When the duo arrived at the village, they found Pascal near the corpses of his deceased villagers, a cloth in hand, looking like he was cleaning their chassis for some reason.
The sight was pitiful, to say the least.
He didn't notice them until yet, but someone else did, as a purple object flew in their direction.
"Greetings, Unit 2B and 9S."
2B never thought she'd be so glad to see that Pod again, 007, Robin's little assistant. Had the poor thing been here the whole time since she had died?
Upon hearing him, Pascal also finally saw they were there, and even though the face of a machine couldn't express any emotion, his voice did enough to show he was really surprised too to see 2B. As it was about everyone.
"2B, 9S, it is good to see you." though he didn't ask as to why 2B was right there, after being confirmed dead, unlike everyone else.
As if reading their minds, 007 came to their aid.
"While in the process of attempting to find a solution to fix the body of my assisted unit, I informed the machine lifeform known as Pascal about our plan in hopes to find aid, thus mentioning Pod 042 and 153 working to rebuild unit 2B, 9S and A2 as well."
Both their Pods floated by near their similar confirming what he'd just said, as exchanging information between each other was the key to complete their plan.
"However I am ashamed to say I was not as successful."
Ashamed huh… so it was true that Pods truly began experiencing feelings then, since he mentioned being sad about being unsuccessful. He must have been so sad to be the only one to not have had his companion back too.
"So what brings you here?" Pascal finally asked after a moment of silence.
"Actually we are here for 26E, we want to see if her body truly isn't fixable." 9S explained, also he wanted to get away from this place, all the death was unsettling him too much, he'd ask 2B later about what happened.
"Sure, follow me."
Pascal led them to a more secluded part of the village, where resting against the massive tree trunk, there was Robin's body, or rather, what little remained of her, with her faithful weapon at her side.
9S hadn't been lying when he said that when he told her she was hardly recognizable…
Her body was broken and charred, most of the skin layer had been burnt away, leaving the metal underneath, which part of it had melted away. A hole in her chest the size of the blade of her sword could be seen, with the broken wiring poking out of it. and absolutely no YoRHa clothing to cover her, that had been burned to ashes too.
The only thing she could say it was her, was a small portion of her face that still retained some skin, and somehow part of her hair remained too, just a bit of her black fringe.
Of the tall and proud android human only remained a shell that barely held itself together.
Forcing herself to walk forward, 2B crouched next to the remains of what was once her teacher, a stray tear forcing its way down her cheek.
She was glad that A2 hadn't been here to see this at least. She had no idea how she could have handled it, if at all.
With the corner of her eye she could 9S approaching, to take the weapon from where it was resting. A small sound escaped him, enough to get her attention.
"What's wrong?"
"2B, there's data in here." he held the blade horizontally, inspecting it. It was the first time he had the opportunity to see it so closely.
2B wondered if her teacher had followed her example when she uploaded her consciousness inside the storage of Virtuous Contract, and kept somewhat living inside of it and through A2's aid.
However 9S' words shut down the thought immediately.
"Though it is not much, I'm afraid." surely not a full stream of consciousness, nor memories she assumed.
Something made her wonder if he avoided looking at it because he felt that she deserved to see it first.
"The weapon known as Scarlet Despair, though it was converted into a YoRHa weapon, possesses little storage due to its age. The data contained inside of it is a message directed towards unit A2." Robin's Pod explained.
Of course it would have been for her. Perhaps Robin had hoped that she'd return to the village sometime in the future, and found it.
"Let's just take the body to the camp for now." 2B declared, neither she nor 9S should hear Robin's last words before A2, it wouldn't have been right towards them both. "We can just give the message to her later."
Probably it wouldn't have been a good idea now, given how harshly she reacted about being woken up, and about everything else even with Anemone around. 2B wondered if the Resistance Leader was still in the building with A2.
Better to wait until she may be in a better mental state.
As well as a woman who lost everything and found out she had been the cause of it all could be. 2B hoped that her older sister hadn't been left on her own at this moment.
2B took the broken body in her arms, being careful to not damage it further than what it already was, while 9S took the black and red blade, and stored it in his inventory for the time being.
"Thanks for having taken care of her, Pascal." she told the machine as she passed next to him.
"Hopefully we'll return with good news next time." 9S added.
The duo walked out of the village, in the direction of the camp, Pod 007 in tow. Once they were out of earshot, 2B needed to ask something.
"Are you truly determined to go through with this?"
It was still unclear as to why he meant to fix her teacher so much, outside of wanting to make her happy of course. But this was no easy process, and it could very well fail too.
However he nodded at her, perhaps even too excitedly.
"Of course. It is obvious that she was important to you, so why not?"
"So are you doing this just for me then?" she was still not sure he should, not just for her sake at least. But at least it was a reason, she guessed, as good as any other.
"Well 2B, I want you to be happy, you care for her, as it is obvious you also care for A2, I've seen it, and you've known her through these past months unlike me, and I trust your judgment. Bringing back 26E won't leave her so alone anymore, so hopefully she'll feel better too, and if seeing her happy makes you happy, then it'll make me happy too."
