Chapter 57: Bunker Buster
"…and that is the latest report regarding the siege of Cape Horn. The Neo-Machines have been driven back for now, but the satellites report reinforcements from the Tierra Del Fuego and Argentinian factory-fortresses will arrive in less than twenty-four hours," a YoRHa operator stated, reading off of a data-slate. "Terran Army forces request reinforcements of their own."
"Do we have any units we can spare to redirect towards them?" White asked, eyes locked onto the multiple screens in the Bunker's command center.
"It may take some work, but we should be able to send the 3rd Chilean Battalion from the Guay Jungle Defense Line as back-up, along with supplies from the naval base in the Sandwich Islands," the O-type replied. "At least, according to 4P."
"Hmm. Very well, do so. But make sure that nothing escapes the Guay Jungle while the transfer happens," White instructed.
The Operator saluted the commander and walked off to do just that. Meanwhile, Alexander, who was standing besides White, looked at the C-type curiously.
"What's in the Guay Jungle?" Alexander asked Commander White in a low voice.
"Giant mutant insects and ambulatory mutated plants," she replied. "It's not as bad as the Amazon Jungle, but it still needs to be contained."
"Eesh," Alexander shuddered. "That's nasty."
White merely nodded, before glancing down at her feet. Seeing her mood dip, Alex felt a pang of sympathy.
"Hey, it's fine. Cleo is fine. She's safe up on the moon," he told her.
"I know that. I simply feel…" White trailed off, unsure of what she felt. For years, she had refused to believe androids could have emotions of their own. The time spent raising little Cleopatra had changed that, but old believes were hard to shake off.
"You're a mother. You're supposed to feel that way," Alexander told her. "I should know, I had to deal with A2 feeling like that for years."
White snorted at that, before raising her head and turning her gaze back to the screens.
"Hmph. She would, wouldn't she?" White muttered under her breath.
"Speaking of mom, how are she and 9S doing in Hollywood?" Alex inquired.
"They successfully repelled an attack on the city and protected the launch site and vault," White said, pulling up a data-feed. "The rocket is still on schedule to launch and transport the media files to the moon."
"That's a relief!" Alex sighed happily. "I was afraid they might delete all the episodes of the 'Impossible Place' before I could finish it!"
"There's more to the media vault than just being a source of entertainment, it's a historical archive of the past," White scolded, causing the human to roll his eyes.
"Don't give me that, I know you love watching all those cooking competition shows. Or was the time I walk in on you binging all seasons of 'Cake Wars' a hallucination?"
"Cooking is a useful talent! Once Cleopatra is able to eat solids she will need balanced and delicious meals!" White spluttered in protest.
"Uh-huh. Sure," Alex said, winking at her.
Huffing a little, White studiously ignore the young man, and chose to focus on the updates constantly flowing into the command center.
The war was going smoothly. Or, as smooth as a global conflict against a foe with superior numbers could be, at least. The Siege of Osaka was still grinding away with no end in sight, and though there had been victories, like those in the Caribbean, loses in Spain, South Africa, and India had piled up rapidly.
It had only been a week, and the Terran Army was losing ground to the Neo-Machines.
To add insult to injury, Purple Athena hadn't even been focusing on the protectors of humanity yet. Her goals early on had been to take over and assimilate the independent Machine factories for her own uses. By now, almost all of the old Machine Lifeforms had been wiped out. Only the enclaves directly allied with the androids like Gear Town had survived so far.
'And once she has those production facilities under her control, she can churn out even more legions to throw at us,' Alexander frowned, able to see the writing on the wall – and on the screens – as clearly as White could.
Sabotage and orbital strikes could only go so far. To win, they'd have to destroy Purple Athena herself. And Alexander wasn't sure he would be able to do that, or give the order if it came down to it.
Trying to ignore that morbid thought, Alexander sent a glance to one of the screens, only to blink at what he saw.
"White, why is there a med-evac transport coming in towards the Bunker?"
That caused White to glance over at the screen Alex had seen, and she frowned as well.
"I do not know. 19O, pull up the details on that airbus."
"Yes, ma'am!" the assigned Operator called out, and a few moments were spent finding the requested data.
"Here, ma'am! Emergency medical services were requested by YoRHa combat team Delta!"
"What happened?" White demanded.
"Delta Team… wasn't that the squad sent to investigate Purple Athena's base in Hokkaido?" Alexander wondered, and 19O nodded.
"Yes, sir! Delta Team was sent four days ago to investigate the region's fortress-factory and scout for any flaws to abuse for sabotage! Pulling up records now… it seems they suffered a series of crippling combat loses yesterday and the only survivor called for an evacuation after escaping!"
"Why was I not informed of this when it happened?" White demanded furiously, and the O-type shrunk back.
"Um, I don't know, ma'am!"
"You were probably distracted and busy dealing with the attack on the Panama Canal yesterday," Alexander suggested. "We had all of our focus on it."
The Panama Canal, even after having been subjected to 'delicate' precision orbital strikes, was still the most important area in the Americas for trans-oceanic travel. Without it, the Pacific and Atlantic fleets would be isolated, and supplies would become much harder to ship to and from.
