When Tomas announced he was ready to explain Nemesis weakness, everyone was called into the control room. Aloy wanted them all to hear and be encouraged.
She just hoped Tomas had news that would do so.
The clone of Ted Faro wrung his hands together, his blue eyes darting about with his usual nervous energy. Aloy wasn’t sure if Ted Faro developed a calmer demeanour later in life or if Tomas’ nervy disposition was a result of his upbringing.
“Alright Tomas,” Aloy leaned against the railing, “talk us through it.”
Tomas nodded. “As you all know, Nemesis is a gestalt entity.”
“What’s gestalt?” Someone whispered.
“I’m so glad you asked…” Someone else replied.
Aloy could see Tomas was frustrated by the lack of background. It wasn’t that the volunteers didn’t know what Nemesis was. Rather, it was their vocabulary that hadn’t caught up with their knowledge.
“Tomas means Nemesis is a result of many consciousnesses coming together,” Beta explained to the group as a whole, “that means all their good, if any, was magnified and all their flaws, their greed, selfishness, their love of violence…was also magnified.”
“On the Zenith’s escape back to earth, I was created with the express purpose of trying to find a way to defeat Nemesis,” Tomas narrated, “that means all of its makeup, the information on the process that created it and its abilities were not kept from me. When I said Nemesis was unbeatable, I meant it. After studying it for years, I could come to no other conclusion based on what I had to go on.” He looked at Aloy and shrugged. “I still doubt it can be beaten.”
Erend groaned. “I thought you had some good news.”
“While I don’t have a plan to beat it, I have found a significant weakness.” Tomas tapped his FOCUS and put a display on the wall around the control room. “When Nemesis attacked in Las Vegas, specifically when it possessed biol…” He caught Aloy’s sharpened gaze. “…humans…it seemed to be less about genocide and more…personal.”
“You’re talking about it saying ‘the world is mine’ and ‘I saved it’.” Nil folded his arms.
“Yes.” Tomas changed the display to show a bookish man with glasses and a look in his eyes that resembled Morlund’s expression when he got an idea. “Stanley Chen.”
“He won big at Las Vegas when he’d been ripped off by a lawyer or business partner,” Aloy recounted, “and when Vegas was going under…he brought it back to life with the ember projection display.”
“Exactly,” Tomas showed a list of names, “Stanley Chen was on board the Odyssey.”
“You mean, after he saved Las Vegas, he abandoned it?” Morlund asked, aghast.
“He recreated it in perfect detail on Sirius in a simulation suite,” Tomas explained, “but yes, he was a Zenith and one that didn’t make it onto the Odyssey when Nemesis attacked. However, he was a part of the project that formed Nemesis.”
“That’s why Nemesis recognised Las Vegas.” Abadund shrugged. “It had Chen’s knowledge so when it attacked, it sounded like Chen.”
“That’s what I thought,” Tomas held up his hands, “but I was wrong. Now, I realise this is a sensitive subject,” he turned to Ikrie and Naltuk, “but when Tunk was possessed by Nemesis and it attacked Aloy, what did he say?”
“We’re having some fun now…” Aloy shivered.
“Did it sound familiar?”
“Yes,” Zo said quietly, “it’s what Erik Visser said when he killed Varl.”
Tomas nodded. “Exactly. I think Zenith consciousnesses are surfacing in specific areas or events where Nemesis is attacking.”
“Stanley Chen in Vegas, Erik Visser while killing people because that’s what he lived for…”
“I don’t understand,” Aloy pushed herself upright, “how is this a weakness?”
Tomas changed the display on the wall. “After the attack on Thornmash, I studied the sample you brought me. It was the first opportunity I had to pull it apart and start to understand the makeup of the Nemesis entity.”
“You wanted samples from Las Vegas and Scalding Spear, too.”
