[S]ayonara Memories (NieR: Automata)

Chapter II: Hell[o]

Running through the trees - Vee had never felt so 'free'.

It's not that Pascal had ever tried to keep her down but it was because Vee had never dared to venture this far. Sure she was good at hiding but when it came to combat she had zero experience. If the time came an enemy machine would notice her- then she would only end up 'dying'. Hence why she never left the village.

Pascal needn't have to tell her about such a possibility of dying. It felt like the thought was already programmed into her from the very beginning. Seeing as she had been already disconnected from the Network, the moment she 'died' then there would be no return from that.

The feeling of always having your life on the line- so that's what humans feel about it... 'fear'.

"Enemies approaching. 9S back me up, Vee stay hidden." 2B's voice 'snaps her back to reality', the order easily followed by Vee the moment she saw a horde of huge machines with axes heading their way.

Vee quickly hid behind a decrepit building, her whole system in overdrive, akin to what humans called 'adrenaline rush'. Her robotic blue eyes focused and refocused at the several enemies looming close, each of them scanned by her system as 'hostile'.

"Pod, gun them down." 2B's command is easily muffled by the sound of explosion, Vee covering her ears at the blast that went above her programmed decibel capacity.

The ground shook violently at the explosion of each machine unit, the entire area covered in a thick layer of dust. Vee could easily make out 9S and 2B's figure from within the carnage, their backs against each other while delivering blows to the enemy in perfect sync.

Vee watched in 'awe' as they decimated the hostile machines, the dust clearing way to reveal nothing but oil and broken machine body parts. 2B and 9S remained pristine in the center of the aftermath, neither of the two looking worse for the wear.

Is this what it means to be a YoRHa android?

"What are you staring at?" 2B finally spoke, Vee's response were a 'stutter' of words caused by her delay in processing after watching them. "A-Amazing! The way you both fought in sync and without 'breaking' a sweat! Y-You're both suuuper strong!"

"Uhh... Thanks, I guess?" 9S thanked her 'awkwardly' seeing as this was the first time he encountered such an android. All the androids he had met so far were always so strict and cold that seeing another fellow android exhibiting such 'emotions' took him by surprise.

He wasn't 'this' energetic when he praises 2B sometimes, right?

2B could only stare at Vee in confusion, wondering what kind of programming Pascal had done to her to turn her into such an android. But then again, Vee wasn't really a YoRHa android to begin with, so maybe holding such emotions wasn't such a bad thing for the android before them.

2B guessed that maybe she was just so used to the no-nonsense attitude of her fellow androids (sans 9S and her operator) that it always gave her a hard time trying to 'adjust'.

"Oh! I'm sorry… I have to keep quiet and lay low." Vee quickly apologized, realizing that her two chaperones were looking at her 'weirdly'. It's not like she needed to see their eyes to know that that was what they felt.

That was the thing with Vee- she could just 'tell'.

"A-Anyways, the coast is clear. All we need is to pass through here and the resistance camp will be just up ahead." 9S explained, trying his best to run damage control at the 'awkward' situation while gesturing to the huge roots that twisted around an old run-down building.

Ever since the departure of man, plant life had now enroached majority of the human establishments before them. To Vee, one cannot help but be 'mesmerized' by both the beauty and destruction that nature could do. Following 9S and 2B, Vee continued to observe the sight before her in 'wonderment'.

Several birds twittered from the giant tree's branch- a melody only nature could produce perfectly. The dilapidated landscape before her might have been a wondrous city once before nature took back what belonged to hers.

From the videos she had once watched with Pascal, man once used metal boxes to traverse from one area to the other. They called it a 'car'. They also rode metal contraptions called 'airplanes' to travel from one 'huge continent' to the next.

"Humans sure are weird..." Vee murmured, earning her a glance from 9S who walked next to her.

"What makes you say that, Vee?"

"Oh! Umm... I didn't think you heard that..."

"We androids have strong hearing, you know. I'm sure you're capable of the same thing." 9S shrugged, their quick chatter easily dimished to silence. It's not like Vee had nothing to say. In fact, she had a ton to ask the two androids walking alongside her.

She just didn't know where to begin. Given her first 'impression' of them, Vee had assumed they were the 'emotionless' type of androids. Sure 9S provided a more engaging reaction than 2B but it still doesn't change the fact that YoRHa androids are really... 'cold' and 'distant' as Vee had somewhat concluded.

She just hoped that the other androids Pascal mentioned weren't like the two chaperones she had before her.

--*--

Vee stood before the entrance nervously.

9S could only glance apologetically at her whereas 2B continued forward like it didn't bother her. Neither reaction assured Vee and it all the more made her worry as to how she would introduce herself to the androids in the resistance camp.

Would it be normal to say 'Hello' or were they like 2B who only responded when it concerned missions and the like? Vee could feel her circuits overheating at the amount of data she kept on writing and overwriting.

Who knew introductions were so hard!

"If it helps, try saying hello first." 9S assured the nervous android next to him, Vee's nervousness momentarily forgotten as her head snapped to 9S in surprise.

"Y-you think so?!" She nearly screamed before apologizing. The android before her didn't seem to mind- merely nodding in affirmation to her query.

"Hurry up. We can't afford to waste time like this." 2B's voice could be heard from within the run-down building that served as the entrance to the base. Giving Vee a slight nod, 9S makes his way to his partner, Vee gulping nervously before following after her two chaperones.

Like 9S said- all she has to do is say 'Hello'.