A/N: The last chapter is part of this one. Given the hardcore grudge that has against formatting, I just posted that bit as it's own chapter. Sorry for any confusion. Anywho, as always, sorry in advance for any errors I missed.
You're at first confused at the display that 099 projected in front of you. It looked like a progress report. Something that you maybe see in a medical file. But the more you read, the more you started to realize that the report is actually about you. To be more specific, it's a report about you and your recovery from the attack by the Machines planet-side. You felt like you're going to be sick. They kept you asleep for a year and a half? That... that can't be right. It's not right. It can't be. Why would they keep something like that from you? You shook your head and turned away. Waving a hand through the projection. Like doing so would make it disappear. "I-I can't look at this." You said dismissively, "Why show me that?" When you spot 099 hover into your peripheral, you glance at the Pod. Half expecting it to tell you some pre-recorded dismissive response. But, no, it didn't seem all that keen on giving you a response. You're met with utter silence.
However, if you're being honest, you don't know if you wanted to hear what it had to say. The rational side of you wanted to believe that maybe it's a joke. But you know that it's not. Pod's are first and foremost a machine. Not the kind deployed by the Aliens. The Pod's are programmed to Support foot soldiers in the field. In short, they act on logic. Therefore, 099 wouldn't just show you that without a reason. Certainly not for something so trivial as a 'joke'. "Patient 01." 099 spoke, it's militarized voice, though heavily filtered, annoyed you. It practically grated against your ears. "This Pod is concerned primarily for Patient 01's mental state. Therefore, per Patient rights, this Unit deemed it necessary that Patient 01 be made aware of the actions taken regarding their care." Ok... now the little floating roomba is beginning to scare you. Do you really want to know about whatever it is it might say next? No, you're thankful that it gave you this information. But you'd have preferred that the twins told you. Maybe Command or perhaps even 6O.
You shook your head and strode over to your dresser. "Well... thanks, I guess, but I need to change. Please get out." Judging what the Pod is thinking is impossible. But it seemed to understand your request, thankfully. When it turned and left, you wasted no time in pulling out an Operator uniform. You needed to talk to Command. Needless to say, it's time she gave you answers. And you weren't going to just take no for an answer. She's had more than enough time to come to you. The fact you needed to go to her only proved she never intended on informing you about anything.
Still... almost two years? You found it hard to wrap your head around. The thought just sent you reeling, honestly. More so that no one you knew seemed intent on sharing that info. Not even 6O. Regardless of her reasons, you felt... betrayed? Yes, that's right, you felt betrayed. It begged the question of just what else have they kept from you. The questions just kept coming. But you're surprised to find that the most prominent question you have is why 6O would lie to you. You hadn't expected that it would actually - "Hey, why are you putting on your uniform? Didn't Command say that you-" You flinched when you heard 6O speak up from behind you. Initially surprised that she's in your room. But it dawned on you that 6O did say that she'd be back. When you turn to look at her, gaze full of distrust, you can tell that 6O suspects something is amiss. That carefree demeanor of hers is dissipating before your eyes. "What's wrong?" She asked as she took a step closer to you. However, when she did, you step back. You give her a look that clearly spoke 'don't touch me' when she reached out to you. Whatever it is that she planned to do, you don't know. And you're not about to find out.
She's clearly hurt by your hostility. But her feelings are the furthest thing from your mind right now. "Why didn't you tell me?" You ask in an angry tone. When 6O didn't answer you right away, you realize that maybe you should lay it out for her. "A year and a half? That's the sort of thing you don't keep from someone! I should have been told as soon as I woke up!" 6O looked quite shocked when you lashed out like that. Those soft eyes of hers, though captivating, turned away when you all but glared at her. "The hell would possess you to stay quiet about that?!" 6O let out a shaky sigh and shook her head after you spoke. You noticed that she had clenched her hands into a fist. For moment, the anger you felt disappeared and is replaced with worry. Did you take it a step too far?
