Chapter 2. The Doctor (II)

Commencing System Check.

Memory Unit: Green. Initializing Tactics Log. Loading Geographic Data. Vitals: Green. Remaining MP: 100%. Black Box Temperature: Normal. Black Box Internal Pressure: Normal. Activating IFF. Activating FCS. Initializing Pod Connection. Launching DBU Setup. Activating Inertia Control System. Activating Environmental Sensors. Equipment Authentication: Complete. Equipment Status: Green. All Systems: Green.

Combat Preparation Complete.

29B opened her eyes and slowly rose. Sleeping always gives zero comforts to her, in fact, she found it to be useless because she doesn't feel any different from before. It's almost like a blinking, there's no change in her mind and-

Wait, she doesn't remember falling asleep or transferring her data to the new platform, so why did the rebooting system start?

She instantly checked on her memories and found the last one before everything cut off was...

"Apapapap, later, I need my rest, I haven't slept for 24 hours, no thanks to the sun above, keep shining his butt, so please let me rest."

The Doctor! Her last memory was the Doctor telling her to be quiet and go to sleep!

"Pod, are you there?!" She demanded hastily, eyes observing the surroundings keenly. She realizes she is no longer inside the truck now and surrounded by ruined land but a bed and camp

[Yes.]

The Pod came and float above her.

"What's going on? Why are we here?" She asked sharply.

The pod was quiet for a moment before answering her question. [There appears to be an error in the memory system. Some data appears to be missing and according to the internal clock it has been 18 hours since this unit went offline.]

18 hours?!

[As for our location, according to the geographic map we are currently in one of the Resistance Camps, the leader of this branch is an android with the designation Glory. Suggestion: Seek unit Glory or other androids to find out what happened.]

"You don't have to tell me that." She clicked her tongue in irritation as she looked around once again. "Why do we have no collection of how we arrived here?" She asked in restrained anger.

[Unknown. However, we do still have our memories of the Doctor's existence and recording of his lab. Hypothesis 1#: the Doctor is aware unit 29B would apprehend him and decide to take initiative to prevent an ambush. There's also a trace of memory erasure detected in this unit and 29B. Hypothesis 2#: It is also possible unit 29B already tried to ambush the Doctor but failed and in the aftermath, the Doctor decided to erase the data of the combat to maintain secrecy.]

It… is possible actually, and she did intend to apprehend him at one point because there's a small chance he will come peacefully. She can imagine such things happening, in fact, she probably did to test the Doctor's combat capabilities and hope the Pod would be able to send it to the nearest outpost.

She didn't expect he would be able to erase their memories to that extent, not without his laboratory at least. And it has been what? 18 hours ago? That wasn't too long.

"Assuming hypothesis number 2 is the ongoing scenario, why didn't he kill us though?" Not like she is ungrateful about it but she is simply curious. The situation was actually quite convenient, there was an attack from the machine and her entire unit was wiped out save for her, if he killed her he could just put it on the machine as well, including her in the casualties and escape.

[Unknown. However, it appears the Doctor does not wish to inflict harm or be hostile toward the android and YoRHa's unit. This statement is supported by how he is known to offer his assistance to other androids. Before our meetings, the Doctor has not shown any unwelcome or offensive behavior to his fellow androids so it is safe to assume the Doctor has a benevolent nature in general, or at least he has no malicious intent for the current period of time.]

That was true. The Doctor is known to help other androids, be it in doing errands or fixing their injuries, and all his service is cheap as well. All those that met him also claim he is kind, polite, a little bit eccentric – a little bit is an understatement in her opinion though given how he behaves irrationally – and none of them are bad.

"Oh, you are awake."

29B snapped out of her thought as a voice reached her ears, she turned and found a female android entering the camp. The female android smiled at her and spoke. "And you look fine too, I am glad."

"Thank you." 29B replied politely. "Did you bring me here?"

"No, one of the guards found you on her patrol and she brought you here." She answered. "You are fine, right? We found nothing wrong with you when we brought you here but our scanner is not as advanced as YoRHa's Pod or Scanner unit, perhaps we missed something?"

"Pod?"

[Analysis: other than memory missing there's no error found in unit YoRHa No. 29 Type B. All programs are working perfectly and the previous injuries that were sustained also have been treated. Hypothesis: the injuries were treated by the Resistance. Suggestion: express gratitude to the Resistance's androids for their treatment.]

