Thread: NieR: Automata - Heart beneath the Steel - (StarMech x Kaybee)

The Model 2 series wasn't quite the same with regards to the body, as while they did not need to breathe any more than any other machine, they did have a slight use for it as drawing in air allowed them to distill liquid oxygen from it and inject that straight into their reactors, slightly heightening power output. To a human the milliseconds of difference such a practice made were utterly insigificant, too small a frame of time for action and reaction to even matter, but to the electronic mind of a YoRHa in a battle against utterly inhuman opponents such as the Biodroids, those flickering moments of infinity could be the difference between victory and defeat. Even outside of combat though, 2B's chest rose and fell with simulated life, her nose wrinkled at the prompting of a drifting leaf, her entire body relaxed slightly. Then 9S voice cut across the moment and she experienced an unexpected core temperature spike and a rush of embarrassment as she quickly tugged the fabric back down, the shimmering lines of her HUD settling over her vision once more as her sight darkened, then cleared again. While 9S crawled, 2B sought to stand. Limb acutators were operating at less than 30 capacity but on a combat android that meant she was 'merely' twice as strong as a human male baseline rather than seven times such, and while she wobbled a bit as her battered senses adjusted once more to being upright eventually she managed to put one foot in front of the other and begin to walk, growing stronger with each step as the nano-repairs recognized a new priority and rushed to finish what repairs they could manage on her mobility systems. She probably wouldn't get much more than 30 out of them since they had no access to compatible reconstructive material for the damaged and frayed musculature under her armored skin but there were any number of minor corrections they could and did make to help even her gait and steady her. The thought was to move first to the pod, but rarely-experienced emotional subroutines fired again and as she stepped past the crawling Model 9, she instead found herself kneeling next to him and raising one arm. Between depleted strength and the weight of his mechanical body it was a struggle to lift him to his feet but somehow she managed, half helping, half dragging him over to the Pod unit before setting him down again, watching as he rewired it. He needed no help and there was nothing she could do that could progress the repair any faster so she found herself instead fascinated by the sight, the dance of his hands as he rewired and rebuilt the unit's shell, the look of concentration upon his dirtied and scarred face, all of it oddly mesmerizing such that 2B didn't even realize that her lips had quirked into a smile as she took it in. She hadn't wanted him to die, even when he had proved foolish and his reliability was in question. Now she found him fascinating, and she knew somehow that watching any other Model 9 perform these same procedures would not necessarily be the same. Was this a pair bond? What humans always chattered about 'liking' someone? I'm glad you survived too... The words were quiet, barely above a human whisper. Then he turned to her with a plan and she nodded, aware that once again there was a thermal anomaly in her facial region, why was she simulating a flush? What had made her embarrassed? I will search for any salvageable parts while you secure a perimeter then. She affirmed, then hesitated. You are well enough to stand then? The thought of him crawling again -even when she knew it was sufficient for the present- still didn't sit right with her.