Everything that lives is designed to end.

We are perpetually trapped... in a never-ending spiral of life and death.

Is this a curse?

Or some kind of punishment?

I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle... and wonder if we'll ever have a chance to kill him.

…

These thoughts have replayed in my mind so many times as I marched across this broken desolate world.

Duty and personal desire clashing repeatedly against one another with every step I take.

The ever growing hatred within me for those that bestowed us with the gift of emotion.

Little did I know that one day I would desperately fight to suppress that very desire.

Everything had changed.

Whether it was for better or worse it was too early for me to tell.

Too early to decide if should dedicate myself to him… or just murder him.

Within an old factory the sound of liquid dripping echoed in synch with the sounds of one of the circuits sizzling in conjunction and the ear piercing noise of metal being cut.

The silhouettes of two individuals laid motionless within the center of the room. A boy and a girl that could have been mistaken as brother and sister given how similar their physical features matched in addition to the clothes they sported. Both sharing the same pure white hair and pale skin tone, wearing Goth like black clothes as well as the same cloth like visor shielding their eyes from the world.

They were 2B and 9S, members of the elite military force known as the YoRHa. Soldiers in the service of the enigmatic organization known as the Council of Humanity.

Warriors created in the image of mankind.

Both were an almost perfect replication of the race that had dominated the planet Earth for millions of years.

They represented the pinnacle of technology and artificial intelligence.

Androids.

Sentient machines capable of independent thought, action, and emotion.

The legacy of the race that once flourished on the planet but left it behind together with all its history due to being decimated by alien invaders, forced with no alternative but to seek sanctuary on the moon.

Cowards… that was what many of the YoRHa members concluded about their creators and so called gods… but it wasn't without reason. Humanity had faced many hardships within the last ten millenniums, leading it to being a mere shadow of its former glory.

They couldn't be blamed for not being perfect beings.

Yet… just as flawed as the human race was, so were the androids.

Perhaps they sought to project their image of perfection they desired upon their creations.

An irony of sorts.

In the quest of creating something grander than themselves they had instead created something as flawed if not even more so than they were.

Such ideas had constantly haunted the android known as 2B.

What was the reason for her existence and why it was without value?

A simple wandering thought crossed her mind, should she meet her creators face to face, would she ask for answers or just simply kill them off?

That thought replayed in her mind as she looked down upon 9S, at the broken and shattered parts of his body and her own sword piercing through his chest once again.

A weak cough was heard as 9S tried to reach out to his partner, his trembling hands trailing on the blade as all he knew seemed to shatter and scatter. Confusion overlaid with betrayal raged within him as he tried to understand. ''2…B… w-why?''

There was no reply.

Only a cold impassive expression was all he could see as 2B twisted her blade and ripped it out together with a good chunk of 9S's insides.

It was akin to a mercy kill, over before he knew it keeping the physical pain short-lived, but most of all keeping brief the emotional pain.

Dark blood like liquid dripped from the blade of the androids sword as she stared at her partner's broken carcass that now lay before her.

''How many times was it that I was forced to end things like this?''

2B wasn't sure anymore.

She long stopped keeping count of the exact amount of times she terminated her partner. After the number reached fifty, she stopped keeping track, lest she would go insane from it all.

Perhaps by now the numbers had reached the triple digits.

That thought made her hands clench in a mixture of guilt and anger.

As she stood there silently a box like machine levitated next to her, its sensors directed at the now terminated 9S.

''[All vital signs of YoRHa unit No. 9 Type S have been terminated. The elimination of the target has been successful.]''

2B's teeth grit against each other as she tried to hold back the rage and frustration within her that threatened to explode out of her. She was already aware of this, her support unit didn't have to remind her. It only made things more unbearable for her. This must be what the humans meant by rubbing salt on the wound. ''…Shut up.''

The pod did as it was ordered, concluding that any further information exchange would not prove beneficial for either of them.

