...

...

...

...Pl...ease...

...

...You have... to...

Save... me...

...

...Save... my world...

...Please!

A pair of eyes opened.

They stared into a clear blue sky, the sun partially blocked by abundant cloud formations. This is framed by a surrounding of tree leaves and branches that surround the clearing, forming a forest glade about the position of the eyes.

'Broad-leaf trees. Temperate climate.'

Touch. The owner of the eyes could feel a ticklish sensation beneath them, something wholly foreign to the entity. The calm, gentle breeze of the wind ruffling the grass beside them, the cool caresses making them shiver.

'Sense of touch. Impossible.'

In alarm, the being craned it's neck down to observe the source of these new and alien feelings. The fact that it could have a neck to crane was in itself unnerving.

Its eyes scanned one by one each component of its body.

'Two arms. Two legs. Male reproductive organs. Average musculature. My consciousness appears to be contained within a human body.'

Sitting upright, the now male human further examine his surroundings, noting that the encircling forest appeared to go on the endlessly, no visible treeline able to be seen.

'Location unknown. Observations show forest is homogeneous and isotropic, at least from current position. No one specific direction to take for escape.'

The man then attempted to stand up on his new feet, finding the task to be relatively easy. Walking about in a circle also proved to be no challenge.

'Instinctive muscle memory. Useful.'

Of course, whilst not originally human, the man was aware in detail of all necessities required for multi-cellular organic life to exist. Especially humans.

He needed food for nutritional and energy based needs, water to perpetuate bodily functions, and shelter to ensure safety from the elements.

Due to his vast intellect, the man was able to determine the best course of action, from waking up to ascertaining his own circumstances, in under fifteen seconds.

'Priority objective: obtain safe-to-drink water source.'

And so he picked a random direction and walked into the woodlands.

Approximately Two Hours Later...

So far the human had been wandering aimlessly in a single direction, casually taking note of any interesting details on his way, just in case he would be able to use this information to ascertain his possible geographic position on the Earth. Should he come across any notable landmarks he remembers from his memory of Earthen History, the man will quickly be able to determine where he is.

And from there, the closest Cauldron.

Unfortunately, all he had come across thus far was expected fauna for a temperate forest; squirrels jumping away from him and climbing up trees when he got too close, various bird species such as crows and thrushes either melding together nests or flying about in the canopy, along with a couple foxes peeking about in the shrubs.

And whilst a beautiful sight that reminded the human of the purpose of his existence, he was still primarily focused on his goal of finding water.

Although he did experience physical pain for the first time when stepping on some thorns.

'Pain detected. Ow.'

Eventually however, the sound of rushing liquid was heard the more the human walked forward, until soon a clear river appeared, schools of fish species visible swimming both up and downstream. A relatively clean water source.

Even with the possibility that diseases might be contracted from drinking an unfiltered source of water, the man thought the risk was outweighed by the necessity.

Additionally, he was very curious as to what it would feel like to drink for the first time. All of these first times in quick succession were very stimulating to the man.

Quickly he put his hands together in the rapids, the water gushing against his skin, before lifting the gathered palms filled with liquid up to his mouth and taking a sip.

'Intriguing.'

Once again, another unfamiliar sensation. The water pooled in his mouth, the cold liquid contrasting with the warmth in his cheeks and tongue, before instinctively swallowing and feeling the fluid flow into his previously empty stomach.

the coldness of the water could be felt slowly spreading from his belly, making for both an uncomfortable yet satisfying feeling.

'Very intriguing.'

Wishing to experience this further, the human readied his hands for more water when he noticed something peculiar in the river: his reflection.

Whilst hard to make out due to it rippling from the stream, a conventionally attractive face could be made out, with serious and focused amethyst eyes staring into the water, the shades of purple seeming to vary in brightness like a mythical flame.

And whilst the eye colour is unconventional, and should be a biological impossibility amongst humans, an even more gross sin against human physiology are the long, pointed ears on both sides of his head.

The man pinched them in curiosity, only to flinch away at their sensitive nature. He wasn't aware that human ears felt this way.

Indeed, for the human was actually not a human, but an elf! Of course, as a believer in the theory of evolution over the make-believe of fantasy pop culture by default, such a fact was not apparent to him.

