Chapter 2: Nightmares
9S sprinted as fast as his legs could possibly carry him, forcing himself to ignore the painful burning that raged through his legs and lungs. "2B... 2B!" He froze in shock and horror when he saw her run through with her own sword, smiling at him even as the life drained from her.
"Oh... Nines..."
Pod 153 jolted in startled shock when 9S bolted upright with a scream. She hovered in front of the shaken scanner as he panted for breath and curled in on himself, clutching his hair with violently trembling hands. Unsure of what to do for him, she gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Query: Did unit 9S experience a nightmare?"
9S sighed shakily and wiped his cheeks with a sniffle as he nodded. "Y... Yeah... I think I'm okay, though... Sorry, Pod... I didn't mean to wake you..."
She gave his hair an affectionate ruffle and coaxed him to lay back down gently. "Negative. This Pod's primary directive is to provide support for unit 9S. I'm merely fulfilling my assigned mission."
9S chuckled shakily and gave her an affectionate pat as she tugged the blankets back up over him. "Thanks, Pod... I dunno what I'd ever do without you..."
"Hypothesis: Unit 9S would most likely be in the care of another Tactical Support Unit without the presence of this one."
9S snickered and curled up around 2B's pillow, clutching it tightly as he yawned. "Hey, Pod... Can you play those recording of 2B again..."
Pod 153 settled on the bed next to him and pulled up the recordings of 2B's voice and Black Box, playing them. "Affirmative."
9S relaxed into the bed and closed his eyes, letting the warm weight of his Pod and the soothing sounds of the recordings wash over him as he drifted back into sleep mode.
He'd just fallen asleep when A2 poked her head in to see how he was doing. When she saw that he was asleep, she slipped into the room silently and pulled a chair up next to his bed, settling into it. Pod 042 drifted in behind her and settled next to Pod 153, careful not to disturb the sleeping scanner. The two Pods greeted each other and exchanged data while A2 watched over 9S, keeping an eye out for any signs of distress that signaled a bad dream.
It was a soft whimper that roused A2 from the light doze she'd fallen into. She immediately glanced over at 9S and saw him curled into a tight ball, twitching and grasping at the air as he grimaced in his sleep and whimpered again. While reluctant to wake him from what she was sure was badly sleep, A2 couldn't bring herself to leave him stuck in a nightmare. She lightly nudged his shoulder, trying to wake him up as gently as possible. "9S... Hey, Kid... It's time to wake up."
He jerked with a gasp as his dream, along with A2's coaxing, startled him into wakefulness. "H... Huh...? Wha...?" He yawned widely and blinked up at A2, exhaustion still muddling his processors and making them slow to function. "A... A2...? What's going on?"
A2 gave a light sigh of relief. "Good, you're awake... It's no big deal, Kid. You were just having a nightmare so I was trying to wake you up from it."
"A nightmare huh..? I don't really remember even dreaming at all...It's all fuzzy... I wouldn't be surprised, though, since I had one earlier... Thanks, A2."
She nodded and gave him a light pat on the shoulder. "Sure thing, Kid. I've had more than my fair share of nightmares myself so I know all too well how unpleasant they are."
9S tilted his head curiously as he stared up at her thoughtfully. "Hey... Why are you being so nice to me...?"
"I suppose I can understand why that would confuse you, considering out history and all... Simply put: with YoRHa gone, there's no reason for you to hunt me down and therefore no reason for me to fight with you. Besides... 2B asked me to take care of you... and I'm not the type to just ignore someone's last request to me..."
"But even after I attacked you like that back in Pascal's village...? I never gave you the chance to explain... I tried to kill you... I was horrible to you... I... I guess I owe you an apology for all that huh...?"
"Forget about it. I have. You're hurt and grieving, and you're not always going to be thinking straight or making the best decisions because of it. Besides, you mellowed out after I did explain what happened."
9S watched her curiously. "So... Does... Does that mean you're going to be sticking around then?"
"You know it. Listen, Kid... I know it's hard right now... Everything's different and scary and everything hurts... But you're not alone okay...? You have a lot of friends that love you and want to take care of you... Friends who need you as much as you need them... So don't go doing anything stupid, ya hear? 2B would never forgive either of us..."
