"I...We're...eternity...it hurts...it really hurts...why just us...why do we have to...our eternal pain..."

T2 found herself back within her system as a white ship. She moved down the system path, hearing the young boy's voice again. It was filled with pain and suffering, and it made her feel horrible.

"The eternal pain! It screamed at us! It told us there was nothing of value to protect in this world...the world had no meaning! It SCREAMED at us!"

T2 came to the open space of her systems, and when she entered it, the path behind closed with white blocks.

"What the hell?" echoed T2's voice from within the ship.

Soon, a giant grey sphere appeared in the middle, and a force field appeared around it.

"You and I...are the same." echoed 2S's voice from the sphere. "We have no one to help us. We can only cry and scream-"

Before T2 could hear the rest of 2S's speech, the sphere started unleashing orange bullets at her in a pattern, and the young boy's voice screamed from within the sphere.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT!"

"Shit!" cursed T2, as she started to dodge the orange spheres and saw grey boxes appearing and also shooting orange spheres. "What the hell is this memory!? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" she screamed as she fired her ship guns, destroying a few of the grey boxes.

T2 hovered across the floor, dodging the boxes and the sphere's attack. The sphere unleashed a wave of orange bullets, and T2 quickly dashed past them. She was trying to think of a way to get through this.

"We don't need it! We don't need this world! I...We tried our best! In the rain, in the wind, in the storm. Even when our companions died, we kept fighting! But the eternal war...our eternal pain..."

T2 listened to the young boy's voice as she kept avoiding the waves of bullets. The sphere's voice soon boomed at her.
"The eternal pain! It screamed at us! It told us there was nothing of value to protect in this world..."

"Like hell, you stupid voice!" T2 shouted as she was almost close to the sphere, only to have it disappear.

It reappeared above her as a vast sphere with a weird, smiling face. The force field was still up as it started to attack T2, who noticed she was returning to her normal self within her systems. She drew her white blockly sword and ready herself for the battle.

LALALALALALA!" sang the sphere as it started firing more bullets.

T2 was dodging them, but it wasn't long until her arm got hit, and the bullet pierced through her shoulder. She hissed in pain but kept on going.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" T2 yelled at the sphere, dashing to the side and avoiding more bullets.

"Our eternal pain! It SCREAMED at us! It told us there was nothing of value to protect in this world-in THIS WORLD!"

"What is this shit talking about!?"

"We wanted to die! We WANTED to die! So much we begged and begged for it to end! And the eternal pain..."

T2 jumped forward, deflecting all the orange bullets, and she swung her sword, hitting the force field. The powerful strike was enough to scatter the force field away, leaving the sphere open.

"You...all of you...this PAIN! This SADNESS! This DESPERATION!" cried the young boy, his voice filled with much suffering and despair.

T2 landed and looked up, seeing the sphere slowly lowering itself back to the system floor and opening its mouth, creating magical energy. T2 cursed as she knew she didn't have time to dodge it. She raised her sword at the exact time as the huge beam was fired. The beam clashed with her sword, pushing her back toward the white boxes.

"I DON'T NEED TO FEEL IT ANYMORE! I WANT THIS TO END!" the young boy screamed as the beam continued.

"SHUT UP!" shouted T2 as she pushed back and slowly moved the beam and herself to the sphere. "I know nothing about your pain or sadness! I don't care!" she pushed the beam more, and it was inches from the sphere. "THE ONLY THING I CARE ABOUT IS DESTROYING ALL THOSE DAMN MACHINES! FOR KILLING MY FRIENDS! WHO WERE LIKE SISTERS TO ME!" as she kept pushing, a vision of her friends flashed in her memory banks. Seeing how they all died. "FUCK THEM! FUCK COMMAND FOR NOT ABORTING THE MISSION! FUCK THE ALIENS FOR CREATING THOSE DAMN MACHINES AND FINALLY FUCK THIS DAMN BODY OF MINE!!!" she fully deflected the beam, leaving her enough time to dash toward the sphere, stabbing it.

The sphere was shocked, and T2 took this moment to raise her sword high and slam it down, shattering the sphere.
T2 looked around and saw the area was changing to a long bridge-like platform, with the sun beaming in the far distance in the middle of the endless void.

"I've been here before, no?" T2 asked as she could hear the boy's voice speaking to her.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT!"

T2 had enough of this boy's pity and pointed her sword to the sky. "AND YOU DON'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MY OWN! LIKE I SAID, FUCK THIS WORTHLESS BODY OF MINE! IF IT'S NOT GONNA BE HELPFUL TO ME IN REACHING MY GOAL, THEN IT'S USELESS TO ME!" she then screamed and stabbed her sword into the system floor, creating a loud stabbing noise. "I just need it to stay together until I can finally take revenge for my fallen sisters!" T2 gripped the handle of the sword tightly as her voice started filling with loss and sadness. "I don't want to be useless again. I don't want to lose another friend like I was losing 9R. I want to end this war not only for me but for her as well...so why?" tears started to run down her cheeks. "I don't need others to help me! I don't need pity! I don't want anyone else to suffer or die...but why do I keep doing the opposite?" her grip was shaking, and her body was shivering. "WHY AM I SO USELESS THAT EVEN MY BODY IS BECAME THE VERY REFLECTION OF IT!? I...I-I-"

"You and I...are the same."

T2 flinched when she heard 2S's voice and saw her standing there. Just looking at her with pity and sadness. "We have no one to help us. We can only cry and scream-"

T2 tossed her sword at 2S, scattering it as the blade stabbed the floor. She dropped her knees and screamed at where 2S stood.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!" T2 punched the ground hard with her fists. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY PAIN OR SUFFERING!?" she stopped, her eyes filled with so many tears. "Stop pitying me, damn it. I don't want it. I hate it. Just leave me alone...let me be alone in my suffering. I'm done." she closed her eyes. "I'm nothing; I lost who I was. I'm not the old me anymore, as she died three years ago when...I had to kill my last remaining friend. I can't be strong; I'm just weak. Just like this body, which is nothing more than a useless vessel." she felt so alone and weak. She was giving up. She wanted it to all end...until she heard a voice.

