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Chapter 17: Worst Day Since...
May 19th, 3239, 1345 hours
Installation 05, Substance System
The Library
"You know, I still don't know why you're even helping us, Chief." Chris said.
"Lieutenant." The Spartan corrected.
"I see. Congratulations by the way. You didn't answer my question: why are you helping us?"
Kim nodded. "Yeah, I'm curious too. Aren't these guys terrorists?"
John exhaled. "Something's not right. None of our reports indicated accomplices. They always assumed you were working alone."
"I was with him the whole time." Hera noted. "Ever since we left Mobius."
"Indeed. I've looked up your record, Captain. As of 1400 hours on May 11th of this year, you have been stripped of your rank and your honors. You are no longer a member of the UNSC Marine Corps. You don't even have a campaign medal to your name. You're effectively a terrorist."
The young man stayed silent. He knew his career was done, but he mustered as much dignity as there was left in him. "Well go on. How did things get messed up?"
"When I checked your files, it said that you had no flight experience whatsoever, and no training with weaponry like that that destroyed the Elijah Jones. Yet you were able to outrun the military vessels that pursued you. You were also on a royal freighter. I checked the tags."
"You know Spartan, he didn't get away without help."
"That's your AI companion, correct?" John asked.
Chris projected NICOLE. She looked the warrior over. "Nice armor. I see the Navy reconfigured the design."
The Lieutenant didn't say anything. "Actually, I called your bluff. I wasn't anticipating the AI. If it weren't for that, you would be over my shoulder with ten broken ribs."
"And when it comes to a Spartan and injuries, you guys don't mess around." The young Human said seriously.
"What can we say?" Armand chuckled. "We do a clean job."
"You would have never seen us coming." Kim admitted.
"Stow it, Spartans." The Lieutenant said.
"What are we supposed to find here?" Kim asked after a few minutes of silence.
"It's supposed to be something called the Cypher. It's most likely Forerunner."
That made sense to John. Why else would they be in this place? For a second, John considered apprehending the disgraced Marine and bringing him to the Cypher chamber. But what would that solve? This man wouldn't respond to torture, and he might accidentally kill him. That would be a direct violation of his orders. Still, something wasn't right here, and it was overriding all of his military training. "Of course... It's been some time since I've been here."
"Were you on this ring?" Hera asked.
"Not exactly. I was on the first Halo we found after Reach fell. I was running around the Library with the Monitor."
"Oh. I see." Chris said. He was hesitant to tell John about 2401. He knew from military history that the Spartan II did fight on Delta Halo. Despite what the Chief told him, Chris still didn't trust this man. He knew that he had gone through enough: murder, false charges, a government conspiracy, world-shaking mysteries, stripped of his rank, and above all, a nervous fiancée. ONI may have just sent John to lull him into a false sense of security or humiliate him one more time before apprehending him.
"Roan, are you reading me?"
"Loud and clear. What's going on?"
"We're closing on your position. Whatever you do, don't raise your weapons."
"May I ask why?"
"We have Spartans with us."
"... say that one more time, Human?" Jackson asked.
"Just sit tight. We'll be there in ten minutes."
Outside of the Library, the Hunter escort ship was hovering close to the hole made by the Spartans in the Library's walls. Inside of the ship, the leaders of these drugged supersoldiers paced impatiently.
"How long?" one of them asked. Whatever light there gleamed off their shaved heads and bulging muscles, barely kept in place by tight black T-shirts.
"Too long. They have not checked in."
"Call them."
"No. It is their mission."
"The Stalkers are growing impatient."
"I understand! Just give them more time!"
"Lieutenant! I am giving you a direct order! You will stand down and let me contact the Spartans."
The Hunter Lieutenant glared at his superior with dark eyes. He set his jaw and stood up from his console. "Access, Major."
The superior Hunter smiled and sat down at the control panel.
"Spartans, answer me."
Kim snarled. "Great. Progress report time."
"This is Spartan 117." John said. "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Spartan 117, what is your status?"
John said the first thing that sounded logical. "We are in pursuit."
"You have been in pursuit for hours now! Why haven't you captured the fugitive?"
"He's fled into the bowels of the facility. We need to find his location through a console."
"That will no longer be necessary. We are deploying the Stalkers to aid you in your mission. Stand by for support."
"That is unnecessary! I can complete the mission!"
"My orders are absolute, Spartan 117! Stand by for backup!"
"Yes sir." John said. He closed down the COM. "Alright, our time has just run dangerously low. I'll take point. the Captain and Hera are center. Kim and Armand bring up the rear. Let's get to that room people!"
"Aye-aye, Lieutenant." Chris said.
"Do you believe them? Are you sure they haven't turned on us?" the Sergeant asked.
"For what reason? Spartans are loyal to the UNSC. We are in no danger." He looked at his subordinate and arced an eyebrow. "I think it is time we released the Stalkers."
"They are impatient." The Sergeant said with an evil smile.
Below the dropship, a magnetic clamp holding a cargo container unlatched, and the box fell and smashed on the ancient landing pad. From the wreckage, twisted shadows of men crawled about and mumbled maniacally. Their metallic limbs whined as actuators pulled them up with great strength. Some roared as they became free. Their voices had been destroyed by the synthesizer put over their mouths, and their feral nature just served even worse.
They had no other desire than to rip the flesh from someone's bones. Chemicals and Rumbledrugs pumped into their system told them to find a way inside, since that's where they could kill. Stalkers weren't smart enough to climb up ropes or tethers, meaning that the first place they went was the shield door.
With the intelligence of an ox, the lead stalker cried a shrill note and charged forward, impacting on the door with the force of a car. The Stalker seemed to jitter wildly and then was thrown back into the wreckage of the cargo container. It thrashed and then stopped moving. The other Stalkers roared and threw themselves at the door in anger. They were all shocked with this strange device. They were trapped though and the Hunter Commander knew it.
"This is painful to watch. We need to get them up to another doorway."
Using a transceiver, the Hunters relayed orders to the Stalkers, to which the creatures listened intently. They moved back to the ship into the cargo bay where they were dropped originally. Once secured aboard, the craft lifted into the air and started moving around the facility.
"There must be a way. The Forerunners had multiple entrances through their facilities."
"They are all sealed." The Commander reported. "We can only get in through the access hatch." He called to the pilot. "Bring us up to where the Spartans entered. Send in the Stalkers, and then let Bushmann follow them in. Ensure he is provided with a weapon.
The Spartans hadn't sealed their entry point, meaning that the Hunter Killers had a way into the facility. The Stalkers leapt from the open cargo doors and onto the catwalk. One tripped and fell over the side. It wasn't a scream that came from the tortured soul, but more of a groan, as he would never have the chance to kill or maim his target. The others didn't bat an eyelash and entered the halls of the Library.
Bushmann entered last, armed with an assault rifle and an armor suit. He tapped his wrist and an energy shield popped into place around him. "This is Seven. I am in. Pull back and await further contact."
"Viper copies all, Seven. Pulling back now. Good luck."
Bushmann cracked his neck. His beefy muscles rippled in this one simple motion. He took off at a brisk run to catch up to the impatient Stalkers.
"Reclaimers!" 2401 said cheerfully. "It does my heart good to see you well and heading towards your goal!"
John unlimbered his assault rifle and aimed it at the Monitor. Amir and Kim did so too before anybody could blink.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Hera said, utterly shocked. "What's going on here?"
"John... put the gun down. He's a friend."
Where have I heard that before? The Spartan thought. "Not this time." He said solemnly.
2401 blissfully looked at the supersoldiers and then to the Captain. "Have I offended someone?"
