To Want

"It sure is taking a while." Said a red-haired woman the sound making it clear how bored she was as she sank deeper into her seat.

Her sibling gave her a small glare before she rolled her eyes and looked on apologetically at the man, who simply chuckled and continued looking after the fire, embarrassed that he was the only one working crouched near the ground while they sat pretty on an old couch that they managed to retrieve. Looking around the room you wouldn't be able to tell that this once had been a bustling place of activity decrepit as it were with holes on the ground nearly colorless walls and webs overtaking most of the space still though it gave enough cover from the rain and that's all they ever needed. This had been their base on the outskirts of the city far enough away from any prying eyes and a good enough view of the ocean if you discounted the graveyard of skyscrapers that now littered the deep waters.

The man sighed as his thoughts turned once again darker flipping the meat from one side to the other trying to not think about… everything. "It's almost done Devola, just give it a bit more time."

She let out an unladylike noise of annoyance though he kept his content smile as he worked on the food. He understood she was just playing a character at this moment trying to keep the mood up, that's what they've been doing for the last week hounding him with objectives and activities never leaving his side for a second. "I still don't understand why you want us to eat."

The man shrugged "There's no fun in cooking just for myself." Shirou gave her a smile as he pushed himself up walking near the couch plopping himself down in the middle of the two.

"Soooooo…." Popola said as she scooted near him grabbing his right arm "What now?"

"We just wait for a bit." His smile deepened as he heard a groan from the redhead on his left.

"I should have brought my guitar." Devola at this point looked outright helpless.

He wished she did so as well "Well how about this then you girls can ask me more about the past."

This put the two on alert as they crowded him eyes shining out of curiosity. Ever since the forest Shirou had started being more open about himself though they refrained from asking anything too personal unless he started it himself, as it stood they hadn't gotten much information outside of just general info about humanity and how they worked before the calamity.

Given more thought perhaps it was time they asked something a bit more… personal.

"I… hmmm…." Devola muttered nervously, thinking about the pros and cons of what she was about to ask "How… were your parents?"

He gave her a blank stare removing her expectant smile from her face before sighing and running a hand through his hair "Depends on what you're asking, if you mean my biological parents I don't really remember them."

"Oh." They remained quiet for a bit digesting what he said.

"Were you adopted?" It was Popola this time that gathered the courage to continue with the discussion.

"Yeah…" his eyes stared into the fire as if remembering something "… my adoptive father was a good man… well with his own mistakes but he was a good enough father." his face gave way to a little smile more wishful looking than anything.

"Di-did he die… during..?" she left the question open-ended not wanting to be intrusive.

He shook his head his eyes not leaving the burning embers "He died way earlier I wasn't even in high school, he was the one who taught me… though he never wanted me to follow in his footsteps."

They watched as the man's face turned blanker and blanker the telltale signs that he was closing himself off from his emotions, the two looked at each other now making a decision that they pried enough on this particular subject.

Popola cleared her throat trying to remove the awkward silence that had settled "Well what did you do before, I know you used magic but from what you told us it was a well-kept secret."

"Magecraft… and I guess you could call me a mercenary."

"Mercenary?" Devola asked looking up and down at him "I guess I could see it but you don't really strike me as the type to follow after wars."

"It was more about finding the people whose lives were destroyed by war."

"And you were alone during all of this?"

He turned from the fire to Devola as the question left her lips "There was nobody else yeah." his eyes locked unto hers for a split second before he removed them as if he was embarrassed due to the answer.

They had known that Shirou was a rather lonesome individual from the way he talked and tidbits about his past he let out without noticing, it was easy to tell he had been alone for some time though they hadn't expected that type of life had existed even before… everything.

"That's…" anger grew inside of Popola as she heard his quiet voice, no matter how much he said he clearly wasn't okay with how his life turned out and nobody decided to help him?

"Nobody left me Popola." he looked at her his stare making her forget about her initial feelings "It's actually fairer to say that I left everyone else behind for my own dreams."

Her eyes widened as he once again turned towards the fire not knowing what to say she decided to remain quiet as she looked at him in worry.

