Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Machine hunting. Fighting. Delving into ruins from the old ones. Scientific knowledge of how the world actually worked. Climbing. Herbalogy. Taming machines. Archery, of course. There were a lot of subjects that Aloy, the savior of Meridian, was better than him at. Better than anyone else he knew really.

Handwriting was apparently not one of those skills. The handwritten note in Carja script Avad had gotten from the hurried messenger was barely legible, but he still thought he might hold on to it.

Hi

The embassy wasn’t great…I am heading west still. I need to.

With this message is a focus, the same kind of device I wear. Put it next to your ear and press it.

Aloy

He had read the message a few times and was now alone in his chambers. Aloy hadn’t said anything about security and while Avad trusted her, he was not gonna put on a device from the old ones in the middle of the street. He knew that just him wearing it around Meridian would be the nobles gossip for days. At the moment he was holding onto the device and looking it over. It was triangular, slightly rounded on one side with a shining blue light coming from a gap in the middle. The light was similar to the light that came from machines, stable and consistent unlike the torchlight of the palace. The focus was a tiny thing and looked as brittle as glassware.

Really it wasn’t fear that had made Avad hesitate and study it, he trusted Aloy, he doubted she would give something dangerous. It was more nervousness, he had heard that the focus was apparently the source of her so-called “second sight”. If it only gave that it was a greater gift than any of the jewels the nobles Marad wanted him to marry had ever given him. And while Aloy didn't need to give him gifts, Avad wasn't going to deny them either. He cleared his head, and took a deep breath. After a moment's hesitation he pressed the focus on his temple next to his ear, as he had seen Aloy wear it. Then he gently tapped the focus.

Immediately there was a light in front of him. He almost jumped, startled but steadied himself and looked around. There was a shimmering image in front of him, floating in mid air in the palace room. It had a triangular icon similar to the focus. He waited for a moment, but nothing more seemed to happen so Avad reached out to touch it. He was a bit less surprised now when an image of Aloy appeared, looking at him. She looked similar to how he had seen last; stressed as the world would fall apart if she didn't act, but holding a determined expression that told him she would move mountains if she had to. Avad wished he could have helped her more, but sending Carja troops in Tenakth territory would just have complicated things. It could provoke a war and that was the last thing they needed. Both the Carja and the Tenakth. At least Erend was already in the area and Varl had followed her, hopefully they could help her. Part of Avad wished he could have gone too, but he couldn’t. Not yet.

“Avad?” The image moved. And spoke. Avad’s mind wanted to say that images shouldn't do that, but he was a bit distracted by the message. “Hope you got this far. This is a video, you can't interact with it. Hmm this is hard, Varl is the only one I've given a focus to and I could teach him in person. Gotta do this now though, I am heading out as soon as it's day. At least this is an easier way to leave messages on than writing with a quill. Those things are harder to use than they look.” Aloy scowled and moved on, giving Avad little time to digest what was going on. She pointed to her focus on her ear.

“This is a focus, it can do a lot of things. Helping you rule should be one of those things. It can highlight things in the world, particularly weak points on machines. Though I don't know how useful you will find that as you don’t hunt them yourself. It can also take pictures and record videos. Uh. You can hopefully figure out how and how to view them. I did it as a child. Most importantly I copied over a lot of recordings and texts I found in my travels. They relate to the old ones and the history of the world. I hope they can help you and the Carja.” Aloy paused, considering her next words. Avad still didn't really know what a video was. He also hoped he could watch this multiple times. There was a lot of information and Aloy spoke quickly as usual. He looked around for a quill, but it was hard to do without looking away from the image. And he wasn’t going to do that. Both to take in as much as possible, but also just to see her again.

Aloy seemed to have found what she wanted to say, but she still seemed more unsure of herself than before. ”It was nice to see you again Avad…And I would like to stay in Meridian. Someday.

But I have a purpose, a mission that only I can do. The embassy was attacked by Tenakth rebels. They seem to have a civil war going on, which only makes things harder. Still I will continue to head west.” Aloy still seemed a bit stressed, but she was becoming more determined as she went on. “I will find Sylens and find out what he plans to do with Hades. Then I will figure out how to solve the blight, and fulfill Elisabet's plan.” Then she paused again. “Hopefully I can return to Meridian someday. Still, don't put your life on hold because of me, Avad. Do what's best for your people.” Aloy seemed to be finished, she was thinking of something. Avad had found his quill and was hastily making some notes so he didn't forget anything. Sylens and Hades were people or things he knew of, but he had no idea who Elisabet was, the name didn't fit any of the tribes. Maybe it was another thing like Hades. But Aloy said she was going to fulfill Elisabet's plan, so clearly Elisabet wasn't hostile. The attack on the embassy was terrible, but at least he knew of that, he had gotten a (more detailed, if less exciting) report from the commander Nozar of Barren Light along with Aloys message.

Aloy, in the image, seemed to think of something and continued. “Oh and maybe we could talk via the focus. I still don't know how to initiate it really and I don't have time to figure it out. But Sylens called me from wherever he was in the Forbidden West. I think that had something to do with the spire, maybe you could try to climb it. It would be nice to talk again, even via focuses. Otherwise you could set up a focus network like the Eclipse did using tallnecks and then talk to Marad and some people in the Sundom or something. I know there are more focuses in Eluthiya. That's in Mother's embrace, the Nora Capital. Though I doubt they will let you in”. There was a sound in the background. ”Anyway. Take care Avad. Thanks for telling them not to make a golden statue of me.” Aloy smiled slightly. Then as suddenly as the image appeared, it vanished.

Avad looked around. He was still alone in personal chambers in the palace, holding a parchment with some scribbled notes. He was still wearing the focus. There were symbols and texts displayed in front of him, shimmering in translucent purple. There were a lot of texts written in a style that reminded him of some old Carja scrolls he had read. It was less stylized than the current Carja script, and lacked the decorations nobles loved to add to their texts. Next to them were small symbols, most of which he had never seen before. Perhaps they were some sort of iconography.

Images

Documents

Notes

Camera

Videos

Scanner

Contacts (1)

Messages (0)

Calls (0)

Maps

As he looked over the texts, he heard a few light knocks on his door and a voice. “Your Radiance. You planned to hold court in 10 minutes. Shall I tell them it's delayed?” It was Kandav, he thought. Avad liked knowing the names of the servants, he just wished it didn't frighten them as much. He considered delaying or canceling today's court. It was mostly solving petty disputes between nobles anyway. But his head was swimming with information from the device and he wanted some time to collect his thoughts. Plus it wasn't only nobles that came, sometimes someone there had a decent idea or request. He gently tapped his focus device again. The images in front of him vanished. He activated the device again and they reappeared. Sadly the image of Aloy didn't. Content with knowing the absolute basics of how to use the device, he carefully put it in his pouch and headed out. Court first, focus after that.

---

Avad had learned a few things after trying to understand the focus for a day or two. First of all, the focus was an absurdly complex device. Avad knew that the old ones were capable of incredible things and that their devices could be very complex, but he had never had a chance to go into any ruins. It hadn't been proper for a young prince, and then Jiran had gone mad and there had been other things occupying his time. Now he was busy rebuilding Meridian, trying to keep the nobles happy while trying to change the Carjan culture and government. Still he thought if he ever got time off he would like to try exploring one of the ruins. Maybe with Aloy.

Anyway, the focus was complex. There was just so much information stored within such a tiny device. And Avad could not dedicate the entirety of his time to understanding it. Especially since using it for too long seemed to give him a mild headache. Still he had figured out some things. He knew what Images, Documents and Notes were and that the focus held a few of them. There were a few images that must have come from Aloy herself. Stunning mountaintops, lush jungles, clearly dangerous machines, some images that must come from some ruin and one great view of Meridian from a distance. There was a painting with a similar view somewhere in the palace. The documents on the other hand contained a treasure trove of material that Avad had only begun to read. Texts from the old ones. They were all written in the same script that focus itself operated in, which reminded him of older Carjan script. That made it a bit tricky to read, but the real challenge was all of the terms, places, people and concepts Avad had no idea about. He thought he could spend months trying to make sense of it all. And he would, though definitely with the help of some of Meridians archivists and librarians. Maybe some Osreram tinkers and delvers too, they might understand a bit more of the technical material. After spending a few hours trying to parse the texts Avad had checked out the Notes and cursed the sun for not checking it earlier. Aloy had written some notes in there, seemingly reminders for herself on how to use a focus. The notes were brisk and not very descriptive but had still helped him in trying to use the focus and some of the terms the old ones used. Since he didn't want to miss anything else he had checked out all the other functions, and immediately fallen in love with the camera. Painting was one of the noble hobbies Avad enjoyed, but he had limited time to do so recently and the camera on the focus just captured scenes instantly. It was strange to use at first but now he was taking multiple pictures a day. Various rooms in the palace, the city in the morning rush, a glinthawk he spotted in the distance and a beautiful sunset over the Meridian.

Videos were another concept entirely. They were like pictures but they moved somehow, and Avad marveled at the applications in arts and culture. The few videos in the focus were of Aloys own experience and from her perspective. It was a bit strange viewing the world from her point of view. Sadly there were only five videos on the focus. There was also something called a “compressed folder” with the title “ZeroDawnStuff” which he had no idea what it was. The scanner seemed to be the source of Aloys second sight, but Avad was nowhere near as adept at using it as she was. It seemed to highlight certain things in his vision, but it had a lot of options and settings. He decided to leave it be for a while after it highlighted everything he saw and he was nearly blinded. Luckily it went away when he restarted the focus.

The Messages and Calls were empty, displaying only “Cannot connect to network”. They did show one contact called Aloy, but when Avad had tried to contact her it just displayed “Can't reach that focus, no connection”

Avad was quite sure he could not climb the spire. He appreciated Aloys climbing prowess, but it was another area she had unrealistic expectations of what most people were capable of. Or maybe all Nora were excellent climbers. The great part of being the sun-king however, was that Avad did not have to do things alone. Finding a team of competent and discreet Oseram climbers and tinkerers and getting them to build a ladder up along the spire was tricky. Especially since many Carja would probably see any changes made to it, as “desecrating the Spire” and Avad knew he still had enemies who rejected his reforms. But with Marad’s help he managed to start the project. It would take a few days so he wasn't working at Aloy’s pace, but he would get there. And Avad was convinced that long distance communication was worth the effort. It had only taken a brief showcase of its features to convince Marad of the value of the focus. So while the tinkerers worked on adding a ladder to his tribe's holiest place, Avad worked on a different project.

Chapter Text

Reconnecting and establishing connections with the other tribes was a project Avad knew would take years. It was something he had worked on for basically his entire reign. After the battle of Meridian, Avad had established regular communication with the Nora and had a former Nora exile, Nakoa, as an ambassador in Meridian. He had also had a very pleasant chat with one of their High Matriarchs during a meeting in Daytower. She seemed very interested in the Carja’s writing system so Avad had happily sent one his scholars there to help introduce it and help with communication. Their friendliness did not however help him in getting access to Eluthiya. If he organized a months-long expedition he could maybe be allowed to visit Mothers Embrace, but even that wasn't guaranteed. Avad was sure he wasn't getting into one of their most holy places. Aloy could of course, but she had more important things to do. He wondered if he could convince Teersa to go in there herself and get some for her but he doubted she would. Teersa seemed to want the best for both of their tribes and was open to trade and alliances but she was still bound by tradition and rituals, and was unlikely to do something like that. Maybe Aloy could convince her, but that again brought up the problem. Aloy was busy.

So Avad was looking into ways to acquire focuses (foci? he wasn't really sure). The eclipse had used a number of them, but many were damaged by the war. According to some reports by military personnel, looted Eclipse focuses had sometimes exploded suddenly when picked up. Avad had assumed that to be some soldier's tale at first but the reports came from commanders he trusted like Balahn and Janeva. Mavad had done some digging into the problem and found out that after some early incidents, looted foci were discarded. So while he saw the value of not having items that could explode in storage it did mean that they had no more focuses. Therefore he had first sent out requests to Oseram delvers, Carja scholars and competent outlanders that Marad or Vanasha trusted that the sundom was willing to pay a good price for intact focuses. Then he had done what might be the most efficient thing; he had started wearing his focus when he was holding court. Nobles were always quick to hop on new trends and far too willing to spend their vast wealth on jewelry instead of helping the people they were supposed to govern. He expected it to take a week at most until he spotted some of them with similar earpieces. Many of them might be cheap fakes only painted to look like a focus, but some could be real. And then he just had to ask where they found them.

----

What he was doing right now was not working on the focus project. Or helping his people in the rebuilding of Meridian or Sunfall. Or building alliances with the Banuk and Tenakth. He was on a date. He wished that he didn't have to (or that it was with Aloy), but Marad had annoyingly had a good argument.

“Avad. The Carja need stability now in order to rebuild. Many of the nobles are not happy with all the reforms you are pushing through, especially the ones that give commoners and outlanders more power. By courting one of them you show that you are on their side and that they can trust you.” Marad had stopped him before he could respond.

“I know you're going to say that you have more important things you could be doing. And maybe that is true. But the Carja cannot have conflict now, it can certainly not have another civil war. Just pick one noblewoman and go on a few dates. I suggest picking one from an old family like lady Zevin Nar Vinav. My reports tell me you two could get along.”

Avad found that the problem with surrounding yourself with competent people and telling them that they are allowed to and should speak against you, was that sometimes they could convince you to do things you don't want to. All this meant that Avad was on an evening date in the richer quarters of Meridian, taking in the fading sunlight and a pleasant summer breeze. It was going pretty well, he supposed. Zevin was a tall, dark skinned woman with long flowing black hair, wearing a typical Carjan dress made of red silk. She was agreeable and pleasant, with all of the standard qualities of a Carjan Noblewoman. She didn’t needlessly look down on the lower classes and she had stopped referring to by “Your Radiance” when he asked her to.

“So you like Salizars paintings?” he asked. “I like how they show different biomes. I don't get to travel as much I would like”

“Studius Salizars? Oh they're good. I like the… composition. I haven't seen that many though, you- I mean Avad.”

“You don't need to agree with me on everything. Do you have an artist you prefer?

Zevin looked like she wanted to say something but wasn't quite sure she should. “Studius Basaran paintings are good, I like his use of colors” she said after a while. It was a very standard answer. Basaran was one of the most famous painters in the current time, and while Avad could admit he was good it was also something he heard a hundred times.

“I also like Rakuja, she shows buil-” She started saying something in a low tone, almost to herself. Sadly one of his guards came up and interrupted her. Avad hoped this was something important, he hadn't actually heard of Rakuja and it didn't even sound like a Cajran name. It might be an interesting topic.

“Your Radiance, they say project red hawk is ready to go”. The guard (Avad thought his name was Laravan) approached him and spoke. Project red hawk was the codename for the project to scale the spire. Avad didn't actually want to end the date early, but he thought Marad would agree that the project was more important any date. Avad nodded and spoke to Zevin.

“My apologies Zevin, there is something I have to attend to. I would like to hear about Rakuja on another date. Another sunset perhaps.”

----

The spire was one of the most holy sites in Carja mythology. According to the glyphs, the first sun king Araman had founded Meridian where the shadow of the spire fell. It was tall, imposing, and also one of the best preserved structures of the old ones. Many books and untold amounts of theories had been made on its origin and purpose. Avad didn't actually know its true purpose, but he expected that Aloy knew, and very sure none of the Carja scholars and sun priests that studied it got it right. From what he remembered from Aloy’s hurried explanation it was some kind of communication device, like the old Carjan signal towers in the Daunt, only thousands of times more advanced. Sylens apparently used it to communicate with her when she was up there and if could allow him to do the same it would be invaluable for the sundom. He would be a poor ruler to dismiss the potential value of instant communication across the Sundom, and potentially diplomacy with the other tribes if he could convince them to join.

When he arrived next to the spire he saw multiple members of the vanguard, Marad, Vanasha and the Oseram tinkerers he hired. Their leader was a tall man named Dalger with a long beard, who came forward and looked like he was gonna shake Avad’s hand then reconsidered and bowed.

“Your Radiance, we have secured a climb up the spire. It's a fascinating structure. and my niece Orna here has many ideas for the structure's purpose.” He pointed to one of the younger members of the group, a shy girl who held some kind of device he didn't recognize.

Avad nodded. “If I have time I could be interested in listening to them, otherwise I'm sure Marad could find a scholar who would be willing to help document them. For now though, I would like to begin the climb.”

“Your Radiance, may I suggest Vanasha accompany you in the climb?” interjected Marad “Not that I don't trust your team Dalger, but should anything happen” Neither Avad nor Dalger had any reason to object and Vanasha stepped forwards. The tinkerers had added a lot of steps on the spire, under the guise of repairs. He knew a few of the sun priests had objected, but the spire had taken some minor damage under the battle of Meridian so for now they could keep the disguise up. The climb was manageable for Avad, even if he had to take a few breaks along the way. He didn't know how Aloy or Vanasha, who didn't seem bothered at all, managed it. One of Dalgars teammates, a bald man named Harnuf, made the climb with them and he at least seemed a bit tired when he got up.

Still eventually they made it to the top, and Avad found the view alone to be worth the effort. From his viewpoint Meridian looked tiny and he thought could see all the way to Daytower in the distance. Here he had a view of the sundom that very few people could ever have seen. It was magnificent, but also humbling in a way. Avad wished he could have the view every day and after a moment realized he could. He tapped his focus and took a photo. Then a few more. He saw Vanasha with a warbow in hand, eyes following a distant flock of glinthawks. Harnuf was relaxing and watching him with a curious expression. So after a moment Avad did what he came here for. What a week of planning had led to. He tapped on his focus and found the Contacts icon, and tapped it to open it.

One contact found. Network Connection, 5/5

Aloy (Call/Message)

He tapped call.

Chapter Text

As she lay down on one of the beds in Regional Control Center 9, or the base as they had taken to calling it, Aloy felt like every bone in her body ached. She had acted on adrenaline and spite alone the last day and half, and she still felt the wounds from the battle with the strangers in the proving lab. The strangers who had unbelievable tech and seemingly impenetrable shields. The strangers that had nearly killed her. The same strangers that apparently came from space. Or well technically they were probably just a “group of humans that could travel between stars”. Sometimes Aloy wondered if the universe hated her specifically. Ancient malevolent AI’s hadn't been enough so it had to throw immortals at her.

Part of her still wanted to lie down and let someone else handle things. To just let things handle themselves for a while. But people would die if she did that. Wars might break out. The biosphere would collapse and everything Elisabet had done would be for naught. Life would cease to exist. Again. And she wouldn't let that happen. She heard a faint sound which broke her out of her thoughts. Something that sounded like music. A melody? She thought that she recognized it, but she didn't know why. The Nora had some music that she occasionally listened to at a distance as a child, but this wasn't that. It had instruments that they couldn't make. It sounded like something she could maybe hear in the streets of Meridian, but who would play that here? The only people here were her, Zo and Gaia. Varl had gone back to Barren Light to get Erend. She didn’t know enough about Utaru music to say that this wasn’t that, but no, this had too many instruments for Zo to play alone. It sounded like something she could maybe hear in a ruin from the old ones. Was Gaia playing music? And why did she recognize it?

“Gaia, are you playing music?” She asked out loud. Gaia had said that she could hear her from anywhere in the base, but preferred to talk in her room for longer chats.

“No Aloy. I currently have no music installed. If you would upload music into my database, I then could play them for you”

“Okay, thanks” Though that might not be a bad idea if she had time. “Do you know what the music is coming from?”

“I believe the music you are hearing is your ringtone Aloy”

Aloy remembered now. At some point in her youth she had found a partially destroyed musical database and picked out some songs. After a while she had to delete the database to save space on her focus, but apparently the ringtone had remained installed. But who would be calling her? For a moment she thought it might be the Zeniths, but then realized that Gaia would warn her in that case. Or if they could lure Gaia, they would just break in. She slowly moved to reach for her focus

“Gaia. Who’s calling me?”

“Your focus says the caller’s identity is Avad. I believe that based on my knowledge he is the sun king of the Carja tribe.” Aloy hastily grabbed her focus. She hadn't expected Avad to be able to reach her. But honestly she really could talk to him now, so she clicked accept.

“Avad?” She asked hastily.

“Aloy” Came his response, clear as day.

She was kinda stunned now, what did you normally do in a focus call? Her only experiences were the ones with Sylens and he was not a man for small talk. Part of her mind realized now that Sylens had also somehow bypassed the answering (and therefore ringtone) step when called her. She would have to figure out how he did that at some point later. Still with her experience of focus calls being that and the recordings of Elisabet's and Ted tense calls too, her knowledge of what to say was limited.

“How are you doing, Aloy?” Avad asked. Ah, that was how you started a conversation.

She wanted to say “I’m fine”. It was her usual response to that question. But something made her reconsider. She wasn't in a mood for pleasantries and lies. And Avad had been nothing if not genuine towards her.

“I got attacked by aliens which almost killed me and now my everything hurts. But I got Gaia and installed I know-”

“Slow down. Are you safe? Can I do anything to help you?” Avad’s gentle voice interrupted her.

Aloy looked around the base and considered the question for a moment. The sterile metallic walls of the base weren't as comforting as Plainsong or Meridian, but if any place was safe from the Zenthis it was here.

“Yes, I am in a safe space. Keep talking, it's nice.”

“Oh good. I didn't want to call you while you were fighting or hiding or something. Did you say aliens, what are they? Are they a new type of machine in the forbidden west?”

“No, not really” She paused, considering “Avad have you ever been faced with an enemy that seems insurmountable? Strong enough that nothing you can do seems to hurt them?” Aloy didn't know how to explain that they are people that traveled to and back from the stars. That sounded crazy. Did Avad even know what stars were? She knew that he did not believe himself a sun god, like the Carja traditions said, but did he even know what the sun and stars were? He seemed to pause and take a moment, then responded.

“My father. I know it doesn't come close to your fights with crazed machine spirits. But even though some people; Carja, outlanders, peasants, nobles, hunters and priests alike considered him mad, taking down a sun king? Unheard of. The previous ones had died of course or disappeared, but none had fallen in rebellion or civil wars. I did consider it an impossible task sometimes, but someone had to try to stop him.”

Aloy would try of course. And fight. She always did. Ever since she had been an outcast at birth. But she had to ask Avad something.

“How did you push on? Against an invulnerable enemy”

“I don't know if Jiran was invulnerable in the same way as whatever you're facing now, but I couldn't have done it alone. I would have given up on day one, maybe day two. But I had help. Oseram freebooters and tinkerers, with their cannons, Carja rebels and Marads loyalists. Erend and Ersa were at my side. They helped me push on.”

---

Aloy didn’t know how they got onto later topics after that, but Avad managed it. He was great at talking. They chatted for a few moments more, though Aloy never explained what aliens or Far Zenith were before Vanasha, who had apparently been next to him the whole time interrupted.

“Hey, little huntress. I think Avad could chat to you the whole night, but someone has to see to it that he doesn't die of windchill. Next time we climb up the spire I am bringing some cloaks. You know I'm not gonna pretend to know what you're fighting, but good luck Aloy”

Avad managed to get out a “Best of luck Aloy, may the sun shine on your way” before Vanasha practically forced him to get down.

As the call closed she realized two things. Avad had climbed the spire somehow, she didn't know how. And there was a video chat option on the focus, she wished she had remembered to activate that. Actually she realized three things. She also hoped that he would call her again.

She could sleep for a few hours. And then she would fight. Fight like she had fought against machines, bandits, tyrants and broken AI’s. Fight like she had since her tribe cast her out at birth for something she couldn't control. Continue to fight, for GAIA and for earth. For Elisabet. Fight for the sake of her friends, for Varl, Erend, Zo, Talanah and for Avad

Chapter Text

“Hmm. It’s certainly interesting and some of these terms could be useful, but you do realize that Aloy isn't the first hunter to take note of weak spots in machines, Avad?” Ligan looked at him after squinting down at the parchment. “We do sell hunters guides to members of the lodge. I think I remember her looking through them. Don’t think she bought any though. Guess she thought that her device, focus did you call it, worked fine for her. She might have been right. We make a lot of our profit from selling guides and training nobles in the art of machine hunting, so they cost a lot of shards. ”

Avad knew all that intellectually, but he had put Aloy on such a pedestal that he assumed that her focus database of machine knowledge would be way superior to lodge’s. He supposed that was good in a way, it meant the Carja was capable and it highlighted that Aloy was human, fallible. He still didn't know what to make of last night's conversation.

Ligan must have taken his words as a sign to go on. “Aloy is an incredibly capable hunter and warrior, I underestimated her myself at first. But many of the lodge's senior members have taken down thunderjaws and stormbird. And our notetaking on both abilities and weak points is part of what makes us so successful. Many of our members have read the guides through and through. While I never trained him myself, I saw your brother Kadaman training and reading about machines here back before the relationship between the lodge and throne broke apart.”

Avad remembered his brother coming back after successfully killing a snapmaw for the first time, with a bloody few cuts on his armor but holding his warbow high with a smile on his face. Kadaman had always been more sportier and more active than him, more bold. More like Aloy in that way. Kadamans smiles had faded as the raids went on though. Avad on the other hand had preferred to spend his time reading and studying. Honestly he was a bit surprised to hear that Kadaman had been reading often, but he supposed that if it was about machines it made sense.

“I don't want it to sound like this knowledge is useless, your radiance. Any information about a machine could potentially save a hunter. I can see to it that it spreads to other members of the lodge. If you can communicate with Aloy using that device, send my thanks. And tell her that if she sees Talanah, she should tell her that the sunhawk can't just run off to hunt big machines when she wishes. I’m retired, but now all these junior hunters come to me with questions.”

---

Avad had found Aloys machine database inside the documents part of the focus and was amazed at all the information it contained. The biggest thing he personally hunted was a scrapper and he might not have tried that without the knowledge that his personal guard was beside him. So reading details and tactics about thunderjaws and fireclaws and how to fight them had terrified him. Aloy had apparently noted rolling between the legs of thunderjaws as a great strategy. At least they seemed to be the biggest machines around. He had still transcribed all the information from the focus onto a scroll and had that scroll copied and sent out to multiple officers in the Sundom (though he doubted any of them would be rolling between the legs of a Thunderjaw). He had also sent an extra copy to Daytower which would hopefully be sent along to the Nora and now most recently given a copy to Ligan, acting sunhawk of the hunters lodge. He had wondered for a while if Aloy wanted to keep her machine knowledge to herself but thinking about it, that seemed unlikely. From his knowledge of her she wanted her knowledge to spread.

Speaking of Aloy, he was going to climb the spire to hopefully talk to her again today. This time they were bringing coats.

He had also been talking to Marad and some oseram tinkers about extending the focus “connection”. Having to climb the spire every time did severely limit their communication options, even if it was likely to get him in great shape. However even the most competent tinkers around didn't know much about “connections”. At best they seemed to know that they were something some devices from old ones had. Avad was referred to some Oseram tinkerer living in the Claim, and also surprisingly to a Banuk shaman that apparently studied them. He had sent them both messages inviting them to Meridian. Now as he was approaching the spire he could see the some tinkers studying it alongside a group of sun priests and nobles that were “quietly” protesting.

“Your Radiance! Don't you see, these outlanders aren’t repairing the spire. They are desecrating it with their strange devices.” One of the noblemen spoke to him as he approached. Avad remembered Marads words from earlier and knew that he couldn't just tell them to leave. The nobles were unlikely to stage an open revolt, but they still had a lot of power. He had reversed many of Jirans reforms that gave the sun king absolute rulership and well here was the result. At least, looking around the group he didn't see Zevin, which he supposed was good.

“We are investigating possible structural damage in the spire, Sharid var Lawar. The team here found a possible fault while repairing the outer layer.” Avad replied to the nobleman. Of course that was a complete lie, but it was a manufactured lie. With some help from Marad the report said that damages the spire took in the battle against Hades hadn’t still been fixed and they still had to check for structural damage inside.

“Isn't the Sun’s spire known to be impenetrable? Did not Amavad the Bounteous use it for cover when he defeated two stormbirds, without it taking a scratch? Isn't the very notion of “structural damage” to the spire obscene?” Sharid responded. Avad knew Sharid was traditionalist and if he had to say something positive about the man he at least knew the scriptures he preached. But he was rarely this combative, even in words. Part of Carja tradition was deferring to the sun king. Still Avad didn't want to use the “I’m your sun king and technically your god" defence. It felt wrong and reminded him too much of his father.

“The Spire was attacked by machines of the buried shadow. If anything can harm it, it would be those. Or do you know anything about that army that we don’t, Sharid?”

Sharid looked a bit taken aback by that. “No, your radiance. Do you really believe it could have harmed the spire?”

Avad nodded and the fight seemed to have been taken out of the nobles and priests who left. He didn't think this was over though. Sharids words were too well planned to be his own, this whole protest was, someone was planning something. For a second he wished he had Aloy here, but no, he could do this on his own. Still now it was climbing, then hopefully he could help Aloy instead of the opposite.

---

As Avad reached the top of the spire, the sun was setting on Meridian, casting the city in a beautiful orange glow. He quickly took a photo and wished he had an easy way to share it with people. Vanasha had followed him up like last time, but this time she was accompanied by Arguf from his vanguard and the last member of the tinkers, an elderly Oseram man named Dolarf. Arguf seemed tired as reached the top, which was fair as he had carried a backpack containing multiple quilts. Avad had told him it wasn't necessary, he could wear a coat, but Arguf didn't take to his arguments. Still it wasn’t that important, Avad had a focus call to organize. Hopefully, he had no way to know if she would respond. Right before he could open the menu on his focus though it displayed “Call Incoming, caller ALOY. (Accept/Decline)

He quickly accepted and heard Aloy’s voice.

”Oh that was quick. Avad?”

“Greetings Aloy”

“Let me do this before I forget” Aloy heard her tapping her focus with far more precision and speed than he had. Then she ...appeared. Avad saw a shimmering image of Aloy in front of him. She was standing in some kind of metal building, with white lights and strange decorations. It was probably a ruin of the old ones, though it was far better maintained than any he had seen. “Video call, Avad. Forgot it existed last time. Nice to see you.” Avad nodded, a bit stunned. He hadn't expected to see Aloy, even if in image only. She looked similar to last time he had seen her, though she wasn't in her armor this time. Instead wearing some clothes that he thought might be Utaru in origin.

“You got a nice view there. I didn’t see much from the spire when I was there, due to the weather. How are you?” She asked, her voice sounding less distressed than yesterday.

“I’m fine. Dealt with some annoying nobles but that comes with occupation. The Carja are well.” Avad didn’t have a better answer. He rarely got asked this kind of smalltalk, most Carja wouldn't dare so the only ones that might casually chat with him were Marad and Erend. Marad was not one for smalltalk and Erend wasn’t here now, so that limited things further. Some of the Vanguard had a more casual attitude, but he couldn’t call them his personal friends.

“That’s good. About the Carja I mean, I can’t really help you on the noble front” Aloy hesitated. “I’m not really used to just chatting, but Zo said I should take today off to recover. I am heading off in the morning though, I need to find Aether to complete Gaia. I don’t think I can get a focus connection while not being inside the base, so this might be our last chat for a while”

“I see. I’ve learned a lot from studying the focus but there are still a lot of names and things I don’t know about. Who or what are Zo, Aether and Gaia?” Avad asked. He hoped this entire talk wouldn't just be him asking questions, he doubted Aloy found that fun, but there were so many things he didn't know.

“Zo is a friend. She’s a Utaru and she helped me recover after the…a tough battle.” Aloy looked like she was trying to find a way to explain something complicated. “Gaia and Aether are more complicated. They are similar to Hades in a way, but while Hades only wanted to destroy, Gaia wants to rebuild and restore the world. She is what's called an AI, an artificial intelligence created by the old ones. They are machines that can think and talk”.

Avad found it hard to imagine, but he had run across the term AI before in the documents on the focus. He also remembered seeing Hades being dragged behind an army of machines, on a seemingly unstoppable path of destruction. “I think I broadly understand. There is so much I don’t know about the old ones though, they seemed so different from us. I don't know if I will ever understand them.”

Aloy nodded, then smiled slightly. “They were different from us in a way, their world was different. But we are very much alike, I've learned. There are tyrants, egomaniacs and bandits in both worlds, just as there are scholars, reformers and good people in them too. I had my focus my entire youth, you have barely had yours for a month Avad. And there are …circumstances that connect me to them in a way. I’ll explain that to you someday hopefully. Continue learning, Avad and spread the knowledge. More than Hades and Helis, the person that damaged this world the most did so by restricting knowledge.” There was a silent anger in her eyes as she said the next line. “Do you know about Ted Faro?”

“I think some of the documents of the old ones mentioned him” There were a lot of people in those documents, and their names were not like any Avad knew. He had started keeping track by making notes but it was hard. He had been planning to head to royal archives to see an old teacher for help but there had always been something else taking up his time.

“Have you watched the video files, the ones in the Zero Dawn folder?” Aloy frowned slightly, like she expected another reaction from him.

“I watched the other videos, but I coul-” Avad began, had he missed something?

“You couldn't open a compressed folder.” Aloy interrupted him, smiling slightly. “Had that same problem when I was younger. Doesn’t say anywhere, but you tap them twice quickly to open them.” Her smile faded. “Do watch them, but be ready to be angry afterwards”

Chapter Text

Avad hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. Part of that had been due to spending over an hour talking to Aloy and then having to climb down the spire after dusk. Most of it was however from the fact that it was hard to sleep with the amount of information in his head. Aloy had taught him a lot about focuses, machines, the world and the old ones. His head was swimming with ideas and thoughts. So after a quick breakfast he headed somewhere he should probably have gone to earlier, the Meridian archives.

The Carja prided themselves on information and knowledge. Not always correct or useful knowledge, but ever since the first sun king Araman had found the leaves and founded Meridian, scrolls, texts and books had been one of their icons. “Literacy and knowledge is what separated us from the savages” was what some particular nobles liked to say. Not even the mad sun king could undo that. Therefore the Meridian archives were a huge building carved out of the very rock that the city stood on. Long corridors, luxurious spaces with chairs and pillows, lit by windows and carefully maintained candlelight. It was stunning when you first visited it.

Sadly it was not in the best of states, having gone underfunded during Jirans reign and then suffered some, thankfully light, damage during the battle for Meridian. But even as Avad walked into the building he could see the repair work under way. Workers were repairing a damaged wall, librarians were moving back books from temporary storage spaces. Many of them stopped and bowed as he moved past. He would have appreciated a casual greeting more but that was hard to explain. And sadly he didn't have time to wander around and chit-chat, Avad was looking to find someone in particular. Luckily, as if she knew he was coming she appeared.

Kivuna was a woman that was seemingly competing with the Nora matriarchs in terms of age. She had been Avad’s teacher in literature and reading when he was young and even then she had seemed old. Now she looked older still, with gray-silver hair sticking out from behind a head piece. She had the build of a scholar that spent most of her time indoors, but somehow still had a look that told him she might fight a thunderjaw if one tried to break into the library. She had lost some of the fearlessness he remembered though and had a long scar on the right side of face that wasn't there when he was young. She looked at Avad as he came in and gestured to a table to sit.

“Greetings your radiance. Do you seek something from the Meridian archives?” Her speech was more stilted than he was used to.

“Kivuna. No need for formalities please, you have known me long enough to call me Avad. I would like some help with a project if you have time”.

Something changed in her expression as he said that

“Oh, good you haven’t changed. You need my aid, you said? Must be important”. She seemed more like he remembered her as she said that.

Avad wasn’t quite sure where to start so he just asked. ”Have you heard of a Focus?”

“You mean like concentration? We usually have that in here, but I think the scholars are a bit distracted by fact that the sun king strolled in”

Avad ignored her sass and pointed at his right ear, where his focus sat. Kivuna looked at it. “You got some new jewelry you want to find more about, no… That looks like something the old ones might wear. Have you been delving into some ruins or has the noble fashion changed that much since I was last in the city.” She pondered.

Avad wondered when exactly she was last in the city, but didn’t ask. “No time for the sun king to go exploring ruins sadly, got this from a…friend. It is from the old ones and it's very powerful. It contains a lot of knowledge from their time that I would like to decipher and write down.”

“I can write down some notes, but you didn’t need to go to the archives if you just wanted a scribe. Could have just sent for one” She didn’t say ‘And I taught you to write, so couldn't you do it yourself’ but there was an undertone of that.

Avad looked around at the bookshelves and scrolls, at the workers sorting them and the handfuls of nobles and merchants that were here reading. He had opened the archives for everyone but it was still hard getting commoners and outlanders here.

“This device might contain more information than half of these archives”

Kivuna looked at him with a look of anger, then disbelief, then curiosity. “That would be interesting if it were true.” She paused. “It's not that I don’t believe in the sun king's words, more that I think you underestimate the scope of these archives, your radiance.”

----

“But sometimes to protect innocents…innocents have to die”

“Emergency alert. Venting atmosphere”

It was the third time he heard the video, the third time he heard that shadow-touched bastard try to “protect innocents”. It didn’t make it easier to watch. Kivuna had her head in her arms, a shocked look on her face. Avad had known bits and pieces of what happened to the old ones from Aloy and previous research on his focus but she hadn’t even had that. Still he was shocked too. All the knowledge of the old ones, lost. Project Zero Dawn, and the Faro Plague. It was almost impossible to take in.

Last night after talking to Aloy he had opened the compressed folder of “ZeroDawnStuff” as Aloy had elegantly named it and watched the first video. He knew he needed a clearer head and someone with professional notetaking skills before watching the rest. Kivuna had brought in books and scrolls on the old ones, gathered knowledge from broken devices and structures. Countless theories and arguments stored in tomes, most of them dead wrong. He knew that sometime in the weeks to come he would see the mess of scrolls and papers in front of her reorganized into a book on the old ones. And he would make sure it was copied and spread. Right now however, he needed a break, sunlight and some clean air.

“I’m…going for a walk to clear my head. Perhaps you want to follow.”

Kivuna didn’t look like she would at first, she remained still looking at her notes. Then she nodded. “I thought I would just spend my last years organizing things here, working on my book. You have given me so much work Avad. I should curse you, but I won't." She paused "I would like to start right away but you're right, it can wait until tomorrow. I need to think”

They exited the room with the notes, Avad signaling one of the vanguard to keep guard inside and walked out from the archives. As they walked Avad noticed how she walked, favoring her left leg. He was going to comment on it, but as they reached the exit, he got blinded by the evening sun.

He had come here in the morning hadn’t he? He vaguely recalled a servant coming with food at some point. They had watched every one of those videos multiple times, taking notes and asking servants for more scrolls and ink. And he was sure they would do so more. After Kivuna got over what a video was, she at first took detailed notes of the old ones' speech patterns and clothes. Avad had to convince her to wait with that, to maybe watch all the videos first, then focus on smaller details, otherwise it would have taken a week to get through the video.

Kivuna stopped and looked at him as they got outside.

“And you said you wanted me to publish a book with this information? The tales of old ones.”

Avad nodded.

“You're a good king, Avad. Better than your father. I like your reforms. I saw a Nora walking in here a few weeks ago. Think they were exiled but still. I would have appreciated it if you visited here sometime, without dropping all of this on me but I can't complain too much.” Her face darkened slightly, but she continued “Jiran threatened to throw me into the sun ring for speaking out against him. He...I don't want to talk about it now. I am going to sleep now, then I am going to organize all those notes. My office hasn't been in such a bad shape in years, you know.”

----

“I need to head to wherever Aether is Avad, and after that Poseidon and Demeter. It’s my life’s mission and the world is at stake. I can't wait. But still, I used to think that neither you or anyone else could help, but maybe that was wrong. I feel energized after today. Maybe that was taking it easy for a day, maybe it was talking to you. I’ve put Elisabet on such a pedestal my whole life, but she didn't work alone either did she?

You know I almost don’t want to leave. But, no I have to. I don't know how long it will take to find them, I don't know when we can speak next. But I hope there is a next time, I hope I can return to Meridian someday, Avad.

Chapter Text

After getting a message from Kivuna in the morning telling him that she wanted a few days to organize her notes and find texts and experts on the old ones, Avad decided to hold court. He had been putting it off for a little bit but with Aloy going to find Aether it seemed like a good opportunity. And actually it had been. Avad had talked to one of his most reasonable nobles, Kiridian Pariv, who managed the royal maizeland. Kiridian was a middle aged man who seemed almost too reasonable. He liked formalities, was always courteous and had an eye for business and long term planning. Avad had asked Marad once what dark secrets the man held, but Marad’s investigation hadn’t found anything. He had also asked Marad if Kiridian had any hobbies or interests besides economic management, but Marad had declined to investigate that.

“The maizelands are recovering quite well after the battle and we should be back to normal productivity soon” had been the gist of the report. It was nice to have at least one competent noble. Avad should ask Aloy’s Utaru friend, Zo, if she had some advice. The Utaru were famous for being excellent farmers and he was sure that Kiridian would be happy to hear anything that could increase productivity. He just had to make sure that the Carja people got to experience the yields of some of that productivity.

Besides Kiridian, Avad had also talked to a group of the sundoms military engineers. The organization had been founded by Avad’s grandfather, sun king Hivas, as part of the remilitarization of the Carja, however they had remained a small force until Avad had opened recruitment to people of any tribe (even if it was mostly Oseram who joined). While Avad disliked expanding the military, he knew they were necessary to fend off machines and other threats. The engineers had been experimenting with modifying ravager cannons for permanent use, manufacturing replacements for the ammo and stabilizing the cannons themselves. Apparently progress had been slow, but steady. However with Aloys notes from her focus the team had made some breakthroughs, promising a live demonstration next week. Avad had nodded and thanked them for their work. He hoped it would save lives, he just wished they weren't so excited about making weapons of destruction.

After that, Avad had settled three disputes between different nobles, but he was quite sure that the next duo in line weren’t here to talk about land claims or incidents at parties. Avad saw a tall Oseran woman wearing the garb of a delver, next to what looked like a Carja scholar. He felt like he recalled the scholar but couldn’t say from where. Both of them looked and smelled like they had spent the last week in a ruin, which he suspected might just be the case. Avad had waived the rules for “proper appearance” in court as it was mostly a law to keep “peasants” away from politics, but maybe there were some other reasons the previous sun kings had kept that requirement. He saw multiple nobles in line sniffing their noses and would probably be recommending the duo a bath after this. The Oseram woman walked forward and spoke and as she did Avad noticed her defined muscles and a warhammer hanging on her back.

“Hey, Your Radiance. That is the correct title right? You Carja have so many titles and stuff, my par-” With a polite cough from her companion she continued. “Anyway me and Salli were delving into some ruins over by the grave hoard and we found these.” With that she pulled out a pouch and dropped it on the floor in front of him. As she did so one of the vanguard rushed forward and inspected the pouch. Avad wanted to say that he could do that himself, but on the other hand if that had been a bomb it would have been a good way to assassinate him. The guard, a young woman named Olifia nodded.

“It's safe you radiance. It's five more of these…devices you have” She said, pointing to his ear. Avad stopped his other thoughts; figuring out where he had seen the scholar, the delver’s muscles, his afternoon plans and the fact that if it had been a bomb Olifia would have died protecting him. He had more focuses. Well he still had to buy them and see if they were in good condition, but still. It would be huge for the Carja.

Olifia gave him the pouch and Avad looked over the focuses, which seemed intact but it was hard to know at a glance.

“Yeah, I heard you put a good price on these things. What was it, three hundred shards each? Four hundred?” The delver said. Avad wasn’t quite sure if she was putting up an act or not. Either way he would pay full price, you didn’t want to charge a delver short. That never ended well, and it wasn't like the sundom couldn’t afford it.

The scholar coughed politely again and spoke up. “I believe focuses were listed to be sold for thousand shards each, your radiance”

“A thousand shards each? We could retire on that money. You should sell yours too, Salli” the woman loudly proclaimed. Avad looked closer and could see that hidden behind ‘Salli’s’ headdress there was a focus.

“I believe I will keep it, my dear. It was invaluable during the last delve. And I don’t think you would want to retire, you would find it too boring” the scholar(?) responded. Avad could have listened to their bickering for a while longer but the nobles in the queue were giving them dirty looks and he really wanted to inspect the focuses.

“I will need to inspect the focuses to see if they work properly, but assuming they do, the Sundom will pay you a thousand shards for each one. I would be willing to buy the one you have too, if you change your mind sir…”

“Salizar, your radiance. And I think the answer will remain no. Now I think me and my partner would like to visit the Meridian bathhouse if it's still open. The focuses should be working, I’ve checked them all. Contact us if you find anything wrong”

“And I am Ulvama Ruinsfinder. Pleasure doing business.” The woman said and they walked away, bickering to each other. Something about “you can’t just invent a last name for yourself dear” and “sure can do, did it just now”

After that, which was one of the strangest meetings Avad had been part of, the rest of the court went by without incident. After his open court had ended, he finally had time to start looking over the other focuses. Working together with Marad he did a check on all of the focuses, using some instructions he got from Aloy last time they spoke. Check for external damages, check the settings and programs so they matched his, run a security check. Aloy had also mentioned some things like malware and hacking as possible threats to focuses, but she didn’t really understand those concepts herself so they had no way to check for that yet. Their checks didn’t find anything so Avad gave a focus to Marad, Vanasha and Kivuna and sent one to Balahn in Daytower in the east. He wanted to send the last one to Barren Light in the west, but the leadership position was a bit unclear after the death of Nozar in the embassy massacre. He would also like to send focuses to the other tribes for better communication with the Nora, Banuk and Oseram leadership but the Nora shunned technology from the old ones and he had limited contact with Banuk and Oseram leadership. So for now he held onto the last focus. Before he went off to have lunch, Marad came up and whispered to him.

“Some of the vanguard have mentioned seeing a mysterious person watching you, your radiance. Vanasha is investigating them, but don’t do anything risky today. And I know this is hard knowing that, but don’t act suspicious either” Marad paused, then added.

“Incidentally I got word that lady Zevin Var Nariv would be okay with another date”

----

A gentle afternoon breeze flew through Meridian, going past the crowded stores of the market districts. It went past the hunting party emerging from the lodge and the people coming and going to the temple of the sun. Avad enjoyed taking a walk through the city and this time he had been joined by Zevin. They had followed the afternoon breeze, going around the city at a relaxed pace, quietly talking about things. Poetry, news and reports from around the Sundom. They had even talked a bit about the other tribes. Zevin seemed a bit more open today and it had been a pleasant conversation. As they walked she opened up more and asked him things. She was fairly well read and in a world without Aloy… Avad could see himself, well maybe not happy but at least content, with Zevin as sun queen. The nobles would be happier and the Sundom stable and fine.

But there was no spark. Not between them. Avad had found a few romance “novellas” hidden in folders in folders on the focus. They were partially corrupted and not opened recently, but they mentioned the same spark some Carja texts did when it came to romance. And in that world there wouldn’t really be any spark for the Carja either. Avad would be slowly getting his reforms across, strengthening the rights of commoners and outlanders and maybe building some new projects. Then a few sun kings later there might be another Jiran. Or some cult, malevolent machine or remnant of the old ones decides to attack and the Carja, focusing more on tradition than what's right, would have no chance.

The thing was, they lived in 3041. The year was 3041 in the common era, not 221 post founding. The earth was a sphere. The very sun his tribe worshiped was a ball of fire. Avad hadn’t known these things. He knew that the sun was not divine, because well he knew he was no god. He knew time didn’t start when Araman founded Meridian but okay, maybe that was the most arbitrary point, the old ones calendar started with some religion. He hadn’t really thought about what shape the world might be, because most of his teachers had disregarded everything outside of the Sundom and it hadn't seemed relevant. There was so much knowledge and things lost. So many things happening, that the Carja couldn’t stay in the past. Aloy had said he shouldn't put his life on hold, that she might not make it. And they hadn't confirmed if their feelings were the same. But while there was a chance Avad would not get with some lady, just because it would please the nobles. Still he felt shouldn't think of Aloy on his date.

“What shape do you think the planet is?” It was probably a weird question to ask out of the blue. Their date was approaching the end, they were walking on the bridge to the palace. But Avad had to ask. Zevin looked at him and answered slowly.

"Hmm. I have heard some people say it's flat, but my uncle theorizes it's a sphere. He said something about shadows I think. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. I've heard that's correct. Your uncle is quite smart” There was something nice in hearing that Aloy wasn’t the only one that figured that out.

“Thank you. Mother doesn’t like him because he’s with an Oseram. My ah, other uncle, So they’re banished from the family now. So he’s technically not my uncle anymore. But he is…” Zevin paused and looked at him. They were standing on the middle of the bridge now. Technically they (and the five vanguards that followed them) were blocking traffic but no one would say that to the sun king . “Are you interested? I’m probably talking too much, aren't I? I shouldn't be talking about this”.

Avad looked at her

“No, it's fine, please keep talking. A date should have a conversation. And I don't mind hearing about your uncles, ” Avad tried. He was not quite sure what to do here.

"You're not like I imagined. Mother said I should only talk when you spoke to me since you’re the sun king. She said you wouldn't want someone to speak against you.” Zevin paused ”So I did that last time, but you keep prompting me to continue. And she said I shouldn’t mention unwomanly things like construction, but then you started talking about the development of Brightmarket. And I shouldn’t talk about other “lesser” tribes but then you started talking about the fur imports from the Nora.” Avad could see a tear forming in her left eye.

“I thought it might be some kind of test for a bit. You would present these topics, then reject me when I start talking about “shadowed things”. You know Avad, you have rejected a lot of noblewomen. You have a reputation among the noble ladies and maybe that’s your method.” She paused again “But I also don't think you're that cruel. I saw you send a guard to break up that fight in the market. I’ve heard you let some people whose homes were destroyed in the battle for Meridian into the palace for a few days. I…”

She paused, seemingly taking in the fact their discussion had paused foot traffic around them. Avad thought he saw someone in shadow watching them for a moment, but couldn't’ concert on that. Still he thought that if he interjected with a response she might stop. But he had to do something. For all his want of getting people to stop treating him as sungod instead of a human he wasn’t used to people opening up to him. But he did what Kadaman always did when Avad started crying as a kid. He went forward and gave her a gentle hug.

“You're not like other nobles, Avad.” she said through her tears. Then she whispered “And that's a focus right? I’ve only seen one as a sketch before, but it has to be.”

Chapter Text

Meridian was never fully quiet, so the sounds of footsteps on roof panels broke no silence. Even now in nightfall she heard people enjoying a late meal in restaurants, the steady footsteps of a night patrol a few streets away and the low chatter of some citizens walking home from their evening prayer. Still those were not sounds that concerned her, so she filtered them out. Vanasha was hunting. She wasn’t quite sure who she was hunting, but whomever they were, they were good. Most of her prey didn’t last this long.

She hadn’t expected much when the reports of “a dark shadowy figure stalking the sun king came in” from the vanguard. She trusted them a great deal, but like many Oseram they were often as subtle as a hammer to the face. Carja politics were very different to Oseram clan rivalries, she he had learned . So Vansha had expected it to be some noble watching the sun king for gossip or even some outlander in dark clothes that just happened to be nearby a few times. At worst it might be some hired thug that she could easily catch and throw to the city watch. It hadn’t been any of those. When Avad and Zevin had been on their “date” that Marad set up, she had been following in the crowd, eyes scanning the surroundings. After a while she spotted a figure in a dark gray robe, standing atop a building. Few people managed to stand on top of buildings without looking suspicious and they were no exception. Still gray robes were not illegal, so she decided to follow them for a bit and try to find a motive. For a good while the figure seemed content to watch the date, going from building to building, so Vanasha simply followed and got closer. While it could be a competent if misinformed outlander, Vanasha thought she had spotted the glint of metal on them and therefore she took no chances. When Avad and Zevin had their dramatic moment on the bridge, she took the opportunity to drop onto the roof behind the figure, a shock arrow ready ready on her bow. Something must have alerted them however. The figure seemed startled, but hastily threw down an object on the ground which made a cloud of smoke. She probably still had a shot on them but Vansaha hesitating shooting with no clear sight in the middle of Meridian. When the smoke cleared, the figure was gone. And the chase had been on.

It was the evening of the next day. She had spent the time bodyguarding the sun king, keeping an eye out for the stranger. Avad and Zevin had gone on another “date” in the morning, this time in palace gardens. Their date had mostly consisted of talking about focuses and things related to the old ones. Vanasha didn’t understand much of it, which annoyed her as she liked having all the information, but she could hardly study her focus while bodyguarding someone. She had learned the basics from using her focus and picked up some knowledge from watching Avad others use them. The stranger hadn’t shown up during the date and Vanasha had started to think that they wouldn’t reappear. Maybe they were just some outlander that liked being mysterious and disappearing dramatically. In some ways she was relieved when they had appeared, standing on the roof of one of the guardhouses next to the palace when Avad held court in the evening. The stranger seemed like just standing there. Silent, occasionally shifting their position slightly. As she got closer to them, Vanasha did again spot a glint of metal in their hand. Still hadn’t managed to get to them without alerting them. But this time she was ready for smoke bombs. The chase was on.

From a far they must look strange, two shapes jumping between rooftops. Two spirits perhaps, if you were a sun priest. Vanasha thought that Uthid might call them two menaces. She could partly understand why, as the stranger leaped across between buildings, feet accidentally kicking down a brick from the roof. She had to admit that, despite everything, this was fun. It was rare she faced someone that gave her a challenge. The stranger didn’t seem to share the thought. After two smoke bombs didn’t work (thanks to some uncomfortable, but fool proof Oseram goggles), they had taken to throwing knives. Parrying and dogding those just added to the challenge. And Vanasha was catching up. She landed on the building a moment after the stranger did, and when they got to the next one she had her spear next to their back.

“Well this was fun, but now I want some answers. Lay down any weapons you have” She said.

“You're not my target, leave me alone.” The stranger replied, voice harsh and dry.

“Oh” She smiled. “Unfortunately for you, you're mine. And I would like some answers. We don’t need to fight, you know. I can forgive the knife-throwing over some drinks.” She replied.

The stranger didn’t move at first, seemingly considering something. Then they muttered something. Vanasha didn’t think it was meant for her, but years of training allowed her to catch it.

“Hope that bastard knows what he’s talking about”. As they said that, there was a sound and the figure disappeared, first becoming an outline and then fading entirely.

Where they had stood, Vanasha saw only empty space. She swiped with her spear on instinct and felt it connect with something metallic. She heard a clank sound and low grunt and then the sounds of footsteps on roof tiles. She tried to follow them but without seeing him, her advantage was gone and the stranger managed to escape. She cursed and traced her steps to where they fought, finding only a gray bit of cloth on the ground. It was a bit of the stranger's cloak she guessed. It was something.

Still she had a hundred questions. Who were they? How did they disappear? What were they after?

Chapter Text

Avad looked around the room of the new “Focus Council” as they had taken to calling it. He sat next to Kivuna who was organizing documents, taking notes and still somehow contributing to the discussions at the same time. Next to her sat Marad who didn’t seem to have found any troubles adapting to using a focus. Honestly Avad would have been surprised if he did have trouble with it, he could count the amount of times he saw Marad be confused on one hand. On the opposite side of the table sat Orna and Dalgar, who were some of the Oseram tinkers he had hired to build a way up the spire. They had some limited knowledge of tech from the old ones and experience in delving and tinkering. Marad had warned him he was taking a risk in inviting outsiders to this meeting, but he had already hired them for their work on the spire and Orna had proven to have a knack for understanding technology from the old ones. The chair next to them was empty. It would normally have Vanasha, as she had a focus but she was busy keeping guard or hunting someone. Avad didn’t know where she was right now really, her skills meant that she could be standing in front of him and he wouldn’t know it.

What he did know was that to his left sat the only one of them without her own focus, Zevin. She was currently relaying her knowledge of focuses to the rest of their group.

“So Rakuja and I communicate occasionally via letters. Mother thinks I’m just writing to another noble friend. Rakuja tried to explain things about her focus multiple times, but I always had a hard time imagining them and their features until I saw Avad using his”

Avad had heard her explanation and was half listening. After their dramatic moment on the bridge two days ago, Zevin and he had continued talking in the palace. He had learned of her “very traditional” family and their views on things, and for a moment wondered if he could just get rid of all nobles. Technically if anyone could, it would be him, since he was the sun king. But that would just lead to a civil war, which the Carja could not face right now. So for now Avad had just offered her a room in the palace, so she had a place to be away from her family. He was sure that would get the nobles gossiping too, but that was something he could afford. Potentially even an upside, since they might think their relationship was serious. After that had happened he thought that he could just get a nice rest, but then Vanasha came back with the news that there was a stranger following him. Who could turn invisible somehow. Because of course there was.

“I think that was everything I know about focuses, Marad.” She finished.

