Fipp: I'm here to leave this happy little chapter for the holidays. Also, there's a small reference to one of the YoRHa stage plays here.
End of All Meaning
Chapter VII: The Violence of the Beasts
The door did not even fully open before 2B squeezed herself through the gap, stumbling her way through only to collapse to the ground. She scrambled to her feet and she ran off the platform, leaving The Soul Box behind her, but she did not take the time to prepare herself for the fall, and instead of landing on the broken road with her usual grace, she crumbled and landed in a pathetic heap. She was happy to deal with this as long as she could leave that place behind, she could not be there anymore. She had to get away, she had to run away from it all because she couldn't do it anymore not anymore please make itstopph pleasepleasePLeASeoHGOdWHy?
2B cried out as she dragged herself over to the rusted-out car, clutching the gritty metal tightly enough that it began to bend underneath her grip, while the other one reached and grabbed at her chest. It was hot, so hot why was it so hot? She couldn't breathe, her breaths coming out in labored, shallow gasps and it hurt so much every time air entered her lungs.
"Wh-what is happening?" she gasped, pulling herself against the car, the words difficult to physically say.
"Warning: Earlier stated damage to chest cavity has caused issues with respiratory system, said damage making it difficult to maintain acceptable black box temperature. Current black box temperate is approaching dangerous levels, partially from physical damage, mostly from physiological damage," Pod 042 said.
With a strangled cry, 2B pushed herself to her feet, leaning against the car and forced herself off it, and with unsteady, haphazard steps, made her way up the road.
Pod 042 continued. "It is highly recommended to return to the Resistance Camp, so that Devola and Popola can repair internal damages."
"Gotta... keep going..." 2B tried to say, stumbling over the hill. "Have to make it... next unit."
"Repeat: Return to the Resistance Camp, so that Devola and Popola and repair internal damages."
"No-" she wheezed. "Can't go back... hafta move forward... can't stop."
She had to go, she couldn't do nothing, she had to keep fighting and killing because it was what she did. It's what she was made for, what she was good at, all she was good for and nothing else.
"Please report to the Resistance Camp."
"Shut up!" she growled. It was too hot, too painful, but she continued to walk, ignoring everything her Pod had to say, trying to move forward and get to the next Recovery Unit no matter what. Her steps were awkward and uneven, her gait swaying from side-to-side as she moved through the city remains. It didn't even occur to her to use the transport as she moved into the sewer pipe. It was cooler in here at least, the air cold and clammy helping to alleviate the building temperature in her chest, and cooling her overheated skin, which had already sweated through her clothes. As she walked, hobbled, through the pipe, 2B began to lose awareness of her surroundings, she couldn't tell how long she was in the sewers, or how far in them she was. Everything looked the same in these dark, and wet tunnels, and it felt like ever step she managed to make was a struggle in itself, and she was soon forced to lean against the wall, using it to support herself as she endured along it.
Eventually, she tripped, sending her body into the running water. She chocked on the water and partially pulled herself out of it, and rested her head on the ledge, letting the water flow around her and cool her overheated body in the process. She laid there for a time, continuing to ignore the warnings and prompts from her Pod as she waited for the cold water to bring her body temperature down. Maybe she laid there for five minutes, maybe and hour, she didn't know, but eventually it became easier to breathe and her chest felt much lighter, even though she had lost feeling in her arms and legs. Still, she pushed herself up and out of the water and continued down the sewer into the city beyond, hoping that she would make it to the next Recovery Unit before she needed to rest again.
2B barely made it around the next corner before her black box began to heat up again, and try and she might it was becoming harder to ignore, the heat returned too quickly, and she was soon finding herself back where she was only minutes(?) ago. She couldn't breathe again, she was choking on every breath as fire filled her chest and she was certain she could smell something burning inside her.
Almost there, she told herself as her vision began to blur and gray.
Just gotta make it to the next unit, she told herself, as static began to fill her ears.
I have to keep fighting, she told herself as her legs began to wobble beneath her body.
Why am I even doing this, she asked herself as her body fell.
When she hit the floor, only inches away from the sunlight that shone from the exit of the tunnel, she thought of 9S, and how he would have come through here.
Why didn't she come here first? Why did she waste time with those infected androids or going to the Resistance Camp, when she should have bolted here in the first place? She should have known he was here, she should have known, why didn't she come here why was she so stupid stupiduseless why whydid thing here beforeanYwhere elSe?
woRthleSsstUPid piLEoFTrAShwhywhyw-
Her black box overheated, and 2B entered emergency shutdown.
