Nier: The Last Human

by StardustSprinkle

Failure

"What in the world is going on?" Sunset shouts as she drives her spear into the shield of a machine life-form: "Where do all those machines come from?"

"Sunset!" 2B calls out to Sunset as she cuts down two more enemies: "I will take care of everything!"

"And I will be helping you!" Sunset replies, fencing off smaller enemies while panting for air. Her arms and legs are shaking because of the strain of battle. Of course, humans are fragile compared to androids. Moreover, she lost a significant amount of muscle mass from her slumber. Yet, Sunset decided to risk her life for the androids who are created to serve humans. For now, she's the only one left in the camp. Because of her effort, many androids are able to escape.

"Your body is not designed for fighting," 2B replies: "You will be a liability on the battlefield."

"A liability, eh?" Sunset says as more enemies closing in: "I don't think there's a way out."

"Pod," 2B says: "Why don't you activate the gravity field?"

"Positive," the Pod says: "Gravitational Field activated."

The Pod unleashes a ball of energy, and all the machines are pulled towards it.

"Now go!" 2B shouts, charging at her enemies: "I will take care of everything!"

"Sure," Sunset says, supporting her body with the spear: "I'll get back up."

I'm lucky; Sunset thought: I am glad that 2B's here. I will have been dead if it keeps going. It's just a typical day until a herd of machines just came out of nowhere and flooded the camp. Most of the androids escaped, but many failed and died defending the camp. As Sunset tumbled her way out, more and more machine starts to gather around.

"What the..." Sunset collapses on the ground from exhaustion. There's no point in getting up anymore. Tens of hundreds of machines surround her. There's no way 2B or herself to get out of this undamaged. Perhaps there's no point in getting up anymore.

"Hi! Machines! Take a look at me! I am a human!" Sunset shouts, trying to stand up: "Hi! Look at me! I am a human! An accursed human! Get me, and victory is yours!"

Instead of attacking as they usually would, the machines start to walk in circles. Looking at the bizarre scenario, Sunset bursts out in laughter. How pathetic, the machines, the mighty machine, the archenemy of androids and herself, is unable to gather the fruit of victory right in front of their eyes. The machines created the aliens, who annihilated their creator and learned more human culture than any androids could dream of, cannot even walk straight at the moment. Her, Sunset, the leader of androids, the last surviving member of the human race, is now so helpless and can do nothing but standing here and wait. Her arms and legs are shaking due to the strain of battle. There's no way for her to keep going anymore. She wants to keep fighting, but her body is too weak to go on.

"Ma'am!" 2B calls out: "I've cleared out the enemy!"

"Cleared out," Sunset mumbles as her sight fades into darkness.

---

"Brother...Brother..."

Who is this man? What's happening? Right, 2B said she cleared out the enemies. But what happened next?

"Brother!'

Who is he? He's...mourning for his brother? But I've never heard of this voice before. Is he...a machine? But how? He sounds heartbroken. He sounds...devasted. How sad. I shouldn't feel bad for the machines after they attacked our camp, but this sounds...so...genuine. He doesn't sound like a machine, nor an android. He sounds like a human. A man who just lost something precious. Are those...tears? Am I crying for my enemy? How pathetic...how sad...

"Sunset..."

Who is it? I...can't move my mouth. Am I dying?

"Sunset! Stay with me!"

Anemone? I...can't move my mouth! Anemone! Can you hear me? I can't speak...

"Anemone..."

"Sunset!"

"Wha..." Sunset slowly opens her eyes.

"Thank goodness! You are ok!" Anemone shouts: "Medic!"

"What happened..." Sunset asks, closing her eyes again.

"Stay with me!" Anemone shouts: "2B eliminated all the enemies in the camp. She's fighting Eva as we speak now."

"Eva..."

"Yes!" Anemone continues: "That Eva guy is responsible for managing half of the machine's network. Destroying him would..."

"Brother..." Sunset mumbles.

"Did you hear that?" Anemone says: "It's pretty creepy that a machine hacks into our transmission just to cry for his so-called 'brother.'"

"Of course," Sunset says: "It's creepy."

No, it's not creepy at all. Sunset thought: It's the most human emotion I experience in this place.

"The medics are here!" Anemone says: "I'll be talking to you later, ok?"

Sunset nods as a couple of androids load her into a stretcher.

What's the difference between machines and androids? At first, I thought only androids are capable of understanding human emotions. Yet, the cries that Eva let out...makes me question everything. If machines understand human emotion better than androids, what does that imply?