NieR Automata: Life's Meaning

The flowery scent of Devola's hair wafted up to his nose, her head placed on his shoulder and half her body on top of his, their legs tangled together beneath the sheets. Popola had long since gotten up, likely already bathed and preparing breakfast while they lazed around.

"We should get up." Apex said.

"Probably." Devola agreed.

And so…they continued to lie there in the comfort of the bed, fully enjoying the other's company. The warmth of Devola's soft body and her steady breaths onto the side of his neck soothed him, the weight of body like a shield against the outside world and all the uncertainties that came with it. It was hard not to feel content when it felt like nothing else mattered.

"We should get up." He tried again who knows how long later. She hummed this time, shifting her head and whipping some hair across his face. He didn't mind, the flowery smell of the tangled strands making it all the easier to lie here and waste away the day.

Eventually, the aroma of Popola's cooking slipped in through the bedroom's cracked door and his stomach growled.

"We should really get up." He said.

"Abandoning me for some food, how noble." Devola said, untangling herself from him. She didn't get up though, instead rolling on top of his chest so they were face to face. "Are you ever not hungry?" She questioned, dropping one hand to poke at his side.

He instinctively squirmed away from the touch.

A slight grin broke out across her face.

"Devola, please-" More touches followed, jolts crawling across his skin and forcing unwanted laughter from him, her other hand quickly thrown to ensure he couldn't escape the assault. She was relentless, keeping it up long after the laughs devolved to more breathless gasps for air.

It took the door swinging open for her to pause and give him a moment of rest.

"Really, Devola?" Popola questioned, unamused by the sight of them still in the bed.

"You're just jealous." Devola left a light peck on his neck as if you taunt Popola before rolling off of him.

"We're coming." Apex assured Popola who nodded and took off.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, Apex threw on his tattered pants. Devola didn't bother with such things, joining him as he left the room in nothing but her underwear. He let her lead the way of course, Devola catching on as she walked down the cabin's hall, shooting a smile back at him and adding a slight sway to her hips.

When they got to the main room, Devola took up her usual seat at the dinning room table while he joined Popola in the kitchen. As he got behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and placing his chin atop of her head, he noticed her focus wasn't on the pans and pots in front of her but the window straight ahead.

Their white haired friend was at the forest line, standing out like a sore thumb amongst the trees. Popola tried to wave but got no response. He tried as well though that caused her to take off, disappearing into the forest proper.

"Still no progress huh?" He questioned.

"If it doesn't have anything to do with repairs she won't say a word." Popola said with a sigh. She'd been trying to get her fellow android to open up for almost a week since she first started following them. She stayed out in the forest, popping up to watch them but kept direct interaction at a minimum. "I don't understand her. You're a human, she should-"

"Don't worry so much about it. Everyone's got their own way of doing things." Apex said. Unlike them, he didn't mind the white haired one's approach. Distrust made far more sense to him than the natural loyalty Popola and Devola showed.

"Of course." She released a breath and refocused on her cooking. "The foods almost done but-" She nudged her head towards the old fridge, wiring now fixed and hooked to the generator they had running. "-we're running of meat, so-"

"Got it. I'll catch something today."

"Are you sure you don't want Devola and I to handle it?"

"Are you going to ask that every time I go out to hunt?" He shot back. Popola really couldn't help herself sometimes.

"I don't like you going out there by yourself." She muttered, pressing her head against his chest and looking up at him.

Apex smiled and kissed her forehead. "I know."

Popola returned the smile and he let her go, joining Devola at the table. Looked like his morning had just been decided. What were the chances he ran into that android out there?

-Route A, No. 017-

A pile of freshly destroyed machines, their parts still sparking were spread around the roots of the many trees. Apex adjusted the large elk on his shoulder and the boar he was dragging behind him, one look at the sword marks on the fallen machines enough to tell him who was behind their destruction.

Just like Captain Thunder Thighs and the others.

Apex shook his head. No need to let his thoughts linger on what was already done.

As he made his way back to the cabin he came across many more, dismembered and marked by the same type of weapon.

