As the snapmaw's systems finally shutdown, I checked an errand off in my mind. Another minor good deed done for the day.
Frankly, I doubt that - you don't really put any precedence or significance on any one good act.
Yeah right - I do put some good acts above others.
Name one.
How about saving your (rather attractive) ass?
...Awe, you look so cute when you're flustered.
Say one more word and I'm using you to make Rocky Mountain oysters.
Hit a nerve, did I?
Yes.
Ok, I'll drop it. Also, do you think we can go back to normal now?
You mean talking normal?
Yeah - moving and reacting faster than humans can perceive is annoying.
But it's so much fun.
Yeah, but I want to quit it before our company starts asking questions. And before you ask why you should listen to my orders, would Celm approve of them asking questions about who you work for?
…..Fine.
As senses returned to their normal reaction rates, I observed Zoe practically gushing over Aloy's takedown of the snapmaw, utterly failing to contain her ecstasy at the Seeker's skills. Aloy was rather embarrassed by this, since she'd never really had anyone praise her for, well, anything at any point in her life, to the exclusion of Rost, who'd elected not to journey with us. This was Aloy's journey, not his, and he had taught her all he could.
After Zoe finally burnt out her seemingly endless reserves of energy, we made out way back to Daytower, so as to collect our reward from Balahn. From there, we were to continue our journey toward the City of the Sun, Meridian.
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Said journey took up quite a bit of time, time that had me pondering many things.
Not for the first time, I considered bringing my commander here. It would certainly make things quite a bit easier for me. I'd have my most effective fabber on hand, and could produce a fully functional base in a matter of minutes. The added firepower would also be nice. And of course, the full power of my hacking systems would make neutering HADES and the Eclipse a trivial matter. Yet despite this, I wasn't keen on bringing in my commander. My previous encounters with the Commander Defense System had proven that strength of tech-nomming and numbers could only go so far. Sometimes, what mattered were not material things - technology, armor, firepower, and physique - but the spiritual ones, like magic, willpower, and empathy. And these were things that required me to experience things for myself, outside my commander shell.
Funny how I'd come to that conclusion after going to Warframe. Guess that was just how things were.
Of course, my hub had been abuzz with activity - Alad had been working with the science teams day and night to study the convergence portals, as well as the magnetic anomalies (which weren't like the ones I'd encountered in the Origin System) whilst Kathikon had taken it upon herself to start adding in combat simulations that factored in all of the HEPHAESTUS machines I'd encountered so far, as well as the ones Coeus had fought during the FARO Plague. I'd already started testing my force against them so as to see which ways of overwhelming them would be most efficient, since if HADES actually woke up the FARO Plague, time would equal lives.
Another issue was also popping up, though - apparently, some of the people from Cetus were asking if they could visit Zero Dawn Earth for the purpose of trading. There were others who were asking, but the Ostrons had been the ones to do it first, and they weren't exactly inclined to stop asking, despite the obvious issues trading between universes might present, particularly if one universe was significantly lacking technology wise compared to the other.
Reluctantly, I decided to agree with the Ostron request, as well as the others made, and began setting up plans for allowing the first party to arrive in this universe - I'd ordered Coeus to move in some fabbers to start working on a small portal, but that would take some time - time I'd spend travelling to Meridian, doing some errands for Aloy, and getting lessons in Sophistication from Viv.
Excuse me?
I want to avoid making a fool of myself in front of Avad, and you seem fairly knowledgeable in the ways of nobility, so...please teach me how to act sophisticated?
Sure. But don't ask me to pretend to be your betrothed.
And if Avad wonders if you are available, seeing how he seems to prefer strong women?
...Fair enough. I rescind my previous request.
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Days passed, but we eventually reached Meridian. From there, things played out much like canon, with our group being halted until Erend showed up, glad to see that Aloy was still alive, and after hearing about what the Seeker had to say about the Proving Massacre (well, Attempted Massacre), he allowed her to check the apartment of one of his own, Olin Delverson. That ended up leading us to an excavation site where Olin was being forced to help the Eclipse raise the dormant forms of two corruptors.
The fight that followed was a trivial affair, in no small part because the Eclipse found their Focuses disabled by a third party (whom I knew as Sylens), allowed us to make short work of both them and the corrupters. Olin, however, was spared, at least for the moment - Aloy wanted to know what he knew about the Proving Incident. He was completely honest with her, unsurprisingly - he knew that what he had done wasn't really something that could be easily forgiven, though with his family as hostages, he didn't exactly have the option to back out. He honestly didn't seem to be afraid of dying, only wishing that Aloy would rescue his family after his death.
As he finished his piece, I glanced at Aloy. The girl was clearly conflicted on what to do - Olin's actions had brought death and suffering unto the Nora, and severely strained relations between the Nora and the Carja, but he'd done so out of a desire to protect his family, and all good parents put their families beyond themselves.
Well, maybe I should help her make that choice. Just this once.
"Let him go."
"..What?" questioned Olin, obviously surprised at the offer of mercy.
"..Why?" asked Aloy, though not accusingly. She earnestly wanted to hear my reasoning.
"He has done much wrong, but he was coerced, and he knows the consequences of his actions. If he dies, than he can do no more, but if he lives to see another day, perhaps he can make amends for some of his crimes."
Aloy pondered what I had said for a moment, before sighing. "You have point."
Then she turned to Olin. "It will take many good deeds to make up for the crimes you've committed."
After that, the conversation went on mostly as expected, though when I looked at my companions, I could see Geralt nodding at me. Guess he approved.
Also, I was getting an alert from Fide: the micro portal was complete, and the first Ostron trading group had made its way through.
Great. Now to rescue Olin's family.
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Said rescue took only a few minutes at most, seeing how we had a squad's worth of badassess and the Eclipse forces were just mooks. Olin's reunion with his wife and son was rather cute, and his gratitude to Aloy and us was much appreciated.
As we readied to leave, though, I received a proximity alert.
Followed by the telltale sounds of a corruptor.
Immediately, Olin and his family retreated into the homestead his wife and son had been held in whilst we readied for battle.
When the sounds of gunfire occurred, though, I was left puzzled - what could be challenging the corruptor.
Then I got another proximity alert, this time for friendly forces.
Then I heard a familiar roar, followed by the sound of something big jumping into the air.
A moment later, and the corruptor landed on the ground, followed by the shape of a carnosaur, which somehow pulled off a goomba stomp on the poor machine, before turning to me and giving a quizzical tilt.
Examining the alert further, I found myself looking slightly to the right of the giant dinosaur, where, sure enough, I found a group of Ostrons..and a couple of skinks.
….Oh joy. I have some explaining to do.
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AN: Flame and Viv, snarking to hell and back.
For those wondering, Rocky Mountain Oysters are friend Bull's Testicles.
Anyway, gonna try and focus on some of my other stories after this, so expect the pace to slow down a bit.
Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!