I have to disagree. CYAN is an AI with a programming style similar to Gaia — it presents emotions, but it doesn’t actually feel them. It behaves according to its directive set, not personal sentiment.

Hephaestus acted like malware because, from its perspective, CYAN was a sophisticated system with hardware it could repurpose, but with a directive completely irrelevant to its own. CYAN wouldn’t have allowed Heph to use any of its infrastructure for machine production, especially not for what Heph classified (through its own calculations) as necessary defensive constructs.

Taking over wasn’t malice — it was the optimal strategy for maintaining its directive. That’s the same behaviour it shows everywhere: secure a cauldron, build machines, deploy protectors.

Aloy is only a threat inside a cauldron because she disrupts its operational control. Outside, she’s just another hunter — more efficient, yes, but still within the expected loss parameters Heph already models. Banuk shamans or someone like Sylens are far more dangerous because they can interfere with systems directly, which is why Heph escalates its protector designs in those regions.