[P]arallel Worlds [PGR] [NieR: Automata]

Chapter 5

"He told us about how he was in the meeting that took place where your commandant informed the council of your findings." Trojan said. "Turns out during a discussion they held, Allen pitched in the idea of possibly reforming Iris Warbler once again since this mission sounds like something that should belong to the WGAA to investigate alongside Gray Raven."

"The chairmen said that his decision was met with skepticism and a bit of riot after what had happened on our first mission together. He persisted and eventually convinced them that the WGAA is possibly one of the best choices to collect intel." Ayla explained.

"Sending in a team from the WGAA does sound like a logical idea. If a squad were to be chosen, it would be from the WGAA as your faction may study and focus on Art but it also focuses on other genres. History, archeology... I presume that the chairmen had managed to convince them  that way."

"You're correct." Sica nodded at Lee's speculation. "Even though it's great to be back together, we can't mess this up like the first time. Otherwise, our second chance of being Iris Warbler will be all for nothing."

"Rapid fire go!" Ayla was moving all around the place, snapping photos of the land around them and the animals that she saw. "The chairman will be happy to see all the photos I've taken once we head back!"

"What exactly is the WGAA?" Popola asked Gray as she had found herself pondering over the acronym. From what she heard it's part of one of the many factions that exists in their world and that the faction seems to focus primarily on art.

"The WGAA is the World Government Association of Art. One of the youngest organizations of Babylonia and the current chairman is Allen who you may have heard being spoken about." Gray explained to the two. "A lot of humanity's historic records from the Golden Age had been destroyed due to the outbreak of the Punishing Virus that had swept our world. The WGAA occasionally focuses on sending out teams of archeologists to retrieve and find anything that once belonged during the Golden Age." Because a lot of things were destroyed due to the outbreak, a lot of knowledge, technology, entertainment, and so forth has slowly become forgotten.

"Such damage was caused by the outbreak?" Devola couldn't help but ask. To hear that the outbreak of the virus had managed to destroy a lot of important records of humanity was horrible. A lot of value must have been lost in time due to the tragedy that had struck. She can't help but think that their world is quite similar in the sense that they don't know much about humanity.

"What is the Golden Age?" She heard her sister ask. That was a question she also had in mind. Gray had spoken of the Golden Age. He mentioned this "Golden Age" and how humanity's records had been destroyed, lost, and forgotten. However, the WGAA's mission is to retrieve anything they can find that once belonged during this "Golden Age".

"The Golden Age was an era of our time. It was described as the peak of human civilization. It can be said that the reason it's also called the Golden Age is because it was also the Golden Age of Technology. Humanity was quite technologically advanced however... that era is no longer here. The outbreak of the Punishing Virus swept away a lot of humanity's efforts. Not to mention that the virus had turned some things against us. The mechanoids are an example as a lot of them had been corrupted by the virus." Gray told Popola. He was glad that he had his helmet on at the moment, a huge frown was on his face as he thought of the mechanoids. A lot of mechanoids in the past have been discriminated against by humans. Humans feared and became paranoid about mechanoids because it was unknown when the virus would corrupt the mechanoids. And if the mechanoids were to be corrupt then humans would get killed by the corrupted mechanoids.

Fear causes irreplaceable damage... Artificial intelligence or not, mechanoids have proven that they as well can gain a form of sentience themselves instead of just being a simple machine that follows tasks. There are a few mechanoids who he knows and has come to befriend. Nanami is a primary example that a mechanoid could be human as well. Not just her, but Haicma, Hanying, and even Cervantes, one of the earliest mechanoids who originated from the Golden Age.