Title: Glory to Mankind

Summary: Glory to Mankind

Commander White

Diagnostic checks completed. Filters are at 50% operational level. Recommend to exchange filters at earliest convenience. Joints fluidity are within acceptable range for operation within facilities. Recommended to perform maintenance. Replacement deemed unnecessary. Software checks indicate 1% data fragmentation... 0% fragmentation. Reactivating unit Commander White.

Welcome back, Commander White. It has been DateParserError since last operation.

Glory to Mankind.

Upon reactivation, my ocular receptors observed a curious image. There was a male body-type standing at the console. The fact that he was male was not the oddity. It was the fact that he didn't wear a YoRHa uniform. In fact, further analysis indicated that the individual did not match any of the YoRHa body types on record. He was far too large for a type S model.

Was he a member of the surface resistance? If so, it would be an indication that this was a backup surface facility as the resistance members did not have the means of accessing the Bunker. In conjunction with my previous hibernation status, it was the most plausible explanation for this situation.

The question was why. Had the Bunker fallen? This did not bode well. This facility had long been decommissioned. Backups had been long discontinued and battle data would have been far out of date. A concern since, if the Bunker had fallen, the machine life forms must have evolved to the point in which modern YoRHa units were obsolete.

... But what if it was simply happenstance that the figure had reactivated us? A simple mistake. I needed to confirm the situation.

Pushing the glass tube that contained my body, it opened easily and let out a hissing noise as the vacuum seal was broken. The noise caused the individual to spin around with a gun pointed at me.

Leon

As the dust settled, I saw a tall figure step out from the capsule that had just opened. An ethereally beautiful woman in white with white hair elegantly approached me. Her eyes were the clearest blue I had ever seen. Her footsteps were inaudible despite the fact that she wore heels in a metal room.

"A woman?" I said in shock.

Her eyes narrowed as she took on a hostile stance. She pulled off a pin on her dress, and it emitted a glowing beam.

"Hostiles?" she said in Japanese.

Shit, she must have perceived my words as that of an enemy.

"Friendly," I cried back in the appropriate language.

She took on an astonished look but did not lower her guard. Couldn't blame her.

"What is the current status of YoRHa?" she commanded.

Shit. This must have been a military base, and she must have been some type of officer. This could be particularly sticky for me if she could awaken and command other units here.

"I'm a civilian," I quickly cried out to hopefully reduce her hostility.

"Civilian?" she said in disbelief.

"Yeah!"

"Ridiculous. There are no such things as civilians in this war."

"Maybe when you went to sleep, but we aren't currently in some dystopian war right now," I said panickedly.

"... So we've managed to drive back the machine life forms?" she said in awe as if she finally finished some impossible task.

Machine life forms? So what? A Skynet situation occurred sometime between my death and now? Just fuck this world.

"Well, considering humans are still running around, yeah. Humanity won."

"... Running around? As in currently?" she asked in confusion.

"You're not human?" I asked. Was she some ancestral race to someone like the elves?

"... Are you... human?"

I raised my gun back up as I began to worry YoRHa might have been a particularly hostile faction.

"Is that going to be a problem?" I asked sternly.

Her eyes lit up and a transparent screen popped up in front of her.

"Impossible! Humanity has already gone extinct with the failure of Project Gestalt! But... these readings. Detecting presence of a heart rate... pulse... normal body temperature... biological composition... fecal matter... You really are a human," she said in awe as her fingers finally stopped flitting about.

"I don't know what any of that means, but would it be safe to assume from your tone that you are pleased that humans still exist?"

"Yes. As will the others."

"Others?"

The woman proceeded to go to the console, type away, and said, "Of course. We androids are the protectors of mankind. It is natural for us to need to be in the service of humans. We had long thought we would have all perished prior to meeting one. For both the war to be over and to have humanity return to the planet, what else but elation would be felt amongst us?"

As she finished her statement, the entire facility lit up. Several pods simultaneously opened with a frightening hiss. Outside the room, more opened as a cacophony of noise made its way through the doorway.

"Attention all units, assemble in the command center for debriefing," the woman voice echoed as she interfaced with the intercom system.

"Is that a..." several feminine voices sounded behind me.

Looking around, I saw several women curiously and excitedly pointing at me. They differed from the first one in that they all wore black clothing and had the lower part of their faces covered with a black fabric. Despite their coverings, I could tell they were all likely beautiful.

It was eery to have so many eyes on me. Despite the white one's comments, I wasn't sure if they would all hold the same feelings. For all I knew, they could find their creator disappointing and decide to supplant the humans. That was what had apparently happened with the so called machine life forms.

In order to appear friendly, I nervously waved at them and said, "Hi. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

They took that as an invitation to excitedly swarm me. Fortunately, their tugs, while a bit forceful, were only just. They weren't trying to tear me apart. Just overly excited and trying to confirm that I was squishy and not made of metal.

Several hundred androids. I had a size-able town of high performance androids at my beck and call with varying roles and body types. Aside from the Commander, there were Attacker, Battler, Defender, Executor, Gunner, Healer, Operator, and Scanner (A, B, D, E, G, H, O, and S types). For each role, there were one hundred body types at most. Type A and E had the least as type A had been the prototype model and type E was often melded with the type B's. Type H had the second least as many of their roles and functions had been subsumed by the type S's.

