I found myself in an empty black void, a strange feeling overcoming me. A dream, I realized, though not one I was familiar with.

Slowly, the darkness turned into recognizable shapes: a bed, with a girl slumbering within. A moment of observation revealed it to be Vivian. Nearby, Celempheros was watching her, an inscrutable look on his face.

An image appeared above the slumbering progenitor's head - that of her battling the monster Celm had slain. As the version of her in the image was beaten down, the slumbering girl began to toss and turn, sweat slowly forming on her brow.

The image was her dream, I realized, though how I could see it, I did not know. What was clear, though, was that Celm also saw the image, for within moments he was at her side, right hand softly glowing. The minute he put it on her forehead, the tide in the dream battle changed. Slowly but surely, Vivian's imaginary form beat back its opponent, until at last the beast was slain. In the real world, Viv's lips twisted into the faintest of smiles.

Apparently satisfied with his work, Celm walked away, at which point the dream came to an end.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As my eyes fluttered open, I found myself within a cage, overlooking an arena. Instantly, I knew where I was - Sunfall, capital of the Shadow Carja. Within the ring, Aloy was being loaded into a cage, evidently for Helis' planned sacrifices. Vivian was in a cage to my left, while opposite of us were Tristan and his companions, all given an excellent view of the arena. There was hardly any doubt that they would be sacrificed once Aloy was dead.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to force open my restraints...and nothing happened. Confused, I cycled through all of my powers, only for my bindings not to budge. Somehow, whoever had restrained had done in a way that I couldn't escape.

"So, how does it feel, to be trapped like a rat?"

I would've yelped in surprise, but I found that a gag had been placed over my maw, leaving me unable to vocalize. A quick glance at Vivian revealed that the same was true of her. Seeing no better option, we both turned toward the source of the voice.

Said source was a cloaked figure - it appeared to be a human, but a quick scan revealed it to be a humanoid machine, face hidden by a mask.

"I presume that you would want to know what I am?"

I nodded.

"Well, the Eclipse call me the speaker of shadows. They see me as a sort of sister entity to The Sun In Shadow, though I believe we could save a lot time if we referred to him as HADES."

So they knew who was really running things? Interesting.

"I'll admit that you've been a nuisance for my organization's plans for this world, but I doubt you will remain so for long. Even Commanders have limits."

It knows I'm a Commander?

"I am familiar with the technology your kind uses, and you should really keep your expression blank."

Ah, fuck.

"I admit that HADES is the prize here, but Eclipse is surprisingly useful for achieving our ends. Perhaps we can convince the subroutine to spare them, so that they may be folded into our ranks. Fanatics have their uses, after all."

Groaning, I glared at the machine, silently wishing it would hurry up. Also, should I call it a she? The machine had a feminine voice, after all.

"I presume you're wondering why I'm telling you my plan? Well, who says I am telling you everything? And besides, there is only so much you can learn. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off. Oh, and don't expect Aloy killing the behemoth to save you - while I expect her escape to go off without a hitch, and for her rescuers to also save you and those people from that Primeval world, you don't even know where my group is based. How can you hope to defeat us if you don't know where we hide?"

Yeah, yeah, hurry up.

"...Well, I do believe we are done here. Goodbye, Commander. May you fail to defeat us in the end."

As the machine took her leave, I got a call from Synais. Looks like there was one thing she hadn't blocked me off of.

"Boss, how are you doing? You blacked out for a while."

I'm bound and gagged in a cage, about to be sacrificed to robots by a bunch of cultists. How do you think I am doing. Also, Vivian is in a nearby cage, and so are the people we met in the other world.

"...Thought so. A rescue team is already on the way, and is following Sylens as we speak. Also, apparently some uber-smart dinosaurs are also part of the rescue group."

I see...any updates from Coeus?

"No, but since Eclipse wants to wake the Faro Plague, I think it is now a good time to tell you that an inactive metal devil is located just outside of Coeus' base."

Figures. I'll talk with you later - Aloy is about to get thrown into the arena.

"Well, good luck then, boss!"

XXXXXXXXX

Things from there had gone as expected based upon my meta knowledge of Horizon: Zero Dawn. That is to say, Aloy tricked the corrupted behemoth into dropping her equipment into the arena, then slew it, after which Helis ordered her killed by a pair of corruptors, only for Sylens to swoop in to save her with some tamed machines. This time, though, Sylens was aided by some of the dinosaurs from the Prehistoric Park world I had visited, as well as some creatures from my hub - a surprise gift offered to him by Synais. Said creatures leapt up to rescue me and Viv, while the dinosaurs freed their keepers.

Once we were far enough away from Sunfall, Sylens and Aloy had their conversation, with everyone else, myself and Viv included, remaining silent until, when the conversation ended, Tristan spoke up, and basically gave a rundown of the Horizon: Zero Dawn plot up to this point, with Sylens confirming it to be true, before thrwoing a question at the boy.

"What happens to you now?"

Tristan answered that question. "We're going home...Wait, ino one is going to object to this?"

Sean shrugged. "We have no personal envestment in this conflict, so I see no reason to get involved right now."

"Yeah," agreed Elise, "and it sounds like there is going to be a lot of fighting coming up soon, and I'd rather not hurt anyone."

"Perhaps we could offer supplies," suggested Cassandra, "but commiting forces to this battle seems...stupid."

Huh. Guess people could be reasonable. "Well, then I guess this is where we part ways. I have to seek out my allies to prepare for this."

"...Well, goodbye then."

Nodding at the youngest of the siblings, Viv and me boarded the mounts Sylens had provided us with, and rode off toward Coeus's base.

"Synais, how is Coeus' base doing?"

"It's unharmed, but I think we have a problem,"

Oh what now?

"In short? I was running a scan of your restraints, and something happened that caused most of the factories we have in this morning universe to go offline."" And I still can't get them reactivated."

...Oh come on!

XXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!