NieR Automata Fan Fiction

Reprise

By Kraven Ergeist

Recursion 3


"Big brother…big brother…"

9S let out a breath as he suddenly found himself watching the pathetic display of one machine trying to revive another with a bucket of oil. While part of him was relieved that the time loop had brought him back here after the catastrophic failure that was their most recent attempt to defeat the goliaths, another part of him was getting really sick of being confronted with this same depressing scene time and time again.

On the other hand, another recursion only added to the limited intel he had been able to gather regarding this time loop, and to a scout, any data at all was good data.

"Twice is coincidence," he recited to himself simply. "Three times is a pattern."

He didn't even bother glancing up at the contrails overhead as he patched a secure communication line to his partner.

"2B," he said by way of greeting.

"9S," she responded after a moment. "I guess that confirms it then."

"Yeah," he agreed, marching over to his flight unit. "I'm still fuzzy on the details, but I'm ninety percent sure now that either your death or my death or a combination of the two triggers the time loop."

He was about to say more, but his Operator's voice suddenly interrupted their transmission.

"Operator 21O to 9S," the voice sounded. "Come in 9S."

9S all but cursed as he fumbled with his communication channel.

"Uhhh…Operator, yes!" he sputtered. "9S here!"

Operator 21O responded as if 9S had not said anything out of the ordinary.

"The YoRHa troops have commenced their descent," she barked curtly. "Disable the enemy base's defense systems immediately."

"Roger that…" 9S said distantly, before closing the channel and checking back in with 2B.

He heard 2B's voice on the other line, in the midst of a similar communique to command.

"We've passed the 50-kilometer threshold and are proceeding towards the target," she said.

9S was about to speak up, when he heard a loud explosion over the channel, followed by a distant muffled scream.

BOOM!

CRASH!

"Yeeeaaargh – kshhh!"

9S' core temperature ran cold. What had just happened? Had 2B just been shot down?

"12H down," 2B's bitter voice came a moment later.

9S exhaled slightly in relief. He had imagined the worst after what he'd heard. Then again, this close to the beginning of the timeline, he wouldn't have expected anything to happen to 2B that hadn't already happened before.

Still, it sounded like she had experienced quite a battle before they had originally teamed up, and he was only now getting a glimpse of just how brutal it had been. He suddenly felt a wave of guilt for the relief that he had felt. True, his partner had survived, but five other YoRHa androids would never make it out of this mission alive, no matter how many recursions he and 2B went through.

As he dwelled on the lost lives of his fellow YoRHa, his heart also went out to his partner as well for having to carry on in spite of it. He had always known that 2B lost her entire squadron during the initial push to the factory, but to hear it firsthand was another matter entirely. This was the caliber of death and destruction 2B was faced with on a regular basis, even before the time loop. Moreover, if the time loop persisted, it was likely that she would be confronted with the same grizzly experience again and again before they were finished.

"2B…" 9S said softly after the sounds of battle had abated. "Let's…reconvene at the rendezvous point. We can discuss out next move from there."

"Roger that," 2B sounded grateful.

9S mounted his Ho229 flight unit and took off. He had his own mission objectives to take care of, and YoRHa command would become suspicious if he failed to accomplish them in a timely manner. And he knew that 2B was in a similar position, and wouldn't be able to deviate from her course until…

Well, until her whole team was dead. Again.

9S ground his teeth as he transformed his flight unit to its mobile configuration and began shooting down machines. This whole time loop was altogether too cruel. For he and his partner to be forced to relive such traumatic events, even if they had the benefit of choice each time…it not only exposed how little control they really had in their lives, but if it continued, 9S was certain that it would begin to take a real toll on them.

It he was being honest, it already was. Of course, physically he was fine, and he was positive that 2B was at optimal capacity herself. He could vividly recall feeling his limbs ripped off in the ensuing crash after their ill-fated encounter with the goliath, but of course now, he was fully operational once again. The time loop seemed to restore them to the same physical state they had been at the start of events.

But psychologically…

9S furrowed his brow as he began hacking the enemy weapon systems lining the factory's inner walls.

They needed time. That much was clear. He and 2B needed time, not just to think and plan around this time loop, but to rest and recuperate and give their minds a chance to unwind. They had both just endured the most impossible mission of their lives twice over, and they were now approaching that same mission yet again without any real amount of time in between to catch their breath. And if things progressed as they were, they were looking at an innumerable repetition of that exact same mission for a potentially indefinite number of recursions.

If this time loop continued to trigger upon their deaths, it was conceivable that the two of them might just succeed in their mission given enough attempts. In theory, they should be able to use these recursions to learn and plan and rule out possibilities, as well as to take some down time and explore other areas and options. And if the worst should happen, he was ninety percent sure at this point that the time loop would reset upon their deaths no matter how they died.