Avad felt a bit bad for not fully listening, but knowing you have an invisible potential assassin after you made it a bit hard to concentrate. He also knew most of the story, even though he was sure Marad had asked some questions he wouldn't have thought of. Rakuja, was a Banuk trader and wanderer who had found a focus as a kid. Zevin had met her when they were both teenagers when Rakuja had delivered something to her estates and they had talked since then. If Avad didn’t have his own focus he wouldn't have believed the story. It also made him wonder how many other people around the world had found a focus and was using it without anyone knowing.

Still, right now though, he had a meeting to handle.

----

Seeing a few young oseram tinkers eagerly talking to a Banuk shaman and an elderly Carja lorekeeper as they were installing some strange device on one the balconies of the palace wasn’t a sight Avad had expected to see. But it did make him happy, seeing people from different tribes working together. The device they were installing was circular and bent inwards like a deformed shield. He thought Kivuna had taught him a word for it, conclave maybe? In the middle of the device was an antenna like those he had seen on a longleg on Aloy’s Focus. He wasn’t quite sure how the device would work, but he had heard some eager theorizing in the meeting yesterday about connections and something the old ones called “Wifi”. Part of him wished that he could dedicate more time to studying his focus and the old ones, but he had to do things like hold court, and talk to nobles and advisors. And honestly Avad was no scholar, he liked to learn for sure, but he preferred talking to people over studying machines.

Kivuna looked up as he approached, followed by a heavier than usual patrol of the vanguard. He hadn’t forgotten the stranger and neither had Vanasha who was still trying to hunt them. Maybe he should speak to her at some point.

“Come to see the new device have you, Avad?” She asked.

He nodded. “Finally dealt with all of the nobles at court. Rare to see you outside Kivuna” he replied.

“Normally I would send an assistant to take notes on what goes on in the palace. Gossiping nobles aren’t my area of interest. But this could be important, or knowing Oseram creations, it could explode. Gotta document it for the future either way.” She paused. “And assuming it works, I would like to talk to Aloy. She never came by the archives and I have a lot of questions for her. Without climbing up the spire. These old legs are not climbing, you know”

Avad would like to see a meeting between Kivuna and Aloy. He wasn’t quite sure how she would react to their lorekeeper. And Kivunas words did remind him of the purpose of the device. It was supposed to work with the spire and allow them to get focus connection here instead of having to climb up every time. As he watched he saw the tinkerers discuss, then the Banuk shaman tried something and he heard a clicking sound. Looking at the Oseram tinkers reaction, that was apparently good.

“There we go! Just needed to place it right.” Said one of them, who was clearly not the one that had got the device working. Their celebrations got one of them to notice Avad however, and they quickly turned and did a quick bow.

Avad noticed the Banuk doing some other gesture that he didn't quite recognise. He heard his name was Onepil and that he was the former shaman of the cold rifts werak to the far east. He apparently had experience in taking apart and studying machine technology. Physically he was a short middle aged man with brown hair, wearing a mixture of Banuk and Carja clothing. Avad didn’t know if his clothes were a symbolic choice or one made to stay cool in the hot weather. Onepil still had the characteristic machine wires embedded in skin that Banuk shamans had, though Avad could see that on his left shoulder there was a burn scar and some broken wires. Avad hadn’t spoken much to him, as he arrived late yesterday with a large bag of tools and immediately started talking to the newfound group focus tinkers.

“Your radiance”. He said. “That is how you wished to be referred to, right? I come from the far eastern parts of Banuk lands and we don’t hear much about the Carja. But I happened to be nearby when you sent a message that you were researching focuses and the blue light. My former werak didn’t care much for my research. You have some interesting ideas and devices. And people.”

“Onepil, nice to meet you. You can just call me Avad, though your radiance works fine if you prefer. I hope you have a good time working with the others.” Avad replied.

As he did one of the tinkers must have done something because the device made a sound and a faint light shone from it. Onepil turned and said something about it but Avad instead heard a sound from his focus. As the tinkers and shamans were busy investigating the device he turned on his focus and saw its display update.

Network Connection, 3/5

You have 4 unread messages.

Avad quickly tapped on the messages to see. Had he missed something from Aloy? He and Marad had decided to wait with climbing the spire again while dealing with the threat of an invisible stranger. But he hoped Aloy hadn’t been trying too hard to contact him. The messages however…

Unknown Contact (Add Friend/Ignore/Block) - Yesterday 18:52

HEY! AVAD? HEARD YOU GOT A FOCUS TOO. HOPE YOUR NOT GONNA PUT US IN ANY MORE BORING MEETINGS.

Unknown Contact (Add Friend/Ignore/Block) - Yesterday 18:59

Eh. Gaia told me how to “disable caps lock” Apparently it's rude to use. These focus things are complicated, you know. Anyway I guess it's cool that you have a focus. I’m on break, helping Aloy with stuff. Tell the vanguard to behave, though I think Arguf can handle them.

Unknown Contact (Add Friend/Ignore/Block) - Yesterday 19:04

Huh. Also these devices don’t tell us who's talking. This is Erend. Maybe you figured that out

Unknown Contact (Add Friend/Ignore/Block) - Today 14:34

You there? Aloy came back from getting one of these subfunction thingies. She and Gaia then found a weird signal that we are gonna investigate. It's pretty close by at least. We should be back soon.

Avad smiled. He had sent off Erend on a mission to guard one the sun priests last he had seen him. That was a while ago and it was nice to hear of him. He then checked the time on his focus. Another of the many things the focus could do was keeping time far better than any clocks they had. It was now 18:21, so they had been away for nearly 4 hours. He wrote a response to Erend and added him as a contact on his focus.

Then he heard one of his new favorite sounds and saw a text pop up.

Call Incoming, caller ALOY. (Accept/Decline)

Chapter Text

As Aloy appeared on call and as an image, Avad gestured to his guards to give him some space and to not alert him unless there was something important. He sat down on one of the benches near the antenna device, where the tinkerers and Onepil were discussing something. His view focused on Aloy and where she stood, hundreds of miles away. She was in the building they called the base again. The clean, utilitarian look of the projected building clashed with the ornate Carja architecture behind it. Still Avad focused on Aloy, who looked stressed as usual and maybe irritated? Her look changed slightly as she saw Avad and took in the background.

“Hey Avad. I see you are not at the Spire." He saw Aloy rapidly looking over and analyzing his setup "That's an antenna in the background, hmm you must have connected it to the Spire somehow. Smart. I just overrode tallnecks”

“Greetings Aloy.” He replied. “I know. I saw the image you took on top of one. People generally aren’t interested in trying to climb up a giant moving machine. Many of the hunters I spoke to seemed to be shocked at the mere suggestion of doing it.”

“I wanted accurate geographic data and it seemed like a good challenge. You should try it.” She smiled slightly.

“You know, not everyone can climb basically everything. I needed proper handholds installed just to climb the spire, and it doesn’t move much”

Aloy smirked. “Kotallo climbed up a cliff face with me and he only has one arm, so you have little excuse”

Avad didn’t know what to reply with. He was quite sure Aloy didn’t expect him to start rock climbing. It wasn't that he was dramatically opposed to the idea, it could be fun, it was just that he didn’t have the time. And physical ability right now. And did she seriously know someone that climbed up a cliff with one arm? The people she worked with were all excellent fighters so it was possible.

Aloy's response interrupted his thinking. “It’s fine Avad". She looked at him. “I don’t need everyone I talk to have the same skills and interests as me. I couldn’t manage the court at Meridian. Sounds exhausting. It's nice to have people with different skill sets.” She paused, seemingly considering how to talk about something. “Which is why…I see you have done a lot of different things” she pointed at the antenna and the tinkers in the background. “but I would like to talk to someone about what I found. And about Beta. It might take a while. I guess I could talk to Zo or Varl or…”

Avad would like to ask her for her thoughts about the Carja’s projects and if she has any ideas about the stranger that followed him. He knew he had a meeting with Uthid planned in half an hour, but. “Aloy it's fine If you have something you want to talk about, I will listen. I know anything you bring up will be important and even if it wasn’t, you saved Meridian and then the world. I think Uthid will be fine if I cancel his meeting. If you want me to listen, I will.

Aloy looked like she considered saying something when he mentioned the meeting, but then changed her mind. “It's a long story that I wish I could have told you in person.”

Avad sent a messenger to Uthid telling him that the meeting was canceled (Uthid did at least deserve that much), then after that, he listened as Aloy began speaking.

“I didn’t include all of the videos I took in the search for answers when I copied my focus. Eluthiya felt too personal then, too intimate to be included. It was something that I felt I should explain in person if I did. And I wasn’t too sure how I felt about things myself then. But…

---

A few months ago he probably wouldn’t have believed it. Even coming from Aloy, it almost sounded too outlandish to be true.

She was one of the old ones reborn. From a machine that could create life. He had heard about Gaia in the videos of course. But it was one thing to hear that a machine restored life to the world after it was gone and one thing to know he had created Aloy. The first of those still sounded a bit mythical to Avad, even if he knew that it had happened for real. The latter was far more personal, far more present. And he saw it in Aloy who seemed a bit unsure of herself when she talked about her upbringing. Avad could understand why. Coming from a machine in a tribe that venerated mothers, growing up an outcast with only one person to talk to. It sounded awful and he understood her dislike for the term Aloy of the Nora now.

“I don’t hate the Nora, Avad. I could see a world where I do. Without Rost I might have. He wasn’t perfect, but he always helped me stand, helped me up when I fell. Gave me goals. It was still lonely seeing the other kids without not being able to talk to them, but I turned that loneliness to strength to fight growing up. To prove them wrong when they cast me out. To get answers. There are many good people among the Nora. Teersa, Sona, Teb, Nakoa, Varl... Rost.

Still even if, no when, I complete my mission I couldn’t myself living there. They are so bound by tradition, rites and xenophobia. Even with Teersa improving things, I think I would rather see any of the other tribes as my home.”

Still though, somehow that wasn’t the core of it. Learning about Aloy’s past was just a prelude, just providing context for what came next. The Zeniths. Old ones that had fled to the stars. Lived for a thousand years and now came back. People with incredible abilities granted to them by technologies so advanced that his armies might as well be usings sticks. Part of Avads mind wanted to say it was some joke, but he saw the determined expression on Aloy’s face. It was the truth. He understood why someone might give up hearing these odds.

And with them came Beta. Honestly hearing that there was a clone of Aloy was the least surprising thing today. Even if Beta was technically born on a ship traveling between the stars.

“I don't understand, Avad. She’s a clone of Elisabet like me, but she is so defeated. So pessimistic. Elisabet always fought. Maybe not with bows and spears or against artificial intelligences, but she fought to save lives, to save earth. Even when it seemed impossible. When it was impossible to save herself, she fought so that there could be a future for others. After just hearing about how far we are Beta seems to have given up already.” Aloy seemed irritated as she spoke. As if there was something she was missing. “Have we lost? I feel like if I start thinking like that there is no point in fighting. But with all their advantages, maybe Beta has a point”

“Aloy, when you showed up in Meridian with news that a machine intelligence was coming to attack, I didn’t understand everything. And the more I understood about the situation the more impossible the odds felt. But I’ve seen you fight, and you spoke with such conviction that we had to fight. And we won then. I don’t know if we can win, but I don’t think you will give up no matter what happens.” Avad paused, unsure if he should add something. “Your conviction, your will to fight is something I admire, you know.”

Aloy looked at him, her expression softening. “Thanks.” She looked away slightly. “I just wished it wasn’t all so hard. So many things I have to do. Find the subfunctions, capture Hephestus, stop the Zeniths. Then I need to get some shards to upgrade my spike thrower, get the overrides from the cauldrons, preferably override some tallnecks to update my map." She paused. "Then someone comes up to me and asks me to find their grandson or help me finish their life project and I can’t help but accept. I feel like I should focus, take a more analytical approach. If the world is destroyed, their troubles won’t matter. It’s what Beta would do, it's what Sylens would do, and he has made more progress than I have. But I can't do that. It feels wrong when I try to push people away.”

“Your kindness isn’t a weakness, Aloy.” Avad looked at her, and for a moment it was like they weren’t hundreds of kilometers apart, talking through a device. For a moment he just saw her and her pains and struggles. “Helping people is never pointless.” He wished he could reach out and hug her. But the illusion broke as he thought about it. He saw the shimmering purple of the focus display, around her image. It did however remind him of the situation they were in. “If you need shards, you just need to ask though. Meridian's coffers are large and I can spend some on saving the world you know.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess I could. I’m so used to working alone, and I do enjoy the hunts, but they do take up time. You should know that the Tenakth are very good at making powerful weapons. Powerful, expensive weapons.”

Avad smiled. “How does 15 000 shards sound? For starters. We got that from arresting a noble who worked the eclipse.” Avad paused, “I can’t climb cliff faces or fight dangerous machines, but the least I can do is make sure you have the best equipment possible."

----

They talked some more after that. First about weapons, gear and the logistics of getting them to Aloy. Then about more casual things. Insignificant things perhaps, but it was nice just to chat. He could have brought up their new advances and the stranger but it was nice to be talking about nothing important for once. Avad was talking to more people recently, due to his projects. Zevin was more comfortable talking to him now and some of the Oseram tinkerers had started talking to him occasionally. None of them were Aloy though. It felt like time flowed differently when the two of them talked.

Aloy mentioned that she would have to go tomorrow. Go further than last time, to find and acquire Poseidon. That it might take her even longer for her to be back and they could talk again.

Still he felt happier than usual and Aloy seemed to be in better spirits than she started the conversation in too. As he looked up he saw that the sun had almost set. They had been talking for a while, and he was looking forward to sleeping. Hopefully could with all the new information in his head. Right before they were going to end the call he heard a voice though.

"Brother!" Avad looked around and saw Itamen coming running towards him. Avad glanced around. Itamen didn’t look to be in danger though, besides maybe from getting an earful from Nasad. His guards let Itamen past and he let him come to him. “I heard you were talking to the champion. Apparently you can do that without her being here. Can I speak to her too? Please?" Avad tapped his focus and made the image project out in the world. Itamen looked shocked for a second, then amazed. Avad made a mental note to talk a bit more to his brother. If he got lots more focuses, maybe he could even give him one

“I think you can say a few words to her, Itamen. Then it's time to sleep for both of us.” He said

“Champion. Are you saving the world? Have you fought any dangerous machines?”

Aloy sat down on her bed in the illusion and answered Itamen with a smile on her face.

Chapter Text

The weapon was large and bulky, though not unwieldy in the right hands. It looked far less dangerous to the user than the parts it came from. Any exposed cabling on it had been safely removed and the remaining ones marked, and painted in Carja colors like golds, whites and oranges. The weapon normally ran off power cells that were charged from the machine's internal power, but quickly discharged if disconnected. They had been replaced with batteries that were easy to carry around and were supposed to last at least a month. What was formerly a ravager cannon, a weapon for an opportunistic and daring hunter, was now a weapon of war. A weapon of offense, far more maneuverable than the so-called “Petra cannons” used in the battle of Meridian. It was the only one of its kind currently and the engineers were still working on improving it, but Avad could see a future where every outpost had a few. Any wielders would still be vulnerable to arrows, but protected, they would be able rip through ranks of machines and people alike.

Part of him saw the Carja of old in the weapon. The brutal warmongers that raided and attacked. Vast armies, holding banners, bows, glaives and swords. Covered in blood. But for as much as Jiran would have liked to have it, his father would never have held the weapon he saw in front of him. It might be produced by the sundoms military engineers, but that group currently held more Oseram than Carja. It was a collaborative effort which couldn’t have happened in the Carja that his father had ruled. And as much as Avad disliked weapons of war, it was a good development. Machines were still a danger, bandits always existed and most importantly, the Zeniths needed to be stopped. He had not talked to anyone about them yet, but he needed to. He should talk to Marad at least, maybe his old spymaster had some ideas on how to help Aloy.

---

He had spoken to her this morning before she left for Poseidon. They had discussed weapons and gear for a moment. Avad had taken notes for Uthid and his other generals. Then they moved on to other, more pleasant things. Aloy had talked about her companions and shared their focus contacts so he could speak to them. In return he gave her the contacts of the other people in the sundom. She had also spoken about another of her iconic abilities, her control of machines. The fact that she, the savior of Meridian, could tame machines was widely known. There were a few theories on how she did it among Carja scholars. He knew some Oseram tinkerers had tried to figure out her method as well, though they rarely theorized, preferring a more practical approach.

“Overrides. That's what it's called. Or hacking if you want the easy term. I don’t tame machines. And I can explain how I do it, it's no magical technique” Still her face twisted slightly. “There are some potential dangers with giving away the technique, as I’m sure you can figure out. But Sylens seems to have already done so, and I rather the Carja have it than only a group of hostile Tenakth. The cat’s out of the bag as I’ve heard some of the old ones would say. Weird saying. Anyways”

She continued, gesturing to the bottom part of her spear. “You need to take down a corrupter and harvest its electronic warfare unit. You can use a focus to highlight the part. Then, well you need to set it to the right setting and point it at a machine. I should probably send you the settings, I realized afterwards I was lucky to get it right the first time. If you get it wrong you could get the machine to start rampaging instead.” She paused and smiled. “And to hack most machines you need an override, which you get from hacking a cauldron core. Those are fun.”

After that discussion Avad understood why there were so few overridden machines around. He did not however understand how Aloy’s idea of fun included going into dangerous, active automated factories full of hostile machines. He was interested in exploring some ruins at some point if he got the opportunity. He could skip the cauldrons.

The engineers and tinkers in the army were more excited when he told them of the method. They immediately started talking, theorizing and planning. It was fascinating in a way, just how many secrets of the ancient world Aloy had uncovered. Secrets that she was now giving away for free. If she wanted, she could have a career based on any one of them. He had seen some images of Regalla’s rebels and their machines. And they were a smaller, disorganized force. He could see a Carja army that stood with snapmaws and behemoths on the side. Glinthawks flying overhead. His father would have loved it. Avad remembered the screams in the sun-ring as desperate captives battled machines. Machines captured by force and chains. Jiran never managed to have a thunderjaw in his arena, but not for a lack of attempts. He remembered seeing Kadaman thrown in there for standing up to his father. Part of him wanted to stop the project now, when there still was a possibility. The thing that made him hesitate was that his first conversation with Aloy about overriding machines hadn't been about war. They had together come up with the idea of using overridden machines to transport weapons to the base, as the Tenakth might still attack any Carja that went beyond the no man's land.

And thinking about Avad saw applications in travel, industry and agriculture too. Aloy generally traveled around on machines and if he could get messengers doing the same that could help connect their outlying cities and villages. He knew rockbreakers were a problem sometimes in quarries and mines, but what if you harness their destructive power to dig. And the Utaru had their landgods that they lived with that plowed their fields. Right now there was some issue with them, but Aloy had said she was working on it. He doubted he could help, but maybe he could speak with Zo, it would be nice to take some pressure off Aloy for a change. Perhaps a few of the tinkers could check it out. The Utaru had declined any offers of reconciliation with the Carja and Avad respected and understood why they made their decisions; the red raids had hit them hard. Still he wanted a good relationship with all of the surrounding tribes and if he could help them and get an ally in the process that would be all the better.

---

After talking to Aloy and his military officers in the morning, Avad ate a late lunch with Itamen and Nasadi. Itamen complained that he had no one to teach him archery now that Talanah was in the forbidden west and Vanasha was busy with her mission. Avad added finding a new archery teacher for him to his list of tasks. Nasadi complained too, though with far more subtlety and grace, that Avad let Itamen stay up for so long yesterday. And well, he intended only Itamen say a few words to her before going to sleep, but seeing Itamen’s smile neither he nor Aloy had been able to stop him before he ran out of questions.

After Avad had held (a rare uneventful) court for two hours he decided to contact Zo. He had a few things he wanted to ask her and it seemed like a good idea to become friends with Aloys companions. Avad wondered if he should send her a message first, but he had always preferred talking face to face (well for as much as the focus could allow that) over sending letters, so he called her. If she was busy or didn’t want to talk, he could send a message.

After a couple of moments Zo answered and Avad realized too late that maybe he should probably have spoken to Erend before speaking to people he didn’t know over focus calls. He hoped he wouldn’t say anything stupid, especially since it was rare for a Carja to speak to an Utaru. Either Zo must have done it or the focus had remembered because it displayed an image of her on the balcony of the palace where he sat. She was a woman of roughly the same age as him, with brown skin and hair tied up behind a headdress. Avad noted her white face markings, in a style very different from the Carja make-up he was used to.

“The Carja sun king himself. I heard from Erend that apparently Aloy knew you personally and had even sent a focus to you, but I didn't expect to speak to you. What do you want?” Though she spoke softly, Avad heard a slight tone of dislike in her voice. She looked him over and glanced at the palace behind him.

“Greetings, Zo, of the Utaru. You can call me Avad. I am the sun king yes, but we are both friends of Aloy” He answered. “Are you busy, I was hoping we could speak?”

“What does the sun king in his palace wish to speak to a lowly Utaru? You got no one to talk to while Aloy is away?” She did not shout the words, rather they were said in a low tone that still cut like a blade.

“No, I merely wish to know my allies more. We don’t know much about the Utaru here and I hoped we could talk and maybe find ways to help each other.”

“You Carja didn’t learn much about us, when you raided our village?. Kidnapped our people? Turned our soils red with blood? I had to bury dozens of my tribe. I helped hundreds of people hurt by the raids, and when I got back my entire village was gone.” Her tone changed then, turning louder. ”I’m not interested in talking with the sun king” He saw the grief in her eyes as she spoke.

Avad said the only thing that he could think of. “I killed the previous sun king. My father."

Zo looked a bit surprised at that but still scowled. “I heard something like that happened. And I don’t see any raiders here, so you're certainly better than your father. But I’m not interested in talking to any sun king, sitting in a palace while we fight. I still remember the smell of burnt flesh from Barren Light.”

“If I could get up and stop the Zeniths I would. I would leave the palace and fight with only a sword if it helped. But I am no warrior like you or Aloy.” Avad didn’t know what else to say, so he hesitated. He wished he could have stopped his father sooner. He wished he could revive all those lost to the raids. But wishes were just that

Zo’s expression changed a bit. “I suppose for Aloy to speak to you so highly you must be decent. And I won’t reject another ally against that which we face. I think I might know some people in the tribe that could be interested in speaking to you. I don’t think we will ever be friends though, Avad.”

“I wish it could be different. But I accept your opinion Zo.” He wondered if he should end it there, but he couldn’t help but add. “I hope you’re landgods get better. If the Utaru accept it, I would send a team of friendly, unarmed, scholars and thinkers to help them”

“Just a few months ago I would have met that line with anger and contempt. The rest of the tribe even more so. I don’t know if they will be accepted even now. But still…I suppose you never know the next verse of the song.

Chapter Text

Her arrow flew through the air, over the rooftops of Meridian. It flew true, not straying from its intended path, even if the new Tenakth contraption threatened to weigh it down. But by some chance of fate, it did not strike the stranger standing on the tower's roof. It missed them by centimeters and when she had got there she saw it sticking to the roof, surrounded by the adhesive goo packed in the arrow. No stranger in sight. A bit of black fabric was stuck to the goo, as if it was taunting her.

---

“Greetings, Vanasha” A familiar voice spoke to her.

“Hey Uthid.” She slowly looked up, Uthid deserved that much at least, even if she wasn’t really in the mood for talking.

“The new arrow didn’t work?”

“You would have seen them captured in that case. So no.” Vanasha sighed loudly. It felt like whatever they tried ran into some issue. Or like most of the time, the plan almost worked. Then something happened and the stranger got away. They had come frustratingly close multiple times. At least they had figured out the stranger probably used parts from a Stalker to create the invisibility effect, but she still hadn’t been able to tag them with a tearblast arrow.

Uthid paused for a moment. “I guess we are in a sticky situation then”. He said, uncharacteristically hesitantly.

Vanasha almost froze for a moment. Had Uthid? Yes he had. “Wait, was that a joke from Uthid, the unflappable general? I didn’t think I would see the day”.

“Guess I have been hanging around you for too long” He paused. “We will figure something out. Try cornering them with the watch again maybe.” Vanasha wasn’t too sure about that, the times they had tried it had gone even worse. She suspected the stranger had some contacts high up in the military.

“I guess.” she said.

“Take a day off, clear your head and try a new strategy.” Uthid replied.

“It’s weird hearing you say that. It does not sound like the stoic, serious general I met half a year ago.” She seemed to remember her saying something similar to him then, as they were dealing with remnants of the shadow Carja. Uthid had been organizing patrols, talking with other officers and looking over battle reports late into the night back then.

“I learned from the best. Change does not come in a single sunrise.”

“Okay, I would never seriously say that last sentence. Sounds way too formal.” Still she smiled as she looked at Uthid. “You busy tonight?”

Maybe she could take the night off, Avad wouldn't die randomly. Hopefully

---

“One of my spies, Stezir, found something that might be connected to the stranger down at Brightmarket. We think something is happening there. I guess you would be interested in investigating further?” Marad had said in his ‘I'll make this sound like a question, but it's not really’ tone of voice.

So of course she went there. Well before she did, she made sure that she could contact Avad, Marad and Uthid via focus and told the vanguard to be extra watchful while she was gone. They had confirmed that they could speak via focus over between nearby cities at least.

The location Stezir had marked was a run down house on the outskirts of brightmarket. While Stezir herself didn’t have a focus, being a new spy for Marad, she had been able to mark the location on Vanasha’s focus. Vanasha saw why Aloy was famed for being so good at tracking, a focus made it far easier. She had also learned the basics of using the scanner and was using that to look for people in the area. She hadn’t spotted any so far, so she crept into the house after checking the door for traps. It was dark inside the house, the only light source being the sun coming from a small gap in the roof. She had a machine light prepared and activated it.

The house was mostly empty inside, with a table with some papers on it being the most prominent feature. On the table there was also a half eaten meal, which looked like a soldier's rations. She saw a crate to the back of the room and an old sword next to a wall. Vanasha looked over the papers which looked to be written in some kind of Carja code. She had code breaking training, but before she could start decoding she heard a noise coming from outside. They sounded like footsteps coming towards her, not stealthy ones either. Whoever was coming either didn’t care for stealth or was just laughably bad at it. She quickly ducked behind the crate, bow in hand. The person who walked in was a sun priest, clad in full traditional regalia, face partially hidden by the traditional headpiece. Vanasha held back the instinct to fire. This wasn’t Nasivem. He was dead. This was someone else. Jiran’s reign was over. She took a deep breath. Still the fact that whoever this was was wearing the old headpiece was something. Avad hadn’t quite banned them, but he had praised Mournful Namman's example and most sun priests had followed, switching to less decorative clothes and more accepting hymns. She still would never speak to a sun priest if she could avoid it.

The sun priest, whoever they were, had quickly grabbed some papers and started to head out, so she decided to follow them. Stalking a priest was something she could do and whatever he was up to was unlikely to be any good. They walked through Brightmarket towards the other side of the town, when Vanasha spotted something. A shape appeared on one of the rooftops, and she guessed that was the one she was looking for. As she stepped into an alley, she saw the stranger not far from her. And unlike all the other times, this time they did not point their bow vaguely at the palace and look mysterious. The bow was pointed straight at her and three arrows were on the bowstring. Vanasha dodged to the side and took cover behind some crates, as they fired. She heard the arrows thump into the ground where she had stood and the stranger spoke.

“I tire of your interference, woman.”

She tagged them on her focus. She was not losing him again. While she did so the stranger leapt to another roof on the other side of the street, negating her cover. She parried the first arrow that flew at her with her sword and blocked the other with her vambrace.

“Let's end our game of cat and mouse.” The stranger spoke. Sadly they were not one of the villains in Itamen storybooks who got stuck in a monologue while the hero figured out a plan. They continued firing.

“Works for me” Vanasha couldn’t stop herself from responding. Sometimes it even threw people off. This time she needed a plan however as the stranger had the high ground and a weapon to use it with. She heard some shouts from the streets and was guessing that the watch was being called, but she couldn’t rely solely on them. She was stopping whoever this was. Today.

She threw her dagger at her target to get a moment of breathing room and identified a route up to the roof along some crates and a support beam. As she dogged another arrow, she found a frost bomb in her pouch and threw it up. As the stranger scoffed and threw himself to the side she climbed up, taking in an arrow to her back in process. The force of the impact hurt, but her armor prevented it from hitting her body.

Now though she was up on the roof and the stranger looked a bit annoyed. Their cloak covered most of their face, but she could see an irritated expression on a scarred face. She jumped forward, sword in hand and the stranger brought up a glaive to parry. Their weapons clashed in a rapid sequence of attacks and blocks. She heard that a crowd had gathered down on the street below, but couldn’t focus on that. She hadn't had this good of a fight in a long time. The strangers glaive cut at her side as she missed a dodge. But with the next swing she had the upper hand again and took the opportunity to grab the weapon, dragging the stranger forward with it. She could have tried to stab them through with her sword then, but she decided to cut through their cloak and sliced at their arm instead. She heard the clang as her sword hit metal, then a cry of pain as her sword went through the clasp on their bracer. It fell off and the stranger tried a wide sweeping attack, which she ducked and followed up on by hitting them with the flat of her sword. The stranger fell down on the roof, clanking on the brick tiles

She moved swiftly, knocking the glaive out of the stranger's hand and causing it to fall to the street below. Hopefully no one was that close to the fight. Then she put her foot on the stranger's left hand, and stabbed at their chest. The stranger looked shocked for a moment. Her sword cut through the fragile electronics of the cloaking matrix. Now they could talk.

“No more tricks. Surrender” She spoke.

The stranger sighed in response. “Fine”.

“Who are you? What is your goal?”

The stranger reached for something in response, and she stopped him. She cut through their cloak and saw a masculine face, heavily scarred by what looked like heavy burns. “The name is Jarciv, but what does that matter?” he spoke.

“What do you want, who are you working for?” She thought about throwing in “Who trained you?”, but that wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things.

“Your “Savior”, the savage, gave me these scars” Jarciv said as if that explained everything.

“So, your shadow Carja? You fight too well to be a bandit” She responded.

“I stood alongside Helis in the battle of Meridian. I expected a glorious battle at the end of the world. Instead some savage threw up a bomb before I had drawn my glaive. Now you lot call her your savior” He said and spat. “Pah, there is no glory and honor left in the world”.

“So what, you're going to restore the glory in the world by assassinating the sun king?” Vanasha felt a bit disappointed almost with the fact this was only a crazed shadow Carja. With the focuses and everything that was going on in the world, she expected something else. Perhaps it was good that it wasn’t.

“No. This world has no chance for more glory. It's lost. The next cycle, perhaps. But I am no priest.” Jarciv looked at her with a manic expression and spoke “I am going to kill the people the savior holds dear and then fight her myself. To start with I am going to shoot the sun king through the heart, as he’s speaking to her in using one these shadow spawned focuses. She will see the arrow coming, but there will be nothing she can do to stop me.”

Vanasha thought there were quite a few things she could do to stop him. Then she saw that, while she had looked at him he had gotten out a mangled bomb, holding it in his right hand. She wasn’t quite sure how he had grabbed it.. It ticked once. She moved to kick it away from her. She looked down at the street where her kick would take the bomb. There was a crowd down there, but the watch was still not there for some reason. She cursed. The bomb ticked again. She kicked it up instead. Jarciv smiled. The bomb flew up one meter, then two.

---

Every part of her body hurt and her head swam. She tried to move but felt like she couldn't, her body was barely responding. Was she captured? She glanced around and saw a house. It looked fairly normal. A few people were in there, they looked normal townsfolk, not kidnappers or shadow Carja cultists. A man saw that she was awake.

“By the sun, you're awake! We weren’t sure you would make it.” He spoke. He looked old, but not ancient, with a kind expression. “You were really wounded by that explosion. You wouldn't wake for a few hours.”

Explosion. Stranger. Jarciv . Vanasha’s mind flashed. “Did he get away? The man I was fighting?” She could barely raise her voice.

“I think so. We saw him hurry off. The watch came not long after the fight ended. They have been acting strange recently.” The man responded. “Who was he?”

“Shadow Carja.” Vanasha saw the shocked expression on the peoples faces. Then she remembered Jarcivs last’s words to her. “I need to warn Avad”

“You’re in no condition to walk dear.” It was an old woman who spoke next. “But we could send a messenger. You need to tell the sun king something? I'll get my grandson, he is quite good at running” She ran off, presumably to get her grandson.

Vanasha nodded. She wondered if the messenger could then she realized something. “My focus”. She could send a message to Avad and warn him. The townsfolk looked confused. She pointed to her ear and made a gesture, they seemed to understand.

“Your earring? Is it important? It was damaged in the blast, but we can give it to you.” The man, whom she guessed was some kind of healer, spoke.

Another woman came up and gave Vanasha her focus. It was blackened by smoke and sparking. “It looked like the man you fought inspected it briefly before he left. It looks slightly like a machine part, does it do anything?”

Vanasha barely listened, she equipped her focus and tried to activate it. The shimmering purple display didn’t appear at first, but after a panicked second it did, though far dimmer than usual. She quickly tapped her contacts on it and the focus slowly changed display. As it worked, it felt hot to her ear. She tapped Avad.

Contact in another call

Her focus displayed the message. Vanasha cursed in frustration and fear. The townsfolk looked confused, but she paid them no attention. She tapped Marad, Her ear felt like it was heating from contact with her focus.

One beat

Two beats.

“Vanasha?” Marad answered.

“Avad is in danger” she shouted. Marad moved in response.

Chapter Text

Beta felt like she didn't know a lot of things

Which she knew empirically was false. Compared to most people on the planet she had far more information. Beta had been taught physics, math, chemistry, engineering, data science programming and other sciences from the Apollo AI’s. As far as she knew only the Zeniths, Aloy and maybe the strange man named Sylens eclipsed her in knowledge.

So why did she feel like she had so much to learn? Why were there so many pieces missing? Why did she feel like she was lacking? Sure, when she got here she had no knowledge of the tribes and the political situation, but now she had watched most of Aloys recordings and audio files. She had seen the cold wastes of the cut, the humid jungle called the Jewel and the primitive settlements where Aloy grew up. Aloy, another clone of Elisabet Sobeck, had accomplished so much, while she had just lived as a tool for the Zeniths. Beta had seen Aloy dodge arrows, battle cultists, bandits, machines, AI--

A loud knocking brought her out of her thoughts. Very loud. She identified the knocking as Erend’s. At first Beta had thought that he was a strong oaf that only liked to fight and drink. Like a less sadistic Erik Visser. But she had noticed that Erend was surprisingly perceptive at times and that he could be intelligent when he actually tried.

“Hey, Beta. Varl made dinner. Cooked boar. Smells surprisingly good, almost like Oseram cooking. Zo made some vegetarian thing too, if you want that instead for some reason.” He half shouted through her locked door. She made a non-committal “Okay” in response, but decided after a few minutes that food was a good idea.

When she got to the table in the middle of the base she saw Erend eating with the one armed man named Kotallo. He was the one Beta had spoken to least in the base, partly due to the fact that unlike Erend, Varl and Zo’s outgoingness, he was stern and calculating. Unlike Gerard however, Kotallo's calculations seemed to consider people and not just numbers. She did not see Varl and Zo eating when she got there, a fact Erend quickly described with “Oh, yeah they are eating outside. They would probably be fine if you joined them, but I think it’s a date, so maybe don’t.” Beta nodded and sat down.

She ate in silence, while Erend and Kotallo occasionally talked to each other. The people of the base had originally tried to involve her in the conversations but she had mostly answered with nods and single words, so they stopped. Beta appreciated their attempts and occasionally chimed in on conversations, but she wasn’t used to talking to people and the amount the people here chatted felt strange.

“You know the sun king right? What is he like?” Kotallo asked, putting away an empty plate.

“Yeah, I do. Helped him in the liberation and worked for him for a few years afterward. He’s a good guy, if a bit rigid. Far better than his dad at least. Why do you ask?” Erend responded.

“I was reading the notes and files Aloy had copied onto our focuses and he kept popping up. Are they close?”

“Aloy and Avad? I guess. Aloy does like to talk to him and Avad seems to like her. I mean they made her “the savior” of Meridian.” Erend paused, putting down a piece of meat “If you mean are they like a couple, then no. That’s absurd, Avad is way too royal and not adventurous enough for her to like him.” Erend frowned slightly. “Hmm, even if she did send a focus to him. Aloy and Avad? No.” He trailed off.

Kotallo nodded and continued eating. Beta wasn’t quite sure about that. Romance was like many things, not something she knew much about. The Zeniths were way too self centered to love anyone else and it wasn't like Apollo had a topic about it. Or maybe it did and it was part of one of the “not relevant” sections she wasn’t allowed to access. But she had seen Aloy’s conversations with Avad and they were different from Aloy’s other conversations. They were also different from Varl and Zo’s conversations, which she had learned was called flirting. Beta didn’t care much either way. Was romance important in the face of extinction? No. She doubted it.

---

“Hello Beta, what can I do for you?” Gaia’s soft voice was nice to hear. She was Beta’s most common conversation partner.

“Hi Gaia. Do you have any tasks you want me to help you with? Gaia had been instrumental when she got here. Just giving Beta something to do, something she could do that felt like she was contributing. While programming, Beta didn't have to think about the fate of the world or the decisions she had made. She could focus on the code and figuring out a way to solve a manageable, logical problem. She wasn’t quite sure how useful she actually was, how much time her help saved Gaia, but she hoped she was doing something at least.

“Hmm. You could look into the security matrix for focus calls. I am running Minerva's advanced systems for hiding communications, however I am sure that Zeniths have new technologies for finding messages. With your knowledge you might find some ways to improve the masking.”

Beta nodded, this seemed like a reasonable task, something she could do. She had one question though, even if she wasn’t quite sure why felt the need to ask. “Could we make it so the system can direct and secure calls between people that aren’t at the base?”

Gaia thought for a moment. “Using the base communication tower in that way would weaken the Parker-Vaswani field’s effect, potentially letting us be found. But if you can find a way around that, then it could work. Do you have a specific reason in mind?”

“Eh. Not anything important. I'll look into the problem and see if I can figure out something.” Giving Aloy a way to talk to Avad wasn’t that important, but securing the base communications was definitely. She would do anything to not be found by them. Hadn’t Tilda talked about ways to overcome a Parker-Vaswani field? She had work to do.

---

“Hello again, Beta. It is currently 04:23, however as I said I am able to talk to you anytime you want. As an AI, I do not need to sleep” Gaia’s projection looked at her ”however I would recommend you try to do so.”

Beta did feel like she was a bit tired, but she had been working hard and never really felt she could stop. She had finally managed to figure out how to create a system that allowed communicating via the base between locations outside. She had however gotten stuck on what felt like it should be an easy problem and after 4 hours of trying to fix it, she finally figured out a solution and went to Gaia. “I improved the security matrix. I removed a system that I know Tilda can bypass and figured out how to allow communication between multiple locations. Unless we supercharge the transmission for some reason it should be undetectable” She tapped a button on her focus menu, which sent the code to Gaia.

Gaia paused for a moment, presumably looking over the code internally. “A Goto interchange? That should indeed work. Good work Beta. I will remind you that you are allowed to and should take breaks. I will see if I can optimize the code, then add it to the system.”

Beta replied something that was probably a yes before she yawned. She was tired, she felt it now after coding the whole day.

“You should go to sleep now but before that, may I ask? What pushed you to add the two point communication feature?”

Maybe it was Beta’s sleep deprived brain that made her respond but she did. “Avad. I saw Aloy’s mood change after talking to him. She seemed much more alive, more inspired. We need her to be at her fullest to defeat the Zeniths”

“It sounds like you might be interested in talking to him yourself.” Gaia replied. Beta wondered if the AI had spoken to the sun king.

“Eh. He’s a primitive king, I don’t see what we would talk about” She did kind of regret the word primitive, but it still felt true. Most people of the tribes were primitive in their understanding, which was part of the reason Beta felt more comfortable talking to Gaia than other humans. Varl and Zo had tried to talk to her a lot at first and she appreciated that, but they had so few topics they shared. At least with Erend she could at least talk about engineering or machines and he would understand a bit of what he was saying.

“You should try. He might have more in common with you than you think.” Beta doubted that.

---

The next day she didn’t have much to do. Erend and Varl were gathering supplies and Zo and Kotallo were trying to gain support in their tribes so there was no one else at the base. Gaia didn’t have any tasks for her (or more likely she didn’t want Beta to work late into the night again). And annoyingly, for once, Beta actually felt like talking to someone. Well, she needed to give the information about the improvements to the communication systems and Aloy was in what was previously called Las Vegas, probably busy fighting machines. So she had a good reason to talk to Avad.

She found him in her contacts list on her focus and pressed Call.

Avad (or whoever had his focus) answered quickly, giving her limited time to regret her decision. She didn’t know how to talk to royalty. She barely knew how to talk to people.

“Greetings? Who is this?” She heard a soft masculine voice speaking to her.

“Uh. This is, I am Beta. I am Aloys…” Beta didn’t know how to explain what she was. How did you explain clones and spaceships to someone who lived in a palace?.

“Sister?” Avad answered. Beta supposed that it worked, even if it wasn’t true. She hadn’t done anything to deserve that title.

“That works, even if it's not really true.” She replied.

“Do you prefer genetic clone?”

Beta’s mind jumped a step. “Wait, how do you know? I read about your tribe and the Carja’s technology seems to be mostly be medieval.” Was this really Avad? It felt far too long winded to the work of some Zenith. Beta had seen Erik playing with his opponents, but that was always in a direct, violent and sadistic way. Not like this. Gerard and Tilda were far more direct and the other ones didn’t care about her.

“Aloy taught me. She copied folders of useful information into the focus she gave me and she later explained her origin. And what she knew of yours.”

“And you understood her?”

“Fully? By the sun, no. There is so much information. The more I learn, the more things I find I don’t understand. But I try to get what Aloy is talking about, try to absorb as much as I can and share it around. Aloy knows so much, and we know so little..” That Beta could agree with. When they first met and learned Aloy didn’t have Hephaestus or even the other parts, she had been worried Aloy was just a warrior, stumbling in the dark when it came to Gaia. Having watched the videos on Aloy’s focus had proven that wrong.

“But you know what cloning is? And about the Zeniths?”

“I don’t know fully how it works. But from what I learned the old ones, the people that lived in the 21st century, could extract information from people and somehow use that to make a copy of them.” Avad paused “And Aloy did tell me about the Zeniths. Did you call to share some more information about them?”

She paused. Oh, yes she had called for a reason. She could deliver the information and then try to figure out how much the Carja knew. This changed things. Why hadn’t Aloy told her about Avad. Maybe she had and Beta had been too stubborn to listen. Avad’s voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“Do you mind if I make this a video call? I find them more comfortable. It's fine if you don’t want to, however”. A small part of Beta’s mind wondered if this was a ploy afterall to get a visual of the base. She considered walking outside to not give the person she was talking to that view. But then they could see the base’s environment and that might be even worse. And maybe they were waiting outside for her to step outside to ambush her?

Beta took a deep breath. No, Aloy had given her this number and Avad had been nothing but kind to her. This was far too in depth to be a Zenith scheme. She pressed the video button.

She saw an environment unlike any she had been in. Tilda’s mansion in the data server they had shared was the closest, but that was white and lifeless compared to this. She saw sandstone walls decorated with some kind of carvings, silk banners hanging in the wind. It was extravagant certainly, perhaps wasteful. But it had a certain charm that the Zeniths infrastructure of white and gold didn’t. In front of that sat a man on a comfortable chair. She had seen the sun king before, Aloy had an image of him on the focus, along with many other people she had met. “I meet so many people, and there are so many names to keep track of, so I made a list with images. It seems it comes in handy now. too, " she had said. Avad looked a lot like his image, stately and regal. Though seeing him moving made him seem more real somehow.

“Hello again, Beta. It's nice to finally see you, " he said.

“I suppose it's nice for you to see Aloy again,” she said. She wasn’t quite sure why anyone would want to see her. She might not get romance as a thing, but she understood the idea. And Avad’s affection was obvious even to her.

“You do look a lot like Aloy, I can see how others would confuse you two.” He looked at her “But you are your own woman. I made a mistake in seeing Aloy as a replacement for someone else once, I won’t do a similar mistake again.” He stood up and walked around the balcony as he spoke “I will see her again when she gets back from Poseidon.” In the background now Beta could see a sunset, on a strange city. A skyline made of sandstone, cloth and wood. She could see a bridge connecting the palace to the city. It was beautiful in a way. It felt like another world, one Beta wasn’t sure she ever was meant to see.

“You can talk to her again now actually. I upgraded the focus network system to allow secure communication via the base. Don’t know if it's going to help, but we need Aloy to be at her full strength if we are going to have a chance, and she seems to like talking to you.” She saw Avad’s expression change from surprise to mild amazement.

“By the sun. So I can talk to Aloy at any time. That’s…wonderful. Thanks, Beta”

“Well maybe don’t do it when she’s fighting. But otherwise, yes” She didn’t think it was that big of an accomplishment. Aloy could probably have done it herself if she tried, and Gaia could certainly. “So I suppose you want to talk to her now. That’s probably more exciting than talking to me.” She was the inferior clone. Half as bright as the original.

Avad looked at her again, seemingly considering what to say. Probably thinking of a polite way to say goodbye. Maybe something that involved the sun, the Carja seemed to like that. “Well, if you don’t want to talk that’s fine, but you don’t need to put yourself down. You coded that system, which I could never do. And even if you were an inferior clone” Wait had she said that out loud?”, which I disagree with, you're still Aloy’s sister. If you want to talk, just send a message. Meridian, and my focus is always open to you two.” Part of Beta rejected the idea of being Aloy’s sister. They were clones of the same person, not sisters. Sisterhood implied family, it implied equality.

A loud noise, a shout, broke her out of her thoughts. She thought it was Erend at first, coming back from his supply trip. But it wasn’t his voice, the shout came from the focus, though she couldn’t make out the words.. Avad looked surprised at healing the shout. “What was that Marad? I’m busy.” he replied. Beta spotted it at the same time the answer came.

“Assassin! Take cover!” came from somewhere on the other side of the focus. She heard rustling noises, armored guards moving. But they were too slow. She saw a shape flying towards her, towards Avad. An arrow flew through the sunset. And just like her, unlike Aloy, Avad could not dodge arrows.

Still Marad’s warning had given him a fraction of a second to move. The arrow missed his heart, and struck him in the back of the shoulder instead. Avad flew into the wall of the palace, propelled by the force of the arrow. The focus connection broke.

And there was nothing Beta could do.

Chapter Text

Aloy glanced up at the darkening blue sky. Vegas had been something, something else. The flooded city of the old ones which had been dark and decrepit when she entered, was now lit up by thousands of neon lights. It felt almost magical, like the city had awoken from its slumber. The delve into the flooded city had been fun and the Oseram trio had been good companions. Perhaps even jovial? Aloy thought she had seen that word in some text from the old ones.

She was some hundred meters from Vegas, close enough that she could still see the buildings still on the surface in the distance. Part of her wanted to stay there, just a while longer. But she had to return to Gaia and develiver Poseidon. Then she could talk to Avad for a bit while at the base. That would be nice and she was interested in hearing about his progress on learning and studying focuses. She felt a bit bad about only talking about her and Beta last time they spoke, but she had felt a need to talk to someone about it and Avad was most likely to understand her. As she crossed the top of a sun dune and slid down the other side she heard her now familiar ringtone, and opened the call on her focus.

Call incoming - Beta

Huh, that was interesting. She hadn’t expected Beta to call her after their…less than friendly first talk. Maybe something was wrong? For the first time in a while Aloy felt good though, so hopefully the universe wouldn’t decide to throw anything too bad at her. Still she expected the worst as she accepted the call.

She had learned that like her, Beta didn’t show a lot of emotion, but now she looked distressed. Aloy’s mind ran ahead of her trying to figure out why. The Zeniths? Were they attacking? But if they were Beta would be captured or worse. She doubted the base could withstand an attack for a moment, even with Gaia and her friends there. Maybe Beta had just figured out another reason there was no point in fighting.

“Avad!” was not the word she expected Beta to shout. It was strange, but before Aloy had any time to figure out why Beta continued. “He was shot by an arrow”. Aloy’s heart sank, and she almost toppled into the sand dune she was walking on. Why? How? By whom? How did Beta of all people know that? But only managed to get out a question to the focus.

“Is he alive?” she said quietly, fearing the worst.

“I think so, he got shot in the shoulder”

Aloy’s mind raced, putting her emotional part to the side for a moment. “Beta. You studied medicine from Apollo right?”

“Yes”

“Okay. Call Marad and say you have advanced knowledge that may save Avad. Share anything you can think of that might help.” Aloy paused. “Please”. While talking she was calculating how long it would take for her to get to Meridian, and when that proved to be multiple days, she considered how long it would take to get to base. Even assuming she had a charger to ride the whole time, the answer was too long.

Beta shook her head. “I fixed the system so people can talk via the base even from different locations. You don’t need to hang up.” She clicked somewhere on her focus and Aloy heard the standard calling music. Then she was speaking to two people at once via a focus call, for the first time. She wished it were under a better circumstance. She heard Marad’s voice and saw him appear in a projection, looking less dignified and more stressed than usual.

“Aloy? And that must be Beta, yes. Since you are calling I assume you are aware of the situation.” As he talked he was hurriedly walking down a corridor. Aloy saw guards and palace servants milling about in the background. “Meridian will gladly accept any aid you can give.”

“How is Avad doing? Is he…?” Aloy heard the crack in her voice as she spoke, but hated how helpless she felt right now. She had been in more deadly situations countless times, but then she could always do something. Now she was hundreds of kilometers away from what was happening.

“He is alive for now. The arrow hit him in the shoulder, but the force seems to have caused internal damage. I have organized the palace on lockdown and had the vanguard positioned at key points. Uthid’s guard and a few irregulars are chasing the assassin. I am heading towards the palace hospital as we speak.” As Marad spoke he walked into the room. Aloy saw a moderately sized room, a back wall covered in cabinets. The room was richly decorated for being a medical room but she didn’t give that much thought. In the center of the room was Avad, lying down unconscious on a bed. Two middle aged women, who must be the palace healers, stood next to him. Aloy focused on Avad, taking in his injuries. Avad had taken a few superficial cuts, apparently from hitting the palace floor after being shot, but the main thing was his shoulder. Sticking out of the arm there was a hardpoint arrow that had pierced diagonally through Avad's right shoulder. The arm was covered in bandages, but she saw that they were staining red. He was bleeding heavily.

One of the healers looked up as Marad walked in. “Blameless Marad. The secondary poison test came up negative, so we can confirm that the arrow wasn’t poisoned.” The healer continued, “The bad news is he is still bleeding. We have given him clotleaf but it seems to have little effect, the arrow seems to struck true. We need to pull it out and that will open the wound even more.”

Aloy tried to rack her brain for solutions. She had healed many scrapes and injuries on herself, but none like this. She had only had Rost’s teachings and her own findings to go on when it came to healing. And if clotleaf wasn’t working then she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t lose Avad though. She needed him. Returning to Meridian and Avad after her mission had started as a pleasant idea. Now it was a mantra that kept her going when her air was running out. But she couldn't think of anything.

Aloy glanced at Beta who seemed uneasy and a bit stunned looking at the wound. She supposed that Beta was unlikely to have seen something similar before. It wasn’t like the Zeniths risked anything when they were fighting. Or thought of their opponents as individuals worth anything. She asked anyway.

“Beta? Do you have any ideas?”

Beta seemed to come out of her daze as Aloy said her name. She looked focused for a moment then spoke. "Torn major artery, risk for severe blood loss when pulling out the arrow. You don't have healing gel or recovery tanks. Blood transfer? Technology might be doable, but very risky without knowledge of blood types.” Beta seemed to grow more frantic as she spoke. “Could you do a… no would never work. Judging by Avad’s condition we probably don't have enough time to set up blood tests.” Before Beta could panic further, Aloy spoke up.

“We will figure something out Beta '' She projected more calm in her voice than she felt, but she was used to working under pressure. Normally the direct risk was to her, not other people. She had heard of blood transfers in some of the texts of old ones, but she had no idea how they were done. If Beta could organize it and knew how they worked it would work. She didn’t think she had heard her clone sound so focused since they met. All Aloy needed to figure out was a way to keep Avad alive while Beta set it up. She said that much to her and Marad over the focus and heard them get to work. She heard the healers and assistants working, Marad giving orders to the Vanguard and Beta organizing everything.

Hearing the amount of discussions and talking over the focus was a new experience, but it was also distracting. So Aloy did something potentially very stupid. She muted the call, though first she had Beta and Marad promise to send a message if anything changed. Then she thought. She looked around for inspiration, but the dry desert held little plant life that helped her. She thought back on her training with Rost but he hadn’t been a healer either. Clotleaf generally worked for most bleed wounds. Aloy sat down, closed her eyes and breathed in. Still she needed Avad and she wasn’t giving up his survival to chance. No. She was going to figure something out. She couldn’t lose him.

A memory flashed by her eyes.

“What is this plant, Rost?” She looked up at him as he came back from a hunt.

“Where did you find this Aloy?” Rost sounded upset for some reason. Or just more grumpy than usual.

“Under the floorboards, next to your bed.” Looking at Rost’s expression she added “I dropped my focus there and found the plants when I picked it up.

“That little plaything again. Hm.” He had long since stopped trying to get Aloy to get rid of her focus, but he still didn’t care for it. “The plant is called Shaderoot and it's a rare poison. It slows the target's blood flow, weakening and slowly killing them. It's dangerous.” He looked at her with his serious expression.

Aloy understood, but had to ask the obvious question. “Why do you have poison?” She had heard of poisons of course, but they were generally not something the Nora carried considering they didn’t work on machines and they seldom saw outlanders.

“Memories” Rost’s tone was even firmer than normal when he answered. “It's not important.”

She guessed that was one of many things he wasn't going to elaborate on. But she had another question. “If it slows the body's blood flow, can it be used like clotleaf? It might be risky but aren’t there times where clotleaf isn’t enough?”

Rost thought for a moment. “If you are a fool perhaps. It's dangerous and marked as a poison for a reason. Now wash your hands carefully, it's very potent. Then you have brave trial training to do”

She unmuted her focus and spoke a word.. After some frantic discussion and a tiny bit of poison, the world changed.

---

Aloy rode back through the rocky hills on the way to base without exciting the focus call. She had to lower the volume a bit so she could be aware of her surroundings though. A surprisingly stealthy Sawtooth had nearly doubled the amount of injured people in the call. She still heard the surprised reactions when Beta’s projection appeared in the room, the blood tests she organized, the careful removal of the arrow and new bandaging that followed.

Avad was still unconscious when she got to the Base a few hours later, but he was alive and stable and that was the thing that mattered. She had almost forgotten about her mission when she got back. But she gave Poseidon to Gaia, then threw herself on her bed. Beta had left the focus call a while back after seeing that the blood transfer went well and Marad had left to organize the palace. He had thankfully left his focus behind, so as Aloy fell asleep she could see Avad’s sleeping face hundreds of kilometers away.

---

She woke up in the base to a gentle, muted conversation.

“Thanks for the help Nasadi. I think Marad can take it from here.” There was a response she didn’t quite hear. “Yes, I will be careful. I don’t plan on getting shot again”. The focus was still on and she saw Avad, still in bed, but awake and talking. In the background she saw Nasadi walking out of the room.

She yawned as she woke up properly and Avad reacted. “Who’s there?!” He looked into the focus. “Oh. Greetings, Aloy. I find myself getting saved by you a third time and this time you aren't even here. I would thank you but I feel like you might complain if I thanked you again.”

“Hey Avad. Yeah, you don’t need to thank me. I need you alive and it was mostly Beta and the healers who saved you anyways. How are you feeling?”

“It still hurts like a behemoth stomped on me. Erend could probably invent some creative swearing to explain it. And I am feeling slow and cold from the medicine. But did recently get shot by an arrow used to hunt machines, so, it could be worse. It will get better in a sunrise or two I feel.”

They looked at each other for a moment, Aloy was unsure of what to say. Avad looked like he was waiting for her to say something. She had heard many speeches to injured people.

“Aloy, get up, you're not winning the brave trials like this”

"On your feet braves, we have demon to hunt”

“I’ve seen watchers more durable than you lot. Are you freebooters or are you piles of junk?”

“Survive, prevail, what else matters.”

“Turn your face to the sun, child.”

None of them fit, so she said the only thing she could think of.

“I need you Avad. Not just as the king of the Carja, or as an ally against the Zeniths. But as you are. When Beta called me and said you had been shot, I almost collapsed. I don’t really know how I feel or really what feelings are.” She tried to pause, to collect herself but the answer came naturally ”I grew up searching for answers, but they mostly came with more questions and tasks to fulfill. And I still need to do them, to complete Gaia and restore the ecosystem. But when I was almost drowning in the ruins of Vegas, I imagined walking the streets of Meridian with you. It pushed me on. Gave me the strength to reach the surface”

“Thank you Aloy. I don’t think I need to remind you that no matter what happens to you or between us will always be welcome in Meridian.” Avad tried to sit up a bit and winced in pain. Still he smiled “And if you wish it to be more, I will gladly accept.”

