"Is there anything that you need, sir?"
Smith had found his daily schedule, every waking moment, bereft of anytime for himself when every single android in the bunker immediately tried to make themselves present and useful to him.
The news that he had been thawed out had spread like wildfire among the androids protecting his outpost. And nearly every single one of them either somehow found that path he was going to take and offered their services or 'accidentally' stumbled onto him. It was cute, in a way. Smith had asked to be filled in with the ongoing situation and as made aware of their entire situation. It was mindboggling, eleven thousand years of not seeing a human. These boys and girls had fought for so long, so hard, and sacrificed so much and the Council of Humanity didn't even make itself known to them except for cold unemotional broadcasts.
While Smith knew that it was rather dangerous for an average human to be on Earth considering what they were fighting, there was matter of morale. Hell, even showing up in a event once a blue moon would be sufficient for these androids to be reminded what they were fighting for. He had a list of questions he wanted to ask these Councillors and he was going to get them when he would talk to them. Technically speaking, he and the ones in the bunker could qualify to be their great-great grandparents up the line and by God, he was going to give the whippersnappers a lashing.
He offered Devola a smile. "I would very much like to eat the soup that you and your sister made, Devola,"
The redhead smirked. "One potage soup coming right up!"
It was after their conversation in the Overseer's office that Smith expressed that he was hungry and needed food. After all, staying as a popsicle for eleven or so thousand years gave one a hell of a appetite. Immediately, the androids in the room stumbled on themselves trying to get him something to eat. Devola and Popola had disappeared somewhere while Anemone fumbled around her clothes trying to find if she had something edible packed somewhere. 1D, the poor girl nearly had a panic attack when she realized she could offer him nothing. A part of him had to laugh at the display. It was like watching a bunch of children trying their hardest to please their parent.
Smith sat down on one of the tables of the Mess Hall. It was rather extensive and equipped with the facilities one could expect. Again, he was dumbfounded and astonished how everything looked so good. Immediately, the smell of something pleasant filled the air. Smith turned onto the doors that would have lead into the kitchen and found it slightly ajar. He figured that Devola had done this as a way to show off her cooking skills.
Actually, both of the Twins were excellent cooks, their synthetic brains having been equipped the skills necessary for maintenance and administration. He had no idea that cooking was a necessary skill for them to have but he wasn't complaining. The soup they had brought him in the Overseer's office was made out of some freeze dried potatoes, carrots, and peas yet it was the most delicious thing he had eaten in his entire life. It was so good he had asked for seconds, thirds, and fourths. All this, he had done while the Twins grinned from ear to ear, to the jealousy of both Anemone and 1D. While Anemone was apparently mature enough to take it in stride, of sorts, 1D swore she would learn cooking and make the best damn meal humanity had ever eaten.
Not a few minutes later, Smith found himself looking at a silver pot being placed on the table. Devola smirked at him, a apron around her, and a bowl in her hand. "Chickpeas, potatoes, lentils, with salted boar for protein," she proclaimed as she took a ladle and deposited the soup onto the bowl and offered it to Smith. He nodded, muttering thanks, and took a spoon. It was fragrant, the smell taking him back to a wintery day and entering the house of his grandmother who fed him and his brother a soup similar to what he was eating right now. A soup made with utter love and whose warmth seeped into their cold bones.
He took the spoon from Devola and ate.
Oh yeah. Just like how grandma made it, back then.
"Delicious," Smith praised, to the bashful giggling of Devola.
She and her sister was much more happier now, when he had absolved them of their apparent sins. Being free from a cross certainly made one less depressed. Right now, Devola had the honor of being his personal android buddy as Popola had to stay behind in the Overseer's office to monitor the vitals of the other frozen humans, much to her chagrin.
"Thank you!" Devola giggled. She sat across him, leaning on the table. "The Resistance brought extensive supplies in expectations of feeding the rest of the people here when they would wake up."
Smith nodded in approval. "That's good. God knows how hungry I was when I woke up."
As Smith went and took another bite, he craned his head. "So these food supplies, androids eat? I thought that since you and your people were synthetic, you wouldn't really need it."
