It always ended the same…
Sometimes in years, others months, and to the fortunate few but minutes.
But at the end they all reached the same place… An unmarked stone slab, just like the other millions of people dying yearly.
All but him of course…
"It does look kind of peaceful, huh." he murmured to himself as he gazed towards the horizon at the hundreds of matching crosses, his eyes tired with bags under them… he looked sickly white, as he wheezed for breath, his face filled with feverish sweat even if the temperature was below zero, it was as if at any moment he would drop.
The man opened his mouth but closed it soon after shaking his head. What words could the dead use anyway… besides he was tired of talking to no one.
A bout of coughing rippled through him as he grunted painfully as if trying to get something out from his throat.
"What a mess this has been..."
A female voice rasped out from outside his view catching him unaware.
"...then again it usually is when it comes to you."
An older face greeted him, aged by time, despite this she walked with all the confidence in the world her back straight as if the weight of time was barely noticeable, her cane barely being used as she stepped away from under the tree.
It took the man but a second to know who it was despite the difference since the last time she saw her "Rin…" he said in a slightly breathless mutter, the words and emotion that came with the name taking more out of him than it should "...you look well."
The woman laughed throwing her head back in a mocking manner "and you look the exact same." she analyzed him slowly as her eyes went up and down as if in remembrance of the person in front of her before sighing in a somewhat nostalgic fashion and inclining her head towards the burial sight "Do you know them?"
Shirou looked at her inquisitively but answered nonetheless "No idea, I was never given names only numbers."
"Then why are you standing near this one?" she questioned with an eyebrow raised a teasing smile forming as if playing an old game.
The man simply shrugged "It's the one closest to the car…" he said his voice trailing of through the wind as he once again looked towards the snowy horizon reminiscing about older times "… why are you here?"
"It should be obvious."
There was no change in his expression but there was a noticeable one in the air as the wind picked up around the duo "I did what was necessary."
The woman chuckled without any real emotion her eyes closing as she swayed a bit "That's the problem with you, you always think you do what's necessary." she said almost sneering out the words the mask breaking away only showing the true anger she felt… at the world, at him for ending like this.
She let out a couple of short rapid breaths as she gripped the walking cane harder, he said nothing allowing her some time to contain herself.
He shrugged as he turned back to the graveyard "The war is over that's all that matters in the end."
The woman shook her head with a melancholic sigh "I've never been able to stop you, not even for a second and I don't think the time we spent apart would have changed any of it, so I'm not here to do that."
Despite himself, he chuckled lowly… she wasn't exactly wrong "Not here to tell me I'm making a mistake."
She looked at him with a nostalgic twinkle in her eye "When are we not." she huffed when he let out a short laugh.
Always making a mistake huh… a storied life without any sort of accomplishment, where they were now was completely different to where they thought they would be.
Both of them had dreams and now after such a long time had passed none of it came to fruition, all due to forces outside their control.
Then again that was always how it worked.
"I can't waste any more time… it was good to see you one last time Tohsaka."
"That's funny pretty sure you're the only one who was given the benefit of time Shirou."
He turned around and walked away leaving back the old woman who was shaking slightly, whether it be from emotion or the weather he couldn't really tell.
"I'm going to die soon." she said rather calmly stopping him in his tracks.
He had known that every human eventually would, especially in the world they lived in and she had lived long life far longer than most people… but still it was one thing to know and another to hear it from someone he had been at once been so close with.
"I can feel it and honestly at this point I'm looking forward to it, to finally rest away and leave behind this shithole of a mess."
The wind blew around him as the last few leaves from a nearby tree fell unto the floor.
"… but, will you ever allow yourself the same thing Shirou?"
He simply continued walking his footsteps heavy under the snow.
There was no need for an answer.
They both already knew...
The new present
It didn't take long for a problem to be seen among the files…
When White had said that they had compiled every single information even around them, she hadn't been lying and while that was good it hadn't made trying to gather any useful info about their current problem any bit easier.
