She was looking as lost as 2B.

“See?” 9S let go of your wrist as blood flowed back into your hand. You were going to have pins and needles for a minute or so. That won’t be fun. “I wouldn’t lie about this!”

21O appeared to be running out of options, but some idea struck her.

“Commander,” she breathed under her mask (for lack of a better term), “She’ll know.” She attacked the keyboard again. “I’m including all the details in this report. You don’t need to fill her in,” her gaze turned back to the camera as her voice filled with anger, “and don’t bring in unrelated information.” She turned back to her work, a flurry of keystrokes filling the air.

“Okay,” 9S said, taken aback. He turned to you. “Alright, Commander might ask for more information. Do you have anything else that could prove you’re a human?”

You took a few seconds to blink at him. As much as confusion was making you act like 2B right now, you were starting to get worried. Prove you’re a human? What, and they weren’t? You looked 9S over. No, they certainly looked human. Your thoughts were interrupted by- a ringing sound?- coming from 2B’s pod. This, apparently was enough to shake her from her stupor.

“Incoming call from the Commander,” her pod toned, before projecting a screen much like 9S’s pod. 2B’s pod sounded male. Huh.

“Commander to 2B and 9S.” An extremely authoritative voice came in loud and clear though the pod.

“2B here.”

“9S here.”

“Good.” The commander was stern. With a name like that, it was certainly fitting. “Where is the individual you claimed as the human?” 2B motioned for her pod to turn around, and 9S stepped out of the way between you and the pod. The commander, now ‘facing’ you, thought for a few seconds. “I see. 2B and 9S, the missions and orders concerning your investigation of the anomaly are to be considered closed. Your task right now is to escort the human to the nearest encampment. We can ensure these claims at the base with greater accuracy.”

“Commander,” 21O added, “the Machines are currently undergoing a minor operation in the areas between 9S’s and 2B’s current location and the nearest encampment. There are three parties near enough to respond in a reasonable time. Sending information.”

“Information received. 9S and 2B, remain at your current location. Another group will be on their way to aid with the escort. Details will be sent momentarily. Any questions?” 2B spoke up next.

“Is the machine presence really so high to require two groups working in tandem?”

“The report mentioned the human’s extremely low potential for combat. I want no risks taken.” You felt offended.

“Understood.”

“Good. Signing off. Glory to Mankind.” Wait, wha-

“Glory to Mankind.” 9S and 2B said, almost in sync. The screen showing the Commander blinked out, with the one for 21O following shortly after. You were left stunned for a few seconds as 2B and 9S turned toward you.

“Wait. Wait. Wait.” You paused. “What. Is going. On.”

“Please pay more attention to the briefings.” 2B was as curt as ever. “We will wait to rendezvous with another group so that-”

“I think he was getting at something else, 2B,” 9S glanced over at her. “He seems pretty confused about everything.” He turned back to you, “Anything you want us to explain first?” Finally!

“Yes. What is going on? Why is it a huge deal that I’m a human?”

“That’s because humanity is supposed to be on the Moon.” On the- You’ll deal with that mental meltdown later.

“You two, you aren’t human?” Although his face was covered with a blindfold, you still caught his eyebrow raise.

“No. I thought that was obvious.” After failing to elaborate, you pushed further.

“So then what are you?”

“We’re androids! We were created to look and act like humans!” His face lit up- wait, no. Not ‘his’. Its. It’s an android. It’s not a human.

“So- so you’re-”

“Yeah, I guess you could say we’re robots. But enough about us. Aren’t you supposed to be on the Moon?” Why were you supposed to be on the moon?

“9S,” 2B spoke up behind it, “he probably has more questions.”

“Yeah,” it responded, “but I have questions, too!”

“They can wait.” 2B turned to the stairwell, “Let’s get ready to leave.” 9S let out a dissatisfied grunt.

“Fine, fine.” 9S turned to go down as well. They only made it down a few steps before they realized they weren’t being followed. One of the pods spoke to you.

“Human, the other units are relocating.” Something clicked in your head. You spoke up so you were sure they heard.

“I don’t need to go.” There was a few seconds’ pause before 9S asked back,

“Pardon?”

“You heard me. Your commander made those calls, but I don’t need to heed them.” After a few more seconds, 9S appeared in the stairwell.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I don’t need to go and that I won’t go unless you convince me. Think of it from my point of view. Two androids show up on my front step, and then demand that I leave behind basically the only safe place I know. How can I be sure that I’m going to be safe?”

“How can you be sure that you’ll be safe if you remain here?” 2B’s voice floats up from the stairs. It sounds different, but you can’t quite put your finger on why. “Yes, you hid from some androids, but how will you hide from robots who could very easily stumble across the entrance to your hiding area? Once they did find it, there would be no way for you to defend yourself.” It let the words sink in. Did you really want to risk death?

“You know for a fact that they’re going to be here?”

“You heard the reports. We’ll need reinforcements to get through that number of machines, and they are, if slowly, heading this way. How could you defeat them by yourself?” You almost involuntarily turned your head to your downed pods. She was right. If they did find you, how would you get out of that situation? You put every combination of events through your head, feeling 9S stare at you the whole time. Eventually, you sighed.

“Fine. I’ll… I’ll go with you.” You gathered your pods, then headed back to the stairwell. “I have to take your word of safety over a chance of death. What else can I do?” You tried to keep it hidden, butjust how dejected you were seemed to slip though.

God.

What was going to happen?

Chapter 8: A Journey of a Thousand Miles... (okay, not quite)

Chapter Text

Your thoughts were clouded with worry as you went down the stairs behind 2B. You could tell 9S was following you. In your arms were 904 and 320, each too large to just hold with one hand. They still emitted the occasional spark and twitched slightly. You hoped that nothing had broken in their fall, but there was no way for you to tell right now, and you weren’t entirely sure if they could be repaired. As you made the first turn down to the next set of stairs, you decided to risk asking a question.

“How long do we have until the other group gets here?” You didn’t pose the question to one of them in particular.

“We were given an estimated time of an hour and a half.” 2B answered you, barely looking back. “We can spend some time gathering up supplies from your base in the meantime, but we are expected to be ready to depart as soon as they arrive. Be forewarned that we may not return.” You thought back to when you saw her sifting through what you brought back from scavenging.

“Well, It certainly seems as though you had a good head-start on that task.” You could see her tense up, but she said nothing and did not turn to face you. You turned to face 9S with a glare on your face. “Do you want to work with her and go through my stuff as well?” 9S flinched, and you thought you heard 2B twitch.

“Well, uh,” 9S stammered. They probably felt bad about going through your stuff. As they should be. Discomfort tinged his voice, “I could just look over your pods. Wouldn’t really be fair if I left them non-functional, right?” He had his head turned slightly to the side and had one elbow his other hand. You smiled.

“I guess you could. Here.” You caught him off guard as you handed them over. As the tunnel came into view, you saw the metal plate you used as a door was carelessly thrown to the side. You turned to 2B as you headed toward your base. “So what did you see in what I had that was so interesting?” You didn’t expect an answer as you knelt down and crawled to what had once been sanctuary to you. You didn’t stand up immediately, but sat back and leaned on the wall.

Everything had fallen apart so quickly. You had a reliable access to food. You were finding clothes reliably from the river. You had found two pods. This just couldn’t continue, could it? You sighed and eventually pushed yourself up.

“Did we screw up there, 2B?” You made out 9S’s voice from the other side of the wall. They probably thought you couldn’t hear them.

“It’s uncertain that the human trusts us yet, but trust builds over time.” 2B was as impersonal as ever.

“I- well, we didn’t know that he was a human before we started. Had I known, I wouldn’t have-” You weren’t going to be an eavesdropper.

“You two are aware that this wall isn’t that thick, right?” Their conversation stopped abruptly.

You turned and set out sorting the clothes into those which were probably good enough to bring with you, some that could be made into bandages, and those which probably should be left behind entirely. You came to the realization that maybe you shouldn’t have taken so many washcloths from the river after making a sizable pile of them in the ‘bandages’ pile. You tried to keep your thoughts from straying, but wander they did.

What had happened to humanity? 9S said they were all on the Moon. It just doesn’t add up. What could have threatened humanity? We were barely able to land men there lately. How’d they get an entire colony up there? This just didn’t make sense. You needed an explanation from them, and a better one than you’ve been getting so far. Alright. You decided at last. You were going to-

A knock on the concrete walls interrupted your thoughts. Wait. On the concrete? Wouldn’t that hurt?

“Human, we need to be at the rendezvous point in thirty minutes.” It was 2B. You were nowhere near ready.

“Just half an hour? Can’t I have some more time?”

“No exceptions. We have a schedule to keep.”

You swore mentally. The best you could do right now is hurry upstairs to pick up and prepare any food that you could. Since you weren’t returning, you couldn’t be sure at all of what your next meal was going to come from. Might as well get as much ready as possible.

As you stood up from leaving the base, you saw 9S was still working on 904. 320, after noticing you, floated over to you, settling in to his usual location.

“Don’t worry,” 9S said, “I’ll have 904 ready before we need to head out.”

“You weren’t able to repair the speakers on 320, were you?”

“No, those were completely broken. When we get back to the Resistance camp, we’ll need to send them back to the Bunker for maintenance. I’m thinking 320 goes first, then 904.” It felt like that was sort of an automatic response, like he’s had to have done this multiple times before.

“Alright. I’ll just be a few floors up at the fire. I have the pod with me that can speak, so…”

“Yeah, got it.” A glance around the room found 2B idly making preparations. Exactly what those preparations were, you couldn’t tell. She probably heard where you were going to be, too, so you started climbing up to where your campfire sat.

Everything’s going to be fine , you tried to remind yourself.

You were finding it harder and harder to keep it in your mind that everything was fine. Your pod had just chimed to warn you to start heading down. It wasn’t that you weren’t ready to go meet up with the androids, but you only had enough fish for two, maybe three meals. You weren’t going to lie, you thought that there were going to be problems if you couldn’t either get to the resistance camp or find some more food before today ended.

Finally, you stood up and started down the stairs. You expected, and found, that 9S and 2B were waiting in front of your base. Neither of them seemed to be carrying the bundle of clothes you set aside, so you figured you would have to. 9S began to speak before you got to the entrance of your base.

“Why are you heading back in there?”

“I sorted out the clothes in there. I’m picking up what there is.”

“Uh? I already got them.” You paused after hearing his last statement. He certainly didn’t look like he was carrying a good-sized pile of clothes. Your confused look must have spurred him to speak.

“I have them stored in virtual space.” 9S continued with his explanation, which felt like it was going in one ear and just spilling out the other. He continued on with his endless exposition, when suddenly you realised that 904 was hovering. More than that, 904 was hovering right by 9S. Strange, since 320 went right to you when he saw you. You spoke up when there seemed to be a gap in 9S’s speech.

“904. You’ve been repaired.”

“Affirmative.” Yet he stayed near 9S, who also seemed to notice.

“Pod 904,” 9S spoke directly, “you’re assigned to work with the human, weren’t you?”

“Negative. That was a temporary arrangement until this unit could return to YoRHa forces.”

“904,” 9S continued, “staying with the human would increase his chances of survival. I doubt you want to answer to Commander as to why we’re lacking a human.” 904 remained silent for a few seconds, before slowly hovering over to you.

“Thank y-” you were interrupted.

“This unit wishes to remind you that this arrangement is temporary.” 904 was quiet as he said this, potentially to hide from the consequences of 9S overhearing.

“Alright,” 2B spoke up, “let’s head down to the rendezvous point.” It took you a second, but you noticed that she didn’t have her body-length katana with her. Then you realized she didn’t have that katana with her when she was rooting through your scavenged items. As 2B lead the non-literal march down, you decided to ask her as to her weapon’s location.

“I can show you when we get there. Keep moving,” was her response. Hopefully ‘there’ was at the rendezvous point, not at the camp. You kept quiet for the trip down, but your feelings weren’t so kind. This was the first time you’ve gone so far down in the abandoned building. You’d never needed to come down this far, partially because you always kept your distance from the slightly nasty-looking robots that meandered the streets. The same ones, you just realized, which the androids fought on a regular basis. Maybe siding with them was the right thing to do.

Eventually, the three of you reached the ground floor and left the abandoned building. The world looked different from down here. From your window, the empty shells of the buildings simply littered themselves around you. Even when you were scavenging, your view of the world was the same since you were inside the buildings instead of having to look at their outsides. But now…

Now you stood on the street. The once tamed buildings now stood as indomitable towers which boxed you in. The ragged, partially-collapsed upper floors crowned these intimidating edifices, giving you a feeling of asphyxiation and claustrophobia. Within the safety of your home, any spatial distance was easy to estimate. But here, the wide expanses contorted your once small-world view into something which confounded you.

A sudden noise made you jump- someone was calling to 2B’s pod. Her hair was grey, and it seemed like she didn’t know how you were supposed to tie a blindfold, since she had it loop over each eye like a makeshift eyepatch.

“78B to 2B.”

“2B here. What is it?”

“We got jumped. Didn’t want to bring a bunch of machines to the target. You two aren’t already at the rendezvous point are you?”

“We just got here, but being delayed by an attack is not something one can account for. How quickly can you get here?”

“Give us two minutes, maybe one if we really hurry. Nothing too time-sensitive, I hope?” 2B glanced at you before turning back to the screen.

“Getting here with absolute speed isn’t a top priority. The target isn’t capable of speeds similar to YoRHa units.”

“Damn. So we have to escort a lost and broken Resistance android?”

“Negative.”

“Eh? Then what-”

“Details will be given on arrival.”

“Alright. Signing off. Hurry-!” The connection closed and the hologram cut out.

“Now that we’ve got a minute,” you said to 2B, who turned to face you, “mind showing me exactly how you managed to make a katana as long as you are tall disappear into thin air?”

Wordlessly, she brought her hand in front of her, open. She snapped it closed- closing around a hilt which had suddenly appeared in her hand. Before you could even blink, a wave of bright-yellow light flew up the blade, making a slow turn with the weapon. You could scarcely believe it, but there her weapon was. With an effortless flick, she sent it flying up in the air about two floors up. Near the apex, a ring made out of golden light appeared around the hilt, and it stopped spinning. Its descent was slower, and it gradually settled into a diagonal position behind 2B, handle on her right, point on her left.

It was now that you dimly realized your jaw was hanging open. You left it like that; it seemed appropriate. After you blinked a few times, you heard 9S speak up behind you.

“2B? Is he broken?”

Thankfully, at that moment, a number of people- no, androids - rounded the corner. You directed 2B’s and 9S’s attention there, instead of at you. You took this opportunity to look over who was there.

You recognized who was in front from the transmission, mostly from the botched blindfold- that was 87B, you thought. Her stark-black clothes- actually, all of their clothes were that black- included a skirt that was longer than her knees and elbow gloves. She had a short sword and… wait, samurai helmets? Those weapons (apparently) were hovering behind her.

Following her was another woman, about a head taller than the other androids here. It almost surprised you to see that she wore pants instead of a skirt. She was dressed rather conservatively, as only her head and neck had any exposed skin. Two massive swords- not unlike the katana 2B had- crossed behind her. Was she seriously going to wield two weapons that could easily outweigh her?

Trailing not too far behind was another girl with brown hair. She had a narrower frame than the others, and -not that you were deliberately looking- she had shorts under her admittedly really short skirt. For some reason, her blindfold went over the headphones she was wearing. Wait, where was the arch that’s supposed to go over her head? Besides, her weapons floating behind her didn’t appear to be anything like regular weapons you’ve seen before.

Only the android in front didn’t have a pod. The two other pods floating behind were white with blue accents and light grey with red accents. There was something off about those pods- their bodies weren’t truly rectangular- there were things sticking out on the sides or on the front. It just struck you as strange.

In any case, this was probably the group that was going to be escorting you there along with 2B and 9S. Time to get ready to head out.

Chapter 9: Journey

Chapter Text

“2B and 9S?” The girl in front asks.

“Yes. 78B, 47D, and 50G?” 2B replied. Wait, hadn’t you thought she was 87 B? Whoops.

“Affirmative.” 78B turns her head toward you. “Wait, so who’s this?” She bit her lip in thought before quickly continuing, leaving no room for 2B to answer. “Probably an older model if it’s broken down that badly. Then again, breaking down here is rarer, so it could have come from a different region. Desert, perhaps? S’where the twins came from, but if so… What do you think, 50G?”

“I can’t really tell.” The girl in the back intoned. “Looks to be in too good of shape to be an older model, though. Besides, the hair’s a dead giveaway. Only did white for a while; he’d have to come after the ‘40 line. If I had more details, I could say further. ‘67’s were deployed solely in the desert, though. You might have been thinking of that.”

“Hang on, where are his weapons? I thought weapon dispersal was a later advancement?”

“Yeah, earliest models that had that probably wouldn’t be breaking away by now. Unless he lost them.”

“Lost them? If he did, his hands would be screwed up beyond repair. Look at them and tell me that he’s lost his weapons.”

“Uh,” the tall girl timidly interrupted, probably 47D, “d-didn’t 2B say she had further details? She’d know.” The two androids sheepishly muttered an apology.

“Thank you, 47D,” 2B said. It really stuck out how little 2B showed her emotions when everyone around her was. She turned to the new group, “Be warned that the information contained in the document we’re sharing with you is Classified level 4.” She nodded at someone behind you- 9S, who was doing something on a screen projected by his pod. He made one final tap and nodded back. The three new androids were silent for a few seconds.

“What?” 78B was shocked.

“No…” 50G barely said over her breath.

“The evidence is right here;” 9S walked forward, “all you need to do is check his wrist.” 78B all but charged forward and slammed her hand over your wrist. It took her a few seconds, but she eventually found what she was looking for. It was your pulse, wasn’t it? Your thoughts turned to that android body you found on that first day- there wasn’t any fluid going into its arms. So… Androids don’t have a pulse?

At this moment, you noticed something going on behind 78B. Specifically, 47D was doing something. A harsh sound of something slamming into concrete confirmed your suspicions- she had fallen face-first into the ground. 50G had knelt down by her side and had slung 47D’s arm over her shoulders in preparation to bring her back up. 9S had rushed to her side as well, pausing before kneeling, as though a thought struck him. A screen appeared before him, which you assumed was a diagnostic screen.

47D eventually struggled up to her feet, supported by 50G and 9S. You heard her rapidly mutter something under her breath. 78B suddenly stepped away from you and turned to 2B.

“What are we expected to do with him? You-”

“We’re expected,” 2B interrupted, “to bring him to the Resistance Camp. We are also expected to read the documents we are given in their entirety.” After leaving 78B speechless, 2B turned to 47D. “We can wait for you to be ready, but we’ve been told to minimize the time the human is away from base. I advise we hurry.”

47D suddenly lurched up from 9S’s and 50G’s grasp. “Alright, alright. Sorry to keep you worried. Let’s… let’s, uh...”

“Let’s get going.” 78B was apparently leading the charge. You spared an aside glance at the rest of the group moving before following yourself.

It wasn’t long before you found out the hard way that even when they’re walking, they keep their pace up. 9S turned around, then matched speed with you.

“Need us to slow down?”

“No, no, you don’t need to do that.” You tried to keep your voice down. “I… I just need to walk faster. I’m sorry that I’m slowing you guys-” Yikes. Was 9S glaring at you?

“ You’re sorry? You need to walk faster?” Thankfully, 9S was keeping his voice low as well. “Look, I’ve seen my fair share of androids who’ve kept quiet despite needing help. You’ll thank me later.” He faced forward and spoke up. “Hey guys, slow down a little? Human’s having trouble keeping up.”

To their credit, although only 47D turned around, they all did slow down. You were slightly thankful that you didn’t need to do a death march to keep up with the rest of the group, but now, your mind had plenty of time to worry about other things. Where would they be leading you through? How much danger would there be?

Your gaze shifted to the side. There’s an android right there, he should be able to answer these questions under which you’re suffering. But where to start, where to start… Just before you’re able to open your mouth, both an inhuman shriek followed by a deafening impact from ahead interrupt you. Before you could react, the androids launch themselves into positions- 2B and 78B set themselves at the front while 47D cements herself not even a meter in front of you. You caught 50G pulling out one of her weapons and dropping the other one behind her, where it promptly started to unfold itself. 9S was right beside you- he didn’t have a weapon, so how was he going to be useful in this battle?

You tried to look past the androids at what made the noise. On the ground in a three-point landing was a large robot- larger than any you had seen before. Its limbs were obviously wider around as it brought itself back up to a standing position.

Its eyes were glowing red.

78B and 2B seemed all too eager to rush forward to confront the new enemy.You looked up and, to your utter dismay, you saw robots throwing themselves off the edge. It did catch you off guard that they were doing so behind the first one that landed- if this were an ambush, it was very poorly executed. You found that most of the robots flailed about while they were falling, as though they weren’t expecting gravity to be so rude. This humor quickly faded as each robot seemingly landed without error, then turned toward the group.

Both you and the larger-than-normal robot at the fore seemed were confused when 78B and 2B raced past him. He was confused for not too much longer, since most of him was wrecked in a massive explosion- you confirmed the source with an aside glance at 50G, who sported a manic grin. She stepped back to the weapon she dropped earlier, which seemed to have unfolded into… a mortar?

You saw robot parts starting to fly in the middle. Since it was very unlikely that the robots were kindly dismembering each other, it seems 2B and 78B were doing a rather good job in the middle of it all. Some stragglers on the edge noticed your group being rather unbothered in this battle, and decided to remedy that issue. About eight of them charged.

You turned to your companions. 50G was already raining explosions up onto the buildings, where more reinforcements probably waited. 47D pulled her largest sword up over her head. It wasn’t sitting in her hand, just a few centimeters from the tips of her fingers. She brought her hand down in an arc in front of her. The sword launched itself into the air, then brought itself straight down on top of the group of chargers, cleaving one down the middle, and embedding itself in another’s body after ripping through its head. Half of the running robots were thrown off by the force in the strike and toppled over. Still three moved ahead.

One of the robots twitched as its eyes flickered off. You suddenly noticed 9S, off to your side, was kneeling with his arms outstretched. A small push from his hands, which held nothing, and one of the robots ahead just… exploded. Its head popped off and bounced off another robot, who gave no indication it noticed.

47D had pulled up her other two swords, one in- er, hovering beyond each hand. As the robots blithely moved closer- you barely even kept up with this movement- 47D brought a sword up, rending one in two while sending the last charger sailing backwards into the fray.

Throughout the whole time, you were dimly aware that the pods were assisting in some manner- creating ammo for 50G’s mortar, firing into the area of mass death near 2B and 78B (9S’s), 47D’s pod just fired a tether into the fray- probably to get another poor robot to hack apart. It seemed to blur together; you were losing track of time. Finally, you started to see that the crowd was thinning up ahead. Great, that meant that the battle was drawing to a-

A shadow came over you and 47D. You both looked up and saw a robot, far larger than any you’d seen, sailing down at you. Turn and run, turn and run! You couldn’t take this. As you turned, an explosion rang out closer than it normally did, its sudden shockwave caused you to stagger and fall. It’s still there, get away, get- a noise broke your thoughts. You looked up and saw that 47D had her largest blade underneath one of its feet, and another pierced through. She twisted the blades, and the behemoth, far taller than her, began to turn off to the side. It slammed an arm into the ground to stabilize itself, and reached the other arm to dispatch of 47D. As the arm rotated, you noticed another robotic head seated in the middle of the arm. It already had one on its ‘shoulders’, why would it need one there?

47D let go of the blade embedded in the goliath’s foot and pulled out her third blade on her back- you’ll think about how it got there later- and swung it out at the secondary head. The giant robot swept its arm up, parrying the blade away, before beginning to bring it down. Just as the head- and glowing red eyes- came into view, it froze and its eyes flickered. An explosion shot through the air, making you flinch your eyes shut. Opening them, you found the arm gone. Its only remnants were a couple support struts and wires which were supposed to connect it to the body.

47D set her hold on her swords again and pulled. She won’t be able to pull it over. Before, it was off balance from landing, so it couldn’t possibly-

Metal groaned against metal, which turned into a shriek. The body started to lift as it twisted over itself, fighting gravity the whole way. One of 47D’s swords snapped through the foot as the robot reached the apex. How much force was she exerting? Even without some of her applied force, the robot continued on downward. Its arm swung out as the robot started to come into contact with the ground. An ear-splitting crack announced the robot’s connection with the ground. You saw 9S kneeling like before, his arms pointed at the other arm. Two glowing green circles appeared as the giant’s arm swiveled. When the arm finally impacted the ground, it pointed away from you, and toward the dwindling battle. The robot seemed to be fighting against its remaining arm as it was dragged off. In a shower of scrap metal, 78B broke off from her fighting to run up to the behemoth. You didn’t see what she did, but it struck you as odd that two sparking metal heads careened away from where the giant’s head would have been. The giant fell limp.

In the distance, the battle was dying down. 50G rose from her kneeling position as her weapon folded up. 9S ran off to meet up with 2B, probably. 47D still stood where she was. Her arms slowly shook as she cooled down from the fight. As she picked up one foot, then the other, you realized she hadn’t moved from her spot for the whole fight. She turned around and noticed you were on the floor, rather than standing.

“Are- are you alright?” She extended a hand toward you. Your thoughts flashed back to the battle- she sent a sword flying through a robot with little to no resistance. She even, with no assistance, flipped over an entire robot which was several times larger than her.

You were not going to risk having your hand crushed, your arm getting ripped out of its socket, or whatever could happen in her grasp.

“Yes! Yes, I’m fine.” You scrambled up, and tried to put a little bit of distance between the two of you. Couldn’t be too careful, could you? Your thoughts turned to the other androids escorting you. Would they know their strength? 9S, though his grip was a merciless vice, didn’t shatter every bone in your wrist. Surely, you could trust some of them… Right?

A laugh from 50G’s direction caught you and 47D off guard. 50G was holding and grinning at her longer weapon in her hand. “Best 10k I ever spent! Did you see that, 47D? Blew him down in one shot!” She really liked her new weapon.

You turned to see where the other androids were. 78B, 2B, and 9S were in the middle of a sea of wrecked machine hulls. You saw 9S make a ‘come over here’ motion. Ugh. You weren’t looking forward to having to walk over all of those piles of scrap metal. You sighed. Guess you’ll have to-

“Hup!” The world spun around you as you found yourself staring up at the sky. An arm curled over stomach and something- a shoulder perhaps- pressed into your back. Whoever was carrying you was moving rather quickly, and judging by how they were moving, they were also moving though the robot graveyard.

“50G!” 47D called from behind. So that’s who it was. Props to 50G, you guess, for being able to clear ground this quickly. Another set of footsteps from further back told you 47D was in pursuit.

“I saw it written all over his face. ‘E’s like all those androids at camp. Can’t even fathom to have to deal with the mess they make. Better to just pull ‘em though it. Wimps, all of ‘em. No offence, you didn’t cause it.” 50G directed the last sentence at you. Several jarring seconds later, you were all but thrown down onto the ground with no warning. Were it not for 2B and 9S on your sides, you would have surely gotten yourself a number of cuts on your face courtesy of the concrete.

“50G,” 2B stated coldly, as always, “I doubt that is how you were supposed to act in this situation.” 9S was frightenedly checking you over.

“Excuse you, I had textbook positioning. Considering you, ain’t that all you’re looking for?” 50G crudely replied.

“50G:” 904 spoke up, “This issue was not due to your technique in carrying, which had multiple flaws in and of itself. The issue stems from your apparent lack of concern to the object being carried.” Oh yeah, he was still there. “Suggestion: 50G should be more cautious in the future.”

“Oh, more careful?” You could almost hear the anger in her voice. “Like this?” Nope, not letting that happen. You turned around as fast as you could.

“I’d prefer,” you quickly started, “that you didn’t repeat that. Please.” 50G had started to move to pick you up again, but stopped when you spoke. “If there’s nothing else for us to do here, then can we please keep moving?” You turned to address the question to 9S and 2B, who were thankfully receptive to the suggestion. 2B moved ahead while 9S seemed to want to keep pace with you.

“Yes,” 78B spoke up behind you, “let’s keep moving. And I do think it’ll be faster if we won’t have to suffer through the human being slow.” You felt 78B lay a hand on your right shoulder, although her voice came from the left. “Won’t it?”

9S had an exasperated look on his face, and you thought 2B would be facepalming if she weren’t so stoic. You sighed before speaking. “Fine, I guess.”

“Good!” 78B didn’t flip you on her shoulder, but she did put you in an under-arm carry. “Let’s go! Wouldn’t want to keep them waiting any more than they are.” She only set you down once you crossed the other side of the sea of metal cadavers.

Everyone regrouped and then fell into formation. The earlier transgressions from 50G were seemingly dropped. You took a deep breath. Maybe you could still ask those questions.

“9S?” You dared to ask at last.

“Yeah?”

“So I have… a lot of questions.”

“And I’ll probably have a lot of answers.”

“And some of those questions will need to wait until we return to the Resistance camp.” 2B barely turned her head back as she spoke. Great.

“Right. In no particular order.” Where to begin? “So there’s the resistance, and there’s… Your-ha? What’s the difference?”

“YoRHa and the Resistance are closely aligned due to their concurrent goals, but we’re pursuing our own goals independently. YoRHa is based on the Bunker system, while the Resistance is more of a coalition of bases all over the planet.” All over the planet? This doesn’t bode well. “Easy to tell the difference between the units by sight. We’ve got these all-black uniforms, they’ve got these scrounged-together outfits. Well, most of them do. I can remember a few who do have proper outfits, but most of them look like they’ve just thrown on what they found.”

You glanced at what you were wearing. “So they look like what I’m wearing.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” There was a half-second pause as 9S realized what he said. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean- no, you look better than- I mean,” you dismissed his concerns with a wave.

“Anyway. What’s the resistance actually,” there had to be a better way to word this, “resisting against?”

9S tried to quickly regain his composure. “Ah, they’re… Like us, we’re fighting against the Machines.” He acted as if he answered your question completely.

“Machines.”

“Yeah, they’re those brown guys with the spherical heads. We fought against them.”

You understood well enough but… “Why do you call them machines? I’m fairly sure the definition, an object which turns a force or moment into a more desired force or moment, could fit androids like you.” He looked slightly offended at being referred to as ‘an object’, even indirectly.

“Because… That’s what they’ve been called? I don’t know what else to say. Why do you call yourself a human?”

“Because I fit the definition?”

“Wha- well- that-” He let out a frustrated sound.

You turned to your pods. “So, these pods. They’re...”

904 answered before 9S. “Pods are tactical support units usually assigned to YoRHa units.” You turned to 9S for clarification.

“They’re there to help on missions. Connecting to the Bunker, utilizing ranged weapons- usually, offering advice, things like that.”

“Any idea why I found two if they’re so useful?”

9S shrugged. “Things happen?” Great, that was the answer you needed.

“So where is everyone? What happened to humanity?” You saw the androids flinch on hearing that question. Even 9S did although he tried to stifle it.

“I… I think that’s a camp question.” You raised an eyebrow.

“Eh? We’ve got plenty of time. Pod 904, about how long until we reach the base?” You had no idea how long this had taken already.

“Estimated time to arrival: 6 hours, 43 minutes. Elapsed time: 47 minutes.” 904 chirped back. You could feel your jaw drop. Six hours? God, how sore were you going to be when-

“Alert:” 9S’s pod spoke up with a feminine voice, “Discrepancy detected in calculations. Suggestion: faulty or outdated information used. Estimated time to arrival: 12 hours, 58 minutes.” You stopped in your tracks. This… This couldn’t…

“Almost thirteen hours until…” You couldn’t believe it. How were you going to do this? You’d need to spend time asleep, with no idea of where (or when) you could be guaranteed safety.

“I know it’s a lot of time, but we can’t help that it’s all the way over there.” 9S was trying to reason with you. “And we certainly won’t get any closer if you stop walking.” You picked up the pace.

9S’s pod spoke up again. “Hypothesis: The Human was attempting to incorporate their sleep cycle into the timetable. Humans have a 24-hour repeating cycle on which they base their actions. Of those 24 hours, humans spend approximately 8 of those sleeping.” 9S turned his gaze back to you.

“Well… let’s just keep going for now. We’ll have it figured out by then.” He tried to keep up a calming smile, but it wasn’t exactly helping.

Hours passed. It was long since the time when your feet hurt, and many were the times that the group had to stop to fight off another wave of Machines. You could feel yourself slowing down, your feet starting to drag, you mind starting to slow. Even now, you had to shake off the sleep because you nearly stumbled into the ground. You took a deep breath. Keep going, keep-

“Hey guys, let’s stop for a second.” 9S called to the rest of the group. “I think we need to figure out what’s going to happen for the next few hours.” You brought your hands up and tried to rub the sleep out of your eyes. Ye gods, you’ve taken on lord knows how many hours of walking, probably slowing everyone down, and now because of you the whole group is stopped. Ugh. This… today wasn’t going well, and-

Someone was shaking your shoulder. You dropped your hands from your eyes. 9S was shaking you, who else would it be. “You did hear that, didn’t you?” Something about his voice. Was he trying to be quiet? After a second, you let out a subdued confused noise. No, you hadn’t gotten that. You couldn’t see his eyes, but you think 9S rolled them. He turned to 47D, who you realized was standing near you. “Ready?”

47D nodded. She turned around and knelt. Your brain was having some difficulty making the connections. Oh, she was going to give you a- oh, what was it called. Piggy-back ride, that… Okay, maybe you do need this rest, even in full daylight. 9S helped guide you into the proper position, and then 47D stood up.

You felt 9S pat you on the back. “Just get some sleep, okay?” 47D started walking forward, and 9S’s hand slid down, then off of you. You closed your eyes. You could feel a soft warmth seep into you from the back and shoulder you rested on. The fabric of the shirt was pretty smooth, you came to realize. The rhythm of 47D’s pace was oddly soothing. You kept feeling yourself drift closer and closer to sleep.

A robotic shriek rattled your eardrums, signalling a coming battle. Maybe you’ll sleep in a minute or two.

Chapter 10: Now Arriving

Chapter Text

You found sleep when the battle came to a close. To your surprise, 47D was far more subtle in her movements during this battle. Whether this was due to her being careful carrying you, or whether she was facing fewer enemies by her positioning, you didn’t know. Maybe when you’ll wake up you’ll remember to thank her. You felt yourself drift into unconsciousness.

By now, you had gotten a few hours of sleep, and had drifted up into semi-consciousness. Someone was shaking your shoulder. Figures, just when you were getting back to sleep.

“C’mon, we’re getting close to the base.” 9S spoke up.

“Leave it, 9S,” 47D said. You could feel the vibrations as she spoke, “We can drop him off there while he’s asleep.”

“Command said they wanted him to meet up with a few people in the camp- even if he’s still waking up, it’s better than nothing.” He shook your shoulder again. “Now come on.” You failed to suppress a sigh. You stretched out your arms, tensed your back, then lifted your head up…

Only to set it back down on 47D’s other shoulder. The shoulder that was further away from 9S. 47D gave out a short laugh while 9S stammered in anger and a bit of surprise.

“H-Hey! Stop that, I’m serious here! We’ll be there any minute!” It was almost a shame you couldn’t see 9S so riled up, much less any android. The mere thought- a robot, the pinnacle of technology at the time, succumbing to a minor temper tantrum.

“Alright, fine. Mind letting me off?” You felt 47D kneel down and unhook your legs. Thankfully, 9S was right behind you to make sure your half-asleep body didn’t just topple backward or crumple down. You got a deep breath of air and sighed, then turned slightly. Hopefully 904 took the cue you were talking to him.

“Any idea how long I slept?” was what you tried to say, but it got slightly mangled though your exhausted brain and mouth.

“6 hours, 21 minutes,” came the monotone reply.

“Thanks.” Great, tired enough to barely function, awake enough to have no excuse. You tried once again to rub the sleep from your eyes as you mindlessly followed the group.

The uneven road you were on ran by a couple of buildings, and was leading you into an opening ahead. As you rounded the last building, you heard a waterfall somewhere ahead in the nearby vicinity, probably connected to the steam which fed the pond just in front of you. There was a fair-sized bank on the other side of the pond, where another road in disrepair bordered a wall of buildings. An alley situated itself near the middle of the wall, bordered on the ground by two walls, which didn’t do a great job at preventing access.

But what was interesting was what was going on in front of the walls. There were a number of androids standing guard both on the wall and on the ground. Remembering what 9S told you, these were probably resistance androids, due to how they were dressed. In particular, there was one who was arguing with two androids that looked pretty similar to each other from where you were standing. You could tell from the body language that the argument was still calm, but in that stage where it could easily still get worse. The group you were with started to make their way through the pond before they realized your preferred circumventing route.

The group started approaching the base along the wall. You were curious as to why there would be people having an argument at the entrance of the base. They shouldn’t be fighting while they’re on duty, right? As you drew nearer, you started to make out bits of the conversation.

“...be out here?” It was one of the two girls.

“Anemone said that you should stay in the base, especially during times like this. You won’t know when the Machines will come up next.” A guy’s voice. The one fighting against them.

“All the more reason to have more of us defending, right?”

“No. Anemone would have my drives if I defied her orders.”

“Oh, come on. I’ve seen it before, she doesn’t flip out if there’s a minor infraction. Besides, the only thing we can do here is help.” At this point, the group rounded the corner into the base. And… of course the alley made a turn no more than a few meters in. Built up the tension for the reveal of the camp, you guessed.

“My answer is still no. Orders are orders.” At this point, you could see the three arguing androids clearly. Well, the male android was arguing with one of the female androids. The arguing twin had wavy, auburn hair and wore a flower in her hair on her left. The more passive twin had straight, auburn hair and pinned back her bangs with a flower on her right. Their black-and-white clothing seemed to possess a strange sense of fashion, but you never had the eye for it, so who were you to judge.

“Well, fine,” the argumentative twin turned her body in a huff, keeping her gaze locked on the male android. “If you want to decrease your odds of survival, then you can be scrap metal for the Machines for all I care. But don’t come crying to me when they start shoving their-”

“Sister, it’s not worth the fight.” The twin with straight hair spoke softly, but firmly. The words seemed practiced, like she’s had to speak this exact phrase a thousand times before. Something struck you as odd about her as you passed by her. Maybe it was because the other androids at the wall at least gave you a passing glance, but she almost acted as if you weren’t there. Of course, the other two were too embroiled in their discussion to notice this new group wander in. “Let’s head back in.”

There was a marked silence before you heard someone make a frustrated noise, then turn and stomp off. Well, ‘stomp off’ was toward you, but still. You were more interested in seeing the camp than paying attention to the two behind you, but you couldn’t help but hear that they were whispering behind you.

Before you saw the camp, your thoughts turned briefly to the whole android/human similarity in appearance. When you first met 78B, 47D, and 50G, you found out that they didn’t think you were a human at first- they thought you were an android, like them. So, at least for now, if you tried to play it cool, and weren’t an idiot about betraying your identity, you could probably pass as being an android toward the camp for a short while. You were so lost in thought, that you didn’t hear the footsteps behind you. You jumped when a hand landed on your shoulder and a voice spoke into your ear.

“Welcome to the camp, human.”

Chapter 11: I'm a writer, not a nurse!

Chapter Text

“Welcome to the camp, human.” You froze for a moment before telling yourself to relax. If you could play it cool, then you could still bluff your way into making them think you made a mistake. Calm down, turn- 9S was staring at them, nearly aghast that they knew immediately. Way to go, 9S.

“Devola!” The girl with the straight, auburn hair looked accusingly at her twin.

“Hm. Didn’t react how I thought he would. From the looks of his companions, though…” The girl with wavy hair- Devola- looked thoughtful for a second. “Oh well. What’s your name?”

“So we’re introducing ourselves now, alright.” You turned completely to face them. “I’m Theodore.”

The straight-haired twin stepped forward before her sister could speak. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Popola, and this is Devola. I apologize for her previous behavior.” Devola shot a look at her sister.

“I’d say it’s fine, but for the future, I prefer that as few people as possible know that I’m human.”

Devola and Popola shared a worried glance. “There’s a slight problem with that.” Popola looked away. “Secrets don’t keep well here. Already, word has spread that someone- or something- abnormal is going to be visiting this camp.”

“Apparently, clearing out a room and having two random androids be given a bunch of esoteric scientific implements isn’t normal around here.” Devola did not look impressed about the lack of secrecy.

“We did everything we could to keep unwanted ears turned away, but...” Popola looked past you and glared. You followed her gaze and barely caught an android slipping back behind the wall. “It seems curiosity isn’t something easily curbed.” Great, so now you had a whole camp of eavesdroppers and spies. You were never one for intrigue.

“What’s the plan?” You asked the twins, then turned to the group who brought you here, “I’ve been delivered to the resistance camp, now what?”

2B was quick to speak up. “We were supposed to deliver you to Devola and Popola, but we had not yet been introduced to them before.” She turned to the twins. “I apologize. Had we known earlier-”

“No, no it’s fine. We’re not the most well-known androids on the base.” Popola continued, extremely quietly, “We’re not the most liked, either.” She seemed somber or bitter in her tone. She continued as though she hadn’t spoken her previous sentence. “We were given orders-” she suddenly shot a glare behind you. You weren’t quick enough to see who the onlooker was this time. “We can continue this somewhere where there are far fewer eavesdroppers.”

The twins started to turn you toward the camp, but 9S spoke up. “I can take your pods for now. They probably need to undergo a fair bit of maintenance before the Commander will allow them back to you.” You were sad to see them go, but those thoughts had little time to register while you were being brought into the resistance camp.

Well, you could say ‘camp’, but what you just entered was more akin to the entryway of a house. This would have been a small plaza, were the town not in ruins. There was definitely activity down the street to the left, where the camp proper was, but the twins steered you toward one of the two buildings which was in some state of repair. They hurried you in, and only seemed to relax when the door was firmly closed.

You took this moment to look around what you guessed was their house. To be completely honest, this looked pretty close to what you had expected most of the abandoned buildings to look like. Some of the walls were broken, exposing the underlying structures. In this room, at least, almost every flat surface (except the floor) was covered by something- tattered and faded books, broken parts, small machines, a couple of sea shells. They could easily be momentos of the twins.

But what stuck out to you were the black boxes which sat stacked on the ground near the door leading further in. Three were piled in a triangle shape, with a fourth sitting on top opened up, its lid somewhere else in the room. Its contents were probably medical in purpose, but what purpose it had was beyond you. Vials, bottles, flasks were placed in there with purpose and care, and with incredibly small labels. You reached in and pulled one out, trying to read it. They weren’t even labelled in English! Were these barcodes? QR codes?

You heard a gasp, then someone rushing over to your side. You saw Devola lunge into view and expertly snatch the bottle from your hand, then put it back in the box. She turned back to you.

“Is that what you normally do when you visit someone else’s home? Just start rummaging around their stuff without their consent?” For a half second, you thought back to all those video games you played where that behavior was encouraged.

“I’m sorry. I was just curious.” You took a step back. This was their home, then. Devola seemed high-strung, having a low threshold before she would strike out at anyone near her. Best not to make her any more angry than she is now.

“Devola…” Popola sounded tired. Not physically tired, but mentally. Like she wanted one day where something didn’t go wrong. It caught you off guard more than anything else. These two seemed far more composed and level-headed outside, but now they…

Were they keeping up a façade?

“I think this is something that we all want to get done and over with. We were told to take readings on you. It shouldn’t take too long, I don’t think. It’ll just be an involved process.” Popola motioned you to move to the next room.

This room was far more clean. A fifth black box sat in this room, and it seemed like it was completely unpacked. The contents had been laid out in a practically obsessive manner off to the right, while on your left, a cleared table and a chair sat separated from each other. “Just have a seat in the chair.” You heard Popola speak behind you. You started to walk there, when you felt an arm sweep up under your knees and another one brace against your upper back and shoulders. Devola had picked you up, and you saw her think for a second before she turned her head and called out your weight to her sister. She set you down, with her only apology being “We needed to get your weight”.

The next hour (or even longer, you didn’t know) was filled with the twins swapping out their tasks. They would either run some test on you- swabbing something, checking something over, they drew blood once or twice- or they were preparing some test or doing something with what they had just gotten. They were silent, and took their work extremely seriously. A few times each, they looked upset or worried with the results they had. Sometimes they had to run into the entryway, dug around inside the black boxes, and came back with some number of chemicals in hand.

Eventually, the two sat back with a sigh. They did all the tests they needed to. “Don’t get too comfortable. Some of those tests are still running,” Devola pointed to the preparation area, “and if any of those come back inconclusive, we’ll need to run them again.”

“How long will those take to run?” You asked back.

She pursed her lips in thought. “Longest one’s two days, but there are others that’ll be done in an hour or two.”

“Is there anything else you want us to look at?” Popola asked. Right on cue, you felt a small pulse of pain from your foot.

“Yeah, there’s this.” You took off your right shoe, then peeled off the sock. Their looks turned from confusion to worry as they saw the bandages. “It’s on the underside,” you said as you started to peel off layer after layer. Popola knelt down as you unbandaged your foot, the cloth having soaked up more sweat than blood now. She looked intently at the cut.

“Doesn’t look all that bad, seems to be healing fine on its own. There’s not much we can do from here, but tell us if it gets any worse.” Popola then turned to Devola and rattled off a couple of things she’d need. Devola dutifully went off and gathered them, then handed them off to Popola. She applied two chemicals (you weren’t able to identify them based on their sting alone), then applied new gauze and taped it down. “You should be good for now. Anything else?”

You shook your head. “I just feel tired.” Popola offered a smile.

“Well, with a journey like you had, you probably would be tired. Come on, let’s see if your room’s ready.” She offered a hand to pull you up, which you took. She raised an eyebrow as you rose, then turned to her twin. “You’re right, he really is that light.” You were about to ask what their weight was if they thought you were so light, but figured that it’s one of those questions that’s rude to ask someone.

Popola and Devola led you out of the house, and then to the right- toward the camp. You could tell they had some apprehension about this. You passed through the narrow entryway, and the next plaza came into view. You saw all sorts of androids milling about in the larger plaza, going about their business. Most of the plaza was covered by various tarps strung up, allowing shade to the androids working underneath. There were some androids set up in their own areas, perhaps selling wares. One area was blocked off with curtain walls. It was probably an infirmary, judging by all the beds there. There was a small enclave of Yorha androids concentrated in one corner of the plaza, though there were some scattered elsewhere.

The twins made a sharp turn just as they entered, and went straight for a building situated on the inner corner of this plaza. They opened the door, motioned you though, and then closed the door behind you in rapid fashion. This building, you noted, was much more well-kept than Devola’s and Popola’s. You were reminded of an apartment, with how the hallway straight ahead had a number of rooms branching off to the sides. A stairway also led up in the entryway, which the twins started to head up. You followed them up, to find a second floor mostly identical to the first. Popola went ahead into the hallway and pulled out a key. She unlocked the first door on the right as you and Devola drew closer. Popola opened the door in, then stepped back to motion you to enter first.

You stepped into what you assume was your room, and took a moment to take it all in. For some reason, there were two beds, each set up on the left and right of the room. The bed on the left was set up completely- pillow and blankets- while the bed on the right only had the mattress and pillow. A large chest sat at the foot of the bed, flush with both the wall and the bed’s side. A desk sat on the far wall, with a window overlooking another plaza, which somehow connected to the rest of the resistance camp, due to the number of androids that you saw down there. A small closet on the far right corner housed a number of shelves, some of which were already filled with clothes, which caught you off guard.

“Everything look good?” Popola asked behind you.

“Yeah,” you walked over to the bed and sat down, “it’s much better than what I had before.” You sank further into the bed than you thought you would have. You saw Popola nudge Devola, then subtly motion to the far wall. Devola went over to the window and closed the blinds as Popola turned to you.

“Get some rest. It’s probably been a long day for you.” You took a deep breath of air. It had been, hadn’t it? Getting your base discovered by an intruder, being coerced into travelling with them away from the only safe place you’ve known, having to experience a number of battles (even though you participated in none of them), and then having a gauntlet of test being applied to you. You thought that you definitely deserved at least some rest in safety.

You pulled the covers back on the bed as the twins left the room, closing the door behind them. The room quickly engulfed itself in darkness as you threw the covers over yourself. It was good to finally get some sleep on an actual bed somewhere where you could be at least mostly sure of your own safety. For once, a deep, secure sleep came over you quickly.

Chapter 12: Opposition Contravention

Chapter Text

You didn’t sleep long- getting six hours of sleep before the whole medical examination process really helped. As you opened your eyes, the first thing you noticed was one of your pods hovering right next to your bed. Good old 320. You remember all the... fun you had chasing him down in the river. You thought back to the conversation you had with 904, how he said that 320 set you as his parent unit. Part of you wonders if 320 knew or had some idea that you were human before the revelation to 2B and 9S. You noticed that he looked far better than before. That one dent on his back that you could normally see from the front was completely gone, and his dark-grey metal had a low sheen in the low light in your room. You began to sit up in bed.

“Good morning, Theodore.” The voice was unquestioningly female.

Crap. Of all the things- Did you assume the gender of a robot? Man, whatever’s left of Tumblr is going to be mad at you. You hid your embarrassment.

“Morning, 320. Did they finish up your repairs?” You started to stand up.

“Affirmative. 904 had a number of unexpected errors during his repairs. Unfortunately, no estimate was given for his return. This unit was given the following query about 904: Has 904 been subjugated to severe blunt force or exposed to partially to completely conductive liquids, such as water?”

“When I first… found him, he had been thrown into a wall.”

“This event does not seem extremely forceful.”

“Do you remember the crater right above the entrance to my makeshift base?”

“Affirmative.”

“I found him in there.”

“...This unit will correct a previous statement. This event fits within the estimates given for the scale of the damage. Query: Do you possess any information regarding the other part of the original query?”

“904 said that all Yorha units are good underwater up to a certain point. Hundred meters, I think.”

“904 probably had not mentioned said statistic assumes no major surface damage has occured. Query: is there an incident where 904 would have exposed to conductive liquids?”

“I took him with me when I went fishing in the river. He gave me the ‘hundred meters underwater’ thing when I asked if he’d be fine. I thought that meant it’d be okay.”

320 hovered back down over the bed and started pulling the sheets back into place. “904 must have been unaware of his status.” You started to feel bad- you didn’t need someone else to make your own bed for you, much less one of your pods. She had already finished before you were able to voice any complaint, however.

320 continued to speak. “The units known as Popola and Devola wish for you to return to complete a number of tests which returned inconclusive results. This unit has also been told to alert you to the fact that the leader of this camp- a Resistance android known as Anemone- will be visiting at some point.”

“Alright. Popola and Devola will be picking me up, right?”

“Affirmative.”

Silence fell for a short while. You watched 320 bob up and down slightly in the air before asking your next question.

“So what’s going to happen? I’m at the camp now and Popola and Devola are running tests. What’s going to happen afterwards?”

“Hypothesis: these details will be brought up during the meeting with Anemone. To the knowledge of this unit, talks are ongoing between Anemone and the Commander.”

“The commander of Yorha, I’m assuming.”

“Affirmative.”

“So we just have to wait for them to stop by?”

“Affirmative.”

You hummed in thought and sat on the empty bed. Guess you could have slept a bit more, but you couldn’t do that now that 320 made your bed. Well, you could, but that would be rude, wouldn’t it? You heard footsteps approaching. Huh, maybe Devola and Popola were alerted to you waking up?

“It’s somewhere on this floor, isn’t it?” A woman’s voice crept through the door- it was neither the voice of Devola nor Popola.

“Yeah,” a man responded. “It was the first window whose blinds were set, remember? I told you something was going on this building.”

“I saw the reports. Apparently, they took it off its storage designation and had everything cleared out in record time. Wonder what it’s being used for now.”

“You heard about that group of androids that arrived eight hours ago? They supposedly had a non-YoRHa android with them.”

“And? Happens all the time. Some poor schmuck gets lost during a mission ‘cause he thought he didn’t need the maintenance, and then the YoRHa units eventually find ‘em- ‘cause they’re everywhere- and bring ‘em back to where they’re from. They almost always stop here as well, when they move on. I think there’s a deal covering just that interaction between us.”

“The YoRHa units broke up when they got here, and the resistance android disappeared.”

“Well, yeah. You want to be known as one of the androids who got lost?”

“Have we had someone go missing recently?” There was a short pause.

“Can’t think of one.” The woman responded. “So what are you saying?”

“Isn’t it a bit odd that someone is dropped off at the camp, having a room dedicated to them? And on such short notice.”

“Alright. I can see why you’re interested. Why d’you need me?”

“You know how the doors are locked here. Just let me in for a minute, and I’ll have the bugs down in no time.” Bugs? So he’s planning on eavesdropping. “Besides, you owe me.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll give it a try. But you’re taking the fall f’we get caught.”

You heard the door and doorknob rattle, like she was testing it to see how easy it would be to open.

“Yikes.” The woman paused. “Sorry, that’s a no-go.”

“What? You can’t just-”

“Are you seeing this? They got a whole new electric lock on it and everything. They want to keep this whole thing silent.”

“Why do they? I can’t think of anything so-”

“Hey!” A shout from Devola silenced the two. “What are you doing here?”

“Calm down.” The woman sounded hostile. “It’s not like we’re not allowed to be here.”

“That’s odd,” Popola’s voice was more muffled, “that’s not what the rules in the entryway say.”

“What?” The man and woman said in near-unison.

“Oh,” Popola almost sounded smug here, “and I think you were supposed to receive this.” There was silence for a second before the interlopers each let out an expletive and ran off.

“Why do they keep falling for that?” Popola asked her twin.

“You’re really asking? Just keep abusing it. If it ain’t broke…” Devola paused as you heard the lock click. “Hey, why do you have that key? Shouldn’t Theo have it?”

The door opened, then paused, as if Popola froze in realization. “Eh… Well…” The door opened in earnest, and Devola and Popola stepped in, Popola looking entirely guilty and sheepish. She handed a key over to you.

“I’m sorry, I just- It was a long day for both of-”

“It’s fine, Popola,” you said, as you stood up and took the key, “So we’re heading out?”

“Yeah.” Devola said as she turned back, “Sorry to say this, but some of the blood tests were inconclusive, so we’ll have to stick you with a needle again.”

“I’ll suffer through somehow.” A thought struck you, as you noticed 320 following you. “320, do you have a plan to minimize your profile? You being with a non-Yorha android would raise suspicions.”

“There are some techniques this unit can apply to minimize exposure to unwanted individuals.”

“It’ll do for now.” You closed the door behind you and locked it, then turned to follow the twins. “So do you two know who was trying to break into my room?”

“No,” Devola replied, “but the problem is they won’t be the last. Let’s hurry, before anything else happens.”

You followed the twins as they left the apartment area and hurried to their house. 320 tried to position herself so that she was on the other side of the group as you headed out of the busier side of the entrance. Thankfully not too many people looked your way.

With the door shut behind them, they brought you over to the room you were in before. It looked far less organized than it was yesterday. A few bottles were set in neat rows, but the rest was mostly pushed off to the side. Perhaps the rest of the examination material had been packed back up. You sat down in the same place as yesterday and let the testing continue- swabs, blood draws... It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the entryway door. Popola set down what she was working on and left the room to check on who it was. You heard the door open.

“Popola!” When she heard the female’s voice, Devola pulled back and turned her head to the doorway, although she had almost inserted a needle into your arm to draw blood.

“Anemone!” Popola genuinely sounded enthusiastic to see this person again. Even Devola was torn between finishing what she was preparing, and going to meet her.

“I hope I haven’t interrupted anything. Something came up and we’ve had to put the talks on hold.” Popola re-entered the room with someone you didn’t recognize- this, you figured, was Anemone.

She wore a white shirt stained tan with dirt and dust, fastened with a large black belt with a slightly oxidized brass insignia on her mid-stomach. A green cape and hood covered her shoulders and head, decorated by a number of repairing stitches whose colors rarely matched the fabric beneath. Her grey pants had a number of items strapped over them. There were spikes on her knees- you didn’t know what they were for- and a red pouch on her right thigh.

“Hello, Devola.” Anemone turned to you. “You’re Theodore, right?”

“Yes,” you said, standing up. “I believe I’ve heard of you. It’s Anemone, correct?” You extended a hand for her to shake. She took it and- well, pain shooting through your hand was a testament to her grip.

“Hard for me to stay hidden with my position.” She said with a laugh. “Have things been going well? I trust Popola and Devola have been welcoming while you’ve been here.”

“Everything’s been fine, no complaints. They’ve been excellent.” You were curious about what the talks were about, though. Should you ask? The worst she could say is no. “I’ve been told that you’ve been talking with the commander. Is that going well?”

Her face fell for a moment. “She’s really being adamant on... certain points, but everything’s going fine. In essence, status quo.” She clapped you on the shoulder as her smile returned. “But don’t worry. You’ll definitely be under the Resistance’s jurisdiction, and we’ll make sure we’ll do everything we can to protect you.”

“This camp isn’t in that much danger is it?”

“Oh! No, no, it’s not in danger. Mostly.”

“Hm.” You were almost reluctant to have to ask this question. “Anemone, what’s the plan for me actually being in this camp?”

Anemone suddenly became dour. “I’ve… tried to be reasonable with some of my confidants, including Devola and Popola. They… haven’t all seen eye-to-eye. Rest assured, we all want the best for you-

“I’m sorry, I’m dodging the question. I can trust these two,” she gestured toward the twins, “to help with any medical problems that may arise- or, God forbid, will arise. There are one or two more androids that will be arriving within a few days- they’ll be better cooks, but the twins will do for now. Hopefully, we’ll be able to start up life here for you with as few hindrances as possible.”

“So you’re getting things figured out behind the scenes?”

“Yes, almost everything’s in place.”

“Great. One… kinda big question: How are you- if you will be, that is- going to let all the androids know that there is a human among them?”

Anemone took a deep breath, closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and then sighed deeply. “I can’t make the announcement until the relevant talks with YoRHa have come to a close. The Commander’s under the same condition. The problem is, I know word’s going to spread around- if it isn’t already- and I can’t say anything. The Commander won’t give ground on anything in time for me to do anything. The fact you’re here is something that’s far too large to hide forever. I trust my confidants with my life- several times daily, sometimes- but even they are prone to slip up with a few words.”

“So you can’t do much, in that regard.”

“No, but-” Anemone flinched. “Figures. Just now something comes up. Sorry, I need to leave. Right now.” She turned and ran out the door.

After a moment, you turned to Devola and Popola. “Is this normal?”

“Unfortunately.” Popola was answering. “It’s always ‘something urgent’, and she never tells us what it was.”

Devola spoke up. “I think I know what your next question is going to be. No, we don’t have food prepared right now. The tests kind of took up all of our time, but we did get a couple of other androids to deal with it for us.”

“Devola!” Popola turned to her sister. “Theodore would have had better and more pressing questions than that.”

“Eh...” You were quite reluctant to say that you hadn’t, in fact, been thinking of a different question. You tried your best not to look guilty, but…

Popola sighed. “Fine. I’ll bring you back to your room. Devola, you head on over to make sure they’re finishing up with the meal.”

Everyone filed out of the twins’ house and headed back to the camp. Once you entered, Devola broke away and went further in, instead of following you and Popola to the apartments. Popola hurriedly opened the door and ushered you inside- even you noticed the androids as a whole were far more curious this time around. You could almost feel their stares track you across the camp. It worried you that both Yorha and resistance androids were equally suspicious and trying to figure out who you were. How much longer did you have before they found out?

You and Popola climbed up to the second floor. She turned to leave once you unlocked the door.

“Wait, Popola.”

She stopped and turned back.

“Do you have any idea,” you continued, “of how long this secret can be kept?”

Popola paused in thought. “I’d say you have a day or two, at maximum, before some android finds out that you’re a human. After that, it’s uncertain. Word of mouth moves faster the more you try to keep it quiet.”

You sighed before responding. “Great. Thanks, anyway.” You turned to go back into your room when Popola spoke up.

“You keep acting as though this is going to be horrendous. Have at least some faith that things could go well.”

“We’ll see. I’m not entirely convinced, though.” You closed the door behind you and listened to Popola slowly descend the stairs. Before she reached the bottom, you heard two sets of footsteps swiftly ascend, then make their way to your door. A knock soon followed.

“Theodore,” someone hushed through the door, “it’s me, 9S.”

“Really?” You asked. “It sounded like there’s someone with you, in case you weren’t aware.”

There was a pause before 9S spoke. “I am aware. It’s 50G.”

You pulled open the door, having forgotten to lock it. “It… it was… Nevermind, come on in.”

As the two Yorha androids filed in, you raised an eyebrow. Neither of them was carrying any food, or had a container… But then again, you remembered 2B had pulled a katana larger than she was from out of thin air. Were they using a similar system, or-

9S wordlessly answered your question almost immediately. He put his hand out flat in front of him, and in a gathering of white-gold light, an opaque container appeared in his hands, with a set of utensils on top, which he handed to you. You weren’t quite sure how you felt, handling something which wasn’t there a few seconds before. You cracked the container open and found… grilled steak? And why was it still sizzling?

