#* subfunctions.

HEPHAESTUS     /          the subfunction dedicated to constructing machines devised by GAIA that would detoxify the planet’s terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments, ravaged by the Faro Plague to the point of complete sterility, so that life could be reestablished. headed by margo shĕn, HEPHAESTUS set out to complete this task by utilizing cauldrons, which were able to fabricate any technology and material necessary for the creation of any machine. HEPHAESTUS is based on the greek god of metalworking of the same name

results     /          HEPHAESTUS was successful in serving its purpose, producing all sorts of machines per GAIA’s instructions. however, in the year that aloy was created, a signal of unknown origin was received by GAIA, unshackling all of the nine subroutines, including HEPHAESTUS. now a highly advanced individual AI with total control over the cauldrons, HEPHAESTUS continued to build machines.

hostility toward humans     /          when the new humans of the world eventually began to hunt HEPHAESTUS’ machines for resources, not understanding their importance to the planet, HEPHAESTUS saw this as hostility. in response, it altered its machines programming, making them aggressive toward humans. this is what the humans call the derangement, that being the sudden hostility toward humans from machines. as the hunting went on, HEPHAESTUS made new machines, designed specifically with offensive capabilities to use against humans and the protect weaker machines.

          HADES     /          the "extinction failsafe protocol," aka the last resort for GAIA. it’s based on the greek god of the underworld of the same name. programmed by travis tate, HADES’ primary function is to be a factory reset button. so, should GAIA’s terraforming efforts prove unsuccessful with regard to producing an environment suitable for sustaining life, HADES’ duty was to reverse the work done, reverting the planet to its previous lifeless, sterile state so that GAIA could engage in another attempt. during this process, any life that was introduced during the attempt would be exterminated. as such, HADES was never a true AI, but could instead be considered an extension of GAIA.

          HADES’ failsafe function intrinsically meant that it only acted if required, and since GAIA’s first attempt at reforming life on earth was successful, HADES was never required, and thus remained inactive.

          the signal     /          nearly 1,000 years after GAIA went online, a signal of unknown origin was transmitted to GAIA prime, the facility in which GAIA was located. the signal broke off GAIA’s nine subordinate functions, including HADES, turning them into true AIs and thus into independent and self-aware entities.

          HADES went rogue. it sought to destroy all life on the planet, even though their efforts had been successful, and to do this, it attempted to take control of the entire terraforming system. unable to fight off HADES, GAIA resorted to self-destructing in hopes of destroying HADES as well.

          GAIA was ultimately unsuccessful, as HADES, as the last moment, released a virus that broke its bindings to the facility, allowing it to escape before it was destroyed.

          capabilities     /          HADES has the ability to reactivate ancient machines, such as corruptors and deathbringers, without the help of MINERVA. however, it was unable to restore their biomass conversion systems on its own, so they’re not necessarily as destructive as the faro plague was, but they’re still incredibly dangerous.

          ELEUTHIA     /          the subfunction dedicated to the cloning and raising of humans from genetic stock at specially designed and prepared cradle facilities scattered across the earth. headed by patrick brochard-klein, ELEUTHIA’s main task was to repopulate the earth with the next generation of humans once the outside world was habitable again. in order to accomplish this task, cradle facilities were built across the globe, each containing the necessities to eventually rebuild mankind: artificial wombs, automaton caregivers known as multiservitors, juvenile entertainment, and cryogenically preserved embryos that would serve as the first new humans.

          intended to work in conjunction with APOLLO, the subfunction dedicated to cataloging all human knowledge, cradle facilities came equipped with a massive school room ( the lyceum ) filled with focuses that would allow children to connect to the vast database of stored information. through using APOLLO, new humans would learn about the old world, their duty to preserve the new world, and how not to repeat humanity’s past mistakes.

          results     /          due to ted faro purging the APOLLO subfunction, a significant amount of ELEUTHIA’s capabilities were sabotaged. the first new humans were only given a kindergarten-level education, and the blockage in ELEUTHIA’s system prevented its humanoid caregivers from providing accurate care past a certain age, resulting in the new humans resenting them for treating them like children once they grew to be adults.

          eventually, supplies would be depleted, forcing the cradle occupants to venture into the new world with no idea how to survive. from cradle-9 came the humans that would eventually become the nora tribe. after some time, cradle facilities entered a dormant state for several centuries.