"Oh, we didn't." The female android corrected the flying unit. "You are in perfect condition when we found you yet we can't wake you up no matter what and according to our scan you aren't just sleeping which is why we are confused and bring you to the treatment camp." She explained.

[Hypothesis retracted. New hypothesis: The Doctor was the one that treated unit YoRHa No. 29 Type B.] Pod 150 amended.

"Yeah, I think that is what happened too." She grumbled.

"The Doctor?" The female android perked up. "You meet the Doctor? Short black haired android, clad in a civilian outfit or a rag sometimes and wearing a visor wherever he goes, almost like YoRHa's unit?"

"You can say we have met, yes" 29B answered and gave the Resistance's android her focus now. "Do you know him?"

"Well, it's hard to not know him." She laughed. "He is quite an eccentric android after all and he always goes around here and there helping us doing errands, he was here for a few times, dropped once per few weeks." She said in a mirthful voice. "Oh forgive me, I haven't introduced myself, my name is Flora."

"I am YoRHa unit No. 29 Type B, you can call me 29B for short and this is Pod number 150." 29B replied politely. So the Doctor has visited this camp too in the past. "Can you tell me more about him?"

"Well, I can but Glory told me to inform her if you wake up, say she wants to talk with you. Perhaps you can visit her first?" Flora suggested.

"... alright." Meeting the leader of this camp in an instant is not a bad option. She can get info faster through her.

"Great, I will send you her location and tell her to expect you, oh, by the way, your gears and weapon are in there." She said, pointing to her belongings in the corner. "I will see you later." She excused herself and left.

29B turned and picked up her weapon, observing her sword for a moment before giving it a swing, testing it. She found it was undamaged and perfectly fine. She proceeds to check on her gears and finds they are untouched and just as she remembered.

Satisfied, she is about to leave when notices something glinting on the table. She picked it up, it was a small object, something that looked like a chip but it wasn't.

This isn't hers but why was it placed in the same place as her weapon?

"Pod, analysis."

[Analysis: this device is identified as a USB flash drive, a device that was used to store data by humans in the 20th century.]

Used by who and at what age?!

"Another human's device." She murmured. How and why did he keep using human's tech? Seriously, is he really that… What was the word again, nerd? "Pod, were human's inventions in the 20th century reproducible in this age?" She asked.

[With the advanced technology we have, it is possible to build most of them with the right materials. However, a lot of inventions cannot be reproduced anymore due to insufficient data. One of them was the vehicle that was used by the Doctor to evacuate us from his base.]

"And yet somehow he was able to recreate it." She whispered. Just how and what kind of android they are dealing with? Could it be some kind of android that specializes in human's inventions? An android that contains data about mankind?

[Correction: the Doctor did not recreate Volvo's Iron Knight.] Pod 150 chimed in. [While the design shares similarities but the machine and the engine that used are significantly different and more advanced. Conclusion: the Doctor's vehicle is not Volvo's Iron Knight and is only based on it.]

"Be that may he still knows how to make one, because if he can upgrade it into something better then he surely knows the original design." She replied thoughtfully. "Anyway, Pod, scan this USB for me."

[Scanning… This USB Flash Drive contains a video recording with the title "To 29B" with a size of 342MB and 1035 pictures with sizes ranging from 2 to 3,4MB.] Pod listed the content to her. [Should this unit display them?]

1035 pictures?! The heck did he put in there?!

"Save it for later." She answered. "I have to meet with this camp's leader first. Also how much do you get from scanning the Doctor's base?" She asked as she walked out of the camp.

[This unit regrettably did not manage to get much of a result from scanning the Doctor's base save for visual record and a few technologies, and the data about the Doctor himself is not available.]

"What?" She glanced at her pod in shock. "How?"

[Unknown. This unit scanner was not working when it tried to analyze the Doctor. There were some blockades that prevented this unit from scanning the Doctor.]

"Did he sabotage your system when repairing you?"

[Negative. This unit has run a check on its own system after the Doctor fixed this unit and it found no error. The error comes when it analyzes the Doctor, the result of the scan shows nothing. The Doctor is not registered in the system. Had this unit's visual system not been functional this unit wouldn't be aware of the Doctor's presence.]

Does that mean he can't be scanned?! How?! Did he have a stealth system that was so advanced to the point their scanner cannot detect him?!

