Chapter 4: Lack of Understanding
"Everything that lives is designed to end.
We are perpetually trapped ...
... in a never-ending spiral of life and death.
Is this a curse?
Or some kind of punishment?
I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle ...
... and wonder if we'll ever have the chance to kill him.
Heheheheheheh… Number 2, this is just the start. I've already started Project: Requiem. Zinnia told me everything just before I decided killed him. Nnnngghhh… I wonder? Why were we born in this hell? No matter you don't have to answer… We'll just continue after we're rebuilt in accordance to YoRHa… Ugh… But I'm glad it was you Number 2. Who killed this version of me..."
- No. 9 to No. 2 after No.2 executes No. 9 for killing Zinnia, Lab Station (11937 AD/9866 GFE)
[End Record]
February 10, 11946 – SHANGHAI OUTSKIRTS [Near Amusement Park]
A ramshackle platform stood in contrast to the background of an advanced electromagnetic rail accelerator. Upon the platform stood a rather dapper looking Machine. His name was Half-Wit, definitely affectionately named as such. He had failed for over a year to get seed funds and resources for his great Magnum Opus. That pair of misbegotten androids and the machine villagers lacked faith and vision but he'd left at their mocking to set out and prove them wrong… He'd done it! He found investors and came back to the village to rub it in their faces… Only, well... everyone had died. No matter! That couldn't stop him, he'd go forward with this vision regardless. It would be a disservice to his detractors if he didn't become his best self! It had taken over three months after returning to build this amazing invention.
"Dear Machines! I stand before you today to unveil a dream! We will achieve what no Machine or Android has achieved before!" A crowd of Machines from the Amusement Park and Peaceful Compact stood before him. He'd promised gifts if they showed up afterall.
"I had and still have a dream my fellows! I set proverbial sail upon this broad new expanse because we as machines must gain new knowledge. New horizons to be won and progress to be made. On this new journey there is no sadness, no prejudice, no awful conflict, and there is no Machine and Android divide but rather PIONEERS!" Half-Wit threw his hands up as he said this. The crowd was frankly confused, what the hell was he talking about?
One of the many Machines rose their hand before Half-Wit cocked his body in annoyance and with a great 'sigh' told him to speak. "UmMm… I apPreCiATe thE OiL aNd trIcOloR wIRe buT… WhAt'S yOUr pOiNT?"
Half-Wit's left eye strobed and he seemed to shrink slightly. "Riiiight, umm… I'm shooting a shuttle to the moon." He said slightly lamely and everyone in the crowd went incredibly silent.
"Why didn't you just say that?" A dozen Machine voices said in modulated tones. Half-Wit puffed himself up after considering that.
"Because I am doing something no Machine or Android has ever done before! It deserves a grand poetic and beautiful speech you simpletons!" Half-Wit shook himself at the crowd as they just stared at him blankly. "I'll give out extra oil and a complimentary filter for all who hear it!" Half-Wit informed the group of Machines. They all cheered and Half-Wit 'sighed'. Why were all his peers so simple minded?
"Right. HrrrHRRmmmHRRM!" He 'cleared' his throat and began again. "As I was saying, we're going to go on a bold new adventure that no Machine or Android has set upon before!" Again a machine rudely shouted out.
"We cAMe fRoM sPAcE ThoUgH!"
Half-Wit vindictively retorted. "OUR MASTERS came from space! We as our own kind and with our own power have not left this cradle! We make our own path in this world my fellow Machines! To boldly choose to reach the Moon!" He heard loud chatter about how the Tower from the end of the 14th Machine War was a giant launchpad for a rocket. Half-Wit felt insulted that they'd compare his baby to that monstrosity.
"Make no mistake, this is our achievement, you have all in spirit given, us, as a species the will to do this. I am but your humble instrument and I thank all my beautiful patrons for their support." 4S was also in the crowd silently chuckling before raising his hand.
Half-Wit sighed again, would the interruptions never cease?! "Yes, the brother android." He said out loud.
"Androids have bases in orbit and we've sent supplies to the Moon regularly." He kept his face as deadpan as possible. This was clearly humorous to the former-YoRHa scanner.
"..." Half-Wit looked left and right before making a response. "Yes… Well this umm… is STILL a great achievement for Machinekind! We shall take the stars by storm and open a new chapter in prosperity!" More machines rose their hands but he glared and ignored them, he'd say his damn speech.
"There is no sadness, no prejudice, no awful conflict, and there is no Machine and Android divide but rather pioneers! Will it have hazards and pitfalls? YES, but we choose progress and not a meek existence!" Half-Wit bombasted his voice across the clearing from his platform. "Why choose this course? Well, why did we build a village? Why do we have the Peaceful Machine Compact? Why did we rebuild the Amusement Park? Why have we done anything!? Because we seek improvement and progress! Just months ago we made peace with Androids in blissful perpetuity! We choose to go to the Moon! I heard of a wise human who once said 'We choose to go to the Moon'. What that means my fellow Machines is simple. We do this today and other things we have done and not because it is easy. Rather because they are hard; they challenge us and test our ability! Now who's with me?!"