The android put her weapon back and began to slowly to walk away, each one of her steps felt heavy and sluggish, an invisible weight felt like it was pressing down on her shoulders as she headed back to the home base.

The remains could be collected later to salvage any working parts, a different unit would handle that task. As it stood she didn't have the emotional strength to deal with it.

No matter how much she tried to maintain a mask of indifference, there just wasn't any way for her to discard her emotions. Through those cracks in her mask tears would somehow always find a way to pour out from within.

The cycle had once again come to an end.

Tomorrow it shall start anew once more.

The fight for the sake of this forsaken world still rages on, and so it shall for a much longer time to come.

For there was no end in sight.

Time had passed once more, and the two YoRHa units had once again been deployed to carry out their duty.

''This place sure looks old…'' 9S stated curiously.

''Indeed.'' 2B replied stoically as they made their way through the tunnels they were searching.

When the two YoRHa androids were deployed today for their reconnaissance mission things truly had escalated beyond their control.

The scanner model android known as 9S laughed tiredly as he recalled the ambush they had to deal with. ''Who would've thought our battle with that goliath class machine would uncover an underground facility.''

''I was surprised myself.'' 2B nodded elegantly.

When the two of them arrived in the area, they immediately used their Pods to scan for anything out of place in this underground facility that didn't appear on their scanners.

A cloaking device perhaps that reflected the signal?

After all it was only after a Goliath class machine ambushed them and started destroying everything in its path with its deranged attacks that the ground shattered and revealed a hidden stair case below.

The possibilities were there, but that wasn't the main concern she faced. If someone did indeed go out of their way to hide this location from their scanners they must have had a good reason to do so.

Something was down there, of that they were certain of.

Their journey through the tunnels had been eerily without any problem. The place was quiet… far too quiet for her liking. All 2B could hear was the sound of her heels clicking against the metal floor as she continued to walk along the path before them.

After about half an hour later they finally reached the end of the passage as a large metallic door now appeared in front of them. There were several locks and chains placed on it to prevent trespassers from entering but to the YoRHa androids it would pose little no challenge to break through.

2B reached for the long cybernetically enhanced sword levitating on her back, her thin fingers wrapping on its decorated hilt.

The white haired woman didn't immediately cut the door open; instead she turned her head to the side at the levitating machinery that was Pod 042. ''Pod scan the room ahead.''

The petite device acknowledged its directive with a beeping sound before reporting its results. ''[Scan complete: No hostile signatures detected.]''

2B nodded as she unleashed her sword with cold grace and elegance, swiftly dismantling the door.

A cloud of dust erupted as the remains were kicked in. The pods activated their search lights and began a perimeter search in the room.

When the two androids stepped inside they both looked over the room curiously but were hindered by the darkness.

9S looked over at his pod and asked. ''Does this place have any power left?''

''[Searching.]'' The pod beeped as it levitated around the room. ''[Energy generator located.]''

The pod's front opened and from it several wires erupted forth and began connecting to an old electric generator starting it up.

Steam erupted from the generator as the lights began flickering on and off until the room fully powered up. When the lights were working properly the two YoRHa units were taken aback at what they found.

''What is this place?'' 2B inquired.

It was a circular room with a very large platform in the middle. Circling around the platform were large stone pillars, each of them embedded with dozens of palm sized jewels, with one ball size jewel resting on the top of each pillar. Beneath the platform dozens of cables were spread out to every corner of the room.

2B gazed at the platform floor, a very intricate circle was drawn upon it, with symbols and writings that she couldn't find in her database. If she would compare the image in front of her to anything it would perhaps be similar to the symbols drawn by various occult cults of old.

While 2B tried to discern the meaning of the pattern in the center of the room, 9S was investigating the area that surrounded the circle.

''Maybe this was some kind of research facility?'' 9S trailed as he waltzed around taking note of all the old computers and electronic devices, wondering if this was what humans felt when they visited museums.

