I is for Intent
(Post Halo 3)
The Arbiter had never meant to say anything where anyone would overhear. He had merely commented to Rtas that the Demon seemed abnormally close to his construct, especially after he retrieved her from High Charity. The other Sangheili had replied that he had noticed as well, and then thought for a moment before saying, "That is understandable, though. He just got her back after an extended period of separation. She was essential to his operations on the first and second Halos, as I understand it, and though he tried to hide it, I could tell that he was unsettled, particularly when her message played. When she showed pain… I feared that he might try to leap into the container to rescue her, though she was not actually there."
"Perhaps their relationship is more than it seems."
"That, too, is infinitely possible."
But someone had overhead: one of ONI's more cruel officers, and he told the Council. Now the Spartan and his AI were fugitives from some truly idiotic law regarding relationships between humans and artificial intelligences. The Sangheili dervish-king had unhesitatingly offered the warrior and his construct secret asylum on Sangheilios, which had been taken up on as soon as the message actually reached him.
Even though ONI just knew that the Spartan was on the foreign world, an invasion to bring the Chief to ONI's twisted sense of justice would be construed as a declaration of war, and the Sangheili would inevitably win. The Arbiter continued to protect his battle brother and his mate until their deaths.
As they say, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
