This can't be. This can't be. Nothing's working. Why isn't anything working?
2B sat over the empty shell of the most important person in the world to her. She had tried everything, searched everywhere for a way to bring him back. Two weeks went by as she slowly let her body fall apart, as finding a cure for him became more important to her than her own self preservation.
"No, 9S, this can't... We didn't even get to say goodbye, and yet... why... why am I the only one...!" She let her head drop and the tears fall over his lifeless body.
"Abnormal signal detected from Black Box." Warned Pod 042.
"I don't care anymore! I don't...!"
"Alert: Strange vibrations emanating from Black Box. Temperature rising." Shut up.
"Alert: Errors detected in unit's functionality. FFCS offline. NFCS offline. Initiating short-range radio-wave camouflage." I don't care, let them see me.
"Unit 2B's vital signs are deteriorating. Alert: Immense damage to unit 2B's life preservation functionality." Good.
"Proposal: Body adjustment and maintenance in a safe location urgently required." No...
Pod 153's voice cut through the repeated warnings of 042. "Report: Abnormal vibrations detected from Black Box. Temperature rising." Just shut up.
"This unit has already reported on the abnormal situation."
"Negative: The vibrations are not originating from unit 2B, but instead from unit 9S." What? Her head shot back up and she leaned over him in hopes of seeing... hearing some sort of signs of life.
"Negative: Unit 9S's personal data has already been terminated. Reboot is realistically impossible." Impossible. But there it was, the sign she was looking for. Her eyes fixated on the slow rise and fall of his chest as his initial gasp of air caught her attention.
"Nnngh..." He groaned and twisted his body before slowly opening his eyes.
"N-Nine...s..." She choked back a sob and did her best to smile in her weakened state.
"Where... am I...?" He shifted his head weakly and his eyes barely focused on her. "2B, what did I...?"
"I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're..." 9S was alive, however, the shutdown of her systems continued. Her vision grew blurry, her muscles weakened, and her consciousness slowly slipped away. N-no. No no no. "I ca- I can't... stop..." The shaky arms holding her up gave away and she collapsed on top of him.
"Wha- 2B?" His head spun as the weight of her body forced the air from his lungs. "2B? Is that... Are you? …" He looked around frantically for clues, then his focus finally honed in on 2B's pod still barking out alerts. "P-pod! What's going on?"
Pod 153 chimed in. "Unit 2B vitals are all deteriorating rapidly. Reason: unknown. However, the deterioration began upon 2B receiving the information that Unit 9S's personal data was lost, it is likely that had some impact on unit 2B's emotional state. Proposal: Hack into Unit 2B to manually reset her vitals and restart."
"Personal data... but I'm..." He shook his head clear. No, no time to figure this out, I have to move now!
With no hesitation, he hacked into 2B to assess the damage. What he saw was nearly unrecognizable; it looked nothing like a normal hacking space, nor did it look like the hacking space of all the poorly-made copies the machines made and sent to kill him. Was this really 2B?
The entire area was filled with a thick static that let out a constant, almost deafening roar. Huge swatches were almost completely dark and processes that were meant to be kept separate mixed throughout the entire area.
Shit, what's going on? Shit shit. Ok, calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. I need to... He rushed through her data and found the code that ran her black box. Ok, ok this is fine, if I just... AAUGH. He let out a silent scream as an unknown pain shot through him. He could feel his physical body convulse and an urge to vomit hit him as a huge rush of information flowed into his mind.
A memory?
"People who know me well usually call me Nines so..."
A pang of guilt and longing shot through her chest, but the rushing wind on the roller coaster helped keep it from showing. "Oh."
"So what do you think?"
Why do you... how do you remember these things? "Of?" Is this my punishment for giving you that name when I had no right to get so close to you?
"I mean, if you wanna call me Nines, it's totally ok." He smiled softly at her, despite struggling to stay on as the coaster shot through a horde of enemies.
She used the distraction of the surrounding machines to compose herself, but all she wanted to do was accept and call him Nines again and again and again. "I'm good."
"Oh... Um... all right."
