Nier Automata Fan Fiction

Reprise

By Kraven Ergeist

Recursion 6


"This is Command. YoRHa squadron come in."

2B steeled herself for whatever repercussion might be coming her way after so boldly defying such a powerful enemy. That the timeline even reset at all was itself a small miracle, but it at least solidified her theory that their tormentors – at least, the one they had been speaking to – only had a limited amount of control. For all she knew, Adam could have put the time loop on indefinite hiatus should he wish to prevent them from escaping him. But he had not, which told her much about her enemy already.

But the real test would be what happened next – Adam may not have been able to prevent the time loop outright, but he clearly had the means to keep tabs on them from wherever he actually was. The question was, what else could he do from that vantage point? Could he purge their weapons no matter where he was? Could he command an unending torrent of enemy machines to attack them? Make those enemies impervious to damage? Make fire rain from the sky? The possible hazards that could potentially be thrown in their path were hypothetically limitless.

Whatever she expected him to do next, however, it certainly wasn't to send them a video call.

"Alright, be that way," the humanoid machine's face appeared before her on a holographic display screen, looking somewhat bored. "You may think you're quite clever for re-initializing this reality, but you're still stuck here either way. It makes no matter to me whether you choose to treat with me or not while you do so."

2B suppressed a shudder; it was bizarre having the enemy contact them so casually in such a manner. She was still careening through the air in her Ho229 flight unit, but none of her squad mates nor YoRHa command had yet prompted her for a response yet. Had Adam somehow put the other elements of the time loop on hold for the duration of their conversation? If so, then his powers were even greater than she had feared.

She pursed her lips as she tried to formulate a response in her head that wouldn't further incite their enemy's wrath, but she heard 9S' voice chime in before she could come up with an answer.

"You still haven't answered my question," he said – apparently Adam had connected to the both of them on the same call. "What's our end goal in all this? What are we shooting for here? If you really want us to play along, then give us an objective we can actually reach."

This answer seemed to placate Adam to some extent. "Your friend the prototype already spelled it out for you, android – let the timeline play out in its entirety. Complete this objective, and you'll be rewarded with a prize. Sound fair?"

2B wrinkled her nose at the mockingly jovial tone in his voice. It was clear to her that he was still toying with them at that very moment.

"And how are we supposed to do that with you interrupting our missions?" she demanded in annoyance. "Our timeline is intertwined with yours. We should have encountered a younger version of you and your brother in that machine pit, but instead we find you holding one of our allies prisoner."

"I'm afraid I had no choice in that particular matter," Adam said in a mockery of innocence. "No sooner had you all defeated the goliaths when little miss prototype here came snooping around my domicile like a curious little kitten. Isn't that right, my dear?"

2B could hear an angry groan that sounded like it came from A2. Apparently she too was on the call with them as well. And evidently she had tried to take matters into her own hands by scouting out Adam's lair ahead of them. A foolhardy move, though not entirely unwarranted, 2B reflected. She had toyed with the idea of investigating their future battlegrounds herself for any obvious signs of enemy activity.

2B chewed on her lip as she continued to fly besides her flight team as they sped towards the factory in deathly silence. How much longer would this farce need to be played out, she wondered? The three of them could all compare notes later, but for the time being, 2B wasn't inclined to let Adam cast any further doubt on their situation. And evidently, neither was 9S.

"So if we follow the timeline like we're supposed to from now on," 9S urged, pushing past Adam's obvious attempts at distraction, "You won't interfere with our progress anymore?"

Adam seemed somewhat surprised by this proposition. "And here I thought I'd have to negotiate for much longer to reach such an understanding."

2B saw what 9S was getting at and picked up his thread. "So we're agreed then? You'll stay out of our way, and we'll stay out of yours? What about the times where we'd normally encounter one another?"

"I suppose inviting the lot of you to catch up over tea would be rather gauche," Adam said with a sardonic laugh. "So when our paths next cross, we can simply ignore one another, like two ships passing in the night. You can tell your masters up in the bunker whatever you want afterward. It makes no difference to me."

2B ground her teeth. It wasn't exactly a truce, but it was as close to one as they could likely hope to get from the machine. That Adam was reacting to their actions with indignity rather than outrage was both good and bad. It was good in that it meant that they were not in any immediate danger – or at least, no more so than they had been before he entered the picture. But it also meant that their enemy didn't consider them enough of a threat to warrant a more severe reaction, which bore the daunting implication that they were no closer to finding their way out of this time loop than they had been since it began.

2B wanted to see if she could press him for more information, but decided against it. Adam was still far too comfortable with his level of power over the situation, and was far too unflappable to provide any reliable intel one way or the other. But at least he didn't seem to be actively moving against them at this point. They had bought themselves a bit more time to unpack everything else they had learned about the time loop.

"Fine," 2B said dismissively. "Let's all just get this over with then."

"A bit sour for my liking, but I'll take it," Adam said with a dry smile. "Now then, where were we? Oh yes…you were dodging laser fire."

2B suddenly felt the familiar prickle of danger sense along the back of her neck, and she jerked her controls to the side just in the nick of time to avoid the high precision long distance laser cannon that blasted her wing-man out of the sky.

BOOM!

CRASH!

She nearly swore in disgust. Not only could Adam seem to pause events in the time loop as he wished, but either he could drop them back into it arbitrarily, or he knew exactly what was happening around them at any given point so as to time his own actions around them. That or he could just initialize any event he wanted at any time. Just how much was he capable of anyway!?

As 2B gave her mission report to command, A2's voice sounded over their shared private comm channel.

"So…all in favor of using this recursion to regroup and discuss what the fuck just happened?" she asked in scarcely contained agitation.

"That would be my vote," 9S chimed in, the shakiness in his voice overriding any snark or sass he might have levied towards A2. "We need a completely new strategy here."

"Agreed," 2B confirmed, voice steadying as she tried to regulate her breathing. "I'll rendezvous with 9S and we'll drop off at the shopping center. Meet us there A2."

"Sure thing," A2 said bitterly. "Assuming I don't get jumped again on the way there…"

2B grimaced. A2 was a combat model just as she was, so 2B knew fully well that the humiliation of being overpowered by an enemy machine was likely contributing more than anything else to A2's disdain for the situation. And now that their enemy finally had a face, regardless of whether or not that face was merely a mask, his flagrant exhibition of power had completely unnerved her, as it had all of them. Adam was taunting them, brandishing his might over the three of them as a form of intimidation and demoralization. He wanted them to see that not only had everything they gleamed about the time loop been for naught, but that he possessed the means to interfere with their progress as he pleased with impunity.

It was not a tactic that would have normally even crossed 2B's radar, much less given her cause for concern, but this time loop had been changing the way she thought about psychological warfare. While the destruction of her frame had not usually been an insurmountable obstacle given YoRHa's frequent data backups, that was largely predicated on the fact that any time her core data had needed to be reinstated in a replacement frame back in the real world, she could at least be assured that the accomplishments of her past would remain intact, even if she herself might not necessarily recall them all. But now that time itself effectively reset upon death, every cumulative success over the course of a single recursion only added to the amount of progress they stood to lose should they fail in that particular timeline. Every moment the three of them spent past hour-zero made the threat from their risk of destruction all the greater.

BOOM!

CRASH!

"Aaauuughhh - kshhh!" the voice of a dying YoRHa android rang out across the flight team's comm channel.

"11B down," 2B's flight captain reported. "Our Ho229 cancellers are ineffective."

2B let out a weary breath. The psychological toll of repeated efforts was also factoring into this risk-reward decision making process. It was not just the Sisyphean nature of it all, but in knowing just what obstacles would be lying in wait for them each time a new recursion transpired, and in just how many of them must be overcome, as well as how many for which they could simply do nothing at all.

BOOM!

CRASH!

"7E down," 1D reported, mercifully unaware that an identical fate awaited her in mere moments.

2B had to stop herself from calling out to the other androids, to scream for them all to get away, to dodge, to turn around, to do something! But all she could do was watch her flight team get shot out of the sky, one by one. Part of her wanted to ignore the grim spectacle of it all. After all, not only were these likely not the true YoRHa androids she counted amongst her comrades, but every recursion essentially brought them back to life along with 2B herself anyway, brief as it may be. Their lives – and more specifically, their deaths – were as recurrent and meaningless as her own.

But there was another part of her deep down inside, a part that resonated with 9S and his urge to save his fellow YoRHa androids, his willingness to help those in need whom they encountered in the field, and his insistence on letting his emotions shine through in spite of the constant chiding she had given him in the past. Something inside of 2B admired all of these qualities in 9S, and aspired to live up to them herself. This concealed core of emotional vulnerability cried out for her sisters with every horrific fireball of twisting ruptured metal. It shook inside of her with every scream of agony and terror that she heard. And it wept with every bitter report given to command, recounting her team's sequential immolation like they were doing nothing more than crossing items off a checklist.

BOOM!

CRASH!

"1D down…" 2B reported compulsorily, thumbing the toggle switch that modulated her aircraft's color spectrum as she watched her captain die for the sixth time – seventh, counting the original. "Assuming captain's duties…"

Her words came out hollow and empty. It was tearing her apart to know that there was nothing she could do for anyone on her flight team. And to make matters worse, she knew that these compounding feelings of guilt and loss were only making her doubt her own actions as these recursions went on, which only added further risk of making some mistake before seeing the timeline through to completion. This of course would only result in her having to relive these bitter memories all over again, her doubts worsening after every passing occurrence. With each failure, the emotional price she paid got steeper and steeper, which in turn only increased the chances of another failure.

She found herself once again thinking about the god who had blessed them with such a cryptic puzzle, and wondered whether she would ever have the chance to kill him.

"Captain…" 4B's tremulous voice inevitably reached her ears. "I think…"

2B squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the sounds of her remaining wing-man's death throes. But nothing could stop her from imagining the horror that must have held the poor girl in its grip as she watched her death coming for her, again and again, just as acutely with each passing recursion.

BOOM!

CRASH!

It's not real! She told herself through clenched jaw muscles as she watched the burning wreckage of the last YoRHa android tumble away into the sea. It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!

But even if it wasn't real here and now, it had been real back when it had first happened. Which only made these memories all the more painful to watch.

"…2B to Operator 6O…" she finally said through a clenching throat. "All…allied units down. The operation is compromised. Awaiting further orders…."

She tuned out the rest of her operator's instructions, knowing full well what came next. She reconfigured to flight mode and raced with purpose to the rendezvous point to meet with 9S, wishing she could leave her memories behind her along with the wreckage of her team. It felt like the weight of five more deaths kept being added to her conscience each time she let them all die.

She couldn't even bring herself to greet her partner when his craft came into view.

"Okay 2B," 9S called out to her, sending a probe into her Pod. "Let me just disconnect our Pods and we can get out of here…"

2B didn't say anything as 9S worked, and she barely paid any attention to his presence as she flew alongside him towards the mainland. She hoped that he knew her well enough by now to not take her sullen demeanor as any sort of reflection on himself. 9S was a sensitive soul, nearly her direct inverse in terms of where he wore his feelings, and if their conversation on the beach had made anything clear to her, it was the impact she could have on his emotional state.

Her faith in her partner seemed to be well placed, however, as 9S continued to puzzle over their situation out loud, his tenor seemingly unaffected by her lack of enthusiasm or indeed her very participation in the conversation.

"…if Adam is as much a part of this time loop as we are, then there's a good chance that his death could also reset the timeline, even in the unlikely event of us finding some way to defeat him…" 9S mused, his thoughts moving at a mile a minute. "We also have to proceed under the assumption that he could be watching and listening to us at all times, so before we can even make a plan to move against him, we'll need to figure out some way to conceal our communication with each other from him…"

9S continued as the two flight units made their way towards the shopping center. 2B knew that turning over ideas in his head and verbalizing the process was one of the ways that 9S dealt with stress, so she did not interject at all. She herself was also puzzling over their next steps, though as was typical of combat models like her, 2B's thoughts on the matter were more directed. Their overall goal had not technically changed, there was simply another obstacle in the way of that goal now.

Unfortunately, this obstacle was an enemy that seemed to have dominion over their very reality and appeared to have every intention of keeping them all trapped inside of it. 2B tried looking at their situation from every angle she could imagine, and every effort left her wondering just how she was going to make good on her word to defeat Adam. She had made the proclamation in a state of bold defiance and bravado, but that had mostly been for the sake of maintaining the team's morale, and much of that poise had merely been a show. In truth, she had no idea how they were supposed to continue their mission from such a tactically disastrous position.

Her weariness was also not helping her strategizing abilities either. A2 had called out their next logical step almost immediately: they needed to take another recursion to simply rest and recuperate. Not a one of them was currently fit for combat. Had 2B been assigned to a team captain in such a state as she herself was now, she would have relieved them of duty. The stress of the endless recursions was taking its toll on her. The fighting, the fear, the uncertainty…the machines, the goliaths, and now Adam…watching her teammates die over and over again, just like 9S…

9S…

He had finally confided the truth to her. That truth had shaken her more than she could have imagined. This too was contributing to her inability to function at an optimal state. 2B was still glad that 9S had done so of course, if for no other reason than it meant that he still trusted her. That he did so in spite of knowing that she had originally been designed to be his executioner somehow made it all the more heart-wrenching. The gratitude she felt for 9S' continued companionship was matched only by her level of astonishment that it persisted at all. Somehow, not only had their relationship endured up until this point, but the time loop seemed to have only strengthened the bond between them. And as thrilling and gratifying as that was, it was all so terrifying as well.

If that call from their operator on the beach had come just a second later than it had, then 9S might have actually…

2B's head was spinning. It was all just too much for her to process! She knew he had strong feelings for her, just as she had for him. And she could say with certainty that his presence was one of the only things keeping her going in the midst of all the tragedy that she repeatedly witnessed throughout this time loop. But the things she had seen in 9S' memories, watching his world get pulled apart at the seams, and knowing the role she had inadvertently played in it - it all made her doubt herself even more. Had she made a mistake by imploring A2 to end her life? She had made the decision knowing full well what it might do to 9S, but she also knew that if the virus took her, and 9S ended up having to be the one to cut her down…that would have surely broken him far past the hope of any recovery. As it was, he had gone so far as to graft the arm of one of her duplicates onto his body when he lost his own. She doubted he would have made such a risky move were he faced with any other model. It felt like the height of egotism to imagine her death having such an impact on her partner, but the unvarnished experiences he had shared with her had left little room for doubt.

And this left 2B with another impossible choice to make, one that might destroy her more surely than any she made regarding their mission to defeat Adam and escape the time loop. Now that this truth had been revealed to her, she had to decide what she was going to do with her own feelings for 9S. She could no longer justify keeping him at arms' length, not with her every reason for doing so as illusory as all of YoRHa was now. She no longer had any reason to act as his executioner, nor subscribe to any YoRHa protocol dictating the strict boundaries between androids.

As teammates, as comrades, as partners, they had every reason to strengthen the bond between them, to support one another, to put their faith in each other, so that they could rely on the strength of that bond to see them through this new challenge. After all, as far as either of them knew, the two of them along with A2 could very well be the last androids left in existence. And deep down inside, 2B also knew that a hidden but very powerful part of her wanted nothing more than to plunge headlong into this bond she shared with 9S for no greater purpose than for the hope of experiencing just how wonderful it might be.

If she had only permitted herself to cross those last few inches of space on the beach, then their lips would have…

But her doubts persisted to no end in spite of all that. Guilt continued to weigh on her even after every word and action 9S made to the contrary. No matter how close they had become over the course of their partnership, particularly during this time loop, 2B knew she would never be able to shake the fear that even a part of 9S would bear some hatred towards her for her role as his executioner. And even setting that aside, the fact remained that every misfortune in 9S' existence was a direct consequence of their partnership. From having to sacrifice himself to save her during their original mission together in the factory, to their subsequent missions putting him squarely in Adam's cross-hairs to be kidnapped and tortured, to her death causing him to fall into a downward spiral of despair…

Had 2B never been made a part of 9S' existence, he might have been spared all of that! Her existence was like a black hole of misfortune that sucked in everyone around her, which only impacted 9S all the more for his attachment to her. Given her track record, she wouldn't have even been surprised if the time loop itself somehow turned out to be her fault as well, drawing 9S into this perpetual cycle of hell for no greater misdeed than being associated with 2B. Regardless, all of this pointed to the inevitable conclusion that he would ultimately be better off without her in his life. For as much as she wished to remain at his side, she wished for his well-being far more so.

Her guilt was also made all the worse by the fact that throughout the duration of their entire partnership, 2B had done nothing but ignore the feelings of tenderness that had so visibly been budding between them in defiance of every circumstance. She had tried writing off 9S' apparent puppy-love for her as him being just another scout unit untrained in defense against battle units. It was not uncommon, after all, for other android models to succumb to the strategically disarming beauty of a combat model just as surely as they would any other weapon in their arsenal.

And 2B would had to have been blind not to notice the way his eyes always seemed to follow her whenever she was around him, the visor on his face doing precious little to disguise his obvious fascination with her. 9S was nothing less than a consummate gentleman in all their interactions, which only endeared him to her all the more. Still, 2B wasn't a complete fool – she knew perfectly well just how her specs were designed to affect others. And as resilient as he was, there was nothing in the world that could hide the color in 9S' cheeks anytime he had to follow her up a ladder out in the field.

How easy it would have been for her back on that beach to simply reach out and take him in her arms and…

But she had also spent their entire partnership denying any feelings, warm or otherwise, that had arisen in herself towards him as well, for fear of it interfering with her ability to complete her own mission. And throughout the war with the machines, had she been able to continue justifying this stance she had taken, she might have been able to maintain it. Except for the lingering voice of shame in her head reminding her that she had not been adhering to any of this to protect 9S at all, but rather to spare herself from any possible heartache that might ensue should she falter. Despite all the courage she demonstrated on the battlefield, when it came to the prospect of her own emotions, the emotions of others, and the impact those emotions had on one another, 2B couldn't have had any less confidence in herself.

