Understanding
A group of four walked through the forest as their various forms remained shadowed by the foliage and trees, the most different of them a little machine, hovered above ground calmly unaware or perhaps merely indifferent to the wary ambiance that had settled at the back as the two of the more humanoid beings watched with anxious eyes as the metallic gray body continually ignored them. Murmuring could be heard from the two girls it wasn't something that could be interpreted from any outside of their close range but the sentiment was still there as their hands clasped their blades tightly.
The last of this little group on the other hand walked calmly hands in pockets regarding their environment instead rather than their supposed enemy in front, long since noticing the lack of weaponry on the machine's form, it hadn't exactly been the first time since they passed through the forest but now without the complication of enemy inhabitants he could finally see the beauty of something wholly natural. It had a different feel from the ocean view back in their makeshift base… the lack of humanity's imprint made it refreshing.
It still had some human quality but that seemed more machine-made than anything else as he looked up noticing the intricate pathways made out of wood up above in the trees, though a lot of them seemed half made… or maybe half destroyed as they now walked through the dirt floor instead.
The machine hadn't communicated since their meeting back in the amusement park satisfied to just truck along without even looking back to see if the group was still following it, this seemed to further infuriate his female companions as they looked around waiting for an ambush.
Sighing Shirou decided to talk at least to try and assuage his more frantic friends.
"How much further until the village?"
The little being slowly turned its head around like an owl looking at them with emotionless yellow eyes "Not… long."
"Can you tell us anything about it?" Popola this time talked prodding carefully.
"Old village... only Pascal there…"
"So we're only to meet this Pascal then?" Devola asked as her lips creased into a frown "Not much of an olive branch when you're too afraid to show your true base."
Shirou's eyebrow rose up as he turned towards the woman "You know that old saying?"
"Huh?" Her body recoiled in surprise at his questioning "Yeah… I mean of course, why wouldn't I?"
"No reason, just kinda weird how some things still exist and have the same meaning after so long."
Popola looked at both before fully addressing Shirou her expression showing confusion "Why aren't you taking this seriously? We can be walking into danger you know."
Shirou frowned before slowing down his pace putting himself in the middle of the two "I am and if they wanted to attack us they would have already we've passed through the best spots for an ambush, you know that too." even saying that he understood that it wasn't easy getting past biases especially ones that permeated through thousands of years of war, so giving the two a smile he continued "that machine doesn't have any weapons to speak off and while that might just be to take our guard down it's a risk worth taking this is after all the first machine that came to us to hold a meeting of all things. If something happens I'll protect you two don't worry."
"That's kinda what we're afraid of…" Devola said quietly but loud enough to be heard.
"I'm not worried about myself either." Shirou smiled at them "Nowadays I don't really have to worry about watching my back I have you two, don't I? I wouldn't take this risk if I didn't think we were capable."
"If you say so Shirou…" Popola said trying to remain focused but couldn't quite contain the clear giddiness she got from his words as she tried very hard to not allow a dopy smile to appear on her face "… still though I don't really trust anything these machines have to say."
"And it's fair that you don't, but still…" he looked up once more as the makeshift roads got more intricate and housing not that much dissimilar to something manlike seemed to appear in the distance as the full scope of the machine village finally gave to reality "… I'm sure they feel the same."
The machine stopped near the entrance "Pascal is in the center you will need to go down a ladder." and with that, the machine started hovering away going faster than he had before the intent was clear it didn't want to be followed.
It wasn't his objective anyway but the amount of protectiveness the machine showed towards its own was to be commended.
"Shall we go?" he looked from left to right trying to get an answer out of his partners only to find them gone and already up the road crouched with their heads darting around as if inspecting for any traps.
"We'll go first and you stand on the back alright Shirou?" Popola said pulling herself up from her position weapon fully drawn and ready.
The man merely crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders "As you wish Popola."
Devola remained silent but aware giving her sister a nod as she went deeper into a place that perhaps no other android had been in as of yet. Shirou on the other hand awaited the okay from his overprotective androids.
His own eyes started wondering checking every tidbit of his surroundings not out of caution but curiosity, the structure of the village was strange but familiar at the same time, a large tree surrounded by wood and metal structures quite basic from what he could tell just a roof with four walls, two floors could be seen each one going upwards making use of the trunk to set the bases. It was rather unique, kinda like a village of elves from fantasy books.
