14. Origins of Evil
Alaya powered up her computer terminal in the lab and called up a status report from HALO-1. As standard status reports flooded in, she recalled a cryptic message she'd received from the head scientist the day before. Four words, seemingly innocent, but something about them chilled her to the core:
The Gravemind is stirring.
Alaya stopped the reports and directed an inquiry into HALO-1's science labs: a request for information on their chief of operations. Her eyes widened as she scanned the reports, and she quickly called up another file, one she'd stumbled across by accident and left alone. There was one word in it that had stuck in her memory: gravemind. Finding the file, Alaya opened it and began to read its contents. It was a file one of the other scientists had composed on the Flood, including rumors spread among the soldiers.
'Rumors persist of a creature controlling the Flood forms, a strange worker of death, said to have only thoughts of putting all life into the grave. These rumors have subsequently given this 'creature' a name: the Gravemind. While I have found no evidence of this creature among captured Flood forms, I have noticed that they seem to act as though in response to a much higher intelligence than their own. I have yet to confirm this, however.'
Alaya closed the file, and gathered her courage. She had to face the High Council; clearly something was amiss, or else why did the chief scientist on HALO-1 send her that message? And why was he now dead?
"Council members, there are things I must know regarding the Flood if I am to continue my research effectively."
"Speak on, Alaya. What would you know?" the Council Master replied.
"During my research on the Flood, I came across a file written some time ago," she began as she displayed the file in question. "It mentions rumors of a creature styled as 'the Gravemind', and points to a possibility of some higher intellect controlling the Flood. This alone is disturbing to consider, but I have more news you must hear." She hesitated, trying to find the right words, then continued.
"The other day, I received a message from HALO-1." She noticed some members of the Council shift uneasily in their seats. "It was only four words, but those words speak clearly to me now." Displaying the message, and noting the looks of fear on their faces, Alaya went on, "The scientist who sent this, the chief of scientific operations on HALO-1, is now reported dead, killed in a laboratory accident, but the circumstances are unusual. Council members, I must know—is there a creature called the Gravemind?"
"Alaya, you need not concern yourself with this," a Prophet on the Council murmured quietly. Alaya was unmoved.
"You have answered my question without saying anything. I have read your looks and heard the fear in your voices. This creature does exist, and you know of it. Why then did you not tell us? If we had known, we could have destroyed it!"
"It is not that simple," a Brute declared. The Brutes, wrongly called so because of their monstrous appearance and ferocity in battle, were known for their ability to balance war with necessity; they were warriors who understood and respected needs other than battle, no matter how much they preferred the battlefield. "The Gravemind is not merely a creature controlling the Flood. It used to be something else." He displayed a file that no one had seen for many, many years, a file that changed everything Alaya knew about the Flood.
'Project Thanatos status report: Our experiments are growing more successful each day. Test subject Oratus is almost ready for the final stage—the creation of the ultimate weapon. Two minutes remain before the final stage.' The human recording this stopped and looked down into a laboratory, where a once-human figure was strapped to a table. The man's skin was a sickly-mottled combination of green and yellow combined with flesh, his eyes had disappeared, and his limbs were longer than they should be. An Elite warrior platoon stood nearby, along with a pair of Hunters. They watched as another scientist injected the sick man with a viscous substance. The man referred to as Oratus began to twitch uncontrollably, breaking his restraints. All watched in horrified fascination as several tentacles sprouted from his body, which receded into itself until it formed a roughly spherical shape. The end result was a horrible creature, a creature which spoke in a deep voice.
'Oratus now is dead. I have since claimed his head. The Gravemind now I be, now you meet your destiny.' Screams resonated throughout the room as the beast began to destroy all those within it.
The Brute closed the file. "A genetic experiment to create warriors capable of surviving any circumstance. Oratus was a soldier incapable of fighting any longer, and had begun to contemplate the grave. The Gravemind was contained within HALO-1 for study, in the hope of reversing the process; failing that, we hoped we could find a way to control it. It was not only deadly, but also intelligent, but we had no idea it could control the Flood."
Alaya shook her head, still unable to comprehend the horror. "If what you have shown me is true, then we were responsible for creating the Flood. It is we who are to blame for our own predicament." She looked up at the Council. "Why was none of this ever told to me before?"
"We did not think it necessary," a Prophet declared. "There was no proof before that the Gravemind was indeed controlling the Flood. Even when we had the proof, we had hoped still to find some way to control it; destroying it was out of the question, since it had been designed to withstand all our weapons."
"Council members, please hear my words. What I have seen is horrible to consider, but the implications are clear. If the Gravemind is stirring, it must be guiding the Flood. Without a head, any body will die, and the Gravemind is the head for the body of the Flood. It must be destroyed, and with its death the Flood will be easier to defeat." Her hands shook as she tried to regain composure and pleaded with the Council. "This creature has proven that it cannot be controlled, and if my fears are true, it killed the head scientist on HALO-1. We must destroy the Gravemind."
"You words are wise, Alaya, as is only right," the Council Master declared. "We shall destroy it as soon as may be." Alaya bowed in relief and left. Once she reached her quarters, her self-composure gave way and she sobbed uncontrollably. If what I saw is true, as it must be, we created the Flood! And if we created them, how do we destroy them? She felt a greater despair than she had ever known before, and feared that they were fighting a war without end.