What concerned him was the remaining ten percent. What if it did not trigger if only one of them died? What if it did not trigger unless the two of them died within some arbitrary time window of one another? If one of them died, and the other remained, would the remaining android just have to carry on? And if whoever remained should seek to reset the time loop in order to try again, what if the time loop did not reset at that point? What if the only option remaining to the survivor in that case was their own oblivion?

It was a sickening thought that 9S did not want to dwell on. He would just have to discuss things with 2B once they met up.

"Hacking of enemy defense system complete," Operator 21O announced after 9S neutralized his final target. "Our attack squadron can now infiltrate the base. You are to continue providing support by whatever means available."

9S said nothing as he sped off in the direction of the rendezvous point that he and 2B had been using.

"Alert," Pod 153 chimed. "Unit 9S' biorhythms have begun to fluctuate at an alarming rate. Proposal: Unit 9S should conduct field maintenance immediately."

9S ignored his Pod as he flew towards the rendezvous, blasting any machine that got in his way. He knew he was under a lot of stress, but it was nothing compared to what 2B was going through. He knew he should be thinking about their next move, trying to compare what he was seeing in this recursion to the last two in order to look for clues, find a pattern, or see anything to let him gleam some hidden truth behind this trap they were both in.

But he was running on fumes himself. He had just died two times in less than two hours, and while his body was no worse for wear, his mental processes were stretched to their breaking point. His Pod could see this as plain as day, even if it did not know the cause. He was used to letting 2B take the lead on missions, and was not accustomed to being the one calling the shots and making decisions that could get them both killed or worse. But 2B had deferred to his judgement on the matter, seeing as how it fell so distantly beyond a simple combat mission. This whole thing was a puzzle, a mystery to be solved, with both of them acting as game pieces. But it was a puzzle to which he didn't even know all the rules, or even on what scale it was taking place.

And as much as he knew how badly he needed time to recalibrate and think through their next play, he was loathe to lean even more on 2B than he already had. Because he was certain that any pressure that he was under, she must be under more still.

But as 2B's flight unit came into view, another realization dawned on him: unless the two of them could come up with a better strategy soon, they would be facing the goliaths once again, right here and now. And again. And again, until they defeated it. And that thought sent a chill through his whole body.

The two YoRHa androids came to a stop, hovering in tandem just beyond the factory's outer walls, the machines patrolling the skies seemingly giving them a temporary respite. Neither of them seemed inclined to say anything. After two sequential failed missions, morale was low for them both in equal measure. One look at 2B's expression peeking from the tiny viewport in her flight unit told 9S that her ponderings since the new timeline began had led her down an equally dark path as his. Both of them knew more or less what was at stake, and what it might take to get to anything resembling an answer, just as well as they knew how unlikely it was that they would find any answers at all if they tried.

And while their priorities differed in only minor respects regarding the merits of extending a helping hand to their fellow YoRHa androids, neither was truly under any illusion that they were in a position to do so anything of the sort at this time. Time, it seemed, was a precious commodity that took on an all new form of value in this bizarre time loop. Every recursion would cost them something, mentally speaking. It was unavoidable. And the only choice either of them seemed to have in the matter is what they might achieve for that price tag.

Finally 2B spoke, evidently sensing 9S' indecision. Her decisiveness was something that he both loved and hated about his partner sometimes.

"Facing the goliath as we are now would most likely result in failure," she observed.

She didn't say "again" afterward, but her meaning was clear. She was speaking in a way that would make sense to an outside observer listening to the conversation recorded by their two Pods.

9S only nodded. "I agree."

2B said nothing for several moments more as she seemed to consider her words carefully.

"Abandoning the mission would be going against orders," she said, stating the obvious. "But a tactical retreat to the YoRHa bunker might give us the time we need to plan another attempt."

Translation: She knew 9S wouldn't agree to running away and deserting YoRHa, but it might be worth fleeing the field and taking their chances with YoRHa command. They would be subject to probation, but it might be worth the risk. And even if they were penalized, it still might be preferable to taking on the goliaths again, only to end up right back where they started – or worse. At least back at the bunker, they'd have time to recuperate and to formulate a plan. And they might be able to gather some valuable intel from the other androids while they were at it.

And if worse came to worse, they could always self-destruct and reset the time loop, it seemed.

"That…might be our best plan at this point," he admitted.

A part of him wanted to smile. He hadn't asked her to take the lead this time around. He hadn't needed to. They had been working together for long enough for her to tell that he needed her to take over for him. And as much of a relief as it was to return the reigns of command to his partner, and as much gratitude as he felt towards her for taking them off his hands, the guilt he felt for having to lean on her for support still weighed almost as heavily his shoulders as his failure to solve this time loop puzzle before now.

2B nodded, still playing the role of determined leader for their inevitable court martial.

