She couldn't tear her eyes off the sky, she just could not even begin to comprehend what happened. The Bunker just fell from orbit, who knows where, taking the entirety of YoRHa, and with it, all the hope the androids had left.
All the hope A2 still had to win the war…
All the hope she dared to keep, she hated YoRHa, but this was not a reason to want them to fail. Not if the other option to root for was the machines.
The Commander had used her squadron as tests for the newer units, and THIS, was the result!? A total failure?
What has been all this worth then? What have been the sacrifices of her friends, and the madness they had been put through, worth for? Absolutely nothing at all!
The machines had still won.
And they were laughing, laughing at their misery using the bodies of those androids they defeated, those androids that if things would have gone different might have even been companions.
And now here they were, stumbling like possessed zombies, corrupted and possessed to their own core, unable to control themselves anymore, prisoners in their own bodies.
Just like in the server room that day, with the Resistance people those girls had forced her to kill. She put them out of their misery, but her own self went with them.
This here was no different, these androids were no friends of hers, but they were still androids all the same, like her, and perhaps, friends of Robin. The only person that was still standing sane at her side. Hopefully still sane.
Not even the intervention of a human had been enough to help YoRHa succeed.
She dared to steal a glance in her direction, she stood still, back turned at her, head low so her bangs covered her eyes, she held a tight grip on her sword, the weapon glowing erratically, reflecting its owner's emotions.
No doubt, Robin must be pissed beyond recognition, A2 at least had no friends to care for, not within YoRHa, but her? She had hoped to see them again, she had told her so!
A2 hadn't been the only one whose hopes had been shattered. And now all that remained was just the two of them against the world.
"A2…" she almost didn't hear Robin's voice over the deafening sinister cackles of the androids possessed with the virus.
A glance ahead of her from the black haired woman was enough to deliver the message. Robin was looking straight at the horde, eyes full of resignation.
Still on shaking legs, A2 stood, her sword materializing in her hands. "I know…"
It wasn't these people's fault. Soon, they'd be upon them, and all they could do was to give them mercy, by ending their suffering. And Robin knew it too, and she must be hating it so much.
She had told she'd have to stop killing people, and then… all this happened…
These people… the Resistance… her comrades… all of them died for this…
The machines, it was all their damn fault!
With a feral cry, A2 ran ahead to meet the horde first. Damn them, damn the machines for doing this, for making them suffer this way, all of them! All of them had to pay for this!
And Robin? She had already lost everything once, watched her small world crumble around her as a child, watched the people she loved die just for a show of power, to intimidate the rest of the world.
She had changed world, life and purpose, and yet… nothing truly ever changed.
She was still the same woman, the same cursed person, that if wasn't killing people with her hands or her blade, was watching them burn around her because of things she couldn't stop, that were so much bigger than her, and her own ability to comprehend why they happened.
And why they kept happening to her.
Why her?
Something pricked at her eyes, she ignored it, following A2 into the fray.
Best they could do now was put these androids to rest, before they killed them in their madness. Maybe they would even join them, who knew? And did it matter anymore?
Did it matter surviving?
What could two androids against the world even do?
In the middle of blocking an attack, Robin dared to sneak a glance to her companion, A2's face was being obscured from the mane of white hair she had. No doubt, she was suffering just as much, but she didn't seem like she wanted to lay down and die.
Not yet.
It was just the two of them, and for what counted, they still mattered to each other.
With a kick to the stomach, she managed to get the other android away from her before that person's enhanced strength could overwhelm her, she sent the possessed thing away enough to cut through their chest with a swift motion.
That had been just one, there were many more incoming.
And Robin braced to do what she'd been put into this world to do. To kill her the ones that had now become her similars.
To be the best type E she'd ever been, because she was the star of YoRHa, the one every other Executioner wanted to be and looked up to.
To be the monster that slayed her fellow soldiers and friends with no remorse.
And that did it one time, ten times, and then hundreds of times.
Mismatched eyes stared ahead at what was coming, cold and unforgiving, as they've always had been.
As her glowing blade met another, she felt nothing. Just moments before she would have cried for these people, and now? Her emotions were gone, locked up in the deepest depths of her heart.
What was she saying? She did not have a heart anymore.
She hadn't had one in a long time. Even before than what was in her chest had been turned into a cold black box made of metal, instead of a beating organ.
As her weapon struck down another android, all she could do was to whisper a single word of apology.
The next one came, the next one died, repeating, again and again.
