A thousand years had passed. A thousand years since The Tower had collapsed. A thousand years since he lost what was most precious to him. A thousand years since everything fell apart, twister around and contorted into a mess.
"There has to be a way." 9S repeated that sentence a million times over the last thousand years. Repeated it so many time that saying it now caused pain. It hurt, it hurt so much but he still repeated it and he thought he would continue to do so until Emil told him of some device located on the moon called the Last Re;sort, said to be a failsafe for humanity should every other failsafe fail.
At first 9S dismissed it because he cared not for humanity anymore but Emil said it could bring back what was most precious to him. The image of 2B flashed in his head and convinced him to listen to what Emil had to say.
Supposedly this thing called the Last Re;sort was a device made by another species of alien separate from the ones who unleashed the infernal machines he so hated. What the device did was something called a dimensional convergence. Emil gave little information as there wasn't much to begin with but he said that he could be with 2B and all the other people he loved at the expense of the current world he lived in. 9S took the info he had then dragged his dusty flight unit out of his hidden storage unit and flew off to the moon. Following the vague coordinates that Emil gave him he came across a large platform with what looked like a docking station of some sort and a smaller circular platform surrounded by pillars.
When 9S flew down he landed close to the circular platform and immediately the green lights lit up all over the structure.
"What is this?" 9S asked and both his and 2B's pod looked at each other and exchanged in conversation about what this was before answering their master. The conclusion they came up with was a quick "Unknown" before going quiet again.
9S walked up onto the circular platform and a rectangular console materialized in the center, it's holographic screen displaying a bit of text. In bold text it said 'Restart' then below it on either side was a 'yes' and 'no' text.
"Should I press it?" 9S asked as his hand hovered over the 'yes' button. Neither of his pods replied and he hesitated to press the button. As he contemplated on if this was a good decision the memories of all those he cared about flashed through his head. First it was Pascal then the commander, the Project Gestalt twins, 2B's Operator 6O, his Operator 21O. And finally the memory of 2B which brought tears to his eyes and even though he had felt bitter that 2B had killed him over and over and over again, he still couldn't bring himself to hate her as he had already fallen in love with her.
Shaking his head and pushing away his thoughts 9S turned back to the console and stared at the 'yes' button and after a few seconds he pressed his hand to it. At first nothing happened and he wondered if the thing was broken but after a minute the ground shook and he looked around as all the green lights and glowing parts of the structure pulsed in synchronization.
"What's going on?" 9S asked as his vision started to distort and warp in odd ways while his pods grabbed his shoulder and tried to hold him steady.
"Platform seems to be relaying data across the moon. All structural pillars are communicating with each othhherrrrr ahkakashhh 132773197349& &#*^$&(( (SC CC!JG#G!J (^ (!&& 1#984$1201&& &&$97$29$77$1 &919&(19&!#(19!(#&!#()!3719(9!(& !((919!9&!&T($(#$!))!*Y($*(!( ($)!" 9S's pod's speech turned to incoherent lines of code that he couldn't make out and when his vision started to darken he reached out at the air trying to find something, anything to grab onto but he felt nothing as the last bits of light he could see ceased to exist, leaving him in complete darkness.
After his vision blacked out his system registered multiple functionality losses which he tried to restore but everything internally was shutting down, leaving everything but his consciousness, memories, black box and body disabled.
"2B..." 9S the last thing he was able to mumble before what was left of him finally shutdown completely.
0000
0000
"Nines! You're breakfast is ready and your friend is outside waiting for you!" Nines heard his mother named Teno yelling up at him so he groggily got up out of bed and put on some clothes before walking down the stairs of his house to the kitchen where his mother was cleaning some of the dishes in the sink.
"Friend?" Nines asked his mother curiously as he walked over to the door.
"Yeah, 2B. The girl you go to school with. You going out on a date after school?" Teno teased and Nines looked at her a bit confused, he remembered 2B but his memory of the previous day was fuzzy and distorted at best.
