Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

9S held his knees close to his body, resting his chin on his kneecaps. He huddled up hidden away in a small alcove in the trees above the sewer. He felt hopeless. Alone and cold. He had told himself the rain wouldn’t slow him down, that he’d keep going no matter what. But before long he was shivering and freezing. His joints were squeaking and ached like all hell. He scooted further into the natural shelter in the tree roots and covered his exposed knees with his hands.

“This is ridiculous… I’ve never seen it rain around here.” He thought to himself. 9S felt a wretched thought bubbling in the back of his mind.

Don’t think it. Don’t say it. You know it’s not true.
“It never rained when 2B was around…” He whispered.

Stop it! Shut up! This isn't fair!

“I wonder if her data is out there… floating about in the cold rain… ”

Shut up!

The little lone Android buried his face in his gloves. He didn't cry, he couldn't. He wanted to so badly. He needed to let it all out in one big meltdown. But still, it wouldn't come out.

“Why…? What did we do to deserve all of this?”

Don't do this to yourself.

“Are we being punished for something? Are we atoning for sins committed by those before us?”

I said shut up, damn it!

“No one deserved this… The Commander, 21O… 2B… 2B didn't do anything to deserve this… though... perhaps I'm being punished…”

It isn't true! You know it's not true!

“I… feel responsible for this… but why? Why do I feel to blame for something I didn't do?”

ENOUGH!

“Why are you talking to yourself…?” A metallic voice said.

9S looked up from his gloves and was met by the gaze of a small machine dripping from the rain. It's “eyes”, if you could call them that, were glowing emerald through the heavy downpour.

“Are you ok, mister?” The little machine said, cocking its head to one side.

9S’s eyes grew dark, but they were still covered by his visor, making it impossible to tell. The Android stabbed his sword into the Earth he sat on and supported himself as he rose. He pulled it out of the soil and stumbled towards the machine, drunken on his sorrow. The little machine looked even smaller now that 9S wasn't huddled in a corner and stood tall in front of the little, clunky lifeform. The two stood in front of each other unmoving, unspeaking. 9S felt feverish surrounded by the loud pounding of the rain, his mind swam with emotion… emotion… the damned reason he suffers. If only he could just rip out a piece of his mind. Whatever part made him feel, he wanted it out. But then… What would be his reason to live? What reason would he have to-

“Did something happen to you, mister? Do you need help?”

9S looked down and tightened his grip on the soft leather handle.

Above his head he raised the blade and prepared to strike. His heart rate rose. He felt a pounding in his chest, his temples, his fingers. Every part of him shook and pulsed as his mind raced in fear, confusion, anger, sorrow, and so on. Every emotion he wished would just disappear. The machine flinched as 9S let out a blood curdling shriek and plunged the sword downwards.

It struck mud. It sank deep into the soft earth and stayed there. The Android fell to his knees and hung his head. He reached up and practically tore his visor off, casting it to the side as it unsatisfyingly drifted to the ground. The machine trembled and backed up a little bit.

“I'm- I’m scared… you're scary. Androids are scary, just like the others said!!!”

The little creature fell backwards and scrambled to stand on his two stubby legs, turning and running away from the collapsed figure.

9S’s eyes prickled with tears. Little blurs began to form in his field of vision until they fell to the ground below. They were similar to the drops of rain, yet there was a key difference. The tears were silent. The rain was harsh and loud, aggressive almost, but the salty water that escaped his eyes was soft and gentle. Deathly quiet .

What began as a few drops soon became a shower. 9S quivered and squeaked as more and more tears formed. Before he knew it he was a mess of sobs and hopeless sniffles. Once his tears were spent, he froze in place and stayed on his knees, looking down at the mud he knelt on.

Hours passed and the android still knelt in the mush of earth in the quiet corner of the forest. His pod had been desperately trying to get his attention, suggesting he start moving before the water seeped through his skin and rusted his joints. But nothing made him stir. Animals would walk past, leaves would rustle, a stick would snap, and so on. Not even when footsteps were clearly audible in the wood beyond his little hiding spot. An android dressed in beige stumbled out of a bush between two overgrown tree roots, turning to look behind her as a larger male android pushed his way through the shrubs.

