Ch 3

"So, they were experimenting on the Flood," Drinj reiterated. The Spartan shook his head. "Does anybody realize how stupid that is? I mean, the Flood is extremely contagious. Why test on it when there's a risk of an outbreak?"

"Everything comes with risks, Lieutenant," Auri replied.

"Still... It was pretty damned stupid if you ask me."

"Commander," Jennings said activating COMMs once again, "I'm sending what information we've gotten from the data pad."

"Much appreciated, Corporal," Auri replied and clicked off. A beep in her HUD confirmed Jennings' upload. Auri passed the information along to her squad mates.

"Let's get moving. I don't want to linger here too long," the Commander ordered. Her squad moved out quickly down the hall. As they continued to walk down the hall, the lights overhead began to flicker. The Spartans snapped to attention and froze half way down the corridor. Auri's eyes wandered around the area. There were no doors or windows for the parasite to come out of, but there were openings on the upper walls that resembled ventilation shafts. The Commander prayed that they weren't and that there was not any Flood in them.

The lights flickered once more before remaining steady for a longer amount of time.

"What was that about?" Kent asked softly. None of the answered. A sudden burst of blue-white light at the end of the hallway caught the Spartans' attention.

"...Commander...?" asked Daniels.

Auri waved her hand forward and the Spartans warily walked down to investigate. When they reached the source of the light, they could just barely make out an outline against the glare. Their visors polarized just enough so that they could identify the figure.

"Is that...?" whispered Drinj.

Auri nodded once. The glare softened. There, floating in front of them, was the Librarian. Her blue-pink skin glowed softly against the light. Her dress was made out of some soft material that resembled silk. The aniclla's silver headdress was decorated in complicated Forerunner glyphs that were foreign to the Spartans. The Librarian wore a knowing smile, as if she was already expecting them.

"Are you the ancilla of the Librarian?" Auri asked.

"I am," the Librarian replied, "I have been watching you. I know what your researchers were doing and what they were trying to accomplish."

"So, you understand, despite their good intentions, that it was a stupid idea? I mean, how could they contain it?" Drinj stated. Auri shot him a look which he promptly ignored.

"They were ill prepared and were foolish, yes, but were the Forerunners also foolish for trying to accomplish a similar thing?" the ancilla replied.

Drinj stopped for a moment and tried not to stammer. "I wasn't implying-" he began but was cut off by a wave of the Librarian's hand.

"Wait a minute," Auri said. The Librarian turned her calm and ancient gaze toward the Commander.

"If you were here all along and possessed this knowledge about the Flood, why didn't you help the scientists?" Auri asked. The Librarian's face fell a little.

"I would have," she began.

"What was stopping you?" asked Kent.

"I was locked out of these systems when it went into lock down all those years ago. It was a safeguard set in place so that if the parasite ever broke out, then they would not be able to get their hands on another AI. We've already had that happen before and we weren't planning on letting that happen a second time."

"Can you help us?" asked Daniels.

"Yes. I may have limited access to the databases here but I found several blueprints that may be of use to you." With a flick of her wrist, the ancilla brought up a holographic map that revealed the layout of the whole facility. It also showed the location of both Spartan teams and places where the Flood was the most prominent. The Librarian scrolled through the blueprint until she found what she was looking for. She tapped the glyph twice and that section of the map expanded revealing what looked like an engine room.

"You were sent here with intentions of destroying this facility, correct?" she asked. All four Spartans nodded.

"Those demolition packs you carry may level the building but it won't be able to fully eradicate the Flood from this area."

"Excuse me?" Auri replied, stepping forward, "What do you mean 'they won't be enough'?"

"Your charges do not contain a strong enough plasma presence that a Covenant ship or a Halo contains. They are not powerful enough. These plasma engines that power the facility do. When combined with the charges, they will destroy both the facility and the infestation that resides here."

"Can't you just override the coolant so that the plasma engines burst?" asked Daniels.

"I have limited access to this facility. If I try to access that section an alarm will sound throughout the facility, alerting the Flood of your presence and mine," the Librarian replied grimly.

"Ah," Daniels replied.

"We'd like to avoid that," Auri replied.

"I figured you would," the Librarian said with a small smile. She held out her map to th Commander. The Spartan took it with a questioning look. The Librarian's face turned grim as she studied the Spartan's body language. The Librarian's eyes flicked up to the other Spartans who watched them carefully.

"The less who know the layout, the better," she said. An uneasy feeling of dread coiled itself in Auri's stomach.

"That's... understandable," replied Daniels. A sudden beeping sound filled the Spartans' headsets. Auri glanced at the ID and opened the connection.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" she asked.

"Commander, we've found the terminal," replied Corcova, "We're just waiting for your cue to start downloading. I wouldn't be surprised if the Flood will be notified of the data purge and I really don't want to be here to find out."

"Copy that. We're on our way," the Commander replied.

"It's funny. We were walking down a hallway and I turned around because my radar caught a slight blip and right behind us stood at least a half dozen Flood. One of them spotted us and I'm pretty sure he was about to sound the alarm when sentinels flew right past us and attacked them. Then the door slammed down to prevent the Flood from following us."

"Looks like you caught a bit of a break. Use it wisely, Lieutenant."

"Aye aye, ma'am." The channel closed. Auri looked at the Librarian and tilted her head forward.

"I wasn't about to let the parasite get the upper hand," the ancilla stated.

"Thanks," Auri replied. The Librarian smiled and nodded once.

"Let's get going," the Commander announced and the other Spartans started walking towards the exit. The Commander was about to follow her team when the Librarian appeared in front of her; her hands were cupped around a small object.

"Before you go, another Reclaimer had left this here. Please return it." The Librarian opened up her hands and held up a small device that the Spartan recognized as a-

"Commander, you coming?" Drinj called.

"Ah... Yes, I am," Auri replied distractedly as she took the small device and tucked it safely within her armor.

"Good luck," the Librarian replied and faded away. Auri took one last look around the room before catching up with her team.