nainzu-archive-blog

[nainzu-archive-blog]

LUCINA:

Busy?

The word felt right, but it also didn’t. Why was it so? She couldn’t quite pinpoint why, but she tried to collect her memories. 9S was right though: she wouldn’t have left without telling the people she knew. Not if she could help it.

Humming, Lucina rubbed her temple. “Last thing I remember, I was studying for the bar exam. I probably missed the date for that, haha.” Realising this wasn’t the time nor the place, she quickly followed up on that thought. “But nothing bad happened. I think I may have spaced out for a while. I don’t recall disappearing, but I did feel the passage of time once I became aware of my surroundings once more.”

“This city is weird. Maybe she got caught up in something like I did. I’m sorry to hear it, though.” Lucina could remember the moment Phoenix disappeared like it was yesterday. It was just as heart-wrenching. Exhaling, she tried to give the boy a reassuring smile. “I think if you have faith in her, she’ll be back before you know it.” Or so she hoped, both for him and herself.

Her words, for some reason, make him agitated – underneath the irritation that was bubbling up, make him panic, his composure slipping for a moment. “2B wouldn’t get caught up in something. She isn’t like that. If 2B were caught up in something, then – ” Then the situation was either the worst imaginable, or she had gotten in it herself. She had always been worried about what would happen to him in this place, about leaving him alone, about him leaving. About a spell of curiosity taking him away from her. 2B... always put him first, no matter how much he tried to make her do otherwise. It wasn’t like he imagined he was important to her, but... it wasn’t as if it was the first time, either.

You wouldn’t leave without me. Would you, 2B? Even if the reality was something much worse, he can’t help feeling horribly alone at the thought. Aah, don’t leave me behind. Clinging to the thought like a child, selfish and rotten all the way through... the next time he speaks, it’s distant. “Well, I guess you’re right. But something about that...” He smiles ruefully, even if it feels bitter, even if this is a nightmare. “It doesn’t feel real. I still don’t trust this place. From the very start... I guess you could call it ‘weird’.”

‘Faith.’ Faith and loyalty, concepts like ‘hope’ – when had they ever heard him? He had always been able to return to 2B when it was him who died, and yet... why had he even dared to hope that the same courtesy would ever be returned? For the first time since he arrived, seeing 2B’s silhouette glowing impossibly in the equally impossible moonlight... he feels the world was laughing at him. Again, again, with growing intensity, in a cruel, endless loop.

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LUCINA:

She wouldn’t admit it to herself, but as soon as she woke up that day, Lucina had to do something, anything, to see if the people she knew were still in this city. Her disappearance was sudden and albeit brief, she didn’t know how much time actually passed in the city. She settled on joining the harvest festival games.

While the event itself was a little messy, it was a relief to see a few familiar faces participating. Maybe everything was as she left it.

“It got a little out of hand…both on my side and on yours, it seems.” Getting her sword stolen by a weird child was the least of her worries when someone started a fire in the middle of the maze soon afterwards.

Still, there seemed to be something else on the boy’s mind, something more troubling than a little incendiary trouble in a corn field. “Of course, is anything ailing you?”

He stares off, eyes fixating somewhere else – wondering how he ought to say it. His hand finds his neck, rubbing it slightly. “Well, not so much like ailing...” Of course, if he was to say he wasn’t worried – to say he wasn’t certainly ailed by something, to say his heart wasn’t heavy, to say it hadn’t always been that way – would be a lie... but 9S had lived his life long enough to know that his mental state mattered very little, in the scheme of this world.

He breathes out. Turning his head back to face her, he gets right to the point. “Well, you – you disappeared, didn’t you? Were you just busy, or...” He pauses. “Was there something else? My... someone I know disappeared recently. I don’t think she would have left without telling me, and I don’t think you would have either.”

It was absurd to think that anyone could have overpowered 2B. It was almost as absurd as them being here in the first place. Even if they should never have ended up in such a world, he was still so uneasy to see her taken from it. Even if it was illogical, even if it was wrong... there was no way he could simply accept that.

