~ Repair in Progress ~

"Err...Er… Error... Error... Function.. Function.. Function..." 9S's mouth stammered as his head jolted with a slight tick. The bleeding had slowed but it had been a head shot.

"Function... Enabled..." 9S repeated in his monotone voice. "Reboot system." He went limp in her hands, then stiffened again. "Reboot system." 9S went limp again, before stiffening. This happened four more times, it was almost as if he was stuck in a repeating reboot loop.

"Come on, come on, dammit!" That was a really bad, wound and it'd more than likely broken several things within him. Where most humans would have died from suffering a head shot, it had seemed that his system was still trying to fix itself.

If 2B could keep him conscious for just a little longer, she could try to fix any disconnections or errors caused.

"Reboot.. successful." The fifth reboot ended and 2B would be able to see systems restarting via her visor.

"2B..." His voice, the soft voice not the monotone voice spoke.

A sigh of relief could be heard after the fifth reboot had been successful. "Oh, thank you!" She leaned in, doing her best to do a systems check and repair any crashes in internal programming. She wasn't a scanner so, she didn't know too much about their insides. Usually he did all the maintenance stuff.

"Injury sustained, internal damage. I should upload myself to the bunker for backup." 9S stated, his visible eye looking up at her, his visor missing thanks to the shot.

"I cannot connect to the Bunker network. Satellite missing..." He whispered, looking up past her into the night sky.

"2B... I... I cannot find the bunker..."

2B let out a shaky sigh. "I don't think that's possible from here. Humans did this to you. Do you know what that means?"

2B was asking him because even she didn't know. Was time travel even possible? What had that mother ship done? Trembling hands took his cheeks again, forcing him to meet her gaze.

"I need you to help me repair you, alright? Do you think you can hold on? We need to be quick about it. I took us to the edge of the city but, they'll be looking for us. I busted them up a fair amount to buy us sometime."

"Humans? Why would Humans attack us? We are their creations..." 9S did not seem to yet understand that they had gone back in time, it was something he thought impossible.

Guess not.

"It will be hard for you to repair me without me being unconcious... here..." 9S lifted his hand and placed it on her cheek, she would feel something inside her head, a voice.

"Hello 2B..."

"I made a copy of myself in your mind, minimal systems so that you will not overload by the stress of it, but I recommend not having this much data inside you for long." 9S explained.

"He... will help you.." His voice slowly drifted as if he fell asleep.

"System shutdown..." His eyes closed and 9S went limp.

"Alright 2B, lets fix... me.. so that I don't get stuck in your head" 9S laughed quietly. "I need you to open up my head..."

2B's eyes shot up as she heard 9S' voice in her mind. That was odd. It was like sharing a body with the boy lying directly in front of her.

"Alright. Just don't lose focus or try to access any of my personal data." 2B knew she didn't have to warn him about that. Though curious, 9S was a polite boy and if he'd ever accidentally slipped any information only she knew, he was aware of the consequences.

9S would instruct her in the basic maintenance to fix him, it was a hodge podge of a job but it would hold for a while.

"Reboot me and then delete me here.." 9S explained.

"Thank you 2B... for trying to save me like this, I wish he would know what it is like to be this connected to you." 9S spoke, 'He' being his original self.

Her hands moved in every direction and in every method the voice instructed her to. Connecting wires, repositioning things, checking for certain lights on things. It was a basic tech support run through.

When she'd finally finished, 2B smiled softly at his words. "9S, before I delete this copy of you, I have to tell you. I've always cared about you- er, him. I can't tell him, though because of reasons I'm not able to disclose but maybe now that we're here and not anywhere near YoRHa, we'll have a little bit longer. Thank you for being my sanctuary in this cycle of violence, Nines...I'm sorry for everything." Her eyes were sad and the foreign data in her head could probably sense her deep sorrow. Before it grew too curious and went digging, she purged it from her head, deleting that copied version of him forever.

"2B..." The internal voice seemed to catch its voice in its non-real throat. "I... I care about you too, even if I cannot say it there." 9S made her look to the version of him on the floor in front of her.

"Know that I trust you with all my heart and will.. that if we were allowed emotions, I would..." 9S stopped when she told him that there were reasons.

"Reasons.." 9S mumbled, his internal self quickly trying to find as much as it could but it was only a fraction of his power, a fraction of his mind. It quickly popped out of existence as 2B called him Nines and apologised.

2B could feel him smile at the name Nines but then he'd gleamed something and there was... hopelessness... sadness.. betrayal... more sadness.

Her focus returned to the previously broken android. She shut his head and sat back, eyeing him carefully. Hopefully she followed the instructions carefully. He was so clever for thinking of such an idea as to transfer himself to her head before breaking down. Luckily she'd learnt that he had an emergency backup system built in so, he'd remember up until the point where he went unconscious just minutes ago.

"YoRHa Number 9, Type S: activate. Good morning, 9S." 2B said, imitating what the Pods said every time they had to do emergency system repairs on them. It wasn't like her to be humorous but, she had her very rare moments.

Sitting up in one fluid motion, 9S's head turned around and took in the area. "2B? Where... " He began but his mind quickly filled the information in.

His hand went to his face and he winced in pain. "I have several systems offline, some damaged. The fix you and my little self did is good but will only hold for a little while. I need tools and I need my POD." 9S explained. "I can scavenge parts from him until we get back to the Bunk..." 9S stopped, then looked at her.

"We're not in Kansas anymore..." 9S actually joked, a twitch of his head brought him back. "Sorry.. I.. an old file I found in a data-packet.. There is.. so much noise in the air.." 9S looked around. "Wireless data.. everywhere... We're.. we're.. on Earth.. in the past... humans.. there are humans.. we should warn them!"

"I'm not sure the Pods came with us. Even if they did, we'd have to hide them. I've got an idea."

2B had known that there were no tools on their person but, she could find a place where the humans sold them. Maybe that'll be enough to make the repairs.

"I'm guessing what you just said means we're not on our Earth anymore. You're right about that but as kindhearted and ideal as your plan to earn them is, we can't." Combat androids also needed to learn to adapt and 2B gathered that the only way to survive here is to act as unassuming humans. It wouldn't be easy since she knew nothing about them but, 9S' limited knowledge would have to help them through it.

"Androids don't exist yet. They think we're oddly dressed humans. If we start spouting off what we know about the future, we'll look crazy and they'll get suspicious. I apologise but, you'll just have to trust me."

His copy's words rang through her mind, sending a pang of guilt through her. Deleting him was like killing him all over again, especially after confiding in him. Now that YoRHa was a thing of the future, the two could live peacefully until the alien invasion. 2B stood, offering her hand to him as she prepared to set her plans in motion with the money they had on them. Hopefully it was the same. If not, she may have to steal from her creators until she could find employment.

"If I remember correctly, a supply trader told me that humans had a place where they sold tools and home supplies. It was called 'a hardware store'. Maybe they have some wire and tools that will assist you with repairs. Let's move."

2B kept her grip on his hand out of concern, not thinking much of it as she began to make her way back in the city. They had to be very careful if they had another run-in with those guys again now that they couldn't change bodies or do core maintenance without the Bunker. They were just lucky to have kept 9S functioning for a little while longer.