NieR:Remnant

II - Witch Hunt

                A2 moved crouched through the underbrush, wary of every branch or twig that might announce her presence. She made the effort to stick to more dense clusters of the forest when able. The rumblings around her suggested that many machines were gathering, and although none of them seemed interested with hunting down surviving androids, at least for the moment, A2 felt that keeping out of sight would be for the best, especially with everything else that had been on her mind beside survival.

The lone android began to hear strange sounds as she moved closer to the site, the most prominent of which was a sort of hum with interchanging pitches that blurred the lines between soothing and insufferable. Accompanying the hum was a beeping that kept a consistent interval, and the rustling of metallic bodies settling in the brush, all of which meshed with the scent of smoke and crackling embers to create an air that was above all else, unsettling.

A2 estimated that there were about seventy meters to go, for that was where the machines seemed to be coming to rest. More and more embers filled the air as she moved closer, the brush becoming denser near the impact site. She took out her standard-issue YoRHa blade and carved, praying that the sound of cutting woods and leaves would pass as just another machine shuffling through. She had to see what this was, more compelled than ever towards it; she pondered for a moment if 9S's curiosity had rubbed off on her. Something big shuffled behind her. She couldn't make it out through the thick leaves. The lone android cut faster, and faster, until with one final yank of dense brush, she toppled into a sudden unexpected clearing a near hundred meters in diameter.

And there were about three dozen machines crowded within it, glistening in the minor forest fire, and that was just counting the ones large enough or high enough in the air to see.

They turned to face her with strange, dark violet eyes, something A2 had never seen. A voice, so powerful as if intended to cause an organic life form's innards to collapse, thundered out from everywhere.

"A lone droplet, come to play in the inferno."

Nines took the lead upon exiting the camp. It seemed that weird lapse in the camp had passed, for he was acting much more like she'd expected, stopping every few strides to inspect whatever debris from the Tower they had just stepped over. As she watched Nines with masked glee, 2B found herself listening for that weird song Emil would play on his constant routing of the ruins all those months ago, a lifetime ago, before that somber snow-touched wind would bring her back to the present. Emil was long gone, along with Commander White, 6O, 21O, Pascal, Engels, and so on. As 2B lowered her gaze upon the reminder that the goofy song wouldn't come, she realized that it all had yet to fully sink in. Thank goodness for that dark veil covering the upper half of her visage; 2B had no idea what she'd say if Nines had seen the momentary sadness in her eyes and asked her about it. She didn't feel anywhere near ready to discuss everything. Hell, she wasn't sure she even knew how to.

All that mattered was that Jackass, A2, and the rest who remained were okay. She and Nines would see to that.

9S leapt onto the roof of a building from one of the vines that had been cut in two by debris. A large boulder-like chunk akin to crystallized silicon, the material that the Tower had been constructed of, rested on the roof that was now half-collapsed. Both androids minded their footing. Nines was soon on top of the towering boulder, peering down at it for a closer look before setting his sight on the distant skyline. 2B remained down on the concrete while patiently awaiting Nines' next move. He made a graceful jump and grabbed onto Pod-153 to hover down into the grass, landing in the centimeter of snow with a slight patter. 2B followed suit, and he continued, though not in the direction of the desert.