Fipp: This chapter is a bit on the shorter end, but so far the other chapter I've written since this one have a bit more meat to them.

End of All Meaning

Chapter III: The Horrible Silence After

"Now, repeat your mission statement to me."

"I am YoRHa unit No. 2 Type-E, designed to eliminate YoRHa androids that are known to be a threat to our organization as a whole. I myself was manufactured in preparation for YoRHa unit No. 9 Type-S, who according to numerous simulations, has a high likelihood of eventually hacking into The Bunker's servers and discover top secret classified information. Him having said information could greatly compromise YoRHa mission. While under the guise of a Type-B model, I am to watch and observe YoRHa No. 9 Type-S' behavior, and upon either elimination orders from you, my own suspicions, or the compromise of my identity, he is to be executed."

"Very good. 9S will be ready to be rolled out sometime tomorrow morning, and after he is settled in, assigned his own Operator and Pod, you and he will be deployed on your first mission together. Until the time to execute him come, you two are to work together as any other paired units, do you understand?"

"I do, ma'am."

"Again, very good."

"Is that all, Commander?"

"No, there is one more thing I feel I must tell you. As a Type-E, you have been assigned a very difficult task. It will not be easy, and over time, I imagine that it will overwhelm you and possibly become very difficult for you to accomplish your mission."

"I'm afraid I don't understand, ma'am. As a Scanner, No. 9 Type-S should be easy to overtake in a combat scenario, and I have been formatted with the proper sub-systems to fight off any hacking attacks from him."

"I was not referring to the act itself, but rather... Just know, that emotions are prohibited."

"Emotions are prohibited."

"What you will do, is a necessary evil, all for the sake of a greater good, and hopefully the day for you to no longer continue this task will come in your lifetime. Until that day however, Glory to Mankind."

"Glory to Mankind."

000

Slowly, the world returned to her, her hearing slowly coming back to her as colors began to fill her vision, there were shapes in front of her, mostly dull browns and beige, but the most striking colors were two splotches of red. It didn't take long, but everything came into view, suddenly becoming clearer, and she could see what she was looking at, but something must have been still wrong with her vision since she was seeing double.

"Looks like she's awake, Devola," said one of the doubles, and the other one came closer until they were both hanging over her.

"Mornin'. Slept well, didn't ya, 2B?"

That's right, her vision was fine. Devola and Popola, the twin models at the Resistance Camp who specialized in repairs and healing procedures.

2B was laid down on a bed, and she looked around her to figure out where she was, only to see that she was in fact at the Resistance Camp. How did she get here? What had happened?

With some effort, she pushed herself up, her body feeling stiff and sore all over, radiating mostly from her joints, making her feel heavy and sluggish. As her legs left the bed, she discovered that her visor having already been placed in her enclosed hand, so she did what came naturally and wrapped it around her head, covering her eyes, and tying the knot behind the back of her head, underneath her hair. It took longer than usual, her fingers feeling numb and clumsy as she finally secured it.

"I'm in... the Resistance Camp?" 2B finally said, and already she felt tired from just looking over the medical area.

She noticed that Pod 042 was hovering just above the bed. She wanted to reach out, to place her palm against its smooth and cool chassis, but she didn't think she had the strength for it.

"That's right," Popola started. "You've been unconscious for nearly two weeks."

Devola continued. "A little 'thank you' for saving your butt your be nice!"

Slowly 2B's head turned, looking over the camp, taking in her surrounding, from the twins to the varying other androids she could see, conducting whatever business they had. All she could do was trying and piece things together...

"Where's 9S?" she asked, her voice sounding smaller than she had ever heard it.

The twins looked to one another, neither one of them looking particularly confident in whatever answer they had for him.

"You know that better than anyone, no?" Devola said finally. 2B did, she just wished that anyone could give her a different answer. "His black box signal... disappeared."

"...Oh." was all she could respond. This didn't feel real, it felt like some glitched simulation, where it was convincing but it still filled her with the sensation that something was off about it.

Pod 042 chimed in with its own statement: "Devola and Popola are rare android models designed for medical and maintenance. Without The Bunker, they are the only remaining way for unit 2B to initiate repairs." It lowered its altitude, hovering closer to her. "Proposal: A show of gratitude is known to be appropriate in this situation."

"...t-thanks."

"Yeah, there used to be lots of out models around," Devola continued, a hand going to rest on her hip. "Apparently, we were put here to oversee some kind of large-scale system that was in place."

"Oh..." 2B said, though in truth their words were background noise to her. Maybe this really was a simulation? She has had experience with such things before, they ran her through maybe dozens of them in the first two weeks of her activation in preparation for...

"Too bad we don't know know what it was exactly. All the records from that era were deleted, but what we do know is that our model went nutso at some point in the past. It ended badly."

"Most of our kind were disposed of after that," Popola said, her voice soft, a bit sad. "But we were spared, they used us as a sort of control group to ensure such a thing couldn't happen again."

"So yeah, we're lab rats," said Devola, who sounded more annoyed, before her tone softened, only slightly. "But at least we get to be helping our friends. I'd like to think that we're atoning in some way for our past sins.

That caught 2B's attention; past sins. She still had nothing to say however, she didn't know what to even say.

Slowly, and carefully, Popola reached over and gently placed her hand on 2B's shoulder, and while the urge to shrink away from the contact was still there, however dull and muted in her present state of mind, she did not have the bodily will to do so. "Try not to overdo it, 2B."

"Okay..."

