The Derangement

The Derangement

The Derangement is the term used by the tribes to refer to a historically important change in the machines' default behavior toward humans, from docility and avoidance to progressively more hostile. It also refers to the appearance of more dangerous machines that were built specifically for combat against humans. The Nora Brave Aloy first heard the term and its meaning from the Oseram Vanguard Erend when she met him at Mother's Heart the night before she ran in the Proving.

Prior to the Derangement, all of the machines encountered by humans were designed and controlled by GAIA, a highly advanced artificial intelligence who built the machines to aid in her task of terraforming the Earth and re-seeding it with life after the apocalyptic extinction of all life on the planet caused by the Faro Plague. One of GAIA's Subordinate Functions, HEPHAESTUS, was responsible for building the machines in automated underground facilities called Cauldrons. Since humans were among the forms of life reestablished by GAIA, the machines were passive and shy towards humans, much like organic wildlife.

Because of the Derangement, the machines remain hostile toward humans and constituted the vast majority of enemies encountered by Aloy on her journeys. The Derangement is also indirectly responsible for many of the conflicts between the various tribes, such as the continued distrust of the Carja by other tribes, as well as the creation of intra-tribal factions such as the Shadow Carja.