Greetings! After finishing Play Dead, I was really wracking my brain for what I wanted to do next. Writing that story made me realize that the less constrained I am to the canon of the Nier universe, the more creative freedom I have to let the characters exist and interact in fun and interesting ways. One day I was thinking about the Emil Heads weapon and how its item description mentions seeing a YoRHa android hundreds of years after the game's events... and I couldn't help but take off in fun directions from there. This is the first part of a pretty long series of drabbles! Enjoy, and please leave a review to let me know what you think.
[TEMPORAL WARP ANOMALY 00521 REPORT]
Data Log 01a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 2B
Creation Date: September 2 - 12,422 - 9:07 AM Universal Standard Time
It's Emil. He is still running around, still selling scavenged items to anyone willing to approach. Claims to know nothing of unit 9S and myself but he's lying and not doing so very convincingly. This isn't a temporal anomaly and so I am considering it declassified. Nothing further to report.
. . .
Data Log 01b
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 9S
Creation Date: September 2 - 12,422 - 9:08 AM Universal Standard Time
It's Emil. It was surprising to see him after all this time, so much has changed and yet he's still the same. As per the council's request, we interrogated him for information on what he's been doing for the past several hundred years, but he was evasive. He pretended not to recognize me and 2B and I'm not sure why. Neither of us bought it but he was really persistent about it for some reason. Might be some kind of inner desire to forget the old days. I sure wouldn't blame him.
But it really is a surprise that he's survived for this long. It makes me wonder what he's made of, because the last machine from those days must have rusted away to dust a hundred years back. The weirdest thing about it is that he still has his cart. He really hasn't changed a single bit. 2B doesn't think this is a temporal anomaly but I think it might be- what else would explain him being exactly the same? He told us once that there were a ton of self-made copies of him out there but this is the same guy as back then, I know it is. He's still singing the song. Reopening the case for now, just in case any further information arises.
. . .
Data Log 01c
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 9S
Creation Date: September 3 - 12,422 - 11:30 AM Universal Standard Time
Strangest thing happened just now. We came into contact with Emil again while we were out investigating a different anomaly (see report 00732). He didn't notice us at first, I think he was absorbed in his thoughts. I've geo-tagged the location where we crossed paths as per protocol but I don't think it really matters, he won't be there. That cart can really motor when he feels like it. I also attached the audio recording as we approached, but unfortunately not much is audible, he was talking pretty quietly.
The gist of it from what I can tell is he was talking to someone whose name starts with a 'K' or similar clicky-tonguey sound. Strange way to describe it I know, but it's the best way I can make note of it. Either way, it seemed like a pretty private moment so I suggested we just leave him alone, but 2B wanted to press him for info. Unfortunately he was evasive again and she left in a huff. I apologized for her as we were leaving, I could tell he wanted to be by himself but 2B thought otherwise.
I've changed my mind about my decision from the other day, I don't think this is an anomaly anymore. From the way he sounded, I think he really has survived this long and I sort of feel bad for him. After all, time doesn't mean much to us androids, but to him... five hundred years is a hell of a long time.
[TEMPORAL WARP ANOMALY 00522 REPORT]
Data Log 01a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 2B
Creation Date: September 14, 12,422 - 4:26 PM UST
Utterly ridiculous. There are times when I wonder if it really is worth the YoNAh funding to send unit 9S and myself on these expeditions. In this world, there are certainly things that go unexplained by scientific method or reason. That is why they are anomalies. With that said, to exist in the same world as we do, some kind of logic has to apply somewhere. In this case? There is none. None whatsoever to be found, and it boggles the mind that it exists. Everything serves some kind of purpose, but this serves nothing, nobody, and none. It is a waste of our time and resources and on a personal level it brings me ever so much closer to dissatisfaction with our work.
. . .
Data Log 02a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 9S
Creation Date: September 14, 12,422 - 4:27 PM UST
2B is upset because we spent several hours lost in a forest after signal interference caused our position data to vanish off the grid. A timetable noting when we lost contact and where is attached to this report. Although, I think she's a little more frustrated because it turned out that the trigger for this warp anomaly was a wheel of cheese.
I took a small chunk of it for testing with my pod's laser cutter attachment, the results of which are also attached, but you're going to be disappointed, council. It's a completely normal wheel of plain yellow cheese. When we found it, it was giving off light smoke and sitting in a small crater surrounded by antimatter particles- my guess is, it materialized from wherever it came from in a big pocket and any matter that got caught up in the circle was sliced to bits.
Honestly, I sort of understand her frustration on this one. I mean, come on, we came all this way for cheese? We can't even eat it without getting a tummy ache. Either way, by the time this log arrives we'll be back at the base camp awaiting further instructions. Definitely classifying this one as an anomaly.