"No funny stuff, Lite Brite!" Kim growled, ears folded to the side of her head.
"Funny? I am not aware..." the AI said. Then, he hovered closer to the Spartan. John backed off carefully. "Unless my circuitry is amiss, I believe that I have seen you before."
"A couple m..." John said, before realizing where he was again. "It was a long time ago. The Gravemind had you in its grasp."
"The Gravemind!" Chris cried out. He suddenly stepped towards John. "You think he's been corrupted?"
"I don't know. Get behind me."
Abigail followed the young man behind the mass of armor. "Chris, what's going on?"
"The Gravemind; the leader of the Flood had this AI at its mercy."
The AI actually sighed. "What an absolutely deplorable ordeal that was! Utterly dreadful. The Infestation delayed the activation of the Installation. After all that time, I was held short. Eventually, I was notified that all actions regarding Outbreak Protocol was to be terminated following the shutdown of the Installation."
"Poor guy was out of a job." Amir said.
"Remember Spartan, this 'job' was to destroy all complex life in the galaxy!" NICOLE warned.
"How can I explain Protocol when everyone objects!" 2401 said angrily.
Chris tried to reason with the Lieutenant. "Spartan, I understand you've had issues with AI in the past, and 2401 may have had a few screws loose in the past, but he's really on our side. He just wants to be useful again."
The AI just hovered there still looking at John, who held his gun unwavering, waging a mental war in his head. Then, the helmet cocked and the rifle lowered. "Stand down, Spartans." He ordered. Kim and Amir stowed their weapons. "You're off the hook, but if you so much so much as send a Sentinel after us, I will blow you out of the sky."
"Your rage is misplaced, Reclaimer." 2401 said. "Your weapon will not do much damage to me otherwise. My defensive systems can overcome you. If you are adamant to try, I suggest upgrading your Class 2 Combat Skin to-"
"Not again. Let's move out, people!"
The Stalkers galloped through the Library. They screamed in delight as the scent of their prey grew stronger. Out of the corners of their eyes, they could see other people. They were not the targets, and shouldn't be killed. At least unless they were ordered to.
Suddenly, one saw movement out of the corner of their eye. They screamed in delight and turned to meet a frightened man who cowered against the wall. "What are you?" He said horrified.
"UNSC." the Hunter said honestly. "Who are you?"
"I'm Darren, from the village nearby."
"Do you recognize this man?" The Hunter tapped his wrist device and a holographic representation of the Captain appeared.
"Yeah! He and that rabbit girl saved our village!"
"Viper, this is Seven. Can you confirm subject description?"
"Seven, Viper. We confirm. Subject description matches based on the Hunter Killer teams dispatched to Talahan."
"Did you see anyone else?" Bushmann asked.
"No. Just those two. What's going on here?"
"Stay calm. Your village will be processed soon."
"Processed? What?" Before he could say another word, a Stalker pounced on him and slammed his head into the ground, screeching in satisfaction.
Bushmann ordered them on. It was likely he would catch his prey by cornering them. The Library was a big place and it was likely they would be trapped somewhere. The Hunter was a little disturbed by the behaviour of his Stalkers. They seemed too happy for an occasion like this. The bloodlust in their eyes was palpable. It was if they were kept in a room for months with nothing but their nutritional chemicals to keep them alive. Upon release, they would be insane – more so than they were now. He supposed that it was a way of making sure your soldiers would so anything, even if it was to tear them limb from limb. The lead Stalker hooted. They were really getting close.
"CAPTAIN!" Jackson said with her gun raised.
"What the HELL is going on here?" Amir said, outraged. "Who are you?"
"Allen Roan and Samantha Jackson" the other Human. "Vanguard Private Security Forces."
More accomplices, the Lieutenant thought. "Did this man contract your services?"
"No." Samantha answered. "Our orders came straight from CEO Gustoff."
Kim looked like she couldn't take anymore. "Conspiracies, terrorism, and now a PMC CEO is in on the whole thing? Sir, I say we just shoot them and get it over with!"
"Negative!" the Spartan barked. "There will be NO shooting! Kim, check yourself, or you will be relieved of your weapon! Armand, make sure she's under control!"
Chris still asserted his command although he had been disgraced. "I'd like to add that the sooner that we're here bitching, the quicker that reinforcements will be right behind us."
Kim's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh you have no idea."
A shriek filled the still air. Everyone jumped.
"That's our cue to move, guys!" Chris said urgently. "Jackson, Roan! Did you find the chamber?"
"Just inside." Allen said. He took out his ancient 1911 replica and inserted a magazine. "Just in case."
"I hope we don't have to use those." Hera added. "Spartans, let's get inside."
Jackson and Roan were guarding a door about eight feet high and five feet across. Energy field emitters sat unused, which indicated that 2401 had deactivated the aperture. The Captain ordered everyone inside. The Spartans even nodded in agreement and passed through the gate. Chris looked back into the mists of the Library and followed his company.
The hallway they were in was long and seemingly never-ending. Every now and then, a faint blue light would pulse along the length of the tunnel for some unknown purpose.
"What's that?" Samantha asked.
"A minor subsystem, nothing of consequence." 2401 said in a bit of a dismissive tone.
Uh huh, sure. Anything minor on this ring has the potential to level cities. The Captain thought. He had never been on a Halo before, but he knew that the Forerunners were not to be fucked with, no matter where you met them.
The hallway then led to the most amazing thing any of them had ever seen. It was a room, but at the same time it seemed like another plane of existence entirely. They were standing in what seemed like a void, peppered with millions of stars of all colors and sizes. In the 'distance', a galaxy twirled in space. It might have been the Milky Way.
Then it changed. They were standing in the eye of a hurricane blowing over an unknown ocean. All around them, chaotic wind and lightning reigned, but a glance upward revealed a beautiful blue sky with a golden sun shining on them. A poetic juxtaposition crafted by the Forerunners' mind boggling machines.
"So... where the hell are we?" Kim asked. "Where's the door?"
They looked around and indeed could not find the door they came in.
"Hang tight people. I'm doing a scan of the room." NICOLE reported. She said a second later, "Well, good news: the room is only about two hundred feet wide at its longest point, it's roughly semi-spherical with the roof above us."
"But what is this place?" John asked, mesmerized.
"This is the Extraction Chamber." 2401 said gleefully. "Lifeworkers utilized chambers like this frequently to examine the treasures of the mind! At last our journey is complete! I am glad we have taken this time together!" The AI buzzed around the room. "It has been some time since I was here, prior to the initial activation of the facility!"
"Over a hundred thousand years ago." Spartan 117 said. He wondered to himself as to whether this room was on the fist Halo he was at.
"What are these images?" Major Hera asked.
"These represent memories of the previous occupants of this room. My creators stored memories for future generations to study. Far away planets, natural phenomena, flora and fauna, criminal investigations; all of these memories were extracted in rooms like these, and examined by many in preparation for the activation of the array!"
"...and over the past hundred millennia they've just been sitting here." Chris reasoned. "Jesus Christ. Is that a Black Hole?"
The image shifted again. They were standing on an event horizon of a black hole. The monster was just there, absorbing matter into infinity. It was a beautiful thing to witness; nobody would have gotten this close to seeing anything similar without getting pulled in. Twin jets of energy blasted out of the monster into space. A comet strayed too close to the black hole and stretched like putty into the infinitely dense core.
"Aurora protect me." Kim said in awe.
"Someone should take a picture. It'll last longer."
"Done." John chuckled. Actually chuckled.
The moment wore off, and they were back to questioning 2401. "Enough of these memories!" Chris demanded. "I have hundreds of men after me that want me DEAD. Can you tell me how to get this god damned Cipher out of my head?"