[nainzu-archive-blog]

UNKNOWN:

( @nainzu​, this must look pretty weird to you, huh? )

          “ Um, excuse me? “

          “  I’m sorry if I’m, uh. “ He’s not facing his company completely, but he’s certainly trying his best here.  Bony fingers play with the edges of his scarf, and he scuffs his foot against the ground. “ Frightening at the moment, but I need some help here, if it’s alright. “ 

          “ I’ve been trying to take off his pumpkin for hours. “ Oh, that’s not his actual head? “ They didn’t even bother to carve it yet, so I haven’t been able to… ‘live with it’, per say. Could you speed up the process without popping my skull off, since trying to use a screwdriver to cut it isn’t quite working at the moment. “ Well, yeah, it’s one of those baby ones! Geez… Help a skeleton out, would you? 

He double takes – his forehead furrows, eyeing the... thing that was talking to him with scepticism. Aah, he was hit with deja vu, of a machine head (what was Emil, really?) that started talking, of the casual discussion they’d been having then... one that fills him with regret, thinking of it now. They’d promised to go shopping together if they made it out of that war, hadn’t they? Yet even having left their world for one where such leisure still existed, even if it’s a simulation, even if it’s impossible... 2B was already gone, wasn’t she?

Should he have invited her? Even now, as he regrets not having made her happy while she was here... he knows he could never have deserved to enjoy that future with 2B. One eyebrow raised, he steps towards the stranger. “Uuh, yeah, just give me a moment...”

The guy, 9S was realising, was beyond tall. All YoRHa were around the same height, he supposed, but – were humans this tall? He takes a couple steps back, not wanting to hurt the stranger, before leaping swiftly up and grabbing onto both sides of the pumpkin and tugging, hard. There’s a small pop as it comes free, 9S back-flipping away with the momentum. Brushing himself off, he turns to look back at the stranger, opening his mouth to speak –

Ah, he’d made a mistaken assumption. To assume everyone here was human, when he wasn’t... was a mistake. For a moment, his mouth stays open, slightly perturbed, but... within moments, he puts the pumpkin to one side, his worries momentarily forgotten. “You... what are you?”

[nainzu-archive-blog]

@desolateblade

Walking away from the group, corn field left behind, 9S finally feels he can breathe a little. He’s managed to get by, somehow. He’s good, at the very least, at keeping himself together, when he knows what goal he has at the end of it. Perhaps it helped to be around other people, somewhere deep down inside him. Being alone, he knew, was the one thing that he couldn’t tolerate. And yet, he had been alone here, having kept himself to himself, tearing himself apart on the inside and wishing he could on the outside as well –

Ah, if only 2B would ever have wished for that... if only 2B were here.

He closes his eyes briefly. If he thinks of her too much, then he might not be able to stand anymore. Looking back towards Lucina, he gives an apologetic smile, grateful she cannot really see his face. “Sorry about back there. We were with a crazy group, huh?” He can’t help wondering what became of 2B’s sword – if she still has it, if it’s still here – but that’s something else altogether. More importantly...

“Besides that...” He swallowed. “Do you have a minute? There was something... I wanted to ask you about.”

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SERENITY:

“Cars…Such an oddity. This realm is quite an amazing thing. It has many delightful treats my own home did not have, such as chocolate. But please, do pardon my rudeness. My name is  Serenity, It is a pleasure to meet you!”

She felt rather odd using the title of Princess in a world where she possibly held no power or use for the title. And thus, she had decided to forgo such a thing when introducing herself to the people around her.

He nods slightly. He supposed people here came from all sorts of worlds, the full range of which he could never imagine. “Yeah... well, cars you can still see in my world, but not moving like in this one. I can’t imagine chocolate either. I guess it’d be nice to try it.”

He smiles. Nice, but – not something a being such as him deserved, all the same. “Nice to meet you, Serenity. I’m 9S.” Blinking slightly, he takes in her appearance – certainly something he hadn’t really expected of humans. “Your world is very different from this place too, huh?”

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ART:

  Although Art was a bit surprised by such an odd-sounding name, he didn’t show it, simply nodding his head and smiling. He found that a lot of people in Stella City had weird names, or at least names that followed conventions entirely different from the ones he was familiar with. At any rate, he was just glad that the introduction had been returned and that 9S really didn’t seem upset about being all but crashed into.

  “Combat?” he echoed, raising an eyebrow. It certainly wasn’t his place to pry, but 9S seemed young, no more than a boy, really. Art had seen his fair share of children trained in combat techniques–he himself had grown up at a school that existed for that express purpose–and he couldn’t help the interest that sparked in him now. “For someone who isn’t trained with that in mind, your reaction time was even more impressive.”

  Deciding it best not to pry despite his desire to ask the obvious then what were you trained in?, he shrugged.