"Oh yeah. I almost forgot." Nines still slightly confused just played it off and opened the door.
"Nines. You sleep in too much." 2B immediately said as she stepped inside, setting her bag down by her shoes.
"2B wanna have breakfast with us?" Teno asked 2B from the table and she nodded her head.
"I didn't have proper time to eat back home." 2B said as Nines and her walked over to the table then sat down.
"What is going on? My memory is so... fuzzy." Nines asked himself as he stared at 2B, noticing she had a white flower in her equally as white hair his head suddenly started to throb and he groaned as he held a hand to his head.
"Nines are you ok?" 2B asked worriedly and Nines nodded his head.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache." Nines said with a smile and 2B stared at him for a second before going back to the food on her plate.
The three at the table ate in an awkward silence for quite a few minutes before Teno had to break the silence.
"Ah 2B that flower in your hair is really pretty. What kind is it?" Teno asked 2B who looked at her confused for a second before reaching up and touching the petal of the flower.
"When did... I-It's called a... Lunar Tear." The name of the flower suddenly flashed in her head along with a sharp spike of pain which she ignored as best she could.
"Lunar Tear? Never heard of it, but it does look nice in your hair." Teno said and 2B let her hand fall back down to the table as she cracked a small smile.
"Thank you." 2B said and Nines mother just smiled at her.
"It's already seven? You two should hurry before you're late to school." Teno pointed out and Nines almost immediately forgot about the missing memories of the previous day as he jumped up at the mention of the time.
"Crap we're gonna be late if we don't hurry!" Nines said as he ran upstairs then grabbed his bag before running back downstairs and grabbing 2B's hand causing her to blush slightly. If it weren't for their current situation she would have savored the moment for as long as she could but sadly Nines let go of her hand as they ran towards the school a few blocks down the road.
As Nines was too distracted in running he ended up turning the corner of the street too fast and slammed right into someone causing the two to fall over. Nines shook off the fall and quickly got up to see if the other person was ok but he instantly stopped as soon as he realized who it was. Sitting on the ground glaring up at him was the school's most feared delinquent known as A2, a violent and unapproachable girl who everyone stayed away from.
"A-Ah. A2 I'm really sorry, please don't kill me later. 2B WE GOTTA NOW!" Nines said as he, much to 2B's satisfaction, grabbed her hand again and started to run towards the school.
Once at the school Nines and 2B quickly ran to their class and took their seats, completely out of breath and breathing heavily. After catching his breath he looked to his left where 2B was sitting next to him and he gave her the thumbs up just as their teacher walked in.
"Good morning class. I've got a bit of bad news. The school festival will be in two and half weeks and the school board pushed up the planning schedule. Thankfully we we're able to reschedule the class trip to next week since there was adequate time before the festival so you have this week to work then next week will be the class trip then the following Wednesday will be the school festival." The class teacher said and the class groaned at the news while the teacher waited for her students to calm down and once they did she continued. "I made sure to plan ahead in case this happened so I already have the activities planned out, I just need you to get in groups of five or six." The teacher said as everyone looked around the room and communicated with each other silently. 2B looking over to 9S who was looking back at two red headed girls in the back of the class.
2B frowned at the lack of attention he paid to her but forgot about the slight feeling of jealousy when she noticed he was looking at the twins Devola and Popola. She couldn't be mad because those two were often bullied by other students and her and Nines tried their best to deter the other students from continuing to pick on them.
"Once your groups are formed please write down your names on the board so I can mark them down." The teacher said as everyone in the class got up to get into groups, Nines walked over to the twins who cracked small smiles at the sight of him.
"Wanna be in our group?" Nines asked and Popola, the twin with straight hair and a softer face nodded and smiled while the more stern looking twin with wavy hair frowned slightly at him
"We'd love to." Popola said and Nines smiled then looked back to 2B who was now being attacked by their friend 6O who everyone knew had a huge crush on 2B who remained oblivious to the fact. Regardless 2B welcomed her to the group and Nines walked up and wrote their names on the list, choosing to do an animal themed cafe for the festival.