"This is impossible, we've been here for hours." A feminine voice wined towards the skies as she tried to get more comfortable in her seat "Manufacturing issues, problems with AI, chipset… we already know all of these by just existing as us."
Shirou sighed as he rubbed his neck in discomfort tiredly staring down at the paper in his hands "A lot of this does seem rather trivial…" he said with a dry contort but continued to read through it with full attention, it hadn't been really helpful and he should have probably stopped by now but considering this was about their body it might have something on how it worked with maso…
...or it could have THAT.
He coughed suddenly surprising the two girls.
The one on the couch looked at him in concern ready to be helpful should he need it at a moment's notice, not really a surprise when it came to Popola.
The other twin though was always a bit more devious and wanted to find out exactly what he saw, so she stood up from her place in his lap and read through the same passage he did…
...a large grin formed on her face as she did so.
"You know you could have just asked Shirou." she giggled with a sly smile as she looked at his slightly blushing face.
The other read-headed sister merely looked at her the question clear in her eyes something that Devola had no problem responding.
She merely put up three of her fingers…
It didn't take long for Popola to gather what it was about that had Shirou so embarrassed. She blushed as well but her eyes narrowed trying to discern what he thought about it.
Only to look in disappointment when he merely put the paper down into the done pile with all the others.
Devola on the other hand plopped back down into his lap content on her teasing now going back to her own stack of papers.
It was mountainous and never-ending, but a rather peaceful affair.
Just the three of them on a group project without any chance of being in danger.
It was a pretty good life.
Though..
She sighed as she put the document down on the ground with the others.
...Something a bit more exciting to read through wouldn't be so bad.
She grabbed the next paper and her eyes widened… not all documents were simply about them but about the general time zone from when they were built she had passed a few but didn't think much of it until now.
Ask and it will be given, huh...
This didn't really have anything to do with them but…
She looked beyond the paper into the face of the one who saved her.
...it was about someone far more important.
"Shirou." she said suddenly as he blinked at being called out "There's something here about the legion war."
"What is it about?" he asked but didn't bother to take his eyes away from his own paper.
Devola groaned and stood up stretching her arms up like a cat before leaning back into the couch "It's about red eyes…" she said showing the paper in her hands.
His eyes widened and he stiffened in his seat, the document he was gripping almost ripping apart by the seams as his fingers gripped it tighter "What does it say…" he rasped out his voice strained by emotion.
Devola's eyes narrowed slightly, he hadn't had that reaction when he himself talked about his own time in the war did he think there was something here about him… "It's a mission report, it says that it was killed but the date is all wrong it's fifteen years before its death and the end of war."
"I see." Shirou sighed out as he leaned back on the sofa, his eyes staring at the table in front of him "We didn't fully know what we were dealing with but we really should have figured out that it wouldn't have been so easy before we knew it the war was back in its favor and we were quickly losing once again."
"How... how did it recover?" Popola asked slowly, her curiosity getting the better of her but she was still quite apprehensive to continue "Is it like…" she tried to say her hand awkwardly moving around as she didn't feel right to make the comparison.
Shirou shook his head taking it in stride "It used the bodies of those transformed to reform…"
"That's monstrous." Devola gritted out through clenched teeth… "Using humanity itself to cling unto life."
"How did you kill it then?" The other twin asked her voice raw with emotion.
He scratched the back of his left hand "The only way we could… by killing all of them." he said in a low voice, his eyes fogging staring down at the table as if he was talking to someone who wasn't there before quickly shaking his head and grabbing another paper.
The twins looked at each other in an awkward fashion but didn't want to keep pushing him to talk about things he didn't want to remember.
After that, they simply continued and no more words were exchanged.
Still, Popola couldn't help but continue to glance at him in concern…
It was only for a single moment and her own eyes might have been playing tricks on her.
But she was sure she saw a flash of red in them.
(Underground)
"This was a stupid fucking idea." a white-haired woman screamed out kicking another large rock to the side.
A sigh reverberated through the darkly lit cave from her companion "I know you said that ten seconds ago as well." said the hovering humanoid being with a sigh "You're the one who wanted to come running here immediately."
