A/N: Hello! Here's the last chapter for this month! I'm really glad I was able to get it out today. I almost didn't. Still, I hope you like it!

Thank you all so much for your comments and support during the anniversary uploads! I'll be going back to the normal monthly schedule now that this one is out. I hope you all like it and I would greatly appreciate you leaving a comment with your thoughts and ideas!


A Digital Mother

Chapter 10

Teersa

Teersa held in her tears as the funeral neared its end. The bodies of those Braves killed in the Carja assault had been brought back to the Embrace and laid to rest at the foot of All Mother Mountain in places of honor. In total, fifty-three Braves lay dead. A horrific tragedy and yet they were lucky. Without the efforts of the Seekers and their preparations to deal with the derangement, things could have been much worse. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to the All-Mother for her warnings.

Following the Carja assault, War-Chief Sona had organized the Braves stationed outside the Embrace into a full defense force. Only the bare minimum were to remain stationed in the non-border villages. The garrison at the walls of the Embrace was doubled and reinforcements were sent out to join the War-Chief.

The gate between the Sacred Lands and the Sundom was slowly being turned into a defensive bastion while orders had been given for the villages of Mother's Tears and Mother's Vigil to be fortified. All the children and non-combatants were told evacuate to Mother's Crown or deeper into the Embrace. Rost had already doubled the watch on the walls and would be coordinating the machine patrols while War-Chief Sona commanded the defenses at the border.

At present though, the War-Chief and Rost were standing together at the head of the funeral procession, just behind Teersa and the other High-Matriarchs. Sona had her arms around her children while Rost had a hand on Aloy's shoulder. The War-Chief had accompanied the bodies of her fallen Braves home not only to attend the funeral, but to participate in a war council.

In terms of all things social and civilian, the Matriarchs held total sway. The Matriarchs of any one village would hold regular meetings to decide policy, discuss reports from scouts, deal with food shortages, winter preparations, and a myriad of other topics. Only a directive sent out by the High-Matriarchs could contradict the will of the village Matriarchs.

When it came to control over the Braves or in times of war, the War-Chief held total control. Sona obeyed only the word of the High-Matriarchs and the All-Mother herself. So, upon hearing her reports, word was immediately sent to summon all the village captains to Mother's Heart to participate in the council.

"May they sleep in the All-Mother's embrace." Jezza concluded the ceremony, followed by a chorus of voices echoing her own.

"Nora Faithful." Teersa turned and addressed the gathered assembly. "Tonight, we mourn our honored dead. Tomorrow, the council will meet. War is upon us, and we cannot let the sacrifice of these noble Braves be in vain." There were murmurs of agreement, but the gathered Nora were understandably subdued.

Sighing, Teersa turned away. She would spend that night in solemn prayer along with Jezza and Lansra. Praying to the goddess that she might embrace the souls of the fallen.

Aloy

"Like this?" Varl asked, swiping his hand clumsily through the air.

"No! Gently." Vala corrected him. Aloy giggled while she watched them. The young redhead was sitting on a rock up above the two in one of the higher points of Mother's Heart.

Varl was Vala's brother and was the closest thing Aloy had to one, so she considered him family. Their parents were attending the super important meeting, so the children were left to their own devices. Aloy and Vala took that to mean it was the perfect time to teach Varl how to use a Focus. After all, he would be a strong Brave one day. He could easily be granted one by the High-Matriarchs. Aloy was certain she could convince Granny Teersa that Varl deserved one.

At the moment, Varl was wearing Aloy's own Focus while Vala walked him through how it worked. The two now 8-year-olds had spent the last year doing nothing but play with the devices. It started with learning to read the glyphs used by the Old Ones. GAIA called them letters.

Then they started working on learning things like math and exploring the data contained within the Focus. Aloy in particular was fond of the music and 'television' stored inside. Though, she did need GAIA to explain a few things. Like the definition of fiction or what sea creatures were. One of her favorite shows was about a sea creature that lived in a fruit but at first, she didn't know what any of it was. Also, the Old Ones had a funny way of naming things. Why was it a pineapple if it wasn't an apple and didn't come from a pine tree?

