Author note: I keep including and then not including Linda in the group. She's there, she's just been a silent observer for most of this. She comes to importance later on, though, so she's definitely in this story. There's so many characters in this right now though, so I keep dropping and adding in people at random. I'll stop doing that, I promise! Whoops. Anyway, enjoy the revised version of chapter 3, if you've read this before.
John 117
Endurance
Andromeda stood up suddenly, hitting the table with her body. "I'm going after Tiberius. Wait here." She left the room as abruptly as she had stood.
John shook his head, still a bit confused, more than a bit apprehensive. He approached the Arbiter. "I don't like any of this." He said softly.
"It is indeed a poor military strategy. It is vague. Unreliable. And I do not like the idea of relying on someone we do not know." The Arbiter agreed. "However, it seems we have little choice, and if it was anyone else we had to rely on for assistance, I would be much more wary. But Andromeda seems to be exactly who we need."
John looked at him. "Why do you say that?"
The Arbiter glanced at the rest of the group, then back at John. "She has made it clear she has no desire to save humanity. She does not care for humanity as a species. But she neither does she feel loyalty towards the AI's. She cares not for honor, for victory, for heroics. But neither has she asked for compensation for what she is about to do for us."
John frowned. "And what do you think that means?"
The Arbiter shifted his weight. "I think it means that she is willing to help us for the sake of gaining our trust, our friendship. She has made it clear that carrying out what we've asked her to do could kill her. Or worse. And yet, she is still willing to come with us, risking life and limb for a galaxy she's never seen, and people she will never know. What have we offered her that could make that worthwhile? Nothing."
John stared at him. "So what are you saying?"
"I am saying that I am utterly convinced of two things: Either she is not the person Dr. Dyer, Kuiper and perhaps everyone but Tiberius considers her to be, or she has some sort of ulterior motive that her rational mind has weighed the cost versus the benefit and found said motive to be worth the risk for. I am inclined to think it is the latter. I know not her her reasoning for being of the desire to help us, but I think it may have to do with the fact that she may finally be able to leave this prison of a facility and use her abilities the way they were meant to be used." The Arbiter glanced towards the door Andromeda had left through. "And while the thought may make you loathe to have her assist us, I will tell you this: We need her. Desperately. And whatever ulterior motive she has conceived that has convinced her to help us is none of our concern, for the moment. When we have ensured Cortana is no longer a threat, by means of persuasion-" Thel 'Vadam threw a glance at John when he said this, and John was grateful. He at least had the Arbiter on his side. "- then we may concern ourselves with what her motive is, and whether it will harm us. But until that moment, we must deal with the threat that we know of, not one we can only assume exists." The Arbiter paused momentarily, glancing at the group. "I, for one, I trust her. I trust her evaluation of her abilities, and I trust her desire to help us. I also trust that she has accurately assessed us and found us as individuals she wishes to have as allies, rather than enemies."
John put a hand on the Arbiter's shoulder. "Thel. You know I consider you as not only a great ally, but also a friend. There are few I would rather have standing with me in battle. But I'm not sure I share your sentiments."
The Arbiter gave him what was an Elite's version of a smile. "You will in time, I am sure."
"I hope so." John said.
"Dr. Dyer told me that when the situation came down to it, we would see that Andromeda is the kind of person we've been warned she is. But I'm more inclined to agree with the Arbiter." A voice spoke up, catching John and the Arbiter's attention. Lasky stood there, looking at the both of them. "On the one hand, part of me says not to trust her. But a larger part of me says that she isn't so different from the rest of us. Just maybe more coldly rational and less likely to be affected when making the kinds of difficult decisions that haunt the rest of us." Lasky looked steadily at John. John knew exactly what he meant.
"And you think it could be good for someone to make those decisions without being affected?" John asked him.
"Most of us make choices every day that are affected by emotion. And we justify it by telling ourselves that if there is a particular emotion behind that decision, that we are just reaffirming our humanity in the midst of a difficult choice." Lasky shrugged. "Maybe we've deceived ourselves into thinking emotions are indicative of humanity, when they aren't."
"An interesting thought." The Arbiter said, slowly. "Emotions are not unique to humanity."
"So when it comes to dealing with Cortana, you're saying that pure reason and rationality unaffected by emotion is something we need?" John asked Lasky.
Lasky nodded. "I do. Because, as horrible as it sounds, when it comes down to making that difficult decision, one that I know I will fight against with every part of me, we can depend on someone to make that decision so the rest of us don't have to. Is there anyone else here who's capable of making that kind of decision, and be able to live with themselves afterwards? I know I'm not. I don't think any of us are."
"I could." Locke spoke up, folding his arms. "You make whatever decision is necessary to ensure the greater good."
"I seem to remember a certain AI providing the same line of reasoning." A quiet voice said from the doorway. Linda, gazing steadily at Locke, offered her first comment of what was going on, and being said.
Locke frowned slightly, and stared back, but did not contradict her.
John opened his mouth to answer but was distracted by Tiberius calling everyone out into the main room.
