YoRHa No. 9 Type S, designated 9S, is a scanner-model android manufactured by YoRHa for reconnaissance and data collection in the 14th Machine War. Created on January 30, 11942, at 4:25 AM Bunker time, his core functions include investigative tasks, intelligence gathering, and hacking enemy systems. He physically resembles a teenage boy with light skin and silvery-white hair, typically outfitted in a black blindfold, a black coat with shorts, boots, and a neck choker. Initially, 9S displays a cheerful, inquisitive, and sociable nature. He forms bonds readily, expressing enthusiasm for working with partners like 2B and engaging with non-YoRHa androids or non-hostile machines. His scanner model instills a deep curiosity about technology and the world, compelling him to study phenomena such as Pascal's machine village despite inherent machine distrust. This drive for knowledge proves essential to his role yet also a recurring liability, as it repeatedly leads him to uncover restricted truths. 9S's most significant bond is with his assigned partner, 2B. Though he initially addresses her formally as his superior, their dynamic evolves into a close partnership defined by deep loyalty and unspoken affection. Unbeknownst to 9S initially, 2B's true designation is "2E" (Executioner), tasked with repeatedly eliminating him whenever his investigations threaten YoRHa's secrets—specifically humanity's extinction and YoRHa's perpetuation of the myth of human survival to motivate androids. Each execution is followed by 9S's memory wipe and reactivation in a new body, though fragments of subconscious resentment and trauma persist beyond the server's reach. His psychological stability fractures after witnessing 2B's death by the rogue android A2, an event worsened by his infection with a logic virus during YoRHa's collapse. Consumed by grief and unaware of the context behind 2B's death, 9S descends into violent madness, fixating on revenge against A2 and all machines. He disregards rational guidance from his Pod, 153, engaging in self-destructive behavior. His deterioration culminates in confrontations where he battles infected allies like Operator 21O and faces A2 within the Tower. In Branch C/D of the narrative, 9S's fate diverges: - Ending C: A2 spares him after hacking his corrupted mind, leaving his comatose body near 2B's mementos. - Ending D: He and A2 mutually kill each other; with his dying breath, he declines joining the machine lifeforms' Ark and addresses 2B. - Ending E: Pods 042 and 153 defy orders to delete YoRHa data, reconstructing 9S alongside 2B and A2 with restored memories, offering potential for a new future. An epilogue from *The Memories of Puppets* concert script confirms 9S is fully rebuilt after Ending E but initially remains inactivated due to memory corruption. 2B retrieves machine communication protocols from the collapsed Ark's Tower, enabling the Pods to successfully reactivate him with intact memories. 9S demonstrates proficiency in light-attack combos, evasion maneuvers, and aerial strikes. His signature ability is hacking, enabling him to infiltrate enemy systems, detonate targets, subjugate machines, or remotely control them via a minigame involving a triangular ship destroying program cores. This skill is vital for reconnaissance and combat but exposes him to logic viruses during compromised hacks.