Hnggh... what the hell...? 9S turned around to see a memory had randomly floated up behind him in the chaos. It was unlike any memory he has ever seen before. It was warped and cracked and had... thorns? What looked like thorns were sticking out of every surface of it. And... pain, there was so much pain leaking out of them, he could feel it wash through his body just being near them. His eyes focused on the memories nearby. Most of them were in similar states; covered in a dense layer of painful thorns that threatened to destroy anyone who attempted to view them.
No. No. Gotta hurry, I'll figure this out later. Later! He turned his attention back to the code that lay in front of him.
"Ok. Ok. I just need to enter this here and it should kickstart her cooling device to keep the Black Box from overheating any more." He punched in the code and waited until he could hear the faint hum of a cooling fan through the noise. "Ok ok, now I- Aagh!" Another wave of pain shot through him as another memory invaded his mind.
"Nghh.. 2B... wh-why?" 9S stumbled back and collapsed on the ground. 2B's pure white sword protruded from his chest and blood spilled from the wound faster than any amount of staunching gel could hope to stop. "It... it hurts..."
"You... accessed confidential information... I was... I was ordered to. I had to... terminate..." Agonizing pain was all she felt as she took in the sorry sight of the dying scanner in front of her. Pain, longing, wishing that could be her on the ground instead of him.
9S gripped the sword in his chest and desperately tried to pull it out but his fingers slipped on the slick blood coating the blade. His movements slowed, and soon he was grasping weakly at the air. "But I thought... I th-th..." The light faded from his eyes and his hand fell as his body went still.
2B collapsed on the ground next to him and wrapped her fingers around the blade. She squeezed hard and the sharp metal dug into her hand, slicing through her gloves and layers of artificial flesh to expose the metal skeleton beneath. She yanked the sword out and tossed it behind her, flinching as the metal clattered loudly against the stone.
"I.. I can't... keep." Her arms reached out against her will and she found herself cupping his lifeless face in her hands. The blood from her wound dripped down his cheek before splashing off into the dirt and mixing with the large pool of blood that puddled beneath him.
She doubled over him and let out a scream like no other. It was as if all the emotions she had bottled up over the years were trying to force their way out of her mouth all at once. The world began to spin and...
I don't... I don't remember this... was this from... before? Agh no. Don't let them distract you. He kept flipping through the code frantically and righting any abnormalities and-
Nghh... again. Another wave hit him, stronger and faster than the first, he couldn't pull back, he could only sit and watch as it played before his eyes.
"9S!" No, no not again. 2B screamed and ran to catch him as his legs shook and gave way beneath him. Cracks appeared on his skin and worked their way along his body. Blood began dripping from the wider ones.
"I saw... you got the orders. I didn't want you to..."
"9S... Nines... I..." She blinked and blinked, trying to hold back tears but she utterly failed.
"2B it's ok..." 9S said through ragged breaths. "I'm not... really going to die... I'll see... you... to...mor...row..." His words trailed off as his voice functionality corrupted from the self-inflicted virus.
2B sat over him; tears streaming from her eyes as she gripped him tightly in her arms. His voice was gone, but he was still barely alive and he looked at her with a soft, loving gaze; a small smile spread across his face. His eyes said more than his spoken words ever could articulate. It's ok 2B. It'll all be ok.
The virus continued to spread and it streaked across his face. Bits of skin cracked and fell away and the light from his eyes slowly faded, but the smile never did.
"Black box signal for unit 9S offline. Death confirmed."
"Shut up Pod." 2B snapped. She didn't budge from her spot and began tenderly stroking his hair while slowly breaking down inside. She doubled over and screamed in a mix of pain and grief, as the scene that she just witnessed replayed in her mind.
The area around her faded from view as the memory filled her entire field of vision. Replay. The memory warped slightly and the sound became faintly distorted. Replay. Bits of data poked out unnaturally from the sides of the file. Replay. The data twisted and hardened into sharp projections. Replay. The thorns stabbed into her mind and caused her body to jolt and writhe in pain. Replay. Again. Replay. Again.
"What... is this...? It hurts... I... I deserve this... Nines... I'm..."
2B... 2B please." He panted when the memory faded. "Can you hear me? I don't care that you've killed me before. I don't care. I don't care! Being with you... it was like I had a family, I was so alone. Then you came along, and you were like a light in the dark. And I was so... happy.
