Present Day…

Aloy checked over the white Zenith suit, wondering if she looked as ridiculous as she felt. The suit was like a second skin and Aloy almost felt naked in its clasp. While it wasn’t as revealing as if it had been painted on, Aloy was alarmingly aware that she seemed to be displaying more…curves…than she was comfortable with. She walked around her campfire, trialling the inbuilt boots.

“For something so artificial…I almost feel more grounded in this,” she whispered, “and I’m not cold!”

She tapped her FOCUS and linked in with her suit’s display. It had her temperature, her health status, noting her bruised ribs from her fall from the Tallneck and even her life expectancy.

“Looks like I’ve got eighty years left.” She rolled her eyes. “Still…feels pretty good.”

The gloves were as closely fitted as the rest of the suit and she was amazed at the level of sensation she could feel through the weave. She checked the readout again.

“I’ve got about five minutes of complete invisibility to machine sensors.” She read. “I’ll definitely be using that.” She brought up the map of New York. It was the most recent one Gaia had, taken from a passive pulse from MINERVA’S towers. It didn’t have a lot of detail but combined with the map information they had from the APOLLO database, it meant Aloy wasn’t going in blind.

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“Hey Gaia, you there?”

“Always, Aloy.”

Aloy smiled. “I’m on the outskirts of New York. The landscape has changed a lot from APOLLO’S map.”

“I wish I had the information my predecessor would have been aware of, about the cauldron in New York. After the FARO plague, much of the earth underwent extreme changes. Weather patterns altered and seismic activity reshaped the face of many continents. Without APOLLO to keepsake this new information, it was lost upon my predecessor’s self destruction.”

“You’re not wrong about the land being reshaped. Have you seen what I’ve seen?”

“Your FOCUS has relayed all data.”

“And you still think the cauldron is on the island of New York itself?”

“New York was a thriving metropolis when the FARO plague occurred. The skyscrapers that defined its landscape were matched by equally deep foundations, tunnels, sewer systems. If I was to build a cauldron anywhere, it would make sense to start where much of the excavation had already occurred and to utilise it to my advantage.”

“Makes sense.” Aloy studied the map. “I think my best line of approach would be through one of the tunnels between the mainland and New York.”

“Thus keeping your presence unknown?”

“That’s the idea.” Aloy tried to pinch at her suit but it was so well fitted she couldn’t get a grip on it. “The Zenith suit doesn’t have infinite invisibility. I’d like to keep that for the cauldron itself. If HEPHAESTUS is in there, I doubt it’ll leave it unguarded.” She swiped through the map imagery, orientating herself in the metropolis.

“Aloy…you need sleep.”

“I will. I promise.” She nodded. “I’ll contact tomorrow morning before I head in.”

“Sleep well, Aloy.”

“Thanks Gaia.”