Singularity Displacement

by lolrus555

Caim had been certain that when he and the Red Dragon agreed to escort Seere to the Queen Beast, it would end in their shared demise. Yet once again, the unhinged prince has found himself avoiding an all but certain death, culminating in him being marooned in an alien land with even more alien inhabitants...

2. Chapter 2

"Phoo… alright. Good a place as any to leave him, I guess." A2 thought aloud, backing away as she took in her handiwork. Soon after going against her better judgement and carrying this human off, she used her body's internal compass to steer herself towards the resistance camp in this region she'd heard Anemone was set up in, all while keeping an eye out for any buildings that looked clear of machines and could make for a temporary shelter.

Eventually, A2's search led her to the half-destroyed top floor of one of the city's many ruined buildings, where she was able to get a better look over the unconscious (and apparently violently insane) human and assess his injuries. Before setting him down, she scoured the interior of the building -which was fortunately clear of machines, making her search easier- for anything that could be of help, and found a relatively clean and undamaged blanket along with a pillow she could set him down on. She figured it'd be at least slightly comfier than lying on old concrete.

While A2 had no data on how to properly take care of or provide a human with medical care, she'd been fending for herself on this planet long enough to know to at least apply some bandages over the gashes and stab wounds he'd gained over the course of their fight. While A2 was already dreading the prospect of coming back here to find the human having regained consciousness and that he was just as violent and aggressive as before, her core programming made her foremost concern be the prospect of him bleeding out from his wounds.

After briefly fiddling around to remove his armor and clothes above the waist -which were all quite dirty, having been soaked in machine fluid, along with apparently having been stained a dark brown with a substance A2 couldn't identify in multiple spots- the white-haired android quickly secured his wounds with some gauze, all while using her photographic memory to take in every detail of his strong physique. As she applied them, however, A2 couldn't help but notice something curious; while the stab wound she inflicted to his shoulder definitely looked as though it could use something more effective than mere bandages, the rest of the wounds A2 inflicted on the human had already begun to clot.

A2 was certainly no expert on human medicine or biology -she wouldn't be about to set off on this whole 'errand,' if you could even call it that, if she was- but she was fairly certain that human wounds didn't heal so rapidly and cleanly without proper medicine or medical treatment being applied to them, at least not the sword wounds she dealt to the man during their fight. Even the grisly injury she inflicted that won her that fight -a stab wound to the shoulder with her 4O sword she ran several hundred volts through- wasn't bleeding as profusely as one would expect despite the damage it caused.

"...Quick healer, huh? More weird shit to add to the list..." Though, given what A2 had seen of this human so far, chief among them being a decidedly inhuman level of strength, she supposed that him having an unnaturally fast healing rate was one of the less surprising anomalies she'd learned about him. "Still… no telling how far that healing goes, or all the other shit I'll have to know… Yeah, definitely better go see Anemone…"

As she rose back into a standing position, the worn android gave his body one last look over for anything important to address before setting off for the resistance camp's coordinates. Hopefully, she'd at least have enough time to properly explain the situation to Anemone and could slip out before drawing any attention to herself. One might think that still going out of the way to see her old comrade and fellow survivor of Pearl Harbor would be a pointless endeavor with how his injuries seemed to be healing at an uncanny rate, but A2 was well aware of the ground-breaking, world-changing ramifications of this chance encounter if no other android knew of his existence down here, or if her hunch about the true status of humanity really was spot-on. It really wasn't an exaggeration to say that Anemone was the best and only person she could trust with this discovery.

She also still had no idea how the human was even going to act when he regained consciousness. Even if he didn't try to attack her again, who was to say he'd even want her continued presence? Anemone, meanwhile, was actually someone of importance in the resistance and had access to resources that A2 could only dream of in her current living conditions. She had the resources and men that left her far more capable of handling this if it came to that.

Through this visit, no matter how things went, she'd at least get assurance that more capable people would know of this human's existence and be able to actually address it, even with his high level of aggression and propensity towards violence in mind.

Plus, if circumstances truly did end with her accompanying this human for whatever reason, she at least wanted to be halfway capable of attending to him should he need something like medical treatment or food. While not nearly as expansive as the treasure trove of data on the world the YoRHa servers amassed by now, A2 knew that the resistance made sure to pick up relics and data on the old world and had them stored in their data terminals. Surely, there had to at least be some basic information on how to keep a human alive and healthy in there. Data such as that would be indispensable to A2 going forward.

A2 had been so deep in thought regarding her actions going forward that her eyes almost skimmed over the black and blue blade lying at the man's side.

"Right… this thing…" A2 muttered aloud, crouching back down as her blue gaze scanned the human's sword with an undeniable sense of curiosity. It was a large, double-edged thing that looked unwieldy for someone without the proper strength or combat subroutines installed into them to use effectively. As she noticed previously, the blade was colored black with two cobalt stripes running up its spine, separating it from the sharpened edges and complimenting the blade's decorative hilt and handguard. Most tellingly, A2 also took note of the slight pressure marks and signs of wear on the sword's handle.

It was a strange looking blade, nothing like the refined and modern eastern-styled blades and spears YoRHa forces wielded… otherworldly, even. A2 couldn't discern much else about it, other than the fact that the human seemed very attached to it with how he had it locked in a vice-like grip the entire time she carried him. That alone was enough for it to be engraved into A2's memory, especially after the furious nonstop muttering of cursings she uttered spending several minutes prying his fingers off the sword so she could properly remove his upper clothes and examine his wounds.

'...Again, if he's still gonna be a violent psycho that'll attack me on sight the moment he sees me, I better prepare in advance…' A2 decided, reaching for the blade's worn handle. She knew she was taking a risk, going off with this human's possession, especially one as violent and mentally unbalanced as this one, but she really wasn't in any rush to get nearly bisected by this blade again. If nothing else, it'd ensure that he'd have a much harder time trying to kill her. 'That shitton of strength didn't come from this sword, weird as it might be, but it'll at least help to not let him have anything sharp on-hand when he wakes up. Should at least make however I gotta deal with him easier than before.'

All androids, regardless of their model, type, or the date of their creation, possess a common set of core programming that instils within them an inherent respect and reverence for their human creators, and a desire to ensure their safety, especially on the inhospitable, war-torn place reclaimed by nature the world had become, and A2 was no different in that regard. Even in spite of this human being a psychotic that she initially wanted nothing to do with the moment he attacked her, it all felt so goddamn inconsequential when in the face of what they'd all spent countless years fighting and dying in this endless war for. The sense of awe and feeling that she was looking upon something sacred as she took in the human's form came so naturally to her that it was deceptively easy to forget these feelings did not come naturally, and that she was simply built in with a reverence for humans.

Even with this in mind, however, A2 wasn't stupid, and she wasn't going to let that built-in sense of awe and reverence she felt towards this human cause her to make a fatal error in judgement. With all that in mind, she knew it was for the best to hang onto this sword until she got confirmation he would be non hostile or until she was at a safe enough distance from him to simply cut her losses and leave it somewhere for him to pick up.

However, A2 only managed to hoist the black and blue blade up and feel its heavy weight in her hand for a few, brief moments before a sudden rush of data began flooding into her mind, the sudden intrusion causing her visual interface to rapidly start distorting and fading away. The white-haired android could only barely muster out a muted gasp of shock and recoil before her vision went white.

.

.

.

As A2 gradually began to regain some form of awareness, she took note of several things, chief among them being how she was standing in what appeared to be a recently destroyed castle courtyard with brutalized and dismembered bodies all around her. Immediately after this, she notice of how the human's sword was still clutched tightly in her right hand -now slicked red with blood, just like the rest of her (his?) body-, the terrified, brown-haired girl that was clutching onto her left side for dear life, and how her body didn't feel like her own. She also took note of how there was one other living person present; a young, girlish looking young man with short blond hair and red eyes, who was holding a sword that looked as though it was forged from ivory, and was similarly coated in the blood of the recently deceased.

Above all else, however, A2 immediately took note of the colossal black dragon that was towering over all of them, its glowing red eyes burning into them and regarding them like humans themselves would an insect.

'Oh what fresh hell is THIS!?' Was the first thing that came to A2's mind the moment it caught up with the unbelievable and unbelievably dangerous sight before her. She knew as much about dragons as any other android out there did. They were so heavily ingrained in humanity's forms of fiction, myth, and religion that even their creations such as A2 still had a basic picture of them after countless millennia; big, scaly things that could fly and breathe fire. Powerful and with the durability to back it up, it was to A2's understanding these things were considered the natural lords of the world thanks to the strength and natural abilities they had that allowed them to dominate other species.

