"So... Have you ever been recognized by a door like that one ?"
"Never. And it's... Well... I don't know how to react. I'm thrilled to find out what's going on but... It's a bit frightening as well. Because if there's a link between me, and that bunker, that means there is a link between me and the Old Ones, so it would appear that I wasn't aware of who I was my whole life... And it seriously bugs me to think that, but I can't help it.", Kïma answered lowly, as their footsteps were echoing in the metallic corridor.
"I understand."
And yet another uncomfortable silence occured. For a solid ten seconds, nobody talked. But Kïma started again, after a sigh :
"Honestly, Aloy, I beg you to forgive me what I did that evening. I swear things like this won't happen again, and I swear that as soon as all of this is over, I'll tell you everything I can about me."
A little "shh" fell out of Aloy's lips, and she added :
"Let's forget about it, okay ? I might have... Overreacted. If you want to... To date him again, that's fine, I don't have anything to say about it, it's your life."
"I don't want to date him again. And if there's anyone who has anything to say about it, that's you Aloy... and I think I made it quite clear, didn't I ?", questioned the collector with a small voice and a shy grin.
The huntress, a bit confused because of Kïma's pace, answered :
"What do you mean ?"
"You know what? Nevermind, we'll talk about it once everything is finished. Moreover, we reached the end of the tunnel. Another door. But this one seemed unlockable just by spinning this thing..."
Kïma placed her hand on the little wheel-like thing on the door, which opened within a second.
"After you.", She joked, leaning against the frame and following Aloy once she had entered.
As both women could see, the room was big but quite simple. Simpler than they could expect, at least. There was an impressive amount of metallic shelves or cupboards, and their focus told them that lots of powdery food was stocked in it.
They didn't pay attention to it (besides Kïma taking some bags and putting them in her purse to taste them later) and kept on walking. They eventually reached another room, with more androids this time. They looked broken as well.
"We should still try to wake them up.", Aloy said casually, looking at them, mesmerized. "Maybe they have some..."
"Aloy... Do you see what I see ?", Kïma called, almost whispering.
According to her voice, she was even more fascinated.
Looking in the direction she was pointing at, Aloy understood her awe but furrowed her brows at the same time.
There was a chair against the wall, made with different boxes and all kind of trash that we could find in an Ancient ruin. But what was sitting on it was way more interesting.
There was another android, sitting like a real human, crossing its legs and holding its chin, totally immobile. There was a blue light on the side of its head, indicating it was working but kind of sleeping.
"Do you think we should... Wake it up ? Or do you think it'll try to defend the cradle and fight us ?", Asked the black haired girl.
"The cradle recognized you. I think this robot is going to react the exact same way but if it doesn't, it can still try to defeat us. It'll never succeed."
"You're right... Let's try, then."
Kïma walked slowly towards it and stopped a step away. She looked at it curiously before scanning it with her focus.
"Wake up, please.", She commanded.
Almost like a real human once again, the robot jumped out of surprise, and its face turned to Kïma, the blue light getting brighter. It did not move for a second but placed its hands on her shoulders as it jumped on its feet.
Kïma, as a natural reflex, tried to move back quickly but lost her balance.
Aloy was quite surprised to see the android catching her and prevent her from falling before stepping back and raising both of its hands. A robotic and soothing voice, probably the android's, declared :
"Sorry, Kïma, I was just surprised and pleased to see you after all these years. Forgive me if my behaviour unseated you."
Yet another weird silence followed. Aloy didn't move, neither did Kïma. They were both trying to figure out what this meant.
The android let its hands fall back against its iron hips and asked :
"So, what have you been up too, during these 10 years, 5 months, 9 days, 13 hours and 23 minutes ? And is that a friend of yours ? She looks lovely ! Hi, stranger. Nice to meet you."
Kïma's glance crossed Aloy's and the huntress clenched her fists, looking right back at her :
"And you didn't tell me about it ? I thought you..."
"Aloy, don't get mad, I don't know what it is. I've never seen this thing in my life. I swear I would've told you. But I have no idea what's going on.", Kïma replied, trying to catch her breath.
The android looked surprised and it placed a hand on its own chest, questioning softly :
"Kïma... You... You don't... Remember me ?"
The girl stared at it, totally lost, and replied with the exact same pace, hurt and hesitant :
"No, I don't. Should I ?"
Extremely slowly, the android moved forward, reaching out a hand. It wanted to put it on her shoulder. She was quite reluctant at first but decided not to act like a child and did not move. She shivered a bit when the metal fingers touched her shoulder but kept on glancing intensely at it. And then it spoke :
"Kïma... I raised you."
Aloy felt her mouth drying suddenly.
What did it just say ?
It just wasn't possible...
"Of course not with this body. When you were young, you knew me as an android just like this one, but painted in white. I extended my subfunctions to take possession of at least one android in each cradle to welcome you once you would come to wake our people up. But... I never thought it would take you so long. So I decided to wait until you showed up and here you are !", Added the robot, squeezing her upper arm a bit.
