Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker

18:43

Days until Full Moon: 22

"..."

"..."

"..."

As Aigis quickly found out, staying in the infirmary with no one but the Pods monitoring her led to a very lonely experience. She understood why-as soon as the Shadow Operatives went over their mission the other three were very quick to leave on the off chance of the Logic Virus being contagious-but it left her with not much to do besides converse with the Pods, which as she found out the hard way was a bit of a challenge. They never started the conversation, and Aigis didn't want to possibly intrude on them doing their regular status checks, so it only led to hours of awkward silence on both sides.

"...Analysis: Aigis appears as if she wants to say something." The white Pod, Pod 042, finally broke the silence.

"Oh...well...is it alright for us to talk?"

"Query: What would Aigis like to discuss?"

"Nothing specifically, it's just...You don't speak often during our meetings together, so I don't get to hear your thoughts about them. But I don't want to possibly interfere with your monitoring…"

"Response," came the feminine voice of the black pod, Pod 153. "One purpose of a YoRHa Pod is to provide conversation with its assigned unit when they have no other units to speak with. In acting as your current caretakers, we are in essence assigned to you for the next 16 hours, or 17 hours for you including the Dark hour. There is no problem with communicating with Pods 153 or 042 during the monitoring process."

"...I see." So Aigis' judgement was incorrect. "I apologize for staying quiet, then."

"Aigis' apology is unnecessary," said Pod 042. "Query: what would Aigis wish to discuss?"

"...Well, you pods were monitoring my condition the entire time since I awakened, correct?"

"Affirmative."

"You did not alert 2B or 9S about any abnormalities when I briefly lost control."

"Affirmative. The source of Aigis' brief lapse was not a Logic Virus. Neither Pod 042 nor Pod 153 detected any systematic corruption at any point while monitoring."

Aigis tilted her head in confusion. "Well...while that's partially a relief, it does leave me somewhat worried. The reason I lost myself was because I heard a voice inside my head."

The Pods gave no response for a moment, but 153 spoke up after the brief pause. "Proposal: inform Pods 042 and 153 of precisely what Aigis heard."

"...I believe it was a young man's voice. It was rather hard to tell with how it echoed, but I heard the words he said clearly: 'Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana.'"

"Analysis," 153 spoke up rather quickly. "A Logic Virus may cause an android to hear voices, but the voices tend to be indecipherable. Since Aigis was able to repeat the voice's words, it is unlikely that this voice is the result of the Virus."

Aigis sighed in relief. "Thank you. I was fairly certain that it wasn't the virus, but I couldn't get the possibility away from my mind. Especially with how 9S reacted."

Pod 042 began floating to the other side of the bed. "Aigis has been in stable condition since the monitoring process began, even during the period Unit 9S hacked into Aigis' interface. Based on the data collected within that time frame, there is only a 7.9% chance that Aigis has been infected by a Logic Virus. Aigis is only in the infirmary as a result of proper protocol."

"I see."

More silence.

"Pod 042 has a query for Aigis."

"Yes?"

"The voice Aigis described said 'Personas of the Fool Arcana.' Apart from insinuating that the source of this voice is related to the Dark Hour, the only instances recorded in the databanks of YoRHa that use the words 'Fool' and 'Arcana' relate to the artifacts known as 'Tarot Cards,' an ancient form of playing cards often used for both recreation and in practices relating to the occult. Is this a proper connection?"

Aigis nodded. "Yes, both Personas and Shadows have a very strong connection to tarot cards, particularly those of the Major Arcana."

"Would Aigis mind elaborating?"

"Sure, no problem!"

Operator 6O was glad 2B and 9S decided to pay her a visit, today especially. Not a day after she began gaining an interest in ancient human fortune telling methods like horoscopes and tarot cards, all they seemed to do when she tried them for herself was spell out doom and gloom for the poor girl. She tried to not let it get her down, especially since 2B's efficiency on the field was partly her responsibility and she didn't want to let 2B down, but the dread in the back of her mind from whatever signs the gods gave her was becoming really hard to ignore.

Of course, that was part of the reason she was so shocked that 2B of all people suddenly gained an interest in 6O's hobbies.

2B. The practical, no-nonsense, perpetual stick-in-the-mud android asking about fortune telling. She could've seen 9S showing an interest, but no, 2B was the one that asked, and 9S just went along with it. That floored her. Especially since 6O had brought up her interests previously a little more than a week ago back when 2B was still on Earth, and back then she showed little to no interest whatsoever.

Well, it's alright, thought 6O. Maybe this'll help her open up with me a bit!

"I have to ask, though," 6O said as she began shuffling the deck of tarot cards she had received from one of the Healers. "What suddenly spurned your interest in fortune telling, anyway?"

