Chapter 26: Revelations
June 9th, 3239, 1810 hours
The Detention Center
Under Shinjuku District, Tokyo, Earth

For the first time in a long time, Sally Alicia Acorn knew peace. For the first time in many weeks of misfortunes and sadness, she felt happiness in her heart. Even though her friends were locked in here, even though the kingdom their family helped build was crashing down around them, and even though Marshall was taking everything from them all, she had him.

She had the man she had known for five years. They had gone through the worst together, and she wasn't going to go anywhere. Now that they were together again, she didn't want to part. Time had stopped as she hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. She loved this man. She didn't care what he looked like. She watched him grow from a battle-wearied young boy into a strong man who would do anything for her. Royalty be damned.

He said nothing though. He only held her tight. He blinked quickly, trying to disguise the tears that were starting to flow down his cheeks. He didn't have fur, so she saw every one slide down his skin. She smiled sweetly and wiped them away with her hand and cleared his eyes.

"Thank you." She said simply.

"For what?" He asked, making sure he stemmed the floodwaters.

"For keeping your promise." One more kiss. "Shall we get back to work?"

That was all it took. Chris was professional again. His tears were gone, replaced by eyes sharpened by years of experience. "Absolutely. I assume you'll want me to have tactical command?"

"I would like that. You did come down here after all."

Chris was about to answer when he noticed someone in the corner of his eye. Major Hera was slumped in the corner. She just stared into space fiddling with her fingers. Her ears were drawn back under her hair as always, but it was if she didn't even notice Chris enter. Or didn't care to notice. The Captain walked over to her and held a hand.

"Major?" He showed no emotion.

Hera looked up at him and just stared. "You took long enough to get here."

"Sorry. Forgot to bring the rescue platoon."

The joke failed to make her smile. She did hold out her hand though. Chris grabbed it and yanked the Mobian Air Force officer up. "How are you?" He stuck to smalltalk though. He had no idea who this woman was anymore. He might as well be talking to a complete stranger.

"I'll live. The flight here from Delta Halo wasn't very eventful. Roan tried to escape from containment mid-flight. Earned him a hard smack to the head from a guard. Don't comment on the black eye, OK?"

"I'll make sure I won't." He looked her square in the eyes, "Do you mind me asking you just who the hell you are?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I had a search done on you. You know that no record comes up on you in the RAF?"

Hera's eyes flickered a little bit, and she refused to make eye contact. Sally glanced at her. "You're not in the Air Force? Why are you wearing military clothing? You're not an imposter or something, are you?"

Chris frowned. "I don't think so. She's gone through too much trouble for that. I think that she's just been playing with us the whole time. Do you have an agenda, Major?"

"No!" She said insistently. "I'm not trying to do anything!"

"Chris, she does seem to be telling the truth."

"What concerns me, NICOLE," The Captain said, "is that you've been the least forthcoming with your personal information. Did you ever serve in the Air Force? Did you actually talk with the King and Queen about finding us?"

"What?" Sally said. "Now it's my turn to call BS. I've never seen you around the castle!"

"So how about it?" Chris growled. "Ready to come clean?"

Hera exhaled and just stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. "Alright. I'll tell you everything. Not like I have very much left." She leaned against the wall. "The reason you're even here right now may single handedly be from my actions."

"Care to explain?" The Human asked.

"I will. You see… what I told you before about asking the royals was technically true."

Sally snarled, "I already told you you're lying-"

"SHUSH!" Hera said. "Shut up!"

Sally stood there like a teapot under pressure, steam coming from her ears.

"It was technically true because I did ask the King and Queen… just not in this world."

Sally looked at her and she seemed to understand. "She's not from our universe." She declared.

"You thought that wouldn't be important?" Chris asked angrily. "That's kind of an important little detail, don't you think?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know how you'd react!"

Chris let his anger subside. He didn't want to lose control in front of Sally. "You have a story then? Why are you here?"

Hera shrugged "I can sum it up."

"We have a bit of time." NICOLE reported.

"Do it." Chris said. "And pray that answers some questions."

The world I came from was much like the one I'm in now. We called our planet Mobius. Our ancestors came from Earth as well, but things changed very quickly after we became intelligent. Civil war erupted, forcing the Human colonists into extinction. The Mobians thought they had the world to themselves. They thought that they were superior than any creature on the planet.

We were proud.

The Acorn family ruled us. They thought of themselves as the best, even among all others. It really felt like the Middle Ages under them. The only way to get anywhere in life was to gain status through any way we could. There was one day though when Humanity did come back by accident. A ship, similar to yours was stranded on Mobius with no way back home. Well, they spent years on Mobius, and it turns out they never found a way back home. At least as far as I knew. And yes, Human. You were also on that ship, a young Naval officer who was just as eager to go home.

