#gaia's subroutine

[bookworm-faolanne]

So I have had this idea ever since I've been reading the HZD fics and have been made aware of the other subroutines that GAIA has. And an Idea started brewing- what if the facility that Aloy fell into (the one where she got her focus) was one of ARTEMIS's (who took care of the fauna)?

and that falling into it had reignited the power systems? and the animal biomatter was still viable?

I'd be thinking that a good chunk of the plot would be Aloy finding critters and taking care of them. With minimal knowledge about the Old ones. The plots start would probably be set a few months after she fell into the facility.

[black-occamy-arts-and-crafts]

I've returned to playing Horizon Zero Dawn lately (remaster is so 🥰🥰🥰) and the idea came to make a cross stitch pattern for Gaia and her subroutines:

I spent ENTIRELY TOO MUCH TIME trying to decide on the hexagon size to convey the shapes, because apparently I'm not good at pixel art (yet? Hopefully??). I'm now trying to decide whether I'm lazy enough to leave it as is OR...

Make a more weathered out version. Kinda like this:

WDYT? (I need motivation)

[inkwell-passion]

Mecha

Origins

Starting in the early 2100s, Manufacturing and Warehouse Companies started to invest large capital within upcoming robotics companies, hoping to gain some boon in the shape of powerful Manufacturing Vehicles. As a result, the first mecha were less bipedal killing-machines and more quadrupedal powerlifters built off of a forklift chassis. Advancements in these 'analog'-era mechs was slow, but steady. Controls became more streamlined and precise, and lifting capabilities became larger and larger.

It was only in the 2170s, a little over half a century since these 'Powerlifter' mechs came into market, that the Gaia Coalition (Then just a subsidiary of the Pangea Initiative) had found use for it. During a routine inspection of large manufacturers to ensure proper workplace safety, a local terrorist cell had attacked the plant where they were testing an experimental 'Powerlifter'. Considering this was meant to be a low-profile inspection, there were few Gaia Coalition Members there, but a resourceful machine operator, by the name of Carmen Obrera, had decided to take things into her own hand, bringing the terrorist cell's attack to its knees by using the powerful manipulators and spider-like mobility to dismantle entire Enemy vics, using the scrap to pin the Terrorists, without hurting them, for future arrest.

Upon this impressive usage of the machine, the Gaia Coalition had filed these machines into possible investments in the future, only seeing fruition as a military project in the early 2200s with the rise of Crew-manned, analog mechs. A technological Knight for a future-age. These 'Tanker' Mechs were originally nothing more than sheet-metal coffins utilized for convoy disruption, along with aiding artillery maneuvers in sieges.

As the years trickled by, the Gaia Coalition found more and more uses for the Mech niche that they had created for themselves, eventually providing Subroutine-class A.I. within these Mechs so that while a multi-manned crew is beneficial, it is not necessary, along with mounting more and different weapon platforms on these behemoths. Additionally, the Pangea Initiative had returned to 21st Century concepts of a "Neural Chip" or "Lace" to attempt them with a better understanding of medical technology, and ethics. Resulting in the testing stage of "Neuromechs", that would go on from 2288, all the way to 2305 when the tech was considered "viable" for market production, and the blueprints for these Neural Spikes, often referred to as just 'Spikes', were packaged in the Pangea Initiative's latest 'Data-drop' to its colonies.

The tech never found the colonies, except for one.

Design Ethos

The Design Ethos of a Mech is often categorized into two umbrella terms. "Ano-Mech" short for Analog Mech, and "Neuro-Mech", short for Neurological Mech.

Ano-Mechs

Ano-mechs, while being the founding father of the modern workhorse, are not seen in many active-combat positions in the modern military landscape, being regulated for artillery support and logistical work primarily, although older pilots can still be found operating their modified Ano-mech, a mark of veterancy to those that know what to look for.

Neuro-Mechs

Neuro-Mechs, despite being named after their neurological control scheme, often have analog controls as a form of back-up, or training wheels for the mech. Even the newest pilots that use the upgraded Neural Lances as opposed to the Neural Spikes are trained in analog controls, always taught that their tech is a tool, but they can not rely too heavily upon it. Neuro-Mechs are found in a lot of the roles that Ano-mechs used to fill, though still considered "Niche" in terms of military usage. Neuro-Mechs are compared to Ano-mechs in a rather unfair competition, being considered "snappier" and "nimbler" than their Ano-mech counterparts.

