The interior of the lab has odds and ends, along with a lot of books either on shelves or stacked about haphazardly. In one corner there is a Sheikah Stone like on the top of the Sheikah Towers. But it is the people living here that hold Aloy and Link's attention, a man standing in the back in front of a shelf busy with a book and a little girl facing them while standing upon a square stool next to a table. As they are Sheikah, they are both dressed as such, and have white hair. Though the little girl also wears round glasses with points lining their tops, a black frilly miniskirt, black boots, a gold color device in the form of a ribbon in her hair with blue lights in it. She also has a backpack with a flute stuck into and is dark around her eyes. The little girl has an expression that seems to be both serious and frivolous.
"Hello. This is the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab," the little girl said. Even her tone seems to suggest both seriousness and frivolousness, like a child determined to be serious but failing at it. "Do you have some business with the director?"
"Are you talking about that guy over there?" Aloy asked as she gestures at him.
"Yes, that's the director over there," the little girl answered. "A terribly busy person, that one. Please try to keep it brief."
They walk past the little girl and up to the director in question.
I wonder where the old woman is? Aloy pondered inwardly. Probably upstairs. And that little girl didn't say anything about my ears.
The man turns to greet them. He has a goatee and is also wearing glasses as well.
"Hello," he said. "I imagine you've never seen so many books in one place. Pretty incredible, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it is," Aloy said, noting that Meridian also has such a collection as well, at least from what she had heard.
"We've gathered all of Hyrule's known literature on ancient civilizations here," the Sheikah man said. "As for the actual number of books, well . . . Hmmm?" As he looks downward on Link. "Is that . . . That thing on your waist? Is that a Sheikah . . . There's no mistaking it." As his tone turns to awe. "That's a real Sheikah Slate, isn't it?! I've never actually seen one in person! If you could just show me the runes on it, I'd be most appreciative."
Link takes out the Slate and hands it to the man. He takes it and begins searching through it.
"Stasis," he noted. "Ah. Magnesis . . . Yes, yes. The Remote Bomb and Cryonis . . . And what else? Let's see . . . So that's it for runes . . . But . . . Hmmm . . . Strange."
"What's strange?" Aloy asked.
"It doesn't seem like it has the basic runes," the Sheikah man said while studying the Slate. "I don't understand why they're missing. There must be some reason . . . Ah! Where are my manners?" His tone embarrassed as he looks up to regard the duo. "I nearly forgot to introduce myself! My name is Symin. You are . . . Link and Aloy, right?"
"You know our names?" Aloy winced curiously.
"Lady Impa caught me up to speed," Symin said. "You see . . . we were told, 'A young man holding a Sheikah Slate will appear, accompanied by a young woman with tiny round ears."
Aloy touches both of her ears on a reflex as she now understands that the girl did notice her ears, but chose to keep quiet about it.
"He will be the hope that awakens from the Slumber of Restoration and she will come from another world to help him. His name will be Link and her name will be Aloy," Symin continued, then gasps as if realizing something. "Oh, dear! I forgot to tell you something very important. Director!" As he called past them with wonderment. "Listen, Ms. Director! This is a real Sheikah Slate!"
"Director?" Aloy grimaced in surprise behind her, as had Link, at the little girl.
"Oh, that's right," Symin winced with embarrassment. "I haven't introduced our director. Ms. Purah happens to be right over there." As he gestures with an open hand at the little girl. "As the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab director, Ms. Purah is the world's foremost authority on ancient Hyrule culture."
"Check it!" Purah exclaimed proudly as she flashes horn gestures with both hands.
"I have the utmost respect for Ms. Purah and all she's accomplished. I'm honored to be her assistant. On that note, Link . . . You see, the director may look like a young girl, but . . . Well . . . maybe it's not my place to be telling you these things. You should talk to Ms. Purah heself."
Aloy and Link look back at the little girl named Purah who actually turns out to be in charge of the place. They look at each other with bemused expressions, then walk up to Purah.
"Hey! Heeeey! Are you surprised?" Purah exclaimed with a squeal. "The director of this laboratory is NOT Symin. It's ME! Snappity snap!" As she makes that horned gesture. "Anywaaay. Linky! Do you remember any dreams from your time in the Slumber of Restoration? You don't look like you've changed a bit in the last one hundred years, but SOMETHING must have happened in all that time! Well, no matter! I'm just happy you're still in one piece."