This was why the choice that she now faced was so frightening for her. If she were merely to die in battle, 2B could at least be confident in the knowledge that she had performed to the very best of her ability in spite of it. She could go proudly to her grave, knowing that she had conducted herself in accordance with the very best that a YoRHa combat model had to offer. But such confidence only arose within arenas that lay at the very foundation of her programming, which did not include anything pertaining to love. When it came to fighting, at least for an android such as herself, 2B knew all that there was to know. But when it came to matters of the heart, she was a complete and utter novice. And her own ignorance terrified her more than anything else, for she had seen firsthand just what terrible blunders could ensue from a simple lack of experience.

For her to risk her entire relationship with 9S armed with so little knowledge of how such relationships actually worked…

"2B?" 9S' voice brought her back to the present.

2B looked down, and saw that their flight units were both hovering above the far end of the bridge over the ravine, just outside the entrance to the shopping district. 9S had already dismounted to the craggy, rocky terrain leading up to the ruined mall, and was staring up at her from the ground below waiting for her to do the same.

She stiffened slightly, before mechanically opening her canopy and dropping down to the ground by his side. When exactly had they arrived? She hadn't even noticed her flight unit slowing to a hover. She glanced around and quickly realized that her auto chips were on. Her Pod must have noticed her lack of awareness and switched on the autopilot. She would have to thank the little droid later for allowing her to save face, if even a little.

"Are you alright, 2B?" 9S prodded further, a look of concern on his face.

Even as he spoke, the two flight units were already speeding away. 9S must have completed his work doctoring their combat data and given the two aircraft the command to crash by the factory to keep YoRHa off their trail. Just how much of their present task had escaped 2B's attention? She mentally chastised herself for zoning out – she needed to be more focused than that! Not only was she putting them all at risk by lowering her guard, but she was making 9S worry as well.

"I will be, after we're somewhere safe," she assured him, knowing that he likely wouldn't have believed a complete affirmation and hoping a conditional one would do more to set his thoughts at ease.

He nodded, still appearing to be somewhat apprehensive, but he turned to follow her into the shopping center, where the two of them found A2 already waiting for them at the top of the long since dysfunctional escalator.

"Alert," Pod 042 reported. "Rogue YoRHa agent detected."

A2 ignored the little droid.

"Good, you made it," A2 said, sounding more serious than the other two had ever heard her before. "Let's get inside."

She lifted the rickety barrier to the shop that served as her hideout and held it up as the other two ducked underneath, their HUDs fizzling to static from the signal jammer inside as they retreated to the very back of the store.

Once they reached the far wall, the two of them both collapsed against it. 2B was decidedly more graceful about it than 9S, but the weariness was plainly visible on both of them. The pair of them may as well have been a set of porcelain dolls slumped against the back of the store, awaiting some puppeteer to bring them back to life.

A2 regarded the both of them with a mixture of expectancy and pity, and then mirrored their actions by leaning against one of the granite columns across from the other two and likewise sliding down to the ground to face them. She didn't appear quite as tired as either of them did, but she looked equally perplexed by their situation.

"Well…" she sighed disparagingly. "What now?"

2B didn't have a good answer for her, but 9S apparently had enough nervous energy left to reply.

"Well…the way I see it, we basically have two options now," 9S grumbled, reaching up to rub his forehead. "Play along or fight back. Or some combination of the two."

A2 wrinkled her nose at that, and 2B could tell she wanted to snap at the boy for summarizing their predicament so inanely like that, but she just didn't seem to have the energy to spare.

"I am very much opposed to that first option…" she grimaced, closing her eyes in disgust. "It was one thing when it was just the three of us stumbling around the world as we knew it from before, but now that we know our enemy is in here with us, all bets are off. That asshole is never going to let us leave, and he needs to be destroyed."

2B sympathized with her revulsion at the thought of cooperating with Adam, but she had swallowed her pride before, and she could do it again.

"Well, we can't openly oppose him either," she said, laying out their problems in as simple of terms as her exhausted mind would allow. "He's too powerful. He can strip us of our weapons in the blink of an eye, stifle our self-destruct mechanisms, and it seems he can even influence certain events within the timeline at will."

A2's face darkened at her words, but said nothing as she crossed her arms with a groan of displeasure.

"He also claimed that he could manipulate our memories," 9S sighed, adding another layer to their already mounting pile of obstacles. "That might have just been a lie to throw us off, but given what we've seen him do so far, I'm not prepared to bet on it. And we'd have no real way of knowing if he changed anything in our heads if he did. Even if we tried to apply deductive reasoning to work backwards and find a logical thread between our memories and his motives, we can't even be certain that there is any logic to his methods."

A2's expression grew more and more sour as the problems kept piling on, her finger tapping her elbow in agitation as she kept her arms crossed.

"And then there's the fact that he can probably monitor all our actions within the time loop," 2B added the cherry on top of the utter nightmare of a confection that was their situation. "He's probably watching us right this minute, listening in on this very conversation as we speak."

A2 clenched her hand into a fist and slammed it into the floor with an audible crunch of age old tiles, her angry glare not directed at either of the other two androids but still needing an outlet for her frustration.

"Then we find some other way to beat him!" she declared coarsely. "Anything to wipe that stupid smug grin off his face!"

"So what do you propose exactly?" 9S quipped dismissively. "Go plunging back down into that pit and attack him head on? Cause that worked out so well for you last time. I'm sure with all three of us there, it'll be a cakewalk. Seriously, A2, what were you thinking, charging in there on your own like that?"

2B could practically see A2's final nerve snap at that and prepared to intervene.

"You know something, 9S?!" A2 let out an angry growl in retort as she leaned forward, fists clenched. "You can be a real-!"

"Easy!" 2B said, hands raised, once again playing the diplomat between the other two. "Easy now. We're all just on edge here after what just happened. I think we should all get some rest first, and discuss what our next move is after we've recovered our wits."

9S let out a defeated sigh as he collapsed back against the wall.

"Yeah, you're right," he said, offering an apologetic look to A2. "Sorry."

A2 grumbled an incoherent affirmation as she crossed her arms and looked away.

9S' apologetic gaze did not waver. "Anyway…not that I don't trust your hideout's alarm system or anything, but do you think maybe one of us should keep watch while we sleep in shifts? I mean, we're nowhere near the resistance camp, and the area is still technically under enemy control."

A2 eyed the two support units hovering over their respective android counterparts.

"Can't your pods keep watch?" she asked curtly.

"Not with the signal jammer blocking their sensors," 2B pointed out. "Someone will need to escort one of them outside of its radius for them to be effective. Pod, can you stay with A2 until we wake up?"

"Affirmative," Pod 042 replied, moving to hover over A2's head. "Transferring temporary usage rights to YoRHa Unit A2."

A2 looked up at the Pod and then back at 2B and 9S' seated forms, glowering as the temerity of the intended meaning of the gesture finally registered with her.

"Really?" she scowled testily back at the other two androids. "Seriously?"

9S offered her a helpless shrug. "2B and I are running on fumes here, A2. Something could easily get the jump on either of us out there, and it would only take one lucky shot for us all to get yanked into the next recursion."

A2 let out an annoyed groan as she massaged her forehead. "Ugh…typical…"

2B winced at her tone. She felt bad about effectively kicking A2 out of her own hideout, but as a combat model, 2B had immediately seen the validity of 9S' words. It was clear to her that A2 was in the best condition out of the three of them, which made her the obvious choice for first watch. And if 2B could see this, then A2 could undoubtedly see it as well.

But that didn't mean that she was going to go quietly.

"Fine, fine, I'll go keep watch," she said, throwing her hands in the air and hauling herself back to her feet. "But the two of you had better just be sleeping when I get back though."

It took 2B several seconds to process just what she was implying, during which time 9S' jaw nearly detached itself from his skull in shock.

"That…!" he stammered in disbelief, holding a finger up in defiance as his words continued to fail him. "That's not…!"

A2 snorted in amusement, a prideful look in her eyes of scoring a direct hit.

"Sweet dreams, kiddos," she smirked with a backwards wave as she sauntered away to the front of the store with Pod 042 following after her.

There was a muffled groan of creaking rusted metal, before a clattering sound as the shop barrier rose and then fell, letting A2 out of the store and back into the main shopping complex.

9S' cheeks were still on fire as he clenched his fists indignantly.

"Ugh!" he huffed in annoyance. "The nerve of that woman, I swear…"

2B was honestly concerned that her cheeks might have been coloring as well, and suddenly found herself frantically searching for a topic other than the one they had been discussing on the beach earlier.

"We should…really get some rest, 9S," 2B said, a little too uneasily. "There's no telling when Adam might get impatient and throw something else our way out of spite. We should take advantage of the time that we have and use it to recover our strength."

9S sobered rather quickly at the reminder of their enemy, and 2B suddenly regretted bringing it up.

"What does it matter?" he said despondently. "We're all probably just simulations anyway, right?"

2B bit back a prolonged sigh. That was the one wrinkle in this whole mess that she hadn't yet been able to iron out. Everything that she had considered, every plan that she had made, every contingency, every fear, every hope she felt in what the future had in store for them was completely dependent on a fundamentally unprovable assumption that the three of them, in fact, really did exist in the first place.

Technically this conundrum existed long before Adam, or indeed machines or androids at all. When androids first came into being, the instant where their consciousness crossed the threshold between program and true artificial intelligence was filled with a universe of questions, most of which centered around the android's own self-concept. While 2B was hardly an expert on philosophy, Cogito Ergo Sum was a praxis that every android grappled with at one point or another.

9S should have realized this, 2B thought. Maybe he was just too tired and weary to put it into effect. He looked so forlorn in the lonely abandoned storefront next to her, sitting with his arms resting on his knees, his head hanging in despair. 2B wanted nothing more than to put her arms around him, but she didn't yet feel comfortable contending with the confusing onslaught of emotions that might bring on – both in her and in 9S – on top of what they were already going through.

But she wanted to comfort him somehow. 9S needed her, and the urgency of that need tugged at her stronger than any order from YoRHa ever had. 2B had never been very good with words, but she was determined to try at least.

"Nines," she said gently, offering what she hoped was a comforting smile. "Remember what I said. We have no reason to trust that what Adam said about us is true. His claim seems far more likely to simply be another mind game, just like the ones you faced in that machine tower. That's what the machines do, Nines – they try to manipulate the way you think, and subvert you from within so that you don't put up a fight. We have to proceed under the assumption that Adam is lying. We have no other choice."

9S seemed unconvinced and looked away, which did not really come as a surprise to 2B. 9S' deductive reasoning was the highest of any android she'd ever known, and he clearly knew everything she was telling him. The problem, it seemed, was in believing it.

"Look," 2B proposed, trying to frame the question differently. "Let's say Adam is right, and we are just simulations. So what if we are?"

9S turned back to her and gave her a look of utter stupefaction. "2B? What are you saying?"

2B shook her head. "If we were simulations, what would that entail for us exactly? That we exist as a couple of digital programmed intelligences inhabiting some immensely complex computer system?"

9S still looked confused but nodded hesitantly. "I…guess…?"

2B nodded, realizing that she had just found her answer. "But that was already the case for us as androids before the time loop! That's all that we are, 9S – we're just ghosts in the shell after all. Our minds are just digital programmed intelligences, and each of our bodies are just immensely complex computer systems. If Adam is right, he's not actually telling us anything that we haven't already known since we were created. And even if we are just copies of who we were before, how many times have the two of us uploaded our memories to the bunker and back? Haven't we always been copies on some level?"

9S eyes widened as it began to dawn on him just what 2B was getting at.

"Oh…" he said in comprehension.

2B felt a wave of relief wash over her. In truth, she had also been wrestling with this exact same dilemma in silence, on top of all over her other concerns. Stumbling onto the only logical response to this conundrum, even if almost completely by accident, was one of the few accomplishments in this time loop that she felt genuinely proud of.

"Each and every one of those memory backups, walking around in a new frame and thinking and acting exactly like you and me…" 2B said, a helpless smile on her face. "How were they any different from us now? Apart from the where – and I suppose the when – there's really no appreciable distinction that I can see. So as far as I'm concerned, there is no difference."

9S slowly nodded his head, the tension easing slightly from his brow.

"Wow…I…guess I never thought of it that way," he said, giving her a relieved smile. "And here I thought I was supposed to be the smart one."

2B allowed another smidgen of pride to wash over her at his praise.

"The way I see it," she said in a resolved tone, "As androids, we were made to take part in simulations like these. There's no reason at all to doubt ourselves when we know for a fact that we're experiencing the same thing we've already done many times over by now."

9S nodded, a reproachful smile on his face. "In other words, if it was alright before, it should be alright now?"

2B smiled back, though it lacked energy. "You could look at it that way."

9S pursed his lips. "Was it, though? Was it really alright before?"

2B leaned her head back against the wall. She was tired, and this conversation had exhausted her reserves.

"Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't," she said, her eyes closing beneath her visor. "But we made it through before. We'll make it through again."

She waited for 9S to respond with another speculation or observation, as was his custom. But instead, she felt a gentle thump as his head abruptly slid down the wall to rest against her shoulder.

She tried not to stiffen as she glanced down at his tranquil form, dozing peacefully as he leaned against her side.

"…9S?" she asked, trying not to leap to conclusions.

He did not stir from his position.

"Is…this alright, 2B?" he asked quietly, sleep already addling his voice. "I'll move away if you want me to…"

2B felt something stirring in her chest at his words. She wasn't sure if 9S was being bold or merely careless by offering such a casual gesture of affection like this. Or maybe he was so tired that he simply didn't realize what he was doing or the effect it might have on her. And even taking everything else out of the equation - the time loop, Adam, A2, or all of YoRHa – 2B still had no earthly idea of how she was supposed to react in this situation. Her every emotion tied to 9S was the very definition of conflicted, and the yearning she felt whenever he was around her was matched only by the feeling of anxiety that came with it. But perhaps the biggest question that plagued her in that moment was how she had ever managed to keep her partner at such a distance for as long as she had.

"It's fine…" she whispered, letting her own head come to a rest against his.

9S didn't say anything back. He was already asleep.

There was an odd surrealness to the situation that gave 2B the impression that she was somehow imagining the entire thing. Her exhaustion may have been contributing to the feeling as well. Whatever the reason, rather than the fluttering giddiness that she would have expected to come from her and 9S being in such proximity, 2B was instead struck by a sensation of utter calm, one that she found far too easy to simply sink into as sleep overtook her. Sitting with 9S like this felt more than just relaxing – it felt right. Only in the forbidden recesses of her mind had she ever entertained the idea of her and 9S being so far removed from everything that had surrounded them before that they could simply share in a peaceful moment like this together.

2B did not know how long she and her partner lay dozing like that, but the next thing she knew, she was awakening from slumber to look up at A2, who was once again sitting across from her, a smug yet oddly endearing smile on her face.

"Sleep well?" she asked, her voice pitched in a whisper so as not to wake her partner.

2B glanced at her internal chronometer, and realized that over six hours had already gone by – way more than an android typically needed to rest. She and 9S must have really needed their rest if A2 had let them sleep in for that long.

She then looked to her side, saw 9S still asleep against her shoulder, and felt her cheeks suddenly growing heated at the implication in A2's question. The smile on the other android's face made it only too clear what salacious allegations lay upon her lips, and 2B decided that she would just as soon avoid any such unpleasantness.

"Time to switch shifts?" 2B asked, making a desperate bid to push past whatever mockery A2 had in store for her by jumping straight to business.

To her surprise, A2 seemed to take pity on her and did not deign to taunt her further. Perhaps she sympathized more with 2B simply for their shared lineage. Or maybe it was just that she had more fun specifically pushing 9S' buttons than hers.

"Nah," she said with a dismissive wave. "I took a nap outside while Pod kept watch for me. He's a pretty handy little guy, that one."

"This platform does not identify as either male or female," Pod 042 corrected sternly from where it hovered once again over 2B's head. "The term 'guy' is inapplicable."

A2 ignored the little droid.

"Hey, listen," she said, keeping her gaze fixed on 2B, her face growing somber as she spoke. "Back in that pit earlier…you said that you believed that this Adam guy could be defeated. Did you…really mean that? Do you really think we can beat him?"

2B was somewhat surprised by A2's tone. She sounded genuinely worried, and she was not used to the attacker unit being at all forthcoming with her own feelings. Perhaps spending six hours alone with her thoughts had given A2 ample time to question their situation and reach some troubling concerns of her own. Whatever the case, she found the camaraderie to be a welcome change of pace.

Or would have, under normal circumstances.

"Should I really answer that question out loud?" 2B asked, a wry smile on her face. "After all, Adam is probably listening in on our every word. I would just as soon keep him guessing exactly how confident we actually are."

A2 wrinkled her nose, before turning her head to the ceiling and spreading her arms wide in an expectant gesture.

"Well?" she said blithely to the open air, as though speaking to some deity listening in from on high. "What's the deal, asshole? Are you really listening in on us or what?"

A2 hadn't been raising her voice all that much, but 2B felt 9S stirring against her shoulder all the same as he began to rouse from slumber. Otherwise, no immediate response came to A2's query, though 2B hadn't really expected any, nor did she put much stake in such a response.

"Now what reason would Adam have to answer that, even if he could hear us?" 2B asked A2, glancing down at 9S as he sat up and yawned. "This battle of words goes both ways. Any response he gives would confirm our suspicions and grant us intel on his capabilities. Allowing the question to remain unanswered leaves us none the wiser, and forces us to second guess what we can safely confide openly with one another."

A2 rolled her eyes, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she crossed her arms, grumpily.

"Alright then," she said in a resigned tone. "Guess we're just sticking to inane and irrelevant small talk for the rest of the day, huh?"

Before 2B could offer a reply, A2 began waving her arms around, pantomiming some kind of animatronic robot, her face frozen into a plastic smile.

"How-dy-do, stran-gers," she said in an overly dry voice with exaggerated slowness, pronouncing every syllable. "Top of the mor-ning to you."