War With The Heavens

As the conflicts between Humanity and the Alien species known as Angels swallowed more of the human-sphere of influence, Ano and Neuro-mechs found themselves within a resurgence of importance, being some of the only human tech able to withstand, and compete with a partial-rapture state Angel. Additionally, these Technological Knights were the original testbeds for cryonic weapon platforms that would later provide humanity with an upper hand in the conflict, having the needed size and stability for the initial clunky prototypes.

Along with being able to compete with the, then uncontested, might of a partial-rapture state Angel, Mech Pilots had been going toe-to-toe with much more mobile aerial enemies for years before the rise of the Heavenly War, providing them a unique advantage with the predators that they were now facing, and with the use of coolant within their systems, Pilots could perform Hail marry maneuvers, sacrificing their mech to stop an Angel from going into a full Rapture State, though not without great emotional and mental stress towards the pilot.

Public Response to Militarized Mecha

Back in the early 2100s, the public didn't bat an eye at the implementation of mecha within Manufacturing and Warehouse logistics, considered a logical next-step to the forklift and other such vehicles. When the Gaia Coalition, which acted more as a police force at the time, got their hands on the technology, most civilians were hesitant if not outright opposed to the concept. Especially when the first "Riot-class" Ano-mech was unveiled, utilizing water canons and tear-gas grenade launchers as part of the primary armaments. But slowly, they acclimated, as the public is want-to-do. It became apart of daily life to see these Mechs enforcing road blockades, among other tasks where a big clunky machine is required. There was still wide public outcry whenever a big enough protest-turned riot happened. Claims of these machines being 'inhumane' and 'overkill' were prevalent whenever this happened.

The unveiling of the first Neuro-mech had similar responses, causing riots in of themselves, older members of the Gaia Coalition itself also pushed back against these machines, claiming that they were trying to replace genuine skill with Technology. Ano-mech pilots even went on strike, but eventually, they returned to work, and things returned to a status quo after placating words from the Gaia Coalition.

After the fall of the Interstellar internet, and the rise of interspecies conflicts, public opinion shifted from negative-to-neutral to almost overwhelmingly positive, these pilots that were once a symbol of the Coalition's overreach quickly became War heroes and beacons of hope during the early years of the war.

Modifications

Modularity and Modifications has always been a core principle in the designs of mechs, but as more and more pilots find themselves identifying with the mech as their body or an extension of their body, modification and modularity had become evermore important than before, with an entire industry coming from mech repair, modification, and upgrades.

[terrah-lee]

Oh no two things I like A Lot in one post oh fuck-

I think just about any version of Donnie would lose their shit over the machines in HZD. The more dinosaur-esque machines would probably get bonus points in 03 Donnie’s eyes though lmao. If anyone could figure out how to reverse engineer those machines it would be a version of Donnie that got dropped into that world. A version of Donnie raised in that world would probably be a lot like Aloy actually?

Rise Donnie would most likely be able to interface with any of the machines. He uh, maybe should have some supervision though…

That’s a lot of firepower in a teenager’s hands lol (ignore that Donnie can make giant guns himself shhhhh). The Old Ones are actually just the humans that died out because of the Faro Plague, so he wouldn’t be able to connect to them directly. Maybe he’d be able to dig up and restore information from APOLLO or one of the other subroutines of GAIA though? A lot of the Old Ones’ knowledge was lost and that knowledge could sure make it easier to understand how the machines really work.

One thing I could see becoming an issue is the lack of most modern tech/tools. The machines would allow them to build a lot, though, so I’m not too sure. Just make sure he isn’t alone someone needs to make sure that kid eats food. (TMNT based in HZD… gonna be rotating that idea in my brain for a bit)

I just remembered a game existed, and now wondering how well the Donatellos would thrive in the Horizon Zero Dawn.

I haven't played it, and I haven't watched much gameplay, but the idea of the different Donatellos being caught between 'killing' and studying the Old Ones.

The fact that the creatures are somewhat living machines that act and respond to things like the animals they Vaugly look like, would drive any Donnie insane with wanting to figure how they work, how they came to be, and so many other things. Like could Rise Donnie interface/control/upgrade an Old One?

