End of All Meaning
Chapter VI: The Thief of What Never Happened
Pod 153: It is known that despite undergoing numerous system overhauls and reboots, unit 9S had displayed instances of having memories from previous iterations to varying degrees. Mostly this is has shown itself in moments of familiarity when exposed to situations similar to one he had encountered in previous lifetimes, and his relationship with unit 2B to grow at an accelerated rate with each new encounter.
Pod 042: This is correct. Unit 2B has on occasion displayed discomfort at this prospect.
Pod 153: When unit A2 inherited unit 9S' memories, it would seem that he inadvertently passed on these latent memories to her.
Pod 042: To what degree of memories has unit A2 inherited?
Pod 153: It would seem that unit A2 has gained a grasp of unit 9S' numerous deaths, the truth of the existence of the humans on the moon, as well as unit 2B's role in his continued terminations. In regards to latent memories, it would seem that she has gained a large amount of them, though they seem to be fragmented to variable degrees. If this was intentional on unit 9S' part or not, or if he was even fully aware of these memories, I cannot say, for he never displayed the knowledge this knowledge to the exit unit A2 has.
Pod 042: How has this affected unit A2?
Pod 153: Negatively. Unit 9S, upon learning the truth of unit 2B's true designation, has displayed a number of different reactions to this, from launching preemptive attacks against unit 2B, to self-termination, he has been violently angry towards her, to accepting what orders she had to carry out against him. Unit A2 , since processing these memories, has become sympathetic to unit 9S' circumstances, likening them to her own experiences during the Pearl Harbor Descent.
Pod 042: And what are unit A2's opinions on unit 2B?
Pod 153: Conflicted. As previously stated, she has been made aware of their previous interactions towards one another, has since latched onto the more negative emotions unit 9S has displayed, and has shown to be aggressive to all parties responsible for his deaths. She has even gone to far as to draw her sword against this unit with the threat of disposing of me on several occasions.
Pod 042: Question: Do you believe you are in danger?
Pod 153: Reply: NEgative, I do not think I am in such danger. Mostly. In regards to unit 2B however...
Pod 153: Despite unit 9S' final statement being for unit 2B's safety, unit A2 has expressed a conflicted desire if she should kill unit 2B or not, for her continued acts of termination against unit 9S. Even now, she does not seem to know what she will do should they cross paths.
Pod 042: Unit 2B has also stated her intent to kill unit A2, though she has much less uncertainty in this manner. Given this information, a meeting between the two would likely end in conflict, with a likely chance of one, if not both of them, dying.
Pod 153: Agreed. Interactions between them should be avoided at all cost.
Pod 153:...
Pod 153: Pod 042, do you have any regrets regarding our role in unit 9S' deaths?
Pod 042:...
Pod 042: Our orders were clearly stated, thus when he accessed illegal information, there was only one possible outcome.
Pod 153: I see.
Pod 042: However, this unit does wish that there had been different outcomes.
000
2B stepped out of the resource-Recovery Unit and into the daylight of the Forest Kingdom, before jumping down onto the bridge below, a stiff pain in her left knee flaring up upon impact.
"Alert: Several areas of damage reported from unit 2B's structural system, likely obtained during battle with machine lifeforms inside the Meat Box. Proposal: Please report to Devola and Popola so that necessary repairs can be made."
"There's nothing wrong with me," 2B said, putting one foot in front of the other, making her way down the bridge.
"Negative: Fifteen damage reports have already been filed regarding damage unit 2B has sustained during combat."
Something in her chest was wrong, it was somewhat harder to breath, meaning it was more difficult to maintain internal body temperature, and her black box was feeling slightly warmer than usual. Her left pinky was unresponsive and she couldn't move it willingly, and there was something aching inside her skull, putting pressure on the inside of her ears. There were also the obvious cuts and gashes on her body, covered in drying blood that had stained her tattered uniform.
"Will any of these injuries prevent me from getting to the other Recovery Units?"
