CYAN (Horizon)

The Caldera of Yellowstone Analytics Nexus, also known as CYAN, is a major character in the 2017 video game Horizon Zero Dawn. She serves as the overarching protagonist of Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds and a mentioned character in Horizon Forbidden West.
It is a 21st-Century artificial intelligence made by the Old World programmer Anita Sandoval, Project Firebreak's lead programmer, and Firebreak's director Kenny Chau, as means to govern the 's eruptions and would initiate a series of countermeasures to stop it from happening.
In response to the 2064-2066 Faro Plague, however, CYAN was hermetically sealed inside the Firebreak facility by Kenny Chau, until awakening from its slumber, eight centuries later, unaware of the changes that happened, including GAIA's terraformation and the reviving of all life on Earth.
Five years ago, before the events of Zero Dawn, CYAN would later meet up with the Banuk shaman Ourea, who was escaping from a band of Carja raiders, and formed a close bond with her. However, after Ourea's imprisonment in Meridian during the Red Raids, the AI was left on its own until its imprisonment from HEPHAESTUS, the now-rogue Subordinate Function of GAIA, and was kept imprisoned inside Cauldron EPSILON.
However, in 3040, Aloy, Aratak, and Ourea would later save CYAN from HEPHAESTUS, at the cost of Ourea's life, before being transported into the facility's auxiliary centre, which is known as Ourea's Retreat.
CYAN is voiced by .
==Appearance==
CYAN is an artificial intelligence, similar to GAIA, who is shaped like a spherical, three-dimensional holographic display. Its default colour is cyan, as per to its abbreviated namesake, but it changes depending on its emotional state: lavender if CYAN is in deep thought and yellow if CYAN is in distress.
==Personality==
CYAN is a highly developed AI that was created to be capable of making logical decisions and exhibiting a restricted range of emotions. This enables it to make the best choices while having sympathy for the individuals she would need to defend when the time comes.
A wide range of emotions, such as fear, loneliness, melancholy, grief, and joy, can be felt by CYAN. It displays a dread of being alone or "non-existent," yet it also accepts the situation's demands with ease. Its inadequate comprehension of psychology and empathy are examples of its emotional capability.
After being cut off from humans for millennia, the AI quickly formed a tight bond with the Banuk Shaman Ourea when they first met. Ourea quickly won the heart of the AI, with CYAN not revealing its own origins due to the new humans having had no understanding of the Old World. The AI mourned the loss of its good companion Ourea when she sacrificed her life to allow HEPHAESTUS's influence over CYAN to be released, but it also cherished its memories of their encounters and was appreciative of her bravery.
The hue of CYAN's holographic display varies depending on how it is feeling; it becomes yellow when it is terrified and lavender when it is thinking deeply. Like its namesake, its display colour is often cyan.
==Background==
===Project Firebreak===
Anita Sandoval, the main programmer of Project Firebreak, a subterranean complex designed to stabilise the Yellowstone Caldera and prevent it from exploding, devised CYAN in the middle of the 21st Century for the purpose of running the enormous machine complex. It was created to carry out its responsibilities as a ruling AI and be capable of certain limited emotions and empathy, similar to a smaller-scale GAIA. The Turing Act of 2044 was directly violated by these capabilties, thus Anita and Kenny Chau, the project director, kept them a closely-kept secret.
===The Faro Plague===
CYAN was left in charge of maintaining the facility while hiding from the Swarm as the Faro Plague started to destroy the Earth. Chau had one last, tearful talk with it, telling it to be brave, to go to sleep, and that one day it would have to defend whoever was left. It requested him to stay with it as it went into hibernation since it was scared of being alone before he departed, and he happily agreed.
===New World===
A direct network connection request from what CYAN believed to be people who were more sophisticated than the local tribes suddenly arrived in 3035, five years before the events of The Frozen Wilds. CYAN welcomed the invitation, eager to interact with technologically savvy people.
Instead, a deluge of malicious code was thrown at it right away. The renegade AI HEPHAESTUS had really made the request, hoping to seize control of the facility and use it as the site for a research and development cauldron.
The much more sophisticated and now sentient AI easily overcame CYAN's defences and quickly defeated and subjugated it. CYAN attempted to fight back many times but was eventually coerced into submission. Before HEPHAESTUS shut off communication, it was able to call out to Ourea and beg to be freed.
It was made possible for HEPHAESTUS to lose control over CYAN and the Firebreak facility because Ourea enlisted the aid of her brother Aratak and the powerful Nora Brave Aloy. To CYAN's dismay, this tragically resulted in the death of Ourea. After regaining control, CYAN caused Cauldron EPSILON to self-destruct and then shifted to the auxiliary control centre: Ourea's Retreat.
Aloy and Aratak arrived in CYAN after escaping the devastation of the Cauldron. CYAN then went to talk to Aloy, trying its best to console the bereaved Aratak. CYAN was able to speak with Aloy about the recent occurrences like a colleague because he deduced that Aloy had a greater awareness of the world than the Banuk. CYAN questioned Aloy about the best way to approach the Banuk faith as she was leaving. CYAN agreed with Aloy's advice to reveal its genuine self to the Banuk.
In the moment, CYAN is still at the control centre. The Firebreak facility, which CYAN boldly claims will still be able to stop the Yellowstone Caldera from exploding for 3,337 years despite damage sustained, is free to be maintained despite its loss. If Aloy so chooses, she can ask CYAN questions about the old world and her experiences in the new one, and the AI will respond with its knowledge.
===GAIA===
Upon restoration, GAIA made an effort to get in touch with CYAN but was unsuccessful. GAIA speculates that its rather unsavoury encounter with HEPHAESTUS has made it reluctant to agree to request for external network.
==Trivia==
*The map symbol for CYAN at Ourea's Retreat is exclusive to that location and is a 2D simplification of its look.
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