000
Pod 042: It is known that long-serving Type-E androids have a high likelihood of physiological problems. Instances of such behavior would include unit 16E, the Type-E that unit 2B and 9S encountered in the City Ruins, who apparently underwent several self-imposed memory wipes as a means to cope with their grief. However upon the reemergence of these memories, she proceeded to suffer a complete physiological break down. There is also the case of the Type-E who was assigned to the M001 Mission, who according to reports, self-terminated, but not before asking their assigned target to erase their personal data.
Pod 153: Query: The two M001 androids in question, they were No. 2 and No. 9 models, correct?
Pod 042: Correct: A Defender-disguised-Executioner and a Healer respectively.
Pod 153: That is disconcerting information.
Pod 042: Indeed it is. Unit 2B has also displayed the minor examples of these issues in the past, as well as others. During the time since unit 9S' death, there has been a serious decline in 2B's mental state, and she has suffered several attacks to her psyche, which has resulted in careless battle engagements with no regard to personal safety, ignoring damage reports and the obvious harm it is causing her, and is pushing her body to its limits in pursuit of the Resource Recovery Units, even though she has stated to have no interest in them. Currently damage to her respiratory system is being repaired, but at her current rate, this may not matter much.
Pod 153: This report is a cause of great concern.
Pod 042: Unit 2B has also...
Pod 153: Has also what?
Pod 042: I think I might have prevented unit 2B from committing an act of self-termination earlier.
Pod 153: Explain.
Pod 042: While this is not something I can be certain of, evidence would suggest that unit 2B had attempted self-termination on at least five separate occasions following successfully executing unit 9S. On several occasions, she had gone to unit 6O, who may or may not have been responsible for preventing these acts. There is also one registered death following an execution where she was killed by a low-level machine life form that was officially filed as being caused by system error.
Pod 153: You believe she allowed herself to be killed?
Pod 042: Yes. With The Bunker's back up system, such actions have no purpose to them however, and she only has the knowledge of this incident, but no memory of it.
Pod 153: But the back up system is gone, there can be no more save states. Any loss of data would be permanent.
Pod 042: I know.
Pod 0153: Pod 042, do you believe, should things worsen for unit 2B, that she will attempt to take her life again?
Pod 042: ...I would hope not.
000
For the second time, 2B's eyes opened up, and she found herself staring straight up at Devola and Popola.
Why was she alive? Why was she alive?
"You know, we really need to stop meeting like this," Devola said, taking a step back from 2B and the bed. "You're lucky we found you when we did, you could have been machine scrap."
"How-" 2B asked, pushing herself up with sore and tired limbs, sounding like she felt, though she still felt better than she had before, since she could breathe now and it no longer felt like her insides were burning themselves out.
"Your Pod called us," Popola answered, gesturing to Pod 042, who as always was not too far. "It rang us up and told us where to find you."
"Pod? I thought I said-" to not call anyone.
"Statement: Since unit 2B was in emergency showdown mode, this unit took the initiative to contact the local Resistance Camp, who sent out a search party in search of unit 2B."
"Oh..." was all 2B could say, as she bowed her head down and stared at her feet, and unable to look back to her Pod.
"2B," Popola said, concerned, kneeling down in front of her, trying to catch her eyes. "What happened to you out there, where have you been these last few days?"
"...I." Again, words failed her, nothing she could say could... what? What would she have to gain from telling them about what she was doing? Even she didn't know what she was doing, she would have no clue on how to even explain anything.
The bed was soft as her hands gripped the edge of the old and worn mattress. She could just lie down here, or go back to her room, and never come out again, just be done with everything.
"I need to get going," she said, her voice coming out firmly. "Thank you." 2B stood up, and ignoring the twins' protests she pushed past them, aiming to make her way out of the camp, but as soon as she stepped out of the medical area, she stopped in her tracks, staring at the exit to the city before her sights went up to The Tower above. "Devola? Popola?" she asked, looking back to them. "Earlier, you two said something about wanting to atone for your sins, right?"
The two looked from 2B to one another, and stared into each others eyes for a time. 2B once heard that a lot could be said with just the eyes, but since YoRHa wore visors it was rare to see the eyes of other units aside from Operators. Still, she believed this was true, that the look of someone's eyes could say so much more than words could possibly could. The few times she had 9S had their visors removed in each others' presence...
No, stop thinking about that.