  “Training isn’t always worth much, anyway,” he said with a rueful smile. “I’ve been trained in combat practically since I could walk, and yet I’m still the one who didn’t catch himself just now.”

“Mmmm... it’s not like it wasn’t in mind.” Taking the opportunity to explain something mundane, he finds himself relaxing a little, shuffling casually on his heels. “I’m not meant to participate in combat, but I support those who are... so I can get caught up in it from time to time. Only recently... I really started actually fighting, so to speak.” Though perhaps, that was only a construct of his perception?

Glancing to one side, he scratches his cheek. Somehow, the situation would always be blurred, and he would always doubt his own perception of things. How couldn’t he? Under these circumstances. “I guess my choice of word was a bit of a misnomer, anyway. I don’t believe... any of us were ever ‘trained’ in combat. It was just how we were made from the start.” He supposed it was the same for the machines. He supposed they were all the same.

Returning the smile, he shakes his head a bit. “No, it’s... impressive you caught me off guard at all. I guess humans can adapt. Androids are kind of stuck where we are.” Though, that comment does concern him. As far as he knew, humans didn’t train their young. How much... had they really ever known about them? “I guess we could learn from each other.”

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[ nines’s situation is a liiiittle weird right now so i won’t be starting any new threads until i know What exactly i’m doing with him from here, but!! just wanted to announce me and my boy are back off hiatus ehe. turns out i only owe a few replies so i’ll hopefully be able to top up on threads soon, sorry at everyone for the wait! ]

[nainzu-archive-blog]

A2:

      It wasn’t a long time since she arrived in this city. To say the least, she was a little bit hostile. Why? None of her data log have mentioned of this place before. Human was supposed to be extinct, or so she thought. Is this the moon? Unlikely, the atmospheric temperature is different, it’s so Earth-like but she can’t recall of this place before. 

      Of course she have done travelling of her own, though, most of the things she found isn’t familiar to her. She found a ‘library’ on the way back to where she is currently laying low–residing, living, staying. That’s right, she is living with humans now. Maybe she can go back to the ‘library’ to find out more. 

     Her heels clicked on the ground as she heard someone calling out her name. Slightly conflicted that the other didn’t call her ‘No.2′ though. It must be someone who she had encountered then.

        So he was alive after all. She turned to look at the latter, in contrast to the male’s emotions, she was rather, apathetic. Emotions are not allowed when she was first deployed in the first place. 

        So she was alive too, huh? It wasn’t a relief or a threat to her. She just doesn’t care.  

         “ That’s so? “

It irritates him – that she can seem like she cares so little while he is so agitated. That right to the end, she was collected about the whole thing, while he fell apart. Looking back, perhaps he is embarrassed. Perhaps he feels humiliated. The knowledge only makes him feel bitter. To brush off all that happened... it must be nice to have the privilege. And for him to feel that way, only thinking of himself – knowing the truth –

He glances off to once side, glaring. “Is there a problem?” In the end, if he looks at her, he knows he will snap. In the end, he only grows to resent himself more. “You know why.” Of course, it wasn’t like he wanted 2B to know what happened after he left, but...

“I don’t care... if you want to say anything about me.”  Laughing bitterly, he looks down. “I don’t have any right to complain.” He didn’t deserve to be here, let alone to be with 2B. If 2B was to learn who he really was, if 2B was to come to hate him... then he would understand that. But for 2B to be here, for 2B to not have to deal with everything she never should’ve had to in the first place – surely... that mattered, no matter what he’d done. No matter... what they were. “But if 2B is here, I think she deserves a chance... for something else.”

His glare fizzling softly out, he presses his lips together, finally looking back at A2. If it was 2B, then he would do anything. “Don’t tell 2B about YoRHa. She... shouldn’t have to know.”

[nainzu-archive-blog]

@twoattack

It had been long enough since he arrived in the city, that 9S had begun to get used to it. Working a job meant for humans. Reading in a building meant for humans. Denying thoughts that only humans could have. The sheep were in this place, but there was no doubt, no matter how futile his efforts to decipher the city had been, that the world they had constructed was a human’s. It brings with it a sense of unease. So much time had passed, since he left that world... and yet he was still here, taking part in things someone like him didn’t deserve.

It was a future he wanted for 2B, but... it was still something he thought was impossible. The catch, the point where the illusion would snap...

