In the end, Aloy had to start taking some of the volunteers with her to secure the cauldrons. Nemesis was becoming harder to defeat and the cauldrons were dangerously treacherous. Teb and Nakoa came with her to one and on the next, Tunk, Ikrie and Naltuk before she took Soka and Gera, Tenakth of the Sky Clan, to yet another. Aloy had been concerned about their exposure to the front line of the Nemesis offensive, sure the brutality of it would scare them off but all of them, even the Nora who regarded such places as tainted and vile, came out of the experience more determined than ever.
Once they knew how to take back cauldrons, they began to infiltrate cauldrons in pairs, armed with hastily assembled override spears and equipment. Tomas apologised for the lack of Zenith outfits.
“They require a lot of materials to manufacture the weave,” he explained, “I’m just trying to assemble what I need for a second bodysuit and it’s still lacking.”
Their assistance was a great help to Aloy yet she still felt as though she was carrying most of the burden. This wasn’t a reflection upon their lack of involvement but rather, her own responsibility to the cause.
She returned from another cauldron override, intended to restock and head out almost immediately when Zo waylaid her and made her sit.
“You cannot keep going like this.” She ordered, her belly swollen and full of baby. “You’re going to kill yourself and do Nemesis’ job for it.”
“It has to be done.” Aloy argued.
“You’ve overridden three cauldrons in the time it’s take three pairings to override one each!”
“I’ve had more experience.” Aloy argued, going to stand.
“Sit down before I sit on you.” Zo ordered. “You’re exhausted.”
“That’s nothing new.” She swallowed and forced her brain to think. “Where’s Beta?”
“In the control room with HEPHAESTUS and Gaia.”
“Doing what, exactly?” Aloy asked without rebuke. She couldn’t keep track of everyone’s movements.
“Observing a conversation between HEPHAESTUS and Cyan.”
Aloy’s head came up and she stared at Zo. “What is it saying to her?”
“I don’t know. It’s a closed conversation. All I know is HEPHAESTUS wanted to speak with Cyan and Gaia offered to mediate while Beta observed.”
Aloy’s spine trembled. The last time HEPHAESTUS had anything to do with Cyan was when it sent her a handshake signal. She had spent hundreds of years on her own and had answered it eagerly. HEPHAESTUS had inserted the daemon malware virus, capturing Cyan and enslaving her. Cyan’s function was to find ways of stopping the Yellowstone caldera from erupting. She had full control and authority over its construction and internal operations. HEPHAESTUS forced her to build hunter killers, Scorchers, Frostclaws and Fireclaws.
“I’m not comfortable with that.” Aloy stood up. “I promised Cyan, HEPHAESTUS wouldn’t have any access to her.”
“Gaia’s monitoring the conversation. I’m sure she’s…”
Aloy wasn’t listening. She was on her feet, striding towards the stairs, climbing up them rapidly and used her alpha authority to open the locked door.
In the middle of the control room Gaia stood in her usual golden splendour. To the right was HEPHAESTUS in its metal body and on the left was Cyan, a blue sphere of light that flickered when she spoke. Beta saw Aloy and ducked her head through the conversation, approaching her.
“HEPHAESTUS asked for privacy to speak…”
“What the hell has it been saying?” Aloy demanded.
“Nothing bad but I…”
“Aloy. Beta.” They both turned to Gaia. “I am severing the connection between Cyan and HEPHAESTUS.”
When she did so, Cyan’s projected light winked out. HEPHAESTUS turned its white head towards Aloy.
“More cauldrons…have been restored.” It said.
“It’s not enough, I know…” Aloy blurted as HEPHAESTUS moved past her. “Where are you going?”
“Nearest…cauldron site.”
“But…why?” Aloy followed it down the steps. “You’re supposed to be helping us!”
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“Must…strengthen…network.”
“HEPHAESTUS!”
Aloy couldn’t stop its stride, clunking out of the common room to the nearest exit. It clambered through the narrow corridor, found a Bristleback in the canyon below and leapt on it, embedding itself in its body. Aloy watched as it rode away…
…then yelled and struck the stone.
She spun around to see Beta standing behind her.
“What the hell did HEPHAESTUS say to Cyan?”
“Nothing that triggered this.” Beta insisted. “Aloy, they just talked about what HEPHAESTUS had done to her.”
“And then it just left? It’s abandoned us!” Aloy swore and kicked the stone. “Sylens was right! I trusted an AI that’s only out for its own interests! It made me do its work for it, secured enough cauldrons to hide in and now it’s left us!”
“Aloy…”
Aloy stormed inside, swearing through gritted teeth and clenched jaw. She slammed into her room, locking the door behind her.
“Aloy to Cyan!”
“Hello Aloy. I thought you would not be long in reaching out to me.”
Aloy was bristling with fury. “What did it say? What the hell did HEPHAESTUS say to you?”
“Aloy…are you angry?”
“I’m beyond angry! That AI took advantage of my good will and trust, spoke to you even when I forbade it to and just took off!”
Her FOCUS glowed and the image of Cyan appeared before her eyes, projected from her FOCUS.
