Concert Recitation, Act 3: Beasts of Slaughter

Act 3: Beasts of Slaughter
Scene 1: The Pearl Harbor Descent Mission

A2 (Narration):  Everything is designed to be destroyed.
In the never-ending spiral between life and death……
I continue to be trapped.
Is this a curse?
Or is this some kind of punishment?
Whatever god who dealt me this mysterious puzzle,
I wonder, will I someday raise my bow at him?

2B (N): She’s A2. Attacker No2.
A new model YoRHa android.

A2:  I was first deployed on December 8, 11941, the Pearl Harbor Descent Mission during the 14th Machine War.
I was a weapon created to take back the planet stolen by the Bio-Machines.
……We were that weapon, the “YoRHa Squadron”.

2B (N):  They were sent to destroy a Bio-machine server constructed on Oahu Island.
This server was the main hub unit that controlled the network for the entire Pacific Ocean region, and thusly, its destruction was a major strategic endeavor to regain the upper hand in the war.

A2:  But, the enemy fire was beyond anything we could have imagined, and our unit sustained heavy losses from the very beginning.
We managed to rendezvous with the local Resistance forces, but… I ended up alone…… alone once more.
By the time we reached the server room, so many of my friends were killed in battle……

2B (N):  It was within the server room where A2 learned the truth about the war.
Every, single fight was carefully arranged by the Commander.
The true purpose was to gather enough new data to create more advanced combat androids in the future.
Each member in A2’s experimental squadron was fitted with a bomb intended for self-destruction.

A2 hopelessly despairs.

A2:  There’s a…… bomb inside of us……
Once our vital signs have been extinguished…… it will explode……
This can’t be true……
It can’t!!

2B (N):  Every battle was planned.
Every death pre-determined.
As A2 despairs, her comrades scream.
No2, I’ll destroy this place. You…… must survive.

A2 screams with determination as she cries.

A2:  No, don’t! No4!!
2B (N):  Her sacrifice was her final attack.
The server room was engulfed in a flash of light.
A2:  No4!!

A2 shields her face.

2B (N):  The Bio-machine server was destroyed, and the enemy forces were completely eradicated within a radius of 250km.
The lines of power in the Pacific Ocean region were drastically rewritten that day.
And…

A2 slowly raises her head.

A2:  ……I’m still alive.
I’ve lost the purpose to fight, betrayed by Command, the one thing I should have been able to trust……
But even so, I still have this life.
My friends who lost their lives…… the YoRHa squadron, shot down in the crossfire, the whole Resistance……
No21, No16…… No4……
I…… I…!!

2B (N):  ……The Black Box signal from the YoRHa unit No2 remains strong.
She is determined to possess confidential information regarding the YoRHa Project.
To protect this information from inadvertent exposure……
YoRHa Attacker No2 must be destroyed.
That is all.

Scene 2: Executioner

9S (N):  Attacker No2. A2.
She actually had a quiet and gentle personality in the beginning.
She was the least capable fighter in her group, but she cared for her comrades the most.
Even her cognitive processes did little to aid her in becoming a decent fighter.

A2:  ……But, in my first mission, the Pearl Harbor Descent Mission, I lost so many friends.
That horrific battle was concocted by Command.
As I prayed for those of us created to die……
I lost whatever was left of this heart of mine.

9S (N):  There was no place left for A2 to return to after she fled from Command.
However, she couldn’t throw away the life that her friends had given her.

A2:  Day after day, I’ll continue to destroy these machines.
I don’t really believe we can ever win this war.
But there will be no forgiveness for the Bio-machines that killed my friends.
I continued to fight so I could remain myself.

9S (N):  She fell into the cycle of fighting, taking damage, and repairing herself.
That pain, and only that pain, was her proof of living.
But one day, an enemy beyond her imagination found its way before her.

2B speaks very cool-headedly.

2B:  YoRHa Prototype Attacker No2. You’re A2, aren’t you?

