Present Day…

Aloy jolted awake, having slumped onto her side, lost in her memories. She yawned and looked at the pretty hues of a fresh dawn and the sound of rain dripping from the edge of her shallow cave to the stone below. Her Sunwing had turned so that its wings were facing the sun as it rose. Aloy shivered, the air cold and the fire, down to hot coals. Rather than build it back up, she stood up and forced her stiff body to move, ducking her head and stepping outside.

A wild land stretched before her, rugged hills, spindly trees and a river gushed nearby. It reminded her a little of the Embrace except that the rocks there were rounded whereas here, they were jagged. Aloy was relieved she had the Sunwing to ride, rather than attempt to cross the rocks.

As she paced she tapped her FOCUS. “Aloy to base. Anyone awake?”

“I read you, Aloy.”

Aloy smiled at the voice. “It’s good to hear you Gaia. I wasn’t sure I was in range of a transmission tower.”

“The towers create a web of invisible lines across the earth. Only dense mountain regions and scant pockets of terrain remain in black out. How are you?”

“Cold…but at least I’m not wet anymore.” Aloy rubbed her hands, her breath like fog. “I thought I’d better land before a lightning strike made short work of my ride.”

“The override module is still working?”

“For the moment.” Aloy eyed the Sunwing that rested, docile and obedient. “I wish we could have tested it…”

“Projections for its ability to maintain an overridden state are positive…although I too, wish we could have made sure your mount would not suddenly turn and attack you.”

“The biggest problem is, if it suddenly stops working…I’ll be travelling by foot.” Aloy went back into the cave and pulled her boots on, relieved they had dried overnight. “We don’t have the time for me to march across the continent.”

“I have your approximate location as being in what was known as Kansas. You are halfway across the continent.”

“I’ll pack up my gear and head out straight away.” Aloy hastily packed, kicking dirt over the remains of the hot coals and making sure she was rugged up warmly. She climbed onto the Sunwing, turned its head and kicked it into flight. She held on as it pumped its wings, gaining altitude before settling into a flying height that wasn’t in the thick air close to the ground but also not so high that Aloy became dizzy and lightheaded.

Once there, Aloy could relax a little, looking down at the world as she flew over the top of it. The rocky landscape she’d camped in gave way to rolling hills covered in muted green grass, moving in the breeze like they were waves in the ocean. They rippled so beautifully in unison that she was transfixed watching it.

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There were herds of machines almost always below. Grazers, Longlegs, Watchers, Behemoths, Burrowers…in greater numbers than she’d seen before. But she didn’t seen any settlements. There seemed to be a large lack of humans in the Lower Midwest.

Barely before midday, she caught sight of a plume of smoke.

“Aloy to base.”

“Aloy,” Beta’s voice spoke directly into her ear, “Gaia said you were over Kansas.”

“Yeah…there’s smoke on the horizon. It’s only mildly out of my way.”

“That’s an unnecessary deviation, Aloy.”

Aloy rolled her eyes. “Who said you could listen in on other people’s conversations, Sylens?”

“I made it my personal responsibility to keep you from any distractions.”

“You know I’m going to go check.”

“We are running out of time. The loss of a few humans in the big picture won’t mean anything…especially if you don’t get to the ruins of New York in time!”

Aloy slapped her FOCUS and turned the Sunwing’s head towards the smoke. It only took a few minutes of flying for her to see a giant herd of Grazers and Longlegs chasing down some humans who were running for their lives. She used her bow to take out several with arrows, sparking canisters on their backs and causing a chain reaction that blew a whole in their charging herd. As the Sunwing dipped down she leapt off, driving her spear into the back of a Longleg, severing its spine, sending it sprawling. She jumped off and did her best to cull the machines. It wasn’t an easy fight and there were a number of dead humans amongst the machine carcasses.

“Here…you there…you saved our hides.” One of the men came forward, breathing heavily. “Thank you.”

“What happened?” Aloy demanded.

“We have no idea. The herds have always gone around our village in the past. This morning there was a scream from a Watcher and the next we knew they were bashing themselves against the fence, stampeding through our homes…glowing purple and the smell…” He shuddered. “Myself and some of the other hunters thought we could lure them away but I have no idea what happened to the rest of the tribe.”

“Is the smoke coming from your tribe?” Aloy pointed.

“From our village, yes.” He put his hand out to grasp a machine to keep himself from falling and Aloy saw blood trickling from between his fingers that clutched at his side.

“You’re hurt.”

“I’ll live but I can’t run.” He looked at her desperately. “Please, you have the ability to get back to my village.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Aloy promised. She turned and whistled, the Sunwing landed in the grass, sending the shards shivering as its wings folded. She clambered onto its back and flew towards the smoke…

…but by the time she reached the village, it was too little, too late.

The entire settlement had been crushed and burned. There were only a few solid beams left and barely a structure still standing.

Aloy stared at the carnage, her blood running cold.

Everyone had been killed.

“HEPHAESTUS…you bastard…” She whispered as she closed her eyes. Feeling sick she resumed her easterly course, heading for New York. “Beta…are you there?”

“I’m here, Aloy…were there…”

“Dead. All dead…Machines stampeded a village, burned it to the ground and killed everyone.” She sniffed. “It wasn’t as if they were heavily armoured or weaponised machines…Grazers and Longlegs!”

“With enough numbers, even the passive machines become dangerous.”

“And in chasing down this futile attempt at compassion, you have lost precious time in reaching HEPHAESTUS.”

“Sylens…when I want your opinion…”

“He’s right, Aloy.” Aloy blinked, surprised by Beta’s words. “You couldn’t save those people and many more will suffer the same fate if you don’t reach the core cauldron in New York.”

She scrunched her face shut. “I…I can’t just turn a blind eye…”

“And just like HEPHAESTUS, every time you are distracted by a ‘small’ matter, you lose sight of the big picture. You must reach the cauldron where HEPHAESTUS’ primary core resides.”

“I know!” Aloy snapped. “I know…”

She flew further east, turning more northerly as she headed towards the coordinates Beta and Tomas had given for HEPHAESTUS’ location.