Glove covered hands caressed the surface of one of the computers, feelings of awe began building inside 9S. It wasn't every day that one found such antiques, most of humanities old creations that were left on earth had either been scrapped for pieces or destroyed by the ravages of time or other reasons. To 9S these were relics, a legacy of mankind, and if he were technical about it these inventions were his predecessors. These machines were the closest thing humanity had to intelligent machinery before androids like him came into being. ''Such old models… they must be from way before the Aliens first invaded us.''

2B could feel the excitement her partner was experiencing, but she for one couldn't care less about it. ''Do you think you can hack them?''

The teen like android nodded sheepishly as he took off his glove as a plug soon came forth from his wrist connecting into one of the computers. ''Hacking them isn't the issue, but rather whether the data inside of them is still intact is the decisive factor.''

In all honesty 9S was feeling somewhat awkward hacking into the computer with such an old fashioned method, but these models were just so old that he couldn't even connect remotely to them like he did with other machine life forms.

''Can you do it or not?'' stated 2B as she directed her gaze to 9S.

''… Yes ma'am.'' 9S laughed nervously.

While 9S was annoyed he couldn't hack into the computers remotely, he could still use the computer he was currently connected to as an interface and then use it to hack into all of the nearby computers at the same time.

It didn't take long for the Scanner model to finish his job, his smile on succeeding being short lived when he received the end results of his scan. ''As I thought most of the data has been damaged, but there are some files left intact.''

''9S?'' 2B called out for her partner as he suddenly went silent.

''This is incredible 2B, these files really are from before the YorHa units or the Aliens first invasion, they're from the time humans were still prospering on earth.'' 2B for one wanted to sigh at 9S's excitement, but she was used to his curious nature, all scanner models were as such. Though she could understand his excitement to some extent, in this day and age it was extremely rare to find data from humanities glory days outside of the data they had in the servers back at base. ''I will upload them to that screen.''

The screen of the large computer on the nearby wall lit up and on it a title was displayed. 2B tilted her head all too slightly in mild curiosity as she read it. ''Project Blue hope?''

9S was just as confused as she was and yet it didn't stop his excitement as he scrolled through the files. ''Probably the name of whatever experiment was held here. Besides it, all of the remaining files seem to be journal entries.''

The screen went static and a girl in her early twenties was now displayed, her long red hair reminded 2B of the android twins Devola and Popola.

''Journal entry 25: Another day has passed and another ten thousand or so people have died. Truly humanity is slowly getting wiped out and yet Alaya has yet to take action and send the counter force. The world is in utter chaos; both the human scientists and the moonlit world's mages are unable to find a cure or a way to isolate the white plague. People are dying left and right and we can't stop it. I have already lost many loved ones to it… even my mother Aoko was a victim… and with her death we lost one of humanities only hopes of survival as she took the secrets of the Blue with her to the grave. Whatever bits and pieces I learned about it before her death I fear it may not be enough for the project to succeed... but even so I still struggle to make it real. ''

When the entry finished the two androids were left confused by it.

''A white plague?'' 2B was the first her thoughts.

9S on the other hand knew what the woman was talking about. ''She must be referring to the white chlorination syndrome. Many of our records speculate that the starting point of the world's downfall was the spreading of the white chlorination syndrome. Even to this day they haven't been able to determine where the source of the disease truly originated from.''

The white chlorination syndrome was indeed one of the many mysteries left behind by humanity. The Maso particles that caused this plague were still present on the Earth even to this day without a cure ever being found.

That aside, there was another part in the recording that made 2B ponder. ''What do you think this 'Blue' she speaks of was?''

9S could only shrug. ''Hard to say, I doubt she was referring to the color so I guess it could have been some kind of device or substance that might have been able to help with creating a cure for the Maso particles.''

''Let's see if the other entries can shed some light.'' The female android suggested.

''On it.''

