I wish that someway, somehow,  that I can save every one of us but the truth is I'm only one girl.

Her class is a high-end version model of the execution unit, built to kill all machine lifeforms and execute anyone or anything YorHa orders her to, even the deserters, all for the glory of mankind.

That’s her sole purpose in this world, to serve mankind.

Even if it meant killing her own.

Which is why emotions are prohibited as their Commander would say.

Emotions.

Can androids even have such things?

The thought of it is odd, so foreign, and so incomprehensible, and yet, when she looks at her fellow androids, the way they smile and laugh, along with their comrades as if the world isn’t in chaos, she feels a pang in her chest that she can’t quite explain.

She asked Pod about it, and all the answer she got was: envy.

Envy is to desire something what someone else has.

Is there something she wants?

The moment she was created, she was already programmed to what she should want, and that is to free the world from machines and give back the earth to man—that’s what she wants, or was embedded into her.

Her sole purpose for even existing is just to serve and nothing else, having emotions would just be a hindrance.

She feels nothing when her blade strikes down a machine and sees the light fade away from those glassy eyes.

She feels nothing when she has to execute a fellow android for deserting their cause.

And she’d like for it to stay that way.

So when Commander suddenly told her she’d finally have her companion, she felt her board circuit.

(She’d have to ask Pod about it later.)

“Your companion is a high-class scanner,” Commander says, “someone to tag along with you to every fight and mission, an android who specializes in investigative purposes and hacking information.”

She can’t help but just nod, even if she thinks she doesn’t need it, she may be an executioner but she’s still one of the smartest android mankind has ever made but even so, they were programmed to never defy anything Commander says.

“It will be her first time outside of the bunker, take good care of her will you? She’s one of the last batches of scanners.” Commander asks.

She raises an eyebrow at this.

“Come on out dear.”

An android, almost the same height as her, with hair that ends along her neck, who has the biggest smile plastered on her face and eyes that looks like it holds wonders of the world, comes out in one of the pods.

She already knew she will not get along well with her.

“JH, this is SW.”

The Android, or SW in her serial, offered their hand in front of her as she excitedly  chirps, “Hello Ma’am!”

“Hello,” she says back, unsure of what to do with the hand extended to her.

Is she supposed to hold it?

SW’s smile drops for a moment but quickly regains it back before taking back her hand and bowing, “I’m SW, your companion, I’m here to serve you and mankind.”

“I’m JH, I look forward to your services in our mission.”

SW smiles wide, and somehow, she feels the corners of twitch, as if wanting to smile back.

---

It’s their first mission together, and it’s just something simple, something she can do without the other android.

Just gather data in the city ruins of where could this ‘friend machine village’ be.

 She thought it’d be smooth as if the other android wouldn’t be there at all, that is until they landed on top of a secured building, and before she could get off the flight unit, she hears a loud screech.

She snaps her neck to the direction of the noise so fast that she might need Pod to see if she broke a wire or something, for she’s afraid that she may already have failed her first mission: to take care of SW.

But all she sees, is just the coconut haired android, exclaiming loudly at the sight before her.

To her, it wasn’t really grand; that the sight before her isn’t something to be so excited or something to exclaim about, for its just ruined buildings, overgrown trees and rusting dead machines.

But to SW who has only seen the world for the first time, maybe it could be the most beautiful thing for now.

Something swells in her chest at the sight of the girl, taking in everything with a huge grin on her face akin to child-like wonder.

“Woah, this is so amazing, I can’t believe I’ve been stuck in the bunker for so long,” SW turns to her, “do you think we could go see the ocean after our mission? I’ve  seen through the net pictures of it, I just want to verify if it’s as blue as the sky or bluer, you see blue is my favorite color-“

“SW,” she cuts off, the android before her stops, “we’re only here for a mission, either you stay here and wait for me or you tag along and be quiet as much as possible.”

Normally, she’ll have no trouble scolding any other android, but when SW looks down, looking so defeated, as if JH has personally kicked her, she can’t help the sigh she let out as her resolve crumbles.

