Disclaimer: not mine

Summary: What if 9S was able to save 21O?

What If

9S ran through the thick doors that opened automatically when he approached them. He slowed to a walk taking in the surrounding area. It was empty except for a wall with holes of electricity flashing through them. What was the place? What is it for? Then she came. Leaping down from the wall wearing battle wear was a 21O model. A few thoughts ran through the scanner's head.

"Operator...?" Her normal green eyes glowed red with contamination from the logic virus.

Why was she here? How was she here?! He specially remembered 2B having to turn her sword on his operator. Admittedly he turned a blind eye to that horrible scene. It was too hard for him to attack any of his fellow androids. 2B dealt with them all with painful grunts and roars as he coward near the door, trying to get it opened with shaking hands. In respect he pretended not to notice the anguished filled tears that had accidentally darkened her visor.

The female screamed in a violent rage a more robotic voice escaped overpowering her normal sweeter tone. Blocked weaponry surrounded her in a protective shell. A shell that didn't last too long thanks from the barrage of missiles from 153.

She let out another scream this one sounded more painful than vicious. He called out to her in concern his voice filled with anguish. "Coordinate data...Location specified." She responded to his shouts with typical operator speech. Between words she panted heavily as if she wasn't getting enough air.

Was this one just a copy and not his perhaps? Please just let this be a blank copy with no memory data. A body the machines stole from the destroyed bunker. Let the miserable boy hold on to what little sanity he still possessed.

"Please keep...Reserved...Mission related..."

Nope, this was undeniable the 21O he cared for. Of course it was. Why would she leave the general safety of the bunker to come to the surface? Sure, she had a hobby and an interests –like most of them- but to touch the surface in the middle of battle? Finding junk on the surface couldn't be that important to her could it? 9S couldn't wrap his head around her thought process.

"Operator 21O volunteered to undergo type-B equipment transition during previous descent." Pod 152 voiced out. "She was sent to the front lines as unit 21B but was recorded as MIA four hours later."

"One... affirmation...will suffice."

Why would she volunteer for the front lines? Was she truly filled with pride for the cause? "Shit." The smaller android ran around aimlessly. Refusing to attack and refusing to get hit. 21O could only do damage if he was in range of her. The hacker felt desperate with this situation. It infuriated him to no end. Why was he losing everything dear to him?

"A family...To be with..."

"Please...Kill...Me." Her voice transitioned from normal to robotic. The longer the fight went on the weaker 9S's resolve faltered. She was suffering just as much as he was if not more. Was he going to end it for her? Or?

"I...Just wanted a family...I was so lone-ly... I wanted to be...with 9S..."

"It's alright, it's alright now. I will save you, I won't let you die. I won't lose you. Pod, help me hack 21O!"

"Inadvisable. Logic virus has completely taken over this unit. Unit 9S will likely contract the virus."

"I don't care, I can't lose anyone else. Pod, please help me pin her to the ground."

"...Affirmative."

While the blonde was as powerful as any B-model she currently lacked the grace of one. It didn't take long before the smaller boy was able to knock her sword out of her hands. She threw them up in the air and charged him with a slight waddle in her movements. 9S dropped his sword as well and used all the muscles and springs in his legs to propel himself forward. He tackled the combat model to the ground using his full weight to pin her down. He held both her wrists against the ground and sat on her stomach. Pod 153 clamped down on her knees preventing most of her form from thrashing around.

The blonde's head was the only part of her able to flair around. With his hands full there was only one way to open her hacking space. Without the slightest of hesitation he whacked his forehead to hers pining her head down. It hurt, it hurt a lot but the hacking pro didn't care at the moment. "Hacking in." He spoke softly his grayish blue eyes closing beneath his visor.

21O's hacking space was vast; the road was twisty and maze liked. There were multiple gelatinous blobs of pitch black spread throughout her space. This was the first time that he had ever hacked into an android that had such an advance infection. It was terrifying and heartbreaking. Most of her space looked like a dark abyss you can never return from. Thanks to all the slowly moving pitch black blobs. They were growing and take over everything including the floor space to move on.

He jumped in the air and used gravity to slam down on it sword in hand. The impact was soft on his body absorbed by the virus. The recoil on him was hard and disorienting as the scanner was sent flying back. 153 grabbed on to 9S before he could fall off the edge and to his infinite death. The virus jiggled before returned to its rounder shape completely unharmed.

With a scowl he leaped at it once more repeatedly hacking through it with his white sword. The outer exterior was hard to penetrate at first. The sword would just be absorb and reflected the force being sent back at him. Was this infection so advanced his powers wouldn't be able to help? Or maybe it built up a resistance to him? Was 21O too far gone to really be saved? 9S scowled refusing to give up on the short hair girl.

After eight minutes of nonstop attacking the outer layer was finally impaled. Now each slash finally managed to damage it. The mass would splatter away ever so gradually becoming smaller. The splatter marks left on the ground would slowly sizzle and evaporate away.

