The light of destiny

A blinding flash was all I could see. All I could remember was a normal afternoon at my house….Wait. I could…see? I opened my eyes. I was in a large room, the walls and floors covered with metal plates. Neon lights lit the roof above my head. It looked like a holding bay of some sort. There were strange vehicles around me. Then I felt the cold touch of metal on my forehead.

I had only a second to take this all in. Then the gun. I moved my eyes up slowly, examining it. It looked like some sort of large pistol….Familar. Wait. It's a gun from the computer game I play, HALO. I wanted to see whoever my assailant was. Whoever it was, they were extremely tall. Then I tripped upon its - no, definitely his- face. The gaze fixing me was an unbelievable icy-blue. Cold. Calm. His mouth was a flat line, betraying no emotion. The white arm holding the gun had corded muscle all along its length. I returned to his face. He had very dark brown hair, verging on black, and a large scar travelled over his left eye and stopped somewhere under his chin. Then my panic kicked in. I did what my body wanted to do. I fainted.

I woke up sometime later, in a drab, grey room. There were no windows, so I didn't know where I was. I was lying on an uninviting grey metal slab. No wonder my back ached. I got up and looked for a way out. I was extremely curious. That man holding the gun was strange. I saw some kind of blue light covering the door. It looked solid. Strange. Is light meant to be solid? I didn't think so. I charged the light and found to my surprise,

The light was solid.

"What the…Ok….hard light…Hmm.."

I rubbed my bottom and face at the same time. The barrier deactivated and a man walked in, wearing some kind of ceramic armour. I knew this because its sheen made it look somewhat like a teacup's. I examined the man carefully. He had brown eyes and freckled white skin. Compared to the other man, the first one, this guy almost looked if he could be an ice-cream man. He was a lot shorter, too. I noticed an eagle on the right side of the breastplate. In small letters underneath it said "UNSC". It hit me like a lightning bolt and my brain automatically changed it to United Nations Space Command. The main military force in HALO.

The man spoke.

"The commander would like to see you."

He eyed me strangely. I didn't blame him, I did appear outta nowhere. He turned and marched out. I found myself surrounded on all sides by people dressed likewise.

"So I heard you appeared in thin air?"

The figure who spoke had his back to me. I was in a small, slightly stuffy room with a window. Now I knew where I was. In space. On a spaceship. The only furniture occupying the room was a table and chair and a rather bored looking woman in white armour. (She was so still I counted her as furniture).

I reminded myself of who and what she was. She was the commander of the Spartan IVs. In Halo, Spartans are humans, but with kinda superpowers and tactics and stuff. Oh. And cool guns. And armour. There were four different Spartan programs, each with specific augmentations and other stuff I couldn't remember. The IVs were the latest, I remembered. Anyway, this is the Sarah Palmer. I couldn't believe she was standing right next to me. I felt tiny. No wonder why. She's almost taller than my dad.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" The figure turned around. His face wasn't unkind, though stern. He obviously fully realised he was interrogating a child. Brown hair, brown eyes. He would be quite boring if not for his character which oozed command and superiority. Then a jolt hit me. It was Thomas Lasky, commander of the UNSC Infinity, a huge spaceship. I couldn't believe it. I mentally kicked myself. Dur. Commander plus space equals spaceship commander.

"Hello?"

I started. I didn't realize my silence. Thomas was looking at me intently. Sarah seemed indifferent.

"Errm…..um….my names Emily…" I stammered.

"And can you tell me exactly how you got here?" He questioned.

"Well…I uh….i was in my room, reading…then I couldn't see then I ended up here."

"Where is your room?"

"In Australia….."

Lasky started.

"You came from Australia?"

"Yeah…..this might sound weird but….the year 2014 as well?"

I winced. I didn't know if he would take me seriously. He seemed to think for a moment. Sarah turned to look at me strangely.

"And how would I know you're not lying?

"These."

