A lone machine life form is making good pace in the sandy desert, it has been weeks since he left the comfort of his home to find out the true meaning of his existence. He may have been alive for a long time, but the real beginning of his live is when he was disconnected from the network. At first, he was confused by the silence that plagued him, he was an empty shell, however given time he soon developed the greatest curiosity of life. As if it wasn't enough and thus this journey away from everything he grew accustomed to, began. Not before he got through a set of ruins buried in the sand, the final battle between the machines and YoRHa androids reached its peak. Distant explosions could be heard and minute rumbling of the landscape can be sensed in every direction, he decides to turn one last time. He saw what seems to be a white tower pointing towards the sky…
Humanity has tried everything it could to survive, project gestalt and its replicants has failed along with the hope of ever recovering humanity's loss. Magic has failed, technology failed. The great filter that has been placed upon us cannot be circumvented and thus to preserve the last remnants of original humans it has been decided that the human genome is to be stored in data banks across the world in hopes of one day it could be used by our creation, the androids, to restore us back to life. As it stands humans are extinct, I hope that the day we return comes soon.
-Unknown
Buried deep inside the data banks residing on the moon is this confession, the last human recording his last statement of resignation, one discovered by the androids 7000 years after they were led to believe that the last of humanity were sent to the moon to driven away by the aliens that threatened to make humanity extinct, but the gravity of the situation is much dire. For whatever reason the androids were fighting a cause that no longer exists and are cursed by their primary directive to serve their human masters, forcing them and the machines in an eternal fight with no winners left to claim the planet. because as it turns out the aliens were also dead, a stark contrast with humanities fate that they died by the hands of their own creation. As the machine network grew all powerful and attained sentience, the felt less bound to their other worldly creator.
The creation of YoRHa as humanity's saviors are all working towards the self-preservation of the androids, once it was common knowledge among the androids on the surface and the ones on the moon server that humanity is extinct, once an agreement was set the two parties decided to corroborate the lie for the next generation and in perpetuity that humanity is alive and the machines are to be eradicated to usher them back home. Humanity along with its past wars supplied the androids with weapons, technology to create androids and thus a new breed of androids made to battle the machine threat, YoRHa, is formed. This file is not to be seen by anyone, for once it is discovered a vulnerability will open itself that will spell the end of YoRHa.
-White
As the dust settles, the fight has reached its quiet end, the white tower collapsed on itself, burying machines around it. Having served its purpose, drained of all its energy to send the ark towards space. Some of the members of the resistance were confused and fearing for the worst has manned their stations and held their ground, in case another wave of the machines attacks them, because last time they almost lost all they hold dear. Their home and comrades, for what it's worth in this cold and unforgiving world are the only ones they cherished more than the mission ingrained in their core. "Do you think they're okay?" asked one of the androids beside anemone, the question she also asked herself at the moment, for one of her dearest friend, A2, was last seen entering the tower just as 9S managed to open it with the help of devola and popola who sacrificed themselves for their so-called atonement.
Back with the lone machine as soon as he saw the tower, he quickened his pace and thus covered more ground than he expected, and after a few weeks of travelling across the sands he reached a mountain, if you could call it that. A singular mountain at a distance, but once approached it could be undoubtedly be classified as a skyscraper, a man-made structure, if only the majority of the building wasn't buried, swallowed by the land forgotten with the long passage of time. A strange signal is leaking from the inside of the facility, the machine knows it's leaking because the immediate data he is receiving is heavily encrypted, bordering to complete randomness. With a renewed curiosity, the machine ventured inside throwing caution in the wind.
