Heart Like a Machine

Chapter 66

"Is everything on the Charger and the cart?" I asked Beta as we were getting ready to move out towards the coast.

"I believe all of my stuff is on there," she said.

"Even the little Burrower I made you?" I asked.

"Yes. I find it funny that you made me one and that was one of the first machines I killed."

I chuckled, "Do you have that trophy as well?"

"Got that, too," she said and raised her arm over the pile of stuff we have, showing me she had it.

I chuckled. Her personality has definitely shone after all this time.

"You do know that we can always come back here if we have forgotten something," Aloy said. 

"I know, I know, but I just want to make sure we have all the essentials first," I said, making sure I had everything. There wasn't much, but I had it.

"Are we all set?" Aloy asked.

"I believe so," I said.

"Yes," Beta said.

"Let's head out there," Aloy said and got onto a Charger.

I got onto the Charger that had the cart attached to it. Beta got onto another one and we all headed out towards the coast. We had to avoid the paths that had the mountains since the cart wasn't going to be able to go on those tight paths. Even if it meant taking longer than we wanted to. Throughout the trip, we stopped and took breaks, made sure we ate something before getting back onto the Chargers, continuing the journey out there. Once we were there, the house was built and ready to go. It took nearly seven months to build this. And in two months, we had to make the trip back to the base for our last visit. 

"Is the base going to be ok?" I asked while we were unpacking.

"I made the doors to where it's genetic based. So any one of us can open the doors," Aloy said. "Beta helped with the coding so it was possible."

"That's actually smart," I said. "What are we going to do about the perimeter here?"

"We will be setting up traps every now and again to make sure that the machines don't come near here," Aloy said.

"That'll be a lot of materials, don't you think?"

"It will be, but we're going to set them up if it feels necessary to do so. Such as when we bring our daughter here," Aloy smiled. 

"This has been the longest nine months ever," I said. "Even the six months after the battle at the Spire seems so long ago."

"A lot of time has passed," she said. "Don't worry. Those two months will go by in a flash."

"Were you thinking of any names so far?" I asked.

"I was thinking of Lis."

"After Elisabet?"

"Yes."

I nodded, smiling once more, "I like the sound of it. Lis it is then. Oh, that reminds me. You never had a last name, did you?"

"No. Rost did not give me that."

"Well, you can take on my last name," I said.

"That," Aloy chuckled. "Was very good and smooth."

"Can you two wait until you're in your own room?" Beta asked, chuckling. "I love it, but I've also seen it at the base."

"We tried to keep it behind closed doors," I said and grabbed something from the cart.

"I appreciate it, but I hope you can keep it behind closed doors here."

"Don't worry, Beta," Aloy said. "We'll have everything under control."

"If we wanted to do anything, we'd do it at the base," I laughed.

"Y/N!" Aloy yelled, smiling a bit.

"Why did I agree to move in with you guys?" Beta shook her head, chuckling. 

"You secretly enjoy it, Beta. Don't doubt it."

"I like seeing you guys happy. And you are."

"Couldn't be happier," Aloy said and grabbed a few more things before the cart was completely empty.

I walked out of the house and grabbed onto the Charger's reins. I walked alongside it to where we had a small little stable. This was a bit of an add on from Beta. She wanted like a stable area for the ridable machines. So far there were just three Chargers. I think Beta might go out and see if she can get a different machine to ride, so that we're all not riding Chargers. I removed the cart before the Charger went off with the other two in the small stable area we had. I walked out and closed the gate. I looked out at the sunset as it was starting to dip behind the mountain. Aloy came out and stood beside me.

"Ready to live a peaceful life?" she asked.

"It's not going to be so peaceful once Lis comes to the house."

She chuckled, "You're right. Beta is going to go out to gather some food. Thought we could help her out."

"Sure," I said and walked back towards the house, grabbing my bow and spear that were laying against the front.

Once we were all ready, we headed off into the woods nearby and started our hunt. Aloy and I were going to be playing that hunting game we always played. We introduced it to Beta and she wanted to play along with it. So we all had one goal and that was to kill at least two boars each. The first one to get their two boars wins. We set out in different directions, looking for these boars. I found one and shot it in the back of the neck, causing it to run off. I ran after it, trying to shoot it down. Another arrow was lodged into it and Beta came out.

"I had the first arrow in it," I said to her.

"You weren't the one who killed it," she chuckled, dragging her haul off.

"Damn it, Beta," I chuckled and ran farther into the woods. 

I was lagging behind since Aloy and Beta each had one. I found a small group of them. Maybe this can be my comeback. I shot one clean in the head and the others ran off. Aloy and Beta came out from where they were hiding and shot at the other boars that were running. I stood up and ran after them. Aloy shot one of them dead.

"Looks like you win, Aloy," Beta and I said.

"Come on. Let's get you each one more before we head back."

Once we were finished with the hunting part, Beta went out and started to gather berries and other edible roots. She came back when the moon was high and I had just started making some stew for the three of us. After we ate and cleaned everything off, Beta went into her side of the house while Aloy and I sat outside on the porch, watching the stars. I leaned over and rested my head on her shoulder. She rested her head on top of mine and reached over, grabbing my hand.