John, The Arbiter and Lasky left the conference room to join the rest of the group, and as they did, the Arbiter placed a hand on each of them. "I was considering what kind of offers we could make the girl in order to persuade her to help us, before she removed the need from us. I would like the support of both of you." He glanced back and forth between the two.
"Support of what?" Lasky questioned, looking up at the Arbiter.
The Arbiter gripped each of them more tightly. "Should the need arise, I would offer her sanctuary on Sanghelios. Away from Dr. Dyer."
John didn't even hesitate. "Of course I would support that."
Lasky considered this for a moment. John knew that Lasky, as an officer, had far more things to consider before agreeing. "Unofficially, I fully support that. Dr. Dyer is a monster. Officially, I'll do whatever I can." He put his hand on the Arbiter's arm. "And I mean that."
"Thank you." The Arbiter said. "That is all I ask." He then let go of the two of them, and the three strode into the large room where the rest of the group was waiting.
John surveyed the room. Kuiper, off to his left, was staring at the floor. Maximilian's face was tense, and he was watching Tiberius, who stood in the center of the group. To the left of Maximilian, Dr. Halsey and Dr. Dyer spoke quietly. Eridanus seemed to be half listening to their conversation, but was also half focused on Andromeda, who leaned up against a console, staring into space. Eridanus's hand was on Andromeda's back. Palmer and Locke were both also looking towards Tiberius. Buck, Vale and Tanaka were engaged in their own conversation. Kelly and Frederic were surveying the group as he was. John noticed that next to him, The Arbiter and Lasky were trading looks.
A door off to the right of the group and to the left of the conference room slid open. A young man emerged, no older that Eridanus. He had a youthful face and light brown hair. His eyes were dark and he had a scar running down the left side of his face. His features were sharp, with high cheekbones. He stepped through the door. His movements were jerky, his gait awkward, his face contorted into an expression of pure concentration. He stepped slowly, purposefully towards the group, every step seeming painful. John noticed that he was wearing a plain black long sleeved shirt and a standard issued military style pants, with boots on, and that there was some kind of machinery that extended down the back of his hands to the ends of his fingers.
"I'm fine, Ti. Just trying to get back into the hang of using my exo-skeleton. It's been a while and these upgrades are strange." The young man laughed, looking at Tiberius.
"I don't know why you upgrade so often when all it does is screw you up for a week and make you trip over everything." Tiberius said.
The young man laughed, his eyes sparkling. "I do it to keep you all entertained, of course." He then waved awkwardly at the group. "Hello, people I have never seen before. I hope you're all well.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Hydrus, our resident evil genius." Tiberius said, still chuckling at Hydrus's joke.
"You flatter me, Ti." Hydrus laughed again. He stopped his jerky movements and looked at everyone. "To what do we owe the pleasure of visitors? Is the universe in complete chaos? Or just our galaxy?"
"Just our galaxy, for the moment." John said. Something was clearly wrong with the young man but he didn't know exactly what. Exo-skeleton? Why would he need an exo-skeleton in a non combat situation?
"Well. I would normally say that's unfortunate, but I've been craving some excitement." Hydrus smiled. He had an incredibly friendly, open demeanor that the rest of the residents of Reach lacked. Even Eridanus, despite her appearance of sweetness and innocence, had a certain hardness about her.
"Excitement is one way to look at it, I guess." Palmer said, an eyebrow raised.
"Perhaps in your mind, the situation is more dire. I, however, don't know the particulars of the situation so all I have to go on is a vague reference to our galaxy being in danger. Of course, I know it must be serious, as this humble facility would never be graced by the arrival of the galaxy's greatest military personnel if it wasn't a serious situation." Hydrus shifted, uncomfortably. "So, please: tell me what you need from me."
"We need your pet project. At least, Tiberius and I do. The rest of them might later, but that's to be determined. Don't give Kuiper anything. Her shitty attitude could probably repel gunfire of any kind." Andromeda said, stepping towards Hydrus.
"Fuck you." Kuiper growled. Maximilian coughed to attempt to cover up a laugh, but the attempt failed miserably.
"My pet project finally gets commissioned. Today is truly a glorious day. I could drop dead now and be satisfied with what I've done in this life." Hydrus smiled widely at Andromeda, who smiled back. "Give me several minutes, and I'll be back." He made his way back through the door from which he'd come with the same awkward gait.
Chief gestured to Andromeda. I need an explanation, and I need it now.
Andromeda stood in front of him, away from the rest of the group. He studied her face, which had a deceptively neutral expression on it. She was surprisingly tall, only about a half an inch shorter than he was. "What do you need?"
"What did you mean by 'she took genius and incredibe ability and destroyed it'?"
Andromeda glanced at the group, then back at him. "I meant that Dr. Dyer ruined Hydrus. Hydrus was the last of us to receive his implant, and she got sloppy."
"What do you mean, she got sloppy?" He asked, searching her face for some clue as to what she meant.
