Disclaimer:
Gate: Jietai Kano Chi Nite, Kaku Tatakaeri. Is written by Takumi Yanai and is the rightful owner of the material used in this fanfiction story.
NieR: Automata is the property of Square Enix, directed by Yoko Taro, and is the rightful owner of the material used in this fanfiction story.
This fanfiction story is made with no commercial means in mind, or in no way attempting to breach copyright law, or claim I am the owner of the material.
Chapter 2: Progress
To say that the two spent most of the day trying to understand what each other are speaking will be an understatement. Six hours of 2B trying to cipher and decrypt the words and sounds spoken by the girl, and while the Type-2 Android is making some progress, it is a painstakingly slow process. 2B realizes that this will take days until they can understand each other enough to have a simple conversation, and will take a few months for her to master this new and unknown language. While 2B has taken a seat on the chair summoned by her, Rory has to take a seat on the dirty ground.
The girl, which by now 2B knows the name of, Rory Mercury, has expressed her discontent and impatience throughout this whole process. Frustration vividly displayed on the face of Rory, while head scratches and arm crossings with deeply frustrating huffs are common from the fellow person. 2B on the other hand keeps her cool and remains patient, as, with everything, she understands that it will take time to understand something new. 2B understands why Rory appears to be so impatient and angry, they both did spend half a day speaking nonsense to one another. But, 2B guesses, she has all of the time in the world, while Rory does not.
2B has observed in crude detail the personality of Rory Mercury during the whole six hours, alongside learning the language spoken by her, of course. 2B summarizes her observation of Rory's personality, friendly judging from how she approached 2B. Rory is quick to anger and is rather impatient. 2B has no doubts that Rory is studying her as well, through those unsavory emotions the girl is expressing curiosity at 2B, and for 2B. If that is the case, then maybe Rory is not the one who pulled 2B out of the glimpse of death. 2B doubts the Hand Of Life would pull her out if it doesn't know who and what she is.
The day has been sunny the entire time with little to no clouds in the sky. The two are bathed constantly by the constant warm rays of the sun, while the wind continues to be restless and is blowing hard the entire time. The whistling of the wind is like a relaxing melody played by nature for the two, the rustling of the grass and the occasional animals hopping by adds to the symphony of natural peace. The crows still fly above, still staying faithful with Rory's location, and 2B is rather curious with these crows. Their caws are not frequent, silent most of the time except for the flaps of their wings.
2B summarizes the result of their entire 6-hour learning process. Some words spoken by Rory have some similarities to the language of the ancients. A very thin similarity, but it has some of it. If the language spoken by Rory is similar to the language of the ancients, then this is around the same period, or maybe even years before it. Not fluent in the language of the ancients, 2B has to calmly pick apart her memories in search of any similarities in structure and wording. Moments of 9S explaining the music sung by Devola and Popola come in very handy at this time, through them, 2B can decipher a few of the words.
But, with them being the only help she will get, projections by 2B still say several days until a simple conversation can be done. However it 2B got a bone thrown at her by this fact, the language spoken by Rory must be ancient, even more, ancient than the language of the ancients. That means she is somewhere in the past, and not in the future where the Earth has dissolved every trace of humanity existing. So… could it be that Rory is… a human? 2B won't be able to find out until this whole ordeal is over, so for now she sets that thought aside and makes the primary objective to be learning the language.
"Unus" Rory spoke. Afterward, Rory holds up one finger. "Duo". And Rory holds up two fingers. So unus means the number one, while duo means the number two. "Tribus" Rory then adds another finger, having three fingers hold up. So Tribus means the number three. 2B nods at Rory, and Rory forms a small smile on her face. She continues to count up in her language and gives a visual representation through the number of fingers held up. Finally, in a minute, 2B can count to ten in the language spoken by Rory. 2B gives Rory a smile and a firm nod to signal her understanding of the meanings, and Rory cheers with a few claps for 2B. A moment after, Rory holds up both of her index fingers and joins them next to one another. "Undecim" So that would mean the number eleven. Holding up the middle finger of her right hand, Rory makes the number twelve. "Duodecim."
Through that simple rhythm, 2B now can count up to one hundred in Rory's language. This is some steady progress that they are making, and with them using this method for the past four hours, 2B understands quite a lot. Saving these words and the meaning of them within her memory bank, 2B can confidently shorten the timeframe of having a simple conversation in just a day, while mastering the language to be within the month. They've been at it for nearly an entire day. Rory stands up and stretches her legs and arms, then looks around at the field they are in. Lifting her massive halberd from resting on the ground, she walks off towards a small flock of sheep that has wandered into the vicinity.
