Restoring Mankind (NieR Automata) Chapter 10 preview. Part 1/3 (Patreon)

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//UNIT DESTROYED// 

Silence settled as data streamed back from the last unit. The final images of its existence that of being in a desert, trying to attack a android, when something heavy arrived from above and crushed it underneath its armored boot. Audio caught servo wines then the chattering whirr of a minigun unleashing its deadly payload at other units. 

This was an unexpected development. 

The Network was alerted when that quaint android bunker received a transmission from its brethren in the planet below. A discovery that immediately got its attention. 

A bunker full of humans. 

The Machine Network did not work on emotions. Emotions itself was still something quite hard to grasp. But it did grasp possibilities and the fact that the humans were still around and not dead much like their own creators, albeit with different circumstance, meant that the Network could finally have a chance to learn and grow beyond the base confines of its existence. 

From the data gathered, the humans clearly were alive and not only that, possessed incredibly potent weapons. It was rather archaic compared to the equipment that the androids fielded but it was sensible considering they were all frozen in time to avoid the Legion which had devastated the planet a long time ago. 

The Legion. It was an enigma that the Network had discovered from what data it could gain from databanks and records. It spoke of a decidedly deadly enemy that human gave tooth and nail to fight. And judging from the armaments that the humans fielded, this Legion was very mighty indeed. Somewhat outdated by a thousand years but no less deadly. 

And so, the Network made its plans. A course of action had to be taken in the face of new developments and quickly, the Network settled on a consensus. 

For now, observation was key. It would sit and wait. It could manage to do it since they had made planetfall all those thousands years ago. Wait and watch and learn. Old human records were to be taken note of and promptly discarded. What use was records when the actual species was there to learn from? An idea was formed about potentially kidnapping a portion of the population and extract from it the data it needed. That idea, upon careful review, would only be detrimental to its objectives. Not only would it infuriate both androids and humans, it would also be wasteful of time. The Network wasn't in a hurry after all. 

For now, it would continue to play its game of cat and mouse with the androids and their newly un-earthed creators. It wasn't as if it could also just send units into the desert wholesale. The -ERROR- was still there. The Network had extensive records. It saw that destruction -ERROR- could wrought. Yes, it could simply drown it out with a endless tide of machines but the resources spent on the endeavour could better be spent elsewhere. 

Speaking of endeavours...

What to do now with the Adam and Eve project? 

Two images sprang up, depicting two humanoid bodies whose eyes were yet still to open. Their skin was pale, with the white hair of those YoRHa androids. It was quited a challenge to gather material for the two. Androids had to be taken, material forcibly extracted. The plan for the two was to give them local machine controls and to directly toy with the androids of Area 11, the moniker it had given to what was Japan. It seemed Area Eleven was an alternate name for it, if the records was correct. 

And now...with the humans arounds, what use could it find with Adam and Eve? 

The Network paused, bringing out records of the battle. Many of the androids that had fought its units in the desert were female. While Adam and Eve were supposed to be androgynous, the Network finding no good reason to either make of them fully male or female, it did note that the humans fought exceptionally well with them. Did females really have such a effect on humans, to make them fight harder and more effectively? 

Perhaps there was something to it there. And it wasn't as if it would take the Network too much resources to turn Adam and Eve. And so, the Network began to craft the two. They would still have their original personalities, their original mission to harass the androids and now the humans but as females now, with all the necessary parts. As the Network molded Adamina and Eve, it had to admit a sort of excitment. This was going to be the first interaction the Network would have with humanity. It was eager to see the data it could harvest, and see if these humans that had captivated it ever since it found the first human artifact would be just as interesting and mystifying as it and the androids thought. 

Thankfully, it didn't have to find a theater for it to operate. Adam and Eve would still be born in the desert, close enough for the androids and the humans to investigate. And now, it simply had to go and engineer for that encounter to happen. 

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A/N: The Machine plots.