The same went for the Suez Canal and its strategic value for Europe, Africa, and Asia. The loss of any one of those sites would chaos havoc across the planet and the war effort, allowing Purple Athena's forces to push harder with less resistance. As such, White and Alexander had spent a harrow few hours organizing defenses and pushing back the attack. Luckily, they had succeeded, but it'd been too close for comfort.
"Hmm. I suppose. Who survived?" White inquired.
"13B. Sustained damage to their left arm and lost it completely, along with their primary weapon and POD. Shows no signs of Logic Virus contamination," 19O reported.
"That's unfortunate," Alexander muttered in sympathy. "The missing arm and lost comrades, bit. Not that she's uninfected."
"Does she have any useful information about the Hokkaido fortress-factory?" White asked, focusing on the most important part of the gynoid's survival.
"Unknown," 19O replied after a moment. "We will bring her in for debriefing."
"See to it," the YoRHa commander requested, before turning her attention away to other matters.
Alexander also looked away, losing interest. He knew, in the back of his mind, that it was cold of him to do so, but there was just so much work to do. The survival of a single android was a reason to be glad, but there were so many loses already it was impossible to escape the apathy setting in.
The numbers would only grow as the war continued. The best Alexander and White could do was make sure the loses weren't in vain, and that the conflict came to an end as soon as possible.
A few miles out from the Bunker, a medical airbus received a set of landing confirmation codes and coordinates, and it adjusted itself as it received the data.
"Alright, just got the go-ahead to bring you in," 25T, the vehicle's pilot, announced to her passenger.
"Good. I can't wait to get my limbs repaired," 13B said, wiggling her stumps a bit.
"Heh, no doubt. Also, they want to debrief you about your scouting trip."
"Don't worry, we found plenty of weak points in the enemy base we could use for later," 13B assured the T-type. The pilot nodded in response, not paying much attention to much beyond the airbus' instruments.
As such, she never noticed the flicker of purple light that danced through 13B's eyes.
"Aaand… there! Good as new!" the cheery H-type said as 13B flexed her fingers in her newly restored hand.
"Thank you," 13B said, pleased to have fully function digits again. "Nice to have feeling back."
"Anything else?" the Healer asked.
"Nah. Now I just gotta get to the commander and report in," 13B replied, standing up from the clinic's base.
As she was heading out to the command center, another individual was also making their way towards it.
2B was walking slowly through the hallway, taking care not to move too fast lest it disturb the children inside of her. She entered the command center which immediately drew Alexander's attention.
"Aunt 2B, I thought you were supposed to be resting and getting ready to be sent to the moon base?" Alexander said, shooting his family member a concerned look as he hurried over to her side.
"The twins are calm for the moment," she replied, a hand over her swollen abdomen. "And I can wait in here just as easily as I can wait in my room. At least in here, I am surrounded by companions."
2B looked to the side, a blush on her cheeks as she admitted, "I do not particularly like being alone."
Alexander nodded, both in understanding and in sympathy, and glanced over at White. She just let out a soft huff and turned away, ignoring the scene.
"Well, you've got the commander's blessing," Alex joked.
2B tilted her head to the side. "But, she didn't say anything?"
"She didn't say 'no,' though~!" Alexander sang. "Now, why don't you join me over here with 6O and 21O?"
He gently led her over to her fellow squad of 'impregnated by 9S' gynoids, who all politely acknowledged her with smiles. 2B smiled shyly back, and Alex grinned to himself.
The doors to the command center whooshing open drew his gaze for a moment, but it was just 13B, here to report in to the commander, and paid her no heed, putting her out of mind for the moment.
However, as 13B walked past the group, her eyes locked onto 2B's, and her hands clenched into fists.
"Report," White commanded testily, and 13B wrenched her gaze away from her fellow Battle model and saluted the commander.
"13B, reporting in on status of Delta Squad's mission," she said stiffly. White motioned for her to continue, and the gynoid bobbed her head. "We entered Hokkaido's airspace at 2 am on…"
"We know about that, and the two days you spent patrolling the perimeter. Explain what happened after we lost contact with your squad," White interjected. "Your leader claimed to have spotted a possible way in, and were going to investigate it."
"Of course. 17B discovered a series of old run-off pipes leading away from the fortress-factory, just barely large enough to crawl through. We entered the facility through them, and made our way towards the center. Production was ramped up, and so was security, so the going was slow, but we eventually found a path into the generator room. We did not have any demolition charges with us, nor anything capable of bringing it down via hacking, as our PODs weren't given those tools. We exfiltrated shortly after mapping out the security measures."
13B shook her head despondently. "It should have been easy. Leave and report back with the data. Unfortunately, there was a patrol group that crossed our paths. We destroyed the Neo-Machines but not before they managed to raise the alarms. 28B ordered us to retreat while she held the reinforcements off."
"I see," White said, tone coldly professional without a drop of sympathy to be heard.
A look of annoyance flashed across 13B's face at the aloofness, but continued to explain regardless.
