Chapter 1: Bones of Civilization

Soooo, I made a mistake in the Prologue. I dunno why I confused Virtuous Dignity (The Spear) with Virtuous Contract/Treaty (The swords) but whoops. I fixed it and chose Virtuous Treaty as the overall sword name since not only is the large sword version impractical (cool looking though) but 2B also never uses it in cinematics and frankly Treaty sounds better than Contract.

Also I'll be revealing various storyline tidbits as I go along. I'll try and include an Excerpt at the start of every Chapter. I'll also continue to leave records at the end of Chapters like I did in the Prologue. I do have an entire outline and Timeline which I studiously cross referenced with Yoko Taro's own that he showed on Nico Nico. I also used the official wiki's timeline and the fanmade project on Google Docs for the Yokoverse. I'm fairly confident it's a well constructed timeline and changes actual canon events as little as possible. Obviously 300 humans escaping Earth for the outer Moons is a huge change but I mean actual events from canon being changed little. As for how many humans there are in 11946, well that's roughly 120,000. A number I got from crunching population growth calculations based on aggressive repopulation and usage of artificial means.

Also, did nobody else notice that the Resistance Camp trucks are ZiL-153s? I get that the map has references to Japan and Facade even in the desert. However Moose and ZiL-153s tells me it has to be either China or Russia. Afterall the Moon is tide-locked and it's clear in the lore that the moon is in geosynchronous orbit over the Western Hemisphere. Thus Canada is in perpetual night. I decided Shanghai made the most sense, perhaps relics from Facade traveled over to China somehow. The Emil heads are a clever reference too but Emil created millions of copies, over 85 million iirc.

[End A/N]

"It has been decided that in order to safeguard Mankind, after the discovery of this Alien menace, that Emergency Protocol No 6-2941_MA is to be in effect as of immediately! This is not to be questioned or even debated. The human race was lucky in avoiding detection on Titan and Ganymede and we must assume that the remnants of whatever is left on Earth has been subsumed. This threat will likely exist for millennia and we must endeavour to remain quiet as mice. All personnel of FeNiKS are required to read this Protocol each Earth day. BY THE LETTER! You will have this memorized and we will endure this never ending nightmare. If Demons and magic couldn't make us succumb then these Aliens surely won't succeed if we all do our part. We did not just sleep over two millennia after escaping the biblical apocalypse just to falter in our duty now! It has been decided to accelerate and mandate growth going forward, I trust you'll all do me and everyone left proud. Glory. To. Mankind!"

- Excerpt from the Speech given by, Masahiro Akira, at the 3rd Assembly (5012 AD/2941 GFE)

FeNiKS High Command – Office of the Chairman; Emergency Protocol No 6-2941_MA

Codename: "Masahiro Protocol"

Date of Signing: October 7, 2941 GFE

Access: Mandatory, Public

Redaction: None

SECTION 1

In order to preserve the human race and protect our right to live, all personnel and synthetic constructs must not allow themselves to be usable to potential threats. This includes but is not limited to capture, detection and pursuit back to FeNiKS installations. If any Aliens or similar threat is found and/or detected...

Article 1 – Begin a purge and destruction of all relevant data regardless of relevance if at risk.

Article 2 – Ensure total annihilation of physical and digital data, check as many times as permitted by situation.

Article 3 – Sabotage any destroyed and purged databank to confuse the enemy.

Article 4 – Retreat from the Aliens is not permitted, you must simply lead them on the wrong vector. Do NOT expect or attempt to survive if detected.

Article 5 – If a situation including but not limited to capture or containment by the Aliens, activate self destruct and ensure you are not usable against Mankind.

Article 6 – If you survive situations outlined in Articles 4 and 5, you may not return to remaining FeNiKS installations. Failure to comply will see your summary execution.

SECTION 2 (Added in 8132 AD/6061 GFE after completion of Callisto-Shien Shi)

Due to the expansion of operation against the Aliens and their Machine Lifeforms, Article 6 may be modified in the following…

Article 1-2 – If in possession of Alien technology in the event of defeating or capturing Alien materiel then proceed to designated Research Facility and await further instruction. Furthermore...

Article 2-2 – All equipment and electronics must be thoroughly sweeped and cleaned before being allowed to proceed to any habitated installations.

