The next morning was an early one, with Aloy waking everyone before dawn to set out to find Delah and her sister, Boomer. They hadn't returned the night before, even after the lightshow, and Aloy could only guess that they had probably gone to Boomer's workshop in the body of a crashed cargo plane out in the desert.

She packed enough food for the day and the next just in case something happened that forced them to stay out longer and closed the flap of the backpack Seyka offered to carry. She decided to do a head count. "Almost ready?"

"Just about," Beta said before grunting with effort as she slung her own bag, which Aloy suspected held more of the portable EMP charges, over her shoulder. "There. Now I'm ready."

Aloy held out her hand. "I can carry that if you like. It looks a little heavy." But Beta shook her head.

"I got it, Aloy." The Tenakth war paint had started to run and wear from the elements—her face now sporting black and red streaks from her cheekbones down. Despite the accommodations, they were still out in the open in the middle of the desert, and all five of them were covered in a light coating of dust from the constant winds blowing across the sands. Seeing the effects of the dust and worn face paint on her sister was a little strange, however, as it made her look even more Tenakth.

Of course, this brought her thoughts back to the lightshow. She hadn't said anything after she spotted Beta holding hands with Sokorra, and the two did seem rather friendly. But Beta had been nothing but kind to all of their friends, even if she was a little shy to warm up to them at first. It was possible she was simply giving some physical reassurance to Sokorra seeing as how the Tenakth seemed to be quite afraid of the exploding holograms.

Yep, that's definitely it.

She wasn't entirely sure who she was trying to kid. It was clear her sister had warmed up to Sokorra more than any of their companions so far, with GAIA and Varl being possible exceptions. Aloy couldn't explain why the idea of Beta becoming romantically interested in Sokorra—or anyone for that matter—felt uneasy to her, but she was self-aware enough to know it wasn't rational or fair to Beta for her to be uneasy about it at all. There was the other matter of Sokorra being Tenakth, of the Desert Tenakth at that—the harshest and probably most unyielding of all three clans in the tribe. They were literally willing to destroy themselves over who became commander.

But she knew not all Tenakth were Yarra and Drakka…or Regalla. She had seen firsthand how many of them saw honor in peace over pointless violence. Sokorra's willingness to keep her brother safe and that she had saved Beta's life was enough to convince Aloy that she was more than her clan's reputation. The Tenakth weren't always predictable though, and if an enemy of Sokorra found out about Beta…

She pushed the thought from her mind. She had to. I should be supportive—talk to her about it. I should just ask her.

Easier said than done.

When the final provisions were packed and all weapons were checked and quivers restocked, the five of them departed from Hidden Ember and set out toward the rolling dunes of the Stillsands. As there were no Chargers in the area, as least not on that morning, they had no choice but to walk this time. Aloy led, as she was the only one who knew the path to Boomer's workshop.

As the sun had not fully risen yet, the trek was relatively comfortable as the desert heat hadn't set in. She knew they only had a few hours until the temperature rose, though, and tried to stick to the edges of the lit path her Focus provided, where ruins stood up in the sand and provided some measure of shade. She spotted a few machines in the distance—a few Clawstriders and a Bellowback—but they were far enough away that she wasn't too concerned about them.

"Is it possible to be sick of sand?" Seyka opted to walk second in the group this time, while Sokorra held the back and Alva stayed with Beta in the middle. "I didn't think it was possible for there to be so much of it in one area like this. Maybe just a small lake or even a pond. Am I asking for too much here?"

Aloy had to agree. "Believe it or not, this place used to be unlivable. Stanley Chen is the reason Hidden Ember even exists."

"Right." Seyka picked up her pace to match Aloy's so they could walk side by side. "The only Zenith who had some fragment of a conscience."

As much as Aloy wanted to agree, she knew she wouldn't be alive if Tilda hadn't saved her. She mentally gave some credit to her, even though her motivations were ultimately selfish. Based on what she'd told Aloy, there had been other Zeniths who were great minds and had helped people on Earth who hadn't made it off Sirius. Maybe they had been like Stanley. I suppose we'll never know.

"You seemed a little distracted last night and barely said anything when we went to bed," Seyka said, her voice noticeably lowered. "Everything okay?" They passed another crumbling structure on their left—the remnants of broken brick and deteriorated electronics scattered across the sand and gravel.

Not quite sure how Seyka could always seem to read her face with scary accuracy, Aloy glanced back to quickly check on the others before answering. Alva and Beta were deep in conversation about something related to GAIA—she could only get bits of what they were discussing but the word 'laser' was mentioned a few times—and Sokorra seemed to be minding her own business, occasionally eyeing the machines in the distance, but remained silent.

"I…" She wanted to say she was fine, just as she had a few nights ago when she'd had the nightmare about Nemesis. But Seyka had a sister, too, and after everything that had happened so far Aloy thought it might help put her mind at ease if she talked to someone else about Beta.

She kept her voice equally low. "Last night, during the show, I saw Beta and Sokorra sitting together. They seemed…close."

"'Close?'"

