A single guard, armed only with a rusty-looking projectile launcher (as Aloy recently had learned, the launcher was called a "rifle"), was not much threat to a warrior from the Savage East. In this instance, however, Aloy chose to cooperate, hoping the guard would lead her to "the General," the leader of The Bunker.
The young girl Cary looked nervous and anxious as she walked alongside Aloy, her dog Sem trailing along several steps behind them, through a narrow hallway in the Bunker. The guard held Aloy's weapons in one hand and his own rifle in the other. Like Cary, the guard looked quite young, despite his deep voice. He was dressed in a light green uniform, similar to those worn by soldiers in the days of the Old Ones, as Aloy had seen in holo images. An odd small green cap sat atop his bald head; Aloy noted that the man's head did not look shaven, but rather there was no evidence of hair at all. No eyebrows, no eyelashes, none.
The hallway through which they walked was dark and damp, giving the appearance of a seldom-used access point. Aloy suspected this was the case given that Cary had mentioned a main entrance elsewhere in The Bunker. It followed a slow curved path to the right, until they reached a heavy hatch that the soldier opened with a mighty tug. He motioned for Aloy and Cary to enter the hatch, then waited on the other side for the dog to make its way through before pulling the hatch closed. A spin of a large wheel in the center of the hatch locked it closed.
Aloy looked about her. They were on the edge of a large open chamber, artificial light illuminating five passageways leading out of the chamber. The hatch behind them was almost hidden between two of the passageways. Each had a brightly lit sign overhead: to her left was SECTOR 1: GENERAL QUARTERS; next to it, SECTOR 2: GUARD QUARTERS; then SECTOR 3: LABOR; SECTOR 4: LIFE SUPPORT; and finally, just to her right, SECTOR 5: MEDICAL FACILITY. This final passageway was filled with barrels and stacks of metal and wood, effectively barring it from access.
On the floor, an image of a large compass was apparent even through what was obviously a heavily-trodden chamber. North – marked with a block letter "N" – faced directly toward Sector 2, "E" toward 3, etc. A five-sided star was etched neatly inside the letters; inside that were cryptic symbols that were unfamiliar to Aloy. She could just make out faded and worn wording in some of the circular symbols; at the apex, nearest the letter "N", the words DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE encircled the top half, and something about TATES OF AMERICA was at the bottom. A symbol of a bird could just be made out in the middle of the circle. To its left and slightly below was another round symbol with a bird and MENT … something… ARMY written in it. To the right, the symbol again had a bird resting on a ball, the words UNITE … something NAVY barely visible. Lower left was a symbol reading DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FO… Lower right, UNITED STATES ROBOT COMMAND could be clearly made out.
Aloy noted that the entrance to Sector 1 was much narrower than any of the others, and it lay more or less Northwest by the compass. On the far side of the Sector 1 entrance was another hatch, similar to the one they had just exited, but larger and more brightly illuminated. A small sign glowed above the hatch: MAIN ENTRANCE.
"Stay here," the guard commanded as he turned left and approached the closed hatch leading into Sector 1. The guard knocked politely three times; the hatch opened slightly, and Aloy could just make out another guard, in similar drab green clothing, on the other side. After a short conversation, their guard returned to them and first addressed Aloy.
"The General wishes to speak with you immediately. Remember that she is the Commanding Officer of this installation, and you will speak only when spoken to. Begin and end every answer with 'Ma'am' and do not sit unless instructed to sit. Do you understand?"
"I don't think – " Aloy began.
"You do NOT think, you show the General respect! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
"Yes," Aloy sighed: easier to play along for now.
The guard turned to Cary. The girl was fidgeting, and Aloy noticed she was trying to cover up her makeshift leather boots with her torn fabric skirt, clearly self-conscious about wearing them. The soldier seemed to not notice as he spoke.
"You were AWOL. You will face disciplinary actions as deemed appropriate by the Lieutenant General for Labor. Return to your quarters and await the action."
Cary's demeanor changed immediately: she looked once again like the frail young girl that Aloy had met just the night before as her shoulders slumped, her head dropped, and she slowly turned to walk toward the doorway for Sector 3.
