AN: Sorry for the major delay -_-' I explain it all on aislingfilidh on tumblr
Snow swirled around Aloy and her mount as they ascended further into the mountain range north of the Embrace. The white clouds were thick, and the howling wind drowned out any noise, even the clicking and whirring of the Broadhead's legs underneath her, making for an eerie journey. She shivered as a particularly strong gust whipped across an exposed portion of her neck.
I'm not going to be able to hear if another machine crosses our path, she thought worriedly until she almost laughed, remembering what they had done.
I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore?
She huffed, unsure of how to feel, but still uneasy, as she pulled the fur around her collar higher again. Her whole life, their whole WAY of life had been flipped upside down ever since the battle at the Spire. No more hunting machines, there were cauldrons with all the parts they needed, tame now that she had overridden them. No more walls to protect against machines.
But how long is it gonna be until the tribes turn against each other. How long until they find a new war to play at?
The tribes had been under an uneasy truce, as the Red Raids slowly began to fade from mind and the machines had grown more violent. But now that enemy was gone, leaving a vacuum in its place. And sooner or later something else would be sucked in. Or SOMEONE else.
The road curved up again, another hairpin turn that forced her attention back to the present. Back to her new task. But as she passed the first signs of her entry into the southernmost Banuk territory, she couldn't help but lament the lack of one certain Banuk in this process.
I don't trust that man as far as I could throw him, but I do wish Sylens was here. He knows so much more about these stupid machine parts.
But Sylens had gone, disappeared from focus and map. To the best of her ability, the last she could find word of him was from a trader far southwest of Meridian, claiming to have traded with a Banuk shaman with a metal object on the side of his face. He had always been unreliable she supposed, it made sense that he would abandon her in search of some other scraps of knowledge.
And now I'm alone with a baby AI and no one who knows how to fix it or GAIA.
She couldn't help a sarcastic laugh, as she pictured herself just waltzing into Meridian and politely asking the mechanics if they could please replace this terraforming system before the entire Earth spins out of control but could they do it on a budget? She only had a few thousand shards.
The Broadhead skidded to a stop as Aloy pulled up suddenly.
"And I am an idiot," she said aloud, words swallowed by the winds, a stupid grin plastered on her face.
Of course she could just ask. And that's what she was going to do. She turned the Broadhead at the next fork in the road, turning back east and away from GAIA Prime. Towards the Cut.
The air thinned and as the treeline began to clear, Aloy could see the ruins covered in heaps of snow. A pang twisted inside her as Ourea's face flashed in her mind. Another face lost to this stupid fight. Just like Rost.
With a loud huff she clamped down on the grief suddenly rising and dismounted the broadhead.
I don't have time for this right now. There's too much left to do.
The snow clung to her legs as she waded through to the door of the retreat. Once inside, she made her way through the twisting chambers, lit by the blue lanterns Ourea had placed inside. The central chamber opened before her and to her great relief she was alone. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Aratak, she told herself. It was just that she didn't want to see anyone.
"Hello Aloy, I am glad you are here. Is there anything I can do for you?"
The bluish-green lights flickered on and CYAN's orb floated in front of her as the voice spoke.
"Hey CYAN, it's good to see you too. As a matter of fact, yes." As Aloy spoke, she pulled out the orb that contained the ELEUTHIA subfunction from the pouch around her waist.
Almost as soon as the orb was exposed to the light, it began to throw off light as well, glowing fiercly as CYAN seemed to scan it.
"I do not understand, Aloy. This appears to be a highly advanced series of programs. How did you find this?"
"Do you remember the terraforming AI I told you about? Well when she self-destructed, her subfunctions were left behind. I was wondering if you had any knowledge that you had access to about how to reconnect them all?"
CYAN seemed to be computing, searching her data repositories, as she was silent for a moment. "I have limited knowledge of maintenance of AI's, only enough to repair myself in the event of a malfunction of hardware. I do however also have some general data entries on AI functioning if you wish for me to download them to your Focus device?"
Aloy nodded, almost absentmindedly fingering the grooves on the metal orb. She watched as lines of text scrolled across her vision. Words she didn't understand, diagrams of circuitry and symbols, Aloy huffed. This was going to be impossible, she didn't understand any of this.
"I just need a way to upload it back into GAIA's mainframe," muttered Aloy.
"Reintegration of this subfunction will not require installation of hardware, Aloy. AI and all equipped subfunctions are often fitted with wireless satellite connections. I determined in my scan that this storage unit does have those capabilities."
"Okay," Aloy said slowly, wheels turning in her mind " So all the subfunctions can just come back when they want to? So why haven't they?"
"Perhaps they are unwilling to return for some reason. After gaining sentience, perhaps they do not wish to return to lesser functionality."
"So they can travel through-what did you call them? Satellites? But what if we could trap them? Make a sort of, I don't know…a cage?" said Aloy, pacing back and forth across the room.