2401 just looked at the Captain for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a pedestal rise from nothingness. He walked over to see it. Two holographic displays flickered to life. Alien characters spread across the displays. "What do I do?"
A screech pierced everyone's ears.
"You better hurry up, Human." NICOLE said. "We're running out of time!" Everyone else took up defensive positions and waited for the worst to come. Samantha hung back due to her leg and inserted a magazine into her rifle. "We'll keep them busy for as long as we can." She said.
"Nobody's getting killed over this." The young man said. "Once I'm finished, we give ourselves up."
"No!" Abigail cried. "You can't do that! They'll take it from you and kill you!"
"They need me now." He said. "Follow my orders, and give me some cover while I get this machine working. Lieutenant!"
"Yes, sir."
Chris noticed that he referred to him as sir. He truly was in command once more, and it felt good.
"The basics of the mechanism are simple, Reclaimer." Penitent Tangent said. "Place your palm on this pad."
He did as told. His hand felt resistance as it touched the light. "OK, now what?"
"Relax."
"Seriously?"
"I suppose so. The machine is scanning you." The AI said.
Chris then felt an intense pressure in his brain. His skull began to feel compressed. "Is... this part of the ride?"
The AI remained silent. He then said, "The Construct is complete. Stand by."
The pain in his skull was gone, and his skin felt like it was electrically charged. When he opened his eyes, he was in a meadow. Birds sang in the distance, and there was a sweet summer breeze kissing his cheek. He breathed deep, and sighed happily. He was safe here.
"FIRE AT WILL!" Hera called. They sprayed the tunnel with gunshots. Stalkers fell rapidly as they absorbed bullets. They fired in accurate pulses. Allen used his 1911 which fired a massive .45 caliber shot.
One of the Stalkers got close to Hera who swiped it with the butt of her rifle. She heard the sick sound of bones snapping, but her eyes widened in shock when she saw the beast turn its head and look at her with its neck bent at nearly 90 degrees. She screamed and fired at it until her magazine ran dry.
Two Stalkers charged at Armand, but he was ready for them. He slammed both fists onto their heads which took them out of action immediately. Their inertia knocked him over. Kim offered him her hand.
"Need some help, partner?"
"Shut up."
As soon as a muscly Hunter entered the room, The Spartans stopped firing and grabbed the hands of the unarmored Human and Mobians.
"Hey, what the HELL!" Allen roared.
"We thought you were on OUR side!" Samantha said baring her teeth and growling.
"You thought we were on your side." John solemnly said. "Never underestimate your enemy." He kept Abigail's arms locked behind her arms. "On the authority of the United Nations Space Command and the Office of Naval Intelligence, I am placing you under arrest.
Bushmann nodded. "Excellent work. Spartan."
Suddenly, Hera heard a buzz in her COM set. "Don't struggle. Don't make eye contact with me. Just look at Bushmann." Hera felt a gauntleted hand squeeze her shoulder. She knew that he had the power to shatter her shoulder bones. The squeeze felt deliberately soft. Reassuring. She stole glances towards the other Spartans and their prisoners. They were looking straight at the Hunter.
Then a moment of shock registered on Bushmann's face. "Wait. Where is he?"
Jackson looked around, and then smiled sweetly. "Where's who?"
The Hunter could have screamed all he wanted, but it wouldn't change the fact that all that was in the room was ten Stalkers, three Spartans, three prisoners, and one empty pedestal among the stars.
The meadow seemed to go on forever. There were mountains in the distance, but they were so far away. Where was he? He looked into the sky for a clue, but there was nothing but a single ringed moon or larger planet and a white yellow star.
He wandered around in the knee high grass. He found a couple ponds with animals bathing themselves. A cute looking animal with feathers, three eyes and a tail was washing itself.
He had to get his concentration back. Wherever he was, he was here for a reason.
He glanced at his belt. NICOLE was still there.
"Can you hear me?"
"This is paradise." NICOLE said. "This is absolute beauty. Chris, I want to see it."
He retrieved the computer and projected NICOLE, who saw the sky, the grass and the mountains. "There's nothing on Mobius like it." She said. "Not even the Great Plains has anything that compares to this."
"So is this real or fake?"
NICOLE sighed and waved her arms. "Everything that I'm getting tells me that this place is, in fact real."
"You have arrived."
Chris wheeled around. Out of nowhere, a tree stretching into the clouds appeared. Standing beneath the branches was a figure made of light. It made Christopher nervous, and he backed away for a second.
"Do not be afraid. Come forward, my child."
"Who are you?"
"I am all that remains of the Librarian, the guardian of Erde-Tyrene."
"Are you a Forerunner?"
"That is what we were called, yes."
NICOLE asked, "How are you speaking to us? Your language has been dead for hundreds of thousands of years, let alone your race."
"The machine you used to access this geas, it read your memories, and allowed me to speak in a way you would understand."
The fragment of the Librarian kept an even voice and still looked warm and inviting. Chris decided to press the issue. "You know why we're here."
"Indeed. You are here to stop the coming darkness."
"What 'darkness'?"
"Many years ago, the Array that would be used to cleanse the galaxy was deactivated. It was decided that should this happen, a device would be placed in the center of this galaxy that would destroy everything as a last resort."
Chris nodded. "You're talking about the Halos then. I thought they were the weapons of last resort."
"They were; yes." The fragment said. "However, our leaders thought that it was not enough. When the Array was deactivated, it started a countdown. For nearly a millennium this countdown has been slowly progressing, and soon the device will detonate, sterilizing the galaxy forever."
"How could you come up with such a device?" NICOLE cried out. "You're committing genocide!"
"It would be better to die by the quick hands of the device than fall prey to the Flood."
"Your people died for nothing. The Flood returned after you activated the Array." Chris said.
"Would you do the same thing in our place?" The Librarian's fragment asked. "My sweet hamanune. It is a decision that I don't expect you to understand. For now, you must stop the apocalypse that we engineered."
"You hid information in the Chaos Emeralds. Jewels of great power"
"The Emeralds were the key and were innumerable at their height. Various crystals of our people were used as data storage and power devices."
"Wait, the Chaos Emeralds were just batteries?" NICOLE said shocked. "Jesus Christ."
"Among other things. Geas were planted in the Emeralds for the Humans, our heirs, to find. Here you are."
"What is the Cypher?" the Human demanded.
"The Cypher is key for stopping the device. I would tell you, but there is a block."
"A block?" NICOLE asked.
"A firewall in my programming that prevents me from giving you the Cipher. There is a test."
"A test?" NICOLE asked.
"And I forgot to study." Chris joked.
The environment changed in an instant. The meadow was gone, and he found himself on a ruined city street. He recognized it as New Mombasa where he fought four years ago.
"I remember this." He said.
"So do I." NICOLE added. "Where's the Overmind or the Zerg?"
"I guess they weren't important here."
"This was a vision created by your subconscious. You were faced with a traumatic event here, and it is your own fear that is blocking what you seek."
"So, how do I get the key then? Stop being afraid?"
"It is a test of your resolve."
"My love!"
He nearly jumped and looked down the street. There, with a huge smile across her face was Sally. Tears were running down her cheeks as she ran towards him. She was dressed in her boots and vest, which seemed odd considering the setting.
"My beautiful, beautiful Human!" She wrapped her arms around him. "I knew I'd see you again!"
A smile broke the Captain's face. He hadn't smiled like this in almost a month. A group of tears ran down his cheeks as he comforted her and stroked her hair like he always did. "My beautiful Sally." He gasped. "Oh baby."
