Aboard the UNSC Infinity,
Seven months after the New Phoenix Incident.
"Spartan-G314," Commander Palmer hinted disappointment in her voice, "care to tell me what happened between you and Hoya today in the mess hall?"
"We had a brawl ma'am," the RECON Spartan replied. His XG-9 Narrow leg armour shifted uneasily in the chair that he sat in and the Venator torso chest plate shifted as he took a deep breath.
"You had a brawl." Her sentence cut through to him, a signal that half truths were not going to be tolerated even if he was a Spartan III turned Spartan IV. Under the blue and gold armour, he relented.
"We brawled and I almost killed him."
"Killed him with what, may I know?"
"Hidden blade."
"That," she said as her face moved closer to the solar red faceplate of his RECON helmet, "wasn't so hard now was it?"
"No."
"No?" Commander Palmer raised her eyebrows.
"No ma'am."
She withdrew before continuing her controlled tirade of questions.
"What did you two fight about?" she asked.
"He called me an illegal Spartan."
"What did you reply to him?"
"Operator failure."
"Hoya may not have the sanity to keep his mouth shut but that does not give you the right to pass judgement on your fellow Spartans," she told him, "but then again, he's one of the worst I've ever seen."
"Fire team leader DeMarco does not seem to think so, ma'am," Spartan-G314 spoke, a little bit out of complete disrespect for fire team Majestic save for Gabriel Thorne, their newest member.
"He's not that bright either," Commander Palmer interjected with a sigh before rubbing the bridge of her nose.
G314 desperately wanted to laugh at her comment. It was only thanks to Spartan III training that he managed to hold back before asking for permission to snigger.
The two laughed for a bit before getting back to the matter at hand.
"Both you and Hoya will be punished for your little brawl in the mess hall. You will be war criminal and mad egghead Dr Halsey's escort for the week. You will log those hours escorting her to work and keeping guard. Am I understood?"
"Crystal clear ma'am," the Spartan replied. "Is there anything else?"
"I need to see your face so I can remember who you are next someone other than Hoya or DeMarco reports you to me," she waited expectantly for G314 to remove his helmet, which he did promptly.
He removed his helmet to reveal a handsome Asian face that had a grotesquely long scar that ran over his left eye, rendering it white and blank.
"How in th-" Commander Palmer started.
"Long story, ma'am," he replied.
"When I have time, I'll ask you to tell me that story," said the Commander, kinder than her usual self. "See you around Benedict."
Benedict saluted before he left the room, sensing that Hoya's interrogation was not going to be light hearted as his. He smiled to himself at the fact that and continued walking, the M392 Designated marksman Rifle on his back and an M6/SOCOM sidearm on his right thigh where a holster should have been.
He headed to his quarters to take a nap before reporting for duty.
A few hours later, he reported to Halsey's cell, knocking on the door before opening it. He announced his presence as docile as he could to her.
"Dr Halsey, I am Spartan Benedict-G314 and I will be your escort for the week."
"Hmm," Halsey seemed to scrutinise him before continuing, "were you one of mine?"
"No. I was a Spartan III ma'am," Ben replied. "Then again, the real Spartans are almost extinct."
"I remember you now," said Halsey. "The sneakiest Headhunter in Gamma company."
"That is me. It is best we get to work, ma'am, I try not to attract trouble when I work."
The two walked along the hallways to a makeshift laboratory made for her. She sparked conversation along the way that made him think about the UNSC's goals in the long term.
"What else could you think of that would put the UNSC on this path?" she asked him quietly.
"Power. Absolute power."
"I'm surprised that you can deduce opinions for yourself. It seems that James Ackerson had something up against me after all."
"I am only and exception to the general rule Doctor. I have seven senses while the rest have either five or six."
"How is that possible? Humans only have five senses," Doctor Halsey looked up at him in confusion.
"Sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing," said Ben. "Spartans have extraordinary perceptive skills which count as a certain sixth sense."