9S nodded quietly. "Yeah... I know she wouldn't... I won't do anything stupid... Thanks, A2... I... I really needed to hear that..."
A2 smirked and gave his shoulder a light punch. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't go tellin' anyone that I got all sappy." She stood and stretched. "Well, I think that's enough mushy talk. You should try and get some more rest if you feel up to it."
9S stood up as well, stretching with a yawn. "Maybe later... Right now I need to clear my head... I think I'll take a walk."
"If you say so, Kid. Want company?"
"Yeah, sure. Thanks..."
"Don't mention it. You lead the way. I have no clue where you were wanting to go so I'll just follow you."
The two androids left the room with the Pods trailing behind them. 9S just let his feet carry him as he wandered around, not really having any particular destination in mind. A2 was content to tag alongside him as he meandered. The early morning silence was only disturbed by the footsteps and the occasional bird-call or braying of nearby moose, to whom they gave a wide berth. The dim lighting and thin layer of fog hanging in the air made everything feel tranquil and cozy.
They wandered through the City Ruins just outside the camp, weaving their way through the docile Machines that seemed content to leave them alone, peering at them curiously with their yellow eyes. They saw several animals while they were out as well, all of which 9S fawned over and studied eagerly. There were many birds, mice, and fish in the area aside from the plentiful giant moose and boars that roamed around. They even stumbled upon a warren of rabbits that 9S had to force himself not to touch, even though he desperately wanted to pet and cuddle them. He stopped himself because he'd read about them from human records and knew they were very easily frightened, quite literally, to death. The last thing he wanted to do was give them a heart attack, so he'd merely laid on the ground nearby and watched them. He'd been absolutely delighted when some of the more adventurous ones ambled up to investigate him, curious about the strange, large creature in their domain.
9S and A2 wandered back into camp a few hours after they'd left and were immediately swarmed by the children from Pascal's village who all wanted to play. Even Pascal himself joined in, and the group spent the next couple hours playing games of tag and hide-and-seek throughout the camp until Pascal gently coaxed the children back to their studies.
9S waved to them as they left before he turned to A2. "Hey, A2...? Thanks for spending all that time with me... I really needed that..."
A2 glanced at him and shrugged. "Don't mention it, Kid. Like I've said, I kinda know what you're going through... and I wish I'd had someone there for me..."
"Ya know... If... If you ever need someone to talk to about... whatever it was that happened... I'm happy to listen..."
"... I'll keep that in mind... Thanks..."
9S shook his head with a tiny smile. "It's the least I can do."
After A2 left to go practice with her sword, 9S decided to head down to Emil's underground garden of Lunar Tears. He sat amongst the glowing white flowers and drew 2B's sword, holding it reverently in his lap and caressing it. "I... I really wish you were here, 2B... I don't know what to do now... I know I'm not, but... I... I feel so... alone... so... lost..." He curled up and clung to the sword, his throat, eyes, and lungs burning as he fought back tears. He wasn't even aware of how long he'd been down there until A2 walked over to him.
She crouched next to him and looked him over. "You look like hell, Kid. You've been gone for hours... Have you been down here by yourself this whole time...?" When he nodded silently, she sighed and picked up gently, grabbing the sword and cradling him close as she headed back to the elevator.
He squirmed a bit when she'd first picked him up, not quite sure how to feel about it since 2B had been the only other person to ever really hold him in any way, before his need for contact and comfort won out and he settled in her arms, curling into her with a shaky sigh. He clung to her as she carried him into his room and laid him on his bed gently. She tugged his boots and visor off and slipped his pack from over his shoulders before pulling the blankets up over him, lightly tousling his hair. "It's late, Kid. You should try and get some sleep."
9S curled around 2B's pillow and clung to it, shaking his head. "No, I don't wanna... Every time I try to sleep, I lose her all over again..."
A2 sighed and rubbed his shoulder soothingly. "I know it hurts, but they're only dreams. They'll pass. You need your sleep to keep functioning properly."
"I know they're only dreams... but they still feel so real... like it's actually happening all over again... And they still hurt... I don't want to keep seeing her die..."
