Two days after her tumultuous escape from LATOPOLIS, Aloy wakes up in a panic in Stone's Echo, a nearby Utaru outpost. She is calmed by Varl, who tracked her from Barren Light and carried her to safety. Once Aloy calms down, Varl takes her to see an Utaru Gravesinger called Zo. Aloy, Zo, and Varl makes their way to the cave. HEPHAESTUS, recognizing the intruders, activates Fa, who attacks them on sight. A horde of machines arrive to protect Fa. After defeating the Grimhorn and its protectors, Zo kneels beside Fa's body and grieves for her. Despite HEPHAESTUS' best attempts to stop her, Aloy overrides the core, finally forcing it out of the Cauldron. After purging HEPHAESTUS from the core of Repair-Bay TAU, Aloy and her allies venture into the facility connected to the Repair Bay. Upon seeing their presence, MINERVA locks down the facility. Aloy scouts ahead, eventually reaching the system core where MINERVA resides and convincing it to merge back with GAIA. With MINERVA's cooperation, Aloy activates the heuristic matrix and finally restores GAIA.