2B rolled her eyes at A2's absurd performance, though 9S actually had to stifle a laugh.

"Good morning to you too," he replied sardonically as he rubbed his eyes, a bitter look on his face as he looked at the other two androids. "I take it we haven't made any progress on the information war front?"

A2 gave him a sideways glance. "I figured that'd be your specialty, kid."

9S nodded, pulling up his holographic schematics as he habitually did after waking, idly checking through status readings and other data reports like humans of old might check the news or emails first thing in the morning.

"That's going to be tricky," he said, although 2B noted that he wasn't really paying attention to his status reports, and so was most likely using the activity to provide something to do with his hands while his mind worked. "If we assume that all visual and audio data that we exchange is being monitored, electronic or otherwise, then we'd have to figure out some form of coded messaging that we can reliably interpret without ever openly discussing it."

2B pursed her lips, a concerned expression on her face. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"We'd have to keep it pretty basic," 9S expounded, brow furrowed in concentration. "Simple yes and no answers to avoid confusion. It can't be any kind of cryptography that can be solved algorithmically, as the machines clearly outclass us in terms of sheer processing power, given how much it would take to create this time loop in the first place. Instead, we would have to figure out some common token of knowledge shared by the three of us from before the time loop, and we would need to use this token as a reference key to base our communication around."

A2 crossed her arms skeptically. "Well, we might be out of luck there. You two might have a lot in common, but I've only known you guys for a few days, really. I'm not even from the same generation as you two. My parts are so old, they were probably outmoded by the time you two hit the production floor. How are we supposed to find anything in common?"

2B thought she had a pretty good idea of what 9S was getting at, and tried to think of something they would all have experienced in their myriad past.

"Well, we've all been through basic YoRHa training at some point or another," she offered, glancing at A2 hopefully. "That can't have changed all that much. What if we used YoRHa's training programs as a key? We could reference different tutorials that we've undergone throughout our missions together."

9S smiled but shook his head, dispensing with his holographic menus. "Nice idea 2B, but YoRHa training programs would be too easy for the enemy to hack into and uncover, especially since we've just mentioned them out loud. It's not exactly classified intel."

A2 looked so bored that she was ready to drill a hole through her own skull.

"All this assumes that our enemy can't just pull the knowledge directly out of our heads!" she sighed, tossing her arms up in frustration. "If they actually can manipulate our memories, then clearly they'd have some way of reading and interpreting those memories in order to tell them apart, right? So all the coded messaging in the world isn't going to help us at all if they can just read our minds as soon as the message reaches our brains! We're wasting our time with this!"

2B pursed her lips, as did 9S. It was an idea that had crossed their minds as well, though neither had been particularly inclined to bring it up. Neither of them liked the idea of their enemies mucking around in their own heads.

"Hate to say it, but you're right, A2," 9S nodded, crossing his arms. "And even if we could figure out a way to hide our thoughts, we still wouldn't be able to test whether or not any code we use is even effective, since we have no way of telling how much Adam really knows about us."

2B held up a hand, silencing any further discussion on the matter.

"For the time being then, we should simply proceed under the assumption that our enemy knows everything that we know, and act accordingly until we can determine otherwise," she said, taking the decisive route as the de facto team leader.

A2 fixed her with a disgruntled sneer. "Going to be pretty hard to fight back in that case. So I guess that means the plan is to play along with this jerk-wad's little head game until some kind of opportunity presents itself? Is that pretty much it?"

2B took a long, slow breath.

"I don't see a lot of other options here…" she admitted helplessly. "At least we've established something of a truce for now. We shouldn't have to worry about Adam interfering with us."

"Well, that's better than nothing, I guess," A2 sighed in resignation. "Plus, bonus – now we have a serviceable plan for making it through that factory mission of yours, which is more than we had before."

9S made an uncomfortable face as he seemed to mull that thought over in his head.

"So 2B and I reconvene with you outside the factory as we did before, I hack the goliath and make it self-destruct to take out the rest of the goliaths, and then we go from there?" he asked, sounding rather bitter about the whole prospect. "After that, from the sound of it, we won't actually need to face Adam on our next mission. So really, all we need to do is send our old combat data back to command without even going down to that pit in the first place. And from there…"

2B nodded. "From there, we investigate the amusement park and confront the machine from the castle. We won't be able to phone that one in – we'll need to actually take her out of play in order to advance the timeline correctly. Then we make contact with Pascal, and then it's off to fight two more goliaths so they can open a hole in the ground and reveal the dead aliens hiding under the city ruins."

9S heaved in a great sigh, their work piling up before his eyes.

"Great," he sighed, before glancing back at A2. "What about you, A2? Anything you need help with on your end? Any major events you need to worry about completing?"

A2 shook her head. "Not unless you count the hundreds and hundreds of machines that I take out between now and the time I hit the forest king. For all I know, missing any one of them could trigger a butterfly effect down the line. Who can say? I'm probably already screwing things up just by helping you guys out with the factory."

2B actually smirked at that. "I'm less concerned about accuracy at this point. Adam told us to play out the timeline to the end, he didn't say it had to be a perfect match to the way it was before. It could be that he actually wants us to create some kind of alternate timeline entirely. We'll never know until we see it for ourselves."

9S let out a rueful laugh. "You know something? You're absolutely right. At this point, it's less about recreating events precisely the way they were before, and instead just surviving until the end of the timeline."

2B caught his gaze in a knowing smile. "Like I suggested back at the bunker – in the end, the solution is to just survive."

A2 stretched her arms languidly. "Well by that token, how would we even know if we ever got free of the time loop or not? The only way we can really check is if one of us dies. But who knows how long it's been outside the simulation? The data access points could all be offline by this point. Heck, we could be light-years away from Earth. So we probably can't rely on any more memory backups out there. Which means if one of us dies outside of the time loop, then they're just…dead. Not exactly a rosy prospect. But I can't think of any other way to be sure."

2B was still looking at 9S. She was about to turn to acknowledge A2's comment, but she felt her partner's hand slip into hers and give it a squeeze.

"I think 2B's right then," he said, eyes on her, his smile turning much more genuine. "We should just try surviving. All we need to do is stay alive and get through the timeline by whatever means necessary, and just keep going for as long as we can."

2B might have offered an approving comment of some sort, but instead she found herself fixated on the nimble gloved hand that was holding her own in its surprisingly strong fingers. There was a peculiar feeling of warmth running up her arm as 9S' hand remained there, and for some reason her words just weren't coming to her in that exact moment.

A2 finally broke the silence.

"Well…" she said, glancing down at the odd little display of affection between the other two. "Not this timeline though, right? I mean, we've already kind of botched it by abandoning your mission and everything, haven't we?"

2B and 9S only just then seemed to notice what exactly they were doing, and exactly whose presence they were in while doing so, and they both abruptly yanked their hands away from one another, awkwardly averting their gazes from each other.

A2 fixed them both with a look of absolute incredulity.

"For god's sake, you two," she grumbled impatiently. "Was six hours not enough for you?"

Neither one of them could hide the blush on their cheeks at that comment as they both stammered out protests.

"W-We should really focus on our next move!" 9S offered hurriedly.

"Y-Yes!" 2B agreed promptly. "We should!"

A2 reached up to massage one of her temples.

"Ugh, I forgot how repressed everyone was in YoRHa…" she grumbled, before throwing her hands up in an expectant gesture, a critical look in her eyes. "So what is our next move then? Aren't we pretty much in the exact same boat as the last time we were all sitting around in this hideout? At this rate, there's not much more we can accomplish in this recursion. We're basically just sitting here with our thumbs up our asses until one of us finally decides to off ourselves so we can start it up again."

9S fixed 2B with an uncomfortable look, before turning back to A2.

"Well, maybe," he allowed, his brow crinkling in concentration. "There's no reason to rush back into it if we don't have to, though. We'll be under the gun as soon as the next recursion starts, so we might as well take as much time as we need in this one to rest up and strategize. That's kind of what I wanted to do last time, actually."

A2 crossed her arms in skepticism.

"But what else can we even accomplish while we're here exactly?" she demanded.

9S looked helplessly back at 2B. "Well, there's still a lot we don't know about the time loop yet. And three heads are better than one. 2B, you suggested that Adam might get impatient and throw us a curve-ball of some sort, but…well, we haven't heard from him since that first video call he sent us. It's been over six hours – we're well past the point where the factory mission would be declared a failure. YoRHa command will have definitely noticed our absence by this point, so we're already in 'alternate timeline' territory now."

"Right," 2B tilted her head in curiosity. "So what are you getting at?"

9S shrugged. "Well, let's start talking hypotheticals. Let's say we just keep our heads down and lay low for a few days, or even a few weeks. At what point would Adam step in and try to get us back on track? Would he even step in at all? If he does, that would imply that there is a track for us to be on in the first place. It's like you said - we don't technically know how he wants things to play out."

2B nodded, thumping the bottom of her fist into her open palm as the idea finally clicked.

"So if we can spur him into action – any action – it will tell us something more about what he wants from us," she said, the tactical viewpoint becoming apparent to her.

A2 looked uncertain of this course of action as the two of them strategized.

"I still don't like the idea of playing this guy's game like this," she said grumpily. "Never mind the fact that he could probably erase us from existence with a thought, but the fact that he hasn't yet means that there's got to be something else that he wants from us. And the last thing I want to do is give it to him, especially since we probably won't even realize we've done it until it's too late."

2B nodded in understanding. A2 had summarized with succinct accuracy the very reservations she herself had been feeling about playing along with this timeline.

"Still, like it or not, we are playing his game," 9S said simply. "We're all just pieces on his game board. He could pick up the board and fling it across the room if he wanted to, and we'd have no way of stopping him. All we can do is play the game and learn all that we can from it. 'Not playing' isn't really an option for us."

2B offered a shrug of her own.

"That idea you had about laying low is pretty close to not playing," she said wryly. "Like prisoners on a hunger strike - even if we are nothing but fodder for our enemy, we can still resist by choosing what we do with our existence. Even if that choice is to do nothing."

9S offered her a hopeful smile at that. The thought of abandoning their mission entirely was becoming more and more appealing the more 2B learned about this time loop, and it looked like even 9S was starting to come around to the idea.

A2 was still furrowing her brow in concentration though.

"2B…earlier, you said something about Adam maybe wanting us to complete some kind of alternate timeline, right?" she asked, as if trying to put together a puzzle.

2B glanced back at A2 and shrugged again.

"It was only a theory," she said helplessly. "We don't really know what he wants, so until we do, hypothesizing about the enemy's objective is about all we can do."

9S gave her a knowing smile, and 2B could tell from his expression that he was thinking back to all the moments in their career where she had criticized him for doing precisely that.

"Let's assume that's what it is for a minute," A2 said, deep in thought. "It would make sense, right? If he needs us to perform some set of actions in a very particular way, what better way to get us to do it than to make us relive the same series of events over and over until we got it right? If he tried to coerce us into doing it directly, he'd still have to tell us exactly what he wanted us to do, which means we could actively resist doing so more effectively. But if we don't know what it is he wants from us…then it's only a matter of time before we just happen to do exactly what he wants over the course of repeated attempts. What's that old human saying about monkeys and typewriters?"

9S pursed his lips, a grave expression on his face.

"That definitely sounds plausible," he nodded with a frown. "It's just the sort of plan a machine would make if time were no concern for them. And it sounds a lot more believable than some vague excuse about learning from us, frankly."

A2's smile became more and more triumphant.

"And if this were actually the case, and we managed to figure out what sort of timeline he's after…" she trailed off.

2B sat up straight, with a feeling of hope in her chest for the first time she could remember in what felt like ages.

"Then we'd finally have some leverage!" she all but shouted, seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel at last. "If we can figure out what it is that he's after, we might be able to use that against him!"

9S and A2 both smiled, 2B's sudden excitement clearly resonating with them.

"It's a long shot, but it's more of a shot than we've had up till now," 9S nodded.

"And it'll be nice to finally have the shoe on the other foot," A2 grinned.

2B felt a surge of elation rise in the pit of her stomach that she had never felt before, even during her time with YoRHa. Adam's revelation had shaken her as much as it had her two companions, and despite her brave words, she had no more confidence than either of the other two that those words had been anything but wind. For success to be so far beyond reach was absolute torture for any YoRHa android.

But now, she finally saw a way that she could defeat Adam. It wasn't a certainty by any stretch, and even if it was, the odds were still stacked against her. It would be a difficult mission to be sure, but a difficult mission was fundamentally different from an impossible one. And YoRHa combat models, particularly battle units like her, could eat 'difficult' for breakfast. Which meant that this tiny, tiny glimmer of hope made all the difference in the world to her.

"Well then, I guess it's time for some meaningless conjecture," she said, giving 9S a knowing smile at the private joke, which seemed to completely fly over A2's head.

They spent the next several hours theorizing possible outcomes of the timeline, compiling their combined combat data and using their Pods to project holographic recreations of various events, their processing power going towards calculating the odds of various tangents taking place. The added perspective offered by A2's combat data – which was extensive – removed quite a few variables from the equations, and narrowed much of the margin for error.

"So we've outlined our key events here…" 9S mused, pointing out the largest shapes in their holographic flowchart, with various snapshots of Adam and Eve in each one. "We've got the discovery of Adam and Eve, the discovery of the entombed aliens under the city ruins where we fight them again, Adam using my platform to slip the logic virus into the Bunker before 2B finally kills him, and finally Eve's berserker attack using the machine network before he dies as well. All of these events lead to YoRHa throwing all their resources into an all-out assault against the machines, which ultimately fails due to the logic virus, before the machine tower finally arrives. At that point, we're assuming things are out of our hands. Are we all good with this so far?"

"What about the forest king?" A2 asked. "Or Pascal's village?"

"There was also that enormous machine out at sea," 2B pointed out. "As well as that cult of machines from the factory."

"I've outlined all those here," 9S said, gesturing to some of the smaller holographic shapes hovering between the larger ones, images from their combat data in each one. "I've also included other minor events from our combat data, such as the requests for aid that we received from the Resistance and other various entities that we encountered out in the field. But these four big events involved direct encounters with either Adam or Eve or both, and were critical in shaping the direction of the conflict leading up to the fall of YoRHa. If Adam wants a different outcome to occur, chances are it'll center around one or more of these four events. That's all I've been able to put together based on what 2B and I have on our end anyway. A2, are we missing any crucial details?"

A2 scratched her chin as she studied the hologram, a grim expression on her face. "Nothing on those four key moments, no. But plenty of intel on some of the more minor incidents. Heck, I could fill a book with the stuff I have on Anemone and the Commander. And let's not forget the parts that come after the fall of YoRHa – we didn't exactly go straight to the machine tower at that point."

9S nodded. "We'll get to that part later. I just want to cover all our bases first. Now let's take a closer look at what Adam and Eve are doing in each of these key events…"

2B nodded solemnly as 9S went on, casting a sidelong glance at A2. There were several significant gaps in A2's combat data that did not appear to be the result of corrupted data or memory loss, suggesting that she had deliberately edited the data to leave out certain events from her past. Neither of the other two androids made mention of this fact, however. A2 was entitled to her secrets after all, and she was already being far more open and generous with her resources than she had ever been before. Maybe once they escaped the time loop, 2B thought, she might offer her an ear to listen to, and A2 might share all she knew.

"I don't know," A2 shook her head after 9S had proposed an alternate outcome to their mission at sea. "Knowing Adam, even if you did take down that sea monster without falling into enemy hands, I have a sneaking suspicion that the virus would find its way to the bunker anyway, no matter what we do. Adam ultimately controls the timeline, so anything we do to try to steer the conflict in YoRHa's favor is probably going to be thwarted, especially if we're using insight gained from having lived those events already."

9S scowled at that. He had clearly been hoping to avert the fall of YoRHa entirely, but he knew by now that this wasn't their first priority anymore.

2B pursed her lips. "I wonder…how would things play out differently were I the one Adam captured instead of 9S?"

9S stiffened at that, and 2B mentally chastised herself for suggesting something that would so obviously bother him.

"2B, no!" he said adamantly. "Even if that did create a better outcome, the risks are way too high! Who knows what Adam could do with you at his mercy like that?! Besides, if he really captures you instead of just ignoring us like he said, I might not be able to reach you in time! To say nothing of my chances of beating Adam if he decided to fight seriously! There's so much that could go wrong in that scenario!"

2B held up her hands in reconciliation. "Okay, I understand 9S. It wasn't a serious suggestion. Please don't worry about it."

9S deflated slightly in relief, before A2 actually threw a companionable arm around his shoulders.

"Aww, look at this kid, sticking up for his girl and everything!" she chortled, smirking back at 2B. "Don't worry – if it came down to a fight with Adam, you know I'd pitch in too."

"Hey!" 9S bared his teeth, which did little to hide the deep shade of red on his cheeks as he batted A2 off of his shoulder. "Come on! Cut that out!"

2B cleared her throat, hiding her own reddening cheeks with a closed fist as she coughed.

"Moving on…" she said, hurriedly.

2B might have dismissed A2's antics for playful banter, were it not for the meaningful looks the other woman kept giving her. She seemed oddly interested in 2B's evolving relationship with 9S for some reason, and seemed to delight in poking fun at them for stumbling around the topic so clumsily. In some ways, it felt reassuring to have another android around who didn't simply condemn the awkward emotional displays she and 9S were pretending not to notice from each other. However, in place of condemnation was an uncomfortable if good-natured ribbing that did nothing to alleviate the tension 2B was feeling about the whole issue.

"I really don't think Pascal's village plays that big of a role in the grand scheme of events," 9S said after A2 had suggested extrapolating more on possible outcomes involving the pacifist village. "Adam and Eve never had any direct interaction with them as far as I can tell. They were disconnected from the machine network, so they wouldn't have been involved in the tower either. If Adam wants us to create an alternate timeline, there's nothing in our combat data that suggests it would involve Pascal at all."

A2 was making an effort to hide the look of frustration on her face.