"I never like running from an enemy," she said bravely. "And fleeing now would mean that our comrades' sacrifices to get us this far were in vain. But dying here and now won't bring them back, nor would it honor their memories. We'll have to settle for returning with the intel we've been able to gather so we can try again under better circumstances."

9S tried not to cringe as he nodded. She was laying it on a little thick for the cameras. But hopefully it would be enough to convince the Commander to show a little leniency on them both.

"2B to Operator 6O," she said into her comm as the two flight units reconfigured back into long range mode. "The operation is a failure. 9S and I are returning to the bunker."

6O's voice came uneasily over the comms. "Uh…a failure? Could you repeat that, 2B?"

This time, 9S did cringe. 2B's reputation for doggedly pursuing her missions was well known throughout YoRHa. It would be regarded as extremely out of character for her to turn tail and flee like this. The two of them would be scrutinized heavily upon their return, 9S was sure of it.

"You heard correctly, Operator," 2B said nonchalantly, both her and 9S' engines powering up to full burn to reach escape velocity, noses pointed towards the sky. "Operation failed. Returning to bunker."

9S gritted his teeth in shared derision. 2B had kept her voice steady as she spoke, but he knew her well enough to know how much those words had cost her. While they both knew on some level that nothing they did in this recursion was necessarily permanent, and that there were far greater things at stake now than a single mission, that did little to alleviate the shame of admitting defeat to a commanding officer. For an android like 2B, giving up on a mission stung worse than any lash ever could. She was putting her reputation and her honor as a combat android aside, all so that the two of them could figure out a plan somewhere other than the heat of the battlefield.

He just hoped it would be worth it in the end. And that she would forgive him for forcing her to face such humiliation for his sake.

"Understood," Operator 6O's voice finally replied. "Docking bay is cleared for landing."

The two YoRHa androids didn't say anything else until they were both docked at the bunker. The horizon descended from below their view, rounding out as they entered into geosynchronous orbit with the orbital space station that was the head of YoRHa command.

The two came in to dock, and 2B was the first to disembark from her flight unit. By the time 9S did as well, he could see the eyes of their fellow YoRHa following her in suspicion. Word of their retreat had already spread, it seemed, and the entire flight bay was already abuzz with scarcely concealed whispers and gossip.

2B ignored them pointedly, and 9S attempted to match her disposition. But each android they passed on their way to the elevator felt like another obstacle in their path. It was an effort of will to simply avoid making eye contact, despite their mask-like visors, and 9S could feel his ears burning just by being in earshot. He caught a few snippets here and there – murmurs of everything from cowardice to favoritism to viral contamination and outright treachery – and he just knew that there would be far worse once they were behind closed doors.

The two of them finally made it to the elevator, and 9S let out a breath as the two descended to the main level.

"Well, at least we can rule out anyone back there having any clue about the time loop," 9S observed, trying to break the tension.

2B still hadn't said anything, and her lack of response made 9S nervous. He knew that she would be absorbing the brunt of the Commander's scorn should it come to it, to say nothing of the ridicule she must be feeling from the rest of YoRHa. Although she was notoriously taciturn, and had yet to show any reaction to the derision the other androids had been showing at their arrival, 9S had to imagine that it was still affecting her on some level. He also knew this meant that he shouldn't press the matter, at least not yet. 2B's resolve was impeccable, but if she was this rigid, it was because she was steeling herself for worse yet to come, and 9S would be doing her no favors by breaking her concentration.

And so, as the two of them left the elevator and made their way towards the command center, 9S remained silent and did not try to converse further.

It hadn't been an idle observation on his part, though. While he was quite cognizant of the perceptions of their peers, in the back of his mind, 9S was still keeping an eye out for any irregular behavior. If there was any possibility that any other YoRHa androids were conscious of the time loop, the bunker would be the place to find them. Of course, anyone who had made it through even as few recursions as the two of them would likely be just as guarded with their behavior so as not to evoke suspicion.

It all came down to the Commander, he knew. Though at this early stage, he knew it was inadvisable to come right out and ask her if she had any information on such a phenomenon as a time loop. Having returned to the bunker under such circumstances was far from ideal, and it would take a fair bit of explanation to quiet any suspicions the two of them might evoke after such dereliction of duty.

And while it was true that the two of them had ultimately been outmatched, it would be a hard sell to present that outcome with what information they had going into it. Even his own best estimates put their chances of success around 46% or so. That was more than even odds for most missions. Harsh as it was, YoRHa went up against unfavorable odds all the time, and androids were expected to devote everything they had to a objectives, even if there was little chance of success. They were expected to give their lives for the mission if necessary – and with a memory backup sent to the bunker on a regular basis, those stipulations were hardly unreasonable from a militant perspective. In point of fact, 2B and 9S had been doing exactly as much the last few times they had gone on this mission.