"I'm sorry." Devola said quietly.

"It's fine, that life was of my own choosing."

That just left them feeling even worse did he truly not see anything wrong with the path his life took, yes it had been by his own choice something that had been taken away by the beast but still… to think this boy was broken even before.

They had much work to be done it seems.

"It's done." he stood up and walked taking out the pot from the fire opening it up. Immediately their senses were assaulted by a sweet scent making their mouth water in anticipation, seems even androids knew good cuisine when they saw it.

The girls pushed the couch back a little as Shirou retrieved an old table and some utensils they managed to discover back in some abandoned stores near the city they were degraded and dirty but with some cleaning they worked well enough.

Soon the room was filled with the happy noises of people munching on food and the small clinking sound of metal when it touched the plate, no conversation was had during the duration of the meal.

Shirou looked at his plate it was still filled with food the only one that was still in this state considering the twins had gone for seconds already. He looked towards his two companions their faces showed an odd happiness that seemed rather muted to himself, it was a momentary thing the simple contentment of two people being near the ones they loved… It was a rather human emotion.

Both of them were filled with such light and color that made his own look unremarkable by comparison.

"Shirou you're not eating." he heard an authoritative-sounding voice from his left as he watched the rice slowly fall from his spoon "You know we don't really need it to sustain ourselves it was a nice thing you did and I appreciate it immensely but I'd rather you eat more." she said even when she took just bit more food from the pan.

Right… not exactly human. They were stronger, they didn't need food, they didn't need water, there were clear differences but it was the ones that hardly mattered in his mind. They suffered, they cried, they were happy more than anything they could want.

Was it really that bad that in his own mind he had already replaced…

He shook his head "Sorry Popola." he started eating under the glare of the woman before she nodded and went back to appreciate her own serving.

"So what should we do after this." It was Devola this time that tried to strike a conversation her mouth full still.

"I was thinking we could go to the place that's shooting fireworks all the time." He said as he carefully ate.

"The old amusement park?" Popola said "That place is filled with machines by now, though there have been some odd rumors about it."

"That just gives more reason to go there."

"Does this have anything to do with what happened at the factory?" Devola asked.

That had been a rather surprising tidbit of information to gather, it was only through a chance meeting with a resistance scavenger that they were able to understand what happened while they were out of the city.

"Something like that, well it's also the only place left to explore around the city grounds."

"Well, I guess that's the decision made." Popola sighed "And here I thought we would have a lazy day."

Devola let out a snort of amusement "As If, Shirou will probably work us to death before that could happen." She said as she playfully glared at him.

He chuckled "Only halfway to death I'll make sure to stop at that."

They let out a small laugh at his joke the ambiance turning lighter.

His own inner turmoil was appeased by their melodic voices somewhat.

He truly couldn't help but see these two more colorful than him beings as anything other than human.

(Desert)

"Ugh damn sand." A young-looking boy said as he took out his boot watching as it let out its content with disdain written on his face.

His companion on the other hand simply looked on from her vantage point "We're making some headway towards the objective, but we've yet to see our target."

"I'm starting to think we missed her, she's been moving around a lot so is it really that far-fetched." He said nonchalantly.

"We must make sure of it first."

"I still don't understand why were given a mission to hunt down a deserter." The boy got up and started stretching loudly annoying his companion.

"The mission was clear, we do not need to know the reasons for it, 9S"

He sighed "Yeah sure but… while we're doing this red hasn't been seen in a while."

"That has nothing to do with us."

"Man you're always so serious, I'll break that mask eventually you know 2B." Smirking slightly as he got closer to his partner, sitting once more this time on the edge of the ravine overlooking the apartment complex, right next to his impassive partner "Nothing but sand as far as the eye can see huh. What did Jackass say?"

"She had a base here any android or machine that got close got a swift end, she took their weapons with her, as well as any chips."

"She's something else huh."

They stopped talking as they heard a buzzing sound coming from below gradually going up as it finally revealed itself to be a bot.

"Mission report." 2B said with authority.

"No machine or android lifeforms in the immediate area."

