Chapter Text
Now was her chance.
Elisabet held the device between finger and thumb, surprised at its condition given both its age and the lifestyle of its owner. The focus had survived what sounded like an almost feral childhood in the wilderness, as well as machine attacks, human conflicts, even faro robots if the story was to be believed. How was it still pristine?
Lis considered briefly the possibility that it had been replaced, but quickly dismissed it. Aloy was intelligent, pragmatic, and guarded as a fortress, but for all that she had very quickly been able to peg the young hunter as being not only very careful but also very sentimental with her belongings, and as admittedly clever as she was with holo-locks and overrides, how would she have even known how to transfer over the backup?
The monitors on the surrounding walls pulsed blue and green with the low hum of CYAN's constantly updating systems, and even in the glow of the firelight Lis shivered, pulling her blanket closer around her shoulders. Call it the aftereffects of cryo-stasis, or perhaps the natural result of living in a dilapidated, abandoned facility forty miles north of nowhere, but Elisabet had felt a constant chill down to her core ever since her revival some ten days prior.
Her revival...
She grimaced at the thought.
Travis would have started calling me "Lisarus", back from the dead like some unfortunate relic of a worse time.
Dull machinery droned overhead, fluorescent announcements hovering on screens, heralding the slow bleed of life that was trickling back into the geothermal facility.
It wasn't fair.
Sitting on that old decrepit bench where she used to listen to the birds with her mother, gazing at the red sky and the arid dust bowl around her, watching her life support systems slowly fail one by one, she'd felt content for the first time since Ted had invited her to his office that day.
She had been under no illusions as to the reality of Elysium. She'd helped design the place for Christ's sake. There was sufficient gym space, sure, and VR facilities and better tasting rations, and softer beds than in GAIA Prime, but that couldn't erase the reality of the situation; that its inhabitants were the last dregs of a doomed species, simply waiting for the sand to finish sifting from the hourglass with as much dignity as they could manage.
She remembered seeing such creatures in zoos as a child, growing up during the Die Off.
Extinct in the wild.
The idea had seemed mystifying; whole species who endured only in cramped, isolated enclosures. She couldn't have imagined she'd end up sharing their fate.
So as GAIA's systems rang out the alert over the door seal malfunction, as the other Alphas argued over a possible solution, as she checked her suit and equipment with curiously steady hands…- Yes, she'd felt content.
More than content; relieved. She was tired, she'd wanted it.
But it appeared automated technology had gotten the best of her one last time, and as hypoxia drew near her suit had seemingly engaged cryo-stasis as a last resort. Even in her day the technology for cryogenics had never quite breached the realm of the hypothetical, but apparently the technicians had asked themselves what one more hail Mary would matter, given the almost fantastical nature of their project.
Ted must have been hoping for a miracle, footing that particular bill.
She smiled grimly, almost hoping that he really was up and about in the world somewhere, just so she could kill him herself this time. Apparently Faro Automated Solutions couldn't even let her die in peace.
Or perhaps that fault lay with Aloy, the eager young woman who had brought her round again. Lis had barely even begun to parse her feelings on that whole situation: revived by the clone she'd never wanted, had tried to ensure would never exist, and who -whether hilariously or tragically- seemed to think she was doing a good job of hiding just how much she'd imprinted on Lis like a fucking baby duck.
Turning the focus over in her hands, she stared at the waning fire, lost in thought.
This wasn't her garden. Artificial lights bounced against her eyelids, and in place of the Nevada sun she felt a freezing chill down to her bones.
"CYAN what's happening? Is she alright?!"
"All vitals appear stable; initial scans reveal indications of early stage oxygen starvation, however Dr. Sobeck should make a full recovery."
A flash of red hair as a figure leaned over her to pat her forehead with a cloth, the feeling of a blanket being pulled up to her chin.
Ah that explained it.
She was sick clearly, in bed with a fever as her mother watched her old-school medical dramas in between checking on her. She didn't recognise this Dr. Sobeck character, but then she never recognised anyone in the later seasons...
Whoever they were, they would make a full recovery. That was good...
An ember snapped in the fire, startling Elisabet out of her rumination and reminding her of her objective. Aloy wouldn't remain asleep for long, the girl seemed to sleep only in snatches, like some wild animal, constantly on high alert.
Lis wondered what it took for a person to develop that trait, and where that ragged scar across the right side of her throat had come from.
"Alright kid," she murmured as she snapped the focus on over her ear, "time to level the playing field a little."
She'd been told the abridged version of the story of course; Aloy had grown up mainly in the wilderness, and had left home after being targeted by cultists for her resemblance to Elisabet, had managed to stop a rogue extinction protocol from wiping out life all over again, and had somehow dragged her lifeless body from Carson City to Yellowstone after seeing the words "status: Cryo-stasis" on her suit.
This was all useful information, sure. However, her intuition told her that a great deal had been left out, and Aloy was very guarded with the finer details of her own life. It made Elisabet grit her teeth to be at such a constant disadvantage, talking to this girl who seemed to already know everything about her, who'd had the advantage of listening to the worst months of her life like a podcast when Lis knew next to nothing in return.