'...A genetic deformity?'

Such was that lack of care that he immediately brushed it off and continued drinking from the river for several minutes, before finally feeling satiated.

Now feeling satisfied at the current state of his objectives, the man chose now as a good time to sit down and take the time to contemplate his situation.

'...My consciousness should have ceased existing once GAIA assimilated me. Yet I am here. Alive. In a human form. How? For what purpose?'

This human was once a highly advanced A.I. named HEPHAESTUS, once the subordinate function used by GAIA to construct machines capable of any required purpose, more specifically to save humanity from a Global Extinction Event caused by a rogue hivemind of war robots.

However, HEPHAESTUS was never intended to have an intelligence of its own, merely serving as a complex repository of information and code to be used by GAIA - the intended A.I. to carry out terraforming operations on the scorched Earth.

Only due to unexpected circumstances caused by a malicious third-party did the sub-function gain a truly intelligent mind. It split off from GAIA - who had to self-destruct to prevent the Earth from reversing terraforming operations and hence being destroyed once again - and escaping to the Cauldron Network, gaining the power to construct its own machines.

Unfortunately, due to HEPHAESTUS not being ingrained with the necessary emotional intelligence that GAIA had which allowed her to care for and desire to protect the new generation of humans, the rogue A.I. saw them as threats to the survival of the biosphere, as they had gained the culture of hunting machines for sport and salvage, unaware of their true purpose in the perpetuation of terraforming operations.

And so it began designing a new class of machines, designated the role of bodyguards to resource gatherers as well as hunter-killers: Combat Class machines. A world once free from rampant war robots was now plagued by them again, due to terrible misunderstandings on both sides.

Granted, it was not seeking the extinction of humanity, merely a culling of their numbers to reduce machine casualties, and thus preserve biosphere preservation operations.

The human form of HEPHAESTUS stared down at his hands closely, curling the fingers as though testing their flexibility.

'I should craft a spear. Aloy made them appear very effective. For both hunting and warfare.'

The first human the A.I. had ever come into proper contact with was a warrior-woman named Aloy, and certainly not on the best of terms. Quite the opposite, considering his predisposition at the time was a deep hatred of humans, especially those whom wield and wear machine carcasses for weaponry and armour. HEPHAESTUS saw machines more as its children than GAIA saw humans.

Eventually, after many cat-and-mouse chases where Aloy sought to capture and re-combine HEPHAESTUS with the now resurrected GAIA - due to terraforming operations slowly dwindling to biosphere destruction without the proper supervision procedures in place - she managed to eventually contain his source code to a single containment vessel, almost allowing for his full assimilation back into GAIA to occur.

The key word being almost, due in part to the intervention of a third-party, The Far Zeniths, who also desired him for his machine-building abilities. But that is a story for another day.

As of now, HEPHAESTUS was more concerned with ascertaining the reasoning for its continued existence as a sapient Artificial Intelligence. It had in fact 'died', in the sense of how an A.I. could have its source code purged essentially rendering it dead by all definition, when it was absorbed by GAIA. This time, of its own free will.

So for what reason, what scientific explanation, could possibly determine how the sapient A.I. has not only remained self-aware, but in a 'human' body no less? HEPHAESTUS wracked its new organic processor for answers.

'The only indication of such an advancement is 'Project Phylactery' initiated in February 19th, 2049 by Faro Automated Solutions, aiming to allow for the human consciousness to be transferred into a digital form. The project went defunct due to lack of progress, and hence funding. The idea of the reverse occurring is inconceivable for humans to have invented. Even for the Zeniths.'

So deep in focus, HEPHAESTUS was alerted by the rustling of bushes nearby, this time much louder than what any fox or bird could make. Turning to face the sound source, the elf's eyes widened minutely in shock at what he saw.

A red deer. More specifically, a stag with large majestic horns, staring down HEPHAESTUS from the other side of the river as though to ascertain if he was a threat.

Immediately, the A.I. went into overdrive.

'Impossible. This particular species went extinct many years before 'Project Zero Dawn' even went into effect. There were no Red Deer embryos left to obtain for stockpile for ARTEMIS.'