He was finally able to get into the village after a little while though with Devola sticking close to him her hand grabbing his own, she remained mostly silent but given how her eyes quickly darted left to right in quick succession she didn't exactly like that they were close to enemy territory. Seems their last fight had made her antsier.
The duo set their foot onto the bridge connecting the road to the first floor of the village, the wood creaking under their weight but being able to fully support it without much issue. His eyes turned upwards as he noticed the second floor looked more barren. It had been constructed for further housing but they either hadn't been able to finish or couldn't yet.
He attempted to continue but was stopped as Devola pulled on his arm trying to show him something.
"Look." She pointed down towards a machine who being noticed waved its arm nervously.
His eyes narrowed at the weird form, it was unlike any he had seen before but like the village weirdly familiar it looked like how humans thought machines were supposed to look. Head, arms, legs, shoulders all clearly defined he even had a neck, unlike its brethren.
Taking a step back from his own thoughts Shirou decided to wave back, Immediately the machine recoiled freezing where he stood.
"I guess he's afraid of ya." Devola said from his left her voice having just the slightest hint of teasing.
Shirou's arm slowly went down looking a bit perplexed "Guess so."
"Hey." Popola made herself known near the ladder as she finished checking out their surrounding "Pretty sure this thing won't fall on us and I don't see any other machine, so we might as well go down and see what this one wants."
Her sister merely nodded while moving to the other side of the bridge "You coming Shirou?"
Shirou had yet to take his eyes away from the machine as it started to tremble slightly "Yeah." he said finally tearing his gaze away.
Popola had already made her way down before them clearly trying to see if the machine would try something, he was the second one it was something of a request from Devola she jokingly said it was to see if he wanted to look up at the goods but it was probably to defend him in case of something appearing above them.
The three of them now firmly on the ground looked towards the machine lifeforms their eyebrows rose up in confusion as they realized that the machine was prepping himself up.
Taking something akin to a deep breath the machine finally spoke "H-hello… My name is Pascal." the voice was feminine rather surprising considering the lifeforms appearance "You must be wondering why I decided to invite you to… well… I can't exactly call it my village anymore…" the now-named Pascal started rambling before stopping and coughing to its hand seemingly embarrassed "...We were watching you back at the amusement park once we noticed that androids entered the area, we thought considering your reputation that none there would be left alive but you stayed your weapon and well… anyway please think of this as my group trying to make peace with yours."
"You must be joking there's no way…" Devola started going off before stopping as Shirou put a hand on her shoulder.
He took a step towards Pascal "You're afraid of me aren't you."
The machine scratched the back of its head its eyes going downwards towards the ground almost ashamed "Yes."
"Why?"
"Like I said you have quite the reputation… I believe you're being used to scare some of our children off of doing something bad." Pascal spoke softly almost jokingly.
Shirou ran a hand through his hair "I didn't think what I've done would warrant much merit it isn't any different than any other android, is it? After all, this is a war."
"True and I'm not trying to call you evil, I apologize for the way I'm interacting with you it isn't how I wanted to be perceived but…" Pascal looked up from the ground finally gathering enough courage to look at his eyes "… it's like my body is telling me to run, it's quite a new feeling and I don't know yet how I'm supposed to counter it."
Shirou nodded taking a step back giving the machine enough space to gather itself "I'm not here to hurt you or yours for that matter."
"I already gathered that and I thank you for destroying the machine in the amusement park it was giving us a lot of trouble."
Shirou merely nodded leaning back against a post, trying to make himself look as relaxed as possible.
"Okay, now that the pleasantries are done can we know what this is all about." Popola crossed her arms while narrowing her eyes at the machine's not really liking the thing already as it was talking badly about Shirou.
Pascal looked at her "My apologies this wasn't the best start huh. I simply thought it was the best choice to meet you right now, I know your group already passed through where we are staying now… and I've seen your work better to meet you alone than you passing through the village and something… happening." the machine said awkwardly.
"Wait where exactly are you staying?" Devola asked her eyes glaring back towards the green lights of the machine, seems she shared the same opinion as to her sister.
Pascal started scratching the back of its head "This was only supposed to be for some time until things died down... a lot of our members didn't feel safe anymore standing so close to patrolling troops who would just see us as an enemy, so it was decided that we try our luck deeper into the forest maybe the castle."
