NieR Automata: Life's Meaning

Apex lowered his stance, hands held at his side.

A boar, nearly double his height, rubbed its hooves through the dirt, its sharp tusks aimed at him.

The wild animal returned his stare with an unblinking stare of its own, unwilling to back down and maybe even eager to attack. For all intents and purposes, its superior size should've given the thing a natural advantage over him. Humans, without their numbers and technology, were more or less a free meal to a creature of its size.

Ordinary humans anyways.

The boar propelled itself into a rush, its hooves kicking up dirt and tearing apart grass. Apex held his ground as the beast approached, taking a deep breath. He threw out his hands moments before the tusks made contact and caught both.

He slid back a few paces. Digging his feet deep into the ground, he managed to bring the boar's charge to a gradual stop, locking them in a standstill. The boar released low growls and grunts, trying but failing to trample him. He strained against the force, veins forming across his arms as he tried to perfectly match the creature's power.

While most of the creatures in this forest seemed to have followed in the trees lead and evolved beyond the size of their much smaller ancestors, predators generally avoided attacking him and he them. To them he was an unknown while he simply didn't want to risk excessive injury. A boosted healing factor didn't necessarily guarantee he'd survive being mauled or swallowed whole by some of the massive bears he'd seen lumbering about.

These boars were one of the exceptions; the opportunistic creatures never passed up a chance at him if they happened to cross paths.

The muscles within his arms shifted, his arms slowly growing in size. It wasn't long until he was able to ease his stance, managing to keep the boar at bay with the strength of his arms alone.

On the plus side, these things weren't so dangerous that he couldn't handle them. In fact, their method of attack made them the perfect training partner.

Taking a heavy step forward, he lifted the boar clean off its feet and shifted into a spin, releasing its tusk after a few rotations. A loud squeal left the beast that was quickly replaced by squeaks of pain when it crashed into the base a nearby tree. It rose up and trotted off into the greenery on shaky hooves.

Apex kneeled down and picked up the unconscious moose he'd hunted down before, draping the massive body across his shoulders, continuing his journey back to camp.

His sense of direction had been rather skewered the first few days but he'd become familiar with the place. The shape and markings of certain trees. The paths animals tended to take. Certain gatherings of flowers. All small details on their own but put together and it wasn't hard to tell where he was so long as he stuck to familiar areas.

Apex paused at a natural fork splitting off between the trees.

The left...looked exactly like the right.

Okay, his sense of direction wasn't perfect, but he was getting better. Besides, his body housed the perfect solution for a problem like this.

A hologram, shaped in the form of an arrow, pointed to the right. 'That path will lead you back to camp, master.'

'Thank you, Navi.' He thought while taking the indicated path, the arrow falling apart into little blue particles and dissipating.

The hologram and anything else Navi showed weren't actually real. According to her, just as their deeply intertwined connection allowed her to receive signals from his brain, it allowed her to send signals to it. Everything from her voice to just about every other interaction they had were because of that.

A bit invasive all things considered but she was literally built to be connected to him. Was there anything she could do that didn't fall into the category in some way or another? Privacy between them wasn't possible.

'Your concerns are completely unfounded, master. My calculations currently report a zero percent chance of me sharing your private thoughts with anyone.' Navi said.

'That's because there's no one to share them with.'

'Precisely.' Navi said without the slightest change in her tone. Apex couldn't help but smile. He couldn't tell if that was some kind of joke or if she genuinely believed that'd serve as some kind of reassurance, but he supposed that was part of the fun that came from their conversations.

With occasional help from Navi, he soon arrived at his campsite.

It was nothing special; a simple small cave at the base of one of the massive mountains that bordered the forest. After Navi assured him that she'd be able to lead him back to the facility should the need to return ever arise, he'd scaled some of the massive trees. After failing to find any signs of civilization, he opted to find a place to set up, leading him here.

He could've set up inside the facility's depths but he was planning on using it as more of an emergency shelter or hideout in the event anything was intelligent enough to track him. Also, while it wasn't exactly creepy or off, the idea of treating that place as a home felt wrong. What Navi had shared with him didn't help matters.

Over the past week or so he'd hunkered down in and around the cave. A fence made of the thickest branches he could find and sharpen formed a decent sized parameter around the cave's mouth. Behind that fence was a simple campfire surrounded by rocks, a pile of large logs, and a rack made entirely from extra materials; dead wood made up the structure while unused parts of furs were fashioned into a sort of rope.

That was it. He supposed there was the cave. Its mouth was covered by strung up furs and leather. The inside didn't stretch too far back, containing nothing more than his bed which was made of similar furs. All in all, a simple set up that was coming along nicely.

Honestly, there wasn't much more he could do. That rack and his subpar skinning technique were thanks largely to Navi. Her database was full of survival knowledge; another precaution put in place in the event he ended up on his own. Maybe he could've made it just fine without her but her presence certainly sped things along.

Apex strung up the moose and raised his arm. With a thought his arm's form melted away in mix of blackish red flesh, then shifted about and formed a long blade. A downward drag and the blade sliced through fur with little to no force, the blood sinking into the dirt below.

According to Navi all the weapons he was capable of shaping his body into were made of bone with intensified density. The denser he made them, the more they could cut through.

With tonight's dinner killed and bleeding, he had a few different things he wanted to get done.

