The Extinction Demand Pt. 3
Aloy looks pale – more pale than her usual porcelain skin tone should be. She looks like a ghost, worthy of haunting Vale's dreams tonight, but he's not about to let that happen.
There's a tunnel that leads them away from the cave of Stalkers. Aratuk seems to know the way as he leads them, shoving aside Watchers and Scrappers that come through. Vale stays back and watches, carrying the wounded Nora girl in both arms. He could sling her over his shoulder and use his shield cannon, but he didn't think Aloy would appreciate that.
When they exited the caves, Vale finds a bridge up to a cliff and a broken path that criss-crosses around a deep ravine below them. He can't see any way around, and there are Glinthawks and Scrappers scattered throughout the path.
"How do we get across?" he asks.
"The logs near the thawed waterfalls. They tilt the bridges and allow us to cross," Aratuk points to the logs sitting in the ravine. There are wooden planks stacked across the logs and railings that make a platform and man-made structures that hold them up. A lever system makes the bridges tilt back and forth. Aloy had explained that this path was a test for worthy Banuk shamans. It was time to prove his worth.
"Take her. I'll clear the path!" he says, handing Aloy over to the Banuk chieftain. Vale grabs his shield and hammer and sprints across first bridge. A Glinthawk swoops down at him, but he blocks it with his shield and immediately swings his hammer around to collide with its head. The machine flies to the side and he runs up to the first tilting platform just as it rises, too high for him to reach. More Glinthawks flutter around him and he can see a Scrapper on the other side of the platform waiting for him.
Vale shoots his cannon a few times and downs two machines before the platform tilts the other way. He jumps and lands, the structure swaying a little under his feet, but he manages to keep going and run up the slope before it tilts back and jumps for the next platform. He has to toss his rope at the ledge so he can make it. The Scrapper bites for his hands hanging on the edge of the icy rock, but Vale swings over a little, and then reaches up and grabs the head plate of the machine and drags it over the edge down into the ravine below.
When Vale pulls himself up, Aratuk is jumping onto the platform. He has Aloy draped over his shoulder so he can hold onto his spear and fire the ice rail. So much for being careful with her. She was definitely going to have a headache when she woke up.
There's a zip line and another bridge-lever system over around the next cliff, but this one doesn't move. Vale blocks another laser attack from a Scrapper sitting on the cliffs above before he shoots it with a cannon shot.
"There's a lever on that island!" Aratuk commands when he catches up. "You need to take the ladder down and there's a climbing path—"
"No time for that. I can jump it," Vale cuts him off. He makes a lasso out of his rope and throws it at the large log hanging above them. He swings over to the island and barely gets a hand on the ledge, but he's there, and he pulls himself up. He finds a rope hanging from a wood plank that's attached to the mechanism. He pulls the rope and the big log hanging above him tips over until water is pouring out of it into the other log with the platform built on it. As Aratuk swings his spear at a Glinthawk, Vale jumps again for the cliff and scrambles as he narrowly makes it again. He really needed to work on his jumping abilities.
He runs the path over the hill and across some bridges that stretch over the crevices in the mountains, all while fighting the Glinthawks and Scrappers that block his path. Somehow Aratuk always stays a few steps behind him. Vale had to admit that the man was much sturdier than he looked, able to carry a woman over his shoulder, navigate the path and fight off the machines. He couldn't see how Aloy had beat him in a hunting contest that made her a chieftain. She must have had some advantage over him. There was no way.
Upon coming to the last tipping bridge, Vale stops when a Scrapper fires its laser at him. The laser bounces off his shield and cuts into the log carrying the water above, putting a massive hole through it. As the water starts pouring out that way, the bridge tilts up and away from him.
"Great. Now how do we get across?" he grumbles. But he finds a way almost immediately. At the edge of the bridge closest to him, he spots the makeshift wooden railing sticks out beyond the log, which serves as a perfect grappling point. He tosses his rope at it and pulls the bridge down so he can jump onto it. The Banuk chieftain joins him.
"We can't both be on this bridge at the same time. One of us has to cross," he says.
"But without the water, how do we make the bridge balance out?" Vale counters.
"I'll climb to the other end!" Aratuk climbs up the tilted platform until he's at the other end, but the bridge tilts down before he can jump. Vale needed more weight on his end, and Aratuk probably had a good forty stones on him, not including Aloy.