Shirou narrowed his eyes "I've been there I very much doubt the machines running around would allow you to do as you please."
"We thought so too but we had very few options and the machine back at the amusement park wouldn't exactly have made it easy to live there either… but…." Pascal looked at all three as if trying to discern something.
"But?"
"Well… I thought you had done it but by the time we got to the castle it was barren, it was as if they all up and left, we started making use of it since then."
Devola looked at the ground pensive "Do you think this was Her work?"
Popola's head shot up staring at her sister in confusion "She left before we did, do you really think she would come back to just finish the job?"
Devola simply gave her a deadpan stare as if she didn't even need to answer the question.
Pascal just looked at the two in confusion "I'm sorry who are you speaking off?"
Shirou leaned back into a railing having come with the same conclusion as Devola "A rogue android, you aren't safe in the castle if she did that, she might come back."
"I see…" Pascal looked around the village as if reminiscing "You know at first we thought about contacting Yorha in some way to show that we are not a part of this war and to remain peaceful, then everything started ramping up and that notion was forgotten."
"You really believe that you could leave it behind and that androids would allow that?" Shirou asked looking down at the machine due to the height difference.
"We already communicated with androids you know? Anemone the leader of the resistance in this city made regular tradings with us… and to answer your question no I don't believe that we can run away from the war but I have to try for the ones I have to take care of." Pascal rose for the first time staring resolute against the human's own eyes.
Shirou simply closed his eyes and smiled "I see the more I learn about machines the less I feel like a stranger in this world."
"Shirou?" Devola asked not really getting where he was going with this...
Shirou stopped leaning and walked forward clasping a hand to the machine's shoulder a yelp of fear was heard from it "Seems I'll protect you and your people as well."
Pascal simply tilted its head to the left in confusion "Okay… thanks?"
The man nodded returning back to his place in between the two sisters who now stared questioning his decision.
The machine on the other hand continued to look utterly confused but considering that the peace talks went well it decided to ask a more personal question giving in to its own curiosity of the maligned being in front of it "You seem rather different from any other android I had the pleasure to talk to and while that isn't the biggest pool of people I am still able to see what they are after… but your objective remains hidden even after our discussion." It hesitated for a second noticing how the trio didn't stop it from continuing "If you don't mind me asking what exactly are you after?"
"I want to make the world better than this." the answer came easily and quickly the words floating out of his mouth before he had even time to think.
"That's not fully it is it?" Pascal murmured loud enough to hear "You don't have to answer it, despite your reputation you proved yourself to be much better and that's enough for me."
Shirou looked at the machine narrowing his eyes trying to understand what part he seemingly left out "I just don't want to see anyone in front of me crying."
The machine tilted its head "I see?" Pascal seemed puzzled by the phrase "Machines have yet to show that ability, I wonder if we can…"
Pascal stared at the human it was innocent in nature it seemed honestly confused by his wording "… can you?"
Shirou didn't so much react at the machine's questioning as just remained quiet staring at the machine as it now fumbled around trying to explain itself.
Pascal noticing this waved its hand in front of him "I didn't mean to insult you it's just there seems to be something… more personal for you."
Popola grit her teeth noticing the subtle changes in his expression, deciding she had enough "Huh? Shirou has been saving androids nonstop from you since he got here don't you dare questi…"
"Popola it's fine." Shirou said in a low voice seemingly perturbed by the machine's questioning.
An awkward anxious silence settled between the four as Pascal started tapping its foot nervously "If you want I can lead you to the castle to meet with the other villag…"
"Maybe some other time." Shirou interrupted him giving him a small smile trying to tell the machine that no bad feelings were harbored.
"Huh?" the machine once again tilted its head in confusion "You're leaving already?"
"I'll come back to see this village of yours, I'm very curious as to how a machine society lives but I have something to do, something I've been postponing." The man walked past him "The entrance to the desert shouldn't be far from here, if we walk through the rooftops we should be able to go without anyone noticing, Popola can you contact Jackass for me."
The woman nodded "For what purpose exactly?"
"She's the only one close with Yorha we know."
This made the two widen their eyes.
"You don't mean." Devola stuttered slightly something inside her turning "Are you sure about this?"
"We've met quite a lot machines and androids even rogues of both sides, I don't understand enough yet but I'm getting a clearer and clearer picture of this future I settled in but there's still a missing piece I haven't yet bothered to understand." his back was turned from them so they couldn't tell what he was feeling his voice remaining emotionless.
