I'm back with another installment! I hope you guys will enjoy this, as well.
"2B, come check this out!" 9S called from the living room.
2B was slightly frustrated at the fact that 9S called her when she was fully immersed in the book she was currently reading. Since she installed the reading chip, she has been intrigued by the humans' literature. Angst, happiness, love, were all beautifully transformed into words.
2B stuck her head out of her room, which was adjacent to the living room. "What is it, 9S?"
9S had connected something to the television. It was a white box that stood vertically. The television displayed a man in a red outfit and a man in a green outfit, slightly taller than his companion, each holding a wheel, similar to the one in 9S's hand.
"Some guy who sold it to me said it was gonna be fun, so why don't we test it out? It's called a gaming console, by the way,"
9S pressed the A button and chose 'Grand Prix'. He selected a random character, and chose the easiest map. Of course, he had it set to easy mode. He handed the wheel to 2B, prompting her to try it out.
"And what am I supposed to do with this thing?" 2B examined the buttons on the baton.
"Okay, you hold the wheel like this, and you'll move forward when you press this button," 9S, his hands over 2B's, guided her on how to maneouvre the controller. "To turn left or right, just steer the wheel, like so,"
The race began after the countdown. 2B oversteered on the first bend. 9S was grinning as he guided the vehicle back onto the track.
"Don't turn that violently, 2B. Just a bit will do,"
2B then hit a box with a '?' sign. A box appeared on the top right of the screen. Being in the eighth place, she acquired a giant black bullet with white arms and angry eyes.
"That's a sweet item you got there. If you want to use this, just press this button over here," 9S pressed a button.
The character in the game was instantly enveloped by the bullet, moving at a ludicrous pace. Hitting the opponents as well as going autopilot, it disappeared with a poof as 2B reached the fifth place. Other items were really helpful for her to reach the top. She also learned that a red shell would hit anyone in front of her, while a green shell would bounce around on the tracks when you set it off on a certain trajectory, among other items.
On the final lap, 2B was on the third place. 9S cheered her on. She was extremely focused on the game, and it earned her the second place. 9S gave her a round of applause.
"That's not bad at all, 2B,"
"Well, that was certainly fun," commented 2B, letting out a ghost of a smile. She handed the wheel back to 9S.
9S looked slightly hurt. "What, you don't want to play a round against me?"
2B cocked an eyebrow. "You can do that?"
"Obviously you can. Here, let me set things up," 9S turned on another baton as he placed it into a wheel.
"There we go. We'll play on another track, okay?"
They each set up their characters and chose a new map.
"Oh, and before we start, your screen is at the top, while mine's at the bottom, okay?"
2B nodded.
The race started. The CPU characters were overtaken by 9S in no time. 2B wasn't about to back down either, and she was steadily overtaking the CPU characters. 9S was already first when they were only halfway in the first lap.
'He's pretty good, that's for sure. But that doesn't mean I can't win,' thought 2B.
On the final lap, 9S was still reigning at the top. The item 2B acquired was a blue shell. She'd never seen a blue shell in action before, but set it off anyway. That was when she discovered that a blue shell would hit whoever's on the first place, no exceptions. The victims don't just slip around; they explode into the air, along with anyone in its proximity.
2B overtook 9S with a breeze. 9S groaned as his driver got back on his feet. Or wheels, one would say.
"Who set that off?" howled 9S.
2B was almost laughing.
"It was you, wasn't it?" 9S knew he wouldn't have enough time to catch up to her.
The race ended with 2B on the first place while 9S was the runner up.
"Ugh, I was so close, and you went and sent that shell my way," complained 9S.
"I was lucky it hit the second and the third drivers too," said 2B with pride.
"We'll have a rematch, and I'll show you who's boss," challenged 9S.
Without a blue shell and a little bit of luck in her arsenal this time, 9S came in first.
"Yeah! I knew I could do it!" 9S jumped up, punching a fist in the air.
"9S," said 2B quietly. "You didn't hack it, did you?"
"What? Why'd I do that? Not that I wouldn't do it, though,"
"That's it! You really did hack the game, after all," insinuated 2B.
"No, 2B, I'd never hack a game that I'm playing with you," 9S was taken aback by the accusation.
Unable to hold it in, 2B laughed out loud. "Okay, you won, fair and square. That was a joke, by the way,"
9S frowned for a split second, and then laughed along. "Anyway, do you want to try another game?"
"Sure," the laughter had subsided.
"Okay, we're going to play a sports game this time. We'll start by playing tennis first," 9S started up another game.
Naturally, 2B proved to be more proficient in physical activities than 9S. She won three games in a row without breaking a sweat. 9S, however, was beginning to feel worn out.
"2B, I'm kinda tired. Can we stop for now?" 9S plopped down onto the sofa.
2B put down her baton. "Androids don't get tired, do they?"
"That's because you're a Battle model, and have higher resilience."
"Huh, I thought Scanners, who go for scouting missions, would require a lot of stamina,"
"Scouting isn't as tiring as battling, you see,"
Just then, the front door opened, revealing a soaking 21O. It was raining cats and dogs outside, but 2B and 9S failed to notice since they were too absorbed in the games.
"21O, you ought to dry yourself off as soon as possible," said 2B as she went to look for a towel.
"I can take a bath just fine," commented 9S as he noticed a bundle wrapped up in 21O's hands.
"Well, we're modeled for outdoor activities, 9S while Operators are not," replied 2B as she returned with a towel in hand. "So we can't be entirely sure,"
21O shifted the bundle into one hand as she accepted the towel. "Thank you, 2B. I believe we Operators are water resistant too, since I'm still functioning normally,"
"Say, what do you have wrapped up in there?" unable to satiate his curiosity, 9S finally asked.
"Do you mean this?" 21O gestured to the bundle. It barked right then.
2B was instantly on the defensive. Summoning her Virtuous Contract, she aimed the weapon at the bundle. "It could be dangerous," she hissed.
"It sounds like a dog. 21O, did you bring a dog home?" 9S, however, didn't feel so.
As 21O set the bundle down on the floor, a small creature with orange-red and white fur came bounding out. It jumped on top of 9S and proceeded to lick him on the face. 9S was too surprised to do anything. When he saw 2B's sword coming down on him, he dodged it with a roll. The sword met the sofa's fabric, and fueled the dog's excitement.
"Wow, 2B, were you trying to kill me?" he asked, holding the puppy with both hands, so that it wouldn't move around.
"Wasn't it trying to attack you?" 2B's icy blue eyes reflected her inner fury at the creature.
"No, you've gotten it wrong. Dogs are man's best friend, as the humans say. They lick people to show their affection," explained 9S.
"I see. I humbly apologise, small creature," said 2B, as the Virtuous Contract dissolved into nothing. "21O, what should I do, now that the sofa's ruined?"
21O chuckled, amused. "I'll tell Commander about this, and hope that she'll replace it for us. The dog was lying on the street out there, in the pouring rain. Naturally, I felt sorry for it and brought it home. Now then, do you think we should name the dog, if we were to keep it?"
"Sure, we should keep it," agreed 9S, petting the dog. "What should we name it?"
They had a long discussion about a name, and finally decided to bestow the name Kainé upon it.
I know you guys would recognize what console it is. I haven't played that in a long time. Anyways, I would like to admit that I haven't played NieR, so I wouldn't know what kind of person Kainé is. She seems like a cool person though, and her name has a nice ring to it, which is why I'd like to name the dog after her. Another reason I chose to name it Kainé was probably because it rhymes with K9? ok please dont bash me im sorry
Would you like it more if the dog is named Kainé or K9? Do let me know!