"9S!" 2B shouted as she sat upright with a jolt.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw her pod, 042, fly in front of her. "Good morning, 2B."

"You… brought me back here…"

"Affirmative. You entered a forced shutdown due to severe continuous operation. We finished your mission of locating the item at the specified coordinates.

An orange crystal glimmered in the claws of Pod 153. Small bits of data transmitted themselves back and forth between faces of the stone. It was a remnant of the machine lifeforms' communication protocol. 2B grabbed as many of the pods as she could and hugged them in a tight embrace. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

The small, red light on top of 153 flashed. "One expression of gratitude will suffice."

"And Emotions are still prohibited," 042 responded.

2B laughed at her Pod's statement. 2B had searched the rubble of the Tower for a single hint as to what happened to 9S's personal data. After thousands of attempts to restart 9S, he still wouldn't wake up. But with this data crystal, things finally seemed hopeful for 2B and her flying companions.

"Are you sure this will work?" 2B asked, handing over the vaccine to the black and red pod.

"Negative. However, said action is in the acceptable level of risk. Administering vaccine…"

After a few attempts, the vaccine still failed to restore 9S's data. Thought whizzed around 2B's mind. Had the pods found the wrong crystal? Was 9S too damaged to be repaired now? Was his personal data destroyed?

Out of frustration, 2B threw a chunk of white rubble as hard as she could. "Why isn't it working?"

"Hypothesis: Repair vaccine is a failure," 042 responded.

"Negative. Repair vaccine's functions confirmed to be normal." 153 began to place the vaccine protocol chip in her storage systems, but was interrupted by 2B's commands.

"Try it again!"

After a small amount of beeping, 153 stated, "No effect."

2B clenched her fists in anger, before tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Try… again…"

Through teary eyes, 2B looked at 9S's face. It was still as pristine as it had been when she first woke up two weeks ago, and still looked as if he was just asleep.

After the beeping from the latest attempt had ceased, 153 finally put the chip away. "Report: Traces detected indicating the memory region of unit 9S's contents have been erased."

"Negative. It is an effect of the repair vaccine. Hypothesis: Unit 9S's personal data has been lost," 042 reasoned.

For a moment, the tears stopped. "His personal data… is truly lost?"

From above, the android heard yelling from above. "Cut the crap, 2B! I'd help you, but I haven't figured out a way to get down without getting extremely hurt! I think I have an idea!"

2B's eyes darted between the six pods. "Why didn't you guys help her down? 153, go get her!"

"Affirmative." The three black and red pods began flying up to reach their desired target. Within a few seconds, A2 was gracefully floating down, holding onto a handle one of the pods had created for her to hold on to.

As she reached the ground, the long haired android's eyes locked firmly onto the three white and orange pods flying around 2B. "Pod, I know I was kinda mean to you, but I'm sorry. I'm not used to having my own flying box to worry about."

"Apology accepted. Question: Can this Tactical Support Unit scan Unit A2's memory for records regarding the situation of 9S's personal data?"

"Go ahead. Finally, the box asks for my permission."

2B giggled at A2's slight annoyance at her Tactical Support Unit. He had always been a little too rigid with her, but she never minded, as all pods were like that.

After a few minutes, 042 responded, "Records indicate that 9S's personal data was wiped of his own accord, but there is the possibility that it was moved to a different location. According to Unit A2's records, it is possible that his data evacuated using the machine lifeforms' Ark. Report: Possibility of recovering 9S's personal data extremely low. This possibility constitutes an unacceptable level of risk. Proposal: Unit 2B should dispose of Unit 9S's body and talk to Anemone to confirm chain of command."

2B's tears fell through her blindfold and fell onto 9S's rough jacket. "No, 9S, this can't… We didn't even get to say goodbye, and yet… why? Why did you have to leave me again?"

An error message appeared on Pod 042's data log. "Abnormal signal detected from Black Box." 2B's Black Box was deteriorating from an emotional overload. A simple flaw all YoRHa had. If their emotional circuits began experiencing too much stress, they would overload the alien technology at the YoRHa's core, causing corrosion and eventual breakdown.

"I don't care anymore! I don't…!" 2B's voice was drowned out by her tears. She had known too many versions of her white-haired companion. He wasn't meant for battle. He was meant to gather information. Her death had killed him. Every other time she killed him, he was brought back. Returned to the Bunker and given the default data of countless missions for gathering data on machines. The mission all Scanners had. But 9S was different.

"Alert: Errors detected in unit's functionality." If 042 could've shown emotion, he would've screamed for her to stop. A will was born inside of him fighting alongside A2. He wanted to protect the YoRHa units A2, 2B, and 9S. But he didn't want to risk losing too many of them.

"You can't save her?" A2 asked, looking at the pods who had saved her.

"Negative. She told us that she didn't want to be saved if 9S couldn't be rebooted."

042's emotionless voice could only report back on the situation at hand. "Near and Far Field Control Systems have gone offline. Initiating short-range radio-wave camouflage. Unit 2B's vital signs are deteriorating. Alert: Immense damage to Unit 2B's life preservation functionality. Proposal: Body adjustment and maintenance in a safe location urgently required."

2B wouldn't stop crying. This time, she didn't even have a chance to save him. All she could feel was pain deep within her circuitry.

But a light flashed on 153's monitoring systems. "Report: Abnormal vibrations detected from Black Box. Temperature rising."

"This unit has already reported on the abnormal situation," Pod 042 responded.

"Negative. I am Tactical Support Unit Pod 153, and it is my job to report abnormalities in functionality of my supported unit, Unit 9S."

"Negative. Unit 9S's personal data has already been terminated. Reboot is realistically impossible."

A2 chuckled to herself before patting the top of 042. "You really are an idiot, Pod."

"YoRHa Unit 9S has been successfully reactivated. 042, your predictions were incorrect."

"There is no need to say such comments, 153."

For the first time in her life, 2B smiled. "Nines!"

"Where… am I? 2B? What did I…?"

9S was cut off by a tight hug from 2B. The strength from her being a battle unit could've easily crushed him, but she didn't want to erase all of her hard work. "I'm so glad… I'm so glad you're…"

"Is there any way to report this situation? This is… exceptionally unique," 153 asked.

"No need for an analysis, Pod. I think I've figured this out. 9S, what do you remember from just after you killed me?"

"Well, it's a little fuzzy, but I do remember Adam… he reached out to me from the Ark. He asked if I wanted to go with him, and I did."

"His black box must've sent out a signal to retrieve his memories from the Ark when you first attempted to reboot him. It just took this long to get that signal."

"No matter what happened, I'm glad he's okay." 2B's smile hadn't yet faded.

"I'm glad you're okay too, 2B."