Chapter 15: The Library
May 19th, 3239, 1040 hours
Delta Halo (Installation 05)
En route to the Library

They had taken a day to get their bearings. With the location of the Library safely tucked away in NICOLE's databank, they could prepare for entering the facility. The Flood was no longer a problem for the galaxy, but there were a few people that could prove… inconvenient if they were to get in the group's way.

Bandits and lowlifes stalked some of Installation 05's less habitable places. Criminals who were exiled from their respective towns frequently found themselves in extreme places like this, finding weapons, shooting down sentinels, and eventually attacking anyone organic who came by, driven insane by the loneliness and utter alien landscape.

The area where the Library was located turned out to be a frozen valley with snow falling at just enough to be considered almost peaceful, but it was clear that this area was beyond peaceful.

There had been a battle here of some sort. Long ago, long covered up by the snow and the ice and the long arm of time, but there were reminders that were visible if one were to look carefully: There were holes in the Forerunner walls and skeletons of vehicles that survived the glassing and eventual terraformation. What had happened here was not mentioned in any of the history books.

The Emerald Fox swooped over a low ridge with its search light scanning the region. Aside from a few Sentinels and their smaller Constructor cousins, the area was dead.

"Hmm, looks like there's nothing here." Hera confirmed.

"In that case, take us into the Library." Chris ordered.

"Roger that. Hang onto your hats, people." NICOLE answered. The freighter swooped upwards and made its way towards a building shaped like a sloping pyramid. It blasted a gigantic light into the heavens, ushering them in, before a warning blared on the instrument panel. Their speed dropped to zero in seconds.

"What's happening?" the Captain asked.

"Wait one… hmm, looks like it's some sort of force-field. It's blocking us from entering. I'd go over it, but it starts to slope about a kilometer above our position. Ingenious."

They were all impressed by the elaborate security system, but their awe was not bringing this thing down. Jackson spoke up, "Is there another way inside?"

"Hang on." NICOLE said. "Hmm, that's strange. I'm reading the resonance frequencies on this force field, and if I'm right on the numbers, based on the amount of pulses that have been made, I can determine the time of activation of the field."

"Why is that odd?" Vennettilli asked.

"This field if only seventy one years old."

"Was it active any time before that?"

"I have no reason to believe that it was. I've been running through the systems, and it looks like the Forerunner systems are throwing up all kinds of warnings and alerts. Guys, I think this shield might have been jury-rigged!"

Well that was a real development in this issue. Someone had built this shield recently, if one could call within the last 100 years 'recent'.

"There's got to be some way to get past this. Put us down, Hera." Chris said. Abigail nodded and carefully made sure the Emerald Fox set down on solid ground.

"The Captain has turned off the seat-belt light…" Hera began as everyone unclipped themselves.

"Do we have any coats?" Allen asked. "It looks pretty cold out there."

Chris scowled. As far as he knew, there were no coats on-board. They had never expected landing on a frigid plateau on some ring world. Looks like it was time to 'grin and bear it'.

With NICOLE safe on his belt, the Marine keyed in the door sequence. The hatch dropped down, and a gust of cold air blasted into the ship. Everyone shuddered as the first wave of cold battered them.

"Alright, let's move out, guys!" Chris said, rifle in hand.

Abigail had argued against using guns on this one, but Chris thought it would be prudent that if whoever constructed the shield was still inside; or if their descendants were, they probably wouldn't be too willing to talk to strangers.

They jogged across the snow. Their boots made crunching noises as they pounded the powder beneath them. Chris felt the worst of it as he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and the only fur he had was the one on his head, face and arms. The Mobians were quiet. If they were cold, they kept it to themselves, but it was clear that Allen too was feeling some sort of resentfulness to this weather.

Allen's home, Sigma Octanus IV was a planet orbiting the twin stars of the system. The weather was always warm on his planet, and he had barely ever experienced frost, meaning that his family's crops were always great to eat and that they made a fair profit whenever they needed to sell.

But this was cold. He hadn't felt this cold in a whole year on another planet, where the winters were frigid to the point where it was stupid, but it was clear that the Forerunners simply wanted some sort of climate diversity. Shame that the 'diverse' bit went on both sides of the spectrum.

"Hey, I think I see a gap in the shield." Allen pointed out. He was right. It appeared that they were outside some sort of Forerunner monitoring station near the Library, an alien guardhouse. This seemed to be the 'admitting point' to the Library. This was where another battle took place. The Covenant glassing never seemed to touch this area very much. The original snow was here, somehow a different texture. 700 years wouldn't make much of a difference, one would think.

The doorway was the old entrance to the guardhouse. They cautiously stepped inside, guns raised. They met no resistance as they walked down the hall, two of them covering the area ahead, and two of them watching their six.

The area on the other side was inside of the shield. They were over a gigantic valley. A glacier was tucked into a corner with icy water streaming from the runoffs. They seemed to be near one of the glacier's moraines. Incredible.

"I still can't believe someone built this!" Abigail said.

"Believe it. Just remember: whatever you see here is a façade to what's underneath."

Allen said, "There's the Library straight ahead!" He pointed to the structure. It seemed so close, but they had to remember that this structure was gigantic beyond anything on Earth. "but how do we get there?"