'Despite her anti-social behavior, it appears that android has taken it upon herself to ensure your safety.' Navi said. That or she's just taking out her anger. The one conversation they had tipped him off to the hatred she had for the things. 'I suggest you make a more concentrated effort to form a bond with the White One, as the machines called her. The androids replicate many human behaviors; being in her good graces will substantially boost your survival rate whether or not she believes you to be human.'

A very practical way of looking at it.

Unlike Popola and Devola who made some effort to talk to her, he'd treated her exactly the way she treated him. With silence and giving her plenty of space. While he'd come to agree with the twins' desire to have her around, doubly so now that he knew she busied herself dismantling the machines in their area, he had no intention of forcing her into conversation the way they tried.

Surely time would be enough, after all, she said herself that she was going to decide whether or not he was human.

With machine presence at an all time low, he reached the cabin without issue, the morning spent helping Popola and Devola strip the animals clean. Once they were done with that, they split off to do their own thing. Well, he said split up but its not like they went very far from each other. Devola played her guitar on a chair set up on the back porch while Popola walked through the garden, stopping from time to time to do a little upkeep.

Apex stood just beyond the fence, gaze focused on the piece of machine plating he'd tied to a distant tree.

Try as he might, it was as if he'd hit a wall in the strength department, his progress in that regard all but halting according to Navi. Instead of lamenting over that, he decided to focus his training on versatility over raw empowerment. There were plenty of possibilities he'd yet to explore.

More importantly, he needed to get around to covering one of his biggest weaknesses. Range. If there were other androids like that white haired one running around and machines that could keep people as strong as her from beating them back, he needed to cover all his bases.

Raising his hand towards the metal plating the skin around the bottom half of his palm and end of his wrist parted, a bone slowly beginning to emerge from. A slight flick of his wrist and the bone shot out, zipping through the air.

It fell just short of the metal plating though pierced the tree's thick bark. Another flick and a much thinner bone shard of shot out, hitting above the metal. He tried again, striking a weight between the two initial shots, the bone sinking into the upper portion of the metal target. He kept it up, struggling to consistently replicate the successful shot.

Forming the bones themselves didn't take much energy but sending them flying with enough force to pierce anything was a different matter entirely. As they were now, these projectiles of his weren't ready to be used in a life or death situation; it took him too long to ready shots, he could barely hit a moving target, and when he did try to speed up said shots, even if they didn't miss they'd just bounce right off most material, too brittle to do real damage.

It was one of two options he was preparing to compensate for his weakness.

As grumbles began to leave his stomach, he stopped firing but kept his hand up. His arm kept its shape but two separate tendrils began to form from the top and bottom of his forearm. He directed them forward, the fresh appendages thinning as they slowly closed in on his scattered bone. He wrapped them around the pieces embedded in the tree, reabsorbing the bone back into his body. His hunger began to settle and it became easier to move the tendrils, the others soon collected and the appendage receding back into his arm.

It was difficult to move around and fully control wholly new body parts but he was working to overcome that weakness. Should he succeed, it'd be possible to use the tendrils to drag distant attackers closer to him or crush them outright if he was able to strengthen it the same way he did the rest of his body.

Both options were promising.

"You didn't happen to see her out there, did you?" Popola asked him from behind fence. She was observing the forest line, concern written all over her face.

"No, but I did come across her handy work." Apex said, deciding to take a break and join her at the fence. "It looks like we have her to thank for the lack of machines wandering across us. She's been destroying them by the dozen."

Popola nodded, her concern only growing. After a week of the cold shoulder he'd thought she'd be losing steam but if anything Popola was more resolved than ever to get across to the woman. "Maybe we should find a way to thank her? Show that her efforts haven't gone unnoticed?"

He still preferred the time and space approach but it wasn't a bad idea. Apex looked around the clearing, from the cabin to the garden. What exactly did one do for a stand-offish woman who did nothing but run around destroying things? Something practical maybe? It's not like she needed one of their guns and that old sword Popola had stored away was liable to break under her strength.