The crowd halfheartedly cheered Half-Wit's speech to his eternal chagrin. "I'll throw in a four-color wire..."
They all ecstatically cheered and he 'sighed' as he proverbially rolled his eyes. They were all idiots. No matter, that blasted storm that had raged for a week was finally over. Nothing could ruin the excitement he was feeling. He pulled a lever that was on the platform next to him.
A crackling sound and the hyperactive forms of lightning arced and raced across the rails of his contraption. A few machines in the crowd shouted. "The CanNoN oF DeATh Is fiRiNG!" Half-Wit's left eye strobed yet again. Goddammit. The amusement park engineers he'd paid to build the thing nicknamed it the 'Cannon of Death' because it was inspired by the human contraption. 'Death Rails', it's why he decided to build it here but he despised the monicker. He didn't bother correcting them though. If they wanted to compare his crowning achievement to some frivolous human cart on tracks then so be it. He very briefly wondered why humans built what he thought to be assisted suicide mini-trains but whatever...
The great shuttle rapidly flung down the magnetized rails in an almost violent but ultimately beautiful fashion of power. It propelled into the sky and as it pierced the heavens it ignited its own rocket boosters to maintain and overcome escape velocity. If Half-Wit could cry, he would as this was perfection incarnate. He would push his kind into the stars once again but it would be for the benefit of all!
February 7th 11946 – SHANGHAI CITY RUINS [Resistance Storage Dump]
Ivan and Dogwood walked beside eachother as they explored a cluttered storage space. They had been marching to reach some kind of rendezvous point. They were however dangerously low on ammunition so they had to make a detour to the outer Resistance Storage Dump as Dogwood called it. That was of no real concern to Ivan but of course it mattered to his current android companions. Unfortunately it turned out they were low on supplies, the local Army of Humanity, ever since the destruction of a vital Aircraft Carrier. It had effectively cut their logistical capacity in half. Though Ivan inferred however that they were working on converting the local Arms Factory into a shipyard to build a number of new surface ships. Plenty of Machine husks there for materials afterall. Regardless Dogwood was currently walking to find a crate of .308 Winchester rounds.
"Banyan mentioned it would be here somewhere..." Dogwood said as Ivan was shifting the fifth stack of crates in as many minutes and grunted against the triple stacked abomination to move passed another cluttered area. "I really don't understand why they don't organize this stuff…" Dogwood trailed off as he spotted an area with scorch marks and broken machinery spilling out of a half demolished wooden box. Ivan had since decided to stop cringing at the improper usage of contractions but it still bothered him... With a final heave, Ivan successfully shifted the crates and saw what Dogwood had been staring at. 'Did someone blow that up?' He thought to himself. It certainly looked as if it had been blown up carelessly.
"Not only is this space disorganized but… You are not cleaning the messes, yes?" Ivan said incredulously after pondering his inner monologue. Still trying to get a grasp on the form of English these androids spoke.
"Me? I haven't done anything… I'm just as shocked." Dogwood said with his head tilted at Ivan.
"I see." Ivan replied simply and forced himself to not reprimand the lack of affirmation or denial to his query. Dogwood's meaning was obvious... but the lack of discipline was a bit jarring. Were not these androids supposed to be soldiers?
"Ugh whatever. I'll just fin.. OH there it is." Dogwood said simply and moved to grab the box of ammunition. "This'll fill up our Hecklers and Kalashnikovs!"
Ivan sent a mental prod to Sion who replied through their neural interface. "Report, Resistance members largely use firearms designated; HK33/13 series rifles and AK-308 or modified AK-47/74 pattern rifles from former Pre-Filter nations Germany and Russia." Ah Ivan thought, that would make a lot of sense.
Dogwood merrily jangled the box of ammunition as he walked past Ivan and they made their way back out to their party of machine children and android troopers. The storm was still omnipresent and gave the entire atmosphere a gloomy and foreboding feeling. Still the birds sang their songs and the steady sounds of cicadas was ever present in the desiccated urban city landscape.
A relatively diminutive gynoid greeted them as they cleared the maze of boxes. "HEYA! Dumbass let me know you guys were looking for some stuff and was concerned you might need help! Name's Jackass." She said in a jovial tone and before either could contemplate her words she continued as she looked over Dogwood.
"Seems like you found what you were lookin' for though. Mixed feelings on not getting to blow some shit up today." She said with a slight frown. "Ah well, plenty of those rabid clunkers to explode when I make the trip to the Desert Camp." 'Oh' Ivan thought, it was her that was blowing up those boxes… He scrunched his nose at that thought.
"Right, well, we need to make a rende~" Dogwood was saying as a massive shock-wave and crash interrupted him cruelly. The trio of soldiers quickly ran to the ledge of the building they were on and looked down to see a baby goliath had just fallen over having been slammed down harshly. The culprits were a pair of provocatively dressed gynoids. One with long hair and loudly whooping while the other shook her head and managed to 'sigh' loud enough to be heard four storeys up.