"Trust me, Kid, I get it. I understand completely. I've been there before myself. Hell, I still have bad nights once in awhile. You can't just not sleep, though. You need to take care of yourself okay? At least... At least do it for 2B if you won't do it for me or yourself... You know she'd want you to... Look, I'll stay here with you and wake you up if you start having another nightmare if you want me to, but you should at least try to rest. Lay here and conserve your energy for awhile, if nothing else."
9S curled tighter around the pillow he was hugging and nodded with a heavy, shaking sigh. "Okay... I'll try, I guess..."
The two Pods settled in on the bed next to him while A2 stretched across the foot of it, leaning against the wall. Pod 153 gently patted 9S's head and fluffed the pillow it was resting on. "Query: Does unit 9S wish to hear the recordings of unit 2B again?"
The scanner nodded quietly and gave her a grateful pat. "Y... Yeah... I think that'd help a bit... Thank you, Pod..."
"Affirmative." She settled back in next to him, resting next to Pod 042 against his back as she pulled the recordings of 2B's voice and Black Box up and started playing them.
9S buried his face into 2B's pillow and closed his eyes, letting the warmth from the Pods and the sounds of 2B's voice and Black Box relax him as he breathed in her scent. 'If I keep my eyes closed... it's... it's almost like she's actually here... Like she never left me...' Very slowly, he started to drift off into sleep mode.
A2 watched silently from the end of the bed as the scanner's breathing evened out and his body went limp. Once he'd fallen asleep, she relaxed against the wall with a quiet sigh. 'I wish you were here, 2B... He needs you... I don't know how to take care of him... I'm trying my best, but... Hell, I can barely take care of myself sometimes... Am I really the right person for this...?' She curled up and rested her arms and head on her knees as she fell into a light doze.
She was roused a few hours later by a twitch and soft whimper from 9S. She immediately shook off her grogginess and watched him carefully for any signs of distress. A grimace and another whimper was all it took. She lightly nudged his shoulder. "Hey, 9S. Wake up, Kid."
He stirred with another whimper, rubbing his eyes sleepily with a yawn. "Huh...?" He blinked up at her drowsily for a moment. "Oh... I was having another nightmare huh...? Sorry..."
"You apologize an awful lot, you know? Don't worry about it, Kid. I told you I'd wake you up if you had a nightmare didn't I? It's not a big deal."
9S nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess you did... I just... I just don't want to be a burden, ya know...?"
A2 patted his shoulder gently. "Trust me, you're not a burden. There's nothing wrong with needing help. We all need to be taken care of sometimes."
The scanner relaxed and gave her a small, grateful smile. "Thanks... For everything... I really do appreciate it..." He curled back up around the pillow and snuggled up against the Pods with a yawn.
A2 tugged the blankets back up over him from where he'd kicked them away. "Don't mention it, Kid. Go ahead and try to get some more sleep okay? It's still very early in the morning."
9S blinked and rubbed his eyes sleepily with a wide yawn as he nodded. "...'Kay..." He nuzzled into his pillows and slowly drifted back off to sleep.
A2 lightly brushed his bangs back from his forehead. "Sleep tight, 9S..." She curled up on the foot of the bed and let herself drift into sleep mode.
Both androids stirred a few hours later when sunlight streamed through the window and hit their faces. A2 rubbed her eyes and sat up while 9S stretched with a wide yawn. The Pods drifted into the air and greeted them with a cheery, simultaneous "Good morning!"
9S smiled and gave his Pod an affectionate pat. "Hey there, Pod. Good morning to you too." He sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily.
A2 got up and slipped her boots on. "You ready to roll, Kid?" She slipped her sword onto her back.
"Huh? Ready to roll where?" The scanner blinked up at her curiously as he slipped his own boots on as well and grabbed 2B's sword, sheathing it on his back.
"Well if you're feeling up to it, I was thinking that it's probably about time we started looking into what happened back at Pascal's village."
9S nodded and tied his tactical visor on. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea, actually. Where should we start, though? The village?"
A2 gave a nod. "That would probably be the best place to start, yeah. Makes the most sense to me, anyways."