Without faltering, because for her and A2's sake she couldn't falter, or they'd both be dead in mere instants. Wouldn't it be better that way though? At least for her own self.
In this twisted madness of cackles and laughs, of angry shouts and feral cries of anguish, her small whispers got lost in the chorus, echoing only to her own ears.
I'm sorry…
I'm sorry…
I'M SORRY!
One by one the android fell at her feet, a pool of red growing beneath her, growing on her, covering her own self and her clothing, growing on her sword that was almost no longer black. Only red, so much red, it covered any other color.
But the slaughter didn't stop, it couldn't stop, it didn't want to stop, she couldn't stop!
As her ever faithful blade stabbed the heart of yet another android, she allowed herself to let out a cry, holding her head in her hands. Her white gloves stained with android coolant smeared her face.
Through semi-closed eyes she could see her face in her own reflection in the water, covered in blood.
Look at you, this is what you are!
Her legs faltered, but she didn't fall, her eyes fixed at her mirror, they trembled but she didn't cry.
Why couldn't she cry!?
She didn't even see the incoming android, and yet, her body acted on its own, as soon as the poor possessed thing got close enough, she spun around on herself, kicking the YoRHa sword out of its hands, taking Scarlet Despair that was hovering at her side, she slashed at it…
…Cutting its head clean off…
She didn't want it to end that way! Her body had acted on instinct… the instinct to kill…
It was second nature. The nature of a heartless murderer.
She shook her head, hard.
I don't want to do this any longer!
As she stood there in despair and denial, she failed to hear her Pod giving a warning of seismic activity going on, she failed to notice just how close she was to the edge of the ravine, she failed to notice that she wasn't even remotely close to the bridge.
And she failed to notice the worried shout that would have warned her of incoming attacks.
She barely had time to register both the terrain beginning to crumble under her weight of android as the ground shook, and of the corrupted thing barrelling into her as it ran head first, ramming it into her chest.
Robin thought she'd fall quickly, that she'd soon feel the excruciating pain that came when falling from such a height, but besides the soreness from her chest from the hit she received, she didn't feel anything else.
Opening her eyes, she saw why.
A2 had managed to run over to her and grab her arm with her own, and was trying to take her back to safety, risking falling down with her should the tremors start again.
And also, the group of androids approaching behind her were not promising to spare her.
Robin highly doubted that A2 would be able to pull her up in time, and the androids were coming close.
So, she did the only thing she could.
"Stay alive." it had been her only request she could make, as with her free arm, she forcibly pried off the fingers of A2's hand from the arm she was holding.
Allowing herself to fall…
At first, there was only the feeling and the sound of the wind whipping around her… and then the pain came, excruciating, agonizing.
Maybe she would die here…
Maybe she should have used Pod's help and saved herself…
Maybe she deserved this…
A2 had no time to truly assess the situation, as the corrupted YoRHas were upon her in mere seconds. She barely could roll out of the way to avoid them hitting her.
She watched Robin struggle, not with their enemies, if enemies they could be called, but with her own self. She'd gotten distracted and then she… she let herself fall down, without saying much of anything but asking her to stay alive.
What the hell was going on with her?
No matter, if she wanted to think she needed to retreat, so she did the only thing she could do at the moment, after getting rid of the few last androids left, she sprinted back to their facility, the only place they could still call home.
Robin especially…
She'd lost her home twice by now, A2 was not going to let that happen a third time if she could help it.
Probably she should protect it, hoping she'd return, because she had to, right?
That pit should not be enough to kill a YoRHa, especially not a combat type, they were too sturdy, but it would hurt, and hurt a lot. But as much as she desired to, A2 couldn't go search for her, not right now.
Too many enemies around, she could risk ending up the same way or worse. She didn't want to betray Robin's will, she had to keep living.
She could only hope, and wait until things calmed down. Otherwise it would have been all for nothing if she died here.
So she allowed herself to rest up, sitting on the roof of the commercial facility, and keeping an eye on the situation. She didn't allow herself to sleep, but staying low would allow her to recover some energy at least.
And to reflect.
YoRHa was no more, and that was very much obvious. The machines somehow infected all these people all at once, and they were now running rampant through the city, alongside the machines themselves.
Robin was down the ravine, for the time being, alone and hurt but hopefully alive…
Just what the hell had happened to make her falter so hard? From the reactions looked like an inner turmoil, and A2 could only guess what it could be about.
