AN: This was sort of an experimental thing I did for fun. I'm not claiming I made any of this up. I was really taken by the story, so I wanted to write it down. I got the idea when I read the book Halo: The Flood which was just a novelization of the game Halo: Combat Evolved. I wanted to post this up to get feedback. I'm not sure if was the best place to post it. People may think there's no point to write it if I'm copying the storyline, but if someone else wrote down what happened when they played, I'd be interested in reading it too. If I'm into it, I figured that at least one person would be too, I mean, there are people who actually think the world is flat to this day!

Chapter 1: Birthday

All I knew at that moment was that a minute ago, I was somewhere small, organic, warm and dark. Now I was somewhere big, surrounded by blinding lights and cold, soulless metal. Before I had heard the soothing sound of a heartbeat, but now it had transformed into a steady beeping noise. I didn't like this at all, so I did the only thing I could. I began to wail and cry.

There was one figure in front of me. Touching me with chilly, gloved hands. Then another figure appears behind them, peering over their shoulder to look at me. I couldn't see either of their faces because of the bright light behind them.

"Let's see... Are you a boy or a girl?" said the one in the back. The one holding me said something to him quietly.

"It's a girl?" said the one in the back. "A girl! We've got a daughter, Catherine! A beautiful, healthy baby girl!" He was talking to another person that was there that I hadn't noticed yet. From where I was, I could only see her leg. The person that had been holding me put me down on something soft and stepped away.

"Oh... Oh James... We did it..." she said. "A daughter... Our beautiful daughter..." she said.

"You've got a bright future ahead of you, sweetie. I'm sure of it..." he said to me. "Look at you, look at you... Hi, there. I'm your daddy, sweetheart. Daddy." He came up close to me, but I still couldn't see his face because he was wearing a mask. I could only see his eyes. "You're going to need a name, aren't you? Your mother and I have been talking. What do you think about... Kayla? That's a good name. Don't you think? Fits you perfectly."

The person that had held me first came back with some sort of machine. She whispered something to the man again.

"Looks like they've finished the gene projection." he said, wringing his hands. "Let's see what you'll look like when you're all grown up."

I looked at the image. I didn't know what to make of it, of course. He seemed pleased though.

"You're going to look a lot like your dad." he said. He picked me up and tilted me towards the woman, who I still couldn't see. "See that, Catherine?"

"Ohhh... Beautiful, just like her Daddy..." she said with a weak chuckle.

"It's a big world out there, honey, full of all sorts of people. What about you? What kind of person are you going to be?" he said. I didn't know what the sounds he were making meant, or even if they meant anything at all for that matter. But I liked the sounds.

Just then, the beeping in the background became quick and irregular. I didn't like it, and neither did anyone else as it seemed.

"James? James... Something's... Something's..." said the woman. She sounded out of breath.

"Catherine? Catherine!" the man's calm voice became tense and he put me down again. "She's in cardiac arrest! Start compressions! Get the baby out of here! Now! Now!"

The other person wheeled me away as the beeps came closer and closer together. I was crying again, and I hadn't even noticed I had stopped.

"One, one thousand. Two one thousand... Come on! Hang on, Catherine! Hang on..."