Fipp: I had this idea in my head for a while now, but didn't actually get around to doing anything until I finished some of the shorter stories I've been posting recently.

End of all Meaning

Chapter I: Data Corruption

9S braced himself as the flight unit caught fire, both it and his Pod blaring a number of alarms as to the poor state of the transport, but he didn't need to be told how terrible things were going however, it was evident enough. The moment the fires began to burn away at this body, spread much too quickly for him to bear, he was quick to activate the ejection system and was jettisoned out of flight unit just before an explosion ripped through its frame. It was sent plummeting down in a burning, smoking heap as he fell through the air, his body wildly tumbling out of control before he crashed down onto the concrete of the broken street, rolling a small distance before he came to a stop. Error messages flashed against the HUD of his visor as he pushed himself up to his feet, or at least tried, alerting him to a number of issues in his body that had been damaged by the fall, thankfully however none of them seemed to be too terrible, all of them could be fixed by upping the production of the nanomachines his body.

"Alert: Multiple enemies confirmed."

Mechanical noises reached his ears as he finally struggled his way to his feet, taking in his was surrounded by machines, varying models all around him, each of them with their eyes a bright and glowing red, their attention turned to him. To his side, Pod 153 floated to him, his sword, Cruel Oath, floating below it, ready to be taken by his hand again.

Take it he did, because he did not have time for this. He needed to get to where he had sent 2B. His head began to hurt, trying to process everything that had happened in the past... what was it? It couldn't have even been more than an hour since the assault started, could it? No, it was just too much to think about, not now at least, he could save that for later when they had time to sit down and think about just what had happened. All that mattered right now was that he needed to reunite with 2B. It had been a desperate move on his part, he had hacked into her own flight unit, gaining the attention of the infected YoRHa that had been chasing them through the skies as they descended back down to Earth, and despite her own cries of protest, he had sent her away, hopefully to where she would be safe.

Eventually, the machines fell, each and every one of them.

"Come on," he said out loud, breath heavy and black box loudly humming in his chest. "We have to get to 2B, now." Letting his sword go and having it return to its place at his back, 9S turned away from the sea that stretched before him, dotted with the buildings of the old world and the corpse of the truly tremendous machine that they had fought not even weeks ago. He ran, legs pumping beneath him as he ran up the hill to the enclosed section of the city, where grass grew and water flowed into a large pond, where his exit laid and wait for him.

The moment he stepped between the threshold of the two, dilapidated buildings, a sharp pain filled his head, filling his thoughts with static while his body froze at the joins, weighting him down so suddenly.

"Alert: Virus infection detected," Pod 153 warned as a progress screen showcasing the infection rate appeared in the air next to it. It started off at 1.00% and that number was glowing increasing. "Proposal: Administer vaccine immediately, or initiate self-hacking to remove viral infection."

9S grunted as his feet moved by themselves, almost tripping over his own steps. "When was I-ugh-infected?" Was it when he hacked 2B and cleared out her virus? Back on the Bunker, or maybe just now? He didn't know, right now his top priority was getting rid of it, he lacked any vaccines right now, so hacking he have to be his only course of action. It couldn't be done he right now, more machines were coming for him, each one running at him with the intention of destroying him. As he felt control of his body revert back to him, he quickly bolted forward, dashing between the machines as they struck at him, making sure all their attempts were fruitless as he ran for the pipe that would lead him back to the central area of the City Ruins.

His body seized again, as he made it past the last machine, just as he finally entered the pipe and left them behind, but using the rounded side of the tunnel to support himself, he guided himself further along until he was safety out of the range of the enemy machine lifeforms. When he turned the first corner, he looked back and saw that there was nothing chasing him.

"Time to get this thing out of me," he said to himself, just as he began to hack into his own systems and-

-He screamed, throwing himself back against the wall and tumbled into the flowing water.

"Warning: Self-hack has failed. Hacking software compromised. Virus contamination rate up to 16 percent. Malfunction detected in NFCS circuit."