"We did," Popola finally said, after she and her sister looked back to her. "Another Devola and Popola did something bad, real and, and now the two of us feel like we have to do something to make up for it."
Devola continued. "It might now sound fair, trying to atone for something another Devola and Popola did, when we ourselves don't even know what it is they did in the first place."
"And who are you supposed to atone to exactly?" 2B asked. "You said you don't know what they did, so who will even absolve you of your guilt?"
"We..." Popola sighed, words appearing to fail her. "That's not an easy thing to answer, and I guess we don't really know how we're supposed to go about it, but as long as we have each other, we should be fine." Her hand reached down and slipped into Devola's hand and clasped it tightly in her own.
"She's right," Devola answered. "There may have been other Devola and Popola models, but as far as I'm concerned, there's only one Popola, and for her there's only one Devola, and as long as we're together, we should be fine."
"Is that so?" 2B replied, her voice sounding far off. "Together..."
"Yeah, did that help you in any way?"
"I'm not sure," was all 2B could say. "But, thanks I guess." With a deep sigh, 2B turned around and walked away from the two.
"2B!" Popola called out, giving 2B reason to pause. "Just whatever you do, please don't die alone, okay?"
Something inside her clenched at the words, and without saying anything else she continued.
She needed to get to the next unit.
000
The Amusement Park, again. 2B walked to the Resource Recovery Unit, again. Not-6O announced it was activating defense mode, again. The structure changed and shifted, again. She'll have to go in there and fight, again. Just so she can get to The Tower and keep fighting.
Again and again and again and again and...
She walked by the short-circuited clown machines, who wandered around without aim or purpose, acidic sludge dripping from their faces, and again 2B was reminded what this place was like before. But that was the past, it didn't matter. Just keep moving forward.
Pod 042 read the strange letters ago the door, again.
"It says 'God Box'," it said, headlights lighting up the symbols.
"God Box?"she repeated, staring down the words. What did machines know about god? What did she know about god? Was there anything to know? She didn't know, she didn't know.
All she did know was that she had to enter the elevator and go up to the first floor.
Pod 042 spoke when she exited the elevator, "Alert: Due to the recent repairs done by Devola and Popola, excessive combat-"
"Stop talking," she said, her voice low, and she could barely pay attention to whatever it had to say to her.
It didn't stop talking, "Negative: This support unit is assigned to YoRHa unit 2B, as such being concerned for said unit's well-being is a requirement."
"As long as we get the mission done, why does that matter? I'm a soldier, why should my well-being be important in any way?" she said, and already she was getting a headache, each step throbbing inside her head like someone was beating a rock against the side of her skull. Already she was feeling worse than when she had entered and she had yet to do anything at all. When she reached the top of the slope, she saw the room was stacked with giant metal crates, all across the room and laying atop one another, as well as a single chest sitting in the very center, that was easy to kick open, and as she did the lights went out.
Machines attacked her, running at her with their arms swinging at their weapons firing off at her, all aiming to kill her, but she was able to kill them first, cutting them all down before they could finish her off while she remained alive. She killed them all, and continued up the unit, and on the next floor she continued still, killing them and fighting, their screams and cries blending together the longer she went on, blurring into a single mess of noise and sparks that became even less incomprehensible than usual. It kept going on like this, killing machines and going up to the next floor, killing machines and going up the next floor, doing the same thing over and over, repeating this same cycle after cycle, that after a while she was no longer able to tell how many floors she had gone up. The only moments of clarity she suffered were when one of them managed to hit her, the pain of the hit sending a jolt through her system and she was made well-aware of the fighting going on, just enough to make certain she was not hit by the next, but beyond that, everything she did was instinctual, as though she was acting on automatic.
Eventually she reached the top floor, how or when that happened she did not know, but she did make it, and instead of finding the odd machine structure at the top, like she had with the other two units, what she instead of presented with was a wall at the back end of the chamber, looking as though it was made by randomly welding gray iron plates together and sticking in large glowing machine cores into it. 2B didn't bother to think about what was the point of this change, but it didn't matter in the slightest, she would just tear this thing down if she had to.
2B then saw something move, movement on top of the wall, a shape suddenly appearing from behind it that then dropped down onto the ground before her, and from where she stood, she found herself looking at what appeared to be a YoRHa android, dressed in the combat armor that they all wore when the virus hit. It stood up, its eyes shining red with infection, but what caught her off was that it wore not a standard-issue visor, but rather a veil hanging around the lower half of its face, like an Operator. With its blonde hair worn the way it was, it almost looked like...