“And after you fought the HORUS,” the display showed lines and lines of code, overlapping colours, “the top line shows the Thornmash sample, the HORUS sample below that, Las Vegas next and finally Scalding Spear.” He turned around and looked at them. “See what’s different?” Their blank expressions and silent mouths made him pause. “Seriously? You can’t see it?”
“Tomas, play nice with others.” Beta urged.
“There’s something missing,” Naltuk pointed, “from the top line to the middle…”
“Good eye.” Aloy stood up. “Something’s missing…”
“And from the third line too,” Silga gasped, “there’s another strand of…”
“Personality,” Tomas finished, “a personality or ‘consciousness’ strand has been removed.”
“Stanley Chen’s consciousness is missing from Tunk’s blood sample.” Aloy’s skin broke out in goose bumps. “It’s not there…”
“And I think, if we were to snatch a sample of Nemesis now, we’d find Erik Visser’s consciousness is missing.” Tomas explained.
“Wait,” Alva walked to the display, “whose personalities are missing from the top to the second line?”
“From the HORUS sample I have determined that Bernadette Gianto’s personality was missing from the Thornmarsh sample,” Tomas brought her image up, “she was a famous holo actress who wanted to be the mayor of California but was outvoted in a major landslide win to another woman who vocally condemned Bernadette’s mindless prattle and fatuous ways, saying that even with all her fans, her money and her ‘sleeping around’ methodology to win votes, it still couldn’t get her over the hump.”
“Why would she attack Thornmarsh?” Soka asked.
“Because Thornmarsh,” Beta brought up the map of the current coastline then overlaid the old world map on top of it, “and any Tenakth settlements nearby, would have been within what was once California.”
“And she hated it that much after its residents spurned her that she attacked it?” Gera shook his head.
“Her campaign slogan was, if I can’t have it, no one can.” Tomas shrugged. “She was wilful, wealthy, egotistical and without moral.”
“All the hallmarks of a Zenith.” Alva remarked.
“From the HORUS to the Las Vegas sample,” Tomas tapped on his FOCUS’ display, “I found we’re missing Amin, the son of the world’s worst dictator of modern times and one of the most wealthy men on the planet.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Why on earth would Amin be allowed to join the Zeniths?”
“Because he was educated in the west and when his father was assassinated by US troops, Amin inherited his obscene fortune.” Tomas glanced at the readout. “It looks as though Amin bore a grudge against America all this time…or at least he remembered it when Nemesis reached earth.”
“You think the individual consciousnesses are taking Nemesis to specific places?”
“No,” Tomas shook his head, “I think the individual consciousnesses are separating from the Nemesis whole to go to other places.”
There was a long, heavy silence.
Beta stared at Tomas, Aloy’s chin down, her brow creased in thought.
“I thought Nemesis was made up of all consciousnesses…that they couldn’t be separated.”
“That’s only what the Zenith’s theorised but obviously,” Tomas gestured grandly, “that’s wrong! When they were on Sirius, travelling to earth, there was no reason to separate or even conscious thought to do so. They were one minded entity…”
“But upon returning to earth…some of them are splitting off,” Zo breathed, standing up from her chair, “because they’re driven to return.”
“At its most basic, it’s an instinct,” Tomas admitted, “one I don’t think they’re even aware of. Stanley Chen’s fondest, most poignant memories of earth were devoted and invested in Las Vegas…”
“He returned there,” Morlund paused, “and you’re saying he’s now…dead?”
“I’m saying that the Nemesis ‘blood’,” Tomas gestured, “which is essentially the toxic emission that binds the Nemesis entity together, shows specific consciousness strand removal.” He tapped the display and dozens of strands showed alongside pictures of the Zeniths they came from. “I had to work on this manually, unravelling the Nemesis consciousness with Gaia’s help and found Nemesis is missing several other contributors to its consciousness.”
“How is that even possible?”
“We are not the only ones fighting for our lives.” Kotallo answered softly.
“Yes!” Tomas crowed. “Don’t you see! That’s a significant weakness!”
Everyone stared at him, confused and uncertain.