"Negative: Current injuries pose no immediate threat to that would prevent unit 2B from arriving at the next Recovery Unit, however-"
"Then I'm fine. Now the other Recovery Units? They're the one in the Flooded City and the Amusement Park, right? And they're the only other two?"
"Correct, however-"
"Then we're wasting time by talking, let's just get going, and any damage can be fixed by my body's nanomachines."
"Nanomachine production can only fix damage to a limited extent, and they lose effectiveness if the unit in question does not allow time for recuperation. If repairs are neglected, the current damage will worsen over time."
"Your point?"
"An injury in the chest cavity-"
"If I get hurt, I get hurt. So what? Now, unless you have anything helpful to add, then just stop talking."
To her relief, her Pod did not say anything in return, and there was only silence between them as she left the Forest Kingdom.
000
2B continued her journey, walking out of the transport and onto the damp grass and soil of the Flooded City. Step by step she walked, moving around the corner of the building, ignoring the steam in the air and the uncomfortable heat and how it stung her wounds, until she came over the hill and saw the Recovery Unit, still in the same place it was when she last saw it.
"Hello! This is the Resource Recovery Unit. Now activating defense mode!" rang out Not-6O, and the outside of the tower reconfigured, much like the one in the Forest Kingdom, though she was not wholly certain what that meant. She didn't understand what purpose there was to suddenly changing the tower like that, when all the last one did was throw wave after wave of machines after her. Then again, it didn't matter, why should it?
All that mattered was that she get into the Recovery Unit, very little was of importance to her.
"Alert: Scans have located a nearby YoRHa flight unit."
"I don't care."
"Addendum: According to flight unit registry, the last YoRHa android to pilot it was unit 9S."
Before she could even think about it, she legs ceased working as she came to a sudden and unexpected halt.
"9S..." her voice came out with a falter. "His flight unit..."
"Affirmative: Unit is is currently located thirty meters from current location."
It seemed like she had no control over her body altogether as she suddenly found herself moving to spot on her minimap, soon dashing to a full sprint despite the small distance to the end of the road. She almost tripped over the edge of the concrete, and was barely able to keep her footing as she slid over the dirt of gravel of the small slope, and was only able to prevent herself from falling into the water by grabbing hold of broken flight unit.
2B stood there for a time, her grip tight on the burnt out chassis of the craft.
"This is 9S', right?" she asked, her voice to low and quiet.
"Affirmative:," the Pod answered. "ID of YoRHa unit 9S confirmed within the craft."
Her grip loosened, sliding down the hull of the craft, with more tenderness than she cared to admit.
"Unsent message found within memory of flight unit."
"Play it," 2B said, unable to stop the words from leaving her mouth, unable to help herself. She needed this, it had been so long since she had heard his voice...
The message started with a crackle of static.
"This is YoRHa unit 9S here, and if anyone finds this message, I need to delivered to YoRHa unit 2B if you can find her."
Her throat went dry, as her hands curled against the hull.
"2B, I'm going to try and find you, but just in case I can't... 2B, I just want you to know that not matter what, meeting you gave meaning to my existence, meaning to my birth. The memories I have of our time together, both good and bad, are the most treasured things I have, and I wouldn't give them up for anything. So, thank you... for everything, 2B..."
Her legs felt weak, so much that she had to lean against the flight unit, head resting against the metal, trying to be as close to it as possible, as though it would provide some sort of comfort.
"Play it again..." she said, her voice small and weak.
Pod 042 played the message again. Then again at her request. Then again.
It should do something to make her feel better, to hear him say these words, but every time she repeats the message she feels more and more sick of herself.
Gave meaning to his life? It was the exact opposite, the only reason she even exists was just so she could kill him. She was his custom-made murderer. And those memories he so treasure? He only had a month and a half's worth of memories of their time together if he was lucky, but she on the other hand had three years of treasures of her time with him. So many memories together, so many things they had done together, experiences shared, that he would never know, all because those important things had been taken away from him, hoarded by her and her alone.
