"Hear me now!" The King's robotic, loud and far reaching, filled the air. The machine stood on a recently built stage in the center of the village, knights and villagers alike gathered into a massive crowd before it. At the rear of the crowd, Popola, Devola, and A2 at his side, Apex counted nearly a hundred of them and this wasn't even all of them. Many were still on guard around the village, at the bridge, and within the castle grounds.
This was the first time he'd so many of the denizens of the Forest Kingdom in one place. And for good reason; this was the first time he'd seen the King address the people of the kingdom.
"Long have we struggle against our fellow machines, those still enthralled by the Network." The King continued. "They have destroyed our homes, destroyed friends, and forced us to live in fear. And for so long we could do nothing but fight a losing battle. No more! Our walls have expanded, our homes are studier, and we are better able to defend ourselves!"
The crowd erupted into cheers, the deafening burst of mechanical sound almost as painful as a punch straight to the face.
"And it is thanks not just to our loyal knights and all of your efforts." The crowd quieted down as the King continued. "The true driving force behind these changes re those we welcomed among us. It is thanks to the human, Apex and the android we call The White One, A2."
The cheers started up once more, countless green eyes turned upon them. He fought off a wince while waving back at them. A2 was content to ignore the attention. A surprise to absolutely no one.
"Their help marks a new age for our kingdom. An age not of fear and stagnation but progress and new opportunities. And to cement this new age, I shall make establish a new decree." The King's voice rose louder than ever before, the fervor within it unmistakable despite the mechanical nature. "From this day forth humans and androids are friends of the Kingdom! All are welcomed among us!"
The declaration was accompanied by thunderous cheers, some of the machines going as far as to applaud, the metal clanging less than pleasant on his ears.
"Now, let the celebration begin!" The cheering machines began to spread out across the village. The celebration as the king put it was not as extravagant as it sounded, amounting to the mechanical lifeforms walking around the village, playing games with one another, and talking.
"Water for you!" One machine, carrying a wooden plate over its head with several metal cans placed on it, stopped in front of them. Apex took one with a quick thanks but didn't drink from it. All the machines had finally stopped trying to offer him oil, but he learned pretty quickly that they weren't the best at cleaning out these canisters they drunk out of; oily water wasn't something he'd ever recommend to anyone.
"Thank you." To his surprise Popola took one though like him, she didn't drink from it. The machine didn't pay much attention to A2 and Devola, running off to join others in a different part of the village.
This would be their last few hours here, almost nothing of true importance learned from the time spent among the machines. All the same, Apex couldn't help a smile as he looked out across the rowdy place. They'd proven more interesting than expected, especially the Forest King, and there was a certain excitement in them right now, making them seem all the more human-like.
Looking at it all, the celebratory machines, the new walls, repaired buildings, how could he think that helping them was anything other than the right thing to have done?
That was his opinion anyways.
"We can leave now if you all want." Apex said once they separated themselves from the heart of the celebration, watching the machines from a distance. They'd done what they set out to do, even ending up on good terms with the group in process, so there was no need to force them to stick around the machines any longer than they wanted.
"You don't want to stay for this?" Devola asked.
"I wouldn't mind but I'm not the one who did all the work and I don't think we're going to learn anything else about the machines if we stick around." Apex said with a shrug, focusing on A2 specifically. "So, what's the call?"
A quick glance across the village and a slowly forming frown gave him her answer before she said a word. "I want to go back to the cabin."
And that settled that.
Apex said goodbye to a few passing machines as they made their way to the open castle gates. With most down in the village, they made short work of retrieving their gear from their room and making it through the front gates of the castle. They'd made it across the barricaded bridge, Apex waving as they passed the sparsely spread-out knights, and came upon their parked truck, Popola and Devola carrying out scans before any of them touched it.
"Apex." Following after them, a caped knight in tow, the King called out for him just as they began loading their gear into the truck. "I thought that you all may leave ahead of time."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Just missing home." Apex said, turning to greet the King, A2 joining him, giant sword still in hand, while the other two started up the truck. The knight, the very same one who'd led that attack against A2, kept a hand on its own weapon, the two staring at one another.
Hopefully nothing came of it. They were literal seconds away from leaving.
"Of course. It must be difficult to be away from one's home." The king stepped forward, cane shifted into one hand, the other extended. "Should you ever have need have us, we will offer what help we can. Until then, be well and be safe, my friend."
Apex took hold of the King's cold rusty hand. "You as well."
They exchanged nods as they shook hands. As the King turned to leave, the Knight remained, its red eyed stare never leaving A2.
A2 raised her blade slightly, shifting her stand.
The knight bowed forward slightly then hurriedly followed it's King back across the bridge. A2 stared after it, brow furrowing.
"I think that was supposed to be an apology." Apex explained, turning to the truck and patting her shoulder on the way. "Let's get going."