She let out a sigh, a thought to ponder later, for now, she needed to meet with this Glory, the sooner she did this the faster she could think about the Doctor undisturbed.

Restoring… Complete.

Checking knowledge banks: Complete. Checking deduction schema: Complete. Checking longterm planning architecture: Complete. Checking learning chunk processor: Complete. Checking base personality model: Complete. Checking language engine: Complete. Checking operation and access nodes: Complete. Checking observation framework: Complete. Checking complex social intelligence emulator: Complete. Checking inspiration apparatus: Complete.

No corruption found, everything in working order. Core system restored. Loading…

Chloe opened her metaphorical eyes, her mind connected to all monitoring devices nearby and did an immediate scan of the area in her vicinity.

The presence of her Father is what she instantly seeks and she found him through the nanobot he used. After confirming his well-being, she was greeted by a noise that has been familiar to her for the last few weeks.

The sound of the guitar's strings being flicked and a piano keyboard's keys playing.

She connected herself to the nearest nanobots, maneuvering them, her control of them through the installed AI is nowhere close to her father's level but still good enough.

She takes her time, carefully activating the morphing ability, calculating their mass and fluidity. She shapes them into her avatar. She created the body first. Foots, legs, thighs, waist, stomach, torso, upper and lower arms, palm, necks, head, eyes, nose, lips, ears, and finally, hairs.

She double-checks them and makes sure they all are in place before deciding to create her clothes, a blue dress that reaches her knee just like her avatar's.

She opened her eyes and looked to the source of the noise, her father was there, clad in blue cargo pants, a plain black t-shirt, and had his visor on. He sits in the chair underneath a giant umbrella that shields him from sunlight while holding a guitar.

Not far from his location are six mannequins, each of them holding musical instruments as well, albeit only piano and guitars.

"You made your avatar faster than before, I see." Father commented without looking at her, his visored eyes still focused on his guitar.

[8,873 seconds earlier. The android anatomy we get from 29B provides a good amount of data, Father.] She replied, her voice still carrying an echo.

"Indeed, I managed to reverse engineer their model but they still need further tests and experimentation before they can be deployed with 100% efficiency." He hummed as he flicked his guitar's string again. "And then there's the matter of Black Box too, say what you want but it is one of the best things I ever see. I still haven't managed to crack it down fully, I need to study it more later." He said. "And given what is the composition… I suppose, it is just a matter of time before I get them all and from studying the Pod before." He let out a sigh. "And here I was worried they wouldn't be able to reverse engineer the Tinkertech I offered to them, but if they could make something like Black Box then they won't have any problem, even IF my instructions are incomplete, which fortunately they are not, I like Jack of All Trades, thanks to Kratos for that." He mumbled the last part in a low voice but she still heard it.

[Father you've been taking a lot of extra hours this week, it is unhealthy, I recommend you to relax and stop tinkering for a few days.] Chloe suggested.

"What do you think I am doing now? I am taking a break." He replied as he gestured to his guitar and the robots that circle him. "Let's see, it is Cm and G at the beginning, which means," He cleared his throat, rubbing his throat carefully. "Kuwata~" He began to sing, his voice suddenly shifting to another type, almost feminine, he flicked the guitar's string and slowly began to play. "Tsunowo vralai. Tsuriji, pufuralekai~" He nodded in satisfaction, a smile spread over his face. "Kwondzuvai~ undovartsu wronduwail." He stopped and turned to her. "How was that?" He asked, voice still feminine and soft.

[Your voice is delightful and the tune is also stable. It's a great start.] She complimented sincerely.

He snorted. "Trust me, I can't sing for a shit. It was this voice modifier that allowed me to and I am so grateful for that." He said. "Albeit it could put some pressure on my throat in the long term judging by the tiny bit of strain I felt." He murmured as he rubbed his throat. "I need to recheck it later, can't risk it going wrong, there's only one human subject after all." He grumbled.

[We can use other organic lifeforms, Father. There's no need to put yourself at risk.]