“Won’t Nemesis just…regrow its lost minds?” Teb asked timidly.
“It can’t,” Aloy’s voice was quiet but it captured all of their attentions, “it’s like you said, Tomas,” she looked at him then back at the display, “Nemesis can’t do what HEPHAESTUS did, making itself bigger throughout the cauldron network.”
“Which seemed irrelevant seeing as we couldn’t work out how to kill it as a whole,” Tomas admitted, “but by picking it off, piece by piece…”
“Is Nemesis aware?” Aloy pointed at the display. “Does it know it’s lost part of itself?”
“Anything I said would be theoretical,” Tomas cleared his throat, “and shouldn’t be taken as fact.”
“Noted. So?”
Tomas licked his lips. “If you lost a memory…how would you know?”
His words echoed in the control room, the question giving them reason to pause.
“Perhaps…if there was a large enough gap in events in my mind…” Zo shook her head. “Maybe…but compared to how big Nemesis is and all its memories…”
“It’s unlikely…unless someone pointed it out.”
Aloy turned and stared at Beta who gazed back at her. “What did you just say?”
“Uh…unless someone pointed it out?” Beta stammered.
Aloy’s mind was going a million miles an hour. She was frozen, her skin tingling as her body went into overdrive.
“Uh…Aloy?” Beta reached out tentatively to touch her arm. “Aloy?”
Aloy gasped and they all jumped back. “I know how to defeat Nemesis!” She grabbed Beta’s shoulders. “You genius! And you!” She looked at Tomas, pushing her hands through her hair. “I know how!”
“Care to share?” Nil asked dryly.
“HEPHAESTUS?” Aloy tapped her FOCUS. “Are you there?”
“I am.”
Gaia waved her hand and HEPHAESTUS’ image, the white masked face, appeared on the display.
“When I hurt Nemesis in the New York cauldron, you both retreated. Do you want any idea where it went?”
“No,” she ground her teeth, “however…it spoke about its…home…in the stars…”
“The Odyssey,” Aloy breathed, “that’s where it would retreat to if it was hurt badly enough.”
“You think we keep taking it apart, piece by piece, until it runs away?” Erend asked.
“No,” Aloy’s red locks shifted over her shoulders as she shook her head, “because the moment Nemesis realises that it’s been reduced, it’ll retreat to the Odyssey and be smarter about its attack. If we’re going to kill it, we need to make sure it’s at its most vulnerable with as many consciousnesses removed from it as possible.”
“Talk to us, Aloy,” Zo urged, “what do we need to do?”
Aloy looked at Tomas. “Bring up all the bios on the Zeniths. We need to know if any of them that contributed to Nemesis had significant connections with anywhere we can reach in the world. Teams from this base,” she turned around and looked at them all, “will go to those locations and we launch a coordinated attack to kill off as many consciousnesses as we can in one go.”
“There would still be plenty of Nemesis left.” Tomas argued. “An attack like that would certainly make the loss of consciousnesses from its whole noticeable. Nemesis would retreat to the Odyssey.”
“Where we blow it up.” Aloy looked around at them. “We go on the offensive, drive it back to its lair…and kill it once and for all.”
It took several long moments for the idea to sink into their minds. Aloy waited without flinching, her soul sure without a doubt that it would work.
“The Odyssey is in space…yes?” Nakoa asked, wrestling against years of Nora beliefs that the stars were sparks from campfires and the souls of departed warriors. “How…”
“The Odyssey has a self destruct mechanism,” Tomas looked at Aloy, “but it must be activated in person.”
“One of us has to be on the Odyssey?” Alva gasped.
“No, not one of you,” Tomas gestured to himself, Beta and Aloy, “one of us. The Odyssey won’t recognise anyone else but myself and the Elisabet Sobeck gene print.”
“Then I’m the one going.” Aloy said firmly.
“But how will you get up there?” Nakoa pointed at the domed ceiling of the control room.
“I’ll use the same rocket that Sylens was going to leave on after the battle at the Zenith’s base.”