Devola nodded. "It's true that we don't really need to eat. Every android has a fusion core that powers us. The thing is, we are made to be as close to humanity as possible. We can eat though the matter we consume gets converted into energy by our cores. We can 'breathe', touch, feel."
Smith hummed, taking in another bite from Devola's soup. "As close to humanity, hm?"
The Colonel's eyes widened when Devola leaned in, crossing her arms underneath her chest. Her lips, cherry red, curled in mischief as her open cut shirt revealed much of chest. She spoke, her voice soft and innocent. "Yes, Colonel. As close to humanity as possible."
She locked eyes with him, a emerald green that shone with hidden promise. Devola spoke again, a low pleasant whisper that kissed his ears. "Care to find out with me?"
Devola had no idea why she was doing this. Only that it felt right. Ever since she had hugged the Colonel and he had freed her and Popola from their sin, she felt so...free. Her body coursed with a new found energy and vitality she could only remember getting from drinking. Everytime she looked at the Colonel, and saw the ruggedness of his body, the stern but inwardly warm and kind look on his eyes, her wires just fizzled with energy.
Smith on the other hand chuckled. Were he a younger man, he would take up on her offer in a heartbeat. He wasn't as quick to get to the chase compared to his younger years. His chuckle seemed to shake Devola whose cheeks reddened with shame and embarrassment. Immediately, she tried to pull back but Smith spoke to her.
"I didn't say you could pull back, Devola,"
Devola froze as Smith smirked at her. He leaned in, his spoon hanging inside the soup he was eating. "When we are in the Mess, we eat. When we are in the field, we fight. When we are in the bedroom..."
He leaned in, whispering to Devola. Her eyes widened as her cheeks became redder than her hair. Her throat tightened as her thighs rubbed each other uncontrollably. Smith pulled back, smiling. "Do you have lingerie?"
She blinked. "N-no?"
"And you'll get some for me, yes?" Smith asked sweetly.
Devola nodded dumbly, anticipation flashing her eyes. Smith leaned back, satisfied as he took in another spoonful of soup. Smith was no longer young, yes. But that didn't mean he was stupid. His tastes simply evolved.
It was then, the clacking of heels got Smith out of his thoughts. Turning, 1D stood straight, saluting him in the YoRHa fashion, that being a open palm on their chest. "Sir!"
Behind him, Devola resisted the urge to crush the table she was leaning on at the interruption. Smith on the other nodded at her, looking as fine as he was leaving the cryo pod. "What is it, Captain?"
"The Council of Humanity will hear you, Colonel," 1D reported, quietly elating the fact that she had his full attention.
"That took awhile," Smith commented. He figured the delay come from the fact that they were in the moon. He then glanced at his food. "A pity about the soup I am eating."
1D took a step forward. "Sir? Don't worry, you still have time to finish your meal."
Smith raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I thought I was calling with them?"
The YoRHa captain shook her head. "Oh no. They are coming here. Commander White will be descending first to give this place further security."
High above the planet, a massive installation of silver and glass floated amidst the empitness of space. In front of it, a planet that was once home to seven billion humans, now reduced to a paltry 500 all locked away underneath the yellow-gold sands of the desert. A chorus of voices spoke haphazardly behind bright screens, all on a pale white platform. Operators, as they were called, tapped onto keyboards and monitored live data being fed to them from androids units or from satellites, clattering away behind black veils that served as their microphone. Black clad and in flatteringly revealing outfits, there was only one android that was a stark contrast to their black.
Commander White.
She never really considered herself busy most of the times. It had all fallen into a mundane routine. There were of course missions that were important but she only really gave it the effort it was due. Then, the reports came in. Then the data. Then Anemone sending even more proof. Undeniable proof that sprung her to action.
Hold them there, High Command had said, until they could retrofit one of their space stations into something habitable. The Bunker was one of many such facilities orbiting the earth and that retrofitting would take time. Despite them frantically working round the clock with little shifts, it was estimated that it would take a two weeks for them to fully convert one of their stations. These places, these weren't facilities that one could consider good living in a traditional sense. They were factories and manufacturing centers, important assets that fuelled the war effort against the Machine Invader.