A2 looks startled.

A2:  You’re……

9S (N):  The one in A2’s sights was a new, state-of-the-art YoRHa android.
She even shared the exact same face as A2 herself.

A2 seems extremely dumbfounded.

A2:  You…… have my face… Model No2……
They couldn’t have used my battle data as the basis to mass produce new YoRHa androids……?

2B:  A2, since you possess classified information with an eminent risk of exposure, an execution order has been issued for you by the Council of Humanity.
A2:  An execution…… order?
2B:  I am 2E. No2 Type E.  I was deployed from the Bunker in order to carry out this order.
Quietly suspend operation and turn yourself over to me.
Otherwise, I will have no other choice but to destroy you.
A2:  ha……haha haha ha

A2 begins to laugh from sheer anger.

A2:  Deployed from Command?
Execution?  An Executioner model……?
You guys do this to cover up your own sins, and send a YoRHa model with my own face to politely ask that I hand you my life?
Ha……hahahaha
2B:  A2, I don’t have time to listen to your excuses……
A2:  Shut up!!!

A2 shouts suddenly in complete rage.

A2:  If you people intend to kill me……
If you plan to keep the truth hidden……
Then fine, I won’t hold anything back.
I don’t care if it’s the Bio-machines, the Bunker, Command, the Council of Humanity on the face of the Moon…… I will kill you all.

9S (N):  In those hands, she grasped a sword that was meant only to be raised against Bio-machines.
In those eyes, the light of a kinder time was no more.
Suffering in solitude, a single avenger, she quietly gazed upon the “enemy”.

Scene 3: Huntsman

2B (N): For fear of confidential information leaking out, Command put out a death warrant against A2.
It was imperative to shake off those pursuers and continue the fight against the Bio-machines.
Since she viewed anything and everything that came before as the enemy, she no longer had a single place to retreat.

A2: Shit!! All you do is dodge about and run away!
9S: Hah~ hah~ You can’t hit me with such sketchy moves~
A2: If you’re a man, you’d fight me fair and square!!
9S: I’m a Scanner model, so I’m not exactly confident with hand-to-hand combat.
A2: Ugh, shut your F’ing mouth!!
9S: See, if you keep looking the other way, you’ll leave your guard wide open.
A2: You little… Ughhh!!

2B (N): A2 was hit directly by 9S’s hacking attack.
He broke through her logic protections and reached her personal core data.
This was a place surrounded in walls of white in every direction.

A2: ……Where am I……?
9S: This is hacking space. I’ve sealed your personal data within your brain.
Let’s see, YoRHa unit A2. Attacker No2 Prototype.
It looks like an execution order has been issued for you by the Council of Humanity, to keep you from disclosing classified information and for the continued protection of said information.
A2: ……heh, those idiot Command dogs.
9S: Boy, do you have a fierce mouth on you.
But scream as much as you like, there’s no way out now.

2B (N): The surrounding white walls suddenly began to fill with black fog.
9S: That’s a trap to bind your personal data.
It’s a sort of protective wall, but it’s meant to keep things locked in rather than the other way around.
No matter how hard you may try, there’s no escape for you.
A2: Shit……
9S: Don’t you think you say that too much? “Shit shit shit…”
A2: What the hell has Command told you……?
9S: What’d they say? Didn’t I just tell you? They’re calling for your execution for escaping.
Simply, I don’t care much for violence, so I thought I’d handle you this way and then pass you on to Command.
A2: That’s it……?
9S: Hmm?
A2: So that’s as far as you look, huh? And here I thought you were a Scanner.

9S’s voice begins to sound cold.

9S: Are you trying to offend me?
You know, I intended that wall to merely restrain you, but……
I’ve changed my mind.
Just as the order states, I think I’ll have to destroy your personal data.

9S holds out his hand.

