[There was little choice available to her back then. On top of that, there was nothing else for her in that seemingly neverending cycle. She did her duty, and even if she was given a chance to go back and change it, she's not sure she would. Everything that happened was what led to this, for better or worse.
And her duty was over now. All of that was over now. They had no reason to cling to it any longer.]
I don't know either.
[Which isn't a slight against him or whoever confessed to him, but she's sure 9S will get what she means. They're androids meant to serve humanity. For a human to feel that strongly about one of them is odd. For an android to return that... There's something deep in her programming that tells her it's not appropriate, at the very least.
But this is Nines she's talking to. If he really did feel that way towards a human, she's not sure she would reproach him for it. If it made him happy and didn't hurt anyone, who was she to argue?]
They know that you're not... Familiar with these sorts of things, right?
[Maybe he'll never really understand it, how any human could see him that way. Even knowing that gaps in distinction hadn't really held Jude back before, having heard about Milla in the past, there's something surreal about it. The difference might be that humans don't have core programming like androids do. They aren't hard-wired to accept certain realities regardless of what they feel or think about them.
It could easily be that, or something far more individual. He doesn't know which it is, but that's immaterial at this point. The conversation they'd had told him all he needed to know about it, maybe even more, because he'd felt entirely overwhelmed. A human valuing him in such a way is...]
Yeah, they know... [He keeps references to this human neutral, if only because it's simplest] I've told them about YoRHa before, and a little about my life. What we are, what that means, those kinds of things. I don't think the original plan was to tell me just then, or maybe even at all, but it sort of just happened.
[And now he's left thinking in circles over it. How something like that is even possible, despite being told in detail about those sentiments, still eludes him]
[She feels... conflicted, on how to reply. "Someone like me." If he means as an android, she understands, but it feels like there's something else to that statement. Putting aside the fact that this person is human, why couldn't someone come to care for 9S? Maybe this isn't in a way that either of them are used to, but saying "someone like me" just feels... She doesn't like it.
Maybe that's not what he means though. Even if it is, she has no idea how to even begin asking about something like that. The main issue here, she thinks, is that 9S is an android and this person is a human.
For some people here, that's a minor detail, but to her (and she thinks for 9S as well), it's insurmountable.]
It's possible, I guess. [They have the proof right in front of them, but even as just an outside party, she has a hard time really picturing it.] Do you know if... Do you think that maybe one day, just maybe, you could feel similarly?
[9S can't deny that the possibility of being viewed that way exists, now. He was faced with it not long ago, and it remains vivid in his mind. How that happened might forever remain mysterious to him, but he's pretty sure what was said to him, and what was expressed, was earnest enough. That's what makes it so baffling.
He's an android, but more than that, he's... Well. In the time he'd been without 2B, he'd realized for himself his own capacity for cruelty, among so much else he'd rather others never saw. A2 had seen that side of him, seen his anger and despair, and his inability to overcome the loss of everything that held true meaning to him.
Was that sort of person even suitable?
2B's question is what drags him back from those thoughts, where he might otherwise become absorbed in them. He thinks about that, looking out at the sea just beyond the shore. An island in a sea in the middle of nowhere, and still, it's a human having feelings for him that's so difficult to understand]
I think... [9S starts, only to halt himself again] It's a possibility, although I... Even having it explained to me, I'm not sure how I'd know it.
[If he came to feel that way, or if he felt anything like that already. Some of what was described to him seemed familiar, but he isn't sure whether it's the same thing. But 2B asked about similarity and that, at least, he can answer to]
[Maybe she might get a better understanding from that? Because as she is now, she really has no idea how you might confirm that you have romantic feelings either... Then again, if even 9S couldn't properly understand it from the explanation, she's not sure she'll do any better.]
[It's a little embarrassing think back on, and although 9S surely recalls every word because of what he is, they're no less difficult for him to repeat. His shoulders hunch, and he's grateful anew for the presence of his goggles, because it's a little easier knowing he doesn't have to worry about his face all that much]
It's, well... [Going to be a halting process to get through this] Being around me makes them warm, I guess? And it means a lot to them when I smile or laugh, for some reason. They're close with other people, but it's sort of different with me? Like some things I thought they did with everyone they...don't, actually. Those sorts of things.
[He finds it even more confusing, looking back on it. There are things he can understand, but the way it adds up is...]
That warmth thing in particular, I can sort of understand? Although I think they're the source of that rather than me. I mean, I think that's true of you too, but I wouldn't characterize it in exactly the same way. It's strange.
[There's a moment where her brow furrows behind her goggles, but it smoothes away quickly. Despite reaffirming it a number of times already, she just. Doesn't quite understand why he thinks so fondly of her. So warmly. Sometimes it's reassuring to remember that despite everything that's happened between them, but other times, she just doesn't see it. As much as she wants to, it makes him almost harder to understand.
But that's not important right now. Besides, that's an issue she doesn't think she'll ever get sorted out anyways.]
So what you mean to them is different from what other people mean to them, and they treat you in a special manner because of it. [That makes a certain degree of sense to her, like the warmth thing.] For some reason.
[The why of it is really what has her lost though. Then again, the why of how anyone comes to like another person would probably be difficult to explain. Why did so many executioner models come to care for their targets despite knowing they would kill them? That was just something out of their control. Maybe romantic feelings were similar.
But those were also cases of just androids. A human coming to care for an android like that is particularly difficult for her to wrap her mind around.]
If you're not sure if you can determine whether or not you have those feelings, maybe you should tell them that. [Although she wouldn't want to upset this person either.]
[2B gets to the heart of the matter so easily. Sometimes 9S wishes he had her knack for concision, but it's something to distinctly her that it'd be strange on anybody else. He can only nod at first, aware that she's right; the only thing he can do is be frank about his circumstances.
Although, in his case, that's certainly easier said than done]
Right... [He'll just have to figure out how to express that] I guess that's really the only thing I can do, in this situation.
[The more he thinks about it, the more he finds himself unsure. If that's the case, there isn't much for it but to admit he's out of his depth, much as a part of him hates that as a Scanner. Being well-informed is supposed to be his job, but in this realm he's rather at a loss]
Thanks, 2B.
