Unbeknownst to many, within the forest located in the surrounding area of the city, there could be found a pair of humanoids dressed within an antique style of dressing. These humanoids were YoRHa androids, the top of the line androids whom fight for the sake of humanity. Their patrol for today was considerably slow and relatively peaceful as compared to prior patrols, due to a notable lack of Machines in the area, but it had allowed the pair a much needed break from the constant fighting.
YoRHa No.2 Type B, otherwise known as 2B, was of the Battle designation spending her free time fishing in the river, and YoRHa No.9 Type S, otherwise known as 9S, or 'Nines' as he preferred to be called, was the ever curious android as expected from the Scanner model, spent his time reviewing notes.
It was a blissful moment of reprieve for the both of them, until a call came from the Bunker. Their Pods, being the helpful assistants, rung to indicate an incoming call.
"Operator 6O here to 2B! This is your regularly scheduled contact!" Operator 6O was 2B's outgoing assigned Operator, Operators were the designation of YoRHa androids assigned to YoRHa units on field surveillance, providing intel and allowing direct contact with the Bunker, and both 2B and 9S were no exception.
"2B here, nothing noteworthy to report."
"Nothing for you to report?" 6O asked, her expression showing slight confusion at the statement.
"Yes, there's been no sightings of Machines over here."
"Hm... that's weird."
"What's wrong Operator?" 2B asked, it was rare for her Operator to be confused about any type of topic, rarely was she ever concerned of the little details while they chatted.
"You just said you haven't seen any Machines, but here we've been detecting some strange movements from the Machines."
"Strange movements from the Machines?" 2B asked in wonder, scanning her environments to check for signs of Machine lifeforms, only to still find none.
"Yep! There's been a sudden congregation of Machines near the city ruins which has caught the Bunker's attention. You are to investigate it."
"All in the city ruins? That explains the lack of Machines here."
"But there's another thing too! We've picked up a signal from a black box quickly approaching the location after the sudden Machine congregation."
"Wait, so you're saying there was a reason why the Machines were gathering, and it was not an android?"
"Now do you see why Command's so interested?"
2B held her chin in thought, now understanding the reason for the Bunker's interest, however she wanted to fish some more. "Are there any other personnel within the area? Maybe they can deal with it?"
"Unfortunately, the three assigned to the city ruins are preoccupied! And that makes you the only one available at the moment. Good luck 2B!" Operator 6O shouted, cutting off the call afterwards.
2B sighed, slightly disappointed that her break had to be cut short. "9S."
"Yeah, was just given the same mission from Command. We should be able to arrive in ten minutes if we leave now."
Immediately, the two sprinted straight towards the location of the Machine congregation.
Once the YoRHa pair arrived at the location where the congregation was said to have occurred, at the large pothole which were once roads, having collapsed due to lack of maintenance, they were met with a harrowing sight. The large pothole within the city ruins had been filled with a corpse pile of Machines, which was definitely not here the last time the pair had patrolled in the City, the bodies having near completely covering the concrete debris due to the sheer number.
"What in the world... happened here?" 9S asked.
The pair jumped down onto the Machine pile, remaining cautious about any of the Machines potentially coming to life and attacking them, these thoughts flew out the window upon closer inspection. Many of the Machines seemed as if they had been torn through, the visible damage too blunt and brutal for bladed weaponry to inflict; almost as if solely brute force was used unlike the rest that do seem to be damaged by a blade as seen by the clean, smooth marks. On many other Machine's body, their once intact core laid by, it had been crushed as evident from the bruise marks and its non-spherical shape. The scene before them had it occurred to androids, it would be akin to something taking their black box and crushing it.
"...STER...!" a voice barely called out.
"...? Did you hear that 2B? One of the Machines must still be functional."
"Let's go check it out."
Following the direction of the voice, the words grew progressively louder as the pair marched closer to the source.
"... RK...! ... EE...! ... ARED...! ... NSTER...!"
When the androids arrived, they saw a Machine crying aloud and shaking its head in all directions.