“Look,” 9S started explaining, “we’re sorry about the meal. We couldn’t get anything else on short notice, especially since the twins told us so late.”

“I won’t complain too much,” you said, “better something than nothing.” You sat down on the unmade bed and set the lid underneath the body of the container. Just before you started eating, a thought struck you. “Hey, 9S.”

“Yeah?”

“We both have a fair number of questions for each other. How about we ask them now?” You couldn’t see his eyes light up, but his face certainly did. 50G only looked slightly perturbed.

“Sure! Sure!” 9S excitedly sat down on your bed while 50G disinterestedly tipped back into empty air at first, but then some sort of holographic chair appeared for her to lean on. That’s another question for another time. “Do you want to start?”

“Sure.” You started cutting up your odd breakfast. “Where to start… What’s Yorha’s plan for me being in this camp?” You had posed this question to Anemone before, but you wanted to see what someone else had to say. Both androids twisted their faces in thought.

“There’s a little problem with that. I can’t say anything for certain since I haven’t heard anything from Commander or 21O.”

“What do you think should happen?” 9S was conflicted. After a few seconds and clearly out of patience, 50G spoke up.

“Obviously, you're not going to get free reign to do whatever you want, with the war and all. I think you should be allowed to move around the camp, but you’ll need to have two or three androids to go with you if you’re going outside of the camp.”

“What?” 9S was almost glaring at her. “He won’t need two or three! He’ll be fine with just one.”

“9S, are you aware of how much a machine can screw up an android? Think about how much more that’ll hurt him!”

“He has two pods with him! Scanners are sent out all the time on their own with even less and with few ways to defend themselves, and they come back fine.”

“Fine? You’ve been on a maintenance team, you should know the poor conditions they come back in.”

“Yes, I do know,” 9S stood up, “and I know that they come back for checkups, not because they’ve been wrecked!”

“Oh,” 50G stood up, her holographic chair flickering out of existence, “so it’s suddenly fine to throw the human’s safety into jeopardy? What if there’s an ambush? What happened while we were bringing him here?”

“We can make reasonable estimates on where ambushes are going to be, 50G,” 9S was really starting to raise his voice. “You might be forgetting that we were in the middle of a Machine operation. What were you expecting to happen? Why did you think we had five androids escorting him? Of course we’d need that many if it was going to be that bad!”

“Will you listen to yourself! So it’s fine for him to be going with one android, but it’s also expected for there to be five androids guarding him? It’s not out of the question that he could stumble into a large group of machines- and we know how many machines can overwhelm one android!”

“Guys!” The two arguing androids abruptly stopped and turned their heads toward you. “I don’t think this argument is necessary. Can you two please just calm down?” While they weren’t shouting at each other, the rift between the two still existed.

“Look,” 9S tried to convince you, “Whatever happens, don’t worry. You’ll definitely be under YoRHa’s jurisdiction, and we’ll make sure we’ll do everything we can to protect you.”

Wait, hadn’t you heard those words before…?

Chapter 13: Exposition Conversation

Chapter Text

A sinking feeling gripped your chest. Anemone and 9S had told you conflicting statements. Each claimed you would be under their respective organization’s jurisdiction, but you remembered that the talks hadn’t been going anywhere. You hoped 9S could get your mind off the subject.

“Do you have a question, 9S?” You remembered he was eager to ask you questions while you were preparing to leave your old base.

“Huh?” He turned his head back up to you after sitting down. “Oh, right! Why are you on Earth; why aren’t you on the Moon?” You took a second to parse his question as 50G’s holographic stand flickered back into existence.

“Why am I not on the Moon? Why would I be there?”

9S tilted his head. “Because of the colony? Because you fled the Machine wars?”

You never knew of any colony on the Moon, nor of any machine war. “This probably sounds foolish, but I’m not on the Moon because I never went…” The look on 9S’s was that of pure confusion, his jaw slightly slack. “I don’t know what you want me to say! I’m from the Earth, and I’ve never left this blue marble.”

“But… But then you’d… If you were…” 9S brought his hand up and ran them through his hair as his head dipped slightly. His head shot up. “No! There’d-” It dropped back. After a moment, he let out a sigh. “I’ll need to think about that. Are we switching off questions?”

You shrugged. “Sure.” But what to ask him… “So I have these two pods. What exactly can they do?” You continued cutting though your odd breakfast.

“Ah! Right, so pods are-”

“9S, if you parrot back the whole ‘tactical support units usually assigned to Yorha units,’ I swear to God-”

“No! I wasn’t going to say that. I think you’ve seen what pods are capable of, with the different submodels. You’ve seen that mine fires photobullets, 2B’s does the same. 47D’s can fire tethers to pull enemies in. 50G, you want to explain yours?”

“Yeah,” 50G continued, “mine’s a bit custom. Usually, that submodel just creates bombs, but this one creates launching charges so they can carry further. For a while, I actually used a pod that fired tethers. A lot of Gunner-types like those ‘cause they can get them up to sniping positions more easily. Me, I moved toward being a mortargirl. It’s just so...” She tensed up her hands and brought them in front of herself. “Satisfying, seeing them flying all over, never having gotten close to you. ‘Course, I can still appreciate a good gun. Remember ‘ol Titanwrecker?” The gun suddenly flashed into her hands. “I fell in love after one pull of the trigger.”

“There’s still a bit more about the pods, though. They can have these plug-and-play programs loaded into them, and they have loads of different abilities. For the most part, they’re just stronger versions of the submodels’ abilities. Running them is a bit taxing on the unit as a whole, though.”

“Speaking of the pods,” you asked, “where are yours?”

“Maintenance.” 9S and 50G said deadpan, almost in sync. Okay, that was a bit funny.

“Alright,” 9S sat forward, “So what’s the deal with apartments? A bunch of humans live together- I assume for efficiency reasons- but why do they have these other solutions at the same time?”

You had made some progress on the steak, but it was time to put it aside for now, while you gave your monologue. “I assume you’re talking about things like houses being the other ‘solutions’?”

“Yeah, the archives also talk about things like mansions, barracks, and hotels.”

“All of those are places of residence, but the manner and why people are housed are different. You know about apartments. Houses are usually for one small group of people, usually a family, sometimes for people unrelated to each other. Mansions are mostly the same as houses, but they are, by definition, much larger than house. Hotels are places for people to stay temporarily- people are packed together much like apartments. Barracks are large buildings to house a nation’s army.

“What’s important about each of them is that they have different positives, so people selected what they wanted/needed. Apartments for ground footprint efficiency, houses for privacy, barracks for armies, and mansions for… rich people. That mostly answer your question?” You picked up your meal.

“For now, I guess.”

“So what makes the Yorha androids different from the resistance androids?” You took a bite of the steak. Ugh, gristle. “I realize I may get a biased answer.”

“YoRHa androids are, for the most part, the next generation of androids. Sure, the Resistance is keeps coming out with updates and upgrades, so they’re more like two different product lines. YoRHa androids have a ‘Black Box’- it’s like a secondary storage medium, and it’s uniquely suited to house these upgrade chips, which affect an android’s operational ability, usually for the better.”

50G spoke up, “I kind have noticed something, took me a while- YoRHa androids are more suited for going out and dealing with Machines head-on. We take the fight to them. Resistance androids really like sitting back in their bases, and they’re really good at doing that. Think of it like this, 9S- when was the last time you saw a Resistance base get attacked and really take the hit, or get overrun?”

9S thought while you took another bite. “I can only think of one occasion, and the Resistance was going to abandon that outpost, anyway. All they lost was a few day’s provisions.”

“Exactly! Anywhere the Resistance wants to set itself down, they take! And how has YoRHa been faring on the base front?”

“We’ve been facing a lot more attacks, and we’ve had more trouble keeping them away.”

“And when’s the last time you’ve seen the Resistance make a serious offense, unless it was handed to or spearheaded by us?”

“You make a good point,” 9S said at last. He turned to you. “Does that answer your questions?” You nodded. “Okay, so this is more of something that my Operator wants to know, she keeps prodding me to see if I have any information related to the human concept of families. When you’re done, of course.” He added the last sentence since you were chewing.

You swallowed and answered, “Families… Anything in particular you want to know?”

“Not… really? 21O just asks a lot about what I’ve found out, but it’s never enough or it’s not what she’s looking for.”

“Hm. Classical ideologies say that there’s this rigid structure that must exist in a family. That there has to be a father who’s this strong paternal figure and supports the family financially, and a mother who needs to be there to support the family in a number of other facets- cooking, cleaning, activities in that vein. The parents are there to support and raise their children, bringing the next generation of people into the world and preparing them to live lives of their own. Is this information good?”

“I’ll ask her later what she’s looking for.”

“So you mentioned ‘your operator’, is that important within Yorha?”

“Yeah, every YoRHa unit on the ground is supposed to have an Operator that works with them. They are how information is disseminated from Command to the units on the field, as well as coordinators of major operations.”

50G decided to voice her opinion. “And every single one of them has a rod shoved up their-”

“50G, they’re not all like that.”

“You haven’t had to deal with 32O, she shouts at me when I did nothing wrong!” Thirty-two… you remember that number from somewhere. “I was asking her for more details about a mission, and she flew into this ten-minute rant!”

“21O isn’t like that. Sure, she can be… distant at times, but she’s still a really good operator!”

“Sounds like you haven’t listened to a lot of other androids’ stories about their Operators.”

“Everyone exaggerates their stories, especially if they’ve been slighted by someone else.”

“I’m not exaggerating. I timed her.”

9S stopped in shock, then slowly turned to you. “If that’s enough explanation, then-”

“9S, how about I ask the human a question? I haven’t had much voice here.”

“Eh? I- okay, fine.”

50G paused to collect herself. This was apparently something nerve-wracking for her.

“Are you going to-” 9S was cut off.

“Look, it’s a sensitive question, okay?” 50G turned back to you. “Look, humans… do they have to have- do they have to go through-” She took a deep breath.

“Get on with it…”

“Look, to humans need to go through the operation, or not‽” 9S was shocked by her outburst, but you just sat there confused.

“F-50G, that- you can’t just ask that!”

“But he’s a human! Shouldn’t he not need to go through that?”

“Think about what you’re asking here!”

“Uh,” you interrupted, “what is she asking here?”

Both androids flinched. Back and forth, they motioned toward you at the other.

“Look, just tell me what you’re talking about.” You said to a fidgeting 50G.

“…Okay, look. When androids are created, they’re fully formed. They don’t grow up like humans do. But they don’t have everything humans do, they don’t have… 9S, tell him!”

“Tell him yourself!”

You took another bite as 50G squirmed.

“Look, do you have a ****‽”

You coughed in surprise, nearly choking on your breakfast. After a couple seconds of your body doing its best to prevent food from going down the wrong pipe and reassuring 9S that, no, you weren’t going to die, you attempted to parse your way through 50G’s question.

“Okay… What?” You were incredulous.

“Don’t give me that, you heard the question!”

You sighed. “Ugh… Fine. Yes, I have one. Was that seriously all you were asking?” 50G quietly nodded, not looking at you.

“Right. Now for a question that actually makes sense. What’s up with your names? Why is there a number-letter pair?”

“Well, the letters stand for the type of YoRHa android- I’m 9S, so I’m a Scanner. The number is the personality type, so I have personality number nine. 50G has personality number fifty, and she’s a Gunner. 21O has personality number twenty-one, and she’s an Operator.”

“So two androids with the same number-”

“Have the same personality type. I don’t think it needs to be said, but the Resistance androids don’t follow this pattern.”

You hummed in thought as you ate the last piece of breakfast. You flipped the lid back onto the top of the container with the silverware inside, then stood to hand it over to 9S.

50G spoke up. “I hate to break this up, but we need to meet up with the group for preparations for the next operation.” She walked between you and 9S and opened the door. “Come on, 9S.”

9S stood up and took the container, which shortly disappeared in another of those bursts of white-golden light. “Thanks for answering our questions, Theodore,” he said with a smile and turned to leave.

“Thanks for breakfast, 9S.” Before 9S walked out of reach, you brought your hand up and ruffled his hair. “And thanks for answering my questions.” His hair was surprisingly soft. 9S stopped in his tracks almost as soon as your hand found his scalp. You felt him tilt his head back into your palm. As you glanced back up, 50G was in the hallway, staring back into the room.

She began to lose her patience. “9S!”

9S jumped in fear, then ran to catch up with 50G, closing the door behind himself. You turned to 320, “So any updates on 904’s repairs?”

“Unit is approaching final stages of repair. This unit estimates the repairs will terminate in 48 minutes.”

You looked around the room. “What to do until then…”

Chapter 14: Washing the past away

Chapter Text

“What to do until then…”

You hadn’t really looked around the room, had you? It was one thing after another, but now that you had time, well, why not? Opening the trunk chest at the foot of your bed showed little more than a small stack of neatly folded blankets on the left. Last ‘night’ wasn’t that cold, but you took one and threw it at the foot of the bed, just in case you’d need one in the night. On the right, you saw a couple of books stacked on top of each other. Thumbing through them in turn, you found one was totally blank- they probably left it as a journal- and the other two were novels. You hummed in thought as you put them back. Who would be the best person to ask for something to write with? As you brought the lid back down, you saw 320 unfolding the blanket, preparing to lay it out on top of the bed.

“320, what are you-”

“This unit received nonverbal cues to integrate this sheet with the rest of the bedding.” 320 did not pause in her actions. “Is this unit wrong in its assumptions?”

“Yes,” that one word made 320 pause and turn toward you, “usually I have a blanket at the foot of the bed so that I won’t need to find another one if it gets cold during the- while I’m sleeping.”

“This unit was unaware of said practice and wishes to apologize.” The pod started to fold the sheet back up, creating holographic walls to help when her arms couldn’t reach.

“It’s fine, you didn’t know.”

You moved over to the closet, although you weren’t exactly sure that it should have that name- it was as if someone had built two walls and a doorway into a corner of the room. Two coat hooks sat on the back wall, while shelves lined both sides on the inside, a number of clothes were neatly folded and arrayed on them. On the left, the clothes were almost completely black, most of them having only one or two stripes or designs that were of a different color- to you, at least, those sections stood out dramatically.

You picked a shirt up to inspect it further. Like every other article of clothing on the left, it was mostly black. Two sharp white lines climbed up the front (and the back, after you turned it around) from hem to collar, one-third of the way between the center and side. As you looked closer, it surprised you that there were no seams of any kind. You checked the shoulder of your own shirt- there were seams connecting the front and back, as well as the sleeves to the body, but on the shirt you held, there was no evidence of any needlework joining any of the parts. You suddenly caught the faint smell of chemicals which clung to the shirt.

Coughing slightly, you folded the shirt back up and turned to the right side. The clothes here were nowhere near as uniform as those on the left- each one had a different textile and make. Pulling one up, you saw the white cloth was freshly sewn together- the stitches were precise and the hems and cuffs had excellent detail and care taken in their construction. You noticed the breast pocket had a peculiar symbol stitched into it- as you went down the line, you noticed all the other shirts on the right had the symbol stitched into them as well.

Looking at the clothes laid out, you picked a shirt and pair of pants. That should be good enough for you to change into after your sho-

...Wait, do they have showers here? You were starting to feel pretty gritty, and taking one in the next hour would probably be best if you didn’t want to kill with your smell. You could probably ask any of the androids here, and they’d know. 9S and 50G were meeting with someone for an operation, so that meant that 2B, 78B, and 47D were probably out of the picture, as well. So that meant…

“320,” you turned to face him setting the blanket down at the foot of the bed as you had done, “are Popola and Devola free?”

“Affirmative. Anemone is not forcing them to work against their will.”

“No- are they available? I wanted to ask if there were showers in this camp.”

“Units Popola and Devola currently have no major scheduled events. However, this does not mean that they will be available for said request. To preemptively answer a question: This unit does not have information pertaining to the layout of the camp, and will make requests for said information as soon as possible. Request of availability sent to Popola and Devola.” There was a couple seconds pause as you waited for the reply. “Response received: Popola is not currently in the camp, while Devola stayed behind to finalize a number of tests.”

“Can you ask her to-”

“Unit Devola has already agreed to lead you to the shared shower area. Estimated time until arrival: 46 seconds.”

“Do you think there will be towels there?”

“This unit is relatively sure those items will be available.”

“Hm.” A thought struck you. “320, I’m sorry to say this, but I think it might be best if I leave you here during this. I don’t think you’ll be able to hide yourself on the way there, and there’s no way a Resistance android would have a functioning YoRHa pod.”

320 waited before speaking. “...Understood.” You heard steps make their way up the stairs, and 320 spoke again. “Human: Is it the wisest decision to be hiding yourself from the androids?”

“I…” You truly didn’t know. “I’m not sure. Do you think I’m doing the right thing by hiding myself for now?”

“...There is insufficient information to answer that query.” A knock at the door brought the conversation to a halt.

You heard Devola through the door. “Theo, you ready?”

You hurried to the door, clothes in hand. 320 stayed behind. You opened the door to Devola waiting in the hallway. She smiled as she turned to you, then flinched as she saw what you were carrying.

“Resistance shirt and YoRHa pants? Are you trying to out yourself as an outsider?” She sighed, “You’ll run better as a Resistance android, switch those pants out.” You rolled your eyes before running back and grabbing a new pair. “Look, if you’re that concerned about it, we can see if they can get you one of the YoRHa visors. I’ve never seen one take it off, mind.”

“Alright,” you said as you got back to the door, closing it behind you, “lead the way. Let’s see how much attention I bring to me.” You followed Devola down the steps and out the door. The plaza didn’t have too many people there, but there were enough to notice the two of you. Now that you were able to look closer, this area had a few people who could only be described as shopkeepers- they had claimed various sections at the edge of the plaza, setting up workstations, tables, and the like in their claimed areas. The tables were arrayed with all sorts of items between the shops- weapons, chips, upgrade parts, there even was one for old artifacts.

Devola pulled open the door and you followed after her into one of the rooms off to the side. It wasn’t much to look at, just a long, white-tiled room with different stalls divided off by walls which went to the floor, but not to the ceiling. Pushing the door open in one of them, you found that the stalls had secure boxes mounted on the wall away from the shower head and taps- probably for storing clothes while you took the actual shower. You felt a tap on your shoulder. Turning, you saw Devola handing you a towel, with a comb sticking out of the fold. She mentioned where the soap was, then said that she’d be taking care of something while she was here. You thanked her, stepped into the stall, locked the door behind you, then stripped and got ready for the shower. You nearly forgot about the bandage underneath your foot. You peeled that off, thinking Devola would get a new one for you.

There were not words how good it felt to finally wash off all the grime that had accumulated over the past… chunk of time since you last cleaned yourself off. Trying to wash yourself in the river had gotten some of it off, but stepping out of the river made you feel as though most of it stayed on you. No sooner would the next day come when you felt as though you hadn’t even taken a bath in the river. But now… it felt great. Probably wasn’t the best for the drains, though. You hoped they wouldn’t get clogged.

You suddenly heard two people storming into the room. Their cadence was enough for you to tell they were eager to finally be clean.

“18B.” A girl was speaking, her low voice tinged not with anger, but with a diminished sense of frustration that came with a close friend. “Did you seriously need to cut that machine open while it was jumping right out at us? Did you need to cut it straight in half?”

“I said I was sorry.” Her voice was full of embarrassment.

“Ugh. If I didn’t know you so well, I would say that you did this on purpose. You got hit, but most of it landed on me.”

“Hey, if it bothers you so much, clean yourself off already.” You heard someone stumble into the stall next to you, followed by a laugh from the two. They started their own showers, one after the other. You started rinsing yourself off when you heard a knock on the stall wall.

“‘Ey, you’re Resistance, aren’t you? Anything interesting happen while we were gone?” Oh, crap. Answer quickly, answer quickly!

“Well, other than the, uh, ‘new arrival’, no. Nothing too interesting in my book.”

“Ooh, new arrival? What is it?”

“Heh. Not very many people are sure. Anemone hasn’t told very many people.”

“31B,” the girl further down spoke, “do you think this is related to what our Operators have been saying?” What. “Anything new that you’ve heard?”

You had to play this off. “Not sure. What do you two know already?”

You lathered up the shampoo as you waited for the androids to respond. “Let’s see. Orders given from a high-up to clean out a room with a pretty darn high priority. Lost android pops into the camp without an preemptive call. We’ve heard that some androids think that Popola and Devola are tied up in this, somehow.”

“I think they have one or two androids pinned down,” the further one added, “but they think it was a group of five that brought the new android. They’re pinning down more and more details on who it should be. Strangely, my Operator has been denied requests to see the location roster for that bracket of time. Last I heard from her, they’ve got it down to around twenty-five different potential androids that could have been in the group.”

Maybe if you found out, you could warn them that androids are suspicious of them. “Which one did they think was in the group?”

“99D, but I think she always seems shifty.”

“What?” The closer one asked, “I heard it was 50G.”

“Ugh, she’s always an outsider. When’s the last time you saw her talk to someone outside of her group?”

“Actually-”

“Point is, a lot of androids don’t like her. She could be thrown to the machines, for all they care. You hear anything different?” She was asking you.

You rinsed out your hair. “I heard that they figured out one android, but not which. It’s interesting, though. Do you two have any theories of your own? On what they’re hiding, I mean.”

The further android answered first. “At first, I thought it was a really old android- one that was there from the time of humans- and they had some information that both the Resistance and YoRHa wanted. What that would be, I don’t know.”

You opened the waterproof box and started to dry yourself off. “But then what would the android know that both parties so desperately want? And to keep it so quiet from the androids as a whole, especially both sides.” You checked the cut on the underside of your foot. It still hurt if you touched it, but it looked like it wouldn’t break open if you wore something over it.

“Well, that’s the thing. No one’s been able to get in there. I heard a few androids were going to try, but I hadn’t heard much more about it.”

“I guess time will tell.” You quickly dressed yourself and combed through your hair. Just as you were finishing up, you heard a voice float over the wall.

“You know,” the closer android said slowly, “for a Resistance android, you know quite a lot less than the others. Maybe if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been sequestered away from the others.”

“And I’d say you’re looking way too much into things.” You thought you did a good job of hiding how petrified you were as you hurried out the door, almost bumping into Devola. You mouthed ‘Can we keep moving?’ and motioned toward the door. The two of you hurried out and tried to stay inconspicuous as you headed back to safety. You didn’t know if it was paranoia, but it felt like there were more androids staring you down as you retraced your path behind Devola.

As you reached the entry to your building, Devola excused herself, saying something about needing to finish up the tests. You watched her turn away before opening the door and heading in.

You heard a door close upstairs, followed by footsteps heading away. Fearing the worst, you tepidly climbed the stairs one by one. Your door came into view, mostly closed but not latched. Pushing it open, you found 320 laying on her side on the floor in the middle of the room. Throwing your old clothes to the side, you raced over to her. She gave no response as you picked her up.

After a heart-stopping minute, her lights flickered back on.

Chapter 15: Stressors

Chapter Text

The lights on 320 flickered back on. After a second, she lifted herself off your hands and began hovering in front of you.

“320, is everything okay?” You weren’t sure what happened to her.

“This unit was hacked.” She twitched and sharply dipped more than what you thought was normal before returning to her previous position. “Hacker: Unknown. Likely parties: Unknown. System scan started as of 5 seconds ago.”

“Do you remember anything before you got hacked?”

“Negative. Proper shutdown procedures were not followed; this is typical of a hacking procedure. Seventeen subsystems scanned, zero errors.”

“I heard someone run down the hall when I got here. 320, can you scan for anyone who might be in here?”

“Alert: environmental scanning software disabled. Attempting fixes.”

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

“Estimated time until repair: 15 minutes.”

Could you wait them out? You turned and raced back to the hallway, then looked to the right. None of the doors down there appeared as though they were open or could have been opened earlier, so whoever was her should still- You then heard the downstairs door close against the doorframe. Racing down the stairs, you found the door slightly ajar. Rushing outside to catch the intruders, you found… no trace of them. There was no clear indication of where they could have gone. You scanned through the setting ahead of you once again. Nothing.

You turned back upstairs to your room, only to see 320 hovering right behind you. “Query: Is everything nominal?”

You closed the door behind you as you answered. “Like Hell everything’s nominal. You got hacked some time between me leaving and me getting back. In that short of a time span, someone- or a group of people- break into my room!” You started back up the stairs. “And now they’ve just slipped past us! Is nowhere safe?”

“Alert: repairs on pod 904 have completed. Expected time of arrival: 2 minutes.”

You stopped when you reached the top step. 904, he’ll be able to help. “We’ll wait for him.” You said, perching yourself at the top of the stairs. “He can scan and see if they left any bugs.”

“Understood.”

You doubted yourself. As you waited for 904, you couldn’t stop your brain from picking apart the situation from a myriad of different angles. Eventually, the door creaked open, revealing 904.

“904, your scanner works, right?”

“Affirmative. Quer-”

“320 was hacked, and hers doesn’t work. I have some cause to think there may be bugs planted in my room.”

“Theodore, these causes seem unfounded.” 904 hovered up to you.

“Correction:” 320 spoke up before you did, “This unit and Theodore overheard a conversation between androids stating their desire to plant hidden audio-recording devices. Theodore is exercising caution based on previous information.”

“Understood.” 904 hovered past you and slipped into your room. After a few seconds, 904 moved toward the headboard of your bed, reached down, and pulled up… something. “One instance collected. Other instances detected: 19. Forwarding detection information to 320.”

904 and 320 combed through the room, picking up bug after bug, dropping them off on the desk. They were hidden everywhere: under the bed, under the sheets, two were in the closet, under the unmade bed. Several minutes later, after countless sweeps, they had twenty small devices piled on the desk, each no larger than a fly.

“Are they recording?”

“Affirmative.” 904 and 320 responded almost in unison.

“Shut them down.” The blinking lights on all of them switched off all at once. You sighed before you spoke. “Any ideas of disposing them so they can’t reactivate?”

“Suggestion:” 904 spoke, “Preserve these specimens so that they can be identified later on, and potentially find the culprit. These devices possess an identifying stamp that relates to YoRHa, so querying the appropriate android should provide some leads.”

“Hypothesis:” 320 intoned, “Events like this would not occur if it was widely known that Theodore is a human. YoRHa and Resistance androids would not repeat these undesirable events.”

“320, the human has expressed that he wants to keep his existence hidden from the androids. This unit hypothesizes that this is to keep in line with YoRHa and Resistance restrictions.”

“Perhaps pod 904 possesses a faulty memory card: these were not desires that the leaders of YoRHa and the Resistance have noted. It is an unfortunate outcome of the stalemate between the two.” You could feel the sinister sting in her monotone voice.

“Theodore simply wished to keep the situation from deteriorating, instead of causing problems by announcing his presence before the leaders wish to.”

“You two,” you couldn’t believe your own pods were fighting, “can you please stop? Someone’s tried to bug this room, and I’m pretty much sure that goes against some rules here.” You could try to meet up with Devola, but that would mean leaving your room unattended. Then again, those androids had run off after placing their bugs. Surely they would back off, right? You swept the score of diminutive devices into your hand, then turned to leave. “Let’s take these to Devola.”

“Alert:” 904 swung in front of you, “Devola lacks the permission to access the desired information. Suggestion: wait for one of the trusted YoRHa units to be available.”

“She can still give us some idea of what’s going on. Besides, would you rather I just stay here and wait for problems to come to me?” You went around 904 without waiting for a response.

You were acutely aware of how much you exposed yourself to the androids in the camp as you walked by. While everything seemed status quo, there were one or two androids who seemed suspicious- maybe it was how that Yorha android turned when you looked her way, or how that Resistance android took a sudden interest in the shop next to him. Some small part of your mind fought back against the paranoia, that those androids had no reason to suspect or to be spying on you.

This mental war waged itself in your mind as you hurried to the twin’s house. The anxiety burning throughout your body only barely quieted itself by the time you arrived. After knocking on a door that has seen better stages of repair, you glanced over your shoulder. Your eye caught the slightest of movements and the dreaded paranoia reasserted its death grip on your heart.

You heard Devola open the door. “Theodore? Everything alright?”

“Only if you count this,” you said, opening your hands to show her the bugs from your room, “as ‘alright’. Someone managed to get these in my room while I were away.”

She tilted her head. “While 320 was there?”

“She got hacked.”

She raised her eyebrows and motioned you in after a moment of thought. “Let me take a look at them.” You followed her in, and you instinctively went into the room where the twins administered the tests on you… was it really only yesterday? Devola followed you into the room and spoke while you were so lost in thought. “May I see them?”

You quickly handed them over, pouring their number from your hands to hers. She turned to the table and laid them out. You took a seat as she walked over and opened a window’s blinds, then picked up one of the bugs and leaned against the table.

You leaned back and reviewed everything that’s been going wrong so far. There were those two androids from earlier today outside of your room- but as far as you knew, they were resistance androids. It couldn’t have been them since the bugs they left behind were Yorha’s. Fights were breaking out in the Yorha ranks- 9S and 50G proved that even allies were willing to get to each other’s throats.

They were starting to get things figured out, aren’t they? Putting the bugs aside for now, one of those two androids you spoke with at the showers told you point blank she doesn’t trust you. What clued her in that you were human? The fact that you were asking questions? Maybe she jumped to conclusions, but that’s one more android that’s suspicious, and that’s one more android that’s going to start poking around. Much like, you realized to your chagrin, the ones that were trying to listen in on your room.

“Theodore?” Devola’s voice shook you from your thoughts.

“Huh? Sorry?” As you brought yourself back to the present, you thought you saw a look of concern on Devola’s face for the briefest of moments. So brief it was, part of you doubted it was there in the first place.

“I have to agree with 904, it’s definitely of YoRHa make. If he were here, we could ask 9S to see if there’s any correlating information. Unfortunately, I can’t get any more information off of this- and I don’t my sister can, either- and even if I could, we’re not allowed to access any YoRHa information. Look, I know it must be stressful for you. Popola’s on her way back and I’ll need to help her with prep, but we can talk until then. You haven’t had an opportunity to ask questions, have you?”

“I’ve been able to ask some questions, but I still have… quite a bit more.”

“Would you prefer to be back at your room?” It wasn’t the question that hit you hard, it was the realization. You’ll need to have the pods make another sweep when you got back.

“Sure, we can go. The longer I’m away, the more time they have to put more of those things in my room.” You gestured toward the bugs as you stood up and headed out.

Devola was quick to follow behind, but your mind was elsewhere, parts of it still preoccupied with the whole fiasco with the androids. Your mind mostly ignored the whole trip back, focusing instead on what it deemed more important- worrying. It almost surprised you to find yourself at your room so quickly. You sent 904 in to scan, which came back clean. After entering the room, you sat down on the unmade bed, facing her. Again, you saw a look of concern cross her face just as you looked at it, but it faded away before it truly registered in your mind. She closed the door before sitting down.

“Now what was it that you were curious about?” She asked, smoothing out part of her dress.

“…So what happened to humanity? Why are they on the Moon?”

She froze for a second before sighing and gathering her thoughts. “How much do you know already?”

“Humanity’s on the Moon. There’s a war going on- androids versus machines. I’m not sure of much else than that.”

Devola tilted her head and had a concerned look on her face. “Hm. Well, the two things you do know are related to each other. Humanity fled to the Moon to escape the ongoing alien invasion, who used the Machines like foot soldiers.”

“When did this invasion occur?”

“July 4th, 5012.”

Several processes in your brain stopped dead, a large part of you rejected that number outright. This couldn’t be true. It just- It… “I- I’m… What…”

A look of severe concern deepened on Devola’s face. “5012. Theodore, are you-”

You didn’t hear the rest of what she said. How- What happened? You remember it plain as day. It was 2018 last you knew. What happened? You can’t just misplace three thousand years! This- this whole thing is…

Devola landed both hands on your shoulders and turned you around to face her. When did you stand up? When did you start pacing? “Theodore!”

“I… I’m sorry. Hearing that… It was a shock to me.”

“Then sit down. You’re not going to like hearing what’s next.” Oh God, no. You dreaded hearing what will come next, but bear it you must. You sat down, took a deep breath, and gripped the mattress beneath you.

Devola’s voice was quiet. “The year is 11945.”

Chapter 16: Locked in your own Skull

Chapter Text

“The year is 11945.” These words echoed through your head, again and again. You waited for the impact to hit. Instead of the shock, you felt a chill running down your body. It started at the base of your neck and traced its way down your arms and body, slowing at your legs.

“Y- Devola,” you paused, your thoughts fighting against each other, “please stop lying to me.” The words scraped their way out of your mouth as your thoughts drummed around your skull like a downpour against a roof.

Her eyes were full of worry as she studied you. “I’m not lying to you.” Did she say anything after that? Whatever it was, it was lost in the mental maelstrom. You felt yourself standing up and starting to pace around. Something was wrong. Coherent thoughts were starting to flake away like sheets in the wind. You desperately searched for those lost fragments scattered throughout your mind, only to get unwanted remnants you’ve tried to bury.

A freezing wave crashed down, suffocating you underneath its pressure. You couldn’t tell up from down, the water tearing away any reference you had to the world. Your chest ached under the pressure, and your lungs screamed for air. This isn’t real, you told yourself. You could breathe, you tried to reason with yourself, but the deeper recesses of your mind kept running regardless. A stab of pain shot through your foot- you could feel something slide through your left foot from the underside to the top.

The waters gave away. The emptiness of the world stretched away from you. Alien towers arched their way from the barren ground past the sky, forming walls and barricades. Your heart jumped in your chest. You knew you were being chased. Pushing yourself off the wall you rested on, you only managed to stumble and fall. Your left foot gave way beneath you, searing pain reminding you of the wound situated there. A movement caught your eye as you tried to stand up.

You wished you hadn’t looked.

Two shades, clothed in a black so absolute you wondered if they were even there, wove their way around the buildings- and each other- toward you. They climbed through windows and seeped down walls like a viscous liquid, ever in pursuit of you. Staggering back up, you tried to work your way around the pillars, limping away from the dangers behind you. You could feel them draw nearer. Turning a corner, you glanced over your shoulder. Toppling toward you was one of the towers, wrenched free from supporting the sky. Shards of stone began to rain down around you. The falling tower kicked up a cloud of dust as it missed you.

The dust settled, revealing the new landscape you were in. You stood in a wide street, the buildings on the sides of the street closing you in. You knew this place, you knew what would happen next. You felt it before you heard it, you heard it before you saw it. The giant robot landed in front of you, its eyes little more than pinpricks of red. You found yourself frozen in place as it lumbered toward you, its rusted joints screeching in protest. You couldn’t look. If death were to take you, you didn’t want to see it.

You didn’t feel the cold brush of wind against your clothes, instead there was a warm fabric covering your body. There was no piercing light searing its was through your eyelids, only a soft light. There was no sound of a machine of death lumbering toward you, only the subdued background sound of androids going about their business. You dared to open your eyes.

You were lying in bed, the covers tucked over you. Turning your head, you saw Popola sitting on the bed next to you. 320 was hovering next to her, projecting a screen- whatever information it displayed, you couldn’t tell. Seeing you move, Popola brought her gaze back to you.

“Theodore,” she moved the screen away with a flick of her wrist, “How are you feeling?” Disoriented, if you were honest. You tried to sit up but you paused, feeling a hand glide through your hair. “You had a pretty big episode there. It’s probably best if you rest until we’ve got this figured out.” You weren’t going to do anything strenuous, just sit up. A second attempt to rise was met with a firm hand pushing down on your collarbone. “Theo,” Popola said with a hint of frustration, “I’m serious.”

You started to get worried. “What happened?”

“I didn’t see it first-hand, but Devola would know. I got here just at the end of it. She’s back at home, probably finishing up your lunch.”

“Where’s-”

“904’s with her. Either helping her prepare, or reading the tests.”

You blinked a few times. “So, why are 320 and 904 with you two?”

“Response:” 320 intoned, “This unit and pod 904 were granted auto-redesignation permissions for certain circ*mstances, including an unresponsive state from the assigned unit. This operation may be reversed on the confirmation of return to nominal status.”

“Which isn’t happening soon, I assume.”

“No, no,” Popola jumped to respond, but paused before continuing, “assuming everything goes well, they should return to you before go to sleep.” What a hell of a qualifier, ‘assuming everything goes well’. Everything that can go wrong will, after someone says that. “Look, Devola’s almost here. We can see how you’re doing when you’re done eating.”

A minute passed in silence before a knock sounded through the door. Popola stood up and hurried to open the door, revealing a worried Devola holding a container in her arms. 904 floated behind her. She entered the room quietly, the look on her face relaxing somewhat when she saw you. “Are you feeling better?” You nodded as you sat up, no longer being kept down by Popola. You decided to speak up as Devola handed you what you assumed would be your meal.

“So what happened?”

Devola paused for several seconds before answering. “I… I’m not entirely sure, but I have some ideas. My prevailing theory is that you’ve been having a long string of stressful days since you came here, perhaps paired with some trauma, and haven’t had time for your body to recuperate from the stress.”

Humming in thought, you cracked open the opaque container. It took a second for the thought to cross your mind- maybe androids don’t really know what foods are supposed to be for which meal. How thankful you were to see some food that wasn’t meat-related, even though a second thought made you wonder exactly how they got this. A small pile of slightly-steaming biscuits were settled in the corner on one half of the container, with the other being occupied by a bowl of sawmill gravy covered by a mostly transparent lid. A small gasp of steam curled out as you removed the bowl’s lid. You were almost surprised by how hungry you were.

The room was quiet as you made your way through the meal. The twins settled down next to each other on the other bed. You didn’t stare, but it was almost obvious that the same thoughts were eating at each of them. They at least seemed to be taking solace in each other. Eventually, you cleaned up your ‘lunch’ and set the container down beside yourself.

You were sitting in bed, facing straight forward. “11945, huh?” You heard the other bed creak slightly when the twins jumped in surprise. “And humans fled the Earth 5012?”

“Yeah, although you’re off by a few-” Devola cut herself off, her speaking was slightly slower than normal.

“We know it’s a lot to take in, and we know you,” Popola chose her next words carefully, “didn’t take it well last time. If you don’t-”

“Be honest with me.” You realized that you might have come off as mean. “Is there anything else I need to know about what has happened in this messed-up world?”

The twins hesitated before responding. “There was this major event,” Popola began, “before the alien invasion that happened to humanity. It was called White Chlorination Syndrome. Anyone who caught it either turned into salt. Project Gestalt was created to combat this, separating a human’s body and soul. Eventually, after enough time passed, so did the threat of White Chlorination Syndrome.” Popola stopped talking and looked away. Devola looked as hesitant as her sister, but she soldiered on.

“At this point, the two were fused back together, and humanity would be recreated after the split. Things returned to normal for a while, until the alien invasion, where they fled to the Moon colony. I can’t say that anything else so large has happened to humanity in the remaining time.”

“When did Project Gestalt begin?” You didn’t know if it would be comforting or frightening to know if the event would happen soon after you left. To your surprise, the twins looked at each other in thought.

“I thought it was in the early 2000’s…” Popola mused. Well, ‘early 2000’s’ for them could have been up to around 2300, you reassured yourself.

“Yeah. 2015, to the public, is what I have.” Devola replied.

Uh.

Well.

That’s…

Ah, ****.

“I think there may be a little bit of a problem here.” You got their attention.

“How so?” Popola asked.

“I… The last year I remember was 2018.”

Popola frowned. “So you’d remember-”

“I have never heard of Project Gestalt.”

The twins stared at you, sparing the occasional glance at each other. Devola spoke up next. “...Maybe you know about the Wall of Jericho around Shinjuku, fell around 2008?”

“Haven’t heard of it.”

“Luciferase? Hamelin Organization? 2016?” Devola was starting to look desperate.

“Nope.”

She paused to think. “Wasn’t there some huge event, something that happened over Tokyo, in 2003?”

“Only major thing I can think of for Tokyo was the Olympics planned for 2020. Nothing for ‘03, sorry.”

A silence fell over the room for several minutes. Part of you wondered what could have happened. They were referencing events you never heard of in times where nothing major like that happened. Unless someone tried to rewrite history for their own means, or that it was just forgotten… it was 11945, apparently.

“Quick question about those dates:” you started, causing the twins to look back up at you, “You’re 100% sure that all of those events were that early?”

“Yeah,” Devola said, “I might not have the dates down to the day, but I know for a fact which years they were in.”

“You’re entirely sure? No chance they could have been changed in your memory?”

Devola frowned. “Theodore, what are you getting at?”

“I’m just trying to get everything straight, especially the fact that there’s a number of discrepancies between the world I remember and the one we’re in now.”

Another silence fell over the room. No one knew what to say next. Devola eventually produced a syringe from somewhere under her clothes. She started to explain after seeing the look on your face.

“Some of the tests we ran were to make sure you had adequate levels for biostability, and the tests showed a fairly low amount for some of your levels. I wasn’t able to incorporate enough into the synthesizer for lunch, but I was able to get it here.” She paused before handing it to Popola.

“After all those blood draws, finally you’re pumping something into me?” You rolled up your sleeve, before Popola motioned to your other arm as she made her way toward you. The injection was quick, and she sealed over the pinprick with a bandage you missed seeing get passed between the two.

Devola stood, and motioned to 904, who hovered over to you. “There’s no huge reason for me to still have him with me, and I guess I might as well take care of that.” She motioned to the empty container sitting next to you. Taking the cue, you handed it over to her as she made her way out. Before she closed the door, she leaned back in and turned to you. “I just want you to know that we’re here for you anytime you need us, okay?”

She closed the door behind herself.

Chapter 17: Tuning in

Chapter Text

You turned to Popola. “So, I guess there’s finally free time for me, now that there aren’t any tests or mental breakdowns in my way.”

“It’d be closer to-” Popola started, but then thought better of what she was going to say.

“So what do androids here do in their spare time?”

Popola leaned back. “A number of the androids here update their software right when they get back. I know a bunch look around and see what new chips they have.” A realization hit her. “Oh, you’re asking for ideas for- yeah, sorry.” She gives a short laugh before thinking. “Well, some YoRHa androids tune into some radio station through their pods. I haven’t checked, although I’m pretty sure 904 or 320 could connect.”

“Hm. 320? Any idea on what the local stations are?”

“Negative, although ‘local stations’ can be ascertained through signal strength. Currently scanning.” There was a pause for around two seconds. “Channels detected: 9. Probable ‘local’ channels: 2.”

You turned to Popola. “Any idea what’s usually on them?”

She shrugged, then sat forward. “I haven’t had a chance to sit down and listen before. We’re both going into unexplored territory.” She turned to 320. “What are the call signs?”

“Call signs? How could-”

“Call sign JSK encountered, waiting for signal call on other ‘local’ station.” 320 responded.

“JSK?” Popola smiled. “Well that’s ours, then. Tune through FM, if you could.”

“How is JSK our station?” You asked Popola as 320 started to play the station.

“I’ll tell you later,” Popola turned to 320, who turned the volume up to a level where you could actually hear what they were saying.

“-ight, right. It’s the top of the hour, 16B, time for the announcements.” The voice coming through the speaker was probably a scanner android. “Elevated Machine levels are continued to be expected throughout the entirety of the Sigma - Kaon region, in some scattered areas in the south of the Xi region, and finally in the west of the Pion region. Units in the Sigma - Kaon and western Pion regions are suggested to either stay in larger groups when travelling or to seek defensible positions while waiting for groups to meet up. Estimates say the levels should return to normal levels in about two to three days- relocating to either the Pion or Lamba-naught regions.”

“There is a weather alert for the Pion region,” that was probably 16B, “expect heavy rain and thunderstorms starting at 19:53 extending to 03:11, with scattered showers lasting afterward until 05:02. Androids in the Pion region are suggested to find shelter, especially units with moderate to major surface damage. Light rain is expected in the surrounding regions, but not enough to impede operations.” She gave a short laugh. “And nowhere near enough to impede Machine operations. Anything interesting in the local news, 41S?”

“A number of shops are opening back up at camp Xi due to the routes being re-secured. Activities are expected to return to normal within a day or two. If you want someone to thank for holding the camp together though the supplies shortage, talk to Orchid.”

“They’re seriously lucky to have an android like her leading them.”

“Yeah. Oh, this one’s really recent- we got this a few minutes ago, units 78B, 47D, and 50G have defeated a minor commander in the Sigma - Kaon region.” You shared a glance with Popola. That’s what they were doing! “We haven’t yet heard how the ongoing Machine operation has been affected, but as it usually goes with the defeat of a minor commander, we should see things going better for a while. Hang in there, Sigma - Kaon!”

“A reminder to the Defense and Battle units: an update going to be rolled out in two days, make sure to download it in a safe place when you have the time.”

“Oh! A number of androids have seen a small peaceful Machine settlement get set up on the fringes of the Lambda-naught territory. Don’t attack them if you’re going to be in that area, guys. We have a reputation to uphold.”

“Does our broadcast even cary that far?”

“We can reach there on good days, but not all the time. Anyway, the camp is still ‘getting off the ground,’ so to speak, so if you’re looking for it, it’s probably going to be nestled in a corner somewhere.”

“Speaking of settlements,” 16B asked, “have there been any updates as to that weird settlement in the north of Sigma - Kaon?” You gave a worried glance at Popola, who in the past few minutes drew up her legs on the bed, in an attempt to get more comfortable. She didn’t look perturbed in the least. Were they going to talk about you?

“I’m not sure,” 41S paused a second to think. “Last I heard, there were supposed to be a couple androids looking into that a day ago or so, but there’s been nothing since. I know at least one android who was supposed to be investigating that, I’ll check when we’re off air.”

“I’ve heard a theory that it’s linked to the ‘mysterious arrival’ to Sigma - Kaon.” Hearing what 16B said, Popola gave a worried glance at you. “A bunch of Resistance androids think a really old android was found somewhere in the region, and YoRHa and the Resistance are fighting over what’s going to happen to it. No one’s sure yet why it’s such a big deal- there was that one android that was recovered from the Eleventh Machine War, but he managed to get back on his feet in, like, one day?”

“Amazing what a bunch of androids can do to get another android in the game.”

“Yeah, but her discovery was announced right away. So far, we’ve only been able to infer the existence of this elusive android- if they exist. I’ve heard word that a few androids are getting this figured out, but they’ve been silent on the issue.”

“How would they do that? They planning on breaking into the one cleared-out room in that isolated YoRHa-owned building?” 41S sounded way too interested in this whole ordeal.

“They’ve been forbidden to do that, haven’t they?”

“No, no announcement has been made either way, so it’s still all on the table.”

“That’s enough, 320.” Popola spoke rapidly, trying to avoid wringing her hands in worry. The radio show quickly faded away from 320’s speakers into silence as Popola stood, fidgeting with one of the edges of her dress. “I didn’t expect them to talk about that, I’m sorry.”

“It’s… fine.” You responded. It probably wasn’t fine. “Look, is there anything else we can-”

904 started ringing. You and Popola were equally confused and off-guard.

“Incoming call from 6O.” 904 intoned.

“Popola,” you worriedly asked, “what am I supposed to do?”

She shrugged. “Accept it? I haven’t heard of any expected calls.”

“Alright, open it, 904.”

An image popped up on the holographic screen. You’ve seen it before, weird data that you didn’t understand on the left, picture on the right. The android there had blond hair with a black headband (but then, what wouldn’t a Yorha android wear that was black), and her hair flowed behind her in twin braids. She had a mask that started at her temples and curved along her cheekbones, meeting where a metal piece sat on her nose. The fabric flowed down from the frame, sporting sixteen white dots, eight on each side. Her face carried the look of someone doing their best, but still having no clue what they were doing. She was looking somewhere below the camera.

“Okay,” she mumbled to herself, “so that should be the ‘silent call’. They shouldn’t be able to see that I’m connected, but I can still access files on the receiving pod. Wait, ‘access denied’? No, that can’t be-”

“Uh, hi.” You awkwardly tried to alert her to her faulty assumptions.

“Hi,” she gave a small wave through the camera, but her mind was still elsewhere, “I’ll get to you in a second.”

“I think you’re already dealing with me now.” Did she really just try to dismiss you?

“What? No, I said-” She looked up and suddenly got the priceless deer-in-headlights look. “Uh- I-”

“6O, right?”

“No, I- wait, yes, I’m- Huh? No! You’re not supposed to- You can’t know what I’m-” this android, apparently 6O, kept stuttering out fragment after fragment, never able to finish a thought.

“What are you trying to do?”

“Look, I’m trying to- Hey, no! I’m not going to answer that!”

You sighed. How were you going to deal with this? “Look, 6O,” you hoped that was her, “I have your name, 904 has some reference that you were here, and you were talking about some pretty suspicious stuff. Do I need to get the commander involved in this?”

She looked worried enough when you started your ultimatum, but she looked petrified when you mentioned the commander. There was a pause for about three seconds as her thoughts slowly congealed and she attempted to formulate a response.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I kept hearing that something was going on in Sigma - Kaon but no actual details! A bunch of Operators told me that 9O managed to find something interesting from a couple of new pods at the site. I asked her, but she wouldn’t tell me what was going on. She sent me this file and then told me to go away, and I was just following it! Okay, maybe I should have read it all over before I started, it does look pretty bad now that I think about it. But please, please, don’t tell the Commander!” 6O looked pleadingly at the camera, having her hands fold in front of her while she was saying the last sentence.

You couldn’t believe this- an android just tried to hack into one of your pods, failed, and now she was asking, near begging for you not to report her? She also casually mentioned that another operator- 9O- managed to hack into one of your own pods without you knowing and that 9O somehow created a document on how to hack into your pods‽

You sighed before speaking. “6O, I think we have larger problems than you going on right now.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you! I knew you’d-”

“That doesn’t mean you’re innocent. I won’t tell the commander right now, but if necessary, there will be consequences.” You turned to your other pod, “320, is there some protocol for what to do in this situation for Yorha androids?”

320 paused for a half second before speaking. “There exists no protocol for this exact situation. Closest parallel: YoRHa unit should contact their assigned Operator and request arbitration.”

“Well.” So 320 wasn’t any help, and 904 probably wouldn’t, either. You turned to Popola with a glimmer of hope. It shattered when she shrugged. So it’s all down to you? “I’ll need to talk to other androids to get a better idea of what’s going on. Do you think you could send me that document?”

“Sure!” 6O suddenly jumped to a much more cheerful disposition, as though she never were in danger of being reported to the Commander to begin with. “I’ll just send it down qu-” Her gaze shot up from the keyboard and her eyes narrowed. “Heeeeeey, you could use that against me!”

“Is there anything else you need, 6O? Or would you like to incriminate yourself or someone else further?”

“No, like I said, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hack in, I just wanted to figure out what’s happening.” She sounded solemn and honest. “I don’t want you to thi- Hey! No, I’m not going to incriminate myself!”

“Going to incriminate someone, then?”

“You-” You could barely see that she puffed her cheeks out in frustration before the quickly continued, “6O signing off!” She slammed some button on her keyboard and the hologram flickered out of existence.

“Well,” you turned to Popola, “that was certainly entertaining. What an event.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think the Operators would get themselves entangled in this mess. I thought they mostly just kept to themselves.”

“It’s just worrying. 904, 320, do you know if 2B, 9S, 47D, 50G, or 78B are heading back to this camp?”

The two pods denoted they didn’t know, but 904 offered to request the information from a bunker timetable. About a minute later, he received the information, “The five indicated units are all currently mid-mission. 9S and 2B have recently arrived at their destination in the desert.”

“There’s a desert nearby?” You thought it was just city for miles around.

“Camp Xi is located near the commonly accepted border between the ruined city and the desert. By your reckoning, this camp could not be ‘nearby’.”

“Especially if they just recently got there, and weren’t slowed down by me.” The conversation came to a lull.

Popola snapped her fingers. “I just thought of something to fill the time. Devola and I have a few books at our home; I could bring some of them here.” She started to make her way to the door.

“Yeah, and you two could switch out if you’re tired of being with me.”

Popola snapped back around. You had a hard time telling if he was faking being offended or if she really was offended. “Theodore!” She closed her eyes and calmed herself down. “I’m not tired of being with you. I’m here for you, Theo. I could get Devola to bring the books here, if you want me to stay with you.”

“No, it’s fine.” You waved away her concerns. “I can wait a minute or two.”

“Alright.” Popola opened the door, then stepped out. She smiled as she closed the door behind herself. Just as her face was about to disappear behind the door, her smile melted away. You weren’t able to see what it morphed into as the door closed with a click.

Chapter 18: Downtime

Chapter Text

320 pinged a minute later. “Alert: Popola has sent a message.”

“Eh?” Why would she be-

“The message contains a query for information about the type of book Popola should bring.”

“Oh, uh…” You didn’t remember seeing any books in the twins’ house, although there could have been some books stored somewhere else in the house. “Ask her if she has anything history-related, especially after... 2003, I think. I also have a number of questions for her about the… world, so if she has an atlas, see if she can bring that. I know I’m making a couple of long shots here, but I’m just trying to piece everything together.”

“Understood. Sending message.” A few seconds later, 320 continued, “Popola has received the message, and is returning.”

A knock sounded through the door about a minute later. You had your pods quickly verify that it was, in fact, Popola knocking before opening the door for her. She made her way in, struggling to keep the five books in their stack until she dropped them onto the free bed.

She turned to you. “I’m sorry about this, Theo, but we don’t have a history book that deals with the range you were asking about.”

“Eh? You mean a book like that doesn’t exist, or that you don’t have anything like that?”

“We don’t have much here, and there aren’t all that many book in that good of shape after…” Popola looked off to the side, “a couple thousand years.” She turned back and pulled the top two books from the stack. “But we did have an atlas- I heard you had some questions, by the way.” Might as well get them out of the way.

“So I heard a bunch of different camp names during the radio broadcast. Is there some sort of map of… wherever we are, that I can get a sense of where these camps are? I mean, I know we’re at Sigma-Kappa-”

“Sigma - Kaon.”

“-right, they also mentioned Xi, Pion, and Lambda-nought. Where are those?”

Popola hummed in thought. “For what you’re asking, I think it would be better to use one of the pod’s maps.” She turned expectantly at each of the pods in turn. “That is, if the information we want is still in them.”

904 chirped somewhere behind you. “This unit has partial information about the requested information, but still sufficient for the query in question.” A holographic screen filled with static appeared in front of him, which slowly turned and relocated into a flat surface between you and Popola.

Slowly, data started to flash up that made it vaguely resemble a map. To your slight surprise, the flat surface began to push sections up and down, creating raised and lowered areas. You were starting to make out a rough features- a coastline wound itself right next to a corpse of a city, dominating the closer and left edges of the map. The city ruins took up the majority of the map, only bleeding away to the right edge and dropping off sharply when it fell onto the coastline. Rough terrain- or what could be called rough for a map this zoomed- stood along the side closest to Popola.

A red circle appeared slightly distanced from the coast on the side closest to you. The small characters “Σ - κ” appeared above it a second later. “Location of camp Sigma - Kaon marked. Marking locations of other camps.” Three more red dots appeared on the map, all of them smaller than the first. Well, to say they appeared ‘on’ the map was a stretch. Each one was clearly off the map; one even appeared right next to Popola’s elbow. You read each of the labels above them in turn: “Ξ”, “π”, “Λ°”. You sighed, hoping someone could explain all of this. It was just all Greek to you.

“904,” Popola turned to the pod hovering behind you, “Do you have a better map to display this?”

“Negative. The previous assigned units did not make serious attempts to keep this unit updated with the latest mapping data nor did this unit have the opportunity to update information after or during maintenance and repairs.”

“It’s fine,” you said over your shoulder, “this gives me a good enough idea for now. But for the future, how would either of you,” you motioned toward 904 and 320, “update your information?”

320 spoke up, “Uplink stations are located in camps associated with YoRHa, as well as various Resistance camps. This allows transport for YoRHa androids and rapid communication with the Bunker network.”

“Alright. When you have some free time, why don’t you try to look for the one here?”

“Understood.”

You turned back to Popola. “So what are the bases like? I don’t need anything huge, just a basic description is fine.”

Popola considered the different locations before speaking. “I’m assuming we can just skip over the ‘androids resupply there’ description?” She continued after you nodded, “There are two kinds of bases: YoRHa and Resistance. Camps Sigma, Xi, and Lambda are all associated with the Resistance, while Kaon and Pion are associated with YoRHa.”

“But Sig-”

“Yes, I know. We are in Sigma - Kaon. The two camps were merged by choice since they were so close together. Well, not ‘merged’, since they’re still separate…”

“They just happened to be located right next to each other and share a defensive force.”

“…For the most part, yes. The two sides have separate administrations. From what I can tell, relations are pretty good between the two camps.”

“Quick question:” you managed to edge in as she was talking, “so Anemone is the leader of the resistance part of this camp-”

“Sigma.”

“So is there a leader for the Yorha part of the camp?”

“Kaon. Actually, I don’t really know who the administrator of Kaon is. Any YoRHa android who’s based here should know who it is. Any other questions you have about Sigma - Kaon?”

“None on my mind.”

Popola gestured to the point on her right, marked “Ξ”. “This is camp Xi. It’s located on the only easily traversable path into and out of the desert. Memory serves, it’s not a very large camp, only a dozen or so androids.”

She pointed over to the point off the edge to your right, marked “π”. “That’s camp Pion. I don’t hear a lot about it, but from what I gather, it’s one of YoRHa’s most successful camps. Takes quite a beating from attacks, though.”

Finally, she turned to her left at the point way off the map, marked “Λ°”. “...And that’s Lambda-nought. I… don’t actually know much more about it.”

“Never been there?”

“No. I haven’t been to Pion, either, but news doesn’t seem to flow much from Lambda-nought.”

You hummed in thought. You’ll just have to ask some other androids to see if they know any more than you do. You noticed the map start to flicker away in front of you as Popola handed a book over to you. You could only describe her as trying to look... conciliatory?

“I know things have been stressful for you, just look at earlier this morning. You’re stressed out and need some time for your body to recover. Maybe you’d like some peace and quiet?”

You took the book from her and turned it over in your hands. It’s been about two days completely full of one stressful situation after another. You took a deep breath. Part of you was screaming that dropping your guard would spell danger, but the rest of you was too fatigued to care. You sat down on your bed and opened up to the first couple of pages. You were dimly aware that Popola sat down on the other bed and was reading through a book of her own. You started to dive through the story in your hands.

You stood back up a minute later. “Popola, can I see one of the other books you brought?”

She looked up from her book. “Why, is something wrong?”

Honestly, this book was terrible. Poor writing quality, unbelievable characters, atrocious world building… The only good thing you could say about it was that the grammar, punctuation, and syntax weren’t violated. “I’m not a huge fan of this genre.”

“Fair enough, I guess.” She reached over to the pile and pulled out another book. “Will this one be better?”

“I’ll have to see.” New story in hand, you sat down. Hopefully this one would hold your attention for longer.

Someone said something to you. Your thoughts were wrenched out from underneath you, leaving you struggling to discern what was and what was. --Er, what was in the real world, and what was only in the book. You tried to clear your head. Wait, who was laughing?

“-five times, and he doesn’t react. You do it once, and he reacts immediately!”

“It’s because I know what gets his attention.” Wait, who was talking?

Glancing to your right, you saw Popola sitting on the other bed and Devola leaning on the door, another container in her arms.

“Huh? Did I miss something?” You were genuinely confused for a second, some of your thoughts still lingering on the book you were reading. The twins looked back at you, Devola carrying a look of frustration, Popola a look of slight amusem*nt at her sister’s expense.

“Don’t tell me you weren’t listening.” Devola nearly whined as she slumped against the door. “I was trying to make a point to Popola…” She crossed her arms as Popola continued laughing.

“I’m sorry, Theodore.” Popola tried to compose herself for a second. “It’s just that you really got engrossed in that book. I tried to get your attention five separate times, and every time, you didn’t show any hint of listening.”

“Five times? Come on, Popola. I wasn’t reading for that long.” After hearing this, the twins shared a skeptical glance with each other. “What?”

904 decided to intone. “The human has been engaged in said activity for: 5 hours, 48 minutes.” You mind took a second to parse this. Six hours? That couldn’t- You moved to stand up, and immediately your legs started to protest. One by one, a chorus of popping sounded from your joints and back. Eventually you were on your feet, with the twins not trying too hard to hide their laughter.

“I take it you liked the book.” Popola managed say.

“Yes, I did.” How was your body still trying to settle into position? You eyed the container settled on the bed next to Popola. “I think I have a clue as to what Devola said.” Devola started to stand up to hand the container over to you, but stopped when she saw that Popola was already passing it over. You sat down again and cracked off the lid.

Sitting foremost in the container was a some pasta with a small cup of marinara sauce sitting next to it- whatever type of pasta it was, you weren’t sure. You didn’t study that kind of stuff. It was what sat at the back of the container that interested you the most. An apple. The skin was mostly red, with small sections of yellow that you almost missed near the stem. There weren’t any major deformations or discolorations. It was just… an apple. But most of the world- that you knew of- was embroiled in a war, and the only individuals on this planet would be the androids (which had little to no need for eating) and the machines, who had no respect for-

“We got the apple from another Resistance camp.” Devola had returned to leaning on the door with a better posture. “Still haven’t heard back from other camps, though.”

