A New Kind of Machine Pt. 3

They don't travel much farther that day. Vale's wound needs attention, and herds of machines surround them. Aloy doesn't want to risk getting caught with an injured companion to look after, so once they came upon the forsaken village, once called Mother's Vigil, they take up shelter in one of the old huts that's still standing.

Watchers and a Sawtooth stalk the ruins as they patch up their fort for the night, making sure no peeping machines can see inside. They had agreed that a fire would be a bad idea, but the light of Vale's fire weapon makes a good lantern as they set about patching his wound. Aloy grounds up some freshly picked medical herbs as Vale gets some wrapping bandage ready. He hisses when he pulls the burnt cloth away from the charred skin, and tenses up as hard as a rock when Aloy applies the salve, but no machines hear them.

It would be a short night for them. Over the past few months, Aloy had studied the machine patrols closer and found a pattern. There was a cycle between night and day. Different machines moved to different places throughout the map, reenforcing important areas such as Cauldron entrances or old facilities. Particularly in their area, the Sawtooth would be replaced by Scrappers before dawn, leaving a short window where the Watchers would be by themselves. If she dispatched them before the Scrappers came along, they could escape for the border without too much trouble.

As Aloy settles in to her corner of the camp, on top of an old pile of furs, she sends a signal to her Strider, another useful technique she had learned. With a map of the Nora lands, she could find her overridden mount and direct it to move on its own. She sets both their mounts' destination to a secluded spot near the ruined village, so that they were in reach when they had to leave in the morning and get back her bag of gear.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices Vale fidgeting in his spot, trying to get comfortable. He presses a hand to the bandage and sighs quietly.

"It's gonna be a long night…" he groans.

"Try not to lose your wit over there."

"Sorry."

Silence passes. Machine footsteps can be heard faintly outside, and for a moment Aloy is afraid they might have heard them. But the sound continues on for several minutes. That probably meant they were safe.

"So…"

Aloy shuts down her Focus and looks at him. He wasn't looking back, instead looking down at the Focus in his hand. His Focus.

"What part of this 'truth' do you want to tell me about first?"

It was a question Aloy had been asking herself ever since they had settled, and a difficult one. She wanted to start explaining around the story that Vale already knew, which wasn't much, but still more than what most people knew, to his credit. She wanted to fill the gaps of his knowledge wisely without confusing him, but at the same time not reveal anything that he might not need to know.

"Well, where do you want me to start?" she asks.

"Hephaestus," Vale chooses. "Who is he really? You said before he was a kind of mind?"

"It's true. What he really is, is a machine; a program, like the interface on your Focus. Except it can make its own decisions, and it works just like a human mind. But it's only concern is what machines to build. Every species of machine out there is something that Hephaestus has made."

"And the Cauldrons. There are more of them?"

She nods. "They're all over the world. Giant underground factories that build the machines, and they all respond to Hephaestus."

"So… it… is the one that's behind the Derangement."

"Yes, because humans hunt them for parts. So he started programming them to be aggressive, and I guess eventually resolved to making machines that could defend themselves, even seek out humans to attack."

"Like the Sawtooth and the Thunderjaw," he confirms.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be the case if Hephaestus'… master hadn't sacrificed herself to stop Hades when it tried to take control of the Spire. Now he only builds machines according to how he thinks he should."

"Hades is the same kind of mind?"

"Kind of, but his purpose was different," Aloy says, speaking slowly because she coming up with an accurate explanation on the fly. She manages to form her next words in her head before speaking them. "If the world… didn't develop correctly, Hades would wipe out everything so that there was nothing left, so that their master could start rebuilding the world again with a clean slate."

She stops to let the information sink in. Vale looks confused, but he remains silent for a long time.

"How many of these minds are there?" he finally says.

"Nine. I think."

"Only nine?"

"Yes, and all of them serve a purpose in forming the world."

"A world that robots had destroyed, like you said earlier," he points out, and she nods. "So how do we stop Hephaestus?"

"I'm not quite sure yet. But I need the Master Override. It's a device I used to destroy Hades with at the Spire. I'm not sure if I should use it on Hephaestus, because we still need his machines, but I would feel better knowing I had it on hand."

"So we need to go to Meridian. Then what?"

"I'm still working on that."