"IT'S DARK...! CAN'T SEE...! I'M SCARED...! MONSTER...! IT'S DARK...! CAN'T SEE...! I'M SCARED...! MONSTER...!" The Machine cried aloud, even with the monotonous voice as commonly heard from the Machines, 2B and 9S could hear the fear in its voice.
Its spherical head was pierced through with a bullet, judging by the 'wound' on its head, but both 2B and 9S could not fathom how bullets were about to pierce through machinery armour. Its core was also shattered around it much alike numerous other Machines seen earlier, how the machine managed to remain functional is a miracle in itself.
"How has this Machine not yet ceased function? But..." 9S turned to check the Machine corpse pile. "I'll try hacking and extract its data so we can see what happened here." 9S had his hand out, motioning he had begun his hacking process.
While 9S begun his hacking, 2B took the opportunity to explore the corpse pile even further. However, everywhere 2B looked, it was the all same, broken Machine and more broken Machine, all of various types and sizes. This sight had gone for so long, that 2B had nearly decided to return to 9S, but then there was a foreign substance contrasting against the Machines which caught her sight; a red substance which had stained the ground which remained barely uncovered from the Machine carcasses.
"Pod, analyse the red substance here."2B ordered.
"Affirmative." Pod 042 responded, immediately scanning the red substance on the ground.
While Pod 042 analysed the unknown red substance, 2B noticed another of the red substance, after noticing the first red substance, 2B began noticing more of them, this time 2B found a trail leading away from the Machine pile, and deep into the city.
"Analysis complete:" Pod 042 announced, catching 2B's attention. "The identified substance is blood as evident from the detected presence of iron, blood does not appear artificial. Strange anomalies also detected within blood."
"Not artificial...? Then was there an animal here earlier?" 2B asked, there were little options regarding which organisms had possessed natural blood. And there have been no signs of humans on Earth, since they were all on the moon.
"Possibility of wildlife unlikely, characteristics of blood is noticeably distinct from blood found within common large mammalian wildlife."
"Hm, I suppose the Machines wouldn't have a reason to kill a wild animal."
"Hey 2B! I'm almost done with extracting the data!" 9S called out.
2B quickly ran towards 9S.
"Did you find anything over there?" 9S asked.
"I've found a blood trail, Pod believes that it's natural blood."
"Natural blood? But what could attract all these Machines here and have natural blood in them?"
2B shook her head. "I don't know, we don't have enough data to make a concrete idea."
"Hmm... for now, let's see what in the world happened here." 9S suggested. "Maybe this Machine can reveal what was here before."
9S ordered his Pod to broadcast the footage which he had finished extracting. The footage began with a point of view of the Machine heading towards the location which would soon become their open tomb. It had followed its brethren along, all of whom were called from a signal by another Machine.
Once the Machine had reached the pothole, the first thing the YoRHa pair noticed a man in mid-combat with a squadron of Machines, atop an ever growing pile of Machines numerous having already fallen with varying injuries, which ranged from being torn apart or sliced apart.
The first thing the pair thought of when they saw the man was his attire, it bore a relatively distinct resemblance to their own. The man was equipped with an antique firearm with a considerably more dated design in his left. Interestingly, he was also equipped with an armed weapon typically armed by the Machines in his right, possibly having been taken from one of the slain Machines.
The man fought with no wasted effort, every movement used to shorten the distance between him and the Machines, with every attack used to attack at their vital points of interchanging machinery to turn the tides to his favor. Every thrust attack from the Machines, the man would step to the side and stomp upon their weapon for a counterattack. With each of the Machine's attacks following a similar reaction and counterattack as if it were routine. A rinse and repeat cycle of causing the attacked Machine to down themselves to their knees for the man to effectively attack their heads and downing the preoccupied Machine.
However, as fast as the man can take down one Machine, three more will take its place to slowly, but certainly overwhelm him. Although what the man had done seemed routine to both 9S and 2B, as they actively hunt Machines in their patrols, they were concerned for the man out of the impossible odds the man found himself in.