You turned back to the meal. You started to eat, but you hadn’t gotten two bites in when 904 ran again. Another call? The holographic screen popped up again, but instead of an android on the right, the small words were written “[AUDIO ONLY]”. Above it was a small logo and…

Oh, is that how you’re supposed to write it?

Beneath the logo was written “YoRHa” in plain letters. You started to turn to Popola and Devola to ask what the heck was going on, when the deep voice began to sound through the pod.

“The Council of Humanity has a message for all of our brave androids fighting on the surface.”

The three of you immediately shot your gazes to the screen. Was this really the last bastion of humanity on the Moon? You sat forward, eager to hear anything they had to say.

“Currently, our struggle against the machine lifeforms is at a stalemate. This battle has raged for far too long. I am sure all of you find the effort grueling. But now is not the time to give up. Now, more than ever, we must forge on. Remember that several hundred thousand humans on the moon want nothing more than to return to Earth. Glory to Mankind.”

The three of you sat there for a minute. You were the first to break the silence.

“…Was that all they had to say?”

“That sounded like one of their scheduled broadcasts,” Popola started, “they usually aren’t all that long and are mostly for android morale.”

You motioned toward the pod. “That little blurb was for morale?”

“I think they aim for short broadcasts so that they don’t get in the way of any androids who are fighting.”

“Still, whoever wrote those needs to be fired. They could stand to put a little more emotion in there, couldn’t they?”

“I don’t think they had much of a choice, there.”

“And what’s up with the ‘Glory to Mankind’ thing at the end?”

“Well,” Devola spoke this time, “remember when we said that humanity fled to the Moon? They left behind the androids so they could fight the war against the Machines for them.”

“Still, the phrase just sounds… creepy, doesn’t it?”

“How so?”

“How so? It glorifies some abstracted ideal that I think most androids have never even seen. It’s just… unhealthy to have such glorified ideas about any group in general.” You looked up to see Popola and Devola looking you over. Had you said something wrong? Something unexpected?

“Think about it from their perspective. If they’re not fighting the war for their creators-”

“They can be, and maybe they are, but I think that the reason for them doing so shouldn’t be just ‘for the glory’.”

“But that isn’t their only reason.”

“Can you really blame me, with a line like that? I mean, how would you feel, hearing a tagline glorifying your kind? Especially knowing that I’m from around nine thousand years ago. Think about it from my perspective. I’ve never met an android before, until now. And now I know,” you waved your hand, trying to conjure an estimate, “what, eleven androids? Don’t you think it seems a little worrying to me when I hear that line, and know it could apply to any number of androids around me?”

“But humans created androids. Wouldn’t you have the same kind of reverence toward your creator?”

“I’m sorry, did I personally create them?”

“Do you think that matters to those who follow that line of reasoning?”

“…Does it?” If she had a point…

“Look, you’re not going to easily convince the number of androids who have made up their minds already.”

Popola spoke up. “I’m just making sure you aren’t going to carry a misconception: the whole ‘glory’ line is associated with YoRHa, not the Resistance.”

“Nice to know. Thanks, Popola.” You took another bite of your supper. “I guess I’ll have to see what a YoRHa android’s view on that is.” You continued through your meal in peace. After you set down the core of the apple, you noticed something tucked into the corner of the container, behind the unused napkin. You weren’t sure about what you expected to be there, but it was a welcome surprise.

It was a small square of chocolate. Four square raised bumps were settled on the top, dividing the block into four. You turned the piece in your hands, admiring it. How long had it been, since you’d been able to have something like this? How many days had you spent out in the city ruins, all alone? A week? A few weeks? A month? How quickly did you lose track? Slowly, you brought it toward your mouth and took a small bite.

It tasted exactly like you remembered it did.

You felt a lump begin to congeal in your throat. No, not now. Not in front of them.

“Theo?” Popola spoke up.

“Hm?” God, keep it together, keep it together…

“You were staring off there, is everything-”

“It’s fine, I haven’t had this for… some time.” The twins seemed to both get it and not understand at different levels, but held their questions. You quietly savored one of the few anchors you still had to the old world you knew as the seconds ticked away.

When you were done, you reached to the book you had yet to finish. “I’m just going to read until I fall asleep, okay?” You kicked off your shoes and pulled your feet up on the bed. “You two don’t need to stay here if you have better things to do than stay here.” Devola flinched after hearing those last words, but calmed down from the touch of her sister.

“I can stay here with him, Popola. You’ve stayed here for a while.” Devola picked up the container you set on the floor, flipped it closed, and handed it to Popola. You watched as Popola made her way out of the room and closed the door behind her. You turned back to the remaining twin.

“Devola, really, I’ll be fine. If you have something better-”

“Theodore.” Her tone was frightening. “Maybe you aren’t understanding. You keep saying ‘if you have something better to do’. What is this something better you think we have? What do you think our orders were when you got here? We’re supposed to make sure you’re doing well, and I’m not sure if it’s still in there, but I distinctly remember a moment this morning where I wouldn’t say that you were doing ‘well’.” She took a deep breath and continued, far calmer than before. She almost sounded fatigued. “Just trust us and what we’re doing, alright? We just want everything to be okay.”

Devola sat down as you tried to figure out how to respond. “I… I’m sorry for doubting you two.” You picked your book up and turned away from her. While you were struggling to find which page you left off, 320 helpfully reminded you. You settled back in to continue reading.

You jumped awake in a darkened room. Devola, who had her hand on your shoulder, pulled back, as did 904 and 320, who had hovered close. You tried to take stock of the situation, and quickly came to the realization that you had fallen asleep into the book face-first. Drowsiness had a hard grip on your mind, leaving you feeling as though only half of your mind was awake. You set the book aside, shifted to move the sheets beneath you, and threw them over yourself. Maybe Devola said something, but you didn’t have the mental processing power to work through what she did say.

You settled back down to let sleep roll over you again. After a few seconds, you felt someone smooth out the blankets above you. You felt that whoever was doing so was taking their time to not do a haphazard job. They then moved up and did their best at trying to fluff the pillow. In your half-awake state, you did have to admit they were doing a good job. After another second’s pause, you felt a lock of your hair get pushed back into place. You heard the door close a moment later as unconsciousness drifted over you.

Fragments of your mind connected together in a semblance of awakeness. Taking a deep breath, you decided to enjoy the small pleasures of waking up. The warm blankets enveloping you, the sense of security of the whole situation, the feeling of someone running their fingers through your hair, the soft pillow your head was nearly buried in-

Wait, hang on. Part of you felt like something was amiss, but couldn’t understand what. As long as your short-term memory was aware, ever since you started to wake up, everything was normal- there weren’t any new events. Only one way to figure it out, you reasoned. You sent the signal around your body to wake up and stretch. Piece by piece, you felt your body gearing up for the sudden demands placed upon it. After warming themselves up for the day ahead of them, you pushed your body up into a sitting position and opened your eyes.

You first recognized 47D sitting right next to you on the bed. She pulled her hand back as you were sitting up and gave a warm smile. “Morning, Theodore.”

“…Mrnng…” Your mouth barely opened as you tried to respond. You heard 47D suppress a laugh, and heard another from across the room. Turning your head, you saw 50G sitting on the empty bed, then noticed their pods floating in the air. Another nagging feeling struck your skull. Something was different about them. Something about their eyes…

Wait, why could you see their eyes? Why weren’t-

“Decide to take off your blindfolds?” Thankfully your mouth woke up quickly.

Your word choice must have caught 47D off guard, but 50G must have been more prepared. “They’re not blindfolds, they’re visors. Ugh, the Resistance androids make the same mistake. Look,” 50G reached to the head of the unmade bed where the two blindfo- visors rested on one of the bedposts. She grabbed the one which was still tied up, leaving the completely unfolded one. She stood up and marched over to you, bringing the bl- visor over your eyes and around your head. “See, the visor helps us collect and filter data.”

“Even though it blocks your eyes, rendering you blind?”

“It sends the collected information straight to our visual processors. I think it’s a pretty good system that works with the older systems.” She took her hands off of you. “There. See?” You didn’t. You did hear 47D stifling another laugh.

“Quick question, 50G.”

“Shoot.”

“You usually do. Are visual processors similar to a visual cortex?”

“Visual cortex? What does-” 50G stopped talking, perhaps coming to a realization. A moment later, you felt her slowly untie the blindfold from you. After she pulled it off, you found a rather embarrassed-looking 50G and 47D holding her side in laughter.

“It’s not that funny, 47D.”

“You’re not the one experiencing it.”

“It’s one of those ‘obvious in hindsight’ things.”

“Huh,” you decided to chime in on this humiliation train, “and I here I thought Gunners were supposed to be good at seeing what’s in front of them.”

47D got hit with another fit of laughter while 50G turned to glare at you, not doing the best job of keeping a smile from creeping through. In a huff, she turned around and dropped herself back on the empty bed. You suddenly noticed, out of the corner of your eye, that your pods were sitting on the bedside stand, side by side; they were probably off.. You thought it best to change the subject.

“So how did your mission go? I heard about you on the radio.”

50G perked her head up as 47D composed herself. “We were on the radio?”

“Yeah, I think they said you defeated a minor commander. Good job, by the way.”

“Uh, thanks.” 50G shifted herself, “It was just what we were told to do.”

“What was the commander like?”

She turned to 47D. “I don’t think we have any picture of him, do we?”

“Except for the reference picture,” 47D replied, “no, I don’t think so. But that’s better than nothing. 209?”

“Understood.” A higher-pitched male voice echoed out from her pod, before it shot out a spark.

“Urgh, I forgot, 209-B’s projector was broken. Switch to 209-A and try again.”

“Hang on, what-”

“I’ll explain in a minute.” 209 disappeared in a glow of light, with another model appearing about a half-meter away, which floated into the other 209’s position. An image blinked into existence between 47D and you.

Immediately, you thought back to the large machine that heralded the ambush on the route to camp. The machine in the image in front of you was similar in make- you weren’t entirely sure what the material this commander was made out of, but it was applied liberally across his entire body in massive plates.

“I don’t want to see that ****er again,” 50G grumbled. “I understand him blocking all the photobullets, I’ve seen that before, hundreds of times, but blocking the ****ing mortar shots? How did he even deflect those?”

47D turned back to you. “She had a bit of a rough time against him.”

“It wasn’t just me that had a bad time, do you remember the fit 78B was throwing?”

“Yeah, I almost wish we didn’t.”

“We?”

“I think you learned a few new swear words from her.”

“47D, you know I don’t swear that ****ing much.”

“Wait,” you tried to interject, “even 78B had trouble hitting him?”

“Yeah, it actually surprised me.” 50G leaned back, “Usually the machines bear the attacks while trying to kill us, but this one was actually going full defensive against her. Then it got in range of-”

“50G, please.”

“Oh, come on. You have to admit you did an outstanding job there.”

“It wasn’t that-”

“47D, you ripped. His. Arm. Off.”

“I cut it off, 50G. Big difference.”

“Same difference.”

“Excuse you, do I look like an Assault-class?”

“You know I’m not going to answer that.”

You tried to get them back on topic. “So what happened after you removed his arm?”

47D answered first. “The fight was basically over by then.”

“Yeah,” 50G sat back up, “not really much you can do to fight against a Defence-class when you’re in their reach and down an arm. Can’t really think of anything else interesting that went on during the way back. 47D?”

“Other than 78B tripping and falling flat on her face, no.”

50G nearly fell over in laughter. “How- how did I forget that?”

You turned to 47D. “So can I get an explanation of the pods, or…”

“Oh, sure. So you know how different pod chassis can have different weapon effects? Pods can upload their AI to up to three alternate chassis. I found one for 209 during the mission, but he needs to bring that one in for repairs.” You quietly glanced back toward 904 and 320, who were starting to pick themselves up off the nightstand. “I’m not sure exactly how to use the new weapon, but I’ll get something down though experimentation.”

“You didn’t see Popola or Devola on the way in, did you?”

“No, and it would have been… a half-hour ago?”

“Hm.” You turned back to your pods. “Morning, 904, 320. Either of you know where Popola and Devola are?”

“Negative.” 320 replied.

“Negative, sending request.” 904 intoned.

“If they’re making breakfast but they’re not ready yet, I can just take a shower to fill the time.”

“Now should be a good time to go,” 47D spoke up behind you, “since there aren’t all that many androids about.”

“Alright. 904, 320, you two stay here while I head out.” The two pods beeped in comprehension as you went over to the closet and picked out the clothes for today. As you were on your way out, you turned back to 50G and 47D. “You two can stay here if you’d like. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Alright,” 47D waved, “see you then.”

After making your way out of the building, you found 47D’s assessment accurate. It wasn’t completely dead, but there were a few androids that thankfully paid you no mind. It did feel kind of daunting to have to walk across the whole plaza to get there, but you eventually found yourself inside and in safety. Grabbing a towel, you set yourself up in one of the shower stalls. It isn’t long until you’re going full swing through the shower. You’re so caught up in your thoughts and the thankfully empty area that you nearly jump out of your skin when you hear a knock on your stall door.

“Occupied!” Your mouth says before your mind gives the signal.

A woman’s voice seeped into the stall. “We’re well aware.” Dread brushed against your back and crawled up. “You’re the new android on the base, aren’t you?”

“Uh…” Think! Think faster!

“It’s fine if you are. We’ve been trying to meet to you for some time now; we think we know what’s going on.”

“Who’s this ‘we’?”

“The two of us and a few other androids.”

“I think he was asking for our names.” A guy spoke up from behind the door. “I’m Dakota and she’s Carolina. We just want to talk.”

“A) We are talking. B) Was it really necessary to try and talk to me while I’m in the shower?” You wondered if they really thought this through.

The woman- probably Carolina- continued. “We needed some way to talk to you. Look, if there’s anyone who knows what it’s like to be in your shoes, it’s us.” What. “I know it’s a lot to take on at once, to power on and find the world around you has changed. We just want you to know that we’re here for you.”

You turned off the shower and started to dry yourself off. “Forgive me if I sound callous, but exactly how do you know what it’s like to be me?”

“Cause we’re both androids from an older time. Look, I know it’s hard to take in. I want you to know you don’t have to go through this alone.”

“We want you to know that we’re here for you. Not just the two of us, but the rest of the androids.”

You hurried to throw on your clothes and comb your hair. “I think my situation is quite a bit different from yours.”

“How do you figure?”

“What era did you come from?”

“I remember fighting in the Eleventh Machine War before I fell under.” Carolina grimly recounted.

“I was right at the end of the Twelfth.” Dakota sounded somber as well.

Fully dressed, you pulled the door open and faced the androids. You recognized them. These two were often together whenever you walked through the plaza. In fact, you remembered seeing them while you were walking up just a few minutes ago. They both wore piecemeal uniforms, at first glance, it looked like they wore whatever clothes they found, but you were certain that a closer inspection would say otherwise. Dakota was leaning against the wall, while Carolina stood near the stall door.

“When do you remember being manufactured?”

You took a deep breath. Make this believable. “2020.” You heard your voice crack the slightest amount.

Carolina went wide-eyed and took a step back. Dakota looked at you, concern filling his face, “But if you were manufactured then, that means… Oh…”

“You’ve… you’ve seen-” You nodded when Carolina couldn’t finish her thought. She turned to Dakota, a thought striking her. “We have to tell the others.” She broke off in a sprint. You turned to try to stop her, but you felt Dakota stop you.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s just trying to do what she thinks is right.” You sighed, hearing what Dakota said, then turned to retrieve what you left in the shower.

“And don’t worry,” you felt a hand land on your shoulder, “I’ve held my fair share of secrets in the past. Your human nature is safe with me.”

Chapter 19: First/Second Impressions

Chapter Text

“Your human nature is safe with me.”

Your head whipped around to face him, the shock evident on your face. Dakota raised an eyebrow.

“What, was that one theory right? Heh, and here I thought it would be a long shot.” A realization hit him- probably that he shouldn’t have tried to freak out the person in front of him with a wild guess. “Whoa, whoa, I-” He took a step back and sighed, supporting his head in his hand as he tried to think quickly. “I didn’t mean- Look, I’m sorry. I thought you were an android, and it was just supposed to be a quick joke.”

“Wait. You didn’t-?” You cut yourself off.

“Great,” he muttered to himself, “not even one minute, and the first human you meet hates you already.” He turned back to you at regular volume, “I didn’t know, I’m sorry.” He tried to take a step closer, but you moved back.

“What are you trying to do?”

“I’m just trying to get some hard evidence. What’s different between us?”

“Why is your first instinct to-”

“Look,” he sounded aggravated “I’ll help you if you can prove it to me that you’re a human. Deal?”

Why was he offering you his help? “Help me how?”

“If staying hidden is so important to you, I can throw some of the more inquisitive ones off the trail.”

You didn’t want to do this, but… “Fine.” You extended your arm. “Check my wrist.”

“For what?”

“A pulse.”

“You wouldn’t have anything there.”

You raised an eyebrow. “I have skin that needs blood pumped from the heart, hence the pulse. What, do you androids not have a pulse?”

He carefully reached out to your arm, trying not to scare you off. “We do, but not on our arms, it’d be-” He grabbed your wrist then pulled back almost immediately. “The ****? What’s up with your pulse?”

“Do you believe me now?” You asked flatly.

“Yes, but-”

“So you’re going to honor the agreement?”

“Wh- I’m not going to back out, no. It’s just… that can’t be right!”

“Oh, what do you know about-”

“Look, we can continue this conversation later. Grab your stuff and let’s hurry. Carolina’s either going to come back with more androids, or she’s going to start wondering what’s going on.” You hurried back and pulled everything out, then followed Dakota out. As the two of you got closer to the door to outside, he grabbed the clothes from your and pulled you under his arm. “Lean against me. When talking, have that look that you had on your face like when you told us that you came from 2020. You’re devastated, someone who’s been placed outside of their time.”

“I know what I am, I don’t need-”

“If we’re going to be working together, we’re going to need to be on the same page. We just need to sell her- and maybe them - on the premise, and then you can head off.” He pulled open the door, and you gave your best devastated impression. The two of you didn’t get far before you saw Carolina rushing back toward you, probably from the three androids who were glancing in your direction. They seemed unsure of whether or not to follow Carolina.

“Dakota, what did you do?”

“What?” Dakota was more surprised than you were. You were keeping up this false front, right?

“Look at him, he wasn’t like that when I left.” She turned on him. “What. Did you do. To him.”

“I didn’t do anything! You’re-”

“Oh, it’s always something that I’ve done, isn’t it.”

“Will you listen to me? I was bringing him back to his room, y’know, where he’ll feel safe. Something he wouldn’t feel around someone who just ran off for no reason.”

“For no reason? I was getting Cecil, Justa, and Ruffin!”

“That doesn’t mean that you can just ditch him.”

“What, were you just going to deny him help?”

“I wouldn’t, but just leaving him would be worse!”

Throughout this time, Dakota’s arm loosened and eventually pulled off of you. Another hand lightly touched on your other shoulder, softly tugging you away. A glance gave you no new information- they were too far behind you and were keeping you from turning too much with their other hand. Dakota and Carolina argued all the while. When you were pulled back enough, you turned to face your… liberator? Yeah, that’s probably the right term.

You first noticed her bright cyan hood which pooled itself around her head and behind her. A few locks of her black hair had found their way out but wound their way back under the hood. They didn’t seem to bother her, even though one curved straight over one of her intense, brown eyes, finally disappearing near her ear. Her clothes showed obvious wear and repair, boasting patches upon patches in some areas- all of which bore cyan thread. You noticed a tool belt around her waist, but the holsters you could see were empty.

She quickly brought a finger to lips, then tried to guide you away from Dakota and Carolina. The hand on the shoulder further from her slipped to your other one as she pulled you further and further away. You weren’t entirely sure why she was doing this, but it seemed better than staying near them.

“I apologize that you had to encounter those two first. Their first impressions are either wildly inaccurate or astonishingly appropriate for who they truly are.” She was taking you around Dakota and Carolina in an arc, drawing you closer to where the three androids were- well, two now. She was one of those three.

You took stock of the androids you were now approaching. They both wore very similar clothes- they bore identical square-wave patterns wrapped around their waists, green on top, black on the bottom. The male android must have lost his left sleeve earlier, since it was completely black, where they were otherwise green. Their cloth belts barely peeked out underneath their untucked shirts. The female was fidgeting with some of her short hair in worry. She spoke up in a hushed voice when you two drew closer.

“Cecil, I don’t understand why you keep pulling stunts like that.”

“The Vestige seemed uncomfortable in his current situation. On an unrelated note: I speculate his model was that of a non-combat android, considering his passiveness and drastically reduced mass.”

“We’re not in the clear yet,” the male android was quiet as well; it wasn’t that necessary since Dakota and Carolina were still loudly arguing over each other, “let’s head to the plaza. With those two, out of sight…”

You easily pulled out of Cecil’s grasp, following the other two androids- who were probably named Justa and Ruffin- into the path off to the right of the central plaza. You had glanced this way a few times, but never really took in the details. A shame, really, but now you could properly behold the beauty here.

Someone should be proud with all the work they have done on this corridor- bright white flowers sprung up from a small strip of ground next to the buildings on both sides of the alley. In some places, the flowers merged together to form a sort of brilliant carpet. The sunken beds were well-kept and were demarcated by wooden boards. You wondered why the flowers on the right seemed to be growing better than the ones on the left, when you remembered that there wouldn’t be any direct sunlight there, since the world has apparently stopped rotating. You would have loved to ponder the strangeness of the situation and its implications further, but Cecil pushed you onward, pointing toward the square ahead.

Ruffin was looking out for… other androids, you guessed. Justa must have ducked around the corner, popping out after a second. She motioned for you to hurry, and Cecil rushed up and started pulling you along. Thankfully, she wasn’t wrenching your arm out of its socket, but she kept the pace moving.

You didn’t get to see much of the plaza. A small garden sat in the middle, boasting the same white flowers. Two androids were talking with each other at one of the stalls, one seated and one standing. You weren’t entirely sure if there were too many other androids, or even if they saw these probably questionable acts going on, but the three managed to hurry you into an awfully bare sideroom. A couple beat-up chairs sat around a scratched-up metal table resting next to the wall. The only window out was mostly covered by a large spare scrap of cloth- you were almost surprised to see glass still sitting in there, seeing how neglected the rest of the room was.

You heard the door click closed. Turning around, you saw Ruffin turn around and lean against the door, sighing and sliding down. Justa and Cecil seemed similarly relieved. Justa took a chair and motioned for you to take one on the other side of the table from her- the window sat behind you. You ventured a question.

“Are Dakota and Carolina that bad?”

Justa narrowed her eyes at you. “Would a machine not be happy to see you?”

“Justa,” Ruffin warned, then turned to you. “What’d they say to you?”

“They’re from the Eleventh and Twelfth Mach-” you cut yourself off when you realized all three androids suddenly had sharp scowls. You wondered if they were directed at what you said about Carolina and Dakota. “What, is something wrong?”

“Those two individuals are excessively correlated with fabrications and flattery.” Cecil’s words, while clinical, were belied by her expressive body language- in this case, her hands on her temples, trying to ease a headache which wasn’t there. She glanced at Justa, “I questioned your tolerance for them ever since they claimed they were associated with this assemblage.”

“Hey, I never said they were welcome here. I told them several times already that none of us wanted them here. Thank goodness we stepped in when we did, huh?”

“Optimal situations would require him never encountering such loathsome personalities.” Cecil turned back to you. “Please clarify the situation for me. Those two made no such attempt to impersonate Julia, did they?”

“I haven’t heard of Julia. Wait, is she the android who was reactivated from-”

“The exact one.”

“…Then the answer’s yes.” You saw Ruffin bury his face in his hands, Justa stare off into the distance, and Cecil shook her head.

“Seriously,” Ruffin spoke out, “just… how are they getting away with this?”

“Lies covering lies covering lies.” Justa turned to you. “But enough about those two frauds, we’ve got an important guest with us- and where are our manners? I’m Justa, this is Ruffin.” She gestured at him, and he waved.

“My appellation is Cecil.”

“Pleasure to meet you all.” You were cautious with your words. “I’m Theodore, but it seems you’re all at least slightly aware of who I am.”

“We are,” Justa spoke up, “and I think we have a number of wrong preconceived notions of you.”

“How so?”

“We had our own theories on why no one has been able to meet up with you- you’ve been spotted from time to time, but no one could even give us a name.”

You raised an eyebrow in an attempt to look suspicious. “You didn’t talk with Anemone?”

“No, but she would have turned us away, anyway.”

“Thing is,” Ruffin spoke up, “The more information any of us dug up on you, the less everything seems to fit together.”

“Then perhaps I can clear things up for you.”

There was a shift in the room. The three androids glanced between themselves, excitement bubbling beneath the surface. They seemed unsure of who was going to speak first.

“Why were you staying hidden?” Ruffin blurted out before the other androids could speak up.

“Good question. At first, I just wanted to stay hidden, fearing the worst from an unknown population. But if you androids are just as good as some of the ones I’ve seen, I guess my fears were unfounded.”

Justa asked the next question. “Are you associated with YoRHa or the Resistance?”

“Nnnnneither? I’m in some kind of political limbo as far as I know. Apparently, ‘talks are still ongoing’, and Anemone doesn’t want to talk without things getting hammered out.”

Justa turned to Ruffin. “Doesn’t sound like her.”

Ruffin thought for a second. “Might just be his interpretation. Might be her trying to make things easier on him. No other way to tell unless we get an answer from her directly.”

“Confirm my suspicions.” Cecil spoke directly. “Are you from the Era of Humans?”

“Yes.” Technically correct is the best kind of correct.

“So- so you’d-” she seemed to have trouble parsing this information. Her gaze shot to a point past you. “Ensconce yourself.”

“What?”

Justa jumped up from her chair, dashing over to you. “Hide under the table. Next to the wall. Don’t make a sound, stay out of sight.” You managed to contort yourself down there, and Justa took a seat right where you were sitting. Ruffin kept his place right next to the door. You heard the doorknob turn and the door attempted to slam open, but fell back due to Ruffin’s weight.

“Alright,” Carolina spoke up on the other side of the door, “get out of the way.”

“Give me a second,” Ruffin said as he stood up, “maybe if you knocked before barging straight in, there wouldn’t be-” Ruffin couldn’t complete his sentence as he was knocked out of the way and off balance by the door being forced open again.

“What do you think you’re-” Justa was cut off.

“You didn’t see where he went off to.” It wasn’t a question. The empathy and care which floated along in her voice earlier evaporated in her now brusque speech.

“Negative.”

“Even when I brought you three up to him. I thought you would be thankful of what I did, but no. I guess a little kindness isn’t something any of you care about.”

“Carolina, just go away. And take Dakota with you.” You could almost feel the venom in Justa’s voice

“Why you little-” Carolina marched up to Justa but stopped in her tracks. You saw a moment earlier that Cecil snapped something up from one of the back pockets in her toolbelt. “Fine. You want to disrespect me without consequences. I see how it is.” She turned on her heels and stormed out, slamming the poor door behind her.

Justa paused for a few seconds, then knocked on the table and rose. “They’re gone now. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

You were slow in pulling yourself up. “What happened?”

Justa sighed. “Something that I wish was less common.”

“I can say that Carolina’s reaction was far more subdued than normal.” Cecil glanced at the rectangular object she held in her right hand. “Perhaps the suggestion I received holds more merit than I have previously given it.”

You needed to know… “She’s not abusive to you, is she?” Silence fell over the room.

“Carolina… individuals possess either the highest of praise or the greatest of damnations for her. The same could easily be stated for Dakota. Through conversation with other… affected individuals, we are still at a loss in how to relate the two: symbiotic or antagonistic.”

“You could bring this up with Anemone or one of her confidants.”

“That would necessitate proof. Proof which is not easily obtained from the pair, since they continuously guard themselves against evidence gathering. As of this moment, the best remedy we have to this… complication is to stand vigilant for a gap in their defenses.”

Ruffin was quick to jump in, seeing your reaction. “It’s not like we can do much else, can we? We’d only get in more trouble.”

“But…” you trailed off. There had to be something you were missing.

“We apologize,” Cecil said as she put the rectangular object away, “this was a situation that should not have involved you.” You felt yourself frown. What if you wanted to be involved? “Perhaps we should return to the original reason as to why you are here.”

Chapter 20: Credo in unum

Chapter Text

The mood slowly shifted back to what it had been before. Ruffin and Justa pulled chairs up to the table and sat down. Cecil, all the while, was looking you over. Something seemed to not be sitting right with her.

You cautiously asked, “Is there something wrong?”

“Perhaps there is. I expected myself to possess fewer questions as this interrogation wore on, not more.”

“Interrogation?” With that one word, Cecil froze up.

“No! Uh- investigation!”

“Investigation? Am I under scrutiny?”

“Wait, no! I meant-”

“Cecil.” Justa sighed, “I’m sorry, she doesn’t know when to stop digging herself deeper.”

“I see,” you were still cautious, “but perhaps you could elaborate on what you meant by having more questions.”

Cecil took a moment to cement her thoughts before speaking. “You are obviously cognizant that various androids are curious about the topic of your being here, yet seeming to take pains to obscure yourself from the general eye. Information flitters around, and I found myself consorting with these two more and more on the topic of you. As we conversed, we found ideosynchonies with the various statements being shared between the different androids.” You felt fears climb up your back. Who gathered that information in the first place? “Our undertaking was to clear up these discrepancies. It was far beyond our devisings that you would be so amicable and willing to converse. But the responses we’ve been receiving from you… the contradictions keep abounding.”

“Such as?”

Cecil leaned back slightly. “Perhaps it is in our highest interests that this information is not shared so freely.”

So this is how you choose to repay my kindness? You held your tongue- that sounded like something Carolina would say.

“We could at least share one point of contention.” Ruffin tried to reason with Cecil. “It could even give us the answers-”

Cecil shot a glare his way, but relented after a second of thought. “I will permit the airing of one of our agreed points.”

Ruffin turned back to you. “One of the problems going around the camp is the fact that they’ve seen you consorting with Popola and Devola.”

Was that it? “Is there something wrong with that? We’re from the same era.”

The three of them paused after hearing this. Justa muttered something like ‘comfort in company’ under her breath. They seemed to not be answering your question.

“Is there something wrong with me being with them?” You made a point of punctuating your words. If they didn’t get that you wanted this question answered…

“There’s just… this stigma around being around them.” Justa began.

Ruffin continued. “Not many of the androids here get along with them. I’ve seen abuse thrown their way out in the open- no one’s that close to them. YoRHa androids don’t think that highly of them, do they?” He addressed the question to the other two androids.

“No, not that I’m aware. I haven’t seen them act too strongly against them.”

“Really?” you tried to crack some humor into this dry conversation, “Now I’m wondering if you’re being so honest with me. I’ve seen resistance and YoRHa androids helping them.”

They fell silent. Crap, you weren’t great at recovering from failed humor.

They spoke up at the same time: “Who?” “What?” “Why?”

You held your hands up defensively. “Whoa, what happened? What did they do?”

“If you believe all the stories, they-” Ruffin fell silent from a sudden elbow to his side by Justa. She muttered something to him under her breath- it was too quiet and quick for you to make it out.

“What. Happened?”

“Androids aren’t too quick to agree on what happened.” Justa spoke before the others could. “They all have their different reasons as to what they did, each as fabricated as the next.” Ruffin glanced at her when she said ‘fabricated’, but said nothing. “I’ve heard it said like this: if they don’t have a reason why, they’ll make one up.”

A longer silence fell over the room. Almost every resistance android hated Popola and Devola, apparently for no reason. Why would they? What did they do? It would probably be best to avoid bringing this up around Popola and Devola directly. YoRHa androids probably wouldn’t be much help since they’d know a bit less. Maybe you could see if Anemone could clear things up- she was far more open to them than the other androids were around them. You’ll have to see if she had some free time later on- your pods could contact her so-

Points rapidly strung themselves together in your mind. How long had you been here? How long had 50G and 47D been waiting? Were Popola and Devola waiting?

“Something wrong?” Ruffin asked.

“Someone might be waiting for me at my room- I’m sorry, I should leave now.” You stood and made your way toward the door.

“I will escort him there.” Cecil rose to follow you, “Theodore, I am conscious of the notable signs dealing with Carolina and Dakota. They are far more embedded in making themselves known than not.”

Justa looked up at Cecil. “Alright. Ruffin and I will head out quick, distract anyone in this plaza.” She got up and headed out, Ruffin following right behind. Cecil soundlessly approached the door and peered out. She motioned you to stand behind her.

“Be disposed to extricate yourself soon- there’s a small cluster of androids, but it doesn’t seem they’re attention is toward us.” She rose, preparing herself to move. Her hand snapped out and grabbed you by the elbow. “Our route should be unthreatened now. Hurry.” She slipped out the doorway like water down a drain. You barely managed to keep your head from slamming into the wall.

You didn’t have much time to look, but you did see a small group of androids there, two of which were Justa and Ruffin. Cecil kept pulling you along, down the alley of the white flowers. Her grip was hard and fast- it was only when you were nearing the main plaza that she relaxed her grip. You attempted to pull your arm out, but her grip suddenly came back strong. She pulled back close to the wall, dragging you over by your wrist. She hesitated before turning back toward you.

“I apologize- I noticed Dakota in plaza for a minute. They should be absent now.” She started up again, pulling you behind herself. Once again, her grip lessened, her hand eventually releasing you. The plaza was as empty as before, and no one paid attention to you (at least, as far as you were aware). Wait a second.

“Cecil, how do you know where to take me? I never told you where I live.”

“Various androids have observed any path you have journeyed either originated or culminated at this building. It was simply a reasonable assumption. I must thank you for this affirmation.” Not again…

She pulled the door open and ushered you inside. You took a deep breath. Finally, you were in the clear. You took a few steps in.

“There was an interesting rhythm in the tubing network in your wrist.”

****.

Cecil walked around you, settling between you and the stairs. “Know that I have borne you no ill will, and that I still bear you none of the same.” She tepidly approached you. The look in her eyes was hard to describe- fear, uncertainty, caution; why would she be feeling that way? She slowly brought up her right hand toward your neck, palm facing herself. You stepped back, but she continued pushing forward. “Please,” she was almost pleading with you, “just permit me to know this.”

“Cecil,” you brought your hand up to move hers away, “you don’t need-”

“Theodore.” Her voice cracked. “Please.”

Were you really going to do this? You reluctantly reached up with your other hand, and set her fingers on your wrist. She was looking for your pulse.

Nearly a minute went by. Cecil gave a short, shy laugh. “93. You were pretty agitated. I knew it… You’re a human.” A smile crept across her face as she pulled her hand back. It was not a manic grin, nor did it show this was wholly for herself. “I apologize. For- for so long, I had fought in this war. Day stretched into day, month stretched into month, year stretched into year. Friends, allies, fallen to this war. All this time, I worried. I wondered. I faced reality.” She paused. “It’s hard to continue with this disconnect going on- the losses of the war, staring me in the eyes, yet humanity still keeps pushing us on. It- it wore on me.”

The pauses between her sentences grew, like she needed to collect herself after each one. “Day in, day out. Another friend left that I might never see again. Sometimes I wondered if they had a point- if we were just fighting a war with no end, with no reason. They kept saying humanity never survived. I guess that wore on me, too. But- You’re here. You, Theodore, stand in this camp. You’re… real. You’re just as real as…” She looked away for a second. “No. You’re here. I know. I can do this. I can continue.” Another pause. She stepped forward and pulled you into a hug. “Please, don’t go away. Don’t leave us behind.”

You hugged her back. “I won’t.”

Chapter 21: Breakfast and Conversation

Chapter Text

Cecil slowly let go and began to step back. You let go as soon as she did, and you noticed her wiping away a tear. Wait, why do androids have tear ducts? There’s no reason for them to have those…

“I must give my thanks, Theodore.” Cecil sounded like she was barely keeping herself together. “I should… I could not have anticipated that I… I could not even conceivably consider this event would occur. Forgive me, but I think I need some time to… time to be alone.” She turned toward the door, saying once final sentence before she left. “I hope we can meet again soon.” She closed the door before you could say anything further.

You tensed up, realizing you probably had visitors. You weren’t sure if 50G or 47D were still there, but Popola or Devola would probably be there with breakfast. How long had they been waiting for you? You hurried up the stairs and rushed to your door. As you approached, you heard one of the twins talking in your room.

“…n’t have been in here, you know. Humans really need their sleep, and you being in there was going to interfere with it.”

“We got here just as he was waking up!” 50G did not take kindly to the accusation leveled at her.

“And how do you know that?”

“He woke up right after we got here.”

“How do you know you didn’t wake him up prematurely?”

“He seemed to be doing fine. Sentences were coherent, he was making sense.”

Pulling open the door, you found 50G and 47D sitting down on the spare bed, and Devola sat on your bed. The rift between them that you felt in their speech carried into 50G’s and Devola’s body language- those two stared right at each other. 47D was the only one who glanced your way seemingly doing her best to not appear confrontational toward the other two. Her stiff form immediately softened upon seeing you. 50G and Devola followed suit a moment later, something sparking in their eyes.

“Theodore!” both 50G and Devola stood up and turned toward you. They continued talking to you, but you lost what each of them said in the other’s speech.

“Guys, slow down. One at a time.” You seriously could not make out one android’s speech from the other’s.

50G was faster. “She’s blaming us when we did nothing wrong. We were quiet when we got here, we didn’t wake you up- we didn’t do anything wrong. And yet she’s still finding different reasons to put the blame on us!”

“Because you’re supposed to leave humans alone as they sleep!” Devola turned on 50G. “Interrupting their rest can have consequences reaching further than you think. Sure, you didn’t think that you weren’t loud- overconfidence in their abilities is a hallmark of you Gunner models- but that could easily interrupt him in N1 or N2. I know this may be asking a lot from you, but perhaps showing a bit of caution and forethought in your decisions would be helpful.”

“Can you two please stop?” It was obvious from 47D’s pleading that she had heard enough of the bickering between the two. “50G, we made a mistake, we learn, we won’t make the same mistake again. Devola, we understand what we’ve done wrong. You don’t need to lecture us.”

“I’m trying to teach her a lesson!” While 50G and Devola didn’t say this exact phrase at the same time, the intent was the same. They resumed their argument, paying little heed to the other two occupants of the room. By now, 904 and 320 floated up to you, 320 carrying one of those containers in her hands that you learned to associate with meals from Popola and Devola. You took it from her and briefly considered where to sit- a loose plan was forming in your head, and you wanted to pull this off well. There was some space between 47D and the head of the bed, just enough for you. You took a seat next to her and popped the lid off.

“Well, 47D,” you said quietly enough to insinuate this was only for her, but loudly enough that Devola and 50G should hear, “it’s good to know there’s at least one among you three that can take the role of ‘android’ seriously.”

Devola and 50G floze at the same time. A sheepish look crossed Devola’s face as she looked away, while 50G snapped over to glare at you. She looked like she was going to say something, but her mouth, pursed into a line, signaled she wasn’t going to speak for the time being. For her part, 47D looked as though she wanted to say something under the cover of the argument, but the sudden silence crushed any chance of that occurring.

You popped the lid off of the container to reveal an assortment of muffins. The plain paper wrappings contrasted with the large variety of different types (and flavors, you assumed). You picked one up and inspected it more closely- it was supposed to be blueberry, but you could tell they were artificial. You glanced at some of the others as you took a bite. It was still warm- not hot as though it was really recently cooked, but some heat still remained. You couldn’t really blame them for the muffins not having completely natural ingredients since they only received some fruits yesterday.

You glanced back at the quiet androids in the room, raising an eyebrow. You expected 50G and Devola to back down and apologize, not for them to stop arguing completely. They had sat down where they were before; you could still sense the hostility between them, buried though it was. You wanted this situation resolved, but where to start.

“I think,” you started after you swallowed, “I understand where the problem is. 50G, you’re right in that you didn’t preemptively wake me.”

“See?” 50G turned on Devola.

“Let me finish.” You meant to be stern. Seeing how much she flinched, maybe you were too rough. “I think Devola was trying to make the point that you shouldn’t be doing that, not that you hadn’t made a mistake. And if I’m going to be honest, I don’t want androids randomly showing up in my room when I’m waking up, so I have to agree with her.” 50G turned away from you, apparently to sulk.

You turned to Devola to give her her piece. “You’re not innocent here, either. It’s one thing to make a point, but don’t hammer it in.”

Devola turned to face you. “I was just-”

“I know, but there is such thing as going too far.”

Silence floated over the room as you took another bite. Maybe you went too far. Best to try to bring the conversation back.

“You three weren’t waiting too long for me, were you?”

“No,” 47D quietly started, “Devola arrived two or three minutes after you left, and she and 50G were basically fighting until you got here.”

“I expected you to come by and shut her up,” 50G gruffly shot off on the other side of 47D. “What took you so long?”

“50G,” Devola’s exasperated tone said more than her words, “do you complain when one of your teammates takes a long shower? Let him be. We don’t know how much stress he’s facing and he’s the one who knows how to calm himself down best.”

“Maybe, but I think androids would notice if suddenly somebody’s taking 20-minute showers.”

Devola raised an eyebrow. “We haven’t been- was it really that long?”

Guess it’s time to tell them. The three androids in the room turned to you as you spoke. “I met up with a few other androids- well, they kind of cornered me and tried to talk to me. They were Carolina and Dakota.” Devola went wide-eyed upon hearing this, but 50G and 47D turned to each other in confusion.

“You haven’t heard of them, have you?” 47D asked.

“I heard their names through gossip, but I never listen.” 50G replied.

“Carolina and Dakota?” Devola’s voice was quiet. You surmised these were names she didn’t want to hear.

“Devola, is something wrong?” You wondered if she had a history with them… or if they had a history with the twins. But what would have happened to make her fear them like this?

Devola remained quiet, seemingly thinking of how to respond- long enough to draw the attention of 50G and 47D. “Popola and I… we’ve seen one of the worse sides of them. Theodore, please, please, don’t trust them. They don’t have the best intentions for… anyone other than themselves.

“They put up fronts. They find allies in the lowest and highest of places. They turn friends against each other. Anyone who says anything good about them has been flat out lied to, as far as I’m aware.

“I’m not going to go into every detail, Theodore. I’m just going to say this: don’t trust them. Talk to them as little as possible. Stay away from them as long as you can. They’re not thinking about you, they never think about anyone else. They only think about themselves.”

How were you going to respond to this? If they were willing to work between themselves… Should you tell her? It would probably be too dangerous.

“Thank you, Devola. I’ll… I’ll try and stay away from them.” You weren’t entirely sure what to say to her. “But here’s the thing: they, and a few other androids, think that I’m just some ancient android.” This sentence seemed to settle into each of the androids here.

“But that doesn’t mean-”

“I know, I’m still going to try to stay away from those two.”

“Wait,” 50G spoke up, “what other androids were there?”

“Cecil, Justa, and Ruffin. Any of you know them?”

“Oh! We’ve met Cecil. Haven’t heard of Justa and Ruffin, though. 47D?”

47D turned to you. “No, sorry. Haven’t heard of those two.”

“Cecil’s nice, though. If there’s one android you couldn’t avoid meeting, she’s far and away better than Dakota and Carolina, by the sound of it. Wordy as heck, though.”

“50G.” 47D turned toward her, an upset tone in her voice.

“It’s not a strike against her.”

Devola seemed ready to speak as you turned to her. “I’ve only heard about Cecil. Justa and Ruffin are almost always together, far as I know. I’ve only met them once, though.”

“So those three are fine?” You asked Devola.

“Just be careful around them. I won’t tell you to stay away from those three- they may be nice- but if you can, try to get them away from Dakota and Carolina if you’re going to meet up with them again.”

“Alright.” No problem for you, they didn’t like each other already. Another silence passed over the room as you continued through your breakfast. You were just about to finish up the blueberry muffin when a thought struck you. “This is really good, Devola.” You turned to 50G and 47D, holding what remained of the muffin. “Either of you want to try this?”

47D was hesitant to take it. “You sure? They made it for you…”

“I’m asking if you two want to try it.”

There was a mix of emotions on 47D’s face. Curiosity pushed her forward to take the food from your hand. Caution held her back. Several smaller forces eventually pushed her to take it from her, break it in two, and offer the larger piece to 50G. 47D ate the relatively small chunk in one bite, seeming to savor the taste. She turned to Devola.

“I can see why 85B enjoys cooking, if she’s anywhere near as good as you.”

“Please, 47D. Flattery gets you nowhere.”

“I’m serious! Lucky Theodore here has you two cooking for him. 85B is highly exclusive of who she cooks for, I was lucky to get in once.”

“She has trouble getting ingredients,” 50G spoke up, “at least, that’s what I’ve heard. Being based in the desert does that, so she savors every moment she’s outside of that sandy hellhole. But you and Popola, you two must get have access she could only dream of.”

Devola looked off to the side. “If only everyone thought like you did. Anemone’s said that a number of androids need to cooperate with us more, but…” 47D’s and 50G’s faces fell. “…we make do with what we have.”

“Make do?” You asked. “You two have been doing great. There’s nothing you need to beat yourself up about.”

“You say that…” Devola trailed off. Silence resumed through the room.

“Hey, 47D, 50G.” They turned to you. “Either of you know who the administrator of Kaon is?”

“I mean,” 50G sounded a bit frustrated with herself, “we have the contact route, but not much more. Why do you need it?”

“I know who it is,” 47D interrupted, “it’s 9O.”

50G turned to her, surprise written on her face. “Huh. Barely anyone remembers who theirs is. I mean, thank goodness we have the contact routes, but still. How’d you know?”

“Oh, it’s just- just one of those things I remember.”

“To answer your earlier question, 50G,” you tried to get back on track, “I think I found something questionable linked to something a YoRHa unit’s actions.”

50G and 47D sat forward. “What happened?”

“I found a number of audio bugs in my room. I just want to pass it along to someone who can deal with it.”

“Who would have done that?” 50G asked. “I don’t think audio bugs are widely available, what with there being no practical use for them, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find out who supplied them. Anyway, I’ll send 904 the contact route.”

904 pinged a second later, denoting he did, in fact, receive the proper contact information. Conversation continued slowly throughout your meal and a little while after. Devola was the first to leave, saying that she needed to head out with Popola in a few minutes, without specifying what for. 50G and 47D were hesitant to go, but reluctantly agreed to when they heard you wanted to contact 9O without distractions. You waited for a few seconds after they left before you turned to your white pod.

“904, connect me to 9O.”

Chapter 22: Hello Operator, please give me number 9

Chapter Text

“904, connect me to 9O.”

“Affirmative.” 904 brought up a screen in front of him showing the usual data you didn’t understand on the left, and some static on the right. After a second, the static cleared, showing a new android. Her short, white hair fell neatly around her head, cut short enough that it didn’t even hang down. Like the other Operators you’ve seen, a mask covered her face from her temples down to her nose, except hers cut straight down, then across, rather than curving down. Two light-grey circles, one on each side, adorned her cloth mask hanging down from the frame. At first, she wore a look of mild frustration and confusion.

“9O here. Who is i…” she dragged out the final ‘i’ as she realized who she was talking to, “…t.” She was fighting a mental battle, between her surprise and hiding it. You acted like you hadn’t noticed anything.

“9O, I have something to report to you concerning actions taken by an android- or potentially many- under your jurisdiction. I found a number of… bugs scattered throughout my room. Several individuals have told me these bugs have YoRHa’s name written all over them.”

9O took a second to recover. “Bugs? Audio-visual bugs?”

“Considering where I found them, I think they were audio only.”

“Ah- okay. Alright.” You heard 9O begin to type slowly, but soon her typing reached a breakneck pace. “I see what I can do. Do you happen to have evidence of this infraction?”

“Yes, although I gave the bugs to someone else for safekeeping. I do know they’re there.”

“The problem is, I need proof that A) those bugs exist, and B) they’re of YoRHa make.”

You glanced at 320. “I left them behind at the twins’ place. Is it possible for you to grab them quick?”

“This action will not be necessary. Pod 904 has indicated that the unit has saved the relevant scans for future reference. 904, please forward said information to 9O.”

9O glanced over at the screen in front of her. She spoke up a second later. “Ah, upload confirmed ongoing. I’ll look through it when it’s finished.” You heard a few more keystrokes before she turned back to you. “Alright, got it. Anything else?”

“Think you can explain something for me?”

“What is it?”

“Why you tried to hack into my pods.”

9O froze in place on the screen, her eyes going wide. She glanced off to her left, then right. She began to talk in hushed tones, barely enough to hear. “Wh- don’t try to implicate me for something like that! I didn’t hack into any pods.”

“So what would you say you did?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Really? I think we have a bit of testimony from another android which says otherwise. 320?”

“Unit 6O noted that she received a document from Unit 9O after hearing information gleaned from ‘new Pods in the camp’. Said information indicates that Unit 9O has attempted and was successful in accessing the information without proper authorization.”

9O paused for a second, muttering something under her breath, before turning back to you. “(That…) She only said that. If you truly want to implicate me, you’d need to have concrete proof of it.”

“What, proof that you hacked into-”

9O apparently slammed some button on her keyboard, popping up a ‘muted’ icon on the screen as 904’s speakers suddenly cut off. A second later, she hit the button again, and the sound resumed. “Look, don’t-”

“I can see you want to keep this hidden. How about we make a deal?”

She narrowed her eyes, suspicion dripping in her voice. “What is it?”

“I’ll keep quiet about this issue, and you’ll tell me why you did this and what you found.”

9O stared you down for what felt like a whole minute. “You’re not going to tell anyone else?”

“What do you think I meant by ‘I’ll keep quiet about this issue’?”

“…It doesn’t hurt to be cautious.” She turned slightly to the side and thought. “Fine.” She recentered herself on the camera. “Some time ago, an Operator approached me with a few interesting pieces of information: a high-priority order came in to clear out a few rooms in one of the buildings in a camp under my jurisdiction- an order from really high up. A few pods came back online and even came in for maintenance, but marked themselves as ‘continuously active’ and weren’t assigned to androids. There were a few shipments filled with strange chemicals and testing apparati sent to the camp, but to no one in particular, which disappeared, but were marked as delivered. Heck, 6O even came to me in worry after she was told that her mission was cancelled- by the Commander, no less- without her being told why.

“There’s far more like this, I’m sure. But can you fault me for being curious? With all these occurrences, nothing’s being told to us.”

“So why did you try to h- access my pods without permission?”

“Perhaps you aren’t listening.”

“Perhaps you aren’t thinking. Just because you’re curious doesn’t mean you can just break into someone’s pods.”

“As far as I knew, no one owned those pods. Like I said, they weren’t explicitly assigned to anyone. As well, since you weren’t listening to me earlier, I was doing this for those under me. Do you expect me to ignore the concerns of those under me?”

“But you still should have decided against doing so by action alone. Shouldn’t it register as a bad idea in the first place to break into a pod?”

9O seemed to sit back. “I hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Look,” she brought her hand up, “we’re getting off topic. Is there anything else you need me to answer?”

“What you found.”

“Right, right. Most of the files were encrypted, and there was a lot of unfiltered data. I wasn’t going to draw attention to myself, trying to run through it all here, but anything I could parse wasn’t of much help. Basically, everything I know is because of those files existing, not so much what was on them.”

“And what you know is…”

“I’m getting there. The room was cleared so you could be there, away from any prying eyes. Two pods assigned for data collection, to keep tabs and gather as much as they can. Often visited by a number of inquisitive androids.” You barely saw the smile creep under her mask as she paused. “I’m fully aware of what’s going on down there.”

“Figures. Anything else to say?”

“Not much, really. I’m honestly surprised someone managed to get these bugs in your room, though. Can’t blame them, if they were as curious as I was.”

“Hm. Tell me if anything comes up with the data I sent you.”

“Fine. Is that it?”

You sighed. “I guess that’s it on my side.”

“Maybe you could answer a few questions on my side. Later, though. Gotta look busy. 9O signing off.” The holographic screen flickered out of existence a moment later.

You turned and started pacing around your room. So some Operator managed to hack into your pods and found out you were a human… How many others would be able to do the same? How many had already done so?

320 interrupted your thoughts. “Theodore. This unit requests that you rethink the reasons as to why you hide yourself from the general android population.”

“320,” 904 intoned, “Theodore could easily be following the unvoiced desires of the Commander and Anemone, since they had not announced the existence of Theodore.”

“Perhaps said units are expecting Theodore to introduce himself.”

“Unlikely. Each side has a potential vested interest in working with the human. Making a declaration about the human would infer that the human would be supported by their side. This would incur unwanted anger and strife from the opposing side.”

“904,” you hoped to stop this argument before it got worse, “if you’re right, why haven’t they announced this earlier? They could send the announcement that both sides will be cooperating on this, and that neither side will be overstepping the other.”

“Such an outcome would be ideal. However, there would exist an unstable equilibrium where both sides would need to expose a weakness to the other- a weakness that could be exploited by an unwise android in the lower ranks, leading to an undesirable situation on both sides.”

“So what would you say they’re doing?”

“This unit does not possess adequate information. However, this unit can conjecture that talks between YoRHa and the Resistance are cementing what will occur between the two parties in this conflict. This elongated duration is required to ensure continued cooperation.”

“Theodore,” 320 spoke up, “Pod 904 follows the line of logic that Anemone is using. What this unit is noting is that you have shown incredible trepidation about various androids becoming aware of this information. While caution should be used, fear is not an appropriate response.”

“This unit posits talking with Anemone should alleviate some concerns that you possess, Theodore.”

“Yeah,” you sat down on your bed, “but she easily gets caught up in the management of her camp.”

“Making some attempt is better than not attempting at all.”

“Fair enough. 904, can you ask Anemone if we can meet up with her to ask a few questions?”

“Sending request.” The pause stretched on for nearly a minute. “Anemone has agreed to the request. She is asking if you wish to meet up with Popola and Devola as well at their location. Reminder:”

“I know, Popola and Devola aren’t in the camp right now. Ask her if she can come to my room. There’s… a reason why I don’t want to talk with her near Popola and Devola.”

904 seemed to pause in worry, but eventually beeped out, “Anemone has confirmed the request. She is completing her current tasks, but will be heading out as soon as possible.”

“Alright.” You started to go over what you wanted to talk with her about. Obviously, you wanted to talk about what was going on with the administrations, and why they hadn’t yet done anything of note. Maybe you could get a estimate on how long it’ll take them. If 904 is right, they’re also trying to work out a deal between the groups to make sure things go over smoothly- maybe she could tell you what they’ve agreed on so far.

But what’s been smoldering at the back of your mind is what you’ve heard about Popola and Devola. For some reason, androids across the camp have this inexplicable negative opinion of them, and the reasons why vary between the various resistance androids.

You let yourself come up with various questions for Anemone as you waited for her. It took a while, but eventually you heard a set of footsteps approach your door, followed by a knock.

“Theodore, it’s Anemone.”

Chapter 23: What's up, Buttercup?

Chapter Text

“Theodore, it’s Anemone.”

You hurried over to the door to let her in, after checking with 320 to make sure there wasn’t anyone else there. You opened the door to find Anemone wearing a look of moderate concern, which she quickly dropped in favor of one which was more pleasant.

“Theodore, I heard from your pod- said you seemed rather concerned.”

“…Yeah, there’s a couple of things I’d like to talk with you about.” You turned and motioned her into the room.

“I cleared out some time to talk to you.” You couldn’t stop yourself from flinching. You didn’t need to do that. I’m pretty sure the camp comes before I do. You sat down on your bed and Anemone (seemingly) reluctantly sat down opposite you, pushing her cloak out so she didn’t sit on it. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Do you know if you’ve been making progress in the talks with YoRHa?”

Anemone paused, her gaze unfocusing from you, seemingly looking past you, through the wall. “Can we come back to that question? I might need a moment to think about it.”

“Uh... alright. I’ve heard about the resistance android’s extremely negative opinions about Popola and Devola. What happened to them?”

Anemone closed her eyes and sighed. “So about the talks with YoRHa…”

“Anemone.”

“Look, I wasn’t prepared to have you ask questions like that.” She took a deep breath. “Talks are ongoing, and I’ve had to have my attention all over the camp as of late. From what little I’ve heard, there’s been barely any progress at all.”

“Fantastic.” You felt yourself slouch down in your seat.

“I’m expecting reports tomorrow, though. You’re third on the list to know.”

“Third?”

“After myself and my confidants. Look, if they made no progress, I’d be as upset as you would be. I’ve been pushing for them to get at least something in these early sessions, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

“…So do you know what’s gone on with Popola and Devola?”

Anemone stayed quiet for a solid few seconds. She stared off, away from you. She eventually came to speak. “The twins… when they arrived at the camp, I took them in just like any other android who had limped their way here. If they could brave their way to our camp, we could at least set them up with us. It’s part of the reason we’re such a large camp, even though we don’t have any good resources. Relative to the other Resistance camps, we’re just eking by.

“-I’m sorry, the twins. I tried to take them in, just like most of the other androids here, but everyone started acting so… hostile toward them. I got reports of them being harassed and abused. So I started inquiries. I listened to every android who had a problem with them.”

“And what did you find?”

“Most of the reasons I heard focused around a number of distinct stories, with the expected variations. The common thread is that whatever they did was extremely long ago, earlier than I was deployed- during the Eighth Machine War.

“Some androids say that they were saboteurs, that they took out one of the largest android factories over a few decades, breaking down line after line. Some say they brought down entire Resistance camps all over the continent.

“I’ve heard a few times that they think the twins were supposed to carry out an important task- and that they failed, and as a result of which, hundreds of androids died. I haven’t been able to get a better read on that story, though. Too many variable elements.

“There was this… odd one out where-” Anemone seemed to come to a realization and backed off. “I’m sorry, even compared to the other stories it’s too improbable.” She seemed to rush her speech, as if she was worried of… something.

You narrowed your eyes. "What was it?" Anemone remained quiet for some time, prompting you to ask again before she relented.

"It's… Some androids think- mind you, they only think this- that Popola and Devola… They think that Popola and Devola are the reason why humanity is only on the Moon." You were nearly caught speechless. Those two? They seemed so kind and innocent, how could they even-

“You- you mean they- Anemone, how did- how could they-”

“Theodore, I don’t know, but everyone who thinks so seems adamant on the fact. I haven’t been able to look too much into it. In any case, what’s odd is that the twins aren’t showing any anger or resentment toward anyone who’s treated them ill.”

You kept to your thoughts for a few seconds as they whirled around you. There had to be some reason everyone hated Popola and Devola, but how were you ever to get the real story? If they didn’t fight back, did they think those punishments were deserved?

“Have you asked-”

“Even you should be able to tell that’s a bad idea. It’s something they regret, it’s something that they don’t want to bring up to anyone.” She stood up from the bed, and walked closer. “Theodore, I’ve tried not to ask much- or anything- of you. I’ve seen how much this tears them up, and I don’t want them any more hurt than they are. All I’m asking is this: please don’t make this situation any worse for them.” Every single word she spoke just now felt genuine. It seemed as though she knew of the amount of pain different androids had been through. “Please.”

What were you to do? You wanted to help, but how exactly were you to do so? You didn’t want to go against Anemone’s wishes, but you didn’t want to let the twins suffer as they were. “What are you expecting me to do? You’ve told me they’re suffering, and now you just want me to look the other way?”

“I’m not standing idly by either. The problem is, you can’t avert such deeply-embedded hate so easily.” Anemone frowned, turning slightly away and crossing her arms. “I’ve been looking for a while, and now that I know you’re on the same page I am, I can try to factor you in with my future plans. Just, please, Theodore, don’t do anything rash. I want to clean this up as much as you do, but I don’t want anything left behind.”

“…I understand. I won’t.”

“Thank you.” You noticed at first her hands loosen their grip on her sleeve by the slightest degree, and overall she seemed to relax slightly. Was she so worried that you would ruin some plan of hers? “Now, I know this was scheduled for you to ask me some questions, but do you think you can answer some of mine? It won’t be anything personal.” She added the last sentence quickly.

“Sure, I guess.” You felt some tinges of anxiety at first, but that worry bled away with each question she asked.

“Do you have any complaints about how any of the Resistance androids have treated you so far?”

Although it caught you off guard, you went through each of the androids you’ve met. “I can’t complain about most of them, but I’ve only met… 8?”

“Which ones?”

“Cecil, Ruffin, and Justa; I met those three together. There’s Dakota and Carolina.” As you mentioned their two names, Anemone’s face seemed to darken in anger.

“Please don’t tell me you met with them long.”

“I didn’t meet long with Carolina.”

Anemone brought a hand up to her face. “How much damage control do I need to do?”

“Dakota said he’ll help try to conceal my identity.”

Her head snapped up from her palm. “You got him to make a deal with you‽”

“…Yes. He figured out I was a human, but wanted proof.”

She incredulously stared at you as she attempted to parse what you said. “Thank goodness you had the luck to make the deal with Dakota and not Carolina. I have no clue why, but Dakota has this obsession to follow through with any deal he makes. Same can’t be said for Carolina.”

“You’ve dealt with them?”

“No, but I’ve had a few anonymous tip offs. I know they’re not doing any good, but there’s nothing I can pin down with them.”