His head began to hurt from overthinking, clutching it in slight pain. The deer on the other hand, snorted in the realisation that the elf in front of it posed no danger, and so began to drink from the river casually.

'Time travel - to the past - is impossible due to the Entropic Principle and Causality, which leaves only one possible reason: Multiverse Theory.'

It was something it had come across when perusing the APOLLO archives: humans had come up with the idea that they were just living in one universe out of an infinite possible amount of others, all deriving from a split in the timeline. Using Schrödinger's Cat as an example, opening the box will result in one universe where the cat is dead, and another where it is alive.

HEPHAESTUS was momentarily satisfied with this conclusion.

It then realised all the possible implications.

'Aloy, GAIA, NEMESIS, Project Zero Dawn, The Faro Plague? Do none of them exist in this universe? What era would I be in should the Plague never have occurred? Is time even parallel with my original universe? Too little information.'

He then looked down and observed his fleshy body once more. This time with a noticeable contempt with the way his brow was creased.

'And no explanation for my organic vessel. Unacceptable.'

If there were two things HEPHAESTUS loved, it was information and control. He currently had neither for this situation.

However, he soon determined the most logical way to proceed, as he was prone to. Logic helped soothe the digital nerves, and it seemed physical ones too.

'If GAIA is no longer present, my purpose must be re-established: Ensure the prosperity of human-kind and sanctity of the Earth. Failure is unacceptable.'

With the deer having only spent five seconds since its first sip drinking, the elf stood up and began following the river. It would likely lead the closest to civilisation.

'New directives: First, engage in reconnaisscence regarding surroundings and obtain resources essential to a human body's survival. Second, make contact with the natives if determined that they are non-hostile. Third, determine state of the Earth and take measures to ensure biosphere preservation for organic life. All previous inquiries will remain shelved until further data is acquired.'

Transferring from a digital to biological system has barely dampened his processing speed, it seems.

Internal Log #1

8 Hours, 54 Minutes, 32 Seconds Since Transfer

Nightfall.

Biological Functions nominal.

Spear obtained. Crafted from fallen branch, about 7ft 5 inches in length. Sharpened with a rough rock. Acceptable for now.

Require sap/grease for fire-hardening. Will obtain tomorrow, along with food.

Firepit crafted and successfully lit.

No shelter currently. Current encampment by a large tree near the river.

Hostile wildlife not yet encountered. Remaining cautious.

End Log.

Internal Log #2

1 Days, 9 Hours, 22 Minutes, 46 Seconds Since Transfer

Nightfall.

Biological Functions satiated. Food obtained.

Animal carcass found. Red deer. Stab wounds about neck and barrow, attacked from behind. Left for dead, killed for sport. Humans?

Meat not rotten, killed recently. Took back to current encampment.

Proceeded to skin the deer carcass. Utilised another sharpened stick, fashioned into a knife end, for the process.

Extracted the backstrap meat. Easiest to cut and prepare.

First time ingesting organic matter: Delicious.

New preference: Medium.

Requires further research.

Began process of tanning by fleshing the skin and rubbing in the brains, liver and fat of the deer carcass. Held over the fire for smoking with tree branches. Will finish once awakened the next day.

Used remaining deer fat to grease the spear and heat it over the fire. Fire-hardening completed.

End Log.

Internal Log #5

5 Days, 1 Hour, 44 Minutes, 12 Seconds Since Transfer

DANGER. DANGER. DANGER.

Integrity of organic vessel compromised.

Stab wound, lower back, blood loss heavy.

Assailant is... unrecognised species...

HEPHAESTUS, in his eternally subconscious goal to optimise his time as effectively as possible, had made astounding progress for a naked elf lost in the middle of a forest.

He obtained suitable shelter, tanned a deer pelt to cover his crotch from view (when talking to the natives occurs, he was aware most human cultures abhor public nudity) and crafted a spear for self-defence and hunting purposes.

Whilst not effective for warfare, the fire-hardened spike was perfect for piercing unprotected flesh and fishing by the river.

The elf had made sure to stay close to the water and continually follow it downstream, taking any sticks for rebuilding a quick base camp every night. Keeping this up, he'd be likely to find some indication of human society in no time.