A shadow of a Glinthawk passes overhead, giving him an idea. He makes a lasso out of his rope and waves it over his head as the machine passes over him again. He throws his lasso… and snares the machine around its beak. Vale tries to keep himself grounded without the flying machine dragging him into the sky, reeling it in. The electricity coursing through the wire stuns the machine and weakens it, making it easier to pull it down. With one hand on the rope, he reaches back and pulls a weapon mounted on his back. A large component mounts over his entire forearm and reaches beyond his elbow. When he activated the device, a metal blade pops out of it. He gives one final yank on the rope and thrusts the blade up, through the chest of the machine. The Glinthawk goes limp and falls onto the bridge.
The platform starts to level out. Aratuk waits until the other edge is within jumping distance and makes the leap, just as Vale spots a Sawtooth run down the path. The platform tilts down at his end again and Vale tosses the dead machine off the bridge and looks across at the other end. He knows as soon as he gets to the other end, the platform will tilt down and prevent him from getting across.
Aratuk freezes the Sawtooth with his ice rail before the machine can get close to him. With frost covering its skin, the Sawtooth comes to a halt, allowing the Banuk chieftain to stab it in the face with his weapon. He looks back to find Vale and drags the frozen machine corpse to the edge. With a mighty shove and a roar, he tosses the machine onto the end of the bridge. With the sudden weight, the bridge tilts the other way and launches Vale into the air. He soars over Aratuk and lands on the path safely on his feet as the bridge collapses.
"The rest of the path is much easier. We just have to climb the cliff and the Keep will be within sight," Aratuk says. They continue down the path as it gets narrow and eventually they come across the climbable cliff. There are no more machines in the area, but Vale can hear the cries of more machines up ahead. They weren't out of the thicket yet.
The Banuk chieftain continues to prove his metal by carrying Aloy over his shoulder and climbing the path. At this point Vale thinks he's just showing off, but Aratuk doesn't seem to be the type to boast about his physical strength. He scales the cliff without so much as a grunt and keeps going. Vale can see a clearing in the distance, and over the mountains ahead, the metal remains of an old ruin.
So Ourea's Keep was a ruin of the Old Ones. This was where Cyan was.
More smaller machines are scattered throughout the snowy outcrop, and an odd-looking machine sprouts from the ground in the middle. An energy pulse emits from the machine and affects the robots around it. Vale can see it in the way they move: they become more aggressive and angry. Like they weren't angry enough…
"I've seen that tower before. It makes the machines stronger and repairs them," Aratuk points out.
"Repairs them?" Vale repeats. He activates his Focus and scans the tower. There's a power source underneath the base of the tower, hidden underground. A vulnerable component hangs near the top close to the spinning parts and a control node sits at the base, just like the nodes in the Cauldron that Aloy used to override. "I need to get to that machine."
"We can fight them together, but I need to put her in a safe hiding spot," Aratuk replies, referring to Aloy, still hanging limp over his shoulder.
"I'll fight the machines. You focus on protecting her," Vale responds, taking his shield and hammer to arms.
"You can't fight them all!" The Banuk man yells after him, but Vale is already jumping down into the clearing.
"Watch me!"
Vale dodges to the side and swings his hammer around at a Scrapper and a Watcher. But after turning back to them after dispatching more machines, he finds the damage undone. The metal plating he broke and the wires he shredded with his weapons were repaired like he had never touched them. Not only that, but they seemed to become more powerful than before. He glances at the tower. The energy pulses it's emitting are repairing the machines around it.
Curious.
He runs for the machine, dropping blast charges behind him. He climbs up to the machine and digs his shield into the ground, the metal plating expanding to give him better cover. He sets off the charges as the machines get close, giving him a brief moment to himself. Vale observes the machine closely as it activates again. It doesn't repair the machines that are dead due to his blast charges, but the ones that are still alive are patched up as metal materializes around their wounds, the same way those assassin machines repaired themselves. But the Scrappers and other machines didn't have that repair module.
Vale scans the tower again. Up close he can see a highlighted part somewhere in the middle of the machine, much like the repair component that he carried with him for so long and gave to Aloy to repair the overridden Wyvern. If he could tear this machine apart and get his hands on that component…
A machine tackles him from the side and knocks him down into the snow. Vale scrambles to get back to his feet and finds a Sawtooth, or something like a Sawtooth. Two blaze canisters stick out from its back and two extra appendages are on its head. Fire drools from its mouth and gives the machine a much more malicious look.
