Last [E]xecution

Last Chance

9S was screaming in frustration as he tried to tear off the harness strapping him to his flight unit. Damn it, 2B! Stubborn hard-headed woman! The flight unit was no longer obeying any of his commands. 2B had uploaded a complete instruction set. The flight unit was to obey before anything else.

He didn't have time for this. He had to get back to 2B.

9S clenched his teeth so hard he was surprised he didn't crush them. 2B had tricked him into giving her control of his flight unit, made him think she had a plan. And instead she sends him away while she stays behind to play bait. No faith in his abilities. No consideration for what he felt. Of course 2B didn't respect his agency. Didn't respect his freedoms. Didn't respect him. Of course she just does what she wants in spite of him.

There it was. That worm inside himself. That sickness. That...whatever that was. Every time 2B shut down, every time she let him perform maintenance on her, she was vulnerable. She was his mercy. He could do unspeakable things to her and she would not be able to stop him. She would be a prisoner inside her own body and forced to watch. Such thoughts have crossed his mind more than a few times.

No. No, that's not him. Adam's wrong. This isn't him. He would never do those things to 2B. 2B sent him away to save him. She was ready to die to protect him. Regardless, he wasn't going to abandon her even if she wanted him to. Sorry, 2B. He wasn't going to just let her lay down and die.

9S began prying at the latches that held the harness in place.

"Alert," 153 spoke. "Flight unit above safe altitudes for emergency ejection. Proposal: Unit 9S should cease his current actions."

9S wasn't listening. He had to get this damn thing off of him.

"Hacking flight unit!" he declared. It took him a moment, but he managed to hack into his own flight suit. The security of a flight suit was tight to make sure machines couldn't just hack them but 9S effortlessly hacked the main computer. He could see the coordinates locked into navigation. 2B was going to dump him off at the factory.

2B had cleared the factory of machines and it was of no interest to YorHa so she must've concluded he'd be safe there.

He couldn't wait that long. He hacked into the harness controls and finally he managed to unlock the harness.

"Pod, get ready!" 9S yelled. He tore the harness open and pushed himself out. At the same time he saw Pod 153 eject herself out of the flight unit.

9S was sent tumbling through the air. Pod could match his fall speed. But 9S had forgotten his lateral movement from the flight unit.

Pod 153 could not catch up with 9S has he spiraled through the air, screaming in panic. He couldn't tell what was going on. He caught brief glimpses of the ground, then the factory, then Pod, then the sky, then Pod, then the factory again, then sky, then the ground.

He had to slow his descent.

9S stabilized himself, holding his limbs far out to the side in some attempt to maximize his surface area and increase drag. It wouldn't slow him down by much, but he needed every advantage he could get. And when he hits the ground, the impact will be distributed across his entire body.

He cried out in pain as he hit the bottom. The metal ground in front of the factory entrance dented from the force of his fall. He could feel the pressure on his rib cage. He slowly picked himself up off the ground as his black Pod floated down.