"4S? Where's 2B?" 9S frantically asked.

"She told me to keep you guys safe while she attempts to keep those two from infecting anyone else."

4S began walking out into the desert.

"Wait, 4S!" A2 shouted. "How are you not infected?"

"I have no idea. The virus should've deactivated after the collapse of the machine's network! I'm getting away from those two in case it can be spread between androids."

9S opened up a communication terminal on his pod. "Pod, send a transmission to Jackass."

"Affirmative. Initiating conversation."

"What the hell? Can't you see I'm busy tracking down those idiots behind Project YoRHa?"

"Jackass, it's me, 9S!"

"9S? You're alive? What do you want?"

"Have you noticed any weird side effects with your e-drug?"

A2's eyes widened at the realization about what happened to those two androids. She began running into the crevice to help 2B.

"A2! Where are you going?"

"2B needs my help!"

Jackass looked through her records on the other side of the screen. As she looked, she saw the records she gathered on the androids who used her drug, and frowned. Her drug had the most obvious side effect of causing visual and auditory errors, but her records began to indicated that it could create symptoms almost identical to the machine's logic virus. However, there was a cure.

"9S, there's a way to save those androids. You need to gather these parts to create a cure. And whatever you do, DO NOT USE THE DRUG!"

The communication terminal closed, and a list of ingredients appeared on screen.

"Come on, Pod! Let's go!"

"Affirmative."

"And start making that cure!"


2B drew her sword and quickly knocked 45D away from the crazed android.

"Oh, 2B! Want some e-drugs? You'll fight for hours!" The redheaded B unit laughed without stopping, swinging her sword wildly without a real target. "Come on, let's fight!"

"10B, I told you that this was a bad idea!" 2B easily landed a hit on her target, knocking her to the ground. "I don't want to kill you."

"Oh 2B, you're so funny! Hiding behind that designation!"

2B skidded back to a halt. She couldn't understand how 10B knew of her true designation. No one was supposed to know, except the Commander. Of course, A2 and 9S had found out from the machines.

"Pretending you don't want to kill me? It's what you were built to do!"

"You don't understand what's going on!"

A flash of black and red caught 2B's eye before it slammed into 10B. "2B! Need some help?"

10B fell to the ground and started twitching violently. A2's sword was still resting on it's holder on her back. A2's attack had only temporarily paralyzed her.

"Thanks for the assist!"

"Any time." A2 drew her sword, taken from YoRHa androids that had come to kill her, and began to prepare an attack. "Now, what's the plan?"

"Kill 10B. 45D might have some life left in her, but I don't know how infected she'll be when she wakes up."

"Got it."

2B began to close in on 10B, using her pod to lock onto the rogue android before she took another opportunity to attack.

Slash, dodge, fire. It's just the same cycle over and over again. What's going on with her?

A2 had 10B nearly cornered with her quick evasion. Despite the B unit being more formidable at combat than she was, A2 had a few advantages of her own.

"You're so blurry, heehee!" 10B giggled. "Why don't you stop for a minute? I wanna fight you…"

"Oh yeah? I'll give you a fight!"

A2 knocked the B unit onto the ground as 2B prepped another attack. Her white katana lodged itself firmly in her chest, and a ring of deep red blood started spilling onto the sand.

"Let's play again. That was fun, heehee."

As her last giggle faded, the red faded from her eyes.

"2B!"

9S ran in quickly, and slid into 2B. She nearly lost her balance, but grabbed onto a rock. 9S landed on top of her before rolling onto the ground.

"Well, a little excited, aren't we?" 2B jokingly said.

"Sorry, 2B!"

9S grabbed 2B's hand and pulled her off of the rock she landed on. The sun was beginning to shine on the sand dunes all around them, and they didn't have much time before the heat began making their systems malfunction.

"Wait, where's 4S?"

"He got a little worried about becoming infected and heading towards the Desert Outpost."

9S neared the blonde android, with his cure in hand. 45D still remained unconscious, and would've started drowning if it hadn't been for 9S's quick interjection. She started coughing as the cure was administered, slowly waking up from her slumber.

"What happened?"

"You went unconscious from a drug overdose, 45D," 9S said. "You've been taking them for months. You almost died."

"Really?"

"Yeah. 10B went crazy and started attacking you."

"Oh no, 10B!"

The blonde haired android approached her friend's body and began to cry. "Just leave me here guys. YoRHa's gone, and now she is too…"

9S tried to get closer. "45D, you can do anything you want now though!"

"I WAS HAPPY HERE! JUST LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE!" 45D pushed the short android back into the oil pool.

2B walked over to help her partner before leaving the cliffs. "Come on, let's go."

A2 quickly followed behind them, using her speed to catch up. As the trio reached the City Ruins, they took a short break to catch their breath. 4S sat next to Aspen, the items vendor at this camp, and was using his pod to locate data on the local terrain.

"This doesn't make any sense! Why would she have gotten infected?" 4S shouted.

"It's simple, E-drugs," A2 said.

9S opened up an analysis graph Jackass had sent him during their escape and showed it to 2B. "Whatever Jackass used to make that can cause the systems to break down like it's infected with a logic virus when used for long periods of time. It's a good thing all of us were safe from its effects. But, just in case..." 9S took the remainder of the cure and gave it 2B.