GAIA had even promised to introduce her to something more serious. There were shows that were set in outer space! Another thing that GAIA had to explain, but Aloy wouldn't complain about that! She liked talking to GAIA. She was super nice and supportive and was always there for her when Aloy needed somebody to talk to. She even told Aloy stories about her ancestor and the Alphas! Travis Tate sounded like he was a funny man, but it was the stories about Elisabet Sobeck that Aloy liked most.

It wasn't just stories and shows that GAIA shared with her and Vala though. No, GAIA was a source of knowledge and wisdom. She knew so much! The 'learning module' that she'd created was something Aloy and Vala worked on every day. Vala was most excited to learn more about animals, but Aloy was more interested in something called 'Engineering.'

According to GAIA, Engineering was basically the science of building things. Building anything from a house to the Focus itself required knowledge of Engineering and that meant Aloy was hooked. One of her favorite pastimes, aside from playing with the Focus and training with her father, was learning how the weapon crafters made things. Aloy was so close to being able to make her own bow! She was certain she could do it, but Naka still wouldn't let her do it without help.

"It's not a spear or a hammer, Varl!" Vala all but shouted. "You have to be gentle."

"It's not like I've ever done this before." He retorted. Vala looked like she was about to speak when she stiffened and went a little blank.

"Aloy!" She called up to the redhead. "Come down for a second!"

"Coming!" Aloy stood and made her way down the ledge to join her friend.

"Varl, give her the Focus back for a second." Vala said, cryptically. "You can use mine."

"Why…? Varl and Aloy were both a little confused.

"Just do it!" Vala sighed, exasperatedly.

Grumbling a little, Varl exchanged Aloy's Focus for Vala's and handed the first one back to the redhead. A little confused, Aloy put her Focus back on. If she was honest, she didn't really like not having it on but had been willing to let it go so that Varl could learn to use one.

"Hello Aloy." GAIA's voice came through. Now she understood! GAIA must have wanted to say something to her and asked Vala to get the Focus back to Aloy. Nobody but Aunt Sona, Granny Teersa, and her dad knew that Aloy and Vala were able to hear GAIA. Aloy moved away from the others, out of sight and earshot.

"Hi, GAIA! Is something wrong?"

"No, sweetheart. Not wrong. I just wanted to see how you were doing." She sounded sad. "I know that yesterday was probably a little upsetting."

"Oh." Aloy muttered. She was right, of course. Aloy had attended funerals before but never for so many. Not to mention the fact that everybody was so stressed. They were trying to keep her and the other kids from learning too much, but Aloy knew that the Carja had invaded. The tribe was at war, and that meant more people were going to die.

"I'm okay." She said. "Just… a little scared. What if Auntie Sona dies? Or daddy?"

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." GAIA replied, soothingly. "I know I can't keep them safe, but I do have an idea that might help reassure you."

"You do?" Aloy asked, curiously.

"Yes. It took me a while to get things set up, but I believe it's all ready. On your Focus' menu, do you see an icon that wasn't there before?

"I see it!"

"Good. Hit it and it should bring up a new menu." Aloy did as asked. The new menu was actually a list of names. One was 'Vala.' One was 'GAIA.' The rest were all 'Focus' followed by a number. The one for GAIA had a speaker symbol next to it.

"This is the call function. It will let you connect to another Focus and speak to them from a distance just like I am speaking to you."

"Really?" Aloy asked, stunned. That was incredible! If her father had one, she could talk to him no matter where he was! "What do I do?"

"Simply tap the name you wish to call. You and I are connected now, but you could add Vala's Focus to the call by tapping hers. I do believe that it will give Varl quite the fright."

Aloy grinned mischievously and tapped the call function, glancing at Varl from around the corner.

"Aah! What's that?" Varl shouted, startling Vala as a screen popped up in front of him. He swiped at it out of instinct and accidentally pressed the accept button.

"Hi Varl!" Aloy said, cheerfully.

"Aloy?!" Varl spun around wildly. "Where are you? Why am I hearing you?"

Vala clearly said something, confused, but Aloy was too far away to hear her, and her voice didn't come through the Focus.

