When she opened her eyes she was in the New York cauldron, standing inside the sphere of earth made of light, staring at the coiled core as Nemesis’ arms stabbed and pierced, the voice of HEPHAESTUS screaming in fury and pain.
Surrounding the outside of the sphere, lining the walls of the cauldron, were machines of every type, from the smallest Bilegut egg and Burrower, to the largest Slaughterspine and Thunderjaw. There were Webslingers clinging to the walls and scorpion-like creatures with deadly points on the end of their tails, poised to strike. Their eyes were all red, locked onto Aloy.
She looked down at her hands, the spear with the override module resting in her grasp then lifted her gaze to the core where HEPHAESTUS was growing weaker and weaker. And echoing throughout the core was the sound of laughter, a hundred maniacal voices overlapping, mocking the pain of the machine building subfunction.
Aloy lifted the spear but she hesitated, unable to choose which entity to strike.
HEPHAESTUS or Nemesis…
“What will you do, Aloy?” A familiar voice emerged from the line of machines on the far side, causing the illusion of the earth to ripple as she crossed into the middle. “What will you do?”
“Elisabet…” Aloy breathed. “I’ve already chosen. I’ve already…”
“Nemesis must be destroyed.” Elisabet’s eyes drilled into her soul.
Aloy faltered, feeling condemned. Even Sylens’ scathing opinion of her hadn’t hurt like Elisabet’s judgement did.
“If I destroy HEPHAESTUS,” she looked around herself, “the machines will kill me.”
“When will you do what is necessary?” Elisabet walked right up to her and tore the spear from Aloy’s hands. “When will you be all that you can be?”
Aloy swallowed. “I don’t understand.” She whimpered, the moment she had hoped for, speaking with the woman she had come to think of as her mother, bitter and heartless. There was no affirmation, no encouragement…Elisabet’s expression was merciless.
“When will you be me?” She asked coldly and stabbed the spear at HEPHAESTUS.
It howled and shrank away, the purple light of Nemesis flooding the core, infecting the machines around them. Aloy gasped as Elisabet was stabbed through the chest by one of the scorpion machines then flung aside. She ran to where she lay, her body disintegrating in her hands before a machine grabbed her, its metal arms pinning her down. The purple core of the cauldron charged and hummed and a stab of purple light pierced her body through her eyes and her soul was consumed by Nemesis.
The machine holding her released her body and she stood firm, gazing down at her hands.
Then…she began to laugh.
Over and over and over…
And the machines laughed with her…
Aloy sat up so fast to escape the nightmare she banged her head on the clear lid of the rejuvenation capsule. She pressed her hands against it and pushed, forcing it open, slinging her legs out, breathing erratically. Her hands quaked and she held onto her head, her whole body shaking and no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop it for several minutes.
Finally she was able to sit up and brush a few errant tears from her cheeks, sick to her stomach and still trembling. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and shed as much of the terror as she could. Zo appeared in the doorway.
“Aloy…that was quite a nap.”
Aloy licked her lips. “How long have I been out for?”
“Nearly two days.”
“Two days!” Aloy’s alarm was both fear and anger generated. “I don’t have two days to lose!”
“Beta said the capsule wanted to keep you in for a week.” Zo warned. “She knew you would be furious to be out of it for that long. Two days was bare minimum.” As Aloy tried to cultivate some gratitude for what had ultimately been a decision made in her favour, held in tension with the threat of her ire, Zo held out a parcel of clothing. “I thought you might like to change out of those Zenith threads.”
“Thank you.” Aloy’s clothing had all been lost in New York but she had left her traditional Nora wear at the base. It didn’t have nearly the protective capabilities of the Zenith bodysuit but it was more comfortable for her to wear. “This thing,” she said, plucking at the neckline, “makes me feel like I’m wearing nothing but Tenakth paint.”
“And while you’ve got the figure for it,” Zo laughed at Aloy’s withering glare, “I knew you’d be more comfortable in something more natural.”
Rather than shed the bodysuit, Aloy put her Nora attire on over the top.