[If only the rest were as simple as this. He chews his lip, debating how he ought to broach the subject, by far a weightier matter for all that it entails, and he can't imagine an outcome that doesn't involve hurting her]
You're welcome. [Not that she feels like she really did much here honestly, but if it helped him sort out his thoughts better somehow, she's glad. She only wants the best for him, after all. Whatever that might mean in this case.] I hope things... That things work out the best way they can, when you tell them that.
[She's rooting for you 9S!!! For your happiness!!!! And that he maintains a positive relationship with this human, lbr here keeping humans happy is still a priority even in a situation like this.]
Was there something that prompted their confession though? [She can't help but be at least a little curious. Then again, if 6O was anyone to go by, maybe confessions just sprang up out of nowhere.] If you don't mind telling me, that is.
[Given the nature of this situation, she'll understand if it's something he considers to be private.]
[Well, there it is, a perfect opening. 9S couldn't ask for a better segue into the matter at hand, and yet he finds himself hesitant still yet. He worries at his lip, pensive silence settling heavily over him as he tries to arrange his thoughts. The answer is simple, but at the same time, it comes with such gravity that he knows it is anything but that in truth]
I...transmitted something about myself. Something I hadn't meant to, since I didn't want to upset them.
[And yet he'd failed, in the midst of that argument. He was trying so hard to get Jude to understand why he was so determined about the subject and he wasn't getting through to him, but he still regrets that he let that thought slip. His frustration had gotten the better of him and it should not have.
His line of sight remains riveted to his boots]
What I...expressed...was how often I remember dying. How often I...lacked the strength to fight.
[And he thinks from that much alone, 2B can easily discern what it means. Still, the fear of where those thoughts could lead, what they could dig up and how much they might hurt her, prompt him to apologize. He knows he has to tell her, because one day, Jude might ask why it would be that he'd died time and time again, and if she heard about it that way, he couldn't forgive himself]
I...I'm sorry. It wasn't something I ever meant to...
2B turns her head from him towards the sea silently, almost mechanically. Somehow, some way, he knows. He remembers every bit of pain she's caused him, every instance he met her only for her to kill him again. He remembers every time she stabbed him in the back, every time she snuffed his life out despite how desperately he tried to live. The endless cycle she thought she bore alone is suddenly shared, and she can't fathom how he can stand to look at her without despising every fiber of her being.
She can't even look at herself without seeing that.
Suddenly, all she can think about was how relieved she was when she died. 9S was safe, and she didn't have to hurt him anymore. She didn't have to hurt anymore. Their endless cycle was finally over once she closed the loop with herself. Here, 9S would be safe. A2 was here, and whoever cared for 9S enough to confess would surely take care of him too. She didn't have to hurt him anymore. With all that said, was there any reason for her to still have to hurt like this?
It occurs to her that there isn't.
So she stands up, walking easily towards the ocean. She doesn't stop until she's in the water, struggling to put one foot in front of the other despite her weight. When her foot finally steps into nothing, the waves easily tipping her forward to let the water drag her under, she slips beneath the surface with a smile.
She's always felt like she'd be crushed by the sheer pain of these feelings alone. It'd be fitting if it was literal.
[There's a brief, terrifying moment where she considers purposefully misunderstanding his words. YoRHa died all the time, rebooted and reloaded into another body with barely a moment's lag in between death and reactivation. As a Scanner model, 9S especially had a tendency to die out on the field frequently. Still, there was hardly any need for concern when it was never permanent. Dying over and over was something completely normal, and certainly not something worth another person's distress and worry.
It would be easy to leave it at that and never bring up the topic again. It would be all too easy not to face the weight of her crimes.
But she's the one who asked, isn't she? And if she's being honest with herself, she's been waiting a long, long time to pay for her crimes. To repent for her sins.
That doesn't make any of this easy though. They're designed to resemble humans so closely, but as the full weight of his words sinks in further and further, the way she stills is anything but human. She hardly even breathes. Save for the ocean breeze rusting her hair and clothing, she looks more statue than person. Earlier, she could barely wrap her mind around what he was saying. Now, she can't even bare to think about them, his words having left her so utterly, completely paralyzed.
Distantly, she thinks she should be glad they have little to worry about in terms of threats here. As she is right now, she'd be done for if there were machine lifeforms here.
I guess we’re lucky there aren’t any enemies around here. That could’ve been fatal if machine lifeforms attacked.
Just— how much— could he—?]
... Since when. [She cuts herself off, steadying herself. If her voice wavers too much, he'll be too concerned with her well-being, and this is something she needs to know no matter what.] Since when have you remembered?
[And just as moments ago 9S had appreciated 2B's ability to cut right to the heart of a matter, now he finds himself wishing it were otherwise. There's nothing for it, and the question is enough to cut off any further meandering statements he might've otherwise uttered. Now he's left wondering how to answer that question.
If he where wholeheartedly honest, he'd say it was since his reactivation. But when has 9S been wholeheartedly honest, when it came to matters like this? The answer is as simple as it is stark: he never has. And so he concludes, too easily, that he'll supply what he needs to but not the whole of it]
Since I found myself in that Aimintas place.
[Since his reactivation, but this he doesn't say. He already knew 2B's role in his life far before that, and didn't need a full and complete memory to tell him as much. Now, of course, he has it anyway. The confirmation of his theories is there in his personal data, as though it was never gone to begin with.
But it's not what she asked. 2B didn't ask him how long he'd suspected what he knows now — she asked what he remembered. And with a subject that fills him with such dread, and leaves her so still she could be in maintenance, he'll only volunteer so much]
Didn't seem like the sort of thing you just...mention one day.
Ever since he woke up in Aimintas? That long? But that means— From the very first moment they saw each other again, he already—
She can barely even process what this means, her thought routines having momentary lapses of sharp static as they try to work through the weight of this. How could it have been so long? How could she not have realized? (But who was she kidding, of course she never realized. She's never been good at seeing past what 9S is willing to show her. Despite everything, she's never been good at really knowing who he is.) It would've been no surprise to find out that he suspected her of her true role, not when it's happened so many times before. This? She never could've guessed, never even thought it was possible. She never would've wanted this for him, to know just how many times she hurt him.
