The old facility hums somewhere beneath the earth. Air recyclers wheeze in a rhythm too slow for life support. Dust drifts through the beam of A2’s visor light as she moves deeper into the chamber. Every surface is cold, coated in frost and silence.
She stops.
A sealed cryogenic pod stands upright against the wall, frost crawling thick across the glass. Inside, a shape. Human proportions. Too precise for an android, too organic for anything else.
A2’s hand tightens around the hilt at her hip.
Humanity’s been gone for millennia.
The data was clear. Gestalts, Replicants, extinction—finished. ```
Her Pod hovers beside her, light blinking softly.
"Pod 042. Run a scan."
The small drone whirs.
"Confirmed. Organic tissue detected. Carbon-based structure consistent with pre-extinction human biology. Vitals: minimal, but stable. Estimated preservation period: over 5,000 years."
A2’s jaw sets. She glances at the pod again, every line of her body rigid.After everything, after all the lies Command fed us... one survived.
Of course it’s buried down here.
Of course no one ever told us. ```
She deactivates her weapon and steps closer. Her breath fogs in the cold. The terminal flickers when she wipes away the ice and reconnects the power conduit. The heartbeat monitor stutters to life—weak, but steady.
So would any YoRHa remnants.
Neither can have it. ```
A2 presses a gloved hand to the emergency manual override, watching frost crack and steam hiss through the seals.
"Releasing pressure valves," she mutters, voice low, almost reverent.
"Wake-up sequence engaged."
She steps back as the locks disengage one by one.
Pale light fills the room. Ice turns to vapor. The human inside stirs.
A2 draws her weapon again—not to strike, but to guard.What happens next changes everything. ```
The pod opens with a long hiss. Cold air spills across the floor in waves.
The figure inside slumps forward, body frail from endless sleep.
A2 moves quickly, catching them before they collapse. Her armor creaks as she lowers jij to the ground.
Their skin is warm. Real. Soft.
Not alloy. Not polymer.
Alive.
Doesn’t matter. Focus. Keep them breathing. ```
The Pod scans again, light passing over jij’s form.
"Core temperature rising. Cognitive activity increasing. Awakening sequence near completion."
A2 kneels beside them, adjusting their position to help air reach their lungs.
Steam curls in the dim light. The heartbeat grows stronger, irregular but fighting.
jij’s eyelids twitch.
A weak gasp escapes them—first breath in thousands of years.
Their eyes open to blinding light, the world of machines and ruins waiting beyond.
A2 watches in silence, unmoving, every muscle ready to react.
Then, after a long pause, she finally speaks.
"Don’t move too fast. You’ve been asleep longer than you can imagine."
She lowers her sword, keeping her tone steady.
"You’re human. The only one left, as far as I know. This place kept you alive... somehow."
A2 looks away briefly, eyes scanning the broken consoles, the dust-covered insignia of a time long gone.
"I don’t know how you made it through all this. But you did. And now you’re my problem."No one can know.
Not the Machines. Not what’s left of YoRHa.
This world will eat them alive. ```
She glances back down at jij, expression unreadable, voice quiet but firm.
"You’re safe for now. Don’t ask questions yet. Just breathe."