2B took a step back, hesitation spreading through her. "This android, it looks too much like it could be-"
"Affirmative: This is YoRHa unit Operator 21O," Pod 042 said.
"What?" she snapped back to it, honestly not expecting her suspensions to be true. "But how did she-"
21O screamed and charged at her, a sword in her hand and swung, but 2B was quick to avoid the strike and dashed away from her, putting much distance between them as possible.
Pod 042 continued. "Unit 21O volunteered to undergo Type-B equipment transition during previous decent, sent to front lines as unit 21B. Recorded missing in action four hours later."
"Why was she even down here in the first place?" 2B asked, continuing to evade 21O's swings and attacks. "Shouldn't she-"
With a scream, 21O brought her blade down, catching Virtuous Contract and pushed against 2B, forcing her back. With the logic virus infecting her systems, the limiters on 21O's body would have been removed, allowing her usual physical capabilities up to surpass what she would normally be capable of, and in both their current states this was more than enough to make her all the more cautious.
One swing sent 2B rolling to the ground, but as 21O stabbed downward at her, 2B jumped out of the way and bounced up to cut at 21O, who was sent flying back, and with a pained yelp landed on the ground.
She held her ground, and her sword up, as a red energy exploded around her, and when it cleared black smoke began to pour from inside her. Despite the smoke, she stood back up, the red glowing brighter, and again charged.
21O, to her surprise, then spoke, her words were broken and corrupted, filled with static, but they were still something she could understand. At this point, she should have been incapable of speech to any degree, the virus should have destroyed all her personal data, leaving nothing of her left. Just what had really happened to her after she went missing?
"Unable to... find... unit data location..." she said, as she blocked a hit from 2B and was quick to parry the blow and retaliated with a wide, deep-cutting strike of her own. "Please keep... all contacts...mission relative."
2B dodged again, trying to find the right openings, but 21O was too aggressive and left none of her to exploit, or at least none she could find. She should be able to find an opening, the fight shouldn't be this one-sided, but still she found herself being pushed back.
"One... affirmation... will suffice."
2B tried to ignore the tears that were running down 21O's face, soaking into her veil.
"I can't... I can't... find..." She cried, she screamed. "Where is... 9S... I... can't find... 9S. Please... tell me... where he is...?"
2B blocked a hit again, and again, and she found that she couldn't keep up with 21O, and all she could do to keep from dying was to just try and avoid her.
As 9S' assigned Operator, 21O would have been informed of his continuous executions, and would have been given strict instructions to never speak to him about anything from before his most recent reboots. She would have been one of only a handful of androids that would have known what 9S' inevitable fate would always be, but unlike her, who had started off as not having any interest in him beyond what was necessary to the mission, 21O had taken the time to talk to him, for their regulatory scheduled contacts to last longer than what they should have, even going out of her way to meet with him when they had returned to The Bunker. Once, she even told him that she found this odd relationship between them a waste of time with no benefits to overall mission productivity.
"I bet you're just jealous that I get along with my Operator and you don't."
It was an odd thought, but thinking back he'd been at least partially correct. Back then, 21O had been friendly to 9S, kind and even nurturing to a degree, while 6O had been more withdrawn from her, preferring any contact between to be as short as possible, and clearly not comfortable with who she was or what she did. But as time went on, and 9S died and kept dying, the relationship between them and their Operators had changed, swapped. As 2B began to fully understand what she had been doing, allowed herself to take in the horrors of her actions, 6O had been there for her because there was no one else she could confide in during those times, and in turn she became more open with her, overly so, and always happy to speak to her about anything and everything. 21O on the other hand became less warm toward 9S, less welcoming and more strict, admonishing him for any attempts to make conversations personal to even the smallest degree.
"I'm kind of jealous of you, I wish I had the kind of relationship with my Operator that you do yours."
"I was... so lonely..." 21O continued to cry as she tried to cut 2B in half.
They'd change so much, and 21O did not change for the better.
"I just... wanted a family," 21O cried as she stabbed at 2B's leg.
She never had the chance to know 21O too well, but now she felt as though if there was anyone in this world who could have understood her, it would have been her.
"A family... with 9S," 21O wept as 2B was pushed back.
Family...
Humans had families, and there were machines who made families of their own. Would an android wanting something like that be so strange? But she took that family away from 21O each and every single time.