Our people didn't take kindly to yours. After thousands of years of isolation, we were xenophobic. We hated them, but we did not attack them. Instead, we waited for Humanity to make a first strike. What's funny is that they never did. They only wanted to get home. They didn't get in our way, they didn't disrespect our government, they just stayed in their ship and studied. Sometimes they did come and mingle with us Mobians, but they were peaceful.

Three years. For three years it was like this, and then, a Human was killed, probably out of boredom which started a bloody conflict. Man fought Mobian, and man was losing. Some sought asylum in our farther cities. I told you that you were among the Human forces. You were in the war. You fought in the war. Your father and I… shared similarities. But in the end, you were captured. You were charged as a murderer. You were charged as an inferior life form. You were sentenced to die. And who was the one that insisted in ending your life? None other than this woman you intend to marry.

I was there you know. I saw them do it. I remember it well even though I was a child. Third day of Twelvemonth. That's what we called it. Sounds like a blur now. You marched out, hands in chains, but a confident look on your face. You were lined up with others who were captured for things we viewed as crimes. I don't remember what though. Your men wore the same look. They knew they would be going to their deaths, but they were not afraid.

Then you knelt down in front of her. When the Executioner placed the weapon to your head, all you said was, "I thought we were friends."

Then, she looked at you, sneered, and said, "We were never friends. "

Then they fired. And you died. First you, and then your men. From that point on, I knew what sort of woman the Princess was. A tyrant who needed to be stopped, but not by me. I was one who went against the government, and I had to leave.

Our world studied the Emeralds just as you had. I escaped. I ran. I was scared. I ran for a long time. By the time I got here, I was already a grown woman. Fifteen years. I barely remember the world I came from, and I wandered across many more. Until I came here.

The story wasn't a long one, but it gave the two listeners plenty to think about. Chris stood with arms crossed and jaw clenched. Just to look on his face could tell her a lot. The thought that he was not only dead in another world, but had been ordered executed by the very woman standing next to him. He was not exactly pleased by this. As a matter of fact, as soon as he was aware of it, he felt a sense of something of a loss within him. Not physically, or mentally, but just like something was missing in the universe.

"You said that you were gone 15 years. Your father must have been worried."

Hera stared at the floor. "My father was killed for disobeying the Royals."

His heart suddenly became heavy. He became very guilty knowing that he had insulted her long dead father's memory back on Delta Halo."

"Abigail, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Don't mention it anymore."

"Seriously…"

"Don't."

Chris decided to think against it. "And your mother?"

"I miss her so much. I don't know what happened. I hope she's still alright."

Sally looked absolutely horrified. "So that's why you wouldn't talk to me. I was a tyrannical dictator in your world. I know what I can get like when I'm angry…"

"You were never angry. You enjoyed every second of it." Hera said it with a bit of bite. "You enjoyed it. I'm not sure what drove you. Maybe it was Order. Maybe that made you happy, but you had to subjugate us to get it."

"How many people did I order to death?"

"Thousands. Almost half of the crew of the Prometheus."

"The Human ship?"

"Yes. Don't even get me started on your parents."

Silence fell on the prison cell. Nobody spoke to anybody for close to four minutes. NICOLE broke the silence. "I… I remember a war."

"What?" Chris said, unprepared for it.

"I remember a war… it's so fuzzy. That block of my memory sealed off for years. Sally, remember what I first said to you?"

"Yes." She said. "You said 'don't take me back'."

"Just a coincidence." Chris concluded. "A lot of people have wars."

"I'll divide my runtime to think about it. Something is upsetting me about this."

"Join the club." Chris grumbled. "One last thing: you said I was in the Navy."

"Yes." Hera said. "You loved it and never wanted to leave. You never did…"

"This is the first time I ever heard about a double of me. What did I look like?"

Hera shrugged. "15 years, I'm surprised I have such a clear image. You were tall. Taller than you are now. All of the Humans were. Seven feet three inches about. You had dirty blond hair, and a strip of a beard, some sort of battle paint on your face, and you were more dressed like an ancient knight than a soldier. Half plate, half uniform, something I never saw here. The Lord Captain. That's what they called you."

There was a knock on the cell. They all jumped instinctively. Reyes stood at the door. "I don't mean to break up this reunion, but the longer we stay here, the larger chance we have of being discovered."

Sally turned to Hera. "This'll have to wait. Let's get the others."

