Heart of a Machine

Chapter 2

Aloy follows the AETHER signal she received from GAIA, picking up a Fire Bristleback as a steed. Soon after that, she hit the desert, which, based on the colorful totems scattered around, was the territory of one of the Tenakth clans. Perfect. Using the upgraded range of her Focus helmet, she surveys the immediate area. 'Nothing but animals so far. Better go on foot. Don't want to attract too much attention.' She dismounts the Bristleback and walks through the desert area alone. The sun soon sets, and Aloy is grateful for the night vision function on her helmet.

The desert is pleasantly quiet at night. Unfortunately, the silence is ruined by the sounds of battle. Aloy, employing her hunter instinct, dives into the nearest (although unfortunately sparse) patch of tall grass. Using her Focus, she searches around until it picks up something on the other side of a hill. She drops to her belly and slowly works her way up, keeping silent. What she finds is both terrifying, but also extremely satisfying. A Thunderjaw currently in the middle of curb stomping a small band of Tenakth rebels. Since she was a fair distance away from the conflict, she opts to sit atop the small mound and watch the show.

The show itself was exceedingly short, but that's to be expected from a Thunderjaw of all things. Still pretty fun to watch though. Aloy's mind drifts to HEPHAESTUS saying she could assume complete control over overridden machines. "I wish I could override that."
"You can." The sudden voice had Aloy on her feet, spear unfolded and ready to attack. "Oh, my apologies. You granted me access to your Focus, so I decided to keep a virtual eye on things."
"Oh." Realising it's just HEPHAESTUS, Aloy presses the button on the spear and it folds itself back away. "Wait, what do you mean I can override it? I haven't found the cauldron for it yet."
Her Focus highlights her folded spear. "When I was constructing your spear, I took note of your frequent use of the Master Override on machines, so I complied data from various confrontations and rapidly used trial and error to perfectly reconstruct the machines you've encountered, giving you full, unrestricted access to all current models you have encountered thus far, including apex machines. You will be able to unlock overrides for other models upon scanning them with your Focus."
Aloy looks between the Thunderjaw and her folded spear. "HEPHAESTUS, you're a miracle worker!"
"Your standard for what constitutes as a miracle is exceedingly low."

Aloy highlights the patrol route of the Thunderjaw and is gutted when the nearest patch of grass she can hide in is still a fair bit away. Her best bet is to throw a rock. When the Thunderjaw is as close as it's going to get, she chucks a rock nearby to distract it. When it deviates from its track to investigate, Aloy makes her move. She creeps closer, and closer, unfolding her spear, ready to override. Unfortunately, her Focus picks up on an incoming in invisible wave of orange. "Shit." When it washes over her, the Thunderjaw immediately turns to stare at her, making Aloy tense, ready for her first fight with her new body. But instead, the Thunderjaw's return to their neutral blue color and it returns to its track, Aloy tracking its movements in confusion.

"Fascinating." HEPHAESTUS narrates. "It appears that your cybernetics have altered the machine's perception of you. You register as a machine in their systems, and will evidently not attack unless provoked or ordered by a third party."
Aloy stared at the Thunderjaw as it returns to marching in a circle. "So I can just walk up to it?"
"Correct." HEPHAESTUS affirms. Aloy cautiously approaches the gargantuan machine, spear at the ready. Jabbing it into the Thunderjaw's foot, she goes through the motions of overriding it, and soon enough, it was under her command.

Aloy takes a few steps back, observing the machine as it continues its rounds. "Uh, stop?" The machine immediately ceases all movement, perfectly still. "Ok. HEPHAESTUS said I could do this mentally. Guess I should try that." She focuses on the machine and thinks 'Take two steps toward me.' The Thunderjaw, with no verbal command, does so without hesitation. "Ok. This is good. Hmmm." She remembers the Tenakth rebels that the Thunderjaw was fighting and inspects the bodies, using her Focus to highlight their tracks. "A bandit camp sounds like good practice, and it'll keep Ragalla from killing more of her own people." She makes her way up to the Thunderjaw's neck, keeping a hold on the armor plating like a mount. "Follow those tracks." The machine takes off, eyes never leaving the invisible trail that its master set for it.

When the rebel camp can be seen in the distance, Aloy uses her pullcaster to repel down from the Thunderjaw's head, silently telling it to stay put. She works her way through the camp. This one was a lot more lax than the others she had seen. All of the machines were already penned, the guards were more interested in eating than actually guarding. It was almost too easy to sneak into the pen and slowly override each of the rebel's machines, one by one. Soon, every machine was under Aloy's control. Then she snuck back out of the camp. She has a plan.

She wanders through the front entrance of the camp, helmet donned, spear folded away. The rebels, predictably, were instantly on guard and had their weapons pointed at her. "Who are you outlander? What makes you think you can wander into our camp?"
"The fact that I can do this." With a silent command from Aloy, the Bristlebacks and Chargers in the rebel pen started crashing against the fences surrounding them, surprising the rebels and drawing their attention. With their attention diverted, Aloy primes her arm cannon and blows up the head of the rebel closest to her. This, unfortunately, draws attention back to her, even as the rebel mounts bust out of their captivity. One of the rebels is an executioner that readies his firearm. What he didn't expect was for Aloy to raise her hand and erect a shield that would tank every hit until his clip was empty. So stunned by this display, the rebels were caught by surprise by the Thunderjaw that started rampaging through their camp. Some tried to escape, but were effectively cut off and surrounded by their own mounts.

Unknown to Aloy, one rebel did escape. A scout that flanked behind her in order to surround her. He hesitated when their mounts began working against them, and was horrified when this... THING turned its arm into a weapon and killed his comrade. So he hid. His job as a scout was to gather information and report back. What he learned made him feel like chillwater had been poured down his throat and into his heart. This creature could control machines. THEIR machines. This had to be brought to Regalla's attention.