Part 133: Episode CXXVIII: Atonement

NOTE: Hey... before we go further let's stop for a second. While NieR: Automata is mostly a stand alone sequel, this final chapter is VERY MUCH something that loses a lot of impact in places if you've not played the first game. Or at least maybe read an LP done by someone you might be familiar with... Just saying! Final warning to correct your course in life before we begin...

Episode CXXVIII: Atonement


Music: Amusement Park (Quiet)



Memory check complete. Maintenance mode complete. YoRHa unit 9S... Activate.



Good morning, 9S.
<struggles to his feet> Am I...?
Analysis: The enemy structural unit collapsed during battle. Unit 9S suffered damage from the fall and was placed in emergency suspend mode. Fall location was deemed too dangerous, thus said unit was transported to current location. All system checks and reactivation complete.
Operator...
Operator model 21O is deceased. Black box signal not found.
...Oh.
......
Situation report.
Tower access authentication key acquired.



Apparently some point while falling down a hole for the eighth time, 9S managed to grab the final keycard in free fall... somehow. Don’t worry about it. The floor with core on the other side of that wall collapsed too and fell next to him. Good an explanation as any!



The Tower is now open for investigation.
Good.



Welp. Final objective of the game coming right up and with it the Point of No Return for 9S before hitting Ending C. Any outstanding sidequests will be canceled as soon as he sets foot into The Tower proper. Not that it will be a problem for us. Nor will it remain a permanent problem either way.



It’s worth noting that Pod 153 wasn’t just talking about that floor collapsing and owning 9S. The God Box Resource Unit did indeed collapse into rubble sometime shortly after A2 wasted Big Brother Auguste and Little Brothers Friedrich. Probably because there’s absolutely no reason to return to that particular Resource Unit now that we’re done. The other two at least had some missable items and documents and they’re both perfectly fine. Definitely didn’t waste ten minutes checking them both out to see if they’d been destroyed too. No sirrah...


Music: Rays of Light





In any case, there’s no reason to delay. Let’s finally use these three magic tokens access cards so 9S can sate his curiosity about The Tower and undoubtedly let his suicidal murder boner go wild on whatever is within. Like a healthy adult, ya know?



Unfortunately, The Tower is still not letting 9S hack its front door and waltz in. There’s proper protocol that needs to be followed, duder. C’mon... You haven’t been unemployed from the disbanded YoRHa for that long.



We apologize for the inconvenience... but locks on each sub-unit must be deactivated before accessing the main Tower. Have a GREAT day!





So to get in, 9S needs to use those keycards he’s been gathering on each of the three weird spiral constructs surrounding the Tower entrance. Makes sense...



Once the defense barrier has been deactivated, it’s just a matter of hacking the device for good measure...


Music: City Ruins (Chiptune)







The first sub-system is a simple hack involving a bunch of destroyable black squares, a handful of cores than need to be destroyed and a somewhat tight time limit. Hackerman is on the case, no problem.





On to the next sub-system. The first one wasn’t even connected to anything... above ground at least. This one looks like they ran out of material to connect it to the upper reaches of the Tower.



Well, whatever. If it beeps... we can hack it.







The second sub-unit’s hack is a mess of black breakable blocks with some damaging reds and unbreakable whites thrown in for flavor. It’s like you all are not even trying. C’mon.







The final sub-unit is the only one they bothered to actually connect to the tower. Given the way things have been going, I wouldn’t be surprised if all three of these things actually didn’t do anything and there’s just a camera pointed at 9S with the machine network watching him and giggling while throwing off the appropriate light switches to make him think he’s doing something important.



As long as the door still opens after hacking all three of ‘em...







The third and final sub-unit hack is the only one that has defense units. The time limit for this one is rather tight. It also turns out destroying all the defenders like usual is a waste of time since the core didn’t have a defense barrier like usual. Hmph.


Music: Rays of Light



That means a special prize is waiting for you inside the Tower! We look forward to serving you!



I’m not a fan of the phrasing “looking forward to serving you.” If there’s some sort of freestyle break-dancing competition against the machine network waiting within the Tower, 9S is just completely boned. You just know Nines dances like the most uncoordinated, whitest boy imaginable.

Speculation on 9S being a busta aside, this hack for the Tower door is taking a good long while to activate... Like, after ten seconds of concentrated hacking button holding the meter is only filled less than a quarter of the way. For reference, common enemies take .05 to 1 second to hack. Goliaths and bosses take 1-2.5 seconds tops. Also...



Alert: Enemy caution level rising. Cause is most likely concern over unit 9S gaining access to Tower.



Outta my way!

Unfortunately, we’re only a quarter of the way into even initiating a hack when enemies begin pouring into the area and we’re forced to break off to defend ourselves. They’re all only Level 45-55 jobbers. The problem is... it only takes one hit to break 9S’s hacking focus and he needs nearly a minute to successfully initiate a hack on the Tower. And more airdropped reinforcements are immediately replacing any machines 9S kills.



Damn it, they won’t stop coming!
Alert: Allied signal detected.
Allies!?