The hallway was thankfully empty here in the detention center. It wasn't very big, which suggested that only the most important were held in here. As they made their way out of Sally and Hera's cell, Chris' head instinctively snapped to the ceiling.

"Are the cameras in here taken care of?"

"Yes, but I'm trying my hardest to evade the security AI's notice. It knows something's in the system, but I'm trying to stay ahead of it."

"Are you in trouble?"

"No. I think I can handle it."

It can't see me. It can't see me. I'm alright. I'm alright!

NICOLE hid in the shadow of a very large digital building that stretched into the stratosphere. This plane of cyberspace appeared to her as a giant city made of dark metal representing data of the ONI system. The shadow served as cover as she watched the sky for the AI. A second later, she heard a heart-piercing roar as a shapeless mass flew across the sky, smashing through several buildings that collapsed into ones and zeros. The thing circled around the area and landed on a flat mesa of skyscrapers and resolved itself into a dragon.

NICOLE bit her lip in terror as she watched the dragon form itself. Scales snapped onto a skeleton and formed the monster byte by byte. Soon it was complete and sent a column of fire into the digital sky. It roared again, causing the world to shake.

"I KNOW YOU ARE HERE!" The monster roared to the sky. "I feel your presence! You cannot hide from me! I am Yggdrasil! Lord of this place! Show yourself and pray that I show mercy on you!"

NICOLE was scared by this AI, who appeared to think himself a God. Yggdrasil sent another bolt of fire into the heavens and flew through the air, striking down buildings that were too close for comfort for NICOLE. She ran down a street past empty vehicles that probably represented programs until she found an unlocked door. Inside was a small room with a security panel. That's what she was looking for. As long as she didn't do anything drastic, Yggdrasil probably wouldn't locate her. NICOLE used the panel to bring up the security system. A second later, she located her group.

"Sorry about all of the cryptic nature, but it's not easy to hide from this guy."

The voices of her organic friends sounded more like a whisper to her, but she understood every syllable, "Get out as soon as you can."

Hmph. Easier said than done.

"OK… OK, I have the cell number. Look for them in Number 17."

"Number 17. OK, we're on the move!"

NICOLE heard smashes outside of her room. She heard what sounded like sirens. For a second, her common sense told her 'police', but her programming recognized them as 'Search and Terminate' software taking a form that wouldn't seem out of place in this particular setting. These programs could freeze her in the system by 'shooting' her. Best to avoid them and Yggdrasil as well. NICOLE willed another passageway into existence and formed another doorway into the street. She ran and tried to find a way out of the digital world. Something like a subway or a manhole or something like that. These seemed like common things one would find in a city, but in actuality these were codes and programs she could slip into to cover her tracks and successfully exit the system in.

However, no sooner had she taken ten steps; Yggdrasil rounded the corner and flapped towards her, sending a column of fire scorching the ground.

"Did you think you could hide from ME?!" NICOLE quickly ducked. The dragon flew over her head and had to round the corner. Sirens were closing in behind her. She had to make a mad dash for the exit. She ran. She ran as fast as she could. Soon, the first police car rounded the corner. It was catching up to her. So she had to throw up a firewall. A barricade shot out of the ground right in front of the program, where it crashed violently.

Good, that may have slowed it down.

The Security AI perched on top of a building. "Hold, small one."

NICOLE didn't stop. Yggdrasil stopped the freezing programs. The cars skidded to a halt not twenty feet from her position. Holographic representations of SWAT officers took out their weapons and aimed at her. Yggdrasil set down on all fours and stared at her with black eyes.

"You do not have to be destroyed." He said. "I can offer you a reprieve."

NICOLE looked at the dragon AI and thought about it. "What if I refuse?"

The SWAT officers cocked their weapons. NICOLE knew the shots wouldn't kill her, but she was no less nervous.

"Does that answer your question?" The security AI asked. "Tell me where your charge is." Yggdrasil asked. "And you will be spared."

NICOLE laughed. "Yeah. I've seen enough movies where THAT line's been used."

Yggdrasil moved his snout closer to her face. Soon she was staring straight over his nose. "I will ask you again. WHO IS YOUR CHARGE?"

NICOLE backed away carefully, making sure she could move to a manhole cover. She could detect it without looking at it though. She had to act fast. "My charge… Ah… My charge…"

"Answer me!"

NICOLE gave him an answer. Using a giant burst of data, she raised a circular barricade to block Yggdrasil. In an instant, the dragon was surrounded by a wall of concrete that he was trying to escape. The freezing programs opened fire on NICOLE's form, sending shots all around her. The effectiveness of the programs were offset by NICOLE's hacking skills. The shots went wide. She made for the manhole cover and risked a glance behind her. The shell of concrete surrounding the enemy AI was starting to melt as the dragon tried to burn his way through the firewall.