I pulled my book and iPod out of my pocket. He look strangely at the book, I realised most of their stuff is digitalised in Halo.

"You do realise the year is 2558?"

I had to lie. I didn't want them to know I already knew. This date was sometime after Halo 4, the newest Halo game.

"Errrmm….no."

I suddenly felt really tired. I yawned widely. Sarah gained a slightly amused expression. Lasky blinked.

BEEP BEEP! BEEP!-

"MUUUM! Five more minutes!" I yelled.

Then I remembered. I sat straight upright. Lasky had given me a room to sleep in, Sarah unceremoniously kicking the resident Spartan out. It was a simple thing. There was a desk, a chair, a bed and a bathroom. I looked for the sound of the alarm. A blue light emanated from the wall next to me and I turned to look. I almost fell out of my bed. A thirty centimetre tall woman stood on a raised pedestal. And she was BLUE. My mouth fell open. It was Cortana, the infamous A.I. from Halo. I recalled all I remembered on the subject….They live for about 7-8 years before their core processing started to break down. Cortana was a smart A.I. capable of thinking for herself and performing billions of calculations in less than a second. However, I remembered Cortana was different. She had been made from a cloned human brain and actually could have emotions, though her core processing attempted to deny it.

"Hello, Emily. The ships A.I., Roland, is a little busy at the moment, so I shall help you."

"I…errr….I'm hungry…" I muttered grumpily.

I wanted to scream that if I didn't eat soon I would likely eat my own pillow. Cortana didn't seem fazed, she grinned happily.

"The monitors in this room detected your blood sugars are quite low. However, I suggest getting clean first, as Spartan Sarah Palmer will be taking you on a tour of the ship. Lasky's order, of course."

"Hang on. If I had a shower….and you can monitor…"

Cortana beat me to it.

"The UNSC values their soldier's privacy, I believe."

Ugh. She was annoying. So smug.

I walked into the bathroom, closing the door.

"I hope you weren't lying!" I yelled.

I received an amused snort.

I followed the massive Spartan around, jogging slightly to keep up.

"Down that hall there, that's the armoury. That's where we store Spartan armour and guns."

She sounded rather bored. I supposed Lasky told her to show me some stuff. The Infinity is huge. She only showed me a small section, near my room. And already I was having trouble comprehending how big the Infinity is. Palmer walked out on a raised catwalk, extending above a huge room. It must have been at least a kilometre wide, and a hundred meters high.

"That's the aircraft bay." Palmer said indifferently.

It was filled to the brim with Pelicans, coming, going, being repaired. Pelicans were the UNSC's troop carrier. They sported a machine gun turret on the chin, as well as a laser cannon. They were at least as long as a house.

"Are you coming? Or is your brain still in 2014?" asked a cocky voice.

I jerked awake. I'd been so distracted…. Sarah was standing five meters away, tapping her foot. I ran to catch up. She walked through a long tunnel, and another large room awaited us. There were numerous Spartans, training, marching, testing their armour.

"This is what you would call a Spartan club. We come here to do all our main activities, when there is no war."

But I was interested in something far more awesome.

A huge, metal giant was walking toward us on the walkway. It was huge. Two meters, at least. It strode past, the grace and beauty far outstripping the clunky giant appearance. I looked up into the helmets visor. It was orange, with hexagonal lines. The rest of the armour was olive green, covered with chinks, chips and scratches.

I knew exactly what I was looking at.

The Master Chief.

I sat in my bed, thinking over the day. I still couldn't believe I was in the Halo universe, dimension, world…..whatever. Plus the fact I saw him. The Master Chief. The guy who, in the Halo world, had blown up numerous constructs….(particularly Halos) saved Earth, and killed some evil ancient alien dude. He is a Spartan II. They had a reputation for being….different. I remember staring up into the orange visor, seeing my own startled face reflected in it. I sighed. This was going out of control.