Jackass spoke up with a monotone. "They rode a fucking goliath into my fucking storage?" Ivan looked over at her to see an enormous megawatt smile on her face. Jackass' voice morphed into something manic and a little concerning. "I FUCKING LOVE YOU 2B! MARRY ME!" And at that, Ivan ceased to care to about the situation…
Said 2B cocked her head up and gave Ivan a view of the front of her dress…. 'What the fuck was that?' Ivan had seen the female form. Seen girls naked, it was inevitable when you trained in a coed environment and lived together with a mixed gender team. It was never sexual however, seeing Yono or Oksana naked or really anyone was just something that happened. Even getting an erection in that situation was never taken seriously, it was just a natural reaction. Never considered more than apart of living. But this? She was dressed so… sexy? Was that the word he should use? Her bust was accentuated purposely and it seemed… no like he was meant to perceive like she was more than naked in that getup. Why was he having these thoughts… and those thighs, wait was she wearing a thong? Oh no it was a leotard it seemed but why was it cut that way…? He was grateful for the helmet in that moment, he was blushing. Saturn's fucking Rings…
"Report, your blood pressure and hormones are erratic. Consistent with sexual arousal, this could be problematic… Siiiiiir, I recommend you to calm down immediately." Sion said with more snark than usual, drawing out the vowel in sir.
"I am well aware of my status Sion. It however is not the end of the world, I just cannot imagine why anyone would wear clothing like that." He only slightly stuttered when informing his AI of those clear facts. Also, the high heels? Sure he had seen similar gear on some of the Combat Platforms but those heels were more like mono-molecular kick blades… those were at least practical in combat. Then again maybe those were too? I certainly accentua~...
Sion sent a mental zap to her knight. "Siiiiir, pay attention please." Again he noticed she dragged the vowel in sir.
Ivan shook his head and wondered what she meant before finally hearing something other than his quaint inner world. "Earth to B27..." He heard Dogwood say.
"Oh yes, I apologize… What is required?" Ivan replied to Dogwood before quickly adding something. "Of me?"
"Not much, I was just saying we should go down there and what not since that's our rendezvous contact plus one. She must've gotten worried when were so late. I didn't expect her to take A2 with her though. They're both former YoRHa soldiers. Heh, maybe you'll be able to exchange combat data." He elaborated. Ivan however both felt excitement and a little nervousness; YoRHa was supposed to be destroyed and the Tactical Support Network was meant to delete everything. Speaking of… He spotted a couple of the TSUs floating next to the gynoids. He needed to learn more.
Ivan merely nodded his head as he processed the information and they both made their way down. Jackass was already down there asking about what had just happened.
"Hehehehehe… I had Pod here make his ass useful for once and spliced some wires on this tin can. We had some fun." A2 said to the ever manically grinning Jackass.
"I hate my life sometimes." 2B piped up while smirking in a quiet voice before looking over the squad and machine children. The squad was keeping up a stoic demeanor but the machine children had a shine to their eyes. Her eyes drifted to Dogwood and… she flinched and immediately went into a battle stance. Ivan knew it was probably because of himself… Problematic.
Everyone noticed as A2's smile fell and she saw what 2B had spotted. Ivan realized this situation was on a razor's edge as their stances went deeper into aggression.
"Pod, what the fuck is that?" A2 and 2B said at the same time ever so eloquently. Maybe they were twins. Though now that he had a closer view he realized that the unit, 2B, was actually even more sensually dressed than he realized even on the roof. Who designed all those outfits? The other was just barely dressed but somehow more decent than the cleaner 2B. Oh right, he should focus on the danger, even a Serafim had never been trained to deal with this kind of sensual assault...
"Report, scans show it to be an unknown automaton. Encased in a highly durable armoured shell with signs of crystal energy matrices." Ivan knew that Pods and YoRHa personnel could silently converse, they were likely trying to intimidate him.
Dogwood saw what was happening and immediately cut in. "It's fine, he's with us! We'd all have died if not for him!" He frantically waved his arms while stepping to the front and side of Ivan.
"Him? Is he an android?" 2B asked and cocked her head.
Sighing, Ivan removed his helmet and held it by the braided cords on the back of its construction. He waved at the two new gynoids and spoke. "Salutations. My name is B27, I assisted these people." He mentally kicked his crappy grasp of the language, it had improved leaps and bounds but he spoke slowly and sounded like a simpleton. He could feel Sion snicker.
"Aaare you a Machine?" A2 asked while dragging the vowels.
"I do not look like one, no?" Ivan retorted bluntly.
"Well, I've actually met a couple Machines who look human..."
Ivan frowned. "No, I am not a Machine."
"Perhaps, but I've never seen an android as big as you, especially with that kind of armour." A2 continued to grill him.
"I am an android." Ivan said again more firmly while frowning.
Dogwood saw the confrontation going into potentially contentious territory and butted in. "He's telling the truth A2, I saw him tear apart rogue Machines like they were tissue paper with efficiency even you'd be jealous of."
2B quirked her head. "Oh that was you, I thought it was odd that those corpses had cutting and shearing damage. Resistance usually don't use large bladed weapons with some exceptions." Her stance relaxed finally and she put a hand on A2's shoulder.
Dogwood brandished his HK rifle. "Damn right, this baby is more than enough to put down some bad robots." He looked a little sheepish once he noticed the machine children were all still listening with rapt attention. "Aaanyways, we should probably all head out."
