Living Antiquity

~26~

Aloy and I trudge along the beach, me all but vibrating with anger.
"Y/n..."
"I'm trying. I can't fucking stand him."
"Y/n, we have to if this is going to work..."
"I know. And of course its a sandblasted Thunderjaw... a HEPHAESTUS work, no less..."
"Where did you learn Carja curses?..." she asks.
"Thought that one was Oseram... Nevermind. Its from watching data on your prior travels," I grumble as we reach the gate, waving and following the script to say we were here and would fight the machine...
As it comes barreling around the corner.
"Shitshitshit...!" I dodge out of the way of the gate, hearing the guards yell to be careful, as Aloy and I split different directions.
"Okay, okay, I've fought how many of these now?" I mumble, setting up my spike thrower, "A boom and a thud..."
There was no boom and a thud...
Instead, there was maniacal yelling as the guards yelled encouragement, seeing me blow pieces off of it a little at a time.
Aloy yells for me to stay low, but I'm too close for that- it could turn around and step on me.
So I to the "smart" thing when it tries to do so...
I latch onto its leg and hang on for deR life, slowly worming my way up the skeleton under the armor, wincing when I'd encounter electricity, but soon crawling inside its carapace, and finding the heart, yanking it free of its housing and feeling gravity kick in.
I stumble back out the opening a minute later, panting and dragging the part through the hole as I catch my breath.
"I hate... Thunderjaws..." I groan as Aloy stares at me.
"You ripped its heart out from the inside?" She asks.
"Yeah..." I follow her to the gate as it opens and Alva comes tumbling out to greet us.
"A-Aloy! Y/n!"
I wave, tucking the part away in my bag, "Hey, its us, from the Greenhouse."
She nods, smiling, until Bohai and Ceo walk up behind us.
Shuttled right past out hard work the way cowards always do...
Ceo babbles, his holier-than-thou tone and condescending aura making my bowstring fingers itch so, so badly... My only real choice is to dissociate and let the conversation progress with Aloy in charge, watching as she the guards pretend to hold Alva captive for Ceo so he can 'force' Aloy into the Raiment.
Only when I see her in it do I have to fight to stay in the dissociation fog- because she looks so uncomfortable and absolutely ridiculous.
"Ah, wait... We've missed a step. The door is still closed, yet you've already been placed in Raiment- we mustn't damage it..." Ceo ponders, "This appears to be a conundrum. Perhaps-"
"I've got it." I walk pass them, scanning the door and finding a path off to the side, disappearimg down the hole and into into the water.
It was warm!
Very warm.
Kinda regret this warm.
And, looking down, I can see why.
Magma. Fucker built a geothermal plant and left the rest of humanity to rot for his sins while he no doubt existed in some kind of paradise.
Aloy surrepticipusly connects a channel to me, and I listen as Ceo continues his psychobabble.
Even threatens several times to kill Alva anyway because I was taking too long.
Aloy gave the excuse that she could see the damage going pretty far back into the pipes, "It'll take her a while to swim that far, then get through ti somewhere she can get inside and reach the door..." Aloy points out.
"Indeed... That Focus must be absolutely amazing." Ceo mutters.
I snort into my mask and continue, staying as high up in the underwater portion as possible, ducking into a hole in the pip and slowly bypassing the fans, spitting my mask out as ai came up in what looked to be maintenance shafts...
And when I climbed out, I was in a gym.
I groan and examine the environment... Finding audio diaries from a teenager that was stuck here...
She hated it...
I sort my way through the bunker and find the door, fuming, and eventually finding the emergency exit function, watching the door open, letting them step inside.
Ceo all but purrs as he looks around, seeing everything as we trek through the base.
I force myself to keep dissociating, gathering data, increasingly worried that I was right, especially once we find the immortality research.
At some point I notice Bohai returning to the surface, and I connect him to us via a fall for evidence, silently showing him how to record with Ceo wasn't looking, before continuing to follow the freak through the base.
He was so fucking full of himself that I couldn't even bring myself to feel sorry for his state of mind.
