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

[~~woman with math gif~~]

...

[What? Are all humans this bizarre? She has no frame of reference on which to understand this inexplicable behavior. It was even unlike that machine, Pascal, who was not dangerous but who maintained some level of caution around her, and rightly so.

She's about to say no, again, but:]

Observation: Unit A2 is unfamiliar with this environment.

[Ah, that's Pod. A2 rounds on it right away, furious, but Pod continues, an unmoving stone amidst a sea of her misdirected rage, as always.]

Hypothesis: More intel will be gathered if she is accompanied.

You too? Goddammit — go follow him if you want "intel!"

Negative. This Pod is assigned to Unit A2.

[ oh. it's mister pod.

nier raises a brow, eyes trained on the pod...and then back towards A2. ]

If you'd like, I'll leave you alone after we finish.

[ and then a beat. ]

But it might help us both. I can tell that you're a skilled fighter.

[ subtly, he smiles. ]

And I want to learn more about you, too.

[She keeps her expression irritated and vaguely distant, so as not to give off how absolutely thrown off she is by this behavior.

Eventually, after an overlong and tense pause, she concedes.]

Fine. Whatever.

[She stalks off, as if she knows where she's going (she doesn't), with Pod floating close behind.]

Don't fall behind.

[ there is something terribly familiar to this woman's words — in how she speaks to him.

softly, he smiles. ]

I wonder where we're headed...

[ a thoughtful pause. ]

Does the technology of this city not faze you?

[A2 is not especially forthcoming, but she isn't dishonest either, and so there is a moment where she debates her answer to Nier's question. Admitting her unease was way, way out of her comfort zone, but maybe she could end up with an answer somewhere in the middle.

Eventually, she speaks up.] I don't trust them.

[Which is as close as she's going to get to admitting she's fazed.]

[ nier leans his head back.

there's something of a silence. a light leaves his eyes, a weariness taking its place. ]

I don't either.

[ it's funny — he's realized there are so few things worth trusting in this universe... ]

If they turn against us, I won't hesitate to cut them down.

[A2 looks over her shoulder, taken off guard again. For a moment Nier gets an expression from her that isn't quietly bewildered or deeply annoyed: she looks taken aback. A2 was born in violence. It is all she knows, the only language she knows how to speak. But maybe she had thought, once upon a time, that humans were —

It's a stupid thought. Pointless. Her expression closes as tight as storm shutters again: she turns her gaze away.]

...

[Her pace slows. She crosses her arms.]

If you want to go so much, you lead. I don't know where the hell we're supposed to be going.

[ he follows orders well enough — she asks him to lead, so he leaps forward to position himself a few steps ahead of her and continues onward.

jrpg mechanics.

the expression she wore moments ago lingers in his mind. not that it's uncharacteristic, he doesn't know her after all; and if she's truly anything like kainé, she's more moral than he is, he can assume that much.

so he speaks his mind. ]

It seems like you didn't like what I said.

Do you fight because you want to, or because you have to?

[ nier doesn't look at her, doesn't think to even turn the slightest bit as he asks that. ]

If you don't want to fight them when the time comes, I can do it for you.

[She focuses her stare — intense and hard — at the back of his neck. Silence, for a little while. Then, finally, she speaks up, sharp and vicious.]

Stop asking stupid questions.

[When you were created to do something terrible, your wants were irrelevant. Painful to think about, and so forgotten. Lost somewhere, thrown away. A2 does not have the words to express this. She doesn't have the insight to say, I thought humans would be better than what I am, and so she lashes out, instead.]

[ there's a heavy silence. it lingers — his posture stiffens. something in him freezes over, frigid and icy, telling of his true nature. if only he knew what she was thinking, so he could tell her that it wasn't all humans.

he broke long ago, is all.

for all of his idiocy, however, he registers upset...and the many, colorful ways in which it manifests when he hears it. ]

I'm sorry. [ he turns around to look at her as he says that, features hard. ] I shouldn't have said that.

[ ... ]

You remind me of someone I care for deeply.

[ there is nothing to lose — he isn't dead. he is nonexistent. his life is the void it was always destined to be.

so he tells her the truth. ]

The person I died for...she has a good heart.

I think that just like her...you do too. That's what I feel. That's why I want to help you.

Edited 2018-07-26 04:03 (UTC)

[She doesn't want to hear this. She hates to hear this.

It hurts to listen to. It brings back a memory, one in awful, high definition, so bright and clear that she thinks it must be burned into her eyelids for her to recall it so well, like it was yesterday.

Number Four.

A2's eyes shutter closed. Her fists clench at her side; her jaw goes tight. She relaxes with great effort, waiting for the memory to billow out of her like smoke. When she speaks her voice is stripped of anything resembling emotion. Cold.]

...I'm not your friend. You aren't mine. [...The desire to both put a hand between his shoulder blades and shove him forward, and the revulsion at the idea of causing a human harm, are fighting one another in her head. She settles with inaction.] So just walk. This is a waste of time.

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject