NieR Automata: Life's Meaning

Apex leaped from branch to branch, Popola on his back and Devola in his arms like last time.

Today was the last day of those machines' tournament and the day they marched on what might be the most advanced android wandering the area. From what he's seen and heard, that android would be far too much for them to handle. How could he stop them? Could he stop them? They obsessed over fighting and the perceived honor that came with battle. They might see him as a fellow warrior, but they would never listen to someone telling them to just let their comrade go unavenged.

"Is that smoke?" Popola questioned from his back, snapping Apex out of his thoughts. He slowed his leaps and narrowed his eyes, attempting to peer through the dense foliage ahead. Sure enough, several rising clouds of smoke could be made out between leaves and branches. The same smoke that usually accompanied a group of freshly destroyed machines.

And it was in the direction of the coliseum.

Apex sped up his hops, a few branches splintering beneath his feet.

Spotting the source of some of the smoke below, he leaped down to the forest floor, skidding to a stop and setting the twins down.

"H-Human…" One of the stubby green eyed machines sat against one of the trees, its sparking chest releasing dark fumes. The glow of its eyes dimmed until nothing more than the reflective pieces of metal remained.

More were ahead, spread across the ground and marked with deep cuts that left their insides sparking and beyond any help his limited experience could provide. The sparking machines led to the body of the announcer, its stubby form separated into two different pieces.

"Human…" The ominous red glow of its eyes flashed into a friendly green as Apex approached, the machine's voice distorted but still understandable. "Don't-Don't waste time with me. Captain Thunder Thighs is battling the White One. Go, witness our triumph."

If the battle was still going on, even if he couldn't save the rest of them, he might be to stop Captain Thunder Thighs from being destroyed. Rushing forward, Apex sped past trees, Popola and Devola doing their best to keep up but lagging behind. He broke free of the forest line, shoving clean through the brush.

Whatever battle had been going on was over.

Captain Thunder Thighs laid in the center of the demolished arena, smoke rising from its body. A woman with long white hair stood on top of the machine, one heel at its chest and another at its neck, the long curved blade of a sword pulled back and ready to behead Captain Thunder Thighs.

He was about to witness an execution not a battle.

Against all reason, Apex found himself sprinting forward and leaping, fist cocked back. He let it fly just as the woman turned to look his way, fist meeting forearm. He didn't put nearly as much force as he normally did when he was defending himself against machines but it was enough to get the intended effect, the woman jumping back least she lose her balance and landing on the end of the arena.

She glared at him, but despite the object coldness of those light blue eyes, didn't immediately attack, sizing him up.

"Human." Captain Thunder Thighs called out, voice just as distorted as the others. Keeping one eye on the woman, Apex kneeled at the machine's side. "I…I strong?"

"The strongest." Apex assured it. There was nothing he could do for the machine, its damage more extensive than the others. An entire arm and leg were missing.

"I…strongest." It repeated before, like all the others he come across to get here, its eyes dimmed and all colored drained from them.

He shouldn't be angry. They were machines, meant to kill him and any like him. Sure, they were oddities among their kind, but they still represented a great danger. It's not like he would've gone as far as to really call them his friends. They been a novelty that he kept his eye in an attempt to learn more about the state of the world. Nothing more and nothing less.

And yet-

Apex met the woman's glare as stood up, clenching his fist in an attempt to calm the restless heat rushing through him. "Why?" He questioned. "Why destroy them? They weren't hurting anyone."

"They're machines." Her blunt answer was as cold as her eyes. He imagined many androids shared that sentiment, perhaps even Devola and Popola. After thousands of years of fighting the things, docile or not, as far they were concerned they were murderous tools that needed to be put down for the sake of both androids and humans.

The objective truth of the matter. Telling himself that didn't magically do away with the heat in his chest.

"Who are you?" She questioned. "And that thing, why did it call you a human?"

He kept silent, taking the chance to size her up. Unlike all the other androids he's encounter up until now, her status as an artificial being was as clear as day. Her black clothing was even worse off than his, the golden patterns on the shirt fading and her shorts barely shielding any of her modesty. Her body itself was no better, clear black lining revealing where her limbs and several other parts connected. From a distance it almost looked like some kind of body-wide tattoo.

The woman stabbed her sword into the platform and lowered her stance as if to-

Apex's eyes widened, his mind barely registering the fact she'd taken off in a sprint until half the distance between them had been covered. He took an instinctive step back, swinging out with a backfist as the rest of the distance was closed. She ducked beneath it, catching that wrist. He sent out his other fist only for that to be caught as well.

"Who are you?" She repeated as she came face to face with him.

Her ironclad grip was strong. Impossibly so. No amount of struggling got him any wiggle room and he was strengthening himself as much as he could without any visible change. Before her all that meant nothing.

'Preliminary data suggests that this android can not be bested unless you make use of all of your abilities. Even then, your chance at victory is too low to be considered viable. Diplomacy is recommended, master.'

"Apex. My name is Apex" He answered, taking Navi's advice and ceasing his struggles. "I was…studying the odd behavior of these machines."

"Why did it call you a human?" She questioned, fixated on that single point.

"Like I said, they were odd. Who knows why they did anything."