"I'm sorry..." That's all 6O has to say? She's sorry? Your anger returned in full force. You're almost baffled. She knew that everyone was keeping this a secret from you and she's sorry? It's difficult for you to keep a handle on your emotions. A part of you wants to start yelling at her. Make her realize that she just can't do something like that. But the other wants to forgive her. Honestly, the latter is the hardest to resist. Especially when she looks like an upset child who just received a harsh scolding. Almost like A2, now that you think about it. "I really am sorry! The Commander told both me and 21O not to say anything! I didn't want to get us in trouble. She was already really mad at both of us for what happened. Plus she-" It hard not to notice when she caught herself. You hate to admit it, but you realize that, knowing Command, it's likely that 6O really was pressured into keeping quiet. She's very much the type of person who's horrible at keeping secrets. Though not in the sense that one can easily tell she's lying. It's more like she'll slip up without realizing or simply be unable to contain herself and tell someone. "W-What can I do to make it up to you?" The speed in which 6O recuperated and switched gears is a little startling. Gone is the upset demeanor that she wore like a coat. Now it's replaced with a fierce determination that her gaze mirrored. There's a renewed fire in her eyes and you're almost certain that she discarded any hint of her prior upset expression under her Operator veil. Just how does she manage to switch gears on a dime like that!?
Regardless, curiosity about the inner workings of 6O's mind aside, you're still not entirely convinced. What you really want - no, what you need is to speak with the Commander. "Look, 6O, I want to speak to the Commander. This isn't something I can just easily forgive. I'm not the type of person who can just drop things like this without a problem." You can tell that 6O is disappointed to hear you say that. But she shook her head and straightened. Again, you find yourself wondering what exactly is going through her head. Another lie, maybe? Or, perhaps, a genuinely honest answer?
"I don't know if that's a good idea right now." You're unable to hide your disappointment when you hear her response. Because, of course, it's going to be something like that. Why should you have even remotely suspected an honest answer? "I-It's not what you think! T-The Commander has ordered everyone in the Bunker to prepare to be mobilized." 6O said quickly, practically waving both hands in front of her. Like there's a small bug buzzing about and she's trying to get rid of it. Although you want to not believe her, accuse her of just lying again, you pause. What did she just say? It's no secret that 6O saw right through you. Discovered your confusion. She put a hand on her hip and sighed. The frown on her lips loud and clear despite her veil. "So... remember when I said that Jackass shot you?" How could you forget? Despite that you found it hard to believe that you were, you can feel the scarred skin over your collarbone itch. "Well it seems that things are a bit more complicated." You decided to keep your mouth shut and fold your arms. This should be interesting to hear. Especially when 6O seemed to be struggling internally with whatever it is she wants to tell you. It looks like she's unable to stay in place. Because she's started to fidget as she shifted from one foot then to the other. "Jackass found an underground facility deep in the City Ruins. Like, really freaking deep. It's so far down that we can't find it on satellite imaging. Anyway, the entrance was apparently buried a long time ago." Now you're really interested. Didn't A2 say something to you about finding a bunker that housed a terminal with your picture saved on it? "We still don't have all the data. But Jackass gave the Commander the coordinates for it the day she came to see you. When a team was dispatched, they just went dark. We can't even see if their Black Box is online. What's worse is that the Machines have suddenly become really aggressive. They've pushed the Resistance all the way back to their main base. Plus we've lost four Battlers in the retaliation effort. From what we can tell it's..." 6O trailed off, leaving you with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. You don't want to believe her right away. Yet you can't ignore the logical side of you. The one honed by your brief time with 40S and 7D.
This facility must be pretty significant. That much is evident by the fact that the Machines have supposedly become much more aggressive. On the off chance that she's telling the truth, you have a very real cause for concern. Especially if this facility and the one A2 mentioned are one and the same. But that's if she is telling you the truth. You let out a strained sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose. This is a mess. More than that, it's a disaster. "I want to see this for myself. Where's 7D?" You ask in a barely calm tone. Unable to keep the stress you felt in check. Oh, how you wished that you hadn't seen that document from the Pod.
"I can't let you go to the Command Center. If you want, I could message-" 6O still hasn't lost the fire rekindled inside of her. In fact, she even took a step forward when she spoke. But you're not in the mood to be sidelined. You wanted to see for yourself and that's final.
"I'm not taking no for answer, 6O. After everything that's happened, I deserve to see this for myself." You spoke up, interrupting 6O mid-sentence. It's clear that she's intent on keeping you in your room. However, you resolved to remain adamant on where you stood. You kept your gaze level on 6O. Both hands on your hips while you waited for 6O's response. It's more than a little difficult to tell what she's thinking. One moment she seems fired up. The next, she looks uncertain. Almost like 6O is having a conversation with herself. Well at least you can never let it be said that 6O is a rather animated woman.
