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

[It's near imperceptible, the way her expression softens some, but it's there.]

Better to be safe than sorry.

...Thank you for the gift. [The words come out a little awkward, and gruff. The voice of someone unused to getting gifts, unused to anyone caring enough.

She adds, soft:] Number 4 will like it.

You're welcome.

[The smile, the words, are automatic, despite A2's reserved reaction. And despite the fact that Konoha has met A4 before...]

Number 4?

[... It actually takes her a moment to realize who she's talking about, slapping a hand to her cheek in embarrassment.]

Oh, sorry- A4! Is "number 4" a nickname? I didn't know you had nicknames!

[2B seemed super against them...]

It's not a nickname.

[Sorry to ruin your dreams, Konoha. A2 and 2B have a lot of similarities, including not understanding fun or joy.] It's her original designa...her original name.

[A pause follows this.]

I was called "Number 2," before "A2."

[U darn robots...]

Oh, wait, so-

[Konoha blinks in surprise, worried that, like with Connor, she might have been calling someone by the wrong name this whole time???]

Should I call you Number 2 instead? That's... really business-like!

[... She's trying to be supportive!]

No.

[It comes out curt, and a little sudden, follows the sudden jumping of her shoulders. Number 4 called her this, and Anemone, but it settled odd in her ears to hear it from someone else.

Konoha doesn't mean any harm, she remembers, and calms down.]

...No. [Her tone softens again.] It's an old name. It doesn't mean anything anymore.

[Konoha admittedly is a bit surprised by the force behind A2's words, startling just a touch... but as the other woman (metal woman) calms, so does she.

But that still leaves her... a bit confused. And after her talk with 9S...]

Does... that mean you want me to call you A2?

[Or was that something that meant something bad? If 9S was made by humans to fight their wars, that meant 2B and A2 and A4 were too, right?]

That's what you've been calling me before. [That was what her designation had been changed to, once ranks had been readjusted and she'd been delegated to "traitor."] There's nothing wrong with it.

[She decides to explain, a little.]

...It's a shortening of our [how to explain this to Konoha.] use. What we were created to do. "A" is for "Attacker," "B" is "Battle." "S" is "Scanner."

I thought that was just maybe how your people did names, but...

[As relieved as she is to hear there was nothing wrong with it, that she hadn't been making a mistake this whole time... there's something about the explanation that doesn't sit well with her.

Attacker. Battle. Scanner.

Those were just... descriptions with numbers tacked on. Not names.]

You don't have like... name names? Just... "model" and number?

[And they were... fine with that?]

No. There's never been a reason to call us anything else.

[A2, so deeply dehumanized, sees nothing wrong with this on a surface level. The Resistance liked to give themselves names, the machines too, but what was the point? They all ended up the same regardless. Scrap.

But... ]

It bothers you?

I mean... It's not my name, so I can't say that, but...

[Konoha's expression is undoubtedly troubled, trying to think of how to say what she felt... If it was even her place to? But... the more she learns about the metal pe- androids... the more she worries.]]

It doesn't bother you? Not to have a real name? [wait, was it species-ist to call those things "real" names?] I know you don't have a mother, but you could pick a name yourself if you wanted to, right? Or find a mother, I guess...

[Or, uh, a mother figure... Or something... ?]

[A2 listens, and gradually her expression flattens. Konoha's concern does not escape her notice, but so accustomed to a lack of a name — a lack of an identity, really, outside of what task she could fulfill — it cannot reach her.

Almost.]

A long time ago...

[She tugs at her sleeve again, uncomfortable.]

I was told it was against the rules. We weren't allowed to have names. Nicknames. Whatever. There was an older model — an android like us, but from a generation far behind — she had a human name. Gave them to her team.

[A pause.]

...Her name was Rose. She wanted to give my team names too. [Her gaze drops. She stares at the pumpkin, then at a wall, so as not to have to stare at Konoha.]

When she was gone, it stopped mattering to me.