Popola clenched her hand tightly "Then what..?"
"Then…" he turned to look at them eyes now burning gold "It's time to stop hiding."
(Desert)
"… There's been some weird activity in the amusement park, we want you to have a look see if you can find anything …" the voice sounded professional but at the same time soft and kind which seemed to compliment the person talking as the screen showed golden locks and blue eyes, the rest of her features remained hidden by a black mask but it was easy to tell that the woman on the other side was nothing but beautiful.
2B nodded "Understood 6O."
"Soooo uuuuh… how's the weather hope you didn't get your skin burnt, I know the sun is pretty hot where you're at." her voice this time turned whimsical.
"Android's are unaffected by the sun." in contrast the more battle-hardened of the two seemed almost emotionless.
"Aaaah riiight… I was just worried." she didn't really seem embarrassed despite her wording "… anyway try and contact me again once you're in the area alright and be careful 2B."
"Will do operator." she saw a pout even behind the mask as she closed the call, turning around she saw her companion kicking his feet in the air as he laid down under a broken bridge looking at nothing.
"Get up we got a new mission."
"Aye aye 2B, wait didn't one of the resistance members ask us to find some artifacts or something in this place?"
2B sighed "We are under no orders to help the resistance."
9S shook his head "But that doesn't mean we can't right? Not as if our mission is that urgent. Who knows where Red and A2 are by now."
2B rubbed the bridge of her nose "Fine but you're doing it by yourself."
9S shrugged his shoulders "Fine I just have to find them anyway."
(Shirou)
"Seriously you called me all this way for that." Jackass said rolling her head around hand gripping the back of her neck as her voice rolled out with clear annoyance. "I even had to give a shit excuse to my little helper now he's getting suspicious."
Shirou sighed at the woman though remaining calm long since knowing how to deal with these types "Well since you're here you might as well help us no?"
She stopped her movement glaring at the human "Oh is that so?" she took a few steps her hands going to her hips "What's in it for me?"
"Not getting discovered that you're upholding information about Red."
She stared at him dumbfounded before throwing her head back and laughing "Seriously you're blackmailing me over helping you… damn, that actually takes some balls, I respect that."
"Just help us out it isn't that big of a deal Jackass." Popola voiced out rubbing her temple in frustration.
"How about this instead." the woman pointed at him with a smirk on her face "You give me a bit of your blood and we'll call it even."
His eyebrow rose at her demand while Devola put herself in front of Shirou glaring fully at the woman, slapping away her hand "Why the hell do you want his blood?"
Jackass merely rubber her hand "Why wouldn't a scientist like myself want to run a few experiments with fresh blood.. from a human."
The trio didn't give much of a reaction to her declaration though the narrowing of their eyes was more than enough to make the woman smirk.
"How did you find out?" Shirou asked his voice serious though not forceful.
"Not even trying to deny it? It was just one of the conclusions, I was trying to get a piece of you that's why sent you after machines but seriously you must be something else, not once did you get injured. Regardless you aren't leaving here without something for me to work with so I would find out either way."
Popola crossed her arms "You don't really seem to care?"
Jackass looked questioningly at her "Oh I do lots… just not in the same way as you do, still though it's best if you do give me some of your blood I can run some tests see if everything's okay with you, I'm guessing that's something the cheerleading duo haven't done yet."
"He's of fine health if that's what you're implying, we are trained medics do remember who you're speaking to." Devola said glaring hatefully at the woman.
Jackass simply chuckled "Right, right must have been fun using that little skill was it the first time you used it? After all there isn't anyone else you could get your hands on.
"Enough." Shirou sighed running a hand through his hair "I accept, now can you tell us anything."
Jack nodded "There's a duo of androids moving in and out of the city and as luck would have it they're in the desert right now if you want to talk to Yorha that's your best bet. White hair a male and a female wearing black you can't miss them." She said throwing pair of binoculars to him and a flask. "If you want to find them be my guest better just do it quickly they must be coming back by now."
He grabbed the items all the while grumbling, he was rather annoyed with himself over the compromise he got into, it seems he had overestimated how good he was at dealing with her sort. He put the binoculars around his neck while tracing a knife cutting his right hand dropping a bit of blood into the flask throwing it back to the woman.
