A/N:

This story takes place within a larger universe. These characters have had time to get to know each other for years at this point. Characters will make references to events they have gone through that may have little explanation or expansion in this particular document. Also note, these events take place in alternate universes with different character interpretations.

The following story takes place just under a year before "Deception"

Human Nature

July 3238

Chris stood on the top of the massive Manhattan Sea Wall and stared out at the Atlantic Ocean, a cool breeze blowing off the water and kissing his face. It was a nice distraction from the hot and sunny day. The Sea Wall was a good place for him to go and relax, to think, and to take in the beauty of the city. While it was true a good portion of Manhattan lay behind him, the island had increased far further than the wall itself.

In truth, the name was funny. The Manhattan Sea Wall at one time was meant to keep out rising water levels of the late 21st century as well as within the first half of the 22nd, Humanity had controlled the climate through means that would seem rather trivial compared to geoengineering over a thousand years in the future. In the years since, the waters had receded, and indeed more buildings had become common, spreading miles into the ocean, and even the glint of suborbital tethers rising into the sky - crude mockeries of elevators around the equator, like the Millennial Orbital Elevator located in New Mombasa - something he had seen with his own eyes three years prior. Today, the wall stood as a relic of the past that seemed to add to the character of New York, a perimeter of ancient buildings that were just as iconic as the brownstones in the Bronx.

He was not alone of course. The Sea Wall was a public place after all. Dozens of people were around him sitting on benches, having lunch, staring out into the ocean like he was, riding bikes, or chatting with others. There may have been thousands out here today in this section alone.

Of course, there was Sally too.

Sally Acorn, going under her travel name of Sandra Aaron, was not staring out at the ocean, but in the opposite direction, which was back up at the sprawling metropolis of New York City. She traced her finger up and down the gleaming spires of the buildings and thought about how the view would be from the top of every single one. She had grown to love this city so much, even though it was the polar opposite of her own homeworld. From her perch high above the city in their apartment, she had chosen which ones were her favorite. There was the Peterson building, shooting high above Park Avenue, the Lafayette Tower sprawling in Hell's Kitchen, barely visible among the tangle of lights, the UEG government building naturally, at the Northeastern end of Central Park, and the Interstellar Financial Center, a stratoscraper that was as gilded as a gothic church, lined with gleaming bronze that could have been gold.

There were so many buildings. In the four years since she had first set foot on this planet, she had grown to love the noise, the energy, and the sheer breathing mass of Humanity. There were of course, more than just Humans. This was New York after all. She spotted tall graceful Datonians, plumes kept in immaculate condition with heads held high with beaks even to the horizon. She saw the proud Sangheili, still producing a large berth despite the centuries that had passed since the war and despite the largely improved relations. It didn't help when your species stood nearly three feet average higher than an average man. She could swear that she could see its mandibles clicking in amusement. She saw the odd squat Unggoy, mostly as street merchants selling authentic mementos of their frozen world of Balaho. Small puffs of methane escaped their masks, wafting into the atmosphere, generally causing slight sneers from passing tourists not finding the scent of the gas appealing. She even saw one speaking to a police officer, proffering papers with one hand while gesticulating wildly with the other. There were other races too, but not very many. Gallvente, one or two Garim, but no Kig-Yar though, funny enough. It seemed the stereotype had proved true in her experience. A race of shady time-on/time-off criminals.

She saw her own kin too. Mobians. Some were lucky enough to be able to cross over to this new world and some had been able to start new lives on Earth. Some wanted adventure, and some just wanted to leave the troubles of their old world. Many had come from the Kingdom as they had the means of moving. However, she was half worried that some would recognize her. She had habitually started cutting her hair shorter to help her blend in, and she had long ago moved on from her signature vest and boots, preferring a pair of cargoes, black hikers, and a short sleeved shirt. If her time with the Human military had taught her anything, it was that function overrode form. No. Many of these people wouldn't know her after her transformation, even as many Mobians glanced at her, as many travelers often do when they see their own kind on strange roads. They didn't know her scent either. Even if they did, it would be lost in the crowd.

In terms of the general skyline, the Sea Wall stood rather shortly, which forced Chris to contend with the view of Brooklyn to his immediate left. It would have been easier to see this from the One World Trade Center that stood behind him, relatively clear of the modern clutter of buildings. However, he couldn't deny that the view of the Statue of Liberty was calming - a symbol of the city he loved.

Sally looked over at him, smiling. "You know, we've been on this wall a whole bunch of times and I know nothing about it."

"You know it's a sea wall." Chris said glancing over. "It was built a long time ago to make sure water never flooded the city."

"Well I know that." she said shrugging. "New York used to flood a lot?"

"I don't know." Chris said shaking his head. "It must have for them to build this thing. That was, what, eleven hundred years ago? Twelve? Whenever they built this, it must have been for a good reason."

"Well sure." Sally nodded glancing back up at the skyline. She couldn't find another of her favorite buildings, the Everstar Spire, which was somewhere near Riverside Drive. She remembered this building because close by was where her Human studied, the very old but notable Columbia Law School. "The sea levels rose. Was it because of pollution, natural heating and cooling cycles of the Earth, who can say now. But the seas rose, the wall went up, and then the seas went down."