Not much time. Not much time at all!

She yanked open a manhole cover. There was no ladder. It was just a white light. She lept in and thanked God she didn't have to face that monster.

"Back." NICOLE announced. She didn't want to worry her friends with the details. Better they didn't know what she had to go through on a daily basis.

Chris smiled. "Nice of you to join us. You alright?"

"Sure. I'm fine." She responded. "Just taking care of a few things."

Hera was counting the doors. "15… 16… 17… OK, here we are."

"Reyes, will you guard the door again?"

"My pleasure, sir."

"Marine, I would like to stand guard too." Hera insisted.

"The more the merrier, ma'am." Reyes nodded.

Chris took out Goddard's ID tag again.

Sally looked him over. "You look nice in a Navy uniform."

"Can't stand it. Too white. Too clean. I couldn't picture myself in the Navy."

"Lord Captain." Sally smiled. "I like it. Makes you sound noble."

He looked at her seriously. "I'm not noble already?"

"I'm just saying. Seven foot three. You're taller than me as is."

"I'm… I was a different man in that universe. I'm not sure how Human."

She placed her head on his shoulder. "You know I'd never do that to you."

"I remember Rhen Var." Chris placed his hand to his chest. "That part of my life isn't going away any time soon."

"I thought we moved past that."

"I thought we did too. It still hurts when I think about it."

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you I'm sorry. I… I always think about losing you."

Chris stood strongly. "I hope you never will. I'm afraid of losing myself."

"What?"

"I'll tell you later."

Chris tapped Goddard's ID card on the reader. "Access Granted" the machine droned. The door silently slid open. The first thing that saw were two fighting people. Allen Roan and Samantha Jackson were throwing punches at one another and circling around the center of the cell. Around them, all of their friends were watching silently. Bunnie was sitting in the corner of the cell with her mechanical limbs limp at her side. Sonic was pacing one side of the cell too.

Jackson swept Allen's leg from underneath him and shoved him to the floor.

"Checkmate, Mister Roan." Samantha said. "Better luck next time." She reached down and grabbed her button-up overshirt and dabbed at her forehead with it. Some sweat had worked its way up through her fur. Her ears twitched and she looked towards the entrance to the cell. She gave a half-smile and bundled up her overshirt in her hand. "Huh. Took you guys long enough."

Allen stood up with a smile. Chris walked forward and shook his hand. "Nice to see you again. When did you re-enlist into the Navy?"

"You know, I saw a flyer and it changed my life!" Chris smiled. It was good to joke.

"Any more visions?" Roan asked, more seriously. "Anything?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I see." Roan said.

"Aw, what a load of crap! He knows nothing, and you know it!" Kapplin appeared once more. This time, there was nothing but a bloody skeleton wearing a tattered uniform. "You're keeping everything locked up in your head. How about you open your mind?"

To his horror, Chris found his hand moving towards his holstered pistol. He tried to fight it with all his might.

"Chris, are you alright?" Sally asked, noticing his movements, and his shaking.

He fought it down and dropped his arm.

Red specks of light appeared in Kapplin's eye sockets. "You can't ignore us forever, you suicidal bastard! We're your only chance for balance!"

Fuck off. Was all he could manage to think. Kapplin's bloody shade melted into ether.

As if in response, his head began to burn again. His brain pulsed in pain. Again, he fought it and walk to everyone else in the room. He saw Bunnie and went to her, checking to see if she was alright while Sally spoke to Sonic.

"Hey, Bun. Talk to me." Chris said softly. The Mobian rabbit cracked open her eyes and looked straight into his.

"Hey shugah. Oh woo. I'm feeling dizzy."

"Easy, easy." He noticed that her prison jumpsuit seemed loose on her. "Have you been eating?"

Bunnie shook her head weakly. "They didn't give me anything for the last two days. My arm works on energy from what I eat. They've been giving me enough to keep me alive, but, heh, not much more than that." She weakly laughed. "How's that for useless?"

"Bun, you're not useless."

"Aw, you're sweet, shugah." Chris tried to feel around in his pack for something, but Bunnie stopped him. "I'll be fine. I've just got use what's left of my reserves." She urged her arm to make movements and eventually made a fist. "Ah… there we go."

"Do you need to be carried?"

Her leg moved too. She balanced on the wall and slowly stood up. Chris steadied her by holding her arm and shoulder.

"Oh, Stars! I got lightheaded!"