"We made it out through the pipes, but were intercepted on the way back to the rendezvous point by a strike force consisting of two tanks and over a hundred Neo-Machines. Mostly centaurs but also raptors as well."
"No infantry models?" White inquired curiously.
"None. Fast moving units only. Makes sense, if they're trying to catch somebody who's fleeing," 13B replied.
"And these units destroyed the rest of your team?"
"That's correct, ma'am. I barely made it out alive. I have some data I managed to keep, but my POD and those of my team were destroyed before I could retrieve anymore." 13B then bit her lower lip before stating, "Commander White, during the fight, the Neo-Machines tried to focus on the PODs first and foremost, to the point they were ignoring myself and my fellow B-types."
"That is a new tactic for the Neo-Machines, and good information," White praised. "Is that all?"
"Yes, ma'am!" 13B said resolutely.
"Then dismissed. "You will be deployed in twenty-four hours on a new mission. Until then, you may rest in the Bunker," White informed her, before turning away, her attention once more directed to the holo-screens.
13B saluted her, and then walked off, once more casting a long look towards Alexander and 2B before exiting the command center.
"Aunt 2B, do you know 13B?" Alexander asked, having noticed the way the other YoRHa unit had glared at her.
"I have been on a few mission with her in the past, though I do not believe we've had any conversations outside of our tasks," 13B replied, thinking it over. "6O? 21O? Do either of you know anything?"
"I'm afraid not," 6O replied apologetically, shaking her head. "19O is her assigned Operator, I believe. The most I've heard of her is that she has the same, uh, 'personality' as the other YoRHa members who possess the designation of Number 13."
"Personality?" Alexander asked curiously.
"You know that all of the numbers we're assigned correlate to a specific set of personality and memory engrams used to construct our consciousness, correct?" 21O inquired, and the human nodded. "The 2nd memory-type like yourself are stoic and calm, but have a secret caring side. 6th memory-types like 6O are bubbly and upbeat but also crybabies."
"I see," Alexander nodded, glancing at 2B. "That makes sense."
"Well, the 13th memory-type is, uh, how to put it delicately…" 6O trailed off and she looked to 21O for help.
"They're all a bunch of nutjobs," 9S's Operator stated bluntly. "They have an obsessive and clingy personality that manifests in a variety of ways, but more often than not leads to a susceptibility to the Logic Virus as well as going rogue."
"If I recall, 13R used to be really attached to 9S, wasn't she?" 6O mused aloud. "She could be… scary without how, um, 'passionate' she was about him."
"I believe he mentioned something like that once…" Alexander said, wracking his memory. "Um, something about accidentally proposing to her?"
There was a grinding sound as 2B's hands clenched the side of 6O's desk, deforming it violently. Everyone looked at her, and the B-type winced sheepishly.
"Oops," she murmured.
"It's okay, I'm sure it'll buff right out," 6O assured 2B.
The pregnant O-type then tilted her head to the side in thought. "What ever happened to 13R, anyways?"
"She was lost on a mission. It was years ago. If she wasn't destroyed, then she's probably living like a hermit somewhere," 21O said dismissively.
"13R is definitely still alive," another Operator said, butting into the conversation. "Her data-link still shows her as 'functional,' after all. Though her GPS doesn't work anymore."
"Oh, 19O, hello!" 6O said politely, waving a hand in greeting to the other O-type. "How are you?"
"Fine," she replied. "Glad that 13B's back." The other O-type then frowned.
"Although… something felt off," the Operator admitted softly.
"How so?" 2B inquired.
"It's just… when I was checking on 13B's mission data, there was a brief moment when she went off-line, as if she'd been… killed," 19O revealed. "She was back up and running three seconds later, but still…"
"It's not unusual for there to be gaps in the data," 2B stated. "Especially if a POD was destroyed recently."
"That's right," 21O nodded in agreement. "When a POD is damaged or outright destroyed, it can cause a temporary glitch as the connection between the unit, the POD, and the Bunker is overloaded by damage-feedback. I believe the average is fours seconds for a YoRHa unit's connection to recover."
"That's true, but the way the data seemed to disappear and then reappear felt… well, see for yourself," 19O replied, sending some information to the other O-types' consoles. The pair checked it themselves, and were nodding in bemusement as well.
"You're right, there's actually two 'glitches' happening at the same time, one on top of the other," 6O revealed after examining the combat logs. "It's almost as if her POD was destroyed twice!"
"Or she herself suffered critical damage to one of her main processors," 21O added. "That would account for some of the irregularities from the sensors."
"I thought so, too," 19O agreed. "But if that was the case, 13B should have been hurt far worse! The loss of an arm and leg wouldn't trigger this sort of feedback. She should have damage to the chest or cranial region at the least."
"Odd. It's almost as if something is buried in between the two glitches," 21O muttered.
Alexander and 2B glanced back and forth between the O-types, wearing frowns of their own as they tried to keep up with the technical jargon being thrown around.
"So, what are you saying?" Alexander eventually asked.
"13B's POD was definitely destroyed first, and the brief stutter in connectivity from that incident lasted three seconds," 6O said confidently. "But the second glitch happened right on top of it one point six seconds later, and only lasted one point two seconds, overlapping with the first bit of feedback. The internal systems logged them both as the same error because of how closely they occurred, but in reality it was two separate events, hence the… I suppose you'd say the data was too heavy, if that makes any sense."