And so, she worked, sending a YoRHa squad into the planet to help protect the site. Satellite imaging had revealed that the machines weren't exactly alarmed by their movements. Thank goodness for small mercies.
It was then one of the operators called for her attention. Quietly, she made her way to that operator. "What is it?"
The Operator, 210, replied. "From Captain 1D, ma'm."
White thought for a moment before nodding. "Patch it through."
210 nodded as she typed something down. Not a second later, 1D's face appeared in one of the screens. She saluted at White, an open palm on the left chest. White simply nodded at her. "1D. I see you have touched down successfully," White noted.
"Yes, ma'm," the android nodded. "I sent my report to 210."
"I see. Is there anything you have to report?" White asked, getting to the heart of the issue.
The android nodded furiously. "Y-yes! Um, one of the pods in the site opened by itself. The human inside was the administrator of the facility. He is asking to meet the Council, ma'm."
And like that, White felt naked. Like a lone android caught between two Goliaths looking at it as one would a bug that needed to be crushed. With practice willpower, White bit back that feeling down. "Understood. I will be contacting the Council and get their orders. Until then, keep that place under guard."
"Understood ma'am! Glory to Mankind!" 1D proclaimed enthusiastically before she cut off the connection.
"Glory to Mankind," White muttered underneath her breath. In her talks with the Council of Humanity, a Council who was in actuality the highest ranking members of the Army of Humanity, they had debated and argued what to do when the humans would wake up. It was decided that the truth would be told. To keep up the lie that they had been touting for all these years would fall flat especially to an actual human.
And White was going to be the one to tell them, as the face of YoRHa.
"The Council left me instructions to be the one to meet the humans when they thaw. I will be descending onto the desert." White announced.
"Yes, ma'am!"
That conversation was an hour ago for White but for those in the planet, a full day had passed. Time had been finicky to measure thanks to the planet not really rotating anymore. On one side, the planet was locked in perpetual darkness. It was a different sort of battlefield that YoRHa had no business in. It was wilder, fiercer and weapons that were deemed overkill by the androids were deployed there to fight the worst of the Machine invaders. On the other, it was locked in perpetual day. Normally, it should have scorched the planet and turned most of it into a arid zone of deserts and savannahs. But it didn't, thanks to the stabilizing and freezing effects of maso or magic.
But White wasn't exactly thinking about magic now. As her flight unit pierced through the atmosphere, two units following her as escorts, her only thoughts was about the lone human now awake in the desert bunker. What did they look like? Would he look at her and her fellow androids favourably? And...once the truth came out...would he and the rest of humanity trust her?
Trust them?
White had been tortured by this question ever since the news first arrived. It ate at her conscience of being the face of YoRHa, of being the public face that facilitated a lie. It was a necessary one. The Army of Humanity was losing. They needed the motivation. They needed the morale boost.
They needed a God worth fighting for.
And now, those Gods were here.
She sucked down those thoughts and questions back into her mind as her flight unit touched down before the gates of the outpost. Sure enough, the Resistance pulled all stops to make sure the place was a fortress. She had long since been removed from them but she still understood the old tricks to make their defenses hidden. Outside, Anemone met her, her face stoic and unimpressed at White's entrance.
"Took you long enough to get here," Anemone commented.
White sighed. "I was only cleared to descend should and only if the humans were thawed. Now that one of them is, I am allowed to do this."
A unspoken tension passed between White and Anemone. They were both Commanders albeit leaders of different forces. But they had a history. For now, they weren't going to focus on that. Not when duty first had to be done.
"Where is the human? What is he like?" White asked. Anemone turned and bid White to follow her.
"He's inside, eating. As for what he is like..." Anemone paused, trying to think. Behind her, White's YoRHa bodyguards leaned in a bit too interested to hear what she had to say. After awhile, Anemone finally answered.
"Overwhelming," Anemone said, trying her best not to let the worshipful tone of hers exit her lips. "He is everything that we could ever hope for and more. It took me sheer control to not just...kneel, you know? My very core, my very programming demanded it. It didn't help that he's an actual officer of an old Human army, the United Nations. Do you have any idea idea how hard it was?"
