A.N: Hello once again Zero Dawn players! I've written the next chapter, and thank you for being so patient with it. I have three fics that are currently in progress, and full-time work that keeps me very occupied, so I appreciate your patience and willingness to stick around for the next chapter.

To point out to some of the comments, yes, I am aware that not all knowledge is bad, especially by itself. I am strictly going off of Ted's monologue during the Mountain That Fell quest. Where he treats knowledge as the disease that plagued our species, eventually leading to our own destruction. Yes, I agree that knowledge is not bad on its own. Knowledge in an incredibly powerful thing that leads to advancements unlike Aloy or the Nora have ever seen. There is more to come for their tribe, and Aloy is looking for a way to help the tribe, no matter how they treated her before the Proving.

I agree once again with the APOLLO program description, with the fact that even if it was only a handful of things that survived the passage of time, that it would be world-changing. Yes, that was my intention all along. I had planned for medicine and architecture to be two main focal points of interest, and I will incorporate farming as well, seeing as how they are already hunters and gatherers. I will find other things to bring in as well, but that will come later on in the story.

Thank you again for the reviews, comments, and critiques! They improve the story!

"Aloy, slow down child. What are you going on about?" Teersa asked as she beheld the young woman before her.

"There's really not much to say Teersa. I just need you to help me get Varl to go with me, and that means talking him away from Sona." Aloy replied as she walked further into All-Mother Mountain.

"But you've just come back from one task. Don't you want to take some time to heal?" She asked again as she followed behind the young red-head.

"Teersa, I think you of all the Nora know that I can't do that. And you know why I can't do that." Aloy replied with a stern voice as she thought of her original Outcast status. A pain too deep to be quelled away with the Proving, or her new Anointed status.

"Yes child, I do." Teersa replied as the two of them came upon the metal door that lead into the ELEUTHIA facility. At least Aloy knew that about the hulking piece of steel before them.

"Then you know why I need to do this. For me. For the Tribe. For Rost more than anyone. I want us to know where we came from." Aloy threw the answer out as she spun around to face Teersa.

The elder woman stopped dead in her tracks, and just looked at the gaze that Aloy had. There was a new spark in her eyes, much brighter than the spark she had the night of the Proving, and certainly brighter than when she was allowed to become a Seeker for the tribe. Teersa thought she even saw a bit of regret in the young woman's eyes, but pushed that thought away with a gentle sigh.

"Aloy, I will help you however I can." Teersa conceded as she looked into the young woman's eyes.

Aloy smiled in response before turning back around and entering the metal door to ELEUTHIA, and then into the room where GAIA had remained manifested and watching over the facility.

"Aloy, what brings you here? I thought you would be with Elisabet." The AI spoke as she looked towards Aloy.

"How long would it take to get APOLLO running if Elisabet had a copy of it before Faro purged the program?" Aloy immediately asked, barely registering GAIA's original statement.

"That would depend on how damaged the file was. If the corruption is at a bare minimum, I'd say it would take a few hours to a day, but if the data corruption is severe for a file that size, it could take months to years. But Elisabet always kept things organized and safely tucked away, so I have hope that the file has very little corrupted data." GAIA replied as she looked back over the Lyceum.

"You've been waiting for people to be here... I can tell by the look on your face. You wanted us to learn, just like the Alpha's did." Aloy spoke as she stood next to GAIA overlooking the empty facility.

"It was the dream of the team to see future generations continue the way they had, without the unnecessary use of military robotics. They desperately wanted APOLLO to succeed in it's primary function, which was to teach and instill countless centuries of human knowledge and culture. It is unfortunate that it never happened the way it was intended to." GAIA spoke, almost brokenly, as she looked between the Lyceum and Aloy.

"Is it too late?" Aloy finally broke the silence as she, too, looked out into the empty space the the Lyceum created.

"I suppose not, but it is now a matter of free will. Do the members of your tribe want to be taught the knowledge of those who came before? This is not to say that I am attacking knowledge as a whole. I would be a hypocrite to do so. There is nothing wrong with the knowledge you seek to acquire, but how can you prevent others from falling to the same path as Faro and those who helped him program the Swarm?" GAIA asked as she turned to look down at Aloy.

Aloy stood silent for a few minutes, contemplating the words that the AI spoke. Of course she knew that not all knowledge was bad; Rost taught her all that she knew, and Sylens helped her understand all that she had recently acquired about the past, including many of the features on her Focus device. She knew that knowledge hadn't pushed Ted Faro to encrypt the Corruptors or Deathbringers; he turned out, as Elisabet had stated, to be a greedy man who only wanted what she called money. Aloy assumed she was talking about the shards that traders took in exchange for her current bows and some outfits.