"Sooo… there was too much 'information' in the error report for it to be just one problem, is that what you're saying?" Alexander guessed.
"Close enough," 21O replied.
"What does this mean, exactly?" 2B wondered.
The O-types shared looks with each other before shrugging.
"We don't know," 19O admitted. "I just… it felt off to me, for some reason. I can't explain it. I know Commander White would tell me to ignore it and focus on more important matters, but when I heard you discussing 13B, I couldn't help myself from bringing it up."
"Ah. A 'gut reaction.' Or perhaps something closer to 'instincts.' You shouldn't ignore those feelings," Alexander said, recognizing what 19O was talking about.
"But Commander White says-!" 19O began to protest, only to be cut off by a raised hand from Alexander.
"You might be artificial beings, but that doesn't mean you can't develop emotions and feelings of your own. And instincts and unconscious reactions are something all living creatures have. So, in this case, I'm going to say to ignore White, and do what you think is best with the information you currently have," the human declared. "Now! What does your 'gut' tell you to do now?"
19O fidgeted nervously before replying. "I-I want to keep looking into this. I'm not sure why, but I just…"
"No need to explain," Alexander assured her. "Do what you think is best. Besides, 13B won't be sent out on another mission for at least a day. You have time to work on this problem and find out what is causing your bad feelings before you have to go back to monitoring 13B in the field."
"Thank you, sir!" 19O said gratefully, saluting him before sitting back down and typing away at her console.
2B smiled and patted her nephew on the arm, feeling proud of him, while 6O and 21O both grinned happily at how he'd stood up for one of their fellow Operators.
"Thank you, Sir Alexander!" 6O chirped.
"No need to thank me. Or call me 'sir.' We're practically family now, aren't we?" Alexander chuckled. He then glanced down at their pregnant stomachs. They weren't as large as 2B's, but it was clear they were carrying new life within.
"So, when are you two going to be transferred to the Moon Base? And have you decided on names?" he asked.
"21O and I will be heading to the moon on the same shuttle as 2B, so a week from now," 6O said with a smile. "As for names, I was thinking about 'Luna,' for a name if it's a girl."
"Oh, like Lunar Tears?" Alex asked, glancing briefly to the preserved flower at 6O's desk.
"Yup!" she said happily.
"9S and I talked about names… I hope it is a boy. I wish to name them 'Hercules,'" 21O said.
"After the Greek demi-god?" Alexander guessed.
"Correct," 21O nodded. "Although if it's a girl, 'Hestia' would be a fine alternative."
"They're all lovely," Alexander said, making the women smile.
"Alexander!" White called out, drawing his attention. When he looked her way, White made a gesture with her head, indicating she wanted him by her side.
"Hmm. Got to go, it seems," he noted. "Take care, ladies."
He then went to rejoin his mentor in looking over the combat data that continued to flow in. Duty called, after all.
"Damn it… damn it… damn that fucking slut!" a voice growled out from within the confines of a private room on the Bunker. There was a tearing sound as a pillow was ripped in two, followed by an angry grunt as the two halves were tossed to the floor and viciously stomped on.
"How dare she? How dare she?! She seduced 9S with those hips and ass of hers, I know it!" 13B seethed, grinding her teeth in badly suppressed rage.
"And those other sluts! All crowded around, giggling to each other like the vapid bimbos they are!" 13B snarled as she recalled the O-types that'd been standing with 2B. "They took advantage of poor 9S! I know it! Especially that 21O! She was his Operator! I should have known she was just playing hard to get!"
She then punched the wall. "I'll bet it was 2B who convinced them to do it. She wasn't satisfied with defiling my beloved and pure 9S, she had to sully him with two others as well!"
13B continued to rage for a few minutes, but eventually her anger cooled. She was still furious, but it was a cold, sharp disdain that was left behind. The molten fury had left behind a core of harsh steel.
She would take that metaphorical lump of metal and refine it into a blade. Acting rashly out of anger would not serve her now. Not when it might cause her to fail her mission.
'And who knows what Purple Athena would do to me if I failed,' the traitor thought to herself with a shudder. The Evolved Machine Lifeform was completely insane, and had come up with quite a few inventive punishments for those who displeased her.
Until now, though, Purple Athena had never had a chance to use her 'innovative' tortures on anything self-aware, like an android. And from the way the captured YoRHa units had screamed and begged for the sweet release of death, 13B was in no hurry to find out for herself what her mistress's punishments were like.
Taking a deep breath, 13B regained her bearings. Her mission had to be completed on way or another.
'And if I'm lucky, I'll be able to vent my frustration on that pack of harlots!' she thought eagerly, heading out of her room.
Her task was not simple, nor would it be easy, but it had to be done.
To outside viewers, the Bunker seemed calm and quiet. Night had fallen, and the stars were out in the sky. Despite the veneer of peacefulness however, the floating facility was still active and bustling. With no need to sleep, the androids could work through the evening and into the morning without losing any efficiency.