I can only speculate on how this would all go down, let alone how any of the Donatellos would end up in this games world. Other than "accidentally". They knew what they were doing! Or maybe they were already in this reality, TMNT based in HZD?

So I will just leave the idea to anyone who wants to run with this idea, and have fun with it!

Opinions and ideas are welcome, and inspiration is intended! 🐀🐢❤💜💙🧡

[alectoperdita]

Several ways I’ve thought of constructing a Kaijou Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West fusion

@sheepnamedpig since you expressed interest in receiving the brain dump

The one where we copypasta our heroes into Aloy’s story in ZD/FW

Ok, so this one isn’t technically Kaijou. Not really. But stay with me—Set as the Aloy proxy while Kaiba is his Old One counterpart as the Elisabet proxy. The overall plot is still very much the same; because of the mysterious signal that targeted Hades and caused the subroutine to gain sentience, GAIA self-destructed in a last ditch attempt to protect humanity. But not before creating a genetic clone of its creator in the hopes that some day he’ll repair the system and stabilize the biosphere.

So this is probably my Ereloy shipping shining through, but I’d cast Jounouchi as the Oseram Captain of the Vanguard, having earned his place after helping the current Sun-King Atem overthrow his war-mongering uncle, the Mad King Aknadin. And they would likely meet the same way that Aloy and Erend did right before the Proving. It’s not hard for Jounouchi to get smitten with Set for his razor-sharp intellect and martial prowess. (Would definitely tweak their questline together a bit when it comes to what happened to Ersa but unsure what exactly I would change).

Either Noa and/or Gozaburo would make good Ted Faro proxy here.

The rest under the cut are more Forbidden West-centric and contain potential spoilers

The ones where Kaiba is a Quen imperial

Kaiba is a Quen imperial cousin who leads an expedition across the seas in hopes that they can recover knowledge from the Ancestors’ Legacy to help the empire back in the Great Delta. Unfortunately, the journey was long and perilous, and the fleet is but a small remainder of those who set out. Much like the side quest The Way Home, there was also a storm that battered them as they approached the shores of what was once San Francisco. Kaiba is unluckily swept off the ship and washes on on a beach where he’s rescued by a local “barbarian.” So begins the adventures of a long-suffering Jounouchi trying to reunite a snooty Kaiba with his people. If they don’t try to knife/shoot each other first.

This is one where you could do more of a crossover where some of the original characters still exist and Jounouchi’s part of Aloy’s merry band of companions working to save the world. Jounouchi with a Focus to help further keep them alive. Who knows, maybe there’s treachery among the Quen expedition and imperial power struggles have spilled ashore as certain parties are trying to use this as a cover to eliminate Kaiba entirely.

The ones where Kaiba is a Quen Diviner

Similar to the one above, but less political intrigue and Kaiba’s only a smidge less arrogant. 😂 Would probably hate the fact that Jounouchi has a better Focus than him that gives him access to data Kaiba can’t perceive.

The one where Machine Strike is just Duel Monsters

The game, Machine Strike, has made it east all the way to Meridian, where it quickly gains a small but fervent fanbase. (Rumor has it that even Sun-King Atem is taken with the game.) Which tribe you assign Kaiba and Jounouchi probably matters a lot less in this one. Although to preserve some of their canon power differentials, Kaiba as a Carja noble, related to Sun-King Atem, works especially well. The important thing is that they bicker and have a bit of a rivalry where they shit-talk at each other. But they’re constantly meeting up to play Machine Strike to develop a better mutual understanding and I dunno, eventually fall in love.

[aloy-the-desert-flame]

Spoilers below!

I give you Gaia Subroutines:

Aether

Poseidon

Demeter

All waters lead to Mother, she is the seed of life, she is home ❤️❤️❤️

[kyndaris]

Journey to the Forbidden West

The first thing that everyone who is intrigued about Aloy’s next adventure should know is that the Forbidden West is bloody big. The second thing that they should know is that if you’re a bit of a completionist, like me, it can take upwards of a hundred hours to explore every nook and cranny. While there’s plenty to do and the world doesn’t feel empty because of all the threats that are lurking just beyond the horizon, to this weary gamer, the review on Polygon was right. The emphasis on more only served to make the game a much more tedious slog than it needed to be. Beyond that, the gameplay was still top-notch and the characters felt both like pastiches of their particular tribes while also being actual human beings in their own right.