"What are we doing for the festival?" 6O asked Nines excitedly as she hugged onto 2B's arms, 2B looking down at 6O and secretly wishing Nines would do the same to her.
"An animal themed cafe." Nines replied to 6O who jumped up and down in excitement.
"Can we dress 2B in a cat outfit? It would look adorable!" 6O asked and 2B glared at her.
"No." 2B said as she looked to Nines who she expected to agree with her but she blushed slightly when Nines simply stared at her while grinning like an idiot. "N-Nines... Don't tell me you-" 2B cut herself off and groaned as Nines and 6O started whispering to each other, throwing glances at her every few seconds.
"Their awfully cheerful today." Popola commented to her sister who scoffed as she watched the three other members in the group.
"Yeah, almost makes me wanna puke." Devola mumbled, earning herself a slap on the shoulder from her sister.
"Don't say that. They were nice enough to invite us into the group." Popola said and Devola sighed in defeat, she couldn't argue with her sister and ended up agreeing with her in my things.
"I know." Devola said as she sat back down.
"It's gonna be animal themed right?" Popola asked Nines who looked over to her and nodded.
"Yeah, though now that I think about it I don't really have any ideas for the cafe." Nines said and Popola smiled.
"I can make costumes for everyone. Let's see, a maid and cat outfit for 2B, a maid and sheep for 6O and for you... hmmm? What animal would go well with you?" Popola asked as she was suddenly confused on what animal matched Nines while 2B stared at her in slight fear of having to dress up in something like a cat outfit, not that it was really a huge problem, but with Nines seeing her it made the idea all the more embarrassing.
"Just make him a cat. He'll match 2B." Devola said and Popola smiled.
"That would work, a cat boy in a butler outfit... Although 2B might not like that idea of being the same animal." Popola said with a slight frown as she looked over to 2B who was blushing and fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
"T-That would be fine..." 2B mumbled and Popola smiled at 2B's sudden shy demeanor.
"If you two are gonna work on costumes then me, 2B and Nines will work on decorations and the likes." 6O said and Popola nodded as her sister frowned but didn't say anything against the decisions made.
0000
0000(Lunch time)
After half the day was spent working on their cafe Nines and friends wen't to the cafeteria where 2B's usually composed self was broken and she turned into a shy girl who hesitantly gave Nines the lunch she had made for him effectively melting the hearts of anyone who happened to be watching the two.
"Aw, thank you 2B. I didn't have time to get food this morning for lunch so this is perfect." Nines said with a smile as 2B hid her blushing face behind her own boxed lunch while Popola and 6O smiled at her.
"Now's your chance." Popola said as she pushed 2B closer to Nines who was happily eating the food that 2B kindly made for him.
"2B this is delicious!" Nines said as he ate one of the egg rolls. 2B smiled at this and some of her shyness was diminished and she opened her own lunch and began to eat.
"They're so cute aren't they?" Popola asked and 6O nodded as she whined.
"My 2B is being taken from me..." 6O mumbled in defeat as she watched 2B scoot closer to Nines.
At hearing the words from 6O he felt a sharp pain in his head again and the word 'Taken' echoed in his head.
"Hey you ok? You look like you're in pain?" 6O asked and Nines nodded his head as he suppressed a groan as another spike of pain shot through his head.
"Y-Yeah, just another sharp pain in my head." Nines said and 6O hummed.
"You too? I've been getting these short little throbs in my head all morning." 6O said and Nines looked at her curiously.
"You wouldn't happen to have say... forgot about what happened yesterday?" Nines asked and as he watched 6O's eyes widen he looked to Devola and popola who avoided his gaze, giving him a pretty clear answer.
"How'd you know? I can't remember for the life of me what happened yesterday." 6O said and the two looked at each other in curiosity and confusion.
"What abou-" Nines was going to ask the red head twins to confirm his suspicions but the end of lunch bell ended and he ended up forgetting as he got up with his friends to go back to class where they went back to working on their cafe.