They would need to present some fairly compelling evidence to justify abandoning that mission as they had, and despite how dire the situation had been, 9S doubted they had a very good case. They would be confined to quarters while the Commander reviewed their combat data. Best case scenario, they would be released with some measure of continued oversight – likely stricter Pod protocols, which wasn't exactly ideal under the circumstances. Worst case, however, they would be de-commissioned, and have their memories wiped and reset. And god only knew what would happen with the time loop in that situation.

There was another option though – present the Commander with their discovery of the time loop as their reason for abandoning the mission (which was ultimately the truth). The problem was, they had no real evidence to show for it. Their upgrades, their collection of high end field equipment, and the distinct lack of any records pertaining thereto could easily be written off as contraband. And it was highly likely that the Commander would view such a report as evidence of viral contamination instead, and then they were back to the memory wipe problem.

It made the most sense to play it safe for now, 9S decided. Although in this case, "safe" was veering more towards whatever disaster they provoked providing them an opportunity to self-destruct properly and reset the time loop without risking some other outcome.

As they entered the command center, 9S was also suddenly reminded that 2B was technically working undercover for the Commander to keep an eye on him. In all the confusion since the time loop began, 9S' discovery in the machine tower seemed like a distant memory, but it was no less pertinent to the situation. Revealing that tidbit of info might very well tip their hand as well, but it might also provide them with just the edge they needed to prove that they knew things that they couldn't possibly know without future knowledge.

As it turned out, however, he needn't have bothered worrying about what to say to the Commander. 2B may have been silent during their entire trek to the command center, but she had clearly been formulating a plan of her own during that time.

"Commander," she saluted as 9S stood beside her before the woman in white. "I regret to inform you that our mission was a failure."

The Commander turned, her expression one of concern and confusion in equal measure.

"2B," she said. "It's unusual for you to give up on a mission like this. What happened?"

9S held his tongue, waiting for 2B to give him any kind of indication that she wanted him to jump in. But no signal came.

"A gut feeling, Commander," 2B said simply. "Something wasn't right about that factory. All of my instincts were telling me that if we continued with the mission, it would only result in failure. As things were, we stood to gain more by retreating with what information 9S and I have obtained and living to fight another day."

9S stood there, trying not to let his astonishment show as the Commander pursed her lips and considered their report. Here he had been, trying to find some way to excuse their behavior with some carefully crafted logical rationale, and 2B had gone the complete opposite route. It was insane – and also genius! 2B's combat abilities were well known, which added quite a bit more weight to her decisions regarding strategy and tactics. And best of all, no amount of combat data could refute a "gut feeling" – especially not on a mission with a 46% chance of success. It was the perfect alibi!

They would still be subject to probation, but there was very little chance they would be decommissioned after this.

"Hmmm…" the Commander mused. "I do trust your judgement on these things, 2B…but do try to keep in mind the cost in resources we invest in these missions. Five YoRHa combat androids and five Ho229 flight units were lost in this mission. I expect greater results from such an investment than what little information was brought back."

2B nodded, resolutely. "Understood Commander. I firmly believe, however, that if we had continued, it would have been seven losses instead of five."

The Commander nodded, releasing a breath.

"Very well," she conceded. "I have to place you two under probation for abandoning the mission while we review your combat data. You'll be contacted when your next assignments are ready. Return to your quarters until further notice. Dismissed."

2B saluted again before turning on her heel, with 9S right behind her.

They said nothing until they were back out in the hallway.

"Wow…" 9S whispered. "I've never seen anyone maneuver around the Commander like that before. I thought we were in real hot water there."

2B's tone of a voice did not sound like she shared in his relief.

"We're not out of the woods yet," she said. "Not by a long shot."

9S pursed his lips, nodding. All they had really done was buy more time. They were still stuck in a time loop, which they still had no idea how or why was even in effect. They were still under probation by YoRHa, which meant that their actions would be under even heavier scrutiny for the duration of the recursion. Their failure to take the factory meant that the entire area around the Resistance was still cut off to YoRHa, which would also completely reshape events going forward.

All their fancy equipment and some of their earlier recorded conversations might raise some eyebrows, but not enough to get them into any real trouble. Eventually, they would be deployed on another mission – possibly to accomplish the exact same objective as before, only without the benefit of any real foresight. Still, there would be little either of them could do about this time loop with YoRHa always watching their backs. And even if they reset the time loop to get out of whatever mission they ended up on, they'd still be back where they started on their first mission. They had to use this time they'd bought to figure out a plan.

As they passed by 2B's room, 9S hesitated as she entered. If the two of them were going to be in separate quarters for the foreseeable future, then there was no way for them to trigger a black box reaction if they needed to self-destruct. They would have to rely on their internal self-destruct trigger to do so, and while such a detonation would surely destroy the bunker and everyone in it, there would likely be at least a second or two delay between one and the other.

It was a truly morbid thought to be pondering – wondering if what from the outside amounted to a suicide pact would hold out - and 9S was hesitant to speak his concerns aloud while under probation. But 2B seemed to sense his fears and turned to face him.