Goodbye, 2B ...
I-It hurts ... It ... h-hurt ... s ...
I want ... to see you ... again ...
Hahah ... You sure are kind ... 2B ...
How could he know all that and still smile at her like he always did? How could he remember all the times he died, whether she killed him or he killed himself because of her, all the times he had to lose the person he was, how could he remember everything she's taken from him and still—]
You said you were glad to be wherever I was. [There's a laugh, short and sharp and utterly empty. Even then, she'd been so selfishly happy to hear those words. She couldn't understand how that could be true even if he didn't remember everything that had happened between them, and here they are now, and he'd known all along. It could almost be funny.] How?
[Why? After all this time, she just can't understand how he can care so much for her when she's done nothing but hurt him over and over and over again. Repeatedly, endlessly. He should hate her, and she deserves to be hated, but he doesn't and she just can't understand why.]
[9S can guess well enough just why 2B is shocked. Although he was made to forget over and over again, she never had that luxury. She was fully aware all along of the cyclical nature of their relationship, meeting and parting, over and over again. It always ended in violence, as it necessarily had to. And for once remembering all of those times, 9S can look back on the way that weight compounded, steadily weighing 2B down more and more.
It isn't a wonder at all then that she can't understand why he feels the way he does, now that for once his memory is equal to her own. Not just one lifetime or another, but all of it. And that thought is sufficient to force him to look her way, though he remains unsure whether it's better to do so or not]
Like memories of pure light. That's the message you left for me, isn't it?
[9S doesn't wait for confirmation — doesn't need to. Those words are burned into his memory as surely as anything ever was. As much as they pained him when he first heard them, as much as they made him ache as though he'd been hollowed out from within, he carried them with him]
The thing is, I consider the world a very dark place without you.
[And he was consumed only with fulfilling the objective they supposedly had, and avenging her. After that...it didn't matter if he had a soul or not, it didn't matter if there was nowhere for him to go after he ceased to function. He had been determined to join her in death all the same.
Because that was preferable to being alone.
Because that was preferable to being without her.
The simple truth was that without 2B, 9S felt alone no matter who was around him, or reached out to him, or tried to reel him back from the dark path he had started down. A2 had tried, though he doesn't really understand her reasons, save that he supposes it had something to do with 2B's wishes. She had said her name, in the end. Devola and Popola had likewise reached out to him, and even 4S. But none of them could change the simple fact that the brightest part of his life, despite the role he knew she must have in it, had been snuffed out]
[So he did find it. She's glad for that, but only distantly right now. It's hard to be glad for anything when the person she cares for most in the world knows exactly how many times she hurt him with her own two hands.]
But you actually had the world for once. Finally. You could've done anything you wanted.
[To be fair though, she doesn't know what things were like once she was gone, and she recognizes that. But 9S is also the most capable person she knows. It's hard for her to imagine not having worked things out somehow. If he could figure out how to wield a weapon just to fight her, he could figure out a way to fight the machines even without her there to help. Besides, A2 was there, or if not A2, the Resistance and everyone there.
He's looking her way again finally, but she can only keep her gaze down, ashamed. There was so much possible for 9S without her around. Even if he believes so himself, even when he told her as much himself, she can't see how her being there could outweigh the opportunity for literally everything and anything else. She always ended his life so soon, so quickly. He never had much chance to do anything.
So why would the world be so dark without her? She can only think the opposite.]
[9S understands what 2B is suggesting, or at least he thinks so. He was free of the limitations YoRHa had imposed upon him, free of a cycle of death and restriction that had defined his short and violent life. And yet free of these confining factors, free of his increasingly unwilling executioner, what did 9S have? So much of his identity, so much of his sense of purpose, was tied to YoRHa, and the lie they were created to unknowingly perpetuate.
Divested of that purpose, his new purpose had become supporting 2B. And 9S was satisfied with that much, despite the role he was certain she had in his life. There is no denying he felt betrayed and hurt, suspecting that she had killed him time and again and that his memory was tampered with, but in the end...
In the end he still wanted simply to love her. And Adam had seen that contradiction within him, resenting and loving someone at the same time, mocked and derided him for it, echoing some of the thoughts he already directed at himself for the same.
But the same reason he struggled to reconcile those emotions is the same reason he doesn't want to exist without her]
You were always my world, 2B.
[9S remembers distinctly what it is to be alone. He didn't need a reminder in the form of her death and consequent absence from his life. In the past he had chosen to end himself rather than her, to perpetuate (selfishly) the cycle of meeting her and dying at her ever more grudging hands. Because each of those deaths still came with the promise of meeting her again]
It was enough for me, just being at your side. We might not have families, the way humans do, but I... [He trails off, line of sight sinking to the sand] To me, that's what you are.
[So what was left for him without a purpose, without a home, and without her?]
[There is undeniably a part of her that's happy to hear those words. To know that just as much as 9S was her entire world, she was his, too. But that happiness doesn't bring her any joy. It's too quickly smothered and choked, drowned out by the reality of their situation. Of what she is, of what she's done to him. No matter how much he cares about it, she doesn't think there's a thing in the the world, nothing she could do that would be enough to make amends.]
I shouldn't be. Not when you should hate me.
[How can he not hate her, the way she hates herself?]
I killed you. [It's only now that she can say it plainly, now that she's condemning herself.] Over and over and over again, and you were barely even mad at me.
[Maybe every now and then, she killed him and he looked at her with something aside from resignation or understanding. Sometimes he was scared, sometimes upset, but so rarely did she see him mad at what she did to him, betrayed. And that couldn't be right, not when she deserved every bit of it.]
Why aren't you mad at me? [It could almost be a sob for how raw and broken her voice is.]
[It sounds to him like she's bludgeoning herself with those words, and it's a painful thing to hear. Back when Adam had mocked him with his own conflicted emotions, he wasn't aware of just how hard it was for 2B. Over time he had come to understand it, as he often did through one lifetime or another, but he knows that when she was alive he was still struggling to reconcile his emotions.
