9S didn't know what to do, his Pod alerted him that 2B was on the other side of the void that separated the city ruins from the forest, however, due to the quakes that a strange and undoubtedly new machine structure appearing, which he barely avoided getting hit from, the bridge connecting the two areas had collapsed.

He walked towards the ravine, knowing there was another way around it, which was descending down to that remote cave below, and then going back up from the other side and crossing half of the forest back to the commercial facility. All the while with machines in the way of course.

He was just about to climb down when Pod 153 told him that 2B had Pod 042 give him a message on her wellbeing.

She said that she was fine, but that she had to take care of something important that she didn't know how long it would take either, so she told him to wait for her back at the Resistance Camp, and to stay safe.

Now he really was unsure if he wanted to follow his desire to be reunited with her or wait, just like she wanted. On one side he was happy she had escaped and was okay, but on the other side he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

But she was right in wanting him to be safe as well, if he wasn't then how would they meet up again?

"Pod, where's 2B now?" he asked, wanting to be sure she was truly in a safe place.

"Unit 2B's black box signal detected in the cave under the commercial facility." so she was in that place with all of the Lunar Tears, a place only them and Emil knew, so no one could find them.

Seemed safe enough.

"This Pod is detecting another black box signal close to unit 2B."

"Another black box? Who is it?" couldn't be Emil, he wasn't… well they didn't know exactly what he was, but surely he was no android.

"The second black box belongs to the rogue Yorha unit known as A2."

A2… why was A2 there of all people? Did she know about the cave too? And most importantly, why was 2B with her? Did they both find repair there?

The problem was, A2 was a deserter unit, and 9S feared that she may be trying to get revenge on 2B and himself. They did attempt to kill her after all, under Commander orders no less.

That woman was dangerous, there was no telling what she could do to 2B, they were enemies after all… or were they? Yorha was gone and there was no need to fight, though A2 may have still been looking for them for revenge like he thought.

He was about to get moving again, but his Pod stopped him by floating in front of his face.

"This Pod is detecting a weaker signal from unit A2's black box, hypothesis, unit A2 may be experiencing malfunctioning, as such this Pod believes unit 2B has brought her to safety."

A weak signal huh? Usually when black box signals became weaker it meant that said android was probably dying. Was A2 dying then? Did 2B bring her to the cave so she could die in peace? And was she staying there so she wouldn't be alone in her last moments too?

He didn't understand, but he knew that 2B was kind enough to do such a thing, even if A2 was an enemy.

If he had to be honest, the whole thing with A2 had been a mystery, all they had known was that she was a Yorha deserter, and that she most likely hated machines, judging from how the mercilessly had stabbed the baby king.

But that as far as they knew she hadn't showed up at the Resistance Camp nor at Pascal's Village either, weird for someone that should despise machines, but then again him and 2B also should have, and yet they were friends with the residents of the village instead. On top of it there was that errand that Anemone had asked them to find information about A2, but she hadn't said more than the fact that they had been on a mission together.

There could have been more to A2 than what they knew. Besides, the Commander had lied to them about the whole existence of humans, who said that she didn't lie about her too?

He felt a surge of rage boiling deep inside him at the memory.

"Command is the one that betrayed you." A2 herself had told them these words, had she known all along? He didn't believe her at the time, but it made sense now, was it why she left then?

Had she tried to warn them?

Regardless, it was probably best to leave the two be, if A2 was truly dying, then he wouldn't want to agitate her, and besides, he trusted 2B, if she said she was okay and that she'd come back then she would.

With a heavy sigh he turned back, heading in the direction of Resistance Camp, 2B would be okay, and they would see each other again, and he would be there waiting for her, safe and sound, ready to comfort her whatever would happen between her and A2.

2B sat motionless, a hand extended halfway between her and A2, just hanging limply, unsure what to do. A2 was curled up on herself, her hands desperately clawing at her head, her eyes tightly shut as her pitiful screams echoed in the cave.

She must have been in so much pain… and 2B couldn't help her, she couldn't hack, she couldn't make her pain disappear with a wish or a prayer, she could just watch as A2 thrashed around in the flower field in agony.

She didn't know if she should try to touch her, her instinct was just to hold her and tell her sweet things until everything was over, even though she was no expert in these things she could try.

But she had no idea if it would have actually been helpful, if A2 would even know she was still there, she doubted the woman was able to form a coherent thought at this point.

And even if she wasn't afraid of her, there was no telling if A2 would turn back on her if she tried to physically approach her. If she would just let her, or if she was already too far gone to understand anything.

2B knew that A2 would be far too strong to try to fight her off if the worst would happen, infected units had their strength limiters removed, and even if A2 was old and her body was in dire need or maintenance, she knew that she could easily overpower her, she first had witnessed how strong she had been at the castle, where not only she survived the assault of both her and 9S combined, the Pods too, but had also managed to escape relatively unharmed.

No doubt A2 was stronger than her even without the virus coursing through her circuits.

