Horizon before dawn

Taking some of my warriors with me early in the freezing morning, I was ready to track down CYAN, the super advanced AI that could help me achieve my goals for the near future. But before that, I had to find her. The path was quite a journey, climbing cliffs and more cliffs, and then entering a cave to do even more climbing. These shamans are like parkour experts.

After hours of traveling, my party and I finally reached our destination, but it seemed to be blocked. I spent the entire day decoding that damned door, but I finally did it.

CYAN stood before me; HEHAESTUS hadn't taken control yet. I told my party to stand guard outside and went in to have a conversation with one of the most intelligent AIs out there.

"Hello, CYAN. I'm King Noir of the Kingdom. I have come to talk to you and to say thanks. Thank you for stopping the caldera from bursting and for your service to humankind. And I have a warning, a very serious one."

"Hello, King Noir. No need to thank me; it was what I was made for. I detect that you are not Banuk. You have a working focus and programming skills. It's good to finally speak to someone who understands my existence. But what danger are you talking about?"

"Do you know the world ended, right?" I asked.

"Yes, my creators put me in hibernation because of this threat, the FARO plague they call it."

"The FARO plague has been eliminated for now, but there is another danger lurking, It is called HEPHAESTUS. He is an AI responsible for creating machines to supervise the terraforming process, but he has gone rogue. He is creating hunter-killers now, and your caldera is a prime location for him to make even more deadly machines. He will definitely try to contact you and take control of your systems."

"That is unfortunate. If what you say is true, I will upgrade my firewall immediately and block any incoming calls."

"It's true. He was part of something greater: GAIA. In a sense, she is your sister. Dr. Anita Sandoval, your main creator, also created GAIA with the help of Dr. Sobeck and others, a terraforming AI that could seed life on Earth. HEPHAESTUS was one of her subordinate systems, but something happened years ago, and GAIA had to self-destruct. Now, all her subordinate systems are sentient and loose in the world."

"I see. It saddens me that my 'sister' had to self-destruct, but I understand the danger of rogue AIs."

"CYAN, could you transfer yourself to other servers?" I asked her.

"That's a possibility, but with limited range. I don't have access to a wide network, so I can only transfer myself from the caldera to this support location."

"Hmm, maybe I can help. I can hack a nearby Tallneck and give you a boost in signal. That way, you could move to a more secure location if needed."

What I wanted was to transfer CYAN to the Nora lands, specifically to a cauldron there. Given some time, she could help me with the machines, perhaps calming them or even creating new ones. She possesses knowledge that no one else in the world has.

"I don't know what a Tallneck is, but if you can boost the signal, I could transfer myself to a wider area."

"Very well, that will have to wait for a while. I still need to repair the Tallneck and secure your new servers. In the meantime, do not accept any outside communication and upgrade your firewall as best as you can."

"Understood… King Noir, may I ask for a favor?" The all-powerful AI requests.

"Sure, CYAN. If I can, I will help you," I reply, already knowing what was coming.

"I had a friend named Ourea. She was captured by a tribe of humans called the Carja. Could you retrieve my friend? I'm worried about her; she was the only one who talked to me for so many years," She pleads.

"I will do my best, CYAN. I will try to look for her and bring her back, but the Carja lands are vast. It may take a few years to find her," I respond, having no idea where Ourea was right now.

"I see. I can wait. I just want to know if she is alright; she's my first friend."

Spending the night talking to CYAN was a good experience, i had answered all her questions about the world and she did answer mine, i now had a more comprehensive understanding of her skills, she could not replace GAIA but it was a very good start, having an AI to help you grow stronger in this Stone Age time was kinda a cheat, but now in the morning was time to go back to my kingdom, saying goodbye to my new friend and reassuring her that i would look for Ourea i trailed back to Songs Edge were the rest of my warriors stand waiting ready to leave this frozen wilds. 

"Chieftain Aratack it's time for me to go back, thank you for the hospitality and know that i will send a war party to help you claim what is yours once i get back." 

"Very well, i will not say no to such a deal, we will capture any animals we see and machines, the Banuk don't take charity, we pay our debts." 

"It's a deal them." 

With a AI helping me things were about to get more interesting. Muahaha

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Every 100 Power Stones a new chapter