CHAPTER 21

From: Unknown sender

Subject: Miss me? :)

Hey ~*Penpal*~, how are things?

I'm so excited you finally decided to give me a nickname. :D

It's been really lonely here, I hope you visit me soon. I'm sure I can be better company than that old man. ;)

The email was just as irreverent as their previous correspondences had been. It was something she imagined 9S might write, were he not so aware of both the company's policies and the opinions of his co-workers.

Still, the detail in the email itself was concerning. Because she hadn't shared that information. She had been very careful not to share any information of worth.

Hastily, she penned a reply:

Re: Miss me?

How do you know about that. Are you spying on me?

She received a response within seconds.

Re: Re: Miss me?

Always ;)

Which was… exceedingly creepy, but not out of character for Cain, she supposed. She didn't know the limits of his abilities, and it wouldn't be wise to underestimate him.

It was of limited consequence regardless. Even if he was spying on her, it wasn't anything new - she was so accustomed to being closely monitored every minute of every day, that she'd come to view it as the default. By now she knew how to keep things close to her chest.

Re: Re: Re: Miss me?

Do you have any relevant intel about that man? Is his case related to yours in any way?

If you can tell me anything about the parties responsible for the wrongs done to you, I will do everything in my power to see justice served.

I want to help you.

She looked over the contents briefly before sending. A bit heavy-handed, perhaps, but she'd lost too much time already on false leads.

As usual, she received a reply nearly instantly.

Hmm… I miiight have some answers for you… but only if you make it worth my while. ;)

So he wanted to bargain. That was a good sign, hopefully.

What are your terms? I will try to accommodate if it's within my means.

If he wanted something outside of her budget, she might need to make a requisitioning request to YoRHa, but they tended not to ask too many questions when she was the one putting in the order. One of the perks of her unique position.

There was a slight delay before the next reply came.

Hm… how about… a kiss?

She stared. She blinked. She reread it, and stared again. What?! It took her a solid several nanoseconds to come to terms with what he was suggesting, and as she did she could feel her face heating up at the, the utter gall of this man...

And then she realized that she was blushing about a kiss. She tried to subdue her reaction, only to go even redder as the combined shame and anger left her systems overheating.

Before she had a chance to even think about how to write back, she received another message.

Oh my god, your face! Oh you should've seen it. I'm going to remember this moment forever, oh my god…!

(She couldn't see it, but she had a very deep suspicion that Cain was laughing himself to tears right now, and suddenly she changed her mind: she was not at all okay with Cain spying on her if this is how he planned to take advantage. This was just petty.)

Okay, okay, don't be mad, I'm sorry. I wouldn't ask for something like that as payment. But I am lonely in this empty Tower. :( If you grace me with your presence, that would be more than payment enough!

I promise I'll make it worth your while :D

She gave herself a moment more to recover her dignity after that childish prank, and then considered the offer. It read like a trap, and if it were anyone else she'd think it was a trap, but…

Cain had already had her at his mercy once. And that didn't mean he wouldn't stab her in the back, but… this was 9S. She liked to think she could still read him well enough to gather his intentions. Even this shameless, semi-psychotic version of him. And he seemed earnest to her.

Which didn't make him any less dangerous or volatile. But she thinks she can trust him at his word, as far as that goes.

So, with less hesitation then she probably should have, she found herself once again sprinting towards the giant eye-sore of a Tower than seemed to have buried itself so suddenly and irrevocably into the landscape, and into their lives.

The door to the Tower opened readily for her, as it had on her past two visits. She wondered, in a distant and distracted way, if it opened especially for her, or if Cain just left the door unlocked by default. As the door closed behind her, she was reminded of a carnivorous plant - all open and inviting so that it could chew and digest its prey.

Cain unsettled her deeply, but there was something about this Tower that went beyond that, something strange and other. They still didn't have an explanation for how it had appeared so suddenly, either. The Tower's interior moved. It was evidenced by the stone-like fragments which floated lazily through the air, but also in the subtle changes to the layout between each visit. For tactical purposes, 2B took care to memorize the floorplan of all the places she visited, but the Tower's rooms shifted in ways that made her map obsolete.

Such were her thoughts as she entered through the door, into the unfamiliar antechamber. She didn't have much opportunity to consider the latest layout, however, before a voice drew her attention.

"2B, you came!"

She turned in an instant, smooth motion to face the sound, hand going reflexively to her sword hilt. She was less surprised to see Cain there, stepping out from the shadows, and more surprised that she hadn't noticed him.

Cain made an aborted motion towards her, arm outstretched, but stopped when she jerked back reflexively. He grimaced guilty at her reaction, and withdrew his arm to his side, where he fidgeted his hands together restlessly. "I'm sorry, I forgot. I keep forgetting," he said morosely.

2B was left with the surreal feeling that something had been communicated without her intention or knowledge. Combined with the earlier jump-scare, she felt uneasy and off-kilter. She met his gaze (uncovered by a blindfold, still strange, still jarring) and tried to read what she could.

