Nier Automata: [Alt]ternative Novel (NOW UNDERGOING REVISIONS!)

Chapter I : [B]eside the Flower bed

He'd been travelling and setting up camp aimlessly for a long time.

Through empty broken streets, amid collapsing buildings of varied sizes, and hiding from odd machines roaming around, Aster finally, finally discovered the ruins of what appeared to be a once-great and busy city.

After traveling southeast from his safe room for so long, he stumbled onto a city, sparking his hopes once more, however the world's emptiness gradually chipped away at his expectations.

He'd occasionally cry out to everybody and everyone."Hello? Is anyone there?" He'd yell, but it became clear that no one would respond.

Suddenly, he stumbled across a bizarrely enormous metallic box that was lined with plastic bags inside. He gradually realized the box was a vending machine.

Aster was drawn to the contents of the box, which piqued his interest.It whirred to life right then, making him spring back in astonishment."Initiating Defence mode," a female robotic voice said, surrounded by a see-through screen.

"Wha....?" His words failed him. What was this? he wondered. 

He'd never seen a vending machine speak, let alone one surrounded by a virtual screen. He yelled out to it, but the machine did not respond.

He tried to poke the screen, but no matter how hard he tried, the simulated surface was solid and wouldn't let his hand through. 

It glowed crimson, and a logo began to circulate around it.

"YoRHa....?" He read while scratching his chin. What is it? he pondered. Is there a brand?

He abandoned his quest to learn more and returned to his fascination with the dilapidated city ruins.He'd occasionally hear howls from unknown animals, which made him flinch every time. 

He came and found a small gap that was blocked off by tall structures. A few lone trees showed out here and there, but it was the abundance of beautiful blue flowers that drew his attention.

"Woah..." he breathed as he approached, he spotted someone—no, something—standing alone in the middle of it.It had to be one of them. 

It was a machine.

It was small and bipedal, brown and rusty in appearance, with a round head turned this way and that completely concentrated on the flowers. 

A brown object, which Aster recognized as a bucket, lay next to it, full of flowers.

He's only met machines so far, and they've all either followed him down or aimlessly glanced around, wandering around in the metropolis. 

Some were enormous, others flew, and still, others appeared to be the size of a whole human. He took great care to remain hidden from view, camping out in dark, secret spots to escape detection.

This one was collecting flowers into a bucket next to it, its bright green eyes shimmering as it went about its task.

Why is it collecting flowers? he wondered, warily coming over to it as quietly as he could.

The rustle of the petals must have alarmed it, and it used its huge legs and powerful body to turn around and frighten Aster.