NieR Automata Fan Fiction

Reprise

By Kraven Ergeist

Recursion 1

"Big brother…big brother…"

9S watched as the tiny little machine made a futile attempt to revive its fallen companion. It would fumble around for a bucket of oil, tripping and spilling its contents more than once throughout the process, before finally dispensing the contents of the bucket upon its immobile brethren. No matter how many attempts that machine made, its companion was broken and would not be revived.

9S knew all this. Not simply because it was the only logical outcome. No, 9S knew all this because he had seen it all before.

"What the…?" he mouthed, staring at the holographic interface hovering before his eyes, displaying a readout of available targets in the area. "How did I…?"

He was back at the factory. He knew the layout of the facility inside and out and had recognized his surroundings instantly. But how had he gotten there? His memory banks seemed to have a considerable gap between this moment and his most recent one. The last thing he could recall was facing off against A2 in the heart of the machine tower, having fought his way through wave after wave of machines and infected androids, his own mind growing numb from viral contamination as well.

Then a cryptic message from Adam about the machines' plan to go to space, leaving the Earth behind. And then, the next thing he knew…he was here.

Was this some hallucination or simulation brought on by the virus? Was he witnessing his memories unfold as they had transpired, an imprisoned spectator in his own mind?

Or was this actually happening?

Before 9S could come to terms with what he was seeing, a message alert chime sounded off in his head, taking him completely by surprise and causing him to stagger backward. Before he knew it, the holographic readout before him vanished, and was replaced by another hologram from Pod 153's projector module, this one displaying a familiar face.

"Operator 21O to 9S," a terse, professional voice sounded from the veiled blonde android woman. "Come in 9S."

9S' felt his jaw hanging open but he made no effort to close it. He just stared at his operator in disbelief. In the back of his mind, he knew what was happening. The patterns were all there. The memories of the events leading up to the tragedy that was the death of his partner and the fall of YoRHa were forever etched into his memory, and so for them to be playing out once again like this, while he himself seemed fully capable of controlling his actions, could signify only one thing.

But the logical part of his mind simply refused to believe it.

"Operator…" 9S stammered, his mouth going dry. "You're alive…"

Even as the words left his mouth, he knew exactly how she would respond to what must have been - from her perspective – a pointlessly inane observation.

"9S, please refrain from needless commentary," she said pointedly. "The YoRHa troops have commenced their descent. Disable the enemy base's defense systems immediately."

9S was paralyzed. 21O was dead. He had killed her himself after she had succumbed to viral contamination. And yet here she was, barking orders at him just like she used to. This was impossible! It made no sense! What was going on?

"9S?" the operator's voice interrupted his thoughts once again when he failed to respond in a reasonable amount of time. "Please confirm that you've received your orders."

The confused scout unit shook his head, opening and closing his mouth as he attempted to find his voice.

"Oh…um…yes!" he finally managed, looking around at the sun-bleached concrete and rusted metal catwalk, feeling himself growing dizzier by the moment. "Roger that…"

He watched Operator 21O's face briefly pinch into a scowl of suspicion, before the transmission finally cut out.

9S wasn't sure if he was remorseful or relieved at her hanging up on him. On the one hand, he was glad to see her, and – if, in fact, he wasn't simply dreaming up this whole absurd scenario in his head – very much glad she was alive. But at the same time, if he was indeed reliving the same scenario as it had occurred in his past, then she seemed to have no recollection of events as they have transpired, and would probably see any behavior reflecting that as grounds for concern, which would only cause problems.

He sat down on his haunches as the errant thought flitted through his electric brain like a lost bird, fluttering its wings helplessly as he tried to digest what his unconscious mind had already realized.

9S was reliving the same scenario as it had occurred in his past. This was all happening. This was real. All of the events leading up to 2B's death, the fall of YoRHa, the rise of the machine tower, the tragedy that occurred thanks to the pointless cycle perpetuated by the ceaseless war between android and machine…he had a chance to stop it all before it began!

He opened and closed his hands, staring down at his gloved fingers as he did, running internal diagnostics to try to find any inconsistencies or abnormalities. Every reading and measurement he took was a near perfect match to the state things had been in prior to his first mission with 2B.

His thoughts suddenly came grinding to a halt. His first mission? No…he had missions with 2B before this one…hadn't he?

No, that wasn't it. That wasn't what was giving him pause.

This mission…this mission to take out the goliath class machine at the heart of the factory…it had ended with his death. He had self-destructed before he could upload his data to the bunker. Which meant that he should have no memory of this mission! The last time he uploaded his data before the moment he self-destructed was well before this point.

Even if he was simply reliving his old memories, that he would be here, now, in this moment should have been impossible!

9S seized tufts of his hair with both hands.

What was happening? Was this all just a simulation? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was this some partition of his mind that he had inadvertently sequestered off before he had self-destructed as a redundant backup? But if that were the case, then how did he still have access to the memories he had created well after this point?

None of this made any god damned sense!

"Alert:" Pod 153 chimed overhead. "Unit 9S' biorhythms have begun to fluctuate at an alarming rate. Proposal: Unit 9S should conduct field maintenance immediately."

9S glanced up at his pod suspiciously. If anyone could help shed some light on this situation…

"Pod…" he asked slowly. "Aren't you…getting a sense of déjà vu here?"

"Please clarify," the Pod responded.

9S shook his head, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"Do you recall any of these events happening before?" he asked, helplessly. "This mission…haven't we already done this before?"

