Living Antiquity

~10~

The next morning, we were all unpleasantly surprised to find that Aloy had run off to go find Gaia's sub-functions by herself.
A short time later, I was amazed to see Talanah of the Hunting Lodge come through, knocking at the door and being escorted through by Bar personally, greeting each other like friends before she ran off down the other side of the mountain.
I sighed and went over the location data again, frowning. "i'm so, so bored..."
"You could try running to catch up with Aloy..." Erend pointed out.
"No, cause I have no idea which way she went, and she's probably hyperfocused on progress now... Maybe I'll go try to learn more about the Tenakth?..." I shuffle through my data, frowning, then come to a stop as I see something, "Gaia? Poseidon would have only gone somewhere pertaining to water, right?"
"As best is my knowledge, yes." Gaia answers as Olin and the ithers look at me.
"It settled in Las Vegas. There were massive water features and even an underground dome to protect the water from evaporation. I may be able to recover Poseidon and help the Desert Clan all in one go...! i would need to find a way to reprogram Bellowbacks though."
"I see. I predict you wish to go test your theories first before proceeding?" Gaia asks.
"Yes. I might even stop in and see Drakka, explain this to him. What if, eventually, we could even reroute water from Vegas to Scalding Spear to fill the Wound faster?"
"And have the Bellowbacks be a temporary fix?... Plausible, once I am fully reinstated over the terraforming system." Gaia agreed.
"Why do you come up with the crazy ideas that work?..." Erend groans.
"Cause I'm awesome. Scratch that, I genuinely don't know. I'mma get my gear together." I ran to my bunk, thinking.
Checking my map, the distance to Scalding Spear, the distance from Scalding Spear to Las Vegas... Aloy found data about a trio of Oseram that had ventured to the area...
"Ok then, I guess I could always go to Vegas first and check that nothing is wrong, and check that the water system even still exists... Oh, wait..." I groan and rub my face, "Gaia, is there any way for me to even retrieve sub-functions by myself, or does Aloy have to be there?"
"I am unsure... However, I'm sure it is more than possible that you would have been slipped into the system by your brother. I will run a query..." Gaia offered, before going silent, "Results are uncertain. There was a patch of code that responded to the query, however it came with a corrupted file. It was likely broadcasted by Gaia Prime in an effort to preserve it, but the nature is indecipherable. I will alert you should I be able to clear away the corruption and read it," She offered.
"Alright. Well, I'll head for Las Vegas, and let you or the others know if I find anything," I say, grabbing my new spear and doublechecking my override module.
"Good luck, Y/n."
I grab my bag and a few spare Focuses just in case, heading for the doors as I see Erend and Olin helping Enash and Olurr with their new Focuses, "Back in a few days or so, guys, I'm gonna go scout out the area where Poseidon was detected," I wave and head out, hopping onto the zip-line Aloy had installed on the Tenakth side of the mountain, dropping off just above some rogue Bristlebacks and over-riding one, taking off across the landscape, following the waypoint toward Vegas.
It took several days, but went smoother than riding my Charger, the Bristleback easily navigating across rivers, down short jumps, and across small gaps. The Charger would had skid to a stop and thrown me off.
By the time I reached the ruins of the dome, I still had some water in my home-made bottle, but I was also rationing it because I didn't want to jump to conclusions.
Looking around, I scanned buildings and the surrounding area, found evidence of plenty of schemes from old casinos and citizens, and then, finally I noticed something.
An old asian-inspired building, with water leaking from the second floor above the sand.
I raised an eyebrow and skid the Bristleback, now named Piglet, to a halt, and climbed the rope and stick latter, hearing arguing behind the curtain that was doubt keeping the outside heat out.
I sighed and lifted the curtain, seeing a group of Oseram, one sporting the biggest kegbelly I've seen in a while yelling at another, who was barely listening as he fiddled with pieces of something.
And the entire floor was flooded with water.
But, once they saw me...