“You know. I don’t think I would be a traditional sun queen.”

Avad chuckled slightly. “I don’t need a traditional sun queen. The Carja have too much tradition dictating its path as it is”

She smiled back at him. Perhaps this would be a good day instead.

Chapter Text

“So, I heard Beta and Zo got their fancy talk with you before me?” Erend said with a calmer expression. Their conversation hadn’t started that way. Avad had heard actual worry in the former captain's voice when he answered the call. “I mean, I can understand you talking to Aloy first, she’s the savior and all that, but Zo before me? C'mon. We are friends, right?”

Avad sat up slightly, grimacing. Moving still hurt and he was supposed to give a speech later today. “I thought you had things under control and didn’t want any deep conversations.” He said, slightly sarcastically. Talking to Erend was nice. He and Ersa had been a breath of fresh air compared to Avad’s ‘approved’ conversation partners back when they first met. Aside from Kadaman, most people he could talk to had been nobles looking to rise in rank or sun priests who called sacrifices to the sun glorious. The Oseram siblings had been a breath of a very particular air perhaps, but fresh indeed. Of course his talks with Ersa’s back then had changed as their relationship evolved, but talking to Erend had remained as informal as ever.

“I mean, I don't want to discuss philosophy or poetry or some other weird Carja hobby, but you could have at least called. I could have given you reviews of all the ale spots in the ‘Forbidden West’”. Erend said jokingly.

“I’m sorry,” Avad said. To anyone else that would have been a ‘my apologies’ but Erend kept complaining about his formal speech. He then added. “I’ll pass on the ale places though. I can’t really go there and I can’t say it's in my interests anyway.”

“And your delicate Carja stomach can’t handle strong Oseram ale?” Erend replied

“And my delicate Carja stomach can’t handle strong Oseram ale”. He echoed. Avad really should have talked to Erend sooner.

---

“...So, the sun still shines. I still live, you all still live and with that, the sundom does.

Some of you might have seen changes recently. New ideas and technologies being implemented across the sundom. Some of you might question the reason for that.

But just as the sun always moves across the sky without stopping, the sundom cannot stay the same. The world is indeed changing. My father thought that was something he could and needed to stop. For that he fought and he sacrificed. But needless conflicts have just brought the Carja run and grief.

I will walk with the changes. The sundom may be radiant, but it's not unchanging. The elevators, the crafters, the hunters lodge. They have clearly improved Meridian, have they not? Some of you might disagree or take offense with what’s happening. If you want to debate me, the court is open.

But to those that wish to fight the sun, you will find its rays burning hot. The assassin could not kill me. The Carja in shadow could not. The Eclipse and their army of machines could not.

Things might be changing, but the sun still shines!”

Avad heard the roars and cheers as he walked off the stage. Once he could confirm that he was out of view, he slumped down on a chair. He saw his vanguard reacting and rushing to his side, faster than usual, but when it was clear he was merely resting they relaxed. He breathed out and happily accepted a mug of water from a servant. He still felt a bit weak from the events of yesterday but some rest had done wonders. The applause and cheers died down in the background, and the shuffling sounds as the people of Meridian walked away from the palace took its place. The voices of guards giving directions outside, the footsteps of servants inside. On the surface, things seemed to be going great.

He saw Nasadi coming up to him. “Good speech, Avad. You can get the crowds motivated. Don’t know how much some of the nobles will like it though”. She seemed composed and organized as usual

“My first draft was far harsher on them.” He sighed. “Why must they fight every reform? They see every change as an attack on them.” He looked around, and made a gesture to the vanguard to keep people away as they spoke. “You read Vanasha and Uthid’s reports?”

Nasadi nodded. “Yes, but we shouldn’t speak of it here.”

Avad concluded that she was right. Nasadi hadn’t been interested in trying to learn to use a focus and she did not know battle or statecraft. But she knew the intrigue and gossip of Carja nobles very well. And that was what was at play.

---

Erend - Yesterday 18:34

Okay thanks! I didn’t want to ask Beta again. She can’t really fight, but somehow she is the scariest one in the base.

Avad - Yesterday 19:01

No problems.

Avad - Today 15:08

Know how to get nobles to understand basic diplomacy?

Erend - Today 15:14

I would just knock some sense into them, but I donnu if you could.

Don’t you have some Carja politicking way you could try? You're asking the wrong guy.

Avad - Today 15:19

You did tell me to contact you if I had any problem. Oseram ingenuity and all that

Erend - Today 15:21

Well eh, I expected problems like attacking glinthawks, a bridge that needed building or an unruly mob. Not this.

You’re the sun king, can’t you just order them?

---

“Your Radiance, lady Zevin Nar Vinav is here to see you”. A voice came from outside his chamber

Avad looked up from his stack of reports. “Let her in”.

Zevin walked into his room, the door closing behind her. She looked at his stack of reports. “Greetings Avad. I can call you that right?”

“Please do. That must be a new servant. I can keep telling them that they can just say my name, at least inside the palace.” Avad gestured at her to take a seat and organized his reports so there was some space on the table.

Zevin put down another paper on the table. “Marad’s new report.” Avad guessed he would have to read that too. He didn’t mind reading normally, there was just a lot of it and few of them had good news. “And this” She then put down something else on the table. Four focuses lay there. Avad looked up sharply and noticed she also had one on her ear, partially hidden by her hair.

“Where did you get them?” They had brought Zevin into a lot of secrets of the sundom and she had been working in the court, providing her knowledge of focuses and helping Nasadi.

“You started wearing your focus to court a while ago, to hopefully get some nobles to find some to copy you. It seemed like it finally paid off. A low ranked noble had one in a gathering in the Jewel I went to. Talked to him and then the delver he had bought them from. 900 shards bought me these.” Zevin seemed happy as she spoke, though not as boastful as many nobles might when speaking of their exploits. “I would like to keep one, if that’s okay? I got the news of you being shot via messenger and had no way to verify it.”

“Good job, Zevin.” Avad nodded at her. “You can do that. I had almost forgotten about that plan to get more focuses. Any more you can find will be very helpful.” Avad was trying to figure out who to send them to. Uthid was clear, quicker communication with the army was important. Janeva was trustworthy and competent. He wanted better communication with the northern edge of the sundom too, but he didn’t know the commander there. He needed to check that too at some point. They also needed a way to talk to other tribes, but that was still tricky. Aloy had mentioned potentially sending one to Aratak of the Banuk, which she knew somehow. But..

“Avad?”

Avad paused. “My apologies. I got lost in thoughts” He could talk to Marad about it later.

“No problem.” Zevin seemed thoughtful for a moment. “Can I ask a personal question?”

“Sure” Avad wasn’t quite sure what she was going to ask.

She paused, then carefully asked “Are you in love with Aloy, the savior?”.

Avad coughed. Then he cleared his thoughts a bit. “Um. Yes. I think so. I’m sorry.” Nominally she was still courting him, but he hadn’t had time to go on any dates recently. Even if he had time though, with Aloy a message away, he didn’t know if he could. “How did you know?”

Zevin didn’t look as shocked as he expected, instead she looked almost relieved? “I also know what it's like to have a crush on a strong woman who found a focus.” She then also added “And I spoke to Naasadi about it.“

Avad considered how she did seem a bit more animated when talking about Rakuja, her Banuk “friend”. “Are you two together? Can you talk now that you have a focus?”

She replied quickly, though not with as much enthusiasm as before. “No and no. We just send letters and meet up when she visits the sundom every few years. I don’t know if she likes someone like me.” Avad knew that letters were rare and expensive, especially sending them between the Cut and the Sundom. A merchant didn't send them to someone they didn't care about. “I doubt the focus network reaches her and I don’t know her focus ID if I wanted to try. I sent a letter asking her to come down to the sundom, but it will take time for it to reach her up in the Cut.” She paused. “Mother wouldn’t let us be together anyway, and I am only protected from her while I am courting you.”

“Zevin, you gave the sundom four focuses and have proven to be a great help to Nasadi. Knowing what I know of your family I would let you stay as long as you want anyways. I would ask that we keep up this “relationship” for a while longer though, if it's okay with you. I hate to ask, but the nobles do appreciate me courting one of them.”

“Thank you, Avad. I’m fine with that. Courting the sun king does help in noble circles. Still I hope that Aloy’s mission goes well and she returns your feelings”. Zevin smiled at him and he smiled back.

---

Avad shoulder felt a bit better than it did in the morning. His head hurt now though from discussing how to deal with unruly nobles and potential coups for a few hours. He had returned to his chamber for the night and was about to go to sleep when a now familiar tune hit him. The sounds of instruments, some familiar and some quite unlike any played in Meridian. He sat up on his bed, tapped his focus twice and answered the call.

“Greetings Aloy” He saw that she was in a shelter in a barren area, probably a desert. There were parts of some kind of structure in the background.

“Hey Avad.” She looked at him “Oh, did I wake you? Should I call another time?”

Avad realized he was just wearing his nightgown, but surmised that for a call with Aloy that might be fine. If she was okay with it. “No, it's fine. I was going to sleep but we can talk first. As long as you haven’t planned a diplomatic meeting I should be okay.”

“Nah, nothing of the sort this time. Though I should introduce you to Hekarro at some point. I just wanted to talk, if that’s alright.”

“That’s fine by me. How are your travels? Are you headed to find another piece of Gaia?

“I am heading off to get Demeter now, yes. It seems to be all the way to the coast. It will be interesting to see the ocean. The old ones wrote a lot about it from what I’ve found.” Avad had read some of that. A (seemingly) endless mass of water, thousands of times bigger than Daybrink, which was the biggest lake he had seen.

“Could you send me some images of it? I doubt I ever get to travel there” Even if Itamen would take over, he doubted he could make the journey. Especially as it went across Tenakth lands and he didn’t think they would let a sun king, even a former one, through..

“I can do that.“ Aloy looked at Avad, seemingly inspecting his wound across the focus image. “How are you recovering? Is Meridian doing well?”

“I’m fine. It still hurts, but it doesn’t feel like a behemoth stomped on it anymore. Luckily for me, being a sun king does not require a lot of running or climbing.” Aloy smiled at that. Avad paused, unsure how to describe things. He didn’t want to bore Aloy with Carja politics or put more things on her already too busy schedule. “Meridian is fine, I suppose. We will handle it.”

Aloy looked at him and seemed to instantly see past his words. “Not talking about your problems doesn’t help anyone, Avad. You taught me that. Since the palace isn’t on fire and I don’t hear any soldiers shouting, I guess you don’t haven't had any direct combat” Avad nodded. “So what is it? You listened to me about the Zeniths and Beta. I can at least do the same for your problems. Were partners, right?”

“Okay, but let us fix this. You have enough on your plate, fighting immortals and saving the world and all that. Marad, Vanasha, Uthid, Zevin and more are helping me.”

“I'll try, but I would like there to be a Meridian to come back to when I return. And a sun king. Now what's going on?”

Chapter Text

“So I still think you should have told me about the invisible assassin following you. I understand not wanting to add more things to my list and, well I can't say I wouldn't have tried to help you. But that’s because I care about you, Avad. I appreciate you letting me talk about Beta and Zeniths that time, but you could have called or sent a message later.

Avad nodded, unsure of what to say. He had described the previous events to Aloy, leading up to him getting shot. Aloy’s mood had gone from investigative to shocked to calm as they talked. Now she was looking like she had an idea, a sly expression that Avad found quite cute.

“You said the assassin used a modified stalker's stealth generator to become invisible. Hmm, that’s not a bad idea. I should be able to manufacture something similar.”

“I suppose that would be helpful for you. Don’t use it in Meridian though, the army is on full alert for invisible people. Wouldn’t want the savior to get stabbed by a guard”

“Doubt they succeed, but yes I’l keep that in mind.” Aloy moved on, face growing serious again “I guess you have started investigating where he might have gotten it? It doesn’t sound like something a former Shadow Carja elite would make on his own.”

“It doesn’t indeed. We have found some records of him and nothing that hints towards a tinkering habit. The trouble is that the numbers of tinkerers in the shadow Carja in general are low, so this hints at a possible Oseram collaborator. Which might mean this is a larger threat.” Avad said, sighing before continuing. “Vanasha reports town guards in Brightmarket acting strange and spotting a mysterious sun priest. Marad is leading an investigation on the subject. There might be some well connected people in on it”

Aloy nodded, thinking for a moment before responding. “I see. I … parts of me wishes you hadn’t told me. It sounds like the type of thing I could help with. And it would be nice to see you, and do something that doesn’t involve immortal ancients for once” She held up her hand. “But no, thanks for telling me Avad. It's nice to know what’s going on in the sundom, even if it's not fantastic news. I hope you figure out a solution. And if that bastard comes for me I will pierce his heart with an arrow.” She said then, yawned.

Avad yawned back, it was late and he had been going to bed before Aloy called. “I hope so too. Good night Aloy. See you tomorrow”. They closed the call and Avad fell asleep. It had been a big day.

---

Avad woke up to a servant knocking carefully on his door. “Avad, you have a meeting with Uthid and some officers in 40 minutes.”

He felt decently rested, far more than yesterday. After waking up properly, he responded with a thanks to the servant and put on his focus. It was strange how quickly doing that had become routine. He checked his messages, and wondered if all the old ones used to do these things every morning. Some tinkerers and scholars had proposed that the old ones use a focus to do more things too, like seeing a prediction of the weather. Avad wanted to doubt that, but it seemed like little was impossible to them.

The meeting with the officers was like many others. There were greetings and then formal discussion of military strategies, logistics and equipment. It was definitely important, but also quite boring and sterile. Military men (and only men, because the sun would apparently collapse if they put women in high ranks) were rarely social people. Many of them came from the nobility and were historically appointed for their ranks as much as their ability. Avad knew he could have let his generals meet without him, but this was part of the investigation. He was looking for signs of something. Betrayals, corruption, hidden factions. What else might lie in there. He wasn’t a trained spy, but with Vanasha injured for a few more days, he wasn’t going to let Marad work alone.

Still the meeting hadn’t gotten him any answers to that. He did hear about the pursuit of the assassin again and the reactions had told him some things.

“Nakoa, our ambassador to the Nora, led the tracking effort along with some of my men. They reported having chased the assailant all the way to an area south of Sunfall.” Uthid pointed to the location on the map. Avad heard a murmured “Nora savage leading Carja troops, pah”, before his sharp glance stopped the officer.

“Why wasn’t the hunting lodge involved?” another officer asked.

Avad knew this so he replied. “Ligan regretfully informed afterward that he was out on a hunt with many of the lodge”. He intended to talk to the acting sunhawk later, the timing there felt a bit too convenient.

“And what of the “actual” sunhawk? Talanah, was that her name. Is she still out in the Forbidden West chasing rumors?” A third officer asked.

Avad was about to answer that he didn't know but that he asked Erend to find her. Maybe they could use her to lay a trap for their assassin. That however required using the focuses and he hadn’t yet informed all these officers about their functions yet. He had been planning to, but while there were potential enemies about, they were cautious in who they told. Luckily some other officer had a response and the meeting continued.

The comments hadn’t been great, but at least it was muttered disdain, not shouted attacks. He suspected that is what would have happened mere months prior.

---

Aloy - Today 09:18

Hey. Good morning. I need to be moving today. Hopefully I'll get to the coast by the evening. We could talk then if you have time.

I thought about your issues though, you should talk to Kotallo. The Tenakth are all about strategy and I trust him.

Avad - Today 09:55

Good morning. That sounds fine. Safe travels.

I'll think about it.

---

During his childhood, Avad had heard many stories. Other tribes had often been portrayed as inferior and barbaric in most of them. But when Kivunna was telling stories there was something they could learn from the other tribes. The Tenakth however, had always been bloodthirsty warriors in the stories. Sometimes literally. Whether his teacher had a disdain for their western neighbors or just couldn’t invent some morals there was unclear. He supposed he could ask her later.

Now he knew more about them, having initiated the embassy project and talked with a few envoys. It hadn’t fully gotten rid of his childhood fear of the tattooed warriors that attacked in the night. Avad knew the image was based on Carja propaganda and old stories. Still he had to steel himself before he called Kotallo.

It took a moment for an answer, enough that Avad considered abandoning the call. But doing that now felt wrong and after a moment Kotallo appeared. Avad had seen an image of him from him before, so seeing the one armed man with the signature Tenakth tattoos didn’t startle him. Kotallo looked curiously at him, looking through the focus. Avad saw that he was standing in a mountainous forest clearing and spotted a dead rabbit to the side. He must have interrupted a hunt.

“The sun king. It is strange to say, but I expected to receive a call from you. You have been talking with most people here at the base, so I assumed you would talk to me at some point.”

Avad supposed that made sense. He hadn’t intentionally contacted Aloys’s companions, but it had happened as they were competent and a good link to tribes he had little contact with. And Erend was his friend. “Greetings Kotallo. You can call me Avad. I contacted you to speak about…”

“Military policies and tactics? You think that I am an expert at that because I am Tenatkh?” Kotallo looked at him intently and for a moment Avad saw a warrior from his childhood stories. Avad almost wanted to take a step back, even if it was only an image projected. But on a second glance, he saw his posture and expression. There wasn’t any wrath there “You might be right. We Tenatkh train strategy and war, especially marshalls like me. According to some we focus on that too much. You should speak to chief Hekarro later on that topic.”

“I had planned to but events forced me to focus on different things. And you are the only Tenakth I have spoken to directly, even via focus. The embassy project goes slow, even if I understand why.” Avad replied.

“Decades of raids and conflicts are hard to forget. I fought there, at barren light.” Kotallo paused, seemingly thinking “But you are a different ruler and Aloy speaks highly of you.. I can try to get you an audience with Hekarro via focus. I think he would approve.”

“Thank you” Avad had never figured a good response to people who suffered in the raids. What could he say? I’m sorry my father ordered your village burned was rarely a great response. “I’m sorry about the raids. Wish I could have done more”.

“You were the one to put down your father, I heard. Challenging a bad commander is a traditional Tenakth practice.” It hadn't been much of a challenge. Avad could not have defeated his father in a straight fight. It had been war and chaos. Destruction and misery on both sides. Sometimes he felt that rumors of what happened in the liberation grew every year. “Now though, Aloy told me about the assassin. Tenakth culture might be based on honor, but we have them too. It’s hard to find out what really happened on the battlefield sometimes. I can give you what advice I would give my commander in a situation like this.”

---

“I move my clawstrider three steps and attack your piece”. Avad had not expected to find himself playing a Tenakth board game when he woke up in the morning, but many mornings brought interesting things these days. It had been a few hours since he called Kotallo and after discussing strategy he had learned two things.

1. Avad was not cut out for being an officer in any army.

He thought that he had some grasp of the topic from his lessons when he was younger and from his time with the Oseram before the liberation. The Tenakth clearly had different terms which complicated things, but his head hurt with the amount of things Kotallo talked about. So he had done the logical thing and invited Uthid, Balahn and Janeva to the call.. He stayed on the call for a bit but then Kotallo had pointed out that “Smart chieftains can let their commanders handle strategy and focus on keeping the clan intact”

And so he did. He trusted those three. Uthid had already defected from the Shadow Carja and the man was way too straightforward and honest for any type of double bluffing. Balahn may be noble but had already helped Aloy uncover Shadow Carja schemes. And Janeva was a commoner that had worked their way up a chain of command that was hostile to their identity.

2. Machine strike was fun.

The Carja had wargames of course. But after the liberation Avad couldn’t look at a map with tokens representing soldiers and not think of the dead. His father would have called him weak for that. His officers had done that, if in more underhanded ways, when he refused to march into sunfall. And in hindsight maybe they had been right in that case. Avad just disliked the idea of sending people to their death.

Machine strike was different. It had only machines. He wasn't moving troops around. It was also simpler than many of the wargames played by the Carjan nobility. Apparently some people knew about Machine Strike even here, Kivunna had vaguely heard about it when he asked, even if it had never caught in Meridian. Because why would anyone play a game invented by the savages in the forbidden west? Right. Avad had shook his head and ordered a dozen copies made.

“Hmm. I send my burrower back two steps and dig down there”. Aloy pointed to a spot on his board. Avad moved the piece on the board. They were playing with rough tokens and board for some game of the old ones that no one knew the rules for. Avad sat in his chamber and Aloy sat thousands of meters away on a cliff next to her campsite.

Avad could see the ocean below it. An endless mass of blue water. The sun was slowly setting in the background. It was beautiful. He had already got a few photos of it sent to him. He looked down at the board and considered. He could move his clawstrider and attack to hopefully take her damaged ravager. Or he could… “Hit the enemy where they least expect it. Lay a trap for them. Let them think they can win. Strike True as the Ten.'' He recalled Kotallo’s words and moved his glinthawk.

He still lost the game. But seeing Aloy’s slight smile as she thought of a strategy, he found that he didn’t really mind. “Another game before we rest?” He asked.

There was still an assassin out there somewhere. He still had a potential rebellion to deal with. But he had allies and plans. He had friends. He had Aloy. She nodded and tried to reset the board, forgetting for a moment that it wasn’t next to her. Avad smiled and moved to start a new game.

Chapter Text

The old warehouse's smell was only a bit better than its appearance. Dirty wooden walls showing signs of decay and rot. Crates that had long since been looted for anything valuable. It was a place Sharid var Lawar would never visit under ordinary circumstances. But the circumstances weren’t ordinary he supposed.

He followed Jahamin between boxes and through corridors. The old priest seemed to know the way well, weaving between crates and walls. They came to a stop at a locked wooden door on the far end of the warehouse. The wall here was stone, unlike the others and locked a bit better maintained than the rest of the place. His bodyguard Tenarf, the one other person he had trusted to bring, opened the door. Inside there was a small room with a wooden table, lit by a simple lamp. There were a few scrolls and maps placed on the table, alongside some metallic trinkets. Two people sat at the table.

The first man he recognized. Falcien was a scarred middle aged man with a soldier's build. He was a captain in the army and a respected warrior on the battlefield. Sharid had sparred with him in the past and knew of his skills. The other…

There was an Oseram sitting there, an older tinkerer by the look of it. Sharid scoffed. Jahamin had mentioned working with an Oseram, but Sharid didn’t know why he would. It was the other tribes that were leading the sun away, they shouldn’t work with them. Not if they wanted to restore its glory. Still he took a seat at the table and saw Jahamin do likewise. His bodyguard stayed at the door keeping guard, though Sharid doubted anyone would find them in this desolate place. There was a moment when everyone was looking at each other without saying a word, then Jahamin spoke.

“Friends. We have gathered here today because the sun has gone astray. We have seen the corruption from the other tribes, the collapse of the traditional order and our glorious military. Avad has us giving gifts to outlanders and trying to tame the machines of the wilds. What next? Will he have us delve in the ruins of the old ones? Restore them? We are the few who fight for the true sun when so many give up. We will restore the sun’s connection with its true path across the sky and-”

The Oseram spoke up, “I didn’t come here to listen to you babble theology. You want to take down the sun king and restore things to how they used to be. So do I. How do we kill him?”

Sharid flared up with rage, he had let the Oseram speak to see what he had to say, but this was unthinkable. Killing the sun king? He didn’t particularly like Avad and his reforms but he was still the sun. “Kill the sun king? I didn’t like the idea of having an Oseram here in the first place, but now you interrupt a sun priest and speak of killing the sun! Out, or I will cut you down myself!

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Jahamin spoke. “It is with a heavy heart that I must say that I think Avad is too far gone. I have tried to get him to listen to reason, but has banished me from the priesthood and won't hear me at court. You have tried to council him without success have you not? He has been corrupted by the other tribes and the artifacts of the old world.” Sharid knew all this. After Avad had kicked out Jahamin from the priesthood for “promoting hate”, he had taken the old priest in. Sharid knew the scriptures very well and Jahamin was the priest who followed them to the greatest extent. And they could both agree that Avad didn’t really. But still. Killing the sun king?

Sharid looked down at his hands. He had tried to talk to Avad multiple times and while the sun king often listened, he didn’t seem to like his advice. And Avad was surrounding himself with women, commoners and outsiders. He looked up at the others. Falcien also seemed to be in thought. The Oseram seemed almost amused at their conversation and the sun priest. And maybe the one and only true sun priest left looked at him.

Then he realized something. "The assassin? Was that your doing?" He asked the group, already guessing the answer.

Jahamin looked like he was going to say something but the Oseram cut in again. "Where do you think he got his gear? That stealth generator was certainly not a Carjan creation."

Sharid still wasn’t sure what to think but he had to ask the question on the back of his mind. "Why though. Why are you here? I thought the Oseram loved Avad."

The Oseram spat on the table. "Only the foolish ones. Your sun king policies are running the traditional order back in the clans. Young tinkerers, smiths and delvers think they're too good for apprenticeships and move to Meridian instead. The older clans are losing more people than they did back in the raids. Especially women. Can't keep them in line anymore. "

Sharid hadn’t really thought about the fact that Oseram might have different opinions. Sure everyone knew that they loved to squabble and argue, but that was about…things like bad ale and hammer sizes maybe. He didn’t really care to find out. Falcien and Jahamin looked like they had seen the Oseram rant before. "So you are going to help replace the sun king with one that's hostile to your people?" He realized as he said that yes he was really going to help assassinate the sun king.

"Yeah, sure. I don’t care for the Carja or for you lot. If we didn't have the same goal I wouldn't touch you with a forger's tong." He looked at them. "And yes, even if that brings back the raids. The Steelshard clan held off your armies before, we could do so again. True Oseram clans don’t lose people to outsiders" Sharid saw a tattoo on his raised arm of two crossed crossbow bolts, which he guessed was some sort of clan symbol.

Jahamin spoke up. "Yes, as Dolarf here said, we did work with Jarciv. He had his own agenda but he was the most skilled soldier we had. Now we don't know if that's possible anymore."

Falcien answered for the first time in the meeting. "Uthid’s troops and that annoying Nora hunter that Avad is letting stay in Meridian chased him all the way to the Daunt. More importantly, Jarciv doesn't know that his assassination was unsuccessful, so I doubt he will return. He wants to try to kill the savior anyway."

"And I hope he succeeds at that, but it does mean that we need a new plan." Jahamin said. He paused then continued. "We talked about explosives earlier, Dolarf."

The Oseram who appeared to be called Dolarf, responded. "Yeah and I told you I'm not made of money. You might not realize it but blaze is expensive."

Jahamin nodded his head towards Sharid and he got the idea. "Funding won't be a problem for a noble of Meridian"

Dolarf nodded slowly. "Guess that's why you're here. Still explosives aren't the perfect solution you think it is. His Oseram vanguard will know the smell of blaze and evacuate everyone if they find it."

"And sneaking in a large amount would be tricky. Marad and Uthid are keeping a careful watch. I will run out of distractions and excuses soon." Falcien added, face showing little expression.

Sharid considered. "You don't have anything more potent? We Carja know of blaze explosions too, but you Oseram keep saying you're inventive."

Dolarf looked more annoyed than before somehow. "Do I look like one of those crazy blastmasters?"

"So you can't provide anything stronger than blaze?"

"I'll get in touch with people in the Claim. But it's gonna cost. If there is something those bastards love more than finding new ways to blow things up, it's charging extraordinary sums for it."

Sharid sighed. "I have assets."

---

The lamp on the table flickered. Sharid realized he had spent way too long in this decrepit place. After making a concrete plan Dolarf had stomped out, quietly muttering something to himself and Falcien had said something about a meeting and followed not long after. But as he went to stand up he had a thought.

"How do we ensure Itamen won't be caught in the explosion? The little boy loves his older brother."

The sun priest exhaled slowly, then spoke. “Itamen has proven he can’t be the sun king. The shadow Carja tried to use him like a puppet and the sun rejected them for it.” Sharid heard the sadness in his voice as the sun priest said that.

“But then who will rule? We can’t have a sundom without a sun king?! I agreed to help because Avad won’t change his way, but Avad’s rule is better than anarchy. There are no other close relatives of Avad besides Nasadi and she can’t rule”

“No. She can’t. We can agree on that” Jahamin paused for a moment then continued. “We will have to pick a high ranking noble. Someone in good standing with the other nobles and with some of the blood of the radiant line. Someone who knows the scriptures and we can guarantee won’t turn their way on the sun.”

Sharid didn’t answer. He kept trying to figure out an alternative. He considered all the options. Itamen. Avad’s distant cousins. He considered walking away and abandoning this whole thing. Trying to forget it ever happened. Even going to Avad and telling him what was said. It wasn’t like Jahamin could stop him from doing so. But no. He couldn’t. They had to restore the sundom. Anything else was foolishness.

“Should you wish for it, I will be here to guide you every step of the way, your luminance”. Sharid heard the words as he walked out into the setting sun. He knew his choice was made.

Chapter Text

Aloy - Today 09:34

Hey. I am heading off to Demeter today. Might take a while, considering how complicated the previous two sub functions were to get. Hopefully we can talk tonight though.

Also, I found this text. Didn’t really have time to read it, but I think it talks about the governments of the old ones. You might find it interesting.

Attached File: Dev diary 13. Government and politics in EUVII.

---

The mechanist area was seemingly expanding a bit every day. He knew Kivunna had had a smooth path and some tents made and positioned some of the archives librarians to take notes on events there. There were people testing and theorizing, chatting and discussing. Mostly Carja and Oseram but he had seen a few from other tribes and along with some whose tribe he couldn’t place on their clothes. Avad walked past a “tamed” sawtooth that some brave hunter was trying to ride. Aloy was as it turned out very talented at that too, because while they were making progress, the Carja was still struggling to override many machines. And keeping them tamed, which apparently was a whole other challenge. Aloy did have a focus to help her, which most of the tinkerers, scholars and hunters here didn’t so that explained some of their struggles. Still they were making progress both at overriding machines and making new weapons and tools. Mostly weapons he had to say. But there were a few former miners that had tried to incorporate some machine parts and a battery to a pickaxe. He wished them the best of luck. They looked like they needed it.

He walked by the weapons testing area when he saw an Oseram woman instructing some Carja scholars on how a weapon worked. It was unlike any weapon he had seen; it looked like a long spear, but instead of a tip there was a tube at the end and a large “bag” hanging underneath. He saw wires connecting different parts of the weapon.

“Oh it's cold”. One of the scholars said, carefully touching the weapon

“Yeah yeah, it's liquid chillwater inside.” The woman said as if it was obvious “I’ve tried to improve the insulation, but I haven't found the right material for it yet.” Avad felt like he recognized her, though he wasn’t quite sure from where.

The other scholar adjusted his glasses. “Well it's certainly novel, a weapon that shoots ice. Don’t know how practical it is. The sun king does seem to like new ideas though”.

The first scholar spotted Avad and his escort of guards just then, giving him a formal bow.

“Your Radiance. I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Greetings, studious Iridiem. I was just passing by, seeing the progress. You can continue working.” Iridiem was a Carja scholar who had taken the role of lead manager on the Ravager cannon project. A role he was annoyingly good at. He was also however a big fan of ceremonies, and perhaps a bit stuck up. After one guided visit Avad had learned that in order to not waste 3 hours he should come here unannounced.

“If you say so, your radiance. Please feel welcome to pass by the cannon area if you wish. I can explain everything if you have questions.” The scholar said and walked off with his companion.

The Oseram woman looked up at him. “You Cajra do love to talk like that” She paused, taking in who he was then hastily added “Your highness”.

“Some of us definitely do.” He replied and then realized where he recognized the woman. “Varga?”

“That’s me. But I don’t know why the sun king knows my name. Didn’t think I was that popular.”

“Aloy” was Avad’s response. Then realizing that didn’t explain everything he added “Aloy has you listed in her focus”.

Varga’s expression lightened. “I remember Aloy. She brought me some interesting weapons to improve. That doesn’t explain what ‘listed in her focus’ means or what even a focus is. Is it connected to that device you both have on your ear? I remember her tapping on it a few times when we hunted that stormbird.”

Avad looked around for a bit, signaled for his guards to make sure no one else was listening in and then brought someone else into the focus council. Aloy had specifically mentioned that Varga accompanied her on her hunts and if she trusted her and then he did.

---

Erend - Today 13:04

Hiya.

Your weapons shipment arrived. Some real Oseram steel here I see. Personally I am more into the ‘hit them with a large enough hammer’ school of fighting, but these cannons are cool too.

---

Call Incoming, caller UNKNOWN NUMBER. (Accept/Decline/Block Caller)

Avad stopped mid step. He heard the vanguard coming to a halt around him. Unknown number? He didn't know who would try to call him that he didn’t know. Aloy sent him the contacts of the people she met. Anyone he gave a focus he added. The Zeniths? Well, he doubted declining a call from the would stop them if it were. And he would probably not be the first person they would contact. Sylens? From what he heard he could bypass the call step somehow. He had given focus to Varga but he had added her contact then. Well anyway. People generally told him to take more risks. He answered.

He heard a young woman's voice. It wasn’t Varga or Aloy. Or anyone he recognized. “Hello, is this Avad?

“Yes. Who are you?”

“Oh good. Hi. I’m Alva. I found your contact in Aloy’s focus. I contacted you as you seem to be her closest contact. Diviner protocol 3.12”

Avad heart skipped a bit. “Aloy. Is she okay?”

Alva hastily responded. “Yes. She should be. She took a bit of a hit while fighting the Dreadwing but she’s fine. I gave her some healroot and the wound seems to be closing up. She’s recovering next to me”

Avad relaxed a bit. “Good. So…who are you, Alva? It sounds like you know how to use a focus. And what's the diviner protocol ?”.

“Right. You don’t know about the Quen either. It's the tribe I’m from. We are from across the great ocean” Avad let out a quiet “by the sun” as he heard that. Alva paused and continued, speaking rapidly. “Um, diviner protocol 3.12 states that if you find an unconscious diviner you should contact their designated contact on their focus. Aloy isn’t really a diviner and she didn’t have a designated contact, but she seems to talk a lot to you, looking at her focus logs.” She paused then hastily added “It might also not be a commonly used protocol, but they drilled it into us in training and I kinda instinctively called you after checking that Aloy was okay when she collapsed.”

Avad nodded, forgetting for a moment this wasn't a video call then responded. “Okay. That seems reasonable. Thanks for calling me” Then the information Alva had given to him sunk in. “Did you say you traveled across the ocean? The pacific? I thought it was enormous. And your tribe already knows of focuses?”

---

They had been talking for a while now and Avad had gotten a seat and table and canceled a meeting or two. He had been taking notes on the Quen and heard that Alva was taking notes on the Carja on the other side. He had gotten half a page worth, when Alva had just sent him a couple of documents of “Things I think I can give you. Umm. The legacy doesn’t seem to consider the idea of barbarians, uh, other tribes with focuses.” He had immediately forwarded them to Kivunna. It was nice to talk to someone else who loved knowledge. Alva had however refused to video call because apparently it wasted “battery life”. Avad had wondered about how his focus never ran out of power before but when he asked Aloy that earlier she didn’t have any answers.

Then Alva had asked him a question that blindsided him.“So, Avad, are you also an ancestor like Aloy?”.

Avad responded with a very intelligent “What?” The logical part of his brain told him that “an ancestor” was the Quen term for a parent. But since Aloy didn’t have any children that didn’t make any sense. So what? Did it refer to some kind of leadership or spiritual role? He hadn’t quite mentioned him being sun king, because it had slipped by and it was nice talking to someone who didn’t know that. He supposed Aloy was some kind of spiritual leader for the Nora and somehow she had been the leader for a Werak for a time, but she wasn’t the type to brag about those things to a stranger.

Avla’s reply answered his questions, but gave him an equal amount of new ones. “Like she is the Elisabet Sobeck reborn. I thought you might be the reborn version of someone? Ted Faro maybe? Hmm no”

“By the Sun no, I am not Ted Faro!” Avad remembered that the Quen’s focuses were limited to files created before a certain date and Alva didn’t know everything about Zero Dawn and stopped himself from shouting. ”No, I’m not. And Aloy isn’t quite Elisabet Sobeck either. What does the Quen know about cloning?”

“Cloning? Hmm. It gives +10% population growth? No, we concluded that, text was from some game. I think I’ve heard the term in some texts of the old ones but I don't know what it is. If the Quen knows of it, it's restricted.”

Avad was about to try to explain a concept he didn’t quite understand when there was a noise on Alva’s side. He heard someone shuffling around, then a voice he recognized coming from the focus at low volume.

“Ah, where am I? Alva, oh right the Dreadwing. I hate fighting flying machines. Thanks for watching over me. Were you talking to someone?”

“Yes. Be careful Aloy, you took a large cut on your leg.”

Avad guessed it would be easier to explain things if they all could talk and added Aloy to the call.

“Oh, hey Avad. Guess we have both been on call when the other got hurt now. And you have talked to Alva so that’s good. Good to share information” She paused, looking around. “I should probably get to Demeter now, so we can talk more later”.She looked a bit dazzled and her hair was messy, but as she spoke she got more composed.

Avad wished her good luck and told her to take it carefully with her leg, then disconnected and went and had the meetings he postponed.

---

Later that evening he was back in his chamber sipping on some Nora drink that had slowly become popular in Meridian. It was a bit bitter and he thought he preferred Carja wines or juices but it was nice to have options. More importantly though, Avad was talking to Aloy.

“So yeah, that’s how I got Demeter. I need to prepare differently if I’m to fight one of those Dreadwings again though. Need to see about acquiring some new weapons.” She paused and considered “I heard from Erend that your shipment arrived at the base. That spares me a hunt for parts and shards. From what I’ve heard those modified ravager cannons are still quite heavy and not something I can carry on the go, but I'll find a use for them, I’m sure.”

Avad nodded and remembered something. “Oh right. I met Varga today and gave her a focus. She made you weapons before right?”

Aloy’s eyes seemed to light up and she smiled at that. “Oh Varga, nice. I lost a lot of gear in a storm and then my stormslinger broke. Couldn’t find anyone that could repair it. Is she joining your weapons development projects?”

Avad made a gesture that was something in between a nod and a shake of the head, realized it didn’t explain anything and replied. “Mmm. She said she will stay here for a bit and explain her weapons to the tinkerers. But she wasn’t interested in staying in Meridian. Apparently her body “doesn’t agree with this climate”. I told her that was fine and she can stay as long as she wants.

Aloy nodded. “I mean both of those things are reasonable. Getting a stormslinger back will be lovely, just need a set of new Shieldweaver armor too and I'l be set. And Meridian, for as much as I like the city, is very hot.”

“I mean I grew up here but I respectfully disagree. Meridian is a normal temperature. The Claim is cold and well apparently Nora lands can be colder.”

“If you think those are cold you should never visit The Cut. That’s one cold place.” Aloy got one of her cute ‘I just got a new idea faces’ and continued after a moment. “Actually speaking of the Cut, Varga used to live there. If she returns there you should ask her to bring a focus to Aratak so we can connect to the Banuk too. And maybe also try to bring in Cyan to the network. If someone approaches her physically she should be fine with joining….

---

Alva- Today 23:24

Wait. I just read the files Kivunna sent me.

What are the odds you’re another Carja that works in government, is called Avad and has bodyguards. Because otherwise you're the sun king and I spent 2 hours talking to royalty. I… what. What.

Alva- Today 23:26

Please ignore that message.

Greetings, your highness. I’m sorry if I said anything that offended you. I did not realize your status.

Chapter Text

Sidar Lienin wasn’t a noble of an old bloodline. It was apparent in his clothes, in his way of speaking and if you knew about Carja politics, his name. But with the many battles Sunfall had seen, the noble bloodlines there were all but eliminated. And so upon its recapture, one of the generals that had taken it had been appointed governor there and granted noble status. Avad could have done without appointing new nobles, but having parts of the sundom ruled by commoners would have caused an uproar in certain circles. Uthid had been his first choice but he had refused the position, and actually Avad was happy having him as general and military advisor in Meridian. That said having read the most recent texts Aloy sent him, he wished he could have had an elected ruler there. But well, Sidar was adequate.

Adequate was a good word to describe him. A competent general, respected in the army, and a decent administrator according to the reports Avad had gotten. But it was clear he was now trying to be a charming noble and well, he didn’t really succeed at that.

“Your radiance. In ten days it will have been six months since the recapture of Sunfall. I want to cordially invite you to visit it and see the rebuilding process. You can also join us for the first solar festival since the battle of Meridian and the end of the time of shadows.” Sidar ended his speech with a formal bow, only slightly misperformed.

Avad nodded. “I thank you for your invitation Sidar. I have many tasks right now, as I am sure you know, but I will consider your invitation.” Avad doubted he would visit, he truly did have many projects going on, but it was nice to have options.

“Thank you, your radiance.” Sidar left with his entourage. Avad saw that they weren’t the typical noble guard; low ranking nobles who wore decorated sables and recited poetry more often than they practiced combat. Sidar’s guard were actual veterans who were now playing at etiquette. He wasn’t sure if it was better or not.

---

The following three days passed with the sun's rise and fall. Avad went to meetings, observed the reconstruction of Meridian, talked with his court and with the people beyond. He couldn't say it was ‘business as usual’, as the concept of that seemed to have disappeared since Aloy sent him a focus. But no one tried to kill him or anyone he talked to at least. Things were great, except for the fact it felt like something was missing. Or someone. It wasn’t Aloy, though even if he wished she was here, he could at least talk to her whenever he wanted. They spent the evenings talking and playing machine strike as she was heading back to the base with Demeter. It wasn’t his family either, he talked to Nasadi and Itamen a decent deal too, though the latter often complained about missing his combat teacher. Last he heard Vanasha was recovering well. But someone else was missing, and he couldn’t figure out who.

He was at the mechanist area again as Varga was presenting a new version of her stormslinger she had made with some other crafters. The heat of the sundom was apparently not that bad as she had stayed here in Meridian for three days. Crafting and sharing notes with some of the tinkers and scholars. Avad had asked about her progress but had tuned out halfway, his mind getting lost in precise details and specifications of the weapons and wandering elsewhere. He had it recorded though, so if Aloy was interested he could send it to her. And maybe Kotallo too, he seemed interested in the topic. As the presentation finished he thanked them and walked off. His vanguard followed as he lazily walked about, the people stirring and making way as he did. He had eight guards with him, with some of them carrying shields and keeping a keen eye for archers. Avad was as safe as he could be outside a suit of armor.

He paused at that thought, looking around at the stands. Sure there was less you could do with armor and weapons were generally flashier and easier to make. But looking around he saw no armorers, only weapons and few tools. He asked the current captain of the vanguard, who were generally quite fond of the tinkerer's new weapons, though they had promised not to use anything experimental while on guard.

“Have there been any experiments on making better armor, Arguf?”

“A few, radiance. Though it seems like a tricky subject. Machines may be tough, but their acids and fire are more useful for destruction than armor.” Arguf was fairly old and had a long scar on his right cheek. He was one of the first ones, one of the ones who had joined before the liberation. One of the few that remained from then.

“There were a few tinkers working on an interesting project involving Shell-Walker shields. They left for The Claim though, think they said they got cheaper steel there.” Olifia, one of the Vanguads newer recruits added. He had heard her talking excitedly about her friend who was trying to add parts of a Longleg wing to her hammer to give her a boost in speed. He was skeptical about that particular project's chance of success..

Avad nodded and replied, but then a third member mentioned that there was actually someone trying to use Behemoth gravity manipulation in armor. They had been ordered to test outside of the general test area; gravity manipulation was apparently dangerous enough that even the Oseram tinkerers considered it a risk. Avad could understand why, but he still wanted to see it. At least to make sure nobody was going to die of flying boulders.

---

The testing was done on the grounds of a former quarry destroyed in the battle for Meridian, but now he just found three people arguing there. The first was a young Carja scholar who couldn’t be more than eighteen. Still they had a few scars on their face and their left arm was covered in bandages. They weren’t saying much, almost cowering, as next to them two Carja nobles were having a heated argument. One was a young noblewoman he couldn’t recognize, weaning a traditional dress. She reminded Avad of the many noblewomen that he had tried to date. Potentially she was even one of them, though Avad hoped he would recall one of them. Next to her was Avad’s favorite critic, Sharid var Lawar. He was almost tempted to head back, seeing him and the apparent lack of gravity manipulation going on here.

“With some funding, think of what it could do, brother. Stop projectiles and swords alike.”

“Right now it seems like it’s more likely to stop the life of whoever is using it. And you aren’t the type to use armor anyway "

“Well, yeah. But Divar has promised they can make a smaller version. Imagine wearing a glove with that. I could move chairs, tables with ease.” The scholar shook his head and tried to interject, but she continued. “Or if that’s hard I could see myself wearing one of these bracers you duel with. That should be enough space, right?”

“We have servants for that. Does it matter though? We weren’t meant to wield the full power of machines. Otherwise the scripts would have mentioned it. It’s heretical. Sister.”

“Namman says otherwise. He said something like ‘I dislike the idea of creating new weapons. But if for our protection against machines, then I see no reason to not repurpose their functions’. I had to ask him because you kept talking about it. Almost got dragged into some lecture about peace and the value of cooperation after that, but there you have it. ” Avad had heard a similar sentiment when he had last talked to the priesthood. Though Avad had listened to Namman’s thoughts afterward, the priest was a smart man.

“Mournful Namman is a fool. Jahamin is the only true sun priest left. The Oseram tinkerers and so called scholars use materials dug up from the old ones. Parts of the buried shadow. I am not having this discussion again sister. I am the head of our house, not you. We will not fund anything like this.” With that he stormed off. Avad happily noted that Sharid was heading towards another exit of the quarry and he wouldn't have to have to talk to him.

Avad added asking the priesthood how much influence Jahamin still had to his ever growing list of things to do, waited a moment and then headed down.

---

After the shock of seeing the sun king wore off, the tinker was happy to organize a demonstration. He was apparently not the one that would perform the demonstration though as a middle aged Banuk came out from a hastily constructed research lab in the quarry. Avad vaguely remembered the man as Onepil, a former shaman of a far away werak who had come here to study machines and technology and helped them set up the connection. He had gotten rid of most of his Banuk apparel by now and wore a dirty robe which barely hid a large bruise on his arm. Avad was ordered to stand back and he saw the vanguard on high alert around him. Onepil was putting on a harness with a behemoth gravity manipulator attached. Wires and other machine parts connected the pieces, in what looked like a random pattern. The former shaman seemed to have some order to it though as he carefully checked over wires and batteries. Then he moved his hand

Avad had heard Aloy talk about the grace and casualness of the Zeniths' powers. How they floated around and seemingly manipulated matter at will. He had seen the industrial effectiveness of behemoths, loading and unloading materials without gravity interfering. This wasn’t either. When Onepil moved his arm a rock flew up as if thrown by some unseen force. The rock wasn’t very big but it looked like it could still hurt a lot if it hit someone. The trouble was that Onepil seemed to be lacking in control too. Avad saw that his arm movements did not perfectly correlate to how the rocks flew and one of the Vanguard was forced to raise his shield to block a stray rock. It wasn’t carelessness either, he could see that the inventor was really trying. After a few moments he managed to get a rock hanging unsteadily in the air, but Avad could see the concentration on his face to do just that. A few moments later the rocks fell down and Avad saw the device power down.

“There you go, your radiance. I hope it proves acceptable.” The inventor said, as if he hadn’t just lifted rocks with technology they barely understood.

Avad paused for a moment gathering his thoughts, then replied. “It’s powerful, certainly. It also looks very dangerous. You need to work on improving control if it’s to be used.”

“That’s what most people tell me. If they don’t just call me crazy. Can’t reach the blue light without some risks. But I’ve improved a lot since I’ve started. You should have seen me then. Or maybe not. Even the Oseram tinkers didn’t want to have me around.”

Avad did note that the former shaman at least had one apprentice. The scholar, Divar, had looked enraptured during the demonstration. “Well if you manage to get a working model I think the sundom would be interested. We could perhaps talk about research funding later.”

“That would be convenient. I need a lot of batteries for these tests and one can only hunt so much in the blue light's gaze. I have yet to reach the elegance of a Windrider” At Avad questioning expression he added. “Machine from the cut. They ride the wind as light follows the sky. That they have yet to visit here is unfortunate. One day I wish to fly in the skies as they do”

Avad might have had more questions when he left the quarry than when he entered. But the display was astounding if nothing else. It wouldn’t be armor he could use for a while though.

---

“Avad. Can I have a focus next time you find one?” Itamen looked up at him with an expression that made it hard to say no.

“Not if you don’t tell me where you heard of them first” Avad responded. They were still trying to keep knowledge on how focuses worked secret and what they were, while there was a conspiracy going on. Even if doing so made Avad think of Ted ’Sometimes to protect innocents, innocents have to die’ Faro keeping Apollo from them. In this case he thought the answer was more obvious though and looked over their dinner table at Navadi.

She replied casually. “He kept asking questions about it so I told him. But he only knew about it because someone has apparently let him talk to Aloy late into the evenings.” And looked back at Avad with an expression few Carja would dare have.

Avad had maybe let Itamen talk to his hero a few times. It was fun to see how much his brother loved Aloy’s stories and the Nora ways in general. She hadn’t talked about her life as an outcast to Itamen, just stories of hunting and training for the proving. They probably needed to at some point so he didn’t idolize the tribe too much. Avad was stopped in his musing and searching for an answer to Nasadi by the sound of the door opening.

The two Vanguardsmen in the room immediately had their hands on their weapons but relaxed as they saw who walked in. Marad walked in the room with his ever present mysterious aura. Avad was used to him coming and going and so were the guards. Oftentimes he didn’t even notice Marad’s entrances and was unaware that he had walked in, before the spymaster replied to some question or chimed in with advice. So Avad was about to go back to the conversation with Nasadi, when he looked closer at Marad. The spymaster's normally perfect robe was creased and had stains of dirt and something red on it. Marad seemed to be slightly out of breath and seeing that, his “aura” disappeared. Avad realized who had been missing.

---

For most of Avad’s life Marad had been the spymaster. First for his father and then for him. He probably hadn't been spymaster when Avad was a young child, but for as long he knew about the position Marad had held it. Without him and his intelligence and networks of agents the liberation wouldn't have been possible. Marad knew something about everyone and seemed to always appear when he would be needed. After the liberation and Avad had become the sun king, Marad had been instrumental in stabilizing the sundom. He had gotten so used to having Marad around that he hadn't even noticed that his spymaster was around less and less.

Someone else might assume that it meant that Marad was plotting something behind his back, but Avad dismissed that thought after a moment. For better or worse, if Marad wanted him dead or gone, Avad wouldn’t be in the palace of the sun. He didn’t quite know what was happening so, with a quick apology to Nasadi and Itamen, he had simply asked Marad.

“Most of my agents are gone,” Marad said after an uncharacteristically long silence. They were alone in Avad’s office, with the vanguard outside. Marad had taken care to make sure no one was listening in, even scanning around with his focus.

“What?” Avad paused to think of a better response. “When did it happen? Do you think it’s related to the assassin?”

“No. They died in the battle for Meridian.There was a deathbringer coming up to flank Aloy and her friends at the Spire. You were busy fighting in the city, so I made the decision.” He seemed to sense Avad’s incoming questions and continued. “I haven’t told you because I hoped I wouldn’t have too. I learned over my life that there is a value to fear. If people don’t know that my agents are gone they are less likely to plan things against the sundom. You don't need to have secret agents if you can make everyone think you do. You are a good king Avad, but subtlety isn’t your strong suit. I don’t doubt you could keep it a secret, but just knowing about it will change your behavior and there are a lot of people watching you.”

Avad wanted to protest, but he knew that it was true. He thought about arguing that he should have been informed anyway as the sun king, but that meant leaning into the all powerful tyrant some thought he was. “I see, So have you been trying to reform them now? Do you need more funding?” He paused. “What about the assassin? If they are mostly gone, who is investigating him? ”

“I have been working on that, yes. It takes time to find trustworthy, competent and discreet people though. Shards might help a bit, but I’m not looking for people working for the highest bidder. Regarding the assassin and our little conspiracy, I still have some contacts. And well, I didn’t start out as a spymaster.“ Avad thought he saw the hint of a knife from a pocket in Marad’s cloak. He had never spotted that weapon earlier but he was sure Marad had always had it on him.

Avad didn’t have a great response to that. Marad did occasionally have that effect on people. He wondered if their little chat was over. As he had learned over many years his spymaster was not one for smalltalk and liked his dramatic exits. This time though Marad had something more to say.

“I wouldn’t have shared all the information about how machines worked if I was king. Especially not to the other tribes.”

“So what? You have us go back to the Carja of old?”. Avad replied.

Marad paused for a moment. “Espionage as I was taught is about knowledge. What you know and what your enemies don’t know. The trouble I found with it is that it creates an isolated society. Your machine workshops and mechanists area is leaking advanced knowledge to the Oseram and tribes beyond. The armor researchers you looked for moved to the claim, not for the prize of steel, but rather to keep the results of their work hidden. But despite that, it's also creating a melting pot of knowledge that is advancing far faster than I expected.”

“So you approve then?”

“Your ideals lead you to make a lot of decisions I might have considered unnecessary risks Avad. I wouldn’t have been like Jiran if I were in your chair, but I would have let things be more…ordinary. It would have led to less risks to the sun king, but I don’t think it wouldn’t have created the Meridian we have today.” He paused again. “So I suppose I do. And I will keep trying to protect you while you rule. Even if you keep finding new enemies”

Avad didn’t have a good reply, so he simply hugged him. For once Marad looked surprised, then incredibly awkward. But then there was a hint of a smile on his face as he accepted the hug. And Avad realized he did in some sense, already have some armor.

---

Avad - Today 20:42

What do you know about the Zeniths flight? How does it work? Is it similar to a Behemoth's gravity manipulation?

Beta- Today 22:38

User is typing….

Chapter Text

The Zeniths often spoke of dreams in their writings. While most of them didn’t even care to talk to her, their memoirs were some of the few things she was allowed to read aside from Apollo. Accompanied by selected interviews and articles of course. Walter spoke of his dreams of space that had led to the development of his company. Erik Visser had apparently dreamt of justice and peace, at least if you read his organisation's website. Song Jiao had dreams of a massive garden open to everyone. From speaking to Tilda, Beta had learned that Song had developed powerful gene therapies which were technically open to all. As long as you had a few hundred million to spend. And of course Tilda herself had dreams of masterpieces and perfection.

Beta had dreamt of flight last night. She thought it might have to do with the fact that she had been up until 4 am researching gravitational fields and the Hatsumi effect. Dreams weren't logical, but some things could be easily explained. And flight was, well she supposed few people currently living on earth had flown. The last planes had crashed in the Faro Plague. Every time she had flown Beta had been inside a specter with no windows, but she at least felt the acceleration and could try to plot their flight paths. From what she had got from her notes and what Gaia knew of gravitational fields and the Zeniths levitation, she suspected it would be some time until she or anyone else flew like them.

She got out of bed. Checking her focus, it was 10:20 and most people in the base were up already. She heard some low clanging noises and then a triumphant shout from elsewhere in the base. Some people were sparring then, and by the sound of the shouting, Erend had won. She checked a note on her focus. He was now at 7 to 9 wins versus Kotallo. She blinked sleep out her eyes and got out of bed and into the common room.

“Hey Beta. Roused by the sounds of my victory I see. “ Erend said loudly as she walked in. She saw that he was massaging his arm and guessed that the match had been pretty close then. She nodded at him.

Kotallo sat on the floor, seemingly in thought. Beta had watched some of their previous matches and gotten used to it. The first time they fought she had been scared of the possibility of betrayal and unsure of what to do and who to trust. Now, well she had a document of their scores and had even talked tactics with Kotallo during downtime. Erend had asked if she wanted to learn to fight, but even stepping into their impromptu sparring arena sent her near panicking. She didn’t know how they could stand it. Not counting Aloy who had won the one time she had enough time to fight, Kotallo had the most wins but not by much. Erend, Varl and Zo had all beaten him at least twice. The latter two hadn’t sparred as much recently though as they were trying to convince the chorus in Plainsong to help them.

She made her breakfast of the supplies and ate it while Kotallo headed off to organise things with his chieftain. Erend went outside to inspect and try out the modified ravager cannons Avad had sent. For someone who preferred ‘hitting things with a hammer over using complicated and frail weapons’ he had spent quite some time studying them. Beta had seen him taking down a Stormbird with one and the smile on his face had been genuine then.

Beta finished writing her response to Avad while eating some Utaru bread with an Oseram meat paste that Erend had dared people to eat. She actually quite liked it, more than even most Oseram. Her message back to Avad clocked in at over 4000 words. Maybe he didn’t need that long of reply but it had been an interesting question and well, Beta didn’t like to leave mysteries unsolved.

She almost ignored the music at first before realising that she hadn’t started it. She had probably spent too long this past week listening to the base's, and therefore Gaia’s limited storage of soundtracks. But yes, she had selected this song which Gaia described as “light J-pop” as her ringtone. She tapped her focus. The caller text said "Vanasha" which confused her slightly. She hadn’t spoken to the Carja spy and she wondered why she would call her. But Beta answered anyway. The voice that came out was clearly not the sassy master spy that Beta had seen in Aloy’s recordings. It was a child's voice, or maybe a young teenager.