YoRHa? Gestalt? Replicants? Ever since the spread of the White chlorination disease has begun the humanity was not truly united against their impending extinction, even within nations, factions began to emerge each formed with the purpose to either save humanity or plunge it closer and closer to its demise. Many scientists came up with different solutions, both long and short term, to preserve themselves. One most promising was gestalt, the separation of the human soul, never before attempted, comes with a mountainous risk of failure, but it was worth a shot. Gestalt was publicized as the savior of humanity, however once it was implemented, the souls that were supposed to be fused with their replicant bodies once the disease is eradicated, gained sentience and rejected their host soul, rejecting the reality that they were empty shells created just to be replaced.
But while project gestalt was in its infancy, another group of scientists were tasked with finding people either immune or not yet infected by the disease and to put them in stasis, it was supposed to be a classified project, the facility layered with all kinds of security and safety measures, so that the facility will not be broken into an it could even withstand powerful earthquakes, even the pattern of the plate shift was accounted for, in case the project went on long enough that the landscape of the earth has changed. All of these taken into account to protect the facility that is self-sustaining and sterile to hold the bodies in place in perpetuity. As for its caretakers the scientists borrowed data from the newest twin android models devola and popola to operate and manage the facility long enough until another set of newer twin models were manufactured to replace them.
The project, codenamed kälter, is ready to start, the only piece left are the people that will occupy the facility. At first the scientists were hopeful that they would find hundreds of subjects to be placed in the project, but by the end of the search they could only find a mere eight, and seven of them were children. With the white chlorination disease spreading faster, the administrators of the project ordered them to proceed with the transport of the immune to the facility as quickly as possible, the scientists wanted more time but there were none left. Along with the less preparations made with the start of the project came complications. There was a leak about the transport mission and the convoy that supposed to carry the people to safety is intercepted, the children were taken by the perpetrators and the last was accidentally shot when he protected one of the children and was left for dead.
-Popola & Devola
Where was humanity when the aliens found earth? Nowhere there was none, the aliens strived hard and risked their lives to hunt down a ghost. When we have defeated the shadow lord it went from bad to worse, turns out every one was a gestalt, I didn't even know the word until devola and popola revealed the truth to us. It was devastating to say the least. To know that the people I was with, the people I cherished were doomed to have their bodies taken by the true humans. It was more mortifying to know, that the shades we cut down were all just victims of a cruel fate. I cannot say what we did was right, but I know to myself that it wasn't wrong either. Still, we lost, everything is lost. With the true humans extinct and project gestalt's failure the replicants are now doomed to die off, with the deaths of devola and popola, they cannot be recreated anymore, and with the death of the shadow lord, the gestalts as well.
Now here am I, Emil. Recording fragments of my memories, Kaine, one of my last friends has passed away. I faced the alien threat with all the emils I created and with it my memories starts to deteriorate, soon I will also forget everyone and what's my purpose in this world. It will come and that is when the aliens will win. I pray the androids will continue our stand against them, and if possible restore humanity, the humans that we ended. For as much as the gestalts had a place in this world, the true humans should have been in their place. This will be my last record, I have nothing left in this world, I will leave my history to you, whoever will find this, and also an added bonus. For that I pray that you are righteous, but then again, who is left in the world to be shown kindness to?
-Emil
Pod 042 has encouraged its fellow, pod 153, to save their charges, 2B, 9S and surprisingly A2. The three were the only ones left of YoRHa, loose ends that needs to be tied up, them and the other pods that 2B and 9S have collected along the way banded together to find parts to fix the three androids. "Analysis, android data salvage completed… Proposal, begin retrieval of parts and repair." It took a while for the pods to look for parts, all six of them carefully inspecting the part they have both physical and electronics, they had to ensure that the part does not contain any trace of the logic virus, for when 9S transplanted a forearm from a machine copy of 2B he was infected by the time he and A2 reached the top of the tower. It wasn't a solid fact but the pods have learned enough from almost having their consciousness data erased, to reduce all risks as much as they can.