“You can fly a rocket?” Teb’s eyes became as round as Watcher lenses.
“It’s completely automated,” Beta whispered, “it only had two docking ports, the base and the Odyssey.”
“I use it to board the Odyssey then you attack Nemesis and start carving consciousnesses off it,” Aloy explained, “when enough are removed, it’ll retreat to the Odyssey…”
“And you’ll blow it up?” Erend asked in a disbelieving tone.
“Self destruct or I can plant mines throughout the ship to detonate by remote.” Aloy paced. “With enough mines, I can do the same amount of damage as the self destruct if I detonate them when we know Nemesis is there. If that fails, I can set the self destruct timer…or both! I’m not picky how Nemesis is wiped out.”
“And you blow up too?”
“I’ll come back on the rocket.”
“Uh…no.” Tomas put his hand up. “Sorry, the rocket won’t work. It’s large enough to host the Nemesis consciousness. It needs to be destroyed with the Odyssey or we risk Nemesis infesting it and escaping or worse, coming back to earth on it.”
Aloy frowned. “Well…then I’ll use one of their transport pods,” Aloy looked at Alva who was physically green at the thought of travelling into space, “they are part of the Odyssey, used like lifeboats from one of the Quen ships, only these will get me back to earth before detonation.” She looked at Tomas. “Right? That’s what you used to get to Los Angeles.”
“That’s what they’re designed to do.” Tomas nodded.
“Aloy,” Silga said quietly, “I…I want this to work, I do…but for all of us to kill off enough parts of Nemesis…”
“We were nearly wiped out at Scalding Spear by just one Zenith consciousness.” Naltuk swallowed. “I…I don’t think we can on our own.”
“We won’t be on our own, right HEPHAESTUS?” Aloy turned to the display where the machine building’s AI face stared at them.
“I am currently…retaking…cauldrons…” Aloy held her breath. “Machine construction capacity is increasing…I will have…multiple units…ready…”
“If we’ve got those Gorilla mechs on our side,” Erend tilted his head, “I think we’d stand a chance. That’s an impressive build HEPHAES…look, can we just start calling you Heph?”
HEPHAESTUS’ machine mask was unblinking.
“It sounds more like a name than your designation.” Alva offered gently.
“What do you think?” Aloy asked. “If we’re all in this together…maybe we should start thinking of you as a part of the team.”
“Heph is…acceptable…”
“Great.” Aloy turned to Gaia. “Gaia, with what Tomas knows about the Zeniths, can you work out the likeliest of locations for their individual personalities to appear?”
“I am already correlating all known Zenith factors against reachable locations.”
“And what are the odds that this plan will work?” Nil called from the back of the crowd.
“You’re not afraid of a scrap, are you, Carja?” Gera mocked.
“If I die, I die…but only a fool goes into battle not knowing what they face.”
Aloy turned to Gaia. “Well?”
“The likelihood of the success of this plan is sixty eight percent,” Gaia admitted, “however, that is without additional factors such as knowing the amount of machines Heph will be able to produce within the designated time frame.”
Aloy could feel the air being sucked out of the control room when everyone gasped, alarmed at the less than impressive number.
“And how long until Nemesis wipes humanity out?” Aloy asked bluntly.
“If significant measures are not taken to stop its advance, Nemesis will have exterminated all human life on earth within eight days.”
Even though Aloy had known the figures were bleak, she hadn’t realised it was so quite so dire.
“How can you know that?” Silga questioned.
“I am connected to the spires that have accessed the drones used for surveillance in areas Tallnecks were not able to be deployed.” Gaia explained. “I have seen Nemesis’ destruction on a global scale. There are bushfires consuming forests, volcanos encouraged to erupt, tsunamis triggered by artificial underground earthquakes and machines are levelling any human settlement within their reach.”
Aloy licked her lips. “That settles it. As soon as we have Gaia’s computations and Heph’s machine building lines up, we can get into position. This is happening.”