Chris ran up a ramp and surveyed what was in front of him. "Hey, look at this, guys!"

He was standing in front of what he assumed was a form of transportation. A barge or a gondola or something like that. Chris took a few steps onto the Forerunner transport. He checked corners to make sure that they weren't sharing this ride, and then called the others on.

"This thing could take us all the way there." He said.

"How do we turn it on?" Hera asked.

"Bring me to the front. I'm getting a reading of an energy panel or a holoprojector. It could be an activation area." NICOLE advised.

At the front of the gondola, there was only a single console that was extending from the wall looking over the valley. A ghostly imprint of a hand beckoned forward, demanding input. Chris passed his gun over to his left hand and held out his right.

"Should you be touching that thing?" Roan asked. "It could just tilt and dump us into the valley."

"What harm could it do?" the Captain asked.

They thought for a second. "OK, go to it!" Allen nodded.

Vennettilli planted his palm against the holo-panel and felt resistance. The barge shuddered for a second and then floated forwards. They began their slow journey to the Library.

The journey was longer than they thought it would be. They seriously underestimated the disnce from the gondola port to the actual Library. The structure was massive, and the entrance itself was a staggering two hundred feet wide. As soon as the barge got close, the entrance spun apart, revealing the inner structure of the Library.

It was magnificent! Metal pillars millennia old stretched far above and below their position; an alien sense of architecture that couldn't really be explored by Human knowledge. Chris had seen it before during his separation on the UNSC Phoenix more than a year ago in an alternate universe, but that world had been built by something much older than the Forerunners.

Their gondola suddenly stopped after another seven minutes of driving forward. They rushed to the front of the gondola, wondering what had happened. Upon inspection, they had noticed that the only thing in front of them was a solid steel wall.

---

"Well, that was kind of anticlimactic." Jackson said.

"You think that we were supposed to steer this thing?" Roan asked. "I thought there would be a wheel somewhere."

Before anybody else could say anything, the gondola's arms tilted ninety degrees to which point they locked. The gondola was silent again.

"Are we supposed to press something or what-?"

The gondola started to rise at a rapid rate. It appeared that the Library was not only large, but higher up.

Jackson leaned on a railing and let one of her hands dangle. "You know, physics says that the shortest point between two points is a straight line. So…" She rolled her eyes.

Chris nodded. This was boring. There was nothing to shoot, nothing to do, just stand on a gondola on a half hour ride. There was NOTHING to see!

Their momentum slowed and soon they returned to lateral motion. This time, once they made it past the second door, they reached a wide-open are that seemed to be within the bowels of the Library. Everything was swallowed up by darkness except for a structure standing out in the space. This had to be the entrance that they were after.

"That's the front door?" Hera asked, weapons ready.

"Looks like it. Lock and load, guys."

They inserted magazines into their weapons. Whoever set up this barrier was probably still in here – or their descendants were maybe. Regardless, their goal was so close and nothing should stand in the way.

The gondola slowed to a near-halt and reached its destination. It ground to a stand-still. They had finally reached the Library.

Chris was in command once more. Now they had to function as a military unit to move effectively. Vennettilli had the experience, so it only made sense that he be the leader. Hera took point and the mercenaries flanked her.

"Move up, check your corners, guys." Chris said.

Abigail ran up to the first portal and looked through. It was empty, ghostly silent. The only thing they heard was the humming of distant computers, somewhere in the depths of this facility.

"NICOLE, can you give us a map of the area?"

"Negative, sir. I'm unable to access the schematics of this facility. I think I may have been locked out."

"Not surprising. NICOLE's a foreign program." Samantha reasoned.

The Captain frowned. It was a setback, but they would be able to recover from it. Enough wandering around would allow them to map out the area. The only problem was that they could also go into places where they were not strictly allowed to be in. The Forerunner always had a thing for personal security. Vennettilli had heard about fields of energy that would kill living beings upon proximity, and that people sacrificed themselves to map out where these fields were; how surprisingly barbaric.

The Library seemed to function on a maze-like structure. It was clearly beyond any human reasoning, but to the Forerunners, the layout of such a structure must have been plain as day. Alien were weird.

They trudged through, completely lost for approximately ten minutes.

"Does anybody have a clue about where we are going?" Hera asked.

"Not a clue." Chris admitted.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance!"

They jumped and whirled around. A floating red ball had come up to them silently.

"Greetings! I am 2401 Penitent Tangent! I am the Monitor of Installation 05! How may I be of assistance to you, Reclaimers?"

Everyone except Chris was shocked by the appearance of the Monitor. Chris had seen a peaceful Precursor AI back when he and some of the Freedom Fighters were lost on the Phoenix. Its name was Benevolent Algorithm, and as far as he knew knew, it was dead.

"2401, I have a question to ask."

"State your inquiry, Reclaimer! I would be happy to assist!"

"Can you tell me who constructed the barrier outside of the Library?"

"Accessing: Barrier (redirecting); shield. Error: I cannot locate a directory within my system of a 'barrier'."

"Well, have you seen it?"

