When Aloy wakes the next morning, she’s disappointed to realize she missed the sunrise. With a sluggish energy, she dresses for the day and leaves her room, before pausing as she notices a curiously open doorway.
‘That’s the botany room.’ She peeks inside. ‘Looks like it’s Elisabet’s room now.’ She muses lightly. ‘Figures the one room filled with plant seeds would be the one she chose.’
Aloy then lapses into silence as she stands at the entrance, unwilling to go in any farther. This was one of the rooms that was remodeled, and it looks almost unrecognizable from what it once was. New paint, new equipment and furniture. She spots a few things on Elisabet’s personal desk. What look like machine parts she’s been tinkering with, along with various notebooks, pencils and datapoints. Her bed is situated in the middle of the room now, and there are pictures on the nightstand, two of which Aloy instantly recognizes.
‘That’s… the picture of me.’ She whispers, unconsciously stepping closer. ‘And Beta.’ Aloy looks at the baby photos, feeling her face grow hot for some reason as she quickly leaves.
She strides outside through the east exit, looking towards where Varl rests.
Strangely, Elisabet is not there.
‘Where did…?’ Aloy ponders while tapping her focus. ‘She can’t have gone far. She’s still recovering.’ Aloy talks to herself. ‘She was definitely out here this morning, so where…?’
Her answer comes as she picks up Elisabet’s footprints leading away from the porch swing.
Aloy quickly follows them down the trail of the mountain. She crosses the river, using a bridge that definitely hadn’t been there before, and jogs up a little hill to spot her in the field below.
She immediately picks up her pace when she realizes that Elisabet is not alone.
Her focus picks up the outline of a machine, and Aloy instinctively grabs her bow.
‘Georgette.’ Elisabet whistles with a scolding voice, causing Aloy to skid to a stop in the dirt. ‘Don’t even think about it.’
Aloy comes upon the scene of Elisabet, surrounded by stakes, wire, and mesh. There is a wooden structure next to her, and she appears to be building an outline for a fence around it.
A machine is there, too, but one proper glance at it causes Aloy to relax.
It’s a Clawstrider. With familiar pink eyes and Tenakth colors painted along its sides.
‘You’re a menace. You know that?’ Elisabet says lightly as the machine nudges her with its nose. She then looks up, finally noticing she’s not alone. ‘Aloy. Good morning.’ Elisabet raises an eyebrow as she sees the weapon in her hands. ‘Everything alright?’
‘Yea.’ Aloy says, awkwardly putting away her bow. ‘Just… woke up.’ She says, lamely coughing and gesturing to the Clawstrider. ‘Been a while since I saw um… ?’
Elisabet looks between her and the machine.
‘Her name is Georgette.’ Elisabet supplies. ‘She’s perfectly safe.’ She guesses at Aloy’s concern. ‘Check her with your focus if you want, her code’s pretty interesting.’
Aloy tilts her head at the explanation and does so curiously.
The machine shows up pink on the focus readings, and all of the normal information that a Clawstrider would display is still intact. Aloy taps further, trying to see the code that Elisabet is referring to, but all she finds is the name ‘Georgette’ labeled onto the machine’s interface.
‘Why “Georgette”?’
‘No reason. It just seemed fitting at the time.’ Elisabet shrugs as the Clawstrider rubs its face against her arm. ‘She’s unlike any machine I’ve seen so far, that’s for sure.’
‘Really?’ Aloy asks, coming closer to Georgette and placing a hand on her side. To Elisabet’s point, the machine doesn’t shy away from her touch.
‘Yes. She hasn’t been overridden, if you can believe that. The pink is just left over. From before the merge.’ Elisabet hums as the Clawstrider walks away. ‘This is her natural behavior. Very docile.’ She watches Georgette go for a pile of wooden stakes. ‘And stubborn.’ She whistles again, causing the machine to obediently turn away from the pile without so much as a command.
‘You got her to understand you.’ Aloy blinks, inspired, as Georgette finds a branch to chew on instead. ‘How?’ She asks, recalling Elisabet had done something similar with the Land Gods.
‘Training.’ Elisabet says simply, turning back to whatever it is she’s working on. ‘I’ve been studying her. Trying to find what makes her so different from all the other ‘hunter killers’ out there.’
‘Have you found anything yet?’ Aloy questions.
‘HEPHAESTUS makes batches of machines all at once.’ Elisabet explains, lining up a pair of stakes on the ground before shaking her head and moving them farther apart. ‘Like any batch of well, anything, there’s bound to be good ones and bad ones.’
‘So it could be some sort of glitch?’ Aloy reads between the lines, causing Elisabet to nod.
‘As advanced as the terraforming system is, it can’t possibly keep track of every individual machine that’s made. Whether GAIA and HEPHEASTUS are merged together or not.’ Elisabet says. ‘And sometimes exceptions can make it through the process.’ She then sighs, frowning with a weary expression as her gaze looks far away. ‘But this glitch isn’t world ending at least.’
‘… Right.’
Aloy also frowns as she watches Georgette happily munch away on a branch. She knows of the glitch that caused the Faro Plague, obviously, but seeing a current day example of it…
‘What are you building?’ Aloy instead chooses to pivot the conversation as she looks over the wooden structure. It’s some sort of little house, with a ramp coming out the front door. Her eyes are bright and curious as she watches Elisabet work on outlining the fence around it.
‘A new project.’ Elisabet says, something in her softening as she notices Aloy’s curious gaze.
‘Something to do with plants?’ Aloy teases.
‘You would think, but no.’ Elisabet’s words are much lighter now as she talks about one of her projects. ‘I decided that it would be a good idea to put down some roots. Not just for me, but for you and Beta too.’
‘Meaning?’ Aloy tilts her head and furrows her brow, not understanding.
‘I’m going to start a farm.’ Elisabet declares. ‘Not the best place for it.’ She gestures around at the chilly mountainside. ‘But for now it’ll do. Well, I’m hoping at least.’