His lips press into a thin line as he considers the words, and how he should answer them. Had he the choice, he would have preferred that they never discuss this matter at all. It's evident to him that it's only causing 2B pain. But his own mistake led to this, and waiting for Jude to ask her what he meant as he anticipates would only be worse.
It's hard to imagine a worse, right now, but...]
For a while I was. Around the time we met that E-type, and I realized I was missing data on those units, data that any YoRHa ought to have... Not to mention, you were far more powerful than a normal B-type... It seemed so obvious, what was going on.
[What must have been going on]
And I knew something was missing. Not just that data, but a void where my memories had been ripped away.
[He could perceive that void in a way he should not have, or at least he thinks so. Maybe it was the sheer number of times that it had happened, or maybe it was something else entirely]
So I resented you. Wanted to hurt you, even. But at the same time...because of you, I wasn't alone. And you were important to me, despite the role I was sure you had in my life. I didn't know what to do about it. And then, you were just...gone. And I couldn't do anything about it.
Edited (now without censorship humor) 2017-11-01 06:40 (UTC)
[Frankly, she's relieved to hear this. 9S should still resent her honestly, should still want to hurt her, and she would gladly welcome it. She still remembers that day in the Sand Temple when she all but begged him to kill her, giving him her own sword to do it, and even then he only turned it on himself. It settles something in her chest, to know that 9S really was upset with her. Enough to want to hurt her for it.
Which is why it isn't enough to her. He should still be upset with her. He should want to hurt her more than ever, now that he knows exactly how many times she hurt him. No matter how much he cares for her, no matter how much she treasures that, it doesn't change what she did to him. She can't imagine the pain her absence could have caused him because in her eyes, it was the best thing that could've happened for him.]
That doesn't change what I did to you.
[But maybe there's one good thing that can come of this. She's held back these words for so, so long, because to say them to him would be to admit to what she's done. For so many reasons, she couldn't let him know. And now, those reasons no longer existed. There was no secret to uphold, no mission to complete, no duty to perform.
She hangs her head, hands balling the fabric of her skirt in her fists.]
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry—
[It's not an excuse for what she's done. Nothing ever could be. It's only the truth, plain and simple. That first time, when she'd obliterated his personality data rather than simply and mercifully killing him, she remembers thinking to herself that she wouldn't apologize. She couldn't. This was her duty.
How laughable. For better or worse, she simply wasn't programmed to be so. After all this time, how could she not regret what she's done, feel remorse for all the pain she's caused?]
[9S lifts a hand and hesitates, but ultimately, it hurts to watch her like this. He lays a hand over one of hers, the one within his reach. It's a cautious, light touch, but something within him aches at seeing her this way, and he wishes desperately that he could make it stop. Something like this was the reason he thought it best to pretend that he remembered nothing at all and that their past wasn't a matter they would ever have to confront.
But he knows that his mistake made this conversation inevitable. There is nothing for it but to press on, and hope that he hasn't destroyed whatever happiness 2B could enjoy in this place, away from the unending conflict that they had always lived in]
2B... [His voice is choked, strained under his need to fix this, and the uncertainty of whether he possibly can] I know...I know you are. But I made things hard for you too, didn't I? I didn't let you go when you wanted me to. When you asked me to.
[And so he had perpetuated her hardships, hadn't he? It was a vicious cycle, and even if he had ended her, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't be deployed again without those memories and forced to repeat the same task just the same. Maybe he would've been assigned to another E-unit. There's no way of knowing.
All he does know was that dying over and over again with the promise that they'd meet once more was preferable to the alternative. Because of that, he had placed a cruel burden on her, one she shouldn't have had to live with.
That 2B is punishing herself this way because of him...it seems wrong.
Maybe he can make her understand if he approaches it this way]
Can you forgive me for what I put you through?
[It's something that he's afraid to ask her, because it means that he's confronting how he has wronged her. And maybe that will remind her that where she didn't have a choice, he did. The choice he made for her, for both of them, prolonged her hardships. It's possible that if he had chosen otherwise nothing would have changed, but even so...
Maybe, if 2B does forgive him that, it can make more sense to her that he doesn't hold her role in his life against her any longer. For a time he had, just as he has said, but he'd lost her once. And that told him all he needed to know about whether he ever wanted harm her or be without her, in the end]
It's what she wants to say, and she almost does. If 9S made things hard for her, wasn't it only because she made things hard in the first place? If he put her through anything, wasn't it only something she put herself through to begin with? Besides, when she was already taking so much from him, how could she deny him one simple wish? All he asked for was to see her again. It seemed cruel to deny him so simple a thing when it was all but guaranteed.
But she remembers how badly she'd wanted to die when she asked him to kill her. She remembers how utterly relieved she'd felt when she saw 9S that last time, knowing that she'd not only protected him for once in her life, but that she wouldn't have to hurt him anymore because she'd be dead. That she wouldn't have to hurt anymore because she'd be dead. A combat model is always prepared to lose their life in battle, but she hadn't just been ready to die. She was waiting for it.
And 9S denied her it. She had to keep living, if only to kill him so he could see her again.
She bites her lip, ashamed of herself. She wants so badly to turn her hand to hold his own, gripping like he's the only thing keeping her afloat through the near sea of her guilt, but she can't bring herself to. Not when she doesn't deserve it. How could she begrudge him of anything when she was the last person who had the right to? This is nothing compared to what she did to him. She couldn't possibly have ever been mad with him, upset with him, for something like this. And yet throughout the endless cycle of killing and meeting, no matter how many times it repeated, she'd never actually had time to think about this. Maybe she never wanted to.
And that horrifies her.]
There shouldn't be anything to forgive. I shouldn't have to forgive you for anything. But...
[She presses her free hand to her eyes, willing herself not to shed tears. To her, it's not a matter of if she can forgive him or not. It's that there's even something to forgive on her part in the first place.
After all she's done, how could she possibly be the one doing the forgiving and not the other way around?]