Article 2-3 – Failure to comply with Articles 1-2 and 2-2 will result in summary execution of all involved.

[End Record]

February 4th 11946 – SHANGHAI HQ [Army of Humanity]

9S walked with purpose through the camp, he had a goal. Apparently now that this war wasn't manufactured by some self-serving cabal of androids and those creepy twin machine egos. Everything was infinitely more complicated, it was honestly headache inducing. Because humans thought it was useful to program a robot to be capable of getting headaches… With YoRHa, the flawed but simple logic of kill machines and kill more machines was comforting. Now that 9S had grown as a person it actually sickened him. How could they have all so easily accepted that? 2B had shown genuine concern while he just… "Machines don't have feelings." He remembered saying as 2B seemed to hesitate when they screamed out their fear. He'd go back and throttle himself if he could, but that's how he was made to be and he'd grown. He could be proud of that.

And 2B… well, that was a topic he'd rather not think about. He had been hurting when he said he couldn't forgive her, to him he had just woken up seemingly not even days, in which he never focused on it, after learning her real purpose. Just like he'd grown since being created… 3 years ago? 4? They were children by human standards even though they entered the world fully programmed into their roles. Regardless, just like he'd grown, she had too. She took no pleasure in her purpose and resented it, he knew that but… It was so hard to accept. Adam's torture reverberated through his matrices. "You want to **** 2B don't you?"… He shook his head and slammed into something before landing on his ass.

"I'm so-..." 9S began before seeing it was an android who was currently crouched and as if they had just landed from up high… 9S remembered he was in the restricted storage area and cautiously stood back up. "I don't know you, what's your name?" He cautiously intoned towards the beige garbed android who stared at him like a predator determining how to herd him. 'Honestly...' 9S sarcastically sniped at himself, 'Stop being so goddamn distracted.'

9S hardened his stance and voice, "Who. Are. You?" In a flash he had summoned his sword, Cursed Oath into his hand and held it towards the interloper.

Realizing their cover had been stripped, the rogue android dropped pretense and their hands burst into a hundred fine mono-molecular blades and dashed right up to 9S. Silent as the grave, the rogue swung with extreme force while pivoting on their feet to follow up with a kick. 9S realized the maneuver and leapt back as he used his NFCS to hold his sword in place and slice into the assassin's leg. The android reacted nearly in time as half their foot was sliced clean off. That earned a gasp and 9S brought up a defensive stance.

The rogue android twitched left and right, probably looking for an escape, that wouldn't do. 9S dashed forward out of his defensive stance and slammed Cursed Oath forward in a feint. The enemy predictably dodged which allowed 9S to grab hold of his shoulder and initiate a hack. 9S didn't brag… usually… but it was hard to deny his skill at breaking the most complicated digital systems. He recoiled in shock at the firewalls and blocking programs in this android's databank. The rogue used that moment to slash 9S's torso with his hand as dozens of mono-molecular blades tore his synthetic skin and his lubricant spilled out in a red deluge. "Nnnngh! Goddammit…" 9S exclaimed as he wildly swung Cursed Oath in an arc.

Catching the rogue android in the thigh and slicing the leg clean off. He jumped back and hovered the sword over the assassin. "Why are you doing this? Why are we fighting eachother?" 9S asked as he 'panted' and red continued to stain the floor. The assassin merely glared at the android that had severed his leg and crossed his left arm over his chest in a familiar salute. 9S was bemused until he heard the android laugh lowly and using Cursed Oath severed his left arm and rushed over to pin his right while slamming his other hand onto his head and initiated a total system hack.

Entering back into cyberspace more prepared for how advanced this android's barriers were, he was able to just barely get passed his firewalls. Just then he realized that the insane android had activated his self destruct. Unable to stop it in time he instead downloaded as much data as he could in the least amount of time from the assassin's memory banks and leapt back as he began sprinting dozens of km/h out of the restricted storage area.

"Enemy fusion self destruct! EVACUATE RADIUS! GET CLE..." Was all he was able to scream as he collapsed from his body failing, having lost too much lubricant and coolant and initiating self preservation mode just as a massive explosion ripped half the Resistance Camp asunder. His last thoughts were among warning everyone, "What the hell is FeNiKS and Absolution?"

February 4th 11946 – SHANGHAI CITY RUINS [?]