"What the hell happened?" 9S cried as he crawled back to his feet. Already his vision was starting to glitch. "The virus? Did it-did it already evolve it a way to resist hacking it?" He grunted as he stood himself up against the wall, breathing hard as he picked up his sword. "If I can't hack it, if there's no way to erase it from my systems then that means..."

No, he can't die, not here, not after everything that has happened. He didn't want to die, but the slow but steady progression of the holographic bar next to him filled him with an unease that would soon turn into dread. He needed to find a way to fix this this, try and find some help to...

Still, he can't risk being found, not like this, an infect Scanner was dangerous, able to spread a logic virus just by being near other androids, and if he couldn't...

No. This would work.

"Pod, locate an area where there are no other androids around, somewhere the infection won't spread to anyone else, and-" Another shock through his body, crippling his him, but nonetheless, he continued on forward, pushing himself along further up the tunnel. "And some place where 2B isn't. I can't... let her find me like this. And try and scramble my signal, make sure that I can't be found, not yet at least."

Pod 153 floated beside him, keeping steady with his uneven steps. "Analysis: The area near the abandoned commercial facility meets the desired parameters. Alert: YoRHa unit 9S will sustain serious damage unless the virus is eliminated."

"I know that, I just explained that!" 9S growled, his body suddenly recovering, allowing him to suddenly rush forward, dashing through the water as he desperately tried to make it to the exit as fast as he could. He ignored the growing pain in his head, running around the corners until he could see the light of day shining from the outside, he was just about to sigh in relief when another shock seized his body, another disabling, just as he finally exited the piper. He tripped, falling to the ground, hitting it face first, and as he pushed himself up, he could barely roll out of the way of an attacking machine, the medium biped jumping down on him, slamming its fist where his head had just been. 9S somehow scrambled to his feet, and gripping Cruel Oath in his hand, he made to swing his arm at it-

But nothing happened, his arm could barely move, the limb in question could hardly swing. His NFCS was offline, the magnetic properties that allowed his weapons the hand off the air on his back were disabled, and his own ability to physically strike out had been severally compromised.

The two machines rushed him, and all he could do was command 153 to open fire on them as they rushed at him, the bullets tearing through their bodies, taking out the legs of the first one and leaving it to drag its upper body, while the second one kept going at him, only for 153 to blast its head off with a partially charged laser.

Just in time for full mobility to be restored, he thought with annoyance.

"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 21 percent," Pod 153 continued, as he be began to pick up speed again, running along the ruined pathways of the upper ends of the pit.

"Okay, try and see if we can remove the virus with a system reset, I can't do it, so maybe you can."

"Analysis: Unit 9S' previous assessment of virus' progression has indeed proven correct, it is developing its own algorithm with an abnormal speed, thus removal will be difficult."

He looked around, trying to decide which was would be the fastest way to get to the shopping facility, he could either take a left up the trail, following up along the path that lead between it and the Resistance Camp, or maybe cut through crater itself. The former was too risky, he couldn't risk the chance of another android finding him along that route, and there was a was large gap in the road as well, and with how unstable and erratic the control over his body was becoming he wasn't confident that he could make the jump, even with Pod 153 to assist him.

So he jumped down into the crater, making the best of what limited time he had before his body short-circuited again, running over the debris and ignoring the giant machines that stood in the middle of the pit. A small cluster of flying machines hovered toward him, their dark purple and red projectiles coming right for him, but Pod 153's fire was able to suppress their attacks, allowing him get by them. He climbed further up the ridge, where a group of small stubbies took notice of him, they turned towards him, eyes flashing and arms spinning as they slowly charged to him, and while normally even a Scanner like him could take a hit from a stubby, he couldn't risk any damage at this point. He ran past them, making his way further up the trail, sprinting towards the ledge, and jumped, barely grabbing hold of the ledge above him before pulling himself up, freeing him to continue his run.

He only made it a few meters before his body seized again, and the distortions to his vision became worse, with large patches of discoloration flicking around him, distorting the world in glitches. His sound quality had also taken a hit, as there was a soft white noise in the background, filling his head.

"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 32 percent. Malfunction detected in visual processing system."