None of the passing details she'd heard regarding them did what appeared to be the genuine article justice. A2 had spent much of her life since her activation fighting; be they YoRHa's executioners or the machines' unique Goliath lifeforms, she'd long since cast off her fear while facing them all down… However, even the largest and most imposing machines she faced didn't compare to the overwhelming sense of power this colossal black beast radiated as it loomed over them all. It felt as though she was staring at a force of nature instead, like chaos itself was concealed in a large, fire-breathing body.

The overwhelming sense of dread, fear, and helplessness washed over A2 like she just sank into a body of dirty water, though at this point, she was beginning to have trouble telling what were her genuine emotions and what weren't.

'How the fuck did his sword have memory files hidden away inside it…!? Hell, what the fuck is up with these memories to begin with!? What the hell was going on here and since when do motherfucking dragons exist!?' Between her body not looking, feeling, or acting as her own, how emotions that felt nothing like her own constantly bombarded her senses as this bizarre, horrific situation unfolded, and how the one constant amid all this was that she was still holding onto the human's sword, A2 quickly pieced together that she was experiencing the memory data stored onto this sword. This in of itself didn't surprise A2, even with the otherworldly nature of this sword in mind; it was common knowledge among all androids that most weapons, along with containing often bizarre and morbid stories, could be used to store one's memory data on it.

What threw A2 off, however, was how she seemed to be experiencing the memories of that human. Again, this was just one more thing to add to the ever-increasing list, but how in the hell did a flesh and blood human have his memories stored in his weapon?

Whatever the answer may be, A2 had no time to ponder it when she -or rather, the human whose memories she was viewing- took notice of how the black dragon's sharp-toothed maw and nostrils began to flare up with fire, immediately filling the human with a spike of dread akin to a stubby machine that took notice of the angry boar charging towards it a split-second before ramming into it.

"Shit… it's about to breathe fire!" A2 heard the blond-haired boy say, slowly rising panic clear to hear in his tone. With fear and dread overwhelming him, the human's feet were glued to the ground despite A2's first instinct being to act. To make matters even more frustrating, she felt the human try and urge himself to move as well, but the fear that enveloped him kept him rooted to the spot.

However, just when it looked as though the black dragon was about to exhale and burn them all to ash, it was interrupted when a refined eastern sword whose blade was somehow tinted green and purple slammed into its snout. Despite the dragon's strong scales, the blow was still powerful enough to leave a shallow, bleeding cut along where it was struck.

Immediately bringing his attention to the wielder of the oddly colored katana, A2 saw that the person who attacked the dragon was an old, bearded man with a broad figure that was hidden by the regal robes and crown of a king, though they were marred by blood and undone slightly thanks to all the chaos unfolding.

"Father…!" A2 heard the human say, and immediately, she felt an enveloping sense of warm relief that was like a breath of fresh air after experiencing such oppressive and negative emotions but a few moments ago. In the back of her head, she numbly took note of just how much more… vivid, and intense these emotions felt when compared to her own. Was this because she was experiencing this memory like it was her own, or simply because emotions just came more naturally to a flesh and blood human?

"Caim! Take your mother and Furiae and get out of here! NOW!" Regardless of the answer, A2 had no time to ponder it when she heard the man yell for the human -whose name she'd apparently just heard- to flee with his sister and mother. Blinking in shock for a brief moment, the human -Caim- realized that he could move his legs again, and quickly urged his sister to the pathways that led back into the castle and towards a middle-aged woman that she quickly deduced was his mother.

"M-Mother! We need to leave! Quickly!" Caim urged his mother, and if she had anything to say in response, it died in her throat the moment a familiar voice's agonized yell and a resounding *SLAAAM!* pierced through the castle courtyard. As the human turned around, A2 immediately felt a horrid weight settle into her stomach at the sight of the king's arms having been bloodily hacked off by the black dragon's mighty claws, which were now slick with his blood.

"FATHER!" A2 heard Caim scream, his horror at what just happened obvious even without her experiencing his emotions. She also noticed how she faintly heard the anguished screaming of both his mother and his sister.

"Y-You…!" Caim heard his father choke out, somehow still standing despite getting both his arms bloodily torn off. The dragon's only response to this sight was to simply swipe at the fatally injured king with its claw, bloodily eviscerating him and sending waves of debris from the now-upended courtyard crashing into them.

What came next was a rapid blur of pain that left Caim crashing bloodied and half-conscious on the ground, something A2 got to experience firsthand, much to her disorientation. She was unsure of how long exactly the human lay there, his vision periodically going in and out of blackness and a ringing resounding in his ears that muffled the chaotic sounds of conflict that was happening outside his sight. When Caim's vision gradually began to clear up and the pain began to fade, the first thing A2 saw was a sideways view of the Black Dragon being shot at with crossbow bolts by an apparently new person that entered the fray.

"F...Furiae… Where's mother and Furiae…!?" As the dragon finally began to flee after lingering above the destroyed castle for a brief moment, A2 experienced the human frantically scanning the destroyed courtyard for any sign of his remaining family members. Faintly, the white-haired android could also hear some sort of argument occurring between the blond boy and that person who somehow scared off the Black Dragon, but she couldn't focus on the details. This was due to how Caim stopped focusing on anything else other than what he was greeted with the moment he caught sight of his sister.

The girl -Furiae- was still alive, but any potential relief Caim -and by extension, A2 herself- might've experienced from this knowledge was made impossible by the accompanying sight of what she was doing. Once again, she faintly heard the blond boy speak -apparently asking Caim what was wrong- but clearly, the question didn't even register for him.

"Ah! I found it! Father's arm!"

'Good fucking god…!' The sight before her was so grizzly, so visceral, that even someone as hardened as A2 felt overwhelming waves of horror and disgust at it.

"And mother's leg!"

A2 knew for a fact those emotions were her own, too, she could tell as much from the pure horror and anguish Caim immediately felt the moment he caught sight of this.

"I'm so relieved! Here's their guts, too. I'll put you both back together right away~!"

It was an understandable reaction too, as far as A2 was concerned. Regardless of whether they were brought into this world naturally or built, she didn't think anyone, be they human or android, would take the sight of their own loved ones doing what the blissfully uncomprehending Furiae was doing, which was cheerily going around and collecting their parents' gory remains with the intent of reassembling them.

"Caim…!" As Caim silently trembled at the sight of this, his eyes growing hot with tears, A2 faintly noted amid all the familiar waves of anguish that the blond boy was reaching towards him with a wide-eyed look on his face, similarly shocked and horrified by the delusional girl's morbid activity.

However, despite the boy's clear intent to console him, Caim's immediate response was to pick his fallen sword back up and ram it into his abdomen, his gaze still on the morbid sight of his sister and their parents' remains as he did this.

"You… if it weren't for you…" Caim snarled, blood and tears running down his face as he cast the now-critically injured boy a look of pure, murderous hatred. While A2 didn't have the context as to how, she could tell the human placed a majority of the blame for whatever took place here on him, and it wasn't just due to him lashing out in grief. "IF YOU HAD NEVER COME HERE-!"

"Ah ah ahhhh~. I'd think twice about plunging that sword any deeper if I were you." However, just as A2 felt every instinct in the human's body scream for him to fully run his sword through the boy's body, he was brought to a halt when he heard the sound of a crossbow cocking right behind his head and a foul, faux-personable voice addressed him. Letting out a noise of pure hatred under his breath, A2 felt the human yank the sword out of the boy's abdomen, allowing him to collapse into the free arm of the same man who chased off that dragon.

Shifting his head slightly, A2 felt the human cast an even more hateful glare into the pointy-eared man, which only caused him to let out several wry chuckles and the disgusting grin on his face to grow further. With his view having shifted and provided her with a better look at him, A2 was able to discern more details about his features, namely that he was another blond, one who looked considerably older than the one hanging off the sharp end of Caim's sword, with longer, more unkempt hair capped off by ears that were curiously enough, pointed. That last feature, despite its peculiarity, was very easy to ignore when faced with the disgusting sneer on his face as he looked towards the human.