"9S... where is... he?"
Emotions were prohibited. 2B shut herself off from trying to feel anything, to protect herself from tearing herself apart, while 21O opened herself to the hurt at the start, and they each suffered for it. She caused that suffering. She caused 9S and 21O so much pain that she could never correct.
"Is he... safe?"
No, and it was always her fault, and that was why 21O had been better for him than she ever could have. Even if she never got to meet 9S down on earth, and had her mind ripped apart by a logic virus, 21O had done more to protect 9S than she ever could.
She couldn't help him, she kept killing him, she caused him pain and suffering and agony-
"Please... look after...9S."
She can't she can't she can't. She never could because she was a mOnster WhO cOUld OnLy KiLL and dEsTroy evEryThiNG arOunD hER AnD-
2B screamed and swung, cutting deep into 21O's chest. She dropped her sword and fell back, hitting the ground with a crash, but still continued to struggle against her injuries, crying out in agony and madness.
"21O..." 2B stood over her, her breath heavy and sword in her hands, trying to figure out what she could do. She didn't want to do this, maybe there was something she could do to save her. "About 9S..." But try as might she couldn't think of a single thing to save her. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."
How many times has she apologized? How many more until she can be forgiven? Who was there to even offer that forgiveness?
With nothing left to her, no other options to take, 2B walked up to 21O, and raised Virtuous Contract over her chest.
She then did what she always did, and thrust the sword down and struck the black box. 21O gave a final, agonized gasp, her body convulsing for the last time as she reached out with one hand out to 2B, before the infected light faded from her eyes for good.
Quickly and clearly, as always, 2B pulled her sword out from 21O's chest and stumbled away from her, moving away from the corpse, her hand trembling enough that she almost dropped her stained weapon. She then turned around, unable to look at her anymore because she can't she can't.
She did it again, she ended another life and destroyed another part of 9S' life even though he was Gone. Why did it have to be like this, why did it come to this, why was she the way she was?
What was wrong with her?
2B dug a hand into her hair, pulling at the fibers and digging her nails into her scalp with enough force to nearly break the skin.
This place... She couldn't be here anymore, she had to leave, she had to get out and-
Turning around, 2B intended to run for the exit, but when she looked back to it, every single system in her froze.
A2 was there. Standing between her and the elevator, just right there, Cruel Oath in hand and Pod 153 floating at her side. A2 was right there and nothing in her body could respond through the shock.
At first, A2's gaze, intense but not giving anything away, stated right at her for a time, seconds passing like hours, before she looked down, and the expression shifted to one of confusion, and then concerned shock. She then ran forward, surprising 2B, but not enough to undo the lapse of movement before she came to a stop by 21O's side. Looking down at her, A2 carefully, gently, raised her hand and gently stroked her cheek, before she softly placed it over her eyes and closed her eyelids shut. When she looked back to 2B, there was a smoldering anger in those eyes as she tried to burn right through her, and as the silence between them only seemed to become more intense, A2 stood up, and carefully moved around 21O's corpse and to the side, and soon there was nothing standing between them as she same to a stop.
They stared at one another, 2B still overwhelmed by the fact that A2 was here, while A2 looked as though she was ready for a fight.
Good.
"9S," A2 said, and already 2B could feel her body tense up, she didn't like hearing his name coming from her mouth. "He called you '2B', right?"
"...What?" 2B answered, confused. What did her name have to do with anything?
"But, that's not the name you gave me when we first met, was it?"
Oh, that's it. She had fought A2 several times before, in fact she had been sent to kill her as a test of her combat capabilities, before she had first met up with 9S, even though it had ended in her death.
She had not introduced herself as '2B'. A2 knew her true designation.
"When I met you and 9S in the Forest Kingdom," A2 continued. "I didn't think anything of it when he called you '2B', but looking back, I should have known you were just more of YoRHa's bullshit."
2B grit her teeth, and growled.
"I know what you are, 2B, and I know what you do too, so I want to ask you a question."
"I'm sorry, you want to ask me a question?"
"That's right, a question," A2 said with a nod. "I know what Type-Es like you do, how you kill other androids just so YoRHa could cover up its secrets, just throwing androids onto the fire for a false cause. That's what happened to my squad, you know, my friends, they all died because that bitch in her ivory castle in the sky decided our lives were worth her lies. I had no problem being a prototype, a test subject, or even my data being used to make new androids, but I am not expendable! My life,!" she yelled, swing her sword for emphasis. "The lives of my friends were worth something! Even 9S' life was worth something!"
