With a hefty yawn, 6H awoke. She didn't recognize her surroundings.
She squinted as a flickering light peeked through an opening that was exposed to the sky.
Slowly, she sat upright, uneasy about her current condition. She looked herself over. She had been fully repaired. 6H let out a sigh of relief.
Getting a better look around her, she noticed she was inside a dimly lit room. Only the sunlight reflecting off the surface managed to provide much light to the interior.
She was housed in a small cubby, where in the middle a piece of the neatly threaded carpet was torn.
Looking up, she saw a counter on the opposite side of the room. Next to it was a circular table that looked to be once bolted down. It now laid sprawled across the floor, barely being held together by rusted nuts and bolts.
"Alert: Unit 6H has made a full recovery." her Pod floated down in front of her.
She nodded, "I have. I assume I have you to thank?" she patted the Pod on its top.
"Unit 33E and the machine self identified as 'Phil' also aided in your rescue and recovery."
"Rescue-?" what was when the memories came flooding back. Her capture, interrogation and the gruesome moments before she passed out. She shuttered.
"R-right." she managed, "Rescue…"
As it was, she already felt uneasy due to the place she awoke in. But the moment she had the displeasure of recalling that. The unease transitioned into sadness. Despite her treatment, despite their treasonous intent, they were still her friends, at a time.
6H stepped outside of the overgrown building. 33E and Phil stood across from one another in a standoff, brandishing their weapons.
"Oh god-!" 6H lunged forward as the two began to charge. "Wait!" she skid to a halt between the two, kicking up dust as the trio froze.
"What the hell are you two doing?" 6H asked in a commanding tone.
Phil peered around 6H to 33E, "IS THIS A PART OF YORHAS TRAINING REGIMENT? IT SEEMS... UNHELPFUL."
33E sighed, also peering around 6H, "No. It's not. 6H just woke up." she looked at her directly, "Good evening, by the way."
"Good evening?" 6H glanced upwards. The sun was as high up as it usually was. It was also then when she noticed 33E's face. Not only was it potentially scarred on one side, but also fully visible, exposing her vibrant, almost golden yellow eyes. Despite this, even without her visor, she was hard to read.
Ultimately, seeing as there was no malice between the two, she deflated her tense posture, "So, what? You're training?"
33E shrugged, "You'd been out for a while. Close to twenty-four hours. We decided to try and be proactive with our time."
6H blinked, "Shit, really?"
Both nodded.
"AFTER 33E'S RECOVERY, AND AFTER FAILING TO INFORM PHIL OF YORHA SUFFICIENTLY, IT WAS DECIDED TO SHOW HOW YORHA TRAINED." Phil said, scratching his axes against one another.
"Hold on, Thirty-Three, you had to recover too?" 6H asked pointedly, turning to her partner. She starred at the scarring on the left side of her face, "And not successfully, at that."
33E sighed, rolling her eyes, "Yes. My shoulder is bad. That's all you really need to know."
"Bad!?" 6H leaned in, now visibly frustrated. "You shred apart YoRHa units, nearly die and the only thing you can say is that your shoulder is bad!?"
33E sighed again. Catching on to the source of 6H's frustration.
"You know that's what I'm built for, right? I'm supposed to gut the traitorous shit-stains that call themselves YoRHa and take back what's ours." she said, revealing a black box in her free hand.
6Hs eyes widened, unsure of how to respond.
"Besides," 33E hid the trophy, "Even if I disagreed with it, I couldn't stop it." she clenched her fist.
"Like I said, it's what I'm build for." 33E glared at 6H, who was still left speechless.
"I-" 6H hesitated, "I'm sorry. I didn't know-" she shook her head, "I don't know what to say-"
"Nothing." 33E interjected, holding up a hand, "Just say nothing."
6H looked down at the ground, feeling guilty for even bringing up the topic. As the silence ensued, a breeze softly wafted her hair and skirt, serving to distract her unease slightly.
She looked up into her partners eyes. For as difficult to read as she was, one universal emotion is always the most easily understood: sadness. Whether it be due to mourning her former colleagues, or being pained from the conversation, her current state of mind was clear.
"PHIL DETECTS AN UNEASY TENSION BETWEEN THE YORHA UNITS."