"I... I don't really know..." Aloy finally said as the silence began to get too heavy.

"Aloy, I know that you want to know about those from the past, and how to avoid the same fate, no matter the cost, but this is a decision that only you can make for yourself. I hope that your tribe can come to the same conclusion with time, but they seem very set in their ways at this point, and they will also have to make this decision on their own. If you believe in them, I'm sure they will come through, but hoping and wishing alone will not change their minds." GAIA spoke as she looked down at the young woman before her.

She felt a deep sense of turmoil as she looked at Aloy. Her red locks shielded her eyes from the side as she hung her head, either in deep thought or confusion, GAIA wasn't sure, but she looked so broken. So unsure of this journey that she wanted to embark upon. GAIA's hologram shrunk in size so that she was now the same height at Aloy. Aloy turned her head as GAIA came to her level, and finally looked over to the AI.

"If I may, I am not saying that you should abandon this quest of yours. I can tell how much you want to learn of the past, and how curious you are as an individual. I am actually encouraging you to take this journey to help you grown both physically and intellectually. I have the utmost faith in your quest Aloy. The others will come around at their own time." GAIA reassured Aloy as she locked eyes with the young woman.

"Thanks GAIA. I think I should be getting going then." Aloy said as she moved towards the open door and the mountain beyond.

"If I may again, Aloy, Elisabet was very disorganized at the Prime facility. I recommend looking around her desk first, and if nothing turns up there, then the containers around her desk would be your next best option." GAIA said as she watched Aloy.

Aloy looked over her shoulder and flashed a huge smile at GAIA before turning around the corner and disappearing out into the heart of the mountain. GAIA couldn't help the smile that perked at the corner of her mouth as she watched the young woman leave. She turned back towards the Lyceum and pictured the room filled with people, as it should have been.

"Elisabet... She reminds me of you. Your drive, your will, your desire to finish what you start. I believe she can get her tribe to learn from the APOLLO program." GAIA said before she closed her eyes and disappeared in a flash of light.

Aloy and Elisabet made their way across the vast desert north of Meridian, ever mindful of the machines that were, though docile, still deadly. They pushed their Striders onwards, covering the vast distance in mere hours, for which both women were grateful. When they reached the small field before the long climb up to the facility, Aloy dismounted her Strider and came to stand next to Elisabet.

"I don't suppose you're up for a climb?" Aloy asked as she looked up at Elisabet.

"Not really, no." Elisabet answered as she looked at the looming cliff face before them.

"Didn't think so. Anyways, I'll head up there and tell you what I see. If you remember how your office was set up, it'd be really helpful." Aloy commented as she prepared herself for another climb.

"I'll watch through the Focus. Don't worry, I won't be like this Sylens that you've mentioned, I'll be there the whole time to watch and help you look." Elisabet commented as she touched the Focus on the side of her head.

Aloy watched silently as Elisabet waved her arms about before her, skimming though Focus options before finally coming to the one that she was looking for. With a few finger pushes against the air, the Focus on her ear went from shining a light blue, to being a striking blue against her face, illuminating her features. Aloy's mouth dropped slightly in awe as her own Focus began to glow brighter in her peripheral.

"You are definitely going to show me how to do that." She remarked as she turned to face the cliff.

"Come back down in one piece first." Elisabet shot back as she watched Aloy begin her ascent up the cliff the the Prime facility.

Varl could hardly believe his ears as he stood before the Matriarchs. Aloy had requested him by name for another quest, and had left word for Sona to relieve him for this duty, but she had already gone. Of course he knew that he needed to get to wherever she was, whatever way he could. As Teersa told him of Aloy's plan and quest, she also gave him permission to leave the Sacred Lands to go to her side, no matter where she would be. He left the mountain immediately. Teersa mentioned her being north of Meridian, and Varl knew then and there where Aloy had gone.

Since the battle against HADES, many of the grazing machines had turned docile on their own, and no longer needed to be overridden in order to be ridden. When he walked out of Mother's Watch, he approached the first Strider he saw. It gazed at him for a moment before bowing its head slightly and turning its back to him. He climbed upon its back and pushed it off towards Meridian, and the one facility that lay beyond.

The familiar mountain was the first thing that he saw, followed by the Bitter Climb, which lived up quite nicely to its name. Varl dismounted the Strider he rode in and looked up at the barren cliff face before him. He sighed before he tentatively took hold of the first grip, and just as he was about to begin his climb, a sound stopped him. And not just any sound. A voice.