"The other organic lifeforms don't have voice boxes like human's." He pointed. "Organs, blood, muscles, and bones are one thing since their function is almost the same but there are only a few animals that can produce a noise similar to humans." He explained. "Besides, I would rather use that time to design the nanobots to be more compatible with organic as a whole than focusing on the voice box. I am already close to breakthrough after all, give it a few more tests and I am sure I will be able to perfect the nanobots so they can be injected into my internal body "

That was true, with each experiment he is getting closer to perfecting those nanobots and if he did then he would be tougher than the YoRHa's unit or even more perhaps given his enhanced body.

And now after studying 29B's structure, and getting her blueprint, she is sure his father will be able to improve his tech further. Granted he will need some time to study it but nonetheless, it is as good as done. This is an unexpected gift, to put it in a human terms, it goes horribly right.

Though he is still worried about YoRHa's response to this and she understands why. They can't afford to make YoRHa's into their enemy yet at the same time his father also said they can't go to them, not yet.

The Bunker is compromised, and so do the entire YoRHa. They will need a power fire to match the machine first before they could appear before YoRHa.

"Right now while the android and machine are constantly fighting you can say it is closer to the cold war. Just hitting a base or factory once or twice per week or few weeks but the moment we step into Bunker or alliance ourselves with them, there's a chance the entire thing explodes into full-blown war once again, a full war where every day there will be an assault and fighting on every surface of this planet, and both sides can go on for 24/7, it will be the final war that concludes the whole thing. And trust me when I say this, the machine will win."

She still remembered his answer while laughing almost hysterically. And that news wasn't good at all. She has studied the current ongoing war, from what she learned, after the assault on Pearl Harbor around four years ago the android is winning.

The existence of YoRHa pushed the machine back, far back. They are good, very good. She is very sure with YoRHa on their side – and given their record so far – they will win this battle, it only matters of time. Yes, they are a small unit right now but averagely, a single squad of YoRHa could annihilate the army of machines, that is how much they are worth and in time she is sure they will grow. Months, years, it will take some time but they will succeed, eventually.

Yet her father claims the opposite.

It was ludicrous, the calculations were right and she already ran a simulation with the data she had and the result came in YoRHa and android victory. There will be casualties, yes, this will be a long battle, yes, but they will win in the end.

Unless her father is still hiding something and there is more data about the machine she doesn't know if it is true then why? Why hide things from her? A fear of it being compromised?

Nonetheless, she believes in her father, if he said the machine will win then they will. it means she just needs to adapt and plan. YoRHa might fall but her father won't, and since he decided to help them then she will help them too in her own way.

She can't do anything right now since they are still an anonymous party in this war but she has already made some preparations by herself. Father has given her permission to make her own combat unit after all and she already did, it still needs testing though, something that she will do later.

"Anyway, I got a good feeling this time, maybe I can get into the chorus, it would be neat, I always want to play this song," Father said as he tapped his guitar cheerfully. "Right, on 3, 2, 1, go. Kuwata~"

As he began to sing and play his guitar, the silent mannequins suddenly started to move. Their fingers tapped the piano's keys and also flicked their guitar's string, following her father's tune and lead.

They played almost in sync, there are some errors here and there but her father keeps going, playing the song with a slow tune.

Chloe stared at the mannequins. She doesn't think this is a break, more like training. Her father tried to become better to his multitasking ability so he could control electronics and hack them more efficiently.

Make no mistake, instinctually he already can control a lot of electronics and machines, he could handle thousands of them if he wanted to but instinctual control could be inefficient sometimes. He needs to be accustomed and aware of his control to get maximum results.

And playing musical instruments could help with that.

'Well, it might be training but he is enjoying it, so it can be counted as a break.' She thought as she sat on the ground and stared at her father's performance, enjoying the song. True it is still incomplete and there are a few mistakes – he just makes another one and judging by the visible grimace he starts to get irked – but to her, it is good enough.

And while watching her father's performance she also made another body. The design of this body was small and had a bulbous bead with two dots as eyes and a metallic body while carrying a spear and shield. It was a machine, one labeled as a Medium Biped unit.

She controlled the body and sent it inside the forest for exploration and hunting, her father will need food after all.

It has been a few hours ever since they left 29B and Pod 150, both of them should be back online by now according to their calculations. Right now they are in a place that is surrounded by other city ruins that are close to a forest area, they are camping in between them. They already cleared any machines that exist here and her father even placed an alarm system that would detect any electronic unit that was moving.

So they are safe for now and even if some android or machine stumbles upon them, she is sure they would be dealt with easily, she is the one who personally will do that as a matter of fact.

