Chapter 6: In Pursuit
6H and 33E exited the canyon. Thankfully, there hadn't been any sight of the ferral androids since their first encounter. But now they were in pursuit of a traitorous YoRHa scout.
The canyon opened up into a hilly grasslands. With overgrown grass restraining flat stretches of the hilly landscape. 6H continued flipping through the hologram of maps her pod had scanned.
"It looks like these were the roads used for the trade routes." 6H said, stomping on the flat ground.
"There." 33E said. "That's the hill I saw the scout on." she pointed to a fairly tall hill to their right. It wasn't much further away.
"Let's go." 33E said, starting the jog uphill. 6H sighed in defeat, awkwardly attempting the trek herself.
The top of the hill bore a beautiful sight. The planes were as vast as they were full of hills. With a clear treeline bordering their north. A clear shot to one of the side areas of the mansion could be seen to the southeast.
6H tried to see if she could make out what was inside from the exposed window. It was to the library. The butler was picking up the books that were scattered across the floor.
"No sight of them…" 33E grumbled.
6H snapped her fingers, summoning her pod over.
"Pod, scan the ground for any traces of the rogue YoRHa units." 6H commanded.
"Scanning." the pod whirred as a blue light emitted from one of its stubby arms.
"Traces of YoRHa apparel left in the ground. A trail exists." the pod said.
"Yeah, like this?" 33E said, now crouched over, touching the ground. She had her hand over indentations on the ground that was initially hidden by the grass. "This is our trail."
33E stood. "Pod. Follow the trail." she pointed.
The pod whirred once again as it began scanning and moving, slowly gaining speed. The duo made chase as it floated northwards.
The Pod began flying towards the treeline and immediately cut through. The pair of androids paused, looking at one another.
"The woods, huh?" 6H asked. Her nervousness was apparent.
"We have to catch up to the deserters." 33E said with determination.
"I know, I know…" 6H started, "But these woods didn't seem very well documented… We went to all that trouble, only to go in blind yet again?"
The Pod returned as 6H voiced her concerns. It displayed another holographic map in front of her.
"Analysis: The forest appears to have grown since the original map was made." said the Pod. "It appears that there used to be buildings inside that were recently destroyed."
"Relatively recently?" 6H asked.
"Approximately one-thousand years."
"Ah." 6H slumped. "Still, it's something to go off of. Right?" she turned to 33E, looking for affirmation.
33E shrugged. "It's better than nothing."
Hesitantly, the two entered the forest.
The sun was greatly muffled by the thick brush of trees that cluttered the forest. Their trunks were typical enough, but the branches that extend near their peak swirled almost like a spring with leaves jutting obtrusively on them.
The ground was relatively clear of any obstructions, with the odd rock or small leaf pile building besides the base of the trees.
"It's… Pleasantly quiet." 6H said in a whisper. She took a deep breath as the salt-reduced wind breezed through the trees. That likely meant there was a clear shot to the other side of the island, were they to follow the gust northward.
"We can't let the deserters get any more ahead. Come on." 33E voice cut and almost echoed throughout the forest as she spoke.
6H sighed as she followed 33E, disappointed by her inability to take more than a brief moment to herself.
33E jumped and weaved through the odd distribution of trees blocking their path. 6H struggled to keep up. She hadn't had this much of a workout in forever.
The heels certainly didn't help her situation.
"S-slow down!" 6H called out with a stammer.
33E continued to charge through as if she hadn't heard her.
"I- I said- slow down-!" 6H immediately tripped on something large and face planted into a slate of rock partially buried by the grass.
She slowly lifted herself up breathing in sharply as a drop of red liquid fell from her forehead.
"God-" she dabbed her fingers against the wound. Simply touching it stung. She frowned as she observed the red substance drip from her fingers.
"Dammit..." she muttered.
33E had turned around and approached 6H, an eyebrow raised. "You're a clutz. You know that, right?"
6H nodded in a frustrated agreement as she pushed herself to her knees, clutching her head.
"What the hell did I even-" 6H turned around to see a large round white mass half buried in the ground. She froze.
"Um-" 6H leaned in and poked it. "What is-?"
A noise emitted from the mass.
6H shrieked and pulled herself away in front of 33E, who summoned The Usurper and stepped between them.
"Stay back." she said. But the two of them couldn't help but lean in together as the mass continued to make an unassuming yet unnerving noise.
It began to gyrate slightly.
"Oh shit-" with a burst of dirt in her face, 33E was thrown backwards to the ground next to 6H.
The duo starred in amazement as the ball flew straight upwards into the air before descending as it quickly increased in speed.