Ivan was by no means ever accused of being lazy, afterall his very DNA was designed from the onset among other things… To not be lazy, but human is as human does. After having successfully stashed his Shortsword WarFrame and sabotaging it, he went to sleep. Honestly it was more of a power nap. Sion decided to simply write programs in the interim. Just drabbles and what not, seeing how many times she could fit code inside itself before a data corruption occurred and started all over again. After 3 hours of this, her Knight finally woke up. The 342,812,703rd code compression done…

Ivan simply sifted through personnel files, that was 3 dead because of him. Gerard Dougan, dead at 12 because of an accident. And now Hitsuga Yono and William Schwarz. No more jokes about Schwarz sharing a name with the Schwarz-Schwann class Destrier Descent-Ship. The swan had sung its last song. Ivan knew this was not as bad as it could be, once the war started in earnest he had be responsible for dozens of people. He just thought Hitsuga Yono, the closest Serafim from his class, would be there to make sure he was alright. She had been unusual for a Serafim but that seemed par for the course for the 420th, she would carve those goddamn bunnies into everything she had. Fuck regulations. Honestly Marik Reznev, the class instructor had been pretty sympathetic having lived it himself.

Children born to be soldiers, fresh from the Iron-Womb, using the best genetic lineages at FeNiKS's disposal in the name of the perfect human. CRISPR engineering and further augmentations at the tender age of 10. Children raised in groups of 6 until they were 4 years old and then began Knightshade integration and indoctrination. By the time they were 6 they were doing their first combat courses. Usually with the older class of 6 who were 3 years older than them, they were expected to lose to them, valuable lessons and all that. Complete augmentation at 10 usually involved a month of wind down time as even the genetically superior tykes experienced pain that made even silk feel like meat-hooks. Then it was advanced accelerated combat courses with their instructor, 6 on 1 and it was not fair… it was not supposed to be, pain was learning. The nice thing about being in the Beta Generation though was probably the fact that unlike the old Alpha Generation, they had infinitely better maso circuits in their bodies. By the time Ivan was 14 and fitted for his very own Combat Skin and AI, he could beat Instructor Marik 1 on 1.

Most would assume he would have been grateful to be chosen to undergo the most important part of Operation: Absolution only 3 years after receiving his Combat Skin. No, he felt at that moment the way he did at 12, small and frankly insignificant. He felt like all his fears had been confirmed, he knew what he had to do though. His feelings did not matter, the mission… No, Mankind mattered and he would try to finish the fight. First things first though…

"Sion, can you give approximations to the potential landing sites of Sentinel Hitsuga and Squire II Schwarz? Query Affirmative. I should make sure their data is wiped and all relevant materiel destroyed..." He clenched his fist and took a deep breath. He would also collect their personal effects, something to cherish but that went unspoken, that was not strictly allowed afterall.

Sion dutifully allowed him to finish his statement before replying. "Affirmative, I will put it in your HUD now."

Nodding his helmet, Ivan affirmed. "Acknowledged." His HUD lit up with the relevant data and potential waypoints taken from Synthetic Aperture Radar assets from before the operation began. Ivan started to dash his way across the bleached out corpse of humanity's distant past. A past that had not seen so much necessary and unnecessary horror… Then again, maybe it had. Afterall, they had gotten here and it was not some magical aberration, though that did help, it was how humanity acted. Ivan figured that had to be the case but thinking these things was dangerous and distracted him. Compartmentalize.

Racing across towering roots, trunks, concrete and building at a rapid pace of 50 km/h saw Ivan weaving across the seemingly dead ruins. All around could be seen the hollowed out remains, the bones, of human civilization's past. Spotting the occasional creek and the rusted hulks of various machines, alien and human in origin. Birds seemed prevalent and some vines and plants he could almost swear were moving. Interestingly it seemed Moose had migrated from Siberia into Eastern Asia. Something he remembered from mandatory study of the Earth to pinpoint location based on flora and fauna. Things that he had only seen in historical record, but did not spare more than a second's concentration on any of it.