"Negative," Pod 153 said. "Proposal: If there are no issues, then Unit 9S should comply with Operator 21O's orders."

9S let out a sigh of defeat. Even if this was all just a dream, everyone around him, even his own pod, was acting like it was business as usual. Which meant that at any moment, 2B and her squad would be arriving to take on the goliath class machine, none the wiser at what it would entail.

2B…

As his thoughts drifted to his partner, he cast his eyes to the sky to watch the six contrails left by the YoRHa Ho229 flight units controlled by 2B and her team. They would be arriving at the factory in a matter of minutes. He would have to move quickly if he wanted to reach her in time.

Setting his jaw, 9S climbed back to his feet and made a beeline for his own flight unit.

He had a unique opportunity here to correct things before they went to hell. It didn't matter how or why he had gotten here. He could work out the details of how and why later. If this all turned out to be some kind of sick twisted game someone or something was playing on him…well, he wouldn't be any worse off than he was now if it was. All that mattered at this moment was taking action. He knew how events would be playing out – the combat data in his head gave him a near perfect roadmap of events to compare to after all – and that knowledge gave him power.

He could change things. For the better this time.

But where to start?

As his unit took flight, and he began the meticulous task of navigating the labyrinth of the factory's tunnels, nimbly maneuvering his flight unit through wave after wave of flying machines hurling balls of energy at his vessel, 9S began to formulate a plan.

He had to save 2B, first and foremost. That was priority one. But how best to go about doing so? And what else could he save in the process? The answer his mind arrived at first was to eliminate A2, but nothing in his prior knowledge contained any useful information on how to do so with any guarantee of success. Even if he and 2B could manage to get the jump on her prior to the fall of YoRHa, she was a skilled attacker unit who had been on the run for years and was clearly adept at surviving on her own. The likelihood of her managing to escape an assassination attempt were high. And even if he managed to take her out of the equation, that still wouldn't stop the machine virus from spreading to 2B's central processor and destroying her before 9S could save her in time.

No, A2 was not the key to this equation…

"We'll need to you take down the enemy's defense systems to give our attack squadron a chance," Operator 21O's voice sounded in his head as he reconfigured his flight unit and moved into position to begin taking the factory's defenses offline. "You have four targets that need to be hacked. Be advised…"

As 21O continued rattling off instructions, 9S had to stop himself from succumbing to melancholy at the sound of her voice. He wanted nothing more than to tell her things were going to be alright now, even if she would have no way of understanding him right now. He knew what cruel fate awaited her, and more importantly, he knew that he had the power to stop it. It was at that moment that he decided that he wouldn't just save 2B, but Operator 21O as well. And the other operators. And the other scouts. And the Commander. And if it were at all possible, he would save all of YoRHa if he could.

The only problem was, he wasn't sure how. He had already been in possession of a great deal of prior knowledge that the rest of YoRHa did not have during the final battle, and even then, he had been helpless to save anyone. He was an excellent hacker, if he did say so himself, but he was also just one scout unit. He couldn't single handedly contain a virus designed by the entire machine network to wipe out every android within YoRHa. Not unless he knew its origin point.

The system update! That was where the virus had originated from! The system update that had been put into place immediately after his recovery from Adam's possession. He had awoken in time to prevent it from spreading to him and 2B, but not to the rest of the bunker. If he managed to avoid getting captured by Adam…or better yet, if he could manage to get a warning to the Commander…

The Commander! If anyone could put things into motion to prevent this tragedy from occurring, it would be her. She had access to every system level of YoRHa, and better yet, she seemed to place just enough faith in 9S' abilities that she just might heed his warning.

Still, she was the Commander of all of YoRHa. He couldn't just drop in unannounced proclaiming that he knew how events were going to unfold, especially if he were to make the attempt now, in the middle of his mission. If he abandoned the mission to storm into the command center rambling nonsense at her, he would be under suspicion of viral contamination himself, and would likely be quarantined.

"Hacking of enemy defense system complete," Operator 21O announced after 9S neutralized his final target. "Our attack squadron can now infiltrate the base. You are to continue providing support by whatever means available."

He had to at least complete his mission here, he realized as he maneuvered around another wave of hovering machines. He had time, he reasoned. After the mission was over…

9S tightened the grip on his flight controls as a new realization took hold of him.

After this mission was over, he would be destroyed, and every memory he had made up until his last backup would be lost! And who knew what that point was exactly under these strange new circumstances?

9S reconfigured his flight unit for pursuit and blasted off towards 2B's location.

He had to change things here and now, he suddenly realized. Whatever fluke had earned him this second chance, allowing him to preserve his memories from before the self-destruction of his and 2B's black boxes, there was no guarantee it would happen again. If he wanted to have any hope of fixing things later on down the line, he had to act now.

He had to survive this mission. By any means necessary. Even if it meant…

9S veered just in time to void flying into a steel column as his thoughts came into focus.

He shook his head violently.

No. He wouldn't sacrifice 2B. He couldn't. Even if her consciousness could be recovered afterward, she would still be losing a part of herself if she died here. But if he let himself die in her stead, there was no guarantee he would retain any of this newly acquired knowledge going forward. Should he sacrifice a part of her now to save the rest of her and everyone else later? Or should he sacrifice himself to avoid losing any part of her now, and maybe lose the chance to save anyone later on?

He couldn't make that choice. He wouldn't. He had to think of an alternative.

And he had to think of one soon. Because before he knew it, he was watching 2B battle with the giant excavator claw of the factory's defense system.

