NieR Automata: Life's Meaning

A human.

Within the confines of her private room -a dull space made of metal and equipped with little more than the necessities- Commander White pulled up one of her black stockings, moving to pick of the other from the pile of equipment beside her, mind too preoccupied to give dressing the meticulous thought she usually did.

How was it possible for the genetic material of a human to appear on Earth after all this time? Was there really a living breathing human there or was this some ploy by the machine lifeforms who'd been showing increasingly odd behavior? And if it wasn't, if there was actually a human to be found somewhere on the planet, what would that mean for YoRHa? For androids as a whole?

The metallic door to her room slid open with a hiss. "Good morning, ma'am. There- Oh! I'm so sorry!" Standing wide-eyed in the doorway, tablet hastily pulled to her face to provide Commander White with some semblance of privacy, 6O threw out panicked apologies, attempting to extract herself from the room.

"It's fine." Commander White said, motioning for the shorter android to enter the room as she finished up getting dressed. "Has there been any news from 2B?"

"Nothing aside from her scheduled reports ma'am. She and 9S are soon to make contact with the resistance fighters in their area of operation." 6O shared.

That was good. No news meant everything was proceeding smoothly at the moment.

Slipping on her heeled thigh-high boots, White did the same for her gloves, then stood up, 6O falling in step behind her as they emerged from her room into the metallic halls of The Bunker. "What else do you have for me?"

Swiping through the tablet, 6O dished out reports about operations and assignments being carried out all across the planet. Passing operators, either reporting for their own duties or swapping out for their assigned breaks, saluted as they passed, 6O's report carrying on long after they arrived at one of the station's central elevator and rode it to the floor where the central command room was located.

"And that should bring you up to speed on everything, ma'am." 6O declared as they entered the enormous chamber that was the command room. Unlike the rest of the station, where near total silence other than the hum of The Bunker itself was the norm, Central Command was abuzz with noise.

Operators handled their scheduled reports with units out on the field, typing away at their respective systems. Others handled distress calls, allocating permitted resources as support, ranging from orbital fire or nearby units that were available. Of course those distress calls weren't always meant with approvals, some operators forced to carry out the burden of denying the units they were in charge of any support at all.

"Thank you, 6O." Commander White said as they walked down the center of the room, operators not in the middle of any vital tasks, taking a moment to salute her.

"Of course, commander. I'm always happy to be of assistance." Despite the fact the bottom half of her face was obscured by the black veil that all operators wore, 6O's wide smile showed through. She was always one of the bubblier personalities among YoRHa. That was part of the reason Commander White saw fit to designate her as her personal assistant.

Only part of the reason.

As they stopped aboard the black circular platform at the back center of the room, it rose up, taking them to the balcony above the command room.

"Glory to mankind." 21O declared from the left side of the balcony with a perfect salute, quickly returning to her work on her holographic monitor after a nod from Commander White. 6O made her way to the right side, getting to work on her own system. 21O played the part of assistant as well, she and 6O often switching out who was responsible for debriefings and the like when Commander White's brief breaks came to an end.

Taking up her spot at the center of the platform, Commander White overlooked the entire room.

She did her best to listen to every report, distress call, and everything in between as best she could. Some calls, generally from those requesting far more assistance than what was allotted for their assignment such as usual of their main and most powerful orbital laser canon, were forwarded to her, where more often than not she had no choice but to reject the request.

And instead, if the mission revolved around the destruction of a designated target, approve of a black box reaction.

It…was not an order she relished giving out but like all of them she had orders to follow.

In spite of that, today was one of the marginally better days. The requests for black box reactions fell below the daily average and there were more calls for assistance being approved. On the worst days the room was often filled with screams and yells that left a somber weight in the air. On the best, things were at least calm.

Today was different.

Despite the fact that nothing had changed she almost felt hopeful, a sentiment she'd long since thought she lost the ability to feel.

And it had everything to do with the data she was waiting on.

-Route 25, No. 025-

"Commander." A voice, deep and masculine in nature, filled a small white chamber. "Your update on the situation."

This room, empty aside from the circular paneling at its center, was void of anything. Despite that, the room bore the highest restrictions, off limits to anyone and everyone aside from Commander White herself.

"I've personally reviewed the data uploaded by units 2B and 9S as well as their support pods." Commander White said while pressing several buttons of the panel, a hologram of information appearing before her. "The genetic material recovered from the site of 3E's destruction is unusual. While the make-up of the bone shares many similarities with the data stored on humans, there are several differences such as the density that suggests it may not have come from one. The blood on other hand, is a perfect match for that humans."

"Are you certain?"

"I checked and cross-referenced information between our files numerous times. There were no signs of synthetic material or artificial factors. If we were to bring a sample of the blood here, in-depth testing may reveal more but according to the scans provided by 2B and 9S, the blood is genuine."

"All signs point to a human presence within that area." Commander White continued, her mind racing at the thought no matter how hard she tried to retain her composure. "I request authorization to deploy several teams in the area to maintain overwatch of the area. If there is a human-"

"Do not get swept up in what could very well be a trap by the machine lifeforms, Commander." The voice stated. "There is a reason no human has been on Earth for thousands of years. Do not forget it."

Commander White fell silent, looking downwards, not so much disheartened as she was confused.

"Your request has been denied." The voice continued after a moment of silence. "Continue to have units 2B and 9S investigate the matter but do not risk the resources entrusted to you on a foolish endeavor. Remember the bigger picture."

Her head snapped back up. "But-"

"For the glory of Mankind." The voice cut her, the transmission cutting off and lights dimming, leaving her in the cold metal chamber alone.

Caution she could understand. Maybe the sign of a human presence had her moving along too quickly but to send nothing in the way of aid? To take no measures at all? Not even preparing a small escort team should there really be a human?

How could the council completely write off such a possibility as nothing more than a trap?

Commander White took a breath and turned on her heel, the single entrance to the room sliding open and closing just as quickly once she was out in the halls of The Bunker, the click of her heels bouncing off the metal walls with every step.

She'd do as ordered but her loyalty laid where the loyalty of all androids should.

In Mankind.