"I mean she wasn't as careful as she should've been. She screwed up his implant and put it in all wrong." Andromeda shook her head at him. "Hydrus invented that exo-skeleton he wears to allow him to move around on his own, and he controls it with his implant. He's paralyzed from the neck down, and Dr. Dyer did that to him."
John stared at her, dumbfounded. "What?"
Andromeda looked back at the others, who didn't seem to be paying any attention to the two of them. "Hydrus is paralyzed. And it's Dr. Dyer's fault." She gave an caustic, humorless laugh. "And she says I'm the psychotic one."
"Dr. Dyer paralyzed Hydrus? Isn't that a violation of some kind of ethics code?" John asked, his brow furrowing. I thought there had been rules set in place after what happened at this place the first time.
Andromeda's lip curled in a bitter smile. "You should know better than anyone that anything goes when it comes to human experimentation."
I would know better than anyone. I'll never forget what I felt after waking up from augmentation and not knowing whether my team was dead or worse. He gave an involuntary glance towards Dr. Halsey.
"That's what I thought." Andromeda said softly, studying him.
There's no way she can know what my reaction is. I haven't taken off my helmet this entire time. There's no way she can know.
It was almost as if she could read his mind. "Why haven't you taken off your helmet?" She asked.
"Because I'd rather leave it on."
She inhaled and blinked slowly at him. "Thank you, for that explanation. I would never have come to that conclusion on my own. What incredible insight you've just given me.
He couldn't stop the chuckle that seemed to come from him unbidden.
"He laughs. Amazing. The Spartan laughs." Andromeda shook her head, her grey hair moving slightly around her shoulders.
"When properly provoked." He took advantage of the fact that his helmet was still on and studied her. She had clearly been augmented, just like the rest. Her augmentations seemed less intensive than the rest of Dr. Dyer's subjects, though. Like she had only been augmented as deemed necessary to be functional on the battlefield, whereas the others all had augmentations that seemed to be to make up for the fact that they had limited AI function. Hydrus had clearly never been augmented. He'd wondered about that, until Andromeda had told him what happened.
Her body wasn't particularly attractive. It was functional. Very functional. But only for the battlefield. There was no feminine curvature to her body, nothing that would provoke a man's interest. Her gray hair was dull. When compared to Eridanus, who was incredibly desirable, and intensely feminine, she seemed sexless. If her hair had been short, there would have been almost no way to tell her gender. Though almost devoid of femininity, her body was still a masterpiece of engineering. She was lithe, yet clearly strong. She was built for endurance, for rigourous physical activity. She was not built for pleasure, or to fuel desire. She was created for war-nothing else.
Her face was almost ordinary, aside from the blue eyes that held a certain hardness and a look of cunning she couldn't quite manage to hide. She had high, sharp cheekbones that gave the illusion of beauty, but the rest of her face couldn't quite manage to compliment them. The constant impassive facial expression she constantly had kept any of her more attractive facial features from being as such.
Andromeda stepped back and spread her arms out. "Better?"
He blinked. "What?"
She shook her head. "You've been giving me a once over for almost a full minute. I was offering you a better look."
He took a step back. "I was gauging how well you would do in a combat situation."
"Sure you were." She said, a smirk breaking her impassive expression. She gestured at him with her left hand. "That quick step backwards said otherwise." She lifted her gaze towards his helmet, and seemed to stare right into his eyes even though she couldn't see them. Her gaze was alluring, sensual. It was as if she knew her eyes were her most striking feature and used them to her best advantage. "I don't mind if you look me over. I don't consider it rude, or vulgar. Feel free to look as much as you like."
John opened his mouth to respond but found he had no response. He stood awkwardly for a moment as Andromeda's provocative smirk became an expression of triumph.
Someone called Andromeda's name. It was Tiberius. He motioned a hand towards the door that Hydrus had disappeared into. "He needs you. Go."
Andromeda, nodded at John and left the room.
Lasky approached him. "Chief."
"Sir."
Lasky sighed. "I've told you before-call me by my name. None of this rank bullshit. We should be past all that by now."
"Yes sir-"
Lasky gave him a look.
"-Lasky."
Lasky nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you." He gestured towards the group. "Are you ready for this?"
John looked over the group. "As ready as I'll ever be. I don't know if I can trust them, though. And I don't like working with people I don't know I can trust."
Studying him, Lasky took a breath. "That's not what I meant."
John looked back at him. Lasky was staring at him carefully. "Chief. Are you sure you're ready to do what it takes to stop Cortana?"
John looked away. "She's not Cortana anymore."
He was thankful that the door that both Andromeda and Hydrus had disappeared into opened, and the both of them emerged. Andromeda was wearing what looked like Mjolnir armor, but much less bulky, and much more sophisticated. It had completely black armor plates and a grey toned undersuit. Underneath the armor plates that were located much in the same places that the Spartan armor had it's plates, there seemed to be the same lines of code running across her body that Cortana's avatar had always had. The armor was sleek, yet clearly capable of holding up as well on the battlefield as any of the Spartans' armor was.
