Thunderjaw Heart - Horizon Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Shyness in an oversized pullover

The door closed itself behind them, letting the small group admire a large room, with a circular table in its center. Using their focus, they all noticed the data point containing a hologram, just waiting for them to play it. 

After making sure they were alone and safe in the room, Bast approached it and used his focus to project the video.

Aloy and Kïma sat on the kind of table, staring at the man who just appeared. His face was serious, almost cold, as his hands were joined behind his back. He seemed to bite his tongue a few times before declaring :

"Welcome to Project Zero Dawn. I'm General Herres and I'm here to talk about this widespread wave of panic, following the declarations of the experts Brumfield and Straford. Indeed, Zero Dawn will take some time to be completed. But this superweapon is the only hope we have. And this time we need, we wouldn't have it without Enduring Victory. If this operation keeps going as initially planned, it should leave us more than three years to finish the weapon we promised you, which is more than sufficient. But if we stop here, if Enduring Victory is forgot, our survival won't last more than two months, and all life, except ours, will cease to exist on Earth."

"He doesn't sound confident.", Aloy noticed, tapping on her lips with her index.

"It's quite understandable, to be honest.", answered the blond Nora, looking at her in the corner of his eye.

Aloy didn't reply but looked again at the man. Something was wrong. He chewed discreetly his tongue again, before continuing :

"So I beg you, on the behalf of every person working for Zero Dawn, to give us the time we need to accomplish what we started. The weapon should be ready in four months, if there is no other interruption of Enduring Victory."

There was a short pause, followed by a "Thank you for your attention". The hologram stopped right after, letting the room recover its initial darkness. 

Bast turned around and said :

"Well, it obviously didn't work."

"We have to find why... What's in the next halograph ?", Kïma asked, pointing at the  next recording.

"Isn't it pronounced holograms ?", Bast laughed, walking toward it.

"Why did you tell her ?", Aloy sighed.

He shrugged, launching the next video.

"You knew how it was supposed to be pronounced and you didn't tell me anything ? Seriously ?", Whispered the collector to the Nora.

"It sounded quite funny and cute according to me.", she replied, reporting her attention on the spectacle in front of them.

There wasn't just one person this time, it was more like a whole reunion of Old Ones, sitting around a table. They could recognize Elizabeth Sobeck, Camilla Fedorova and the shy Chiaffredo Baresi. The first one looked as serious as normal, just like the blonde woman. The man, on the other hand, was wearing yet another grey oversized pullover and was hiding his hands in his sleeves, pulling nervously on the fabric. He didn't seem comfortable at all, and was standing as far as possible from the small group, but close enough to avoid looking too awkward. Only Camilla was sitting, with her legs crossed, while Elizabeth was leaning slightly over the table. 

"We don't have a choice. We know that global extinction is inevitable.", was saying a man with a weird uniform.

"What ? It wasn't what the other man said, in the previous hologram !", Bast exclaimed, pausing the video. 

"When was this one recorded ? Maybe it was way later, and maybe the situation worsened ?", Kïma hesitated, frowning. 

"Well... It is written '22th February 2065'. And for the previous one, it is... the same day. What does that mean ?", announced the young man, digging through the data of the two holograms.