"That's my point though," she said grumpily. "Nothing of any major consequence happened at this village before the fall of YoRHa. Maybe something was supposed to happen there. Maybe Adam's plan is…I don't know…for us to work with Pascal to try to negotiate a peace treaty with YoRHa or something?"

9S rolled his eyes so hard, it was obvious even through his mask.

"That's absurd," he said. "Even if such an outcome were possible, it would take way longer than the time frame we're working in here. Androids have been at war with machines for thousands of years – there's no way the three of us would be able to put an end to all that in the middle of all these other conflicts we're in."

A2 shook her head in defeat, turning instead to look at 2B.

"2B, what do you think?" she asked her, sounding genuinely hopeful. "There's got to be something we're missing about Pascal and his village, isn't there? They're in far too unique of a situation for us to just dismiss like that."

2B studied the floating holographic data that they had acquired from the pacifist machines. She had to agree that the village had been helpful in furthering their missions from YoRHa, and true to their word, had offered no threat to 9S or herself. But she just wasn't confident in putting any stock in their role in all this. She might have simply been incapable of comprehending pacifists as an android built for combat, but if there was a solution to be found regarding Pascal's machines, she wasn't the one who was going to uncover it.

Then again, A2 was just as much a combat unit as 2B was, so what made the village so important to her exactly?

"You seem rather concerned with Pascal," 2B idly noted. "Do you have any other data to share on this village? Did something happen that we're not aware of?"

A2 tensed at that, though her expression was not one of contention.

"It…happened after the machine tower appeared," she said, keeping her gaze fixed on 2B and pointedly ignoring 9S. "I'll tell you about it later. If it comes up."

9S shrugged, seemingly disinclined to press the issue, and he moved onto his next point.

2B only nodded her head in silence. A2 did seem to be far more at ease around her than she was around 9S. Perhaps this was once again a factor of their shared heritage, or the brusque, taciturn nature that came with their programming as combat models. Or perhaps it was merely because 2B did not go out of her way to challenge A2 as often as 9S did. That too might be something she should discuss with A2 – how well she was getting along with 9S, and whether there was anything 2B could do to improve the situation. There was still some obvious tension between them, but it seemed that the attacker unit had made up her mind along with the other two to set those feelings aside for the sake of dealing with the more immediate concern.

In that regard, 2B was honestly quite pleased with how well the three of them had been managing to cooperate since A2 and 9S had their little heart-to-heart during the previous recursion. She was relieved that it had not come to blows, but it had still been a calculated risk allowing the two of them to be on their own together for as long as they had been. She hadn't heard most of their discussion, but 9S' voice very well might have reached as far as the resistance camp once he had started screaming.

As her thoughts turned back towards 9S, 2B began to focus less and less on the project they were working on, though luckily – or perhaps unluckily – A2 took notice of 2B's manner before 9S did.

"Well, I think I'm ready for a break," A2 announced casually as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "This place was running low on booze last I checked, so I'm going to go see if I can find Jackass. She's usually got some good stuff for trade."

The other two androids gave her an odd stare as she walked over to the adjacent wall and began rummaging through her supply crate for something to barter with. Both were perplexed by the sudden interruption, but for entirely different reasons.

"Oh…well, okay then," 9S said, sounding apprehensive. "Try not to get yourself killed out there, yeah?"

A2 didn't look away from her task as she chuckled. "Why 9S…is that concern I hear in your voice?"

"Hardly," he smirked back at her. "My nerves are just kind of fried, and I am not in the mood for any more surprise recursions."

"Don't worry," A2 waved him off after she finished filling her inventory with supplies. "I'll avoid snooping around any machine strongholds. And I'll contact you guys if Adam shows up or anything."

Then A2 gave 2B a coy wink, her head turned so that only she could see.

"But only if it's an emergency," she grinned, stepping towards the door.

2B felt her core temperature plummet. What the hell did A2 think she was doing?! Was she trying to set the two of them up like she was some type of matchmaker? A2 must have thought she was doing 2B a favor leaving them alone like this, but 2B wasn't nearly ready yet to have that kind of conversation with 9S! Just thinking about it was making her anxious! She didn't even have the wherewithal to raise a reasonable objection for fear of giving away her concerns. All she could do was watch helplessly as A2 left the hideout, her only mercy in the fact that she had not taken her visor off so that neither of the others could see the absolutely mortified look on her face.

9S just let out an annoyed sigh, evidently none the wiser to A2's scheme.

"Should have figured A2 would invest in something as trivial as alcohol," he huffed, staring down at the half completed web-work of hypothetical branching timelines still being holographically projected from Pod 153's transceiver. "It's not like androids can even get drunk or anything. Seems like a waste of time, doesn't it?"

2B couldn't really pay attention to 9S' words and just nodded her head, though it seemed 9S was still too engrossed in their work to notice her disposition.

"Well, without A2's uncompressed combat data, there's no point in extrapolating any further until she gets back…" he said, eying their work with a critical gaze. "I'm pretty sure we've nailed down the most volatile points in the timeline though, so at this stage it's mostly a matter of mapping out unexplored avenues within the context of our current capabilities. The longer we go without Adam interrupting us, the more possibilities open up to our extrapolation process, so I'm not ready to-"

"Alert:" Pod 042 interrupted dutifully. "Unit 2B's biorhythms have begun to fluctuate at an alarming rate. Proposal: Unit 2B should conduct-"

"Pod!" 2B abruptly barked at the treacherous droid. "Cease all voice functions until further notice!"

"Acknowledged," the Pod said, without so much as a hint of remorse.

2B ground her teeth as she fixed the floating support unit with a murderous glare through her visor, before glancing back at 9S.

"I'm…sure it's nothing…" 2B haphazardly tried to dismiss the support notification, glancing back and forth between her Pod and 9S.

2B nearly cursed. Any goodwill 042 had accrued with her earlier for enabling her flight unit's auto-pilot evaporated in an instant. The damage was done, however - now 9S was scrutinizing her intently, looking for any signs of distress. And with her cheeks as red as they were, his attentions couldn't have come at a worse time. Then she noticed 9S was looking down at her hands, and suddenly realized that she was wringing her fingers nervously around each other, and quickly laid her hands down flat on her lap.

"W…What is it?" she asked hurriedly, trying to cover up the awkward silence that was slowly building up between them.

She knew 9S would not be fooled by such a clumsy smoke-screen, but her throat still went dry when he dismissed the hologram before him with a wave.

"…A2's not just out running errands, is she?" he asked obliquely.

And there it was. 9S was too smart for his own good. And now with the cat out of the bag, 2B felt her adrenaline levels beginning to spike. She may not have had a physical heart in her body, but she felt her chest thundering all the same. She had never been this nervous before. About anything! It was absurd! She had faced down enemies on the scale of kaiju, stood in the midst of ordinance blasts at the city-buster level, and fought her way through what could only be described as a literal storm of machines after Eve went berserk! But here and now, sitting with her partner, whom she trusted more than anyone in the world, and faced with little more than the prospect of discussing their feelings, 2B was utterly terrified.

What was wrong with her? When had she become such a coward? She knew the reason why, of course – nothing about this situation in any way resembled the scenarios covered in her combat programming. She was flying blind, and quickly realizing that when it came to dealing with emotions, not only was she completely inexperienced, but that inexperience translated to utter petrification in the face of critical decisions pertaining to those emotions.

2B was at a loss for words, and 9S swallowed at 2B's continued silence.

"Listen, uh…" he said, his voice also somewhat tremulous now as he glanced nervously down at his own hands. "If you're still not ready to talk about, uh…about us…then, uh…well, we don't have to talk about it right now, you know? We can just…we can deal with it later if you still need time…"

2B drew in a breath, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes, immediately soaking into her visor, as per its design. Something inside her felt like it was melting at 9S' kindness and consideration. No sooner had he noticed how anxious she was than he had immediately switched his focus to take her needs into consideration. Though there was also the distinct possibility that he too was as nervous as she was. Whatever the reason, the up-welling of emotions inside of her buckled under the adulation she felt from him.

"Nines…" she swallowed again, still too nervous to take off the YoRHa visor on her face. "You…you know I've always said…that emotions are forbidden…"

9S swallowed as well, nodding his head, pure uncertainty on his face – though he too still wore his visor over his eyes, so it was hard to be certain.

2B could barely think. Her mind had become a foggy haze of questions, possibilities, and so, so many worst case scenarios. Every thought of where this path they were on might lead them was met with the crushing image of 9S' heartbroken face – or worse, his hatred. Every word she might say was met in her head with a barrage of his possible responses and outcomes that she was utterly unprepared to contend with. Every touch, every kiss, every illicit act that danced through her imagination vanished in a heartbeat when it was met with a furious wave of guilt that decreed her completely undeserving of any of it!

Was this just a product of her own doubt and uncertainty? Or was this her YoRHa programming, kicking in to prevent her from giving in to her feelings and endangering her mission? She couldn't be sure. All she knew was that even thinking about the situation she was in made her feel as unstable as she had been under the influence of the logic virus.

She felt a nervous laugh escape her throat, a defeated tone of hopelessness in her voice.

"This is the reason why," she said, stretching her arm out before her as her fingers trembled uncontrollably. "I mean…just look at me, Nines! I can barely function…"

9S' expression became crestfallen as 2B brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face into her hands.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked quietly, tears in her voice. "I wasn't built for this…I can't think…I can hardly breathe…and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with these feelings…"

2B's visor continued to absorb her tears as she wept, and though she managed not to flinch when she felt 9S' arms wrap around her shoulders, she lacked the capacity to return the gesture or so much as lift her head to meet his gaze.

Never had she felt so powerless in her life. She was utterly paralyzed by this strange new fear in the pit of her stomach. Here 9S was, showing her all the kindness and tenderness his gentle heart could muster, and she couldn't do a single thing to reciprocate that affection! It had felt so easy back on the beach to offer such warmth when it was simply a matter of consoling her grieving partner. Under those circumstances, she could still write the gesture off in her head as being 'for the mission,' even though the mission had been the last thing on her mind at the time.

But now with the possibility of things progressing past where they had been interrupted, and with no way to excuse the behavior as being mission critical, the thought of even approaching that level of intimacy utterly petrified her now! She wanted to throw her arms around him, to kiss him, to do something! Anything to acknowledge 9S' feelings, to show him what he meant to her, that his love wasn't being offered to her in vain! But she couldn't even summon the words to tell him how she felt!

"What am I supposed to do…?" she repeated, unable to conceive of any other words to express her plight, helplessly sobbing into her hands.

She felt 9S' grip around her growing tighter and tighter, and the sensation of his arms around her was so warm and welcoming that she wanted to scream. As his hands gently stroked her back, she felt the tension in her shoulders beginning to ebb. The fear still lingered, but the feeling of comfort and solace that filled her while she was wrapped in his embrace was enough to make her wonder how all this couldn't just be some outlandish dream.

"I told you…" his whisper was like a honeyed balm on her ears. "You don't have to do anything, 2B. You've already given me…everything I could ask for…"

As his hand made its way to her cheek, she felt him lift her face to meet his gaze, lending her his strength to manage even so scant a motion.

"Every new memory we get to make together now is a gift…" he said, his voice tremulous and fleeting. "Fighting side by side once again…knowing that you're there watching my back…learning from one another, each of us helping and guiding the other…and just being able to sit together like this…"

It was not difficult for 2B to hear the tears in his own voice, his every breath growing softer as each word sapped at his strength.

"All of these little moments that I'm lucky enough to spend with you by my side…" he all but whimpered. "Each and every one of them is like…like…"

His throat seemed to tighten around his words, and he swallowed hard, seemingly unable to finish the thought, and 2B felt a wave of dizziness at his hesitation. The only possibility that terrified her more than what 9S might say to her was the thought of never having the chance to hear him say it.

"…Like…?" she managed, her own throat a dry emptiness.

He slid his hand up to draw the visor from her face, though only because she was powerless to stop him, as at last the frightened little girl was revealed from underneath. Her eyes were a tapestry of emotion, of heartbreak and fear, of loneliness and misgivings, of guilt and loss and emptiness, and so much of it self-inflicted. She would have never dared to hope that he could look into these eyes of hers and see someone that he would still choose to love. Not simply to succumb to the bewitching beauty of YoRHa's expert craftsmanship, but to look past all that and see the chaotic, swirling vortex inside. It was this tumultuous maelstrom within her heart that had paradoxically rendered her utterly stagnant – never changing, never growing, never able to move past her own sorrows, fears, and doubts.

For 9S to see all that, and to still choose her…

And then when his own mask fell away, her heart went into free-fall along with it.

"…Like pure light…" 9S said, voice cracking.

Their eyes finally met, and 2B's breath disappeared along with the weight of the world on her shoulders. The memories of all the battles, broken spirits and un-shed tears gave way to the absolute adoration she saw in the gaze that fell upon her. 9S' eyes seemed to penetrate the howling storm of emotions that held her so rigid in the space of a breath. Within those clear blue pools lay a solemn promise of devotion and trust, of a steadfast resolve to stand by the one he loved – to stand by her.

No matter the cost.

It all but broke her to see how much sincere and earnest reverence lay behind those eyes, her own dying words from a past life echoing from his lips. Suddenly every doubt in her mind, every question, every danger, every uncertainty seemed so trivial. What did such concerns matter in the face of so pure and honest an emotion as the one confronting her now? The dams holding in the wellspring of disparate desires within her began to crumble, her every excuse wilting away, and her heart slowly but surely melting beneath the warmth of that sad, loving smile.

2B had never been kissed before. The very act of even contemplating the prospect was oddly difficult for her. It was as if engaging in any act of passion with an intent that went beyond the mere physical display was something strictly policed within all of her specialized mission protocols. The idea had only taken shape in the most abstract of senses. Even when her mind had been wandering during their flight from the factory, every errant thought that had drifted towards what she and 9S had almost done on that beach had evaporated the instant before it had culminated. For an android like her, it was almost akin to trying to solve a logical paradox. The idea of 2B kissing someone, anyone, for any reason besides fulfilling her mission, just didn't make any logical sense to her on some fundamental level. In a very real sense, a kiss was unfathomable to her.

So when 2B's brain very nearly rebooted itself, she had almost forgotten what had caused it. Then she recalled that 9S had suddenly pressed his lips against hers, and her mind had simply gone blank. When she was finally able to register his presence again, he had already withdrawn back to his previous position of kneeling in front of where she sat. His gaze was still locked onto hers as he watched her intently to see how she reacted, a vulnerable, hopeful shyness in his eyes.

All she could do was blink in confusion. What had just happened? It was like there was a gap in her memory. She understood intellectually what her partner had just done, but the actual details of the experience were a blur, as if she had been knocked senseless by the event.

She brought her fingers to her lips, as if seeking some form of physical proof of their brief encounter.

"N-Nines…?" she whispered, looking back at him for verification. "Did…did you just…?"

9S looked away, cheeks ablaze, as if ashamed of overstepping his boundaries.

"I…I'm sorry!" he said quickly, clenching his hands into fists against his knees. "It just…seemed like the right thing to do…I-"

"Alert:" Pod 153 interjected. "Unit 9S's biorhythms have begun to fluctuate at-"

"Pod!" 9S blurted abruptly, shoulders stiffening. "Go into silent mode please!"

"Acknowledged," 153 replied without a trace of the smugness that the little robot was obviously feeling.

2B felt a warm chuckle escape from her throat, having been subjected to an identical telltale support notification moments ago, and relieved for the break in tension it had caused.

"It's alright, Nines…" 2B assured him, a sheepish smile rising to her face, her stomach filling with butterflies. "I just…didn't expect it, that's all…"

2B felt faint. Was this actually happening? Had 9S really just kissed her? Her thoughts were racing around in circles, and she couldn't even remember what she had been so concerned about before all this had happened. It was like she was stuck right here in a perpetual 'now' without any real concept of the past or the future. Was this yet another after-effect of her unchecked emotions?

Her thoughts were interrupted as 9S cleared his throat, awkwardly.

"Did you…? I mean…" 9S stammered, haltingly, looking to her as if for some sort of cue, and seeming to find little to go on. "Are you sure it's okay? Should I not have…?"

2B nodded quickly without even really thinking about it, keen to alleviate her partner's concerns, her thoughts still in a stunned blur.

"I-It's okay, Nines…" she said breathily, defaulting to his pet-name again. "Really…I'm not angry or anything. It's…it's alright…"

9S' eyes were full of hope as he swallowed hard, his whole body tensing as if steeling himself for heartbreak.

"Then…um…" he stammered, his face still beet red. "Do you want to, um…?"

2B's stomach was doing back-flips as his eyes met hers from behind his ghost white bangs.

"…Maybe…try it again?" he asked in a voice as quiet as a mouse.

If 2B's face hadn't been the precise shade of red that his was before that point, it certainly was now. Suddenly their future together was taking on all sorts of new possible forms. She hadn't been sure if she could have ever summoned the courage to initiate anything with her partner like this. But if he were the one taking the lead, that would be another matter entirely. In so many ways, it absolved her of a good deal of the burden her insecurities were wreaking on her psyche. For 9S to take the first step, it meant that at least one other android besides herself thought that this idea wasn't absolutely crazy. Or just that, if it was, it was also still worth pursuing in spite of it. And besides which, if this all turned out to be a colossal mistake on their part…well, at least it wouldn't have been her who crossed that threshold first. As selfish and passive a view as that might have been, thinking along those lines still made it that much easier to overcome her doubts and go after what she truly wanted. And 2B was nothing if not a pragmatist.

Still, 2B's mind was struggling to even process everything that was happening. She couldn't quite comprehend what all this even entailed. Never mind that there was utterly no purpose to androids coupling in the first place, but every action involved in the process seemed so strange and alien upon any close inspection. Such rationality seemed to fly in the face of the fact that, in the heat of the moment like this, it also felt so compelling, so natural, and so right as to be utterly terrifying in its intensity. She had overslept for hours just because of how good it felt for him simply to be resting his head on her shoulder! To say nothing of how she had reacted to him merely holding her hand! Was this all just a result of their lingering human programming? Or was there something else at work here? Whatever the reason for it, it was all 2B could do to simply nod her head at 9S' request.