"Alright. I think the Amusement Park Ruins would be worth checking out too, though, now that I'm thinking about it. It's very close to the village so whatever happened could possibly have originated there, or at least passed through and left its mark, and maybe some information."
"Good call, Kid. We'll be sure to hit it too. Alright, let's gear up and head out then. We should make sure to grab some water and first aid supplies, just in case."
9S slipped his pack on over his shoulders and nodded. "Yeah, let's go see Devola and Popola then. C'mon, Pods."
The two androids and their Pods left the room and headed over to the twin healers, loading up on bottles of water, packs of staunching gel, vials of logic virus vaccine, and bandages which they stored in 9S's satchel. Devola raised an eyebrow as sh watched them. "And where are you off to then? You must have some big plans to need all of that."
A2 nodded. "It's mostly a precaution, but yeah, you could say that. We're heading off to start looking into what happened back at Pascal's village. We need to make sure that something like that doesn't happen again."
Popola wrung her hand worriedly. "That sounds like it could be very dangerous... You guys be careful out there okay?"
9S nodded and gave her a small, reassuring smile as he lightly patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Popola. We'll be very careful."
With a parting wave, the pair left the camp and made their way towards the remnants of Pascal's village with their Pods trailing behind. Along the way, 9S pointed out various animals and plants that he found interesting, chattering about them happily while A2 listened. She gave the occasional nod or hum of acknowledgment to show that she was still listening as she kept tabs on their surroundings so they wouldn't be caught off-guard. While she wasn't used to having such a constant stream of chatter going, A2 found that she didn't mind it much. She actually found herself relaxing as the sound of his voice soothed her nerves and also served as a distraction from the unpleasant memories of her last experience in Pascal's village.
Both androids found themselves hesitating at the entrance to the village when they arrived, neither of them really feeling ready to face the aftermath of the massacre that had taken place when they were last there. Being the more adventurous of the two by nature, it was 9S who tentatively stepped forward first with A2 following close behind to help cover him in case of an attack. The scanner knelt next to some Machine corpses and pulled out a notebook and pencil from his pack, writing notes as he carefully studied the bodies. A2 stayed back a short distance and stood on guard, keeping her sword at the ready. She followed 9S around the village on a sort of macabre tour as he moved from body to body, studying them and writing more notes until he eventually stood and stretched. "I think I've gotten everything I can from here. Shall we move on to the Amusement Park Ruins?"
A2 nodded and started heading in that direction. "Yeah, let's get outta here. This place is giving me the creeps..."
9S followed her quickly. "Yeah, me too... Hey... Are you okay...?"
"Yeah, Kid, I'm fine... It's just... Well our last experience here wasn't exactly a pleasant one was it? Kinda casts a shadow over the place, ya know?"
"Yeah, I know what you mean... It really wasn't pleasant... But if you ever needed to talk about it... well... I was there too and all so I'd get it... Sometimes it helps to get things off your chest..."
A2 sighed and gave him a tiny smile. "Thanks, Kid, but I'd just as soon forget about it all. Still... You'll be the first to know if I ever change my mind about that."
They approached the Amusement Park cautiously, not sure what they'd find there. While the Machines there had been perfectly docile, even friendly, in the past, they both knew that that could have easily changed. Even that knowledge, though, wasn't enough to prepare them for what they encountered when they arrived inside the Park.
Machines that had been vibrant and full of energy before where now listless, wandering around as if in a daze. Friendly yellow eyes had turned an eerie red and were now accompanied by gaping mouths that also glowed red and were full of sharp, jagged teeth. 9S stared in horror, frozen for a brief moment, before he forced himself to shake it off and write more notes in his notebook.
A2 gaped in shock as she watched them mill about. "Wh... What the hell happened to them all...? I've never seen anything like this before those Machine went crazy in Pascal's village..."
9S shook his head as he worked. "I don't know... I've never seen anything like it before either. 2B told me about it once, though... I guess while I was recovering from being captured by Adam, the Resistance Camp was attacked by Machines that were kinda like this. She had to fend them off. The way she described them, though, matches this perfectly. The only real difference is that these particular Machines are more docile than the ones that attacked the Resistance Camp or Pascal's village... It's very strange..."
