Mahmuna, who explains the signal's surprising source. (Misinterpreted Wishes)

The tower the two androids had entered was clearly vast, with many floors and winding halls to reach them. Luckily, from inside the tower, 9S was able to easily get a strong lock on the coordinates that previously played host to their mystery signal. Furthermore, the two of them had access to minimap technology. It wouldn't keep them from running into the occasional dead end, but it would help them keep their bearings.

As the two proceeded, they found their path blessedly free of any machines standing in their way, for once in their lives. This left them with little to do but take in their surroundings.

2B idly noted how human currency seemed to be sprouting up on their path like an invasive species of plant. At first, it had just been a coin here or there. As they progressed, however, the findings became harder to ignore: she was having to step around chests filled to the brim with ancient coins, and she could spot random furniture acting as the display pedestals for jeweled crowns. The humans of history would probably have scrambled over each other and trampled one another to **** to leave this hall with even one of the many treasures strewn haphazardly about. For 2B, however, the glistening piles of gold hardly registered. For all she knew, there'd be resistance androids who'd buy them in her own world, but to her, the seconds she'd spend having Pod load up on funds were seconds where anything could be happening to the target of their mission.

9S was more interested in his surroundings, but not for the same reasons as 2B. He was no expert on the history of human civilization, but he'd always heard about treasures like these being locked away in tombs. All of this wealth seemed thrown around more as decoration than as valuables in a vault. 9S found he couldn't imagine the human who would have stored their belongings like this. Instead of a lucky find, it felt more like a trap. "2B, let's be cautious. Don't touch anything you don't need to."

2B, who hadn't been making any gestures to do so anyway, nodded at the unnecessary advice. Up ahead was the clearing she'd been looking for. Amid a desert of gold-pile dunes, a single lamp was illuminated in the center, lit by a chandelier above. If every part of the layout and decor wasn't already screaming at her that this was her objective, the signal they'd briefly picked up before would be the tell. It was coming from right in front of the lamp. Supposedly, earlier, there had been something standing right here that identified as a YoRHa No. 2 Type B android... Something that was here no longer. There wasn't a corpse, a black box, or any trace of a struggle. Just a well-polished lamp...

As the female android hung back, considering the implications, it was 9S who moved forward. The lamp hadn't escaped his attention. He glanced back at 2B as he picked it up. "Are you detecting any readings from this artifact?" When she shook her head, he nodded along. "Same. Nothing mechanical nor organic. Still, this room feels like it was occupied just a short while ago. I wonder if-"

"Cough rub it cough cough," a woman's voice came from inside the lamp, faintly.

9S paused mid-speech, glancing down at the item he was holding. If it wasn't a mechanical lifeform, what could it be? A recording? He glanced over at 2B silently, holding the lamp in one hand and gesturing towards his back with the other, suggesting she ready her weapon. As 2B drew her katana and entered a battle stance, 9S used one of his gloved hands to buff the lamp as its inhabitant seemed to be requesting.

"Aha! I am released once again, so quickly!" the mysterious voice exclaimed as colorful smoke impatiently rushed from the nozzle of the lamp and congregated into the form of a blue-skinned, three-eyed woman, a busty beauty straight out of certain fairy tales. "It is I, Mahmuna of the Tower, ready to grant your- eeep!!"

The genie's greeting was quickly cut off as she found a blade leveled at her face. Although it'd been quickly drawn, it didn't advance further. 2B held it in place with a stormy calm. "You're not a machine. Tell us who you are."

"... I-it is I, Mahmuna of the Tower, ready to grant your every wish," the genie declared more timidly. She could turn into smoke at any time she wished, but there was still something startling about being threatened right at the jump. "Yes, brave champions, I can..." Her voice trailed off as she took in 2B's form. A smile quickly returned to her face. "Ah! You are back, John!"

"... John?" 2B asked, genuinely puzzled. Ordinarily, she wouldn't engage in a conversation that wasn't mission-pertinent, but she had too many questions. "Who is John? What happened to the android whose signal was here earlier? Answer honestly. We have identified you aren't human. We don't have any directive to grant you protection."

"Ah, no need for that! I have no reason to lie to you, and I will grant you understanding if you wish for it."

"... Yes, that's correct. I wish to understand-"

"Hold it, 2B!!" 9S shouted urgently from his position on the other side of the genie. "I thought I recognized this thing from some old story, so I started digging through memory files. I don't have access to a complete library here, but this thing sounds a lot like a 'genie' from human fantasy. The really important thing is that it grants wishes, but only three of them. So, if you wish to understand something, that means we'll only have two left!"