This is her father's break time, unless it was very important she won't allow anyone to interrupt him.

"So you were saying that you were on a mission to question the Doctor or bring him to the Bunker but you were ambushed by the machine and then the Doctor saved you but instead of being grateful you decide to apprehend him after you both safe and he beat you then erase your memories and dropped you not far from our camp, is that correct?"

Her right eye twitches under her visor. Must this woman put it in that way? "The last part is only a hypothesis, we have no evidence that I decided to assault him, for all we know it could be the other way, he assaulted us and deleted our memories."

The Resistance's branch leader only stared at her for a moment before sighing. "Perhaps, but do you seriously expect him to not do that after stating your intention to apprehend him?"

"If he cooperates then I am sure he will be treated with respect but he wasn't." She rebuked. Seriously, she is sure the Doctor would be treated nicely given the situation and surely he also should know the implications of his unknown knowledge.

"Maybe but that guy for sure doesn't like to be caged, I can tell that much by how he was always doing something here and there during his stays." Glory commented before she put on a thoughtful face.

"Can you tell me more about him? His business other than usually repairing or treating other androids." 29B inquired, she might as well gather information about him through non combat androids now to add them to her report.

Glory tipped her hat a bit and leaned into her chair, eyes narrowing in a thoughtful way. "Well, there's nothing much frankly. He is like an errand boy. He goes here and there, helping people with small matters then just goes away. He often tells a story while playing a show using his stuff." She then grinned. "I remember he played Alice in Wonderland, got me laugh with his impression of the Red Queen. Off with yer head! Said the queen with a big head!"

29B makes a pondering expression. The Doctor is clearly very interested in humans if he studied them to that extent and even goes as far to make a show about it.

"He also sells some stuff for us in exchange for ours." Glory continued. "The exchange is usually in our favor though, and his product is more advanced than ours."

Trading products that possess lower quality with higher. That is his modus operandi whenever he does his business with the androids, and that is one of the reasons that made him earn their attention as well.

But what actually makes him get full attention is the result of his product.

"You cannot use his products at first, correct?" She asked.

Glory makes a face. "Is that common when comes to his tech?" She asked rhetorically and shook her head. "Yeah, at first we don't know how his products work, our scanners and devices can't work on them properly. That kinda makes me suspicious. I mean stuff that he, himself only knows how to operate? Sounds like a scam." The face is gone and replaced with a small grin. "When I told him that, he then gave us a pointer. Turns out we just need to do small adjustments on our own so we can use them on his device. We triple checked everything to make sure it still works with our tech that has a similar function and program and it works too. After that, I kinda stopped doubting him since the results were clear. Heck one of his techs, some of our weaponry, used his design and we have a better firing rate now."

That.

Almost single thing he built for androids, they need readjustment first. While they are not totally reproducible, it doesn't change the fact he brought a new element to their tech, he brings new knowledge to them and shows how to improve the techs they have. It wasn't always a big improvement, sometimes it was just small and others even could be deemed inefficient but everything he told them is unorthodox and original.

It was clear the Doctor possessed knowledge that could revolutionize or at least upgrade their current technology into a better level, and that knowledge perhaps could be used for the betterment of everyone.

Judging by how he always traveled alone, they thought originally he would need help, a lone android that was in possession of advanced knowledge but restricted due to lack of facilities and assistance.

'Turns out we were wrong.' She thought as she recalled the stuff that he had designed and built. The Doctor is capable of working by himself alone, or at least he doesn't need any more help judging by the quality of his techs.

That made her ponder, just what is that android goal?

"Still…" Glory's comment snapped 29B out from her musing. "To think he would be good enough to take on YoRHa's unit, I knew he was good but damn, that good? Guess his words do hold some merit."

"His words?"

"Yeah, there was one time I asked him to help our members trapped in a station near here, and he agreed, I said to him the journey was dangerous and I will have him escorted but he just shook his head and denied it. He said that he is a Doctor and while it is true a Doctor's job is to heal and treat people but they must also understand them, to know what caused the injuries and how severe they could be.

"Now that sounds noble, good and all, but then he dropped another thing and said 'But what people often do not look for is if a Doctor knows what causes those injuries and wounds that mean they also know how to make them.'."

That's… that is not incorrect actually. Unlike killing or destroying, to heal or fix you must know what the problem is and understand them, and if you understand them then it means you also must be aware of how to cause them.

