Ada-1

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Ada-1
Biographical information
Other name(s):	Adelaide Meyrin (Birth name) Black Armorer (Eido)
Homeworld:	Earth
Species:	Human
Race:	Exo
Gender:	Female
Eye color:	Blue
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Black Armory House of Meyrin
Rank:	Curator of the Black Armory
Notable info:	Golden Age Survivor Unique Exo frame capable of upgrading weapons with the Obsidian Accelerator installed.

Ada-1, born as Adelaide Meyrin, is an Exo gunsmith and the head of the Black Armory.

Biography

The Golden Age

"My daughter's not yet old enough to comprehend the Traveler. But she is impressionable enough to become weakened by it, like the rest of society, should I let her.
I will not let her."

— Henriette Meyrin

Adelaide Meyrin was born to Henriette Meyrin, a member of the powerful French House of Meyrin. Over time, her mother became fearful for Adelaide's safety, believing that the Traveler was luring humanity into a false sense of security. Henriette would come together with Helga Rasmussen and Yuki Satou to form the weapons foundry known as the Black Armory.

The Collapse

"Last night we awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of something pounding on the walls. It roared and stomped and howled in frustration... until it found the doors. They didn't hold."

— Henriette Meyrin

Unfortunately, Adalaide's mother's suspicions of an extraterrestrial threat would be proven true as the Black Fleet would invade the system. Despite the advanced technology that the Black Armory had forged, they would be unable to fend of the Black Fleet's assault, forcing them to retreat into the Niobe Labs. However the Labs would be attacked by an unknown creature, Adelaide would be fatally injured, while Helga was killed. Hoping to save Adelaide, Henriette would agree with Yuki to implant her consciousness into an experimental Exo frame, becoming Ada-1.

On the Run

Upon being awakened by Henriette and Yuki shortly after burying Helga, they found Ada's memories were heavily damaged, having little to no memories of who she once was. To find a safe destination, she and the other members of the Black Armory would load trucks with their supplies and make their way to an airport. Along the way they would kill hostile survivors who engaged with them, surviving thanks to their powerful firearms. During their journey, Ada would begin to ask her mother questions, however Henriette would not respond due to the severity of their situation.

Over time, the group would begin to test Ada's abilities. Serving as their mobile forge, she would construct and upgrade weapons with her bare hands. However, they would be ambushed by a Lightbearers, who would injure Yuki and kill other members of the Armory. Ada, Henriette, and Yuki would travel through the night to escape the ruthlessness of the Lightbearers. Later one of the Lightbearers would catch up with them, desiring Ada due to her forging capabilities. Ada would step forward, willing to sacrifice herself, however, Yuki would lie that she had the Obsidian Accelerator and throw a Grenade at the Lightbearer, killing herself in the process, allowing Ada and her mother to escape.

Now the last members of the Black Armory, Ada and Henriette would continue to survive in the barren wastelands of Earth, distrustful of any Lightbearers who may step in their way. Eventually, she and Henriette would arrive at a organized camp at a shoreline, where Ada would enjoy speaking and playing with the children. However the camp would be ambushed by Warlords, seeking the Obsidian Accelerator. Henriette removes the Accelerator from Ada and orders her to run. Listening to her mother, Ada flees the camp, while Henriette perishes after attempting to fend off the Warlords.

Reclaiming the Past

This section needs expansion. You can help Destinypedia by expanding it with information from Season of the Forge questline.

Ada eventually reached the Last City and set up a hidden Black Armory refuge within the walls of the growing city under the Traveler. She offered her wares to those who needed to defend themselves but refused to work with the Vanguard and its Guardians due to her past with rogue Lightbearers. However, the Red War disrupted the operations of the Black Armory, and the Volundr Forge fell into the hands of the Red Legion in the European Dead Zone. Without the forge, Ada could no longer produce weapons for the Black Armory's customers and allies.