From the Machine's perspective, it had jumped down into the pothole and begun to aim its sniper rifle for a head-shot, aiming with its scope onto the man's head, and the trigger was pulled once the man stood still to momentarily catch his breath. Unfortunately for the machine, it had missed its shot by a few inches thanks to uncontrollable factors, such as wind speed, the movement of the target, etc. Therefore, the ammunition had its trajectory shifted and it shot through the unknown man's shoulder. Upon being shot, the man briefly staggered from the sudden impact, with a red crimson beginning to spill out from the wound. The man immediately faced the Machine, and as if the wound had meant nothing, heran headfirst towards his assailant.
"HUMAN... APPROACHING... MUST... ERADICATE!" The Machine exclaimed, its words having caught the YoRHa pair by surprise.
"2B, did you hear that?" 9S asked, shocked at the Machine's use of words.
"I heard it." 2B answered stoically, yet internally she was equally shocked.
"Why would the Machine call that man a human...? Shouldn't humanity be all on the moon?"
"... Let's keep watching."
Effortlessly, the man sidestepped around the Machine's incoming gunfire until he reached his attacker. At that point, the Machine resorted to melee combat with a swing of its sniper rifle, which later proved to be a fatal mistake. The man fired his gun point blank at the Machine's head, which resulted in the Machine's vision becoming considerably distorted and less functional from potentially hitting the Machine's processing unit, as well as the cause of the bullet wound the YoRHa pair saw earlier. What came after the gunshot strangely sent shivers down the androids, as they witnessed the man plunging his right arm through the machine's metallic body and eviscerated its core away from it, the evisceration having enough force to cause the Machine to launch backwards, the man later immediately crushing the core in front of its owner afterwards.
Loud stomping noises could immediately be heard approaching which took away the man's attention, causing him to face the source of the noise. Immediately after, he threw what had remained of the machine's core, took the machine's sniper rifle and broke into a sprint, a leg-powered Goliath Machine later quickly came running pass the downed Machine's field of view. And that was the end of the footage.
When the recording finished, the machine fell limp, shutting down permanently like its brethren surrounding it.
"... What happened...? Who was that...?" 9S questioned.
"Hypothesis: individual shown in footage is highly likely a biological human."
"He could be a rogue male model assault operator unit." 9S hypothesized, as the idea of a human being on Earth was something incomprehensible and reckless for him to consider. "Didn't Command say they detected a black box signal at the congregation?"
"Earlier, Command said the Machines were gathering before the black box signal came." 2B recalled. "So that man is likely why the Machines were gathering."
"And you said your Pod analysed a blood trail to be biological."
Both 2B and 9S had came to the same conclusion, although they did not voice it. The evidence presented, both circumstantial and physical, pointed to possibly confirm the man to be indeed a biological human, and not non-biological, which they, the androids were. (The scenes of androids having blood pouring out of them after being stabbed sure makes this line not make sense doesn't it? And then there's the scene at the start with 9S becoming armless after crash landing on top of the large Machine, yet having no blood coming out of him. Makes things confusing because of inconsistency.)
"But... that raises a question, what's a human doing down here and not at the moon?" 9S wondered.
"... For now, let's inform Command of our findings."
"... Yeah, we better wait for further orders." 9S replied, ordering his Pod to make a connection to the Bunker. "This is 9S, come in Command."
"Operator 21O to 9S, state your call."
"We've arrived at the site of the Machine congregation."
"I take it you've cleared it? Good work 9S."
"That's the thing Operator, it wasn't us who cleared it. It had already been cleared upon our arrival."
"There were no other YoRHa units in the area, besides you, 2B, and the unknown black box signal which came after the congregation. Who else would be the cause?"
"We think a human might've been the cause of the congregation." 9S answered.
Operator 21O paused upon 9S mentioning 'human'. "... A human? 9S, it's in your best interests to not report false information."
"No Operator, I'm serious. We have good reason to believe it was a human who was here and the cause of the congregation. We'll send you the footage that we've extracted from a Machine on-site immediately." 9S replied, ordering his Pod to send the extracted footage to his Operator.