You hesitated, after hearing that the tip offs were anonymous, but you decided to push forward. “I know Cecil, Justa, and Ruffin are trying to do the same thing you are.”

Anemone’s head perked up slightly. “Really? How do you know for certain?”

“Partially because I saw part of Carolina’s… darker side when she decided to visit. Don’t worry, I was out of her sight. The three told me about their stance afterwards.”

She hummed in thought. “Thank you for bringing that to my attention, Theodore. Eh, back to the original question- what were we talking about before?”

“The androids I met. Other than the five I mentioned, they should be obvious.”

“…I can’t think of anyone else. I know you’re counting me in there, but-”

“Hello? Popola and Devola?”

Anemone paused before talking. “They aren’t Resistance androids.”

That caught you completely off guard. “What? But they’re-”

“Remember, the other Resistance androids hate them. I can only imagine the reaction if I allowed the two of them into the Resistance.” She brought her hands up to her temples, and massaged away some simulated headache. “I hope you understand, but it’s really something I can’t risk.”

“I understand.” The more you heard about them, the more you felt bad for them. They couldn’t have done something this bad to draw this much ire, have they?

“Good. If we can go back to the original question: any comments you have about how you’ve been treated so far? Anything you want to see changed? Anything at all.” Anemone leaned forward. It felt as though she wasn’t just listening to your words, but that she was paying attention to nearly every part of how you acted.

“Anything at all… That’s a rather broad range, isn’t it? Perhaps a little bit more communication about what’s going on in regards to how the resistance and YoRHa are planning to deal with me.”

“Fair enough. I’ll let you know when I get the report tomorrow.”

You racked your mind for anything else that seemed off to you. “I heard that various androids weren’t cooperating with Popola and Devola when they asked for resources; I’m more aware of why now, but could you-”

“I can try to work things out, but there’s no guarantee.”

“Fine, fine. …I’m not all that good at thinking things up on the spot…”

“It’s no problem.” She started to stand up. “You know how to contact me if something does come up. I’d stay longer, but there’s another appointment I have to make with Naravelia. Can’t fathom what it’s going to be this time.”

“Well, good luck.” You stood up as well and approached her, bringing her into a hug. “Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.”

Anemone slowly and awkwardly returned the hug. “You’re welcome, Theodore. Feel free to ask for me anytime. I might not be able to respond immediately, but I’ll see if I can get back to you quickly.”

A thought struck you just as you let her go and stepped back. “Anemone, before you leave- and I know this sounds weird- I basically have nothing to do at the moment. Is there some way I could help out around the camp or something like that?”

Anemone’s forehead furrowed in thought. “I’ll need to think about that. I don’t know off the top of my head what needs work around the camp; I’ll talk with my confidants about that. They’re more knowledgeable about the diminutae around the camp. For now…” she seemed to be hurrying to find some quick solution, “why don’t you listen to the radio? I’m not sure what frequency it is, but-”

“Alert:” 904 noted behind you, “Theodore has previously accessed radio station JSK.”

“Really? That station’s little more than announcements for the androids of YoRHa and the Resistance.”

“‘Little more than announcements’, huh?” You let irritation flow freely in your voice. “So why did I hear two YoRHa androids talk about the possibility of breaking into this room?”

“It’s not like I have control over what YoRHa says during their allocated time. If some issue does come up in relation to what occurs during the Resistance-scheduled time, come talk to me. Anyway, what I was trying to say earlier: JSK is the announcement channel, JKS is more the entertainment channel.”

“Will there be less gossip and fewer advertized attempts to break into my room?”

Anemone laughed. “Yes, yes there won’t be as much.” She turned toward the door. “I’m sorry, but I do need to leave soon. It was nice talking to you, Theodore.”

“See you later, Anemone.” You waved to her as she closed the door behind her, then turned to your pods. “Alright, JKS, was it?”

Chapter 24: Interjection Interruption

Chapter Text

You sat down on your bed as 904 tuned to the radio station. As the speakers sparked to life, you heard a dialogue between a man and a woman. Great, you loved being dropped into the middle of stories in medias res without context everyone else has gotten. Still, you listened on. Couldn’t make much sense of it, though. They seemed to be fighting over something. They kept throwing some kind of legalese-sounding words (vaguely latin-like) into their speech every once in a while. This continued for a while, culminating in a ‘tune in next time for the next chapter” cliffhanger. You found yourself confused by the whole ordeal.

The announcer shook you from your reflection. “As we normally do, after the break, we will have expert writers 61S and 103H discussing some of the more recent discoveries of human literature and their potential significance. Stay tuned, aspiring writers.” This should be interesting. ‘Recent discoveries’? You weren’t an ‘aspiring writer’, but it should be worth your while to see what the androids have been doing down on Earth. You had came up with a few ideas of what the androids would be focusing on when they came back on air.

“Alright, 61S here.” The voice ticked all the boxes for a Scanner: youthful, energetic, always ready to talk.

“And this is 103H.” Her voice was calm, practiced, and… really soothing actually. You hadn’t yet heard what the H-types were, although you figured they were some sort of support.

“Today, we’ll be talking about a number of new discoveries of human literature- and don’t worry, we’ll be tackling a bit of our backlog from our previous sessions. What’s with all those discoveries lately, anyway?”

“I think they’re just turning over some new stones. I sorted through part of these ‘new discoveries’, and there are a few repeats.”

“But there’s still new content.”

“Oh, definitely. I might have gotten a bit… carried away.”

61S gave a quick laugh. “She told me she’d look over about twenty different works for this program- as of now, she only has, what, nine?”

“…Ten,” 103H sheepishly responded before continuing with more confidence “but at least we can talk about those with more detail, instead of generalities.”

“Alright, alright. Enough talk, let’s begin. Our first work was discovered three days ago near the Abandoned Factory. It’s-” 904’s speakers cut out, silencing 61S’s voice and replacing it with ringing.

“Incoming call from 21O.”

“Accept it.” You were unreasonably frustrated. She probably wouldn’t know, but still, you just started listening. This better be important.

The screen popped up, revealing a stern-looking android. Short blond hair (or what you could tell was blonde through the black-and-white and slightly flickering hologram) neatly curled around her head, her face mostly covered by the cloth mask similar to 9O’s and 6O’s, but hers had eighteen mascles, nine to a side. Thinking back to the last time you saw her, she seemed far less fatigued- perhaps because she has not had to deal with 9S for a while.

“Operator 21O to Theodore.”

“What is it, 21O?”

She seemed a bit upset by your tone, but continued regardless. “I’ve been told by the Commander to get a report on how you’ve been faring at Sigma-Kaon.”

“In short: fine.”

“The Commander usually frowns upon one-sentence, much less one-word responses, if 6O is to be believed.”

Looks like you won’t be getting back to that radio broadcast anytime soon.

21O eventually made her way through all of the questions she was assigned by the commander. “Did you really need all of those questions to make your report?”

“Theodore, I’m in the ninety-fifth percentile of Operators for quality. I don’t intend on putting that statistic at risk.” The sounds of her rapidly typing at her keyboard filtered through 904’s speakers. “Right, that should cover most of what she would want on the report.”

“Most?”

“It is a common of her to mark many reports with ‘not enough information’. Still, there are a number of requests for information I would like to make.”

“Didn’t you just-”

“Those were requests ordered by the Commander. These are requests I have as your temporary liaison with YoRHa. These will focus more on how you think things are going in the camp.”

You took a deep breath. “Alright, fine.”

“Have you been able to find locations around the camp easily?” Like before, her gaze was focused off to the side, like she was reading off a list.

“I’ve been lead around to any location that I’ve wanted to go to, so I’m fine on that regard.”

“Have you been bothered by any individuals, and who, if you have?”

Should you bring this up to her? “I’ve met two androids- Carolina and Dakota- but I’ve talked to Anemone and a few other androids about it, so I think it’s fine in that regard. Can’t say I’ve met any other androids that I have any issue with… Also, ‘bothered’?”

“It’s the term agreed on by others, not me. If you have issue with that, take it up with them.” You noticed she left out exactly who to take the issue up with. “Have you found yourself wanting for more social interaction than has been available?”

“Not really, no. I have ample opportunity to call someone over to talk. Popola and Devola were usually available when I asked for them, and those five YoRHa androids stop by every once in a while.”

“‘Those five’- you’re talking about 2B, 9S, 47D, 50G, and 78B, right?”

“…Yes, who else would I be talking about?”

“I was just making sure I am understanding the situation in its entirety. Do you think you’ve been getting enough to eat? You’re getting enough at each meal?”

You kept yourself from rolling your eyes, but couldn’t help but add a comment at the end. “Yes, I’ve been getting enough to eat, mom .”

21O had been typing along, recording your responses as well as any other possible notes she had- she would often go on typing for a bit after you’d given a response. But just after you said that last line, she suddenly stopped typing and paused. She seemed flustered, like she wanted to try to say something, but the words weren’t coming to her.

“21O, is everything alright?”

“Eh, I- I’ll ask the other questions later. 21O signing off.” She spoke surprisingly quickly.

“Wai-” The screen flickered out of existence. After staring at the empty space failed to bring it back, you turned to your pods. “Either of you have any idea what happened?”

“Negative.” 904 beeped.

“Her behavior during the ultimate seconds was notably different from her earlier behavior.” 320 intoned. “Unfortunately, this unit does not possess adequate information to draw any meaningful conclusion.”

“Hm.” A thought struck you. “Wait, 21O is the operator for 9S, isn’t she? I can check in with him, see if he knows anything. Where are 2B and 9S, anyway?”

“Request for information sent.” After a few seconds, 320 spoke up again. “2B and 9S are currently returning to Sigma-Kaon from their mission. It has been six hours since they have left camp Pion, meaning, at their pace, they will arrive at Sigma-Kaon in approximately two hours. Units 2B and 9S traversing through subregion 27.14c - 110.11, so their location and most probable route is under complete telecommunication coverage.”

Sometimes you wondered if the pods spoke English. “…Which means?”

“Communication similar to that done with 6O, 9O, and 21O is possible.”

Thank goodness the pods were so patient with you. “Would you mind trying to call 9S quick?”

320 brought up the call screen, identical to every other time it sprang up- data on the left, static-soon-to-be-camera on the right. The call tone rang a few times before the static dissipated, revealing 9S, who was looking off to his left. Behind him, the background seemed to fly by. As he spoke he did not sound at all out of breath.

“-not ‘another of my Scanner friends’, 2B. It’s Theodore!”

“Hey, 9S.”

“Theo!” 9S’s head snapped back to center. “How are things going at the Resistance Camp?”

“Can’t really complain, just got off a call with 21O.”

“Ugh.” 9S’s face fell. “I hope she didn’t give you a hard time.”

“No, she needed some information about how I was doing to fill out some report for the Commander. It just took some time.”

“If only we could have done something so easy like that. We had to go straight into the desert!” Wait, no, you had more to say about- “I guess it wasn’t a total bust, though. Orchid sent us back with some supplies for Sigma-Kaon, including a few things for you.” -Wait, what?

“…What’d you get?”

“Well, we got a few materials that Sigma-Kaon requested. You’ll have to wait to see what’s there for you.”

“Why?”

“Partially because I want it to be a surprise,” 9S said with a smile, then looked slightly sheepish, “…and partially because 2B has the other part of the whole load.”

“Alright, fine. Look, 9S, the original reason I called you is because right at the end of the call with 21O, she… was acting a bit odd.”

9S tilted his head. “Really?”

“Yeah, and she hung up right afterwards. It seemed like she had more to say, but she just cut herself off. I was wondering if you noticed anything off about her recently.”

“Last time I checked in with her was around six hours ago, at camp Xi. She seemed normal then. Did you try calling her back?”

“I hadn’t.”

“Huh. I mean, that’s really odd of her, to hang up without a reason. I can try checking on her quick. It’s not like I haven’t done that before, but now at least I can say I have an excuse.”

“Thanks, 9S. Since she’s your operator, I thought you’d know the most about the situation.”

“Well, thanks for letting me know. Not like it’ll get me off the hook, but still. I’ll call back when I’m done. 9S signing off.”

The screen blinked off. It only took a minute or two before a call came back through 320 from 9S. His face appeared again, showing a face lost in deep thought. After a few seconds, it became apparent he wasn’t going speak first.

“9S?”

He jumped before responding. “Sorry, sorry. You’re right, something did seem a little different. I can’t quite tell what, but something is… different.” He sighed. “Again, thanks for the heads-up. At least she didn’t chew me out.”

“Hm. How’d the whole desert excursion go, anyway?”

9S paused, briefly glancing away from the screen (not that you could see his eyes, his head swiveled slightly, then back). “We took out a number of targets in the region. We didn’t expect there to be so many of them at some of the skirmishes, but it wasn’t an issue for the two of us.” You heard him snap his fingers- impressive, considering his gloves. “Which reminds me. I’m going to be heading to the showers before I even think about heading toward your room.”

“Why?”

“Sand.” 9S sounded bitter and irritated. “I know from too much experience. I’m still finding it in my room.”

“You have a room at Sigma-Kaon?”

“No. My room’s in the Bunker.”

“In the- how did you get-”

“I’d rather not explain how at the moment, 2B’s listening, and she might say something to 21O.”

“Alright, alright. Anything else?”

“Nah, see you at the camp, Theo!”

“Stay safe, 9S.”

Once again, the screen winked out. You suddenly remembered the radio show you were listening to through the radio. You might be too late. “904, can you reconnect to the radio station JKS?”

“Affirmative.” 904 paused before his speakers flickered brought back the sounds of the two androids.

“-vered a lot today, 103H. How about next time, both of us read through the same material?” 61S said with a light tone.

“Fine, fine. But you need to send me the info on time.” 103H replied with a similar lilt.

“Thanks everyone, for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time!” The speakers fell to silence.

Oh, FOR-

Chapter 25: Trouble Brewing

Chapter Text

You felt unnecessarily angry. Why, why would it all line up so that you wouldn’t be able to listen to the broadcast? 320 chimed as a call came through, “Incoming call from 21O.”

“Hope she won’t cut out on me this time. Put her through.”

She appeared on the hologram again, looking essentially the same as before, except her emotionally sterile presence had subtly been replaced by one that was burying some foreign emotion far beneath her surface. There was a pause before she spoke, like she was trying to gather herself for an upcoming mental battle.

“Operator 21O to Theodore.”

“Please tell me you aren’t going to unexpectedly drop the call.”

21O cleared her throat, or… went through the motions of doing so. “I have to ask that you forgive me for being… unprofessional during our previous call. I would like to continue gathering data pertaining to your status in the camp.”

“Think you could explain why you cut off the call?”

“I would prefer not to give an explanation at this time.”

21O continued to list off question after question, sometimes asking for what seemed to be inane details. It dragged on and on- but it could have been you just being dramatic, wanting this whole thing to be over, wanting to get back to listening to the radio. 904 was still tuned to the station, wasn’t he?

While 21O was typing in her observations to one of your responses, something blinked on in one of her screens, the light noticeably shining onto her face. She finished typing, then turned her head to look at the offending source. You barely noticed the smile under her mask which twitched across her face.

“Something going on?” You hazarded a question.

“I’ve been notified that 9S has crossed the camp demarcation line- by YoRHa regulations, Operators are allowed to be considered-off duty when their assigned units are on the interior of this line.” 21O glanced off to her right. “Just as I thought- 6O is already heading back to her room.”

“Why would-”

“She’s 2B’s Operator.” 21O hesitated for a second. “Technically, I’m considered to be off-duty, now that 9S is in the safe zone of the camp…”

“What are you trying to get at, 21O?”

“In addition to the questions I have due to being your liason, I have recently… thought of some questions I’d like to ask you in a different context.” She quickly glanced around herself. “I think it would be best if there weren’t any chance of anyone overhearing this- I’ll call you back when I get to my room. 21O signing off for now.”

And again, the screen flickered off. You really just wanted to go back to listening to the radio broadcast, but you knew that as soon as you got the radio going, just as the androids were about to start getting to something interesting, 21O would start the call back up again. So you waited. It felt like the minutes stretched on.

Finally, 320 rang, announcing 21O’s call.

You managed to get a few words in before she spoke. “So how much longer are you going to keep me?”

Her usual intro interrupted, she glared at you through the hologram. The usual background behind her was noticeably different- the color was off, you didn’t see the workdesks behind her, but a room. You couldn’t make out most of the details of the room because of the camera angle and the low-ish quality of the video, but it was clear that she had relocated away from where she made her calls before.

“Theodore, you shouldn’t complain when I’m trying to help you in the first place.”

“Anyway. You said you had some other questions?”

“Yes.” you saw her shift to get more comfortable, “Mostly as a matter of professional curiosity, would you mind explaining a certain comment you made to me earlier?”

“Refresh my memory.”

“‘I’ve been getting enough to eat, mom .’ The comment, as it stands, does not make much sense to me.”

“…What, what part doesn’t make much-” The realization hit you; she lacks the context. She probably doesn’t know much about families. Heck, 9S didn’t know much about houses . “Where do you want me to start?”

“Perhaps with the logic behind the association. Information like this is extremely difficult to come across.”

“Right. You’re familiar with the basic family structure?”

“Only the basics.”

“So you probably know what a mother’s role is- they take a lot of care of their children, and sometimes they’re a bit… fussy and overbearing, but they mean well in the end. They want to see the best for their children, but they can be a bit overbearing.”

Normally, 21O was carefully noting down what you’ve been saying, but now she was staring intently, drinking in every detail you’ve been telling her. “And so when you made the connection…”

“It was because you were filling the stereotype basically to a T- you even asked me if I was lonely and if anyone was bothering me. That’s basically being a helicopter parent- that is, some parents try to be there for every aspect of a child’s life, almost trying to micromanage everything.” Somewhere deep down, you had a bad feeling about telling her all of this.

21O hummed in thought. “Any other relevant information you have on this topic?”

“Like what? I’m bad at coming up with something off the top of my head.”

21O paused. “Anything… family-related.”

“Okay…” you started to wrack your brain. Once again, you and 21O entered another back-and-forth with her continuously volleying questions and you doing your best to answer each one concisely. She seemed to be hammering in a whole family/motherhood/parentage theme as she went through each question. Frustratingly, she always seemed to have a new set of questions whenever you thought you were done. Imperceptibly, something about her seemed to change after she asked every question. Her emotionless face softening, her tone lifting, even (although you could see very little) her posture slowly change.

Countless questions later, after a particularly thoughtful pause, 21O suddenly spoke up. “I think that’s enough for now. You certainly helped me a lot with all you’ve told me. Seriously, Theodore, I hadn’t been able to find anywhere near as much as you’ve been able to give me during the last few minutes.”

“Few?”

“It wasn’t that long.”

“Still. Since you’re being my liason- or so you claim- might as well try and be friendly, right?”

She raised an eyebrow. “The Commander has given me direct orders that I should be your liason for matters pertaining to YoRHa. Please, don’t put those orders in doubt.”

“Fine, fine. Can I just get back to listening to the radio?”

21O looked as though she was wanted to make a comment, but changed her mind. “Understood, Theo. 21O signing off.” The hologram blinked off.

There were parts of you which were busying themselves with different types of worry, but you honestly felt too fatigued to want to bother with it all. “904, connect to JKS again.” God, you hoped there wouldn’t be any more interruptions.

Once again, the radio sparked to life, bringing the sound of a dialogue between two androids to your ears. It didn’t take long for you to realize this was a skit, but bereft of most of the context, you had a hard time following the plot. Just before it ended, you did manage to piece together that it was written to be a high-school drama, but you still couldn’t figure out what the whole plot was. What’s more, the ending of the section came out of nowhere, leaving you wondering just what was going on in the writer’s head, why they would end a chapter like that.

To your surprise, the intermittent break was abnormally short. The two speakers, 16B and 63G, started talking between themselves- it seemed they were simply going over different widespread rumors making the rounds through YoRHa and the resistance. At first, the stories didn’t seem to be all that interesting: a resistance camp attacked that you hadn’t heard of before, stories of abnormal phenomena, there were a good number of stories about their favorite battles (you had a good feeling some of those were rather embellished), but one story in particular caught your attention.

“-no, no, I’m serious!”

“I’m sure you are.”

“But I am!”

“16B, really, an amusem*nt park ? And these Machines are trying to keep it running ? You expect me to believe that?”

“Oh, come on! You can’t tell me you’ve never gone over there, to at least sate your curiosity.”

“That’s because it’s location part of Pion’s region- it’s outside of our jurisdiction.”

“But it’s right there. It wouldn’t even take me four hours to get there from here.”

“I mean, I’ve heard stories, sure, but you can’t just tell me there are machines there that don’t attack androids.”

“But they-”

“Come on, all of the machines there would be dead before news even reached any of the camps. ****, I’d even go over there if I knew they were still ticking. Won’t argue with free money.”

“63B, I keep telling you…”

Your thoughts wandered off. Machines that won’t attack anyone? You weren’t entirely sure that it could exist… and even an amusem*nt park? You tried to clear it from your mind and keep listening to the two androids continue to spin their tales, but your thoughts kept returning to the supposed amusem*nt park. You couldn’t tell why- probably because you wanted some sort of answer. You resolved to find its location. That would give you mind the answer it sought, and it would finally be out of your mind.

“320, do you have a map of the surrounding region?”

“Affirmative.”

“Could you bring it up for me? I want to check something.”

The map flickered up in front of you. You tried to reorient yourself, drawing on Popola’s summary of the camps. You found the approximate locations of Pion and Sigma - Kaon, then drew a line between them.

There.

The grainy grey of the map gave way to a small chunk of near-black pixels. It was little more than a circular, formless blob, but that’s where the amusem*nt park should be.

There you had it. Sitting down as the map flickered away, you figured your mind would let go of the matter, but if anything, you found it harder to let the thought go. Finally, in frustration, you told 904 to turn off the radio. You wanted to call up one of the androids you knew here, but who?

“Pods? Can you ask 47D, 50G, and 78B if they’re open to help me with something?”

“Query:” 904 asked, “is this related to your interest in the supposed amusem*nt park?”

“Yes, why? Do you two know anything about it?”

“Negative.”

“Negative.” 320 added.

“It just seems odd, though, doesn’t it? That something so close to the camp is just a rumor to most.”

“Requests sent. As 63G has noted, this location is outside of the general knowledge for units assigned to Sigma - Kaon.”

“So can’t you ask the Bunker or something, get information from them?”

“Access to this information was denied on the basis of lack of relevance.”

“Lack of-” you sighed. “Seriously? You’re my pods, you should have access to information even if it’s technically outside of the purview of Sigma - Kaon.”

“Your reasoning appears sound, but the facts remain: this unit has no access to information pertaining to the subject.”

“Response received:” 320 beeped, “78B denies knowledge of the location.” After a minute or so, she continued, “Responses received: 47D denies knowledge of the location, 50G notes she would like to meet in person to discuss the subject.”

“Tell her she can come on over.” You were surprised by how much you wanted to meet her and get to the bottom of this. Maybe you’ve been getting bored with camp life already. You didn’t have to ruminate long on this train of thought before 50G knocked on your door, yanking you back to reality.

“50G?” You hurried to the door.

“It’s me, Theo. You heard it on the broadcast, too?”

“Yeah,” you unlocked the door and pulled it open, ushering her in, “you know anything about it?”

“…No, and I was listening with some of my friends. None of them knew anything about it. I know that sometimes weird borders pop up due to some camps being close together, but I haven’t heard of an information blackout like this.”

“Wait, do you think the resistance androids would know more? They shouldn’t be under the same information restrictions like YoRHa is, right?”

50G’s expression changed to one of uncertainty. “Resistance androids contract YoRHa androids to scout around- I doubt that any android would know of something like that. You’d need to get into the records to find something like, and getting in there is like getting 78B to care for anyone.”

“Think we could get anything from the Operators?”

“I doubt that. Same problem. Unless you want your Operator to potentially get caught- wait,” she brought a hand to her face, “You don’t have an Operator.”

“I’ve been told I have a liason.”

Her hand fell away from her already visor-covered eyes. “Wait, really? Who?”

“21O.”

“Haven’t heard of her. Think she might be willing to try?”

“…You obviously haven’t met her.” Although…

“Is she that- ?” 50G was interrupted by a knock on your door. Her gaze snapped over to the door while you turned to your pods.

“Detected unit: 78B” 904 answered the question you hadn’t asked.

“Were you expecting her?” 50G genuinely sounded surprised.

“No,” you went over to the door, “she said she didn’t know anything.” You pulled the door open, showing a rather upset 78B, who looked past you.

“Why am I not surprised, 50G? Theodore asks for something strange and I find you behind it all.”

“Hey, whoa, what the ****!” 50G defensively brought her hands up, “Why are you assuming that it was me?”

“It’s essentially dripping with a type of plan you’d come up with- something that’ll turn us all to scrap.”

“But-!”

“I don’t want to hear it. You should remember all of the absolutely atrocious plans you made, and now you’re trying to rope in Theodore?” 78B briefly turned to you. “I almost envy you for not having heard of the sheer stupidity of plans that 50G’s made. Seriously, 50G, out battle with the minor commander should not have gone over as poorly as it did. I at least tried out new tactics when the old ones didn’t work, meanwhile you were still trying to shell him while I was right there! If you were worth your circuits, you’d at least consider who you might be firing on. And now, you want to try to convince him to head out to sate your curiosity?”

50G’s face twitched as she struggled to come up with a response. “78B, you’ve- you don’t-”

“78B, back off.” You tried to physically put yourself between the two feuding androids. “There is no plan going on, she wasn’t trying to convince me. It was not ‘her’ plan, she listened to the broadcast at the same time as I did.” 78B stepped back, seemingly unsure of whether to trust you or not. “Christ, basically everything you’ve said to her was entirely uncalled for.”

“Uncalled for? I’ve seen what happens when she’s allowed to have any modicum of tactical discretion. I could only imagine what would happen if she was allowed to talk you into sortieing with only her in tow.”

“78B.” How wrong could she be? “I think you haven’t listened to her.”

78B twitched. “I’ve-”

“Let me speak. I’ve heard 50G talk about how many androids she would prefer to be on guard were I to leave the camp. Let’s have her state her actual viewpoint, without making assumptions about her.”

You turned back to 50G and nodded to her. 50G turned to the android behind you, her voice shaking at first, but slowly regaining composure. “78B, I have said- and I still hold- that Theodore should have four or five androids going with him if he’s going to be outside a camp.”

78B stood still, glaring past you at 50G. “Strange that you’re actually listening to reason, now of all times. If that is what you actually think, then I have no reason to fight with you.” She glanced at you. “I still think you should exercise caution when dealing with her judgements. She has a habit of leading those around her to varying levels of danger.” 78B turned to leave, closing the door behind her.

“78B.” She froze mid-step. “You could stand to apologize to 50G.”

For a second, she didn’t even move. “Caution needs no apology.” She all but slammed the door behind herself.

Chapter 26: Stewing in Your Thoughts

Chapter Text

You winced as you heard the door slam behind 78B. Turning to face 50G, you found her holding back tears, looking away from both you and the door. Noticing you turn toward her, she twists her head away from you, perhaps hoping you wouldn’t notice… something.

“Are… are you alright, 50G?”

“I’m fine.” Her reply was far sharper and more bitter than you’d like.

“You don’t sound fine.” You tried to be delicate with your words. “Look, I’m sure 78B didn’t mean what-”

“Theodore.” She slowly turned her head to face you. “You don’t know what happened. She- she has every right to be angry at me.”

“But she shouldn’t-”

“She has every right to be. Look, Theodore, I don’t want to talk about this.” She swiftly made her way past you and threw the door open. She paused.

“Oh, 50G.” Popola sounded a bit surprised. “You-”

“Excuse me.” 50G all but shouldered her way past, and took off down the hall, leaving Popola to stand in confusion behind her.

“…Is everything alright?” she asked as she began walking into the room. She had another of the food containers in hand, but its shape seemed different.

“50G had an… altercation with 78B. I think she wants to be left alone for now.”

“I should suppose so.” Cecil rounded the corner, entering your room as well. She was carrying something red and spherical, but you couldn’t get a clear view as to what. “But I find it hard to concern myself with the petty squabbles between the various YoRHa androids.” She smiled at you. “Greetings, Theodore.”

You couldn’t help but look back and forth between the unlikely combination of androids in front of you. Popola said that she wasn’t familiar with Cecil, so…

“How did…”

Popola caught on quickly. “Oh! Cecil came by. She, ah, found out about you.” She seemed unimpressed as she said the last sentence. “Good news is, she’s part of the agriculturalist group in the camp, and administrates how what they’ve grown is sent out to the other groups. We’ll have a bit more variety in your meals thanks to them.”

“Theodore, the majority of the androids in the association aren’t too preoccupied with where their products are going.” Cecil closed the door behind herself. “I wouldn’t be concerned about the possibility of anyone noticing anything missing. I can assure you that the amount of delivered product will not be noticeably lessened.”

Popola handed the container over to you with a napkin holding another section of chocolate. Cracking off the blue lid revealed a bowl of simmering beef stew. The smell curled up to you as you sat down, making you further anticipate the meal. One bite in, and the beef seemed… off. Something about how it fell apart in your mouth? Its taste? Popola and Cecil, who sat down when you did, picked up on this.

“Is there something wrong?” There was a hint of genuine concern from Popola.

“Not entirely sure. Wait, do you know what kind of meat is this?”

“Yeah, the androids I bought it from said it was from a moose.”

“From a- oh.”

“Is that bad? Should I have-”

“No, no, it’s fine. I guess I should have expected something different than what I did.”

You returned to working your way through your lunch, the room slipping into near silence. Other than the sounds of you eating, you could hear Cecil starting to crack into some of the things she’d carried in with her bare hands. You quickly realized they were some kind of fruit, which had a white and crimson interior.

“Cecil,” Popola asked, “mind telling him what you’re preparing?”

“The product of the Punica granatum proves itself rather opposing to immediate consumption after harvest.” She automatically replied, while focusing on her task; it almost felt like she wasn’t thinking about how she was talking. “The pericarp and mesocarp are usually not consumed in normal course, so they must be trimmed away to expose the desired product.”

Uh.

Popola turned back to you. “She’s seeding a pomegranate for you.”

“Thank you.” You felt Cecil flinch back to reality.

Cecil, embarrassed, began to mutter, “I- I apologize. When I’m not noting what I’m saying, I- others think-”

“It’s fine, Cecil.” You turned back to your meal as she continued mumbling apologies and excuses while making her way through the fruit in her hands.

You kept working your way through the stew, but as you finally made a decent-sized dent, you realized that Popola may have prepared a bit too much for you, especially considering that Cecil was almost done seeding one pomegranate and was just about to start on the next one.

“Cecil, you may want to stop after that one.” You turned to the android sitting across from you. “I’m sorry Popola, but I think you went a bit overboard when making this.”

The suggestion seemed to truly catch her off guard. “But… you’ve always had everything we’ve given you.” There was a hint to her voice, something to suggest that she was hurt, hearing about this, but you weren’t entirely sure. She then turned away and sighed, perhaps coming to the realization of her error.

“It’s tastes great, you’ve done a great job,” you tried to console her, “but it’s just a little too much for one meal.” You could tell she heard you, but your conciliatory words seemed to have no effect. Seeing this, you attempted to change the subject. “I heard something on the radio recently. Do either of you know anything about an amusem*nt park being maintained by Machines?”

The two guests in your room shared a glance, searching their memories.

“No,” Popola started, “we haven’t overheard anyone talk about something like that. Machine camps aren’t talked about commonly at all.”

“I cannot recall any instance where my fellow androids have conversed about this topic.” Cecil looked to be deep in thought as she took out the final seeds from the pomegranates. “I must state, as Popola has, that Resistance androids do not casually talk about this topic. I would hazard that the average android has not been found to necessarily know about every potential landmark in the vicinity of their respective camp.”

It felt odd. Why did so few androids know about the amusem*nt park? They wouldn’t know so much about something so far away, you reasoned. It’s generally not relevant to anything at hand, so the information isn’t on-hand to anyone in Sigma - Kaon. But still, why isn’t this information available?

Popola, across from you, tried to get your attention. “Theodore, if this is so important to you, why don’t you head out and explore what’s going on?”

“I would, but I think there are a number of androids who wouldn’t be too psyched to hear about me going out of the camp without any androids with me.”

“So why not ask some of the YoRHa androids you’re usually with to go with you? I’m sure they wouldn’t be too against the idea.”

“I guess some of them might be able to… 50G and 78B might want some time off, but the other three might be fine.”

“Theodore,” Cecil looked concerned, “can you sure you can ascertain whether you can occlude-”

Popola interrupted. “Cecil, he’s talking about androids who do know he’s human.”

“…Ah, I apologize, I was unaware.”

“But anyway,” you continued, “2B and 9S are on their way back. I’ll check with them when they’re back to see if they’re willing to go along. 47D should still be here, I guess I can ask her now. 904?”

“Request sent.”

“Alright. Popola, what else would I need if I were to head out?”

“My first thought is meals, but the YoRHa androids with you can carry those through their virtual storage. Clothes might be another issue, but the same solution applies. If it takes a while, you’d need to find a place to stay the night. The buildings aren’t terrible places to hole up, but there are a lot better places to be.

“Then there’s the problem of medical supplies. The three you’re traveling with could do in a pinch, but I’d honestly prefer that you have someone with you who is built more toward that profession. I’d like for either my sister or me to go with you, but us leaving the camp for that long would be… frowned upon by many in the Resistance. And- I’m just making sure- you don’t know any H-types that are aware of you?”

“No.” H-types? There was 103H, but you weren’t entirely sure what it meant.

“Hm. Well, one of them could do, but with the whole situation between the Resistance and YoRHa, I don’t want to add more fuel to the fire.”

“So I should be fine with 47D, 2B, and 9S?”

“Probably. As long as you don’t get into a large amount of trouble, you should be fine.”

You turned to the android sitting beside you. “Cecil, you’ve been quiet. Anything you’d like to say?”

“No, I feel as though I am unsuited to make any notable comment about the situation. I would like to request that you attempt to be cautious during your expedition.”

“Cecil, you make it sound as if I’m planning on going out there defenseless. Evolution has prepared me to be mindful of my own safety.”

“Theodore, I am attempting to make you aware of your decisions in this novel venture. I am not wholly aware of what state of the world you perceive it to be, but you appear to possess an idealized and pacifistic view. I apologize if I appear overbearing, but I do not wish to understate caution.”

“I get it, Cecil, I get it. I’ll be careful.”

904 beeped. “Notification: 47D has responded, and wishes to visit to discuss details about the expedition.”

“She can come by.”

Cecil rose. “My presence has been requested. I can leave the pomegranate seeds here for later on, if you prefer.”

“Sure. There are quite a bit, though. Do either of you two want some for yourselves, or…”

They both declined, each mentioning something about ‘not wanting to take something that was yours’, oddly enough. Cecil left with little fanfare, and 47D arrived some time later, after you really pushed yourself trying to make a larger dent into your lunch. During the intervening time, the thought struck you that the stew in your hands could definitely last for more than one other meal.

“Hey, 47D.” You waved to her.

“Hey, Theodore.” She waved back and sat down next to Popola.

You set your way-more-than-one meal to one side. “Popola and I have been talking about and planning a short trip out of the camp. There’s this amusem*nt park- apparently manned by Machines, I think- off to the East of the camp, and we wanted to have a few androids along for safety.”

She looked off into space for a second. “Yeah, that could work. Is it just going to be 78B, 50G, you, and me?”

“…I thought it would be better if it were you, 2B, 9S, and me. 50G and 78B…”

You could see 47D tense up slightly. “And, uh, when are you planning on leaving?”

“We haven’t decided yet.” You turned to Popola. “Think you could get everything ready for tomorrow?”

“Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard. What time are you thinking of leaving?”

“Not sure. Would it be too much to ask to leave right after I wake up and shower?”

“Not for me. Hopefully 2B and 9S can get here soon so that they can get any updates done that they need to.”

“I heard from them, they’re pretty near. 320, where did you say they were, again?”

“At the time of information request, units 2B and 9S traversing through subregion 27.14c - 110.11. Currently, they have progressed to region 27.14e - 110.12.”

“That close, huh?” This apparently meant something to 47D. “Yeah, they should have time. Don’t worry, Theodore, I can definitely go with you.”

“47D,” Popola began to rise, “a thought just hit me. YoRHa androids have a large carrying capacity due to the matter dispersal system, so do you think you could carry Theodore’s food for the trip? You could come with me and help cook, if you’d like.”

“Oh, sure!” 47D stood up. “I’d love to help.”

You closed the container and handed it over to Popola. “Theodore, did you talk to 2B and 9S?”

You nodded. “I know that they’re going to come here, although 9S is planning to shower quick or something.”

“Ah, alright. Just call one of us if you need some help explaining.” Popola folded up the container and silverware in her hands and began heading out, 47D following right behind her. They both gave their farewells and closed the door behind themselves.

Now to wait for 2B and 9S.

Chapter 27: Chocolate, Computers, & Conspiracy

Chapter Text

It actually took them a while. Who knew that two hours would actually take some time? There wasn’t anything interesting on the radio, but you had it on for background noise nonetheless.

Eventually, someone knocked at your door before confirming their identity. 2B walked in a moment later, her white pod behind her. From 9S’s kvetching, you half expected that 2B’s uniform would be stained slightly brown, but it seemed its usual pitch-black.

“9S will be here in a few minutes,” 2B explained. “For some reason, he prefers to shower instead of stopping by the connection point.”

“How would that help?” You couldn’t make the connection, no pun intended.

“The major concern is that we went through the desert region past camp Pion, and could inadvertently have brought some of the fine sand into your room. I believe that humans take offense to having their personal areas contaminated like that.”

“...Yes, you’d be correct in that belief.” It felt off-putting, listening to her. Everything she said was so impersonal and distant. Cecil was possibly the closest example you had to 2B, but she spoke with emotion and purpose. Everything 2B said was… flat. Cold. You made one more attempt to try to pierce her apparent indifference. “So how did the expedition to the desert go?”

“Sub-optimal. My partner had extreme difficulty focusing on the task on hand, and inadequate scans of the region made traversing the expanses difficult.”

“Anything interesting happen?” At this moment, you realized she hadn’t yet taken a seat. Was she just going to stand the whole time?

“We encountered a number of machines which had noticeable differences from other types outside of the desert. There were a number of ruins scattered throughout. Other than those, I cannot note anything else of interest.”

You paused in thought. 2B was technically answering your questions, but was probably only doing so out of duty. Hence, the awkward and non-descriptive answers. Your eyes briefly landed on something next to you, and you seized the idea.

“2B, I have some leftovers from lunch.” You reached over and grabbed the chocolate, then held it out in front of you. “Would you like any?”

“No. If it was intended for you, then I won’t impede on those intentions.”

You paused again. She always seemed to have no other comment to make, nothing more to say. You made a few other attempts at conversation, but at every opportunity, 2B brought the conversation to a halt, always giving dry, ‘complete’ answers.

Eventually, relief came in the form of the sound of a set of footsteps storming up the stairs- they weren’t too heavy, but they sounded eagerly toward your room. Your door was unceremoniously slammed open, revealing a mostly-dried-off 9S, with his black pod lagging behind.

“Theodore!” 9S, for the most part, was very sure on his footing, only slipping once while running up to you, wrenching you up from the bed and wrapping you in a tight, near-crushing hug.

“Hi, 9S.” You managed to choke out. “Ease up a little?”

9S suddenly let go and pulled back. “Sorry, sorry.” It was only now, that you saw his blue eyes, that you realized he wasn’t wearing the visor. Noticing your gaze, he turned and glared at 2B. “She told me to hurry. You- you two weren’t waiting long, right?”

“9S,” 2B began to chide, “haste is no reason to ignore proper protocol.”

9S rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine.” His visor appeared in a pulse of light and he began to wrap and tie it around his head. “Blame me when I’m trying to be punctual.”

“You would have been on-time if you had just gone into the transporter for a second.”

“You don’t understand, 2B. Maybe if you tried a shower, you’d understand my point.”

“9S, sacrificing efficiency is frowned upon by the Bunker.”

“Look, did you want me here on time, or not? Besides, we’ve got something for Theodore, don’t we?” He smiled at 2B, which didn’t last long.

“Yes. I had components and reagents for Popola’s and Devola’s synthesizer.”

“What? I thought you had something interesting.” 9S huffed, then brought out his hand, something else flashing into existence. “Sorry about the disappointment. I hoped there was a bit more to it.” He handed over some… near-mechanical brick.

It reminded you of one of your pods in its shape. As you passed it over in your hands, you found that a number of components were able to be moved around, or even be taken off entirely, although attached by cords. There appeared to be a number of emitters across its surfaces, erratically placed under other components.

You really couldn’t get a grip on this machine as a whole. “So this is…”

“It’s from Orchid. I really don’t know what to call it.” You appreciated his honesty. “I looked it over on the way here, and it’s a really weird mix of hardware. Old pod designs, antiquated architecture, even an android component or two. I couldn’t get a bead on what it’s for, really.”

“Did you turn it on?”

“No, I waited until I got here. It’s yours, isn’t it?” He pulled off a small removable cover and flicked a switch. After nothing happened for a few seconds, he took it into his hands and tried all sorts of minor adjustments. He mumbled, “The on switch is here somewhere…” Just as you turned to ask 2B about her delivery to the twins, a chime alerted you to 9S’s sudden success.

“You got it working?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s on.” 9S flicked the machine back off, then set it down on the end table, then went to sit down. “But I hear there’s something more interesting going on that you’re planning?”

“Right.” You sat down as well. “I discussed most of the details with Popola and 47D- I assume you heard it from her- but I basically want to see what’s going on with the amusem*nt park off to the East.” You went on to describe the plans you went over with 47D and Popola. The two androids in front of you patiently took in every detail.

As you finished, 9S and 2B shared a glance. “Doesn’t seem like too bad of a plan.”

“2B,” 9S said cautiously, “what if-”

“9S, we have two YoRHa androids specifically built to deal with machine forces and one who’s skilled at reconnaissance. If there is danger enough to overwhelm us and threaten Theodore, there’s no way it’ll slip by. If a force can slip by, it will be small enough for us to defeat. Am I wrong in this assessment?”

“Plus,” you added, “We’ll have a total of five pods with us. I’m not entirely sure what their capabilities are, but they should definitely improve our odds.”

9S reconsidered. “Alright. Quick question: do your pods have programs?”

“Well, I assume they’re running something when they’re talking- it’s probably not all from the hardware.”

“You know what I mean. Combat programs. Laser, tether, shield. That kind of stuff. I was thinking of getting some from that android near the repair area before we leave.”

“Sounds like a plan. You know what you’re going to get?”

“Yeah. She has these two shield programs.” 9S’s pod opened up and started to eject some casing, which 9S took. You assumed this was what a program looked like. “This one’s for melee attacks, and there’s another one for ranged attacks. They won’t be able to be run for the whole battle, but your pods are smart enough to run it when necessary.”

“You think it’ll get that bad? We didn’t have a lot of trouble getting to this camp.”

“You can’t be too careful, Theo.”

“Fair enough, then. You two have any other questions?”

2B shook her head as 9S stood and spoke. “No, but we might as well head out soon to get preparations done. Better now than later.”

“Before you two head out, do you want to try this? Popola brought a bit too much over for lunch.” You held up the chocolate toward the two androids. 9S had already stood up to leave, but he wasted no time breaking off a piece for himself, then breaking it in half and offer the larger to 2B.

“9S, that was-”

“He’s offered it to us, 2B. The least we could do is acquiesce.”

2B hesitated, but eventually took the near-triangle piece of chocolate from 9S. She seemed hesitant, almost unwilling to try it. 9S, however, was eager to try out this food which was probably alien to him. He took it all down in two bites, not seeming to savor it long.

“It’s really good. Why doesn’t YoRHa hand out stuff like this? I know a lot of androids who’d love it!”

“I’m not entirely sure they could, 9S. Popola and Devola haven’t been able to make a whole lot, as far as I know.”

“I know, but still. Is it common? It’s too nice to just be an occasional good.”

“I guess it was common, but I didn’t really have it often.”

9S smiled. “I would have loved that. What do you think, 2B? …2B?”

While you and 9S had talked, 2B had closed her mouth around her piece of chocolate, meaning to hurry through, but she suddenly stopped. She seemed to stare off into the distance, her hand slowly dropping back to her side and a small drop of chocolate drooling beginning to drool out of the side of her mouth.

Then both you and 9S had noticed she wasn’t responding. You stood up and had to shake her to break her from her trance.

“Hn? Wha-” 2B brought herself back to reality.

“Everything alright, 2B?” 9S looked a bit concerned.

“Oh,” you laughed, “I think she just liked the chocolate a bit more than you did 9S.”

“What- No, I- I didn’t-” For once, you saw 2B expressing a good amount of emotion. Sure, it was just her stammering in embarrassment, but you finally got to see her being herself.

For a short while, anyway. 2B snapped around, marching herself to the door. “I’m getting preparations done. 9S, I suggest you do so as well.” She spoke quickly as she threw the door open, then shut behind her, leaving you and 9S surprised.

You turned to 9S. “I take it that’s not her normal behavior?”

“N-no. I’ve never seen her like that.” 9S chucked to himself. “Can I have some more chocolate? I want to see if I can tease her a bit.”

“Fine by me.” You broke off another piece off the chocolate bar and handed it over to 9S, who made it disappear in a burst of light.

“I’m sorry,” 9S started to turn to leave, “but I think I’ll need to head out as well. If don’t, 2B might use that against me. I’ll send you a message if there’s any deviation from the normal plan.”

“It’ll be fine, 9S. Good luck.” You waved at him as he left, closing the door behind him. You turned around and picked up the device 9S had originally left you, locating the switch he used to turn it on. You guessed now you had the time to futz around with… whatever it was.

It didn’t take much failure while figuring out the device before 904 started dispensing suggestions. Suggestions which frustratingly worked.

“904, neither of us have seen this thing before. How the Hell do you know how this works?”

“Response: device possesses file ‘readme.txt’ at the root of its file structure. Said file contains instructions on operation of the device as well as instructions on efficient operation.”

“And why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“These actions were completed after approximately ten minutes of failure of your attempts to utilize the device.”

“So whoever built this put the instructions of how to use it inside the device.”

“Affirmative.”

“What the Hell was going through their heads?”

“Unknown.”

With 904’s and 320’s help, you started to slowly understand the device in your hands. There are two major parts which can be disconnected from each other, although they remain connected by a surprisingly long cable. The larger section contains most of the computational components, while the smaller section is similar to a keyboard- well, it projects something like a keyboard.

As you kept toying with the device, you came to realize this was rather close in function to a computer. There were a number of basic functions you could ‘use’ (although you had no clue how), all run through a basic command prompt. 904 and 320 led you through the barebones messaging program, some sort of file request system, its directory system, and (by far, the most important to you) the game directory.

But games could wait. There was a lot nagging at the back of your mind in the previous few days, and you determined to do something about it. From what your pods had told you, the file request system could even access various files in the Bunker and the local data system from Sigma - Kaon. You set out to find any files you could about the machines, about the war. Anything, anything that you could find, you would get your hands on.

You entered the query.

Query: [ machines ]

Results: 10,781,482,370 files (179 PB total)

Showing titles of results 1-100:

Your jaw dropped, although you shouldn’t have been too surprised. You were looking through two gigantic databases for one keyword. You glanced at your pods for help.

320 beeped. “Query: specification on actual desired information.”

“I’m trying to get more informed about the machines. I don’t know a lot about them, and I’d like to not be in the dark about the people we’re all fighting.”

“Affirmation: Theodore wishes to query about common information about machine types found between Sigma - Kaon and the ‘amusem*nt park’.”

“Yeah.” You handed the keyboard over to her.

She hovered down and began typing some massive string into the query, most of it falling off the left bracket.

Query: [:(CSK,($2(1))) && type:”txt” ]

Results: 17 files (9 GB total)

Showing titles of results 1-17:

You really shouldn’t be surprised. Ask the robot to talk to the robot.

You began reading through the dramatically fewer files. The first two were reports on ‘recent observed changes’ about the machines in the region. Helpful, if only you knew what they were like originally. It talked about about increased aggressiveness, meaningless (to you) variables about their tactics- fantastic, they had pictures and diagrams. Some of the machines shown had bodies similar to the large machine you encountered on the way here. Some of them had thinner, more stubby limbs. There were still a notable number of machines which were built like little wind-up toys, not sure what they were thinking when they were designing those machine models.

The third document was a near field-guide over all the different types of machines encountered, total. Your two pods quickly noted that this document would be far too much information for you. Rolling your eyes, you moved on.

You spent your afternoon searching through the documents, finding precious little information you actually wanted. Seeing that the last file in the search turned up no useful information, you nearly threw the controller across the room.

“Seriously? 320, can you loosen the restrictions on the search?”

“Negative. All parameters required to ensure accurate results.”

“Then why the hell are there so few documents?”

“Response: one field in the query section narrows the selection to files readable by both you and the device. This has removed a majority of the documents.”

“Suggestion:” 904 spoke up, “make a request to the Bunker to create or transcribe a document readable by this device on relevant information on machines.”

“Response: this action would take far longer than necessary, only being ready after the expedition has started, thus being of little use for the present.”

“Alternate suggestion: request another android parse relevant files.”

“Addition: action could be performed during the trip toward the ‘amusem*nt park’ to increase efficiency.”

“So,” you interjected, “I’m not getting much more from this search today, is what you two are saying.”

“Affirmative,” they both replied in unison.

You turned back toward the pseudo-computer, and after a moment of pause, exited to the command prompt then worked your way over to the game directory. Screw it, you spent what felt like a few hours doing straight research, you’ve more than earned this, right?

You were still reading the instructions to the game when you heard a knock on the door. Tossing the controller aside, you rose and answered the door, revealing Devola, who held a familiar container in her hands.

“Hey, Devola.”

“Hey, Theo.” She paused, looking at the unfamiliar device on your bed.

“9S brought it here for me- I think it was from Pion?”

“Huh.” She leaned in and inspected it. “I haven’t seen much like it. I mean, the projectors are basically the exact same as those found in pods. Construction’s a bit… interesting. I wouldn’t have thought about making it like this.” She continued looking it over for a second before remembering what she was holding. Embarrassed, she muttered an apology and handed over the blue-lidded container.

You knew it was the stew from lunch before you opened it. She probably reheated it before heading over. You sat it down on the bed next to you and quickly turned off the pseudo-computer, then turned back to your supper.

“Preparations are going smoothly,” Devola said, softly, “I think 2B, 9S, and 47D will be ready to depart tomorrow. Are you getting ready here as well?”

“To be honest,” you bit into a good-sized chunk of meat, letting the taste wash through your mouth, “I’m not entirely sure how I need to prepare.”

“Theo,” Devola chuckled, “didn’t your parents tell you not to talk with your mouth full?”

You rolled your eyes and swallowed before continuing. “But, seriously, what am I supposed to do to get ready? I tried looking through, apparently, both YoRHa’s and the resistance’s information about the machines in the area, but I haven’t found much.” Seeing Devola give you a questioning look, you continued, “I haven’t found much that I could use. Of course I found a lot. I found, how much, a couple petabytes?”

“Theodore searched using only the term ‘machine’,” 320 noted.

Devola started laughing. “How did that thing not explode? Theo, did you realize that you asked for every file that mentioned the sole focus of this war?”

“On retrospect,” you tried to defend yourself, “it wasn’t the wisest idea, but I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into. But I guess I can get some information about them now,” you gestured to her, “since you probably have first-hand experience.”

“Alright, get comfortable.” Devola sat back, shifting to get comfortable. She nearly launched into a whole lecture about the machines, talking about behavior, tactics, and all that fun stuff. Unfortunately for you, most of the information fell on your deaf ears.

You eventually made another sizable dent into the meal, but it still wasn’t enough to finish it off. You flipped the lid back onto the container and handed it back over.

“Had enough for tonight?”

“Yes,” you replied flatly, “and it doesn’t matter whether you’re asking about information or food.”

“Alright,” Devola smiled, taking the container, then began to head out, “sleep well, you’re going to have quite the journey tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” You were about to say ‘you, too,’ but the thought struck you that she probably doesn’t sleep. You couldn’t make further comment however, seeing as she just closed the door behind her. Sighing, you turned back to your computer. You hoped to get this game figured out before you went to sleep.

“Alert:” 320 beeped, “10 hours until the expedition is planning to leave.”

You jumped, being completely immersed in the game. Really? You couldn’t have been spending that much time trying to figure the game out. “How long have I been…”

“Elapsed time: 5 hours.”

Oh, for- fine. You flicked off the computer, folded it up, set it on the ground, then returned to your bed and threw the covers over yourself.

Sleep melted over you.

You were awoken by a knock to the door. Groaning and throwing the blankets off of you, you stumbled out of bed and opened the door.

“Theo!” 9S was as cheery as ever, but upon seeing you, a mischievous grin spread across his face. “Were you sleeping up until now?”

“Yes, considering nothing had woken me up. Hopefully we aren’t leaving immediately?”

“Well…” 9S looked sheepish as he looked off to the side. You felt the adrenaline kick in.

“What‽ 9S, why didn’t you try to wake me earlier!” You turned around and rushed to get your clothes in order- you probably didn’t have too much time, probably not enough to shower. God, you hoped androids didn’t have a good sense of-

“-a joke, Theo!” 9S broke your thoughts.

“Huh?” You whipped back around to face him.

“I was joking, Theo. We’ve still got plenty of time.”

You sighed as the tension bled away from you. “Thanks for the scare, 9S. Needed to make sure my fight-or-flight systems were still working.”

“Anytime.” He smiled widely. “I came by to drop these off.” He brought up his hand, which had… cartridges? Seeing your confusion, he continued, “They’re the programs we talked about. The melee and ranged shield programs. I need to load them quick into 904 and 320.”

Turning your head, you saw your two recently mentioned pods powering up and lifting off your end table. They hovered close to 9S and… unfolded? Some parts on their front unlocked and swung open, allowing 9S to slot in the programs. As they floated up to their usual positions, you couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Was that really all there was to it?

“So how long do we have until we leave?”

“About an hour and a half.” Time enough for a shower and breakfast, assuming they have it prepared or are preparing it.

“I’ll hurry to take a shower. I assume breakfast is being made?”

“Yeah. It’ll take a little bit, though.”

“That’s fine. I’ll try and hurry. 904, 320, I think you two get the drill by now- stay here, keep 9S company, I guess.” By now, you had gathered up the clothes for today. You paused, then grabbed another set of clothes and tossed it to 9S. “Mind holding these for me in that… the, uh…”

“In virtual storage?”

“Yeah, that. Having a second set of clothes on me is probably going a nice minor comfort, as well as a good fallback if something happens to the set I’m wearing.” The set of clothes you tossed to him disappeared in a quick flash of light as you picked up the set for today. “Be back in a few minutes.”

“See you then.” In quick succession, you left your room, descended the stairs, and headed out to the plaza. At first, you didn’t pay much attention to the bustle of the camp around you, but you couldn’t help but listen in around you, notice some oddities about them.

It was rather subtle. Most of the time, it looked like they were ignoring you. Just out of the corner of your eye, you could tell that some of them were staring at you, turning back around if you glanced in their direction. You could tell why. It only urged you to move through the square faster, to slip into the shower room, away from any prying eyes.

Slipping into the familiar room and grabbing a towel, you found that a number of stalls were already occupied.

“-something up, 63B. Just what else could be going on in the area at the time? It can’t just be some sort of weapons test, they’d announce it beforehand- we’d know.” A female android was emphatically discussing in semi-hushed tones, before suddenly being shushed by someone else.

A sigh echoed throughout the room, given by a third party. “97B, 98D. Just… stop. I didn’t ask for this in the first place, and I don’t want to hear any of your idle speculations.” She spoke sharply, her anger readily apparent.

“They are not-”

“No, I’m sorry, they’re very involved speculations.” You heard the water to her stall suddenly stop. “Look, I’m tired, I’ve had a long mission. I wanted to be left alone, in peace. Apparently that was far too much to ask from you two.”

You had wisely picked the stall furthest away from the scene, although you doubted it would do much.

“If you’d just listen-”

“No, I’ve had it. Just shut up, you two. I don’t care about what happened at the-”

“63B! We don’t know who they are! They could be one of them!”

“One of who?” You weren’t a huge fan of their general lack of specificity, but were surprised when you heard two sighs of relief.

“Resistance model. He’s fine.”

“Better you suffering here than me, pal. See ya.” With that, 63B- you presume- walked out.

By now, you had stripped off and started the shower. Too far in to step back now. At least they weren’t ta-

“You believe us, don’t you?”

“Wait, do you think he’s heard it? We haven’t talked to many in the Resistance.”

“Right, right. Well? Have you?”

You weren’t entirely sure how to respond, or even who these two were. Well, you knew that they were 97B and 98D, but you weren’t sure which was which. They both had been nearly tripping over each other to talk, starting not even a fraction of a second after the other one had stopped. “No, I don’t-”

“Look, we’re trying to figure out what’s happened two weeks prior. You know, the explosion way out west.”

“We thought it was a black box detonation, but we ruled that out almost immediately. They can’t be that large, and if they were, it would mean a sizable number of units being destroyed.”

“There’s still the possibility of there being a large number of aggressive units in the vicinity, but Command would never send units in if there were unknowns of that caliber.”

“I still hold by theory Dje. Otherwise there wouldn’t be enough cause to do so.”

“But then why would the reaction be that large? There wouldn’t be enough components unless you had too many androids there to make sense.”

“Uh-” They were making no sense to you.

“Wait, I don’t think he understands what you meant by theory Dje.”

“Fair enough,” They continued regardless, “look, don’t be concerned about anyone listening in. They won’t listen in on conversations going on in here. ‘Nothing important goes on in here,’ supposedly.

“But anyway. You know how there’s these really interesting incidents going on in this superregion? You know, stuff like single androids somehow getting singled out time and time again, getting ‘corrupted memory’? We’ve been tracing those incidents around and around, and we think we’re on to something big.”

“But the problem is, we don’t know why. Something’s going on that someone wants hidden. We don’t know if its someone in command, or if it’s a coalition of androids keeping a secret. It’s a wide web of intrigue and we can’t understand everything that’s going on.”

“But we have some leads, and that’s what’s important. Neither of us believed it at first, but now we have enough evidence to potentially come forward with a semi-cogent case.”

“Are you sure we can share it with him?”

“Absolutely. When he hears it, I know he’ll offer his assistance.”

“Alright, then. By all means, go ahead.”

“So you know all the types of androids YoRHa sends out-”

“Battle, Defense, Gunner, Healer, Operator, Scanner.”

“Now all these types may seem to be working together, each with their own purpose,”

“But there’s a seventh type they send out.”

“Far, far more insidious than the other six.”

“Far, far more destructive than the other six.”

“They use it to keep a lid on actions they don’t approve of.”

“They use it to keep dissent quiet.”

“They use it on YoRHa androids.”

“They use it on Resistance androids.”

“They call it…”

“The Assassin type.”

“You’ll never know when you’re meeting with one, of course.”

“It’s nearly impossible to tell unless they outright say it.”

“But don’t be fooled.”

“They’re masters of disguise.”

“It could be anyone.”

“It could be any android that you run into.”

“It could be any android you’ve already met.”

“You have to be careful.”

“You have to be discrete.”

“And you can’t give your trust out blindly.”

By now, you had all but finished your shower and had barely even listened to the two androids. You had already dried off and dressed, and had started to leave the stall behind you. One of 97B and 98D must have realized that something was off with their captive audience. Just as you dropped off your used towel and were starting to leave them to their ramblings, one of the stall doors slammed open, its occupant suddenly charging at you and clamping down on your arm. Her bright blonde hair clung together, nearly blending into her yellow eyes. For a second, you thought she had thrown on her white underclothes quickly, not even attempting to dry herself off properly in order to catch you before you left.

“You need to be careful! Keep your eyes open, but your mouth shut. They’ll take whatever opportunity they have, and-”

The stall next door snapped open, and an identically-looking android frantically stepped out, making a token attempt (although not very effective) to cover her already similarly-clothed body with a towel while trying to seperate the other android from you. You half wondered why, then a realization struck hard.

Your memories flashed back to the whole ‘operation’ ordeal when you were talking with 50G and 9S.

It’s 11945, they probably have mind bleach by now.

You left the bickering androids behind you as you rushed back to your room, little else on you mind. You either made it there in record time, or your mind was too busy desperately trying to forget that it didn’t keep track of time.

Pushing your door open, you found 2B and 9S in your room, sitting opposite each other, idly talking in 9S’s case, violently ignoring the flow of conversation in 2B’s..

“Hey, 9S, 2B. Is 78B coming here, too?”

“No,” 2B stated flatly, “not that I know. We’re planning to rendezvous before departing at the plaza just at the entrance to camp.”

You sat next to 9S. “Well, I hope your guys’ morning was less adventure-filled than mine was.”

“Oh, this I gotta hear.” 9S turned toward you.

“So there are these two androids in the showers who don’t shut up.”

