Aloy and John follow that servant to a rotunda where one side of the wall is a large open window that faces the rising sun. There is a large round table there with chairs. Sun-King Avad is sitting at a chair on one side.
"Ah, Aloy, Jawn," Avad said cordially. "I trust you both had a good night's sleep?"
"Yes," Aloy and Jawn answered simultaneously.
"Please sit and enjoy a breaking of our fast," Avad said as he gestures to the table with open hand.
Servants come in bearing a bowl of fruit, dates, and bread to set out on the table. There are also pitchers of water and juice, along with plates and cups for the eaters.
"Please, help yourselves," Avad said.
They do so and begin eating their breakfast.
"You said that you two might be able to do something about the Derangement yesterday," Avad said. "Care to elaborate?"
"Well uh," Aloy began as she glanced at John across from her. "It involves the use of machines that might be outside of your understanding, Avad."
"As long as it doesn't involve what my father used to do," Avad said glumly. "But I won't spoil our appetites by speaking of his deeds. So whatever you and Jawn have in mind, I'm confident that you'll succeed in taming the viciousness of the machines, making them go back to how they used to be. I was but a boy when the Derangement began."
"There was supposed to have been an explosion, right?" John asked.
"Oh yes, I suppose both you and Aloy were probably too young to remember that," Avad said.
"Yeah, that's right," John answered evasively.
"I wasn't even born yet," Aloy said.
"Then I will tell you about that day," Avad began. "It happened one Summer morning, but later than this. I was out in the courtyard practicing my sword with my brother, Kadaman, with our father watching over us when all of a sudden there was a commotion up on the ramparts. Everyone was shielding their eyes against a light that I could see shining brightly upon them momentarily. Curious, we ran up to see what was going on and when we got up there we looked to the north and saw a black cloud in the form of a mushroom. It was distant and yet it was so big as it rose higher and higher, then started to spread outward. The palace began to tremble and we heard a steadily increasing rumbling that we felt throughout our bodies. It did not take long for that black cloud to spread quickly so that by late morning it had reached Meridian and continued to travel south to cover the entire sky. That day had to turn to dusk. Ash fell from the sky like snow, then came rain as black as pitch. There was much fear and panic throughout the city. The Sun Priests interpreted it as an omen from the Sun. The following day, the cloud had passed. It was after that when the machines began to turn hostile."
Avad's tone turns grim as he looks down at the table. "My father began to believe that the Sun was displeased with us Carja and he set about trying to regain the Sun's favor in order to end the Derangement."
He stops and his lips tighten.
"We get it now, your Majesty," John said softly. "I was told about him. But to change the subject, we do hope that we succeed. And if we don't . . . Then we can at least say that we tried."
"That's really all that any of you can do," Avad said. "Try."
They eat the rest of their breakfast in silence and are finished. The sun rises.
"Avad, we really need to get a headstart before nightfall," Aloy said as she stands up.
"Yes of course," he agreed as he stands as well. "You have a very important task to accomplish that has the potential to change the fate of the world. I will not delay either of you any further. Good luck, Aloy, Jawn, and may the Sun give you success."
"Thank you, your Majesty," John said with a brief nod.
"Murad, you may see them out," Avad said to Blameless Murad.
"Please follow," he said to Aloy and John, and they walk out with him.
"Hey there, Murad, long time no see," Aloy quipped.
"And a hello to you too, Aloy, long time no see as well," Murad replayed. "You must have had quite the adventure in the Forbidden West."
"I didn't go all the way to the west because there were huge mountains out that way," Aloy said. "That and there was the body of that Old One I found."
"Of whom you gave a proper burial too," Murad said. "Now what of you, Jawn?"
"What of me?" John asked.
"Where are you from?" Murad asked.
"From the northwest," John answered. "Where the Harguess tribe lives."
"I have heard of them," Murad said. "They share a border with the Oseram. Did those Eclipse machines rise up all the way up to there?"
"Yes," John verified.
"And what made you want to come to Meridian?" Murad asked.
"With all of the people killed off by the machines, I decided to head here. On my way, I kept hearing about Aloy. When I first came here, I decided to go to the Sacred Lands to see if I could meet her, even though I understood that I won't be allowed in there due to how the Nora behave toward outsiders."
"And just how did you manage to meet up with this extraordinary girl?" Murad asked.
"It was in the ruins of those Sacred Lands," John answered. "I fell into one and her people sent her down after me."
"How strange," Murad mused.
"What's strange?" John asked.
"It's strange how everyone you ever knew was killed off and you didn't even bother to seek out more members of your tribe to aid them in consolidating your numbers," Murad elaborated.
John remains silent.
"And you also don't sound like someone who is grieving," Murad added.
"What can I say? I got over it quickly," John quipped.
They reach the exit of the palace.
"Well, I think you can take your leave from here," Murad said. "Hopefully we'll meet again so goodbye for now, Aloy, Jawn."
"Yeah, goodbye," Aloy said, with John muttering so.
Aloy and John walk through the near empty streets of Meridian.
"That Murad guy," John said.
"Blameless Murad as he is known," Aloy said.
"Why's he called that?"
"I once asked him and he told me that no one can seem to blame him for anything. He was the one who set up the Mad Sun-King. He's very evasive."
"Yeah, I can tell. Then there's what he said to me. I'm telling you he knows I'm not a member of the Harguess tribe and that worries me. I'm afraid he's gonna tell Sun-King Avad about that."
"I don't think he considers you a threat, so don't worry."
"True, but it still makes me uneasy the way he was trying to figure out who I really am. He kinda reminds me of that Vanasha woman I met when I first arrived at the Spire up there."
"I think she works for Murad."
"Why does that not surprise me?"
Aloy and John leave Meridian and further out encounter more machines for them to ride upon.
