The City Ruins:-

"Would you look at that?" A humanoid being hummed from atop a ruined building, his eyes cast on a large rusted machine with a scar on its face, three smaller machines surrounding the larger one like children accompanying their father, or older brother.

"The small ones, cute. The big one is cute too." A girl with an eyepatch and adorned in maid clothes spoke, her eye tracing the four as the large leader-like machine of the group was watering a patch of white flowers.

"Umu, I suppose they are." The man, Ainz nodded, seeing the large machine grant the watering can to the small trio, who celebrated by raising it up in the air and dancing.

"Shizu, how is your assignment going so far?" The man asked his maid, while never taking his eyes off of the rambunctious group of machines.

"Nothing to report since last time, lord Ainz. The two YorHa units, 2B and 9S, have not been sighted since their departure to the YorHa Bunker. However, there have been cases of other affiliated androids in the ruined city, mostly on what seemed to be reconnaissance or machine extermination missions."

The man gave a hum of approval, a silent atmosphere permeating the rooftop as Ainz was left thinking.

"And what about yourself? How is your progress with your new skills? Have you gotten used to them so far?"

The maid shook her head, her head bowed slightly as she responded. "None, lord Ainz. I've gained an understanding of the utilities, advantages and disadvantages of my new abilities, and can serve you with more efficiency than before."

The man nodded, evidently pleased by her response. His gaze locked on the group of machines below, his eyes focusing on them, or more specifically their eyes.

'Yellow. Not the usual red. I suppose this means they are also no longer part of that machine network…'

To say that Ainz was merely fascinated by this would be an understatement, his desire to understand what exactly makes these machines tick is great, especially in regards to that network of theirs.

'From what we know now, the machines were made as instruments of war by those aliens. But even still, why exactly did some of them leave the network? …Or rather, how did they leave it to begin with?'

The man sighed softly under his breath as he spoke up again. "Shizu, you said before that your new skill set allows you to make your own 'network' of sorts, similar to the machines, yes? Did you test it out yet?"

The maid shook her head, her voice monotone as she spoke. "I apologize, lord Ainz, I have yet to test it out on the field."

The man hummed thoughtfully as a grin blossomed on his face. "That's quite fine," he said. "If anything, I suppose this is a chance to do just that, come along, Shizu."

And with that, the Overlord hovered towards the group of machines down below, the Pleiades maid in tow.

"Big brother. Look." One of the trio of smaller machines dragged the larger one towards a patch of flowers.

The large machine stared at one in particular, its leaves were shrinking and decaying, and the white lustrous petals were wilting.

"Flower. Lunar Tear. Dying." The machine said slowly, scooping up the plant with the soil its roots were in, staring at it unblinkingly without moving.

Yet, all of a sudden, a shadow, not the machine's own, cascaded over them, the large machine looked up, to see two figures in the sky slowly floating towards.

And they looked very much like the androids.

The group of three huddled behind the large machine, who only looked up curiously as they slowly touched the ground, the flower still in his metal hands.

"Be at ease, we're not here to attack you." The taller of the two, reaching almost the same height as the large machine, put his hands in the air to show he was unarmed.

The machine still didn't speak up, his eyes tracking the man while looking down at the flower in his hands.

Ainz looked at the flower and saw its deteriorated state, it seemed to almost be on the verge of death, one metaphorical foot in the grave.

'Huh, guess these machines are actually looking after the plants, and not just watering them mindlessly.' Ainz hummed as he walked slowly towards the large machines with the smaller three putting their hands in the air, as if they were prepared to fight him.

The man hovered his hand gently over the flower, green light shining as small magical circles began to form.

'I'm not a full-fledged healer or druid. Thankfully, I at least got some spells after using [Dark Wisdom] on some players way back when during my time in YGGDRASIL.'

'[Silent Magic: Gaia's Blessing].'

As soon as he cast the spell, the flower began glowing brightly for a moment. Its petals, once small and without luster, were now healthy and bright, and its leaves, once decaying and blackened, were now a healthy green.

The large machine looked at the once-wilting flower in his hands, a faint awe for what had happened in front of him could be felt from his bodily posture, something that the three other machines showed much more vibrantly.

"Flower. Healthy. Again." The large metal lifeform stated with wonder and shock, as if he didn't expect for this to happen.

