Yokoo Tarou’s Eternal Recurrence: Transhumanism in NieR: Automata – 墓碑銘の楽しき混乱 A Fun Derangement of Epitaphs
▻https://tanoshimi.xyz/2017/03/21/violet-evergarden-spoilers
Condemned to be free, the automatons in NieR Automata roam around without a meaning once ascribed to them eons ago. Humans were their gods who gave them meaning and rules and the automatons, especially the androids, worshipped them. But humans have long been extinct.
So how should we make of these automatons? Are they as conscious as their human masters? Or are they just meaningless pieces of metal that will someday decay?