It took them almost two weeks to assemble all the parts they needed, but as the pods stored the YoRHa androids on tall towers to avoid disturbances while they attempt to repair them, down below the resistance members began storming the huge crater in the middle of the ruined city, where the tower's core once stood. Anemone lead the remaining resistance androids in sweeping the place, dead machines everywhere was a godsent for them as it means that they will have access to a mountain of spare parts that could last them a long time, they could even learn how to manufacture these parts since the all machines have ceased and they will have a clear path to the abandoned factory and its facilities.
Everyone was celebrating the feeling of elation raising all of their spirits, all except one. Anemone, has her eyes focused for any signs of her friends, and it was starting to prove difficult as debris of the tower covered a good chunk of the place. "Number two, where are you?" Her concentration was broken when the strange couple went up to her, they have twins with them. The female android was supporting Devola while the man was carrying Popola, who appears to be in a worse shape. "These two has served us well, but I'm afraid only one of them survived." The male android said. "Take them back to camp, place them on the YoRHa android's room. I'm sure devola needs to rest." The two nodded and started walking back to the resistance camp, leaving anemone and the others.
"How long has it been since I woke up?" The man asked his companion. "According to the records, you were activated exactly six years ago." It was bizarre to say the least, being in an era where time had passed so long, humans that he expected to have flourished have ultimately died. But ever since he was aware of the fact, he made a vow to make the most out of his time in the abandoned facility he was in. "I was so curious when I first opened my eyes, I wanted to see the outside." He smiles while remembering that memory, while his partner answered from a dimly lit room. "I couldn't remember, but I would digress it was very amusing to watch." The female replied while she steps out of the room, she was well dressed, beautiful red hair, which she was currently drying with a towel. "Oh, you're done, ready for our date?" He asks with a somber expression. "Yes, though I'm afraid this is our last."
The two held their hands tightly and looked each other's eyes, they felt it's as if time had stopped. The two had known each other for a couple of years now, the woman woke up from her slumber with no memories intact. Afraid of her predicament and the lack of information she wandered around the hallways looking for anyone, but as pretty as the place was there was no one there, so her next objective was to get out, she went through the floor plans of the facility and with haste she ran towards the only exit point. As she arrived she was greeted by a man closing the door, he had a surprised look on his face, as to not threaten the woman in front of him he immediately said. "I know you're confused, let's go to the study area so I can answer your questions."
The two shared the dinner table, it was surprising to see them eating food from the old world, but to them it was their normal routine for all those years together. At first, they were a bit wary about their only companion inside the place, she was eager to go outside, away from the facility. The man, knowing this, wasted no time in revealing the truth about her. "You're an android, we are tasked to maintain this facility." Those words struck her hard, but the files and documents didn't lie. "So, could you take me outside now?" she asked playfully, giving a sly smile to her male counterpart. "Yes, a promise is a promise after all…" He stood up, took her by the hand and the two of them walked towards the entrance of the facility, for one last time, only for the unexpected happened.
"An intruder?" She asked in disbelief as she was receiving data from the structure's internal security system. Pulling out a display, the man activated the camera right outside the doors and he saw what seems to be a single machine lifeform, just staring at the door, seemingly puzzled. "Do we open the door?" he asks. "We should, but let's get weapons just in case." She contacted the system and had their choice of weapons delivered to them. The man brandishes a blade and the her a sniper rifle, he took the lead and with her as support, he began the sequence so that the doors would open again for the first time in five years. The light from the facility blasted towards the machine making it cover its optical sensors.
"Is that?" The machine asks in a robotic voice. "A signal that has piqued my curiosity lead me here." By this time the two companions were exchanging looks as they were confused with the machines behavior, but still it is better to be on guard. "We can't verify what you're saying, especially since you are a machine." "I'm well aware of that, but I have been disconnected from the machine network for centuries. If I were to hurt you, I should have had a group of machines with me." His speech ability was persuading them, but it was still not enough. "On your knees, I want you to answer a few of my questions." The machine complied and he was made to answer a mountain of questions, including where he came from and his name.