But she supposed that all the killing finally got to her, and it meant nothing good. Robin had been acquainted with death for so much and so long, way beyond the time she spent at YoRHa.
Who knew exactly how many people she had killed even?
A2 wished she knew a way to help, to make it better, something good to say for whenever they saw each other again, because it would happen, but nothing came to her mind, at all. After all, like they both often said, they were a lot alike. Similar experiences didn't always bring the same results though.
Best she could do could just try to console her with physical demonstrations she guessed, too bad she wasn't good at it either.
Resisting the urge to sigh, she scanned the horizon, oddly enough spotting something moving in her direction on the bridge. Looked like a person, perhaps another possessed YoRHa or…
A2 had to rub her eyes to make sure she was seeing right.
That was her damn superior clone! And she was alive.
She didn't know quite how to feel about her, on one side, she hated her and how she hunted her before, the other side instead knew she was just under orders as anyone else, and right now it was good to see any other YoRHa alive that wasn't corrupted.
And also, Robin cared about her, as far as she'd been told they had a teacher and student relationship, and from what little she knew from what the black haired woman told her of their exchange before she met Adam, 2E had been pretty hurt from her leaving.
Also at the moment she looked injured, from the way she stumbled her way through.
And the approaching corrupted androids grouping under the facility meant nothing good either.
Perhaps for once she could be helpful, and also she didn't want Robin to be mad at her for letting the other Number 2 die, if she were to know she'd probably hate her. And she absolutely didn't want her to do so.
Maybe 2E wasn't even that bad, maybe she should stop judging E types based on her experiences only. She had forgiven Robin after all.
She waited until the other Number 2 was safe at the end of the bridge to make her move, taking down the androids that went in to attack her double.
A2 did short work of the infected androids, before slowly approaching the still crouching 2E.
Suddenly she didn't feel as positive as she was upon laying eyes on her now. Something was wrong, and she'd hate to be right about this but…
As 2E removed her visor, she could see the unmistakable red eyes of a logic virus infection, though there was still a little left of her own self.
With understanding eyes she looked back, taking the white blade being offered to her. There were a million questions she wanted to ask, and so many things she wanted to say, and no time for a single one.
The woman was leaving her memories and consciousness into the sword, and giving the knowledge to the only person she could trust in this desperate moment, to listen to the wishes of a dying being.
And A2… pitied her…
Her form of pity was granting her what she desired, to die as herself.
In this very moment she recalled the anguished last words she had heard from Number 21, as she urged them to leave her behind, she too had been dying from the virus. A2 wondered more than once what had happened in the elevator hall after Anemone remained with her, if Number 21 too had been brave enough to ask Anemone to put her out of her misery.
If she suffered, if she went peacefully…
It was an answer she had yet to have, and didn't know if she ever would. A2 had yet to muster the courage to face Anemone, even if she knew she was alive.
Too afraid of the reaction, of anger and rejection, even if they hadn't been close, they had still been friends, and she didn't want to lose her, no matter how hard it was to not just leave everything and go meet her, even for just a small glance.
As soon as she laid her hand on the white sword, her mind was invaded by millions of images and data she struggled to keep at bay enough to do what she'd been asked.
The hit she gave had been precise, straight to the chest, so she wouldn't suffer any longer.
But as 2E slid off the weapon, on the bridge she could spot the only person she wished wouldn't have been here at this very moment. The Scanner boy, 9S.
She knew a little of their relationship from Robin, after all she was sort of close to them both, and hearing him now yelling at her in pure anguish, as she cut off her long hair to leave a tribute to 2E's death, it stung, her chest hurt.
It hurt just like when she heard him cry that way in pure agony, despair and anger at her when he had been sent to kill her.
She heard him make that sound exactly four times by now.
She didn't want to hurt people, she just did for her own sake, and for survival.
Perhaps now she fully could understand why Robin just wanted to stop all this, how she felt about it. Neither of them were ever able to do so though.
Millions of things assaulted A2's head, as she took in the influx of data and memories, mixing and mingling with her own.
Suddenly she was no longer sure that accepting 2E's data would have been a good idea, and became afraid of her overwriting something she didn't want, or damaging and corrupting something.
A2 hadn't exactly thought about the consequences if the consciousness would have been corrupted from the virus still, and now transferred into her own body.
She could have been infected herself, and it would have been her fault for not checking. She'd never been smart nor cautious.
As the ground trembled, as white pillars rose around her, and as she one hit her straight and square, she thought…
…Perhaps she should have been more careful…