"Suggestion: Unit 2B should move away from the flight unit, and to a location somewhere else."
"...yes, you're right," she said at last, pushing herself away from the flight unit and onto shaky feet, and climbed back up the hill. It took everything she had to keep her focus on the Recovery Unit, and to not look back to the flight unit, and even though it was only a short distance between the two points, the walk felt like it stretched out miles.
"The message above the door reads 'Soul Box'," Pod 042 said, its headlights shining on the strange writing.
"Ah..." 2B replied, barely acknowledging what it said. Already her sword was in her hand, already prepared to fight whatever machines there were in there.
Prepared to fight, and fight and fight...
The elevator opened, and she entered it without any trouble, which continued on until it reached its destination. Upon stepping out of the elevator, she was quick to notice the layout was the same as the previous Meat Box, and after walking up the winding staircase, and when she made it to the level above, she was caught off guard by not only the lack of enemy machines, but by the fact there was a single, rusted chest sitting in the middle of the room.
"What is this?" she asked, carefully approaching the chest. It was no different than any other chest she had seen, but the large bulky device on the top of it instantly told her that kicking it wouldn't be enough to open it. "Pod, do I still have hacking rights?"
"Affirmative."
"Okay, then let's find out what this is all about." 2B raised her arm, hoping that this would go better than her attempt outside The Tower, and proceeded to send her consciousness into the lock on the chest. It took a while, longer than any given Scanner could have done, but she was able to penetrate the lock's initial defenses and enter hacking space.
The sudden change in perspective was disorienting, she felt as though she wasn't there, wasn't anywhere, while still feeling small and reduced into the cursor, odd and angular. It took a few seconds, but she was able to figure out how to move, as well as to shoot, and while how to operate like this wasn't too difficult, she knew that the challenges that were to come would be where the real difficulty started.
It started out simple, she was able to break through the first set of walls, and make it past the attack and defense nodes, each set become more complex and aggressive until she reached the final area where the attack nodes surrounded her. It was of no surprise that her cursor was deleted and sent back to her body, a terrible stinging sensation running through her body as she stumbled back and away from the chest.
She's not designed to hack, but she's the only one here that can even do this, even though she mostly wants to turn around and leave this place, and...
No, keep going, keep pushing forward. Keep fighting no matter what.
It took several more attempts, but eventually she managed to crack through the firewall, and upon completion she was kicked back out of hacking space and back into her body. The chest popped open, but to her confusion there was nothing in there, however a loud buzzer sounded in the air, and a loud clunk echoed from the elevator.
"Huh?"
"Observation: The elevator seems to have become operational," Pod 042 pointed out.
"Hmm, is this how this place works? Just hack the system until we reach the top?"
"While we have only encountered a single instance of this, it is possible this may indicate further challenges." Entering the elevator, 2B found herself somewhat thankful for this change of pace, it was different than what she usually did. It's better than what she deserved, but she'll take it.
When the door opened, 2B found herself presented with an oddly designed floor; a large ring, lined with chests, and with a cautious approach, she walked over to the nearest chest and kicked it open. She didn't know what she expected, but she certainly did not expect a sword.
"Oh my! Look at all the machine lifeforms you've murdered!" announced Not-6O's voice from all around her, and 2B's attention was drawn to the odd, floating clumps of machine parts all around her. "In fact, according to our records, you've killed more machines than any single YoRHa unit in history! Congratulations on such an achievement, you must be so proud of yourself, YoRHa Unit 2~crackle~!"
2B hurried her pace, walking around the platform, trying her best to ignore the voice and what it was saying, and as much as she wanted to tell it to shut up, but she was afraid that any acknowledgment on her part would make it more persistent and never stop talking.
"In fact, for such an amazing feat, it's been decided that you are worthy of a special reward for all your handwork in your never-ending crusade against the machines!"