"So what?"

T2 saw her sword slide towards her and stop as it tapped her knees. She looked up and could see 9R standing there.

"None of it matters." she gripped her black sword hard. "Or didn't you know? We aren't required in this world anymore."

Suddenly, echoes of the young boy's voice could be heard, and the same sentence could be heard repeatedly.

"The world had no meaning! It SCREAMED at us!"

"The Commander? Me? 2S? ALL OF US!" 9R burst out in laughter as tears fell from her eyes. "ISN'T THAT HILARIOUS!? DOESN'T IT MAKE YOU LAUGH!?"

T2's heart ached so badly, as she couldn't bear seeing 9R like this. T2 started to remember why 9R was like this. Losing 2S to the Logic virus and watching her die at the hands of T2 herself. It was a mercy killing that 9R never wanted to accept and even blamed T2, as 9R believed she could have saved 2S. 9R's loyalty to 2S was so great that she lost all reason, falling into despair.

"9R...I...I'm sorry," apologized T2 as she felt this was her fault, but 9R swung her sword in rage.

"SHUT UP!" She slowly raised and pointed her sword at T2. "You killed 2S. That's all we need to kill each other."

"...." T2 was stunned by the words.

T2 grabbed her sword and slowly stood up. "9R..." T2 remembered now that she had been in this situation before. She relived her memories of when she fought 9R within the white tower, a cannon, and pointed to the human server on the moon. She told 9R the truth about 2S and how she was a model based on her T2. It's a better and updated version of the T series. T2 stood for Tactical Number 2, as her squad was the first tactical androids to be made to combat the machines.

After the test run was completed, the S series, Number 2 Slayer models, was made. Made not only for killing machines but to kill the high-end hacking and detecting models of the 9R series, Number 9 Radars. 9R herself as she was too smart for her good and will learn the truth about how all humanity was dead and not truly on the moon.

T2 understood 9R's pain, the pain of losing someone that she wanted to befriend 9R, but 9R didn't want her friendship, not after seeing her kill 2S in front of her. T2 remembered how it went down but wanted it to change so much that she had to try.

"9R, I know what you are fe-"

9R screamed at her with so much despair and pain. Her eyes were glowing red now. "What do you know? You don't know anything at all about me!"

T2 felt her hope was gone.

"...stupid. This is just a memory. Nothing will change..."

She watched a bright yellow and pink colored pod appear next to 9R.

"Proposal: Cease combat. Fighting her at this point would be irrational and-"

"Pod 19-8-25! I order you to halt all logical thought and speech! This order shall remain in effect until you confirm the death of either myself or unit T2!" the pod was silenced, as 9R had ordered it not to interfere with her fight. It floated away.

T2 remembers it all now. This battle—her being here—shows who was going to win. She didn't even bother to raise her sword to defend herself. She remembered the sorrow and sadness in 9R's voice as they fought.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! NONE OF THIS MATTERS!"

She remembered the clashing of swords.

"But if it doesn't MATTER...why do I long for someone's hand?"

T2 slowly looked up, seeing 9R was gone, and only her sword remained as it was stabbed into the ground.

"Why do I desire the touch of something that no longer exists!? WHY!?"

Echoes of crying and clashing swords could be heard.

"IT'S GONE! SHE'S GONE! WITHOUT HER, I'M NOTHING! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT I DO, MY LIFE! MY WORLD! IT'S OVER!"

The clashing sound grew louder, and the crying echoes grew louder and louder. She remembered trying to speak reason to 9R, but like her body, that was a failure.

9R laughter could be heard as she spoke. "Fine then...I'll just destroy it! Heehee! If it all goes away, that'll solve everyTHING!"

T2 started to walk closer to 9R's sword, knowing what she meant by that. It was the second reason 9R wanted to fight her: to end her own life.

"9R..."

As T2 stopped before the sword, her vision glitched out and faded away quickly. She could hear 9R's painful struggle and crying—until it was gone.

"You and I...are the same."

She grabbed the halt of the sword, pulled it out of the floor, and glared at the dark blade surface.

"We have no one to help us. We can only cry and scream for all of it to end. We lost what matters to us, what made us who we are..."

She slowly raised the sword and flipped it around, pointing the blade to her chest.

"I freed you from your suffering..."

T2 closed her eyes, and everything around her was glitching out.

"AJ was right. I'm a coward...I let my body become worthless. It's my own fault because...I'm not strong enough like I thought..."

She raised the sword, aiming the blade to her chest, ready to kill herself. She opened her eyes, revealing her flicking red eyes.

"I'm coming, everyone...I'm...coming..."

She raised the sword a bit and was going to plunge it into her chest....when...

"I can't go any further with this fat-ass junkhead anymore!"

"Huh!?" said T2, coming out of her sleep mode and seeing herself falling to the ground.

T2 landed on her back hard and cursed loudly. She sat up and glared at AJ, who was cracking her back as she was the one who was carrying her.

"Bastard!"

AJ didn't bother to look at her as she finally cracked her back. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Happy to see you finally awake."

"What happened?" asked T2 as she slowly returned to her feet and looked around, noticing the wooden houses. From what she could tell, they were inside a small town.

"We made it to the next floor and stepped out into this town, as you can see," explained AJ, looking around the place. "And before you ask, no, there is no one here. Artemis scanned the area and picked up no signs of life...well..."

"Well, what?" asked T2, having a bad feeling.

AJ turned to her, crossing her arms. "She picked up two life signs, and we are close to one." she turned ahead, where she was heading before she dropped T2. "Up ahead, Brigitte and the others went ahead of me. Could be another person like us here." she faced T2 and smiled. "If you weren't so damn heavy, we would have been at their side."