The look on the man's face was a twisted, unsettling smile that conveyed no warmth or affability. However, unlike Caim's own smile, which A2 immediately noted was an expression just brimming with bloodlust and aggression, this man's own smile conveyed a much more blatant and malicious intent. It was the smile of a man who lived his life ruined the lives of others in the worst ways possible and revelled in it every step of the way.

"Ahhh c'mon now. What's with that look, Princeling? I don't gotta remind you that you were the one who insisted we stay here after saving your sis and that cute little piece of ass she had following her around, now do I?" He pointed out with a snide tone, and burning rage A2 felt smouldering inside the human only increased in intensity. Letting out a pleased scoff at his impotent rage, the shady man slung the unconscious blond over his shoulder before turning around and starting his leisurely stroll out of the ruins of what was once a small kingdom. "Later."

At the sight of the man's offhanded wave as he walked off, A2 felt Caim's grip on his sword's handle tighten greatly. It was clear to see he wanted nothing more than to chase those two down and hack them apart with that blade, but he also seemed acutely aware of his injured state and how that crossbow-wielding man, by comparison, appeared just fine. Going after them as he was now would just be a new way for him to die today.

Letting out a miserable, defeated breath, A2 felt the human's tight grip on his sword finally loosen before he simply cast his gaze to the ground and remained prone in that kneeling position, the sick squelching sound of his traumatized, delusional sister's activity still echoing faintly in his ears, no doubt worsening everything he was feeling. Suddenly, A2's vision began to darken, and just before the memory faded away and she felt herself being brought back to reality, she felt one final, unpleasant cocktail of the human's emotions resonate through her. She felt his overwhelming anguish and grief at everything and everyone he'd lost in but a few hours, topped off by a sense of hopelessness that reminded A2 far too much of where she'd been in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. She felt his anguish for the mental scarring his poor, sweet sister had to experience this day. She felt his sheer confusion on how in just a few hours, his entire life could so suddenly go to hell when just a day before, everything had been fine. However, what she felt above all else, was this human's burning, smouldering desire to exact vengeance.

Everyone responsible for this had to die. They had to die by his hand.

.

.

.

This is the story of a sorrowful prince. A tale of a kingdom in a time

long past.

Attacked by the forces of darkness, the nation was annihilated in a

single night by inhuman soldiers with red eyes and a group of black

dragons so numerous they blotted out the sky. Having infiltrated the

king's castle, the black dragons visited upon the king and queen a

most horrible fate—it is said that their stomachs were torn open by

the black dragons' mighty claws and the very floor they stood upon

became a sea of blood.

The prince and princess, though wracked with sorrow, escaped to

live another day. The prince, spurred by the shock of witnessing his

parents' tragic end, became consumed by a desire to exact

vengeance.

.

.

.

With a gasp, A2 stumbled backwards as her vision cleared up and she was brought back to reality, her emotions and body gradually beginning to register as her own once more.

"Fucking hell…! That… That was some shit…" A2 gasped, blinking as she slowly took in her surroundings and noted that she was still where she'd been standing when she grabbed that sword. Casting her blue gaze downward, her incredulous eyes lingered on the strange blade before drifting over to the human -or rather, over to Caim- who remained unmoving for however long she'd been living through his memories for. "...Guess I got some idea of why you're so fucked up in the head now…"

Frankly, after all that, A2 was honestly tempted to just forgo her initial plan of finding Anemone and just remain here to both mentally recuperate and try and make sense of the impossible things she saw in those memories. However, it only took another passing look over at his bandaged wounds before the desire to complete her initial objective roared back up with a vengeance.

"...Fucking hell, if I'd known I wouldn't even be able to pick up a goddamn sword without it turning into a mental fucking roller coaster, I would've just left that goddamn goliath to go march to its death." She thought aloud, taking one final look at her surroundings to make sure no one was watching them before heading in the direction of the main resistance camp situated in this area, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with the human's strange blade still grasped firmly in her hand.

'Well, better go over what the hell I'm even gonna say to Anemone while I still got time. However this is gonna go, I'll have plenty of time to think about the shit I saw in this sword on the way back.'

***O***

"Alright, see to it that these supplies and parts over to Jackass at the desert outpost. The sooner we have YoRHa transporters set up in the region, the easier it'll be down the line to maintain some stable control over it." Anemone instructed her subordinate, guiding him to one of the supply vans filled with the equipment Jackass required.

"I'll… get all this right to her, ma'am." the male android spoke after a brief instance's hesitation. Immediately, the resistance leader had a hunch as to what his hesitation and overall apprehensive and unenthusiastic demeanor was about, though she didn't even have to ponder it long before what he asked next cleared everything up. "Though… just so we're clear, you did check with the mechanics and parts traders if they'd be interested in being Jackass's… 'assistant' for this project instead, right?"

"The answer I gave hasn't changed the last several times and it hasn't changed now; no." Anemone groaned, understanding of the male's reluctance, but also having long since grown exasperated with it as well. "All of them are either preoccupied with gathering precious resources that are essential to our survival or made it very clear they had no interest in such a thing… usually both. I understand Jackass is more than a little… 'eccentric' and hard to work with, but she's also our ally, bar-none one of our best mechanics and data analysis officers, and is essential to getting the YoRHa terminals and transporters ready for their troopers once they get a foothold in the area, so please, just grit your teeth, deal, and remember she can't force you to participate in any of her 'experiments,' so don't let her." And with a statement and tone that booked no argument, Anemone simply tossed the keys the member's way and allowed for him to grab it.

"...Got it." The member groaned, clearly dreading his inevitable interactions with the… eccentric but incredibly capable data analysis officer, but nonetheless abiding by his leader's command.

As Anemone watched the supply truck leave the area they'd come to classify as their camp's vehicle bay, the female android exhaled as she took in the destroyed cityscape all around her. Like clockwork, the sight of countless ruined buildings inhabited by their creators countless centuries ago, as well as various imitations of human buildings created by androids in preparation for the latter's return to Earth (Which had also fallen to decay), had the decades old android wonder just when exactly this seemingly endless stalemate between themselves and the machines would be broken. Surely, this couldn't go on forever. Sooner or later, something had to give and break this damnable cycle of loss they all seemed to be trapped in...

"...Makes you wonder about the point of it all, if it'll ever actually end, huh?" a hardened, yet distinctly female voice spoke, a quiet, pondering tone coloring her speech.

"Certainly, it's all too easy to do so, especially with everything we've lost to this war over the years…" Anemone answered naturally and without thinking. It was only after several moments passed that the familiarity of that voice registered for the resistance leader and her eyes widened.

Whipping her head towards the source of the voice, Anemone was left speechless at the presence of an android she'd long since resigned to never meeting with again. Her hair was longer, her skin was torn and worn away in several spots, and her overall dishevelled appearance provided a night-and-day contrast when compared to the short-haired, full uniform combat android she met all those years ago, who seemed so woefully out of her depth at the time at the prospect of both real fighting on Earth and suddenly being left to lead what was left of her squadron. Despite her disbelief, she couldn't deny it, it was her. "N...Number 2…!?"

"Surprisingly still operational after all these years to boot." The female android shrugged, her dispassionate demeanor and the hardened, worn tone in her voice making the loss and growth she'd been forced to experience in the years since they first met clear. "Nice operation you're setting up here, by the way. I can see you run a tight ship."

Upon hearing that, Anemone's shock, disbelief, and deflating sense of tension was replaced with a look of confused bemusement.

"...I haven't seen you in years, and the first thing you think to say to me after revealing that you've been alive all this time is to try and strike up some casual conversation?" In response to this incredulous question, the rogue YoRHa android merely shrugged uncaringly.

"You got any better ice-breakers in mind?" At this point, Anemone couldn't even be bothered to think of a proper response to that question, a prevailing sense of relief beginning to set in within her at the realization that one of her old allies had persevered and survived after all this time.

"...Perhaps it's just the shock of seeing you again that's muddying my thoughts, but nothing comes to mind, so fair point." Was what the resistance leader finally said after a moment's silence, a warm and genuine smile beginning to grace her face. "...It truly is a relief to see that you're still alive and well even after all these years, Number 2…"

"...I'm doing 'Well?' Yeah, sure." In response to such a claim, when her body's dirty skin was wearing away in several prominent spots, she couldn't help but find such a remark being sent her way to be dryly amusing. "Well, everything important is still functioning, so yeah, I guess I'm doing pretty 'well,' all things considered."

