Relics of Humanity, Chapter 2
Author's Note: Okay, because I decided to be a douche and have our male lead and A2 speak two different languages, I'll be clarifying some of the fonts that'll be appearing in this chapter.
"Hey guys." This is the language (Japanese?) spoken by 2B and 9S and everyone not machine in the post-apocalyptic world.
"Hey guys." This indicates speech by machines. Why I did this I have no idea. Maybe their voices just sounded so weird I decided to give them their own font.
"Hey guys" This is English. I won't be adding any other languages so this is probably it.
Now, the problem here is what happens when Pod acts as translator between A2 and our male lead? Do I make it both bold and italic? Well, I thought about it and decided that I'll let it stay italic to make things consistent.
One more thing. I haven't played nor read any background material about the original Nier and Drakengard series. I know about Emil and the Gestalt Project from 9S's and A2's playthrough, but nothing further than that. Maybe I'll take a look sometime in the future if I plan to write another story but just bear with me this time. Enjoy the story.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today is a day that shall remain forever in the history of mankind."
"In the last hundreds of years, we have progressed and evolved unlike any other species. We have conquered the highest mountains, explored the darkest oceans, and ventured beyond the lands of our home planet as we reached for the great unknown. Yet we as a species is now faced with an epidemic, a planet-wide catastrophe to which we currently have no solution."
"We once believed that we had the technology and intelligence to shatter each barrier we encountered, as we had done countless times before in our history. However, as much as we are unwilling to admit it, there are walls too thick to breach, cliffs too high to climb, and odds too steep to overcome."
"In this room, we have among us mankind's brightest minds, fittest bodies, and the best of each field. We represent humanity's pinnacle of individual greatness, possessing the characteristics we wish most to be passed on to the future generations."
"In the event the remainder of humanity is unable to overcome this disease, we will embrace death in peace, knowing that mankind lives on."
"Tonight, we commence Project Dormancy. Perhaps you will wake up mere months from now, with humanity celebrating its victory over yet another fallen foe. Perhaps you will wake up only to discover that a millennium has passed and that you are the last vestiges of mankind remaining. We know not what the future has in store for us, but we will do everything within our capabilities to prepare for it."
"Now, please return to your quarters. We will soon begin de-animation procedures..."
How long has it been since that day? He has no clue.
Being suspended in preservation fluids was, for a lack of better words, quite similar to sleeping. It wasn't just an endless stretch of darkness, though. There were instances within his slumber where his conscious peaked through the chemicals, and he could vaguely feel the slimy texture of the liquid surrounding him. During these rare 'awake' occasions, he often wondered how much time has passed since he was put to sleep. How much longer until he could see the world once again? Perhaps the next time he woke up, he would be greeted by the warms smiles of his brethren, welcoming him to a new era where humanity thrives.
Yet, he slept on. Intervals between his waking moments became few and far between, and each time, he could feel the end drawing closer. Dying like this was not unpleasant by any means. It was perhaps the most peaceful way one could pass away, devoid of pain, sorrow, and grief. It also implied that humankind had failed to cure the disease, and the infected cells within his body still remained alive, despite all their efforts.
He felt his conscious stir. It may very well be the last time he woke up, given how frail his body felt last time. He could no longer sense the sticky flow of the fluids. It was replaced by a stabbing sensation of coldness permeating through his entire body as if he was walking in a torrent of freezing air.
At that moment, he realized that it was the end of the line.
How unfortunate it was for him to witness his own final moments.
A pinprick of light pierced through the comforting darkness, growing larger and more luminous by the second.
Is there life after death? Would he get to see his family and friends once again, whose remains have surely decomposed back to soil? No, that wouldn't be good, for his relationship with them have grown rather strained in the years leading up to the Project. Now that he thought of it, he didn't quite know what he wanted if there indeed existed an afterlife.
The light grew brighter, spreading to all directions until his entire field of vision was engulfed by it. The scalding cold had weakened, gradually transitioning to a mildly warm temperature that caressed his skin the way a gentle summer breeze would.