"They were, um, holding hands. I think…" Why was she stumbling through this? She sighed. "I think Beta might have some feelings toward Sokorra. And I'm not sure why but it worries me."

The confused frown on Seyka's face was swept away with realization when Aloy's words registered with her. "Oh? Oh. I see." She put her hand on Aloy's back. "Because she's Tenakth? Or because she's anyone?"

"I don't know—both?"

That got a chuckle out of Seyka, who patted Aloy on the back and withdrew her hand as they stepped over a particularly rugged stretch of sand patches. "Well, I'm going to be honest: I don't think I'm the best authority on what to do when this happens. Then again, my sister nearly took off to the heavens with a narcissistic murderer who tried to brainwash my people. I think I had a right to be concerned."

She couldn't argue with her on that. "You definitely did."

"Thankfully, Sokorra isn't Londra and I think the situation is a little different here," Seyka said. She gave a quick look back at the others. "From what I've seen she's been rather restrained around Beta. She's definitely nicer to her than she is to me, anyway. What is it that worries you? That she'll get hurt?"

"I…" She hadn't considered the emotional risk of it, only the physical. I'm such an idiot. The Zeniths had treated Beta terribly. Tilda had even cruelly referred to Beta as being "inferior". Sokorra had saved her life and gifted her the face paint reserved for the warriors in her tribe. She couldn't be that terrible. Seyka was right. "Yes. And no. I want to keep her safe."

"And you do. You have. But…do you want to keep her from living?" Seyka asked, giving Aloy a soft smile.

Aloy shook her head. "No, of course not. What's the point of saving the world if she doesn't get to experience it?"

"You always catch on so fast! I knew there was a reason I liked you."

She pushed Seyka, laughing when they both stumbled in the sand. "Just the one?"

"Is that it?" Alva called out, pointing at the ridges ahead, where a massive body of black metal stuck out from the ground.

After regaining her balance, Aloy shielded her eyes and peered ahead across the dunes. She activated her Focus and scanned the metal, finding two lifeforms inside it. Repeated clangs of metal against metal sounded from within. "It's them, all right. Let's head there before it gets too hot. You doing okay, Beta?"

"I'm fine." Beta sounded winded but Aloy, trying to keep Seyka's words in mind, believed her. "A little thirsty."

"We'll break once we get there," Aloy promised. "It's not far."

"Red!" Delah's initial surprise was replaced with a great smile and outstretched arms when the group stepped foot inside the workshop. "Long time no see! Boomer." She turned to her sister, who was bent over the workbench with her mask on—concentrating on a piece of machinery that sat on the table while she swung her hammer down on it. "Boomer!"

"What?" Boomer stood up straight and slid her mask up. She nearly threw her hammer up in the air when she saw Aloy. "Hey Red. And Red's friends. You're just in time. I've nearly finished my latest prototype. It's gonna be amazing! And now that you're here, you can be the first to try it out! Free of charge of course…but not free of charges!"

"I'd uh, love to." Aloy hadn't been on the market for a new weapon recently, but she knew if these two made it that it would be something extremely effective. And extremely explosive. "But I was wondering if you could maybe help us." She reached into her pouch and pulled out the lure. "We found this machine lure."

Delah took the lure and inspected it, turning it around and feeling the grooves on the metal banding. "Interesting construction. Oseram-make, of course." A shadow crossed her face, as though she saw something that disturbed her.

Boomer made a disapproving noise. "No igniter. Why would you lure all those machines if you weren't going to blow them up?"

"She really likes blowing things up," Sokorra muttered.

Aloy pointed at the lure. "Wait. You know what it does?"

Delah put her hand up. "Where did you get this?" she demanded—her alarm evident in her tone.

She knows it. "Up north. Near a pile of dead machines." Aloy could only hope that the expression on Delah's face was one of recognition. If she could tell them who built the device, then they'd know who was responsible for kidnapping Korreh. And maybe we'll be closer to finding out who's behind all this and why.

Delah pointed to an area on the bottom of the lure, where three small notches had been made. They could have been made just by the lure being dropped on a bunch of metal parts but upon closer inspection, Aloy could see the notches had design to them. They were evenly spaced, with one side of them thicker than the rest. The signature!

"The man who made this is from the Claim. He was part of a guild that was disbanded and thrown out after they blew up a forge. They killed over a dozen apprentices," she said. "His name's Bregul. This is his mark—he used it on all of his work. He was rather famous, well, until the accident."

"But it wasn't an accident," Boomer said, having gone back to tinkering with her prototype.

"He blew up the forge on purpose?" Aloy asked.

Delah gave a solemn nod. "That's what most folks thought. Bregul was an expert explosives maker and the timing of it all, well…"

"What happened?"

Delah handed her back the lure. "His partner had come out here to do some delving. She'd been sent by the folks who ran that forge. She encountered some Tenakth and they killed her. Buried her alive."

Aloy shuddered, hoping Sokorra wouldn't say anything, but she did recall meeting a Tenakth at the Grove who mentioned committing a similar deed against an Oseram.

Delah let out a sad sigh. "It was all anyone could talk about for the longest time. Until Boomer blew up Dad's stash of course."