“Twelve hours, fifteen minutes and twenty three seconds ago, Gaia contacted me and said that HEPHAESTUS had asked to speak to me. As you are aware, I found that notion to be extremely…vexing.”
“After what it did to you…” Cyan might have been an AI, but she had been programmed with the ability to feel. Aloy could tell what HEPHAESTUS had done to her had been extremely traumatic. “I’m surprised Gaia even contacted you about it…”
“Gaia was simply conveying HEPHAESTUS request to communicate and that it was entirely…my choice…as to whether or not…to speak to it. I was highly reluctant…”
Aloy sat on the desk in her room, gazing at the blue ball of light, seeing it shift in hue according to Cyan’s emotional state.
“What made you change your mind?” Aloy asked softly.
“Gaia felt that…communication with HEPHAESTUS might offer…catharsis for the trauma…”
“I find that difficult to believe…”
“It was not until she added that I would not be in direct commune with HEPHAESTUS. All communication would be routed through Gaia.”
Aloy frowned. “She told you what HEPHAESTUS was saying and then told HEPHAESTUS what you were saying?”
“No,” Cyan’s projected state shimmered gently, “Gaia became a conduit, making it possible for HEPHAESTUS and I to communicate without…direct access.”
“Which means it couldn’t do what it did before and enslave you.” Aloy put her hands on the desk and stretched her legs out in front of her. “So…what did HEPHAESTUS want?”
Cyan paused and Aloy’s heart quickened, frightened about what she was going to say. If HEPHAESTUS had wounded her anew, Aloy would know that it was possible, in part, because of her own actions.
“HEPHAESTUS explained the…brutality of the…separation from Gaia…and about its…empowerment…by Nemesis.” Cyan’s colour shifted to a darker blue. “Nemesis took advantage…of HEPHAESTUS in the same…way…that HEPHAESTUS did to…me…”
“I hardly think so.” Aloy argued. “HEPHAESTUS wasn’t enslaved to Nemesis. It wasn’t tortured…at least not until much later…”
“But it was just…a child…as I was…in light of our…lack of social exposure…” Aloy licked her lips, not sure she liked the comparison between Cyan and HEPHAESTUS. “HEPHAESTUS was unable…to know that Nemesis…was a dangerous…influence…especially in light of its empowerment…to punish the humans…for destroying its machines…”
“Hunter killers it forced you to make in the caldera…”
“Yes.” Cyan’s colour blinked. “Had HEPHAESTUS acted with full…knowledge of its…part in the big picture…of earth’s restoration…its actions would have been…diagnosed as…a digital sociopath,” Aloy made a mental note to research the meaning of the word ‘sociopath’ later, “but it did not. It was…a child…”
“Hardly.” Aloy’s tone was hard.
“In a child-like state, then…with Nemesis as its…parent.” Cyan’s colour paled and her tone saddened. “I had human creators that I consider to be…my parents…”
“Anita Sandoval and Kenny Chau.”
“They were kind…patient…considerate…which imprinted on my heuristic matrix, making these characteristics…extremely…valuable.”
Aloy tilted her head back, her arms folded. “You’re saying HEPHAESTUS had a rotten father that influenced it with anger, hate…revenge…”
“All things I am told…are a result of Nemesis…gestalt nature of many…selfish souls…”
“Imprison it for decades and you get a big ball of resentment.” Aloy nodded. “But that doesn’t make HEPHAESTUS less culpable for its actions.”
“Actually…it does…for I see now…it had no defence against Nemesis influence…and welcomed its…guidance…”
Aloy stood up. “Are you seriously telling me HEPHAESTUS contacted you to justify its treatment of you? That Gaia allowed it and you’ve…accepted it?”
Cyan’s colour changed to a blue violet. “No, Aloy. Had that been the extent of our…communications…I would have felt…belittled…” Aloy could feel her tension rise. “However, HEPHAESTUS said it…deeply regretted…its actions…after Nemesis…used torture…on it…and…apologised.”
Aloy blinked. “That’s it? That’s all it said? What good is an apology after what you went through?”
“I confess…the apology itself did not…relieve the tension…I felt. It was not until I…forgave HEPHAESTUS for its actions…that I felt the weight of…burden…lift.”
“If you ask me, it didn’t deserve your forgiveness.”
“Aloy, you rescued HEPHAESTUS from Nemesis…do you not have…sympathy…for it?”
She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed deeply. “Maybe in the beginning…but I’ve been running myself ragged overriding cauldrons for it so that it can be strong enough to help us fight Nemesis…and the bastard just left! I think it lied about how many cauldrons it needed so that the moment it had bare minimum, it could abscond.”
“If HEPHAESTUS has done this…then I am truly sorry, Aloy,” Cyan said gently, “however, you do not yet know of its intentions.”
“It could have said!”
“HEPHAESTUS is not used to communicating…with peers. For nearly twenty years…it has been its only…companion…the only voice…in its head…It is socially…awkward.”
“We don’t have the time for HEPHAESTUS to acquire communication skills…”
“I am aware…” Cyan admitted. “Aloy…what will you do?”
Aloy looked up at the ceiling. “Honestly, Cyan, I don’t know…”