"Stop, Stop... Stop", whispered the collector, who had that schocked expression still painted on her face.
"Who are you ? What... How... Oh by the Sun, the Moon and... I can't even..."
She then grabbed her own hair with two hands and exclaimed loudly :
"Too many questions !"
Aloy decided to just watch the scene, her body tensed up in case the android decided to attack because of a glitch or something. Without any surprise, she learnt not to fully trust machines. But she wanted to let Kïma understand her story, just like she would've probably done if she was the one finding out about Elizabeth Sobeck. So she remained silent, for now at least.
The robot chuckled (kind of) and both women could hear a bit of nostalgia in its voice :
"I'm going to remind you who I am, then. As I already told you, I am the entity who raised you. Not here, of course, but in another cradle, made especially for children like you. My name is APHRODITE, but you used to call me Mama, once. From the moment you were born to the moment I had to let you go, I never stopped teaching you, how to walk, how to talk, even how to fight, because I knew you were going to need it if the air had finally been cleaned up. Turned out it was."
Kïma, as APHRODITE kept on talking, progressively changed her posture. First, she lets her guards down. Then she fell on her knees, staring at the ground and she ended sitting like a child, holding her ankles, still staring at the ground. The android had accompanied her, adapting its position to her, so its hand was still on her shoulder.
"But then, once you had to leave, I asked you if the air was hurting you. You told me 'No... Mama... I can breathe ! I smell grass and I can smell the sky and it looks beautiful, it's blue as you taught me and it's green ! There are... birbs... No, birds ! And I can see flowers ! Mama you have to come here, it looks so beautiful !'"
The voice the robot used to say the last sentences wasn't its. It was the voice of a little child. Kïma.
It was a recording. Of her. Years ago.
"It can't be...", Kïma declared, now holding her knees, with a low voice.
"Do you want me to keep on explaining, sweetheart ?"
"Yes, I do. Tell me everything, please."
She seemed to have completely forgot about the two Old Ones who were coming back to life in the cradle but Aloy decided to give her more time to learn about her before reminding it.
"After that, I told you that I couldn't come, I had to stay in our house and I had to take care of the future children, and you already knew that but you still wanted me to..."
"The future children ?", Kïma repeated.
"Yes, the future children. The ones who would be born after you if the air wasn't breathable yet. But it was. You were strong and you survived. You reached the exit of the cradle and after being amazed about the nature, you told me that you could see some machines farther, and that they were blocking the way you had to use. So I asked you if you wanted me to use the repulsive signal. You were aware it was experimental but... you got really scared because of the machines and you begged me to use it. So I did, and..."
The voice sighed, as the android hand grabbed the human one. Kïma looked at the face of the android, waiting for more.
"And... After I used it, there was a silence. You didn't talk for a solid five minutes. And after that silence, you said only one thing : 'What...Where am I ?'. And I never ever heard you again until today. My prognostic is that the signal damaged your young brain and erased your memory..."
"No... It can't... I mean... A single signal ? Wiping out all my memories ? I... Just can't believe it... And there are other things you have to tell me... Where did you raise me ? Why ? What did the Old Ones do to me, what's the link between them and me ? Was I frozen like the other ones ? Who... Who am I ? Am I... An Old one ?", Kïma decreeded, hiding her face behind her other hand.
Aloy was looking at her not knowing what to do. She eventually decided to step forward and place her hand on Kïma's right shoulder. The girl looked up at her and she gave her the most comprehensive look she was able to give.
"I'm really glad you found someone, Kïma. I was always afraid that you would avoid people because of you shy attitude. But as I can see, you changed throughout the years. You are not as shy as you were and you learnt all by yourself how to survive. I looked through your focus, to catch up these years in a few seconds. You make me proud. You are becoming someone, even greater than what my creators expected you to be.", Said the robot.
They could hear a warm smile in its voice.
But it suddenly froze.
"Oh. No. N-N-No. THREAT DETECTED.", It said.
"What's going on ?", Kïmas asked, putting her hands on the robot's shoulder, as it did a minute ago.
"H-He.. Found m-me. I-I have to shut th-this body down. P-Please, Kïma, f-find me in our house. J-J-ust... Follow the f-f-flowers. THREAT DETECTED. SHUTTING ANDROID DOWN."
As soon as it said it, the android fell on the ground, not lightened anymore.
"Mama ?", Kïma attempted softly.
No answer.
Aloy noticed the collector swiping her face with one hand and understood she had let a tear out. She squeezed her shoulder slightly, telling her :
"You know what we have to do now. We'll find her, Kïma, I promise. Are you okay ? "
She nodded her head, with a pouty face, glancing at the inanimated body.
She looked like she was going to say something but a loud noise preventing her from doing so. It repeated five times before stopping.
"Bast !", Aloy understood.
"We have to go back !", Kïma exclaimed, panicked.
What was happening to him ?
Leaving the metallic body and the food room behind them, both women started to run back to the hall.