She was just about to consider drawing her sword out at least for safety, when A2 once more rolled over facing her, one of her hands reaching over grabbing her skirt, threatening to shred it to pieces with just how strong the grip on it was. 2B had to resort to all of her willpower to not shove her away.

When A2 cracked one red eye open, 2B could see it shining with tears.

"H-help… me…" A2's broken plea had 2B shed her own tears. How she wished she could do anything for her instead of just helplessly watching…

Throwing caution to the wind, 2B gently hoisted her up so she was sitting in her lap, cradling her head against her chest, trying to give her some sort of relief, she noticed that A2's hands had left their previous position, and now were just limp in her lap, 2B assumed she lost control over them, so she placed one of her own there, and stroked her long matted hair.

A2 continued to cry and wail, however the fact that she wasn't yelling and thrashing wildly like before had 2B take it as a good sign, she hoped it was a good sign. If holding her was giving her some sort of comfort then she would continue for as long as it was necessary, should her arms fall off…

Red glowing eyes tiredly stared into her own blue ones. "Hurts… so much…"

2B placed her head against hers. "I'm so sorry…" she whispered, what else was there to say? If she hadn't been infected herself then A2 wouldn't be like this, even if she chose it on her own free will she still felt guilty for this.

She wasn't even sure if A2 could still hear her at all, or see her, or know who she was, she didn't know anything of what she was going through, how her systems were reacting to the virus compared to her own ones before.

If it was of any indication, her Pod wasn't saying anything about A2's mind having been corrupted, so she assumed she was still trying to fight it off. It would be so painful if she had to put her out after managing to get somewhat close to her in this moment of need. 2B would be lying if she didn't wish that she could just meet the woman again and just… talk.

And this all reminded her of those feelings she had about her, that A2 was different from what the Commander had told them she was. A2 opening up that little she did before had only confirmed her suspicions that in the end she wasn't that bad, that she'd just been deeply hurt.

So for what it was worth, she'd try to be kind to her when the world hadn't been.

Watching her suffer this way for her, 2B had come to the realization that no, she did not want A2 to die, it was selfish, but there was still so much she wanted to know about her…

The Commander was dead, there was no reason to chase her anymore, there was no reason for her to run and hide, to be a prey. 2B felt her rage well up again at just how much Commander White had lied and mistreated all of them, herself, A2 and 9S, and who knows how many others?

2B thought she was fighting for a good cause, not that she had just been created to be a killer to cover White's mistakes. And she'd been made out of A2's own data too, which made it all worse to know that she suffered so she could have been made.

She made a mental note to tell 9S too once this was over, he deserved to know, but first A2 needed her.

Since they had looked so much alike, if they had been human would A2 be considered an older sister to her then? 2B had never considered anything about human families before, at least not until 21O sent them on that fetch quest for her… and now she was gone like everyone else… she barely even had the time to see 6O before everything went to hell...

She was distracted from her thoughts when she felt A2 nuzzle further into her, probably unconsciously, thanks to her programming, 2B had no idea how to give relief to someone else, but, if that helped her then so be it. She watched as the woman closed her eyes with a painful sounding sigh.

"Thank… you…" barely a whisper, but 2B heard her, however A2 had more to say.

"Love... you… Number 4…"

Number 4 huh? 2B didn't quite know anyone that had that name, her Pod piped up, saying that A2 could have been having something that the humans called hallucinating, which caused them to see things that weren't there, was this Number 4 someone A2 had known? Probably.

2B didn't feel like saying anything, nor feeling offended, she knew A2 was absolutely not in the right state of mind right now, if she saw her like this person she cared about, then she'd pretend to be this person for the time being. She'd do everything that could be of help, for as little as it was.

Pod 042 alerted her that A2 had fallen in rest mode due to the excessive stress on her mind, 2B didn't know if it was a good thing or not, she hoped with all her might that once A2 woke up again she'd be fine, she hoped that maybe rest mode was just a way for her system to help her recover from the virus, and not that she would never wake up as herself again.

"Pod… will she be okay?"

"Unknown." well, that was useless, she didn't know what she could have expected, some glimmer of hope maybe.

Her Pod proposed that she'd also rest, as the whole ordeal had taken a lot out of her, mentally, she had been too worried for A2 to notice before though.

She agreed, however, she had him go retrieve her blindfold visor and soak it into the water of the river below the ravine, once he returned she placed A2 back and then put the cold cloth on her forehead. She had noticed that A2 had been very warm all along, a result of the strain her body had to handle, and 2B had known a human custom of putting a cloth soaked in the water whenever humans were sick from fevers, she thought it could give her a bit of relief even if probably she couldn't feel it at the moment.

"Pod, make sure to wake me up before she does." she wasn't willing to risk awakening with A2 attempting to kill her, should things go awry.

"Acknowledged."

With a nod she laid down next to her, holding a hand in hers, praying to whatever god there was that A2 would be fine when she would wake up again next to her.

Pod would watch over them with the Lunar Tears.