She looked up at him with watery sapphire eyes. "You'll never leave me again?"
"I'll be with you..."
"...until your dying breath! I love you so much!" She kissed him with such energy that it caught him off-guard.
"Uh... Chris..." NICOLE said.
He didn't hear her. The young man kissed his fiancée back, and ran his hands up and down her back. "I've been dreaming about you for weeks. I've wanted to see you again! No more waiting, we need to get... married."
He looked at her left hand, and immediately released the Princess.
"Christopher, what's wrong?"
"Where's your ring?"
Sally looked shocked. "What ring? What are you talking about?"
"THE RING I GAVE YOU! THE GOLDEN ENGAGEMENT RING! I told you that I would spend the rest of my life with you! WHERE IS IT?"
"You're scaring me?"
"She's not Sally." Chris reasoned.
"Bingo." NICOLE agreed.
"You have been observant. This is not the woman you are in love with. She is a projection of your mind that has been altered by the Geas." The Librarian lost all trace of warmth and maternal tone. "The test is one of resolve. Kill her."
That made Chris double take. "Wh—kill her?"
"If you want the Cypher, you will complete the test."
His hand felt heavy. In his hand was a bar. His fingers wrapped around it and a blade of energy flashed to life.
"I can't."
"You will. You will not leave otherwise."
"Dead or alive?"
The Librarian's fragment stood there, features hidden by bright light. "I will not kill you, and here you cannot die. You will be forced to carry out the task, no matter how long it takes."
NICOLE whispered to Chris, "Listen to me, Christopher. You need to do this. She isn't really Sally."
"I know." he said. "I still can't do it. She's done nothing wrong!"
"Be a man! Do it!" NICOLE hissed. "Are you a Marine, or a little boy afraid to get his hands dirty! Grow a pair and get it over with!"
I can't believe it. I'm getting told off by an AI. He sighed sadly and nodded. "OK. I'll do it. I'll do it." He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the sword. He turned around and walked slowly towards Sally.
"Christopher? What are you doing?"
He didn't say anything. There was a look of determination in his eye that would have frozen anyone in their tracks.
"Wh... what's that in your hand?"
The phantom of the Librarian hovered nearby, silently observing the young man's progress.
"No! DON'T DO IT! DON'T DO IT! I LOVE YOU!"
Another tear fell from his eye. Even though he knew the woman in front of him was nothing more than an illusion, he felt horrified that he was going to do this act. "Don't cry." He said quietly. "This won't hurt at all." He raised the sword and prepared to jab.
"NO!"
He was thrown off his feet onto the concrete street. When he looked back towards Sally, she was enveloped in fire. Her eyes were burning white with fury. She was pacing towards him with such anger that debris fell from the buildings and the sky turned crimson red.
"I thought you LOVED ME! I thought you CARED ABOUT ME!"
Chris backed up, afraid of the conjuration that was advancing towards him. She sent a bolt of fire towards him.
"NICOLE, suggestions?"
"You're on your own here, man."
"Sally! I love you! I do more than anything in the world, but I need to do this!"
"YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELF!" The illusion said. "YOU WOULD RATHER KILL ME TO SAVE YOUR OWN SKIN!"
"It's not for me!" He was running out of excuses to slow her down. He needed a way to get the advantage. "It's for us! The real us! Please! You can help save the entire galaxy!"
"Nobody meant as much to me as you!" The fire cooled to a dull red. "You were my knight! You were my hero! You gave me what Sonic couldn't! Now you want to throw that away!"
Her eyes changed back. The fire disappeared. "Stay with me here forever. You know nothing can hurt us here. You'll be safe with me."
The landscape changed again. They were in a lavish bedroom. A four poster was behind him with red velvet curtains and pillows.
"I want to be safe with you. I want to be with you and no-one else." Chris said, realizing that he had her now. "Forget everyone else. I don't know what I was thinking. I want you."
There was a tone in the illusion that seemed like she felt loved. "Really?"
"I mean it." Chris cooed.
The fire was gone. Sally was back to her normal self and had fallen into his arms. "Thank you." She said. "Thank you so much."
"I'd do anything for you, my love." He said in such a voice that he convinced himself of his honesty. "I want you to feel like no other woman in the world."
He kissed her neck. Even though this was a false image, he felt the warmth of her skin and the gentle pulse of her heart. She gasped in pleasure. "More." She cried. "I want more."
He lowered her onto the bed and she closed her eyes. "I want you to do anything you want to me."
"You've got it." He slammed the sword into her abdomen.
Sally gasped. Her eyes shot open and started to jitter in their sockets. Her mouth was agape in horror. The energy sword was jutting out of her body in the air. Before anything else happened, the landscape changed once more back to the green meadow, only it was night-time. Two moons hung in the sky illuminating the field. The dying Sally was in the shade of the giant tree, jittering in pain and shock.
"You... you...! How could you...!" She sobbed. She coughed, and a bit of blood stained her chest fur. "What did you do?"
"I'm so sorry." Christopher said. "Jesus, I'm so sorry. Forgive me! I needed to pass this test. I... didn't want..."
Tears fell from her eyes into the soil. "I loved you." She said weeping. "I loved you..." She cried for a few more minutes before losing consciousness. All the while he watched as she coughed up blood, bled, and shook violently before finally she died.
He just knelt there and looked at her defeated frame. What did he do? He killed her. He sat there and watched her die without doing the damnedest thing to save her. What would that have solved? He just looked at her body once more and then lost it. He cried out into the night with ferocity. He fell to the ground beside her and looked at her beautiful face. Her eyes were closed in such a way that it didn't look like she was in pain.
This entire thing was a farce. He thought that Forerunners were supposed to preserve life; not to take it.
Even though this was a projection of his mind, this was real to him, and he felt just as heartbroken as if the real Sally had died in front of him. He caressed her face and kissed her once on the forehead. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! For Christ's sake, I wish there was another way!"
Her eyes then opened slowly. Chris gasped in surprise and backed away.
"You've passed the test." She said with a smile that was stained wth her blood. "You did what needed to be done. Sacrifice few to save many. You've proven yourself worthy of the Cypher."
"I... I killed you!"
"You killed what you thought was true." The illusion said. "You may access the data." She reached out and stroked his face once before fading away into bright light.
"You did it!" NICOLE said. "I can't believe that happened!"
"Me neither." Chris concluded.
The Librarian hovered, pleased with the outcome. "My dear hamanune. The test was to face what you loved most. Would you be willing to sacrifice the one thing that mattered to you to save trillions? As the test shows, you are. Behold, the Cipher."
The pressure on his skull returned, but with more ferocity than ever. He felt burning pain and couldn't keep in his head. He saw symbols and numbers in different languages. He saw visions of distant worlds and what looked like a gigantic black hole. That was it. The galaxy bomb was a gigantic black hole that would release energy at the speed and intensity of the Halo Array, but on a scale of destruction far, far worse.
He fell to his knees. The knowledge was overwhelming.
"What do you see?" NICOLE asked.
"I see alien letters... numbers... things that aren't mine, but I remember them as if I saw them yesterday. I see planets... moons, a nebula... a supermassive black hole." When all was finished, He looked at the Librarian, but took a second to find his voice. "I am ready to proceed."
"Hamanune, all that remains to be seen is how you reach the device. You have the Cipher and you have the strength needed to go the distance. I wish you luck and give you my blessing. This concludes my program, Human. Do our memories proud and I hope that there are no hard feelings between our two races."
"Sure, why not?"
"Program ending. Returning to hub."
Chris felt his skin ionize again and felt himself falling. Down the long tube he tumbled until he felt he was impacting the ground with incredible force. Then, he woke up.
