After about two hours we arrived at the place that Sylens indicated to us, when it was night. It was a camp but there was nothing else. I made a fire and Aloy and I sat next to it.

We would have to wait for Sylens the uptight bitch to want to make an appearance.

I noticed that Aloy looked tormented with something, she was very thoughtful, more than usual. She was leaning against the mountain wall, and she was looking at the starry sky lost in her mind. I walked over to her and put my arm around her shoulders.

Me: Hey, are you okay? I notice you're a little thoughtful, pretty -I told her as I moved a strand of hair from her face and saw those beautiful forest green eyes that I loved so much.

Aloy: Well...I don't know, I feel like there's something I want to tell you, but I can't find the words to express what I feel. It's as if it were fear and worry at the same time, but amplified -the redhead told me looking me in the eyes.

Me: And why do you feel this way? -I asked curiously.

Aloy: I don't know...when I saw the Snapmaw drag you into the water, I felt...as if my heart had dropped to my stomach, I was scared and a feeling of anxiety was eating me up inside...and then seeing how Elida lost her lover...it makes me think about what would happen if you were to die...what would I do if you left my side?...When Rost died, I thought loneliness wouldn't be so bad, but when I met you I felt that I couldn't be alone another day, the world is big and full of things to learn, but there was no one to share it with.... you helped me with the pain, you made me feel like I wasn't alone in the world -said the redhead with a big blush on her face and I saw how the tears wanted to escape her beautiful eyes.

I didn't know that she had all that in store. Aloy had suffered so much in her entire life, so much that losing me would mean taking half of the redhead's life.

Me: I understand you...When I woke up I was in a strange world, I was a man who did not understand anything about the world, and you were like a ray of hope, which helped me adapt to the new world I was in, you were patient and you cared about me...if anyone asks me, you've kept me sane since the day I woke up...but I promise you, I won't die and I'll never leave you alone...I love you, I'm technically addicted to you -I told her while giving her a kiss on the lips.

Aloy and I continued to make out for several minutes, cracking a smile from time to time.

Me: I love you Aloy, nothing in the world is going to change that and if I have to go through the entire Eclipse army for you, bet everything that I will -I told her, separating myself from the kiss for a while, I gave her a smile and she returned a smile too.

Aloy sat on my lap and we continued kissing. I feel...happy and alive whenever I'm with her. I started kissing her neck and I could hear little moans and giggles coming out of her mouth.

Aloy: Stop, that tickles -said the redhead between laughs.

I pulled away from her neck and laughed. Aloy decided to do the same to me, kissing my neck with an occasional small bite. Before I knew it, Aloy had left several hickeys on my neck.

Aloy: Well, I already marked my territory -said the hunter with a seductive smile on her face.

Me: Well, that's been yours since the day you took me out of the fridge -I answered her with a seductive smile on my part.

We keep kissing, I enter my hand in her reddish hair, intensifying our kiss. I didn't want to stop kissing her, I was addicted to her lips.

We both became unstuck due to lack of oxygen. We both looked into each other's eyes, our foreheads and noses were touching.

Me/Aloy: I love you -we both said at the same time, with a smile on our faces.

God...she was so cute...if she asked me to jump off a bridge, I'd jump headfirst.

Sylens: I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have work to do -the voice of the bald demon was heard.

That damn Sylens... as much as the bastard serves as a GPS... I'm crazy to smash him to pieces when I find him.

Me: That's why you're still a virgin, you baldheaded son of a bitch -I said blushing while I put my hands on my face annoyed.

Aloy wasn't too happy that the fun had been interrupted, plus she was blushing that someone saw her having a moment with her boyfriend.

Aloy: You know how to choose the best moments, don't you Sylens? -Said the redhead sarcastically, fixing her clothes and equipment a bit.

Sylens: You guys have a mission, it's not time to be horny -said the man with some annoyance.

Me: And that's why you're 40 and you're more of a virgin than Maria, asshole, you never have fun -I insulted him, making my annoyance clear.

Sylens: I don't have time for those stupid things, unlike you, you only know how to fuck like a rabbit and insult me ​​-the man insulted me with annoyance.

Me: And that's why I'm happier than you, what's more, you're doing the human race a favor by not reproducing. Who would want to fuck something as small, smelly and bald as you -I responded with another insult.

Sylens: Short? I'm taller than you, meathead, apart from being horny you're also stupid -the bald man insulted me again.

Me: And who said I was talking about height? -I replied with an evil smile and at first Sylens didn't seem to understand, but then he understood and he didn't look happy at all, I just laughed.

