Happy New Year!

Before you ask, I don't know when the next chapter will be out. I don't have 2020 vision!

Oh come on, I had to make that joke one last time.

"The Commander wishes to speak to you in private," 80O spoke. "I was told to alert her when you were ready."

"-Uh," you glanced at all of the androids around you. While most of them were still conversing with each other, some of them were starting to turn back toward you, tilting their heads at the Operator. You glanced at 35B. "Can... Should I-"

"Yes, Theodore," 35B helped you up- 'pulled you up' would be closer, actually- "no one wants to keep the Commander waiting." Her statement was partially pointed at the onlookers, informing them of the severity of the situation. You didn't fully understand everything relating to the Commander, given that your only prior contact was a brief window back at your old base- how long ago was that, anyway? You quickly surmised that the Commander isn't one to wait for others.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to hold questions until further notice," you said towards the androids as you started moving towards the alley out, "quite sorry, something's come up." You hurried, not waiting to see how the androids responded. While 35B seemed to try to get you to hurry, she didn't seem to follow. You turned to the Operator, "You'll have to give me a minute, I wasn't quite ready to take a call."

"I can wait."

"I was just talking to some of the androids," you started to explain.

"I surmised." She cut you off, uninterested in your explanation. Quieted, you returned to getting back to your room. You made a quick turn as you left the alley, catching the attention of several androids. Once the door was securely closed behind you, you turned back to the hologram.

"Alright, I'm in my room. This is the most private location in the camp that I know of."

"Confirmed that Theodore has found somewhere secure. Enacting primary and secondary security protocols... and setting backup procedures."

You heard the door open behind you. Turning, you barely caught 320 pulling the door closed behind herself. Blinking a few times, you figured that she was part of the backup procedures- whatever that entailed. You quietly wondered all of what was this security setup encompassed.

"Protocols initialized," 80O caught your attention, "forwarding data stream." Forwarding? Wait, you weren't going to talk to the Commander right this minute, were you? Your fears realized as the screen showing 80O blinked away, leaving you staring at the stern visage of the Commander.

Every time you had talked to an Operator, be it 6O, 9O, 21O, or 80O, their holograms hovered such that you were looking eye-to-eye with them. But now, it felt like she towered over you, glowering down at you, her hands folded beneath her chin. Striking blue eyes burned at you from behind hair that glowed a soft gold. In stark opposition to the YoRHa androids she commanded, her clothes all but shone a brilliant white, and you noted that she was the first YoRHa android who normally didn't wear something across their face.

"Theodore," the single word of hers made you jump, authoritative as it was, before turning slightly softer, "thank you for responding quickly." 'Slightly' being the operative word. She was still ruthless as ever, but maintained a demanding air. You quietly wondered if the YoRHa units were only as good as they were because they were scared of whatever consequences she could bring to bear against them.

"Anytime, miss...?" You started to wonder about her. No one had referred to her by anything other than her title.

"'Commander' will be fine." Any further question about her name died on your tongue from the sheer finality in her tone, as did the concept of calling her 'miss', the sheer level of error you possibly committed becoming all the more real to you. "I have become aware that you have had interaction with YoRHa androids in the past. Notify me if any of them act untoward you in the future. I trust that there haven't been any incidents?"

"No, no. Not with YoRHa, anyway."

In a show of expression notable only due to prior absence, she raised an eyebrow and hummed in thought just on the edge of hearing. "I'll have someone investigate the incident on the Resistance side. I can't say I'm surprised that Anemone hasn't brought this up."

"Wha- Wait, wait, no, it's not that bad. I just got caught up with a few androids, not to mention this was before it was... before I was introduced to the camp."

The Commander stared down at you in silence. "Your stance has been noted. While I understand that you may have other things to say, I have a few topics I would like to discuss with you."

Frustrated, you let out a sigh but relented. "What is it?"

She leaned forward. "Where, exactly, did you come from? A number of my androids have searched your temporary base near the Resistance camp Xi. Before we could confirm that it was a human residing there, we could not determine who had made the camp. Androids in the greater region have verified that they haven't seen settlements like it. Finally, evidence suggests that the base created relatively recently, due to the lack of stable construction and the structures being more geared towards survival rather than seeking rescue.

"Which brings us back to the question: how did you arrive at this situation?" With the question posed, she waited for your response with an air that was somehow both endlessly patient, yet demanded a fast response.

You stared back at her as you gathered your thoughts. "How I got there... I honestly can't remember."

"Amnesia, then."

"No, no, I remember my life before I got here. I told this to Popola and Devola, but I remember coming from 2018. Not... what was it, 11940?"

"11945. This discrepancy could be accounted for by time travel, but several androids have already enough evidence to reject that theory."

You picked up on her choice of words. "Your androids have been theorizing about me?"

"Yes, though none of them have formally put anything forward for serious consideration. I cannot say to what degree any of them would be valid, as they haven't been properly verified."

"A few androids asked me if/why I left the moon. Obviously, I was never up there in the first place, but if they didn't know that, then it should be a natural assumption to make, right?"

"While I'm not completely certain about how the Resistance androids think about the issue, word has reached me that androids here in the Bunker have already ruled out direct connections between you and the Council of Humanity."

"How so?"

"Word about such an unprecedented event would have easily spread throughout YoRHa and the Resistance. The reason for your existence would need to be tied to a clandestine operation. Which brings me to the next point." She didn't give you much time to process the shift in topic. "I was passed a story from the Council if you did not know how you came to this situation."

