Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV – September 26, 2075 - Night City.
Template Stacking I x1 [GLaDOS has GAIA (Horizon: Zero Dawn)] [-40] [405]
Once GLaDOS obtained the GAIA template, it took her a couple of hours to organize all the information it contained. GAIA was an artificial intelligence, powerful and advanced enough to perform advanced planetary engineering and terraform, and restore a planet.
And all of this was achieved with the help of nine subordinate functions, which were initially part of GAIA but later became independent AIs. However, since the template always used the version at its 'peak', the subordinate functions came with the template.
Since GLaDOS had to integrate 10 powerful artificial intelligences into herself, it was truly a miracle that it only took several hours.
But once it finished, we finally put our stupid planetary restoration plan into action. It was ridiculously easy to teleport to different points around the world, use alchemy on a massive scale, and build the underground Cauldrons following GLaDOS's blueprints all over the globe without anyone noticing. I even used alchemy to leave behind large quantities of metal so I could automatically replenish them for quite some time.
With the Cauldrons, the enormous underground facilities where the machines are built and repaired, now in place, GLaDOS could use the subordinate function HEPHAESTUS to begin construction of the transformation machines.
GAIA had succeeded in restoring Earth's biosphere from a point 0, where everything had been eradicated, but GLaDOS was now working with an existing biosphere, yes, definitely greatly diminished and mostly dead, but still, an existing biosphere.
Therefore, the modifications that had to be made to the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the flora, and the fauna were much easier than what GAIA had to do.
We also started preparing the whole backstory for this ridiculous plan. In short, we are Aperture Science—at GLaDOS's insistence, and I didn't really care about the name—a humanitarian organization founded over 100 years ago. During that time, we worked on Project Zero Dawn.
A top-secret planetary restoration project, the newly placed Cauldrons, will make them believe they were slowly created over the last century around the world without anyone noticing. During that time, all of Aperture Science prepared to begin Project Zero, Dawn.
Aperture Science had even managed to acquire and preserve large genetic reserves of primary and secondary floral and faunal species from Earth, to return them to Earth after most of them were extinct.
The GAIA template didn't include a genetic pool, but we had access to other worlds where those plants and animals still existed. So GLaDOS was sending drones to the DxD world to acquire samples of all the plants and animals to carry out the revitalization.
In fact, we had already begun cleaning the hydrosphere. Poseidon was the first thing we activated. After all, with the oceans completely toxic and most of their underwater life completely dead, it was easy to hide the work that the machines subordinate to Poseidon were doing. After all, nobody was observing the enormous, useless body of water that covered the world, simply because it was of no use to the Corporations.
Tens of thousands of machines had already been released into the various oceans around the world, and thousands more continued to be created every day. GLaDOS also used the waiting time to have the Cauldrons create all the robots necessary for the launch of Zero Dawn.
GLaDOS began creating dozens of forged documents, many of which were exactly like the original Project Zero Dawn documents from GAIA, only slightly modified and inserted into the completely ordered system. She created 100 years' worth of documents, all completely forged, that would even under the most rigorous scrutiny be considered genuine.
Then we would make them public when we presented ourselves to the public; we would also use that cover to eradicate Arasaka.
Arasaka was over 150 years old since its founding; it wouldn't be unheard of for the leaders of Arasaka to know about Aperture Science and treat it as top secret, trying to silently eradicate us so that no one would find out.
GLaDOS is creating more forged documents and orders, which we will upload to Mikoshi, containing orders issued and signed by Saburo Arasaka against us. We, as a humanitarian organization, refused to fight Arasaka for decades, until it reached a point where we could no longer avoid a direct confrontation.
We would portray Arasaka as the villains, and it wouldn't even be difficult; EVERYONE knew that Arasaka was quite shady deep down, but no one could do anything about it—adding that to the whole Soulkiller and Relic affair, it already crossed the line of what normal people would accept.
No one would mourn the wicked, and in this case, no one would mourn Arasaka. We simply had to ensure that all information about Arasaka, including all the important details, was made completely public across all the various networks, while deleting the most dangerous information.
And broadcasting the Datakrash and the destruction of Arasaka's primary and secondary headquarters and facilities live would be an excellent solution. Oh, everyone fears the Datakrash, Rachel Bartmoss and his dreaded RABIDS. The amount of damage suffered during the first Datakrash hadn't yet healed, so using something similar wouldn't exactly win us any sympathy.
But it would also be an excellent deterrent. Demonstrating the ability to eradicate something like Arasaka in a few days would make us untouchable, at least for a while. And that was all we needed.
The longer there is no retaliation, the more time the terraforming robots will have to act. The more time passes, the more noticeable the restoration of the biosphere will become, and this will influence the general public.
Even more so if, during that time, we begin to influence different sectors, provide well-paid jobs, create a branch dedicated to medicine and health, offer good-quality services, if not free, at low prices, and basically treat people like decent human beings.