"Um, how would Link know you if he's been asleep for a hundred years?" Aloy sneered. "What are you, six years old?"
"Excuse me, stubby ears, but I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Linky! Wait your turn!" Purah stated curtly while doing an arms akimbo, looking adorable while doing so. "Now then, Linky. Where were we . . . ? Linky? What's with that look? You do still remember me, right?"
Link admits that he does not remember Purah.
"Really?!" Purah exclaimed with bewilderment. "Well! I'm so shocked I don't know if I'll ever be able to recover from this! Even though, one hundred years ago, I took you to the Shrine of Resurrection after Calamity Ganon fatally wounded you . . . Even though I was the one who put you safely into the Slumber of Restoration . . . Despite all that, you still don't remember me?"
"Okay, now this is getting ridiculous," Aloy stated in her sarcastic manner. "How could a six-year-old girl have lived for one hundred years?!"
Purah grumbles as she takes out a notebook and writes while saying aloud in a curt tone, "The girl with Linky not only has small round ears, but is also extremely rude and constantly interrupts others. Clearly she has never been taught proper manners. Noted!"
"And don't forget to write that you're delusional," Aloy said curtly.
Link holds up a hand to calm a potentially escalating situation, and tells Purah that he does not remember her.
"Hmm . . . As expected," Purah said as she starts writing in her notebook. "After one hundred years in the Slumber of Restoration, subject . . . has . . . lost . . . all . . . memories. Noted!" Then puts away her notebook and pen. "Oh, sooooory," Purah trilled. "I have a bad habit of taking notes rather abruptly like that. It's a charming quirk, isn't it?"
"More like annoying," Aloy said under her breath.
"Anyhoo," as Purah glares up at Aloy for an instant before looking sweetly at Link, "do you have any questions for me? Not you, stubby ears, because you're too rude." Turning her glare back up to Aloy for a moment.
Link cannot help but to whimsically ask if Purah is a child, causing Aloy to snicker.
"How very rude!" Purah squealed indignently. "Hm, or perhaps it's not rude at all." Her manner having suddenly turned thoughtful. "I suppose that's actually a rather logical conclusion to jump to. The truth is, I look this way because of a failed experiment. Well, I say 'failed' but . . . in some ways, it was a success. I documented the full affair in my diary upstairs. But!" As her tone turns serious yet comical. "The whole thing is embarrassing, so I insist you refrain from reading it! Anyway. Enough about that! Back to the topic at hand! Here you are, after one hundred years! Here to defeat Calamity Ganon, who is growing in strength with every passing moment! And to rescue our beloved Princess Zelda! That is, if you've got the courage to try. And to help the one true hero, I, the one and only Purah, will restore the basic functions missing from the Sheikah Slate! Aaaand what do you have to say to thaaaat, Linky?"
Link tells her yes.
"I knew you'd say that!" Purah squealed. "All right, then. First I need you to run an errand for me . . . What's with that look on your face! You didn't think I'd fix your Sheikah Slate for free, did you?"
Link tells her embarrassingly that he did, of which Aloy leans over to whisper to him, "I think I understand why that no soliciting sign is out there."
"Hmmm," as Purah takes out her notebook and pen once again to write, "Post Slumber of Restoration subject is plagued by . . . presumptuous . . . tendencies! Noted!" Then puts her notebook and pen away to regard Link once again. "Let me explain what this errand entails. You know the unlit furnace on the wall just outside this laboratory? Could you please bring the blue flame from the ancient furnace in town? Oh, and also use it to light our furnace? This sweet little Guidance Stone will start working once you do that," as she gestures to the apparatus of pedestal and crystal in the corner, "allowing us to restore your missing runes!"
"Huh," Purah next muttered. "I wonder if young women these days still say things like 'sweet' and 'little'? Ah, well. I suppose it doesn't matter anyway."
Young women?! Aloy mused inwardly.
"Ok then," Purah said cheerfully. "I'm counting on you for that blue flame! Oh and she can help you too." Adding that last comment with casual snideness.