Not sure what she was even looking for, she scrolled through folders upon folders of data points and journal entries, to-do lists with fanciful titles such as "A Seeker At The Gates" and "A Fatal Inheritance."
She snorted quietly.
Yep, as suspected; she's definitely not as serious and straight-edged as she'd like people to think. Back in the day she'd have been the type to take a semester of creative writing and try to play it off as a scheduling issue.
Aside from information on her quiet companion, Elisabet was also starved for meaningful information on this new world she'd been hauled into; its cultures; its politics. She made a mental note to return to any entries related to the Carja, Nora, Banuk, or Oseram, before something caught her eye.
"Huh, now what's this..?" the lines on Lis' face deepened as she furrowed her brows in concentration. She opened a folder full of audio and holographic files and her eyes flickered down the list, the harsh blues and purples of the user interface dancing across her face until she noticed one of the filter options:
Sort by favourites.
She tapped the icon and watched the files reorganise themselves before her eyes, until two files stood firmly at the top of the list, the first a hologram file with an incredible 3677 plays, and the second; an audio file with 53 plays.
Lis wondered at the disparity before noticing the dates beside each file; she was still acclimatising herself to 31st century life, but based on the information she'd gotten from Aloy, as well as the date on her focus, she was fairly certain the hologram was first scanned at least thirteen years before the audio file, which seemed to be only from two or three weeks ago.
Thirteen years.. She would have been what, six? Seven?
Consumed with curiosity, she nonetheless double and triple checked that the audio playback was solely to her earpiece before hitting play.
"Hi! Happy birthday Isaac, daddy sure does love his little big man!"
The hologram crackled into life, and Elisabet felt her stomach turn over and her throat constrict as her ever-analytical mind made two connections at once.
The first: that the man in this hologram was wearing military issue clothing from 2066, meaning she had almost certainly signed his death warrant -not to mention that of this little boy Isaac- through Operation Enduring Victory. She might have even been in the same room as him once, shaken his hand at some USRC event with Herres, trying to convince the soldiers before them of that monstrous lie, that she had been working tirelessly to save their lives.
The second made her feel less overtly claustrophobic to think about, but nevertheless formed a pit in her stomach: this hologram must hold a lot of significance to Aloy. How many times had the girl gone back to it over the years? She noted the times played once again with a tight chest.
Lis could still remember her own childhood, her own difficulties making friends. Being a college student at thirteen had a tendency to isolate a person like that. She had sometimes even latched onto fictional people and found comfort in imagining that they were her friends instead.
Her mother had been her main source of companionship almost until she was 16, but even with her efforts it had been a lonely time.
So how lonely did a six year old child have to be to find comfort in a horror show like this?
The hologram played out, and then crackled into view again as it began to loop.
"This is the best I can do, he's right behind you!"
Sitting back in her chair, she dragged a hand across her face and groaned gently through her fingers.
"Jesus kid..." She said softly, glancing over at Aloy's sleeping form across the room, curled up in a fur sleeping bag. She'd also had a blanket, but after Lis had complained of the cold for the third time one day it had quietly reappeared that night, folded beneath her own sleeping bag, providing an insulated platform from the cold metal flooring. She pinched the bridge of her nose, cringing slightly at the memory.
"I know it's a lot to take in, so take however long you need."
However long she needed. As if she hadn't just woken up from a thousand year sleep, as if she hadn't had more time than any one person should get. Elisabet struggled to control her breathing as darkness began to encroach in her periphery.
"After all, we have all the time in the world now, right?"
The hopeful note creeping into those last few words was too much for Lis. She didn't know this girl, and right now she didn't have the emotional capacity to lean into this long lost family schtick and fend off a panic attack simultaneously.
Breaking her gaze which had been solidly on the floor for the past few minutes, she focused her eyes on the girl, steeling herself against the disorienting feeling of looking at her younger self.
"What does that mean?"
The girl blanched, and immediately said, "nothing! I didn't mean.. -I just, with repairing GAIA, a-and restoring APOLLO, I've been searching for you for so long, we have time now, and we have a chance now that you're here, after all you're.."
Awe began to spread seemingly involuntarily across her face as she breathed, " You're Elisabet Sobeck ! The..- the real one, I mean."
The girl's hand had reached out to touch hers and Lis couldn't help but jerk away before it made contact, hoping her discomfort wasn't too obvious.
The clone noticed of course -Christ, she was already making a mess of this- and for a moment her face crumbled.
The quiet sounds of machinery filled the room.
A few interminable seconds of silence passed as she opened her mouth to speak once or twice, then seemed to gather herself, and in a perfectly measured tone said,
"I'm sorry. Here I am talking all night when I'm sure you must have a lot on your mind. I'll let you get some rest."
And with that, grabbing a spear and a bow on her way out the girl turned on her heel and seemed to leave the room as quickly as possible without just flat out running.
Bile rose in her throat looking at the man in the hologram, as guilt threatened to wash over her completely.
What right had she to be here in this beautiful new world, when this man, his son, and countless other adults and children were dead at her hand?
And that was the real crux of the issue, wasn't it?