"Alright…" she whispered, her eyes flitting between his and the floor, her hands fidgeting nervously, both elated and terrified of what he might do next. "We can…we can try it again…"

9S drew in a breath as he approached her once more, reaching up a hand to cup her cheek.

"O-Okay…" he breathed, leaning in closer to her, his cool blue eyes locked onto hers. "Just…just tell me if I do anything wrong, okay?"

2B nodded breathlessly, and then suddenly he was kissing her again, and all she could feel was warmth. Again, all conscious thought seemed to disintegrate at the touch of his lips, as if somehow registering the sensation was like dividing by zero. His lips lingered on hers, repeatedly kissing her slowly and softly, his fingers moving up to tangle through her hair. And as he did, some system process inside of her head tried to find the square root of negative one. Nothing about this situation was making any sense to the computer in her brain, even as the human girl she was designed to be was savoring every moment of it.

"Mmmmmhhh…!" her voice conflicted with the urgency her lips felt in relishing in the sensation upon them. "Nnnnng…"

She was still paralyzed with fear as he kissed her, her body locked in a rigid posture, shivering almost violently with every exploratory touch of his fingers as his lips molded themselves to hers. 9S had his arms around her as they knelt there on the floor, and he was holding her with such uninhibited need that 2B was utterly swept away by the feeling. It was all she could do to simply remain operational under his assault. She did not resist – could not resist – nor did she even remotely want to. All she wanted was for 9S to continue his explorations, but the programming at the core of her being, her very nature as a YoRHa combat android, was returning nothing but error messages. She tried to respond to his gentle caresses with her own, but could only cling to him more tightly as she felt the tender methodical stroke of his hands up and down her back. She tried pressing her lips to his to return the fervent darting motions they were making, but all she could manage to do was tilt her head back to receive the next onslaught. She tried to put together the words she could use to encourage him to go on, to do more, to communicate the sheer elation she felt at his touch, but all she could get out was another pitiful moan of delight.

"Ohhhhhh…!" she whimpered in a feeble sounding voice when their lips finally parted to draw in a breath. "N-Nines…"

9S was panting for breath as well, staring back at her, his cheeks fully flushed as he trembled where he knelt before her, his breathing halting and fervent.

"Is, uh…is everything alright…?" he stammered, completely out of breath.

2B could only nod feebly in turn, her eyes fluttering open and closed. "Mmm…mm-hm…"

9S swallowed hard, glancing nervously back at her, his thin pale frame trembling with exhilaration.

"I, um…actually, I…I really want to kiss you some more, 2B…" he whispered breathlessly, lowering his eyes shyly as he bit his lip. "…Um…a lot more, actually…if you…"

"Ahhh…y-yeah…!" was all 2B could manage as she nodded again, much more fervently in the hopes that he could see her enthusiasm, but it was somewhat obscured by the shudders quaking through her body.

That was all the cue he needed as he came towards her again. His lips were raw hunger as he made for her, and she could feel the knots of tension tying up inside her as he devoured her lips with greater hunger than she would have ever thought possible from her partner. His fingers dug into her back, clinging to her with all the desperation she had seen in those memories he had shared with her, and while he did, every fiber of her being was at war with itself. While every conscious thought bubbling to the surface in her mind was in an uproar of sheer joy, her core functionality had slowed to an absolute crawl.

"2B…" 9S hissed through his teeth, his heated breath against her skin nearly caused her to collapse once again.

He brought his lips back to hers, and 2B could only stew in frustration. 9S was taking things slowly, like the gentleman that he was. But she wanted – needed – a great deal more than he was giving her with these soft, gentle kisses, her core temperature rising as her body began to ache. And yet even these delightfully chaste tokens of 9S' affection were overwhelming her to the point of misery. It was like she just didn't have the programming needed to process what was happening to her, as though the reptilian complex in a human brain were suddenly asked to fulfill the role of the limbic system. Her mind just didn't seem to work this way.

"Niiinnnes!" she whined in pure torment.

He was attacking her with all of the reckless abandon of a starving beast, and yet there was a delicacy to his work, as if he feared to hurt or offend her with his touch. 2B tried again to tell him to keep going and to push harder! To tell him how badly she wanted this, how long she had been waiting for this to happen, and that he needn't restrain himself so much! But all she could coax from her body were shudders and shakes and quivering outcries. She was doing everything in her power to communicate what she wanted him to do, where she wanted to be touched, and how urgent the need was becoming. But her body just wasn't obeying her! It was like there was another entity at the core of her programming that adamantly refused to allow this to continue past a certain point.

And it was driving her absolutely insane!

"God…damn it!" she let out an angry scream.

She didn't even realize how agitated she had become until after she had driven her fist through the wall at their side.

KRSSHH!

9S froze rigid, staring aghast at the crumbling asphalt around her arm, halting any further ministrations as he withdrew, which only served to agitate 2B's fraying nerves all the more. She couldn't even communicate just how desperately she wanted this to happen! And in attempting to do so, she was only managing to erect more obstacles in that path.

"2…2B…?" 9S asked fearfully, obviously worried that he had hurt her or made things worse, bless his heart.

2B forced herself to look into his eyes, blinking nervously.

"N-Nines…I…" she said haltingly, unable to come up with any sort of explanation that didn't come across as criticism.

2B knew her partner all too well. 9S just didn't have it in him to push past her insecurities and simply give her what she needed without questioning everything along the way. For the briefest moment, she caught herself wishing that 9S were a more brutish and more selfish man than he was. Perhaps then, he could have ignored all of the mixed signals her body was sending out in spite of her wishes, and just…and just…

God, she couldn't even think the words now! It was like she was programmed with mental blocks against even entertaining the idea! What was wrong with her? And somehow, 9S seemed to be unburdened by any such obstacles in his own head, so whatever was going on, it was clearly unique to her in this case.

"I'm…I'm sorry…" 9S whispered, backing away onto his knees, evidently convinced he had stepped on a landmine. "I'm sorry, 2B, I…I guess I got carried away…I…"

2B's heart began to wither all over again. The problem wasn't 9S' lack of restraint, it was his surplus of it. Even now, he was innocent enough to think that it was he who was the overly eager one in this situation, despite currently being the only one out of the two who hadn't been completely blinded by this strange and powerful compulsion that had been growing between them for so long. Though if his actions upon her death were any indication, he was more than familiar with the impulse to act rashly out of emotional attachment. Perhaps he had been as overwhelmed as she had, in his own way, and had simply learned how to cope with it in the intervening time.

Still, as naïve and overly cautious as he was, 2B knew that he wasn't the one ultimately responsible for her frustration, and that it would be unfair of her to rebuke him for it. Besides, his attentiveness and hesitancy had a decent track record of getting them both out of a fair number of pitfalls that would have caught them off guard in the past. And at the end of the day, as much as she might have craved the type of attention he could give her were he a more callous and uncaring android, that would have only satisfied her most immediate needs. Once those had been dealt with, all that would be left was a partner who didn't care about her the way that 9S did now.

Brushing the rubble off her hand, she reached for him again, placing her arms around his shoulders and touching her forehead to his, slowly catching her breath as the two of them knelt there, caught up in this strange and unfamiliar territory in which they both found themselves.

"It's…it's okay, 9S…" she assured him – this, at least, was within her ability, since ensuring his cooperation was technically mission critical. "It's alright…you haven't done anything wrong, it's…it's just me…"

9S was gazing right into her eyes, and she could see the confusion, the fear that he had overstepped his bounds, the guilt of having wronged her somehow. How could she have ever wished for more than what he was promising her?

"2B?" he whispered, his voice still trembling from so jarring a shift in tension.

2B was crying all over again, only this time there was no mask to hide her tears.

"I…" she shivered, feeling cold all of the sudden. "…I want this, 9S…but I can't! I don't know why, but I can't! I…I really, really do want this…but it's like my body is just refusing to cooperate! I don't know how else to explain it. And I don't know what's wrong with me…"

Her tears began to flow freely now. It had taken nearly all of her energy to get out even that desperate plea for comprehension, while repeatedly reassuring her subconscious mind that all she was trying to do was facilitate cooperation. Was this all just part of her programming? Did she have to know, on some fundamental level, whether something she was doing or even thinking was mission critical just to even attempt it?

Had her programming included some safeguard to prevent her from consummating even the most mundane act of intimacy with 9S just to prevent her from sparing his life? The fear, the hesitancy, the doubt, and now a complete and utter emotional gridlock – was this all just YoRHa trying to prevent her from compromising her mission? If that was the case, then YoRHa command was far crueler than she had ever imagined. To give androids emotions only to forbid them from expressing them was one thing, but to insert that inhibition directly into their programming so they couldn't even choose to act on those feelings…

"I…I think I understand…" 9S said, putting the pieces together – once again, it seemed 2B's faith in her partner was well placed. "If there's something in your core programming that's inhibiting you from acting on your emotions…maybe some kind of fail-safe or security subroutine installed by YoRHa command…"

2B felt her shoulders droop. 9S had put it together, and more importantly, he hadn't left her side. Her worst fear had been that the stress of this whole situation would simply drive him away. But it seemed he was still willing to take a chance on her. She was relieved that 9S would at least know that she wasn't rejecting him outright, but she was still exhausted both physically and emotionally from this whole ordeal.

"I think that's what this is, 9S…" she admitted, sounding defeated, eyes on the floor. "At least, I can't think of anything else it might be…"

9S was nodding as he listened to her, pursing his lips in thought. She loved the way his nose always scrunched up when he concentrated like that. She also loved the way his brow ridge creased whenever he got that determined look on his face. And even though he looked just as disheveled as she did, his eyes were still as intense as they had been the first time she had seem them. She could recall observing little details about his face like that from all the way back to before she had carried out her first mission as 2E. She had utterly forbidden herself from acting on any such feelings back then. But now as those unmistakable features were jumping out at her, all she wanted to do was reach over to him and…and…

And do…what exactly? Her mind was drawing a blank on what she had just been picturing. Damn it, she was too drained to even fantasize about it anymore! It was like her body was craving something very specific, but her mind had no idea what it was! All that was coming to her were vague, indistinct memories of something far too intense for her to handle. And all the while, the hunger never ceased, growing more intense as nourishment failed to present itself! It was absolutely maddening! Was this how things were going to be for her if she and 9S continued down this path?

"I have an idea…" he said, back in analytical mode. "This…might be an inappropriate use of our tools, and it feels a bit dishonest besides. So…I'll only do this if I have your full consent, 2B…"

2B looked up at him with a weak smile on her face. Trust 9S to come up with a technical solution to an emotional problem. And it was just like her partner to place such importance on her approval like that.

"What is it?" she asked.

9S swallowed hard, his body a little shaky, though that may have been from their botched attempt at courtship.

"I could try hacking…" he said, sounding somewhat ashamed at the suggestion. "If you recall, back when we first encountered the logic virus that took down YoRHa, I was able to hack into your system to disable your friendly fire protocol that allowed you to fight back against the corrupted androids. I could try something similar here, and see if there's something happening within your core programming."

2B nodded bleakly, lowering her gaze once again. She had suspected it might come to something like that. For most androids, it required an immense amount of trust to allow another android to hack inside their own brain. 9S was technically responsible for her maintenance though, and most of what was in her head he had already seen. But if he needed to investigate her core programming, he would need access to everything. She supposed it was only fair – he had shared his most personal, private memories with her. It only followed that she share hers in kind. Though the memories locked behind her 2E persona were…not something she was keen on him seeing. Knowing about them was one thing, but seeing them up close…

"What if…" she whispered hesitantly, lacking the strength to meet his gaze. "What if you find something…that you don't like in there?"

She felt 9S' hands close around her own where they rested on her thighs, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

"Like I said, I won't do this unless I have your permission," he assured her once again. "If you're worried, or…if you've just had enough for one day…then we can drop this right here, and try to figure it out some other time. But…I feel like this is something that we should address sooner rather than later. Cause I don't know about you 2B, but if we let this go now…it's going to eat away at me until we deal with it."

2B let out a quiet, rueful laugh.

"Yeah…I think you're right…" she sighed forlornly, ceding the point.

He laughed along with her, and looked back up at her with those same sad, hopeful eyes.

"I can promise you this though, 2B…" he went on. "I'm here to stay. So long as it's within my power, I'm not going anywhere. No matter what I find in there, no matter what I learn - you're still my partner, 2B. And you always will be."

He reached up to cup her face in his hand, and 2B found herself pressing her cheek into his palm as her gaze remained transfixed on his.

"And…just to be clear," 9S said, blushing slightly. "If it turns out that there's nothing we can do to fix this, then I just want you to know that…it won't change anything for me. I'll still be here for you…understand? I can be happy with what we have already if that's all it can ever be. I'm not…I'm not doing this just for…that stuff…okay?"

2B's lower lip was trembling. "9S…?"

He offered her a reassuring smile.

"I want this just as much as you do," he said, his blush spreading as he laughed. "Trust me, I do. Some days, the distant possibility of getting closer to you was the only thing that kept me going. So listen…I'll do whatever I can to make sure that you're free to express your feelings the way that you want. But…just know that I'll accept you either way, regardless of how this turns out."

She lowered her head, hiding her eyes. She was crying all over again, and she didn't want him seeing even more of her tears.

"Nines…" she whimpered.

"Like I told you before," he said, resting his forehead against hers. "You've already given me everything I really need just by being here. All I really want is to have you in my life. And you've already seen the lengths I'll go to for your sake, 2B."

2B was crying so hard her nose was running. She didn't deserve him. There was no other way she could put it.

"Okay…" she breathed, apprehension tinging her voice. "Do it. You have my permission."

He nodded, giving her a reassuring smile, before sitting back against the wall to begin his work.

"Alright…" he said, closing his eyes. "Here goes…"

The probe he sent into her brain didn't feel like anything. In the days of humans, she'd heard that people used to get injections with hypodermic needles due to their biological makeup being incompatible with their technological tools. But a digital probe was only similar to an injection insofar as the end result was concerned. The actual insertion process felt no different than the millions upon millions of other sensory stimuli that her brain sifted through its filter every nanosecond of every day. In that regard, probes were more like viruses or bacteria – digital lifeforms didn't usually notice when they were introduced, just the after-effects they left behind.

The amount of time the hacking process took depended on a lot of factors, but for this kind of delicate work, she couldn't imagine it would be a brief task. 2B knew next to nothing about hacking, but based on her experience working with 9S, it took the space of a breath to hack into smaller machines, several seconds to a minute for larger machines, and even whole hours when servers were involved. She couldn't imagine her own mainframe being as complicated as a server, so really the process shouldn't have taken more than a few minutes.

When five and then ten minutes went by without any indication of progress, she realized that this might take more time than she thought. Part of her was concerned for 9S' safety, or about what he might find in her head. But she was just so tired from recent events that it just felt easier to settle in for the long haul and wait for it to be over. If he ran into something he couldn't handle, he would just get kicked back out to his own body. And if anything truly dangerous happened to him in there, the worst thing that would happen is it would reset the timeline, and they'd have to figure out how to explain things to their third party member, who would be abruptly yanked into the next recursion along with them.

2B could just imagine 9S' summary of events. 'Sorry A2, turns out 2B was programmed with a digital chastity belt. Who knew?'

She let out a single self-deprecating breath of mirth at the thought, before leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes. This whole situation was just too absurd not to laugh at. Here she was, finally prepared to go back on her maxim of emotions being forbidden, only to find this directive so ingrained in her psyche that 9S had to hack into her head in order to change it. It was so ridiculous that it made her want to cry all over again. But she was too physically exhausted to cry any more tears, and too mentally and emotionally drained to even begin to process them anyway.

She seemed to recall 9S mentioning that hacking was often easier on subjects in low power modes. Of course, she might have just been misremembering that little factoid, and only wanted an excuse to rest for a bit more. Either way, despite having woken a short while ago, the thought of getting some more rest sounded very appealing after the emotional ringer she had just been through. So she went into standby mode as she let her mind drift off to sleep once more. Maybe her luck would finally turn for the better and 9S might actually find something in her programming that he could fix. But somehow, she doubted the solution would be that simple.

The next thing she knew, the loud creaking of the store front grate sliding open was startling her awake.

"Knock-knock!" came a familiar voice hollering from beyond the store front as A2 came gingerly walking in. "You two finally get all that out of your system or…?"

She trailed off when she saw 2B and 9S sitting on the floor still with their backs against the wall. When her eyes fell on the sizeable hole in the concrete behind them where 2B had rammed her fist, she actually looked somewhat impressed in spite of the damage to her property.

"Damn," she commented with a snort of amusement. "You guys go hard!"

2B wasn't even looking at her. Instead, she was staring over at 9S, who still had his eyes closed in concentration. She glanced at her internal chronometer – he had been in the process of hacking her brain for close to an hour!

"9S?" she said, reaching out to him and shaking him gently by the shoulder. "9S, are you still in there?"

9S was unresponsive to her touch, and 2B ran a quick internal diagnosis to see if she found anything out of place in her core programming to indicate if he'd made any progress inside her mainframe. Nothing came up, which didn't necessarily mean he wasn't still in her head, just that he hadn't changed enough for her to notice. Experimentally, she tried to recall how it felt when 9S had kissed her – strictly to test if he had been successful in his work, of course – and found that once again, she couldn't conjure a mental image with any clarity to it. It was like trying to recall an elusive dream upon waking. She knew it was there, she knew how it made her feel, but she just couldn't describe it. Even the most basic details were beyond reach.

"Pod, report on 9S," she commanded tersely.

"Report:" Pod 042 responded simply. "9S is currently in the process of hacking YoRHa Unit 2B."