“We can go see the ocean,” SW raises her head at that and her face immediately lights up,  “only if we successfully locate the machine village.” 

SW just grins and raises a fist into the air.

“Of course ma’am you can count on me.”

---

They walk along the city ruins, carefully avoiding machines on their path, for they didn’t want to draw any kind of attention to them, but if she would have had it, she’d rather cut them down.

“Don’t you think it’s amazing?” SW starts.

JH doesn’t really want any small talk between them or any kind of talking at all but her motherboard might have its thoughts of its own now for she asks, “what?”

SW looks at her and smiles, “Everything.”

JH raises an eyebrow at her, “you need to be more specific.”

“I just think it’s amazing, this world and everything else in it…” SW looks around, JH does the same, afraid she wasn’t able to pick up on something until she feels SW closer to her and whispers, “even the machines.”

SW backs away as JH gives her an incredulous look, “What?”

“Don’t you find it interesting? How we were taught that machines are nothing but mindless scraps built to eradicate mankind but now we’re on a mission to find out about this friendly machine village.”

JH just stares at her, an unamused expression on her face.

No, she does not find it interesting nor amazing. Not one bit. Machines drove mankind to flee to the moon, and now, their everyday reality is to kill every single machine on sight to give back what was taken from man.

“It makes you wonder if machines could have, maybe, developed intelligence, and even feelings or emotions, to even know the concept of ‘friendliness’ and hence creating their own community,” SW looks down at the gravel, “it makes me wonder, if they can have that, maybe us androids could have something like that too.”

“Emotions?”

SW’s eye meets hers, and JH just noticed that it’s the color blue.

“Yeah, I mean I think we have a grasp of it, we can smile, laugh, these are actions for an emotion right? But I guess, it’s more of, can we actually feel it?”

“You may have abused your internet privileges SW to even start thinking like that.”

SW laughs, and JH does wonder, is that a genuine laugh? Were the smiles on her face since she saw her real?

JH never thought much of it, not when the Commander would always just have a blank look on her face, not when her fellow executioners are as cold as ice—all who are just like her.

But she thinks back to the other androids, the older units, who freely smile and laugh around in the bunker, were those real? Or is it just another program to react—a program for communication.

“It’s just amusing I guess.”

They continue to walk around the city for hours, with SW doing her best to scan everything and hack into even the dead machines to find even just one bit of evidence that the friendly machine village is indeed real.

SW seems to hold out a lot of hope for it for some reason.

JH doesn’t know why; doesn’t want to ask why they’re the enemies and she doesn’t need to know more other than that.

The sun was about to fall when they finally made a breakthrough.

SW successfully locating the village.

JH smiles unknowingly when the android in front of her cheers.

“We can go make that trip to the ocean today before we go back.”

SW jump s up and down before tackling JH to a hug. She should have scolded the android, should have let her know she’s still a superior to her, but a part of her likes the action and a part of her wants to wrap her arms around the android.

(She really needs to ask Pod if her circuits are okay later.)

“Thank you, thank you so much, ma’am.”

---

They went to the beach near the city ruins, nothing much was there to see except for the same old rusting machines.

But JH looks at SW and how the android looks at everything so much fascination—so much wonder, that JH thinks those blue eyes of hers does sparkle.

“I think the ocean beats the sky in being bluer—but then again they’re both exactly not blue, just like blood, it’s not really red—“

SW continues to ramble on, and JH for once thinks, this isn’t bad.

Her days were mostly filled with machines’ groans and the sound of her blade tearing them apart and or, most of the time, silence, so JH thinks, SW’s ramblings, is a nice touch to her day.

---

They continue on like that, as a duo, the Commander giving them more missions together seeing as how they’re first one was such a success.

And ever since then JH finds herself to be enjoying SW’s company, and every day she guides SW to all her favorite places in the city ruins.

Today, after completing another task, JH decided to sake SW to the library.