[Against the rules to have a name... Konoha can't help but react, a "that's horrible..." barely audible, more a movement of lips than actual sound. The more she found out about the world A2 came from the less she liked it, the bleaker it seemed... But first, she listens. Tries to digest it, fingers knitting together anxiously.]

Rose is a really pretty name.

[She starts there. Even though it seemed this Rose person was gone, by the way A2 talked about her... all Konoha can do is just forge ahead, hoping she wasn't being too forward, too positive.]

You know, I'm named after that kind of thing, too! "Konoha", it means like... when you look up in the woods and see all the leaves above you... my village had lots of nature names like that.

[It just seemed so sad. Not to be allowed a name. Not to... no, she couldn't believe A2 didn't want one, because she said... it had mattered to her once. So it could matter again!]

How about... I start thinking of some names? I'm really good at it. And that way, when you feel like it... you can just ask me and I'll have one ready that you can use if you like it!

["When", not "if".]

[A2 hears it, the softly uttered words, and thinks it must surely be horrible to someone who was someone, who meant something.

She can hear too, the sympathy in Konoha's voice, and her eyes take on an odd glassiness before she turns away and waits for the moment to pass.

Konoha is too kind. She doesn't deserve it, she thinks. She had told Simon what she'd done, and Nier had delved in her head to find it, and in this moment the thought comes that she should tell Konoha too. How much she did not deserve even the dignity of a name.

But she doesn't. It has never been in her nature, to be cruel.]

It's a nice name. It suits you.

["When you feel like it." A2 doesn't think she will, but all the same...after a moment, she manages the ghost of a smile.]

Okay. ...If that's what you want.

Edited 2018-11-02 19:30 (UTC)

[It was horrible to someone who was someone. To see someone who meant something to them acting like they didn't mean anything at all.]

I'll tell my father you said so. He picked it.

[But somehow, Konoha doesn't feel like she can handle this the way she handled Nier. Doesn't feel like shouting or shoving will do it, like she can just push the other woman into saying something that will mollify her, something that at least sounds kind of like a promise to try and see value in life. A2 is... well, maybe it's just a feeling. But Konoha's gut instincts have done her far better than her straight intellect has, so...

She tries to smile back, despite how incredibly sad she finds the idea of worlds where people don't even get names.]

I'll have to hang around you even more so I can make sure to pick a fitting one- but that's okay, right?

[There's a strain to Konoha's smile that wasn't there before, and A2 feels bad, at being the cause of it but not knowing how to resolve it. This feeling is nothing new, though never pleasant. Perhaps the simple act of letting Konoha keep her company would alleviate some of the discomfort she's caused, she thinks.]

...That's fine.

[The strange and elaborate gourd she sets carefully near the entrance of her and A4's room, knowing the other android will see it when she returns.]

Thank you.

[It's said after a pause, clumsily, like she isn't used to saying it.]

You're welcome.

["That's fine" from someone like A2 feels a bit more like "that would be great"... or at least a "that would be good"... So Konoha's smile grows a little more confident. She might not know everything the other woman (metal woman) went through, or what made her like this, but...

They were here now. Just like she'd told Nier... It didn't have to be the same.

And now that A2's hands are free... She holds out a hand, one pinky extended.]

It'll be fun- I promise!

[Fun...she isn't sure about that, though she'd be lying if she said she didn't at least enjoy Konoha's company.

Even though she's holding out her pinky at her expectantly.

...

The smallest of headtilts.]

What's that for?

[Oh- She should have known after her talk with Connor about "thumbs up". Konoha laughs a little at herself before waving her pinky at A2 to try and get her to mimic the gesture.]

It's how you seal a promise. One that definitely won't break.

[A promise.

A2 thinks of vows and oaths, and contracts residing in weaponry, but this feels like less of a burden.

She reaches out and curls her pinky finger around Konoha's own.]

Alright.

...Then it's a promise.

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

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