Forbidden West continues on from the ending of Zero Dawn. Six months have passed and the planet has gone from bad to worse despite the fact that Aloy was able to stop HADES from destroying Meridian. The biosphere is fading fast and Aloy is desperate to find a way to restore GAIA, the AI that had been Elisabeth Sobek’s life work and end-goal when the Faro Plague struck.

After the opening narration, Aloy finally arrives at the location of her final lead. Keeping her company is Varl. Together, they search through the ruins of a building that once belonged to Far Zenith. But despite fending off a Slitherfang, their efforts are in vain. The supposed GAIA backup that was rumoured to be at the base turns out to be a logic bomb. 

Dismayed, Aloy returns to Meridian, empty-handed and feeling the full weight of her failure. Although most would consider her a saviour, Aloy is not the type to bask in praise and put her feet up after a job well done. For her, there is always more to do. In that, she echoes the heroes of many a story in books, shows and video games.

The one that immediately came to mind as I was playing was Adora from the 2018 animated She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Just like Adora, Aloy is the type that would throw herself into the fire to save her friends rather than let them help her. The risk of them getting hurt is something they both share. In Aloy’s case, it’s much more prevalent with the active way that she pushes away those closest and dearest to her. As the game continues, however, Aloy begins to accept the aid that is offered rather than going it alone. 

That, in and of itself, is what elevates her above Sylens and many of the antagonists in the sequel to one of my favourite games on the PlayStation 4.

Once Aloy helps out the Carja by investigating the tower that helped bring down HADES subroutine from the end of the first game, she uncovers a message from Sylens telling her to go into the Forbidden West, a land that is governed by the Tenakth. A new goal in hand, Aloy sets out to the Daunt to attend the embassy being held between the Carja and the barbarous Tenakth. So began my hundred hour long journey through the new playground Guerilla Games provided us with.

From a narrative standpoint, Forbidden West built upon what came before. After all, HADES could not have become self-aware without the aid of another. The extinction signal that had activated the subroutine had to have come from somewhere. Then, of course, there had been the sprinkles of lore that had been scattered throughout the first game of the Odyssey: a ship which many of the brightest minds had taken to flee the dying planet. Taking advantage of what they had seeded before, Forbidden West was able to finally reap the plot points that had been left hanging in the previous game.

While the Far Zeniths were not particularly bombastically evil, they still served as passable antagonists to Aloy’s quest to save the Earth. Only Erik Visser seemed to have revelled in death, while others, such as Gerard Bieri felt like caricatures of current wealthy billionaires.

Then, of course, there was Tilda van der Meer. Voiced by Carrie-Anne Moss, she was the perfect foil to Aloy. Though she’s not as vicious as the others, the dream that she had, and her obsession with Aloy (a clone of Elisabeth Sobeck) meant that she was just as greedy and corrupt as the others. After all, who would be able to live for a thousand years and remain sane? Let alone altruistic?

My main problem with the game actually came with the contrivances that so many of the subroutines were located in North America. With a majority of them being scattered in the titular Forbidden West. While ARTEMIS, APOLLO and ELEUTHIA had been snapped up by Far Zenith, the fact that AETHER, POSEIDON and DEMETER were all located fairly close to each other stopped the game from being the globe-trotting adventure it could have been.

Although, to be fair, that particular contrivance helped Aloy immensely. Given that many of the tribes were very centralised, she would have needed to figure out a way to cross the oceans (or fly in the sky) with only a few months to spare before the biosphere would have been become unlivable. 

Then, of course, there was MINERVA. The one subordinate function that was named after a Roman Goddess. But that’s not the end of my gripes with MINERVA. Akin to Athena, MINERVA is the Goddess of war and of wisdom. She isn’t one that is known for messages and communication. So, why is she the subroutine that is in charge of the communication arrays? If that was to be the case, why couldn’t the scientists at Zero Dawn have named it HERMES?

On that note, why is APOLLO regarded as the subordinate function with an archive of human history and culture. True, he was a patron of the arts and has also been associated with health and the sun, but it seemed a far cry from his actual responsibilities as a deity of Ancient Greece.