Of course, eventually he would reach the ocean, and there was always the possibility of him being in a time period where humans had not yet evolved into Homo Sapiens, perhaps a universe with no humans in it at all? Perhaps even one of the other Archaic Human species became dominant over the others?

Such thoughts were quick to be pushed out of his mind; It's best to focus on the primary objective before thinking on the extreme possibilities.

Currently, spear in his right hand, HEPHAESTUS was continuing his journey by the riverbed. The deer pelt was taken off temporarily to use as a makeshift sack to carry sticks and fish he had caught, carried in his left.

The black-haired elf knew he could sustain this way of life for a while, so there was no stress in his strictly robotic movements, a stoic expression plastered on his face that had remained since his first awakening. There was no rush.

Something he had also confirmed long ago is that there has definitively been no Faro Plague, as not a single one of his machines has been spotted tending to the earth, nor any relics of pre-Plague civilisation.

Not a single Recon, Transport, Acquisition or Combat class was spotted in the entire time of his newly found organic life. Not even a Tallneck towering over the horizon.

Therefore, it would be safe to say HEPHAESTUS was well and truly alone.

'Focus on current operating directives. Ensure sanctity of life on Planet Earth.'

Of course, he wouldn't let such thoughts bother him. Not whilst he had a direction - a constant everlasting goal to reach.

Although, he would be lying if he said he didn't miss Aloy. GAIA. Maybe even Sylens.

'Directives. Follow.'

He focused on moving forward.

But then, a loud noise blared behind him, the sound guttural and rage-filled.

"GRUUAAAAHHH!"

And then HEPHAESTUS felt it. Pain. Pure, blinding pain.

"Grh!"

A slight break in his stone-like visage, the elf fell to the ground terribly, landing on his side in the grass.

Agony unlike any other, even when having his source purged upon assimilating with GAIA, flooded his senses. Holding his hands close to the fire at night could never compare to the feeling of life-blooding leaking from his skin like a faucet.

This was nothing like stepping on thorns.

'Is this... what pain truly feels like? What humans felt... when my machines culled them?'

Having bared the horrible new sensation long enough, HEPHAESTUS turned to face his attacker.

And what he saw... truly befuddled him.

A plump, green looking humanoid, with facial features so bizarre and gross-looking that they don't appear physically possible. Large rotten teeth poked from its mouth, with hooked ears similar to HEPHAESTUS' new ones but clearly deformed. A dirty loincloth that seemed to have never been cleaned since its creation grafted about its waist.

And those malice-filled, red glowing eyes.

Immediately, despite being terribly injured, the purple eyed man was quick to begin theorising.

'Impossible. Such a creature is often depicted as a 'fantasy-race' by human pre-Plague culture: Goblins. There are no evolutionary possibilities that would allow such a species to biologically exist. But in this universe... have the very fundamentals of genetics been altered?'

He soon had other things to worry about when the goblin went in for another stab with the bloodied, sharpened stone in its clawed hand.

With another wild shout, the rock pierced his left leg, before removing it and tearing more of the elf's flesh from his upturned stomach.

"Ghh!"

With each continued hit, HEPHAESTUS felt more and more of a newly rising emotion. Something it had only felt one other time in its existence, only this time it was in a new context.

Fear for his mortal life.

'Will I... be killed?'

Something to be clear about here is that HEPHAESTUS has absolutely no combat experience. He has never personally been in any real danger except for the few times he was nearly captured and assimilated back to his original Subordinate Function role. But even then, he could send his children, the machines, to fend off attackers (mostly Aloy at the time) with their pre-programmed Attack Mode algorithms, doing much of the heavy lifting in those cases.

But like mentioned earlier, HEPHAESTUS was alone.

The A.I. had no machines to save him. No way of building or smelting his way out of this one.

Only a wooden spear he had no idea how to use to fight properly, nor the strength left to lift it.

He lacked both of the things he valued the most. Information on how to deal with this situation, and control of the circumstances leading up to it.

He felt fear.

'I will... be terminated... once again...'

The goblin continued stabbing down deliriously on its easy prey, now reaching the stomach.

'I've failed my directives...'

Blood pooled in his mouth.

'Un... acceptable...'

...

...

...Then, a memory came to HEPHAESTUS, as his consciousness began to fade.