Commander was right with SW being a high-class android meant for investigative purposes, mankind did an amazing job on SW for the girl is intelligent, maybe even more intelligent than the Commander herself, that she could see SW being the heart and mind of the system, for the girl seems to know just about everything. SW would say it’s because of all the free time she used to have in the bunker, how she’s always left in her room to just read and search the net, learning everything what mankind has built and left.

They finished the mission very quickly, more like SW rushing to finish it earlier so she can have more time in the library,

“Oh gosh, I’ve been seeing  so much of this library on the net, and how it’s filled with all the knowledge in the world, texts that even the internet doesn’t have access to and—“

“SW breathe,” JH says, a laugh threatening to escape her lips.

SW shakes her head, “Technically I don’t need to breathe but I’m just really excited ma’am, all the places you’ve shown had been wonderful so far and I’m just grateful, I never thought I’d be let out of that bunker honestly.”

JH wants to ask why, and even wonders why it took so long for the commander to release SW to the world when the android could have helped make more progress with their missions way before then.

But also, what’s pressing JH more is the ‘ma’am’ SW keeps calling her. She knows it’s out of respect, but it bothers her, not when she doesn’t really even SW as someone lower than her.

“You can stop calling me ma’am you know.”

SW was about to open to retaliate until JH stops suddenly and smiles at her, “we’re here now."

They’re in front of a huge marble building, with two gigantic wooden doors that look like it would fall off its hinges any moment, and vines all around the building.

For once JH is nervous as to how SW will take it, she knows the android has been dying to go to the library but this building isn’t exactly as marvelous as the other places she took SW too.

The building itself looks like its dying.

But before JH can propose another place, SW squeals and dashes inside.

JH shakes her head as she follows the android inside.

---

SW spends her time reading and JH spends her time watching the android. They’re both on sitting on a worn-down couch, as JH watches the way SW’s expression would change from every flip of the page. She supposes it’s odd and creepy to an extent, but, for once she doesn’t care, there’s something about seeing the android so happy and carefree that makes her feel like she could be too.

“Hey ma’am,” JH snaps out of her thoughts.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that?” JH says.

“Aww you’re pouting!”

“What?”

“You’re pouting and it’s cute,” SW looks at her eyes as if searching for something, and JH can’t help but feel like she’s laid bare in front of the android, “you’re cute.”

JH doesn’t know what it is but she feels something inside of her, her circuits frying? Perhaps.

“Stop talking nonsense,” she says as she turns away from the android and grabs a nearby book.

SW just giggles, “Anyway I think I found a name for you since you want me to stop calling you ma’am.”

“Can’t you just call me by my serial?”

“JH doesn’t really fit you.”

“What does fit me then?”

“Irene.”

JH raises an eyebrow before trying to roll out the name herself, “Irene?”

SW nods eagerly, “yes, yes, you’re definitely an Irene.”

“Is this supposed to make sense or?”

“Irene means peace in Greek. There was a goddess that personified the word peace and was named Irene.”

JH doesn’t know if SW is joking around or, “You do know I’m exactly the opposite of peace right?”

SW shakes her head reverently, “Nah uh”

“I’m an executioner, I was made to kill.”

It’s been a while since she’s drawn her blade and strike to kill, her missions with SW has been mostly gathering data, nothing that needs Irene to show off what she was made for, that she herself, has slowly forgotten about it.

Her purpose.

And that maybe, SW doesn’t even know what she is.

“And?”

JH turns her head to the girl, “and what?”

“I mean, so what? You’re an executioner? But isn’t your aim to bring peace?”

“Yes but I’ve killed so many, not just machines, I’ve also killed our fellow androids.”

“I know but,” SW bites her lower lip as she fiddles with the page of a book, “when I’m with you I feel nothing but peace.”

To say JH is stunned is an understatement, she feels like when she first used her self-destruct button, she feels like bursting and all because the android before her told her she brought her peace.

“I-“ she doesn’t even know what to say back to that, but a part of her wants to tell SW everything she’s felt since she was given the company of this android.

How she doesn’t see the world as grey anymore, how there’s actually something more than dread, death, and pain in this world, and how maybe SW was ri