"Should we trust this machine? he seems too aware for one." "It's highly likely, the place mentioned has other androids as well. You should go there. " The two exchanged information in front of the machine in question. "I could point you towards the direction of their location but that is it, I have a journey to continue." The man was worried, the facility's power was failing, it's final stages beginning, combined with the duration of its operation, it is beginning to shut down. His mind wandered to the possibility of seeking shelter from the place the machine mentioned but it poses a high amount of risk. "You should go, I think this is a good place to continue on with your life." His musings were cut off when his companion began seizing, making her drop her weapon. He rushed to her side he held her in his arms and she placed her hands on his face. "But this is our home, how could I possibly abandon it?" "I know it is hard, but you cannot let yourself be tied to this place alone, it is not what I want."
"Come with me, we might reach the place and the androids there will help us fix you." "We both know that's impossible." She said as she closed her eyes, she was in pain, she wanted for the two of them to stay, but as fate would have it she contracted a rare logic virus. It was slow acting and was now starting to destroy here consciousness data. She froze up and fell to her knees, quickly thinking the man took her on his back and he ran towards an open field, the mountain the facility was standing on had long been reclaimed by nature and the night sky was full of stars, no artificial light was there to drown light from the cosmos so it painted a lonely but beautiful sight for his partner to bask in. "Heh, you're really quick on your feet." She jokingly said, trying to lighten up the mood.
He sat down and laid her back on his lap as the two of them held hands. "You know, I imagined the outside world a very sad place to gaze upon, but I was wrong." She said quietly as she tries to fight off the disease. His hand tightened around hers as tears started forming on his eyes. "Can I say, something?" she asks. "Anything." He replied, his voice trembling. "This world is too lonely for one without a soul. There's too much...emptiness." At that moment, he felt like time truly stopped. He remembered her last words like it was yesterday.
Devola's last words. "I remembered everything, your activation, the attack, and her death. You felt responsible for all of the bad that happened, that it had blinded you from seeing the happy life that you have given me, but it's time for me to rest along with my sister." He broke down and cried, all those years of guilt, washed away with that sentence. "I feel so relieved." He struggled to speak. "But know that I didn't do all of it because of obligation. It's because I came to love you, Popola!" His sobs continued. "For that I give you my love and my thanks, but I can't tie you down." "Please…" He said, gritting his teeth in frustration, but as a moment passed by he calmed his mind and leaned in to give her one last kiss. The shared a warm embrace and as the lights fade away from her eyes she said. "I will always love you, I leave you my memory data. All the moments we spent together, and memories of me and my sister's past are all in there." She said with a strained voice. "I'm sorry we couldn't stay together, but I pray if there's a God, that he could reunite us again someday." He held her tightly not wanting to let go.
Before her body succumbed to the virus she pulls out the memory storage from her body, giving him her memories. She then shuts down in his arms finally joining her sister. He continued to embrace the deactivated android while clutching the storage in his hands, unaware of the machine walking towards him, so he was startled when it spoke. "It is unfortunate, I offer my condolences. It seems that I was sent here by fate at this opportune time, and I think it is best that I bring you to the androids." Managing to compose himself, he asks. "What could you possibly benefit from assisting a lone person like me?" "Pardon me, but as the facility began to shut down, I managed to take all the historical data inside. You are quite interesting, so I am curious as to how the androids will react if they get to know you." the man glared at the machine for accessing the system behind his back, but the machine incapable of displaying his emotion simply stared at him. "Guide me to the androids." He said.
A/N:
It is my pleasure to write this simple story, it's rough around the edges so expect spelling mistakes, maybe a few grammar errors along the way. Also I would like to add, I am a fan of the series, especially with the release of automata, however I am not very knowledgeable about the complete lore.
Disclamer: I don't own anything from Yoko taro's works and to be more specific the nier and drakengard series which are published by square enix.
(I don't know how this works so I'll just phrase it as that)