[I'm going to take the 1st and 2nd off, have to spend it with the family]
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The war between androids and machine lifeforms had already lasted for thousands of years.
And in those thousands of years, the "humans" that androids supposedly fought for on the front lines had never once been seen by most of them.
On the surface, it looked like the androids stationed at the front were deliberately kept from meeting humans, as if it were to protect humanity.
But it was not that humans could never be seen. If someone established outstanding merit on the front lines, or if certain conditions were met, they could obtain the chance to "meet humanity."
Yet for thousands of years, the vast majority of androids died in battle without ever laying eyes on a single human, without ever seeing proof that confirmed their creators truly existed.
So some began to doubt whether the Council of Humanity existed at all.
Others began to loathe this endless war. Unless they could truly meet humanity and receive encouragement directly from their creators, they no longer had the motivation to continue.
If this went on, androids would fall into confusion. Worse, it could trigger another internal android rebellion like the one that had happened before, with androids slaughtering each other.
Therefore, to give androids the will to persist and to raise morale, they needed "evidence" that the Council of Humanity truly existed, so that androids could regain their faith.
And thus, the YoRHa Project was born.
On the surface, it was the development of a new model of android combat force, the YoRHa series, designed to fight machine lifeforms.
So within the android ranks, YoRHa looked special. They carried a greater mission, and their status naturally stood above ordinary androids.
However, YoRHa's creation was destined to be a tragedy.
Because everyone in the plan, including YoRHa members themselves, were nothing more than tools for testing and data collection.
Which meant the "accident" that happened to A2's squad back then, and the deaths of her comrades, were also part of the Bunker's plan.
Hearing this, A2's fury almost robbed her of reason. She nearly moved to kill the commander on the spot.
Once the data had been collected, once the planners judged the experiment complete and the timing ripe, everything would be destroyed.
When that time came, the Bunker's servers would automatically erase all traces of the project.
A backdoor embedded in the system from the beginning would then allow machine lifeforms to discover it and invade. Everything would become infected.
At that point, the Bunker would be forced to be abandoned.
All documentation of the YoRHa Project, including the personnel of the Bunker itself, would be destroyed. The losses would be catastrophic.
And that would create the impression that the androids had paid such a price "to protect humanity," further cementing the belief that humans still existed, and that this sacrifice had been necessary.
Through that event, the android army's morale would be revived.
They would believe the war had meaning.
Their creators, their god, stood behind them.
So YoRHa was a force destined to be sacrificed and discarded.
Moreover, the android high command likely held little pity for YoRHa, because YoRHa's black box cores used machine lifeform technology and materials.
From the opposite angle, that could be seen as a shameful taint.
So most of the higher-ups likely did not acknowledge YoRHa as comrades.
In addition, the real reason YoRHa units were forbidden from having emotions was this: the higher-ups believed that "filthy" YoRHa should not be allowed to behave like humans, because that would be an insult to humanity.
"So, Commander White, do you see A2, 2B, and the others that way too?"
Kain asked the question with a depth that made it feel like a blade pressed to the soul.
The commander had spoken about YoRHa's meaning and purpose, but she had omitted several key points.
She had not said that the Bunker would ultimately be abandoned, or that YoRHa was destined to be wiped out.
It looked as though she did not know that even she herself would be erased.
So when Kain filled in those missing pieces, she showed a stunned expression.
As for his question, he wanted to know whether Commander White—like the other android higher-ups—looked down on YoRHa, refusing to recognize them as allies.
Based on what Kain remembered from the "work" itself, Commander White seemed to be someone who did see YoRHa as comrades.
But this was reality.
"Yes. I cannot regard YoRHa, which uses black boxes as their core, as the same kind as myself."
A reply with almost no hesitation.
That answer nearly sent A2 into another rampage.
As for 2B, she had been silent from beginning to end, but after those words, she finally showed a visible reaction.
It was as if all strength drained from her body, and she almost could not remain standing.
As for 9S, he had taken off his visor, and his expression was unmistakable—an inability to accept what he had heard.
"L-Lies, right, Commander? The Council of Humanity being extinct, YoRHa black boxes being connected to machine lifeforms, and then silencing everyone at the end like an execution… it's all fake, right?"
A girl's voice, trembling as though on the verge of tears, came through from 2B's fighter.
Kain blinked.
That should be 2B's operator, 6O. In the setting, she was the bright, energetic type, with braided twin-tails.
She had heard it too.
Who secretly linked the Bunker into this conversation?
9S?
"I didn't secretly establish communications with the Bunker. The commander herself authorized it."
9S answered with a complicated look, as if he understood why Kain would think that.
In fact, halfway through the explanation, 9S had planned to transmit the commander's words to the Bunker.
But he had discovered, to his surprise, that the connection had been open from the start.
The Bunker had been listening all along.
"Ah…? What is this?"
6O sounded shocked.
"6O, what has appeared in front of you is the 'key' I left behind. Take that 'key,' and you will know whether what I said is true."
After that, silence fell.
And Kain stared at Commander White with a sudden, profound intensity.
At that moment, he felt her emotions.
This was not some vague intuition.
He had truly received her emotions, directly—Kain's special ability.
So even here, did being a Blank have some use?
By sensing traces of other people's emotions, he could avoid certain dangers.
And right now, Commander White's emotions told him she was lying.
Not about the YoRHa Project itself.
But about the part where she claimed she viewed 2B, A2, and the others with the same cold, non-comrade eyes as the high command.
That part was a lie.
In reality, she truly did regard them as comrades.
And the fact she was revealing everything so bluntly, even allowing the Bunker to hear it, meant she was finding another way out for them.
That way out was Kain.
If he could take YoRHa in, then they could escape the tragedy of being completely "silenced."
Of course, her blunt disclosure also came from her judgment of the current situation.
Since he already knew the YoRHa Project, she assumed YoRHa would eventually learn the truth from him anyway.
So she might as well say it all herself.
"Then can I hug you now?"
"Yes."
Because from the emotions he sensed, Kain felt no malice.
Even if she truly self-destructed and killed him, then so be it.
Dying in this world would be fine.
It was better than being forced back to his original world, where even death did not guarantee rest.
Yes—within the Warhammer universe, you truly cannot rest after death.
He had already proven that firsthand.
The salted corpse on the Golden Throne would just haul him back up and make him work again.
After all, he had died during an excavation before, and he had been resurrected.
Granted, that resurrection had been a reward he earned through work.
Like playing a RPG, finishing a mission, and getting a revival token.
But who knew whether that thing would "loan" him revival tokens just to keep him working, forcing him back to life.
(End of Chapter)
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