After a moment's pause, she disappeared into the back of the truck while he got into the cab, Popola at the wheel and Devola in the middle. The faint hum of the engine filled the air and seconds later they were driving through the dense forest, Popola easily retracing the path they'd taken to get here not so long ago.
He sighed and leaned back in his seat, fully relaxing for the first time in what felt like forever. He might not have completely shared in the paranoia the three of them had but he'd been keeping himself ready to burst into action at a moment's notice and that came with its own sort of mental exhaustion that was only hitting now.
Devola released a sigh of her own, placing her gun onto the dashboard before dropping her head across his lap and stretching her legs across Popola's lap. "I can wait to finally get back home." She muttered, Popola humming in agreement as she shifted to accommodate her sister. He dropped a hand to Devola's head, running it through her messy hair.
They were probably all way more wound up than him after being around those machines. Popola especially; she wasn't doing much of any talking, gaze focused solely on the greenery ahead. As the bumpy ride went on, she didn't even bother checking up on A2, something she'd done all the way up until they reached the castle.
"Something wrong?" Apex asked.
Popola said nothing. A slight kick from Devola jolted her out of her focus. "Oh, no, no. Nothing's wrong." She said a bit too quickly.
"You aren't a good liar, sis." Devola said. "You can tell us what's on your mind now or I can kick you until you do. Your choice."
"It's nothing really. Nothing important." Popola said only for Devola to follow through on her threat, not quite kicking but pressing her boot into Popola's side. "You are aware I'm driving?"
"Then you better get to sharing before you crash."
Popola shot Devola a side-eyed that went completely ignored, the latter's eyes closed as she leaned into his hand.
"It's just…" Popola began only to trail off. After a sigh she continued. "Machines are supposed to be our enemies. They're responsible for the deaths of countless humans and androids. I'm happy to be away from them." She admitted. She paused again, this time for much longer, earning her another faint tap. "When we were there, after the first few days, it didn't seem so bad. They're machines, I know that, but they didn't treat us like enemies. They…"
"They treated us better than the others back as the camp ever did." Devola finished for her, frowning slightly.
"Exactly." Popola said, her grip on steering wheel tightening. "I…I think I'd feel more comfortable returning there than to the Resistance. I shouldn't feel that way. It isn't right. They're our enemies." She frowned, lips curling slightly. Not quite anger or sadness. If anything, she looked almost…guilty?
"You shouldn't think of it like that. You can't help how you feel. Beating yourself up over whether or not those feelings are right isn't going to do you any good." Apex said, unsure of what exactly to say to them. Their feelings towards machines would be far more complicated than his, especially considering how they'd been treated by other androids. "If you ask me, you don't have anything to feel bad about."
"You really think so?" Popola questioned, glancing his way. He nodded with smile, hoping to put her in a better mood. It worked somewhat, her frown slowly fading away as she refocused on the path ahead.
"If you think so, that's good enough for me." Devola said.
Despite her words, he doubted that truly cleared up the complicated mess of emotions they were feeling. The same went for A2; she might be sitting silently in the back, but he was sure she had her own thoughts on their stay in the Forest Kingdom.
Either way, he hoped that the next time they returned -if they ever did- they wouldn't be so bothered by the idea of being among machines. Who knows, maybe by that point, the King's successor would be up and about.
Hopefully that King liked the name he had decided on.
-Route A, No. 035-
Apex stared up at the darkened ceiling above.
Sleep should've come easily.
He was back in the cabin, in a comfortable bed with Devola halfway on top of him and Popola curled up against his side, her legs tangled up with his. It was familiar and despite the weight on him, comfortable. In fact, the sweet flowery smells that typically accompanied their hair helped him relaxed according to Navi.
And yet here he was, wide awake with a mind that wouldn't stop wondering back to A2.
He wasn't surprised; she'd been standoffish since their return from the Forest Kingdom. Quiet and isolation was her thing but not to the extent of flat-out denying repairs from the twins and disappearing for the rest of the day without any explanation.
He wasn't going to be getting any sleep until he went and saw her would he?
'I can always help induce it for you, master.' Navi said. 'Though I suspect you would rather search for her instead.' Ah, she knew him so well.
Carefully moving Devola off of him and detangling himself from Popola, his eyes instantly adjusting and doing away with the darkness now that he was on the move, Apex left the bed and headed outside the backdoor. Sure enough, A2 had returned, sword imbedded in the ground beside her unlit campfire while she sat on a log, staring at the ground.
He joined her on the log.
"Do you remember what I said?" A2 suddenly said. And here he was thinking he was going to have to find some way to get her to talk.
He nodded.
"Do you still want to hear about them? My team?"
Another nod.
"It…It was years ago now. YoRHa had only recently begun carrying out missions across Earth. I and others were sent down from the Bunker to destroy a target that should've crippled the Machine Network." A2 began the start of what he knew would be a long story.
A story of the past that'd led to who she was now.