‘A farm. You mean like…?’ Aloy lets the question fall.
She hasn’t brought up Sobeck Ranch around Elisabet. Neither has Beta. They’ve both mutually realized that neither of them ever want to upset her by bringing up that place.
In any way, shape or form.
‘I have it all planned out.’ Elisabet thankfully does not seem to notice Aloy’s line of thinking as she lightly hammers one of the small stakes into the ground. ‘First we start with chickens. Then goats. Maybe pigs, turkeys or sheep after that. See what happens from there.’ She peeks over her shoulder. ‘But as it stands, if we’re going to stay here, we’re going to need one.’ She gestures to the cliffside by the base. ‘Zo and I already started the garden. This is the next step.’
‘I’m not understanding.’ Aloy admits, confused. ‘Why do we need a farm?’
Rost never had a farm back in the Sacred Lands. There was always plenty of game to go around, and both he and Aloy were well versed in hunting for their own meals.
And what else is a farm good for if not food?
‘There’s a lot of good trade with farmlands. Milk, wool, soap, cheese. The list goes on and on.’ She shrugs, and Aloy blinks, feeling sort of foolish for not realizing that of course Elisabet would have the knowledge to make such things. ‘Eggs for example are very sought after right now by Zo’s uh… tribe? The…’
‘Utaru.’ Aloy supplies.
‘The Utaru.’ Elisabet parrots. ‘Their lands have gotten better after what happened with DEMETER, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.’ She grabs a piece of wire and looks around for a tool she’s misplaced. ‘Zo told me there’s not a lot of good places to raise animals now, and that’s where we could start.’
‘So the animals wouldn’t be for meat?’ Aloy asks for clarification.
‘No. At least not at first. We’d need a whole flock to thrive before that.’ Elisabet hums. ‘So, I’m building a coop. Or trying to anyway. It’s been slow going because I need Beta or Zo’s help with certain parts. Plus someone over there keeps getting in the way.’ She nods to Georgette, who has gotten bored with her stick and is now sniffing at a bundle of mesh. ‘Honestly, it’s like having a toddler and a dog all at once.’ She shakes her head, getting up to lightly push Georgette’s nose away from it.
Aloy lets out a breath of laughter in response, before they are interrupted by the sound of someone coming up the path. Elisabet gives a low whistle, and Georgette takes off running in the opposite direction. Without missing a beat, Elisabet then turns toward the noise, walking up over the tiny hill to look down towards the river, Aloy following at her heels.
‘Good mornin’ Lis!’ A gentleman calls, waving a hand. He looks to be Utaru, and he has a kind smile on his elderly face. ‘Hard at work so early?’
‘I could ask the same of you, Yel.’ Elisabet crosses the bridge to meet him halfway.
‘Not at all. Not at all.’ The old man says. ‘Been up some three hours now already.’
‘New record?’ Elisabet asks lightly.
‘Hardly.’ Yel laughs good-naturedly, then seems to notice Aloy for the first time.
Aloy looks him over, her red brows furrowed. Through all of her adventures into No Man’s Land, through Plainsong and the like, she can’t say that she has met this person before.
Or rather, if she did, she couldn’t remember him.
Which is just as well, because he doesn’t recognize her either.
‘And who’s this?’ He asks politely.
Aloy opens her mouth to respond, but Elisabet puts a hand onto her shoulder.
‘This is my eldest daughter, Aloy.’ Elisabet introduces her.
Her words are casual, as if it was the most natural thing for her to say in the world.
Aloy immediately tenses in response, her brain short circuiting as Elisabet refers to her as her daughter once more.
‘Aloy, this is Yel.’ Elisabet continues. ‘Zo introduced us, and he’s been helping me get some things started.’
‘My my, well aren’t you just the spitting image of your mother.’ Yel comments with a smile. ‘Pleasure to meet you, Aloy.’
‘Yea. Uh, same here.’ Aloy says. Her voice is uncharacteristically small.
Yel seems not to notice, though, as he turns back to Elisabet.
‘So, how’s the prep goin’? I’m hopin’ to get you those chicks soon.’
‘I should be done in a few days I think.’
‘Sounds swell. So, have you…’
Aloy lets their conversation drift through her ears, standing on the sidelines as the two adults talk. Once they finish, she waves a goodbye to Yel as if on autopilot, and follows Elisabet inside, her head lost in a thousand thoughts.
She startles when Elisabet speaks her name.
‘Huh?’ Aloy asks, dazed.
‘I asked if you could please wake your sister.’ Elisabet gently repeats. ‘I’m going to get breakfast started.’
‘Oh.’ Aloy says. ‘Uh… sure.’
Elisabet looks her over.
‘Are you feeling alright? I called you a few times.’ She reaches to put a hand to her forehead.
Aloy flinches and backs away as if she’s been burned.
It happens on instinct, but she doesn’t have the capacity to feel guilty for it right now.
‘I’m fine.’ Aloy deflects and heads to the server room, missing how Elisabet looks after her with a concerned gaze.
Aloy avoids Elisabet for the rest of the day.
She doesn’t mean to. Not really.
Kotallo called her after breakfast, stating that Yarra needed her help with something at Scalding Spear. After that, she got carried away doing the relic ruin at Dry Yearn. Then there was a herd of apex machines that got in her way to a nearby vista point. Upon defeating them and pinpointing the signal, she sat down to rest and took her time reading through the description.
It spoke of what the looming structure of Scalding Spear used to be. Back in the Old World.
It was…. a part of Elisabet’s company, Miriam Technologies.
Aloy can feel her chest tighten as she finishes reading about the green solar energy it once created, and looks down upon the Tenakth settlement lit up in the distance. Without thinking, she forgoes her original plan of finding a place to camp for the night, and instead heads back to base. But by the time she returns, the lights have already dimmed dark and Elisabet’s door is shut.