She never looked at it in that way actually and this gave her a new perspective about healer units. However, "Be that may, even if you know how to cause the injuries but that doesn't mean you can do it."

"That, I agree. However, the fact you already know how to do it makes you dangerous at least, and if you have the capability well… the Doctor is probably an example of this."

She agreed with that statement.

"Anyway, enough gossiping about him, I just called you fearing there was an assault or something since it's not everyday you find a YoRHa's unit unconscious near the camp's area. If there's no threat then I won't bother you anymore."

She nodded. "Thank you for treating me."

"Ehh, we didn't do much, we just placed you in our bed, you have no injury after all." Glory brushed the gratitude. "You are free to go."

She nodded again and then left without any words. Walking out of the camp, she briefly observes the whole Resistance camp, finding it to be just like another camp. It wasn't as big as most camps but the content is the same, open field, shops that sold android's parts and gadgets, a noncombat and combat android mashing around, and everything else.

Now she is undisturbed, she must think about what she should do. Should she gather more info about the Doctor from here or…

"The video," She murmured. "Pod, display it to me."

[Affirmative.]

She saw it inside her visor, the video started and it shows the Doctor, standing in an area that looked like outside of this camp.

[29B, hello, I hope you have a nice sleep, I fixed all of your injuries and you are as good as new.] He said in a polite voice. [But that does not matter, I made this recording as an apology. By now you must have noticed that there are traces of memory erasure in your system, I don't even try to be subtle after all because one way or another YoRHa will find out when they check you properly and the only way to prevent that is killing you, which I rather not to and I don't even want to in slightest.] He explained in a sincere and regretful voice.

He sounded genuine enough in apologizing and saying he doesn't want to kill her. 'I suppose he does have a benevolent nature in general at least.' She remarked internally.

[The reason why I did that is not because of you trying to apprehend me or something but Chloe's fault, and I assure you I give her proper punishment, I increase a lot of restrictions in her system for sure. She was messing around and caused a shock in your and Pod's system and I have no choice but to erase both of your memories.]

Well, wasn't that quite convenient? What was that AI doing to cause shock on them, did she try to hack them or what?!

Could it be something like the defense system she saw in his base?

[And after that I am sure you will not listen to me and try to apprehend me.] Darn well, she would, he might have a role in saving her life but she won't just let that slip away, not to mention the Bunker also wants to have him! [Well sorry but I don't intend to be caught or go to the Bunker, not yet at least.] He sighed and massaged his forehead. [This is also a message for YoRHa's commander. Look, I am not your enemy, and I am willing to work with YoRHa but not now. I have some preparation to make and I only can do that if I am unrestricted. And as a sign of goodwill, I give you blueprints of the upgrade that I've been working on, you can check the pictures I gave to you.] He paused and seemed to take some breath before continuing.

[The upgrades I gave, all of them are in YoRHa's capabilities to create according to my calculations, there are explanations of how they work and instructions to create them if you are having a hard time. I will give a basic explanation: while it is true that YoRHa's unit is strong and unique, the cost and material that is needed to upgrade or create your model were not cheap or easy to collect, so I focus on handling that problem.

[The upgrades I give mostly use materials that are cheap and easy to collect, true the average result would be still one or two levels below your model however you can mass produce this, and not to mention you can focus on a few areas to make them on par or even surpasses your model, with a cost for sure, maybe the unit would be less mobile or less durable but that unit would be as effective as yours in a certain area as result.

[This is not the final solution but a temporary one. I've been studying android for a while and after a few experiments this is the best I can get, for now, I am willing to give more in the future obviously but I will not do that if the next units that come after me are subjugation squad, I want to negotiate and make a deal to work together not under you, please respect that.] He declared while crossing his arms. [If you want to negotiate then that's good, there's no need for you to search for me, I will drop the date of the meeting to Anemone's Camp later. For now, you guys just focused on this war, I will ask for a meeting after I made another upgrade that worked. It wouldn't be long though, maybe around three or four months at most. Until then, keep doing your job, you all did great.]

He then leaned back and made a salute to them. [Glory to Mankind!] He saluted. [Oh as for you 29B, I will make up for you, promise. Do you know about mackerel fish? It contains chemicals that would congeal your body so you cannot eat it but I find a way to prevent that so you can enjoy it to the fullest, I will cook one for you, promise.]

