A/N: I have no real explanation for how this story came to be. Truth be told, even though I love 2B/9S to pieces and it is probably my ultimate OTP...I'm curious to see how a story exploring the A2/9S pairing would go...but there aren't really any stories about that dynamic for me to read so...I'm having to write it myself.
The lazy side of my brain is yelling at all the Automata Fanfic author's for putting me in this predicament.
The writer side of my brain is very happy to have the unique opportunity to be one of the pioneers for this pairing. It could be interesting. I'm certainly excited about it, so let's see what this entails.
Note: This story has nothing to do with my other NieR: Automata stories. This one is just something I started writing because curiosity got the better of me. That and I've been in a weird place emotionally, so here we are.
Disclaimer: NieR: Automata is the property of Square Enix, Platinum Games, Yoko Taro, and...everybody else who worked on this game. I'm merely a Fanfic author who loves Automata way too much. Also, this story is named after a BTS song entitled Abyss...because I also love BTS too much.
Warnings: This story takes place after Ending C in the game, which means there will be major spoilers. Consider this a Canon-divergence AU. We're acting like Ending C is the canon ending for this work...sort of. You'll see. Let's just get on with this madness. I hope you guys will enjoy the first chapter. Best wishes and God bless you all!
Abyss
A2...
2B told me...she told me she wanted you to become a good person.
You...don't you dare talk to me about 2B!
The conversation echoes in the back of my head in the hacking space along with the hum of childlike voices laughing.
Here on my knees after eliminating the logic virus from 9S' systems, a part of me wonders if the misunderstanding between us could have ended differently if I had taken advantage of that fleeting moment of quiet. That was the time to tell him 2B asked me to kill her. That was the time to share how her memories were part of me.
I did neither of those things.
Perhaps it was out of a stubborn need to maintain an identity separate from hers. From the instant 2B's memory data merged with mine, pieces of her consciousness have been in my head, influencing my decisions and blurring the line between the things that make us separate entities. Over and over her voice taunted me with her opinions about how similar we were, whether the comparison be our faces or the burdens placed on our shoulders.
In silence we suffer.
Violence is etched in our purpose.
Those internal conversations always ended with me lashing out at her, screaming for silence.
I didn't want to admit she was right.
Loneliness is a familiar friend. It has walked by my side ever since that fateful mission in which my comrades were slain by the machines. We were nothing but an experimental squadron, designed to fail.
I wasn't supposed to survive this long.
Turning on fellow androids to protect myself always felt wrong...but it was a necessary evil I couldn't avoid. For the sake of everyone I lost, I had to keep fighting.
YoRHa wasn't going to stand in my way.
That's the other reason I didn't say anything to 9S.
It wouldn't have made any difference to him, whether 2B asked me to kill her or not. That wasn't the point.
The words would have escaped me if we'd had more time though. 2B's data skews my perceptions on everything, even the enemies we continuously fought in this war.
To me, the machines were nothing but murder bots.
To her, they were an anomaly. Even now she wonders what makes them so different from us. She acknowledges their screams...their emotions...
Her comradely with Pascal influenced me too, regardless of my efforts to maintain the grudge I'd harbored for so many years of endless wandering.
In time, Pascal and his villagers grew on me, especially the children, who constantly called me "Big Sis".
Those same children killed themselves because Pascal taught them what fear was. He couldn't live with the anguish of loss.
2B was in my head even then, telling me to walk away.
I erased his memories for him without sparing a thought toward her opinion.
Now I wonder if that choice was the wrong one to make.
For 2B and 9S, the memories they share are their most precious treasure. Regardless of how many times things ended badly, 2B kept every moment of 9S close to her heart, and he cherished her in the same way.
That's the true reason 9S craves vengeance so desperately. I stole their memories. All of them. Even the ones he lost long before 2B's demise.
What do you know? You don't know anything at all about us!
But I know everything about them. I want to forget it all. The pain of those memories...is too much.
That's why I granted Pascal's wish to start over from scratch, without any regrets to weigh him down.
You killed 2B. That's all we need to kill each other.
Releasing a sigh, I lift my gaze to the pillar of light directly in front of me. This is all that remains of the network holding this tower together.
It doesn't matter! None of this matters!
9S!
But if it doesn't matter, why do I long for humans like this!? Why do I desire the touch of something that no longer exists!?
It's how we were made! Androids were designed to protect their human masters. Our core programming demands that we...
Shut up, shut up, shut UP, SHUT UP!
His screams reverberate through my head even now in the silence. 9S' sorrow and rage acted as a mirror for how I had once been. In the early days of my desertion from YoRHa to seek revenge against all machines...despair cloaked in masks of malice was all I could feel.
Eventually those feelings ebbed into nothingness. The anger roiling inside of me became a flickering ember hidden beneath layers of apathy and depression.
2B's consciousness put an end to that. Like it or not, her experiences are part of me now. So are her feelings for 9S.
If I had more time, I would wonder where I fit into it all.
Rising to my feet, I narrow my focus on the pillar in front of me.
My body will enter an emergency shut-down once I exit the hacking space. This tower will fall as a result of the network breaking down for good.
So then...
Please...2B. I want you to do this...for me.
A heavy sensation lingers in my chest as I walk toward the pillar a few paces ahead. Though not a long walk by any means, every step is a step to the end.
The questions brewing deep inside will never find answers.
I suppose...it isn't really necessary.
Wherever my comrades are now...I'll be with them soon. That's all I need now.
My footsteps halt in front of the pillar.
It was an honor to fight with you, 2B. Truly.
The honor was mine.
Liquid pools in the corners of my eyes.
Lifting my hand toward the pillar, I initiate the destruct sequence for the machine network and the systems maintaining this structure.
2B and I will both die here.
9S...
...
He won't be alone. 042 and 153 will be with him. They'll transport him back to the Resistance Camp where Anemone is. She and the resistance forces will be there to help him recover from all this.
That's the best I can hope for.
But still I...
It always...ends like this.
"I'm sorry."
With those words, the network crumbles before my eyes. The hacking space disappears from around me, plunging me back into my physical body as the tower begins to break apart.
Far above I can see the grey hue of the sky and the sun's silhouette behind a splattering of clouds. That same sky was the first thing I registered when stepping into this world without YoRHa controlling me. That same sky has been my companion in every place I've been in my years of wandering.
Everything I experienced in those years alone...
"I never quite realized...how beautiful this world is..."
The floor beneath my feet cracks as my visual feed skitters and fades into darkness. Despite the lack of sight, I keep reaching up toward the sky above, content in knowing these battles of mine have finally come to an end.
There is no anger left in my heart for the machines. All that's left is a sense of accomplishment for having put an end to this meaningless war once and for all.
And now, I can claim my reward in peace.
"I'm coming everyone... I'm coming..."
My knees give out. My eyes close.
The world breaks down around me, but I feel no pain, no despair, or fear.
However, a nagging sense of regret tugs at my heart.
Take care of everyone for me.
I wish...I could have fulfilled the duty 2B entrusted me with, but...
Take care...of the future...A2.
This outcome was the best I could do.
With a smile on my face, I sink further and further into the abyss until it consumes me.
A/N: And that's the end of this first chapter. If you guys find this interesting, definitely leave your thoughts in a review. The next chapter should be ready soon. (Yep, this is multiple chapters too. I have got to stop starting so many new stories.) Anyway, thank you all for reading. I hope you'll enjoy what's to come. Best wishes and God bless you all!