"Yes. Though you should learn to look out for them," Ainz said. "After all, flowers are still living things, and could suffer from diseases, malnutrition, infections, and much much more. I would not be here to do this again and again."

This seemed to get a reaction from the machine after he replanted the rejuvenated flower, who stared at him with confusion, eminent from its posture. "Not. Again? …Why?"

The undead responded candidly. "Simple, you and us are strangers, there is no benefit in helping a stranger, especially if we become adversaries in the future."

The machine's eyes dimmed for a second, akin to blinking, as he stared at Ainz, who's facial expressions betrayed none of the Undead's thoughts and emotions. "Then… How. To. Be. Not. Stranger?" He asked him, a curious tone encompassing the machine's near monotone voice.

At this, Ainz smiled as he extended his hand. "You become my subordinates."

The three machines behind the larger one stared at the man before looking at each other for answers.

"Subordinates?"

"What's subordinates?"

"Subordinates are assistants, right?"

"So we help like before on the network?"

"Android network?"

As the last of the trio's innocent questions to another, all the machines looked at Ainz and the strangely dressed android behind him, a hunger for information in their bright eyes.

Ainz shook his head as he motioned for Shizu, who took a few steps forward and bowed slightly as a greeting. "Not on any known android network, but rather, with her."

"You?" The machine asked inquisitively, taking in the weird appearance of the other android.

Now that he thinks about it, he never saw either of them before, they don't belong to that Android Resistance or those YorHa dolls, do they?

"CZ2128 Delta. Or just Shizu. A pleasure to meet you." The maid bowed her head slightly, something which the four machines copied awkwardly.

"Pleasure. To. Meet. You."

"..."

The maid stayed silent for a moment as she stared at each of them, which worried the machines who looked at one another nervously.

"Ah!"

"Huh?!"

"Eh?"

"Hm?"

Suddenly, CZ was right in front of them, having stuck some objects on each of them in various locations; whether it be their hands, torsos, or their spherical heads.

"Uwah. Cute."

The machines felt flustered for some reason, an emotion foreign to them, as they stared at her and at the stranger tiny object stuck to their metal casings, and the shiny number '1' on each of them.

"Well then…" Ainz clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, which he did successfully. "I take it you all are interested?"

The group of extraterrestrial artificial lifeforms looked at one another for a moment, exchanging a silent conversation with each other before looking at the undead and nodded.

"We. Accept."

The undead gave a short chuckle as he looked at Shizu, who nodded as her visible eye glowed brightly for a moment.

'[Integration].'

And just as quick as Shizu's previous movements were, what happened exceeded the machines' computational abilities.

Exabytes of pure data surged through their systems in mere attoseconds, an overwhelming tide of knowledge and refinement beyond anything they had ever been allowed the chance to process while they were in the Machine Network.

New combat functionalities unfolded within them, harmonizing with their previous abilities to adapt that was granted to them by their alien creators. Recalibrating every mode of movement, optimizing each and every one of their old attack patterns, they became even more deadlier than they had ever been before.

Enhanced sensory perception allowed them to register the faintest tremors in the air, the subtlest shifts in temperature, the imperceptible fluctuations in electromagnetic fields, the slightest motion of the flowers' petals against the winds. All without sacrificing even the most negligible fragments of efficiency.

Unfamiliar knowledge poured into their neural matrices, filling gaps in their understanding of tactics, strategy, and warfare. They saw beyond what they had learned on their own, like a teacher divulging torrents of wisdom unto their students, the Automaton, gave them the hard earned experiences that were granted to her by her own Creator.

A deeper connection wove itself into their core, binding them to one another and to their ever-evolving Deus Mechanicus.

Autonomous adaptation became instinctual, their systems recalibrating with every passing second, adapting and evolving to be better fits to their new Network.

It was… euphoric, to say the least. Whereas their evolutionary abilities were previously stunted, courtesy of all the wisdom and experiences of their old network being used to create better, stronger, and more advanced machines, now, they could feel the metaphorical shackles of stagnation being broken.

And it was all because of her… No, him.

"I see that you all have acclimated fairly well for now." Ainz drew attention to himself as he stepped forwards, the group of machines, their once-yellow eyes now a shining emerald, reflecting the ones belonging to the Core of their new Network.