"So please 2B. I need you to rghh..." Another memory shot through him, but he forced himself to keep talking. "... to... to help me and ghhh..." Yet another; now two conflicting memories played at the same time and his head felt like it was going to split open. "... p-please. Keep the memories back... so I can... fix this..."
"I'm t-try...ing" Her voice called out faintly through the static.
"You can... nghh... do this. We can... we can talk about all this later, ok?"
He rushed to reactivate her lung functionality, dodging memories as best he could. Androids could last a lot longer than any biological organisms without oxygen, but even they had their limits. Since 2B had an abnormal shut down, her body wasn't able to go into oxygen preservation mode, which would normally be used to keep them alive indefinitely. He had to get it done fast.
Shit... He thought as another memory grazed his back. Can't dodge and work at the same time. They kept coming, crowding over him as he kept trying to fight through it to keep working. The static was growing louder and it felt as if his entire being was about to be crushed under some immense pressure.
"2... 2B!" He gasped. "Please!"
All of a sudden the memories froze and he was surrounded by a dozen still images. A huge weight was lifted off his chest and he coughed and sputtered as his mind overcame the shock. He shook himself and wasted no time getting to work again. Just one more thing to enter... There. He could feel 2B's body gasp for air and her breathing slowly even out. The images surrounding him slowly started to retreat and file back to where they were supposed to be stored.
"2B... was that?"
"...I did... it..."
"Oh thank god. You did great. Ok I'm going to work on your Black Box again," he said as he rushed back to where the code was stored, "there's too much power coming out of it right now and that might be why your circuits are all scrambled."
"O...k..."
"It's ok 2B. It's ok, I got this and I won't fail you again." He turned the power output down and rerouted some of the energy into emergency preservation mode. Never. Never. Never. I can't ever lose you again. I won't let this chance slip away. The static quieted down significantly and he could feel the pressure on his mind being slowly released.
"Ok I'm going to restore your nanomachine count, it looks like a bunch of them were destroyed when your Black Box overheated, but I can boost internal production for a while."
"Nines..." Her words were noticeably clearer now.
Nines. "Y-yes 2B?"
"Your voice... It's so calming."
He let out a choked sob as her words hit him. "2B... you're... thank you." He wanted to sit there and replay those words again and again but he shook his head and continued, "B-but compliment me later ok? I can't concentrate when I'm blushing so hard, hhhaha."
He heard a soft rhythmic noise in response to his words. It took him a moment to realize it was a gentle laugh. He felt his nerves calm and he continued his work.
"Nanomachines done." This is getting easier.
"Memory storage region repaired." Everything's lighting back up now.
"Black box temperature normal." We're out of the red-zone now.
"Nervous and sensory system fixed." She can feel me hold her now.
"Limb functionality restored." She can hold me back now.
"Visual systems repaired." She can see me when she opens her eyes.
"FFCS online. NFCS online." She can... she can fight back and keep herself safe now.
"A-all checks complete." She can wake up now.
She can wake up now.
She can wake up now.
"Pod. Status report?"
"Unit functionality of Unit 2B moderately below normal. Black box temperature normal. Physical damage in hand regions still detected. Physical damage detected in area surrounding Black Box. However, nanomachine functionality above normal. Predicted completed restoration of circuits surrounding Black Box by nanomachine repair: Four hours and thirty-eight minutes. Proposal: Unit 2B should seek professional medical attention at the nearest medical facility."
"Is it safe to reactivate her?"
"Affirmative."
He breathed a sigh of relief. "2B. I did it... I fixed everything I could this way. I'm going to reactivate your body now and we'll get you some proper medical attention. Hang in there, ok?"
He pulled out of her hacking space and gazed around as he readjusted to his surroundings. 2B was still lying limply over his chest. He shifted his body up with what little strength he had and turned her over so she was facing him. His arm came up behind her knees and he pulled her closer and cradled her as he waited for her system to reboot.
His eyes wandered down to her hands when he remembered what the pod had said earlier. He gasped in shock and his stomach twisted in horror when he saw the state of them. They were in complete tatters. The skin was peeled back on almost every one of her fingers. Dirt and oil had caked on to the metallic skeleton beneath. What was left of her gloves were completely soaked in blood. One finger was even twisted in an unnatural direction.