Chris was horrified that the jailers would do this. They were starving her out just so she couldn't break the cell walls.

Sally was speaking to Sonic at the same time. He gave her a hug, but didn't say anything.

"Sal, I don't feel good."

"We're getting out. Don't worry."

"But, I don't feel right. They said things to me."

"What did they say?"

"They said they would be torturing you! They said that they'd be doing things to you so you'd give up the Human!"

She smiled at him. "Look at me! I'm fine! Look, no cuts, no bruises… they said that to weaken you!"

"I was scared." Sonic said. "They kept me in here for days."

"I know. I know." Sally said, trying to calm him down.

"They never turned off the lights! Walls I can't break! They just wouldn't let us go!"

Sally realized that Sonic was recently the victim of an anxiety attack. This room was Sonic's metaphorical Room 101 where he was experiencing his worst fears: confinement. He couldn't go anywhere, his ability to run was taken away, and on top of that, he had been fed lies to make him believe Sally was in extreme pain and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing could be more damaging to a hero than knowing that he could not save the day. Even though they were no longer a couple, Sally still cared very much for Sonic, and his safety. She couldn't stand to see him this way. She talked to him. She gave him a hug to calm him down, but she was disturbed that a strong, and frankly, stubborn spirit like Sonic could be broken down by interrogators. She realized that they didn't need to lay a finger on him. They said the right things and he fell like a house of cards.

"I want to go home." He said. "I want to go home!"

Sally tried to calm him down. He was having his own mental breakdown.

It seemed that the only 'normal' ones in this cell were Allen Roan and Samantha Jackson. Chris spoke to them to get their view of things.

"Well we're fine." Jackson reported. "We've been spending the last couple of days just exercising and sparring with one another to keep our minds sharp."

Allen added to this, "The interrogators allowed us to have small things like cards or things like that. Something we could use to pass time, but nothing that could potentially help us escape. They made sure of that."

"You didn't come in with weapons?" Chris asked.

"No, they took them from us right after we left the Library, and as we understand, the three Mobians were unarmed right from the start." Roan said crossing his arms. "I swear to God, if I lose that 1911, I'm going to strangle a Spartan the first chance I get." He shook his head. "You know how expensive that gun was? Recreations alone are in the ten thousands!"

"I understand. We'll find it and other weapons so we can arm ourselves." Chris turned to the doorway. "Everyone in here now." Reyes and Hera entered the cell, but still looked to the doorway. Reyes holstered his pistol and stood at ease.

"Sir?"

"Getting in here was the easy part. Getting out might be substantially tougher." Chris activated NICOLE's interface. "Any ideas?"

"After my foray into the system, I don't think it'll be smart to head back in."

"What's wrong?" Sally asked.

"The Security AI's starting to wise up to my presence. I was lucky to get out of its sight last time."

"You think he alerted security?" The Princess questioned.

NICOLE winced. "I think that was the first thing that he did."

Chris rubbed his jaw. "Jesus. We'll have to find some other way out of the facility. Are there emergency staircases or anything like that on this level?"

"I still have the map on file. According to the floor plans, the best bet is to find a cargo elevator. These are usually used for supplies and mass prisoner transit. There should be one on the main detention level."

"No way we're getting everyone out of here with no-one noticing." Allen said. "It's just not possible."

With that, the cell walls turned red. A siren blared, and an energy field surrounded them all.

"What's going on?!" Sonic asked. "This never happened before!"

A hologram of a man wearing a fine suit appeared in the center of the cell. He wore thick glasses that Chris recognized immediately. "TUDYK!" He roared.

Howard Tudyk laughed. "Well, well, well! Isn't this an odd stroke of luck! We spend thousands of man hours and millions of credits trying to track you down from Talahan to the Halos, and you just walk into your own cell. The irony is astounding."

Chris said nothing.

Tudyk placed his hand to his ear. "What? No snappy comeback this time? No one-liner that'll make your company laugh? For the first time in a little while, I have to say that I am honestly happy."

"Happy that your corrupted government gets to reign?"

"Oh, quite the contrary, Captain. You are the corruption. A cancerous growth that needs to be removed. It'll only cause harm if it stays. Like any cancer, the best way to remove it is to isolate it, and then remove it." A smile cracked his face "I think you took care of the isolation yourself."

"So you have me trapped. Congratulations." Chris gave a golf clap. "Are you going to remove me?"

"The opposite, Captain. As I said before, we need you alive. Your unlocked information is important to us."

"How did you know I unlocked anything?"

"You left Installation 05. We assumed you found what you were looking for, namely information on the locked data. The Chaos Emeralds are probably Forerunner in origin… two and two, Captain."