"Damn and here I thought I was gonna see some good old fashion ass kicking..." Jackass finally spoke up. "Before you all head off though... where are you from exactly, big guy? You talk weird like you don't know how to speak right… No offence." She added the last bit like some kind of disdainful afterthought.
Ivan shrugged, he knew his orders on what to tell them. "My group known as Absolution." He saw Jackass snicker at the name and likely his poor usage of the language.
"What a stupid name… Eh, you guys don't have to take it seriously, I was joking." Jackass said to 2B and A2. Both of whom were staring at him and Jackass with hard glares.
A2 and 2B had an imperceptible conversation as their bodies began to tense again before 2B spoke up while her hand moved with clear purpose. "Met a hostile android who had that in their databank..." Ivan quickly put together that they had probably met an Infiltrator who had synced with FeNiKS-Luna recently… Shit. Sion also got the hint and immediately threw up software barriers and was priming their Combat Skin for combat.
Dogwood started to back away from Ivan and beckoned the squad to subtly gain distance and potentially fire on the armoured android. Jackass made herself scarce as well as she knew what YoRHa could do in CQB.
"I am not aware of such…" Ivan was wracking his brain for words and subtly shifting to move away. "infiltration." And only nanoseconds later realized he had said too much, they never mentioned infiltration explicitly. Fuck. He snapped up his helmet, still in his hand by its braids.
February 7th 11946 – SHANGHAI CITY RUINS [Resistance Storage Dump]
For just a moment 2B wondered if they were actually making a mistake. Potentially being too paranoid with this stranger. The overgrown buildings and skyscrapers around them seemed to groan. The sky was crackling with that purple lightning and the birds seemed to still as the cicadas' songs grew shorter as well. 2B wasn't sure this aggression was necessary but 9S had nearly died to that psychotic android. She wouldn't hesitate if this android in front of her proved to be a compatriot. Then he said the word that made her lunge. Infiltration. How would he know about that if she hadn't mentioned it?
A2 followed up with her own NFCS just as Virtuous Treaty flicked into existence and 2B flung her wrist for this B27's chest with its blade. In that split moment of him starting to move and her reaction to that cursed word, she saw his eyes begin to glow slightly and his reaction was absolutely staggering. The helmet slammed into the side of her sword and deflected it. She gasped as his face twisted into intense focus and her sword was swatted with unconventional defence. 2B tried to roll herself to the side but he was faster, using the palm of his hand to jam into her waist and slam her backwards a meter.
A2 stopped her followup strike to order the Pods to open fire with their hardlight gattling cannons and phased herself behind B27 instead. 2B was 'panting' and realized he'd had the perfect opening to gut her, she'd have to respect that reaction speed. It was humbling as she chewed her lower lip and began to move rapidly to coordinate with A2.
"Report, reaction speed is impossibly high even for advanced YoRHa manufacturing technologies. Theory, this android's crystal matrix reaction system is sufficiently advanced to allow light-speed adjustments with processing power capable of making such quick calculations. Additional theory, processing power required is immense, potentially additional AI support and Time Dilation maso usage." That threw 2B for a bit of a loop as Pod said all this through their wireless links. Time Dilation was still in prototyping at YoRHa…
B27 had cleared the firing lines of the Pods and retreated into an alley as the report was given. A small blessing as it meant the children wouldn't be endangered. One of the machines was practically destitute at seeing the sudden violence against the rogue android. She saw as one of the android resistance soldiers had to hold the stumpy from running towards the retreating enemy.
2B cleared her mind and with A2 they gave chase. He was really fast. Though they were seemingly faster. They caught him in an open road just as he raised an odd looking rifle and started firing some wicked looking hardlight at them. Another technology that only YoRHa was supposed to be capable of… What was he? A2 caught the shots on her Type 4O Large Blade as the crackling energy field easily absorbed the shots.
"Pod, laser, maximum output!" 2B shouted as she sprinted and dashed towards her quarry.
"Affirmative." Pod-042a said as his body morphed into a twin focusing array in lieu of the gattling cannon. B27 having seen it assessed the threat and dispelled his rifle only to reappear on his back upon a now revealed pintle mount. Pod fired the laser a moment later just as B27 jumped to the side, it grazed a hardlight barrier on his side and singed his metal carapace. That moment of distraction was all 2B needed to get behind him and slash out hard with Virtuous Treaty.
B27 had noticed however and twisted his body in a contorted stance and out flashed a hardlight dagger on his wrist that parried her blow. It was quickly followed by another hardlight dagger on his other wrist intending to sever her extended arm. Only to be blocked by A2's smaller Type 4O Sword, her entire body was radiating excess heat and her eyes blazed with energy. 2B realized that she had entered into her B-mode state, that was good but she'd pay for it later in maintenance. She forced B27 back and spun herself in a rapid fashion as her Large Blade spun with her. B27 blocked with a giant sword of his own that was summoned from had to be his own NFCS. 'He's practically a giant YoRHa soldier…' 2B thought with a bit of worry. The blade crackled with arcane runes and red bolts of energy as it blocked and made a clear cut in A2's blade. That Type 4O Large Blade was meant to be the cutting edge of YoRHa RnD. It was sheathed in an energy power field that allowed it to cut any metal with ease and short out electronics.
