Chapter 170: The Reason for the Defection

11B was startled and looked up at the aerial combat robot, but she clearly knew the voice didn't come from inside it.

So she looked around, and then saw three figures appear at the workshop door.

No need to guess, 11B's gaze directly locked onto the person in the middle. Simple reason, among the three, only the person in the middle was male.

"Was it you who saved me?" 11B sat up and asked.

Aiden didn't speak, he simply made a hand gesture, and the aerial combat robot Gale's body began to rapidly shrink, eventually becoming like a POD, hovering beside him.

Seeing this, 11B naturally understood everything, and gratefully said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Aiden waved his hand and then bent down, preparing to check her physical condition.

But A2, at the side, was faster than him, her eyes glowing with a faint blue light, quickly scanning 11B.

Soon, she said to Aiden, "Severe damage to many parts of the external body, internal circuits have also suffered varying degrees of damage, but she can self-repair."

"Seems lighter than the injuries you had back then." Aiden nodded, clapped his hands, and stood up.

"My injuries were mainly old ones. Also, why did you save her?" A2 said coldly, her tone full of dissatisfaction toward Aiden for rescuing a YoRHa B-type android.

"It was just a coincidence." Aiden replied honestly, he wasn't lying.

"Really just a coincidence?" Yakor didn't believe it. She knew 11B's story and looked over at Gale while asking.

"It's true." Aiden spread his hands helplessly. After all, saving 11B really was Gale's own decision.

"Really no other intention?" Yakor seemed to understand human thoughts well. She withdrew her gaze from Gale and instead looked at 11B.

A YoRHa B-type android looked quite similar to A2. So she looked over at A2 again, and saw that the latter seemed to be thinking about her words. A faint smile appeared on Yakor's lips.

'Heh… Let's see how you explain this!'

But to Yakor's regret, A2 wasn't thinking about the meaning of her words, she was interested in what 11B muttered to the aerial combat robot earlier.

When 11B had spoken, they had already arrived at the door and had heard her clearly.

After a moment of thought, A2 turned and asked 11B, "What is your body's code?"

"11." 11B answered.

"Alright, 11B, I want to ask you something," A2 said. "You just said you want to escape the bunker, why?"

"Why are you asking that?" 11B immediately became alert and slightly regretful, she had gotten too excited earlier and blurted out her thoughts.

"I'm just curious. A YoRHa unit that obeys the bunker actually has someone trying to defect. I want to know why." A2 slightly narrowed her eyes, staring at her junior.

11B was silent for a while, then said, "Can I refuse to answer?"

To her surprise, A2 actually nodded, "You can."

But before 11B could show a relieved expression, A2 added, "But I will then have someone pass your defection report to the bunker. I think… you wouldn't want to spend your days being endlessly hunted, right? The bunker doesn't tolerate traitors. And that guy has enough patience, no matter where you run, it's useless."

"But…" 11B opened her mouth, then said bitterly, "But you were the ones who saved me."

"He saved you." A2 pointed at Aiden. "It has nothing to do with me."

11B immediately looked at Aiden, her eyes showing a pleading look. She was afraid, not just of death, but of returning to the bunker.

Aiden really wanted to avoid 11B's gaze, and also wanted to persuade A2 not to do this, but thinking of what he had previously said to her, he really couldn't open his mouth. After thinking a bit, he could only say to 11B,

"Actually, it's fine if you just say it. After all, whether or not you defect has nothing to do with us, she just wants to know why. Also, unless you plan to return to the bunker, even if you don't say anything, your defection is already a fact. You might as well tell us directly."

After hearing Aiden's words, 11B was somewhat persuaded.

That's right, unless she returned to the bunker, even if she said nothing, she would still be marked a traitor in the end. So why stubbornly guard that so-called secret?

Besides, it wasn't even really a secret, just some information she had accidentally discovered.

"Alright, I'll tell you." After thinking it through, 11B nodded, though a bitter smile curled on her lips.

"To put it simply, it was just an accidental discovery... A few days ago..."

"…You may not believe it, but I actually picked up a storage device in a hallway of the bunker… I didn't know who dropped it, and I didn't dare ask…"

"…From the contents in the storage device, I saw some design blueprints of the YoRHa androids, including our cores… and… some information left by the head of the Human Military Technology Development Department…"

"…That storage device seemed to have been reset, lots of the content was broken or fragmented, but from what remained, I guessed that the YoRHa model development was entirely a scam, meant to deceive other bases and androids on the planetary surface…"

"…I don't know why they'd want to deceive all the androids, but according to the information, it might… be related to the humans on the moon… I was scared. I didn't want to be a sacrifice in this lie, so I decided to escape from the bunker… I… just want to live…"

When she said this, 11B couldn't stop herself from trembling.

Though androids can be revived infinitely through prosthetic bodies, she didn't know if the revived version of herself was still really her. After all, that was just a memory upload.

So she wanted to flee from the bunker, and flee from the lie.

After hearing 11B's story, A2 was surprisingly calm. If this had been yesterday, she definitely wouldn't have reacted this way. But now, she had thought through some things. So she merely muttered, "A scam to deceive all the androids? That's… interesting."

However, Aiden and Yakor were a bit surprised, especially Aiden. He clearly remembered that the game's plot didn't explain the reason behind 11B's defection in detail.

Moreover, that storage device was also very suspicious. How could an android drop something, especially a storage device containing important information?

It had to be that someone deliberately left it for her to see. Thinking of that, he asked, "When did you find the storage device?"

"Half a month ago," 11B said.

"Half a month ago?" Aiden was shocked, and immediately thought the system was behind it, but quickly rejected that thought. The system couldn't be that bored.

So he looked at Yakor again, only to find she was deep in thought too.

He then turned his mouth upside down.

At that moment, A2 asked again, "Did the storage device contain any other info? Or was there a signature at the end?"

"No!" 11B shook her head, but then remembered something and added, "But there was a scratch on the storage device… a number."

"9!"

"What?"

And at this, A2 finally showed a surprised expression, "Nine?"

Who is Nine?

Aiden knew. Yakor knew. A2 also knew. Even 11B had heard of him.

Because Nine was the prototype of the YoRHa S-type, or rather, the test model.

Among all the test models, only Number Two, A2, had survived.

As for what the test models had done in the past, even the bunker commander didn't know, let alone an improved model like 11B.

But there was no need to know anymore, because before they could discuss further, the ruins factory shook again, this time more violently than before.

"Number Two, can you hear me?"

From the special communicator with enhanced signal reception hanging from A2's waist came Anemone's voice. Even so, in the electromagnetically complex environment of the ruins factory, the sound was still a bit distorted.

"Barely. What is it, Anemone? Did you find the target?"

"We found it, but it was the YoRHa that found it. On the iron bridge in the center of the factory. It's a big one. Really big." Anemone's voice sounded panicked, who knows what she saw to scare her like that.

"Are you alright?" A2 asked. She didn't care about the safety of YoRHa or other androids, only about Anemone.

"I'm okay for now… but maybe not for long. That YoRHa unit that looks like you, she seems like she can't hold on…" Before Anemone could finish, the communication cut off.

"Anemone? Hey, can you hear me? Damn it." A2 angrily threw the communicator to the ground.

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