May 19th, 3239, 1345 hours
Installation 05, Substance System
The Library
"You know, I still don't know why you're even helping us, Chief." Chris said.
"Lieutenant." The Spartan corrected.
"I see. Congratulations by the way. You didn't answer my question: why are you helping us?"
Kim nodded. "Yeah, I'm curious too. Aren't these guys terrorists?"
John exhaled. "Something's not right. None of our reports indicated accomplices. They always assumed you were working alone."
"I was with him the whole time." Hera noted. "Ever since we left Mobius."
"Indeed. I've looked up your record, Captain. As of 1400 hours on May 11th of this year, you have been stripped of your rank and your honors. You are no longer a member of the UNSC Marine Corps. You don't even have a campaign medal to your name. You're effectively a terrorist."
The young man stayed silent. He knew his career was done, but he mustered as much dignity as there was left in him. "Well go on. How did things get messed up?"
"When I checked your files, it said that you had no flight experience whatsoever, and no training with weaponry like that that destroyed the Elijah Jones. Yet you were able to outrun the military vessels that pursued you. You were also on a royal freighter. I checked the tags."
"You know Spartan, he didn't get away without help."
"That's your AI companion, correct?" John asked.
Chris projected NICOLE. She looked the warrior over. "Nice armor. I see the Navy reconfigured the design."
The Lieutenant didn't say anything. "Actually, I called your bluff. I wasn't anticipating the AI. If it weren't for that, you would be over my shoulder with ten broken ribs."
"And when it comes to a Spartan and injuries, you guys don't mess around." The young Human said seriously.
"What can we say?" Armand chuckled. "We do a clean job."
"You would have never seen us coming." Kim admitted.
"Stow it, Spartans." The Lieutenant said.
"What are we supposed to find here?" Kim asked after a few minutes of silence.
"It's supposed to be something called the Cypher. It's most likely Forerunner."
That made sense to John. Why else would they be in this place? For a second, John considered apprehending the disgraced Marine and bringing him to the Cypher chamber. But what would that solve? This man wouldn't respond to torture, and he might accidentally kill him. That would be a direct violation of his orders. Still, something wasn't right here, and it was overriding all of his military training. "Of course... It's been some time since I've been here."
"Were you on this ring?" Hera asked.
"Not exactly. I was on the first Halo we found after Reach fell. I was running around the Library with the Monitor."
"Oh. I see." Chris said. He was hesitant to tell John about 2401. He knew from military history that the Spartan II did fight on Delta Halo. Despite what the Chief told him, Chris still didn't trust this man. He knew that he had gone through enough: murder, false charges, a government conspiracy, world-shaking mysteries, stripped of his rank, and above all, a nervous fiancée. ONI may have just sent John to lull him into a false sense of security or humiliate him one more time before apprehending him.
"Roan, are you reading me?"
"Loud and clear. What's going on?"
"We're closing on your position. Whatever you do, don't raise your weapons."
"May I ask why?"
"We have Spartans with us."
"... say that one more time, Human?" Jackson asked.
"Just sit tight. We'll be there in ten minutes."
Outside of the Library, the Hunter escort ship was hovering close to the hole made by the Spartans in the Library's walls. Inside of the ship, the leaders of these drugged supersoldiers paced impatiently.
"How long?" one of them asked. Whatever light there gleamed off their shaved heads and bulging muscles, barely kept in place by tight black T-shirts.
"Too long. They have not checked in."
"Call them."
"No. It is their mission."
"The Stalkers are growing impatient."
"I understand! Just give them more time!"
"Lieutenant! I am giving you a direct order! You will stand down and let me contact the Spartans."
The Hunter Lieutenant glared at his superior with dark eyes. He set his jaw and stood up from his console. "Access, Major."
The superior Hunter smiled and sat down at the control panel.
"Spartans, answer me."
Kim snarled. "Great. Progress report time."
"This is Spartan 117." John said. "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Spartan 117, what is your status?"
John said the first thing that sounded logical. "We are in pursuit."
"You have been in pursuit for hours now! Why haven't you captured the fugitive?"
"He's fled into the bowels of the facility. We need to find his location through a console."
"That will no longer be necessary. We are deploying the Stalkers to aid you in your mission. Stand by for support."
"That is unnecessary! I can complete the mission!"
"My orders are absolute, Spartan 117! Stand by for backup!"
"Yes sir." John said. He closed down the COM. "Alright, our time has just run dangerously low. I'll take point. the Captain and Hera are center. Kim and Armand bring up the rear. Let's get to that room people!"
"Aye-aye, Lieutenant." Chris said.
"Do you believe them? Are you sure they haven't turned on us?" the Sergeant asked.
"For what reason? Spartans are loyal to the UNSC. We are in no danger." He looked at his subordinate and arced an eyebrow. "I think it is time we released the Stalkers."
"They are impatient." The Sergeant said with an evil smile.
Below the dropship, a magnetic clamp holding a cargo container unlatched, and the box fell and smashed on the ancient landing pad. From the wreckage, twisted shadows of men crawled about and mumbled maniacally. Their metallic limbs whined as actuators pulled them up with great strength. Some roared as they became free. Their voices had been destroyed by the synthesizer put over their mouths, and their feral nature just served even worse.
They had no other desire than to rip the flesh from someone's bones. Chemicals and Rumbledrugs pumped into their system told them to find a way inside, since that's where they could kill. Stalkers weren't smart enough to climb up ropes or tethers, meaning that the first place they went was the shield door.
With the intelligence of an ox, the lead stalker cried a shrill note and charged forward, impacting on the door with the force of a car. The Stalker seemed to jitter wildly and then was thrown back into the wreckage of the cargo container. It thrashed and then stopped moving. The other Stalkers roared and threw themselves at the door in anger. They were all shocked with this strange device. They were trapped though and the Hunter Commander knew it.
"This is painful to watch. We need to get them up to another doorway."
Using a transceiver, the Hunters relayed orders to the Stalkers, to which the creatures listened intently. They moved back to the ship into the cargo bay where they were dropped originally. Once secured aboard, the craft lifted into the air and started moving around the facility.
"There must be a way. The Forerunners had multiple entrances through their facilities."
"They are all sealed." The Commander reported. "We can only get in through the access hatch." He called to the pilot. "Bring us up to where the Spartans entered. Send in the Stalkers, and then let Bushmann follow them in. Ensure he is provided with a weapon.
The Spartans hadn't sealed their entry point, meaning that the Hunter Killers had a way into the facility. The Stalkers leapt from the open cargo doors and onto the catwalk. One tripped and fell over the side. It wasn't a scream that came from the tortured soul, but more of a groan, as he would never have the chance to kill or maim his target. The others didn't bat an eyelash and entered the halls of the Library.
Bushmann entered last, armed with an assault rifle and an armor suit. He tapped his wrist and an energy shield popped into place around him. "This is Seven. I am in. Pull back and await further contact."
"Viper copies all, Seven. Pulling back now. Good luck."
Bushmann cracked his neck. His beefy muscles rippled in this one simple motion. He took off at a brisk run to catch up to the impatient Stalkers.
"Reclaimers!" 2401 said cheerfully. "It does my heart good to see you well and heading towards your goal!"
John unlimbered his assault rifle and aimed it at the Monitor. Amir and Kim did so too before anybody could blink.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Hera said, utterly shocked. "What's going on here?"
"John... put the gun down. He's a friend."
Where have I heard that before? The Spartan thought. "Not this time." He said solemnly.
2401 blissfully looked at the supersoldiers and then to the Captain. "Have I offended someone?"
