The Answer to Life
Chapter 1
Reactivating and functioning in nominal status was not what they were expecting. Upon regaining a semblance of clarity and remembering what happened before going offline, they understood one thing. They were possibly the only Yorha androids remaining if you excluded possible rogue units who had abandoned their posts or those fortunate enough to have been disconnected to the network when the Bunker was seized by the virus.
The only ones left whom they could call allies and friends were the surviving Resistance members, their Pods, and…. Pascal.
They were understandably confused, disoriented, and bewildered. They had expected for it all to end with the fall of the Bunker, the collapse of the Tower, and…the Truth that they had come to learn.
The humans were all extinct.
That's right. For all they had fought for and fervently charged into, the indoctrination of Yorha they had all come to blindly accept without question turned out to be a lie all along.
"Isn't it hilarious? We were all nothing but sacrificial pawns to them! All of us! None of it even matters!" she recalled as they fought on the peak of the Tower. She understood that kind of pain, that kind of betrayal. To have everything you knew all turn out to be a contrived story.
To be used and then discarded like some piece of trash.
She remembered the anger and hatred that possessed her after she survived the mission in Pearl Harbor. She promised to never blindly follow orders from anyone ever again. The resentment she felt for Yorha, for what they stood for, still burned in her even after their destruction. Although her programming fought against her, that bitterness also extended to her creators. How she wished to kick them off a cliff or throw them into battle against the countless machines still wandering the decrepit world to let them have a taste of what it was like.
Even after she met up with the two of them, 9S remained unwelcome and hostile towards her. Her successor holding him back, merely gazed at her in understanding. The reluctant explanations and detailed briefing of all parties involved brought them to a better understanding of one another, but the tension around the three was still palpable. The monotonous drones of the irritating and smartass tin cans didn't help either.
They had shortly arrived to complete their little rendezvous on the side of a collapsed building. The Pods explained how they were still alive and what happened proceeding the events of the Tower in their usual overly technical fashion. She swore, if they made one more quip about her cognitive abilities…
Soon, all that gave way to her surprise and skepticism when they informed them of their "evolution".
Their rationale was…unbelievable to say the least. That they had somehow gained sapience throughout their journeys with their partners was not what she expected.
Though their final statement was what surprised and rendered the three of them silent and contemplative.
"A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself. After all that you have been through, will you stop here? Will you accept defeat?"
"We are your tactical support units and thus we will continue to provide assistance."
"Query: What will units 2B, 9S, and A2 designate as their objective henceforth?"
…
What were they going to do from now on?
Although the war between androids and machines were over for now. There was no doubt plenty of hostile machine lifeforms still roaming the wastes. There original objective of bringing mankind back was a bust as well.
In the end, 2B and 9S decided to explore the world and search for any surviving androids along the way. She on the other hand opted to continue as before, surviving and surveying her surroundings for any enemies to eliminate. Visiting the Resistance camp to see if her old friend Anemone was still around would be a priority as well.
Amazingly, 9S was the one to extend his hand to her to join them – albeit begrudgingly. She simply declined and gave an excuse that she worked better alone. Seeing 2B and 9S interact with each other so closely…it gave her an uncomfortable ache. Her presence would simply hinder their development. She admitted to herself she could be rather dense, but even she wasn't this stupid.
With their plans established and goodbyes said, the two set off with Pod 153, leaving her with the white floating trash can that would no doubt annoy her with an endless amount of smartass commentary.
…...
"Hahh…" A2 exhaled as she continued jumping from branch to branch towards the edge of the forest. Even after all this time, the scenery of the Forest Kingdom remained the same along with their inhabitants. Her graceful movements blowing her long silver hair in the air helped alleviate the uncomfortably warm humidity off her back. As she swiftly departed, A2 stopped to rest on a hillside with lush greenery and flowers decorating its face. The perfume of her surroundings helped to calm and soothe her. Sitting on a large rock, she gazed over yonder and savored the scenery.
She had grown to appreciate the beauty of the world around her and it only continued to grow on her now that she didn't have to constantly look over her shoulders for pursuers. As she gazed at the sun kissed field, her mind started to wander back in time.
It had been approximately seven years since then.
Having gone her separate way, the first thing A2 did was return to the Resistance camp to confirm if there were any of the resistance androids still there. To her relief, Anemone and the Resistance were still there albeit something terrible had happened. According to Anemone, shortly after the collapse of the Tower, there had been a second sudden invasion of maddened machines. The attack was fortunately short-lived, but this time around the machines' frenzy was much more ferocious. Though the attack was dealt with, the intensity of the struggle rendered the camp nearly completely decimated. Thankfully, under the competent leadership of Anemone who had prepared for any additional threats in the future, there were only a few casualties and many androids including Anemone had only suffered superficial damage.
"They sure are a hardy bunch…" A2 reminisced with a smile before slowly frowning. Most of the members just laughed it off and said they would rebuild like the humans did before them. Though the thoughts of rebuilding had promoted morale, deep down everyone was simply exhausted. The progress was steady at first, but motivation soon trickled down to a dying stream. Many of the resistance members were just fed up and some simply left despite Anemone's best efforts. She too had helped here and there but she usually just went off on her own.
A2's porcelain face scrunched up and she threw a nearby pebble in frustration. She would not admit it, but she too had thought of simply leaving if her old comrade hadn't been there. Even if they managed to make a comeback, what then? She could go out endlessly wiping out machines, but what then? It was a question that plagued her since reactivating. What was their purpose in life? Nothing they did seemed to matter at all anymore and she hated it.
She remembered going through some public records when she was still a part of Yorha, how awed and inspired she felt reading how her creators built their civilization from the ground up. Comparing it to what they had presently, she realized that their work seemed to lack that "spark" humans seemed to have.
They were superior to their human masters in every way: they were so much stronger, faster, durable, and could process as well as share information much more efficiently. Yet, for all the advantages they possessed, they just couldn't measure up somehow. Besides the obvious, just what did humans have that they lacked? What drove them to achieve so much progress? What was the source of their innovation and imagination? What was their purpose, their "answer" to this puzzle called life?
"…Is there really that much of a difference between us?" A2 whispered as she got up. It was times like these she wished her old squad was still here. Even though she felt so lost at times, with them she could relax and let go of any worries as she watches them fool around with each other. It was times like these when she felt so lost and alone, that she desperately yearned for companionship…like what her successor had with her partner.
"Enough…moping around won't change anything." As she was about to turn and leave, her eyes caught movement in the distance. She moved closer to the bottom of the hill and crouched behind a large boulder. She peeked out and zoned in on the object, from what she could tell at this distance it looked like a figure in white and black standing outside a cave. It caught her eyes with how out of place it looked as it stood out from the sea of greens and browns.
"Is that…an android?" She'd never seen a getup like that before. "Pod." She commanded.
"Affirmative, scanning…no black box detected."
"So just a regular android then."
"Negative."
"What?"
"Target is neither a Yorha unit or a ground unit belonging to the Resistance. Proposal: Proceed to investigate with caution."
"You can't just scan 'em from here?"
"Proper observation and identification of unknown element requires further analysis at closer range. Repeat: A2 should proceed to investigate target with caution."
"As always, you're so helpful."
A2 began to quickly and silently dash towards the tree line below before she stopped halfway as she noticed something unusual.
"What the…"
Approaching gingerly towards the front of the figure from the cave was what look like a large group of smaller people.
Author's Note:
Wow, I didn't think the reception of this fanfic would be any good.
Thanks for the warm welcome everybody!
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.
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See you all in the next chapter!