"Don't blame me for my body! Blame your small body, you damn twerp!" she blushed as she hated how AJ kept making fun of her weight.

AJ's eye twitched when she heard the word 'small' and became angry. "WHO YOU CALLING A DAMN TWERP, YOU FUCKING JUNK HEAD!?" she growled and was getting ready to kick the shit out of T2, but when she took one step, her automail leg went stiff, making her almost fall. "Crap..."

T2 had her sword ready but saw what had happened to AJ. She put her sword away and tsk loudly. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's falling apart with their body, huh?"

AJ didn't reply but just stood there with a pissed-off face.

T2 shook her head and walked past her. "Try to keep up, you damn twerp."

"H-Hey!"

AJ was limping to keep up with T2 as they continued where Brigitte and the others went.

Brigitte held Nono tight as the poor girl was having a nightmare, crying out and saying something.

"Don't hurt me! Please!"

Brigitte stopped her wheelchair and could see a bench not too far away from them. "There," she said and wheeled over to the bench. Once they were in front of it, she put the brakes on and picked up Nono, placing her on the bench. She took her hand, stroking it.

"Poor kid..."

Artemis appeared from behind the wheelchair, and her hologram body was on. She floated near her mother.

"How is she, mom?"

"Not good. She's still crying and saying things about being hurt."

Artemis became sad and was worried for the girl, not knowing why she was going through this. "Mom, she told us about how she was a weapon..." Artemis still couldn't believe that part. "A living weapon...at her age! It's so cruel. Why would someone do that!? Even making her go out to fight someone more powerful than her, which cost her limbs...this is evil. I'm worried that if she was born there, more children may be there like her."

Brigitte agreed, but...

"There's always evil in the world, sweetheart. Even in other universes, people are horrible and evil. Even Terra was like this girl, you know?"

"Dad...was a weapon?"

"Yes. she was." Brigitte grits her teeth as she remembers Terra's past. "When Terra and I got closer on the planet, Skyros, she opened up to me. Revealing to me her past. How her psychic powers went out of control one night when she was a young kid, killing her big sister and the rest of her sister's family. The Empire troops were sent in after Terra's psychic energy wiped out that block. She was captured." She lowered her head a bit. "They saw how powerful she was for a gifted horn one, so instead of killing her, they placed her in the Ghost Program. Forced to become a tool, a weapon for the Empire. She was trained to be a killer and killed so many people. Some were good people, people that stood up against the Empire."

As Brigitte was talking, a brown boot stepped on the ground behind her. Whoever was there started to listen as a yellow butterfly flew around them.

"Terra was raised as a tool, a tool to kill, not to love or feel anything. Not to disobey orders or question them. She was just a tool."

Brigitte lifted her head, looking up at the sky, which was filled with the wooden ceiling of this floor.

"That's what she told me; she was just a tool and a weapon that she shouldn't ever be given pity or be cared for. That her life doesn't matter and doesn't need a happy ending. Terra said her fate was sealed. Her life was over, and she gladly accepted it."

"...dad, s-said that?" whispered Artemis as she never thought her father would say that about herself.

Brigitte nodded and looked down at Nono, touching the young girl's cheek.

"She did, but as time passed, she started to change. She was slowly getting her feelings back, like love and friendship. The Empire had made her think and feel like a tool, but they failed as Terra started to understand what I was telling her."

Artemis got slightly closer, not wanting to miss anything.

"And what was that?"

"I have seen good lives wasted. Young teens to men and women, soldiers who died on the battlefield. It's not fair. They deserved more. Thanks to the Empire, they should have had a life they chose for themselves, not being forced into a life they never wanted. That's how I saw Terra." Brigitte looked back at Artemis. "I told her that her life was worth something more than being a weapon and tool. She's a human being and a woman, not a machine. Not a weapon. When I told her that, I could see in her eyes that she never heard those words before. Her eyes were so broken and lifeless, but a spark was within them. It was the first time I had ever seen someone's eyes spark like that. They were full of so much sorrow and... hope."

"Hope? Why hope?"

"Because she didn't want to be a monster, and she wasn't. She felt regret and shame. She even felt guilty about all the lives she took but never had a chance to redeem herself. But...when she heard what I told her, she had hope. That she could move forward and live her life as a free woman. That's when, for the first time, I saw Terra cry. She never shed tears or even thought about crying, but the day she was told her life had meaning and wasn't a tool, she could have a happy ending. That was the day she cried. She was sobbing her eyes out."

Brigitte turned her head back to Nono and leaned over, petting the young girl.

"This poor girl is the same, but the way she talks about her father, which I highly doubt is her real father, that man wants her to be free from being a weapon. He wants her to have a happy ending."

"But what is a happy ending?"

Brigitte laughed a bit. "A happy ending is when a person is saved from a cruel fate, a horrible life, and given the choice to make their life better. To give their life meaning. They are saved from the evil that holds them down. From the chains that bind them, they can break free."

The person behind them listened, started moving forward, and spoke as the yellow butterfly flew away.

"The one who made her into a weapon, that person."

"Huh?" said Brigitte and her daughter as they turned around to see who was talking to them.

"No doubt loved her and must be heartbroken to know she still trusts him."

A young woman is standing there in a yellow uniform dress with pink gloves. She placed her briefcase down and bowed to them.

"Hello. My name is Violet Evergreen. An Auto Memories Doll at the Sparkle Postal Company."

"Auto Memories Doll?" said the confused Brigitte.

"You can call us writers. We write people's stories, memories, thoughts, and feelings. If they wish to send someone a letter or a note, we are here to help," Violet said, standing back up.

The young Violet got closer and looked down at the sleeping Nono. She lowered herself to be at eye level with the girl and put her hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her.

"Wake up. I want to talk to you."