“That’s eighty percent of the androids in this camp, Theodore.”

“These two are on a whole new level. Heard of 97B and 98D?”

“Just warnings not to listen too closely to them. Why?”

“They’re conspiracy theorists, near as I can tell. The whole time, they were talking about this,” you waved your hand, trying to summon the pure crazy they seemed to emanate, “seventh type of android? Assassin type, I think they called it.”

“What?”

“Yeah, they said they’re deployed to take out unwanted soldiers in YoRHa’s ranks.”

“Please don’t tell me you believe them.” 2B seemed near accusatory.

“I don’t. I think they even claimed they had no hard evidence for it. By the way, quick question: they also talked about some huge explosion off to the west of camp, a week or two earlier. Either of you know about it?”

9S spoke, then glanced over at 2B. “I don’t think so…”

“…Yes,” 2B spoke after a pause, her fists clenching, “we- I know about it.” Just as you were about to ask what was wrong, 2B suddenly stood up and stormed out, leaving one last sentence . “Popola will be over soon with breakfast, be ready to head out soon after.”

She had an unmistakable crack in her voice.

Chapter 28: Asking Advice

Chapter Text

You turned to 9S to get some sort of explanation about 2B’s behavior, only to find him looking away from you and the door. It seems he was purposefully trying to avoid your gaze. He was muttering something under his breath, a continuous stream.

“9S?”

“…to forget now, of all … have to even-”

“9S?” You tried to get his attention more firmly.

He stopped speaking, then turned to you after hesitating. “It’s my fault, Theodore.”

“How is it your fault? You didn’t know-”

“2B hasn’t been taking it well. I… Theodore, what do you know about how androids work?”

“Not a whole lot.”

“So, androids store their memories in a component called a ‘black box’. It’s something only YoRHa androids have. Now, we can transmit that information to the servers at the Bunker, so if something happens to us on the field.”

“This relates to the explosion… how?”

“If our memories aren’t sent back, we have to load a backup of those memories. We were both caught up in the explosion, but only her memories got uploaded to the Bunker.”

Your mind was starting to grasp the severity of the situation. If their memories could be reduced to data, what could happen to all of it? In 9S’s case, his information didn’t get backed up. So, in some sense, didn’t he die there, in the explosion? Were you talking to the 9S that 2B had been fighting with all those days prior?

“I’m so sorry, 9S. But you can’t really expect those accidents to-”

“It wasn’t an accident.” He brashly cut you off, although there wasn’t much anger in his tone. “It was a Black Box detonation. We were probably surrounded by enemy machines.”

“Probably?”

His next words slowly crept out, barely above a whisper. “…2B doesn’t like to talk about it. Not the first time it’s happened.” He rose off the bed, turning toward the door. “Look, I need to, uh, get ready as well. I’ll, I’ll meet you when we’re heading out, okay?” He was basically out the door, not waiting for any response from you.

“Alright, see you then.” Your words practically fell on your closed door. You hadn’t expected such a few small remarks to have hurt the two so much. You wanted to apologize to them, but at the same time, you didn’t want to bring up such a sensitive topic.

Maybe you could seek advice from the Operators that you know. They have to deal with androids like this on a daily basis, so they should be able to tell you something. 21O is 9S’s operator, and 9O has to deal with YoRHa’s side of the camp, so she should be able to tell you something. They should know how do deal with this situation far better than you do.

“320, 904, can you two connect to 21O and 9O?”

“Alert:” 320 started, “pods can only make singular telecommunication connections.”

“Suggestion:” 904 continued, “320 connects to 21O while this unit connects to 9O.”

You gave the okay, and your two pods simultaneously began their attempts to connect, flashing up screens of static side-by-side. 320’s connected first, the static on the screen on the left clearing away to show a wider view than you’re used to. 21O was sitting on her bed (probably in her room), but you didn’t expect to see 6O there with her, her head on 21O’s lap. 21O appeared to be idly braiding 6O’s hair.

“Theodore. Hello.” 21O sounded a bit surprised, but didn’t look away from her braiding.

“Hey.” 6O waved, keeping her head as still as possible.

“Wait, you know him?” 21O’s question caused 6O to finch, realizing she may have let something slip she shouldn’t have.

“Uh, eheheh…”

“21O,” you decided to ask “you said that she’s 2B’s Operator, right? Does she know?” You tried to be vague, but you thought 6O didn’t know you were a human.

“Know what?” 6O looked genuinely confused.

The screen on the right flickered, revealing a glaring 9O in a similar environment, probably her own room. “Operator 9O here, never off-duty, apparently.” Her expression suddenly shifted on seeing you, becoming more amicable. “Ah, it’s you. Couple of androids at camp are throwing all these fits.”

21O had a look of confusion and concern. “Theodore, who is that?”

You turned to reply. “9O. She’s the administrator of Sigma - Kaon, 21O. She… knows.”

21O nearly glared at you “Did you-”

“I didn’t tell her.”

“Tell her what?” 6O asked, more insistently.

“So only 6O doesn’t know?” You wanted to make absolutely sure. 21O nodded. “Right, 6O.” Her gaze turned to you. “Just… making sure you’re up to speed. I’m a human.”

“What‽” The shout did not come from 6O. In fact, both androids on the left screen jumped upon hearing the shreek come from… 9O? “Wh- what do you mean you’re- How are you- How did you-” she paused for a second, trying to internalize what she just heard. A timid knock sounded through 904’s speakers.

“Uh, 9O, is everything alright?” You didn’t recognize who was checking up on her.

“Yes, yes, everything’s fine. Just… caught off guard, is all.”

You turned your attention back to 21O and 6O. The former was staring down in a bit of shock at the android laying on her lap. “6O, would you mind telling us how you knew?”

“Oh,” 6O turned to face 21O as best as she could, “it just kind of makes sense if you think about it. Why would a Resistance android threaten to talk to the Commander when the camp’s administration is far more available and likely to vouch for them? It would only make sense for someone in close communication with YoRHa to report to them, and he definitely didn’t look like YoRHa android. So, what else was he supposed to be?”

21O looked down at 6O, rather confused as to the recent revelation. 9O, on the other panel, was still trying to comprehend what she was just told.

“Guys,” you tried to recenter them, “I originally called you for some advice. 21O, since you’re the Operator for 9S, I thought you’d know him well enough. 9O, I figured that, since you’re an administrator, you’ve had to have dealt with many different types of personalities.”

“…More than that,” 9O interrupted, “we share the same personality type. We may not have the same experiences, but I can at least give some glimpse into his mind.” She seemed a little off-put, by her tone of voice, but you couldn’t tell why.

“Same number means same personality, got it. Anyway.” You took a deep breath. “To make sure everyone’s on the same page. 9S and 2B got caught up in a ‘black box detonation’, 2B was able to have her memories backed up, but 9S’s weren’t. Both of them aren’t taking it too well, apparently.” Even from this short snippet, you saw all three Operators have some sort of reaction. 21O slowed her braiding, a somber look crossing her face. 6O brought a hand up to cover her mouth, muttering an ‘oh no’ as she donned a pained look. 9O looked off to the side, seeping herself in thought. “I know this is news only to you, 9O. Is there something I can do to show that I can be there for them? I… I know that I’ll never be in that situation, but is there something, anything I can do?”

“9S doesn’t like to talk about the incident.” 21O was the first to reply, “I can try to tell him that you’d be a potential support, if he needs it, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll talk to you.”

6O was next. “2B hasn’t told me anything. I can tell she’s having a hard time, but she always keeps to herself and doesn’t let me know if anything’s bothering her. She rarely even stops by the Bunker, even when I ask her. I mean, I can try to tell her, too, but I just think you’ll get the same silent response I have. Sorry.”

9O was the last to speak. “Yeah, I can’t really say anything. I mean, maybe you can try to meet up with 9S alone and tell him that you’ll be there for him? The issue seems very… contextual, and without knowing every detail, I can’t say for sure.”

“Alright,” you took in what the Operators said. “21O, 6O, it would be nice if you two could pass the message on to them. I know it’s not much, but every bit counts, right? 9O, thanks for your suggestion. We’ll see if he wants to talk about it.”

“Got it, will do.” 6O briefly glanced away. “Don’t expect much from 2B, however. I’ve tried for so long trying to get her to talk, to open up.” She pulled up her knees to her chest. “She hasn’t.”

21O glanced up at you. “I’ll tell 9S as well. He should respond favorably, although he hasn’t truly confided in me with personal matters.”

“Thanks again, everyone. See you guys later. Theodore signing off.” The screens blinked off, first the left, then the right. You took a deep breath. You’ve done what you can, now all you could do was wait.

An hour had passed. Popola had brought you breakfast, and you considered asking her for advice with 9S and 2B, but considering that they knew very little of specific androids, especially the two you needed, you decided that they wouldn’t be able to offer much in the way of advice (at least, for advice that you haven’t already received).

Just as Popola was preparing to leave, 47D knocked on your door. “Theodore, ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” You handed the empty container over to Popola, then hurried over to open the door out, revealing 47D. “Is there anything I’m forgetting?”

“I’ve made all the preparations that I could think of. I would guess 2B and 9S have done the same. Not much else we can do, really.”

“Alright. Pods? Ready?”

After they each chimed an ‘affirmative’, you turned and closed the door and locked it- after Popola followed you out, of course. The three of you turned and made your way down the stairway, outside, and to the outer plaza. Near the twins’ house, you noticed 9S, 2B, and Devola all near each other. 9S and Devola sat against the house’s door, talking to each other, although they stopped and stood when you drew near.

“Theodore! Ready to head out?” 9S all but ran up to you, his earlier troubles seemingly all but forgotten. Seemingly- you couldn’t be quite sure.

“Yep. I didn’t keep you all waiting too long, did I?”

9S smiles. “Not really. We’re all here just slightly before the rendezvous time.”

Devola walked up behind him, looking at 47D. “You have all the meals Popola prepared, right?”

“Of course.” 47D replied.

“And the medication? She gave you the first-aid kit as well, didn’t she?”

“Yes to both of them.”

“And the-”

“Look, Devola, do you trust your sister or not?”

“I trust her,” Devola began to speak quickly, not taking too well to the charge leveled against her, “I just want to make absolutely sure everything is in order. I don’t want you a day out and suddenly realize that you’ve forgotten something important!”

Popola walked over to her twin and laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her. “It’s alright, everything’s going to be fine. We’ve trusten them once before, we can trust them again.”

You smiled. “Thanks for the concern, Devola. Don’t worry, you two, I’ll do what I can to stay safe.” You turned to the three androids who would be escorting you. “No time like the present. Shall we?”

All six of you began to head out together. Just as the exit came into view, Popola and Devola gave their goodbyes and waved you off, declining to see you off at the exit. You, 47D, 2B, and 9S slipped out of the gates and set out to the east. The androids stationed at the gate noticed you leave, but didn’t seem to take much heed.

You were on your way.

Chapter 29: Diving Deeper

Chapter Text

The journey had begun. 9S and 2B walked slightly ahead of you as 47D kept somewhat to your side. The androids stationed at the entrance didn’t stop any of you, but you garnered a few glances when they thought you weren’t looking. Perhaps it was suspicious that a resistance unit would be leaving with three YoRHa androids, but that wasn’t something you could help. You probably wouldn’t pass as a YoRHa unit due to your inability to use visors. In any case, the androids at the camp had one more strange event to further fuel their suspicions.

47D turned to you once you weren’t in earshot of the entrance. “I’ll be carrying you when the camp’s out of sight. There’s no reason for you to walk the whole way, it’ll just take forever.”

“I get it, I get it. Will you be carrying me the whole way?”

“We mapped out the route beforehand. There’s a small section right before we get there that doesn’t seem to be as easy to traverse, so I think we’ll have to cross on foot. I’ll wake you up before we get there.”

“It’s not going to be that long, I won’t fall asleep.”

47D let out a small laugh. “That’s not what I noticed when I was carrying you to the camp. You didn’t last five minutes after that battle.”

“I was also tired and trying to fall asleep, 47D.”

“I guess we’ll have to see.”

By now, the route the androids had taken you on began to pass by a small- well, you hesitated to call it a pond, considering how low the water level was. The water itself was rather murky, so you couldn’t tell its depth past a few inches. 9S, you noticed, had slowed down enough to walk closer to you. He gestured over to the glorified puddle.

“I’ve been fishing here when I’m off duty. You’d be surprised at what you can find in there.”

You glanced at the ‘pond’ again. “You… sure about that, 9S? What have you been finding? Rocks?”

9S swiveled and scowled at you. Just as it seemed he was going to go off on some tangent, 2B turned and interrupted him. “9S, we’re not stopping so that you can prove him wrong.”

He turned back around. “I didn’t even say anything!”

“You’re known to make that kind of decision. Now come on.”

“There’s something else I wanted to say.” He turned to 47D. “If you want to switch carrying Theo, let me know.”

“Wait,” you couldn’t believe this, “9S, are you sure about that?”

He tilted his head, a bit confused. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know,” you looked over his less-than-impressive stature, “maybe it’s the fact you’re a bit too small to be carrying someone larger than you?”

9S looked insulted; you sensed that the two other androids had turned and were giving you a look. “Hey! I’ll have you know- No, I’ll show you!” 9S stormed up to you and-

Oh God.

9S- the tiny, short, child-looking 9S- had just locked his arms around you. And, like you weren’t even there, just threw you over his shoulder. “See?” He started turning around, showing off he wasn’t even hindered by you. “I can carry you easily! What were you doubting about me?”

“How are you even doing this?” He was nearly wrenching you around- not enough to hurt you, but enough to show off. The scenery flying past you was throwing you off balance way too much. “9S, please, you’ve made your point. Can you just put me down?”

“Fine,” his fake bored tone showed he didn’t understand just how much you wanted to be set down. As quickly as the dizzying display started, it came to a more sudden stop, leaving your mind reeling, trying to reconcile the world around you now to the world it thought you were in. Staggering a little, you bumped into 47D.

“Whoa, whoa,” she steadied you against herself as she glanced back toward the camp. “I think we’re far enough. I’ll take him for a little bit, 9S. I don’t think he can trust you just yet after that.” She looked back at you. “Ready?”

“Yeah. I’m-” before you could get out a third word, the world flipped around you again. You suddenly found yourself on 47D’s back, your arms locked around her neck. Your mind started trying to throw the pieces together; had she flipped you over herself? You felt her shift, securing her arms around your legs. “Look, guys, can I just ask that you make sure I’m ready before you start throwing me around like that?”

9S raised an eyebrow. “But you dealt with it so well.”

“That doesn’t mean that I was ready, or that I wanted it to be thrown around like some kind of ragdoll.” You felt 47D flinch underneath you.

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” You could hear two different tones in 9S’s voice. He was being sincere, but it also felt as though there was still something he wasn’t letting go.

As 9S turned to head back to 2B, 47D began muttering her own apologies. “I’m sorry, Theo. I thought-”

“It’s fine, 47D. For the future, though, ask me before you attempt throwing me around, alright?”

“I understand.” She kept her voice low.

With the group not tied down with your walking speed, you found the city starting to pass by much faster, although you had a rather hard distinguishing one broken and buckled road from another. The buildings didn’t help much, either, save for the occasional absolute pile of rubble.

After a while, you noticed, over 47D’s shoulder, that 2B and 9S had been moving very little, relative to the android carrying you. The twists, turns, and angled shards of the road did little to dissuade the three androids out of formation.

Until they suddenly weren’t.

Nearly in unison, they had all suddenly pulled to a stop. You didn’t have long to look around, trying to find why they paused before 47D set you down. “There’s a few machines around the corner. We’ve passed a few groups so far, but this one is right where we need to go.” She took a few steps away and her three swords appeared behind her back. “There aren’t any other groups of machines around, so you’ll be sitting back where it’s safe.”

“The only logical place for a non combatant. Think I could provide ranged support around the corner?”

“You won’t be that far back, although I wouldn’t complain if you were. But, no, I wouldn’t mind additional support if your pods had the proper targeting protocol assigned to them. 209, forward targeting information to 320 and 904, if you could.”

“Affirmative,” her pod chirped. “Unit tags sent. Communication channel formed.”

You raised an eyebrow. “So, my pods are working for you, now, are they?”

“Only for the battle, if that’s so important to you.” She laughed as she turned toward the other androids. “I apologize for this grave overreach of your freedoms.”

The three androids rapidly lined up near the corner in preparation, then just as quickly slipped around the corner toward battle. 2B was first, most likely so she could start dealing with the opposition earlier. 47D was right after her, cementing herself in the middle of the road, her pod already launching a tether out toward where you assumed the machines were. 9S moved into the alley just enough to send out his hacking pulses. Your pods, too, leaned out, trying to stay close to you, but also trying to get line-of-sight with the machines.

If machines had blood, it was a bloodbath. You didn’t see much of the battle, but the enemies kept dissolving under the androids’ attacks. 47D quickly reeled in flying machine after flying machine (who each apparently had ranged weapons) and spared none, breaking each one into unrecognizable scrap.

2B had a similarly easy time. Machines seemed to almost be lining up to die around her. For a short second, you wondered if your pods were even needed in a battle like-

Your thoughts were interrupted by two white beams of pure energy originating from slightly above you. You figured that was the work of 904 and 320, then marveled at the results. You had noticed that a few of the machines had surrounded 2B and were preparing to attack. This was something that your pods had rectified. They resumed firing their streams of photobullets.

Glancing beside yourself, you saw 9S, apparently hacking some of the machines.

You weren’t quite sure how he was doing it, but he was probably doing that very well.

Thinking back to the only other major battle you were completely conscious for, this one seemed rather… tame. Of course, the ambushing party was your side, not theirs, and the androids were facing far fewer enemies. On second thought, the shorter battle was to be expected.

The battle finally wrapping up, 47D cooled down from the battle, unseating herself from her fixed location. 9S picked through some of the remains of the fliers (for some reason you couldn’t fathom), while 2B was… looking around?

47D walked over to you. “2B says we should come over to her. Apparently, we don’t have a clear route there anymore, but we do have an alternative.”

“Subterranean? Or are we going through a maze of buildings?”

“The former. Come on.” She directed that comment not only at you, but at 9S as well, who found what he was looking for in the metal carcass.

Your confused look got him to give a few words for an explanation. “Chips. I’ll explain later.”

As the three of you drew nearer to 2B, you found her standing over an exposed manhole. The slightly rusted ladder was the only promise of something down in the overwhelming darkness.

One of your pods’ flashlights flicked on, ruining the narrative moment and showing the ladder did, thankfully, end on solid ground. 2B stepped forward before you could get any ideas of going first. She grabbed one side of the ladder and quietly slid down. 9S followed a few seconds later.

47D gestured toward the ladder. “Someone has to bring up the rear.”

“Before I start climbing down there,” you maneuvered yourself onto the ladder, “I want you to know that I’m not going to be as fast as any of you are.”

The climb felt longer than it looked. Thankfully, all the rungs were still there. You nearly slipped once or twice, but you didn’t fall. That would not have been pleasant for anyone on this expedition.

You reached the bottom and barely had to wait for 47D to climb off behind you.

“I’ve got the scans of the sewers,” 9S explained, “it should only be a short walk to the escape point, don’t worry.” His voice echoed throughout the space, reflecting on the smoothed walls.

As everyone set off after him, the slightly grim situation began to unfold around you. The darkness didn’t get to you- with five pods shining flashlights around, no area stood unilluminated for long. The sounds and echoes of the group’s footsteps dominated the tunnel, contested only by the quiet stream running in the old, decrepit trench beside you, although in the distance, you could hear a stronger current building, threatening to plunge away the sounds of you walking. Something small skittered away as you passed that you didn’t see.

At first, you were surprised that there wasn’t some pungent smell overpowering the area, but then again, humanity hadn’t been using this sewage system for a few thousand years. It’s had plenty of time to clear itself out since then.

Piles of junk and refuse littered around the place. You could tell there were a number of interesting items lying around, if you were brave enough to risk Tetanus from the rust. Batteries, with their charges probably lost eons ago. A tire, surprisingly whole, its tread marks mostly worn away. Rebar, jutting out from various piles. A pipe stood tall out from a small pool of water, a curved section sitting at its top. A…

Wait, was that a rocket launcher? A second glance confirmed (as far as you could) that there was, in fact, a rocket launcher just sitting around in this tunnel. The fact that the other androids hadn’t even noticed it was reason enough for you to leave it be.

Seriously, you reprimanded yourself, scavenging weapons from a place like this? Unfathomable.

The dull roar of a distant river had been growing ever stronger as you continued walking. Just as you turned a corner, you found the apparent source of the resounding noise. This must have been one of the major throughways of the sewer, back in the day. The river stretched a good three to four meters across, and the water thundered down the straight, crashing and bearing down against the stubborn piles of garbage which clung to the two paths on opposite sides. You didn’t want to hear 9S’s next words.

“We're going to need to get to the other side.”

Chapter 30: The River Crossing Problem

Chapter Text

The river roared in front of you, sending a spray of droplets into your face. How were you going to get over to the other side of the torrent? Looking up and down the tunnel, you could clearly see some locations where the river demonstrated its power, crashing against the different piles of refuse which accumulated (you presumed) over the years.

“Any plans to cross, 9S?”

“Working on it. I think there are a few locations where the water should be slower.” He points off to the right, upstream. “The scans show a small section right after a couple sharp turns. I think it should be the slowest there, and thus the safest.”

The way up wasn’t dry. Every time you passed something which caused the river the turn, you could feel a spike in the spray. Off in the distance, you could see one of the pods focusing their flashlight on a specific series of turns in the river. It was obviously battering against the number of small mounds in its way, including a rather large one which the water cascaded over. This must have been the crossing area that 9S had been talking about. When you drew closer, 9S turned, looking behind you.

“47D, you’ll be carrying Theodore across. Don’t worry, Theo, the river’s not going to be enough to sweep us away.”

His advice didn’t help. “I think the most worrying part is that you have to reassure me. How strong is the river, then? Would it have been a problem in other sections?”

As far as you could tell, 9S rolled his eyes. “It’s fine, Theo. Trust me, I ran every scenario on the river. We’re safest here.”

You still had your doubts. Turning to 47D, you suddenly noticed the slightest bit of trepidation on her. Noticeably, 2B wasn’t showing a single bit (although that wasn’t saying much), and 47D hadn’t shown uncertainty since you had entered the sewers. She seemed to brush it aside after a few seconds, however.

47D stepped into the river, revealing it to be far deeper than you originally thought since it nearly came up to her waist, then turned around to pick you up. Usually, 2B was quick to take up the fore, but 47D was taking that position now. You had expected to be brought across in the same position that you had been carried before, but now it seemed she preferred a different style. She was carrying you in front of herself, for one, but she had one arm under your knees, and the other under your shoulders.

Wait a second, this is the princess carry.

Already secured, you could do little else but turn away in frustration. Was this really how they thought of you? Someone far weaker than them who had to be carried around and protected?

It’s not wrong, but still.

“I know this may be an affront to your dignity, Theo, but it’s just to the other side.” 47D began to slog against the current. Behind her, you could see 9S and 2B step in to start their journeys. 9S seemed to take to the rushing water better, while 2B seemed to take her time, making sure her footing was secure for every step.

The far bank was soon in reach. You glanced back at the other two androids over 47D’s shoulder. 2B was still engaged in keeping her footing, and 9S was looking at the refuse slowing the river. He seemed to be deep in thought, focusing on… something. 47D froze, her head snapping over like she just caught something 9S had found.

Before you could ask her anything, the world seemed to drop away underneath you. You landed hard on solid ground, rolling once or twice. Barely above the roar of the river, you heard something break and any other sound disappeared underneath the tide surging down. Pushing yourself up, you saw 47D desperately clinging to the bank, a torrent of water replacing the more placid section behind her.

You barely caught the sight of 2B falling as she was swept away by the river.

Above, four of the pods darted around, their flashlights desperately trying to peer into the murky waters. 209, the only one not participating, was helping 47D pull herself out of the now-far-more-tumultuous torrent. She was having issues keeping her stance in the current. You caught a glimpse of a black glove pierce out of the water, followed by 2B’s head attempt to follow suit, only for her to sink back below the surge.

Two pods immediately dove beneath the surface, then barely surfaced a second later, each holding a hand, struggling against the current to pull 2B up. As much as the three fought against the unrelenting tide, they kept slipping further down the river.

9S was still somewhere in the river. You saw a small swell slip down the river, and caught a brief glint of white. These observations barely had time to register before you scrambled to try to catch up to him. Luck was on his side- even though he probably had no good way to orient himself, he had somehow made it slightly closer to shore.

As you neared, the remaining two pods dipped down closer to the water, hovering close, like they weren’t sure where 9S was. Thinking back to the river where you found 320, you didn’t want to throw yourself in; the river would sweep you away, too. The pods were about to dip down, and would most likely try to shunt 9S toward the bank. You readied yourself, trying to place yourself as close as possible to where he would come up. Again, 9S broke the surface, throwing his head and an arm momentarily above the water. The pods jumped at the opportunity, one of them holding fast to 9S’s hand, the other diving into the water to grab on to something. The pod that stayed above the water was dragged along downriver, but was obviously fighting as much as it could.

The pods were dragging 9S closer to the bank, but he was still disoriented and probably couldn’t drag himself up. As he inched closer, you tried to wrap your hands around his arm, trying to find some purchase on his clothes. Finding none, you went next to trying to get some leverage from just under his arms. Leaning dangerously down, you wrapped your arms around him and locked your fingers. You pulled against him as much as you could without sending yourself into the water. It was obvious 9S was moving, but it wasn’t anywhere near what you wanted or needed.

9S’s other hand broke the surface, and scrabbled against the edge. Once, twice, his grip on the bank faltered, forcing him to seek it again. This whole time, he kept pulling against his pod and unsuccessfully trying to get leverage to get his head above the water.

9S made one final coordinated lunge out of the water. Gasping for breath, he threw his free hand further up the bank. Another set of hands was immediately on him as 47D rushed in to help hoist him out. You felt the sting of dejection, seeing her lift the scrawny android out far more easily than you had. 9S sluggishly let himself flop down, the water cascading off of him and seeping back into the river. He seemed to appreciate every breath he could take- not that you could blame him, you remembered the horror of the river.

But there was still one more to go. 2B had drifted further down, and had slipped back to the other side of the river. You could hear her struggle as she clambered up, the sudden fall from the initial surge having knocked out any air she had. She was unsteady on her feet, but she managed to rescue herself from the river.

You turned to 9S. “Care to run a few more scenarios?”

2B had made the crossing slightly further upstream, where the water was not as slow as the section the you had tried to cross earlier, but was slow enough in the new scenarios. If 2B wasn’t cautious before, she definitely was now, leaning against her pod to help herself fight against the current.

47D and 9S helped her up before you could even offer a hand. You figured you wouldn’t be of any help in the first place, but it still stung slightly.

“I’m sorry, 2B,” 9S began muttering his apology, “I should have-”

“You don’t need to apologize, 9S. This was an unplanned occurrence.” 2B walked past the other two androids and briefly glanced at you to address you. “Let’s keep moving.”

Curt as ever. Good to know the water didn’t damage her.

You didn’t need to keep going for long. After a few minutes of walking, you turned a corner and found a ladder stretching up through the ceiling. A few streams of light seemed to flitter down this deep, a welcome change from the pod’s flashlights.

2B was first to throw herself into an unknown, and thus, up the ladder. 9S was next to climb the ladder, but flinch back on looking up.

He stepped back from the ladder, putting an arm around you to try to push you there in his stead. “Theodore! Why don’t you go on ahead in front of me?”

You raised an eyebrow at his behavior, but acquiesced to his (rather odd) request. You gripped the rungs, found your footing, looked up-

Oh.

That’s why he didn’t want to go first.

See, 2B was climbing the ladder ahead of you. She was also wearing a free-flowing skirt that came to her mid-thigh.

Guess you’ll be climbing with your head down.

Eventually, 2B helped lift you up out of the manhole, placing you gently on concrete. You took stock of where you were as 9S and 47D followed out behind you.

The small area you ascended to was surrounded on all sides by either buildings or overgrown trees which seemed to stretch up, attempting to hold up the sky. A small path wound its way between the trees, toward a plaza. While the roaring river dominated what you could hear in the sewers, now the distant sounds of fireworks would seem to be the ever-present noise.

Edging closer to the path out, you could see a number of machines milling around- well, they only resembled machines by the shape under their clothes. The once colorful, but now faded, clothes could not hide the fact that there were round and unwieldy bodies underneath their costumes. The sloppily-applied facepaint and jester hats were another touch, but the underlying alien form was still ever-present.

Suddenly, they all stopped their wandering in unison. As one, they all twirled, tossing a small burst of confetti into the air, letting it slowly tumble back to the earth. As suddenly as they stopped, they turned and resumed their milling around.

You had two thoughts running through your mind.

‘What the **** did I just see.’

‘Yep, I’m at the amusem*nt park.’

Chapter 31: Amusem*nt Amazement

Chapter Text

You heard a few sets of footsteps approach behind you. The grove you stood in probably hid you and the androids fairly well from the machines, but you’d have to see if they noticed you or not. So far, it seemed you were safe. The three androids moved into formation. 47D and 9S lined up across from you, so presumably, 2B was beh-

“How many are there?”

You jumped, suddenly hearing 2B whisper over your shoulder. Whipping around to face her, you found she wasn’t looking at the small group of machines right outside of the grove. You saw another rare emotion plaster her face- subdued fear. Nothing moved on her, except the smallest of movements necessary for her to breathe. You followed her gaze, which stretched down the path, further toward the park. Above the squat buildings, a castle rose, bathed in red light, with a hollowed out section in the middle in the shape of heart.

But beneath that, just inside the gates of the park, stood a near army of machines. Every single one was decorated eerily similar to the machines just outside the park. Were this not reality in front of you, you could laugh at this and the absurdity of it all. They’re robots built to kill, and now they’re all arrayed out in these jester’s outfits.

You couldn’t allow yourself to forget that these were the very same types of machines that the androids had been fighting, the very ones that could easily tear apart androids- and you, if you weren’t careful.

Taking the better part of valor, you carefully took a few steps backward away from the fantastic and dangerous display of machines. 2B slid forward to take your place, moving so smoothly as to almost seem unnatural. After more than a few steps, you turned around, thinking it safe, that you were now so far away from them.

The machine that now stood in front of you begged to differ.

You had seen machines like this from afar. Their short bodies, stubby limbs, and round heads all made up an entirely alien form. Now, however, it looked far more… wrong, for lack of a better word. Its face was slathered in some white substance, the only exceptions being the small marks around its eyes and the crudely drawn-on smile, stretching from one side of its ‘face’ to the other. A rumpled, white ring encircled what would be its neck, had it the anatomy, and perched precariously on top of its head was a ratty jester’s cap, a number of seams and holes allowing it to deflate down and away. Its clothes were little better, but at least some care was taken to putting it close together and putting far too few stitches in to ‘repair’ the material.

Its green eyes flickered as it stepped forward, raising its arms up.

“Visitors!”

…What?

“Visitors! Visitors! Oh, happy day, happy day!” Its squawks sounded as though it would need alternating capitalization to properly represent. As the machine took its time walking up to you, you definitely heard the android jump, turning around to the intruder. “Forever, it’s been, since we’ve visitors! Come, come!” The machine made an unsuccessful attempt to grab your hand, but continued to act as though it had. “The park awaits!” It blithely continued to walk past you and the bewildered three androids.

“9S, I’m not malfunctioning, am I?” 47D sounded equally worried and confused.

“N-no, I think I saw that, too. Pod, run a virus scan, just to be sure.”

“Affirmative.”

You walked up to the still androids, hesitant to break them from their stupor. “…So what’s the plan?”

“There’s too many to attack,” 9S spoke grimly, “if we did, there’s no way we could guarantee your safety. They’d overwhelm us.”

“They don’t seem to have a problem with us. I mean, look.” You gestured behind them, where the machines were still mindlessly milling about, but now a few had stopped to idly admire what was going on. “They’re not attacking. I don’t think they’re hostile.”

“Yet. Theodore, those things were built to kill. It doesn’t matter if they’re peaceful now, it’s only a matter of time before they revert back to their old programming.”

You spared another glance at all the machines that weren’t attacking you, and that didn’t look like they were going to. “Give me a second.” You turned to take off after the machine that gave you a not-so-formal introduction, but 9S was far faster, latching fast onto your hand before you could leave him behind. You brought your other hand up and called out to the machine. “Hey, wait!” He stopped in his tracks then slowly turned around to face you, tilting his face slightly to show he was listening. “It’s safe here, right?”

The machine eagerly hopped back toward you. “The amusem*nt park is completely safe! Several of our attractions have only a 67.2% failure rate!”

9S kept trying to pull you back as you talked to the surprisingly chatty machine. “No, I mean, we won’t get attacked, will we?”

“Oh ho! You are secure! Every machine in this park has completely disconnected from the network!” 9S stopped pulling you back. “I can guarantee, with the exception of a XC-1048772-KVN-22110 situation, that there will be zero unwarranted attacks on you! Also, excepting a simple XC-10 situation, of course. And staying outside of the excised sector. But otherwise, you have nothing to fear! The sector is impossible to get to!”

You turned back to 9S. “Any idea what he meant by the ‘situations’?”

“No clue, and none of us are sticking around to find out.”

“Whoa, wait. He made it a point that the machines were disconnected from the network. Isn’t that important? At all?”

9S noticeably paused. “It… I don’t know. We can’t trust a machine’s word.”

“Then how about we trust their actions?” You gestured toward the still idling machines outside the park. While some had stopped to observe the group, none of them had taken any aggressive stance or actions toward anyone. 9S seemed conflicted, glancing uncertainly between the different machines, then back to you.

9S finally seemed to acquiesce. “Fine. I just don’t want you to throw yourself into danger. Let us take the lead, alright?” 9S moved you so that he was between you and most of the machines as 2B and 47D moved into position.

The three androids all seemed reluctant to let the machines be. Each of them had their weapons at the ready, and kept reaching toward them whenever a machine so much as started to walk toward the group.

It didn’t get better when you passed the gates. This plaza seemed to stretch on, only bounded by the dilapidated and neglected storefronts decaying at the fringes. Tables and chairs lay scattered around, perhaps their purpose forgotten by the present caretakers of the park. Surprisingly, there was little debris littered around the square, but this did not mean everything was in good order. Most of the bricks making up the main paths were cracked and broken, but any shards that should have broken free were nowhere to be seen.

There was nothing much that made most of the machines that wandered here different than those outside the park, if you ignored two new types. The larger machines had guns strapped onto their right hands instead of ending normally. Every once in a while, sometimes in sync with the other machines tossing confetti, they would aim these weapons skyward and launch a few balloons which inflated a few seconds earlier. The other type, the flying machines, seemed to have nothing better to do than hover around the place.

As you walked around, you could definitely hear that the machines were talking- or trying to, anyway. You could make out senseless fragments and the occasional word, but it didn’t seem that the huddled masses out front had much to say to you.

But most interesting in the park was the statue which stood atop and dominated the fountain at the center. It looked exactly like the smallest machines which meandered around this area in shape, but it seemed to be made of solid iron, which was beginning to rust in some areas. It held some sort of trumpet aloft, in a sort of symbolic gesture, probably to welcome people to the park. Thinking back to what that machine said when you just arrived, it doesn’t seem to be doing its job. You noticed 9S worriedly glancing at the statue as well, although 47D and 2B weren’t.

Though the androids were the highest-strung you’ve seen them thus far, none of them pulled the trigger and started the battle. You managed to edge around the plaza, meter by agonizing meter, as 9S kept slowing your pace whenever a machine had the audacity to walk even slightly close to the group.

The park stretched out ahead of you. A straightaway unravelled ahead of you, giving you a narrow view of the castle. The street was narrower than it felt like it should have been, but maybe you had gotten used to the city streets over these. There were noticeably fewer machines here, only a few smaller groups which patrolled back and forth, throwing confetti like clockwork.

Shops lines the sides of the street. From the names in faded and chipped paint above each one, you could tell that, once, every single one used to be occupied and had various purposes. Mechanics seemed to be the most popular (although this didn’t surprise you), but you could tell there were an almost equal number of vendors.

You turned to 9S. “I don’t think there’s much for accommodations here, is there?”

“Funny.” He didn’t show any sign of acknowledging any humor.

“Guys,” you pointed to a particularly neglected store, “think they’ll mind if we hole up in here?” The three androids paused and looked the storefront over. Most of the front had held together, and the windows still seemed to be completely boarded shut. The door, in stark contrast, had two narrow boards barely preventing entrance. A patchwork array of green and blue paint covered what wasn’t made of wood. Hanging over it all was a partially-broken sign, proclaiming it as “Presteigne’s Café” in a strikingly gaudy assortment of colors.

Peering inside, you saw a number of tables and chairs, the vast majority unusable from neglect. A plain bar sprung out of the wall to the right, its metal surface nearly rusted through. Broken stools still rested peacefully beneath. The shelves, which once lined the right and back walls, left only their supports to show what was once there.

You took a step back to see what the androids were thinking, only to nearly get pushed aside by 2B. With two clean, swift movements, she had separated the offending planks from the wall and just as quickly tossed them aside. She darted in, weapons at the ready; 9S wasn’t too far behind. You didn’t get the opportunity to walk in after them, asking what was with their reaction, when 47D clamped a hand down on your shoulder. Securing the building from the potential enemies, you assumed.

9S called back an ‘all clear’. 47D didn’t stop you this time, but you didn’t get far before 47D began to speak.

“Why’d you need to stop? I’m not judging, it’s just that-”

“I wanted to break for lunch. We’ve been on the road for all morning.” You quickly realized your mistake. “Well, we’ve been travelling for a while, anyway. I wanted to sit down while having lunch, partially for you three. It’s easier for all of you when we’re not on the street, isn’t it? It’ll be nice to hole up in an easily defensible area.”

“You also didn’t want to wait to stop, didn’t you?”

“…Could you just hand me my lunch?”

Chapter 32: In Ruins

Chapter Text

“…Could you just hand me my lunch?”

47D lets out an almost imperceptible sigh, then hands over a container which appears in a flash of light. You begin to salivate at the sight of the familiar blue lid, although you could almost bet that it was still leftovers from yesterday’s lunch and supper. You’re a bit surprised to find that she turns around almost immediately after.

“47D? You’re-”

“There needs to be someone guarding the entrance. You did want this place to be easy to defend, didn’t you?”

“I- oh. Yeah. Uh, sorry.” 47D left to stand guard at the entrance, you presumed. You turned and sat down at one of the few chairs that seemed to remain in good condition. All of the tables seemed to still be stable- a fact that you quickly corrected yourself on when the table collapsed in front of you when you set your meal down. Sighing, you picked your lunch back up and looked for a different, more stable location.

2B and 9S rushed into the room, seemingly ready for battle. “It’s alright, guys,” you tried to calm them down, “the tables just aren’t as strong as they looked.”

2B let go of her weapons, letting them return to floating behind herself. “Understood. Assuming there isn’t any other danger, I’ll be heading out to guard the entrance.”

“47D’s already out there.”

“Considering the number of machines, I believe a second android on guard is warranted.” She left without saying anything further.

You sat yourself down at another table, bringing the safe chair with you. Thankfully, this one proved far more resilient than the earlier one. 9S, who was showing he had noted a lesson you learned the hard way, was checking the chairs seated around the new table. For the most part, he was finding out that they weren’t up to his standards.

You flipped the lid to the bottom of the container, idly eyeing 9S as he found another chair that wasn’t structurally sound enough. “So, 9S… just what’s going on with you and all those machines? I’ve never seen you so bent out of shape.”

9S set his chair down opposite yours at the table and carefully sat down. “Theodore, I don’t think you have a full handle on the situation here. I mean, I don’t think I have a full handle here either, but still, we’re dealing with a lot of unknowns. Maybe I’m willing to accept that the machines here aren’t hostile, but we can’t be absolutely sure that they are.”

“But they-”

“I know, Theodore. I know they aren’t attacking, I know it seems like they don’t want to attack us. We can trust them up to a point, but I just don’t think that we can completely trust them.” 9S shifted, slightly leaning forward onto the table, but not enough to test his luck. “I know that, to you, they all seem to be friendly and innocent, but I’ve had a completely different experience than you. You’ve only met machines a few times. I’ve met them… heh, I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen machines. But in every instance I know about, they’ve either been completely hostile or ignored nearly everything around them, including when their companions have been attacked.

“This is quite possibly the first time that I’ve seen a group of machines like this. This camp, base, whatever you call it isn’t common in the slightest, Theo. I can understand that it’d be one thing if you’ve seen one event to ten opposing- you think this is more common than it is. I’ve seen machines thousands of times more than you have, and this is a first for me.

“This could be a massive fluke in the machine’s programming. This could be a group of machines which have genuinely have broken free of the machine network. So,” 9S leaned back and crossed his arms, “tell me, which of those scenarios do you think I would see as more likely?”

“…The former.”

“So how you think I’ll react when I see you waltzing up to a bunch of machines without any apparent caution or care?”

“I wasn’t-”

9S brought his hands up defensively, glancing away. “Then I must have assumed. I’m sorry. But in the end, it seemed to me that you hadn’t considered some of the proper consequences before taking action. Am I right?”

“Let me ask you this, 9S. How many times have machines ever used nonviolence as a tactic to draw you in, to drop your guard?”

He paused, deep in thought. “Well…”

“They haven’t, have they?”

“…Not to my knowledge, no.”

“So we can say that something atypical is going on, isn’t there? Now, I know, from what you’re saying, that machines can be unpredictable, but this definitely seems like an out-there tactic to use to catch us off guard, right?”

9S hummed in thought. “There is that, I suppose. I… guess your viewpoint makes sense for your assumptions. But think about what I’m worried about. I’m just trying to make sure you’re safe, alright? And for what I can be sure of, you just running up to the machines didn’t seem safe. All I’m asking for is for you to be a bit more conscientious in the future, okay?”

“I’ll do what I can, 9S. Just warn me if I’m about to overstep that line.”

“Alright. I mean, you do have a good point about how the machines have been acting.”

“Well, the one at the entrance wasn’t so bad, we talked to him. Maybe you could try your luck with some of the machines outside?”

“Theo,” a smile crossed his face as he tried to chide you. “…I’ll stop keeping you from eating. I’ll just,” he glanced toward the exit, “go see what there is around here. 2B and 47D should know where I am; we can start heading toward each other when you’re done.”

“Alright, see you then.”

You dug into your meal.

The silverware clattered to the bottom of the now-empty container. Little was left of the meal besides the scraps which lined the bottom of the container, scraped away through your determination to be done with it. You let out a sigh. That was just a little bit too much for one sitting. It was a hard decision, with how much there would be left over- too much for one, not enough for two. You slowly set the lid back on, barely squeezing it closed. Sluggishly, you stood, taking the container in hand as you moved toward the exit.

47D and 2B were waiting right outside the door- literally, as the two were leaning on the wall, just to the sides of the door. 47D stood, raising an eyebrow.

“You ready?” 47D rose smoothly.

“Yeah.” You handed the container over to 47D, where it disappeared in a flash of light in her hand. Noticing the lack of the shortest android you knew, you asked 2B and 47D, “Did you two see which way 9S went?”

“We know where he is,” 2B responded, “and considering his history, he’s probably stopped somewhere, fascinated with something that caught his eye instead of mapping the area, like he claimed.”

“He said he’d map out the area? What, was he supposed to wander around all by himself?”

“Negative,” 904 chimed in, “pods are equipped with mapping equipment and functionality and may be deployed to scout out areas of interest, if the region is known or can be reasonably assumed to be secure.”

“9S just responded,” 2B interrupted. “Forwarding information, 47D.”

“Got it,” she responded, “Come on, let’s not keep him waiting.”

You dutifully followed the androids as they led you through the labyrinthine layout. Seriously, who thought that this would make a good amusem*nt park? Various alleys and offshoots lay scattered around, their dead ends clearly in sight. In every single one, detritus lay piled up, pushed out of sight- broken bricks and tiles, sticks and crumbling leaves, you even saw a few pieces of machines laying about.

It didn’t take all that long until you rounded a corner and saw a familiar android hurrying toward the group… sans pod. You weren’t the only one to notice.

You could tell 2B was slightly confused. “9S, where-”

“I just sent the order for it to come back. I figured I should have it mapping out as much as possible before calling it back. Should be back in a minute.” 9S looked up to a sector of they sky, peering at some speck that was probably invisible to your eyes. “It’s been transmitting the map back in sections; I’ll send you two what I’ve compiled so far.” 9S made a few motions with his hands in the air- swiping to the side and tapping a button that wasn’t there.

47D turned back toward you, “Wonder what’s going on. There’s this one hub of activity on the north side of the park, but almost nothing else over here.” She turned slightly to indicate she was talking to everyone involved, “Do you have any other intel about this besides the aerial photos, 9S?”

“Not too much, I was just trying to decipher it as well. Seems to be a small market or bazaar, judging by the stalls. I wasn’t able to arrive and discern what its importance was.”

“9S?” You felt left out. “Mind showing me this map you three are looking at?”

His head shot over to you then back. A swift move of his wrist brought up a set of control panels, which he rapidly manipulated- sliding across menus, moving images around- before finally stepping up to you, enlarging an image and flipping it toward you.

There wasn’t much to see. The brown and sometimes broken (but not decaying, which was odd) roofs were arrayed erratically, with the much darker streets making it look like a patch of dry ground. Centered was a small cluster of noticeably different… “buildings” was the wrong word, they looked closer to hovels cobbled together. These hovels were built in a clearing that looked to be built for them. Anything more detailed than that, you could barely make out.

“9S?”

“Yeah?”

“What the hell is up with the quality of this picture? I’d think by now camera technology would have improved, even slightly.”

“I sent it high so that it would stay out of range of any potential attacks, and so that pod 153 could take wide-angle shots, covering more of an area.”

“…Fair enough, then.” You glanced through the hologram at 9S. “See anything else interesting in this region?”

“Nothing’s stood out too much. If it’s going to be interesting, it’s probably only going to be visible from the streets over here. I think we were lucky to find the market in the first place.”

“Well, shall we? We won’t find anything out anything by staying here.”

“Right!” 9S turned on his heels, leading you onward for a short while before turning back to a certain another android. “See, 2B? Sometimes a little enthusiasm isn’t all that bad!”

“9S…” A frustrated sigh sounded from behind you.

Chapter 33: North and South

Chapter Text

It was only a few minutes until the four of you arrived at what was supposed to be a market, according to 9S. The realization slowly dawned on you.

“9S,” you chuckled to yourself, “this isn’t a market, this is the midway.”

He glanced over at you. “Sorry, the what?”

“The midway. You know, where you find all the carnival games, skill games, all that stuff that’s horribly rigged against the people playing.” You were looking forward at what the different stalls offered, but you could feel the unsure stares you were receiving.

“Wait,” 9S spoke up, “why would someone knowingly enter into something they knew was rigged?”

You started to walk closer to the stalls. “They weren’t necessarily rigged, but whether they were, or if it was something like charging far too much for some cheap stuffed toy, that doesn’t matter in the eyes of a child- they only see the toy and the game, and little else.” You would continue to explain to 9S about the nature of these things, but your attention was stolen by the rather disconcerting display in front of you.

You could see the original ideas, the lowly themes that someone (or something) wanted to replicate- the joyful midway, with colorful themes and jovial demeanor. This… this was something else.

Dead ahead of you was a ring toss game. The stall, like all the ones around it, had an obvious list to it, the walls being little more than patches over patches over patches. You’d be surprised if anything of the original construction materials remained. Four stacks of five rings each lay as neatly piled as they could be, but the faded, colored paint was interrupted all over the rings by rust, which not only ate through the rings, but also seeming to pin them to each other and to the surface on which they sat. The rods in the stand fared no better, the rust climbing each one like a spiderweb, with a few broken before they could reach their full height. You walked past the disturbing stand, hoping to see something better further beyond.

There wasn’t anything much better.

A dart-throwing game where every single dart could give you Tetanus just by looking at them. A ‘bean’-toss game with broken pieces of machinery onto a splintered board. A duck pod game with a slurry of oil with saturated paper boats.

Each stall was staffed by a machine, all wearing that unsettling garb that superficially resembled a jester’s outfit, only the ones here were even more tattered and neglected. Sleeves were falling off, one was missing their hat altogether, maintenance in general in this vicinity was rather poor.

You picked a stall at random to approach and talk to. The duck pond stall seemed the least likely to collapse, but you did have to mind the small trickle flowing out of the above-ground pool, the stream flowing out, slipping between the broken cracks. The poor machine here had a pretty good outfit, it wasn’t falling apart as much as the other machines’, but it still had obvious tears and patches. Its facepaint was horribly smeared and scratched, and its left eye looked broken.

“Gre-ings!” Its scratchy, popping voice broke off; seems whatever speaker it used to speak seemed to be malfunctioning.

“Hi, how-” You suddenly got cut off.

“Do- -the rules?”

“I don’t-”

“Rules are sim- -pick up any boat- -like, and if the symbol is a- -win a prize!”

You blinked at the machine. You hadn’t thought that it would try to get you to play, although now that you have hindsight, it… kind of makes sense? Uneasily, you glanced down at the opaque, viscous fluid. Many of the folded, paper boats were dipping in the oil, all obviously saturated by the liquid they were supposed to float on top of. You tepidly knelt down and picked up the closest one to you. It squished as you pulled it up, the oil liberally dripping down back into the pool. Slowly, you brought it over to the machine.

It stared at the boat for a few seconds before turning back to you. “Cong- -ions! You-” The speakers sparked out.

You felt 9S put his hand on your shoulder. “Theodore… what’s going on?”

“It shouldn’t be anything to worry about.” You turned around to face him. “This is supposed to be a game of luck, where there’s a certain number of, well, boats in this case, that are marked. Picking one of the right ones nets you a prize- something I’ve managed to do.”

Your explanation was halted by a splashing noise behind you, followed by the sensation of a small damp spot landing on the small of your back, soaking through your clothes. Turning around, you saw the machine pull back out of the pool, something limp flapping around in his hands.

“You- -rize!” It confidently held its short arms out.

“Oh, I don’t need-” You held your hands up in front of yourself, a sign that (you thought) meant that you didn’t want it, but the machine either didn’t understand or ignored you completely. With a surprising leap, the machine closed the distance between you two and dropped… whatever it had into your unwilling hands. Unfortunately, your reflexes were to try ot hold on to its cold, slimy surface. You could feel the oil drip down the sides of your hands and between your fingers. Oh, God, you thought, why did I have to-

JESUS **** IT’S MOVING.

Jumping back, you dropped the poor oily thing, letting it fall to the ground with a sickening splat. Looking at its silhouette, it suddenly struck you- you just dropped a fish.

Your thoughts turned from one question to another. This was supposed to be the prize that you won? Why was the fish in the oil slurry? How is it still alive after being submerged in there for so long? Why did they try to award you with a fish? Something briefly crossed your mind- it was a hunch (and you didn’t have a lot to base this off of), but… you’ve been seeing the machines here do what they can to replicate things in human society. So then, wasn’t this machine trying to emulate the ‘prize goldfish’ thing?

You glanced down to your side, where 9S had knelt down, examining your ‘prize’. “…9S, what are you doing?”

9S whispered something to himself as he rose, the oil-slathered fish in hand. He slowly wiped the oil away to reveal, not scales as you thought it would be, but rows of metallic plates which slid over each other.

“9S, what is… this?”

9S mumbled something to himself before responding. “I’ve heard about something like this. 102S and 51S always kept telling these far-fetched tales about these weird fish that they dredged up. Scans reading, of all things, a machine core. Never thought I’d have proof those stories were true.” It disappeared in a flash of light. “I’m pretty sure someone’s already sent information like this up to the Bunker, but it can’t hurt to send up some readings.”

“Would that be a time-consuming thing? The scans?”

“It’d take some time, but not too much. Why?”

“I’d like to change out of these clothes.” You gestured toward the stains across your outfit. They’d take forever to get out. “Is there somewhere we can hole up while I change?”

While the majority of the the buildings you saw were all ‘indefensible’ in some way, according to the androids, you eventually found somewhere that fit their criteria. After asking for your backup set of clothes from 9S and some privacy from your pods, you found a good area to seclude yourself and swiftly changed.

Feeling much better in cleaner clothes, you returned to the three androids outside and turned to the shortest android there. “9S, memory serves, you should have the aerial maps of the northern park. Is there anything else notable on there?”

“Considering the construction of this park in general, there isn’t much that I can tell from these photos. We’re lucky that that section of the park was built that way, otherwise there’d be no way we could have found it.”

You furrowed your brows in thought. “So nothing else interesting in this part of the park. Do we have anything for any of the other regions?”

“Not much. Pod 153 was able to take some aerial shots of the closer sections of the southern park, but it’s not much for us to go on. I could send her out again if we rest before heading over.”

“Alright. Think we can head out? I’m fairly sure there’s got to be more over there.”

9S perked up slightly. “We can definitely see what’s there. I mean, just from the first few photos, I can tell that there’s quite a bit more than over here.”

The four of you continued exploring the park, this time heading southward. There really wasn’t much to see until you hit the slightly wider street in the middle of the park, where you finally had another good view of the castle. You briefly asked 9S if the group could head over there, but he pointed out that the entrance was probably locked tight, considering the available intel. He continued, noting that there seemed to be some way up to the castle if they went to its eastern side. Something about there being a particularly large opening.

Almost immediately, there was a tangible difference in the feel of the southern sector as opposed to the north. There wasn’t a sudden drop off in the machine population one intersection in, and this area as a whole seemed less overgrown and neglected. Sure, the brick walls had some holes, the ground was distressingly uneven, and carts were turned over in the middle of the street (necessitating you being carried over one, much to your chagrin). Although disrepair was evident nearly everywhere you looked, at least it seemed like it was actually populated. Machines stood at various locations, like they were peppered across the park. It was a toss up, whether any alley you passed contained a machine lurking in the shadows or not.

You were excited to finally see a number of park rides around the place, but every single one of them was, unsurprisingly, wrecked and nowhere near operable condition. Several of them looked as though the best course of action would be to scrap the ride in its entirety and start over, since there was so much damage and neglect.

Before long, however, the hours of walking and meandering about the park today wore more and more upon you. The androids were rather quick to notice, and found somewhere suitable before you could get yourself to ask.

Another dilapidated building, although this time it wasn’t a restaurant that you holed up in, but rather just another store. Empty racks and shelves were crammed and stacked into the back, making only one real entrance to the whole shelter- a bonus for your guardians, you supposed. 47D handed your meal over before heading out to stand guard, and 9S kept you entertained in the meantime. Well, “entertained” was a rather strong word, since he kept asking you question after question about amusem*nt parks for the most part.

Fatigue gripped you when you finished your supper. You rubbed your eyes and stood up, planning to return the container to 47D before returning to bed down for the night. You didn’t get far before 9S stopped you in your tracks, taking the container from your hands. He made some quick comment about you getting your rest before handing you his jacket and leaving. Sleep demanded you make no complaint as you lay down and cover yourself as best you could, given the jacket’s small size.

Chapter 34: Confrontation & Orientation

Chapter Text

It was hard to tell when you truly woke up, since you wavered between wakefulness and sleep multiple times. Eventually, you found your body deciding that it was, in fact, choosing to wake up. Complying with its wishes, you pushed yourself up. The jacket that 9S gave you slid off your body as your head pulled off the pillow-

Wait, when did you get a pillow?

Looking down, you quickly connected some dots. It was obviously a makeshift pillow, the fabric being balled up before it was tucked beneath you. Holding it up and letting it unfurl, you realized that what you were holding was one of the shirts that 2B or 47D wore- considering the lack of buttons and the inexplicable cleavage window. There was nothing in the design that easily told you which of the two left it wrapped up beneath you, but considering their personalities, you knew exactly who it was.

Standing up, you folded up the spare articles of clothing and started toward the exit. 47D stood guard to the right with 2B being nowhere to be seen. You did briefly consider it odd that 9S was gone, but on second thought, he had been the group scout all yesterday when he broke off. 47D still had her shirt on, but it wasn’t too far out there to assume that units would have spare clothes with them.

You turned to the present android. “47D, I really appreciate what you did last night.”

She jumped, looking back at you, confused. “I- uh, I-” Her surprised, nearly aback reaction seemed suspicious. You brought up what you now doubted was her shirt and held it in front of her. She looked it over quickly, then glanced back at you. “This isn’t mine. It’s 2B’s.” She seemed to realize something. “Oh, did you ask her for it when she stopped in? 9S asked for her assistance somewhere off in the park, and she stepped in to check up on you quick before heading out.”

“…No? No one woke me up. Last I knew, I went to sleep with this other jacket,” You motioned to 9S’s jacket in your other hand, “but I woke with this one under my head.”

“Well, now that you’re awake, we can keep exploring, right?”

“Yeah,” you brought the clothes back together under your arm, “right after you explain why you were so flustered earlier.”

“Right, off we go.” You were almost surprised at how quickly she blurted out those words, spun on her heel, and nearly took off.

“Wait, 47D.” She hesitantly stopped a few paces away. It was obvious by her body language- her arms suspiciously pulled to her sides, never looking directly at you. “What. Did. You. Do?”

“Alert:” 320 spoke up behind you, “this unit has evidence for three separate incidents while you were unconscious.”

You turned to her with interest. “Do tell, 320. What is it?”

“This unit has taken photos of the incidents in question: there is nothing to ‘tell’. Displaying most recent incident.” A picture appeared in front of the pod in the form of a flickering hologram. Seriously, what happened to the whole screen technology? There wasn’t anything wrong with screens before, other than that they could crack, that you needed the surface, that there could be glare…

You just didn’t like the semi-transparent surface, okay?

As the picture came into focus, it took you a second to realize what you were looking at. The darkness of the image made it hard to recognize until it automatically brightened. You saw yourself laying down, 9S’s jacket still covering your torso. 2B was kneeling down right next to you, holding your head up with one hand, and slipping a balled up shirt- you involuntarily glanced at the one at your side- underneath your head with. Though engaged in an uncharacteristic act of kindness, she still wore her emotionless façade.

Well, you had your evidence for who the guilty party was. While that didn’t explain why 47D was worried, you still had two other (presumably) photos to go through. “Next, 320?”

A new photo flickered onto the hologram. You were still lying beneath the jacket, but instead of 2B sitting above you, it was 47D, seated on her knees. Her visor was off, clutched in one hand, as the other reached down, holding the side of your face. She seemed… far calmer than you’ve seen her before.

“And the third, 320?”

The image remained for a second before flickering away. 320 cautiously and slowly spoke. “Unexpected error: the image has been corrupted.”

You turned to face her. “Come again?”

“This unit is set up to automatically log overnight incidents- a process that runs while this unit is inactive. While these events and their number have been logged, the data must have been manipulated in the meantime.”

“…So, by process of elimination…”

“9S is a potential culprit. Suggestion: interrogate to find out why.”

“We’ll do that when we find him. But first, 47D.” You turned back to the frozen-in-place android. “Care to explain?” During the next few seconds, it became increasingly apparent that 47D was struggling to know where to start. “Look, follow my logic. You’re an android. Before you do something, you have to make all of these decisions and evaluations. You’re not irrational, you don’t make decisions casually. Maybe you took a gamble, thinking I would never know. But I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, that you do have some reason behind this.”

47D slowly lowered her arms to her sides as she turned around. “I… don’t know what it originally was. I’ve just felt… useless, I guess? I can’t really say why I’ve felt like this. I know that I’ve been doing my part in the war, doing whatever I could...” she paused, gathering her thoughts. “But everything seems like it’s all…” she crossed her arms, gripping the fabric of her sleeves in a tight grasp, “…pointless. Like I know we’ve taken steps forward, but we always seem like we’re right back to where we started.

“But you… no, that’s a lie. I’m not sure whether it’s linked to you or not. But things have been different lately. Things have been changing.” She seemed to gradually speak faster, like she was picking up on some thread inside of herself. “I feel like things have been moving forward, even- even though nothing’s changed in reality. The minor commander that I helped take out. I know there was going to be another one on the field before the week closed, but it really felt like we finally made progress! And…

“And this whole trip.” Her voice dropped close to a whisper. “Nothing huge is going to come from this, I know that. We’re not saving trapped androids, we’re not taking out some huge linchpin. You asked us to accompany you, and we agreed. That’s the extent of this trip’s ‘usefulness’ to the war, unless 9S miraculously finds something.

“But it’s felt…” she uncrossed her arms, letting them drop to her sides, “it just seems like I’ve done more here, in this one trip with you in tow, than I’ve done for the past year. I couldn’t tell you what’s going on, but I know that it has been. Maybe I’m not even seeing it right.” She paused. “Maybe there’s something else I’m just not getting.”

She suddenly flinched, bringing her hands to her head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! That doesn’t explain what I did. I…” She let her hands drop as she looked away. “I… I don’t know. Some part of me must have just attributed this whole thing to you, and I just… I…”

You stepped up to her and set a hand on her shoulder, looking straight into her covered eyes. You only spoke when she looked back at you. “It’s fine if you don’t know. Hey, humans are pretty unreliable and we do things even we don’t understand pretty often. Just, next time…”

“Yeah?”