"And don't forget your damned dog!" the guard scowled; Sem was still standing near Aloy, and the guard swung a booted foot in an attempt to kick him, sending him scurrying off to follow Cary into Sector 3. The man muttered under his breath, "I'm going to eat that damned animal someday…"
Aloy was taken aback by the guard's comment, but she tried to hide it, as she said casually, "that's the first dog I've ever seen, but it seems to be a good companion for the girl…"
"DO NOT SPEAK!" the guard shouted. He grabbed Aloy's arm and shoved her toward the Sector 1 door, yanking and squeezing as he did. The man was clearly trying to show his authority by inflicting pain, but he did not realize that Aloy's Shield Weaver armor provided ample protection from his attempts.
When they reached the door, the guard knocked once more and as soon as the door opened he pushed Aloy into the room without saying a word.
"What about my belongings?" Aloy asked as the man turned and walked away. The guard she'd spotted behind the door closed it and spoke to her.
"You don't need 'em. And don't talk, or I'll cut out your tongue and cook it for dinner!" This soldier looked strikingly similar to the first: no sign of hair, an ill-fitting green uniform over a slightly pudgier frame, but no rifle, at least. Even his voice was dark and a bit gravelly, too.
The guard walked through the small room, past a desk and chair, to a simple wooden door on the far wall. He knocked, politely, three times, and a voice from behind the door replied, "bring her in."
From her investigation into the origins of the life-saving program known as Project Zero Dawn, Aloy had a preconceived image of a military general: the Old One known as General Herres had demonstrated a presence, even if only through holographic images. Aloy expected General Maryon to be someone of similar stature and demeanor.
She was very wrong. This general who sat in a chair at the far side of a large round table wore a uniform reminiscent of that worn by General Herres, but there the similarity ended. General Maryon was very slight of build, almost hidden in the fabric of the chair; she resembled the two guards in some ways – almost no hair on her wrinkled and red head, no eyebrows, a jaw that jutted out so that her lower teeth were ahead of her uppers, thin and frail-looking.
Aloy caught herself staring at the general, so she forced herself to survey the room in which she stood: a rather large room, dimly lit only by glowing lights of various forms obviously left over from the days of the Old Ones; a dozen or so chairs spread about the table that took up most of the space in the room; a young man beside the general shared her bodily features, and three other men, noticeably older but all bearing familial resemblances of General Maryon, sat to either side.
The general stood from her chair, wobbly on her feet, grasping a walking stick in one hand. "Come in, Aloy of the Nora! It's good to see you again, under … um … less stressful conditions. Please, have a seat and join us in conversation."
Aloy nodded slightly at the men who watched her as she sat in the nearest empty chair. "Have we met before?" she asked.
"Yes, a few days ago, in the heart of the Radiated City. You must remember – of course, we were wearing Battle Armor at the time, and that makes us all look much larger. I was the one wearing armor with the name MASH printed on it, my son here – " she motioned to the young man seated beside her – "was FRITZ, the gentle bruiser who coldcocked you was my General of the Guard, nicknamed TARK. General Ormstead, don't you think this would be a good time to apologize to this poor girl? You nearly broke her skull!" [Author's Note: This encounter was described in the story THE RULER OF THE WORLD, but it is not necessary to read that story to enjoy the present adventure.]
"Bah," a grumbling sound came from one of the men sitting to the left of the general. Aloy looked to see which man, when one of them waved a hand and said, "she had it coming. She shouldn't be in our territory without permission! She was probably stealing technology from under our noses."
"I wasn't 'stealing' anything," Aloy replied as she swiveled her chair toward the man. He was looking away, as if she were not worth eye contact. His features were startlingly similar to those of General Maryon. "I was looking for knowledge. For everything I could learn about the Old Ones, to try to help rebuild our world…"
"You hear her, right, General Maryon?" the man looked over at the general, still standing next to her chair, one hand on the table to help steady her. "I told you, she is not only a thief, she blasphemes! Maybe those Skulldriver scum sent her to keep us from finding something important!"