Upon hearing this, Anemone's smile was quickly replaced by a regret-filled grimace. The clear wear and tear the white-haired android had sustained since they last met was obvious, even with how disheveled and anguished she looked when Anemone last saw her all those years ago, and despite her best efforts to do otherwise, she'd accidentally steered the conversation towards her exposed artificial muscle and borderline feral appearance. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring any attention to your-"

"It's fine. I know you didn't." A2 interrupted with an uncaring wave, lazily waving her off before looking at the exposed, black muscle on her hand and arm. "I stopped giving a shit about how I looked months ago, and as nice as it is to see you again, I didn't really come here to play catch-up."

"I… yes, I see… I can only imagine you've come across or learned something that must be of vital importance if you came all this way to find me," there was no shortage of things Anemone truly wished she could discuss with her long-lost friend, but that tone in her voice was dead-serious and made it clear that whatever she came all this way to discuss took priority. "Alright, Number 2, what exactly has happened?"

Initially, the disheveled, white-haired android remained quiet for a few moments, seemingly contemplating and going over how exactly she should approach this subject and what exactly she should say, before she leveled a dead-serious gaze towards Anemone and spoke. "Anemone, how would you feel if I told you that just a few hours ago, I happened across a human single-handedly hacking the machines apart with a sword?"

It took Anemone several seconds to truly react to that question, because the nature of it felt so unreal and against the norm she'd grown so used to over the years since her activation. When the statement finally began to sink in for the resistance leader, she found herself reeling back and gasping like air had actually been stolen from her in sheer shock. "Y-Y...You… you encountered a human…!?"

This information alone was already too much for Anemone to take in if it was truly the case, but what A2 had to say next only further increased her bewilderment. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. And for reasons I can't even fucking begin to ponder about, let alone answer, there's no shortage of weird shit about this guy that doesn't make sense. Like I just told you, even though he's a human, he was still cutting apart dozens of machines like he was a top of the line combat android fresh off the assembly line. Then there's the fact that he can do shit like shoot plumes of fire out of his hands, or a personal highlight in my book, turning his sword on me next once all the machines were dead."

"W…What…!?" Was all Anemone could think to say once she found the words to speak once more, having clear difficulties trying to process all this information. While the resistance leader tried to properly respond to everything she heard, A2 took the opportunity to keep talking.

"Couldn't tell you why he did it," she explained with a shrug. "he didn't say a word, before or after attacking me, but the demented fucking grin on his face when he tried to cut me in two has me thinking he might just be fucking crazy…" A2 continued, as though added details regarding this apparent human's instability would help Anemone better comprehend all of this information… which it certainly didn't.

'H…How is what she saying even possible…!? No… it shouldn't be possible!' A2 explained all this to her without the slightest waver and complete confidence, but despite that, it couldn't be the case. If that was so, it would've gone against everything she'd known about the world for decades now. "N…Number 2… are you sure this person you encountered was actually a human…? I… I'm sorry, I don't know how what you're saying could actually be possible…"

A2's face didn't waver in the slightest even as she responded, unfettered by Anemone's doubt. "Yeah, I get your skepticism, Anemone. I was a lot the same, especially since I've really started to doubt that there are actually any humans waiting for us on the moon. Realizing I just ran into a human definitely turned my world on its side…" As she brought up the dubious information regarding human presence on the moon, it served to remind A2 of how insane and unbelievable what she'd experienced of late would sound to an outside perspective. Despite this, she maintained the tone of certainty in her voice, fully intent on convincing Anemone of what she saw. "but I know what I saw. That psycho wasn't an android… he's definitelya human."

As A2 said this, she fully expected further skepticism from Anemone and was prepared to keep arguing this matter until it was clearly a lost cause…

"No… Number 2…" However, rather than regarding her with any further disbelief, A2 was left confused when the tone in Anemone's voice shifted from incredulous to… hesitant, and morose to boot. "There's no 'ifs' to it… I know humanity is gone."

"W…What?" A2 couldn't help but say, thrown off by her old ally's words. While this was certainly a conclusion she'd already come to herself, Anemone said this like it was a fact she was well-aware of. As this notion settled itself into the white-haired android's head, her eyes widened in shock as she spoke slowly. "Wait, hold on a minute. You… knew humanity was extinct…?"

"...We've never had official confirmation of such a thing, but many of us who were abandoned on Earth after our deployment, myself included, inevitably began to grow suspicious over time, seeing no evidence of humanity's continued existence even after fighting all these machine wars in their name…" Anemone sighed after a moment's hesitation, watching as A2 recoiled from the information she provided like someone punched her in the face. "It was frankly why I was so suspicious of you and your unit during Pearl Harbor… hearing about a brand new line of advanced combat androids sent on behalf of humanity seemed far too good to be true, especially after spending so long believing they were gone…"

"Y…You…" With a resigned expression, the resistance leader watched as A2 struggled to process what she'd told her, her long, unkempt bangs obscuring her eyes as she tried to speak.

*SLAM!*

Anemone knew what was coming, but nonetheless didn't bother doing anything when A2 suddenly gripped her tightly by her fatigues and slammed her against one of the parked trucks, a look of pure outrage and betrayal on her face. "you fucking KNEW humanity was exctinct since before we even met and never thought to bring that shit up!?" She practically snarled out, her grip on Anemone's fatigues tightening as painful thoughts of 'what if' rushed through her head. The chief thought among all of them was how if she and the rest of her unit had known this apparently common knowledge -or at least theory- among the android population before they had embarked on that suicide mission, that they'd all still be here with her today.

As that persisted in her head, it only increased the overwhelming anger and betrayal she felt in that moment, and all of it was directed chiefly at Anemone. Unable to control herself, A2's blue eyes narrowed as she continued to yell. "That entire time we all worked together, you knew we were fighting in a war -throwing our fucking lives away- FOR A RACE THAT WAS ALREADY LONG DEAD!? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

"...What exactly was I supposed to tell you all those years ago? Would you or anyone have even believed me if I came to any of you with such a claim, and with no proof on top of all that?" Despite being forced up against the vehicle with enough force to cause it to rock, and despite receiving nothing but pure murderous anger from a combat android that could very easily tear her apart with her bare hands, Anemone's resigned, calm expression didn't waver in the slightest. Gently placing her hands on A2's own skinless and tightly clenched fists, she continued to speak. "And like I already told you, I had my own suspicions of you and your comrades when we initially met… and by the time I was willing to trust your unit with this information… mount Ka'ala had been reduced to a smoldering pile of dirt and you were presumed dead along with your comrades…"

Once again, A2 flinched from Anemone's calm words like she'd been struck, feeling her grip on her fatigues gradually beginning to loosen as she continued. "Again… would you or anyone in your unit have even believed me if I came to any of you with such a claim, and with no proof on top of all that? I was just a hostile stranger to all of you at the time…"

At the sound of that final point, A2 finally released her grip on Anemone, and the resistance leader didn't move from her position and merely watched as her white-haired friend stumbled back and turned away from her, placing a hand to her head as she tried to better process all the information she received. Just as she turned away from her, however, Anemone got a good look at the expression etched into A2's eyes, and the look of utter shellshock in them did nothing to assuage the guilt she felt this entire conversation.

"This is so fucked up…" When A2 finally found it in her to say something, her voice came out as a weak, shaken, and miserable tone, and with what she'd just learned, Anemone didn't blame her at all. Coming to this conclusion yourself overtime was one thing, but to have someone else more or less confirm that their entire purpose for fighting the machines was a sham was another thing entirely, especially in the case of A2, who'd already lost her loved ones in the name of this seemingly pointless war.

"...For whatever it's worth, I completely understand your anger at me… and… I'm sorry." Anemone already went over her reasons and justifications for why she and her old comrades hadn't said anything all those years ago, but subjectively, she completely understood A2's anger at her and didn't begrudge her for it. They'd both lost their friends during that catastrophic mission, but Anemone had at least been able to rebuild something in the intervening years and at least had something constructive she could focus on, nor was she actively being hunted by hostile combat androids. Number 2 had never been granted such a chance and it showed with just one look at her.