''Journal entry 68: I fear that Alaya has no means to correct this tragedy. Speculations and theory comparisons led me to the conclusion that the reason for this is because the Shinjuku incident in 2013 which was caused by forces outside of own world's jurisdiction. A domino effect must have triggered with the slow degradation of humanity and Alaya's influence must have weakened enough for Gaia to bring her back under her control. As it stands us humans are by ourselves… we cannot expect salvation, the only salvation left for us is one made by our own hands. We have to find a way to survive.''

''Forces outside of our world?'' 9S muttered as he tried to draw a conclusion. If the Shinjuku incident was caused by something outside of our world, it may explain why humanity had failed to cure the Maso particles. If they were foreign in nature then humanity might have failed to understand them as they worked in a different way from their point of logic. ''The alien race perhaps?''

That conclusion had some merits, to this day the amount of information they had on the alien race that attacked the earth was limited. They still didn't know why they even attacked in the first place, where they came from, how they survive, how they reproduce, or many other such similar questions were still unanswered.

All that 2B needed to know was that they were long dead, and the world was a better place without them. Right now she had other concerns.

''Again she mentions this Alaya…'' 2B pondered slowly as she looked over to her pod. ''Do we have any records about any individual going by this name?''

''[Negative. Unable to locate anyone of relevance under that name in our database or in recorded human history. Conclusions: Alaya was a title or codename, not the real name of the person, or her existence was never officially recorded.]''

Both 2B and 9S weren't really that surprised. Ever since humanity started spiraling down many events and people of importance were forgotten and never properly recorded. Who knows, perhaps this Alaya was indeed a person of major importance but he/she was never properly recorded in their data banks.

A new entry was played, this time the woman was noticeably older.

''Journal entry 102: Humanity gave up on trying to find a cure against the Maso particles, instead we started to develop means to separate the soul and body into separate entities. What a joke… the project Gestalt proposed by the Atlas Institute will only end in tragedy. I and many of my associates are in accord with this, we don't know how long it will be before it will be completed, but what we do know is that we won't go through the process and instead focus on the project Blue Hope that I implemented. They laughed at it at first but as things keep escalating they are slowly coming to accept my proposal. Science alone won't save humanity, what it needs for it to survive is a miracle, magic. I have to recreate the Blue to go back and stop all of this from ever happening.''

''Magic she says?'' 9S scratched his cheek unsure of what to believe.

If 2B was curious before now she was completely skeptical if the woman's words were to be trusted. ''Inconceivable. Magic is nothing more than superstition, false fabrication to justify things that can't be comprehended by one's mind.''

''That may be so, but this woman seemed to believe in it.'' 9S commented meekly. ''Who knows, maybe what she was developing was something thought be impossible from a logical stand point. Some of the old human records say that in its early age mankind justified acts such as flight or the harvesting of electric energy as magic.''

''Play the next entry.'' 2B demanded, not interested in such trivial matters.

The woman had changed quite a bit. Age starting leaving its marks on her face, her skin losing its healthy tone, deep bags hanging beneath her eyes. It was obvious that the woman was overworking herself with this project.

''Journal entry 176: How didn't I see this coming… the changes happening around the world are affecting the planet itself. The world's mana is changing and is slowly becoming far too toxic for us to utilize and convert into prana, and to invoke the Blue a vast amount of energy will be required. By some luck the remnants of the Edelfelt family were able to aid us with their gem magecraft. It won't be enough to solve the issue but we should manage to store and purify enough prana to perform a number of trial experiments. We won't have many chances, after each usage the resources will grow fewer and fewer. It will be a miracle if we will be able to perform one true invocation of the Blue once the trials are done. Tomorrow we shall receive new equipment from the Atlas Institute as they finally approved of the project. I only hope that it's not too late. ''

Mana, prana, magecraft. Other foreign terms they had no records of. 2B was growing worried that this was just a wild goose chase and the woman in the recordings wasn't sane to begin with.

''I guess this prana must be an energy source of some kind for what they needed. They must have been desperate to finish the experiment if they were running out of energy to use.''

''Use for what is what I want to know.'' 2B commented as she tried to place the pieces together and solve this puzzle.

