Within the dark hold of the crumbled ruins, 2B stirred. Coming to, she waited for her eyes to refocus before reassessing her situation. She stared at her hand, pinned helplessly under tons of rock. The pain had long since subsided and now all she felt was a numb ghost of an awareness for the appendage. Looking around, she saw the amount of blood that surrounded her, blood that she was still losing, and quickly. Despite how fruitless she knew the effort was, she began to struggle.
"Pod…" Scanning the small space she was trapped in, she began weakly. "I don't see you."
After a short pause, 042 responded. "This pod is trapped in a compromising location and cannot move. Assistance is required."
Huffing a short sigh of relief, 2B let her head drop to the ground again. "Well that makes two of us. See if you can contact Anemone and have her send over a crew that can dig us out."
Without hesitation she had 042's response. "Task completed."
Cheek pressed against the blood soaked dirt, she mumbled out with a half smile. "Good work."
What minor consolation she felt in that moment however was immediately and brutally ripped away from her as reality set back in and she did all she could to fight the raging waves of grief that began to churn in her abdomen. She held on for mere moments and then slowly, almost tentavely, she began to cry. Each muffled hiccup brought more tears to her dirtied face, tears that did nothing but build up behind the confines of her dark visor. She was alone again. Just like every brief spell after a "Job well done." from the Commander and all but a kiss on the forehead from…him…as he lied bleeding out, on whatever godforsaken floor fate had chosen to greet them on that day. Bleeding out and smiling. He was always smiling when she did it, for her sake. Well…when she did it or when he did, the latter of which had become much more their mode of operation as the years built upon each other and their bond grew tighter. Thanks to him, her hand hadn't actually been forced to commit the act in what felt like years. God how she loved him. It pained her to see what he made himself do just for her sake, but she would have been lying and it would do his memory an injustice to infer that she didn't find a grim appreciation in it. Upon acknowledgement of that fact however, 2B's brow furrowed as she cringed with a cold shudder. What kindof sick and twisted world is this where someone can find solace in the fact that their closest friend chooses to commit suicide? Flashes of his face began to fly through her mind as she desperately tried to cling to the light, find a lifeline…a raft…something to hold her above water as she began to once again fall back into a very familiar and dark place…
"9S…9S…" She spoke it once, and then said it again and again like a mantra as if it would somehow will him back to life or make the stalking darkness go away. "9S!" At once she screamed his name and to her shock she heard a response.
"2B?! Is that you?"
A streak of disbelief ran though her body and her heart swelled before she reeled herself in and checked her frame of mind. Immediately self aware and conscious of her behavior, 2B responded as she recognized the voice. "J…Jackass?"
"Holy hell… What even happened here?" 2B could hear the pure awe in Jackass' voice as it seemed to circle the stone prison.
"Please…just help me." 2B made sure to sound off as she felt her consciousness begin to wane again.
"Don't worry, 2B! Most of us already got the message from Anemone. I was just the closest person to you. We'll hav…" The rest of Jackass' sentence was drowned out by the overwhelming call to sleep as 2B succumbed to her blood loss once again.
Tearing through the city, A2 dipped into the sewage lines and made her way through the pipes until she came upon an overcast expanse and the undeniable smell of saltwater. As she continued on, Pod 153 directed her around the backside of a leaning tower and up a hill to an elevator guarded by a masked man in tattered robes. Immediately upon seeing him, A2 slowed to a shocked and awkward teeter before halting completely in place. Arms folded, the man's head swiveled to regard her, his emotions entirely unreadable given his goggled eyes and otherwise neutral face. They quietly examined each other for a moment, A2 tentavely sizing him up and the man apparently giving her only enough attention as to figure out what she was doing there.
"…"
"…"
Holding one arm out as he slowly began, the man broke the ice. "Do you have a membership card?"
Suddenly at a loss, A2 began to search her nonexistent pockets for something to trade before remembering how she got here in the first place. Locking eyes with the black alloy of 153's metal frame, she waited for an explanation before turning back to the waiting guard, frustrated once she saw that she wasn't going to get answer. Any other time, she would have stormed off with a peppered string of contrived and biting curses, but she truly found herself intuitively and irrevocably curious as to what must have been behind those doors. "I uh…" She lamely began. "I've got…" Chancing a glance at the man's visage she could have sworn she spotted a raise of his eyebrow despite the entire top half of his face being covered. Searching her memory banks, she grabbed at the first thing that caught her eye. "I've got about 50G I can spare…" She tried to come up with what she thought was a reasonable settlement.