"Is that...?" Dr. Halsey said, shocked. "Is that a variation of Mjolnir armor?"
Hydrus beamed. "It is indeed. I took inspiration from the original set of armor you developed, Dr. Halsey. Except this armor can do so much more. Allow me to explain how Andromeda just became more than an asset to your mission, she has become a force to be reckoned with."
"Why are you always so dramatic?" Maximilian grunted, folding his arms and rolling his eyes.
"Shut up, Max. I don't get to do this in front of an audience very often, so I'd appreciate it if you'd give me this one shining moment." Hydrus said, flapping a hand at Maximilian, who gave a laugh and shook his head.
Hydrus stepped to Andromeda's side as she stood with her back to the door, facing the group. Hydrus's movements had improved. John would never have known that he was wearing an exo-skeleton to help him move around if he hadn't been told.
"This suit is, obviously, for protection. It has much of the same capacity for shock absorption, it's bulletproof-" He stopped and looked at Andromeda. "-well, to a degree. Don't go testing the limits. I had a significant lack of ballistic missiles to test on the suit."
Andromeda held up her hands. "No limit testing. I promise."
"Good." Hydrus grinned at her, then gestured to the back of Andromeda's neck. "But here's where it differs from the Mjolnir armor: this suit is fitted with a signal booster that connects directly to Andromeda's implant, allowing her nearly three times her normal range of connection."
"Nearly three? What, you couldn't make it exactly three? Wow, and here I was told you were a genius." Maximilian scoffed, his eyes sparkling at Hydrus. Hydrus held up a finger in a rude gesture, making Maximilian snort in amusement.
Hydrus then picked up Andromeda's left hand. "She also has transmitters in the gloves of the suit. Whereas a normal AI connects to a mainframe via chip insertion, all Andromeda has to do is place her hands on the console to allow for a solid connection." He glanced at Andromeda. "Mostly because it's a bit harder to patch into a mainframe just using the chip and your brainwaves, especially an unfamiliar one. Entry points are often hard to identify." He dropped Andromeda's hand and stepped back. He then smiled, a devious, boyish smile. "So now we're going to test the range of the suit." He looked back at Andromeda, grinning. "Access the Infinity."
Lasky stepped forward, in protest. "The Infinity, as far as I still know, is making random slipspace jumps so Cortana can't find it and take it. Her accessing the Infinity won't put it's crew in danger?"
Hydrus smiled reassuringly at Lasky. "No, it won't. In fact, Cortana won't be able to take the Infinity if Andromeda is accessing it. Because she won't be able to get in."
Lasky raised an eyebrow. "You're that confident in her?"
"I am. Why aren't you?" Hydrus's eyes glimmered in the facility's fluorescent lighting.
Lasky stammered for a second and then said, "Well, I don't know the extent of her ability."
"I do. And I'm confident." Hydrus then turned to Andromeda. "Go ahead. Find the Infinity."
"They know that's my ship and my crew, right? It's my job to keep them safe." He muttered under his breath.
John put a hand on his shoulder. "I may not trust Andromeda, but I trust Hydrus. He knows what he's doing."
Lasky looked up at him, then sighed, his face in a scowl. "I don't trust either of them, but I trust you. I don't think you'd stand by and let the Infinity be endangered."
"I wouldn't." John reassured him.
Then he turned back to watch Andromeda. She stood, staring blankly into the distance, focused on something that wasn't in the room. Her mouth turned slightly down into a frown, breaking her normally impassive expression. Then her eyebrows furrowed. "Hydrus, I don't know how to operate a star ship."
Hydrus waved his hand dismissively. "Minor detail. You'll figure it out."
John glanced towards Lasky as Lasky shifted uncomfortably.
"Don't break it. Please. That's my ship." Lasky almost pleaded, looking worried.
"She won't break it." Hydrus shot Lasky an irritated look. "Calm yourself." He gestured back towards the door he had originally emerged from. "I have copious amounts of alcohol back there, do you need any? No?"
Lasky grunted and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like profanity.
John fought off amusement.
"There it is." Andromeda murmured, furrowing her brow further. "The shipboard AI is freaking out. Understandably."
Lasky sighed. "Can you just tell him you're not a threat?"
Andromeda broke her concentration to give him a scornful look. "Yes, because he'll absolutely believe me, given that every other AI in the galaxy has sworn allegiance to Cortana."
Lasky mumbled profanity under his breath again, some very choice names for Andromeda.
"Got it. I'm in-fucking hell." Andromeda grunted and gripped the console next to her. "Shit. The AI managed to initiate a slipspace jump just before I took over-fuck." She gripped the console harder. "Wait-there we go. I have the Infinity."
Hydrus clasped his hands together. "Great! The signal booster works. I love it. Perfect." He was practically giddy. Then he waved a hand at Tiberius. "Go get yours. We need to test yours first." He glanced at Andromeda as Tiberius left the room. "You can give up the Infinity now."