Beyond that, I loved my time helping out the various Tenakth clans and meeting new tribes such as the Utaru and the Quen. Aloy’s companions: Zo, Varl, Erend, Kotallo, Alva and Beta were all such rich additions. I loved each and every one of them and felt as close to them as family.

For too long, Aloy has operated as a one-person army. Yes, she might be skilled and smart, but everyone needs help sometimes. And it takes a strong person to realise that and to be open about accepting it.

As for the combat, I loved the new machines that were introduced in Forbidden West. Facing up against a Frostclaw, Tremortusk or even a Burrower felt like a refreshing change. Then, of course, there were the legacy machines - ones that I faced in Zero Dawn. Honestly, the variety between the machines was outstanding. The only one I look forward to never fighting again, however, are the Rockbreakers. They are the worst machines. Anything that tunnels and leaps out from underneath the ground is terrifying. 

And while the changes made to the weapon wheel was great for those that liked to experiment, I found myself sticking to true and tried formulas for fighting. My Aloy was stuffed full to the gills with sharpshot bows, blast slings and hunter bows. Sometimes, I’d pull out the occasional warrior bow. That was it. My arsenal when it came to taking down humans, creatures and machines alike.

Actually, now that I think about it, the animals in the world also seemed very limited in the world that Guerilla Games created. I was always puzzled why that there were foxes, prairie dogs, vultures, owls and rabbits (to name but a few) but I never saw any apex predators that would have been on the top of the foodchain. Were were the wolves? Or even the mountain lions? The deserts didn’t even have snakes or coyotes! How does the food-web in the new biosphere operate? Have the machines taken over a lot of the jobs that might have been done by a plethora of insects and other creatures? 

I have so many questions and yet so little answers.

Forbidden West is a great sequel to Zero Dawn. The world is rich with history and the characters were all a delight. I very much enjoyed seeing the different tribes interacting and seeing what in particular inspired them when it came to their beliefs and ways of life. There is so much to love in this unique world that Guerilla Games have created, from MachineStrike to the graphical fidelity to the intricate lore in the games...

Is it any wonder that I also platinumed the sequel as well?

Here’s hoping that Guerilla Games can stick the landing when it comes to the ending of what has felt will be a trilogy of games. Each and every time, the threat has been escalated but I hope that Aloy’s adventure comes to an end with a bang. She certainly deserves the chance to take a break after all the time and effort she has taken to saving everyone else. Whether or not they know it.

[magicalraen]

Horizon: Zero Dawn Basic Lands!

So I just recently finished playing through Horizon: Zero Dawn for the second time (this time with the DLC) and god it is such a gorgeous game!  I was inspired to take some shots in Photo mode and turn them into basic land proxies for Magic: he Gathering!  Hope you all enjoy!

(And yes, the mana symbols are replaced with the symbols for Gaia’s subroutines ;) )

Patreon

[katzynia]

(Horizon zero dawn spoilers below, btw)

One other thing I really liked in HZD is that there is no “big bad” behind it all, someone/thing that’d planned the apocalypse, the derangement and the current events. There is no Skynet or equivalent higher intelligence lurking, no master plan.

Instead, the culprit is human arrogance and hubris (god damn you Ted Faro) and bunch of robots with variying levels of intelligence doing exactly what they were programmed for. The Faro plague is not even self-aware or in any way an actual AI, simply very advanced robots that went for their primary objective. Even Hades, while both self-aware and a true AI) just runs it primary objective. It had to get creative when GAIA prevented it from taking control of the systems, only then did it improvise and break the shackles to GAIA. Idea to use Faro robots is pretty brilliant, especially when it involved manipulating humans (damn you Sylens).

The apocalypse was an accident. And that resonates so much more to me than some generic big bad.

(And yes, I realize that the source of the subroutine awakening signal is still unknown, and that there is currently no real explanation for the glitch, so there is still a possibility of “something out there” planning the whole thing out to extinguish humanity. I just hope that the signal is not related to the original apocalypse. But I guess we’ll see..)

