NieR Automata: A2 x Human

[Prologue]

Tired. Hungry. Dry mouth. Have to get up. It's so hard to sit up. Why can't I....

Coughing violently, I struggle to sit up from what seems to be my one room apartment

floor. My entire body feels like it's ready to pass over into the next world. Forcing my eyes open, I try and look around, making out simple outlines of shapes. Fridge on my left. Couch on my right. There is no light, save for some coming from the fire escape window, which illuminates a small square on the floor board. The dry air is caked with a layer of dust, making it harder to take in oxygen with each breath. I inhale deeply and attempt to-

"Guh...." A scratchy noise is produced by my throat. Impossible to speak.

Water. I need water...

I slowly force myself up, with arms braced against the floor. Eventually, I'm staggered onto my feet and attempt to inch forward. Pain enters my stomach as I start to limp, it feels like my stomach is trying to eat itself.

"Ah!" The wall meets my shoulder as I lose balance on my left leg. Falling forward, eating the wooden floor beneath me. Pain surges through my face. I feel moisture enveloping my cheek and see wood soaking up red.

Blood.

Great, a broken nose.

Once more I struggle to get upright, this time resting my left shoulder on the wall for support. I head towards the kitchen counter at a grueling pace. My knees hit the ground in front of the sink. Twisting the knobs, nothing comes out of the tap. Not losing hope, the fridge is the next option. Looking inside, despair sets in.

Nothing.

I drop to my knees in defeat. My shirt is covered in blood due to my broken nose. I suckle at the stained fabric as a last ditch effort to get as much liquid as I can. Metallic taste. A reflection shows itself on broken glass on the floor. I pause. Before me, I see myself. Blood running down my face, eyes void of life, and my lower body also seems to be covered in sand. A miserable sight. I have to find help, if I stay here I'll....

Die? This can't be real, I'm dreaming right? Haha, I need to wake up. It's just one big dream. I have nothing to worry about. I'm completely fine. I'll just wake up in my apartment and head to work. I'll have food and water in my fridge I'll be OK, everything is normal. It's fine, I'm alright

I'm alright I'm alright I'm alright I'm okay I'm alright I'm fine I'm alright I'm alright I'm alright Fuck I'm alright I'm alright I'm alright I'm alright Oh god I'm alright I'm alright Everything is fine I'm alright I'm alright God damnit I'm alright I'm alright

No I'm not. Fuck. This is real. Oh god I'm going to die. Someone please help me, it's scary I don't want to die, I don't want to die. I have to get out, I have to get help, down the stairs. I can crawl. Almost to the door, are my neighbors home? They can help me, thank god. The room, across from me. It takes all my strength to knock but no one comes to the door. I knock again. No one. The next door over, someone has to be home. Again, I knock. Yet, nobody answers. Why is no one home? What the hell is going on? Can't lose focus, gotta get to the ground floor. I can use the elevator, there's no way I can make it down the stairs. Crawling to the elevator, I push the button but the light doesn't turn on. I try again. And again. Why isn't this thing working? God damnit. The only choice is the stairs. One flight of stairs. I turn over on my back preparing to get down the stairs. I look down to see that my shirt is shredded and there's even more blood than before. I turn around and see a horrendous blood trail that I was leaving behind. My hand jumps to my mouth to cover a scream.  I've been crawling on broken glass the entire time. Stay calm. Have to get out.

My feet slowly place themselves on the steps, doing their best to head down carefully. The railing is used as leverage so as to not start sliding. Each movement is a needle of pain, I just want to give up. Maybe dying isn't too bad. Heh. It might be better to die, I won't feel this pain anymore. Resting sounds nice... but... but I can't stop here. 

After what seems like ages... I'm here. Ground level. The exit is right there, if I can stop a car or someone on the street. Ha. This corridor seems like it goes on forever. But I can see the light. I'm still bleeding so much. It hurts.

Halfway through the corridor, there's piles of sand all around me, some overflowing from the rooms to my side. Why the hell is there so much sand? I haven't seen a single person since I got out of my room.

The light is blinding and I cover my eyes while going through the exit. Looking around, my eyes are lying to me...

Or are they? No. This isn't right. I live in the city. My name is... what's my name? Wait, what do I do? Where do I work? Where the hell am I? This is my apartment complex, but I'm surrounded by sand dunes? Collapsed buildings everywhere and buried rubble... shouldn't there be a highway here?

I continue crawling forward and end up in front of a large dune. Sand is blowing into my already grimy face while I make my way up the incline and-

"K..l.."

What was that?

"H...m..n"

Is... Is that a voice?

"Hum..n"

Another person? He's getting closer..... Do I try and get away? Maybe he can help me?

"Kill"

Wait. Kill?

"Kill humans."

Humans? Kill?

I turn back down the dune, trying to get away from the voice; not wanting to risk  encountering someone hostile, but my body refuses to move. I hear his footsteps shifting on the other side of the dune and... a mechanical whirring? I start flailing around in panic which causes me to start sliding down the dune. Reaching the bottom, I look back up at the peak. At the top....

A walking machine?

It stops moving a little ways down of the peak and stares off into the distance. It's extremely rusty with a spherical head, having two yellow lights for eyes. It's arms are thin with two metal protrusions as fingers and has square shaped feet that keep it standing. Suddenly, It's eyes turn red. It's gaze twitches towards me like a broken animatronic.

It's running after me.

I turn the opposite direction and begin to crawl, in fear that I might lose my life. The footsteps of the machine grow louder. Each of its movements accompanied by the sound of bolts and gears working together. Little progress is made from my previous spot.

I can't get away.

I close my eyes. Hoping that I'll wake up. Hoping that I'll know who I am. Hoping that I can live. The machine is next to me. I can hear-

The crack of ribs fills the air and pain strikes my lower body. I fly through the air from the force of the strike and land on my back. My mouth fills with the taste of blood. It hurts. This is it. I'm going to die here. I can barely open my eyes to see the machine making its way for the final blow. Everything is turning dark.

An abrupt explosion rings my ears. All I see is blurs, one of which is speeding towards me. Is it...

another person?