The woman's glare remained, her grip tightening ever so slightly. Suddenly she pulled his right fist towards her. The hand he'd used to punch her. His bloodied knuckles were ripped up though it had already begun to heal, their abrupt exchange putting instinct in the front seat. She examined the blood, but try as she might, to the bare eyes there was no difference to be found between it and whatever it was that androids bled. Not unless she was walking around with a scanner like Devola and Popola.

Evidently that wasn't the case, because she gave up and focused on the wound itself. "Your skin has started to heal itself without any repair gel." She said, grip tightening again. "Did YoRha send you after me? Are you some kind of new model?"

Apex actually had to fight back a wince. Being manhandled like this was a new experience. One he wasn't fond of.

A gunshot rang out, a bullet hitting the platform around their feet.

"Back away from him." Popola ordered, she and Devola rushing towards the stand, weapons aimed. Though they wavered slightly after seeing the woman holding him. "It really is you."

The woman's surprise lasted only a moment. "Use your scanners. Tell me what he is." She ordered the twins. He expected them to lie on the spot but instead they answered with silence. Craning his head towards them he met Popola's eyes and figured out the reason for their hesitation in an instant.

Whoever this woman was, those two truly thought she would be able to and be willing to protect him. Apex would be the first to admit he hadn't taken the prospect seriously at all. Everything indicated to him being able to take on anything in the world, from machines to natural disasters, just fine with his improving abilities.

That was before this android managed to do outdo him in terms of both speed and strength.

"You with that YoRHa group?" Apex questioned. She refocused on him, deadly silent. "Answer my question and we'll answer yours."

She stared but ultimately relented, realizing that the twins were following his lead rather than listening to her. "No." She all but spat out. There was history there. A deep resentment that her eyes couldn't hide.

Someone against YoRHa then. He wasn't sure if trusting her was a bigger risk than getting into contact with that group.

Apex looked back to Popola and Devola who awaited his decision with baked breaths. He might not trust this stranger but he trusted those two.

Holding back a sigh, he nodded.

"He's a human, so ease off before you hurt him." Devola declared.

If anything, the woman did the complete opposite, yanking him closer as if peering into his eyes was going to reveal the truth. "Impossible." She said. "No human would be capable of doing what he did."

"Its true. Trust us, we've scanned him a number of times. He is capable of many things, but he is human." Popola insisted. "Just let him go and we'll explain everything."

She didn't budge at first. They were in the same position, he could tell. Neither of them trusted the other but twin's words held plenty of weight, enough to sway her as they did him, her grip loosening until she finally released him, allowing Apex to rub the redden skin around his wrists. An act she took intense interest in.

"Apex, isn't an ordinary human." Popola began as she and Devola got closer to them, weapons completely lowered. He took a step back from the woman as Popola explained what he'd told them about the lab, Navi, and the purpose behind the project involving his birth. The woman's face remained stone cold throughout the entire explanation, her stare growing more unnerving by the second.

Did she ever blink?

When the long-winded explanation was over and done with she backed away from him, grabbing the white sword she'd stabbed into the platform. Apex readied himself for a fight, Popola and Devola raising their guns to support him.

"I don't buy into that crap." She said as she yanked the blade out of the wood.

"We can share the data from our scans with you, just-"

"I don't care what your scans say." She turned back to him. "I'll decide whether or not your human myself."

Apex clenched his raised hands, eyes wide open, prepared for her this time. "And how are you going to do that?" She didn't have an answer to that but on the other hand, the rush he was expecting never came. She just stood there.

Silently watching him with that unblinking gaze.

So that was her plan. Apex reluctantly lowered his guard and refocused on Captain Thunder Thighs body, sparks and smoke no longer coming from it.

He might not have gone as far as to call the machines his friends, but they certainly saw him that way. It wouldn't be right to just leave them like this.

-Route A, No. 016-

Over a dozen rows and columns of recently dug and refilled holes now filled the clearing the machines had used as their staging ground, the demolished platform torn apart and the planks of wood used to mark them. He didn't know the name of every machine or if each individual one even had a name to begin with, only able to carve in the Captain and it's goofy name.

Apex ran a finger over the cold rusted gear in his hand. It'd fallen from Captain Thunder Thighs' body when he moved it.

Was there in any point in burying these things? In keeping a memento to remember them by? They were just machines. While they were capable of imitating things he'd expect from humans most of their attempts were so primitive he hesitated to consider them truly alive the way androids were.

Still, were their strange behaviors really a tactic to lower the guard of androids or was there something more behind it all?

'Your actions, though seemingly pointless, suggest a healthy psyche. It is human nature to do such things.' Navi said.

'If you say so.' Apex thought with a sigh.

Stowing the gear in the bag Popola brought with her, he took her into his arms and Devola onto his back. Both had been quiet during this whole exercise in mourning and he couldn't blame them. He was going out of his way to honor machines of all things; the fact that they hadn't raised any complaints was the most respect they could show given the situation.

Their silent white-haired companion clicked her tongue at the graves, keeping a distance between her and them.

She couldn't hide her surprise when he leaped up into the trees though quickly overcame it, sprinting from the forest floor after them. She was fast too, managing to keep them in her sights the entire time, the heels of her boots not a hindrance in the slightest.

Like it or not, he'd have someone watching over him for the foreseeable future. Someone significantly stronger than himself.