Restoring Mankind (NieR Automata) Chapter 6 preview. Part 3/3 (Patreon)

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Colonel Smith was still seated and enjoying Devola's soup when the doors of the mess hall opened and in strode Anemone, eyes glinting in the light under her ethnic head-dress. She wasn't alone however as Smith's eyes fell upon a blonde woman with stern features clad in a flattering and revealing dress that showed way too much skin to have been acceptable to any military in the Old World. Perhaps standards were a bit relaxed here, not that the artistic part of him did not appreciate. 

His eyes then turned to appraise her gait. She walked with purpose, and each step was measured and spoke of authority. The riding crop that she held in her hand also added much to that look. Smith thought of a Marshal from Napoleon's Empire if they had a riding crop instead of a baton. That was the artistic image he thought of. A Marshal, not a BDSM Mistress enthusiast. 

Still, an officer was an officer. This woman was clear enough. 

He set aside his bowl for Devola to collect. Smith stood from the mess table and stood ram-rod straight as Anemone and the blonde woman halted before him. The blonde woman craned her head high and saluted him in their style, an open palm on their chest. 

"Commander White, YoRHa. Glory to Mankind!" Commander White introduced herself, her voice laced with authority as much as he gaze and gait. The old Colonel figured that was her rank and name, her organization, and army motto. Smith responded in kind, a salute of the Old World. 

"Colonel Smith, United Nations. No Mission Too Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First!" replied the Old Colonel. The two respective commanders stood in silence, letting the impact of the moment settle for a bit before Smith pulled down his hand with White doing the same. He offered White a smile. 

"I asked for a meeting with the Council of Humanity, Commander. Might you explain why it is YoRHa that is meeting me?" asked Smith. Considering the weight of what was happening, two branches of humanity separated by time and distance would be ecstatic to get to meeting as soon as possible. Why would the Council send YoRHa? 

Keeping her face impassive, White answered. "The Council is currently busy organizing for transports to take you and the rest of the inhabitants of the facility to Space, sir. Until then, they have authorized me to speak for them and cater to your needs, whatever it might be." 

"I see..." Smith said slowly, finding White's explanation to be strange. Surely, they had androids they could leave the task of organizing humanity's ascension to the stars to? Surely they had someone to speak for them? Deciding to accept White's explanation for now, Smith nodded. 

"The reason why I needed to speak with the Council is that there are things that must be heard by their ears only," Smith explained. 

"You can count on me, sir. As I said, the Council has charged me to be their eyes and ears," White explained, stepping forward a tad bit too eagerly. "Please, allow me to be of assistance to you." 

"Then you and I must speak privately. Come with me, to the Overseer's office," Smith said. It was really the only place in the facility where it was truly protected from unwanted eyes and ears. White nodded, ready to follow behind him when Smith stopped. Feeling expectant eyes on him, he could see Anemone, Devola, and 1D trying visibly stopping themselves from asking permission to join him. 

"Sir, I may not be on the Council but I am the overall commanding officer for Resistance forces in the region," Anemone said, stepping forward. "If this information pertains to the safety and preservation of humanity, I ought to be present there as well." 

Okay, scratch that. Anemone definitely had some spunk to her. 

There was a scratching of chairs as Devola stood up. "Sir, what if you get hungry? You would need me to whip something quick. And what if you..." Devola struggled as she thought of scenarios in her head. "What if you fall off the stairs or slip and hit your head? You will need me to be there to heal you." 

His lips went upwards in amusement. He then turned to 1D. "And you? What's your excuse?" 

"There might be machines in the walls," 1D said simply. 

Well. They tried their best to justify themselves being there. As much as he saw, these androids were utterly loyal to humanity. He could trust them. They didn't exactly give him reason to mistrust them and suspect them of anything. "Alright. Anemone, Devola, you can come. 1D, you can go and accompany White." 

Smiles broke all around. 