BEEP! BEEE-

"CORTANA TURN THAT OFF!"

"Yes mi 'lady, whatever you say mi 'lady" Came the mocking reply.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes and got ready.

"You have been set a test today."

"Test?" My mouth turned dry.

"Yes, just so Thomas can see how well you've remembered Palmer's tour. You will be finding your own way to the lecture room."

"Great." I said sarcastically.

1 hour later

"Yay. This is just awesome"

I had gotten myself lost. Dammit!…..Should've taken a left turn…. I was under the catwalk that Palmer had shown me, amongst the Spartans. God, the amount of times I had almost been trampled was ridiculous. I had noticed a lot of the Spartan IVs had taken curious notice and watched me scramble around, some even laughing. But one exception didn't react at all.

Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 watched the child dart about, tripping over various items and sometimes a stray foot. I did find it mildly amusing….she looked somewhat like a duck. What? Where had that come from? I nearly slapped myself. I probably should help her, although I was told she had to do it herself. The child grew too near for my liking, so I shrunk back into the shadows. I knew I was hard to see, anyway. I don't like the attention that comes to me if people know who I am. I want to be left alone, mostly. I watched intently as the girl came to a halt on the opposite wall. I can read people easily, but the young girl wasn't even trying to mask her emotions. My enhanced eyesight could clearly see she was completely stressed out, with a twinge of fear. I felt something….strange. Was that pity? I frowned. I genuinely wanted to help this child. I don't like the way Lasky and Palmer are….studying her. How could they not see the intelligent glimmer in her eyes, I could see clearly that she didn't need to be tested. Sometimes I seriously doubted my superiors. I obeyed them, of course, but sometimes I thought they made the wrong decisions. I was shocked at myself. I wanted to disobey a clear order to help a child that had appeared mysteriously in front of me out of nowhere. I made up my mind. I shifted so that the light would only reveal me to her. She picked me out instantly, focusing that gaze on me.

Good, I thought.

She obviously recognised me. But she did something strange and completely unexpected. She stalked straight over and looked up at me with anger.

A small amount of surprise filled the giant man's eyes, but quickly evaporated back into nothingness. I knew I wanted to feel strong, because I knew I was scared out of my wits. I knew he probably wasn't allowed to help me, probably told not to, but hell, was I gonna try. But I cannot believe myself. I am glaring anger and defiance in the face of the man who had saved the galaxy. Multiple times. Not to mention he has killed thousands of aliens, has unbreakable bones, binocular vision, extreme hearing and can most likely lift a car and throw it. Then I realised the creepy effect of that brilliant blue gaze. It sent shivers down my spine. It was calculating. Cold. Extremely intelligent. I knew that if he wanted to, he could have killed half of everyone in this room before anyone noticed. I could not, didn't want to hold that gaze for any longer. I was no match.

I looked away.

This child interested me like nothing else. I was not prepared for the girl to throw everything from the past days into that one glare. It was incredibly stupid on her part. Now I knew I had to help her. Thomas was delusional. This child was perfectly fine; she didn't need to be….examined. The thought of that disturbed me slightly. By now the girl had looked away. I was, to say. Quite impressed.

"So you gonna help me?" I growled angrily.

I was .

I watched John carefully. I was kinda scared. He towered over me, had muscles you wouldn't believe and just the glare from those eyes was enough to send anyone running. I could tell he was thinking. Sometimes the undercurrents of thought appeared, as a slight tensing of his jaw or a blink. I sighed and began to walk away. Man I was disappointed. I, for some reason, wanted to impress Lasky. Strange. I wasn't even planning to stay.

A deep voice spoke. "I will help. But you cannot tell."

There it was. Short, sharp, to the point. But it was a "yes" nonetheless. I mentally punched the air with my fist. I trailed behind him, looking for landmarks but the twists and turns of corridors confused me and I gave up. The attention that everyone gave John was weird. It was a cross between reverence, fear and awe. I noticed that he stiffened up considerably when someone would talk about him when he passed. I understood, I hated attention too. Just then, I saw the sign with "lecture room" on it. I stepped forward and turned to say thanks, but no-one was there. I was amazed that someone of that size could disappear so completely.

