Chapter 23: A001913
Thirty-Three was wide awake.
The tarp that housed her and her companions looked as drab and lifeless as ever. The rhythmic rustling through 6Hs satchel rang in her ears like she was subconsciously trying to find the musicality in it.
In reality, she was loosing her mind. She had heard this same rustling hundreds of time now.
Was it hundreds? She didn't know. Nor care.
With a sigh, she sat up, much to the surprise of everyone around her. She immediately stood up and walked over to a tree to produce a water flask and began to chug its remains.
Thirty-Three exhaled, satisfied with her refreshment, "Fuck off." she starred deadpan at the thief, who was petrified. He panicked by grabbing the bag and running off with it.
Same old same old. Thirty-Three thought.
"W-what was that about!?" 6H stood, equally surprised.
"Thief. You got anymore water?" Thirty-Three offered the flask. "I'm out."
6H instinctively checked her pockets.
"No," Thirty-Three instinctively responded, "The cube from the cave isn't in your pockets. You left it in the satchel." she peered into the flask, trying to discern if anything remained inside, "Like any rational person would do."
"Are… You alright?" 6H stopped forward.
"Just fucking fine, thanks." Thirty-Three snapped, pausing as she checked her tone. "OK. Maybe I'm cranky."
"I can tell…" 6H raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't we go after him?"
"We could. He's going to town though, so there's no rush."
"N-no rush?" 6H was clearly not following. "We have no idea what that thing can do!"
"Trust me. It doesn't do much of anything." Thirty-Three shook the upside down flask. "Seriously, do we not have anymore water?"
6H frowned, "Fine. If you're not concerned about this, then Phil and I will-"
…?
Thirty-Three looked up to a grayscale world around her. She blinked. Slowly, she stepped towards 6H and waved a hand in front of her…
Nothing.
She did the same with Phil… Still nothing.
"What the hell is happening!?" Thirty-Three said to no one specifically. She jerked around, trying to ascertain the source of the sudden change.
On one hand, she was terrified, on the other, this had never happened before, so her heart was beating with excitement.
"You really fucked up, you know?"
Thirty-Three whirled around to the treeline where the plains and forest met. Leaning against one of the trees was a familiarly regal yet lanky android. She went by "Accord," if her memory was right.
"You…" Thirty-Three blinked, "What are you doing here?"
Accord let out a sigh, "Fixing your fuck up. To put it plainly."
"But- I didn't do anything." Thirty-Three looked around her, recalling the change in environment, "Did you-?"
"You accepted that stone. Is what you did." Accord pointed to Thirty-Threes pockets, whose eyes widened, recalling what was inside.
Thirty-Three produced the stone given to her by the crazed machine before they entered the caves. She looked at it intently.
"That…" Accord paused, tapping her chin, "That's some old world magic."
"I'm- sorry?" Thirty-Three looked at the stone closer, "Magic? "
On closer inspection, the red markings were colored differently than she remembered. They seemed to shift and contort subtly, almost pulsate. As if it was alive.
"That stone seems to have been bound to you somehow. Whatever those runes are, the result seems to be some kind of time loop." Accord stepped forward.
"How do you know all of this?" Thirty-Three clenched her grip around the stone, "Just what are you!?"
Accord held her hands up, "Guilty as charged, I suppose." she sighed.
"What the hell, it's not like this branch can get any worse…" Accord unhinged her large box from he waist and threw it to the ground, twisting the symbol on top before kicking it open.
What looked to be some kind of tree made up of hundreds of small beams of light sprouted forth. However, there was no singularly identifiable root.
"What- what is-?" Thirty-Three stepped back.
"The possibilities of all existence." Accord frowned, "Well, a small piece of it, anyway."
She touched the image with her index fingers, pulling them apart to zoom in on a specific branch, "With any major decision made, this tree here gets another branch."
"This…" Accord pointed to a branch with a green dot at the end, "Is our branch. Null branch."
"Null? As in invalid?" Thirty-Three stepped closer to see better. The highlighted branch was the only one that seemed to move slightly. It was hard to look at.