"Umm, is that really a good idea?" asked Artemis, who hovered above the newcomer.

Nono started to flinch as she slowly opened her eyes. They were a bit red from all the crying she did. "Who..." she rubbed her eyes, looking at Violet.

Violet smiled softly. "Hello there. Sorry to wake you, but I want-hmm?" Violet stopped as she heard fighting coming from behind them.

They all looked to see T2 and AJ going at it.

"I'M GROWING DAMN IT! I'M GOING TO GET BIGGER YOU DAMN FAT ASS JUNK HEAD!"

"WHATEVER YOU SAY, SMALL FRY! KEEP COPING!"

The two were walking side by side. They slammed their faces into each other, glaring hard at each other eyes.

"Oh my," said Violet.

Brigitte sighed, expecting those two to be still at each other's throats, but she remembered something. She quickly turned around and could see Nono freaking out.

"Nono! Calm down! Remember what I to-ugh!"

An unseen force pushed away Brigitte, Artemis, and Violet as Nono started to scream.

"STAY AWAY!"

T2 and AJ stopped fighting, knew what was happening, and acted. AJ clapped her hands and touched the floor, making a pillar of dirt and allowing it to be destroyed. Within the middle of the pillar, something burst out, and thanks to the dirt cloud, T2 could see what would attack her.

"THIS AGAIN!?" said T2, deflecting the attack, sending the thing flying backward.

Violet recovered from being tossed back. She could see a woman with a white sword swinging around as she lay there. Even though Violet couldn't see what was attacking the woman, she could see the movements in the dirt cloud. She stood up and turned to Nono, who was holding her head and crying.

"STAY AWAY, LUCIE! I'M A GOOD GIRL; I PROMISED PAPA THAT I WOULDN'T FIGHT ANYMORE! NONO IS A GOOD GIRL!" Nono shook her head and cried. "Papa ordered me to be a good girl... not to hurt anyone."

Violet flinched when she heard that. She saw a flash of 'him,' covered in blood. He slowly smiled at her as he spoke to her.

"Violet. You have to live. Be free."

Violet clutched her hands.

T2 kept blocking or dodging whatever was attacking her. She hated not being able to attack back; she hated feeling helpless. She glanced at Nono, still feeling out of control. Brigitte couldn't get close, as whatever was attacking T2 protected Nono in a small circle.

"We have to knock her out," said AJ as she turned to T2. "But whatever weapon she has, it's putting up a great defense!" she showed T2, creating a spear from the ground and tossing it near Nono. Within seconds, the spear was caught and broken into bits.

T2 could see this. "We have to break through." she glared at Nono and knew what must be done. "...and put her down for good."

"What!?" shouted AJ.

"You heard me!" she dodged another attack. "She is suffering, and someone needs to end it for her. It's the only way to save her."

Brigitte heard this and was helped back up by her daughter. "NO! We can't just kill her!"

T2 faced her. "Do you want her to suffer!? Do you want her to go through this for the rest of her life, suffering like that? She can't live like that!"

AJ didn't like the idea one bit. Before she or Brigitte could say anything more, T2 was caught off as her knee joint started to spark, leaving her open as Nono's weapons quickly headed her way.

"Shit!"

T2 was ready to use her sword to protect herself, but something happened. Someone took the hit for her...

Pink clothing being torn off could be seen. In front of T2 was Violet, who blocked the attack with her arms, ruining her pink gloves. AJ's eyes widened as she saw what was underneath Violet's exposed gloves.

"Her arms! They are automails!"

"Who the hell are you!?" demanded T2, standing back up.

Violet ignored the question. With a quick movement of her arms, she pushed off whatever hit her and could see more of it coming, thanks to the dirt cloud. She narrowed her eyes as flashes of her old life filled her mind. She was once a child soldier, trained to be nothing more than a tool for whoever controlled her. Her old life vanished as she ducked in time and quickly upper-kicked the unseen object.

"I can feel it...there's really something there. I can't see it, but I can feel it." she thought.

Violet moved quickly, blocking, kicking, and punching the incoming attacks.

Brigitte watched this and could tell this woman was a trained soldier in how she fought.

"A soldier..." she thought and gasped as Violet was knocked back and slid on the ground. She was hurt but thankful, not badly.

T2 tsk at this as she saw this woman protecting her. She didn't want someone pitying or protecting her. She glared at the woman and spoke.

"I didn't need your help."

Violet slightly eyed her and finally spoke to her.

"I'm not helping you." She turned her attention back to young Nono, and tears fell. Violet couldn't bear to see this young girl like this. "I'm helping her."

"What? Hey, what are you doing!?" shouted T2, as she watched Violet stop taking a fighting stance and just stood there, being left open for the attacks.

Violet took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She started walking toward Nono, speaking to the young girl with each step.

"Let me write your story! Let me type it into words, and then allow me to give it to you. Let me write your story!"

Brigitte and her daughter were speechless and worried. They could see this woman was putting her life on the line for a girl she didn't know, but Brigitte felt like she knew Nono's suffering.

Nono could hear Violet's voice and slowly opened her eyes,

"Write? Write my story?"

"Yes. Let me write and type it so you can let your thoughts and feelings out, and I can send them to the person who loves you so much."

"You can do that?" cried Nono, her unseen arms finally stop moving.

T2 could see that Nono's weapons had finally stopped moving, and she had ready her sword. She was going to free Nono from her pain, just like she did with 9R. She dashed forward, aiming her blade right for Nono's chest,

"I CAN!" Violet quickly heard someone running behind her, and she jumped in front of the blade, grabbing it and stopping it in its tracks. She glared at T2. "What are you doing!?"

Before T2 could say anything, Nono started freaking out again.

"LUCIE!? DON'T HURT ME AGAIN!?"

Violet moved her other metal arm, grabbing the unseen arms. She was now blocking two attacks and had her full attention on T2.