After school was over 2B and Nines walked back to their homes together and as they walked Nines thought about what 6O was saying earlier but his thoughts were interrupted when he felt 2B's hand snake into his and when he looked over at her her cheeks had a pink tinge to them and she looked away from him. At this notion Nines suddenly felt his chest tighten up and a sense of accomplishment and happiness washed over him that he didn't quite understand. It was out of the blue and the root of the feelings confused him. Though he didn't make any move to break the grip she had on his hand and without him really realizing it the two's fingers had intertwined with each other.
2B took this as a sign that he didn't mind so she let a small smile slip her face before leaning against him as they walked. An awkward silence did envelope the two but at the same time there was this insanely nostalgic and Déjà vu like feeling, almost as if this has happened before even though this the first time they've held hands like this. The two ignored it but as time went on the feeling strengthened to the point where it was nauseating, 2B stumbling over into Nines who also stumbled over thanks to the sudden dizziness he was feeling.
"H-Hey 2B? You alright?" Nines asked and 2B shook her head as she held a hand to her mouth.
"I feel like I'm gonna puke." 2B said and Nines nodded in agreement.
"Same here. What's going on?" Nines asked and 2B shook her head in reply which was a mistake and she hunched over further, puking up everything she had eaten earlier.
"2B! I'll call my mom have her pick us up." Nines said as he held 2B's hair up while she puked. "Hey mom can you come pick me and 2B up? We're a block away at Uls street." Nines said and he got a groan in response from his mom.
"Sorry honey, I'm sick in bed. I don't think I can drive." Teno replied and his eyes widened.
"Mom, have you puked at all?" Nines asked through the phone and he heard his mom groan a 'yeah' in response.
"Is something wrong? Are you guys ok?" Teno asked and she started to worry when she got no immediate response.
"No. 2B's puking and we're both extremely dizzy." Nines finally said after a minute and he heard his moms phone drop to the floor and some rustling from the room.
"2B you ok?" Nines asked again and 2B groaned.
"My head... Throbbing." 2B moaned and Nines rubbed her back to try and comfort her.
"I think my moms on the way. We'll get some medicine when we get back home." Nines said as he looked up at the sound of a car approaching and sure enough it was his mother.
"Is she ok? Should I take her to the hospital?" Teno asked and Nines shrugged.
"I don't know. Let's get back home first." Nines said as she shakily got up then picked 2B up and sat her down in the car. Once home Nines carried 2B in and gently laid her down onto the living room couch.
"I'll call her parents." Teno said and 2B shook her head as she grabbed Nines wrist when he started to walk forward.
"Don't bother... I live alone." 2B said and Teno looked at her sadly.
"Here take this, it will help with the headache." Teno handed the two a glass of water and two small white pills that the two quickly swallowed. "I'm sorry, I must have used something in this mornings breakfast that was bad." Teno said guilty as she sat down the chair and looked at the sorry state the two were in.
"Yeah, must have been." Nines said, even if he doubted that.
First it was the headaches in the morning that he, 2B, 6O and possibly the twins had, then it was just a bit ago he, 2B and his mom all started to have similar symptoms of nausea and dizziness. Plus there was that odd reaction of confusion from 2B when his mother mentioned the flower in her hair. Nines chose to keep quiet about this as to not worry his mother and make her think he was going crazy but it was still confusing him immensely.
"Finally. My headache is starting to disappear." Teno said as she rubbed her forehead.
"2B fell asleep." Nines mumbled as he noticed that 2B's hand was still in his but it was limp and relaxed. Noticing that his own headache was gone he got up and grabbed a blanket for 2B, draping it over her then sitting back down.
A few minutes had passed since 2B fell asleep and now that Nines dizziness was gone completely he felt tired and his body felt heavy, sleep eventually claiming him and his mother.
0000
0000(Next morning.)
With a groan Nines opened his eyes and freaked out when he saw that 2B was laying on top of him but couldn't bring himself to move, again that nostalgic feeling enveloped him. It was ruined however when his mother groggily woke up and turned herself around, grinning when she saw 2B on top of her son.
