Restoring Mankind (NieR Automata) Chapter 16 preview 4/4 (Patreon)

+++

"Thanks, A2. You're a champ," the human praised her. 

Despite herself, A2 couldn't fight the growing feeling of pleasure deep inside her core. "It....It's nothing," the stubborn android said, doing her best to glance away towards the plain gray wall next to them. The other man, his uniform denoting him to be logistics, raised an eyebrow at her reaction but nevertheless shrugged and carried on his duties, in opening the boxes A2 had volunteered to carry. Guest she might be to the UN's hospitality but she wasn't a fan of lazing around doing nothing. She needed to do something, anything, to get quiet down the growing discomfort she felt in her body. 

She needed to fight. She needed to kill. Her programming demanded it.

Doing chores for the humans of the bunker wasn't exactly that but the rush of their praise was a good counter-measure. 

Her growing internal discomfort was simply a part of her existence. Attacker models such as her were made to fight and beat the shit out of anyone who stood in their way. For her to go against her programming, her own very nature was starting to give her withdrawal symptoms similar to androids who hadn't touched E-Drugs for awhile. 

She strode off from the storage room, fingers inwardly fiddling under her coat. Dr Naoka had insisted that she walk with clothes on and had even offered some of her own for A2 to wear, similarly sized as they were. With boots and a long trench-coat, A2 didn't look to dissimilar to a young woman going out for a stroll on a cold day. Her steps echoed against the hallway walls. Memories often came to her of the Bunker, YoRHa's bastion  in the sky. It was similar to it in some ways particularly in how cold it was. She often wondered what the hell was the point in androids like her given the ability to feel things such as heat or cold. If they really were just androids then surely, they ought to have been treated as tools, right? 

But...despite the obvious fact she was not a human, she was given nothing but unending kindness. 

That thank you from the logistician. The clothes she was now sporting. 

A2 did not get it. Was she meant to be a weapon or not? 

Humans were so damn confusing. 

The attacker model eventually left the hallway and found herself onto a entrance hall of sorts. Even now, A2 still found new areas to explore of the bunker previously untouched. Of course, there was still places she couldn't enter due to her lack of clearance but it only meant there was more she couldn't see. The Entrance Hall was decorated sparsely, a few chairs for lounging here and there. A2 found that she wasn't alone however, a few men and women were around chatting. By their attire, A2 realized that they were Resistance members. 

A2 placed a wide berth between herself and them, intent on passing them by. Her relationship with the Resistance wasn't hostile per se. They never had orders to apprehend or kill her but she did steal from them on occasion. There were just some items she simply couldn't get in the wild. While she hadn't actually killed anyone during those attempts, she had hurt some of their regulars. Here, they mostly ignored each other. Some dirty looks were thrown her way but the driver she, Damian, and that bint 2B had saved told his mates what they had done so there was some saving grace. 

She was about to leave the room and enter a new one when suddenly, some doors opened and in came a ragged Resistance man. He scanned the room before his eyes settled on his fellow troopers. "All of you, with me now! There's a radio broadcast happening!" 

The resistance troopers immediately dropped their conversation, rising to their feet as they followed after their apparent superior. The man also turned to see A2 standing by. Some recognition flashed on his eyes before he shook his head. "You, Miss YoRHa. You definitely should come too." 

An annoyed tick came on A2's features. Already anxious with herself, there was this butterbar giving her lip. Who was this prick to command her? "I'm not with YoRHa, asshole," A2 bit back. "Am I wearing their mascot dresses?" 

"Suit yourself, lady. There's just an announcement on the radio. Aliens or something," the man shrugged his shoulders, not entirely entertaining her outburst. He turned on his heels, running off. A2 blinked at that. 

Aliens?

Her heels immediately went to work, running after the butterbar. He had already long since left into another bigger room where a crowd had been gathered. A mixture of YoRHa, resistance, and human personnel. Each one of whom were crowding around a pod projecting something. A2 pushed through, some dirty looks sent her way but she managed to get close enough to hear what was being projected. 

"...it's massive!" came the voice of a woman. It was from the projection, A2 saw. The screen shifted, the camera angle showing...it. 

For the first time since forever, A2 and the androids saw a cylindrical tower newly arose among the ruins of old Tokyo. It's frame was jetblack and of a kind A2 had never seen before. Dust and ashy smoke had also been brought up, obscuring further observations on the object but she swore she could see outlines of windows. Gasps left their mouths as the tower pulsed with life, power coursed through lines. The android streamer panicked, her voice shaky and breathy. 

"It's powering up! Jono, what's the readings like?" she asked an android off-camera. 

"Off the charts, Sylf! My meter's breaking!" came a rough voice. The camera turned to the side as three pairs of YoRHa flyers zoomed past them. Even for a brief second, A2 could recognize that it was the boyscout 9S and his cheerleader superior, 2B. The last one, she couldn't recall. What was important to her now was the three undergoung a circular pattern around the tower, their flyers mecha-shifting as they surrounded the thing. 

For what seemed an eternity, no one made a sound as they watched the tower lighten up then power down just as quickly as it appeared. Soon, it looked more like a ruined husk like the buildings around it. "Looks like...YoRHa has this," the streamer voiced out, shakily standing up. The camera zoomed as the three flyers descended, the occupants leaping out to investigate the thing.

"What...what is that?" someone whispered from among their group. But there already was an answer to that, an answer that they all knew deep in their hearts. 

"The invaders...the aliens," a voice replied back. A2 did not know who said that either but that dreadful hidden fear was made manifest. The hidden masters of the Machine Network now out in full view, an eyesore amidst the sacred and sacrosanct remains of what was once one of humanity's greatest cities. Despite herself, despite her inner reservations and bitterness, A2 felt the fear and the dread, like many here. But there was also something else. 

