i n [B] o x . // acata.

[abandonware]

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7/11

[extirpator]

[ recognizing her isn't particularly difficult. finding her is another matter entirely.

it's a notably quiet hour. his blade is on him, as per usual, but the way his shoulders lower seems to indicate that he's far from a threat right now. ]

A2.

[ it is subdued and small, but a smile no less. ]

I'm glad that you're safe. This city — have you been able to adjust?

[abandonware]

[There is something A2 will admit to no one, not these strangers, not Pod, not even to herself: she is overwhelmed. It's too much at once to adjust to, life again where there had been nothing but death, and these creatures that call themselves androids but exist on the same wavelength, a network, like deplorable machines.

And 9S...A2 has been asking, periodically, for updates on his location from Pod. She does not fear death, and has not for some time, but she is aware of the delicate situation that this is. This world was a smaller place than Earth. Easier to have run-ins when run-ins should be avoided.

A2 has been avoiding the groups, the other "Circle" members, and the weird androids. She didn't like them, doesn't trust them. So how Nier finds her is a mystery to her.

There's nowhere convenient to escape to, no high wall to vault or ledge to jump over, so she instead creates a wall that is more implied than visible: her shoulders straighten, her eyes narrow. Her gaze flicks briefly to the sword on his back, expression coolly assessing. Preparing for a fight even when there was none to be found.]

You again. [A million potentially rude statements flit through her head, but perhaps it is some lingering sense of deference that keeps her from saying these things. She settles with a gruff:] I'm fine. Why do you care?

post-mission

[purrtagonist]

[when everything is said and done, when the storm is gone and the BGs are gathering up injured Circle members and passing out equipment for Group 3 to use in restoring the shut down natives of Struxta. . .]

[A2 gets a message]

Nice day for a walk outside, isn't it? Now that the apocalypse by lighting isn't looming ahead of us.

Re: post-mission

[abandonware]

[She's been in a fight, been nearly struck by lightning, and has had to outrun a storm. Human exhaustion is a new feeling, but it's here now, weighing her down, and she's currently waving off Pod's pestering for her to shut down for maintenance when her weird... bracelet vibrates. Okay. She looks down at it, puzzled. 9S' human friend, the one with the weird "food."]

You're that human. [Hadn't she told him to stay away from her? Why didn't humans listen to anything?] Why would I go on a walk?

voice

[extirpator]

Hey.

[ it's been a bit since they've returned from struxta — he's been mostly MIA, and his voice is notably weaker than usual. ]

Did the Storm hurt you? I wanted to ask earlier, but...

voice forever

[abandonware]

I'm fine.

[She's not dead, which is her general interpretation of "fine."

A slight delay follows this.]

You sound strange.

action

[intoningly]

[ She briefly considers turning around at the sight of A2. Truthfully, she can only recall bits and pieces of whatever had transpired between them, but there's this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she probably said too much. (And considering how her interactions with other people had gone while deliriously sick, she's not too hopeful about this one being any less embarrassing).

In the end though, boredom and curiosity win out. A2 stands dangerously close to the edge of the water, looking awfully mad (or at least more than usual). ]

Surprised the whole damn lake hasn't started boiling with the way you're looking at it.

[ Mermaids giggle and splash in the distance, and Zero quirks her brow. ]

They fuck with you? They've been doing a lot of that apparently.

[abandonware]

[A2 is pacing along the lake's edge in the slow and deliberate movements of a predator. She does look annoyed, moreso than usual.

There is a movement, suddenly, in the dark water, and A2 violently kicks up dirt and sand in the direction of this. One of the mermaids, having tried to reach for one of her ankles, rears back, hissing, and disappears below again. A2 sucks in a breath through her teeth, frustrated.

Only then does she look up to Zero, and her expression gradually evens out into being unreadable.]

Guess I'm bored.

[...] Surprised you're not dead. You looked like it, the last time I saw you.

10/3, audio

[extirpator]

[ guess who's calling! ]

Hey. A2? I was wondering about something.

audio

[abandonware]

[she should've guessed! but she's always a little surprised when someone seeks her out. even when that someone is nier.]

Yeah? What is it?

voice ➡️ three days into cave adventures

[intoningly]

[ A2 will get a call from her least favorite, white-haired psychopath– except it seems that the psychopath in question has no idea she's called. A2 will hear some grunting, some yelling, and maybe a "Don't take your stupid monster hands out right now, idiot!" or two.

This will go on for a bit, before Zero finally gets her bracelet back on and realizes that she's in the middle of a call. ]

What?? What do you want?

[abandonware]

[She's got the bracelet to her ear with the dullest, most unamused expression she can muster, waiting for anything useful or not-annoying to come out of it. Her waiting is in vain.]

What do you want? You called me.

No one taught you how to use your communications device, huh.

voice (last several days of the expedition)

[fashionabot]

[ Once the storm sets in, thankfully A4 doesn't broadcast her screaming over the communicator during the loud lightning crashes. But if A2's somewhere around camp, then she might have heard the other android's scream in the distance... ]

Nuuuuumber 2...