Aloy looks at it, her shoulders dropping as she frowns. She moves to go upstairs instead, hoping to find her sister, before pausing as she notices something on the counter.
‘What’s this?’ She picks up a covered bowl. There is a note stuck on top.
Her name is written on it, and Aloy raises a red eyebrow as she lifts the lid. Inside is some sort of rice dish with vegetables and beans, and Aloy feels something warm in her chest as she grabs a fork and takes it upstairs.
‘Aloy, you’re back.’ Beta greets her. ‘How was your day?’
‘Good.’ Aloy says noncommittally as she sits at her desk, stirring the contents of the bowl. It’s no longer warm, but she finds that she doesn’t really care. ‘Did Elisabet make this?’
‘She wanted to make sure you had something to eat if you came back late.’ Beta nods.
Visions of Rost bubble up beneath the surface of Aloy’s memories; of him cooking stew by the fire, waiting for her to return from hunting no matter how long she spent away.
‘That’s… nice of her.’ Aloy says. Her tone sounds far away as she takes a bite of the food.
The dish is simple; but to Aloy it is the best thing she’s tasted in years. She devours it, savoring every bite made just for her, feeling something in her chest constrict in a suffocating way.
Once she finishes, she looks up to find her sister watching her.
‘What?’ She asks, a bit embarrassed to be watched while eating.
‘Nothing.’ Beta says. ‘Just… you can talk to me about it, you know. About everything.’ She waves a hand in the direction of the stairs.
In the direction of Elisabet.
‘I’m fine, Beta.’ Aloy dismisses. ‘Really.’
Beta looks at her, clearly not believing her words, though lets the subject drop.
Aloy spends the next week and a half away from the base.
Alva had called her, stating she needed help convincing the Quen to lend their aid against NEMESIS. It was a constant back and forth from the moment she landed in Legacy’s Landfall. To their credit, they are a very intelligent tribe, if a bit misguided and with out-of-date information, so naturally they had many questions they wanted personally answered by the Living Ancestor herself.
Little did they know that the actual Living Ancestor that they so revere is currently still alive.
Regardless, Aloy is absolutely exhausted after she finishes her task. She pokes around San Francisco for a day or two, dreading the very long flight back to base. In doing so, she finds a vista point she missed near the Golden Gate Bridge. It mentions Miriam Technologies again, and the work they put in to clean up the ocean from critical levels of plastic pollution.
‘Another one.’ She mumbles as she swims. ‘I think I’m getting close to finding them all.’
Ever since Aloy found that vista point back at Scalding Spear, she has gone back over the others that she had found thus far. At the time she uncovered them, she had resolved to read them later ob, when they weren’t racing against the clock to defeat the Zeniths.
So, it was only recently that she came to realize… all of them have to do with Elisabet’s company.
The Daunt was actually a National Park, where Miriam Technologies made wilderness management machines. The Stillsands was Las Vegas, whose water system was managed through theirrobotic ecosystem. Dunehollow was the Vegas Strip, that flourished using their filtration system for the dome. The Memorial Grove was actually the Mojave Battlefield, where the company donated bots to clean up radiation after the Hot Zone Crisis. The Greenhouse was FAS West which, while not being one of Miriam’s locations, was emphasized as a place of unified action where the two competing companies shared research in the spirit of generosity and collaboration.
All of it was so… inspiring. To know the exact lengths that Elisabet went to in order to heal the world, even well before the Faro Plague.
Seeing that side of her only makes Aloy miss her all the more.
‘I should… probably head back.’ Aloy speaks to herself as she wrings out her hair on the shore, pausing to caress fishtail braids. ‘I think I’ve done everything I can for now out this way.’
Before she can call her Sunwing, however, her focus picks up a signal. She follows it up high to scan another vista point of skyscrapers. It talks about San Francisco; the start of Miriam Technologies and the heart of the company, founded by Elisabet Sobeck in 2049. Aloy finds heartfelt notes inside from past participants of the tour, all of them thanking Elisabet for the hard work she and her company has done to change lives around the world.
‘I wonder if Elisabet ever saw all of these messages.’ Aloy ponders, before being distracted as a final set of coordinates pop up onto her focus.
She follows the signal to find a prize cache with… a recording of Elisabet inside.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Elisabet Sobeck. Thank you for completing the Vista Point tour. I hope it’s given you a better idea of the work we do at Miriam Technologies. But more importantly, why it is so critical. As you’ve seen, life is fragile. And as my mother once told me, it needs our support, our care, and our love to survive. I hope this message, which is the core of Miriam’s mission, means as much to you as it does to me.”
‘It does, Elisabet.’ Aloy watches the gentle waves crash onto the shore as gulls fly past the Golden Gate Bridge. ‘Thank you.’ She whispers, falling to sit on the broken ruins beneath her feet.
It feels hard to breathe all of a sudden, and she taps her focus to look through her contacts. The name ‘Elisabet Sobeck’ pops up, and Aloy unconsciously reaches for it, before stopping herself at the last second.
Elisabet… has tried to call her during this trip. Each and every morning, when the sun rises.
Aloy is ashamed to admit that she hasn’t answered any of them.
She wraps her arms around her knees and hides her face into them, feeling as if she’s going to be sick.
It is so incredibly hard now. To talk to Elisabet.
The worst part about it is that she has no idea why.
When Aloy eventually returns to the base, the late afternoon sun is just starting to set over the horizon. She leads her Sunwing lower, and the two of them circle around the mountainside as she taps her focus, spying Elisabet sitting outside with Varl in her usual spot.
Aloy takes a deep breath to settle her nerves, then jumps off, deploying her glider.
Elisabet looks up from the journal she’s writing in as Aloy’s feet touch down.
‘Aloy.’ She greets. ‘Just dropping in?’
‘Guess you could say that.’ Aloy pauses, noticing that thankfully Elisabet doesn’t seem to be angry with her about their missed calls. ‘How… how have you been?’ She asks almost shyly.