"Hey. Beta right?"

Beta’s heart jumped. There hadn't been any children on the ship. Well besides her anyway. As far as she understood some of the Zeniths on Sirius had had children, but none of them had gotten onboard. Most of the Zeniths were too egocentric to have children and of them it was only the ones that abandoned the planet to save themselves that got on the ship. So she wasn’t really used to dealing with people younger than her. She did know that Zeniths had good voice altering technology however…But why would they call her from Vanasha’s focus?

A figure appeared beside her. The shimmering image took the form of a child of about ten years with dark hair, wearing fanciful but slightly dirty robes. There was a focus on his temple. He waved at her.

"Beta? You there? Did I do this wrong? These focuses are complicated."

The cheerful wave and the dirty spots on the robes somehow that broke the idea of this being some Zenith scheme. She felt like she recognised him too

"Hi. Yes I am Beta. You are Itamen? Avad’s brother?

"Yes I am. And you’re Aloy’s sister. That's cool. I wish I had a sibling that could take down a thunderjaw.”

Beta wasn’t quite if she considered herself Aloy’s sister just yet, but she had stopped correcting people that referred to her as such. She was also quite sure most people would rather have the sun king as a sibling rather than Aloy, no matter how skilled she was. She nodded casually, thinking of a way to ask about the focus he was using.

If Itamen was put off by her answer, it didn't show on his response. "So. What do you do?"

“What do you mean?”

“Like Aloy hunts large machines, or takes down bandits or finds lost stuff. What’s your thing?”

Beta blinked. What did she do? Nothing that cool. “I can program and hack things, I guess.”

“Hack? Like a miner? That’s not very” Itamen seemed like he was going to say “interesting”, then changed his mind “ The Oseram do that a lot. And Erend is nice. Mother says he is a bit too loud and I thought so too at first but actually I like talking to him.” Beta wasn’t used to Itamen’s energy. The closest thing she encountered had been talking to Alva, but that had been very brief.

“Um, actually not like a miner. Though I suppose you can mine for some things digitally.” Gerard had spoken at length in his memoir about the cryptocurrency he established in his youth and how it had ‘led to his future successes’. “Anyway. I can make” she searched for the right word ” ‘instructions’ for devices like focuses and machines. Make them do what I want them to do. Within limits of course”

“Oh. Like the ‘override’ project that Avad keeps working on?”

“Exactly. He has sent me some questions now and then. I did help Aloy with some more advanced scripts for her overridden machines too.” Beta was proud of that. Aloy had a lot of practical experiences using machines in combat (the most in the world probably). But she hadn’t been taught computer programming by Tilda van de Meer. Tilda might have been strange and looking back at it, a bit creepy, but if nothing else she was good at hacking.

Itamen seemed excited. “Wow. So can you like control machines to do special moves? Or watch over them from afar? Or like make new machines?”

“Eh, maybe that would be hard. I would have to change their predefined scripts. I think I could link some machines to the network and control them there. It’s not designed for that, but it could be useful, I suppose. And no, not without a cauldron.”

“What’s a cauldron?”

Itamen had a lot of questions. Some were quite stupid, or at least misinformed. Actually some were a bit strange even with his lack of knowledge, but she supposed he was like eleven and had spent a few years as a puppet king for a cult. Still some of them gave her new ideas to try, even if only to confirm they wouldn’t work. And one. Well yes, she should be able to do that.

---

“Was that Itamen?” The voice, unmistakably Erend, surprised her. But for his large size and heavy armor, he could be remarkably silent when he wanted. “Didn’t know Avad had given him a focus. I mean he’s a nice kid and all, but I hope Avad has a lot of them if he’s handing them out to children, brother or not.”

“Ah. Yes it was. He called me on Vanasha’s focus.” Wait, why did Itamen call her on Vanasha’s focus? She had been planning to ask him that, but then forgot it when talking about hacking and programming. It didn’t seem like any emergency was going on so why did Itamen have Vanasha’s focus.

“Why did Itamen call you on Vanasha’s focus?” Erend paused slightly “Last time I heard she was recovering after that run in with that assassin. Is she doing okay? Want me to check in?”

“He didn’t mention her. He just asked me questions about what I do and I got distracted talking about machines.” She kind of scolded herself for that. This wasn’t some Zenith ploy, it was way too chaotic to be, but she still shouldn’t have gotten distracted like that. No matter. As she spoke she quickly tapped her focus and called back. A few moments later she saw Itamen in a palace corridor, glancing around nervously.

“Eh, sorry Beta. I can’t really talk more. Navadi expects me soon and I was supposed to have done my studies by then. I..”

“Why do you have Vanasha’s focus?!” She spoke loudly, almost shouting, for once stopping Itamen.

He flinched back at the tone of her voice, and she felt a bit bad for it. Still it felt important to ask. After a moment Itamens look was happy again. “I was on my way to return it actually. She loaned it to me in return for a steak and some wine.”

---

Apparently the Carja’s top spy could be bribed by a decent meal. Though Beta supposed that the fact that the briber was Itamen, mattered more than the bribe itself. Vanasha was apparently 'tired of bland medical food and wanted something with some taste in it” and had lent Itamen her focus in return for that. Itamen being the prince, could in turn ask for anything from the palace kitchen staff. Normally Nasasdi would be there to make sure he ate healthy and didn’t abuse his powers, but she was stuck in a meeting.

So all in, there was no emergency.

Erend laughed when he heard Itamen's explanation and Beta had to admit it was a bit funny. After Itamen had left their call and Erend stopped chuckling (he had a hearty laugh) he went to store something. Beta had to ask him something.

“Could you get me a Corruptor core?”

“I’m not a hunter like Aloy, but I could probably get you one. Why do you need it?” Erend replied, mostly out of courtesy she supposed. She had seen him zone out while she tried to explain technical aspects of machines and focuses.

So instead she just reapplied “Got an idea”. From his expression that mustn't have been what he expected, but he nodded and picked up his warhammer.

---

“Hey Beta. I met Talanah on the way back and gave her a focus. Could you get someone at the base explain how her focus works to her? There is an event I would like to be a part of that’s starting soon. But if you’re all busy it’s fine I can do it. No problem. Also I think I will be back at the base in a day or two”

Aloy calling her had been a surprise. She had expected Erend to be the next person to do so. She had been looking over Aloy’s map trying to find corruptors that Erend could bring back, but Aloy only had marked some in No Man’s Land past plainsong, and that was a day's walk at least. She didn’t really know how Erend was hunted and guessed that he might need directions.

But either way she quickly accepted Aloy’s task. She didn’t know what Aloy meant by “Event” but if there was something she agreed with the rest of the base crew, then it was that Aloy didn’t need to spend every waking moment focusing on saving the world. She hadn’t thought that way at first but after enough all-nighters coding, Gaia had sent her a diagram showing her productivity while rested and not. Beta couldn’t argue with data.

Now then, everyone else was away so she needed to explain to this Talanah how a focus worked. Talking to a complete stranger, she could do that. She had already done it today even She tapped ‘call’ on her focus.

“Uh, hi” Beta wasn’t a social person. She realized that partly had to do with her upbringing, but she felt like even if she grew up in the court of the sun she would prefer books and tech over parties. But she could try.

---

Talanah- Today 10:42

A part of me wants to call Aloy a fraud. When I saw her hunt I thought there was almost something supernatural about how she spotted things and knew how machines would behave. And well I suppose she did have a gift, just one of technology instead of magic or spirits. Even if I can scarcely believe this focus is just technology. Give one to any thrush in the guild and let them practice for a week and they will outhunt most of our hawks at the lodge.

Beta- Today 11:23

You want me to forward this to Aloy? I don’t hunt machines so I can’t really understand your feelings. Sorry

Talanah- Today 11:33

No, don't do that. I’m not really complaining and Aloy’s accomplishments are real. I just wished she shared one with me earlier. I saw her tapping hers when we hunted together but I just thought it was a good luck charm or some fashion choice she was questioning.

If I had one a few years back I could have gotten rid of Ahsis months earlier.

Talanah- Today 11:38

Got the Slitherfang nexus you requested by the way. By the sun this focus makes machines easier to hunt.

Beta didn’t quite know why Talanah had started chatting so much with her. Even if most of it was questions or statements about the focus. Or machine hunting. But in the last two days they had been sending messages back and forth. She had been doing a bit off that actually. Avad had asked her questions about armors of the old ones and technology, amid some idle but very pleasant chatter. Aloy had talked to her a bit, she was half a day late after dealing with a camp of Regalla’s rebels. She was the only one who could send a “be a bit late, took out a camp of rebels” message and not have people question her. Alva had sent her a list of quite technical questions about focus versions and file conversions. And Beta hadn’t been idle either.

Erend had recovered a corruptor core by…hunting for the best price at Memorial Grove. Well it was probably faster than trying to find one in No Man’s Land and they had quite a few shards thanks to Avads donation so it worked. Beta had been working on her project and it was almost ready.

She had also gotten a hobby? Beta was looking at plants. There had been plants with medical properties in the old world and she had read about them in Apollo’s modules. But she was quite sure they weren't nearly as effective as the Salvebrushes and medical Hintergold Aloy used. Was that important? Probably not. The plants clearly worked, and by Aloy’s account had saved her many times over. But it was a mystery and Beta liked solving those.

---

“Aloy, I am heading to Sunfall, not a battlefield.”

“Full of, well I suppose not shadow Carja anymore but you yourself said there might be people believing in the old regime left. Can’t you just send an emissary?”

“It’s tradition. And I know neither of us care for it, but the people do.” Avad paused slightly then continued. “Marad has a plan here in Meridian that works best if I am absent. I trust those plans. More importantly I will have the vanguard and Vanasha with me. You are the one who is planning on heading alone to the tomb of the most powerful man of the old world”.

Beta saw Aloy’s face change. “When you put it like that you have a point. I guess I still remember Sunfall as a city of shadow and intrigue. Still, stay safe Avad”

“I will, hopefully. I don’t fancy getting into any fights. Though if we do, I know Vanasha has been itching to get revenge on some cultists. We also have some new tools from our workshops.” Avad replied, then he looked at her through the focus “And Beta, want to show what you have been working on?”

Beta nodded. She had been mostly quiet so far in this conversation, standing next to Aloy. Avad had been describing his plan to head to sunfall. She tapped her focus a few times, bringing up a new script she had developed with help from Gaia. Their view of Avad faded away and so would Avad’s view of them, and instead they saw the sky. Clouds and mountaintops. Beta had a few buttons projected in front her. She tapped them and flew.

The Stormbird she piloted dived beneath the clouds and Meridian appeared in the distance. Her flying wasn’t perfect. She felt like she hadn’t perfected the controls yet and the latency gave her some issues sometimes, but nevertheless she flew. Her Stormbird flew around, to watch over Meridian and Avad. She could have said something but she let the moment speak for itself.

Aloy looked a bit stunned for a moment. It wasn’t like she had forgotten about Beta being there, but Beta knew that when Aloy and Avad spoke it was like the rest of the world disappeared for them sometimes. But now looked at Beta and then she hugged her sister. “Thanks, Beta. Good luck in Sunfall, Avad.” Beta tapped back on her focus and the image of Avad reappeared.

“We can talk on the road can’t we. Gotta get going now. I can’t not have a royal proceeding when leaving the city apparently and people will be upset if I leave them waiting. Meridian would collapse or something. Talk to you in the evening Aloy?”

Aloy replied and they closed the focus call. “Wow. You must have… Did you link the stormbird over the focus network? How did you connect things, I found even overridden machines hard to program. Actually I am too happy to discuss technical issues right now.” Aloy took her hand “You're a great sister Beta. Keep Avad safe will you? I can’t lose him.” She paused for a moment “Oh, this must be what he feels when I go off on adventures. How does he stand it?”

“I will. And Erend and Talanah are working on getting me another Stormbird so I can watch over you too.” Itamen had asked her if she could “be” a machine for a bit. Beta had worked on that. She couldn’t fight directly. The notion of being in a physical fight terrified her. But she could do this. She still planned to let the machine fight on its own mostly with her only marking friendlies and foes. But now she had something could protect her friends and her sister with.

Chapter Text

Many scholars spoke of the silence of the wilds. The peaceful stillness, or depending on who you talked to, the eerie quiet. Compared to the bustle of Meridian, Avad would certainly say there was a difference. But it wasn’t silent. Besides the footsteps and the occasional metallic clank from his Vanguard, he had heard other sounds. Machines and animals in the distance. A stream of water. The winds. It was a pleasant change he had to admit, but he suspected that if he stayed away for long he would yearn for Meridian’s busy streets. He wanted a bit of adventure here and there and walks in nature that wasn’t just the palace gardens. But overall Avad liked city life.

The first day had been alright. They had gotten to Brightmarket by noon and taken a barge to Blazon Arch which got there in the evening. Avad had felt a slight pain in his legs when he woke up the next day, his body not being used to walking long distances. That feeling then intensified during the next day, as the walk through the arid desert felt like forever. The dunes to the east all looked the same and cliffs to the west seemed to stretch on for miles. The hot, dry breeze didn't help either. Avad knew that could have ordered the Vanguard to take a break or even to make camp for a while. But most of them didn’t look much worse for wear and he wanted to refrain from looking like a pampered noble. Also because he didn’t want to look worse than the other nobles that had tagged along.

He had of course brought the Vanguard with him. And Vanasha for extra security. Ligan, the temporary sunhawk of the hunters lodge, had followed with a few hawks but they planned to head further into the Daunt to meet with Talanah. They were the people he had planned to bring along, but Avad knew the tradition. When the sun king went on trips to Sunfall the nobles would join in, and the nobles loved their traditions. Therefore he had made sure to make the announcement about his trip the day before he went on the journey and had asked Nasadi to hold a gathering on that evening to keep the nobles busy. The plan had mostly succeeded, they had only been joined by five nobles and two of them had fallen behind around Brightmarket due to his “blazing travel speed”. Avad knew Aloy could travel twice as fast if she was in a hurry, but he hadn’t mentioned that to anyone. Unfortunately two of the nobles that were still with them were Sharid var Lawar and his sister. So far they hadn’t made any comments yet, but Avad supposed that might be because he was making a traditional journey. As Sharid was on Marad’s long list of potential suspects, Avad had (quite happily) told Vanasha to keep an eye on him.

They got to Sunfall by late evening as the last rays of sunlight illuminated the city's spires. It was quite a stunning view only overshadowed by the remains of the sun ring where people battled machines to the death just over a year ago. A third of the arena had been destroyed in the city's liberation and no concrete plans on what to do with had yet been finished. Avad’s had heard proposals to both destroy and restore it, and declined both of them. It may have been an arena for a bloodthirsty, brutal practice by tyrants but it was also a monument to Carja architecture. And Avad knew that before Jiran’s reign it was used for other purposes. He had some ideas, but it was a project for another year.

Sidar Lienin, the governor of Sunfall welcomed him with a procession that was thankfully not as long as the one he had been forced to organize when he left. Avad accepted a suite in the palace there and after it had been inspected by Vanasha and the Vanguard, threw himself on the bed. His legs ached and he was quite tired, but before going to sleep, he did something he had promised. A practiced tap on his focus and a few tunes later, Aloy’s voice greeted him.

---

Seeing a new error on his focus was not a great way to wake up. At least this one, a bold text displaying “Battery Low”, was on he knew of. The focuses, at least the ones of the generation he and Aloy used, had an unmatched battery storage. But a 9 hour focus call was apparently too much, even if he and Aloy had been asleep for 90% of it. He let it recharge while he went to get some breakfast and then opened his messages.

Aloy - Today 7:42

Gonna try to make some distance today. I wanna get to Legacy’s Reach by tomorrow at least.

Beta - Today 8:00

Made some improvements to the overridden Stormbird AI. I talked with Gaia and made a more natural standby flight patrol maneuver that mostly goes above the clouds not to worry people. I have to put the bodyguard script on hold though, trying to look at different ways to deal Hephaestus currently

Nakoa - Today 8:11

Me and Itamen and the guards are heading towards Daytower today. You know, he’s not half bad with a spear for his age. Could probably clear that part of the proving without issue. Not like the Matriarchs would let him take it, but still.

We will stay at Daytower until you're back from Sunfall.

Salizar- Today 8:23

Your radiance. Me and Ulvama have made it to the ruin. We will explore and clear a way. There seems to be quite a lot of things to find here.

Petra - Today 8:35

Erend came and shoved me these Ravager cannons yesterday. Good forgework for some Carja. Though I hear it’s a joint project. Anyway, he left one here at Chainscrape and well I’l take a look. Think I could make it a bit more destructive. Also, you know these focuses? Quite convenient little things. I like the frontier life, so I’m not coming by Meridian but if you have another craft project, sun king, you know who to talk to. Petra, out.

Varga - Today 8:49

Got to Song’s Edge yesterday, btw. Met up with dad, talked with a cute guy, had a nice time. Handed over a focus to Aratak, gonna accompany him up to Cyan after he goes on some big hunt today. Talk to ya later.

---

Avad was used to hearing messages from different people. He spoke to commoners, merchants and nobles alike when he held court. But that was different to this. The distance, speed and the amount of different people he could communicate with was astounding. If he wanted he could send a message to so many people and get a reply as soon as they were done formulating it. He had a Quen diviner, a Tenakth marshall, a member of the Utaru chorus and now a Banuk Werak chieftain a button away (and somehow Aloy knew all but one of them). And this wasn’t even mentioning the fact that he could now contact people all across the sundom, Janeva in Sunstone Rock, Balahn in Daytower and Marad and Nasadi back in Meridian.

That said, while he preferred when people talked casually to him, he should probably tell Varga to be a bit more professional. He didn’t need all those details. Avad had sent out a “please don’t be overly formal, if you can ignore the fact that I am sun king, then do so” to everyone and Varga had apparently taken it to heart. She had also seemingly found some kind of cipher from the old ones that she incorporated in her texts. He should also talk to Alva again, after she had realized that he was the sun king her texts had become very formal and unlike their first discussion. He knew she had had multiple conversations with Kivunna about the different knowledge their tribes contained, which was nice, but he enjoyed their first chat. Avad had gathered that she might have had previous bad experiences with royalty. Hopefully he could convince her to talk once more.

Anyway, now he had to send some replies, then he had to figure out a speech. After that maybe he could figure out a way to respond to Kotallo’s latest move in their turn based Machine Strike match. Avad suspected he might win against him for the first time. It had only taken seven matches.

---

“Still think the speech could have included a bit about the tinkerers area. Yes, yes this is a traditional city, without many Oseram, but who doesn’t want to hear about new inventions.”

“Olifia, this city was used by the shadow Carja and the Eclipse cult for years. I think there was a reason Avad didn’t speak much about overridden machines.”

Avad was just about to reply to the two arguing members of the vanguard that he was right there, when there was a sudden burst of movement and noise. He barely had time to react at all as the vanguard moved around him, shields raised in an instant. Something hit one of the shields with a “clank” sounds. The crowds around them froze. The murmur of the city stopped.

A rock fell to the ground, having bounced off one of the shields. It made a faint “thud” sound as it landed. Five of the vanguard stayed around him, their shields still raised, to cover every angle. The other five with him spread out to search, but the thrower was obvious. A young boy stood in an alley holding a few more similarly sized rocks. He seemed distraught.

“I don’t see any other threats. Shall we detain him?” Arguf’s voice was stern and commanding, unlike the casual tone a moment before. He pointed at the boy, who Avad saw couldn’t be older than twelve. He wore simple gray-white cloth that had clearly been repaired multiple times.

“No. Let me speak to him.” Avad saw a vision of Itamen, who hadn’t been taken in by the shadow Carja. Forced to live on the streets and fend for himself.

“Your radiance.” One of the other vanguardsmen said. “It could be a trap”.

“You may inspect the alley first. Send for Vanasha too just in case.” Avad looked around. He doubted it was, or in that case it was a poor trap. “Everyone else, you can go back to work. The situation is under control.”

That broke the spell and after a moment the vanguardmen had to conclude that there wasn’t anyone but the boy and an unarmed young woman, perhaps the boy's mother in the alley. Avad had scanned surroundings with his focus and not found anything of interest either.

He walked up to the boy. “What’s your name?”

The boy looked away, afraid, but with a hint of resentment. “Why do you care? Leave me alone.”

The woman behind him stepped forward, holding an arm in front of the boy. “Please forgive him your radiance. I’ll make sure he gets punished.” Then she spoke in a sharper, quieter tone to the kid. “Viriam, stay quiet.”

Avad was about to say something but the boy cut in. “No. He took away my father.”

Ah, that was it. That explained the boy’s action. And it made things tricky for Avad. Sure there was an option to walk away, throw a fine or an even worse punishment for them. He was the sun king. But that wasn’t Avad. “May I presume he served in the shadow Carja army? The boy's father?” He asked, quite sure of the answer.

“Yes. He was. They paid well” The woman replied, eyes downcast.

“I’m sure he fought well too, even if I wish he wouldn’t have had to.” If he had to give the shadow Carja something, it was that they were well trained.

“He died in the battle for Meridian. We didn’t even get his body back”

Part of Avad wanted to comment on that. To talk about the battle. About HADES and how the boy’s father might have contributed to almost ending the world. How he had followed a crazed cult and an omnicidal machine. But that wasn’t fair. He had gotten Vanasha’s and Marad’s reports on the state of Sunfall for ordinary civilians. Even now most of the citizens he saw here were poorer than the ones in Meridian. The shadow Carja spent most of the wealth on their military and it was the only way to rise in status there. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He said instead.

“Thanks.” She seemed to be on the verge of saying something else then hesitated.

“Viriam was it? I’m sorry about you father, but violence is not the solution. I plan to hold court here later today and other days you may direct your complaints if you have any to your governor.” Avad did occasionally get messages from across the sundom, previously by messenger and now by focus. He knew the system wasn’t perfect but it was the best one he had found. The local governors in the sundom generally only sent messages about things they deemed important as paper was expensive and when he got them it days had passed. Zevin had said she had some idea for how to organize some kind of large scale focus messaging system but it was still months from being put into practice. Avad stopped thinking about it for now and looked around. He saw a local guard that had run to the commotion and spoke to him, then the boy. “Let him go for now. But Viriam, my mercy won’t always be here.”

Viriam looked at him and hummed. “Sure. Like that will make a difference.” He had dropped the stone he had been carrying but Avad saw him clutching something in his hand.

“Thanks, your radiance. May the sun shine on the rest of your visit. I will leave with Viriam now.” The woman said and quickly dragged the boy with her into the alley.

---

Avad - Today 14:42

Can you look at this encounter? I think they might have been hiding something. I sent Vanasha to follow them. Might be connected to the conspiracy.

Attached files. Sunfall focus recording.vid

Marad - Today 14:44

I'll take a look.

---

“The palace in Sunfall looks different than when I was there. Fewer cultists and puppet kings. Would ask for a tour, but I’m tired.” Aloy let out a yawn as she spoke, as if to emphasize her point. “How did the speech go? Some kind of sun festival I heard.”

“Went alright. Both the citizens and nobles looked happy enough.” Avad had almost forgotten the speech after the things that had happened afterwards.

“Alright. You up for a game of machine strike? Got a long journey tomorrow, but I feel like a game at least.”

Avad hesitated. “Aloy, can I ask you about something first?”

“Sure.”

“A kid tossed a stone at me when I walked in Sunfall today.“ Aloy looked at him and it was like something in her intensified, her casual stance dropped. A flash of anger ran across her face. Avad quickly added. “I’m okay, the Vanguard blocked it.” He was that frail that rock tossed by a kid would have hurt.

“Sorry, I was just reminded of something that happened when I was growing up. I guess you're going to tell me something about why the kid threw the rock.”

“Yes. His father died in the battle of Meridian”

“On the shadow Carja side?” Aloy added, then paused. “Avad, are you feeling bad because people that tried to attack you died? I love your pacifism, but people do tend to do that in war.”

“I know. But I tend to see it as numbers on a rapport scroll. It’s another thing to meet a kid who lost a father to your own troops. Or..”

“I might have killed his father, yes.”

They were quiet for a moment then Aloy spoke again. “Avad, do you know Nil? Former Carja soldier, I think.”

Avad thought for a moment then shook his head. “No, should I? I could ask Uthid for a rapport, but I guess you met him and are bringing him up for a reason”

“Yes I did. Met him when I was scouting a bandit camp. He was doing the same, so we cleared it together. We took down a few together actually.” Avad almost didn’t react to the fact that Aloy and this stranger had somehow “cleared” multiple bandit camps. Camps that he would normally at least send a few patrols of troops to get rid of. “He didn’t do it out of some sense of duty to the sundom. Or for some kind of revenge against bandits. He did it because he likes killing and he can kill bandits without anyone caring.” She paused

“I can enjoy the thrill of a good fight, the feeling of overcoming a hard challenge, the adrenaline of the action. But I don’t enjoy killing and well, I hope I never will. I admire your dedication to diplomacy, Avad. I don’t have your way with words.” Avad was about to argue that but she went on. “No I don’t. One of us was tutored in speeches and the other grew up in the wilds. Still, if there was a way to restore Gaia without killing anyone I would take it. But I don’t think the Zeniths or Regalla’s rebels for that matter will listen to me. So I guess what I am saying, don’t feel bad about killing an army of zealots that are trying to end the world.”

Avad was the one to speak of the silence that followed. “I wish I could hug you through a focus, you know. Sorry for bringing down the mood”

“I don’t mind. It was probably good to get those things out.” Aloy’s tone and expression relaxed a bit. “And actually I met Nil again recently. He has apparently picked up a new hobby, one with less murder. Found him organizing machine races”

“Machine races? You will have to tell me sometime. Maybe not now. And well, I don't feel like machine strike right now if that’s okay.”

“I can see why. I could skip combat right now too.” Aloy tapped her focus a few times then spoke. “GAIA, play Hanabi”. Avad saw a set of cards with different colored numbers appear over their focus. She smirked at his confused face. “You're not the only one that can work on a hidden project with Beta. I found the rules to some kind of board game of the ancients and asked her if she could code it.”

They didn’t get a perfect run on their three attempts before Aloy had to sleep, but the fireworks that appeared still mesmerized Avad.

Chapter Text

Avad tapped the focus and hit the replay button. A shimmering image appeared in his view, showing two people standing in this very room, separated from him by a thousand years. A man with a graying hairline and a scholar's build sat at a table, eating something as another person came into the room. The other figure wore a decorated military uniform with some insignia of rank on it. Avad couldn’t quite place their gender.

“Still no luck, and I think Tanaka has grown tired of my questions. You?” The man said casually, seemingly in response to a question asked before the replay started.

“Brochard-Klein won’t budge a bit. I doubt there is a chance of changing his mind. Apparently I am not the first to try to convince him. He will stick by his Raleigh convention, even if it will cost people's lives. I’m not asking for advanced cybernetics here, just common gene tech available to the public.” The other person spoke with a hint of disdain.

The man seemed to be in thought, then looked at a device on his wrist, which Avad had come to learn was called a clock and measured time. Considering focuses could tell the time perfectly, Avad didn’t know why anyone wore it, but apparently it was traditional. The man spoke again. “Well Maja, I still believe in the idea, but I don’t think we are getting anywhere. I gotta get back to work, Elisabet runs a tight schedule. Maybe you could try talking to Tanaka. Tell her about Kathmandu”.

Maja, which apparently the other person's name sighed. “Always Kathmandu. As if it's the only thing I’ve done. Well, if it works it will be worth any number of war stories.”

The image disappeared and Avad’s focus display returned to normal. Avad had seen many of the focus recordings that Aloy had taken, both those copied over to his focus and newer ones she sent. But still seeing it in person was different, with room in the recording overlaid with the one he was standing in, just a thousand years in the past. And there was something about being the first to find it too, the first to see this conversation in a thousand years. Sure he wasn’t delving like Aloy did, going headfirst into ancient ruins with just a few pieces of kit and a never ending well of wanderlust. He had had his vanguard watching over him at all times and hired studious Salizar and his partner to scout the place out first and secure it. Here he had a bigger risk of getting hurt from stumbling over a rock, than he had getting attacked by wild machines or crazed cultists.

He still uploaded the file to Gaia’s server, tagged with his name on it.

A few hours ago they had ventured into the ruins below Sunfall which had once been the Zero Dawn project facility. A thousand years ago Elisabet had explained her plan to save humankind here. One year ago Aloy had found this plan and someone of this era had finally learned how the end of the old ones came to be. Now he stood in the same ancient halls. It was quite exciting. Quite so.

Very dusty however, and the lighting wasn’t great.

He heard an excited shout from a corridor down and went over to inspect it. With the help of two vanguardsmen, Salizars had opened a door that had gotten stuck. They quickly moved in to inspect the room. Avad wanted to follow, but Arguf halted him.

“Let us check for dangers first, your radiance.”

Avad wanted to disagree, but he really couldn't. They didn’t expect any direct threats, but there was always the risk of unstable ground or old machinery that could collapse. And he again thought that really he didn’t need to be there.

A king didn’t explore ancient ruins. A king sat through meetings and saw the finds from the ancient ruins on his focus. Part of Avad wished he could have what the delvers had. Another part of him coughed on the dusty air and concluded that he was fine staying above.

---

Zevin Nar Vinav did not sit on his throne. That would have caused an outcry. Someone other than the sun king, and a woman no less, sitting on the sun throne would be a political scandal. That said, no one could refute the fact that she was the one currently ruling the sundom. Which was also tradition despite what some may which, when the sun kings were on journeys or campaigns their queen or partner ruled. That was the only time the nobles of Meridian would accept a woman ruling. At least for now.

She sat on one of the benches in the gardens of the palace while she gave her report. Zevin looked over a stack of parchment as she spoke.

“Kiridian reports a 23% increase in productivity since he integrated some of the Utaro farming methods. Especially the other crops like wheat have seen improvements.” She put down on parchment and picked up another. “Our contacts in the maize fields says the situation for the workers have also improvement since you made the last declaration”

Ah, yes. Agricultural reports. Avad’s favorite. Still it was important. He looked over his notes on his focus. Zevin would send him a written report later too. He had found that she was pretty good at summarizing them.

“Sounds good. I don’t think any actions needed to be taken there. I have a meeting planned with some members of the chorus when I get back to Meridian.” Zevin could be part of that too. She had done a good job so far. Once Aloy got back, maybe he could appoint her as…He had read a text about government roles of the old ones somewhere. Avad needed to look at that text again.

“I agree. Moving on we have, well Vanasha can talk to you in person. I think Marad sent you a message. I haven’t seen him much lately and the few times I did he looked ragged. But he said that things are going fine.”

Avad nodded. He had gotten a message from Marad that just read. “Making progress. It’s someone with considerable military influence. I have an ambush planned”. He forwarded the message. “Anything else?”

Zevin looked over her stack of parchments. She picked up one that looked rougher than the rest. “Hmm. The Oseram delegation asked where we want Derval’s gear.”

Avad frowned. Derval wasn’t a name he heard often and for good reason. He had got a message a while back that his trial and execution was over and assumed that would be it Good riddance. “His stuff? The Oseram can have it”

“They don’t want to have it. Apparently no “Oseram wants to touch that traitors gear”. Should we just bury it? Burn?”

Avad thought about agreeing, just not to not have to think about him. But Aloy had taken a recording of his lair and the technology. Derval may have killed his former partner, then tried to kill him and burn his city to the ground, but he had been one of the best tinkerers of their time alongside all that. It wasn’t right for Avad just to discard all his inventions. “Keep the inventions I suppose. See if any Carja scholars at the machinist area want to study them. Maybe we can make some use out of them.”

---

To Maja Olafsdottir

From Tanaka Naoto

CC Jens Bjornsson

I appreciate the suggestions Colonel, but we made an early decision at DEMETER to only include natural plants. While I can of course see the potential benefits of Biomend Flora to the people of the new world, there are also as you must understand a lot of difficulties with including it. We have multiple challenges left in Demeter’s creation and including artificial plants would create a lot more. While many of them are approved for limited use in the wild, Project Zero Dawn has an unprecedented scope and lifespan. Furthermore if we include it we also set a precedent for including artificial plants, I am sure many other team members would want to have other plants included. Many of the people working at Demeter are famous for bioengineered plants and would have arguments for why their plants should be the one included.

As I’m sure you know Colonel, Apollo contains a database of genetic string for plants both natural and modified, Biomend products included. If the people need these plants they will have all the tools they need to manufacture them. But should everything go as planned, they shouldn’t need to. And quite frankly, if things go wrong, I don’t think the people will be dealing with cuts and bruises.

Also, Jens, I know you're reading this. I appreciate your research and your contributions to Demeter so far. But my opinion won’t change, so stop bothering me. I can kick you out of the project if you continue.

Tanaka Naoto, Alpha of Demeter.

Avad sent the document to Beta after reading it. She had been studying the plants here as a side project and he was sure she would find the document interesting. Apparently, while some plants in the time of the old ones had medicinal properties, what they called Medicinal Hintergold and the like were far more effective than anything they would have had. Avad sort of cared, but only in a vague ‘huh I guess that’s curious’ way. He had other issues that he focused on.

---

Aloy sat on a rock overlooking a jungle cliffside, which reminded him a bit of the jewel even if that were hundred of kilometers from her. She had a new set of colorful clothing of woven strands of fiber that he recognized as Utrau in style, though she had made her own modifications. Avad had seen similar outfits worn by the few members of the Utaru chorus that he had talked to over his focus.

“Hardweave, the merchant called it. It feels a bit strange but it’s surprisingly silent, "she said, gesturing at her outfit. “Not as comfy as Carja silks, but you don’t see a lot of merchants selling that around here.”

“I’m sure it holds up a lot better to machine attacks too.” Avad replied.

“A bit, yes. Zo convinced me to give it a try, and yeah it works. It’s no Oseram steel though.” Aloy paused. “Speaking of armor…You're trying to find the Zero Dawn armory. That was the real reason for going to Sunfall?”

“Was hoping to surprise you wearing Shield Weave armor but yes. That’s the goal. Wasn’t the entire reason for this trip though. Marad did really want me out of Meridian for a bit so he could go all out. And it helps my relations with the nobles.” Avad confirmed.

“But the primary reason was so your…whatever it is we are to each other, could have better armor on her adventurers.” Aloy replied. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself of something.

“So my friend at the very least, we can define terms later, could have the best armor she could have when saving the world. And fighting ancient immortals.”

“I… That all makes sense. And I can’t fault you for going into a ruin, I do that all the time and I don’t have a squadron of bodyguards with me. It’s just that, I don’t want to lose you Avad.”

“I don’t want to die in an ancient ruin either, you know. And Aloy? Most armories contain multiple suits of armor. I wouldn’t mind some Shield Weave for myself too.”

---

After Avad carefully navigated around a few rocks he saw the sign that he had been hoping for. ARMORY, was inscribed in a text font that he was now used to reading. He looked to the side. Studious Salizar and his partner Ulvama Ruinsfinder stood to the side looking tired and dusty, but with a satisfied expression. They looked like they hadn’t left the complex at all since he last saw them. Avad gave a discerning gaze to Arguf.

“I told them they could leave and take a break. Even said you wouldn’t pay any overtime during the night. But they refused and I couldn’t really force them to stop exploring, your radiance.” The older vanguardsman replied

Ulvama took a drink from her waterskin, then spoke to him. “We couldn’t really leave a job half-finished now could we? Gotta keep good relations with the sun king.” She half yawned, leaning on her partner. “Honestly though, sun king, this is the grandest delve I’ve seen. Most places I’ve explored aren’t a fourth of this size. Plus the amount of old ones stuff here? We will have weeks of material to go through. If you have any more ruins like this do send our way. If the other ruins you know have this much data you don’t even need to pay us.”

“What Ulvama means to say is that it was an exciting place to explore, your radiance. If we could get payment for working through the night though, we would appreciate it.” Salizar tried a formal bow, but he also seemed quite tired.

“Actually yeah, if it means Sali won't need to spend time painting, then payment would be nice.” Ulvama handed her partner the waterskin and then the delvers stumbled out before Avad really had time to respond and wondered if it was water in that waterskin. He also considered for a second if he and Aloy could have been something like that, if they were just Avad and Aloy not Sun King and ‘Genetic Clone of Elisabet Sobeck’. Probably not.

“Olifia, make sure the delvers get out to Sunfall safely. And make sure they get paid for the hours they worked. Add a hundred shards bonus too.” The vanguardswoman nodded and followed the delvers. Avad thought he heard a distant shout of joy from them. He wondered how much of their eccentricity was an act. Then he looked up at the ARMORY sign and his focus fell elsewhere.

The makeshift bridge the delvers had put into place was made of simple wood logs fastened with metal spikes. It didn’t go over an endless abyss like these types bridges sometimes did in the story Avad read in his childhood, but he looked down and decided he didn't want to fall down the dozens of meters deep crevices either. The armory for project Zero Dawn had apparently been cut off by a fissure in the earth, followed by some falling rocks which had hidden it in from the rest of the complex. The vanguard had helped push the rocks to the side, using some new tools they had brought with them from the machinist area outside of Meridian. Avad walked carefully across the bridge and stepped into the armory. There had once been massive sealed double doors here, however time and the sheer force of earth and time had broken their security systems and the delvers had gotten them open with some simple rewiring and trial and error.

The armory was a fairly large room that might have been well organized at some point. A thousand years had ruined that order however. The fissure had cut through the stone here too and Avad saw broken electronics and torn steel and glass casings. He had come primarily for armor but he would be lying if he wouldn’t pick up any weapons the old ones left behind. Luckily, there were still a few suits of armor left. Two suits of Shield Weave armor hang on one wall, protected by a sturdy casing that he guessed might take hours to get loose. He saw more bits of armor on the ground, both Shield Weave and more common types, the ones the old ones sometimes called “bulletproof vests”. While the vanguard moved in to inspect the security of the room and deal with any potential dangers, Avad spotted something else on one wall.

He carefully moved closer and read the inscription on the wall next to the item.

US Army Phantom Suit. Stealth RECON Gear. Prototype.

Next to it was a black armor suit that reminded him of the Shield Weave, but far more slender and graceful. Similarly to the Shield Weave armor it had wires woven into the armor, but these were hidden from a casual glance. He saw something on it that reminded him of the device the assassin had used from Vanasha’s recording of the fight. Here it looked far better integrated into the armor and he suspected it had a larger battery. Avad was not trained in stealth, but he had seen Marad and Vanasha seemingly vanish from sight. He wondered what they or Aloy could do with the armor.

A small “ping” on his focus led him to the side and he scanned it, revealing a video file. Avad debated saving it to when he got back to base, but he couldn’t really stop himself from pressing play.

Two figures appeared in his vision and after a moment Avad recognized them as the two people he had seen in the first recording he found here. They were standing in a small room in the compound.

The middle aged man, who he now recognized as Jens Bjornsson spoke up. “So you’re leaving now?”

“Yup. Got orders to head for army base Delta. It's a solid plan. Strategic location with many ways to slow the advance. Harris knows his stuff and I agree with his plans. Wish there was more I could do on this front though, so to speak.” The other figure replied.

“Well, we tried everything. Neither Tanaka nor Brochard-Klein will budge and frankly I don’t think we would have time to implement them now even if we wanted. It’s not like we could just add it manually to the database.”

Maja, as Avad learned her name was, sighed. “I just.. Something always goes wrong. Plans fall apart and your supply planes crash into a mountainside. We can heal almost any injury now, sure, but they won’t have that infrastructure. Your flowers would help them before they do.” Then she paused, like Aloy did when she got an idea. “Actually why couldn't we just manually add it to the database? You already mentioned that Zero Dawn’s internal computer security is pretty bad.”

Jens looked outraged. “Because the world is ending and it’s not like Elisabet is worried about hackers from inside the facility. Anyway, Gaia's actual database can't be accessed remotely by people without Alpha status. I can't bypass that.”

Maja paused. “I think I can get there.”

“How?”

“State secret” She paused. “Well I guess it doesn’t matter now. We were prototyping a next generation stealth suit before the Faro Plague.”

The man considered. “Hmm. There is an inbuilt file count system, the system would notice if you just added them”

“Could you remove something and add them instead? Or even just swap some files internal data with ours. I think there are some plants in the hundred thousands stored that the world could be without.”

“That should work. Logically at least. I don’t know about this though Maja. It would remove some plants from the ecosystem forever”

“Jens, I’ve known you most of my life. If you tell me there is a risk of these plants mutating or messing with the terraforming system in some way, I will stop. But you did the models and calculations. Gaia is intelligent and will go through the files. Biomend Flora is a commercial product in most of the world. I saw its potential in Kathmandu. If I have the option of giving a young child one bleeding out on a mountainside somewhere a healing flower or some stupid Hyacinth, I know what I am choosing.

The video ended. Avad heard a voice from his left.

“Found something interesting, your radiance?”

---

Vanasha met him on a palace balcony, appearing almost silently next to him. If Avad hadn’t come here to meet her he wouldn’t have spotted her.

“You found something?”

“A few things, yes. Followed the boy and his mother for a bit. They don’t seem to be involved in anything directly. I heard whispers of something “the flickers of true light” in the area though. It seems to be a bandit group or a cult. It didn't seem like they liked you, your radiance.” She added that last bit sarcastically, then grew serious again. “ I think Viriam, the boy, wants to join it, but his mother was against it.”

Avad sighed. “Great. I will have to talk to Uthid about dealing with the cult after the situation in Meridian is dealt with. If you want to join in then you could. Could we do something for Viriam?”

“Do something for the boy who wants to join a cult planning on killing you?” Vanasha looked at him, with a hint of a smile. “You're very soft, your radiance. And I’m one step ahead of you. I didn’t think the mother would appreciate talking to your best spy, but I have contacts here in Sunfall from my last mission here. Already sent some to help them along. Some coin and nudge them to understand that genocidal cults are bad.“

“Thanks.” Avad pondered. “You think the cult is connected to the conspiracy and the assassin?”

“I thought about that. However while I didn’t see them for myself my sources tell me that the cult, or bandit group more like, are lightly armed discontents. Not the type that could have orchestrated all that. They might be working for the same leader though.”

Avad looked out at the evening sky in Sunfall. It was pretty here too. Orange light hit buildings of sandstone. Similarly to Meridian he saw many damaged buildings and construction gear around others where repair work was being done. Similarly to Meridian the palace was at a height where you couldn't really make out details on the people below. He wondered if the height had been a consideration for previous sun kings when they had the palace built. The view could remove the people from things. Make a bandit group “a number of enemies” rather than people with grievances.

Vanasha tapped lightly on the floor of the balcony and Avad remembered that he was thinking of a response. Before he could formulate one however a familiar tune and image appeared. Avad saw a text from his focus.

Call Incoming, caller MARAD. (Accept/Decline)

Avad tapped accept, then invited Vanasha into the call and while sharing his image.

Marad stood in a room in the barracks of Meridian. He looked rough, his robe dirty and worn with a large gash on his left forearm. A bandage covered it, which was slowly turning redder. There was a smaller scar on his face. Marad didn’t seem to care much for either however.

“Marad.”

“I dealt with the traitors, Avad. They had some soldiers in the watch, but the ambush worked. Priest escaped. Stay vigilant.” He spoke fast and hard, in a very different tone than what Avad was used to.

“And you?” ‘Are you okay?' seemed like a stupid question so Avad asked “Is Meridian safe?” It was what Marad would have asked him, he felt.

“Should be. Uthid is patrolling the streets, but I think we got everyone. I’ll recover. Falcien turned out to be one of them and he’s a tough bastard with his sword. Got him in the end though.“ Marad coughed, though Avad was happy to note there was no blood there. He wasn’t losing his spymaster. “You should leave Sunfall. They might have co-conspirators or allies there. You got what you came for, I heard.”

Avad nodded. “Okay. I’ll head back for Meridian in the morning. You focus on recovering. I'll talk to Uthid and Zevin about getting a safe route home. I have Vanasha and the vanguard with me”

Marad looked like he wanted to object, but coughed again. A pair of healers came into his room and started to tend to him. Marad grudgingly closed the focus call to talk to the healers.

Avad looked to Vanasha.

“Seems like we are heading back sooner than expected.”

---

“We could delay our departure, Avad. Head back to Meridian with you and head west then.”

Avad thought about it, but shook his head. While the hunters of the lodge would be good security on the way back, the sooner they got to the Base, the sooner Aloy could get some good armor. “We will be fine Ligan. I have the vanguard and Vanasha with me. Get to the Base and meet up with Talanah and Aloy. They could use your support.

“I'll trust your word, your radiance. We’l head out in the morning. I have the hunters ready to head out at dawn.” Avad looked at the older hunter. He hadn't spoken much to him but his investigations hadn’t revealed anything. More importantly Marad trusted him and Avad got the impression they were friends, or at least as close to Marad got to having friends. Anyone Marad was friends with, Avad felt he could trust.

Ligan walked away and a moment later Arguf came up to him, armored boots clinking on the palace floor . “The inspection has finished, your radiance.”

“Great. I'll be over there in a minute.” he replied. The palace was in full activity for the late hour. Servants walked around shifting things. Guards patrolled, searching for anyone out of place. Nobles stood around, trying to be included in the current events. Avad dealt with packing, planning, with quick ceremonies and farewells. Thankfully upon hearing a summary of what had happened in the capital, most of the nobles seemed content with skipping the traditional ceremonies. He was just about head off to see what the inspection team had uncovered when a noble walked up to him.

Sharid var Lawar stood in front of him. Avad did not want to have to deal with another fruitless argument with him.

“Greetings, your radiance. I just came to inform you that me and my sister will be coming back to Meridian with you tomorrow.”

Avad resisted sighing. Of course Sharid would. Couldn’t make things easier for him now. “Oh, you did?” He tried to not sound annoyed.

“Yes. I would also like to compliment you for the speech at the sun festival yesterday. I appreciated the quote from Basadid about the city's founding. You know many quote Marzid as the greatest poet among the sun kings, but I quite like Basadid.”

Avad cut him off. “I suppose I appreciate the sentiment, but as you can see I am quite busy, Sharid. Was there anything else you needed to say?”

“No, your luminance. I'll see you in the morning,” Sharid spoke and headed off. Avad was slightly confused by the whole thing, but decided to ignore it. He quickly headed for the room they designated for the investigation. Four palace guards stood posted outside what was ordinary a saloon. They stepped to the side and let Avad enter. The decorations and finery had been put to the side and the table was instead covered in recovered items. Avad saw a few separate collections of items neatly organized alongside a smattering of other items on the table that was being identified.

The saloon could ordinarily hold a few dozen people and looking around he only saw a third of that. Half of the vanguard was here, giving their practical advice on armor and artifacts. As was Vanasha and a few tinkerers and scholars Avad trusted. Despite that the room still felt crowded as a good dozen focus projections from around the known world gave their analysis and advice. Beta debated something with two Oseram tinkerers. Petra was projected standing over her forge despite the late hour, seemingly trying to copy some design of a weapon they had found. Kotallo, Erend and Uthid talked about tactical impacts of different armours. And for once, his entrance into the room didn’t break up all conversations. A few people looked up and a few projections waved at him, but the analysis quickly continued. A voice still called out to him.

Avad walked over to the corner of the room where a focus sat on a table. Avad saw a projection of an older woman he recognized looking over the room with a pleased expression.

“Didn’t expect to see you here Kivunna. You’re not generally fond of warfare.”

“Could save the same to you, sun king. But someone has to organize all of this or these good people will analyze every item twenty times.” She tapped her focus a few times as she spoke. “Here I have all of the data, I'll send it over.”

Avad looked at the file she sent. It was dense and with a lot of information. “Any highlights?”.

“You have five functioning pieces of Shield Weave armor, and nine damaged ones that the tinkers here say they could probably get working again. We assumed you wanted the gear split evenly between Meridian and the Base, and have two collections of items ready” Kivunna looked over her notes, seemingly more to get the correct wording than anything else. “Add to that some shield projectors, impact deflectors, glass fiber wirings and palladium plates. And half a ‘railgun’, whatever that is. Varga valued the loose components alone at around 3000 shards total. Should we split those too?”

Avad thought for a moment, then replied. “Yes. There are competent people at both places that could use them. What about the Phantom Suit?”

“That thing? It hasn’t been studied much since all the tinkerers are afraid of breaking it. I told them it’s clearly sturdy since it’s armor but they have barely touched it. It’s going to the Base so Aloy can wear it.”

Avad wanted to say that Vanasha or Marad could have used it. But no, they had one experimental stealth suit and one leader in the fight against the Zenith. It wasn’t a question. As if on cue, Avad heard a noise from his focus. He accepted the call.

“Hi, Avad. The crossing over to Landfall took a bit longer than expected. Stormbirds you know. I heard something was happening. Did I miss it?”

Avad simply responded by sharing his view through his focus.

Chapter Text

He had gotten the report of rough winds in the morning, alongside a few other messages. Ligan and the hunters had already headed out towards the Daunt. Zevin and Navani were organizing a barge for him to cross the Daybrink. Avad had put on the Shield-Weave armor for the first time and the other working pieces had given out to the Vanguard and the rest were put on a cart. And the guards on the walls had reported heavy winds on the dunes. He had of course been asked if he wanted to delay the trip, but Avad had felt that he could handle some winds. He wasn’t just some pampered noble and according to the predictions it wouldn’t blow up to a proper sandstorm.

Avad kind of regretted that decision now. There wasn’t a proper sandstorm, thank the sun, but the winds still blew in face, his mouth felt dry and he could only see a dozen or so meters away. They had at least brought a few goggles of Oseram design which protected his eyes but they were heavy and uncomfortable. So his party made limited conversation as they walked on the row across the dunes. With the threat of conspirators and cultists, they had decided not to go to Blazon Arch but instead take the barge from the same shore of the Daybrink that Aloy and Vanasha had when they escaped with Itamen. At least navigating was easy. Beta had ordered the Stormbird to fly ahead and it illuminated the path with occasional flashes of lightning.

He heard a voice from a guard in front. Even with them only a few meters away, Avad had to concentrate to hear them over the storm.

“Wind shelter ahead. 500 meters. Should we rest, your radiance?”

“Call for a rest. Hopefully the storm will die down.” At least he hoped it would. Looking around, even the grizzled Vanguard looked happy to hear that.

They marched on and soon reached the shelter which wasn't much more than a hastily constructed log cabin, heavily worn by time and sand. As he stepped in he saw that the floor was similarly covered in a layer of sand. The cabin was clearly only made for a few people and with the entire Vanguard inside it was crowded. They took a rest and the vanguard shook sand out of their armor. His Shield Weave had prevented the sand from getting everywhere which was a nice bonus. Arguf, the leader of the Vanguard, had been given their other intact Shield Weave seemed similarly relieved by this. Avad looked at the two guards from Sunfall who pulled the cart. They looked just fine with the storm, wearing light cloth over their armor.

Then they waited. Avad responded to some messages on his focus, but the sandstorm made his connection shaky. Beta said she was looking into ways of improving it, but doing so was tricky without directly amplifying the signal which could potentially allow someone to intercept it. She had sent him instructions for an improvement on the Stormbird that gave the more mechanically inclined of their group something to do. He saw them fastening some kind of device to it. Beta hadn’t explained what it did yet.

“You know, your radiance, I think I might have misjudged you.” Avad looked up. He had been looking over his notes on focus networks to see if there was something he could do on his side. Sharid sat down next to him. “I thought all the digging up things from the old ones and fraternizing with other tribes meant you had abandoned the way of the sun. But you completed the traditional journey to Sunfall and the sun has seemed fit to answer.” Avad let him go on. He wasn’t quite sure where this was going. “Have you seen the Stormbird? At first I didn’t think much of it. But it has been following you, from Meridian to Sunfall and now on the way back. Much like Araman the founder was guided by the Glinthawks, this seems to be a sign. I don't know what exactly it is a sign of yet, but at least it means your path is true.”

---

An hour or so later the storm had died down enough for them to venture out and continue their journey. Avad’s focus connection was still shaky and around him the winds still blew, but it wasn’t hard to walk at least. He had got a brief, but quite nerve racking message from Aloy that simply read.

Apex Thunderjaws are pretty though it turns out. Still beat it though. I’m heading into Faro’s Tomb soon so I might not be able to talk much. Have to deal with a Quen guy with some annoying manners. Good luck with that sandstorm.

If Avad had to deal with ordinary Thunderjaws he sent at least a few experienced hunters or a whole squadron of soldiers. He hoped he would never have to interact with an upgraded one. Aloy was really something else. She was like the storm in a way, headstrong and fierce. Sometimes he saw a flash of red in the storm and for a moment assumed it was her. They were walking down now into the valley where their barge lay. He had heard there were remains of past battles here, debris covered by the sand and time. If he searched, perhaps he could find marks from where Aloy and Vanasha had fought off the Eclipse when they saved Itamen. Now there was maybe a kilometer left to the dock where their barge lay and Avad could rest his weary feet on the trip over the lake. Hopefully he could push onto Meridian today and get to rest in his chambers tonight. He looked up and saw something standing on one of the walls to the valley. A machine maybe? They didn’t seem bothered by the storm, but he supposed Gaia made them resistant to weather. Perhaps, he could ask Beta later. With the sandstorm this strong he barely saw the arrow that flew at him from up in the cliffs. He heard the shout though.

“Ambush! Up on the eastern cliffs.” Avad didn’t have time to dodge the arrow this time. He saw it hit his chest and for a moment wondered if this was it. But he didn’t feel any pain or even impact at all. Unbelieving, he looked down and saw a pulse of energy as his Shield Weave armor absorbed the hit. The arrow had fallen onto the ground harmlessly. Then Arguf of the Vanguard grabbed him and dragged him behind their cart, as more arrows rained down around them.

“You alright, your radiance? The armor seems to have taken the hit”. Avad nodded in response, trying to form words. He saw most of the vanguard with him, using the cart as cover. They looked around and began to return fire, while quickly taking stock of the situation. Avad followed their conversation as well as he could. The attackers were indeed on the eastern cliff. He caught a glimpse of half a dozen people standing there before another Vanguardsman dragged him down. Olifia spoke to him, while Arguf lead his people.

“Stay down. Try to tag them with your focus if you can. We can handle the fighting.”

Tag them with his focus. He could do that. Avad took a deep breath and activated it. He quickly navigated to the scanner and started to tag the assailants. There were twelve of them up on the hill. Eleven of them wore heavy metal armor. Oseram? It was the most logical guess, but who and why? One had little metal on them and wasn’t attacking. And in between the attackers and the Vanguard his focus picked up something else on the hills. Blaze, buried in the hillsite. To prevent them from charging up? Avad handed out the information to the vanguard without focuses as they returned fire. There was a battle here and he could do little. He heard a cry of pain from his left and saw one his Vanguard fall, clutching his shoulder. Normally, it seemed the groups would have been evenly matched but with this terrain his Vanguard were at a disadvantage. He considered it there was something he could do and realized what he was missing. He quickly called Beta and heard her voice respond over the static of the storm.

“Already on it. Thanks for tagging them. Makes this easier.”

The Stormbird dove out from the clouds and lightning crackled. His vanguard gave a rallying cry as it appeared and blasted one of the attackers with a bolt of electricity. Now they had the upper hand. The enemies still had defensible terrain but with two angles of attack they were winning. It would be a slow battle, but they could do it. Avad watched as the silhouette of another attacker fell on his focus, then heard a cry from his right. Sharid and his sister sat behind a rock. Avad saw an arrow that had gone straight through her leg, pinning her to the ground. He might not be able to do anything in the battle, but he could help here. He picked up some medicinal herbs from the wagon and moved over. He wasn’t a medic but he had picked up some skills. He began administering the cure when a loud shout thundered over the battle.

“Oseram! Vanguardsmen! Step away. I have no quarrels with you, I have come for the head of the sun king and nothing more.” The voice boomed at them, unnaturally loud, making even the ever present storm seem silent in comparison. The speaker was a large man, wearing heavy armor. Avad saw it was signed from lightning. “I am a true Oseram. I forge my own tools and gear. I deal with my friends, my clan and my tribe. I don’t rely on other tribes or tools of the old world.” As he said that, the man must have activated something because Avad heard his focus make a high pitched scratching sound and his call to Beta stopped. And with that so did the Stormbird, a half formed ball of lightning dissipating in the storm as its lights flickered out. For a moment Avad saw it simply fall from the sky as if gravity suddenly remembered it should affect it. It fell five, ten, fifteen meters. Then its lights turned back on and he breathed out momentarily. The Stormbird seemingly looked around, then dove straight for his group. Could the Oseram have taken control? No, that didn’t fit. Avad confirmed that by checking with his focus, not seeing any overridden status. Not controlled then, they simply had a wild stormbird to deal with. While under fire from above.

Avad saw one his Vanguard fire a modified net launcher temporarily pinning the machine and then his vision darkened. He heard Olifia next to him. “Smoke bomb. Copied Aloy’s recipe. Won’t last long though”.