"Please. Please give up the Infinity." Lasky said, stepping forward.
Andromeda sighed. "Captain, my captain." She leveled a withering glance at Lasky. "Calm the fuck down."
Lasky gritted his teeth. "No, I will not calm down. That's my ship, my crew, my AI. And as far as they know, a hostile AI just took control of their ship. They think they're all going to die. Because you two decided to have a little fun with my ship. My ship!"
Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Fine." She held up her hands. "I'm out. The Infinity is fine. Your AI is back in control and your precious ship is just fine. Okay?"
Lasky glowered at Andromeda. "Thank you. That is very much appreciated." His words were punctuated with anger.
Andromeda just shook her head again and turned away.
John put a hand on Lasky's shoulder. Partially for comfort, partially to hold him back in case Andromeda provoked him further.
"Chief. I'm not one for senseless violence, but I'm going to kill her."
John choked on a laugh. "At least wait until after we've stopped Cortana."
"That I'll do. But after that..." Lasky shook his head.
Tiberius stepped back into the room, his brow furrowed and his blue eyes held a look of confusion. "Am I wearing this right?"
"No. You idiot. Your chest plate is on upside down. My god." Hydrus approached him and took some time adjusting the suit of armor Tiberius was wearing. His was different than Andromeda's. It was dark grey, with a plain black undersuit. It was a bit more bulky than hers, more like the Spartan armor. It seemed to be built for combat, but for combat that required more skilled movement. If the Spartan armor was a Scorpion tank, then his was a Warthog.
"Okay." Hydrus stepped back. "Yours is similar to Andromedas in that I have not tested whether it will stand up to nuclear grade explosives. But save that, it should protect you against anything else. Including energy sword attack." He threw a look at Thel Vadam. "I did that because you never know if a frag grenade explosion will throw the two of you into a pile and if an accident will happen. I tried to prepare for every contingency."
Thel Vadam nodded in agreement. "It has happened before."
"That's concerning." Palmer said, staring at the Arbiter, one eyebrow raised.
"I try to avoid it, if possible. But as he said, accidents happen." Thel Vadam told her.
"That's honestly something I've never even considered. But now I guess I'll be worrying about it every time I see an Elite." Buck muttered to Vale. Vale just gave him a look of disgust.
"The best part about this suit is that the rest of you-" Hydrus gestured to Maximilian, Kuiper and Eridanus. "-have the same one. Just different colors. To match your personality."
"Well, now I'm terrified to see mine." Maximilian folded his arms and smirked.
"I made sure it was a bright color so you'd be an easier target on the battlefield." Hydrus shot back.
"But a bright color that brings out the smolder in my eyes, right?" Maximilian grinned.
"Of course. Have you no faith in me?"
"I have every faith that I'll be the sexiest target on the battlefield."
Palmer coughed to cover up a laugh.
"I really hate to break this party up, but we should get on with this." Locke said, waving his hand towards the door. "We have a galaxy in danger, and every moment we waste here means more life out there wasted."
John nodded in agreement. "Are we good to go?"
Hydrus smiled. "You are. Tiberius and Andromeda are set to go with you."
"Good. Then let's get to the Pelican. We have an AI to stop."
As John, Lasky, Tiberius, Andromeda, Thel Vadam, Kelly, and Frederic walked to the door, Andromeda approached John.
"Interesting word choice."
He looked at her, questioning.
She smiled. "You said 'stop'. Instead of 'destroy'." She searched the visor of his helmet with her eyes. "Does that mean you're still holding on to hope that there's a way to stop Cortana without destroying her?"
John didn't answer. He didn't want to. He knew what he felt and he knew that he didn't want anyone to tell him again, for the hundredth time, that it wasn't possible to stop her without destroying her.
"Becasue I think there is."
He stopped walking and turned to face her. "What do you mean?"
Andromeda glanced at the group that was leaving them, who hadn't noticed that the two of them were lagging behind. "I think there's a way to stop her without destroying her. But I can't tell you, because I can't risk Cortana finding out what I have in mind." She looked back at him. "But just know I'm on your side in this."
"My side is protecting the galaxy by whatever means necessary." He said coldly.
"It isn't, and you know it. The sooner you stop lying to yourself and acknowledge that you would choose Cortana over anything else in this universe, the better."
All he could do was look at her in shock.
"I'm giving you a way to have both: the side that you think you're on, and the side you're actually on. We don't have to destroy Cortana. We can stop her, we can contain her, and we can bring her back to Halsey to see if her rampancy can be cured." Andromeda put a hand on him, touching him for the first time.
His body went cold. "Her rampancy was cured by the Forerunner technology."
"No, it wasn't." Andromeda shook her head. "It wasn't at all. She's still suffering from rampancy. But there's something in her coding that is uniting all of her manifestations into a single goal, and if you can't see what it is, then you're an idiot."
"I don't understand."
"She's experiencing cohesive manifestation. Her rampant personalities all want one thing, and one thing only, and the Forerunner technology gave her operating system the push it needed to be able to control all of her rampant personalities as long as they all worked towards this one thing that they all want."