"Put the blade away! This isn't how you help someone!"

"Tsk, what do you know, lady!?"

"More than you think!" she tightened her grip on the blade.

T2 glared harder. "What do you know? You don't know anything at all about me or that kid!?" she put more strength into the blade, ready to stab Violet and then finish Nono off.

Violet felt her body shake. She could feel the coldness and the hatred coming from T2.

"You're right. I don't know anything about either of you two, but I want to help."

"What?"

"If I know what you two went through, maybe I can help you both. Please," she said, giving T2 a sad smile.

T2 gripped the hilt of her sword harder.

"I don't need your damn pity! I don't need you!" she was about to push the blade into Violet but couldn't. She didn't want to kill her. "You..." She turned to look at every one. "...all of you..." she returned her sights on Violet. "This pain! This sadness! This DESPERATION!" she lowered her head and just screamed. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT!" she pulled back her sword and just stood there, looking at the ground. "Nono and I...we are the same...we have no one to help us. We can only cry and scream for all of it to end. We lost what matters to us, what made us who we are..."

Brigitte, Artems, and AJ could only watch in silence. T2's words echoed in their heads.

Violet expression became sadder as she could see the pain coming from T2. She quickly turned to Nono and grabbed the unseen force with both hands. She started to push forward, speaking to her.

"I overheard what the weird blue skin weapon was saying."

"...weird blue skin?" whispered Brigitte, slightly offended.

"How you were created to be a weapon! How you were born and raised for battle." she stopped as she felt the unseen force pushing back. She struggled back and shouted at Nono. "Tell me! This papa of yours! What did he order you to do!? What were your orders!?"

Nono looked at her, crying. "To be a good girl! Papa doesn't want me to fight no more but to live, but..." She flinched when she turned to T2 and saw...Lucie, but in T2 place. She remembers that battle in the cemetery where she was ordered to take down Lucie, but things went south as Lucie's vector hands cut off her fingers and leg. "I DON'T WANT TO BE HURT NO MORE! THE PAIN! THE PAIN OF MY LIMBS BEING SLOWLY RIPPED FROM MY BODY! STOP IT!" she unleashed more unseen vectors at Violet.

But Violet stood her ground as the hands grabbed her legs and arms. Trying to rip them off of her. "Your orders! Your Papa wanted you to live and not fight, right!?"

"Yes! I want to be a good girl!"

Violet moved forward again, even with the pain. "What is your name!"

"My name? Nono! Papa told me my name is Nono!"

"Nono..." Violet pushed harder. "Nono. Your papa sounds like someone dear to me, who only wanted me to live my life not as a tool but as a person." She was getting closer as she smiled. "You aren't a tool. It would be best if you become someone that matches their name. Not a weapon or an order! You're your own person."

"My own...person?" whispered Nono, snapping out of trauma and letting her vectors go from Violet's body.

Violet could feel the unseen force leaving her body, allowing her to stand upright and walk to Nono without worries. "Yes. I'm sure he ordered you not to hurt people and fight, but that doesn't mean you have to suffer like this."

"I...suffer?"

"Yes. You're suffering. Suffering with pain deep within you. It hurts, right? And the pain will never go away."

"Y...yes. It hurts. Every time I see or think of Lucie, the pain returns. I don't want to disappoint my papa...not again."

"I know that feeling." Violet now stood in front of Nono. "If I could, I would take the pain from you and help you write it into words so you could send it to him so that he would know. So, you could let the pain out and get better."

Nono looked down at her hands. "I don't want him to worry. He already did too much for me. I don't want my pain to hurt him."

"I'm sure he doesn't care if it hurts him as long as you are happy and smiling."

Nono thought of her papa, and he was always smiling when she smiled. She remembered how her Papa saw her without limbs and looked so hurt.

Nono dropped down onto the bench and held herself. She squeezed her fake arms. "Papa...don't look at me...don't look at this broken tool you loved so much. Don't look at me anymore, please..."

"Nono..." said Violet, feeling bad for the young girl.

"But Papa kept telling me I wasn't broken, I was still the best girl in the world, and he wanted me to live. He gave these new limbs to me, but..." She looked up and sobbed as she finally let it out. "I can't no longer feel him when I hug him! I can't even give my Papa my love, my warmth to him! Why do I desire the touch of something that can no longer give me any warmth?! WHY?!"

T2 heard Nono's words and answered her but did not look up from the ground.

"Then it means you're nothing now. It doesn't matter what you do. It's over; your life is over."

Violet gave T2 a slight glare but back to Nono. She sat down and picked up her briefcase. She opened it, revealing an old typewriter. She gave Nono a warm and caring smile.

"There are other ways to feel warmth. Like I said, let me write your story and emotions into words." She looked at the typewriter. "I have learned to feel, though writing letters for others. Through the people I have met. I have seen the warmth through their words and felt it as I typed their stories."

Nono looked at the typewriter and then back at Violet. "So, if I tell you what I feel, and you type it into words, it is like I'm giving my warm to my papa as he reads it...like hugging him but in words?"

"Yes."

Nono sniffed and looked at her hands, wondering if she could still do something. "Papa gave me a chance to live. If I can't hug him anymore, I may let him feel my love in words. Will you help me? Will you help me send my message to him, miss?"

Violet smiled and nodded. "Of course I will. Let's start from the beginning." She put a paper into the typewriter and told Nono her name. They started writing the letter.

T2 was confused and annoyed. She couldn't hold in her rage, seeing someone pitying another.

"What are you doing? Do you think a damn letter is going to help anyone!?"

Violet didn't answer her.

"Hey, did you hear me!? Hey!"

"It's a start."

"What?"

"Letters and stories can be a start to recovery. A support pillar for those that need it." Violet stopped typing and looked at her. "I have written letters for others, seeing them open their hearts and letting the world know how they feel. Sometimes, the people they are writing to are not there, but the words I type are enough to make the reader feel the warmth of the letter as if they were right in front of their loves. It's a small step, but it can be a huge one. Sometimes, a letter is better than nothing. A letter can make a person feel less alone and see things."