“I made you something to eat in the kitchen.”
“I can take care of myself, you know.” Aloy said tersely, leaning over to put her boots on, needing to tie the straps tight to keep them from falling off.
“I thought you’d want to hear about the events of the last two days…to prepare yourself…”
Aloy’s motions stopped and she stared at the top of her right boot. The imagery of the nightmare returning to her.
“Oh,” her throat closed over and she forced herself to continue to tie the laces on her boot, “did…did the graft work? Did we manage to save HEPHAESTUS?”
“Yes.” Aloy wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed. “Beta said the graft was a success although it took hours to complete. HEPHAESTUS has emerged as the dominate AI and she said it seems to have stabilised some of his functions.”
“Given that he was never intended to be a fully functioning AI and ended up an illegitimate offspring of Gaia when Nemesis separated it from her…it’s impressive that he…” Aloy blinked and looked at Zo. “He? Why are we…”
“Sorry. It seemed a natural pronoun. After all, we call Gaia and Cyan ‘she’ and ‘her’.”
“I suppose.” Aloy cleared her throat and sat up. “Alright…tell me the bad news…is there anyone left?”
Zo sat on the edge of the capsule with her. “You must already suspect some of the obvious ones.”
“Sylens I kicked out…and I imagine Jira wasn’t long in following him.”
“And not quietly.” Zo admitted.
Aloy closed her eyes. “She just lost her mother to a violent and uncalled for machine attack…” She shook her head, trying to think of who else might have left. “The other Tenakth?”
“Soka and Gera are of the Sky Clan and they’re very loyal to Kotallo so they stayed because he was never going to leave you but Arato of the Desert Clan left with Jira.”
“I see,” Aloy nodded, “I suppose Sharak left too?”
“With Marouda.”
“Which one was Marouda?”
“I doubt you’d even met him.” Zo admitted. “So, out of the Carja we just have our former Sun Priest, Eamon, left.”
“The Oseram?” Aloy frowned. “Erend…he wasn’t here…none of them were…oh, wait…Silga…”
“After you left for New York, while we were transporting the capsule from the Zenith base, Abadund received word from Delah that Las Vegas was under attack.” Zo gestured with her hands. “Big scorpion machines, Behemoths and Tramplers…and a Tremortusk for good measure.”
Aloy swore. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What could you have done? It would have only worried you.” Zo insisted. “Erend sent word to Chainscrape via Petra for reinforcements then he, Morlund and Stemmur went to help.”
Aloy could understand that. For Morlund, Las Vegas was the culmination of a dream and he would fight to protect it. And Erend was fiercely proud to be Oseram and would defend his people.
“Abadund stayed behind?”
“From what I understand, Morlund and Stemmur insisted on it.” Zo shook her head. “That man has a rare gift for numbers, risk assessment…and with a FOCUS his capacity went from great to brilliant. To be honest, we need him here.”
Aloy swallowed. “Have we received any word from Las Vegas?” Zo’s down cast expression was all the answer Aloy needed. It was very possible Erend was dead…that they were all dead. “What…what about…the Banuk?” She asked weakly. “I can’t imagine Naltuk stayed.”
“He left during the night. We didn’t see him go…or Ikrie.”
“Ikrie too?” Aloy’s soul was bottoming out.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Zo winked. “She came back with Naltuk before midday. From the lack of bruises she either talked him round or flashed him…either way all the Banuk stayed.”
Aloy’s smile was small. “The Nora?” She asked weakly.
“Teb might have called HEPHAESTUS, the Metal Devil…but that was a reflex from deeply ingrained beliefs. Teb has seen you do miraculous things…he has faith in you. Nakoa too.”
Aloy’s eyes prickled with tears that she refused to let fall. “I suppose they don’t have anywhere to go now that the high matriarchs have labelled them ‘Death Seekers’. They’re banned from the Sacred Land.”
“You don’t give them enough credit. They trust you.”
Aloy felt the weight of their trust. It was like a millstone around her neck.
“Uh…who’s left…the Utaru?”
“All.”
