CHAPTER 10

"Thanks for your help back there," one of the redheads, the one with curly hair, remarked. She was shaking out her wrist, and looked a little worse for the wear, but seemed mostly unharmed.

After A2 had retreated, the two redheads had hesitantly made their way back into the room. 2B's self-repair cycle had activated, and had offset enough of the damage to satisfy 9S for the time being. Now, the two pairs of androids faced each other in a loose circle.

"Yeah," said the other redhead, the one with straight hair, "you really saved us."

2B was quick to deflect the praise. "Think nothing of it. We were just doing our duty." It was a YoRHa android - an ex-YoRHa android - that had attacked them anyway, so in a way it was partially their responsibility that the redheads had been in danger. "Can you tell us anything more about the fugitive who attacked you? What was she after?"

Straight-hair worried at her lip, and looked away nervously. It was the curly-haired one who answered, "We found something in the castle. The woman who attacked us wanted us to hand it over. Really rude if you ask me. We found it first." Casually changing the subject, she asked, "By the way, I don't believe we've met before…?"

"Of course. I'm YoRHa unit 2B, and this is my Scanner, 9S."

"Charmed, I'm sure," offered curly-hair blithely.

"Devola! Be nice!" interjected straight-hair. "I apologize for my sister. I'm Popola, and this is Devola. We're support-specialized androids working with the Resistance."

With this, the newly-introduced Popola bowed forward slightly at the waist in greeting. 2B reciprocated with a nod of her head

Then something caught her eye. A bundle that Popola was carrying - she'd seen it before, during the fight, but hadn't gotten a good look at it. During the bow, the fabric had shifted slightly so as to reveal the inner contents.

It was… a machine's head? A bundle of machine parts?

9S seemed to notice it at the same time, and he leaned in with fascination. "What are you doing with that machine?" he asked curiously.

"That's…" Popola took a nervous step back, and curled in around the bundle defensively.

Devola smoothly stepped between Popola and 9S. "It's a baby."

"A… baby?" echoed 9S in disbelief.

Devola growled, leveling her best glare at the two of them. "Yeah, a baby. What of it?"

9S frowned back at her. "A baby machine? But machines don't have juvenile phases any more than androids do. They're fully developed from the moment they're assembled. So someone created a machine… baby?" Now 9S leaned in curiously. "Why? For what purpose?"

"Wait… was this the thing you 'found'?" asked 2B with a hint of disbelief.

"So what if it was?" Devola answered defensively. Her arms were crossed and her body language was tense, as if expecting a fight.

"That android, A2, she was going to kill it," added Popola, who was still half-hiding behind her sister.

"And you were… protecting it," 2B more asked than stated.

"Why?" demanded 9S in confusion. "Did you need the parts or something? Why is that machine worth risking your life over?"

"Because it's a baby!" cried Popola. Behind Devola's outstretched arm, Popola seemed to have recovered her boldness. She was standing straight now, her determined expression mirroring her sister's.

Both YoRHa androids were surprised into silence by her uncharacteristic shout. Popola took this opportunity to continue. "In the ruins we, we found something… a machine record from many years ago. This baby, it's their king. The one they've all been protecting."

Popola looked at them all earnestly as she explained the rest of what they'd found. There had been a previous Forest King who had led these machines, but he'd died. The machines needed a new ruler, so they'd attempted to resurrect their king from his parts. This small machine was the result of their efforts to reincarnate him.

"...So they've been protecting this baby, his heir, until it has the chance to grow up," Popola concluded.

The YoRHa androids, and Devola, had remained silent throughout this explanation. 2B looked on impassively, and 9S listened with a sort of morbid fascination.

"That doesn't explain why you're protecting it now," 2B said, cutting right to the point.

At this, Devola sent Popola a concerned glance. Popola met her eyes and smiled softly. The two of them seemed to convey an entire conversation in that small interaction. Eventually, it was Devola who spoke.

"It's because… babies are something to be protected," Devola began. "Back when there were humans on this Earth, that's something everyone took for granted. Babies are… innocent. They represent new life and infinite potential. Even in times of war, enemy children were not to be harmed. This is an axiom of human morality."

"And we," Popola continued, "are bound by that moral code. To see an innocent child in danger… we had to save it. Because we couldn't save anyone back then… we had to try to save this child. To attone."

9S protested, "But that's nonsense! Even if it's shaped like a baby, it's still a machine at its core. It has the same programming as the other machines in this castle, which you had no trouble destroying." He gestured to the various machine corpses on the floor, which had been there prior to his and 2B's arrival.

"Besides," 9S continued, "if we go based on age, that so-called baby is already at least a couple decades old. Certainly old enough to be considered an adult by human standards. Sure it's… kind of weak and helpless looking," 9S shrugged at the bundle of fabric that Popola still carried, "but… it's not a real child."

Popola looked at 9S sadly. In contrast, Devola looked incensed.

But before either of them could reply, it was 2B who spoke up.

"'Everyone has things that are precious to them for one reason or another. It's not for us to judge their value,'" 2B quoted. "When we were retrieving the photos for the android who lost her memories, I said that, do you remember?" She paused to glance meaningfully at the machine swaddled in fabric. "It's the same thing here. That… 'baby' is important to them; that's all we need to know."

Neither side looked too happy at this forced compromise, but neither side looked ready to argue about it, either.

"More importantly, we came here for a reason," 2B said, changing the subject. Looking at both redheads commandingly, she declared, "We need your help."

Meanwhile, in a distant place, two figures sat at a long, long table.

"Brother, can we play now? I've read so much of that stupid book," a certain machine complained.

"Hm… maybe so. I think I found something interesting to play with," his brother replied with a smirk.

Ending J: [J]ustice is Blind

# A/N: Time to start earning that "everyone lives" tag...