Five days earlier…

“I didn’t know if you needed special gloves or bare hands to use your bow,” Tomas explained as Aloy had stared at the outfit he’d given her, “so I didn’t make them. The whole suit is a single piece. It’s heat and cold resistant, will protect you against projectiles of anything less than a Ravager cannon and it has sensors that detect your body’s state of health and can mask it to some extent, hiding you from all but the most delicate of sensors.”

Aloy swallowed, trying to come up with something positive to say.

She hated it.

It was so white…so artificial…so Zenith.

It looked extremely similar to what Tilda had worn.

A woman whose betrayal had soured Aloy towards her in the extreme.

“Is…is this…Tilda’s?” She asked, feeling sick.

“Of course not. It’s based on their designs, not one of their own.”

“Their designs incorporated artificial body replacements and pharmaceutical enhancements.” Aloy couldn’t keep the disgust out of her voice.

“Which is why Tilda’s would never have worked on you.” Tomas insisted. “Each suit is specifically designed for its wearer.”

“Tomas made it to protect you.” Beta urged Aloy. “The best armour you’ve ever worn pales in comparison to this.”

“I figured your slim odds against Nemesis would increase ever so slightly if you wore this.” Aloy felt her hackles at Tomas’ arrogance.

“We’ve done just fine so far.”

“Trust me, if you knew what I knew about Nemesis…you’d have gotten on that rocket, blasted the earth to hell and fled on the Odyssey.” Tomas rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. “Wear it. Don’t wear it.”

Aloy’s hands became fists. Beta gave her a withering look.

“What?”

“It was a really thoughtful gift, Aloy.”

“Wearing this would feel like a torniquet.” Aloy threw it on her desk now that the door was closed. “It’s artificial!”

“It was made from product scraped from dozens of machines and biological material that we harvested. It took him days to work out the computations.” Beta folded her arms. “Aloy…he made it to give you a chance.”

“According to him we’re all dead anyway.”

Beta sighed and shook her head. “You’re not hearing what he said.”

“Trust me, I heard him.” Aloy muttered, kneeling to pack her swag.

“No,” Beta knelt beside her, putting her hand on Aloy’s to stop her packing, “you didn’t…not his words but his fear. He’s sure you’ll reject him, cast him out…like Gerard threatened to do if he didn’t meet his expectations. Do you know how often he came within minutes of death before they let him in the rejuvenation capsule?” Aloy shuddered, knowing that Gerard and Walter Londra had no compassion or kindness in their souls. Tomas couldn’t exaggerate the cruelty of their treatment of him. It was always as bad as it sounded. “He thinks he’s got to give you something so that you’ll approve of him…but he also knows that you’re not like any Zenith so he’s not sure if what he’s doing is enough.”

Aloy closed her eyes. “I’m…I’m sorry Beta. It was a kind gift.”

She felt Beta squeeze her hand. “You don’t have to wear it…but if I were you, I would. Nemesis isn’t like anything you’ve gone after before. If you thought the Zenith’s were heartless…”

“Aloy!” Erend barged into her room, Aloy and Beta standing. “Zo just sent word. Plainsong is under attack!”

Aloy swore, grabbed her bow and sprinted out of her room, following Erend across the common room. Sylens tried to get in her way.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“The Utaru need help.”

“Aloy, all of earth needs your help! You can’t go running…”

She ignored him, sprinting towards the east exit, buckling her quiver around her waist.

“Did Zo say how many machines?” Aloy demanded.

“One.”

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“One?” Aloy looked at Erend. “One machine?”

“A big one!” Erend’s ruddy face was pale. “The biggest one. Look.”

She turned and her heart constricted with fear.

It was a Tallneck.

It was the largest machine of all, a gentle giant that only killed when something wasn’t quick enough to get out of its enormous feet. Its job was to pace its territory, scanning the landscape, tracking machine movements, noting settlements. It had no weapons, no vendetta…it just walked endlessly. Aloy could see it from the base, stomping through Utaru territory, crushing their harvest fields. It was heading towards the giant solar dishes that the Utaru built their main settlement on, joined by reed and rope bridges.

“That’s not possible…”

“Zo was trading with the outlying settlements when it started walking towards Plainsong, flattening everything in its path. She said the Utaru are trying to build a snare to get it to trip…”

“I need to override it and send it back to Cinnabar Sands.” Aloy locked her spear in place. “For that I need a Sunwing. You get a Charger and ride as fast as you can to Plainsong.”

“Got it.”

Aloy took a different path down the mountainside, knowing where a nest of Sunwings lay. She overrode one quickly and leapt on its back, the other machines hissing and snapping at her as she kicked into its metal flank and it surged into the air.

“Come on!” She yelled at it as it jerked its head. “That way. Plainsong!”

As she flew, she could see the Utaru scurrying about on the ground, getting out of the Tallneck’s way as it reached the fields that surrounded Plainsong. Beneath its feet and the weight of its body, all things were crushed. A Plowhorn, one of the Utaru’s landgods that tilled the earth was left destroyed in its wake. Aloy saw Erend riding on his Charger, racing towards Plainsong where Zo was frantically organising a way to bring the giant machine down.