A2 turned around immediately, her eyes ablaze with fury "Well my apologies after you told me that you felt the god damn aliens… I still think I simply hit you too hard."
"You're not wrong about that at least…" he murmured to himself, wincing as her eyes glared down on him further "...look I'm telling you the truth, there's clearly something underground the city that is waiting to be discovered."
She stared him down for a few more moments before huffing and continuing further into the makeshift cave. She had half a mind to simply turn around and leave especially when they were neck deep in Yorha territory but she couldn't pass of this chance… and if he was wrong or playing her well…
Then she could get rid of him with a clear conscience.
Win-win.
Emil on the other hand simply kept his focus on the task, his body glowing with a bluish tint, it had taken quite a bit of power to burrow into the ground like this and finding the deep caverns underground but it would hopefully be worth it once they saw the aliens.
Though now that he thought about it why was it that he only felt them now, perhaps it was the rejuvenation of his abilities. They had gotten stronger and stronger once he was let out of that machine… it was like the air was filled with power, especially inside the city.
He shook his head a thought for another time perhaps.
It was all the better as they finally reached something different from the rocky contours of the deep underground.
"We're here, I think." he said with caution in his voice as he gazed at the metal door "Are you ready?"
A2 merely narrowed her eyes and stepped forward "Let's do this." she said with a sneer her arm already mid-swing fully intent on slashing the metal away though...
The doors opened by themselves as if welcoming the duo.
"This might be a trap…" Emil cautiously voiced out his concern as his metallic feet touched the ground.
She shrugged her shoulder unbothered "We don't really have a choice, I'm not going back without knowing what's inside."
The machine look alike nodded already thinking the same thing and with a heavy breath from A2, they stepped into the darkness the door closing behind the with a heavy thud.
The room felt large and airy with a smell of rusted iron permeating every corner not too dissimilar to blood… everything about it felt ancient cold and without life, there was no doubt that if it was truly an alien ship it had long since become barren still they had come this far might as well see if it had any info they could gather.
A chance like this didn't come often especially without any of the other android groups noticing… only the better without any enemy machines either.
Though it didn't take long for that notion to change.
"I welcome you…
A voice rang out as the room lit up momentarily blinding them.
…to the graveyard of my creators."
A2 sneered as her vision finally cleared fully intent on cleaving their offender in half only to momentarily stop in surprise as she noticed the rather humanoid shape in front of her "You are… Devola? No, you're… who are you?" she asked perplexed at the being in front of her.
It was a woman, that much she had gathered even before looking by just the tone of the voice… but she looked exactly like one of the twins, the only difference was the blank stare that seemed far too inhuman on the rather emotional duo.
She was dressed in a black frilly dress, her hair put up in a ponytail, she even had a flower near her ear though it seemed rather unnatural as if made of plastic. She had never seen either of the twins dress up like that always preferring practical clothes as most androids did.
The being giggled and gave a twirl "Do you like it? I've been trying to change how I look based on my human's preferences but I'm not quite sure this is right, I don't want to just be a copy cat after all." she said with a pout.
"Y-your human…" A2 stuttered her mind still reeling before regaining focus and glaring at it "You still haven't answered my question."
"She's a machine." Emil answered from her side in a breathless voice "No more than that..."
The white-haired woman turned her head "What?" she asked perplexed.
The red-haired woman stopped her face becoming blank "So you still remember some things huh… not that it matters you aren't a threat as you are." the thing said her voice now devoid of emotions as she looked at the duo with something akin to disappointment.
She lifted her left hand pressing her thumb and middle finger together and…
SNAP.
The sound consumed the once quiet circular room though nothing happened…
At least as far as A2 could tell.
"There now we can finally be alone."
"What do you..?" she asked with exasperation and annoyance getting tired of the mind games… before her eyes widened as she felt no presence at her side.
Emil was long gone… all with the snap of her fingers.
"I should introduce myself properly to the knight." she stated with great regality as she grabbed her skirt and bowed as if welcoming someone of importance, her face was ingrained with a beautiful smile but that was offset by her unblinking empty eyes "I am known by all, but few know of my existence. I am the machine, the one who controls the world, the ego of the network… but you may simply call me the crown."