'Navi, show me your map.' As soon as the order was complete a blue hologram appeared before him. There was much of note on it. The cave shaping up to be his home, bits of the mountain range at his back, the waterfall a short walk from his camp, and plenty of marker placed throughout the parts of the forests he ventured through.

He focused on the markers reminiscent of the machines he encountered down in the city as he shifted the oversized axe tied around his torso by makeshift rope.

More recon needed to be done on those machines.

-Route A, No. 002-

A machine butted its head against a rock over and over, the dull clang constant.

Two walked in circles around a tree, hand in hand, repeating the same conversation about the forest being beautiful over and over.

One tossed a branch while another retrieved it, the two repeating the act without pause.

The final machine in the clearing rolled around. It didn't bother trying to stand or speak, content to roll around on its side.

Perched upon a branch high above the group, Apex watched their actions, just as confused as he was curious. He'd made it part of his routine to watch the mysterious creations after establishing a place for himself. They populated the forest alongside the animals but curiously enough, both more or less ignored the other with rare exceptions here and there.

So far, he wasn't sure what to think of the machines. The stubby creatures either carried out nonsensical acts like that one rolling around or spent their time indulging in poor imitations of human interactions like those two holding hands or the pair playing some form of fetch.

What was the point of any of it?

Whatever the answer, now came the time for his final test.

Apex stepped off the branch and landed at the edge of the clearing, his enhanced legs absorbing the impact. The machine rolling around the ground bumped into his legs.

Its yellow eyes stared up into his.

A vibrant red glow overtook the yellow.

"Human! Kill the human!" The machine's yell trigged as chain reaction, the yellow eyes of all its kin taking on the same crimson hue once they saw. All moved, their pervious actions abandoned as they converged upon him.

This was the only pattern that held. Every machine attacked him without fail.

He pulled the axe from his back and severed the head of the one closest. He backpedaled as the others literally threw their bodies at him. They might be stubby but their thick metal bodies were strong enough to leave more than bruises if they made contact with him. He carefully led them around the clearing, dispatching them one by one.

As the last one hit the ground, tumbling away due to the force behind his blow, Apex could only come to one conclusion. Someone or something out here had a grudge against humanity. What else could explain machines so eager to see him dead?

'That someone could already be deceased.' Navi said. 'The state of their parts and aimless acts indicate a lack of a command structure.'

That was the optimistic line of thought. The other suggested that the goal behind their creation had already been completed and the machines were simply left to linger about, not even worth reclaiming by their master. A frightening thought with implications he didn't want to entertain.

Rusted axe returned to his back, Apex crouched. Dirt filled the air as he leaped, returning amongst the branches, jumping from one to another. This unorthodox method of travel made for another good training method; too much force and the branches would break the moment he tried to take off, but too little and he'd find himself with a face full of dirt.

Odd unexplainable acts.

Imitation of human behaviors.

An obsession with killing those they imitated.

The machines that populated the world were complete enigmas.

Apex shifted his path, heading towards the waterfall near his camp. He needed to think.

-Route A, No. 002-

Apex splashed his face with cold water.

Extra-dimensional entities.

Maso.

The White Chlorination Syndrome.

Navi had been sharing plenty of information with him throughout their time in the forest. Apparently, the earth had been invaded by massive creatures theorized to hail from a dimension far removed from the one human resided in. Their presence brought with them Maso: a mystical energy that defied the laws of their world. Unfortunately, those exposed to it developed a disease known as the White Chlorination Syndrome which would eventually reduce them to salt.

Honestly, all of that felt like the origins of a dystopian fantasy story rather than genuine history but it did line up with the goals of Project APEX.

The first objective was to keep and preserve a human as far from the taint of maso as possible. While it looked like the energy reached the facility, the white powder he'd stepped in indicative of that, it didn't appear to have reached the deepest parts of the facility where he was held.

It had sent a chill down his spine when he realized he'd been stepping through what amounted to human remains on his way out of that underground facility. Another reason not to make the place his home.

The second objective involved creating a human capable of resisting the effects of the White Chlorination Syndrome and possibly fighting off the entities causing it. There was no way to tell if that goal had been reached.

With these other worldly creatures nowhere in sight and the thousands of years needed for the environment on the surface to change so much, Navi theorized that the energy known as maso had either completely dissipated or dropped to such negligible levels that it no longer posed a threat.

Where did that leave him? Should he wander the surface in search of others? Was there anyone to find? And what was the deal with the man hating machines? And why hell didn't the sun ever set? Navi could theorize but knew nothing for sure.

He sighed, water dripping off his face and back into the rushing river.

Everyday brought more questions and uncertainty but that didn't mean he should let them overwhelm him. He'd already found the answer to one of the questions that'd been at the back of his mind since awakening.

Long jet-black hair that stopped at his waist with bangs that hung around dark red eyes. Tanned skin free of scars and blemishes. And a beguilingly lean frame that betrayed none of the supernatural feats he was capable of. Without anyone to compare himself to he couldn't be sure his appearance followed the norms of human features but he knew if he ever laid eyes on another, they'd look similar enough to recognize one another.

All he had to maintain his modesty were the tattered pair of greenish-blue hospital pants he laid beside the flowing river he found.

He knew what he looked like and that had to count for something. With enough time he'd have all the answers he was in search of.