It would improve our public image, especially if GLaDOS could implement her solution to cyberpsychosis.
All of that would help us maintain a free path to counterattack any Corpo that tries to attack us; the same people would justify us on our own, even if we use excessive force.
Perhaps even create a new global network, but that's something to think about later.
So yes, almost everything was prepared and ready to carry out this madness. The more the days passed, the more it seemed like I was dreaming, not because it was incredible or anything, but because of how easy it was to devise and carry out a planetary engineering plan in secret from the rest of the world in less than a damn week.
I did not doubt that we would succeed, and that was the most terrifying thing.
The robots in Zero Dawn were normally programmed to flee from humans, but I'm sure that option won't work against humans here. I'm more certain that any person or corporation will try to acquire several copies of the machines.
Which wouldn't matter much if it weren't for its energy source. The main one was biomass conversion, the process of using organic matter to transform it into fuel, something called Blaze.
And that was the reason why the planet of Horizon was left completely barren when the machines of the Faro Plague swarm began attacking humans.
So it was a very bad idea to leave that kind of technology loose in this world, especially here. Luckily, GLaDOS only had to modify the power source to create and place Arc Reactors in all the machines.
Along with that, the robots would be able to attack and defend themselves against humans who attacked them, even calling and meeting with nearby robots to defend themselves. However, I doubted they could do anything against well-prepared opponents, like the Corpo.
Therefore, there was a self-destruct system on the Arc reactor to prevent leaks from it. It was better for someone, if they were lucky enough to acquire an Arc reactor, than the biomass converter.
Especially since I doubted they could replicate the synthesized Element from the Arc Reactor.
Similarly, GLaDOS is completely rewriting Hades and Minerva; both will be used to defend the robots and the Cauldrons should anyone find them. GLaDOS was placing most of the subordinate functions within the personality cores, along with a very rudimentary version of GAIA to guide the entire process.
The idea is that the entire process of revitalizing this world's biosphere should be completely automated. GLaDOS would review it periodically, but the last thing we wanted was for GLaDOS to remain chained to this world while the entire Zero Dawn process was taking place.
It was truly a shame that this world was entirely technological. I was sure I could increase the robots' efficiency and begin imbuing them with The Light. My Light was strong for an ordinary person, but it was nothing compared to what The Traveler could do.
The Traveler could terraform an entire planet on its own in no time. Me? It would take me several minutes to terraform something the size of Pentagram City. Even if it only took me 10 minutes to terraform 200 km², I'd need at least 50 years nonstop to terraform the entire Earth's surface.
So no, doing it myself wasn't an option, at least not right now. But the idea of infusing the machines with The Light to speed up the whole process? Yes, that would be terribly easy. Unfortunately, it was something I couldn't do in this world.
But it's not as if it were necessary; normal robots would be more than enough, as long as they were kept safe.
"Adam Smasher's journey has been confirmed; he will arrive in Night City in two days." I heard GLaDOS's voice in my head, and I nodded.
"And so it begins." I sighed inwardly for everyone. "Rebecca, it's your turn to entertain and kill Smasher-"
"Nova!" Rebecca mentally shouted with happiness, interrupting me.
"As I was saying, we still need to finalize the last details of the plan, so it's quite possible you'll have to keep him occupied—not kill him outright—long enough for me, or Lucy and I, to finish our business inside Izanagi, the Mikoshi hotspot beneath Arasaka Tower. GLaDOS, Lucy, and I will then move in and take control of the entire Arasaka network."
" Once we give you the signal and Adams Smasher is dead, or even before, we'll release the message to the public, we'll deceive them and say that Smasher came to destroy us, Aperture Science."
"And we will begin to retaliate, forcibly disconnecting everyone from the Arasaka network, launching a contained Datakrash, and launching attacks on all Arasaka facilities."
"Along with that, GLaDOS will begin releasing tons of documents and data, both from Aperture Science and Arasaka. We have to make sure we destroy all of Arasaka, so thoroughly that no one will even think about trying to compete for Arasaka's lost data and resources."
"The last thing we want is to start a fifth corporate war, and if it does happen, we'll take them out before they even think about starting something bigger."
"And once we finish eradicating every last facility in Arasaka, GLaDOS will release AETHER and POSEIDON completely. ARTEMIS and DEMETER will have to wait until the atmosphere and hydrosphere are no longer toxic enough to kill the plant and animal species."
"Any questions?" I finally asked, sighing aloud, even though they couldn't hear me, not when I was in the middle of the African continent, or whatever this place is right now. I'd actually visited different countries around the world, and some of them were so different I had trouble recognizing them.
I had traveled around the world with Bella to capture fantastic animals back in the magical world, but when I compared the two worlds, the difference was so stark, so marked, that it made me shudder. I still shuddered to see the Amazon rainforest in Brazil completely deforested, or well, here it's now called the Amazonian plain, it just... was wrong.