Vale leans back against the wall, having no more questions for her. Aloy can see his eyes darting, his mind thinking, trying make sense of this vital information. He now knew more than the average person probably ever would. She told Avad about Hades, but that was only for the sake of protecting his city. She was trusting Vale with this secret.

"Thank you for telling me," he finally speaks. "I think I understand things a little better now."

"Good. There is more, but I'll explain the rest later. We should get some rest. We need to be over the mountains and cross the dry lands before dusk tomorrow."

"Provided nothing gets in our way."

"Yeah."

Vale slips his Focus back over his ear.

"Did you ever figure out how to sync our Focuses together?" she asks.

"Still working on that," he responds, eyes now closed. Aloy smiled a little at his effort for trying, and then follows his example of getting sleep.

… … …

A storm is brewing when they get moving. Dark clouds block the sky and a vicious wind whips around the land towards the west. They would be traveling with the storm, but it was the only path to take.

Vale is stiff from his wound, visibly stiff, but he doesn't complain about it and does his best to keep up with her when they sneak out of the old village after Aloy dispatches the Watchers. They meet their Striders at a crossroads, saddle up, and start up the steep hills ahead.

Aloy's hair whips around her face as she gazes up at the storm clouds. It was cold, and she can feel it in her bones that rain will be upon them soon, heavy and ice-cold. The only other outfit she brought with was her trusty shield weaver armour, but it wasn't much better at combating the weather than her Nora attire. She shivers when a strong gust of wind come from behind.

By the time they make it up to the narrow pass, they are already soaked to the bone in rainfall. The walls of Daytower aren't visible through the thick rainfall, but it won't be long before the silhouette of the fort appears before them.

They stop when they reach a part of the path that is cover by a large rock overhang, supported by a man-made column to keep it in place. Aloy grabs a lock of her hair and wrings out the water in it.

"It won't be much farther now. Daytower is just up ahead."

Vale shivers. The rain coats his armour and soaks through his clothes too. The armour plates on his helmet slide back, showing his face.

"Should we take shelter there? Let the storm pass?"

"It might not be a bad idea. It might delay us by a couple days, though. And I want to get to Meridian as soon as possible," she says.

"Let's give a last push to the fort. Then we can decide from there."

Aloy nods in agreement. "Okay."

They trudge along with a little more spring in their step. The path from here on is flat with one last dip before the Carja gates. Once they get behind the mountain, it would give them a little shelter from the wind.

Aloy can barely see the lights up in the towers of the fort walls by the time they get there. Against the backdrop of the light though, she can see the silhouettes of figures, the Carja soldiers who stand on patrol at Daytower. They had made it.

Two soldiers stand stationed on the ground in front of the gates. They stare at them in bewilderment as the two of them approach and dismount their machines.

"You don't see two strangers riding machines very often," one of them comments.

"Wait, aren't you the one who saved Meridian?" the other one asks, staring at Aloy. "Yeah! The machine rider who stopped the machine army!"

Aloy winced. Being recognized for her fame wasn't something she anticipated, and she knows that it's going to get worse when she runs into more people.

"Is Captain Balahn here? We need to get through," she demands, but the soldier she faced shakes his head.

"The Captain was called back to Meridian because of some trouble, but we'll let you through. The storm's only getting worse. You might want to take shelter here for a while."

"Thanks."

The soldier turns and pounds the gate with his fist. "Hey! Open up! We got more guests! And get these guys something to dry themselves with!"

The gates opens up slowly, revealing more soldiers behind the wall, the fabrics in their uniforms all drenched. Vale follows her up into Daytower's main courtyard, where all the merchant stalls are closed and draped to protect their precious wares from the rain. Most of the crowd is inside, but it is so packed that people were standing outside, under the cover of awnings and towers roofs. A soldier hands them each a towel to dry themselves as they join the crowd standing outside.

"Aloy?"

The huntress turns upon hearing her name and she is surprised to find another familiar face. A dark-skinned man in leather clothes, and an indistinguishable moustache. His attire suggests he's clearly Oseram.

"Burgrend?" Aloy says. The older man gives her a hearty smile.

"Well if it ain't the swift little fire-headed huntress. What are you doing out here in this miserable weather?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Things didn't go well in the Cut, I see."

The man huffs. "Nah, I thought it was time for a change of pace. Not many travellers come by Song's Edge anymore after the machines all calmed down. I could barely sell a stock of arrows to a hunter. I was losing profit, so I packed all my things came back down to civilization."