"2B!" he called out instinctively, as his flight unit let loose a torrent of missiles that felled the giant proto-goliath arm.

With a climactic crash, the massive excavator claw toppled over into a pile of rubble, tearing through concrete walls and steel machinery like they were made of cardboard, before exploding into a wreath of fire.

As his flight unit descended towards 2B's position, 9S felt a deep swelling of yearning in the pit of his stomach that had not been there before. Intellectually, he knew that if he was reliving the past somehow, that his partner would still be alive. But to actually see her, standing there in all her glory, like an angel of death…

He had needed her so badly in the aftermath of YoRHa's collapse. He needed her still to this day. More to the point, he needed her help more than anyone else's if he meant to save YoRHa. He couldn't do it all on his own. He needed an ally he could trust and depend on. And he could think of no one else than 2B for that role.

But how to explain it all to her? If she, like everyone else he had met so far was living out these events for the first time, then how was he to make her see what was happening without sounding like he himself was being corrupted by a logic virus of some kind? Come to that, how did he have any proof that he wasn't already infected and just hallucinating this whole scenario?

9S shook his head. He needed to think clearly here. 2B was his most trusted ally. If anyone could help him through this, it was her. If there was anyone within YoRHa who might follow him should he ask them to put their faith him, it was her.

He had to trust in her as well.

Landing his flight unit before her, 9S dismounted and stepped out to greet his wayward partner.

"9S…" 2B breathed in recognition.

The scout unit froze. Had she called out to him because she hadn't expected to see him here…or because she had?

"2B…?" he asked curiously.

2B gazed up at him a moment longer, before shaking her head.

"Never mind," she said quickly, brushing off the suspicious pause with practiced ease. "The enemy unit has been dealt with. Our mission is to track down and destroy the goliath class machine."

9S didn't respond at first. He was analyzing 2B's face, looking for some indication of what had caused her to recognize him.

"2B…" he said somberly. "What's the last thing you remember happening before this mission?"

At his partner's hesitation, 9S felt a glimmer of hope.

"What?" she asked in a voice full of uncertainty.

9S drew in his breath. Could it be possible? He had to risk it.

"2B…" he glanced up at Pod 153, wondering idly what his pod would be making of all this. "This is going to sound crazy…but I think I know how this mission is going to end."

2B stared at him with a level of intense scrutiny that 9S was unaccustomed to, and he swallowed hard.

"What do you mean?" she finally asked.

Scratching his head helplessly, 9S chewed on his lip as he stewed under her gaze. It was time to lay his cards on the table.

"I think that…I've experienced these events before…" he admitted slowly, looking away nervously, knowing that he would crumble if he kept his eyes on her for too long. "This mission…it ends with us self-destructing via black box reaction. We then get partnered together to help the resistance, and then discover the remains of the aliens underground and then…"

9S trailed off when he finally looked back at 2B and saw the look of astonishment on her face.

"9S…" she whispered, taking a step forward. "You remember it all too?"

9S felt a thrill of giddiness at her words. Relief flooded through him as he realized the full implications of what he was hearing. If 2B remembered everything they had gone through together, then…

He took a step towards her, nodding his head.

"I do…" he breathed. "2B…don't tell me…you know how this ends too?"

2B seemed uncertain as she pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead.

"I…I thought I was just imagining things…" she admitted quietly. "That I was succumbing to stress and disrepair…"

She set her jaw as she looked back at him, determination on her face.

"But if you're telling me that it was all real…" she said, shaking her head as the full implications seemed to weigh down on her. "The fall of YoRHa…the virus…Adam and Eve…Pascal and Emil and A2…"

9S swallowed hard, nodding feebly. There was no doubt about it. She remembered! He wasn't alone. Not anymore. He wouldn't have to figure this all out by himself. He had his partner to back him up. Whatever they were about to face, they would face it together.

They had to. Because he didn't see any other way out of this.

"Query," Pod 042 chimed. "Have Units 2B and 9S made a discovery that will impact the mission?"

9S and 2B both shot a glance at the floating drone, realizing just how confused the pod must have been by all this talk. 2B quickly reached the same conclusion that 9S did – that, like their fellow members of YoRHa, their pods were completely oblivious to this strange predicament they found themselves in. Nothing the two of them said on the matter was likely to make any sense to their pods, and in all probability would only cast the two androids under suspicion.

"Pod," 2B said curtly. "Disregard any further communication between 9S and myself."

"Affirmative," the little droid acknowledged.

"Pod 163, you do the same," 9S added.

"Acknowledged," the other black droid said.

"Proposal," Pod 042 chimed back. "Units 2B and 9S should dispense with needless chatter and proceed with the mission."

2B and 9S ignored the drone's words. Their pods would not interfere with anything the two of them did that deviated from their mission or expected behavior, but the floating automatons would still record everything that transpired. They would need to take care what they said.

"We have to do something, 2B," 9S said, clenching his fists as nervous elation continued to grip him. "We have a second chance now! We can save YoRHa! We can save everyone if we act now!"

2B was still reeling at the revelation.

"How…?" she asked aloud. "How is this all possible?"

9S took another step closer, and tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I don't know, 2B…" he said cautiously, bringing her attention back into focus. "I don't know if any of this is even real or not. But if it is real, then we can't afford to let this opportunity pass us by. And if it isn't real…well, what difference would it make then?"

2B seemed to ponder this a moment longer, before slowly nodding her head.