Carefully, with great intention, she removed her hand from her weapon and brought it to her side. A loose, neutral posture, to project a veneer of casualness that she didn't feel. "Cain," she said in greeting. "You said you had answers?"

Cain's mouth twitched into a bitter smile. "I have all sorts of answers, yeah, but you may not like them. I sure didn't."

2B was quite certain that what she "liked" had never factored into her job.

"It doesn't matter, I need to know. What is this place, Cain?"

"I told you before, it's a place I inherited by chance. The original owners are long gone."

"Were those original owners the ones responsible for your… condition?" she pried.

Cain nodded, "Yep."

A solid confirmation this time. She hadn't forgotten his vague answers from before, however. "What do you mean by 'gone'? Can you say for certain that they no longer present a threat?"

Cain opened his mouth to respond, then paused. Closed his mouth. Brought his hand to his chin and thought about it. Opened his mouth again. "Well, no, not when you put it that way," he admitted.

This did nothing to alleviate 2B's concern. She leveled him with her most unimpressed stare.

"I'm working on it!" he protested defensively. "I have it under control."

2B was not convinced. "You said they're gone, but are they still threatening you? Are they controlling you somehow?"

"No!" he denied heatedly. "No, that's completely… they don't know I'm even alive. Well, this me, at least."

Her mind honed in the casual admission. "What do you mean by 'this' you. Are there others?" she demanded.

Cain waved a hand dismissively. "Not like that. I meant the other me. You know."

"...9S." It was both an answer and a form of address. Calling the name which Cain had given up, but was still his.

Cain smiles ruefully in confirmation.

The reminder that her 9S had someway, somehow, become this left an unpleasant lump in her throat. Because for all that he had been civil to her in their interactions, she couldn't forget how he acted before, how unhinged he was. She could still see hints of that madness in his lopsided, too-wide grin and in the soft red glow of his eyes.

She had let herself get distracted again. For all Cain had told her, he'd said nothing of substance. She couldn't ignore that. "You act like this is a threat you need to face yourself, but it's not. If this presents a threat to android-kind, or to YoRHa, then we won't let it stand. Tell me, who did this to you?"

Cain looked back at her, listening seriously, all trace of humor gone from his face. "...I don't want to tell you," he finally admitted.

2B felt a surge of frustration at the blatant dismissal. "Why not?" she demanded.

"Because I'm afraid of what happens if I do. If they know you know, if you find out… then they'll kill you. It'll be just like last time."

The ominous declaration resounded in the room. 2B couldn't bring herself to dismiss it as melodrama, because she'd never seen Cain look as serious as he did now. But she also couldn't back down here. "If I'm in danger, then I need to know. I can protect myself better if I'm informed," she argued calmly, levelly.

"Shut up. Shut UP," Cain yelled. "YOU can't protect yourself at ALL you FuCkiNg LiAR."

2B had very clearly said the wrong thing. Or else Cain's madness had slipped past whatever hold he had on it. She began to edge away carefully, but Cain wasn't done.

"Did you even TRY to live or did you just aim for the first swoRd that looked cOnvEnient, so you could stAb your hearT out and LEaVe mE beHinD?!"

She didn't understand. His words made no sense. But that wasn't important. Establish safe distance from threat, secure escape route – he might be able to lock the door, she couldn't count on that for an exit–

"Are you in such a hurry to DIE? What the HELL is wrong with you? I'm just tRyiNG to PROTECT yoU."

She still hadn't identified the white substance, hadn't categorized its properties. Could she cut through it? How thick were the walls? She sent a silent command to her pod to analyze the wall density. Material appears self-repairing anyway, so unsuitable as an escape–

"2B please, you need to live, you HAVE to and–and WHY WON'T you LOOK AT ME?!?"

She did, at that. Met his eyes. Mentally, she was still running calculations, still braced for a fight. Not the right time yet, hold ground.

"I… fuck. Shit. No. No no no no, I'm sorry, I… that's unfair, it wasn't you I can't… But I just need to know, why couldn't she have waited? I was right there, I could've done something, could've saved her if I'd had a chance, but now she's gone and I'll never know why."

Mood swings, she categorized. Rapid onset of anger as well as grief. Emotional regulation disorder caused by a software malfunction, possibly a virus.

"I'm sorry. I promised you answers, didn't I? You wanted to know… something. You wanted to know… my disease?" He gestured to his eyes, which were glowing vividly.

Lack of lucidity, she categorized. Possibly more vulnerable in this state. Might be able to win in a fight, but risky without a partner as backup.

"You don't have it. You're fine. You're safe, I made sure. Even if everyone else gets sick, you two won't. So you don't need to worry." He frowned. "I'm not making any sense, am I? Are you– you are 2B, right? You're not A2?"