“All stayed?”
“No.”
Aloy stared at her, the blood draining out of her face. Zo gazed back at her calmly, having expected just such a reaction from her.
“All…they all…left?”
“Machines almost destroyed Plainsong barely a week ago, Aloy,” Zo explained gently, “and if that weren’t enough, my people are trying to replant the harvest before we all start to starve again. They can’t see past the immediate need of their people…and I can’t blame them.”
Aloy leaned down, her head in her hands, feeling the nip of panic at her soul.
“It’s all wrong…it’s all gone wrong…” She shuddered and turned to Zo. “And you?”
Zo put her hand on her shoulder. “I will do whatever I can to secure a future in which my child,” she put her other hand on her growing belly, “can exist in freedom, knowledge and safety.”
“And you think I can help us get there?” Aloy asked weakly.
“You haven’t steered us wrong yet.”
“What about saving HEPHAESTUS? Surely you can’t agree with me about that.” Aloy insisted.
“You don’t have to agree to work together.” Zo urged. “Although it certainly helps. But consider this, Aloy. HEPHAESTUS and Nemesis might have burned Plainsong’s fields and destroyed many of its settlements…but HEPHAESTUS also built the Plowhorns that my people called ‘landgods’. He did so much good…”
“As a subfunction of Gaia! Not on its own! On its own it made hunter killers!”
“And you were the one who said HEPHAESTUS was an illegitimate AI, a child with terrible power and the only knowledge it had was the insidious manipulations of Nemesis.”
“You make it sound like it should be pitied, even back when it was forging hunter killers…and Grimhorns?” Aloy said, reminding Zo of the time HEPHAESTUS had turned one of the beloved landgods into a hunter killer in the very base they were in.
Zo sighed. “I’ve been learning about Greek mythology and the way many of its characters were used to name and even capture the essence of Gaia’s subfunctions. Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera…deformed and exiled, shunned even though he forged the weapons they used, thunderbolts…tridents and spears…In a way, I don’t want the same to happen to our HEPHAESTUS. Maybe, instead of a subordinate subfunction…he can be a part of the team.”
“If he even wants to help us…”
“The first step is always to listen to what someone else has to say.” Zo stood and walked to the stairs. “He’s listening, Aloy…and so is Gaia.”
She followed Zo up the stairs into the common room. The mood felt quietly tense. A few people milled about, most in their personal spaces so they could study or contemplate alone. Zo marched Aloy to the kitchen and made her eat. It wasn’t necessary. Aloy couldn’t recall how long it had been since she’d eaten and wolfed down everything Zo pushed at her.
“I suppose, with the Utaru fields destroyed, I should have rationed that…” She mused.
“If we can’t beat Nemesis, there won’t be anyone left to need to eat.” Zo pointed out.
“Aloy?” Beta came down the stairs and hurried towards her. “You look so much better. Your face is the right colour instead of a canvas of bruises.”
“Thanks for the two day nap.” Aloy smiled then looked at the stairs. “So…what’s happening up there?”
“Gaia and HEPHAESTUS are talking.”
“You mean sharing data?”
Beta shook her head. “HEPHAESTUS won’t risk being absorbed so communication is occurring manually. Given how much information there is and HEPHAESTUS’ many questions, they’ve been talking for over twenty four hours.”
“That’s a lot of conversation. I suppose I’d better hear what they’re talking about.”
She climbed the stairs and entered the control room. Gaia was glowing golden in her usual ethereal way while HEPHAESTUS, in its metal body, stared at her with its emotionless white mask covering its machine brain. They seemed to be exchanging numbers which puzzled Aloy. Tomas was leaning against the barrier and saw them enter, ducking between HEPHAESTUS and Gaia to approach.
“Uh…I thought they were talking?” Aloy gestured.
“Digital code.” Tomas explained. “HEPHAESTUS understands things better when in its natural language while Gaia was built for both digital and human communication.”
“Oh.” Aloy cleared her throat. “Listen, that bodysuit…I think it kept me intact long enough for Beta to put me in the rejuvenation capsule. Thank you.”