Pod 153, who had been silently floating along until this point, finally spoke up. "Report: the veracity of the so-called genie's ability to grant wishes and its friendly intentions have not been confirmed. Proposal: confirm the veracity before indulging in the prospect of 'being granted wishes.'"

"Hahaha!" Mahmuna laughed good-naturedly, waving off their worries. "There is no need to fear or be shy! I am bound by no such constrictions! I am here to grant as many wishes as you like, until you choose to depart as you did before. A-and this time, I am confident they will be granted totally to your satisfaction, John!" The genie pressed her fingers together apologetically.

2B sighed, lowering her sword. She didn't sense any hostility from the strange woman. "Very well. Prove your good intentions by explaining to me why you keep referring to me as 'John' and in the past tense, and do so without me wishing for it."

Mahmuna, who'd been friendly and compliant up to that point, couldn't help but look a little pouty. "I shall do so, although it was but moments earlier, and the explanation would be delivered oh-so-easily through magical means... Very well. Moments earlier, John, we met in this very chamber. I explained my nature and powers. You wished that YoRHa No. 2 Type B, from the human video game NieR: Automata, was in this very room. I granted your wish, transforming you into 2B so that she would be in this very room. Then, terrified, you wished to 'get the hell out of here,' which I granted by returning you to your friends directly! How you returned so quickly is a mystery to me."

Everyone was quiet for a while after that.

Pod 042 was the first to break the silence. "Report: New information suggests there is another 2B unit unaccounted for and not registered in the database. Proposal:-"

"Hold that proposal, Pod," 2B ordered her support, before looking back to Mahmuna with concern. "You said '2B from the human video game'... That means John was a human? And you transformed him into a YoRHa unit?"

"That's what you're worried about?" 9S mentally noted. He didn't understand what Mahmuna was talking about, but there were many things bothering him more than what had apparently happened to one careless human.

When 2B saw Mahmuna nod, she grit her teeth and leveled her sword again. "Then you have committed an unforgivable sin. You should know that we YoRHa units are tasked with the protection of humanity. To turn a human being into an emotionless android like myself is no different from killing him."

"Y-you do not look emotionless, though!" Mahmuna cried, waving her hands again. "Okay, so I am beginning to suspect you are not John who visited me! That means you are the other 2B, yes? Well then, perhaps it was fate that brought you here! Yes, in a way, I successfully granted John's wish to have 2B appear in this very room! I am not so bad at this after all!" The genie proudly planted her fists on her hips and thrust out her sizable chest. "And now, 2B, I offer you the chance to have your wish granted."

9S chuckled at the scenario a bit. When he saw Mahmuna wasn't laughing (and, of course, the one android and two Pods he was sharing the room with were never laughing), he clicked his teeth. "Are you serious? If I'm understanding right, this one guy clearly wished to meet 2B, and you turned him into her. Then, he wished that he was away from you, and you teleported him back to his friends, where he's, I assume, now stuck living as 2B forever. I'm saying that you clearly, blatantly misinterpreted both of his wishes. Relying on your abilities for anything would be completely reckless."

To his surprise, however, it was Pod 153 that spoke up after him. "Report: Although the results were questionable, mounting evidence exists that Mahmuna possesses magical powers and can grant impossible wishes, such as transforming a human into an android and turning her own organic body to smoke. The potential benefits to humanity and YoRHa are too great to discard her offer outright. Proposal: Carefully propose wishes that cannot be misinterpreted to the detriment of humanity or YoRHa."

"Weren't you the one doubting her just a second ago, Pod?!" 9S complained, grinning in spite of it. "But I've got to admit, I was hoping someone would step up and vote for it. I can't deny, it's hard to hear you have a real genie in front of you and not at least try wishing for something."

"Right?! So wish for something!" Mahmuna encouraged him, pumping her arms up and down. Her breasts bounced in her wrapped top in a way that would, in a less intense situation, probably be distracting.

"This is illogical," 2B reminded him. "There's too great of a risk. Besides... How are we, as androids, supposed to phrase a wish? We don't have hopes or wishes like humans do. Any wish you ask for would either be broad enough to be immediately dangerous, or inconsequential enough to be completely pointless."

Mahmuna pouted again. She started to argue, but she realized planting her feet in an argument against the stubborn 2B was probably a slow way to get what she wanted. Instead, she turned back to 9S. "Please, I ask you to think carefully. I can see you are a young man of duty, but also of complexity and emotion. Surely there is something your heart has always desired? Some burning wish within you?"

9S looked past the pleading genie to his partner's disapproving frown. He gave it some thought...