"You're right," she agreed. "We already know exactly how this fight is going to end."

9S' lips curved into a smile, dropping his arms away from her. It felt good to have 2B by his side once more.

"It, and every other fight afterward," he added.

2B's expression suddenly turned grim.

"Which means…" she said, a sour note in her voice. "9S…we don't make it out of this mission alive."

9S nodded. He'd been wrestling with the exact same conundrum himself. But his confidence and desire to succeed had been bolstered now that he had been reunited with 2B. Before, success had been a nebulous, fleeting possibility. But now…now it seemed almost within their grasp.

It was time to strategize.

"I've been thinking about that…" 9S explained, the germ of an idea taking form in his head as he began pacing back and forth. "Last time, we had to destroy the goliath class machines by self-destructing via black box reaction. I'd like to avoid doing that if possible. We know that it takes an immense amount of destructive force to take down a goliath, let alone four of them. We also know that YoRHa doesn't have the resources to spare to send us any reinforcements for this mission. Which means we'll have to come up with a way to leverage an immense amount of destructive power without any backup from YoRHa."

2B nodded, following along with his plan.

"And how would you propose we do that?" she asked.

9S chewed on his lip as one possibility came into focus.

"It may have severe repercussions on future events…" he said slowly, raising a finger. "But I think we need to destroy this factory. If I hack into the factory's main computer, I might be able to overload its primary fusion reactor. It will destroy the factory completely, as well as any nearby machine life forms."

2B inhaled slowly through her nose. It seemed to make sense to her, at least on a tactical level. It was the only conceivable way either of them could destroy their targets while still retaining some chance of escape. But like 9S, she also had the burden of knowledge, which meant that she knew exactly what role this factory had left to play in the future. Without the factory, the machine cult that she and Pascal had discovered may never come to be – or else, they would arise elsewhere, leading to an even more unpredictable outcome upon their encounter. Hell, if this factory was indeed the birthplace of the goliath class machines, who was to say when and how the next wave of goliaths would attack in the future? They could end up never opening up that hole in the ground that revealed the alien grave site. Or doing so at a different time, further muddying future events.

Every decision they made would have a ripple effect on how their future played out. Some of the outcomes might be to their benefit, some of them might not. But either way, if things shifted too greatly, they would rapidly lose any advantage their prior knowledge granted them.

As 2B and 9S both pondered the potential repercussions of their actions, they both seemed to arrive at the same conclusion at once. It was risky, no matter what they did. There was no guarantee that 9S could even complete such a plan. And even if he did, the force of such a destructive blast would pose a challenge to the two of them when it came time to escape – especially with only the one flight unit. The fallout might even reach as far as the resistance camp.

So many variables, and so little time to ponder them all. But one thing was for sure – allowing this mission to proceed as it had in their memories was even riskier still.

"I don't think we have a choice, 2B…" 9S said somberly. "Time's running out. We've got to do something."

2B drew in her breath as another possibility came to mind.

"We could simply run," she offered.

9S blinked in astonishment beneath his YoRHa issue visor.

"Run?" he gaped in disbelief. "You mean…abandon the mission? Abandon YoRHa? We'd be fugitives! YoRHa would hunt us down and exterminate us!"

2B slowly shook her head. "A2 managed, somehow."

9S glanced warily up at their two pods. Even discussing desertion was a punishable offense. He would have to hack them both later to delete any recording either of them had of this conversation.

"Even so…" he argued. "If we run, we'd be leaving everyone to their fate. We might survive, but the Commander, the operators, all of our comrades…it would only be a matter of time before the logic virus brings down all of YoRHa, and we'd be in no position to stop it!"

"Would it?" 2B asked stoically. "The war only comes to a head due to our actions, 9S. Yours and mine. If we run, then we never discover Adam and Eve. We never discover the aliens underground. The logic virus never disseminates."

2B placed a hand on her chest.

"It was our actions that ultimately triggered the fall of YoRHa in the first place."

9S looked away, taking a long, frustrated breath. She had a point. Running would take them out of the equation, but perhaps that was a good thing in the long run. They'd be making enemies of YoRHa and everyone who was a part of it. They'd have to take precautions when it came to dealing with the resistance or any other androids in general for the rest of their lives, and they would no longer have the endless supply of resources that YoRHa provided while they attempted to make a life for themselves out in the wilderness.

But one problem remained.

"We'd only be delaying the inevitable," 9S reasoned. "If we don't set these events into motion, then eventually, someone else will."

2B pursed her lips. "You don't know that."

"Actually, I do…" 9S said sadly. "2B…a lot happened after you…after you died…"

2B listened, seemingly in morbid fascination, as 9S relayed what he'd learned from the machine tower. About the machine core that they shared with their mortal enemies. About YoRHa and the machines and how each and every one of them was designed to be terminated at some point or another. That there was never going to be a future where any of them could live in peace. That war was all they would ever know, until such time as they were all wiped out. And any units lucky enough to emerge from the war with their lives intact would eventually, inevitably, perish with the rest of them.

"Androids and Machines...we're all a part of YoRHa's plans…" he explained grimly. "Adam and Eve were always meant to be discovered…and YoRHa was always meant to fall. Along with the rest of us. All of us, just sacrificial pawns, all for the sake of…I don't even know…some grand experiment whose meaning and purpose are beyond any of us…"

2B fixed her partner with a look of worry.

"9S…" she breathed, looking like she was too afraid to say any more.