The two entered to see a modest workstation built for Dr Halsey and she began work right away, wondering about the seventh sense of this particular Spartan. She fiddled with buttons and knobs to check if her equipment was in proper condition. Following that, she turned around to face him, albeit too eagerly.
Her sudden movement caught him by surprise and he drew his hidden blade from his left forearm, the mechanism allowing him to wield it like a dagger. He was in battle stance, ready to strike.
"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" she apologised. "That knife, where did it come from?"
The Spartan withdrew his blade and the doctor saw it retreat underneath into his forearm. She understood it immediately.
"Prosthetic, isn't it?"
Ben nodded his head. "You wanted to ask me something?"
"You told me about your seventh sense," she replied in a business like tone that always accompanied her inquisitive side. "I'd like to know what it is."
However a beep from the computer signalled that an assignment was waiting for her to pick up and complete. Ghost sat down nearby on some strong and sturdy boxes before drawing out his hidden blade and sharpening it.
"How long have you had it?" Halsey asked, clearly curious.
"It?'
"That knife in your hand," she elaborated.
"Before augmentation," Ben simply replied, focused on making sure his weapons were in tip top condition.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened," he replied rather coldly.
He turned back to his task at hand, leaving Dr Halsey to her own devices. At that moment, two Marines entered with Commander Palmer to temporarily relieve Ben of the doctor.
"How's the egghead?" she asked when both of them were outside and out of earshot.
"She does not seem like a war criminal to me," he replied. "It looks like she was the scapegoat of some minor incident."
"I meant whether she is behaving well enough or not," said Palmer in a slightly irritated tone.
"Well enough to keep me occupied with something I do not already know," said Ben flatly.
"Classified information is classified, regardless of mission. Don't try to pry where you're not wanted."
"I'm very careful."
"I know you are," the Commander replied. "I don't call you Ghost for nothing."
Back in the lab, Halsey resumed the conversation with G314.
"This seventh sense of yours," she began again.
"Hmm?"
"What exactly is it?"
"An alternate vision that identifies targets, enemies, allies and points of interest," Ben replied.
"That works like the Promethean vision," she argued.
"That is only half of it."
"What else is there?"
"I can track down targets even after they have left the area, enemies and allies too. This sense tells me what I am looking for and finds it for me. It also anticipates enemy attacks and differentiates identical targets," he explained.
"Really? I would like to test that out," Halsey challenged him.
"Alright," Ben perked up a bit at the thought of activity after sharpening his hidden blade.
"I have a coin and I'm going to hide it in the palm of my hand. You are going to guess which hand the coin is in. Are we game?"
"Definitely," the Spartan smiled under his helmet.
Halsey began the game and hid the coin in one of her palms before putting them behind her and showing clenched fists to him when she was satisfied that she hid the coin well.
"That one," he pointed at Halsey's right hand.
"Are you-"
"Absolutely."
"Correct. Another go?"
"Gladly," he coolly replied.
She did the same once more and Ben promptly found the coin without having to think at all.
"Just one more," said the Spartan.
"All right," Halsey hid the coin in her palm and put them behind her back. This time however, she slowly slid the coin into her back pocket before presenting closed fists to Benedict.
All he simply did was look at the hands before declaring, "Not in either hand."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Absolutely sure."
"This ability interests me quite a fair bit. I would like to conduct some tests on you when I get the chance," said Halsey, opening her palms.
"Not to mean any disrespect ma'am, but that is IF you get the chance," G314 replied rather uneasily.
"In hindsight, this would be very useful to personnel but before any project starts I want to know the full capabilities of this seventh sense of yours," Halsey said, ignoring Ben.
A beep followed her last word, causing Ben to be grateful for the impeccable timing of incoming assignments.
However, he found that he had made a grave mistake in telling her all about his seventh sense. He tried to prevent further conversation with her over the topic and was somewhat successful for the rest of the day.
When Ben reported back to Commander Palmer, she however wanted him to tell his story about his facial scar instead of going to the War Games to play some Dominion and Regicide, and maybe squeeze in some Infinity Rumble as well.
