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Aloy had counted the Zenith corpses carefully. Two out of fourteen were missing.
One was, well, Walter Londra, of course. That was one mystery solved. But Aloy couldn’t have missed the other one even if Sylens hadn’t alerted her to it — it was none other than Fross, after all. How could she forget? The guy had been a massive headache, what with all the lying, the teasing, and the murder attempts, but he had mattered to Artekai. Aloy had even attended his funeral, if only to support her partner. Everyone at the base had. Only Beta, Zo, and Sylens had skipped out on it, for personal reasons.
The lack of a corpse could still render that funeral null, however. Although Artekai had insisted that Fross could never survive on his own, and he had probably just tried to escape before dropping dead some place where he still hadn’t searched, Aloy couldn’t help but stay on guard. Just in case.
Her suspicions proved to be right when she and Seyka were infiltrating Londra’s park and she ran into an all-too-familiar face. It took Aloy a moment to recognize him — the huge scar over one half of his face and the Oseram outfit were definitely new — but it was undeniably Fross. It was really him, standing in front of her, leaning on a wooden crutch, still alive, still breathing, all the way out here in the Burning Shores of all places.
“Fross.” Aloy said, barely containing her surprise. “You’re alive.”
“And you have a Specter Gauntlet, I see.” Fross quirked a brow at the weapon. His tone had all the naturality of someone who had been expecting her arrival. “I told Walter he should’ve given it to me instead of to some random Earthling. That’s like taking candy from a baby for you.”
Seyka glanced at Aloy with an expression that was mostly puzzled, but still just a smidge confrontational. “You know this guy?”
“Uh, he’s another Zenith.” Aloy muttered. “Not as bad as Londra, but, still, not great.”
Seyka knitted her brows at that. “Another Living Ancestor? How many are there?”
“You’re standing right next to one, silly.” Fross giggled, closing his eyes in genuine delight. “It's only the three of us now. Walter, Aloy, and I. Isn’t it funny?”
“What is he talking about?” Seyka said. “You’re also a Zenith?”
“No.” Aloy said. “No, it’s not like that.”
Fross pouted, leaning forward dramatically. “Aww, but you were so close…! Tilda and I were ready to give you everything. We risked it all to make our home your home. Did we not make that clear enough?” His smile faltered, but he forced out a chuckle as if to cover up for the way his voice choked up at the memory of Tilda. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I should’ve expected you to let her down, just like Elisabet and Beta before you. I thought you had done it to smooth things over with Kai, which I can’t blame you for, but now I see you’ve run off without him again. With a new rebound, no less.”
“What?”
“Uh. T-That’s not…” Aloy said, with a nervous smile, as she turned towards Seyka awkwardly. “I’m not — Artekai and I aren’t... Seyka, it’s not like that at all.”
“Aww, getting all tongue-tied?” Fross tilted his head, but his smile reflected the farthest thing from amusement. “It was exactly like that, Seyka. Aloy promised him she would change and do better, but look at her. She’s using you as Kai’s replacement now. And I’m warning you, she’ll abandon you too, exactly like she abandoned Kai, her tribe, and — what was his name, Varl? — and all of her so-called friends after the battle at Meridian. She’s a Sobeck, she’s too good for everyone else.”
“Okay, Artekai and I are on good terms now.” Aloy said, gesturing as if to placate either Fross or Seyka, she wasn’t sure. “All of my friends and I are. They know where I am and we still talk over our Focus network. I’m sorry you can’t imagine a relationship where being away from someone for a day or two doesn’t mean they want you dead, but that’s how it is.”
Fross’s expression fell, as he simply blinked at Aloy for a moment. But then he gestured towards his abdomen, and deadpanned, “He stabbed me.”
Aloy conceded with a nod. “I know.”
“He literally stabbed me.”
“Okay. Listen. We don’t have time for this.” Aloy said, before looking at Seyka over her shoulder. “Let’s just head straight to Londra.”
“I’m sorry?” Fross straightened up. “Do you really think I was standing around waiting for you to show up so I could tell you about my heartbreak? If you want to see Walter, you’ll have to go over me first.”
“I’m not going to fight you.” Aloy shook her head, holding her hands to the sides to show she wasn’t aiming. “Not like this.”