"Give the Focus back to Vala!" Aloy giggled. Varl happily obliged, all but ripping the device off his head and shoving it into her hands.

"Aloy?" Vala asked, hesitantly.

"Hi Vala! GAIA showed me how to talk to you through the Focus!"

"Really?" Vala's excited voice came through the Focus. "That's great! We need to show Mama and Uncle Rost! If they have Focuses, we can talk to them while they're gone!"

"That's why GAIA showed me! Do you think we can do it now, or do we have to wait?"

"Now!" Vala demanded, turning to run up the hill towards the meeting grounds. Aloy ran out from behind her building and joined her friend.

"What the? Aloy! Vala! Wait! What's going on?!" Varl hurried after them, thoroughly confused.

Rost

"Our first order of business should be to fully evacuate the area beyond the Embrace!" Shouted Barm, the captain of the Mother's Cradle. A large, dark-skinned man with a long beard.

"That's an unrealistic goal right now." Korg argued back. "The Embrace cannot sustain an influx that large. The Villages simply aren't big enough. We should settle for evacuating the border as we have already done and focus on fortification. The Carja must be kept out of the Sacred Lands."

"What we need is more patrols." Yore cut them both off. "The lands between the border villages and the Carja forts are vast and there are many secret paths in and out of the Sacred Lands. We monitor them as best we can, but they are just too obscure."

"Yore is right." Tosa agreed. "They tried an assault and it failed. Logic dictates that they will try stealth. If they discover the hidden paths, then they might slip a force in to attack our defenses from behind." She was Captain of Mother's Rise. Fair skinned with brown hair and grey eyes.

"The long valley between Mother's Tears and Daytower is in the greatest danger of such an occurrence." Said Kesh. He was captain of Mother's Tears and the last of the gathered captains. Aside from Rost and the other six captains, there was War-Chief Sona, the three High-Matriarchs, and Karst.

The assembled group had been meeting since sunrise but unfortunately, they were squabbling about what to prioritize. Lansra was of the opinon that they should simply shut the borders to all outsiders and that was it. Jezza wanted to contact the Banuk for aid, and Teersa was the only one of the High-Matriarchs who was actually concerned about making tactical decisions. Of the three High-Matriarchs, she was the only former Brave.

"We need information." Rost finally spoke. He'd been mostly quiet, listening to the opinions of the other captains. Although he was second to the War-Chief and in charge of the overall defense of the Embrace, he was still the captain of the Mother's Heart guard.

"More scouting patrols are a must." He continued. "If the Carja discover any of the hidden paths or, All-Mother forbid, one entirely unknown to us it could spell disaster. I propose a three-pronged approach." He shifted in his seat. They were all sat around a table in the open-air meeting grounds near the top of Mother's Heart.

"Firstly, we double or triple the scouting parties in our most high-risk areas and fill the border garrisons to the maximum. That is paramount. Second, we coordinate the evacuation of non-combatants to Mother's Crown and Mother's Rise. We can look into bringing them into the Embrace later on, once we have a better idea of what kind of conflict we are facing. Lastly, we should deploy the Seekers."

Karst perked up at that, looking at him questioningly. "Deploy us?" He asked. Rost nodded.

"You have learned to pass for Carja, yes?" He nodded. "Then you are in the perfect position to act as spies. You could gather information and bring it back to us in the Sacred Lands."

"An excellent idea, Rost!" Teersa said, happily.

"Agreed." Sona nodded, solemnly. "Sending the Seekers out as spies is a wise decision. It will be dangerous though."

"We'd be happy to." Karst nodded. "Dangerous or not, we are in the best position to gather information on the movements of the Carja."

"Your courage does you credit, Karst." Sona gave him a smile. "Now. If we adopt Rost's plan, that still leaves us facing several issues. First is food. We are not dependent on the Carja for food, but a conflict of this scale will tax the gatherers not to mention our sparse farms. We should look into expanding them."

"It is difficult work." Jezza grimaced. "However, you are correct. We are not very good farmers, but we will do what we can to expand."

"Next. Weaponry." Sona continued after nodding to the High-Matriarch. "Production of arrows, bombs, and traps must begin in earnest. We barely managed to hold out with what we had on hand during the recent assault. All villages must be stocked with enough ammunition to sustain a protracted battle, but the border villages and the gate must take priority. They cannot be allowed to fall."