"Basically." Accord crossed her arms, "I'm an observer. I map out these different possibilities as best I can. But this branch… It's interesting. It's not natural, whatever it is."
"Well…" Thirty-Three furrowed her brow, "What do we do? Can we fix it?"
Accord kicked the box shut, cutting off the lights. "Nope. What's destined to happen will happen. But I have plenty of notes to take." she picked up and rehinged the box to her belt. "What I can say for certain is that magic, such as that stone, is the cause of your current situation."
She walked over to 6H and Phil, inspecting their suspended figures, "The reason I'm interveneing, is because your time loop literally stopped this branch from progressing."
"Tell me, Thea, was it?" Accord stepped forward. "Have you felt weakened in any way recently?"
Thinking back on it, Thirty-Three recalled being more dehydrated than usual. This was typically an indication of low energy. She nodded.
Accord nodded in kind, "Then that's the stone's purpose. For what reason…? Fuck if I know. But it's trying to sap all of your energy before presumably binding itself to its next victim."
Thirty-Three looked over to her comrades. If she really did die, would it just move onto 6H? Phil even? She frowned. She wouldn't be willing to let that to happen.
"How do I destroy it?" a newly determined Thirty-Three turned in attention, "I can't let this- thing just kill everyone." she rolled the stone in her hand.
"Well… As you've probably already guessed, just discarding it won't work. Since it's magically bound to you…" Accord rubbed her chin and began to pace, the still static sunlight glinting off of her round, thinly framed glasses. "And if you try and destroy it, it'll probably take you with it…"
Thirty-Three jolted at the suggestion. She was quickly learning to hate magic.
"How do you know so much about this?" Thirty-Three crossed her arms.
Accord waves her hand dismissively, "When you've been around for as long as I have, you see some shit."
Ultimately, she snapped her hands, "If we can't destroy it with you holding it, then maybe it needs to be bound to someone else!"
Accord snagged the stone from Thirty-Threes hand.
"H-hey!" she protested, "What are you doing!?"
Accord began pacing and looking intently at the stone, "Easy, the stone binds to me and you destroy it!"
"Wh-what!?" Thirty-Three stepped back, "No! That'll kill you, won't it?"
She summoned her spear, "I won't let you do that!"
Accord scoffed, "So what? You beat the shit out of me and take it back?"
"If I have to…" Thirty-Three tightened her grip on the spear. "I won't let anyone else die on my watch."
"You couldn't fucking touch me unless I wanted you to." Accord has a sudden intensity to her look. A stark departure from her usually relaxed nature.
Thirty-Threes stance wavered, "I-" she looked down. Her hands were trembling. Was she actually considering letting Accord sacrifice herself? The idea was far too appealing after the hundreds if not thousands of loops she'd experienced.
How long was she stuck in the loop? She had no clear indication of the time passed. With each loop it felt like her memories were slowly distorting. Even those with 6H. It felt like she was sick of the same things she would ask, the same things she would tell her. That isn't even to mention how Phil may as well not exist due to his rust problem.
She didn't want to do it. She knew she'd feel awful about it. But she couldn't keep going.
"F-fine." she trembled, still trying to maintain her composure.
"Just like that?" Accord smirked juggling the stone in her hand. "Can't put up with the loop anymore, right?"
Thirty-Three nodded without a word.
"Then this should be the last time you need to experience today. Congrats." Accord tossed to stone into the air, catching it, "Find me in town after you get past the loop." a devilish grin smeared across her face. "I'll let you do the honors of killing me."
In a snap, color returned to the world. Thirty-Three wobbled to the ground, nausea taking over for a moment.
6H shook her head. "Thirty-Three-" she caught herself, "Sorry- Thea?"
For the first time in a long time, Thirty-Three felt warm inside. Was this… Hope?
Shakily she pulled herself up, "S-sorry for snapping, Hives." she turned to her companion, "It's just been… A day. " she placed emphasis on "day".
6H raised an eyebrow. Still very much not following. "That's… Fine."
"Help me with Phil. We need to catch up to the thief."
As quickly as they could, they ran to town. Phil struggled to keep up with his compromised limbs, but Thirty-Three insisted he would catch up.
They managed to relatively quickly make it to the front gates of town.