Just as soon as 9S stepped into the camp, he saw Anemone rush towards him, despite the apparent calm, it was evident that she was worried, no doubt she must have had questions.

"9S, good to see a familiar face, what happened to the Bunker, we saw an explosion." she looked around. "And where's 2B?"

"The logic virus, the machines managed to attack the Bunker's server infecting everyone that was connected to it, they…" he couldn't continue talking, his mind taking him back to what had just occurred.

The laughs coming from their friends, the explosions all around them, and the desperate run to try and at least save the Commander… and then him and 2B, chased from the Yorhas and getting separated…

He was thankful that Anemone didn't pry further, she understood without him needing to explain more. She was older, and probably had seen way more people die than he ever did, but it didn't mean it hurt less.

"As for 2B we managed to escape, but we got separated, she says she's fine though." he answered her second question.

"Did she say where she is?"

"She's at the commercial facility in the forest, but the bridge has fallen, however there's a place close by only we know, the thing is…"

Anemone waited for him to tell more, and 9S didn't quite know how to explain things, and hoped she wouldn't react too badly, however he knew she knew A2, but how did you tell someone, potentially a friend of that person, that they were dying?

He decided that keeping secrets wasn't the way to go in the end.

"Well I don't know how but somehow she met A2 and… well Pod thinks she might be dying… A2 I mean." he sighed. "I believe 2B is just trying to not leave her alone, that's all."

Anemone's reaction was not something he expected, she hadn't been emotional about it, she just stared, as if she struggled to grasp at what was being said. Maybe he should have stayed silent, but if the two had been friends than he believed she had to know, better if she did than finding out she'd been kept away and possibly getting mad at him.

He was about to talk when she motioned him to a more secluded corner of the camp, where there was a stack of crates. She sat down on one and indicated for him to do the same.

"First thing, thanks for not keeping it from me, 9S." at least he made the right choice. "And I suppose that when 2B comes back to thank her too, for not leaving A2 to die off alone and abandoned. You two are very kind."

He sat still, watching her, her expression didn't show much, still as stoic as ever, but it was clear she was at the very least saddened.

"I bet you're curious to know more."

"Well yeah, we always wanted to know more about A2, she's a mystery, but we were never allowed ro research further on her, 2B and I."

Anemone nodded. "I would assume your Commander had meant for you to think that she never existed, to hide the fact at all costs, because Number 2 was never meant to survive the mission she was sent to."

"You mean she never deserted Yorha, but that she was meant to be sacrificed but lived on despite the odds, so Yorha sent Executioners after her to get rid of her, to cover up the Commander's mistakes?"

"I would assume so." she nodded. "I don't know much of what happened after that mission, if you two hadn't come along asking for her, I wouldn't know she was alive still. But I understand her, if truly she had Yorha chasing her I can see why she didn't show up here."

"It would have put you and the Resistance in danger." 9S stated, so A2 spent all this time alone so she wouldn't hurt who she cared for.

"We met by chance, we found her and what remained of her squad in the desert, overwhelmed from the machines, your Commander ordered them to continue in their mission just them four, even if they had lost twelve units just in the descent, their objective was to blow up a machine server."

"Only four people? That's madness for such a mission!" he boiled with rage, did the Commander not care at all?

"When I met them, I didn't even believe Yorhas were worth a chance, but as we spent time together, I realized they were just like us… her friends… and my companions of the Resistance… they all died there…" she lowered her head, her hood obscuring her face.

"We weren't exactly friends but… I would have liked to see her once, to know that she was fine… that if she needed I was here for her, she protected me, in her own way." she sighed. "I wish I could have done something for her… at the very least."

9S placed a hand on her shoulder, she flinched, but didn't pull him away.

"I'm sorry to hear." he could only say. "The best I can do is to show you some images from when we fought, my Pod has them still, if you want to see her in some way, I guess…"

Anemone nodded to him, and Pod 153 floated in front of her face, projecting a few pictures of A2, from just before they engaged in the fight. She almost couldn't recognize her with the long hair, and her run down looks.

"She's had it rough…"

"I would assume so, did she always look like this?"

She shook her head. "No, imagine her more like 2B instead, she had a different dress, but the rest was the exact same, each time I saw 2B, I saw her."

9S nodded. "Must have been so hard on her with the machines and Yorha after her…" he sighed, continuing. "I was upset when 2B said that she was staying with her, but now I can't."

"2B is doing what I wish I was doing, and I'm glad that she is, she's a good one. Keep her close to you 9S."

"Yeah, I will for sure."

He knew what she was now, he had unfortunately seen it when he hacked into her before, however he didn't feel like blaming it on her, now knowing just how much the Commander had hidden things from them, things he wasn't meant to find so 2B had to keep him in order.

About the humans, and now even A2.

However until 2B was back to the camp there was nothing he could do, probably he'd just try his best to help Anemone out, to take some stress off her, she didn't need it after what he had just told her.

All that was left now was to wait.