A/N: Hello! This story will follow the life of 2B, and the many lives of 9S, in reverse chronological order. In essence, this will be a series of oneshots with an overarching plot. This is the first fanfiction I have written in quite a while, and so, I may be a bit rusty. That's not to say that my previous work was any good, especially when considering that they were all written in middle school. Still, I hope you'll join me on the journey that is The Black String of Fate.
Upon retrospective, she never once questioned command, not even when it meant losing what she cherished most. It disgusted her. She was in a constant cycle of death and destruction perpetuated by her own hands, and, these bloodstained hands would come to haunt every single waking moment of her miserable existence. She hated her hands. Her hands would try so desperately to seize the present, to live in the moment, and yet, they would always, without fail, eventually break the little happiness they managed to create. She didn't deserve to be happy. Perhaps this was the price she had to pay for her past mistakes? This was the her only means of atonement, and even then, it wasn't enough. How many times had she killed him now? She had lost count long ago. Still, she remembered every single one of him so vividly. One liked art, another music, one studied botany, another anthropology, but they were all still him. She loved every single one of them all the same.
With YoRHa on the cusp of victory against the machines, 2B thought that this never-ending cycle of life and death would finally come to an end. She would no longer have to stain her hands with the blood of that who she loved most. With the cycle coming to an end, would her sins be forgiven? No. Still, secretly, she hoped that she would get her chance at happiness, despite her past mistakes. Yet, the end of YoRHa greeted her with an opportunity she never she'd have—redemption. In that moment she would give her life in exchange for another, finally protecting what she held dear for once in her life. Through her sacrifice she could perhaps find a purpose, a meaning, meaning to a life once devoid of anything beyond the mission. While she in no way believed that this one single sacrifice would amend all her previous wrongdoings, she would give her life so that 9S, the last and only one, may live the life that she denied his previous iterations. To think that her dreams would come to life, her dream of living out the rest of her days with 9S, it was truly such a foolish delusion. 9S would just have to keep living, for the both of them.
"All right, enough of this shit…" she started. "9S, I need to take over your controls!" It was clear that that they were outnumbered, and against comparable YoRHa units, in terms of pure physical prowess, they stood no chance.
"You need to WHAT?" 9S replied, perplexed as to what 2B might be planning.
"I'm getting us out of here!"
"Um, o-okay…" 9S acquiesced, despite his confusion.
With a flash of light, the controls of 9S's flight unit were transferred over to 2B. Pod 153, then, confirmed the transfer. "Flight controls transferred to unit 2B."
"Flight controls established for unit 9S." Pod 042 announced. "Setting automatic course. Entering escape route from combat zone."
"Huh? W-Wait, what are you…?" 9S questioned anxiously, finally realizing the plan 2B had devised. "No!" His protests, however, were not acknowledged by 2B. Instead, his flight unit only strayed further from its original course.
'With this, will my sins be forgiven?' she thought, surrendering herself to her fate. She was conscious of the possibility that 9S would come to resent her sacrifice, but this was something she just had to do. She had to, not only for his well-being, but for her own sake as well. The guilt was now too much to bare. Even at a time like this, she could only think about herself, it was almost comical. Still, through her death, she hoped that he would live the life that she had always taken, the life that he deserved. She hoped that he would become the good person she knew he was, without her.
"Stealth function released!" 2B screamed with conviction, fully aware of the consequences that such a command entailed. In effect, this would divert the rogue YoRHa units' attention towards her, buying 9S enough time to escape.
"YoRHa unit 2B's stealth function unlocked." Pod 042 affirmed.
"Wait! … 2B!" 9S pleaded. "2B!" All his pleading proved to be in vain as his flight unit only flew farther away until it was completely out of sight. Finally, just this once, she had saved his life in exchange for her own, much like he had done for her countless times before. She would stay here and fight for him and redeem herself for all the times he saved her and for all the times she killed him.
Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by an alert from her pod. "Alert: Critical damage to flight unit." She hadn't noticed, but she had been engaged in combat for several minutes and there seemed to be no end in sight against the endless onslaught of infected YoRHa units. "Proposal: Eject immediately."
While she knew her chances of victory in this state were slim to none, she had achieved her goal: buying 9S enough time to escape. In any case, she didn't have much of a choice but to heed Pod 042's proposal considering the damage that her flight unit had incurred. "Gotta find a way to land this thing…"
"Alert: Reactor core temperature rising." Pod 042 began to inform. "Alert: FFCS and NFCS systems unresponsive. Analysis: Offensive functionality lost."
"God damn it…" she uttered as her flight unit came tumbling down, imploding before even crashing into the ground. "Aghhh…ahhhh…" she screeched in pain as the explosion sent her plummeting down.
2B didn't have much of an opportunity to catch her breath before Pod 042 had another warning for her. "Alert: Multiple enemies confirmed." She had trouble getting up due to the damage she had sustained during her rough landing, but with some effort she was able to stand up somewhat. Pod 042 then proceeded to bring her the virtuous contract in preparation of the upcoming battle. It was only a handful of machines, but even she was having trouble dispatching them. Although she had most definitely endured heavy damage, struggling against such a paltry number of common machines was unnatural. Something was wrong.
Almost as if on cue, she could hear Pod 042 now hovering over her. "Alert: Virus infection detected." So, it was as she had suspected. The androids she had engaged in combat had infected her with a virus. "Proposal: Administer vaccine immediately." A pointless proposal really. The vaccine that she needed was rare and in short supply, and that was all back in the bunker.
"Ugh…" she managed to articulate through the pain.
"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 16 percent." Pod 042 declared as she limped towards the sewer system that connected the flooded city with the rest of the city ruins. "Malfunction detected in NFCS circuit." It seemed she wouldn't be able to fight anymore either.
