Chapter 17: Save Them
After a long trek westward, units 6H and 33E finally found signs of life.
Off in the distance, the sound of creaking metal could be heard as the subtle tropical winds gently blew through the grassy plains. Even still, it was far too quiet for comfort.
33E raised a hand, signaling them to slow down, "That could be them." she whispered, "Let's approach slowly."
Step by step, the duo approached the hill, attempting to peer over it. What they expected to be a thriving and bustling camp of hostile androids was instead run down and decrepit. With parts of androids strewn across the camp.
"No…" 6H shuttered as she looked away from the majority of the scene. "Not again…" she muttered.
For as unsettling the sight was to 33E, however, she opted to continue her approach. "Stay here. Have your Pod keep an eye out. I'll see if I can find any signs of our android 'friend'." 33E vaulted over the hill and slid down, summoning The Usurper in her hands as she landed.
"Pod," 6H sighed, trying to regain her composure, "Begin a scan on the area. Search for any signs of android life." 6H braced herself on the hill, ready to join her partner the moment things went south.
33E slowly paced through the camp. Glancing to either side waiting for something or someone to jump out and attack her.
Piles of rusted sheet metal that appeard to once be the tents housing the hostile androids continued to creak. But another sound cut through the visual chaos. A subtle scraping.
33E turned her attention to a particular pile of tent materials, only to find a single android arm poking out from under a tarp. The palm opened and clasped for attention, its fingers scraping the sheet metal where it laid.
The YoRHa android tilted her head, hesitant to humor the likely hostile entity. But, against her better judgment, she took a careful stance and swung her spear upwards, pulling the metal tarp away.
What was revealed was the forearm, connected to a torso by a single wire, which was also connected to a head. Only one eye was lit up.
"P-p-please-" a pained and distorted voice called out, "Put and e-e-end to me…"
An unprepared 33E tensed and lifted her spear, "Tell me about what happened here, and I'll help you."
33E swore it sighed with disappointment.
"Strange android… It destroyed… camp… Hostile…to everyone…" it seemed to almost gasp for air, "Did not listen… Could not listen… Unresponsive…"
"Was this one of your own?" 33E questioned.
"No… Android was prisoner… Attempted harvest… Unable to restrain…"
A shiver ran down 33Es spine at the mention of a harvest.
"Which way did it go?"
"Could not see… Left trail… Large…"
33E sighed deeply. She wasn't sure if either of them were ready for whatever resistance this android was going to give them, but they were committed to at least finding it.
"Please… End… Me… Please…" the android pleaded.
33E narrowed her eyes, "You were a cannibal, weren't you?"
"…" The android was silent for a moment.
"Put an end… To me…"
Out of patience, 33E twirled the spear in her hand and like a javalin, pointed it at the android head, and stabbed it. The lights immediately turning off.
"Hives." 33E called.
6H quickly joined her partner, "What? Did you find someone?"
"I think we're in for more than we bargained for." she looked down at the remains. "It couldn't see, but it said-"
"It was alive!?" 6H questioned in shock.
"Not anymore…"
6H warily looked at the hole that pierced the android head.
"It mentioned that it probably left a trail." 33E looked around them, "And that it was responsible for all the destruction left here…"
6Hs eyes widened, "Just what are we looking for?"
"Alert," The Pod finally chimed in, "Internal android residue found at southern edge of hostile camp."
"We'll find out soon enough." 33E dropped her spear as it disappeared with a blink of light, making chase.
The trail was that of a thick black liquid. Nothing 33E had seen before. She turned to 6H as they ran, "You recognize this stuff?"
6H shook her head, "It looks like it's supposed to be basic joint lubricant. So our android either has a missing or damaged limb. But it's… Chunky…"
"I'm sorry?" 33E shuttered at the description.
"There are pieces of metal in here. Indicating some kind of corrosion or decay. No idea from what, though."
It wasn't long until the trail ended in a larger puddle of the material that laid atop a larger dirt patch. They stopped, no android in sight.
"I don't like this…" 33E summoned her weapon once more. 6H knelt down and inspected the residue. Her Pod joined in.
"Alert: temperature of residue is greater than that of ambient temperature." the Pod stated, "Conclusion: Dropped residue is recent."
The two looked around their immediate surroundings. There was no sound besides the island winds. No movement but the softly swaying grass.
After a moment, the duo shared a concerned glance.
On que, the ground between the two androids errupted. The man that sprung forth, immediately pressed on 33Es chest with his bare hand and threw her down to the ground, with one swift motion. The air escaped the YoRHa unit's lungs.
