“Morlund!” Aloy called, entering the base, tossing her spear aside with her bow and quiver.

“Aloy!” The exuberant and rotund Oseram laughed and embraced her in a hug that she allowed for Morlund experienced more emotion in one day than Aloy felt she had in a lifetime. “It is so good to see you and in such fantastic surroundings!”

“Really? After Vegas?” Aloy laughed.

“Well, perhaps not as colourful or as bright…but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Morlund leaned closed and whispered, “I’ve lost countless hours just watching those lights instead of working.”

“I didn’t really think you’d come. I thought Vegas was your new dream.”

“Well, if your message is true, and I doubt you’d lie just to get my attention,” Morlund winked, “then this Nemesis has to be dealt with. I mean, all the Oseram in the Claim wouldn’t hear about Vegas, let alone be able to visit it, before the end of the world…so we’re here to make sure every Oseram can.”

“All of you?” Aloy eyed Abadund, a very clean Oseram with soft hands compared to most with a big nose and a slightly hawkish look to his eyes. “Can’t believe he talked you into coming.”

“I can’t believe it either.” Abadund muttered. “Just when Vegas odds were starting to pay off…but Morlund has a point. Can’t enjoy shard profits when you’re dead.”

Aloy nodded then looked at the eldest member of the Oseram threesome. “Stemmur…”

“The old wordsmith beheld the sight of the flame haired delver with her keen eye for detail and his heart was gladdened that she looked so well.” Stemmur bowed, his tone rich and well rehearsed in a dramatic way. He was the trio’s narrator and orated their performances so often that when it came to normal life, he still spoke as if he was on stage.

“Good to see you too.”

“Uh, we hope you don’t mind,” Morlund put his hand up, “we met someone on the way here and when she heard about you…”

“She?” Aloy leaned around the pillar to see another Oseram, round but almost shy yet utterly brilliant. “Silga!”

“Hello…Aloy.” She licked her lips, her hands nervously clutching. “I hope it’s alright that I came…”

“Are you kidding? You’re one of the first I thought of,” Aloy insisted, going over to her, “but I didn’t know where you’d gone after we parted.”

“We ran into Silga when she was heading to Nowhere,” Morlund gushed, inserted himself into the conversation with familiarity but such genuinely friendliness that you couldn’t berate him for it, “and saw her magnificent rig!”

“You brought it?” Aloy looked over Silga’s shoulder to where the large contraption rested.

“I couldn’t leave it behind,” Silga said quietly, “it was how we met and the message…it meant so much to me to complete it.”

“Well, your innovations and brilliance for thinking beyond…” Aloy gestured grandly. “They won’t go astray here.”

“That’s what Morlund said but I…I wasn’t sure…”

“Her method of tracking down and hearing the voices of the past…” Morlund praised. “Truly astonishing.”

“It’s great to have you all onboard,” Aloy looked around, “I’m not sure where…”

“Oh, I got this,” Alva moved forward, “we have sleeping spaces organised for you. Once your swags are stashed, Beta is going to introduce you to Gaia.”

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“Who is Beta?”

“Uh, that’s me.” Beta came forward and there was the usual jaw dropping, eyes darting back and forth between Aloy and Beta. “We’re sisters.”

“Well, that explains the strong family resemblance.” Morlund gushed.

“If the world could do with more of something, it would be the presence of bold, tenacious red headed adventurers with a knack for solving the unsolvable.” Stemmur added.

“And we’re here to help in anyway we can.” Silga ended then the three of them looked at Abadund.

“What? I’m only here because these two dragged me.” Abadund excused.

“Don’t be fooled. He’s equally ready to do his part, as are we all.” Morlund promised.

“Before you do that, you need to meet Gaia and learn, in detail, exactly what it is we’re up against and what led to this moment.” Aloy urged. “Then you’ll need some time to think it over…as it’s pretty big.”

“I’ve got Erend’s Oseram ale on standby.” Alva winked. “This way gentlemen and Silga.”