However A2 was processing this information, however, one thing that was clear to see was that her previous bout of anger had abated, waving off her apology and looking at her with a surprisingly calm expression, a far-cry from the furious anger that had been written all over her face just a few minutes ago. "...No. No, you were right. Odds are you're right on the money and none of us would stomach you telling us the truth. If anything, that would've just worsened the tensions between us at the time…" She could still recall how idealistic she'd been all that time ago, even with how full of dread she'd been during that catastrophic mission. With how she and her entire unit had still been fresh off the assembly line and fully believing in YoRHa's mission, none of them would likely take the truth well, if they could take it at all.

"...Still, even with all that in mind, none of this changes what I told you, or what I saw first-hand Anemone." At this point, A2 didn't even care if she managed to get the data she came here to get. She just wanted to make it clear to Anemone that she wasn't lying, or so far gone since going rogue that she started hallucinating things that weren't there.

Again, the brown-haired resistance leader didn't respond straight away, merely keeping that same calm expression on her for another moment before sighing quietly and speaking. "...I don't know if I can truly believe it until I get proof first-hand -and with how you've described this person so far, it might be better that he doesn't come here- but… I'll hear you out nonetheless, Number 2." Whether what she said was truly the case or not, Anemone owed it to her white-haired comrade to help however she was able.

A2, having expected that her sudden outburst would quickly have used up whatever hospitality she had going into this, could only stare at her old comrade in slight surprise and disbelief. However, upon getting a better look at the sincerity on her face, A2's expression soon shifted into a small, exhausted, yet grateful smile. "Th… Thanks… Anemone… And… I'm sorry again for-"

"It's fine. Just consider all that karma for how much of a distrustful wretch I was when we first met." Anemone interrupted her, waving off her repeated apology with particular nonchalance. Considering that at the height of her distrust during the Pearl Harbor Mission, she'd only barely been stopped from attempting to assassinate Number 2 and her surviving squadron members, she could easily forgive her outburst, especially when she could understand her anger at her.

A2 initially looked as though she had something to say to that claim, but ultimately held her tongue. Anemone was just about to ask for some more details on this matter when the black and blue blade lying on the dirt suddenly caught her eye. Now that the shock of seeing A2 again and the insane things she told her wore down, Anemone could now recall how she was holding that peculiarly designed sword alongside her 40-grade weaponry. She supposed she must have dropped it during her outburst.

Following her own gaze, A2 quickly took notice of what Anemone was looking at, silently walking over to the fallen blade to retrieve it. "That sword…" The resistance leader thought aloud, the blade's oddly familiar and archaic design catching her interest.

"Yeah, the same one he tried to run me through with." A2 elaborated, taking a moment to examine the onyx-black spine of the sword before letting it return to her side. Out of the corner of her eye, she also noticed Anemone coming in to take a closer look at it herself.

"What an oddly… familiar design…." When this offhand comment caused A2 to turn towards her with a wide-eyed, expectant look on her face, Anemone was quick to clarify what she meant. "I'm not saying I've seen weapons that look exactly like that, more like… it reminds me of some of the products our weapons dealer gets supplied with. The one who supplies him with his inventory has provided him with more than a few blades a bit like this one in that they look nothing like anything designed by machines or androids…"

"Huh… you don't say? Interesting." A2 looked as though she had some questions in response to all that, but ultimately didn't say anything more on the matter.

"Alright… Anyway," Anemone began, contemplating how they should proceed from here before continuing. "I have a few ideas on how we can proceed from here, but if you have anything in mind, let's hear that first."

"Right… Well, guess I'll be upfront about it; my plan coming here was to see if you'd give me a copy of any data you have on human medicine and biology. The kind of stuff and know-how you'd need to keep a human alive and healthy."

"...You came all this way for data on human biology?" Anemone asked, her confusion becoming increasingly clear as this conversation turned in a direction she hadn't seen coming.

"Yeah, assuming this guy doesn't immediately try to kill me when I see him again and actually doesn't mind the company, then knowing how to properly keep a human alive from here on is kind of a fucking necessity for me… and as you can probably guess, Command never bothered installing that sort of info onto combat androids." A2 answered, seemingly oblivious to Anemone's surprise and confusion as she spoke without hesitation.

"You want to… accompany this human?" Anemone repeated, blinking in confusion as she took in her white-haired friend, trying to make sense of everything she'd told her up to this point combined with the contradictory objective she had in mind. "But… have I missed something? Number 2, you opened this entire subject up by making it very clear this human is both unstable and immediately tried to kill you. Why do you apparently still want to remain in his company?"

"Why are you even bothering asking that when you already know the answer?" A2 spoke, giving Anemone an irritable look as she continued. "You know how we're all programmed, Anemone, and one look at me should tell you how I've been living my life for the last several years. Even with the fact that he's some unstable psycho in mind… I still honestly wanna take my chances with him because it still sounds a fuckton more appealing than just continuing on like this."

"Number 2…" Again, a reminder of the likely miserable and aimless way A2 had been living since they were last face to face put things into perspective for Anemone The white-haired android's description of this alleged human didn't paint a pretty picture, but she could nonetheless understand how his apparent instability and danger seemed trivial in the face of fulfilling their core programing. "Alright, if this is the route you want to go down, I won't argue with it, and honestly, this easily comes off as the preferable option to the tall order of contacting Command's higher ups and trying to convince them of all this while simultaneously keeping your involvement in this secret."

"You say that like I'd want to deal with them and their two-faced, deceptive bullshit to begin with." A2 was quick to scoff at that option, a familiar surge of violent, burning anger immediately swelling up at the thought of those who betrayed her. "Yeah, fuck that option. I don't know how this'll turn out, but human or not, I'm not suddenly about to go try crawling back to YoRHa and command because of this shit."

"Given our history with them, that's understandable," while A2's own instance of it was far more severe and abrupt, Anemone nonetheless knew what it was like to be left abandoned behind enemy lines by their superiors, and frankly was in the same boat as her in that going to the army of Humanity's higher ups frankly wasn't worth the effort involved in trying to make them hear them out. "Alright, just wait here for the time being and I'll get you a copy of any data we have on human medicine and biology, and whatever spare supplies and staunching gel we have on hand."

"I just need the data, you don't need to go out of your…" A2 was quick to try and decline the offering of extra supplies, but apparently not quick enough as Anemone quickly set off before she could finish. Watching her leave with her words caught in her mouth, the taciturn android eventually let out a small breath before leaning against the nearby truck and opting to wait. "...way. Alright then."

As A2 was left to wait for Anemone to return, she couldn't help but reflect on how despite the unexpected turns this encounter took, she nonetheless managed to accomplish what she came here to achieve, an outcome that took the bitter and cynical rogue YoRHa android by surprise. There was certainly no denying that Anemone regarded her outlandish claims with an expected level of skepticism, but… she didn't outright dispute them or call her lying, and was ultimately going to help her, just as she hoped.

Despite where her conversation with Anemone had gone, and despite what A2 had felt just minutes ago, she began to feel a sincere sense of gratitude towards the brown-haired resistance leader. Her kindness towards A2 served as a reminder that despite everything she thought all these years… she still had at least one person in this merciless world that wanted to help her. As that thought settled in for A2, she couldn't help the small but grateful grin that krept onto her face as she waited. 'Guess I still got some friends in this shitty world afterall…'

Before long, A2 was soon greeted with Anemone returning with a data chip in one hand, and what looked to be a rucksack containing some supplies.

"Okay, on here is a copy of everything we've gathered on both human medicine and biology; basically anything relevant to the human body. Along with that, I packed some spare gel containers in case your body gets damaged."

"...Thanks again. I… I know how crazy all this shit sounds, and I appreciate you helping me despite how insane it all comes off as…"

"I already told you, Number 2, it's fine. I'm honestly not sure what to think of everything you've told me, but I'm happy to help you however I can. Just… make sure you stay alive, alright? And keep in contact if you plan on staying in the region."

"Relax Anemone. If I didn't go and off myself for the last half decade, then I'm sure as hell not gonna after today." Was A2's dry response, quick to wave off her friend's concern, though really, her choice of words did little to reassure her. If anything, it just increased an already sizable amount of concern. Apparently unaware of Anemone's increased concern for her, A2 took a moment to check the contents of the bag before plugging the chip she was given into the back of her neck, instantly causing a flood of knowledge and information to settle itself into her data banks.

"Okay, I think that's everything. Thanks again for all your help, Anemone. And don't worry, however this goes, I'll make sure no trouble comes towards you or your people." With that final goodbye, A2 was just about to turn and leave the way she came when Anemone's voice suddenly caused her to pause.