"Go on and get some rest, 9S," she assured him. "It'll be fine."

9S sighed and nodded. His paranoia must have been getting to him. Just how frayed were his nerves at this point? Trying to plan for every little nuance was eating away at his resolve. He needed to recuperate. It was worth the risk of an uncertain outcome regarding the time loop for him to do so. And 2B could see that, plain as day. There was a reason she was usually the one calling the shots between them. 9S had never felt so grateful for her leadership than he had after all this.

"Right," he nodded. "Be sure to contact me if you come up with anything."

"Will do," she replied, before shutting the door.

9S let out a breath as she disappeared from sight. A part of him had wanted to follow her inside, but she deserved some time alone to rest as well as he did. She had been carrying him through this entire recursion, to say nothing of the impact the past two recursions must have had on her. Besides, YoRHa regulations were pretty clear about fraternization between androids, not to mention the whole probation thing.

So he made his way to his own quarters and went inside, the door closing with a gentle whoosh and he was suddenly lying face down on the bed without so much as taking his boots off. His Pod said something about turning off the lights, but he was already drifting off to sleep.

He dreamed of goliaths towering over him, their eyes a vicious red as their death chants resonated in the air. 2B was with him, the two of them in their flight units, and they were trying to fly away, but somehow the massive shambling machines were overtaking them. And as their sawblade claws descended upon them, a massive explosion came from behind the behemoth machines, engulfing them all in fire, before the blast enveloped the two of them as well.

9S awoke to see Pod 153 running maintenance diagnostics over him where he lay in his bed, a standard procedure during probation. His memories did not seem to have been wiped just yet, which was a good sign – he doubted he'd be able to recall the time loop if they had.

He rubbed at his face and removed his visor, before kicking off his boots and unbuttoning his uniform. He wanted a bath, but he'd have to settle for the steam-cleaning unit nestled in the corner of his quarters until he was permitted to traverse the rest of the bunker again. The other scout units often compared the cleaning unit to something called a "carwash" from the old human world. Despite his misgivings, the steam shower still felt pretty good, and by the time he stepped out of the four-by-four foot vacuum sealed closet space, his body air dried by industrial ventilation fans, his Pod was ready with a fresh clean set of clothes, which definitely felt better without the layer of grime collected after spending days in the field.

He sighed in relief, his body already feeling more relaxed than it had in what felt like days. He stretched his arms, testing his servos after the sanitizing steam had cleared out his joints and buffed any scuff-marks on his body. Good as new, it seemed. It wasn't the most restful night of sleep he'd ever had, but he definitely felt like there were fewer cobwebs in his head after that shower. He idly wondered if 2B might also be taking the opportunity to shower over in her quarters, before reminding himself that there were more important things to be focusing on at the moment.

It was time to get to work.

"Okay…first things first…" he said, sitting down at the small desk at the far end of his quarters. "Let's get a modicum of privacy in here…"

He jacked into his room's main terminal, while simultaneously sending a surreptitious probe over to his Pod. Within moments, Pod 153 had gone idle, the flat front of its blocky frame slowly panning back and forth across the room, as if 9S himself was no longer visible. The Pod would not be reporting anything new to the Commander for the next few hours, and that would give 9S time to work. He felt bad hacking his own Pod like this without asking it first, but learning how to hack into 153's monitoring systems had been one of the first techniques he'd mastered, and it was a talent that had saved him from discipline more than once. From there, his curiosity and skills had only grown.

With his babysitter effectively taken care of, 9S was free to poke around the bunker's mainframe without arousing suspicion. There had always seemed to be an unspoken rule pertaining to scout units: that YoRHa command would look the other way from a certain amount of snooping around within their own servers, as long as the scouts turned the worst of their hacks upon the enemy. Hackers within their ranks had plenty of access to training simulations, but the reality was that nothing could beat the real thing, and if YoRHa cracked down on every scout who hacked something they shouldn't have, there wouldn't be any hackers left on their team. And while any amount of cyber-sleuthing could get him into trouble while under probation, 9S was reasonably certain that he could at least peruse the bunker's local system content without stepping on any toes.

Of course, delving too deep into the YoRHa main server would certainly trip an alarm, but 9S had no need to pry into their deepest recesses just yet. He was certainly eager to compare its contents to what he had previously found there before the time loop, but that was probably a task for a later time – perhaps in another recursion. The YoRHa database would still be here the next time around.

It was so odd to be gauging time in this fashion, he reflected.

He started by running a full scan of archived data regarding his own combat data, as well as 2B's. He wasn't after mission reports exactly; what he was focused on were personal logs and environmental data – passive scans of the world around them, as well as what their own systems were experiencing. What he found in the local system database only confirmed his suspicions. He couldn't have been certain without the bunker's vast database to compare isotopic mass spectrometry data and ionized radiation levels from his own records, but every data point he gathered seemed to indicate the same conclusion.