Psychologically, he has become the spitting image of Ted Faro.
Trav, you seeing this? You laughing cause you can see me struggling not to bury my spear in his throat?
I'm trying so hard and I'm not getting anywhere with it. I warn Bohai as such but allowed him to continue watching in silence as clue after clue proves me correct.
I give Aloy, Alva and the guards all looks, and see they're struggling not to sweat this, able to see him playing into the hands of a narcissistic sociopath more than a thousand years older than him.
By the time Aloy and I had to split off to find the Pab, where she subsequently found and acquired Ted Faro's infamous Omega clearance, I could see exactly how correct I was, seeing the red on the reactor, the camera showing me a mutated mass of flesh and nightmares. He looks like a sewer boss from old, old horror games...
"Y/n. I hate you," Aloy groans, looking away from the holo footage.
"Touché." I groan, covering my mouth to keep from vomiting, "You hate me and I hate being right."
"By the will of the Ancestors, please remove that from the data share..." Bohai gags, "So that's... him?..."
"I let him kill him and you call the guards back while Ceo burns, deal?" I gag, my stomach heaving as I shut the feed.
"Ullph..." Bohai gags, clearly covering his mouth for a moment, "Deal, madame."
As the guard finally manage to pry the door open and Ceo storms in, his face relaxes as he explores the lab, delving into the room before excitedly opening the door to the reactor...
And stumbling back, choking back vomit, "What in-"
"That's him," I chime,"Your precious ancestor. We couldn't get that door open until the other one did... Step aside, good sir, I have a few words for your revered Ancestor." I stalk past him, keeping my gag reflex in check as an eye opens in the giant mass, "Hey, ya fat tub of lard and disappointment. How's it feel? Does it feel good that you were able to outlive everyone on the planet? Do you like seeing yourself reflected on the walls?" I watch as the pupil dilates, "I see. I know you remember me, Faro," I fold my arms, "I know Trav and Liz told you I died. I know what you'd have done if you knew someone else would be alive this long." I smirk, "Gaia worked. But she didn't work right because of you. We're gonna fix that after you die. How's them apples? You get to finally die, big boy! You wanna know how I know you wanna die?..." I pace the hall, humming, "All alone down here for a thousand years after you drove everyone else to death and madness... killed your harem, drove the good doctor and his daughter ti suicide... You've lost everything that you thought belonged to you," I make eye contact again, "And your will to live soon followed but, you'd already set the core t9 go if you died, yeah?" I whisper
A massive, droning groan.
"We can put you out of your misery. And move on with our lives. I hope Liz bitchslaps you into the next dimension in the next life." I turn on my heel to ignore the long, whining groan he let out, and hum, leaving the hall as Ceo stammers out a "Burn it! And kill them! No witnesses!"
The guards stumble forth to light Ted on fire, as I enjoy the screeching sound.
"Go, go!" I yell as the walls start to fall apart.
"I said KILL THEM!"
"Sir, we have more important things to worry about, we're about to die!" A guard all but drags him along the halls as we all run, the rooms filling eith lava.
"If he survives, jail him. If not, we have evidence to his crimes, and he'll be scratched from the honored records," Bohai orders through the network, "I see you were right, Y/n... All of you do your best to get out alive."
"Trying!" I huff, covering my mouth to avoid the pumice.
Alva coughs as we run, Ceo screeching and bitching the entire way, climbing the statue and glaring down at us, slamming a bomb arrow into it and letting it almost fall on us in the process.
"Oh you little bitch- Did you catch that, Bohai?"
"Yes. He'll be dealt with. The remaining guard are pouring out. Hurry."
Aloy, Alva and I rush, jumping, using out Pullcasters to get up above the lava and climb back out of the hellhole, coughing and gasping as the entirety of the guards surround and grab Ceo.
"Thank you, Ms. Tate. Aloy. For showing us the true depth of depravity that this former Ceo went to," Bohai bows to us, "And I apologize for putting you in danger. I'll see to it he is kept imprisoned and quiet."