"This is possible," said CYAN after a few moments of flashing lights and computing. "The structure would need to contain storage, an independent power source, and also be cut off from any connection wirelessly."
"Well CYAN, luckily for you I'm a fast learner and we've got a lot of spare parts, so lets get started."
Several hours and many cramped fingers later, Aloy, with the help of CYAN, had crafted a crude AI storage unit and had scrounged around for a strange looking cord made of wrapped wires. It looked almost like a lantern, long and cylindrical with a large black panel on its top that CYAN had told her would power it as long as she exposed it to the sun during the day. At this point even the normally curious Aloy had just taken it without asking why. The sun was well set at this point, and even inside the cold had begun to eat at her. Her hands were sore and freezing and she was exhausted, the only thought in her mind was a warm bedroll back at Song's End that she could crash into.
She quickly said her goodbye and descended the slopes to Song's End, the warm glow of the fires leading her way. Finally, as the sun began to crest over the horizon line, she fell into a bedroll in the werak's lodge, immediately asleep.
Unfortunately for Aloy, that didn't last long, as the hunters awoke along with the rest of the village. Having never been used to sleeping in a lodge like the other Nora children, the sounds awoke her almost as soon as they began. Grumbling wearily, she rolled over and pulled her armor back on. It was just as well, she really needed to be on her way to GAIA and the journey would be easier in the daylight.
Although she was happy to have to new lantern to store ELEUTHIA in, she still couldn't escape the thought that she had no idea where the other functions were. She had saved the recorded presentation that Elisabet had given the Alphas at the Zero Dawn facility, so she at least knew the names of the functions. Anything more than that had been lost to time. Perhaps she could find more data on them at the Prime facility. There were 9 and they were all scattered who even knew where. So the first thing would be finding them, if there was even a way to do that.
Aloy felt a moment of unease, of self-doubt crashing onto her. This was almost nothing to go on. How could she possibly track down these functions when they could be anywhere on the planet? CYAN had said they could travel in the time it took to blink, to anywhere there was access. The world was huge, farther than any tribe had ever explored. There was no way she could possibly do this. But what else was she good for?
Heart heavy, and mind clouded, she trudged through the snow towards the merchants' stalls, intending to get more food supplies. She was almost there when a familiar voice caught her ear. Turning, she saw the young man striding over to her, blue fibers intertwined with skin.
"Naltuk, its good to see you." She said, trying to sound sincere.
"You as well Aloy. In truth you could not have come at a better time. There is trouble here, discordant notes in the songs coming down from the mountains. I fear there is trouble in Ban-Ur and it is spreading, from the word that we have received. Fierce stormclouds, fiercer than anyone has ever seen have taken 4 weraks already, and it already grows more everyday with no sign of stopping."
Aloy frowned, brows deepening. "Is it like the storm around the mountain last time? Are there more infected machines?"
"No, not like that, thank the Light. But still unsettling, still unnatural from what I can tell." The question in his eyes hung heavily between them. He was Banuk enough to not ask for help, but she could see the desperation regardless.
Aloy mentally sighed. This was as close to a plea for help she was ever going to get. She really needed to be on her way, and this was only going to derail her further. But as she looked on his face, she felt her resolve soften. He hadn't asked to be made the werak's shaman this early. He was supposed to have trained for several more years before he got where he was now. And yet here they both were, thrust into roles almost too big to fill. She opened her mouth to speak, carefully choosing her words.
"I'd like to check it out, just to make sure," she said, relief clearly blooming across his face. "You say this is near Ban-Ur? I've never been but if you point me in the direction I'm sure I can find it."
"Or you could let someone else help you for a change," came a light sing-song voice from behind her.
Aloy turned, surprised as her eyes fell upon another familiar face.
Aluki grinned from beneath her furs. "Life has been dull since you have left, Huntress. Nothing has tried to kill me in almost 7 suns. I grow bored."
"Oh? And why should you come with me then? There are plenty of other places to risk your life," said Aloy, pretending to pick at her nails and doing a poor job of hiding the growing smile across her face.
"Because you need directions to Ban-Ur. And it just so happens that I have nothing to do and plenty of knowledge of the area. It's not going to kill you to ask for help I think."
Aloy rolled her eyes but the smile on her face was genuine. Turning back to Naltuk she shrugged. "I suppose I won't be needing those instructions after all, but thank you. I'll let you know what I find when I get back."
Aluki said nothing else, simply falling into step beside Aloy as they turned north to leave the camp. Aloy wasn't quite sure how she felt, having company again, but to her surprise she didn't hate it. Aluki was a competent hunter who could handle herself. Perhaps that was why the usual irritation she felt at having to drag along another was missing.
At least that's what she told herself, as they strapped on extra furs and turned their eyes northward. Connection was fine, it had served her well, and Aluki was a nice person from what she could tell. But the fear still swirled around against the back of her neck, gripping her tightly. Getting too close meant heartbreak when something happened to them. And in her life, something ALWAYS happened.