[Though he had hoped to simplify matters between them, 9S quickly comes to suspect that he's only muddied the waters further. He thought that in pointing out that both of them had a hand in their circumstances, to one degree or another, that he might lessen the severity of 2B's guilt. Instead, it seems to him that he has achieved nothing better than making her feel even worse.
And this is a perfect illustration of all that he had been so determined to avoid by keeping the truth to himself. He regrets that it ever became necessary to tell her, and that he allowed himself to get frustrated enough to think something that would concern and upset Jude enough that inevitably he'll ask about it. Historically, he always goes to 2B with his concerns about him. And so, it all comes back to his own failure to reign in his thoughts.
That is, of course, a weakness shared by every Scanner unit]
Still, I made a choice. And I think...I had more of a chance to do so than you did.
[Not by much, confined as they were by their roles as YoRHa units, but he was in some ways better about taking independent action. What he dealt with weren't orders issued to him but rather ones that concerned him, those that 2B hadn't much choice in carrying out. But she had given him a choice. He could have released her from a role that pained her greatly. Instead, he ended himself. That was the easier option for him, and not her.
9S can't quite claim that he regrets it, because it would be a lie. He's good at pretending, but omission is his main vehicle of dishonesty, rather than outright falsehoods. Given the choice, he knows he's selfish enough to kill himself rather than her again, because the thought of being without her is far too painful]
I'm not the only one who hurt because of how things were. And I think it'd be wrong to ignore that.
[The realization hurts, but ultimately, she's glad for it. For one, in all her guilt, she thinks the pain is deserved. More than that though, she's glad to know of it if only so she can change it. Maybe she would've gone on never realizing it, but whether she realized it or not, she thinks it's wrong to harbor any kind of grudge against 9S for it, no matter how much his actions in those instances weighed on her. Even if he did, in a sense, force her to stay alive even when she didn't necessarily want to, did that matter in the end?
She can't deny that as much as it pained her, she was also glad to see 9S again. She was happy to see him again, to spend time with him again. To pretend she wasn't would be a lie. It sharpened the pain of having to kill him over and over, but that joy still outweighed everything else. She wouldn't have been able to keep on going if it hadn't.]
It doesn't matter if I was hurt. [And truly, she still doesn't think it does. She would gladly die again, permanently this time, if it meant keeping 9S safe and alive.] Besides, I... I forgive you.
Even if I didn't have as much of a choice... I wanted to see you again, too. I was happy when we met, too. So... I forgive you.
[9S isn't surprised that he's relieved to hear her say those words, but he knows it's not something he can dwell on right now. He didn't ask for her forgiveness for his own sake, though he can easily imagine that 2B may see it that way. There was a point to asking her such a question, and he can only hope that with this answer he can do something to ease her mind]
If you can forgive me...is it really so strange that I could forgive you? That I'd want to see you again, too?
[Because she was and remains the most important person in his life. The knowledge that she would see him again made the pain of dying over and over something that he could endure. Because there was hope, however small it was. It had been enough for him, despite knowing that he would surely die again.
At least he would be with someone who cared about him, and someone he treasured. So many times, he had reached that same conclusion, past the anger and betrayal that came with realizing why she must have been deployed with him]
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And her duty was over now. All of that was over now. They had no reason to cling to it any longer.]
I don't know either.
[Which isn't a slight against him or whoever confessed to him, but she's sure 9S will get what she means. They're androids meant to serve humanity. For a human to feel that strongly about one of them is odd. For an android to return that... There's something deep in her programming that tells her it's not appropriate, at the very least.
But this is Nines she's talking to. If he really did feel that way towards a human, she's not sure she would reproach him for it. If it made him happy and didn't hurt anyone, who was she to argue?]
They know that you're not... Familiar with these sorts of things, right?
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It could easily be that, or something far more individual. He doesn't know which it is, but that's immaterial at this point. The conversation they'd had told him all he needed to know about it, maybe even more, because he'd felt entirely overwhelmed. A human valuing him in such a way is...]
Yeah, they know... [He keeps references to this human neutral, if only because it's simplest] I've told them about YoRHa before, and a little about my life. What we are, what that means, those kinds of things. I don't think the original plan was to tell me just then, or maybe even at all, but it sort of just happened.
[And now he's left thinking in circles over it. How something like that is even possible, despite being told in detail about those sentiments, still eludes him]
Someone like me...it seems unreal.
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Maybe that's not what he means though. Even if it is, she has no idea how to even begin asking about something like that. The main issue here, she thinks, is that 9S is an android and this person is a human.
For some people here, that's a minor detail, but to her (and she thinks for 9S as well), it's insurmountable.]
It's possible, I guess. [They have the proof right in front of them, but even as just an outside party, she has a hard time really picturing it.] Do you know if... Do you think that maybe one day, just maybe, you could feel similarly?
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He's an android, but more than that, he's... Well. In the time he'd been without 2B, he'd realized for himself his own capacity for cruelty, among so much else he'd rather others never saw. A2 had seen that side of him, seen his anger and despair, and his inability to overcome the loss of everything that held true meaning to him.
Was that sort of person even suitable?
2B's question is what drags him back from those thoughts, where he might otherwise become absorbed in them. He thinks about that, looking out at the sea just beyond the shore. An island in a sea in the middle of nowhere, and still, it's a human having feelings for him that's so difficult to understand]
I think... [9S starts, only to halt himself again] It's a possibility, although I... Even having it explained to me, I'm not sure how I'd know it.
[If he came to feel that way, or if he felt anything like that already. Some of what was described to him seemed familiar, but he isn't sure whether it's the same thing. But 2B asked about similarity and that, at least, he can answer to]
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[Maybe she might get a better understanding from that? Because as she is now, she really has no idea how you might confirm that you have romantic feelings either... Then again, if even 9S couldn't properly understand it from the explanation, she's not sure she'll do any better.]
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It's, well... [Going to be a halting process to get through this] Being around me makes them warm, I guess? And it means a lot to them when I smile or laugh, for some reason. They're close with other people, but it's sort of different with me? Like some things I thought they did with everyone they...don't, actually. Those sorts of things.
