Intelligence Officer Jackass wasn't good with children.

In theory, that wasn't something that needed noting. It had been centuries since children even existed, let alone since anyone had to deal with them. With only a handful of exceptions, saying that a Resistance member had no idea how they would handle a human child was about as insightful as saying that one of the local moose would be hard pressed to repair a malfunctioning nuclear device.

But this was Jackass, and something about her left every android in his or her right mind certain that she was not to be trusted with children, infants, or the elderly.

It was probably the least significant reason seeing the guest in her quarters made no sense, but it was the first one to come to mind all the same.

Anemone frowned.

"Jackass."

"Yeah?"

"What is this?"

"Research assistant. You said the Resistance couldn't spare anyone for this kind of project. Found other channels. Say hi to the boss, Yonah!"

The girl holding a welding torch over the body of a machine put it down, looked up, and waved.

"Hi."

"Great. Work on the response time. Anyway, I've got research going on, so let's keep this quick. You got your answer, so I think we can get back to it."

Anemone clenched her teeth. She was the head of the resistance now, bigger than it ever was in Rose's time. She was the survivor of the first real "victory" in centuries, she was a "hero".

Which meant she couldn't just rip someone a new asshole every time she had trouble.

Jackass had friends in high places, and Anemone had seen what happened when Command abandoned the androids on the ground. As commander, she had to be delicate. But as commander, she also couldn't let a mad scientist walk all over her authority.

"Not until I have more information on what is happening with my science department."

"Fine. White needed to get someone off site while she looked into a few irregularities. I needed someone to help out. So Yonah's here."

"New model? I thought YoRHa restricted them to model numbers."

Something didn't seem right even beyond that. The resistance didn't have the same scanning capability as YoRHa, but even with her basic equipment the new android didn't look like an improvement. Low power reactor, no data bounce, no sign of a Near Field Combat System. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd assume that she wasn't looking at an android at all.

"White's gotten attached to this one. She's a big softy. Scrape past the surface and she's pretty much all heart."

Jackass turned to face Yonah.

"So, you extract the central gear mechanism, and we should be able to engage some of the basic repair protocols as a primer for what we're setting up next. Nice and easy, assuming you don't get your hand caught and torn off. Last assistant I had learned that the hard way. In case you were wondering? Don't do that crap."

"Got it."

Anemone clenched her teeth. No. That was insane. Even Jackass wouldn't take that kind of risk. But…

"Jackass."

"Yeah?"

"Is she… human?"

"Yeah."

Anemone's eyes bulged, contracted, and closed.

"YoRHa is sending humans to Earth. Even if they're that confident in victory, this is enemy territory. We're barely holding on, and we don't need to give the machines a high priority target."

The girl looked up from the machine.

"As part of YoRHa's command staff, I felt the need to personally appraise the situation on the ground. If all goes as planned, I'll stay long enough for a quick assessment, finalize a report, and return to the Bunker."

She looked down at the machine.

"It's important to understand the enemy."

Anemone nodded. No point in fighting a losing battle. Of course, that left the question why she hadn't just let herself die. A battlefield curse, avoiding the small losses to

"Understood. YoRHa is under its own command hierarchy, and I can't restrict your movement. However, I also will not tolerate anything that puts my soldiers at risk. Are we clear?"

Yonah nodded.

"I won't disappoint you, ma'am."

Well. They'd see. Anemone turned back to face Jackass. In theory, she was about to say something that didn't need saying.

Three years working with Jackass had taught her that it always needed saying.

"Until you receive further orders, don't let her into any general use areas. Three might be able to keep a secret if two aren't even really alive, but I don't want to risk four."

She also didn't want anyone driven into any kind of a frenzy. 200 years of hell didn't have much to their credit, but it beat all the worship out of her. Not many in the resistance could claim that kind of prospective.

"Come on. Like I'd risk losing the only damn test subject I'm ever going to get?"

Anemeone allowed herself the ghost of a smile.

"As long as we're clear."