Sylens: And what makes you think anyone would want to have a child with a frozen old man with anger issues? -the bald man insulted me, but there was something that caught my attention and that is that he called me 'old man'

Come to think of it, Sylens never asked me why I'm in this time and I'm pretty sure no one told him that he was frozen.

Me: What the hell did you call me? -I asked, the man realized his mistake, but before I could repeat my question, Aloy stepped between the two.

Aloy: You two stop fighting, you look like kids. Right now the important thing is the mission -said my girlfriend, saving the bald man from my interrogation.

Sylens: The camp is up ahead, you guys are at the back entrance of the camp, where there is less security. You must go unnoticed if you don't want to bring all the guards here -Sylens command pointing to a crack big enough for us.

Aloy and I entered through the crack and arrived at a plateau full of machines. I still had what Sylens said about "Frozen Old Man" in my mind. Later I would talk to him and force the information out of him if necessary.

Me: Sylens I hope this is worth it, because if not, you're going to wish we didn't meet in person -I said while hiding in a bush with Aloy.

Sylens: And I don't even want to -said the man and then cut off the communication.

Aloy just rolled her eyes seeing me and baldness fighting.

We were hiding in the bushes and using rocks to disorient the machines. We pass the plateau and arrive at the campsite. It wasn't as big as I imagined.

Sylens: Well, do you see that bridge over the river? That's your escape route -the man said.

We both climbed down from the cliff and hid in another bush. We began to hear explosions in the distance, through a large wooden door. I grabbed an unaware Eclipse Trooper and snapped his neck.

We saw that on the other side of the river there was a booth. I grabbed Aloy around the waist and he latched onto me and I double-jumped into the tent. Upon entering this we saw several notes and a mannequin that had a kind of armor, very large and black. There were a lot of voice notes around the place and several statues that I suppose were of religious origin.

Aloy: It's the armor of Helis -said Aloy as he inspected the armor.

Me: Well, someone is very fat -I said in a mocking way, which caused Aloy some amusement.

We saw a log nearby and together we knocked it to the ground to get through.

Me: This guy has serious fanaticism problems -I told the redhead.

Aloy: Well, he's a fanatic and he's determined to achieve his goal, no matter how stupid it sounds -said the hunter referring to Helis.

We kept walking and saw a Long Neck, which had scaffolding all over its body. That must be the transmitting tower.

We started to raise the platforms.

Aloy: This doesn't feel right -the huntress said as we climbed onto the big machine.

Sylens: Nothing here is right...destroy the module and get out of there -the man told us and he sounded quite impatient.

Me: I notice you're impatient Sylens -I said sarcastically to the man, maybe he can get information out of him.

Sylens: Shut up and continue Old One -the man told me with hostility. Something wants to hide and does not want us to see it.

We climbed to the top of the machine and saw the transmitter. But we hear another explosion and Aloy goes to look, I hear her gasp and I go see what she's seeing... a Horus.

Aloy: Is that...Hades? A... metallic devil? -said the redhead, surprised, Sylens was screaming for us to destroy the module.

But it didn't make sense... Horuses don't speak, they don't have such an advanced interface to communicate, they don't have an AI, it's impossible for Hades to be a Horus.

Aloy tried to start the module but she shocked herself, which worried me.

Me: Aloy, are you okay? -I asked her as she put me next to her.

A light appeared behind us and we saw a hologram in the shape of a ball with red veins appear in front of us.

Hades: The entity...has come here?...The Alpha Prime has come here too...unforeseen error...Give up the codes, Alpha Prime...The entity cannot destroy me...I'm out out of his reach -said the voice, but what codes was that crap talking about.

Aloy: You are...But not this! -she said as she impaled her spear against the module.

I took out my blade and the key in the module too, to make sure it was destroyed.

Hades: DESTROY THE ENTITY AND GET THE CODES FROM THE ALPHA -ordered the voice, annoyed.

A Kopesh shot at us and destroyed the Longneck. Aloy and I started slipping, I double jumped and landed on the cliff in front of me and caught Aloy as she fell. We started hearing explosions and a bunch of Eclipse troopers started shooting fire arrows at us and the Kopesh were shooting at us.

Sylens: Get out of there, I told you not to get distracted! -said the man, hysterical.

We ran and climbed obstacles. I almost fell once in a while but thanks to the grappling hook I was able to move faster. I noticed that Aloy was falling behind, I had to do something to hurry her up.

Me: Aloy, get on my back, we'll go faster like this -I told her as I lowered myself a little and Aloy climbed on my back.

I kept running around the site doing double jumps or wall running with the help of the grappling hook. We arrived at the entrance of the camp and saw the bridge.

Aloy: The bridge! -she said as she got off my back and started running.