“Hurry up, Pinch! You are so slow sometimes!” The woman barked. The man whose name was apparently “Pinch” just sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I'm slow because I'm bigger than you, Badger. I can't just scurry through the bushes like a little mouse.” He responded. Badger was a small but muscular girl with a fiery look in her gaze. Her eyes were a piercing emerald with a small ring of yellow around the pupil. She had curly dark brown hair and tanned skin covered in freckles. Pinch on the other hand was a ghostly pale color. He had light brown hair in an undercut style and a well kept goatee. His eyes were a pale grey-blue, similar to 9S’s own. Pinch may have towered over Badger by at least 5 inches, but it was clear that Badger was the one in charge. Badger turned her head and immediately her eyes locked on the huddled figure near the indent in the tree roots.

“Pinch.” She said sharply, elbowing his arm. Pinch hummed in response and turned to face 9S’s direction.

“Oh gosh, is he hurt?” Pinch said as he hurried towards the collapsed soldier. Badger followed behind and knelt in front of him.

“Hey, are you alright?” She said comfortingly while putting a hand on his shoulder. 9S didn't move but his eyes fixated on her.

This new face is showing so much concern without even knowing who I am or what has happened...

But why?

Why show such kindness to someone as sinful as me?

A moment of silence passed as Pinch nervously fidgeted with some loose fabric on his sleeves.

“... Pinch do you think you can carry him?”

Pinch thought for moment then nodded. He bent down and hoisted 9S over his shoulder.

“Are we taking him to the resistance camp?”

“Yes. Something isn't right with him. Besides, if we leave him in this mush he'll rust to death.”

Pinch said nothing and began walking back towards the way they came. Pinch and Badger took 9S through the woods, taking hidden paths with good camouflage to avoid hostile contact. 9S’s arms swung in front of him over Pinch’s shoulder. His limbs were limp and his gaze filled with pain. Pod 153 followed behind but kept herself hidden. She deemed it unnecessary to interfere with the rescue in case she caused reason to halt said rescue.

The sun was almost completely blocked out by grey clouds by the time they reached the resistance camp. Pinch approached the leader with the boy still slung over his shoulder. Anemone’s expression changed from neutral to grave. She quickly explained to Pinch and Badger that the boy was called 9S, a YoRHa soldier who had helped the camp a great deal and was one of the two androids responsible for the death of the machine unit known as Eve. Pinch and Badger exchanged looks of disbelief throughout her story. Before long they were instructed to bring him to the room set aside for him and 2B all those months ago.

“Do you think he'll be alright?” Pinch asked his partner softly. The two sat on a bench together, awaiting word on how the android boy was fairing.

“He looked directly into my eyes when I spoke to him in the woods. He's conscious, that's for sure, but whether or not he'll be OK… I can't really say…” Badger said with a grimace. She twirled her hair around her finger and sat with her legs nervously crossed.

“From what The Boss said, he seems like a good kid. I hope whatever happened to him isn’t too drastic…” Pinch said with a shaky voice. Pinch may have been large and strong looking, but anyone that knew him well knew he was a big softie at heart.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but he’s in a real deep crock of sh*t at the moment.” said a voice from the left of the two.
“Devola, please…”

Pinch and Badger looked towards the voices and met the eyes of the twins, Devola and Popola. The two were well known to the resistance members, being the only capable medics on the surface.

“9S… lost someone recently. None of us know how it happened but… his partner, 2B, her black box signal was lost a few weeks ago.” Popola said.

“That would explain the look in his eyes when we found him… He had such a distant stare, like he was in great pain.”  Badger muttered.
Devola and Popola bid the two a temporary goodbye to go and check in on the weak boy all alone in bed. Pinch and Badger sat quietly on their bench, admiring the bustling sound of other resistance members chatting away. Soon, however, the chatter was sliced through by a different noise.