"That's enough, General Ormstead," General Maryon said with a slight wave of her hand. "I am inclined to believe this Nora girl's innocence. After all, she helped defeat the Pharaoh Sirte and set an entire city free. I think she has earned our hospitality for the moment."
General Ormstead muttered something unintelligible under his breath and turned his gaze to the floor beside him.
"I will apologize for my generals, Aloy," General Maryon said as she hobbled around the table in Aloy's direction. "We are a peaceful military organization, with three goals: preserve human life; gather human knowledge; and worship the image of the Great Goddess Miriam."
Miriam? Aloy thought. I've heard that name before… Miriam Technologies, the company Dr. Elisabet Sobeck had founded a millennium ago. Is this a coincidence?
General Maryon managed to reach Aloy's side; Aloy could see that the general's legs were slight in build, possibly one leg contorted and unusable.
"Come with me, Aloy, I will give you a tour of our Bunker." The general moved toward the doorway at Aloy's back; every other person seated at the table arose almost in unison and started to join them. All of them, Aloy noted, had physical afflictions similar to those of the general, as none of them stood easily or walked effortlessly.
The general stopped and turned back toward the table. "No, you all go about your business. General Ormstead, I believe you have an execution to carry out –" she turned toward Aloy to explain, "the guard who left the backdoor to the Bunker unguarded and let our Laborer sneak out – the penalty for dereliction of duty is death, to be meted out by our own Commanding General of the Guard," then she turned once again toward another of the men and said, "and you, General Watson, as Commanding General of Labor, you've got your own execution to see to. Our staff must remember that going AWOL is punishable by death!"
Aloy was shocked. She turned to General Maryon and said, "do you mean Laborer Second Class Cary? Are you really going to put her to death because she fell in love with a guard? She's young and she's immature, but she doesn't deserve to die!"
"You heard that, General Ormstead? That girl tried to escape because of illegal fraternizing with one of your guards! Find out who it is and add him to the execution list."
"Yes, ma'am, with pleasure," the man identified as General Ormstead replied.
Aloy was getting angry quickly: she had little patience for arbitrary and unreasonable behavior, even if it was by a bunch of self-pronounced "generals," and she was going to let them know it.
"Why are you doing that? The girl is just a child, she hardly even knows what love is! And besides, shouldn't two people have the right to choose how they live their lives? Putting them to death seems wrong!"
General Ormstead spoke up. "You see, general? You should've let me kill this animal when we first saw her scrounging through the dirt! I can do it now, with pleasure …"
"You will do no such thing!" General Maryon replied. Then she turned once more to Aloy, and spoke in a softer voice, "my dear, please let me show you our home and the hardships we face. You will see why we must protect the integrity of our citizens and the military structure of our society. Three people will die, but that will permit three children to be born to take their places, and all will be as it should be.
"Now come, before we get into a battle here in my briefing room, let me show you around and I'll try to convince you that what we do is for the best."
It felt wrong to Aloy to leave the argument: a young girl, her lover, and a guard were all sentenced to death for what seemed like minor transgressions. She might be able to save them if they could talk rationally. But she took a deep breath, sighed, and followed the general out of the briefing room, hoping that she might have more luck in a one-on-one conversation.
They were in the central chamber once more. General Maryon raised her walking stick and waved it in the direction of the Labor and Guard Quarters. "It's quite late," the general explained, "as we sounded Taps hours ago, so all off-duty Laborers and Guards are in their beds until morning. We won't go in those sectors just now. In each of those sectors lives two hundred people. No more, no less. Once the executions are completed, high-ranking residents in each sector, one male and one female, will be selected and allowed to mate. If they produce a child, that child will bring the population back to 200. We cannot support more than 500 people, so that allows for 200 Laborers, 200 Guards, 60 in Life Support and 40 in General Quarters. That last count includes my staff and our personal attendants.
"Come with me, I can show you Life Support. That's our wellspring, it's the holy grounds of our savior, the Goddess Miriam, and it's our source for all food, water, and fresh air in The Bunker."
They headed for the large hallway leading into Sector 4. Soon they reached a metal wall with a single sealed hatch. When General Maryon turned a large wheel on the hatch, Aloy could feel a rush of cool, pleasant air hit her face. They stepped through and the general closed the hatch behind them.