"No, I don't need it." She blurted out in reflex despite it being only a recording. Seriously, eating something poisonous for them? Even if somehow it won't kill her, the idea of eating something that could kill them is not appealing in the slightest.

The Doctor laughed as if knowing she would react like that. [Now before you reject it completely I can assure you that it is completely safe, I ran the simulation with Chloe and it was a success. Don't diss it before you try it dear, this is once in a lifetime, you can brag to your friends that you eat mackerel and survive! That would be badass in some way, it is as same as a human surviving drinking a cobra's poison, that is cool albeit stupid but cool!] He grinned and shook his head. No shit it is stupid, that was an unreasonable and suicidal act! [Anyway, that's all I want to say, once again, I am sorry 29B. I promise the next time we meet I will make it up to you, and you will still get that mackerel!]

The video stopped after that and 29B's right eye twitching under her visor, somehow it was doing that quite often when talking with that darn android, she would do a proper checkup as soon as she arrived in the Bunker to find the causes of it.

Still, this is quite revolutionary. If what the Doctor explained and he gave to them is true then YoRHa just got another asset, one that could tip the balance of this war in their favor!

She needs to contact the Bunker immediately, the mission may fail but at least they got his cooperation. True it would be better if they bring him in but the circumstances were not possible due to the Machine's assault and more things could be settled later, the Doctor is not hostile toward them after all so perhaps they could build a working relationship.

Make no mistake she feels like payback is in order when they meet again – she doesn't like it that he, an unauthorized android, messed with her memories – but in the end, it is not important for now, regardless of how she felt about it.

There's a human saying, keep your friend close but your enemy closer. If they got his cooperation then perhaps in the future they truly can send some unit to monitor him.

"Pod, mark the nearest access point." She ordered.

[Affirmative, location has been marked on your map.]

'In the end, all decisions come down to the Commander, though it would be a… shame if we killed him.' She thought as she made her way to the access point. Admittedly she is annoyed and angry at him but at the same time she also feels gratitude toward him, he has saved her life after all and is also still willing to help even after she stated her goal to bring him in.

She shook her head, banishing the thought. She is a soldier, a Battle Unit, emotions are prohibited.

Her own personal thought is not important, especially if it is laced with feelings.

"Utrashain, aforenje kurasol~ Towari hatasei mic'hatasei tsufrallai ilja. Uuuuuuaaaand I forgot the rest." Father trailed and ended his song with a sigh, stopping his play and the robots around him also stopped as well.

Chloe gave applause to her father, expression beaming. [That was a great song, Father!]

"If you called tripping the tune in here and there is great then I question your taste in music." He mumbled.

[While true you did make a lot of mistakes but the fact the performance is still average in value is proof of your skills.] She commented. [Not to mention you are also trying to recreate the song that you barely remember and have an unknown language as lyrics. Speaking of the lyrics, if I may ask, what language is that Father? I found none of the words in the lyrics match in any language in my database.]

"Of course you won't, it is a Chaos Language, a made up language." He answered. "It's multiple languages that mixed and turned into a song."

That was unexpected and weird. It is familiar though, [But a song is supposed to express a human's emotion and feeling. How would someone be able to decipher them if they are not in a language that anyone understands?]

"... Truthfully I do not know the reason for this song made using this language, however, sometimes you don't have to understand something to know what people feel." He answered. "And there's a lot of songs that can portray emotions without lyrics because the tone of their voices is already pretty telling." He explained. "And you can change the meaning of a song just by changing your tune, even if the lyric remains the same."

Hmm, that is indeed correct. Instrumental song is a prime example of this, humans are usually sharp enough to pick the meaning of a song just through their tune even if they didn't understand its lyrics. It is almost like abstract art, random and has no solid structure and yet the value can be seen through the colors and pattern.

And changing the meaning of the song despite the lyrics remaining the same. There is no data about this in her database but at the same time, she is good enough to make her own hypothesis about how such a thing can happen.

She nodded. [Thank you for the lecture, Father.]

"Anytime Chloe." He replied. "Now… let's see where I made the mistake," He mumbled as he strung his guitar again. "The intro to the chorus, it simply doesn't fit. Did I make a mistake with the lyrics? Or was it the tune?"