The sound of heels on concrete came harshly from the entrance. An android with torn skin and tattered garments had walked into the camp. She had a YoRHa pod floating behind her and, judging from her agitated expression as it said something inaudible to her, she wasn’t too happy about it. She walked right past Pinch and Badger and approached Anemone. Badger leaned forward to see around her tall partner, attempting to read Anemone’s lips. The unfamiliar android turned around and began moving towards the exit. Softly, a door creaked open to the right of Pinch and Badger. They both turned their heads to see 9S back on his feet and walking out of the room with the twins close behind. He was looking down at his feet as he walked shakily out into the warm glow of the lanterns lit to keep shaded areas bright, his white crop of hair glowing like a starlit field of snow. He slowly lifted his head to look around and immediately locked his eyes on the worn down android approaching the exit.
“A...2…” He whispered. He summoned his katana and squeezed the handle with every ounce of strength he had.
“9S, what are you-” Popola began, but before she could finish her thought, 9S was charging towards A2, screaming in anger as he did. A2 whipped around to face him and braced herself for the impact with 2B’s sword in hand. To her and everyone else’s surprise however, Pinch and Badger had both quickly sprang up and held 9S by either shoulder. 9S shrieked and kicked in protest.
“Let go of me! I need to kill her! I need to kill A2!”

“What on Earth are you going on about, you crazy boy??” Badger asked in dismay.

“She… She killed 2B! This is her fault! 2B is gone because of her! She’s a murderer and a deserter!” 9S squirmed harder than before, still kicking and flailing helplessly in the couple’s grip. The resistance members all either stared at 9S or A2. All of them with expressions of surprise and disbelief.

“9S… 2B asked me to kill her.” A2 said grimly.
“You’re lying!”

A2 stayed silent. She looked him dead in the eyes and began to speak.
“These are her memories…” she held up the sword. “She asked me to take care of them, but it’s clear to me that you need her more than I do.”

With that she dropped the blade into the grass, turned around, and walked away. 9S struggled even harder. It was clear that his lust for revenge had consumed him completely. Pinch turned 9S to face him and put a hand on either of his shoulders.
“Calm down. I know what you’re going through must be hard… But at least give what she said consideration. Who’s to say she isn’t lying?” Pinch said firmly. 9S glared up at the man’s stern face.

“How can you just ignore the fact that she’s a murderer ? Are you people insane? ” 9S shouted in response, pulling himself out of Pinch’s grip. 9S walked to the white katana lying in the grass and knelt in front of it. He reached out to grab it with a trembling hand. He paused for a moment to breathe and removed one of his gloves. He wanted to feel the soft handle on his skin for once. His hand felt bare without the leather accessory. 9S gripped the soft handle. He flinched and dropped the blade. Everyone watched curiously. It was like the air itself held its breath, waiting for him to make his next move. The white blade was illuminated by a few stray sunbeams in the grass in front of the trembling soldier. 9S quickly put his glove on and picked up the blade again, but this time he kept it in his hand. Whatever had disturbed him had to do with his skin touching the blade. 9S turned on his heels and quickly approached the exit. Pinch and Badger both leaned forward to watch the boy who seemed so weak and helpless before, walk out with confidence and determination.

“9S wait!” A voice called after him. Popola ran up to 9S and grabbed his shoulder. “Where are you running off to now?” She asked, taking his hand into her own.

“I’m going to find A2. She got a head start thanks to you guys, but I’m not letting that stop me from killing her.”

“9S…” She said softly. 9S yanked his hand away from hers and ran off into the city ruins.

Chapter Text

9S bolted across the grass riddled concrete and gritted his teeth. Perhaps it would have been wise to ask Anemone where A2 had gone before blindly running after her. 9S skidded to a halt when he saw black smoke rising from the forest, mixing into the grey of the clouds in one gradient of darkness. His heart sank. Quickly, he rushed towards the side entrance of the forest near the commercial center. His boots splashed hard against a stream as he rushed to the forest edge. He stored 2B’s blade safely away and unsheathed his own, rushing into the burning woods with fear in his heart.
Oh no… Oh no oh no oh no…

“Pascal!?” He screamed into the flames. He squinted as he saw a humanoid figure in the middle of the embers.

“9S?” A voice shouted from the glare. A2 covered her mouth with her arm and squinted towards him.