“If I get there first…” Aloy kicked her Sunwing to go faster and then, as it flew over the top of the Tallneck’s giant disc of a head, she leapt off, using her shieldwing to glide down, landing near one edge. She could see Plainsong only a few steps before the Tallneck. The height of the solar dishes had kept the Utaru safe for many generations.

However, the Tallneck was as tall, if not taller, than the solar dishes and the Utaru were fleeing from their sanctuary.

“No you don’t.” She brought out her spear and stabbed the Tallneck in the head, flicking the override function into overdrive. “Come on…back off…back to Cinnabar Sands…” Her spear shuddered and Aloy’s teeth clattered together as the Tallneck resisted. “Come...on!”

Abruptly a surge of purple energy sparked out of the connection, throwing Aloy backwards, skittering to the edge of the Tallneck’s head, tumbling from the great height. A pulse of purple energy surged out of the Tallneck and a metallic smell filled the air. Aloy had a split second to remember to activate her shieldwing, keeping her from breaking every bone in her body. She fell into a field of wheat, a cloud of dirt and dust billowing over her.

“Damn it…” She got up, clutching at her ribs. “What was that…”

There was a shout and a loud groan. Aloy fought her way out of the wheat fields to see the Tallneck stumbling, one of its feet caught in the Utaru’s trip wire. It fell forwards, its front legs bending so that it landed on its knees. Erend’s voice could be heard for the Utaru to lash it to the ground. Aloy looked around desperately and, spying an abandoned sickle, grabbed it and sprinted towards the Tallneck as it tried to rise, the reed woven ropes no match for its relentless strength. It stood up, dragging Utaru into the air who had been attempting to peg the ropes to the ground. Erend was hammering at its feet and Zo was unleashing arrows but nothing was slowing it down. Aloy yanked her pullcaster out as she sprinted up to it and fired at its underbelly. It caught and she was pulled into the air, swiping with the sickle as she went, swaying from side to side, slicing at the artificial sinews of the Tallneck’s legs.

As its giant feet touched down on the island Plainsong was built on, it gave a violent spasm and slipped sideways, its front left leg unable to hold itself upright. Aloy let go of her pullcaster and dropped to the ground, watching as the unbalanced Tallneck crashed into the moat, its giant head embedded in the gardens of Plainsong.

“Aloy,” Zo helped her to rise, “you saved Plainsong.”

“For now.” Aloy gave the sickle to Zo. “Cut its leg tendons. That’ll stop it from getting back up.”

“You can’t override it and send it back to Cinnabar Sands?”

Aloy shook her head. “It wouldn’t let me override it. Purple energy pulsed out of it…”

“Like the Tideripper?”

“Just like…”

Zo stared at her. “Aloy…have we lost the ability to override machines?”

Aloy opened her mouth but was interrupted as the Utaru people began to scream in fright. Their beloved landgods, now glowing with purple light, were rampaging through the fields, chasing down Utaru, ramming buildings and setting the harvest on fire.

It took hours to stop the Plowhorns and get the fires under control. Aloy was covered in ash and sweat as the sun began to set. Erend wasn’t much better and all those who could fight from the base had come to help save the Utaru.

Their fields were decimated.

Their landgods were defiled and destroyed.

There was a Tallneck embedded in Plainsong.

And through the ash, Aloy could hear Zo’s voice singing. She had been a Gravesinger, a Utaru who sang to ease dying souls and troubled hearts, soothing their passing. Though she had become one of Aloy’s brightest and most loyal companions, Zo’s commitment to her people and respect of her tribe’s culture and traditions had never wavered.

Even now, in her absolute grief, she was comforting her people with the sound of her voice.

Aloy sagged to the ground, shaking her head.

“Not that long ago these fields were ravaged by the Blight and the Utaru nearly starved…then we fixed the landgods and for a few months, they had hope…now look at it.”

“You know, I wasn’t sure about killing HEPHAESTUS…now I’m sure.” Erend muttered. “Damn thing needs to die.”

Aloy tapped her FOCUS. “Beta…”

“Aloy…I’m so relieved to hear your voice! All we’ve heard are reports of fire, death and destruction…”

“Beta, listen to me. The Tallneck had the same purple lighting as the Tideripper and Snapmaws and it sent out a pulse that overrode the Plowhorns.”

“It overrode the Plowhorns…with a Nemesis virus?”

“Yeah…which means I can’t override a mount. Well…I can…but the moment I’m in range of a Tallneck, I’ll lose control.”

“Oh…I’ll get Tomas and we’ll start working on a manual override hack.”

“Thanks Beta,” Aloy paused, “do you think you could ask Tomas if he could make me gloves to go with my outfit?” She eyed the fires of Plainsong that were finally under control and the corpses of Plowhorns and her wretched Sunwing that had turned against them when the Tallneck sent out its pulse. “I have a feeling I’m going to need all the help I can get.”