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

Unaware of the feelings she had spurred within 9S and absorbed in her own questions enough that while she did not allow her scouting duty to lapse she did fail to notice him muting his end of the connection to her. In another time and another place she would have ordered it reopened immediately in case of an attack upon his position but as it was the silence simply left more room for her own thoughts. With no signs of enemies and an abundance of processing power at her disposal, 2B partitioned off a section of her active memory and devoted it to simulation in an attempt to resolve this conundrum as she made her way up the levels of the ancient ruined site. She focused on 9S, ensuring target, and then let the partition play while she did her best to analyze the responses to each new scenario. Plausibility was emphasized and the situation was instructed not to run and scenario she would not be able to take seriously as that would ruin the objective science of it but for all her attempts to impose logic upon these emotional subroutines she was struggling to understand, emotion would win out in the end. Scenario 1 9S modifying materials to be used in more thorough repairs brought a warmth with it, a feeling of happiness? Enjoyment? Not strong, but constant, suffusing her as she watched him work. Scenario 2 An Ambush, 9S menaced by a stealthed attacker, the images brought an almost instantaneous pang of fear to her, a tightness of breath at the thought of it that refused to simply go away until the simulation ended and she could reassure herself that it wasn't real. And on they went, theoretical situations playing in her head as she explored the facility, but while the overall data was inconsistent and the emotions were difficult to quantify, 2B was beginning to draw some conclusions as she viewed them. She liked 9S, no, 'like' was not strong enough a word. Humans placed too little value on the idea of friendship for it to be simply that, which meant that it must be something else, something of a higher order than friendship yet a lower order than-. One scenario ended and another scenario started, halting 2B's thoughts in their tracks as she saw 9S and her together, herself on his lap, both their bodies gyrating in such a way as to draw only one conclusion as to what was happening, his voice calling her name again, only with a lilt and strain to it, and her voice responding in kind. 2B! 9S! She crushed the simulation ruthlessly before she was even aware of what she was doing but the image wouldn't leave her head, emotional responses refusing to let go of the thought as half a dozen emotional routines fired all at once and she felt a new surge of heat and discoloration in her cheeks. Only this time the source was not the shame subroutine, or at least, not entirely. As she examined her systems 2B realized that a new program had activated itself, as though by automation in response to something, arousal? She swallowed harshly, a very human gesture, as she realized she could feel a tickling against her inner thighs and a tightness atop her breasts and when she reached down, her gloved fingers felt unmistakeable dampness at her crotch from that sight, that thought. The touch sent a little shock of sensation through her too, and experimentally, she touched again, a harder pressure, a stronger tingle of pleasure, something simulating human endorphin releases, something she couldn't shut down any more than she could stop her breathing as it began to quicken or the flush that seemed not to be satisfied with her cheeks and was currently migrating down towards her chest. The pod that had been trailing her never even entered her conscious thoughts as 2B delicately lifted her skirt and then -eyes wide behind her mask- slid two fingers up the mound of her womanhood, shivering and letting a soft moan at the sensation. Was this what she felt for 9S? What she wanted? It did not match to known human descriptions of love, yet since rarely were any two descriptions of love alike that meant little. Still, friendship, plus lust, that seemed a formula that fit, pair bonding of another sort... Not caring that her logical brain was drawing conclusions, her emotional brain urged her, reminding her how interesting it felt, suggesting that she perhaps conduct further experimentation here as well. So she touched herself again, and then again, stroking, teasing, slowly exploring this piece of her anatomy that she'd never seen cause to explore before, intent on discovering its secrets and on feeling more of that sensation of pleasure building, unaware, or perhaps unwilling to directly acknowledge- that she was still technically on display to 9S as she did so...