Aloy chuckles at the last word.

"What about your daughter?"

"Ah, she voted to stay. Said she wanted to study the 'Banuk style of weaponry' even more. I couldn't make her leave with me. She's all grown up; she can make her own decisions," Burgrend explains, but there's a side of disappointment in his complexion that Aloy sees.

"I'm sure that decision wasn't made easy. She'll miss you," she tells him, her voice soft. She recalls when she had first met the man. It wasn't mentioned by word, but Burgrend hinted that his family bond with his daughter was… civil, at best.

Burgrend offers a smile of his own. "I hope so."

A loud, metal scraping screech pierces the air, loud enough the make their ears hurt. The crowd panics, looking everywhere for the source of the noise.

Aloy sees Vale's Focus lit up, with the towel still draped over his damp hair. He notices where her attention was and says; "Something's coming in, fast."

"Where?"

The danger came from above. A machine, the size of a Trampler, landed in the middle of the courtyard, a pair of red headlights glowing through the rain. They flash towards the civilians and everyone screams.

A soldier bellows orders and several more soldiers form a line in front of the machine, some wielding spears and others bows. The machine screams, immensely loud.

"Everyone here is in danger," Aloy stresses. The crowd backs away from the machine as far as they can, but with the inside of the towers full, they were backed into a corner. If the machine had a chance to attack, dozens of people would be killed.

"Aloy…"

Vale's Focus is still lit. He's staring at the machine with keen intent; a hunter's gaze, she recognizes.

"That machine. It's…"

The new machine spreads its arms wide, revealing large, broad metal feathers with two turbo jets on each wing, just like a Stormbird's wings. The machine gives them one powerful flap and carries a bunch of soldiers with a gust of wind off the side of the tower.

"What is it, Vale?" she asks urgently. He turns to her.

"It's looking for you. It's got kill orders on you."

Aloy's eyes widen in slight horror, but then she glares at the machine. Another machine was after her.

"These people are in danger because of me. I can't let that stand."

Before she could even take a step forward, Vale grabs her shoulder.

"Now I know what you're thinking…"

She turns back to him. Whether she looks at him pleadingly or angrily, his face remains stoic when she met his eyes directly.

But he was quick to give her a upper quirk of his lips.

"And I'm right behind you."

She nods, and somehow feels stupid. Of course he would help kill the machine that threatened innocent people. He was a machine hunter.

They were machine hunters.

They both drop their towels and run back into the rain to join the Carja soldiers. Burgrend shouts after them, but his words are lost in the clamour of rainfall and fighting. Aloy draws her spear and Vale seizes his shield and hammer.

Aloy taps her Focus. The new machine is winged with a large body and two hind legs. It has a long thin tail, and, like with the machine before, doesn't have any weaknesses her Focus could identify. On top of its head are two large dishes with two antennae sprouting from the back of them, either signal receivers or…

"Sound amplifiers! That's why it sounds so loud," she realizes. She turns to Vale. His helmet was already on and the blue visors glow faintly. The machine scrapes its massive claws against the ground, churning up chunks of brick and rock their way. She stands behind Vale as he lifts his shield to block the rubble.

"What does that helmet of yours do?" she asks.

"Dampens harsh light and sound. That's about it."

So that was it. It explained why Vale was unaffected by the transforming light of the machine back in the Cauldron.

"Can you get in front of that machine? Take the brunt of those sound attacks?"

"You wanna explain to me a plan before I throw myself in front of it?"

Aloy eyes the large platform that hangs from the crane over the canyon. She swore it was still there from when she passed through Daytower months ago. It has more crates piled on top of it, and looks heavy.

"Yeah, but you need to distract it for me."

"For how long?"

"Until I can make my plan work."

"That not—" Vale blocks another avalanche of debris when it's launched at them. Aloy uses the chance to scurry her way around the fight.

"Priority target located. Eliminate Elisabet Sobeck!" the machine says in a drone-like tone, drastically different compared to the menacing size of it.

"Oh no you don't!" Vale shouts and slaps the machine in the face with a crack of his electric whip. The machine hisses at him.

Good. Aloy runs for the platform. The Carja soldiers start to form a circle around the machine to keep it at bay. It doesn't seem to want to fly away.