"I can see that. Literally I can see that..." He grunted, pushing through the pain that was taking over his body, trying to maintain control for as long as he could.

He didn't see the stubbies until they had knocked him down.

9S cried out as he hit the ground, a new pain radiating through his shoulder and side, but he scrambled up, putting much distance between him and the machines as he could, and thankfully even in this state that was something he could achieve.

A beeping came from Pod 153, and before he could even question it, a message rang out from his support unit.

"The Council of Humanity has a message for all of our crackled fighting on the surface. Today I have wonder crackled"

He wanted to laugh. You're a lie, you don't exist, there's nothing up there to protect, and there sure as hell isn't wonderful down here.

"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 57 percent. Malfunction detected in FFCS circuit."

Pod 153 cannot fire on his command anymore.

Everything is getting worse, his vision is becoming more unstable, the static is only becoming louder, and the periods where his body will do want he wanted it to do are becoming shorter and more spaced out. This isn't good, but he can still fix it, he just needs time to...

He can still the mall from here, barely due to the compromise of his visuals, but he felt he knew the lay of the land well enough to still have an idea where he was. After a short time, he came across the old rusted metal tower, and he could see nothing between him and the mall, it was so close to him right now, but to him it still felt so far away.

"Alert: Virus contamination rate up to 70 percent. Infiltrating system-protected region."

It's getting worse, his vision is becoming more pixelated, blurring everything he sees until it is an incomprehensible mess, and the static is more deafening, a high-pitched screech joining it, Pod 153's voice is starting to get hard to hear. He had to pull on the collar of his coat because it's already starting to get uncomfortably hot, telling him that he had already started to lose the ability to regulate his internal temperature, which cannot be good for his black box.

With each tiring step, he grew much less confident in his ability to remedy the situation.

Step-by-step he moved, fighting to keep himself upright as his systems were screaming at him, as his head felt like it was going to split open, limping past the tower and over the open field. The bridge was right there, he could make out the shapes in front of him the closer he got to them, and his goal was just beyond this wooden bridge. If he could just get there he could-

9S stopped, his body obeying him seconds later, just as the bridge came into view.

Maybe this was some kind of trick by the logic virus, or something was broken now, but he was certain he was looking at what appeared to be two girls, standing on either side of the bridge, completely identical in appearance, from their black hair to their red dresses, and down to the neutral expression they both shared. The most unnerving thing about them however, was that he could see them crystal clear, entirely unaffected by the errors occurring in his vision.

"Wh-Who are you?" he tried to ask, but he could barely hear himself. His hearing was already damaged, but his vocal box must already be suffering as well. There's just so much crackling and static. "Pod, analyze whoever this... is." A pain shuddered through his body.

"Error: This unit is unable to locate any individuals aside from this tactical support unit, and unit 9S."

"What-t?"

"This is likely a hallucination caused by the progression of the logic virus. Removal of the logic virus is highly recommended, or else current symptoms will become worst."

"But..." 9S looked back to the two girls, who just stood there, unmoving, their eyes trained on him. Was this really the logic virus? Who were they? Why was he seeing this? What was this supposed to mean? Why-

A hundred questions ran through his mind, and he wanted to ask them all and find out any and all answers he could. But...

He cried out again, a long agonizing yell as his body spiked in temperature.

There was no time...

For the first time in 9S' existence, curiosity lost out. He continued on, ignoring the twins as he passed between them and stepped onto the bridge.

"Alert: Virus contamination rate to 90 percent." He pushed on, his body swaying and stumbling in growing agony. Halfway there, he was already halfway there. "Alert: Unusual heat generation in central nervous system. Internal combustion imminent."

9S screamed as heat exploded through out his body, his internal systems frying and burning in a single painful burst, sparks and puffs of smoke filling his vision before everything went gray. His vision was gone, he was blind now.

"Analysis: Abnormality detected in visual sensors. Alert: Deterioration found in black box."

Sigh returned, but everything was gray-scale now, and he couldn't hear anything beyond the barley-audible crackling of Pod 153's voice, only able to catch the few words that could make it to him. He still had subtitles on, so thankfully he wasn't entirely clueless as to what it was saying.