"Varl? Is that you?" Distinctly feminine, Varl's head snapped towards the sound.

"Elisabet? What are you doing here? And on a Strider no less." Varl asked as he let go of the grip and made his way over to the elder red-head.

"Aloy is already up there. She's making her way towards my office right now." Elisabet replied with a smile as she looked at the young man before her.

"What is she even looking for? Teersa told me that Aloy was coming back out this way, and I knew where she was going even before Teersa mentioned it. But what is she looking for?" Varl asked as he turned his gaze towards the blown-out center of the mountain where GAIA Prime once was.

"My copy of the APOLLO program. Honestly, I don't know how much of it would have survived GAIA overcharging the reactors, causing the explosion, but you never know. Some of our technology was so resistant, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole program had survived." Elisabet remarked as she, too, gazed at the mountain before them.

"I should go up there with her." Varl said as he, once again, took hold of a grip.

"Wait! She's coming though on the Focus." Elisabet stopped him from beginning the ascent.

"The Focus? You can use those to talk over distances?" Varl questioned with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Aloy? What have you found?" Elisabet questioned as she held her hand to the metal piece attached to her ear. "A file? Does it look like a circle?... It does?... Yes, that's the one then. Is there anything written on it?... There's a symbol that looks like the ones on the door at the Zero Dawn facility? Yes, that's the one. Come on back down." Elisabet spoke as a smile began to creep onto her face.

Varl was more than a little confused, but instead of question anything further, seeing as how Elisabet would be the more knowledgeable one about the past, he just stood near her and the grazing Striders, and they conversed about everything that lead up to this point.

"How did she ever destroy HADES?" Elisabet asked as she leaned against a nearby tree.

"It wasn't easy. The Eclipse had this thing that we call a Deathbringer with them. Aloy said it was called a Khopesh, or something like that, and that it was this super heavy war machine that this Faro guy had his people create. There were a lot of them, but the Oseram have these cannons that you can use as you move, and many of the Deathbringers were brought down outside the gates of Meridian." Varl began.

"That sounds like it was horrible. To have to fight Ted's war machines… I couldn't possibly imagine what you were up against. Fighting turret guns with bows and arrows sounds impossible." Elisabet commented as she took in Varl's story of the battle.

"It really was a show. The machines and Eclipse managed to punch through the gates of Meridian, and made their way up to this Spire. Aloy said that it was a transmitter? I don't really remember, but the Eclipse and HADES used it to power up the machines that were still buried underground. So, these guys make their way up to the Spire and cast the signal, there's a group of us that are already by the Spire trying to fight off this Deathbringer so we can get to HADES, but we aren't having any luck. Aloy shows up, battered and bloody, and starts lobbing fire arrows at this thing, finally setting off its heat sensor. Aloy tells us where to fire and sure enough, with some well-placed shots, this thing starts to shake and rumble. This goes on for a bit, but we finally take it down." Varl is downright excited about them having taken down a Deathrbinger, and Elisabet can't help but share in his joy.

"What happened next? Surely this Khopesh model was a personal bodyguard to the HADES program." Elisabet egged on, now fully immersed in the story of the final battle.

"Right, this is where it's a little foggy, but only because Aloy didn't share a whole lot about what happened to her. But she goes up to this giant metal orb and takes this spear that I've never seen before off her back. It's not made like a Nora spear. It's metal and there's this piece attached to it that glows this strange blue color. Aloy had called it a master override, if that means anything to you."

"Yes… I'm more than familiar with it. I designed it. I created it solely for the purpose of shutting GAIA down if she were to run rampant and do the exact opposite of her intended function. Ted insisted that I have one created for her, and yet, I felt absolutely guilty about doing it. I had just created GAIA, and had just started downloading all of her necessary programming into her database, when Ted came over the holo demanding that she have a kill switch. GAIA, not unforeseen, agreed with Ted. I began work on it immediately, and it was done within a few short days, but I never really intended to use it. It was able to destroy the HADES function, so a part of me is glad that I had it made." Elisabet spoke as she gazed up to the clouds passing above them.

"Aloy ran up to the metal orb that HADES was holed up in and began to stab her spear into it, pounding and pounding until she finally broke through the metal that protected the… Well, I guess to you it would be called software? Is that right?"