2B watches on from where she sits, looks like Rory wants to take a little break from their language class. Just then, 2B detects an intrusion within her software. A small spark that she felt, causing her to conduct a system scan. 2B fears that it might be the Logic Virus, maybe a weaker one, that's been hiding behind utility and junk bytes. Rising her hand to her temple, cupping it as she conducts the scan, a small throbbing headache begins to grow. That small headache then enlarges to pressure, as if something is pushing in and out her skull. Flinching with each shock, 2B starts to slowly panic. Not knowing what is going on, she gets up from her seat and takes several steps forward.
However the pressure increases with each step, and she is forced to collapse down onto her knees, still clutching her temple with one of her hands. Static begins to play, overwhelming her senses and her system is in full emergency mode. Is it the Logic Virus? If so, how did it enter her systems? She's not connected to any network, and there's no way she contracted it through airborne contamination. The headache has turned into an overwhelming searing pain, with 2B beginning to yell and scream while clutching tightly onto her head with both of her hands. It's Rory, isn't it? It must be her, there's no other way for the Logic Virus to infect 2B other than Rory.
That spark, it must've been Rory cracking into her systems. She must be an infected android, but if so, how could have she hid it so well!? Collapsing onto the ground, writhing in pain and through gritted teeth, her screams echo on for miles. The progression of the virus is so fast, 2B cannot stop it now. Reborn, only to be killed by the Logic Virus? What game is this? 9S, without 9S she is going to be infected, and there is no going back. Her vision slowly goes dark, her system's diagnostic unable to continue for a while now from the pain. In the next few moments, through weak breaths, and closing eyes, she sees Rory's feet, slowly approaching her.
Darkness, once again. 2B can't feel anything, and she cannot speak. Is that it? Revived and then to die again before she gets any more answers? What is going on, who was Rory? Why was she placed in that place? What was the purpose of it all!? She didn't even get a chance to leave the vicinity where she woke up, and now she's back here? Ridiculous, ludicrous, simply outrageous. Folding up her legs to her chest, and wrapping her arms around her knees, 2B feels betrayed and at the same time, she feels confused.
A moment later, however, she's back. Her system's boot-up sequence starts, and the word 'YoRHa' with the logo to the left-hand side of the text is opaquely visible. The ensuing system check ensures 2B that everything is fine, her vitals are normal, her memory unit is green, the black-box temperature and internal pressure are normal, and all systems are green. But there's something she noticed in the boot-up sequence, a new core module that's been mysteriously updated. 'Language Pack Module' 2B sees, and a few seconds afterward the screen disappears and everything turns black.
The sound of chirping crickets fades in, while the rustling of the grass and the cracklings of a campfire come in second to that. 2B takes a breath and feels the air intake into her body, and her chest moves upon each time she takes a breath. So she isn't dead… Feeling more confused than ever, 2B slowly opens up her eyes and is met with a dark landscape, blanketed by the slight light from the moon. Feeling hazy and exhausted, 2B pushes herself up from the ground and sits up, side-sitting on the grass. Still confused, 2B takes in the landscape in front of her in more detail. The same arrangement of trees, in the same plains as before. So 2B passed out after the killing headache she got, strange.
"Ah, you're finally awake." The soft voice of a little girl is heard from 2B's right. The prospect of being in someone's presence in such a vulnerable state surprises her and quickly faces the direction the voice came from. 2B comes upon a lit campfire, its fire burning away with wood as its fuel, crackling. Behind the campfire is a little girl, Rory Mercury, her halberd lay unattended on the ground to the left. "I was beginning to worry you were dead, you know? I didn't know learning my language could be such a deadly experience, heh… like you'll understand me at this state, I must sound like a rambling little girl." Rory sighs and leans back with her arms on the ground, looking up at the beautiful stars in the night sky. "I imagine it would take months for us to be able to understand one another, although progress is steady."
2B's shocked but doesn't display it physically. She can understand every bit Rory is saying, in her voice, her tone, and her articulation. No, this is not the work of translation software, it's 2B understanding and knowing the context of the words Rory is saying, in her language. Is it the work of the Language Pack Module that was mysteriously booted up back when she became conscious again? How could have she gotten that module, and how could it make 2B understand Rory's language? 2B speaks. "There's no need to imagine." 2B's words made Rory jump in her boots, snapping her head at 2B with a gaping mouth, blinking rapidly in shock. "I can understand you now." 2B says again coldly, shifting her sitting position and facing the campfire, legs crossed.
