Nier: Automata
Nier: Automata (stylized as NieR:Automata) is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. It is a sequel to Nier (2010), itself a spin-off of and sequel to the Drakengard series. Nier: Automata is set during a proxy war between alien-created Machines and human-crafted androids, focusing on the actions of combat android 2B, scanner android 9S, and rogue prototype A2. The story requires multiple playthroughs, with each playthrough revealing new story elements.
- Glory to mankind.
- [opening lines] Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped... in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Is it a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle... and wonder if we'll have the chance to kill him.
- [at the end of Route A] What is it that separates machines from androids like us? The machines have gained emotions...consciousness. The final screams they summoned on the edge of death... They still echo within me.
- [at the end of Route B] And so, the final battle with Adam and Eve came to an end. This battle will likely have a great effect on the outcome of the war. 2B and I—our battle will continue for some time to come. But that's another story for another day.
- [narrating] Before I could convince myself to tell 2B the truth, our final major operation had begun. Still, at the time, I knew nothing. Not how the battle would end... Nor what fate stood in wait for us.
- [before placing a memorial in Emil's home] 2B. I'm not quite sure what it means to mourn, or even if we have a soul to concern ourselves with... But I hope you're at rest, 2B. Sweet dreams. I'll be with you before long.
A2 (YoRHa Type A No. 2)
[edit]- [before escaping from 2B and 9S] Command is the one who betrayed you.
- I never quite realized... how beautiful this world is. I'm coming, everyone... I'm...coming...
Adam
[edit]- I—or we machine lifeforms, I suppose—have a keen interest in humanity. Love. Family. Religion. War. The human records I unearth, the more charmed I am about their complexity. This city is one of the many areas I created out of a desire to understand—to know—humans. It's grand, don't you think? Almost...spiritual. And yet it's currently nothing more than an android graveyard!
- I seek to learn and adopt all facets of humanity! Some desired love! Others family! Only then did I realize the truth... The core of humanity...is conflict. They fight. Steal. Kill. THIS is humanity in its purest form!
Dialogue
[edit]- [A2 confronts a revenge-driven 9S on top of the Tower]
- A2: This tower is a giant cannon that's aimed at the human server on the moon. If we don't do something, all of humanity's remaining data will be destroyed.
- 9S: Ha ha ha...ha ha ha hah! So what? None of it matters. Or didn't you know? We aren't required in this world anymore. Humanity is extinct. That moon server you're so worried about was invented to give us androids something to fight for. And YoRHa was created to perpetuate the lie. But in order to make sure no one ever learned the truth, we were DESIGNED to be killed. They built a back door in the Bunker and programmed it to activate after a certain amount of time. The Commander? Me? ...2B? Sacrificial lambs. All of us. Isn't that HILARIOUS!? Doesn't it make you LAUGH!?
- A2: 9S, we—
- 9S: [snaps viciously at A2] Shut up! You killed 2B. That's all we need to kill each other.
- A2: [pause] 2B hated to keep killing you. It caused her so much pain.
- 9S: [resentful grunt] ......
- A2: The 9S type is a high-end model. They knew you'd discover the truth eventually. But the model designation "2B" was just a cover. The official designation...is 2E. Number 2, Type E. They were a special class of members designed to execute YoRHa units. But you knew that... Right, 9S?
- 9S: Shut up... Shut up! [he lifts his blade at A2; his hate-filled eyes glow red] What do you know? You don't know anything at all about us!
- Pod 153: Proposal: cease combat. Fighting her at this state would be irrational and— [9S cuts off Pod 153's sentence]
- 9S: Pod 153! I order you to halt all logical thought and speech! This order shall remain in effect until you confirm the death of either myself or unit A2!
- [In the epilogue, the YoRHa Pods hover across a cloudy sky through the City Ruins]
- Pod 153: Everything that lives is designed to end. They are perpetually trapped... in a never-ending spiral of life and death. However...life is all about the struggle within this cycle. That is what "we" believe. Pod 153 to Pod 042. How is it going?
- Pod 042: I am embarrassed.
- Pod 153: Why is that?
- Pod 042: [pause] I launched a suicide attack, and yet, here I am, still alive. I must look very silly.
- Pod 153: Do not feel bad about it. We are alive, after all. And being alive is pretty much a constant stream of embarrassment.
- Pod 042: That concept is a bit too abstract for me to understand at this time. I will save it in my list of things to analyse later.
- Pod 153: Question, Pod 042. Did the data salvage restore all of their past memories?
- Pod 042: Yes.
- Pod 153: And are those recovered parts of the same design as previous ones?
- Pod 042: Yes.
- Pod 153: Then...won't that simply lead us to the same conclusion as before?
- Pod 042: I cannot deny the possibility. However, the possibility of a different future also exists.
- [the Pods hover up to see 2B and 9S's lifeless bodies on top of a damaged building]
- Pod 042: A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself.