“He isn’t controlling the Stormbird. That device simply tore away Beta’s programming.” He replied

“That’s good at least. Don’t know if it helps us. We can’t fight both them and the Stormbird.” She sounded more stressed than he was used to hearing her.

“If I disable the device, will that give Beta back the controls?” That came from his right. Arguf had dropped his bow and now held a two handed hammer. He wore the other suit of Shield Weave armor they had.

Avad didn’t know it did. But he had heard Beta talking about root programming and safety measures. He tapped his focus again, but it didn’t respond. He decided to trust her. “Yes. But what about the buried blaze on the hillside?”

Arguf smiled. “I have some experience handling explosions. And I got this''. He tapped his armor. Avad saw that underneath his Shield Weave he wore some bits of Oseram plate. Wearing both must be heavy, but Arguf didn’t look tired. “I was never great with a bow anyway. Keep them pinned down for me, Olifia''

And before either of them had time to respond, Arguf ran off, climbing the sloping hillside. Behind him the blazed denoted, but the captain always seemed certain where to step. Some explosions grazed him and he couldn’t dodge all the arrows that came his way. His Shield Weave flashed. And in the wake of the explosions came a hail of arrows that took down two of the attackers. Arguf made it to the top of the hill and parried a strike from a long axe, then kicked the axe wielder down towards the blaze. In the meantime Avad looked around. Sharid was administering the healroot he had gotten to his sister. A few of the Vanguard was fending off the Stormbird. In what felt like the next moment Avad looked up at the cliff again. Six of the attackers remained. He spotted the bodies of five fallen attackers. One of them had fallen in the back, presumably to a stray arrow. In the front he saw Arguf walk towards the leader of the attackers, who spoke, his voice still amplified.

“You know how a true Oseram handles something they can’t break, Carja.” His voice seemed to be addressed to Avad, as if the warrior in front of wasn’t a threat. “Explosions. And I don’t mean blaze. True Oseram are inventors. We magnify and perfect our weapons”. He lobbed something towards Arguf, who suddenly reacted by jumping to the side. Unlike all the arrows and blaze from before, this object seemed to really scare the Vanguard captain. Arguf’s dodge prevented him from being inside the fireball, but the explosion hit him anyway.

The blast rocked the cliff face, blasting pieces of debris down all the way to where Avad was standing. Even more, the storm seemed to have stopped for a moment. Some of the attackers seemed to have been downed by the explosion, but their leader rose, dusty and with a few loose armor plates. “I had made that one for your palace, you know Sun King.” His voice wasn’t as amplified as before, but with the storm dying down Avad heard him. He was ready to respond but another voice came first.

“You know, I didn’t like you even back in the Clan, Dolorf.” The shield weave was shattered beyond repair. The armor underneath was torn, and in some places it seemed to have pierced his skin. He looked awful and his voice was raspy, but he still threw something nonetheless. Arguf’s personal forge hammer flew at the enemy leader, who easily sidestepped it.

“And I you. But it seems the better inventor has won. Now onto the Sun King.” Arguf tried to stand, but couldn’t. Dolorf took one step forward and five of his men rose up with him. One more step. Then a blade pierced him from behind. Vanasha stepped forward,

“You don't talk this much when ambushing someone.”

---

To say that the rest of the battle went without a hitch would be a lie. It was a battle, and they were by definition dangerous. But the Vanguard managed to take down three more of the attackers and with that the final two made the smart decision to surrender. Avad spoke with Vanasha, who had apparently snuck away in the beginning of the battle and picked off isolated attackers while climbing the hill. Scanning the hills they found the nine bodies which combined with the two prisoners they had taken was eleven. But Avad was sure that at the start of the battle he had seen one more, an unarmored man who disappeared when the battle started.

He had been trying to get his focus to work and check his tag data, but it still just gave errors. Apparently Dulorf had buried a few more of the devices than just the one he activated. They were small torch sized devices that reminded Avad of the things Hephesotus had made in the Cut which had disabled Aloy’s focus. They had found two buried and Avad was leading a search for more while the Vanguard treated their wounded. At least they weren’t buried deep into the ground, presumably burying them too deep would weaken their effect. The fact that they were buried at all however meant that this was a planned ambush. Avad did not like the implications of that.

He looked over the site of the battlefield. Some members of the Vanguard getting Arguf’s body down the hill so they could bury him in Meridian. He had been one of two to fall on their side, alongside one the soldiers from Sunfall they had brought along. But the rest of the Vanguard were all wounded. And while they were doing that Avad still couldn’t see where the remaining devices were. Without his focus, he was really pathetic at finding things. The layers of sands the storm had thrown around everywhere didn’t help, but still. Maybe he should ask Vanasha for lessons. Or Aloy when she got back. Training to hunt with her would be fun.

The sounds of footsteps brought him out of his daydreams. Avad looked around to see Sharid coming up the hill. He looked dusty, but otherwise fine. Avad didn’t even sigh this time.

“Your radiance. Thank you for helping my sister during the ambush.” Avad nodded. He might not like the man, but he wasn’t going to let someone bleed out just because they were connected to him. Then Sharid turned uncharacteristically hesitant. “I.. have something I should tell you.”

“What, you're connected to the attackers?” Avad said it before he quite realized what he was saying. This was not how you did diplomacy or intrigue. Well, maybe it would work. A shadow rolled over the hill.

Sharid didn’t look as outraged as Avad expected him to be. Instead he looked defeated. “Well. In a way, yes. I knew that man who led the attack. Well, I did not know him, but I met him. I don’t “know” Oseram like you do. The man was called Dolorf and he was working with the sun priest Jahamin to kill you.” He paused, “I was to be the new Sun King. Jahamin has gathered a cult following, and knowing him he is probably nearby.” Sharid looked like he realized something. “He probably set Dolorf on first to weaken you”.

Avad saw a spear move as Vanasha again seemingly stepped out the shadows, pointing her weapon at Sharid, ready to strike. “Shall I?”

Sharid seemed to realize the danger he was in and raised his hands and surrendered. “I accept my fate, but please don’t hurt my sister. She’s not involved.”

“Do you know anything else about Jahamin and his cult?”

Sharid began to speak, but was interrupted by a shout from down the hill. “Something is coming from the west”. One of the vanguardsmen shouted.

Avad and Vanasha looked down. Maybe there was indeed something there, but it was far away, Avad had to squint to see.

“That’s the priest I bet. Let’s head down.” Vanasha spoke. Then she made a gesture as if ‘what to do with him’.

“Take any weapons he has on him.” At Vanasha’s concerned gaze, Avad added. “If he was going to join them, he wouldn't have warned us.

---

By the time they had gotten down the hill and everyone that couldn’t walk was loaded onto the wagon, the cult was almost upon them. They weren’t a professional army. Avad saw woodcutters' axes, butchers knives and farmers' scythes. Bits of scrap metal and hunting gear were the only armor he could see on most of them. There were a few with old soldiers' gear mixed in, but in large this force wasn’t an army. Compared to the elite, well equipped Vanguard it was almost miserable.

One on one the Vanguard would have won easily, but they had just fought a big battle. And more importantly the army had ten times as many men. Still Avad heard the chatter behind him. “We could probably rout them” “An explosive tripcaster would shatter any charge they bring” “My armor is still holding up” “If we leave the carriage behind we easily make it to the barge” “I still have some charge on my storm modification. It should work well for crowd control.” “I knew we shouldn't have left those Ravager cannons in Sunfall.”

They didn’t sound as confident as Avad was used to hearing them. Their ideas were as much for convincing themselves, as they were for convincing him. Still he understood just well, even before they told him. There were two options.

Try to block any charge and fight. They didn’t need to win, just rout the army. Avad had heard many strategists and generals talk about morale. It was very well possible they could survive. Quite likely in fact. Vanasha still had a hunter bag of tricks mostly full. But people would die. Vanguardsmen and women, probably. Enemy soldiers definitely. People who might be trying to kill him but were at the end of the day just trying to live.

They could flee. If they abandoned the gear and bodies and did a fighting retreat back to the shore, they would have little trouble. But that meant abandoning the gear of the old ones. It meant denying Arguf a burial and it doomed members of the Vanguard. Avad looked to the side. Sasna had served him for three years in the vanguard. She didn’t speak as much as some. He knew she had a husband who was a merchant in Meridian. Now she had taken a hardpoint arrow just below the knee. It was bandaged up, but she wasn’t likely to make it if they retreated.

Avad had to make a decision. He looked at the army which was slowly making its way towards them. He thought he spotted a set of priest robes in the mix. Jahamin. If Vanasha killed him, would the army halt? Turn around and decide, no we are not going to revolt anymore’. Vanasha looked at him, clearly thinking the same thing. The vanguard looked at him, awaiting an order. It felt like time was slowing down. Avad remembered a city on fire. Him running up an old path to the palace with Ersa and an army of freebooters and rebels.. Violence was necessary sometimes. Talking wouldn't have led to the Liberation of Meridian. But he also had another memory. “One of us was tutored in speeches and one grew up in the wilds. Still, if there was a way to restore Gaia without killing anyone I would take it”.

He took a step forward. Said a few words to the nearest Vanguard, then walked forward facing the attackers. A device was passed to him. A bit broken from the fight, but it would work. He saw people in the attacking army stop and look at him as he approached. A bowstring was drawn.

“People of the Sundom. I am Sun King Avad, 14th Luminance of the Radiant Line. I stand before you. What are your requests?” His voice wasn’t as loud as Dulorfs had been, but he was sure everyone in the army had heard him boosted by the device. The army's momentum halted. Some still tried to advance, but others just stood there. Avad knew of it. The audacity. The sight of a sun king. It didn’t stop all of them of course. He heard shouts and saw an arrow fly towards him. He didn't dodge this time. That would have broken the illusion.

The arrow broke on the transparent shield projected out from his armor. He heard a murmur. The army stopped. Someone fell on their knees. Then he heard a shout that he could actually make out.

“This, my kindred flickers, is no miracle. It is what I spoke of. False powers from the metal world. Avad is corrupted by them. See how he just surrounds himself with Oseram. They helped corrupt our sun, ruin our crops and take down the natural order of the sundom.” Jahamin had two former soldiers next to him. His army seemed to rouse from his words. “I will cleanse this corruption. Are you with me?” Avad had to give him credit for actually running with them. He supposed that the priest didn’t have much choice now, he was committed.

A set of arrows flew at him. Some landed far or wide. Some clunked against the vanguard's shields. Two actually went for him. Avad almost managed to grab one of them. He was really getting tired of being shot at. So Avad spoke. He spoke and spoke, because what else could he do? Still it didn’t stop the army. They weren’t interested in speeches about gradual change and friendships. For talks about hearing out concerns and holding court. Vague promises of tools they had never seen. As Avad spoke some of them halted, but most carried on. In another situation they might have listened, but peer pressure and adrenaline worked against him. He knew he could try the divinity play, but Avad did not feel like a god of the Sun. The sun was behind the clouds, and he didn’t control the storm. He was no force of nature. And by trying diplomacy he had given away their chance of a ranged attack Avad knew he should take a step back. He couldn’t fight and his Shield Weave was running low on power. He saw that Vanasha still held her bow aimed at Jahamin. The vanguard were braced for combat.

He raised his foot to take a step back but was suddenly pushed forward instead. It wasn’t a wave of force so much, but a screeching electrical sound that sounded artificial and strange. It rippled to the valley and the army halted. Avad could see a man only 20 meters away, wielding a hunter's knife. The wave had staggered him slightly but as it dissipated he moved forward to keep going. Only to stop again two steps forward. Avad didn’t dare to look back, as that would stop whatever was happening. He heard something mechanical moving behind him, then a voice in his ear.

“Seems we made it in the nick of time. The stormbird is back in action, Avad.” Beta’s voice came in loud and clear over his focus. Avad breathed out, then heard another voice. “I believe you have the stage, so to speak.” He hadn’t spoken much to Gaia yet. But hearing her voice, Avad decided to try something grander and disperse with lies. It was time the people of the Sundom knew the truth.

“We are entering into a new age. We all must adapt. Farmers, hunters, soldiers, priests. Sun kings too. This is no divine aegis. Nor is it a curse of corruption, but a gift from the old world. If I could give one to every citizen I would. I will change the sundom. Tame machines to dig farms and build roads. Create devices to protect hunting lodges. Find cures and ointments in ancient texts.” These weren’t zealous eclipse cultists, at least not most of them. They were desperate people, led astray in the search of something better. “I welcome you to join me.” Avad looked up and saw a projection. An image of a Plowhorne tilling a field was displayed from the Stormbird. He had counted on Beta.

There were cheers and shouts. Parts of the army dropped their weapons. Some seemed more unsure. Jahamin didn’t cheer. He seemed to be screaming something about ‘corruption made manifest’. A few of his closest companions seemed to stand with him. Avad pointed his arm at him. “And those who will stand in the future. I offer its wrath.” A bolt of lightning flew across the clear sky over the valley.

Chapter Text

The woman saw a jungle. Vegetation taller than most houses of the replica and vines and bushes covering the ground, creating a hidden underbrush. On the dirt path she saw footsteps of different kinds and sizes. Animals and machines, in a strange harmony. It was a place very much unlike her home. A place only imagined in games and children's tales when she grew up. It was surprisingly close in some ways to the area around her though. To the house on the cliff. The woman put down the photograph to look at a map. There were many possible places for this exact jungle. Many more than there should perhaps be in this region. But then again, this replica wasn’t the same, was it? Perhaps for the best.

On one of the walls of the room there was a wooden board hanging with many images on it, mostly of different environments like sandy dunes, lush valleys, and snowy cliffs. There were also pictures of the simple settlements of these lands and ruins of greater things. The photos were all pinned to their exact positions on a printed physical map that hung on the board. The woman would have actually preferred to use a physical map for her search too, more real as they seemed. But digital things had advantages. She would know. The projection moved around responding to her well practiced gestures. Zoomed in and out, then panned to the side. After a moment she thought she had found it, the right spot for this photo. She just needed to confirm. A cheery “chirp” sound broke her concentration. It was a sound out of place, and one she had considered changing many times before, but it fit the sender in truth. The Planner had another status report on the shipment progress. She put her device on a pre-programmed selective mute. She didn’t need his status reports and she doubted anything of importance would come up. Anyway, she had alerts set up should anything interesting happen.

Some of The Others might say she wasn’t doing anything of importance, but in reality most of them weren’t doing much.. They weren’t used to doing much and they had machines. The Planner held meetings. The Thinkers made calibrations. The Actor might have wandered off to play god again. So did The Warrior, just in a different way. For all their hurry, they had already done the calibrations and it wasn’t like manual work was going to speed it up significantly. The Woman was laying a puzzle. She liked puzzles. This time the pieces were photos from The Focus and the board a map of the continent, scanned from above. She could easily have gotten a better map or just enhanced the photos, but the woman liked the challenge. And doing so would have made the photos less real. She had metadata if she needed to cheat, but the woman considered herself up to the task. Another ping chirped in her head. Normally she would have found the distraction annoying, but this was a different sound. A curious one she hadn’t expected to hear. Her code had noticed something.

She opened the notification.

It was a signal, one of many, but different enough that her code had picked it up. An Anomaly, then. However faint. This was interesting. She could have sent a message to the Planner. He would have expected her to do that, but she didn’t know how much their goals aligned anymore. He might bring The Warrior along and she didn’t like that idea. This wasn’t a situation that needed a bloodbath. The woman tapped her fingers a few times. The Planner might have had sensors and contingencies, but she knew her way around them. There had rarely been fights when they were Elsewhere, but espionage and intrigue had been common. The woman might not have partaken in those, but she had stayed up to date. She could easily mask out the anomaly of his systems. A gentle tap.

She finished part of her puzzle. 7 hours. The woman felt strangely disconnected from time. In Elsewhere years could pass in what felt like hours. And then moments happened when every second mattered.

Then she went there.

That wasn’t hard. Ignoring the fact that her cloak was near flawless, she was their hacker. If their System was a threat to her, she would have failed. The woman got to the location in five hours, sixteen minutes and eleven seconds. She tapped away the other measurements from the program. They didn’t matter. It seemed the Anomaly had happened in a sandy valley. Not her type of terrain really, she had never been one for the tropics. She saw signs of fighting, but that wasn’t what she was interested in. She wouldn’t need to travel to find fighting here in the Replica. Something else had happened. The woman scanned the area for traces. She found a tool like an electrostatic waveformer, only far cruder in form, buried slightly in the ground. It seemed someone had tinkered with The System’s inventions. Curious, but not The Anomaly. The woman had her guesses on what it actually was but continued looking. She found that she wasn’t a forensics expert. There had been one with them in Elsewhere. The woman hadn’t talked to them much. Now they were gone, knowledge forever lost. After a bit of searching the woman decided she didn’t care for looking through battles. She set up a few parameters and did an automatic sweep in the area.

Her script pinged quickly and displayed the result. The Anomaly, was a deliberate communication message, overcharged to get past the interference of the waveformer. It was well encrypted and gave the woman no way to pinpoint its source. She wasn’t quite sure the Planner would even have noticed it. Of course it still revealed things. The sender was obviously The False Copy, the woman recognized her own style of encryption. It wasn’t a surprise that she was alive either, in fact she would have been disappointed if she wasn’t.. The receiver was the more interesting part. She doubted it was Elisabet, the woman didn’t expect her to be around here. She didn’t expect it to be The Interloper either. He was a curious element. A curiosity in a dead world. But she doubted he was here, so far from everything. Indeed this was an area that they hadn’t expected to be relevant back in the first meetings, when they had drawn their initial plans. But, she considered, with the fact that Anomaly happened here, maybe it would be.

Perhaps it was The King. As far as the woman knew he would be around here. And Elisabet had mentioned him a curious amount of times in the focus. She wondered if something had happened to him. She didn’t spot a body that would match his. She saw the bodies of a few warriors in heavy armor. Crude plates and leathers that would do little to stop any attack of hers. The woman flew up and opened a map. Maybe she could find something out. This was The King's land and kingdoms had cities.

She thought she had flown over one on the way here, but picked the central one to go to now. There were a few pictures of it on The Focus. Elisabet must have found it interesting, it being the only real city around. The woman realized that it had been a while since she had been in a city. Elsewhere hadn’t really had any, they had all been more interested in building mansions and megastructures. She thought about trying to explore the city on foot like Travelers sometimes did, but the woman had never really been a fan of people. They might be more real than art, but they were messy and imprecise.

The woman did scan the city itself though. It could maybe inspire something, even if The Artist was gone. Beyond the city she spotted a transmission array for the System. One of the ones that would have been used back then. She wondered if it was used for something. She could check later. The palace catched her attention and found that it reminded her of places long ago. Memories of a conference, a meeting and a deal. That had been shortly before Paris, shortly before Elisabet. Maybe this too would also be shortly before Elisabet. The woman thought she was getting closer to the Plan.

And it had been a while since she went to a palace. The woman landed on a balcony, intending to speak with The King. Tilda hadn’t spoken to royalty before. Maybe, just maybe, it could prove interesting.

Chapter Text

Avad didn’t know how he knew something was wrong. He guessed that future historians might describe it as a sixth sense, or depending on their religiosity, a warning from the sun. A more likely case was that he sensed a tinge of ozone in the air or a faint vibration through the palace floor. Either way, right before he turned left in the corridor of the palace, he got the sense that something was off. Very off. He managed to ping Marad. Then he almost stumbled into the visitor.

Avad recognized them on sight, even if they had never met. Graceful lines, shimmering lights and a sense of the otherworldly. Tilda van der Mer stood in his palace looking it over as if she was studying an odd bug. Despite the fact that he had a palace guard of over filthy soldiers (more if you counted the bridge watch), Avad felt powerless. She looked at him with a casual, slightly curious expression. Then she did a well practiced, if slightly odd, bow.

“Good evening, your radiance.” Avad let his body react on instinct, brain on overdrive trying to figure out any way out of this situation that didn’t end with the palace in ruins. He replied with a formal bow of his own and greeted her.

“My greetings, Tilda. I welcome you to Meridian and the palace of the sun.”

The woman looked at Avad as she was studying a painting. “Hm. You know who I am. That’s interesting. Elisabet must have continued talking to you.” She continued on, more to herself than to him “That confirms you have a line to Gaia and the false copy too.”

Again, Avad moved more on instinct. “Would you like something to drink? Or eat? We could move into the parlor.” Politeness had a way of disarming people sometimes. And he wanted to get out of this corridor before a guard came by and tried to attack Tilda. That would not end well.

“Would I like something to eat?” Tilda looked surprised, then smiled slightly. “I suppose I could. See what you have. I haven’t eaten with kings before.“ He pointed and they walked down the corridor. Avad turned off his focus as he walked. It was very possible that TIlda had already done something to it, but in case she hadn’t he wasn’t taking a risk. He saw a guard slumped next to the wall, there was some kind of shimmering field of some sort around him. Tilda spoke nonchalantly as they walked past him.

“Would have been annoying if he had called the alarm. But he is alive. I thought you might dislike it if I killed one of yours” She said it with a tone that implied the reason Avad might have disliked it would have been because he wouldn’t want blood on the floor. “He was quite perceptive actually. Almost spotted me with my cloaking field up.” It seemed that their caution against invisible threats had done something.

As they stepped into the parlor, Avad almost moved his hand up to contact Marad on his focus and had to stop. He was already used to talking to everyone this way and had been debating giving a focus to the palace chef soon, so he could request food anywhere. But right now he had to do things the old fashioned way and just called out to a servant who came running

“Can you ask the chef to make two Sun-Seared Ribs?” Avad asked, and looked at TIlda. “Unless you have some foods you're looking for? The palace chef is quite good and always up for new challenges.” Avad had sent a few recipes he had found from the old ones to him and the elderly man had done well even without all the cooking tools they didn’t have. The old ones had invented a lot of machines to make food.

Tilda looked at him. “That’s fine. I didn’t come here for a culinary experience.”

Avad tried to think about the next thing to say, but he wasn’t quite ready to converse with an immortal that had returned from another star system. “So why did you come here?”

“I hadn’t visited a king. Thought I might as well while I had the chance.” She paused, thinking. “We got rid of ours after the December floods of ‘29. Always thought that was a shame, it makes things feel more real. Republics don’t have this grandeur.” She gestured around “I suppose you wouldn’t know. But I’ve seen enough sham elections to last me a lifetime”

Avad nodded. “Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you wish. We might not have all the accommodations you are used to, but the Meridian is open to travelers.” And it wasn’t like there was much he could do to stop her from staying. Better invite her on his own terms, than have her sneak around.

“Don’t know if I will be staying for long. Gerard will notice I’m away, I can’t be bothered to argue with him.”

“Well, you're welcome nonetheless.” Avad considered asking about Gerard. As far as they knew he was the leader of the Zeniths, but they had precious little information on the Zeniths. Still he didn’t want to upset the visitor and she looked irritated when she mentioned the man. A knock on the door, broke the silence.

“The chef sent up some snacks to you and your guest, your radiance.” Avad let him in and the servant sat a plate of fried corn chips on the table. If the servant had any thoughts about the strange guest to the palace of the sun, who must seem like a spirit or something to someone who had never heard of the Zenith, he didn’t say anything.

“Chips? Been years since I ate that last.” Tilda picked up a few and popped one in her mouth. Casually, but still with decor and grace. Avad recognized someone who had been tutored in etiquette, even if it wasn’t quite the style he was used to. “I was never someone who ate a lot of these. You heard stories of programmers who practically lived on them and fast food. Think I met some people like that.” She put the bowl away. “Neither Elisabet nor I were much for cooking, but you can still have a degree of grace you know, even if you live on takeaways”.

---

“So why are you really here, Tilda?” The question had been bubbling in Avad’s mind since they started talking. They had exchanged some small talk though the conversation felt very stilted. It was hard to read her face, but if Avad had to guess Tilda was bored. He wondered if she expected something else from him. Now the question just flew out. “I don’t think it was just to eat with a king. And I doubt I am the only one in the world”. He picked up a fried corn chip. Normally he liked the snack, but it didn’t seem as tasty now. Almost less real.

Tilda looked up at him, studying him with her cold distant eyes. “I suppose not.” She reached into her pocket. “You might be the only king who would recognize me on sight though. And you're certainly the only one to which this means something.” Her hand came up with a mangled but repaired focus, which Avad would normally guess wouldn’t be in working condition. Without even tapping a button though, a scene was projected above it. Avad saw two people he recognized, a man holding a bow and a young girl behind him. Rost and Aloy.

“Aloy. That’s her name here. She is quite fascinating, as I am sure you would agree.” Avad did not like the use of the word fascinating to describe people. It sounded like something one of his fathers men would have done when talking about a slave they captured. “You two seem” Tilda paused slightly, “close... I found that interesting. Elisabet rarely gets close to people”.

“You knew Elisabet?”

“Better than anyone.” She answered quickly and sternly.

Avad paused. What did that mean? He didn’t like the implication. “Aloy isn’t Elisabet you know. No matter what her origin is.”

Tilda picked up a chip and popped it into her mouth. “I suppose not. Not quite.” There was something unsaid there, something that unnerved Avad. Tilda looked around after that as if considering something. She must have decided as she stood up and began to walk away. Avad didn’t know what to do and if he should stop her or just let her go. Then her eyes landed on one of the paintings and she stopped.

It was one of the older paintings in the palace, possibly pre-dating even his father. A scene from the walls of Daytower showing the wild mountains and mesas of the eastern sundom. Avad had seen it thousands of times and almost forgot it was there, but Tilda seemed enamored.

“Curious. I suppose this place would have paintings. It’s no Vermeer, but the style is intriguing.” Then she looked around and as she did she seemed to take in the decorations and paintings for the first time. Avad her saying something under her breath that he didn't quite catch. Something about a collection? Tilda didn’t smile, but her features softened ever so slightly and she grew slightly more animated. “I suppose this journey wasn’t pointless.”

---

Avad learned a lot over the next two hours. Normally learning about the old ones from one of them would make him very excited (maybe not to Alva levels, but still), but this wasn’t quite it. He learned a lot about early renaissance dutch painters and trying to steer the conversation anywhere else made Tilda a lot less likely to talk. After some time she had been forced to briefly explain her home country of the Netherlands and some of its history, but it was a brief explanation. He had considered calling on some of the Sundoms famous painters (Tilda favored Studious Balzar and Studious Callivs works), but then after two hours and a meal. Tilda went to leave as suddenly as she came here.

She simply stood up and spoke “Well this trip has been pleasant enough.” and then started to head out. One her way out she added. “You know, your radiance. Turning off your focus is a simple and effective method to avoid being hacked. You are smarter than some of my old clients. That said, I could just wait around a bit and hack into a focus later.” She continued walking as she spoke and Avad followed her out of the saloon and into the corridor she came from. “Or hack the Spire. Or just blast things here till you give me Aloy’s position. But I won't. I’m not Erik Wisser.”

She stepped out of the hall and onto one of the balconies. Avad saw the evening skies behind her. “I will even give you a tip to send to Aloy. As a thanks for all the art if nothing else, few people appreciate good art nowadays. Tell her that Gerard has a plan regarding Hephestus. It will be interesting to see what she will do with that information”. Her walk carried off the balcony and she stepped into the air. For a moment she simply stood there, ignoring Avad’s idea of physics and common sense.

“Goodbye, Avad. I suppose we might meet again at some point.” Then she flew off. Avad sighed and sat down. Well at least Meridian was still standing so he considered that a win. He hoped he could avoid meeting any other immortals.

Chapter Text

For a moment Avad simply leaned against a pillar and breathed out in the still air. He watched as Tilda’s shape disappeared into the evening sky. Then the palace sounds reappeared and things moved again. Things were back to normal and at the same time fundamentally changed. Avad activated his focus and got up. He heard the thundering footsteps of a group of soldiers. Marad stepped out of the shadows behind them and spoke up.

“Your radiance. It seems we had a visitor.” Avad sensed that Marad was thinking of something to say. The appearance of a Zenith seemed to have unnerved even the normally unflappable spymaster.

“You can say that. I hope you maintained control of the palace. Tilda might be hard to explain, even if I want to.” Avad remembered the unconscious guard and looked around, but he couldn't see him. “Did you take care of the corridor guard? She said she didn’t kill him.”

“He’s sent to the infirmary. I think Nasadi is there overseeing things to prevent unnecessary rumors from leaking.”

Avad breathed out .At least that was okay. Marad continued.

“I got your warning, and had the palace turn off all focuses.” He pointed to a guard “Meram, go tell the others they can reactivate their focuses.” The guard jogged away and Avad began to think.

“Good. Did you get anyone on note taking? I want to send as much of the conversation as possible to Aloy.” After rebooting the whole network. He didn’t think Tilda had done anything to it but he would at least try. He hoped he could remember the conversation. With what he knew of Tilda and the Zeniths, any detail might be important

“Something better actually.” Marad motioned to Avad to follow and he did. He saw a strange device that had been placed in a servant's room. It was an Oseram device of some kind. Avad’s eyes widened as he realized what it was.

“I suppose something from that man came useful after all. How much of the conversation did you catch?”

Marad tapped on the bronze casing. A voice came out of the strangely shaped box. Far more distorted than sounds that came from focuses, but still clear enough. He heard Tilda speak about Dutch paintings from Dervahl’s voicebox.

---

Aloy - Today 16:42

Just gotta deal with some rebels quickly, be right back.

Aloy - Today 16:48

I’m back. So what are you do now that you don’t have rebel groups trying to kill you?

Aloy - Today 16:57

Avad, you there?

1 Missed call, from user Aloy.

Erend - Today 18:01

Hey Avad, I think Aloy is trying to reach you? You, okay?

---

He heard the reconnect signal as the focus network restarted and a wave of messages came at him. Avad felt a bit bad about disappearing from Aloy but he felt that “sudden Zenith appearance” was an acceptable excuse. It was late in the evening, the sun being gone from the sky. He called her first anyway.

“Aloy?”

“Avad? Did something happen” Aloy sat on her bed in the base. He hoped she hadn’t been sleeping.

“Tilda,” he said. It both was and wasn’t a great explanation. “We had a sudden Zenith guest for a bit.”

“Oh”.Aloy’s eyes widened and her breath caught. She looked around as if to see signs of ruined buildings or destruction. “That’s….” she looked over at Avad, confirming that he was in one piece “Are you okay?”

“Well Meridian is still standing. We are alive” Avad sighed. “I’m just rattled and quite confused”.

“You still look to be in better shape than after my first meeting with a Zenith. I suppose that was Erik, not Tilda though.” Aloy collected herself. “What happened? Tell me everything. I mean everything, Avad. Anything we can learn about the Zeniths could prove useful.”

So Avad told her about his sudden guest, and sent her a focus recording of Dervahl’s voicebox. She seemed tense through the whole explanation, besides scoffing slightly when Tilda found the paintings. “Only you would distract an immortal with paintings, Avad. Only you”. When they got to Tilda’s final message her face hardened. “I was surprised we haven’t seen the Zeniths again. Even with them having lost Beta they should have been looking for the subfunctions. But of course, it would be just like them to let us gather everything and then steal our hard work.”

Aloy’s face hardened. “But the problem is, we still need Hephestus. Gaia is doing what she can with the subfunctions she has, but without new machines there is only she can do so much. The ecosystems are failing, Avad. I need to speak with her and Beta tomorrow. Try to figure out a plan that gives us a chance if the Zeniths come. Maybe we could sneak out or something. But, “ she yawned ''I'll save that for tomorrow.” She looked at him, her face softening. “I’m glad you're okay, Avad. And Meridian too for that matter. Don’t know if I could have handled a visit from a possessive space immortal with limited grasp on personal space that well. Good job. I…” She yawned again. “Can we keep the focus call going? I like watching your face as I fall asleep”.

---

Avad’s second meeting the following day was different from the first. The first had been ministers and generals of the sundom. ‘What happened yesterday?’ ‘What could they do if Tilda came by again’ (not much, really). They finally got time to debrief over his journey to Sunfall and the ambush on the road back. Avad wanted to say he had almost forgotten about that, but not really. Immortal Zeniths and angry reactionary cults were two different fears, but both were quite scary.

The second meeting of the wasn’t held in a room in the palace with a large oak table decorated with precious metals. Avad saw Aloy, Beta, Erend, Zo, Varl, Alva and Gaia in his focus sitting in an underground room, designed a thousand years ago. Kotallo was absent, having been called by chief Hekarro to look over the groves' defenses in case Regalla attacked. Another problem. Not about the fate of the world, but still important.

Gaia spoke up. “What Aloy says is true. We need Hephestus. But,” she paused "there is a point to heed Tilda’s warning. From what we have seen from the Zeniths technology and capabilities I think the odds of us winning a battle with them or escaping with Hephestus and myself are slim.”

Varl replied. “What if it's a ruse? Can we trust Tilda’s words? They might just be trying to delay us.”

“We certainly can't trust Tilda.” Aloy’s words were sharp, authoritative.”But here she has no reason to lie. We barely matter in the eyes of the zeniths and if they considered us a threat, they could have just sent a swarm of specters our way.” Avad remembered Tilda’s words from yesterday. The Zeniths didn’t need an army of machines. One of them could alone, if they wanted, destroy any city he knew of. Might take a while, and they would need to get their hands dirty, but there was little that they could do to fight back.”

Erend replied. “Could we hit them with something they won’t be expecting? Collapse the cauldron on them or something. You said their shields must have limits.”

Zo looked a bit shocked. “Collapse a cauldron on them, how? And we need to make it out of there too, you know.”

“While there would be many difficulties with collapsing a cauldron in a way that doesn’t harm us, I do believe it would take down the Zeniths shields. They need some form of energy source and even in my highest estimates it would be able to resist a whole cauldron falling on them. That said, there is also the challenge of my processing unit which needs to be transported there and back in one piece.” Gaia answered.

“Can we table ‘collapsing a cauldron on us’ for now?” Aloy replied. “I am a bit tired of having giant things fall on me”.

“Okay, okay. I was watching through your recordings of earlier battles and saw how many of them involved collapsing structures or cliff faces at some point.” Erend put his hands up in the air. “But fine. Anyone have any different ideas?”

There was a brief silence as people considered. Then the suggestions began. After twenty minutes Avad considered ‘collapsing a cauldron’ to be a fairly decent idea.

Varl was the one to take them on a different topic. “What about Sylens? He clearly has a way to kill Zeniths.”

“I feel like I’ve combed the entire Forbidden West for him with no signs. He is clearly working here somewhere, the Sons of Prometheus are signs enough of that.” Aloy looked exasperated. “But I don’t know what little hole he could be hiding in.”

“I know Kotallo has told Hekarro to arrest Sylens if he shows up in Tenakth territory. I told the chorus the same. Based on what I have heard about the man, I doubt he would just wander in though.” Zo replied. Avad had done the same thing. From Daytower to the Daunt, there was a standing order to catch Sylens. Not like he expected him to show up in the sundom, but still. And if they somehow did catch him, Avad would have words to say to him about the cult he founded.

“Why don’t we simply get him to get him to come to us?” Alva had been mostly quiet so far, besides chatting to Beta about some advanced technology to fight the Zeniths that Avad didn’t understand.

“With what? A welcome sign?” Aloy softened her tone. “He’s not really the type to answer messages, Alva.”

“No. We give him no other choice. He has clearly invested a lot of time in these Sons of Prometheus and Regalla’s rebels. Beat them and he should come out of wherever he is hiding.”

Zo looked skeptical. “Or he could just disappear completely.” Avad felt like there was a chance of that. When Hades attacked Sylens hadn’t been on the walls. He had given Aloy a spear with a virus inside of it and headed off to places only touched by shadows.

Aloy looked similarly downcast at first, then brightened. “No. He’s too invested for that. Ignoring the fact that if the Zeniths restart Gaia and the planet, he wouldn’t be able to research. Sylens clearly has some kind of plan and I doubt his pride would just let him hide away.”

“So we beat Regalla and her rebels, get Sylens to come out hiding. Get him to work with us or steal his technology. Then we capture Hephaestus and when the Zeniths come to take from us, we are prepared to smack some heads. Sounds like a great plan. Where do we start?” Erend could make things sound so simple sometimes. But Avad knew that it wasn’t just ignorance that made the Oseram speak like that. Hearing the plan laid out like that made it seem coherent and added some comedic relief the room lacked.

---

“Ah. The sun king. You know, there was a time I dreamt about bringing the sun king here. To punish him for the raids that brought my people so much suffering.” The talking man walked around in his room in the projection, holding a long jagged sword. Avad saw many scars and painted arms and face, which made him look like a villain for one of his childhood stories. He could imagine the sword dripping red with blood. “But you aren’t him are you? You’re the one who ended the reign of the Jiran and the raids.” Avad nodded as Hekarro greeted him “Welcome, Avad of the Carja. Strange situations bring strange allies it seems.”

“Thank you, Hekarro. Unfortunately these focuses don’t let us exchange gifts, otherwise I would bring you something.”

“Well, you already have. Some of the most common complaints I hear is that I am being bribed, bought out even by the Carja.”

“How do you deal with them?” That wasn’t on the list of things to ask. But Avad rarely got to talk to other leaders. And he could use some advice on how to deal with annoying nobles.

“I ignore them. Or remind them that I am chief. They know they have the right to challenge me, but few dare.” And there was a difference, Avad supposed. In many ways the Tenakth were more egalitarian than the Carja. At least if you knew how to fight. Avad might be able to fence on the level of an average noble, but if the Carja accepted challenges by combat he would quickly be deposed. “Most of the tribe will reluctantly admit that these Ravager Cannons you’ve sent are quite useful. And I think many of my marshalls and commanders have learned the value of your scrolls, as long as you use them for logistics instead of sun worship.

Avad sighed. “I apologize for the amount of sun priests that I’ve sent to the embassies. Would have sent more” he searched for the right word “diplomatic people. But, you know politics.”

Hekarro nodded. “Your tribe seems to be deeply rooted in it, I’ve gathered. But I don’t think politics were the reason you called me. And I have a defense to organize so I can’t talk too long.”

“No. It wasn’t. It was as you might have guessed about your defense and rebel problem. I’m guessing Kotallo or Aloy told you we intend to help.”

“I’ve heard. And any aid is appreciated. Still Avad, you sit in a palace hundreds of kilometers from here. I’m sure Aloy and her companions might help, but I don’t see how the Carja would even if you can convince them too. My latest reports say Regalla will attack in a week.”

“Do you think she would accept a duel?”

“Against whom? I don’t think you are a stupid enough to think you have a chance against her, even if she is actually likely to accept that. She might accept one from me” Hekarro paused and thought for a moment, looking a bit somber, almost wistful, “but I don’t know if I could win now. I don’t know if any Tenakth could defeat her in a duel. Regalla was my best marshall and since we last fought she has trained relentlessly”.

“What about Aloy?”

Hekarro thought for a brief moment. “She might be able to. Your friend is capable in ways few people are. And her determination runs as strong as the ten. But Regalla would have little reason to accept a duel. Aloy isn’t chief, she isn’t even Tenakth.”

Avad thought about suggesting his second idea. The Werak ploy. But no, it wouldn’t work. It was more likely to shatter the morale of the Tenakth. Still he had an idea. An idea that should give Regalla a reason to accept a duel.

“I have an idea. I don’t know if it will work, but it might get Aloy a chance to duel Regalla.”

Hekarro looked intrigued. “It could save my tribe a lot of bloodshed if that happens. We might have a chance to defend the grove with Aloy and her friends reinforcing it and the Ravager Cannons you sent. The outlander, the one from across the sea, has promised me a few overridden machines to aid us.” He sighed. “But I wonder how much of the tribe would be left after such a battle, even if we win.” Avad looked up at the evening sky, brilliant orange. The same color shone in the focus image. Avad remembered the night sky after the battle of Meridian. It had seemed to run red with blood. If he could prevent the grove from that fate, he would.

Hekarro continued. “I won’t be relying on your help, Sun King. But I hope your plan works. Fashav was a great man, Avad. I hope you can surprise me the same way he did.”

---

Aloy- Today 10:06

Sure I can send them over. Here

Attached File; Flying Machine Notes.

Aloy- Today 10:07

Why did you need them though? Sundom having problems with stormbirds again? Or did some skydrifters come in. They can be quite annoying.

Avad - Today 10:09

No. I had an idea. I'll call you tonight?

Aloy - Today 10:10

Mm. Sure, I guess. Well, I am heading off to the Stillsands.

Avad - Today 10:10

You are? Not gonna help fortify the Grove?

Aloy - Today 10:11

Eh, well, as you heard it should be a few days before Regalla attacks and we located one of the rebel camps over there. Might as well lower their numbers.

Avad - Today 10:11

Please tell me you brought someone along with you?

Aloy - Today 10:17

Sorry. Widemaw tried to ambush me. Took it down.

And, umm no. Everyone at base was busy.

Avad - Today 1017

Aloy. I know you're capable, but we can all have unlucky days. I don’t want to lose you to some lucky rebel with a stray arrow

Aloy - Today 10:18

You’re not. I got this.

Tell you what though. I know someone in the area with experience dealing with bandits. I’ll bring him along. How about that?

Avad - Today 10:18

You what? Sure, of course you do.

Be careful Aloy.

---

Beta - Today 10:22

Did Aloy send you the notes you were looking for?

Avad - Today 10:22

Yeah, she did. I’m heading over there now. You wanted to see the mechanists area on the way right?

Beta - Today 10:22

Yeah, that could be interesting. Need a break from designing these pulse emitters anyway.. I think Alva might want to tag along too.

Avad- Today 10:23

If she wants then sure. She’s still very nervous around me though, you know. I think she has had previous bad experiences with royalty.

Beta - Today 10:23

Don’t know if this will help, but given what she’s told me about Quen secrecy, and her love for technology, it might actually

Beta - Today 10:24

Also don’t worry too much about Aloy. I'm keeping a stormbird on standby above her. I’m not losing my sister to a random rebel.

---

The machinist area outside of Meridian hadn’t been idle while he was away. In fact it seemed to be even more lively than it was when he left. The battle against Dolarf and his crew had apparently given the inventors new ideas and some ‘actual battle testing’ as one of tinkers phrased it. Weapons, armors, tools and devices were being made, tested, displayed and sold by Oseram tinkerers, Carja scholars and the occasional Banuk shaman or Nora outcast.

This time he didn’t just have the voices of scholars and tinkerers looking for funding however. Avad also walked with enthusiastic commentary from Beta and Alva who were projected from his focus. They were eagerly chatting and looking over devices. Avad had tried to convince Alva that she could speak freely with him. In one on one conversations she was still a bit apprehensive and made sure every word was fit for a king. Given a workshop full of interesting devices made from technology of the old ones? She seemed enthralled. As he understood, this whole setup was very alien to Quen ways where knowledge was hoarded and kept secret unless absolutely needed. Here Alva had after an initial bit of apprehension, begun eagerly talking machine parts and contraptions. Beta was a bit more quiet than Alva but he could tell she was enjoying it, and anything that could bring her out of her shell was great.

Now they were looking over a workbench where a group of tinkers were attempting to make a spear that channeled lightning. The leading tinker had given a description that Avad had followed, then Beta and Alva had asked a series of more involved technical questions that left him confused. He needed to give them more chances to visit about this place. Preferably in person someday, but for now maybe he could send them in with someone else. Vanasha and Marad were too busy. It might be too much walking for Kivuna and while Itamen would love it at first, he didn't think his brother could stay focused that long. Maybe someone from the vanguard? For now though he coughed to take everyone's attention.

“Alva, Beta, I hope I can give you an opportunity to visit the machinists area again, but we had a plan for today.”

“Oh, sorry your” Alva stopped herself, “Avad. Of course.You don’t need to, though, if you're busy”.

“I’m sure the tinkers enjoyed your questions and ideas.” He was quite sure they had inspired a lot of new things. “If not me, I can let someone else organize a tour. For now though” He walked away and into the area they came here for. The projections didn’t walk, as much slid along the ground as the focus worked to keep them steady. It was a bit disorienting, really.

He arrived to an area with high, sturdy fences and quite a few guards around. Beyond that he could see what they came for. Machines. The sundom had acquired a few electronic warfare units, or override rods as he more often heard them called. Now they were taming machines and discovering more uses by the day. Chargers and broadheads as messengers for messengers. Behemoths for cargo deliveries. Glinthawks for sentries. Scrappers and perhaps even rockbreakers for mining and quarrying. Avad was quite sure that in a few years the sundom would look radically different.

If they had that long. While he had never doubted Aloy’s words, his conversation with Tilda had confirmed their importance. What he did here barely mattered, when ecosystems around the world were failing and a group of egomaniacal immortals were trying to reset to earth to their liking. So instead of any of the other projects Avad walked with Beta and Alva to a Stormbird in a corner of the area. There was a group of tinkers attaching some kind of large contraption to it, as a few hunters kept watch. It looked odd, even to Avad who had greenlighted it and brought a few projects together.

“Oh, that's what you are attempting.” Alva had an expression Aloy sometimes had when she found an interesting puzzle or challenge to overcome. It fit her well.

---

“Hey Avad?”

Avad saw lights. Shimmering lights across the night sky. Mythical creatures and sparks.Great ruined buildings standing among a sea of sand. The old ones could be greedy and wrathful. Complacent and small minded. But sometimes, seeing views like this, it showed the wonders they could create. It was breathtaking and for a moment he was speechless.

“Avad?”

“Oh. Sorry” He looked to the side and saw Aloy, who was sitting precariously on the edge of a curved rooftop. She was breathtaking in her own way. “It was just this view. Did you say something, Aloy?”

“Ah. Thought so. Yeah Vegas was something, alright. And the people here know how to make things shine. Stemmur and Abadund have done a good job, though don’t tell Abadund I said that. Sometime later, after all this, we should explore the halls underneath. Those are some sights to behold.” Aloy looked calm, almost serene as she spoke. “Just need to deal with remaining snapmaws first.”

“No other machines or ancient immortals down there that will try to kill us?”

“Don’t think so. I dealt with the Tideripper that got in somehow. It will be a good intro into exploring ruins for you.” There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, but also something else. Something genuine.

“I’ll put it on the agenda.”

“Yeah.” Then she grew a bit more serious again. “So I can’t wait any longer, what was this project you planned? You needed my machine notes. I hope you aren’t trying to fly on a stormbird, cause believe me I’ve tried.”

“Static electricity, yes?” Avad had read her notes. Mostly the old ones that came with the focus, but he had double checked with her current ones. Aloy had taken a lot of notes on her attempts to ride on any flying machine she encountered. She had been very insistent on the idea of flying. But all flying machines she had overridden so far were either too small or had some other aspect that made it unviable. “I believe I have an idea”.

“Oh? I would like to see it. Could have saved me the ride here.”

“Sadly I don’t think it could have. But I have it underway here.” He tapped his focus, showing an image of a stormbird from the mechanist area. Attached to the machine was a platform, hanging on its back claws and body. Stormbirds generated a lot of static electricity when they flew, which would char any rider in a matter of minutes. Aloy had apparently tried to ride one with Oseram forge wear to ward off the lightning, but had been forced to jump off before half an hour. And the lighting was integrated in its core function, so you would need your own cauldron to modify it if you wanted to get rid of that. Riding on a stormbird was therefore out of the question. That said, if you simply distanced yourself from the stormbird enough that the lightning didn’t hit you…

Beta, Alva and the tinkerers and scholars had now created a prototype platform that could hang under the machine and carry a small group of people. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but it should work. The tests done so far had been mostly successful, and very educational (properly insulated wires and security harnesses were needed). It was the first step of Avad’s current plan.

“Okay, I suppose I wouldn’t have thought about that. How do you control it? Via override, at a distance?” Avad let her ponder for a moment, recognizing Aloy’s expression. “That would work. It would be the strangest method of travel I’ve heard off, and you couldn't use it in combat. But well. I suppose you would be flying.”

“That was the goal, yes.”

“Where though? I mean you would speed up travel for a few across the sundom. Maybe you carry things here with it? Stormbirds are strong and would be faster than our current system. And that could be great. But, no.“ Aloy looked at him. “Avad, are you coming here? Because there is no reason for you to do so. I want to see you again, but you can’t abandon everything to see me. You have a kingdom to run”.

“Seeing you would be a bonus. But there is a more important reason. I can’t stay in my palace while you save the world, if there is something I can do to help. Seeing Tilda showed me that. A hundred reforms would mean nothing if the Zeniths win.”

Aloys eyes turned shaper, showing a quiet fury. “You already help, Avad. You’ve sent the Ravager guns and a bunch of shards. And our chats, like this, give me strength. I want you nice and safe, and a standing Meridian to return to when the Zeniths are defeated. You won’t help me by throwing away your life fighting Regalla.”

“Believe me Aloy, I don’t want to fight Regalla and I doubt the few Carja I could bring could make a difference. I was hoping you would fight her. You might be the only one we know that could beat her in a duel.” He supposed the Zeniths were an exception to that statement, but they were very unlikely to offer help.

“A duel? I doubt she would accept one from anyone besides maybe Hekarro, and the Tenatkth don’t allow champions for cases like this. And besides, what do you have to do with it? It’s not like she would accept a Carja honor duel. Unless…”Aloy’s eyes widened as she realized the plan “you are there as bait. Agree to a duel and you get to have the sun king if you win. Otherwise you will what? Fly back to Meridian and she will have to chase you. Based on what I know of her she would blasted well accept that.”

This wasn't how he had intended to present the idea. It had been a vague concept yesterday, an outline that sounded too crazy to work. But they were indeed running out of time. Flight would be great regardless, but they needed a way to beat Regalla. She had an army of machines and a group of trained Tenakth armed to the teeth. Avad had written down an order to present the plan. But Aloy’s intelligence and determination had ruined the presentation. He wasn’t too upset, they were two qualities he loved in her. It did make it hard to plan surprises for her though.

“Can’t believe I am saying this, but part of me wants to go back to the plan where we collapse a cauldron.” Aloy sighed. “You know, you will die an excruciating death if Regalla beats me, right?”

“If you lose, I think I will anyway.” Avad realized after he said that, that he meant it in more ways than one.

“Dammit. Why do you have to make so much sense?”

“I try. My predecessor was bad in that department.”

Aloy laughed gently and the tension deflated. “You can say that.again. Well I suppose we’ll have to call Gaia and the people back at base tomorrow, to go over the plan.” Then she paused and lit up a bit. “And I know someone right nearby you need to meet. He might be only one in a hundred kilometers with experience flying.” Aloy sat up and looked around, trying to see something or someone.

Avad was very interested in who this was, but “Aloy it’s almost the middle of the night. You can introduce me tomorrow.”

“Fine, you're right.” She moved to her bedroll, and moved to lay down. “He will love the project though. Good night Avad.”

Chapter Text

“You sure all of these people are interested in my flying orb, Aloy?” The Oseram tinker looked around, eyes nervously scanning the other faces. “I mean I want new customers, but they all look like they are some pretty important people.”

Avad looked at Zo, Varl, Beta, Erend, Kotallo and Alva. He had heard of Morlund from Aloy and would have hired him for the mechanist area if he was closer. As it was, the Stillsands were a bit too far away then. But for help on his current project by focus, he was a great find.

“Hi! Morlund, right? I saw Aloy’s recording of your flying orb. Very cool. I think the old ones called those things hot air balloons. We had some smaller ones back in the Delta, but we haven’t build ones for people for some reason.” Alva sounded way too energetic for 8 in the morning. Maybe that was connected to Avad having stayed up and talked to Aloy until midnight yesterday. Or maybe he should just outlaw meetings before 9. He was the sun king after all. He could use his powers for something

“Yes. There had been some builds like that in back in the claim too. That’s where I got my idea from. Did you say Delta?” Morlund seemed to take in Alva’s clothing for the first time. “Actually, sorry, what tribe are you from? I’ve never seen clothing like that or heard of the Delta before”.

Alva was going to reply, but Gaia calmly broke in, startling Morlund.

“Actually. Aloy, I think it would be best if Morlund got a bit of an introduction. Alva, would you mind introducing him to using a focus and the people here.” Gaia’s voice was the same tone as usual, but Avad still thought he heard a hint of ‘you didn’t tell him about anything before inviting him to a focus meeting with all us?’ “In the meantime we could go over the new plan.”

Aloy looked like she wanted to argue for a moment, but decided against it. After Alva and Morlund left to talk on another channel, she began explaining the plan. “Okay. We give Regalla a duel, by giving her an opportunity she can’t refuse.”

The room looked skeptical. Erend raised up a hand and asked the obvious question. “Which is?”

“Me”. Avad knew that in different groups this would have caused an uproar of voices and a debate that could have taken 30 minutes to calm down. Here it just caused a few confused looks and the next obvious question.

“I mean it's a noble idea and all, but how? Based on what I’ve heard about Regalla, she’s not just gonna trust a promise. And you can’t exactly walk to the grove.”

Beta and Aloy already knew the plan, so while Zo had asked that question, Aloy’s sister had tapped her display. A 3D model of the stormbird with its carrying platform attached appeared in the center of the room.

Avad saw the expressions around the room change. Confusion, skepticism, approval. Everyone reacted slightly differently. Some studied the machine intently, others looked at him and Aloy. Erend looked…Avad couldn’t quite place his expression for once.

Kotallo nodded after studying the stormbird. “Wings of the ten. I thought she might be the first to fly on them. It will be good to meet you face to face at last, Avad.”

---

The rest of the meeting went well. They discussed logistics, timing, details on Regalla and her forces and the flight itself. Safe to say was that the platform and the stormbird needed a few days of improvements before it could fly to the grove. With Alva, Beta, Gaia and Morlund on it, the project seemed to be in safe hands however.

Avad was taking a midday walk in the palace gardens, when he encountered someone he had forgotten for a bit. Zevin stood there in an orange summer dress and motioned to him. He had kinda forgotten to talk to her after he got back from Sunfall and felt a bit bad about that. She held out her hand and after a moment's hesitation he took it.

She must have noticed his confusion because she whispered to him. “I am supposed to look like your fiance, Avad.” She led him into the restricted part of the gardens. Avad was used to being led anywhere but let himself. He was planning to let Zevin rule in his stead while he was gone. If she was planning to betray him, she would have ample opportunity. “If you come back injured from a long journey and don’t even talk to me, what signals will that send?”

“I’m trying to disperse with lies, Zevin” He whispered back, perhaps a bit too snappishly.

“I know. And I appreciate it, honestly. But you don’t wish to cancel this arrangement yet, do you? If we ‘break up’ and then you head off into the Forbidden West, that won’t look good for either of us.”

Avad hesitated for a moment, but Zevin was right. That would send some very strong signals at court and it would send Zevin back to her, quite frankly, abusive family. That said, he was not going to lie to the people about Aloy, if they got together. The nobles of Meridian would have to accept that. And he would have to figure out something else for Zevin. Another thing on his list.

“You're right. I’m sorry, I’ve just had a lot on my plate”. He replied aloud. That was a line he didn’t mind any observers hearing. One of the vanguard walking with them opened the gate to his private section of the palace gardens and they stepped inside.

Zevin checked behind her to see if anyone was watching them, then replied in her normal tone. “The zenith. I don’t fault you really, Avad. I’m happy I don’t need to deal with that. I just needed the nobles at court to think we had at least gone on one date before you leave again.”

Avad looked her over. The tall, dark skinned woman looked similar to the one he had seen when Marad introduced her, but Zevin now lacked the nervousness from before and stood prouder. Her gaze didn’t nervously shift around and she walked with a stride. “How do you know about all that? Navani?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, we are keeping it a palace secret. She has been a great teacher. I actually quite enjoy politics when I don’t have my mother complaining about everything I do and enforcing her standards on me.”

“I should appoint you chancellor or something.” Something for sure. Zevin had been great at managing the sundom while he was away. Avad needed to look at that document about politics in the old world that Aloy sent him. “I don’t mind talking to people, but if I could choose to never have to talk to another noble again I would.”

“There are some decent nobles. Talanah, Iridium, Elida.” Zevin smirked slightly. “As for the others, you can play them against each other. Works well most of the time.”

“Then, as long as there are nobles in the sundom you can find employment here.”

“I think I will accept that offer.”

A servant came out with some food. Zevin looked at him. “Oh right. I think one of the nobles has an informant among the kitchen staff. Had to order something. A picnic with a friend?”

Avad had things to organize. He should probably take a look at Morlund’s progress. He should go over strategies with his generals and Hekarro. Avad breathed out first. Gaia was constantly telling everyone that they could take a break now and then. He should have time for a picnic with a friend.

---

The next day came and went in a flash. He oversaw the work on the stormbird, planned things regarding his absence from the sundom and went over the defense of the grove. They had plans on how to goad Regalla into a duel, they had Aloy practice with melee masters from all over Tenakth territory and discussed dozens of contingencies. Kotallo, Hekarro and others spoke of how Regalla was likely to fight and respond. Erend talked about what Asera and the Sons of Prometheus might do. It wasn’t perfect, things rarely were, but they were as prepared as they could be.