They go back out the way they came and notice what looks like a large metal balloon with an eave over a holder that is meant to hold a flame near the door. Link then gets Aloy's attention as he points out the blue furnace off in the distance.
"That looks pretty far," Aloy said. "Do you have anything that makes a good torch, Link?"
He takes out a torch stick.
"That should do," Aloy said with approval. "But I doubt you need me to help you with that task."
Link nods, then takes out his paraglider and glides down the hill. Aloy turns toward the lab.
Now to do some reading. She thought with a sly grin. And I'm going to have to go up to do that.
Aloy takes a running start, jumps and clears her hands over the eave, and pulls herself up onto the roof. Lightly, she crosses the roof and goes up the winding stairs. She enters the first room she encounters, only to discover that it must be Symin's room as it has a practical appearance. Aloy leaves and continues up the stairs until she comes to the top to find another door that she opens to discover a room befitting of a child.
There, on a table is an open book. Aloy walks up to it and reads through it. She reads a documentation of how Purah discovered an anti-aging rune. At first it was hard on her when it was first used, then over a seven day period, she kept getting younger until she woke up one morning to discover that she now has the body of a six-year-old girl, and even mentions that she had left the building and was seen by one of the village children. All-in-all, Aloy is both amused and amazed that the six-year-old girl inside that lab is actually one hundred and twenty years old.
Aloy leaves and returns outside in time to see Link returning with a blue flame burning brightly on his torch. Aloy arrives at the roof and jumps down. Link stands there with a look that states, now just what sort of mischief were you up to? Of which Aloy tells him.
"It's true," Aloy snickered. "She's really one hundred and twenty years old, but she created a rune that reversed her aging . . . ! And now she's stuck with the body of a six-year-old!"
Link blinks in thought over this, then lights the furnace. A symbol on the ground in front of the double doors glows blue. He puts out his torch and they both return inside.
"Good morning!" Purah chirped. "Linky, thank you so much! Now then, take a look over there! The Guideance Stone must be starting to react!" As they can see that it now glows blue. "There's nothing mysterious about it-this is pure science! Heh . . . My sweet little Guidance Stone . . . you sure know how to make this old researcher's heart flutter! Well then . . . Let's go ahead and restore those Sheikah Slate runes for you! Give me a nice snap! Go on, no time to be shy about it!"
Link says a shallow snap as a question. "What he said," Aloy added.
"Hmm . . . That was pretty weak," Purah said in a somewhat disappointed tone, but her tone returns to its buoyancy. "But that's Okay. Hokay then, Sheikah Slate repair . . . underway! Guidance Stone lock removed! Now . . . let's do this thing!"
Link walks over to the pedestal and puts the Sheikah Slate into it. The pedestal turns the Sheikah Slate over and lies it flat. The Guidance Stone glows blue as lettering begins to flow down to the point where it condensces into a Sheikah Eye and finally a blue drop falls onto the Slate, making a splash. The pedestal releases the Sheikah Slate and Link takes it back.
"Aaaand . . . it's done!" Purah announced happily. "So?! Is it all fixed up now?!" As she extends her hand for Link to give her the Slate and Link complies. Purah examines the Slate intently. "Hmmm, lessee here . . . Which one is it . . . Camera, Hyrule Compendium, album . . . Yep, looks good!" As she hands it back to Link. "So I know this is sudden, but hear me out. Take a picture of me with the camera! Oh, and don't forget to lemme see it!"
Link brings up the camera mode on it and gets Purah into frame, then takes the picture. He saves the picture and shows Purah the picture of herself.
"Hm? My, who IS this beautiful young creature?"
"A one hundred and twenty-year-old woman," Aloy snickered.
"WHAT?!" Purah shrieked indignently. Her face turning red as she pouts furiously at Aloy, but it still looks so comically cute. "Now I understand! That was YOU I heard up on the roof wasn't it?!" As she jumps down off her pedestal and marches up to Aloy and glowers up at her, despite the top of her head being only level with Aloy's waist. "You went up those stairs, into MY room, and read MY diary!" Her tone rising with indignation until she is nearly screaming. "If your nose matched your curiosity, it'd be as long as a Moblin's!"