The former Ceo squawks and screams, trying to lash out at anyone that got close enough, fuming and screaming his way to a cage with barriers that... amazingly, once he went in, blocked his voice from coming out.
"Sweet silence... That impetuous bastard turned all of our beliefs inside out and perverted them to a point of unrecognizability," Bohai rubs his temples, them looks at me, "I understand your dislike for grandeur and ceremony... We'll take it from here. Alva," He turns to her, "Due to the shift in the way of things during this mission, I feel it is best that you go with them." He nods to us, "If that is alright?"
I chuckle, "She'll be in good hands. And please, spread this message: Anyone who wishes to come to us to learn more if the truth, and any skills they wish, is welcome to. We'll work on building enough Focuses ti supply your mission, as well- they're useful for more than just gathering data. Tracking. Hunting. Searching for missing people..." I relax, seeing him nod in thought before I finally realize and call Drakka.
"Drakka, hey..."
"Y/n! The fuck was the explosion? You know how hard it was not to come running?" He growls.
"Yeah. We're here," I tap the map and send him the location, "Alva's coming back with us, and anyone else that wants to learn anything," I say.
"Our tribe has always had a habit of teaching workers only half a skill, out of worry that another tribe would steal them..." Bohao rubs his chin, "A world where legacy, data, and truth go hand in hand... This world you describe dreaming about, where mo one is afraid of anyone for the uniform they bear... It sounds distant, but with how you have united the peoples you've already met... Yes. We might be able to spread this principal to the people we live close to- the tribes Lurai, Kesst, Shrol, Zinnir..." he paces, "It would take a long time to gain their trust. Perhaps in the future, a sort of meeting of the leaders of the clans," he motions with his hands, frowning as he mutters to himself.
"An Embassy across the ocean," I point out.
He tenses and points to me with loose fingers, "Yes!"
I recognize the sound of Drakka's armor, and hear gasps from citizens of the dig site, as he walks up behind me and I feel hus arms wrap around me.
"That was fast. You didn't stay where the guards thought you'd be," I laugh as he sets his chin on my head.
"Nope," he deadpans.
"Ah... Drakka, was it?..." Bohai says carefully.
"Yep. I'm the Commander for the Desert Clan of the Tenakth."
I can all but hear the smirk on his voice. "Be nice, we're trying to make friends- albeit, doing it the Y/n way."
"Explosions and insults? Yeah, figured." Drakka laughs.
Bohai raises an eyebrow.
"The Chief of the Tenakth is a calmer soul, trust me. The man with the booming voice and the big ass headpiece, Chief Hekkaro," I offer, "I can set up a call between you to personally, or even try ti help organize an in person meeting if you like, but they are dealing with a civil war. A rival he allowed to survive is trying to take control of the clan through force, and use them to wage war on the Carja, to the east. I can send data on the local clans, if you like."
"That would be appreciated. I need to be able to hold a conversation with them without insulting their beliefs, after all..." Bohai takes a breath as I hand him a new Focus, "Ah-"
"I thought you didn't have spares..." Aloy says pointedly.
"Talanah wasn't going to stay in the area, you saw the look on her face," I sigh.
"Thank you. The former Ceo will be kept contained until such time as he can be transported home and stand trial," Bohai nods to us.
Alva walks to us, grinning and squealing a but as she does jazz hands, "I get to go with you!"
"You sure do!" I grin, "Zo, you there? We fuxed the problem out at Legacy's Landfall. We'll wait a couple hours for any that want ti come with us, and then-"
"We actually need you to come meet us as the Base as soon as you physically can. You, Aloy, Drakka, Chief Hekarro if you can spare the time..." Zo said a bit breathlessly.
"What- why?" I tense, ducking out from under Drakka's chin and pacing, frowning.
"Nothing bad! Hard to explain. Base!" Zo says.
I groan as she hangs up.
"Ma'am?" A guard asks.
"Can you guys escort anyone that asks to come to us? We have an emergency back at Base..." I frown, "I wanted to help escort, but our friends called for us."
He nods as the four of us take off running.
"So, what is it?" Alva asks, frowning.
"Don't know yet..." I groan, tired.