They shouldn't be doing this.
...
It was late into the month of July. The lush vegetation that had reclaimed Earth in the absence of human presence was flourishing all over the daylands. Fields outside of city remains showcased the vibrant palette of nature; grass grew tall and wildflowers bloomed in abundance, while large, flowering trees were shedding their pollen on the winds. The songs of insects were constant in the air, and herds of elk peacefully grazing in the shade were a common sight.
Two and a half months prior, 2B and 9S had been one of several teams of YoRHa units tasked with returning to Earth to observe, study and record any abnormal change in the fauna that might happen during the designated frame of time. Such missions were not unusual; in fact, they were necessary for keeping Earth maintained in preparation for humanity's return from the moon. The mechanical mockeries of Earth fauna that the aliens had released into the environment centuries ago were still present, so regular studies of the ecosystem were of extreme importance.
9S had asked the same question 2B had heard several times before: "Why are they sending a combat unit to do field work? Couldn't they just send a scanner, like usual?"
2B had replied with the dismissive answer she gave him every time: "Orders are orders."
Sometimes she loved his curious nature. Other times, she hated it. His tendency to ask questions was the reason she was once again meeting a "new" him, the reason she was once again listening to his personal introduction; the introduction she had already heard so many times before. His recent death was all too fresh in her mind, and the way that he had already started asking questions before their mission even began inflicted an icy pain in her chest.
Just like every other time before, they had landed on the humans' planet as strangers.
And just like every other time before, she had silently prayed to a cruel and unloving God that this time, his fate might be different.
Their mission had gone smoothly. There were no abnormalities found in the area's fauna all throughout the months, unless you count the strange fact that the aliens' machine fauna had peacefully and perfectly assimilated into the organic ecosystem.
9S had taken well to the mission; his natural curiosity was stimulated by the constant flow of research and study. 2B thought he looked happier than she had seen him in a while, and without realizing it, she had begun to relax and enjoy herself, too.
For the two and a half months of their mission, they allowed themselves to experience the joys of Earth. They spent time together sitting in the sun by the riverside, watching the daily lives of fish with mild amusem*nt. 2B kept mental notes of every type of wildflower she saw. 9S taught her about the life cycle of the noisy cicadas. 2B taught him how to fish; he wasn't very good at it.
One time, 9S got too excited when they witnessed a fish leaping out of the water to catch an insect and ended up scaring away the animals they were studying, which resulted in a stern scolding from his partner.
These were some of the happiest days of 2B's life.
But, a few days before they were to return to the Bunker for their next mission, 9S's attitude shifted unexpectedly.
He was considerably less chatty than usual, his interest in the scientific names of animal species was suddenly nonexistent, and he began to spend time doing nothing but silently gazing at the sky, or at the remains of human cities; 2B couldn't read his expression under his goggles, but the air of melancholy around him was palpable.
It set her on edge, and when she tried to ask if something was bothering him, he noncommittally replied with something along the lines of, "I'm just tired."
Soon, it was the final day of their mission, and 9S had not spoken a word the entire day, which was extremely unusual of him. Although the anxiety of the unknown was eating her alive, 2B hadn't questioned him for fear of raising his suspicions and putting him in danger; or perhaps the truth was that she was scared to hear the answer that she already expected to come.
"Hey, 2B. Come with me for a sec."
She had barely even realized that her partner had spoken his first words of the day to her. He hadn't even waited for a response before he began to walk. Dumbfounded, 2B had followed him.
It sent her anxiety into overdrive. All-consuming fear washed away every ounce of happiness from the past two and a half months like a vicious flood. The day outside no longer felt beautiful and inviting; the sunlight felt like it was burning her alive, while the songs of the insects felt like screams in her ears. She desperately wanted to deny it, but the possibility that he had, once again, crossed the line with the authority figures of YoRHa and assured his own death was all too likely.
She considered deleting the pictures they'd taken together now, before it was too late; she didn't want to have to look at them again while she was sending the coordinates of his corpse to command.
2B had been lost too deeply in her thoughts to notice that they'd stopped walking, or that 9S had, despite regulations, removed his goggles, and that he was now reaching up to remove her own. The sensation of his gloves brushing against her hair caused her to startle, and before she could stop him, he had untied her goggles. She had tried to object, and he had cut off her words; "2B, look."