"I see." She said emotionlessly though a little bit broke out from her self-imposed mask as she heard her companion groaning in frustration.

"See I told you." She tried very hard to not glare as she heard how smug he sounded.

"C'mon get up we're getting down."

His eyebrow rose up in confusion "Really?"

"We might learn of her whereabouts." She said walking down not bothering to look back.

He on the other hand got up slowly, making noises all the way "Aye aye ma'am."

(Amusement Park)

It hadn't taken long to reach the higher-than-life park it's rusted gates looked inviting enough though the dancing machines made that notion questionable, they had yet to actually attack much too busy frolicking around as if they hadn't even noticed their sworn enemies in striking distance of them.

Shirou gripped his swords.

"They're just… dancing." Devola looked perplexed at the scene in front of her.

Popola, on the other hand, took a step forward putting herself in front of both "What should we do Shirou?" she grabbed her blade the machines still giving no thought to them "Should we attack?"

Shirou on the other hand simply looked on his eyes widened slightly, he knew the machines could evolve mentally, the ones in the forest were proof of that but what was in front of him was not as simple as evolution. They were mimicking humans, it had made sense and it should have clicked way sooner.

Seeing something like this was like a mockery.

And yet…

He gripped his blades tightly his hands turning white.

"No they haven't attacked, if they do something we'll slaughter them." He hoped the wishful sound he heard at his last words was only in his own mind.

"Alright then, we'll follow your lead Shirou." Devola said at his side giving him a warm smile that he didn't return.

They passed through the confetti throwing machines and the golden statue at the center of the plaza being careful to not get surrounded despite said lifeforms giving them little to no attention.

They finally reached the stairs the top visible, with only a few machines to move around.

Before they could they were stopped by a metallic voice.

"Balloons?" A little machine asked a clown hat adorned his head clinking sounds heard as he moved it.

"What?" Shirou looked perplexed at the small being, the siblings cautiously stepped forward towards it looking more confused than anything at the rather peaceful question.

"One man… two girls… not a pair…." the machine stopped for a second as if it was doing calculations its head moving around rapidly, he looked back at the group as it finally made a decision "Balloons" he reached out with its hand giving each of them a different colored balloon.

"They really don't attack huh." Devola looked at her bright yellow balloon and questioned the little machine "What is up with you?."

The machine tilted its head the clinking noise was heard from its hat "Balloons?"

"I don't think we're getting much from him, sister."

"Seems so." his voice came out as a grunt as he released the ballon from his hand the green air-filled thing danced around in the air before disappearing. "C'mon let's go."

He grabbed both of their hands and forcefully started walking up the stairs only stopping once Devola removed hers.

"What is the matter Shirou?" The red-haired woman took a few steps forward her head going upward trying to reach his eyes "You seem angry, if you want to we can leave this place."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" He shook his head trying to calm himself down "This is rather weird isn't it makes me almost wish they attacked us instead."

"I can see what you mean, never thought I would meet a machine that didn't try to destroy us at first sight." Popola commented on his side.

It was more than that though. It was an odd feeling something unexplainable, perhaps because he was the last of a forgone species he was the only one able to feel like this. It was like getting replaced... no even that didn't fully describe it.

It was simply... odd seeing a mimicry of humanity given the context.

These new beings seemed almost like children copying their parents, it is a wonder how far they would go. Could they truly feel? Could they want?

His emotions were a confused jumbled mess at this point anger and pity made for a weird concoction but he knew he didn't want to hurt them not if they didn't attack first.

"No this is actually perfect, we can't lose a chance like this."

Popola looked to him carefully "To learn about the machines?"

Shirou took a step before sitting down putting his back towards a light post "What exactly do the machines want, It's something that I've been thinking about for a while."

"I thought we went over this back at the forest." Devola said but she seemed unsure about her answer.

"And we're still not any closer to finding out." He ran a hand over his hair as he looked around at the various machines doing menial tasks, they didn't seem to understand exactly why or how they were doing it "They outnumber us one to one hundred why not just destroy us all that's what they were made for right? They keep attacking but where it hurts the least."

Devola sighed "You're just gonna keep running your head around, they're alien they don't think like us."