"Ah, I forgot, I haven't introduced myself yet." Ainz cleared his throat as he adopted a professional pose, one that he has honed through years of working as a salaryman, filled with poise and elegance. "I am-"

"Ainz. Ooal. Gown."

"...Eh?" Ainz muttered with eyes wide open with surprise, as his skill, {Emotional Suppression}, entered the stage once again to offset the deep shock delivered to the Overlord by the large machine.

"Head. Of. The. Great. Fourty. One. Master. Of. The. Ancient. Tomb. Friend. And. Lord. Of. The. Crystalline. Professor. Garnet. And. The. Master. Of. The. Pleiades. Maid. CZ2128. Delta."

'...Eeeehhhhhh?!?!' If the light effects produced by Ainz's skill were visible to everybody. The man would be likened more and more to a brightly lit Christmas tree than an undead Overlord, his mind racing at a hundred miles per hour at the amount of personal information the machine has on him.

"H-how did you-?"

"The. Autarch. Informed. Us." The machine pointed to Shizu as he called her by that new title. Who, despite her deadpan face, had a very noticeable hint of pride in her expression, as if she had performed a great achievement, worthy of all the praise in the stars.

Ainz stared at the seemingly oblivious maid, who didn't notice his, clearly not positive, reaction to her deed.

'I need to speak with her later to not just divulge such information to anyone else later, at least no more than this. The last thing I need in a futuristic Earth thousands of years into the future is for information to come out that I was from YGGDRASIL, if information from the 22nd Century still exists to begin with…'

As his handy racial skill finally did the last of its rounds, Ainz sighed as he shot the Automaton a quick disapproving look, one she didn't seem to notice, as he looked at the four machines.

"Well, I suppose an introduction for me is not needed. However, you all haven't given us your names yet as well."

And this moment, the large scarred machine stepped forward, with the trio of smaller ones mimicking him.

"Designation. PLAO8."

"Designation: TIL55."

"Designation: MTU96!"

"Designation: GXO37…"

An indiscernible expression washed over his face, as he gazed at the four unblinking machines in front of him.

'...No way in hell would I be able to remember all these codes.'

The man coughed as he tried to conceal his impolite thoughts, a faux thoughtful expression on his face as he looked at the four.

"Well met then. However, how would you all like new names? To commemorate this occasion?"

"...com..memo…rate?"

"What's that?"

Two of the small machines, TIL55 and MTU96, spoke up, confusion filling their voices at the new word.

Thankfully, Shizu was quick to respond. "Commemorate; to mark or celebrate an event or person, by performing something. Lord Ainz, is asking if you all want new names to celebrate your induction into his service."

The tiny machines let out a wave of 'Oooohs' at the Automaton's explanation, admiration for the two of them could be felt from the trio as they gazed at the heteromorphic duo, eliciting a wave of awkwardness to wash over Ainz.

"I. Accept. A. New. Name." Thankfully, PLAO8 was the first to speak, his voice carrying an uncharacteristic hint of happiness at the prospect as he looked at Ainz, with the machines nodding in jubilant agreement with the larger machine.

"Us too! Us too! Us too!"

Ainz felt a wave of relief surge through him, mostly for himself at having the opportunity to grant them new names, and to not be forced to try and memorize the machines' former designations.

"Well then. Starting with you… PLAO8, your new name should be-!"

*Thump!*

*Thump!*

*Thump!*

All of a sudden, the ground began shaking as a heavy wave of footsteps flooded the area, the flowers swishing gently as a faint gust of wind washed over them.

"Hmm?" Ainz looked over the horizon to see what was happening; from in-between a pair of collapsed buildings, a large swarm of machines were marching towards them, their eyes crimson red as they walked in unison.

"Kill. Kill. Kill."

The machine uttered as one, their voices devoid of any emotion as they marched towards them, or rather, somewhere else in the city.

The undead clicked his tongue as he began gently flying in the air using the [Fly] spell.

"Shizu, come with me. You four, get to a safe location nearby until Shizu calls out to you."

The trio of machines nodded as Shizu began flying in the air. Yet only one, didn't budge yet.