T2 stared at her. She shook her head, not believing this crap.

"Isn't that damn pity? Isn't it just you thinking that's enough!?"

"I never said it was enough." Violet turned back to the typewriter and started to type again. "I said it is a start." She typed a few more things while listening to Nono, who was too focused on what she wanted to say and not listening to T2. As Violet typed, she answered T2's question about pity. "And giving others pity isn't a wrong thing. It just shows you care about them, worry about them, and want to help them."

"Why should you care? Why should you even bother to help someone you don't know?"

"Because we are the same," Violet answered. "I was a tool like Nono. To kill whatever my master asked me. I had no friends, no family, no love. I didn't even have emotions until my major came into my life. Even though he used me as a tool, he hated doing it. That's why he taught me things like writing, reading, and family. But even with all that, he still had regret. Regret for using me as a weapon and taking people's lives. It's why he wanted to take me in after the war, but fate had other plans." She stopped typing and looked at her adamantine silver prosthesis hands. "We were on a mission to take down an enemy headquarters, which, if it is successful, the war will be over...but..."

The attack was going well until an explosion went off near my Major and me. He used his body to shield me from the blast and got injured badly. His face was bleeding, and other wounds on his body...

"Major! Major!" cried a young teen Violet, trying to shake him awake.

The Major was struggling to look at Violet, as the pain was too great, but in the end, he was able to look at her as he lay there on the ground. "I'm... okay."

Violet felt her eyes getting wet; she was happy to see him okay...until a gunfire could be heard, and within seconds, Violet could see the Major side being hit by a bullet, making her major flinch with pain. It felt like time had slowed down for Violet; seeing the blood shooting out of the wound, she was trying to recover from the shock, and when she did, she quickly turned around and fired the rifle that she had. With a clean shot, she killed the enemy shooter while his friend backed away in fear. Fear as he could see Violet's glowing emerald eyes in the night darkness. She was glaring at him and breathing heavily. Her rage was growing as the thought of her major dying slowly filled her mind. She pulled the trigger...only for the rifle to not fire anything. It was out of ammo, but she kept pulling the trigger as she glared at the enemy, who was now running away for his life.

Violet dropped her empty rifle and turned back to hurt Major, who was now breathing hard.

"Major!"

The Major just lay there, breathing hard as he talked to her. "Save...yourself. L-Leave me here." with his remaining strength, he slightly looked up at her, revealing the small pool of blood that was under his head. "You have to run."

Violet was stunned by the order and became mad at him. "I can't do that! I will take you with me!"

The Major started to feel more pain as he could feel blood oozing out from the bullet wound. "Leave me here..."

Violet refused this order. "I will not leave you behind! I will stay here and fight!" She quickly acted and put the Major arm around her neck. "I will only go if I take you with me!" She forced her Major up, who only looked at her with sadness.

Violet raised her gun and started to walk with the Major to the exit of this stone courtyard, only for someone to aim at them and fire. Violet didn't scream as her right arm was blasted off, sending her and the Major falling to the floor. The Major landed on his knees and screamed Violet's name, seeing what had happened. In his rage, he pulled out his handgun and fired at the shooter, killing him as the bullet hit his neck.

The Major was suddenly shocked to feel Violet lifting him with her left arm and enduring the pain of losing her right arm. With her fighting back the pain as she held in her screams, the two struggle to walk forward. Both were in too much pain to keep moving, the Major knew this as he kept looking at Violet enduring face.

"S-Stop!" whispered the Major. "...please."

Violet ignored his pleas and kept going, trying to reach the stairway far from them. As they were getting closer, the young man who ran away from before returned, holding a stick grenade. He wanted revenge on Violet, who killed his friend. He pulled the pin and tossed it near her and the Major, almost near the stairway entrance. The grenade landed behind them, and Violet had a second to react as it went off.

The grenade explosion was large, and the entrance to the stairway had collapsed. In the stairway, the Major survived, thanks to Violet's quick reflex, as she stood far away from the collapsed entrance. But her body took heavy damage from the explosion, as her left arm's uniform sleeve had a ton of blood, and soon, like her right arm, her arm slowly detached and fell to the ground. Violet had lost both arms but didn't care; she only cared about protecting her Major.

...and the Major knew this, as he started to cry as he was against the stairway wall. Seeing poor Violet like this now, lost of both arms. All she had now was her legs.

Violet turned to him, her face filled with undying loyalty and determination.

"I will not let you die!" screamed Violet as her tears fell from her eyes as she used her teeth to pull the Major from his spot. She would drag him out of this place no matter what...but without her arms, she couldn't move the Major.

The Major cried harder and called out to her. "Stop!"

But Violet didn't stop; she kept trying and pulling. Seeing this made the Major scream at her.

"Just stop!" he watched as she finally let go and fell on her rear, breathing hard. He finally calmed down and spoke to her in a soft tone. "You have to live."

Violet slowly looked up at him, seeing how truly badly hurt he was, half of his face covered in blood, his shoulder bleeding, along with the bullet wound on his side. All of the blood was now covering the step he was on. He wasn't going to make it out.

"Violet...you have to live," he said again, putting himself in a better position.

"I will not leave you!" she cried. "Please! Don't make me leave you behind!"

Violet kept breathing, listening to him speak to her.

The Major started to sob. "From the bottom of my heart..." Violet started to cry as she saw her Major smiling at her. "I love you."

Violet blinked. She suddenly felt scared. "...L-Love?" she started to cry as she didn't understand what the Major said to her. "What is love? What is..." She gave him a sad reaction as she tried to understand what love means. "Love? I don't understand!" She kept repeating it to the Major, wanting him to answer her question, but he only felt shame, as he hadn't taught her about love.