As he catches a glimpse of silver that is so like 2B and yet so unlike her, he thinks he’s found it. 2B had arrived a week after he did. Enough time had passed, so much that he’d almost forgotten that more uncanny revivals were possible. Had almost ceased to recall that face, that he’d thought of with loathing for so long. One that fills him only with murky, distorted unease, as he sees it now.

“A2.” His voice still shakes – with resentment, and yet also something new: fear. Clenching his fists, he stares fixedly at her, thoughts running fast. To say he had hoped he would never see her again was an understatement. Dislike couldn’t describe his feelings towards her. And yet... he knows, that it is all his mistake. If 2B was here, if 2B was with him – ah, they had no ‘reason’ to kill each other. There was... no reason at all. No reason for anything. Would he... continue to exist, despite that?

His stare, not having shifted since he laid eyes on her, grows venomous. In the end, he was tainted to the core. In the end, he would continue to prove that he had no right to be here whatsoever. Knowing that he can never atone, he speaks. “Stay away... from 2B.”

[nainzu-archive-blog]

just y[O]u and me

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2B and 9S 

[nainzu-archive-blog]

2B:

His uncertainty is contagious and she finds herself overcome with worry that she can’t hide without her visor, eyes searching his in confusion. If even someone like 9S can’t figure out the simulation they assume this is, then who can…? She holds him in high regards when it comes to Scanner models, in fact, she really thinks he is the best around… Not just because it’s her 9S. She knows he’s very capable, dangerously so. It’s mainly a disadvantage for her mission as a YoRHa unit, but she never once thought it was a bad thing altogether.

She pauses as well, hand resting on her chin in thought. That’s right, she usually doesn’t think about this kind of stuff a whole lot so being asked about it throws her off, out of her comfort zone. Well, if she had a comfort zone in this city to begin with because everything she’s known in her life so far was thrown into disarray and she struggles to piece it back together properly. “It depends on how you define someone’s existence.” A strangely deep thought, especially considering she’s managed to continue on for so long only because she doesn’t try to think as much. “You could say we exist as a simulation as well, 9S.” Knowing he would never accept something so silly, she waves her hand in a dismissive manner right after saying it. “Or maybe not.”

No matter the circumstances, she exists to fight. She exists because she was given ‘life’ by YoRHa. She exists for humanity. However, she does not exist to think any further than that. She does not exist without her orders. So… Do I exist in this very moment…? She tries to shake those thoughts hastily so it’s kind of a relief to talk about their career paths in this city instead of trying to figure out things they don’t have any understanding of yet, something way out of their league. “It does feel similar to the usual missions… But if that’s the case you should be my partner here too.” She says it so nonchalantly, despite being unable to meet his gaze. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, even if it seems like a rational thought. To her, it’s much more than that.

A small smile danced across her lips as she looks back at him, noticing his pouty childlike attitude. If he’s like this, it’s no wonder they put him into school and mistook him for a child. He does have a very young appearance in any case. Though again, it’s not a bad thing. She quite likes it, in fact. “Or maybe they just didn’t really know what to do with a Scanner model…? They must know we’re androids at least. I can’t use any heavy weaponry and my chips have been downgraded.” She tries not to ponder about the reason why they did such a thing.

Her expression becomes sterner and she suppresses the urge to take his hand. “I’m just making sure. Don’t do anything stupid, got it?” Even if she says that, even if she phrases it like an order – he would still ignore it most of the time. It makes her sigh internally, but that’s just the kind of person he is. She values him as such nonetheless. She leaves it at that, lips pursing into a thin line in an attempt to keep an emotional response inside. Knowing the only logical decision is to go inside after all – isn’t this what they came here for anyway? – she nods. “Let’s go then.” She says, walking past him and holding the door open. “I’d like you to do some maintenance and check if everything is all right too.”

Her answer, once more, surprises him. I don’t know how to answer that question. Something like an existence... was too changeable and indefinite to define so easily. More than anyone else, he ought to know that, right? That an existence could flicker in and out easily, that a ‘self’ was something he could never properly determine. Their selves were something that had been constructed by others, that could be torn down in a mere moment... and could seemingly be recovered when it ought to be impossible. “No, maybe you’re right.” He blinks, before laughing, yet again. “It’s better not to think about it.” They’re words that slip out for her sake, rather than his own. There was no way, after all... that someone like 9S could ever stop thinking.

