A/N: Well hey there. I'm back! And I've got something new for you guys to chew on. This chapter's kinda small, and that's unfortunately going to be a running theme for this one - it's just how the story's manifested itself for me. The chapter length might increase in future updates, but until then you'll have to make do with these little bite-sized munchables. :P

Now before I go any further, this is to an extent a team effort between myself and Recycler. We've had countless PMs back and forth, discussing ideas, overarching plot, character design, etcetera. This little story was actually his idea, and he came to me with it quite a while before. I wanted to get the upper hand on chapters before I actually started posting. Basically, I wanted a good 5 chapters between current and written; and that way if I fall behind due to writers' block or some other reason there'll still be something to post. The schedule will be a chapter a fortnight, and that's non-negotiable. Sorry guys.

Full summary: There are strange rumors going around YoRHa and the Resistance. People are randomly disappearing without a trace and presumed dead, but this is the last thing on 9S' mind until he experiences the phenomenon for himself. When he, 2B and A2 are whisked away to a place that looks like home, but isn't, they will discover more about the world, themselves and each other than they could have ever dreamed. Will they find their way back home? Will they even want to? What is humanity's true fate? Meanwhile, the Operatives have their hands full trying to track down their wayward charges when their black-box signals reappear.

Enough for now. It's story time! Read on. :)

Through the Looking-Glass

Chapter 1 – Spirited Away

9S sat at the end of his partner's cot, watching the faint breeze as it ruffled her white hair. Her visor was off, her lashes brushing her cheeks as she slept. His hand, he had placed on the edge of the cot, bare millimetres from her own. The warmth emanating from her skin, muffled by her glove, was the only reason 9S wasn't currently having a – very much frowned-upon – panic attack.

She would be okay, Devola and Popola had said. Her body would simply take some time to repair the trace damage still left. After all, they weren't twin wonders. There were some things even they could not fix.

Things that could only be left in the hands of the patient herself.

And so, he kept vigil, still and silent. He hadn't bothered to find a replacement visor to place over his eyes; that was a moment in time when she could awaken, and he would not be there.

The only time he had left her side at all was to place his memories inside a body that wasn't a machine's.

The battle with Eve had cost them much; many had died when the rabid machines had descended upon the Resistance Camp. But with both commanding units out of the way, the machines' chain of command was in a complete disarray. YoRHa were currently planning how they would exploit this, but for now, he and 2B stayed on Earth. He had chosen to recover by her side, since she could not accompany him to the Bunker until she regained consciousness; ignoring the fleeting stares of the bare amount of YoRHa ground soldiers at this blatant show of emotion.

All he could think about were the sounds of 2B's heart-wrenching sobs as she'd held his corrupted body. He never wanted to hear that sound again; it caused him too much pain.

He didn't want to think about why that was.

"Analysis: unit 2B should reactivate in approximately five minutes fourty-two seconds," stated 2B's pod, 042, as it hovered diligently by her side.

9S nodded, but the tension in his body did not dissipate. It wouldn't until he saw her eyes open.

Which they did, exactly five minutes and fourty-two seconds later.

Her chest rose as she took a shuttered breath, her blue eyes widening, then wincing as the perpetual noonday sun blinded her. Her hand reached up of its own accord to shield her from the glare, and, slowly, she sat up.

"9S?" she asked, without conscious thought.

His hand squeezed hers. "Right here."

She flinched at the contact, and he withdrew immediately, ignoring the iron spike lodging in his heart – the one he wasn't supposed to have. "How do you feel?" he asked, covering the hurt with a business-like tone.

Her hand resting at her temple, she swung her legs over the side of the cot and stood, testing her weight. She flexed each of her limbs in turn, testing the feel of them. 9S waited patiently for her to respond.

It was then that the portals appeared.

There was no sound to announce their presence, no audible rip or tear in spacetime. They just rippled into being, with only the brush of its power to force the duo to summon their weapons and look around for the source.

9S gaped. 2B shifted into a combative stance, Virtuous Contract steady in her hand.

But they did not get the chance to attack. They were drawn closer, closer, their pods staying close to their sides.

"The hell?" 2B hissed.

"Analysis: this appears to be a tear in the fabric of space," said Pod 042.

"What?"

But before anything more could be said, they were sucked into the rifts, and they closed out of existence – as if they were never there to begin with.

…

A2 wandered the deserted city streets, swiping at every machine she could find. She was on edge; no YoRHa goons had been sent to destroy her since she encountered those two models in the Forest Castle.

2B and 9S.

It wasn't the first time she had encountered them, either. There had been another time, not far from that castle, but that time, she had won. Learned a few tricks from 'em, too, as well as stolen their weapons.

It should have been easier, then, to kill them in the castle. But her hand had stayed the killing blow, unable to bear the thought of more of their blood on her hands. They didn't seem to have remembered her, so she had pulled back, gave them a cryptic thought to sort through, and left them to their own devices.

So lost was she in her own thoughts, her body acting on autopilot, that she didn't notice the portal opening up beside her until it was too late, and she was sucked in; the portal closing back up just as quickly as it had appeared.

"2B, Operator 6O, here," she chirped from the Bunker's left terminal wing. "It is time for your regularly-scheduled conta–" She stopped midsentence, noticing 2B's black box suddenly winking out of existence, the line going dead just as quickly. "2B? 2B!"

"Commander!" yelled Operator 21O from the right wing. "I've lost contact with 9S!"

"I can't get in touch with 2B!" panicked 6O.

"Start a search!" ordered the Commander.

"I can't," said 21O. "His black box, it just…disappeared."

"No…" The Commander slammed her fist on the railing. "Dammit!"

"Wait," said 6O, "her black box is back online!" She breathed a sigh of relief. "She's alive."

The Commander's breath left her body all at once. "Get their location on the big screen, now!"

The Bunker devolved into a flurry of panicked typing as every Operator in the vicinity focused on getting a bead on the two units' locations.

"6O, 21O," called the Commander. "I need a word."

Both Operators immediately rose from their terminals and made their way up to the blonde leader, and she led them out of Comms and into the hall just outside. "What happened?"

"It was the strangest thing," said 6O, fiddling with her nails nervously. "I was trying to get in touch with her, as per our scheduled contacts, but suddenly the line cut off and her black box signal just disappeared."

"I can report the same thing on my end," said 21O calmly. "I can only assume they're together, however, since they disappeared at the same time. To the microsecond."

"Prioritise finding their whereabouts," said the Commander. "Use whatever means necessary."

"I request a model change," said 21O.

"Me too," said 6O.

The Commander pursed her lips, folding her arms. "Are you two completely sure about this? You can't change your mind midway through. And if we do find them, you will not be able to change your model back."

The two Operators looked, first at each other, and then at the Commander, their decision clear. They nodded. "I'm sure," said 21O. "I put in a request two days ago. I've thought this through."

"You said whatever means necessary," said 6O. "I'm doing this."

The Commander nodded, satisfied. "Alright then. I'll make it happen. Dismissed."

"Yes, ma'am."

A/N: Well, there we have it. Next chapter will be in two weeks. Stay tuned for more.

And be sure to thank Recycler too in your reviews! Without him, this little baby would never have come to be.