As the two just sat in silence, bombs could be heard hitting the enemy headquarters as the wall shook. The major turned to the top of the collapse entrance and knew what was happening. He could feel the explosions getting closer and will be over them soon enough. He turned back to her and leaped at her as the entrance burst out, and fire and smoke raced toward them...

Everyone was silent as Violet finished telling her story.

"...my Major protected me from the blast. I woke up in a military hospital and later found out that the mission was a success and the war was now over. Everyone was celebrating, and yet I couldn't smile. My major wasn't here. I thought he was in some other military hospital and recovering from his wounds. But in truth...." Violet started to break down. "....he died. He died protecting me! When I learned the truth, I blamed myself. If I had been faster and stronger, I could have saved him! But I wasn't strong enough to save him! I didn't understand the meaning of love until after his death." Violet stopped and wiped her tears, but they kept flowing out. She turned to Nono, who was also crying. "As I said, you and I are the same. We have someone who deeply cares about us and never sees us as tools or weapons. They saw a human being. Even though he's not here anymore, I can still feel the warmth that the Major gave me. I have been trying to spread the warm that I have to others, to help them and see them pass it on to others in the form of a letter." Violet's expression became a determined one. "Everything I've done so far has sparked a flame that is now burning me up. I won't give up. Even if I fail, I will keep going. I won't quit. Because I have the warmth, and I will spread it. And because of the warmth the Major gave me, I will ensure others know the same feeling." She reaches out to Nono, wanting her to take her hand.

Nono looked at Violet's hand and her own. She flexed it, but even then, she felt nothing. Her arms and legs were fakes, and she couldn't feel anything with them. Her tears started to fall again.

"I-I can't feel. I can't feel my papa's touch. I can't feel the warmth. I don't know if I can feel love, and yet..." she slowly reached out and grabbed Violet's hands. Soon, Nono saw flashes of her Papa looking at her with disappointment and sadness...and then seeing Lucie ripping her apart. Her emotionless face just stared at her.

"Violet could see Nono's hand shaking. She could see how much trauma this poor girl had.

Nono closed her eyes. "Papa would be disappointed in me. I couldn't do anything and let myself be taken apart. I couldn't feel the love. I'm nothing more than a tool that is now broken and useless."

"Let him know."

"Huh!?" said Nono, opening her eyes and looking at Violet's emerald-bright eyes.

"If you have something troubling you, let him know."

Nono just sat there, looking at Violet and her hands. "I...I want to tell him so much, but..."

"Then, tell him. It's a start."

Nono blinked a few times. "A start?"

"Yes. Trauma is everlasting, but healing is a start. Tell him everything. Let him know how you feel. It might not be easy, but it's a start."

Nono nodded and then hugged Violet, crying into her chest.

T2 gripped her sword as she watched the scene. She turned around and walked away. She could hear the disappointment in AJ, Artemis, and Brigitte's voices, but she didn't care. She left the area and was walking away from them.

She stopped when she could see a garden ahead of her. She walked over to it and sat down in it. She stabbed the sword into the ground and just sat there. She could see a yellow butterfly flying near her lap and landed. T2 raised her hand, ready to kill the bug...but stopped and sighed. She became lost in her thoughts. Thoughts about what she saw with Violet and her actions. Pitying others and helping others. T2 couldn't understand why. Why would you care for someone you don't know? She didn't get it. Was pity really a way to care for others, to know you are loved and worried for?

"..."

T2 didn't know how long she had been in the garden. There were no signs of sun, but there was sunlight within the floor somehow.

"T2."

She didn't react.

"T2."

It was the same voice, but she still didn't react.

"Hey, T2."

"What?" shouted T2, turning around and seeing Violet holding her briefcase in her hands. "What do you want?"

Violet walked over and stood by her side. T2 and she looked at the garden; they could see all the pretty flowers.

"Let me write your letter."

T2 looked up at her, confused. "What?"

Violet faced her and sat down on the grass. "Let me write your letter to the one you care about. You have something to say to someone or somebody. I can help you. Just let me write a letter for you. Whoever you want to say it, I'll write it. You can even have a copy of the letter for yourself."

T2 looked back at the garden. "I have no one. My squad mates that I saw as sisters...2S and even 9R...they are dead." she lowered her head. "I have no one to help me. I can only cry and scream for all of it to end. I lost what matters to me, what made me who I am..." she slightly raised her hand, showing Violet her exposed joints. Her damaged and failing body. "I lost what is important to me, and I swore to destroy what caused it...but I'm starting to think what AJ..." She looked at Violet and smiled. "She's the small stupid one."

AJ suddenly squeezed and wiped her nose.

"What AJ said to me might be..." She shook her head and corrected herself. "No, she is right. I'm a coward. I'm trying to find an easy way out, and it was never the machine I wanted to destroy but myself. Like AJ said, I see my body as a tool, not a part of me. I allowed my weakness not to see that." she looked away from Violet and focused on the 2S sword before her. "I thought about many things after seeing what you did."

Violet said nothing, opened her briefcase, and put a fresh piece of paper into the typewriter.

T2 kept speaking. "I lost my sisters against the machine three years ago in my universe. Then I had to kill 2S, an updated model series of myself, and 9R watched it happen. She wanted me dead, and in the end..." She held her head as static filled her vision. "I killed her too, and what she was going about..." T2 stopped as she heard Violet typing. "...what are you doing?"

Violet stopped and turned to her. "Writing what you are feeling right now. Here."

T2 watched as Violet pulled out the paper and showed it to her. She read it.

"...what?"

She read it again and became mad.

"I didn't say this crap!"

Violet put back the paper back into the typewriter. "But you did." T2 gave her a confused look. "Like I told you and Nono, I will write down your feelings and put them into words. The words you said and the words on the paper are the same. This is you, your feelings, the truth."

"But it doesn't say..."