"Number 2, before you go…" Anemone paused briefly, seemingly mulling over what she should say, before continuing, a dead-serious expression on her face. "As you might already know, YoRHa hasn't managed to gain a foothold in this region yet, but as tenuous as it is, I've still managed to maintain contact with the army of humanity's higher-ups. As such, I've been informed I'm aware that sometime in the coming weeks, YoRHa's going to launch some sort of descent mission and try and set up contact with my cell of the resistance."

"You don't say. Huh… can't wait to see how all that's gonna go if this human actually lets me accompany him." A2 scoffed, already wondering how an encounter such as that would go, given most androids' reverence towards humanity and this human's own disposition towards violence.

"In any case, if that happens and if you need somewhere to lie low for the time being… then head to the flooded city at the coastline. Behind one of the buildings, you'll find an elevator leading down to the Earth being guarded by one of the androids under my command. Just let him know I sent you and whoever you're with, and he'll let you through." Anemone explained. Though, as she spoke, there was a clear sense of apprehension and discomfort to her tone. For whatever reason, she seemed reluctant to tell A2 of this apparent safe haven. "Just… if it comes to that, be careful down there, alright? The people down there won't care who you are or were so long as you don't cause trouble, but they can be a bit… intense."

"...Right. I'll make sure to keep all that in mind. Thanks for the info." A2 wasn't sure what to make of the hesitant tone in her friend's voice, but nonetheless opted to remember should the worst come to show.

As she left, Anemone gaze lingered on her old friend's retreating black and white form before letting out a quiet sigh and turning to return to her own duties.

'Please stay safe, Number 2…'

***O***

It wasn't long after Anemone left that she returned to A2 with a storage device containing all the information her resistance cell had on human medicine and other relevant topics, topped off by a small portable tracker and a few canisters of staunching gel in case anything happened to her, which rogue android was more than happy to hold onto.

"Alright… I think that's all I need..." It only took A2 a quick skim through the data regarding medicine to find what she was looking for; as it would turn out, potent medicinal herbs that could salve wounds and ease aches could be found all over this area. Now that she knew what she was looking for, it became a nice, simple matter for the rogue YoRHa android to comb through the city ruins, identifying any medicinal herbs to pick out via the picture the data supplied her with.

"..." Of course, with the matter of securing the human's first-aid settled, A2's thoughts inevitably began to drift back to the human and the outlandish things and circumstances surrounding him as she began her return trek back to where she left him.

"...Son of a bitch. What the hell am I even supposed to make of all this shit?" ...And A2's chief thought regarding all these bizarre circumstances is that she had no fucking clue what any of it could possibly mean. Did this human -Caim's- presence here mean that her assumptions about humanity's demise were incorrect? However, the more A2 dwelled on this possibility -and the possibility that the rest of humanity really was nestled away on the moon- the less likely it truly seemed. "Nothing about him makes him seem like he came from the moon base -if it even fucking exists, that is- but that just raises even more questions about him and the shit he can do…"

And as A2 continued to walk and think out loud, her thoughts soon drifted to the most bizarre thing to address regarding all this; that being the memories that were stored away in that human's sword and the story that came along with it. The disturbing things she bore witness to in those memories answered -or at least indicated the answer- to several of A2's questions about the violent, brown-haired human, it also led to many more, they ultimately just left her even more confused than before.

"...Then there's the fact that he has memories of things like giant black dragons, ruined kingdoms and mauled royalty, and some pointy-eared asshole with a crossbow. Shit that sounds like it's straight out of a human fairy tale. How is that even possible?" A2 groaned as she began to leap and scale to the rooftops of the ruined buildings around her. Honestly, while the data stored in that sword certainly helped answer a few of the questions she had about this human -such as his name and a basic idea of why he was so violent and unhinged- it also provided new questions that she couldn't possibly begin to wrap her head around, much less answer. How was she supposed to make sense of impossible sights such as dragons? And none of this helped answer how Caim was apparently the sole human on the surface of a planet dominated by machines and androids, or an explanation behind all his inhuman feats.

"Well, assuming he doesn't go straight for the jugular again the moment he sees me, maybe I can just ask for some answers…" Ultimately, that course of action was the only thing A2 could soundly decide on, since she was only bound to get a headache trying to make sense of this insane bullshit.

Though, as A2 continued with her trek back through the rooftops and towards the spot she left Caim, thinking and muttering to herself all the while, she was soon soon greeted with a sight that caused her to tense up and take up a defensive stance.

As one could likely infer from everything seen up to this point, this sight that so suddenly put A2 on edge was none other than the bizarrely strong and violent human apparently called Caim, wide awake and sitting back against the stairwell entrance she left him by with scowl on his face and an iron pipe clenched firmly in his hand.

'Oh fuck. Here we go…' That was the first thing that went through A2's head as she took in this sight, readying herself for whatever came next as the human became aware of her presence...

***O***

(About an hour earlier.)

For the second time in the last several hours, Caim once more found himself rousing from a bout of unconsciousness where he couldn't clearly remember what he'd been doing.

He recalled enough to know that he'd been marooned in some strange land filled with the same destroyed, alien buildings that made up Cathedral City, he also remembered being accosted by metal creatures that were as bizarre as they were annoying pests, and above all else, he clearly remembered the image of their glowing red eyes boring into him from every angle before the sight spurred him into killing every single one of them. By that point, however, letting his rage and bloodlust guide his blade clouded his memory, and he was having difficulties recalling what led to his unconsciousness and waking up here… well, wherever here was.

Gradually blinking his blue eyes open, Caim faintly took note of how rare of an occurrence it was for him to wake on something soft after descending into such a blood frenzy before taking in his surroundings. As far as he could tell, he appeared to have been left to lie on a makeshift bed at the top of a half-destroyed stairwell, with more of the destroyed cityscape overtaken by nature spanning out before him.

As Caim pondered how exactly he got here, he soon took notice of his breast plate and his clothes from the waist above laid out beside the blanket he'd been lying on. Casting his gaze downward, the wayward prince noticed that he was indeed shirtless and what's more, that someone had covered parts of his bare upper body in bandages. Particularly, parts that ached and stung to varying levels.

Clearly, he sustained some injuries while tearing those machines apart, but who was the one that brought him here and at least attempted to tend to his wounds, and for what reason? Despite his apparent rescuer's seeming benevolence in bringing him to a safe location and patching him up, Caim felt apprehension begin to bubble up within him, and it quickly escalated to suspicion and outrage when he noticed that among his clothes, there was no sign of his sword.

Growing alert at the absence of his trusty blade, Caim quickly gave his surroundings another look over, and once again, saw no sign of his weapon. His sheathe was among his belongings, but the blade it was initially designed for was nowhere to be found. Clenching his fists tightly at the prospect of someone stealing one of the few mementos of his home and family he had left, Caim wasted no time in redoning his upper clothes and armor, and once he was certain everything was properly on, he strode out of the decrepit stairwell and towards the edge of the building's roof with an incensed scowl. His instincts were screaming at him to hunt down the one responsible for this offense and force them to reveal where they were hiding his sword before he crushed their head in his hands.

Though, just as Caim was about to leap off the roof, pick a direction, and start searching for the thief, common sense gradually began to catch up with the violent rage that had overtaken him and brought him to a halt. Slowly, Caim took in the ruined cityscape and endless expanses of land all around him, looked down at the very building he stood atop and how massive it was in its own right, and back at the old blanket and pillow he woke up on.

"..." Unclenching his fists, Caim took one last look at the strange land all around him before jogging back to the stairwell, past his impromptu bed, down the stairs and further into the building. Several minutes passed atop the rooftops with no activity before the prince reemerged from the depths of the building with a long iron pipe clenched in his hand. With his new tool in hand, Caim took a seat against the wall outside the stairwell and began to wait for whoever it was that brought him here to come back.

While Caim was undeniably even quicker to anger than usual when his mementos were involved, it only took a few seconds of rational thought for the prince to realize that going off in a random direction and hoping he'd find what he was looking for was a monumentally stupid waste of time. Simply waiting where they left them for a time and hoping they'd return wasn't a much better option, but it was frankly the only one he had at this point. Additionally, the more Caim began to think about the circumstances of his awakening, the more he acknowledged that he didn't seem to have the full picture at the moment. He wanted his sword back and was going to get it back regardless of what he heard from his apparent rescuer, but so long as they didn't try anything underhanded when they met, then he could wait and hear whatever they had to say.