“A2… Did you do this?? Where is Pascal?” He shouted, tightening his fist around his sword.
A2 glared and turned to run towards the blazing village.
“Hey! Don’t you dare run away from me!” He yelled, lunging for her.
Their swords clashed and a few sparks flew and mixed into the already roaring fire around them. A2 twisted his sword around with her own and kicked him to the ground the moment he faltered. 9S hit the floor of the bridge with a grunt and tried to stand up. When he looked up, his gaze met the tip of a sword.

“I don’t have time for this. I have to do something to save any survivors. Pascal is safe. He took the village children to the abandoned factory and is waiting for me. So either help me, or get the hell out of here.” With that she turned and rushed onto the platforms, searching for any and all survivors. 9S gritted his teeth and ran in the opposite direction to the side of the village A2 wasn’t covering. He skidded to a halt and froze in horror as he stared at the gruesome scene in front of him. The machines were eating each other. He ran towards that collapsed and helpless machine and tore its assailant off, throwing it to the side. 9S tried to help the hurt machine to its feet but to no avail. The little thing wouldn’t stop screaming and struggling. The poor little machine was missing an arm and had dents and scratches all over its torso.

“C’mon it’s going to be OK! I’m here to help you little guy!”

The machine looked at 9S’s face and started to thrash about even harder. In a glitched and mangled tone, it spoke,

Į̴̭̘̠̑͒'̴̤͉̄͐̾̔m̸̛͎̣̭̠̗͂̄̃ ̴̝̬̥̩͖͇̽̉s̷̥̩̿͐̑́̍͗c̵̡̳̻̭̃͜͠a̷̞̒͊͒̓̕r̵̤̹̉̓̈́e̴̪̘̿̈́̾̔d̶̨̢̜͎̤͛̔̓̕̚-̵̡̺̹͂̌͊̔̆̚ ̷̮̰͋͊̊̉̐̚Y̶̢̭͚̼̋̉͐̅͝ó̸̺̰̻̐͊̈́u̸͍̣͇̹͍̇̒̽̊.̸̙̥̹̽̈͒̚.̷̛͍̃͛̃͑̈́.̶̙̹̒̌ ̸͓̼̲̣͂͒͆͑̏͌Á̶̪̩͖̮̳̔̅͂͠n̴̟̫̤͌d̸͎̑̉͐̾̂̓r̷͖̟̘̩̺̈́o̶͓͚̦͠i̶̧̭̣͖͍͑̈́d̵̞͋̓̎͋͝.̴̤̦̙͉̣͑̏͐̄͑ͅ.̸̢̮̄̈͜.̶̺̙͈̪̜̔͐̅͜ ̶̞̩̺̬͐̕̚͜A̷͉͔̱̘͑̎͐͘ͅn̴͓̭̤̠͇̽ͅd̴̼̺̪̻͈̀̾̕ŗ̶̗̘͎̒̅͝ơ̵̫͎̹̹͗̔̐i̷̬̳̓͗d̵̟́̆̿͘'̵̮͚̼͚͇̈́ş̸̢̛̟̝̠͒͑̂̚ ̷̛̮͚̯̝̱̪̾̿ā̷̬̮͖̰̠͈̂̊r̷̹̙͌͐̓e̶͖̣̱̼̐̌͑͋͝ͅ ̴̼̻̰̲̪͙̿͋͘s̷͇̝̿̿c̵̻͔̅̽̈́̏̄͠a̷̳̦̗̝͍̗͒̂̄͝r̷̺̫̕y̶̰̫̖̮̭̹̾̋̿!̶̳̭̮̳͛̇̈́̽̈́

9S’s breath caught in his throat. It was the little machine that he had almost killed. He growled in frustration and rushed forward, grabbing the machine and holding it under his arm.

“A2??” he yelled.

No response. 9S wasn’t sure why, but he felt his heart sink when no reply came from the woman he wanted dead so badly. He pushed the thoughts away and ran as fast as he could to towards the factory. Clearly this machine was a child. He had to bring it safely to Pascal and the other children. With no hesitation at all, he bounded across the ruins with the little machine still under his arm.

It wasn’t long before 9S had reached the factory. He burst through the doors by the destroyed bridge he helped 2B fight the goliath on long ago.