"Hey, you were the one who was rude to me," Aloy snapped. "Then you go on about how you knew Link from a hundred years ago. And then you talk about how you got this way and recorded it in your diary and didn't want anyone to read it. By saying that, it was a subtle way of wanting someone to read it. Otherwise, why mention your diary in the first place?"
Purah is struck silent.
"So you made an anti-aging rune that reversed your aging to the point of a little girl and are now stuck that way," Aloy continued. "Now you're trying to work on a rune that should counteract that."
Purah glares silently up at Aloy while clutching her fists and grumbling as she pouts, at a loss for words to say. Link gets her attention, snapping her out of her annoyance.
"Oh, I guess that's my cue!" Purah said as she turns to get back up on the stool and faces Link, then holds out her hand for his Sheikah Slate once again of which he gives. "Sorry, I kind of lost it there." As Purah goes back to searching through the Slate. "Hmmm . . . Ah, it's not just a pretty girl in these images. Yes, there are also some old landscape photos stored in the album. I knew Princess Zelda had made frequent use of the Camera feature, but this . . . Hey Linky! It dawns on me that you were Princess Zelda's appointed knight, which means . . . there's a strong possibility that you accompanied her to all of the places where these pictures were taken. Oh . . . right. The 'lost memory' thing could prove troublesome. But don't lose hope!" As she hands him back the Slate. "It just means these pictures could be the missing piece to help restore your lost memories! If my hunch is correct, I suggest you check in with Impa. She knows more about Princess Zelda than I ever do! Oh, yeah! There's just one more thing I need from you! You don't have to worry about this until after you see Impa, but I want you to bring me back some ancient materials! Bring them either to me or to Robbie at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. As if my joy weren't enough, if you bring us ancient materials, we'll give you something good as a reward. All right! Let's do this!"
Link and Aloy glance at one another, then back to Purah.
"Snap!" Purah exclaimed with a jump and a flash of the horned gestures. "Something on your mind?"
Link asks Purah who Robbie is.
"Robbie is my subordinate," Purah answered. "There, I said it. I think he's still up on the edge of Akkala researching Guardians . . . Haven't seen him in one hundred years, though. So who knows. Anything else?"
Link asks what something good means.
"Aha! I'm glad you asked! If you bring some ancient materials, I'll power up your runes. You'll need three ancient screws to power up your Sheikah Sensor. You'll need three ancient shafts to power up your Remote Bomb. You'll need three ancient cores to power up Stasis. If we're on the same page, stop staring at me!" Her tone now indignent. "Hurry up and bring me some ancient materials!"
"You got any of those things on you, Link?" Aloy asked.
Link searches his satchel and reveals what he has.
"Oh, you don't have enough of them," Purah said with disappointment as she crosses her arms. "Then I'll just have to tell you to get going and get your tasks done before you are to return to me. Now git!" Pointing ardently at the doors.
"There is something else that we want to know," Aloy said.
"Fine, what is it?" Purah rasped with a sigh.
"Can you have a glider like Link's created?"
Link takes his paraglider out to show.
"Hmmm," Purah mused while looking it over. "Nope. No can do."
"But I thought you were a genius?"
"When it comes to machines, I am," Purah explained as if talking to a child. "But when it comes to simpler stuff like Linky's glider, I may as well be a dummy."
"What about Symin?" Aloy asked.
"Hey, Symin! Can you make something like Linky's paraglider?" Purah called.
Symin stares at the paraglider. "No can do, I'm afraid," he finally answered.
"There? You satisfied now, stubby ears?" Purah said.
"Fine, I get it," Aloy sighed.
"Now Robbie might be able to help you with that," Purah said.
"And where was he again?"
"The Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. To get there you have to go toward Death Mountain, but take a path that leads away from it."
"Very well."
"So why are you and Linky still hanging around here when you have places to go and things to do?"
"Fine, we're going," Aloy grumbled as she turns to walk away, with Link following. Once outside, they look back over Hateno Village once again.
"So we now have to return to Impa," Aloy said, with Link verifying it so. "Then let's get going before sunset."
Link and Aloy walk down the hill and through the village. That is when Aloy ponders something aloud.
"I wonder how Impa got in contact with them before we showed up?"
Note:
I decided to have Link ignorant of the Sheikah Slate's warp feature.