Wanting to avoid any surprises, she pointed to the town hall, "Hives, you let Akeha know about our thief. See if we have permission to reclaim anything he might have already sold."
"Right!" 6H nodded, looking back at the struggling machine. "What about Phil?"
"He's coming with me." Thirty-Three patted Phil on the head, who finally cough up in that moment. "I think I know a guy who can help."
In a hurry, Thirty-Three jogged over to the entrance of the market, waiting for Phil to catch up while also preparing to intercept the other interruption.
On cue, Emil rolled out from the crowd. Thirty-Three stepping in his way, kicked him into the air, and grabbed him.
"Hey." Thirty-Three said, nonchalantly.
"H-hey!? What's the big idea!?" Emil shook in her hands.
"Calm down, no one gonna hurt you." Thirty-Three propped the head under her arm as the barkeep broke through the marketplace crowd.
"Wh- you-" the barkeep stuttered, out of breath.
"Whatever my friend here was doing, I'm sure he didn't mean it. Right?" Thirty-Three look down at Emil expectantly. He looked between his captor and the stalker, audibly swallowing.
"Y-yeah. My bad! I didn't mean to… Ah-" Emil trailed off, it seemed like he wasn't entirely sure what he did.
Thirty-Three hoisted him as she quietly grumbled, "You scared his customers, right?"
"Oh? Oh!" Emil came to some sort of realization, "Yeah. Sorry about that…"
"There." Thirty-Three placed the head on the ground. "No harm, no foul. Right?" she leaned towards the barkeep who simply screwed his face.
"S-sure."
"Perfect!" Thirty-Three clapped her hands together. "Hey, Phil!"
"PHIL IS NOT FAST ENOUGH TO-"
She reached over and pushed him forwards, presenting him, "I heard you deal with machines often." she started, "This guy was in the rain yesterday. Rusted pretty bad. Could you help him?"
Immediately the barkeep snapped to attention, looking quizzically at the machine. "I suppose I could give him an oil bath… You'd need to pay, of course. That stuff isn't cheap."
"Let me handle that." Thirty-Three waved as she approached the crowd. "I have some business to take care of anyway. I'll be back!"
It was strange, the crowd she had learned to loathe when she had first entered the market had become strangely endearing. There was a confidence that radiated from each individual she passed that she only wished she could have herself.
She weaved through the crowd, ultimately finding herself in front of the pawn shop where the thief was haggling with a merchant.
She grimaced on seeing him again. Everything about him pissed her off. But, for this to work relatively well she would need to be smart.
She glanced at the thief's boot, recalling the dagger stored within. The additional realization of the man's hands being hidden behind boxes of trinkets gave her an idea. Likely to be grotesque and frowned upon by 6H, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Besides, she wasn't planning on killing him…
This time…
Thirty-Three forced a smile and approached. In one swift motion she snagged the dagger from the boot and stabbed the thief's hand into the table, using her other free hand to mask the attack.
"Well what do you know!" Thirty-Three forced the enthusiasm, turning her torso to the man, "I'm glad to see you got a head start on selling the merchandise!"
The thief screwed his face, "Wh-what the-"
Thirty-Three twisted the knife slightly, "Very nice to see you being so productive!"
The thief, catching onto the fact he was found out, simply nodded through the pain.
"Oh?" Thirty-Three turned her attention to the cube on the table. She snagged it with her free hand.
"You idiot!" she released her hand from the dagger, swatted him behind the head and replaced her grip in as smooth a motion as she could manage, "I told you this wasn't supposed to be sold!"
She awkwardly shoved the cube in one of her pockets, "Was that the last item you were trading?"
The merchant, eyebrow raised, nodded.
"Alright then," Thirty-Three threw the dagger behind her, immediately dropping the act, "I have to deal with this stealing asshole, if you excuse me. I'll be back." she turned on her heels and began dragging the thief out of the market.
Thirty-Three threw the thief to the ground of the town square. He quickly started to scurry to his feet, before a spear was pressed against his neck. He immediately froze in place, sitting back down.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood," she seethed, "Otherwise you might have lost your head."