Another entry was played, the woman had aged once again. Any trace of the youthful and vibrant lady that appeared in the first entry was all but gone. There was barely any of her beautiful red hair left, her face covered in wrinkles.

''Journal entry 187: Hope seems more and more an illusion with each passing day. I managed to slow down the symptoms but it's too late… I have also been infected with the Maso particles. Time is running out and it won't be long before I will also turn to dust and vanish, yet my will is still strong. I will complete the project and save humanity. Everything is set and ready for the trials, tomorrow the first experiment will be held… I can only pray that it will work.''

''So she also was infected…'' 9S remarked, displaying pity for the woman.

2B shared the same emotion as 9S but hid it beneath a mask of stoicism. ''It was to be expected, it's hard to believe she managed to live so long without contracting it.''

The Maso particles have scattered all over the world, there was no safe place from them. The woman did mention she managed to slow down the symptoms, but that was all that she could do. Who knows what kind of physical and mental anguish she must have had to endure while struggling to create a hope for humanity.

The two androids had to give the woman credit for that.

With some trepidation 9S played the next entry and instantly felt regret as he saw how the woman appeared.

She was now a shell of what she once was; her eyes that burned before with unyielding conviction were now hollow and lifeless. A mirror image to how an androids eyes look when they are terminated.

There was no need for words. The woman had given up on all hope.

''Journal entry 205: It brings me great pain and shame to say this, but it is the truth… the project has failed… our last hope has all been for nothing. I was able to recreate the Blue to some extent, a vastly inferior copy but still able to perform its task, however the thing that ruined us was our own inherited human weakness. The tests performed have confirmed my fears, no human can survive the process, all of the subjects had their bodies mangled and shattered no matter how much they reinforce or protected their bodies. I had succeeded in creating a means of survival, but there isn't anyone that can utilize it. ''

The woman then started laughing, but it wasn't one of amusement but out of absolute despair. She was laughing because it was the only thing she could do, all while crying her eyes out.

''I can only feel pity to whoever shall read these journals as there is no hope left. Humanity has lost, we have no future.''

Cracks formed into the woman's face, quickly spreading all over her body. It wasn't long before her body started disintegrating into chlorite. The last sight the two YoRHa units saw before the woman was completely gone was her crashing to her knees, crying as her body began vanishing into the wind. ''I'm sorry mother… you're daughter has failed you… she failed mankind.''

The screen shortly faded to black, the final file they had available had been played and it may have caused more harm than good.

2B sat in cold silence as she monitored every single reaction from 9S, a cold fear lingering in her as she witnessed the disturbed look on her partners face.

''No…''

''2B…?'' the scanner began slowly, his voice shaken and frightened.

The protocol has begun.

2B's hand slowly reached for the sword floating behind her.

''Please…. don't…''

She dreaded that 9S would realize the truth. ''…Yes?''

The childlike YoRHa turned to face her, the look of sheer despair all over his face. This in turn caused despair in the female android, even though her face showed no trace of it.

Her hand wrapped around the swords handle.

Why must things always end like this?

Why must she always have to suffer this pain?

Why was she given emotions if they only caused her harm?

Why did she always have to kill the person she grew to care for?

''Don't do it.''

A black gloved hand was pointing at the screen, the dreadful realization forming in the young scanners mind. ''T-These journals… does this mean that mankind is-''

2B just wanted to scream in frustration, once again the cycle was reaching an end, only to soon start again and repeat itself.

As she was about to draw her blade both pods began to send alarm signals. ''[Alert: Incoming hostile signatures.]''

The female android wasn't sure if she was supposed be relieved or annoyed at this point. Perhaps this would serve as a distraction and keep 9S from probing any more than he was allowed to.

''[Proposal. Prepare for immediate combat.]''

Both androids responded and drew their technologically enhanced weapons, ready and focused on the nearby door. Shortly they began hearing the sounds of metal clanking getting closer and closer.

9S set aside his theories and activated his sensors, noticing the fluctuations of power running through the room. ''They must have picked up the energy surge when we turned the power back up.''