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Now gathered and seated, Colonel Smith looked up at White standing across him. Popola had joined her sister and Anemone in the corner while 1D stood outside the Overseer's office. He leaned forward, interlocking his fingers on the table. White stood non-plussed, as if she was simply giving a report to a higher officer. 

White on the other hand was trying her best not to let the situation at hand get to her. She was known for her iron-will and discipline. She wasn't going to shudder or be bashful that....

Yes...Look at me. I am here, sir. Just like that. Your eyes are so blue....

She wasn't like her troops. She was the Commander. Iron-will and steel. 

"Now, the matter that I was going to discuss," Smith's voice broke in through the hidden haze White was experiencing. 

"I am ready to hear it, sir," White nodded. And with that, Smith began. 

"According to protocol, as soon as I woke up, I had to contact the main Ark about our status and stand-by for orders," Smith explained, letting his words settle into the ear. 

"You did mention that," Devola spoke up, her face thoughtful. 

"Main Ark..." Popola mouthed. Realization slowly dawned on her eyes. Alarmed, she turned to Smith. "Do you mean to say....?" 

"There's other places like this?" Anemone interjected, her arms crossed and her manner calm and professional. But inside, her very core screamed at her to go outside, gather all her androids, and not stop until the ends of the Earth was scraped clean for their creators. 

"Correct," Smith confirmed. And just like that, every single one of the girls in the room looked ready to head out. Their eyes, their very body language spoke it. They were jittery, like a tiger getting its senses overwhelmed by the sheer amount of prey available. In this case, the prey being a bunker filled with popsicle humans. 

"Hold on, all of you. You ain't finding them not like this. I haven't even finished yet," Smith was quick to add, some amusement to his eyes. The disappointment in them made him feel somewhat bad but he had to say it. Calming down, White was the first to speak up.

"How come we never found these locations before? Surely, we would have been able to find more of these bunkers?" 

And that was true enough. However....

"When these places were built, Commander, the United Nation spared no expense to give it the best protection we could muster at the time. I don't exactly remember the technical details, I am no scientist, but the maso generators also functioned as a cloaking device of sorts that protected us from the eyes of the Legion," Smith explained, recalling the briefing he had those many many many years ago. 

"So...the generators that the bunker used...hid it?" Popola asked slowly.

"It...it is powered by Maso, sis. And maso's properties allows it to create something out of nothing," Devola reminded her sister. Such was the power and endless properties of maso. 

It was funny how desperation really got humanity into overdrive to try and preserve itself. Projects left and right were greenlit by his own government and the United Nations. While the Hamelin Organization got the most of the pie, the others also got much support as well. The research of Maso was one of those and the fruits of their labour spoke for themselves. 

"That was also how we survived for so long, I suppose," Smith added. "The ice that covered us was maso generated ice." 

"Wait..." Anemone interjected. "If you and the other humans in cryo-stasis right now have been stuck in maso since your freezing....that would mean...."

The Twins looked at Smith in morbid curiosity and awe. Devola spoke again for Popola. "Maso would be a literal part of your physiology!" 

Smith leaned back on his chair, his expression thoughtful. It was a well-known fact that those undergoing cryostasis would literally be breathing in magic. There wasn't enough time or studies to try and find the effects of maso inhalation to the human body but at the time, they were desperate. They had to go with it anyway. He held up a hand and glanced at his body. He didn't feel anything weird. All his parts worked just fine. 

He blinked, feeling a pressure in front of him. Looking up, Smith saw Commander White looking down at him, concern in her eyes. "Sir?" 

Smith shook his head. "No...just...I was just thinking. When the cryo project was being implemented, one of the concerns we had was that its participants would be breathing in literal magic. There wasn't any time really to see its effects. The risk was weighed and the preservation of the species was much more important." 

At his tone, the androids glanced at each other worriedly. White seemed to frown. Anemone tried to hide the scowl she wore underneath her head-dress while the Twins lip's quivered. Smith saw this and quickly understood that the idea of even seeing something bad happen to their creators made these androids upset. In a way, he found it heart-warming that their creations cared for him and his species. 

