Shannon was lost in the happy memory as NOS-4A-2 sucked the life out of her. She found herself smiling warmly, glistening tears in her eyes, "I was wrong, huh?"

"Hm?" EVE was a bit confused, "You just realized that?"

"Yes...humans are doing just fine...I was just so caught up in my great grandfather's dying wish that I forgot to slow down and smell the roses..." she felt herself beginning to black out, "...I always wanted to see the Earth heal, and now I have..."

"Well great." EVE shook her head in exasperation. Nos was taking a lot longer than she expected, "If you had've realized that when I told you directly to your face, I might've let you live."

"...you did what you had to..." Forthright replied, "...and...Ruby? I'm so sorry...I'm such an idiot for letting my anger blind me...I'm glad you found a family..."

Ruby tried to look angry, but she found herself becoming sad, "Sh-shut up! You never loved me! I-I hate you!"

"...I know..." Forthright's peaceful smile didn't waver as her voice got weaker, "...you're all happy, and that's all that matters...maybe Grampapa didn't realize what was best for the Earth..."

"Hhhaaappee?" WALL-E asked.

"...yes..." Forthright gasped for breath, "...I-I am happy...I had a good run, just like Grampapa..." she felt the last bits of life drain from her body, "...and now...I'll get to join him..."

Those were her final words as she fell limp and her eyes opened, glassy as the morning sky.

"We did it..." EVE realized.

"It's too bad she didn't realize that sooner..." Leah said.

Nos pulled away from Forthright, his expression still one of manic rage, but he stayed still.

"Oh well." Rio said, "Ya win some ya lose some, amiright?"

Leah hit her sister.

"Ow!" Rio rubbed the spot on her arm, "What!?"

They suddenly heard a blood-curling scream.

"Aya!" EVE gasped. It seemed that Forthright's slave-bots hadn't gotten the memo and were still attacking. The girls hurried to destroy them.

"AYA!" EVE screamed, "NO!"

"Aya...?" Nos mumbled in a distorted voice. He looked around, recognizing the name. His manic red eyes finally met her yellow ones.

She had been punctured through her heart, the rain water seeping deep into her system. She was sparking dangerously, her eyes flickering on and off. She struggled to stay awake.

Immediately, Nos' red shell played in reverse, coming back around him and un-shattering before fading away. He came to violently.

"AAAYAAAAA!"

He dashed to her side, his cry echoing throughout the clearing sky. He pulled the sharp object from her, watching the battery acid mix with the water, "NO! DON'T DIE! PLEASE DON'T DIE!"

"N-Nos..." she grabbed him weakly as he gently held her in his arms, "...you have to kiss me..."

"What!?"

"I don't want to die...b-before..." her screen flickered off.

"No..." he watched one of his own tears fall onto her cracked display, "Aya! AYA! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!"

EVE scanned her sister, "No..."

"Can we save her!?" Nos exclaimed, "We can save her, right!?"

EVE felt a sob shake her body, "She's going to die..."

"Aya!?" Rio shook her, "DON'T DO THIS, AYA! IF YOU DIE WHO'S GOING TO TEASE ME!? HUH!? WAKE UP ALREADY!"

"Rio..." EVE pulled her back and Rio began to sob into her shoulder.

"No...she can't die...not Aya..." she cried, "Not Aya!"

Nos felt the world spinning around him as the family gathered around and cried, including WALL-E. His sobs were the most heart-wrenching of them all.

"Aya..." he held her close, his tears mixing with her battery acid. It was too late. No amount of repairs would be able to save her.

She would die before the sun came out again.

He suddenly got an idea, "Eve?"

"What?" she replied tearfully.

"I can save her..."

"You can..." EVE realized what he was talking about, "No! Don't do that!"

"It's the only way!" Nos' eyes flashed angrily, "I'm not letting her die!"

"You can save her!?" Rio exclaimed, "Do it! I don't want to lose her!"

"Nos! Wait!" EVE hugged WALL-E close to her, "That might be worse than dying! What would it feel like for her!? Have you really thought this through!?"

"No, but-!" Nos growled as his optics glowed again, "I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HER! SHE GAVE ME A REAL REASON TO LIVE, AND I'M NOT LETTING SOME MANIAC TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME!" Nos blinked, returning his eyes to normal, "I'm going to do it anyway, but I'd rather do it with your permission! Will you let me save her or not!?"

EVE knew she had to decide soon. Aya's final moment in life was drawing closer by the second.

"Fine. Do it."

Nos nodded, "Thank you. This shouldn't take long." he sank his fangs into the caving metal on Aya's neck, biting down as hard as he could. He drained what little was left of her power and then inserted the venom, that dangerous foreign line of code that would alter her inner programming forever. He only hoped her memories would stay intact through the transformation.

01110110 01100001 01101101 01110000 01101001 01110010 01101001 01110011 01101101

The code went through his head over and over again. He was painfully aware of what he was doing to her, but he kept going, pouring the code into her body. A virus that would seize her and twist her into something else entirely. But he wasn't willing to let her die. He knew what he was doing, and Forthright's battery had given him more energy than he'd need for the next week, so he had full control (besides, he had already been feral, so he didn't have the juice to do it again).

Finally, he yanked his fangs out, grimacing at the ugly wound left behind, "She'll be fine now. We just need to get her a steady flow of power."

"Right." EVE gestured with her head, WALL-E still in her arms, "To the repair ward!"