He tilts his head a little, peering back up at her. “I arrived here before you, though, didn’t I? Without you, I guess my job’s kinda different...” Rather, without 2B, he was a completely different person. Without 2B, he was – he wasn’t anything at all. With nowhere to go, no one to talk to, cursed to stay in this world so awfully alone... it was almost humiliating, wasn’t it? To think that even being spared that fate was perpetuating it, to no end. His previous selves, if even one of them never realised the truth... well, it wasn’t as if he would erase the knowledge from his mind. It wasn’t as if he would discard a single truth, no matter how hated it was. But he couldn’t help envying those who could live without it, when the truth had never been worse.

His pout grows stronger, crossing his arms. “Seriously, now you’re treating me like a child... I never do anything stupid.” Perhaps he made mistakes, and perhaps he regretted many of them – but there was always reasoning, behind every move he made, even those made on instinct. Sighing, his hand finds the back of his neck. “For them to alter you that much, though... I don’t like that at all.” More than simply knowing they were androids, surely they would also have to possess understanding of how they worked, in order to disable functions as they so choose. Perhaps plug-in chips were meant to be easily accessed and rearranged at will, for the ease of the android installing them, but... such an integral function, as being able to wield heavy weaponry? For a combat model, usually only a virus would interfere with that. For 2B, what exactly would they have needed to break...?

No matter what, he was worried about it – now so deep in thought her request startles him, finally flushing slightly in embarrassment. “O-oh, right.” Then, she’d let him in her room? It’s not like he hasn’t let himself in before, but... he scratches his cheek. “I guess that makes sense... I’d like to. But I told you just now, right? I can’t enter hacking space at all. At least, I feel like the ability is still there, but... I can’t initiate it anymore.” Even having arrived here a week ago, he hadn’t tried to check the state of his own systems. Even with his self having clearly been modified in some way, it... hadn’t seemed that important to set something up, if he were to stop moving forward, simply to check over himself. 2B, though, was another matter. He definitely... wanted to make sure they hadn’t interfered with her.

Honestly, with 2B here, he was a bit ashamed that he hadn’t found a workaround for whatever the sheep had done to him already. “I think I can work something out, though.” He reaches into his pocket, holding the rectangular device he’d woken up with for her to see. “Maybe with this thing. Doesn’t it look kind of like Pod 153? I don’t know what to make of that.” It was just another thing that seemed to indicate the sheep had far too much power for 9S’s liking, and had altered them in ways they should never have been able to. “I might be able to set up a route through this. I have no idea how long it could take, though. It’s hard to tell what it’s capable of, and I’ve never really had to think about it before...”

He trails off, before glancing back up at her. In the end, he was concerned about her, but... he knows, he’s just being selfish, as usual. He presses his lips together, self-conscious. “Well, if you want me to see what I can check out for now, I’ll see what I can do... if you feel off, I still have the usual vaccines I have on me.” After all, as he heads indoors... he doesn’t want to leave her, just yet.

[nainzu-archive-blog]

UNKNOWN:

“That I can see.” Kuro doesn’t seem to mind being dismissed. “Learning by yourself is a good idea.” Almost an afterthought, and then he straightened up. “However, I can observe you how you’re going to do it? If you don’t mind that is.” He wouldn’t be surprised if he got rejected. “I’m curious about you plan to study and your set-up that’s all.”

He tilts his head. To say he was ‘studying’, in the academic, human sense of the term... well, that was probably a lie, wasn’t it? “It’s more of a practical thing. I thought it’d be better to just be a programmer rather than sit in some classroom.” Rather, he could think of few things more dull and intolerable. “You’d observe something like that?” 9S, he has to admit, could only think that would tie him down.

He pauses. “I admit people come to me with stuff that’s just boring, though.” At his heart, 9S was a hacker, and one who had to work on the spot and fast. Programming earned him money, but... half the time, aside from navigating code that was far more ancient than he was used to, it was hardly mentally stimulating. “I don’t think you’d gain much from it.”

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HAKUNO:

As someone who knew her fair share of myths, that did seem like a myth. She had heard of the ogre he spoke of, Shrek she was sure he was called, but not that he was some invader capable of devastating a city. “Hmm…I’m only an amateur, but myths like this were often analogies for unexplained events or conflicts where the records were lost and the generations came after were left to speculate.”