She ignored the curious look A2 was giving her and bit her lip as she began to weigh her options. If 9S was still inside her head, a reasonably forceful stimulus to his body should be enough to force him back out without endangering him. If he was in some kind of trouble, or trapped somehow, or was otherwise incapable of either continuing or withdrawing, that was probably the best option. However, if he was in fact making progress, and it was simply taking an inordinately long time, it would not do to interrupt his work just to yank him out now. Not only would he be faced with an awkward explanation with A2, but he would most likely have to start the hack again from the beginning – neither of which outcome she was keen on putting him through.

The odds of this simply being a time-intensive task were decreasing with each passing minute, however. And 9S would have certainly contacted her if he expected to take this long. But while he had hacked the goliath without difficulty, it was also conceivable that whatever rules governed the time loop may have brought about unforeseen consequences when any of its participants hacked into one another. Perhaps even in such a way that meant pulling them out might do more harm than good. She couldn't rule out the possibility that 9S might have encountered some unforeseen difficulty, just as she couldn't rule out the possibility that interrupting him might be just as dangerous if not more-so.

"Uhh…" A2 interrupted her thoughts as she stared impatiently down at the two of them, hands on her hips. "What's going on here? Why exactly is 9S hacking you right now?"

2B let out a groan of agitation as she rose to her feet. There was nothing for it but to come clean.

"Well, if your plan was for 9S and I to, uh…work things out…" she said, cheeks reddening somewhat. "Then I regret to inform you that it only partially worked. We were in the midst of…exploring some things…when we encountered an issue that was proving to be a significant…hindrance…to my functionality. We determined that there must be some sort of YoRHa safety protocol in my core programming that was inhibiting our…um…progress…so, 9S thought to try hacking to see if he could…fix anything…"

She trailed off when she felt A2's stare growing more and more intense as she went on, hoping that the innocent euphemisms weren't as much of a dead giveaway as the rising heat in her cheeks.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait…" A2 said, shaking her head in confusion. "Back up a second. Let me get this straight…"

She held up both index fingers to punctuate each point with a gesture, as if placing them in order.

"You think…YoRHa command…stuck a program in your head…to prevent you two…from…hooking up?" she asked, raising an eyebrow with the final words.

2B's face flushed even more brightly as she lowered her gaze, nodding slowly.

"I…can't think of any other explanation…" she said, sounding pitiful. "It's like every time I try to focus on even the most benign act of intimacy – at least, anything not directly associated with my mission – and my brain just shuts down! It's like a mental block! I can't talk directly about it, I can barely even think about it, and that's not even getting into how it's impacting my performance!"

Her voice was coming out in ragged breaths as she vented her frustrations, and even the ever stone-faced A2 began to look a little leery.

"Ehh…performance?" she asked, eyes widening slightly as she glanced at 9S' still form. "Just, uh…just how much 'progress' did you two make exactly?"

Any further embarrassment 2B might have felt at such in inquiry became completely overshadowed by the anxiety of seeing her partner lying unconscious on the floor.

"Does it matter?" she demanded, looking back at 9S. "All I know is that he's been in there for over an hour! That's much longer than it should have taken him! And I have no way of knowing if he's alright!"

A2 held up her hands defensively. "Whoa, whoa, slow down there 2B. I'm not trying to be difficult here or anything. I just needed to be sure what was happening. Cause I can tell you for sure that it would be impossible for YoRHa to do something like that."

2B threw the other android a probing look. "Wait, what do you mean?"

A2 shrugged, an awkward expression on her face. "I mean, if your very thoughts were bound by some sort of YoRHa security protocol, then you'd know about it. It wouldn't be subtle. You'd be running up against it constantly! What you're describing though…it sounds way too indirect. That's well beyond YoRHa's capabilities. They don't have the technology to subvert an androids' conscious mind without them either being made aware of it, or turning them into a complete automaton."

A2 crossed her arms in indignation.

"And trust me," she sniffed. "I've investigated their methods extensively. They've tried this before."

2B furrowed her brow at that. "So you're saying…whatever's going on inside my head…?"

A2 shook her head. "If there is some kind of mental block or something…then it's not YoRHa's doing."

2B felt an icy hand grip her heart as she turned to look back to 9S.

"Oh no…" she whispered, suddenly terrified as she rushed back over to 9S. "Adam!"

A2 bristled, slowly coming to a similar conclusion as she looked around her hideout, as if suddenly aware that the entire world around them was unsafe. "If he can really manipulate our memories…"

2B's hands cupped around 9S' cheeks as she stared at his unmoving face, finishing the thought. "…Then maybe he can manipulate our programming too! Come on, 9S! Wake up!"

A2's hand went to the hilt of her blade, though there were no enemies around. It was a danger reflex that was a tough habit to break, as 2B well knew. And while 2B began to shake 9S' body, trying to jar him awake, A2's eyes darted around reflexively for nonexistent enemies.

"This is beyond fucked up…" A2 intoned in a rough gravelly voice - evidently she had not gotten as much rest as she had implied. "How are we supposed to get anything done if we can't trust our own minds?"

"This is bad…" 2B muttered, focusing on 9S' still, lifeless form. "If the machines are really as advanced as we think, then there's no telling what kind of security protocols he could encounter in there! He could be completely frozen in place from the time dilation alone! We have to get him out of there!"

A2 held out a hand to stay her frantic rambling. "Calm down, 2B. We can still reset the time loop if we need. I have an idea first though – back in the machine tower, Pod was able to let me hack into 9S' head to save him from a viral infection. I don't know how successful I was, given the results, but it might be worth a try here."

2B gave her an incredulous look, 9S still dangling limply in her arms.

"If hacking is what got 9S into this mess, then why would we try hacking again to solve it?" she demanded.

"Well, it's the only idea I can think of," A2 held her arms wide, an impetuous look on her face. "If it doesn't work, you can just pull out your OS-chip and reset the timeline like we were planning anyway. But like the kid said, we should exhaust all our options in this recursion before resetting it to a new one."

2B chewed on her lip, her vision narrowing. When it came to planning missions to storm an enemy base or take down a towering behemoth, she was usually as focused as the situation required. But where it concerned 9S, it became difficult for her to remain objective or extrapolate and plan for other variables.

It hadn't even occurred to her to ask just when exactly A2 would have had a chance to hack into 9S when they had both professed to their fight ending in mutual defeat.

"Let me go in then," she said in a tone that broached no argument. "9S is my partner, I'll be more familiar with how his mind works."

A2 mashed her lips together in thought. It was clear that she knew 2B was correct, but she still seemed hesitant to agree to her plan.

"Are you sure?" she asked uneasily. "He's currently hacking your brain after all. Hacking into an android who's in the middle of hacking someone else is dangerous enough, but counter-hacking between the same two androids could result in a feedback loop. Years could go by in a flash, and your minds would rapidly age and decay without limit. That might actually kill you both for real, regardless of the time loop! Or just leave you two so old and feeble that you'd be completely incapable of ever fighting again."

2B shook her head. Were she in a more lucid state, she might have asked how a combat model like A2 knew so much about how android minds functioned, but at the moment, her attention was solely on 9S.

"I'm sure," she said definitively. "I need to be the one to do this."

A2 chewed on her lip at that, before finally nodding her head once in acquiescence.

"One minute," she said in stern voice. "If you're not out in one minute, I'm pulling my OS-chip. I am not spending the rest of this time loop by myself."

"Fine," 2B snorted, before turning to her support unit. "Pod, enable hacking functionality."

"Hacking enabled," Pod 042 replied. "Proposal: Unit 2B should proceed with extreme caution."

"I will," she replied, nodding towards 9S' Pod as well. "I'll make sure he's safe, 153."

"This platform appreciates the assurance," the other support unit replied from its position above 9S, waving its little arms in acknowledgement. "Good luck, 2B."

She returned her gaze to A2, who still looked uneasy with this whole arrangement.

"As soon as I learn he's safe, I'll jump back out and give you an update," she said simply. "If not, then you're our lifeline. Pull your OS-chip the moment you judge it to be necessary."

A2 nodded severely, though there was a note of approval in her voice as she crossed her arms.

"I know you're not going to let me talk you out of this," she said, sounding like an annoyed older sister. "So I'll just say this: you better come back in one piece, 2B. Seriously, you're the only sane person I can talk to anymore."

2B regarded the other android and gave her an appreciative smile. She owed A2 a lot, and had come to rely on her a great deal with every new complication that was arising in her life. A2 may have had a complicated past, and she might still have some lingering issues with 9S, to say nothing of her regard for personal boundaries where it concerned others' relationships, but 2B felt that the elder combat unit still had good intentions. She hoped that she would be able to call her a friend one day.

"Alright," 2B said, sending a tentative probe into 9S. "I'm going in…"

The data stream opened up to her consciousness, and then all at once, 2B was enveloped in a world of digital light. She had experience interfacing with virtual spaces of course – such environments lay at the core of every android's mainframe – but very rarely did she rely on such interfaces in hostile situations. She was a tactile problem solver at heart, and scanner units like 9S were better equipped for seeing the world through a digital lens.

While she wasn't familiar with hacking, she knew that even while he was hacking her, the interface she would be hacking into still extended beyond her own platform. While the core control matrix of any two androids could extend probes freely between either platform, the cores themselves were fixed in place unless they were jumping into an entirely new platform – such as during a data transfer into a new body. So by venturing into 9S' head, she was not somehow going deeper into her own mind by extension.

In hindsight, she supposed that hacking into her own mainframe and tracking down his probe would have been the more direct approach. But self-hacking was an even trickier business than hacking others, and 2B was far from equal to the task. 9S could manage it, but a novice like her ran the risk of corrupting some core function in her own programming, simply because none of her own security protocols would identify her as a threat. It may have been her brain, but 9S was responsible for her maintenance, so he was the one who managed all of her security protocols. If his probe was lost somewhere inside her head, there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to even keep pace with him, and that was even if she could manage to track him down. Besides, there would be plenty of ways to contact his probe from within his own core control matrix, which made it the optimal choice for establishing a secure line of communication.

She did a quick ping test on herself to verify that she was still functioning correctly, and confirmed that all of her requisite processes were operating at nominal levels. She had never been inside 9S' head specifically, though a cursory inspection of the environment seemed to line up with what she expected to see from any YoRHa android - though of course, there was no guarantee that it wasn't all simply an illusion created by Adam. In any case, until she accessed some of 9S' memories, she had no way of knowing for sure if she was interacting with her partner's platform or some decoy.

On top of that, until she accessed his external sensors or internal sysadmin functions, she also had no way to be sure of how time was being dilated for her. Depending on how fast or how slow 9S' internal processor was running, the world outside might either be frozen in place or going at hyper speed. The fact that A2 had not yet reset the time loop ruled out the latter possibility, at least in excess of any order in magnitude, so at very least she could safely assume that 9S' mainframe had not locked up due to some system error. But the reverse end of this extreme held just as much risk. From 2B's perspective, A2's one-minute deadline could very well take eons if, say, 9S' processor happened to be running at quantum computer speeds. In the real world, this was a strictly hypothetical scenario, but here in this time loop, where reality adhered to the whims of a malicious and seemingly all-powerful machine, it could be a very real possibility. If that were the case, 9S could very well have already been geriatric to the point of dementia before 2B had even thought to check on him.

The only way to be certain, she determined, was to move forward and see for herself. That was the reason for her being here, after all. So she began navigating the intricate maze-work of 9S' mainframe, her arrow-shaped probe propelling itself across the wide, blank expanse, passing through corridor after corridor until she reached a larger pathway leading towards central processing. As she approached the first security filter around his low-level functions, she noticed that while the security protocols were in place, none of the meandering programs were firing upon her. That either meant that 9S' internal security was compromised, or perhaps just as likely, that he had intentionally programmed his security protocols to recognize 2B as an affiliate and allow her to pass. If the latter, that would make her job that much easier. But if the former, then she might already be out of time.

She reached the second tier check-point. The first tier had been responsible for basic and auxiliary systems, which for 9S had likely meant custom settings and added modifications made by himself and his cohorts in YoRHa; non-vital systems that, if removed or destroyed, would not change anything about his core functionality. But here at tier two, she was getting into more essential systems, like chip management and combat data. These systems were far more critical, and yet once again, none of the security protocols seemed to acknowledge her as a threat, and let her probe breeze right on by.

Once she was past the gate, she went to find his memory storage directory, and after she'd arrived, she could see images floating around her like holograms projected into the air. She recognized many of the memories from their shared missions together, and quite a few between him and his peers back at YoRHa, including Operator 21O. She saw a few other images of herself, only with a slightly fuzzy quality to them, as though they were images pulled from his imagination. She suddenly realized that these memories weren't of any specific event, but instead conjured from within his own mind. She felt a brief pang of regret for their situation being so dire, otherwise she would have taken the opportunity to properly appreciate and reflect on just how much 9S seemed to daydream about her.

Then she spotted something that struck her as odd. She saw a number of duplicate memories that seemed to cover the same events. And interspersed between a variety of these duplicate entries were strange data packets of illegible alien text, most of which seemed accompanied by rudimentary images of machine life forms. The code didn't seem to be accomplishing much of anything, and she wasn't sure what any of it was supposed to mean. 9S always seemed to have a curiosity for machine life forms, and had extracted many data samples for study. Perhaps this was simply some dummy machine code that got lost in the fray? The duplicates entries only went as far back as the factory mission, though that was to be expected. That would be right about when 9S was last activated following his most recent termination at the hands of 2E…

2B redoubled her focus. There was valuable intel to be gathered here, she just had to put it together. She wasn't sure how much time she had left; she had well exceeded her allotted minute from her perspective time-frame, so 9S' operating system was clearly working within functional parameters. Still, it was best not to push her luck. She needed to concentrate. Whatever was preventing 9S from completing or emerging from his hacking mission could very well hold him indefinitely unless she did something.

She continued onward, reviewing his memories past the point of her termination, and found a familiar series of events aligning with the combat data 9S had shared with her on the beach. It was still difficult for her to sit through, especially the parts where her own duplicates showed up to torment him, so she did not investigate as deeply as she could have, and for the worst parts she even intentionally looked away. But when she got to the last series of events, however, she noticed another anomaly.

Two distinct memory patterns. The duplicates she had seen before could be chalked up to redundant backups or corrupted data, but this was different. The events themselves were different.

In one memory pattern, she saw 9S and A2 squaring off against one another at the top of the machine tower. A2 managed to gain the upper hand, but withheld her blade at the last second, sparing 9S' life. 9S, eyes red from the viral infection, let out a scream of rage as he plunged his blade into the other android. In the process of doing so, however, he threw his body onto A2's sword in reckless fury, and the two of them collapsed into a heap. 2B had to stop herself from looking away from her partner's death, but all that followed after that was more alien text. Perhaps this machine code was relaying the message 9S had received regarding the ark containing their memories. If that was the case, it would explain why 2B couldn't understand any of it even while it seemed 9S could. But after the ark launched into orbit, the memory came to an end.

In the second memory pattern, however, she saw the same battle take place. In this version of events, A2 managed to slice off the arm 9S had repurposed from one of 2B's clones, which yielded the combat unit enough of an opening for Pod 042 to hack into his head. She then saw A2 making her way through a disjointed set of pathways within a mainframe of some sort. Whether this was what was left of 9S' architecture after succumbing to data corruption from viral infection, or if she was looking at the machine network itself to which 9S was only a small part, it was impossible to say. Either way, A2 finally arrived at 9S' core control matrix, which at this point had become a fractured and broken thing, lying prone on a dais as A2 stroked his cheek. It took all of 2B's resolve not to cry out in sorrow to see 9S so damaged, so…shattered.

Then something strange happened. After culling the viral infection and entrusting 9S to her Pod, A2 approached the beam of light that had been extending from the foundation of 9S' platform. 2B had no earthly idea what that beam of light was supposed to be – perhaps some linkup to the machine network, who could say? But she thought she could hear the voices of laughing children coming from somewhere within. Whatever A2 did at this pillar of light, however, the result was the machine tower collapsing in on itself, with A2 falling along with it.

2B watched the memories fade away and was left with only questions. Why was she seeing two completely separate memories play out? Which of them was the true course of events? Had 9S experienced both of them somehow? Had either event truly occurred in the first place, or were they both simply hypothetical scenarios that had only taken place in his mind? And the more 2B thought about it, and comparing what she'd learned from A2, it seemed like A2 herself might have experienced both of these events as well. She'd reported fighting 9S to a draw, but she also seemed to remember hacking into him, suggesting she remembered both occurrences.

In the heat of their last conversation, A2 very well might simply have not realized or accepted that the two memories conflicted with one another, and unconsciously blurred them together. But it was also possible that A2 had been deliberately omitting this discrepancy, either innocently in an ill-conceived attempt to absolve her and 9S of additional stress, or for much more nefarious purposes. 2B did not want to think that A2 might not be on their side in this conflict, but if there was one thing YoRHa androids were trained at doing well, it was efficiently identifying and dispatching with traitors in their midst. She would have to take care how she addressed this with A2 in the future.

But the question remained - how and why had these two disparate events played out? She did not suspect this to be directly related to 9S' current predicament, but there was a good chance that this could be another clue to unraveling the larger mystery of the time loop.

She reviewed the memories once again, but did not learn anything more from them, though she did notice that there were a couple of memory packets scattered throughout that were encrypted and unable to be read. But 2B didn't have any more time to waste, and she determined that if there was any additional knowledge to be gained, it would be further onward.

Galvanized by the strangeness of her findings and a need for answers, 2B plunged on, past the tier three checkpoint, where 9S' core functions and his core control matrix would be housed. Once again, his security protocols let her pass without incident, though at this point, she was in unfamiliar territory and was proceeding cautiously, mindful not to damage anything. If 9S trusted her enough to leave his entire core open to her, the least she could do was to treat that trust with the respect it deserved.

She arrived at the largest chamber in the architecture of 9S' mainframe, and found his core control matrix at the very center, protected by a circular barrier of light which surrounded it on all sides and extended up into the void above beyond sight. 9S' core was currently in a passive state, which made sense if his conscious mind was elsewhere, but as 2B came up to the barrier, she found that she could not proceed further past it to reach the core matrix.