He moved away from her and directed her attention to the scene behind him; and what a scene it was.
9S had brought her to the most beautiful field of wildflowers she had ever seen in her life.
Blossoms of yellow, white, blue, and occasionally pink were speckled throughout the verdant meadow like a gorgeous spatter of paints. Under the daylands' eternal sunlight, and without the interface of her goggles obstructing her view, 2B noticed the vibrancy of the colors more clearly than ever before. She even saw a tiny bumblebee fumbling about in one blossom before it began its flight away to another flower, carrying precious cargo on its legs. A breeze brushed by the androids, causing 2B to catch the aroma of the wildflowers.
It was wonderful. It was beautiful. It was...
2B suddenly remembered their situation, and snapped to attention; but before she could speak, 9S was already sitting down among the flowers, and motioning for her to join him. When she simply blinked at him, unmoving, he gave a breathy, weary laugh, and reached up for her hand, tugging her down to him.
Completely flabbergasted by her partner's uncharacteristic actions, 2B could barely catch herself as she tumbled over to the ground. As she regained her balance and sat in the grass next to him, she noticed him watching her with a smile; the first one she's seen on his face in days.
She noticed something else, too: his eyes, free from the cover of his goggles. Soft and blue, they looked identical to any other YoRHa's eyes, but as she unintentionally stared into them, she found herself thinking that they were the most beautiful eyes she's ever seen. Perhaps because they were his. She suddenly became very aware of the way he was returning her gaze, and quickly turned away, feeling a sense of warmth rise to her face. Strange; perhaps she was malfunctioning.
It was silent for a moment, before her partner had spoken up.
"Do you like it?"
She lifted her head, a confused expression on her face. "What do you mean?"
9S gestured to the meadow around them. "This. I found it a while ago, but I never told you...I wanted it to be a surprise." he admitted, a bit bashfully. He began to fidget awkwardly, but didn't turn away from her as he continued, "You like flowers, right? I wanted to bring you here, but I...never found the right time."
2B had blinked at him in silence for the second time that day. She truly didn't know what to think, or how to respond, or even how to feel. Maybe she really was malfunctioning.
9S's smile had only widened, and 2B felt a twinge in her chest. "Don't tell me you thought it was a secret, 2B." He'd said, "It's pretty obvious. You've been looking at flowers the whole time we've been here."
This had caused 2B to blush a bit. "Oh." was the only response she could manage, which caused her partner to burst into laughter. It was her favorite sound in the world; and it only hurt to hear it now, when she was surely going to do something terrible to him very soon.
9S hadn't taken his eyes off her the entire time, and something about it frightened 2B. Or did it excite her? She could no longer tell. Before she could really think about it, he suddenly sat up straighter – the way he always does when he gets an idea – and he began to look to the flowers around them, as if searching for something in particular. "What are you doing?" 2B had questioned her partner's abnormal behavior.
"Hold on, I'm..." He trailed off, distracted. Suddenly, he let out a quiet, "Ah-ha!" and reached down to pluck a flower from the grass. He held it up between himself and her.
It was a beautiful flower; atop the long, green stem, framed by dainty leaves, perched a pretty little white blossom that was accented by a splash of bright periwinkle extending from its center. 2B vaguely wondered what its name was.
9S looked from the flower to her, and, without warning, reached up to brush the hair away from her face, tucking the flower neatly behind her ear.
"There." he whispered, his gloved hand lingering on her cheek, "I knew it. It suits you perfectly."
2B had been completely frozen in place. She had difficulty mentally processing what was happening. The events from the past two and a half months buzzed noisily in her mind like the cicadas around them; the fun they'd had together, his sudden uncharacteristic shift in attitude, and the unexpected actions he was taking now.
What the hell was going on?
Suddenly, she realized that the hand at her cheek was no longer absentmindedly lingering, but deliberately caressing the side of her face.
Suddenly, she realized the intensity of the gaze in the eyes mirroring her own.
...
And, now, 2B finds herself in a predicament that both thrills her and terrifies her to her very core.
They shouldn't be doing this.
As 9S gently holds her cheek in his hand, he smiles softly at her. He leans closer to her, close enough for her to count every one of his pretty eyelashes, and his voice comes out as a whisper.
"You're so beautiful."
Electricity shoots through every single wire inside her body.
She doesn't resist, doesn't even move, when he closes his eyes and draws his lips to her own.