"Whoa, wait, a cover story? You're putting an awful lot of trust in my ability to not screw this plan over."

"That has already been taken into consideration. You were a test subject, drawn from a random genetic pool and implanted with random memories. The test was two-fold: to assess a memory implanting procedure, and ensure that humanity could still survive on Earth after existing solely on the moon for millennia."

"Memory implanting procedures exist?"

"Have existed, for a few decades now, but it's not common knowledge among androids. The tests were conducted in secret and came back as a success- that is, the desired memories were implanted and the specimen survived. While the operation was wrapping up, the group was attacked, and the human specimen fled the scene. None of the androids on team survived. Eventually, you found your way to where you ended up setting up camp. The rest, you know already."

You mulled the story over. "I'm not entirely sure about this. Why wouldn't they give me memories about the moon colony alongside the other ones I had?"

"They didn't think it was necessary. You were going to be reintroduced into the colony after a suite of tests on one of the space stations. There may have been other reasons, but that's the one they immediately offered."

"Where are all the other test subjects? I couldn't be the only test they performed."

"You were the first round, to see if the whole process would work in the first place. The project was put on hold after the attack, as they felt that the plan needed to be redone. Currently, it's slated to be abandoned if no solution is found soon."

"So what's the plan now? A project utterly failed, and now their test subject wandered free and is now fraternizing with androids."

"I have been in talks with the Council of Humanity and Anemone, and the outcome we agreed upon was to keep you stationed Earth-side for android morale."

"...Without consulting me?"

"It was all but a forgone conclusion the moment the project failed. With the destruction of the landing craft, one would have to be rebuilt in the moon colony up to standards. Other space-faring craft like our flight units don't have airtight seals, as androids don't need air under certain circumstances."

You continued pressing for details, trying to find any holes in the logic and the Commander kept supplying you with them and pointing out the internal consistency. Eventually, you sat back and sighed, unable to come up with another retort.

"Do you believe the story meets your standards?" Were it anyone else, you would hear the gloating plain as day.

"I... guess. I'm not completely on board with it, but I guess it works. The Council's certainly put enough thought into this plan to make it work."

"Good. Then we have one last topic to discuss."

You groaned internally as you fought your own mental fatigue, then put up a façade of caring. "All right, what is it?"

"I have received a number of reports concerning your interactions with the androids around the camp, and have noticed a recurring theme. What, if I may ask, do you make of the androids in the camp?"

You tilted your head at the question, but obliged. "They're people, just as I am. Simple as that. They're fighting in this war, and I'm just... here, alongside them. They're the ones who have seen victories, failures, and loss in the heat of combat. I haven't. Besides, with me here, some of them have several more concerns piled on that they didn't before. Popola and Devola had to be dedicated to helping me, not to mention everything else that's going on behind the scenes. Why do you ask?"

The Commander leaned forward. "Allow me to piece a few things together for you, Theodore. Both Resistance and YoRHa androids have fought this war with the explicit goal of helping humanity, of restoring them to their rightful place on the planet. I don't think I can overstate just how much a single human would mean to anyone. When news of a human possibly being found hit the floor of the Bunker, the Operators were so enamored and engrossed with the idea that there was a thirty percent loss in productivity on that day. I had to issue orders to some of my troops to stop breaking their missions as they tried to leave to scour the rumored location. I don't know if I could even begin to mention effects on morale.

"The androids of YoRHa look up to you, and I am all but certain that the Resistance feels the same way. To them, you exist as a microcosm of the force they've fought for. The least you could do is be accommodating to their sacrifices.

"One final note."

"...Yes?"

"When an android asks if humanity values them, the answer is yes. I understand that in the situation, you were being forced to answer for something beyond which you couldn't be sure, but do not make this same mistake in the future. Understood?"

"U-understood."

"Good. If you need anything else, I will leave contact information with 80O with your pods. She will be your liaison with me."

"Oh, has 21O been relieved of that title?"

The Commander stiffened slightly on hearing this. "...Yes. Feel free to contact 80O if something comes up." She brought a hand up flat against her chest, in a manner reminiscent of a salute. "Glory to Mankind." The screen flickered off a moment later.

904 pinged. "Contact received: 80O available."

"Thank you, 904." You turned to your bed. After the stress of talking with the Commander piled on top of everything else that happened today- good God, was it really today that you stared at the songstress face-to-face? You decided you were going to call it now before it got any worse. "Pod, I'm calling it here. Today's left me exhausted. I know Popola and Devola might be on their way, but tell them I'm just feeling too exhausted." You pulled the blankets over your head, already feeling drowsiness gnawing at the edges of your consciousness.

You fell asleep a minute after your head hit the pillow, the cumulative day's events swirling around in your head.

Miles above the earth, inside the Bunker, the Commander sighed and pushed back from her desk, a momentary respite from the endless fountain of work that YoRHa- and now this human- had generated for her. One more task complete of her Sisyphean labors. She began compiling a list of further duties to complete.

She was pulled from her thoughts when a pile of dirty clothes collapsed, having abandoned its prior position granted during a frantic attempt at making part of her quarters look presentable. For a minute, she sat there, staring at the lump now spread across her floor.

She began to call up an Operator she remembered bothering her. Perhaps she could get her to work for her penance.