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Bloodborne belongs to FromSoftware, Horizon Zero Dawn belongs to Guerrilla Games

Chapter 32: Head West Old Hunter

LOG: Concerns About GAIA: Data Corruption Minimal

Dr. Elisabet Sobeck: I never would have thought that Travis Tate's paranoia would be handy. Learning that Far Zenith attempted to steal our project, only for it to be thwarted by Travis's numerous countermeasures was a relief. It makes me rethink the plan to grant them access to APOLLO. I've been reviewing different aspects of the code and AI just to ensure that everything is still there and…

I don't know what to think about what I've found. For one, there are some files encrypted within APOLLO, HEPHEASTUS, and HADES with an encryption so strong that it would be near impossible for anyone to access them. I'd wager only GAIA would be able to decrypt the files. When asked, all fingers pointed to Travis for their implementation. He's being remarkably deflective concerning the files. The only thing I've learned for certain is that it is a promise he's fulfilling for a friend and that there isn't anything dangerous in the files for GAIA.

Another thing I've noticed is that certain aspects of GAIA's core coding has been rewritten. Everyone says that they've had nothing to do with the core. Considering they'd have no reason to lie, and everyone has been incredibly swamped with coding, I believe them. Which leads me to believe that GAIA has been rewriting her own code…

That shouldn't be possible.

…/…

Unit MK-mark-1Y blueprint complete. Begin uploading.

Blueprint OK-mark-2Y uploaded.

Error: Blueprint MP-mark-3Y corrupted. File partially deleted.

Delete Unit MP-mark-3Y. It will resist all uploading attempts.

Blueprints LW-mark-2Y, EDC-mark-2Y, WL-mark-2Y revised. Begin upload.

…/…

Riding through a desert would be considered hot and uncomfortable to most people. Varl certainly felt that way. Cyrus, however, was not most people. He had been in far worse conditions. A hot desert had nothing compared to some of the nightmares. He'd rather be hot and sweaty in a desert than cool and damp in a fishing hamlet. Then again, the desert didn't have giant shark men in the bottom of a well. An involuntary shudder passed through the hunter at the memory. No matter how many times he had traversed the fishing hamlet, that well always gave him trouble. It was worth it though. Fighting shark giants was great practice at dealing with multiple large enemies and the Rakuyo was easily his favorite weapon. Unfortunately, that weapon was currently housed in an unknown location. Presumably still stabbed into the decayed body of Ted Faro.

Aloy's significant head start on them ensured that they wouldn't be catching her anytime soon. Not that it was going to be a problem. If need be, he could always warp from the Dream to wherever she was.

Fortunately, though, they did catch up to her… somewhat. Varl was the one who spotted her Charger first. It was quietly grazing next to a large brace of some sort with an incredibly large chain slowly shifting through the mechanism. The chain sloped down into the canyon next to them. Cyrus followed the chain and could barely make out a small platform slowly but surely getting further away from them. Looking at through the monocular, he could see two people on the platform, one of whom he presumed to be Aloy.

"It will take a while if we wait for the lift to return." Varl commented.

"Do you plan on waiting?" Cyrus asked.

"Not if you have some other way to reach that platform." Varl replied.

"Depends, how good are you at holding up your body?" Cyrus asked.

Varl just looked at him, confused. "What?"

"How well can you hold yourself up?" Cyrus repeated.

"Well, enough, I guess." Varl said.

"Great, here." Cyrus handed Varl the shaft of the Burial Blade. "Ride this along the chain to the platform. Make sure you actually drop onto the platform itself."

Varl looked questioningly at the warped piece of wood Cyrus handed him. He could see the idea; he just didn't see how the wood would hold him up. Granted, his bow would probably also struggle with the same task. He looked at the Hunter again.

Cyrus's left hand had a slight blue glow around it and was wrapped rather tightly with the cloak he usually wore across his back. He was holding the Burial Blade's blade in his right hand.

"This is probably going to be a bumpy ride." Cyrus commented. "Been a while since I've done something like this."

Cyrus placed the blade between the two lengths of wire, holding the hilt in his right hand and grasping the blade itself in his wrapped left hand. He took a breath before jumping off the cliff and sliding down the chain. As he expected, it was incredibly bumpy as the back end of the blade slid across each link. The blade's edge bit into the fabric of his cloak, but fortunately, it did not cut through it or his hand.

The slide down the chain was relatively short. He let go of the blade right as he was about to collide with the descending lift's central support.

"Cyrus?" Aloy questioned, incredulously.

"I told you; you aren't getting away from me that easily." Cyrus said.

"You should have stayed in Meridian." Aloy muttered.

"Again, I have business out west. And whether you like it or not, I am your superior." Cyrus said.

Aloy rolled her eyes. Another thud impacted the platform as Varl decided to join them.

"I am not doing that again." Varl said as he handed the Burial Blade's shaft back to Cyrus. "So, what was so important that you had to ditch us in Meridian for?"

"Sylens left a message for me. Apparently, the spear I took from him contained a transmitter which sent HADES to him. I was able to track the location HADES went to." Aloy begrudgingly admitted.