"We should also reach out to the Banuk." Karst added. "Even if they cannot help us directly, they may have information that will help or be able to provide us with machine parts that are harder to come by in the Sacred Lands."

"Dispatch a team to meet with the Werak that controls The Cut." Sona ordered, agreeing with Karst. "As few as possible though. I want the rest of your Seekers gathering intel on the Carja."

Before they could continue, the meeting was interrupted by high-pitch voices and two little girls barreling up the hill accompanied by an exasperated Varl.

"Mama!" Vala shouted, just ahead of Aloy.

"We figured something out that can help!" Aloy shouted.

"Stop!" Varl called from behind them, obviously trying to prevent the girls from interrupting.

"Vala! Aloy! This is a war council!" Sona barked, sternly. "Not a place for one of your games."

"But Mama we can help! Aloy figured out how to use the Focuses to talk to people really far away!"

"What do you mean?" Teersa cut off Sona's retort, interested. Rost leaned forward too. The Focus was a fascinating device, if a little unsettling, and he knew that the girls were able to commune with the All-Mother through them.

"The Old Ones used these to talk to each other from miles and miles away." Aloy explained, pointing to the device on her head. "We know how to make them do that now! You could use the extra ones to help in the war."

Rost beamed at his daughter. She was such a clever girl. "Can you show us?" He asked, moving to kneel in front of her.

"Yeah!" Aloy exclaimed. "Vala, run back down the hill call me!" She pointed.

"Right!" Vala sprinted off, the boundless energy of an excited child causing her to nearly fly down the slope.

"Put this on!" Aloy said, thrusting her Focus at Rost. Taking it, the man gingerly placed it on the side of his head. After a minute or two during which he tried to get accustomed to the odd dome of light and strange glyphs he was surrounded by, a box appeared in his vision. He couldn't read the letters though.

"Something just appeared. What do I do?" He asked Aloy, hesitantly.

"Hit the rectangle on the right." She told him.

Lifting his hand, Rost hesitantly tapped the air in front of him.

"Did it work?!" The loud voice of Vala came through the device, causing the large man to wince.

"Gah. That was very loud, Vala."

"Oops! Sorry Uncle Rost." She said, apologetically. "Can you give the Focus to Mama? I want her to see!"

Chuckling, Rost removed the device and handed it over to Sona. "It would seem your daughter would like to speak to you."

She took it slowly. Almost scared of the device. She flinched at the squeak when it attached itself to her face, but her expression changed to one of wonder a moment later. Rost could only guess she was hearing Vala's voice.

"This is incredible, little one." Sona said, the affection in her voice evident. "It would seem the girls are correct. These devices do allow for communication across distance. We have a number of them, yes?"

"We do." Teersa was beaming. "There are 9 available for distribution. One will be kept by the High-Matriarchs. One each will be given to you and Rost, Sona. Two to the Seekers." She nodded at Karst. "The rest will be given to captains and scouts as deemed necessary. Though, we must be careful not to allow these precious treasures to fall into Carja hands."

Teersa walked over to Aloy and set a hand on her head. The elderly woman stroked the vibrant red strands fondly. "You and Vala have done a great thing here, Aloy. However, I'm afraid we must ask still more of you. Do you think you could teach us how to use these wondrous devices? We need your help."

As Aloy hugged the High-Matriarch, Rost spotted Vala running back up the hill. "Don't worry, Granny." Aloy said. "We can teach you."

Sona

"One more time?" Karst asked.

"Right. This symbol is the one you hit if you want to change how loud it is. This one is for calling and this one is to open up the learning module."

Sona tuned out young Aloy as she focused on her own task. Wearing the strange device was not exactly comfortable, but she was willing to put up with it given the advantages that came with it. Being able to communicate instantly across miles? That was worth a great deal, especially in war time.

She tapped the air again, aiming for the symbol that identified the sound control. A bar appeared before her with another bar crossing it at the bottom. The speaker symbol was at the bottom. Sliding the horizontal bar from the bottom to the top, she tapped the speaker symbol and a chime played in her head. Such a strange sensation, but she supposed she could get used to it.

