NieR Automata: Life's Meaning

Seated at the dinning table, Apex shoveled down forkful after forkful of the lunch Popola prepped for him, the hunger that came with morning chores and practice lessening. Today it was some kind of collection of vegetables with tender; Popola might not have much to work with but she always tried to use different herbs and spices. He appreciated the effort. With the way his stomach work, he would've eaten just about anything no matter how bad.

"Please, slow down, Apex." Popola warned from the table across from him. "We wouldn't want you to choke."

Apex swallowed what was in his mouth and threw out a quick sorry, slowing his pace somewhat.

"Why are you in such a rush in the first place?" Devola asked from the chair closer to him, sliding a metal cup of water closer to him.

And he was finally upon a conversation he wasn't looking forward to. He'd been enjoying the past week, nearly two they'd spent together. Living alongside the two of them was the best thing to happen since his awakening, no ifs or buts about it. But when he was alone he had no one to answer to or keep posted with his plans.

Well, no one other than Navi, but she just went along with whatever he decided, providing the best advice she could in the moment.

"I want to visit some…friends today?" Apex said, getting curious looks from the twins.

"You don't sound so sure of yourself." Devola noted with a raised eyebrow. "You know androids other than us?"

"Devola, please." Popola said before taking the reins of the conversation. "What she means to say is that we were under the impression you were alone before we meant. If you don't mind sharing, we'd like to know who you're referring to."

"Friends might be a strong word." Apex said, struggling to figure out what to say. How exactly did he tell two people devoted to taking of him as best they could that he wanted to make his way to what was more a less a fight club comprised of machines? Setting the whole war androids and machines had been fighting for thousands of years -as if that were so easy- he couldn't see them accepting the fact that he wanted to walk into a crowd of things created to kill him.

'Lying is always an option, master.'

'I am well aware, Navi.' He thought back with a sigh. If that was the only suggested the high-powered AI in his head was offering, best he just come clean. Rip the band aid off as it were.

"I'm going to pay a visit to some machines I'm on good terms with." Apex said. Not the most glamorous way to explain it but it was the truth of the matter.

"Good terms how?" Devola questioned, her and her sister surprisingly calm to hear he associated with any of them.

"Well, they don't attack me and I've had a few conversations with them." He said. Probably best not to start by saying he helped repair some of them during his time among them.

"What do these machines do?" Popola asked.

"They fight each other. From what they've told me, they're competing to see who's the strongest among them. Its odd." He explained, more focused on them than his own words. While they looked concerned neither looked shocked by what he was saying. "Have you seen machines like them before?"

Popola shook her head. "Not personally no, but we have heard resistance members talking about odd machines they've been running into more and more."

"Yeah. Last we heard they we're going to start trading with a peaceful group of machines not far from the city ruins." Devola added with a slight frown. "I say its some kind of new plan. The machines have always adapted to the plans and assaults used against them. Now that we androids are more focused on hiding away rather than direct confrontation, they're hoping one of us will be stupid enough to bring them back to our hideouts."

"Whether or not that is true, no one understands why the machines have started showing such irregular behaviors." Popola said, fixing him with a hard stare. "I think its too dangerous to be around them. Whatever the reason for their change, they've always wanted one thing and that's to kill humans and destroy their creations."

He didn't have a good argument against that after all, it was the same reason he had always been sure to hide his abilities from those machines as well never lead them back to the cave he called home at the time. Getting too comfortable around them was risky.

"If they do attack me, I can get away, trust me." He assured her. "And if I can't, with all the energy I get from your food I'll be able to protect myself." And he believed it too. Between his steadily increasing efficiency and someone providing him proper meals throughout the day, starvation wasn't a constant concern anymore.

"Take us with you." Devola said. For once Popola didn't chide her for being so upfront with the demand.

"We can't stop you from doing what you want and we know we may not be as much help to you in combat as much as we should but we would much rather be out there with you, then here wondering if you'll return." Popola said.

Both of them were resolute in the decision neither looking away from him.

This was a far better alternative to them doing there best to stop him. One that put them in danger but he wasn't in a position to talk when he was headed towards the things met to kill him.

"Alright we can go together." He decided. The two immediately burst into action, gathering supplies from different parts of the cabin while he returned to his meal. Hopefully seeing androids didn't set the machines off.

-Route A, No. 014-

Apex leaped from branch to branch, a virtual map conjured up by Navi showing him the way from the cabin and to the coliseum. Popola was in his arms bridal style while Devola clung to his back, arms on his shoulder and legs around his waist. If there was anything that gave them away as androids, it was their weight. That's not the say the two were heavy but they weighed more than women of their slender builds should've.

When he first awakened, traveling like this with the added weight of two others would've been impossible or at least too draining to be feasible. But now, all he had to do was make sure to pick the sturdier branches and he could leap across the entire forest with all of their combined weight, controlling his strength nowhere near as easy as breathing but steadily making progress in that direction.

As he neared the clearing that contained the machines he was after, Apex took one last leap, digging his heels into the dirt as soon as he hit the forest floor and grinding to a stop.

"So that's how manage to hunt down animals so quickly." Devola said as she climbed off his back and he set Popola on her feet. "Nice."

"It is a rather interesting method of travel." Popola said, her hair somewhat frazzled by the journey. She didn't give that much mind, readying her sword while Devola did the same with her handgun.

The two stuck close to him as he moved forward, deathly quiet. That silence broke as familiar robotic cheers reached their ears, not as loud as he was used to but still audible. That only worsened their tension, the twins narrowing their eyes and tightening the holds they had on their respective weapons. Once they broke into the clearing it got worse, both ready to flee at the sight of the gathered machines.

Apex on the other, was a little confused.