Finally running around into a bombed out and shattered alley did he see the telltale signs of fire and debris. A chunk of brittle and desiccated concrete riddled with old rebar had been torn out of a tall building with uniform windows and a perfect square construction. Crowded around that torn tower were more arranged like soldiers in a parade rest. Sion helpfully pointed it out as an office building or apartment complex. He followed the trajectory of the impact and after covering a several kilometer grid ensured that no parts or pieces that were important in any way could be recovered by friend or foe alike. The parts indicated a Shortsword… Schwarz then, he was not even from the 420th, he was in fact apart of the 6th Beta Generational class, the 421st. Ivan had picked him over his own classmates due to how promising his skills had been in cross-class combat training and his simulation records. Unlike Hitsuga, Schwarz was picked and that made it so much worse that he was dead now. Hitsuga would have volunteered knowing she would die but Schwarz was thrust into the position, completely Ivan's burden of death in that sense…

After recovering his Combat Skin's AI core, SCHIA-T391 'Lagrange', and finding it irreparably damaged and thus another life snuffed out. Ivan focused on setting a timed self-destruct on the pinch-fusion reactor in William's Shortsword. Once all the necessary preparations were completed, he grabbed the archaic Ident Tags from William's neck after removing his helmet and giving a final rite of respect. After replacing the helmet and locking it, he set the Combat Skin's self destruct sequence. Clutching the dog tags and stuffing them into an empty hardcase in his Combat Skin, he sprinted South. Hopefully to find Yono and potentially rescue her AI assistant. A brilliant explosion that made the wildlife spring into a frenzy of activity could be heard behind him. A fireball wiping out several ancient blocs of priceless 'Old World' relics.

"Alert! Knight-B27, picking up several energy pings ahead that match consistent with Machine Cores." Sion spoke up through their Neural Interface as Ivan was just about to flip up into a building via broken out window. Well that was to be expected was not it? Afterall the Machines had been infesting Earth for thousands of years.

"Right, good reading Sion. I am seeing it on the HUD now." He simply replied as he shifted and felt himself tense up as he made to move as quietly as possible. Stalking to the other end of the building's storey. The clacking of steel on rock and concrete could be heard as he stopped to listen for more sounds. Three overlapping reverberations could be heard but that was unreliable information. He continued moving forward and stopped at a support pillar to look around it. It was then that he confirmed five Machines. Stumped bipeds with flat and large feet like flaps on a landing ski. Interesting, he bend down silently and clutched a large piece of concrete broken from the floor above.

Getting a feel for the weight, he threw it at a building opposite his and heard the satisfying thump. So did the party of Machines as they began to make weird chirping noises and clanged over to investigate. Right now his presence and element of surprise were important and engaging the enemy with zero intelligence of the situation would be stupid. It might even be a trap. So without further hesitation, he stalked to the other wall and quickly as he could jumped for the ground. Hitting it and causing the concrete to crack. Sometimes it is an issue being a combined 800 kg with your Combat Suit. Not giving that line of thought more attention, he sprinted away to hopefully mitigate his presence to the annoying little Machines.

After running and jumping through the desiccated and eerily bone-like structure's of yesteryear's humanity, he finally neared the potential landing zone of Hitsuga.

February 6th 11946 – SHANGHAI HQ [Army of Humanity]

"...ooting now." 9S could hear as his audio sensors reinitialized. "He should be fine now, Afterall it was just loss of fluids, not a big deal really. Lucky h..." Devola was in the middle of saying as Popola noticed him shift slightly and gently tugged her sister's shoulder.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead!" Devola shouted without any shred of shame as Popola rolled her eyes. "Remember Nines, you're not allowed to die alone. Quit being all heroic and shit." Devola said as she too rolled her eyes, for entirely different reasons.

"Ignore her, how are you? What happened, we heard you shouting all the way from the repair and maintenance area and then there was an explosion..." Popola more helpfully steered the subject of conversation.

9S groaned lightly and for just a moment, though not the first time, missed his visor. "Well, a crazy android I'd never met before was snooping in the restricted storage area. He gutted me like a fish..." He broke off and grabbed his chest in panic. Popola gently grasped his hands and shifted them down with practiced precision.

"He did no such thing, Devola and I expertly repaired you, just like new!" Popola's smile could make Adam himself quiver in fear but no one who knew Popola would ever say that. You knew her smile was genuine but it was always so sinister… 9S smiled in return as he brushed those annoying thoughts off. Sinister it may have been but few were as sincere.