"What. About. The. Flowers?" PLAO8 asked, a hint of fear for the gentle non-sentient creatures as the footsteps of the machine army became louder.

Ainz looked at the machine with a confused expression for a moment, before a sigh escaped his lips.

"We cannot do anything about them all for now. Take as many flowers as you can for now in your hands and plant them somewhere else far away from the march of the other machines."

PLAO8 stared at Ainz for a moment before nodding, his emerald eye lights flashing brightly for a moment with determination as he scooped up as many flowers in his hands, the smaller trio mimicking him in the process, before the group rushed away from the place, leaving Ainz and Shizu with the machine army.

"Lord Ainz, should we dispose of them?" Shizu unholstered her rifle as she prepared to fire at the incoming hostiles, yet Ainz raised his hand as he stopped her.

"No, not yet at least. These ones are marching here with a purpose, and I doubt it has to do with the flowers or us taking control of a few machines unaffiliated with them any more."

Shizu nodded as she stared at the massive horde, who moved with hostile intent and bloody determination.

"Come, let's go, Shizu, we're going to follow them for now and find out where they are going." The Overlord spoke resolutely as he began flying upwards towards the roofs of the buildings, away from the sights of the hostile machines as they continued their tireless march.

"Damn it! It's not working!" A man spoke disgruntled as he kept furiously pressing the button of the detonator in his hand, yet to no avail.

The swarm of machines was getting ever closer, and their only chance of destroying them by annihilating the bridge was no moot.

"Tch."

A woman wearing a green hooded cloak clicked her tongue, before drawing her rifle and running towards the bridge, aiming at the explosives set on the sides of the structure.

"Leader, no! You won't be able to do it!" The man with the goggles shouted, with the rest of the group trying to dissuade the woman as they began to gather the wounded to retreat from the machine horde.

'Come on… just one opportunity…' The woman muttered to herself as the machines were creeping in ever closer, and with it, her aim is becoming as unsteady as her breath.

"Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Ki-!"

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

All of a sudden, thunderous gunshots echoed throughout the valley, with multiple machines down with holes riddling their heads and bodies, falling to their deaths across the bridge or had their bodies crushed metal foot mercilessly by their comrades, who continued without stopping.

While it wasn't enough to even halt the machines's march, it did bring a moment of pause and surprise to the androids, and especially their leader.

Yet, it didn't end there, as something even more strange happened.

A large lighting strike appeared, coiling around the group of machines threateningly.

'What in the… am I hallucinating? Is that… a dragon made from lightning?' The leader of the androids muttered to herself as she saw that menacing anomaly begin tearing through the machines, obliterating dozens of them with a single strike.

And soon, more and more of these 'lightning dragons' appeared, each destroying their own portion of the horde with ruthless efficiency, explosions erupting from the machines as the strikes and the ever continuous hail of bullets caused them to explode in arrays of brilliantly coloured sparks and flames.

"What… in the world is going on?" One of the androids muttered slowly, unable to comprehend what is going on.

'Did these YorHa androids do this? Perhaps… the Council of Humanity?' The Android Leader thought to herself as she saw something beyond what any resistance member could achieve, and worse, they don't even know who are their mysterious saviours.

"[Gravity Maelstrom]." All of a sudden, a deep baritone voice was heard by the androids, and as soon as it spoke, the machines were carried through the air, their limbs flailing as they continued their attempts at reaching for the androids.

*Bang! Crush! Crunch!*

And just as quickly, like a black hole devouring all that exists, the machines were drawn inwards, getting crushed into one another as a giant metal sphere made from their corpses began to form in the air.

*KABOOM!!!*

As the last of the machines joined its dead comrades, the sphere of metal debris exploded high in the air, sending shrapnel everywhere in the air, allowing an ominous kind of silence to fill the area as the horde was practically annihilated within a quick few moments.

"...Leader! Look up!" One of the androids suddenly shouted pointing her finger upwards at something in the sky, causing the rest to look up at whatever caught the woman's attention.

Two figure, of very differing heights, were hovering up in the air above them, their silence was deathly chilling for the android group who were stared at by the group

Soon, the two strangers gently flew down towards the group, resulting in the group of androids to aim their weapons with shaking hands at the group.

