Hades is the god of the underworld in Greek mythology. He is in charge of death and is incompatible with Gaia, who leads the resurrection of life.
As they continued to explore, the three of them used Focus to read the records left by the person in charge of each Gaia subroutine. They described the purpose of each subroutine in detail.
After listening to what the person in charge of the Hephaestus subroutine said, Aloy tried hard to understand the meaning of the other person's words: "In other words, the mechanical beasts running rampant in the world today are not the enemies of mankind, but the enemies of mankind.
Designed by Asia to help restore the earth’s ecology?”
Lu Xiao and Yongzhen looked at each other and exchanged opinions through their eyes.
"Maybe, it's time."
"Well, tell her."
Aloy asked in shock: "Is it time to tell me? What are you talking about? Is there something I don't know?"
Yongzhen took out the holographic image recorder left by Gaia from the demon refining pot and handed it to Aloy.
"After reading this, you should understand your own life experience, Gaia's whereabouts, and the reason why the mechanical beast went berserk."
Aloy blankly took the recorder from Yongzhen's hand. The truth she had been pursuing was right in front of her eyes. She didn't know what to do for a moment.
"Don't run away."
Yongzhen rubbed Aloy's messy hair: "Face everything about yourself bravely. I look forward to the choices you make after knowing the truth of everything."
"Huh~"
Aloy breathed out, finally mustered up the courage, and used Focus to activate the holographic recorder in his hand.
The scene that Lu Xiao and Yongzhen had seen reappeared in front of Aloy.
Aloy is the junior that Yongzhen is responsible for guiding. Lu Xiao does not intend to get involved. He takes the first step and continues to explore, while Yongzhen stays where he is and pays attention to Aloy's emotional changes.
As Gaia's last words played, Aloy's face changed many times. After the image disappeared, she stared blankly at the top of the underground shelter, and the information recorder in her hand slipped to the ground.
"I...have no parents? Am I a tool created by a machine to fulfill a mission?"
"Of course not."
Yongzhen gently held Aloy in his arms: "You have two mothers. One is a genius scientist who retains hope for the recovery of life on earth, Elizabeth Sobek."
"The other one is Gaia, the artificial intelligence who trusts you wholeheartedly and places all her hopes on you."
Yongzhen solemnly said to Aloy, who still had a blank expression: "Aloy, a person's origin is not important, what is important is what achievements she can achieve in her short human life."
"Let me ask you, what is the belief that supports your actions?"
"Do you want to remember your past great achievements as you grow old, or do you want to end your life with regret and remorse?"
"I……"
Aloy is at the most easily shaken stage in her life. Although she cannot accurately understand the concept of human cloning, just being born by a machine is enough to make her brain unable to turn around.
Aloy lives in an era where everything is still in need of improvement and civilization is beginning to develop again. Everyone has his or her own parents.
Aloy also hoped that her parents would abandon her only out of necessity. She longed for family affection and imagined that she would have a happy family after reuniting with her parents.
But now all this is in vain.
"...Let's continue exploring first and let me calm down."
Aloy rubbed his cheek heavily: "Perhaps getting more information will help me find the motivation to move forward."
"That's fine."
Yongzhen took Aloy's hand: "Come on, follow Lu Xiao."
…
When the two found Lu Xiao, he was standing in trance in front of an image recorder.
"What's wrong?"
"Um?"
Yongzhen's call awakened Lu Xiao from his meditation. He rubbed his temples and explained: "I just learned about the function of the Hades subroutine. You should also take a look."
"Beep~"
Using Focus to reactivate the image, the person in charge of the Hades Project explained the purpose of this subroutine to Yongzhen and Aloy in a cynical tone.
"...Hades is the Extinction Guarantee Protocol of the Zero Dawn Project, the ultimate killer app."
"I know what you are thinking. Gaia's goal is to revive all things, so why should it be equipped with a subroutine that destroys the world? Is there something wrong with our brains?"
"Pfft~ Of course not, rebuilding the ecosystem is not as easy as you think."
"Let me use an analogy, if you are Gaia, 200 years later, you find that the ecosystem you worked hard to transform has turned into a piece of shit."
"Nitrogen concentrations have risen sharply, super typhoons have ravaged the land, and rainfall has been so heavy that even Noah's Ark would have been swallowed up."
"What are you going to do at a time like this? Put the newly produced mechanical beasts into this shit and expect them to help you clean up the mess?"
"Bah~ Of course it's impossible."
"All Gaia needs to do is give up her creation authority, hand over the planet transformation system to Hades, and let it do things that good kids can't do."
"Burn that erroneous ecosystem of shit, return everything to zero, and let Gaia take over and start from scratch."
"Okay, it's not burning, it's reversing and utilizing the planet transformation system, and then... you understand the concept."
"Anyway, uh~ what should I say?"
"Welcome to the Hades subroutine, welcome to the Dark Void."
Yongzhen rubbed his eyebrows and asked uncertainly: "I don't know if my understanding is correct. The Hades subroutine is the last insurance for problems in the ecosystem during the recovery process?"
Lu Xiao nodded: "Yes, from a rigorous perspective, this one-click restoration system is indeed necessary."
"The question is, why did Hades lose control? Why did he have his own intelligence?"
The only real artificial intelligence designed by Elizabeth Sobek is Gaia, and the subroutines in her name are only part of her.
For example, Hades's mutation is like a human waking up one morning and suddenly finding his left hand greeting him. This situation is theoretically impossible.
Thinking that Gaia had self-destructed and disappeared, Aloy clenched his fist heavily: "What exactly is Hades planning to do?"
Lu Xiao shrugged self-deprecatingly: "What else can you do? Did you just hear the meaning of Hades being designed?"
Aloy muttered in disbelief: "It wants to restart the ecosystem and wipe out everything in the world?"
"To put it simply, that's it, and Yongzhen and I's ultimate goal is to organize Hades."
Lu Xiao looked up at the ceiling of the underground shelter. Several Shadow Calgar soldiers were standing dozens of meters directly above them.
Eagle Vision cannot see machines without life responses, and Focus cannot penetrate tens of meters of thick soil to capture signals from above.
But Lu Xiao could feel the vibrations of the earth, and it was not difficult to guess that while they were exploring underground, Sirius had already arrived with his mechanical army.
"Hurry up and evacuate immediately after exploring this ruins. If it's too late, it might be difficult to leave."