Don't. Stop it. Stop him. You shouldn't be doing this.
But no matter how loudly her mind screams warnings at her, she can't bring herself to stop this.
A sigh escapes her as she, too, closes her eyes, and naively lets this happen.
She returns his kiss with all the love in the world.
She'd never realized, in her entire life, how badly she wanted this.
As she kisses him back, she hears him inhale sharply, and his hand reaches further, to the back of her head; he's entangled in her hair now as he pulls her even closer to himself.
He tilts his head as he kisses her more, greedily slipping his tongue into her mouth; she lets out a muffled noise of surprise and clutches at the front of his coat in a desperate attempt to keep her balance. As his tongue sweeps over her own, she feels like the electricity in her veins is going to cause her to self-destruct.
9S pulls away from her for just a moment so that they might catch their breath again, and 2B finds herself reaching up to grab his face now. She forgets herself, forgets their unavoidable fate; she takes his lips in her own as she unceremoniously, desperately shoves her tongue into his mouth. She's clumsy, and doesn't even know what she's doing, simply trying to mimic what he does; but in this moment, she doesn't care.
Her natural strength as a combat model overpowers her partner, almost toppling them both over. A burst of laughter escapes from 9S's throat as he tries his best to return the aggressive display of affection.
Somehow, it simultaneously feels overwhelming and like it's not enough. There's something she craves desperately; something more, but she can't fathom what it is, and it drives her mad.
Eventually, they run out of breath again, and are forced to part from each other. 9S presses his forehead to hers, as bright but breathless laughter escapes his lips.
It's the most beautiful sound in the entire universe.
She loves him so much it hurts.
"We shouldn't be doing this." 2B finds herself saying; words betrayed by her actions.
9S smiles at her. "Command doesn't have to know." he replies mischievously.
She can't bring herself to tell him that's not what she meant.
2B involuntarily reaches forward to envelop 9S's hands in her own. She squeezes them, gently but firmly; an unspoken expression of her fear of losing him again – losing this. He smiles warmly and presses a soft, chaste kiss to her lips. And another. And another.
When he speaks, his breath brushes over her cheeks. "2B, I..." he hesitates. After a moment, he sighs, and says, "I want you to be happy. You deserve all the happiness in the world."
It makes her chest ache.
"Don't say that." 2B can barely push out her voice, and it comes as a strained whisper.
9S softly laughs. "Why not?" he asks, "It's true." And he moves in to kiss her yet again.
As she wraps her arms around his body and holds him close, she lets herself hope that this time will be different.
She lets herself hope that this time, she's wrong about his fate.
...
Tomorrow, they leave for the Bunker. Although, if the pair had their way, they never would have left that wildflower field.
2B lifts her hand to touch the flower 9S had tucked behind her ear, and feels heat rise to her face at the memory. That had been several hours ago, and she is now in a clearer state of mind; one to be properly ashamed of the actions she'd taken. She briefly wonders about the possibility of a meteor crashing into this part of Earth to kill them both, so that neither of them would remember this and she could pretend it never happened.
"What's wrong, 2B? Are you embarrassed now?" 9S's voice startles her out of her thoughts.
They're in their shared makeshift shelter now, hidden by the dusty walls of an ancient building within the remains of a human city. It's small, but not cramped, and the ceiling offers a comforting shade from the harsh heat of the sun. Each of the pair has their own bed, fashioned out of materials found within the ruins. 2B's side of the shelter is neatly arranged, with a meager amount of supplies, as she tends to only bring what's absolutely necessary. 9S's side, in contrast, is a disorganized mess of items and Earth souvenirs.
9S is kneeling by his bed, arranging the sheets in preparation for their final rest before the trip home. 2B had been lingering near the door, lost in her own mind again. He was looking up at her; he had elected not to put his goggles back on yet, and the expression of smugness on his face is in full view for her to see. "You're really cute, you know that?"
2B turns away from him with a scowl, her face growing progressively redder. "Shut up."
She hears him laugh behind her, as he continues in a mockingly whimsical tone, "And to think, just a little while ago you were practically throwing yourself onto me like a savage beast..."
She can't take it anymore.
2B stands up straight, forcefully clearing her throat. "I'm going out for some fresh air. Won't be long. Don't wait for me." And with that, she leaves before he can tease her anymore.