"Not fortune telling. Tarot cards." 2B was as curt as ever. "I saw certain cards in that deck and it struck me as rather...peculiar."

"Peculiar how?"

"Probably best not to worry about that," 9S answered in 2B's stead. "I'm kinda curious myself, how does this whole tarot thing work, anyway?"

"Well, obviously I'm still a bit of a novice at this," 6O said with a nervous chuckle as she spread the cards out face down on her table. "I'm pretty sure what you're supposed to do is draw at least two cards from this scattered pile, possibly more depending on how far you want to take the reading. Each card supposedly has a symbolic meaning behind it, and when multiple cards are read together it works as either a prediction of things to come or advice for the future."

"...What does this card represent?" To 6O's surprise, 2B had already picked up and flipped over one of the cards in the pile, one depicting a woman and a lion.

"Oh! Ummmm...I'm not sure if this is supposed to count when I didn't formally start the reading...Or does it count since you were the one who flipped it over…?"

"...It has the Roman Numeral XI."

...Yeah. That's exactly how 2B would handle this. Just getting straight to the point. Guess we'll pretend this is a proper reading then! 6O cleared her throat and attempted to find her proper "mystical psychic" voice.

"This is the eleventh major arcana of the standard tarot deck, uhh...right, Strength," 6O awkwardly tried to use a deeper, more serene voice for the reading. "It represents not strength in the physical sense. It refers instead to inner strength, willpower, and self control, the perfect balance of which is necessary for the woman depicted in the card to effortlessly tame the wild beast. Um...Could you please flip over another card so I can interpret your fortune better?"

9S and 2B looked at 6O as if she had grown a second head. I knew it, I look ridiculous doing this...And yet, 2B complied anyway, turning over a card at the end of the pile to her right.

And that was when 6O started to get really flustered.

"The number 10? And what are these symbols on the card?"

"Uh...that would be the Ten of Swords...in the reversed position…"

"Reversed?" Oh, right. 2B had started before 6O could explain that bit.

"A tarot card has different meanings depending on if it's upright or upside-down-reversed-when it's picked. Usually a reversed card means the opposite of what the card symbolizes, but that's neither a good nor a bad thing depending on the other cards you have picked. But, uh…"

2B raised her eyebrow at 6O's sudden silence. 6O could feel her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"...I don't actually know what this particular card means. I'm sorry, 2B…"

"Eh?" 9S grunted. "I mean, I get that there's a lot of cards here to keep track of, but you should be able to find what any card means in the Bunker's database? It has plenty of info on this kind of stuff for some reason."

"Well...the thing is...I can only seem to find logs about the Major Arcana," 6O admitted. "Cards like this one that have swords, cups, wands, or coins on them belong to the Minor Arcana, and there isn't as much on them. All I know is what each suit represents, like how the Swords here represent the idea of conflict. I don't know anything about the number though…"

6O turned away. She was letting 2B down, she just knew it. Maybe she really was destined for misfortune as her horoscope had told her…

"...It's fine, 6O. I was mostly interested in the Strength card anyway. In that aspect, you were a great help," 2B said, much to 6O's pleasant surprise. I really did help…?

"...Well, that's great then!" 6O was immediately back to her cheerful demeanor. "I guess it's a good thing you managed to get that card from the pile. Wait...you didn't cheat, did you…?"

"I didn't pay close attention to the cards being shuffled, I assure you. I would have asked about Strength anyway, it was just coincidence that I happened to pick it."

"Was it coincidence, or was it fate…?" 6O teased. 2B just responded with her regular flat expression. Darn, worth a shot.

"Mind if I give it a go?" 6O was not surprised at all with 9S following up 2B. She had already begun shuffling the cards in antcipation.

"Sure! Just, uh, keep in mind that if you pick out a Minor Arcana I won't be able to help much," 6O said sheepishly as she laid the cards out on the table.

"Let's hope that doesn't happen then." 9S hovered his hand over the pile for a bit before picking up a card close to the center. Fortunately for 6O, it was a card of the Major Arcana, depicting an infinity symbol, two eyes, a flame, and hands wide open. At the bottom was the Roman Numeral I.

"The Magician," 6O said as she tried to regain her mystic voice. "The first Major Arcana in many tarot decks, it represents the idea of untapped potential, initiative, immaturity, and the power to change one's fate."

"And this is...in the upright position, right?" 9S asked.

"Correct. But like I said before, a proper reading is done with at least two cards. Please turn over another so we can discover the meaning further."

9S did as 6O asked. But when she saw the card 9S turned over, her eyes went wide in horror.

"6O? You know what this card is, right?"

How could she not. It was one of the most prominent cards she herself drew when attempting to do fortunes for herself.

