Three months later the DLC was ready for testing. Joshua came with her, curious and supportive. Ally showed him her office where Karl’s artwork was all over the walls then to the alpha testing room. There were individual cubicles with gaming chairs or bean bags in front of low tables where consoles glowed softly. Hanging on a hook next to each console was a headset with a clear face shield and wrist braces.

“Uh…where are the TVs?” Joshua asked softly.

“Horizon Nemesis DLC is going to be released as a regular game with controlled input from the gamer but also as VR.” Kingsbury explained, handing Ally the headset. “This will look where you look and the environment will be displayed on the face shield so it’ll be like being there.”

“The bracers will work as my hands as well?”

“It’s all been meticulously programmed.” Kingsbury insisted. “You can set the resistance to easy, medium, hard or extreme.”

“Medium is plenty.” Ally allowed a technician to held her on with the bracers.

“The rendering isn’t quite finished so there might be some blank walls or strange textures.” He apologised.

“I’m just here to evaluate the translation of the story to game mode.” Ally assured him. “Ankle bracers as well?”

“No need to actually run. Your feet don’t have to leave the ground.”

“There’s talk that if this is a successful adaption, that all the Horizon games will be given the same upgrade treatment.” Kingsbury beamed. “Imagine that? Actually running around as Aloy and sharing with her adventures.”

“And being shot by arrows?” Joshua frowned.

“No pain, just vibration to register damage taken.” The technician nodded. “I think she’s ready.”

“Are you?”

Ally breathed in and out. “I am.” The technician put the headset on and slid the shield in place. Ally saw Joshua’s slightly apprehensive expression and pushed it up. She gestured for him to come close as she couldn’t because of all the cables. He leaned in towards her and she kissed him.

“I love you.” She smiled.

“I love you.” He kissed her back then stepped aside. “See you soon.”

She grinned and flicked the shield down.

“Loading game…you’ll start on board the Odyssey in the escape pod which Sylens has just broken into.”

“Understood.” Ally could see the loading signal on the shield as it darkened like transition lenses could do until it blocked out almost all light around her so that the image, when it finished loading, would be all she could see. The headset, bracers and anklets hummed in unison and Ally readied her hands, prepared for the end game.

Suddenly Sylens appeared before her, blood trickling out of his nose, ears and mouth. Before Ally could grab the release mechanism, Sylens lifted her spear, still slick with his blood and stabbed it into the hatch. The tip pierced the clear dome, sending cracks along its surface.

“Warning, transport pod integrity compromised. Release mechanism disabled.”

“Blast!” Ally cried.

“Ten, nine, eight…” The computer’s voice began to warble as Sylens turned and looked at it then the countdown simply stopped.

“This is so real…”

“Out of options, Sobeck.” Sylens said. The programmed voice of Nemesis was alarmingly dark and insidious. How had they managed to cram so much evil into one voice? It was like they’d taken all the villains from history and the worst movies and blended them together to create something that sounded like it could shrivel whatever it condemned. “Time to die.”

This was Nemesis.

“I’ve got to hit my FOCUS,” Ally fumbled a little with the controls, “which side of my head is it! Right! It’s on the right!” She reached up to tap it and saw the display appear in front of her, a holographic overlay on the scene before her. “That’s so amazing! Oh! The trigger!” She reached for the button made of light as Sylens lunged for her hand to stop her.

Ally felt him grab her, stopping her before she could reach the button. He yanked her arm down and she was amazed at how strong the movement was. It was so rough it was almost painful.

“I think not!” Nemesis spoke through him as his other hand reached for the FOCUS.

Abruptly he was knocked to the side by the blunt end of the spear he’d dropped. Ally shook her head, stunned by the realness of it all. Sylens twisted on the ground and snarled at his attacker but Beta jammed the spear into him. Blood poured out and bone cracked.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“This is bordering on mature audience rating.” Ally gagged.

“Aloy, are you hurt?” Beta reached into the capsule and drew her out. Ally stumbled forward. “Aloy?”

“Beta?” Ally gazed at her, amazed at the detail of her face and how real she looked. “You’re here…you’re really here.”

“There’s no time! Activate your Nemesis repellent!” Ally struggled to find it in the urgency of the moment but ultimately, the game would always allow for a little fumbling. “We have to find two more pods!” Ally was dragged through the bridge of the Odyssey and then down its length, sprinting to keep up with Beta’s pace. “And when we survive this, you’re in so much trouble for using your Alpha clearance to get Gaia to lie!”

“I didn’t want you up here.” Ally said, slowing down to marvel at her reflection in a window that looked out into space.

“Aloy, come on! Nemesis is going to recover any second!” Beta pulled her on. “There!” They ran towards two escape pods sitting side by side. Beta slapped them open, tapping her FOCUS. “Nemesis repellent virus is running through the pods. We don’t have much time! Get in!”

Ally did as she was told, strapping herself in. “It’s so real. It’s just so real!”

“Aloy, put the mines on a ten second timer then launch!” Beta ordered. “Hurry!”

Ally tapped her FOCUS and found the mine trigger. A countdown immediately appeared and she hit go on it. There was a rumble as Beta’s pod ejected but Ally struggled to find the release mechanism.