He looked at her carefully her mouth shutting off due to his intensity "Is that what you're seeing? Because to me they are frighteningly close to our way of thinking." He got off the ground with a grunt and started walking away.

"Perhaps it's best if we look into this Devola."

"Not as if we have much of a choice" She huffed annoyance and worry mixed in her voice "Still though he isn't wrong it is quite scary how far they go into their theatrics, almost genuine."

"You think that's all it is?" Popola turned around to her sister her face showing the same worry her sister seemed to have at the prospect of it being more.

"I hope it is." Devola murmured quietly "C'mon best to not leave him waiting for long."

Grabbing her sister's hand they ran up the stairs until they reached the top giving way to a passing machine with a clown nose on its face. The patio was surrounded by broken structures that had barely any tell for what they were used for, with chairs and tables that still looked usable on the outside.

In front of them stood Shirou overseeing a bridge that connected to the theater the only barrier to its entry being a gate that still looked sturdy enough despite its age.

"Shirou?" Popola asked as they found their place at his side.

"A machine came to me saying there's something inside, something to worry about." his face showed no emotion as he carefully watched the entrance to the building through the rusted gates.

Devola crossed her arms her eyes questioning "That old Theater? You think it's something important?"

"Important enough to mention." He shrugged his eyes not leaving the red doors across from the bridge.

Popola grabbed his right arm pulling on it trying to grab his attention "What if it's a trap?"

"Might be only one way to find out though." Shirou said as he stepped forward putting his left hand on the gates before giving one strong push the gates nearly coming off from their hinges from the force put upon them as a loud metallic sound was heard when they hit the other side of the railing.

"Well then let's see what's in store for us, shall we…"

(Bunker)

White tried to keep her composure as she heard her subordinate giving her yet another failure as a mission report. It wasn't as if she was expecting anything else considering the person in question but it still left an odd taste in her mouth that she was able to escape once more.

She wasn't a priority before, less of a well-kept secret and more of something you scrub off the floor under something to hide it, it wasn't until she became active that she even thought of trying to hunt her down. There were bigger problems to take care of and she was content just leaving her be for the time being but things usually don't go according to plan for her or Yorha.

She wondered if it had anything to do with Red it had been quite some time since its last sighting, there were talks from resistance members but they seemed rather tight-lipped nowadays towards Yorha units.

Things had become rather problematic with the group nothing serious as of yet but it had become clear that some resentment had started to brew. Any resistance member that got hurt had somehow become Yorha's fault and incompetence on their part not as if they could do more spread thin as they were.

It wasn't exactly an easy thing trying to keep a whole city under control from the machine threat especially with someone like Anemone at the helm of the resistance, that woman was fierce she will give her that. She wanted to keep her tradings private something that she wasn't able to permit due to the simple fact that they had to protect the traders even if she wanted to do it alone, well… that and at this point, this secret trader seemed far too mysterious for her liking.

"Is that all operator?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I see then return to your post if there's anything new contact me. This is for my eyes only, understood."

The operator nodded placing a hand over her heart "Glory to mankind."

(Theater)

They had carefully walked around the building looking to see of any planned attack the machines might be conducting though finding little to no activity on the outside, they had clearly tried to keep themselves as far away as possible from this place, even once getting inside the old building it still looked deserted. It looked far less interesting on the inside as well as it fell into the normal aesthetic of broken rotten out wood and peeled out paint in the walls that had become a staple of most things of this era, the grandiosity of such a building juxtaposing to it's age.

The theater stood quiet ominous as that sounded, still it was fortunate to know that they weren't getting ambushed as of yet.

The entrance gave way to stairs neatly put upon in red as they led to the entrance of the theater hall the only thing barring the entrance were a pair of doors.

"If I was a betting woman I would say our 'warning' is in there" Devola said as she crossed her arms.

"Too late to back up now I guess." Popola looked on in worry, turning towards Shirou waiting for him to make a decision.

The man nodded and walked with purpose the sounds of footsteps being heard around the building, he grabbed the handle of the right door noticing it wasn't closed by key seemed forceful entry was unnecessary. He looked back towards his companions as they nodded taking out their weapons from their holsters, ready for anything that might appear.