He shook his head, confused, searching for the answer that she had, but that wasn't coming to him. "What do you mean, the one thing they all want?"
Andromeda grabbed the front of his armor with both hands and shook him a little. Her intensity unnerved him a little. "I've read about the old Cortana. What she did. Who she was. Cortana would never do something like this if she wasn't affected by rampancy. This thing she's doing isn't her. It's her rampancy that searched desperately for means to the end she wants, and found a solution. Albeit, a terrible solution, but a solution nonetheless."
"A solution for what?" He demanded, grabbing her and pinning her against a wall. "A solution for what!?" He practically shouted. "What does she want!?"
"She wants you safe! That's it! That's all she wants, is for you to be safe! She doesn't want you to fight anymore! She doesn't want to worry about whether you'll come back from another mission alive, she doesn't want to watch you risk your life over a galaxy that doesn't give a shit about you until you're gone! She wants you safe!" Andromeda shouted, shoving him off of her, surprising him with how strong she was.
All emotion drained from him suddenly, and he was left with a crushing numbness. "She...she what?"
"She wants you safe. Don't you see it? Her plan was to keep you in stasis until complete and total peace was achieved in the galaxy and there was no war for you to fight. No war with the Covenant, or the Remnant. No war with anyone or anything, no fighting to put you in danger. That's all she wants. And her rampancy has convinced her this is the only way for that to happen." Andromeda's chest heaved as she took a breath. "I can't condone destroying an AI who's trying to look out for the only person in this galaxy she cares about."
He heaved in a breath himself, realizing he'd forgotten to breathe during her speech. "Why can't you condone it? What she's doing is wrong."
"Because if I end up afflicted by rampancy, which is still a very real possibility given that Dr. Dyer has only decided that I won't and refused to do any tests or prepare for that contingency, and I found out Tiberius was in danger, I'd do the same thing. I'd move heaven and earth and use any means necessary to keep him safe, the body count and consequences be damned. You and I aren't rampant. We can find more rational solutions. A rampant AI designed to be used in war can find no other solution." She looked at him imploringly. "I have an idea of how to contain her and bring her back so she can be fixed. I need you to give me your word that you'll help me."
John stood stiffly for a long moment, and studied her face for any sign that she wasn't genuine. He could find none. "You have my word."
She exhaled slowly, and her body relaxed. "Thank you."
"Hey! Are you two joining us at some point in this lifetime?" Tiberius shouted from the entrance to the facility.
Andromeda glanced at him. "Yes." She called back. "We just had something we needed to discuss." She then leveled her gaze at John. "You gave me your word. Don't forget that. If you break your word, there isn't a rampant AI in this galaxy that could save you from me."
"What if you break your word?"
She laughed, then turned to walk away. "Then I'd expect the same consequences from you." She said over her shoulder. "I'd fully expect that the UNSC's most capable Spartan would end me without a second thought."
T. Lasky
Pelican
Lasky glanced at Tiberius, who had just entered the Pelican again after leaving to retrieve the Chief and Andromeda. He allowed his gaze to wander over the man. In the suit of armor that Hydrus had given him, he seemed as combat capable as any Spartan. Lasky wondered at the extent of his training. Was he trained in hand to hand combat? The lightweightness of his suit seemed to allude to that. Did he know how to use a weapon? That, Lasky had no idea. He guessed he'd just have to find out.
Tiberius's gaze slammed into Lasky's, and he raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
Lasky cleared his throat. "I was wondering why you volunteered to come along. Why you'd willingly jump at the chance to come with us."
Tiberius looked out of the door to the Pelican for a moment, then back at Lasky. "It was for one reason, and one reason alone: in the event that Andromeda does end up dying a horrific death, I want to be there. I don't want her dying alone, among strangers who think the worst of her."
"That's both very dark and very touching." Lasky said, looking at him, then turning his gaze to the floor. "But just know that having someone you care about die in your arms will fuck you up past the point of return." He said, softly.
Chyler.
Her name seemed to echo in his mind, and he unwittingly fingered the dog tags around his neck.
He looked up to see Tiberius watching him. "Is that advice from a man who's been in the military a long time, or a man who's been there himself?" Tiberius asked quietly.
"From a man who's been there himself." Lasky responded, just as quietly.
He looked up to see Chief and Andromeda enter the Pelican. "Everything alright?"
"Perfectly." Andromeda responded, taking the seat next to him. The Chief sat down next to Thel, who was across from Lasky. Tiberius sat on the other side of Thel 'Vadam, in the seat right behind the pilot seat, where Kelly was. Frederic was sitting next to Lasky on the right, across from Tiberius. Linda was next to Kelly, in the co-pilot's seat.
Tom looked at Andromeda out of the corner of his eye. She was looking at him with a stolid expression. "Yes?" He asked, grasping his seat slightly as the Pelican jerked off the ground.