“Ask before doing something to me, and probably don’t do it at all while I’m sleeping, alright? You can inadvertently come off as really creepy.”

She shrank back slightly under your words. “I understand.”

“Good.” You squeezed her shoulder slightly and offered a smile. “Let’s go find 2B and 9S then, shall we?”

While the other two androids had gone their separate ways, it didn’t take long for you all to reconvene; you were confused for a few minutes after 47D brought you to what seemed to be an empty plaza and told you to wait. 2B was the first to make her way into the square. Unsurprisingly, she made a beeline straight toward the two of you.

“So, 2B,” while waiting, you had folded the shirt she left for you, which you held up now for her, “thanks for leaving behind this as a pillow.” She stopped in her tracks. “Next time, you could stand to give it to me before I go to sleep. While the overnight gift was appreciated, I think I’d appreciate it more if I were conscious when you gave it to me.”

“…Understood.” 2B resumed her earlier pace and retrieved her shirt, dispersing it in a flash of light. “I apologize for disturbing you.”

A crash reached your ears, resonating down a nearby street. You saw 9S stumble into the square, a poor machine thrown off-balance right behind him. He turned around and set the machine back on their feet, then turned and jogged up to the group. “Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I tried to hurry, but there’s not much I could do when they wouldn’t move out of the way.”

“It’s fine, 9S. Hey, quick question.” You motioned back toward your darker pod. “Something happened on 320, a file deletion, or something like that. Think you know anything about it?” Perhaps you were being overly pointed and accusative with that last question, but you had to drive a point home.

9S replied slightly slower than normal. It felt like he was chewing through his thoughts as he spoke. “No, I wouldn’t be able to know without looking at the data specifically. Besides, I’d need to sit down and analyze it all.” He seemed to be delicately avoiding a dangerous subject. “320?”

“Information sent.” 320 chirped before you had the chance to ask her.

“I’ll look at it soon, Theo. I promise.” He waved his hand, dismissing the topic. “I’ve been scouting around this area of the park to see what there is: gather information, neutralize threats, make maps, that sort of thing.” He glanced over his shoulder at his pod quickly, “Pod, forward them the maps before I forget. I’m still not completely sure about the machines, but at least they aren’t attacking. Couple of them are rather chatty, but they have nothing to say. Selling some broken product, throwing out nonsense gosip, empty warnings about some…” he searched for the name, “Simeon, I think. Basically, talking, not saying.

“153 ran a number of sector scans. Lower number of machine signs than I thought there would be. There are a couple of odd signals I’m getting from the castle, though.”

“What are they like?” You quickly asked. “What type?”

“I’m having a hard time telling, myself. It’s some kind of gestaltized signal, though whatever’s making it probably isn’t sending it out on purpose. Too many tags and pointers for me to be able to make out. Could just be that there’s some broken transmitter, emitting random noise, but I can’t be sure unless I see what’s making it.”

Most of 9S was trying to say went right over your head. You turned and posed your question to the three androids. “What do you guys think? Want to head over and check it out? We might as well see what it is, unless there’s something interesting in this half of the park.”

“Just more broken rides and aimless machines where I went. Why not?”

“Memory serves, you said earlier that there’s some convoluted route up to the castle. Is it any clearer with the new map?”

“Yeah, there’s this one section that looks rather promising. It has this open area and a broken down ride right next to it- I think I passed right by it on my scouting mission. Forwarding route.”

9S must have cleared this route out during his scouting. He led the group down a number of… slightly questionable streets, but eventually got everyone to the broken ride he had apparently been talking about. One princess carry over the wreckage later, 47D set you down on top of the wall overlooking an open square. The neglect and decay was obvious- the dilapidated buildings sagging inward into the square, the rusted-through entryway to the rollercoaster which climbed off into the distance, the concrete plaza spiderwebbed with cracks and various grasses growing freely. The surface was marked with…

Wait, are those tread marks?

An explosion slammed through the air as a cloud of dust and debris rose from the far side of the square. A tank crawled out of the cloud, its treads shrieking against the ground. The androids leapt into action.

Chapter 35: Tanks for all the Memories

Chapter Text

An explosion tore through the courtyard. Concrete shards clattered everywhere, some of the stones even managed to hit you, evidenced by your skin stinging. You didn’t have time to blink the dust from your eyes before you heard the sound of the androids dropping into the square below, then launching themselves into battle. 2B charged ahead to take the enemy head-on while 47D and 9S set themselves up a small distance away.

They stared down an intimidating foe. What could only be described as a tank inched onto the battlefield, its poor tracks groaning under the strain. It looked as though its designers knew of only two ways to improve upon its design: “add more armor”, and “add more weapons”, leaving the end product a jumble of systems rather nonsensically (yet still threatening) fit together. Plates of armor bolted on top of weapons, preventing them from turning. Guns fitted on top of other guns with no thought given as to how something so inconsequential as ammunition could even reach them. As foolish as the construction looked, it all somehow still managed to trundle forward.

Thoughts were barely registering in your head by the time the androids were decisively acting. 2B was quick to maneuver around to find somewhere to attack, but the tank turned just as quickly to bring its weapons (and its treads, you noted with worry) to bear down on her. A large burst of noise rang through the air as its few working guns rotated. You flinched from the noise, but saw 904 and 320 spring into action, firing a barrage of bullets seemingly scattered at random. It was hard to pick out from all the visual noise, but you could barely see a number of them being fired at or toward you.

They traveled a bit slower than the pods’ photobullets did, and looked to be fist-sized packets of energy barely contained in their construction. Most of the bullets were being shot out of the air, their contained energy releasing and dissipating. Of the few that made it past the counter-barrage, the ones that crashed against the building you stood on made no dents, cracks, or holes. Seeing them land and- for lack of a better word- discharge without harming the metal, you did wonder why the machines would ever bother firing them in the first-

A sudden explosion of heat and light slammed into the side of your face. A surprising heat spread across your left cheek as a spark of pain stabbed into your skin. There was the unmistakable smell of ozone seeped into your nose. Reeling back, your instincts took over, bringing a hand up to cover and apply pressure onto the potential wound. Sinking to the ground, you found no break in the skin, nothing where blood would be seeping out, just the tingling heat and pain you felt barely a fraction of a second ago.

You looked up, suddenly seeing a sphere dotting shimmering grey circles in the air surrounding you. 320, hoving right next to you, wasn’t firing at the incoming bullets, while 904 continued his counterassault.

“Theodore, respond to inquiry.” 320 was talking faster than she normally did.

“Wait, hang on, what inquiry?”

“Status; potential damage. Proposal: retreat to cover.”

“Got it.” You forced yourself up to a crouch then scrambled over to the side. Bullets rang out against the spectral shield in a ghastly cacophony as you pulled behind what remained of a brick wall. The shield fizzled out of existence as you sat down, leaving you rather insecure about your whole situation. You could still hear the bullet impacts on the wall and those screeching by overhead over the din of battle. Do androids really have to deal with all this on a daily basis? Were you just starting to experience what it’s like to truly be a part of this war?

The barrage seemed to come to an end, but the sounds of battle below still raged on. You could hear what you assumed to be the tank’s guns winding down, but quickly burying that sound was the noise of its engines roaring. You turned to your pods.

“It’s stopped firing, right?”

“Affirmative,” 904 replied, “but leaving cover is ill-advised.”

It didn’t seem to be firing at you, so a glance should still be safe, right? After cautiously pulling yourself to the edge of your cover, you peeked around the corner.

The tank had just wrenched itself out of a wall it had rammed itself into. 47D tossed something aside after applying it to 9S, then pulled his prone body up. It didn’t seem like 9S was completely sure on his footing, but he wasn’t completely out of the fight. 2B had pulled herself on top of the tank, and was systematically removing the machines that stood out on the top. The tank, now free, roared and spun, but 2B managed to keep her footing and continued hacking away.

The tank suddenly shot off, its treads grinding against the broken concrete. Unfortunately, 2B was not so lucky as to stay on. Swerving, the tank swang widely toward 47D and 9S. While 47D did her best to show no opening for the tank to take, 9S took his standard stance: keeling down, arms out. A second later, something exploded within the tank, knocking off parts of its rear armor. It ground to a halt, turned, then recklessly charged at the pair. To your surprise, the androids stood their ground until the last second, then bolted to opposite sides. 9S narrowly sliding past the treads, 47D jamming a sword into the mechanisms holding the treads together. Horrible grinding filled the air until the sword returned to her in a pulse of yellow light.

You heard the guns spin up again, and, not wanting to risk another hit, pulled yourself back behind cover. The din of battle continued behind you, partially drowned out by the 904 and 320 firing into the fray. It wasn’t long before a series of explosions started sounding out of the square, echoing back from the rest of the park. When they subsided, 904 turned back to talk to you.

“Theodore, the target has been defeated. Proposal: rejoin the androids for optimal security.”

You nodded, stood up, walked to the edge of the building, then hesitated. It looked like a larger drop here than where you were behind cover. Sure, the androids could have just made the jump themselves, but they were made of metal. Maybe. But still, they could take the fall much better than you could, so how could the pods-

904 beeped, catching your attention, his arms suspiciously folded beneath himself to form some sort of bar. The two of you stood, looking at each other. Him waiting for you to do something, you waiting for more explanation.

“Theodore, respond.”

“What do you want me to do? That fall’s going to hurt me, I’m not built like an android.”

“This unit is capable of partially supporting an object’s weight, minimizing unwanted momentum. Grab on.”

You uneasily grabbed on to 904 and stepped forward. Again, the drop loomed before you, and again, the trepidation set in. Another beep on your other side made you notice 320, her arms folded similarly. You secured your grip and stepped closer to the edge. The pods gently pulled you forward, softly encouraging you to jump. You took a deep breath, steeled your grip (again), and stepped forward into the open air.

Every single instinct was yelling at you to step back, to return the stable ground that you stood on a second ago, but as the pods lowered you down, the opportunity swiftly vanished behind you. Your stomach turned as you hung, suspended in the air. The ground rose up toward you, far slower than any part of your brain could interpret. As you neared the ground, you saw 9S walking toward you, an unsure look on his face. He was right there, steadying you as you touched down.

“You alright, Theo?”

“Y-yeah. ‘M fine.” Even you were surprised by how uneven your voice was. You released your iron grip on your pods and unsteadily walked forward, with 9S nearly in lock step. Sure, it was a completely novel experience for you, but this whole thing wasn’t supposed to scare you. Not the little- you glanced back to check- two story drop.

You turned back forward to see what the other two androids were doing. 47D was kneeling near 2B, helping apply some cream from a container to her skin where a number of cuts crossed her skin. They didn’t appear to be deep cuts, only slicing… whatever the top layer of their skin was. Mostly cosmetic damage, you figured. Although there were one or two long cuts you could clearly see, it was readily apparent that what 47D helped apply was quickly causing them to close, leaving no trace as to the original wound.

47D paused in tending to her cuts, at first only sparing a quick glance at you which turned into a full blown double take. She passed the container over to 2B before hurrying standing up and hurrying over to you. You couldn’t miss the look of concern on her face.

“47D, is something-” She delicately grabbed the right side of your head, turning it toward the light.

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“What- hang on, does what hurt?” Your thoughts first turned to a mirror, to see what she was talking about. Maybe your pod could try to turn a camera feed straight back into a projector…

Unless they already had the feature, as evidenced by 320 making a hologram flicker into existence. Wait, what was-

A red burn dominated the right side of your face. It wasn’t that it took up the whole side, but that slightly inflamed scorch marks crawled between your chin and your temple, some lines curling around toward your ear and nose. At the ‘center’, where these burns spread from, there was a small bloom of irritated skin. It didn’t look all that bad, just that it was spread out. You could feel yourself slowly come off the adrenaline high- mostly because of the pain slowly growing from the (apparently) hurt area.

“Yeah, I guess it hurts.” With this, 47D quickly pulled back, and, with movements so fast they were nearly a blur, she pulled this cream from virtual storage, pulled off a glove with her mouth, and began swiftly applying the cream across the left side of your face. You pulled back a second later, the skin stinging and burning. “Hey!”

“‘If it’s stinging, it’s working’. I’m trying to hurry, Theo.” You could tell she was trying to hurry, but was also tied down with making sure it would be done correctly. “There. What happened? You should have been outside of the battle. I saw you were up there at the end of the battle.”

“Alert:” 904 spoke, “some ranged attacks during the battle were aimed toward Theodore. This unit followed all protocols during battle, but one shot came into contact with Theodore. Pod 320 activated the program, allowing Theo to retreat to cover.”

9S spoke up after a pause. “Theodore, why don’t I hang back with you in future battles? 47D and 2B already know how to draw the enemy’s attention, but we need to make sure that you aren’t in too much danger. I don’t know about you, but I think we should try to head back as soon as possible. Nothing good can come from us staying here longer.”

“I- I hate to say this,” 47D dropped the cream back into virtual storage, “but I have to agree. Let’s swing up to the castle then head out. 9S, you said there was a gate?”

“Yeah, doesn’t seem like it’d be hard to break open, if we need to. Come on, let’s hurry.”

The androids finished up helping 2B repair, and you set out, climbing the rickety and rusty stairs up toward the castle. A broken roller coaster lay in your path, but posed no obstacle to the four of you. To your surprise, the castle was pretty well-built. You traveled along one of the pathways winding around the castle, overlooking the moat. The cobblestone, though weathered and sometimes missing individual stones, were tightly fitted together, and needed little mortar in the cracks.

9S, who was monitoring the signal, led the group in search of the source. According to him, you were getting close, although he couldn’t tell the exact distance. He seemed more and more dismayed as he brought the group to the roof of the entryway of the castle. Near the center, he brought up a hand, pausing the group to figure out something odd about the signal.

You heard and felt the ground crack and shift beneath the group. The room beneath you glowed red, a distant note thrumming through the air.

Chapter 36: Da Capo al Fine

Chapter Text

The ground gave way beneath you. The androids were quick to react, but they couldn’t do much, being pulled down with you into the new hole. The world hung around you in a blur of gray and red as the air flew by. It took you a second to recognize 904 and 320, rushing down through the falling debris to get to you. You could feel them grab on to your hands and, after a moment, a hairline, nearly invisible spherical shield appeared around you. The pods pulled up, slowing your fall. Against your earlier worries, the falling concrete impacted and slid down the shield, instead of passing through.

Glancing down, you caught the other androids holding on to their pods, sinking to the ground noticeably faster than you were. The three landed with palpable thuds, skidding against the uneven debris. They had each landed safely- probably due to the fact that most of their internal components could stand such an impact. 9S looked around the room and headed toward the only obvious exit, while 2B and 47D waited about where you would be landing.

The shield fizzled out as you neared the ground. 47D stepped forward, letting the pods drop you into her arms before setting you down away from the rubble. Now with stable footing, you could afford to look around the room.

What little light flitted in through the roof could not do much to change the red glow which pervaded every square inch of the room, built to feel like an auditorium. The area you stood in was a circular stage, surrounded on most sides by the seating, long buried under a blanket of rubble. The front of the room was dominated by a massive curtain, delicately framed with white and gold trim. But strangely, no matter where you looked, you had this overwhelming feeling of some oppressive stillness, like every step, every breath was an affront to it.

“It’s locked.” 9S’s voice unexpectedly echoed through the air, although you knew he didn’t speak any louder. “I can open it, but it’s not going to be quick.”

“Guess we’ll just have to-” 47D’s voice was cut off by the mechanical screech of gears whining against a motor. Out of the corner of your eye, the curtain slowly and jerkily parted, revealing a gigantic figure cloaked in some sort of red fabric standing with its back to everyone. It slowly turned, showing off its ghastly display.

One of the first things to come to your attention was its belt. Strung arm to arm were these metalic bodies that reminded you all too much of androids, all left to dangle from the dress. The black liquid spilling from some of them told you they were fresh. The lights sparked on, casting an ill-fitting angelic glow around the figure- the machine-looking torso, stiff and crusted with rust; a helm, guarding no face, but sporting irregular spikes growing from its back and sides; and two more android corpses hanging from the spikes, tethered only by chains strangling around their necks.

The curtains and the figure stopped at the same time, allowing the room to dip into silence. She raised one arm, and the room suddenly resonated with a note she sang. She raised her other arm, and the note rang through your skull, drowning out your thoughts. The stale air had only a fraction of a second to grow still before she released a third note, which shook your entire body to the core. The floor beneath you trembled, the debris shook, and even the androids stepped back and clasped their hands over their ears.

As the note faded away, leaving little to hear but the ringing in your ears, you looked up and saw the singer land on the circular stage. Letting the burst of dust from her landing spread out, the slats making up her ‘skirt’ raised, revealing a number of interlocked mechanisms squirming against each other underneath. You suddenly felt 9S step up behind you, followed by more than two pods grabbing on to you.

“-n’t say anything about a machine like this!” 9S shouted behind you, the ringing in your ears blocking out some of what he said. “We need to get him out of here!” You definitely felt the pods begin to tug against you, starting to pull you up…

Only for the bullets to begin flying, one striking against 904. In a pulse of energy that arced out from him, he suddenly gave out, releasing you and dropping from the air. You didn’t fall far, only being a few centimeters in the air, but you struggled to catch 904 as he fell. The other pods released you and frantically began to fire back. 904 seemed to be thrashing around as the sparks danced around and off him.

“Move!” 9S picked you up and ran, wrenching you out of the moment and causing you to drop 904. “Theo, you can’t just stand still when-” 9S’s voice stopped dead, as the noise of something charging pierced the air.

You had not time to react, being deliberately thrown from 9S. Your arms wheeled as you landed off balance. You turned back just in time to see the songstress slam into 9S, an array of yellow-hot blades sprouting from the hem of her ‘skirt’. He managed to pull away, but with a number of black burns scratched across his side. 9S staggered back as she lost momentum and slammed her skirt down. A second later, she pulled it back up, exposing a different mechanism- one with more barrels than you were comfortable with.

They suddenly angled up, and started firing- somehow these bullets looked different than the tanks- like there was far more energy stored in them. As the first shots finished their arcs, they landed with an explosive burst, a pulse of energy and electricity resounding from them. Swallowing, you eyed the next group of shots as they traced their way down, unsettlingly noticing the next round fire. You couldn’t believe you were doing this, but you charged straight at her the moment the second round landed.

The charge didn’t dissipate as quickly as you wanted to, leaving you with a blast of heat and an electric smell as you took what shelter you could from the third burst. From the other side of the songstress, you could hear someone just laying in to the machine, hopefully completely ruining the delicate machinery inside.

The hem slammed down again, and the songstress spun back. Seizing the opportunity, you distanced yourself from her as well. You caught 47D running around, now charging straight at you, weapons behind herself. The hem raised a third time, showing another assortment of weapons, each charging.

In a blinding burst, the floor of the room filled with lines of searing light. A deep, cackling laugh echoed from somewhere deep inside the songstress. 47D leapt over each one, not letting herself get singed on any of them. While the beams missed in their initial burst, you realized, with horror, that they were turning. 47D swept by in a blur, lifting you away from danger, but the songstress spun faster, giving no quarter to the androids. You heard some of the emitters burst, their lasers sputtering off. With this annoyance, the songstress slipped the beams off, turned back toward her stage, and-

Oh God, a whole section of boosters were firing underneath the songstress, lifting her off the ground back to her safety. Despite her size, she crossed to the stage with frightening speed, where she gathered yet another burst of energy.

“209, get the other pods together.” 47D frantically spoke to her pod. “Now that it’s occupied, you all can-” 47D was cut off, suddenly falling forward and dropping you. Picking yourself up and looking back, you found her spasming in pain, twitching uncontrollably. The pods around her were faring little better, but off in the distance, you could see 9S relatively unharmed.

“It’s trying to hack us!” he cried, staggering back with a hand bracing his other arm. “2B!” He rushed over to the barely-upright android, pulling her back up. Back on the stage, the songstress was still standing, but slumped over. It felt like it was still watching everyone.

You saw the songstress pick itself back up, its entire body moving in spasms as it spoke. “Beautiful… Beautiful…

“I must be Beautiful!” Another shriek pierced the air, forcing you to clamp your hands over your ears. You could hear a number of items slam themselves into the ground around you, over, and over, and over. Looking up…

You wished you hadn’t looked up.

Spaced all throughout the battlefield were those silver android corpses, each of them tied, strapped, nailed, pierced, or affixed by some other means to these clusters of twisted metal. Their mouths were forced open, each one of them permanently frozen in a scream, soldered into this unending torment. Together, they formed this unholy cacophony of held, untuned screams.

Looking down, you tried pulling 47D upright. At first, she didn’t react at all- her heavy body (heavier than you expected) didn’t respond at all. After a second, she suddenly bolted up, standing like you hadn’t helped her up. In a flurry of sword blows, she started to destroy the crucified androids around herself. You couldn’t quite tell what was happening, why the androids saw the need to keep destroying them.

As the last few corpses were being taken down, the curtain opened again. “I’ve almost analyzed the enemy’s hacking pattern,” 9S shouted over the din of battle. “If I’m going to hack it back, you need to keep it busy!”

The songstress descended down from the stage again. You could tell by the slashes and dents all across her body that she had taken a fair amount of damage, but was still far too eager and ready to continue the battle. The engines all cut out at the same moment, slamming herself down. The hem of her dress raised, and the mechanisms beneath launched a burst of missiles. She fired four rounds, each directed at a different participant, speaking a word at each launch with a far more disjointed and maniacal tone than any other machine you’ve heard. “More… Beautiful… More… Beautiful…” 47D rushed by, pulling you along, to dodge the missiles fired at both you and her.

The songstress’s hem dipped, then rose. By how she was carrying herself, she was starting to lose strength- but considering that 47D was almost limping when carrying you along, you seriously questioned who would win this battle of attrition. The new mechanism charged, firing a glowing ring up into the air, before it dropped back to the ground, immolating everything in its path. 47D held back, then slipped under one of the rings. She stumbled as she ran through the remnant of the explosion, dropped you off, then stepped up to attack.

The hem slipped back down, or at least tried to, since parts of it stuck for a few seconds before unsteadily following. With a grinding noise, something inside her shifted as the hem rose. With surprising regularity and slow speed, a number of delicate chains of bullets issued forth from her, decorating the air in a complex display of destruction. The songstress began to slowly move across the stage, quietly croaking out, “More… More… More…” You had to duck around the bullets filling the area. Though whatever pod was hovering right next to you was doing their best, they had significant difficulty in clearing the air around you of all the bullets.

With a loud grind and a shudder, the songstress stopped and looked around itself. From its side, a flame appeared, licking its way up her dress, burning away the fabric. Another shriek pierced the air, but instead of a note, it was the sound of panic. The songstress flailed about, desperately trying to put out the fire which engulfed her. In seconds, the dress fell off her form. The songstress sank to the ground, clutching at what little remained of her garments. The slats that made up her skirt buckled and pushed off to the side as she lowered herself.

Her voice, lower now than it ever was, repeated a line over and over: “I must become more beautiful. I must become more beautiful…” The crashing and breaking of metal announced her standing back up, as four legs tore their way out of the dress. “I. Must.” Most of the skirt broke away, trapped beneath her feet as she stood up. “Become. More.” She stood up to her new full height, arms reaching toward the ceiling, and announced the last word with a scream. “Beautiful!”

With a leap, she crossed the entire room and landed right next to 9S, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. Before he could react, it grabbed him in a crushing grasp and sent him flying across the room. As he sailed past a light, you could tell that his body didn’t look like you remembered- something about the silhouette struck you as wrong. Was it how his limbs bent? How his body was twisted?

Out of the corner of your eye, you just caught something soaring toward you. Instinctively, you turned and tried to catch it, or at least deflect it. The pain radiating through your hands and stomach as the projectile hit you said enough- but as you screwed your eyes shut, something in the back of your mind told you its shape seemed all too familiar.

A crash sounded through the room as 9S impacted the wall next to the stage, sending the facade and decorations raining down. 2B shouted, panic and fear present in her voice. “9S!” The songstress turned and focused on her, crossing the room in another bound.

Its landing wasn’t clean, the machine stumbling as it impacted the ground. 2B took full advantage, dashing forward and carving into its forelegs as it attempted again and again to right itself. Ripping and tearing at its insides, 2B showed no hesitation in exacting every bit of vengeance from it. After shearing one of its legs clean off, the songstress slammed a hand on top of 2B, slowly bringing her up.

Meanwhile, 47D could only watch the scene unfold around her. “Theo,” her voice was shaky, like she was suppressing her fear boiling up beneath the surface, “the pod’s broken, you can’t use it for-”

“Negative,” 320 suddenly spoke up, “pod 153 has calculated optimal attack vector to destroy the target, but is unable to actualize the attack due to damage. Attempting data and program copy.” She dove and picked 153 up from your hands.

A shriek tore your attention from your pods, toward the songstress and- to your dismay- the body of 2B soaring toward you. You had no time to react, merely flinching and covering your head, and 47D could only pull her weapons out of the way. The two collided, and 2B was sent tumbling over you, landing with an audible crunch behind you. 47D stumbled back and purposefully away from you. The damage from battle was wearing down on her. The charred parts of her skin cracked as she struggled to stand, desperate to move herself to intercept danger.

Off in the distance, the songstress attempted to leap toward you. Bereft of its two front legs, to its surprise, all it could do was throw itself to the ground. With a snarl that resonated through the room, it pulled itself along the ground, slamming its hands into the concrete to better its grip.

Glancing back at 2B, you found her struggling to stand up. Her clothes were tattered and her skin was peeling off in several locations, revealing the metal structure underneath. Her right hand was partially shattered, with two of her fingers broken and seemingly useless. She nearly fell over as she stood, herself as desperate to get back into battle, like 47D.

“Pod,” you shouted at 320, “hurry!”

“Affirmative. Data transfer complete.” In one swift movement, 320 ripped off the lower part of 153 and then extracted a cartridge from inside. Discarding the rest of the body, 320 opened, dropping her old cartridge and plugging the new one in. After a second of charging and aiming at the songstress, 320 said one last sentence: “Proposal: look away.”

You complied.

In a burst of light and sound, bright enough to see even with your eyes closed and while you were turned away, 320 fired upon the Songstress. In one final, faltering note, the songstress gave her dying song.

You knew that, in the absence of objects for the mind to recognize in the field of view, it will create new ones from the random noise. But even that couldn’t explain what you were seeing.

As the moment hung in the air, you saw two figures silhouetted in grey against a beige background. The two figures, one towering over the other, stood apart facing each other. Each raised an arm toward the other, as if longing for embrace.

The light faded, and you heard 320 fold back up. As you cautiously opened your eyes and surveyed the aftermath, you found 2B and 47D struggling to stand up. Looking to where the songstress was, you saw nothing but a twisted wreck of metal, the remnants too far removed from the original form to be recognizable- a mound of debris jutting out at any conceivable angle.

“9S… 9S!” 2B, limping though she was, broke into a half-run around toward where the Scanner had last been seen. She had a tight grip on her left arm as she intermittently staggered forward. Her clothes were torn, and you could see a few places where shards had dug into her skin, jutting out like quills.

Your thoughts were moving slower than you liked- it was only now that you could manage to move yourself forward to check on 9S. You only briefly registered that 47D had said something, and was herself struggling to stand. Fear slowly made its way up your body, tensing your muscles. Would 9S be fine? It wasn’t like 2B to be panicked like that- you expected her to patch herself back up, then hurry over to see if 9S needed further assistance.

You began to understand why she was so distressed about 9S as he came into view. The debris from the collapsed stage had fallen into a pile, and 9S was partially buried, only part of his upper body stuck out.

Immediately, you could tell he was in a critical state.

Part of his face had been bashed in, a region on the left side of his face stretching between the chin and cheekbone. There was a crack on his upper left arm, most of the limb below twisted away at an unnatural angle, wires spilling out and away. Even as 2B rushed toward him, he showed no sign of response.

2B was quick to take on the debris above 9S, pulling away at the chunks above him. Seeing rusted rebar climbing out of the concrete like patchy grass, you weren’t even sure of what you could do to help, unless you tried pulling him straight out of the pile. You quickly secured your grip and took a deep breath, willing the adrenaline to stay coursing through your system for just a little bit longer.

You pulled on 9S with everything you had. To your dismay, 9S barely moved an inch, although you did feel something shift. A spark jumping from his body caught you off guard, and his voice sprang to life- but it sounded off. It wasn’t a natural-sounding voice, it sounded synthesized, like it came through one of your pods.

“Theo, wait-” just as the voice cut off, you felt something shift within the pile shift again. With another tug, you felt his body start to slide free from the debris.

“It’s fine, 9S. See? We’ve gotten you out, we-” You looked down at 9S in horror. While you had definitely pulled 9S free of the pile, you found why it had become so much easier. Both of 9S’s legs had broken off mid-thigh. While the right was far from a clean cut, it had at least detached entirely. His left leg still hosted a number of cables stringing it to the rest of his leg under the pile, some of which having snapped while you pulled him out. “Oh- oh God. 9- 9S. I-” Your body became numb in parts, and you felt yourself drop to the ground, your grip still steeled on his arms.

“Theodore, Theodore!” 9S seemed to nearly be begging you to listen to him, though his voice cut out intermittently. “This- -your fault, Theo, this isn’t your-”

You stopped listening, sinking backward. Your thoughts began to swim. 9S continued to try to talk to you, 2B moved to begin repairs on 9S, you felt disconnected as the world just seemed to move around you. You- you had actually caused all this hadn’t you? This all could have been avoided.

If only you hadn’t brought the androids this far into the amusem*nt park.

If only you hadn’t asked them to continue exploring after the first day.

If only you hadn’t even asked them to take you here in the first place.

If only you hadn’t-

“9S! 2B! Theodore!” 47D’s shouting shook you back to reality. “Hold up! Why did you all run off?”

“9S was in serious condition,” 2B countered, “I couldn’t just-”

“Yes, you could wait! You’re barely in any better state, yourself!” She dropped heavily next to you and started to look you over while still talking to 2B. “How do you expect to help 9S when you won’t help yourself?”

You looked at 47D and all of her still-open wounds covering her body. “What about you? You still look like-” her glare cut you off.

“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re a little bit more important than we are, Theodore. We’re…” she momentarily glanced away and hesitated on the word, like she feared facing it, “replaceable, if worse comes to worst. I think you’re about to see this.”

“No…” 2B said, at first under her breath, then pointedly to 47D, “I’m not leaving him behind.”

“2B, just look at him. He’s far beyond repair- he’d be more of a liability than an asset.” 47D pulled out gauze and tape, before reluctantly handing it over to 320, choosing instead to tend to her own wounds. 320 hovered close to dress what few cuts you had; they stung more and more as the adrenaline wore down.

“But we can’t make the trip back with only the two of us guarding him.” Her words caused 47D to pause. “We’ll be caught off-guard for sure, and we can’t let that happen.”

“2B,” 9S’s voice feebly cracked, “there’s- -ction point not too far aw- -n’t be entirely sure where it is, or what’s ar- -ave to take the risk.”

It took a moment for 2B to respond, her voice suddenly far more level. “9S, forward me the location, and stay in low-activity mode. Don’t risk breaking anything more that isn’t broken.” 9S fell silent, and 2B began work on repairing herself.

320 finished patching you up quickly, allowing you to watch some of the fascinating ways that the androids repaired themselves. Like before, the two used some type of gel to close over their wounds, but they broke out new, interesting means of self-repair. 2B pulled out a blob of dark gray material, shaped it slightly, then stuck it to where two of her fingers broke clean off. It worked surprisingly quickly, taking the function of the missing parts within a minute. You could almost see the skin and cloth crawl up as she worked on other parts.

47D was taking care of a number of shards that had dug into her skin. She pulled out the largest ones and broke off the rest, before dealing with the pits left over. To your surprise, something inside her body was systematically either dealing with or breaking down the remnants, subsuming them into her body.

2B finished first, but still left a number of presumably inconsequential damages on her body. She turned back to 9S and started some type of preparation. She obviously wasn’t trying to fix him back up, but was probably preparing him for transport- removing the sharper edges from the break points of his legs, bending his arm back into shape, that sort of thing.

A thought briefly caught your attention- what happened to the pods? There had to be five coming into the battle. 320 helped patch you up, 904 was shot (but you don’t remember seeing him since), 9S’s pod was broken in half during the battle- you briefly wondered if 2B’s and 47D’s pods were scavenging the aftermath of the battle. With all the androids scattered about, there was certainly plenty to retrieve.

After a while, 47D stood up. “Are we ready to go? 209 said that the door locks disengaged, and we can probably leave through there, assuming nothing else decides to make our day any worse.”

“I’m ready.” 2B moved 9S’s unresponsive body behind her, securing him in place.

“How far is the connection point?”

“Hopefully not all that far,” 47D responded, “but we can’t afford too many delays.” She pulled you up to your feet, and the three of you made your way toward the door.

“So,” you started after passing through the door, unsure how to bring this up, “that machine said some pretty weird things, didn’t it? It’s a bit odd that-”

“Theodore,” 2B sharply spoke up before 47D could, “there is nothing behind what the machines say. All they do is copy from the world around them. There is nothing in their minds. No emotions, no feelings.”

You passed through the atrium, opening the rusted doors to outside. You stepped back, blinded for a moment, but continued behind 47D as she continued urging you forward. You were relieved to see the bridge leading away from the castle, and the straight-shot avenue leading away. The open front gate beckoned you to continue, a promise of freedom…

Were it not for the singular machine hovering in front of the gate, its body not reminiscent of the other painted machines. Oddly, a pole stuck up from its back with a white cloth fluttering off it, nowhere near as large as it should be. Even from this distance, you could see its eyes shone green like the other machines in the park.

47D brought a hand up, stopping you from advancing. Looking between each other, the empty hall behind them, and the enemy in front the two came to a wordless conclusion. 47D turned back to you, saying, “Wait here, Theodore.”

The two androids advanced up to the machine, bringing their weapons to bear. Their pods stayed behind with you, probably to keep guard over you. To your surprise, up ahead, the machine began talking to the androids. You couldn’t tell what was happening, but 2B and 47D did not seem to be in accord with the machine.

While straining to listen in without moving forward, one of the pods rang, making you jump. A screen flashed up, showing 6O after the static cleared. Her face was worryingly grim, as she kept looking between a number of screens. She finally glanced straight at the camera. “Ah, Theodore?”

“Yeah?”

“Uh…” she fidgeted, glancing with uncertainty at a screen off to the side, “look, I think you already know, but something came up at camp-”

“What did?”

There was a disconcerting pause. “It’s- it’s nothing to worry about too much, Theo. Can I just check in with something quick? I think the locator in your pod is malfunctioning, would you mind telling me where you are? Approximately?”

You looked at her uneasily. “We’re… at the park to the east of the camp.”

For a moment, she tilted her head in confusion. “The park? Wait, you mean-” Realization flashed across her face. “You- you can get back soon, right? Like, really soon?”

“6O, what’s going on?”

“Theo, I- I don’t really think I can say. I need to go.” Before you could react, the screen flicked off, leaving you staring at open air.

Off by the gate, the androids began to turn around, beckoning you to come toward them. Uneasily, and still shaken by the conversation, you made your way forward, your thoughts muddled by everything that was going on. What happened at camp? What made 6O so worried? Was the park really that dangerous?

47D began to speak as you neared them. “Theodore, this machine claims that it knows where we can go to resupply and find the connection point. It… also claims that its people are non-hostile. We’re not sure if it’s trustworthy, but it’s the best shot we have to get 9S back up and running.

“Come on, there’s no time to lose.”

Chapter 37: A Bridge to Somewhere

Chapter Text

“Come on, there’s no time to lose.” 47D didn’t waste any time kneeling, opting to instead pick you up and leaving you to settle in as she hurriedly followed 2B. By the time you settled in, the hovering machine had led the two androids a fair way back into the amusem*nt park through the not-very-well-secured gate.

The buildings rushed by as the androids hurried after the machine. There wasn’t a well-defined route they seemed to be taking, making frequent turns back and forth through the labyrinthine path. There was a wide variety in the wear these paths wore. From concrete so worn-down you could almost tell where the frequent travelers had walked, to some old and forgotten back alleys. More than once, 2B and 47D had to come to a complete stop to climb over some the remnants of an obstacle in the way: a wall, a cart, or just a pile of debris swept into a corner.

With all the twists and turns, you had trouble keeping track of where you were in the park. Sure, the first turn was to the right of the main road, and you didn’t remember crossing back over it, but there were several moments of being so turned around where you seriously questioned the geography (and quite possibly the topology) of the area.

Eventually, you noticed something begin to climb over the roofs of the squat buildings around you. The towering buildings of the ruined city seemed strangely welcome, a stark difference from the recent yet dilapidating amusem*nt park- the extremely regular underlying patterns versus the nearly organic growth of the park buildings. As you neared the transition zone between the park and city, you were struck by how this section of the park looked… newer. Like it hadn’t been forgotten so long ago.

A sudden turn pulled the group into a band of open area, where a street demarcated where the city ended, and incomplete construction showed where the park began. The well-worn path you were on lazily curved forwards, into one of the buildings on the other side. The machine bobbed higher and higher, taking a route around the building entirely. The androids hurried forward, entering the building, then climbing a stairwell so used it could have been mistaken for a ramp.

On the fifth floor, you noticed a wall completely broken off, exposing a view toward a rather dense forest which was obscured from the other side. The flying machine waited just outside, hovering right next to…

Oh ****.

No.

“Guys? Do we have to go in this direction?” You stared in horror at the bridge which stretched out before the group, crudely fastened together and suspended only by the (admittedly thick) chains bolted onto the building. The other end of the bridge disappeared behind the trees, the entire shape creaking and swaying as the wind freely whipped by it.

2B shifted 9S on her back. “We don’t have time for this,” she bit back, “we need to keep moving.”

“We have to, Theo.” 47D shifted you on her back. “We don’t know how else to get 9S to another connection point. If a different one were closer, we wouldn’t be taking this risk by following the machine. I know you might be worried, but we’re quite capable of defending-”

“I wasn’t talking about the machine.”

47D glanced at the bridge and paused. “The bridge should be regularly taking loads much more than we’d be posing. Machines aren’t exactly known for being lightweight, Theo.” You still looked at the bridge with serious doubts. “I’m sorry, but we need to-”

“It’s fine.” You tucked your head down onto her neck and closed your eyes. “Go. Just… try not to stop on the bridge, alright?” You weren’t listening for a response.

47D apparently took your request to heart, continuing to thunder on. Your eyes braced closed, trying to ignore how the would dipped and swung from time to time, you couldn’t help but let your mind wander. The innocuous events leading up to the paired disasters. The tank, which left a stinging reminder of the danger of the world around you. The songstress, who took out 9S and two pods, nevermind all those android corpses laced around her body and skewered around the room.

A shiver coursed its way through your body. How dangerous was the amusem*nt park, in reality? Had you only just scratched the surface of the dangers that the site could offer? Were there other dangers, hidden just beyond, or deeper down? You managed to escape so far with only one android out of commission, but you were still a long way from the camp, from safety.

And now where were you going? 47D and 2B were searching out a connection point in… some kind of machine encampment? Somewhere where the only promise of safety was the machine’s word. Though this had turned out well for the machines in the park at large, you did wonder how you all would fare now that you were down one android. If there were any time that they could strike when you were least defended, this would be it.

You held tighter onto 47D as these thoughts swam through your mind.

47D had been moving for a while now, and you managed to keep your eyes screwed shut and did everything in your power to ignore the extra sensations of additional movement. All you could hear in this time was the machine hovering a distance ahead, the footfalls from 2B and 47D striking against the metal bridge, and the bridge itself as it groaned and shifted from time to time.

A number of minutes in, some deep, rumbling sound peaked above the others, coming from somewhere to your right, far off in the distance. Carefully turning your head toward the source and risking a peek, you saw three red blurs of light off in the distance, trailed by columns of smoke linking them to the ground. They seemed to be in formation as they crawled their way up the sky.

“47D?”

“Hm?”

“Do you know what those are?” You pointed to (what you assumed were) the rockets. She glanced over for a second before turning back forward.

“Huh. Didn’t expect to see resupply rockets out here. I- Look, I can tell you about them later, when we know that 9S is safe.”

“Alright.” You tucked your head back down, shutting your eyes to the verdant world blurring around you.

You felt and heard the androids slowing, and again risked seeing what was happening. Immediately, you saw the gigantic tree, around which the forest had mostly been cleared away. But growing in this new space was something you didn’t expect- clusters of buildings, wrought from bent metal purposely assembled together. The settlement seemed not only to creep out away from the tree, but up its trunk as well, the irregular walkways wrapping around the tree like a low-climbing vine. The series of bridges you all were on led toward the lowest of these walkways on the tree, being far more securely built than the suspension bridges near the park.

But what struck you as the most important part of the settlement was its inhabitants. Machines, their eyes pinpricks of green at this distance, lined the walkways at somewhat regular intervals. Each stood firmly, slowly waving a pole with white cloth attached to the end. Every single machine you could see was engaged in this sort of task, from those on the highest tiers, to the smaller ones on the ground teaming up to wave one together.

You were conflicted. On one hand, this encampment was seemingly the only potential source of repairs for 9S. You had to trust them if you wanted any chance of returning to the camp safely. But something whispered to you at the back of your mind. This could just be a front they’re putting up. Couldn’t the machines in the park have put up a similar front to these machines, hoping to draw in unwitting androids into danger?

But if they were hiding something to attack you, they have almost nowhere to hide it. As well, they’re putting in too much effort for this to be just a ruse- the sheer number of machines lining themselves all across the catwalks, each with their white flag- part of you wondered how they managed to gather up enough acceptable cloth to make them.

The androids paused a distance away from the machines. 47D let you down and let her weapons flash into existence. “I don’t think it needs to be said, Theodore, but be on guard. We don’t know what they could be planning.”

“They’re waving white flags- well, they’re not really flags, but still. They’re being pretty non-aggressive.”

“Just stay behind us, okay?”

2B and 47D began walking toward the machines. You could tell that they were uncomfortable with the situation at hand, although you hadn’t been feeling it as hard as they have. Perhaps you hadn’t really realized the depth of the situation: being miles away from support, easily within hostile territory while walking up to one of their bases, having to defend someone ill-fit for combat.

You didn’t envy their jobs.

The androids neared the other side of the bridge, where a machine stood that was built rather differently than most of the other machines that you saw- in fact, part of you questioned if it even belonged to the same kind of assembly lines that made the other machines. The way its parts and joints fit with each other were… distinct, to say the least. One easy difference was its head, being a cylinder settled on stop of the body instead of being socketed in.

As you approached, it made the first diplomatic move. “Hello!” a feminine voice chirped as it turned to set the flag down, “Before we begin, there’s something you must understand; we are not your enemies. I understand that you see us as the enemy, but…” It trailed off before continuing, “Well, anyway. My name is Pascal. I’m the leader of this village. Those who reside here desire nothing more than to live a peaceful existence. Look around for yourself. You’ll see that it’s true.” It stepped aside, allowing you all entrance.

2B was first to ask a pointed question, unsurprisingly. “There is a connection point within this village, correct?”

“Yes, you’re correct.” With jagged movements, Pascal pointed off to your right, “You’ll find it in about 25 meters that way.” 2B seemed to want to hurry off in that direction before the machine could continue, but she stood firm. “I hope your companion fares well, though I cannot tell what state he’s in.”

2B turned to you and 47D, seemingly wearing a pleading look through her faltering emotionless façacde. “Come on. I’d prefer to remain here as little as possible.” 47D grabbed your arm, pulling you along as 2B hurried off in search of the connection point.

The machines lining the path forward hurriedly stepped out of the way of the android all but charging forward, watching with curious eyes the strange events around them. 2B stopped at what looked like a… vending machine? It was all rusted out, miraculously still stocked with various items probably degraded long past the point where it could resemble anything you’d think to be in there normally. As she maneuvered 9S around herself, awkwardly moving him from her back into her hands, the front of the connection point swiveled, revealing a gigantic mesh of internal components, a number of which slowly extended out. 2B edged forward, cautiously slipping 9S into the mechanical arms. She stepped back as the door swung closed over the crumpled body of the small android and stood, staring, at the door.

“2B,” you started to worry about her, “how soon is he going to be ready?”

“Not soon enough,” she whispered to herself.

“Sorry?”

“I’m not sure.” She turned back towards you, “They don’t give estimations for completion.”

You took a moment to look around at the machines around you. Pascal had followed the group as you hurried over here and there were a few machines peeking around corners and looking on at the strange interlopers, but they seemed to be a minority of the machines- the others seemed to return to their previous tasks but always kept an eye on you, giving the group a wider berth than necessary.

Pascal eventually approached the group again. “I’m sorry to bother you all- it’s actually a first for us to have YoRHa androids visiting our village. Is there some way I, or my village, can help you?”

Chapter 38: Not the Village Idiot

Chapter Text

“Is there some way I, or my village, can help you?”

The question hung in the air, left unanswered by the androids. 2B stood stoic as ever, seemingly ignoring Pascal, and 47D glanced uncertainly between the two of you. You weren’t entirely sure how to respond to Pascal. 47D seemed to jerk, as if spotting something behind you. She turned and made her weapons appear in a flash of light.

“Hey, back off.” There was a surprising pointedness to how she spoke, some sort of anger or frustration aimed at whatever she saw. Turning around, you found one of the small machines, not even five feet away. Frozen in its tracks by 47D’s shouting, it looked around frantically before… turning around and running away.

“Maimonides!” Pascal brushed past the group, running after the frightened machine. “Wait, she wasn’t trying to be mean!” They disappeared around the corner, leaving the three of you to stare after her in confusion.

You turned around to glare at 47D. Maybe she hadn’t trusted the machines before this, but now they had no excuse. She caught your frustrated gaze and meekly stepped back. “Ah- I didn’t- Theo, I-” she suddenly seemed unwilling to look at you, “I… look, it’s just…”

“47D, do you get-”

“I understand, Theodore. I’m sorry.” She took a step back, bringing up her hands defensively. “I didn’t know it’d take it that way. I’ve just been incredibly stressed out recently, and I haven’t been thinking straight and-” It struck you as odd that she was being so defensive. You decided to intervene before she rambled on for too long.

“47D, is everything alright? You’re acting… off.”

She paused for a few seconds. When she continued, the sudden exhausted tone in her voice surprised you. “I’ve just been- I need some time alone. ” She began to turn away. “Can I ask that you don’t bother me until we’re ready to go?”

The request was sudden, but you weren’t one to turn her down. Two stressful battles back-to-back like that would probably wreck you too, if you were combat capable. Heck, 2B might even be feeling this way, considering she’s been… non-responsive. “I guess that’s fine. 2B? Will you or 9S get her when we’re ready to go?”

“Mm-hm.” You briefly questioned whether she heard you or not, since she still stared dead-ahead at the connection point.

It worried you, how she- well, everyone- was acting so detached from reality. You weren’t sure how you could help at all. You glanced back at 47D, only to barely catch her as she walked off- she seemed to be shrinking into herself as she walked away, crossing her arms in front of herself. Defeated, you turned to 2B and suddenly thought back to the fight against the songstress, at how torn she was by 9S being hurt.

…Perhaps the best thing you could do for the androids at this point was give them space. You turned and wondered where Pascal had gone off to.

Not far, as it turned out. Pascal seemed to calm down the… child machine, you guessed, fairly quickly. You pulled blanks on the shorter machine’s name as you approached them. Noticing your approach, Pascal turned with a gesture towards you, bringing the stubby child with him.

“See? The androids don’t want to hurt you. We have an understanding with the bases around us, and they won’t hurt us. As long as you stay within the village, then by the deal, they won’t harm you.”

The small machine made a noise similar to a sniff. “B-But the tall lady. She brought out those swords. Y-You said that we should run if we see an android pull out their weapons.”

“She’s probably from YoRHa, and wasn’t aware of the deal we have with the camps. I assumed that they knew, since they didn’t attack us on sight, but it seems that’s something I might have to correct with them. But look,” Pascal faced you, “here’s an android from the Resistance. He doesn’t want to hurt you.” Not that they had facial features, but you could almost see the small machine lift its eyes to you expectantly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

A decision quickly crossed your mind. You weren’t going to leave behind major traces. “My name is Caspian.” You stepped forward and leaned down slightly to get to its eye level. “And what’s your name?”

“Maimonides 0796.” You paused, confused by the sudden addition to his name. “Are you s-sure you won’t hurt him?”

‘Him’? Probably referring to Pascal, you mused. “I promise I won’t hurt anyone here. Kinda hard to do so when I lack the ability.” Its sudden, twitch-like movements made it hard to portray, but you swore it seemed to relax.

“Alright Maimonides, I need to talk with our guests and ensure that everything will be fine. Why don’t you go down and see who’s willing to play with you?” Pascal pointed down toward a clearing in the sea of buildings below. You could barely make out a few machines milling around in groups.

“‘Kay.” The machine bounced off, hopefully heading in the right direction. You watched it repeatedly stumble around as it navigated the walkways.

A sigh from behind you brought your attention back to Pascal. “It never fails. Whenever there’s a new visitor, someone always becomes too curious and ends up frightening themselves. It’s always an uphill battle. But anyway… you said your name was Caspian, yes? My name is Pas-”

“You already introduced yourself to me,” you pointed over your shoulder, “when you, uh, introduced yourself to us. At the edge of the village.”

Pascal ‘blinked’. “…Goodness. I’m sorry, things have been rather stressful lately. There’s been a troublesome machine at the Amusem*nt Park nearby that’s been causing countless problems for us. I didn’t think it was possible for me to go through as many replacement parts as I have. But thank you, truly, for taking care of that problem for us. You don’t know how much it means to all of the machines here.”

“You may want to save your thanks for the androids that actually did the work in the battle. I… wasn’t really a huge help in defeating them.”

“Then I suppose I’ll need to wait for the one be repaired. Do you happen to know their names?”

“Yeah. 2B, 9S, and 47D. I’d wait to talk to them. 2B, the one by the connection point, probably won’t answer you if you talk to her until 9S comes back out. 47D asked to be left alone, so I wouldn’t push my luck if I were you.”

“I see.” He brought up a hand to his ‘mouth’, a small pattern of holes punched into his face. He sounded worried, but didn’t press further. “I’ve heard that strenuous battles can really wear combatants out mentally. I do hope they recover soon, and I hope that 9S gets repaired soon, as well. Most of the time, androids stop by for quick repairs before they leave. I haven’t seen someone so damaged be put in there.”

You didn’t want to be reminded of 9S’s state. Losing both of his legs and however much functionality, what did that do to him mentally? Didn’t he shut down, or something like that after the battle? For his own sake, you hoped he was unconscious for the whole trip here.

“But anyway, what brings you here?” Pascal continued, “It’s rather rare to see that you’ve come over this way.”

“I was told to check out the amusem*nt park. Something about signals coming from the castle, they just wanted to send someone to make sure nothing horrendous was happening.”

“I haven’t heard anything about the signals, but some of the machines from the Amusem*nt Park have been coming by for a number of reasons. Bothering us, trying to steal components, one time they even tried taking an entire building. Hopefully, with that one machine gone, things will settle down, but I can never be sure. Still, though, that’s an awfully long way to be from your main camp. Is there any particular reason why they had you go so far?”

You blinked at him in surprise. “…Hang on, wait, what? How do you- What do you mean-”

“Oh! Sorry, sorry. Azov swings by every once in a while, she talks all about you, Adria, and Kara. She’s always been so lonely.” Pascal continued to ramble on as a sense of dread enveloped you. Great, you’ve unwittingly stolen someone else’s identity. Best thing you could do right now is keep having him talk about the village. That should slow any unwanted revelations. You waited until Pascal paused in his elaboration of what happened when Azov was here last.

“Uh, Pascal, it’s been nice talking with you, but I might prefer some time to myself as well, maybe wander around the park while I’m here. Is there anything I should look for here?”

“Ah… I’m afraid there’s nothing too interesting here, Caspian. You’re free to look around the place, but I’d suggest that you stay within the limits of the village while you’re here. We can’t guarantee your safety if you stray too far.”

“Got it. Thanks again for everything.”

“Thank you for being so patient and understanding. Not every android who visits has the sense to stow their weapons and listen to a machine. We’ve had… a number of close calls, as it were.”

“Uh, ‘welcome? I hope things go well, Pascal.”

“Enjoy your time here, Caspian.”

You walked off as Pascal turned and continued the other way.

The village was… decrepit would be too strong of a word. Sure, the HUD would have a field day, if it still existed and had the opportunity to thoroughly examine each of these habitations, but they actually seemed to do the job of housing machines and protecting them from the elements. You weren’t sure what would happen if they managed to bump into a wall, but they were probably smart enough to avoid doing that.

It was a grand departure from the amusem*nt park, for one. There, the buildings were constructed long ago and mostly left to crumble. Here, even the ones built up in the tree (some of the hardest ones to reach, and thus the first to probably be abandoned) seemed well-kept and lived in, for the most part. The machines also seemed to be a lot more spread out. Instead of clustering around the middle row like at the park, small open areas dotted the village, being social areas for its inhabitants.

The village, as a whole, was surprisingly easy to walk through. The walkways had a few spurs that ended rather quickly, and the houses below seemed to be planned out to allow easy access to return to the tree at the center. You found yourself surprised by some of the ingenuity on display- how you could quickly determine where you were or how to get to where you wanted to go.

The inhabitants were another problem. Every time you’d walk by a group of machines, they seemed to stare at you at length. None of them actually approached you or tried to talk to you like Maimonides did, however. It was… unsettling, to say the least.

Over time, you eventually found yourself winding lower and lower on the tree. Sometimes, if you looked up at the right angle, you caught the general area where 2B was. Every time, you noted she was still waiting at the connection point, still standing guard for when 9S finished. You felt bad for her- what’s been going on in her head to make her act like this? How important was 9S to her? She’s been so secretive, how much more of her were you unaware of?

Eventually, you found your way down to the roots of the tree to explore the village surrounding it. It was another feeling entirely, creeping around the paths instead of looking down upon them. The straight lines were an oh-so-welcome change from the overbearing labyrinth- perhaps one you weren’t mentally prepared for, considering you suddenly found yourself at one of the gates of the village, the patchwork wall slipping away to the sides. You were about to turn around and continue wandering before you heard a voice from beyond the wall,

“Come on, Fer. I know you’d hate to stop here, but we don’t have a choice. Safest place to stop at for a while. Not many dare to come here.”

…Wait. That obviously wasn’t a machine’s voice.

Chapter 39: One Issue After Another

Chapter Text

You worriedly turned around toward the gate, toward the source of the worrying speaker. ‘Safest place to stop at for a while’? ‘Not many dare to come here’? What were they trying to do, hiding out in this machine village? Who were they hiding from? You didn’t have much time to wonder this before a pair of androids limped into view.

They were probably Resistance androids, judging by their disorderly clothes. They were dressed similarly, dark shirts and camouflaged pants. A woman heavily supported the guy next to her, limping on his right foot. She looked at him (probably the ‘Fer’ you heard about) with an open look of frustration.

“But Isa,” he started, “you said that--”

“I know what I said,” she bit back, “but since you broke your foot, there’s nothing we can do about this. Best we can do is buckle up here, lay low, and--” her eyes landed on you, and she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, making Fer stumble and try to regain his balance. She quickly turned and muttered something to him, before hurriedly leaning him against the gate. “Hey!” She started aggressively making her way toward you, shoving a machine out of the way.

“Uh--” You weren’t entirely prepared for this conversation. Should you keep to the ‘Caspian’ identity? Would they know about him?

“Hey! Focus. Don’t get scared on me now. What, you want to waste all the progress that you’ve made? Or worse, waste mine as well?”

“Progress? Toward what? What are you--?”

“…Toward… getting away from the Resistance?” She wore this look of absolute confusion. “Why the **** else would you ever set foot here? What android would want to come to a camp filled to the brim with these ****s unless they absolutely had to?” Why would an android want to run away from the Resistance? You didn’t know how life was for them, so it would be wrong to cast judgement, but she had to have her reasons. She would probably also have enough motive to make sure you stayed quiet if she thought you would be a risk.

“They’re not that bad. Pascal said that we’d be safe inside the village limits, which you just crossed. Congrats.”

“Pascal?”

“The leader here. He--”

“You mean this is one of the havens?” She closed her eyes and sighed, visibly relaxing. “Would have been nice to know that there’s one over here. Ferdinand kept complaining it wasn’t so safe over here. Would have shut him up nice.”

“Ferdinand? Is he your companion?” You pointed back at the android leaning on the wall.

“Yeah, we’ve had enough of this war. We’re trying to find somewhere we can just… exist without being hunted down by the Resistance.”

“Hunted down? Do they really do that?”

She stared at you for a second. “Which way’d you come from? If they’re that strict, we’d stand no chance.”

Should you tell them? “…I’m from Sigma - Kaon.”

“****.” She took a step back and turned to the side. “Then why was that contact telling me to-- no, never mind.”

“Something wrong?”

“If you really must know, we’re kind of in a tight spot. Seems you haven’t had a lot of trouble getting this far. Mind giving us a hand?”

“How? I don’t have much on me,” true, since the androids are carrying it for you, “and I don’t know what else you’d want.”

She looked above and behind you. “I suppose you don’t have anything interesting on there?” She pointed to your pod. “I get why you’d have one, plausible deniability can get you out of a lot of situations, but you need to be more careful with having one around. You’re lucky you got caught up in a machine base, too. YoRHa won’t abide their pods being in someone else’s hands.”

“What are you looking for?”

“Maps, intel, commonly-used routes, I’ll take anything.”

“I think I’ve only got a map of the region. It doesn’t extend too far to the surrounding regions, but it should help give you an idea of the area around Sigma - Kaon. Pod?” You turned to 320.

“Caspian,” 320 turned to you, “are you sure you want to share information with this unit?”

“Just give her the map you have. It’s all we can share.”

As the map apparently transferred over, you spared a glance to Ferdinand, who quietly observed the entire conversation from afar. After a second of silence, Isa suddenly shot a disappointed look at you. “Is this it? Are you ****ing kidding me? How the **** did you manage to get here with such a bad map‽ You know what, it’s fine. If you don’t have anything worthwhile, I won’t bother you. But good luck getting any further than you have.” She turned around, walking back toward Ferdinand.

Might as well give her some last advice. “If you want help, you could always ask Pascal.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Her tone left no question as to the perceived lack of worth. Leaving her behind would probably be the best thing you could do in this situation. Hopefully they’ll be gone by the time you all need to head out.

You briefly wondered where 47D went off to. Doubtlessly, she’s found somewhere to sequester herself- where, exactly, you weren’t sure. When you had the opportunity to look over the camp from the tree, there wasn’t really anywhere you could tell that would be a good place to hide oneself.

A realization struck you- why were you ignoring the obvious answer? The machines would have seen her wander through the village, and should know where she is… if she managed to pass by. You didn’t know how fast news travels here, but the nearby machines would be a good place to start. You caught the attention of a few chatting machines.

“Hey, sorry to bother you two, but you two haven’t seen an android from YoRHa pass by somewhat recently, have you? She’s taller than the other androids with her, black hair, visor, wearing a--” you heard something flicker beside you, and a glance revealed 320 projecting a full-body image of 47D for the machines. “…Well, wearing that.”

The two machines stared at the picture before turning to each other. “Wasn’t she one of the androids that stopped by recently? Pascal sure made a show, didn’t he?”

“You weren’t paying attention, were you?” The other machine’s tone was… chiding, in a way. “He came in with them!”

The first machine briefly glanced at you before. “How would I have known? How would you know? We were both put on the other side of their entrance!”

“I actually attempt to keep up with events in the village, unlike you! I checked afterwards; he’s looking for someone from his group.” The machine looked back to you. “We haven’t seen her pass by, if that’s what you’re asking, but someone else passed by, complaining about being kicked out by a foreigner. I’d guess that’s who you’re looking for.”

You tried to get a question in before the machines continued to bicker. “Which way did they come from?”

Already too lost in the argument, the machine pointed a finger off to one of the roads out of the plaza without missing a beat. Using discretion, you left in search of 47D without further comment.

It’s not like she was easy to find. You had plenty of time to think over the reason why you were looking for her. She had told you to leave her alone, but that was some time ago. You… honestly were also worried about her. Sure, you were worried about everyone else, but there was nothing you could do. If 9S weren’t being rebuilt, you’d be talking with him, making sure he was okay after the battle and being… mostly destroyed. Trying to check up on 2B emotionally would be a fool’s errand. You could just return to the connection point and wait with her, or just continue to wander the village, but you wanted to help. And the least you could do was check up on how 47D was doing.

Right?

You uneasily wavered back and forth on this line of thought as you followed the trail of machines pointing you onward through the village. You picked up on some minor bits of information, but nothing so important to really hold on to. You traced the path of mentions until you came to an open, quiet, (mostly) empty plaza, which struck you as very odd. Every plaza you’d gone through was populated with some machines just wandering about.