‘Good. Your sister and I have made headway with a much safer plan for HEPHAESTUS.’ Elisabet says casually, continuing with whatever she’s writing. ‘Actually, GAIA was hoping to talk to you about that, because we’d like to put it into action soon.’
‘Got it.’ Aloy comes to sit next to Elisabet on the porch swing. ‘I’ll talk to her later then.’
The two of them sit there in silence for a few moments, Aloy shyly watching Elisabet write.
‘How’s your uh, farm going?’ She unconsciously fiddles with her fingers and nods down the hill, where she can see the wooden coop through the snow-frosted trees. If she looks further still, she can see the faint pink of Georgette causing mischief somewhere among the brush.
‘The coop’s done, just waiting on Yel to get the chicks ready for us.’ Elisabet closes her journal and picks up her mug of coffee from the patio table. ‘But I’ve been benched for a little while.’
‘Benched?’ Aloy tilts her head.
Elisabet holds up her free hand, showing off a few nasty looking scars and blisters.
‘GAIA told me to take a break. That I don’t always have to run myself into the ground.’ Elisabet flexes her fingers. ‘She’s right but well, let’s just say I’ve never been good at staying still.’
‘Me neither.’ Aloy admits while reaching into her pack. ‘But those look pretty bad. Have you been putting salve on them? Or eaten any berries?’
‘Salve, yes. Berries… no?’ Elisabet raises a red eyebrow. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘Here, I have an extra pouch.’ Aloy pulls out a small bag but hesitates to hand it over as she sees the familiar blue stitches in the tanned fabric.
“They taste bitter, but they could save your life. Always keep your pouch full of medicinal berries, flowers and plants.”
Without thinking, Rost’s words come back to Aloy. From when he made this set of pouches for her, when she was still a young girl.
As she hands the berries over to Elisabet, another, less pleasant memory flashes.
“Children, come with me. She’s an outcast, to be shunned.”
Of when she offered berries to someone else. A mother in the Nora tribe.
How she and the rest of the children shunned her.
How she didn’t understand why she was an outcast.
Why her own mother wasn’t there…
For a moment, Elisabet’s face is not her own as she takes the pouch, and Aloy tenses, waiting for harsh words to follow.
Elisabet only pulls out a few berries, though, looking them over curiously with her focus.
‘This is a new species. GAIA must have made these for the first ancestors that were released from ELEUTHIA, because they didn’t know how to care for themselves.’ Elisabet muses, tilting her head as she eats one. ‘Not very tasty to say the least.’ She makes a face before looking at her hands. ‘But very effective.’ She says with surprise. ‘Thank you, Aloy. I’ll keep these close. Maybe study them, actually.’ She turns and pulls out another, smaller notebook from her pocket. ‘My list just keeps growing bigger and bigger.’
‘I… you’re welcome.’ Aloy says almost too quietly, causing Elisabet to look up at her.
‘Aloy?’ Elisabet reaches toward her with concern.
Aloy shrinks back from her touch, quickly standing up.
‘I think I’ll go talk to GAIA. I shouldn’t uh, keep her waiting.’
Elisabet sits up straighter, her face falling with worry.
‘What’s wro-“
‘I’ll catch up with you later.’ Aloy cuts her off and goes inside, feeling something awful bubbling up in her chest.
After speaking with GAIA, Aloy goes to her room and stays there for the rest of the day.
‘Why are these memories coming up now of all times?’ Aloy angrily asks herself as she fletches arrow after arrow to put into her stash. Anything to keep her traitorous mind busy. ‘Why?’
“Memories always come back. The ones that matter anyway.”
Varl’s words float through her mind, and she sighs, closing her eyes.
At the time, she told him that she had bigger worries to deal with than dwelling on the past.
‘But if not now, then when?’ She whispers to herself, lost in thought.
Aloy looks up when there’s a sudden knock at her door. She sits up straighter on the floor and taps her focus, finding Elisabet standing there.
‘Come in.’ Aloy moves to get up but pauses as she sees the worried look on Elisabet’s face.
‘Aloy, are you busy?’ Elisabet asks, gently requesting her time.
‘No, I’ve got time.’ Aloy stands and walks around the desk by her bed. She stops in the middle of the room, something preventing her from moving closer. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I should be the one asking you that.’ Elisabet shuts the door. ‘Aloy, I think we need to talk.’
Aloy tenses, unconsciously crossing her arms and looking away.
‘What about?’ She asks cautiously.
Elisabet looks at her, her expression soft and open.
‘Aloy, I understand that this…’ Elisabet starts, gesturing between the two of them. She noticeably does not encroach any further into Aloy’s space. ‘It’s…’ She pauses, shaking her head as she thinks of the right words. ‘Your sister and I have already talked about everything.’ She gestures to the door, and Aloy can see through her focus that thankfully Beta is nowhere nearby to overhear wherever this conversation is going. ‘How she never had… anyone. In her life.’ She almost trips over the words, anger coming over her eyes for a moment before she stores it away. ‘I don’t know if that’s the case for you, too. And I’m not asking.’
She looks Aloy over, her expression growing… sad. Or guilty perhaps?
‘But, Aloy…’ She starts again. ‘If I’m making you uncomfortable. If I’m doing something wrong, I need to know. Please.’
‘You’re not making me uncomfortable.’ Aloy quickly shakes her head, confused. ‘You’re not.’
‘Then I’m not understanding.’ Elisabet admits. She moves to take a step closer before hesitating, keeping the distance between them. ‘Every time we get close, you look like you’re either going to faint or run away.’ She says, causing Aloy to pause, unsure of what to say. ‘Aloy, if you’re somehow trying to… protect my feelings, you don’t have to.’ She assures. ‘If you don’t want us to be anything to each other besides friends or allies, that’s okay.’
‘That’s not…’ Aloy stutters, shaking her head once more as her whole body tenses, her mouth suddenly going dry as something hurts sharply in her chest. ‘I don’t…’
Elisabet pauses, giving her a chance to speak.
