It was that time again. The most exciting time. Some would consider it akin to Christmas, that's just how exciting it was. Every so often, a select number of YoRHa operators are chosen to spend the day with their assigned field operative. While regularly scheduled contacts helped to keep morale high, these rare occasions worked wonders on keeping spirits lively. Normally, the pairings would spend the day going over data collection and field training together. Sometimes, they might find themselves partaking in entertaining tasks such as sports or listening to music. But only after all necessary tasks for the day have been completed, or so they like to tell command that is.
Today, among the small handful of operators chosen, was operator 21o, and her assigned ground unit 9s. And neither could possibly be more excited. 9s had been waiting forever for his chance to spend the day with 21o. While 21o on the other hand, was excited to have 9s chauffeur her around to different human landmarks so she could conduct her own data collecting. So really they were both getting what they wanted.
9s was certain they would have a good time, but a part of him they didn't run into many machines. 2b was spending the day with 6o and neither 9s nor 21o specialized in combat. At the same time, however, 9s figured that if they should encounter hostiles, he could use the opportunity to show off his skills to 21o. No matter what, 9s wanted to impress 21o before the day was done.
"Analysis" pod 153 spoke out "Unit 9s should groom himself and perform regular maintenance before the arrival of operator 21o" 9s said nothing. Sometimes, he figured, it was better to just let the pods state the obvious. Arguing with them always proved fruitless anyways. Standing before an old mirror in the room given to him by Anemone, 9s proceeded to comb his hair neatly, and pat down his coat and trousers to remove wrinkles. 21o was a neat freak, and would certainly scold 9s for not looking presentable if he had so much as a single hair standing up. But all the extra work that went into grooming and maintenance was worth it if it meant getting to spend the day with the ever so serious operator. 9s really looked up to her , and thought of her as almost a mother of sorts. Not that he was capable of understanding the concept of having a mother.
Once he was finished grooming, 9s dashed out of his room and over to the access point where he stood intending to greet 21o when she arrived by transport. "Analysis" 9s let out a sigh at the sound of the pod speaking again, not entirely interested in hearing what it had to say. "Operator 21o is not scheduled to arrive for another eight minutes" 'and?' 9s thought to himself "Proposal: unit 9s should use the remaining time to retrieve a form of gift for the operator to welcome her with" 9s' eyes lit up. "That's a great idea!" The already overly excited android glanced around for something that 21o might find interesting to start her day off with.
Hopping to find 21o's gift quickly, 9s' eyes landed on a beautiful patch of flowers. He had passed that patch of flowers many times. They brought a nice sense of peace to the struggling resistance members. He dashed over to the patch of flowers and picked a small handful of the beautiful flowers before rushing back over to the transporter and stood there with a grin on his face while he waited.
9s nearly exploded from excitement as the door to the transport opened and operator 21o stepped out. "Greetings, 9s" The operator barely had even a second to finish her sentence before 9s spoke up, "Hello operator! I'm really excited that we get to spend the day together" He held the flowers forward hoping she would accept his gift. "You understand we'll be using this time to construct data collections to use in data collection right? She looked at the flowers and back at 9s "I already have a satisfactory collection of records on local flora and fauna 9s, but thank you for the thought" 9s' spirits fell more than he'd care to admit, but he wouldn't let it show. "Oh, right" He tossed the bouquet aside as 21o walked past him, taking a good long look of the resistance camp, and downloading any useful data from her observations before waving on 9s to follow her out of the camp.
9s followed behind 21o to as she approached the clearing beneath the hill. 9s watched 21o as she observed the small waterfalls that drained into a small pond where 9s and 2b liked to fish. She turned her gaze to the long, plant filled passages between buildings and the crumbled bridge being held up by enormous tree trunks. 9s could tell she was having a hard time containing her excitement. He wished that just once she would drop that professional attitude she held dear and just let herself enjoy something. He realized later than he should have that he must have been staring, for when he snapped back to reality, he found 21o waving her hand in his face and asking if he was alright. "Wha...? o-oh yea um, I'm fine, sorry 21o, I was just lost in my thoughts". "Well cut it out" She snapped coldly "We have a lot of data to collect and only eight hours to do it, so let's get a move on. He simply nodded and followed her down the hill.
"Hey um... operator?" The pair had been standing atop the roof of a small four story building, 21o examining the wildlife while 9s stood by quietly. "Yes what is it 9s?" She spoke with little enthusiasm, as if she had no real interest in his words, instead focused on two boars fighting with their tusks. "I was just hoping that maybe we could do something... fun. I found some books in the forest castle. Maybe you'd like to read them with me?". he stood in silence for a few moments while 21o pondered his idea. "I can simply sync the data from them to the bunker later. No need to spend more time than necessary collecting information that I don't really need. Besides, aren't you having fun? I find observing the planet to be quite fascinating". He should have been hurt by her rejection, but instead he figured he could use this to his advantage. "Well maybe instead of just watching animals, you'd like to explore remnants of human life? The desert is full of old housing areas that are bound to have lots of human artifacts" And with that, he had won her attention. She said nothing, but the look in her eyes when she spun around at his offer told him everything he needed to know, and he took off in the direction of the desert canyons, with 21o hot on his heels.