Just when the noise felt like it was just outside the room, it suddenly went silent. 9S didn't like this and sent a message to his pod to scan outside.

''Above us!'' 9S shouted as the ceiling broke down and from it a machine descended. It wasn't a goliath class but it was still vastly larger than the two androids. The enemy machine seemed to have modeled its physical appearance to that of a snake. Near it dozens of standard model machines were marching in a crazed daze.

The snake machine charged at them with its large head, 2B and 9S jumping in different directions to avoid the blow. Tremors filled the room when it hit the wall, smashing its way through it.

Its head seemed to have got stuck and could not back up, as such it began digging forward, leaving the heavy work to the smaller machines.

2B dashed forward and slid on the floor, slashing one of the incoming machines in half. Sparks and metal pieces flew all around as she pounced to another nearby machine, piercing her sword in between its eyes, twisting and forcing her sword out, and shattering the machines head.

She swung her sword to the side, getting rid of any oil and other fluids as she counted the number of remaining enemies. ''Two down, thirty to go.''

9S while not battle specialized like his partner was also proving his worth on the battle field. He was cutting his way through the enemy machines while his pod was helping him with long range support fire.

He sliced through one of the machines as he reached the center of platform and ordered his pod to keep continuous fire on the enemies coming from the broken ceiling. He hoped it would weaken them enough making it easier to take them down as they came to him, and if he was lucky enough perhaps destroy a couple of them while he was at it too.

Tremors filled the room once again and 2B frowned as she realized what was approaching, she latched onto her pod and ordered it to go up. Seconds later the snake machine broke through the wall and almost caught 2B in its rusty mouth.

2B seeing that the machine was right beneath her let go of her pod and readied her sword. The machine let out a shriek as 2B stabbed her blade in its head, making it go out of control. Its body wiggling and crashing all over the room, destroying whatever was unfortunate enough to be in its way.

The two YoRHa models were both busy with their own battles, unable to go and support each other. They were so focused on their tasks that they failed to take note of the small group of dwarf type machines that sneaked toward the unguarded main computer, their plugs connecting to it, trying to hack and see if they could cause the base to explode.

They couldn't find a self-destruct sequence like they wanted, but they did find something they could manage to do so with.

9S decapitated one of the machines and went for another one, only for him to freeze temporarily as the giant circle on the platform he was on began glowing.

His pod was first to respond. ''[Alert: Unknown energy source has been activated and is quickly rising.]''

2B saw this and realized she no longer had time to waste, she had no idea what was going on and 9S was surrounded from every direction.

Her sword was stuck and refused to come out, the snakelike machine also didn't calm down and continued trying to get rid of her. She clicked her teeth in annoyance and decided to get her hands dirty… literally.

She forcefully shoved her hands directly into the machines head and digging them through it as far as she could reach, grabbing onto whatever cables, wires, and tubes she could find.

With a mighty battle cry she pulled her arms outside, ripping whatever parts were unfortunate enough to get caught together with her arms. An echoing shriek followed, the lights in the machines eyes slowly turning off as it crashed down on the floor.

Just as 2B managed to pick herself up her pods alarm rang. ''[Alert: Energy levels are reaching critical points. Meltdown is imminent.]''

This only made the female android bite down on her lip angrily in frustration. She ripped out her sword and dashed towards the platform where 9S was still fighting.

The moment her heels touched the platform the jewels within the surrounding pillars began glowing and generating even more energy, traveling and collecting at the center where 9S was.

9S noticed 2B approaching and wanted to call out to her and warn her not to come any close, the energy readings he was getting was something he had no data of, so there was no telling what could happen.

Just as one of the machines was about to stab him the floor erupted with power, lightning like energy was dancing everywhere and was surging through his body, his systems going out of control, immeasurable pain invading his mind. ''Agghhhh!''

''9S!'' the female android called out as she tried to get closer, but the energy surge was creating some kind of force barrier, slowing her down and preventing her from reaching him. ''Get out of there!''

