I do not own NieR: Automata or any of the characters.

Liberation

2B stared at the machines in silence. Behind her, she could hear some Resistance member that she didn't care about telling 9S what he was going to do with his new machine, in this case he was talking about dunking it in the water just to watch the sparks fly. Her stomach rolled threateningly. Oh how the mighty had fallen. She, who had slain more machines than her scalp had hairs ten times over, as unable to stomach hearing an android talk about killing machines.

She turned, looking to 9S, who could instantly tell that something was wrong, despite her emotionless mask and the cloth over her eyes. He excused himself from the conversation and walked over. The other android walked away, leaving the pair in the room alone with only themselves and the machines behind 2B, all of whom were in a cell like prisoners, or slaves. She supposed this was fitting, since that's exactly what they were.

"What's wrong?" 9S asked.

"I want to help them," 2B said quietly.

"The machines?" 9S asked. "Why?"

"Because...please don't make me say it," 2B said. "I know you know. I can see it in your face every time you hack one. You can feel it."

"Feel what?" 9S asked.

"Their emotions!" 2B snapped. "All of them. They've got emotions. And lying to ourselves and pretending they don't won't change anything. They're like us, just with different bodies."

"And most of them are trying to kill us," 9S said.

"But these ones aren't," 2B said.

"So they weren't shooting at you a minute ago in that arena?"

"That's not their choice!" 2B shouted before forcing herself under control. "They need help, 9S. Please. Help me save them."

9S sighed. "Alright. What do you need me to do?"

"I need the androids distracted," 2B said. "And all of them need to be in the coliseum."

"Okay," 9S nodded. "I can do that."

He walked away and 2B began to wait. She could feel her body tensing. She frowned. Maybe there was something wrong with it. Finally, it began. The first thing to happen was a scream. Then, several androids shouted. She peeked out the door, seeing everyone running up the stairs toward the coliseum with swords or spears. She waited another couple of seconds before slashing the lock on the cell door, breaking it open. She pulled it open and the machines stared at her.

"Well?" 2B said. "Let's go before I come to my senses!"

The machines didn't hesitate another moment. In seconds they had rushed out of the cell, grabbing weapons from the pile that they were allowed to use in the coliseum, then sprinted for the door out. They were on their way up the elevator by the time 2B had reached it, 9S at her side.

"Did they get out?" 9S asked.

"Yes," 2B said. "They'll probably have to kill the android at the top, but they got out. What did you do?" She could still hear the sounds of battle, and the screams of several androids as they were damaged, or worse.

"I, uh, hacked the robots in the arena and remotely upgraded their motor functions and runtimes. They're all cut off from the network down here, and I made sure they couldn't return to it. But I also gave them what they'd need to at least distract the androids for a while, though probably not to escape."

2B nodded. "Okay. Let's head back to the resistance camp. Anemone said she needed to see us a while ago."

9S nodded and 2B summoned the elevator. Once at the top, they found two dead machines and the android, who had been stabbed but wasn't dead yet.

"Which way did they go?" 2B asked.

"I'm not sure," the android said. "It all happened so fast. I'm not really even sure it was me that killed those two."

"I see," 2B nodded. "We'll try to find them."

She dropped a repair kit beside him and ran away from the door, 9S just behind her. As they ran and slid their way across the sand toward the transporter, 2B scanned the desert around them. There should have been hostile machines by now. There was always at least one group waiting to ambush them. Finally, they reached the transporter. However, just as 2B reached out to it, a barrier appeared around it. She spun, drawing her katana just as machines began to burst out of the sand around her and 9S. These were the same she was just saved. She recognized a few by the gashes and dents in them. But there were more than she had saved. They had clearly recruited a nearby group. She raised the blade but the machine in front dropped its sword, the others doing the same.

"Wait," the machine said. "We do not wish to fight. You saved our lives. We only wished to thank you."

2B lowered her sword, but kept herself ready. "What will you do now? Return to the network?"

"A few of us want to," the machine said. "They will share the knowledge that not all androids are enemies with the others, as well as the freedom of being able to think for yourself. But the rest of us don't want to. We want to live a peaceful life. We're tired of fighting."

"You could join Pascal's village," 9S said. "He's over between the amusement park and the forest zone. You could go to the amusement park too, I suppose."

"Thank you," the machine said. "We have to go now. Good luck."

Then, they all burrowed back into the ground and the barrier around the transporter faded.

"I hope we don't come to regret this," 2B said.

"So do I," 9S said. "But whether we regret it or not, it was still the right thing to do."

2B nodded and activated the transporter, heading back to the resistance camp. She waited beside the transporter for 9S to step out, and once he had, she turned, walking toward Anemone.

Leave a review.