When Aloy doesn’t respond further, her expression softens.
‘I’ve always had a tendency to run headfirst into things. Especially now, after everything that’s happened, I don’t want to take anything in this new life for granted.’ Her eyes turn far away. ‘But I… realized that I never asked you. If I could call you my daughter.’ Elisabet reflects. ‘You’ve looked so uncomfortable whenever I’ve said it.’ She recounts, looking Aloy over as the huntress stands there, frozen. ‘I’m sorry, I should have asked first because…’ She then sighs. ‘Listen Aloy, if you already have a mother, I’m not trying to take her place. I promise.’ She says earnestly. ‘So, if you need me to back off. If you need me to leave you alone, I can do that.’
Aloy’s eyes snap to hers, panic coming over her as she goes to stand before Elisabet.
‘No…’ The word comes out of her mouth like vomit as her mind forces up horrible memories.
“Why are you talking like we’ll never see each other again? No… No…!”
“You should be with the tribe. And I will always be an outcast.”
“But I told you, I have that figured out! I’ll come to you in secret. I’ll be the one breaking the law, now you! You don’t even have to talk to me!”
Her fingers shake as she reaches out toward Elisabet, her hands hovering but not touching.
Always close, never touching.
Rost never… closed that distance between them.
He was many things to her; a teacher, a guide, a friend, a…
He loved her, in his own way.
For Aloy, it was enough.
But…
Aloy nearly jumps out of her skin when a hand encloses her own. She looks up, seeing Elisabet’s hand entwined in hers. Her grip is not tight, not overwhelming or forceful, but it’s there all the same.
Aloy swallows the painful lump in her throat, taking a shaky breath. With resolve and resignation, she taps her focus, sifting through her own data files to input a search.
For one particular word that she was hoping could explain it all.
Elisabet looks up as Aloy’s focus suddenly projects a multitude of memories.
“They are outcasts, both. And she… she is motherless!”
“Look who’s come in from the wilds! The motherless outcast!”
“Motherless chuff.”
“Hey! You’re that motherless girl! The one who’s mother never claimed her!”
“What have you brought us now, you motherless curse?”
‘What?’ Elisabet whispers, confused, as the memories play out one after the other.
Aloy takes a breath, grasping Elisabet’s hand harder as she lets the focus finish its search. Once completed, it starts to autoplay more of her memories, starting from the very beginning.
“She is a curse made flesh!”
“She’s an outcast, to be shunned.”
“Stay away, No-Mother!”
At some point, Elisabet lowers to the floor, and Aloy follows her down, sitting side by side. These are the sections of data that GAIA marked as important in her focus recordings. Some of it has been shared with others, during their training, but most were marked for Aloy’s own benefit should she ever wish to relive them.
At the time, Aloy was… less than pleased to have her life dissected in such a way. To have the days of her existence sifted into neat little piles while the rest fell by the wayside.
Now, though, she is grateful for GAIA’s insight as she doesn’t have to muster up the strength to speak. Not when seeing Rost again, hearing his words, and seeing his smile, has every fiber of her being shaking with something she doesn’t understand.
“Well, if you’re going to go sneaking away from home, you’re going to need to know how to survive in the wild.”
Aloy dares a glance at Elisabet, who for her part is watching in quiet fascination, analyzing every scene like the trained scientist she is. As if she already knows just how privileged this moment is, that Aloy has chosen to share these memories with her.
“Why am I an outcast?”
“Aloy… this is not the time.”
These memories of Rost… Aloy hasn’t thought about them in ages. Hasn’t even considered looking them up in the database of her focus until now.
It’s been too hard to even think about.
“Are you worrying about what happens… after the Proving?”
“What happens is clear. You will be accepted as one of the tribe, and I will still be an outcast, to be shunned.”
Seeing them now, with Elisabet at her side, it’s somehow easier to handle.
Regardless, Aloy grips Elisabet’s hand tighter when they reach the day of the Proving.
“Aloy!… Survive!”
Elisabet audibly gasps and covers her mouth with shock, her eyes never leaving the screen as Rost is consumed by flames.
Aloy takes deep breaths in through her nose, looking away.
Her entire world had been destroyed that day. In a span of a few hours, she had gone from outcast, to Brave, then Seeker. It was whiplash ten times over. All made worse by the fact that the one singular person in her life… was no longer there.
A sense of numbness takes over Aloy as the focus continues.
As her life continues, without Rost.
“Then make it quick, I’m heading in. You need to stop listening to Ted and start listening to me.”
Elisabet furrows her brows at the memory from inside All-Mother Mountain, but her posture softens, and she squeezes Aloy’s hand in response to her past self’s words.
“Are you my mother?”
Aloy can’t bring herself to look up as the focus keeps playing, showing her leaving the Nora Sacred Lands to finally begin her journey. She shakily stops it there, unable to watch any longer.
Back then, Aloy had been so broken. So desperate for any form of connection.
Now that her deepest fear had come true. Now that she was all alone.
She would have done absolutely anything to learn more about her mother, and when she finally learned of Elisabet’s death, it only broke her more. Ever since then, she has climbed the highest mountains, traversed the hottest deserts, and swam through the deepest channels. Just for scraps of data about the woman who is the closest thing she will ever have to a mother.
To find some connection to her. One that would heal the broken hole left behind.
But now…
Aloy knows that Elisabet adores sunrises. That she is obsessed with flowers. That her favorite animals are horses. That she is a wonderful cook. That she has at least two notebooks with her at all times. That she loves to learn new things. That she hums while she works. That she can’t handle spicy foods. That her nose wrinkles whenever she talks to someone she’d rather avoid. That her smile is something not easily given. And that her laughter is the sweetest thing in the world.
Aloy once again feels like a fool, to have spent this long keeping distance between them.
She should have been trying harder to bond with Elisabet.