As Ada pondered what to do, she was surprised when the Guardian entered the Black Armory. As they approached a display containing a model of Izanagi's Burden, Ada approached them and stated that the weapon was special, as it had borne witness to and helped avenge the death of the Black Armory's founder at the hands of Lightbearers. She angrily declared that they were not welcome in the Black Armory's halls, but the Guardian presented a token given to them by the Spider, one of Ada's allies who had grown tired of the Black Armory being shut down. Reluctantly, Ada allowed them continued access to the armory and enlisted their help in reclaiming the Volundr Forge.

A Place in the Tower

When the Festival of the Lost was held later that year, Ada participated in it and decorated the Black Armory in Festival decorations. When the Guardian visited her, Ada explained the Festival was new to her but that the Black Armory had a rich tradition of celebrating history and memory. She thanked them for welcoming her into the Tower's community and letting her join the City's festivities.

When the Black Fleet arrived within the Solar System, Ada volunteered her equipment and expertise to work on Project Stronghold alongside the Future War Cult to prepare the Last City for a possible attack from their ancient enemy.

End of the Forges

This section needs expansion. You can help Destinypedia by expanding it with information from Lore:Pathfinding.

To Ada's utter disbelief, the Forges of the Black Armory would be lost completely during the events of Season of Arrivals, with Cabal and Fallen raiders taking advantage of the vulnerable state of the Forges during planetary evacuations by dismantling them entirely, leaving only scraps behind.

Shortly thereafter, Rahool was visited in his office in the Cryptarium by Ada-1, who was seeking a new direction for the Black Armory. The Exo requested his help in searching for more information about the founders of the Black Armory. Rahool agreed to help with her request but noted that the influx of new data from Europa and his ongoing support of Guardian armaments meant that it would take around two to three weeks before he might be able to assist her. Ada impatiently retorted that she could not wait around that long, but Rahool simply responded that he had not commented on what she should do in the meantime. He then refused her request to access the archives herself to search and informed her that only the Vanguard, approved Guardians and support staff had access to it. Ada countered that she saw the Drifter accessing it all the time, causing Rahool to stammer and insist that no such breach had occurred and that even if it had it would not excuse Ada from committing the same crime. As Ada stormed out of his office, Rahool called after her and asked her to repeat the names she wanted to search. The weaponsmith listed Henriette Meyrin, Yuki Satou, and Helga Rasmussen, and Rasmussen's name caught Rahool's attention, as she had been a researcher at the Clovis Bray research facilities on Europa. He informed Ada that she was in luck as their research interests now overlapped.

Project Stronghold on Hold

Unfortunately for Ada, Lakshmi would head a conspiracy against the Vanguard, as they had grown disillusioned with their recent decisions, from allowing Guardians to wield Stasis, forging an armistice with the Cabal, their inability to stop the Black Fleet and more recently, forging an alliance with the Eliksni House of Light to combat the Endless Night and allowing them sanctuary within the Last City. Lakshmi and the Factions' efforts to influence new leadership within the Vanguard would be rebuffed, leading them to turn to more violent means after Lakshmi gained Vex portal technology from Osiris (in reality Savathûn) to forcefully expel the House of Light from the Last City, even after the Guardians had succeeded in lifting the Endless Night with their aid. However, the coup attempt would end in tragedy as the Vex would enter the Last City through Lakshmi's portal, killing the War Cult leader and threatening the Last City but the Guardian managed to close the portal and save the House of Light.

In the aftermath, Ada-1 would learn of Lakshmi's fate and while she never really liked her, more like tolerating her, she nonetheless took the news bitterly. The War Cult leader had been her partner in Project Stronghold but with Lakshmi dead, so was the promise of Project Stronghold. A bunker where the city's leaders could be preserved through any attack made sense to Ada but ultimately found that her focus had been steered in this direction by Lakshmi. A city cannot survive without its leaders, but Ada never expected that Lakshmi herself would instigate an attack. The realization of being used by Lakshmi stung Ada greatly as she never meant any of the deaths caused by her coup attempt. Nonetheless, Ada forged ahead in working on her wares, wishing to at least represent the Black Armory well.