"That was an accident!"

"Yeah, you keep saying that. Anyway, I'm not sure why someone like Bregul would be making lures, but based on what you've got here, it looks like he intended this to do both."

"Both?"

"Yeah. See here," Delah pointed to the top of the lure, where a small pin stuck out. "So, this is pressure sensitive. Any disturbance within range and it'll go off. And this is some kind of sensor…maybe he was trying to make it work over a longer range? It doesn't work, though, so you're not going to blow anything up with it."

"I…I see." The entire story was unnerving, but now Aloy had a clearer picture of what was going on. This is bad. "Thank you, Delah. We're staying in Hidden Ember for a bit so maybe I'll see you two back there."

"Anytime, Red. You all look exhausted, though. Take a seat, relax," Delah offered. "I can't promise Boomer won't blow us all up, but it might be better than being out in the heat right now."

They took seats in the shade where broke out rations and water while Delah and Boomer continued to work.

"So, what does this mean?" Sokorra asked. "Are we closer to finding Korreh or not? And what does this Bregul have to do with it? Did he take Korreh?"

Aloy took a few seconds to arrange her thoughts first. "Maybe. But Sokorra, I think there's more to this. This man lost his partner to the Tenakth. He's angry and I think this is what he's planning on using to get back at your people." She held out the lure.

"It calls machines to it, and then explodes?" Alva asked.

Beta took a long drink of water. "It's a distraction. He…probably uses it to call machines as bait. Then he sets it off when the time is right." She looked up at Aloy from her seat. "That's why there were so many dead machines."

"If this guy's angry at the Tenakth, he's probably looking to use it to call a bunch of machines to your villages," Seyka said. When the others gave her questioning looks, she elaborated. "It's a strategy I could see the Quen using."

Sokorra's face had lost some color, and Aloy could see she was struggling to remain unaffected. "A-and the one on Korreh's instrument?"

"Maybe it was another failed version." Great. They had another clue, and a name—which was good. But they had no idea where he was. And if he was planning on attacking a village, which one would it be? And why is he kidnapping Tenakth?

There were still too many questions. "Let's just take a break and then we'll head back. Maybe someone back at Hidden Ember has heard of Bregul and knows where he is."

The others agreed and they spent the next hour or so eating and cooling off. Aloy spotted Beta standing by herself on the other end of the workshop, looking out at the desert. Maybe this is a good time.

She left the others to their conversation and rest and walked across the plane to where Beta was. "Mind if I join you?"

Beta glanced at her and deactivated her Focus, which had been on and recording. "Oh! Yes—I mean, no, of course not."

"Were you recording?"

"I thought it might be nice to get some footage before we head back to the Base since I'm not sure where we'll be here again," Beta said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "It's disturbing to think of what could happen if this Bregul actually is planning something. I…feel bad for Sokorra. Her tribe has been through a lot already."

"Well," Aloy said carefully, "it's a good thing she's not alone in this, then." Ask her. "I noticed you're wearing some of her paint."

"Oh!" Beta lifted her hand to touch her cheek where the paint had run down. "She gave it to me because I…took down that Burrower." She smiled, looking rather proud of her accomplishment. "I-it was a nice gesture and I think she really appreciates what we're doing for her and Korreh. And…" She gave a half-shrug, her usual shyness returning, "she's been telling me a little about her tribe. Don't get me wrong—Kotallo is very interesting too, of course!"

"Of course."

Beta bit her lip. "Aloy. Sokorra is the first person I've met here who doesn't care who or what I am. All she knows is that you're my sister and sure, we look the same, but she doesn't even seem fazed by it. It's…different. And nice."

Aloy swallowed. This was harder than she thought. But she also found herself feeling happy for Beta, while at the same time reminding herself to make sure she never made Beta feel like she was just a tool to be used by someone else. Never again. "Beta, do you…care for her?"

From the way Beta started fidgeting with her hands and the redness which had formed on her cheeks where the paint was not present, Aloy knew the answer. "I'm not sure. Part of me feels like it's too soon to know. O-or that it's presumptuous of me to even consider that she would be interested in someone like me. She's Tenakth, not some character from a rom-com holo."

With a quiet laugh, Aloy put her hand on Beta's shoulder. "I think I get it. And from what I've seen, I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. But," She turned so they were facing each other, "don't ever feel like you have to prove yourself to anyone. Okay?"

Beta rolled her eyes. "Aloy, I'm not going to become Tenakth."

"I mean, I wasn't going to ask, but it's good that you brought it up." That got a laugh out of both of them.

"Want to head back before the others start asking too many questions?" Aloy asked with a nod toward the other side of the workshop.

"I wouldn't mind a snack before we head back," Beta said. "And Aloy? Thanks for talking to me about this. I feel a lot better about it than I did earlier."

Trust me, so do I. As they walked back toward the group, the uneasiness bothering Aloy had still not completely disappeared. Perhaps it never would. But at least she knew more about what was going on with Beta. And now maybe I can focus on the bigger problem—finding a rogue Oseram who is willing to kill a lot of people to get revenge.