She nearly slams the door behind her, but catches herself just in time. She tries to tell herself to relax a little--
The chime rings out.
The voice of her pod announces it.
"Mail notification received from access point."
The silence that follows is deafening.
She can no longer hear the call of the cicadas, nor the song of the birds, nor the wind softly whistling through the broken pieces of concrete buildings. The sound is muffled and distant when the pod begins to reiterate its message, "Mail notification-"
"I know." Even her own voice is barely audible to her ears.
She begins to move automatically, without thought.
It is a practiced routine, after all.
The nearest access point isn't that far from their shelter, but in the moment it feels like it's thousands of miles away, and 2B's legs ache so much; but she knows she can't stop.
As she walks, a shadow is suddenly cast over her. She looks up momentarily to see the dusty remains of a building.
Through its crumbling walls, she sees several rows of peculiarly lined seats. The eternal sun casts multicolored shafts of light through tall windows lining the walls, built with a fantastical array of glass in all kinds of colors. As she raises her gaze further, she sees that the shadow above her is cast by the giant peak of the roof, bearing the figure of a cross at its topmost point.
Of course she would notice this building now, of all times. It's as if it showed itself in this moment just to mock her.
She recognizes it; a church. A place where humans would spend whole days worshiping their God. 2B's face scrunches up into an expression of hatred and disgust as she wonders how anyone could ever devote themselves to such an evil man.
She disregards the ancient place of worship and continues her march.
...
She arrives at the access point. Has it been hours or mere minutes? She can't tell.
She desperately doesn't want to look at the message, but by habit she opens the E-mail immediately.
A silence hangs in the air as the android processes the words on the screen. After she's done, she waves it away and deletes it from her inbox.
She begins the march back to the shelter.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Four.
Suddenly, a terrible scream erupts from her throat, like a raging river breaking free of a dam; with incredible force, she drives her fist into the nearby concrete wall. Birds scatter and dust flies into the air as the force of her strike causes the wall to rumble and fracture. Pain shoots up her entire arm as she feels something in her fingers crack.
She doesn't care. She couldn't give an entire f*cking sh*t if she tried.
The irritating voice of her assistant pod grates in her ears, "Warning: avoid causing damage to--"
"SHUT UP!!!" She finds herself screaming at the floating companion she'd treated so gently countless times before. It takes this as an order, and obediently floats behind her in silence.
2B struggles to breathe as she feels tears prickle at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over.
She can't let them. She doesn't deserve to let them.
Don't act like you didn't know this was going to happen.
Yes, it's true. She should have known better, goddamn fool that she was. This is just how it always is.
They never should have done what they did.
Straightening herself up, the executioner continues her dutiful march.
She has a mission to fulfill.
...
When she enters their shelter, 9S greets her from his bed, joyful and ignorant as ever. She hates it.
She greets him in return, her facade in full effect once again. She hates that even more.
But what she hates most of all is that he immediately picks up that something is wrong; he's too smart and kind for his own good.
9S moves to rise from his bed, but she gently puts a hand on his shoulder to push him back down. "It's fine," she lies, "I'm just tired."
She thinks she can see a flash of doubt in his eyes, but it's gone before she can truly tell for sure, and he's lying back down in his bed. "Get some sleep, then." he says softly.
Oh, how she hates it.
"I will." She kneels down by his bed to meet him at face level. She's glad that she opted to follow regulations and put her goggles back on. Now, he won't have to look at her horrid face; the face of the wretched Executioner who was about to steal his memories away. Again.
She desperately wishes he had done the same, though. She can't stand to see the sweetness in his eyes when he looks at her.
"Go to sleep." 2B can barely keep her voice steady. "Don't wait for me. I'll sleep later."
Involuntarily, her hand reaches up to softly stroke his hair. "We have to leave soon. Sweet dreams."
9S smiles at her. She hates it.
"Sweet dreams." He tells her. She hates it.
Her throat tightens again as she watches him close his eyes and fall asleep.
I'm sorry, Nines.
I'm so sorry.
...
He doesn't miss the subtle shift in her demeanor when she walks through the door, he doesn't miss the way his pod moves to float behind his partner and not him, he doesn't miss the way the hand stroking his hair begins to shake, and he certainly doesn't miss the way the breathing beside him grows ragged as the woman it belongs to tries her hardest not to sob aloud.
It makes his chest ache.