Creation of the Loom

Ada's next endeavor was to create the Loom, a device based on varying different technologies. She repurposed parts of the original Forge technology created by the Black Armory, theoretical knowledge regarding materials from Clovis Bray, and took inspiration from the weavers of the Eliksni to create a device that would allow the re-purposing of basic matter into other forms as needed. Enlisting the help of the Guardian, construction of the Loom was completed, and a test run was performed. Success was met, with the end product of Synthweave being achieved. Using this, Guardians were able to adorn their armor with varying different looks from already-known patterns.

Ada began to show a softer side with the satisfaction of the construction of the Loom, expressing to Namrask the Eliksni weaver that she had to re-invent herself with the loss of the Forges of the past. Namrask expressed nervousness at their being allowed to get close to such an invention, but Ada invited the fellow weaver to practice using the Loom by gifting them a bolt of Synthweave, from one weaver to another.

Arming the Last City again

Despite previously moving to non-violent means of supporting the Last City, Ada once again engaged in weapons development. With the forces of the Witness bearing down on humanity, weapons were needed, and Ada used her considerable knowledge and expertise to pressure the foundries of the City to produce in favour of the mission to defeat the Witness. To further convince the foundries, she also proposed the revival of a Cosmodrome program, which would diversify the weapon inventories of those engaged.

Personality and traits

At first glance, Ada-1 is secretive, distrusting and contemptuous, mostly towards the Guardians due to the hardship she had faced years prior at the hands of a rogue Risen. This has left her rather unwilling to associate herself and her Armory with the Guardian in any way, regardless of their reputation as heroes to the Last City and the countless foes they have defeated that have threatened the Solar System. Despite this, Ada does possess enough manners that should a Guardian possess a pass to access her Armory then she will welcome them but remains very distrusting. In addition, she feels that the Last City needs more protectors besides the Guardians.

Ada-1 takes great pride in her order, the Black Armory, finding that her wares surpass all others, and no one should even try to counterfeit Black Armory weapons. As a result, she is very confident that those who buy her wares will be more than satisfied and likewise becomes furious should her order's wares be pilfered or stolen.

In the wake of the Kell's Scourge's rise to power and their theft of Black Armory weaponry, Ada ultimately put aside her ill feelings towards the Guardians for the greater good, knowing full well what kind of damage the terrorist Fallen could bring with her order's wares. In addition, she grows grateful for the Guardians' efforts to restore the Black Armory's old forges. In time, and great effort on the Guardian's part, Ada's attitude towards the Guardians begins to soften, especially as they aid her in recovering the lost papers and secrets of the Black Armory's founders. She stated that she was honored to have the Guardian bear the weapon Izanagi's Burden and put an end to Siviks, Lost to None. She became especially grateful towards the Guardian for recovering the Obsidian Drive, a lost piece of herself which enabled her weapon-upgrading abilities. In the future, Ada-1 became one of the few individuals in the Tower who was indifferent to the Guardians wielding the power of Stasis. Having seen Light used for good and evil by the Warlords and Guardians, she thus viewed Stasis as another tool in one's arsenal, no different from the Light.

Despite being the vendor of the Black Armory, it has been said that Ada often prefers solitude to interacting with others, suggesting that she is an introvert. She would later admit that social interactions are not her strong suit. This ultimately makes attempts at interacting with her awkward at best and hostile at worst for some of the denizens of the Tower. Despite this, Ada would develop a unique friendship with Suraya Hawthorne.

Though Ada developed a better relationship with the Guardians, her relationship with the Vanguard would be rather cold but professional, finding Zavala's desires tangential to her desire to keep her Forges operational. Further, Ada remains adamant about keeping the legacy of the Black Armory firmly in her hands, viewing it as her responsibility.