"I have to keep it… from spreading to other androids…" 2B groaned, now struggling to not only speak but to even form coherent thoughts. Still, she knew she had to get as far away as possible. "Pod, give me a location that's low on android signals."
"Searching…" Pod 042 began. "Analysis: The area near the abandoned commercial facility meets the desired parameters." While she had been wandering around aimlessly before, she now had a destination. A destination that had secretly meant a lot for her. The abandoned commercial facility wasn't such a bad resting place after all. Although, they were never able to go 'shopping' together. Still, she had fond memories there, together with 9S. "Alert: YoRHa unit 2B will sustain serious damage unless the virus is eliminated." The alert shook 2B out of her thoughts.
"You don't say…" She replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 21 percent." Pod 042 warned once more.
"Remove the contamination… and reset…" She commanded in between breaths. The Pod's attempts would prove futile, of course, but she hoped that Pod 042 would get off her case.
Unfortunately, her attempts were also futile, as she heard Pod 042 preparing for yet another announcement. "Analysis: Virus is transforming and progressing its own algorithm with abnormal speed. Removal will be difficult." It really wasn't a surprise. This virus had contaminated all other YoRHa units connected to the Bunker's server. If it really was so easy, then the Bunker would still be up and operational.
"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 32 percent." Pod 042 declared. "Malfunction detected in visual processing system." True enough, her vision seemed to be getting blurrier and blurrier as her systems' contamination progressed. It was hard to tell where she was going at this point, but she was sure she was already within the city ruins. She could also barely manage to make out the large dilapidated bridge that led towards the direction of the abandoned commercial facility, signifying that she was in fact headed in the right direction.
"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 57 percent." Pod 042 informed, this time, much faster than the last. The virus was spreading quickly. "Malfunction detected in FFCS circuit." And with that, she was completely defenseless. Luckily, most of the machines around this area had previously been taken care of.
"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 70 percent." At this point, she was wondering if she could even make it to commercial facility. "Infiltrating system-protected region."
Through sheer willpower she had somehow made it to the wooden bridge that connected the city ruins to the abandoned commercial facility. Yet, upon taking a few more agonizing steps, Pod 042 was once again ready for its next scheduled status report. "Alert: Virus contamination rate 90 percent. Alert: Unusual generation in central nervous system. Internal combustion imminent." 2B could feel the heat building up from within her torso, slowly, before rising until producing an intense explosion. She had lost most her operating functions. Still, she could move.
"Alert: Abnormality detected in visual sensors."
"Alert: Deterioration detected in black box…" Finally, the virus had invaded her black box, her heart, so to speak. Well, at least as close to a heart that an android could get to. "Alert: Damage to data backup system. Said damage will make it difficult to retain self-consciousness upon backup."
"Bunker's gone… There's… no point in backing up anyway." She responded, defeated. "9… S… My body is…" In her last moments, however, the only thing she could manage to think about was 9S—the android who had brought both hope and despair to her life. Yet, she couldn't help it. She couldn't help but love him.
She was almost there, but when she arrived at the entrance of the abandoned commercial facility, she was ambushed by another set of YoRHa units who had also succumbed to the virus. 2B drew her sword—out of honor more than anything—as she knew there was no surviving yet another confrontation. This was her final stand. But before striking, she was propelled back by an unknown force.
"A…2…" 2B groaned, realizing that it had been A2 who had come to her defense in her helpless state. A skirmish then ensued amongst A2 and the infected YoRHa units. It wasn't very long, seeing as how A2 was able to easily overcome them. In that time, however, she had managed to transfer her memories within to her virtuous contract in order to serve as a sort of memento. She had hoped 9S would find it, but she never would have expected this. Although she didn't particularly trust A2, she had come to her rescue, and it now seemed like handing it over to her would be the best and only option. Through these memories, 2B hoped that A2 would come to understand what 9S meant to her. Even if she wouldn't be able to protect him, or anyone for that matter, she hoped that A2 would manage to safeguard the things she held dear in her stead.
"Guess… this is… it…" 2B uttered with the little control she had left over her mental faculties. With all her remaining energy 2B raised her arms, griping the virtuous contract tightly within both of her hands before forcefully bringing the sword down and through the ground. "These are… my memories. Take care of everyone for me… Take care… of the future… A2…"
A2 readily accepted her request, taking the virtuous contract in hand, and with it, everything. She would no longer have to wield the blade that had taken everything from her time and time again. No longer would she have to stain her hands with his blood. It was almost as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. The burden of the many lives she had taken, they would no longer be hers alone.
A2 positioned the blade directly above her abdomen in preparation for her execution. Yes, this was what she wanted. A2 then leaned down and placed her left hand on her shoulder, for leverage, before gradually piercing her body. It hurt. It hurt so good. The blade that she had once used to kill him, it would now be responsible for her death as well. It truly was the perfect end. If she had only one regret, it was that she had not been able to see 9S, just one last time.
This really was the end of the line. The she heard it. 2B wasn't sure if she was hallucinating, but she thought she could hear 9S. She could hear his soothing voice ringing faintly in the background. Yet, it only grew louder until she could hear footsteps. 2B turned her head towards the direction of the voice. She didn't think he would, in actuality, be there, but it seems that her prayers would come to life. "Oh… Nines…" She smiled, finally calling him the name she had promised herself she would never use again. It was the name that she had given him, in another life.
She felt the blade slowly leave her body, and with the blade gone, there was nothing left keeping her weakened body together. She fell onto the ground. Red. It was not an unfamiliar sight, but seldom was it hers. It reminded her of the countless times she had seen him covered red in blood. Even now, her hands, they too were red. Those bloodstained hands she hated so much, they were the last things she saw, and then…nothing.