She shouldn’t have been wasting time like thi-…
‘No wonder you’ve been so distant.’ Elisabet says softly, causing Aloy to break from her thoughts. ‘I’m so sorry. About Rost.’
Aloy shakes her head.
‘No, that was so long ago, and…’
She looks up, meeting Elisabet’s gaze for the first time in what feels like forever.
Her expression is open and understanding, and it startles Aloy. As if somehow Elisabet can see right through her for all that she is.
‘Now I understand, why you’ve been keeping your distance.’
‘You do?’ Aloy asks, confused.
‘Because it would hurt less. If something like that happens again.’ Elisabet nods toward the focus screen, and Aloy feels as if she has just been punched in the gut.
Was the truth really so simple? So cowardly?
‘And this tribe. The Nora.’ Elisabet continues, cutting off Aloy’s thoughts before they can travel farther. ‘To outcast a child just because…’ Her eyes grow hard before she sighs with resignation. ‘I wish I could have been there, Aloy.’
‘I wish that too.’ Aloy says, grateful that Elisabet doesn’t apologize for her absence.
Because it wasn’t her fault.
It’s a complete miracle that Elisabet is even alive today to be having this conversation.
Aloy takes a breath and releases her hand, standing up on numb legs to turn towards her shelf. She takes Elisabet’s trinket down, before pausing as she looks at Rost’s pendant. With shaky fingers, she also takes it off the hook and cradles them both as she sits down once more.
‘This… I found it with you.’ Aloy explains, her gaze lowered. ‘I found your journals. In GAIA Prime. And visited… you. At the ranch.’ She holds up the necklace, watching it twirl in the low candlelight. ‘I’m sorry it’s taken this long for me to give it back to you.’
She hands the trinket over to Elisabet, who looks at it silently, before glancing at the other charm Aloy has in her hands.
‘Rost gave me this.’ Aloy says, feeling exhausted all of a sudden as she looks at it. ‘I’ve kept it with me. Ever since…’
She lets the sentence hang as she gives it to Elisabet.
‘He loved you very much.’ Elisabet cradles it, causing Aloy to look up. ‘That day he told you about the Proving, when you were still so little. The look on his face…’ Elisabet recounts. ‘I’m sure he realized that one day you would grow up and have to leave him.’ She gazes at Aloy with a sad smile. ‘It must have been hard. For both of you.’ She acknowledges.
‘It was.’ Aloy says, feeling her face fall against her will. ‘He…’
Elisabet returns Rost’s pendant to Aloy, giving them both a moment to acknowledge and remember him, before she looks at her world charm.
‘My brother gave me this. The day after I told him about Zero Dawn.’ Elisabet recounts, her gaze lost in memories. ‘He said it was a reminder. Of how big the weight of the world actually is, if you let the people you love help you carry it.’
She runs her fingers over the familiar necklace, before unclasping the hook and moving to place it around Aloy’s neck.
Aloy looks at her with surprise, but Elisabet only shakes her head.
‘Keep them. Both of them.’ Elisabet finishes closing the necklace clasp. ‘To remind you that you’re loved, Aloy.’ Her expression softens as she closes Aloy’s hand around Rost’s pendant. ‘By both him…’ She fixes the world charm around her neck, and Aloy can feel its weight pressing against her heart as Elisabet cups her cheek. ‘And me.’
Aloy’s face crumbles, and she speaks the only word she can muster in that moment.
‘Mother…’ She calls to Elisabet.
‘Aloy.’ Elisabet responds, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Aloy collapses into her, and lets Elisabet hold her through the flood.
For as long as she needs.
‘I had a feeling there was more to the hair braids. You were shaking the entire time.’
‘Yea. It’s uh, really important to the Nora. Mothers doing their daughter’s braids.’
‘And it’s important to you too?’
‘Yea. More than I realized, I guess…’
The two of them are now lounging together on Aloy’s bed. It took what felt like ages for her to finally settle down, and once she did, Elisabet was there to pick up the pieces.
Neither one of them has let go of each other since.
‘I can do them.’ Elisabet agrees easily, running a hand through Aloy’s hair. ‘They might all be fishtails at first, though.’ She hums. ‘I can do normal plaits, but they always turn out a bit… wonky.’
‘I like the fishtails.’ Aloy admits, peeking up from where her head lay on her shoulder.
Elisabet has her back to the door, turned to shield Aloy from anyone that may enter the room. It’s an odd feeling, being protected like this, but Aloy finds that she doesn’t really mind it all that much in this moment.
‘Alright then.’ Elisabet caresses a fishtail braid. ‘Did you want me to braid mine, too?’
Aloy pauses.
It’s normal for mothers and daughters to have matching braids. Sona and Vala were a perfect example, and she has seen plenty of other mother-daughter duos in Mother’s Heart.
But the thought of Elisabet having matching braids with Aloy?
That’s…
‘If you really don’t mind.’ She says after a moment. Almost shyly. ‘Then, I’d like that.’
‘I wouldn’t mind at all.’ Elisabet says, giving Aloy a squeeze. ‘What about Beta?’
‘She can too, if she wants.’ Aloy says easily, something flip flopping in the chest at the thought of all three of them wearing matching braids.
‘Then we can ask her tomorrow.’ Elisabet hums, putting their foreheads together sweetly.
The weight of it reminds Aloy of when Elisabet was still a Clawstrider, and this time she leans into it, allowing the familiar touch to ground her now just as it did back then.
‘Is there anything else you’ve wanted to try?’ Elisabet asks after a moment, pulling back a small fraction. ‘GAIA told me a bit about the Nora tribe, but not much. The was something about co-sleeping?’ She asks. ‘She brought it up the morning after you snuck into my bed, saying that maybe you wanted to connect with me in some way.’
‘That uh, is pretty much it, yea.’ Aloy says, a bit embarrassed now to be talking about it so casually. ‘I should have maybe asked you first…’
‘Nonsense.’ Elisabet kisses her forehead. ‘My door’s always open.’