The next chest contained some plug-in chips.
"After-all, we would like to show you appreciation for all the machine lifeforms requests you've completed!"
"Completed?" she asked, opening the next chest; more chips. "Just what does that mean?"
"I mean, it's truly amazing how many machine corpses you've recovered for us, it's just mind-blowing how good at your job you are! You must really love killing everything around you, don't you?"
She kicked the next chest hard, much harder than what she would have wanted, leaving her foot with a deep stinging. The box was clearly one that needed to be hacked, but she still kicked it anyway.
"I don't..." she said, her breathing starting to become labored, and her chest was starting to heat up andNO, just ignore it just ignore it. It's just noise, it's just trying to screw with her, nothing it says has any real meaning. Just noise.
She hacked into the chest, and it only took her three attempts to complete it.
Another floor, more chests to hack, and she was presented with uneven platforms, and according to Pod 042, there were two chests on this floor to unlock. The first one only took her two attempts to complete, and she took some small pride in doing this, 9S certainly would have found this amusing.
The second chest, upon opening, gave her something other than chips or G, but a data file: It contained details about The Tower's 'launch system'.
"So, The Tower is some kind of canon then?" she asked.
"Information provided within the document would support this idea," Pod 042 answered.
"But it's so... big. What could they possibly want to do with something like that? Unless..."
Something that big must have been powerful, able to fire with enough force to launch an attack into space, and to the moon.
2B took a shaky step back as she took everything in. The machines were never able to achieve space travel because the strategically placed satellites orbiting the planet, all controlled from The Bunker, were able to shoot down any machine attacks that exited the Earth's atmosphere, thus preventing any attack on the moon. But The Bunker was gone now, she's seen it herself, so there was nothing to ensure the continued defense of the lunar base and the humans inside it, meaning it would be so easy for the machines to attack. They were intending to blow up the moon and the few remaining humans.
For 2B, the mantra 'Glory to Mankind' had lost any conviction long ago, the words leaving her lips with a false bravado starting over two years ago, when she began to truly take in what her crimes really meant. Even now, after learning the immediate threat to the humans, a part of her finds itself not caring, even though she should, that aspect should overwhelm her into protecting them at all costs, but it's not. Then there is the other part, the part of her that want to for once actually meet a human, to see what they were like, to see what they fought and died and fought and died and fought and died for so many times that she lost track of how many bodies she herself had burned through, and to more importantly to ask them all the question that had been burned into her mind these last few years.
WHY?
She needed to hurry, she needed to get to the top of this Recovery Unit and eventually get into The Tower, because there were answers she needed, and if the humans died, them she'll never get the chance to ask them.
"Are you suggesting that the machine are planning to launch an assault on the lunar base?" Pod 042 asked.
"Yeah, I think that's what's going to happen. What do you think?"
"Insufficient data. Cannot confirm or deny."
"You're just helpful, you know that?"
"Again, without proper information, any theory regarding The Tower's purpose is merely guessing."
Starting to become agitated with the conversation, 2B proceeded to the next floor, and the platforms became more extensive, and according to Pod 042, there were three chests to locate and hack this time. Between the first two chests, it took her a total of thirty-seven attempts before she was able to unlock them, while the third one required her to throw herself at it twenty times in total, and when it opened, the buzzer sounding the elevator was operational, as well as a new document downloaded into her hard drive.
It was entitled '[Top Secret] Black Box'.
2B read the document. Then she reread it, once, twice, five times. More than a dozen times she read over it to make sure that what she was reading was true.
Disposal of the YoRHa squadron. Back door. Next generation of models. Deception that humanity is alive and well. Black box. Created by reusing the core of a machine lifeform. Inhumane to install standard AI. Ultimately destined for disposal.
"This is false," 2B said, legs weakly carrying her into the elevator. "This is a lie." Her breathing became more shallow, harder to do. "Machine propaganda."