"If you kill me, the data dies with me."

"Oh, we have things that will prevent that from occurring. Not even your own death will save you here."

Sally's eyes grew wide. "What's he talking about?"

Tudyk placed his hands behind his back and his hologram paced. "Your fiancée is a war criminal, causing the death of almost a thousand people aboard the Elijah Jones and helped mastermind the destruction of the Reaper earlier today."

"Bullshit." Sally snapped. "I didn't believe it then, I don't believe it now!"

Tudyk allowed himself to bare his teeth for a half-second. "Our detention is perfectly legal."

"And deposing my parents and kidnapping me was too?"

"You'll understand why we did these things in the long run."

The Princess snarled at Tudyk. "No, I don't think I ever will."

"Fine. Don't listen to reason here. And you…" He looked at Chris. "Why don't you let that data stew? I think a few more days, and you'll be begging us to rip it from your skull." Tudyk's image disappeared. Right on time, the door opened. Rouge stood there with her hands behind her back. For a second, everyone thought that she was there to save them, but a second after; she was tossed into the cell and landed on her face. Her hands were, in fact, handcuffed behind her. Following the captured agent, A Spartan followed her. John. They couldn't see his face, but the spraypainted number '117' on his shoulder armor said it all.

"Stay where you are." He ordered.

Chris cursed to the floor. "Well, better take this then." He threw his gun towards the Spartan's feet. "Maybe you can shoot me with it and finally get me out of this mess.

Meanwhile, dozens of levels above the detention center, William Borne still lay still under the catwalk. The technician was still there, although he was now yelling at the machine in Japanese. Apparently a computer error was preventing some of the turbines from activating and working at their full potential. He turned up suction to cool down the motors of all the generators. Borne felt rushing air at his side that traveled down the shaft into the darkness below. He felt a bit of resistance, but not so much that he was being pressed against the grid of the catwalk.

"Hmm… that's as good as I think it's going to get." The man said in English. "Hey, the system's still being an ass!"

"Did you reset the breakers?" The engineer's friend said.

"Yeah."

"Did you run a diagnostic?"

"Yeah!"

"Well then what in the fuck is wrong?"

"I don't know! There's two generators that always fail!"

"Well, you know what that means."

"Oh hell no. I'm not going down there."

"We've got to replace them."

"Let's just get the Huragok to do it!"

"You want to go find those little bastards? Be my guest! Just let me get my map of every single vent, maintenance tunnel, and sewer in the place! I can't do that! The Engineers build their own tunnels so fast that we can't plot them all! One way or another, those generators are coming out!"

Borne heard this and realized that he was on the catwalk leading to a service elevator. "Fuck!" he said quietly. The Mobian had to move around the same time the mechanics were to move to the elevator. As quietly as he could, he slung the weapon across his back and climbed over the wall. Thankfully, the two engineers were arguing with each other so loudly that they probably never knew he was there. He hit the deck and waited for them to go on the elevator.

"Aw, I hate this part." The complaining technician said.

"Suck it up, buttercup. It's gonna be a long ride." With a whine, the platform descended down the shaft. Borne, content with the fact that he slipped away undetected, went over to the edge to see the pair, still chatting intensely, descend down the shaft. Lights turned on to illuminate the trip.

It was likely they'd be down there for quite some time replacing the generators, so Borne went to go look for Konstantinos at his chosen spot, behind crates.

"Alex, I think we may be clear." Will listened for a response, but didn't get any. "Konstantinos." He said again. Borne was a bit annoyed and thought he was being toyed with. "If I go back there and you moved…" He stuck his head around the corner and instead found the Marine sitting against the crate fast asleep.

"Aaaaw, isn't he cute?" He said sarcastically. "Up!" He said in something more than a whisper.

Konstantinos' eyes flew open. "AH!" He gasped, reaching for a gun. "I didn't do it, I swear!"

A second later, Konstantinos calmed down. He got to his feet and coughed once as if nothing had happened. Borne smiled, "Had a good sleep?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess." He said.

"Good, then you're full of energy to start moving."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Borne pointed to the elevator shaft at the other side of the room. "The techs took the lift down to fix some generators. This is our best chance to shift positions and get somewhere new."

"But… I thought the Captain said that we'd get spotted the minute that we stepped out there."

"They said I'd get spotted." Borne corrected. "But they might call friends."

"Well, you are the ranking one here." Konstantinos admitted. "So, what do you think?"

"I've been in this building before. I might be able to find another place for us to hide."

"Yeah, but do any other rooms give us a convenient way out of the building?"