The scout scratched his head, looking away as he realized just what a dour mood he had brought to their conversation. It must have appeared to 2B that he had given up all hope. But he hadn't. Despite the grim nature of their predicament, that did not take away from the fact that his partner was back, and even if it was a brief, meaningless respite, he would still treasure this stolen fragment of memory they now shared together.

"Maybe your idea of running isn't so far-fetched, 2B…" he admitted, looking up at the sky. Somewhere up there above the clouds, the YoRHa bunker drifted in circuitous orbit, thousands of miles away, and watching them always. "We could at least enjoy the time that we have left together. I just feel like…if we did, we'd be abandoning everyone else to their fate. And that just…doesn't sit well with me."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see 2B touching him gently.

"If you want to use this second chance to save YoRHa, then that's what we'll do," she said simply.

9S stared back at her, somewhat taken aback by how earnest she sounded.

"2B?" he asked.

"You care for others, 9S," she noted, letting her hand fall back to her side. "Maybe a little more than I would like if I'm being honest. During our missions together, you always seemed to leap at the chance to help those we came across, despite it serving no benefit to our missions at the time. But helping others is clearly important to you."

9S wasn't sure if she meant that as a compliment or not.

"I…guess so…" he said, crossing his arms as if he needed to ponder the undeniable certainty of her observation.

The intensity in 2B's masked gaze did not abate, and 9S found it difficult to remain still under such scrutiny.

"I gave my life so that you might continue to live," the feminine android said bluntly. "And from the sound of it, you had quite the experience after it happened."

9S glanced away, uncomfortably. "I…"

9S could see his companion falling under A2's blade every time he closed his eyes. It was a traumatic memory to delve into, and 2B must have known it would affect him. She clearly had a reason for bringing it up, but for the life of him, 9S couldn't think of a reason, other than to assure him she that she recalled it as vividly as he did.

A shudder ran through him as realization struck him.

She did remember it as vividly as he did. More so, in fact. For 9S, his memory of losing 2B was weeks old by his experience. It remained bitter and heartbreaking, but he had still had time to process it. But as painful as it was for him even now, if 2B was in the same situation as he was, then for her, the memory of her last moments would seem like they had transpired less than an hour ago.

For 2B, she must have still been feeling the very throes of death upon her.

And for all that, she still had not a hair out of place as she spoke. How 9S was supposed to do anything but admire her, he was not certain.

"It…it was hard," he admitted, swallowing slightly. "Facing the world without you, I mean."

2B shook her head, a small smile appearing on her lips.

"And yet here we are," she sighed. "Back where it all began."

9S let out a bitter laugh. "And none the wiser to what it all means."

2B just shrugged. "You made it as far as this machine tower you mentioned, faced off against the machine's collective intelligence, fought off viral contamination and stood your ground against A2. To me, that says that you're clearly better equipped to handle this strange situation than I am."

The young android swallowed again as his partner inclined her head.

"So I'll follow your lead, 9S," she said soberly. "I trust you."

An uncomfortable weight settled back onto the boy's shoulders as the impossibility of their situation seemed to once again throw his mind into doubt. He was a problem solver at heart, and had the natural curiosity of all scout models, which made the prospect of tackling a puzzle like this one all the more appealing. But the risks posed such an enormous barrier this time around, mostly because of how many unknown variables there were. He had not only to contend with all the possibilities of failure that were known to him, but all of the ones that were unknown as well. For all he knew, he and 2B might wake up at any moment to find their minds trapped in some sort of simulation. And who was to say whether events were truly transpiring as they had before? Would everyone in the Resistance still be the same? Or Pascal's village? Would the YoRHa access points even work, given their strange new situation? All of the things he had taken for granted in the past were now called into question, not the least of which because of what he now knew of YoRHa itself and all that it stood for.

He reached up to smack his cheeks with the palms of his hands.

One thing at a time, he reasoned. At the very least, he and 2B had to extricate themselves from this mission without tipping off YoRHa or evoking the wrath of the goliath machines that had so mercilessly slaughtered them the last time around. Compared to all the impossible questions going through his head, this one particular problem could still be solved.

"Alright then…" he said, releasing a long breath of air. "We need to destroy this factory. It's the only way I can think of that will allow us to complete our mission while avoiding a confrontation with the goliaths."

2B nodded, setting her jaw. "And our escape plan?"

9S nodded to the piece of machinery he had arrived in.

"Take my flight unit," he said. "I'll hitch a ride, and you can drop me off as close to the reactor core as you can get me. That will be our rendezvous point if we lose communication. I'll make my way further into the facility while you draw the machines away from my location. Just stay away from the goliath. Once I've hacked into the factory's power supply, I should be able to trigger a chain reaction that will lead to a meltdown. Meet back up with me at the rendezvous point, and we'll put as much distance between us and the factory as possible."

2B pursed her lips as she went over the combat data in her head.

"Ho229 flight units are not able to fly at top speed while carrying an extra passenger, nor are they able to make full use of their weaponry," she frowned. "We'll be easy targets if we're spotted en route, to say nothing of our chances of getting clear in time."

9S nodded. "That's a definite risk."

"And if the goliath happens to find either of us before we expect it to…" she said, letting the thought hang.

"Then we'll have to flee the field and report mission failure to YoRHa," 9S shrugged. "There will be consequences from YoRHa high command for going against our mission directive, but at least we can escape with our lives."

2B's brow furrowed in concentration. She clearly did not like this plan, but if she had any alternatives to add to their list of options, she didn't voice them. After a moment longer, she simply nodded her head.