His body – and most likely 2B's as well – was now fundamentally different from what it would have been during their original timeline. It wasn't just his field equipment that had been retained from before the time loop. His core, his black box, and all of his consciousness data contained within the trillions and trillions of electrons that swam about his cerebral cortex - it had all changed, matured, been subject to the passage of time, and more importantly, absorbed energy from the universe around him while it had done so.

Time seemed to have reverted back to a previous state of existence for the entire universe, but not for him and 2B. Their bodies were still in the state they would have been had they kept going from the fall of YoRHa, continuing to age and continuing to be bombarded with neutrinos and alpha particles and various other charged elements from the solar winds. The world around them had impacted their bodies, despite all current evidence of having lost nothing to show for it. It was just like how their Pods couldn't account for their extra equipment, except this was at the sub-atomic scale. The universe around them would have had to cough up a few additional joules of energy to account for the difference he was seeing. It wasn't much, but energy could neither be created nor destroyed, so any amount should have been fundamentally impossible! 9S was looking at data that conflicted with the very laws of thermodynamics!

He shuddered as he sat back in his chair. There must be something he wasn't seeing here! Some piece to this puzzle that wasn't clicking into place just yet! Or his readings were just flat out wrong! The universe couldn't have just…bent in some odd way to make all this happen, could it? He tried thinking of potential explanations that might account for the sub-atomic impossibility that was his own body. Could they have been trapped inside a black hole somehow? Or in some alternate dimension of space-time, where the laws of physics were completely different? The simulation theory would account for all of this, of course, but the amount of energy needed to produce a simulation of this scale…

All at once, 9S felt like he needed another nap. Time travel hurt his brain!

He decided to set aside the physics questions for another time, and instead focused his attention on logistics. If their bodies still belonged in the future, that must have meant that there was a single, uninterrupted experiential timeline that connected some future point in time to their current moment in time. From the perspective of the universe, he and 2B appeared to have been sent back to the past. But from his and 2B's perspective, they had lived through all this and more once already, reached a particular point in the future, and then gone back to relive these particular events on repeat. From their perspective, there was a single, unbroken chain of events, and while the world around them appeared to shift in time, they themselves did not. That must mean that they were not in the past, strictly speaking. They were in the future, which just happened to resemble the past.

That was an important distinction. It meant that there were now leads that 9S could look for over the course of any future recursions. The first question he would need to answer upon their next recursion was how this contiguous experiential timeline affected the two of them over multiple recursions. They had experienced three so far, but now that 9S had some way of gauging their status in a meaningful way, he could start to look for more clues. Such as how their energy levels were impacted after each recursion. Did the energy stack up after each recursion? Was the transition seamless, or did each successive recursion after the first reset that energy level to where they were at the start of the time loop itself? Or was it just the opposite – did the time loop itself add more energy to their bodily systems in order to send them back to the beginning each time, like the energy needed to convert water to steam?

He wouldn't be able to answer these questions until their recursion reset, but he had a solid lead – and best of all, it was one that did not rely on making contact with anyone else on their journey.

By that same token, now that they were safely inside the bunker, he really ought to be taking the opportunity to do just that while he was here. He had a plan for what do in future recursions – it was time to start learning what he could from this one. While he was physically confined to quarters, that wasn't stopping him from contacting some of his peers within YoRHa through standard comm channels. And even though it may have been too risky to share any information on the time loop with the Commander, thought experiments such as these were just the sort of brain teasers with which he and the other scouts used to challenge one another in their off hours.

So he messaged a few of his friends amongst the scout units, exchanged some greetings, allowing everyone to get caught up on everyone else's respective tasks and schedules, dallied a little on pleasantries, before posing a simple question: Just how much energy would it cost to power a simulation capable of truly deceiving a YoRHa android?

One of his colleagues, 12S, came up with an answer surprisingly quickly: Given the wide range of senses available to YoRHa androids, the number of individuals that an android could interact with and the trillions upon trillions of calculations required to adequately replicate those senses and interactions to the correct degree to be convincing, a simulation would require nothing less than a Jupiter brain powered by a Dyson sphere, both of which were themselves only theoretical in nature. Such advanced technology was still well beyond anything that YoRHa or the machines had ever employed.

9S massaged his forehead as he read this. He was used to having an enemy to fight. For all of his existence, that enemy had been the machines. After the fall of YoRHa, that list had expanded to include A2 as well, but the machines still ranked at the top of his list of enemies. And while his hatred for that enemy had been strong and often torturous, it had still been a straightforward process to see his world from this perspective.