"Our historical records are sketchy – at least up until about one hundred years ago, when the General Staff started keeping written records – so all we know is that this bunker was known as Pentagon West. It was staffed with the finest military minds during the reign of the Old Ones, but then something happened that caused it to be redirected. It became a center for the preservation of human life, of military life, so that we can follow the principles of the Goddess Miriam."
"You mention this 'Goddess' Miriam. How do you know who she is? What proof do you have that she was a goddess?"
"Ah, yes, the naïve questioning of a non-believer! Just ahead, I will show you – the Goddess spoke to my ancestors and she speaks to me. You can hear her too."
They were walking – slowly, set by the labored pace of the general – through a hallway with intermittent windows on one side or the other. Most windows revealed nothing, as there were no lights shining from whatever lay within. Finally, that changed: a large window revealed a field of a green leafy plant, growing evenly but only ankle-high throughout the immense room. Moving through the field were a half-dozen spindly machines, no more than boxes suspended from four double-jointed legs, each machine appearing to Aloy to be wandering at random through the field. But she noticed that a machine would sometimes stop, a metallic arm would extend from the box, and a chunk of the green plant would be lifted into the box. Then the machine would continue on its way.
"This is our food source," the general explained. "It is highly nutritious, requires no soil and only light watering, and these machines have been nurturing it for untold generations. Of course, there used to be more of the machines; some simply stopped functioning, so these are the last of the working models. We have a crew that monitors the harvesters and collects the food. It is automatically cooked and compressed into biscuits that provide all the sustenance we need. We don't really know for sure, but we think the plants also generate the air we breathe.
"Down here," the general said as she led Aloy to a window on their left, "is the water processor. At one time there were four units running full-time, but now there are only two, so we have recently started searching for other sources of safe water outside the Bunker. If we lose another unit, we will have to reduce our population again, maybe by as many as 100. We don't want to do that, so we're looking into other means of gaining water and food. We are training for invasion; there is a Bandit camp not too far from here that seems to be thriving, so we will eliminate the Bandits and take over their supplies.
"And here," they reached the end of the hallway and entered what appeared to have been a laboratory at one time. Now it was in a state of decay, not unlike the many ruins Aloy had encountered. "Here is the shrine to our Goddess, our Savior, the Holy Miriam. I will permit you to see and hear her!"
The general reached a table and lifted a piece of equipment. Aloy recognized it immediately: a holoplayer, set to project whatever images were stored within. The general flicked a switch on the holoplayer and a fuzzy image appeared before them. It was a woman, in a white lab coat, and Aloy knew the image immediately: it was a hologram of Dr. Elisabet Sobeck, the mastermind of Project Zero Dawn. On her lab coat, in dark letters across the left pocket, was a single recognizable word: MIRIAM. Aloy thought she could make out a much smaller word TECHNOLOGIES below it, but she wasn't sure.
Dr. Sobeck was speaking to someone who didn't get captured in the hologram. And she wasn't happy.
"…know this is just not right, General Maryon! That hydroponics pod was headed for Brazil, to farmers in São Paulo who are dying because their soil is too polluted, and you have no right to intercept it for your own purposes! That Bunker was never intended to be a cradle for Zero Dawn, and you know it won't stay sealed against the Faro Plague. If I get the chance, I'm going to catch a flight out there and …"
The image crackled and faded away.
"You see?" the general spoke quickly and almost proudly. "You see what the Goddess did for us? She wants us to flourish, to share our way of life with others, and some day she will 'catch a flight' to see us again!"
Aloy was almost too stunned for words. Where to begin? This woman was not going to listen to reason and logic. She would not understand that the "Miriam" on Dr. Sobeck's lab coat was the name of a corporation that invented new technologies for the common good – at least, Aloy was pretty certain that was the case, though she wasn't even really sure what a "corporation" was. So she chose to try a different approach.
"Dr. Sobeck – I mean, the woman in the MIRIAM coat," Aloy began, "said something about a General Maryon. How is that possible? This ... event ... took place almost a thousand years ago."
