I'm getting vibes of the ghouls from Fallout here with the zombies and I really like it because the Ghouls are one of my favorite races of characters in anything ever.
Didn't the first chapter mention that Safi is head of the church? If she has no idea about these bots than that means either another church is encroaching on her domain or there is a group in her church doing clandestine operations without her knowledge or say so.