.
Chapter 7: Infancy Mission (Part B)
.
"Do you think Pascal will be happy to see us?" 9S mused as the pair of androids darted through the trees.
"Possibly. We did have a good rapport with her, even after all the mess with the Tower," 2B affirmed. "However, she will no doubt be busy rebuilding, just like YoRHa and the Resistance. She may not be able to spare anything to help us unless we help them in return."
"Just like old times, huh, 2B?" 9S said, fondly remembering all the fetch-quests and side missions they had accomplished over the years.
"Indeed," the gynoid claimed, and there was no hiding the tiny hint of affection in her voice.
"Hey, 2B, there was something I wanted to ask you…" the Scanner Model began, but was cut off by the older female androids declaring, "We're here!" as they arrived at the new spot of Pascal's village.
Not unlike the old one, it was built in the forest around a series of trees and connected by wood and metal walkways. However, there were very few huts, and even fewer machines.
They recognized a few. A large machine with a pink bow on her head. A floating items salesman. The tired guard at the entrance. The smith. Jean, the philosopher. The boy-bot.
But there were too many missing faces. The blue ribbon-wearing older sister of Pink Bow. The weapons merchant. The hovering greeter. The philosopher's followers. The boy-bot's family.
Too many dead from the Logic Virus. Too many wiped out by the mindless rage of the Evolved Machines and Tower. Too much loss.
"Oh my! 2B! 9S! It's been so long! I am glad to see you both survived!" A synthesized feminine tone called out to them, and the two androids couldn't hide the smile when they saw Pascal approach them.
"Hello. It was a near thing. Almost lost everything," 9S said with a sad smile. They shook hands before bringing up the purpose for their arrival.
"I hate to ask this of you when you are clearly still recovering, but do you have a spare Hydro-Carbon Fluid Filtration Capacitor lying around?" the shota android inquired.
"What on Earth could you want with that?" Pascal wondered.
"It's a secret, for now. But I'm sure A2 would be glad to tell you in time. Right now, though, it's imperative we have it," 2B said. "We'd be more than happy to compensate in any way you require."
"…We do have a few," Pascal said slowly. "But it is not my place to give them away."
"What can we do, then?" 9S inquired.
"You don't understand, this part is a major facet in building new machine lifeforms. Akin to the heart of a machine, as well as its soul. A Hydro-Carbon Fluid Filtration Capacitor works in conjunction with our 'brains' and our cores, and together it is what allows a personality to develop outside of the Network. Many machines have one, but they are set to self-destruct when the machine shuts down, and they are almost impossible to remove once installed. And it is something that we desperately need to shore up our numbers here," the mayor of the hidden community claimed. "Ever since the events with the Tower and the Virus and the Evolved, there are hardly any left. And even fewer locations capable of constructing new ones."
"We only need one," 9S pushed, but Pascal shook her head.
"If you must have a Hydro-Carbon Fluid Filtration Capacitor, then I cannot help, I'm afraid."
"Where could we find one, then?" 2B demanded.
"The factory might have a few left," Pascal revealed after a moment of thought. "Or perhaps the Forest Kingdom? I know that they had a stash somewhere in the castle to repair their 'king' in the event of an emergency."
"We'll check the kingdom first," 2B declared. 9S nodded and Pascal bowed.
"I am so sorry I could not help you. I hope this does not affect our future relationships."
"Don't worry, we're not blaming you," 9S assured her. "Plus, I think we'll be seeing more of you sooner or later. A2 has a few ideas for a partnership we'd like to discuss."
"Of course!" Pascal said happily. "And before you go, let me send you an picture of the part you need so you can recognize it!"
The conversation over and the image data, the androids dashed off into the forest to seek out the part they desperately needed.
After half a day moving through the towering trees of the forest region they chose to rest in an isolated clearing. Night was falling, and they did not want to be out and about when that came. Night-Vision or not, fighting in the dark was sub-optimal.
"Thanks again for letting us stay here, Shepherd," 9S said polite to the machine who ran a shelter for animals.
"It is no problem. You have helped me often. You are friends to me and the animals. It is a pleasure to help you in return," the hooded machine claimed.
"What can you tell us about the other machine in the Forest Kingdom?" 2B inquired. Shepherd's head lowered in shame.
"Madness. Anarchy. Virus drove most insane. A few of the non-Networked holed up in the castle, protecting the new king. But he is also infected. Has insane demands. Crazy schemes. Orders machines to die for his amusement."
The two androids grimaced. Still, they nodded in thanks for the kindly robot's hospitality, and sped off into the forest towards the crumbling castle.
"Every time we come here, something always happens," 9S sighed as he jumped from branch to branch.
"That does seem to be how it turns out wherever we go," 2B replied.
When 9S shot his companion and woman he had (not-so) secret feelings, she merely shrugged and looked away, embarrassed.
"We visit Relic City, we get thrown into several messes ranging from a Goliath unit attack, to rogue YoRHa androids, to discovering the fate of the aliens, to running into whatever Emil is. We visit the Crumbling Desert, and we encounter Adam and Eve for the first time. The Amusement Park? Insane machine woman who somehow managed to hack numerous android corpses and used them as bait and weapons. The Forest? A2, as you already mentioned. The Sunken City? A Leviathan-like machine and a psychotic replicant who kidnapped you."
"Ok, Ok, you've made your point, 2B," the Scout model conceded. The short haired woman just nodded, pleased at her victory.
"So, how do you want to do this?" he asked after a minute of tree jumping.