Like the flip of a switch, the man switched immediately from tranquil and patient to utterly incensed. "How dare you! Do you think I can be so easily bribed?! No one enters here without a membership card!"
"Er, I-"
"And 50G? Is this some kind of joke? Am I that cheap?! Begone from here!"
Like that, A2 was back on a fury high. "To hell with this!" Without another word, A2 turned around and began to walk off. As she left, she clenched her fists as tightly as she could. It was all she could do to keep herself from going back and showing the guard how she really felt.
"Wait!" The man called after her, somehow having even more to say.
Without missing a beat, she ignored him.
"I'm sorry!"
A2 slowed to a stop. What?
"I know it hasn't been easy for you guys today. That's why I was so nice to you when you first walked up."
Looking both incredulous and confused, A2 turned to face the guard.
"I'm not usually so patient when people show up here. I'm meant to be a lot more abrasive, but…you all have lost a lot today. Hell, by that account, we all have."
For some reason she didn't even need to see him point to the empty spot in the sky to know what he meant. The now vacant post in the cold dark of space, void of the ever watchful sentinel that looked over their well-being. The frontline, best and brightest of the android forces. YoRHa, she mused to herself with slight distaste. "I see…" Well you should know that I wasn't with them when they were vaporized or got brainwashed. It's what she wanted to say, but a small whispering part of her conscious was itching to know what was down at the bottom of that elevator shaft. The pod had brought her here for a reason, and it was immediately after she mentioned the machines. She was going to down there if it was the last thing she did.
"Look. I can't let you in," Wow. This really was a waste of time. A2 started to herself. "But you do have my condolences."
"Your condolences?" Something inside of A2 snapped. My brothers and sisters, their lives, 21O, everything they longed for and fought for has been reduced to dust and you want to offer condolences? "Keep your damn membership cards."
Before the man could retaliate and A2 could turn the corner, Pod 153 finally spoke as if making a last ditch maneuver. "Actually, this YoRHa Unit does retain a membership card." Producing a chip-sized item from apparently nowhere, the support unit held the "card" up for the guard to scan.
In mere moments, his response hit her and 153 like a brick wall. "I thought all Scanners were guys…?"
Once again falling silent as though it hadn't devised a way to get past this point, the pod left the question in the air, seemingly waiting for A2 to pick up the baton, though A2 thought she sensed a melancholic gait from the floating support unit.
An awkward silence fell over the trio before A2 sighed, lamely deadpanning the first thing that came to mind. "…I'm a prototype."
[Beginning boot sequence.]
2B's hearing returned before her sight did, and she immediately began to catch the tail of a conversation being had mere feet away. She was only barely cognizant, but she could hear nonetheless.
"…dead." The first voice seemed like Jackass.
There was a pregnant pause before the second voice made itself known. "Oh my…God…"
And Anemone.
So she had made it back to the resistance camp. That's good. And if she was undergoing a proper boot sequence, that meant that Pod must have been there as well. As she waited for full functionality to return to her, she tried to tune back into the conversation.
"Well she was calling his name like a lost puppy when I got there-"
"Jackass…have some couth."
"Anemone, please. I'm not trying to make jokes here. It's just that when we actually went searching for him thinking maybe he had gotten into trouble himself elsewhere, the truth was much heavier than most of us had been ready for. 9S is dead, Anemone. He's really gone and this time, he's not coming back. …None of them are."
Fully making her way into the chambers where 2B was resting and out of view from her army, Anemone sat on the floor and held her head in her hands, the feeling of the weight of the world settling heavy on her shoulders. When she looked up and met Jackass' eyes again, the amount of despair and dread that clouded her expression was palpable and even shook Jackass as she stared back at her.
For the first time in years, the fringe scientist saw her leader crack.