Seated, leaning against the pole in the center of the square, you found 47D staring off into the distance. She had her legs drawn loosely to her chest, and her arms wrapped around them. Her visor was gripped loosely in her left hand, her eyes locked, unmoving, onto something on the other size of the plaza.

You took a few tepid steps forward. If it wasn’t before, it became obvious she hadn’t noticed that you were approaching. With every step, you grew more and more surprised that she still didn’t react, until you were right next to her.

“47D?”

No response.

“47D.”

She was so still, you wondered if she was even breathing. You reached down and grabbed on to her shoulder. This should get her attention.

“4--” She snapped away from your touch, scrambling out of reach. You jumped at the sudden change from absolute stillness to near-frenzy, almost missing the look on her face.

“I didn’t--!” She turned away before everything could register, then stood up in one swift motion. She took several ragged breaths as she tied her blindfold back on, then turned back toward you. “I-- Th-Theo, didn't I ask you that I wanted to be left alone?”

“You’ve been gone for so long, 47D. I just wanted to check up on you and see if you were okay. Are you alright?”

She paused for several seconds before finally saying something. “You-- I’m fine. Is 9S operational yet?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t checked and I haven’t heard anything from 320. I figured they’d contact me through her if they needed to.”

“Then let’s get back to them. That’s probably the best thing we can do right now. I-- I shouldn’t have even--” She didn’t finish her thought.

“Shouldn’t have what, 47D?”

“We’re going, Theodore.” She started walking past you.

“47D, wait.” Two sets of footsteps thudding down one of the side streets towards you made you pause.

9S stepped into the square and scanned the area, before seeing you and began to all but charge your way. Behind him were two pods- his and 904, who was barely making any headway to reach you past the speeding Scanner. Struggling to keep up, 2B barely slowed down as she entered the square a full second behind 9S.

“Theodore!” 9S came to a stop far too close to you for your comfort, “Are you all right? You weren’t seriously injured from the fight with Simone, were you?”

“9S!” 2B stopped a short distance from him. “I was going to brief you on that when you left the connection point.”

“I had to see for myself, 2B. I know you didn’t want to risk further damage from operation, but I needed to know!”

“9S, you’re repaired? You’re ready?” 47D sounded relieved.

“Yeah,” he turned back to you, apparently making some sort of more detailed scan. “You’re… You’re…” he released the breath he’d held, “You’re fine, far as I can tell.”

“9S, 47D, Theodore.” 2B spoke up. “6O contacted me while I was waiting for 9S to finish. I apologize for the short notice, but we need to head back to Sigma - Kaon as soon as possible. She didn’t specify, but it sounds urgent. I was given the advice to leave after 9S was finished undergoing repairs.” She explicitly turned toward the Scanner. “Had you waited for me, 9S, you would have known this. Come on, there’s no time to waste.”

Chapter 40: Now Returning

Chapter Text

You tried to reason with the androids. While they rebuffed your suggestion to meet up with Pascal to thank him before leaving, they allowed you to make a quick call to him, though they gave you little time to much else. The androids all but dragged you along through the village, out toward one of the gates- thankfully, one that Ferdinand and Isa weren’t at. 2B, 9S, and 47D didn’t need to do much to prepare for the trip ahead. You approached 47D, ready to climb onto her back, but you stopped when she spoke up.

“9S, do you think you can take Theodore back to the camp?”

“Huh?” The confusion in his voice quickly gave way to confidence, “O-Of course I can! Why do you need to ask?”

“I… I just don’t think that… I… ” 47D didn’t look at you as she trailed off.

“It’s fine, 47D,” 9S interrupted, trying to calm her, “I got this.” 9S turned to you and picked you up, trying to carry you, similarly to how 47D did. You didn’t really have the time or opportunity to argue- 2B had made absolutely certain you understood that time was not a luxury. You didn’t have long to settle in before the androids left the village at nearly top speed.

The village quickly disappeared behind you into the blur of the forest.

The androids stopped for almost nothing. Isolated machines lost in the forest were simply bypassed. Minor obstacles were circled around. The only time they actually stopped was when their path was completely blocked- a wall of rusted, twisted scrap metal knotted together, in which a small gap promised some means of admittance. A gap, you swiftly noticed, which was blocked by a cube of similarly fused-together metal. 9S stopped a small distance from the wall while 47D and 2B quickly set to moving it aside.

“9S, is there a reason why this is here?”

He shifted you on his back as he considered the answer. “I can’t quite tell. I think it’s something built by the machines, perhaps to stop YoRHa troops… I’ve seen something like this before, but it’s been stopping the machines quite possibly more than it has been stopping us,” he gestured toward the other androids, “as you can see. I’d tell you more, but it’d just be pure speculation on my part.” You hummed in thought as the block slowly ground to a halt. 2B motioned for the two of you to hurry, and 9S raced over, barely letting you re-secure your grip.

Beyond, the forest quickly petered away, giving way to the city. You welcomed the familiar order of the buildings, the mostly level concrete streets, the straight and wide streets. Gone were the chaotic, twisting, rising and falling paths and the massive trees. As the monotony of the trip began to wear on you, your thoughts turned to the potential dangers lurking not here, in the city, but back at the camp.

6O had called back when you were at the amusem*nt park. Why was it so imperative that you return as soon as possible? Why didn’t- or couldn’t, you worried- she say anything about what was happening? Why did she try to contact you at first, but then tell 2B the same thing later on?

You briefly wondered if you had done something wrong by not saying anything about 6O’s original call, but the other androids made it exceptionally clear that getting 9S operational was absolutely necessary to getting you back safely. Even if they knew so beforehand, there probably wouldn’t have been anything they could have done to change 9S’s repair time.

And what of 47D? What had happened to her? You’d seen a radical change in her demeanor throughout this trip. She wasn’t so shy when you first set out, but more and more, she’s becoming closed off to anyone else around her since you were in the fight with Simone. Was she blaming herself for the whole ordeal? She shouldn’t- 9S wanted to check something out on the castle, and 47D had made a number of sacrifices on her part during the battle so you wouldn’t be seriously hurt.

Speaking of sacrifices, how was 9S doing? 2B told him to run on ‘low activity mode’ or something like that; was he hurting while being brought to the village? He was worried that you might have been hurt during the battle, so he didn’t lose any of his memory since the fight. But how much does he remember of being wrecked and dismembered? …How many other times had he- or really any other android- been similarly destroyed, only to be restored to perfect function? How was this wearing on him?

And how was this wearing on the androids around him? 2B was distraught at seeing 9S being so broken, while 47D accepted that it was quite possible that they would need to leave him behind. Had 2B needed to leave him behind before? 2B and 9S had obviously been suffering before: just before you left the camp, you found out that something happened with 2B and 9S in regard to their black boxes. How hurt were they now?

You glanced down at the android beneath you. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right? “9S?”

“Yeah?”

“How are you holding up? I’m just worried, since you just finished repairing from… you know.”

“…I’m doing fine.”

“You sure, 9S? I mean, this is kinda similar to what happened when we were back at camp, that thing with 2B.”

“I--”

“Theodore,” 2B turned around, “these questions can wait until we arrive at camp.”

“Got it.”

Silence dominated the rest of the trip.

The androids let you down just before you got to the clear area in front of the base. As you turned the corner, the heavily-guarded walls brought not a feeling of comfort, but one of growing apprehension. As you neared, the guards which before barely gave you the briefest of glances were instead almost staring at you, their attention completely pulled from their duty. Each one had a mix of different emotions, but surprise was almost paramount among them. One of them almost stepped up to stop you, but was pulled back by one of the other guards.

You could feel the stares on your back as you passed, only dissipating after you took the first turn into the camp. Your concern, however, still held. The small square just before you entered the camp proper (where the twins’ house was) usually was completely empty, but you heard an argument going on, distinct from the background noise. You immediately worried about some of the Resistance androids having gone to the twins to air some grievances, but taking the second turn revealed an unexpected scene.

Anemone stood somewhat close to the twins’ front door, facing a small group of androids leaded by an android clothed in red addressing her- directly and confrontationally, by her tone. But you didn’t have any time to analyze the situation. Anemone spotted you stepping around the corner almost immediately and turned to you, almost surprised. A fraction of a second later, she was crossing the square toward you with a surprising speed, leaving most of the petitioners behind, although the android in red followed her closely.

As Anemone neared, 2B, 9S, and 47D all stepped out of the way, allowing her to grab on your arm and wrench you along. You staggered, struggling to keep up with her as she dragged you into the camp.

“Anemone, what’s-”

“Theodore,” she hissed at you, barely over a whisper, “you’ve caused enough problems for us.” She turned to one of the androids following her as you drew near to your building. “Guard the door. Popola and Devola are the only two who are allowed to enter.” Anemone all but dragged you inside, up the stairs, and to your door. In one swift movement, she opened your door and threw you inside, only saying, “Devola’s going to be by soon to check on you,” before slamming the door closed behind you.

You nearly stumbled over yourself, being saved from falling over only by the pods holding on to you. You turned back to the door as you steadied yourself. “Wh- What’s going on?”

904 responded. “Anemone has strongly requested you remain in your dormitory for the time being.”

“Would it have killed her to explain what’s going on?”

“Negative, her vital functions would probably continue to operate within necessary parameters. Additionally, the androids in the camp have potentially been pressuring Anemone on some topic regarding you, Theodore. Few viable alternative explanations exist as to why she would rapidly attempt to extract you from the situation.”

You took a few deep breaths as you tried to analyze the situation. “Contact her. I demand an explanation as to why she’s done all this.”

“Alert:” 320 spoke up, “Anemone noted that Devola should be arriving soon. Request an explanation of the current situation from her, rather than further add to Anemone’s current burdens.”

“…Anemone still needs to answer for what she’s done.”

“Affirmative. However, the current situation is volatile, and so an explanation and apology will come when events have calmed down.”

“…How much are you two working for her?”

The pods paused. “Minimally. These units are looking to prevent the situation from worsening, although we do not possess adequate information.”

904 continued. “Further, Anemone believes temporarily isolating Theodore from the android populace is the most advantageous move in the current situation. Most likely, there is information that all three of us are missing that is crucial to her decision.”

“The best potential course of action is to wait and see. Rash decisions are probably the worst to make in a time like this.”

“Like grabbing someone as soon as they enter the camp and all but locking them in their room?” You might have been a bit biased.

“Negative, maintaining the status quo is-” 320 was cut off by the sound of a set of footsteps racing up the stairs. The door flung itself open, revealing a disheveled Devola.

“Theodore!” With a short, relieved sigh, she threw herself from the doorway, locking you in a tight hug. “You’re-- We were so worried. Anemone told us there wasn’t a signal coming from your group for a whole day!”

“What?” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“Anemone realized that you were gone from the camp and tried to contact you, but none of the signals were getting through. Apparently, they continuously retried the connection until it took, and you were near the machine village of all places. You told us this was just going to be a simple excursion out to the park, why were you all the way over there‽”

“We… got into a few fights. Right before we were going to turn around and come back here, we got caught up in this fight with this… ‘songstress’ is the best word I have for this. 320, do you have any recordings of the fight?” Your pod flashed up a screen, showing a still of the gigantic machine in question. “It managed to completely take out 9S.”

“Why didn’t you try to come back here immediately?” Devola sounded near hysterical.

“2B and 47D said that we needed to get 9S operational before we could even begin to think about coming back safely.”

“You had two androids! One could easily distract the machines while the other takes you past-”

“If you have issue with their plan, then take it up with them.” Devola closed her eyes and took a ragged breath, letting her anger settle. “Could you look at this?” You pointed at the burn mark on your cheek. “I received it shortly before the fight with the songstress. 47D took some preliminary actions, but I’m not sure that it needs to be taken care of further.”

Devola took your head in her hand, turning it so it was angled into the light. “Not really much more I can do for it. It looks like it’s taking care of itself pretty well so far.” Devola let go of a breath she had been holding and stepped back. “Look, I know things are kind of stressful for you, but I… kinda need to do something quick. Would you mind laying down quick?”

“Uh, sure.” Some small part of you wondered why she needed you to lie down, but the rest of you didn’t really care. You were finally somewhere safe, and no longer somewhere where the threat of harm was ever-present. You settled onto your bed and closed your eyes, finally able to interpret quiet as ‘peace’ rather than ‘tension’.

You were confused by the sound of something moving over the bed, then surprised by the weight of something really heavy lying on your left side.

Opening your eyes again, you looked down, finding Devola curled up to your left, wrapping her arms around you. After a second of processing this, you moved to try and extricate yourself from her grasp.

“No…” Although her tone was calm, almost a soft whine, her steeled grip told another story. “just… let me have this for now, okay?”

Incredulous, (and lacking the physical strength to remove her,) you turned to your pods for help. 904 pinged a second later, saying he requested Popola’s presence. For the time being, you resigned yourself to being partially trapped under Devola.

A few minutes later, Popola worriedly entered the room and glanced over at you. Slowly, the worry melted into confusion. “I received a message from 904 requesting I come over here. Is… everything all right?”

You gestured to the android lying next to you. “Is this ‘all right’ for her?”

“Depends.” She leaned over to briefly check on her.

“She asked me to lay down, saying that there was something she ‘needed to do quick’.”

Popola glanced at you with an intrigued look, but just as quickly turned back to her sister. “Do you have anything to say?”

Devola gave a quick chuckle. “His other side’s open.”

You shot a glare at her- well, the top of her head, anyway. “Really, Devola? Is that all you have to say for yours-” Another weight settling on you, this time on your right, made you stop. Turning your head, you saw the straight-haired android curl up next to you. “Really?”

“Come on, Theo. You really made us worry.”

“But that-” You stopped as you realized that reasoning wasn’t going to get you out of this. As the twins shifted by your sides, your mind went back to something that the twins mentioned to you.

They mentioned a few year numbers to you, but two of them were sticking out to you- 5012 and 11945, the year that humanity fled to the Moon (presumably completely vacating the Earth) and the current year. If your assumptions were right, then 5012 was quite possibly one of the last times the twins could have seen a human, and they had to have been built to deal with humans, considering their extensive medical knowledge. Now that it was 11945, that meant…

That meant it’s been six thousand, almost seven thousand years since either Popola or Devola had seen or interacted with a human, and that’s the best case scenario. Rome only lasted around two thousand years from embers to ashes- how much had the world changed during that time alone? How much have the twins seen change in the world? What trials had they faced, what struggles have they endured?

How much did it mean for them, almost seven thousand years later, to see a human again?

You pulled the twins just a little bit closer.

Chapter 41: Announced

Chapter Text

You realized something fairly quickly. Other than the obvious, that the twins were far heavier than they looked- and yes, this was taking into account that they weren’t even leaning on you completely- you found out that the twins were rather warm. Coupled with the fact that you couldn’t move, you found yourself nodding off.

You slowly came to to someone calling your name. Your mind had to re-parse the situation you were in. First, you wondered who was trying to wake you up. Second, why you couldn’t sit up. Third, why Popola and Devola were curled up next to you and partially on top of you.

You began to recall the events that led to this- Devola lying down next to you after checking you over. You calling Popola over to make sure Devola was okay, followed by her joining Devola in pinning you down.

Someone called your name again. You managed to pick up your head and looked past Popola to see Anemone sitting on the other bed, arms crossed. It seemed like she was trying to specifically keep a neutral, emotionless expression- something she has obviously practiced time and again. As the twins slowly pushed themselves up, freeing you, you turned to the leader of the camp, letting the anger from earlier freely flow.

“I hope you have an apology for what you did earlier.” You felt the twins flinch beside you.

“I can give you one,” Anemone barely blinked at your response, “if that is required. However, I feel that my actions are justified.” She kept her tone level.

“Dragging me to my room- in front of a sizable group of androids, no less- and demanding I stay here is ‘justified’ in your eyes‽”

“I don’t believe you are aware of what that ‘group of androids’ was doing when they were addressing me. Neither, I believe, do you know what has been going on here in your absence. One, I must also note, that I was not informed of.”

“Enlighten me.” Her non-reactiveness was starting to get to you.

“This will take some explanation. The original plan of keeping you here was that we- that is, the Commander and I- would keep you under wraps until our talks completed. Unfortunately, we underestimated the attentiveness of the androids here. As the talks dragged on and as you kept being a secret from the androids at large, they grew increasingly concerned and curious as to why there was an android that was being kept away from the public eye. Theories abound when there aren’t enough acceptable facts.

She narrowed her eyes at you slightly. “The situation was not improved at all when you suddenly disappeared. My confidants became increasingly worried about the state of the camp, and how things were being increasingly stirred by a number of agitators. While I did what I could to keep dissent to a minimum, I could not prevent events from eventually coming to a head. You saw as such when you arrived at camp- that group headed by Naravelia.”

“Who?”

“She was the one who was leading that group of androids when you returned.” She gestured to her cape. “She wore red.”

“Well, why would they be getting upset about me? They were seeing me from time to time. It’s not like I was locked away against my will.”

“True, but you’ve been sequestered away, and no public statement had been made about you. If you had simply been a lost android, as they assumed you were at first, then word would have spread about a new android working in some group relatively quickly. The lack of evidence was taken as evidence itself.

“Things worsened when you disappeared. More and more, androids have been coming up to me- including some from Kaon- trying to gain some insight into the problem, each leaving more frustrated than the last. Eventually, a good number of androids organized underneath Naravelia, cornering me after I spoke to Popola and Devola. She was explaining her case when you made your appearance.”

“So if they wanted to know about me, then why didn’t you just bite the bullet and introduce me to them, or announce my existence? They would have had their answer and would calm down or back off, right?”

“At the time, I considered that outcome unlikely. With the benefit of hindsight, I stand by my original decision. I hope you can realize the imbalance inherent in this situation. Sigma and Kaon are together only in name- issues crop up almost daily between the two camps. Now imagine these non-unified camps trying to vie for you against each other. I wouldn’t call the current situation tenuous, but I have seen problems develop between the two camps, and I don’t want to see these problems any worse than they already are.”

You would have interrupted her earlier, but what she said hadn’t yet registered. “Hang on, hang on. What?”

Anemone blinked. “Is there--”

“What do you mean, ‘trying to vie for me’? I get that since humanity is on the moon, we’re not exactly commonplace down here, but what are you saying?”

“Theodore--” Popola set a hand on your shoulder, but paused when Anemone motioned for her to stop.

Anemone leaned forward slightly. “What, exactly, do you think you mean to the androids here? YoRHa, Resistance, it doesn’t matter. What do you think you are in their eyes?”

You paused to think, going over all of the instances that the androids found out you were human. 2B and 9S were almost stunned when they found out, and 9S was overly excited on the way to the camp. 47D, 50G, and 78B were similarly surprised, though they somewhat acted like 2B in that they pushed themselves to avoid notable reactions. You hadn’t seen how Popola, Devola, and Anemone reacted when they found out, but they each at least seemed to treat you respectfully. Whether this was out of kindness or for… something else, you couldn’t exactly say. From what you could tell, the twins were rather wanting for sympathetic androids. Dakota and Carolina acted oddly, but it was alluded to that he had ulterior motives.

Cecil, however, stuck out in your mind. She had a relatively neutral outlook on you while she thought you were an android, but when she found out, she nearly became a new person. She almost broke down in tears right in front of you, confessing that she was losing faith in the war and all but begging you to not leave the camp behind.

What did you mean to the androids?

“From what I’ve seen… I’m seen as important to almost everyone, I think.”

Anemone raised an eyebrow. “‘You think’? Theodore,” Anemone rose from the bed, her tone slowly shifting, “do you realize the reality of the situation we live in? We fight this war against the machines so that humanity can eventually return to the earth in peace. Our entire reason for being created hinges on humanity trusting that we’ll be able to fight their war.

“What do you think it means for us when someone from the literal group we’re killing or sacrificing our lives for shows up, someone for who we’ve sacrificed everything?

Anemone must have seen the worried look on your face. “I’m not trying to guilt you, Theodore. I’m just trying to get you to understand the perspective of the androids in this camp, and why they might try to do what they will.”

You sighed, trying to filter through everything that was flying through your head. Why now, of all times, was everything starting to come crashing down? You weren’t even sure if you could take all this at once. One step at a time, you reasoned. Anemone was talking you through the androids’ potential points of view, probably trying to brace you for the announcement. But she did mention something had to be done first. “Have the talks between the Resistance and YoRHa finished?”

Anemone smiled, but there was something off about how she responded. “The Commander and I have finished talks concerning your situation, yes.”

“So you’re going to make the announcement soon, ri--?” You could swear that you felt the twins flinch slightly, but what stopped you was Anemone briefly glancing away, the faintest shadows of guilt touching her face. “You already made the announcement, didn’t you?” You barely phrased it as a question.

“Yes, not too long ago. Please understand, Theodore, the situation demanded me to act immediately. The Commander wasn’t too enthusiastic about my decision, either, but I doubt she could have wound the situation another way.” Anemone paused before continuing, as though she were unsure of whether she should ask this or not. “Would you pardon me for wronging you, if I have done so? As you can tell, I haven’t exactly had the ability to second-guess my actions.”

The weight of the revelation weighed on you, making you momentarily push her question aside. It was liberating and crushing at the same time. You no longer needed to keep the truth of yourself a secret, but now, supposedly, every android knew of you. Saw you in a way that was unwarranted and undeserved. What had you done to merit being the potential focal point of the camp, besides simply be a human?

These questions burned within you, but you had to put them aside. “I know you’re not entirely to blame for the situation of the camp. I feel I can forgive you.”

For a moment, Anemone paused. She closed her eyes, drew in her breath…

And exhaled, releasing her grip on her emotionless front. It seemed as though as the tension bled away, the strain of the years of her life seemed to take its place. She brought a hand to her face, wiping something away from her eye. She whispered something to herself that you didn’t completely catch, “…not even close to…” What she said trailed off as her gaze drifted off to a corner of the room.

A small part of the anger you held toward her turned to concern. “Is everything alright, Anemone?”

“Not completely, no.” Gradually, her focus turned back to you. “Consider, if you will, what I’ve had to do in the past hour alone. Not only were the talks tortuously drawn out, even for YoRHa’s standards,” she spat out the last few words with a bitter tone. “I’ve had to make this announcement with next to nothing to base it off of. Considering one of my primary functions in this camp is to keep it continuously operating, this… movement led by Naravelia has posed a rather stressful obstacle. Not to say that she or the androids under her doesn’t have a point, but still.

“Which leads me to another reason why I’m here: the androids of this camp have heard the announcement, but quite a number of them still don’t believe me. I don’t blame them, I’m still partially in shock about this whole situation, but until they receive evidence, they’re still holding this camp hostage. I need you to prove yourself a human to them.”

You almost couldn’t believe what you were hearing. “Can’t you get the data from Popola or Devola? Or from 9S? Or 78B? Or Cecil?”

Anemone leaned forward, her face slightly darkening. “Cecil? So when did she find out?”

“Not too long before I left for the amusem*nt park.”

“And you never thought to tell me?”

“Popola and Devola knew about her, I thought that they’d tell you!” You turned to them in turn. “Right?”

Popola put her hands up defensively. “Cecil only told us that she found out about you. We thought keeping yourself secret was your job.”

“In any case,” Anemone gathered everyone’s attention, “moving forward, if you are in doubt about something coming up regarding the androids in my camp, please bring it to my attention.”

“Got it.”

“Now, if you wouldn’t mind introducing yourself to the androids…”

You stood up. “Only because I’ll need to do it eventually.”

Chapter 42: Brief Introductions

Chapter Text

Anemone rose to follow as you opened the door. To your surprise, you found your pods hovering just outside the door. Noticing you were there, they hovered back into their usual positions. You found it slightly strange that you now realized that they were absent before.

You turned to the camp leader behind you. “Anemone, did you send them out here?”

Anemone nodded. “I didn’t have anyone else at hand to stand guard.”

“But you had someone…” you pointed toward the front door.

“Yes,” Anemone closed her eyes and folded her arms, “but the rank and file can be infuriatingly clever about circumventing regulations.” She turned around to address the twins. “You two might want to stay behind for a while. There’s no telling how they’re going to react.”

“Hang on, what?” You caught her attention again. “I get why you’d think that, but they’re the ones that know best on how to identify a human. They’re the ones who ran all those tests, that data should count for something.”

“Theodore, while I understand what you’re trying to get at, the androids of the camp wouldn’t accept it as proof. They’re biased enough against Popola and Devola, why would they trust them with something so important?”

You fumed at this response for a second before feeling Popola lay a hand on your shoulder. “Don’t worry, Theodore. We’re not upset. Just go out there and give them the proof they want to see.”

With a sigh, you turned and left your room. You barely paid attention to Anemone behind you as your thoughts clouded over you. While you knew better, you couldn’t shake this overbearing feeling of doom, as though you were walking up to a guillotine. You descended the stairs and hesitated for only a second at the door. With a deep breath, you resigned yourself to whatever fate lay before you and opened the door.

The murmur of androids talking faded slightly. Just outside the doorway of your building was a large crowd of androids, seemingly waiting for you since they all stopped what they were doing to divert their attention toward you. Right at the front of the crowd was an android in red who quickly turned to you, quieting the crowd as she stepped forward and spoke.

“So she’s finally made her decision, has she?” She paused to glare at Anemone behind you before turning back to you and continuing, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Theodore. Anemone has told us about you an hour ago. She’s mentioned a number of… dubitable statements in her announcement about you.” She paused and bowed her head, “By the way, my name is Naravelia, and I apologize if you have had to struggle with some of her choices in regards to your well-being.”

“Nice to meet you, Naravelia, now-”

“If I may be so direct: In her announcement, Anemone stated outright that you are a human. She has made a number of other obfuscating explanations as to her actions, but we would like to determine whether her story is true, or if a report needs to be filed about her actions.

“I trust that, if you were human, you would know exactly how to prove so. Now, if--” Naravelia stopped, interrupted by two androids off to your left. They stood facing each other, one with his back to you. They hadn’t truly finished talking to each other while Naravelia spoke, and their conversation had slowly grown more and more heated, enough now to draw her attention. With an annoyed look, Naravelia turned to them, “Enough, you two.” After a moment, she stepped forward to break the argument. “I said, en--!”

Suddenly, as though pushed, the android with his back to you stumbled backward, trying to regain his balance. It happened too quickly for you to react.

You blinked, and you found yourself sitting against the wall. Anemone crouched near you on your right, muttering something to herself about Popola and Devola. To your left, the two androids continued to fight with each other, although bystanders were breaking the fight up. Naravelia stood in front of you, completely shocked. You suddenly realized you were holding a hand to your nose- pulling it away revealed a few streaks of blood.

Nosebleed, you presumed. You pinched your stinging nose shut and leaned forward. Almost immediately, you were wrenched up by your left arm, then shifted over, all but forced to lean against Naravelia. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you over to--”

“Naravelia, wait!” Anemone stepped into view, “You’re not bringing him to the repair bay.”

“No,” she countered with absolute conviction, “I will. He’s got epistaxis, but if we hurry, we can fix him before the damage gets critical.”

“Hang on, hang on,” you tried to catch her attention, “I have what?”

Naravelia slowed, a flicker of some realization crossing her face. “E-Ephistaxis… but you-- you shouldn’t…”

Anemone stepped past you two, sparing only a single sentence before giving out orders to clear away or to return to their posts. “Follow me.”

After some gentle guiding, Naravelia set you down in the twins’ home, in the area where, long ago, they had run their tests on you. Here, you figured, was as good as anywhere to wait for them to arrive.

Naravelia cautiously knelt down next to you, seemingly taking in every detail she could. Her focus, though was mostly trained on your bloody hand. “I…” she seemed to struggle with her words, “I’m sorry. I thought that… I was certain that you, you were…”

“An android.”

“--Yes. Epistaxis would indicate something much worse had happened. I… panicked.”

Anemone walked in, “Popola and Devola will be here in a minute, Theodore.” She paused and looked at Naravelia, her tone suddenly harsh. “I hope you finally have your proof. You’ve caused enough of a disturbance as is.”

Naravelia flinched, then turned back to her. “You should be thanking me! They didn’t have anyone leading them. I got them organized and got some of them back at their stations. If it weren’t for me, anything could have been happening. What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t stepped forward?”

“Someone else would have. I’ve seen this kind of disturbance before, it’s not that difficult. Besides, I never asked for your assistance.”

“You give glowing praise to S-198, and she never asks you beforehand!”

“That’s because I have her continuously acting on my behalf. You never had to even--” Anemone glanced at you and paused. “Naravelia, these are private matters.”

“You--”

“We will discuss them later.”

You heard a door open on the other side of the house, and two sets of footsteps hurry in. You caught sight of Popola stopping just before the room, reaching into the black boxes and pulling out different supplies. Devola hurried up to you and surprisingly gently pulled your hand away from your nose.

“Easy, easy. How bad is it?”

“It doesn’t hurt too much. Not really sure how bad it is, I can’t quite get a good angle.”

Devola rolled her eyes as Popola hurried back with more in her hands than you’d think would be necessary for a simple nosebleed. Popola started handing things to Devola, who applied them one at a time. The end was in sight when Popola handed over the gauze, then left to put the other chemicals away.

“There,” Devola brought your hand up to the side of your nose, lightly pressing it in, “you should hold it closed for a few minutes, but it should--” She was suddenly interrupted by your pod ringing. “Who’d be--?”

A screen flickered off to your left, preventing you from clearly seeing Anemone and Naravelia. You recognized the Operator immediately: twin blond braids flowing behind her head; sixteen white dots on her mask; worried, frazzled look on her face.

6O, who else. Although, this didn’t explain why she was calling.

She let out a breath and sat back. “Thank goodness, I finally got a call to connect to you! Your pods kept telling me that they wouldn’t connect any calls! What was--” she suddenly paused and leaned forward, “What happened?”

“He had a nosebleed, everything’s fine now.” Popola answered for you.

After glancing at you in worry, you decided to explain further for the Operator. “It’s not that bad, 6O.”

“Still,” she began fidgeting with her gloves, “How did it happen?”

“Something happened while I was proving myself a human to the androids. I hope things are going to smooth over. I presume this whole deal was why you wanted me to hurry back to camp quickly?”

“Yeah. You’ve made me worry so much about you, you know? I didn’t know what to do at all when Commander made the announcement!”

You raised an eyebrow. “You got an announcement, too?” You turned to the camp leader behind the holographic screen, “Anemone?”

“Hang on, wh--?”

“Over here, Operator.” Anemone walked into view of 6O and faced you. “As part of the agreement, the Commander and I were to make separate announcements to our respective groups. I would have told you about this- or someone from YoRHa would have- had I known this would come up.”

“Well, thanks anyway.” You let out a sigh. “So what happens now?”

“Hm?”

“Am I supposed to go back out there? Did they accept that whole thing as proof?”

“Naravelia?” Everyone turned to her, 904 even spun the screen so 6O could see.

“I’ve been getting messages that androids have been returning to their roles. There are a scant few left that are still refusing to accept the situation, but I… I can’t really associate with them in good conscience.”

“Any estimates?”

“None that I can easily make. I’d say eight to ten, but I also know most of them don’t have the drives to act on these thoughts.”

Anemone seemed to relax. “Good news, then. It’d be best if I could keep an eye on them, though, to make sure nothing bad happens… Send me the IDs. I can take care of the situation.” She paused for a second, “Received.” She brought a hand up to her massage her temples, muttering something under her breath, before turning back to you. “Anyway, to answer your question: no, you don’t need to go back out there, but I think it would be a good idea to head out there and get to know some of the androids here. Just let me know if something goes wrong.”

You knew you were supposed to feel liberated when you heard that you were free to see the camp for yourself- and you were- but you couldn’t suppress the fact that you felt hesitant to go out there in the first place. You barely got to see how the androids reacted to you, and Anemone’s reassurances didn’t do much to make you feel safer (though they didn’t make you feel worse).

You jumped when you felt Naravelia land a hand on your right shoulder. “You know, Anemone, I could show Theodore around the camp. This whole demonstration hasn’t been exactly easy on you and your confidants, and I doubt the camp’s going to be happy with the twins leading him around.”

Devola was just about to speak up before 6O spoke over her. “Hey! I could help him!”

“You?! You’re an Operator! You’ll get him lost more than anything!”

6O sheepishly looked away. “I… I have a map. Besides,” she started looking back to the camera, gaining confidence, “I’ve got access to Kaon’s databases, I’m not helpless! I could probably recruit some other androids if we bump into them. 50G, 47D, or 78B would love to lead Theodore around.” You raised an eyebrow. Did they not think of asking you your opinion?

“If nothing else,” you caught 6O’s attention, “would you mind sending my pods the map? I’m not sure they got the opportunity to update themselves.”

“Ah- sure!” 6O smiled as she got to work typing something out, “Sending it down!”

“Thank you.” You rose as you spoke to both 6O and Naravelia. “I’d like to have both of you show me around camp. I’m sure you’ll both do well.”

6O smiled at the remark, though Naravelia furrowed her brow, looking as though she was willing herself to stay silent. You briefly caught Anemone distrustfully staring at Naravelia, but 904 pinged, catching your attention. “Map updated: Sigma - Kaon and surrounding area.”

“You don’t need a map,” Naravelia spoke up, “the camp’s not that large--”

6O was a little too quick to respond to Naravelia. “Maybe, but there’s quite a bit to the camp that’s nestled in really strange areas.”

“Yeah, but the camp itself is extremely straightforward! Why would-- nevermind.” Naravelia started walking toward the exit, turning around to beckon you to follow. She suddenly dropped her pointed tone. “Shall we?”

Chapter 43: Doctor's Visit

Chapter Text

“Shall we?” Naravelia smiled as she gestured toward the exit.

“I suppose.” You turned back to the other three androids in the room. “See you later, Anemone, Popola, Devola.”

Anemone spoke as she made her way past you. “As Naravelia said, I have matters to attend to- ones that she has inflamed,” she sent a glare toward one of your guides as she said this. “Hope it goes well, Theodore. You’re in good hands- Naravelia knows the camp well enough for this.”

Devola helped her sister up. “We’ll swing by with lunch when you’re done with the tour, Theo.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” You turned back to Naravelia and 6O as you heard Anemone close the door behind her. “Shall we? Where are we going first?”

Naravelia almost managed to speak, but 6O was a step ahead. “The hospital would be a good place to start. It’s nearby, and I heard that one of the H-types there really wants to meet you!”

Naravelia gave a frustrated glance at 6O before speaking. “…Sure, I was about to suggest that location anyway. There are some androids there that I wanted you to become acquainted with.”

“Who are they?” You posed the question to neither android in particular while heading toward the door.

“Basil and Avicenna. They should be on their shifts right now; they’d be good for you to know.”

“Why?” An answer hit you. “Is it because they know almost everyone in the camp? Since they’re in the hospital, and everyone’s had to go there sooner or later?”

Naravelia smiled. “Good deduction, but not necessarily why we’re heading there first. We’ll basically be making a counterclockwise loop through the camp.”

6O perked up upon hearing this. “Uh, Naravelia…”

She gave a less-than-pleased look toward the offending android. “What?”

“…I’ve been delegated to give Theodore a tour of the camp.”

Naravelia paused as she closed the door behind everyone. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am! I have the orders right here. Do not make be bring higher-ups into this.”

“Guys, guys.” What was going on? “Calm down, it’s just a tour.”

“But--”

“He’s right, 6O,” Naravelia interrupted, “let’s just show him around, alright?”

“You--” 6O seemingly bit her tongue, “…Fine.” Her tone shifted away from displeasure. “Let’s go!”

You followed as the two androids led the charge ahead of you, but you couldn’t help but feel worried about what was happening. There was something larger going on that neither 6O nor Naravelia were letting on.

Once again, you found yourself in the main plaza of the camp. Your guides led off to the right, away from your room. You followed them, but your mind was elsewhere, engrossed, in the moment, in how the plaza had changed. Before, you had just seen it as an area in the middle. Androids worked on crafts, repaired weapons, talked idly in the shade. You weren’t sure how, but you thought your perception of it was changing.

Shaking yourself out of the moment, you found yourself at the threshold of the hospital- at least, that’s what you attributed the beds and all the white cloth stretched overhead to signify. Off to your left, an android sat doing some diagnostics over a motionless body, grimacing at the arcane data that flashed up on his screen.

But ahead of you, Naravelia was talking with two androids. While you passively noticed she approached them with an open demeanor, you couldn’t help but notice the hushed and frustrated tones from what you assumed were the doctors. There was something else about how they acted which was different, but you couldn’t quite place it.

To your right, however, you noticed the tell-tale dress black of a YoRHa android, although the uniform struck you as only slightly different than, say, 2B’s or 50G’s. Her sleeves ended higher, her skirt didn’t flow as low, and something- a hood, probably- pooled behind her neck. She was looking away, into one of the buildings alongside the hospital, almost expectantly.

“That’s 71H,” 6O whispered, “but she wasn’t the one I was talking about.”

You were about to ask who was, but Naravelia walking back, with only one android in tow, seemed more pressing for your attention. It was slight, but you could tell through her slightly flat tone that Naravelia was less than pleased with the current situation. “Theodore, may I introduce you to Avicenna.”

She gestured to the android behind herself, a taller man with his blond hair pulled back, tied behind him. His clothes bore old stains, faded almost as much as the fabric beneath, and his overcoat seemed stitched together from several different garments. He almost looked disinterested and dismissively at you, which did strike you as odd. “Pleasure, I suppose.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” You weren’t sure how much deference or respect to show him. “You’re one of the doctors, right?”

“Correct. Were you our sudden scare a few minutes back?” He gave a momentary glare toward Naravelia.

“I… suppose? Naravelia didn’t really know any better at the time, so I can’t blame her.”

“Still shouldn’t have bothered.”

Both you and Naravelia almost jumped at hearing this bold statement. While you remained silent, she managed to voice some of her frustration.

“Avicenna!”

“What? I’m not going to make this more palatable for you. You knew what was going to happen.” He turned back toward you. “Now, while it’s been nice to meet you--”

“Wai--”

“--I’ve got things I need to be doing.” He began to turn away.

For a moment, Naravelia couldn’t think of anything to say. “Hang on, don’t you have anything you want to say to him? Anything to ask?”

He stopped turning, and looked back over his shoulder. “Perhaps. Why isn’t he over in the Kingdom of Night or on the Moon?” He returned to walking off.

“Avicenna!” Naravelia chased off after him, leaving you to stand there in confusion over the whole situation.

A small crash caught your attention to the right as another YoRHa android stumbled out of the building after running into the side of the doorway. 71H stepped forward in an attempt to steady her, but the new android quickly regained her composure. She scanned the area, her eyes going wide on seeing you. She quickly dusted off her uniform and hurried toward you.

As she made her way toward you, she had this general air of worry- her eyes were always focused on you, she toyed with her hands as though she were uncertain of what she should do with them, and it took her a second to actually form words.

“--You’re…” Her speech was halting and yet petered out, like she was thinking a mile per minute.

“Yes, I’m Theodore. And you are--?” You offered a hand to shake, which she quickly (and quite strongly) took in both of hers.

“O- 103H, I’m just a doctor here-- well, I’m an H-type, what else would I be…” She rambled on, speaking extremely quickly, a far cry from-- wait a second.

“You were on the radio, weren’t you? A few days ago, with a Scanner, talking about books?”

Behind her, the other YoRHa android brought a hand to her face in exasperation. “You were listening? I mean, that wasn’t really my best work ‘cause the books were really interesting and I couldn’t put them down to spread out my work but I did the best I could with--”

“103H, stop.” 71H stepped forward, prying the other android’s hands off your own. “I knew you were bad at keeping yourself in check, but this is a whole other level for you.” She turned to you. “I’m really sorry about that. Usually, she has the best bedside manners, but she can go… overboard.”

Behind you, 6O cheerily chipped in. “She used to be an Operator!”

“To literally no one’s surprise.”

While 103H and 6O took offence, you noticed a different detail. “Did you happen to know her, 6O?”

“Yeah, we used to be close friends. I mean, we still see each other every once in a while, but she’s been a lot busier lately.”

“It’s not my fault!” 103H tried to defend herself, “61’s a slavedriver, and I really don’t have much time outside of everything else I have to do.”

As 6O and 103H continued to catch up with each other, you gaze shifted back to the beds. Something about them had bothered you, and you were finally coming around to why.

71H followed your gaze. “Is there something wrong?”

“No,” you waved her concern away, “but… why are there so many beds?” You motioned over to the singular non-functioning android, “They don’t seem to be used that much.”

71H uncomfortably shifted, and you heard 103H grow quiet behind you. “That’s the thing,” 71H spoke up, “it’s a completely different ward whenever there’s a machine attack. We’ve often had to leave androids deactivated, on the floor, while we worked on others.”

You turned back in surprise. “How… how many androids get hurt in an attack like those?”

“We had thirty-six from the last battle, but that one was a quite low.”

Thirty-six… since they had to be deactivated, that meant they were probably severely damaged, like 9S was. But having so many…

103H had stepped up beside you and began to speak, apparently attempting to focus your thoughts elsewhere. You missed her first few words as you were wrenched back up to reality. “--on a tour, so come on, why don’t I show you something interesting?” She pulled at your sleeve with surprising strength, forcing you to follow her into the side building. She pulled open a cabinet and dove into each item’s uses and applications at a blistering pace- far too fast for you to follow.

You felt your thoughts drifting again, to the androids who were damaged and destroyed in the assaults. And to have so many every time they attacked. How many androids have they irrevocably lost in these moments of terror?

The reality of the war came crashing down upon you. This wasn’t an isolated incident with Sigma - Kaon. Was something like this happening in Xi or Pion? How much better or worse were they faring? How did the androids live like this, where at any time, they might face their last battle?

Your thoughts then turned to the machines. The attackers. The ones you had seen face-to-face with their soulless, glowing eyes, bearing down on you and the androids guarding you. Simone, the mad songstress, who trapped you in her realm filled with her previous prey, marking you all as next.

Who was leading these machines? They seemed aimless enough when found on their own in the city, at least, but something had to be coordinating them for the assaults. Perhaps this would be something to talk about with 2B, 50G, or 47D. They’d probably know more than anyone else about this.

A thought of Pascal’s Village sprung up in your mind- they were all machines, but they had all apparently sworn off the militaristic life. And in the amusem*nt park, the peaceful (mostly, you corrected yourself) machines there had mentioned being disconnected from some “machine network”, whatever that was.

Whatever this whole situation was, you figured that you didn’t have all the information that you needed. You filed these questions away, for some time later when you could ask them.

Your reverie finishing, you tried to pull yourself back to the present. 103H was wrapping up her spiel and was starting to pack things back where they found them, occasionally glancing at 71H, possibly innocently trying to ask for her assistance.

904 hovered back up to your side, showing 6O nervously toying with her hands. After a moment, she worked up the courage to speak. “I think Naravelia’s occupied. C’mon, I think you might be interested in what I have to show you.”

Chapter 44: A Little Diversion

Chapter Text

“C’mon, I think you might be interested in what I have to show you.”

6O’s offer was tempting, but you were in the middle of a tour. Of course, with Naravelia off dealing with Avicenna, she probably wouldn’t notice for some time- and she did leave you behind, not vice-versa.

You turned to break the news to the H-types. “Yeah, it might be time to move on. 103H, thank you for showing all… this to me, and thank you both for making me feel welcome, but I believe it’s time to move on to the next stop of the tour.”

“But--” 103H stepped forward, but 71H quickly moved a hand to her shoulder.

“It’s a tour, 103H, he’s supposed to get a general feel about the camp. He’ll be back,” she looked over at you, “won’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ll try to be around from time to time.” In the back of your mind, you mused, there’d be some benefit to visiting the hospital now and again- the cynical side of your mind thought of gaining public appeal by spending time with the injured. You’d try to avoid getting in Avicenna’s way, although it seemed he didn’t strictly have any issues with you.

103H looked relieved as she and 71H waved their good-byes. 6O was already ‘pulling’ you along, excited to be bringing you somewhere she wanted to go.

You passed back out into the main square and immediately, you felt as though something was… off. Not that you could really put your finger on what, however. The androids here just felt like they were barely acting differently. You thought you saw someone staring at you out of the corner of your eye, but you couldn’t see who it was if you turned your head. You returned your attention ahead, trying to make whoever was looking at you drop their guard, but you didn’t catch anyone else staring at you.

You followed 6O in an almost automatic manner as she led you to the back of the plaza, opposite to where you went with Cecil, Justa, and Ruffin. Another alley pushed further in here. In the alley, a long bed of dark, near-black flowers lay as a kind of meridian, dividing the space in two. A blond Scanner was kneeling with a screen hovering nearby, apparently focusing on the details of taking a picture.

“Theodore,” 6O caught your attention, hovering up to your right, “have you been curious about this area? I’m looking at the map, and… I just realized it’s right outside your window.”

“Well, considering the topology of the camp, I figured.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it had to connect to the rest of the camp somehow. But as to whether I’ve been curious… I haven’t really had the opportunity to. Having to worry about not being discovered took a little higher priority.”

“…Ah, right, right.”

You turned back to the alley, but found the Scanner nowhere to be seen. Strange, he seemed to be so into the activity, too.

Following 6O, the area slowly came into view. The rectangular area boasted a small bed of more black-ish flowers in the center. The right and far sides of the square were placed well in the shade from a number of cloth canopies strung overhead, and a number of irregular crates and benches lay clustered around the place, mostly in the shade.

The three groups of androids in the square all turned to glance at you, with several of them having to do a double-take. In the farthest group, you noticed an android holding someone else back, keeping her from (presumably) running up to you. You even spotted the Scanner from earlier, talking to a group in hushed tones.

“So here we are!” You turned around to look at 6O as she explained the situation. “This is the recreational area for YoRHa androids. There aren’t as many YoRHa androids stationed here as Resistance androids, but it’s still a nice place to hang out. It’s a bit barebones, since command doesn’t give us much more than the basics, but some androids really can get creative with what they scrounge up. I heard they’re just about to finish something at Sigma - Kaon, but 2B hasn’t told me what…”

6O continued rambling, but your attention was drawn by two androids approaching you. The familiar face of 50G was comforting, but you didn’t recognize the android behind her. Given the similarities of her weapons with 50G’s, you figured it safe to assume that she was a Gunner. She was giddily trailing behind 50G, like a child being led to an amusem*nt pa--

Moving on.

Either due to a dyeing incident or deliberate ‘fashion’, her hair was colored half white and half black, split down the middle. As she pulled around 50G as she neared, you noticed with slight alarm that she was absentmindedly toying with a some kind of pistol. She suddenly noticed your worried gaze, and the weapon disappeared in a flash of light far faster than you’ve ever seen.

50G waved. “Theodore, nice to see you again. I’ve been,” she glanced at the other android, “gently requested to introduce you to someone. Theodore, this is YoRHa Number 14 Type G. We trained with each other back when we were greenies. 14G, this is Theodore. As you’ve asked me to tell you five times already, I helped escort him to Kaon.”

You stepped forward, offering a hand. “It’s nice to me--”

14G snapped forward, making you briefly wonder if she’s heard of the concept of personal space. Both of her hands had grabbed yours, and it didn’t quite pass beneath your notice that one was pressed against the front of your wrist. Her hands were… quite warmer than you thought they’d be. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you! I-I’ve just never thought I’d have the opportunity to-- r-really, it’s such an honor!” Her grip wasn’t letting up on your poor hand.

“Could you please ease up a little?” While you appreciated the gesture, extracting your hand from the death grip was probably priority number one. “I’d like to use this hand in the future.”

“Sorry, sorry!” She let go as quickly as she latched on. “I’m just a little bit excited.” You shared a dubious look with 50G. “What? Oh, come on, 50G. You can’t tell me you weren’t like this when you first met him.”

“Maybe a little,” 50G tried to defend herself, “but nowhere near that.”

“It’s probably for the best,” you spoke up, “lower expectations, less disappointment.”

“Disappointment‽” 14G almost sounded offended, “Why on Earth would I be disappointed?”

“I hate to be technical, but… you know, expectations not being met? If I may ask, what were you even expecting in the first place?” You don’t think you’ve been outright told, but you’ve easily surmised that the androids, especially YoRHa, are… very eager to meet you.

14G seemed to almost be caught off-guard by this question. “Well, I mean, I… wasn’t. Far as I know, it’s unprecedented that anyone’s come down from the Moon, so I can’t say we really have anything to go on. There are the Council broadcasts, but we figured the humans making them were too important to send down. But still, I can’t believe it! What’s it like up in the colony? Are there a lot of androids up there, or--?”

“Calm it, 14G.” A voice from behind you nearly made you jump. The adrenaline kept you from recognizing the Scanner completely, but you thought it was the same one you saw in the alley. “He’s on a tour, that means he’s still getting adjusted to what the camp’s like. If he doesn’t have an adequate point of reference, then you’re not getting good answers.”

“How on--‽” Your brain only managed to get two words out in all of its shock.

“Oh, come on, 24S,” 14G fired back, “there’s still quite a bit he could tell us. The artificial gravity generators in the Bunker are a relatively new thing. He could tell us if they’ve been installed. Or, generally, how many humans are up there.” She turned back to you. “There’s been this huge kick of getting photographs of different celestial bodies, do you have one of the Earth from the Moon?”

“14G, don’t you think he’s here for more important reasons than answering all of your questions?”

“Don’t you think he’s here for more than strictly business?”

“Well, perhaps,” 24S stepped forward, in an apparent attempt to seem threatening, “but even if that were true, he’s not just here for one android. No one should be able to monopolize him.”

As the two continued to bicker, you turned to 50G with a frustrated look- as far as you could tell, this whole mess was her fault. She mouthed back a sincere ‘sorry,’ but shrugged, ‘she’s hard to control’.

“Both of you, stop it,” a fourth android walked up. “Especially you,” she pointed to the Scanner, “14G was just being introduced, but you thought that you had to barge in and and interrupt her. Honestly, if neither of you can be civil, maybe you shouldn’t have the honor.”

“Excuse you?” 24S bit back, “And what makes you think that you can butt in here?”

Exasperated, you looked away- at anything else but at this debacle. To your mild horror, you saw the rest of the YoRHa androids slowly making their way over, further entangling themselves in the conflict. You glanced at the android projected on 904’s hologram, who had a rather difficult time looking in your direction. She had fully pulled a glove off to fidget with in her discomfort.

“This is your fault, 6O.”

Chapter 45: A Troubling Tour

Chapter Text

You had to think quickly. True, the androids descending on you a few moments ago were now all but stalled, but you doubted you could easily slip away. For the most part, all… fifteen-ish of the androids here were bickering between themselves, somehow having justified their own intrusion into the simple situation before. Glancing at 6O and 50G, the two instigators (in your mind) of this debacle, you found them doing their best to avoid getting embroiled in the mess.

If 14G was any indication, then there was some kind of benign intention behind their actions. Even the other androids- like 9S and 47D- had more of a curious outlook. If you could extrapolate this, then you might just have a way to get out of here somewhat quickly. But how to diplomatically state this…

“Androids,” you uncertainly (but successfully) tried to gather their attention, “I’m sorry to tell you this, I don’t want to cut my first encounter with you all so short, but I didn’t anticipate that stopping by here would gather all your attention. While it’s been nice--”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” 14G loudly interrupted, “you’re heading out? You just got here!”

“…to meet you all, I’m in the middle of something,” you blinked, your momentum completely thrown off by the Gunner. “I’m on a tour of Sigma - Kaon with Naravelia and 6O. When I’m--”

“Wait,” you barely managed to catch 24S’s words in the din of the other disagreeing androids, “you’re being led around by a Resistance android and an Operator ?”

“--When I’m done, I’m planning on returning, to give a more formal introduction.” You made your offer, and while some of the androids seemed to notice it, seemingly more of them were hung up on who your tour leaders were.

“Look,” 14G hooked an arm around your shoulders, the sheer force behind which gave you no choice in the matter as she pulled you in, speaking quieter than 6O should hear, “I’m going to level with you. You don’t want to be led around the camp by anyone with second-hand experience at best.”

You cut her off before she could continue. “Hang on, what? Naravelia has experience. Anemone trusted her enough for this.”

“She trusted her to not get you into anything that would cause trouble for her. Naravelia’s never been in Anemone’s good graces, dunno why she’s been around as long as she has.”

“Huh? What’d she do?” She had your full attention.

“Not sure. Could have even been something so simple as a personal vendetta, but I’ve learned to keep my nose out of Resistance politics. One thing’s for sure: she doesn’t have anything close to a real role here, so she’d only know how things work on the surface level.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Even surface-level knowledge would be good enough. I’m only getting a tour for where the important things are and their basic uses. Besides, it’s better to be shown around by someone without a job than someone with one, right? I’d be keeping them from their work if I were.”

14G paused, surprised. “Are you defending her? Can’t say I’m thrilled, hearing that.”

“Wha- well, I--”

“Your choice, Theodore,” 14G shrugs, letting go and beginning to walk away. “Just remember that everyone’s watching.”

You turned to respond, but the reality of the situation made itself known to you- the YoRHa androids once again vying for your attention drowned out any chance of responding to 14G. Their attempts made it impossible for you to even catch what even one of them was saying.

“--is it true that--”

“--ould you please--”

“--back off, I’m talking--”

“Guys, wait--” You tried to get past the chaos.

“--I heard that humans aren’t--”

“--tell 31B that she--”

“--stop pushing, you’re not--”

“One at a time, I can’t--” Failing to gain any footing, you turned to your last potential hopes in turn. 6O, as far as you could tell, was overwhelmed and was attempting to withdraw from the situation. Wait, there was 50G. You turned to where she should be, only to find that 14G had managed to pull her away, off to who knows where.

“--’s he looking at?--”

“--might know one of--”

“--hey, wait, what--”

You could feel your patience bleeding away. “Guys, enough. Back off.”

“--aren’t paying attention to--”

“--beat it, I was here--”

“--aren’t you list--”

“Guys! If you’re not going to listen--!” You stopped yourself, trying to parse the whole situation. Why were they talking over you? You presumed they thought highly of you- though apparently, not highly enough to let you get a few words in edgewise.

You furrowed your brows. What was going through their heads? Weren’t they supposed to be androids, capable of processing incredible amounts of information quickly? And for none, none of them to realize that you’d have something to say?

Fine. If they wanted to test your patience, you would give them your response. You turned around and started walking back to the rest of the camp. A hush slowly fell over the area, clueing you into the androids’ realization.

You heard one of them step forward. “Theod--”

“I’ll return when you learn to let others speak.”

You kept walking.

The silence gnawed at you as you left the area, returning to the main plaza. 6O didn’t even have much to say, offering only silence as your footfalls disappeared into the background noise. Looking around, you couldn’t help but notice the slight differences of where the androids were- how quite a number of them had supposedly decided to relocate to this side, not to mention the less-than-subtle momentary glances in your direction.

You turned to head back to the infirmary, where you last saw Naravelia, but stopped when you saw her all but charging straight at you, a furious look aimed at the hologram next to you.

“I should have known you’d do this,” she hissed as she stepped up to the hologram. “To think that I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt.” 6O, frightened, leaned back as 904 mirrored the Operator’s desire for space.

“Naravelia, please, you were in the middle of something, and I--”

“You just wanted to further whatever agenda was handed to you by the Commander.”

“--! No! You’re the one who wandered off, leaving your charge alone! Maybe if you don’t want me to do my job , then you might want to start doing yours.”

“Guys. Stop it.” You’ve had enough of androids not cooperating today. “Stop arguing and get back on the tour, or I’m going back to my room.” You didn’t want to be too harsh, but you had to put your foot down, and your previous interaction with the YoRHa androids not listening to you wasn’t helping your temper.

To their credit, they both fell silent. “Yes, 6O,” Naravelia spoke up first, “come on, let’s get back to the tour.” Naravelia turned, not letting her respond. Wanting for this to finally be done, you silently followed after the Resistance android.

No noise came from your pod as it trailed behind you.

Naravelia swept up through the Resistance side of the camp, a whirlwind touching on the more important parts- though you were sure that there were some facilities that your guide wasn’t going to show you. As she blitzed from one to the next, you felt as though you weren’t really retaining most of the important information about each location.

She brought you through the outer corridor, past the brilliant white flowers, and into the Resistance’s main area, briefly explaining that not many of the Resistance’s recreational activities take place here, but rather in their own secluded corners. In a far corner, a few androids gazed in your direction, huddled around a slowly dying fire. Now that you weren’t being shepherded around by conspiratorial androids, you could stop to notice the state of this area- or rather, its disrepair. You couldn’t quite put your finger on why, but this section in particular just felt less lived-in and cared-for than the rest of the camp you’ve seen.

Naravelia left little time for the explanations to sink in as she moved on, leading you down one of the paths leading further into the seeming labyrinth of the base formed from the discarded buildings, eventually bringing you to one of the more well-maintained buildings on-base. The door was tucked off in a corner, under another of the white sheet awnings alongside a pile of crates- some unopened, some empty and carelessly tossed aside.

“This is the commissary facility,” she spun around to face you without stopping, “it’s the most official method of distribution for the Resistance. Replacement parts, rare components, weapons, ammo, alloys; you name it, AoH can get it to you. Of course, you’re probably only going to be interested in the…” she glanced off to the side, “less official items. See, the officials of the Resistance don’t keep the closest of eyes on what’s being sent from base to base, and some smart androids have found out they can slip whatever they want alongside the other things shipped between bases.”

You weren’t sold on her description. “So it sells contraband.”

“What? No! Androids have their hobbies, and with this whole system, participants can reach other interested parties.”

“Still haven’t convinced me that there isn’t contraband in there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Then maybe you’ll believe it when you see it. Come on.” She turned, waving you along.

“Mind explaining something you mentioned? ‘A. O. H.?’”

“‘Army of Humanity’,” Naravelia held the door open for you as you entered the facility. “It’s the organization that the Resistance ultimately fights for, who ship the majority of supplies to us on the front lines, and where practically every Resistance android was manufactured. They’ve turned the entire Kingdom of Night into a nigh impenetrable fortress.”

“You’ll need to remind me what the Kingdom of Night is.” You found yourself surprisingly drawn to the description Naravelia was giving, partially realizing how little you were aware of the Resistance’s organization. You scanned the commissary facility before turning back to Naravelia to listen to her.

Everything here that wasn’t being displayed seemed to be as well-worn and used as the rest of the Resistance quarter. The shelves seemed to have been quickly and ‘temporarily’ fixed several times over, and several more seemed to need replacement, judging by the sagging wood and rusted metal. In stark contrast, the plethora of items stocked anywhere where they could fit were stacked and arrayed in an almost meticulous fashion. Bolts of cloth sat on the far wall, sorted by color with spools of thread being set on a shelf beneath. The near wall hosted a massive amount of some sort of components, though considering the normal clientele, you assumed these were replacement parts for an android’s less-critical functions. The first aisle was seemingly stocked with an endless amount of the same type of bottle. Its label only gave you gibberish- ‘C2H5OH, 194.4’.

“The Kingdom of Night? Don’t know what to tell you that I haven’t already said. Not many details to know about something that’s an ocean away.”

You raised an eyebrow as you glanced at her. “Weren’t you built there?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we were activated during that time.” Naravelia started to make her way toward what would be cashier, were this an actual store, not part of a military base. “Give me a second, I ordered something here for you.” She spun back around and addressed the android as she approached, having obviously known her before. “ Bodeguita !” Naravelia paused. “Ugh, I’m spending too much time with Isidore. Is the order ready?”

The ragged android pushed herself back to standing, where she was before leaning heavily on the counter. She tried to pull a lock of her short hair behind her ear, only for it to slip back to where it was before. “S- Yeah, give me a sec.” She turned and left for one of the backrooms. “You caught us off guard. What’s it all for, anyway? You never get this much.”

“I got it for the human.”

“Well, well. Aren’t you Little Miss Conspiratorial?” She reappeared in the doorway she left through with a crate in her hands and nodded toward you. “So is this your newest recruit to your next harebrained scheme?”

Naravelia blinked in surprise, glancing at you as if to confirm that she heard everything correctly. “Uh… No, Ludovica, this is the human.”

The android stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes suddenly going wide. You were thankful that she stopped at the counter as the crate slipped from her hand with a bang. “ What ‽ Why didn’t you lead with that information?”

“Weren’t you at the announcement an hour ago?”

Ludovica (if that was her name) gestured down at the counter in front of her. “Kinda had something to do here. Someone has to be running the camp while you’re ruining things for everyone else.”

With yet another distraction for Naravelia, you turned to 6O for whatever her next distraction was.

“The Commissary, huh…” 6O sat on the thought for a second, looking off into the distance. “It’s not associated with YoRHa at all. I’ve heard of some Resistance androids asking some units to help move items for personal reasons, but it’s not a systemic thing.” Behind her, you caught sight of an Operator descending the meridian, who stopped right next to her. “Everything’s centralized here, you can get practically everything you need at-- hm? What are you--” Noticing your gaze, she turned to the adjacent android and froze. Her wide-eyed stare made you think she would go pale, if she had the blood to drain away. “Theo? I, uh… I gotta go, there’s… I’ve--”

The hologram suddenly cut out, leaving you staring at empty space.

