The Answer to Life

Chapter 10

"…Alright, so clearly we got off the wrong foot."

Rubbing his freshly swollen cheek, David attempted to break the uncomfortable silence that had been stretching on for the last five minutes.

"Wow! You have eyes! Congratulations!"

David's eyes twitched and a tight, forced smile slowly formed on his lips. Recalling what had transpired only moments ago, he could already tell this was going to be a troublesome hurdle to jump over. Considering the result of their first verbal exchange, he was beginning to regret his first words. Admittedly, he should have chosen better words to say, but he felt that nobody could have blamed him given the circumstances. It had only been a few hours since he got out and in that short span of time, he had almost died three times already. Twice from killer robots and once from this scantily dressed psycho bimbo with swords.

Maybe four if he counted losing his footing and falling out of a fucking tree.

What a shitty day.

As could be expected, the violent girl had not taken too well to being called a cunt. She had launched herself at him and grabbed a fistful of his hair. Hard. With such force behind the pull, he was honestly surprised there wasn't a bald spot. A loud squack was generated from him in surprise but even that was quickly silenced by a sharp slap just as loud. David suspected that there would have been more abuse hurled his way if the machine that accompanied the girl hadn't intervened.

He let out a tired sigh. It was going to be a very long day.

"I think it's best if we get the introductions out of the way and move onto something more productive. My name is David. David Kwan. It's…nice to meet you." David hesitantly said as he offered his hand to her.

"Did I ask?"

What. A. Bitch. For fucks sake, I'm trying to be civil here. Work with me so we can get things rolling, damn it! Why the hell is she acting like she didn't do anything wrong? She doesn't actually think that way, right?

Having been left hanging, David silently fumed and awkwardly retracted his hand. He never was a very sociable person, but even he wasn't this difficult. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to rip his own hair out himself in frustration as a certain robot came to his rescue again.

"Apologies sir, 'YoRHa Type A No. 2' is her designation and this unit is Pod 042. Recommendation: Unit A2 should cooperate immediately. Coordinated efforts made to quickly resolve current confusion is a more efficient use of time and energy for all parties involved." Pod 042 mediated, being the usual voice of reason it was.

"Alright! Fine! I get it! Look, you can just call me A2. Happy now?"

The girl who was now known as A2 introduced herself begrudgingly and David could only rejoice now that things were finally moving along. Heck, he didn't even care about her strange name at the moment. Screw it, he'll play along if it means they're getting somewhere!

"Yeah okay. Thanks…A2. Oh right, before I forget…Kate! Can you bring the others over here so you can all introduce yourselves too?"

At the mention of her name, Kate perked up before ushering the rest to gather behind David. With a face of uncertainty defined by the knitting of her brows, she gave David a questioning look. Many of the younger ones seemed uneasy being in close proximity to the same girl who had only moments ago thrashed around their guardian whom they had quickly become attached to. Even the stoic Jonathan tensed up like a board as he stood beside David. Kate and Petro, not feeling quite as confident, tried to conceal themselves behind the only friendly adult they knew.

The reason he drew attention towards them was so that he could use them as a sort of reminder, a 'shield' to ward off any potential further violence should things go south. He knew this was risky, perhaps even stupid and insane. If they fought again, he would most likely die with the children following him next and running away with the large group in tow would be next to impossible given what he had witnessed.

Either way, there really wasn't much he could do in this situation. They were completely at her mercy.

However, the fact that this 'A2' had not shown any hostility towards the children was a good sign in David's point of view. As rude as she was, A2 was willing to peacefully communicate after that altercation…perhaps she wasn't so bad and could be reasoned with.

He hated using the children like this, but he couldn't think of anything else at this moment but to talk things out as best as he could and appeal to her sense of sympathy, if she had any that is.

Naïve? Overly optimistic? Maybe, but he would take this gamble.

"Come on, don't be shy now. I know you're scared, but what happened before was all just a misunderstanding. Everything is fine now, so please introduce yourselves. Go on, say hi! Miss A2 won't bite! Right?" David beamed brightly at A2.

"You're the one who bit me!" A2 accused loudly as she cupped her shoulder

It seemed she was still bitter about that.

Mentally snickering, David gently encouraged the children once more. Taking a deep breath, Kate decided to initiate as the eldest of the youthful group.