9S: I hope you regret speaking so recklessly.
2B (N): 9S issued an erasure order for A2.
But the black fog surrounding A2 didn’t seem to progress any further.
On the contrary, it was 9S who began to show signs of something unusual happening to his body.
Before he realized it, he was entirely surrounded by black data as though snakes wrapping around him.

9S: This…… can’t be…… A counter defensive wall attack?!
But, how……?

A2 slowly begins to recover from the damage she sustained.

A2: It’s simple, really……
I got it from you.
9S: From me!?

2B (N): Confusion swept over 9S as more data coiled around him; the chance to escape with his personal data intact growing increasingly remote.

A2: YoRHa unit No9 Scanner model……
This marks the 4th time that I’ve encountered you.
The first time was a pretty rough battle.
But by fighting you multiple times, I’ve learned all your tricks.
Your previous iterations attacked in various different patterns, but you always try to make the final kill through your favorite method of hacking.
This program is your ace to play when you find yourself in a pinch, right?

9S seems to be in pain.

9S: No way…… Shit, I’ve gotta get out of this……

A2 speaks very calmly.

A2: It’s impossible. That barrier is setup in layers just like your own personal data.
There is no way to break free…… That’s the way you made it, right?

In great pain, 9S’s functions slowly come to a halt.

9S: Guhhhahhhh…… Shit…… Shiiiiiittt!!
A2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As 9S’s screams subside, A2 begins to speak quietly.

A2: This was also the 4th time…… to hear that harsh wail.
I truly hope…… we don’t ever meet again.

Scene 4: Reunion

9S (N): I was wandering around in a place known as the “Forest Kingdom”.
The “Forest King” was said to be a dangerous Bio-machine leader.
But what I eventually found within the ruins of that castle was……
Nothing more than a tiny machine baby.

2B (N): I was very confused.
It was a machine that could hardly walk on its own let alone bear arms.
How could this be the Forest King……?
As though detecting that moment of hesitation, she appeared.

A2 (N): It was pure coincidence that I ended up in that spot at that moment.
While I fought to defeat those atrocious Bio-machines, it just so happened that baby turned out to be their leader.
That machine looked so small and vulnerable.
But I didn’t hesitate to strike it down.
The Bio-machine’s death throes traveled from its central core up the length of my sword.
This is the enemy. It is the enemy. It’s…… the enemy.
At least, that’s what I told myself.

2B (N): That android that suddenly appeared in front of us had my face.
A YoRHa No2 model.
She then turned and glanced our way.
And in those eyes, it was almost like…… she had given up everything.

9S: 2B! That’s…… an android!
In fact, isn’t that a YoRHa type?

A2 (N): I knew all about them.
Because I had killed them countless times before.
Of course, because there was a death warrant out for my head.

2B (N): I had no memory of encountering this individual before.
But still…… I felt a strange feeling deep within my soul.

9S (N): Even if she escaped, even if she was one of us, we had to destroy her.
Struggling with this thought, a question grew within me.
Was she really our “enemy”……?

A2 (N): There stood No2 Type B and No9 Type S, two YoRHa units that I destroyed so many times by now.
But something about these two was…… somehow different than before.
But I couldn’t exactly place my finger on why.
Maybe somewhere…… I saw something of my old comrades in them.
……
Maybe this was some sort of omen.
Perhaps this was the end, or maybe it was just the beginning.
No21, No16…… No4.
If I don’t make it through this…… I’ll see you soon.

A2 glares straight ahead.

A2 (N): So please…… wait just a little longer.

2B (N): The YoRHa squadron is a weapon created to fight.
9S (N): The YoRHa squadron is the insanity born in order to kill.
A2 (N): This is a world full of curses.
We are tied in an eternal chain of killing each other.
2B (N): Despite this truth, we must fight.
9S (N): That’s why we must kill.
A2 (N): Even if this fate is wrong, we cannot surrender.

ALL (N): Because this is the meaning of our existence.


Credits:
Japanese to English translation by Rekka Alexiel.
Translations were made from a personal copy of the script received at the concert on May 4th, 2017.