Seeing this, 6H pulled 33E up and began to drag her behind a nearby tree.
"Hide!" she shouted as the white ball impacted the ground, sending rubble all over.
…
The duo peeked around their cover to see the white mass rolling in a small circle, as if trying to regain balance.
6H stepped around the tree and approached, "H-hello?" she stammered.
33E followed closely behind, spear still drawn. She held it in both hands, pointed at the mass.
"Are- you alive?" 6H asked.
The mass made an audible chuckle. The two froze again, looking at one another with uncertainty.
6H stepped forward, quickly poked the mass and backed away.
It began to shake again before turning around revealing the uncanny and horrifying face it had. "That tickles you know-"
6H squealed as the mass screamed in kind.
33E hurriedly clasped a hand over 6H's mouth and kicked the ball into the tree behind it. Both were silenced.
"Shut it-!" 33E said now in a hushed tone.
"Owowow-" said the mass, now dazed.
"Did ya really have to go and do that?" it said in a pained voice.
It turned to the duo once again who shuttered at the unsightly face it featured. Wide and unmoving eyes looked at them
"What-" 6H pulled 33Es hand away and started shaking her head, "What are you?"
"What, me?" asked the mass. It's voice was clearly that of a child, but it's face seemed to imply otherwise. "I ought to ask you both the same thing!"
33E stepped forward and jutted the spear into its form.
"We're asking the questions here." she said.
"Ha ha, right…" the mass chuckled nervously.
"I'm-" it froze.
"I'm…" it leaned forward, as if deep in thought.
"I don't know? I don't know!" it began to spin in place, panicked.
"Maybe it has amnesia front the fall?" 6H said.
"Huh?" the mass stop spinning, "Oh no, I do that sort of thing all the time!"
It stopped.
"I guess I do remember some things… But what?" it rolled around in a circle. Probably the closest thing it could do to pacing.
"Emil… My name is Emil!" it proclaimed.
Emil froze again and shook its head. "That's about all I can remember, though…"
"Good to meet you, Emil." 6H said, approaching the mass. "I'm 6H."
"Six... 'Haich'… What?" Emil said, an air of confusion in it's voice, "That's a weird name. Do I have to call you that?"
6H rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, my friends call me Hives. I guess you could too."
"Hives…. Sounds scratchy. Why do they call you that?" Emil asked.
6H glanced at 33E. "Well, I've been told my charm is…" she trailed off, embarrassed.
"Infectious…" she finished.
"Aaaaw. That's adorable!" Emil said with a bounce.
It turned to 33E, "What about you?"
"33E." she responsed.
"More numbers. That's no fun…" Emil said.
"We have designations. Not names." she said, "They're not supposed to be 'fun'. " 33E glared at both Emil and 6H.
"Designations, huh?" Emil said, cocking to the side. "Sounds complicated."
33E let out a sigh of defeat. "But- I suppose, if you need to call me anything else, just Thirty-Three is fine."
"Just the number, huh." said Emil. "That's kinda boring."
"Just the number… " 33E seethed through her teeth, as if resisting the urge to strangle something that didn't have a neck.
"Well…" 6H stepped in between the two, opting to defuse 33E clearly raising frustration.
"We're looking for other androids like us. Have you seen any?" 6H asked, kneeling down to Emil.
"Androids?" Emil said, thinking carefully.
"Uh. Well. I've been buried in there for who knows how long."
6H blinked. "Just- buried? The way we found you?"
Emil nodded. "Sorry I couldn't be more help." it said saddened. It perked up slightly, as if recalling something, "But you know, I do think I was woken up briefly by something coming from… Roughly behind you."
Emil nodded northward.
"Pod?" 33E called from behind, muttering some other instructions, pointing to the ground to the north.
"Th- that's fine!" 6H said. "We should probably get going then, Thirty-Three?"
6H could have sworn 33Es eyes dilated from pure fury. She was not amused.
"Yes." she sighed, "The Pod picked up a faint trail." 33E turned around, looking ahead into the woods.
"Good luck then… Emil, was it?" 6H asked.
Emil nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Hives, Thirty-Three. I hope we can meet again!"
6Hs felt a strange warmth being called "Hives". She hadn't been called that in a long while. 33E gestured for her to follow, snapping her out of her recollection.
As she waved a now rolling Emil goodbye, 6H heard something odd. A whistling?
She turned to 33E, who also seemed to stop, taking notice of the sound. She held her hand up for them to pause.
6Hs gaze darted all over. Looking behind her, Emil was already out of sight, but the whistling was slowly growing in volume. Besides 33E and her Pod, there was no movement.
