Glory To Mankind

      ‘Wouldn’t I know it.’       His head tilted back and he stared blankly into the sky with something of a smile on his face. An all too common gesture where he came from. He couldn’t help it, having heard her thoughts aloud. It really was taking all he could manage to not break out into a fit of obscene, miserable laughter.       Thankful that she was able to shift the topic in a direction that didn’t beget him spilling his guts to her in public, he nodded in affirmation of her assumptions.       ‘Something like that. By the end of my career, though, I can’t say I really knew what I was fighting for. Lots to think about, you know?’       He quieted down for a moment while considering what else to say. The last thing he wanted to do was open up more than he needed to. Especially to this odd stranger who he could only assume was another Servant.

      ‘Oh, right,’ he said in a funny, timid tone, like he had initially forgotten about it. ‘You said, “as well,” right? Meaning, you must have had a rough time of it, too.’       His expression went from amused, to distantly concerned, and straight back to bitter amusement, all while keeping an eye on her. It was hard not to, with that outfit of hers.       ‘I get how you feel. It’s not every day you realize your life’s been a sham. Which is why I’m so hesitant to jump straight into this. Don’t wanna make the same mistakes I did as a kid.’

It was strange, to already have something in common with a human, something that they actually might agree on. From all of her hypotheses and research, stories from 9S and archives she had read, humans seemed to be much more frivolous than they let on. After all, if they could fight themselves, why would they have made YoRHa in the first place? Fear? Perhaps they just weren’t strong enough. Maybe they just didn’t have enough time. Either way, they were here now, and it seemed that some of them lived the same soldier lifestyle that 2B did. But the fact that he didn’t know what she was... Were humans never aware of YoRHa?

“Of course. I was created to be a soldier.” She looked back at him with what would be confusion, if her eyes were visible. Instead, the only sign of change in expression was the slight wrinkling of her nose. “I am a Battle type. 2B. Could you not tell?”

She was beginning to think that this person was never from Earth to begin with. Just what kind of place did he live before coming to Utopia-- or perhaps he had always lived here? There was too much to process, even for 2B. Perhaps her Pod knew more, but the machine stayed silent for the time being, simply hovering beside 2B. In reply to the others words, she could only give a curt hum. A sham? He didn’t know what he was fighting for? It bordered both sad and pathetic. How could a soldier not know what they were fighting for?

“2B.” The normal silence between Pod and android was broken, and without looking back at the floating robot, 2B acknowledged him with a short hum. She was following whatever objective came to mind: and of course she wanted to find out more about the humans, about the GRAIL, about whoever put her back together and took out the logic virus... But when Pod 042 stopped following her, 2B halted her step as well. Turning slightly, she looked back at the small bot, waiting for it to speak again.

“I have confirmed presence of another YoRHa unit’s black box.” If she had a heart, it would have stopped beating, but her breath did catch. Pale blue eyes widened behind her visor, and immediately 2B stepped closer to her assigned pod.

“Can you confirm whose it is?”

“YoRHa Unit 9 Type S has--,”

“Mark it on the map.” She spoke with a sense of urgency, one she hadn’t felt since handing over her sword to A2. As soon as a marker was placed on the map displayed on her HUD, the android started to run. People around her gasped and stumbled away out of her path, completely surprised at her hurried pace that sent her nearly completely against the flow of traffic.It didn’t matter. More important things were at hand... But through the throngs of people, tall and short with red and brown and white and black hair, it was hard to pinpoint her companions location.

thank you

“Have they been here all this time...?” 2B muttered the question to herself, but naturally her Pod would pick up the inquiry and take it seriously. Responding with a resounding ‘unknown’, the silence thereafter indicated it was definitely searching for an action to take-- one that wasn’t a command, but that 2B would likely feel compelled to follow anyway. She was no Scanner unit, but the curiosity of how so many humans got into Utopia, through the GRAIL’s means or otherwise, did baffle her.

There was nothing mentioned in it in her notes from the commander. Perhaps there was a higher security level than S for certain notes, even things the Commander didn’t know?

“Proposal: Ask nearby human life forms of their current living status.” Ugh, or course it would mean her interacting with someone. She was capable, but talking was always 9S’s strong-suit, not hers. Grasping the shoulder of the first person that came nearby, 2B spoke in a firm tone.

The city was unlike anything 2B had seen before, but one that she heard of in archives about the old world. Cities packed with people, humans, milling back and forth between tasks. Work, shopping, going home, eating-- it was all foreign to a battle-focused android whose life consisted of: see a machine, cleave it in two. Naturally, being in crowd of people wasn’t her favorite thing, nor was it her Pod’s, constantly weaving between heads and shoulders to keep up with his assigned unit.

It was only a matter of time before someone whacked the hovering pod out of the air, a mistaken quick turn that had the white box staggered and, unfortunately, falling into someone else. Though it was small, the Pod still weighed a few pounds.

The small, prickly looking creature was almost tread beneath the android's foot, and if it wasn’t for her Pod, the poor thing might have been crushed entirely. 2B looked down at the small animal, lips tilted in a slight frown. It almost seemed to be nagging at her, both of its front legs tapping on her boot. Whatever it was, it certainly didn’t seem happy.

“Pod, what is this creature?” 2B asked, reaching down and picking the creature up in both of her gloved hands. It seemed to dislike that even more, wriggling and fighting against her hold, but she kept it there. Her hold was gently still.

“The creature is known as a ‘hedgehog’, a small mammal often kept as pets by humans. Perhaps it is a lost pet of a citizen.” 2B sighed at the Pod’s response, looking up and around. The surrounding crowd seemed indifferent to both her and the hedgehog.

“And how am I supposed to do that...” 

“Proposal: Ask the surrounding citizens for more information.”

Proposal: Like this to interact with 2B.

Oh can’t you

feel your dirty face

Oh don’t it

leave that filthy taste