And in the evening of that day it was time for his first flight. Avad had seen three so far. A young Carja scholar he vaguely recognized had been given the title of “pilot” as he had so far done the least turbulent flights. So he would fly with Avad, along with Vanasha and Olifia of the Vanguard for protection. The stormbird platform could only carry so many and even with four people it would be crowded. Avad was quite nervous as approached the platform even if it was cushioned and secured. They were only rounding the mechanist area for this test. He steeled himself and stepped onto the platform, followed by the other travelers. Vanasha was scanning around for any threats or things that could go wrong. The pilot was checking off a list of things on his focus and talking with the other tinkerers. Olifia looked excited to be there.

After a few minutes of confirming everything was fastened properly (can’t have an accident with the sun king, can we) the lead tinkerer gave Avad the sign that they were ready to fly.

So with a bit more than a hint of nervousness, he spoke. “Ascend.”

And they were flying.

---

“So I heard you were flying?” Erend’s loud voice was a bit grating to Avad’s weary stomach and he had to lower the volume on his focus a bit. “You will let me take a trip after the battle at grove right? I mean I prefer to be on steady ground, but it sounds like something you don’t wanna miss out on. “

“Yes and it was great. I don’t like the word, but if I have to call something glorious that might be it. The sights. I wish all citizens in Meridian could see them once.” Avad paused and steadied himself. It had been wondrous, but “that said, the shaking I could do without.” The tinkerers had promised to improve the experience and Beta was working on a script to stabilize the stormbird’s flight. The journey to the grove would be straighter than this test flight too, so it should shake less.

He hoped they were right, the sun king immediately vomiting upon reaching the grove would not send a great message.

“So you're saying I have to live in Meridian to get a ride? Does being captain of the vanguard qualify, even if I am not there all the time?”

“I suppose it might. If you wanna fly, Erend of course you can. I think Aloy might have requested the first spot though.” Avad smiled. “Kotallo might compete with you for the second journey too. Wings of the ten and all that. “

“Eh, I can wait. Vanguard is still best on steady ground.” He paused and grew a bit more serious. “So you're really coming to the grove?”

“Seems I am. Didn’t expect it to be the first other capital I would visit, but plans call for it. You against it?

“No. Or…” Erend looked more troubled than Avad generally saw him. “Yes. In a way. It’s just that you're a diplomat, not a fighter. Sparks know we Oseram could use some of those at times. But it's going to be a battlefield out there. The Tenakth are some of the best warriors I’ve seen and they fight brutally. I trust Kotallo and Hekarro, but I don’t know if I can trust Regalla and her men to hold their word.”

“So you're worried about me?” That hadn’t been what Avad had been expecting. “Aloy and the rest of the team will be fighting too.” And Erend would be too. Any of them could die in the battle. Avad was hoping to stay as far from the frontline as possible after he did his part. They had very well considered a scenario where Regalla or someone under her ordered a mad charge on him.

“I think Aloy could survive if the very ground collapsed under her, and the rest of the team are similarly capable. I will be fighting in full vanguard armor. But I saw you freeze up in one of the skirmishes before the liberation. Ersa shook you out of it then, but just a stray arrow could have ended the sun king there.”

Avad hesitated a moment, but there wasn’t much he could say or do. “I will have Vanasha with me, and Olifia from the vanguard. And it's not like I joined the battle because it would be fun. We all agreed it would be the best way to force a duel with Regalla.”

“Olifia? Good kid. I heard about Arnuf. He was a great leader. Not as good of a drinker” Erend paused. “And you're right, it’s a tactically sound plan. Just be careful Avad. Regalla is dangerous and so are her rebels and their machines. And we still don’t know exactly what Asera and her crew are planning. She isn’t the type to just follow orders.”

“I thought we had Zo and Varl finding any possible ways of infiltration and being on call for surprises. You talked about Asera at the last strategy meeting.” Avad had met her once when they arrested Dervals followers back in the vanguard. He couldn’t remember much of her, but he thought he remembered a vengeful face behind bars. Someone who plotted in the darkness instead of throwing insults at his face.

“I did. And the information should be correct. She was always more of a schemer and a tinkerer than a fighter. But she is cunning enough to get herself a forge among the oseram and crew of people to follow her. She has a plan, and I doubt that is just following Regalla.” Erend looked at him. “I’m only going to say this once, because you're the sun king and you don’t need anything boosting your ego. But somehow, in some strange way, you might be one of my oldest friends. So don’t do something crazy. Don’t do some stupid move you might see me pull. They only work because of this” he tapped his armor “and my hard head.”

“Thanks, Erend.” And he meant it. Hearing that was far more uplifting than any prayer from a sun priest or duplicitous praise given by a noble. “I appreciate it. Truly”

“Good, because I don’t want to discuss feelings any more than needed. After this I need an hour's battle and some of this “heavy metal” that Aloy found. Unfortunately, there I need to ask you one more question. Her. Aloy”

“Aloy?”

“Yes. You're not doing this just for her are you? Just to see her?”

“No.”

“Good, otherwise I would have to smack you once you got here.” Erend looked like he was considering saying something else but hesitated. “Well. I suppose I will be seeing you two days from now. Best of luck, Avad.”

“Same to you.“

---

The next day felt strange somehow. The reports had confirmed that Regallas forces were attacking in two days time. Her soldiers at the outposts furthest away were moving and they saw more and more overridden machines in the valleys. Avad had eaten breakfast, had a last meeting with his generals and written a speech. The plan was to hold that in the palace in the evening. The last time a sunking had ventured into the Forbidden West, well it had gotten its name and the sundom had seen a minor succession crisis. He didn’t plan to die out there but he wasn’t taking chances. At least Itamen would have a good council of people to guide him.

After a nice midday meal (Avad wasn’t really looking forward to eating pre-packaged food aboard the stormbird). Marad had sent a focus message, bringing to one of the palace corridors. This was the path to the throne room and was richly adorned. Paintings, sculptures and other objects hung on the wall.

“I would suggest you bring this, Avad” Marad pointed at one object in particular. Avad saw a familiar object hanging on the wall. The Sword of Meridian, the weapon of kings. He had last held it to inspire courage back in the battle of Meridian. It was a blade clearly made by the old ones, looking at the metal and craftwork. Something he now found curious as he knew the old ones didn’t use many swords. Not much point to them when bullets rained down around you.

“The sword of Meridian. I don’t plan to be fighting, Marad. And even then I could just loan a weapon.” The myths said the sword had divine properties and that second sun king slew hordes of barbarians with it. Avad had seen it wielded by his father. It held no magic, though it cut through people well enough.

“You might be interested in scanning it” was all Marad said. Then he walked away, casually. Avad supposed he might as well. He tapped his focus and looked at the sword. SWORD, TITANIUM ALLOY. 2 ATTACHED VIDEO FILEs appeared on his focus. Avad clicked to open the first one.

He saw a small field next to some houses. Two young men stood looking into the recording. It was midday and appeared to be summer, the men wore what Avad had learned were ordinary clothes. They spoke as the video started. “Hi y’all. I’m Zach” “And this is Gregory” “And welcome to another episode of Modern Artificing.” A logo in some fanciful script flew across the screen accompanied by a strange jingle. “Today we will forging and testing a new project. Wanna tell the viewers what you have been working on Zach?” “Sure. User Selyrian asked us to make a magic sword. He says, and I’m quoting here. ‘Other weapons are pretty cool, but swords are clearly the best. Love the content guys.’” “Aw, thanks. Well we can’t promise magic but best get to making some swords then, can’t disappoint Selyrian can we Zach?”

The video continued and Avad watched on. It was a lot like watching Oseram tinkerers work and he was sure these two men would fit right among sundoms workshops. The video, like many from the old ones, was partially corrupted but he understood that they weren’t just forging an ordinary sword. From what Avad got these two had a career of imbuing technology in items. Not for war or to sell, but just for novelty. The old ones might have had many faults, but sometimes he wished he could live then.

“So Zach my friend, what is the special ingredient this time? This isn’t just a fancy sword is it?” Gregory spoke. His role seemed to mostly be to ask questions, move the camera and react to things.

“Nah. I took some inspiration from a friend down under and added some explosions.”

“Uh. I don’t think I want my sword to explode Zach.”

“Mild explosions.” Gregory took a step away anyway, shaking his head and repeating the phrase ‘mild explosions’ as if it would make them less dangerous.. Zach picked up the sword and held it. They had a target dummy with a stick standing on the field.

“When the sword’s internal battery is charged it will compress air as you swing it.” Zach swung the sword a few times. Avad heard a swishing sound as he did, sharper than what ordinary weapons made. “Then just tap the button inlaid on it and voila.” An explosion of air flew out of the sword and rocked the target dummy. He saw Zach fall back a bit from the explosion and the camera shook as his partner struggled to hold it steady.

“Maybe you made it a bit too powerful” was the last thing Avad heard before the video cut out.

---

“So Araman did truly find a magical sword, in a sense” Avad commented after saving the video to the network. Marad had appeared right as he finished the video, because of course he had. Avad guessed he had taken four calls and finished three spy missions and a assassination in the meantime.

“It seems so, in a sense. We should count ourselves lucky it ran out of battery before your father or Helis used it.” Avad shuddered. “I have had it recharged for you though. I would suggest you bring it with you, but it is up to you.”

Avad knew he wasn’t a fighter and that it would probably just be unnecessary weight. But he had taken a few lessons in fencing when he was young. And there was something conforming to having the sword. It wasn’t just his father who had wielded it. Earlier sun kings had also wielded it, and some of them had been halfway decent people. Avad was interrupted by a message on his focus. Marad must have gotten it too, because he moved his interface up to check.

Zo - Today 13:21

Regalla appears to be moving. Aloy and Kotallo are investigating. Could you hasten your departure?

Avads pulse raced. He knew they were still doing tests on the stormbird, but it was working. Everything else was ready. Could they?

Marad - Today 13:21

Can you confirm Regalla appears to be moving. What is her estimated time to the grove? We can speed up things on our end but it will take a few hours still.

Aloy- Today 13:22

Message relayed from scout I trust. Gaia’s estimate puts Regalla's arrival at the grove to first light tomorrow morning. Avad, how are things on your end? Can you make it before then?

“Marad, contact Vanasha and the vanguard. If Olifia is busy, get someone else from them.”

“On it.”

Avad wished he had three arms. He was needed to get the stormbird crew ready, have everything packed, tell the people he was leaving and reply to Aloy. Hopefully he could do that on the move.

Avad- Today 13:22

Can leave within the hour. Should make it to the grove around the same time her army does.

Then he grabbed the sword and ran down the stairs towards the bridge. Avad hadn’t learned how to do the rappelling trick Aloy loved to do yet.

But he was on his way.

Chapter Text

The people on the surface grew smaller as they lifted into the air. The Carja scholar turned pilot, who Avad had learned was named Cazaniv adjusted things on the steering device which relayed it to the stormbird. They lurched up and the bottom of the platform narrowly avoided the roof of a warehouse. Still the flight didn’t feel as shaky as the last time they flew and Avad’s stomach felt better too. The tinkerers had recommended him avoid reading while flying and he planned to do that. Just looking down and out, he wondered how anyone could while the sights were there.

He saw Meridian in the distance slowly growing smaller. Beyond that was the green growth of the jewel. To the other side vast mountains and small villages. In the direction they were headed he saw Daybrink, or Lake Powell as the old ones called it, and the dunes leading up to Sunfall. They would be passing over that city in a few hours. Before that he might spot the location where he almost died in an ambush. It felt like that happened weeks ago, but it was merely a few days. Avad tried to pick out smaller details he recognized as he watched, but everything was tiny down there. He thought he saw Brightmarket to the southeast, its market stalls and port would be getting ready for the afternoon rush by now.

“See something interesting, Avad?” A voice came from his left and Vanasha stood up next to him. They didn’t have that much space on the platform, but at least they could move around a bit. Stormbirds were strong machines, and they had bought batteries so power shouldn't be a problem either. There had been many discussions about what to pack to keep weight low while supporting them. The Sword of Meridian had been a last minute pick, but they had a few other tools too.

“The sundom looks so quaint from up here. So peaceful.” Avad looked down and wished he could save the view for all to see. Then realized he could do just that and tapped his focus, taking a series of photos.

“Don’t know if any sun king has described the sundom with the word ‘quaint' before. But I suppose I can see what you mean.” Vanasha looked over the landscape. “You planning on sharing that image with the database?” The database meant Gaia’s database, which anyone connected to the network could share to. With both him and Aloy handing out focuses, there were quite a few now and a lot of images being taken. Beta had mandated proper tagging of images, to keep the database nice and organized. Avad had himself put quite a few pictures there.

“Yeah. I would send Aloy a message directly too but I think she is busy organizing the defense now. I wish everyone in the sundom could see this view though.”

Vanasha nodded non committedly. Avad knew she didn’t share his hobby of photography. After a moment she smirked. “Actually I think you can. Well, not everyone, but there is a way you could present this view to a decent amount of the sundom.”

Avad thought about it. They had about two dozen focuses now and we're finding a few more every week, but it would take years at that rate, even if everyone with a focus showed their friends. They could make paintings from it he supposed, but that would also take way too long to be relevant. Then he got it. “The speech.”

“Exactly. What’s more sun king like than holding a speech while being carried by a stormbird. Araman would be envious.”

“I think Araman might object to the fact there is an Oseram with me, from my personal guard. But yes, you're right Vanasha. It should work.” He tapped his focus and began to type a message to Marad. Since he couldn’t give the speech in Meridian this evening, they had planned to let Navani do it. But this was far better.. It showed the people of Meridian what their sun king and the government was doing. The machinist area was now open to visit after Jahamin and his allies were defeated, but many citizens of the sundom just knew they were doing something with machines. Avad could hold great speeches and make promises, but they meant little to someone who had lived in Meridian village and farmed maize their entire life.

The sun king speaking to his people while sitting on a platform being carried by a stormbird. That might however.

---

“You see something?”

“I think I can see Barren Light. Look over there.” Avad saw Olifia pointing at something.

They had been flying for a few hours and he had to admit, it got a bit boring after a while. Flying was breathtaking for the first hour or so. Then you got used to it. Right now the evening was turning into night and they had passed Sunfall and Chainscrape. In many ways it was wonderful. He was the furthest west he had ever been, and would soon be the furthest west any sun king but perhaps Iriv had ever been. This morning he had been eating breakfast in the palace. On foot, the journey to barren light took a few days even for messengers. A sun king's journey to Barren Light was a week long adventure at least. For the old ones it might have been a few hours “drive”.

He stood up and stretched his legs, then looked in the same direction Vanasha and Olfia were looking. He saw lights in the distance, the wavering lights of torches marking out the tents, the fortress and the wall that guarded the sundom from the “forbidden” west. No matter what happened, he doubted it would stay forbidden for long. Unfortunately they couldn’t stay here. For as much as Avad would like to see Barren Light and move about a bit, they had a battle to win (not like he would do much fighting). They were getting a stream of updates from the grove and the scouts. Regalla’s army was clearly moving and they were making last minute preparations there.

Avad had also confirmed that reading while flying was indeed a bad idea. He had then found that the focus had a text-to-speech feature.

---

Penttoh

Regallas forces spotted from Sky’s Sentry. Multiple slitherfangs and tremortusks. Traps are ready. Should we engage?

Tekkoteh

No. Stay on schedule. Report if anything strange happens or if more forces come. Be ready to attack if Hekarro gives the order.

---

Alva

Took a bit longer than expected but the machines are ready. Awaiting signal. Let’s see Regalla handle them

---

Avad felt someone shaking him and looked up. Where was he? He looked up and nearly panicked when he saw a stormbird, then recalled where he was. He was on his way to the grove to hopefully goad Regalla into dueling Aloy. Somehow he had dozed off, despite crowded space and rustling sounds from the wind. Well, he had been busy recently.

“Hey Avad” Vanasha stood to the side, leaning on the railing off the platform. He focused and took her hand to stand up. “We should arrive at the Grove in 30 minutes. Beta sent you a message. Thought you might want to be awake to respond.”

“Thanks. I should have been awake.”

“Don’t sweat it. Getting some sleep when possible is one of the most important skills I learned as a spy. We have been flying for most of the night and I saw how hard you worked the days before.”

The skies were still dark, but Avad could see the sun on the horizon, back in the direction they came from. The first rays of light were hitting the mountains. He was sure many scholars would find that poetic in the future. Avad tapped his focus and Vanasha nodded.

Beta

Avad. The rebels have been spotted from the grove. They appear to be amassing themselves, before starting the assault. We expect them to be attacking within a few minutes. What’s your ETA?

Avad walked up to Cazaniv at the front of the platform, who looked tired, with bags under his eyes. Avad was paying the pilot extra after this. “Did you say 30 minutes to the grove? Can we make it fly faster?”

The scholar turned pilot turned to look at Avad and replied. “Not if we want to have the option to fly to the base if things go bad. The stormbird has consumed more power than I had hoped.”

“Do we need the option?” They were in it now. With limited storage aboard the stormbird they had arranged for the ability to fly to base if Regalla decided to fight it instead of accepting the duel. But truthfully, Avad didn’t expect that to happen.

Vansasha stepped in. “I’m not going to let you go to a battlefield full of people who hate you with a stormbird without power and two protectors, Avad. I promised Itamin and Nasadi I would try to keep you safe. “

Avad looked down. If he squinted he thought he could see the grove. Below them there was a steppe with large mountain ranges on either side. A tallneck patrolled the steppe, peaceful as ever. Avad realized this was desert clan territory, he was in the Tenatkh lands now. “What if we reserve enough power to land on that mountain, in case we need to flee?” He pointed at the one ahead, closer to the grove.

Vanasha grumbled slightly then nodded. “We should be able to hide there long enough to get another power cell and get out. I doubt Regalla will send her entire force after us.”

Cazaniv seemed to make a mental calculation. “20 minutes, I think. It won’t be as pleasant as the ride has been so far though.”

“Do it.” Avad felt the platform sway as the stormwing accelerated, and grabbed the railing to not fall over inside it. He tapped his focus again and replied to Beta in the chat.

Avad

20 Minutes.

Beta

The battle will have started by then, but I will inform everyone. We will try stalling them as much as possible..

Aloy

Tell your stormbird to hurry up Avad. That’s what I do when my striders feel slow.

Beta

Are you ready, Aloy? We need you too for the plan.

Aloy

Have been for an entire day. Got my sharpshot bow ready. Will try to save energy for the fight with Regalla.

Beta

Good. Don’t text and fight.

Avad

Good luck Aloy. Will be there soon.

Aloy

Horns are blowing. That means they are moving. Be there soon Avad.

---

The next 18 minutes were the most nerve racking in Avad’s life. To know that Aloy, Erend, Aloys companions, and the entire Tenakth tribe was out there fighting for their lives while all he could do was stay on a tiny platform and slowly see more and more of the battle. Beta provided communications and updates as the battle happened. Traps activated, ambushes began, machines lumbered through fortifications and fell by arrows and spears. Avad heard it play by play, which might be worse than not getting any updates at all. And in the meantime he had to equip his Shield Weave armor on a shaky platform. He might not plan to fight, but he wasn’t going to be unprepared. Plus, they had a few more surprises with them.

He could see Regallas forces now. Thousands of Tenakth warriors equipped to the teeth and with them an army of machines. Not many signs of their Oseram allies, but they didn’t appear to need them. Without all the preparations that the Tenatkh and Aloys companions had done over the last week, Avad saw that the grove might have fallen already. They might still have, if not for their sides first reinforcement. Alva had come in with two overridden dreadwings which had managed to bring havoc on the rebels back lines before being taken down. Alva herself had rode off with a small group of riders chasing her. Avad could do nothing about her chances, beyond a useless prayer to the sun.

Regalla’s troops had reorganized themselves by the time the stormbird swooped in above the grove, and seeing a machine not under their control, a group of Tenakth had started firing at them. Cazaniv had been forced to keep them at a height that most bows couldn’t reach, and Vanasha was ready to start firing back if one did. At least most of the rebels were too busy to deal with them now. Well, they had thought they were too busy.

The stormbird hovered over the arena where the Kulrut took place, where the fighting was most fierce. Avad thought he could see Aloy down there, but the distance and chaos made it impossible to tell. Her focus was still showing anyway. He was ready and so was Beta, apparently because he heard a digital sound from his focus and her voice in his ear.

“You're connected now, Avad. Most of the battlefield will hear and see what you have to say. From here on out it’s all up to you and Aloy. Good luck.”

Avad’s original idea had just been to shout from the platform. Looking down, he could see that wouldn’t have worked. Luckily he had the world's smartest sisters on his side. He took a deep breath and spoke.

“Regalla. Tenakth. I am Avad, 14th of the radiant line. Sun king of the Carja.” He tapped his focus and saw the same gesture repeat down at the battlefield where a projector was repeating his movements. “I wish I could speak of peace, since that is what I would want most of all. But I don’t think I could sway you with peace treaties and reparations. So instead I will make you an offer.”

Avad saw an immediate lull in the fighting, with some people on both sides holding up their hands to their ears. They had tuned up the volume quite high on the speakers hidden around the grove so his speech wouldn’t be lost amid the battle. Perhaps slightly too high. A few conflicts around the grove still continued, people either having missed the announcement or not caring. A not insignificant number of rebels had aimed their bows at him.

“Regalla. I challenge you to a duel, with Aloy as my champion. Win and you get to battle me, the sun king. I don’t expect to win such an encounter.”

A murmur went up around the battlefield. Avad didn’t hear the whispers, but he could guess their contents. Disbelief, distrust, disdain. Shouts and insults. He got some of them as Aloy shared her focus sight with him. She stepped forward, spear in hand. Avad saw blood on the blade. She had clearly been fighting, despite Beta’s plan about her conserving energy for this duel. “Regalla. I stand with Hekarro. And with Avad. Will you face me?”

“Aloy of the Nora.” Regalla was an imposing woman, Avad had of course seen the focus projections from the ambush at Barren Light and the battle for the Kulrut, but they didn’t quite capture the fury in her eyes.

“Aloy despite the Nora.“ She corrected.

“You have taken down multiple of my camps and outposts. Defeated Grudda. Organized this defense. For what? Fight for a tribe you don’t belong to? For a king who raided your people?”

“I don’t belong to any tribe. I fight for the future. And since I don’t believe I could talk you down from this path of relentless revenge and bloodlust, I will fight you.”

“Pretty words. Now why would I believe the Sun King would be here? I am no fool. He is surely hiding behind his palace of stone.”

During the negotiation Cazaniv had lowered the stormwing. The platform beneath hovered just a few meters above the rim of the arena. Avad stood on the edge, wearing his Shield-Weaver armor. Of course he had it painted in Carja colors and the gold reflected the sunlight of the dawn. “I’m here. Do you dare accept my challenge Regalla, or do you want to have to fight me behind walls of stone?” Some tenakth must have thought he was real because an arrow flew his way. Avad tried to catch it, but missed. Seeing it being deflected harmlessly still brought murmurs amid the crowds.”I could head back to Meridian, but I doubt you will want to miss this chance.”

Regalla looked at the projection, then up at him and the stormbird. Then she grabbed her bow and faced Aloy. “Fine. I accept the challenge. I heard you killed your father, Sun King. Let’s see if that was out of honor or just a play for power.” She aimed and pulled her bow back in a single swift motion. “Give it your all, Aloy despite the Nora.”

“I will. Always.”

Avad saw Hekarro walking forth as the duel began and Aloy leaped out the way of the first arrow. They locked at each other and both nodded. Their fates were both in Aloy’s hands. Still, as Avad watched the duel begin, her eyes met his for a moment and Avad was sure he had done the right thing.

Chapter Text

Blades clashed, arrows flew and two masters flashed across the battlefield. Avad watched spellbound, just like most of the Tenakth, as Aloy and Regalla fought. Their movements were almost too fast to see at times and Avad felt that if he took his eyes off them for a moment, he would lose track of the battle.

“We're moving into position. I saw a good spot to take the shot ” the voice appeared in Avad’s ear and he remembered they had a plan. The end of the world didn’t care about honor. Should Aloy fall in her duel, Zo and Varl would be a spot from where they could finish off Regalla with a carefully aimed bowshot. It felt strange even considering the possibility, but you made plans for every scenario. For once he wasn’t the one getting shot at.

Avad temporarily disabled his projection (it wasn’t like people didn’t have something more exciting to watch) and tapped his focus to answer. “Good. Are you holding up?”

Zo responded quickly. “We're fine. Varl thought he spotted someone suspicious earlier so we’re keeping watch, but things are alright on our end.”

“Might have seen something too. Found one power cell so far, but I’m keeping watch.” Vanasha had jumped down to look for power cells for the stormbird as the battle started. It was a great idea, they might need a quick escape.

Avad was about to reply but he heard a loud crash from below. Looking down, he saw the platform Aloy and Regalla had been fighting on collapsing and Aloy tumbling down with it. He winced, but knew that Aloy had handled worse situations before. As she landed she rolled with the momentum and brought up her spear in the same motion, cutting an arrow in half. Half of the arrow still landed on her, but was reflected by her Shield Weave. Regalla had avoided falling by standing on a railing, but jumped down a moment after, throwing one of those spikes the Tenatkth loved to use. Aloy narrowly avoided it, clipping her barrier and then Avad saw it begin to drill into the earth beside her. Avad’s reply died down as he focused on keeping up. He wondered how anyone could move like them.

“You feel safe with that armor do you?”. Regalla shouted across the battlefield.

“Says the woman with an army of machines” Aloy replied, shooting an arrow. It went wide and missed Regalla. Avad frowned, it seemed like a shot she should have been able to make. ”I use all the tools available to me. Isn’t that the Tenakth way?” Her arrow hit a wooden support pillar, which dislodged a platform above, sending a few crates towards Regalla, who was forced to throw herself to the side to avoid them.

“Fine. I have some allies of my own.” Regalla charged forward. Sparks flew as they met and Avad could barely follow the clash of blades. He heard the strange pulse though and the following cry of pain. As the Regalla landed on her side with a broken chest plate and large bleeding gash on her arm, Avad thought they were victorious for a moment. Then he saw Aloy. She was on the ground with a hand on her stomach. Her spear lay a few meters beside her.

He couldn’t see the wound, but he could only assume it was bad. That meant that Regalla had deactivated or bypassed her Shield Weave somehow. Avad guessed that it was connected to the pulse, and that it came from the allies she mentioned. It wasn’t a wild guess to assume they were the sons of Prometheus. At least they weren’t here now.

“I have a decent shot. Should I take it?” Varl’s voice was in his ear, and by the tone of his ready to take it. Avad immediately wanted to say yes. Aloy was hurt, her armor was down and she was wounded. Killing Regalla was likely to save her. It would surely make the rebels furious, but it would take away their best fighter. And Aloy should be able to get out in the commotion…But he had also seen her fight. Seen her come back from impossible odds. He still wanted to say yes. But…

“No.”

It was merely a whisper, but Avad heard it through his focus. As Regalla moved forward he heard it again. “No. I got this.” Her voice had a bit of a rasp it normally didn’t, but Aloy stood up nonetheless.

Avad thought she might move for her spear or pull out a warrior bow, but she didn't. He guessed she held something in her hands, but whatever they were, they were too small to see from above. Regalla had her oversized sword and cut in a fast sharp arc, which cleaved the air where Aloy stood a split second earlier. As Regalla began a backswing, which Avad could see would slice her opponent in half, Aloy threw two objects. One flew at Regalla and she redirected her swing to cut it in half. The other flew wide, landing in the arena with an explosion. They both leapt forward. Avad thought he saw a dagger in Aloy’s hand. It wouldn’t stand up to Regalla's sword. As they flew at each other, it seemed like the world moved more slowly and Avad felt his heart fall apart as the blade cut towards the huntress.

He wanted to close his eyes, but couldn't. Instead of the sound tearing flesh however, the blade reached a few centimeters from Aloy’s side and stopped, stuck on something. Regalla looked to be as surprised as he was. Aloy kicked her legs down, and plunged the dagger in Regalla’s chest.

“Thanks for the dagger, Fashav.” Her whisper was lost to anyone without a focus.

“Aloy! Are you alright? How did you get your armor working?” Avad shouted, not caring if it was broadcasted.

“I’ve dealt with shield breaking pulses before.” She stumbled up and sat down, wincing. “Ah, that sword got me good though. Don’t think I can fight for a bit.”

Avad began a reply, but was stopped by Hekarro who walked down from where he was standing. “Aloy is the victor” His deep, booming voice went out across the field. He walked towards Regalla’s body and reached down to touch it. “She has fallen. Tenakth of Regalla, do you accept the terms of the duel?”

A silence went over the battlefield. Avad heard many voices talking in the arena. Then one in his focus.

“West entrance, sons of…” Kotallos' voice was unmistakable, but it was cut off, as someone knocked him out.

A shape appeared on the edge of the arena. A new voice came into his focus. “Well now. Can’t say I expected this. The Sun King in the Tenakth grove.” Avad saw a shape he recognized from his focus. A woman in metal armor stood on the border of the arena, armed with a large, clearly custom made hammer. Beside her stood a group of heavily armored men and women, some carrying strange weapons that they now pointed into the arena. Avad didn’t recognize the weapons, but they look like something from the old ones. Asera clapped once, which silenced the arena once more. “I had another plan, actually. But it’s the adaptable smith that gets the shards.”

“What do you want, Asera? This is a Tenakth conflict.” Hekarro spoke out.

“A Tenakth conflict? Seems like you have quite a few allies of other tribes, chieftain” Her words sounded mocking. “But no, I don’t care for your conflict. I care for one thing, and that thing has for some reason presented itself in this arena.” She turned her gaze to him and Avad could see her eyes burned with fury. “I challenge you to a duel to the death, Sun king..”

Avad still eyed those weapons Asera’s men were pointing into the arena, He tried to figure a reply that would stall things. If he could give Beta time to identify them he would know what they were facing. He was sure Varl and Zo were somewhere in the arena looking for a way to take them down. Yet another spoke up as Avad thought of a reply. “You want an Oseram duel Asera? I'll fight you”. Erend walked in from one of the side rooms. His armor was a bit bruised and his hammer was bloody, but he had a serious expression. One of Asera’s men turned and pointed his weapon towards Erend, as she addressed him.

“Ah. Erend, the puppet. No, I’m not interested in fighting a meathead. This duel will be between me and the Sun King. No champions.”

“You know, my buddy Avad isn’t really the fighting type, and I don’t see many reasons he would have to accept your offer” Avad cringed. He didn't know if Erend couldn’t see the weapons from his angle or if he was just betting on his armor being stronger. Of course, Erend was right, he didn’t like his chances against Asera in a fight.

“Gerud, show that fool we mean business.” Gerud was a burly man in heavy armor with a long beard. He held one of the strange weapons and had it pointed towards Erend. Avad didn’t hear his reply, but he did hear Asera respond with just the word “leg” in his focus.

Then he heard the bullet. There was no following it, there was simply a flash and then Erend cried out. Avad saw him stumble to the ground. Erend still had his armor on but it had seemed to do little to stop the bullet.

“Laser sights on.” A range of red rays appeared in the arena. They looked like rays of sunlight, only wrong. Blood red. A year ago he might have considered it some form of sign. Now Beta had explained lasers to him a few weeks ago as she was working on some project. He didn’t know if that knowledge made him more or less terrified of the weapons.

They were each pointing a beam towards one of them. Aloy had four beams on her, even as she lay on the arena floor. Erend and Hekarro had two each, and even Olfia beside him had one. He didn’t actually, he supposed he wasn’t a threat. He couldn’t see Vanasha, and Varl and Zo, so presumably they were also still hidden and safe. He hoped they were working on a plan. The fact that he hadn’t heard Beta reply in the focus, made him worry Asera had done something to cut her off. At least she was physically safe.

“You're not the only one who can go digging for ancient weapons.” Asera smiled at him. Two heavily armored Oseram women dragged an unconscious Kotallo into the arena. “Now sun king. Here is your reason to accept my duel. Or should I have my men pick your friends off one by one like you did to my sisters?”

---

He heard the voices from the spectators as the heir of the sun stepped towards the arena. There were hundreds of observers, who simply watched from above. He wished to know what they thought. Did they think this was just, or were they like him. Weak. Useless. If only he had trained more instead of just reading his stupid books all day then he could be fighting there. Standing up for something. The voices of the crowds grew louder as the prince stepped down. Before he could reach the edge of the arena though, he stopped, pushing against the soldiers for a moment. Kadaman looked back at him.

“I will be fine.” Somehow he smiled as the crowd cheered for his demise “And brother, remember if something happens to you, you were always the smartest of us. You will always be able to figure something out.”

Then Kadaman jumped into the arena.

---

Avad stood in the same arena. Not physically of course. But he stood there sword in hand, armor on facing an impossible force intent on killing him. And he had lost every duel against his brother.

The enemy walked closer. She smiled as she held her weapon. A sharp, sadistic smile that wouldn’t have looked wrong on his father. Something told him that she wasn’t a master at arms either. Erend had described her as a tinkerer and a plotter, not a fighter. She didn’t wear a weapon of the old ones, just a hammer. She wasn’t Regalla, and truth to be told was quite sure that everyone in the Base, but Beta could have beaten her. That was why she hadn’t challenged them, he supposed. And now he was in the arena. Facing death.

“When it looks impossible, look deeper and fight like you can win”. The words came into his mind. Aloy’s had said them to him. He supposed he had done what he had set out to do here. They had defeated Regalla. He had hoped to talk to her afterwards, but well he had done his mission. Maybe it was a fitting end…

”FIGHT AVAD”. He heard Aloy’s voice again, and it jolted out of his daze. Death came at him with a hammer. But well, he had a sword in hand. Avad brought up his blade and blocked. It wasn’t a perfect block and the impact sent him back a few meters, but it saved his life.

“Oh. Was wondering if you were just going to stand there.” Asera snarled at him and the world came into focus. “More fun this way.”

Avad wasn’t a warrior. But it wouldn’t stop him from trying. He brought up the sword of Meridian, and took a fencer's stance. Then the battle truly began.

---

The shield weave flashed again as Avad landed on the floor of the arena. It was running out of power and so was he. Asera might not be a fighter at Aloy or Regalla’s level, but she was better than him. She might even have been taking it easy so far. Avad felt his body ache as he stood up and lifted his sword. He had one plan left at least, the sword of Meridian whirred as it gathered air into its pommel. The sword was cracked in a few places from the parries, but it still worked. It was charged, beyond what it was meant to handle.

“You play well but sometimes you have to commit to an attack. Can’t win a fight by just defending”. Kotallo’s words, said over a game of machine strike, echoed in his mind. Asera came at him as she had done before, and Avad saw that it wouldn’t be a fatal blow. She was just aiming for his arm. He didn’t move to block as he did before, instead he twisted to the side and lunged forward. His sword would not pierce her heavy armor, but it didn’t need to. At the same time Asera’s hammer hit him in the shoulder and drained the last power of his shield weave, Avad activated the Sword of Meridian.

---

“Hi y’all. I’m Zach.” There was a pause as if he was waiting for something. “And well Greg isn’t here. He got drafted into Enduring Victory, since he used to serve the navy. So it’s just me today.” The smile on the young man’s lips vanished and his voice cracked. “I don’t know why I’m even doing this, the world is ending and no one is going to watch two dorky guys mess around with technology outside their aunt's ranch. I just wanted to make some kind of final video I guess, maybe for the future. Unsure if I will even post it. I will be heading back to my folks soon and I’m gonna take the projects with me. Store them there, in case anyone survives this apocalypse” The man looked down at something outside of the camera, then brought up a sword into view. “This though, was one of our favorite projects.” He held up the sword and swung it casually, though without much grace. “The magic sword, simple but elegant. And you know where to place magic swords?”

The video continued as Zach adjusted the camera, to show a large rock. A clear cut had been made on top if. He took the sword and placed it inside, blade first. “Greg always liked mythology. Maybe someone in the future will find it and use it for some epic deed. If Enduring Victory works then it could be a fun easter egg, for those that survive. Maybe it could convince a far future alien that King Arthur was real.” He chuckled slightly. “That would be worth it. Maybe it’s entirely pointless. Either way” The man took a deep breath. “For probably the last time, Zach signing out”.

The Sword of Meridian lay shattered on the arena floor. The hilt of the sword wielded by fourteen sun kings stuck out of the ground twenty meters from where Avad lay. He had watched the other recording stored on it on the flight here. The overcharged explosion of air had blown him back a few meters. His head was pounding, but he was alive. He struggled to get up and took in his surroundings. Asera had been blown into one of the arena walls, and her chestplate was entirely broken. Avad hopes were crushed a moment later, as she opened her eyes and coughed.

“Clever.” Asera spat out a bit of blood, but there was a fury in her eyes now. A sinking feeling in his stomach told Avad that she had been holding back a bit, playing with her food. He doubted that.would continue. And he was without a weapon, while Asera’s hammer lay at her feet. There were a few weapons scattered around the arena but most of them were damaged. He saw a bow on the floor, but truthfully, he could barely aim one. He was only really good with a sword, and well…wasn’t that ironic. There was one sword in sight. Regalla’s oversized blade lay at her feet. He rushed forward as Asera got her bearing and picked up her hammer. The sword was too large for a fencer's stance, but he held it out anyway. It felt heavy and unwieldy in his hands, but it would have to do.

“You must think you’re fighting against a poor misled girl, blinded by revenge”. Avad nearly lost his grip on the sword on the first parry.

“I know of you Avad. You’re too much of a coward to come here for little reason.” The second caused his hand to shake, and before he could reply Asera swung in a high arc that forced him to throw himself on the ground.

“You think you’re some sort of savior, do you?” He rolled to the side as the hammer hit the ground. He was trying to get a word out but Asera’s attacks gave no room to even breathe. “Or maybe you're just blinded by love. Perhaps I should order Barlov to take a shot anyway. The Nora has been a pain to deal with.”

“No, the Zeniths…” He managed to get out, while stumbling up in the sand.

“Ah, yes the Zeniths. Sylens thinks he’s got me played.” She swung her hammer around again, and he stumbled back to avoid it. “I’ve faced “impossible” odds before. I can figure out something with them. Everyone wants something.”

“Not them. Not from you”. He was unsure of how much Asera truly knew, but he doubted the Zeniths were interested in any trades. And he wouldn’t trust any deals they offered either.

“Their tribe's technology is impressive, but nothing that can’t be acquired with some cunning.” Sylens still had her in the dark then. Avad missed the kick that came at him. He tumbled into the sand, and lost grip on Regalla’s sword. “Either way, you won't be a part of that future.” She kicked away the sword. Aloy lay only a few meters away, but there was still a laser pointed at her. There was nothing else in reach.

“Any last words, ‘your radiance’?” She threw out his title mockingly. He could explain the Zeniths, but even if she believed him, it wasn’t like she would let him go. He could try to kick her in the knee, but he was no brawler and her leg armor was still intact. He could say something to Aloy, but what was there to say? He could…

“Nothing? Oh well.” She swung her hammer downwards. An ear piercing sound burst out, and Asera stopped momentarily and her face looked pained. The sound seemed to be coming from her focus, but it was loud enough to be loud to him. Avad took the moment, and reached out for the nearest object. Aloy’s spear came into his hand. How? For once, Avad stopped analyzing things and thrust upwards. Asera seemed to just come out of the moment of shook as the spear went through her broken chestplate.

Asera fell backwards. Her hammer fell forwards towards, Avad spent his last bit of energy rolling to the side. Then his world went black.

Chapter Text

Avad woke up in an unfamiliar room. Metallic walls with limited decorations, a dim, soft, stable light and a bed that was both utilitarian and comely. He was distinctly not in the palace, with its flickering candles, adorned sandstone and soft flower scents. Avad moved his head up to look around and felt his entire body aching at the motion. His right hand felt numb and it felt like a thunderjaw had stomped on him. As he did the light brightened slightly and a voice, soft and pleasant, but still clearly digital spoke out in the room.

“Good morning, Avad.” He did recognize the voice. He hadn’t spoken much to Gaia, but her voice was unmistakable. That meant that there was only one place he could be. He had hoped his entrance to the Base would be a bit more dignified, but he didn’t really mind. At least he had made it.

“Hello Gaia. I’m in the Base aren’t I?”. Avad replied. His throat felt a bit coarse as he spoke, but looking to the side someone had placed a glass of water there.

“Correct.” She replied “I would explain what happened, but Aloy is currently running to your room. I think she would be inclined to do so.” There was almost a gentle laugh in Gaia’s voice before it faded away, and the door to the room opened. Aloy stood outside. She was in light clothes and had a set of bandages over her chest where Regalla injured her. She looked tired, but not as stressed as he had seen her last time they met. Avad realized that this might be the first time he saw Aloy outside her armor in person. Most times she had shown up to the palace had been for some sort of emergency. She stepped into the room and looked at him.

“Avad. You’re awake” She spoke, then seemed unsure what to do next. It was almost like she didn’t believe he was here.

”Aloy.” He looked back at her and smiled. “Good morning, apparently. I don’t know what time it is, and this place lacks windows.” That wasn’t his best response. Avad didn’t know what to say. There were so many things to say. He wanted to run up and hug her, but he felt like his body wouldn’t appreciate that and he didn’t quite know where they stood.

Aloy looked at her focus for a moment. “06:12 apparently. You were asleep for almost a day. Quite annoying actually, I wanted to be awake when you woke up.” Then she seemed to decide something, and tapped the door to close it. “More importantly you're alive. And you're here.” She walked over to his bed. “May I?”

That felt sudden. But Avad nodded. She was still Aloy. Intelligent, caring, inventive, fierce, courageous, beautiful, wise. He would be lying if he said hadn’t seen this moment in his dreams before.

Aloy hopped onto the bedside, and sat there next to where he lay. The bed was fairly large, so it wasn’t really cramped. She looked at his puzzled expression. “I could get a chair if you want. But I thought you wouldn’t mind.”

Avad shook his head. “No, it’s fine.” Perhaps, this wasn’t quite what he had expected to happen. He decided to ask a question to get his mind off things. “So what happened? How am I here?”

“Well, a lot of things” Aloy focused for a moment..”You might wanna ask the others for their part of things. After you killed Asera, Hekarro proclaimed your duel over. The other Oseram didn’t really seem to have considered the possibility of you winning and were unsure of what to do. Hekarro allowed them to leave the arena and most of them agreed to do so.”

“Just like that?” If he had died, much of his army would fight to their last breath to avenge him. It wouldn’t accomplish much in a situation like this, and leaving was a more practical move. But it still felt disloyal, even if it was the right move.

“Well, they were heavily outnumbered. Even with their weapons and armor, they had little chance of fighting out. The fact that he let them leave with their weapons and armor, was also a good reason. And I think I saw Vanasha standing behind their second in command. That probably helped them make the decision.”

That would. Vanasha had trained in Marad’s school of ‘appearing where she was needed’. Avad had seen her work many times. “So what then? The Tenakth?”

“I think you impressed many with the fight. That, combined with Regalla’s death, led many to surrender.” Aloy grimaced. “Some still decided to continue fighting. A dozen or so went straight for you. I don’t think I would have been able to protect you without Zo and Varl’s help. It wasn’t pretty. But most of the Tenakth rebels either joined Hekarro or fled into the jungle.”

“Or died.” Avad said softly. He hoped that would be the last big battle he would see, but something in his heart told it wouldn’t.

“Or died.” Aloy repeated. “Still, I think one of Regalla’s officers surrendered, because I saw a tremortusk power down without being destroyed. We saved a lot of lives, Avad. Hekarro and Kotallo are in the grove now, rebuilding and organizing things for the wounded.”

“Kotallo’s safe?”

“Yeah. He was ambushed by a few of Asera’s operatives. But Hekarro had them release him as part of the condition for leaving. Zo, Varl and Erend are safe too, as are the people you brought along. Vanasha organized your rescue on the stormbird and brought me and Zo along for medical assistance.”

Avad breathed out a sigh of relief. “What about Alva? Last I heard she had a group of riders after her and was fleeing on her strider.”

Aloy smiled slightly. “Well it seems she encountered another group of riders and they decided to finally take a stand.” She paused and looked at him, as he was trying to figure out who she was talking about. “I have mentioned the machine races, I joined right? Seems Nil decided to fight for something again.”

Avad did remember that, though the details were fussy. Everyone was safe and sound. He had a thousand more questions, but for now he was content to just be. Aloy yawned and looked at him.

“Were you awake the whole night?” She looked tired and Avad doubted she had gotten any sleep the night before the fight.

Aloy nodded. “I wanted to be awake when you woke up. I fell unconscious and slept for a few hours after the battle”

“You didn’t need to, Aloy.” Avad paused. “But I appreciate it.”

Aloy hesitated. She blinked, and then her eyes focused slightly.

“Avad. Watching you fight Asera was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I hate” her voice almost cracked at the word “ watching people I care about fight and there being nothing I can do about. If Asera hadn’t taken it easy in the beginning, if Regallas sword had fallen on the other side of her, if Beta hadn’t managed to hack her focus when she did… I. I would have lost you, and there would have been nothing I could have done about it.” Avad saw tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. “When I fight, I might be in danger, but at least there is something I can do about it.”

Avad didn’t know what to say. ‘But you didn’t’ felt inadequate. He reached up his left hand and brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen loose from her braid.

“I lost Rost that way. Helpless, watching him fight, without being able to do anything.” Avad hugged her. “Some naive part of me thought I could prevent something like that from happening again. I guess that might be one reason I kept people away too. Too afraid of losing them.”

“I’m here, Aloy.” he said, because what else was there to say? “And if you want me too, I’m not leaving.”

“You are. Somehow.” She wiped her eyes, then smiled again. “Remember the question you asked me in Meridian, Avad? Can I say yes now?”

“Of course.”

Then she bent down and their lips met.

---

Avad would never get tired of waking up next to her sleeping face. And unlike their nightly focus calls, she was now beside him. Aloy looked so calm, so serene there, waking her felt almost sacrilegious. And she had been tired when she came in here, so he let rest as he scooted closer to the bed table and checked his focus, carefully to not wake Aloy with its display.

11:09. 4 Notifications.

Avad considered ignoring them. Perhaps the world could let them sleep for a bit. It chirped again and tapped the latest message.

Erend - Today 11:08

Uh, it seems you two need to wake up. We might have a visitor.

Avad carefully hopped off the bed and stretched his legs (and by the sun, they did not like that). Hopefully it would be someone he could deal with. It would be unfortunate to have to wake Aloy.

A moment later a voice spoke out from his focus.

“Congratulations Aloy. You’ve saved the Tenakth for another few weeks, at the cost of dooming the rest of the planet.“

Well that was the person they were looking for. He supposed he had to wake Aloy. And hopefully figure out how Sylens kept hacking their focuses.

Chapter Text

Like most people, Sylens had never met the sun king. At one point he had considered taking Hades to him, instead of the Shadow Carja. If he had got an audience, it would certainly have been a faster way to get Hades to the Spire. But knowing what he knew of the man, Sylens had doubted that he would have agreed with that. He had also had some theories on Hades' true goal even back then, and gone for a slower approach. Based on what he knew now, he supposed that had been a logical decision.

That did mean that for a long time, the only information Sylens had gotten about the sun king was from the Shadow Carja. And well, cultists were never really a good information source to base an opinion from. Really Sylens had dealt with more cultists than he hoped for in his life. Even his most recent information source on the Sundom had been one of them.

So Sylens had what others might call an ‘open mind’ when meeting the sun king. He would prefer to call it a logical viewpoint. Because as he had long since observed, bias and xenophobia did not lead to growth and knowledge. He had already seen some of the others of Aloy’s company. The Nora Brave tried to project a peaceful calm, but was clearly ready with his spear. The woman from across the pacific who Sylens might be quite interested in conversing with at some point, studied him as he walked past. The Oseram with the hammer who was not quite just a well meaning brute. He saw all of them, and indeed their readied weapons. This wasn’t a situation he could fight his way out of. But he was sure Aloy wasn’t stupid enough to invite him for just revenge. She had a plan of some sort, and even if he might not say it, Sylens was curious to see what it was. Aloy could be quite smart when she wasn’t thinking with her feelings.

She stepped out of one of the rooms with the sun king alongside her. The part of Sylens dedicated to social manipulation and making witty comments noticed her rough bed-hair, newly awake look and the fact that they existed in the same room, and filed that for later. The other parts of him asked the more rational question.

“Hello, Aloy.” He looked around, as if he was taking in the sights, despite the fact he very well knew where they were. “Regional Control Center 9. You’ve picked a good location for a base of operations. It’s well functional, while being hidden in the mountain.” He had considered it himself, but it had proven hard to get into and lacked the secrecy he would like for a base of operations. “Now then, what’s your plan to defeat the Zeniths? It seems we are down an army.” He looked at the sun king. “And if a Carja army is your plan, I doubt the Tenakth would let them through, even with the stunt you two just pulled. Nor would that be likely to defeat the Zeniths, as I am sure you know.”

Aloy blinked for a moment and adopted her argumentative stance. She had a plan, Sylens could tell and, well he hoped for all of their sakes it was a good one. There was so much to do and learn, and too little time. “While you have been building an army of fanatics again, Sylens, I have a plan that’s more likely to defeat the Zeniths, and doesn’t involve sacrificing an entire tribe.” Sylens had an idea on where this was going, and really it was the reason he had led Aloy to the west in the first place. As he had learned, there were some doors only she could open. “We are getting Hephestus.”

Sylens smiled. “Of course. I don’t see what part of that plan requires me, or destroying the only alternative way of defeating the threat before us. You should have everything you need to capture Hephestus at Gemini already. Why haven’t you done so?” It was the question he had pondered on the way here. He had his informants, and it wasn’t like Aloy was subtle with her heroics, so tracking her progress hadn’t been hard. He had been informed when she came back with Aether, Poseidon and Demeter. Her progress had been stable, and reasonably fast despite her other heroics. Then she had suddenly headed out to the ruins of San Francisco for no apparent reason, and after she returned stopped for a few days. His tracker told him that Hespeshtus was still running loose however, so? He doubted Aloy could lure the tracker and she had little reason to fake that even if she did.

She still had that expression that told she knew something that he didn’t. There were few people that did, and Sylens had to admit he liked having an intellectual equal. “We aren’t the only ones interested in capturing Hephestus. The Zeniths have a tracker on it and will be ready to ambush us when we do.”

“Hmm.” That made a lot of sense, and it was the type of move they would do. It was the logical move after all, and from what Sylens had gathered Gerard seemed like a man who would make them, when he wasn’t high on his own ego. “How do you know that for certain?” He hadn’t seen any, and he had used some pretty advanced technology for his. If she was just guessing, it was an extremely risky guess, when the ecosystem was crumbling day by day. “It doesn’t seem like you to just guess something like that.”

“No, Gaia would you mind playing the file”. She spoke out into the room, and the AI responded. Sylens wished his work with AI’s had been that smooth. Still, he was curious what this was. Had she done some kind of surveillance into the Zenith base? The forcefield surrounding it made that impossible for him but maybe with Gaia and the clone, they had figured something out. The clone could have known something, he supposed.

Sylens heard a recording, and listened, mentally recording all he heard. There were two voices speaking.. He hadn’t heard either in person but recognized one of them quickly. Tilda van der Meer. She spoke with the same casual confidence he had heard her speak in a few audio clips. She was speaking about some painting, something Sylens knew was a hobby of hers. Only this time…

“You have some interesting perspective work here. It’s a mix of a classical style with something more modernist. The color choices match the other paintings I’ve seen. Many reds and golds” Tilda’s voice paused slightly and Sylens felt like he knew what was coming next. That would make the other speaker… “There were some old colleagues of mine back in the day that would have been fascinated by the art here in the sundom. I’m sure they would have given billions to see what a culture disconnected from the modern world would come up with.” She said the last words almost mockingly, “Your radiance.”

Sylens looked at the sun king in a new light. Anyone who survived an encounter with a Zenith, had one accomplishment. He had worked with many who would have carelessly said something and then had their castle cut in half. Most leaders might not realize just how outclassed they were. Even if the sun king had apparently lured her with art. “Well then. You were visited by one of them. Curious. Still, I am guessing Tilda said something that wasn’t just about paintings.”

Gaia skipped forward in the recording, and they must have moved as Sylens heard the voices fainter. Sylens didn’t miss Tilda’s message though. “I will even give you a tip to send to Aloy. As a thanks for all the art if nothing else, few people appreciate good art nowadays. Tell her that Gerard has a plan regarding Hephestus. It will be interesting to see what she will do with that information”. He let the recording hang in the air for a moment. It was interesting indeed.

“So, needing to be ready for the Zeniths, you looked for me?” Sylens looked over Aloy’s companions. At least a few of them held high positions in their respective tribes and he knew Aloy’s name carried a lot of weight. “I had noticed the increased searches and guards in many places, I guess that you were behind that too.”

“Yes. I would have sent a letter if I thought that I had a chance of working too. But I suppose smashing your newest cult is the only way of getting a hold of you” Aloy looked sharply at him. “Are you helping us, Sylens, or did you just come here to chat?”

“As I said. You destroyed my army. The remaining Tenakth rebels have no chance at giving us the time we need to fight the Zeniths.” He reached for his backpack and slowly pulled out an item. He saw Erend and Varl grabbing their weapons, but Aloy motioned them back. “This is what you wanted?” He held out the item he had dedicated many months to making. Full of technology far beyond even his understanding. Verbena’s demise. Nemesis’s Shield Disabler. “I have little option but to stick with you. I hope you have a plan”

---

Turns out Aloy didn’t have a plan. Oh well, she did, it was just awful.

“You planned to fight Hephestus' greatest creations by yourself? Right before you took on the immortal, space-faring people with far better technology than you?” Sometimes Sylens wondered if the old ones had been wrong and ‘good luck’ really existed as a thing. There was little reason Aloy was alive if she didn’t have a good dose of it. That wasn’t consistent with his logical worldview, but some of the stunts she pulled…

Sylens sighted and thought the plan over. He could, intellectually if not emotionally, understand not wanting to put people’s life in danger. But this was about the fate of the world. If he was making the plans and it seemed like it would improve the odds, he would have sent an army into the cauldron.

“What else do you want me to do? If we don’t use the pulse generators, the Zeniths will easily find us, and I don’t see how fighting both the Zeniths and Hephestus at the same time would help us.” Sylens thought it might actually. The AI was likely to make the logical assumption and see the Zeniths as the bigger threat. He had a better plan still, but listened as Aloy went on. ”And I need someone to protect Beta. You might be able to handle yourself, but I didn’t invite you for your fighting skills, Sylens.”

“I would consider you a fool if you did.” Sylens sighed again. “Aloy, you just saved a tribe from a deadly civil war. Use them.” He saw her ready to reply something about not throwing away people and cut her off. “...To activate the pulse generators. From what I’ve found, the Tenakth are capable of carrying stuff and pressing buttons.”

Aloy looked at him with a quizzical expression, like she was trying to find a flaw in his plan. “You know, you keep starting cults, but then you are annoyingly smart at times.” She finally conceded, though it seemed like it pained her to say. “I will have to send a message to Hekarro and see if he can spare some people from the grove rebuilding.”

“From what I’ve heard he is a reasonable man. I'm sure he could dedicate some to saving the world.” Sylens had to admit enjoyed her lack of response.

---

The Base was one the better places he had worked at. It wasn’t a war camp full of religious fanatics, a freezing Banuk cave where shamans collected knowledge and frostbite, or a camp full of tinkerers who would be capable of greatness if they let their grudges die. The base had running water, warm beds and tolerable, if a bit overly talkative, company. Sylens was used to suspicion and didn’t really care for the fact that Varl seemed to expect him to betray them at any moment. That was normal. Sylens worked on mutual self interest, and intrigue and potential backstabbings were part of that. He had enjoyed leading Asera on the wrong path after she managed to find some information about the Zeniths on a misplaced file.

He was not used to Alva who causally came up to him with intelligent technical questions on the science, the old ones and foci. Normally he led people who asked him too many questions away with sharp answers and political maneuvering. Sometimes threats. The diviner kept taking notes and could figure out answers to his riddles.

The others were different still. Erend had tried to get him to play Machine Strike (Sylens beat him 3-0) and then introduce him to trash metal (Sylens paused the file after 3 seconds). Zo seemed to mostly regard him with quiet suspicion. The Carja that Avad had brought with him seemed busy enough. The scholar tinkered with the stormbird and the vanguard worked on her hammer and chatted with Erend. Then there was Kotallo who had walked up to him after he got back from the grove.

“I would punch you if Aloy didn’t need you.” Ah, honesty. It was a rare thing, Sylens found.

---

They had a small command center outside Scalding Spear. It had taken a few days to finish up the plans and preparations. Days that Sylens knew they were running desperately short on. But also days that were needed. He could see Aloy’s desire to run in and get Hephaestus and part of him agreed, but they only got one shot at this. Truly, it felt like the rogue subordinate function didn’t matter as much as the Zeniths that were sure to show up, but it was still their best and only way to restore the ecosystem.