“Pascal!” He shouted as the doors swung open.

“9S! I’m so glad you’re safe! Is A2 with you? Is she alright?”

“I’m not sure… I… I found this little guy in the village. I rushed him here as quick as I could. He’s hurt… But still alive.”
“Oh thank goodness! Oh but, where is 2B? I haven’t seen you or her in a very long time.”

“...”

“Oh dear… I see… I am so sorry, 9S.”

9S looked down towards the floor before setting the little machine down on its feet.

“Everything is going to be ok now, ok? Pascal will help you.” He turned to face Pascal. “You have spare parts, correct?”

“I believe so. But, 9S?”

“Yeah?”

“Go back to the village and help A2.”

9S felt a bitterness swelling in him, a lump built up in his throat. He suppressed the emotion and nodded quietly. The android made his way to the exit, and looked back at his friend and the child he tried to hurt.

Chapter Text

A2 slowly walked around the now smoking and extinguished village, trying to find survivors. She stopped for a moment to stare at the slide she helped build for the village children and frowned. The dwindling smoke began to disturb her lungs so she decided to set out for the factory the second she was sure no one was left behind. Her heels pounded hard on the cracked asphalt. A black clothed figure began to grow from the distance and soon 9S and A2 met in the middle of the city. They both stared at each other with intensity.

“Is the village OK?” 9S asked simply. A2 looked down.
“No survivors…”

9S stayed silent for a minute and glared at her.
“You’re useless. You couldn’t save a single one of them.” He said in a half growl.
“If you’re threatening me, I don’t want to fight you. It’s pointless.”
“Oh, trust me. If I was going to attack you I would have already. Pascal is my friend and he asked me to come get you, so that’s what I’m here to do.” 9S turned away and started running back towards the factory at a medium pace. A2 followed a little ways back and watched as 9S ran. His stance seemed bitter and angry. From what she had witnessed in 2B’s memories, this wasn’t at all who he was. He was being cold and rude. He was a little grumpy and whined a lot before, but he was never mean. Even the way he moved was different, there was a distinct stiffness to his running. He used to kick his legs back high and his arms swung up in front of him, it was a childish and energetic run. Now he ran with long and heavy steps, arms swinging at his sides with his fists tightly clenched.

9S and A2 stopped for a moment and stared as they saw machines clawing at the doors to the factory. Two goliath tanks were being flown in from above and were ready to drop.

“Shit!” A2 ran forward and took up arms, slamming into some machines that stood in her way. 9S moved off to the side and began the hacking process on one of the tanks. As he finished breaking through the barriers, 9S looked on his visor HUD and gasped at the little amount of damage he dealt on the tank. He felt at least lucky to still have his visor thanks to the two resistance members who thought it’d be useful to pick it up when rescuing him. He gritted his teeth and charged for the door, practically ripping through the smaller machines trying to break in. Once they were all clear and he was sure A2 was handling the others, he pounded on the door.
“Pascal! It’s me, 9S! Me and A2 are here to help!”

No response came. 9S had to quickly swing around to defend himself from a few pursuing machines before turning back around and banging on the door again.

“Pascal please! Open the door! I'm going to help you get out of there!”
No response. His heart sank. 9S stabbed his blade into the crack in the door, prying it open with every ounce of strength he had.
“A2! Come on!”

A2 looked towards his call and clenched her teeth, throwing a machine that had been attacking her to the side and rushing for the door. 9S slammed it shut after she was inside and began trying to barricade it. A2 ran to his side to help.
“Where the hell is Pascal??” she barked.
“I don’t know. Hopefully they escaped deeper into the factory.”

9S made sure the barricade was sturdy and beckoned for A2 to follow as he rushed further into the factory. The two ran only for a short amount of time before they found Pascal and the children hiding out in a store room in the depths of the factory.
“9S! A2! I’m so glad you’re safe… What on Earth is going on outside?”
“Machines. Lots of them. We need to get you and the children out of here.” A2 said with disgust him her voice.