He knows what's about to happen.
When he'd accidentally discovered that YoRHa was built on lies, that humanity had gone extinct long before he was even born, his entire world collapsed. Everything they had fought for, had sacrificed for, had suffered for, was nothing more than an elaborate illusion; the humans they loved so desperately had been extinct for centuries.
Everything in this world was meaningless.
Except her.
2B.
He had already guessed what her true purpose for being here was; it was strange for command to pair him with a Battle model for a field survey mission, especially when, to his knowledge, no other Scanner models were paired the same way. 2B always became irritated when he asked too many questions about their missions, he had found leftover data from a previous version of himself that he didn't recognize, and hacking into YoRHa servers was all too easy for him...the puzzle pieces gradually began to fit together.
Command likely saw the threat in him, but also acknowledged the model's usefulness, and thus, instead of scrapping him entirely, they gave him a partner; one far more powerful than him, who could annihilate him effortlessly when he stepped out of line.
He'd even wondered if she was really a Battle model, or a different model entirely, one that was kept secret from the other soldiers. An Assassin type, perhaps? An Executioner type?
Have they been here before? Had the previous him that left behind the data he'd found also been slain by her?
He didn't know, and frankly, he didn't even care.
Every single day with 2B bad been fun. She was gentle, she was beautiful, she was kind.
He loved her more than anything.
It was because of these feelings that he couldn't stop himself, back in the wildflower field. That hadn't been his motivation for bringing 2B there; it just happened. Sensing the impending end of his life, he had become unstable, and he lost control. And any chance of him regaining it was lost when she, much to his utter shock, reciprocated.
Looking back now, though, he regrets it a little bit. He realizes, as 2B sobs quietly next to him, that his affection just caused her more pain when the call to end his life finally came. He feels a tiny sense of relief that he'd made the choice to not tell her how he loved her. He'd never wanted to hurt her; he wants to apologize, but he guesses that she wants him to be asleep so that his execution isn't frightening and painful.
Sweet, kind, lovely 2B. What did he ever do to deserve a partner like her?
And so, for her sake, 9S falls asleep for the last time, hoping that the next him is the one who will finally bring her the happiness she deserves.
Until next time, 2B...
...
Inside her cold, white room in the Bunker, an Executioner sits alone, silent and numb.
Get yourself together. You have a job to do. Business as usual.
Taking a deep breath, she reaches up to tie her goggles back on; and something falls out of her hair and onto the floor. When she looks down at it, she feels cold.
It's the flower he'd placed in her hair.
She shuts her eyes tightly as she desperately tries not to remember that time. In a fit of anger, she picks the plant up off the floor and moves to throw it in the garbage bin.
...But she hesitates.
She holds the fragile thing between her fingers, brings the blossom to her nose; it still smells the same. She feels the familiar prickle of tears.
2B suddenly remembers something that 9...that a previous partner had told her, once.
"Hey, did you know that humans used to do something called 'flower pressing'? They kept flowers pressed in books to preserve them! Do you wanna try it?"
She looks to the bookshelf beside her terminal. Picking out a book at random, she flips through the pages to the middle. Gently, she lowers the blossom onto the page and firmly shuts the book. She places it back into the self, and with it, her lingering memories of him.
That 9S is gone, she tells herself, and he's never coming back.
Leaving the book behind, she exits her bedroom and makes for the command room to hear the briefing for her next mission.
...
Inside his cold, white room in the Bunker, a Scanner sits alone, quizzically flipping through the digital pages of an archive hidden on a device he'd found in his bag:
"We went there together, she and I.
To the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
We spent time there together, she and I.
A time more precious than anything."
It was obviously data saved by a previous version of himself, but no matter how much he searched, he couldn't find more details. He had no idea who or what it was talking about; or why it was so carefully hidden.
I'd love to know who it's talking about, he thought, but right now I have to get to work.
He stood up and carefully adjusted his uniform. As he strode energetically out of his door and down the Bunker hall, he thought to himself with gradually increasing excitement; I heard that I have a new partner today! I think her name is...2B?
I wonder what kind of person she is.
...
The routine repeats.
Again.
She meets another "him."
Again.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am."
Again.
The affection from the previous 9S is completely absent.
She can't mourn him. She has no right to.
"Orders are orders."
The despondent girl makes a promise to herself:
She will not make the same mistake again.