Back in the room where he was interrogated, he took off his helmet and set it down on the holotable before recounting his story to his rather down to earth commanding officer.
"This began with a Headhunter mission on a Covenant outpost cum camp. Our orders were to destroy it. Things were going well until we were ambushed by Elite Majors who had witnessed our operational procedure. My partner and I fought them."
Ben cleared his throat before looking her in the eyes.
From what Sarah Palmer saw in her chair, this was a man that had been too much too fast at too little a cost. Somehow it was reflected in his good, golden brown eye, gentle and meek, as well as the pain of having been broken physically and mentally. She wanted to hug him in consolation but fought the urge to do so.
"What happened?" she asked him.
"My partner was assassinated," he calmly replied, "while I fought them all with my hidden blade and pistol. As a result, my left forearm was taken out first. I shot the nearest explosive that took my left eye out."
"How did you survive then?"
"The blast threw me into a thicket. I managed to get invaluable intelligence back to extraction point. The other team did not make it."
"I'm sorry for your loss," comforted Palmer as best as she could. Honestly, it was the least that she could do for any of her Spartans, especially for those with strong reasons to join the ranks of the Spartan IVs.
"It's all in the past now," G314 gave her a small smile, "there's always a better tomorrow waiting for us to enter it."
"Alright then, I'm only going to allow you to two slayer matches in the War Games before heading to your quarters to rest. Got it?" said Palmer.
"Yes ma'am," Ghost hurriedly left to join the War Games and hopefully finish the Pioneer specialisation as quickly as possible.
Palmer remained in the room, her head resting on her elbows in thought.
"Roland?"
The Infinity's AI popped up from the holotable to address her.
"Pull up the surveillance recording four weeks ago," she told him.
"Which one would it be Commander?" Roland gestured to several of the logs that he had labelled with the Spartans' names.
"Benedict's entrance into the Infinity," she replied, waiting expectantly.
"Spartan Danes?"
"G314."
The holotable lit up and holograms were being projected up, out of the table. It showed the Pelican docking bay and a Spartan decked in full armour exiting one of the drop ships to see Roland at a nearby holotank.
"Welcome aboard the Infinity, Spartan G314 was it?"
"It still is," Ghost calmly and silently replied.
"Someone will be here shortly to show you around," said Roland with a salute.
"How long will that be?"
"A matter of minutes, Spartan."
"Thank you," said the Spartan as Roland disappeared. Ghost looked around the busy dock and seemed to look expectantly in one direction.
Commander Palmer saw herself coming out of one of the exits without her armour and scanned the docks to see a Spartan eyeing her like a hawk. Both the holographic and the real Palmer reeled back in fear.
Roland gave her a quizzical look.
"It was scary seeing him for the first time," she excused herself for that instance. The AI shrugged his shoulders and continued to look.
The recording continued to show Palmer approaching G314. He stood at attention before she was within earshot.
"At ease Spartan," Commander Palmer remembered herself saying, "you must be new to the Infinity."
"I am ma'am," G314 spoke, his soft and mellow tenor voice seemed to resonate more than the shouts of nearby people and the whine of the machinery and engines. "I am Spartan G314 reporting for service."
"I'm Commander Sarah Palmer, leader of all Spartans aboard the Infinity," she held out a hand foe him to shake.
Instead of the handshake she expected, he held her hand such that the back of her palm was facing up before he brushed the back of her hand with his helmet's mouth guard.
It was something she did not expect at all but took it in good stride. It made him somewhat charming for a candidate from previous Spartan programmes compared to undisciplined soldiers like DeMarco.
"I'll show you around the ship," she said, breaking the small awkward silence that followed.
"Thank you." The soft voice quietly replied and silent footsteps began to walk beside her heavy strides.
The recording ended here and she looked at Roland before thanking him. She then got up and left the room, pondering whether the young man had continued to hide all that he had known to her, or anyone else for that matter.