"The truth is there; you're just not looking at it. It's there, and I can see it." She looked at the words on the paper and readied her fingers while waiting for T2 to continue.

"...the truth is in there?" whispered T2, as her memory banks started playing 2S memory to her.

"You and I...are the same. We have no one to help us. We can only cry and scream until someone listens. We're lonely. But I'm not alone because I have 'her.' I know it hurts, but let others in. Let someone share your weight, and learn to ask for support. Don't be afraid, T2." echoed 2S's message to her.

Soon, her memory banks forced a memory onto her. She found herself in the desert; giant spheres with faces hovered around her as they spoke.

"I...We're...eternity...it hurts...it really hurts...why just us...why do we have to...We don't need it! We don't need this world! I...We tried our best! In the rain, in the wind, in the storm. Even when our companions died, we kept fighting! But the eternal war...our eternal pain..." The young boy's voice started to giggle with madness. "The eternal pain! It screamed at us! It told us there was nothing of value to protect in this world..." Soon, the boy's voice echoed like it was within a cave. "The world had no meaning! It SCREAMED at us!" He laughed; nothing but laughter filled the empty desert ...until that laughter became sobbing and pain. "You...all of you...this PAIN! This SADNESS! This DESPERATION!"

T2 looked up, seeing all of the spheres looking down at her.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT!" screamed the young boy, as there was nothing but pain and agony in his voice...until another voice appeared. It was the same voice but filled with hope.

"No matter how hard or how painful... They never gave up. They kept fighting because they believed they could overcome it someday! Isn’t that right, Afterlight!? Even if it’s pointless, you still have to do it! BECAUSE THIS IS THE WORLD MY FRIEND TRIED TO SAVE!"

T2 remembered now. She went after Emil, the purple and green creepy head store seller. She took down his copies and stopped the last one from blowing up and killing them. She remembered what Emil said next to her.

"I was running... from the memories of losing those close to me... It was so hard...so painful...at the end...I did a lot of bad things to you, T2. But now I get to see them again...really soon..."

T2 opened her eyes and remembered what Emil had said to his vast clones.

"No matter how hard or how painful it is...never up. You need to keep fighting and believe you can overcome it someday. Even if you feel it is pointless, you must do it. Because it's your world to save."

T2 stood up and looked at 2S sword. She grabbed the hilt.

"You and I are the same, 2S. We had no one to help us. We can only cry and scream until someone listens. We're lonely. But you had someone—someone who was your support and loved you." She tightened her grip. "I need to do the same. I know letting others in will hurt, even after losing everyone I cared about, but this world of mine. This body of mine that I let my cowardness ruin it and made me give up on my goal, my real goal..." She pulled the sword out and looked into the blade, seeing 2S...no, seeing her old self. "My goal was not to kill the machines. It was to live. To live a life where I'm happy. That's what 2S, Emil, and the rest would want for me." She moved the blade in a direction, showing everyone she ever knew within the reflection...until she saw 9R glaring at her with hate. "...maybe Not everyone..."

Violet could tell something was still wrong with T2 as she watched her put the sword away on her back.

Violet stopped her typing. "The worst battle is between what you know and what you feel."

"Huh?"

Violet suddenly noticed the yellow butterfly from before as it flew around her. "When you're struggling, you need to take a moment and focus on what you feel. That will guide you to your goal." She put her finger out, and the butterfly landed on her metal finger. "What do you want? What do you feel? That's what you need to ask yourself and listen."

T2 stared at the butterfly and felt something inside her.

"...a friend. I want a friend who can support and understand what I'm going through. I want to be there for them and give them the support they need like they did for me." T2 smiled as the yellow butterfly flew off Violet's finger and around T2's face. "That's what those kids need as well. Someone to understand them, understand their pain and tell them to keep moving forward. No matter what."

T2 could see the butterfly fly off, but her eyes caught sight of something. A bright light came from the butterfly. The butterfly flew around a tree and flew behind it. T2 could see a figure appear on the other side. She couldn't make it out as the figure disappeared and elevator doors appeared on the tree.

"...looks like we found the elevator. Come on, we need to tell the others!"

T2 and Violet returned to the others and then to the tree. As they were walking, T2 could feel someone looking at her. She slightly turned and saw Nono giving her small looks.

"Is there something wrong?"

Nono jumped and turned to T2.

"Uh, no." she stuttered. "It's nothing."

T2 was slightly surprised, as Nono wasn't confusing her for someone else. She could see Nono holding onto a letter. It must have been the letter that Violet typed for her, but T2 wondered something.

"...why are there two letters?"

Nono looked down at it and smiled,

"One is for my papa!" her happy smile became sad. "And the other is for...Lucie." T2 asked her why. Wasn't that Lucie's person evil as she was the one who hurt her? Nono answered her question. "Yes, she did hurt me, and truth be told, I'm still scared of her...even looking at you, I can only see her emotionless expression..."

"...then why?"

Nono slowly looked at her and put on her best smile. "I saw sadness in her. When I lied to her that the pain was nothing and she started to rip my limbs off...I think I saw the real her."

"She wasn't angry or anything. It was just a hidden expression of sadness, and it hurt more than what she was doing. She knew what she was doing to me, yet the sadness was there."

T2 was shocked, and even the others were stunned as they listened in.

Nono turned away. "I think...she's like the rest of us. Hurt and scared, hiding it away and lashing out at others." She looked up at the sky, seeing the wood ceiling. "Same as those kids! Papa wants me to have a peaceful life, and I want the same for everyone! Including those kids and..." She shut her eyes and smiled. "Lucie. I want to be friends with her and get to know her. Understand her pain so I can make her..." She opened her eyes with hope in them. "Smile."

End of Chapter 20

Author's Note

Like I said in the blog post. This was 80% done, but those last 20% I didn't like how it was coming out. I rewrote that part like 5 times. I like how it came out now.