9S stepped out of the elevator and entered a dim passageway. The borderline excessively intricate decorations littering the walls, pillars, and ceilings reminded him of human civilization’s architectural style of old.
Moving on, the walls abruptly disappeared. The dim hall had led to a stairway wrapping along the outer wall of the tower. The stairway was missing a few steps, and gusts of wind blew up through the openings. 9S was at a considerable elevation. If he carelessly took a wrong step he would plunge to the ground, and instant death.
As he warily hopped over the missing steps, he heard a familiar drab announcement.
“Hello! This is the Tower System Service. We thank you for your visit, from the bottom of our hearts.”
Visit? Thank you? When they had bombarded him with enemies at the entrance? When they had secured the door with a self-lockdown algorithm? He was exasperated at how brazenly they spoke.
“The last prize for the visitor, who unlocked the last subunit, awaits in the next room. Please enjoy!”
Borrowing a human expression, he muttered, “What a one-trick pony,” under his breath. There was most likely going to be another Machine when he opened the door.
The double door was of a towering height, forcing him to look up. At first, he doubted whether the strength of Type S would suffice to open the door, but it wasn’t as heavy as it looked. A small push was enough for the door to glide open without a sound.
It was a narrow room, slightly wider than the previous passageway, with a rather high ceiling. Most of all, it was dark. It wasn’t pitch-black, but it was dark enough to make him doubt his step.
Just as he was thinking how cumbersome it would be to fight in the confined space, he saw some objects descend from the dark ceiling. The sound they made as they hit the floor was clearly different from something a Machine would make. In fact, 9S recognized the chassis.
“Type…2B?”
A YoRHa android clad in black. Short silver hair and pale lips. It was undoubtedly 2B.
He had assumed that all personal data, as well as spare chassis, were lost when the Bunker had exploded. He thought that reconstructing any android, including himself, would never be possible again. But there was still one way to construct 2B’s chassis: the transfer device.
The transfer devices contained all the materials necessary to construct a chassis. Since all YoRHa-type androids were made of the same materials, anybody from the squadron could use a transfer device. Personal data, which was not replicable, was sent from the transfer origin to the destination. For the chassis however, only its blueprint was transferred, and it was constructed from scratch at the destination. The transfer was complete when the personal data was injected into the newly constructed chassis.
That’s why the chassis blueprint was the only information necessary to abuse a transfer device and construct as many chassis as needed. The Machines had infiltrated the main server, so the chassis blueprint was easily accessible to them.
Nevertheless, this was just a theory. They could have created an original device similar to a transfer device and constructed the 2B chassis. Or they could have used a method that was completely unfamiliar to 9S.
Regardless, the chassis had been constructed, and 9S was now face-to-face with many 2Bs. Of course, their expressions were vacant, closer to puppets than the real thing. The Machines most likely wanted 9S to fight with mindless drones identical to 2B. Just like how they had sent Operator 21O to confront him.
They might have been disappointed by 9S’s indifference during his encounter with 21O. Maybe that’s why they were using 2B this time…
9S’s perverse feelings for 2B had been exposed back when he was captured by Adam. He was fairly certain that the Machines that had lured him to this tower were aware of his feelings as well. Machines were connected to one another through their network.
They probably expected that, this time, they would witness a defenseless 9S being killed by 2B. They yearned to see him scream in despair, unable to lay a hand on 2B, let alone retaliate.
Stupid Machines. Despair? Scream? Not a chance. Not when there were so many 2Bs in his presence.
“I’m so glad… I got to see you here…”
Glad that there were no 2B chassis lurking behind his back. Here, she was within reach. He ripped off his goggles. He didn’t have to hide anything. He didn’t need any additional data. He wanted to see 2B, in all her glory, directly. Watch 2B, within his reach, as he…
“All of it…”
He couldn’t hold back his escalating laughter.
“I’ll destroy all of you!”
Reconstructing 2B’s chassis without his permission was unforgivable. Animating her chassis without his permission was unforgivable. That’s precisely why he was going to destroy all of them.
The only one who can destroy 2B is me.
“I’ll tear you apart… Every last one of you!”
Because they were all his. He wasn’t going to let anyone else have them… Not even 2B.
The puppets crept toward him. Their movements were too stiff. They were, after all, controlled by Machines. Their martial abilities fell short of the real 2B’s. Their movements were a far cry from the fluid motion of their real counterpart.
See, it’s so easy to break them. I’m going to slash and crush the faces, arms, and legs that look just like yours, 2B. I won’t leave anything behind. So no one can look at you.
One body. Two bodies. Three bodies…
At this rate it’s going to end too quickly, 2B. Four bodies, five bodies, six bodies…
How many left? Oh, so it’s already over.
“Warning: Detected enemy signal.”
Pod’s brusque words interrupted 9S.
“Signal? There’s one that’s still alive?”
Which one is it? Which one is still waiting for me to kill it?
He scanned through the corpses scattered on the ground. He saw one with its chest barely moving up and down.
“Found it.”
Even though it was struggling to move at all, it looked like it was trying to stand up.
No, 2B. I told you I’d destroy all of you, didn’t I?
He pierced the sword through the chest. Twice, and then a third time.
It was then that he heard an ominous noise. Right as he realized it was a detonator, his field of vision flashed white.
Sound faded from the world around him, and he lost consciousness.