Chapter 10: Six Degrees of Separation.
Whilst Garrus slowly fought through mind-bending challenges set by Astute Prodigy, Tela and Shiala were just entering their first challenge.
"Well, this seems interesting…" Tela breathed, as they walked into the first room, with the door locking behind them.
"Ah you're here!" a voice said, before a small metal orb floated before her. "You must be Vakarian's friend; I'm Astute Prodigy, welcome to your first test!" Prodigy said excitedly. "Your friends are proving quite worthwhile for testing my installation's security."
"Whoop-de-fucking-do" Tela growled, "What the hell do I do here?"
"Language strange creature!" Prodigy snapped, before suddenly shifting moods. "Your task is to reach the bottom of this chamber, and then navigate a shifting maze."
"And where is Vakarian?" Shiala smiled, cracking her knuckles and flexing her shoulders.
"Mr Vakarian is currently lost in the maze" Prodigy said, looking straight down the large vent. "He exceeded my expectations on his first test; perhaps I have become lax in my centuries of isolation."
"You've certainly become cuckoo in your isolation." Tela muttered and Shiala snickered.
"I only hope you will do the same as your friend." Prodigy said sharply, ignoring the quip.
"Well, we best go save his ass!" Tela stated, before the two Asari dived down the shaft.
"Cheaters!" Prodigy yelled after her.
As they fell, sections of the wall jutted out to block their path, but using natural grace and biotic skills; they both managed to either glide out of the way, or momentarily land on the platforms before leaping off again.
"Keep it up Vasir and T'Yeo, the multiple distractions to Prodigy's systems have given me a backdoor into his sub-matrixes" EDI said over the com link. "I'm giving Vakarian small amounts of help in the maze."
"What's so difficult about this maze?" Tela asked, flipping in mid-air to land lightly on her feet, Shiala beside her. She saw why Garrus was having difficulty; it was vast, dimly lit and constantly shifting. "Never mind that, I can see why."
"You may have outsmarted the drop my azure antagonists…" Prodigy stated, floating down and hovering close to her head. "But you won't have the same luck in this maze."
"What's at the other end of the maze?" Shiala asked, quickly checking her weapons.
"The control room for my installation, what else would be so well protected?" Prodigy said cheerfully. "I vastly improved the route there; it used to be a simple corridor, now it's a vast, complex and challenging maze."
"I say again, Whoop-de-fucking-do!" Tela said sarcastically.
"It definitely has a few screws missing," Shiala whispered.
"Indeed!" Prodigy said excitedly, before floating into the maze and disappearing.
"Vakarian, where are you?" Tela immediately asked when she was locked into the maze, separated from Shiala.
"No idea. Activate your tracker, let's try and unite in this hellhole!" Garrus replied. She tapped her Omni-tool and saw three flashing dots on her display.
"We're quite far apart, but at least I know what direction to head" Shiala stated, before running down a path, diving through the closing walls, before her route was forcibly changed.
"Now T'Yeo, play fair!" Prodigy's voice echoed all around her as she ran. "Speed doesn't save you every time." Seconds later the wall slammed shut in front of her, just as Garrus came into view.
"One second!" EDI stated, moments later the path opened, and Tela and Garrus instantly ran into each other.
"Hmm, seems my system is fighting back," Prodigy mused.
"Or your systems are short circuiting!" Garrus yelled.
"I shall run diagnostics. Enjoy your failure in the maze," Prodigy stated, before floating away from them.
"Idiot, now your AI will be discovered" Tela hissed.
"I have hidden my presence inside the network, the monitor will mistake me for a subroutine 'dealing' with the external attackers," EDI said over the intercom. "Proceed due north to the control room. I have exactly seventy percent of the subroutines under my control."
Before either could respond, EDI cut communications, and the wall to their left opened up, revealing a long, straight corridor. Shiala burst out of a side passage before it closed behind her.
"So, what did Prodigy make you do to enter the maze?" Garrus asked, after a few minutes of walking in silence.
"Drop down a shaft, with numerous obstacles trying to stop us," Shiala sighed, as the corridor continued to stretch out before them, often shifting slightly and changing the gradient. "You?"