An interesting note was that male androids were exclusive to type S models. Something about being generally noncooperative in the other models. The Commander also told me on the side that type S's were always partnered with type E's since S models had a tendency of going rogue after learning too much. Honestly, felt shitty but I had never been in a war for survival so I couldn't properly comment on it.

This little tidbit did, however, clue me into another detail about the androids. Model type also somewhat dictated a base personality type. Type E's were more analytical in nature. Likely a necessity to be able to handle identifying rogue units executing them. Made masking them in the B models ridiculous since the type B's tended to be more aggressive in nature, which made sense. Type O's were completely pacifistic in nature.

The least predictable ones were the type A's. They were the most human. Crafted under the assumption that human potential would be the key to winning the war. It was uncanny how I sometimes forgot that they were all androids.

The only major clue revealing detail about their origin was their complete naïveté regarding human actions and customs. It wasn't even the same as children curiosity. It was like trying to assign an explanation and reason for everything. Trying to describe the function of a rubber duck had certainly been a novel experience.

As I waited for the YoRHa units to assemble a suitable ship to help transport the entire facility, the androids decided to do a check up on me. Concerns for my health popped up since they weren't actually aware of what was needed to keep a human alive besides fresh water (even then they almost forgot to dilute the water lest I get burned from too pure water). Thank god they had the technology to replicate my foodstuffs.

In any case, as they analyzed my blood, I looked over the reports the Commander had been sending me regarding the resource acquisition of neighboring islands.

These units just cannabalized the entire islands. Everything of value just completely stripped in a matter of days. The sum total of resources was already enough to earn a spot in the general classes of the Academy.

A nice addition was that they had found a rather sizeable island. Perfect to set up shop as a baronet in the future. A personal bonus was that it had natural hot springs. A rarity with how messed up the geography of the world had become after whatever happened between YoRHa's shutdown and now.

Resources, treasure, land, a huge ass flying battleship, and a veritable army of super soldiers. Easy life here I come. The only thing I needed was a wife... specifically a wife capable of bearing children.

I stared at some of the passing type O's asses. Goddamn. All visual temptation and none of the functionality.

Seriously, how did YoRHa expect humanity to come back if they couldn't breed us. Seemed like a huge issue with their long term goals.

Operator 21O

After three months, we took Master Leon back to his father's territory. It was decided that select YoRHa units would be accompanying Master Leon to meet with his family and discuss the future of YoRHa since the machine life forms were no longer a threat.

With humanity's return and development of factions, it was the upmost importance for us to determine our allegiances and how we may best serve with minimal harm to humanity. Our historical records of humanity indicated such would be a problem. After all, how could we both serve humanity if both sides of a conflict were now between humans. Would it be a matter of absolute numbers, a matter of which side could push human progress the furthest, a matter of creating a stable (stagnant) environment, or a matter of prioritizing Master Leon's interests.

Current protocol aligned with Master Leon's interests of self-preservation, but for how long was the question. We hoped to come to some reconciliation to this logic problem.

I looked around the rest of the squad being allowed to greet Master Leon's family. The group was comprised of those deemed best suited to making a good first impression. The Commander was naturally coming along as she played the pivotal role of directing all of YoRHa. Several type A's were selected as protection detail. The prototypes close resemblance to human personalities was deemed an asset over the B types' combat effectiveness.

I was selected as the Operator unit and would record all formal decisions. I was not necessarily chosen for my aptitude or ability to blend in. I was mainly chosen for my inherent interest in family units. Given we were meeting Master Leon's family, I was naturally chosen to help document and observe how family members interacted with each other.

As a result of my involvement, Unit 9S was selected to be part of the team. He would help establish a relay point on the island and scope out the land to determine if a more permanent base could be established. Even though he had very little to do for this venture, they were high priority tasks.

Unit 2B was also added to the team as type S androids were to be accompanied by redacted units at all times. Well, with the war over, that protocol had been disabled. 9S was just insistent on his partner coming along for such a historic event.

It was interesting to note the relationship between 9S and 2B. They were so close. Ah, there was the odd sensation again. Master Leon said it was envy. It was unpleasant even if Master Leon said it was a common phenomena for humans.

Refocusing my attention, I noticed that the ship had landed. The Master's family was standing at the entrance of the manor. A man, two women, and a small boy. Judging from the ages, Master's father, mother, matriarch, and little brother were present.

The little brother's excitement was the only expected reaction. The adults each held different reactions compared to what I would expect. None of them seemed ecstatic.

The father appeared to be in shock. Perhaps he was overwhelmed with emotion. Master Leon had been gone for three months with no communication. He likely thought his son dead.

The woman with the blond hair expressed what appeared to be anger. She must have been Zola. No doubt disappointed that Master Leon was alive.

The brunette must have been Master's mother. Yet she was crying. From the stories Master Leon told us, should she not be happy with the return of her son?