Then she was gone. Into the ramshackle mess that was the Resistance base, a hastily erected shelter built of spare parts and the ruins of the old world. Just another 'gift' humanity had left them.

And now there was a human using it. Anemone closed her eyes. Her feet knew the route, and her mind was going to be occupied. Best not to allow anything else in, especially anything that could remind her of the old ghosts.

She was the last of the eighth, after all. The ones who knew they'd been written off for their failure. And it was a small mercy that she wouldn't have to persuade anyone like she was three years ago (Was it only three years? It seemed impossible to believe it. You didn't upend two centuries that quickly.) to accept that the Moon was come to Earth and acting like they still had a right to the soil.

She had a thousand other problems instead.

Most of the resistance, sad as it was to say, lived in hope. A few, like Jackass, had enough communication with at least one of the orbital stations to feel they were part of an organized war effort. They provided intel and distractions behind enemy lines so the main armies of humanity would be under less pressure, and so YoRHa or the like could break through when they'd made a real opening. More of them simply believed the propaganda, believed that mankind was counting on them. While Jackass's type (Jackass's type, who was she kidding, there still being a planet was proof there was only one of them.) might be able to take a human as simply a sign the war was coming to a blessed close, the line soldiers would take it much further. Their gods were finally returned. Maintaining the discipline and restraint that was the only thing keeping them alive would be nearly impossible.

The risks and balances marched through the back of her mind as the endless day pressed on, almost as cruel as the machines themselves. She was glad for the work. For every crisis she could stop before it reached the point where there were only bad options.

Most of the buzzing conversation only merited an automatic response, keeping a channel open in her mind for the fear. Almost long enough she missed when something actually needed her

"Devola and Popola are back."

"I'm sure you have… ah. Any damage?"

"Nothing serious enough to need attention."

Anemone lifted an eyebrow. She knew how things went with those two, and how the rest of the resistance handled it. The same injuries that would let any other soldier spend a week recovering wouldn't even earn them a day's respite. Not that anyone was trying to be cruel… at the moment. They just couldn't be bothered with pity.

"I'm sure. But I'd still like to see the reports."

The files slid across her death, another impossible risk, another sacrifice just large enough to earn a few day's mercy for sins.

It took a moment before she remembered who they were meant to atone to.

Anemone stood up.

"I'll review this in more detail later. Tell them that I'm pleased with their service. For now, Jackass has been working on a project."

The android who delivered the papers was already at attention, which made his current stance unmistakable as anything short of raw panic. Whatever his other faults may be, he clearly wasn't a fool.

"Understood, ma'am. I'll leave you to it. Apologies for the distraction."

Anemone nodded and turned towards Jackass's lab.

She didn't bother to look at the current project. There were more important things to worry about for once.

"Jackass, I'll need a little privacy."

Jackass nodded.

"Just don't kill her. White would have my ass if I lost her kid."

And she was gone. Anemone was alone with the first human she'd met in her life. She cleared her throat.

"Yonah."

The girl looked up, and Anemone felt the shaking knees and awe that shock buried the first time. She'd cast off her gods ages ago, but seeing one in person was still a weight.

She remembered Rose. Her old commander, the kindest, most decent person in the world, left for dead by the Moon.

The shaking stopped. Anger was good for that.

"Yes?"

"There's something we need to discuss."

Yonah looked down again.

"...figures."

She looked up again with a smile that rivaled the painted ones in Pascal's village for implausibility.

"I'm always ready to listen."

"Good. How much do you know about the Devola and Popola series androids?"

Yonah closed her eyes.

"They were built during the… WCS disaster to safeguard humanity until the threat had subsided. However, there was a flaw with the models in… roughly this region, which lead to the failure of the program and near human extinction. This didn't make them very popular after. The whole series was condemned and hounded for the crime, and very few models even survived to see the alien invasion."

"And that's your opinion as well."

"The… Commander didn't seem to have the best opinion of them."

The name seemed to catch on the human's throat. Of course. Even the mighty Commander was still an android. Still one of those things.

"I asked about you."