"We either find the current King of the Forest and kill him for the part, or we find their treasury and steal one. Which do you think would work?"
"Well, if he really is infected as Shepherd said, then we might need to put him down. So, the former option," 9S decided after thinking carefully.
2B nodded, content with the plan. "Very well. Prepare yourself for battle, 9S!"
In no time at all, the pair arrived at the castle which, according to 9S, had once been the site of a kingdom the Replicants had established during the ill-fated GESALT Project. And before that, it had been a national monument, a relic of the human's long gone medieval era.
Now, it was a crumbling ruin inhabited by psychotic machines ruled over by a despotic monarch. Strangely, this was very similar to how the human's Middle Ages had been. What goes around, comes around, as 9S quoted when he reported that.
"Enough history, 9S. We have an important mission to perform. What can you see of their defenses?" 2B demanded, chastising her partner.
"Oh, sorry! Well, let's take a look," the shota-droid said, peering through his visor-blindfold using the built-in zoom function.
"Let's see; metal stakes forming a palisade wall in front of the gate? That's new. Blaster-wielding machines patrolling the walls? Also new. Machines armed with spears running through drills in the courtyard? Not so new."
"Any way in?"
"Well, we could go in the front entrance," 9S joked in response to 2B's query. When she shot him an annoyed glare he hastily shut up.
"Or we could try going around? If I recall there was a hidden grotto near the castle where the First King was enshrined, and we could sneak in that way."
"That might work. And we should be able to avoid too many guards that way," 2B mused. "Now that Healing items are in short supply and replacement parts are hoarded by the Bunker, we need to avoid getting hurt as much as possible."
"Agreed. Then, let's go! Time to sneak! Now, if only we had a cardboard box this would be complete," 9S said, that last part muttered under his breath. 2B shot him a strange look but ultimately ignored him. 9S had always been 'unique' when it came to eccentricities like that. Even after countless reformatting wipes.
He was far more human than many other YoRHa, 2B thought fondly of the shota-droid.
The trip into the castle took far less time and effort than they had expected. While it was true most of the machines were guarding the castle, they were only doing so from the front, and as such, they left a few areas devoid of patrols. One such region was the Grave of the First Forest King.
Clambering over hills and through rubble took the two YoRHa androids straight into the heart of the old castle. And from there, sneaking around until they found the part they needed.
"Now, if I was a machine, where would I store the spare parts?" 9S mused to himself, looking around at the crumbling ruins. "These machines seem to have regressed to a feudal state, so anything precious would likely be kept in the treasury…"
He shot a glance at 2B. "Did we pass through any room like that when we first came through here?"
"There were a few places that might have served that purpose," the battle gynoid said slowly, accessing her memory banks. "I think there was a room with a few treasure chest we went past. We should check them again."
They shared a nod before darting off into the depths of the castle. After a bit they heard the clanking of machinery, and froze, quickly attaching themselves to the shadows.
For a moment they hid, tense, but after nothing came they started to move, this time to check on where the sound had come from. A partially broken wall provided the answer.
From a crack in the wall they observed a machine, painted purple and blue, that was twitching and sparking from its head, stamping around and waving an old YoRHa issue Type 40 blade.
A crown-like object made from the fingers of androids was bolted to its head, and it was shouting orders at the various machines around it.
"Build a statue of me! Make it out of all the traitors! Melt them down!" it demanded.
"It really is a mad king," 9S whispered. However, 2B's gaze was on something else.
"Look, in that treasure chest!"
"Whoa, look at all that loot! Pristine Cables, New Bolts, Clean Nuts, even a Meteorite! Think of all the upgrades!" 9S stated, practically drooling. His eyes were then drawn to what 2B had originally spotted.
Sitting inside one of the open chests amidst numerous other parts and pieces was a cylinder-shaped object with wire dangling from it. In the middle was a device that looked like it was part of a machine's core.
"It looks just like the image Pascal gave us!" 9S said excitedly.
Unfortunately, his voice was a tad too loud, and all the machines instantly turned to face the wall they were hiding behind.
"Oops," the S-model said, a holographic sweat drop manifesting next to his head. 2B stared at him for a second, trying to figure out where that emoticon came from, and why he had installed such a mod, before turning back to the approaching hostile machines.
"Swords only, 9S. We can't risk damaging the part!" 2B instructed. She proceeded to deliver a devastating kick to the wall and knocked it down onto the front rank of the approaching machines.
She leapt into battle, striking and slicing. Limbs flew, oil spurted, and sparks danced.
"Beautiful…!" 9S murmured as he watched her move, entranced.
"What was that?"
"Uh, nothing, 2B!" 9S stammered, before drawing his own blade and joining the fray.
"Kill the usurpers! Thieves! Assassins!" the insane Forest King cried, sparking even harder. He lunged at 9S, who countered the attack with ease. Fighting against legions of machines on his own and A2 had given the small android exceptional combat data, and he parried the thoughtless blows, slowly advancing and driving the king into a corner.
Both figuratively and literally.
"Hu-hah!" 9S shouted, bringing his sword in an arc. It knocked aside the blundered blade, and on the reverse swing, he decapitated the machine king.
"The king is dead, long live the king," 9S muttered. He then rushed to the treasure chest and snatched the Hydro-Carbon Fluid Filtration Capacitor from the pile of loot.
"I have it, 2B! Let's go!"
She nodded and darted for the exit, eager to escape. Their mission was complete. Time to return home.