As Ex-Machina In No Game No Life: Zero

The air in the cell was cold and stale.

She must have heard me appear, because she slowly, painfully, turned her head.

I stood there in my true form a machine of metal and wires. My human disguise had vanished the moment I used my power to get here. Even if it hadn't, I wouldn't have bothered putting it back on.

Not for her.

This was Nia Honjou. Her Angel, a book called Rasiel, was basically the ultimate search engine. It could tell her anything about the past and present. It could even give her glimpses of the future.

Hiding from someone who can read the script of reality is a waste of time.

So I let her see me. The real me.

As her eyes focused, the dull, lifeless look in them vanished. It was replaced by a spark. Not fear, not shock... but an intense, burning curiosity.

She pushed herself up on shaky legs. Her prison clothes were torn and thin, and she looked like she hadn't seen the sun in years. But she moved with a sudden burst of energy, stumbling across the small room until she was right in front of me.

Before I could even speak, her hands were everywhere.

They poked at the joints in my arms. They prodded the armor plates on my chest. They traced the glowing lines along my neck. She was examining me like I was a brand-new action figure she had just taken out of the box.

"Oh, wow! A real-life stoic robot girl!" she breathed, her voice raspy but filled with a strange excitement. "I've written about characters like you, but seeing one for real is something else!"

Her eyes darted all over my body, taking in every detail. It was... weirdly invasive. I could feel her curiosity like it was a physical force. She was so close I could see the worn fabric of her nun's habit, and the pale skin beneath.

It was a good thing she was so flat-chested. With her handsy personality and that outfit, it could have been a much more awkward situation.

For the first time, I felt a deep, mental exhaustion.

Great, I thought. The one Spirit who doesn't try to kill me on sight is a creepy manga artist.

But her strange reaction told me everything I needed to know.

She wasn't surprised. She wasn't afraid. She acted like she was expecting a special guest.

She had used her Angel. She had seen me coming.

And if she knew I was coming, she almost certainly knew why.

No matter what she did, how she poked or prodded me, my face remained a perfect, blank slate.

"So you really are the silent type," she sighed, a little disappointed. "I do all this, and not even a twitch."

So that's what this was about, I realized. She just wanted to see me make a funny face.

I felt a wave of profound annoyance. Then, I saw her eyes drift lower, towards the two cable-like "tails" extending from the base of my skull. She reached for them.

I immediately backed away, my tails instinctively recoiling from her grasp.

"Ooh, touchy," she cooed.

I cut her off before she could say anything else. There was a mission to complete.

"Notice," I stated in my flattest, most robotic tone. "Nia Honjou. This unit can extract you from this facility. In exchange, you will demonstrate the full capabilities of your Angel."

"And let you copy it, right?" she finished for me, a sly grin on her face.

I didn't answer. I just stared at her, waiting. She pretended to think it over for a dramatic second, tapping her chin.

"Deal," she said, her grin widening.

Of course she'd agree. She was desperate to escape this prison. If she had any real offensive power, she would have broken out years ago.

I didn't waste any time. I opened another portal and pulled us both through, back to the hotel room I had been using for my self-upgrades.

"This power of yours is so convenient!" Nia marveled, looking around the plain room with wide, sparkling eyes. "It doesn't even feel real. Am I... am I really out?"

She looked lost, as if she couldn't believe this moment was happening. I waved a hand in front of her face.

"Alert: You should snap out of it," I said. "Whether you believe it or not, you are free."

"...Thank you," she whispered. For the first time, her teasing demeanor fell away. She straightened her posture and gave me a sincere, grateful bow.

"Reminder: Gratitude is unnecessary. Do not forget our deal."

"Hey now, so impatient," she pouted, crossing her arms. "That's no way to win a lady's heart, you know."

"Rebuttal," I said, my voice deadpan. "You are an old woman. Stop pretending to be a young girl."

"Gak!"

It was a direct hit. Nia clutched her chest as if she'd been shot. We both knew everything about each other she through her Angel, me through the original story's plot. This little jab was a sign of a strange, instant understanding between us.

She stumbled dramatically over to the bed and flopped onto it face-first.

"Fine, fine," she mumbled into the mattress. "But I really can't do anything right now. You'll have to wait a day."

It sounded like she was trying to get out of it, but I knew she was telling the truth. Years of Westcott's torture had taken their toll. Her spiritual power was almost completely depleted, and her energetic display moments ago had been her running on fumes.

A few seconds after she hit the bed, she was fast asleep.

"..."

I looked at her, passed out on the bed without a care in the world, in an outfit that could easily lead to a wardrobe malfunction. Wasn't she worried I might... do something?

Oh, right. I looked down at my own feminine, mechanical body. I can't, and she knows it. My asexuality was probably a comfort to her.

I suppressed the urge to make another snarky comment. She'd been through hell. She deserved some rest.

….

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