Maybe there were angels, messengers of God that inform him whether he deserved a place in heaven, or a pit in hell. If he had the chance, he would like to talk to them and asked them how close humanity was to discovering the truth of the disease. Surely these supposedly transcendental being could provide answers to his question. In their perspective, it was probably the dinosaurs all over again, having to explain to them how a massive hunk of space rock collided with earth and brought about the demise of their reign.
"...ucki...sgusting...How is he so..."
He heard a voice, female if he had to guess, coming from directly in front of him. Who was it? What did it say? It sounded nothing like English, perhaps Japanese or Chinese, he couldn't tell.
A looming sense of dread bubbled within him. If going to heaven meant he had to take another language course, maybe he preferred the fiery depths of hell after all.
He could feel his limbs again. They felt weak and delicate, at the same time heavy and cumbersome. Attempting to move arms, he discovered that they draped across something in front of him, and firmly held in place.
"...servation fluids...old world technol...require food..."
This time a different voice, one that was almost comically robotic, came from the upper right corner. His mouth, moist and filled with a repulsive bitter taste, was the next one of his organs to return. The white light that previously filled his vision had dimmed, reverting back to its original state of darkness, albeit not as stifling and pure, with the occasional colored shades popping up here and there.
Phosphenes. A phenomenon characterized by the experience of seeing light without light actually entering the eye. It means what he was seeing right now actually came from the biophotons emitted within by cells within his eyeballs.
He felt his body bobbing up and down steadily, almost as if he was drifting on a particularly peaceful region of the ocean, with warm rays of sunlight showering down upon him. A faint, yet slightly pungent scent wafted into his nostrils, further stimulating his senses.
"When will he...up...supposed to be extinct?" the female voice spoke again. She sounded close, probably only a few inches in front of his face. If only he could open his eyelids, he would be able to see her.
His eyelids, they felt like sheets of heavy steel, refusing to budge regardless how hard he commanded his muscles to pull them. His throat, previously filled with preservation fluid, now felt painfully dry and parched.
"Observ...survivor...Project Dormanc...over eight thousand years..."
Mustering what sliver of strength he had in his body he cracked open his eyes by a fraction of an inch, letting light flood into his irises.
Silvery white strands of hair, swaying with the soft breeze in a carefree manner, filled his sight. Reflecting sunlight, it gave off an almost ethereal glow, prompting him to utter the first word that came to mind with his chapped lips.
"Angel..." he croaked, feeling his lower lip split.
The bobbing stopped. She turned her head, allowing him to finally see the features of the being that will soon declare his fate.
His gaze instinctively drifted to the eyes, which were a piercing color of blue, like that cloudless patch of sky on a sweltering summer afternoon. Her pale lips were pressed tightly together, granting her features a stern, even icy vibe. Long locks of hair were left hanging down in an untrimmed fashion, obscuring nearly half of her face from his sight.
"Pod, he's awake." the woman said, gazing at him with a reproachful stare, obviously unhappy at the sticky liquid she was receiving from him as she carried him on her back.
A drop of sweat trickled down from the side of her jaw down her neck, glistening like a translucent pearl in the light.
"Water..." he mumbled, hoping that the woman would understand.
"Affirmative. The subject speaks a language called 'English', which was among the most widespread tongues of the old world. It also appears that the subject is in need of hydration."
"Good, you can understand what he's saying. Tell him that I want to get out of here before the sun sets. I'll get him whatever he needs after that."
"Understood." The source of the robotic voice, which he realized was a spherical metal object floating in midair, turned to face him.
"Greetings, sir. I am Basic Infantry Model No.328, currently assigned to YoRHa unit A2. I will be acting as an interpreter until basic communications are established between you and said unit."
"I need...water" he croaked out, erupting in an episode of coughs as the sandy air irritated his already dry throat.
"We are currently under pursuit by numerous hostile targets. Unit A2 has decided to avoid direct contact, and that leaving enemy territory takes priority."
The sheen of sweat coating the nape of A2's neck began to emit a luscious gleam as rays of light reflected off its glossy surface, looking more and more tantalizing with each passing second.
Surely she wouldn't mind. After all, angels were supposed to be the embodiment of everything good and kind. He wasn't sure if he could stand another minute without receiving some sort of hydration.
Yes, it was all going to be fine.
