A transport ship twice the size of a standard helicopter raced through the air above derelict buildings in various states of destruction. Horizontal rotor blades on either side of the ship kicked up dust and dirt that had built up atop crumbling structures as the vehicle passed overhead. Some buildings were multi-storey structures that were somehow still standing, but others had clearly toppled over after years of abuse from battles between Nikke and Raptures.
If clouds hadn’t formed today, then sunlight would’ve reflected off the worn-down metal vehicle as it travelled straight to its destination. It was maintained as well as it could be given the circumstances the world found itself in. Rust ate away at parts of the ship that hadn’t been touched by human hands in quite some time, and there appeared to be oil stains coating parts of its metal panels.
Aboard the ship, weather was irrelevant. There were no windows to allow the sun’s rays in. Slim, white LED lights three feet in length ran along the ceiling of BA-01, the ship transporting a dozen people to a landing zone. Standing to the left were humans known as commanders, while on the right stood girls known as Nikke. A small bit of turbulence caused the commanders to bounce around as they grasped handles overhead in an attempt to remain steady. The Nikke, on the other hand, didn’t need such support. They all stood there, stone-faced and unmoving.
For this mission they had formed groups of three. One human commander and two Nikke. While most of the commanders talked amongst themselves, there was one man in particular who chose to eye the two androids tasked with keeping him alive. They were both mass produced units, with one being labelled ‘Flower’ and the other ‘Sun’. They both wore bright yellow visors that likely had some kind of fancy heads-up display for them to observe, but that was about all they had in common when it came to their clothes.
Flower wore an appealing yellow and black outfit with the torso of said outfit being transparent. Her light brunette ponytail travelled all the way down to her thighs, which were covered by black trousers with a bit of armour strapped to them in semi-important places like the knees and shins.
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Sun, on the other hand, had a mostly black outfit with only small yellow highlights, although her long blonde twintails made up for the lack of yellow on her clothes. Ammo pouches helped push her chest up and below that her hips and thighs were visible.
This particular young man might very well be the only commander to be deeply conflicted on the subject of Nikke. No matter what the Central Government said, he had started to see them as human. To call them weapons and to treat them as disposable seemed wrong to him. They may not have all the functions of a human, sure, but they were composed of human brains and android bodies. The part that mattered, the brain, was human. There was no getting around that fact.
When the three of them met in the Ark, the young commander saw how serious his Nikke were and tried to crack a joke to ease the tension. It was something he did with everyone so he reflexively did it with Nikke, even though he was taught they were only there to serve. Nikke were not there to entertain his jokes. He can’t even remember exactly what he said, but it was probably something stupid about how flowers grow thanks to the sun so they made a good pair. The content of the joke wasn't important though, because for a brief moment he saw a smile creep onto Flower’s face. Flower promptly received a nudge from Sun, causing her to go back to being emotionless. The man had seen enough though. This little interaction where a Nikke showed emotion was enough to get him to think. At the end of the day they were just like him. They harboured emotions just like everyone else. Why shouldn’t he attempt to communicate and bond with them? Why were they treated as disposable? Why did no one show them any respect or love? The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got. If humans were allowed to treat Nikke with respect then, even in these dark times, the world would be a more peaceful and enjoyable place for everyone.
After some more turbulence knocked him about, the man twisted his body to his two Nikke and was about to start a conversation with them. It didn’t matter what he said, he just wanted to speak to them. He wanted to know more about them. But just before he opened his mouth, Flower suddenly jolted upright, tossed her rocket launcher aside and rushed at her commander. Looking over her shoulder, the last thing Commander saw was Sun taking steps towards where the pilots were seated in an attempt to give cover to Flower. Mere seconds later the young man’s vision had turned completely white.