6H jolted to her feet, taking hurried steps back. But the man twirled around and lept for her, grabbing her by the neck.
6H was lifted off the ground as she hacked and wheeze for breaths. She tried swatting and pulling at the man's arm, but to no avail. In fact, it was then she noticed the missing other arm. A jagged and uneven wound with some additional black residue dripping from the it.
Looking into his eyes, they was a noticeable absense of self awareness that was troubling. They were dilated to nearly a pure black, a stoic and unmoving frown pasted onto his face.
Behind the man, 33E struggled to her feet. Iron Will in hand as she trusted herself forward.
The man seemed to take notice of the noise and dropped 6H. He spun around and with the flat of his palm, guided the blade aside before decking 33E in the jaw in one swift motion. 33E spiraled back, the blade whirling overhead and impacting the dirt at an intense velocity.
Slowly, he approached.
"Pod-" 6H struggled to speak, only managing a whisper, "Scan target- for a proper electrical signature. We need to disable him-"
"Scanning." the Pod wobbled in the air as it calculated the now slow moving target.
33E pulled herself up, using The Usurper as a makeshift crutch. She spat out blood. Her face in general was now a mess of cuts and residue from the blunt force trauma. In spite of this, she readied herself, spear in hand.
Just treat this thing like a YoRHa unit. She reassured herself, Analyze it.
The man sluggishly swung his arm wide, 33E stepping back to easily dodge it.
As if testing a pet, 33E quickly stabbed the air in front of the man. He flinched, rapidly swatting the spear aside.
She stabbed the air in the opposite side of his pereferal, he quickly flinched towards it.
Incredibly fast reactions. Slow initiative. I can work with that. She thought, a cocky grin smearing across her face.
33E let the man approach and take another sluggish swing, where she used the opening to get closer and stab him in the side. But there was a problem. The man's outer layer was thicker than any android she'd come across. The attack barely made a dent.
Not missing a beat, the man pulled out the spear and backhanded 33E aside.
"Shit-" 33E cursed, rolling across the ground, just barely able to regain her footing as dirt kicked up around her.
She waited to counter attack once again, this time aiming for the knees to knock the monstrous android prone.
Similarly, the spear barely made a dent into the outer layer. Only managing to frustrate the both of them.
The man reacted instantly, grabbing 33E by her out-stretched arm, twisting it at an odd angle, and slammed her back to the ground.
"Alert," the Pod piped up next to 6H, who was massaging her throat, "Unable to detect electronic signature. EMP profile not found."
"Oh come on-" she mumbled, her throat still recovering, "Any weak points on their person?"
With a stutter, the Pod quickly processed the request, "Android vulnerability detected in outlined region."
A flickering projection of the android appeared before zooming and highlighting the back of the head, indicating a structural weakness.
On closer inspection, the back of the neck was coated in the black lubricant. It made sense, suddenly. But 6H winced, she didn't want to be responsible for any more death. At the same time, the thing was close to killing them both.
"Pod," she whispered, "Use a weakened laser blast to mark the back of the androids neck. Let's see what this thing can take-!"
On command, the Pod floated in front of 6H and began charging a beam.
33E, taking notice of the beam, crouched to the ground, expecting the blast to peirce the android.
Instead, once the pod let loose, the surprisingly small beam seemed to only make purchase on the back of the neck. Refusing to dig any deeper.
What was interesting to 33E, however, was the response of the android. It immediately whirled around. It's usually precise and fluid response significantly more frantic than expected.
A spot on the back of the man's neck was now smoking from the beam.
The YoRHa unit smirked, "Gotcha, you bastard-"
She hefted The Usurper and made a bounding leap from her crouched position. The spear spun around in her hand, before swatting it's butt into the back of the man's neck, stunning him. She skid to his side before spinning back behind and slicing with the spear's blade, an actual cut being visible.
The android sluggishly tried to turn around, but 33E summoned Iron Will and promptly swatted the blunt of the blade downward, attempting to sedate him.
The android crumpled to the ground, not broken, necessarily, but clearly worse for wear.
As the dust settled, the pair of YoRHa units looked down at the desheviled android. A rock had made its place in the back of his neck, seeming paralyzing him.
33E levied The Usurper, preparing a fatal strike.
"N-no!" 6H stepped in between her comrade and the android, "Stop, please!"
"It's too late for him, if we let him live, he's going to keep attacking!" 33E retorted.