[Father, I can run a simulation based on your voice, that way I can calculate the correct keys and tune then print them for you.] She offered. She already made the analysis, as a matter of fact, it will be done in a few minutes.

"Oh, thanks, please do so but don't give it to me yet." He said the last part hastily. "I want to figure this out by myself first."

She made her facial expression curl into a frown. [That seems to be irrational, you are experiencing minor stress and frustration by doing that and this is supposed to be your break time.]

"Hey, stress can give pretty good results too, not just bad. Not to mention this can be used for a learning experience."

Illogical yet there's also a benefit from it. Nonetheless, she nodded at him, if that is her Father's wish then who is she to oppose it? [Alright, Father.]

"Right, now where was I? Oh, right, the intro to the chorus. I also need to set the piano's instrumental too, not just the guitar, and there's also flute to consider to give it more kick." He mumbled incoherently and began to drown in his own World.

Chloe only smiled at her father's antics. This usually only resulted in stress and exhaustion for him but since he enjoyed it he probably would be happier in the end and if her Father is happy then so is she.

Her program suddenly did an equivalent to blinking internally as she sensed the machine she sent to the forest was killed.

It was quick too. One moment it was there, then it looked up, and poof, the camera was off, followed by sounds of her machine torn apart.

Who?

She did a quick analysis, the last recording was played in reverse multiple times and she ran it in slow motion too when it caught the glimpse of the assaulter, at the same time she also moved a pack of nanobots to the direction where it was killed.

She frowned internally when she finished her analysis and came to her hypothesis. This is not a normal situation, and as much as she wants to deal with this without alerting her father, however, the last time she tried to do something similar the result was not good.

[Father, one of the Biped I recreated and sent to the forest for hunting was just killed.] She informed him.

That snapped him from his mumbling. "You did what and it got what?" He asked.

She repeated her words.

"Well, that wasn't ominous at all." He commented. "Where did it get killed?"

[Approximately around 1 kilometers southwest from our truck's position.] She reported. The pack of nanobots she sent has reached the perimeter they installed, they are ready to make their move anytime.

"Display it to me."

She did, a hologram appeared from her eyes and showed the point of view from her Biped. An area of forest, its vision swiveling looking for animals to catch.

Suddenly there's a noise above it and it tilts its eyes upward, just in time to catch sight of black streak that descended and the vision was cut off, followed by a sound machine breaking apart.

"Pause. Reverse and play it at 0,05x speed when the attacker comes down." He ordered.

She did as he ordered.

The video reverses until the machine's unit tilts its head up, a black blur already descended by that point. Then slowly it began to play. There is another blur, this one letting out a glint, and it struck the machine's "eyes".

"That is a weapon alright. Can you make it clearer?" Father asked as he leaned forward.

[Certainly.]

"Do it, reverse and pause when that glinting is recorded and clear that part."

[Yes, Father.]

She prepared the program that would do so. The video reverses again, and she pauses it when it reaches the part her father mentioned. Then she runs the program, clearing the image slowly.

His father's eyes widened when the image was clear.

It was an android, an android clad in black. There's not much that can be seen save for her black mechanical hand that is tattered and holding a weapon, her light blue eyes, and long silvery hair that wavering in the wind.

And yet just judging by her design and outfit, one doesn't need to be a genius to guess the nature of this android despite her damaged appearance.

A YoRHa unit.

Below here is the same note that I give in QQ:

Lo behold, finally, one of the main characters makes an appearance, say welcome to A2 everyone!

I added some stuff from the original draft, about the Doctor's modus operandi, and how he got their attention in the first place. If it was only once then YoRHa probably won't think much of him but he keeps doing that so he bounds to catch their attention.

Actually, he was supposed to catch the Army of Humanity's attention instead but since we barely know a thing about them (no, really, they are actually the biggest faction of androids and yet there is not much about them) I decided to use YoRHa since they are kinda the frontline soldiers. That doesn't mean I won't use them though, they will have their own role in the future. Let's just say they are currently a bit busy now since a certain faction earns Doctor's enmity and now becomes vulnerable as result.

Also, fun fact, when I made 29B and picked a picture for her model (since this is an old draft, it happen around 2020 or 2021 I forgot) I didn't realize that she is almost like a love child between 9S and 2B until my friend pointed it at me, and not to mention her name also made of numbers 2 and 9. Man, talk about coincidence, ha!