[He finds it even more confusing, looking back on it. There are things he can understand, but the way it adds up is...]
That warmth thing in particular, I can sort of understand? Although I think they're the source of that rather than me. I mean, I think that's true of you too, but I wouldn't characterize it in exactly the same way. It's strange.
[But this they have established]
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But that's not important right now. Besides, that's an issue she doesn't think she'll ever get sorted out anyways.]
So what you mean to them is different from what other people mean to them, and they treat you in a special manner because of it. [That makes a certain degree of sense to her, like the warmth thing.] For some reason.
[The why of it is really what has her lost though. Then again, the why of how anyone comes to like another person would probably be difficult to explain. Why did so many executioner models come to care for their targets despite knowing they would kill them? That was just something out of their control. Maybe romantic feelings were similar.
But those were also cases of just androids. A human coming to care for an android like that is particularly difficult for her to wrap her mind around.]
If you're not sure if you can determine whether or not you have those feelings, maybe you should tell them that. [Although she wouldn't want to upset this person either.]
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Although, in his case, that's certainly easier said than done]
Right... [He'll just have to figure out how to express that] I guess that's really the only thing I can do, in this situation.
[The more he thinks about it, the more he finds himself unsure. If that's the case, there isn't much for it but to admit he's out of his depth, much as a part of him hates that as a Scanner. Being well-informed is supposed to be his job, but in this realm he's rather at a loss]
Thanks, 2B.
[If only the rest were as simple as this. He chews his lip, debating how he ought to broach the subject, by far a weightier matter for all that it entails, and he can't imagine an outcome that doesn't involve hurting her]
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[She's rooting for you 9S!!! For your happiness!!!! And that he maintains a positive relationship with this human, lbr here keeping humans happy is still a priority even in a situation like this.]
Was there something that prompted their confession though? [She can't help but be at least a little curious. Then again, if 6O was anyone to go by, maybe confessions just sprang up out of nowhere.] If you don't mind telling me, that is.
[Given the nature of this situation, she'll understand if it's something he considers to be private.]
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I...transmitted something about myself. Something I hadn't meant to, since I didn't want to upset them.
[And yet he'd failed, in the midst of that argument. He was trying so hard to get Jude to understand why he was so determined about the subject and he wasn't getting through to him, but he still regrets that he let that thought slip. His frustration had gotten the better of him and it should not have.
His line of sight remains riveted to his boots]
What I...expressed...was how often I remember dying. How often I...lacked the strength to fight.
[And he thinks from that much alone, 2B can easily discern what it means. Still, the fear of where those thoughts could lead, what they could dig up and how much they might hurt her, prompt him to apologize. He knows he has to tell her, because one day, Jude might ask why it would be that he'd died time and time again, and if she heard about it that way, he couldn't forgive himself]
I...I'm sorry. It wasn't something I ever meant to...
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2B turns her head from him towards the sea silently, almost mechanically. Somehow, some way, he knows. He remembers every bit of pain she's caused him, every instance he met her only for her to kill him again. He remembers every time she stabbed him in the back, every time she snuffed his life out despite how desperately he tried to live. The endless cycle she thought she bore alone is suddenly shared, and she can't fathom how he can stand to look at her without despising every fiber of her being.
She can't even look at herself without seeing that.
Suddenly, all she can think about was how relieved she was when she died. 9S was safe, and she didn't have to hurt him anymore. She didn't have to hurt anymore. Their endless cycle was finally over once she closed the loop with herself. Here, 9S would be safe. A2 was here, and whoever cared for 9S enough to confess would surely take care of him too. She didn't have to hurt him anymore. With all that said, was there any reason for her to still have to hurt like this?
It occurs to her that there isn't.
So she stands up, walking easily towards the ocean. She doesn't stop until she's in the water, struggling to put one foot in front of the other despite her weight. When her foot finally steps into nothing, the waves easily tipping her forward to let the water drag her under, she slips beneath the surface with a smile.
She's always felt like she'd be crushed by the sheer pain of these feelings alone. It'd be fitting if it was literal.
... You better reload.]
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It would be easy to leave it at that and never bring up the topic again. It would be all too easy not to face the weight of her crimes.
But she's the one who asked, isn't she? And if she's being honest with herself, she's been waiting a long, long time to pay for her crimes. To repent for her sins.
That doesn't make any of this easy though. They're designed to resemble humans so closely, but as the full weight of his words sinks in further and further, the way she stills is anything but human. She hardly even breathes. Save for the ocean breeze rusting her hair and clothing, she looks more statue than person. Earlier, she could barely wrap her mind around what he was saying. Now, she can't even bare to think about them, his words having left her so utterly, completely paralyzed.
Distantly, she thinks she should be glad they have little to worry about in terms of threats here. As she is right now, she'd be done for if there were machine lifeforms here.
I guess we’re lucky there aren’t any enemies around here. That could’ve been fatal if machine lifeforms attacked.
Just— how much— could he—?]
... Since when. [She cuts herself off, steadying herself. If her voice wavers too much, he'll be too concerned with her well-being, and this is something she needs to know no matter what.] Since when have you remembered?
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If he where wholeheartedly honest, he'd say it was since his reactivation. But when has 9S been wholeheartedly honest, when it came to matters like this? The answer is as simple as it is stark: he never has. And so he concludes, too easily, that he'll supply what he needs to but not the whole of it]
Since I found myself in that Aimintas place.
[Since his reactivation, but this he doesn't say. He already knew 2B's role in his life far before that, and didn't need a full and complete memory to tell him as much. Now, of course, he has it anyway. The confirmation of his theories is there in his personal data, as though it was never gone to begin with.
But it's not what she asked. 2B didn't ask him how long he'd suspected what he knows now — she asked what he remembered. And with a subject that fills him with such dread, and leaves her so still she could be in maintenance, he'll only volunteer so much]
Didn't seem like the sort of thing you just...mention one day.
