abraxaslogs | [OPEN] november/december catchall

[ When Aloy begins to descend, Geralt slows his horse to a stop. His gaze lingers on the machine for a second. It's smaller than the one that attacked the Free Cities, but it contains some familiar mechanisms. Roach snorts at it, cautious of the unfamiliar sight. ]

We did. [ He inclines his head. ] Thanks to you, in part.

[ Helpful instructions. Though—it isn't all good news. ]

The Cities confiscated its remains.

[ It's concerning, though Geralt isn't certain what there's to do about it except keep a close eye. He's asked Sam to keep him informed. ]

I don't know.

[Sure, she pointed out the weaknesses, but without being there she doesn't feel like she did much--Steve and Geralt are capable fighters, and she has faith they would have found a way, even without her input.

But it certainly didn't hurt. Now that it's over, there are other things to worry about.]

I heard about that, too. What do you think they'll do with it?

[It doesn't sit right with her, that they have access to the kind of technology and weaponry that resides within the machine. All she can really do is hope that it was too damaged to salvage, or that they don't have the knowledge to utilize its inner workings.]

Edited 2023-12-16 20:55 (UTC)

[ Geralt shakes his head. ] Study it, no doubt. Its heart was dismantled, at least.

[ The engine that powered it is badly damaged, and that's about the best they can hope for. He turns Roach down the Horizon's nonexistent path as they converse, dirt and grass growing subconsciously beneath her hooves. ]

How much do you believe they can learn? The machine seems...significantly advanced.

[ In his eyes, anyhow, which may not be the best judgment. Until this place, the concept of a walking machine that could mimic a beast was not a possibility in his mind. It reminds him of a golem, only it isn't powered by magic. ]

[Now that they're walking and talking, Aloy dismisses the Sunwing, which goes to circle lazily above them, waiting for her to call it back.]

That machine wasn't made by a human.

[Which she may have mentioned before. Machines building machines. That said, the primitive peoples of her world have learned to utilize machine parts in weapons and armor. Even if the military can't reproduce the machine itself, they can certainly repurpose all of the technology within it.

So, hopefully Steve and Geralt rendered much of it unusable.]

I don't think they could...make a new one. But we use the parts for weapons. They might be able to do that, too.

[ She had mentioned that before, but Geralt still can't entirely grasp what that means. The concept of it is too far beyond his imagination until he's explicitly shown.

Or she simply explains it to him as a machine imbued with autonomous magic.

The noise he makes is thoughtful. ] Concerning, but less so.

[ Much less than recreating the machine itself. He nods towards Aloy's metal beast, hovering in the air above them. ]

Is that one you tamed from home?

[She shrugs. Aloy is still concerned--perhaps the inventors in the Free Cities are talented enough to not only utilize but replicate things like blaze and metalbite, or reproduce something like the disc launchers. Having the Thunderjaw damaged beyond repair, to the point where they can't glean any information from the weapons at all would be ideal...but it sounds like they should be preparing for (maybe not the worst, but) the inevitable.

She's never been one to underestimate the ingenuity of humans, after all.]

It's called a Sunwing.

[Again, no informal name for it--it's not a pet, and Aloy has overridden many, crossing the West.]

They're not usually friendly.

[ No? He raises an eyebrow, peering up at the peculiar creature. ]

You tamed it?

[ Can such a thing be tamed? He doesn't know how they work. The beast they faced had the instincts of an animal, but he was also a touch busy trying to kill it, it was difficult to gauge much of its natural behaviour.

He's used to horses. Roach has wants and needs. Desires for affection. It's difficult to say how much a machine can even recognize its owner. ]

Yeah, something like that.

[Aloy isn't really one to brag, but until fairly recently her possession of overriding technology made her fairly unique, in her world (on top of everything else that made her fairly unique). She understands that Geralt only has a rudimentary understanding of machines, but that speaking about them as if they're animals seems to help.]

I need a special tool, and some information about the type of machine. But then I can override almost any of them--even the Thunderjaw.

[Not to brag, or anything.]

Could've used something of that nature.

[ He has a slightly better grasp of machines, having encountered similar technology in the Horizon, but Aloy is the first he's met whose machines seem to have a certain autonomy. The ones he's interacted with are vehicles, not animals.

Roach has gotten used to the flying bird above her, at least, and is now plodding along and ignoring her surroundings once more. ]

Its shape isn't unlike the basilisks that roam the Continent. A little larger, though.

It's, um--

[Aloy apparently needs a moment to figure out how to phrase this. She knows that Geralt catches on quickly, but she does have to explain things in certain terms, for those unfamiliar with technology.]

There was an animal like it, on Earth once. And others, too. A long time ago. The machine that built the rest of them, she...liked learning about them. Even though they were gone.