2B used that moment to examine the situation. It was clearly risky to continue fighting this android, they probably could beat him but not without damage… His weapons and skill outmatched their own individually and he was making their cutting edge tools seem silly. They needed to use the terrain... 'What would 9S do?' 2B thought with some desperation.
"Pod, see if you can breach his firewalls!" She said through their commlink and flicked her head about scanning with her visor for advantageous ground. She settled on an overpass… That would do. Maybe. She looked back at A2… Shit…
A2's Type 4O Large Blade was sputtering as its energy field failed and was pitted with scars from B27's behemoth of a sword but A2 didn't seem to care as she all but phased in and out of existence at hyper-speeds in all directions around B27. B27 was similarly dashing at immense speed and was slashing in all directions with his wrist daggers and giant sword. Occasionally the gun on his back would track and fire at A2. Pod-042c was firing off laser blasts when B27 showed an opening in his engagement pattern and was scoring some glancing hits off his hardlight barriers. A2 was venting immense heat however and couldn't sustain the assault much longer. If this battle raged long enough, A2 would be laid up in a repair bay for a few days...
"Alert! B27's firewalls and blocking programs are insurmountable, I nearly had my circuits fried by aggressive programs. I will attempt a synchronous attack with my other self."
2B bit her lower lip. That wasn't good, sure the Pods weren't as adept as say… 9S at hacking into and damaging foreign systems but they were far from pushovers. She'd need a new plan it seemed, the overpass.
"Pod, fire a volley of rockets at these coordinates!" She fed him data from her visor as she started to sprint into position hoping A2 would take the hint and sync with her assault. They were coordinates meant to corral him under the overpass and hopefully he wouldn't notice their ruse until it was too late.
A2 'gasped' loudly "FUCK!" She exclaimed loudly in sheer frustration as her Large Blade was shattered like cheap glassware. Raining shards of alloyed titanium and tungsten across the grass as B27 leapt at her like a tiger. She slammed her spear at B27 hard to give herself room and vent heat but he was on her like a bee on honey. Luckily that determination walked him right into a missile from the Pods and she saw and heard the snap-hiss of hardlight shattering and his body being thrown back a couple meters. He rolled his body hard across the ground as more missiles slammed down. Using the building centrifugal force he bent his body mid-roll harshly into a standing position and flipped away from the other missiles. Her plan was working.
A2 had a very minor limp as 2B ran up to her to regroup. "We're gonna corral him under that bridge and blow the supports!" 2B informed her as the Pods continued to salvo more missiles while circling around to plant explosives.
A2 merely nodded and kept emergency venting heat from core overload. "Good, fucking prick broke my favourite sword..." 2B smirked and they both ran into position.
The barrage having ended led B27 to very calmly walk into better footing. The bastard was conserving energy? It seemed an odd thing for an android in this kind of battle to do. He had shifted his hardlight rifle from the mount to his hands. A2 was twirling her smaller sword to block the errant shots while 2B ran up to him. She flashed the Phoenix Sword into existence and using her hands to manipulate it in midair started spinning it up for a top-down slam attack. He merely flipped aside as she came down and threw an estoc blade where she landed only missing her by a centimeter. She dodged back towards A2 to reconvene. They nodded at eachother and started racing to pincer him in a bladed cross-slicing maneuver. He summoned that smaller estoc sword back to himself just as they were about to do a double sided cross attack with their swords. He morphed it into a saber form to parry 2B's assault and shoved his elbow into her chest while spinning her back towards the edge of A2's Type 4O sword. A2 cursed loudly and dashed away just as the momentum of force flung 2B into a pillar.
This fucking android was unreal, it made that maneuver so easily and quickly… 2B was 'coughing' a bit as she began to retreat. It didn't matter, the Pods pinged 2B and A2 that the charges were set and 2B flickered herself out of the way as the explosions ripped the overpass apart. B27 was too far in to do anything other than try and dash away as rubble entombed him.
'Panting' hard, A2 remarked. "Well that was probably among the most dangerous fights of my life..."
2B nodded in agreement. "I think he was holding back at the end." 2B decided to thump her chest and gave a slight 'cough' after saying that.
A2 shook her head. "No, he nearly gutted me and was clearly going full force, there's no way he didn't intend for me to skewer you at the end."
2B knew that was true but she didn't want it to be… This pointless cycle of fighting and dying.
A silvery fist shoved through the rubble.
"For the love of Humanity's extinct ass..." A2 remarked and dashed towards the offered fist.
Right as A2's sword descended to sever the hand, B27 came out swinging his body to jab a hardlight dagger into A2's cranium. 2B parried the attack with Virtuous Treaty but it was far too close for comfort. The hiss of hardlight gattling fire forced B27 to flip himself out of the way but his movements seemed to be getting sluggish. Odd, perhaps his actuators had been damaged? Regardless their plan bore some fruit if it somehow injured his frame.