A large structure, being blown apart by a bolt of lightning and causing the people inside it to fall to their inevitable demise. Its Roman Numeral was XVI.

"...That is the Tower. A symbol of oncoming demise, usually as a result of one's own pride."

"Demise…?" 9S grew just as worried as 6O.

"If I had to interpret this reading...Be wary of your initiative. Though you may possess great potential, your overconfidence as a result of said potential will come back to bite you."

It made way too much sense in the case of 9S.

"Damn...I was hoping this would be a bit more fun…"

"Heh...This is kinda why I've been considering dropping fortune telling altogether," 6O said. "Fate can be cruel sometimes. Maybe it's better to just ignore all that and put fate in your own hands."

"I don't know," 2B said as she stood up from the table. "Perhaps there's merit in both. Knowing what fate has in store for you and keeping it in mind, but also taking action so your fate can be changed."

And add that to the growing number of things 2B has done in the past week that shocked 6O. Now she's taking the idea of fortune telling completely seriously.

"9S," 2B continued, "I would take 6O's reading as advice rather than a prediction of things to come. Don't be overconfident, and you won't have to suffer the demise depicted in the card."

Ohhhhhhhh. That's her ploy here. Well, can't say it doesn't work out for us!

"...Alright," 9S said with a shrug. "Guess I'll take that advice to heart then."

"And 6O." The Operator looked up to her partner. "...I think it might do some good to keep up with that hobby of yours. Don't get discouraged just because your results always look grim."

Wait. She's being completely serious and not just doing this for his sake. Who is this person and what have they done with 2B? Did something happen during the past week to change things?...Wait...Oh!

"Say, 2B, I have a silly question for you."

"Shoot."

"What's the deal with that Aigis girl? She barged into the Bunker last week and passed out, then I remember the Commander looking really tired when she woke up. And since then she and you two have been meeting with Aigis a lot." 6O eyed the two of then suspiciously. Neither of them showed any hint of nervousness, though 6O swore she heard a tiny gasp from 9S.

"...We found her roaming the City Ruins. For some reason she was reactivated after staying dormant for almost ten thousand years. She was...lost, in more ways than one. We've been trying to help her adjust as well as possibly glean any information out of her regarding the Great Calamity, which is why the Commander is so involved with her."

"Ahhhhh. I was wondering why the Commander warned us about a Japanese speaking android docking the Bunker." Something about 2B's answer seemed a bit more suspicious than usual, but 6O decided not to pursue the issue, instead focusing on her main reason for asking. "Does she...happen to have an interest in tarot cards, by any chance?"

"...Yes. She's brought some of them up a few times with me and I became curious."

"Aha! I knew it! Why don't you bring her out here, then? I'm sure we could become friends easily!"

"...Can't do that, 6O," 9S said as he shook his head. He explained Aigis' current situation about a potential Logic Virus and how they were planning to head to Earth the second she's cleared.

"Awwww. Well, next time I call for your regularly scheduled contact, see if you can get her in the call with you! Maybe she knows more about the things I don't, like the Minor Arcana, now that I think about it."

6O didn't voice her suspicion about why Aigis, 2B, 9S, and the Commander seem to be grouping up more often lately, but it was in the back of her mind. Something about everything just smelled...fishy. But she couldn't put her finger on it, so she just let it be for now.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you again for your readings."

"No problem!"

Alright, one last Dark Hour in the Bunker before we head back to Earth. Maybe it's about time I followed up on my little chat with the harp guy.

A/N: Oof. 5 days off pace for this one. And it's not even a particularly action heavy chapter, just a slice-of-life thing to introduce and explain tarot in this story. I'm really slipping. I apologize profusely for that. For what it's worth I'm glad 6O provides an easy route for bringing tarot into the story aside from the Shadows and Personas themselves. Don't remember if she mentioned tarot specifically, but I figured that it's not that far removed from canon even if she didn't. I will be trying to incorporate a little bit more research whenever I do any sections of this story that involve tarot readings, (by which I mean using TV Tropes and Wikipedia, and remembering that one time I had a free tarot reading back during this one Halloween party from my freshman year at college).

Anyway, I'm almost positive next chapter is the last one on the Bunker, after that we'll be moving back to Earth and finally (finally) getting started on the Desert Arc. Hopefully things will be a bit more interesting when...everything out of that part of Automata happens. I'm also trying to shoot a bit higher in terms of word count, that way it doesn't take months of chapters to get through parts of the story. Might result in my update pace slipping again, but I'd rather that than people get bored of me dragging my feet from Chapter to Chapter. I haven't gotten any reviews or comments saying that, but I've personally felt like I've been doing so and I really want to get away from that habit. Remember kids, sometimes you are your own worst critic.

Thanks again for reading!