“No, by all means, go ahead. Break my other leg.” Fross smacked his crutch against the floor twice for emphasis. “I don’t care, do whatever you want to me. I’ll still be of use to Walter as long as I have my brains.”
“Uhh. I don’t know how to say this, but... he’s not going to take you with him.” Aloy felt the full weight of her words, as if she was dropping a literal bomb on Fross. “I think it’s very telling that he hasn’t given you a new Zenith uniform.”
“And he gave Zeth a Zenith weapon, but not you.” Seyka added. “Weird move, if you ask me. Why would he pass you up if you really were one of his kind?”
“He’s waiting for the right time. What of it?”
“Are you hearing yourself right now?” Aloy shook her head. “Fross, just tell me if Londra already used his brainwashing machine on you.”
Averting his eyes, Fross grimaced, as if the question genuinely ashamed him. “No. I heard him say I was low priority.”
“Ha!” Seyka scoffed, throwing her head back as she turned around, placing her hands on her hips. “He has them on priority lists now?” She then looked back at Fross, voice wavering a little. “Do you know how much he 'prioritizes’ my sister, Kina?”
While Aloy placed a hand on Seyka’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, Fross simply shrugged. “How should I know?” He said, before stepping forward towards the couple. “Listen, I understand Walter isn’t exactly the most trustworthy man alive. I didn’t spend a thousand years in space with him for nothing. Even here on Earth, he left the rest of Far Zenith to die on the day of the infiltration. But he’s my only chance to get off-planet now.” His voice began cracking up again, so he paused to swallow. But it didn’t work, as his voice still dropped to a murmur and clear grief crossed his face. “I need to take the odds no matter how microscopic they are. It’s what I learned from Stanley. No risk, no reward.”
“... I don’t think what worked for him will — whoa!”
Aloy dodged as Fross lunged forward with a dagger out of nowhere. But, what he had in speed, he lacked in technique and aim — he was aiming someone around Aloy’s general thorax area, but she wasn’t sure where — so she easily grabbed his arm, folded it over his back, and threw him to the ground, pinning him down and drawing a broken yelp out of him.
“Wow, Aloy.” Seyka said. “Quick reflexes.”
“Thanks.” Aloy briefly smiled. “I will be taking this.” She said, as she pried Fross’s fingers open and slid his dagger into her belt.
Meanwhile, Fross turned his head as much as he could to look at her out of the corner of his eyes, and he broke into tears, presumably either out of pain or fear for what Aloy might do to him next. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him… it was clear he hadn’t fully recovered from the last battle, and he was pretty harmless without any nanotech. It was pointless to fight him of all people when Londra was still on the loose.
“God,” Fross choked out. “I really can’t put up a fight at all without any Zenith tech, can I?”
“No. You were never meant for this.” Aloy tilted her head, raising her brows. “But that will not stop you from trying. It’d be impressive if you were fighting with us instead of against us.”
A sob escaped him, though he looked away in shame. “Don’t make it sound like an invitation. I know you don’t mean it.”
“Well.” Aloy gently shook her head. “I meant it when I told Tilda I wanted her to have a second chance. I’m sure Artekai meant it too.” She let out a sigh, her voice dropping to a murmur. “I really wish it didn’t have to be like this. Stay down.”
With that, she rose to her feet, allowing Fross to move his arms away from the uncomfortable position and towards his face. He tried to turn on the ground, but winced in pain, before turning onto his other side.
“It doesn’t matter.” He whispered, trying to contain any more tears. “It’s all worthless. Nemesis is going to kill us all anyways. And i-it’s not going to make it painless. But Walter is giving a few lucky Quen the chance to leave with him and be saved — why would you ruin that for them?”
Aloy motioned towards Seyka. “Don’t listen to him.” She then looked at him again. “We’ll leave you some privacy to, uh, cry it out, Fross. But I’ll be back as soon as we’re done dealing with Londra. I’m sure Artekai will be relieved to hear you are still around.”
Fross let out a broken chuckle. “He better be.”
“He wouldn’t be the only one.” Aloy quietly added, before nodding at Seyka. “Come on, let’s not leave Londra waiting a second longer.”