[ A familiar whine. The downpour can be heard in the background. ]

Is this a storm? Training never prepared us for a stoooorm...

voice forever

[abandonware]

[She'd heard it, but Pod's with her this time, and assures her that Number 4's status is stable. A2's near camp, and listens to the complaining for a few seconds, torn somewhere between finding it endearingly familiar and finding it annoying.]

Yeah. It's a storm.

[Said after a delay.]

Don't complain. It's not as dangerous as it seems.

> a note

[extirpator]

[ it's been a good two weeks.

at her door, there will a mass of black — ...folded tidily, of course. it's tied together by a ribbon. should she do away with the ribbon, she'll discover that it's a blouse.

the note attached reads: ]

Not as good as my mother but it's decent, isn't it?

I wanted to make it white but I thought black would help your scars blend in better.

Maybe we can try white next time :) If you don't like it, tell me.

Hope it fits.

[ there is no name attached. ]

surprise action;

[lumberlady]

[Maybe it's more polite to use the watch to find out if someone wanted company before showing up at their door... but some time after the return from the tunnels beneath the lake.

There's a knock on A2's door. Or rather... a hoof tapping against it, because her hands are occupied with a giant pumpkin.]

A2... ? You in there?

[abandonware]

[She shares a room with A4 now, so it's not as hard to find her. Still, she starts at the sound of someone knocking, and is fully prepared to tell whoever it is to go away until she hears Konoha's voice.

...After a second, she answers. She's looking a little more put-together lately, mainly because she's wearing clothes at all — the blouse that man had given her and pants A4 had conjured up out of thin air. More attempts at clothing sit on a far corner, abandoned but neatly folded.

She's much shorter, without her heels on at the moment, and has to kind of stand up on tiptoes to see around the pumpkin.]

Konoha?

action (post caves)

[intoningly]

[ A2 will find Zero sitting on her knees amongst the foliage and brush of a very familiar garden. She's pulling weeds free– hands and knees covered in soil. It's probably more work than she's ever done here, and it's definitely more work than she's ever actively chosen to do in her life.

She looks up when she sees A2, and obviously she can't help but open her damn mouth at the sight of her even if all A2 wants to do is skedaddle on out of here. Zero wolf whistles, looking at her with sharp eyes.. ]

Look at you– all dressed up with nowhere to go.

[ The last Zero saw her she was still very much naked, so the new outfit is a bit of a surprise. ]

[abandonware]

[A2, who has only just become accustomed to the idea of gardening in the first place, looks briefly thrown to see Zero here, instead of Nier. Not that she was looking for either of them.

The wolf whistle surprises her too, in part because she's never heard anyone wolf whistle before, and in part because she assumes she's being made fun of, instead of complimented (crassly, but still.)

She is dressed, finally, and dressed well at that, her face scrubbed clean, more put-together than she's looked in a very long time. Still, she seems uncomfortable with attention brought to it. She crosses her arms, studies Zero from above coolly before that expression fades into a sort of puzzlement.

Instead of acknowledging the compliment, she goes for a different route.]

...

What are you doing down there?

audio

[extirpator]

Hey.

[ it's been a few days since he's thought to bother her, but it's the same asshole voiced by koji yusa no less. it's somewhere around evening, but not so late that anyone should be winding down. ]

I have a question for you.

audio

[abandonware]

[This guy again.

She'd gotten his gift and had not commented on it, feels a little guilty about it even, but she still says nothing about it. Instead...]

What is it?

[She at least doesn't sound angry, merely detached.]

1/? avkvos arrival onwards until the network comes back online

[lumberlady]

A2? Hello? Can you hear me? Where are you?

[lumberlady]

I saw 9S-- Can you not swim? Are you alright?

when they get their texting back

[intoningly]

[ let be known these are all separate texts ]

w
wh
waint
wait
shu t u
hey
can you read this
wyd

[abandonware]

[there's about a three hour gap before a response arrives.]

Are you slapping your face on the watch or something?

I'm in a library. Why?

text, 11/26 — backdated

[extirpator]

Hey. You alright over there? Stay safe.

[extirpator]

Are these going through? Damn it.

text 1/3

[fashionabot]

[ Assume this first text is an extremely delayed text from earlier on their world jump. ]

Number 2?

Are you able to read this? Everyone was saying the watches aren't working.

[fashionabot]

In case you're wondering, I'm doing fine! Don't worry about me.

( ˶˙ᵕ˙˶ )

[ This happy emoji means I'm totally fine. I fell into a hole and wound up in android baby prison. But hey, I'm still alive. ]

[undeserved]

[ unlike all these other savages, 2B sends exactly one message once communications are back online. It reads as follows: ]

A2

[ fascinating. thank you, network. ]

[abandonware]

2B
?

[They're doing great over here.]

Status

[theseuschip]

A2
    okay?
      n. Answer

[abandonware]

[these are all sent one after the other, out of order! including the punctuation.]
I'm okay
.

Shitty watch...