Rory's struggling to form coherent words, and instead blurt out sounds as her shock hasn't resided. "I-i-i uhh... But… you-... HOW!?" Rory moves up to her knees and hands, leaning forward at 2B with wide eyes and a now more surprised look. "Did you magically learn the language after that… whatever happened to you causing you to collapse like that?" Rory takes a deep breath, while 2B watches with a cold face, but is amused by the reaction given by Rory. Sitting back down on her butt, Rory sighs in defeat. "Well, at least you're okay. And one big hurdle between us is now dissolved, you truly are one interesting person." Rory looks back up into the night sky, gazing at the stars. "Oh Emroy, what's your plan now…"
2B stares into the crackling campfire, the flames dancing away in the night, while the embers from it fly up and disappear. Looking up into the dark sky, riddled with bright stars and the shining moon, it's oddly beautiful. The dark void up there is not empty, filled with stars far away, while the moon watches over the night. It's a light hue blanketing the land with enough visibility. So this is what 'night' looks like, remembering that conversation with Engels, 2B wishes that 9S can be here to witness it. "Night… it's beautiful." 2B thinks out loud, prompting a response from Rory.
"Night? Yeah, it's beautiful. Quite peaceful too, but it can be dangerous." Rory stops her stargazing to look at 2B with a raised brow, curious about the sentence the YoRHa android just said. "Why are you saying it like that? 'Night'? Are you saying you never experienced nighttime before? And this is the first time for you?" Rory's quite bewildered with the YoRHa Android's lacking concept of night, but who can blame 2B? The sun never set, and the moon was never in the sky and night did not happen. The cyclical between light and dark used to happen, but the sun stayed in the sky. Sure it moves back and forth, but it's perpetually there.
2B simply answers with a nod to Rory's question, and that is enough to satisfy the girl. Rory smiles, still curious about the YoRHa android. "First time for everything, huh? Now I'm wondering where you're from. But before that!" Rory stands up, carrying her halberd with her. Spinning the halberd within her hand, raising it over her head, Rory slashes down to the right and giggles. "Let me introduce myself for real. My name is Rory Mercury, an apostle for the god of war and darkness, Emroy!" 2B watching the display, ponders on Rory's last words. Emroy, the name she understood. A god, a real god? And Rory is his apostle?
"Hmmm…" Fixated on the fact that Rory claims that she is an apostle of a god, a real god, 2B nearly forgot to introduce herself back in the conversation. "Ah- It's nice to meet you, Rory Mercury. I'm 2B'' She introduces herself, quite a simple response, and is concise. 2B likes it when everything is quick and to the point, but most of the time, it's never that easy. "Thank you for your help".
"...That's your name? That's all? Is it some sort of nickname?"
2B never had any other name than that, she's unsure what Rory wants her to say and frankly, there's nothing else 2B can think to say other than the truth. It's her name, her codename, and her manufacturing name. "No, it's my full name. 2B, it's that."
"We're so pleased you've chosen to visit the Tower today! Don't forget about the special prize for the guest who unlocks the last sub-unit in the room just ahead. You're going to LOVE it!"
Gripping tightly onto Cruel Oath, walking down the flying corridors of white blocks, passing columns and fallen debris. Walking around holes in the floor that leads to certain death, while 9S grits his teeth in suppressed anger and rage. He's been hearing the red girls' mockery since he entered the tower, and he's getting sick of it. Jumping up high and doing a front flip to get over some fallen blocks, he lands back on his feet and continues walking the path. "I'm gonna kill you." He hissed.
Dashing forward and then jumping to cross a gap in the path, 9S slashes down on a YoRHa android that has fallen to the Logic Virus. Landing on one knee, 9S turns around and plunges Cruel Oath into the hunched android's back, impaling her. A scream of pain echoed throughout the landscape, dissolving into a death groan as it falls limp onto the ground. Slipping Cruel Oath out, 9S turns back around and returns to the direction of the path.
He stops in front of two large doors, leading to what seems to be a grand cathedral in this ocean of white and grey. Floating like every single other structure in this wretched and cursed place, 9S turns his head to look at the horizon. Large floating islands of the same white blocks lay dormant in the distance, while a mysterious light source shines rays past those islands. The machines are getting more clever every day, the Tower is one of their recent constructions. Grunting in hatred and disgust, 9S returns his gaze towards the large double doors of the cathedral.
