Aloy and John walk toward Meridian. As they get closer, there are more people. People who take notice of her as they know who she is and what she did.

". . . It's that Nora girl, Aloy . . . !"

". . . The hero of Meridian . . . !"

". . . She's returned from the Forbidden West . . . !"

". . . Who's that with her . . . ?!"

"I kept hearing about the impact you made upon these people," John remarked, "but to actually see it in person is incredible."

"I certainly did," Aloy said dryly.

"Shy are you? Well, look at it this way. They're thankful that you stopped those Eclipse from having their way. And stopping Hades from causing the Faro Swarm the second time around."

As they head toward the city, they veer off and up towards the Spire. Just as John had explained, there are impromptu wooden bridges set down to deal with the missing bridges or parts of earth.

"Repairmen were certainly quick to repair the path up to the Spire," Aloy noted. "And they did such a good job too. Back when I was running up here to fight Hades, the Kopesh that dragged him up there had pretty much wrecked the path on its way up."

The duo arrive at the Spire and up to the quantum processor unit next to the relay tower.

"Oh, his lance is still there," John remarked pleasantly upon seeing that Sylens' lance is still stuck in it.

Aloy walks up to it and gingerly touches it, only to quickly clasp it while growling as if to pull it out.

"I can't believe that Sylens!" Her tone furious. "He used me to send Hades to him!"

"Now I understand why you got so angry yesterday," John noted. "But it doesn't make any sense. Why would he want to save Hades?"

"For knowledge." As she turns to John. "He once told me that after he found Hades, it taught him some Old One knowledge. There was even an undertone of anger in him after we had learned why Apollo had failed. His lance no doubt has some sort of modification to make it appear that I purged Hades when it actually suppressed him. Then Sylens bided his time to insure that I wasn't around so that he could activated some sort of signal to send Hades right to him."

"Then if that's the case, he must've also made certain to insure that Hades wouldn't be a threat anymore. This Sylens most likely has him contained within some sort of device, mostly likely a Faraday Cage. It's a cage that protects electronic equipment from electromagnetic pulses, but it just might also serve as a prison for Hades."

Aloy growls once more in frustration. "Does he really believe he can handle Hades?!"

"Apparently he believes he can."

"And what if Hades were to outsmart him?!"

"Focus, Aloy, focus." As John repeatedly snaps his fingers. "Why are we here in the first place?"

She makes a long loud sigh. "To clear the Spire long enough for us to try and expand our scanning for one of the other Subroutines out there."

"Right. Worrying about Sylens is not gonna help us do that. So right now, you have to power up this quantum processor unit and threaten Hephaestus with it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," as she turns to the quantum processor unit. "It's just . . . Hades is still out there."

Aloy touches the unit to start it up.

"Oh great," she groaned.

"What's wrong?" John asked.

"I was gonna use the power on that lance to kick-start the unit, but it's ruined now. I guess my last confrontation with Hades must've burned it out."

"So what can be done about it?"

"Well," as she turns to face John while looking off in thought and briefly scratching her brow, "I suppose a Thunderjaw heart should do. Hopefully, there's one being sold in the market down below."

"And if not?"

"Then I'll just have to go hunting."

Aloy and John head down into Meridian and search throughout its marketplace for a Thunderjaw heart. They have no such luck.

"Let's go check out the Hunter's Lodge," Aloy said. "Since I'm a member, they had a store there where members can by things that are not usually available in the markets."

"The place where I met that woman," John said.

"Talanah, my sponsor."

"Do you think they might have a Thunderjaw heart in stock?

"Hopefully."

The duo head over to the Hunter's Lodge and look around for Talanah. They soon find her.

"Ah, my Thrush," Talanah said happily. "So you return with the man who came here." She stares at John for a moment. "Yes, I see now that he was telling the truth after all. My apologies, ah . . . ?"

"John."

"My apologies, Jawn."

"Talanah," Aloy said. "Would you happen to know if there's a spare Thunderjaw heart lying around here?"

"Ah sorry, those were used up by the Oseram because they had to repair their cannons."

Aloy sighs. "So it looks like I'll have to hunt for a Thunderjaw after all. And Talanah, you'll have to help me."

"But of course, Aloy," she said.

"Then you both have your work cut out for you," John said as he glances up at the Thunderjaw carcass suspended high up above. "In the meantime, what should I do? I'm obviously not going to be of any help. Though I suppose I could loan you my machine blinder."

"Machine blinder?" Talanah asked.

"It's a device that sends out a signal that makes the device, along with anyone within its field, invisible to machines," John answered.

"Really?" Talanah marveled. "That sounds like something an Oseram would make. But you don't seem to be Oseram."

"It wasn't an Oseram who invented this. It was a member of the Harguess tribe. I was with them up until those machines bursted up out of the ground."