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Ever since he woke up in Aimintas? That long? But that means— From the very first moment they saw each other again, he already—
She can barely even process what this means, her thought routines having momentary lapses of sharp static as they try to work through the weight of this. How could it have been so long? How could she not have realized? (But who was she kidding, of course she never realized. She's never been good at seeing past what 9S is willing to show her. Despite everything, she's never been good at really knowing who he is.) It would've been no surprise to find out that he suspected her of her true role, not when it's happened so many times before. This? She never could've guessed, never even thought it was possible. She never would've wanted this for him, to know just how many times she hurt him.
Goodbye, 2B ...
I-It hurts ... It ... h-hurt ... s ...
I want ... to see you ... again ...
Hahah ... You sure are kind ... 2B ...
How could he know all that and still smile at her like he always did? How could he remember all the times he died, whether she killed him or he killed himself because of her, all the times he had to lose the person he was, how could he remember everything she's taken from him and still—]
You said you were glad to be wherever I was. [There's a laugh, short and sharp and utterly empty. Even then, she'd been so selfishly happy to hear those words. She couldn't understand how that could be true even if he didn't remember everything that had happened between them, and here they are now, and he'd known all along. It could almost be funny.] How?
[Why? After all this time, she just can't understand how he can care so much for her when she's done nothing but hurt him over and over and over again. Repeatedly, endlessly. He should hate her, and she deserves to be hated, but he doesn't and she just can't understand why.]
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It isn't a wonder at all then that she can't understand why he feels the way he does, now that for once his memory is equal to her own. Not just one lifetime or another, but all of it. And that thought is sufficient to force him to look her way, though he remains unsure whether it's better to do so or not]
Like memories of pure light. That's the message you left for me, isn't it?
[9S doesn't wait for confirmation — doesn't need to. Those words are burned into his memory as surely as anything ever was. As much as they pained him when he first heard them, as much as they made him ache as though he'd been hollowed out from within, he carried them with him]
The thing is, I consider the world a very dark place without you.
[And he was consumed only with fulfilling the objective they supposedly had, and avenging her. After that...it didn't matter if he had a soul or not, it didn't matter if there was nowhere for him to go after he ceased to function. He had been determined to join her in death all the same.
Because that was preferable to being alone.
Because that was preferable to being without her.
The simple truth was that without 2B, 9S felt alone no matter who was around him, or reached out to him, or tried to reel him back from the dark path he had started down. A2 had tried, though he doesn't really understand her reasons, save that he supposes it had something to do with 2B's wishes. She had said her name, in the end. Devola and Popola had likewise reached out to him, and even 4S. But none of them could change the simple fact that the brightest part of his life, despite the role he knew she must have in it, had been snuffed out]
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But you actually had the world for once. Finally. You could've done anything you wanted.
[To be fair though, she doesn't know what things were like once she was gone, and she recognizes that. But 9S is also the most capable person she knows. It's hard for her to imagine not having worked things out somehow. If he could figure out how to wield a weapon just to fight her, he could figure out a way to fight the machines even without her there to help. Besides, A2 was there, or if not A2, the Resistance and everyone there.
He's looking her way again finally, but she can only keep her gaze down, ashamed. There was so much possible for 9S without her around. Even if he believes so himself, even when he told her as much himself, she can't see how her being there could outweigh the opportunity for literally everything and anything else. She always ended his life so soon, so quickly. He never had much chance to do anything.
So why would the world be so dark without her? She can only think the opposite.]
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Divested of that purpose, his new purpose had become supporting 2B. And 9S was satisfied with that much, despite the role he was certain she had in his life. There is no denying he felt betrayed and hurt, suspecting that she had killed him time and again and that his memory was tampered with, but in the end...
In the end he still wanted simply to love her. And Adam had seen that contradiction within him, resenting and loving someone at the same time, mocked and derided him for it, echoing some of the thoughts he already directed at himself for the same.
But the same reason he struggled to reconcile those emotions is the same reason he doesn't want to exist without her]
You were always my world, 2B.
[9S remembers distinctly what it is to be alone. He didn't need a reminder in the form of her death and consequent absence from his life. In the past he had chosen to end himself rather than her, to perpetuate (selfishly) the cycle of meeting her and dying at her ever more grudging hands. Because each of those deaths still came with the promise of meeting her again]
It was enough for me, just being at your side. We might not have families, the way humans do, but I... [He trails off, line of sight sinking to the sand] To me, that's what you are.
[So what was left for him without a purpose, without a home, and without her?]
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I shouldn't be. Not when you should hate me.
[How can he not hate her, the way she hates herself?]
I killed you. [It's only now that she can say it plainly, now that she's condemning herself.] Over and over and over again, and you were barely even mad at me.
[Maybe every now and then, she killed him and he looked at her with something aside from resignation or understanding. Sometimes he was scared, sometimes upset, but so rarely did she see him mad at what she did to him, betrayed. And that couldn't be right, not when she deserved every bit of it.]
Why aren't you mad at me? [It could almost be a sob for how raw and broken her voice is.]
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His lips press into a thin line as he considers the words, and how he should answer them. Had he the choice, he would have preferred that they never discuss this matter at all. It's evident to him that it's only causing 2B pain. But his own mistake led to this, and waiting for Jude to ask her what he meant as he anticipates would only be worse.
It's hard to imagine a worse, right now, but...]
For a while I was. Around the time we met that E-type, and I realized I was missing data on those units, data that any YoRHa ought to have... Not to mention, you were far more powerful than a normal B-type... It seemed so obvious, what was going on.
[What must have been going on]
And I knew something was missing. Not just that data, but a void where my memories had been ripped away.
[He could perceive that void in a way he should not have, or at least he thinks so. Maybe it was the sheer number of times that it had happened, or maybe it was something else entirely]
So I resented you. Wanted to hurt you, even. But at the same time...because of you, I wasn't alone. And you were important to me, despite the role I was sure you had in my life. I didn't know what to do about it. And then, you were just...gone. And I couldn't do anything about it.
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Which is why it isn't enough to her. He should still be upset with her. He should want to hurt her more than ever, now that he knows exactly how many times she hurt him. No matter how much he cares for her, no matter how much she treasures that, it doesn't change what she did to him. She can't imagine the pain her absence could have caused him because in her eyes, it was the best thing that could've happened for him.]