"You can keep those if you want I have a lot of them, think of it as a present." The woman shrugged not even bothering to look at him anymore.
Shirou rolled his eyes at Jackass before jumping getting into an elevated position overseeing the desert while the android sisters remained on the ground floor glaring at Jackass as she contently rubbed her face on the flask.
Noticing this Jackass looked at the two "I don't know why the two of you are mad, haven't you done the same thing in a way?"
Popola looked taken aback "The same?"
She gave her a smile "Yes, must have felt good getting your own personal human isn't that why you kept him hidden?"
Devola growled "He asked us to remain hidden until he understood the bigger pictu…"
"Oh come now, you and I don't believe that." Jackass looked at the flask flipping it around watching in wonder as the red liquid turned and turned "Trust me I would've done the same as you, still though you two must be afraid right? There's only one reason to contact Yorha after all."
"Afraid?" Popola asked.
"Afraid of being replaced." Jackass stood up waving goodbye and turning around going back to her camp, leaving two stone-faced androids in her wake.
"Come on Popola let's go, he's probably waiting for us." Devola shook her head turning around scornfully from the distancing woman.
"She isn't wrong." Popola said quietly.
"Popo…" Devola started before being interrupted.
"Don't you remember what he said he left others of his own volition, friends maybe even something more what makes us so different."
"We won't allow that... that's what makes us different we lose everything by giving up." even still she could feel her core tremor in fear of the unknown she had gotten used to their rather simple life.
"I know you're right, still everything's going to change soon these days are going to seem right down normal, that boy is going to turn the world upside down." She said looking up watching as his hair waved.
"And we have to keep his feet firmly on the ground make sure he doesn't overexert himself, not just for us but for all androids."
They nodded to each other, doubts still waving around in their minds but that was a part of being alive being unsure how the future would turn out. One thing was for sure they wouldn't allow him to fail.
"You two sure took your time."
"Sorry Jackass had… some parting words." Devola said scratching the back of her head.
The man let out a snort shaking his head "Never mind that, I saw them they look like they are trying to scavenge something around two km east." Shirou said giving the binoculars to Popola.
"Huh… so what will you do now…" she said before a light was shun to her left as a large black bow appeared on the man's hands.
"If you don't mind Devola can you write something for me?"
The woman tilted her head in confusion before nodding.
(9S 2B)
"Are you done yet nine… 9S."
"I heard that… and yeah almost, only one more." he said smirking slightly at the frown his companion gave him.
He started walking back before a black blur passed in front of him imbuing itself on the walls of one of the submerged houses.
"What the hell?" the young-looking boy dropped back falling on his ass as he looked towards his left "Is that an arrow?"
2B grabbed her weapon looking around frantically trying to find the location of their enemy. "9S get back someone is shooting us from afar… 9S did you hear me?"
9S on the other hand was much more curious about the arrow "There's a note attached to it."
"Huh?"
"Yeah look." 9S grabbed the note being careful not to touch the arrow he started reading recoiling back a second later as if struck.
"What does it say?" 2B couldn't keep the curiosity out of her voice.
9S on the other hand seemed fully engrossed he didn't even look like he heard his partner.
"9S!"
"Huh? Oh sorry, you won't believe this, this note it's from Red." He said smirking at his partner.
The woman took a step back from surprise "What?"
"It wants to hold a meeting but doesn't want us to bring our pods, what's up with that?" He rubbed his chin trying to figure out everything the letter could tell him.
2B stood there for a second before gathering herself "Pod contact Yorha immediately."
The screen flickered to life showing once more her personal operator who looked surprised "Oh 2B so soon you sure work fast…"
"No time 6O patch me through to the commander."
The seriousness in her voice left no choice to her poor operator "O-okay umm… sure patching you through."
The screen flickered once again showing static for a second before showing the image of the serious woman. "What is so important for you to contact me directly 2B."
"Red has made contact with us."
Everything turned silent the constant clicking sound coming from her video feed stopped "What?"
"Red wants to meet with us." It was 9S this time that talked still rereading the note.
"Are you certain it's him?"
2B shook her head "We only got a message ma'am nothing more."
White took a deep breath "Still this is something we can't ignore."
"Also it wants us to not take our pods with us."