"It's tempting to ask you to loan it to us, Jawn," Aloy said. "But I think we can handle this. After all, we did handle Redmaw."

"As for yourself?" Talanah questioned. "You can wait here for us."

"But isn't this a members-only place?" John asked.

"Visitors are permitted inside," Talanah said. "But only members are allowed at the bar or can purchase hunting goods at the store over there."

"Understood," John said.

"We should be back before the day gets too late," Aloy said. "Well, Sunhawk, are you ready?"

"Ready as always, Thrush. Now let's go."

John watches them hurry out, hoping that they do not take a long time. He returns inside the Lodge to sit on a chair in the corner. He listens to the musicians as they play a somber though lively melody that gives John the impression of Medieval music. There are patrons, male, all sitting around and drinking ale, beer, or whatever alcoholic beverage it is as they talk or laugh. John muses over the atmosphere. Even though their ancestors the first new humans had no knowledge beyond six year olds when Gaia was forced to order the Eleuthia cradles to release them to fend for themselves, they managed to learn how to survive and thrive.

This makes John curious about the Carja and he looks around for someone who would appear to know a thing or two about Carja history, and he locates just such a person. That being the distinguished looking older man with white bushy hair and goatee near the entrance.

"Hello there, it's me again," John said to him. "I'm from the northwest and I only heard about you Carja, but not how you came to be. Just how did the Carja come into existence?"

"The history of the Carja takes place a very long time ago back in the Savage East," the man began. "A man named Araman was exploring a ruin of the Metal World when he noticed a ray of sunlight shining through a crack in the ceiling. That ray shone upon some Leaves of the Olds Ones."

"Leaves?" John inquired.

"It was described that way," the man answered. "It had their glyphs on them."

"Ah, I see," John answered upon understanding that he meant books. "But please, continue."

"Araman picked up those Leaves and studied them. He learned about the Sun, along with humanity's place under it. Filled with a new understanding, he shared those teachings with others. Some people accepted them and became his followers, but the rest wanted no part in them. Araman and his followers were banished and they were forced to search for a new home. It was a dark time for them as many fell prey to the elements and other tribes along the Way of Broken Stones. Araman himself even lost his own family, but he would not give up. Then one morning Araman noticed a flock of glinthawks perched upon something distant and shiny. He led the survivors toward them and by midday they came upon the Spire, tall and gleaming like a massive spike stabbing into the earth. Araman led them where the Spire's shadow had fallen, stretched out his hands, and proclaimed, 'The Sun has answered our prayers for here is where we will build our new home.' And built their home they did, right here upon this very hill. Taking a passage from those Leaves, Araman named it Meridian and became the First Luminance of the Radiant Line of Sun-Kings. Such is the history of the Carja." Ending in a theatrical tone.

John notices that it is more silent now. He looks around to see that everyone nearby had been listening with eager looks of pride. Some even nodding respectfully.

"Wow, that's an impressive history lesson," John mused. "This Araman and his people risked persecution and death in order to find a place to call their own."

"That they did, outlander," a man nearby said with pride. "That they did."

"So does that mean your current Sun-King reads these Leaves?" John asked.

"Alas, he cannot," the elderly man said. "For they have long since turned to dust. But not before its teachings were recorded in our own for eternity."

"And what number is the current Sun-King?" John asked.

"Sun-King Avad is the Fourteenth Luminance of the Radiant Line," the elderly man answered.

"Fourteenth," John echoed. "Anyway, thanks for the history lesson."

John walks away as he thinks about that history lesson. Their ancestors obviously used to be Nora until this Araman entered one of those ruins and found a book. Inevitable curiosity had compelled him to take and peruse it, then discover all this information about the sun. And from the sound of it, it must have been a science book; possibly about astronomy since astronomy books always go into details about the sun, down to measuring it. After all, Meridian is a name for when a celestial object reaches its maximum height when seen from Earth. It must mean that most of that book's pages had rotted away since only information about the sun was mentioned. And given what Aloy had told him about Nora ways, banishment was imposed upon any who enter those ruins. The leaders of the Nora banished Araman and the rest of the Nora who took his side, forcing Araman and the outcasts to wander, with a lot of them dying from exposure and from the predations of other tribes. Then they finally discover that relay tower and the rest is history.

And since this Avad is their fourteenth Sun-King, John surmises that it all took place nearly two hundred years ago. He also thinks about the other tribes upon this continent. Since North America has only one Eleuthia cradle, they were all once a part of the Nora tribe up until their ancestors got banished over wanting something different.

John continues waiting for Aloy and Talanah to return. He checks the time on his focus every now and again as the minutes seemed like hours. At times, he would check out the rest of the Lodge. He even reads a journal about that hunter Ahsis. In it is an account of how he was mortally wounded by Redmaw, then lost control of his bowels upon dying. John could not help but chuckle over that incident.