"Someone's lucky." Teno said and Nines groaned.
"Don't please." Nines mumbled and his mother giggled.
"Don't do anything naughty, I'm gonna get breakfast ready." Teno said as she got up and went to the kitchen.
"What even happened last night? How did we end up like this?" Nines asked himself in a mumble as he tried to recall what happened for them to end up like this but his mind kept drawing blanks. Deciding to ignore it he gently pulled his arm out from underneath 2B's stomach and blushed when his hand brushed against her chest.
"2B? Um... wake up, it's morning..." Nines said nervously as he shook 2B's shoulder a few times causing her to groan.
"Little bi... longer... comfortable." 2B mumbled and Nines blushed a brighter red as she curled herself up further on him. "2B please... This is embarrassing." Nines tried again and she groaned as she leaned up, her eyes widening when she realized who she was laying on.
"N-N-Nines... Why am I on top of y-y-you?!" 2B asked as a blush crept up her face.
"I don't know... I can't remember. Could you get up please?" Nines asked and 2B slowly nodded uncomfortably as she got up off of him then turned away then screamed at herself in her head.
"Shit we're gonna be late for school again. Sorry Teno we're gonna be late again if we don't hurr." 2B suddenly said as she looked at the clock and Nines groaned as he grabbed their bags and prepared to run.
"Come on hurry!" 2B said as this time she grabbed Nines hand and ran with him to school.
Once there the two breathed heavily as they dragged themselves to class where their teacher had them work on their school festival projects.
"Morning 2B, Nines." 6O greeted the two as she and the twins walked up to them.
"Morning." Nines said with a yawn.
"So... is it a thing now for you two to show up at class together? Breathing heavily and out of breath like you just ran a marathon?" 6O asked and 2B looked away with a slight blush as she remembered waking up on top of Nines.
"N-No. We live a few houses apart and she usually comes over for breakfast." Nines said and 6O smiled deviously.
"Oh does she now? I be-" 6O was cut off as the teacher walked up to them with A2 next to them.
"Would you be kind and let A2 into your group. She was absent and missed the group forming." The teacher asked and the entire room fell silent, all attention now on Nines and A2.
"S-Sure... That's fine..." Nines stuttered out as he remember he knocked her over the other day and was now probably on A2's hit list.
"Great! Have fun." The teacher said as she went back to her desk and did whatever it was she did on her laptop.
"Sup." A2 said as she stared out the window and away from the group of people she had been stuck with.
"H-Hi..." Nines mumbled and A2 glared at him.
"Your face still annoys me. Makes me wanna punch it before it happens again." A2 mumbled and 2B stepped between Nines and A2
"Don't even try." 2B said and A2 laughed.
"Aw that's cute, you're girlfriend gonna protect you?" A2 said with a laugh while 2B glared at her. The two looked about ready to pounce on each other until Nines pulled 2B back.
"Please get along." Nines said and 2B backed off but kept her eye on A2.
"I'm only doing this cause I have to. Just so you know." A2 said and Nines sighed.
"Ok. Back to the cafe." Nines said as he turned back to the ribbons he was working on tying together.
"Oh I know! A wolf!" Popola suddenly said making her sister and Nines jump at the outburst.
"Wolf?" Nines asked and Popola nodded.
"For A2, it suits her perfectly. Ferocious but elegant at the same time." Popola said and A2 glared at her.
"I'm not wearing any weird costume." A2 growled and Popola backed up against her sister.
"O-Ok..." Popola mumbled as she went back to her sketch book.
With a sigh Nines continued tying the ribbons for the front entrance with 2B and 6O while the twins worked on the costumes.
"A2 can you get some more hot glue from the storage room?" Nines asked as he used his last stick then looked over to A2 who was fast asleep leaning against the window. "Guess I'll get it." Nines said with a sigh as he got up then walked out of the room and down the hall to the storage closet where he grabbed a new package of hot glue before walking back to the class and continuing to work on the ribbons.