"Yup. Bet it gave us a lot to think about."

"Not really." Sally said with a chuckle. "Look down there. Back on the inside."

Chris pushed up off the rail and followed Sally across the span of the wall to face the interior of the city. Below them on the inner side of the fortification was a harbor. Dozens of small ships were milling about on the water. Hundreds of people far below went up and down the docks, and beyond that were distant surface roads.

"That's Battery Park down there." Sally pointed out, indicating the large growth of trees that hugged what was once the shore of the city. "On Mobius, that would cover all of the Financial District in Old Megaopolis. But look..."

She crossed back to the front of the wall, glancing outwards towards the opening of New York Harbor.

"Parks out here, buildings out where there were none before. Look at Brooklyn. There's barely indication of where your city stops now. One gigantic blanket of city. A little water didn't stop Humanity from spreading out again. I don't know if it's foolish or impressive."

"I like to think the second." Chris said. "I am biased after all."

She chuckled. "How has the world not changed again? After all the advances you made?"

"Well, I know we got good at controlling our environment." he answered quickly. "They taught us in school that we mastered climate control to make sure things never got out of hand. We controlled temperature, air pressure, and we could stop or start storms whenever we needed to. This was back in the 22nd Century. It's how we got ready to leave and spread."

There was a small amount of pride in his voice as he explained his people's history, even a small portion of it. Sally thought it was strange and oddly ironic that Humanity had pulled one over on mother nature and were pulling the strings now.

"We got good." Chris repeated. "We were given a challenge and basically dared to accomplish it. We had our survival on the line and in the end we triumphed. We bent the world to our desires."

Chris took a bottle of water out of the backpack he had brought with him and took a drag on it. He sighed in appreciation. "Let me ask you a question."

"Of course." the Princess responded.

"Would the Mobians have done the same thing?"

One of her ears twitched. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if your world was changing for the worst, if you were dealt a bad hand, would you go out of your way to control your environment to save yourselves. Would you make nature work for you?"

Sally thought about it seriously, tapping a finger to her chin. Her eyes rolled around, accessing parts of her mind to reason the question.

"I don't think so."

Her Human raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, we don't have the means to. We're not as advanced as Humanity."

"For the sake of the argument though." Chris said. "Say you had your technology leapfrog eleven hundred years overnight." he half smiled. "Say you had the ability to terraform a world, any world, would you make nature subservient to you? Would you change wind patterns? Alter temperatures on a whim? Change atmospheric compositions?"

"You're asking if a Mobian would want to... terraform a world? To just spread like that?"

"The ultimate example of land grabbing." Chris spread his hands. "That planet? That's mine." he tapped a point in space. "That planet? That's mine." He tapped another.

She thought about it. She honestly didn't see the problem in expanding the reach of a species, but she was thinking like a Human. Wasn't there more than enough room for everyone on a single planet?

"Probably not."

"OK." he nodded.

"What, just OK?" she asked, somewhat taken aback by the clipped answer.

"Yup." he said nodding once. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, Humans have always wanted to conquer, right?"

"So far as I know." Chris responded.

"Well, I don't think we've been around nearly as long."

He nodded again. "You are kind of special in that regard. Can't think of many races that reached bipedalism in ten generations. Kind of an exclusive club."

She smirked at this and paced a little. "I think it's because we were always on the defensive for our entire existence." She pondered, tapping a finger against her chin. "The Northlanders were always the enemy of the Terra Novans."

"The Northlanders became the Overlanders, and they became your problem."

"Well, it's not as simple as that." Sally answered, the finger now pointing to the sky. "But the Northlanders hated us because the Terra Novans wanted us to live alongside them. You know the Northlanders lost the civil war back then?"

"I remember reading the stories, yeah." Chris said, sitting down on a nearby bench and taking another sip of water. He tossed one leg over the other and watched as Sally paced back and forth. A crowd of children ran past chasing after one another. Sally's gaze switched to the children. She smiled warmly at their passing before staring back at the Human.

"So we never reached that level of imperialism." she said. "Watching your back for your entire existence does that to you."

"We've been there before." Chris said, eyes now glancing as a rather large Sangheili walked by. This Elite had a few smaller ones at his side, possibly a posse of his. He dressed like nobility - a cloak covering his back. Chris couldn't read Sangheili nor speak it, but he had a distinct impression that this man was from a high house of their homeworld, Sanghelios.

Sally watched his gaze. She noted that his eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the aliens passing. He didn't do this for any other race. The Elites paid him no notice as they walked on, the noble gesticulating at others, laughing in that throaty, raspy voice, as if Earth was a temple of squalor - a shotgun shack built next to the palace that was their ancient homeworld. Having Forerunner artifacts play an active role in the culture added a sense of self-importance into the cultural makeup.

She walked a little close to him. "Are you OK?"

"Some grudges die hard." he admitted.

"It's been what, seven hundred years?"