"Woah," her android bodyguards whispered, awe in their voice.
White swallowed hard.
"Alright, Let's get in. The human, Colonel Smith, is very eager to meet you,"
Colonel Smith was still seated and enjoying Devola's soup when the doors of the mess hall opened and in strode Anemone, eyes glinting in the light under her ethnic head-dress. She wasn't alone however as Smith's eyes fell upon a blonde woman with stern features clad in a flattering and revealing dress that showed way too much skin to have been acceptable to any military in the Old World. Perhaps standards were a bit relaxed here, not that the artistic part of him did not appreciate.
His eyes then turned to appraise her gait. She walked with purpose, and each step was measured and spoke of authority. The riding crop that she held in her hand also added much to that look. Smith thought of a Marshal from Napoleon's Empire if they had a riding crop instead of a baton. That was the artistic image he thought of. A Marshal, not a BDSM Mistress enthusiast.
Still, an officer was an officer. This woman was clear enough.
He set aside his bowl for Devola to collect. Smith stood from the mess table and stood ram-rod straight as Anemone and the blonde woman halted before him. The blonde woman craned her head high and saluted him in their style, an open palm on their chest.
"Commander White, YoRHa. Glory to Mankind!" Commander White introduced herself, her voice laced with authority as much as he gaze and gait. The old Colonel figured that was her rank and name, her organization, and army motto. Smith responded in kind, a salute of the Old World.
"Colonel Smith, United Nations. No Mission Too Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First!" replied the Old Colonel. The two respective commanders stood in silence, letting the impact of the moment settle for a bit before Smith pulled down his hand with White doing the same. He offered White a smile.
"I asked for a meeting with the Council of Humanity, Commander. Might you explain why it is YoRHa that is meeting me?" asked Smith. Considering the weight of what was happening, two branches of humanity separated by time and distance would be ecstatic to get to meeting as soon as possible. Why would the Council send YoRHa?
Keeping her face impassive, White answered. "The Council is currently busy organizing for transports to take you and the rest of the inhabitants of the facility to Space, sir. Until then, they have authorized me to speak for them and cater to your needs, whatever it might be."
"I see..." Smith said slowly, finding White's explanation to be strange. Surely, they had androids they could leave the task of organizing humanity's ascension to the stars to? Surely they had someone to speak for them? Deciding to accept White's explanation for now, Smith nodded.
"The reason why I needed to speak with the Council is that there are things that must be heard by their ears only," Smith explained.
"You can count on me, sir. As I said, the Council has charged me to be their eyes and ears," White explained, stepping forward a tad bit too eagerly. "Please, allow me to be of assistance to you."
"Then you and I must speak privately. Come with me, to the Overseer's office," Smith said. It was really the only place in the facility where it was truly protected from unwanted eyes and ears. White nodded, ready to follow behind him when Smith stopped. Feeling expectant eyes on him, he could see Anemone, Devola, and 1D trying visibly stopping themselves from asking permission to join him.
"Sir, I may not be on the Council but I am the overall commanding officer for Resistance forces in the region," Anemone said, stepping forward. "If this information pertains to the safety and preservation of humanity, I ought to be present there as well."
Okay, scratch that. Anemone definitely had some spunk to her.
There was a scratching of chairs as Devola stood up. "Sir, what if you get hungry? You would need me to whip something quick. And what if you..." Devola struggled as she thought of scenarios in her head. "What if you fall off the stairs or slip and hit your head? You will need me to be there to heal you."
His lips went upwards in amusement. He then turned to 1D. "And you? What's your excuse?"
"There might be machines in the walls," 1D said simply.
Well. They tried their best to justify themselves being there. As much as he saw, these androids were utterly loyal to humanity. He could trust them. They didn't exactly give him reason to mistrust them and suspect them of anything. "Alright. Anemone, Devola, you can come. 1D, you can go and accompany White."
Smiles broke all around.
Now gathered and seated, Colonel Smith looked up at White standing across him. Popola had joined her sister and Anemone in the corner while 1D stood outside the Overseer's office. He leaned forward, interlocking his fingers on the table. White stood non-plussed, as if she was simply giving a report to a higher officer.