Finally, 6O relented. She let out a sigh that somewhat disturbed her veil and crossed her arms. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. But you have to stay close to me, alright?" You knew what she meant. Though that didn't stop you from preparing to protest that fact. "I'm being serious here. The whole Bunker is in a state of alert. Weapons and hardware are being moved all over the place. It's not safe for a human to be roaming the halls right now." Seems like 6O decided that it's her turn to interrupt you. Because when she spoke, it's before you had the chance to get a word out.
"Alright, I won't stray far then." You know that attempting to argue the subject further probably won't help. If you knew anything about 6O, it's likely that she'll be chewed out by the Commander for allowing you to leave. But that won't happen if you get to the Commander first. Once you do, the Commander will be far too busy to do anything to 6O. Yes, yes, the Commander will have a lot to explain when you confront her. So much so that it's likely she'll forget that 6O brought you to her.
When you finished adjusting your Operator veil, you step out into the hallway. There's no one in the hallway. Just you and 6O. You take a moment to look around and you notice that the smell of disinfectant is gone. The absence of it reminds you that Devola and Popola had to leave. But to do so without letting you know? Well... maybe there's a modicum of truth to what 6O told you. It worried you. Yes, that is an admittance that you believed what 6O said. But you didn't care. Regardless of what Devola and Popola have done, you feel that they're an exception. Given everything they've done to save you.
As you step on the elevator, you make sure to put a little distance between you and 6O. Even when she tried to inch a little closer to you. When she did, you sighed quietly and side stepped. If you moved any further then you'd be leaning up against the door of the elevator. "I was being honest earlier, you know? I'm sorry." You didn't know what you could say to 6O. Not when you still haven't fully come to terms with what you learned. "It killed me that we couldn't say anything. Honestly, it's probably the hardest order I've ever been given." You didn't realize it but you're staring at her. She's looking down at the floor. "I kinda thought that I'd explode from the stress sometimes." Is she really acting this casual? Maybe she felt guilty and isn't sure how to handle this. You imagine that's the case given her rather uncertain tone. But, knowing that, you still find it hard to forgive her. What was really stopping her from not telling you about how long you were unconscious? Nothing seemed to when she told you about the findings of the investigation into the server hack. "But seeing you-" 6O finally looked up at you. When she met your gaze, she paused. The way you peered at her from behind your veil somehow stayed her train of thought. "Mm, never mind. It's not important." The blonde Operator said with a dismissive tone and a shake of her head.
A soft chime disturbed the near awkward silence in the elevator when it came to a stop. You turned to look at the door when it opened. But when you tried to step off the elevator, you felt 6O gently grab your arm. Normally, you would have questioned her. Ask why she stopped you. But that became evident when a large group of armored YoRHa Units all but barreled past. One of them yelled something. Though you didn't quite catch it over the sound of footsteps that thundered in the hallway. It's absolutely packed! Both Operators and other YoRHa Units alike were running or jogging down the hallway. "Attention: Command has raised the alert level to maximum. All Combat Units report to your deployment stations immediately. Orders to be relayed by your assigned Operator. Repeat: All Combat Units to deployment stations immediately." You could just barely hear the announcement. However, you're too preoccupied by the seemingly organized chaos in front of you. You've never seen so many people bustling about before you.
"Come on!" You heard 6O say before you felt yourself pulled into the hallway. 6O kept a firm grip on your arm while she led you through the crowd. Every now and then you'd feel a sharp jab in your side or someone roughly push past you. When it was someone wearing their battle armor, it'd hurt quite a bit more. Eliciting a quiet grunt of pain. Just ahead, you could see a break in the crowd. One that you surmised is due to the fact that the two of you were nearing the Command Center. Which made sense that the crowd would give a wide berth to one of the most important rooms on the station. If something happened, then whoever was leaving needed room to get out. "Just a bit farther, we're almost there." 6O said as she pulled you close to the wall. Allowing the two of you to move a bit faster.