33E shrugged, beginning to walk away from the group, "Forget about it. Really."
6H heard a surprising amount of earnestness in her voice. The unsettling nature of what 33E was implying didn't help matters. That she would kill her own against her will, if it came down to it.
She shook her head. Even if that was the implication, she had no idea how it would be possible.
33E starred up past the trees, "Well," she started, turning to the other two, "Should we go?"
…
The duo assisted Phil back to his mansion. 6H used the opportunity to show off the maps her Pod had collected and attempted to repair.
Taking the former roads, much to 6H's pleasure, the trip was delightfully uneventful. The conversation between the strange machine serving to let the YoRHa units forget the horrors of the experience from hours prior, if only momentarily.
Before they knew it, they had arrived at the canyon. 6H looked around nervously as they entered. "How often do you see those androids, Phil?"
"PHIL USED TO SEE THEM MORE OFTEN." Phil scratched his non-existent chin, "THEY APPEARED TO HAVE MIGRATED ELSEWHERE RECENTLY."
"Migrate." 33E stepped into the conversation, arms crossed, "You make them sound intelligent. But that isn't anything close to what we saw."
Phil continued rubbing his face, seemingly lost in thought, "PERHAPS, THOSE ANDROIDS ARE BEING LED?" he looked up to 33E, "I DO OCCASIONALLY SEE INTELLIGENT ANDROIDS NEARBY."
"Why is this the first time we're about this?" 33E leaned towards Phil, clearly frustrated.
"PHIL DOES NOT RECALL ANDROIDS ASKING SUCH QUESTIONS." he shrugged.
33E resisted every urge in her body that wanted to dismantle the troublesome machine.
The trio quickly approached the entrance to Phil's mansion. They looked at one another expectantly.
"PHIL SUPPOSES THIS IS WHERE HE MAKES HIS LEAVE." Phil slouched slightly.
"We'll have to come back." 6H piped up, "If not us, then other members of YoRHa."
"YOU MEAN-" Phil paused in thought, excited, "PHIL CAN MEET OTHER YORHA ANDROIDS?"
"Well..." 33E interjected. There was no telling how either command or other YoRHa members would react to a machine like Phil. Chances were, they'd blast him on sight.
"Don't get your hopes up." she concluded.
6H waved goodbye to Phil as he ascended the stairway to his mansion.
"I'm surprised." 6H turned to 33E, "I thought you hated him."
33E scoffed, "Kinda still do."
"Kinda, huh?" 6H smirked.
"Whatever. We have to report back to the bunker, then we can leave place." 33E began heading back to the ridge that housed their flight units.
As the two stepped through the rocky clearing and approached the plateau, 6H gestured her Pod to her side. She patted it on top and it lifted her up towards the top of the cliff.
6H gracefully landed on her feet, dusting herself off and looking around the plateau out towards the sea.
"Um…" a voice called out. "Could you... Help me up?"
Surprised, 6H looked back down to see 33E waiting patiently.
"Please?" she said, almost sheepishly.
6H nodded, a newfound smile on her face and in no time, thanks to her Pod, she helped 33E back up the plateau to her side.
As 33E inspected the flight units, 6H stepped aside and called command to inform them of their success.
Maybe "Success" is a bit too celebratory… She thought. The entire situation was still unsettling, putting it lightly. Regardless, a job was a job and theirs was finished.
She waited…
Waited some more...
No response. The call eventually timed out.
6H screwed her face. Just pick up and take us off of this god-forsaken island.
She tried again.
"Hey." 33E said, leaning on a flight unit, looking at a single flower on the plateau. "I was just thinking… Odds are we won't be working together again after this."
"Yeah… You'll be alone on these missions from now on, right?" 6H said, occupying herself by flipping through the previously scanned maps as her call was on standby.
"Right…" 33E rubbed the back of her neck. "I just wanted to say… Thanks. That's all."
6H perked up slightly, finally looking at 33E, "Oh? Where did this come from?"
33E continued to fidget, "Well, you just saved my ass more than once… So yeah. Plus you-"
33E softened slightly, "You kept me grounded… Figuratively, of course."
6H raised an eyebrow, unsure of what exactly that meant.
"So..." 6H spun around on her heels, crossing her legs, "Does that earn me a nickname?"