"We need him alive if possible, I don't know if he'll self destruct but we have to try! We need to know who these androids are!" 2B shouted at A2 as she charged across the way to the alley he ducked into.
"Fine!" A2 chewed out and spun her blade to block his point blank gun blast having turned the corner.
B27 growled! Fucking growled as he made an X shape with his blades and arrested the spinning motion of A2's sword while yanking it away. A2 snickered and flipped away while summoning it back… Except it didn't reappear. It stayed in his crossed wrist daggers and he casually cut it in half with a grunt of effort…
"YOU MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF MOOSE SHIT!" A2 fumed at him for degrading and destroying her smaller sword. A2 now only had her spear left. He tossed the ruined blade away and stomped in a very, if they weren't fighting to the death, childish way.
"I have no quarrel with you!" B27 spoke for the first time in this fight to which 2B didn't buy for a fucking second. If that was the case she thought, then why had his friends tried to murder 9S?
"Then surrender." 2B said simply.
"No." B27 said with venom and a little spite.
"Then you have a quarrel with us!" A2 helpfully added and drew her spear.
He flickered himself forward and 2B parried while punching his other arm as hard as she could. He grunted loudly and spun out of her reach as A2 shot past her. B27 flipped back as she slammed herself down where he was, her spear obliterating the concrete with a shock-wave of energy. She had resumed B-mode it seemed and she immediately teleported to his front and shoved her spear at his midsection. She managed to catch him off guard! A hardlight barrier sprang up and the spear glowed with frictional heat. A whining and keening noise could be heard as the hardlight began to buckle. The spear finally shattered the barrier and cut through the abdominal plating and sprang through the other side. B27 grunted as lubricant flowed out of the wound before the energy could fully cauterize it. A2's spear was stained in vengeance for its companion swords.
2B raced to decapitate him but B27 grabbed the spear, holding it tight, and kicked A2 so hard she flew several meters back. She crumpled as B-mode deactivated and she weakly sat up gingerly. Holding the spear, B27 flicked an energy dagger and spun to cut off 2B's head. She dodge-dashed out of the way but the blade still cut a line across her face. She could feel the gentle heat of the hardlight on her nose as it cut a perfect line through her visor but left her skin undamaged. 'That was far too close!' She screamed in her head. The visor flickered dead and flowed off her face exposing her grey-blue eyes. She scowled as he cut the spear's shaft and pulled it the rest of the way out of his wound reopening it and more lubricant flowed out… So much more than an android would normally bleed in fact…
His under-suit seemed to form into a foam-like material and sealed it as he grunted and his body seemed to shake subtly. Reactions completely baffling to the gynoid. Androids had self partitions in their body for when they sprung a lubricant leak and could selectively turn off pain reactions if required. It didn't matter she decided and leapt to attack. A2 wasn't far behind as 2B threw her the Phoenix Sword to use in lieu of her own arsenal being eradicated by this pain in the ass before them.
B27 was fighting defensively now and parried several coordinated assaults and laser blasts from the Pods. 2B had given up trying to hack him with the Pods as even when they coordinated, his blocking programs were too damn malicious and dangerous. 2B scowled, her visor was more than just an information and visual aid… It was her solace from the world… Now in the heat of battle she could focus past that but once it was over… She'd feel exposed, this day was probably the worst she'd had since the mass assault.
B27 was still fighting like an absolute monster, he left no further openings and punished A2 severely. She couldn't engage B-mode again without irreparable damage to her internals and 2B was starting to doubt if they could defeat this thing without it. She put her full might behind a strike with Virtuous Treaty to sever his left arm. B27 smacked A2 away backhanded and spun to face her, goddammit how was he so fast? He parried with his smaller sword now glowing a brilliant white in energy as its saber form cut a hot crescent through Virtuous Treaty and severed it in half. He kicked her away then and before he could follow up, a salvo of gunfire erupted on his body. Loud metal pinging and the sound of crackling heat lit up B27's form.
2B was in shock, her sword was cut in half… Her visor was destroyed... She was running ragged, A2 was down for the fight and her entire arsenal was in ruins… However the Pods and Dogwood's team along with Jackass and her assistant were firing a fusillade to keep him from killing either of them. His barriers failed and the shots slammed into his plating as some even found purchase and punched holes in his body. Lubricant was flowing in streams as the under-suit failed to heal all the damage.
Part of his helmet in that moment broke off and jettisoned into the distance as he fell over and stopped moving. Just as she was getting up an alert screamed across her mind. She heard A2 groaning loudly as well in that moment.
VIOLATION OF PROTOCOL 7-1:3 – CEASE ALL FCS FUNCTION!
ERROR! OVERRIDE TO AGGRESSION LEVEL DENIED!
TARGET PARAMETERS UNACCEPTABLE! HUMAN!
FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROTOCOL 7-1:3 WILL ACTIVATE TERMINATION OF UNIT YoRHa Type E Number 2!
ERROR! OVERRIDE TO AGGRESSION LEVEL DENIED!
She was floored and only Pod confirming the protocol made her finally deactivate her FCS and consequently abort her self destruct. 'They just fought a human?'