"No funny stuff, Lite Brite!" Kim growled, ears folded to the side of her head.
"Funny? I am not aware..." the AI said. Then, he hovered closer to the Spartan. John backed off carefully. "Unless my circuitry is amiss, I believe that I have seen you before."
"A couple m..." John said, before realizing where he was again. "It was a long time ago. The Gravemind had you in its grasp."
"The Gravemind!" Chris cried out. He suddenly stepped towards John. "You think he's been corrupted?"
"I don't know. Get behind me."
Abigail followed the young man behind the mass of armor. "Chris, what's going on?"
"The Gravemind; the leader of the Flood had this AI at its mercy."
The AI actually sighed. "What an absolutely deplorable ordeal that was! Utterly dreadful. The Infestation delayed the activation of the Installation. After all that time, I was held short. Eventually, I was notified that all actions regarding Outbreak Protocol was to be terminated following the shutdown of the Installation."
"Poor guy was out of a job." Amir said.
"Remember Spartan, this 'job' was to destroy all complex life in the galaxy!" NICOLE warned.
"How can I explain Protocol when everyone objects!" 2401 said angrily.
Chris tried to reason with the Lieutenant. "Spartan, I understand you've had issues with AI in the past, and 2401 may have had a few screws loose in the past, but he's really on our side. He just wants to be useful again."
The AI just hovered there still looking at John, who held his gun unwavering, waging a mental war in his head. Then, the helmet cocked and the rifle lowered. "Stand down, Spartans." He ordered. Kim and Amir stowed their weapons. "You're off the hook, but if you so much so much as send a Sentinel after us, I will blow you out of the sky."
"Your rage is misplaced, Reclaimer." 2401 said. "Your weapon will not do much damage to me otherwise. My defensive systems can overcome you. If you are adamant to try, I suggest upgrading your Class 2 Combat Skin to-"
"Not again. Let's move out, people!"
The Stalkers galloped through the Library. They screamed in delight as the scent of their prey grew stronger. Out of the corners of their eyes, they could see other people. They were not the targets, and shouldn't be killed. At least unless they were ordered to.
Suddenly, one saw movement out of the corner of their eye. They screamed in delight and turned to meet a frightened man who cowered against the wall. "What are you?" He said horrified.
"UNSC." the Hunter said honestly. "Who are you?"
"I'm Darren, from the village nearby."
"Do you recognize this man?" The Hunter tapped his wrist device and a holographic representation of the Captain appeared.
"Yeah! He and that rabbit girl saved our village!"
"Viper, this is Seven. Can you confirm subject description?"
"Seven, Viper. We confirm. Subject description matches based on the Hunter Killer teams dispatched to Talahan."
"Did you see anyone else?" Bushmann asked.
"No. Just those two. What's going on here?"
"Stay calm. Your village will be processed soon."
"Processed? What?" Before he could say another word, a Stalker pounced on him and slammed his head into the ground, screeching in satisfaction.
Bushmann ordered them on. It was likely he would catch his prey by cornering them. The Library was a big place and it was likely they would be trapped somewhere. The Hunter was a little disturbed by the behaviour of his Stalkers. They seemed too happy for an occasion like this. The bloodlust in their eyes was palpable. It was if they were kept in a room for months with nothing but their nutritional chemicals to keep them alive. Upon release, they would be insane – more so than they were now. He supposed that it was a way of making sure your soldiers would so anything, even if it was to tear them limb from limb. The lead Stalker hooted. They were really getting close.
"CAPTAIN!" Jackson said with her gun raised.
"What the HELL is going on here?" Amir said, outraged. "Who are you?"
"Allen Roan and Samantha Jackson" the other Human. "Vanguard Private Security Forces."
More accomplices, the Lieutenant thought. "Did this man contract your services?"
"No." Samantha answered. "Our orders came straight from CEO Gustoff."
Kim looked like she couldn't take anymore. "Conspiracies, terrorism, and now a PMC CEO is in on the whole thing? Sir, I say we just shoot them and get it over with!"
"Negative!" the Spartan barked. "There will be NO shooting! Kim, check yourself, or you will be relieved of your weapon! Armand, make sure she's under control!"
Chris still asserted his command although he had been disgraced. "I'd like to add that the sooner that we're here bitching, the quicker that reinforcements will be right behind us."
Kim's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh you have no idea."
A shriek filled the still air. Everyone jumped.
"That's our cue to move, guys!" Chris said urgently. "Jackson, Roan! Did you find the chamber?"
"Just inside." Allen said. He took out his ancient 1911 replica and inserted a magazine. "Just in case."
"I hope we don't have to use those." Hera added. "Spartans, let's get inside."
Jackson and Roan were guarding a door about eight feet high and five feet across. Energy field emitters sat unused, which indicated that 2401 had deactivated the aperture. The Captain ordered everyone inside. The Spartans even nodded in agreement and passed through the gate. Chris looked back into the mists of the Library and followed his company.
The hallway they were in was long and seemingly never-ending. Every now and then, a faint blue light would pulse along the length of the tunnel for some unknown purpose.
"What's that?" Samantha asked.
"A minor subsystem, nothing of consequence." 2401 said in a bit of a dismissive tone.
Uh huh, sure. Anything minor on this ring has the potential to level cities. The Captain thought. He had never been on a Halo before, but he knew that the Forerunners were not to be fucked with, no matter where you met them.
The hallway then led to the most amazing thing any of them had ever seen. It was a room, but at the same time it seemed like another plane of existence entirely. They were standing in what seemed like a void, peppered with millions of stars of all colors and sizes. In the 'distance', a galaxy twirled in space. It might have been the Milky Way.
Then it changed. They were standing in the eye of a hurricane blowing over an unknown ocean. All around them, chaotic wind and lightning reigned, but a glance upward revealed a beautiful blue sky with a golden sun shining on them. A poetic juxtaposition crafted by the Forerunners' mind boggling machines.
"So... where the hell are we?" Kim asked. "Where's the door?"
They looked around and indeed could not find the door they came in.
"Hang tight people. I'm doing a scan of the room." NICOLE reported. She said a second later, "Well, good news: the room is only about two hundred feet wide at its longest point, it's roughly semi-spherical with the roof above us."
"But what is this place?" John asked, mesmerized.
"This is the Extraction Chamber." 2401 said gleefully. "Lifeworkers utilized chambers like this frequently to examine the treasures of the mind! At last our journey is complete! I am glad we have taken this time together!" The AI buzzed around the room. "It has been some time since I was here, prior to the initial activation of the facility!"
"Over a hundred thousand years ago." Spartan 117 said. He wondered to himself as to whether this room was on the fist Halo he was at.
"What are these images?" Major Hera asked.
"These represent memories of the previous occupants of this room. My creators stored memories for future generations to study. Far away planets, natural phenomena, flora and fauna, criminal investigations; all of these memories were extracted in rooms like these, and examined by many in preparation for the activation of the array!"
"...and over the past hundred millennia they've just been sitting here." Chris reasoned. "Jesus Christ. Is that a Black Hole?"
The image shifted again. They were standing on an event horizon of a black hole. The monster was just there, absorbing matter into infinity. It was a beautiful thing to witness; nobody would have gotten this close to seeing anything similar without getting pulled in. Twin jets of energy blasted out of the monster into space. A comet strayed too close to the black hole and stretched like putty into the infinitely dense core.
"Aurora protect me." Kim said in awe.
"Someone should take a picture. It'll last longer."
"Done." John chuckled. Actually chuckled.
The moment wore off, and they were back to questioning 2401. "Enough of these memories!" Chris demanded. "I have hundreds of men after me that want me DEAD. Can you tell me how to get this god damned Cipher out of my head?"
