Nier Automata: [Alt]ternative Novel (NOW UNDERGOING REVISIONS!)

Chapter II: False [C]laim

As the two wandered around, grey clouds began to fill the sky, blotting out the sun's warm rays from this earth.

As the number of structures around them grew, Aster began to wonder if they had reached the deeper areas of the city.

"There hasn't been a single person yet..." In a state of mild sadness, he reflected. 

The small robot next to him stared up at him, as though aware of his predicament. 

Aster returned the smile, a reassuring one on his lips. "Don't be concerned, buddy; we'll be OK."

He heard it as if the world had finally recognized his feverish pursuit.

A cry.

A yell.

The little robot, like Aster, came to a halt. 

But it wasn't the scream that took him by surprise. It sounded like it was said by someone.

"OK, little man," Aster remarked, picking up the small robot and noting how light it was for a machine. 

As he glanced at his diminutive buddy, he felt a nervous yet funny grin grow on his lips and eagerness rise in his chest. 

"At long last, we've discovered someone!"

The small robot's eyes flashed as if it shared his thoughts.

He took a deep breath, grabbed his friend's flower bucket with his other free hand, and they dashed toward the worried scream.

He sprinted as fast as his legs could take him, weaving around big tree roots sprouting from the ground. 

He adjusted his grip on his small robot pal in case he slipped from under his arms, trying not to let its flowers fall out of the bucket.

After a short way, Aster's ears caught up on the sound of metal clashing, as if someone was battling. The two gazed at each other, puzzled, before proceeding slowly towards the source of the noise.

Behind a large structure, against a massive wall, were two people: a middle-aged man in military brown attire clutching a large fire rifle the size of his entire body, and a young man in black with blindfolds over his eyes lay injured behind him. 

They both appeared tired, but their opponent's faces conveyed a different story.

The woman opposing the two wielded a huge white sword with a tassel in the grip of one hand. 

She, too, was dressed in all black and wore blindfolds over her eyes, which Aster found perplexing.

"Hand him over, and I'll get this done quickly," She stated casually, only for the man to snarl back. "I'll do it like hell! I'll kill you before you can reach him!"

Aster peered over a corner and glanced down at his diminutive buddy, who looked up at him as though waiting for him to act.

In answer to his friend's expectations, he pinched his own cheeks twice with both hands, reassuring himself that this was true. That these were the first actual individuals he'd seen in a long time, in a world where he assumed everyone had vanished.