"So, Emily. How much do you know of maths?" inquired Lasky.

How is this relevant? This was getting annoying.

"Errm…A lot I s'pose though I don't enjoy it.

"Times tables?" frowned Thomas.

I yawned.

"I'm in year seven"

"Equations? Algebra? Fractions?" continued Lasky.

"Been there. Done that. Seen it."

I was getting sick of this. All week it had been nag, nag, nag. And none of it was relevant!

Thomas sighed. It was laden with responsibility, doubt, and sadness. Something was troubling him.

"I'm getting someone to show you around the armoury properly. Sarah was….reluctant to agree to the tour, so I wasn't surprised you weren't shown everything."

Sarah smirked at me.

"Who?"

Damnit. Now I knew why. I had rounded the corner, almost smacking into a chest of solid muscle. Heck, I wasn't even sure if he wanted to do this for Lasky.

John was to show me the armoury.

Emily looked betrayed. There was a small scowl on her face. I found it moderately amusing the serious posture she attempted to adopt. My size helped a bit, I pondered. Her clothes, deliberately shrunk, were still ridiculously big on her. She muttered under her breath, which I could hear clearly as if she had actually wanted me to hear.

"Oooohh….Palmers in for it…"

She then attempted to look rough and tough. I laughed inwardly. She was extremely stubborn. She could make a good Spartan.

This man was infuriating. Anything I didn't understand was explained in short, sharp sentences. He wouldn't even answer my questions! It was like talking to a brick wall. I couldn't blame him, the training he went through and all that. The horrors he had seen probably didn't help either. But why, WHY did he have to be so tough to break.

"Would you please, PLEASE let me ask you a question?"

Silence for a moment.

"You just did" he replied in a perfectly flat tone.

Smartass. I knew he was laughing at me, I just knew it.

"Discount that then." I muttered.

He seemed to agree, lowering his head a bit and looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"So how do the Spartans take their armour off?"

"The machines."

The "machines" were almost like dentist chairs, but facing vertically. About ten arms extended about.

"So they just step up and their armour gets taken off?"

"Yes." came the crisp reply.

"Does their butt armour come off? Cause I'd sure like to kick Sarah's."

Was that a smile? I swear, the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

"Yes, although I would refrain from doing so…..yours may be included in the kicking."

I had to laugh. The completely serious tone was so funny to hear in such a silly sentence.

I almost broke out into a smile. Almost. My years of training….and other things swallowed up the moment. This girl-this child- had the demeanour and characteristics of a feisty teenager. I couldn't help cracking some sort of joke. I didn't want, for some reason, to intimidate this child. I felt strange….was I getting fond of this child? I didn't know, I never really knew someone properly before they died.

I could clearly see the amusement in the gaze of the normally serious Spartan. I smiled quite wolfishly. Somehow, I had gotten a battle-scarred veteran super-soldier to smile.

So I've been here for a week and a half. I'm starting to miss my world. And time. Thomas Lasky says that I'm only still on the Infinity because she's on a mission. So in short I was stuck on a spaceship. For some reason, Lasky had given me stuff to study. I didn't know why, it was some sort of weapons list and ammo types or something.

So I was walking back to my room, attempting to squint at the weird list, while dodging people and small vehicles. I was being led by John, so all I had to do was keep his massive form in the corner of my eye.

Emily was amazingly good at multitasking. The girl was looking down with extreme concentration and annoyance at a piece of paper. I already knew what was on the paper.

I like this child, I thought.

She could make a good Spartan, or at least a marine. Strange. This child was making me feel….was that happiness? I don't understand. I usually don't feel anything. Emily was….helping me? I am confused. How was this twelve year old…helping me? I stopped walking abruptly. I felt a small force as Emily continued and cannoned into me.