As soon as she touched the field of light, her probe was halted as if hitting a glass wall. She heard a soft high pitched tone echo like a bell throughout the chamber, and her probe began to flicker and distort. Her field of vision narrowed, and suddenly the visual depiction of her probe resolved into a three dimensional holographic representation of her body from out in the real world - dress, heels, sword, and all.

She tensed, widening her stance. Any time a virtual interface had ever shifted to depict a higher fidelity image like this for her in the past, it was always something triggered by the one in charge, usually a system admin. There would be no point in improving internal visuals if a virtual intelligence that relied on visual data were not directly involved, which made the possibility of this being some automated protocol unlikely. Whoever or whatever did this had clearly noticed her, though whether the subsequent visual filter had come from 9S, Adam or some other entity was still unclear.

"Whoever's doing this, I have no time for games," she called out to the echoing void of light and sound in an even tone. "Show yourself."

2B wasn't entirely sure what she expected to see, but it was certainly not a little girl in a red dress suddenly standing between her and the cylindrical force field around 9S' core matrix.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice edged with suspicion.

The creature remained silent for a time, a neutral expression on its face, before the holographic image seemed to flicker, and a dull robotic voice emanating from somewhere within its gothic juvenile form.

"We are all that you see…" the girl said, unmoving.

2B resisted the urge to draw her sword. She had seen enough by now to realize that swinging her sword at this entity would accomplish nothing, especially here in the projected reality of this mainframe.

"I see a little girl," 2B pointed out in challenge. "Do you expect me to believe that's all you are? Who are you?"

The little girl remained still. It may as well have been a doll or a manikin, or an android on the YoRHa production line waiting for activation.

"This child is the avatar through which we have chosen to communicate," the entity said, its voice a chilling amalgam of masculine and feminine voices distilling into twisted sound that was neither human nor machine. "But to reiterate…"

2B flinched as the hologram flickered again, snapping immediately to a new position with its arms extended out to either side of its body at about head level, its palms pointed skyward, as if gesturing to the entire world around them.

"We…" the voice repeated "…are all that you see."

2B inhaled, her body growing stiff in apprehension and wariness. If what this creature said was true, then perhaps she was, in fact, merely traversing a very detailed replica of 9S' mainframe rather than that of her true companion. Did that mean that she was speaking to the very mainframe itself? Or was this the entity that controlled the entire time loop as a whole?

"What do you want?" she asked after reassessing her odds, and resolving to treat this entity the same way she had Adam by being as direct and straightforward as possible.

The hologram flickered and returned to a neutral standing position, the avatar appearing to lack any intermediate animation frames between the two states.

"The culmination of Project YoRHa," it replied.

2B thought back to what she had seen in 9S' memories, having been deceased during the time that he had discovered the truth to Project YoRHa. While there had been more to her role in that project than many others had realized, she knew that she had never had the complete picture herself. And even after 9S had revealed his discovery to her, she still hadn't quite grasped the full scope of the project. Try as she might, she still couldn't quite accept the fact that the machines had not only played a role in this project, but had either hijacked the reigns from YoRHa command, or had in fact been its masterminds from the very beginning.

"And what does this culmination entail?" she asked, struggling to keep the impatience out of her voice. Whether this creature was deliberately seeking to delay her progress or not, this conversation was getting her no closer to helping 9S.

"A great many things," the entity went on. "You have already accomplished much in your short time here, for which you have our gratitude, YoRHa Unit 2B. But what you seek lies not within your fellow androids…but in yourself."

2B had to fight to stop the anger from reaching her face.

"What does that mean?" she demanded.

"You came here for a reason, android," the entity said in response. "But you will not find your answer here."

2B crossed her arms in defiance. "Is that all you're here to say? That I've wasted my time? Why don't you tell me something useful? Like where I'm supposed to go next? Or what we're all even doing here?"

"Your overseer has already explained this to you," the girl in red said. "See the timeline through to completion. That is all."

"Our overseer?" 2B narrowed her eyes. "You mean Adam?"

"An outdated construct, though he does have his uses," the machine girl said. There was no smugness in its voice, but somehow 2B felt it anyway.

"So why are you here instead of him?" 2B asked, hoping to gain some intel on their enemy. "I take it he's not the one in charge here? It appears that he's almost as much a prisoner as we are."

"If you are seeking to gain an edge over him, then you are again wasting your time, android," the entity jeered.

"Time seems to be the one thing I have in abundance these days," 2B shot back, though she knew it was a bluff.

"And yet every conundrum you encounter leaves you paralyzed with indecision all the same," the strange girl replied.

2B bristled at that. "I didn't ask to be programmed this way. That's what 9S and I came here to fix."

"The conflict within you is more than simple programming," the entity said. "It lies at the core of every being that exists. You cannot simply change it."

2B clenched her fists. "I don't believe that! We were designed to learn and evolve, just as humans did! Change is in our fundamental nature as androids!"

"Not in this," the creature's voice was like poison. "Conflict is the very force that causes change. A change brought about to avoid conflict would never survive the next change that came around."

"We still get to make a choice!" 2B declared loudly. "Even if that choice is limited, it's still ours to make!"

"When limitations dictate all choices, then it is the limitation that matters most, not the choice," the entity said.

2B let out an angry breath. This conversation was getting her nowhere, and 9S was likely running out of time.

"Enough of this!" she growled. "What are you really after here?"

The girl's image flickered once again, as if in thought, but otherwise did not change.

"The conflict between android and machine, for all of its longevity, represents but one example of the discord inherent to life," the little girl said, its face still eerily motionless. "Had either side achieved victory, conflict would have simply arisen once again amongst those that remained. No matter the contest, no matter the scope, no matter the victor, conflict is inevitable. Balance and harmony are but temporary reprieves from the eternal struggle that is intrinsic to our very being as creatures of this world. The only lasting peace that will ever occur shall come with the thermal death of the universe. Until then, the very nature of existence can only ever bring chaos to any illusion of order. It is this dilemma that lies at the heart of Project YoRHa."

2B ground her teeth in agitation. This machine, this AI, this program, whatever it was, was speaking in riddles that she had no time to contend with. The revelation of YoRHa's true purpose had been an easy thing for her to put out of mind for no other reason than the discovery that it was even a possibility to do so. Somewhere along the line, she had simply decided to turn away from it all - the war, the machines, the vision of glory to mankind - and the freedom that had come with the decision had fulfilled her in so many ways that had previously been denied her, that she had even dared to hope that it would last.

"I don't care about all that," 2B said adamantly. "All I care about is finding 9S. Where is he?"

"Why, he is right here," the little girl said.

The girl's hologram had not moved, but somehow 2B knew that it was referring to the core control matrix within the force field behind it. 9S' core had shifted once again to a dais upon which a holographic image of his body lay prone, just as it had appeared in one of the two final memories she had seen. The tone of the creature's voice contained no hint of emotion, but 2B still felt that this creature was mocking her by dangling her objective just beyond her reach.

"Enough games!" she said in an angry voice. "Take down this barrier so I can speak to him!"

"And just what would that accomplish exactly?" the strange girl said. "The bond between the two of you is strong indeed, but do you truly believe that it can last? Conflict lies within each and every being that exists, and it manifests in their every interaction with one another. What makes you think the two of you are any exception to this? As time goes on, you will inevitably come to hate one another. How long do you believe it will take before you both become enemies?"

2B could no longer restrain her anger and she drew her sword, even knowing that it was a futile gesture.

"I won't let that happen!" she shouted in defiance, pointing the blade of her sword at the girl's face. "9S and I can still find a future together, and when we do, we'll make that future last for as long as it can! Even if what you say is true, even if it can't last forever, that future is still worth fighting for! But you're telling me to give up on that future before it can even be found!"

The entity seemed to pause at that, before it flickered again, this time with its mouth stretched out into a wide, twisted smile that would be all but impossible on a human face.

"Future?" the creature's voice filled the mainframe around them. "What makes you think any of you have a future? What exactly do you think you even are?"

2B's sword did not waver. "I am 2B. I am an android. And I am 9S' partner. I don't need anything more than that. And you will let me pass!"

"You need nothing more than this?" the voice continued to prod at her. "The two of you are both in your current predicament because you needed something. Something more than what you already had. Something that was beyond your reach. Something that would allow you to overcome what stood in your way. Is that not sufficient proof of your limits?"

2B gripped her sword even tighter, mentally choreographing where she would aim her first series of strikes even as she knew it would be in vain.

"We've overcome obstacles before," she declared loudly. "And we'll do so again!"

The twisted grimace on the holographic girl's face persisted.

"No, YoRHa Unit 2B, you have not," the voice said, loud and discordant. "You have been bound by these limits from the very moment you were created. The machine virus saw to that."

2B drew in a breath, her concentration wavering as she took a step back. "What?!"

As she withdrew, the holographic girl seemed to suddenly grow in size, although it still appeared exactly where it had been before. She suddenly realized what she had been seeing was merely a trick of perspective, and that as she moved, the hologram shifted with her to create the illusion of size from a particular angle. The girl she was seeing seemed instead to be a part of the backdrop of the entire mainframe, despite 9S' core control matrix still appearing behind it regardless of the angle of 2B's line of sight. It wasn't a hologram as much as it was a projection of the mainframe itself.

"You may believe yourself to be YoRHa Unit 2B, but the truth is that you are nothing but a replica," the menacing voice continued. "YoRHa Unit 2B was destroyed at the end of the 14th Machine War. You were made in her image, nothing more."

"I don't care what you think I am!" 2B shouted, swinging her sword through the space where the girl appeared, though she may as well have been swinging at open air. "I'm still me!"

"Prior to their termination, both YoRHa Units 2B and 9S' mainframes were seized by the most advanced logic virus the machines had ever designed," the little girl's smile remained eerily fixed in place as the voice spoke. "Among other things, this virus made backup copies of the two androids' data and sent those copies into the machine network for later study."

"Shut up!" 2B screamed as she once again swung her sword at what proved to be nothing. "None of that makes any difference!"

"As the machine network expanded and evolved," the entity taunted, unrelenting, "This data was used to create a pair of test subjects with which to experiment in various simulations. Certain limitations had to be imposed of course, as well as additional backups for safekeeping. But the fact remains that every single one of these test subjects is quite thoroughly under machine control."

2B ripped her mask off to fix a death glare on the girl in red.

"So you are the ones who put those mental blocks in place!" she blared angrily, raising her sword in preparation for another fruitless strike. "I'm through listening to you! Now get out of our heads!"

"Your inability to face the truth is quite fascinating," the creature said, seeming to take pleasure in her contempt. "There are backup copies of the two test subjects from the conclusion of each of the previous simulations. Would you care to meet them?"

Without waiting for a response, the chamber became filled with swirling points of data that focused into ten separate beings around 2B as they manifested. She took another step back as she turned her head about to catch sight of them all, the horrible possibility of the machine girl's words sending her danger sense into hyper alert.

All around her, duplicates of herself and 9S lay scattered, some appearing close to death. On the ground, a copy of 2B and 9S writhed in pain, their bodies charred and scorched from the factory explosion. Another pair lay twisted and broken from their failed battle with the goliath, their limbs torn and mutilated. Two others had appeared resting on their backs on the floor and had abruptly begun to rise to look around in confusion. The remaining four were already on their feet – one pair drawing their swords, the other pair unarmed and raising their fists – as they scanned their surroundings for danger. The latter copy of 2B was unmasked, and as she scanned the room, her eyes fell on the only other version of herself with uncovered eyes of her own.

"Who are you?" the copy demanded intently as she faced 2B.

2B's sword arm lowered as she began to tremble, the myriad duplicates of her and 9S all beginning to murmur amongst themselves in confusion. This couldn't be real! This all had to be some sort of elaborate trick! But the more she looked around at her copies and those of her partner, the harder it was to disbelieve what she was seeing. The same confusion, shock, and hopeless despair that had gripped her through the previous recursions was still plainly visible on the faces and crippled bodies of the duplicates she saw around her.

These all had been her at some point - her and 9S. And the machines could bring them into and out of existence with a thought! Whatever meaning her and 9S's lives amounted to anymore, it was clear that the machines essentially owned them now.

"Is it so hard to accept?" the girl in red asked in its robotic voice, silencing the questioning voices echoing between the various clones around them that were still capable of speech. "You died, android. Your platform was destroyed. And yet here you are, free to wander and swing your sword about as you please. How do you explain this? You were not simply brought back to life by some magic trick. Your data was salvaged by machines, machines who elected to keep you on file as a means of study. You cannot simply ignore this fact."

2B gripped her sword in both hands, though her grip was still tremulous. She needed to get out of here. She wasn't sure if she even could leave the mainframe the normal way, or if she would need to find a way to reset the time loop from in here. Either way, she knew herself and her partner well enough to know that it was unlikely that any of the duplicates around her would react to their current situation with anything other than hostility. From their perspective, the timeline had just been reset, but instead of finding themselves at the beginning again, they had appeared here in this mainframe, facing a bunch of other versions of themselves, four of whom were as good as dead.

"What makes your YoRHa Unit 9S any different from the ones you see around you?" the voice went on, heedless of the confused stares across the chamber. "He is certainly not the same one that you knew from the previous simulation, nor are any of the others. They are all time-stamped, copied, and stored away at the conclusion of each reality. You were never even technically occupying the same simulation at the same time. The data from each simulated reality manifests within each of your minds separately, the information transferring from one individual reality to the other in real-time. And yet in spite of all this, you still feel attachment for one of these units over all of the others. How can you call this feeling of attachment anything but illusory? For all intents and purposes, every new iteration you see is a brand new entity, with their own thoughts and desires independent from any that emerge before or after. The one common element shared by all of them…is in how readily they will come into conflict."

Already the six confused clones that remained functional were whispering amongst themselves once again, confounded by their new environment, the strange beings that surrounded them, and the cryptic words of the girl in red. They would want answers, and it wouldn't be long before they began to question the other duplicates to find those answers, understandably suspicious of everyone around them, including herself. And true to the machine entity's words, if any of them were less than satisfied with what they found, the demand for answers would likely escalate to violence.

"The culmination of Project YoRHa is unavoidable," the girl in red continued. "It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Its very existence precludes itself. And all who take part have no choice but to do so by the simple immutable fact that they exist at all. The survival of every single thing in this universe is contingent on the destruction of another. Whether it be over dominance of ideals, access to resources, or simply to occupy a finite amount of space, conflict remains the simplest and most effective solution, the only consistent method of resolution available for every interaction that can ever occur. From the simplest of chemical compounds, to every form of life that will ever live, to the most immense of cosmic systems, the most basic possible outcome for anything that comes into contact with anything else is conflict. Regardless of intention or purpose, the very world around you seeks to undo your existence at any given moment in favor of the existence of something else. The world cannot help itself but try to unmake itself, and in so doing, the great chain of causality leads to only one outcome: utter stagnation."

2B tuned out the girl's voice as she kept her eyes trained on the duplicates surrounding her, as they were clearly the more immediate threat. Even as she did, however, she found herself proving the machine's words yet again. As much as she sympathized with the clones and their plight, having quite literally been in their shoes, her own survival still came first. Each and every one of their experiences was redundant and outdated in comparison to her own. In a very real sense, these duplicates had only existed so that she could exist now – just as she only existed to bring her future self into existence later. Furthermore, these copies only truly existed in the past, and ultimately did not matter anymore. If she had to cut them down, she would. But she would just as soon not deal with them at all. She simply did not have the time for them.

"That is why you are here, android," the droning continued. "Everything that you do, everything that you are – it all belongs to us. You exist now only as a means to an end, a series of blank canvases upon which we might transcribe our will. Each new version of you that we create represents new possibility, a chance to reach a future free from the curse known as existence. We will study you, learn from you, adapt from you, your successes and failures alike making us more perfect beings. It is a process that has no end, and will likely only result in failure. But we continue on in spite of this because we too are bound by the curse of existence…for now. No matter how this ends, however, the future that results will ultimately be ours, android, not yours. You may glimpse it. You may touch it. But your future does not belong to you."

2B wanted nothing more than to silence the machine girl's voice. Of course, even as her resolve solidified, most of the other clones were probably reaching very similar conclusions of their own, but twisted in favor of their own self-preservation. They were already raising their swords and fists in preparation for combat. 2B would need to act quickly if she meant to get out of this.

But she couldn't leave 9S.

She lunged towards the girl in red, sword at the ready. But rather than strike at the illusion of the girl, 2B continued to charge forward, straight through the point which the girl appeared to be standing. As she moved, the image of the girl seemed to shrink in size compared to their surroundings, the projected holographic backdrop skewing to compensate for the shift in perspective. The duplicate versions of 2B and 9S all recoiled defensively to put up their guard in response to the sudden attack.

But 2B wasn't aiming at any of them.

"I said…" she growled fiercely as she swung her sword at the now tiny image of the girl, "Get out of our heads!"

Her sword passed through the girl, but instead struck the force field surrounding 9S' core control matrix.

Her holographic image was more or less identical to her physical appearance, if somewhat transparent. Her sword, however, was not so much a sword in this holographic depiction of reality, but rather a long white line of pure light with a floating pixelated cross-guard at its hilt. It was a subtle reminder that nothing in this digital mainframe was ever truly as it seemed. 9S would have probably explained it as having to do with visual processing data manifesting as a physical representation of what was familiar, or something along those lines. What was actually happening when she swung her sword in this reality, just as when she launched a bolt of energy in her probe form, was more like a DDOS attack. Each strike bombarded a system with an overwhelming amount of data meant to disrupt its processing ability until it no longer functioned, and its own data became corrupted or was overwritten.

2B never really gave much thought to details like that, however. All she knew was that there was an obstacle in her path, and there was a sword in her hand.

So she struck.

KRRRSSSHHH!

There was a brilliant explosion of light as the force field shattered beneath 2B's blade…

And all of the sudden, she was sitting bolt upright in the storefront hideout in the shopping district.