2401 just looked at the Captain for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a pedestal rise from nothingness. He walked over to see it. Two holographic displays flickered to life. Alien characters spread across the displays. "What do I do?"
A screech pierced everyone's ears.
"You better hurry up, Human." NICOLE said. "We're running out of time!" Everyone else took up defensive positions and waited for the worst to come. Samantha hung back due to her leg and inserted a magazine into her rifle. "We'll keep them busy for as long as we can." She said.
"Nobody's getting killed over this." The young man said. "Once I'm finished, we give ourselves up."
"No!" Abigail cried. "You can't do that! They'll take it from you and kill you!"
"They need me now." He said. "Follow my orders, and give me some cover while I get this machine working. Lieutenant!"
"Yes, sir."
Chris noticed that he referred to him as sir. He truly was in command once more, and it felt good.
"The basics of the mechanism are simple, Reclaimer." Penitent Tangent said. "Place your palm on this pad."
He did as told. His hand felt resistance as it touched the light. "OK, now what?"
"Relax."
"Seriously?"
"I suppose so. The machine is scanning you." The AI said.
Chris then felt an intense pressure in his brain. His skull began to feel compressed. "Is... this part of the ride?"
The AI remained silent. He then said, "The Construct is complete. Stand by."
The pain in his skull was gone, and his skin felt like it was electrically charged. When he opened his eyes, he was in a meadow. Birds sang in the distance, and there was a sweet summer breeze kissing his cheek. He breathed deep, and sighed happily. He was safe here.
"FIRE AT WILL!" Hera called. They sprayed the tunnel with gunshots. Stalkers fell rapidly as they absorbed bullets. They fired in accurate pulses. Allen used his 1911 which fired a massive .45 caliber shot.
One of the Stalkers got close to Hera who swiped it with the butt of her rifle. She heard the sick sound of bones snapping, but her eyes widened in shock when she saw the beast turn its head and look at her with its neck bent at nearly 90 degrees. She screamed and fired at it until her magazine ran dry.
Two Stalkers charged at Armand, but he was ready for them. He slammed both fists onto their heads which took them out of action immediately. Their inertia knocked him over. Kim offered him her hand.
"Need some help, partner?"
"Shut up."
As soon as a muscly Hunter entered the room, The Spartans stopped firing and grabbed the hands of the unarmored Human and Mobians.
"Hey, what the HELL!" Allen roared.
"We thought you were on OUR side!" Samantha said baring her teeth and growling.
"You thought we were on your side." John solemnly said. "Never underestimate your enemy." He kept Abigail's arms locked behind her arms. "On the authority of the United Nations Space Command and the Office of Naval Intelligence, I am placing you under arrest.
Bushmann nodded. "Excellent work. Spartan."
Suddenly, Hera heard a buzz in her COM set. "Don't struggle. Don't make eye contact with me. Just look at Bushmann." Hera felt a gauntleted hand squeeze her shoulder. She knew that he had the power to shatter her shoulder bones. The squeeze felt deliberately soft. Reassuring. She stole glances towards the other Spartans and their prisoners. They were looking straight at the Hunter.
Then a moment of shock registered on Bushmann's face. "Wait. Where is he?"
Jackson looked around, and then smiled sweetly. "Where's who?"
The Hunter could have screamed all he wanted, but it wouldn't change the fact that all that was in the room was ten Stalkers, three Spartans, three prisoners, and one empty pedestal among the stars.
The meadow seemed to go on forever. There were mountains in the distance, but they were so far away. Where was he? He looked into the sky for a clue, but there was nothing but a single ringed moon or larger planet and a white yellow star.
He wandered around in the knee high grass. He found a couple ponds with animals bathing themselves. A cute looking animal with feathers, three eyes and a tail was washing itself.
He had to get his concentration back. Wherever he was, he was here for a reason.
He glanced at his belt. NICOLE was still there.
"Can you hear me?"
"This is paradise." NICOLE said. "This is absolute beauty. Chris, I want to see it."
He retrieved the computer and projected NICOLE, who saw the sky, the grass and the mountains. "There's nothing on Mobius like it." She said. "Not even the Great Plains has anything that compares to this."
"So is this real or fake?"
NICOLE sighed and waved her arms. "Everything that I'm getting tells me that this place is, in fact real."
"You have arrived."
Chris wheeled around. Out of nowhere, a tree stretching into the clouds appeared. Standing beneath the branches was a figure made of light. It made Christopher nervous, and he backed away for a second.
"Do not be afraid. Come forward, my child."
"Who are you?"
"I am all that remains of the Librarian, the guardian of Erde-Tyrene."
"Are you a Forerunner?"
"That is what we were called, yes."
NICOLE asked, "How are you speaking to us? Your language has been dead for hundreds of thousands of years, let alone your race."
"The machine you used to access this geas, it read your memories, and allowed me to speak in a way you would understand."
The fragment of the Librarian kept an even voice and still looked warm and inviting. Chris decided to press the issue. "You know why we're here."
"Indeed. You are here to stop the coming darkness."
"What 'darkness'?"
"Many years ago, the Array that would be used to cleanse the galaxy was deactivated. It was decided that should this happen, a device would be placed in the center of this galaxy that would destroy everything as a last resort."
Chris nodded. "You're talking about the Halos then. I thought they were the weapons of last resort."
"They were; yes." The fragment said. "However, our leaders thought that it was not enough. When the Array was deactivated, it started a countdown. For nearly a millennium this countdown has been slowly progressing, and soon the device will detonate, sterilizing the galaxy forever."
"How could you come up with such a device?" NICOLE cried out. "You're committing genocide!"
"It would be better to die by the quick hands of the device than fall prey to the Flood."
"Your people died for nothing. The Flood returned after you activated the Array." Chris said.
"Would you do the same thing in our place?" The Librarian's fragment asked. "My sweet hamanune. It is a decision that I don't expect you to understand. For now, you must stop the apocalypse that we engineered."
"You hid information in the Chaos Emeralds. Jewels of great power"
"The Emeralds were the key and were innumerable at their height. Various crystals of our people were used as data storage and power devices."
"Wait, the Chaos Emeralds were just batteries?" NICOLE said shocked. "Jesus Christ."
"Among other things. Geas were planted in the Emeralds for the Humans, our heirs, to find. Here you are."
"What is the Cypher?" the Human demanded.
"The Cypher is key for stopping the device. I would tell you, but there is a block."
"A block?" NICOLE asked.
"A firewall in my programming that prevents me from giving you the Cipher. There is a test."
"A test?" NICOLE asked.
"And I forgot to study." Chris joked.
The environment changed in an instant. The meadow was gone, and he found himself on a ruined city street. He recognized it as New Mombasa where he fought four years ago.
"I remember this." He said.
"So do I." NICOLE added. "Where's the Overmind or the Zerg?"
"I guess they weren't important here."
"This was a vision created by your subconscious. You were faced with a traumatic event here, and it is your own fear that is blocking what you seek."
"So, how do I get the key then? Stop being afraid?"
"It is a test of your resolve."
"My love!"
He nearly jumped and looked down the street. There, with a huge smile across her face was Sally. Tears were running down her cheeks as she ran towards him. She was dressed in her boots and vest, which seemed odd considering the setting.
"My beautiful, beautiful Human!" She wrapped her arms around him. "I knew I'd see you again!"
A smile broke the Captain's face. He hadn't smiled like this in almost a month. A group of tears ran down his cheeks as he comforted her and stroked her hair like he always did. "My beautiful Sally." He gasped. "Oh baby."
She looked up at him with watery sapphire eyes. "You'll never leave me again?"