Cyrus grinned as he redonned his cloak. The lift reached the bottom and the three passengers disembarked. The Oseram operating the machine turned the machine back on and began to ascend back to the top of the cliff.

Aloy turned and began to walk towards what looked like a settlement a short distance away. Varl and Cyrus followed. Chainscrape they called the settlement. It was primarily composed of Oseram, bustling about, repairing devices, selling wares. All sorts of things. The largest building appeared to be some sort of tavern.

"I'm going to go in there and see if anyone can give me information about the gate to the west." Aloy said.

"The gate to the west?" Varl questioned.

"Yeah, according to the Oseram who runs the lift, the Tenakth and the Carja are in a very unsteady peace right now. The gate to the west is the border of the territories, and unless the Tenakth agree to it, no one is getting through that gate." Aloy explained.

"Best not to start an international incident then." Cyrus said.

Aloy rolled her eyes and entered the hall. Cyrus and Varl watched as she entered.

"I'm going to wander around." Cyrus said. "See if there's anything else of interest in the area."

Varl nodded and followed Aloy. Cyrus gathered many odd looks as he wandered through the cramped paths of the settlement. He was soon drawn to the sounds of clashing weapons. A small circular ring. A large armored Oseram was standing at the entrance while two others were fighting in the pit.

Cyrus watched as the two fighters swung swords at each other. Their forms were serviceable. Then again, who was he to say anything. He fought beasts more than anything else and had little in the way of swordsmanship training.

Curiosity satisfied; he ventured out of the settlement. The river meandered its way through the canyon. Barring the occasional burrowing machine, the walk was rather peaceful. Of course, the peace would not last long. The sounds of battle once more drew the attention of the Hunter. This time though, he could recognize the sound of machines in the battle.

Cyrus approached the battle. The battle was in the midst of a small ruin. There were a small number of Oseram men against several large boar-like machine. Cyrus recognized one of the men right as the machine charged at him. It was Erend, and the machine had flung him into one of the walls. The other Oseram were attacking the machines, but they were slowly being pushed back. One of the boars went down, but there were at least five others.

One of the machines lowered its head to charge at the recovering Erend. Cyrus chose that moment to enter the fray. He threw a dagger at the boar machine as he transformed the Burial Blade into its Scythe form. The dagger struck true in one of the boar machine's eyes. The machine screeched and turned to the new threat. Erend also looked his way. A look of simultaneous relief and disbelief adorned his face.

Cyrus braced the scythe against his back as the board charged. The Hunter sidestepped the charging machine as he brought his scythe around and impaled it into the boar's neck. With a sharp tug, the scythe tore through the machine, decapitating it. The other five machines turned to him at the death of their comrade. Cyrus smirked as he effortlessly tore through them. It was easy as killing the Yharnamites in Central Yharnam.

With all of the machines laid out in smoking piles of debris, Cyrus turned to the downed Oseram.

"Didn't expect to see you here." Cyrus said, offering his hand.

Erend waved it away as he repositioned himself on the ground.

"Same, Aloy here too?" Erend asked.

"Somewhere." Cyrus shrugged. "Something wrong?"

"Bristleback got my leg." Erend said, with a wince.

"Ouch." Cyrus replied.

"What happened to you two?" Erend asked. "You both left pretty quickly after dealing with HADES. I didn't even know you were up and around until you up and vanished from the infirmary in Meridian."

"Aloy vanished quickly too?" Cyrus questioned.

"Yep. She didn't go with you?" Erend asked.

"No. I had some incredibly pressing matters I had to attend to, it was imperative I checked on an old ruin as soon as possible." Cyrus replied. "I left pretty quickly because it is on the other side of the world."

"Can't have been that far of a trek." Erend said.

"It is. Go far enough east, and you reach the ocean. Across that ocean is another continent. It was on that continent where I needed to go." Cyrus said. "It's where I vanished. Sorry for not saying goodbye."

"How pressing was the issue?" Erend asked.

"Possible end of the world scenario." Cyrus said.

"Then there's no hard feelings." Erend said. "What about Aloy though?"

"Also dealing with another end of the world scenario." Cyrus said.

"Really?" Erend asked. "What is it with you two and the end of the world?"

"Couldn't tell you." Cyrus replied. "But she's trying to solve the situation with the blight spreading across the world."

"Good thing to focus on." Erend muttered.

The two lapsed into a short silence.

"You mind helping me a bit?" Erend requested.

"With what?" Cyrus questioned.

"I need to be at the western gate. Avad has asked me to help oversee the peace talks with the Tenakth since I did such a good job of it with the Nora. I just need help getting there, but this bum leg isn't going to help." Erend explained.

"Sure." Cyrus replied.

Cyrus pulled a small ornate bell out of coat and rung it over Erend. An ethereal white light rose up from the ground in a circle around them. Erend winced in pain as his leg forcibly repaired itself. He was surprised to stand with no pain at all.

"Shall we be on our way?" Cyrus replied.

"Yeah." Erend said as he, the Oseram warriors and the Good Hunter all headed towards the gate blocking off the forbidden west.

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Data Log TEH-032

Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated, and thank you for sticking with me.

Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.

End Log S.T.K.