After an hour of work, Nines 2B and 6O finished the ribbons then started working on the decorations to give the classroom a jungle look, using large plywood cutouts of trees and animals which they painted then set up to dry. After finishing most of the decorations the school bell rang and the empty halls filled with students making their way to the exit to leave.
Nines and 2B said goodbye to their friends, minus A2 who disappeared at some point during the day. The two walked back home together and again, 2B snaked her hand into Nines, this time they didn't get a super strong nostalgic feeling, just a small one. Nines also chose not to mention the odd feeling and despite not really having strong romantic feelings for 2B like she did for him he suddenly felt depressed when their hands separated, the two going to their own houses.
"I'm home." Nines said as he entered his house then went to the kitchen and sat down.
"Have a good day?" Teno asked and he nodded.
"Yeah, it was fine. A2 got partnered with us and damn is she... sca...ry ... I'll kill her..." Nines mumbled out the last part and Teno looked up f from her phone to her son and stared at him in shock at what she just heard her son say.
"Excuse me?" Teno asked as she noticed his eyes were darker in color, she thought it might have been the lights in the house but a second later Nines shook his head and his eyes were normal again so she just assumed it was her imagining things.
"Huh? I said I A2 got partnered with us and she's pretty scary." Nines said, not realizing or even remembering the words that came out of his mouth a minute ago and Teno shook it off as just her imagination and didn't mention it to him.
"Really? I thought I saw her one time, what does she look like?" Teno asked curiously and Nines pulled out his phone then went to the yearbook from last years class and showed her a picture of A2 and Teno was surprised by the girls looked
"Her eyes give off a feeling of being distant detached but other than that she's a very beautiful girl. What's so scary about her?" Nines mother asked and Nines sighed.
"Look's can be deceiving. Like my friend Popola put it: She's like a wolf, ferocious but elegant at the same time." Nines said and his mother nodded in agreement.
"Fitting but what has she done that's so scary?" Nines mother asked again.
"Well last year a local gang leader liked her and tried to get her to be his girlfriend, she denied him and he got pissed, was gonna have his gang beat her up but she ended up sending twelve to the hospital and four to the graveyard." Nines replied and his mother stared at him shocked.
"S-S-She killed four people? And still goes to school with everyone else?!" Nines mother asked and he nodded.
"Yep. She got off because video from a building across the road from where she was attacked caught the entire thing on tape which revealed that she was attacked first. If I remember right she got stabbed in the shoulder and broke her leg in three different places." Nines replied as he laid his head down on his crossed arms and yawned.
"You sure? Something about a highschool girl sending twelve people to the hospital and killing four kinda seems like made up horror story." Nines mother said and Nines shook his head.
"You'd understand if you met her. She gives of an aura of death if you're within three feet of her." Nines said as he got up and stretched out.
"Maybe she just needs a friend." Teno said and Nines laughed.
"I doubt it. She seems to hate the idea of friends more than anything else." Nines said as he walked over to the stairs.
"Heading to bed?" Teno asked and he nodded.
"Yeah, I'm tired. Goodnight, love you." Nines replied.
"Goodnight, love you." Teno said as she watched Nines walk up the stairs and disappear into his room.
0000
0000
"Where am I?" Nines asked himself as he tried to look around in the pitch black abyss he was in but couldn't due to the lack of light.
After a second of staring at nothing but pure darkness the ground suddenly lit up as he found himself standing in the middle of millions and millions of glowing white flowers. Looking behind him he caught a glimpse of 2B falling but when he ran over to where he thought she was, he suddenly realized all the glowing white flowers disappeared and only a single glowing white flower cut from it's stem lay in a puddle of some type of red liquid.
0000
0000
So, to anyone who accidentally stumbles upon this and is wondering what the fuck they just read, I'd like to to know, too.
I'm a shit writer and I just butchered an amazing game, I have no right to live for the injustice I did to the masterpiece that is NieR: Automata, please kill me.