“Pascal we need to-” Before 9S could get the words out of his mouth, the entire factory shook as the walls on the other side of the section they were in collapsed under the weight of the massive arms of goliath. 9S looked like he was going to shout something but didn't have the chance to before A2 shouted at them all to run. They all started running, the children sticking close beside Pascal. 9S skidded to a halt and looked back to see the injured child on the ground as tall machines with axes came charging from the rubble after him with goliath tanks behind them attempting to fit through the gash in the wall. 9S dashed forward and cradled the little thing and turned to follow the group.

“What now??” 9S shouted to A2.

“We run!” She replied. Another crash came from behind them as the goliath smashed more of the factory. The ground shook and sound rattled all around them. Pod 153 and Pod 042 fired rapidly behind 9S and A2, attempting to protect their assigned units. They ran through corridors and descended into darker regions of the factory, taking whatever path was quickest, just hoping that they could find a way out. The machine children were terrified as they plunged into unlit rooms filled with dead cultists. After some time they reached a large and empty room with one wall completely destroyed, leading to the outside. Machines were still attempting to follow, and the goliath was tearing at the factory walls by the bridge in a blundering attempt to get into the factory and destroy it. A2 yelled for 9S’s attention and pointed towards a crumbled wall with a beat up flight unit behind it. They all stopped in front of the wall and huddled.

“9S, you're the only one of us who can pilot a newer YoRHa flight unit model. Do you think it still works?” A2 said. 9S put a hand on his chin in wonder.

“Can’t be sure unless I get close. But the hole in the wall is so high up. I can’t climb the wall, it’s far too smooth.” He replied. They all stood for a moment, wasting precious time. Finally, a small flying machine gently floated to 9S and bumped his back. 9S turned and smiled a little.

“You sure you can carry me, little one?” he asked.

The machine nodded. “I wanna help!” it said. 9S grabbed hold of the round metal outside of the propeller that allowed the child to fly.

“Thank you…” He said softly as the child lifted him up towards the hole. Once he reached the top he looked down at A2 and the others.

“Take good care of my friends, A2. If anything happens to them, I'll have your head on a pike.” He shouted. The boy climbed over the rubble and checked the flight unit. It was white and gleamed in the sunlight that poured in through the opening in the wall opposite to where he was. Pod 153 inspected the unit and informed him it was functional but aim correction was slightly damaged. He nodded and boarded the suit, starting it up and flying headfirst towards the goliath rampaging through the factory. A2 and the machines looked on in awe as 9S fired and slashed at the goliath’s face, his anger noticeable in his movement. The group took their eyes off the flight unit and saw that they were slowly being surrounded by machines. The children huddled around Pascal in horror and A2 held the little machine close to her. They all started slowly backing away as the glint from the axe’s metal reflected onto them. All the little machines began to cry. It seemed it was going to be the end of them all. Like a crack of thunder, a bang was heard from above as a bullet speeded through the heads of three machines all standing in a row. The group looked to the the hole in the wall to see a troop of resistance members, all armed with weapons. At the front stood Pinch and Badger, both with large guns in hand.
“These the village machines?” a resistance member behind them shouted. A2 nodded and handed the crippled machine to Pascal. She unsheathed her great sword.
“Stay here.” She said simply to the group of machines. A2 rushed forward as a few resistance members who had equipped themselves with blades soared down from their perch and began charging at the machine army. From above, the ones with guns sniped flying machines and any who got past the close combat team.
“Attention unidentified YoRHa flight unit pilot, requesting assistance in a plan to take out the goliath class enemy attacking the abandoned factory. Do you copy?” A voice said over the radio in 9S’s flight unit. The coms system still worked? 9S released the control on one arm of the unit to quickly hit the connect prompt.

“Th-this is YoRHa unit No. 9 type S. I copy.” He stuttered as he tried to focus on attacking the machine.