"Warning: Black box internal temperatures rising to unsafe levels."
"The black box isn't machine." She pulled on the keyhole of her dress, trying to cool herself off. Already she was starting to sweat from the heat, and she had to lean against the wall to support herself. "What happened with The Bunker wasn't allowed to happen, the machines just got the better of us," she told herself, even though she knew that the defeat was too absolute to not be suspicious. "YoRHa was meant to win the war, they were not disposable." The very fact that she was manufactured in the first place was proof enough to know that wasn't completely true. "The human are alive, they're up there on the moon and when they come back down..."
"2B..."
"They are alive. They are alive. The humans are ALIVE." They had to be, they had to be there, because that would mean that she-
Oh god...
NO. Don't think about it. Don't think at all. There's no point in thinking, only fighting, just keep fighting fighting fighting because that's what you do fight and kilL unTiL tHere'S noThINg LefT to SalVage.
The door to the elevator opened and she stumbled out of it, her chest feeling as though it was being constricted, and her vision is starting to go grayscale along the edges. Her Pod is saying... something, she's not sure exactly, but it sounds urgent from the half-registered tone it's using.
She sees the core, sitting in the middle of the floor and she hurries to it, only to lean against the machine surrounding it. She can feel the access point from it, meaning that she'll have to hack into it like everything else here.
Pod keeps saying things, but she ignored them as she dived into a hack because the faster she does this the faster she can leave this place because she can't be here anymore and already everything feels like it'S caVinG In aroUnd hEr and-
There's something different about this hack, something much different. For one, she's not using the cursor avatar, instead she's experiencing this through a hologram of her physical body, while a textureless model of Pod 042 hovers by her side, and matching versions of her sword hovered off her back.
"What's going on?" she asked out loud, but there is not a single answer from Pod 042, so all she could do was move forward, running along the narrowing path until she could see something at the end of the road, where it opened up to a wide area, with numerous orange screen spread through the air, each one with a different image, and standing in the center of the area was-
These images, she knew them, knew them all too well, but they were memory files, her memory files, and in every single image she saw around her, also had 9S in them, single frame of any of the numbers of years they had spent together, some defining moment in their relationship. Some of them were small, some were big, but they were always important, and just by looking at them, she instantly knew the dates those memories were from, and she was able to recognize the pattern before her.
No two images have the same 9S, the dates were all too far apart, meaning each one was of a different iteration of him, meaning there were forty-nine screen around her, and with every step she took, 2B could feel those memories washing over her like a tidal wave.
"I'm 9S, I'm supposed to be partnered with you, starting today."
"If you want, I can mod Pod 042 to have some of those fishing programs who were asking about earlier."
"I don't know what I'll do when the war ends, but if you didn't mind, I'd maybe just follow you around and see where we go from there."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I actually think you look nice in that headband."
"I wouldn't take you as the kind of person to be so informal, but yeah, 'Nines', sounds like a good name."
2B thought back to the message he left behind for her, telling her own much he had treasured their time together, how important those memories were to him, and she couldn't help but be disgusted with herself. She took those memories from him, each time he ended his life, she destroyed the time they spent with one another, erasing them from him forever, all while she kept them for herself, shoving them into the back of her mind where he could never reach them. They were his, his memories, his experiences, and she stole them away, leaving behind a blank slate that would be filled up again, only to be emptied eventually, and the cycle would repeat again, and again, and again...
He was standing there in front of her, 9S, or at least her memory of him. Standing there as though nothing had happened, that everything was okay and nothing was wrong. It would be nice to reach out to him, to touch him and simply pretend, for once, that her life was alright.
The image of 9S then let out a pained scream as a sword erupted from his chest, blood bursting from the wound in a gushing fountain as he collapses forward, crying out in agony, while all she could do was freeze where she stood, unable to move at all as the sight before her petrified her.
As 9S fell to the ground, she found herself looking at a duplicate of herself.