"Squadrons Gamma, Rubicon, and Emerald - report to hangar 27F and prepare for close combat deployment. Repeat: Squadrons Gamma, Rubicon, and Emerald to hangar 27F for close combat deployment." That was the Commanders voice. You wondered why she would take the reigns like that. Especially since the last announcement had been from someone entirely different. Did the Commander- no, that's just being outright paranoid.
When you 6O stumble from the crowd and come to a half in front of the doors to the Command Center, you find that the doors are guarded by two armored Combat Units. They don't seem to notice that you and 6O had nearly lost your balance and almost fell to the floor. In fact, you get the feeling that they are completely oblivious to you and 6O completely. Are they that focused on their current job right now? You push the thought away and straightened. 6O has already entered the Command Center. So, you hurry after her. Almost breaking out into a jog were it not for the two doors that granted entrance to the heart of the space station. When they slowly slid open, you find 6O waiting for you just inside. Next to her stood 21O. They... looked like they're in a pretty heated argument. "-ot my fault! It's the Pod those Resistance girls brought with them!" 6O retaliated with a finger to 21O's chest. "She even said so. All I did was come back after having some stuff to take care of with 2B!" You realize that- "She told me that she wanted to see what's going on for herself. It's not my fault for just being there, you know?" 6O spoke in a matter of fact tone. Carrying all the finesse that one would have after preparing for an argument.
You decided to ignore them for a moment and observe the Command Center. Unlike your previous visits, the place is livelier than usual. Operators were walking to and fro with a hurried pace. Some were almost leaning over Operators that sat at a work terminal. Pointing out something on their screen while others remained as they are. Probably reading the readouts. When you approached the railing and looked down, past the second floor, you could see what looked like two squads of YoRHa Units. All wearing their armor and standing to attention in front of three Operators. One of whom carried a glowing tablet in their hands. But it's impossible to tell what the screen displayed from your height. You craned your neck to take a peek at the center of the ground floor. Unfortunately, you can't see anything. So, you're not sure what the Commander is doing. Although you imagine that she's probably surrounded by Operators. No doubt listening to them read out various reports while staring up at the floor to ceiling screen. Speaking of which... there's a massive banner on the top of the screen. The words 'WARNING: UNPRECEDENTED MACHINE PRESENCE.' scrolled across the banner. You felt that sinking feeling from earlier become more pronounced when you read the alert. Threatening to drag you down through floor and into the cold vacuum of space. With it came the all too familiar nauseous feeling that one would feel too.
"Come on, just keep moving." You whispered to yourself, "Have to get to my station." Your felt as though your feet were weighed down by lead when you descended the stairs. It looked like no one was occupying your seat. Which only made it easy for you to sit down and log in. Almost immediately, your screen lit up and displayed numerous alerts. The most prominent of which is the same one that's displayed on the floor to ceiling monitor. "Ok... just need to-" You paused, what if you've never actually did any work? Everyone lied to you about how long you were asleep. So, who's to say the Commander had assigned someone to do all of your work? All the while you were just given a bunch of seemingly menial reports. Well... it made sense. Tentatively, you tried to summon up a search bar. That much was easy. But a large error box appeared when you tried to search recent combat reports. 'ERROR: Unable to execute command' Read the error report. Your mood significantly darkened when you re-read the text. In a final attempt, you try to enter the familiar command to contact 7D. Again, the error report flashed across the screen.
Typical. You should have known things were too easy from the start. The Commander would do something like that - have someone intercept all of your work. Slip you easy tasks that - heh, yeah, easy tasks that only a mere human could do. All you've ever done is fill out basic post combat reports. Whenever you were overloaded with files to go over or submit, you had to ask 6O for help. Command never trusted you to be able to do anything. You slowly hunch over and prop your elbows on the desk. Head in your hands as you worked to keep your anger and despair in check. Unable to focus on any one thought. Quickly flip flopping between wondering what else you've been lied to about and what you should do next. All the while you started to doubt every conversation you've ever had with anyone from YoRHa. Did she tell anyone else about you? Were you ever actually of any use? Hell, was 7D telling the truth about her apparent 'secret identity'? Of course she was. The Commander probably told her to say that. In hindsight, the fact that she turned from cold and insensitive to an emotional wreck on a dime seemed a little too convenient.