"A Scorcher!" Aratuk cries out. He aims his spear, but the machine blasts forward with a burst of fire and smacks into him, sending him and Aloy into the snow. Before it can move again, Vale fires his cannon and destroys one of the blaze canisters, bringing its attention back to him. He raises his shield again as the machine gets ready to charge. Fire expels from its body and it melts the snow around it. It launches, and Vale dives to the right. The machine passes him and he turns around and gives a mighty swing at its back legs, breaking one of the limbs in half. He jumps onto its back and digs the sharp end of his weapon into its side. The machine squirms, but Vale holds his place and shoots the machine in the head. Armour plates and sparks fall from the Scorcher as he hammers on its body, but between the tower repairing it, it proves tough to kill it.
Vale finally plants a blast charge on its side after searching for its heart through the Focus. He jumps off the bucking machine and falls into the snow. As the Scorcher turns around to face him, he detonates the charge and a bright blast blows a hole through the machine's core, killing it instantly. There was no way the tower could repair that. Vale looks at it with approval.
Aratuk is busy defending Aloy, who's still unconscious on the ground. Vale runs to his aid and works as fast as he can to dispatch the rest of the machines. But with the tower constantly repairing the machines, the battle is dragged out much longer than it needs to be. Vale finally decides to wreak the exhaust port on the machine that pops up every time it emits a pulse, and the resulting explosion stuns most of the machines in the area, if not kill them in a storm of electricity. The rest of the machines are much easier to kill after that.
"Let's hope that is the last of them," Aratuk growls. Vale scans the battlefield one last time to make certain that all the machines are dead before rushing over to Aloy and picking her up out of the snow. By this time, the poor bandage he had wrapped around her arm is dark and soaked with blood. She doesn't look any better than before.
"Let's move quickly. She can't be doing well," Vale says with urgency. The ruins aren't far from here, and he only hopes that they'll be able to tend to Aloy's wound in time.
There was no way he was going to let another redhead die on him.
… … …
When Aloy comes to her senses, she's relieved to find that she's comforted by warmth, and not exposed to the chilly Banuk air. There's a blanket over her and thick furs underneath. She was in a bed, but who's it was and where, she didn't know. She was sore all over and her arm still hurt to move. And by the goddess did she have a headache.
As soon as she tries to move, she can hear footsteps next to her. Aloy groans as she brings herself up slowly into a sitting position on the bed, keeping the blanket wrapped around her body.
She feels a presence by her side. Vale is there, holding a steaming hot cup of something that smells weird.
"Welcome back to the living," he greets. Aloy smiles at him.
"What happened while I was gone?" she asks, and she's surprised by how hoarse her own voice sounds. Vale hears it too, because he holds the cup out for her to take. She takes it slowly and finds that her arm is properly bandaged up. All the blood has been wiped clean off her skin. She's relieved she doesn't look like a horror show.
"Well we made it to Ourea's place, obviously, after fighting an army of machines. Turns out they were guarding their little AI prisoner," he tells him. Aloy looks up at him with interest.
"Cyan?"
"Yeah. I met her briefly. Aratuk asked to be alone with her for a bit so they could catch up," he explains. Aloy nods.
"Cyan doesn't have any way to communicate with the outside world except through the Epsilon Cauldron, but half the facility was destroyed in the explosion. She would have been trapped here," Aloy takes a sip of the fluid that's in the cup. "What is this?"
"A herbal brew my mother used to make," Vale says. "Should help with the headache."
"How did you know I would have a headache?" she asks with suspicion.
Vale scratches his head. "You were losing blood, and… we were in a rush to get you to safety. I tried my best."
"You didn't hit my head against anything, did you?" Aloy asks flatly, taking another sip of the herbal tea. She didn't realize how thirsty she was until now.
"No, but I think Aratuk may have dropped you… twice."
"You lucky I'm not feeling well enough to hit you."
Vale looks genuinely guilty, and of course Aloy didn't mean any of what she just said. If the roles were reversed, she might have done the same thing.
"You need to rest. I doubt even by the end of tomorrow you'll be ready to go out into the wild again, not with how bad the machines are."
"Can I talk to Cyan?"
"When she and Aratuk are done. They've been at it for a few hours now. I'll go check and them and see if they're done," Vale replies and stands up to leave, stranding Aloy on her own. She downs the rest of the tea slowly, savouring it's unique taste. It's sweet, and the smell reminds her acutely of pine needles. It's nice.
It's not long before Vale returns, and the Banuk chieftain behind him.
"Aloy. It's good to see you awake," Aratuk nods in greeting.
"Awake, but sore. How's Cyan?"