[Some part of Earth's long history, living on in GAIA's creations.]

[ It helps that two people have introduced to Geralt the concept of monsters roaming their earth long ago, in worlds that no longer have them. Though they referred to them by another name. ]

Steve called them dinosaurs. [ Is that what she means? He can see the resemblance. Lizard or raptor-like in shape. Large teeth. Bipedal, with a tail for balance. ] This machine of yours, who built her? Humans?

[ She must've come from somewhere. Interesting, that Aloy refers to it as she, but if it's capable of creating animals made of steel...perhaps it's not much of a machine at all anymore. ]

Yeah. And they made sure she could look after things herself, after they were gone.

[The worst part about it all, she thinks, is that everything would have worked as intended if not for the deletion of APOLLO. Things are better than they were when she first began her mission--the world is no longer in an ecological freefall--but what does that matter, when Nemesis is hurtling towards Earth?

There's so much she would ask Elisabet, if she could. But she's thankful for having the opportunity to speak to GAIA.]

I got to meet her. It's not like talking to a computer. She's--she feels like a human.

[ After they were gone leaves a story untold. He thinks of the half a dozen end of days foretold on the Continent. And the one foretold here—the supposed swallowing of the earth that Thorne fears. ]

Those monsters that she turned into machines...they simply walk our world. But they weren't part of it from the beginning.

[ But the Continent as it exists now is young, some two or three thousand years. More and more, he's started to wonder if given enough time, whether Chaos would drain from the land as it has in others and give way to more machines. Who knows? Perhaps there is some truth to the White Frost and its reborn sun that's to come. ]

Did they come from somewhere else?

[Perhaps they could have evolved, from other creatures, but the way he phrases it makes her think that's not the case. Even the humans of a thousand years ago never knew most of the creatures that GAIA based the machines on. To see a living version of a Thunderjaw, or a Tideripper--she can scarcely imagine it.]

A cataclysmic merge between all the spheres. The first monsters came from other worlds.

[ Some have evolved, others have not. Some exist as the last of their kind on the Continent, and when the final one falls, there will be no more. All he knows is, monsters have been dwindling since he became a Witcher.

They're more plentiful here. Beasts of every kind.

But more specifically: ] Not unlike the fissures that opened up recently.

[ The rifts were something else, but the outcome is similar. There are creatures here now that weren't here before. That never belonged here in the first place. Much like the Summoned themselves. ]

Yeah. Sounds familiar.

[Which is not comforting in the least, that this could happen in multiple worlds, but she supposes that's the logical conclusion of such tampering. In Geralt's case, however, it sounds like the creatures were so numerous that they settled in a world that wasn't theirs. Is that what might've happened here, if the summoned didn't eliminate them?

Not really something she wants to think about. The balance of this place is already tenuous.]

What were the long-term effects? Were there any?

[ What effects weren't there, is the simpler question. ]

History says humans warred with the elves and dwarves until they conquered much of the land. When the monsters grew too numerous, they created Witchers to slay them. Though, the Continent was hardly peaceful before that time, either.

[ It is, he thinks, much like this world. Without the Summoned, the kingdoms would still be on the brink of war. They would have their spats and shows of diplomacy. Would no doubt fuck around with other dangerous spells.

Their presence only changes the nature of it. Despite what they're told, Geralt does not much believe in their importance. They are pawns collected by those in power, nothing more. ]

[She's not surprised, to hear that the history of Geralt's world is one of war, with various races enacting violence against each other until borders settled. That's true of her home, and true of many places she's heard of since arriving here.

Maybe it's familiar, the way that monsters proliferate and a new breed of hunter rises to counter the threat.]

Doesn't seem so different from our machines.

Edited 2024-02-03 00:45 (UTC)

Men will often find a way to make their monsters, when they haven't any.

[ Doesn't matter if it's flesh and blood or not. It must be a strange thing, to have only known machines your entire life and now be surrounded by everything but. Though if the Free Cities have their way...

They'll have to hope it won't come to it any time soon.

When the ground gives way to Kaer Morhen's snowy trail, Geralt mounts Roach again. The shadow of a white wolf lurks behind a thicket of trees up the path. He doesn't mean to occupy Aloy's time further. ]

If we hear anything, you'll be the first to know.

[The change in scenery doesn't go unnoticed, and it's enough for Aloy to recognize that it's time to part ways. Geralt mounts his horse and she whistles for her Sunwing, taking a few steps back from where the ground turns to snow so that she can clamber back on to it.

They're both in the same holding pattern, when it comes to the Thunderjaw--waiting for the Free Cities to make its intentions known. She can only hope that when it emerges again, they won't be too late.]

I appreciate it. You know where to find me.

[OPEN] november/december catchall

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