A2 stared in silence her mouth agape, her hands still gripping her sword tightly only one thought remained…
Fuck.
(City grounds)
Two androids stood rigidly near the tent's opening awaiting command, they had already been left like that for the past few minutes and already the smaller one was twitching being unable to stand doing anything for long
They had been called for a new mission only to be left in waiting as their frazzled commander tried to work through her mess of folders only for them to fall from her over-encumbered arms… finally, they heard her sigh out of frustration simply leaving them there pushing one strand of her usually well-kept hair behind her ear as her pretty nails pushed into the plastic table.
9S twitched slightly in curiosity his mouth opening before thinking better of it… something 2B almost elbowed him to stop him from saying something stupid.
She looked at the duo with her signature glare and they felt their bodies stiffen further under her dangerous gaze.
"There have been some sightings in the outskirts of the city." she said the seriousness sapping all other emotions from the duo "I shouldn't have to tell you how important it is now of all times that we keep any enemies outside of the city… I want you to try and find out if this will become a problem, don't come back until you discover something."
They nodded and saluted agreeing with the mission without a single word.
"Also try and not blabber about this to anyone, I don't want Shirou to know about any of this."
She glared one last time to make them fully understand before going back to her mess of papers and shooing them away with her hand.
"Now leave I have a hellish meeting to prepare for…" she said with a pained voice.
The two androids hurriedly left the tent lest they endure the wrath of their superior.
"I wonder what that was all about." 9S murmured as he winced slightly as if struck "I thought I was about to be killed there."
2B simply stared him down "That's not for us to care nines…"
The young-looking male simply waved her off with his hand "Yeah, yeah I get it, no rummaging through the commander's secre… wait what did you call me?" he asked her his eyes wide with surprise.
The taller girl sighed and walked off leaving him behind without answering.
"Hey I heard it, you can't just run awa…"
"I have to talk to my operator let's meet near the resistance base." she said interrupting him without looking back.
She did hear him grumble under his breath as he moved further away from her… something about her being unfair.
Well that she was indeed…
She quietly moved through the dirty remains of the city passing by her colleagues and resistance personnel alike. In any other time this would be quite the spectacle to the woman never having seen this amount of androids working together at any given time… considering everything that had happened though it felt like a small footnote.
Still if nothing else it showcased how much everything changed in these past few days.
Enough to even give her…
"Oh hi 2B." a peppy voice interrupted her thoughts as she finally reached her destination "What can I help you with?"
Operator 6O smiled brilliantly behind her face mask as she saw her friend approach her table.
"I wanted to see how you were accommodating to your environment." 2B stated with all the emotion of a door.
6O despite that simply giggled already knowing how she was "You wanted to see how I was doing?"
"You are my operator whether or not you are well is a decisive factor in any of my missions."
6O waved her off "Sure sure…" she said with great happiness "Well I'm doing fantastic… can you believe that I get to be one of the five operators on earth it's like a dream come true… and so close to the human too, I even got to see him outside of a screen."
Her eyes seemed to shine like stars as she started to quickly blurt out how she felt something that 2B simply took in stride keeping a stoic face as she waited for her energy to burn out.
"You talked to him, right? How is he?" 6O asked after her tirade.
2B opened her mouth before closing, that question was quite difficult "I don't really know how to answer that, I don't think I've spent enough time with him to fully judge… but he was pleasant to be around."
6O sighed with a bit of longing "I guess it would be pretty hard for us to understand a human even if we try, I hope I get to talk to him at least one time… still what he has managed to accomplish is quite something."
2B simply nodded agreeing with her friend's opinion… before she grabbed the real reason why she brought herself to her operator.
She held out a single white flower for her to see.
It took a second for 6O to fully understand but when she did she squeed aloud before hugging 2B something the woman stiffly took not really knowing what to do.