"What did he say, Pod?" A2 inquired, picking up speed as she approached the commercial facility marking the entrance to the Forest Kingdom.
"The subject repeated his request for water."
A2 scowled. "Tell him that we'll be out of here soon enough. There's a creek not far up ahead."
"Understood."
Not understanding a word of what the pair in front of him was saying, the man simply rested his head on the shoulders of the mysterious female carrying him. Casting a slightly irritated glance at the weak human, A2 let out a small humph and maintained her pace.
"We will soon reach relatively safe grounds, where we can procure water and other resources. After consulting data found from old human records, your body displays symptoms of light dehydration, muscle atrophy, and malnutrition, none of which poses a direct or immediate danger to your life. Please refrain from further repeating your request. Warning, unit A2 has a rather short and aggressive temper, and it is ill-advised to aggravate her in any manner."
With his mind still as sluggish as a blob of slime, the man didn't register the words of the strange floating metal ball. Instead, the entirety of his thoughts was occupied by the flawless porcelain skin of A2's slender neck presented before his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his face against the tender surface, allowing himself to be buried by a flow of silky hair.
A2 skidded to a halt, almost launching him off her back as a result of the sudden change in speed.
"Pod. What. Is. He. Doing?" The android in question stiffened at the unexpected contact, eyes narrowing as she turned to her newly acquired companion for answers. In the meantime, the man released a satisfied moan that tunneled deep into A2's ears, making goosebumps rise on her normally smooth skin.
"..." For the first time, Basic Infantry Model No.328, with its entire storage filled to the last byte with knowledge, seemed as clueless as the impatient android standing beside it.
"Well?" A2 demanded, fidgeting in apparent discomfort as the human persevered in its queer actions. This time, he rubbed his cheeks against the skin of A2's nape, obviously enjoying the contact.
"Hypothesis 1: He is attempting to express his displeasure at your decision to temporary neglect his requirements for nourishment."
"Tell him we're almost there!" A2 shouted out in a voice laced with fury and a tiny hint of desperation.
Hypothesis 2: Side effects from being placed in the cryogenic pod for an extended period of time as caused his behavior to deviate from that of normal humans."
"Great! The only human left is a moron. Just my luck."
"Hypothesis 3: Due to your appearance as a human female, he is currently attempting to court you by performing mating rituals—"
"MATING RITUALS?!"
"—usually leading to sexual intercourse."
"Fuck. That's it. I'm throwing this thing down the cliff. He can break his bones into a million pieces for all I'm concerned. There's no way I'm going to be some tool he uses to relieve his 8000-year-old—DID HE JUST LICK ME?!"
In a split second, the dazed human found himself lying flat on his back with pain exploding all over his body and stars dancing in his eyes.
"Worth it..." He mumbled, with the taste of A2's perspiration, salty and strangely metallic, still strong on his tongue.
"Observation: We have yet to fully retreat from hostile territory. It is unadvised to perform any...reckless actions before reaching a safe location." Pod said, wisely choosing not to translate the human's words.
"There's nothing reckless about this. I'm going to disembowel him and feed his mutilated body to the boars after bashing his useless brain into jelly." The silver-haired android seized a fistful of the human's brown hair and lifted him up, nose wrinkling in disgust as the vestiges of the preservation fluid came into contact with her synthetic skin.
"Observation: We have yet to extract any useful data from the subject. It will be unwise and irrational to dispose of valuable information just because a small amount of liquid made to simulate human perspiration is taken from A2's skin." Pod commented calmly, making said android's face contort in a rage, with faint tinges of pink adorning her cheeks.
"But...but..." sputtered A2 angrily, at a loss of words regarding Pod's objective, yet somehow offending remark.
"...he violated me!" She finally squeezed out indignantly.
"He licked you. Even by human standards, that is hardly considered anything more than mildly unnerving, not to mention unit A2 is merely an android made in the image of humans."
"So you're saying that I let him get away with it just like that?"
"Perhaps you should request compensation or service in return afterward. Time runs short, please release the subject and resume traveling back to the city ruins."
"You're getting awfully pushy for a pod I can crush with a single thought," A2 replied, grudgingly releasing her grip on the human's hair.