All of a sudden, I walked straight smack into John-117's back. It was like smacking into wet concrete. I could feel the corded muscle under my face as I fell backwards.

"Hey! Watch it!" I said angrily.

I observed him as he turned around. He looked….strange. There was the usually stoic face, but his eyes were muddled. I couldn't even begin to piece the emotions back together.

"Errm…I uh…" I stuttered.

This guy creeps me out.

I didn't care if he was a super-soldier or whatever.

"Help me up would you?"

He didn't move. I'd had enough.

"OH COME ON! Thomas has been ANNOYING me all week, now you come waltzing in, knocking me over without a care, being woken EVERY MORNING by Cortana, and I'm FED UP!"

Then I noticed the silence. Everyone in ten metres was staring at me. Then they laughed. I wished an airlock would open and suck me out. John was the only one not laughing. I felt my cheeks crimson alarmingly. Then I couldn't hold it in any longer.

I cried.

I could clearly see the emotions swirling about on Emily's face. It went from indescribable rage to embarrassment and then circled to sadness. She began to cry quietly. Again, I felt the strange need to help her. But I don't know how.

You haven't the need to calm down a child, a voice in my head said.

Leave her.

I was bewildered. I don't know what to do. I ignored the nagging voice in my head. Then I decided. I didn't care that everyone in the vast corridor was watching, didn't care that they would think I'm even stranger.

I picked Emily up and hugged her. I didn't know if I was even doing it properly. For some reason, Emily was helping me become….. more human? I couldn't believe myself. I just openly agreed that I was different. I had to repay Emily.

I would protect her, I thought firmly.

I almost fainted when he hugged me. I was so shocked. I couldn't even see the jeering faces, my face was squished up against his chest. Good lord, he gave the best bear hug. I was surprised his soldier-like mind had the ability to understand someone else's emotions. The laugher fell silent. Well, John tried. So I rewarded him, I stopped crying. I wanted to hug him like I did with my dad, but I wasn't sure how he would react. Then the embarrassment kicked in. Here I was, getting cuddled by a seven foot tall super soldier who had killed thousands of aliens, blown up numerous things,(almost himself a lot) and saved Earth from the Covenant(aliens). I pulled away, looking up into those blue eyes. For once they seemed satisfied.

Thomas Lasky sighed. It had been a boring, tough week. That child had been instrumental in making his life a misery. And to put it all down, she seemed to do it on purpose. His thoughts crowded with doubt again. He felt so guilty. He had to, he told himself. He couldn't send her back to her own time, couldn't risk her revealing the Infinity's secrets. Palmer had made it perfectly clear.

Thomas was forced to make Emily a Spartan.

One specific Spartan was not happy. You couldn't see it, but he was fuming with anger. His perfectly calm face hid the swirl of intelligent thought. His blue eyes were kept perfectly blank.

I don't want her to become a Spartan. She shouldn't ever see the horrors that I have. Lasky knew she had a life outside of this world, this time. And I wanted her to return to it. This was wrong on a lot of levels, I knew.

I had to get Emily out of here, or die trying.

I found her standing in front of a large window looking out into space. The swirls of gas cloud and dust floated past. I strode forward silently and said her name.

"Emily."

"Argh!"

I must have at least jumped a foot into the air. I swivelled around.

"Hey! Don't sneak up on me."

John looked confused.

"Make. Some. Noise. Next. Time."

He cocked his head to the side slightly. Whoa. It actually looked kinda cute.

"Yeah, what?" I asked. He only usually talked to me when he had to.

"There is something Lasky isn't telling you."

I sighed. Why can't people just tell me?

"He is going to keep you here. Make you a Spartan."

Ok…..So that was why he wanted me to learn about the Infinity. It would be cool to wear that armour….But that meant I would have to…kill things.

