"9S? 9S!"

"Huh? Yeah 2B?"

"Are you feeling well? You've been awfully quiet the whole time..."

"A-Ah! Was I?"

"Yes, if you want, we can go back to the Bunker and get your systems checked-"

"N-No no, I'm okay, don't worry about it, 2B. I was just...thinking."

"About what?"

2B asked as the two YoRHa androids made their way to the desert area of the abandoned city, the clicking of her heels echoing throughout the buildings.
9S rubs the back of his head, sighing.

"You know, about this whole war between us and the machines..."

"...Oh."

"It's just sad to think that this city was once populated with humans, humans that had an amazing life here. And now it's all...gone."

"Once we destroy all of the machines, the humans will come back, then they'll be happy again...and then our mission will be complete."

"...Yeah."

9S replied in a quiet voice as the two then made it to the entrance of the desert area, stepping onto the soft sand as they patrol the area, finding any signs of machine life forms that were in hiding. 9S couldn't help but think about the voice he had heard in his head...he then felt something inside him...pain.
He grits his teeth as he falls on his knees, gripping his coat as he started to pant. 2B then turned around, gasping as she saw 9S's state.
She then kneels beside him, holding his shoulder.

"9S! What's wrong? 9S!"

The pain then subsided, causing 9S to take deep breaths as he then holds 2B's hand, carefully getting on his feet as he coughed.

"It's okay, I'm okay! Just...feeling weird."

"You're starting to worry me, 9S. Let's go back to the Bunker so we can get you checked...wait, I'm getting a message from the Council of Humanity, hold on."

2B said as her Pod rings, then pulls up a hologram screen. The two androids then listen to the broadcast as they continued patrolling the area, 2B keeping a close eye on 9S, who was falling behind.

"The Council of Humanity has a message for all of our brave androids fighting on the surface..."

9S rolls his eyes as he silently listens to the broadcast, for the sixth time.

This message again...it's starting to get annoying.

"Currently, our struggle against the machine life forms is at a stalemate."

Yeah, no shit...these machines just keep multiplying by the second...

"This battle has raged for far too long. I am sure all of you find the effort grueling..."

Grueling? More like heartbreaking...we lost so many of our companions during this damn war...we've lost so many that I keep hearing their screams of pain and agony over and over again...

"But now is not the time to give up. Now, more than ever, we must forge on."

Yes but for how LONG?!
We've been doing this for years and I feel like we haven't accomplished anything at all!

"Remember that several hundred thousand humans on the moon want nothing more than to return to Earth. Glory to mankind."

The transmission then ends, causing 9S to sigh.

"These Council broadcasts are always so stiff..."

As the two androids examined the area, they then come across a large abandoned apartment complex, where they found multiple buildings crumbling, rubble covering the ground and a small playground right in the center of it.
2B then stops, stretching her arms and legs.

"Let's rest here for a minute, we've been walking for quite some time and I don't want our circuits to fry."

"Okay."

9S replies as he then sits on the old swing, kicking his feet as he sadly
smiled.

This playground...I wonder why the humans made it...

"Hey Nines, this is so much fun, right?"

9S gasped as he quickly got up from the swing, looking around the playground as he desperately searched for the owner of the voice. 2B stares at him, confused and concerned.

"9S? What's wrong? Is there any enemies nearby?"

Pod 042 then scans the area, floating around as he shakes his robotic head.

"Negative, there are no signs of any machine life forms."

"Didn't you hear it?!"

"Hear what?"

"That voice! It just said my name! Is someone there?! Hello?!"

2B then holds his shoulder, gently shaking him out of his trance.

"9S, there's no one here, please stop. Wait, over there...that's...a machine! Come on 9S! Let's follow him!"

2B ordered as she takes out her sword and chases after the robot with the cloak, leaving 9S behind.
9S shakes his head as he then quickly follows behind her, the two chasing after the robot who hopped away, panicking as it tried to escape
them.
They lost track of the robot but they did find something even worse...androids.

Dead bodies of androids.

9S and 2B stare at them, puzzled.

"Androids...what are they all doing here?"

The two then go through a dark tunnel, only to find themselves in a large arena, surrounded by many machines who were engaging in...human-like activities. 2B stares at them, confused.

"What IS this...?"

The machines...looked like they were trying to have a child.
Just watching them do this made 9S sick.

"Don't listen to them, 2B...they don't have any feelings, they're just imitating human speech...let's take them out."

And so, they did.

***

"(Y/n)! We have to get out of here! They're coming!"

"I know!"

"I've hacked into the security system and locked all the doors...but it's not going to hold them any longer, we need to leave, now!"

"I know!"