"Just- let me try and see what the problem is, please!" 6H pleaded.
33E looked between the two. She was either getting too soft, or her stupidity was just becoming more obvious.
With a heavy sigh, 33E slowly lowered her spear and 6H quickly went to work.
"Pod, run a scan on his systems, let me know if anything is out of the ordinary." 6H turned back to 33E, "This could take a minute, so just wait-"
"Error," The Pod interrupted, "Cannot run system scan, due to hard drive curruption."
6H blinked, "That was fast. Try and run data recovery on the drive, salvage any information you can find."
"Affirmative."
"You sure this will be worth our time?" 33E said, now slumped to the ground, "That thing might be down, but it's certainly not dead."
"I can't say for. Sure, but I have to at least try-"
"Report: only one log file remains accessible." the Pod interrupted once again.
"Not even kernal files?" 6H asked.
"Only foundational kernal files defining baseline android functionality it in tact."
"Then how was it even fighting to begin with?" 33E asked.
6H shook her head, "Pod, summarize contents of the logs."
"Report: Log file details error during format."
"His… Drive was formatted?" 33E stood, now curious, "How the hell did he manage that?"
"Drive format appears to have been done voluntarily." the Pod said. "A request was made from another android that was executed consentually. Scanning android identification code…"
6H frowned, a sinking feeling radiated throughout her body.
33E glanced at her partner warily, "You don't think-?"
"Alert: android identification code is equivalent to that of the android seen in the clearing."
6H and 33E shared concerned looks.
"That woman… Did this?" 6H asked.
"She… Made a killing machine?" 33E tightened her fist. "Why did she make it sound like she cared about this thing!?"
"Unless…" 6H turned, "That was a lie too…"
As an uneasy silence filled the air. The android flinching slightly. Signaling 33Es attention.
"Pod, is there nothing we can do? Not even perform another full format?" 6H turned to her Pod, which was still inspecting the android.
"Negative. Drive damaged from overheating. Replacement recommended."
"His only chance is if we take them both back to the village." 6H thought aloud, "Thirty-Three, could you-?"
"Got it," 33E walked over to the android and began to heft him, propping him up over her shoulder.
"Pod, disable all systems. Prepare for drive removal." 6H walked behind and began poking and prodding the androids head.
"Error: System unresponsive. Manual removal required." the Pod shined a light on the back of the androids head, suggesting an entry point.
"Dammit!" 6H lodged her hand into the back of the androids head, wedging a previously unseen slot open. Hair fell around their feet as she wormed her way around, looking for the drive.
With a forceful click 6H receded her hand with a smoked plastic container. She looked at it with concern.
"It's completely burnt out. Almost like this wasn't the first time…" she clenched the drive in her hand, "Come on, let's go find her-"
Suddenly, the android whirred to life, its single arm wrapping around 33Es neck. It's eyes were vacant. Only a solid light eminating from them.
"Pod! Disable all systems!" 6H commanded.
33E desperately trying to pull the arms free as she choked from the intense pressure.
"Error: Android unit unresponsive, aggressive action recommend-"
"Shit- fine! Fire another beam! Full blast, aim for the android's head!" 6H joined 33E in trying to pull the arms away.
The Pod, as quickly as it could, charged up it's cannon, and let loose a massive blast the resulted in the android staggering back, arms clutching its face as it made distorted noises.
33E clutching her neck, pushed 6H aside, twirled her spear in hand, the thrust it through the android's neck. It froze in place, a grinding sensation reverberated against the spear.
It fell to the ground, still sizzling.
"Target neutralized." the Pod stated.
6H was consoling 33E, who had fallen to the ground, choking and gasping for air.
"What the hell is this thing's deal!?" 33E hacked.
"I'm- I'm sorry-" 6H mustered, "I should have just-" she froze. She didn't know what else she could have done.
The guilt had formed a lump in the back of her throat, "I'm sorry…"
33E clutched 6Hs shoulder, still catching her breath, "Look, Hives- Failed risk or not, you still saved my life. So… Thanks. I suppose."
The duo took a moment to recover from the intense confrontation.
Despite 6H being a "Hero", in 33Es mind, she felt like a monster. Not only did she help kill an android, but the damage sustained to 33E could have been entirely avoided.
As a healer unit, she felt like a failure. Even more so as a friend.
With 33E carrying the android remains and 6H carrying the fried drive, they made their way out of the rubble from the cannibal camp and back through the fields. Eventually returning to the woman, who hadn't moved much at all.