"But the holy image first appeared just a few generations ago. When they viewed it, my ancestors decided that General Maryon must be the name of the leader of this Bunker, so the leader at the time adopted that name. Now, every leader uses that name. I am a blood relative of every General Maryon who came before me. My mother had that name, as did her father before her.
"Our laws require that only one born to the General Quarters may serve as the Commanding General. The first-born always assumes command when the current General dies or no longer can serve. My brother would have become General had I not survived childhood; he was born of the same mother but a different father, and he is younger than me, so he took the name General Ormstead and serves as General of the Guard.
"My son was at the table when you met us earlier this evening. If he survives until I pass, he will become General Maryon. We have had … issues … with survival rates of our children. I have had four children, one stillborn, one unable to take care of himself and one died of an illness when he was less than a year old. So far, my fourth seems to be healthy enough to take my place."
"Didn't you say that there are only 40 people living in General Quarters?" Aloy asked, puzzled. "And from that small group you give birth to all the leaders of this Bunker? It seems to me that you may be limiting your population artificially. I'm not an expert on such things, but I'd think that you've got an awfully small pool of men to choose from. And they may all be related to you!"
"Well, of course they are! We are all related in some way, we of the General Quarters! That is how we assure that we pass on our leadership abilities to our offspring!"
"But I wonder," Aloy speculated, "if that might have some effect on the low survival rate you mention, and the … physical characteristics you seem to all share."
"If you are talking about my legs, yes, we all have that problem, but we also venture into the Radiated City and we lead exploration teams, so we are all exposed to the radiation plague more than anyone else in The Bunker."
"That might explain the … um … thinning hair, yes," Aloy replied. She knew she had to tread lightly here: this woman might take anything she said as a personal insult. But Aloy clearly recalled an ancient text she had read only days ago: a historical document describing people of a land called Ancient Egypt, and a chapter describing its rulers, most of them known as pharaohs. Those people had also believed that they must mate only with blood relatives, resulting in something called "inbreeding" – and this appeared to be an eerily similar phenomenon. But how could she explain it without attacking the core beliefs of this tribe?
Time for another change of topic, quick, Aloy thought.
"You said you go on exploration teams. Is that what you were doing when we first met, in the Radiated City?"
"Yes, precisely!" General Maryon seemed as relieved as Aloy that the topic of conversation had changed. "General officers will use our Battle Armor to venture near and into the Radiated City, looking for more evidence of the Goddess Miriam's teachings. Over the generations, we have been hugely successful, and bitterly disappointed."
"How so? Have you found more of her teachings?"
"We think so, a treasure trove of them. Look, I'll show you." The general pointed to a closed cabinet standing on the back wall of the room. She hobbled to the cabinet, opened a door and stood back so Aloy could see.
Holoplayers. Books. Other pieces of what appeared to be written and recorded material. Hundreds, no, thousands of them! All stacked neatly, and all gathering dust.
"Have you watched the holos? I mean, the images? Or read the books?" Aloy was thrilled at the implication: this could be more information about the Old Ones, in one place, than she'd found in her life!
"No, we have not!" The general's demeanor changed; she looked angry and slammed the cabinet door closed. "These holy writings belong to the Goddess, not to us. We are merely the keepers, until she catches a flight and joins us. We will offer them to her as a sign of our devotion when she arrives."
"I'm sorry," Aloy said, although she wasn't really sure what she was sorry for, "I just meant, maybe if you watched the images you'd learn more about your Goddess or the other Old Ones. And the books, they must hold knowledge that could help you improve your home and your lives?"
"We have tried to watch images from the boxes," General Maryon explained, "but the Goddess clearly does not intend for us to see any but the one I showed you. When she arrives, she will reveal all to us. And the books ... the books just have many words, and most of them make no sense to us, but we know the Goddess Miriam will explain their meaning."
Aloy knew that she had to find a way to gain access to that cabinet. If the holoplayers were not too badly damaged, her Focus would be able to extract the contents. And even those that might seem to be destroyed may be recoverable by the processing contained with the Focus. And the books! She was excited to think that writings of the Old Ones were just a few feet away from her.