No words were said afterwards, but a surprised expression had clearly form on Operator 21O, clear as day even behind the veil.
"Operator?" 9S called out for his Operator.
"Oh, sorry 9S. The Commander was asking about the footage's validity. But for now, wait until further orders." Immediately, Operator 21O had cut the call.
"That was weird." 9S noted, while he was used to his Operator cutting off their communication without warning, this was the first time he saw her concerned while doing so.
"What now?" 2B asked, the two did not receive any further orders in regard to what they should do, and the possibility of the man being human meant it should be the highest priority.
"Proposal: Unit 2B and Unit 9S should track and provide assistance to potential human." Pod 042 said.
"But, where would we even begin?" 9S pondered.
"... The blood trail may lead us to him." 2B answered.
Let's just hope they can provide him with aide in time.
It had been roughly an hour since the Hunter escaped the perilous situation he found himself in, admittedly the earlier encounter could have gone a lot better had he been more cautious. The large mechanical being with disproportionately large legs proved itself to be a difficult hunt, mainly due to its weak points being less exposed as compared to the other mechanical beings whom tried to bring him down.
He questioned why the only item he possessed upon his awakening to the waking world was merely his Evelyn, yet every other of his belongings had disappeared. Otherwise, he would have closed up his wounds with an injection of a blood vial by now, as well as hunt the mechanical beings with significantly better results. The make shift bandages wrapped around him currently being his only options to prevent further bleeding until he can come across a source of fresh blood. The waking world he had awoken was certainly not Yharnam, yet he had not a single clue of when or where he awoke. The architecture was foreign to him, yet its corrosion also told him of a significant amount of time having passed since its abandonment.
After breaking his own train of thought, the Hunter returned his attention to the sight before him. Walking in front of him, acting as a guide was a young woman, or what he would consider a young woman, whom had provided him with vital assistance against the aforementioned large mechanical being with her unnatural strength and agility. He took note of her more... artificial, for lack of better terms, body, with what seems to be cracks on her body, other then that, it was near flawless. It reminded him much like the Doll and how she attained consciousness, though as her name implied, she had a more... 'doll-like' body with clear doll-like joints,unlike the young woman's more 'human-like' characteristics. Perhaps the 'young lady' before him was similar? Her back-length silver hair had also caused him to reminisce about the Doll.
After a considerable distance marched, the young woman ceased walking to face him. "Hey, is that alright?" The young woman asked, referring to his bullet wound.
The Hunter glanced at the shoulder wound. "The wound is not bleeding any longer, I suppose it is fine as long as it does not become agitated."
"Why is a human down here and not on the moon?" The young woman asked. "You could've gotten yourself killed."
"The moon?" The Hunter faced upwards to the clouds, something which he had noticed was the stillness of the sun despite the brief passing of the time, curiously the moon was the only celestial object which had shifted position, . The Hunter returned his attention to the young woman. "Is there reason for me to be there?"
The young woman stared at him in what could be described to be disbelief. "Humanity lives on the moon, why else would a human be down in this hell?"
'Humanity resides upon the moon?' The Hunter questioned internally, the thought of humans residing upon the moon was quite a big curiosity, his first thought regarding the moon was the Blood Moon which loomed over him during the latter half of his hunt, it sent shivers down his spine whenever he recalled it. (Did not fight Moon Presence, chose Submit to Gehrman). "I have my own... circumstances."
The young woman stared at him as if he seemed preposterous. "You have got to me kidding."
"Regardless, I offer my thanks for providing your assistance in my dire time."
The young woman sighed, clearly given up on inquiring him any further. "For now, just follow me."
"Of course, but may I ask where you plan to take me?"
"Dunno, don't care. Better for you with me than leaving you with Command." the young woman answered.
'Command?' the Hunter questioned internally. "In any case, may I inquire of my guide's name?"
The young woman kept silent while staring at him, as if pondering her next choice of action.
"A2." The young woman, now known as A2, answered.
"Syn."