And that was absolutely necessary for the war effort. Around ten forty-five pm local time, a spike in Neo-Machine activity had occurred across Earth. The forces of Purple Athena began to rampage violently and brazenly, and it was taking everything and everyone YoRHa had to keep up with it.
"Our troops in Morocco are requesting reinforcements!"
"The 18th Airborne Regiment is clashing with a large Neo-Machine aerial force over the Bering Straight!"
"Sixty thousand Neo-Machines detected on a direct course for the New Delhi Fortified Exclusion Zone! Estimated arrival time, two hours!"
"We've got a bunch of Logic Virus attacks in Rio de Janeiro!"
"The Resistance naval base in Madagascar is reporting a large number of Neo-Machine seacraft patrolling the eastern and southern African coastlines. They're sinking any and all cargo transport ships they find!"
White clenched her fists in impotent fury as the Operators called out a string of increasingly bad updates regarding the situation.
"We're going to lose all the ground we've gained in the last few days if we cannot turn this around," she growled, glaring at the holographic screens.
Suddenly, a new problem reared its head, only this time, it came in the form of eerie red emergency lights flickering on and an ear-splitting wailing ringing out over the comms system.
"Commander! It's the Bunker! We're under attack!" an O-typed shouted out, just barely audible over the wailing alarms.
"What?! How did we not detect them until now?!" White demanded furiously, spinning towards the rows of Operators.
"It's a computer virus! It's infiltrated our systems and is trying to corrupt all of our data!" another Operator exclaimed.
"Shut it down! Stop it before it wipes out everything!" White commanded.
"Yes, commander!" the O-types replied,
"C-Commander! The virus, it's- it's attacking the reactors' control systems! It's trying to initiate a self-destruct!" someone else cried out.
"Can anything else go wrong?!" White wondered through clenched teeth.
Unfortunately for her, she forgot that Murphy is a bastard and Fate is a petty and fickle woman if tempted, and almost immediately after she uttered that, 6O let out a shout.
"Commander White! There's somebody trying to hack into YoRHa's high-security servers!"
White snarled furiously at that. "WHO DARES?!"
"We don't know! Trying to trace the origin point of the attack is only showing errors!"
"Get some S-types in here to help out with countering the digital assault!" White ordered. "Find out where the attack on our systems is coming from and stop it, now!"
"YES, MA'AM!" the O-types cried out in unison, frantically scrambling to obey.
"And while you're at it, dispatch a pair of Technicians to make sure the generators don't explode or shut down," White instructed in a slightly calmer voice.
"Commander White, Lord Alexander is requesting an update," 21O announced a moment later. "He wants to know what's going on and why the alarms are blaring."
"Where is he?" she demanded, a note of worry in her voice.
"Still in his room," 21O confirmed.
"Good! Good. Lock his room down. I don't want any 'heroics' from him," White growled. "And tell him everything is under control."
"Ma'am, shouldn't we evacuate Lord Alexander from the Bunker and get him to safety in New Babylon?" 21O wondered. "Just in case?"
White bit her lip, frustrated, before nodding reluctantly. "Yes, you're right. His safety is paramount. Inform him he's going to be escorted off the Bunker to a safe house in the city."
"At once, commander!" 21O saluted, typing away at her keyboard.
Up in his private room, Alexander winced, hands pressed over his ears as the alarms continued to blare. He'd been rudely awakened from his sleep by them, and was standing in his pajamas in front of the terminal. White was refusing to respond to his queries, and the door was locked.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," he muttered to himself. Not that he could hear anything he said due to the wailing of the sirens.
The flicker of his terminal screen drew his attention, and he saw 21O's face appear on it.
"Lord Alexander, Commander White wishes for you to evacuate the Bunker," she informed him. "7E and 23E will escort you to the hangar and then down to the city."
"Why? 21O, what's going on?" he demanded.
"The Bunker's computer systems are being bombarded by viruses," she explained, and he frowned.
"I see. Very well, I'll do as White wishes," he said, giving in. Not like he could do anything at the moment, either. He had no skill with hacking or programming. He'd only be a hindrance.
"Your escorts will be there soon." 21O then signed off, leaving Alexander alone with his thoughts.
A few minutes later a knock at the door made him frown, and he checked it. He relaxed when he saw the E-types on the other side.
"Good, you're ready to go!" 7E said cheerfully, grabbing Alex's arm and dragging him out into the hallway.
"I am," Alex said, letting them lead him away. However, he paused as he passed by a nearby door.
"Wait," he instructed them, and the Executioners turned to him. "We need to get 2B out of here as well."
"As you wish," 23E said after exchanging a look with 7E. "We will bring her to safety as well."
Alexander nodded and knocked on the door they'd passed.
"Yes?" 2B inquired, opening the door. "What's going on?"
"We're getting you out of here," he informed her. "The Bunker might not be safe."
"Understood," she said after a moment, placing a comforting hand on her belly.
Alexander nodded, putting an arm around her, and he escorted off towards the hangar with him, the two other E-types guarding them.
But as they approached the hangar space, they found the doors closed, and an android pounding furiously on the keypad.