"Thank you so much 2B, I can't believe you actually took the time to grab one of these." 6O exclaimed happily as she grabbed the flower from her hand "You usually don't do these sort of things…"
The white-haired woman coughed and looked to the side "I found it on the way back to the city."
6O giggled and sat back down at her desk "Right, right still thanks a lot."
2B nodded "It wasn't a big issue, 9S is probably already waiting…"
She turned around and walked off without another word, hearing the bellowing goodbye that her operator yelled out from behind her.
Her mind still reeling from the past few days and the change they brought…
Even in herself.
It wasn't untrue that before she wouldn't have bothered with 6O's request, she might have if she had actually found it on her way in between missions but actually searching for such a useless thing…
No, she had lived for her job and not much else even calling 9S by his nickname hadn't really been on a whim.
She was testing the waters so to speak…
Her life had been a hellish cycle of death and betrayal and she had long lost hope of that ever-changing.
But now she woke up to a world turned upside down and she hadn't fully understood her new place in it, yet...
So she decided to allow this hope to fester and fully embrace this new present.
Even if the failure of such would completely break her.
(White)
She took a deep breath and smoothed down her dress, still fully unable to contain her nervousness but able to keep that behind a professional facade… she looked to her left where her subordinate fumbled around in a computer trying to set up the call with the other forces around the world.
Even now after so many years she still didn't feel fully capable of such things, but this world demanded such things, and everyone needed to play some sort of role… she had simply gotten the one that felt the most destructive for her mind and soul.
She shook her head now was not the time for such thoughts.
It had only been a few days but she very much doubted that anyone didn't know what they now housed inside this wreckage of a city, the fact that she hadn't received any messages was pretty telling.
And now she was about to meet with her superiors, the leaders of the army of humanity an organization that existed even before the alien attack… she very much doubted she would leave this place with a sane mind.
For most of its life, which wasn't very long by this war's standards little more than a decade, Yorha was left to its own devices, that is to say, she had full control with very little outside force.
They were also one of the very few people who knew about Yorha's true purpose something even she was mostly left in the dark… though she doubted that mattered much right now.
The situation changed quite a bit in just a few days-
The machine lit up and three names appeared on the screen.
She calmed her nerves as best she could as she turned to the operator "You can leave."
The operator nodded, saluted, and left without another word...
It was all the better as one of the androids from the other side seemed tired of waiting.
"Well if it isn't little White… done playing with Zinnia's toys?" a rough womanly voice said mockingly, venom dripping from her words.
White sighed, this was already going well "I'm sure you've read the reports about the 'toys' as you so readily call them, I believe they have done their fair share."
She simply heard a scoff from the other side.
"I believe we have matters of greater importance ladies." a male voice spoke up "I'll just cut to chase why is he still there."
Aaah there it was...
"He didn't want to leave the planet."
"Why should that matter…" the third voice of the trio finally decided to let his presence be known, it sounded young far younger than the others and far less… emotional as if she was talking to a pod, no discernible care could be heard when he spoke.
"Are you perhaps telling me to go against a human's wishes.."
"YES!" the woman spoke up with a loud thunderous shout "If his safety is at risk that should take priority... and I'm pretty sure keeping him near an active machine factory is considered as such."
White took a deep breath to calm herself "We can't do that by force I'm sure you realize that…"
"Yes we've read how he fixed your mess…" she said once again in a mocking manner before calming down "Still I doubt we can keep him in any way."
The blonde commander merely bit her tongue in an attempt to stop her from saying anything stupid.
"What is your plan White." the second voice spoke silencing the others.
"The army of humanity is fractured, it has been like that for millennia even before the alien attack… but a human can easily change that." White explained, excitement and nervousness both clear in her voice, she was trying her best to make them understand that this went beyond one singular life "We finally have someone… something to fight for, rather than a memory that once existed."
The trio remained quiet for over a minute, it was the longest moment of her long life.
"You know what you're asking right?" the youngest one asked reservation clear in his tone "If we do this he'll be the machine's main target."
"He already is… the machines already know that a human walks on earth, it's already too late for that."
"I see… so you want us to fight in the war while your side fully ingrains itself to the human, even to a gal like me that's quite a bit selfish."