You?

post akvos

[bestaround]

[ It's been several long hours since their return to the temple grounds, and 9S has been absent—but not because he, too, had been swept up by a world-ending(?) rift. Come around sunset is when he finally emerges from the thick forest, slow and defeated; he certainly doesn't seem to be heading back towards the living quarters because he wants to.

Along the way, he spots A2. Unsurprisingly, as he never sees her around the rooms. Whether she's taking time to herself or actually busy, 9S doesn't hesitate to interrupt with more haste in his steps, suddenly stopping right in front of her, and gets right to the point: ]

—You've seen 2B, right?

[ There's a little hope, and a lot of desperation, surprisingly lacking in animosity. If his still damp clothing is anything to go by, he hasn't bothered to clean up from all the water and brine today. ]

[abandonware]

[A2 is silent, as usual, with her back propped against one of the massive trees near the entrance to the forest, though what is odd is that she's allowing Pod to run diagnostics without her usual bantering back and forth. She's still, and waterlogged, not having bothered to do anything about it herself either. Her eyes stare blankly off into the distance.

9S' approach seems to catch her off-guard, for once. Gradually, she returns to herself, though she doesn't stand up. Even if he were to take his desperation out on her, she seems disinclined to defend herself right now.

Another failure. This time so many had died, she couldn't put a number to it.]

No.

[She keeps her tone and expression devoid of pity, though she feels it, staring at him and knowing how lost he must feel.]

I searched for her.

post akvos

[extirpator]

[ yet another world, lost to oblivion. the merpeople blink out of existence. they're sent back to the temple. the world is slowed and still in spite of the greenery. a few hours pass as everyone regains their bearings. there are gradual efforts made to patch up wounds, to recuperate and recover what's been lost.

he finds her near the garden. a patch of gauze is on his cheek. this expression is unscrupulous, but soft nonetheless. ]

...I'm glad that you're safe.

[ is all he says. ]

[abandonware]

[She's been here for a while, waiting for nothing. Only her internal systems keep measure of the time. She's staring at the flowers at his approach, and the sound of his voice appears to knock her out of her odd reverie.

In response, she shrugs, the motion absent and done without any feeling.

She doesn't seem angry. She doesn't seem like anything, really. Not upset, not annoyed, as she so often seemed to be in his presence.]

Yeah.

Guess you made it out too.

about a week post-akvos

[fashionabot]

[ Since their return to the Temple, A4's been oddly quiet for the past week. Mainly to allow others time for themselves and gather their thoughts. Including A2. The failure and the deaths especially hit hard.

It's during the near end of the week that A4 finally decides to seek A2 out in person, coming across the other android out in the forests. ]

Number 2? There you are...

[ She breathes a sigh of relief.

Asides from the missing artificial skin on her left hand, A4 might look surprisingly well-maintained after the return from their mission, having switched out of her damaged black dress to a navy dress. Folded in her arms is another article of clothing, another product likely from her magic. Something light blue. ]

[abandonware]

[To say A2's avoided crowds would be a vast understatement. In all respects, she's been a ghost — not anywhere near the Temple, not in the room she and A4 have shared since the latter's arrival, not anywhere.

She feels a twinge of something like guilt at A4's approach as a result, emerging, landing in a crouch from her perch in a tree up above. She looks better put-together than one would expect, at least — someone's taken a comb to her hair and she's dressed.]

Number 4.

[It's not relief that she feels, not exactly. Part of why she'd been avoiding anyone was out of the dimly held fear that they would all be gone. This emotion does not register to her fully: it's trapped under numbness. But her expression does soften.]

...

[It seems stupid to say hello.]

I've been here the whole time. [a pause, and she adds, gruff:] Sorry.

3/12, action

[extirpator]

[ dread hangs in the air by a terribly thin string.

in the pitch darkness of the hallway, he finds her. there is blood underneath his fingernails; his muscles are taut with tension, and his sword is sheathed and on his back again. ]

A2!

[ nier reaches a hand forward — he promptly stops, awkwardly shuffling it behind his head in a last second motion. ]

...I was worried about you. Are you alright?

cw minor injury for now but it's gonna get worse

[abandonware]

[Nier has caught A2 and Pod in the middle of a conversation.]

— Unit A2 is advised to return to the main group.

[Unit A2, as it is, has made no move to return to the group. She has her head pressed against the cool metal of one of the walls, half-slumped against it. Occasionally her head thumps dully against it, as if there is a thought she's trying to knock out of it.

It is hard to see in this light, but her damage has gotten worse. There's blood under her fingernails too, and an injury on her shoulder that looks as if something's clawed at the artificial skin there — what shows now through the seams of her skin is dark metal, slick with fluid that looks like blood.

She doesn't register Nier, at first. Instead she responds to Pod, and there is something darker in the impatience of her tone with it. Usually her irritation is performative, but she sounds dead serious now. Her words move over each other too quickly for it to be anything but.]

Give me a second to think.

[Someone's talking to her that isn't Pod, but she can't tell if the voice is real or one of the fake ones. Her head thumps against the wall again, and finally she turns some to look at him.

Her eyes are wide in the poor light. There is something wrong with her face, but it's hard to see.]

What are you doing here?