"Open, you damn, defective piece of junk!" the android growled in annoyance.
"13B? Is that you?" 2B asked, confused as she spotted the gynoid in question.
She spun around, surprise written across her face, only for her eyes to narrow as she realized who'd spoken to her.
"Oh, it's you," 13B muttered.
"Why are you trying to get into the hangars?" 23E asked suspiciously, squinting at the B-type.
"Yeah, the Bunker is on lock-down mode. Only Alexander is supposed to be headed this way," 7E said.
"I was on my way to requisition a Flight Unit for my next mission when the alarms went off and the doors were sealed," 13B replied with a frustrated shake of her head.
"I do not recall hearing of any missions assigned to you recently," 23E pointed out.
"Do you hear about every mission assigned to every B-type?" 13B shot back, which caused 23E to reluctantly shake her head.
"I suppose not," the E-type admitted. "Apologies, I am simply on edge."
"Very well, I accept your apology," 13B replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder imperious. "I suppose I'll just have to wait for the lock-down to end before I can go on my mission."
She began to walk past them, but as she did, 2B noticed something hanging from the other android's belt.
"Wait a minute!" 2B uttered. "Why do you have a Motherlode-class data interface unit on you?"
"What are you talking about?" 13B asked, tilting her head to the side.
"That's not part of the standard B-type equipment load out," 2B replied, a note of confusion in her voice. "Only S-types carry them."
"What's a Motherlode whatchamacallit?" Alexander asked as 13B shifted from foot to foot.
"It's an all-in-one hacking tool and data storage unit. It's what the Scout models use to hack Machines, scan data, and record it. Combined with a POD, it's the most vital tool for information gathering YoRHa has," 2B explained, intimately aware of what the device was for thanks to her years spent beside and watching over 9S as part of her Executioner duties.
"13B, why do you have that?" Alexander asked, turning to the B-type, suddenly feeling as suspicious as 23E earlier.
"It's part of my mission," 13B said indignantly.
At his sides, 7E and 23E tensed up.
"And what is your mission, exactly?" Alexander inquired, pressing her for an answer.
"OpSec protocols state I need not tell anyone other than Commander White and my assigned Operator what my mission is," 13B said with a huff.
"I see," 2B said slowly. "Then, you wouldn't mind if we ask the commander or 19O what your task is?"
At that, 13B's expression fell, and she glared at the other gynoid. "I'm not sure I like that insinuation," she growled.
The E-types tensed up at the B-types hostility, and Alexander was worried that a fight would break out within the confines of the hallway.
Before anything could happen, the speakers in the ceiling crackled to life, causing everyone to freeze, violence fizzling out due to surprise.
"-ome in! Can anyone read me? This is 19O, come in!"
"19O?" Alexander muttered, recognizing her voice, and confused as to why she was contacting them.
'And why is she using the Bunker's PA system?' the human wondered.
"Come in! Can anyone read? This 19O, come in!" the Operator shouted, her voice laced with panic and worry.
"This is a general warning! 13B's signal is overlapping with 13R's!" 19O exclaimed. "I repeat! 13B is not 13B! It's actually 13R!"
The warning hadn't even finished before 7E burst into action, drawing a combat knife from her boot and charging at the rogue intruder, while 23E moved in front of Alexander protectively!
13B whipped out a sword, blocking 7E's attack with contemptuous ease, her arms not even trembling as she held the shorter YoRHa unit at bay, eyes glowing with an eerie purple hue.
"What?!" 7E exclaimed in disbelief. "What's going on?! This isn't possible! This strength… it's beyond that of a B-type, let alone an R-type!"
"You can't stop me!" the rogue gynoid exclaimed, breaking free before kicking off the wall and dodging past 7E. However, she didn't go for Alexander, and instead shot towards 2B!
"And you! I'm going to kill you, you whore!" 13B – no, 13R – snarled, lashing out at 2B, aiming specifically at the B-type's stomach with her blade.
2B raised her arms defensively, but Alexander threw a hand out towards 13R.
"BIND!" Alexander shouted frantically, and glowing white chains sprang from the walls and floor, wrapping around 13R and freezing her in place.
7E swung her blade at the immobilized traitor's neck, but a purple energy quickly surrounded 13R, and the chains shattered, allowing her to counter 7E's blow.
13R raised her right hand, and purple lightning cascaded from her palm, slamming into 7E and throwing her backwards, where she slammed into the wall, denting it.
"She can use magic?!" Alexander uttered in disbelief, before thrusting a palm toward her. "Celestial Spears!"
White energy stakes shot out of the ground in a line towards 13R, but she sidestepped them, and then sent another bolt of purple lightning at him. Alexander countered it with a shield, and noticed that the synth-flesh on 13R's palm had been burnt away, revealing the metallic servos underneath.
But there was something else that was visible. Additional components, clearly of Machine make, had been crudely shoved and installed into the hand. A faint purple glow emanated from a few of the modified parts that'd been put into her limb, and Alexander could finally detect the pulse of maso coming from it. Somehow, the gynoid's synth-skin had been altered to block maso radiation from being detected!