"Yes. HADES, though a subordinate function, is a software program we created specifically to be used with the GAIA terraforming program. All it was supposed to do was reset the program if GAIA made a mistake when she began to reconstitute the planet. I'll be able to answer any questions that you have about anything that I'm saying." Elisabet explained as she turned her gaze back to Varl, who looked completely lost by her explanation. She chuckled when he asked her to explain everything when she could.

"Anyways, Aloy hammered into this thing and was shocked by this surge of electricity. Her arm was red and blistered for weeks. It's all scarred over now, but it was bad not too long ago. She wouldn't say what happened in that moment that she was shocked, but when she fell back, we were all at her side. She sighed and said that it was done, and that HADES was no longer a threat." Varl spoke, now fully immersed in his story again.

Elisabet smiled, thinking about the conversation she had had with GAIA so long ago…

They had been working tirelessly to develop the Zero Dawn program, and Elisabet finally gave in to the nagging for her to take a break. She sat at her desk with her head in her hands, pondering not only the eventual death of the planet, but also their own. She felt so incomplete, being hundreds of miles away from home, while her family comforted each other as they prepared for the eventual mass extinction of the planet. Tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes, and Elisabet wiped at the furiously.

'Come on Lis… This is no time for tears…' She reprimanded herself as she sat up straight and began to leaf through some of the programs on her computer.

She soon lost her train of thought, and having nothing else to do, leaned back in her chair, pondering once again. Not wanting to get too wound up in bad thoughts again, she turned to the adjacent shelf on her desk and pressed the small button beneath the holocastor. Instantly, GAIA popped back into life, rebooting from the night before. When GAIA was fully operational, Elisabet spoke to her.

"Okay GAIA, uhh, sorry about that. Where was I?"

"You were telling a story."

"Right. Yeah, so um… Like I was saying, it was a children's electronics kit, but I'd hacked the wiring to an auto battery and solar PV, so the grass caught fire. And so did a tall pine that'd stood there… I don't know, maybe a hundred years."

"Query: you were how old?"

"Six. My mother was home, thank god, so she called the fire department, and after, she took me out to the lawn and showed me the dead baby birds. Because there were nests in the pine tree."

"Query: what did you feel?"

"I'm not sure… I remember yelling that I didn't care. And that's when my mother took my face in her hands and… Spoke."

"Query: what did she say?"

"She said I had to care. She said 'Elisabet, being smart will count for nothing if you don't make the world better. You have to use your smarts to count for something, to serve life, not death'."

"You often tell stories of your mother, but you are childless."

"I never had time. I guess it was for the best."

"If you had had a child Elisabet, what would you have wished for him or her?"

"I guess… I would've wanted her to be… Curious. And willful- unstoppable, even… But with enough compassion to… heal the world. Just a little bit."

At this point Elisabet had become silent, lost in thought as she pondered GAIA's question and her own response. Involuntarily, her hand found its way to her abdomen. A dream that she had had before, now completely destroyed by the impending mass extinction that threatened the planet. She clenched the fabric of her shirt tightly in her hand before turning back to her computer and drowning herself in her work. As much as saving the planet meant to her and the team, she didn't trust Ted anymore then she could throw him. She began making copies of everything. The Alpha registry, the APOLLO program, maps of the locations of all ELEUTHIA facilities in the world and their embryonic DNA samples, and any and all relevant data that could come into play in the future. She would bring most of these to the Prime facility, but she would leave the Alpha registry behind, having forgotten it in the rush to move GAIA from the Zero Dawn facility to the Prime facility.

"Elisabet? Sacred Lands to Elisabet…" Varl prodded as he waved his hand in front of her face, bringing her out of her daze.

"What? What happened?" She asked as she finally looked at him.

"Aloy's back." He said, nodding his head towards Aloy, who now stood off to her right.

"Thought we'd lost you there for a moment." Aloy commented as she took the small object from her pack. "This was the thing we were looking for, right?" She asked as she handed the small disc over to Elisabet.

"Yes. This is the copy of the APOLLO program that I had made. I never did trust Ted, especially since the robots were his fault in the first place. When we were nearly finished with everything, I had made copies of almost everything, because knowing Ted, he would do something completely stupid that would cost us everything that we had worked for." Elisabet commented as she placed the disc in her pocket.

"What is that object called?" Varl asked as he mounted his nearby Strider.

"The disc? Well, some call them drivers, others call them CDs, but it's just a disc." Elisabet stated as she nudged her Strider to follow Aloy's, while Varl picked up the rear.

"What is the APOLLO program?" Varl asked as he caught up to ride next to Elisabet.