The many fashioned chairs were empty, nearly a quarter of the once full crowd completely missing. In the back-to-back days he visited not a single one of the excited machines missed a gathering, either prepared to throw down or watch all the fighting taking place.

They arrived just in time to watch none other than Captain Thunder Thighs rip off the arms of one of its fellow machines then kick it off the wooden stage with a roundhouse to stomach. As the announcer called the match, Captain Thunder Thighs turned to face the crowd and subsequently spotted the three of them at the edge of the clearing.

It bent and in a single jump cleared the surrounding cage, taking off in a mad dash towards him. Popola and Devola fully raised their weapons but he shook his head. Reluctant but unwilling to go against him they lowered them as the machine closed in.

Aburptly taken off the floor, Apex found himself in a cold bear hug that threatened to crush his bones. "Human!" The machine's loud voice exclaimed, reverberating through him.

"Happy to see you too, Captain, but you're kind of hurting me here." Apex said. Just as quickly as he was scooped up, he was placed back on his feet.

"I sorry…human been gone long. Excited." Captain Thunder Thighs explained.

"Sorry about that. I ended up busy doing some things." Apex stepped aside and held out a hand towards Popola and Devola. "I also made some new friends. This is Popola and Devola."

Captain Thunder Thighs green eyes stared down at the twins and they stared back, ready to defend themselves should the worse come to pass. The machine suddenly pointed at itself.

"I human first friend." It declared. "Bonded through battle."

"…right." Devola said, the sisters at a loss.

"Good." Captain Thunder Thighs said. "Androids talk…friendly. Not like other one."

Before he could ask about this other one, the announcer's voice filled the air. "Welcome back, human. Come up, come up. We must speak." Captain Thunder Thighs headed back towards the arena and Apex followed, Popola and Devola trailing behind him, an eye kept on the many machines they walked past. The machines watched them closely with their green eyes but made no moves.

Now behind Captain Thunder Thighs, Apex noted the damage on the machine's back. Deeps sharp cuts made by a sword of some kind.

'Those cuts match the ones on the damaged machines you came across some time ago.' Navi confirmed what he was thinking. It looked like whoever destroyed those machines had made their way across the river.

 "Soon we shall hold the final match of a tournament then we will set off on a journey." The announcer said once they were up close.

"A journey?" Apex asked

"You've noticed our missing numbers." The announcer said, waving a hand across empty seats. "They were ambushed, killed dishonorably by the White One. Captain Thunder Thighs was the only one to survive the attack."

"That attack put off our meetings but tomorrow-" The announcer continued with a heightened voice. "-the tournament shall come to end and the strongest champion here will lead us after the White One. We shall honor our fallen comrades by besting the android in honorable combat!" By the end the machine was all but shouting, all the others supporting the declaration with loud cheers. "Come then and do us the honor of seeing us off as a fellow warrior."

Apex nodded along, just a little surprised to hear that it was a singular android behind the attacks. The way Popola and Devola told it, the androids rarely went up against machines solo, preferring to work as a team even if they were only up against a single enemy. That's just how dangerous the machines could be.

"I am sorry but you've arrive to late to watch any of our battles and we must disperse least the White One attacks before we are ready." The announcer said, makings it way off the stage as many of the spectating machines began to split off into different directions. "Will we see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be there." Apex promised. Maybe by being there he could convince whoever this android was not to destroy the rest of them. Its not like they were hurting anyone by fighting each other in the middle of nowhere.

Captain Thunder Thighs gave him a stiff wave before departing alongside the announcer, the crowd of machines soon hidden the wealth of trees around them.

"You two wouldn't happen to know of any androids in this forest would you?" Apex asked, not truly expecting an answer.

"There is one." Popola admitted much to his surprise. "We don't know her name or anything about her really, but we've never seen another model like her."

"She's a real piece of work." Devola added with a frown. "She just pops up with parts more advanced than anything we've ever seen and orders us to help repair her whenever she pleases. You'd think she'd at least tell us her name."

"You think she's this White One the machines are talking about?" Apex asked.

"She has white hair as long as yours, so the name lines up." Devola said. "And with the tech packed inside of her, taking down machines on her own wouldn't be out of the question. If you ask me, she must be a part of YoRHa, but all the rumors say they're supposed to move around in teams, so we can't say for sure."

Everything about this so called White One was more or less a mystery other than the fact that she was capable of taking down groups of machines on her own.

Interesting, very interesting.

"If we find her, I think it may be worthwhile to tell her you're a human." Popola added, a clear urgency in her eyes. "She's protected us from machines before, all on her own. She'll be strong enough to protect you unlike us."

"Popola's right." Devola admitted. "Bad attitude aside she's the best fighter we've ever seen. With her around you'll be safer."

"…I'll think about it." He relented after a moment of thought. He personally didn't think he needed protection with his abilities but he wouldn't shoot their idea down outright. Still, it all hinged on her having the same desire to look out for a human; actively destroying machines didn't equate to that.

Whoever she was, it sounded like he was bound to meet her eventually.

-Route A, No. 014-

Devola back on his back and Popola in his arms once more, Apex stopped on the branch of a tree just beyond the front porch of the cabin.

He narrowed his eyes.

Down below, parked just in front of the twin's truck was a jeep colored with a camo pattern that blended with the green woodland. Likely having arrived just moments before them, the driver turned off the car and the group stepped out, each armed with assault rifles. Resistance members; the very same ones he'd spoken with back in the city ruins according to their familiar faces.

"Anemone." Popola muttered, eyes wide. Devola, on the other hand, silently glared down at the group.

Whatever their opinions, they'd have to figure out how to deal with their unexpected visitors. Preferably without anyone figuring out he was human.