"I only do so because unit A2 is acting unbefitting of her status as the supposed 'technologically superior being' in the current situation."
"Was that sarcasm I hear?"
"It is most definitely your imagination."
Reluctantly, A2 holstered the man onto her back and headed back to the gray jungle of concrete in which her base is located.
As she crossed the dangling wooden bridge spanning across the valley that marked the boundary of the Forest Kingdom, she turned her head and looked at human clinging onto her back. His hair was a light of shade, and his skin, pale with an unhealthy tinge of yellow only served to further accentuate the dark rings around his sunken hazel eyes. Sensing her gaze, he lifted his head, revealing a round, stubby jawline, and gave her a weak smile before looking away in an abashed manner, as if embarrassed by his previous actions.
"Pod, ask him what his name is."
"Understood" Pod drifted to the human's side. Before it could repeat the question, however, the man spoke.
"Is this when I'm supposed to state my last words before she throws me into the valley?" The man said with a dry chuckle, more or less sober after the excruciating session of pain he just experienced. "I've always thought that I'd die in that slimy pod, but being executed for sexual harassment really has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"Unit A2 wishes to know your name. Please rest assured that your life is in no immediate danger. However, please use this time to think of a way to atone for your degenerate behavior. If not, you may find yourself in perilous circumstances afterward. Furthermore, please refrain from speaking so much so as to prevent irritation of your oral regions."
"Atone for my degenerate behavior? How am I supposed to do that? Buy her a cupcake?"
"According to data within files, cupcakes are a type of sweet dessert made mostly from eggs, flour, sugar, and butter. Unit A2 has shown no interest in sweets or pastry. The likelihood that providing her with such an unnecessary object will gain you her approval is exceptionally low."
"You're no fun at all." The human grumbled. "By the way, why are you doing all the talking? Is she too shy to ask me in person?"
"As I have previously stated, unit A2 is not programmed with knowledge of old world languages. Thus, she is unable to engage in verbal communication with the subject until her files are updated."
"You keep saying these weird words like 'programmed' and 'updated'. Have humans been using smartphones so much they can't even speak properly?" The man said, figuring out by now that it wasn't heaven that he woke up to, but a version of Earth far different from the one he knew. Seeing the woman in front of him made him sigh in silent relief. Humanity made it through after all. Maybe all the other subjects of Project Dormancy were already awake, and he was the last one to be brought out. Maybe there was an organization that didn't want these living fossils to be woken up and tried to sabotage the project, which explains the 'hostile targets' Pod previously mentioned.
One way or another, he had served his purpose as a fail-safe for mankind, and now he will witness with his own eyes a brand new world.
"...Report: This is the year –"
"What the HELL is taking you so long, Pod?" A2, being forced to listen to the two of them converse in what is literally gibberish to her ears, has depleted what little patience she had left for the human.
Sensing the grip around his arms tighten into a vice-like hold, the man knew he had a few seconds before the joke he made earlier became reality.
"After so much time has passed, whether I use my original name or not doesn't really matter, does it? Ah, I know. Her name is A2 right?" the man asked.
"Affirmative."
"Then I'll be H1. Since I'm probably one of the oldest humans alive, not to mention one of the smartest, it should only be right for me to take the name of Human No.1, don't you think?"
Pod gazed at the human, H1 as he called himself, and wondered to itself whether H1 was truly ignorant of the fact that he was the last of his kind alive. Among the human records it found, there were medical cases that involved the patient being unable to cope with a particularly traumatic experience, and proceeded to alter or erase the memory in order to alleviate stress upon their mentality.
Upon discovering the suspended human in the lab, A2's initial response was to put a sword through his guts. Much of her past still remained unclear to Pod, but the snippets of information he gained from making contact with other YoRHa units gave him some insight into A2's circumstances. The ultimate mission of the YoRHa troops was to retake earth from the aliens and machine lifeforms and allow their human creators to return to their homeland. However, when the aliens arrived, what they saw were not humans, but androids and millions of copies of a certain entity identified as 'Emil'.