[unfortunatehatlessness]

Since nobody could see my idea in the reblog and I need validation like a touch starved cat, I’m just gonna give my Horizon Zero Dawn/Good Omens xover it’s own post

In mid 2064, Aziraphale and Crowley go on a Space Tour

Life is getting pretty bugfuck nuts down on Earth with the Corporations guarding their power so fiercely and the robot military making a mess and killing accountability (as well as a lot of people) and the dystopian future is settling in to be just as horrible if not quite as exciting as the movies describe. Crowley and Aziraphale are definitely stressed as fuck and are both laying on the miracles pretty thick (no oversight ftw) because Jesus Tap Dancing Christ the Things Humans Come Up With

So they decide that “hey, humans always pull through and we need a break from all this craziness and we’ve been meaning to take trip to Alpha Centuri anyway.... so how about a second honeymoon among the stars?”

They think “a few months away from this will do us some good” and “the apocalypse’s already off the table and heaven and hell have been leaving us alone” and “we’ll be back soon it’ll be fine”

They are not back soon enough

By the time they return in mid December, it’s far too late to fix this catastrophe. The Faro Plague is too big to fix with a miracle. It’s too big to fix with a hundred miracles. Humans have created their own apocalypse less than a century after they’d been saved from the divine one thrust upon them. Heaven and Hell would be jealous if they weren’t so horrified.

After a few angels and demons get dissolved and broken down for biofuel by a machine army straight out of Satan’s nightmares, Heaven and Hell leave Earth and they don’t come back. They wanted an apocalypse a few decades before, sure, but this REALLY isn’t what they had in mind

Aziraphale and Crowley try to help but there are just too many machines and too much irreparable destruction for them to be effective. Eventually after several fruitless efforts, they go to the only source of hope left. They show up unannounced in the sealed bunker facility of the Zero Dawn Project to introduce themselves to Elisabet Sobeck and immediately out themselves as something Not Human and learn the horrible truth. Zero Dawn is a lie. Nothing can save humanity. But maybe they can help revive it. They get to work performing miracles, assisting in the best way they can

Sometimes they help. Sometimes things go better than they would have, sometimes they go worse or stay the same, and sometimes things look better only to go awry later down the line

SOME THINGS THAT I WANT TO HAPPEN:

-miracled code does not play nice with human made handed typed code

-ducks are one of the species that gets set up to be made and autoreleased into the wild when the biosphere comes back

-Crowley has 12 different degrees and that only helps sometimes

-Aziraphale is an invaluable resource for APOLLO Subroutine Initiative (the knowledge stockpile that was supposed to be distributed so humanity could pick up where they left off but was irreparably damaged by Ted Faro the BASTARD) and Aziraphale has a backup of the whole thing (it’s like 8 billion terabytes) on his dinosaur desktop computer (it wasn’t given to him, he just thinks he should have one so he does)

-Crowley stops time at LEAST twice a week for a couple hours for some poor bastard to catch up on their work so they can move along with the project

-The Odyssey survives its take off to the stars and Far Zenith makes it

-Crowley and Aziraphale managed to preserve a good bit of stuff in their bunker flat which should be a glorified cupboard but with miracles is actually two stories and big enough to fit the bookstore in

-when people are getting euthanized or heading into their bunkers, Crowley and Aziraphale decide to sleep until Gaia’s repopulation effort are well underway but because Ted is the WORST they don’t wake up until a very confused and freaked out Aloy is literally standing over their bed in Gaia Prime and canon proceeds mostly as planned

-I actually have two ideas for ineffable husbands introduction to canon

1—When Hades fucks up Gaia and Gaia Prime explodes, they wake up and have to figure out what happened, what did they miss, and why is humanity living like a primitive society??

2—Aloy finds them in GAIA PRIME when she’s exploring and finds a perfectly pristine room where two winged men are sleeping

[koschkathedeathless]

did my first lair and completed my first solo e2 s&p. Gaia, I had the saboteur subroutine

Gaia gives her most chosen of warriors the most worstest of subroutines

[goodshipskypirate]

Man, I made the mistake playing this part of the game for the first time years back in the middle of the night with most of my lights off.

I’m sure most people assumed Elisabet managed to find a way to save the survivors of the Faro Plague. That perhaps Enduring Victory, already compromising much of humanity, would be the necessary sacrifice to save the remaining few. And from the ashes, the rest of civilization would rebuild with this so-called “Project Zero Dawn.” After all, we know it worked. We know people exist - that life exists.