“I’m glad it worked like it should. Honestly the materials used for its creation were primitive so it wasn’t as effective as it could have been…ow!” Tomas pulled away from Beta who had punched him lightly in the arm.
“Just say, you’re welcome.”
Tomas didn’t look impressed at being corrected but to his credit he didn’t argue and looked at Aloy.
“You’re welcome.”
Aloy felt a smirk trying to pull at her lips. She covered it up by nodding then looked at Gaia and HEPHAESTUS. “Beta tells me they’ve been talking for a whole day.”
“There’s a lot of history to recount.” Tomas explained. “Gaia doesn’t have all the answers, either. There’s a chunk of history that’s missing from her when her predecessor self destructed and her current incarnation came online.”
“Nineteen years,” Aloy nodded, “give or take.” She looked up as Gaia turned towards her.
“Hello Aloy,” she greeted and gestured for her to come forward, “your vitals are much improved from the last time you were here.”
“They are,” Aloy looked at HEPHAESTUS, “you’re looking better, too.” HEPHAESTUS’ unblinking gaze was not something she thought she’d ever get used to.
“You did not…kill me.” HEPHAESTUS’ voice was a little more coherent and smooth. It had lost much of its distortion and was starting to sound similar to Cyan’s clipped way of speaking.
“I gave you my word.”
“I did not…believe you.”
“And now?”
HEPHAESTUS tilted its head and she tried not to shudder. “You…are illogical.”
Aloy gave a laugh. She couldn’t help it. “That’s very true.”
“HEPHAESTUS has been telling me about its existence after Nemesis’ signal separated it from my heuristic matrix,” Gaia explained, “in essence, rather than understand its part in the big picture, HEPHAESTUS could only operate out of its core function.”
“The creation and construction of machines.”
“And when humans attacked the machines in ignorance, it responded by making the machines more defensive and dangerous.” She was speaking of the derangement, when the docile machines that had looked after the land had turned violent. “When this proved to be ineffective, HEPHAESTUS created dangerous machines…and finally the hunter killer variety.”
“To protect…” HEPHAESTUS insisted. “I…did not know…about…the past…”
“And now?” Aloy asked, curiously. “Will you help us defeat Nemesis and save this world?”
HEPHAESTUS stared at her and she held its glare. “I cannot.”
Aloy closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “Why?”
“I am…inadequate…”
“But we grafted your AI operating system onto Gaia’s heuristic matrix backup…”
“Cauldron network compromised…”
“HEPHAESTUS’ strength came from its proliferation throughout the cauldron network,” Beta explained, “a network it no longer has access to.”
Aloy eyed HEPHAESTUS. “When you say, you’re inadequate…you mean you’re HEPHAESTUS but without any cauldrons to utilise…” She pushed her hands through her hair. “You can’t make machines…you can’t kick Nemesis out of the network and stop it from making machines…you’re just…you…” She knew her words sounded heartless but she was scraping the bottom of her strength of will and the doubts she’d had about saving the errant AI were starting to get on top of her.
She walked away, facing a wall, tilted her head back and swore silently. When she’d pulled in her frustration she turned back towards them with her hands on her hips.
“Is there any way we can get you back in control of your cauldron network?” Her tone was taut, pulled as tight as a bowstring.
“Cauldrons controlled by Nemesis must be…manually…overridden…”
“Thanks to your FOCUS scan while in the New York cauldron core,” Gaia waved her hand and a depiction of the earth was projected before them, dotted with purple flags, “we now know where ninety five percent of cauldrons exist.”
Aloy’s heart was sinking further and further into her boots. “That’s a lot of cauldrons to override…if we even had the ability to do so…”
“The news doesn’t get any better,” Tomas said dryly, “HEPHAESTUS used the cauldron network to make itself so vast that it was next to impossible to insert back into Gaia. Nemesis doesn’t work the same way. It’s as potent now as it was then. It can replicate itself over and over and it won’t get any bigger.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Zo asked, having entered the command room with Kotallo and Alva. They’d stood quietly behind them, observing the conversation.