In other words, long before the Council of Humanity was founded, humanity itself had already been driven to extinction, leaving only their creations roaming the earth. The revelation of this fact was probably what prompted A2 to abandon the YoRHa troops, refusing to devote her life to a species long gone.
Yet, even after defecting from the Bunker, the fact remains that she was programmed to defend humanity to her last breath, and actively defying that order had resulted in logical errors that prevented her from sinking Virtuous Treaty into the unconscious human's body.
She attempted to test the limits of what she could do to the human without severely damaging herself, but H1's body was so weak that even the slightest bit of harm could result in irreversible consequences. Later, when she successfully judo-threw H1 onto the ground out of pure instinct, it implied that only deliberate actions would trigger the code.
"Report: The human identified himself as H1."
"I thought humans had...different names. And I've never heard of a model H android either." A2 commented with a mildly puzzled expression.
"According to unit H1, the H stands for human."
"I see," A2 replied. "That certainly makes things easier for me. How long will it take to copy the language files to my storage?"
"It will take an estimated 2 hours and 27 minutes."
"Start transferring."
At last, the trio reached the end of the wooden bridge, and H1 visibly relaxed as A2's feet once again found solid ground.
"Warning: Sensory functions will be shut down during the duration of the procedure. I recommend that unit A2 wait—"
"I've survived this far on my own, Pod. Just do your job and keep your mouth shut unless I say otherwise." A2 interrupted, yet again picking up speed as she reached the familiar region of the city ruins.
"Understood, initiating data transfer."
The android sprinted through the desolated city, bypassing several machines that seemed to be wandering mindlessly without purpose. H1's eyes grew wide with surprise at the sight of the crumbling buildings and the thriving wildlife that took over the human metropolis. Packs of moose leisurely feasted on the overgrown grass, only moving aside when they heard A2's approaching footsteps. H1 jolted with shock as a boar, covered in fur and brandishing its two long tusks, trotted out of the shadows of a narrow alley.
Not another human was in sight. Rust-covered cars were strewn across the city, evidently abandoned by their owners sometime in the far past. All that remained of the once prosperous city were the dull skeletons of concrete, stubborn standing in the face of nature as if reminding it of humanity's dominance.
"Where...did all the people go?" H1 muttered to himself, still struggling to process the scene laid before his eyes.
However, it wasn't Pod who answered his question.
"Humans, gone," A2 replied, not taking her eyes off the road in front of her. The creek was just ahead. Then she can finally stop the human's persistent whining.
"What? I thought that..." H1 raised his head in astonishment.
"English. Speak. A bit. Get good later." A2 responded. Her sentences were broken and strange, but sufficient to convey the message.
"What happened to the people here? Where are we? How long have I been sleeping? Where are the other participants of the Proj—"
Before he could finish his rapid string of questions, H1 found him choking and drenched in a bubbling stream of water, with fish seen scattering from his naked and filthy body.
"Damn he's noisy," A2 grumbled under her breath, rubbing her temples as data flowed into her storage chip.
"Wash. Drink" she commanded. H1, still sitting motionless in the creek, looked up at her helplessly and feebly flapped his arms in the water.
"A little bit of help, please?"
A2 groaned. Of course, his weak human muscles would deteriorate after such a long time without being used. It would take several weeks for him to walk again, and months or even years before he regained his previous physique.
Staring at H1, who gazed back at her with hopeful eyes, she steeled herself and grudgingly approached the unclothed man.
His eyes shone with blatant anticipation as he already began to picture A2's slim hands running all over his body, cleansing it of all the filth and sand it picked from being thrown to the ground. She would carefully wash every nook and cranny of his frail body, making sure that every part of the skin is clean and free of grime. In order to gain access to certain regions, her hands, trembling with reluctance, would gently part his thin—
"No."
With an expression of undiluted disgust prominent on her features, A2 gave the human a heavy kick and threw him flat on his back into the creek.
"You stay there and see if the fish likes eating human meat. In the meantime, I'll find a rope so Pod can drag your sorry ass back to the base."
Well, this is it for the second chapter. I originally planned on having more stuff done, but this is what I ended up writing. Remember to share your opinions and offer me some advice by reviewing. Chapter 3 should be out in about a week, so stay tuned for that.