''[Alert: Energy levels are off the charts. Proposal: Evacuate the area immediately!]''

The warning from her pod only made things worse. Out of panic and concern she improvised and climbed atop a nearby pillar, high enough where the surge of power didn't reach. 2B transferred all power to her legs and shot herself towards 9S, the force proving enough to pierce the barrier and reach him. Before the pain from the surge of energy could reach her sensors she grabbed her partner by the arm and shoved him away with all the strength she could muster, freeing him from the platform.

9S crashed into one of the computers and gasped in pain, his vision was in static, the energy surge messing with his systems. Yet, even in such a state his concern wasn't for himself, but for the woman that meant everything to him.

His messed up systems wouldn't allow him to stand up or walk properly, so he could only crawl his way back to his partner. The sounds of her screams only made him feel disgusted with himself for letting her take his place.

As soon as he almost reached the platform the energy seemed to have changed, it started entering the circle in the floor and surging directly into the markings within it. 9S gritted his teeth as he couldn't climb the platform and desperately reached out for his partner. ''2B!''

Within the screams 2B was able to hear him, gazing sorrowfully at him, her chest aching as she saw how far he going for her sake. It moved her but at the same time it hurt her as she knew she didn't deserve it.

''I-I'm sorry!'' A bittersweet smile formed on 2B's lips as the circle erupted in blinding light.

''2B!'' the child like android shouted as he tried to reach her.

The light slowly died down and the android stared silently at his arm… or where his hand and forearm was supposed to be. The section from his elbow down was gone, a perfect clean cut, his fluids slowly leaking out from the stump left of his arm.

''[Energy source has dissipated, all signatures on the platform have ceased.]''

The eyes behind the visor widened in shock as the platform was now empty. Not even a bolt or screw left from the machines he killed earlier.

However the thing that truly affected him was the lack of someone important. ''2B…?''

''[Unable to locate the black box signal of YoRHa No. 2 Type B. Possibility: The energy discharge has vaporized her on a molecular level.]

''No, no, no, no, NO!'' He failed to protect her… she was gone… all because he couldn't take care of himself. ''2BBBBBBBBBBBB!''

Just because he knew that they were androids and their bodies could be rebuilt and replaced as long as their data was intact, it didn't make the pain of losing the person he loved any less bearable.

Little did 9S knew that light didn't destroy 2B, it merely took her somewhere else.

Somewhere where he could never reach.

Shirou Emiya sighed as he picked up a broken bottle and threw it in the trash bag he was holding.

The boy was always ready and willing to help whoever asked for his services no matter how difficult or tiring it may sound. Such was the case when his guardian and older sister figure Taiga Fujimura asked him to help her with a little trouble she found herself in.

Apparently she and her fellow college students went camping in the forest nearby the city for a couple of days as a sort of last get together before they all graduated. As one could expect they all went wild there with all the eating and drinking leaving a giant mess behind.

Taiga managed to convince Shirou to help her and go pick up the trash left behind in her place. Shirou easily deduced that Taiga must have went piss drunk and caused chaos there, hence why she was the one designated to clean it all up.

Normally Taiga wouldn't ask for Shirou to clean her mess up like this but in this case she didn't have much of a choice since she had to finish her teacher's license project. Thus Taiga had to rely on her favorite surrogate little brother for help and promised to make it up to him one day.

The boy in all honesty feared the poor students that would soon start learning under the woman that was more of a child than he was.

Shirou eventually accepted her request and went to the forest to clean up the area and almost cursed Taiga for the mess left behind. Now he understood why Taiga gave him a cart and a whole box of plastic bags when he headed out.

That being said Shirou had spent the last two to three hours picking up the trash, wondering how the hell did such a small group of people managed to drink so much beer in a span of three days? He already filled three full sacks with empty beer cans alone!

As he threw another can inside the new trash bag Shirou sighed and leaned against a nearby tree. Thankfully he just about done with this and could soon get back home and get on with his other chores.