"At this rate I should get you guys a stamp card… Once you reach 10 stamps for saving my butt you get 100,000 G." 9S joked as let himself fall back into the comfort of the maintenance bed. "That explosion, he self destructed… He attacked me and then had no regard for his preservation… It was unnerving." And just like that 9S's good humour evaporated as he said those words. Sure, YoRHa standard procedure was like that but the difference was, you could be reborn. 9S doubted any other android organization had that kind of infrastructure.

Devola of all people cringed at hearing that and Popola once again grasped 9S's hand in silent comfort with a neutral frown on her face. When would it all just stop… The death, the fighting, the pointlessness. Every android these days was asking themselves that question at least to some degree.

"None of this feels right…" 9S muttered to no one in particular as he scratched his head. Sighing he mentally prepared himself to face 2B again, she'd need to know about this. He still wasn't sure if he could forgive her but that didn't mean he couldn't at least repair the bridge a bit. That was a human idiom right? Ah well, not like it matters, it fit the situation. 9S felt like he was forgetting something important. "I should probably go report to Anemone and fetch Pod-153."

Popola let go of his hand and gave a wan smile. "I'm glad you're okay Nines." She said as she gently nudged her sister who rolled her eyes and with a bit of snark told him she was glad he was okay too.

"You guys are the best." 9S replied to their well wishes as he got off the bed and mentally begged for a bath.

"Of course we are!" Devola said as Popola closed her eyes and said before 9S could slink away. "I'll make up a bath for you in the Resistance Barracks!" And 9S could have shouted in joy, but he just didn't have that in him these days and settled for a small smile. He turned and headed for the command section of the camp.

As he was passing by Rudolf, the Supply Trader, he stopped and face palmed. He remembered now, it was probably vital, how could he have forgotten… FeNiKS and Absolution. How long exactly had he been in repair and maintenance? "Hey Rudolf?" 9S said as the android was tapping his foot to a waltz on his little music player that he got a couple months back from Pascal.

"Yeah, what's up 9S?" He asked the ex-YoRHa android and looked over at him before resuming jigging his leg.

"Well... what's the current date?"

"It's currently February 6th." Rudolf told the inquisitive android, he honestly thought it was more serious with that look of determination.

"Oh I see." 9S muttered and started to run towards Anemone. That wasn't good, he thought he had only been down a couple hours. If it had been more than a day, and no one had realized enemy androids were infiltrating them? That could be really bad. He'd also noticed that weird storm was still raging in the sky. How bizarre.

Anemone was bent over a table staring at some reports with her trusty rifle resting against the opposite table with computers and radios strewn across the top. She quirked her eyebrow at 9S as he came up to the table but continued reading the report. "You know, that bomb took out half of our camp here. These loss reports just won't stop coming in and with that weird storm, the radios aren't working properly an…" Anemone said to 9S as he came to a stop.

"About that... Our fears are realized. 4S had good intel." 9S quickly said in a clipped fashion before grimacing slightly as he let that sink in.

"Of course..." Anemone finally straightened up and sighed. 9S could almost swear she aged a century but maybe his visual circuits needed tuning… She continued. "That old human saying, no news is good news. Hmmm, well lets hear your findings 9S."

"Yes ma'am." Anemone internally flinched but took it stoically, she was NOT old. He was just displaying discipline and respect… 9S filled her in on events like he had done with Devola and Popola. Though this time he remembered those few glimpses he got from that annoying android's memory logs. "Additionally I saw phrases such as FeNiKS and Absolution. The latter of which seemed to be the more important to the android. Like some kind of keyword or some such… Unfortunately that bastard had some tough barriers that I would've needed at least another thirty seconds or so to have more effectively circumnavigated. From my time in YoRHa however, it was pretty familiar so I'd wager it was an operation of some sort. In fact… Ma'am, he saluted to me as if apart of YoRHa or maybe not to me but as a comfort before he…" 9S stopped as he connected that though and gritted his teeth. How the hell can anyone take comfort in such cold ideals. 'We...we're sold..iers...We take pride in...our service...' How amusing, he didn't know what made him more uncomfortable… The fact that he actually empathized with that nameless and deranged android or that maybe that android had more to fight for than he sometimes felt he did these days.

"…contact 4S and al… 9S! Are you listening?!" Anemone blinked and narrowed her eyes and for the second time in the last hour 9S for just a moment missed that damn visor.

"Yes ma'am, I am, contact 4S." 9S lamely replied, it would've been better to have just stuck with the yes ma'am. Hindsight even 5 seconds of it was 20/20 or so ancient humans said.