She dove in first and with her rappel she started to break her fall, I followed behind her and threw my grappling hook to stop my descent, but there was an explosion that destroyed the bridge, making us lose our grip.

I got as close as I could and protected Aloy with my body.

*splash*

Aloy Pov

I felt that Allam's grip had become weaker and I see that he is unconscious. I let go of the grip and began to swim to the surface. When I was afloat, I began to bring his body to shore. I could hear the Eclipses screaming. I have to get out of here, but I can't leave Allam behind.

I grabbed my boyfriend by the shoulders and started pulling him as best I could, until we were a fair distance away.

I took off his helmet and started pressing on his chest to get the water out. I turned him over and patted him on the back, until he finally vomited up the water he had swallowed.

Allam began to cough as he began to regain consciousness.

I hear my focus activate and I see Sylens manifest. That bastard.

Sylens: So, you survived... I see your boyfriend did too-said the soldier as he looked at Allam with disgust.

Aloy: You're a liar, you knew that Hades was here from the beginning, and you send us here -I furiously claimed, I almost lost Allam, drowned because of him.

Sylens: Yes, it was risky but it was the only option, now we can discover the secrets of Zero Dawn -said the man, he really was unpleasant and lacked any morals.

Aloy: Do you want to talk about secrets? Well here's one for you, I don't trust you anymore Sylens -I told him, he made me angry just by his presence.

Sylens: Well, I see that you are maturing, trust is not a good basis for a partnership. Trust is like sand, fragile and unstable and can fall at any time. But mutual interest, that is a strong base, a base where we can start a good partnership -said the man, but what he was saying didn't sound... good... not at all in any way.

Allam: That's something...only a...sociopath would say -Allam said with difficulty, getting up from the ground.

We both looked at him, me with surprise on my face and Sylens with disgust. I went over to help him to his feet.

Allam: You are... an unfriendly and antisocial bastard... that you do whatever it takes to get... what you want, without morals that stop you and... without caring about the well-being of others or how you affect them -he said my boyfriend with venom and disgust in his voice. He could see in his eyes a fury directed at Sylens.

Allam: You are the scum of the human race; guys like you were...everywhere in my time -Allam said with hate in his voice.

Sylens: You talk about morality and doing things right, being fair...but that didn't stop you from almost killing 20 people, it didn't stop you from killing all those Eclipse soldiers, do you think you're that different from me? We are the sides of the same coin -Sylens replied annoyed to my boyfriend. To tell the truth, he had never seen Sylens so upset.

Allam: You and I are not the same Sylens -my boyfriend replied and felt his arm trembling from the fury he was feeling.

Sylens: But we are, aren't we both chasing old forgotten history? Do we not do what we have to do because of what we think is right? Do we not impose our own sense of morality on others? Aren't we overwhelmed by the flag we carry or by the desire we yearn for? -The man said as he looked at Allam with a certain air of superiority, but he was just confused.

Allam: What are you talking about, you fucking crazy bastard? -said my boyfriend approaching Sylens, standing face to face.

Sylens: You carry the flag of the old world on your back Blake, wherever you go... you carry a dead and meaningless symbol on your shoulders, an unnecessary weight. You carry the flag and the morals of a dead and forgotten world that no longer exists... the world of the Old Ones, your world -the man said while looking Allam in the eye, this was no longer a discussion, it was a battle of wills

Allam: Maybe so, but my morality is what makes me a human and not a machine like you, Sylens, that's what makes me different from you -replied the soldier.

Sylens: For now... but we'll see how long it will take for you to break Allam Blake... as soon as you let go of that flag... it will be the moment where you will realize that you and I are the same -said the man as he looked at Allam with superiority.

Allam: I will not break Sylens... and when the time comes, we will get rid of you, and I will personally end this stupidity once and for all... pray to any deity you believe so that we stop needing each other -my boyfriend threatened the man.

Sylens: And I'll be looking forward to that day Blake, even though our association is over, our paths are intertwined and at some point, both will come together and become too narrow for the two of us. And when that day comes... you and I will gather under the banner of the new world and carry a message for each other. The question will be, who will be able to deliver their message and who will take it to the grave -proclaimed Sylens and then left us both alone in the forest.

It was the first time that he had seen Sylens so upset and Allam talking so seriously with him. Flags, symbols and marks...these two spoke a language that they themselves understood.

Allam was furious, he released a very heavy sigh. He packed up his things and we headed to Sunfall. Allam didn't look happy at all and he was very thoughtful at everything Sylens told him.

Allam Pov

Gather on the flag of the new world...with a message for each of us...well, my message comes with a bullet, Sylens, and pray I don't give it to you first, because that's my plan.