“Where is it? Where?” Ally cried then slapped off her FOCUS and groaned. “It’s not in the FOCUS. It’s in the pod!” She yanked on the lever and jolted as her pod pushed off from the Odyssey, streaking away from it with the power of its initial jet propulsion. “It’s in space. It looks like the Odyssey and I…we’re really in space. That’s…”

Abruptly the Odyssey exploded, searing light of gold and purple erupting out from its core and Ally could hear the screams of the Zeniths howling into the void, shrieking their curses as their withered and selfish existences were erased forever from their world. It was so bright Ally had to turn away, blinded and stunned. When she opened her eyes, debris from the Odyssey was hurtling towards her.

“This is going to hurt…” Ally gasped as the pod was struck, spinning wildly in space. “Ow! That really hurt! Turn the vibration settings down! Can you hear me? Maybe I need a potion…where’s the menu? Where’s the weapons list…why can’t I find…why is it hot? I’m really hot…”

The pod spun around completely and Ally saw the earth coming close, so close in fact that she couldn’t see any space around it.

“This is a little too real…too real…it’s so hot!” She began to slap all around the pod and on her head. “Where’s the headset? Where’s the off button? I want out! Someone let me out!” She banged on the clear hatch. “Let me out of here! Please! Joshua! Please! I’m burning up! I’m burning alive!”

Kotallo had gone with Beta and Tomas to Los Angeles when they had the bright idea to use Tomas’ original escape plan rocket as a means to get Beta up onto the Odyssey. Heph had been able to nullify the disastrously toxic engine emissions so that when it launched, guided by its automatic system that Tomas had programmed to dock with the Odyssey, everything within a hundred mile radius would not die.

Kotallo had put Tomas on a Stormbird and was flying back with him towards the mainland and the beach when Tomas called out.

“The Odyssey has been destroyed! Look!”

Even against the bright blue of the sky, Kotallo could see the eruption in space.

“Do we know if they survived?” He demanded.

“I’m linked in with Heph,” Tomas was quiet for a moment, “two pods have entered the atmosphere,” Kotallo sagged, relieved, “but one of them is spinning out of control. The propulsion jets might have slowed the descent but one of the pods was damaged.”

Kotallo hit his FOCUS. “Hephaestus? Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve got to do something! They’re going to burn to death!”

“My machines are unable to reach their altitude without ceasing function.”

“You listen to me! You can rebuild your machines! You cannot replace a human life!” Kotallo looked up, frightened beyond all measure. “Please!”

“Hold for further instructions…”

“You bas…”

“Wait…Stormbirds!” Tomas cried. “Stormbirds are flying up to meet the pods!” He yanked on Kotallo’s shoulders. “That way!”

“I’m not steering this thing!” Kotallo groused then clung on as the Stormbird they were riding changed direction sharply and its speed increased.

“Pods engaged…temperature drop…lost contact…”

“What is he saying?” Kotallo yelled, tears streaking from his eyes at the speed they were moving.

“The Stormbirds froze on their way up but Heph managed to use that to his advantage. They wrapped themselves around the pods, dying in the process but dropping the pod temperature.”

“What will happen now?”

“They’ll hurtle towards earth…”

“Course correction required…units 32n4322ic1, 32n4322ic2, 32n4322ic3, 32n4322ic4…”

“What?”

“Heph’s sending Sunwings to knock the pods into the water.”

Kotallo hit his FOCUS. “Zo, Alva, are you hearing this?”

“We are and we’re already on our way to San Francisco. Gaia predicts the pods will land nearby. You’re closer to the damaged pod. We’ll take the other one!” Alva instructed.

Kotallo nodded and leaned forward. “Come on,” he urged, “faster…please…please…”

“Pods have entered ocean biome…units known as Snapmaws are enroute…”

“Heph’s sending Snapmaws to pick them up.”

The Stormbird, guided by Hephaestus, took Kotallo exactly where they needed to go. An island on the eastern most point of the southern San Francisco broken landmass. The Stormbird dropped hard and fast, Tomas screeching something unintelligible. Kotallo paid him no attention. He could see a Snapmaw swimming to the island. The moment he was close enough not to break a leg, Kotallo leapt from the back of the Stormbird and ran across the sand to where the Snapmaw had deposited the egg shaped pod.

“Aloy!” He cried, grasping the hatch, partially melted and tore it off with his artificial arm. “Aloy!”

Beta’s pod was in much better shape when she landed, the propulsion jets able to slow her pod down so that it didn’t melt before the Stormbirds reached it. They had broken away, brittle from being frozen then the Snapmaw had grabbed the pod in its jaws and carried it to the nearest landmass. Beta had been able to kick the hatch open and climb out, her ankle badly bruised. Zo and Alva were only minutes away. Beta climbed atop the Stormbird, her leg paining her terribly.

“Good to have you back, Beta!”

“Where’s Aloy?”

“That way.” Alva pointed and they took off across the teal stretch of water to the island where Aloy’s pod lay, a ruinous wreck. “Oh no…”

Kotallo knelt in the sand, holding Aloy’s body in his arms, her eyes closed and her face against his chest.

“No!” Beta cried. “No…”

In the silence…all that could be heard was the lapping of waves upon the shore…