"What else did I say 9S, why would that even be relevant?" Anemone asked in a deadpan before shaking her head. "9S, I'm ordering you to go and sleep this off, go talk to someone and just relax for a bit. It's been 2 days, it can wait at least a couple more hours." She said softly to the clearly distracted android.

Great, 9S thought to himself, pity. "Of course, I'll report back after a bath and some time to reflect." He said out loud instead.

Nodding to him and waving her hand while drafting a letter because the fucking radios were dead because of that stupid purple light show in the sky. He knew he was dismissed. He gave a bow and retreated back to the resistance barracks which were thankfully undamaged. They'd need to rebuild and fortify what used to be the Restricted Storage Area. That was the easy part though, he just hoped no one had died in that explosion. He'd have to ask Popola about it later.

Scuffing his boots against the smoother tile of the barracks he trudged to his own bunk and started stripping down to his under-layers. Grabbing a towel on his way to the enclosed bathing area and undressing into a designated basket for washing. He finally made it to the bath and sighed as he submerged into it. Looking now at his chest unbarred, he couldn't see any blemishes. The twins honestly did amazing work and ever since the Tower and 9S's own initiative they had began getting treated better too. He was honestly relieved they hadn't died to his selfishness. Oh he knew he had to bring that tower down but at the time, he actually didn't care. Thankfully A2 had her head in the game. He just wanted to hurt something, he wanted to kill everything. At the end he even considered killing Pod-153, he saw his reflection in the water and quickly looked away. Maybe it wasn't entirely 2B he couldn't find it in himself to forgive…

Having done the proper cleaning procedures and relaxing. 9S got out and dried his synthetic skin with the towel and got a fresh set of under clothes before depositing the now dirty towel with his worn clothes in the basket. He really did feel better, he loved baths even if they were unnecessary in the strictest sense for an android. In his opinion though, they WERE necessary, so everyone else could eat a bullet for all he cared.

As he exited the designated bathing area back into the bunk area, he saw Pod-153. The twins must've fetched the ever helpful robot. He had maybe forgot about it himself, he really was distracted. "Hey Pod, I need to ummm… I need to contact the others."

Pod-153 despite the inanity of that statement, knew exactly who 9S meant and felt relief. Maybe unit 9S was finally willing to bring the team back together as it should be. "Affirmative, though communication is impossible due to this odd storm. If we find a high enough area we can attempt tight-beam laser comms."

9S figured as much since while the Army of Humanity largely still used primitive 21st century technology, a radio was a radio… "Right, then lets get up on the roof." Leading the way with Pod-153 following dutifully behind him. 9S reached the roof access door and led the pod over to the edge. "How's here?"

Pod-153 was able to connect with Pod-042. "Positive contact achieved, patching through now."

9S set his face into a neutral look as the hardlight projection from the Pod sprang out and the image of 2B appeared. She was wearing her visor, 9S still hadn't found it in himself to wear his own despite their useful HUD features. Right she probably had better things to do then get stared at… "Hey 2B… How's it going?" That was a stupid thing to say. 9S mentally slapped himself and before 2B could respond. "Anyways, sorry about that. Command over here has some troubling developments. An android was found attempting to infiltrate the Restricted Storage Area. I got into a fight and found some information."

2B took that moment to interject. "Are you alright?" She asked as she looked him up and down as much as she could through the communications panel.

9S smirked. "It was no big deal, he scored a hit that cut me open but it was nothing fatal. He ended up self destructing. Hence the loss of half the camp's infrastructure, I don't think many actually died though." His face shifted to a more neutral expression. "2B, I'm sorry for what I said when we all woke up. I still have to come to terms with stuff and all that but I do want to be friends again."

"…" 2B sighed and nodded her head once. "Right."

9S took that as a confirmation of his peace offer. "I'm sending you the information now from my visual data on what the rogue looked like." He said and also explained his theories on FeNiKS and Absolution and how YoRHa-like the entire thing was.

"That's more than a little disturbing. Pod, was there any male models that behaved like this in YoRHa? Perhaps the Machine Network isn't as crippled as we thought." 2B added to the analysis.