“An actual YoRHa unit? So there were survivors after all… Nevermind that for right now. Unit 9S, I received a message that a goliath class enemy was attacking the abandoned factory that resistance scouts confirmed contained allied forces. I am currently stationed at the flooded city’s coast. I'm gonna need your help for this to work, ok?”
“Gotcha, walk me through the plan and I’ll assist in any way possible.” He replied. He felt a little bit like his old self again taking orders and following through with a plan.
“Attempt to lure the goliath away from the factory and into the range of the smaller armed missiles stationed at the flooded city’s shore.”
“Right.” 9S circled around and began firing at the goliath’s head, attempting to annoy it. The machine swung one of its great arms at his flight unit, but he was able to dodge to the side. 9S flew around to the side of the goliath and waited for it to turn sideways. He then circled back around it to its back side and began backing away toward the bridge while firing. The machine slowly but surely was coming after him, making its way back through the factory. It took a good amount of time to lure it all the way back to the bridge. There were several moments 9S thought would have been his last as the goliath would almost hit him. Once 9S finally got the machine near the bridge he flew up close and slashed it right in the face to further anger it. 9S calculated the probability of the goliath doing what he hoped it would do and smirked as he finished, finding that his prediction was extremely likely. 9S fired a few bullets at the machine and blasted away towards the water. He stopped at a far distance and looked back to see the goliath bending its knees and preparing to leap. The goliath’s landing caused a massive wave to wash over the bridge and swept some smaller machines back into the sea.

“Attention YoRHa flight unit pilot, goliath in range. Move away from the target. Repeat. Move away from the target.”

“N-no wait! It's not far away enough from the factory! The blast will- GAH!”

Without warning, the goliath slammed it's arm into 9S and sent him flying back through several layers of factory wall, ending up back in the chamber the villagers and resistance members were.

Chapter Text

Starting reboot process…

10%

“N-”

30%

“Oh d-... R...”

50%

“N- es”

90%

“9S!”

9S’s eyes shot open. The first thing he saw upon awakening was A2, Pascal, little machine faces, and the friendly resistance resistance members who saved his life the day before.

“Where… Where am I?” He said.

“Unit 9S entered safety mode upon impact with the surrounding area’s walls. The goliath class enemy attacked unit 9S’s flight unit and launched said unit directly into the abandoned factory.” Pod 153 explained.

“Basically you got bashed by that big baddie.” The girl he knew was named Badger said.

“Is- is everyone alright now?” He asked.

“I’m afraid the android we had stationed at the flooded city was killed.” said another one of the resistance androids. 9S sat up.

“What about the enemy machines? And the tanks?” A2 leaned up against a wall and crossed her arms. She wouldn’t make eye contact, but she explained to 9S what had happened. She told him that the resistance troops had taken out the tanks with explosives and then attempted to take out the goliath, but nearly got crushed to death attempting to. Pascal had the idea to subjugate and control a sunken goliath right off the shore of the factory that had been taken out on the mission 9S so unfortunately lost his memory of. One of the little machines added that there was a huge battle and how cool their uncle Pascal was. The other machines didn’t seem so excited about it though, perhaps they were frightened by the fighting.

9S sighed in relief then looked up. He looked up to The Tower. That damn tower. What could it be for? What could those damned… damn… machines… 9S looked around at the warm glow of green eyes fixed on him.

“Not all machines…” he said under his breath. These ones were all right. They weren’t the ones who hurt him. His world. His 2B.

9S stood up and gently put his hand on his sword handle, then one 2B’s. He nodded to himself and began to walk away without a word. As he passed by A2, who still wasn’t looking at him, she stuck her leg out to stop him from walking forward.

“Where do you think you’re going, hacker boy?” She asked.

“None of your concern, you forest rat.” he said with a glare. A2 silently grinned and acknowledged her dirty skin. The two were too far away from the rest for them to hear.

“You see now, I could kill you right here, right now, and scurry off into the woods and prove you right about me. You’d be very easy to kill. But here’s the thing, S-boy. I’m not the monster you think I am. At this point it’s kind of hopeless to try and explain it to you again I suppose. But before I let you go, I need you to do something for me.” She said.

9S glared harder, but in his moment of fury, he looked hard and long at her face, until he noticed something. Something…

“I want you to apologize to that kid you tried to kill.” She said.

“Huh?”

“While you were out that poor injured child told Pascal you tried to hurt her.”