"I have indeed! That particular obstacle was constructed 621,960 hours prior to our meeting."

"Seventy-one years, guys." NICOLE translated.

"However, I do not have a record on-file of who built it. Conjecture: I believe that it was forcibly placed there by a visitor of sorts. It is not within protocol, but does not interfere with my duties. Ergo, I see no logic to remove it."

"But who built it?" Jackson asked.

"I have insufficient data to deliver a suitable response, Reclaimer. If you would like to…"

Samantha said, "Back up."

The AI reversed a meter.

"No; I mean, did you refer to me as a 'Reclaimer'?"

2401 looked genuinely puzzled. "Indeed. Was I incorrect with my assumption?"

"Explain to me your reasoning."

"Assuming my sensors are not damaged, I can scan your biological makeup to discover your DNA falls in line with my preprogramed acceptances! You are a Reclaimer! Would you like to see the comprehensive data?"

Samantha shook her head. "No, that'll be fine."

"Getting back on track." Chris said, ending the interesting small-talk, "I have information locked within my head. Do you know how to retrieve it?"

"Odd. Can you repeat that phrase?"

"I was implanted with information within my brain that I cannot access. It's there but I cannot remember it. Is there a device that can extract a memory?"

"I am happy to announce that such a device does exist, and is within the Library! We can journey to it, but I would like to run simulations on firing solutions."

"Why?" Chris said, excited that he would finally get to the bottom of this. "Why are you running simulations?"

"I am preparing to activate the Installation and end the Flood infestation."

It was clear that 2401 had some screws loose. He was unaware of what was going on.

"Monitor," Allen announced. "The Array is inactive. It has been inactive for over 700 years."

The Monitor seemed cheery. "That is impossible. I have been running billions of simulations since the last Reclaimer arrived. I have been waiting to be presented with the activation Index.

"It's not coming." Chris said. "If you check your systems, you'll discover that this Installation, as well as the others, has been deactivated from the Ark."

The Monitor looked at the others, and then said, "But, this is incredulous. I don't have access to view those types of…"

"2401, run a self-diagnostic." NICOLE ordered.

"This construct has no business stating demands!" The Monitor said, enraged.

"Do it, AI!" the Captain ordered.

The Forerunner machine calmed down, and its light flickered. "Yes, Recliamer; running diagnostic. Time since last diagnostic: 882,018,120 hours prior, negating subsequent minutes and seconds. Processing… Oh dear… Have I missed that much?"

"Just what I thought: someone needed to push the 'reset' button."

"So much has happened." The AI said. "I remember. The Reclaimer that came before you. Oh, it was such a long time ago, when the Meddlers came to this Installation and attempted to intercept it."

"He probably means the Covenant." Chris realized. "2401. We need to find this device. Can you take us to it?"

"I can do that. Please follow me. What of the Subjects of this Installation?"

"The Flood? Gone."

"That is good. The outbreak was beyond our control. Protocol dictated our response to the threat, and that was not enough. Come, this way."

They began to walk down one of the corridors.

"2401, who built this barrier? Can you tell us now?"

Now with his head cleared, Penitent Tangent said, "It is not of my creators. It is possible that the Reclaimers might have-"

A bullet ricocheted off 2401's casing. An energy shield flared and the round was deflected away.

"What defiance!" the AI said. "Rampant Reclaimers!"

They whirled around to see what was chasing them. They couldn't be mistaken. The armor, the speed, the visors, and the machine-like coordination: ONI had finally brought the Spartans down on them.

"Oh shit." Chris said. "Run!"

They bolted. "You know we can't outrun them!" Hera said. "They'll catch us!"

"2401! Do something!"

An energy shield popped up between them. It went all the way to the Library's ceiling. The Spartans stopped dead in their tracks.

Chris turned to look at them. "Stand down, Spartans!" He commanded.

They stood silent. One of them with the markings of a Lieutenant Junior Grade came forward. "I didn't want to believe it when they sent me."

Chris looked a little closer. He recognized the voice. "Chief?"

The Spartan removed his helmet. It was indeed the former Master Chief Petty Officer John-117.

"You know this guy?" Roan asked.

"We're acquainted; long story." NICOLE said. "Chief: Listen, we know you're here for a reason."

"Yes, you've been targeted. You are to turn yourselves in immediately and await transport back to Earth for trial."

Chris laughed. "Listen, 'Lieutenant'. I think you and I both know that there's no trail for me back on Earth."

"Sir, regardless of what happens away from here, you will need to come with us."

"Not going to happen, Spartan. 2401, make sure that no energy shields drop except on my order!"

"Command accepted! Shields will be at your command, Reclaimer! Would you like me to display the relevant shield hard-points on our way to the extraction facility?"

"Please."

The group turned and walked into the facility.

"Captain!" The Spartan warned. Chris halted for just a second and continued his walk, his friends at his side.

The other Spartans looked at John. "Lieutenant! Is there any way around these shields?"

"No. Not this way. We need to take the long way around now! Come on! We can still head them off before they get to the top of the facility! Let's move, Spartans! Double time! Kim, get ready to engage with magnetic grapples. Amir, make sure we load stun rounds. There's no need to kill on this one."