"P-please!" the thief raised his arms, "Don't kill me!"
Thirty-Three slumped slightly, "I just said I wouldn't…"
"You have no idea what it's like out there!"
"Out where? The wilderness?"
The thief nodded.
"I've been out there for days at this point! I know very well what it's like!" Thirty-Three shook her head, "Why don't you just stay here? You're safest in town."
"Are you kidding!?" the man seemed genuinely offended, "Do you know what they do to people here?"
Thirty-Three slackened her grip on the spear at the comment, "What do you mean?"
"The people here! If- you're not like them-" he paused, looking around nervously.
…
"Th-Thea!?" 6H jogged down from town hall, a small crowd of guards following.
The thief stumbled to his feet on seeing the guard, but was knocked back to the ground by Thirty-Three. She nodded.
From behind the guards, Akeha pushed through, a worried expression signifying her plan to assist.
"This is the thief then?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am." 6H stepped in between Thirty-Three and the leader, "Thea caught him with our supplies and findings from the island."
Akeha's worried expression melted to frustration. She approached the thief, giving him a solid once over. The thief himself looked up at the towering android in terror.
With the snap of her finger she turned around. A pair of guards approaching to scoop up the culprit, "Take him to one of the correctional cells." she looked between 6H and Thirty-Three, "Of course, you two can retrieve your supplies from the market." she handed a letter to 6H, presumably to show to the shops.
Instinctively, Thirty-Three began to tense, fully expecting to open her eyes to the same campsite with the same sounds and the same sensations she'd grown numb to.
A moment passed.
Then two.
Then three.
Still, she heard the sound of the market, the sound of clattering steps of town guards as Akeha barked orders, then a hand on her shoulder.
"You OK?" 6H asked, trying to grab her attention, "You seem out of it."
"I- I- um-" Thirty-Three struggled to find the words. Was it true?
Her breathing became heavy as she slowly began to release that tension.
"Did it work?" she mumbled to herself, "I'm… Free?"
6H stepped back, "Now you're worrying me."
"No- I'm fine… I think." she shook her head, "Fuck it, follow me. I'll explain on the way."
As the two walked through town, retrieving their belongings, Thirty-Three explained the stone given to her by the machine, how through old world technology it bound to her and forced her to experience a time loop as it sapped her of her energy. How Accord managed to help her.
During this, she was chugging every drop of water 6H could give her, narrowly avoiding exhaustion.
Thirty-Three opted to leave out Accords cryptic and unsettling explanation of the time loop and the Null Branch. Not even she herself understood it, let alone believed it.
Although, if Accord was right about the stone…
"You… Do realize how crazy you sound, right?" 6H asked, accepting the remaining supplies from a helpful vendor, "Time anomalies aren't really… Possible, last I heard."
Thirty-Three was examining the tip of her spear, checking for any imperfections that might need repairing, "If it really is due to old world technology, who knows if it's true or not. There's still so much we don't know."
6H looked up and around, trying to piece the complex puzzle together in her head, "I suppose you're not wrong. But even still. How could you and some other android be the only people aware of the loop?"
It was bothering Thirty-Three as well. She assumed she was aware of the loop because the stone was bound to her. But how was Accord aware? Maybe she'd be able to shed some light on the subject.
Now fully resupplied, they stopped by the bar, intending to pick up Phil.
Thirty-Three approached the front counter and began to knock on the counter top. The androids and machines stationed along the bar glared at her as she interrupted their goings on.
"Phil! You in there?" she called out.
"AH! IS THAT PHIL'S YORHA COMPATRIOTS!?" from behind the bar, tucked away in the back, a voice rang out. The other tenants quickly changed their tune at the realization of the voice belonging to a machine.
The barkeep from before exited a backroom, presumably where Phil was getting cleaned up. He frowned on seeing both Thirty-Three and 6H together, understanding their origin.
"YoRHa, then?" he said bluntly.
Thirty-Three nodded, eyebrow raised.
"Your machine friend was pretty worse for wear. What did you do to him?" he asked pointedly.
6H shifted, trying to form the right words to explain themselves.
Thirty-Three immediately piped up, instead, "More like what did he do to us…"
The barkeep also raised an eyebrow.