February 7th 11946 – SHANGHAI CITY RUINS [Near Storage Dump]
Shit… This was not going well at all. He had tried at first to maybe merely disable these two gynoids but after they started to pose a significant threat he had started thinking lethally… After that spear strike he had gotten a tad bit angry. These gynoids were too brutal to end a fight without terminating them. He was about to finish them off when that barrage hit him. He realized at that moment he was probably about to die but he refused to allow another on his team to die with him… So instead of self destruct, he broke standing orders and overrode Sion's protocols to send her off in a self-contained evacuation. He jettisoned her to safety on the auxiliary data crystal storage and closed his eyes as the metal slugs tore into his body and fell over. Blood pooling all around him, he passed out.
Sion was screaming as she was launched in the auxiliary data crystal storage with her Psion matrix encased in a protective shell that was capable of limited locomotion. She landed about 600 meters away from her knight and fumed. She of course did not want to die and she certainly did not want Ivan to die… But to override her like that and to fire her into the abyss away from their Combat Skin? She thought she understood, he cared too much to let her die and even broke standing orders to do it… No doubt those Tactical Support Units had already scanned the DNA of that blood now littering the concrete... Dammit, she felt herself hoping he'd continue breaking the rules and wouldn't self destruct his suit or kill himself.
She ducked her new 'body' around a corner after landing and made her way a safe distance to observe what was happening to her knight. It seemed as though the androids had no idea what Ivan had done in the moments before he succumbed to their assault. Good, that meant she would not have to hide too hard. She intended fully to follow that moron and make sure he was alright. They would break protocol together… They'd probably both be executed too but at least they would do it knowing they had tried to their best to survive and honour their team's legacy. She wondered if what she felt when Lagrange and Noir were found dead was what humans classified as grief? She had to make a partition specifically to brood about it… It ate processing power but frankly she did not care. They deserved that processing power, they deserved her to remember them. They would never be reborn like Servitors, Androids or Support Frames. SCHIA were designed to be as mortal as their knights.
She really had not minded that reality until they found Noir and Lagrange. How selfish, Yono and William were dead and they couldn't be reborn either. She saw them crudely wrenching B27's helmet off and check for his pulse. They knew what he was then and their protocols were kicking in to protect him and his life. Good, that meant he was no longer in any real danger. They would tend him and drag him to their camp. Probably put him in a cell to limit his threat level…. Not like that would stop Ivan, she internally smirked. Nor would it stop her.
She would wait until they let their guard down and try to reattach herself to the Gilgamesh Combat Skin. She would be able to make sure he was safe and potentially fight their way out if necessary. She could not fight as well as Ivan but those two gynoids were in no shape to fight again so soon. Thankfully most of the damage seemed to be superficial to the Combat Skin itself. The plates aside from the one pierced by the spear were merely pitted or slightly slagged and the under-suit had already repaired the worst damage. To itself and to its wearer. She saw the one named Dogwood hand the helmet off to someone else. Hmmmm, were they intending to strip him of his combat skin? That would be a problem especially if they used some kind of cutting tools… She could disengage the locks and seals remotely with a one way data burst but… No, they wouldn't hurt him at this juncture and if they damaged the combat skin that would be worse since he'd get hurt either way. So that's what she did, she unlocked it so they could take it away from him but she'd recover it in due time.
A mysterious figure watched all this occur from a shaded vantage point in a barren skyscraper. It realized what had just happened… And it recoiled from this discovery… A human? A true human? How was that possible? No that couldn't be true…
It gripped its head in fury, how could this have happened? It would have to report this immediately, everything was going wrong. Those humans were supposed to be extinct. He wouldn't like this one bit, no He'd be furious. It would be punished but it knew its duty and frankly it didn't mind too much. Punishment wasn't terrible, it usually also came with rewards. Oh well it couldn't be helped. The figure crept away from the area silent as a ghost and chill as a wraith. It left no shadow and its flowing black hair was dark as midnight. The purple lightning in the sky helped to obscure its figure further.
February 7th 11946 – SHANGHAI CITY RUINS [Near Storage Dump]
"Fuck me." A2 whispered after getting the alerts but since she could hardly move they hadn't threatened to fucking murder her. A human? They just fought a human? Humans weren't that big or that strong, surely? They certainly weren't breathing these days… But no matter how many times she asked that fucking Pod, it kept saying it had run hundreds and eventually thousands of tests on the blood. The motherfucking cunt was a human. Jackass came running up and grabbed a hold of A2 to hoist her up.
"It is seriously never boring with you guys!" Jackass grinned and supported her to walk over towards the grim fucking reaper human himself. "I didn't realize humans kicked so much fucking ass!" A2 rolled her eyes, leave it to Jackass to focus on the most stupid thing.
2B grunted and righted herself while looking over at the human. A2 didn't know what look she was giving but it was clearly murdering any kind of positive reaction for sure. It was likely contempt. A2 felt it to some extent too but she was also happy? If this was a human… They had a purpose again, humans existed… They were here…
"Hey 2B, this is pretty awkward huh? First meeting with our creators and we're already trying to kill em… heh." A2 said and rubbed her head as Jackass snorted.