9S looked back at the machines and saw the little machine he attempted to destroy in his sorrowful haze staring right back at him. Her were eyes nothing but green dots, yet still they held such emotion. He looked down at his feet, then back at A2. He stared into her eyes for a moment and growled, walking past her and out the gash in the factory wall.

It began to rain again. He made his way back to the resistance camp to rest so he wasn’t caught in the rain all day. He sat on a bench under one of the many awnings and stared curiously at the tower. The Tower. That damn tower. He had to know what it was for. And how he could destroy it.

Chapter Text

A2 had leaned against the wall for a little while after 9S had departed. She held her head down with her eyes invisible under the dirty strands of artificial hair that hung nicely over one side of her face. She could see through the hair still, and so she looked on at the group of machine children happy to be alive. Pod 042 left her side, which seemed odd to her, it seemed it had it's own motives suddenly. The little pod floated over to the cluster of machines and began to ask something of Pascal. She could tell it was asking a question by the obnoxious and repetitive hand gestures it used when asking something. Curiosity got the best of her so she decided to join the group. As she approached she overheard Pascal say something incoherent in a hopeful tone.
“What’s being discussed?” She asked.
“Ah, A2… Darling little Pod here reminded me that machines can be revived as long as our cores can be salvaged and… I do believe some machines cores were left intact since you and 9S got there so quick. The way our particular community stores them would allow them to safely eject the core and have it end up outside the body before it was destroyed.”
“So the villagers…”
“Some of them may still be alright.”
“...”
“Is something the matter?”
“No… I’m glad.” A2 looked away so that Pascal couldn’t tell she was choking up a little. A2 glanced over at the little broken machine. In its remaining arm, it had a core clutched tightly to its torso. She went over to it and gently put a hand on the machine. She had calmed down finally and looked to A2 with her big green eyes. She was propped up on the flat bottom of her torso, they had removed her defective legs temporarily so she'd sit flat on the floor. She slowly extended her arm and showed the core to A2.
“My… my momma.” She said quietly. A2 looked at her for a moment then realized what the child was saying.
“Oh… You were left behind because you were trying to save your mother.” The machines round head pivoted in a similar fashion to a nod. A2 had trouble keeping herself from crying. Her throat hurt really badly and her eyes stung with artificial tears.
“Stinky lady is crying!” shouted a child from behind the injured girl. All the children laughed.
“Shut your mouth I am not! And how do you even know how I smell? You don’t have a nose!” A2 folded her arms and glared at the kid. All the machines giggled again. The giggling stopped quickly though as they all heard a loud voice boom and echo across the city. It sounded like a small girl’s voice, but no one could quite make out what she was saying.
“What the hell was that…?” A2 said to herself.
“Analysis. The sound heard is a wide area transmission. Point of origin seems to be what the surrounding pod network has named 'The Tower’. Exact dialogue of the transmission is unknown.” The Pod replied.
“There's more of you?”
“Affirmative.”
“One of you is already too much…” she said in annoyance, pushing the hair out of her eyes. A2 began to walk away, but Pascal gently placed a cold hand on her shoulder.
“You will come back and see us, right?” He asked. A2 held back a smile.
“I'll visit whenever I get the chance, ok?” Without giving him time to reply, A2 bolted across the metallic floor of what was once the factory interior. Hurling herself over piles of rubble and ducking under fallen beams. The machines could only watch as she scurried away into the wreck of the previous catastrophe.

Chapter Text

Hello!
A lot of you have probably wondered what happened to this fic. First and foremost I want to say this: I have no abandoned this fic or my high school AU. That is the most important part of this announcement. Don't worry, it will be back someday.
As it stands, I am currently job hunting and in the process of moving out of my parents house. Since this fic went up a LOT has happened to me and I've been very stressed almost constantly. Hopefully once I'm out of my parents house and living with my roommate I will be able to use my free time to continue writing this fic. Another big thing is that I was very hyperfixated on NieR for a while since I'm a little ADHD shit who latches onto fiction more than I do with people, but in the last 2 years I've moved on to other fandoms. I do still love NieR and I randomly go on NieR rampages and cry over 2B and 9S so as I said before, this fic is NOT abandoned.

I hope you all understand! Here's to a great 2020 and let's hope we can see more of Cold Rain!