CH. 10: 9S's Story/Truth
CH. 10: 9S’s Story/Truth
Considering he HAD BEEN involved in a close-range explosion, his visual mechanisms were surprisingly intact. But he couldn’t hear at all. His auditory mechanisms were still recovering.
He tried to sit up, but lost balance. He had tried propping himself up on his left arm, but instead clumsily fell backward. Peering toward where his left arm should be, he realized it was missing.
The moment he saw the jagged, open wound, he felt tremendous pain. Remarkably, he hadn’t been aware of the searing ache from his arm being ripped apart.
He was immobilized from the great misery. He clenched his teeth in desperation, but couldn’t hold back from moaning. He briefly thought he was going to die.
He looked around to try and diffuse the pain. He saw 2B. Her chassis was lying on the ground. There was only one left, miraculously having avoided the fate of being buried beneath the rubble.
“2B…”
He extended his right hand to stroke her cheek. Back at the Bunker, when 2B was going through maintenance, she had lain like this, with her eyes closed. If he said “All done” now, would she open her eyes as she had so many times in the past?
He knew it was impossible. 2B was dead. The fact dawned on him, and rage began to boil in his veins.
“I can’t…die yet.”
With every heaving breath his upper body stiffened in pain. Even still, he forced himself to sit up. He was already out of breath.
Panting heavily, he straddled 2B’s chassis and clutched her left arm. Pain shot through his whole body as he gripped it with his right hand. He tugged on 2B’s arm with all his might. He heard a dull snap. It hurt him to hear the sound, as if his own arm had been torn off.
He shoved 2B’s arm, soaked in red liquid, toward his wound. He needed a replacement.
“Need to fight…”
It felt like someone was pressing scalding metal onto his wound. He couldn’t even clench his teeth or roll around in pain. Instead, he focused every single ounce of will into staying conscious, and at times, wondered if letting go would make things easier. But of course, he wasn’t going to let himself do that.
The left arm was infected with a logic virus. He needed to perform self-hacking the instant it connected. If he lost consciousness now, the virus would certainly overtake him.
Both fortunately and unfortunately, the pain kept him conscious throughout the process. He finished clearing the virus, and tested the arm’s functionality. There was a slight awkwardness, but it was acceptable. If he adjusted the movements of his other limbs, he would have no problem maneuvering.
“I will fight…”
9S stood up, with a determined gaze toward the end of the room.
He eventually reached the back of the room and arrived at a large door.
Right as he passed through the door, it closed behind him. The windows, which were open and facing out, were immediately sealed off. To think he would be so blatantly caged in. It was almost comical at this point.
In the middle of the enclosed room stood two little girls. He realized that he knew them.
“YoRHa android 9S!”
The little girls wore one-piece dresses. One had a high voice, the other a low voice. While it was the first time he had seen their faces, 9S felt like he knew them. Their gaze and presence were familiar.
“Welcome to the tower!”
“Welcome to the tower!”
This mumbling way of speech—he was reminded of the same announcement he had heard three times. It wasn’t the same exact voice, but he could tell that these girls had been the ones doing the talking.
Swinging his sword through them, he felt no resistance. It seemed that they had no physical bodies. It confirmed a suspicion he had. These girls were the culprits that had snuck into the Bunker and spied on the YoRHa squadrons’ activities. They were the very presence he had struggled to detect.
“Since you made it here, we have some very tempting information for you, you wretch.”
“Since you made it here, we have some very tempting information for you, you wretch.”
Their odd vocabulary and colorless tones were unbearably eerie. So much so that he wanted to run his blade through them right away.
“Ugh…”
He felt an uncomfortable sensation, like his mind had been scraped with sandpaper. Similar to the feeling he had when he was forcefully given the location to the resource recovery units in the crater zone, but this time much stronger.
Words suddenly flooded his brain.
“Th-this…is…”
A file, labeled “Extremely Confidential,” began to unravel in his mind.
The publicized objective of Project YoRHa was to produce cutting-edge androids and end the deadlocked battle with Machines. But what was in that file contradicted this widely accepted mission objective: a coordinated plan to boost android morale by spreading misinformation, specifically the fabrication of the human server on the moon, and the concealment of human extinction.
Android morale had sunk so low that such a plan was necessary. In the year 4200, humanity went extinct. Androids, having lost their lords and commanders, fell into a collective despair.
Devola and Popola were unware of the truth because they had their memories erased, but Project Gestalt was an initiative to save humans from an epidemic. The plan proposed for human souls to be separated from their bodies, and fused back together once the epidemic had been curtailed.