"I see." well he was correct, she would like to see A2 with Robin again, and to see them care for each other.
Just remembering the pain her older sister felt when Robin died made her chest ache.
Also maybe if he did save Robin, then A2 may not be so inclined to avoid him anymore, it could be the start of something good between them. 2B knew well that A2 didn't hate him, she did save him in the end, and not only because she had asked her to, but because she was a good person too.
She was just afraid to be hurt by other people.
"I also may be just a little curious about 26E…" she raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Come on 2B, I'm a Scanner, and she's always been a real mystery, and discovering she was a human from beyond the stars makes my head explode with things I would like to ask her. Aren't you curious to know more too?"
Of course he left out what he saw of the woman's past, he'd seen enough of it to not want to know more of that, but about everything else? Of course he was. And without YoRHa holding her back she could tell all she wanted now, and he could also know all he desired too.
Without punishment, without fearing death, without 2B having to kill him again…
She no longer had to be an Executioner, she no longer had to hide anything. Neither of them did.
"Perhaps." it was all she replied with.
Then again Robin hadn't been too willing to share much of her past life, besides the fact that she'd been a fugitive, and that she'd been a killer even before 2B had been created, hell even before the entire YoRHa had been.
But she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't at least a bit curious too.
Besides the woman was one of a kind, literally, it was only natural to want to know more. And to know how humans were like on her home planet.
"Well… I also want to try and talk to her too… A2 I mean."
This got another raised eyebrow, she thought he couldn't stand her.
"Upon listening to her and Anemone, I realized something. Probably I will never truly like her but I was wrong in judging her, all those things I said were horrible… there was so much pain in her words back there…" he sighed a little. "I believe she deserves an apology, at least."
She was going to eventually suggest they sorted things out, maybe when this whole thing would be over, one way or the other, but she never thought he'd be willing to comply without her intervention, or suggestion.
Perhaps whatever happened to him while she was gone, hit him even harder than what he showed at the Tower. At least she was glad he wasn't having complete fits of rage just like then, all the opposite in fact, he was clamer, and more understanding.
Almost felt that the 9S she'd seen through A2's eyes never existed, hadn't she actually witnessed it.
Surely it felt like he was trying hard to bury away that part of him. Whether he was doing it for her only, or for himself too, she didn't know.
At least he was making an effort to be better than before, and that was enough for her.
Almost as if he'd taken her words about becoming a good person at heart, even if they had been spoken from A2. Maybe knowing now that they had been in communication all along, told him that her older sister hadn't been lying but was telling the truth.
Upon arriving at the Resistance Camp, they were quite surprised to see Anemone sitting at her desk, she had returned before they did. Immediately upon spotting them she walked over to them.
Grimacing at the state of Robin's body, as did many others as they passed by.
The Resistance Leader led them to the infirmary, and instructed 2B to place the body in the furthest corner, away from prying eyes, and from further potential damage. Taking a blanket she covered Robin up to her chin to give her a bit of modesty.
"I'll start looking for what I can do." 9S announced, sitting down in a nearby chair. Pod 153 and 007 floating on either side of his head.
While taking her by the arm, Anemone dragged 2B away, 042 following.
"I managed to convince her to come here with me." there was no need to specify who "her" was.
"How's she doing?"
"Poorly. She clinged to me the entire time, then cried herself to exhaustion. She's in my room at the moment." Anemone explained, and with a nod 2B sent her Pod to check on A2, for safety.
Just in case she woke up and got weird ideas, or destructive ones.
Neither option would be good.
"At least she won't see her, for now." the Resistance Leader looked over where they had placed Robin, 9S examining every inch of her body and chatting quietly with the two Pods.
"Perhaps it is better this way, and I doubt she wants to see 9S near 26E, or what remains of her." she sighed. "She still believes he hates her, but he seemed calm instead."
Unlike the 9S she'd seen after he woke up when 2B died, so sad and full of hatred...
But she had lived long enough to know that people changed, and changed a lot when tragedies happened, she could count herself in it too. Number 2 herself would have been another example.
"He's… trying his best. But he realizes he did wrong and wants to make amends. That's what he said."
Anemone just nodded. "I just hope Number 2 will accept them. She's… very stubborn."
Oh she knew, she'd seen first hand how stubborn her older twin could be, which wasn't always a good thing, as it wasn't a bad one either.
It was particularly bad when it came to negativity though, she knew that.
But for now they couldn't do much else but let 9S do his own thing, watch and keep an eye on A2. Which was also quite the task.
There was no telling what kind of rash things she may have been thinking about, or could think about if she were left on her own too long. 2B almost wished she was in her head at the moment, just to know A2's thoughts, and possibly dissuade her from accomplishing them.
Anemone headed back to her desk, not wanting to distract 9S. 2B was just about to follow her, when her more sensitive ears picked up the sound of clicking heels.
And she knew those heels pretty well. And they were very fast too.
She acted on instincts, knowing exactly where A2 would have been heading, tackling the other woman on the ground as soon as the blur of her white mane appeared.
"Let go of me, 2B." the older android struggled from under her. "What is he doing to her?"