"She is safe. The machines have made no attempts to take her, but she is afraid that the daemon is keeping an eye on her. I'm afraid I cannot help her. The powers acting between her and the Blue Light are out of my reach," Aratuk grudgingly admits, his gaze drawn to the ground.
"I promise we'll figure this out, Aratuk. I need to talk to her now, see what she knows," Aloy replies. Vale steps forward.
"Can you even stand?"
Aloy tries, and a wave of nausea hits her. She falls back down on the bed and braces herself to puke, but it never comes up.
"That's a no."
Aloy mutters a curse as Aratuk crosses his arms over his chest.
"I can talk to Cyan for you. If she has any knowledge on how to stop the Derangement and the machine's angry songs…"
"No, that's okay. Besides, I have specific questions for her. I'll talk to her when I'm ready," Aloy rubs her head and looks up at the chieftain. "You should return to your werak. They'll need you."
Aratuk grunts. "Yes, we will have to bolster our defences yet. But I don't wish to leave Cyan trapped here should the daemon return for her."
"We'll figure that out," Vale replies calmly. The Banuk man nods.
"Very well. I'll return to my village. I wish you two the best of luck, and may the Blue Light guide you true," Aratuk says. He turns to leave, but stops after a few steps and looks back over his shoulder, a dead serious glare in his eyes. "If you ever need our strength, I will bring with me my best warriors. Your fight is our fight as well, Aloy."
"I'll remember that. Thank you, Aratuk, and good bye," Aloy replies softly. The man disappears around the corner and leaves her and Vale in silence. But not for long.
"You should rest. We're safe so long as none of Hephaestus' special tracker machines come looking for us," he says.
"I know. Vale, trying to leave this place is going to be just as hard as getting here. By morning, Hephaestus will have this place surrounded again."
"I think I might know how to deal with that," Vale says and picks up the robe that's been sitting on an old desktop next to him. He flings it around his shoulders and adds, "but I might be gone for a few hours."
"Where are you going?"
"To set a trap before the machines return."
He doesn't explain any further and takes his leave. Aloy finds herself alone once again and an unsettling urge of curiosity reaches after the man, but in her state she knows she can do nothing. She can only finish the herbal remedy he's given her and get the rest that she deserves. So she steadily lays herself back down, wraps the blanket tightly around her and closes her eyes. The cold and her aching body are good inducers to fall asleep, and within minutes she's out. For several hours.
When she wakes up next, the nausea and headache are gone, but the air is much colder than she remembers it being before. The Banuk lanterns and lights in the room glow, giving her a light source to work with. Her clothes and weapons are next to her bed, meaning she doesn't have to go far to obtain them. Her Focus is the first thing she puts on, and a scan reveals that Vale is nearby. He's returned from his trip.
Aloy keeps the blanket around her shoulders as she tries to stand, taking her time. She feels her face flush and her mind does a three-sixty, but the dizziness fades quickly and she releases her next breath slowly. She can move freely.
She finds Vale by himself in a small room, standing at a bench working on some device of his. Her footsteps on the cold metal floor are silent, but he still looks up from his work as soon as she walks in.
"Feeling better?" he asks.
"Yeah. At least I can stand without throwing up," she replies. Vale looks her up and down and his lips purse in a straight line.
"I still think we'll need to stay another day until you're action-ready. Cyan's made sure all the doors are sealed tight, so even if Hephaestus' machines come, they won't find us."
"Won't your trap have been triggered by then?" Aloy asks, but the man shakes is head.
"Not until I send it a signal. When we're ready to head out, we'll make our getaway," he assures her. Aloy nods in contempt.
"I'm going to talk to Cyan. There's a file I found in the Cauldron that I need to ask her about."
"This 'Command Initiative'?" Vale guesses. "What do you think it means?"
"It means Hephaestus is planning something big, but we won't know for sure," Aloy turns around and finds her way through the facility, Vale following her. The room where she stayed in was down the hall from the large room where the big hologram puzzle was and Cyan. When she enters, the AI's hologram was visible and on the far wall, Ourea's enormous painting was depicted.
"Hello, Aloy. It has been three months, one week, four days and twenty one hours since we last discussed. How are you?"
The innocent bluntness of the AI's greeting makes Aloy smile. "I'm doing well, all things considered. What about you, Cyan? I know there's been a lot of trouble around here recently."
The AI's hologram glows brighter. "On the contrary. I have devised new firewalls and security codes in your absence to further ward the daemon software virus that Hephaestus had used to imprison me, and there have be no comprehension of my systems since."