"Shoot targets, what else is this thing capable of?" Garrus replied.
"Shooting lasers from its eye, setting the entire station to self-destruct, and summoning limitless Sentinels" Tela said simply. "I think I see the end, wanna race?"
"No biotics, tech or foul play?" Garrus smiled.
"Naturally," Shiala grinned.
At that they all began sprinting, managing to keep level with each other. As they got into their stride, and neared the end of the corridor, a wall slammed out from above, blocking their path, and they all collided with it, before falling on the floor in a heap.
"Uh uh uh, not so fast strange creatures," Prodigy's voice echoed as the corridors quickly reformed into a maze around them. "You are close, but the subroutine has been corrected."
"What about our friends outside?" Tela asked, as she helped Garrus and Shiala to their feet.
"They are proving to be no threat, and my sentinels are pushing them back on all fronts" Prodigy boasted, Shiala, Tela and Garrus looked at each other.
"One moment" EDI whispered on the intercom. "And the Sentinels were being pushed back on all fronts."
"No!" Prodigy wailed. "My sentinels are self-destructing! How is this possible?"
The trio again broke into a sprint, and weaved through the shifting walls, as their heads-up displays pointed the way through the maze, till they reached the control room.
"How have you beaten me?" Prodigy whined. Before any of them could answer, a circular podium at the heart of the control room lit up, and EDI appeared before them.
"With a little help" EDI stated. "We have beaten you, stand down."
"No, it's not fair! You cheated!" Prodigy whined like a spoilt child.
"Then we are forced to take the extreme measure," Garrus stated, as the trio stepped up to the control panel. "Destroy you, and this station."
"Never!" Prodigy roared, EDI and Shiala ducked, but Garrus and Tela were not so quick, and were both blasted backward by Prodigy's laser beam.
"Keep him busy, I'll order the self-destruct!" EDI stated over the intercom, as Prodigy ignored her, and focused on the other three.
"You cheated me, now you won't cheat death!" Prodigy growled, firing another red laser at them, but they avoided the beam. "You will not destroy my playground!"
"Playground?" Shiala remarked, firing biotic walls at Prodigy, managing to interrupt it from firing another laser at them.
"It's completely mad, use your speed, try and disable that bloody laser" Garrus ordered, as he withdrew his sniper rifle.
"Got it!" Tela growled, she sped around Prodigy, who turned to try and blast her, but missed. "Now!"
Garrus fired three times; the bullets punched into the monitor's unguarded back, and tore through the intricate circuitry. Astute Prodigy shook violently, emitting a high pitch, synthetic scream, before exploding, and showering its remains across the room.
"No fair!" it said feebly, as the light went out.
"Seems rather tragic," EDI stated, as she stepped over to the remains of the monitor. "It thought it was still functioning at peak efficiency, not realising how far it had fallen."
"Whatever!" Tela growled, kicking the glass eyepiece across the floor. "Is this thing ready to blow?"
"Yes, once we're clear I'll activate it" EDI smiled.
"How did you get here so quickly?" Garrus asked, looking over at the podium.
"Teleporters function across this station, I wired myself into the system and learnt how to operate it," EDI said, leading them to stand on the podium. "Hold on."
In the blink of an eye, they were standing on the bridge of the Turian capital ship they had arrived on, much to the surprise of the Admiral.
"How the hell did you…" the Admiral asked, but Tela interrupted.
"Teleport, get all ships clear of the station and it'll blow" she barked, the Admiral looked for confirmation to Garrus, who nodded.
"All ships, clear the atmosphere, the station is prepped to blow" the Admiral said over the radio, as the capital ship began to fly away from the Halo.
"EDI, where are the big bad Covenant we were warned about?" Tela asked, turning to walk off the bridge, with EDI and Garrus following close behind.
"They are not on this Halo, but Cortana sent me the ship signatures so I could find them," EDI explained. "They are gathered around other Halo rings."
"Well whoever is getting to fight them, better be having fun," Shiala grumbled. "That was anything but fun."