But now he had a new enemy – this time loop. The time loop, and whoever or whatever had put him and 2B into it, real or simulated, was now a far more threatening enemy than the machines had ever been. This new enemy had them both dead to rights, and they were only just now finding the tools they needed to even recognize it for what it was. But they were still trapped with no obvious way out, and no amount of physical force had yet been enough to change any of that. In a very real sense, the world itself was their enemy now. And if that enemy also had access to computational power only conceivable with a theoretical quantum supercomputer the size of a gas giant, powered by an equally theoretical super-engine fueled by the nuclear radiation of a star, then he just wasn't sure they would ever be able to win in that scenario.

The prospect of this being an actual time loop flew in the face of everything he knew about physics, but the prospect of this being a simulation rendered their scenario effectively hopeless.

There was nothing for it, he realized, but to keep learning. He didn't know any of this for certain. These were only possibilities, and while it was helpful to glimpse into those possibilities, eventually he needed to start narrowing them down. So he thanked 12S for his answer, and posed a corollary to the thought experiment: Given a real world scenario, what would be the most likely way in which a YoRHa android might find out that they were in such a simulation?

An answer arrived almost immediately after he'd sent it: Inconsistencies.

Senses were actually quite easy to trick, and even when they weren't, brains tended to overlook and account for most of them. But brains were pattern-recognition devices at their core, so any element of a simulation that did not align with expected patterns would stand out. And if enough inconsistencies became apparent, eventually the inconsistencies themselves would form a pattern that would be enough to convince the android that they were in a simulation. Of course, this was also the basis by which conspiracy theories came into being, so it was far from a reliable tool.

9S thanked 12S, before he got up and stretched his arms. Pod 153 was still idling in the center of the room, and he quickly reset its scanning protocols to their default settings. They were a few hours into probation, and while he had a certain amount of leeway as a scout unit, it was best not to push things.

He lay back down on his bed, taking a breath as he absorbed everything that he'd learned. He hadn't landed on any answers just yet, but with any luck, he might be in a better position to ask the right questions.

He patched in a line to 2B to see if she was awake.

"2B, it's 9S," he said. "Anything happen while I was busy?"

She responded right away.

"Nothing so far," she replied simply.

It was just her voice on the other line, but 9S imagined her lying on her bed in a similar fashion as he was, idly waiting for the next task that came before her.

"I might have something we can work with," he elaborated. "But it's going to require a few more recursions to really pan out. I was wondering though…"

He trailed off. Soliciting information from 2B always seemed somewhat daunting, even after all the time they'd spent together.

"Yes?" she asked.

9S cleared his throat. "Now that we've both had some time to think about it, I guess I just wanted to know your thoughts on this whole mess."

2B was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"If our only plan for escaping the time loop involves continuing to trigger the time loop, then we should probably have some procedures in place first," she said succinctly.

9S felt a feeling of reassurance grow inside him. In a single sentence, 2B had taken everything that scared him about their situation and started shaping it into something slightly less scary. They were YoRHa androids, which meant they were creatures of action. Theories and postulates were useful and stimulating for a scout like him, but when it came right down to it, nothing beat having an actionable plan of attack.

"If we assume that the time loop will send us back to the exact same point in time, then we'll have to decide on a reliable way to extricate ourselves from the factory mission."

9S' feeling of reassurance lessened slightly. He double-checked to make sure their comm channel was secure before he continued.

"You think we should desert the mission?" he asked slowly. "Abandon YoRHa?"

"You said yourself we'll need multiple recursions to proceed," she pointed out. "Any abandonment would last only as long as the recursion we're in. If it comes down to it, we can always trigger another time loop to go back and complete the mission, or find some other solution that doesn't involve running."

9S narrowed his brow. Was 2B still upset at fleeing the field? She knew as well as he did that the mission had a very low chance of success. But then, 2B had never been one to back down from a fight.

In any case, she was right of course. If the time loop was consistent, then nothing they did in any individual recursion truly mattered as far as YoRHa was concerned. They could always reset it again. There were also some very real advantages to deserting the mission, not the least of which was simply having one less big thing to deal with at the beginning of every new recursion. Plus, it would give them the opportunity to explore other parts of the world outside YoRHa's reach for inconsistencies, and was definitely the best way to explore different outcomes during each recursion. And while YoRHa would be hunting them the whole time, there was a good chance that they could self-destruct again if they were ever cornered.

Not to mention that abandoning YoRHa would be a moot point if this all turned out to be a simulation anyway.

9S finally nodded, though only his Pod could see. "Ok, 2B. I think you're right."

He thought he could hear a small sound of satisfaction from 2B.

"Alright," she continued. "We should also probably stick together whenever possible. Since we both begin the time loop in separate areas, we should complete our assigned tasks until we can meet at the rendezvous point we've been using. From there we can exchange combat data, share notes and decide what course of action to take as new information arises."

9S smiled. This was started to sound more and more like a solid game plan.