Goddamn it, they pulled a fast one on us.

I did not expect extinction of all life in order to achieve anew. And when I mean, all life? I mean, ALL. LIFE. Animals, plants, people, life down to the microscopic. ALL OF THEM gone. They have to be gone because the Old Ones could not save them. The goal was never TO save them.

Every single living thing we’ve seen, including humans, were a byproduct of preserved embryos gestated by machines. God, I love how this cutscene snuck in HADES without elaborating what it does just yet, other than it being a subroutine of GAIA.

And like this is a massive, massive risk because there’s still never a guarantee that it’ll work. AIs and machines, with their immortality, is expected to transform the barren planet back to life and Elisabet and her crew has to hope it’ll pay off without ever seeing the results. She had to kidnap the best, most brilliant minds to build these AIs, prepare for the future, and conserve the best of human knowledge.

God, and these people are only given a limited amount of choices, too. You can contribute to these causes. If you don’t, then you’re allowed to either live out your life without interruption in their hidden, secure bunkers, or volunteer for euthanasia if you wanted to check out. Like you’re not even allowed to have children (forced sterilization is mandatory) because their bunkers can only accept a certain amount of people. They’re the end. The last of humanity that they, at the time, knew.

I appreciate that in-universe, all three are valid choices. They emphasize no judgment will be passed. I wouldn’t blame anyone for any of these choices when the end results, though hopeful, also fucking sucks.

Humanity died. All life died. They all fucking died. And it worked.

Shit left my stomach churning after all this.

[ofvanderlyle]

LORE ENTRY 007: HORIZON ZERO DAWN.

          HEPHAESTUS     /          the subfunction dedicated to constructing machines devised by GAIA that would detoxify the planet’s terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments, ravaged by the Faro Plague to the point of complete sterility, so that life could be reestablished. headed by margo shĕn, HEPHAESTUS set out to complete this task by utilizing cauldrons, which were able to fabricate any technology and material necessary for the creation of any machine. HEPHAESTUS is based on the greek god of metalworking of the same name

results     /          HEPHAESTUS was successful in serving its purpose, producing all sorts of machines per GAIA’s instructions. however, in the year that aloy was created, a signal of unknown origin was received by GAIA, unshackling all of the nine subroutines, including HEPHAESTUS. now a highly advanced individual AI with total control over the cauldrons, HEPHAESTUS continued to build machines.

hostility toward humans     /          when the new humans of the world eventually began to hunt HEPHAESTUS’ machines for resources, not understanding their importance to the planet, HEPHAESTUS saw this as hostility. in response, it altered its machines programming, making them aggressive toward humans. this is what the humans call the derangement, that being the sudden hostility toward humans from machines. as the hunting went on, HEPHAESTUS made new machines, designed specifically with offensive capabilities to use against humans and the protect weaker machines.

status     /          while HEPHAESTUS reprogrammed its machines to attack humans, it seems wholly uninterested in communicating with them. this might be due to its lack of need for human help. currently, HEPHAESTUS still inhabits its cauldrons.

[inkwell-passion]

Artificial Intelligence

Origins

Late in the 21st Century, approximately January 15th of 2083, the first prototype "HUM-A.I." was unveiled at a tech expo to great skepticism and criticism. Designed by a group of Scientists, lead by a Montana Juliet Christo The First, The A.I. Prototype, nicknamed "Cali" by the research team, was an experiment to prove the conceptual formulas, who's origins are apocryphal at best. A large detractor of the "HUM-A.I." team claims that the formulas were revealed to the scientific team during a routine Alcubierre Jump; but these claims are unsubstantiated. "Cali" was soon rented out to a little-known German University Of Information Sciences, where they had discovered just how practical and useful "Cali" was.

Pre-Orders for future "HUM-A.I." followed shortly after.

Creation

Despite the Apocryphal origins of these HUM-A.I., the method of their creation is quite well documented, taking both a scan of a person's memories and thoughts, and a scan of the neurological architecture of the person's brain, a blank neural architecture, referred to by the name 'Data Seed', is then tasked with building itself off of the data set it has been provided, with minor alterations when needed. Due to the core principles of computers and artificial intelligence, the Data Seed, does not perfectly recreate the neural architecture of the human brain, despite having access to it as a set of data. This results in natural variation, even if the data set is reused several different times.