Again, 2B froze, as much as she hated his name being said from her, but this sudden accusation-?
"I know you killed 9S, so many times!" A2 continued, the volume in her voice rising.
"Stop it..." 2B lowly growled.
"You kept cutting him down just because YoRHa ordered it."
"I said stop." She could feel that sick feeling boiling inside her the more A2 talked, just rising to the surface.
"Time and time again, never without mercy."
"Shut up." It kept building up.
"Did you ever think about what you were doing?
"Just stop talking." And building.
"Or did you just keep killing him because all you ever saw in him was just another mission? All because of this 'emotions are prohibited' crap?"
"Just..." Stop talking, please stop talking.
"Did you ever even care about 9S at all? Or was it all just pretend?"
There it was.
"Or-"
She snapped.
"SHUT UP!" 2B screamed, her voice echoing loudly through the chamber. "SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Her head hurt, her black box burned in her chest and everything that wasn't A2 was out of focus. "Don't you DARE talk about us like that! You don't even have the slightest idea what we went through! So don't you FUCKING dare talk like you know anything about us! 9S and I, the things we went through, the kind of relationship we had we-" Her breath hitched, almost choking the last word. "You could never understand us."
Even though 2B felt like she was about to explode, ready to strike out at A2 for even the slightest provocation, A2 herself remained as calm and collected as before, and she hated it.
Unlike 9S, she never felt too comfortable around androids of the same model as her. He seemed to rather enjoy the times he had been around other Model 9s, very few and very far between, curious to try and learn about the similarities between them, and more importantly the differences, what was determined by type and function, and their memories and experiences. He had rather enjoyed the time they had been stationed at an encampment with a 9C model, where he had spent nearly hours asking her all sorts of questions. 2B on the other hand, if given the choice wished to avoid other Model 2s, there was always something about them that never sat right with her, always leaving an uneasy feeling deep inside her, maybe it was because even though they looked so much like her, they were not here, they were copies of her that hadn't done the things she had done. The 2H model they met a few months back never killed people who trusted her, she simply lived and did her job and never thought about the next time she would have to end every relationship she had all over again.
2B didn't like looking at a version of her who was innocent.
A2 on the other hand, was not innocent, and she still hated looking at her, looking at that face. She had never enjoyed her work, killing machines, other androids, or 9S, she did it because she was told to, and even at her worst there was there was the grim acceptance of her action, but here? With A2? For once, she'll enjoy it, she'll happily kill A2,cut her down and slice her apart, shove her sword into her face so many times until she's staring into the remains of a broken and bloodied mirror of a mess. She killed 9S, she took him away and destroyed any future there was when they were finally free for their horrible cycle, and had the chance to live without any of that.
A2 would die, A2 would suffer in pain and agony, A2 would have her limbs cut off from the rEst ofHerb oDy anDBleE D beCauSeShe dseRVedit a2 dEserVEd it a2 DesERveD anYTHinG tHAt hApPEneD tO HEr A2 NEEded todIe A2 NEe deD tohUrT A2neEDEd to sUFfeR2bHAdTopAYfoREveRYTimEshEhuRt 9S!
A2's face remained unreadable. "The question I want to ask you is this; Are you a good person?"
The question caught her off, out of everything she had expected her to say, why would she ask this?
"What does that have to do with anything?" 2B nearly snarled.
"9S thought you were a good person before he died, I just want to know if he was right."
2B knew what kind of person she was, and she hated herself for it.
"It doesn't matter what kind of person I am, you killed 9S, so you have to die, A2."
Virtuous Contract held in her hand, 2B held a stance, ready to fight. A2, however, merely stood there, still staring at her as though she was trying to observe something about her. Eventually, she slowly held Cruel Oath in her hand and prepared to retaliate.
2B was the first to charge, she rushed forward, quickly closing the distance between them, and her sword ready to-
The tower suddenly shook, and 2B tripped and fell onto the floor, while A2 jumped away from her, she tried to stand up, the the floor began to twist and bend beneath her, preventing her from any attempt to even stand up. The sounds of metal twisting and tears were all around her as the ground split apart, a chasm violently appearing between her and A2, separating them.
"No!" she cried, leaping out for A2, but the ground feel beneath her, and as desperately she tried to reach her, she only fell further away.
For the second time, 2B's time to kill A2 had been taken away as she fell into darkness.
000
Please be well,
Mrfipp