"Hi. Arguing about anything in particular, out here in the middle of an ancient ruin?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"An unknown maiden, from beyond the sands. How will our intrepid explorers be found by this foe, kr friend?" One of them raised an eyebrow.
"... Long as no one attacks each other, friend," I raise an eyebrow, then see the open elevator shaft behind them, completely and utterly flooded with water, "Ah... You might have already found evidence of what I'm looking for. What would you three be looking for?"
"Embers, hidden below the surface," one of them said, holding up...
And old Holo-Ad projector.
"Ohhh, I see," I fold my arms, pacing, "Makes sense that people would like old projectors and stuff... What do you use them for?" I looked at him.
"We-"
"You're just going to trust this... this stranger?" The other one covered the eager one's mouth, only for his hand to be shoved away.
"I am Morlund, this is Abadund and Stemmur, our wordsmith. You are...?" He looked at me, curious.
"Y/n," I raise an eyebrow as he grins at his friend.
"See, not a stranger anymore," he grins, "We're showmen, we make spectacles and tell stories all over the claim."
"I'm gonna make a series of... educated guesses, just tell me yes or no and I'll give a full explanation of my end when I'm done. You want to use what you call Embers for these spectacles?" I say, counting on my fingers.
"Yes..." Morlund nods.
"You got here and started getting ready to explore, but something didn't like you being down there... You had very little warning before you were flooded out," I watch them all nod, "Okay. I know what you're about to hear will sound like a fairy tale, but, sadly, I'm telling the truth... I'm from the same time as the ruins. One of the Old Ones, as people now like to call people back then. I'm working with Aloy- you may or may not have heard of her, I don't know how far her reputation has spread. The Embers were advertisements for various restaurants, casinos- which were gambling places for people that liked losing money- and even shops. What did that one show before it died out?" I ask, nodding the the one in his hand.
"... The most beautiful woman you've ever seen, beckoning you to a feast of shrimps and beefs... My grandpa brought it back from here and I used to watch it over and over in his workshop." His eyes were wide.
"Ah... Probably for a restaurant, maybe a buffet style one- that would be one where there were big containers of foods prepared and people could eat as much as they liked of anything, the food being constantly cooked fresh and filled back up." I walked over, motioning to it, and examining it once he handed it to me, "Sometimes I'd snatch them from nearby shops and hack them to show TV shows... If they happened to die, you could..." I slam a hand into the bottom, and it exploded back to life, bright light flooding the room as a model beckoned passersby in for steak and fish fry all you could eat.
"Ah!" Morlund's eyes widened as they all stared at me, "How did you-"
"I used to live on the streets and I had managed to sneak down under the dome when it was all cleared out... But I figured out how to mess with these to entertain myself, and I figured out how ti jostle the power source back into place," I explained, "People used to kick them out of the way on the way into shops all the time..."
"So you really were...?..." Morlund's eyes widen.
"I had no family or home, and most people couldn't be bothered to help people less fortunate than themselves. My brother snatched me off the streets and said I was his little sister from then on. I got sick and he made some friends that froze me and preserved me long enough for the one overseeing the world to heal me... I understand from Ally's data finds that your tribe believes the world is a great machine?... It's not far from how things were after the end." I hand the 'Ember' back to him, "Someone made a mistake building war machines and they started eating everything that was alive in the world. A woman created a system that would help shut the machines down and bring back plants, animals, and humans... All of you exist because of her quick thinking and the work of her, my brother, and their team." i shake my head, "I should shut up and give you these. They'll help you learn more about the old world, and I can teach you how ti read English," I handed them each a Focus, "On the temple, left or right doesn't matter, but I'd suggest putting it on the side of your dominant hand for easier access."
Stemmur and Abadund were apprehensive, but eventually did so upon seeing Morlund's excitement as he looks around and scans things.
"And the ancient woman gave the delvers an entirely new way of seeing the world... Second sight to see things beyond their wildest dreams..." Stemmur chuckles.