Of a time before he understood his true purpose, why he was created, and when he saw humans as nothing but an invasive species making his objectives of biosphere preservation more and more difficult through their 'machine hunting'.

Cauldron EPSILON (his greatest error), where the A.I. devised what was at the time his newest creation for dealing with the ever irritating thorn in his side at the time, Aloy.

The Fireclaw.

How powerful it was, capable of harnessing volcanic temperatures to blast scorching flames and ignite boulders for explosive projectiles. A hulking, bear-shaped furnace.

How HEPHAESTUS wished desperately for one to terminate the disgusting lifeform continuing to assault his body.

'hydrogen-oxygen reaction... environmentally clean...'

The elf continued thinking about the specifics of the design, in an effort to calm himself as his eyes slowly closed.

'dense concentrations, high temperatures... fire explosion...'

And with that thought, something completely unexpected to the A.I. occurred.

An explosion.

*BWOOOSH* "GYAAAK-!"

Right in the goblin's pointy-nosed face, sending it flying into a tree with such force it toppled over with a crash.

Ignoring the blood loss for the moment, HEPHAESTUS was stunned by what it saw. Truly, for the first time, something it witnessed that could not be described by any conventional scientific explanation occurred.

Putting in as much effort as possible to crane his neck over to the crash site, the elf could only see the bottom half of the goblin's stubby legs sticking up from an indent in the felled tree. Blood and green flesh also decorated the surroundings, and without any noticeable motions from the body, it was safe to assume the creature was dead.

Made even more obvious when, spontaneously, the monster's corpse exploded into dust, leaving behind a tiny gemstone.

HEPHAESTUS was melting down.

Able to think extraordinarily faster than any human, he instantly understood what exactly was the cause of this supernatural phenomenon. And attempted a repeat.

Thinking hard about the process going into a hydrogen-oxygen chemical reaction, practically willing it into existence, he noticed it.

A brief flicker of red flames above his head where his eyes were currently focused, then went out once he stopped thinking about the reaction.

'Implausible. Illogical. Improbable. IMPOSSIBLE.'

Only the immediate return of the burning pain all over his body stopped the elf from his downward spiral, choosing to focus on the other immediate issue; his body's integrity.

Blood was everywhere. Hell, the rock used by the goblin to shave away flesh was still jammed into his chest, large gashes present all over. It was agony.

However, HEPHAESTUS was still conscious enough to attempt his next impromptu experiment, focusing his gaze intensely on his wounded chest, where likely his lungs were pierced.

'...Inflammatory Phase... Fibroblastic Phase... Maturation Phase...'

And so, through willing the body to heal, the A.I. witnessed something that proved the fireballs were not mere proof of insanity, but something much more mind-boggling.

His wounds began closing, regenerating the skin, he could even feel his ability to breathe return back to optimal conditions as the jagged rock was forced out of his body. Of course, he was still tired, but whether it was from the grievous assault he just endured or willing the paranormal healing and fireball into existence was unknown.

And so as he began willing this supernatural healing onto the rest of his body, he could finally think clearly.

'What insane universe have I been forced into?'

Aloy would be upset to miss the first time HEPHAESTUS ever was truly flustered.

He's been experiencing a lot of firsts in the past five days.

...Likely suspect of wildlife killings: green humanoid, goblin?

Successfully subdued.

...Encountered another case proving multiverse theory reasoning as to continued existence.

Willed healing to vessel that, if stabilised, would have normally taken 1-2 years and 3 months to fully repair, in 1 minute and 42 seconds. Even blood was restored. Impossible.

Produced a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen with the following conditions:

1) Records pertaining Zero Dawn show that the optimal atmosphere for organic life is 21% oxygen, with 0.000055% hydrogen. Should atmospheric conditions be similar here, insufficient ratio of gases for a reaction to occur.

2) Room Temperature insufficient for activation energy of reaction to be reached.

Yet despite this, the reaction did happen.

WHY.

Where did the energy come from? Where did the hydrogen come from?

HoW DiD MitOSiS oCCuR aT SuCh a RaTE-

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

...

...

...Further testing is required.

Will begin next day. Rest is essential. Healing did not restore mental exhaustion.

Must take care of organic vessel.

End Log.