He heard the soft click as the handle went down the door opening slightly, his left hand already griping kanshou… giving one last moment to prepare he pushed the door open with force his hand gaining the other married blade as soon as able.

Though their preparedness seemed to be premature as all it seemed to be behind the door was a large empty room about as quiet as anything before, still one thing remained to be seen the stage itself hidden behind a curtain of red and dirt.

No words were exchanged between the trio as Shirou closed his eyes for a second, multiple swords appearing behind him before shooting towards the stage at rapid speed cutting through the fabric in different areas.

A metallic grating sound was heard as if two pieces of metal grinding against each other from the middle of the stage where the two curtains joined, as his weapons met their mark making it a stark difference from anywhere else as they clearly hit the wall, Shirou narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward.

Before he could reach the stage though a loud noise almost like singing was heard by all surprising them in its nature, it reached such volume that it hurt as the three unprepared for such an attack were almost put into the floor.

"What the hell was that." Popola said as she once again stood up her hands still on her head.

"I have no id… WATCH OUT!" Devola exclaimed as she saw what was holding the curtains up break apart and start to fall down right where Shirou stood though he was already jumping back even before her sentence ended.

Dust settled around the room as a giant figure was shadowed from their eyes.

"Beautiful.."

The thing said its voice giving way to its machine nature.

"I must… become..."

Their eyes widened as they finally were able to see this hidden figure.

Metal upon metal made into the form of a woman in dress seemingly half done as plating was missing on the skirt and midsection, its face bore no eyes it was almost like a mask of nobility something that was used in festivities, black plastic like human bodies were made into earrings.

It was a disorienting sight half beauty half monstrosity.

"...BEAUTIFUL."

The sound was followed by an area attack it was unblockable as its range was that of the whole room though it passed harmlessly through Shirou.

The twins on the other hand were far less lucky.

"It's… ugh… hacking us." He managed to make out as Popola tried to force a few words.

As he went to help them something fell from above imbuing itself deep into the ground as a horrifying sight was made clear to him. A crucified body of an android its skin was peeled back to show the plastic underneath just like the matching pair on the head of the machine.

"What the hell." He stepped back as the body started shaking before snapping their heads back as their eyes lit up… a deep shade of red.

"It turned it into a weapon." He barely heard one of the twins say his mind going somewhere else.

Shirou stood there transfixed his mouth slightly opened eyes widening.

"Shirou… ack..?" Devola said painfully, as she saw him go through a myriad of emotions in front of her as he stared deeply into the eyes of the android his arm reaching out "Look... out." She tried to say through clenched teeth as the singer behind him finally made a move though not before seeing her Shirou's face turn to rage.

The giantess of a machine waved her arm forward in preparation for the attack… though it was never to come as Shirou appeared mid-air having already cut away its arm. A loud yell of pain was heard from the machine as it wasn't able to counterattack due to Shirou kicking it away with such force that it made a dent into the armor, knocking the thing back unto the stage, his face emotionless as he fell back to the ground.

The man waved his arm the swords that were imbued unto the stage disappearing and reappearing above them. He sent his arm down the weapons following his movement as a rain of swords destroying the body of the dead android and pinning down the large machine though the weapons were barely able to pierce its makeshift metal skin.

He let out a deep breath shaking his head to clear his mind from the fog it had a second ago no longer having being judged by those eyes. Hearing movement he saw as the machine tried to get up though having difficulties as it only had one arm.

He prepared himself for another onslaught as sweat clung to his skin before someone touched his shoulder.

"You okay Shirou?" Popola looked at him in worry.

He smiled at her trying to give her comfort more than anything else though that was interrupted as the machine's skirt snapped back reviling four mechanical legs, finally able to borrow itself out of the hole it made.

"You two are okay now right?"

"Yeah." Devola said slowly not taking her eyes off of him. "We just needed a second we have ways to defend ourselves from hacking but it came as a surprise so we were unprepared, it won't happen a second time."

The machine turned around wobbling slightly as if unused to walking like that "I see, well try and keep its eyes away from me, for a bit."

