Machine City was said to be formidable in online rumors: a group of powerful cyborgs with their own city and army, who had repeatedly repelled government attacks and won independence.
But only after looking through the internal files did Kanzaki Rin learn that Machine City was really just a group of pitiful people huddling together for warmth.
In the 1990s, a wave of human mechanization swept across the world.
The three major political alliances announced mechanization projects one after another, and quickly achieved success.
The Area 11 government naturally refused to fall behind. It set aside special funding for a research team and collaborated with regional governments within the Human Revolutionary Alliance.
The mechanization project progressed smoothly, and one technical challenge after another was overcome. The Area 11 government was ambitious, even hoping to use it to build a mechanized army.
But after the turn of the century, the rapid development of computers and the rise of intelligent AI made mechanization seem like an inhumane, outdated technology. Its costs were also exorbitant.
When the craze died down, it left a huge mess behind. The Area 11 government had no choice but to cut funding and scrap the project, sending large numbers of mechanized soldiers to the Hokkaido front in batches to serve as cannon fodder.
At the time, humans and monsters still clashed militarily from time to time. Hokkaido was the region most heavily occupied by monsters, and the war's front line.
By the time the war ended, the Area 11 government had effectively abandoned Hokkaido, leaving the mechanized soldiers there to fend for themselves.
The abandoned soldiers took over the local military bases and cities, declared the establishment of Machine City, and proclaimed their independence, rejecting Tokyo's authority.
The Area 11 government couldn't be bothered to deal with them.