"It's late," the general, who now sounded very tired, said as she headed for the door out of the chambers and back into the hall of the Life Support sector. "You may stay until morning – and I think that may be only minutes away – then you must be on your way. We can provide you with a bit of food and water since we will have extra for a time, once the executions are carried out."
This hit Aloy like a splash of cold water: she had forgotten all about the fate that awaited Laborer Second Class Cary, her Guard lover, and another Guard.
"General," Aloy said as they walked slowly back through Life Support, past the hydroponics farms where pods continued to scurry about collecting the growing plants, "I want to ask a favor of you. Can you please, as a favor to me, reconsider the executions of the three people? Cary, especially…" General Maryon paused and looked at Aloy, a puzzled expression on her face.
Aloy continued, "that's the girl from the Labor Sector. I spent several hours with her and she is not a bad person at all. She's a bit confused, but I think death is a little harsh. Can you reconsider?"
The general resumed her hobbled pace. "Let me speak with my other Generals about it, if it means that much to you. We have laws, and desertion is a major crime, but if what you say is true, perhaps some public show of punishment will do the job. I'll look into it."
What Aloy wanted to say in reply was: I thought you were the leader. If you can't change the girl's sentence, what kind of a leader are you? But she chose to not say anything as they approached the hatchway out of the Sector.
"Come with me to the General's Quarters," General Maryon motioned as they reached the great center chamber. Aloy looked back at the overhead sign for Sector 5, Medical Facility.
"What about that sector?" she asked. "You didn't say anything about Sector 5. Who lives there?"
"No one. It's sealed off. I was but a child – over forty years ago – when we had The Upheaval. The earth shook violently for what seemed an eternity – I don't recall it, but it is a part of our lore – and objects fell about everywhere. The roof of Sector 5 collapsed, bringing many tons of metal, soil, and rocks crashing down into the entire sector. The main hatch automatically sealed shut to protect the rest of the Bunker from risk of radiation exposure. You see, it was during the rainy season, when massive Rad storms sweep through and deposit deadly doses of the radiation plague on the open ground.
"It is said that screams could be heard through the closed hatch. But the wise elders of the Bunker chose to keep the hatch sealed, to sacrifice the residents of Sector 5 that the other sectors would prevail. We lost good healers and medicines but the rest of the Bunker was spared."
"And all the people who were alive but trapped? What happened to them?"
"Oh yes, we lost good people, too. We don't really know – Sector 5 is off limits, serving the wishes of the Goddess Miriam – but we suspect that any who survived the Upheaval were affected by the Rad plague and became less than human, hiding in shadows in the Radiated City, too much like animals to know how to survive."
"And your people did nothing?" Aloy was aghast. "What about your Battle Armor? Couldn't someone find the survivors and bring them back to safety?"
"Our people did what was best. They protected the rest of the Bunker.
"As for the Battler Armor, at one time this Bunker had over a hundred of them, but over the years parts have failed, they have leaked or stopped functioning, and we are down to only four. Those four are reserved for the General Staff.
"Now come along, I will show you to a bed for a bit of rest. Then you will be given a supply of food and water and you will be escorted out."
The room Aloy was given was comfortable enough, though a bit small. A single bed sat along one wall, a simple metal chair propped against another, and a dim blue light shone over the room from high on a third wall.
Sleep was impossible. There was too much to process. Besides, though there was no way to know how soon dawn would arrive, Aloy knew it would be very soon, and she would be evicted from The Bunker. She tried to sit in the chair, but the metal was cold and uncomfortable. Instead, she moved the chair to the closed door and leaned it against the door: she didn't want any unwelcome visitors, and she couldn't judge just how safe she might be.
The bed made a comfortable place to lie down and think about the past few hours. With a pillow at her back, she rested against the wall and tried to relax, but no hope. Too much to think about.
General Maryon mentioned a Bandit camp, Aloy thought. Could that be the Skulldriver Camp? Am I going to infiltrate that camp just before it's invaded?... All those holos and books! How can I possibly get access to them? These people clearly don't have a single Focus, or if they do they don't know – or want to know – how to use it. So why don't they at least read the books and learn everything they can about the Old Ones?... Do I tell the general that I can view the holos? Do I show her what my Focus can do? Do I dare tell her that her "Goddess" and I are related? That Dr. Sobeck and I are related?