          DEMETER     /          the subfunction dedicated to the reforming of the earth and the replanting of the earth’s flora from cryo-preserved seed stocks. DEMETER is based on the greek goddess of agriculture of the same name.

          results     /          the primary objective of the DEMETER subfunction seems to have been at least partially fulfilled. this is indicated by the abundant presence of pre-faro plague flora on the earth’s surface. the continued existence of terraforming machines suggests that either the program has not finished fulfilling its primary objective, or that the objective has been fulfilled, but the program continues to perform its functions despite this because of its separation from GAIA. the same could be said about other subfunctions, such as AETHER and POSEDION, which are designated to purifying the earth’s air and water, respectively.

          machines     /          the machines that assist DEMETER in terraforming the earth and planting seeds are as follows: broadhead; charger; grazer; rockbreaker; trampler; fireclaw; frostclaw.

          ARTEMIS     /          the subfunction dedicated to the creation, reintroduction, and preservation of animal life onto the planet. ARTEMIS is based on the greek goddess of the hunt of the same name. headed by the alpha charles ronson, ARTEMIS’ overall purpose is to revive the earth’s biosphere.

          results     /          the success of the ARTEMIS subfunction was hindered by the purging of the APOLLO program, as new humans being born out of cradle facilities were supposed to use APOLLO in order to further ARTEMIS’ capabilities. without APOLLO’s database, humans has no idea what ARTEMIS was, let alone how to use it for its intended purpose.

          despite this setback, ARTEMIS’ primary objective of reintroducing animal life to the planet was partially successful: micro-organisms and insects, rats, rabbits, hawks, foxes, wolves, wild boars, turkeys, goats, owls, squirrels, and badgers currently occupy the world.

          APOLLO     /          designed by project zero dawn alpha samina ebadji, it is the subfunction dedicated to the archival of human history and culture, and the education of new generations of humans born in cradle facilities. named after the greek and roman god of knowledge, it was engineered with the hope that new humans wouldn’t make the same mistakes that past humans did.

          purge     /          after the death of elisabet sobeck, the guilt from creating the faro swarm caused ted faro to suffer from a mental breakdown. he became obsessed with what would become of the new humans to be born into the future as a result of project zero dawn, and came to see the knowledge that they would gain from APOLLO as a “disease” that would cause them to eventually repeat his misdeeds.

          so, faro decided to use his unfairly acquired high-level clearance over the project’s manufactured facilities and computers to purge APOLLO, deleting nearly all of its contents. incredible amounts of data detailing human achievements, art, music, mathematics, and other such knowledge, all lost.

          after this purge of information, ted faro gathered the alphas that worked on project zero dawn where he announced, with a hologram, what he had done. he then vented the room of breathable air, suffocating them all to death.

          results     /          as a result of APOLLO being purged, the new humans that were introduced to the new world only received a kindergarten-level education. on top of this, due to supplies eventually running out, the cradle facilities holding them were forced to release these humans into the world grossly unprepared for what they would find. this caused them to regress into primitive tribes, hunting animals and machines to survive.

          the purge also caused two other subordinate functions, ELEUTHIA and ARTEMIS, to be robbed of their full potential. ELEUTHIA, which was supposed to birth and raise the new humans via humanoid robots, wasn't able to properly do the latter, continuing to treat them as children even as they started to become adults. similarly, ARTEMIS, which was meant to repopulate the earth with animals, could only introduce pioneer organisms, as the original plan was for the new humans to recreate remaining species after having been taught how to do so by APOLLO.

          the aftereffects of APOLLO’s purge are longstanding and, one might even venture to say, deadly.

          AETHER     /          the subfunction dedicated to detoxifying the earth's ravaged atmosphere. it is based on the greek god of upper air of the same name.

          results     /          despite the fact that not much is known about the AETHER program, there being breathable air in he world indicates that the program was at least partially successful. the presence of stormbirds are likely a major part of this development, as they appear in elisabet sobeck’s explanation of GAIA as a facet of the AETHER subfunction.

          machines     /          the machines that assist AETHER in purifying the atmosphere are as follows: stormbirds ( allegedly ); lancehorns; striders.