Once that glob was defeated he moved to the next using the same method. His pod offered bullet help but it still managed to take time to kill anything his size. His arms seemed heavy and his joins felt the need for lubrication. The minute there was room to move he headed towards her memory storage. For some reason the virus always targeted memories first. It was a truly cruel corruption that those machines came up with.

His weapon pierced through another blotch blocking his path. He sighed in relief watching it disappear from her data space. There he saw smaller splotches hanging on to the corners of her holographic memories. 9S noted that most of the icons to her memories had his face on them. They also, appeared well organized as he would've expected them to be from his prim and proper operator. "Leave them alone!"

With his gloved hands he reached to dislodge the parasite throwing it to the ground. His boot stomped on it repeatedly till it was flat. It dissipated quickly enough. Once it was gone her fragmented memory accidentally opened in front of him. 21O stood in front of him and the commander was off to the side. They were in the control room of the bunker. Was this their first meeting? It's was really the only time the three of them would have been talking like that.

"My name is 9S, a newly manufactured scanner model. It's a pleasure to meet you." His voice was cheerful. More cheerful then what it normally sounds like when he's introduce to a new person. The boy was meeting his personal operator for the first time. The girl he will always communicate with, getting support when needed. The blonde wore a genuine smile; her eyes shone with light and optimism. The small android couldn't help but notice he had never seen this expression on her face before.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm 21O your operator. Don't worry I'll always give you reliable bunker support." Her tone carried joy mixed in with a bit of pride, cockiness and professionalism all at once.

The hacker frowned in confusion. He could easily piece together that it was a previous 9S. It's a shame that he didn't have this recollection. It seems like a great flashback. Why couldn't she smile at him like that? It was just as beautiful as 2B's rare smile. What would it take to see that expression from her? There couldn't be much difference between him and the previous 9S. There would be no reason to frown at him but smile at a copy.

He reached to salvage another memory from the virus' grasp. The fragments were lined up one by one in a nice column.

"My name is 9S, a newly manufactured scanner model. It's a pleasure to meet you." He presented himself in exactly the same way in the previous memory. This time the taller android still wore her smile but her eyes held a decent amount of pain she was trying to conceal.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm 21O your operator. Don't worry I'll always give you reliable bunker support." The amber haired girl's voice was still professional but her joy sounded forced.

Was this column of memories just of their first meeting? There looked to be close to fifty of them. He picked one in the middle of the group. It wasn't professional to poke around in someone's head. This was about him so it fine right? Or so he told himself. Despite his normally unbreakable moral he didn't waver as he played it.

"My name is 9S, a newly manufactured scanner model. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm 21O your operator." Her voice was as stoic and formal like he was used to hearing. Her eyes looked stern and unimpressed to be working with him.

The boy shook his head trying to free his mind of the distraction and attacked the next growing globule. The next largest group contained scenes with Operator 6O. The scanner was unaware that 6O was his operator's mentor. The braided girl taught her all the procedures like how to type reports professionally. Since it seemed like his personality had always clashed with 21O's he was surprised how well the operators seem to get along. While he was glad she got along with someone, it didn't help the envious feeling from forming in his chest.

With a precision swipe another part of the virus withered away. "Current level of virus infection is at 43 percent." His support chimed up after being silent for some time. The scanner took her words as encouragement and pressed his tired mind onward. Carefully he made sure not to open the other flashbacks.

One glob turned its attention towards him. It jumped at his leg wrapping around his bare skin like a snake. It constricted around his leg cutting off his circulation. "Alert: virus detected in unit 9S." He ripped it from his leg and threw it to the ground. If it swallowed him he may not make it back to his body. With a grunt his stabbed his weapon through it.

This was the toughest battle in his life. Fighting goliath class machines was nothing compared to terminating a badly corrupted android. He waited for his pod to confirm his thoughts. "Virus infection at zero, this unit is now clean." 9S fell to his butt at the confirmation. The hacker pulled back from her mind and re-entered his own body. He felt just as tired as if he had used more than just his mind to fight. Pod 153 ran a scan on him just to be safe. The support unit marked him with a clean bill of health.

21O's body was fully limp and completely covered by his smaller frame; both of them were awake and powerless to move. "That was extremely reckless of you. What were you thinking?" The tired voice spoke out still holding on to its stern and scolding ways. He felt and arm wrap around his back somewhat affectionately. "I told you to kill me. What would've happened if you were badly hurt? You're a scanner model after all."

"Is that my thank you?" He countered feeling the upmost delight from her untainted voice. In their current position they couldn't see each other facial expressions. However he wore a satisfied grin; and he thought she did as well. Her arm tightened around him frantically refusing to let him go.

"Thank you, 9S."

"You're welcome."

A/N: At first this was going to be a fic where they also go to save 2B. But then I felt that it was starting to turn away from the simple plot of 9S saving 21O. And this makes a nice little oneshot. I still have what I written but I didn't know where it was going anymore. I'll (hopefully) probably turn it into something else if I know how to end it. It's already at 6K words and I'm not willing to simply delete it. I might add more to this, but who knows. PS: 21O is love.