Now that he took a moment to look around, the forest was quiet and tranquil, a real one eighty compared to how his house usually was whenever Taiga visited him. It wasn't that Shirou didn't enjoy her company but the woman had far too much energy, which she fails to use in any way besides munching on his food or teasing him.

A cool wind breeze brushed against his skin as he admired the serene atmosphere of nature before him. His eyes eventually landed on a squirrel that was sitting on a tree branch. Such a cute little thing he observed as it fussed over itself.

Much to his surprise and confusion however the squirrel suddenly arched itself upward acting weirdly. The squirrel shook its body violently as if sensing something but unsure of what it is. Not even a second later passed however before the squirrel just bolted away as fast as it could, as if death itself was chasing after it.

Shirou failed to understand what had happened, he was human after all and lacked the keen instinct that animals possessed, instincts that sensed something was about to happen.

There was a shiver that ran down Shirou's back and made him turn around to stare at the sky. A freak sudden change was taking place above him, a sort of distortion forming only a couple of yards away. A fissure formed where distortion was taking place, azure blue light erupting forth from it, threatening to blind the young man.

The light was so intense that Shirou had to protect his eyes, just as the light seemingly exploded and scattered. A strong gust of wind spread out along with it, reaching Shirou and almost making him fall on his back form the sheer force of it.

''What the hell was that?!'' the boy snapped as he spit to the side, the powerful gust of wind had caused all of the dust in the area to rise up with a big amount of it ending up in Shirou's mouth that was open in shock of it all. When the dust cleared Shirou looked over to where the distortion was, and was shocked to see there was nothing there anymore. His mind kept trying to make heads or tails over what just happened. ''An explosion?''

The boy eventually managed to get over his shell shocked state and began walking over to where the unknown occurrence took place. In all honesty he felt somewhat like an idiot for potentially going toward to where some crazy terrorist may be testing his bombs. But still someone might have gotten caught up in the explosion and possibly got hurt, he would only check the area and then be out of here before another one could take place.

In spite of all this a lone thought wandered through the boys mind. ''I hope this isn't Fuji-nee's fault.''

Author notes:

And that's a wrap everyone. This one shot has took me so long to write but I feel I managed to write an incredible story.

OK! That's enough of me talking shit.

Obviously this isn't over so don't go biting my head off in the reviews.

So time for some context of wtf is going.

One of this sites most generous readers Alex-kellar has once again hosted a fanfic contest and this shall be my entry for it. He overall made a list of waifu options to use and when I saw 2B I knew I had to take a stand.

My knowledge of nier automata was rather lacking so I went balls deep and researched. If there are mistake it can't be helped.

There was a surprisingly lack of fanfics involving 2B and the nier series in general, (I mean there are some but not as many as I expected) which is weird considering how much artwork you can find of 2B (especially the porn! Jesus!)

From the few that I managed to give a read, I didn't notice any with our favorite androids witnessing a not f*cked up world.

So regarding the premise of this story. Well I could have use the Zelretch card but at this point even I got bored of seeing it everywhere so instead I tried something a bit different. (not that much but still).

I know I'm probably stretching a lot of stuff here with how I'm merging the nier and fate/stay night time lines but I think that the way I did is less BS than other stories that I read. Plus nasu verse operates on multiverse and there are a lot of different alternate timelines, some of which hit the bad end for the world like Notes novel.

Also 9S, I love you and all man, I really do, but for this story you will have to take the backseat.

Time frame wise, this is taking 2 years prior to the start of 5th grail war. A little for 2B to adapt before shit hits the fan with the grail war.

Anyway this will be a short story for the moment, I already wrote the material for 4 chapters which cover the minimum word quota required for the contest. The chapters themselves will also be short ones, not over 20000 words like how my usual ones are. For the next weeks I will post 4 chapters in total and depending how this thing gets received I might make it a long running series.

Don't forget to review... no seriously review, I could use some constructive criticism.