She turned her body slightly, crossed her legs and leaned her elbow against the seat and rested her head on her hand, her posture casual, almost friendly. "How did you meet these people? I'm curious. How does an average human end up on close terms with the greatest Spartan who lived and a Sangheili?"
Lasky glanced at the others, noticing that they were all engaged in their own scattered conversations. Frederic, the Chief and Thel 'Vadam were all having a conversation of their own. Well, Frederic and Thel were. The Chief was mostly just listening and nodding. Tiberius had started a conversation with Kelly and they seemed to be amusing each other sufficiently. Linda, however, was looking at him. He decided he didn't mind Linda overhearing, given that she rarely spoke, preferring observation to contribution. He looked back at Andromeda, who's blue eyes were locked onto his face, unwavering. Her constant eye contact was unnerving. Most people would break eye contact after a few seconds to look somewhere else, but she never did. It was equal parts intimidating and intoxicating to have someone looking into his eyes without the need to look away for any reason.
He shifted in his seat. "Well. I was about..." He squinted at the ceiling in recollection. "Sixteen or so. I was a freshman cadet at Corbulo Academy of Military Science when it was attacked by the Covenant." He looked back at her. "I was one of three survivors. The Chief was the one who saved us all from being skewered by an Elite's energy sword, then got us all safely to the Pelican, where I met Frederic and Kelly." He looked away again. "Well, got most of us safely to the Pelican."
Andromeda's eyebrows raised slightly. "Most?"
"Most." Lasky didn't elaborate. He looked back at her and continued. "I officially met Thel 'Vadam for the first time at a peace conference on Ealen IV. That was a wild time. Covenant everywhere."
"Sounds like a good time."
Lasky couldn't keep himself from smiling a little. "It was. After everything was over." He turned to face her and took the same pose as she did, leaning his elbow on the seat, head on his hand. "So tell me: how did you become a part of what was happening on Reach?"
Her impassive expression broke into a smile. "I was volunteered by my parents who wanted me to have a chance to do something great."
Lasky squinted at her. "I'm pretty sure you're lying. Is that what you've told yourself all these years?"
"No. It's what I tell people to keep things from getting uncomfortable." She said, readjusting her head so it was tilted slightly farther.
"Don't worry about my discomfort. I'm not most people, so you can tell me what really happened." He searched her face, looking for any indication of grief or pain or any negative emotion at all that conveyed what he suspected had been an ugly, devastating circumstance that had brought her to the facility on Reach. He found none. It was like they were talking about what they had for breakfast that morning. The only trace of emotion he saw in her face was a slight flicker in her eyes that he couldn't quite read.
"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you." She took a breath. "I don't remember. I have no recollection of the incident, or the circumstances that caused it. As far as I know, my life started at the facility.."
Lasky could only stare at her in shock. Her posture was relaxed, her tone almost lighthearted. The words she spoke didn't match the way she acted in the slightest. She was completely unaffected. It was as if she was telling a story that had happened to an aquaintence she barely knew. As if she was reading from a book.
She laughed quietly as she studied his face. "And that's why I usually stick the the first story."
Lasky shook his head. "No, no. I'm glad you didn't. That's...that's awful." He took a breath. "It was just a rather unusual style of delivery for that kind of story."
She grew serious. "It doesn't bother me. Not remembering has no effect on me. I feel no desire to find out what my life was before. I have no need to search for answers. As for having no recollection of any family, it is, perhaps, better that I do not remember. They are simply a theoretical that only vaguely exists to me in a sense that I know someone somewhere was responsible for my existence. I feel no love, no longing, no grief. I do not even think of the possibility of having a family unless I am directly asked about it."
He didn't know if he pitied her or admired her for that. He didn't know what to say. Luckily, he didn't have to say anything, because she continued.
"In the event that I was given to Dr. Dyer as a child, even that does not bother me. I am absolutely sure that if I was given to the program by parents that they were intentionally left in the dark about what augmentation procedures I would be undergoing. As far as they probably knew, I was going into a program similar to the Spartan programs. They probably thought they were giving me a chance to do something great. I will never know the specifics of the contract, should it have happened, but I know Dr. Dyer."
Lasky leaned back in his seat. "If it happened? What do you mean?"
Andromeda laughed. "I am open to any possibility. That's what happens when you remember nothing. Any possibility becomes plausible."
Lasky stared at her for a moment. "You may think that it doesn't affect you, but it does."
Andromeda leaned back in her own seat as well and crossed her arms over her chest. "And how did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"You're justifying the decision of people you don't even know. You're making excuses for them. You've created this story to explain away their actions so you don't have to process the emotions that come along with it."
Andromeda burst out laughing. "Wow. You're really reading into this. Captain of the UNSC's biggest ship and a junior psychiatrist."
Lasky shrugged. "Laugh it off all you want, but that doesn't change the truth."