Everything hurt, it was too much, but he kept going, pushing already strained limbs to carry him over the bridge. The other side was just there, just right over there.

"Alert: Damage to data backup system. Said damage will make it difficult to retain self-consciousness upon backup."

He stepped onto the other side, keeping moving forward, and he hoped that even at these desperate, and reduced speeds that he wouldn't fall over. There was no stopping. The mall was in front of him.

"Backup to what?" It hurt to speak, like his throat was being scrapped out of his neck. "Bunker's gone... No more backups... not anymore... No more mes."

Everything is quiet, there's no sound anymore, and he had never felt more alone than he had been in this moment.

There was no hope for him, he realized this. He was going to die, but he didn't want to die, but there was nothing that he could do. His life was going to end, and he was afraid, he didn't want to die, he wanted someone to save him because there was nothing that he could do to fix this, he needed-

"T-t-2B-" He was certain he said her name, but he couldn't even him himself say it.

Something was moving, coming at him from the mall, several figures rushing at him as they dashed at him.

YoRHa soldiers, each one donning the armor that they had been wearing to the assault. They were all infected, and coming right for him.

9s tried to turn away, but his movement was too painful, far too sluggish, and there was nothing he could do to stop the sword strike against his back that sent him flying through the air, crashing to the ground far too close to the ledge to be comfortable.

Everything was too much for him, his body was in so much screaming pain as he tried to push himself to his feet, barely able to stand, hardly able to even hold his sword in his hands, which could only shake in his grip.

The infected YoRHa stood before him, their own weapon drawn as they approached him, and he couldn't even raise his own to defend himself.

One raised their sword, ready to strike him down-

Suddenly the YoRHa fell down as a shape appeared behind it, only for it to quickly cut down the other YoRHa that had been standing there.

"Y-you..." 9S tried to say. The figure, he knew it. The face, it was just like... "A2..."

A2, the deserter android that had an execution order against her. What had she done to deserve such a thing, to have YoRHa order her death like that?

She stood there, staring down on him, her body damaged, her skin removed to show off the carbon-under platting, and dirt and grime coated what was still left, while her long and mattered hair hung down her back and shoulders, and what he recognized as a Type-40 Sword in her hand, likely scavenged off a capture team that had been sent after her.

There were more coming for them, he tried to warm her but nothing would come out, but still she turned around, blocking the next strike that came for her, and quick to retaliate at cut the infect unit down. A2 jumped into the fray, running up to the approaching androids and fought.

9S tried to move, to join in, or to run, but it was too much to even kneel up, so instead he fell, only to catch himself, stabbing his sword into the ground.

His sword... Cruel Oath...

He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't, unable to do so. If he had to guess, he only had minutes left, and that was the optimistic guess. There was nothing that he could do to fight, nor save his own life, so he did the only thing he could do.

9S downloaded his memories onto his sword. His memories, the most precious things he had, and though he only had a month's worth of memories, a month or so since he was rolled out of production, it was hardly much, but for him it was everything to him, and the most important one went in first, safely tucked away.

His memories would survive, even if he didn't. His memories would survive.

As the download finished, A2 came back to him, the infected YoRHa laying dead behind her.

With a shaking hand, 9S reached up and pulled off his visor, tossing the blindfold to the ground and stared back up to the renegade android. His eyes were beginning to sear, and red was already filtering his vision.

"A-A2," he tried, the simple, two character designation a struggle to push out. "I n-need you to do me something." His grip on Cruel Oath tightened. "This s-s-word, it has my memories, watch over them. And-d, please, watch over 2B, and keep her safe. Please!"

More pain, enough to cause him to double over, his sword falling to the ground and leaving him to collapse to his hands. If he had to guess, he had less than thirty seconds before he lost all cognitive function, before he was gone.

From the top of his vision, he could see A2's hand reach down and grip the handle of his sword.

Despite everything, 9S felt peace at this moment.

'2B, I'm sorry... But at least... you won't have to...'

000

Please be well,

Mrfipp