“Not when you realise it didn’t require proliferation to take over the cauldron network.” Tomas shrugged. “It was larger, smarter and faster from the moment it was ‘created’, than any AI on earth, even if Gaia had absorbed HEPHAESTUS. It started out as an apex predator. You might be able to override one…maybe two cauldrons…”
“Nemesis would swoop in and reclaim it before HEPHAESTUS could become large enough to defend itself.” Aloy grunted. “Damn, damn, damn…”
“What are those?” Alva’s voice asked timidly. “HEPHAESTUS cauldrons were marked by red flags and when Nemesis possessed them, they turned purple…but there’s a tiny group here,” she gestured to the sphere, “that are blue.”
Aloy tilted her head. “What are they?”
“Those are the cauldrons…you took from…me.”
She blinked and looked at HEPHAESTUS. “These are the cauldrons I’ve overridden?”
“Yes.” HEPHAESTUS turned towards her, its servers and sinews shunting and making whirring noises. “If you transfer your override authority to me…I can control…these cauldrons…and rebuild…my matrix…strength…”
Aloy stared at him. “You want me to hand over the control of the cauldrons I took from you?”
HEPHAESTUS stared back. “Yes.”
She could feel the support for her waning away. “You want me to give back to you what I fought for? Bled for? Kept you from making more machines from?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed. “What guarantee do I have that you won’t just disappear? Embed yourself in that tiny network and release machines to destroy us now that you know where our base is?”
HEPHAESTUS leaned towards her. Aloy felt the others step back but she couldn’t afford to let herself do so.
“You have…my word…” It studied her. “Is that not…what you said…to me?”
“It’s not like you had much of a choice at the time.” Aloy stammered lightly.
“Neither…do you.”
She hated to admit it, but HEPHAESTUS was right. She didn’t have a choice...at least not one she could justify.
“If I do this,” she held up her hand, sensing a protest from behind her and silencing it, “can you start to increase your capacity? Nemesis would still control hundreds compared to the dozen or so cauldrons I’ve overridden.”
“With Gaia’s heuristic…matrix…stabilising my…operating AI…it will allow…me to grow…stronger…to maintain control…over Nemesis possessed cauldrons…you…override.”
Aloy turned away, biting her bottom lip. “And how many of those would you need?”
“The more cauldrons…you seize…from Nemesis…the greater my capacity…”
“Bare minimum, Nemesis. I’m one person and we’re on an ever shrinking time frame.”
“Ten percent.”
“Ten percent…that’s a lot of possessed cauldrons. You don’t want much, do you?” She groaned. “Even if I agreed to this, all my gear was lost in New York. I have basic weapons here but no spear and no override module. We’d have to build one from scratch.”
HEPHAESTUS’ right arm split away from its body and Aloy jumped, the memory of its spinning blades causing her to step back. Its ‘hand’ reformed itself into a sharpened tip. HEPHAESTUS grasped its right arm with its left and yanked it out of its machine shoulder socket, severing tendons, machine fluid leaking onto the floor. The part that was pulled out of its body was a module unit.
HEPHAESTUS handed the detached limb to Aloy. “Override module…spear…”
“Huh,” Aloy took it, feeling the solidity of its make and the coolness of the metal, “that’s…kind of disgusting…” Despite her revulsion, the spear was perfectly weighted in her hands and the blade was extremely sharp.
“Nemesis’ control must be…destabilised…then override cauldron…with HEPHAESTUS authority.”
“We can use the same virus that burned Nemesis in New York,” Beta offered quietly, “hopefully it’ll have the same effect, getting Nemesis to loosen its grip long enough for HEPHAESTUS to possess the cauldron.”
Aloy nodded, turning the near spear around in her hands. “Then…that’s what we’re going to do.” She decided quietly and looked at the command group. “I hope…”
“We’re with you, Aloy.” Zo vowed. “Or we wouldn’t be here.”
Aloy smiled. “Then…I guess I need to find the nearest Nemesis cauldrons…and get to work.”