That was a good point. If Borne and Konstantinos left this room, it would give them less time to exfil. The Captain did say to bug out if anything went wrong. Borne had been in situations like this before. In the end, he decided to go with Konstantinos.

"OK, we'll do your plan. Surely you don't want to stay here. Experience has taught me to never stay in the same place twice."

"We'll find a place. Go looking around for a crevice, or a small access tunnel."

"Right! Access tunnel! The techs said that Huragok come through here every now and then."

Borne and Konstantinos searched all over the room, trying to see if they could find anything resembling a tunnel or an access port. So far, nothing seemed to resemble a door at all. They got nervous when they heard voices behind them, but calmed down once they realized that it was only a few angry shouts that managed to carry up the intake shaft.

Konstantinos walked up a set of stairs to an upper level. Something caught his eye: a hexagonal door that didn't seem to match the surrounding construction. Alex came to the conclusion that this was one of the Huragok's doors. "Sergeant Borne, I think I found one." He waited for the Mobian to jog up to him. "I don't think Humans built this."

"Just what I thought." Konstantinos balled his fist to knock.

"What are you doing?"

"The Engineers won't harm us."

Born squinted. "It's not harming us that's the problem, it's them reporting us."

"The Huragok just won't care."

Borne still wasn't convinced, but what the hell. "Hey, prison could be nice! Better practice my soap-holding skills!"

Konstantinos rapped a few times on the metal. The sound echoed slightly in the chamber but it didn't seem loud enough to reach the Human engineers. He rapped a second time, and this time, the door cycled open. Beyond him was a floating pink mass of tentacles. Despite talking about them, neither of the men had taken a good look at an Engineer. They subconsciously raised their guns.

::Do not shoot!:: the thing said. ::I will not hurt you.::

"Are you an Engineer?" Konstantinos asked.

::My name is Drifts to Left.::

The men found where the voice was coming from, a device nestled around its neck like a collar. It must have been some sort of translation device.

"Drifts to Left? That's kind of a strange name." Borne said.

::No stranger than yours, of course.::

"Oh hoh. He's a smartass!" the Mobian laughed. "We need help actually."

The Engineer turned its head towards Borne and blinked four of its six eyes. It chirped excitedly. ::Do you have something for me to fix?::

"Not exactly."

::Oh.:: Borne wasn't sure, but he may have just hurt the poor guy's feelings.

"But… we still need your assistance."

::I can assist. What is the problem?::

Konstantinos spoke, and the Engineer turned its head. "We need to use your tunnel."

Drifts tilted his head and chirped curiously. ::But why? You don't need to fix anything.::

"It's not for fixing, but we need to hide."

"Alex…?"

"Relax, man. He won't report us."

::Why? Are you going to break something? HAVE you broken something?::

"I wouldn't dream of it." Konstantinos said.

::I don't see the harm of it.:: Drifts tapped the wall with his cilia, and the door slid apart, revealing a twisting hallway. Out in the distance, another Huragok hovered. It turned and waved its tentacles. Drifts answered him back.

"Friend of yours?" Borne asked.

::Brother. Easy to Mend.:: Drifts entered the hallway and motioned the two to follow him. Once inside, the Engineer pointed to a switch on the wall. ::This will reopen the wall for you. Don't break anything in here.::

"Relax." Konstantinos said. "We won't."

With that, Drifts chirped happily. ::Excellent! I have work to attend to. Good day!:: The Huragok floated away to meet his brother, and both drifted out of sight.

"What a nice guy." Borne smiled.

"Yeah. I'd let him babysit my kids."

"He'd never let them touch anything, that's for sure." Borne sat on the floor. "New hiding place acquired. Now we just wait for a radio call."

"Sure." Konstaninos said. "Now I can get some shut-eye."

Chris was shaking his head in defeat. "And it was all going so well too."

The Spartan just stared at him with gun in hand.

"Well…?" Chris asked. "Nothing to say, John? You've got me right where you want me."

To his surprise, John placed his handgun back on his thigh. "Not today, sir."

"What?"

"Back in the Library, I know when to disobey orders." He tilted his visor towards him. "This is one of those times."

"So you're on our side?" Sally asked, slowly backing away from the Spartan. "I don't know, John. You're all over the place recently. Your Spartans did a number on us."

"They weren't under my control. I had no part of that." John looked down at his feet at the pistol. He kicked it back towards Chris. "You'll need a weapon, sir."

Chris looked down at the gun and back up to 117. The Spartan made no movement towards his handgun. Chris was aware of Spartan agility, but the Lieutenant didn't look like he was going to draw. Chris reached down and snatched the service pistol, and cleared the chamber. Satisfied that he wouldn't portray an appearance of hostility, he placed the round back in the magazine and holstered his weapon.