"Basically, it's a mass collection of the cultures of people from around the world, dating from the earliest recordings of man, up until our extinction back in twenty sixty-six, when the Plague tore the biosphere to shreds. I'd also had it updated with a vast library of architecture before I made the copy, and before Ted purged the system of all traces of the program."

"So, it's like a teacher?"

"Yes, Varl! It's exactly like a teacher." Elisabet cheered as Varl found a way to match the program with its intended function.

"So, it would be like my father teaching me how to hunt."

"In a way, yes."

"Sounds like something I'd be interested in."

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll have to see how dedicated you are to learn something completely different from what you've been taught so far in your life."

"What do you mean?" Varl questioned, now perplexed by Elisabet's statement.

"Well, there are many different forms of religion to take into consideration. There is also the belief that there is no god, or in the case of your tribe, and All-Mother. There are ways to create from nothing, and way to mine for minerals that you don't even know exist, including metals. The APOLLO program was designed to teach you so many things, and about so many different cultures, and in an instant, all of it was taken from you. Hopefully I can set this right." Elisabet explained as they continued on.

Varl was quiet for a while, and Aloy was as well. Both of them were pondering what would happen if the tribe was introduced to this new information. Would it be taken well? Would there be opposition? What would happen to the way the tribe has been? Would that change as well? There were too many questions and not enough answers. The two of the mentally agreed that what would happen would happen. By design of All-Mother or not, it would be done.

They rode in silence back to the Sacred Lands, dropping Elisabet off back at the Cabin before making their way further South to Mother's Heart. Aloy and Varl made their way into All-Mother mountain, and Aloy led him further, right into the ELEUTHIA facility. Varl's eyes widened in shock and wonder as he gazed around the facility, having never been inside another besides Prime.

"Come on Varl, this way!" Aloy exclaimed as she ran into the open door to their right.

The inside of the room was nothing too fancy, but Varl was caught off guard at the figure standing in the middle of the room beside Aloy, gesturing to various spots on the switches next to them. As he got closer, he was all too aware that Aloy was conversing with GAIA, and so he busied himself with walking around the room and finally gazing out to the open pit before the window.

"That's what I was telling you about Varl. That's the Lyceum. It's where we were supposed to learn everything about the Old Ones." Aloy explained as she stood next to her friend.

"It's…. Huge. And its deep." Varl commented as he looked down into the rings of spaces.

"This is what Elisabet was talking about. This is what was stolen from us. Now we can get it back." Aloy was beaming with pride.

"I… I don't know, Aloy…" Varl was hesitant to commit to such a drastic change.

"What is it?" Aloy asked, genuinely confused and concerned.

"Honestly? Before I met you, I never had any doubts about All-Mother, or the ways of the tribe, or even the day-to-day things that we go through. Now that I've grown so close to you, I'm questioning everything that I've ever known, and it's terrifying, to be honest. I don't know what to think anymore, and I'm afraid that this APOLLO program will just make that worse."

"But what if APOLLO makes it better? What if it helps you to understand your feelings, and to get over your confusion?"

"That may work for you, Aloy. But I'm not so sure I'm ready for this yet… Maybe another time." Varl commented before turning on his heel and making his way from the room.

Aloy watched as he walked out of the room, and hung her head in defeat. Of all people, she thought Varl would be with her in this, especially after everything that they had been through in the past few weeks. She turned back to the control panel, plugged the disc into the correct slot, and followed along as Elisabet walked her through downloading the program to the mainframe of the computers. Withing a few moments, the voice came over the PA system, letting Aloy and GAIA know that APOLLLO was up and running with the computers again, as it should have all those years ago. Aloy, not able to stand around anymore, ran downstairs into the Lyceum and took a seat in the first open spot she could. With a touch on her Focus, Samina popped up before her, introducing the Lyceum, before going right to the first lesson of human history. Aloy could feel herself being transported back in time, suddenly all too familiar with what Sylens was going on about while she had been trying to find out where she had come from.

She stayed planted where she was for several hours, not sparing a single moment to move around from the Lyceum. When she did leave for the night, she avoided all questions and acknowledgements, and instead made her way back to the cabin as quickly as she could. As soon as she walked in the door, she bombarded Elisabet with questions.

Elisabet answered all of Aloy's questions to the best of her ability, and when the younger girl wore herself out, she slowly led her to her own bed and adjusted her down into the furs that lined it, before making her way over to the bed she now called hers and following suit. Aloy had already gotten the first taste of knowledge. Elisabet was prepared for whatever came next.