"That machine impaled me, pressed me for information, and has generally been a pain in my ass." she continued.
6H nervously glanced between the two, as the barkeep visibility narrowed his eyes.
Thirty-Three sighed, "But, I suppose, we owe the little asshole our lives. Between saving us both on multiple occasions and just been willing to stay by our side during our search for other remaining members of YoRHa."
"But like I mentioned before," Thirty-Three straightened, "He rusted from the recent rainfall."
The tension immediately deflated. The barkeep giving a slow nod of approval, "I just ask since he seemed a bit more aloof than the usual machines we get around here."
"Trust me," Thirty-Three held back a scoff, "We know."
"Let me round him up, then. Just leave your payment on the counter." he said, exiting to the backroom.
Thirty-Three looked at 6H expectantly, "You have their kind of money, right?"
6Hs eyes widened as she rifled through her pockets, "No- I don't even know-"
SLAM
Immediately beside them, Accord had a handful of metal chips on the table. She looked pissed.
"An oil bath, really?" she seethed, "Did it not occur to you that time was of the essence?"
"I was in a hurry and the poor thing was nearly rusted solid," Thirty-Three retorted, crossing her arms, "How did you find us anyway?"
Accord scoffed. She was visibly tired, likely from the stone sapping her energy, "I've already spent a handful of loops just looking for you two."
"Already?" Thirty-Three's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah, already."
On closer inspection, it was clear that Accord was also exhausted. A familiar frustrated glean in her eyes sent a chill down Thirty-Three's spine.
"Alright," Thirty-Three turned to her, a mutually serious look matched Accord's, "Hives, take care of Phil, would you?"
"B-but where are you going? Who is this?"
Thirty-Three gestured, "Oh, um. This is Accord, Accord this is Hives-"
"I know." Accord interjected, "We've met."
6H blinked, "We have?"
Thirty-Three shook her head, "I'll explain later…"
Without another word, Thirty-Three followed Accord out of the market, out of town, and out into the canyon. It had been a while since she'd stepped foot there.
"So," Thirty-Three crossed her arms, "How do you want to handle this?"
Accord tossed the stone in the air, before swiping it back into her palms, she examined it with newfound curiosity. "It's all so clear to me." she mumbled to herself, "But why does something still feel wrong?"
Thirty-Three frowned, "What is it?"
Accord's grip on the stone tightened, her face screwing in frustration, "I can't destroy it, can't I?" she continued to mutter to herself, "Those sons of bitches…"
Feeling the tension rise, Thirty-Three slowly summoned The Usurper and held it behind her, "Is something wrong?"
"Oh shit-" in a flash of movement Accord threw her briefcase into the air in front of her, towards Thirty-Three, letting it open and emit a beam of red straight towards her.
Thirty-Three broke into a roll to the side as the beam collided into the ridge behind her. She looked up just in time to see Accord swinging the case wildly at her, knocking her across the face, sending her spiraling to the side.
Thirty-Three rolled across the ground, trying to catch herself and regain her balance, ultimately using her spear as a pivot point to re-menuver her momentum towards the enraged merchant.
She spun the spear in her hands and thrusted it forward, with Accord spinning behind her in a blur and swatting her to the ground, the air escaping her lungs.
Dust kicked around them as Thirty-Three collided with the ground. She looked up to see the whites in Accord's eyes were now the same lit up red that the stone eminated.
Of course… she mused to herself, Goddamn magic-
As the case came down once more, Thirty-Three planted her feet into the ground and summoned Iron Will at the right angle to intercept.
A dully metallic CLANG rang out through the canyon.
Thirty-Three had no idea how long they had until someone from either side of the canyon would come to check out the commotion.
Either way, this needed to end sooner rather than later.
Thirty-Three used the chance to spin around with her blade and strike at Accord, however, before she could even make a full rotation, she was already fleeing to retrieve her briefcase.
It was then an idea hit Thirty-Three. But just as it did, the briefcase was airborne once more, opening to reveal a spread of red scythes flying towards her.