"Alright then," she said, approaching the flight unit.

9S quickly transferred piloting rights to 2B as she mounted up, before jumping onto the unit's shoulders. It would not be able to reconfigure into flight mode with him straddling the machinery like he was, nor would he be able to avoid taking damage should she open up the throttle or get into a fight. Outside the cockpit, his frame was vulnerable.

The reactor core was not difficult to find however, as it had not been a part of their primary mission objective. Although the possibility of annihilating the factory had come up in the planning stages of the operation, the ultimate goal of the mission was to reclaim the factory as a resource for YoRHa. While the primary objective was still to deny the asset to the enemy, losing it entirely would be no small loss to YoRHa high command.

Not that it ultimately made a difference in the end, 9S thought glumly.

Still, the main objective was clear, and 9S was confident he could make a case for their actions so long as the goliaths were wiped out in the blast. If they had to retreat however, the mission debriefing would be significantly less pleasant. At a worst case scenario, they would be subject to a full probation – the android equivalent of being court-martialed – and possibly decommissioned as a consequence of their failure.

The biggest variable in this plan was the Commander herself. She was a shrewd and inscrutable android, and 9S was uncertain of her ultimate motivations given all he'd learned from her before the fall of YoRHa. It seemed as likely that she would be sympathetic to their situation as much as she might suspect them of viral contamination should she learn of it. Hell, for all 9S knew, the Commander had already deduced exactly what was going on and was making plans for it at that very moment. Nothing would be apparent until they dealt with the current mission, one way or another.

"We're here," 2B said, the flight unit decelerating and slowly descending to a gentle hover over a rusty catwalk that lead towards the massive carapace of the factory's main reactor, twin pillars of smoke belching from the two massive hyperboloids at the heart of the facility.

9S dropped down off the flying machine and onto the platform, as Pod 153 followed after him. The tiny droid had seemed to have little difficulty keeping up with the sedate pace that had been the upper limits of 2B's flight speed. They had remained mercifully unmolested by machines on their way here, but all that this meant to 9S was that their luck would only run out later on down the line.

"Alright," 9S said, steeling himself to venture inside. "You know what to do. Give 'em hell. But keep clear of the worst of it."

2B nodded, her head peeking out from the comically massive frame of the flight unit that enclosed around her body like a clam shell.

"I don't like leaving you alone like this," 2B mused stubbornly. "Stay in radio contact for as long as you can. I'll come and dig you out if things get too hot."

9S smiled despite himself.

"Roger that," he said with a sigh.

The flight unit pulled away, and 9S was alone once again. He waited a few minutes for 2B to begin causing a commotion, before slowly making his way through a set of doors that lead towards the reactor core. He would have to venture deep into the heart of the factory to reach his objective, which would likely mean he'd be cut off from communicating with 2B. It also meant that he would be dangerously close to that bizarre cult of machines they had encountered in one of their previous missions. Or would that technically be one of their future missions? Time travel was weird, 9S glowered. He wondered idly how long that machine cult had been down here, and whether it might be worth revealing their leader for the empty tin-can that it was and throw the rest of the cult into chaos this early on if they were.

That would be an excellent way to make things exponentially more difficult for everyone involved, not the least of which were the two YoRHa androids trying to get out of the factory in one piece. He really needed to get a lock down on his naturally inquisitive nature sometimes.

Although…thinking back to that mission, there might still be some insight to be gleamed from it. Hacking into individual machine lifeforms to do his dirty work for him had yielded substantial results. If he could manage the same trick here and now, it would allow him to probe the depths of the factory while his body remained within easy stride of the escape route.

A solid plan, though it did lead to the obvious question of what would happen at the other end of that spectrum? Piggy-backing off of machine lifeforms was something that he only had to rely on when the occasion called for it, but as a YoRHa android, he had regularly backed up his data to the server in the bunker and transferred that consciousness back and forth on a constant basis. Would that still even work anymore? Some part of his brain warned him against it. Partly it was out of fear of the virus that had wiped out YoRHa, even though he was 99% certain that it had not impacted the bunker just yet. But another part of him feared that whatever trickery had arranged for his consciousness to be somehow sent back in time might falter should he attempt to transfer that same consciousness through traditionally conventional means.

He was out of transfer range at any rate, and there were no working data access points anywhere nearby, so the question was academic for the moment. But he would have to confront this dilemma in all likelihood sooner or later.

"Alert," Pod 153 brought him back to the present moment. "Enemy signatures detected."

9S smiled as he sent a probe out at one of the trio of small squat machines, easily ensnaring the tiny creature's programming, and using its own flimsy weaponry to dispatch its two companions before they even knew what was happening.

"Keep my body safe, Pod," he said, eyes closed as he navigated the clunky machine down the catwalk towards an elevator. "Pull me back in if things get too dicey."

"Affirmative."

As his machine host clinked and clanked its way down deeper into the factory, 9S pinged 2B's flight unit, which was thankfully still well within communication range.

"I hacked a machine life form and I'm about halfway to the core," he reported briefly, knowing that in all likelihood, 2B's focus was on fighting. "What's your status?"

"Engaging the enemy," she replied simply. "The combat data from my memory banks is proving quite useful. Although…"

At 2B's hesitation, 9S paused, which in turn caused the hopping machine he was piloting to also pause, nearly waddling off the catwalk.

"What is it?" he asked curtly.

He heard 2B draw in a breath of surprise.