That last idea made her laugh aloud. Maybe I should trim my hair to match Dr. Sobeck's, find a lab coat, apply a bit of makeup to look twenty years older, then come back to The Bunker. That would cause a riot! She thought about it a bit more. But maybe these people would accuse me of being an imposter and stone me to death. I guess I'd better rule out that entire idea…
Her musings were interrupted suddenly, as someone attempted to push the door open. The chair held fast, though, so a male voice shouted from the other side: "Hey, open this door! It's time for you to get your ass out of our Bunker.""
Aloy arose and moved the chair from its perch, allowing the guard to open the door. She could see three or four more guards behind him, all attempting to peer over his shoulder at the "visitor." They were all dressed in garb of multiple shades of green, heads adorned with helmets, at least two of them brandishing rifles. As far as she could see, all of them were devoid of hair, all looking rather gaunt with deepset eyes. There was a look of death about them, an air of resignation to a life without pleasure, a future without meaning.
"Let's move," the guard said, motioning for Aloy to leave the room. She stepped out and was immediately surrounded by four guards, all standing close (a bit too close for her comfort), as the lead guard walked toward the hatch leading out of General Quarters. It would have been an amusing scene, if Aloy didn't feel threatened: the soldiers were only a step away from her all the way, a mass of green arms and legs moving as one, out of General Quarters and down the hallway marked Main Entrance. This hallway was of good size, large enough to permit movement of equipment and personnel together. It was well-lit by glowing lights and signs; a large doorway stood closed just ahead. The group stopped as they reached the doorway, and Aloy noted that the trailing guard was no longer with them. That left four guards in total, two carrying rifles. But the other guards did not step away.
"Well, I guess I'll be going," Aloy said a bit nervously: she was starting to get the impression that this was not going to go well. "I don't suppose I get my gear back, do I?"
The lead guard spoke. "Of course not. General Maryon ordered it, but our commanding officer, General Ormstead, overruled it. You don't get any food or water, either – we've already enjoyed your share."
The guard to her right lifted an arm toward her as he spoke. "You know, we don't get to see such pretty hair around here. I think I'd like to have hair like yours. Or maybe just yours."
"Yeah," the guard standing behind her said as he grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her. "And we don't get such pretty girls either! I think we ought to get more than just your hair!"
The guard tightened his grip as the lead guard faced Aloy and put his arm around her neck. "Let's just call this a favor you owe all of us for not killing you right now." His face was almost touching hers, presumably to kiss her.
Aloy swung her head forward, driving her forehead into the man's nose. She knew from the force of the impact that she'd need to wash the man's blood from her hair. At the same time, she lifted her right leg and thrust it behind her, her boot landing in the groin of the guard holding her arms. The man released his grip and crumpled to the floor in agony. With her arms free, she grabbed the two guards to either side and flung them into one another with such force that both dropped to the floor in pain.
With the four guards reeling for the moment, Aloy rushed to the exit doorway and turned a large, glowing round handle in the center of thedoor. There was a whoosh of air as the door swung inward; she leapt through the gaping doorway and ran for the cover of a patch of tall grass to the left of the exit. The guards came staggering out, one by one, all four of them in pain, two of them pointing their rifles in different directions, but none saw her. It was early morning, bright sun shining directly at their faces, and the guards squinted and shielded their eyes as they tried to survey the area for any signs of Aloy's location.
Aloy took advantage of the moment to take stock of her surroundings. The main entrance was built into a hill, with flat ground all about. As with much of the area, there were no trees or obvious hiding spots, just patches of tall grass, and a scattered hulk of a transportation device here and there, rusting and rotting. It would not take long for the guards to figure out where she was hiding. She had to plan an offensive, unarmed, against four angry guards, at least two of them armed with rifles.
Then the lead guard spoke loudly. "All right, let's go," he said as he turned toward the open doorway.
"But she's gotta be here somewhere!" another guard said.
"Yeah, but our job was to escort her out, so we did. She's not getting back in anyway, so we did our job."