I shuddered once again; truly, this planet was doomed if I chose not to help it.
"No, none, everything's nova." Lucy said, almost sounding excited, almost dizzy from the whole situation.
"Likewise, everything's nova! I can't wait to fight Smasher! " Rebecca squealed happily.
"Me too, but yes, I have a question, what do I do with APOLLO? " GLaDOS asked mentally. I stopped momentarily.
" APOLLO? What would you want to use it for?" I asked GLaDOS, confused.
"The complete data for APOLLO is in my database. I have the entire history and human culture of a world, and believe me, that's a lot of information. I had several integrated world atlases of my original world, quite complete, if I do say so myself, but nothing compared to all the information compiled that was used to create APOLLO," GLaDOS said with a grimace. "Including vast amounts of entertainment, like music, movies, fiction books, and much more."
"Okay, that's impressive, but I still don't understand what you want to use it for." I told GLaDOS, who just sighed, almost irritably.
"We can use it to reinforce our backstory, we're a 'humanitarian' corporation, which still bothers me, and that means, we're helping to sustain the planet and humanity, primarily."
"It would be strange if we preserved genetic reserves of the flora and fauna of a century ago, and not the history of the present. From what I've been researching, both worlds are completely identical to a certain extent."
"The point of divergence is not until the last years of the 20th century; around 1950, there are small changes, nothing really important, and it was only in 1980 that both worlds began to diverge considerably."
"We can use that point of divergence to reintroduce all previous human knowledge; much information that was lost in the Data Krash is within my data. While several physical things survived the Data Krash, it was still incomplete information from centuries of human culture and history."
"Restoring that would give us more legitimacy as a humanitarian corporation," GLaDOS said without hesitation. I paused momentarily.
"That... is a good idea. I hadn't even thought of using Apollo for that. As long as you can find all the differences between the histories and alter or remove them, do it. And even if there are some inconsistencies, it won't matter. Some missing or incorrect data can be forgiven within a massive database containing all of humanity's records." I said simply. I could feel GLaDOS nodding as she got to work.
"We are truly shaping the world to our liking," Rebecca said, marveling and very excited. I could hear Lucy sigh.
"I don't know if it's truly impressive for us, or a little disappointing for our world that it's so easy to manipulate." Lucy sighed, conflicted.
"Both, " Rebecca shrugged. "By the way, Sera, are you coming back tonight? You're finishing up creating the Cauldrons and transmission towers today, so GLaDOS has full access to them, right? " Rebecca asked curiously.
"Yes, there shouldn't be any problem. I'm just a few points short, only a couple of hours, and I'll finally be finished." I said simply.
"Great! Do we have to keep planning?! " Rebecca asked, almost excitedly. I sighed mentally and shook my head.
"Not really, but actually… I had an idea," I began slowly. "I promised you we'd go to a club or something sometime, bring Enid and Ravel along, and we definitely have to do it before everything goes to shit with Project Zero Dawn; after that, it's very unlikely we'll be able to."
"So... what do you say? Shall we go to the disco tonight? " I asked both Lucy and Rebecca. I could see them both stop before the excitement leaked out of them, especially Rebecca's.
"Ha! I was already forgetting, choom!! Thanks for remembering! Alright, let's go to Lizzie's!! Tonight we're having a proper early birthday celebration party! It'll be the best date ever!" Rebecca said, brimming with excitement.
"You know, I could really use going to the club." Lucy said with a small smile, and I chuckled.
"Alright, I'll finish here, I'll return in a couple of hours, and we'll all go to a club." I said playfully.
"Yay!" Rebecca shouted with excitement. I shook my head playfully as I finished transmuting the last details of the Cauldron.
"But, by the way, isn't Lizzie's just a braindance club and a bar?" I asked curiously. Rebecca snorted mentally.
"I mean, yeah? But nothing's stopping us from dancing. Do you have any other ideas?" Rebecca asked curiously, and I hummed.
"Riot is a nightclub in Little China, although I think it's more of a concert venue? I guess we can always go to Heavy Hearts, " I hummed. I didn't remember much about the clubs in Night City, only the ones that appeared in the game. I hadn't explored the city enough to know about other clubs.
"Heavy Hearts?" Rebecca asked, confused. "Oh, the one from Dogtown, the one in Cyberpunk 2077," Rebecca said, as if she remembered, before nodding mentally. "You know what, that sounds prem, I've never been to Dogtown! Let's see how the gonks have fun there!" Rebecca said excitedly, and I snorted playfully.
I couldn't remember whether Heavy Hearts needed a special invitation, but it was easy to ask Lucy to handle it. Meanwhile, I started contacting Enid and Ravel. They might be an hour away, but it would only take them a few minutes to get ready. Enid's excited squeal when I told her made me smile even more.