The Pod suddenly forced itself in front of 6H, pointing upward.
Looking up, 6H saw something was quickly falling in an downward arc towards them. She darted over to 33E.
"Move!" 6H jumped into 33E as whatever it was collided with the ground into an explosion. Sending the pair forward.
They rolled together before sprawling out on a dirt patch.
"Dammit all-!" 33E said, clutching her head. "Where did that come from!?"
6H struggled to stand. She had started the repair process for her head wound, but all the movement wasn't making it easy. Her ears were also ringing pretty badly, only worsening her already blistering headache.
33E knelt next to her. "You good?"
6H tried to speak, but a wave of nausea instantly washed over her, if only for a split second. She shook her head.
"Pod!" 33E commanded, "Can you do anything else to help 6H?"
"Self repair protocol already active. Higher levels of protocol required minimal movement." the Pod said.
"Recommendation, 33E should take unit 6H to a safe location for a brief recovery period." as the Pod spouted its recommendations, 33E heard another whistling.
"Shit-" 33E cursed, scooping up 6H into her arms and running deeper into the forest.
As she ran, another explosion rang out behind her. Shards of metal impacted the back of her boots and combat vest.
The blast rocked her stance, but 33E managed to stay composed.
She stopped, however, when from the smoke that now surrounded her, a figure stepped through.
"Well well. The loner bitch." said the voice. 33E had heard it before.
The figure's form became clear. First came the long barrel of a rifle, as the clacking of heels on stray stones became more audible.
18B stood before 33E, wearing a devilish grin.
"I won't lie, you only continue to surprise me." she said, keeping her aim fixed. "I figured you would have died long before meeting me."
The smirk faded, replaced by a look of determination and order, "Drop her."
33E looked down to 6H, who was either barely conscious, or entirely unconscious, and carefully placed her on the dirt patch at her feet. She stepped over.
"Ah ah!" 18B shot at 33Es feet.
33E immediately summoned her large blade and struck it down to her feet, intercepting the bullet. It ricochet off and whizzed over 18Bs head.
"You bitch-!" 18B said, scrambling back.
33Es spear also materialized and floated behind. Ready to be plucked and used at any moment.
"As you might be well aware," 33E took another step forward, pulling Iron Will from the ground. "I was build to destroy problems like you."
18B repeatedly cursed to herself as she began to flee into the trees behind her.
An instinct overtook 33E. She had a bad feeling, but it didn't necessarily matter what she "felt". She had her orders. She would carry them out. She had to carry then out.
For a brief instant, as she took off, she glanced back at her helpless companion. Her mind said to take her with, but her bodily instinct was writhing at the thought of wasting any more time.
Annialate. It said. Annialate unit 18B. Referring to the traitor taking off.
33E bolted. Dropping her weapons in a glorious flash of light. Her vision was becoming hazy, but she knew exactly where she was going and what she supposed to do.
Objective. It resonated. Retreive unit 18Bs black box.
Every muscle in her body tensing, Iron Will materialized into her hands, she kicked off the ground and off the adjacent trees and leapt for 18B.
Even at her intense speed, 18B was able to predict the strike. She rolled to the side, summoning her spear and struck 33E in the side. It couldn't cut deep, but it hurt well enough.
Howling in pain, 33E wildly swung Iron Will blunt side first, knocking the gunner back into a tree.
33E had to do a full rotation due to the sheer weight of the blade. By the time she had regained balance, the blade impacting the ground with an audible thud, 18B had disappeared. She looked up into the trees… Nothing.
She assumed 18B was hiding. She was nutoriously good at it. That boiling instinct burning inside, 33E begun cleaving the trees apart, sending them toppling over. One after another.
"Show yourself, you damn coward!" 33E bellowed into the forest, chopping another tree down. It wasn't long before she had the immediate area around her cleared of trees. The sun peeked through spots free of brush above.
"That's quite enough from both of you." a new voice broke through from where the two came from.
33E flinched. It was a voice she was desperately hoping wouldn't appear.
From the casually forming forest fog, another android stepped out, a large blade of her own being dragged behind her effortlessly. She approached with a dignity and confidence that was as if this was just another day on the job for her.
"Thirty-Three…" she said. "I hoped we wouldn't meet like this. But unfortunately, given your designation, it was entirely expected."
With a swift motion, 19D hoisted her blade and slammed in the ground in front of her, leaning forward onto it. 18B was quickly and sloppily hopping from tree to tree behind her. No longer afraid of being seen now that her superior was on the battlefield.
"So." 19D said, exhailing. It appeared she was also exhausted.
"Let's talk, shall we?"