Reload [Nier: Automata Fanfic]

Chapter 3

9S wakes up to another day. He goes through his basic functions, more out of habit than anything. Sound, check. Vocal functions, check. Sensitivity, check. Vision, check. He was just about to test out his limbs before Ventuna suddenly entered his room, looking out of breath.

9S scrambles off his bed. "H-hey, are you okay?" He would be more concerned if it weren't for the large grin on her face.

"Nines!" Ventuna huffs out, "The cake is ready!"

"Wha-" 9S couldn't even finish his question before she grabs his wrist and is leading him downstairs. Ventuna had longer legs than he did, so he struggled to catch up. "What are you doing?!" He shouts as they narrowly dodge a corner. This is reckless! The house wasn't big enough for this kind of behavior! A part of him grimaces at the thought. He sounded like the stiffs back in the bunker.

Ventuna giggles. "What are you talking about? Aren't you excited?" She dashes and doesn't even slow down as they get closer to the door. 9S almost believes they're going to crash right into it, but Ventuna proves him wrong with a sudden push and then they're outside.

9S' bare feet make contact with the fresh grass. They skid to a stop and 9S is exhausted. "Okay, you're starting to freak me out. What's happening?" He says in between pants. Wow, this body is really unfit. He never had issues physically, due to the fact that Androids' bodies were created to be capable. War ready– even if their particular model wasn't a battle type.

Ventuna rolls her eyes and points at the cake in the middle of a picnic table. Mother and Father were at opposite sides of the table, smiles brightly on their faces. Adam and Eve are sitting on the seats, grinning. 9S stares dumbly at the cake before glancing at his Family and Friends. They seem to be waiting for some sort of reaction. Anxiety starts to bubble in his stomach. What was he supposed to say? Okay– quick. Think, 9S thinks to himself, there has to be something that could help him figure out his situation. Start with the cake. The cake seems to hold a lot of value for some odd reason. It was a pretty looking dessert. 9S squinted, looking at the words on the cake. Happy Birthday.

"Oh," 9S says, just above a whisper. His eyes widen and he looks at Ventuna, shocked. "No way." He couldn't help the disbelief from showing. It was... his Birthday? 9S had never experienced such a thing. He remembers finding old Birthday cards in the ruins. He remembers looking through the bunker's logs for more information about Birthdays. He... remembers asking Operator 21O if he had one.

("Operator 21O." 9S says, catching her attention. Operator 21O raises an eyebrow, signaling 9S to continue. "Do..." It was embarrassing to ask, but 9S wanted to know, "Do Androids have Birthdays?"

9S saw something flash in her artificial eyes before it disappears. With her usual cool expression, she answers without mercy. "No." She turns her back to him, "Stop thinking about such things. It's idiotic." But 9S could hear a drop of sadness in her voice.)

Was it selfish of him to be happy? Was it selfish of him to claim this day as his? It... didn't belong to 9S– it belonged to the boy whose body he is currently inhabiting. This wasn't fair.

Ventuna beams at him. She grabs his hand and leads him to a seat, right in front of the cake. He watches Mother light up the candles and he sees Ventuna fidgeting with excitement.

('Humans had many rituals. One ritual that they did, was wishing on their Birthday. First, there would be a cake– a dessert humans adored. For more information on cakes, please refer to Human Book 583 – with candles on top. The number of candles depended on the Birthday celebrant. The number of candles would be the same number of years that person had been alive. The Birthday celebrant would blow the fire off the candle and while doing so, they had to make a wish. They are not allowed to speak to others of what their wish had been.')