"Thanks, Nines." 2B pulled her shorter partner into a quick hug.

"Anytime. Now, let's see here…" 9S began looking at 4S's data. "Your signal's being scrambled by something in the area. Might be remnants of the Machine's network, or-"

The screen turned to static, forming strange shapes and symbols on the screen. 9S attempted to look closer at it, but couldn't come up with anything.

"Wait, I think it might be onto something," A2 replied. "I ran into this freaky machine on a scooter when I was leaving the Forest. He was mumbling something about a flower and a girl he used to know, but his memories were all fuzzy. I think we need to look for him."

"First, the Resistance Camp. We need a rest." 2B was finally able to put away her sword before heading towards the ruins of a great city. The green color of the plants were starting to fade into oranges and reds. It was almost fall. The remains of thousands of machines lay around them, the materials slowly decaying into the dirt. With most of them rusted over from combat, the parts weren't going to last much longer. Besides, the Resistance had started to clean up the area for good, it wouldn't be too long before the androids began retaking the planet. Only a handful of machine lifeforms who had disconnected from the network were alive at this point, but were slowly dying off from Resistance attacks. If humanity were still alive, they would've finally had their planet back now.

The thoughts of what 9S had wished for their future from years past filled 2B's mind. Promises of trips to the mall to buy t-shirts, days spent fishing on the coast, and seeing the world beyond the ruins they'd been to. For the first time, they could actually make it happen.

But there were plenty of things they had left to do first.

"Nines, remember the promise I made you on our way through the Commercial Facility in May?"

"Of course! I'm supposed to buy you a t-shirt, right?"

"Yeah. I think we should talk to the Resistance about what we should do next."

"With no machines, we never have to fight again," 4S said. "It's amazing, actually! I never thought this war would end!"

"Me neither, not after what happened in Oahu," A2 said.

YoRHa's first descent mission to the Surface… A2 had fought alongside a group of 15 other prototype YoRHa, but only her and 3 others survived the initial flight to the island. The other 3 she was with sacrificed themselves for the mission to succeed, as well as most of the Resistance.

A2 shook the memory out of her head, "Thank goodness there aren't many machines left. I don't care if some of them pretend to be good, they've killed way too many androids to be forgiven for their sins."

"I can see the Resistance's flag up ahead! Hurry up, guys!" 9S ran ahead of the group, beating them to the entrance of the camp.

"I didn't know you were so fast, Nines!" 2B quickly met up with him.

"I didn't know you actually liked my nickname!"

"I only didn't use it to try and detach myself from you. I'm the one who originally gave it to you!"

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah! It was our first mission together. You brought the squad into this old castle in a different city. You stood atop the throne and said, "I am 9S, king of the new country of… YoRHa!" I responded with, "9S is not a proper name for a king. How about… Nines?" And you just rolled with it! Everyone on our squad started to call you that, until…"

"Until you killed me for the first time and you were sent away from the squad to prevent anyone else finding out your true identity."

"That's right…"

"Where was that castle, 2B? Maybe we should check it out again sometime."

"Umm… pod?"

The pod took a moment to respond, taking time to scan his memories from years ago. "I believe somewhere in eastern Europe, but I am having a hard time accessing memories from that far back. Give me some more time, and I can give you an updated answer."

"Thanks, pod." 2B rubbed the top of the pod's firing mechanism to show her appreciation as she and 9S entered the Resistance Camp.

The smell of slightly charred fabric and the sweet breeze of plant life from the surrounding ruins filled the air. 9S frowned when he saw that the Lunar Tears he placed for Devola and Popola after their sacrifice had been blown away or removed.

An idea then popped into his head. Just like he had left a grave for 2B in Emil's garden, he wanted to do something for Devola and Popola. Those twins had given everything for him to complete his mission, and he wished he could've helped them more than taking a few of their assignments.

He also wished, deep in his heart, that he could've saved them.

2B had walked into the room Anemone gave them after completing their trip to the desert, and was looking around with a sense of nostalgia and guilt. 9S followed her inside, seeing her slight frown.

"Something up?" 9S asked.

"It feels like it's been years since I've been here. It looks exactly as I left it, but…"

But this time we're not returning to take a slight break before heading back out to a mission. This could be our permanent home. 2B thought to herself.

"Are you sure you're okay, 2B?" 9S put a hand on his partner's shoulder.

No, Nines, I'm not. 2B thought about everything she wanted to say. I want to scream until my voice goes hoarse and cry until my Black Box gets overloaded. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that this isn't real and that I'll wake up one day and I'll be back at the Bunker, getting another assignment to kill you. And then what? Will I just… leave YoRHa? Will we both leave YoRHa? I can't do it. Not again. I never want to lose you again.

2B grabbed 9S in a tight embrace, hugging him nearly to the point of suffocation.

"2B?"

"Nines, please don't die."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try my best, if that's what you want. Then that means you can't die again either."

"Of course. We'll stay alive for each other."

For the first time in all of his lives, 9S cried tears of joy.