[TEMPORAL WARP ANOMALY 00523 REPORT]
Data Log 01a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 2B
Creation Date: September 17, 12,422 - 2:00 PM UST
Caught falling between two temporal portals directly above and below one another. Reached terminal velocity almost immediately. Will update on any progress breaking free of the field.
. . .
Data Log 02a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 2B
Creation Date: September 17, 12,422 - 2:21 PM UST
Still trapped in the field. My internal balance centers have come out of alignment and I am now falling in quarter-circles that reset upon falling into the lower portal and out of the top one. Unit 9S is currently tampering with his pod's antigravity function to slow my ascent enough to escape the field. Will update on any progress.
. . .
Data Log 03a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 2B
Creation Date: September 17, 12,422 - 3:11 PM UST
Attempts to free me from the field were a success. Unit 9S was able to alter my trajectory via his pod's antigravity bubble module, which reversed my direction inside the field. Instead of falling from top to bottom, I rose from bottom to top for approximately one minute and fifteen seconds before sideways force pushed me out of the field's influence and upward about thirty-five feet in the air. This report is being sent from a high branch on a pine tree. Recommend immediate anomaly classification and initiation of research into how and why it functions so it can be shut down, lest anyone else become as dizzy as I have.
[TEMPORAL WARP ANOMALY 00524 REPORT]
Data Log 01a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 2B
Creation Date: September 24, 12,422, 7:00 PM UST
preliminary notes:
stranded
9s lost several hours ago, no contact since, vital signs still active
trapped in dark cave, can hear skittering from holes in walls
no light source save for pod emergency lights, no signs of life so far
report incomplete, will finish later
. . .
Data Log 02a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 9S
Creation Date: September 24, 12,422, 7:10 PM UST
No idea where 2B is. We were investigating the geo-tagged anomaly zone but there was a cave-in and we've been separated. I thought I could hear her moving around on the other side of a wall, but upon investigation it seems we're not alone down here.
Lining most walls and some ceilings are very deep depressions, the depth of which the pod's light doesn't reach. They're about the size of a standard android's head in width, probably about big enough to stick an arm into. Sand and debris sometimes falls from the holes followed by some sort of scratching noise- based on what I know, I'd say some sort of cave dwelling insect of some kind. Keeping the channel open as I explore a bit more, hoping I find 2B soon. No doubt she's sending her own reports as she goes, maybe we'll be able to compare data later.
. . .
Data Log 03a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 9S
Creation Date: September 24, 12,422, 7:13 PM UST
I was wrong. Not insects. Fire-breathing salamanders.
. . .
Data Log 04a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 9S
Creation Date: September 24, 12,422, 7:20 PM UST
Killed approximately a dozen of the creatures, collected a few of the cadavers for further analysis. Just from outside observations, it seems like they don't need light to see at all which explains why they're living here even though it's pitch black. They have eyes, but they're so tiny they're probably useless, even the pod's little flashlight was enough to blind them.
At first guess, these are probably the anomalous subjects, but it almost seems like they were already here to me. Maybe it's just paranoia but... they really just seem like indiginous creatures. Their ability to shoot liquid flames similar to the pod's flamethrower program is a bit out of the ordinary, but many years of evolution does strange things to creatures in environments like this.
. . .
Data Log 05a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 2B
Creation Date: September 24, 7:25 PM UST
Fought a giant eight-headed reptile that expunged molten lava from each mouth. Found some kind of hive full of smaller lizards that were far less threatening. Initially they were mostly docile but fled toward the holes in the walls as soon as the larger one showed up. Had to bisect it in the name of self-preservation, marked its approximate location with a geo-tag. There was a strange golden orb inside the creature's stomach that radiates an unknown kinetic energy. No doubt what caused it to mutate. Now searching for unit 9S so we can evacuate.
. . .
Data Log 06a
Log Author: YoNAh Unit 9S
Creation Date: September 24, 9:02 PM UST
We're finally out of the cave, thankfully. Together we were able to dig upward with the assistance of both pods and emerge several kilometers from our entry point. These tunnels wind in on themselves several times and go down and outward in all directions, exploring them without better network connection would be basically impossible. I suggest sending in an unmanned pod to do recon, though maybe equip it with some thermal shielding first.
Honestly we might as well just leave the salamanders alone. They're not really bothering anybody and I think 2B took care of what we believe to be the anomalous element. Wish I could've been there to see her slice that thing in half, though the gold ball she retrieved from its stomach is interesting. It's made of some kind of shiny metal but we aren't sure of what chemical makeup. Definitely sending it in to R&D with the corpses.
On a personal note, I felt sort of bad killing the lizards. Sure, they breathe fire at temperatures hot enough to melt even android flesh, but we did sort of bumble into their living space. And it really was not a fair fight, the things are barely ankle-high, hence why I was able to collect so many specimens. Makes me wonder what other kinds of creatures are out there waiting to be found, and if they too will attack us on sight.
Closing this report, anomaly neutralized. Man, I bet that was a cool fight.