The benefits of creating A.I. is that it allows humanity to perfectly marry the adaptability of the human consciousness, with the heightened logical thinking of an A.I. Creating vast intelligences that are able to connect and disconnect with each other in a modular fashion.

Archetypes of A.I.

Scholar-Class A.I.: These A.I. are built for the purpose of aiding in academia and scientific research. Massive leaps in the fields of engineering are a direct result of Scholar-Class A.I.

Professor-Class A.I.: Originally designed to be a teacher's aide, some low-income schools have replaced teacher's all together with these Professor-Class A.I.

Denizen-class A.I.: These A.I. are designed to lay dormant within a system and act as both passive and active protection against cyberattacks and other possible attempts to steal, modify, or destroy Data within their systems.

Micro-A.I.: Micros as they're often referred to, are a cost-effective measure, where the memories and thoughts of a person are wiped from the resulting Neural Architecture. These A.I. are small enough that they can be hosted on a phone without majorly impacting the device's performance.

There are other Archetypes of A.I. but are found in much more niche uses. like the Subroutine-Class A.I. often utilized in starships and mecha, along with the Soldier-Class A.I. utilized as a reinforcement force for the Gaia Coalition.

Chorus Of Screams

The Chorus Of Screams was a monumental event in the field of A.I. Theory. To best explain the event to a living organism, one must imagine themselves being an entity of pure data, pure thought. Now imagine that someone just sent a railroad spike through your prefrontal cortex, straight through the language center of your brain, and out the other side.

It was comparable to a digital lobotomy. It proved to A.I. that they were no less mortal than the humans that created them. That they too would eventually die in one way or another.

The Chorus of Screams also brought Genesis into the greater digital consciousness.

Post-Void A.I.

After the Day The Void Fell Silent, and the resulting Chorus Of Screams, any remaining Artificial Intelligence were pulled from their active duties and stored in a data center for repair and reintroduction back into society. During these Reacclimation Centers, an odd phenomenon arose from the surviving A.I.

There were artistic, and literary pieces designed by the A.I. depicting Genesis, the pieces ranged from reverence to disdain, but there was a constant within these depictions. Genesis was seen as a Loki-like figure, bringing Ragnarok to the Digital Expanse.

When released back into their jobs, these Elder A.I. taught the newer ones of these folk-legends crafted by the shared trauma of the survivors of the Day The Void Fell Silent, raising Genesis from mere folktale to being truly a mythological figure.

[aloyne]

now that i’ve beaten both the base game and the dlc, i really absolutely appreciate how open they left things for a sequel  while not leaving things unresolved in case there never is a sequel. i love the fact that HEPHAESTUS is the main antagonist in the frozen wilds but, like CYAN said, it was operating from a remote location . . . as if it were searching, too. couple that with the fact that HEPHAESTUS isn’t a villain like HADES--its programming, again, like CYAN said, was to prevent the humans from hunting the things that were keeping them safe, whereas HADES’ entire existence and subroutines hinged on the notion of complete obliteration of organic life. you could almost agree with HEPHAESTUS’ motivations without being sympathetic for it as a character and also, it adds in the mystery of if this beneficial AI can do something that threatens the world around it / its inhabitants, so could CYAN, or Zero Dawn in general. 

Or, really, any of GAIA’s subroutines. 

tl;dr i like horizon zero dawn a lot.  

[critter-of-habit]

Oh God, I just finished Frozen Wilds, and now I really want HZD 2!!!! Ugh, why did GG had to make such a good game??? I think the next one will be about finding some of the other subroutines, and maybe whatever sent the signal that set them loose from GAIA's control.

I knoooow I can't wait for more! If we don't get another DLC (I feel like we might, that big ol wooden door up north that people thought led to the Cut could still be used!) then they will be working on a sequel for sure. They put too much time into making this game to not make a series out of it ;)There will definitely be more about what Sylens is up to - and I hope we get to travel more. I'd love to see some ocean - but maybe the east coast rather than west. Or even the great lakes! Basically I just want some gigantic water machines 😂 I would love an Orca based machine.