White on the other hand was trying her best not to let the situation at hand get to her. She was known for her iron-will and discipline. She wasn't going to shudder or be bashful that...
Yes...Look at me. I am here, sir. Just like that. Your eyes are so blue...
She wasn't like her troops. She was the Commander. Iron-will and steel.
"Now, the matter that I was going to discuss," Smith's voice broke in through the hidden haze White was experiencing.
"Before that, sir," White interjected. "There is something that you must know."
Smith glanced up at White. All traces of humor were gone from the blonde's androids look. Smith recognized that look. It was the look of somewhat about to tell him something he wasn't going to be particularly happy about. It wasn't something new.
"Speak," Smith commanded. The muscles around White's mouth refused to move as she turned to regard the other androids with what could be described as veiled suspicion. The Twins and Anemone stared back, not entirely willing to back off from her look.
"What I am about to disclose of is classified information from Council of Humanity," White stated firmly, her tone steely and a subtle warning to the others.
'Step outside,' was what was unsaid.
"The Resistance does not answer to YoRHa," Anemone said simply, crossing her arms. They served in the same army but they were different branches. The only way Anemone was going to leave if someone from the Resistance much higher than her ordered her too.
"My sister and I have to monitor the Colonel's health," Popola interjected surprisingly, quiet as she often was. Silent, yes. Someone who backs down, no.
Hesitantly, White turned back to Smith and awaited his reaction.
Now, Smith understood how protocol works. If this was as important as White said it was, the other three androids had no business in hearing it. But there lied another problem. Anemone as he understood it was the highest commander officer of the Resistance forces in the region so she had as much right to know what they were going to discuss. Plus, he didn't know if the androids played politics as much as their creators did but to kick her out, their local contact, would be a bad move. Yes, Anemone would understand the necessity but people generally didn't like being told to do contrary to their interests.
As for Devola and Popola...the two had fed him and clothed him. He...he supposed he could make an exception for those two.
"Anemone is the highest ranking officer of this region. She has as much right to hear about this too. The Twins, they are my caretakers. I cannot go anywhere without them," Colonel Smith decided.
Hearing that, the androids in question puffed up and smiled. Under her ethnic cloak, Anemone offered Smith a smile. Devola and Popola cracked smug grins. White's eyes flashed with different sort of emotions before she eventually decided to accept it. Smith pegged her for someone that was used in getting her way.
"Very well, sir," Commander White stated. She closed her eyes for a second, as if she was contemplating something before her mouth opened again.
"I am sure that Colonel Anemone there and my own troops have told you much about the remnants of Humanity being stationed in the moon," Commander White began, her voice testing Smith on how much he knew.
He nodded. "Or so I have been told."
"Indeed. When the machines had invaded, their hordes had nearly overwhelmed the Earth and thus, forced humanity to take to the stars and take refuge in the Moon," White continued, her voice uncompromising.
Smith could sense that White was trailing off something. His eyebrows furrowed. "There is something you haven't told me, Commander. Spit it out."
Opening her eyes, Commander White spoke calmly and candidly, as if she was relaying facts to a class of students and she a professor. "It is a lie."
A silence descended in the room, save for the humming of electricity and the rising and falling of their chests. Anemone's eyes widened and darted to White. The Twins...they simply covered their mouths in shock, horror on their faces.
"...A lie?" Smith repeated.
Commander White nodded. Standing at attention, a closed fist tightened around the riding crop she carried. "Before the Resistance stumbled upon this bunker, Project Gestalt was the only project known to preserve humanity." She turned to the Twins who shook where they stood. "When the Project failed under the watch of the Devola and Popola models, humanity's days were numbered as the Replicants slowly died off."
"So...we..." Devola whispered.
"No," Popola shook her head, not wanting to believe it.
"Caused the extinction of the human race," White answered for them.
"And the broadcasts by the Council of Humanity?" Anemone asked, her earlier shock giving way to some anger that flashed behind her eyes.
White answered her, non-plussed at the rage radiating off Anemone. "Anemone, you and I were there when the broadcasts first started. The machines had nearly destroyed us all. We needed something, anything, to keep us from losing hope. You and I both knew that this sounded too good to be true yet, we believed in it."