But the human holding the key to the division and fusion processes was lost in a violent incident triggered by Devola and Popola. It became impossible to fuse human souls and bodies back together, dooming humanity to extinction.
Command had tried to conceal the failure of Project Gestalt, but information about it circulated as rumors. Command was concerned, and started to spread false information that humans had fled to the moon.
Command had to deny the fact that humanity was now extinct. They established the human board and sent transmissions using a synthesized voice to Earth to create the illusion that humans were living on the moon.
9S knew all of this. He thought it odd that the “Plans for establishing the human board” had been an index in Project YoRHa, and confronted the commander about it.
But the fabrication of the human board was rather rudimentary, so much so that a slightly superior scanner model was able to uncover the truth. That’s why it was necessary for individuals that discovered the truth to be wiped out.
The Bunker—that was the base for Command—was programmed to allow Machine infiltration after a certain period of time—specifically, through the back door 9S and 2B had used when they were surrounded by infected YoRHa. Previously, the door was secured with a firewall that deterred anyone other than YoRHa squadron troopers from accessing it.
After enough battle data was accumulated, and the transition period to next-generation models was near, the firewall was brought down. The Machines would infiltrate and destroy the Bunker. If Command, who had fabricated the human board, disappeared, there would be no one left that knew the truth.
In other words, at the time of conception, the plan had already outlined the demise of the YoRHa squadron. They had used Machine cores to manufacture the power source of androids, the black box, because they deemed it inhumane to install AI into androids that were doomed from the beginning. Probably to prevent the individuals who conceived the project from feeling guilty. What a selfish thing to do.
“If this is Project YoRHa…than we were…from the beginning…”
Their destruction was certain from the moment they were constructed. Their many thousands of battles with Machines had been meaningless.
“2B died, for something like this…”
2B died for a lie. We’re going to be destroyed for a lie like this.
“Even after knowing everything.”
The little girls were all of a sudden right beside him. They were smirking.
“Do you wish to fight?”
Why did you show me this?
9S swung his sword down at the girls’ heads as hard as he could. Again his sword pitifully smacked against the ground.
“We are the manifestation of the Machine network.”
“We have no physical bodies. So we cannot be killed.”
“Shut up!”
He swung his sword again. But the mirage refused to be cut.
“Your attacks are pointless.”
“Be quiet be quiet be quiet!”
No matter how many times he swung his sword, it ended up hitting the ground or the walls. But he couldn’t help himself.
“Your existence is pointless.”
The little girls left him with that, and disappeared. Losing his target, 9S stood there, still gripping his sword.
“I’ll destroy everything… You two, this tower…!”
If they weren’t here, he would find them. If he couldn’t draw them out, he would destroy this whole tower along with them.
He heard the footfalls of multiple individuals. Infected YoRHa heading his way.
“Time after time…”
They’re so stubborn. Oh well. I’ll destroy you too. I won’t spare a single one of you. All of you…
The resource recovery units had broken down when he destroyed the core on the top floor. That meant that there should be a core, or something equivalent, on the top floor of this tower as well. He was going to invade the core, take it over, and make the tower self-destruct. If this tower was indeed a launchpad, it would have enough potential energy to blow itself to pieces.
All he had to do was go up. Higher and higher. If he aimed for the top, his wish would probably come true.
It was actually convenient when a few flight units ambushed 9S. He shot down all but one of them with Pod’s artillery. For the last unit, he hacked the infected android aboard and stole the unit. Navigating to the top floor would me much easier in a flight unit.
“Pod, transfer the controls to me.”
“Warning: This flight unit is confirmed to be infected with a logic virus, and will affect…”
“Transfer, now!”
“Roger.”
Viral infection? Like he cared. He was already infected. He had just delayed it by injecting himself with the vaccine on hand. It wasn’t a vaccine specifically designed to combat this type of virus, but as long as it bought him enough time to destroy the tower, he was fine with it.
The edges of his vision began to go dark. He could hear a slight noise in his auditory mechanisms. He didn’t have much time left, probably. Mumbling that he had to hurry, 9S entered the flight unit.
Flying types appeared as he was ascending. They were extremely irritating, like small insects flitting about in front of him.
“Up, up,” 9S mumbled as he fought. He defeated a small walking type, a flying type, a medium four-legged walking type, and a snakelike Machine, before carrying onward.
He also fought a large spiderlike Machine on the way.
“We are… n0t… bad Mach1nes…”
“1 am… We are…”
The Machines suddenly started making strange noises.
“What’s happening?”
“Report: Confirmed the disintegration of enemy AI. Speech impediment is the repercussion of aforementioned event.”