"What the fuck are we gonna do?" Jackass was silent as she let her vent. "The whole of YoRHa is gone, our forces keep getting preyed on and one half of the last bastion we had and probably the most effective trump card against this new epidemic is now buried at the bottom of a ravine with a hole through his stomach. And 2B…" She whispered it to not bring damage to the morale of her comrades and subordinates, but Jackass felt the sorrow in her every word. They were superior in every way conceivable, sure, but maybe due to some stray line of code made to liken them to humans even more than they already were, Anemone always felt a sort of motherly connection to the YoRHa that came under her care due to the time she had over them. Beyond just a sister-in-arms, there was an extra soft spot for them. Especially those two. Like they were her rowdy little teenagers. Ever since they touched down those short three years ago, they were always getting into trouble and almost innocently continuing on like nothing ever happened, tearing through the world of machines in such a manner that she could never began to understand, in ways that always blew her mind, yet still coming back and stealing glances at each other and dancing around intimate situations. It had been a pleasure to watch them grow. It was all with duty 2B when they first met and 9S was as kind and charismatic as always. Everyone loved the way he brought light and positivity to their day, always two steps ahead and solving your problems before you even knew you had them. And of course, the almost unfathomable stonewall reliability of 2B. If there was ever a moment where you felt safe enough sleep soundly in the den of the enemy, 2B would find a way to make you feel it every day. Watching them grow and mature into the proud warriors they had become and seeing their relationship bud and absolutely bloom in the three years she had worked with them was nothing short of a daily pleasure. Sometimes their progress would seem to be almost reset for no real reason other than 9S having suffered a corrupted memory, which she figured made sense as he was probably a prime target, but then their bond would always slingshot back, developing even faster and hitting even harder than before. They couldn't be put down. It was that sort of thing that fueled and endeared them to her forces, that she saw them smile proudly at as they watched the new upstarts turn the world upside down and shake things up. They were the immovable object their morale needed. The android's answer to the machine's unstoppable force.
And yet…
"Anemone…we just…" Jackass struggled as she tried to piece together some sort of consolation. "We just have to have her back. Plus, A2 is still out there…"
Anemone stared half-lidded at the ground, one elbow on her knee and other leg laid flat as she mulled over that piece of information. "Number 2…" She hadn't had contact with her in God knows how long. Filing it away but checking out of any more time taking the consideration too seriously however, Anemone stood back up, faux light smile and confident peace in her steps as she began to make her way back to the entryway of 2B and 9S' room. Clasping her hand on Jackass' shoulder as she passed, she left her parting words before returning to her people. "I'm sorry about that. I just needed a moment. I'm fine now, thanks for your encouragement, Jackass." She smiled and this time it was genuine. I appreciate all you and your team do in breakthroughs and advancements for the cause."
Laying her own hand on top of Anemone's, Jackass responded in kind. "We all have your back Anemone. 2B, A2, the entire base. We all want peace and freedom as much as you do. You know that right? You're not alone. We all have the same goals. Don't forget that."
Giving her a nod before turning to leave, Anemone felt a weight lifted off her shoulders as she assured her comrade. "I won't. By the way, I'm sending the twins in here to check on 2B again so you're good to go. Feel free to stay if you want though."
"No, I've gotta get back out there anyways. Scientific breakthroughs aren't gonna make themselves." She responded in mock boast.
Motioning with her hand, two redheads began to make their way from their tent over to the room. "Take care of yourself, Jackass."
"You too." The Resistance's head scientist set off from the Resistance camp with a renewed sense of purpose. "I'm sure you can hear me in there. You are our light, 2B. You're our last bullet against the looming boogeyman and we're your gun. We won't let you down." Readjusting the bag on her shoulder as she began to walk, she smiled. "The whole of the Resistance is behind you with all the gunpowder you need. Just tell us where to point and by God, we'll pull the trigger with everything we've got." Turning back with one last unseen smile, Jackass reassured the resting soldier. "I'll do my best to find A2 as well. She can be a bit of a recluse, but I'm sure she wouldn't turn down a comrade in need given the situation. So chin up, kid. We won't let it end with him."
Jackass… Sighing mentally, 2B inwardly returned retreating steps and implied wave with a nod, fingers twitching as feeling began to return to her body while the twins worked. …I hope you keep your word.