There is a docking bay, half constructed. Aloy jumps through the unfinished frame until she gets close enough to jump for the platform, which hangs just above her head, a few feet away in open air above the canyon. She leaps as high as she can and manages to get one hand on the corner of the platform. She pulls herself up and quickly skims over the pulley system that keeps the platform in the air. There is no way she could move it.

The battle before her rages on. The machine screeches, causing soldiers to drop their weapons and cover their ears, but Vale isn't bother by it. He fires two cannon shots at the components on top of the machine's head, blasting holes through them. It screeches again, but not as loud this time. It swipes at him with claws on the end of its wings but the mercenary jumps out of the way.

Aloy caught a faint light swinging about. The machine's tail has two sparker components on it, covered with protective plating. It isn't within reach, but hovers close to the hanging crate of building supplies.

"If I can snag its tail to this crate and make it fall, the machine with fall with it."

Aloy grabs her rope. She's never had to make a noose before, and her rope is equipped with a grappling hook at the end. But Rost taught her many things, one of which was how to fully utilize a rope. She fashions one quickly and ties the other end to the supports of the crate that keeps it in the air. She then waits until the machine's tail is steady.

She misses the first time. The machine lunges at Vale and sends him skidding across the stone. With two fangs bared, it raises its head to bring them down on him.

Aloy throws her rope again, this time snaring the tail almost perfectly. Realizing this, she quickly jumps off the platform to solid ground, turns and shoots an arrow at the cable.

Aiming her bow was like second nature, and so the cable snapped in two with a precise shot. The rope cracks one of the pulleys of the crane and the metal crate plummets into the canyon, pulling the machine with it before it could bite down on Vale. The machine slides past her, giving one last pathetic attempt to snatch her before falling off the side. Aloy watches it fall until it hits the ground with a loud bust that confirms that it was dead.

The crowd in Daytower cheers, and she flinches. All the merchants and Carja soldiers whoop and yell in victory.

"Praise the Alighted One! She saved us all!"

"Ugh, from Anointed to Alighted," she groans. She turns as Vale approaches her, and for once she can see that he's breathing heavily. "Are you alright?"

His helmet plating removes itself. "A little sore in the back side, but I'll live." He points down the cliff. "That was impressive."

"Yeah, well…" she shrugs, not sure how to take his compliment. "It's my job."

Vale huffs, but he smiles, and standing there in the rain looking down at their kill, it kind of felt… good.

"That machine was here because of me, and it put everyone here at risk. It wouldn't have happened if we had kept moving."

"Don't blame yourself for what happened," Vale says.

"I know, but they remain in danger so long as I'm here," she replies solemnly.

"So you're saying…"

"Alighted!" a soldier calls out and approaches them. "Please, staying here for the night. Don't have many accommodations available, but we can clear one out for you. You saved all these civilians. It's the least we can do."

"Thanks… but that won't be necessary. We have to keep moving."

The soldier stares at her, obviously surprised. Vale did too, but he nods in understanding. "You want to travel in the middle of this storm? There's no way!"

"Trust me, it's better this way. We'll gather our things and be on our way," she says, getting only a little impatient.

"If that's how it must be. At least let us provide you with provisions for your journey."

Aloy was about to speak her mind and get them moving, but Vale acts first. "We'll take them, gladly. Bring them to the gate for us."

The soldier bows and leaves them. The two of them leave to find their Striders, both huddled under the cover of the gate's overhang. Their bags were draped, but still soaked and needed replacing with a dry one. Once that was done, they turn their steers to the exit gate on the other side of the fort. There, two Carja soldiers wait for them, one of them holding two boxes of traveling supplies and the other holding a bow.

"The merchants wanted to give their thanks and gave these for free," one of the soldiers says as he hands one box to each of them.

"And this is from a man named Burgrend. Said he knew you," the other adds, handing Aloy a bow. She doesn't recognize the make. It isn't Banuk, or Carja. In fact, the symbols etched across the bow's arc and gleaming silver metal that make up the handle aren't like anything she has seen before. But she can feel it's stiffness in her hands. It was a powerful weapon.

"Tell everyone we said thank you," Aloy replies.

"We will. May the light pierce the dark sky and light your path, Nora."

The soldiers push the gates open to reveal a dark, stormy world ahead. Aloy and Vale urge their machines forward, towards Meridian.

Next week, a little 'side quest' is in story for our travelling pair. See you then!