Anemone's fists tightened into a ball. If she hadn't been wearing gloves, her nails would have dug itself into her palms.
Smith on the other hand sat on his chair, his mind a whirlpool of utter emotion. He wasn't an idiot. He knew what this meant now for him and the five hundred now freezing in his facility, as well as the countless hidden sights around the world.
He and the frozen five hundred were currently the last remaining members of the human race. At that moment, he swore he could have aged ten years in advance. The turmoil inside him, he forced it down. Smith as a man was forged by his experiences. A man that had seen his nation involve itself in countless wars as well as WCS and the Legion burning down the world he had known. But, he was also a man that held on to hope. A man that would fight as long as he still had breath, a gun, and some food to fill his belly.
"Now, there was a matter that I was going to discuss," Smith's voice broke through again. To the androids, it might as well be the rising of the sun pushing back the darkness.
"I am ready to hear it, sir," White nodded. And with that, Smith began.
"According to protocol, as soon as I woke up, I had to contact the main Ark about our status and stand-by for orders," Smith explained, letting his words settle into their ears.
"You...you did mention that," Devola spoke up, her face thoughtful.
"Main Ark..." Popola mouthed. Realization slowly dawned on her eyes. Alarmed, she turned to Smith. "Do you mean to say...?"
"There's other places like this?" Anemone interjected, her arms crossed and her manner calm and professional. But inside, her very core screamed at her to go outside, gather all her androids, and not stop until the ends of the Earth was scraped clean for their creators. Not after what she had heard
"Correct," Smith confirmed. And just like that, every single one of the girls in the room looked ready to head out. Their eyes, their very body language spoke it. They were jittery, like a tiger getting its senses overwhelmed by the sheer amount of prey available. In this case, the prey being a bunker filled with popsicle humans.
"Hold on, all of you. You ain't finding them not like this. I haven't even finished yet," Smith was quick to add, some amusement to his eyes. The disappointment in them made him feel somewhat bad but he had to say it. Calming down, White was the first to speak up.
"How come we never found these locations before? Surely, we would have been able to find more of these bunkers?"
And that was true enough. However...
"When these places were built, Commander, the United Nation spared no expense to give it the best protection we could muster at the time. I don't exactly remember the technical details, I am no scientist, but the maso generators also functioned as a cloaking device of sorts that protected us from the eyes of the Legion," Smith explained, recalling the briefing he had those many many many years ago.
"So...the generators that the bunker used...hid it?" Popola asked slowly.
"It...it is powered by Maso, sis. And maso's properties allows it to create something out of nothing," Devola reminded her sister. Such was the power and endless properties of maso.
It was funny how desperation really got humanity into overdrive to try and preserve itself. Projects left and right were greenlit by his own government and the United Nations. While the Hamelin Organization got the most of the pie, the others also got much support as well. The research of Maso was one of those and the fruits of their labour spoke for themselves.
"That was also how we survived for so long, I suppose," Smith added. "The ice that covered us was maso generated ice."
"Wait..." Anemone interjected. "If you and the other humans in cryo-stasis right now have been stuck in maso since your freezing...that would mean..."
The Twins looked at Smith in morbid curiosity and awe. Devola spoke again for Popola. "Maso would be a literal part of your physiology!"
Smith leaned back on his chair, his expression thoughtful. It was a well-known fact that those undergoing cryostasis would literally be breathing in magic. There wasn't enough time or studies to try and find the effects of maso inhalation to the human body but at the time, they were desperate. They had to go with it anyway. He held up a hand and glanced at his body. He didn't feel anything weird. All his parts worked just fine.
He blinked, feeling a pressure in front of him. Looking up, Smith saw Commander White looking down at him, concern in her eyes. "Sir?"
Smith shook his head. "No...just...I was just thinking. When the cryo project was being implemented, one of the concerns we had was that its participants would be breathing in literal magic. There wasn't any time really to see its effects. The risk was weighed and the preservation of the species was much more important."
At his tone, the androids glanced at each other worriedly. White seemed to frown. Anemone tried to hide the scowl she wore underneath her head-dress while the Twins lip's quivered. Smith saw this and quickly understood that the idea of even seeing something bad happen to their creators made these androids upset. In a way, he found it heart-warming that their creations cared for him and his species.