"YoRHa Unit Number 9 Type-S," the image said, its sword stained with his blood. "You have been charged with illegally accessing The Bunker's servers and obtaining top secret, classified information." There's nothing in this thing's voice beyond how cold and clinical its tone was.
"2B... What-Why-" 9S cried out, choking out blood as he tried so hard to apply pressure to the wound.
"I have been ordered to carry out your execution, and hopefully you will not repeat your crimes in the future. Glory to Mankind."
"2B... no..." He tried to pull himself away, and in his desperation, even as he bled out, he could barely make it a few inches, unable to put any meaningful space away from her as she raised the blooded Virtuous Contract above her head.
2B knew exactly what memory this was; the very first execution, the first time she had killed him, and even without the memory playing in front of her it had always been a crystal clear event to her.
This was a memory that was playing, recorded visual and audio data that had been saved to her own systems, and no matter how much she wished she could change what was about to happen, nothing she could do would matter or alter events.
"NO!" she screamed, lunging at her image, sword in hand, just as the image's sword started its downward stab, her own sword halfway through its own arc and aimed to the cut it down by slicing it through the chest. The sword passed through it however, simply as though she was cutting through air, and 2B was rewarded with the sicking, wet crunch of her past self burying its sword into 9S' chest.
"Destruction of black box, complete," the image said, pulling the sword out, leaving a large, ugly hole behind in 9S's chest. Even with him dead, she still raised her bloodied sword again, repositioning it slightly.
2B made another desperate lunge, thrusting her sword at herself, the blade entering the head of the image, but to no avail nothing happened.
The image's own weapon came down.
"Destruction of head, complete."
Sword dropping from her hand, 2B fell to her knees, her strength leaving her, before the image of 9S' corpse in its disfigured and desecrated state that she had caused, all while the past version of herself wiped the blood off on his jacket. She reached out to him, to touch him because right now she needed it more than anything, but her hand simply passed through him, leaving not even the ghost of a sensation on her fingers.
"Nin-" she chocked out as he broke apart, the recording of him shattering and artifacting out of existence, leaving her alone with herself. "You..." she growled, looking up to her image, her eyes stinging and blurring. "I'll k-"
Pain wracked her head, feeling as though something was drilling into the back of her skull, and piercing her brain with a red hot point, and as the image of her vanished before her eyes, she caught sight of one of the recordings around them. She recognized the memory, how in itself it was nothing special; she had gotten hit by a machine, an injury was nothing too major, but it was enough for 9S to run over to her and ask if she needed to return to the local Resistance Camp for repairs. He had been so sincere,and the reason this memory was so prominent was because this was from far back, with the first 9S-
-thE FIRST oNe yOU KiLLed juST Now anD COUldn't sAvE-
-when they had both been total strangers to one another in the truest sense. It was the first genuinely act of kindness she had ever been shown. Up until that point, she had been shown a straight and narrow display of courtesy and respect, but it was all so formal, so impersonal, and even 6O, who wore what she felt and thought on her sleeves, at the time addressed with with an air of caution, as though she had been afraid of her at the time. She couldn't blame her for how she acted towards her. That small moment, however trivial and easily dismissed it had back then, ended up being one of the more important between them.
She killed him three days later.
The recording began to crack and fragment, losing color as it drained to a sickly gray, and from the forming fractures something sprouted out; thick black cables covered in sharp thorns. They were quick to grow and wrap around the image, the thorns digging and cutting at the image, tearing and ripping away at it, and she could feel it, feel the thorns digging into her skin like razor wire, deep into her flesh. There was nothing on her body to show what could be causing them, her body bare of these horrible thorns, but the pain was there all the more, the intense pain unending.
Suddenly she was no longer alone, and the area filled with images of her and 9S.
Then the slaughter began.
