Demiurge’s tail flowed and curled hastier than usual as he took a step closer to Ainz in attempt to gaze at his work.

With an unconsciously tense grip on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and a barely audible ‘Hmmmm’, the glowing red sparks in his eyes were shifting left and right as the rest of Ainz’s body was stiffly seated on the throne, leaning onto the left elbow. He was reading.

In front of him, a long, vertical display showed a scroll-box with a large title at the top, in a fancy, 16-bit style calligraphy font, reading ‘CZ2128 Delta’.

*I’ve always wondered, how did the NPCs of Nazarick see me before they gained the consciousness they have now. All I know is Tabula-sama, Herohero-san, Perroroncino, Variable Talisman-sama, and everyone else who helped craft every NPC only imputed some data into their files. We used verbal commands to direct their actions and sometimes skipped over talking completely, when it was faster to select an option with a gesture. Do they only remember me as a robot ordering them around?*

*I was hoping the character profiles would provide me with more information on this matter… but no luck. All the information here is dry, as I assumed. Of course a character sheet is supposed to provide straight facts, yet I was hoping for something like a backstory, maybe? Something personal…*

_Description_

CZ2128 Delta appears emotionless and has a silent nature.

She wears accessories with military camouflage patterns.

(...)

_Relationships_

Sebas Tian

Sebas is CZ2128's superior.

Yuri Alpha

Yuri is the vice-leader of the Pleiades and Shizu's superior.

(...)

_Abilities and Powers_

Magic-Sealing Shot: It inflicts between 3 to 18 single-target Physical Damage and forces all casters in the radius to lose concentration on spells that require it

Barrier Breaker: It causes AoE Physical Damage on directly adjacent enemies

(...)

“Nothing!”

“Is something the matter, lord Ainz-sama?” - Inquired Demiurge, unable to hold his patience any longer.

“Ah, Demiurge. Thank you for your assistance. Actually, there is something you can help me with. Summon Shizu Delta to the Throne Room!”

“With pleasure, lord Ainz-sama.”

As he was waiting, Ainz felt excited at the chance of finding an answer to his rattling question. Of course, he could have asked Demiurge, who was right next to him, but he didn’t want to seem like he had forgotten about the time he had spent with any of the NPCs before the transport of Nazarick to the new world - assuming they had memories of that time as well. Otherwise, he would appear rude and disregardful, he thought to himself. Demiurge was not the one to ask. Shizu, however, an automaton who was used to giving straight answers to any question, without regard to whether the answer could hurt somebody, was perfect for this task.

Ainz phased out while muttering to himself, and in no time at all, the clinket of metal on a stone-like surface broke him from his absence of mind, and in front of him stood at 145 centimeters (4'9"), a young looking girl with long, peach hair, straight as a rod, lifting her head up with overwhelming confidence, or, wait… perhaps just untroubled relaxation due to a general lack of emotion - the first and only of its kind, automaton CZ2128 Delta.

Her right eye emitted a dim chartreuse glow as she inquired abruptly:

“CZ. Two One. Two Eight. Deltaaa. At your. Service. Lord. Ainz. Samaaa.

Her voice sounded not only automatic and nasal, but somehow forced and extremely bored. This was normal. She had always spoken like this.

“Ahem,” - Ainz cleared his throat, taking a short break of thinking, then followed:

“Demiurge, thank you for your assistance. Could you leave us for a moment?”

With a short bow, Demiurge made a swift exit. Perhaps it was because Ainz’s mind was focused on other matters that he did not even hear his footsteps until the ominous sound of the gate to the throne hall shutting.

*Now then…* - Ainz thought to himself.

“Shizu. I will ask you a few questions that may appear strange at first. Please answer them in all honesty and without hesitation.”

“Understoood. Lord. Ainz. Samaaa. I do not question. Your. Authorityyyy. I shall provide. Straight. And. Clear. Answeeeeers.”

At times, when Shizu had more words to say, she didn’t take a break between each word, and, for short bits and pieces, her speech sounded almost normal.

“Excellent. Thank you. Now, please tell me what your opinion of me was before I became the supreme ruler of Nazarick.”

“My. Opinion. Of. Lord. Ainz. Samaaa. Has. Always been. The same. Ainz. Sama. Is. Kind. Hearted. And. Has. Always. Looked after. His friends. A. Worthy. Leader. And. Our. Supreme. Masteeer.”

*Good. So Shizu indeed has memories of me before rising to the throne. This is working great so far. Let’s continue.*

“My second question: Can you tell me what your first memory is after being constructed?”