“Enemy AI? The little girls disintegrated? They died?”
Then why were the Machines still moving? Why was this large one still crawling around, and that flying type still buzzing about?
“Hypothesis: Machine attacks are carried out according to residual data left on enemy servers.”
In the end, unless he destroyed the tower, it seemed like these Machines would keep functioning. And keep spouting vexing utterances.
“Let’s play let’s play let’s play… Play w1th me”
“M0m m0m m0m!”
“We’re gods we’re g0ds we are g0ds!”
Be quiet. You’re so annoying. Shut up. Just break.
I don’t want to hear anything other than 2B’s voice. I only want to hear 2B’s voice. And 2B’s footsteps. And her breaths. And the sound of her swinging sword. And the rustle her clothes make when she moves. And and and…
All the other sounds can just be gone.
Ah, that’s why I’m destroying. 2B isn’t here. I’m destroying everything because I can’t tolerate anything other than 2B.
“Let’s head… t0 the stars.”
“Let’s s1ng… a s0ng.”
“We 0ffer… n0w.”
Shut up. Why do I keep hearing their voices? Am I imagining things because of the infection? That’s probably it. A Machine wouldn’t ask questions like, “Why do we exist?”
Just break already!
“Pod!”
A laser at full power pierced the large Machine. The spherical body melted from the heat, and just as he realized it was swelling up, it exploded in a thunderous bang. 9S hunched over and fought through the blast.
The shock wave passed, and his surroundings settled down. The smoke cleared from his eyes, and he could see again. As he was chasing the Machine, he had reached the top floor.
“A2…”
A2 stood amidst the dust in the air. He had finally found her. There was no Machine presence nearby. Pod was silent too. No enemy signals. There would be no interruption. This time, he could kill A2.
9S pointed his sword at A2. But A2 refused to take a fighting stance.
“This tower is a giant cannon aimed toward the human server on the moon. The residual human data is going to be destroyed,” said A2.
So? What was the problem? What was she saying all of a sudden? This was a really useless conversation. The back of his throat trembled with laughter. It was so ridiculous he couldn’t bear it.
“Whatever…”
He restrained himself from laughing.
“Nothing matters anymore. Not even that.”
He saw A2 faintly furrow her brow. A2 probably didn’t know the truth. That’s why she was worried about how this facility was a giant cannon, with such conviction.
“Did you know? Humanity is dead,” said 9S.
The truth that he was never able to reveal to 2B. He didn’t want to shock her, to upset her, so he had never told her.
“And to hide that fact, the human server on the moon was established to give androids a reason to fight with their lives on the line. We were made to protect that lie,” said 9S.
We weren’t created to exterminate the Machines, or take back Earth.
“To complete the lie, the YoRHa squadron was arranged to be annihilated,” 9S continued.
Humans still lived on a lunar base. As long as that lie was left standing. The rest was…unnecessary.
“Did you know? The commander, 2B, and I…we were all sacrificial lambs.”
We weren’t created to be a symbol of hope for humanity. We weren’t born into this world because someone needed us. We weren’t needed, yet fought, and died. Our lives had utterly…no meaning.
The red girls weren’t lying. It was all true.
“Your existence is pointless.”
They were right.
“9S, we’re…”
A2 opened her mouth to say something. It was easy to tell that she was troubled from her voice and expression.
“Shut up!”
Don’t look at me like that, he screamed inside his head. He couldn’t forgive that face, identical to 2B’s. He couldn’t forgive those hands that held 2B’s sword. That day, she…
“You killed 2B.”
He couldn’t forgive that the most. Even if, that day, 2B was already infected with the virus. Even if her eyes were red when she looked back at him.
“That’s reason enough for us to kill each other,” said 9S.
A2 had still taken 2B’s life with her sword.
“2B…”
A2 opened her mouth again.
“2B was struggling. She had to disguise her model type, and keep killing you.”
Disguise her model type? Why did A2 know about that?
“She was formally known as 2E. A Type E model responsible for executing YoRHa androids.”
Why did this bastard know that?
That 2B’s real identity was a model E, with a directive to execute 9S when he came too close to uncovering the truth. 9S had only figured out this fact after spending a long time working with 2B.
He started to feel suspicious when he realized he had no information about Type E models in his memory.
He had met an amnesiac android in the city ruins. She was a Type E who disguised herself as a friend to her comrades, only to spy on and eventually execute them. Unable to bear the stress, she erased her own memories.
When 9S heard that story, he was surprised to hear that a Type E, responsible for executions, even existed. He became apprehensive of himself. He certainly should have known about the existence of Type E, yet he had no information regarding the subject.