"H-hello Miss A2. M-my name is Kate. It's very nice to m-meet you."

After bashfully saying her piece, she immediately latched onto David's leg and buried her face into his side. Unbeknownst to her, Kate's reddening ears were still visible for everyone to see. The sight was made even more endearing as she shook in embarrassment, having exhausted her minute supply of courage.

"Yay! Excellent job! Now everyone please follow big sister Kate's example. I know you can all do it if you try. Huh, A2? Is there something wrong?"

David looked back towards her when he noticed a sudden movement from his peripheral vision. It was almost like she had recoiled back from being struck hard in the chest by something.

"Ghk…"

The girl with ghostly white hair had let out a strangled noise as she centered her attention on the anxious, pigtailed girl embracing David's leg. Her lips pressed down into a thin line, forming a stern frown.

"Uh, A2? Is everything alright?" David repeated in a low, steady tone. He had tilted to the side to cover his hand that was gradually reaching for the pistol in his holster until he flicked the safety off quietly with his thumb. He didn't know what caused this behavior, but this time he was more prepared. He had made sure to clear the chamber and did a function check before putting it away. Her weapons were out of sight and at this distance, even she couldn't evade a bullet. Insane speed or not. What David was concerned about right now, was why she was reacting like that.

"Y-yeah! Everything's fine! You don't have to bring your weapon out. I can tell you're reaching for it you know." A2 coldly informed David.

She then hesitantly turned back towards the children before quickly looking away to the side. Her eyes were darting back and forth between them and a tree she had suddenly taken a keen interest in.

"Anyway, you don't have to call me Miss A2 or whatever. Like I said before…just call me A-A2. Yeah. Uh…it's…nice to meet you too bra- I mean Kate and the rest of you kids too."

When she realized she had been stumbling over her words, A2 quickly covered her mouth with a hand and looked away once more. She attempted to hide her face with those pale delicate fingers, but the unmistakable hue of pink on her cheeks that rivaled a rose, had shone through the gaps. After a couple seconds of inaudible muttering, she quickly crossed her arms and looked back at them with her usual impassive expression as if nothing had happened at all.

Although, the faintest traces of a blush had still remained.

There was an awkward silence before it was broken by a snort.

"Pffft. You're a funny lady." Petro had piped up. The statement was also a summation of what all the others thought as well considering the cheerful chorus of giggling that was steadily increasing in volume.

"W-what!? What do you mean!?"

A2 was now at a loss and was wondering how to progress from here. She didn't have to wonder for too long however.

"Report: Abnormal spike in pulse rate recorded 11.81 seconds ago coupled with contrasting behavior in the personality matrix.

Hypothesis: Unit A2 was acting on her instinct as an android to interact with and protect humanity. This instinct was further reinforced when taking into account the fledgling humans before her, causing unit A2 to feel affectionate and protective of them. Humans often referred to this as the 'paternal' or 'maternal' instinct.

As for your contrasting behavior, unit A2 was most likely experiencing a mix of emotions influenced by said instinct. Chief among them being shyness, insecurity, and embarrassment possibly due to the lack of procedural knowledge in this unexplored scenario.

End of report."

"L-like hell I was embarrassed, you idiot! What do you know about embarrassment anyway, you hunk of scrap!?" A2 cried out in a fluster.

A warm, coral flush had made its way to her face once more.

"I have felt and analyzed the emotion called 'embarrassment' for the last 7 years 4 months and 22 days along with a few other mental states. Suffice to say, yes, this unit has a practical understanding of this emotion. Therefore I can conclude that A2 is in fac-"

"ARGH! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! Just shut up, stupid Pod!" A2 roared desperately.

"Negative."

As A2 was about to go on another tirade, she heard a chuckle come from the front and turned her head towards it.

Standing there with a much more relaxed posture, she could see that David was wearing the biggest shit-eating grin she had ever seen. It was big enough that even Jackass would give her seal of approval. When he caught her staring at him, he quickly turned aside and attempted to conceal his laughter that was beginning to leak out.

However, his shoulders that were shaking up and down had clearly given him away. He was soon joined by the rest and a small gigglefest was started in her honor.

"Damn it, enough! Look! You want information, right? Let's start already!"