*This is an excellent question* - thought Ainz. “This will answer me not only whether her memories go as far back as her initial spawning, but also in what detail she remembers it. Inside her sheet, it only states the date of creation and the name of her creator, Garnet-sama. He was good at programming, if I remember correctly. In any case, let’s see what she has to say.”

“I have a recording. Of. My. First. Conversation. With. Lord. Tabula. Smaragdina. Sama. After. My. Creation.”

“Eh?”

This took Ainz by surprise. A recording? A physical evidence of memories not written in her log? How was this possible?

*That’s right... I believe Tabula Smaragdina-Sama helped with Shizu’s design as well. He was obsessed about trinkets and gimmicks, and so, he surely had to have an input in an NPC that was built almost entirely upon them.*

“Could you play that recording for me, Shizu?” - asked Ainz in a trembled voice. He was suddenly overwhelmed by this new information. He paid little attention to keeping a stern tone, demanding of a supreme ruler.

Shizu opened her chest like the door to a cupboard. The inside could only be described as looking at some kind of first design of a car engine. A shimmering cyan glow slightly protruded through the narrow spaces between her crammed components.

She pressed and held down a button, after which an old tape recorder scratch played, followed by a dialogue with a somewhat poor quality, making it sound like it was from an old, film-noir movie.

“Oooh, so you are powered by pure mana? Amazing, Shizu-chan! Tell me, can you shoot flames?”

A grainy background noise was heard, followed by Tabula’s gentle clapping and laugh, which sounded like the rare-occasion-laugh of a depressed workaholic salaryman.

“Haha, nice, nice! That was excellent, Shizu-chan! You are indeed the best, strongest and wisest of the Pleiades! It couldn’t be otherwise. You are truly the bestest and most wonderful, Shizu-chan! Haha (...)”

“Woooah”

Ainz let out an inner sigh of surprise.

*That… Just now… Was, without a doubt, Tabula sama! What’s the meaning of this? This dialogue never happened, that is a fact I am certain of. Even if Tabula-sama had role-played with Shizu, she still would not have been able to respond to his request without him giving a command. This never happened. I am certain!*

*None of this information is read by the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, which can access every detail about every NPC or item within Nazarick. Does that mean whatever event brought Nazarick to this world also created memories for all the NPCs???*

The realization came a few moments later…

*...Then again, just what on Earth were those memories just now? Is this really how Shizu remembers lord Tabula-sama? Is that how she remembers everyone? Then, do all NPCs have crafted memories of me? This is unsettling…*

“Shizu! - Ainz exclaimed loudly - “Call back Demiur(...)”

“Are. You. Satisfied. With. My. Service?”

“Eh? Uh, sure.”

*In my rush, I almost forgot to compliment Shizu for accomplishing her task. Expressing your gratitude to your subordinates is an important skill every ruler must have.*

“Sorry, Shizu. - Yes! Good job!”

“Acknowledged. Your. Praise. Has been. Registeeerrred. Would. You. Give. Me. A reward. Worthy. Of. My. Assistance?”

“Huh?”

“I. Suggest. A. Jetpaaack.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!!!!????”

*I don’t recall Shizu being so pushy. A jetpack?*

(...)

*On second thought, she has been working hard and deserves a reward. A jetpack shouldn’t be too hard to manufacture. I don’t see any way this could fire back.*

“Very well, then! I will ask Pandora’s Actor about it.”

“Thank. You.”

Similarly to Demiurge, Shizu left with a short bow.

Despite their vastly different personalities, all NPCs still reacted to commands as initially programmed, keeping a stern face and setting aside any emotion or thought they may have shown a moment earlier.

“Wait, Shi(...)!”

Ainz still wanted to call for Demiurge, but on a second thought, he needed to first think through his course of action.

Silence rested in the Throne Room, clearing out Ainz’s distress. The tense atmosphere was only broken by Shizu’s loud and goofy robot walk as she exited through the hallway.

With a more or less clear mind, Ainz swiped left on the holographic HUD.

Sigh.

“So, everyone has a backstory, much deeper than I had imagined. Maaan…

Ainz let out a short giggle. His lack of face muscles kept any expression from showing, but if one could see his soul, he was feeling one thing now:

Excitement.

“All the hard work all of my friends put in making every NPC. To think each and every one of them now has a story, adding even more to my friends’ work.”

“I want to know…”

His skeletal index reached for one of the buttons at the top of the display. He was looking over a different sheet now. The top entry read, in the same large font:

‘Narberal Gamma.’

[end of chapter 1]