'Those extra parts in her must be how she's using magic!' Alexander guessed, but didn't have time to further investigate, as 23E blitzed towards 13R, eager for battle and to protect her ward.
23E's regular choice of melee weapon was no good in the enclosed confines of the Bunker's hallway, and so a pair of Type-40 Combat Bracers materialized around her fists.
She slammed into 13R, driving to punch through the rogue unit's torso, but the sword was raised to block. The Type-40 cracked the standard issue blade, and a second blow shattered it.
But 13R didn't hesitate and threw herself at 23E. The two then tumbled across the floor of the hallway, punching and kicking violently in close quarters. Clothes were torn, hair was pulled, and angry grunting was uttered.
The sight of two beautiful women fighting on the ground made Alexander go still.
'Oh, come on! Stupid body!' he grimaced as he crossed his legs. 'Damn hormones, not now!'
This was not the time to get excited, and Alexander hastily brought his hands together, channeling a massive amount of magical energy. He then pressed his hands to the floor, and unleashed a bubble of increased gravity into the middle of the corridor that pinned the two tussling gynoids in place.
Unable to move under the extreme weight, they were, although the floor did buckle worryingly as well.
"7E! Destroy that data-drive!" he ordered. He wasn't going to let the Bunker's data fall into Purple Athena's hands!
7E pulled herself out of the dent she'd made in the wall, and drew her submachine gun, pointing it at the blocky device on 13R's belt.
"No!" the rogue unit exclaimed from her prone position on the ground. More purple lightning erupted from within 13R and danced across her body, causing her synth-flesh to sizzle and burn. The hail of bullets was stopped by the crackling aura of electricity, and then fired back at 7E even faster!
They reflected bullets tore through 7E, and she let out a scream of pain as she was riddled with holes.
"7E!" Alexander cried out as she collapsed.
"I… won't… let… you… WIN!" 13R declared, and the energy writhing across her exploded off of her in a shockwave. It picked up 23E and sent her flying down the hallway with severe burns all over, and caused the metal floor to buckle and rupture.
13R fell through the hole in the walk way and out of the gravity spell's area of influence, where she immediately took off running through the halls of the Bunker, trying to get away.
"Damn it!" Alexander snarled. He took a step forward, like he wanted to go after her, but glanced to the side at 2B. However, she shook her head.
"Do not worry about me! Go after her! You cannot let her escape with the data she stole!" his aunt ordered, and he nodded grimly, leaping down into the hole in the floor.
Half an hour later, the damage to the Bunker from the fight was being repaired, and 2B had been escorted to the medical wing to make sure 13R hadn't managed to hurt the children within her.
Alexander had returned to the command center, and was standing beside White as the Commander of YoRHa swept her gaze across the assembled androids. Her gaze came to rest on 19O, and she turned to fully face her.
"What happened?" White demanded, looking pointedly at 19O.
"I-I don't know," the O-type admitted. "I was going over the data we received from 13B's mission. Something about it didn't seem… right."
"Explain," White growled impatiently, and 19O gulped.
"There were a number of irregularities within the data we received from the aftermath of 13B's fight in Hokkaido. I was investigating them, and I found something odd," the Operator revealed. "There was data that seemed to be entering 13B during the brief moment when her POD was destroyed, and, upon closer look, actually overrode several core systems. In fact, when I delved deeper, I discovered that 13R's mental data had seemingly replaced 13B's within the Black Box!"
"Why didn't that immediately trip an alert in our systems when she was brought in for repairs?" White inquired.
"13R's biometrics were elsewhere, but the signal from her mental data was overlapping with 13B's, hiding behind it so a surface scanner wouldn't detect the intrusion. And we didn't notice this immediately because we generally only scan for biometric identification from returning YoRHa units, and we don't check the mental data's integrity unless it is being saved or uploaded to a new body," 19O continued to explain.
"What exactly happened to 13B, then?" White asked.
"I believe… I believe 13R took over 13B's body," 19O tentatively offered as explanation.
"She possessed her?" White asked sharply.
19O shook her head. "No, more like… she downloaded her mind into 13B's body, and overrode 13B's personality with her own. It must have happened during that odd glitch I detected during the transmission of data from the destroyed POD."
"How is that possible?" White asked, eyes narrowed. "Are we at risk of losing other units to this new… hacking method?"
"I don't think anyone other than androids with the Number 13 personality series engrams will be at risk," 19O said after a moment.
"Makes sense. Purple Athena must have used the similarities in their code to facilitate the hijacking," 21O mused thoughtfully. "I can see how that might have happened. Especially if there was magic involved. Even now, we don't fully understand or know what maso can do."
"So does that mean 13T, 13H, 13O, and any other 13's will be vulnerable?" White demanded, causing 13O to shift nervously and look around, as if afraid she'd be attacked or detained at any minute.
"It's possible," another Operator admitted after a few minutes of silence as they crunched the numbers and analyzed the data. "I don't believe it could be done remotely or from a great distance. The units would have to be captured and brought close to 13R, at the very least."