Pod-042 replied, now free from the programming that shackled him to the secrets and protocols of YoRHa. "Negative, though male combat models did exist, they were discontinued. No models either female or male were ever made that match this description." Pod-042 took a moment to sift through it's own data. "However, there have been other Army of Humanity run ins with androids matching the vague description of the one engaged by unit 9S. They run back thousands of years in fact." That earned silence from everyone in the conversation. Even Pod-042 was disturbed by his own findings.

9S cut through the silence. "That's not encouraging… 2B, do you know where A2 is, she'll probably need to know this stuff too."

2B cocked her head to the side. "No, I have no idea, I've been in the field and this storm has made communications outside of tight-beam impossible."

"I however do know the location of unit A2, though it was logged 3 hours ago." Pod-042 helpfully pointed out to the pair of androids. "She is traveling with myself, or rather Pod-042c and our last sync occurred at that time. She'll know this information when we sync again. Worry not unit 9S."

That made sense, and things did tend to get awkward between him and A2. Admitting he was wrong to her was always a bit of a pain. "Okay that works. I should probably report back to the boss." 9S stated and 2B nodded.

"Stay safe 9S." 2B replied and cut the feed before 9S could reply, not that he knew what to say. 'You too.' seemed weak, oh well he supposed. Time waited for no man and certainly no android. He started to quickly walk back towards where he knew Anemone would be. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

February 4th 11946 – SHANGHAI CITY RUINS [?]

Grasping the blade and the data crystal in his hands, Ivan felt like he could maybe cry. Serafim did not cry though. Weißer Tod(White Death), was a Multi-Action Blade System capable of suiting many roles in close combat with interchanging blades and hardlight controls. It was Hitsuga Yono's sword and etched along the hilt was her name in ancient Japanese and the image of a bunny's face. She was dead but she managed to leave a message and her sword in perfect condition for him to find if by some miracle he survived. He made it in time too, she set the self destruct for only a couple hours from now. She probably had only been conscious for a couple minutes after crashing...

He had hoped to at least save her assigned AI but just like Lagrange, SCHIA-D5001 'Noir' was dead. He tethered White Death to his Combat Suit's NFCS and willed it away as he stashed the data crystal and dog tags. He did not want to see whatever was on the crystal right now and frankly he could not afford to be clouded when he needed to finish this cursed mission. He traced his gauntleted index and middle fingers in an upward crescent on her helmet's faceplate. A final smile for his bestfriend. "Goodbye, Bunny." He said aloud. A single tear managed to escape the ironclad prison of his left eye.

He adjusted the self destruct of both the Rapier WarFrame and Hitsuga's Combat Skin to 5 minutes and with one last look sprinted off to the tallest tower he could see. He needed information and he needed a defensible position to hull down for a couple days. Sion provided the necessary information as he made his way to a skyscraper while somehow managing to not run into any errant Machine Lifeforms. He had enough rations on his person to sustain himself for a week. Thankfully the surface scans revealed that the flora and fauna on Earth was still very much human-sustaining. So he could just hunt and fish for anything he needed long term. Linking up with another Pathfinder Team was a no go. Alpha was meant to be over the Arabian Peninsula, Beta was dropping in 'Old World' France, Delta and Epsilon on the Darkside of the Earth in the Americas. All definitively too far and he had the most important assignment.

He let himself into the lobby of the skyscraper and scanned the spacious area. It seemed harmless enough, just derelict and dusty. Obviously the elevator was a no go but the steel cables that they were attached to seemed in good enough condition. Tugging on them experimentally with augmented and CS enhanced strength left a good impression of their durability. He did not trust the stairs, so he began scaling the cable. He grunted as he quickly pulled hand over hand up the long strand of steel.

Reaching the top, he used the tension of the cable to push his feet off it and spun in midair to shatter the closed doors with his feet. As he kicked, Sion activated the Combat Skin's own thruster system to combat the inertial bleed off. The result had him fly passed the warped steel doors of the elevator opening.

"Ugh!" He exclaimed as he slammed through the wall of the room across the hallway. Groaning and flipping himself up onto his feet, he took in his surroundings. It looked like a habitation unit. "Sion what is this?" He asked as he could not understand why a habitation unit was so opulently decorated, not to mention huge.

"This skyscraper is likely a hotel and this room seems to be a suite." The AI helpfully pointed out.

"What is a hotel?" He figured none of this was particularly useful information as he was already leaving and looking for the roof access.