Seeing them upset, he decided to let that sentiment known. 

"Look, whatever the effects are, it hasn't seemed to have done anything. I can still think, I can breathe, I don't hear a voice inside my head. I am alright. And its thanks to all of you that I am hear, and that humanity is here. And thanks to that....what was her name?" 

"Jackass?" Anemone added helpfully. 

"Yes. That one, Jackass," Smith nodded, wondering who the hell gave that android that name. He continued. "Anyway, the point is, you all have done good work and I am very much willing to see how our efforts will go in the greatest project humanity has ever undergone." 

"And what would that be, Colonel?" Popola asked, interested. 

"Restoring Mankind," Smith smiled. 

At that, smiles began to appear on their faces. The androids looked pleased, so very pleased that a human was telling them what they have been waiting their entire lives for. Smith chuckled as he saw Anemone brighten up, how cheerful the Twins looked, and how even the composure of the unflappable Commander White broke slightly.

''Now, let's get to work. Commander, do you have a map of the world?" Smith asked.

"I can get one of the Pods here for that, sir." White said.

Smith had no idea what a pod was but he was going to nod regardless. "Alright. Bring it in."

Not a second later, the doors opened and in came a...floating box with two appendages that functioned as arms. It was black in color with a few silver trims. It spoke, masculine in tone and somewhat pleasant to the ears if Smith had anything to say about it. "Pod 313 reporting."

"Pod, you are now assigned to Colonel Smith, commander of this installation," White commanded. There was slight beeping as the Pod turned to face Smith. It seemed to scrutinize him carefully before it dronily spoke

"Understood. Pod 313 is now under the authority of Human Colonel Smith. Glory to Mankind,"

Smith watched the pod in utter fascination, prompting him to ask. "What are you, little guy?"

"Introduction: I am a Tactical Support Unit, Pod 313. I assist YoRHa units in battle with long-range attacks as well as defensive programs. Query: Would Colonel Smith like a demonstration?"

As curious as he was, he would rather not see his overseer's office destroyed. "Uh, that will be unnecessary, pod. I asked you here for a different reason."

"Understood. How can I assist you?"

"Commander White here says you have a map of the world?" Smith asked. At that, the Pod floated forward and seemed to open up. Smith could see that the box acted a harder shell of sorts as inside revealed some other holes. A projector? From its singular glass eye, the Pod brought forth a hardlight projection of the planet. It appeared in a sort of dull greyish white, wholly fascinating to Smith. Hardlight was a theoretical in the Old World. And to see it casually brought for like it was nothing....

He was sure the eggheads frozen in stasis would love the opportunity to study the androids.

White seemed to catch on Smith's reaction. A part of her felt giddy seeing the wonder in the human's eyes. "Enjoying yourself, sir?"

Smith readily nodded. "Yes...it's just...you androids have made easy technology out of concepts that was purely theoretical for us back in the Old World. I'm impressed."

His remark did much to make the androids smile some more. They preened at his praise, like a child getting the approval of their parent. They loved how he made them feel good, how he gave them the validation for their existence. White's synthetic mind was beyond in ecstasy at this point. She was in nirvana.

Anemone hadn't felt so alive as well. She was the second oldest android here in the room and had fought for so so long. She was a android who had seen it all, experienced it all yet...Smith made her feel like a newly made Android who was made aware of herself for the first time.

The Twins on the other hand....Popola gripped the hems of her dress, her body warming. She turned to see what Devola was looking like and...found her looking at Smith the same way she glanced at a bottle of rare alcohol.

Hungry.

Smith, focused on his task, leaned in to examine the glove closely. "This is a accurate up to-date projection of the world?" He asked, turning to White.

"Y-yes, sir." White answered immediately, clearing her throat. Smith raised an eyebrow at that but mercifully decided not to ask more. Turning back to the globe, he began thinking.

How the hell did a facility that was built in the Middle-East now in Japan of all places?

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A/N: Ok. He did it. He said the thing. The fic is over. We are done.