"9S…" she said in a hurried tone. "Check your plug-in chips!"

9S's brain hiccuped. Of all of the self-diagnostics he had conducted, he had not even thought to analyze the skill chips he and 2B had used to enhance their abilities in the field. He had gotten so used to relying on them that he hadn't even noticed their impact on his movements anymore!

Sure enough, his plug-in chips were all there. Attack, defense, support, all of it. It was the same set of enhancements he had used when he had entered the tower.

Which should have been impossible.

"What the hell?" he stuttered in disbelief.

"You too, huh?" 2B asked worriedly. "No wonder this fight has been fairly easy so far."

9S felt a rush of giddiness flooding his system as he poured through his system data with renewed intrigue. His recovery items, his full suite of weapons, even his pod programs – every asset he and 2B had acquired during their mission together – it was all there!

"Holy…" he breathed, feeling a twinge of hope creep into his voice. "We might just be a match for the goliaths after all!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," 2B cautioned, matter-of-factly. "If we are overconfident, we will surely be destroyed."

9S felt the levity slowly drain from his system as the strangeness of the reality of the situation came flooding back to him. He still didn't know why or how any of this was happening. And just because he happened to be operating at optimal capacity didn't take away from the fact that the exact nature of his capacity as it stood remained decidedly inexplicable – and therefore subject to doubt.

"Right," he agreed, lucidly. "Let's proceed as planned for now."

He steered his little machine all the way down to the molten core of the factory, the intense heat coming off the reactor nearly melting the tiny robot's chassis. He had passed several other machines along the way which seemed to pay him no heed as his ensnared body hopped along its journey.

When he finally reached the main terminal outside the smoldering reactor core, he uploaded a data stream into another probe, and launched it from the machine's entry port into the main terminal.

All at once, he was greeted by the austere matrix of the reactor's main security terminal. This being the very heart of the factory, it was surrounded by the largest amount of security protocols he had ever dealt with. The factory itself was of an ancient make, and while its component infrastructure had been upgraded heavily under machine occupation, its primary core structure remained in its original state, which meant that the architecture itself was bulky and unwieldy and left few nooks and crevices to get lost in.

As long as he could keep his probe mobile, he would be through the layers of security before long, and the archaic nature of the core programming made maneuverability all too easy. The only risk, he surmised, would be the likelihood of any alarms going off once the security field itself fell.

Which of course they did as soon as the thought crossed his mind. He would have to work fast.

BREEP! BREEP! BREEP!

The loud ringing noise ran through the entire factory as every machine in the facility was alerted to 9S' presence. Blocking out the noise, 9S plunged forward into the primary control matrix of the factory's reactor core.

"9S!" 2B's voice blared over the radio. "I assume that was you?"

9S began blasting the oversized orb that was the reactor core's control matrix, all the while dodging more and more attack protocols that seemed to spawn from out of nowhere – no doubt the machines alerted by the alarms going off.

"Almost got it!" 9S assured her, wincing as his probe took a glancing blow that exposed its right side.

"Alert!" Pod 153's voice sounded in his head. "Enemy signatures approaching. Unit 9S, this platform will not be able to hold them off for long."

"Almost…" 9S gritted his teeth, his probe losing another chunk off of its flank, its structural integrity nearly at its limit.

He blasted the core control matrix with all he had, keeping his aim locked onto nothing but his target as more and more defense protocols moved into position to try to block his access. The spacious architecture of the factory core left him plenty of room, but it was still finite, and every protocol that got in his way absorbed a blow that didn't make it to his objective.

Finally, he managed to squeeze off a shot that sent the large spherical core matrix fracturing into a pixelated conflagration as it began to fall apart. A half second later, his probe was obliterated, and his consciousness came rushing back into his body in a disorienting rush that left him staggering one again into full consciousness.

No sooner did he look up when he saw a swarm of machines bounding towards him, their eyes glowing red as their arms and weapons spun wildly in a disorganized but – he knew from experience - still terrifyingly effective series of attacks, as Pod 153 opened fire over his shoulder.

He withdrew his sword and met the first machine head on, slicing through the handle of its oversized axe, before delivering a fierce blow across its chassis, leaving it in pieces as he moved onto the next target.

"Alert," Pod 153 stated calmly. "Factory core instability detected. Critical meltdown imminent. Proposal: Unit 9S should vacate the facility immediately."

"Got it!" 9S hollered across his communication channel with his partner. "2B! Meet me at the rendezvous point!"

"On my way!" she shouted, the sound of explosions already echoing through the comm link.

9S tore his way through the machines that blocked the way between himself and freedom. A smile flitted across his face as he decided to test out just how effective his arsenal was now that he knew the full extent of it. Toggling through his pod programs, he landed on one that looked the most effective, and promptly instructed Pod 153 to unleash a volley of explosive charges that utterly decimated the enemies in his path.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Unfortunately, the rapid series of explosives also decimated the catwalk beneath the machines as well.

"Pod!" 9S shouted, reaching out for his small droid companion as he felt the floor beneath his feet give way.

CREEEAAAK! RRRNNNG! CRASH!

The catwalk fell away in shambles as he latched onto the pod's arms for support as the tiny automaton hurriedly floated down in the direction of safety, before unceremoniously depositing the android onto another catwalk.

"We have to get back up to the rendezvous point," 9S shouted hurriedly, looking around for a way out.

"Scanning," Pod 153 replied. "Report: there is a ladder one hundred and fifty meters to the right."