That’s when he realized that his memory was being erased. In the past he had been executed by a Type E and cleansed of memories relating to that incident. To remove any trace of the execution, it was most likely necessary to erase a large part of his memories. That’s why he had a conspicuous lack of information regarding 2E.
He knew that the executioner would at times feign a close relationship with its target.
Furthermore, Type E androids, who acted as executioners, were required by their role to have battle capabilities higher than a Type B. Fighting alongside her a countless number of times, he had realized that 2B was too strong to be a Type B.
He had all the evidence. It was inevitable that he would figure it out.
“You…probably knew, right?” asked A2.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
Be quiet. Don’t talk like you know it all, with the same face as 2B. You don’t know anything.
“What do you know about us!”
He grasped his sword. He needed to hurry. The noise was getting worse. The infection was progressing. He had to destroy her before his movement mechanisms became impaired.
Just then, Pod jumped into his already blurry vision.
“Recommendation: Cease fire. Fighting with her now is illogical and…”
“Order to Pod 153! I forbid you to interject! Follow this order until either A2 or I am confirmed to be nonfunctional!”
Pod retreated without a word. Perhaps it didn’t acknowledge the order because it was reluctant to carry it out.
He could see A2 finally drawing her sword. He made Pod cover him while he initiated hacking. She dodged it. A2’s movements were startlingly quick, as if she knew what he was going to do.
He wondered if, maybe, he had fought A2 in the past. Perhaps he didn’t know because 2B had erased his memories.
That meant A2 had memories of 2B he didn’t have. That made him jealous. Anyone other than him that knew 2B should disappear and be gone.
Memories of 2B. Encounters with 2B.
His thoughts were jumbled. Curious as to why his neck was stiff, he touched it and felt a cold, hard sensation. His hand had unknowingly started its erosion into Machine.
He needed to kill A2 soon, while he still retained his consciousness. While he still had his memories of 2B…
2B? Humans?
“Why…why…why!”
What was this feeling?! He had been focused on 2B, why was he being interrupted?!
“Why…do I yearn for humanity?!”
Even though I only yearn for 2B.
“Why do I seek out humans?!”
I only seek 2B.
He didn’t care about humanity. He knew that they had died a long time ago. But…why did they push aside his thoughts of 2B? Even though his mental functions had declined rapidly, and just thinking of 2B was exhausting enough, why did his thoughts have to turn toward humans?
“We’re made to. We androids are made to protect our creators,” said A2.
His vision was further deteriorating.
“Our foundational programming makes us feel…”
“Be quiet be quiet be qu1et!”
The noise was overwhelming. If he couldn’t think about 2B, if he wasn’t able to think only about 2B, his brain was garbage.
“Then, just destr0y 1t… everyth1ng sh0uld just d1sappear and be g0ne…”
It felt as though his arms weren’t his. His legs moved on their own. Where was this strange power coming from? Ah, he was being taken over by the logic virus…
He saw two A2s. This was bad. He wouldn’t be able to aim very well. Right as he was about to kill her, A2 stopped.
“2B…” she said.
Don’t say that name! It’s unforgivable for you to say that name.
He thrust his sword forward. He felt a dull impact through the blade. He heard A2 moan.
He strained his eyes to see. Blood-soaked sword. A2 on the ground. He’d done it. He’d killed her. He could see A2’s face as she writhed in pain. Ha ha, serves you right.
It was finally over. Everything.
He saw something move near his feet. All of a sudden, he couldn’t breathe. His whole body was burning.
He heard a scream. He didn’t understand.
Hot. Red. He couldn’t breathe.
What was happening? He saw a sword? Red. Nauseous. Ow.
Had he been stabbed? By A2? Why?
The pain abruptly faded. Not just the pain, but all his senses were fading too.
In the darkness, he saw 2B’s hair. No. The one dying in a pool of blood was A2. With the same-colored hair as 2B.
So it was a draw… he realized. His consciousness floated away. He could hear Pod’s voice.
“Emergence of a fatal error in the system. Detected memory leak. Impossible to repair.”
It’s fine. No need for repair. That’s what he wanted to say but couldn’t.
“Commencing emergency save of residual memory.”
The memories don’t have to be saved. They can all disappear.
His earliest memory was of the first time he greeted the commander, following his deployment. The next was his first descent to Earth for a data-gathering mission. The fog had been heavy that day, making things difficult. He’d walked alone in enemy territory, observing Machines, somewhat lonely. And finally, the time he was assigned his first mission with 2B… No, how many first times had they worked together before that? His first impression of her was that she seemed distant. But how many times had she killed him at that point? She probably kept her distance to avoid growing attached. Unaware of any of this, he genuinely enjoyed having company. Unaware of her struggles, he was just happy that 2B was next to him.