"I'll be with you..."
"...until your dying breath! I love you so much!" She kissed him with such energy that it caught him off-guard.
"Uh... Chris..." NICOLE said.
He didn't hear her. The young man kissed his fiancée back, and ran his hands up and down her back. "I've been dreaming about you for weeks. I've wanted to see you again! No more waiting, we need to get... married."
He looked at her left hand, and immediately released the Princess.
"Christopher, what's wrong?"
"Where's your ring?"
Sally looked shocked. "What ring? What are you talking about?"
"THE RING I GAVE YOU! THE GOLDEN ENGAGEMENT RING! I told you that I would spend the rest of my life with you! WHERE IS IT?"
"You're scaring me?"
"She's not Sally." Chris reasoned.
"Bingo." NICOLE agreed.
"You have been observant. This is not the woman you are in love with. She is a projection of your mind that has been altered by the Geas." The Librarian lost all trace of warmth and maternal tone. "The test is one of resolve. Kill her."
That made Chris double take. "Wh—kill her?"
"If you want the Cypher, you will complete the test."
His hand felt heavy. In his hand was a bar. His fingers wrapped around it and a blade of energy flashed to life.
"I can't."
"You will. You will not leave otherwise."
"Dead or alive?"
The Librarian's fragment stood there, features hidden by bright light. "I will not kill you, and here you cannot die. You will be forced to carry out the task, no matter how long it takes."
NICOLE whispered to Chris, "Listen to me, Christopher. You need to do this. She isn't really Sally."
"I know." he said. "I still can't do it. She's done nothing wrong!"
"Be a man! Do it!" NICOLE hissed. "Are you a Marine, or a little boy afraid to get his hands dirty! Grow a pair and get it over with!"
I can't believe it. I'm getting told off by an AI. He sighed sadly and nodded. "OK. I'll do it. I'll do it." He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the sword. He turned around and walked slowly towards Sally.
"Christopher? What are you doing?"
He didn't say anything. There was a look of determination in his eye that would have frozen anyone in their tracks.
"Wh... what's that in your hand?"
The phantom of the Librarian hovered nearby, silently observing the young man's progress.
"No! DON'T DO IT! DON'T DO IT! I LOVE YOU!"
Another tear fell from his eye. Even though he knew the woman in front of him was nothing more than an illusion, he felt horrified that he was going to do this act. "Don't cry." He said quietly. "This won't hurt at all." He raised the sword and prepared to jab.
"NO!"
He was thrown off his feet onto the concrete street. When he looked back towards Sally, she was enveloped in fire. Her eyes were burning white with fury. She was pacing towards him with such anger that debris fell from the buildings and the sky turned crimson red.
"I thought you LOVED ME! I thought you CARED ABOUT ME!"
Chris backed up, afraid of the conjuration that was advancing towards him. She sent a bolt of fire towards him.
"NICOLE, suggestions?"
"You're on your own here, man."
"Sally! I love you! I do more than anything in the world, but I need to do this!"
"YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELF!" The illusion said. "YOU WOULD RATHER KILL ME TO SAVE YOUR OWN SKIN!"
"It's not for me!" He was running out of excuses to slow her down. He needed a way to get the advantage. "It's for us! The real us! Please! You can help save the entire galaxy!"
"Nobody meant as much to me as you!" The fire cooled to a dull red. "You were my knight! You were my hero! You gave me what Sonic couldn't! Now you want to throw that away!"
Her eyes changed back. The fire disappeared. "Stay with me here forever. You know nothing can hurt us here. You'll be safe with me."
The landscape changed again. They were in a lavish bedroom. A four poster was behind him with red velvet curtains and pillows.
"I want to be safe with you. I want to be with you and no-one else." Chris said, realizing that he had her now. "Forget everyone else. I don't know what I was thinking. I want you."
There was a tone in the illusion that seemed like she felt loved. "Really?"
"I mean it." Chris cooed.
The fire was gone. Sally was back to her normal self and had fallen into his arms. "Thank you." She said. "Thank you so much."
"I'd do anything for you, my love." He said in such a voice that he convinced himself of his honesty. "I want you to feel like no other woman in the world."
He kissed her neck. Even though this was a false image, he felt the warmth of her skin and the gentle pulse of her heart. She gasped in pleasure. "More." She cried. "I want more."
He lowered her onto the bed and she closed her eyes. "I want you to do anything you want to me."
"You've got it." He slammed the sword into her abdomen.
Sally gasped. Her eyes shot open and started to jitter in their sockets. Her mouth was agape in horror. The energy sword was jutting out of her body in the air. Before anything else happened, the landscape changed once more back to the green meadow, only it was night-time. Two moons hung in the sky illuminating the field. The dying Sally was in the shade of the giant tree, jittering in pain and shock.
"You... you...! How could you...!" She sobbed. She coughed, and a bit of blood stained her chest fur. "What did you do?"
"I'm so sorry." Christopher said. "Jesus, I'm so sorry. Forgive me! I needed to pass this test. I... didn't want..."
Tears fell from her eyes into the soil. "I loved you." She said weeping. "I loved you..." She cried for a few more minutes before losing consciousness. All the while he watched as she coughed up blood, bled, and shook violently before finally she died.
He just knelt there and looked at her defeated frame. What did he do? He killed her. He sat there and watched her die without doing the damnedest thing to save her. What would that have solved? He just looked at her body once more and then lost it. He cried out into the night with ferocity. He fell to the ground beside her and looked at her beautiful face. Her eyes were closed in such a way that it didn't look like she was in pain.
This entire thing was a farce. He thought that Forerunners were supposed to preserve life; not to take it.
Even though this was a projection of his mind, this was real to him, and he felt just as heartbroken as if the real Sally had died in front of him. He caressed her face and kissed her once on the forehead. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! For Christ's sake, I wish there was another way!"
Her eyes then opened slowly. Chris gasped in surprise and backed away.
"You've passed the test." She said with a smile that was stained wth her blood. "You did what needed to be done. Sacrifice few to save many. You've proven yourself worthy of the Cypher."
"I... I killed you!"
"You killed what you thought was true." The illusion said. "You may access the data." She reached out and stroked his face once before fading away into bright light.
"You did it!" NICOLE said. "I can't believe that happened!"
"Me neither." Chris concluded.
The Librarian hovered, pleased with the outcome. "My dear hamanune. The test was to face what you loved most. Would you be willing to sacrifice the one thing that mattered to you to save trillions? As the test shows, you are. Behold, the Cipher."
The pressure on his skull returned, but with more ferocity than ever. He felt burning pain and couldn't keep in his head. He saw symbols and numbers in different languages. He saw visions of distant worlds and what looked like a gigantic black hole. That was it. The galaxy bomb was a gigantic black hole that would release energy at the speed and intensity of the Halo Array, but on a scale of destruction far, far worse.
He fell to his knees. The knowledge was overwhelming.
"What do you see?" NICOLE asked.
"I see alien letters... numbers... things that aren't mine, but I remember them as if I saw them yesterday. I see planets... moons, a nebula... a supermassive black hole." When all was finished, He looked at the Librarian, but took a second to find his voice. "I am ready to proceed."
"Hamanune, all that remains to be seen is how you reach the device. You have the Cipher and you have the strength needed to go the distance. I wish you luck and give you my blessing. This concludes my program, Human. Do our memories proud and I hope that there are no hard feelings between our two races."
"Sure, why not?"
"Program ending. Returning to hub."
Chris felt his skin ionize again and felt himself falling. Down the long tube he tumbled until he felt he was impacting the ground with incredible force. Then, he woke up.
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