This made white narrow her eyes "Perhaps it doesn't want us to hear the discussion, very well keep your pods somewhere hidden and don't take them with you, Red is something we're trying to catch but it isn't our enemy yet no need to try and make it so."
By now 9S had gotten around to them "We can use the earbuds you won't be able to talk to him ma'am but you can at least hear the conversation."
White nodded already having that plan in mind "Make sure not to be noticed with it, 9S I want you to be the one talking understood."
This surprised the two as they were putting the communicators on their ears 2B looked like she wanted to protest but remained quiet.
"Y-yes ma'am." 9S on the other hand couldn't keep the excitement from his voice, it was time to sate his curiosity.
(Bunker)
White gripped the railing tightly her mind going haywire, thinking of the possibilities at hand. Why now? Was it truly Red, or another party altogether? She still couldn't even begin to make sense of the numerous possibilities at hand something that left her worried.
Until now Red had been an unknown it wasn't an enemy already having helped androids aplenty but neither had it been considered an ally, after all, it left Yorha running around like headless chickens over every breadcrumb it could find of its whereabouts. Now it was the time to finally figure out what she could do with this new piece on the board. She had to remind herself it wasn't just Yorha running around trying to figure out this new entity the machines too took to Red like no other.
"Ma'am?"
A voice reached out pulling her from her thoughts "Yes what is it?"
The android seemed to ponder over her words "If you don't mind me asking why did you put 9S as the leader of this mission?"
White narrowed her eyes finally noticing who's operator it was that she was talking, 21O the one partnered to 9S "Are you questioning my decision."
"It's not that ma'am. It's just… 9S isn't exactly the most mature of androids." The operator seemed to tremble slightly as the commander's frostiness weighted her down.
White sighed her glare disappearing "Do you know of 9S's truest nature by any chance."
"Nature?" The operator seemed confused.
"Yes… 9S if nothing else is curious."
"I don't follow ma'am."
White took her hands off the railing now fully turned towards 21O "9S wants to know, that's what keeps him apart from other androids more than anyone else he wants to find the answer to every secret, who else would I put in front of this mission but him. Trust me if anyone can find what Red is hiding Its 9S."
21O looked pensive before nodding and returning to her post, she didn't look fully convinced, or perhaps she was merely worried? It was difficult to tell and she couldn't be bothered to try and figure out not when there were much more important things at hand.
White watched her go before turning back to the large screen.
The wait was killing her.
(Desert)
"Are you sure we're going the right way 9S?"
"Sure as can be 2B."
The woman raised an eyebrow at his tone though that remained hidden, it had been some time since she had seen 9S so happy...
"...and shaken…" she thought looking at the slight trembling of his hand though considering the grin it was more about excitement than nervousness. "Just remember to not anger anyone that thing can probably destroy us in seconds."
"Yeah I know, don't worry I know how to be serious when I want to."
She hmmed not truly believing his words "Do you have any plan on how this will go."
He turned around walking backward while grinning at her "Not really I'll just go with the flow, we don't really know what we're dealing with other than a few accounts made by resistance members but even then it was more about the other two. So our best bet is to just let them direct the conversation."
"You know the way you said it makes it seem like a plan right?"
"Huh guess it does."
A static sound was heard stopping the conversation in its tracks "(Can you hear us clearly?)"
"Yes ma'am." They both said.
"(Good how far away are you.)"
"We're approaching the meeting site." 2B said "We're fairly close to the city if we act fast couldn't we catch Red unaware." her head turned looking at the large buildings in the distance.
"(I see what you're getting at but we don't really need to make an enemy out of Red for now just go talk to it.)"
"Understood."
She tried not to look as 9S pouted at her, he really didn't like that she tried to stop this meeting.
They started walking again soon after, the place wasn't anything special they had already gone there before not that the desert had much to look at in general, just another one of the submerged villages though now it looked more like a battlefield bits and pieces of machines littered the floor cleanly cut if he didn't know better he would think this was an intimidation tactic.
No, honestly he was much more intimidated by the figures that were appearing in the distance especially the one in front, he didn't really understand the trepidation that took hold of his body especially now that they were so close but he couldn't take his eyes away as pressure seemed to mount over his body as he got ever closer.
A male of vivid red hair was seated upon one of the buildings looking fully relaxed as he watched the androids walk slowly towards him, he was flanked by two women with the same colored hair if 9S didn't notice the difference in the eyes and the story behind the sisters he would almost think of them all as siblings.