Quotes

Season of the Forge

• "The Black Armory believes not in the Traveler or it's shambling dead, but in humanity itself."
• "It's okay, Ada. Just don't pay the loitering guardian any attention."
• "I hear your Vanguard wasn't much help in your quest to avenge a friend. That's… not surprising"
• "You won't find better anywhere else. Don't miss your chance."
• "Every piece in our collection tells a story. Whether it's be through its elegant design, its unique makeup, or a history of its crafter."
• "The Black Armory predates this city, I'll have you know."
• "Do not touch our wares, Guardian. They're only there for the pleasure of the eye."
• "The Spider. How well do you know our mutual friend? Not well enough, I'm sure."
• "Admire with your eyes. Not with your hands."
• "The Traveler made humanity weak. Lured them into a false sense of security"
• "I have kept an eye on your Vanguard from afar, Guardian. I am unimpressed."
• "Just focus on what you came in for, Warlock. No need for mozing."
• "Titan."
• "Careful titan, I don't need your broad shoulders knocking our wares over."
• "Don't even think about jumping on the display cases, Hunter."
• "If you're not going to buy anything, could you please step outside?"
• "You don't talk much, do you? Just like me. Let's try and keep it that way, if you don't mind. I enjoy the silence."
• "Guardian? Are you there?"
• "Stay awhile and enjoy our wares."
• "See you next time, perhaps."
• "Come see what we are selling today, Guardian"
• "If there's anything else, don't hesitate to stop by again."
• "Unfortunately, this is all we have at the moment."
• "Take a look at our wares. You won't regret it."
• "See anything you like?"
• "Anything I can get you? Just say the word."
• "What can the Black Armory do for you today?."
• "We have more in stock now. Thanks to you."
• "What's ours can be yours. For the right price."
• "Come visit again soon."
• "It's not much, but it's what we've got."
• "Until next time."
• "Come back anytime."
• "Welcome, Guardian."
• "I'm here next time you need me."
• "Your business is appreciated."
• "I believe our wares will be to your liking."
• "Something here must be to your liking."
• "Yes?"
• "You know where to find me."
• "The Black Armory awaits your return."
• "Go ahead, peruse what we have to offer."
• "Come, Warlock. I won't lie, I've always had a secret desire to see your kind up close."

Tower Annex, The Last City, Earth (Season of the Splicer)

Distant dialogue

• "Mother… if you're watching I hope you know I'm doing everything I can."
• "Please keep your hands clear of the apparatus. Your Ghost might put you back together, but I'll have to fix your mess by hand."
• "Then this one connects over… what?! How could the couplings be different sizes?! That doesn't make any… [groans]"
• "It's just another new beginning. I've handled those well, so far."
• "I'm an armorer, not a physicist. How am I supposed to… [sighs] Let's try it again."
• "Now where did I put that omnitool?"
• "Mind the residue left behind after operation. I expect you Guardians to clean up after yourselves."
• "I am the Black Armory. They can steal all the Forges they want. but they cannot have my hands or my mind."
• "Quand nous chanterons, le temps des cerises, Et gai rossignol, et merle moqueur, Seront tous en fête."
• "Forge statuses are unclear. They could've been stripped for parts, or could be operational in enemy hands. Either way, we're out of leads."
• "Such wonderous science… To think Clovis Bray left this in the garbage in favor of his vain pursuits. It's pure arrogance."
• "[Sighs] I'm never going to have a chance to clean up here, am I?"
• "Commander, I'd be forging you weapons if I could, but it's not an option anymore. I'm sorry."
• "A triangular splice improves rigidity, but reduces tensile strength. Interesting."
• "Just breathe, Ada. Just breathe... Whatever that does for this body."
• "Begin log: initial experiments in polyphasic recombination are discouraging. Perhaps another route is wiser."
• "Maybe if the threading algorithm was layered… no, that still won't work."
• "Is this a mistake? Without the Forges… no. I cannot despair. There is no going back."
• "So the strands get sequenced and… then what? [sighs] What I wouldn't give to be working with barrels and stocks."
• "Maybe this can fabricate parts to remake Volundr… no, that's not the way. We need new solutions."
• "The Armory was more than just the Forges. It was courage and action in the face of Darkness. That spirit must live on."