"Lastly, we should figure out what to do if anything unexpected happens," 2B said. "If the time loop puts us somewhere different, or if one of us gets captured, or if we are otherwise unable to communicate with one another for any reason, we should decide right now how either of us should proceed in order to maximize the likelihood of reconnecting with the other and continuing with our plan of escape."

9S pursed his lips at that. It was the one thing he'd been avoiding thinking of, because it was the one thing he couldn't really test without consequence.

"That's…a lot of possibilities to contend with," he admitted grimly. "And I think they all mostly come down to what specifically triggers the time loop."

2B drew in a breath that was audible across the comm channel.

"So far, it's been our death that has triggered it," she noted.

"Yeah…" 9S sighed. "But is it your death, my death, or both of us dying at the same time?"

2B said nothing. But 9S was pretty sure she too had thought along these exact lines before, and like him was simply unprepared to explore the full scope of that line of thinking.

But there was no backing away from it now. It was the only remaining question they needed to answer before they could safely continue on to the next recursion. And it was one that they had to answer now, because they were both confined to quarters, and likely wouldn't be able to trigger a simultaneous self-destruction event if they had to. True they could just wait until their probation ended, but there was no real way of knowing when that would be, or whether they would be assigned to the same mission next time. And even if they were, they would only be delaying the inevitable. If they kept this up, sooner or later, they'd find out the hard way.

"If it's contingent on both our deaths, how far apart can they be?" 9S further expounded. "The reactor meltdown and the black box reaction both took us out within milliseconds of one another. What if that's key to the trigger? Because if it is…then it's just a matter of time before one of us dies first. And in that case, we either just…die…or one of us ends up stuck in whatever recursion we've blundered into without the other."

2B was still silent, and 9S felt his agitation growing. He knew he should have been holding up better, but he couldn't help himself. 2B was the bravest android he had ever met, but try as he might, he just couldn't match that bravery.

Finally she spoke.

"There's one other possibility that we haven't discussed yet…" she said.

9S tried not to let his apprehension creep into his voice.

"Yeah?"

2B's hesitation made 9S' throat clench.

"We could simply try surviving," she suggested finally.

9S almost laughed "What do you mean?"

"What if we just tried surviving, and make the most of the recursion as it is?" 2B asked. "True, things are different now, but we're both still alive. And while we don't necessarily know how this particular timeline will play out, when has that ever not been the case? We wouldn't have the advantage of backing up our consciousness data anymore, but it's not like death has ever been very high on our list of priorities. We could just ignore the time loop entirely."

9S was baffled. It was certainly a possibility, though it had only been one he'd considered before he'd known that their deaths would reset the time loop. Prior to that, his intentions had been far simpler by comparison – stop the fall of YoRHa. Could they still accomplish that in this new recursion, for all the mistakes they've already made? Which was riskier – taking the chance that another recursion might not come at all, or put all their stock in this recursion, in all of its uncertainty?

"YoRHa will still expect us to take risks," he pointed out. "And without the advantage of a memory backup, it's just a matter of time before we face another enemy we can't defeat."

"True," 2B allowed. "But with all our upgrades, I'm fairly confident that we can handle anything short of another goliath. Besides, our job has always been risky."

9S frowned. That didn't exactly set his mind at ease. The entire reason they had retreated to the bunker was because they hadn't had any luck with the factory mission.

"And if we do die and trigger the time loop, then we just try again," she offered, sensing his unease. "We don't have to devote all our focus on escaping the time loop. We could use it. Learn from it. Live in it."

Something inside 9S balked at that notion. He didn't trust this time loop. Neither of them had volunteered to be a part of it, and until they knew more about it, he saw absolutely no reason to assume that they could just…live their lives inside of it like nothing was out of place. For one thing, it was stifling – nothing they accomplished would ever amount to anything if it would all be reset in the end. And that was assuming any of this was even real in the first place!

"What if this is all a simulation?" he asked.

2B shrugged.

"What if our entire lives have just been a simulation?" she countered.

9S wrinkled his nose. He didn't really have an answer to that. But he still shook his head. There were just too many ways it could go wrong. And even if they could do what 2B was proposing, the very existence of the time loop itself lead to another possibility – that they were in here for a purpose. And if they couldn't figure out what that purpose might be, who was to say that purpose was to their benefit? They could both just be lab rats in some grand experiment being observed by a higher power for all they knew.

No. They had to get out of this. Or at least figure out if they even could.

"Even if we assume-"

9S' voice abruptly halted when he realized that the bulkhead across from where he lay on his bed had disappeared.

The bunker itself had disappeared.

"What the-!?" he gasped, suddenly on his feet and nearly falling over before his hands flew out and clasped around the first thing they could reach.

A rusty metal handrail.

9S was back on the surface of the earth, back at the factory once again. And right there across the platform in front of him was that same little machine, dumping oil on its companion.

"Big brother…big brother…"


A/N: The plots. They thicken.