"She must be sleeping somewhere, right?" Apex questioned, focusing on the empty space beside the garden. Sleep helped androids keep running at their best according to Popola and Devola. Meaning, while they wouldn't die without it, a lack of it could certainly cause a slew problems that led to them ending up prey to the machines. "There's enough space here to set up a tent and whatever else she might need."

Popola's eyes lit up. "If she isn't comfortable coming inside, we can at least make sure she has somewhere she can rest outside. I should've thought of that earlier."

Popola started turning the suggestion to a reality immediately, retreating inside to grab furs among other things. Apex shook his head but pushed off the fence and got to work as well. It didn't take long for Devola to join them.

Between the three of them setting up a campfire, a log to sit on, and a large tent framed from sturdy sticks tightly bound together then insulted by all the extra furs they kept from butchered animals was an easy enough task. It wasn't anything special, just a small spot of earnestly thrown together necessities, but it was bound to beat finding some hole or thick tree to sleep in hoping no machines came across her.

"Hey, White? You out there?" Devola called out to the surrounding forest. When no answer came she shook her head. "Hopefully we didn't waste our time on this."

While Devola returned to the porch to play her guitar, Popola kept looking around for their missing guardian. He patted her shoulder. "I'm sure she'll know what this all for when she shows up again." He assured.

Popola slowly nodded, reluctantly returning to her own devices.

Apex picked his training back up, certain the woman would pop up sooner or later. Whether or not she'd make use of their gesture was the real question.

-Route A, No. 017-

Apex awoke from a dreamless sleep, his eyes quickly acclimating to the darkened bedroom. Both Popola and Devola were curled into his sides, the former using an arm as his pillow and the other his chest.

Normally his sleep went uninterrupted - largely thanks to Navi suppressing his senses throughout the night- only to be cut short by the occasional machine he needed to take out. That hadn't happened since their new acquaintance started watching over them, meaning one of two things. Some machines had slipped past her or-

 'Footsteps that match the cadence of the White's One walking pattern have come from the backyard.' Navi notified him.

So, she was back.

Carefully extracting himself from the snoozing twins, Apex managed to get to a stand and slip out of the room, heading out the cabin's back door. His eyes had to readjust to the rush of sunlight but just as Navi said, the android they'd been waiting on stood beside the camp they'd built, sword in hand as she looked between the tent and campfire.

The wood of the porch creaked beneath his feet as he came down its steps. Her attention snapped to him, sword instinctively raised though lowered once their eyes met.

"What is all this?" She asked. The first words she spoke to him since their initial meeting.

"A camp for you." Apex said. "Popola wanted to thank you for handling the machines in the area."

There was no visible reaction to his words, the woman resuming her examination of the camp. She used the blade of her sword to part the fur flaps of the tent and peered inside. There wasn't much room to walk around in it but there was plenty of space and the fur flooring of it thick enough that she'd be comfortable despite sleeping on the ground; Popola made sure of that.

Silence was the reaction he expected.

"Use it or don't, it's up to you." He said, spinning back around to make his way back inside. "And thank Popola when you get the chance. She's been spending all her time worrying about you."

"A2." He paused caught off by the sudden response. He turned back to see she had stabbed her blade into the ground beside the campfire and taken a seat on the log.

"What?"

"My name. Its A2." She clarified without looking his way.

Huh. Progress. Who would've thought.

"A2." He repeated. It was more like the cold designations one would expect to be assigned to androids rather than an actual name. "See you in the morning, A2." He said though he got no response. Maybe a name wasn't much progress but they had to start somewhere.

When he made his way back inside and back between the twins, Popola nuzzled her head into chest, groggy but awake. "Was that her?"

"Yep."

"Was she okay?"

"Just fine. I think she took a liking to the camp we set up for her."

Popola hummed. "That's good." She mumbled drifting off as she fully settled against him. Even half-asleep she was worried about someone she barely knew. He brushed a hand through her hair before inevitably following her lead and joining the twins in the bliss of sleep.