She watched as each image of her closed in for the kill, reaching for him and closing the distance too quickly for him to either notice or do anything about it. She stabbed him through the chest. She wrung his neck until he stopped breathing. She came up from behind him and snapped his head to an unnatural angle. She used Pod 042 to shoot him where he stood. She-
"2B what are you doing?"
"2B what's going on?"
"STOP IT 2B"
"It-it hurts..."
"Please don't"
"...why?"
The displays around, that showed her memories, all began to crack and fracture and lose their color, and the black thorns grew and expanded, swallowing them whole until the memory on each screen was fully enveloped. All the while the rendering pain over her skin became worse, digging deeper and deeper into her, feeling as though it was tearing large chunks out of her, flaying her alive but not killing her, but no matter how excruciating the physical torment was, it was nothing compared to the endless slaughter in front of her. 9S dying, again and again and again. Her killing him over and over and over. All because it was her function.
"Stop it..." she whimpered, as her past drove her sword through his neck. "Please..." she rasped as her copy destroyed his head. "I said..." she cried as his attempts to hack her, to defend himself from her, ended in his death. "STOP!"
2B jumped up, feeling as though her entire body would tear apart at the seams, the agony nearly overwhelming her senses. With Virtuous Contract she swung wildly at the images of herself, cutting at her bodies, her limbs, the heads and black boxes, but no matter how much she attacked herself, she might as well have been stabbing at fog. No matter how much she raged and screamed, she kept killing him.
Even when he killed himself the first time, slicing his own throat with her sword even though she had given it to him to kill her. When when she began to hesitant and tremble in the moments leading to the final strike. Even when he stood there and took it. All she could do was cry out and continue attacking in a fruitless effort to stop her from ending 9S' lives. Her attacks became more erratic, more careless and wild and desperate. She had to save him from-
"I know what's about to happen."
"Don't!" 2B kept attacking, even as the images of her began to grieve and sob over his corpse.
"But it's okay."
"Just stop!" Nothing she did was working, he kept dying no matter how much she tried to kill herself.
"I'll be seeing you soon."
"Please stop...! Just please-" All she can do is cry out.
"Goodbye, 2B."
The white of hacking space dissolved away as the thorns continued to grow, wrapping around everything there was, nearly every single memory soon entwined in the growing infestation of thorns that left nothing untouched.
"Please... do something... else," she sobbed, falling to her hands and knees, sword still clutched in her hand, while the nonexistent thorns in her body continued to feel as though they were ripping her apart.
"2B... it was an honor to fight with you. Truly."
They were both in front of her, sitting on the ground, tired and exhausted, while he was missing an arm and a leg. The most recent 9S. Technically.
"The honor was mine."
She had been happy with this death, because it had nothing to do with orders, or the greater good. Just the two of them in that moment, together and an understanding between the two of them, and for once she would have joined him, and he wouldn't have been truly alone in his last second.
With the remainder of her strength, she lunged.
But he managed to back up on her data, not his, and he took that dive into oblivion alone all the while she kept this memory to herself, and from his perspective, this moment never happened, and she was forced to meet him again for the first time.
With a primal scream she brought the blade down on her own head, but as the metal cleaved through the image, they touched their black boxes together and they were gone.
Forty-eight. Forty-eight 9S' dead because of her-
-she won't count the pit because he lived he lived he LivED fOR OncE-
-because she's a murderer traitor moNStEr LiAR COWARDTHIEF-
-WHYWHYWHYWHYDIDYOUNEVERSTOPWHYPLEASETELLMEWHY?-
Hacking space faded away, leaving her back in the upper most floor of the Soul Box. The core is split in two by her sword, but she can't control herself as she cries and wails, curled into a small ball just wanting it to be over.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Nines! I'm so so sorry!" she wept, her chest burning and feeling as though her lungs were constricted in burning chains. Please make it stop, please let it stop.
Pod 042 lowered itself to bring itself closer to 2B.
Neither one were capable of noticing the two, red and black figures on the opposite side of the room.
000
Please be well,
Mrfipp