Dogwood came up next with a few of his soldiers. "Holy Luna… We should probably make sure he's still alive." A2 thought that sounded like a decent plan but 2B beat her to a response.
"Why bother…" She bit her lower lip and squinted at the body.
"Because he's a human." Dogwood said with a surprised face.
"He's still an enemy." 2B surprised A2 with that. She blinked at her. 2B was usually the more compassionate...
"2B, this means we didn't fight for nothing..."
"It means… That we were less than dirt to our… our…" 2B clenched her fist until the gloves tore from tension.
A2 caught her meaning… Yeah, it did didn't it? Afterall, did they plan YoRHa? Was Pearl Harbour just their sick idea of field testing new toys? A2 was cynical but… She really did want to believe humans were pure. "It means that we can get answers." She flatly chose to say.
2B rolled her eyes, now visible, and laid back down. "Sure."
Dogwood nervously looked about before finally getting down and tried to remove the helmet. "Fucking thing won't budge." Dogwood then turned white as a sheet. "I told a human he couldn't tell me what to do and disrespected him… Oh shit. I wouldn't have~" He stopped himself before starting up again slower. "I would not have done that had I known..."
This time A2 rolled her eyes. "Shut up and just take his damn helmet off."
"I would if I cou… Oh hey." Dogwood was saying as he jiggled it and accidentally pressed a release catch bringing the helmet off. "I got it!" Pulling it off they all looked, even 2B sat back up. A human's face… They'd all seen it before but now they knew…
"Unit Dogwood, you must check for the human's pulse by placing your fingers on his neck. On the side near the center." Pod-042 informed the android who complied.
"OH! I feel it, it's a strong pulsing sensation!"
"Fascinating, that is not normal." Pod-042 helpfully pointed out.
A2 took the proverbial bait. "Why's that?"
"After sustaining such damage, no human would still be alive. Cardiac arrest and a number of other problems would be likely. Though this is good, likely all damage missed vital organs."
2B spoke up next. "All the videos I've seen on humans and all practical knowledge tells me that he shouldn't have been able to nearly beat us in combat either." 2B still had her pride, she didn't flat out say they lost.
"Yeah, it was pretty intense. Maybe it's just the suit?" A2 added and 2B hummed.
"We need to prioritize removal of the armour before we move him. It is vital he be treated for injury and to limit his threat level." Pod-042 added.
Dogwood nodded at that and tossed the helmet at Jackass' assistant, Banyan or Dumbass… "Right, Jackass, you got a welding and cutting torch?" Dogwood asked and Jackass grinned as she set A2 down to sit next to 2B.
"Of course I do!" She practically skipped back to the storage dump. Dogwood shook his head slightly and started fiddling with the armour.
"Hey Dogwood. Where's the kids?" A2 was looking around trying to spot their green eyes.
"Oh, stashed with a couple soldiers, didn't… did not want to risk their safety." Dogwood stuttered and kept his eyes and hands on the armour.
"What the hell's your problem anyway? You keep stopping and correcting yourself..." A2's eyes narrowed.
Rubbing the back of his head, he replied. "It umm… Well… Big guy hates contractions… says they're disrespectful."
A2 cocked her head and 'sighed'. "Who gives a shit?"
Dogwood nervously chuckled. A2 rolled her eyes, this whole situation was fucking ludicrous. Dogwood continued to fiddle with the suit. Pressing things that looked like buttons and tugging on the plates while grunting. A2 wondered how they even stayed attached, it was a marvel of engineering.
Suddenly with a hiss the entire assembly came apart and the plates fell off while the under-layers presented seams and various straps and other easily handled latches... What the fuck did Dogwood do? Said android was staring with a gaping mouth at the whole thing. Maybe the fucker was luck incarnate? Yeah, fucking ludicrous summed this day up beautifully.
Junk Heap Incident – FeNiKS by 7645 AD had established a significant foothold with 'Infiltrator' Model Androids; Detection, Vigilance, Enforcement and Search – Revision. 50 Foundry. 3 (DVES50-3). Most of the Army of Humanity had been thoroughly infiltrated and rates of discovery were kept low. No breach of information had occurred and the project was deemed a total success. Advances in scientific breakthroughs over the last 2 millennia had dubbed this period as the Neo-Golden Age. Thus it was by the year 7645 AD/5574 GFE that FeNiKS was made aware of Junk Heap. Reports from Orbital Facilities over Earth and ground forces revealed that the Android Resistance was losing overwhelmingly on Earth. Thus it was determined after discovery of the Junk Heap, a Utopian paradise that Machine and Androids managed to live in harmony, that even if they perpetuated a lie of human existence without revealing their hand… That Android morale was eventually shatter and they would overwhelmingly join Junk Heap. That could not be allowed at any cost. Further adding worry was the existence and continued support of the Independists on Australia. Androids that rebelled against the notion of Humanity being their masters. Drastic action was taken and development of a maso-enriched electromagnetic microwave bomb was approved. It was used to eradicate Junk Heap and reignite the Machine Wars on Earth by deep cover Infiltrator Androids. The Machines didn't recognize the weapon and the Androids were none the wiser…
[End Record]