"You're really hung up on that now? What was it anyway?"
"Hives."
33E scoffed, "That's such a stupid name."
"It is not!" 6H crossed her arms.
"It absolutely is."
"Oh really?" 6H stepped forward, "Well, according to the talking head in the forest, you're name is just a bunch of numbers! I'd call that even more stupid!"
"Whatever..." 33E rolled her eyes as she returned to tending to the flight units, attempting to hide a half smile.
Suddenly, command picked up.
"Hello? Operator 10O? This is unit 6H, are you there?" 6H called out through the channel. Video appeared, it was dark. The entire room was unlit. Slowly, 10O crept into frame from the darkness, the display lighting her face.
"6H? Thank god you're still alive…" she said, clearly shaken. A loud thud was heard in the background.
"Yeah, well- Barely to be honest. Both 33E and I successfully completed our mission. Are you OK? Is the power out up there for some reason?" 6H said, trying to see if she could make out any details in the background.
10O went pale, "Oh no. Oh god no…"
"Um… Operator?"
33E stepped towards 6H and began listening into the call.
"Listen-" 10O interrupted before another loud thud rang out, visibly startling her, "I don't have time, but do not return to the bunker I repeat do not-!"
A loud crash was heard off in the distance. 10O jumped, looking around her. "I don't have much time left, but listen to me, YoRHa is compromised! The machine's have gotten into the network and infected the entire bunker-"
The operator clutched her head and fell out of frame. When she pulled herself back upright, her eyes were flickering between their natural color and a vibrant and nefarious red.
"J-Just stay away!"
CRASH
The door behind 10O's closet of an office collapsed, revealing a group of YoRHa units, all eyes red. They charged, weapons drawn.
"HIVES!" 33E shoved the Pod away, shutting down the call immediately.
The two stood in silence and in utter shock.
6H took a shaky breath, "What…" she shook her head, "-the fuck?"
33E stood aghast as well, her eyes wide. She was speechless.
How the hell could the bunker be compromised!? 6H thought, completely and utterly shocked. Unless someone made a way in-?
"Thirty-Three," 6H slowly and shakily turned to 33E, "You're sure there's no way the machine network could reach out here?"
"I-" 33E froze. She didn't know what to believe at that point. It all seemed impossible. The more her thoughts congealed and contorted her senses, the more everything began to swim around her.
It wasn't until a single thought came to the forefront of her mind, when she caught onto what 6H was suggesting.
"You're thinking Phil is still on the network? Not only that, you think he has something to do with this?"
6H shrugged, "I don't know what to think anymore, honestly."
A rumble was heard off in the distance. 6H looked upwards, trying to find a visual for what she was hearing.
A loud explosion rang out across the ocean, the sound waves bouncing and reflecting off the surface of the water. A sharp gust of wind followed the sound shortly after. Suddenly, the sky was full of debris falling towards the surface of the planet.
6H pulled off her visor, trying to get a good look at the scene with her own eyes.
"Oh my god-" she said, her shoulders falling slack, "Is that-?" she stopped.
"I-" 33E blinked, "I don't-"
"Pod!" 6H shouted, "Get in contact with the bunker, get their status!"
33E jerked to attention, "No- Pod, rescind that order."
6H threw herself around, meeting 33E face to face, "What the hell are you doing!? They could still be alive!"
"They're not!" 33E shouted.
A quiet fell over the plateau as 33E sighed, clearing her head.
"Even if they were, it's very possible you could get infected by the logic virus."
"Then- that's what-?"
"Yes, operator 10O, if she wasn't torn apart by those other infected androids, was infected herself." 33E said, turning to the flight units to check them.
"Th-then-" 6H looked up as the rumbling grew louder. Above the island, a wave of fire-ridden debris were heading straight towards them. 6Hs eyes widened.
33E also saw the incoming fire, she looked back as a shell-shocked 6H and broke into a sprint, grabbing her arm and ran towards the edge of the plateau.
"Jump!" 33E shouted as massive balls of now smoothed metal collided into the opposite edge of the plateau, emitting a shock-wave that sent them off the edge and into the Rocky terrain below.
They both blacked out instantly.
Act 1 - End of YoRH[A]