NieR:Remnant

X - Day of Solace

The place sure was different from what 9S remembered.

He thought for a moment that perhaps it was due to the darkness, but when Pod-153 turned on her light the factory somehow became more unsettling.

It was deserted. Empty. Not a single pair of glowing eyes in sight, airborne or otherwise.

"Scanning," said Pod-006 from behind 9S. It took a bit longer than he'd come to expect from his own pod. "Scan complete. No detections to speak of." It came into his vision as A2 walked ahead. "This is the factory?"

"Yep, this is it," replied 9S with a slow pondering tone as he began to walk with A2, glimpsing back towards the beam of sunlight peeking through the breach they'd made in the wall.

"Analysis: This point of entry is the lowest point of the structure that myself and unit 9S have thus far traversed," said Pod-153. "Perhaps our foe has mustered Its forces higher above?"

"Perhaps, but given our consensual hypothesis, this facility should be in active operation," replied 006. "Nothing is moving, of production or otherwise. It's so silent that I can trace the exact path of our echo."

9S felt a cold chill forming in his mechanical gut as the pods deliberated. They all agreed that the beast would be reinforcing Its ranks with more bodies to further Its goals before fully assimilating them, and the factory was the most probable candidate following this logic for obvious reasons, and yet here it was, more deserted and inert than 9S could ever have imagined of the place. While unsettling, the fact that such a hot zone of conflict could see eventual peace, even in the wake of an ancient horror from the stars, was uplifting in a way. Surely not everything could be as horrible as 9S had come to expect from a world where pain, death and darkness was about all the scanner model had ever seen? It would be quite the subject to bring up to 2B once she was back.

If...

"...but what I'm saying, A2, is that there's nothing here to speak of unless our sensors are being affected from an outside source, and even then, there's no sign..." Pod-006's voice faded. "Are you even listening to me?"

"9S?" He felt a stern hand on his shoulder. "You with me? You got quiet all of a sudden, and you're never quiet."

9S turned his head to see that all too familiar visage; he met A2's gaze with a blink.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just focused," he replied. "Don't worry about me."

She released her ungentle hand with a sigh. "So why are we still here?" questioned A2, turning back towards the pods.

"To save time, which is very much of the essence," replied Pod-153 with a strange, almost melancholic tone.

"Even if we bypass our limiters to swim faster like we did, any time we would save by making landfall through the flooded area of the city isn't worth the risk at this point," elaborated 9S. "Remnant has completely altered that area, and who knows what else It's done given the time that's transpired?"

"Correct," confirmed Pod-006. "That region is the first of many to be remade in Its image, should It succeed. Intel regarding that area is no longer accurate."

"Alright, makes sense, I get it," said A2. "No need to repeat what's already been said."

"Acknowledged. I am-" Pod-006 stopped itself as A2 gave it a look. "Yes. Acknowl- I mean... Let us continue."

9S allowed himself a chuckle under his breath, but it was cut short. He signaled for A2 to hold up.

Half a minute passed with both androids unmoving.