Keeping low to the ground, Thirty-Three attempted to weave through the sudden onslaught of weaponry falling down, managing to avoid most all but a single sythe that jammed itself into her already bad shoulder. This broke her balance as she fell into a roll on the ground.
"Shit-" she seethted, clutching her shoulder, "Guess I'm left handed now-"
Accord threw her case into the air once more, this time a large red orb flying towards Thirty-Three like a cannon ball. She rolled out of the way as she could hear the air grow heavy around the mass that flew by. Piles of dirt spread across the canyon as it impacted the ground.
Thirty-Three looked up once again to see Accord flying towards her with inhuman speed. She struggled to her feet and readied her spear with one arm and braced.
The case flew wide as Thirty-Three backstepped summoning Iron Will immediately in front of her as a shield.
Another clang rang out as case and blade collided. With only a brief moment to react, Thirty-Three threw herself around the blade and swung her leg upwards. The brief case flew out of Accords hands. She broke into a run to fetch the case.
Gotcha- with only one hand available, Thirty-Three hefted the spear and let it fly, aiming for the merchant.
As quickly as the battle start, it ended with the spear impailing Accord from the back. She collapsed to the ground front first. Blood quickly beginning to pool around her.
Cautiously, Thirty-Three approached the android. Her breathing had grown heavy and the rest of her body seemed to be still. Unintentionally, it seemed she hit something important with the throw.
With the spear slowly disappearing, Accord managed to roll herself over onto her back. One of the hinges of her glasses snapped she did so, now lying in pieces next to her as the red stained and seeped into the shards of glass eyeware.
"Hey, Th-Thea-" she managed. Her eyes had were in a strange middle ground of colors, part red, part white. Resulting in a muted pink-ish color. Best Thirty-Three could tell, she was fighting for control.
"My brief case-" She coughed up more liquid, "Spin the top- fo- fo-" she shook her head, eyes whitening for a moment, "Five times. Then open it."
Thirty-Three nodded, walked over to the briefcase and did as was asked of her. She knelt down and spun the top five full rotations, stood up, and kicked the case open.
In a flash, it swung open and almost seened to spit out the stone. It narrowly flying by her head and landing on the ground between the androids.
With a sigh, Thirty-Three summoned Iron Will and approached the cursed slate of earth.
"One last thing-" Accord called out from the ground, "When you destroy that stone, you're gonna want to run."
Thirty-Three turned to the fatally wounded merchant, "For what it's worth, Accord, thank you. For everything."
"Just promise me one thing-" Accord tried to sit up, but her body had began to give out on her. Despite that, she smirked, her teeth also stained red, "Don't stop being interesting."
Thirty-Three smirked weakly, "I think you'll always have me beat there."
Accord laughed from the ground, caughing up more liquid, "Shit, then I might have fucked up more than I thought… Heh-"
Thirty-Three hefted the blade over her shoulder with one hand and swung down. A brilliant flash of red light exploded from the stone as it was cleaved in two. The explosion threw Thirty-Three back to the ground as rushes of energy and adrenaline spiked her system, if only for a moment.
As the light settled, she immediately was distracted by a convulsing Accord, her eyes an unnatural red once more.
She reeled and contorted her body as whatever magical entity was contained in the stone fought for whatever was left of its hypothetical life. Before she fell slack, her eyes returning to white. Her breathing steadied, almost like she was at peace, as her eyes slowly closed and she breathed her last.
Thirty-Three winced both from pain and the trying sight. Before recalling the warning she had just been given.
On cue, the top of the briefcase began to blink. Immediately catching on, Thirty-Three made a break for the ridge, heading back to town. As she scurried up, a figure could be seen on either side of the ridge, one seemed to be Dimos, the other a cannibal that looked like a S-class YoRHa unit. She recognized him to be "Heaps".
After spotting the two, the briefcase exploded in a brilliant burst of energy. One that sent Thirty-Three up into the air over the ridge.
The sky almost darkened and time felt like it slowed as the branches Accord showed her before from all of existence flew by. The visual illusion broke as the branches snapped like strings and each of the points connecting them melted away.
Her vision blurred as she was caught by presumably Dimos, who quickly ran her back to the village as she lost the remains of her consciousness.