"It's nice to meet you two." the man without a name said, it was softer than what he had expected almost kind really, he even had a small but inviting smile… though he did notice something else behind the amber eyes a new emotion that appeared for a split second it almost looked like pity "I believe you call me red but my actual name is Shirou. You can address me either way."
"Shirou?" 9S said the word sounding weird to him, then again considering his companions it wasn't that much different. "You can call me 9S this is 2B."
He nodded in almost familiarity "You must be asking yourselves why I contacted you…"
"Shirou!" the woman on his right stopped him from continuing "They are wearing communication devices."
"Dammit."
"Are they now, that's fine I don't really mind all of Yorha hearing us, makes things easy."
"Huh?" 9S exclaimed to himself "So the pods weren't about that… than what was the purpose of making us leave them behind."
He stared up at the man the sun shining behind Shirou making it almost blinding "If this wasn't about that then he's trying to hide something only the pods could tell, something inside him perhaps? Why would Yorha care about that though." he yelped a moment later as someone stepped on his foot.
"9S!" 2B said through gritted teeth.
He looked at her annoyed before noticing everyone was staring at him "Oh uuuuh… sorry."
"Alright?" he looked confused at their little interaction.
The women on his side simply shook their heads but didn't voice their opinion.
"I only really have one thing to ask so try to answer is as truthfully as possible, afterwards I will do the same to whatever questions you have." Shirou's eyes washed over the duo.
9S now giving his full attention to the conversation simply nodded.
"What will happen to Yorha after this war ends?"
The Yorha made androids looked at each other in confusion "I don't really understand the question." 9S said after thinking about it.
"Truly? Then perhaps the one at command should answer for you." He said waving his hand giving the go-ahead.
9S nodded "Ma'am he's aski…"
"(I heard what he said.)" she gripped the railing harder trying to think of something to say "(Tell him that Yorha is too focused on the war to think about anything beyond it.)"
"Yorha's only focus is the war, sir."
He didn't really seem surprised by the answer "I figured, Yorha seems like a do or die situation from what I've been told."
"Told by who sir?" 2B talked for the first time.
"A2." he answered simply.
"Fuck." the two androids sputtered and coughed surprised at the word they heard their commander utter.
He waved at their suspicions "Don't worry I'm not your enemy and I'm not here to argue morality either."
"Then what are you after?" 9S asked starting to get frustrated.
His eyes settled on the android "The same as you to end this war."
A pressure took a hold of 9S then "What the hell is this, it's like I'm talking to commander white… no more than that ugh how am I supposed to talk when I can barely even look at him?" he looked towards his partner still calm and serious… the slight twitch from her hand though said another thing.
Just then a loud explosion was heard coming from the city grounds, Shirou getting up immediately.
"What the hell?"
9S looked on surprised before the piece in his ear rang out as the commander's voice cut in "(2B 9S grab your pods and get back to the city immediately.)"
"What about Re… I mean Shirou?"
"Give me one of those." the red-haired man held out his hand.
9S looked surprised, not sure what to do.
A moment later the decision was made for him "(Give it to him.)"
He took the piece from his ear and threw it towards Shirou who grabbed it with ease though Popola snatched it from him moments after "We'll move to the city as well."
(City ruins)
A woman watched as the city had a very bad day.
Panicked shouts and slow tremors could be heard throughout as three giants of machine rose to destroy everything around them. She narrowed her blue eyes long white hair waving around.
Only one thought remained.
"Well.. shit."
Hey ya'll I guess I said 21st but was a few hours wrong, anyway double-digit chapters huh, didn't really think this story would get so big when i started looking back i would change a lot of stuff in it knowing how the story would progress but when i think like that I'm reminded of something i read from coeur where he says that most fanfic writers give up due to wanting to change the story. Overall I'm happy with the story my biggest fear is looking back one year two years from now and just despising it. Sorry I'm kinda of a rambler during these sections I just really enjoy saying how i feel without much preparation or edit at the end.
When's the next chapter? I don't know it's Christmas season and i do want to replay drakengard and nier even the fsn visual novel, also the next chapter is probably going to be the most important one so I'm going to take my time with it. So the answer is probably next month but maybe not.
Anyway, i really hope you enjoy the chapter.
Thanks to Ivan Tridelan for helping me out.