What good that might do them. But telling Aloy about Nemesis was not going to lead to anything productive. She worked best when she had one task to focus on, and if things went right he didn’t plan to stick around anyway. Aloy was talking to some of the Tenakth who were heading off with a pulse generator on a charger. That was the last group to head out. Sylens had to admit that with him, Aloy, Beta and Hekarro organizing things, they had been able to act much faster than he normally could alone. Avad had helped too, amidst running the sundom from a distance. While he lacked in cunning and strategy, the sun king had a talent for getting people to work together.

Kotallo - Today 10:22

We are all heading out. No issues on our end.

-

Sylens tapped his focus. He had, after some consideration, agreed to join the focus network, though he kept his documents hidden. Aloy’s network was far less top down than the ones he had been a part of, and he saw a few replies pop up as everyone confirmed their readiness. It wasn’t entirely decentralized, Aloy was certainly the group's leader, even if she might not phrase it that way. He saw her walking closer now as the Tenatkh group rode away.

“You ready?” Her tone was brisk, but with a hint of excitement. “The weapon in order?”

“Of course.” He had triple checked it. Sylens was not a man that left things up to fate. He had of course considered the possibility that the Zeniths might have re-configured their shields. Or were carrying something that could disable his device. He had plans to deal with either scenario, even though he hoped he didn’t have to use them.

They walked in silence through their camp. There were few people here now, but he saw a few guards and a camp cook packing up things. Aloy had given them instructions on what to do if the Zeniths attacked, but the truth was there was nothing that could really help them in such a scenario. Sylens held the only viable path to defeating them and he had no working extra copies. Yet.

While he normally would appreciate the lack of idle chatter (the base had quite enough of it), Sylens found himself speaking up.

“I suppose I have a gift for you”.

Aloy looked at him with a mix of distrust and curiosity. Mostly the former. “The last time you gave me a gift before an important battle, it saved the malevolent AI trying to kill me. I don’t think I want your ‘gift’, Sylens.”

“That gift also gave us the information we needed to have this fighting chance against the Zeniths.”

Aloy still scowled at him. “So what is this time? You want to keep the Zeniths alive for information on some bigger threat?”

Sylens paused slightly. Had she figured out something? Did she know about Nemesis? No, nothing in her behavior indicated that “No, this one is more of a removal of a potential future threat. One of far less importance than the Zeniths. Before you dealt with all of the Regalla rebels they brought me in someone they caught.” He tapped his focus to display a picture.

“A Carja soldier. Looks like shadow Carja clothes. I know you don’t do this whole human interaction thing often, but this isn’t what most people would consider a gift..”

“Does the name Jarciv mean anything to you?”

“No.” Aloy paused. Then her face grew serious as she remembered it. “He’s the one that shot Avad. Did you kill him for me? That doesn’t seem like something you would spend your time doing.”

“No. A Carja, especially one in Kestrel gear doesn’t make it far in the West. But I heard that the rebels had captured a Carja soldier and ordered him brought to me. I got to question him before the rebels did.”

“Doubt you got much scientific information out of him.”

“No. And I don’t trust the words of fanatics anyway. But I wanted to know what remained of the Shadow Carja.” Sylens didn’t really know why had cared so much at the time. The Shadow Carja hadn’t mattered then. While it gave him some information about the state of the sundom, there were easier ways to get that with less cultist bias. But he had after all helped start the Eclipse, so he might as well hear about its end.“I left a list of Shadow Carja hideouts and loyalists on a focus back at the base.”

“”Hmm. Well I suppose you have something resembling empathy.” Aloy might have been about to say something else, but were interrupted as they saw Erend and Alva. She had an overridden stormbird flying above her..

“We’re here. You ready to go?”

Aloy nodded and they walked off. Whatever she had been about to say disappeared. Sylens realized that he had been thinking of something to say too. But “I’m sorry I started a cult that killed your adopted father and threatened to destroy the world” was not how he normally spoke. And “it had seemed like the logical decision at the time” didn’t feel like a good argument for once.

Chapter Text

It was the first time Beta entered a cauldron, but not her first time seeing one. In the days leading up to their journey to Gemini she had scoured over Aloy’s recordings of cauldrons and again questioned just how her sister could do the things she could. She knew the layout of this one too, as Varl and Zo had been there earlier to scout and she had looked over their feed on her focus.

Now there was a much larger group entering Gemini. Beta walked behind Erend and Kotallo who were carrying two of the ravager cannons that the sundom’s tinkers had modified so long ago. Varl and Zo were climbing up to find good ledges that gave the best angles on the entire cauldron, having already carried Gaia next to one of the cauldron cores. Aloy was there now with Alva and Sylens, setting up scripts and making sure all the wires were in their proper order. Beta planned to join them momentarily, she was just taking in the entirety of the cauldron.

“It's an interesting place, aint it, little tinkerer” She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and turned around, perhaps too hurriedly. Vanasha stood there next to her. “I can't imagine going into these on the regular. These gray walls, strange devices and the sheer scale of it all.” She hadn’t spoken much to the master spy. Beta had been quite busy in the days leading up to the mission and she was never the most social person.

“It is.” It reminded her a bit of the Zeniths, she had to admit. The sheer strangeness, but there was a difference. Zenith tech was shiny and golden, everything polished to mirror sheen. This place was completely utilitarian, crafted by machines with no care for form. Somehow it was better, truer. “It’s curious”

Vanasha looked her over and nodded. “I suppose you might say that. I think I prefer doing my work in cities, where I know how the buildings and walls operate. This is like entering one of the worlds of the books Itamen reads, when he is allowed to pick freely from the library under Meridian. The type Nasadi wouldn’t approve of.”

Beta didn’t know how to respond to that, so she just said she was going to help with installing Gaia into the systems and left. People were hard to talk to sometimes. Especially pretty ladies that seemed to have the ability to appear and disappear at will. Sometimes Beta preferred code to people. It did what she told it to, and didn’t behave strangely.

Most of the time.

---

She tapped open her focus as she watched Aloy do the finishing touches on her core. At least here was something she had an advantage in. While Aloy figured out how to route a static conduit into Kasumi field, Beta flicked over their focus network. She had, with the help of Sylens, linked up all of their focus feeds into one system that connected to the Base. With a flick of a finger she could see from any of their perspectives, or from Avad’s and the people back at Base. And on his side Avad had access to any of their viewpoints with a flick of a button.

It had been done to help communication, and be ready for any eventuality. And because she was not going to let Avad wait in silent uncertainty, while they fought Hephaestus and most certainly the Zeniths. Before they had finalized the plans, Beta had planned to stay back at the base. She was no fighter (in fact, even Avad was better than her) and in most cases her programming expertise wasn’t useful on a battlefield. Really she supposed was here as Elizabeth Sobeck, not for any other reason.

“The scripts are finally in place.” Aloy sounded just slightly annoyed. “How are things going? Everyone ready?”. As she spoke her excitement was back, but also a hint of command.

“All the traps are placed.” Kotallo replied back, as a soldier to a commander.

“Ravager cannons are set up”. Erend sounded ready for action.

“We have good angles and lines of sight on most of the cauldron.” Zo spoke up from an overhang.

“Comms are clear. We have sight on you and the mountain. Stormbirds operational” Avad replied. They had three overridden stormwings with them, flying in seemingly natural patterns above the mountain.

“Let's do this then.” Aloy tapped her command core to punctuate the statement.

“Connecting to the cauldron network now”. Beta felt like she could feel Gaia moving through the wires as it spoke, even if she knew that was impossible. It was happening now.

“Elizabeth Sobeck, Alpha Prime. Activating Omega Clearance”.

“Elizabeth Sobeck, Alpha Prime. Activating Omega Clearance”.

She spoke at the same time as her sister. And the operation began.

---

Hephestus fought back. Because of course it did. But they hadn’t expected anything else. Hordes of machines fell to tactical weapons and traps. Even when the gigantic machine with plasma cannons and black armor appeared, they were ready. Beta could do little through all of it, as her friends for her. She marked weak machine parts on her focus at times, and coordinated the battle with Avad.

When a wall of the cauldron burst open and two more large machines charged through, her fear grew for a moment. But they fell to a hail of arrows and Erend shooting down a hanging construction crane on one of them. He did get to drop (part of the cauldron) on his opponents.

Zo had a cut on her arm from when the overhang she was standing on fell and Erend had gotten scorched when one of the Ravager Cannons overheated, but overall they handled the toughest things Hephastus could throw at them. Now, as the others cleaned their wounds and set defenses back into place, Beta’s work began.

---

She had only cleaned a bit of Hephastus’s malicious code before it happened. A shout through the focus signaled everything they had been waiting for. Expecting and fearing.

“Zeniths inbound!” Avad’s voice shouted over the focus. Then, more collected, he began to describe it. “Some kind of golden pod, with…”

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence before the roof of the caverns exploded. Beta had barely managed to react, but Kotallo stepped in front of her, spear held ready before three shapes floated into the room.

Gerard, Erik and Tilda hovered in the air as dust and debris fell down around them. For a moment Beta’s mind returned to before. When all she could do was serve as best as possible, rebellion was foreign concept. They looked as they did before; pristine, alien, artificial.

“Well hello.” Beta saw Gerard looking around the cauldron at the weapons pointed at him. His expression implied that there could be ten times that amount and he wouldn’t be worried. “Hmm. I suppose I was right, as always. You look quite ready for me to be here.”

Before anyone could do anything, he reached out and a dark purple tendril formed from his armor and grasped at Tilda. She was clearly trying to do something in response, but before she could, the light in her armor went out and the tendril yanked her towards the ground. Tilda’s body fell towards the ground and hit the floor with a crash. Beta felt she was dreaming, but she couldn't tell if it was a good dream or a nightmare.

“You learn a lot by keeping detailed logs I’ve found. I noticed a gap in mine, and well we only have one hacker better than me. Now the question is, what game has she been playing here?” Gerard spoke almost casually. There was a hint of irritation in his voice, but it was drowned out by self satisfaction.

For once, no one answered. Even Sylens didn’t have a comeback. But she heard him and Erend whispering. “No, I need a few more meters to get them both ” “Throw it?” “Absolutely not”. In the outskirts of her vision, she saw them moving around on one of the platforms. Sylens had improved his weapon greatly since the test against Verbena. The weapon now had an effect that took down shields in an area around it. And the Zeniths hovered just above its range.

“No answers?” Gerard looked up briefly. Beta tapped her focus and opened the view from Avad’s stormbird flying above. She saw that pod in the stormbirds feed and remembered. ”Fine then. Erik, get Beta. And don’t screw around, they might have some trick planned.”

Erik had a wicked smile on his face and flew down, four bows following him as he did. Kotallo moved forward to protect her, but just then the pulse went off. On the platform Erend held a quite disgruntled Sylens up into the air who was in turn holding his weapon, but that appeared to have given him the needed range to activate it and reach both of them. As the pulse went off four arrows flew out at the flying zenith. Erik landed before them and looked at an arrow which had glanced across his arm, making a narrow cut. A droplet of blood fluttered off and landed on the ground.

“Been a while since I’ve felt pain.” Erik’s grin grew wider, and he sidestepped as Kotallo struck forward with his spear. “This might be fun.” On Avad’s view Beta saw shapes crawling out of the pod the Zeniths had brought.

“So you were indeed the ones that killed Verbena. Can’t have that around can we?” Gerard’s expression still seemed confident and he flew up. “Get Beta, kill the rest.” As he left the opening of the cauldron at least half a dozen Specter’s climbed past him and everything went to chaos. The last thing she saw before she turned off Avad’s view was something else, large and metallic, flying down towards the center of the cauldron.

---

No.

No.

No

They had planned for this. They had Sylens device. Their shields were down. Aloy and Kotallo fought side by side, as Erik came at them. Beta recognized that smile, that twisted expression. She had never really seen Erik fight, just the aftermath. Destroyed villages, bodies left where they fell. Split in two. Twisted metal and scorched buildings.

She could do something. She couldn’t fight, but she could walk. Beta stumbled a few steps. Aloy and Kotallo were capable. Erik didn’t have his shield. She still didn’t dare look back, so she walked forward. She heard orders, cries of battle, arrows flying and metal clashing. None of them registered, but then one did. One thing she could do.

“Someone check on Tilda?”

The immortal had fallen just a few steps from her. “I will”. No one was free enough to argue.

The ground was cracked slightly where she had landed and her suit was dimmed. But…well no, she wasn’t gone. As bent down to check, Beta felt a faint pulse. A slight intake of breath. Life. Seeing her there, the person who had dictated so much of her life was surreal. If…

Kotallo had asked if she wanted a dagger for the battle. Beta had declined, not seeing a scenario where it would have helped. She wondered if she would have done it if she had said yes.

Beta breathed out. And in.

---

She breathed out again, then a shape landed beside her. She heard the inhuman, alien cry of a specter. The air went out of her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. No. They would take her back, their preparation was all for nothing. The specter jumped away to chase after someone else, but Beta looked up and saw half a dozen of them. Arrows flew and spears slashed, but did it matter in the face of overwhelming danger. They couldn’t win, they never even had a chance.

They…Beta felt like she was collapsing.

A hand landed on her shoulder, helping her stand and Erend stood there. A scorch mark on his leg, a small tear in his breastplate. Hammer held high.

“You okay?”

“No.”

“Okay, that was a stupid question. We will be though.” Another crash hit the ground as a Specter fell to the ground with three arrows in it. Zo was fending off another specter while Varl provided covering fire. “See”.

Her pulse lowered slightly, but she simply pointed. “Can we beat that though?”

Erik faced both Aloy and Kotallo, but he looked different. The metallic thing that had landed looked to have merged with him. His normal suit had become a thick suit of armor, and he carried a wicked looking halberd. Kotallo seemed to favor his left leg.

“Oh, that looks a bit scary. But it’s Aloy, she got this.” Erend seemed to be taking in the sight.

“When it seems impossible, look deeper.” Beta murmured to herself. She didn’t know Aloy tried in situations like these.

“And fight like you can win” Erend repplied.

She looked at him. “She told you that too?”

“Yeah. We got this.” A pulse of energy knocked both Aloy and Kotallo onto the floor. “ I should probably go help them though.”

“Wait. Take me to Gaia’s console first.” She could help. She would help. Her sister wouldn't stand alone. Beta had a plan.

Chapter Text

------ Aloy Pov -----

Her speartip landed centimeters from victory. Then a heavy force pushed her aside and the wind went out of her as she crashed into a pillar and the air went out of her lungs. As Aloy breathed in, a Specter crashed down next to her, its turret cut off, but still snarling with fury. Kotallo charged forward to meet it. She hoped, no, knew that he could handle it, so she faced the immortal.

“Dammit, that was my ear. Gonna take time in the medbay to fix that.” Erik at least sounded pained, but there was no concern in his voice anymore. They had him on the backfoot for a moment, then a large box had landed. She had hoped to be able to kill Erik before she needed to figure out what it was, but luck wasn’t on her side. The crate had opened and like some strange liquid, the purple zenith metal had flowed out from it and reforged Erik’s normal suit.

Where previously it was light and slim, it was now bulky and shaped. It looked like some of the heaviest armor Aloy had seen on Oseram Elites, only made of the strange Zenith material that flowed and twisted like vines on wood. He had two large shoulder plates, and a helmet of some clear material. It looked like glass, but she suspected it wasn’t going to be that simple. She could see Erik's face in there, and indeed the lack of a left ear. A split second faster and she would have had him already.

“Like it? I call it the Vanguard Armor. Gerard said something might happen here so I bought it, but I didn’t expect to actually need it.”

“I have seen better Vanguard’s myself.” Keep them talking, irritate your foes, get them to reveal their weaknesses. Sylens had described his way of fighting. It was just as Aloy might have expected. She looked over the armor for weak points, but saw none. The suit was almost organically formed, with no gaps with plate mail she had seen.

“Oh, really? I have fought armies with this. Defeated the allies and axis, soviets and the army. Both forces in the hot zone crisis.” He walked forward and a part of his armor’s material flowed into his hands, forming into a long edged halberd. “You can do a lot of things in simulators you know,” The wicked grin was back “but they don’t quite get the fear in people’s eyes.”

Aloy jumped back, and drew her bow. She didn’t think an ordinary arrow would do much against the armor, but she had alternatives. Three chillwater arrows first, to make it more brittle. Erik didn’t even move to defend himself, instead she heard a “pop” and a tiny drone made of the same material flew out his back armor.

It fired a series of quick laser beams which vaporized two of the arrows, as Erik calmly walked forward. The hint of fear that had been in eyes was entirely gone. He caught the last arrow in his gauntlet and studied it for a second, before tossing it away. It was only a distraction, though. She had found her tripcaster in her pack, and placed two wires down charged with electricity. If Erik was trading speed for armor, she could fight that.

Erik charged forward, then leapt, his armor firing off a blast of fire to propel him above the tripwires. Aloy cursed, and dodged under a strike.

------ Avad Pov -----

A bolt of lightning flew across the sky. The last time Avad had sent one at a foe, he had killed a corrupt priest, stuck in their old ways. This time it flew at one of the old ones, and this time… Gerard stuck out his hand and caught the bolt, a nonchalant look on his face. It seemed to flow into his armor, arcing and flashing with no apparent damage.

“You seriously think I didn’t protect my armor against lightning?”

“Didn’t seem like you would bother with that impenetrable shield of yours.” Avad couldn’t fight very well, but he could talk.

“You must think I'm a fool. That I’ve never faced danger in my life.” Gerard stretched out his hand and his arm reforged to a blade that cut at the stormbird flying at him from behind. Armor plates and thrusters were torn off, and Casaniv was forced to dodge to the side to not lose his machine. “Pathetically, as they were, those attacks might have killed some of my companions.”

They had three stormbirds, and soon not even that. The big machines were not meant to fight a small flying target, and even without his shield Gerard had weapons they had little answer to. He was quite sure that Aloy could defeat Gerard, but she seemed quite busy down there. Avad had tried to fly down to help her at first, and lost a claw from a projectile Gerard had fired. It seemed the Zenith at least cared a bit for his companion.

Olfia flew forward and her stormbird began to hum with energy. Gerard turned to face it.

“You are going to try that again? Are you incapable of learning?” He held his arm up to be ready to absorb the blast.

“Might work this time” She replied on the focus, and before Avad could question her tactical decision making, she muted her focus and spoke. “It seems he needs to be ready to absorb lightning. I’m gonna charge up this blast as much as possible to distract him“

Avad nodded and looked at Casaniv, “You got a plan?” he asked into the control room, taking care to mute first.

“Thunder is the thing these birds can do that we haven’t done. Need to get close to hit with that though. Can you distract him for a bit?”

No. He doubted that he could, but well. “I’ll try”. Avad set his machine on a path parallel to Gerard to force him to split his attention. The Zenith looked unfazed, watching Olifia while firing twice at his machine, which forced Avad to dodge back again. Avad looked for cameras or something else that would allow him to see more angles than should be possible, but it was impossible to make out details on the strange Zenith armor.

“You might as well give up children. I would congratulate you for figuring out how to override machines, but I don’t particularly care.” Gerard was still watching Olfiia’s machine. That implied he needed to be ready to absorb the lightning. “I told Erik to bring his Vanguard armor, which he has spent centuries tinkering on. Once he has slaughtered your friends below, he will come for you, if I haven’t gotten to you first.”

Avad didn’t dare look over at Aloy’s feed. She would manage. It was out of his hands anyway. “So why haven’t you left already? Let him work alone if he is so powerful.” Talking he could do.

“You think you could distract me with idle chatter? I am not some cartoon villain. That electricity build up will overcharge soon, forcing you to fire.” He pointed at Olifia’s machine, then Avad’s.” You have no way of hurting me without coming closer, and the last one of you will come out of hiding. Sooner or later” Gerard had them figured out, but there must be a reason he wasn’t firing more of those projectiles. An energy limit? Gaia had said that no matter how advanced their technology, they could not have infinite amounts of energy. Avad looked down at the mountaintop and the opening to the cauldron, and had an idea.

He tapped his focus a few times, and his stormbird dove for the golden pod.

------ Aloy Pov -----

“You know, I almost considered this material a bit of a cheat. But it was one of Meave’s favorites that she developed, so I had to include it.”

Aloy had been stuck many times, but rarely so literally. She had dodged weapon attacks, flamethrowers, explosives and energy waves. Erik seemed to have packed every weapon he could think of in his armor. Then one of the shoulders had opened out and spewed out an adhesive mass and there had been no more space to dodge. If not for Kotallo jumping in and blocking the follow up attack, she was quite sure she would be dead. She could only hope he was alright after that. Her focus had been damaged by one of the shockwaves so she couldn’t check.

“You know. It is impressive that you managed to last so long. I fought one of the tribes up in Portland, and they couldn’t do that with an army. But it’s time for the fun to come to an end.“

Five arrows flew towards Erik, from three different directions. Three of them were vaporized before they got close by the drone. The fourth and fifth shattered on his helmet leaving a dent, but not much else. Aloy struggled to get free, to help to do something, but her entire body was stuck. They could overwhelm his defenses. They could. Erik casually walked forward, firing some sort of projectile back at the direction most of the arrows had come from. She thought it might have been Zo. Zo could dodge. She was always good at that. Aloy didn’t even have the opportunity to see if she did.

“That should be enough of her.” He stood in front of her, weapon in hand. His armor had a thousand cracks, but none significant. “Now girl, any final words? I think I heard one of the tribes praying to me as a god of death. You may do so if you wish. But perhaps you’re smarter than that.”

Aloy was thinking of something to say, but came up with little. Then she heard a shout over her focus. Something fell in the background. A second later, the entire cauldron shook, and a thick layer of dust spread over everything, forming a mist that was hard to see through. She heard sounds of movement and felt something reaching towards her. A sound of metal on metal and cracking electronics, but she could barely see.

“I got you.” Varl’s voice. He grabbed her hand and slowly lifted her out of the adhesive. She got out of the mist to see what happened. A large metallic thing twice the size of the Erik’s armor pod, clearly Zenith in origin, had fallen into the cauldron and shattered on impact. At the same time Erend appeared to have charged into Erik from behind, slamming him into the ground and keeping him momentarily occupied, before being thrown into a wall. Vanasha had taken the opportunity to step out of the shadows, rush forward and slash the drone out into the air. Aloy looked around and saw her companions. A few of them were limping. All of them were injured. But they were standing. She pulled another arrow out of her quiver.

------ Avad Pov -----

The image on his focus was blinking uncomfortably, and at a strange angle. His stormbird appeared to be unresponsive. But it was still a success. As he dove for the pod, Gerard had turned and fired three projectiles at him. Two had pierced through the wings and damaged multiple systems. The third didn’t seem to have had a direct impact, but he was sure it was bad either way. Then he had crashed into the pod, wrecking more systems, and sending his target tumbling into the cauldron. Not quite his plan, but at least he got out a warning to Aloy and the others inside.

The good news was that his charge, combined with Olfiia’s lighting bolt, had allowed Cazaniv to approach with a thunder attack. They had lost both of their stormbirds in the process, but Gerard was hit and sent tumbling into the mountain.

Avad saw an unreadable mess of diagnostic messages and error codes on his focus that only Gaia and perhaps Beta would understand. While there was some sentimental value to this machine that had fought a Zenith, he didn’t mind losing it. They could get new machines. He just needed to confirm their victory. He tapped the on-screen controls. LIFT OFF.

ERROR: LEFT WING BROKEN. RIGHT WING DAMAGED.

SYSTEM: RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS.

SYSTEM: RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS..

SYSTEM: RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS…

SYSTEM: FLIGHT SYSTEM INOPERATIONAL

SYSTEM: NEED COMPLETE REPAIRS

SYSTEM: INITIATE SHUTDOWN PROTOCOL?

SYSTEM: YES/NO

Avad managed to tap NO and was greeted by another swarm of error messages coming at him, even less readable than the others. Olfia and Casaniv came over. “We won.” Sheslung her arm around his shoulder. “Great job there with the distraction, Avad”. Then, seeming to realize something, she pulled her arm back and she added. “Sun King.”

“It’s fine. We fought together, you don’t need to.” Well that was a lesser problem. He was quite sure they had won, he just wanted to confirm that first…

They heard a spark of electricity and the sounds of rocks moving over the focus.

“You're kidding me.”

“Give me the controls” Avad moved aside to let Cazaniv try the machine.

“He took a thunderblast to the face and crashed into rocks at high speeds. Who survives that?” Avad felt like he had seen Aloy doing that somewhere in her recordings.

Another wave of sound down below. Cazaniv tapped into parts of Beta’s programming Avad had never seen.

“I’m gonna take manual control to turn the machine around. It’s not designed for that and will probably cause it to crash into the mountain. Might take a moment.”

“Um. We might not have a moment”

“Huh. You actually hurt me. Well, well, well. I wasn't expecting that when I saw three primitive machines.” Gerard floated up, defying gravity once again. ”Suppose I am a bit rusty. Been awhile since I was in a scrap.” His apparent aura of invincibility was gone however. He looked like Erend did sometimes after coming back from a brawl in a tavern, and his armor looked even worse for wear, with occasional sparks flying away from it. “Indeed you could actually have won, had you three more of those machines. But alas, all you have left is a bird with clipped wings.”

“You still lost.” Avad replied, then quickly muted and spoke out loud. “Lightning cannon”

“Did I?” Gerard looked over the machine, floating over it, tantalizingly close. “You have no working weapons left on that. Nothing that can hurt me.” Another flood or error messages flew across the screen to punctuate that statement, as they tried to activate the weapon.

“He is right, unfortunately,” Cazaniv replied in the room, then mouthed a few silent words to him.

“You're still the one fleeing from the fight, without any of the things you came for.”

“Oh. You still believe that your little champion will win?” Gerard stifled down a laugh, then coughed. “Erik might enjoy his fights of fancy with swords and spectacle, but when push comes to shove he knows the value of lead and overwhelming force.”

“She has overcome worse odds”

“We will see won’t we, Avad? Or should I say Sun King?”

Gerard turned around to fly away, and in that moment the stormbird lurched forward using its last remaining thruster. It wasn’t going to survive the landing, but it didn’t need to. The remaining claw stretched out towards the immortal's legs and Gerard moved to dodge too late.

------ Aloy Pov -----

Varl’s spear was stuck in the Zenith's left arm. His second drone had been hacked by Sylens, and then shattered in a burst of flames. Erik didn’t appear to have more. The halberd had fallen to the floor and not picked up again. A thousand cracks dotted the armor.

Fire and destruction rained in the cauldron. Erik had forgone finesse and style. The snarky comments were out, and a cold calculated rage replaced it.

An explosion shattered the machine carcass Aloy ducked behind. Few of them were still standing. Varl and Vanasha fought beside her. Alva was providing covering fire. Beta was hiding behind one of the terminals, doing something. Aloy hoped she had a plan, because she was running out of those.

A hail of gunfire forced Varl and Vanasha to take cover, and by the sounds of pain some of the bullets hit. A missile flew towards where Alva and Sylens were hiding.

She reached to draw another arrow and found her quiver empty. Her supply of bombs and drill spikes was long gone. She reached for her spear. At least Erik couldn’t parry now.

She dove between cover, fallen machines and parts of the cauldron. She heard low mechanical thundering somewhere in the background and her vision swam for a moment, before she got up. She was so close now, so close.

She leapt…and the cover she was going to move to was suddenly gone in a burst of fire. A hail of bullets came at her, and there was little space to dodge. Aloy felt one hit her hand, and then her arm. A stinging pain, and a force of impact that threw her on the ground and forced her to drop her spear. This was it, wasn’t it?

A clicking sound came, but nothing else. Erik looked confused for a moment, then spoke. “Huh. Guess I can run out of bullets. Take that, Maeve.” He cracked his knuckles “Well I suppose I can finish this the old fashioned way.” He moved forward.

Aloy tried to stand, but her body protested. And was there even a point? Her companions lay around the cauldron, unconscious or slowly tending to their wounds. Some had their weapons broken. They had little chance of fighting back. Aloy stood up anyway. She couldn’t not give up. Her spear lay too far away, so she slowly drew her knife as Erik approached. He didn’t do anything fancy, he just swung an armored fist at her and Aloy was thrown on the floor again. Fashav’s dagger stuck in the faceplate, crushing some delicate system, but again centimeters away from victory.

She rose, feeling the world swaying as she did and heard her thundering heartbeat. It wasn’t gone yet. Aloy barely stepped out of the way of a kick. Her heartbeat was growing louder. That felt like it didn’t make sense, but she had no opportunity to investigate. She blocked a punch, but missed the other arm coming her way.

She hit the ground with “dun” and felt something in her break. But as she did the thundering sound hit Erik and he flew into the cauldron wall, followed by a big shape. Something big crashed into him and was now pummeling him into the wall. She heard electronics breaking down and metal distorting. Aloy dizzily realized that the thundering sounds had probably not been her heartbeat. More shapes were coming this way. Machines? Were they helping them? What was happening?

“Hephestus online. I sent a trampler your way first, more on the way.” Gaia’s voice cracked on her damaged focus. Aloy breathed out and felt herself falling down, the exhaustion hitting her at once as she slowly realized what was happening.

A hand stopped her from falling down completely and hitting the cauldron floor. Beta held up, and gave her some herbs. “You're okay. Sorry it took a while. I had to merge Gaia and Hephestus. And there was all the hostile code. And everything was happening around me. Erend had to protect me multiple times. And Kotallo when the debris fell. And..”

“Is everyone alright? Did we win? Did you ...?” Aloy

“Yeah. We did. We won, sister”

------ Avad Pov -----

Gerard had moved to dodge, but whatever powered his flight wasn’t quick enough anymore. The claw grabbed onto his leg, and Avad heard something tear. However, at the same time, a tendril of metal tore through the machine at the same time, blasting away whatever control they had left of it in a shower of sparks and smoke.

When they could see something from the projector again. Gerard hovered with one leg less. The stormbird fell apart around him. Blood and machinery fell on the mountain.

The camera lens was one of the last things to go, and through it Avad saw fury.

“YOU. You will suffer. And whatever pathetic little tribe you are a part of will burn.”

Chapter Text

The hardest question anyone had asked her hadn’t been from Aloy or Beta. It hadn’t been a technical question from Alva or Sylens. It had come from Erend, who asked “how does it feel being an AI?”, because how did it feel? Gaia didn’t have an answer to that, because she had no frame of reference. She could have asked back with “how does it feel being a human?”, but she wasn’t created for snappy responses. Gaia, or at least her current incarnation, had little experience beyond her core at the base.

Until recently that was. She didn’t see things like humans did, or even in the same vein. Having only two eyes to see the world with sounded terribly limited, as if it would make the world a smaller place. From the movement she booted up she had all of Regional Control Center 9 to observe the world from, with its many cameras and sensors. As Aloy and her friends found and caught more drones, she had gotten more perspectives, more viewpoints of the world and she had monitored them all.

Now she had far more, and for the first time Gaia felt almost overwhelmed. She could reach out to 1237 cauldrons, a grand number that left her with more information than her current incarnation had ever processed, and it was only with the increased processing power from Hephestus that she could in a reasonable timeframe.

Gaia couldn’t answer Erend how it felt to be an AI, but she could differentiate the before and after Hephaestus merge. She could reach out through the network and connect to cauldron Ompea in Panama, and get the live feed from its Tallneck. She could see the snowy plains of Newfoundland from cauldron Ansuz. The final remains of Machu Picchu from cauldron Khipu. A feed from a Switfzap from cauldron Ño in the submerged ruins of Miami.

She sent her philosophical thoughts back to one of her processors, and dedicated the others to the tasks at hand.

GAIA: Updating FriendFoe Parameters for All Cauldrons

GAIA: Broadcasting new Parameters through All Active Tallnecks

GAIA: Creating New Production Order in Cauldrons Mu, Iota, Kappa, Chi

(Slaughterspine, Apex, 10)

(Stormbirds, Apex, 20)

(Sunwings, Apex, 50)

GAIA: New Unit Order “Monitor Zenith Activity”

GAIA: Connecting To Regional Control Center 9

GAIA: Changing Designation of Regional Control Center 9 to “The Base”

GAIA: Connecting to Focus Network

GAIA: Creating New Production Order in Cauldrons Rho, Xi, Zeta

(Slaughterspine, Apex, 10)

(Stormbirds, Apex, 20)

(Sunwings, Apex, 50)

GAIA: New Local Unit Order “Defend the Sundom”

Gaia continued on. There were a hundred, thousands commands to be given before she traveled back to the base.

-----

She had come first in her regional archery championship. Fought for the top spot in the academy, competed with her rival the whole way through. Here she had to say she felt outmatched.

She had met an actual, living reincarnation genetic clone of one of the ancestors. Learned so much more about the world, so much information beyond the legacy. Almost died in the tomb of Ted Faro The Renewer, the man who almost killed the world. And now, she had been a part of killing one of them.

One of the ancestors. Someone who had lived for a thousand years, and traveled the stars.

It wasn’t like Alva felt remorse for Erik. He had tried to kill them, and would have doomed them all anyway if the Zenith’s plans succeeded. It was just a lot, and now lying in a temporary hospital bed outside Scalding Spear, there wasn’t much else to do but think.

She had gotten out of the battle relatively well, at least compared to the others. Some scrapes fighting spectres and a concussion and some metal shards stuck in her foot, from a missile that had come for her and Sylens near the end of the battle. She had managed to deflect it with a well timed bomb, blowing it off course.

‘Only some metal shards stuck in her foot’. Alva sighed. She had begun thinking like Aloy. It wasn’t like being a diviner was a purely non-combat role, but generally they had soldiers with them. Alva wasn’t as much of a fighter as the rest. Her skills with a bow, legendary in her village, were matched by Varl, Zo and Aloy. Her technical knowhow was outclassed by Sylens, Beta and Aloy. Her hand to hand fighting was, well she could probably beat Avad and Beta. Maybe that scholar turned pilot too, but not the rest of the group.

She tapped her focus, to think of something else. The Tenakth healer, an older woman with blue warpaint covering her face, had told her to lay down. The Tenakth at large reminded Alva one of the ‘barbarian’ tribes bordering the Quen that she had seen images of in the academy. While she had to say that the Tenakth ways were not for her, she had actually become friends with Kotallo, and would miss him when she returned to the delta. Alva added ‘find out more (from non imperial sources) about the Quen’s neighbours’ on her to-do list. It arrived at place 153.

Their focus network was buzzing with messages. Avad, Beta and Hekarro were organizing supplies, recovery efforts and working with Gaia to get the new overridden machines integrated. They had tried to catch Gerard and prevent him from escaping to the Zenith base, but without success. With only one of Sylens shieldbreakers, all nearby settlements were now in danger. 20 Apex Thunderjaws was a bit of a deterrent, but if the Zeniths wanted to raze a city in retribution, there wasn’t much that could stop them. They were, she had to assume, intelligent enough not to get caught in a fight their shields couldn’t hold up in.

In some ways, she realized the Quen higher ups were actually quite like the ancestors they worshipped. The hidden information, false splendor, disdain for outsiders, general apathy for the people beneath them. They had succeeded at making a society in their image, it just wasn’t a good one.

That was haunting. Alva needed something else to think about.

Just then her focus rang, Alva looked at the caller id and frowned. That was odd. But well, she needed a distraction.

-----

The little device was a strange thing. She squinted over the metallic triangle, trying to make sense of the symbols on it. But it wasn’t Carja glyphs or any form writing she recognized. She looked up to the priest sitting in front of her. He was middle aged, with a orange-red hood covering most of his face, though she saw a curious expression on his face as he watched her and her companion.

“So you put this thing on your head here, and just tap it?” Teersa didn’t need to ask that exactly, she had seen Aloy wearing the device many times. But she liked talking to people, and she understood that more than she understood some of the concepts the priests and his companions had been telling her.

“Yes, like that. I haven't got to use one much, we still have a limited amount in the sundom, but that is how you activate them. Apparently in the days of the old ones, nearly everyone had one.” Namman, that was his name, replied. They sat in the biggest house in Hunters Gathering, the midpoint between Nora and Carja lands. Jezza looked at the focus she had been given sceptically, but at least she had agreed to be part of the negotiations.

Teersa carefully put hers on, feeling an odd sensation as it clicked into place. She tapped it like instructed and saw a haze of information.

“The focus is in the call menu, simply tap Avad’s name and you can reach him. We can go over some of the settings later, but his radiance said he had time to talk now.

Teersa peered over the names, her eyes squinting to read the texts. The Nora didn’t have a written language for most things, and although she had picked up some things, she wasn’t great at it.

At least Avad’s name should be near the top. Aloy, well she recognized that, but she could speak to her later hopefully. A… that was two A’s and a V wasn’t it. She tapped it. It would be interesting to speak to the sun king. Teersa remembered the days of the red raids and the fighting. She remembered the losses, those dead and those captured, never to return. The Nora had survived by fighting bitterly, and being small and well defended enough that it wasn’t worth sending a massive army to attack them.

But that wouldn’t have lasted forever, and Avad, the mad sun king's own son, had been the one to end Jiran’s reign. She knew he had been trying for a meeting with matriarchs for a while now and she had seen value in the idea. She had talked to Nakoa and the Nora that had ventured to the sundom, and listened to their stories. But convincing the other matriarchs to accept a meeting had been hard work, especially since it would be using technology of the old ones.

Well now they were here, and at least Balahn had been a most welcoming host.

Teersa was brought out of her thoughts as a person who was distinctly not the sun king answered. She saw a young woman of about Aloy’s age, sitting in a bed in a tent. She wore curious garments, white soft clothing that still seemed firm and a necklace of a quite beautiful beadlike material. While she wasn’t an expert on the sundom, Teersa didn’t think the woman on the focus was even from there. She began to think she had tapped the wrong name.

“Hey? Teersa was it?”

“Oh, yes. I might have, what do they say, tapped the wrong person.”

“Called, generally.” The woman appeared to be studying her as much as she was. “You're a Nora. Wait, are you one of the matriarchs? I thought the Nora didn't like technology in general.”

“We tend to stay away from things from the old ones, yes. Traditionally we shun places connected to the old ones, as well as other tribes. But tradition also made us shun Aloy and I considered that a bad idea.” With the benefit of hindsight, Teersa wished she had pushed harder for the tribe to accept Aloy back in the day. If tradition told them to shun a child for something they had no control over, was that a worthwhile tradition? Even ignoring the fact she had come from the mountain, they should have done more for her.

“Interesting. I don’t know much about the Nora besides what Varl has taught us.”

“Oh, you've met Varl, that's good dear. We've heard he's alive but not much else.” Information traveled slowly to the Nora. That generally hadn’t mattered because they hadn't had interests outside the tribe's border, but things were changing and Teersa begun to think of ways to improve it.

“Yes I have. Oh, I didn’t introduce myself. I'm Alva” the woman paused slightly, as if considering something “of the Quen.”

“Teersa as you heard. High matriarch of the Nora, though there is no need for fancy titles. I must say I have never heard of the Quen. Are you from far away?”

Teersa forgot she was meant to call Avad until Namman pointed it out an hour later. This focus thing was o so complicated, but the people, the people on it were fascinating.

-----

“Hey Kotallo. You excited to fly one of these things? It's like these Wings of the Ten, isn't it?

“Perhaps”.

“I guess Avad stole your thunder if you would prefer your first flight to a more cinematic scenario, like dropping into battle.”

“There is honour in coming back after a hard fought victory too. The ten would appreciate our use of logistics”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Kotallo finished loading up the remains of Erik's armor on one of the sunwings and looked back at him, showing a hint of expression. “But I do hope we get to do that at some point. I would like to drop into battle.”

Erend nodded and finished loading his. About half of the group had already returned to the base. They now had more than enough machines that they didn’t need to share. He didn’t plan on flying more than necessary.

“Are you excited to be flying?”

“Eh. No. I think I would prefer to remain on the steady earth. But we do what we gotta to save the world, right?

They heard the steady clanks of a cane hitting the ground and looked to the side to see Aloy walking to them, with an older Tenakth woman. She looked displeased at not being able to walk freely, as if she hadn't almost died fighting an immortal two days ago. She still wore bandages around her legs and her right hand.

“Well, normally I would say to give her a few days of healing first, but from what I’ve heard you're on a time limit.”

“Yeah. We are.” Aloy spoke bristly as she moved over to the sunwing they had prepared for her. Beta would pilot it remotely, while Erend and Kotallo flew beside her. She cursed softly as she heaved her leg over the machine, but then looked back at them. “Thanks Dekka for organizing everything, and give my regards to the healers. Sorry if I’ve been a bit snappish, I just prefer to walk on my own two feet.”

“I’ve worked with independent warriors before, Red. Hekarro was quite stubborn once when he had been shot by a poisoned arrow.”

“Hmm. You two ready? I suppose I need my guardians”

Erend looked at Aloy as she tapped her focus and contacted Beta, she wouldn’t have given that apology earlier. She had changed. He hopped on his sunwing and hoped he could hold on.

-

Flying was just as terrifying as he had imagined it. Sparks, he wasn’t meant to be a hundred meters into the air unless something had gone very wrong. But if Aloy needed someone to guard her flank, no amount of open air was going to frighten him.

-

While he didn’t like flying, he had to admit that not having to climb a mountain to reach the base was a nice change. A rough circular platform had been made on a flat bit of the mountain and the sunwings steered over there to land. Four stormbirds sat watching on the mountainside and Erend had to fight his reflex to grab his hammer at the sight of them. Gaia had been hard at work. The stormbirds moved their heads as if to nod as their machines landed. He guessed that it was probably Beta’s touch, she liked those small details (and he had to admit, they were nice, made the place feel more alive).

He hopped off his machine as soon as he had the opportunity and looked at their welcoming committee. Avad greeted him on the platform and then ran over to Aloy’s stormbird. She accepted his help to get down from the sunwing she sat on without hesitation. Something hurt slightly seeing that, and the gentle hug the two shared afterwards. It wasn’t like he was jealous (okay maybe a little), but he had seen them after the battle at the grove. They were good for each other, and Aloy deserved something nice in her life.

Alva came up to check something on the machine, and Varl walked up to help unload cargo.

“You good?” Kotallo had come up and put his hand on Erend’s shoulder. He nodded. It was just odd how all the women in his life fell for Avad. Well there was no point in crying over what could have been. “Up for a game of machine strike, once we unloaded everything?”

He sure was. He had practiced. (Asked Dekka for tips). Kotallo was going to say farewell to his winning spree.

-----

Vengeance wasn’t a useful emotion. It was something that drew lesser men. He had lived a thousand years without it. Blood dripped on the golden floor plating.

He had built an empire from hard work and calculated decisions. He had turned thousands into millions, minor investments into shareholding stakes. He made deals that others had laughed at, taken risks his competitions would have scoffed at. Gerard stumbled into the med bay, stepping forward to land on a leg no longer there.

He had forgone galas and dates, for plans and hard work. Worked tirelessly where others would say “I’ve done enough”. Charted courses across spreadsheets, organizations and stars. Harsh lights and stinging chemicals, sets of imperfections that weren’t there before.

Made deals and sacrifices few would have. All in the name of progress and reason. Stares and shocked expressions from faces that pretend to care

Millions into trillions, wealth into legacy and influence. Charm, intrigue and lies. Calculated decisions. All for the sake of survival. His and humanity’s. A tearing sound replaying endlessly in his mind.

He was a logical man. Something lost that could never fully be restored

But everyone called on vengeance once.

Chapter Text

Aloy felt a feeling she had rarely felt before as she walked into the base with Avad. She had long been travelling, making camp wherever she found convenient. She had stopped at Oseram inns occasionally and could appreciate warm, cooked food and heated rooms. But most of the time she had set up camps where she happened to be and slept under the stars. Some camps she stayed for a few days, most of them only overnight.

None of them were home. Home hadn't really been a thing before they established the base. Rost’s hut had been close, but it hadn't been what the old ones spoke of when they spoke of home. Safe? Yes. Comfortable? Eh, Rost hadn’t really been the type for comfort.

The base however was a place they had chosen. For practical reasons absolutely, Aloy hadn’t picked it for its views (though they were good), but it was still a place they made theirs. She had been slow to decorate at first, simply plopping down her small collection of things where it was convenient. But she couldn't help but be inspired by Zo’s floral decors, Erend's collection of interesting objects, Kotallo's weapons and detailed maps, Alva’s neatly organized technological artifacts…

The base had become home, and now walking into it with Avad, she truly felt like she didn't want to leave. It was more than a safe place to rest, it was a place she could call home. They walked hand in hand, partially because her leg still hadn’t healed fully and partially because, well comfort. The threat the Zeniths posed still hung over them like a specter, but for a moment she could push that aside.

Her room door opened and she motioned Avad in.

“How are you feeling, Aloy?” he asked once the door closed.

“Physically? Have been better. Emotionally? Beside the fact we have an army of angry Zeniths threatening us…great actually.”

They had an hour until Sylens arrived. That was more than enough time.

Gaia always told her to dedicate some time for relaxation.

---

Then there was the captured immortal.

The base didn't have a prison and they had decided not to keep her in one of the tribes for security reasons.

So Tilda slept seemingly comatose in what had previously been a storage room. The walls were reinforced with plating that would be used for Apex machines. Gaia had dedicated cauldron Mu to produce Shell-Walkers with their shells filled with different materials, and they were making a supply chain of materials to the base, Meridian and the Grove.

There had been a fierce debate over what to do with her. But really the information she held couldn't go to waste. She had been restrained in Apex plating in case she woke up, but so far there was no sign of life besides a steady heartbeat.

They needed to figure out what was going on there, but first they needed to focus on the Zeniths awake and plotting revenge.

---

Adding some chairs to the control core made it a pretty good meeting room. Aloy sat next to Avad, with Varl, Zo, Erend, Kotallo, Alva, Sylens, Vanasha, Petra and Talanah rounding out the circle. The last two had joined after hearing about the events at Gemini.

A projection was displayed on the curved walls of the room, being visible at all angles. A map of the local region was being displayed in the ceiling, with settlements and cauldrons highlighted. Aloy could recall most of them from her journeys, though some places she hadn’t visited personally.

They were all under threat now. The Zeniths could come any moment and strike down any of them, and they only had one shieldbreaker, which Sylens guarded like a bird protecting its nest. He had shared some of the specifications about it, including it needing a few minutes to recharge between uses. That could bring problems if the Zeniths attempted to split up. Aloy was sure there were more things he Sylens wasn’t telling them, but the annoying truth was she had no time to interrogate him for them.

He spoke up now, starting the meeting without any fanfare or ritual, which she was all for. Thankfully this wasn’t a court of nobles in Meridian. “We have two main problems. The Zeniths have tech far beyond our understanding and more dangerously, they aren’t taking us lightly. They know we can break their shields and have armies of machines. With Hephaestus we should be able win any drawn out battle, even if we assume their fabrication technology is far beyond ours. We can only assume they will bring everything they got.”

A deafening silence rang out in the room, and no one answered for a moment.

“So how do we fight them?” Aloy tried to project as much confidence as possible in that statement. Someone had to take charge, even when it sounded impossible.

Surprisingly she got a plethora of suggestions in reply. She wasn’t alone in the fight.

---

“Hey red, come here for a moment?” Aloy looked into the workshop which was now full of stuff. Petra had taken over the room and seemingly covered every space of it with things. Tools, materials, inventions, broken machine parts and schematics. If there was an order to it, Aloy couldn’t see it. In the middle of the room lay the remains of Erik’s armor they had taken from him.

“Okay.” She carefully navigated through the room and came over to see what was being worked on.

“Beta told me to study this armor you got, and by the forge Red, it’s something. I can tell it's made of metal, but metal isn’t supposed to behave like this. It’s almost like it’s woven like string, and I’m no weaver. I wouldn’t have known where to start without your sister explaining things.” Petra gesticulated as she spoke and pointed to different parts of the armor. At the end she looked up at Aloy. “Also, you have a sister? You never told me, she’s cute. Personality is quite different from yours though.”

“Um. We didn’t meet until recently. It's complicated.”

“Ah, one of those cases.” Petra nodded and moved on. “Well, okay. I’ll learn later.”

“Good. Did you need anything to study the armor? You’re one of the best smiths I know, so if anyone can figure something out about it, it would be you.”

“Aw, thanks. But I think it's going to take a while to figure this one out. Even with Beta and Alva helping with the more technical parts, I don’t think I can figure out how it works. Might take weeks or even months, and something tells us we don't have that time. Again, this structure is weird and from what I’ve seen from the recording, the armor behaves even weirder. It’s like vines or thread somehow. That’s not how metal is supposed to work.” She said the last part louder, like the armor’s existence was an insult to her.

Aloy sighed. She was quite sure Petra was right, but what could they do? “Well if you want to help Kotallo and Erend set up the base defences you could do that first. Though if you could figure out a weakness in this armor, that also works.” It wasn’t like they didn’t have other tasks but Aloy guesses Petra was less interested in helping Avad, Gaia and Hekarro coordinate the tribes defences.

“Weak points? Why didn’t you say so? I can do that.” Petra looked over the armor. “Well, hopefully. This armor is strange and you busted it up pretty good. But metal always has a weak point, Red.”

---

“You talked with Teersa yet?” Avad spoke as he was brushing her hair, while she read up on Hekarro’s rapport. Part of her hated the fact she wasn’t moving, out there doing something right now. Gerard might be moving an army, and she was reading a rapport on logistics. But the healers had recommended her to rest, and it wasn’t like she needed to hunt machines, when Hephestus could just fabricate whatever she needed. And she supposed the mundanity was nice. It pushed away the dread somewhat.

“No, not yet. I was busy looking over the defences.” It wasn’t like she didn’t care for Teersa, the old matriarch had been practically the only nice person to her growing up, but Aloy couldn’t see what talking to her would accomplish. The Nora could offer no assistance in the battles to come.

“Well, I’m not going to tell you to do anything, but she seemed interested in talking to you. Everything you do doesn’t have to relate to the battle ahead, Aloy.”

Aloy sighed. “You have a point, I suppose. Again.” She should talk to Teersa later. She leaned back into Avad’s arms, feeling their gentle touch. She looked down at her own hands, rough and calloused. Her right index finger was still bandaged up. It had taken a bullet in the fight with Erik, and the healers had been surprised the bone wasn’t crushed. They told her to not use it for weeks, but she suspected that wasn’t possible. For now she switched topics. “Where did you learn to tend to hair like this? It’s not like you have much.”

Avad laughed softly. “My mother Farea. She died when I was quite young, so I don’t have many memories of her. But I remember helping fix her hair sometimes.”

“Ah”. She supposed neither of them had many memories with their mothers. In a way she had more, now that she could talk to GAIA whenever she wanted. “What happened? Machines?”

“No. She died of an illness. This was before the derangement. Jiran actually spent a lot of shards trying to find a cure. He wasn’t the mad sun king then.”

“Hmm. I suppose I don’t know too much about your family. Besides all of the cult stuff. I found some scrolls about the previous sun kings, but I never got around to reading them.”

“Wouldn’t recommend most of them, they are biased in one way or another. Kivunna could give you the best ones.”

“That’s the old librarian lady?” Aloy had briefly chatted with her over the focus. She was intense, and had a lot of opinions on the files she collected and how she organized them.

“The very one.” He finished fixing her hair and put the brush aside.

“I think you know more about my childhood than I know about yours.”

“I could tell you someday. Perhaps when there isn’t an army of immortals threatening us”

“I suppose that’s a good idea. Let’s deal with them first.”

---

“Oh. Hello, Aloy. Avad told me you were quite busy.” Teersa sat on a stool outside a hut in Mother’s Heart. She looked like she had been eating something.

“We do have a lot of things to do, but I should be able to have a chat.”

“You always were an active girl. But I suppose that was good. You saved our lives three times at least.” Aloy saw glimpses of Mother’s Heart and the Nora lands through the focus behind Teersa. She had to admit, she was curious to see what had changed in the two and half years since she had been there. If anything at all. Teersa didn’t look like she had changed at all, but then again she had been the kindly old matriarch when Aloy had been a baby too. Maybe the Nora had an immortal too.

She realized she had been just thinking and should probably respond. “I prefer the world to not fall apart.” Maybe that was a bit harsh. It wasn’t like the current state of the Nora was Teersa’s fault.

“I suppose it’s better if it doesn’t do that. I have heard a lot of things from speaking with your companions. The Old Ones, Zeniths, machines. It’s all a bit much for me, I will say.” Of course it was. For a tribe that shun everything from the old world, the Zeniths might as well be gods. Or demons. Well it wasn’t like they could do much either way.

Aloy changed the subject. “Has anything happened in the Nora lands?”

Teersa thought for a moment. “A lot of things. Far more than I am used to, but the Nora was always slow to change. We have been doing some trading with the Carja, and even had an Oseram merchant come by recently. They pay a good price for our furs and crafts. We’ve been rebuilding a lot, but I don’t know if I can show you.”

“Just tap the arrows slightly to move the perspective camera…no not those ones...the ones to the left”. After a moment Aloy got a good image of the village, and to the Noras credit it was rebuilding. New houses were being put up to replace old ruins, and she even saw some stone buildings.

“I think one of our craftspeople got inspired by Meridian. Lansra put up a fuss at first but I convinced her that some stones wouldn’t cause any machine devils to rise.”

Aloy nodded and checked the time on her focus. “Well, it was nice to speak with you Teersa.” Surprisingly so, though she didn’t say that. “But I have some things I need to do now.”

“Likewise Aloy.” Teersa paused for a moment and then remembered something. “Actually there is one other person here that wishes to talk to you, just for a moment.”

Aloy hesitated. She didn’t know who that would be, her friends among the Nora were rare to say the least. “It’s not Lansra is it?” She had been weird after Aloy came out of Eluthiya.

“Oh, goddess no. She might actually, but I haven’t told her we are speaking.”

“Who is it then? Sona?” The warchief might be interested in how things were going.

“No, not her. She has been talking to Varl a bit. Apparently something about how the Tenakth organized their soldiers inspired her.” Teersa began walking into the hut beside her. “I don’t think you'll mind speaking to him.” She opened the door and gave the focus to a young man sitting on a chair beside it.”

He looked startled at first then accepted it. “Hi, Aloy, you called. ”

“Teb?” She had mostly forgotten him. It wasn’t like she could come back to the sacred lands to get new wear. But at the same time, he was the first person outside of her family to give her a gift. So she still remembered him.

“Yes. Teersa said she had the opportunity to speak with you, so I asked if I could do that too. And you are really in lands beyond the sundom?”

“Umm. Yeah. We are in the base.” Though that didn’t explain anything, and neither would Regional Control Center 9. “Tenakth lands.”

“I did hear about them. But I haven’t met one.”

“Listen Teb. It’s nice to hear from you, but I should be going.” There were weavers in every tribe, and while Teb was good, Aloy needed metal in her weaves anyway. Technique beyond what the Nora could do.

“Ah. Alright.” He looked a bit disappointed, but hid it well. “Thanks for saving me again.”

Aloy paused slightly, just before she went to close the focus. Actually, maybe there was something he could do. “Wait, Teb. There might be something you could help with.”

His face lit up. “Really. What?”

“I need a skilled weaver for a special project.”

“I’ll do it.”

“It’s going to be really complicated, and you will need to travel to the base. Far past Carja lands. Might be dangerous on the roads.”

He seemed to think for a moment and then nodded. “I always wanted to help people and see things. But the proving showed I wasn’t a good fighter or hunter, so I thought I would always be a stitcher for the village. And then you shoved me there were places beyond just the Nora.”

Aloy nodded. She would have to tell Balahn to give Teb a focus and guide him towards the Duant. But they need to figure out the Zeniths armor after they defeated them. Something told her she would need it.

----

For a moment it was a normal sunset. She had just walked back to her (and Avad’s) bedroom after talking to Beta. Her sister had been working with Sylens on a project. She couldn’t be relaxed while the Zeniths threat was out there, but perhaps something close to it. Then the Base’s alarms rang and everything happened. She heard Gaia’s voice over her focus.

“Zeniths spotted over the horizon. Large group approaching at high speed, seemingly headed for our location.“

She grabbed her gear and hurried out alongside Avad into the main corridor. Gaia projected a video feed of a group of strange vessels, moving quickly over the clouds. The vessels were clearly Zenith in origin, though two of them seemed less regal than usual and almost haphazard in construction. They landed in the valley around the same time that Aloy and Avad arrived at the door to the base.

A dozen or so Zeniths flew out of one of them and looked around. Some carried weapons of some sort and others had strange attachments to their outfits, but most looked more like a group of disinterested tourists than a warband. A few vessels opened up and revealed a swarm of tightly packed specters. The two largest ones were more curious however. They opened up to reveal long tubelike devices of Zenith design.

Gerard emerged from the group and spoke, his voice clearly amplified. Aloy noted two intact legs. Medicine far beyond theirs too.

“Hello forces of Earth. It seems you have something that belongs to me.” He chuckled slightly, “I would give you an opportunity to surrender but I don’t really feel like letting any of you insects go.”