9S set his jaw and ran towards the ladder. It was out of the way, but it would have to do. As he dashed down the catwalk, explosions began going off everywhere, and despite the rapidly deteriorating facility, machine lifeforms continued to pour down the catwalk towards him, utterly intent on barring his escape, even in the face of their own unavoidable demise at the hands of a full nuclear meltdown.

"Get out of my way!" 9S shouted in anger, ordering his pod to open fire.

The catwalk funneled the machine lifeforms into a nice parallel line, which made them easy pickings for his pod's standard laser weapon, but they just kept coming.

BOOM!

Another explosion nearby jostled the catwalk, and the machines all flailed as they lost their balance. 9S seized the opportunity and leaped over as many as he could, reaching out to clasp a hand on the ladder.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He climbed up and up, as more explosions reverberated across the factory, his pod targeting the flying machines that began to dog his ascent. Orbs of energy began to fill the air, and 9S could swear he was sweating motor oil by the time he reached the top.

He saw the exit and made a dash towards it, the doors swishing open to reveal 2B's flight unit hovering just outside.

"9S!" she cried out as she saw him running towards the door. "Hurry up!"

BOOM!

Another explosion, this time much closer, suddenly engulfed the entire catwalk in flames as 9S dove for the door. The flames licked at his thick black jacket as he tucked and rolled, the force of the shock wave sending him sprawling.

FWOOSH!

The air came rushing through the door, forcing 9S out with more force than he had intended, sending him sprawling off the edge of the platform and sending 2B's flight unit reeling back from the force of the gust.

"9S!" 2B shouted as she watched him tumbling over the edge.

Regaining control of her vehicle, she swooped down to catch him, positioning her flight unit adjacent as he fell. He spread his arms and legs wide, trying to increase his drag as much as he could, but it was a hard thing for a YoRHa android to do when they weighed as much as a car. But 2B was nothing if not a skilled pilot, and with a few deft maneuvers, she edged her flight unit just close enough for 9S to reach. Seizing hold of one of the wings, 9S clung to the exterior of the flight unit in desperation.

"I'm on!" he shouted through the rushing wind. "Go! Go!"

2B banked up, and 9S was nearly crushed by the g-forces as he was slammed into the hard exterior of the flight unit's hull. These units were not designed to carry passengers, and if 2B was not careful, she could destroy him just as surely as the explosion would.

"9S!" she shouted in concern. "Are you okay?"

9S managed to maintain his grip, but he was getting rattled like nothing he had ever experienced. He knew that 2B was not pushing her flight unit nearly as hard as she could have been, but it was still like being in the midst of a tornado. If he were not an android, he would have been torn apart by the force of the flight, but even so, his frame was nearing its limits.

"Alert: Critical core failure imminent," Pod 153 reported. "Proposal: Unit 9S should brace for impact."

9S tried to respond, but before he could get a word out, the biggest explosion he had ever felt suddenly shook every fiber of his being.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The burst of light alone nearly overloaded his visual sensors, and 9S had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep them from frying. His auditory sensors were not so fortunate, and soon the sound of the explosion grew and grew before it gave way to a shrill ringing noise as his mechanical eardrums burst.

"Nines!"

2B's use of his pet name was the last intelligible thing he heard. Then the shock wave hit him, and he was torn loose from the flight unit, his arms and legs ripped from their sockets. His eyes flew open in shock as he tried to make sense of what was happening around him. The world was spinning so fast he couldn't discern anything other than the fact that everything was on fire, and he couldn't even determine what was up or down as his visual receptors slowly began to overload from the intense radiation.

The last thing he saw before his vision gave out was the sight of 2B leaping out of her flight unit, her mouth hanging open in a silent scream, reaching towards him as they were both engulfed by the massive nuclear explosion that consumed the machine factory.

As his vision faded to blackness, 9S felt a wave of grief hit him. They had failed, he realized in that moment. They hadn't made it far enough away from the factory in time to avoid the explosion. They were both going to die here. The second chance they had been given had all been for naught. He hadn't even had the wherewithal to try to upload a backup to the bunker. At least it might have worked. At any rate, it should have been worth the risk, given the odds stacked against them, having been seemingly dropped back into the heat of one of their most unwinnable battles to date.

It wouldn't have been so aggravating, 9S mused, if he had simply found why. Why had all this happened? And how? As a YoRHa android, he was used to beaming his consciousness across great distances in space, but so far, nothing in either the androids' or the machines' technological repertoire had ever even hinted at the possibility of doing so through time.

And even if this was the work of android or machine technology, the question still remained - why? Why here and now? Was it because he had died and lost his memories the last time this had happened, and thus leaving some sort of empty space for some ex-temporal version of his consciousness to latch onto? Was it because this was the beginning of the last mission that he and 2B had been given before the end? And even if that was the case, that didn't explain the discrepancies in their weaponry and equipment, or the fact that it seemed to have happened to both of them alone, and to nobody else that they had met thus far.

He still had so many question, but they were all moot at this point, 9S knew. As his external sensors all began to shut down, he could feel his body's systems fail one after another as his frame began to disintegrate. Although he couldn't see her or feel her in any way, somehow he knew that 2B had reached him before the blast had overtaken them both.

At least they would die together, 9S thought with a somber inner smile.

That was the last thought that registered in his mind, until an eerily familiar voice suddenly shook him awake again.

"Big brother…big brother…"

To be continued…

A/N: Yep, we're doing the Edge of Tomorrow thing. Buckle up, this one's going to be doozy.