Andromeda leaned forward and stared into his eyes again. "The truth is that Dr. Dyer is a manipulative, lying lowlife. If she conducted herself the way she did with the parents of the rest of those in that facility, she arrived with a contract. A very wordy contract. It was almost fifteen pages thick. And even if my parents signed me away without a second thought to someone who talked to them for over an hour, in what reality would it be more rational to assume that my parents were monsters who gave up a child they loved to be a victim of life threatening human experimentation rather than two people who were deceived by a conniving bitch who had no qualms about experimenting on a young girl?"
"She has a point." Frederic was looking at Lasky. "From what I've seen of Dr. Dyer, that's some pretty solid logic. Especially since Dr. Dyer refused to show her the contract. It would be more beneficial for Dr. Dyer if Andromeda hated her parents, or had zero attachment to them, than if she knew who they were and what they were really told." He shrugged. "And from what I've seen, I wouldn't put it past Dr. Dyer to go as far as a memory wipe in order to ensure her only successful subject had no previous attachments to influence her in her purpose."
Lasky put his hands up. "Okay. I see I'm outnumbered here. You two can think what you like, but I have my own theories."
"Your theories are wrong. You're coming from a place of emotion rather than reason. Which is not altogether a bad place to come from. It isn't wrong to come from a place of emotion. But you're still wrong."
"Am I? How would you know? You don't have any more of a background in psychology than I do. Or maybe we're both right. Maybe that's what happened and maybe you're still making those excuses to cope." Lasky leaned forward towards her, and grinned. "Maybe we should just agree to disagree."
"We can agree to disagree, but you're still wrong." She said, leaning forward so her face was close to his.
He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he met her unwavering gaze. "I guess it's your turn to ask me something now."
She was amused, a smile playing on her lips. "How did you get to be captain of your ship?"
Lasky chuckled and looked at the floor. "I more or less defied direct orders to help the Chief. I gave him what he needed to stop the Didact, despite being under orders not to. Apparently I made the right call, my captain made the wrong call and I got his job. The Infinity's mine now. I take care of it and it's crew, and it's never done me wrong."
He felt a twinge of disappointment when she finally leaned back away from him. "Now I have another question for you. One that's been burning a hole inside me since we first came to the facility: Why were you so quick to volunteer your services for this mission with the threat of great harm and a horrible death as a possibility?"
Andromeda leaned on her seat once again. "You haven't figured it out?"
"No, I haven't. I assume it's not based on heroics, honor or even a genuine desire to help us. It's probably not even based out of a fear of Cortana. But beyond that, I have no idea."
Andromeda opened her mouth to respond, but didn't get the chance.
"When you've been trapped somewhere and treated like a lab rat for a long time, you'll do anything to be able to leave that place." Linda was the one who'd spoken up.
Her statement seemed to shock the rest of her team members, who Lasky had noticed seemed to view Dr. Halsey as a sort of mother figure.
Andromeda smiled ruefully. "She's correct. That's my reason. My one, self-serving, underlying motive. No heroics. No honor. Just a desperate desire to leave the place I've been held prisoner for ten years. Even a horrible, painful death is preferable to staying one more day in that hellhole."
"Is that why you came along?" Kelly spoke up, glancing back at Tiberius.
Tiberius shook his head, his expression serious. "No. I wasn't treated the same way she was. I came because I'm with Andy. Always. Today, tomorrow, forever."
Andromeda and Tiberius shared a look.
Lasky frowned. They clearly meant a lot to each other. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
Thel 'Vadam said something in Sangheili.
"I agree." Tiberius said enthusiastically. "What the hell did you just say?"
"It is a Sangheili proverb. The best way I can translate it is that it means 'a bond between sword mates is a bond that cannot be broken'." The large Sangheili shook his head. "It sounds much more meaningful in Sangheili."
"I'll take your word for it." Tiberius said.
"Here's a Spartan proverb for you all: What's the plan?" Kelly called out.
"We find Cortana and we stop her. That's the plan we had so far. The details are still a little fuzzy." Lasky said, glancing at the Chief. He hoped that Chief had some semblance of a plan, because he sure as hell didn't have any idea what they could do.
"We find Genesis. I access the mainframe. I locate Cortana. The Chief then will try to convince her to stand down. If that fails, I use whatever means necessary to force her to relinquish control over the Guardians. After that, Chief will attempt to use reason. If that fails, I do what it takes to ensure she won't pose a threat to the galaxy anymore." Andromeda said, matter-of-factly.
"And what happens if you get fried when you try to access Genesis?" Kelly asked.
"Tiberius takes my suit. He can probably wear most of it. Then he carries out the same plan."
"And if it fries you both?" Frederic asked, grimly.
"Well, then, let's hope we can enlist Exuberant Witness's help again. Or we put out an emergency call to Hydrus." The Chief said. "Or we just hope I can convince her."
"So it's a solid plan that hinges on people's brains not getting fried. If no one gets fried, we should be good?" Lasky questioned.
"Yes. Exactly." Andromeda smiled. "We're good to go, as long as no one gets fried."
"Great." Lasky muttered. He felt himself break out into a little bit of a sweat and began to regret coming along.