They nodded as the machine jumped towards them, all three dodging easily. The twins went on the offensive as Shirou took a step back waiting for the opportune time to strike as the machine tried to fight back against its assailants.

A black sword struck its armless shoulder from behind, the machine turning around to see her attacker only to be met by its white counterpart square on her face as her head snapped back by the force of it.

Though it wasn't dead yet as it wobbled one side to another like a spider trying to stomp down on anything it met, It didn't remain like that for long as the twins made sure to cut its legs away making the machine fall for a second time.

Before it could retaliate it was struck once more on its midsection the married blades burrowing deeply into its abdomen as Shirou said one word "BURST."

The weapons turned giant in an instant, implanting themselves into the ground as the machine cried out trashing around though unable to move as it stood in place in a not too dissimilar way to its victims.

"...Is It over?" Popola asked her hands still holding her weapon tightly.

Devola took a deep breath she was seemingly holding before answering "I think s…"

"...beau… ti… full." they heard a small voice it was unlike the one before much quieter this time.

Devola growled "Damn machi…" she would've continued were it not for Shirou walking up the thing's body.

He looked down at the machine still alive as it hadn't been struck where it mattered though harmless at this point as it was stuck on the larger body it constructed for itself, crouching down towards it "You keep saying that why? What do you want?"

The yellow eyes burrowed deep into his own "Beau… ti… full… I… want… him… to love me."

It didn't lie… so that was all this was, huh.

To have a want, to have the will to act on it… and to do monstrous things due to it.

How very human-like.

He sighed as he stood up a weapon creating itself behind him, it was a dull thing more of a slab of metal than anything else.

"Was… I… Beautiful?"

"No."

The eyes grew blank an instant later.

He walked back down the swords littering the room disappearing in a few seconds as the large body fell.

"You okay Shirou?" Popola asked as she clenched a hand near her chest.

"I'm fine honestly, It's just..." he looked around at the crucified bodies of once androids "They looked far too human to have those eyes is all."

"I see." Her eyes still showing her worries.

He chuckled towards her as he put a hand on her head patting her "I'm fine now honestly, okay."

She nodded as she sank deeper into his warm hand, her eyes closing.

Devola looked at the scene with a pout and a glare "Shirou… you give her all the attention." she whined at him.

He shook his head with a smile before stepping away from Popola and patted Devola in a similar way "Let's get out of here, I'm getting tired of this place… and there's much to think about."

They nodded and quietly left the theater walking slowly back out from where they came.

As they got outside a machine appeared beyond the broken gate a white flag on its side, it was one of the flying ones though it didn't have any of the decoration of the machines placed in the amusement park.

It came towards them slowly as it noticed the cautious looks they gave its way.

"I come in peace, please follow me towards the village."

"Huh?"

"Machine Village… follow." The machine didn't wait for a response as it floated back into the park.

He looked at the twins seeing the same type of confusion as he himself felt, before sighing...

Well, well, well...

Let's see what they want now.

Hello, hello been a bit, please do send help as this month has been insane. Got a new job my mom got into a biking accident (she's fine) and a lot of other stuff, sorry for not updating and all that.

Anywhosers this chapter has been a bitch to write to be honest since it's the start of the new part having to set up different storylines and characters to eventually meet up. The combat part yikes I'll just say this no matter what i don't think I'll ever be good at writing it hopefully it's passable since what matters here is the message that it sends to the characters namely shirou. I know it reads a lot similar to one of my fake knight stories but i had on my mind that simone, as she is called i believe, getting sorta crucified like her victims speaking of victims the lack of them... well this is earlier in the story and also Yorha doesn't really have a lot of units to send so she only had about 3 of them, also the lack of difficulty taking her down well she doesn't really have much against someone that is unhackable and as strong as Shirou is.

I'm restarting work on fake knight so get ready for that everyone that's a crossover fan from that fanfic at least.

New chapter of this story prob next month I'm really sorry but... we'll see no promises.

New chapter on the 21st of November give or take a few days.

Thanks to Ivan Tridelan for helping out.