"Yellow Xs and lines are things you can climb on, which might come in handy when you're delving. I know it all looks pretty bright..." I helped them adjust their settings as Abadund eyes me suspiciously.
"Why are you helping us?..." He asks, frowning.
"Here, I made a compilation of some audio data... Sit and listen to these, it'll explain better than I can," I say, showing them how to activate the video and watching them stare at the holos of me, Varl, Aloy and Zo reading through non-audio data out loud, then cutting it to Ted and Elisabet's conversation in his private office, her suggestion of Zero Dawn, the building of the project... then finally cutting to Gaia Prime begging Aloy to save the biosphere.
And then a few things pertaining to me, mostly recordings if Gaia talking to my capsule as I slept.
"... This sickness you had, its gone?" Abadund asked apprehensively.
I nod.
"So then... You're here for a piece of this Gaia. The great spirit of the machine?" Morlund's eyes widen.
"Mysteries deepen as the ancient woman lays bare the sins and virtues of a past long forgotten... How will she answer the call, and is the call asking for a couple entertaining old delvers' aid as well?" Stemmur asks.
"If you're willing to help? Yes, absolutely. I can ask Gaia to-"
"-add them to the network? I have done so already. Hello," Gaia says gently.
"The spirit reincarnate speaks! Hello, madame," Stemmur smiles.
I chuckle, "The piece of her that is down there is the piece that would allow her to clean up and regulate the waters in the area a little better. I came down here personally because Aloy went off chasing a different piece of Gaia- I'm not sure whether she went after AETHER or DEMETER. Those corespond to the air we breath and the atmophere, snd then the plants and greenery of the wilds, respectively," I say, showing them pictures of the symbols.
"That would explain why the Embers all suddenly became nautical, and why there is so much water..." Morlund muses, pacing, "But the shaft is too deep to dive. I tried making a diving ball."
"Oh, like a diving bell? Or like a steerable submarine- nevermind, i'll explain those shortly. I think the only way to get down there, if it really is that deep, is to make some kind of diving mask... Machine kneecap, to go over the mouth?" I ask.
"And we could retrieve the capsule from the mark 2, and... some kind of membrane?" He asks.
I nod, "Kind of like a rebreather. I wish we could make a submarine, but that would take too long... I should be able to hunt down enough machines to make several masks, though..." I pace, "Pressurized air, though..."
"The Mark 2 had a compressed air capsule, but uts down the shaft..." Morlund pouts.
"Ah... Crap..." I walk to the edge and follow the string, looking down, "Yeah, that's a ways down- wait..." I look at my spear, "I could probably override a Burrower and tell it to retrieve the whole thing?..."
Abadund scoffs, "Tell a machine what ti do? May as well tell a wall to move."
"Look outside and say that again with a straight face," I deadpan, watching with silent glee as he sees Piglet, "His name is Piglet and he got me here from the mountains by Plainsong in two and a half days."
"By the forge..." Abadund whispers.
"Hang on..." I lean against a wall and tap into the full network, "Aloy, am I interrupting?"
"Uh...! Maybe?? Fighting a Tremortusk!" She groans, and I heard other voices in the background.
"Sounds active. I'll be quick. If I want to override a Burrower and tell it to dive underwater to retrieve an Oseram machine, how do I do the thing?" I ask, curious.
"Override it and take it to where you need it to be. Be ready to have to re-override it in case the module isn't strong enough... Uh... why do you need to know this?" She grunts, clearly dodging something as I hear gunfire and trumpeting.
"I'm getting a head start on hunting down POSEIDON and it found a way to flood the area it settled in, and I need a way to give deep enough to get to the control systems. Thanks. Shutting up, don't die." I hung up, and paced, checking the map to see if scans brought up any Burrowers, "Okay, tell you what, I'll go do this, you guys sit tight, yeah?" I look at the three of them before ducking out and running across the sand, "Piglet, stay."

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Sorry for any spelling errors. I keep typing on my phone even though I know it makes my writing awful.
Hope everyone is enjoying the story!