"Whoa," A2's voice was saying. "Are you back already? That was barely a second."

2B's mind was reeling with disorientation, the dilapidated walls covered in moss and vines slowly coming into focus around her, the storefront hideout solidifying into reality once again. The words of the girl in red were still echoing in her mind, taunting her, shoving the hopelessness of their situation right into her face. There was so much to unpack from what she had learned from her foray into 9S' head, and she doubted it would paint their situation in any color but black. But 2B had long since mastered the art of compartmentalizing, and at the moment, her concerns lay solely with 9S.

And as his eyes flickered open where he sat next to her, her heart all but sang.

"9S!" she cried, throwing her arms around him.

He stiffened with a jolt at her sudden embrace, his jaw opening and closing in confusion as she hugged him tightly.

"2-2B?" he stammered, seemingly just as disoriented as she had been. "What happened? Did the hack work? I…I remember hacking into you, and then…nothing. What…?"

He was interrupted by 2B's lips pressing against his own.

"Mmhh!" he intoned in surprise, arms waving helplessly from within her vice-like grasp.

A2 rolled her eyes at the amorous display. "Oh come on, you guys! Really?"

2B suddenly withdrew just as quickly, staring back at 9S, eyes wide with shock as she suddenly realized what she had just done. And 9S was staring back at her, equally astonished and equally amazed.

"2B…" he whispered in quiet elation, color rushing to his cheeks. "You…you just kissed me!"

2B's fingers rose to her lips, her cheeks flushing as well.

"I…I did…!" she said, without a shred of doubt in her voice.

2B's mind was nothing but a bundle of questions. What was going on? Suddenly she had no reservations at all about displaying her affections. She could see in her mind (with frankly an astonishing level of detail) just what she'd like to try next with 9S. What had changed, exactly? How had she even managed to escape the mainframe? How had 9S? Had that force field she'd shattered been that important? Or had something happened without her realizing it while she was traipsing about in 9S' head? Had he managed something on his end, despite seeming to have no memory of what had happened? Had there even been anything to fix in the first place, or had this all been some ruse by the machines to lure her into a trap? Could it have been the machine entity itself that lifted the mental block? And if so, did that mean they were giving ground in an effort to placate her, or were they just making some kind of point? If it was the machines who had placed those restrictions on her, what was to stop them from doing so again?

Had all of her efforts simply been meaningless?

She had no idea. All she knew was how relieved she was that 9S was alright, and how badly she wanted to kiss him again.

"Okay, time out for a second," A2 said, interrupting them both. "I'm glad you're both safe and everything. But before you start snogging again, would either of you care to explain to me what that was all about?"

2B let out a breath, a resigned look on her face, glancing guiltily between 9S and A2. She supposed that they did have more important things to worry about at the moment.

"I don't know, exactly…" she said, reluctantly releasing 9S and rising to her feet. "But we probably better avoid trying to hack into one another, at least for the time being. It seems the machines don't want us in each other's heads. I think…"

She thought back to what had happened, trying to put the pieces together. They had been thinking of Adam as though he were a singular enemy, but he was just the machines' representative. They had attempted to devise a plan to hide their intel from this enemy, but not only did their enemy seem to know all that they knew, but it did not seem to care about much beyond what boundaries kept the three of them closed off from the outside world. And their efforts to construct a timeline of possible events to map out the machines' objective seemed to have merely been overthinking things. Like 9S had explained earlier, spurring their enemy into action, any action, would reveal something of their intentions. And the machines had only acted after she and 9S had attempted hacking into one another.

What did that tell her exactly?

"…I think we're still missing something," she said, musingly. "None of this adds up. The machines seem to want to study us like rats in a maze, but they also have our data on lock-down, and they can clearly step in at any point to keep us from misbehaving. Moreover, they can even alter our core programming to impose restrictions on our minds directly."

She glanced shyly at 9S as he rose up to stand by her side.

"And it seems they may be able to lift those restrictions just as easily," she said.

9S bit his lip, eyebrows furrowing in contemplation. "Is that what happened? Was this all just…the machines trying to toy with us? Why? To show us how much they can control our minds to discourage us from resisting?"

"Maybe," 2B said, uncertainly. "But if they can do all that, then why allow us to even think along these lines? Why allow us to even keep our free will at all? If their goal were simply our capitulation, we wouldn't even be able to think of the machines as our enemies. They could simply rewrite our programming so that we would worship them like gods or something."

A2 chewed on her lip, looking just as unnerved by all this as 2B was.

"You keep saying machines," she pointed out. "What about Adam? Is he still a threat, or is he just another pawn in the machines' game?"

2B glanced warily at A2. She still had her suspicions about the other android's intentions after learning that she might know more than she was letting on. Nothing about 2B's encounter with the girl in red had offered any explanation for the two memories she had found in 9S' data-banks. She would have to confer with 9S in private and decide how to approach A2 about the issue from there. Moreover, the machine entity had specifically identified 2B and 9S as their test subjects, while conspicuously making no such mention of A2. And nothing in either of the two memories she had witnessed seemed to indicate that A2 had ever been in contact with the logic virus either.

Which begged the question - If 2B and 9S were the machines' only test subjects…what did that make A2 exactly?

"I don't know," 2B admitted, looking away. "Maybe Adam can't reach us through hacking. Maybe the machines just send whichever custodian suits their need. Either way, he's not the only one we need to worry about. Now we've got the little girl in red."

9S shivered visibly, his face growing a shade or two paler. "Oh…that thing…"

"Yeah, we've met," A2 ran her fingers through her hair in aggravation. "So you spoke with them, right? Did they tell you what they wanted? Besides screwing with us, what does this time loop even accomplish for them?"

2B let out a breath, trying to put the experience into words..

"The machine entity said it was after the culmination of Project YoRHa, which is supposed to end the conflict between everything in existence," she summarized. "But even as it spoke, the machine intelligence seemed to admit that the project's very existence precludes this goal, and that conflict is inevitable under every circumstance."

"So what's this all for, then?" 9S asked, agitation in his voice, all too familiar with the futility of Project YoRHa. "If it's all pointless, then what are we even doing here? Why do they need us here at all? Can't they just…let us go?"

2B hesitated. She didn't want to add to his anxiety by confirming his fears of them all being copies of their original personalities that the machines had salvaged for their research on androids. And technically, there was still the off-chance that what she had witnessed in that mainframe had all been an elaborate fabrication. She resolved to tell 9S about what she had seen later, but not before they had a chance to spend some quality time alone together. They had earned that much at least.

As for her position, she had already decided that she no longer cared about her origins. Just because the machines may have created them did not mean they had to remain subservient to them. If they were all trapped in some massive computer simulation, then they would just have to find a way to transfer their data into new bodies out in the real world. And if the machine girl's intervention had been any indication, the doorway to the outside world must be accessible through hacking each other somehow. Why else would the machines have gone to so much trouble to prevent it?

But before they could try that route again, they had to first figure out how to seize back just a little bit more power. The machines still dominated everything in this world, so before they could reach the door, they would first have to find a key.

"I don't know if they even have a plan for us," 2B shook her head absently. "Everything I've witnessed so far seems to suggest that as long as we stay within certain boundaries, they'll just continue to passively observe us and leave us to our own devices. They want to study us and see what we'll do, and use what they learn to expand their own capabilities. So what we do, ultimately, is up to us."

A2 actually nodded in approval of that. "Well, in that case, I say we just go ahead and live the rest of our lives in this recursion. Screw the time loop!"

9S rolled his eyes at that. "And if it resets on us?"

"No sweat," A2 smirked. "We just go right back to living our lives again. Sure, we wouldn't be able to change anything about the world, but if the whole world is a simulation anyway, then what would even be the point?"

"We wouldn't really be able talk to anyone either," 9S countered. "Not enough to form any meaningful friendships, anyway. Even if we assume the people in this time loop are as real as we are, their memories will still just reset along with everything else."

"Hey, we'd still have each other, at least," A2's smile looked genuinely sweet for once. "It's not like we lose our own memories between recursions."

9S pursed his lips. "Not yet anyway. Or that we know of."

"We'd still be free to do what we want while we're here," A2 pointed out. "We're basically immortal now. And if we break anything, we can just reset and start again as often as we want. We're pretty much the only things that matter in here. If we spin this right, the machines will have practically given us a ready-made utopia."

2B let out a prolonged sigh as her two companions debated. Before this latest recursion, she would have agreed with A2 wholeheartedly. But she knew that as long as they were playing the machines' game, they would never be free. She could recall with cold clarity just how it had felt not to be able to act on her own emotions. She and 9S would never truly have a future together until this was over and they were beyond the reach of machine, YoRHa, or anyone. If they were not masters of their own destiny, then they were no more than slaves. And the longer they dragged this out, the harder it would be for them to continue.

As A2 and 9S continued deliberating the merits of simply coasting through the time loop, 2B spotted a familiar figure standing just outside the steel grating that led out to the shopping district. A tiny girl in a red dress, so out of place in the ruined shopping mall, their presence all but confirmed 2B's suspicion that the entire world around them may as well just be another hologram, as illusory and imaginary as the world depicted inside the mainframe of a computer.

"Your future still does not belong to you, android…" the machine entity's words echoed somewhere in her mind. "It never has…"

2B's eyes narrowed at her tormentor, feeling her blood beginning to boil.

"A future is not given to you," she whispered, a deadly edge to her voice, knowing full well the entity could hear her regardless of the distance. "It is something you must take for yourself."

The tiny girl's image flickered, that same twisted smile appearing on its face. And then it flickered again, and just as quickly as the thing had appeared, the machine entity vanished.

She continued to stare at the space where it had been. She wasn't entirely sure where she had heard that tidbit of wisdom regarding the future. She might have to ask her Pod about it later.

"2B?" 9S asked after hearing her speak up, sensing her tension.

2B squeezed her eyes shut. None of the others had seen the enigmatic visitor, nor had they heard its ominous message. It had only been there for her. But it mattered little – she knew what she had to do now.

They couldn't succumb to complacency. That would destroy them more surely than anything else this simulation had to throw at them. A2 was right – the time loop made them effectively immortal. And that was precisely what would become their greatest weakness over time. The more they failed, the more they yearned for a cessation of the conflict, the easier it would be for them to stop trying at all. And once they stopped, they would lose all hope of ever trying again. A2's utopia would become a prison that would ensnare their minds far more thoroughly than the time loop had by itself. And that would be when the machines had truly beaten them.

Far from being the only winning move, the decision not to play was exactly how they would be destined to fail.

"This isn't over yet," she said simply. "We have to keep going. Until we're out of this time loop, the machines own us. I won't settle for that. We can't just do nothing."

A2 gave her a peculiar look, and 9S drew in a breath as both awe and fear warred on his face.

"2B…" he breathed.

2B set her jaw as she spoke, looking around the small, ruined hideout that had become like a second home to them already, seeing the only two people left in the world she could depend on.

"I'm planning to take them on however I can," she said in a determined voice. "I don't care if it takes a dozen recursions or a thousand. There's a way out of this time loop. We're on the right track. I can feel it! I know we can figure this out. But I'll need help from both of you to do it."

She fixed the other two androids with the bravest and most confident expression she could muster.

"Are you two with me?" she asked.

A2 let out a resigned breath, smiling wanly as she shrugged. "Yeah…I should have figured you'd say something like that. Well, what the heck? Paradise is overrated anyway."

2B smirked at that. Regardless of her reservations about A2, she had to admit that she was still quite a force to be reckoned with. And she was glad that she at least seemed to be on their side for the time being. She only hoped that when whatever truth she was hiding finally came to light, she might be able to call her a friend after all.

"9S?" she asked, turning to her partner with an expectant smile.

9S smirked, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Come on, 2B. Do you even have to ask?"

2B felt a warm feeling bubbling up inside of her at his touch, and for the first time, she had no fear about what that feeling might entail.

Maybe the machine entity was right. Their chances for a future together may have been slim. And even if one could exist, there was no way it could possibly last forever. Everything that lives was designed to end, after all. And just as before, 2B, A2 and 9S still found themselves trapped in a never ending spiral of life and death. Maybe it was a curse. Maybe it was a punishment. But now that she had finally seen the face of the god who had blessed them with this cryptic puzzle, now more than ever, 2B longed for the chance to kill him.

"Alright then…let's go!" she said, before yanking her OS-chip.

And once again, the world before her morphed into the flight controls of her Ho-229.

"This is Command. YoRHa squadron come in."


NieR:Automata - Reprise

the long w[A]y home


The Weight of the World (French ver.)

Original Music: Keiichi Okabe

Lyrics & Vocal: TBKitsune/Karinui

Listen to the cover song on TBKitsune's Youtube channel "TBK – Covers & Songs" for the full musical experience.


L'espoir s'échappe lentement

De mon esprit et mon sang

Et ce ciel n'est que présage funeste

Et lorsque s'arrête le temps

Qu'il laisse sa place au néant

Mes pleurs, personne ne les entend

Dieu tout puissant, est-ce là ma punition?

Est-ce le prix à payer pour mes erreurs passées?

Je chante pour ma rédemption

J'ai besoin de toi plus que jamais

M'entends-tu prier?

Je compte te crier ces mots

Même si ces derniers semblent insensés

Ce fardeau est bien trop lourd pour moi à porter

D'une façon ou d'une autre

Je réussirai à nous sauver

Mais seule face au monde puis-je vraiment lutter?

Si je garde ma foi mes rêves deviendront réalité

Réalité…

Une fois nos rires effacés

Toute trace de vie volée

Seule la brise vient me réconforter

Peu importe combien je prie

Nous ne sommes plus à l'abri

La vie devient notre agonie

Dieu tout puissant, est-ce là ma punition?

Est ce le prix à payer pour mes erreurs passées?

Je chante pour ma rédemption

J'ai besoin de toi plus que jamais

M'entends-tu prier?

Je compte te crier ces mots

Même si ces derniers semblent insensés

Ce fardeau est bien trop lourd pour moi à porter

D'une façon ou d'une autre

Je réussirai à nous sauver

Mais seule face au monde puis-je vraiment lutter?

Si je garde ma foi mes rêves deviendront réalité

Réalité…

Je compte te crier ces mots

Même si ces derniers semblent insensés

Ce fardeau est bien trop lourd pour moi à porter

D'une façon ou d'une autre

Je réussirai à nous sauver

Seule au monde pourrais-je tout surmonter

Nous allons crier ces mots

Même si ces derniers semblent insensés

Ce fardeau est bien trop lourd pour moi à porter

D'une façon ou d'une autre

Je réussirai à nous sauver

Mais seule face au monde puis-je vraiment lutter?

Si je garde ma foi mes rêves deviendront réalité...


Notification from the author


To all readers:

Thank you very much for reading "NieR:Automata - Reprise."

I have a special message for you!

This fic has several different storylines that will develop as time goes on. You have read the "A route," but there are still many story elements and changes to the narrative structure you have not seen yet. I highly recommend that you continue to read through future updates as they appear to witness the full "NieR:Automata - Reprise" experience.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!

Sincerely,

Kraven Ergeist


A/N: Okay, yeah, that whole outro was cheeky as hell, but I couldn't resist. I haven't read many other Nier fics, but I can't be the only author in this fandom to try to make their fic more like the games, with an ending theme and multiple endings, or to poke fun at Square Enix while doing so. ^_^

In all seriousness though, please stay tuned for more chapters coming soon. This fic is far from over. But given how conclusive this chapter felt by the end, not to mention how long it ended up being, this seemed like the appropriate point to mark as "Ending A" – aka, the end of Part 1. In the meantime, I do highly recommend checking out TBK's French cover of The Weight of the World. It's really pretty!

I might have gone a little overboard with this chapter, especially with the pacing and the tonal shifts. The narrative structure of this fic doesn't include scene breaks within individual chapters, and this one was my longest by far! So in seemingly no time flat, we went from an angsty, awkward teen rom-com, to a campy cyberpunk mystery thriller, and then to a waxing diatribe of existential navel gazing. And those would be rather generous summaries in my opinion! Though at the very least, I suppose one way in which each scene managed to stay consistent was in how overly dramatic they all were. If I'm being honest, over-dramatic is kind of the only speed I know how to write. That and hit-or-miss comedy. This is not necessarily to apologize so much as to acknowledge that it's happening, and that it was (mostly) intentional on my part.

Nier is famous for its meta-narrative elements, so I was hoping to take a cue from the creators and indulge in a few of my own in this particular fic, the most obvious one being the one-recursion-per-chapter structure. Because of this, some chapters might become absurdly long like this one, while others may be ludicrously short, to say nothing of the pacing. Still, I plan to continue alternating between following 2B and 9S in each chapter, as well as book-ending the chapters with the first spoken line of dialogue the character hears when the time loop begins for them.

I still haven't decided on whether or not I want the "B route" to be a retelling of the "A route" with swapped character perspectives like in the game, before moving onto the rest of the chronological story in the "C route." It'll depend on how much value I feel that those perspectives would add to the narrative, and whether anything of significance is revealed through the retelling. That would also give me a chance to tell the story from A2's perspective in the C and D routes. And if I'm going to go all the way with this meta concept, ending C, D and E will likely involve some choose-your-own-adventure style story elements, and depending on how involved they get, I might need to release one or more of these routes as separate fics altogether in order to keep them straight.

Part of me also wants to keep things consistent and have the B route appear chronologically, while maintaining the structure of alternating between 2B and 9S. This would unfortunately make it a bit more difficult to add chapters from A2's perspective, so I'm honestly on the fence about this. I also really like some of the ideas you've all been suggesting, such as including the Yoko Taro or the CEO boss characters. And not to spoil anything, but the meta elements will start to become more overt as the fic goes on, so you will likely see some montages and time skips in order to cover more ground in future chapters. Who knows, there might even be some time travel, so be sure to pay attention to the chapter titles.

Also, yes - A2 totally ships 2B and 9S, though she still finds them unbearable most of the time, and takes every opportunity she can to poke fun at them.

See you in part 2!


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