A new light shone from your screen. Prompting you to squint a little until your eye's adjusted. It looked like a YoRHa Chat. At first your mood improved a little when you saw 6O was part of the participating Operators. But that changed when you spotted that the Commander was in the chat too.
YoRHa Chat V 13.9
[… Establishing Secure Connection ...]
[… Secure Connection Established ...]
[… Scanning Data Packets ...]
YoRHa, for the Glory of Mankind.
Alert: Bunker Security has been elevated. All YoRHa Chat's must be for battle update and information sharing only.
Participating Units:
- Operator 6O
- YoRHa Commander
- Operator 31O
YoRHa CMDR: 31O.
Operator 31O: What the hell do you want?
Operator 6O: !
Operator 6O: 31O, you can't talk like that to the Commander! She'll yell at you for sure!
YoRHa CMDR: Number 6, we'll have a word after the current matter is resolved. You are dismissed.
[… Operator 6O has been removed from the chat ...]
Operator 31O: I'm not repeating myself.
YoRHa CMDR: I can understand that you are upset. But I had my reasons.
Operator 31O: Bullshit.
YoRHa CMDR: Yes, well, we agreed that you not be told. We were concerned for your mental health. The twins suggested that we focus on your physical recovery and address the matter later, at length.
Operator 31O: Why do I find that just a little bit hard to believe?
YoRHa CMDR: I've no reason to lie to you, ma'am.
Isn't that just lovely? The Commander is speaking to you respect. She actually called you 'Ma'am'. You scoffed and immediately started typing up a reply. Only just barely keeping yourself from slamming down on each key as you typed. If anyone close to you noticed, you didn't pay them any mind.
Operator 31O: Well since we're up to our neck in a newfound wellspring of respect, why don't you enlighten me - was I really shot by Jackass? Or did you order someone to slip some kind of drug into my food or the air circulation to render me unconcious?
YoRHa CMDR: ...
YoRHa CMDR: I've ordered 9S and two other Scanners to piece together what they can from my corrupted memories. Given current circumstance, I haven't had the time to check on their progress. I doubt it is worth much, ma'am, but you will have full access to my memories. You have my word. From what little that wasn't corrupted by the emp attack, I recall that you had left the clean room and attempted to put yourself between me and the rogue unit, A2. After that, you were indeed shot by Jackass. I ordered her escorted off the Bunker and Anemone assured me that Jackass would be thoroughly punished.
Operator 31O: Let me guess, when you say 'full access' you actually mean just those memories of what happened.
YoRHa CMDR: All of my memories, ma'am.
Operator 31O: We'll see about that. It's not like you didn't lie to me about everything. Even when it came to working as an Operator.
YoRHa CMDR: I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying.
[… Operator 31O has logged out ...]
You're fed up with the Commander. If you were in there for a second longer, you'd have lost all semblance of control. To hell with finding any proof about an impending attack by the Machines. Or whatever the hell is going on. You've seen enough. 6O had been telling the truth. But you didn't care. You needed to get as far away as you could from Command. Somewhere you could be by yourself and have time to think. When you pushed yourself to your feet, you heard 6O say something. However, you ignored her and ascended the steps two at time. A hurried pace in your step while you exited the Command Center. Instead of turning left to go back to your room, you turned right. Allowing yourself to quietly slip past the Operators and other YoRHa that hurried throughout the hallway.
A/N: Sorry again for any confusion about the last chapter. Completely forgot to put an A/N to explain my intentions. Alright so some peeps reviewed the chapter before last. Time to do some replies.
Guest: In the event that you're still reading, I'm sorry that you're having trouble with following the story. It's an issue that has been raised to my attention before and I'm doing my best to work on it. However, a lot is going on IRL and I have a tendency to draw a blank and/or believe that I've put enough out to let people know what's going on. Hopefully the last chapter and this one does a lot better in making things easy to follow.
Regarding the actions of the Reader, I base a lot of the actions taken off of what I or what I believe anyone would probably do. Admittedly, I am a rather passive person. But I'd like to point out that there is a lot going on. And Devola did point out their concern for potentially getting sick. Therefore, realistically speaking, there isn't much that one could do. Throughout history, getting violent because of things beyond a persons control has proven to be useless.
AL: Thanks for reading! (And I'm so sorry for not replying to your review earlier!)