The rest of her body wasn't in much better condition. Her arms were coated in a thin layer of dirt and bits of her skin were rubbed raw. Her hair had mud and oil caked into it and her headband was torn and nearly falling off. The rest of her clothes were filthy and tattered, She had replaced her stilettos with a pair of combat boots and her skirt with some old pants; they didn't offer much protection though, as the knees were worn through, exposing bloodied skin to the elements. The feathers on her sleeves had all been ripped off and thrown away.
What the hell happened? He didn't have much more time to think about it as he heard a soft groan escape from 2B's lips as she weakly shifted her body around in his arms.
"2B... 2B!" He called out. "2B can you hear me?"
"...B..."
Ngh... It hurts. A dull throb worked its way through her as her system slowly came back online. Her core of her body burned but everything else was near freezing.
"2B..."
That voice... She began to focus on a gentle feeling of warmth against her arm and behind her knees.
"2B can you hear me?"
Nines... you... More subtle feelings came into focus. She felt her body being gently shaken. Warm drops of liquid splashed on her face as the trembling increased. Tears?
"2B... I'm here. Everything's gonna be all right now."
Oh... I remember now. Her ears could now pick up soft sobs coming from 9S as his body faintly trembled as he held her. Her motor functions were coming back online and she shifted weakly in his arms.
"N... Nines..."
"Yes! Yes 2B! It's me, Nines! Please wake up!"
Her lids were heavy, but she forced them open, agonizingly slowly; a swirl of colors hit her eyes as they adjusted to the scene around her. She groaned and looked up.
"Nines..." She smiled softly as his crying face slowly came into focus.
"2B..." He sobbed. "I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're..."
"Nines..." She had so many things to say, so many things to tell him, but all she could get out at the moment was his name.
"Hahhah... Say it again 2B."
"Hmm..." She smiled. "Nines..."
He let out another sob and a weak laugh. "Again."
"Nines..." She lifted her trembling arm up and brought it to his face.
"...Again."
"Nines..." She hesitated slightly, would her bloody, damaged hand bother him? She didn't have long to worry as his own hand came up and very gently pressed hers against his cheek. He smiled and leaned against it, not caring one bit that the mud and grime were tarring his soft face.
"...Again..." His voice was barely more than a whisper.
"Nines..."
"...Again."
"Nines..."
"2B. Hahah hah. I have so much I want to say to you."
"Me too." She turned and buried her face in his chest. "I'm so sorry. For everything."
"2B don't. Don't ever apologize." He sobbed. "You're here now and that's all that matters to me."
2B could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and immediately get drawn away by the soft velvet of his coat. She wrapped her arms around his torso as best she could and let her bottled emotions finally flow free. She cried, and cried, and he joined in moments later; stroking her hair and sobbing nonsensical things. They went on, and on, until their voices became hoarse and their bodies no longer produced tears.
"2B?" He whispered after an impossibly long time.
"Nines?" She sat up and leaned back from him to look him in the eyes. He took her tattered hands in his and leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on them. He gazed back up and smiled; such a gentle and genuine smile shone through the stain of tears on his face.
"Come on. Let's go home."
Open the Memory Cage is a post [E] continuation of Nier: Automata. In which I stare the god that is Yoko Taro in the eye and say "Fuck you, fuck the canon, I'm bringing everyone back and making my favorite sad androids happy, even if it kills me." I stick as close to the in-canon logic and backstories as possible, so if you haven't read all the post [E] materials, do so now before reading this.
The series focuses on 2B and 9S and how their relationship grows as they help each other recover from all of the trauma they've faced in the past. Their battles are not over as they face old demons and new disasters, but since they have each other, they can face them all, together. 2B slowly comes out of her shell, and she and 9S both begin to make new friends, and fight tooth and claw to save the old ones.
I honestly hate and how flippity flornking confusing and limited it is. I was trying to crosspost the entire series here but after wanting to throw my computer across the room last night, I was like fuck it and am just gonna finish posting chapter 1 and link to the rest of the series on AO3.
/works/10749627/chapters/26783727