"Yes, I agree. 13R only took over 13B when the latter was caught by the Neo-Machines outside of one of Purple Athena's primary bases," 6O said. "I also suspect this might have been an act of opportunity or desperation. Unless Purple Athena knew we were sending 13B to Hokkaido in the first place, which I find unlikely, this was probably done on the spot as a last-minute plan."
"We won't discount the idea that Purple Athena has found a to spy on our mission deployments, but for now, we agree with your assessment, 6O," White said after thinking it over. "Still, this presents a unique security risk."
White turned to 13O. "I request that you stand down and allow yourself to be put into an off-site detention center until we figure out how this 'possession' happens. The same order will be given to the other 13's."
The Operator looked depressed, with a hint of anger, but she nodded all the same. "Yes, commander."
"Good," White said with a curt nod. Two guards, both B-types on security duty, escorted 13O out of the room. It wouldn't be long before all of the Number 13's would be detained.
"Now, do we know what exactly 13R was trying to steal?" White asked, looking at the Operator in charge of uncovering that information.
33O nodded and began to speak. "13R tried to steal a copy of YoRHa's mission logs, as well as the roster for all androids that are pregnant or scheduled for installation of Phoenix Wombs. There was also intrusion into our database that contained all of the information on our operations in space. Beyond that, we also know she was the one who uploaded the virus into the safety regulator system for the Bunker's reactors."
"Lucky that we managed to destroy the data-drive, then," 4O sighed in relief upon hearing just what had been accessed without them knowing about it.
"But, if her mission failed, why didn't 13R detonate 13B's Black Box?" Alexander asked, speaking up for the first time. "That alone would have caused more damage to the Bunker than anything else she tried."
"Perhaps if she did she'd destroy herself? She'd likely need to have Purple Athena to return her to her own body," 19O offered.
"Maybe… I don't like it, though," Alexander muttered.
"Indeed. To many questions remain unanswered. For now, though, we must continue to oversee the war efforts. I will have a few units reassigned to investigating this entire matter, but for the moment, we must focus on what is in front of us first and foremost. Understood?" White said, receiving a chorus of "Yes, Commander!" from the androids.
White dismissed them, and turned back to the war updates scrolling across the holo-screens.
Alexander remained by her side, silent and thoughtful. He was certain there was more to 13R and Purple Athena's infiltration of the Bunker, but for the life of him he couldn't figure it out.
'What are you planning?' he wondered to himself.
Within the throne room of Purple Athena's base, 13R staggered over to the steps before sinking down, kneeling before her mistress.
A ragged gasp escaped 13R. The pain of the wounds she'd taken were dulled somewhat due to being in a different body, but they still stung.
'That human… he's much stronger than I expected,' the traitorous R-type mused to herself as she waited for Purple Athena to address her. 'I will have to be careful with him going forward.'
While waiting for Purple Athena to acknowledge her presence, she glanced to the side, where her old body lay, lifeless and slumped, like a puppet with its strings cut. Seeing it made her wonder what it might be like to have endless bodies but a singular mind. Or only one body but dozens of minds?
'Must be crowded. And noisy. Probably a bit annoying,' 13R guessed. It would explain why her mistress was so distracted all the time. Coordinating a war couldn't be easy for a single entity, no matter how talented or powerful.
"13R," Purple Athena said after a moment, drawing her attention up to the throne.
"My lady," 13R muttered.
"It is… unfortunate that you were driven from the Bunker so quickly," Purple Athena commented, her voice echoing through the cavernous chamber as she looked down upon her servant with a displeased expression. "I expected more of you."
"Forgive me, my lady," 13R begged. "This body, it struggled against me far more than I anticipated. If not for your aide, I would have never been able to steal it from 13B."
"Hmm. I might be inclined to offer you mercy. Assuming you completed your primary task, of course," the silver-haired Ascended Machine Lifeform hummed.
"Of course, my lady, I have what you requested right here," 13R said, keeping her head bowed as she withdrew a knife. She then disemboweled herself with the blade, only to then reach in with her hand and pluck out a USB drive she'd hidden within her own body.
"They all thought that the Motherlode data-drive was the prize. They never imagined for a second that I'd hidden the real objective elsewhere," 13R cackled, even as artificial gore spilled from her self-inflicted injury.
"Hmph. You may have gone a bit off the rails during your mission, but at least you accomplished the main objective," Purple Athena huffed as she took the USB from the traitorous YoRHa unit, not even bothering to wipe the oily mess off as she did so.
"Does that mean I am forgiven, and we can we finally begin the attack?" 13R asked hopefully as she held her wound closed with both hands.
"Yes. It is time to take back what is rightfully ours," Purple Athena declared, a rapturous grin on her face. 13R grinned back, though it was tainted with madness.
At long last! The first true assault of the war would come!
&&&&&
Author's Note:
Happy New Year, everyone!
If you like my work, there are early chapters up on Patty-ron under Akashicrecordstrue! Or donate to Ko-Fi at Akasthicrecords! Every little bit helps immensely!
I have also published a story on Amazon. Just look for "God of the Freshmen" if you want a story about a trickster god banished to Earth to live life as a teenager as punishment for a prank gone wrong!