Slowly walking up to it, looking up and down its entire height, 9S gives the parting in the middle a light push. The doors open and a rush of air seeps through, and without 9S's further touch, the doors continue to open until they're as wide as they can open. 9S steps through the open doors and walks into the cathedral. It's dark with little lighting, the finer details now hidden behind a fog of dark. His NFCS shines a light golden hue on the ground, being the only light source 9S has currently at his disposal. But it's not like it'll matter, if it's an ambush then he'll just cut through them without a second of doubt.
But 9S doesn't have all of the time in the world, he needs to get to the top of the tower, kill the Red Girls, and avenge 2B. But the Red Girls are not the ones who truly killed 2B, it was A2. He saw it with his own two eyes, 2B's limp body falling onto the rocks at the edge of that cliff while A2 stands proudly above her. It makes his blood boil just thinking about it, but now's not the time to reminisce, he has a tower to climb. Taking a deep breath, he breaks into a run while panting, still some explosive residue left from those thoughts.
Figures in black clothing fall from the ceiling, landing on their feet with loud thuds and shuffles. 9S slowly stops running and looks at all the newly appeared assailants. As they raise their heads, 9S realizes who they all look like. "2B Models…?" Raising his hand to his mouth, cupping it, 9S is unable to hold the sorrow slipping out from him. Slowly sobbing and taking small, restricted breaths, 9S raises his hand to cover his eyes, with the other following suit.
Leaning down to avoid looking at all of the 2B models, his sobbing breaks into some small, pained laughter. "I'm glad I got to see you here… I truly am." Slipping his fingers behind the visor, he pulls it off revealing his light blue eyes. "I'll tear you apart… Every last one of you!"
A second later the 2B models materialize their weapons and 9S dashes past the models in front of him. Spinning back around, facing the horde of Androids, Pod 153 opens fire with its Gatling Gun at the rapidly approaching 2Bs. Two androids come in from his right and left flanks, striking him but he dodges back with a dash. Taking Cruel Oath forwards, he strikes them both with open slices and quick turns. Throwing Cruel Oath forward as it cuts down a group of Androids, he takes Virtuous Treaty from its' holster within the NCFS and spins.
Cutting up some more, 9S lets go of Virtuous Treaty as it reappears on his back, and backflips out from the crowd and dash back. Sprinting in a wide circle, Pod 153 continues its' relentless fire on the 2B models. Firing off its R010: Laser, Pod 153 blasts away at a line of the bloodthirsty and animalistic Androids while 9S continues to circle in a perimeter, outrunning them while the Pod continues to do work.
Skidding to a stop 9S throws Cruel Oath forward once again and twirl around taking Virtuous Contract into his hands, swinging the heavy blade left and right before letting go and spinning around again. Cruel Oath returns to 9S's hands and he focuses on cutting away at a single 2B model, while Pod 153 keeps the other back. "2B!" He plunges the blade deep into the model's chest, taking it out a second later and turning around to face the others.
"Don't worry…" Dashing forward again and going into the heart of it, 9S cuts and slashes in all directions while Pod 153 fires off another laser blast. "I'm going to kill you now!" 9S jumps up twice into the air and twirl around, taking Virtuous Contract and slamming it down into the ground, creating a shockwave while impaling a 2B model right down its head. Letting go of the heavy blade in the Model, 9S cuts away at the approaching other models, while Virtuous Contract reappears at his back, the body limply falling forward.
"Ack!" Struck by one of the 2B models, 9S strikes back twice as hard and rip apart the arm of the model. Parts of his skin are damaged, revealing the cold and black interior of his Android self while he plunges his blade into another 2B model. Hacking and slashing away at the rest, some of his strikes are blocked but he manages. Dodging away with a backflip, sending out decoy copies, 9S lands back on his feet and slice a model in half. He turns around and plunges Cruel Oath into the abdomen of another, turning around again and taking Virtuous Contract and hacking away at a new target.
9S reaches out with his arm towards another model, and hack into the systems of the Android. It's a fight but not as hard as the physical one outside, and within a few seconds he activates its' self-destruct, and returning to his body, the Android explodes in a glorious display of smoke and flying fragments. In the process, it also hurt the models standing beside it. Just a little more, his torture will come to end in just a few moments. Just continue killing 2B for a few more seconds and he'll be free from this.
Bodies kept coming, Android bodies, 2B bodies. And while they kept coming, they all kept falling. One by one the Android models lay motionless on the cold, white floor, while 9S continues his fight against this nightmare. A sick parody to mock and down trot him using his emotions, and the reminder that 2B, the one he loves, is dead. But he's getting throughout, through healing salves applied in an instant, to the slashes he keeps pumping out, he feels the nightmare passing. Finally, one 2B model is left standing in the room. With one swift strike from Cruel Oath, she is cut down.