"I don't want to go to jail...I DON'T WANT TO GO TO JAIL, MAN!"

"I KNOW!"

(Y/n) screamed as she quickly typed into the terminal, praying that she and her group of friends will make off with enough cash to get them through the next few months.

Who knew that security was going to be super tight this time?

(Y/n) managed to get only $10,000,
for she had to rush to get out of there before the police came and arrest everyone.

She didn't want any of her friends to go to jail...and she definitely wasn't going to leave them behind for that matter.

She then turns to Russell, who was busy hacking into the security system with his phone.

"Russell, get everyone out of here...I'll distract the cops."

"What? No, I ain't leaving ya behind!"

"We're all in this together, (Y/n)! If you go down, WE go down with ya!"

"Hasn't anyone seen my grenade launcher?! PLEASE don't tell me we forgot it! By the way (Y/n), we're family, we ain't letting you go to jail alone. But just in case that happens, we'll bust you out!"

Russell, Lolita and Rocco all talked at once, begging for (Y/n) to stay with them, but (Y/n) had other plans.
(Y/n) smiles as she hides her face behind her mask, winking to her friends.

"Trust me, I'm a hacker~"

The others sadly smile as they all gave her a group hug. Lolita then hands her a small lollipop.

"(Y/n), don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Russell almost crushes (Y/n) with his big hairy arms as he pets her head.

"After all this, we're having Gumbo~"

Rocco sniffles as he then hugs (Y/n), crying.

"Please come back to us, baby!"

"Don't worry, I'll come back to the hideout so just lay low till I get there, okay? Hackers together, hackers forever~"

(Y/n) said as she holds her hand out, the other group members smiling as they too holds their hands out, giving each other high fives.

"Hackers together, hackers forever!"

(Y/n) then grabs the duffel bag that was filled with all the cash they have gathered, and holds it over her shoulder as she quietly sneaks to the lobby, where she heard the voices of police officers searching for her and her family. She then comes out of hiding, holding her hands up as she slyly smiled to herself.
One of the policemen then noticed her, pointing his flashlight at her.

"There she is! The intruder!"

"Yep, here I am and guess what's inside this duffel bag~"

(Y/n) teased as she patted the bag, causing the policeman to click his tongue in annoyance.

"Put the duffel bag down and hold your hands up, you're under arrest for robbery!"

"I know, I know~"

(Y/n) then holds her hands up, only to have the police realize that she was holding her phone. Before they could touch her, (Y/n) then presses a button on her phone, causing a loud high pitch sound to go off in not only her phone, but everyone else's phones.
All of the policemen scream as they hold their eyes in pain, dropping all of their guns.
(Y/n) then takes the chance and runs past them, getting out of the building and the first vehicle she hops onto was a desert 4-wheeler, which had red, white and blue police sirens on it.

"Heh, suckers~"

(Y/n) whispers to herself as she then drives off, hoping that the cops weren't right behind her...only to realize that a police helicopter was on her tail.

"Shit...they just don't give up, do they?"

(Y/n) hisses as a spotlight shines down on her, the helicopter following her as she heard a voice call down to her from a large microphone.

"Pull over the vehicle now! I repeat, pull over the vehicle now or you will be shot!"

"Shot?! Now look who's the REAL bad guy here! I need to lose them somehow..."

(Y/n) had to think of an idea quick...and then she saw in the distance, the sand dunes.
She smiles as she speeds up, trying to get out of the spotlight.

"The sand dunes...they won't be able to find me there if I just stay out of the light..."

(Y/n) then makes it out of the light, driving past the wooden fence that separated the desert from the city.
As she drove through the sand dunes, she turned off the police sirens, hoping that the darkness would
hide her...but then she saw something glistening ahead of her, causing her to gasp.

"OH SHI-"

She accidentally hits the metal item that laid on the sandy floor, causing her to fall off the 4-wheeler and tumbling down the hill, sand getting all over her clothes and hair as the 4-wheeler crashed just beside her.

At least it didn't crush her.

(Y/n) felt her head spin as she slowly gets up, coughing up sand as she wiped the rest of it off her clothes and bag.

"Damn it...so much for keeping the 4-wheeler...what the hell did I hit?"

(Y/n) then approached the metal item that was lodged into the ground, kneeling before it as she uses her hands to dig it up. She then gasped at the sight of it after pulling it out of the ground...it wasn't a piece of junk, it was a small grey robot, who had a square shaped head with arms and legs attached to it.
She dusted the sand off its sensors, staring at it with surprise and confusion.

She has never seen anything like this before, except drones.

But this thing was no drone.

It was a Pod.

And the Pod spoke to her.