John continues waiting about the place, wondering when the girls will return. Or if they will ever return as that Thunderjaw up above is making him uneasy. He goes outside to loiter around on the steps. He stares out at the rest of the city, at the various people walking by or standing at a corner hawking their wares. He continues to wait for Aloy and Talanah to return.

It is close to sixteen hundred hours when John sees the girls returning. He smiles and waves at them, prompting them to wave back. They finally meet up.

"It's good to see you both returned safely," John said. "Was it a tough fight?"

"Very," Aloy answered. "We only found one Thunderjaw and it was the only machine around for miles. So we were forced to fight it without having other overridden machines around to wear it down."

"But you got the Thunderjaw heart, right?" John asked.

"Right," Aloy answered, and she takes it out to show him. It resembles a human heart.

"Was it a hard battle?" John asked as he stares at the Thunderjaw heart.

"It was," Aloy admitted, "but with Talanah's help, we defeated it sooner than if I had gone alone."

"Now that we have what we came here for, shouldn't we be going up to the Spire?" John asked.

"Aloy told me what the both of you are up to," Talanah added. "Are you sure it'll work?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Aloy admitted. "But something needs to be done to calm the machines or else the next new machine could be our end."

"That serious, huh?" Talanah said glumly. "Well don't let me keep you. See you soon, Aloy. And it was nice meeting you again, Jawn."

"Likewise."

Aloy and John return to the Spire.

"I learned from a man in that Hunter's Lodge about how the Carja came to be," John said.

"Yeah, something about how a man found some Leaves of you Old Ones?" Aloy said.

"It must've happened nearly two hundred years ago, but his name was Araman and he found a book in one of the ruins. It had to have been a book about Astronomy, a science dealing with outer space. It excited him and told the others about it. Some accepted it and took his side, but others hated it. The proto-Carja were banished and forced to wander, with many of them dying from exposure or from other people. Anyway, Araman led them on with that book and followed some Glinthawks and came at last to that relay tower as it was casting a shadow upon where Meridian now is. It was there that he told them that they'll be living and the rest is history. And since humanity on this continent originated from Eleuthia Number Nine, it just means that the rest of the tribes also broke away from the Nora. I mean, their founders must've learned things in those ruins or had different desires and were banished for it. Think about it, Aloy. The Nora were not only the first tribe, but also inadvertently created the other tribes."

"That makes sense. After all, Eleuthia Number Nine is the source of humanity on this land. And all because the Nora fear your world. A fear that compels them to create laws that forbid entry of those ruins or even leaving the Sacred Land, unless they be made a Seeker like me. Laws that impose banishment upon any Nora who violate those laws."

"I don't know about you, Aloy, but I have a theory. Judging from what you showed me from your focus when you were exploring Eleuthia, the first generation felt trapped. They became frustrated. They weren't allowed to go outside. They weren't allowed into the Apollo area. The whole place became their prison. They grew up in that place, but still remained like children inside. And all while their parents were machines. Machines that couldn't behave like proper humans do with their children. When the time came that they had to leave, there were those who were eager to leave, but there were also those who were uncertain and wondered if they could return or what was going to happen to their mother. When they got outside and discovered that the world turned out to be so much bigger than they had anticipated, so different, they stayed close to Eleuthia out of fear of that larger world. As they got the hang of living out there, they still remained close to their mother. When they started to have children of their own, they would tell their children about their mother and why they stay close to mother. And why they should stay close to mother as well. Yet at the same time, there was fear in their teachings. Fear of the dark places underground. The ruins. They probably told them that they also felt trapped in there and warned them that they might get trapped if they were to go into those places. But also respect as well. Respect for their mother and not to disrespect her or she'll get very angry. And seeing that the first ones were punished with a time out, they would punish their children in the same manner if they broke the rules. Then their children had children, and their children's children had children too. In time, the first ones all died off and their descendants were all that were left. Descendants who would have been influenced by their fear of the outside world and the world underneath."

Aloy thinks about that explaination in silence.

"I guess their fears are what ended up shaping the Nora," she finally said. "But that was so long ago, so there's no reason for them to be afraid anymore."

"Aloy," John admonished. "Fear is the strongest emotion there is. We all fear something. You're no exception. It is simply not an emotion that can be cast aside."

"Yeah, well I wish we would only fear what needs to be feared."

"And that's the problem. The needs of one people will not be the needs of another. You're just going to have to accept the fact that the Nora will always be as they are . . . Just as we had to accept the fact that our world was going to be destroyed."

Aloy contemplates that in silence.

"Look, let's just focus on what we need to do right now," John said.

"You're right," Aloy said. "We need to end the Derangement."