Upon seeing them, she lit up, quickly propping herself up, wincing at her still severely damaged leg, "You found him! Is he OK-?"
She froze in place upon getting a better look at her former companion.
Without a word, 6H threw the broken drive to the ground at the woman's feet, "What the fuck were you thinking?"
The woman blinked, "What did you do to him!?"
"You formatted his drive." 6H seethed, "More than once too. What could drive a person to do something like that!?"
"Are you kidding me!?" the woman seemed to hold back a laugh of disbelief. She ran a hand through her hair, exasperated.
"He big boy wanted to be with me. I needed a body guard and he was too clingy. Too weak." she stated, not a hint of irony or self-awareness in her tone. "It was a fair trade!"
The pair could only stare agast at the woman. Who only looked between them, in confused frustration.
"So what? You're telling me you wouldn't do the same?" she said pointedly to 6H. Seemingly in reference to the "big boy" of her own.
6H took a deep breath to try and retain her composure. "I'm going to say this plainly. You're sick. You need help. In more ways than one. And I can't help you with any of it."
"You talk to me like you fucking know me!?" The woman reeled where she sat, a disgusted look leering up at the duo. "I'm not going to some damn android village that'll likely crucify me the second I walk in with you gabbing about this whole thing!"
"You either go to the village, or die out here. I already told you that it's beyond my ability to help you." 6H stated. 33E noticed the air of aggressive finality in her voice. It was unusual for her.
The woman seemed to look at her former companion longer than either YoRHa units were comfortable with. Her expression melted from that of anger to sad realization.
"Then I'm all alone…" she concluded.
"But I'm telling you, if you just go to the village-" 6H stepped forward.
"SHUT UP!" the woman drew a pistol and shot at the ground in front of 6H.
"Stay the fuck away from me…" she rapidly shifted her aim from 6H to 33E.
"I'm not going anywhere." she declared, "You're both going to turn around, and pretend that you never met me. Piss off to the mines by the forest for all I care. Just go away!"
6H initially stood her ground. For how aggressive she was acting, she still didn't want to just leave her alone in this state. "You've seen what's out here, though. Do you really think you can last-?"
"Hives," 33E, one hand help up, slowly placed the other on her shoulder, "We should go."
6H took a long look at the situation in front of her, sighing, "Reguardless of what you've done, they'll give you another chance-"
"I said leave." the woman interrupted, audibly cocking the gun.
6H followed 33Es pull, turning to leave. She looked back as the duo walked away, "Just think about it, please."
The woman silently kept her aim trained on them as they wondered out of sight.
…
…
…
Once they were over a few hills, 6H and 33E had slowed to a halt. Trying to piece together what had just happened.
"I hope she listens…" 6H rubbed her face, "She could make things right with how knowledgeable she is of androids work, if she could manage to reformat a drive like that."
"Maybe…" 33E wasn't as enthusiastic about the prospect of letting someone like that woman loose in the town.
"I obviously can't speak for her." 33E sat down, collecting her thoughts, "But if she felt the need to treat another android as disposable, who knows what damage she could cause in town."
"Maybe you're right…" 6H joined 33E on the grassy plains, taking a deep breath of salty air. They could still hear the sounds of crashing waves off in the near distance.
"Maybe I'm just-"
CRACK
6Hs train of thought was stopped short by the familiar sound of a gun being fired over the hill. Her heart skipped.
33E warily looked at the healer unit, "Hives-"
6H quickly stumbled to her feet before being tackled to the ground by 33E.
"Let me go!" 6H pleaded.
"Hives, you shouldn't-!" 33E struggled to pin her partner down.
"Let me go! I can still save her!"
"She's gone, Hives!" 33E managed to pin her to the ground, now able to see her partner face to face. "She's gone."
6H had stopped struggling. Tears began to stream down the sides of her face. Her form melted into the side of the hill where she laid, ultimately breaking down.
33E released her grip, hoping to give her space, but whether it was finally the guilt of the past few months finally getting to her, or something much deeper, 6H instead fell onto her, burying her face. Leaving the executioner very unsure how to handle the situation.
"I couldn't save them-" 6H sobbed into 33Es vest. "I couldn't save them…"
With little else in terms of ideas, 33E awkwardly embraced 6H in a comforting hug. The sound of crashing waves sounded much more destructive now. The salty air felt like there was a harsh sting to it. The sun seemed to also wash out the color from the world.
The duo laid in the grass for an unclear period of time, with what felt like the weight of the world finally crashing down on them.