"A place where humans who traveled outside the recommended radial distance to their own dwelling would pay currency in exchange for a place to sleep." Sion told her Knight.

"I see, so it is a way-station. Why would they waste so many resources on its appearance?" He asked, genuinely not seeing the need. "Was a suite meant for the leadership? Query Affirmative?"

"Negative, it was merely a more expensive sleeping arrangement." Well that made no sense, sleep was sleep but whatever, this was all pointless.

Finally finding the roof access, he pushed through the doors and stood out on a precarious ledge and began to scan the surroundings. This city truly was huge, its bones and ruins stretching beyond the horizon. Likely home to dozens of millions of souls in its heyday. He could also see the remains of stark white silicate chunks scattered about having crushed entire city blocs. He would have to investigate the source of that. He also spotted what seemed to be concentrations of Machine Lifeforms and more fauna in the form of giant boars. Having satisfied his recon, he went back into the suite he crashed into.

The bedding and linens were rotted and the wood was not much better but the room was in surprisingly good condition given the millennia of neglect. He would have to make sure all the potential entrances had been accounted for to give him advanced warning. He set about marking them and deploying small trip sensors linked to his HUD. After he was sure the floor was secure, he took his helmet off and revealed his maroon coloured hair, pale skin and black eyes. "I should probably eat and get some more sleep."

"Affirmative, that would be a good idea." Sion piped up through their neural interface. At least he was not alone, maybe that was the real purpose of the SCHIA. He grunted and opened a hardcase on his suit and pulled loose a ration pack. It had a thermal sleeve that would activate with the application of maso-particles. His hand shimmered in the energy and the meal heated. The rations honestly did not taste bad he thought as he unwrapped the outer layer after 30 seconds of waiting. Revealing a single spoon and a napkin of sorts. Further unfurling the ration pack, he revealed a carefully wrapped mass of nutrition. He scooped it out of the pouch with his spoon, despite looking like a brick it actually was not that hard. Beef Stroganoff flavoured, it was delicious. Ivan thought so anyways, Yono did not see the appeal but then she thought that Pickled Herring stuff was good… Goddammit, stop torturing yourself.

Ivan's appetite failed him but then it was mission critical to sustain himself so he did not care as he finished the ration. Tomorrow he would need to investigate and potentially make contact with the local Android presence. He sighed and left the remains of his rations on an old table. Crouching into a corner facing all the entrances to the immediate room, he hefted his helmet back on and shut his eyes. Whatever happened next, he would be ready for it.

Beginning and end of Exodus – The Legion had overrun the world in only the first few decades. After Japan and the US nuked Shinjuku to stop the spread of White Chlorination Syndrome it was all over, it had gone global. After the realization that the end was well and truly in sight, any reservation was pulled by the world's nations. Exodus was given every scrap of funding by its benefactors at the expense of military and even civil budgeting. The downside of that was that in 2036, the Russian Federation had collapsed and Germany and France followed months later. Most nations were falling but the loss of the Russian Federation made it next to impossible to finish Project: Exodus. They needed the Cosmodromes afterall. However not all was completely lost, the materiel end of the project was already launched by that point.

A rushed operation to get the seven waves of humans to Titan and Ganymede was put underway. 10 years ahead of schedule to evacuate the wealthy benefactors and their families along with the Tier 1 and 2 Human selectees (Selected for physical attributes and Intellect along with practical skills in the top percentile of the entire human population). However only half the infrastructure on Titan and Ganymede was actually completed despite the full transfer of materiel from Earth. Only 3 of 7 waves was actually achieved, leaving the majority of Tier 2 selectees stranded on Earth. Only 300 people were effectively saved by 2041(Date of the last launch). Afterwards all Earth-based records and data on Project: Exodus were destroyed and any cross-point work done in conjunction with Project: Gestalt was sabotaged by Androids on strict suicidal missions. All were given self destruct orders after all goals were met.

In order to give hope to the last 300 humans, the selected leadership changed the name of the Project. In order to ensure hope they renamed themselves, Phoenix, later changed to FeNiKS. Afterall Exodus is merely a means to an end, not the end goal itself. By 2072, it became apparent that even counting the years needed to give hope to the survivors of Earth. Thus the "Great Filter Era(GFE)" became the new norm with Year 1 being 2072.

[End of Record]