‘Okay…’ Aloy turns her face away, feeling her ears turn red. ‘Um, besides that… I guess, cooking together?’
‘I think I would offer that anyway.’ Elisabet smiles. ‘Your sister said that you’re quite a terrible cook, sorry to say.’
‘Wow, thanks.’ Aloy scoffs with a bit of a laugh. ‘I’ll have to bring that up with her later.’
‘I can teach you how to cook, Aloy.’ Elisabet offers, rubbing her back. ‘It’s not a bother at all.’
Aloy takes in a breath, feeling vulnerable opening up like this, but not wanting to stop.
‘We could make beads. Together?’ She holds up one of her braids, showing off the red and blue beads at the end. ‘They’re just as important as the braids.’
Elisabet looks at them curiously.
‘What are they made out of?’
‘Wood. But others are made out of clay.’ Aloy supplies.
‘You’d have to teach me.’ Elisabet says. ‘Or I could show you how to make ones out of resin if you want.’
‘What’s that?’ Aloy lifts a red brow.
‘It’s this kind of… liquid, that forms into a solid, and encases things.’ Elisabet explains.
‘What kinds of things?’ Aloy asks.
‘Colored dyes. Glitter. Stones. Flower petals.’ Elisabet shrugs. ‘Anything really.’
‘Flower petals?’ Aloy parrots. ‘They’d have to be pretty small to fit into a bead.’ She muses, looking at her braids. ‘But maybe the ones on my desk could manage it?’
‘Blue Forget-Me-Nots.’ Elisabet nods, suddenly looking at Aloy with a much softer gleam in her eyes. ‘Those flowers have a very special meaning. If hair beads are as revered as you say, then I couldn’t think of a better flower.’
‘You said before that there’s a language of flowers.’ Aloy says, remembering that conversation from what was weeks ago now. ‘What do they mean?’
Elisabet smiles at her, before tapping her focus to look it up in the APOLLO database.
‘Forget-Me-Nots represent love and memories. Giving someone this flower means you truly love and keep that person in your thoughts.’ She reads, causing Aloy to unconsciously sink into her as her eyes widen. ‘Blue Forget-Me-Nots hold a special place regarding family ties, as they symbolize the unbreakable bond and eternal affection between a mother and her child.’
Aloy feels her mouth go dry as Elisabet finishes reading the definition.
‘I… .’ She says, tongue tied. ‘I didn’t know.’
Elisabet leans her forehead against Aloy’s once more.
‘Knowing what I know now, I’m glad I chose those flowers to share with you.’
‘Me too.’ Aloy shyly looks up at her. ‘Will you teach me? About the language of flowers?’
‘Of course.’ Elisabet tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. ‘There’s a lot that I want to teach you and your sister.’
‘Like what?’ Aloy raises a red eyebrow.
‘Well, I already know you’ve been looking up training modules about coding.’ Elisabet reveals casually.
‘How did..?’ Aloy startles.
‘It wasn’t hard to imagine that’s what you’ve been so secretive about…’ Elisabet says with no remorse. ‘Beta and I have experience in that department, but you only started your journey a few years ago. And after everything that happened with APOLLO…’ Elisabet lets out an angered breath through her nose, letting that particular sour subject go for another day. ‘Anyway, I want to teach you both how I override machines.’ She shares. ‘And you’ll need a good coding foundation to start with.’
‘How you override machines?’ Aloy asks. ‘With the pink eyes?’
‘Yes. It’s very simple, and a lot safer than the override module you’ve got taped to your spear.’ Elisabet says teasingly.
‘It’s not taped.’ Aloy scrunches her nose.
‘Stapled, then.’ Elisabet pokes a finger to Aloy’s nose, causing her to smile.
The two of them grow silent after that for a great long while, simply existing together in a tight embrace, before Aloy speaks up.
‘I’ve always been… chasing after you.’ She starts, her voice small. ‘Trying to find you at first, then just… trying to live up to you.’ Elisabet strokes her back comfortingly. ‘Fighting machines, uniting tribes, healing the world. It’s been my entire life until now.’ She admits. ‘I’ve never had a mother, so it… I may need…’ She doesn’t know exactly what she’s asking for, but Elisabet cups her cheek, gently turning her daughter’s face up to meet her gaze.
‘I know, Aloy. I know.’ Elisabet hums. ‘We’ll work through it all. Together.’
‘Together…’ Aloy repeats, allowing herself to be held as she listens to her mother’s heart.
End
Bonus Scene:
‘Mom, you should be in the middle. I’ll get the blankets.’ Beta sounds giddy as she excitedly scampers off towards the closet. ‘Be right back!’
Aloy looks at her quizzically while performing her assigned task of gathering pillows.
‘What holo are we even watching?’ Aloy asks, tossing them onto the living room floor.
‘I think you should pick.’ Elisabet says while shaking salt and pepper into a bowl of something that Aloy can’t quite see.
‘How about Second Time Around?’ Beta pipes up, returning to place the blankets down next to the pillows. ‘You’ve never seen it before, right?’
‘I think maybe not, Beta.’ Elisabet vetoes that option real quick. ‘We’ve watched the whole series already in the past few weeks.’ She points out. ‘It’s called Second Time Around, but I’d rather not make it an actual “second time around,” if you please.’
Her words cause Aloy to snort as she sits down atop the blankets.
Elisabet comes over to her a moment later, handing her a blue ceramic bowl. Inside are little yellow snacks drizzled in butter, salt and pepper.
‘Elisa…’ She pauses, allowing herself time to say the word she wants to say. ‘Mother, what is this called?’
‘It’s called popcorn, Aloy.’ Elisabet runs a hand through her hair as she walks away.
Aloy smiles and watches her go, something settling in her chest. She takes a bite of the popcorn, before taking more as the taste and crunch are very quickly addicting.
‘What are the options?’ Aloy asks when Beta sits down next to her.