As the last guard disappeared through the door, Aloy heard him ask, "how are we gonna explain these bruises?"
A faint voice responded, "We tell the general the crazy bitch attacked us. We'll tell 'im we had to kill her and we left her body for the animals. She's as good as dead anyway."
Aloy took a deep breath and relaxed just a bit as the door slowly swung closed. There's a trail downhill, but that may be guarded. If I go to the top of that hill to the right, I'll be out of direct line of sight…
The door to the Bunker opened once again. Aloy dropped to her knees and peered through thin blades of grass. Were the guards returning to look for her?
It appeared that she was right, as a guard stepped out of the darkness of the Bunker and into the bright morning sunlight. But the door closed immediately, leaving only the single guard outside the Bunker. This guard looked like all the others, with one exception: under the guard's arm was a bundle of weapons and pouches – Aloy's gear.
The guard spoke, rather quietly, so that Aloy had difficulty hearing the words. "Hey, are you still here? I mean you no harm. I've got your stuff if you want it."
Aloy didn't move at first; this guard's voice was softer and a bit higher in pitch than she'd heard from those who'd assaulted her. And since there was no outward sign of injury, Aloy assumed this was the guard that had stayed behind when the others attacked.
The guard dropped Aloy's possessions to the ground. "If you can hear me, I'm just going to leave your things right here. I included a bit of food and a sip of water – that's all I could spare. Please be safe!"
Aloy considered her options: stay put and see if the guard reentered the Bunker; rush the guard (who seemed to be unarmed) and retrieve her possessions; answer the guard while attempting to hide the origin of her voice; or simply stand up and talk one-on-one.
Aloy chose the last option. Not because she was overly trusting, but because there was something about this guard that was less threatening. But she was alert, ready to bolt – or fight – if there were the slightest sound from the Bunker door.
The guard looked apprehensive, as if Aloy might pounce at any time as she approached cautiously. "I thought you should have these things. The general said to return them. I knew the other guards weren't going to do tht, so I hid these things and waited until those bastards left."
Aloy now stood only feet from the guard: same hairless face and head, same deepset eyes as the others. But something else. Aloy realized that this not like the others – this was a woman.
The guard took a step back as Aloy continued to come near. "Thank you," Aloy said, "for all of this.
"You were one of that group escorting me out, weren't you? I saw you fall behind the rest when we got near the exit."
"Yes," the guard replied, relaxing ever so slightly. "I knew what those men were planning, and I didn't want to be a part of any of it."
"Couldn't you have ordered them to stop when they tried to attack me?"
"We're all Level 4 Guards, the highest level below Command Staff, so no, I didn't have the authority to stop what they were doing. Besides, if I tried to stop them, I'd… I know I'd face the same fate as they planned for you."
"Seriously?" Aloy asked, "the guards would assault you, too? But couldn't you report the assault?"
"I know they would, because they have, multiple times… the Bunker is a terrible place to live, and the life of a Guard is especially hard, and for a female guard… it is a man's Sector. General Ormstead not only looks the other way, he encourages it. He thinks it builds character.
"You have no idea how badly I want out, all the women in the Bunker want out. But where would we go? The male Guards will hunt us down and drag us back. We've had female Guards who have escaped the torture for good, not by getting out, but by taking their own lives…"
There were tears in the woman's eyes as she spoke, then she shook visibly, sniffled once, and looked straight at Aloy. "I've got to go now – the others will be looking for me. I'm on duty and I'm supposed to be at my post inside. Please, go in peace, and whatever you do, never come back to this hellish place!" The woman turned and opened the door once more.
Aloy was unsure what, if anything, to say. What could she tell this woman that might console her? That she would go back into the Bunker and… What? Beg for the woman's release? Take over the Bunker by force? Threaten to summon the wrath of the Great Goddess Miriam? She could not fathom the horrors this guard was living inside the closed walls of Pentagon West, and if this was a top-level guard, what was life like for those at the lowest level?
The entire experience reaffirmed her opinion that things were really wrong in the Bunker. She retrieved her belongings and started the trek to the top of the hill to the east, into the rising sun.