And so, Caim sat there and waited. Ignoring the steady throb of pain in his shoulder and the lesser aches in his bandaged spots, the mute swordsman took this period of quiet to contemplate on past events, getting so caught up in his memories of the twisted events leading up to now that he missed the growing sound of footsteps till they abruptly came to a stop on what sounded to be a rooftop to his right.

With his posture retensing, Caim kept the grip on his makeshift bludgeon firm as he rose into a standing position and turned towards the black and white figure standing before him. With his scowl unchanging, the prince's gaze took in the appearance of what he was assuming was the person who brought him here. However, as he took in certain details of this person's appearance, his expression gave way to slight confusion.

At first glance, Caim assumed that he was looking at a dishevelled young woman, perhaps as old as him, with unusual, long white hair, and an even more unusual attire, with a worn, black fabric held loosely in place around her slim waist and the rest of her body covered in various spots by what looked to be some skin-tight material…

"...?" But upon closer inspection, Caim found his confusion growing when he realized the black material covering parts of the white-haired woman's body wasn't some tight, skin-hugging fabric, but muscle.

Casting an incredulous stare up at the white-haired girl, who merely continued to observe him with a guarded stance and an impassive expression on her face, Caim looked back down at her body and examined the black areas on her, unconsciously taking a step closer as he did so. Indeed, it was a strange sight to see, but somehow, parts of this woman's worn, dirtied skin had apparently just… worn off, revealing bizarre black muscles underneath. Indeed, it appeared that aside from the black fabric she wore around her waist, all the black areas on this strange woman's body were just exposed muscle.

Caim barely had a moment to dwell on the realization that he appeared to be in the presence of another species native to this world -one that, like elves, looked similar to humans at first glance, clearly had some physical differences that differentiated species- before he took notice of the familiar black and blue blade she had clenched in her skinless right hand.

"...!" Tightening his grip on the iron pipe at the sight of his blade in the hands of this stranger like he expected, the incensed prince quickly began to stride up to the white-haired stranger with his hand outstretched towards his blade, making his intention to take it by any means clear.

Being who he was, Caim wasn't expecting his sword back from this stranger without a fight… which was why he was stunned into stopping when she suddenly stabbed his sword into the rooftop before taking several steps back, making sure to give the prince a wide berth.

"Guess you woke up while I was gone… figures that shit would happen before I could get back…" The strange woman finally spoke, her tone impassive, if having an ever present sense of world-weary exhaustion to it. She looked as though she'd been expecting Caim to say something, and when he inevitably wouldn't and instead looked towards his imbedded sword before back towards her with a hard frown and questioning look in his eyes, she merely sighed before elaborating on her intentions. "If you want that sword back so badly, then go on and take it. It wasn't trying to keep it from you, I was just making sure you didn't try to kill me again the moment you woke up and saw me..."

Eyes widening in response to this claim, Caim only had a moment to wonder what she was talking about before an unpleasant migraine settled itself into his head and bombarded him with hazy, yet familiar images; images such as the sight of those machines that attacked him being reduced to exploding scrap metal, and the image of him trying to use his blade to slice this white-haired woman in two, with his strike only being stopped by her blocking with her own sword.

With this image now fresh in his head, Caim quickly began to piece together what happened after he lost consciousness; from what he could gather, he must have crossed paths with this woman after descending into that blood frenzy against those machines and attacked her as a result. However, what truly had Caim surprised here wasn't just that this woman apparently managed to beat him in combat -as evidenced by his bandaged-up stab wounds and those two swords she had floating behind her via some sort of magic- but that she apparently also spared him after such a transgression, even though he was the one who opened up hostilities with no reason or explanation. More than that, even; She apparently brought him all the way up here and bandaged up his wounds. But why, though? Why would one person do such a thing for a person that tried to kill the other?

"Yeah, is it starting to come back to you now?" The white-haired woman spoke dryly, the expression on Caim's face telling her he pieced together what happened. "I happened across you fucking up those machines, got dragged into it, and once they were all dealt with, you tried to kill me next," Ignoring the glare Caim sent in her direction in response to her dry and curt tone, the white-haired woman tossed what she was holding in her other hand -a small leather sack- to the prince for him to catch. "and in case you're wondering, the reason I left you here for the time being was so I could find you this." Instinctively catching the sack, Caim gave the white-haired woman another questioning look before checking the inside of the sack and seeing that they were full of green herbs. "They're medicinal herbs that should help heal your cuts and stab wounds."

Again, Caim's incredulous, suspicious expression returned at the realization that on top of everything else, this woman apparently seeked out medicine for him; the same man that tried to kill her. Again, the white-haired woman must've read the thoughts that were going through Caim's head via his expressions, because she merely shrugged -as if she actually heard his question- before speaking up once more. "You might be royally fucked in the head, but you're still human. I wasn't about to let you die or leave anything to chance."

Now that was a strange thing to hear, especially as a former denizen of a land such as Midgard; where any other species intelligent enough tended to loathe humans for the grave crime of simply existing. It certainly reinforced the fact that this person wasn't human despite deceiving appearances and that wherever Caim was, he certainly wasn't in Midgard anymore.

Taking all this information in, Caim gave the herbs in the bag another look before he cast one final look back at the white-haired woman. However, she had nothing else to say, apparently, instead just standing there and silently looking at him with that impassive expression. "..."

"..." A tense moment of silence lingered between the two before Caim's posture began to relax ever so slightly, offhandedly tossing the pipe he found off the roof before reaching for his sword. Effortlessly drawing the blade out from the concrete, the prince savored the feeling and weight of his ever-present memento back at his side before resheathing it. With the matter of his sword finally settled, Caim looked back towards the white-haired woman and tried to convey his thoughts and intentions as best he could without a voice or a pact-partner to speak for him; and that was to place his hand over his breastplate and bow forward calmly and respectfully.

Funnily enough, however, the white-haired woman displayed a reaction to this show of respect and gratitude that was not unlike how Caim himself reacted to her simply offering him his sword to take back; with silent, wide-eyed bafflement. "Was… Was that your way of… thanking me? Or apologizing?" At these questions, Caim merely nodded his head in response. He wasn't so prideful, angry, or deaf to reason that he couldn't acknowledge their fighting when they first met was his fault. Caim would readily admit that he opened hostilities while high off the thrill of battle, and despite this, this woman still showed him mercy and had even gone out of his way to get him medicine for his wounds. Whatever reason she may have had for this, Caim wouldn't deny that everything this woman did for him left him more than a bit indebted to her, and given that she'd ultimately been reasonable this entire meeting, the prince figured that he could at least make his respect and gratitude clear.

Clearly, after their… initial meeting, this woman hadn't been expecting Caim to act this way; the fact that she continued to regard him with that silent, wide-eyed look of surprise was clear proof of this. However, after another moment passed, the ends of the woman's lips "Heh… there's no end to the surprises with you, is there? After how first meetings between us went, I actually figured getting one of those from you would be wishful thinking. Well hey, fuck it. If you want to make nice now, I'm more than happy to put what happened behind us."

...This woman certainly didn't mince her words or what she truly thought, did she? Still, her frank personality aside, Caim had to admit he was taken aback by how readily and easily this woman accepted his show of apology after her surprise wore off. From what he could glean of her personality during this conversation and what little he could recall of their fight, she had a curt, 'no bullshit' air to her. Certainly not the type of person you would expect to so readily forgive an attempt on her life. He supposed it must have had something to do with her keeping him alive because he was a human.

...He'd certainly have to try and get some clarity on that last point, but that could wait for the time being. Right now, Caim needed to salve his wounds with these herbs and finally be rid of that damnable stinging.

Sitting back down against the stairwell entrance, Caim began to remove his upper clothes and armor once more before undoing the bandages that were applied to him. As the landless prince assumed, aside from his shoulder wound, which still stung and throbbed persistently, the rest of the wounds Caim gained from that battle had more or less been healed thanks to his body's enhanced physiology, with only dull, slightly aching scars remaining that would fade on their own before long. Regardless, Caim made sure to apply the medicinal herbs to everywhere he was injured, and let out a satisfied exhale at that damnable shoulder wound rapidly salving over and fading away.