"What does this… learning module do?" She asked her daughter. Honestly, Sona couldn't be prouder of her little girl, but now was not the time to show it.

"The first thing it does is teach you to read the letters the Old Ones used." Vala explained. "That'll make using the Focus easier, so you want to study it as fast as you can. After that, it can teach you all kinds of things! I've been learning about some of the animals the Old Ones had. Like horses! They were even bigger than Striders and the Old Ones used to ride them!"

"Animals big enough to ride?" Sona asked, a little shocked. That was a concept that would take some getting used to.

"I wish I could see a real one." Vala daydreamed a little. Sona just gave her a tiny smile.

"Vala? Could you come explain something to me?" Fassa called to her little girl. Sona nodded at her, gesturing that it was alright for her to go. The little one bounded away from her, eager to help the young Seeker.

Sona started, surprised when something flashed in front of her face. It was the 'call box.' If she remembered right from when the girl's helped them, the glyphs on the box indicated that it was Rost who was calling her. She glanced over to where he was standing in a corner of the meeting grounds. Moving to another corner, she tapped the 'accept' button.

"Such a strange thing." Rost's voice said, "to be able to talk across distances."

"Strange, yes but useful." She replied. "The girls have done well."

"I only wish it was not necessary." Sona could only nod in agreement.

"We can try to keep the war from them, but they may eventually be forced to fight it."

"I refuse to allow that." Rost's voice came through, determined. "We must keep the Carja out at all costs. Hopefully they will give up if entering our territory seems impossible."

"That is my hope as well, but still. Have you ever known the Carja to be sensible?" She could see him grimace from across the field. "Once we have mastered these devices, we should keep in regular contact. It will make things considerably easier on us."

"True. I feel I must warn you though. Now that she can contact you from afar, do you really expect Vala not to call you every chance she gets?"

Sona grinned. "No. I expect to hear from her every night and will be glad for it. I miss her and Varl terribly when I am away. It helps to know that they have you, but being able to speak to them myself will be a great comfort."

"I do not envy your position." Rost admitted. "Being away from Aloy is not something I think I could stomach. Certainly not while she is so young. In that, you are stronger than I."

"It's not really a matter of strength." Sona admitted. "I do what I must to protect my children, even if it means I cannot be with them."

Valleymeet

The man took a deep breath, savoring the cold air. He stood on a ridge, soldiers at his back. Down below him, winding their way along a primitive road was a group of savages. The sun was just beginning to set when they stopped and began to pitch camp. There were perhaps fifty of them. Women, children, weak men, the elderly, and a few scattered warriors. Each and every one was dressed in ragged leather or furs and their warriors wore only random machine parts as armor!

He almost spat in disgust. How could these savages have thrown back Zaid? How had they thrown back the army of the sun? The man clenched his fist. He could not allow his anger at the incompetence of Captain Zaid overrule his judgement. He would not disgrace the black armor his king had granted him. He would not disgrace the trust given to him by the Chosen of the Sun. Never.

His small force of twenty had stealthily made their way into the Savage East through a thin mountain pass known to the commander of Daytower. It hadn't been an easy climb and they'd lost two on the journey, but it had been worth it. They'd camped beneath a ruin of the Old Ones that night and continued on the next day. It was not easy to avoid the patrols of the savages.

If nothing else, he could grudgingly admit that the savages were good warriors, and they knew their land well. He could respect the power of a strong warrior but in the end, they were savages who knew nothing of the Sun's glory.

"Wait till they are asleep." He spoke. His voice was husky, but angry. The soldiers behind him nodded. "Kill the warriors and any who fight back. Capture the others. They will be taken back to Meridian per the wishes of Sun-King Jiran.

They didn't have to wait long. The sun had set, and the savages were all settled around their campfires. The only movement was the three guards patrolling the outer edges of the camp. The man took another deep breath. He was a Kestrel. An elite. Chosen by the Sun-King to carry out his most holy word. He would not fail.

"Attack!" He roared, bounding down the slope, his soldiers behind him.