White's eyes narrowed towards the screen "That's what Yorha was made for… sacrificing itself for humanity's vision, as it stands I fully believe there is no other android organization that will be able to what we can for him."
"How very selfish indeed… but not quite a lie." The male said with some amusement "This has caught the whole world off guard and we have yet to see the full ramifications of this discovery, as it stands commander White has made the best choices given the circumstances."
The woman on the other side said nothing but let out a sigh that was considered enough of a confirmation.
Finally the last of the trio gave his word "Seems you have your work cut out for you commander… we'll keep our eyes on the city make, just sure we don't lose… we won't be able to afford it."
The call finished soon after.
She let out a deep breath she had been holding as her body went slack having to grip the metal railing to keep herself straight.
A lot of thoughts came to mind, this was a victory however small it was and things were looking up.
She straightened out her clothes and hair.
A lot of work was waiting to still be done and she couldn't afford to stop for even a second… the whole of android kind was riding on this and she had to steer the ship safely.
That was her purpose.
(?)
Two women stared each other off neither saying a word…
Finally getting tired of this the red-haired one sighed "Are you really not going to say anything after my wonderful gree…"
"This isn't real right?" A2 spoke calmly catching her off guard for the first time "I didn't notice it at first but standing here, everything feels different, even the world feels weightless right now."
The other being giggled in her hand "My my I didn't think you would notice such a thing… I certainly did underestimate you huh."
A2 scoffed as she let go of the blade in her hands that turned into small cube-like fragments once it touched the metallic floor "You aren't the first… but why try so hard to talk to little old me it can't be to change my mind..."
The machine tilted its head as she looked at her in something akin to amusement "No most certainly not…" she spoke calmly as if talking about the weather as the world reformed around her turning into a white void "I guess you could say I'm here to explain myself."
The android's face scrunched up in confusion something that the other being seemed to find great pleasure in, if the little laugh she heard was correct… she'd rather not know if she was being honest she had never been someone who had thought about machine morality, never really cared to see the other side of the conflict.
But she doubted she even had a choice in the matter.
Still, that left one question to ask…
"Why explain yourself to me, I'm sure you realize I won't care."
"Of course, of course…" the redhead nodded at those words "...but" she stopped as she looked at the android with half-lidded eyes "This explanation isn't really for you."
A2 opened her mouth to question her further but no sound came out… she tried to speak again, to yell, again to no result.
"tsk tsk." The machine waved her finger around as if reprimanding her "Don't worry too much about it, you'll understand it soon enough… for now just listen closely okay."
Then she smiled, at first, it looked rather normal almost pretty as far as expressions went, but it moved further, her face almost splitting in half, she continued though as if she didn't fully understand that her facade of humanity was breaking apart "This is the story of how the world's greatest evil met humanity's last treasure…
...and the promise that was made that day."
I am very sorry...
This was quite the hard month overall, quite busy too. Got a new kitty cat, she's the cutest thing ever, started a new fanfic that due to various issues site wise took way longer to update than it should... and other irl things happened unfortunately this story took a backseat for way too long and i only really noticed it after two months have passed for that I am sorry... I do expect to focus more on fanfic come 2023 though especially salvation as i want to end it before 2024.
Regardless though hope you enjoyed this chapter... this one is a bit... hmmm how should i describe it? I'm trying to mess around with nier lore a lot since the game gives me the liberty to as such, we only ever see a very small pov so we don't really know of the overall world situation. I'm taking quite a few liberties though especially when it comes to the legion war... let's just see how that works out.
Anyway hope you all enjoy it and see you next time.
Thanks to Ivan Tridelan for helping me out.
Edit: Should probably state something about fake knight... i haven't watched re zero since season 2 and stopped reading the novel long before reaching the end as it stands i only feel comfortable with remaking when i know about the full story or at least where it's at... that was my mistake in the first try out of it regardless and with a lot of stuff still left to do I haven't gotten the time to fully dedicate towards it. Anyway all of this to say it's in the works but probably won't come before 2023.