"So what should we do...?" She looked around warily, half expecting the Machines to turn and attack them any second.
9S glanced up at her and shrugged helplessly. "Well we can't really do much right now... I think we should just try to focus on gathering as much data as we can get for now. We can analyze it and try to figure this out later. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be solved in a day..."
A2 sighed, crossing her arms and tapping a foot restlessly. "I know... I just hate not knowing what the hell is going on... especially with something this dangerous..."
"Trust me, I get it. I feel the same way, I really do, but there's nothing we can do about it right now and stressing ourselves out over it isn't going to change that."
"Yeah... I know... I just can't help but feel like we should be doing something more... Ya know what I mean...?"
9S nodded and gave her shoulder a comforting pat. "Yeah, I do... And we're doing everything we can... C'mon, let's take a better look around. We might dig up something useful if we explore the place."
A2 patted his hand gratefully. "Okay, Kid. Let's go, but let's be careful about it. We don't know what might provoke these things..."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's keep it slow and quiet then, and let's not touch them. Just to be on the safe side."
They spent the next several hours wandering cautiously through the Amusement Park Ruins, gathering what information they could and recording it to study later on. It was only when the sun started to set that they decided to return to the Resistance Camp.
Anemone waved to them when she saw them. "Hey! Glad you both made it back safe. Devola and Popola told me what you were up to. Did you manage to find anything?"
9S shrugged. "Unfortunately, it's nothing we can make sense of right now. Maybe we'll be able to piece an explanation together after we study the data we collected, but there's nothing yet."
"Ah, I see. Well then let me know if you need any help and I'll see what I can do for you. Hopefully we can figure it out soon."
A2 nodded gratefully. "Thanks. We'll be sure to keep you posted. Come on, Kiddo. Let's start going over that data before we get some sleep." She waved to Anemone and headed towards 9S's room.
9S nodded and followed after her with a parting wave of his own. "Okay, A2. See ya later, Anemone!"
Anemone waved back to them with a light chuckle. "Alright, see ya! Good luck, you two!"
9S took his pack, boots, and visor off before sitting on his bed with a wide yawn. A2 pulled a chair up by the bed and shucked her own boots off, stretching as she relaxed. After they got comfortable, 9S grabbed his notebook and started reading through it. "Hey, Pod? Pull up the data you recorded from Pascal's village and the Amusement Park Ruins today, will you please?"
Pod 153 bobbed in the air, as if nodding, and pulled the information up, displaying it in a projection. "Affirmative."
9S smiled and gave her a fist-bump happily. "Thanks, Pod." He gently patted her hull and went back to reading.
A2 glanced up at Pod 042 and raised an eyebrow curiously. "Did you record any data from the village and Amusement Park today?"
Pod 042 bobbed in a nodding motion. "Affirmative. Shall I pull up and display that data for you?"
"Yeah, would you? Also, exchange data with 9S's Pod too so that we can be thorough when we're going over it all."
"Affirmative. Pulling up requested data. Pod 042 to Pod 153; Proposal: Exchange data collected from today's expedition."
"Pod 153 to Pod 042; Proposal accepted. Initiating data transfer." The two Pods exchanged data while displaying it for the two androids who studied it carefully.
They continued comparing notes for a few hours before A2 stretched with a yawn. "Well, I don't think we're gonna figure any of this out tonight, as much as I hate to say it... We should get some sleep and come back to this later with fresh eyes and processors."
9S yawned widely and rubbed his eyes as he nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right... Pods, you can cancel the data playback now. Thanks, guys."
Both Pods shut down their data feeds as Pod 153 ruffled 9S's hair affectionately. "Affirmative."
9S chuckled happily and crawled under the blankets, curling around 2B's pillow with a yawn as Pod 153 pulled the blankets up over his shoulders. A2 put the chair back and settled across the foot of his bed, stretching and yawning. "Sleep tight, Kid."
"Night, A2." He watched sleepily and smiled as Pod 042 grabbed a pillow and blankets and tucked 2B in more comfortably before settling in next to her. Pod 153 settled in against 9S's back and pulled up the recordings of 2B, playing them until 9S fell asleep.