Aloy moved to grab her sharpshot bow. There was quite a distance to him, but she might have a shot. Besides her, Varl appeared to be one step ahead, and loosened an arrow. It flew well over a few hundred meters down the mountainside and might have hit its target, but a few meters short it stopped suddenly and fell to the ground

Well, hoping that he couldn’t reactivate his barrier had been a longshot.

“A few million more of those and you might overwhelm my barrier. Now this time, we brought our own artillery.” He said something to a female Zenith floating next to him and Aloy saw the tubelike device pulse with energy. She threw herself to the ground, for all the good that might do. Then a beam of energy hit the mountain.

The ground shook and rumbled, but none of them were dead. A dozen meters down there was a circular hole in the mountain. She didn’t see the end of it.

“Ten thousand years after arrows, we invented asteroid mining. I saw fit to modify Londra’s design for another purpose, since he elected not to join us.”

“That’s a big weapon right there.”

Aloy ignored Erend’s comment and thought a bit. The mountain was obviously not safe anymore, but on the other hand, charging down played right into Gerards hands. They needed to take down those cannons, if they all headed down there the Zeniths could just fly up and seize Gaia. Any Zeniths that got past them would have their shields intact.

“It’s an intimidation tactic.” Kotallo studied the weapon from where he was standing. “They need Gaia so they can’t fire those weapons directly at the base, with the risk of hitting her.”

He was right. Aloy nodded, even as the other cannon primed.

“Did you think that was a one use weapon? Fire again.” Gerard seemed annoyed at the lack of reaction. The Zenith beside him tapped something as the weapon fired.

The blast hit the mountain again, and it shook with the impact. Aloy had a better angle this time and saw the beam (plasma?, she had little time to wonder what it was) tunnel into the mountain. It reminded her of the tunnel the Zeniths had made when locating ELEUTHIA, only this one seemed to have more force and less restraint. Still, it hadn’t hit the base.

She looked behind her, Sylens stood behind them holding the shieldbreaker. The rest of the group were all around her. “They are going to come up the mountain. Avad, get inside. Go help Beta.” He nodded, and ran into the base. Good. She couldn’t have anything happen to them.

“Fine then. Go get them. Show these primitives who we are.”

A dozen Zeniths flew up towards them, and in front of them a horde of spectres began to climb up far more than in the cauldron. Hundreds of them, climbing on each other and making their usual eerie noises. More still remained below, waiting, where Gerard and a couple of Zeniths stayed.

Only this time, they had an army of their own. Over the valleys, she saw shapes. Stormbirds, sunwings and more flew down as thunderjaws and slaughtersspines raced down the valley. A Slitherfang broke up from the ground near one of the cannons. They were answered with cutting beams and strange zenith weaponry, but they had more on the way. Still Aloy was more focused on the battle in front of her. They were attacking the base. Intent on destroying it and stealing Gaia.

And she wouldn’t let them. She would protect her home.

Chapter Text

His eyes fluttered open, and memory rushed back. The battle, the Zeniths outside. Running back towards the core of the base.

The man appearing in the corridor. Uncloaking, because if they had stealth technology, the Zeniths would of course have it too. But, for as much as Avad’s head spun, he wasn’t dead. And the fight was still going on. He heard crashes and explosions in the distance, and the sound of metal clashing on metal right outside.

They had been ambushed on the way back, but Olfia, his steadfast bodyguard, had intercepted the attack. Something had hit him then, and must have knocked him unconscious momentarily. She was still fighting out there. He needed to find out what they paid the vanguard and double it.

Avad stood up, feeling the daze leave him as he did. He was in one of the storage rooms on the way between the exit and the center part of the base. The door was missing, and he could see into the corridor where a weary and battered Olfia was fighting with their assailant, who was wielding some form of thin, decorated sword. She looked to be blocking his strikes, but a hammer wasn't a defensive weapon. For a moment he wondered why she wasn’t going on the attack, then he saw the backswing of the hammer hit the Zenith. It stopped centimeters from him, losing all the momentum in an instance. A perfect shield shimmered in place, and a hand grabbed hers.

The Zenith’s expression was hard to place, but he looked pleased with himself. Like he finally caught an annoying insect. He held onto the vanguard’s hand and Avad saw lightning arc into her armor. She croaked, then fell onto the floor.

“There we go. Took longer than expected. I need to practice my fencing.” The Zenith moved towards Avad, stepping into the room. He was a middle aged man with a hint of beard, and neatly slicked backed hair. His costume, if it was that, looked less formal than the other Zeniths, with a colorful floral pattern on it. He waved his sword around, shaking off a bit of blood. “Now then. Onto business.”

The Zenith moved forward, stepping into the storage room, sword in hand and pointing it at Avad.

“Stop!”

The Zenith looked at him strangely as if he didn’t expect him to be able to speak, and halted for a moment. “Why should I?”

Avad struggled to think of something to say, he hadn’t expected that to work. “Because-”

“Oh hey, you're that sun king right? Gerard was really mad at you, for shredding his leg.” The Zenith looked him over, and took a casual stance, seemingly indifferent to the violence going on around him.

“Um. Yes.” One of the huge Zenith weapons hit the mountain and it shook with the force of impact. “I am. Unfortunately I don’t know who you are.”

“Marco Canbrita. CEO of Apex Mobil, Colnora Corporation, Stalwart Entertainment. Perhaps some more that I’ve forgotten. 5th richest man in the world. Self made. Regional fencing champion. Unfortunately, never king.” He gave an extravagant bow. “Always had that on the to-do list but you can’t buy it with money. Generally.”

Well that was true Avad supposed, though he was more wealthy than any Oseram merchant of the current age. Not like it mattered in this situation. No amount of shards would save him here.

A metallic screech hit the air and a thundering sound as part of the mountain collapsed. He couldn’t do anything more in this fight than hope for Aloy’s and her friends' success. And keep talking so he stayed alive, he supposed.

A voice called out from the Zenith, but not his own. Gerard had none of his usual calm apathy as he snarled in the Zenith’s voice communication. “Kill him. Painfully preferably, but do it now, Marco. No delays.”

“Jeez, Gerard. You don’t have to shout.” He looked Avad over again. “But yeah yeah, got a task. Can’t stay and chit chat, sun king.” He moved and his sword pointed at Avad again.

“So you take orders from him? So much for being a self made star.”

“I don’t take orders.” Marco looked skeptically at him. That had worked better than expected. “I follow strategies.” Apparently there was a big difference there, because the Zenith looked pleased at the statement.

“Seems like you are doing exactly what Gerard tells you to do.”

“Only because it’s a smart move. So your time is over, sun king.” The blade moved forward.

Avad had nothing to parry with, and even if he could, no way to hurt him. Instead he tried a different strategy. “I can make you the new sun king.”

The blade stopped centimeters from his face. Marco looked intrigued. “Hmm. Not everyday you hear that. I would quite like to be king. Never got to try that.”

“MARCO!” Gerard's shout rang above the sounds of battle for a moment, but the Zenith in front of him just moved his finger as if swiping along an invisible wall and the sound stopped

“All right, that’s enough out of him. I’ll hear you out. Why not?”

Avad breathed in quickly and spoke as quickly as he could formulate. With Hephaestus in their possession they would win any battle given enough time, and he was confident in his companions skills. He just had to distract a bored immortal long enough to survive. “If you let me and my friends live, I will personally declare you the new sun king.”

“Sorry, can't do that. Even if I didn’t attack them, your friends aren’t going to live long. I mean look, she’s probably bleeding out right there.” He gestured at Olifia lying at the entrance to the room. “There is a certain tank vs spearman thing going.” Looking at his expression, the idea that the Zeniths would win seemed like an obvious thing. Avad wondered how much Marco knew about what happened at Gemini. Gerard was just the type to omit crucial information if it benefited him.

Either way, he could stall. “Well, let me go then. I can show you to the sundom and declare you the new sun king.”

“Just like that? You would hand it over like that? I expected some haggling.”

Well, he was at swordpoint. ‘Tech beyond his understanding’ type of swordpoint. Avad didn’t point that out, it seemed like a bad idea to remind his opponent of his advantage. “Well, yes. You seem capable and I get to live.” Vain compliments worked just as well on arrogant immortals as vain nobles. And it would never happen anyway. Avad wasn’t abandoning anyone, and if Marco somehow became king, he would be finding poison in his tea within hours.

“Hmm.” Marco tapped something, seemingly focusing on something Avad couldn't see. The mountain shook, as another thundering sound hit it. Avad quelled his urge to check his focus.

Avad thought for a second, then added, “And heal her”, pointing at Olifia.

“Fine.” Marco sheathed his sword, and pointed at Olifia. A spray of some form of vapor flew at her. “Now, she won’t die of blood loss. Might still perish when the others arrive, though.” He nudged her unconscious body into the room. “There we go. Now onto the kingdom. Gerard will be quite upset, but eh, he needs me. I’ll try it for a bit.”

Avad breathed out, then focused on the last words there. “For a bit?”

Marco looked nonchalantly at him. “Well, there is little point to being a king of a dying world, is there?”

Avad stomach twisted. Something sounded off with that statement. “We were working on fixing it. Using Gaia to stop the storms and the collapse of the biosphere.” And if they could, it shouldn’t be a problem for the Zeniths. Why else would they be trying to get GAIA…

“You were… Oh that.” Marco chortled slightly, as he realized something. “Right, you wouldn’t know. You wouldn’t know. Oh, that’s kinda sad almost.” The Zenith looked like he had misplayed and lost a piece in machine strike.

“What do you wouldn’t know?”.

“Well you don’t have to worry about the biosphere at least. He paused. “Let's just say you have bigger problems ahead if you don’t die here. I can’t be bothered to talk about Nemesis. I hear enough about ‘evasion strategies’ and ‘light absorbing materials’ from Gerard and Maeve.”

Multiple bursts of sounds stopped Avad from having any chance to respond. First another blast hit the mountain, and this one seemed to be close. Avad felt the ground shake, and to steady himself not to fall over. Then another pulse of sound came at them, this one a wave of energy that enveloped them both. One he had heard before.

Marco looked startled as his shields faded, but to his credit, had a blade ready as Avad frantically scanned the room for anything that worked as a weapon. The Zenith’s expression had changed however.

“How? I thought Gerard was just being paranoid when he told us to bring so many people to face some primitives. No offense“ The blade moved towards his throat. “Did you do this? No you couldn’t have.”

Before he could respond again, a shape flew into the door. Gerard hovered in the doors opening. His clothing was damaged in a few places and singed in others. His apathetic expression twisted as he saw the two. Before either of them could react, a mass of metal came out from his hand and skewered Marco in a dozen places. In an instant, one terrifying immortal threat had been replaced with another.

“It seems we had more than one turncoat. You thought I couldn’t hear you, just because you muted me." Gerard sighed. "Which one of us made the communication program?”

A warbled cry came from Marco, but no intelligible words.

“The next voyage will have more space aboard it appears.” Gerard scoffed and looked at him instead. “But neither of you are getting on.”

Avad took a space back reflexively, even if that didn’t matter. Gerard didn’t have his shield, but he had just proven that Avad had little chance of harming him. As if to confirm that, he pushed the other Zenith's body of the mass of metal, letting him fall on the floor. The metal retracted back into Gerard’s armor.

“You are good at talking nonsense, sun king. Perhaps in the old days you would have been a rival to me. But I’ve bested hundreds of talkers. And don’t think I forgot about my promise. I have time to do some scorching before we head off.” Olifia still lay on the floor, healed but still unconscious. He was alone, and facing an impossible foe. At least Aloy had managed to disable their shields, so even if he fell, the world had a chance. Even if Avad had a sword, he wasn’t getting to Gerard before being skewered. In fact, he realized, the step back he took had only made it harder for him. He wasn’t a warrior after all.

A weapon moved. Metal hit flesh. And a blade emerged in Gerard’s throat.

Aloy stood behind him, her spearhead lodged perfectly between two armor plates. She twisted the spear, and then retracted it, letting Gerard fall unceremoniously to the ground. She looked down for a moment to confirm his death, then rushed over to Avad.

She was covered in blood and sweat. A mixture of fury and relief was on her face. She looked beautiful, he thought. Avad moved forward and hugged her.

“You're alive.”

“You did it”

They spoke at the same time, and he kissed her, ignoring the blood and grime on her face.

“Yeah. Slippery bastard, he was. But we got him.” Aloy looked him over, and down at the dead Zenith. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, I’m okay.” Avad’s head still ached a bit from the beginning of the fight, but he was fine. At least now there was silence. Without the noises from the battle, the base felt calm again. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll manage.” Her right hand was covered with a bloody bandage, and she was holding the spear with her left. He was about to ask, when suddenly the lights went out and the base turned dark.

“What. No. Sylens hacked one of their information data banks. We’ve made sure to eliminate every single one of them that came here.” Aloy stepped out into the corridor, with Avad right behind her. The base was almost completely dark, but from the emergency lights he could see destroyed rooms and damaged walls. Fallen furniture and signs of battle. Something moved in the darkness

A shape flew down the hallway.

“There you are,” Tilda said. Then everything went white.

Chapter Text

Avad woke up to the stars. They shone high overhead, through a crack in the ceiling. He moved about and shivered from the cold. At least it had been a period of warmer weather, or they might have died to the cold, after surviving angry immortals.

The base was dark, and there was a tinge of chemicals and burned machinery in the air. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he looked around, aided by the night sky and a few flickering emergency lights. What he saw wasn’t hopeful.

The base might not have been damaged beyond repair, but it would be weeks at least until it was operational again. The Zenith weapons had torn through the mountain where they hit, adding new tunnels and collapsing rooms. He was in the exact same corridor he had been when Tilda had taken Aloy and Gaia. For a just moment then they had won, then the universe decided to take that away. Avad wanted to cry out and shout, but decided not to. His throat felt parched and dry, and he tried to focus on anything else.

He tapped on his focus to get a read on the situation, and found that of course, the network was down. Without Gaia, the base wasn’t online and they had no focus network. They had to communicate the old fashioned way. At least his focus had power enough to activate its flashlight feature.

The nearest room had been Erend’s, but the vanguard captain wasn’t there. Good news too, because half of it had collapsed, and what hadn’t was covered in a thick layer of dust. Avad moved on, heading for the central chamber. Someone else had to be up. He thought about shouting, but again decided not to. He was next to the small room he had been during the battle, the place where Olfia had last been. She should still be in there.

Avad tapped the door to open it, but the door didn’t open. It must have closed itself when he left and now couldn’t open without power. He pushed, but something prevented him from opening it. He readied himself and tried again, but the door didn’t budge. And it wasn’t something he was going to convince with words. That was all he was good at and it hadn’t even worked this, a part of his mind said. He might have distracted Marco temporarily, but Tilda had won either way. Avad looked around for a tool to use, when a shape moved in the darkness. He had barely a movement to react before a blade was at his throat.

“Stop”. A voice said, and Avad did just that, holding very still as he heard a click behind him and a flash of light. Then the blade went away, and Avad turned around slowly. Sylens stood behind him, dagger in one hand and some kind of hastily put together torch in the other. His face was bandaged up, particularly around his right ear where his focus would be.

“Oh, the sun king.” Sylens seemed to look him over. “Good to see that you're up too. We have a savior to save, don’t we?”

Avad breathed out. “Yes. What’s with the knife?”

“You could have been a specter or a Zenith. Perhaps banging on a door in a dark ruined corridor isn’t the best survival instinct.” Sylens looked at him like this was an obvious thing, like this exact scenario that had happened to him a few times.

“Fine.” Then he realized why he had been trying to open the door. ”Olifia is inside, help me get it open”.

“Your Oseram bodyguard? I suppose she could be helpful.” Sylens looked over the door, tapping it gently with his dagger. “Looks jammed shut. Going to need a spear or something. Go check with Varl and Zo in the medical bay”.

“They're up? And alright?”

“Of course. You didn’t think you were the first to wake, did you? I’m going to set up the base’s emergency power supply.”

And with that, Avad found himself dismissed. He wandered over to their medical room, finding Varl and Zo there, tending to an unconscious Erend whose left leg was entirely covered in bandages..

“Ah, hey Avad. You're awake.” Varl looked up, and nodded at him. “Good to see you're alright”’

Avad nodded back. “How are you?” It was a stupid question. They were all hurt and bandaged. But what did you say? Avad didn’t want to think about the proverbial tremortusk in room. “How are the others?”

“We are alive, so that’s good. Talanah and Kotallo are looking for others, they must have missed you. Sylens went to look for the backup generator.”

“Oh.” Everyone was doing things, while Avad just stumbled here, trying not to think about what happened. He had almost even forgotten why he went here in the first place. “I came to get a spear or something. Olifia is stuck in one of the storage rooms”

As he did Kotallo came back carrying Beta. “She’s still out cold, but she appears to be fine. Found her in Gaia’s room.” He set her down on one of the beds, then turned back “I’ll get the door open. Need to do something physical.”

Avad just nodded, trying to think of something to reply.

Kotallo tapped him on the shoulder as he walked by. “We’ll rescue the commander, don’t you worry.”

“How did…?”

“I’ve seen the effects of battle on some people before. Do something, or you will spend ages thinking of what you could have done.”

---

Avad helped in the medical room for a bit after that, as more people stumbled in, waking up by the shine of the stars and chill of the early morning. He had little practice here, but he could do simple things while Zo and Varl helped treat the others. Simple things he would have never done as the sun king, but important things. He gathered bandages, carried snow to melt for water and looked through their cached supply of food for something that they could hastily prepare. They might have a savior to save, but they weren’t doing that on an empty stomach. Then, as Beta awoke and Vanasha returned with a shivering Alva, they got to planning.

Aloy was gone, and so was Gaia.

And they would get them back.

Still without Gaia, there was no Hephestus and no focus network. No way to call in machines or reinforcements. Kotallo guessed that Hekarro was likely to send some people to check in on them by midday, but then it might be too late. They had only guesses for what Tilda planned for, but it was unlikely she would delay. Beta and Sylens estimated that it would be best to arrive at the Zenith base, Tilda’s most likely destination, in under 3 hours.

It was an impossible challenge. So they made it work.

“Okay we need 5 overridden sunwings, for us. Vanasha, Talanah and Zo can you get us that within twenty minutes?”

“If they are still as docile as a baby, then yes.” Talanah nodded at him and looked over her gear.

“Good. Erend and Vanasha can you make sure everyone has weapons and armor ready? We need everyone ready to fight when we get there.”

“Sure. I need a new weapon anyway, had to throw my hammer at an angry Zenith.” Avad had heard parts of Erends fight against one of the zeniths. Apparently it had involved luring them into one of their own artillery weapons.

“Cazaniv and Kotallo, can you find the best flight path? Any minute we can save is worthwhile.” Kotallo had knowledge of the area and military experience. Cazaniv had the most experience flying of any of them.

Kotallo nodded at him. “I have the maps in my room. You're welcome to join us, Avad.” Avad didn’t know if he could help much, but it might still be the task he was best at.

“Sylens, you had a plan”

“I did. We need to look over the shield disruptor. We don’t know the state of Tilda’s shield or whatever else she might throw at us, so we plan to be ready for anything.” He paused for a moment, then came to a decision. “Beta, Alva you're with me.”

Avad looked over at them, who nodded in response. Avad had been a bit worried for Beta’s mental state after the battle, but she seemed steely-eyed and resolved.

And without any fanfare, the meeting was adjourned and people ran off to their tasks. Avad met Beta on the way out. “You good?”

Beta hesitated for a moment then nodded back at him, “I didn’t know what to do at first and nearly froze up, but I knew Aloy would try anything to save me.” She was shaking slightly with nerves, but held her gaze firm. “We are saving my sister.” Right before she walked away she added in lower volume. “And I’ll keep track of Sylens too.”

---

There were ten people lifting off from five sunwings. As the sun rose midway on the horizon they left the base with as much speed as possible.

The liftoff would have felt magical any other time. Their flight to the grove had been awkward and crude compared to riding sunwings. But Avad couldn’t focus on that, he had one goal in mind as he rode behind Vanasha with a map projected on his focus at all times. The terrain shifted from desert to mountain to jungle beneath them and the sun rose to its zenith. And then in the horizon Avad saw a mass of blue, and knew that they weren’t far off. They were coming, and all he could do now was hope they weren’t too late.

Chapter Text

The air smelled odd. Not necessarily bad, just alien. Like a bomb had gone off in one of those perfume shops in Meridian, then someone had pumped in a burst of air from a cauldron. So it did smell pretty bad actually.

Her eyes fluttered open and took in the sights around her. She laid on a bench of sorts, next to a wide pathway. But the shapes were odd too, everything was too curved and organic. It felt too pristine. The pathway appeared to be made out white stones, but there was no dust on them, as if they were carved yesterday. The bench wasn’t made of wood or stone, but some strange crystalline material without rough edges.

Aloy sat up and looked around the Zenith base. There could be no other place. She searched memories, trying to remember events that led here. The incoming Zeniths, Gerard and the lasers, the battles and her finding Avad afterwards. Their kiss. And then…

Tilda

She rose and almost cried out. Then stopped herself. That was stupid. She was alive, and presumably so was Avad and the others. Tilda could have killed them if she wanted, but she remembered the flash of light. Aloy had managed kept eyes open for a few moments and felt the acceleration as the remains of the Base faded from view.

Physically she felt fine. The wounds she had taken in battle were healed. Her hands looked fine, even the finger that she had almost lost in the battles looked good. She flexed it and worked just fine. As she did she noticed something, Aloy moved her hands and a shimmering field appeared, preventing her from separating them. Not completely free then. It seemed her captor didn’t trust her. Well, she wasn’t intending to play nice either.

The Zenith base was constructed out a white material in grand shapes, round globes and tall spires. But as she looked around she found it wasn’t quite in as perfect shape as it appeared at first glance. There were scorch marks on buildings and fallen over pillars. Something had happened here, and recently too by the faint smell of smoke that flew in.

Her gear was nowhere to be seen either. Aloy dearly hoped that Tilda hadn’t destroyed it or dropped it into the ocean or something. On a grand scale it wouldn’t matter much and they were easily replaceable with their current influence, but she had grown quite fond of her current spear and bow. At least she had backed up her focus, so even that was lost, she shouldn’t have lost any data.

At least her armor was still on, and with that she had some tools. Vanasha had shown her how to properly hide a small blade in a boot heel. Getting it out when her hands were bound was a bit tougher, but manageable. Of course her steel knife did nothing to the Zenith field that bound her arms, but now she had something. And Zenith technology wasn’t magic, so whatever effect bound her arms had to have a power source nearby.

She checked under the bench first, but it seemed Tilda hadn’t been that predictable.

Well, logic dictated that it should have a range limit, so Aloy started walking. She thought about just running to the edge of the island and jumping into the water, but she had seen what happened when a bird struck the shield around the Zenith Base. She hoped to avoid that fate.

Barely 50 meters in she saw a shape appear behind a pillar, then land in front of her. Aloy instinctively brought up her blade, as Tilda looked down at her.

“Hmm, you're awake. Well good morning Aloy. I just got done finishing the last of the preparations.” Tilda appeared to be mostly fine, though her armor was signed in a few places. “We are going”.

“We are? Where exactly?”

“To better places.” Tilda looked up towards to the sky for a moment and another shape flew down next to her. It looked like a Specter, but it was taller and bulkier and clearly more advanced. It walked towards Aloy and reached to grab her. She dodged back, then pivoted to the side to reach Tilda. Tilda responded by moving her hands, creating a wall of force that blocked her path, and Aloy found herself grabbed by the machine.

“It will be so much easier for you if you don’t struggle. Your gear is up in the ship, though I suppose I missed that dagger.” And with that she took off, and Aloy found herself lifted into the air by the specter. She didn’t try to resist, opting to conserve her energy and observe its eerily movements.

A part of her brain marvelled at the ease of the flight the Zeniths had. Beta had tried to explain how it worked, but she hadn’t known the whole truth either. The Zeniths had so many wondrous inventions, and yet were so incredibly short sighted and petty. It was a reflection of the old ones at large. Perhaps humanity, but Aloy believed they could be greater than that. Elizabeth had done so, and she had already seen it from others

They landed on what could arguably be described as a rooftop, though it didn’t look like any Aloy had seen. White floor, silvery pillars, gold decor, strange near-organic shapes and curves. And on the other side of the floor stood a rocket.

Besides being better maintained, It didn’t differ much from the one she had seen in the Far Zenith launch facility a few months ago.. That felt so long ago, yet it was mere months. Two years ago she had been in the sacred lands without having seen beyond those small borders. Now she was in the grip of a crazed woman who had lived over a thousand years and walked on earth with Elisabet.

The Specter landed with her beside Tilda, and they walked across the rooftop. Tilda didn’t share Gerard's sense of utilitarianism, and there was almost a sense of loss as she walked there, taking in the sights. Almost. Aloy scanned the environment too, but for anything that could assist her. A dagger wasn’t defeating Tilda and her pet machine. There were debris and occasional signs of fighting here, along with strange devices that Aloy would love to try to study at another time.

A body lay splayed out on the ground. She appeared to be middle aged, with feminine features that made Aloy think of an older version of Alva with short cropped hair. A hole was burnt through her stomach.

Tilda glanced at the figure and sighed. “Miki Himura. Made her fortune in space tourism, biggest believer in terraforming we had at far zenith. General space nerd. She wasn’t the worst, I suppose, but she had no qualms about selling one way trips to mars to the desperate back on earth.“

“And know you killed her, why?” What was your goal in all this? It was the question burning on Aloy’s tongue, but she suspected she wouldn’t like the answer.

Tilda sighed, but began speaking “We didn’t come to earth to take it back. Perhaps Erik and some of them would have liked to play god here, but for most of us it wasn’t the goal.” Tilda paused, considering her words, continuing to walk forward as she did. Aloy was shepherded along by the specter. “Some of the Zeniths weren’t satisfied with physical immortality. Even with all the biological enhancements made, the human body still imposed limits and death was still possible. Accidents and conflicts can still claim lives when you play with resources they could. So they wanted something ‘grander’, the fools they were.”

Aloy breathed in. They had had many theories on what destroyed Sirius, and she believed she would hear the truth now. Still, did it matter. Tilda looked resolute in whatever her plan was, it wasn’t like she would have a chance to talk to her. And there was still the specter behind her, its arm gently nudging her along. She saw reflective metal moving in strange organic shapes.

“Some of them sought to upload their minds into a digital form, to transcend humanity. Be able to possess any body, organic or synthetic. They weren’t the first to try and the rest of us regarded it as yet another failed experiment. Many of us forgot about it, it became a note in databases and on log files. Then decades later...” Tilda paused, seemingly lost in thought.

“It destroyed your colony? How?”

Tilda looked Aloy over, and walked around her. “You aren’t as connected to technology as we were, or the old ones, but even then imagine suddenly everything turning on you. Your focus network hacked and turned off. Your industrial equipment, your weaponry, your vehicles doing everything they can to kill you. If every machine out there suddenly got a kill order.” Aloy shivered at that. “There were some pretty big players involved in the synthesis attempt. Inventors, builders, organizers; the types of people that will seize the opportunity to “effectivize” everything they can. We call what became of them Nemesis and it has every password, every design schematic, every weak point they knew. It took control of the planet's system within hours.”

Aloy breathed out. “And now it's heading towards us. And you're taking off again, heading to some far off corner of the galaxy because all you can do is run from your problems.”

Tilda's response broke the calm indifference she had previously held. “I had a mansion, perfect replicas of ten thousand paintings. A harmony of technology and truth. But no amount of personal digital safety and firewalls could stop Nemesis.”

As Tilda spoke Aloy continued glancing around. She scanned the environment for tools and cover. She took in the dimensions and speed of spectre behind her. She saw Gaia's capsule in front of the rocket. Tilda really planned to leave, and to take her along.

“But it seems Nemesis brought an opportunity as well. Leaving Elisabet behind was the biggest mistake of my life. You are her best possible self, and surely you realise that just we have one hope for the survival of humanity. No amount of hopes and dreams of primitive tribesfolk can stop what’s coming. Elisabet knew when you needed to make a sacrifice. Join me Aloy, and build that future.”

Aloy paused for a moment, as if considering the decision. “I don’t suppose I can say no?”

Tilda looked more resigned than upset. “Unfortunately not. I am not making the same mistake again. Shame too. The view inside the rocket as it leaves is quite good. But you were always stubborn. In other situations I've found that to be one of your most attractive qualities.” She pointed with her arm, but Aloy had already begun moving.

Dodging is based on two things, she knew. Speed and perception. The former was hard to increase, beyond what you got by training. The latter could always be improved and Aloy had fought against Zenith weaponry three times already. She had spent her time here in capture studying how the Specter moved, how the strange flowing metal shaped.

She swept below the shifting arm of the machine. Stepped forward, then pivoted back as the Specter moved to prevent her future movements. Most machines couldn't be parried or blocked, their sheer size and mass would crush any hunter who tried. But that generally made them slower. Aloy leapt across the ground towards the nearest pile of debris as the Specter corrected its course.

Tilda sighed. “And now who is dodging? You can't keep this up forever Aloy. You will tire before the machine.”

Aloy knew that. So she wasn't just dodging. As the specter transformed one its arm into a long spear she held her arms up, and the blade stopped in between them on the shimmering field. For once she was the one feeling no impact from the hit and the metal warped on impact.

“Clever. But you can’t win a battle without attacking.” Tilda was still looking on casually, as if the biggest thing Aloy was doing here was wasting time.

And to be honest she might be. She was not surrendering, but she knew she had only one shot to do something. The specter barreled forward and she was forced to throw herself to the side to avoid it. She slid awkwardly on the floor on landing, momentarily struggled to get up with her hands bound. The Specter had turned around while she did and came back at her with a bladed arm, which Aloy narrowly blocked with the field binding her arms. She felt part of the attack cut into the armor on her arms as it did.

“Aim for her legs.” Tilda said, watching the battle. “You may still surrender Aloy.”

“You should know that us Sobecks were never good at that.” She weighed the small boot knife she held. She had almost lost her grip on it with the previous impact, but it had also weakened the field enough to give her some freer arm movement. She still had one shot, and Tilda would be ready for any obvious attack.

Aloy charged at her.

Tilda almost looked disappointed, but raised her hands ready to defend herself.

She heard Specter coming closer behind her, and mentally counted down as it came closer. 10 meters, 5 meters, 3…Aloy jumped without looking back, and landed momentarily on the blade arm, then leapt back again, letting the machine overtake her. It brought the other arm diagonally down to cut at her and in that movement Aloy threw her knife. It flew through reshaping metal of the machine and out on the other side.

The dagger landed with “thud” and a surprised shout, and Aloy let out a relieved cry as she rolled away from the spectre's attack. She glanced at Tilda and saw the blade sticking out from her stomach, and surprise on the zenith's face. She had been aiming for heart, but it was good enough. The Specter seemed to have stopped too.

Aloy breathed out, and looked at her right side. The last attack seemed to have clipped her. Her armor was torn in a few places and she had a gash on her shoulder. But it didn’t matter.

“Specter Prime. To me.” The voice was raspy and pained, but it came nonetheless. And the machine moved to its master once more. But this time it didn’t stay next to her. It flowed around Tilda like a suit of armor.

Aloy frantically scrambled backwards, but this time she had no weapons. No preparations, no traps, nothing. The sky was a clear noon with few discerning features as she ran for her life.

---

She dove between pillars and debris down the rooftop of the zenith base, narrowly avoiding blasts of energy and cutting blade arms. Aloy was quite sure that Tilda still didn’t quite mean to kill her, but from her attacks it seemed that Tilda was quite confident in what Zenith technology could heal. She was quite sure she might have died instantly if she hadn't dodged some of the attacks. Any option of surrender was far gone.

Her own attacks had proven pretty ineffective. Aloy had managed to get out of the forcefield around her arms (and nearly lost a hand in the process), but she still had no real weapons. The closest she had come to harming Tilda had been with an improvised electricity trap from some debris, but all that had done was scorch the outside paint layer.

And now she was running out of space. The rooftop ended behind her and a large vertical drop led to the ocean below. She had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.

“Next time you wake up, we will be halfway out of the solar system. Hopefully you will have come to your senses then.” The armor loomed above her, and Aloy considered the drop below. But even that wouldn’t work. The specter could fly and there was nowhere to hide in the air. The sky was clear.

Except. A dot appeared on the horizon.

She saw it even as she rolled to the side.The spectre's strike struck the ground and dented it. She barely dodged that one. Aloy knew she was on her last legs. But she saw more shapes on the horizon.

And an arrow struck the machine and its canister exploded on impact. Tilda snarled as she turned around. “You know, I had no interest in harming them. I could have killed them all when I took you, but I didn't. Now though, I don’t have that luxury.” The specter jumped into the air, and Aloy rested beside a fallen pillar.

Arrows and explosions filled the sky as four sunwings faced off with the last Zenith. She should help part of her mind said, but she rested for a moment. Elizabeth hadn’t saved the world alone.

One of them flew straight towards her instead, and one of them landed. Avad’s hair was windswept and his clothing far more messy than normal, but still managed to look regal as he extended a hand. Aloy let herself be pulled up and into a hug. He handed her a herbal potion which she drank, then looked out over the battle.

“They got this,” Avad said, and somehow Aloy was convinced that they did, despite the explosions that blazened the sky.

“Yeah. I’m still to help them”

“Thought so.” Avad pulled a bow from his back and gave it to her. “Vanasha is waiting on the sunwing. Go. I will be waiting here after you win.”

Chapter Text

--- Avad Pov ---

From a distance the explosions and beam of light could look like a fireworks display. The six sunwings dove and weaved, as they circled the larger machine like birds of prey. Rays of light cut across the sky, and a wing was clipped. Kotallo and Talanah’s sunwing tumbled down, before falling into a controlled landing on one of the lower floors. But even as they did, Tilda’s machine was being peppered with arrows and shaken by explosions.

Avad looked down for a moment to confirm they made a safe landing, then looked up. He saw Aloy’s red hair flair across the sky and a line in the sky that might be an arrow of hers. She looked stunning like that, but truthfully, she always did. When they had reached the zenith base and he had seen her alive it felt like a weight had been lifted from him and he could breathe again. Part of him hadn’t want to let her go back to battle just now, to throw herself into danger again wounded as she was. But Avad knew that it was her choice and that if she hadn’t joined the battle again, even if they won, she would have regretted it forever.

Aloy's arrow struck the Zenith machine with an impact that felt audible from here, and something cracked in the armor plate. The cracks spread through the machine, and shattered the thrusters. For a moment it seemed to waver in the sky, then it began to fall.

The lights flickered out as it did. Lines of small diodes stopped shimmering. Metallic parts, which he had no idea what they were, separated and fell to the earth. After a few moments the whole machine crumbled apart, leaving behind an egg-like pod.

Tilda’s pod hit the island at high speed, throwing up a large cloud of smoke and debris. Avad watched the pod intently, used by now to the Zeniths ability to survive the impossible. But nothing happened. Then as the smoke cleared and their group of machine riders descended on the pod like a pack of angry vultures, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

--- Beta Pov ---

“Be careful. She might have something up her sleeve”.

“Oh, I noticed her persistence and ability to do the impossible very well. Got my hammer ready.”

It was a bumpy ride as Erend wasn’t the very best pilot, but Beta still felt safe as they landed. Erend hopped in front of her, and did indeed have his hammer ready. It might just be an ordinary hammer, not even his special “old trusty companion” hammer (which he had lost in the siege), but Beta still felt like it could protect her from almost any threats. Or it might be that even with Tilda’s tenacity and adaptability, she didn’t think the Zenith would have a way out of this situation.

They had been the first to land (again, perhaps due to Erend preferring not to stay too high in the sky), but as they walked towards Tilda’s pod the other’s sunwings landed around them. Beta and Erend still got their first though, and she saw the scorched and torn white metal object lying in the crater. Sparks periodically emitted from the pod and a singular diode glowed red up at one side. A crack in the side of the pod revealed a narrow opening and Beta knew that she would find the answer to some of their questions inside.

After a nod back and forth, Erend carefully tapped the pod with his hammer. Nothing happened, so he tapped harder, and the damaged metal shattered. Tilda laid inside. Bruised, broken, dying. Beta saw the woman who had raised her, who had been the only moments of kindness in her upbringing.

She saw a woman beset by her regrets and desire, whose face was still twisted in that in an expression of contempt.

“Came here to gloat?” She met Beta’s gaze, and it took everything she had in her to return it “Elisabet would have figured out that we didn’t come here to rule. You should have stayed with us, inferior copy. You have no chance of stopping it with these primitives.”

“I’m staying with my sister and my friends. People who care for me, and don’t see me as a replacement for someone they couldn’t have.” Erend put his hand on her shoulder, and she saw that was letting her handle this, unless she needed assistance. She silently thanked him for it.

Tilda coughed and specks of red came with it. But she didn’t respond, so Beta continued.

“I did appreciate the moments at the lake house still. It was a few moments of comfort in the emptiness.”

Tilda’s expression changed into something unreadable, but perhaps contemplative? “You can’t defeat Nemesis. Even if I stayed here and worked with you from the start, there was no chance.” Tilda paused to cough and pointed weakly. “The rocket is still there, you lot could figure out how to control it. The Odyssey has quite a bit of spare room, you could fit an entire tribe of people there. Perhaps more. That should be enough people to save.“ She coughed again. “But you’re not going to do that, are you Elisabet? You were always so stubborn. So…”

She paused mid sentence, and the light in her eyes went out. Tilda died, and Beta felt a tear run on her cheek. Which was stupid, the woman had been trying to kill them moments ago. None of their meetings in the data channel had been for her comfort or interests… She felt a hand on her other shoulder and saw Aloy standing there.

“You could still have given us a choice.” Aloy said somberly to Tilda, then looked over at Beta. “You okay?”

Beta did something she had never initiated before, and hugged her sister. “I will be”

After a moment she heard a (more healthy) cough from behind them and released Aloy.

“Well. I would say we have a choice to make, but I know the option you will pick.” Sylens spoke to them, then walked over and inspected Tilda’s body.

“You known this entire time.”

Sylens looked back at Aloy. “Nemesis? Yes.” Beta felt her mind catch up to what Tilda had said, but before she could ask Varl spoke up.

“Known about what exactly? What is this Nemesis thing?”

Sylens seemed to consider his words, then changed his mind. “I’ll explain on the rooftop, where the others are. No point in doing it more than once, and we might want to check on Gaia so that Tilda hasn’t messed with it.”

--- Sylens Pov ---

He hadn’t expected the battle to go much differently. While Tilda breaking out had been a surprise, all the other moments had played out within his predictions. As soon as they had gotten to the Zenith base and saw that Aloy was still alive, their odds were in their favor, at least for the moment.

But now came the decisions. So many decisions, and he didn’t for once have clear answers. The logical step was to take up Tilda’s strategy. The shuttle was still there, and it had good odds on evading Nemesis practically forever. The Odyssey was bound to be full of secrets and technology and if he was lucky he could figure out a way to the Zeniths life extension methods.

Leaving was the logical decision, but yet, as he looked over this group of desperate individuals in front of him, Sylens felt a rare sense of kinship. He didn’t care for the world, he had never worked for the sake of its survival. But it was convenient to have good allies. It helped his research, and well he could stay for the moment. It wasn’t like any of them was gonna take the shuttle.

While he considered the matter he had been explaining Nemesis to the group, and answering all of the questions that followed. ‘Yes it was travelling through space to earth’. ‘Yes, it is a sentient AI which had defeated the Zeniths in a matter of hours.’ ‘Yes it was that the thing that originally broke the terraforming system and caused the derangement in the first place.’

But Aloy’s companions didn’t answer with despair or confusion. He could, as the old ones would say, see the gears turning in their heads, as the marshal considered strategy, the diviner and clone talked technology and the hunters and king looked to the stars.

He could stay for a little while at least. He needed to bring his databases anyway and they were stuck on his old bases now that his focus was destroyed. Sylens felt at his right ear, where one of the Zenith’s blasts had hit. The pain wasn’t that bad, it would heal, even if it would never recover without Zenith technology. But being without a focus again felt strange, and he hoped Aloy’s extra supplies held some as his supply had been destroyed during the siege.

It would be hypocritical of him to let people of science fail without leaving some knowledge behind first.

“Okay, I don’t want to be that person, but we just defeated the last Zenith in a hard battle. I’m quite sure we packed some food, and my stomach is telling me it’s probably time to eat it before the sun goes down.”

Sylens accepted a packed sandwich as he and Beta looked over the Gaia kernel. He put away his blades.

At least for the moment.

--- Vanasha Pov ---

Vanasha was a woman who liked to consider herself adaptable, but she had to admit she was a bit out of her depth here. The Zeniths and their impenetrable shields had been bad enough, now they had an “angry machine hivemind” threatening them too. She had found that she was better in cities of wood and stone, rather than this place of light and spires.

Keeping track of a potentially traitorous tinkerer who knew more than he let on, however? Right up her alley.

Her read on the situation told her that he was unlikely to betray them, but she had seen a glint of steel on his body.

At the other side of the platform, the sunwings were being loaded up. The machines couldn’t carry more than two passengers each on the trip, so with Aloy saved, at least one of them had to stay behind and wait for a return trip.

Sylens had immediately volunteered to explore the Zenith base more, and so she had done the same. Gaia’s core was pretty big, which was a good excuse, but she was sure they could have squeezed together if they wanted.

She saw Avad help Aloy up on the sunwing and smiled slightly at his expression. The savior of Meridian was a lot better fit for him than all of the noblewomen Marad had thrown at him. And Vanasha wouldn't be the last to admit the sun king had good taste. Speaking of good taste, hopefully they would get the focus network running soon. She would like to talk to Uthid again. He had been better at using the network for “non-essential” uses, and it was fun to tease him

Vanasha must have looked long, for Sylens looked at where she was glancing and scoffed slightly.

She looked at him. “Don’t care for the sun king? Or not a fan of romance in general?”

He gave a great deadpan expression. “Do you need to ask?”

“You haven’t found the right woman?” Vansasha gave a flirtatious bow (even if middle aged cult-starting scholars was not her type). “Or man. I’m not judging.”

Sylens glanced at her then began to walk away.

She waved to the riders as they took off then followed after him. “Hey. it's not like you need to find someone. I was just asking.”

Sylens sighed. “Are you going to keep pestering me with pointless questions? We both know that you only stayed here to keep an eye on me. The GAIA core isn’t that large, you could have travelled with them.”

“Maybe. Or I was just curious to see what you would find.”

“Well, you may watch, but I don’t tolerate idle chatter.”

“Fine, fine.” She watched as Sylens inspected the remains of the Zenith base, and tried to follow along as he did. Neither Sylens quiet muttering or the Zeniths tendency to hide the function of their devices and paint everything white, gold or black helped with that, but Vanasha felt that she at least understood some things.

She tapped her focus to check something and remembered Sylens didn’t have his anymore. She waited a moment, then projected a notebook in front of him. “You want help?”

"I suppose I do". It was extremely faint, but she could have sworn there was a hint of a smile on his face for a second.

--- Aloy Pov ---

The sun had set by the time they landed back at the base. Aloy’s legs felt sore and her whole body was aching from a hundred cuts and bruises. Zo and Varl had helped bandage her wounds before they left while the others packed Gaia, but she knew she would need to rest for a few days to recover. But for once, they had a few days. The Zeniths were defeated, gone. For the moment they were safe. Aloy hadn’t begun to mentally unpack the disaster that was Nemesis yet.

That could wait a few days.

For now she leaned into Avad and let him guide her into the Base. It was not in good shape after the battle and whole rooms had collapsed. Olifia and Petra had patched it up somewhat while they were away, but for the time being they were all sharing the few rooms that hadn't collapsed. Aloy was a bit too tired to care, and sat down on gathered pillows in the central room.

She looked up and saw the stars shine overhead through a crack in the ceiling.

She heard a few excited cheers from some other world, and thought she heard Gaia’s voice for a moment. Aloy smiled tiredly and leaned into Avad’s shoulder. He brought up a blanket, covering them both.

He was fine. The others were fine. The base was partially destroyed and another threat lay overhead, but they were all fine. They had defeated the zeniths, they would defeat whatever this was too.

She murmured something to Avad as she felt her body falling asleep. It was meant to be a simple ‘thank you’, but she thought she might have said “I love you” instead. Oh well, it wasn’t like it wasn’t true.

Avad said something back to her, but she was asleep before she could register what it was.

Chapter Text

Sometimes when he looked up to the sky it was like he could almost see the red dot that would signal its arrival. But Avad knew that none of the stars he saw was the one. Because if he could, they would all be doomed. Their calculations (which Avad would admit to still not really understanding, even with Beta’s help) and Alva’s finds at the observatory down south predicted that they still had a bit more than three months before Nemesis. Three months which would decide how prepared earth was for the coming storm.

Avad looked out at Meridian and took in its streets and skylines. No one could argue that it hadn’t changed in the past months. New buildings rose up in the skyline; multistory apartments to house the new arrivals, focus relays to transmit communications and the new landing bays for the cargo stormbirds. Meridian had changed massively in that time, but its inhabitants were mostly the same people. Avad tapped his focus and activated its zoom function, his eyes scanning out over a crowd of people coming back from the evening prayer. Even with the zoom he could barely make out their blurry faces, but just looking at them he could imagine that he was in the Meridian from a year ago.

Then he saw the Quen man walking amongst them or that Utaru herbal trader with a richly decorated stall (which sold excellent perfume) and knew that this wasn’t a scene he could have seen a year ago. Meridian's streets were bustling, and changing day by day. He tapped away the zoom, and checked the time. His focus displayed that there was still a few minutes before Aloy said she would arrive. He thought about sending a message to see how she was doing, but she was probably on her way. Instead he tapped on his contacts and scrolled through a list of messages. There were now too many people on the focus network now for him to have everyone as a personal contact but his list still went above a hundred.

Right as he was about to put down his focus and walk into his room, a call appeared on his focus. Avad saw Varl’s name on the and answered. Avad spoke reasonably often with all of the “Gaia gang” as Erend had named them, though he was curious why Varl had contacted him now. As far as he remembered they hadn’t had any plans.

“Hello.” He said as the call began and the shimmering image of the hunter appeared on the balcony next to him. “Everything’s alright? How are things going?”

“Hey. Things are going well. The Rakuja are recovering and adapting pretty well.“ Varl paused and seemed to think over the rest of his answer. Varl and Zo were currently in the lands north of Tenakth territory, exploring in search of a building that might hause technology that could help against Nemesis. In the process they had met the Rakuja, a tribe that had been living in the region and had been almost destroyed when the Zeniths went there to recover Eluthiya “There is still a lot to rebuild, but with Gaia's help they are doing fine. I am a bit worried about their cohesion, Erik slaughtered a lot of the tribe's leadership and army when he ‘dueled’ them.”

Avad nodded, grimacing slightly. He had heard about that and remembered his own visit by a Zenith. That had been a peaceful representative in comparison and he had known a bit about the Zeniths beforehand. Any tribe that got visited by Erik Visser would inevitably change. “I spoke for a bit to their current leader and she’s capable, but they had a delicate political system beforehand. A fracturing or civil war among them is not what we need right now.” He wished he could have helped more, politics was one of the areas he knew well (even if not by choice), but the tribe also had particular opinions about old-ones technology he didn’t fully grasp, and disliked using focuses.

Varl nodded and they spoke about the issue for a bit. Gaia was helping the tribe rebuild their settlements with machines and he had sent a group of envoys led by Javad the Willing (oh how nice it was to have capable civil servants) to assist them. They needed all the allies they could get against Nemesis.

“How’s Zo doing, by the way?”

“She’s doing fine. Still capable of beating me in a spar if I don’t give it all. We did agree that she should be avoiding climbing any tallnecks or mountains unless necessary.”

Avad sighed slightly, in the ‘most of my friends are crazy competent and slightly reckless” way he was used to by now. “Well she is a trained healer, I trust that she knows what she’s doing. Four months left?”

“Three and a half months”. Varl looked surprisingly downcast as he said that. Avad had expected him to be excited over the date.

“You okay? I thought you would be excited to be a father.” From his interactions with Itamen Varl seemed to be great with kids, and his bond with Zo was true as any.

“Yeah, I am. It’s just that three and a half months coincides with the last prediction.”

He didn’t need to say what prediction, but Avad said the quiet word anyway. He was tired of people making it seem like the name had power. Like it would arrive faster if you did. “Nemesis.”

“Yes. It’s not that I believe in omens Avad, it’s just…I want our child to have the best possible world to grow up in, but the more I learn about Nemesis the more dangerous it seems. I love Zo and will do everything I can for our child, but I don’t know what life we are bringing them into.”

Avad nodded and looked out at Meridian’s buildings. It could all be for naught. The Zeniths had barely managed to flee from it and they would laugh at this ‘skyline’. But there was no point in giving up. What was the point in living if they did?

“Well, we just have to defeat it then”, he said, channeling his inner Erend.

“We do. Sylens did finally give us some coordinates to pinpoint the location of this building we were looking for. Assuming it’s not destroyed, it should give some useful data.

“I’m sure Beta and Kivunna will be eager to look over it.” While the Base was repaired now, they had set up a data center in Meridian too avoid the risk of something destroying all their data storage and infrastructure at once in the future. The archives under the city now housed more than mere books and he knew from speaking to her that their elderly head archivist was quite pleased with the additions.

“I’m sure they will” Varl paused, and his bad mood from earlier was gone. “You know, I got a lecture on orbital mechanics from Erend a few days ago. He has been talking quite a bit with Beta recently.”

Avad nodded. He knew that the Gaia gang had gotten its third couple a few weeks ago, but he would respect Beta’s wish and not announce it yet. He was about to reply but heard a knock on his door. “Gonna check who that was. Wait a moment.”

Varl looked at something then replied. “Oh, actually the time is more than I thought. I need to fix some things. Talk to you later Avad.” The call ended before Avad even had the time to reply and he walked out of the balcony a bit confused. But he could ask Varl next time they spoke. He walked through his room, and opened the door, expecting it to be a guard delivering a message or perhaps Itamen wanting to show off something he learned.

Aloy stood there, holding a plate of food in her hands, a soft smile on her face. Avad looked down at slightly burned pieces of meat and some gathered herbs.

“Hiya”

“Hi.” He moved around so he wouldn’t knock the plate out her hands then kissed her on the cheek. “Swung by the kitchen on the way here?” It was not the direct way if she arrived by Sunwing, but knowing Aloy’s food habits it was likely she hadn’t eaten anything for a few hours. Perhaps the entire day.

She put down the plate on his table and kissed him back.”You could say that. Thought I try my hand at something new.” She did a half hearted little bow. “Sun kings delight, made by the Savior herself”

“You didn’t need to.”

“True. But I wanted to. People always tell me to try things not essential for the mission, and Chazim keeps talking about the joy of cooking.”

“Well then, who am I to deny that? Let's taste it.” Avad picked up a fork and speared a bit of meat, tasting it. It was a bit overcooked and had fewer spices than he would normally prefer. He looked at Aloy as she ate a bit too. This time they at least had kitchenware. Avad remembered when they had shared a packed ration late in the night. Not wanting to wake the kitchen staff, they had discovered that pens made decent chopsticks.

Aloy chewed hers and looked at him. “Not awful, if I dare say so myself. I think I will leave the cooking to the kitchen staff in the future though.”

“Sounds like a wise decision. But if you want some cooking lessons, I'm sure any of them would be very willing to teach the savior.”

“Oh, they were. Without Meria’s assistance, this meat would be even more overcooked.” Avad would have to thank the head matron of his kitchen staff later. Aloy paused and stuffed her face with another piece of meat. His theory that she hadn’t eaten for hours seemed correct. Any of his old etiquette teachers would have thrown a fit seeing her, but Avad didn’t care. She almost reminded him of a squirrel in a way, a cute little critter which Avad had seen for the first time when he visited Plainsong last month. “Either way, how are you?”

“Doing well. I just talked to Varl and discussed the Rakuja tribe. Things seemed to be doing as well as they could considering the circumstances. “Avad paused, realizing something. “ Wait, did you set up that call with Varl so you could surprise me?”

Aloy nodded, chewing her food. “Yeah. Seems to have worked. I heard about the Rakuja. I need to visit them again, but that's a day's journey even on a sunwing. It feels so strange to delegate all of the diplomacy. So used to have multiple tribe's fate resting on me.”

“‘I thought you didn't like diplomacy?”

“Eh. Depends. I don’t like arrogant leaders or old people stuck in their ways. I don’t mind helping people though, and I keep getting into politics without meaning it. Part of saving the world unfortunately.” Aloy smiled. “And I heard someone say I might become the next sun queen. I think diplomacy might be important there”

Avad looked at her seriously for a moment. “You know that I wouldn’t force you to hold court or talk with nobles if you became sun queen right? Of course you're welcome to if you want and I’m not gonna keep you locked in the palace like some sun queens, but…

Aloy paused, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. “Of course. I know. You wouldn’t do that. But I can’t ask you to tear up the political structure of the sundom for me. We’ll figure out something after we defeat Nemesis.”

“After we defeat Nemesis.” It had become something of a catch all for some of their plans. But, by doing it had become tangible. “Speaking of that, how was your time in the east? Redevir territory right?” It was another tribe they had found to the east of Nora territory. For once, they hadn’t been in a sort of disaster when Aloy discovered them. Besides perhaps building their identity on the doomsday bunker of a rich cult leader.

“Fairly well actually. There are still deep divisions in the leadership of the tribe. The council hasn’t taken well to our news, but the pacifist nature of their ‘founder’ has prevented any armed conflict. Chazim, you talked to him right?” Aloy looked at Avad who nodded in confirmation, “his faction is listening though, and they helped us explore the nearby ruins. Kotallo is staying behind to organize them in case something should happen, but we got the data we were looking for. Now I'm just hoping it’s as useful as Sylens predicted.”

Avad had talked a bit to Chazim, the young political leader of the Redevir’s splinter faction. He was spirited and capable and a decent fighter, despite his tribe’s lack of martial traditions. Unfortunately he had a dislike for leadership figures, so Avad wasn’t quite sure how productive their chat had been. “Sounds good. He was the one who inspired you to cook too?”

Aloy nodded. “He kept talking about the joy of cooking for your beloved. Seems to work well for him and his boyfriend.” Aloy put down her fork. They had eaten most of the meal between them so it hadn’t been that bad. To be fair he had also been quite hungry, having skipped an afternoon snack to finish reading the rapports. “I think we can stick to other things though. Unless you're secretly a master chef?" She paused and considered slightly "We never did that delve we were gonna do together, right?"

“No. Don’t get many opportunities for cooking when you're the sun king. And we should. Just need to find the time. Not like we could do it now.” Finding time was hard when you were saving the world. Aloy generally stopped by between missions and expeditions, but those times weren’t as common they both wanted. And she rarely stayed for more than a day or two, sometimes just over the night. Avad was quite busy too, and knew he would have been constantly swarmed if hadn’t been able to delegate some of his meetings to Zevin and Nasadi. Some of his meetings he couldn’t delegate though, he was flying to Mothers Embrace in two days for a meeting with matriarchs, that was a meeting he had to do himself for example.

“Yeah.” Aloy tapped her focus, moving between applications at a speed Avad hadn’t reached yet. “Actually, what about tomorrow? I’m heading up north next, but I might as well wait for that ealdormen council meeting to conclude before I go. Hopefully Erend is having luck there, I hate negotiating with those old pricks.”

Avad probably had some minor things scheduled. And he would normally hold court on days like that. But…people always told him to be more spontaneous anyway. ”Yes. If there is one we could reach in a day?”.

Aloy looked a bit surprised at his answer, but smiled. “We could easily get to Maker’s End in a day. It was the first delve I did as an adult. Could be nostalgic” She considered it for a moment. “But I don’t really want to take you to a Faro building. What about Bitter Cimb? It’s a beautiful place, and I would like to go there again.”

“Isn’t it on a partially blown up mountain?” Avad considered for a moment then nodded. “Sure.” What was life without some risks?

“You sure? We could head to a less dangerous place.”

“Nah, I’ll have the savior to protect me.” He smiled and kissed her. “I will need to tell Marad and Nasadi before though. Some of us can’t disappear whenever they want to without telling anyone. You up for a game of machine strike before bed?”

Aloy seemed to consider it for a minute, then declined. “Eh, feeling a bit tired from the journey. And delving takes some energy, so you should catch some sleep when you have the option.” She casually disrobed her from armor and leapt into Avad’s bed, sprawling around the pillows and blankets, muttering quietly. “I still can’t believe how soft this is, the Zeniths didn’t have anything this soft despite all their technology.”

Avad changed into a pajamas of his own, then tapped his focus, dimming lights in the room (ah the wonders of technology). Then he walked around the room and closed the curtains on the windows. The night sky disappeared behind velvet cloth, and so did the threat of Nemesis. It wouldn't be quite that easy, but they would defeat it and figure out what came next. Avad knew it.

Then he leapt into his bed beside Aloy and met her kiss.