Her legs moved, feeling as though they were their weight had suddenly increased almost beyond her capacity to carry them, and slowly, without aim, wandered out of the medical area. She moved past the maintenance shop vendor that had sold her Pod programs, plug-in chips and fusion of said chips. She had tried to greet 2B, but she went ignored as 2B went further into the center of the camp.

She kept looking, trying to find some kind of glitch, or visual or audible distortion that could help her get out of here, but no matter how hard she looked, everything seemed as though it should.

"2B!" called a voice, and the android in question turned her head in the direction the voice came from, and who she saw standing beneath the shade of the primary tent was Anemone.

2B tried to make her way over to her, but her legs still wouldn't obey her in the ways she wanted them to move, and before she could even get more than a few steps, Anemone walked up to her, her steps quick as she approached her.

"Hello Anemone," 2B greeted her, simply.

"It's good to see you're up and about, 2B," Anemone said, sounding tired as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Things have been... complicated the last couple of weeks, since you've been out. For a while, the city was covered in infected YoRHa units, but after they either killed one another, their bodies gave out from the strain the logic virus was giving them, and from there my men were able to put down the few that were left. As far as I know, that problem is over and done with. Surprisingly, there are still a few surviving YoRHa; three battle units in that haven't left the desert, and a scanner in the Forest Kingdom, though he's since started working for us. And since the Bunker is gone we can't-"

Her words trailed off, seeing as though 2B had yet to react to anything she was saying. Was she supposed to say anything.

"2B," Anemone tried again. "I'm sorry, about everything that happened, with YoRHa and The Bunker, and I heard about 9S too. I'm sorry about that, you two seemed close."

Close. That was one word to describe it.

"I just want to let you know, that I know what it's like to be the survivor, the last one left, and we'll be here to provide support for you whenever we can, and you're more than welcomed to stay until you figure out what you're going to do."

Do? She's supposed to get through this simulation, and complete whatever objective this is. After that she'll...

She just needs to get through this.

"Your old room is still available, so feel free to use it again. I imagine you'll want some time alone to yourself, to figure things out."

"Okay. I'll do that..."

2B turned around and began to make the trek to the storage room, which suddenly seemed so much further away than it should have been.

"And 2B," Anemone said from behind, though she did not look back to her. "Just, please be strong, okay?"

2B continued, her feet dragging against the dirt, filtering out the chatter and noises of the other androids around her, her entire range of focus centered around the door. Usually it would take seconds to reach it, to put her hand on the handle and open it up, but the seconds seemed as though they were dragged out into too long minutes, and when she finally reached the door, she couldn't open it. She stood there in front of it, unmoving for how long she didn't know, but she just couldn't open it and enter the room beyond.

"Report: Mail notification received from access point," Pod 042 chimed.

On a dime, 2B turned around and headed towards the access point, and her hand trembled as she pressed the keys, fumbling her password several times before she managed to finally enter the correct one. This must be information on how she was supposed to proceed with the simulation, it wasn't unusual for them to send orders and information in such a way.

It was a message from The Council of Humanity, containing a summary of the failure of the recent assault, the destruction of YoRHa and the loss of everyone in it.

Glory to Mankind.

As she closed her inbox, dread began to fill 2B as she dragged herself back to the storage room, a heavy, overwhelming fear swallowed her as she considered the possibility that this may not be a simulation.

Opening the door, she wasn't certain what to expect, but the room was the same as she last left it, nothing had changed at all. Everything was the same as though nothing had happened. She closed the door gently behind her, careful not to make a single noise in fear that any sudden and loud commotion would make her fears real. When it was closed her eyes met the bed across from the door, her own bed, taken when she had suggested that it would be better suited for her to be stationed much close to the door in the even there was a surprise ambush. She had been told that she was maybe being a bit paranoid, and that regardless of where she rested she would be able to keep both of them safe.

An ugly feeling formed inside of her at the words.

2B ignored her bed, and walked over to the other one, in the back of the room, sitting carefully down on it, her weight sinking into the mattress, and her fingers gripped into the sheets. As she did this, the prior events washed over her, and she realized something.

This wasn't a simulation, this was real. Her memories were real as well, everything that had happened, had actually happened.

The logic virus wiped out YoRHa. The Bunker was gone. Everyone was dead.

9S, he was dead too. He was Gone.

She could hear the loud humming of her black box in her ears, her lungs didn't seem to work anymore, as she was suddenly short of breath, each in take of air a labor of its own.

He couldn't be Gone, he just couldn't, it just didn't make any sense to her, he always came back, no matter what had happened to him, no matter what she did to him, he would always come back. The idea that she would never see him again...

Emotions are prohibited, she told herself as she tried not to think about the empty space next to her, how it would never be filled again. She had never gone more than a few days before she met up with him again, partnered with him to start their relationship all over again.

Emotions are prohibited, she told herself it had been two weeks since she was at the bridge, since she last saw him. Two weeks, that was almost an entire average lifetime for him.

Emotions are prohibited, she told herself as three years of memories flashed before her, important memories, both good and bad. The things that were most important to her, her light in the darkness.

Emotions are prohibited, she told herself as she pushed herself further onto the bed, until her back was pressed against the wall.

Emotions are prohibited, she told herself as she drew her knees against her chest and wrapped her her arms around her legs.

Emotions are prohibited, she told herself as she tried to curl up as small as possible, hoping that she would cease to exist.

Emotions are prohibited.

Emotions are prohibited...

Emotions are...

Emotions...

2B's whole body shook as the first sob chocked itself out of her.

000

Please be well,

Mrfipp