NieR Automata: A2 x Human

[Chapter 2: Freedom]

*SPOILERS* Read at your own risk!

Boring. So boring. I can't get any sleep, it gets more difficult to each day. Same ceiling fan. Same white wall. Same cabinets. I've been lying here for what seems to be eternity. Nothing to tell the time with. Well, that is unless you want to count the clock lying on the ground, busted and stiff. Heh, just like me. Everything is strange, the sun doesn't even set, I've yet to see night time. 15th day? Or was it the 17th? The only thing to do is to try and count the days. The only thing to see is light protruding through a slit under the door. It's my only contact with the outside world. I'm a brain in a jar at this point.

You're not going anywhere! Is what she said. But it's not like I was able to move in the first place. Though, I owe it to her. I'm lucky she arrived when she did. I probably would be face first, buried in sand, rotting away. If it weren't for her...

Every day she visits me. Takes care of me. Feeds me. Changes my bandages. Yet, she rarely speaks, aside from our first encounter. Recently it's just the occasional "I'll be back", or "How are you feeling?" I try and prod but she's a chest without a key. Although I don't know anything else about her, she's the only thing that keeps me from losing myself. A deep sigh exits my chest, I wish she was here right now. I wish I could just step outside of this room.

"What did you say?" I ask trying to make sense of this chaotic situation.

"Sheesh, enough with the questions, besides, I just said it, didn't I?" A2 replies.

"I'm the last what? Last one in this building? The last one in this town? What the hell am I last in?"

"The last human numbnuts, weren't you listening? It's like talking to a brick wall..."

A baffled look overcomes my face. This conversation is ridiculous, "Again, is this some kind of joke? That's impossible. You're standing right in front of me aren't you? Earlier with the arm, that was a damn magic trick, right?" Without saying a word, A2 rolls her eyes and proceeds to begin picking at her face, using her nails. A scratchy noise creeps its way into the room and cracks being to accumulate on the left side of her face. Skin glides along the air, finding its way to the ground.

"What are you doing?" I question, secretly wanting it to stop. She continues, the scratching increases in volume and becomes abrasive. Blood trickles down her porcelain face, dripping to the ground. It feels as though something is gradually squirming through my skin. I want to throw up. "A-A2?" She reaches further into her face, and starts pulling off a large piece of skin, each inch is similar to tearing off Velcro. I'm overcome with dread as reality sinks in and my disbelief is shattered. Underneath, cheek bones, not of human nature, but cold and artificial; meticulous and thoroughly manufactured. "Enough already! I believe you..." The android woman, knowing she got her point across, reattaches her skin.

"Believe me?" A2 questions, serious in tone.

"But the blood?" I ask, trying to find one last semblance of a human.

"Artificial."

"It's just that... the way you move, talk, get angry, get annoyed, you even bleed..." she must be programmed to act this way, right? There's no way it could have actual feelings, it just responds to certain programming to simulate being "human". She's just- no, it's just a bunch of steel put together. It's not possible for it to have sentience. No emotions. No heart. No living person. Mimicking is not the same as feeling.

"Let's get back to why I'm keeping you here, you're the last human, and..." A2 hesitates and glances away, "and... I just have this feeling that I should pro- protect you." It seems embarrassed. Again, fake, I'm not falling for anything.