NieR: Automata Part #54 - Episode LIII: Missing in Action

Part 54: Episode LIII: Missing in Action

Episode LIII: Missing in Action

We find ourselves in the 100 yard span of land designated as the Flooded City. This will be the last time we’ll be here for a main plot relevant purpose before we hit NieR: Automata’s first ending.

Now that we have the Dynamic Scanner, we can use Pod 042 to track down 9S. Or... you know, any other heavily injured YoRHa android in the area. I suppose we can be a team player and help them out as well. You hanging in there, bud...?

You got hit by an EMP blast.

I... I don’t remember anything...

Don’t worry. I sent out a rescue signal to the Bunker.

We are currently searching for a missing YoRHa unit, designation 9S. Should you possess any information on the subject, please disclose it at once.

I’m sorry... I... I don’t know anything.

That’s okay. Just stay here and rest.

W-who am I...?

Well, that was a bust. However, the Scanner has picked up another signal close by on the other end of this platform. Two signals, actually. One belongs to another damaged YoRHa android. However, much more pressingly is a hidden item pick-up.

Oh shit, son! I cannot believe Caim lost this thing again. That murder machine idiot!

Iron Will, also occasionally called ~~Dragonslayer~~ Hymir’s Finger is a weapon that appeared in the very first Drakengard and has returned for every entry in the series. Even the barely canon of the garbage timeline that is Drakengard 2. In NieR: Automata, it gains several Endurance Up bonuses with upgrades. At maximum level it gains Steel Spine, which basically gives 2B extreme amounts of poise to swinging Iron Will, undeterred by any damage from enemies interrupting her attacks.

Iron Will posted:

The sword's blade, dulled by years of idleness, was—as its
name implied—a mere iron hunk. Its blood-drenched youth
was little more than a series of rusted memories which grated against
its pockmarked steel.

Who could wield this hunk of iron now that its edge was gone?
Who might love it when all it could do was bash dully against a
foe instead of cutting through flesh and bone? Who would
devote themselves to such insanity?

The sword sighed softly, pleased to finally be at rest, But before
it could peacefully crumble into dust, a group of power-hungry
fools took it up and denied its reverie anew.

Red rust was the weapon's tears. The blood, fat, and muscle it
tore through was proof of its curse. Now let it hew bone once
more! Let it ravage flesh! Let it do all this and more as
atonement for its sins!

Yep. That sounds like Iron Will alright. Unfortunately, as that weapon history has implied... Iron Will has been out of commission for a while. Caim has been dead for over 10,000 years and Papa Nier got wiped out of existence millennia ago as well. It hasn’t been getting its murder on all this time. There’s not a lot of people to kill in the afterlife, as it turns out. As a result...

The poor thing has tragically rusted into complete shit. Even if we upgraded it to Level 4, not even the sage blacksmith Masamune can do anything for the old boy. This is it. This is Iron Will now. A rusted hunk of dull iron. This might be the most tragic thing in all of NieR: Automata.

I suppose we don’t have time to lament a once proud murder instrument’s decay. We should probably check on that dying android it was rusting next to and perhaps find that bozo 9S.

Don’t worry, I’m—

N-no... Get away from me! I don’t like the look of you!

Proposal: remove fear functionality.

No! Stay away! I hate you! I... hate...

Sorry to startle you. Just stay here and wait for help.

Urrrgh...

......

So... scared...

Well, that didn’t help any. I suppose maybe we ought to have started in the portion of the Flooded City with the main objective hotspot marker. But first, let’s swing back around behind the western most part of the region. We kinda avoided this earlier so as not to trigger the next story beat until necessary. But now that the Grün business has been sorted out, we can explore back behind here to find...

There is absolutely NOTHING of value here! So don’t let it distract you and run along now! Hmmm... but I can’t just send you off empty-handed, now can I? I’d love to give you a souvenir of some kind, but I have nothing on me right now. What to do, what to do...?

......

I know! I shall self-destruction for your convenience! This will result in a rain of useful materials. They are yours to keep! Ah yes, fortune smiles upon you today! Once you’ve collected my gifts, please forget everything you saw here. That’s a promise, you hear? Goodbye!

Machine Lifeforms are strange creatures. Anyhow, another inaccessible elevator is located back here. It’s a DLC hook we’ll be exploring at a much later date.

For now, let’s return to our investigation into finding the missing 9S. There’s one final injured YoRHa member slumped against a bus at the end of this area. This is actually the only YoRHa android we need to investigate to progress the mission. Let’s see what her deal is...

Pod, employ a check module and a logic-virus vaccine.

Nnngh...

Easy. I’ve contacted the Bunker. They should be here soon.

Th-thank you...

We are currently searching for a missing YoRHa unit, designation 9S. Should you possess any information on the subject, please disclose it at once.

Please. Anything will help.

9S... That’s that kid who was with you, right? I saw him, all right. That explosion sent him flying...

Which direction?

Hard to say... I’ll take my best guess at a landing spot and transfer the data to you.

Thank you. You should stay here until the rescue team arrives.

Target location data obtained. Marking on map.

Nnngh...

Alright, where do we have, Pod? Ergh... That’s not really helpful... This world map isn’t great. Hmph. Let’s try shifting it a bit to see if we can get a better bearing.

Oh... huh... That’s the City Ruins sinkhole. Like in the mines leading to the Alien Mothership where we last saw Adam and Eve ages ago. That... is a long and very specific area to get flung. That cannot be good...

Alright, then. Next stop: The City Ruins sinkhole and hopefully 9S semi-intact. It won’t be the same to yell at an earlier back-up copy of 9S if we need to get a new one. He technically would have had nothing to do with ramming a missile into a giant robot’s mouth right next to 2B. That’s the trouble with constructing back-up androids if the old one dies. You cannot even yell at them for their fuck-ups! It’s a huge morale hit...

Alert: Faint black box signal detected. The transmission seems to be coming from an underground cave network.

Music: Widespread Illness (Quiet)

The same machines from our first visit to these caverns are still hanging out. They’re stuck to Level 10-15 so 2B can just look at them funny and they’ll just self-detonate at this point. However, there are some new additions to the caves this go around...

Just a few bound and flayed android corpses decorating the path. No big deal. Maybe Simone over in the Amusement Park had some spares left over and the machine lifeforms just wanted to spruce up the drab mines. It’s probably fine!

No black box signals detected.

If we attempt to head towards the buried alien spaceship, Pod 042 will inform us we’re going the wrong way. Nope. 9S isn’t there. That alien ship is never relevant or necessary to visit ever again. Forget about the aliens. They were just set dressing.

Remember our first trip through these mines we found an alternate path leading to a locked elevator that I told you to remember for later. Guess what? It’s later...

Alert: Possible enemy ambush ahead.

Don’t care.

We’ve come this far. We’re not heading back. We’re gonna scold 9S for nearly blowing us up, dammit!

Music: ENDS

The elevator starts heading down. Far. Like really far... It’s a good 20 second descent and seems like it’s moving a decent clip. And at the bottom floor we find...

Urgh...? Pod, is 2B’s eyes malfunctioning and she can no longer see colors? No... that doesn’t make sense. You and the elevator are still in color. Then what is...?