He trailed off, muttering softly to himself, growing more and more still as the red light in his eyes died down. And then he slouched forward and stopped moving altogether.

Moments passed. For an uncountably long second, neither android moved.

Just as 2B was about to move, Cain jerked upright. "Jeez, ouch. Hard resets are no fun," he complained, shaking out his limbs experimentally. "But I guess sometimes you have to turn it off and then on again." He looked around, and then saw her, and his eyes widened with surprise. "You're… still here."

She already calculated several thousand scenarios for escape. The door is simplest, but failing that she can ascend the Tower – it had gaps one could fall through, jump through. Her pod would ensure a safe landing.

"You should go, you should… I'm sorry you had to see that. You should go."

She really should. But she didn't. "You promised me an answer. It wasn't the Resistance man. Who was it." Because as frightening as Cain was, she still had a mission to fulfill.

Cain crossed his arms and gave her a considering look. "You want to know who's fault it is that I'm like this? Who did this to my brain?"

"Yes," she confirmed impatiently.

"Well you won't have to look far. It's all YoRHa's fault."

"Be serious!" she growled, "YoRHa would never create…" A monster, a threat, something like you.

No, they would.

"YoRHa would never create something they couldn't control," she finished, and she can't quite conceal the bitterness that seeped into her tone.

Cain gave a non-committal hum. "Well, they were trying to kill me. It just… didn't quite work how they intended." He scowled a bit, directing his gaze at his shoes.

That, she would believe.

"Although technically," he amended, "it was the Council of Humanity that did it. YoRHa was just a pawn. I've gotta say though, a virus is a terrible way to go. It's… sloppy. And painful."

A virus. Someone tried to kill 9S with a virus - of course that wouldn't work, he's a Scanner and their most advanced hacker to date. She… doesn't remember that happening though.

Wait, no, why was she taking this at face value. "You're insane. Why would I believe you."

"I'm only a bit insane. Side effect of the virus. I couldn't completely purge it, so instead I set up a web of self-repair functions and redundancies – I'm basically constantly rebuilding myself while my brain tries to eat itself alive." He offered a cocky grin. "I'm probably the only one who could pull it off."

"...Isn't that painful?" 2B asked without meaning to. Because how could he smile about this?

Cain's smile fell for just a moment, before he put it back in place. "I'm used to it," he denied. "Besides, it's not all bad. The infection lets me break into a lot of backdoors that were previously inaccessible. It's fundamentally a hive mind, and I can access it and use it. The virus doesn't control me anymore. I control the virus."

2B scowled. "You didn't look very in control earlier."

Cain grimaced at the reminder, but didn't deny it. He averted his gaze guiltily. "Yeah… sorry 'bout that."

2B was just about done with this bullshit. "Saying sorry doesn't excuse your behavior." She shook her head in disapproval. "I came here looking for answers, and all you've done is level baseless accusations against YoRHa."

Cain outright scoffed at that. "Oh, because you're such a fan of the company. I know you, 2B. You don't trust YoRHa any more than I do. You just stand behind them because you have nothing else." Cain grinned menacingly, leaning towards her. His eyes were glowing red, but his gaze remained eerily lucid and piercing. "You know best of all how much of a rotten fruit that place is, shiny on the outside but on the inside? It's all maggots," he said with a cheerful giggle.

Abruptly he dropped the humor from his voice. His voice went cold and serious. "I may not have proof about who I am, and what's happened to me, but believe me this: if you value your life, don't stay in YoRHa. They killed me, they killed you, and one of these days it will stick."

The pronouncement chilled 2B to her core, haunting and full of prophecy. Her body shivered involuntarily and it had nothing to do with temperature.

She shook her head, wishing she could unhear the words. But the seeds of doubt were planted, and his accusations against YoRHa were so similar to her own persistent doubts that she couldn't shake it off. She tried to tell herself that he was just saying whatever he wanted to shake her faith, to encourage sedition. But the more she tried to bolster her belief in YoRHa and its cause, the more aware she was that her faith was a weak, crumbling thing.

"I should go," she said softly.

Cain smiled peacefully back at her. "I didn't mean to scare you," he said. "Even if YoRHa were to kill you, I wouldn't let you die. So don't worry, okay?"

2B felt her skin crawl. If that was Cain's idea of comfort, it had the opposite effect. Without another word of goodbye, she turned to exit the Tower. Mercifully, the door let her out without issue.

Once she'd gotten a short distance from the Tower, she distantly noticed she had reception again. Only moments later, she got an incoming phone call. She answered it.

"2B, I finally got through!" spoke a feminine voice. "You received an urgent summon from the base, and I wasn't sure what to do if I couldn't get through… oh, this is 6O by the way. Obviously."

2B felt somewhat calmed by the familiar babbling of her Operator, until she registered the content of the message. "A summons?"

"Yes. You've been instructed to drop whatever you're doing, and report to the Commander. Um. Immediately."

Ending U: [U]nsettling communication