"Alert: Enemy detected." Displayed on his radar is one red marker, marked by his pod of a still alive 2B model. Walking over to the heaving body, it tried to rise, pushing itself up. But 9S stops it, plunging his blade down straight into its chest, killing it. And with that, this nightmare is finished and gone. 2B is dead, and 9S killed her with his own bloody hands.
Sparks fly off the point of contact of both blades, sword, and halberd. The halberd retreats and swings back around for a low strike, but the sword once again blocks it. More sparks come off, then the sword slips up and behind the blade of the halberd and thrust forward. A dance of metal, the clangs of metal strikes, and the shuffling of legs on grass and dirt. Blood drips down from freshly cut wounds, staining not only a frilly dress but also the green and pure untouched grass. A lively flower that had bloomed, crushed beneath the heels of battle, as the heat of it continue to rise.
The two women continue trading blows, one after the other, but there's a clear trend. 2B would stand her ground and focus on the defensive, while Rory goes ahead with unrelenting attacks, and it appears 2B is winning. With one swing of Rory's halberd, 2B expertly dodges back with a step and retaliates with a swing of her own, cutting yet another fresh wound on the apostle's body. Heavy breaths slip from Rory's lips, her body heaving and hunched. Her eyes focused on the enemy, 2B, as she stands with one hand behind her back, and her blade in the other pointed at the ground in front of her.
Rory groans, pushing herself off the ground with her legs and jumping into the air. Giving herself a nice spin to throw 2B off, trying to give a sense of mystery, trying not to give away where she is going to strike. In the end, Rory holds her halberd high above her head and with one powerful strike, slams down the massive blade to where 2B once stood. A cloud of dust explodes from the landing obscuring Rory's vision, did Rory get her? The apostle is unsure about the results of this duel, and can only wait for the dust to clear to get a good view.
A second later a pair of legs sweep up and throw off Rory from the ground, her falling flat on her back with a high-pitched yelp and a loud thud. Groaning from the pain, the thing Rory sees when she opens her eyes is 2B's blade placed right up to the apostle's throat. The dust settles and the apostle breaks into a wide grin of absolute pleasure and respect. They've been sparring the rest of the night away, and Rory has to give the person from another world, she is extremely skilled in not only swordsmanship but also dodging and exploiting opportunities given by the enemy.
Throughout the whole length of the fight, Rory has observed 2B's movements and techniques to not only try finding an opening but also to study the mysterious traveler. 2B's style can be summarized to be elegant, smooth subtle movements and added with a flair that gives 2B the appearance of moving like fluid water. Every movement is well rounded with no sharp edges, every attack purposely delayed for a few seconds to give more depth to the attack but also to have the opportunity of adapting to enemy movements. It's very clever and extremely skillful of 2B to be able to do those in the heat of battle.
2B lifts Virtuous Contract away from Rory's throat, and in a blink of an eye, it disappears in a golden spark and reappears on 2B's back with the same golden spark, a halo around the floating weapon. "That was a good fight." 2B praises Rory's fighting skills, a good opponent but nothing 2B can't handle. With that, Rory chuckles in excitement, thrilled to have 2B here as she gets herself back up to her two feet. Rory's wounds and cuts bubble up, the blood popping and purging any foreign diseases while the flesh and muscle regrow, and the skin grows over the wound, closing it up.
Rory looks down at her dress, pouting a little bit after seeing the cuts done to the fabric. "Ugh, I'm gonna need to sow this up," Rory complains. Looking up back at 2B, the Android is staring off into the horizon. Looking towards the same way, Rory gets to see the sun rising, signaling that they did spend the entire night battling. But it was not just friendly sparring, Rory got to learn some valuable and interesting information from the conversation the two had during the night. "So, you're in search of purpose, right?" Rory asks 2B, who's now rather encapsulated by the beauty of the sunrise.
But Rory's question didn't go unanswered for long, as the Android turn her head towards Rory, and nodded. Rory forms a warm smile, picking up her halberd and leaning it against her shoulder. "After I've done my morning prayers, we're heading out to find your purpose in this world."
Author's Notes:
Thank you for taking interest in this new fanfiction I'm working on, please give me as much constructive criticism as possible, because I still want to improve :)
Anyways, I'll see you all next chapter, goodbye!