Aloy watched them as they followed Alva to the sleeping quarters, tapping her teeth together. “We’re going to need more space…and a lot more FOCUSES. Beta, you need to…”

“I’ve already got them.” Beta cut her off, walking past her. “You don’t need to make such a fuss.”

Aloy glared after her, her hands on her hips, her temper threatening to ignite. “Fuss?” She hissed to the, now, empty room. “I’m not fussing!”

She filled in the time in the kitchenette, grabbing a bite to eat, unwilling to vanish into her room until she’d had a word with Alva. Only a minute after the Oseram had stowed their gear they followed Beta across the common room, Morlund dizzyingly excited about everything he saw while Silga looked around with intelligent interest, Abadund with suspicion and Stemmur with his usual calm presence. She took them to the control room where Gaia was waiting for them.

“Alva,” Aloy called softly and the Quen let Beta handle the Oseram, coming over to her, “so…how is everything?”

“Fine.” Alva promised. “We’re working on some ideas for more accommodation and storage. Gaia said there are unused rooms beneath this facility that we can make use of. Some of them aren’t in good condition so they might be better for gear storage and the others will make sleeping quarters, especially as we also received word that Erend and Zo reached the Daunt with Nora and Carja in their party.”

“Nora volunteered?”

“That’s what they said,” Alva nodded, “and Kotallo has three Banuk with him.”

“Kotallo went to the Cut?” Aloy was surprised and uncomfortable. “Uh…why?”

“Because Erend and Zo wanted to bring the Carja and Nora back here as quickly as possible so Kotallo volunteered to go to the Cut and speak to the Banuk.” Alva looked around. “So Beta and I have been talking about logistics.”

Aloy looked wistfully at her room. “I…”

“No,” Alva stopped her sharply, “that’s yours and yours alone. You need somewhere to retreat to.”

“I could just go out in the wild…”

“And sleep on the ground and eat berries and drink rainwater every time you have a fight with Beta?” Alva asked pointedly and Aloy sighed. “Tactful, remember?”

“I was perfectly tactful given the circumstances!” Aloy exclaimed. “The fate of the world rests on our shoulders and she’s in the science lab with Tomas, making clothing that doesn’t stink like our primitive tribal ‘duds’ do and flirting with the clone of the man who got us into this mess in the first place!”

Alva nodded. “I…I get it, Aloy. I do. But…”

“I know…I’ve lost sight of the big picture.”

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Alva pressed her lips together and swallowed, “I know you feel protective about Beta because of what she’s been through…and possibly making up for prior arguments and times when you couldn’t protect her in the past,” Aloy immediately envisioned the moment the Zeniths had grabbed Beta and though she had promised to kill her if that ever happened, Aloy hadn’t been able to, which meant Beta underwent torture to force her to submit to Zenith will, “but the undeniable fact is Beta is a person…a person who gets to make her own decisions and start forging a life for herself. That includes the friends she makes and…the romantic interests that start to develop.”

Aloy groaned and rubbed her face. “Anything but him, Alva…”

“He’s not so bad,” Alva rolled her eyes, “once you get past the whole ‘clone of the destroyer’ reaction.”

“That’s the thing,” Aloy whispered, “I’m not sure I can. It’s his face that embodies the extinction of this world…that I saw telling the Alphas that APOLLO was wrong and deleted every copy…then killed them. That I saw, twisted and deformed, in Thebes…” She closed her eyes. “I can’t not see Ted Faro in Tomas…”

“Maybe you need to spend more time getting to know him…” Alva glanced up at the control centre. “I’ve got to get up there and see how they’re going. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

Aloy sighed and walked to her room, glancing at the science lab, blocked from sight by the closed door. No where was locked in the base unless it was by Gaia or Aloy’s command so she knew she could open it and find Tomas inside, probably printing something utterly useless and frivolous. Even at the thought, her spine curled up and so did her fingers, forming fists. “I don’t want to get to know him.” Aloy muttered and kept walking.