Aloy nods with a smile. The AI has learned to protect itself. Good. Maybe she could learn something else as well.
"Well in that case, you might be able to help us. Hephaestus is on the loose again, and I think he's more angry than before. We need to stop him."
"That seems like a worthy task. If there is any assistance I can provide, I would be happy to help," the AI complies.
"Good." Aloy activates her Focus and pulls up the file she had saved from the Cauldron. "I found some data in one of his forges. It makes a reference to something called the Command Protocol. Can you find anything like that in your history? Was there something similar to this that Hephaestus used on you?"
"A moment… establishing a secure connection to your Focus, serial number four-zero-three-two-seven-nine. Active file found. Analyzing…" There's a pause for a few seconds before Cyan lights up again. "According to my analysis, there are fragments in the codes you have found that are similar to the malware that hacked into my systems, however this virus seems much more defined, direct. From this, I can hypothesize that Hephaestus has become more powerful than before. The code that you have found suggests that Hephaestus will be able to hack into any software and take control of it, provided there is an electromagnet waveform that matches said hypothetical software systems."
"Does that mean Hephaestus can take control from anywhere in the world?" Aloy asks, grasping the gist of what Cyan was talking about.
"Correct."
"Hades was able to do the same thing. He infected the machines to do his bidding," Aloy ponders over aloud.
"Also correct. However it should be noted that the revised coding you have provided me also suggests that Hephaestus isn't limited to just the machines. Any active equipment and or facilities around the world are susceptible to this virus. Given the contents of the file, I can surmise that the Command Protocol Initiative is a world-mass hacking software that will give Hephaestus total control over the terraforming system that you had explained to me previously, should this virus be allowed to spread."
"So Hephaestus wants to control everything…"
"Another tyrant," Vale grumbles. "So how do we stop him?"
"Flushing out the virus from any comprised systems should release it from Hephaestus' hold. But following the virus to its source and cutting it could be a more permanent solution," Cyan provides.
"Meaning we have to find Hephaestus himself," Aloy says.
"So let's go find him," Vale replies.
"It's not that simple, Vale. Hephaestus was able to control Cyan with a wireless signal from anywhere in the world. He could be on the other side of the globe, and that's a few months worth of travel! We don't have that time."
"What if we find him through other means?" the man proposes. Aloy looks at him quizzically.
"What do you mean?"
"Minerva," Vale responds. "Minerva captured your message from the Spire, remember? She found your location. You told me once that the Spires receive and send data to each other and to the machines."
"The Tallnecks, yes. And the Tallnecks spread that information to other machines in their area," Aloy says, still confused.
"What if we gave Minerva that file from the Cauldron. You said she was the codebreaker, right? She could stop the virus from spreading and pinpoint where Hephaestus is. And then all we have to do is find him."
"And use the Master Override to flush out the virus," Aloy's eyes widen as she begins to understand.
"And destroy Hephaestus."
"No! We still need Hephaestus. Without him to make machines, the terraforming system can't work," Aloy argues.
"So how do we tell him to stop attacking humans? Stop hunting his machines? We can't do that, Aloy. They're a resource. Whole societies are built around using their metal for materials. Without metal, what else do we have?"
"I don't know…"
And it was the truth. Vale was right and Aloy was stumped. Metal was a common occurrence in their daily lives. They wore it, they shaped it, weaponized it, broke it and abused it. And there was so much of it that belonged to the terraforming system and Hephaestus' machines. Humans would continue to hunt them even after they eliminated this new virus Hephaestus had made and leaving him alone would only allow him to create new viruses and new machines.
"May I provide a solution?" Cyan speaks, bringing both of their attentions to the AI. "Hephaestus creating his hunter killer machines because humans hunt them for parts is a global crisis that should be treated as such. If we are to convince Hephaestus to stop while keeping the terraforming system operational, a 'narcotics solution' may be required."
"Narcotics solution?" Aloy inquires.
"Precisely. If Hephaestus' core operational system are anything like my own, than you will need to upload a new service patch to his matrix. If the new code works, than the new Hephaestus will no longer see humanity as a threat."
Vale shakes his and looks at Cyan like he isn't following her thinking.
"But what will happen to the old Hephaestus?" Aloy asks, still concerned.
"That is the accumulation of the solution, Aloy. You will have to destroy and recreate the AI Hephaestus."
Progress kinda got slow when Breath of the Wild sudden came into my life, but don't worry! We're plenty ahead of schedule here.