A deep boiling rage that could only come from a place of pure hatred. 

The invaders masters were now here. 

And she was going to take her sword and stick it up their stupid, alien asses. 

+++

"You want to what?" 

Her cheeks flushed. Taking a breath, A2 tried again. "The aliens, the ones who hold the Machine Network on a leash, they've resurfaced. I want to go back to the Ruined City and kill as many as I can." 

Naoka who had been lounging behind her desk and with a tablet in hand lowered her glasses slightly to glance up at A2, awkwardly trying to find the best way to present herself before the doctor. "Well...if that is what you wish to do, you are more than welcome to do it. You are no prisoner here." 

A2's lips were about to open up frantic knocks came upon Naoka's door. The good doctor looked up to see that her team was standing outside, their faces all but telling her about what they were going to say. "Doctor! Have you heard?" one of them asked excitedly. 

"No, Maxwell, I have been keeping my face in the sand," Naoka replied, shaking her head. "It's the aliens, I assume?" 

The man walked in, beaming. He was young, with brown hair and glasses. His face looked soft, like a cherub. "Yup! So, what are our plans for that?" 

Naoka took off her glasses, leaning back. She paused, regaling her protege with a simple look. "For now? Nothing?" 

Maxwell's face fell. "Nothing?" he said aloud, disbelief on his face. 

"Nothing," Naoka repeated herself, annoyed that she has to. "One, that site is probably crawling with machines and I am not going to approve any incursions into that thing unless I know for certain that tower is safe and secure. Two, we can only leave this bunker if the Colonel himself says we can. The Colonel is currently not here and he himself has said that operations are grounded on the meantime so we will have no escorts." 

"But...the alien ship? It's an alien ship, Dr Naoka. An alien ship," Maxwell stressed. "Don't you want to look at it? Poke it?" 

"In time. But not now. It is far too dangerous. Let YoRHa and the Resistance clean the enemy from the area first then, I will approve." Naoka sighed. "I won't be going there with you all however,"

"Why not?" 

Naoka looked at him as if he grew a second head. "Because, my dear Maxwell, my parents lived in Tokyo." She revealed, letting the implication hand over their heads. Understanding and pity came upon Maxwell, as well as sheepishness. 

"Oh...shit...uh...sorry. I'll uh, see myself out," Maxwell apologized, leaving out Naoka's door alongside his fellow scientists. Awkwardly, the young doctor left, leaving the both of them there. Naoka turned back to A2. "So, is there anything you need from me, A2-san?" 

"Uh, no. I'll be going now, Doctor," A2 offered, moving to leave. But then, she paused, Naoka's words played in her head. "Your parents...they died at...the city?" A2 asked carefully. She had no idea what the fuck she was doing, only that it felt right. She turned back to Naoka who was now leaning against her desk, head resting on clasped hands. 

"Yes," Naoka said simply, her face stony as ever. But there was a undercurrent look of grief there. A feeling A2 knew too well. Her hands softened as she leaned back on her chair. "White Chlorination Syndrome. Among the very first. I was with a United Nations humanitarian mission away from Japan when it all happened." 

A2's face fell. 

She hated the Machines and the Alien fucks that made them. But hearing this, alongside other stories of the Legion made her wish to go back in time and tear them apart. Her brows furrowed, darkness coming onto her face. This expression Naoka did not miss who chuckled bitterly at A2's anger. This reaction stupefied A2.

"It's pointless to be angry at something so long ago. The Legion is long gone, A2. Only memories remain of it and my parents. The only thing I can do now is hold on to what happy memories I have, and move on," Naoka explained. "Holding on to the past so fervently, it's also going to hold me back too." 

"But...remembering them...?" Her squad, did they not deserve to be remembered? 

"It's important, yes. But not so much, your entire personality revolves around it. What would have made my mother and father happier, having me be so angry and bitter at their loss I close off from the world or having me live the life they didn't get to?" Naoka whispered, lifting up her hand high, her eyes trailing on it. 

A2 said nothing, Naoka's words hanging in the air. Was that really alright...? What would her squad have wanted for her?

"No.2, live!" 

Her fists tightened. 

"So, what are you waiting for? You have an alien ship to massacre, correct?" Naoka called out, lips curled in a smile. 

"Uh, yeah. I do," A2 replied, blinking. 

"Can you manage though? I thought you needed repairs?" Naoka asked, looking her over. 

"I can. I've been in worse fights than this. And what are a bunch of aliens going to do to someone like me?" A2 said confidently. 

"If you are so confident on this, very well." Naoka nodded, her hand reaching for her tablet when she stopped as A2 began unbuttoning the coat on her. 

"What are you doing?" Naoka asked, face still. 

"Returning your coat?" A2 offered. Comfy as it was, the coat was just going to get in the way of battle. Naoka gave the android a long look before shaking her head. "Keep it. It's yours now. You don't have any clothes, right?" 

"I don't need them," A2 insisted. 

"Well, it is a gift. A gift from me to you. I assume no one has given you anything for awhile, right?" Naoka gently asked. 

"Uh...um...yeah." A2 said sheepishly, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. Naoka tittered. "Well, that's changed. Try not to damage it too much, alright?" 

A2 nodded, turning to leave Naoka's office. She stepped out, closing the door behind her. It was going to be a hike but she could manage. She always had. But before she could leave the door, a voice spoke up from next to her. 

"Hey, you're that YoRHa android right? Gonna leave for the city?" asked Doctor Maxwell, glasses glinting in the light. 

+++

A/N: Aw, A2 has someone that's looking out for her. That's cute.