‘Anything you want.’ Beta shrugs. ‘There’s so many to choose from.’
‘Oh really?’ Aloy asks curiously.
Her sister pulls up the list of available holos, and Aloy immediately feels overwhelmed as she sees the scroll bar that seems to go on for forever and eternity.
‘What genre are you thinking? That’d narrow things down.’ Elisabet returns to hand Beta her own bowl of popcorn. ‘Or if you have something specific in mind.’
‘Hm….’ Aloy pauses, thinking. ‘Beta said that some holos can have animals as characters?’
‘Oh, there are plenty of those.’ Elisabet takes her seat in between the two sisters with her own snack bowl. Beta hands her the controller for the projector, and Elisabet clicks onto her private collection. ‘I have a few saved that I like. We could start there.’
Elisabet inputs a search. The smaller list is already much less intimidating as Aloy watches it slowly scroll down, her eyes landing on one in particular.
‘Is that a Tremortusk?’ Aloy points.
Elisabet tilts her head, likely trying to remember what that new world term means.
‘Yes.’ Beta answers for her. ‘Elephants, they’re called.’
‘Let’s watch that one.’ Aloy shrugs. ‘What’s it called? Dumbo?’
‘It’s a good one. A classic.’ Elisabet praises as she presses play and settles down with her daughters.
The story of a baby elephant being born into the world unfolds.
At first, Aloy is entranced by simply watching the colorful animation play out, thinking that perhaps this is a taste of the wonder and spectacle of storytelling that Morlund and his crew are always raving on about. Frustration quickly comes over her, however, when the baby elephant is picked on from the very moment he’s born.
It reminds her of a very similar, more personal story…
But unlike that one, the elephant’s mother is there for him. Seeing her be so protective of her baby, and later watching them innocently bond together, has something inside of Aloy easing. She unconsciously leans into Elisabet just the tiniest bit, and her posture softens when she feels her mother silently return the touch.
The story continues from there for a while, before it all seems to come crashing down.
‘What are they doing to her?’ Aloy asks as the humans shackle the mother elephant.
‘They’re taking her away from her baby.’ Elisabet nods toward the screen.
By this point she is fully lying down in the blankets, having given up her own bowl of popcorn once she realized Aloy’s bowl was empty. Beta also gave her bowl to her sister, stating that she should have as much as she wants since it’s her first time watching a holo. It’s such a small gesture, but Aloy can’t help feeling touched as she munches on the offered snacks and watches the screen.
‘What? But that’s awful.’ Beta lays down next to Elisabet, clinging to her as they all watch the baby elephant cry for his mother.
‘I know.’ Aloy frowns bitterly, watching as the other elephants preach on about dignity and honor.
It’s funny really. How they feel they have the right to say those things after so easily casting out one of their own since birth.
Aloy shakes her head, realizing that she is caring way too much about this make believe holo. Elisabet had said that holos were a way for people to live through another person’s story. For entertainment purposes, sure, but there can also be a feeling of catharsis as its possible to see yourself reflected in specific characters as the story unfolds.
Aloy hadn’t thought much about it at the time, but now she finds it very easy to see herself in that little baby elephant. Especially when he finally gets the chance to see his mother again.
“Baby Mine, don’t you cry…~
Baby Mine, dry your eyes…~
Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, Baby of Mine…~”
Aloy startles at the words of the song.
Following along to the lyrics are images of various animals with their mothers, and Aloy turns when she hears her sister shift to squeeze Elisabet tighter. Their mother, though, seems to have just been starting to fall asleep, and she takes in a deep, tired breath, pulling Beta close.
After a moment of watching the two of them, Aloy puts the popcorn bowls aside. She hesitantly lays down as well, moving closer. Even half asleep, Elisabet doesn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around her too, causing something in Aloy to ease with warmth.
“From your head to your toes. You’re so sweet goodness knows…~
You are so precious to me. Cute as can be. Baby of mine…~
Baby Mine… Baby Mine…~”
As the song comes to an end, Elisabet kisses each of their foreheads. She slips further back into the blankets and pillows, embracing both of her children in her sleep.
‘She always falls asleep in the middle.’ Beta whispers and grasps Aloy’s hand, causing her older sister to smile as they both look up at their mother.
Beta ends up falling asleep alongside Elisabet somewhere closer to the end of the story.
Aloy doesn’t join them, and instead stays awake to watch the whole thing, wanting to know what happens. She watches on through pink elephants and learning how to… fly?
Her chest feels warmer still when she sees the little elephant finally find his place in the world. Despite it all, through the fame and the fortune, it’s obvious that the one thing that means the most to him is that he can finally be with his mother.
Aloy clings to Elisabet a bit more and grasps Beta’s hand a bit tighter once the holo finishes, and the two elephants are finally reunited. The projector screen quietly turns off and the lights dim, more than likely from GAIA’s doing, and she too falls asleep soon afterwards.
Aloy doesn’t know how her own story will end, but she does know that she can face whatever the future brings, as long as she has her mother and her sister by her side.
Bonus Bonus Scene:
Aloy wakes the next morning with the sound of the east exit door closing. She sits up in the nest of blankets and pillows, seeing Beta still asleep next to her. Aloy gently tucks her sister in, knowing that it will be several hours more before she wakes, and gets up to leave the base.
Elisabet is sitting on her favorite bench, overlooking the sunrise with a cup of coffee.
Aloy joins her, a blanket nestled around her shoulders to combat the morning chill.
‘Aloy.’ Elisabet looks up as her daughter lays down next to her, resting her head in her lap. ‘Sunrise, I didn’t mean to wake you up.’ She doesn’t hesitate to run her fingers through Aloy’s long hair soothingly, jostling red tresses full of fishtail braids.
‘You didn’t.’ Aloy eases into her touch as the two of them look out at the rising sun. A content smile comes over her face in response to the nickname her mother chose for her.
‘I just didn’t want to miss this.’
Dream Eater Allyphant Creations 
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