Seeing them upset, he decided to let that sentiment known.
"Look, whatever the effects are, it hasn't seemed to have done anything. I can still think, I can breathe, I don't hear a voice inside my head. I am alright. And its thanks to all of you that I am hear, and that humanity is here. And thanks to that...what was her name?"
"Jackass?" Anemone added helpfully.
"Yes. That one, Jackass," Smith nodded, wondering who the hell gave that android that name. He continued. "Anyway, the point is, you all have done good work and I am very much willing to see how our efforts will go in the greatest project humanity has ever undergone."
"And what would that be, Colonel?" Popola asked, interested.
"Restoring Mankind," Smith smiled.
At that, smiles began to appear on their faces. The androids looked pleased, so very pleased that a human was telling them what they have been waiting their entire lives for. Smith chuckled as he saw Anemone brighten up, how cheerful the Twins looked, and how even the composure of the unflappable Commander White broke slightly.
''Now, let's get to work. Commander, do you have a map of the world?" Smith asked.
"I can get one of the Pods here for that, sir." White said.
Smith had no idea what a pod was but he was going to nod regardless. "Alright. Bring it in."
Not a second later, the doors opened and in came a...floating box with two appendages that functioned as arms. It was black in color with a few silver trims. It spoke, masculine in tone and somewhat pleasant to the ears if Smith had anything to say about it. "Pod 313 reporting."
"Pod, you are now assigned to Colonel Smith, commander of this installation," White commanded. There was slight beeping as the Pod turned to face Smith. It seemed to scrutinize him carefully before it dronily spoke
"Understood. Pod 313 is now under the authority of Human Colonel Smith. Glory to Mankind,"
Smith watched the pod in utter fascination, prompting him to ask. "What are you, little guy?"
"Introduction: I am a Tactical Support Unit, Pod 313. I assist YoRHa units in battle with long-range attacks as well as defensive programs. Query: Would Colonel Smith like a demonstration?"
As curious as he was, he would rather not see his overseer's office destroyed. "Uh, that will be unnecessary, pod. I asked you here for a different reason."
"Understood. How can I assist you?"
"Commander White here says you have a map of the world?" Smith asked. At that, the Pod floated forward and seemed to open up. Smith could see that the box acted a harder shell of sorts as inside revealed some other holes. A projector? From its singular glass eye, the Pod brought forth a hardlight projection of the planet. It appeared in a sort of dull greyish white, wholly fascinating to Smith. Hardlight was a theoretical in the Old World. And to see it casually brought for like it was nothing...
He was sure the eggheads frozen in stasis would love the opportunity to study the androids.
White seemed to catch on Smith's reaction. A part of her felt giddy seeing the wonder in the human's eyes. "Enjoying yourself, sir?"
Smith readily nodded. "Yes...it's just...you androids have made easy technology out of concepts that was purely theoretical for us back in the Old World. I'm impressed."
His remark did much to make the androids smile some more. They preened at his praise, like a child getting the approval of their parent. They loved how he made them feel good, how he gave them the validation for their existence. White's synthetic mind was beyond in ecstasy at this point. She was in nirvana.
Anemone hadn't felt so alive as well. She was the second oldest android here in the room and had fought for so so long. She was a android who had seen it all, experienced it all yet...Smith made her feel like a newly made Android who was made aware of herself for the first time.
The Twins on the other hand...Popola gripped the hems of her dress, her body warming. She turned to see what Devola was looking like and...found her looking at Smith the same way she glanced at a bottle of rare alcohol.
Hungry.
Smith, focused on his task, leaned in to examine the glove closely. "This is a accurate up to-date projection of the world?" He asked, turning to White.
"Y-yes, sir." White answered immediately, clearing her throat. Smith raised an eyebrow at that but mercifully decided not to ask more. Turning back to the globe, he began thinking.
How the hell did a facility that was built in the Middle-East end up in Japan of all places?
A/N: Another crossposting. Get on QQ for faster updates!
My for those that enjoy the work: /pastah_farian