Of course, was she one to say that? She knew mythical heroes and historic epics to be real first hand, but she also knew from those same experiences that history had a way to…distort itself sometimes. Oddly enough, some of the more fantastic things had a tendency to be true just as often as not she noticed. “I guess…we could go to the Licorice Bridge and ask him? If we are thinking of the same being, I’ve heard that he wasn’t so much an ogre as just kinda shaggy and unpleasant.”

She also doubts he was old enough or powerful enough to cause that much damage to the city so long ago.

She shrugged. “I think it’s worth at least being curious about. This city seems too….perfect for us for it to be a coincidence. It’s one thing if people just started appearing here randomly, but it’s another to have everything so…laid out for us on arrival.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “Do the history books not mention us or any accommodation made for us at all? You’d think people from other worlds showing up would be a major turning point in the city’s history.”

He nods in agreement. 9S might not have experienced anything like this first hand, but he’d been in the remains of temples and shrines before, seeing how they could be preserved... or even entering on his own out of curiosity. Humans seemed to have relied on gods and myths to survive, to the point that even machines had picked up on it, and begun imitating them. To the point that they themselves... had followed in their footsteps, merely to live.

Her next words, though, catch him off guard. “Ask him? You think he can be asked?” Rather, mythology was one thing, but 9S had never for one second assumed those beings presented in myths truly existed. Honestly, the thought of a beast so unusual, unless it was a machine of some kind, couldn’t sound anything but fake to him. Though... perhaps if something like that truly existed in Stella City, then it would only further ground his suspicion that it was anything but real.

“It seems a stretch for something like that to be real at all... have you seen it?” Of course, Hakuno seemed quite sensible, but 9S wasn’t opposed to classing anyone as crazy. He frowns. “If there really is an ogre, I guess I can’t just leave that alone...”

It wasn’t really what he came here searching for, but he would like to see what mechanics worked it. Sighing, he shakes his head. “There’s nothing, though. I can only think... it’s a recent development.” As recent as the city itself, perhaps. He turns to look at her. “I only just got here a few days ago, myself, but... how long have you been here?” If he asked enough people, eventually he should probably have a fairly accurate placement for when people started arriving.

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UNKNOWN:

@nainzu

“I…I don’t understand this. The plant life looks like plants from Terra. But these strange things on the road…when did carriages become horseless? And when did Terrains entrust the mail to such cute creatures?”

“Terra...?” He doesn’t know what she’s referring to by that, but her other questions, even if he was from another time, are simple enough. “Those ‘carriages’ are cars, though. Humans used them for transportation in the past... or now, with sheep, I guess. They generally burn fuel to move.” On second thought, did she mean humans, by ‘Terrains’...? Then, ‘Terra’ would be Earth?

He shakes his head. “That beats me. I’ve never seen anything about sheep playing such a prominent role in human records. It seems exclusive to this city.”

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命にふさわしい。

作業中見てた牛沢さんの実況Cルートエンド記念ラクガキ。

[nainzu-archive-blog]

UNKNOWN:

Komaeda was used to getting comments about his hair, whether it was the color or the style (if you could call it that). It was usually to the tune that it made him look sickly or corpse-like, though; questioning his humanity was something new.

“I see what you mean… It doesn’t seem much like a natural color, does it?” he said. The fact that it gave off an aura of sickliness, while not an untrue impression to have about him, was definitely off-putting. It was probably just another reason that people tended to become upset or uncomfortable around him.

“I could understand why it might be a pain to look at all the time, and I don’t mind if you want to think of me as subhuman. But still, I could ask the same thing about you. I mean, your hair is basically the same color as mine, right?”

He pauses, staring at the stranger with a sense of... foreboding. It wasn’t as if 9S had thought he’d been insulting him, so much as asking a question out of curiosity... and yet, in the same instance he realises his intent had been misunderstood, he realises why. To not be human, meant you were lesser. To not be human... was something to be reviled.

It’s something 9S has known for a long time. It’s something that he feels deep in his ‘heart’. Even if they were made to protect humans... they were by no means their equals. Yet to hear it from a human’s mouth... stung a little.

He glances to one side. He hadn’t mean to hurt his feelings, but... he hadn’t been bracing himself for the unease he was feeling now, either. “I’m not human, though.” Perhaps he was wrong thinking it was apparent in his appearance. Perhaps he was a fraud. He smiles. Lately, he’s been relieved that his visor covers his expressions far too much. “Surprising, huh? It doesn’t really mean anything, if my hair is like this.”