An adventure full of complications.

16 days ago

The meeting with Sylens was not what I had imagined it would be. Not only did he not show up in person, but when I asked him about the mission objective, he told me that I had to eliminate a Tallneck that he himself had modified to function as a network transmission tower, enabling communication between Eclipse soldiers.

At that moment, everything became clear and the truth had come to light, so there was no choice but to admit it. Sylens revealed that he had collaborated with the Eclipses in the past. This greatly angered Aloy, but there was no time to waste, and now she had to cross an entire jungle filled with corrupt mechanical creatures controlled by bandits.

When I arrived at the base of Sandfall, I noticed that there was a huge crack and a wooden door keeping out anyone who might be curious. Following Sylens' instructions, I found a weak spot to get in, but first I had to deal with the guards outside.

After quietly eliminating all the guards so as not to attract too much attention, I went to the door and, finding no way to climb over or open it, realized that I had misunderstood the instructions, as I had to cross a bridge to get to the other side.

On the bridge, I found a jumping point on the rappel that I could use if I needed to flee quickly. On the other side of the bridge, there are more bandit huts, and behind them, I found a huge tree that, when pushed, created a small balancing step, which allowed me to cross the ravine again, but this time I was behind the door.

As Sylens had said, the Tallneck was unarmed and anchored to poles to raise its height and function as an antenna. With the help of some scaffolding and ladders, I reached the top, but at the same time I woke up something that was resting nearby.

The antenna was connected by cables to an old mechanical devil. This enormous machine had been dead for a long time, but something lived inside it.

A dark energy rose through the cables, like that which surrounds corrupt machines. When this energy reached the top, it formed a ball and, in a synthetic voice, referred to Aloy as “the entity” and loudly gave the order to eliminate her.

Aloy couldn't believe it; she was actually in the HADES AI review. Without thinking twice, she grabbed her spear to confront it, but HADES' interaction with the antenna and Aloy's sabotage caused an electrical explosion that sent Aloy flying through the air.

Hades was forced to return to his hideout to activate the war machines that lay nearby. Meanwhile, Aloy, still stunned by what had happened, reacted to Sylens' words telling her to run, as staying there was very dangerous.

In one leap, Aloy grabbed onto some ledges just before the antenna crashed into a rock. The danger was even greater because she had now found an escape route, but it involved climbing amid constant enemy fire.

Staying to fight was not an option, as the enemy was very powerful and had Death Bearers among its ranks, so the only choice was to flee.

In a hurry, Aloy reached the bridge she had crossed to get to the other side of the cliff and, without thinking, hooked her rope to the rappel point to escape, as it was unlikely that the machines would pursue her that way.

As she descended, Aloy thought about how unreliable Sylens' word had become. A chill also ran through her body when she realized that HADES was real. But anyway, destroying the communications antenna reassured her because now they couldn't track her as they had been doing.