"Master? Why is it that your Mother appears to be distressed with your return?" I asked while pointing out the woman's tears.

"21O, right?"

He was getting better at differentiating us. His inability to remember us all had been exasperating at first, but we had to remember that his brain functioned fundamentally different from ours. Calling up the correct designation from over hundreds was not natural for humans.

It was pleasant to know he had somewhat committed mine to memory.

"Yes."

"Sometimes humans cry when they are happy."

"Why is that?"

"Do you mean biologically or mentally?"

"Do you know the mechanism by which this phenomena occurs?"

"No."

"Then why ask?"

"Wouldn't have been the first time someone asked me the exact process by which everything occurs."

"42O?"

"The one with the swirly glasses?"

"5G."

"She was a type G? Why does she need glasses?"

"She prefers them over the standard issue fabric we use to protect our eyes. She has a personal fascination with human eyewear."

"... Right..."

"So about your mother?"

"Right. Sometimes humans are just overwhelmed with emotions and react in seemingly contradictory ways. There tears of joy, hate sex, and more."

Hate sex? Humans were odd. Why leave yourself in a vulnerable state with someone you hated?

"Big Sis? Up?" Colin asked me with outstretched arms.

I chuckled as I picked him up and launched him into the air. He screamed in excitement as he went up.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that," Luce said as she eyed her child nervously.

"Worry not. My frame has nowhere near enough power necessary to seriously harm Colin in the 0.000001% chance I fail to catch him."

It was fortunate that Colin had latched onto me instead of a type A. They might have acquiesced to his requests despite the risk their strength could pose to him. Even without our natural compulsion to serve humans, Colin was innocent enough that we wanted to see him smile. Safety protocols be damned.

I quickly caught the boy and slowed his fall just enough so that he would be unharmed.

"Again," he excitedly cried before he was sent back up in the air again.

"You know, Leon will be awfully jealous that you are hogging his favorite sibling's attention," Luce said slyly.

"Then he needs to workout more."

AN

1) Woo, chapter 50! Also, not 50 factorial. I'm a nerd.

2) Caught up on watching the Nier Automata anime season 2. Got me in a mood to write this.

3) While I played the game and watched the anime, my understanding of the lore and characters is shaky at best. Characterizations are likely off.

4) Lore wise on how humans came back after extinction and access to the moon server being severed... IDK. At this point, make shit up like some moon goddess deciding to recreate humans on Earth using data she found on the moon.

5) Could also add a discussion about masao(magic element) in prologue since it caused the White Chlorination Syndrome. Supposed to have been banished, but could be an interesting topic and explanation for the emergence of New Humans.

6) General premise would likely follow one particular android in each chapter to witness human interaction, question it, and form certain beliefs that are either positive or negative. Depending on whoever tries to write this, this could be heart warming or extremely dramatic as androids become disillusioned with how shitty humans are. Knowing Holfort, they're screwed.

7) 21O latching onto Colin seems to be pretty plausible, especially if Colin constantly calls her Big Sis.

8) Pod Luxion because why not.

9) Updates will slow down significantly either starting now or soon since classes will be starting soon again.

Review Response

Exiled Soul Nomad: Glory be to the tiny miniskirt.

Guest: Eh. I've noted that this will more or less be the first draft version of my fics while AO3 will be the "final" draft version. Mainly don't want any to change my stuff here until the other site is all caught up. Once I have all the chapters up to date on AO3, I'll go back to manually update the chapters here. I just really don't want to accidentally delete something permanently.

Dimensionador: I'm old! I haven't kept up with Power Rangers! That being said, pirate Power Rangers does sound like it would fit too.

Zero: Not really mainly because it feels like adding Gundams doesn't do much for the plot since mechas already a thing. If I were to do a Gundam crossover, it would not focus on the Gundams at all or I would be using semi-sentient Gundams (I don't know if the Gundams you listed are sentient because I don't follow Gundam) like Wing Zero or Epyon. Could see Olivia piloting 00 Raiser for connecting hearts.

Kian Xki: Leon didn't do anything weird here. He gets registered with the guild to protect his assets from Zola, takes a difficult test to get the proper permits for off-capital quests, and takes quests conveniently on the way to his destination so he can accrue funds necessary to supply himself during the venture. He also did not ask for Luna to find party members for him, that was all Luna looking out for her guild members. Leon would also accept to ferry other adventurers or partner temporarily as he travelled to the general endpoint if it helped fund his venture and/or allowed him to properly judge difficulty levels safely. He could even drop the two off when he gets close enough to specifically look for Luxion. Changing plans after interacting with the two is also a possibility depending on how well good the partnership is. Mainly details that would not be obvious since I didn't do Leon's perspective. Perhaps for the AO3 version to fix much later down the line.

As for Julius being more levelheaded... he's not. Canonically speaking, starving on the street is what makes him more levelheaded, at least in turns of saving money. I even added that he was stupid enough to not realize him how difficult life as a commoner was, how he initially tried to use his former status to get what he wanted, and how is naïveté nearly got him and Angelica kidnapped. Basically, went through enough shit to at least be post Alzer levels of maturity.