"Those are Chargers," Aloy explained. "They can also be used as mounts. Oh, and I wanna keep my stealth skills sharp with machines, so I'll be doing this without that machine blinder."
"Okay," John said.
Aloy sneaks up on first one Charger and overrides it, then the other. With a sigh, John mounts one of the Chargers and Aloy the other. Together, they head toward their destination. The first part being where Aloy and Talanah hunted a Thunderjaw as they find its metal carcass still intact.
"Good, the Glinthawks and Scrappers haven't got to it yet," Aloy said. "But that doesn't mean they won't be coming. So we need to be quick."
They walk up to the huge metal carcass that is covered in dents, tears, and overall battle damage. Aloy examines its head, of which she and Talanah had shot many arrows into in order to disable its radar and weapons.
"Let me just pry open its head for a better look," Aloy said.
She gets to work opening up the Thunderjaw's metal skull. She manages to pry the casing on its head back and pulls it back to expose a complex structure. Like the brain of any vertebrate, the Thunderjaw brain is encased in a soft covering that acts as a cushion. Aloy cuts through this to expose its brain, which looks like a cube.
"So what do you think?" John asked. "Will it do the job?"
"Let me get a better look at it first," she answered as she continues pulling back that covering, exposing ever more of its computer brain. She does a scan of it. "Hey, Jawn, scan this thing with me."
He does so and together they can see the matrix of the Thunderjaw brain.
"Wow, I never thought Hephaestus could pull off creating a computer with this level of complexity," John said in an impressed tone.
"That's because Hephaestus has the same level of intelligence as any human being," Aloy answered.
"But at the same time it's disturbing. Because it means we humans are not needed to create computers anymore. Back in my day there was always the fear that computers would end up replacing us."
"And your fear came true."
"Yes, but not in the way we anticipated, meaning that we were expecting a gradual shift away from humans to computers without destroying the world. But philosophy aside, I think this Thunderjaw brain may do the job."
"I think you're right. Now let's get going before the Glinthawks and Scrappers show up."
Aloy sets to work removing the Thunderjaw brain. It takes time as she has to cut through wires. She is finally able to remove it and holds it aloft, showing that it really is the size of a man's head.
"Hopefully it'll do the trick," John said.
"And what will we do if it doesn't?" Aloy asked.
"Then I guess we're out of luck."
The Thunderjaw brain is packed with John and the duo next mounting their Chargers to continue onward. At least until they arrived at Dawn's Sentinel and were forced to ditch them in order to pass through. Afterwards, Aloy located another pair of Chargers and used them.
They later turn north. As they head further, it starts getting colder.
"Aloy, let's stop for a moment," John called. "I have to dress more warmly!"
She does so and John is able to get off his mount and take out the warmer clothing and put it on.
"Even when it's cold, Banuk shaman tended to go bare buffed," Aloy said.
"How is that possible?" John mused as he puts on a pair of trousers over his own pants.
"I think it has something to do with the blue cables they thread through their skin. You should see them, it's kinda creepy and yet amazing."
Once John has adequately dressed, they continue on their journey north. It gets continually colder and snow begins to grace the ground, even thought it is Spring. They head higher into the mountains, through evergreen forest. Aloy and John reach the Banuk camp, now abandoned.
"I guess they didn't stick around since that quantum processor unit stopped working," Aloy said as she got off her mount.
"So where is it exactly?" John asked as he walks up to stand alongside her while looking around.
"It's up there." Pointing up at the top of a cliff.
"Are we going to have to climb up there? If so, then I'm afraid I'll have to pass."
"Don't worry, the Oseram who went up there took another route. Just let me look around first."
Aloy hurries off toward the cliff and he watches as she looks around the base. She hurries off to one side and goes out of sight, then returns a minute later.
"It's over there," Aloy called to him while pointing. "And it looks easy enough for you to go up. Follow me."
John follows Aloy over to the sight in question.
"You're right," he said as he looks the trail over. It is a steep trail but not impossible for him to climb. "I think I can manage with that one. Let's go."
Aloy and John go up that trail the Oseram had secretly used to get to the top. Once at the top, they reach the quantum processor unit in question.
"Oh yes, that thing did land here after having flown all the way from Gaia Prime," John said. "It just goes to show how powerful that explosion was. And just how durable Gaia's parts are too. I mean, I knew that Gaia's parts were extremely durable, but frankly, I'm surprised it wasn't vaporized by that explosion, or even shattered on impact for that matter! Now let's do a deeper scan of that thing."
"Right," Aloy said.
Together, they scan the quantum processor unit. It wasn't like the last time when Aloy first encountered it as she didn't expect much of it and only did a light scan. This time though, their search for another Subroutine that led her directly back to this compels her to do a deeper scan. At first, they find nothing, then . . .
"There's something!" John stated.
"I know," Aloy concurred. "But it's too faint to get a proper reading of what it is. I think that's why I didn't notice it in the first place."
"What's amazing is how you managed to locate it after driving Hephaestus out of that relay station for the moment. How can you explain that? I mean, you shouldn't have been able to detect it since it's so weak."
"Maybe it had to do with my first encounter with this. When I scanned it, it must've somehow gotten a lock on the signal of my focus. So that when I got to doing that stronger scan using the Spire for more range, I was able to pick it up once again."
"That makes sense."
"And now let's get this done."
John removes his backpack and takes out the Thunderjaw heart, then hands it to Aloy for her to hook up to the quantum processor unit.
"Okay," Aloy said once she has a thick wire at the ready to plug into the unit. "Here we go."
She plugs the wire in and there is a humming sound. The unit's window lights up and a symbol appears within it. The symbol for the Subroutine that is, and it is . . .
"APOLLO?!" John exclaimed.