As I log off the computer and turn around, I see 2B and 9S walking towards me, followed by their pods. They looked to be in good spirits. I noticed a bit of red in 9S's eyes, but he was smiling as if he had met an old friend for the first time in a while. I am still getting adjusted to seeing the pair without visors. It gives them a more..."human" appeal, so to speak.
"Hey Anemone! What's going on today?" As usual, 9S speaks out in a cheery tone, and always trying to get information on what to do next. Scanners...
"Nothing much." I reached into my pocket and grabbed a list. "If you guys are leaving the camp, though, I'll need you to gather some things."
2B grabs the list and glances at it. Less than a second afterwards, she looks back to me.
"So we have to go to the forest and grab some mushrooms and beast hide?"
"Yes. We need the mushrooms to build a polymer for mechanical parts, and we need beast hide to patch up some of the tents damaged from the collapse of the tower. We're still dealing with what to do with all these white rocks."
All around the camp white, cubelike stones littered the area. A particularly large rock wedged itself above the alley in the way into the camp.
"Understood." She hefted up her rifle strap against her shoulder. Too militaristic. She needs to be more loose if she wants to blend in.
"Anemone?" 2B said. "I just wanted to let you know that we appreciate what you have done for us these last few months. I'm not sure how we would have gotten by without the assistance of you and the merchants that sold us weapons and provisions."
"Don't mention it," I said, smiling.
I may just be doing my duty, but it's nice to hear others say it. Ever since Pearl Harbor, I just...can't bring myself to accept thanks.
"As far as your errand, it isn't urgent, so no need to rush. Just be careful, as wildlife is still dangerous for us Androids. Please stay safe, okay?"
"Alri-"
"Yes, Ma'am!" 9S shouted excitedly, cutting off 2B in the process. 9S forcefully grabbed 2B's hand and pulled her away from my station towards the exit. He was waving his other hand to me and flashed a huge grin. They turn the corner, and I see walk them away.
As much as I wanted for days like this to go on forever, this wasn't how life works. I know someone is going to leak the information about them being here, and the last thing I want is another raid on this village. I started to speak with my logistics officer when...
"ANEMONE! I FOUND HER! I FOUND HER BEFORE THOSE TWO DID!"
Ugh, my ears! Ouch. I left my comms volume on too high. It was Jackass.
"Who? Who did you find? You don't mean..."
"Yea! A2!"
This was great and horrible at the same time. I remember 9S's descent into madness. He would come back from fighting the machines, ragged to the core, and would rave about killing 9S during restart. He would come back limping, and leaving with a broken soul.
If he were to see No. 2 again...I can't even begin to describe the possible scenarios that might arise from it. The good thing about it is that we found them before those two did.
We had been looking for No. 2 since after the tower collapsed. Finding the remaining YoRHa units became an obvious mission for us here at the camp, but our priority was to find No. 2, 9S, and 2B. After the worldwide infection of YoRHa, I predicted that the world populace would try to find them, and destroy them upon capture.
Thus, I ordered that the immediate goal was to find the three that saved us from the machines so we might clear their names, instead of another pair of bodies thrown to the fire...I know they still have the virus in suspension...but...the machines are gone. It's not coming back, I hope.
"What is her status?!"
"She's inactive. I thought she was dead, but our scanner readings found her black box still active...ugh..."
"What's wrong?" I heard raggedness in her voice.
"Well... you see, we had to knock out two guys on our search party...I thought they were level headed and pretty smart, so I brought them along...but they found A2 before I did..."
I heard another deep breath. She gathered herself, and continued talking.
"So, they stupidly informed the team they found her. The rest of the search party met up with them barely three minutes later, and somewhere in that timeframe, they got the genius idea to lay her on the ground flatly and try to skewer her with her own sword. I then proceeded to slug the first son of a bitch in the face, and the other asshole in the CPU."
Yeah, that sounded about right.
"Mind you, these two asswipes transferred from another branch recently. We informed them on the situation on a need to know basis. We told them that the mission objective was to find a YoRHa member that might have remaining information on the machine lifeforms on her memory banks."
This was my fault once again. "I'm sorry, Jackass. I knew I shouldn't have sent someone from another branch. We just needed help."
"Nah, it's alright. I'll have them rebooted, hogtied, and sent back to the camp shortly. There are ten of us out here total, not counting the murderous eggheads, and we'll be back in about two days."
"Good. Inform me when you get near the camp. I would like to avoid 9S seeing A2's body. We cannot handle him if he sees her, no matter how many of us there are. He's not here right now, so let's make sure we can coordinate our efforts."
"Roger. Jackass out."
It's selfish, I know. I know how much conflict this might cause for 9S...but as much as 9S cares for 2B, I owe No. 2 my life.