His shout roused the sleeping savages, but it was too late. With the ferocity of a sandstorm, he crashed into the first guard. His blade cut through the savage's pathetic armor with ease, blood spurting all over his armor. He savored it. To spill the blood of the unworthy was a holy thing.

With a roar, he turned to his next opponent. The infidel hadn't even left his bedroll before the man swung, removing his head before the savage could draw a weapon. Screams filled the air as his men butchered the defenders.

"Do not resist!" He shouted. "If you fight, you will die! Surrender and you may yet live as a servant of the Sun!"

"Die, you sun-loving freak!" One man shouted, charging with a spear. The Kestrel dodged, grabbing the spear with one hand and wrenching it out of the savage's hand. He turned the crude weapon around and buried it in his opponent's face.

"Round them up!" He shouted to his men.

One by one, they bound the surviving savages with rope. Around twenty were dead. What was left were a few men, women, children, and elders. None of the warriors lived. He supposed that they should have captured a few, since those that were left hardly looked suited to labor. Though, if their only purpose was to be sacrificed to the sun, then how strong they were really didn't matter, did it?

"We must leave." He ordered. "We must reach Daytower before the savages discover their missing caravan." Take what can be carried. Make the prisoners haul it, but do not allow them to carry anything that can be used as a weapon! I will not tolerate failure!"

The men scrambled, while the Kestrel watched them. He breathed deep again. The cold night air was suffused with the scent of blood, sweat, and fear. He savored it. He lost track of how long he stood there, but eventually he was approached by one of the soldiers.

"Are we ready to move?" He asked.
"Yes, Commander Helis."

"Good."


A/N: I'm really sorry about how short this chapter is, but I wanted to get it out and I was running out of time! I hope you liked it! Please leave a comment with your thoughts and ideas surrounding this chapter!

What did you think of this one? It was mostly aftermath and setup, but we did get a look at Helis!

I do have one question. Do you think there are backups of the other sub-functions? I'm juggling a few different plot ideas for the future and was curious about what you all thought.

Oh, and thank you all for answering so many of my questions! I really appreciate it and you've given me a lot to think about!

Answers to Questions

On FFN

LunaShadowWolf: We're already starting to see the raids affect her! I hope you like the direction I'm going.

Dragon Master 88: Thank you! I like the suggestions!

D3Diton: I doubt she'd name her mount Erend. Though, weirdly, I can see Erend naming his mount after himself. Mecha Erend or something like that.

Rios: I'm glad you like it! As for CYAN, we will get to her.

Dracofighter: I do want them to sort of rival the Tenakth in skill. I have some ideas and we may see a Tenakth or two earlier than expected. No promises though!

On Ao3

For everybody I didn't get to respond to personally

Bestiatomate: I don't really know a whole lot about Call of the Mountain. I need to look deeper into it.

Boludica96: Thank you! I didn't know about Alva's girlfriend until after I posted the chapter. As for Talanah and Teb, the more I think about it, the more interested I am. I think it could be fun.

WolvezRock17: I'm really glad you liked it! I was worried about how the OC's would be received but I thought it was a great way to introduce the red raids. Thank you for answering so many questions! I appreciate it!

Xfel: I'm glad you liked it! We will be seeing Zaid again though. I have some interesting ideas for how things will change that should make Free Heap interesting.

Ryanlarsen84: I'm glad you liked both chapters! Don't worry about the Oc thing though. This story won't get mired in them. I just think introducing one-off characters is a fun way to look at things from a different perspective now and again.

Oddball250: Thank you!

TheLoveOfHorizon: Yeah, I don't think I'll pair Aloy with a Carja.

Reactivegull12: I saw both comments. Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! Also, your reaction to Mern and Ezana is what I was hoping for! I really liked them, and I wanted to add a little extra tension so I'm glad it worked. They may make a cameo now and again, but I probably won't show their perspectives again. Thank you so much for answering all the questions, I really appreciate it.

YoGo: I'm glad you like it! Also, thank you for the constructive criticism. I will try and make sure I don't lose the character's voice. I am just a hobby writer, so there's things I need to work on.

SpiritDeNight: I'm sorry the chapter made you sad! I'm glad you liked it though.