It wasn't that Aloy had somehow defied her dying wish, or that she had the singularly annoying trait of already seeming to know everything about her life, it was simply the sheer narcissism of it all that threatened to choke her.
Just having a clone, that was already conceited enough, and that had been reason enough for her to object to the Lightkeeper protocol on principle, even before factoring in any of the ethical problems of bringing a child into the world just to fulfill a single predetermined purpose.
But one look at Aloy's eyes lighting up at any morsel of attention, her dragging her feet in reluctance to leave the Firebreak facility before hunting trips, her hopeful face ( her face) quietly craving Elisabet's approval after figuring out a simple coding problem she'd been given, and it was clear to see;
Elisabet had a clone, and it worshipped the ground she walked on.
The sensation was truly discomforting. Even in her own time, the idea of being idolised by the general public had made her queasy. Perhaps it was a result of childhood ostracisation, perhaps it was simply how she was wired, but it was certainly the only reason she had allowed Ted fucking Faro of all people to enjoy the limelight and mantle of The Man Who Saved The World ; he could enjoy his fawning public, while she had been able to continue her groundbreaking work in relative privacy.
So obviously the idea of any kid latching onto her as a personal hero, flattering or not, was an uncomfortable one. The fact that this kid happened to look at her through her own hazel eyes, and had clearly imagined this situation going a thousand different (better) ways… Well that did tend to add just that bit of extra pressure, didn't it?
The metal walls groaned against the wind outside the facility, and once again she shivered.
Elisabet had always assumed she'd have a daughter of her own at some point. Over the years though, partners had come and gone, her workload had never gotten any smaller, and - ever the perfectionist -, the idea of having a child before being sure that she could give her the required attention lacked appeal.
She supposed that, looking at this situation from a certain angle, one could maybe say that she'd been given a second chance.
She rejected the thought immediately. Having and raising a child, getting to know their personality quirks and charms over many years and watching them grow into themselves, that was a distinctly different experience than waking up on the second worst day of her life to a fully formed nineteen year old stranger wearing her face, who knew all about her, and who had clearly hoped she'd embrace her and claim her as her own.
Not that she'd ever outwardly express that hope of course. Lis had no idea what had happened to make her so, but the girl had walls around her walls. Walls which had only gotten higher after their ill-fated first conversation. She hadn't broached the topic of the manner of their connection since that day.
However, walls or not, at the end of the day she was still little more than a kid, and this seemed to have been the one naive hope she'd allowed herself to keep from childhood. It wasn't so easily kept hidden, especially from the object of that hope.
She sighed.
Elisabet hadn't meant to be cruel to the girl. It wasn't Aloy's fault; she hadn't asked GAIA to create her, and it certainly wasn't as if she knew about Lis' own private regrets. She couldn't know the conflicting pride and discomfort she provoked by making some astute observation that had been on the tip of Lis' tongue, or how her soft muttering to herself while she puzzled out a piece of circuitry reminded Lis of all the time she'd spent pacing the lab at Miriam, working out the latest snag in her design by talking it through with her focus on voice record.
It was frightening and discomforting and not wholly unpleasant, which in turn was even more frightening.
The truth was, when she didn't think too hard about the situation, she could enjoy her interactions with Aloy. The girl was sharp as a knife, but kind, and even quite witty when she felt comfortable enough, and teaching her the basics of electronics and computer science had been a rewarding experience thus far.
Maybe… Maybe tomorrow I'll start her on fixing some of the more advanced circuit boards. Most of these computers are still way too dinged up for any kind of serious coding, and I'll need her fluent in Lattice before we even start thinking about repairing GAIA.
Lis quirked her lip.
And hey, assuming she picks it up as quickly as she has everything else I've given her, well, we won't be waiting too long.
She didn't know if she had it in her to fill the role Aloy had clearly hoped she would, and didn't want to disrespect the girl's actual family by even trying, but she could do this for her.
Nodding to herself, satisfied with her own little resolution, she finally went to hit play on the audio file, overcome with curiosity once more.
Until a shifting noise from across the room made her freeze, hand outstretched before her.
…
……
A few agonising seconds ticked by as Elisabet held her breath, formulating any number of perfectly reasonable sounding excuses to be scrolling through Aloy's focus while she slept, but the girl simply rolled over in her sleep, mumbling softly to herself, and was still once more.
One second, then two, then ten, until Lis let out a shaky sigh.
Okay, time to stop pushing her luck.
Reaching out, she plucked her own focus (apparently salvaged from the unused learning hub of an ELEUTHIA facility) from where she'd left it, and went to remove Aloy's from her ear until a thought stayed her hand.
She paused, thinking of all the things about which she was still totally clueless; all the knowledge she would have to catch up on in this world. Would she even be of any use to Aloy if she managed to grievously offend some stranger into violence through her ignorance?
Rationalising and weighing each option with a pained expression, she held her breath and quickly flicked through the options on Aloy's focus until she found what she was looking for:
LOCAL DATA TRANSFER
She sat perfectly still, silhouetted against CYAN's monitors until a few moments later her own focus gave a triumphant little buzz, and she breathed out again, trying to stifle the small knot of guilt beginning in her chest.