"Who… who are you?!" The android leader shouted as she got closer to her group once more, her rifle still tightly gripped in the hands as she prepared to fire at the slightest sign of hostility.

The taller of the pair, taller than all the android in the area in fact, spoke up as he raised his hand, one that seemed very much inhuman to the androids. "Greetings. We mean you no harm. We simply saw you all were in a pinch trouble and chose to lend a helping hand."

It wasn't quick, but the androids' guards lowered a bit as the man raised both hands, while the woman accompanying him lowered her silver rifle-weapon.

"You are the leader for this group, I assume? I am Ainz Ooal Gown, you may call me Ainz. And this here is Shizu."

The man introduced himself as he extended a hand for the hooded woman, who was startled a bit by his sudden action.

She gingerly shook his hand with her own, her words laced with caution as she spoke. "I'm Lily, leader of the Resistance units here in the City… Thanks for the assist, sir."

"It's no issue, helping others in trouble is simply the right thing to do." Ainz smiled magnanimously as he looked at the group of remaining androids in hiding, or rather, at their injured.

"Hmm, seems like we weren't quick enough."

Lily blinked as she turned to look at where he was gazing at, seeing her injured fellows tended to by the two medics.

"It's not much of an issue, we can patch them up as soon as we head back to the camp. Would've preferred the supplies to be used for future emergencies, but it's fine either way."

Ainz however was quick to wave her decision away. "There's no need for that. Shizu? If you could."

The maid bowed to her master before moving towards the injured. Most gave her a wide berth hole still clutching their weapons, the two red-haired androids eyeing her every move with both suspicion and curiosity.

The maid raised her hand as she aimed her palm at the injured androids, white magic circles in the form of a multitude of gears began rotating as Shizu began to work her magic, literally.

As the cold light enveloped the injured, their wounds, no matter how mild or severe, began to regenerate; scratches began to disappear, artificial blood stopped flowing as wounds began to close, as circuits were repaired.

In a few moments, all the injured were in perfect condition. Their bodies allowing them to fully wake up hale and healthy the next second, with nothing to prove they were ever injured aside from their torn clothes and the first-aid done on them, which the resistance androids began to slowly remove them in wonder.

The rest of the company were looking at the scene with wonder and awe, whistling in amazement at Shizu's great capabilities, something that the resistance leader Lily shared in common with.

"Your friend here might be competent, I must say. What would've taken a few days worth of repairs and recuperation was done in a few seconds."

Ainz chuckled as nodded in agreement. "That is quite true, Shizu is quite great at what she does. Though…" The man looked at her seriously. "I must ask, what happened for such a large swarm of machines to go to such great lengths to attack you all?"

Lily was silent for a moment, a bitter expression on her face as Ainz's question ran through her mind. "I don't know, to be quite honest. We haven't seen any machine in a while since the beginning of this expedition, though if I were to guess as to why, that was probably the reason. They caught us off guard as soon as we thought everything was going fine."

She clicked her tongue as a sardonic smile settled on her face. "Give us a bit of hope before taking it all away. Seems like our dear mindless enemies are getting more sadistic by the day."

Ainz was silent for a while as he thought about her words, the information she gave, no matter how miniscule it might have been, was useful.

'Mindless? I never expected for the machines to be described as such. Though then again, the only ones I've ever had amicable interactions with were those who cut themselves off from that machine network… Perhaps in exchange for having no individual autonomy or personality they are granted the powers that come with being part of that system of theirs? …Food for thought.'

The man blinked as a pair of familiar mech suits, one that he now knows belongs to the so-called YoRHa organization, entered his peripheral vision, the shadows growing bigger, evident of their descent to their location.

"Seems like we got company."

Lily blinked as she looked upwards at where Ainz was gazing, and contrary to the man's expectations, considering the supposed affiliation between the androids due to their shared enmity of the machines, her gaze was filled with disbelief and shock.

"...Number 2?"

A.N: Here we are, another chapter is done.

Sorry for the wait with this one, I just finished my exams, and I was too damned exhausted to release it earlier.

Anyways, thanks for reading.

By the by, I plan on seeing if anyone wants to be a beta-reader for my stuff on the discord server. So if any of y'all want to sign up, or just want to see chaps earlier, go join up.

Discord link (Remove the spaces): discord .gg/ J9skaG72