Elysium

Elysium
Type	Bunker
Faction	Old Ones

Elysium was a hermetically sealed habitat created for the workers of Project Zero Dawn and their immediate families (or two persons of their choosing) to live their remaining natural lives protected from the Faro Plague.

Purpose

Elysium was designed to sustain a starting base of 2,000 inhabitants for up to 100 years. It was intended to serve as a reward for those who worked on Zero Dawn, including Betas, Gammas and support staff, providing a safe place for them and their immediate families (or two persons of their choosing) to live the rest of their natural lives. Some chose to give up their place in Elysium in order to allow three persons of their choosing. All inhabitants of Elysium were required to be medically sterilized to prevent the population from growing, as everyone would be dead within 30 years if the population grew.

While the size and location of Elysium are unknown, Susanne Alpert described it as a buried city while Emma Irving also described life there as living underground, indicating that Elysium was a large, underground facility. Charles Ronson described it as being "a distance of miles" away from GAIA Prime, suggesting that it is somewhat close to GAIA Prime.

History

In the Old World

Elysium was discussed with Zero Dawn candidates after learning about the work they were expected to do. However, some felt life within Elysium was very unappealing and not worth the work needed, such as Susanne Alpert, while others chose to do their work on Zero Dawn, but opted for medical euthanasia instead of evacuation to Elysium, such as Tom Paech and many others.

Those who were intended to live within Elysium include Elisabet Sobeck, Charles Ronson, Travis Tate, Brad Andec's family, Christina Hsu-Vhey's family, Don Gilberti, Nicole, Ella and Aiden, and Emma Irving and her father.

Evacuation

In January 2066, as the Faro Plague closed in and evacuation began, the Zero Dawn facilities became experienced "absolute bedlam" as every team rushed to stabilize code and lock it down as Gammas got evacuated, followed by Betas, while those who opted for medical euthanasia instead of evacuation were euthanised. It's unknown if Don Gilberti made it to Elysium as he was attacked as an evacuation transport arrived. Additionally, exfiltration transport was unable to reach those within a facility near ELEUTHIA-9 in time. While they were given a chance to make it on foot, it's unknown how many, if any, attempted to make the journey themselves and whether or not they succeeded.

Unfortunately, as GAIA's subordinate functions had not yet been completed, Elisabet and the rest of Alphas instead evacuated to GAIA Prime to finish their work there.

Elysium was successfully sealed before the Faro Plague arrived.

Function

Unfortunately, GAIA's data indicates that Elysium went offline and that her connection to it was abruptly severed long before the 100 year lifespan of the facility passed for reasons unknown.

In the New World

Aloy and Sylens first learned about Elysium from datapoints that Aloy found while investigating the Zero Dawn Project Facility, with later datapoints also mentioning the bunker.

While theorizing on the origin of the Mysterious Signal, Sylens speculated the possibility that the survivors within Elysium may have been involved in its creation. Aloy later asked GAIA about what happened to Elysium, to which GAIA told her what she knows. Aloy asked if the Faro Plague found the bunker, but GAIA was unable to provide an answer.

The current condition of Elysium in the New World remains unknown.

Trivia

• Elysium is based on the afterlife in Greek mythology, which was reserved for mortals chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic. They would remain there after death to live a blessed and happy life and indulge in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life.