Music: ENDS


Click here to watch the rest of the update contents. (You should probably just do this.)



Wait, you?
<draw their sword>



9S.



We’ve been expecting you.



Welp... If you’re going to pull a heel turn on us, please don’t give our Pod a stroke. That was really mean when your predecessors did that to our magic book sidekick...



Devola and Popola ready their swords and dash towards 9S, who can only manage to gasp and brace for getting owned again.













Nah. Just kidding. Why would you think this Devola and Popola would pull a heel turn at the final dungeon just because the last two did? That’s very judgemental of you. Just because they look the same as those two fuck-ups doesn’t mean anything. These two have been nothing but cool with us and thrown zero shady prophecies or ominous warnings 9S’s way.


Music: Song of the Ancients ~ Atonement (Vocal) (This is the only time the vocal version of this ever plays. Go listen to it!)



Devola? Popola? What are you doing here!?
Remember your promise?
What are you talking about?
Come on, 9S! Hack in while you can!
None of this makes any sense!
We’ll explain everything once we’re inside!
Ugh!
We’ve got this, 9S! You just focus on hacking!





So Popola and Devola are goddamn beasts and have this situation with the infinitely spawning machine lifeforms well handled. As far as friendlies in battle go they have AI similar to 2B’s in Route B if she were set to “wreck everything you see’s shit immediately” mode. They will rush down and obliterate anything getting remotely close to 9S or the Tower gate. So that’s cool.



That said, while the twins aren’t given a health bar, that doesn’t mean they are invincible. There’s infinitely spawning enemies. They are going to take some hits by sheer virtue of things are dropping behind them and immediately attacking before they can react. 9S is free to help out but it’s not a great idea...

Like five minutes of Devola and Popola fighting enemies later...



9S! You must hack into the Tower! We... we can’t hold out like this!

Another good four minutes of them fighting after that...



9S! I can’t do this anymore! Aaaaugh!







Hack the goddamn Tower, 9S!



Let’s try that again...



Actually, you know what, though? I’ve just noticed our inventory is full for spare plug-in chips. I’ve been meaning to offload a ton of useless low level ones but you know how it is with LP footage recording. Hey, you all held out for like ten minute last time. You’ll be OK if 9S just pops over to the Resistance Camp real quick, right?



If we don’t do something, they’re gonna...



Ah... They’re REALLY strong for NPC androids. It’ll be fine. Quit your worrying. It’ll only take three... maybe four minutes, tops!



Proposal: Hack into the main Tower unit.
Where are you going, 9S? We need you!
Augh... 9S, come back! We can’t hold out by ourselves!
Alert: Enemy forces gathering around Devola and Popola. Situation critical. Proposal: Provide rescue support immediately.



Damn... Looks like this is it.
No...







There’s no meaning behind anything 9S does.



OK. That’s it for screwing around. There’s only one more being a huge dick/fuck-up ending left in the game. Not counting the main endings. Let’s actually do this for real this time, eh?



Devola and Popola have this handled. 9S just needs to hack the Tower... For a while...



...a very long...



...while...



All this hacking and not once did 9S turn to someone and declare “I’m in...” Shameful.


New Music: Song of the Ancients - Chiptune (Also the only time you hear the chiptune version of it for more than two seconds.)







Despite all the build-up, there isn’t a whole lot to this hack. There’s a moderate amount of defenders initially and several unprotected cores along the way. There’s no time limit for this one either.





That is, until we reach the final core at the northern most point of hacking space. Here, 9S runs into some issues...



Analysis: It is part of a closed defensive system.
Well, how do I break it down!?



Hypothesis: Unit 9S could permit his self-consciousness data to lose control. The resulting energy surge has an acceptable probability of temporarily paralyzing the barrier.
That’s almost as bad as not going in at all!




Music: Song of the Ancients ~ Atonement (Vocal)



Gaaaaah!



9S doesn’t have time to worry about the details as the Tower zaps him out of his hack and sends him flying several yards. 9S man... you had one job.



What happened!?
It’s the barrier...



Shut up, nerd. If you’re not going to do the job right, Popola is gonna just go for it.



Aaaaaauuuuugggghhhh!!!
No, don’t!



Devola notices a machine about to put an axe into 9S’s head and saves his ass while Hackerman busies himself with dweeb terminology as to why Popola should stop being a big damn hero.



You can’t do anything—the wall’s got a self-closing algori—!
Enough! Devola and I—we have to atone for our sins no matter what!



Agh!
But if you do that, your circuits will—



Shut up, 9S! She already opened the damn door!



...Right!



Just gotta stab this machine in the dick real quick and rush over to 9S’s side. I bet they have robot dicks under that metal plating. I mean, they’ve got mouths with teeth under those dome heads. It stands to reason...



NOOOOOW!



Devola picks up 9S and just chucks his ass into the Tower.



Devola!







Aaaaaaahhh!!

















Video: Episode 128 Highlight Reel (You should watch this.)





Devola and Popola Render – Devola is the better sister because she drinks like a champ and also isn’t constantly bumping into shit because she’s got her bangs half-covering her eyes.