"But how would I go back to my world?"

"Possibly if I take you back to where you appeared."

"So then why haven't I done that already?"

"Lasky has made it clear he doesn't want anyone in there."

I gritted my teeth. Why couldn't he make an actual sentence?

"So are we gonna try?"

For once he smiled stiffly.

"Yes. And I should enjoy it.

I ran as fast as I could, with Emily on my back, her arms tight around my neck. She was screaming. I smirked. My enhanced muscles meant I was running at 60km/h. I couldn't run at that speed for much longer, I had already run the two kilometres from the viewing window to the holding bays. I was untouchable. No Spartan IV could match my speed, because as a Spartan II my augmentations were…..Much more. Dangerously so. Most of the candidates had died. I was one of the lucky ones.

I dug in my heels and stopped. I wanted to take out the guards silently, and swiftly. They obviously had heard the alarm and were looking around intently.

I turned and whispered to Emily.

"Stay here. Be quiet."

I snuck around to the guards, slipping behind them. They never knew what hit them. One had his neck broken and the other had a combat knife buried in his neck before either of them could blink. I felt a little twinge. I did not enjoy killing humans. I glanced at the titanium steel door.

I smiled inwardly.

"So how you gonna get the doors open?" I asked, eyeing the dead guards.

"I am not planning to open it."

He fastened his hands on the edges of the door.

"Wait. Are you gonna?"

A loud creaking sound came from the door. Wow. John was making a thirty centimetre thick door bend. His eyes were closed in concentration. The doors were fighting a losing battle. They crumpled inwards. I looked at the interior behind the doors. I felt a flush of excitement. I recognised the room.

"This is it!" I said excitedly.

"I'm afraid it's not." said a familiar voice. Lasky.

John whipped around, drawing his pistol he always seemed to have at his hip. The only thing I saw was a blur and the gun was levelled at Lasky's head. Lasky swallowed nervously, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Emily. Go." John said calmly.

He seemed not to care that there were now several guns pointing at him. I didn't want to leave. But it sounded like an order. I ran into the holding bay, flinging myself at the strange light that was starting to appear. John turned and threw something at me. I caught it just as the light enveloped all I could see.

I was in a room. Wait. My room. Then I remembered John.

I opened my hand.

They were his dogtags.

I woke up sometime later in a bland white room. I was confused for a second. Then it all came back. I sighed. Did she make it? I didn't know. As I gave her my dogtags, Spartan IV Sarah Palmer had shot me in the side. A pang on my right side, near my ribs confirmed that. The painkillers would wear off soon. I reviewed why I wanted to help her. I didn't want her to become what I and others had. A mindless killing machine. If I had died trying to save her from that, I wouldn't have cared. Emily had invoked….feeling in me. Some feelings I had never had. I attempted to stand up, the powerful painkillers not incapacitating me. My feet hit the floor and I pushed myself up. However, the bullet wound in my side didn't agree. A jolt of pain ran up my spine and across my chest and my legs collapsed. My mind could deal with the pain, but my body couldn't. I heard Lasky sniffing beside me.

"I...I'm so sorry, John. I didn't mean to"

"To shoot me? To hold Emily hostage?" I answered flatly, no pain evident in my voice.

"You don't understand. I had to do this. I could not risk her telling everyone the Infinity's secrets!"

I groaned a little. The pain was starting to break down my mind's well-built barriers. I was not in the best state to play mind games.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could've done it another way"

"Did she make it?" I said hopefully.

"Yes." Sighed Lasky.

"Good."

I passed out from pain and exhaustion. But I knew she was safe.

I was happy I was back. I owed it all to John. I was surprised to find that he was a good friend, if not a little too serious. I giggled when I remembered how he cocks his head to the side when he doesn't understand. It makes him look like grown Rottweiler acting like a puppy. I sighed. I actually was missing John. I decided right then and there something that I had been thinking about.

"I will never tell."