Curiously enough, as Caim was applying the herbs to his wounds, he noticed how intently the white-haired woman watched him out of the corner of his eye. She still kept her distance and just stood there, but her -quite literally, now that he noticed- unblinking blue gaze was kept intently on him the entire time; like she was equal parts fascinated by his very existence and restraining herself from offering to help him apply the herbs.

Again, Caim could only assume this was connected to him being singled out as a human, but it was a pain to ask for elaboration when you had no voice to speak with and the prince didn't feel like wasting his time or effort steering the woman towards that subject. He'd just settle for a name for the time being.

With the medicinal herbs applied to his injuries and quickly working their (figurative) magic, Caim wasted no time in redoning his upper clothes before standing and looking pointedly towards his new acquaintance, gesturing towards her in a manner that he hoped conveyed that he wanted her to introduce herself.

"...What? Why are you just looking at me like that?" Unfortunately, judging by the confused, questioning stare and words he got, his new associate was having trouble understanding what he wanted. Letting out a muted groan of irritation at the realization that this was likely going to be a recurring problem going forward with no pact-partner to convey his intentions, Caim opted to gesture towards her more sharply towards the woman, hoping she'd eventually understand what he wanted.

"You… Are you…? Oh-! You want me to tell you who I am?" She asked in slight confusion, getting a sharp nod from Caim in response. The look of confusion on the woman's face made it clear she was growing confused by his inability to speak, but after a slow nod, she nonetheless answered his question. "Okay… I'm A2." As she expected, her designation just garnered a look of confusion from Caim, prompting her to elaborate. "Where I come from, we don't get names when we're 'born.' We're manufactured, given a designation, and sent down here to fight and die…"

Again, in response, Caim could only stare at this strange woman -A2, as she called herself- in confusion. Just what was she going on about? It seemed that she was some sort of soldier, going by her combat skill and what she just told him, but certain details of what she just said (sent down from where?) left the prince more confused than anything.

"...Your name's Caim, right?" Upon hearing that, Caim's eyes immediately widened in shock before they narrowed in suspicion, giving the white-haired stranger a scowl that demanded she elaborate. Again, A2 showed no reaction to the serious, icy look being sent her way, instead keeping that impassive expression on her face before point to Caim's still-sheathed sword and continuing. "When I picked up your sword for the reasons I already went over, I got bombarded with images - memories- that I know weren't mine. If I had to guess, they're yours, and when I was forced to watch things play out, I heard that name get brought up a couple of times; I'm guessing it's your name?"

Caim kept his suspicious gaze and scowl trained on A2 for another moment before his expression slackened slightly and he nodded in response. The news that his trusty blade apparently had some of his memories stored within it was a surprising bit of news, but not necessarily unexpected either; while the prince didn't know the exact science of how it worked, he was well-aware of how any weapon with magic imbued into it had the potential store memories within them along with a morbid and likely relevant story accompanying it. With this in mind, the prince supposed it was to be expected that after five years of wielding it in battle, his sword would start to coalesce his memories within…

Caim wasn't exactly happy that someone apparently got to take a good look at his memories and the horrors he experienced in the past, but he wasn't blind to the fact that it appeared unintentional on A2's end. With this in mind, he decided to let it go for now...

"I also heard you talking when I saw those memories, so I really don't get the 'silent treatment' you're trying to pull here." A2 continued, giving Caim a questioning look as she said this, and getting a look of understanding from him in response.

"..." With the statement clarifying that whatever she saw was before he forged his pact with Angelus, Caim attempted to convey his muteness by simply attempting to genuinely speak, and making it clear that no voice came out despite his best efforts.

Unlike before, A2 quickly seemed to catch on to Caim's unsuccessful attempts to speak, her blue eyes showing slight confusion before asking, "Wait… you… you can't speak?"

Caim was quick to shake his head at this before opening his mouth and showing her the pact crest branded onto his tongue. If nothing else, this exchange could help prove to Caim whether pacts existed in this world or not.

"...What in the fuck is this supposed to be?" Judging by the immediate reaction Caim got from A2, he was going to go off on a limb and assume that pacts didn't exist in this world, at least not in the manner they existed in Midgard…

With at least one question about this land answered, Caim closed his mouth and simply gave A2 one final look before turning around and walking towards the edge of the roof.

"...So where are you going?"

Coming to a halt just as he was about to simply leap off the roof, pick a direction, and start walking, Caim turned around and responded to A2's question by simply shrugging, trying to convey he had no particular destination in mind. Upon seeing this, A2 looked off to the side momentarily, the look on her face indicating that she was internally debating with what she should say, before steeling herself and looking back towards him. "Look… I don't know what to make of all the weird shit surrounding you, but I know enough that I can tell you're… not from around these parts. If I also had to guess, you've figured out that I'm not a human like you… but you're not sure what else I could be, right?" With no reason to try and deny any of these assumptions, Caim merely nodded his head in response, the hard frown on his face questioning. "Well, if you're fine with me tagging along with you, then I could try and help you with that; Bring you up to speed on shit you've never seen or don't understand as best as I can." The white-haired woman explained with a shrug, concluding with, "...I honestly, really, don't have anything better to do, so I got no issues following you wherever, for however long you need me…"

In response to all this, Caim could only give A2 a stare that went on for several seconds before giving her an uncaring shrug and a gesture that told her to do whatever she pleased. If she wanted to accompany him, he wouldn't deny her; he was never one to turn down aid or comrades in the past, her company would undeniably help shed more light on this strange land he'd bee marooned in, and again, after everything she did for him, he was willing to let her accompany him if that was what she wanted… and judging by her posture ever since they got to this topic, she wanted to accompany the prince of her own volition.

Again, A2 appeared surprised by the response she got -once again having apparently expected things to have not gone so easily- but once his affirmation sank in, the tensed-up posture that remained even when Caim made his nonhostility clear left the strange, white-haired woman entirely, the impassive expression giving away to a small smile as she let out a small, disbelieving laugh. "Heh… alright, guess we'll be traveling together from here on."

Again, Caim could only give the strange woman an unamused, questioning stare before simply turning around and leaping off the roof. Again, that strange fascination she seemed to have with him -or rather, his species- was just a bizarre thing to see for Caim. With any luck, he'd get an answer to this odd behavior before long with her now acting as his apparent guide to this foreign world.

'Heh… fucking shit, I'm still completely unsure whether I should be relieved, excited, or regretting how this clusterfuck of events has turned out.' A2 meanwhile, just briefly took a moment to savor how all this turned out -even if she'd readily admit she was uncertain of where things would go and how easily this could turn out badly- before leaping down after the enigmatic, brown-haired human.

Bracing herself, A2 landed in a grassy alley between buildings a few feet behind Caim, who was already beginning to walk towards the alley's exit. The white-haired android was catching up to him when he came to a sudden stop. Coming to a stop beside him, A2 almost (pointlessly) asked him what was wrong, before her gaze followed where he was looking and saw a cluster of machines aimlessly wandering around.

"Yeah… I'm sure you probably figured this by now, but these fucking machines are gonna be everywhere going forward. I fucking despise them, but if you don't want to deal, they usually ignore you if you just give them a wide-"

"Shhhhhhhk!"

"-berth…" A2's brief explanation on how to avoid dealing with the machines fell on deaf ears when just before she finished, she saw him draw his blade out of its sheath out of the corner of her eye, topped off by his expression warping into a smirk that reminded her all to much of the manic, unhinged smile he showed her when they fought.

Before A2 could even think of anything else to say, Caim resumed his stride, gradually speeding towards the oblivious machines with his blade drawn and his desire to fight and kill all too clear.

"Huh… guess I should've seen that coming." Was all A2 could think to say as she watched Caim tear through the nearby machines with a familiar glee before drawing her 40 Sword and quickly following after him. "Well, if nothing else, nice to see this shit isn't gonna get in the way of my machine killing."

Human or not, if they were still going to be killing machines going forward, A2 sure as shit wasn't gonna let him hog killing all those little fuckers to himself.

***O***

And thus marks the beginning of a partnership that's… either the most unlikely or likely thing to ever happen. In any case I hope the characterization of everyone here felt accurate to canon and that my portrayal of A2's thoughts on Caim with her core programing constantly being in the back of her head didn't feel OOC or unreasonable. I'm trying to balance A2's thoughts between 'hey! A true and blue human' and 'oh god this guy's totally fucked in the head, isn't he?' topped off by the knowledge that he isn't just 100% murderboner all the time, as their interaction this chapter hopefully showed.