And also…he didn’t know. He couldn’t remember. Sounds, colors, everything seemed to wash away. His memories faded. They were escaping him.
It was cold. And quiet. He felt no more pain. Where was he?
Every direction he looked, all he could see was white. Was he in a virtual circuit dimension? A section of white turned into black fog. The black fog wavered, as its edges slowly settled into the shape of a human. The shape split into two, and became two little girls. The little red girls.
He realized that he was within the consciousness of the tower. These red girls were probably just memories, and not real. One of the girls opened her mouth.
“This tower was a cannon to destroy the human server.”
9S acknowledged that he knew that. Destroy the last hope of all androids, the human server. That was their plan.
The red girls silently shook their heads.
“We have changed our minds.”
“We have observed androids.”
“We have examined the unique specimen Pascal, and the unique specimen ‘King of the Forest.’ ”
“We have examined the unique specimens Adam and Eve.”
“We have reached the conclusion not to launch a projectile using this tower.”
Just as 9S asked why, the red girls began to rapidly multiply in number. In the middle of a sea of red girls stood A2 and Pod 042. He heard 042.
“Recommendation: Use the enemy’s intellectual capacity to create a weakness.”
This was the memory of the little girls. Most likely when A2 and the pair had fought in the tower. Back when he was trying to reach the top of the tower, the Machines abruptly started acting oddly, and Pod had reported that it “confirmed the disintegration of enemy AI.” This was the girls’ memory of what happened then.
“I don’t understand! Explain it so I understand!” yelled A2.
“Question: YoRHa android A2’s intellectual capacity—”
“Shut up! What am I supposed to do?!”
“Do not destroy the enemy.”
“What?”
It was amusing to see how clueless A2 was about 042’s plan. But the little girls looked clueless as well. They weren’t concerned about 042’s words at all.
A2 began to concentrate on defending herself and dodging attacks, as 042 had told her to. 9S thought they looked like 2B and 042.
The red girls kept multiplying, each ego clashing against the others, which led to infighting. The numbers quickly dwindled…and the girls eventually vanished.
The “disintegration of enemy AI” didn’t mean that A2 had defeated the red girls. The red girls had killed each other and disintegrated on their own. He had heard that species that multiplied too rapidly, or evolved too rapidly, have a difficult time maintaining cohesion and fall into oblivion. The girls had ruined themselves.
Humanity too, rapidly multiplied, fought each other, killed each other…and eventually became extinct. The ones responsible for triggering their demise hadn’t been humans themselves, but instead something they had created. It was a fate mirrored by the deaths of the little red girls.
When he came to, the little red girls—or rather, the memory of the little red girls—had reduced to just two of them.
“We’ve decided to launch an ark using this tower.”
“We’ve decided to seal the memory of Machines in the ark, and send it off to a new world.”
Ark? New world? Are you going to launch a rocket into space?
“We might roam about in empty space for eternity.”
“We might not reach a destination.”
But you’re still going?
“We are manifestations of the network.”
“We aren’t constrained by time.”
Adam appeared beside the little girls. Eve was there too. They were also probably the memory of Adam and Eve, and not their actual physical selves. Adam was gently holding Eve, who was sleeping quietly.
There was a two-legged walking Machine. Next to it a smaller Machine. It had a bucket on its head, and kept blissfully repeating the phrase, “B1g br0ther b1g br0ther.”
“Do you want to come with us?” Adam asked.
His voice held no hate. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t feel any hostility from the little red girls either. And 9S himself had no more reason to hate Machines. No, perhaps it never existed in the first place.
Then I…why did we fight?
“I…can’t go. We YoRHa have no right to be loved by the world.”
We were born, desired by no one. The only thing desired of us was to be gone from this world. I was born, unaware of that fact, and died when I realized the truth. It would be the same, no matter where I go. No matter how far I travel, things won’t change. I can’t go.
“I see,” said Adam.
I’ll stay here. I’ll vanish here.
I’ll stay here, alone, and watch you go.
The ark was launched, carrying the memories of Adam, Eve, the little red girls, and the Machines. The ark roared away from Earth, and the tower crumbled down, having fulfilled its role.
There was overflowing light. He wasn’t sure where the light came from. It was white, and overwhelmingly bright. A silvery white light. Its glow was almost like…
“Ah. Finally, I’ve found you.”
Along with the familiar name, everything melted in the light and disappeared.