With excellent timing, you felt someone tap your shoulder. “Ah, I’m sorry…” you turned to see a hunched over android. With one hand, he clutched his yellowed cloak closed, bunched over his darker clothes underneath. His voice was so light, you almost missed it entirely, “she- she said you were the human , right?” His question ended with a lilt of hope. “I j-- It’s just, there are a few ar-- well, not ‘artifacts’, but certainly ‘relics’ from when humanity still wandered the Earth. But I can’t make sense of what they are, or what they’re for. Do you-- Would you please tell me what some of these treasures are?”

You raised an eyebrow, but it seemed like a quite innocuous request. You shrugged, “Sure, where are they?”

“Ah! Thank you, thank you.” He turned, ushering you to follow.

They weren’t far at all from the counter, sitting only two rows from the front. You were surprised to see how many items were just sitting around, for anyone who wanted them. The android raced to pick one item up in particular and gently held it out to you, wordlessly urging you. “This one just seems so familiar, like I’ve seen it before. But I just can’t put my finger on where…”

“Looks like a motherboard to me.” You traced a finger along one of the wires, picking up the dust. “But good luck trying to figure out what it was for or what it’s supposed to do. It’s missing a good number of microchips, and without those, it’s just not going to work.”

He turned the board over in his hands. “A motherboard…?” He tested the word on his tongue.

“Yeah. Are you really unfamiliar with the term? They’re the backbone of everything electronic-- at least, they were back where I came from. Who knows what kind of architecture you’re running on.”

“So is it like the controller circuits?” he mumbled to himself.

As he set it down to grab for something else, you decided to step in, “I don’t think I got your name?”

“Cień,” he passed the word over his shoulder as he pulled an item from beneath another and presented it to you.

“That’s an oven coil, specifically, an electric one. I’ve never looked into it, but I’d assume it presents a strong enough resistance for the current to make the coil heat up.”

“But why curl it around? Surely other circuits might be more desirable.”

“Don’t know. Preference during design, maybe.”

He frowned at your response, then turned back to grab another item. You shrugged it off, since you didn’t give the greatest explanation yourself.

You didn’t quite expect what he just pulled from the lowest shelf. “That’s… a bicycle wheel. It’s not in the greatest shape right now, usually they’re actually circular, since that shape helps it roll.”

“I… I at least knew that…”

“Well, what else wouldn’t you know… It’s usually self-powered, it’s a really efficient means of travel…” you trailed off, trying to think of more basic details to share.

“Do you think the Resistance could use this?”

“Considering the state of the remaining roads, I highly doubt they could be used efficiently. Maybe along certain paths that they know to be navigable, but things could change quickly, with the war and all. Still, it wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Might be able to pitch the idea, though I’m not sure how it would fare. There’s probably plenty that I haven’t considered.”

As you turned back to Cień, you stopped and blinked at the next thing he held up to you. Scarcely believing your eyes, you reached out and took it from him.

It was a CD, and a damaged one at that. That alone didn’t surprise you- nothing Cień showed you was pristine- it was that it wasn’t damaged all that much. A few scratches traced delicate circles around its vibrant face and a few tiny shards were missing from its circumference, but it looked far too intact to be discarded for thousands of years. The other side wasn’t much better, but you could actually make something out on this side. A red background, contrasted with a dark figure on the right. The title was faded beyond recognition, as was the white… logo near the side.

“I-Is something wrong?” Cień tried to grab your attention. “Do you not recognize it?”

“No, no, I know what this is. It’s a CD, a ‘compact disc’. It’s a means of data storage, though I doubt 1) that there’s anything similar inside you androids’ bodies, and 2) that anything could even be retrieved from it.”

“That’s a shame. I wonder what it would have contained…” He stepped closer to inspect the disc. “Its reflective surface is quite beautiful, though. Perhaps something could be made out of it.”

“I suppose. So what’s--” You saw Cień notice something behind you and swiftly turn back to the relics. Following the cue, you turned around to see Naravelia approaching with the crate in hand.

“All right,” Naravelia sounded frustrated, “everything’s finally signed for. Ludovica’s always been excruciatingly thorough.”

“Remind me who regularly has the best record of inventory!” Naravelia winced as Ludovica corrected her from the counter.

“--In any case, we’ve got what we’re here for. There’s--” she seemed to notice something, “…What happened to 6O?”

You decided not to make things harder for her. “Something came up for her.”

“Hm. Hope her assigned unit is fine. Honestly, now’s as good a time as any to bow out. There’s not many other locations that you should definitely know, considering their potential danger. There’s the vehicle facilities, but there’s nothing for you there. I’ve heard the naval sector of the base isn’t all that safe, and it’s rare that someone goes down there unless something’s docked. The armory-- well, I hope that one’s obvious.”

“It’s where the guns are, I presume.” She nodded in response. “Figures, you just don’t want me to have any fun.”

“Wh--?! Boy, you’re going to be a pleasure to have to deal with.” She shifted the box to a new position as she turned. “Come on, let’s wrap up and drop this off in your room.”

“All right.” You turned to Cień, setting the CD back in the pile of ‘relics’. “Sorry. I’d like to stay and talk for longer, but--” You paused. Something seemed… off about Cień now that Naravelia was out of sight. Had his posture changed? Was there a sternness on his face that wasn’t there a minute before?

“Be careful around her,” his voice was a whisper in a much deeper register. “She doesn't have the worst of intentions, but you wouldn't know that by her actions. Don’t associate too closely with her.”

You blinked, trying to understand the sudden shift that occurred in front of you. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m just trying to keep things stable in our camp.” He motioned toward the door as he turned back toward the relics. “Don’t keep her waiting.”

You paused for only a moment, but quickly hurried after Naravelia, trying to push away the newly seeded doubt in your mind.

Chapter 46: Gifts and Expectations

Chapter Text

You caught up with Naravelia at the door, who offered little more than a raised eyebrow at your slightly worried state. She turned as she lifted the hefty crate with little difficulty. “The camp can be a little labyrinthine at times, but everything important is straightforward, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a little signposting. If it’s hard to navigate, then that’s all the more reason to help people find where they’re trying to go.”

Naravelia tilted her head. “Why? Everyone builds their own maps of the camp for whatever they need to find. It’d be a waste of time.”

Her response wasn’t… expected, but you kept quiet. As the main area came into view, your thoughts turned to the item she was carrying. “So what’d you order?”

“Quite a few items. We can look at them when we get to your room. Doesn’t make sense to start unpacking this thing in the middle of the camp.”

“That’s fine, then. I can wait.”

“…I want you to be aware that I ordered most of this before I found out that you’re not an android.”

You turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “Is this going to be relevant?”

“It might.” You noticed she was avoiding looking in your direction.

Leaving the flower-lined alley behind, you took in the main area. Most of the androids reacted to your passing, but many of them seemed to not be too enthusiastic about the android travelling with you. You could almost feel the unimpressed stares sail past.

You wondered if the androids were judging you being with Naravelia.

Finally reaching your building, Naravelia stepped forward, opening and holding the door open for you. To your chagrin, she repeated the procedure with the door to your room.

“You are aware that I’m the one with two free hands while you’re the one carrying an entire crate, right? I can deal with doors, I’ve done so before.”

“Well, yes, but I’m just trying to be nice.”

You replied with a flat tone. “Noted.”

Naravelia quickly set the crate down onto the unmade bed, then turned to face you. “Shall we?”

“Sure.” You stepped closer, briefly stepping back when you caught Naravelia prying off the lid with her bare hands. By sound alone, it sounded like something that you’d need a crowbar for. Blinking the shock away, you cautiously edged closer, trying to peer inside the crate. “What’d you get?”

Several items were packed somewhat neatly inside the crate, probably made less ordered by being carried up a flight of stairs, for one. A white pillow sat on one side, providing a cushion for the line of six bottles in the center- the same kind of bottles that seemed to be stocked en masse in the commissary. A gray bag and a folded-up mattress pad braced the bottles on the opposite side, while a stainless steel water bottle sat on the end of the line.

A glance at your bed confirmed that, yes, you still had a pillow. Recalling your rather comfortable nights of sleep, you also assumed you had the mattress pad. While the smaller items were appreciated, you were still drawing a blank on what these bottles were. You picked one up and looked for any further clues. “Interesting selection you made…”

She cleared her throat. “I would have made a better one if I had known that you weren’t an android… and that Anemone already gave you a pillow and mattress pad.”

“And these?” You motioned toward the bottle with its clear, unknown liquid.

“Alcohol.”

You turned back to the bottle as the gears started to turn. Alcohol, like grain alcohol? Wait, did that mean… “Androids can get drunk?”

Naravelia almost looked taken aback. “…Yeah? I mean, why else would people drink?”

“I-- Wait, what kind of response is that?”

Naravelia briefly glanced away. “Don’t humans drink to forget? Many of the androids that show up at a new camp have plenty that they want to leave behind.” Well, you weren’t expecting that. “I mean, you just showed up out of nowhere and kept to yourself, like a lot of other androids do. I just wanted to help as much as I could.”

“…By encouraging me to start a potentially self-destructive coping mechanism.”

“Wh--? It works for plenty of other androids. I just thought that you’d be like us.”

You gave her an aside glance. “You do realize that we don’t drink straight alcohol, right?”

“It’s rare for us, too. I got some of the more popular flavoring agents from the commissary. Figured one of them would be to your liking.”

You didn’t press further. You appreciated the thought behind the gift, but you didn’t think it would be wise for you to drink while in the camp. You saved the thought for later, though.

“I assume the same reasoning explains the pillow and pad?”

“Yeah. If Anemone was keeping an android hidden from the camp at large, I wasn’t going to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

Another poor decision on her part. Pushing the thought aside, you picked up the last unidentified item, opened it, and inspected it’s contents. Immediately, the only thing you recognized was a comb, though you suddenly noticed that beneath it sat a canister of the self-repairing material that 47D and 2B used.

“Oh, is this a common thing?”

“What is?” Naravelia stepped closer.

“This,” you held up the canister. “I’ve seen YoRHa androids use this. Do Resistance androids use it, too?”

“YoRHa units use it far more often than Resistance androids do. I mean, they’re the ones going out to fight machines head-on. There, but for the grace of Man…” she trailed off, slowly looking away as if lost in thought, but snapped back and returned to the topic “--But yeah, we still use it.”

You turned back to the bag, rummaging through its other contents, but you only found more canisters (whether repair materials or the alcohol flavoring agents) and a few small personal care items. Taking a moment to look at everything Naravelia got for you, you briefly considered the fact that she had gone out of her way to help you, when none of the other androids (who didn’t know you were a human) had. Then again, other androids have been warning you about her and her ulterior motives. Maybe this was among them?

In any case, treating her with hostility- open or veiled- would not be an appropriate response. You didn’t know if you needed to apologize, but your behavior had to change, starting now.

You put the bag back into the crate. “Thank you, Naravelia. For the tour, and for what you’ve gotten me.”

“You’re welcome. Please, if there’s anything you need and Anemone isn’t able to help, please don’t hesitate to ask.” She turned, opened the door, and said one last thing before letting the door close behind herself. “Hope to see you soon.”

“See you later.” You turned to the crate and moved the pillow and pad aside before rolling up your sleeves and doing your best to grapple with the unwieldy box, which seemingly resisted any attempt by you to pick it up. A few seconds later, your pods hovered forward and grabbed onto opposite sides of the lip. They lifted up into the air in a silent mockery of your earlier efforts. “Just move it to the closet,” you grumbled at the pods.

“Observation:” 320 beeped, “Theodore appeared disinterested with the gifts selected by Naravelia.”

“Look, granted, I don’t have a use for most of what she got me, but I don’t want to be ungrateful. She did get me some things I didn’t get before. I mean, I could at least set up the other bed in here.” It had been bothering you that there wasn't a good reason for it to be there.

“Perhaps Naravelia could have selected said items later, when she would have more accurate knowledge of what would be better appreciated.”

“I mean, sure? But she had her reasons. I'm not... I don't want to completely rule everything from her out.” You sighed. “But I get it. I suppose if you're keeping an eye on her, then I'll take a second opinion from you.”

“Understood.”

By now, you had wandered over to your window as you supervised the crate being moved. An idle glance brought your attention to the part of the camp just outside the window. The charcoal androids huddled in three groups, seemingly discussing... something together, though you didn't know what.

Your mind turned to the state in which you left them- the endless push of the androids, the huff in which you left, the silence following behind you. You mulled it over in your mind, and, quite possibly against your better judgement, you decided to give the YoRHa androids another chance.

As the pods flew over to you, having finished their self-assigned task, you posed the question to them. “Do you two think that the YoRHa androids have calmed down yet?”

“Unknown,” the two pods replied.

“I suppose there's only one way to find out.” You left your room, descended the stairs, and left the building. As the door closed behind you, you looked again at the androids in the main area.

As you walked down the main area, you felt that there was a distinct difference in how the androids were acting now, compared to when you were with Naravelia. You still saw some who spontaneously found an interest in the items around them when you spared a glance, but many more androids, even ones you haven’t seen, forewent their cautious discretion to focus on you instead. Waving at some of them, you found, was a response that they weren't expecting.

As you turned the corner toward the YoRHa area, you almost ran into someone on their way out. "Almost" because they somehow sidestepped right out of your way before you could even flinch.

“47D?” You didn't recall seeing her in the area when you visited earlier. “Ah, sorry about having to leave you guys. Anemone didn't exactly leave me a choice.”

“Leave us? Uh-- No, it's fine,” she waved off your concern, “you couldn't really help it. What are- what are you doing over here?”

“On my tour of the camp, 6O brought me here while Naravelia was distracted. Can't really say that they reacted calmly.”

“So you decided to return?” She sounded like she couldn't believe what you were doing. “Without checking to see if they learned their lesson or not?”

“I believe in their ability to learn. Besides, I didn't really want to have to do this to them in the first place.”

“W-- It's your choice. You know more about the situation than I do.” She turned to leave, “I should-- I need to--”

You waved her off. “It's fine, I understand. I'll leave you to it.” You turned back to the alley ahead of you. “Wish me luck.”

Step after step led you closer and closer, and a lingering feeling of uncertainty festered in your gut. Finally, you reached the end of the alley and looked at the androids you saw from your window a minute before. Their conversations stopped, a hush descending across them.

“Are you going to behave yourselves this time?”

Chapter 47: Closing Queries

Chapter Text

“Are you going to behave yourselves this time?” Your pointed tone left no question as to your expectations.

In the back, a Scanner opened his mouth to speak before the android next him snapped her hand over his mouth and gave a dark glare. Just as quickly, she stepped forward and took the floor. Whether this was staged or not, none of the other androids seemed to have an issue with this.

“Yes! Yes, while I can't speak for everyone, I believe we've been able to reflect on our combined actions,” she turned slightly on her last words, like she had someone in mind, before returning to you, “and I think we'll be more aware of the consequences of our actions. If you'd please, give us another chance to prove ourselves, and perhaps more properly show our dedication.”

Her diplomatic stance appealed to you, though there was something about her tone that was off putting, not to mention the fact that she referred to a ‘dedication’, and all that implied. But still, you did come back here to give them a second chance, and she is trying to be hospitable. It did strike you as odd that the other androids were staying quiet, nervously looking between you and the outstanding android.

“I... sure.” Cautiously, you stepped forward, willing to hear them out.

The androids were quick to get you settled in and seated, and you slowly realized why. The diplomatic android from earler (who since introduced herself as 35B) seated herself to your right, sitting almost too close for comfort. Something told you that she was halfway between trying to see how far she could push things without going overboard, and genuinely trying to avoid making you upset.

Around you, you were vaguely aware that the other androids were subtly vying with each other for positions closer to you. The seat to your left was a hotly contested spot, changing hands a few times, but the space just ahead of you was even more popular. Apparently, someone had found their way behind you, and judging by how low their back was pressed up against yours, you assumed it was a Scanner, but you never got around to checking.

As the androids kept jockeying for positions, you couldn't help but have your focus wander to something, anything other than the situtation in front of you. You thought the location they picked to drag you to was interesting, given that it was just the corner of the YoRHa recreational area. A few androids had pushed some of the crates together, forming a v-shaped bench and lightly suggesting that you sit at the vertex. Eager as they were to begin, they must have forgotten to give you any sort of cusion- you could already feel yourself starting to go numb against the unforgiving wood.

Once things cooled down and most positions were settled upon, the questions began in earnest. You did have to admit that they were waiting for you to give your answers before the next one jumped in, almost cutting you off. You honestly lost track of time like this, finding yourself in the midst of the strangest Q&A you've ever had the pleasure- if that was even the right word- of attending, let alone answering. Though you did have to say, it did take a turn for the strange. You were being fielded questions that all seemed to have little connection to each other: questions about shoelaces, hats, on why a keyboard's keys were placed the way they were, on USB drives, inane inventions, paper crimpers, on the importance of blankets...

Thankfully, those sort of questions ebbed away as the androids noticed your sanity gradually diminish, as you were forced to continually wonder why someone would question the smallest of details.

A curious Scanner passed you a question from the other side of the circle. “So I've heard a good amount of info the Operators have scavenged was from something colloquially referred to as the ‘internet’. Is that still a thing on the Moon?”

“It... should be? All it's defined as is an interconnected network of computers- ‘inter - net’. Considering your composition, you could technically create something like it? There's a lot I'm glossing over- protocols, for example- but hopefully you get the idea. It's not this overly complex system, by definition.”

“Theodore?” An android stepped forward and posed her question. “Building off of his question, I keep seeing terms in some archives like ‘browser’, ‘site’, or ‘tabs’. I have some tentative definitions by their context, but I'd appreciate having a more concrete idea of what they are, if you're familiar with them.”

“Uh, yeah. Browsers were how people accessed the internet. Sites- well, websites- are what you're seeing through the browser. Tabs are a way of keeping multiple sites open at the same time. Anything else?”

She shook her head, and you turned to the next android with a question. You recognized 14G, who was toying around with something less dangerous than a pistol. “Pictures of humanity's past keep circulating around the camp and the Bunker, and I... never really understood what was going on in some of them. They keep showing the same person in different, extravagant outfits. I mean, if you have something that works, why use something so frivolous?”

“Could I see one of those pictures?”

“Huh? Ah, I don't have one on me. I could look for some later, or save them when I find them again, but I... I, uh...”

You waved her concern off. “That's fine. From how you described it, I think you've kept finding stuff about fashion, but that's about all I could tell you. I never quite understood it, either.”

Your admission of unfamiliarity garnered a few strange looks from the circle of androids, but if any of them wanted to press further, they didn't do so.

An android stepped forward who had been talked over several times when she tried to pose her question. “Theodore?” Her voice was a whisper, helped along by the resounding silence. “Do... Do humans value us?” Most of the androids in the circle stilled when they heard the question. Before, they eagerly listened to your responses, sometimes they chittered between themselves as they speculated and extrapolated, but now they were staring at you, rapt while waiting for your answer.

You blinked as the question settled in your mind, then tilted your head at the question. “How do you mean? I personally thought the messages from the Moon's colony were very clear in how they thought of you.”

“They keep saying that we're important for the war,” a different android stepped forward, frustrated, “but what do humans think of us?”

“Uh...” your mind raced to come up with an answer-- well, ‘struggled’ would be a closer word, considering the pressure that all of the staring androids were putting on you. “I don't know, I can't speak for humanity.” The expectant silence after your words told you enough in regards to what they thought of your sidestepping attempt. “Well, what are you expecting? Humanity's literally been driven back to the Moon, and you're- well, collective ‘you’, including the Resistance- you're literally all humanity has to fight this war. We'd have to have the utmost faith in your abilities. Why else would we have you fighting on our behalf otherwise? Don't you think that if we didn't, we would have recalled one of your projects by now?”

Almost every android took what you said slightly differently- you caught two Scanners eagerly whispering about some newfound affirmation, two other androids steeping aside to forcefully disagree with each other, and another android at the back stormed off. With the androids being distracted, 35B leaned in with concern written plainly on her face.

“If I may ask, Theodore, what about you? What do you think of us?” Most of the androids were distracted, but many of the closer androids noticed her request and leaned further in.

“I'm not entirely sure. I mean, what are you looking for? A report on how you've been fighting? I haven't seen how everyone performs. How androids have themselves organized? I'm unfamiliar with how you all have that running. How well you've been able to keep the war where it's supposed to be? I don't know, Sigma - Kaon itself seems to be rather safe, so you've been doing your job well in that regard. I realize that all of this isn't information you couldn't surmise yourselves, but I'm almost at a loss of what else to say.”

“May I ask something?” The android to your left tapped your shoulder- all you could recall from the multitude of introductions was that she was a D-type.

“You already did, but go ahead.”

“Is it...” she paused, then took a breath to steel herself, “Is it right for us to act like humans? Is it wrong, or insulting to do so?”

It took you a second to react. “Why would it be wrong?”

“We're-- we're androids, we're not human. Why should we try to act like them?” She turned away as her tone slowly became more somber.

“...Because you might want to? Look, I don't think there's anything wrong with you trying to act like us. There's nothing inherently wrong in doing so, to my knowledge.” You let out a little chuckle, hoping to lighten the mood a little, “I mean, if you didn't act like us, then what would you act like?”

“Androids. Or ‘robots’, I believe would be the term. Considering the origin of the word...” She nonchalantly floated the idea.

“...Uh, look. Not that I'm upset or anything, but some of these questions you've just asked me aren't all that light.” You turned, posing the question to 35B as well. “These types of questions aren't asked lightly. Haven't you tried posing them to Council of Humanity? Or at the very least, the people under their... councilship? Is that a word?”

“Believe me,” 35B spoke, “we've tried hundreds of times. We either get rebuffed by the Commander saying ‘it’s not worth their time’ or slowly have our hopes die out as the response never comes.” She brought a hand to her face, “I still don't get why we never hear back. Of course, with you here, you're going to undoubtedly become familiar with a select few androids, not just some under YoRHa's purview.”

“I hope it's not all going to be philosophical. I haven't retained all that much from those classes in college.”

“Don't worry. There will be plenty of interest in the utterly mundane aspects of your life. Some of us are holding back to keep from overwhelming you.”

“We can see how well that went over. Wait, ‘us’?” You picked your head up as you picked out the interesting word choice.

For a moment, she froze solid, but instantaneously went back to normal. “Well, yes. I've garnered some interest in human culture and society, too!”

You sighed. “Fine. I guess this just comes with the territory.”

Your thoughts were interrupted by your pod suddenly ringing, which caught some androids off guard as well. The screen UI and caller appeared from the static, revealing an Operator you didn't recognize. Her silvery hair framed what little of her face wasn't covered by the featureless silk mask. You tilted your head in confusion- Operator calls were usually preceded by the pod saying who was calling.

You didn't have time to voice your confusion. “This is Operator 80O. I presume I am speaking with Theodore?”

“Yes, you are. Why--”

“The Commander wishes to speak to you in private. I was told to alert her when you were ready.”

Chapter 48: Not All Black and White

Chapter Text

“The Commander wishes to speak to you in private,” 80O spoke. “I was told to alert her when you were ready.”

“--Uh,” you glanced at all of the androids around you. While most of them were still conversing with each other, some of them were starting to turn back toward you, tilting their heads at the Operator. You glanced at 35B. “Can... Should I--”

“Yes, Theodore,” 35B helped you up- ‘pulled you up’ would be closer, actually- “no one wants to keep the Commander waiting.” Her statement was partially pointed at the onlookers, informing them of the severity of the situation. You didn't fully understand everything relating to the Commander, given that your only prior contact was a brief window back at your old base- how long ago was that, anyway? You quickly surmised that the Commander isn't one to wait for others.

“I'm afraid we're going to have to hold questions until further notice,” you said towards the androids as you started moving towards the alley out, “quite sorry, something's come up.” You hurried, not waiting to see how the androids responded. While 35B seemed to try to get you to hurry, she didn't seem to follow. You turned to the Operator, “You'll have to give me a minute, I wasn't quite ready to take a call.”

“I can wait.”

“I was just talking to some of the androids,” you started to explain.

“I surmised.” She cut you off, uninterested in your explanation. Quieted, you returned to getting back to your room. You made a quick turn as you left the alley, catching the attention of several androids. Once the door was securely closed behind you, you turned back to the hologram.

“Alright, I'm in my room. This is the most private location in the camp that I know of.”

“Confirmed that Theodore has found somewhere secure. Enacting primary and secondary security protocols... and setting backup procedures.”

You heard the door open behind you. Turning, you barely caught 320 pulling the door closed behind herself. Blinking a few times, you figured that she was part of the backup procedures-- whatever that entailed. You quietly wondered all of what was this security setup encompassed.

“Protocols initialized,” 80O caught your attention, “forwarding data stream.” Forwarding? Wait, you weren't going to talk to the Commander right this minute, were you? Your fears realized as the screen showing 80O blinked away, leaving you staring at the stern visage of the Commander.

Every time you had talked to an Operator, be it 6O, 9O, 21O, or 80O, their holograms hovered such that you were looking eye-to-eye with them. But now, it felt like she towered over you, glowering down at you, her hands folded beneath her chin. Striking blue eyes burned at you from behind hair that glowed a soft gold. In stark opposition to the YoRHa androids she commanded, her clothes all but shone a brilliant white, and you noted that she was the first YoRHa android who normally didn't wear something across their face.

“Theodore,” the single word of hers made you jump, authoritative as it was, before turning slightly softer, “thank you for responding quickly.” ‘Slightly’ being the operative word. She was still ruthless as ever, but maintained a demanding air. You quietly wondered if the YoRHa units were only as good as they were because they were scared of whatever consequences she could bring to bear against them.

“Anytime, miss...?” You started to wonder about her. No one had referred to her by anything other than her title.

“‘Commander’ will be fine.” Any further question about her name died on your tongue from the sheer finality in her tone, as did the concept of calling her ‘miss’, the sheer level of error you possibly committed becoming all the more real to you. “I have become aware that you have had interaction with YoRHa androids in the past. Notify me if any of them act untoward you in the future. I trust that there haven't been any incidents?”

“No, no. Not with YoRHa, anyway.”

In a show of expression notable only due to prior absence, she raised an eyebrow and hummed in thought just on the edge of hearing. “I'll have someone investigate the incident on the Resistance side. I can't say I'm surprised that Anemone hasn't brought this up.”

“Wha-- Wait, wait, no, it's not that bad. I just got caught up with a few androids, not to mention this was before it was... before I was introduced to the camp.”

The Commander stared down at you in silence. “Your stance has been noted. While I understand that you may have other things to say, I have a few topics I would like to discuss with you.”

Frustrated, you let out a sigh but relented. “What is it?”

She leaned forward. “Where, exactly, did you come from? A number of my androids have searched your temporary base near the Resistance camp Xi. Before we could confirm that it was a human residing there, we could not determine who had made the camp. Androids in the greater region have verified that they haven't seen settlements like it. Finally, evidence suggests that the base created relatively recently, due to the lack of stable construction and the structures being more geared towards survival rather than seeking rescue.

“Which brings us back to the question: how did you arrive at this situation?” With the question posed, she waited for your response with an air that was somehow both endlessly patient, yet demanded a fast response.

You stared back at her as you gathered your thoughts. “How I got there... I honestly can't remember.”

“Amnesia, then.”

“No, no, I remember my life before I got here. I told this to Popola and Devola, but I remember coming from 2018. Not... what was it, 11940?”

“11945. This discrepancy could be accounted for by time travel, but several androids have already enough evidence to reject that theory.”

You picked up on her choice of words. “Your androids have been theorizing about me?”

“Yes, though none of them have formally put anything forward for serious consideration. I cannot say to what degree any of them would be valid, as they haven't been properly verified.”

“A few androids asked me if/why I left the moon. Obviously, I was never up there in the first place, but if they didn't know that, then it should be a natural assumption to make, right?”

“While I'm not completely certain about how the Resistance androids think about the issue, word has reached me that androids here in the Bunker have already ruled out direct connections between you and the Council of Humanity.”

“How so?”

“Word about such an unprecedented event would have easily spread throughout YoRHa and the Resistance. The reason for your existence would need to be tied to a clandestine operation. Which brings me to the next point.” She didn't give you much time to process the shift in topic. “I was passed a story from the Council if you did not know how you came to this situation.”

“Whoa, wait, a cover story? You're putting an awful lot of trust in my ability to not screw this plan over.”

“That has already been taken into consideration. You were a test subject, drawn from a random genetic pool and implanted with random memories. The test was two-fold: to assess a memory implanting procedure, and ensure that humanity could still survive on Earth after existing solely on the moon for millennia.”

“Memory implanting procedures exist?”

“Have existed, for a few decades now, but it's not common knowledge among androids. The tests were conducted in secret and came back as a success- that is, the desired memories were implanted and the specimen survived. While the operation was wrapping up, the group was attacked, and the human specimen fled the scene. None of the androids on team survived. Eventually, you found your way to where you ended up setting up camp. The rest, you know already.”

You mulled the story over. “I'm not entirely sure about this. Why wouldn't they give me memories about the moon colony alongside the other ones I had?”

“They didn't think it was necessary. You were going to be reintroduced into the colony after a suite of tests on one of the space stations. There may have been other reasons, but that's the one they immediately offered.”

“Where are all the other test subjects? I couldn't be the only test they performed.”

“You were the first round, to see if the whole process would work in the first place. The project was put on hold after the attack, as they felt that the plan needed to be redone. Currently, it's slated to be abandoned if no solution is found soon.”

“So what's the plan now? A project utterly failed, and now their test subject wandered free and is now fraternizing with androids.”

“I have been in talks with the Council of Humanity and Anemone, and the outcome we agreed upon was to keep you stationed Earth-side for android morale.”

“...Without consulting me?”

“It was all but a forgone conclusion the moment the project failed. With the destruction of the landing craft, one would have to be rebuilt in the moon colony up to standards. Other space-faring craft like our flight units don't have airtight seals, as androids don't need air under certain circ*mstances.”

You continued pressing for details, trying to find any holes in the logic and the Commander kept supplying you with them and pointing out the internal consistency. Eventually, you sat back and sighed, unable to come up with another retort.

“Do you believe the story meets your standards?” Were it anyone else, you would hear the gloating plain as day.

“I... guess. I'm not completely on board with it, but I guess it works. The Council's certainly put enough thought into this plan to make it work.”

“Good. Then we have one last topic to discuss.”

You groaned internally as you fought your own mental fatigue, then put up a façade of caring. “All right, what is it?”

“I have received a number of reports concerning your interactions with the androids around the camp, and have noticed a recurring theme. What, if I may ask, do you make of the androids in the camp?”

You tilted your head at the question, but obliged. “They're people, just as I am. Simple as that. They're fighting in this war, and I'm just... here, alongside them. They're the ones who have seen victories, failures, and loss in the heat of combat. I haven't. Besides, with me here, some of them have several more concerns piled on that they didn't before. Popola and Devola had to be dedicated to helping me, not to mention everything else that's going on behind the scenes. Why do you ask?”

The Commander leaned forward. “Allow me to piece a few things together for you, Theodore. Both Resistance and YoRHa androids have fought this war with the explicit goal of helping humanity, of restoring them to their rightful place on the planet. I don't think I can overstate just how much a single human would mean to anyone. When news of a human possibly being found hit the floor of the Bunker, the Operators were so enamored and engrossed with the idea that there was a thirty percent loss in productivity on that day. I had to issue orders to some of my troops to stop breaking their missions as they tried to leave to scour the rumored location. I don't know if I could even begin to mention effects on morale.

“The androids of YoRHa look up to you, and I am all but certain that the Resistance feels the same way. To them, you exist as a microcosm of the force they've fought for. The least you could do is be accommodating to their sacrifices.

“One final note.”

“...Yes?”

“When an android asks if humanity values them, the answer is yes. I understand that in the situation, you were being forced to answer for something beyond which you couldn't be sure, but do not make this same mistake in the future. Understood?”

“U-understood.”

“Good. If you need anything else, I will leave contact information with 80O with your pods. She will be your liaison with me.”

“Oh, has 21O been relieved of that title?”

The Commander stiffened slightly on hearing this. “...Yes. Feel free to contact 80O if something comes up.” She brought a hand up flat against her chest, in a manner reminiscent of a salute. “Glory to Mankind.” The screen flickered off a moment later.

904 pinged. “Contact received: 80O available.”

“Thank you, 904.” You turned to your bed. After the stress of talking with the Commander piled on top of everything else that happened today- good God, was it really today that you stared at the songstress face-to-face? You decided you were going to call it now before it got any worse. “Pod, I'm calling it here. Today's left me exhausted. I know Popola and Devola might be on their way, but tell them I'm just feeling too exhausted.” You pulled the blankets over your head, already feeling drowsiness gnawing at the edges of your consciousness.

You fell asleep a minute after your head hit the pillow, the cumulative day's events swirling around in your head.

Chapter 49: Dawning Revelations

Chapter Text

Some part of you was unwittingly tearing you away from unconsciousness. Desperately but not too successfully, you tried to keep your overnight revelations from fading away into the depths of your mind, never to return. As you struggled to do so, you blinked the sleep out of your eyes. You pushed an arm beneath you to sit up, only for it to slip off the side of the mattress.

“You--” Popola wore a concerned look as you almost fell out of bed, being so disoriented as your body catapulted you into the waking world, “You don't need to get up, Theodore, it's fine. I... wasn't trying to wake you.”

“No, no,” you blearily tried to wave off her concerns, “I'm-- it's fine.”
Popola remained unconvinced but seemingly relented. “I didn't want to disturb you, I just thought to check in and see how you were doing.”

Your second attempt to sit up was more successful. “It's fine, it's fine. I'm up, anyway.” You felt coherency start to return to you as the world became more and more ‘real’.

“Did you sleep well? Ignoring this last minute.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just had... uh, an interesting dream.”

“Do you--”

“I'd prefer not talking about it.” You swallowed hard. “At least, not at the moment.” Now that your senses were starting to come together, you noticed Popola was holding a container close to her chest.

Noticing your gaze, Popola seemingly also realized what she was carrying. “Sorry. I didn't expect you to be so hard asleep. Devola and I figured you would be awake by now.” She handed over the container.

You popped open the lid, slightly surprised at seeing biscuits and gravy again- at least they realized which meal it should be served as. “How long was I out?” Something in the back of your mind made you worry over this, considering the twins had thought you would have woken up.

Popola pursed her lips in thought. “Ten hours, I think? I didn't get a solid time from your pods. We thought you'd message us when you were awake.”

“Ten hours?” You raised an eyebrow as you cut into your food. “That can't be right. I don't sleep that long.”

“We were surprised, too. We thought you didn't need to sleep for a while after you got back.”
You were about to take a bite when a thought struck you. You couldn't be entirely sure, but you vaguely recalled something from the back of your mind. You turned to one of your pods. “904, how long was it between me waking up in the amusem*nt park and me going to bed here?”

“Interval of previous major excursion: Twenty-eight hours and--”

“Twenty-eight hours‽ No, pod I'm not talking about the whole thing, I'm-- that--”

“This unit has followed the request, only stating elapsed hours between activation and deactivation.”

“‘Rest’, pod, we call that ‘rest’.” You absentmindedly corrected the pod, half aware that it wasn't the major thing you were occupied with at the moment. This couldn't be possible. You've tried to pull an over-nighter with your friends a few years back, and you knew you didn't have the willpower to last the whole night, and you especially shouldn't have been able to last twenty-eight hours without completely collapsing through exhaustion.

“Theodore?” Popola caught your attention, surprisingly calm even after hearing this. “What's wrong?”

“‘What's wrong’ ? Popola, there's no way that I could have been awake this long. It-- Wait, 904 was knocked out, maybe there's something wrong with him keeping time. 320, what do you have?”

“Wait, Theo, that's not what I'm getting at. Is there something wrong with your circadian rhythm?”

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. “...Yeah? I mean, who's heard of someone being awake for twenty-eight hours, then sleeping for ten?”

Popola tilted her head in confusion. “What's normal for you?”

“Uh, sixteen hours awake, eight asleep, far as I know.”

Popola paused, bringing hand to her chin. “...I mean, I can't think of anyone with a cycle that short...”

“‘That short’‽ What the hell kind of day-night cycle did you--” You stopped as a realization hit you. Something similar hit Popola a second later.

“You're attuned to a twenty-four hour cycle, aren't you? Is that why this is so odd to you?”

“Wh-- and you're not?”

“No. For as long as I've been alive, I've only had my internal clock to keep time. You've--” she let out a short laugh, an odd smile forming on her face, “you've actually dealt with day-night cycles.”

You blinked, not really understanding what was happening with her. “Yeah?”

“...What was it like?”

“What?”

“Like, nighttime. Dawn, dusk, all that. I heard about it from some of the people I helped take care of...” She leaned forward, now far more invested in the conversation.

“What are you--” You suddenly realized what Popola was getting at. “You've never left the daytime side, have you?” Earth must have been tidally locked for thousands of years, you realized. Funny, this sort of revelation would have seriously messed with you before you got embroiled in this whole mess.

But now? You almost take it with stride.

Almost. It's still worrying to find out.
Popola shook her head. “No. There's the Kingdom of Night- which should be obvious by its name- but Devola and I have never been there. I've heard tell that there was somewhere other than there, even on this continent, where you could theoretically see nighttime, but it's just a rumor, as far as I know.”

You considered what Popola said. You never really knew where you were on the planet- or even if you could recognize it- but you figured that the androids would probably have something to help. The Commander talked about airtight flight suits and space, so they could probably spare a global map or a satellite to take a photo.

“But still,” Popola grabbed your attention, pushing a little more insistently, “could you tell me what nighttime's like? --Wait, no, hang on. Devola should hear about this, too.”

“Huh?”

“We've wanted to hear about this for so long. She's made an image of nighttime, pulling together everything that we know about it.”

You blinked in confusion. “Alright, fine. How much do you two know about nigh--” You couldn't believe that you barely heard the front door open, then someone hurrying up the stairs.

“...Hang on, is that--”

Your door flew open, and Devola hurriedly stepped through, at first turning to her sister. “He didn't--” she turned to you, “you haven't started, right?”

“No?”

Devola let out a sigh as she sat down, “Good, good, I was worried I was going to miss out!”

A moment passed as Popola stared at her sister. “Devola?”

“Hm?”

“Don't you remember what I asked you to do?”

You could almost hear the gears turning as the thought struck her. “Oh! Sorry, the picture! I just need to--” she suddenly stopped, “...wait, no, I can't forward it to him. 904, would you please?” She made a gesture towards your pod, and he immediately projected an image in front of you.

You wondered what was going through her head while she made the picture.

If you had to guess at what the original goal of the work was, it would be “a sunset over the plains”, but this concept had obviously been crumpled and spindled several times over. The sky was rendered in a rainbow hue, from a bright red at the top of the image to a deep violet on the horizon, the delineation between the colors... less than delineated, but not quite blurred. The sun sat high in the image on the border between the red and orange zones and was colored appropriately. What you at first thought were errors in displaying the image were supposed to be stars, you realized as you looked closer- though stars aren't supposed to be laid out on a grid, and definitely not supposed to be out at the same time as the sun.

Behind the image, you saw the twins sitting forward, eager to hear what you would have to say.

You didn't know how to break this to them.

“So?” Devola asked, “How is it?” Her face fell as you struggled to come up with a good response that also wouldn't break her heart. “Not good, huh?”

“It's definitly artistic,” you tried to reason.

“I wasn't going for artistic.” Devola crossed her arms.

Popola set a hand on her sister's shoulder. “Devola, Theodore was going to tell us about what night's like. Maybe you could take it into consideration?”

Devola slowly uncrossed her arms, then sighed “Fine.”

Popola turned to you and nodded, “If you'd please, Theodore?”

You sighed, taking a bite of breakfast as your started to organize your thoughts.

“Imagine the sun slowly growing lower and lower on the horizon. As it dips, an array of reds, oranges, and yellows begin to greet the sun. Cooler winds start to blow as the descent continues, and the sky begins to darken. In a final burst of dim reds, dusk begins and swiftly ends, drawing twilight closer and closer. Gradually, the sky dims and you realize its dim enough to show a single pinprick of light, a different intruder on its surface than the sun and moon. A few minutes later, you see another, then another, then another. Not even half an hour later, and the sky has become pitch-black, revealing the dazzling array of stars. Clustered together in the Milky Way, arranged in constellations, everywhere, a shimmering display decorating the sky like waves on the sea.

“The world is covered in a tenebrous blanket, turned from a land of warmth and welcome to one of quiet, stillness, and cold. A different set of animals stalk the world in this state, ones trained to use their other senses and the cover that night gives. Crickets singing a tune unheard of an hour ago, fireflies dancing as the stars above, maybe if you're lucky, you'll catch the stars blink for a moment as an owl passes overhead.

You took another bite of your breakfast. “It just surprises me that you've had no experience with nighttime. Isn't there anything written that someone's found? The scavenging community must have dig up something."

“They have,” Popola looked slightly upset, “but it's never anything substantial.”

“I find that hard to believe. If humanity had to leave so quickly as to leave so much behind, then there has to be something about nighttime that we would be out there.”

“You'd think so,” The twins uneasily glanced away.

The conversation slowed to a halt, letting you get a few more bites in.

“Thank you, by the way,” Popola smiled, “for telling me about nighttime.”

“Oh, no problem.”

“I liked it, it was really poetic. You should write it down.”

You shrugged. “I'll pass. It's all really spur of the moment, anyway. If I wrote it down, I'd want to revise it a hundred times before I'd let anyone see it.”

Devola tilted her head and opened her mouth as though she were about to respond, but Popola stopped her before she could. She whispered, “No, it's his choice.”

The conversation lapsed into another lull, and after a few more mouthfuls of food, you caught Popola staring at something on the right side of your face. You sighed, bringing a hand to your face. “I'm sorry, am I that sloppy of an eater?”

“No, no,” Popola waved her hand, “it's just that I'm looking at your burn. You've healed up really well.”

Your thoughts ground to a halt. ‘healed up well’? No, that couldn't be right. You brought your hand the remaining inches to where you remembered the burn sprawling across half of your face, how angry and irritated your skin looked, and how much it stung in the following hours. You weren't sure if it was bad, considering how much it stung, of if it wasn't, because of how quickly you got used to the pain. You expected to flinch back when your hand brushed the epicenter of the burn, but you felt only the slightest of irritation, like touching an old scab.

Not even a day ago, 47D couldn't even apply whatever cream she had without you involuntarily pulling back. It was almost as bad as when you were bitten by that dog, but now it barely registered with you.

“Theodore,” Devola asked, “is something wrong?”

“320, could you please show me what my burn looks like?” You barely tried to hide the building concern in your voice.

“Affirmative.” As 320 swung around you, a hologram fizzled into existence, slowly clearing up to reveal your face. Your mostly unmarked face. Where once the burn stretched from chin to temple, ear to eye and nose, only a small patch remained where you remembered seeing the center, the worst of the burn. The only indication of any previous damage was a small bubble of peeling skin, not much worse than a mild sunburn.

What happened to it? Burns like this don't disappear overnight, even if you're apparently sleeping for more than eight hours at a time. Not when they cover that large of a section of your face, not when you received them from machines with whom androids have been fighting for thousands of years.

What was happening? You couldn't have just healed it yourself. Did you not even receive the burn in the first place? No, you remembered the stinging and pain. Were you out longer than you thought? You did kind of doze on the trip to the machine settlement. Except that wouldn't explain you not feeling extremely hungry, or needing to worry about your other needs on the trip, and--

“Theodore!” Popola spun you around, snapping you out of your maelstrom of thoughts. You couldn't help but think back to when Devola had to snap you out of a similar situation, keeping you from losing yourself further in unending trails of thought in your mind. She continued to speak, but calmer. “Focus, talk to me. What's going on in your mind?”

“I... I...” You swallowed hard, trying to recapture where your derailed train of thought had wandered. “I don't-- I can't...”

“You asked 320 to show you what the burn on your face looked like,” Popola explained, a strange, practiced calm to her voice, “When you saw it, you stood up and started panicking...” Popola stopped herself and looked over her shoulder at Devola, who still sat on the bed, doing her best not to look at anything in particular.

“Theodore, please,” Devola's voice had a quiet waver to it, “s-sit back down, finish your breakfast. I--

“We have something to tell you.”

Chapter 50: Non Expedit Timere

Chapter Text

It was the longest breakfast that you had in your life. Popola fidgeted with the hem of her shirt while Devola had a hard time looking at you. Eventually, you finished your meal and set it aside.

“Alright, Popola, Devola.” You looked at both of them. “I know that you had a reason for whatever you did, and I also know that you wouldn’t dream of doing anything to hurt me. Tell me honestly, now. What. Did you. Do?”

Popola flinched when you started talking and remained quiet, but Devola held firm. She took a deep breath before speaking. “Do you remember being injected soon after your mental breakdown, when your pods were re-designated to work with us? I may not have told you about everything that was in the syringe. Now, I want to make sure you understand this- we know that everything there was completely safe for you. We’ve had thousands of years to ensure so.”

“Tho--?! …R-right, 11945. So then, what was in there?”

“‘Nanomachines’ is the closest word I have, although they’re not quite that size. All they’re built to do is float around in your body and help repair any damage they run across,” she gestures at the remains of the burn on your cheek, “as you have seen.”

Your hand involuntarily moved up and tested the site again. “Alright, so why was I kept in the dark about this? Why do something like this without my consent?”

“You weren’t mentally in the right place for it. We were also concerned that something might happen to you and we wouldn't have had a fallback in place. Please,” she balled up her hands as she looked at you pleadingly, “were we in any other circ*mstances, we would have talked to you and made everything clear. Popola and I were extremely hesitant to do this in the first place.

“We were wrong about what we thought would happen. We sincerely apologize for what we’ve done and we hope you can forgive us.”

You paused. You weren’t sure how you felt. You felt betrayed that the twins did this to you without your permission, treating you like an unstable patient who needed to be treated for their own good, but you could also tell that this wasn’t a choice that they made lightly. You could feel it in how they held themselves- guilt saturated Devola’s speech and Popola’s posture. As you pondered the situation, you found you couldn’t cleanly settle the issue. How could you, when you hadn’t had the time to think things over?

“Popola, Devola,” they perked their heads up, eyes expectant, “I’m… going to need some time. To think about things and to really forgive you. I’m sorry, but I’m still… I’m still aggravated that I wasn’t informed about this at all.”

“Wh-- hang on, Theo--”

“What do you want me to say, Devola? I can’t just ignore what you did against my will.” You stopped yourself and took a breath. “I’m angry-- no, furious that you did this to me without asking me. Hell, if you had just told me that you’d injected me with nanobots for my own well-being, I would have at least understood your reasoning.

“But you didn’t.” They had a reason, you told yourself, trying to force yourself to calm down, but the tearing anger wasn’t going away. Quietly, you feared it getting the better of you, of inadvertently lashing out at the twins. “You passed it all off as nothing.” The words all but spoke themselves, leaving even you surprised as the venom dripped out. “How did you think I would react? Did you expect me to thank you for violating my bodily autonomy and injecting this, this--?” You finally managed to hold yourself back, but you didn’t know how long you could hold your tongue.

“No,” Devola began to stand up, fear evident in her eyes as the situation slipped further from her grasp, “no no, Theo, wait--” Behind her, Popola gripped onto Devola’s sleeve ever tighter.

You needed to get out of here, distance yourself from the problem and calm down before you lashed out again. The maelstrom of emotions around you made it hard to truly plan an agreeable course of action, but you forced yourself up and towards the door.

“Leave me alone.” You bit down on your tongue after you said those words, unfortunately cutting yourself off from an explanation. Deep down, you felt… guilt and disappointment from leaving the twins like this, but staying any longer would have risked worse in your current state.

You felt as much as heard the door slam behind you. In the moment, you didn’t have anywhere to go to isolate yourself- until now, your room was the only private place you had, and you weren’t about to step outside and possibly run into someone. That generally meant that you could only go--

A surge of anger swept through you when you heard your door open. You snapped your head over your shoulder to see 904 trying to follow you. “Theodore--”

“That includes you!”

--up to the roof. You turned back and began to climb the stairs.

You stumbled out onto the roof before stepping back onto the threshold, eight flights up and no door stopping you. You only got a few steps out of the door before slumping back onto the wall, your emotions crashing back over you.

How could they do that to you? Injecting you with nanomachines without your consent, much less knowledge! And what was their plan, just assume that you’d be fine with all of this happening? Just assume that you wouldn’t have issues with this massive breach of trust? If this was going to be a problem in the future, it’s going to be a ****ing problem now!

But did all of this absolve you of your actions? If your outburst at the twins was any indication, they were right. You were stressed and weren’t in any state to be making these decisions, and this was arguably making your situation worse. This was the kind of thing they were trying to avoid, weren’t they? And you were making your own situation worse by overanalyzing everything again stop it stop it stop it.

Dammit, dammit. They were right, they were just doing what was best for you and you blew up in their faces, they were literally apologizing to you and asked for your forgiveness and you spat in their faces like that? Maybe if you could have held yourself together just a little bit longer, you wouldn’t have sabotaged your relationship with the only two people keeping you alive in this God-forsaken world and hurt your chances and… and… and…

*********

You were slowly stirred back to your thoughts when you heard something thudding… up the side of the building? You pulled your head up and sniffed while wiping away a tear- wait, were you crying? No, no time for that now, you’ve got to act presentable.

In a quick confirmation of your first question, you saw someone first set a hand on the edge of the roof, then with one shockingly fluid motion, hoist themself up to standing. He was a tall, stockily-built android with terra-cotta skin. That actually seemed to be a more apt term than you first thought, as you noticed the dust and grime caked in patches over him, which was especially noticeable on his bald head. His once-green clothes were faded and patched-over to the point of nearly being several different sets of clothes joined together. But over that, he seemed to be half-wearing, half-carrying a suite of different well-kept instruments and tools of increasingly specific and detailed use.

He let out a sigh, then began to speak in a moderately disgruntled tone as he spotted you. “Proclamation one-five-eight-seven, subsection two.” His voice was deep and gravelly. “‘Any android’s emotional outbursts are to be carried out in the unclaimed rooms on the outskirts of the camp, and should avoid the roofs of surrounding buildings. Stated rationale: high intensity outbursts can be disruptive towards the general peace of the camp.’ I can suggest a few locations, if you need one.”

“No thanks.” You paused. “Actually, does that apply to me, since I’m not an android?”

The android blinked a few times in surprise. “This was never in the job description,” he mumbled, before walking closer. He knelt down slowly, maneuvering some of his tools out of the way of each other as he did so. “I doubt it, but I don’t know if the judgement will necessarily fall in your favor. Let’s just deal with it, and we can both get on with our days.”

“‘Just deal with it’? That’s not how--”

“You have been sitting up here for who-knows-how-long, and it seems to me like you’re not much further towards resolving this whole issue. I have seen more than one android just stew in their thoughts as they tried to deal with a problem. Firstly, it was unnecessary, and second, it just looks pathetic.” A glare from you didn’t stop him from speaking. “The sooner that you have a way forward, and thus the sooner that you have a solution, the sooner that you can start repairing whatever went wrong.”

You paused. What he was saying wasn’t wrong… “This is a very personal matter.”

“And I have dealt with personal matters before. My job is to serve the inhabitants of this camp, and I have helped several androids with their concerns, as well. As long as you live within the borders of this camp, then I have a reason to help you, as well.”

It wasn’t a terrible idea. Maybe talking about your thoughts out loud would help you find some sort of solution, tentative though it may be. “I…” you took a deep breath and decided to not divulge some of the details for now. “Fine. I’ve been having… an issue with someone I know. They went behind my back and did something major without talking to me or asking what I thought about things. And it’s not anything minor; this is a huge breach in trust. But the thing is, when they brought this whole issue to light to me, they asked for forgiveness in their next breath. They stated their reasons, which I can’t say were unreasonable, but I couldn’t excuse them in the moment. I was too angry to think straight, and had to separate myself from them to keep things from getting worse. But since I didn’t outright accept their apology when they offered it to me, now they might be thinking that I’m not going to forgive them.”

“Can you not go up to them and tell them this?”

“I could, but I don’t want to go up to them without being able to accept their apology.”

“Then just tell them that you forgive them.”

“But I--” you paused and took a breath. “I don’t know if I can forgive them right now. I’m still upset, almost livid over all this.”

“Your actual forgiveness is not necessary.”

You stopped. Your gaze slowly drifted over to him as you parsed his words a second time. “…Beg pardon?”

“You do not need to actually forgive them internally for them to feel relief. If you can convince them that things are fine, you can find your forgiveness at your own pace.”

You stared at him half in shock. “What the hell are you saying?!”

“Are you surprised at this solution? You want to give amnesty without actually having it. What other solutions are there?”

“Ones that don’t involve me lying!”

“Then you want an impossible solution to a problem that you created yourself. You cannot grant forgiveness and you want to ease another’s mind, but you cannot bring yourself to tell one small lie? It will eventually be true: you said it yourself, that you could not find the forgiveness yet. When you can, you need not do anything at all.”

“Shut up! I will not betray Popola and Devola like that!”

The moment the words left your mouth, you knew you had made a mistake. Anemone had warned you that many androids did not hold any respect towards the twins, and this android’s deepening glare made his stance quite clear. He stood up, maneuvering the tools out of his way and moving towards the stairway. “I should not have suggested such kindness. Leave them to their self-hatred. One hopes that they will carry it with them until they rust away.”

“How can you say that‽” You tried to stop him, but your actions didn’t seem to faze him.

He paused to glare at you. “Have you not heard of what those two have done?”

“Anemone said that they were ‘the reason that humanity is only on the Moon’, and that the specifics of these accusations levied at them range from believable to downright absurd. But go ahead, enlighten me, you’re apparently able to condemn them beyond reproach.”

The android grumbled. “Of course you would hear this from Anemone. That she granted them quarter is unacceptable. But to your request.” He folded his arms, the instruments on his arms clinking against each other. “Popola and Devola irreparably sabotaged the project that housed humanity during a time of great weakness. Because of their actions, they denied countless humans their futures and ensured their doom. It is only because the Moon colony had been set up, because a population remained separated from the planet, that humanity continued. I suppose it is only by luck that humanity has remained there since the aliens and Machines attacked and conquered large swathes of Earth.”

You stared at him, half dumbfounded, half worried. For a moment, you doubted which story was right- his or the twins’. “… How do you know your version of events is correct?”

“Huh?”

“The timeline of events I heard had the formation of the Moon colony after Project Gestalt finished. How do you know that your series of events is right?”

He stared at you, confused. “‘Project Gestalt’? Is that the name of the project that the twins were involved in?”

“Are you ****ing kidding me?” Anger flared inside you anew. “You don’t even have the details about this‽”

The instruments on the android clinked as he shifted. “We do have enough details. We know the twins are guilty beyond reproach. If the verdict were up to me, we would have long had the twins executed.”

“What, is murder the only thing you can think of? And what would you do when I showed up without the twins to keep me alive? Just leave me to die?”

The android sputtered and responded quickly. “Wh-- no, no, of course not! The twins are doubtless not the sole source of knowledge pertaining to humans. It wouldn’t be out of the picture that…”

He continued to talk, but you weren’t listening. An implacable anger simmered in your chest, furiously demanding to know why, how someone could so off-handedly wish for someone’s death. Didn’t he know what could happen to you if there were no one to help treat you if something went wrong? Wasn’t he saying, to your face, that he didn’t mind your own death? How callous could an android be? Don’t they understand the consequences of what they’re saying?

Slowly, your thoughts turned away from anger. Was this android considering what would happen to you? If the Commander was telling the truth, ensuring your safety would be a strong concern of any android. But he all but threatened you to your face. Were-- were there androids that wanted to see you hurt? Did they not care that you got hurt? Was there a diff--

God, stop, stop, stop! You’re doing it again! You saw him stumble and back off, if somewhat, when you pushed him on his decision, no, he doesn’t want to hurt you. What’s gotten into you, why are you freaking out over this? Just calm down, he wasn’t threatening you, he only said that he was going to threaten--

The twins.

He was openly willing to tell you that he would kill Popola and Devola.

All because he wasn’t aware of what that would mean for you.

“Hey,” the android snapped a few times in your face, ripping you back into reality, “are you listening?”

“I… I don’t--” You kept stopping yourself short.

“Look, I want to make sure you know I was not trying to pose a risk to you, alright?”

“I’m well aware.” You turned back to the stairwell, your thoughts already churning in your mind. “Look, I’m… I gotta…” You couldn’t think, couldn’t string a coherent sentence together. “…have to…” You trailed off as you left, unable to find something to say.

“Wait, where are you-- urgh.”

You heard the android clink away, to which you were thankful, but these noises faded to your deepening worries. The open threats to their person kept resonating in your mind. As one flight turned into the next, you couldn’t keep but feel those anxieties gnaw at yourself. You had originally intended to retreat to your room, hope that the twins weren’t there, then spend some time alone, away from everyone else, and be somewhere safe.

But you kept coming back to the threats against the twins. You didn’t try and force the issues from your mind, but you tried tamping them down with reason- they had survived up until now, they knew how to keep their heads down and steer away from trouble, they were tough enough to defend themselves. But your mind was a mess- the anxieties made your skin crawl and itch; the restlessness was working its way into your bones, twitching your fingers and fraying your nerves.

You got to your floor, but it didn’t even occur to you to stop descending and return to your room. Instead, your body floated down the last set of stairs, your hand settled on the door handle outside before you even realized it.

You grit your teeth and clenched every muscle that still listened to your commands. Stop, go back. You are not going to do this. The seconds hung in the air as you hesitated, unwilling to go forward, unable to go back. A minute must have passed, the air burned around you, another sign pushing you to make some decision.

Slowly, like it was trying to slip beneath your detection, the handle turned and the door opened. You let out a shuddering, slow breath and stepped outside.

You were just out on the roof a minute ago, but now the light here was overpowering, even though you were in the shade. The bustling sounds of activity, earlier muffled by distance and the walls of the building, now wracked your ears unhindered. Even the dust, little that there was in this part of the camp, seemed to actively test you, filling and almost choking the once clean air.

You stepped off the threshold and into the camp and immediately, you felt a number of gazes turn towards you, curious and intrusive. You responded to a few glances not in kind, but by giving a similar distaste to their person. The walk to the entryway of the camp was mercifully short, sparing you from having to worry about them any longer. You turned the corner, towards the twins’ residence and--

You saw the twins first. Devola, the one closer to you, was on the ground, leaning against the wall, grimacing in pain and clutching at her lower right leg, which seemed to be bent at a slight but unmistakably wrong angle. Popola was at her side, but a sudden move from the android that loomed over them plucked her up and slammed her up against the wall. You recognized his piecemeal outfit and ragged appearance.

“When will you two learn?” Dakota had seized Popola by the throat. She was struggling to get free, but you could tell she wasn’t fully fighting back. “Your place isn’t--”

“What the **** are you doing‽” Your shout broke up the scene in front of you. Even Dakota paused as you approached.

“Reminding them of their place.” He turned back to Popola.

“By threatening them? What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m not threatening them. It’s nothing they haven’t seen before.”

You closed on him. You couldn’t believe what you were doing, even as you told yourself to do it. “Then stop being a coward,” you grabbed his hand and pulled it to your own neck, “and kill me directly!”

No sooner had you said those words- or if you pulled his hand to your neck, you couldn’t tell- Dakota snapped his hand back and took a few steps backward. He stared at you with shock and raised his hands defensively. “****, what are you--! Don’t overreact like that, I’m not killing--!”

“What do you think you’re doing, when you’re putting them at risk? What happens when there’s an emergency and they can’t perform their duties? Are you really willing to put my life on the line to, what, make a point? Do you think that’s worth it? Do you think my life is worth your ego?”

“N-no, I don’t-- I didn’t--” his gaze shifted between you and something behind you as he continued to stammer. “I-I wasn’t-- I--”

You pointed behind yourself. “Leave. Leave them alone and don’t **** with them again. Am I clear?”

Slowly, his gaze slipped away from you. He nodded as he started to move past you, giving you a wide berth, moving into a run as he left you behind.

You let out a breath. You likely screwed things up, for yourself, for the twins, maybe just in general. Why did you let everything get to you? Why did you have to lose your temper and make a mess out of everything? You turned around and looked at the twins, who stared at you as they recovered.

And why did you have to set yourself up in this situation? Save them from one danger and set yourself up as the other?

You couldn’t forgive them then, you couldn’t forgive them now. But you saw it in their eyes, the pain, the fear. You saw it in how Devola flinched at the touch of her wound, and in the blush of crimson on Popola’s neck. You couldn’t leave things like this.

“Popola, Devola,” you hated yourself for this, “I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t forgive you earlier, and I’m sorry for leaving you like that earlier. I forgive you.”

For a moment, the twins froze, a look of hope, of joy across their faces. Popola was the first to move, launching herself up and hugging you. Devola took a second longer, having to limp a few steps before joining her sister. Their warmth bled into you through their tight embrace. Popola kept murmuring ‘I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry…’ and Devola traced small circles on you with the hand on your back. You could hear and feel them begin to tear up.

You tried to return the feelings of warmth and care. You tried to show, or at least fake, your forgiveness. But you couldn’t shake the empty hollow of a lie.