Last [E]xecution

2B Cuts and Runs

'You're gonna do it now, aren't you 2B? You're going to kill me.'

'...'

'2B?'

'...No...not this time. Not ever again. I'm...I'm deserting.'

'What?'

'9S...I want you to come with me. If I don't do my duty, then they'll have someone else do it. Run away with me.'

'I can't.'

'You can. We can get away if we go now!'

'What about their executioners? They'll send them after us.'

'I'll kill them. I'll kill everyone who gets in our way. I'll kill them all.'

'I can't let you do that, 2B.'

'Why not?'

'Because I know you. You'll blame yourself for every YorHa soldiers who dies, blame that you weren't there to help them. You'll blame yourself if we lose this war. And even if we win, you'll blame yourself that you didn't do anything to help. And as your first and last accuser, you'll be your own judge, jury, and inevitable executioner. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself."

'I can't even live with myself now! There has to be something deeply wrong with me that I can keep doing this.'

'Guess that's the curse of your programming. You're always thinking about others over yourself. But it'll be worse if you run. Hey, when this war is over you don't have to kill me anymore.'

'...'

'I'd...like to know something. That kiss we had last night? Did you kiss any of the other ones?'

'...Two other ones. I can't even count how many 9S's I've been through, each one with a slightly different personality. But, only two other ones had what we shared.'

'Heh... you think there's something deeply wrong with you. I'm getting jealous of myself. There's something deeply wrong with me. Whoa, ok, that joke didn't land like I thought it would. It must've been hard for you. Only two. Which means everything you shared with the other two got erased'

'You can't imagine how happy I was when you told me how you felt. You die, everything we shared...I might not get it back.'

'Our memories and experience shape who we are. And since we go through different things, you get different 9S's.'

'More than a few wanted me dead when they found out. The second one I shared something with...asked me to kiss him before he died. And he used that as a distraction to try to kill me. What if...what if I never get us back? What if...what if the last 9S to come is one that hates me?'

'You're going to have to have faith. Remember me and what we shared. I'm ready, 2B.'

'I'm sorry, Nines.'

'Don't be sorry. In fact, thank for your all you've given me in what time we had together.'

'Nines...'

'I'm ready now, 2B.'

-.-

"This is YorHa Unit 2B, calling any resistance camps. Does anyone read me? I repeat, this is YorHa Unit 2B. Are there any survivors?"

2B waited at the communicator, listening to the silence.

Nothing...

"This is YorHa survivor Unit 2B calling from Sector 25. Anemone is gone. I'm all that remains. Calling any resistance camps. Any survivors. If you can hear this, please respond.