That doesn't change what I did to you.
[But maybe there's one good thing that can come of this. She's held back these words for so, so long, because to say them to him would be to admit to what she's done. For so many reasons, she couldn't let him know. And now, those reasons no longer existed. There was no secret to uphold, no mission to complete, no duty to perform.
She hangs her head, hands balling the fabric of her skirt in her fists.]
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry—
[It's not an excuse for what she's done. Nothing ever could be. It's only the truth, plain and simple. That first time, when she'd obliterated his personality data rather than simply and mercifully killing him, she remembers thinking to herself that she wouldn't apologize. She couldn't. This was her duty.
How laughable. For better or worse, she simply wasn't programmed to be so. After all this time, how could she not regret what she's done, feel remorse for all the pain she's caused?]
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But he knows that his mistake made this conversation inevitable. There is nothing for it but to press on, and hope that he hasn't destroyed whatever happiness 2B could enjoy in this place, away from the unending conflict that they had always lived in]
2B... [His voice is choked, strained under his need to fix this, and the uncertainty of whether he possibly can] I know...I know you are. But I made things hard for you too, didn't I? I didn't let you go when you wanted me to. When you asked me to.
[And so he had perpetuated her hardships, hadn't he? It was a vicious cycle, and even if he had ended her, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't be deployed again without those memories and forced to repeat the same task just the same. Maybe he would've been assigned to another E-unit. There's no way of knowing.
All he does know was that dying over and over again with the promise that they'd meet once more was preferable to the alternative. Because of that, he had placed a cruel burden on her, one she shouldn't have had to live with.
That 2B is punishing herself this way because of him...it seems wrong.
Maybe he can make her understand if he approaches it this way]
Can you forgive me for what I put you through?
[It's something that he's afraid to ask her, because it means that he's confronting how he has wronged her. And maybe that will remind her that where she didn't have a choice, he did. The choice he made for her, for both of them, prolonged her hardships. It's possible that if he had chosen otherwise nothing would have changed, but even so...
Maybe, if 2B does forgive him that, it can make more sense to her that he doesn't hold her role in his life against her any longer. For a time he had, just as he has said, but he'd lost her once. And that told him all he needed to know about whether he ever wanted harm her or be without her, in the end]
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It's what she wants to say, and she almost does. If 9S made things hard for her, wasn't it only because she made things hard in the first place? If he put her through anything, wasn't it only something she put herself through to begin with? Besides, when she was already taking so much from him, how could she deny him one simple wish? All he asked for was to see her again. It seemed cruel to deny him so simple a thing when it was all but guaranteed.
But she remembers how badly she'd wanted to die when she asked him to kill her. She remembers how utterly relieved she'd felt when she saw 9S that last time, knowing that she'd not only protected him for once in her life, but that she wouldn't have to hurt him anymore because she'd be dead. That she wouldn't have to hurt anymore because she'd be dead. A combat model is always prepared to lose their life in battle, but she hadn't just been ready to die. She was waiting for it.
And 9S denied her it. She had to keep living, if only to kill him so he could see her again.
She bites her lip, ashamed of herself. She wants so badly to turn her hand to hold his own, gripping like he's the only thing keeping her afloat through the near sea of her guilt, but she can't bring herself to. Not when she doesn't deserve it. How could she begrudge him of anything when she was the last person who had the right to? This is nothing compared to what she did to him. She couldn't possibly have ever been mad with him, upset with him, for something like this. And yet throughout the endless cycle of killing and meeting, no matter how many times it repeated, she'd never actually had time to think about this. Maybe she never wanted to.
And that horrifies her.]
There shouldn't be anything to forgive. I shouldn't have to forgive you for anything. But...
[She presses her free hand to her eyes, willing herself not to shed tears. To her, it's not a matter of if she can forgive him or not. It's that there's even something to forgive on her part in the first place.
After all she's done, how could she possibly be the one doing the forgiving and not the other way around?]
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And this is a perfect illustration of all that he had been so determined to avoid by keeping the truth to himself. He regrets that it ever became necessary to tell her, and that he allowed himself to get frustrated enough to think something that would concern and upset Jude enough that inevitably he'll ask about it. Historically, he always goes to 2B with his concerns about him. And so, it all comes back to his own failure to reign in his thoughts.
That is, of course, a weakness shared by every Scanner unit]
Still, I made a choice. And I think...I had more of a chance to do so than you did.
[Not by much, confined as they were by their roles as YoRHa units, but he was in some ways better about taking independent action. What he dealt with weren't orders issued to him but rather ones that concerned him, those that 2B hadn't much choice in carrying out. But she had given him a choice. He could have released her from a role that pained her greatly. Instead, he ended himself. That was the easier option for him, and not her.
9S can't quite claim that he regrets it, because it would be a lie. He's good at pretending, but omission is his main vehicle of dishonesty, rather than outright falsehoods. Given the choice, he knows he's selfish enough to kill himself rather than her again, because the thought of being without her is far too painful]
I'm not the only one who hurt because of how things were. And I think it'd be wrong to ignore that.
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She can't deny that as much as it pained her, she was also glad to see 9S again. She was happy to see him again, to spend time with him again. To pretend she wasn't would be a lie. It sharpened the pain of having to kill him over and over, but that joy still outweighed everything else. She wouldn't have been able to keep on going if it hadn't.]
It doesn't matter if I was hurt. [And truly, she still doesn't think it does. She would gladly die again, permanently this time, if it meant keeping 9S safe and alive.] Besides, I... I forgive you.
Even if I didn't have as much of a choice... I wanted to see you again, too. I was happy when we met, too. So... I forgive you.
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If you can forgive me...is it really so strange that I could forgive you? That I'd want to see you again, too?
[Because she was and remains the most important person in his life. The knowledge that she would see him again made the pain of dying over and over something that he could endure. Because there was hope, however small it was. It had been enough for him, despite knowing that he would surely die again.
At least he would be with someone who cared about him, and someone he treasured. So many times, he had reached that same conclusion, past the anger and betrayal that came with realizing why she must have been deployed with him]
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