Near dialogue

• "The Pyramids' approach fills me with dread, despite being surrounded by Guardians. I can't imagine what the Armory founders felt like during the Collapse."
• "Plumbing through BrayTech schematics is like learning a new language. I feel… lost, sometimes."
• "When the Traveler acts, the world changes. For some it gets better, for others worse. What will its reformation bring?"
• "Please watch your step. This is a lab, not a lounge."
• "The Loom has quite a different aesthetic from the old Armory tech, doesn't it? It's… growing on me."
• "I am continuously fascinated by the choices you Guardians make when molding your Synthweave. Such... garishness."
• "The Loom was your creation as well as mine, Guardian. Thank you for your aid."
• "Why should I fear Stasis? I've seen the Light wielded by Warlords and Guardians alike, for evil and good. A new tool doesn't change the wielder."
• "You get Synthweave, I get research data. It's… would have you say it? A "win-win.""
• "I know what it's like to feel threatened by Lightbearers. Whatever unease you feel towards our Fallen guests, know that they feel the same."
• "I never imagined life without the Forges, but… I suppose they're still here. The foundation for the Loom's technology."
• "Pardon the exposed machinery, and watch where you walk."
• "The Armory will not fade as long as I have anything to say about it."
• "Every usage of the Loom is another batch of data for my research, and I need all I can get."
• "I've been able to watch our Fallen guests repair their armaments. The methods are unorthodox, but the craftsmanship is admirable!"
• "The founders of the Black Armory were visionaries… inventors. If the Armory is going to survive, I must be the same."
• "I have never put faith in the Traveler, but I am starting to trust Guardians."
• "It will take time to adjust to the sight of Fallen in the Last City, but their presence has its benefits. Their Scribes have shared some fascinating information."
• "I once believed the Forges could be our future, but I was wrong. They were just a step on the path. And now… we walk on."
• "How many of these Fallen have lost a friend to a Black Armory weapon? A loved one? If I were them, I wouldn't easily let that go."
• "Adopting this new technology feels overwhelming. I barely understand it, but... it's not to have a clear challenge in front of me."
• "I am afraid this will all fail. It gnaws at the corners of my mind. But it is how I know it is important work."

Approach dialogue

• "Welcome. In need of a new threader?"
• "Ah, my partner returns!"
• "The Loom awaits, Guardian."

Trivia

• Ada is voiced by Britt Baron.
• Prior to Black Armory's reveal, many thought her to be the Exo Gunsmith, Gaunt, as a result of fake Black Armory leaks.
• The original concept of her being an Exo was to be a walking Black Armory Forge, through the Obsidian Accelerator.
• She is part of the French family, the House of Meyrin.
• Among the Exos encountered in the series, Ada-1 is the only one without a visible moving mouth, possessing LEDs which activate when she speaks instead. However, an excerpt from Destiny: The Official Cookbook implies she is capable of eating and drinking, though it does not depict her doing so or explicitly identify her.
• If one lingers around Ada-1 long enough, she can be heard singing "Le Temps Des Cerises."[1], a French song composed by Jean-Baptiste Clément in 1866. She learned the piece from her mother.
• There is currently a bug in the game, where Ada's feet sink into the ground. This makes her look very small.
• Ada-1 owns a jumpship named Ada-1's Lone Wolf.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2: Season of the Forge (First appearance)
  • Shadowkeep
  • Season of Dawn
  • Season of the Worthy
  • Season of Arrivals (Mentioned only)
  • Beyond Light (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Splicer
  • Season of the Lost
  • The Witch Queen (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Haunted (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Seraph (Mentioned only)
  • Lightfall (Mentioned only)
  • Into the Light
  • Episode: Echoes (Mentioned only)
• Entelechy (Mentioned only)