He didn't answer right away. "I don't like the nobles." Chris admitted. "They still think we're worms, even after we shut them down the Covenant on our own turf."

He got up, now staring back over the city once more. "You want to know something about Human nature?"

She didn't answer right away, but he continued.

"This wall." he said, indicating the structure beneath him. "When we built this thing, we were threatened by our environment. We powered through it because we had to. We beat it. Then the Covenant came. They killed our people, millions at a time. We fought them. We beat them. The Unggoy and even the Jackals were one thing, but the Elites? They were there from the beginning. Am I prejudiced? Yeah, maybe I am. "

He pressed his lips together, an ancestral hatred now welling. "You want to know why you can see the ocean so well? See this entire stretch of water? This used to be part of Brooklyn a long time ago. People used to live here. They were thinking of making it a whole new borough at one time. The Covenant hit this area during their invasion. Didn't land a single soldier on the ground, but they carved up the landscape on the mere hint that it might contain one of their holy relics. Human nature is fighting back though even when you know it's a losing fight. Do I hate the Elites? Maybe. They were blinded by their faith and thought we didn't deserve to live. Hell, some of them still don't. They could have turned at any time, but the Prophets kept them in line."

Sally remembered when she had faced just such a manipulative creature not once, but twice: her time on Installation 05, and on Tears of Piety before that. She didn't agree that all Sangheili hated Humans. She had met at least one with heavy respect for this race.

"Do I forgive them?" Chris asked, more to himself than to Sally. "Not a goddamn bit."

"Is that Human nature too?" Sally asked. "To carry a grudge?"

"Yeah, maybe it is." Chris said, not looking at her, but inclining his head. "Maybe I'm a bit jaded since it came 'this' close." he held his thumb and index finger about an inch apart. "Is it Human nature to carry a grudge?" he repeated. "Yeah. Oh can we carry a grudge. This isn't like a Hatfield and McCoy thing; this is the thing that legends are written about. This gets burned into your cultural history until the end of time."

He lowered his head, eyes closed. A warm breeze blew off of New York harbor far below.

"But we're still here in the end." he said.

In the harbor, a massive cruise vessel sounded its horn, audible miles away. Thousands of aircars criss-crossed the skies, spaceships broke for orbit with contrails streaking behind them, and the cries of seagulls sounded in his ears. With the warm air came the very faint scent of salt. Families walked around, the odd passer-by giving the Princess a quick glance.

"We're still here despite it all." he said, barely heard above the crowd.

Sally looked at him, blinking slowly. She didn't dare interrupt him.

"I was never a philosophy student." Chris said. "You mind if I wax?"

"By all means." she said, coming next to him, leaning against the rail and looking into his eyes. He didn't stare back, but his brows were furrowed in concentration. Still, her Human acted as if he had tunnel vision.

"I think..." he paused. "... I think Human nature is knowing that you're flawed, knowing that you've got faults, and that you've made mistakes, but you know that it can't get you down. The world can throw everything at you, but letting it get to you just can't stop us. You know what's waiting for us out there."

"I do." she nodded. "You mind if I do a little waxing myself?"

He turned his head to look at her.

"The way you describe it," she said, "Human nature is not just for Humans. We've made our mistakes too, but we can't be defined by them."

Something seemed to pain Sally. Chris could guess that she was probably referring to the Great War, especially things like the Cobar Camp, or the secret projects that had helped given the Kingdom thee edge in the fight; the taking in of Juluan Kintobor which led to the Kingdom living in what may as well be exile. What Sally could not guess was that Chris knew something even worse; something that he had been sworn to confidence to. Something that had permanently altered his view of the Kingdom.

He took her hand. It was a small gesture, and relatively discreet. As they faced the ocean, her hand lay clasped over his just over the railing. He could feel her thumb sliding across his knuckle and despite the warm air, a draught went up his spine.

"Human nature or not, we go on." she said. "No matter what, the sun will always rise tomorrow. There's always tomorrow. We get better; we get stronger."

"Yeah." he agreed. "Doesn't make me feel better knowing what's out there right now. You know what I'm thinking?"

"What?" Sally asked, now looking into space.

"If we screw this one up, we're not going to come back from this one."

That drop in his voice was one that she recognized. She tightened her grip slightly; just enough to show she understood.

"One day, and it may be soon, things are going to change. We'll need to face that."

A crowd of happy people were passing by, chatting with each other. Given the cameras around their necks, they were tourists, snapping pictures of the skyline. Chris looked at them impassively while Sally smiled as they walked on by.

"So we need to make the most of it now. You know what's also Human nature?"

He said, "What's that?"

"Living in the moment." She said, and risked a quick kiss on the cheek.

Together they stared over the water, watching the millions of people living their lives and enjoying the beautiful day. The sun glinted off the water like a million diamonds, and the city breathed beneath them with so much concentrated life. Not one of them knew the danger they were potentially in, but that wasn't important. They were living for now, and that was more than enough. The two of them were there, invisible in the crowds. They made their living being invisible, but that didn't bother them, because their nature was to save the world, and they were going to do it no matter what.

But for today? Today, they would just go with it.