The light-hearted amusement gradually died down and the atmosphere didn't seem so strained anymore. After letting loose, the children soon settled down more comfortably in her presence and were already looking around for things to distract themselves with. Observing his surroundings and checking to see that everything was fine, David proceeded to walk up to A2 to commence business.

"Alright. Where to start? Can you tell-"

He was about to begin his questioning when Pod 042 drifted in between them.

"Humans have a biological component called the brain. They do not possess memory circuits or thought processors and are thus incapable of directly sharing information digitally. Therefore, a memory and consciousness data scan is impossible.

Proposal: Contact with unit 2B and 9S should be established immediately. Having close allies in the vicinity will result in a more effective distribution of information for Human: David and will assist in constructing well-informed decisions regarding the discovery of humans."

David raised an eyebrow at the terms he heard but suppressed the urge to sate his curiosity and continued to listen patiently.

A2 scrunched her nose and mulled over the idea for a bit. She wasn't exactly thrilled about seeing 9S again, but on the other hand…

"Fine. Do it Pod. That way I won't have to repeat myself. Besides, I'm sure that runt would love to take over, especially when he finds out what he'll be talking to. He always did like flapping his lips."

"Understood."

As A2 was about to give David a basic rundown on what was going to happen, he stuck out his hand and offered her a soft flimsy white sheet. She looked dumbfounded as she stared at the object and then back at him.

"What? Have you never seen paper towel before? I mean, since it sounds like more company is on the way, I think it would be better if we cleaned ourselves up first. Come on, let's head over to the stream." David beckoned.

"…"

She took the sheet from him and started rolling it in her fingers like she was checking for anything unusual about it.

What a strange girl.

Without waiting for a reply, he walked over and squatted down in front of the gentle current. The cordial persona he had been using so far melted away and his usual stony expression took its place once more. He began to softly cleanse the caked-up blood around his mouth and neck. The cool, crisp water helped soothe the panging soreness he was feeling from being decked in the chin from earlier. He splashed his face a few more times and held his hand in place to gently massage the area.

Too easy.

It was quite perplexing as things were going along perhaps a little too well and completely contrary to his expectations.

It wasn't like he was complaining or anything, far from it. This was good, very good in fact. He just wasn't anticipating for things to go so smoothly. As far as proper introductions go, this was a better start than he had hoped for. There was just so much to think about and worry over that it was starting to feel a little overwhelming.

He could see her staring at him now while she cleaned herself up a short distance from him. Those pale, icy blue gems boring into him with such intensity…

The way she and that Pod gazed at him silently, wordlessly as if they were analyzing every one of his movements…

It was unsettling.

"If you have something to say, just spit it out already. Just how long are you going to stare at me with those dead-fish eyes of yours?"

David blinked as he was brought out of his reverie. It seemed he had unintentionally stared back at her too.

"Ah, no its nothing." he feigned an apologetic smile.

"Tch. Whatever. Are all you humans this annoying?" A2 huffed as she finished up. Walking off and leaning on a tree with her arms crossed, she began to monitor the children.

David narrowed his eyes.

There it was again. The way she kept referring to him. Human.

But why?

He shook his head. No. He knew she wasn't a human so that was probably why. The lingering taste in his mouth could testify to that. Remembering the inconceivable things he had seen in this strange forest so far, he had a strong hunch of just exactly what she was. He would not carelessly assume though for that wasn't how he worked. He would delay all judgement until all the facts came together. Their verbal interaction was a brief one, so he couldn't judge her character all that well either, but…he had a gut feeling that she wasn't inherently a bad "person".

A bit hotheaded for sure, but not malevolent.

Looking back behind him, he could see a barely detectable smile grace her lips as she watched the children play together. It was so subtle he would have missed it if he wasn't paying attention. Ruefully, he shook his head once more and sulked. What was up with this unfair treatment?

For now, all he needed to know right now is that she meant no harm to the children.

That was enough for him.

He had plenty of questions to ask, but he would get his answers soon enough.

He just hoped that this 2B and 9S were more agreeable than A2.


Author's Note:

Hey everyone, Drunk Operator here!

I just wanted to say thanks for all the concern you've shown me and that I'm alright.

It was a pretty crappy start to the year, but everything is fine now.

I'm still alive and kicking so no need to worry!

It's been a while since I wrote anything and I feel a little rusty, so I hope the chapter isn't too bad.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it and thanks again!

Leave a review and share your thoughts!