Yonah looked away.

"I wasn't there."

"Neither were any of the others in the series. They were all condemned for it just the same."

"I'm… not sure that matters. Err… any more."

"Enlighten me."

"It's the war. We aren't what we are. No-one is. We're symbols. The aliens are the real enemy, no matter how long it's been since they were part of the war. YoRHa was the best hope of victory even before they'd won anything. The sins of humanity matter less than what they mean to their… our creations. Devola and Popola's actual actions matter less now than how they're remembered. Until this is over, we're all shadows on a screen."

"Plato?"

Yonah nodded.

"15H made me pick up a tiny bit of everything. Had to have an education if I was going to look smart in front of the other humans. I guess you had someone doing the same for you?"

"Not really, no."

The closest thing she had was exchanging recommendations with Pascal, and she'd be damned if she betrayed him to the Moon.

"It's not important now. What matters is if I could trust you to be in a room with a Devola or a Popola without starting into blood vengeance for what they did to your ancestors. We're too desperate to afford grudges."

"That wouldn't be a problem, if any of them are left."

"Good. They're some of the best people I have."

Credit where due to mankind, the girl seemed to take it in stride. No arguments. No worries about history. Just a nod.

"I won't bring any of this up with them, then. I mean, if I'm going to have any real contact with the resistance. Or see outside."

"If?"

Honestly, Anemone had placed the cooperation so far as a delaying tactic. One she was lucky to get, and she'd be luckier to keep. Having it treated with more reverence than she'd gotten from more than a few resistance regulars felt… off. It was almost difficult to stay balanced.

The human, meanwhile, was ramrod straight.

"You understand the situation on the ground better than I do. I wouldn't want to put any of your operations at risk. Any contact with resistance forces should and must be performed with consideration for the long term prospects of all androids involved."

"So now the Resistance matters."

It was more bitter than Anemone intended. And considering how the human looked away, it sounded like she noticed well enough to need something to focus on.

"Of… of course. You're… you and the armies of humanity. The…"

Yonah tapped her foot, like she was trying to put together a few inconvenient facts so they'd stand up to at least a moment's scrutiny.

"YoRHa was built for combat, and very few of its androids are as old as I am. Eeeven if I don't count time in stasis, I mean. You're the people who've been holding the Earth. When the war's over, you'll be the ones best set to rebuild."

"And give the world back to its rightful owners?"

Yonah shuffled again.

"Yeah… well, there's not that many of us. Probably you could fit the whole human population in one city. Even if everything went perfectly, it's going to be a long time before the world stops being yours."

She turned to face Anemone, and tried to smile.

"Once it starts, I mean. It's why we have to win."

"Glory to mankind?"

Yonah lifted her left hand into the YoRHa salute, smiling like she was back on familiar ground.

"Glory… to…"

She stopped for a moment.

"Excuse me. Permission to speak freely?"

Anemone idly wondered if she was really looking at a human.

"Granted."

"What… what do you have against humanity? It's… I thought that was the unifier."

Well.

She asked. This one wasn't on Anemone.

"I was with the eighth."

"...I… the eighth machine war deployment?"

"Yes."

"I thought they… how many of you are left?"

Anemone slowly lifted a single finger.

"The moon forgot about us. Humanity left us to die when we didn't immediately give them results. YoRHa didn't even know we were still in the fight when they arrived."

So, she nearly killed them. Nearly turned on people in the same position she was, because you couldn't trust anyone else.

Yonah's eyes were wider. Apparently, something finally clicked.

"Did you meet A... number 2?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why she went rogue?"

"What?"

"I knew her. Up in the Bunker, when I was a kid. She was family. She even had…"

Yonah lifted her hand to the back of her head.

"Her YoRHa series was built with human memories as a basis. It was one of those things that they kind of tossed around sometimes when trying to make better androids. So I could tell her what it was like to be human, and she could tell me what it used to be like. She was one of the kindest people I knew."

The Eighth had the same thing. Another "gift" from the gods. A perpetual reminder of everything they weren't.

