9S finally settles on a personal wish.

9S racked his brain for a wish he could select that would be impervious to Mahmuna's apparent pattern of twisting them. He realized that, despite all of the battles he and 2B had fought up until this point and all the deaths in the name of humanity, this moment, in front of a bubble-headed fairy tale genie, could be what decided everything.

Despite Mahmuna's insistence, there was no need to rush. Instead, he needed to consider carefully. It was probably fair to say that if he could imagine a way the wish could be twisted, it wasn't safe to wish for.

"I wish the war with the machines was over." - With the machines winning?

"I wish humanity won the war with the machines." - At what cost?

"I wish humanity never had to go to war with the machines in the first place." - Would he, 2B, and YoRHa even exist?

"I wish that humanity wasn't at war with the machines, machines weren't hostile, and it's not because humans are also machines, and also that all of YoRHa continues to exist as it does now, but without the directive to fight machines..."

... 9S stopped brainstorming the perfect, war-ending wish earlier than he thought. He cracked a wry smile. "There's no way to win this, is there? I could sit here computing the perfect wish, accounting for every possible variable, but if Mahmuna's determined to twist it, there'll be a loophole every time."

"Th-that is not the case!" Mahmuna defended, her indignation apparent in a dark flush on her blue skin and tears at the corners of her eyes. "I have no such determination to twist a wish! I do not think I even failed very harshly in granting those of John! I simply... have difficulty in understanding the wishes precisely, but I always grant them to the best of my ability!"

"The funny thing is, I believe you," 9S admitted, crossing his arms behind the back of his head. "You don't have any kind of malice on you... That doesn't mean I can afford to be careless here. 2B and I will be okay as long as we're together. There's no need for us to risk anything on a big swing for the fences."

"9S..." 2B muttered to herself, trying to decide how she felt about the idea of forsaking such an incredible opportunity.

Mahmuna was growing ****, beginning to believe the two androids would be the first to somehow manage to leave her without giving her a chance to try and help them with her power. However, she picked up on 2B's reaction to 9S. She shrugged and shook her head. "Oh, silly young man! I understand why you cannot craft the wish that truly represents the desire of your heart. Yes, Mahmuna sees it with her third flaming eye, which, um... h-has the power to see the truths in human hearts!"

"We're not humans," 9S pointed out.

"In machine hearts!"

"Machines are different from androids," 2B added.

"In the hearts of whatever, boo!" Mahmuna exclaimed, waving her fists at her sides. "Please allow Mahmuna to continue! Yes, your mind is clouded because the wish that represents the true desire of your heart is not for the greater humanity or mission you serve. It is for your dear sister, 2B!" She pointed at the other android dramatically.

A small reaction registered in a twitch of 2B's lips. "... 9S and I are not 'brother and sister.' We are YoRHa androids from separate production lines. It would be more accurate to think of us as coworkers."

"... Really? But you look so similar... Th-the white hair, and... Fie and fum! None of such changes the declaration of Mahmuna's eye! 9S, surely there is some wish you have for 2B? Or a wish 2B has for you?"

9S didn't need any kind of vital monitor or profiling technique to tell Mahmuna was rushing to have them make an emotional decision. Still, he had to admit that wasn't an avenue of thought he'd yet explored. Naturally, it would first occur to a combat android to think of how a wish could benefit their mission. Their own lives, such as they were, were a distant priority. However, it could also be said that if the mission was so much more important than their lives, than their lives were the thing they could afford to gamble with. A wish which only affected them personally would be a good testing ground...