Upon witnessing the scene, Anemone rushed over too, to aid her in holding A2 down. Even 9S turned around to look at the trio, he had heard everything too of course, however he remained where he was, afraid to worsen things should he approach them.
"He's not gonna hurt her." 2B spoke as calmly as she could.
"Liar." A2 resumed trying to fight them off, throwing her legs in an attempt to kick 2B off, and clawing at Anemone's arms around her torso.
"Just calm down a second and listen, okay? I know you're worried, but 9S won't hurt 26E, he is not going to hurt you either." Anemone held tighter. "Also you know damn well he's your ticket to see her again, you really want to antagonize him further you damn fool?"
Those words seemed to have a better effect, as A2 slowly stopped struggling, she wasn't kicking anymore, nor trying to break free.
"I know this is scary, but it'll be fine, Number 2. Have faith in the people around you, just like you did when we met, you trusted us even if we had just pointed our guns at you all, now do the same."
2B couldn't help but frown, from the way Anemone spoke, it was almost unreal how their group grew to be so tight, like in the memories those red girls had shown back at the Tower.
"We're going to let you go now." but don't attack anyone, that was the hidden message.
With a nod, both women got off from A2's body, all she did next was to get up, but at least she stayed in the same spot. 9S however, found the courage to walk over, A2 took a step back, as if wanting to run, but a hand to her shoulder and a nod from 2B were enough to have her stay.
"I have finished my analysis." he announced, measuring his words and the tone to not scare off the Attacker.
"The good news is that Pod 007 has the data I was looking for, all the specifics of her model, and also has her consciousness and memories stored within its own data."
"Affirmative. This Pod was created to store Unit 26E's consciousness and memory data should she be terminated, as an emergency safety protocol created from YoRHa Commander White herself, for preservation purposes." 007 spoke from over 9S' shoulder.
Absurd, White had made a support unit specifically so that Robin's memories and knowledge wouldn't be lost, probably due to her human origins.
"Almost as if she cared about her…" A2 whispered through gritted teeth. "Or about anyone at all."
With much surprise, 9S gave a solemn nod to her words, then she remembered how many times he'd been sacrificed, and how well he could have related to what she just said. If the situation wasn't so tense she would have laughed.
"Thanks to Pod 007 I have a better idea on how her body was made, and possibly of the materials required, but… skill wise I am not so sure…"
"Can you save her or not?" A2 glared at him, he was tempted to do the same for doubting him, since he was her only opportunity to get 26E back, but a look from 2B made him desists from doing so.
"Possibly, I can do the technical aspect as to building her metallic body, but I wasn't made to be a repair expert, so giving her back her proper aspect, such as applying skin and hair. That sort of thing is a little out of my reach for now. I could study how to do so if I find enough data on it of course, it'll take time, probably a lot, and chances are that she may not look the same again…"
He sighed. "If only we still had a medical android… I'm sure they could do better than me."
A2 looked down, 9S was truly trying to save Robin then…
However he too didn't possess all the needed knowledge, even if he was willing to learn. A2 herself knew little about that, she spent years repairing herself, but just a look at her physical state was enough to tell that no new skin had ever been applied to her body either.
She'd be more than willing to provide him materials, and everything else. Didn't matter as to what his reasons were for trying to accomplish this task, as long as Robin was back, nothing else counted for her.
"Well…" Anemone turned around, looking at the back of the camp, as if she knew something more than they did.
"There would be Devola…"
All turned to her, eyes wide at the revelation. "I thought the twins were dead."
9S shook his head in disbelief, they had been there when he tried to hack the Tower, with Popola using her own body to short circuit the system, as Devola threw him in with brute force once the door opened, and then he left them behind.
He assumed they had died after the Tower fell, perhaps crushed by it. Hadn't Anemone mentioned finding them too?
"That is… not correct. Popola is dead, but Devola, she… deactivated herself."
"So she wouldn't suffer living alone." something all of them could relate to, as they all had lost someone important in their lives, and more than once.
"Those two, they have more than 10 thousand of years of life, in which they have always been together, and even in death they didn't want to be separated." Anemone looked on, green eyes betraying sadness. "It could be cruel, but we could awaken Devola if you truly wish to go through with this all."
There was a moment of silence between them, all considering the option if they wanted to make Devola suffer for their plans by taking her back into this world on her own, in order to save another life, but probably making her succumb to despair and loneliness.
"What if Popola can be repaired?" 9S spoke first, after all he'd seen how she died. He knew how to repair circuitry at least.
"What if we awaken Devola to help us in repairing her sister, and then both can try to repair 26E?" Anemone offered, always if the red haired android would be willing to comply, she'd been the wilder one after all.
But with her sister involved, something told her she wouldn't say no.
"More hands are better than two, no?" she shrugged.
"Then what are we waiting for? If there's a way to do this then we will take it." A2 announced, already hurrying towards the back of the camp. Anemone followed alongside the others, then taking the lead, taking them where she brought the twins to rest, in the furthest room of the camp, which was theirs as people didn't want them around.
But she'd offered them what she had anyway. No reason not to do so.
Hopefully at least there would no longer be the need to bury them.
"Let's just hope all will go well…"