A breath taken in. A breath released.

"Only since then, she's been killing every YoRHa model that tries to bring her in. If it was the Logic Virus… but that's not what's happening. If it was, it might make sense."

"She's alive?"

Yonah clenched her teeth.

"I can neither confirm nor deny the current status of any fugitives, nor the status of any operations to retrieve them. I've said more than I should already. I'm sorry."

"I understand."

"Good. I don't. And I suppose she didn't say anything about secretly hating us this whole time, almost as much as she hated machines?"

"No."

Yonah looked down again.

"I didn't think so. If… if it's not too much to ask, I'd like a full debriefing, something to pass along to the Commander. We're still operating under more limited information than we'd like in regards to the Pearl Harbor operation. Anything helps. Whenever would be most convenient for you."

"We'll see."

"All I can ask. If you have anything else, I'll answer as best I can. If you don't have anything else, I probably should get back to Jackass's project here. The eyes look like they're judging me, so the sooner they're out..."

Anemone looked at the door. Number 2 was alive. Small comfort, in a world without Rose and Daisy and so many others, but even that was better than nothing. It was almost like hope.

Something the resistance always needed. Same as any other supply.

"Jackass can finish it herself. You have another assignment."

"Yes ma'am."

"Follow me."

Anemone looked into the hall.

"Jackass?"

"Yeah?"

"Warn them we're coming. Feel free to tell them what they should know."

Anemone stepped into the hall. Looked away from all the ghosts chasing her, and all the promises she'd made in the two hundred years abandoned. She couldn't do anything for the dead any more, no matter how they screamed.

The Resistance, A2, the poor doomed soldiers YoRHa sent down to fight the battles no-one else could? They were all alive, and maybe Anemone could excuse some of her failures by keeping them that way.

The resistance members they paused stopped in the halls, looked down from upper windows, simply stared. By the time they reached the center of the resistance base, it felt like every working eye in the Resistance was fixed on the visitor from the Bunker.

Anemone nodded to the human.

"Introduce yourself. Tell them why they would ever trust you."

"What?"

"They still believe in you. Even if I don't. They still want to think humanity is worth saving, that their work matters for something. Don't let them down."

Yonah gulped.

"I'll do what I can."

She took a step forward. Took a breath.

"Hello. I'm… not used to making speeches. I… try to leave that to the Council of Mankind."

She paused for a weak laugh.

"Not… not like they're doing much else right now, huh? I don't want to put them out of their job."

Yonah looked around.

"I guess I never really thought much about what it was like down here. About spending your life hiding from the machines, scavenging for every little thing you need to stay alive. You've spent your whole lives fighting for… humanity, without even seeing us. Safe out in orbit, while you die for us."

A moment passed.

"I'm not… I can't speak for the council, or the moon, or what humanity was in its glory days, or even YoRHa as a whole. I'm not worthy of whatever hopes you're placing in me. We didn't fight. We ran. You've been standing when we couldn't."

Yonah clenched her teeth.

"However this goes, you deserve better than we left you. And I'll take whatever actions are in my power to make sure you aren't forgotten. You've fought for this world. You've died for this world. I… if I have a voice in things, you certainly deserve your place in it when this is over."

She coughed.

"So… that's my speech. Hi. I'm from the Bunker. I'll see you around until I go back. And if I can help… I'll do my best."

Anemone looked away and shook her head.

She'd hated the gods and loved them, seen them as idols and demons. She thought she'd seen the whole gamut of emotion, known every face. But now, they were something different.

She never thought they'd ever feel so…

Irrelevant.

She turned to her work.

It wasn't the kind of thought you were supposed to share in public. And there were always more important things.


(Author's note: Hey. As usual, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it, and feel free to explain why if you didn't. Or, hell, if you did.

Not much to say here, beyond the obvious fact it's fun to write characters working from partial information and making assumptions about the whole that turn out to be less than wholly accurate.

So, that's our show. Drive careful, folks. Boars tend to turn on their riders when startled.)