Of course, Devola and Popola died. Their lifeless bodies were found shortly thereafter, each clutched tightly in the other's arms.
9S channelled his energy into the lock. It was letting him in, at last. He laughed a little, before he heard the distant sounds of flying machines. He broke to watch them appear from behind the clouds, in numbers he struggled to count. They touched down two seconds later, and attacked en masse. He hacked some, sliced others, but they kept coming. Of course, he thought to himself. They would ambush me, once the defences were down.
Behind him, he heard an accompaniment of sword strikes and explosions. "The two of us will take things from here," declared Devola.
Popola jumped in front of him, annihilating the machines surrounding him. "You need to open the door to the Tower!" Popola added.
9S was momentarily frozen. "Devola? Popola?" he asked, unable to believe his luck. "What are you doing here?!"
"Remember your promise?" came Devola's reply.
"What are you talking about?" He tried hacking into the door again, but his progress was still frustratingly slow. He frequently dodged machines, and kept losing his place. "Hold on!" he said, before bolting from the crater.
"9S, where are you going?" Popola shouted, briefly distracted from the battle. A machine struck her in the back.
"I need enhancements!" he shouted back. "I can't possibly hack into it as I am!" He leapt up the crumbled buildings, landing on the surface with a few jumps.
"Damn," said Devola to herself bitterly, just as a machine pinned her to the floor. "Looks like this is it."
"No…" Popola gasped, struggling to save her sister. "How could he?" She looked up at the edges of the crater, and felt a claw pierce her chest.
9S ran back as quickly as he could. "Okay!" he shouted down the crater. "I'm ready!" He jumped over the edge, using Pod 153 to gently float down to the Tower's entrance. The machines waited for him to land. "Devola, Popola!" he shouted. "Where are…"
He saw their bodies, lying on the floor a few meters away. "Shit…" he said to himself, before landing in the middle of the machines.
A2 looked upon the Tower doors. A slew of machine parts littered the ground, along with 9S's broken body. He had been impaled, shoved through a sharp bit of shrapnel. The lock around the door remained. She thought he would've broken through it. With a frustrated snarl, she hacked at the lock. She sliced it over and over, screaming with rage until her blade broke.
The Tower would not allow her in.