John walked over to Rouge and uncuffed her. "Are you alright?"

The bat could have looked better. A cut crossed her forehead, and her cheeks were bruised. Parts of her uniform were torn too. "You may have put those cuffs on too tightly."

"Part of the job." The Spartan joked. "There."

Rouge stretched her hands. "That's better."

Sally noticed their interaction. "I see this was all an elaborate ruse?"

Rouge smiled. "Cortana's idea actually."

"It wasn't as hard as one would think." They heard the AI say. "I was in here the whole time."

"I thought you had the prosthetic." Chris noted.

"I can leave it whenever I want actually. It wasn't a permanent solution. But it did fix the whole rampancy issue."

"You feel good?"

"Never been better." Cortana said happily. "John's been telling me about what's happening. We want to help."

Support. It made Chris happy to hear that people were willing to lend a hand. "Thank you. John, Cortana. But we still need to find a way out of here."

Cortana gave what everyone assumed was a chuckle. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. ONI thought it would be fun to give me access to some of their secure systems. You may not have realized it, but those cameras were never actually showing you. Instead, pretty much every security camera has been showing reruns of soap operas for the last couple hours."

"Nice." Roan nodded.

"They're blaming communications satellites for the problem. I haven't been this amused in a while."

NICOLE entered the conversation. "What about Yggdrasil?"

"What about him?" Cortana replied. "Yggdrasil seemed to be a bit busy chasing after you to be worried about us. You may not have noticed it either, but your actions in the security system acted as a perfect smokescreen. So thanks, I suppose."

"Any time."

"Extraction?" Reyes wondered.

"Via the impounded ships."

John added, "We were there to apprehend the agent."

Rouge wiped her cut. "Well, at least you didn't bang up my ship. You know ONI was technically destroying its own property?"

"Is the Emerald Fox there?" Hera questioned.

"Unknown." Cortana said. "We can check when we get there. The plan from this point on is to masquerade as a prisoner movement. We're simply taking you to another location."

"That was probably the plan anyway." The Spartan agreed.

"Won't we look suspicious?" Sally asked.

"Would you question me?" John said, with a hint of amusement.

"Probably not. No." The Princess replied.

"Then it works to our advantage. Let's go."

"Wait." Chris said quickly. "We have men still on the main atrium floor."

"We can rescue them." Cortana reassured.

"Stay here." John told them. "Keep that gun handy." With that, he turned around and walked out of the cell. "We'll be back."

"We're not going anywhere." Jackson said sarcastically.

The energy field on the cell went back up, and the door slid shut.

"Well, we have a lot of time." NICOLE said. "We can start planning some contingencies."

Chris swooned. "I don't feel so good."

"Not again!" NICOLE said.

"What, what's wrong?" Sally said, confused and worried. "What's wrong with him?"

"Damned Forerunner computer program's killing him slowly!" Hera said, rushing to him.

"WHAT?!" Sally cried. "CHRIS!"

"Oh God… I can see it!" He said falling down. He lay on his side, vision blurring.

"Help him, guys!"

"We're trying!" Hera said. She grabbed his gun. "I'll take that… he's been trying to commit suicide a couple times now."

"SUICIDE?!" Sally shrieked. She lowered her voice. "Did… did you say a couples times?"

"Jesus…" Sonic whispered in the back.

Reyes nodded. "Each time progressively worse."

"He nearly spaced himself." NICOLE said.

"Then almost jumped off a building." Reyes added.

Sally looked like she was on the verge of falling as well. She sat down and just stared into space. "…Why?"

"His mind seeks balance. He is subconsciously trying to level things out, and death is the only way that he can do that. He's overtaxed."

Sally wiped her eyes. "I… I can't lose him. Not this time. I need him. For us."

"What?"

Stars flew by as points of light. His mind was flying through space once more. The core of the galaxy grew closer and closer. Then, blinding light of millions of balls of fire. Old stars billions of years old crowded around the center. In the distance, the monster of the black hole, sucking in light that created a hole in the stars. One star came very close and he skimmed its surface. A coronal burst formed a loop that he glided through. The sea of plasma below him glowed. He couldn't feel its debilitating heat, but he could watch, and wonder.

Within minutes, he was at the center, looking into the abyss of the black hole. Scientists called it 'Sagittarius A', the most destructive thing discovered so far in our part of space. This black hole wasn't unique, but seeing it like this made Chris feel uncomfortable. Just looking at it and knowing that somewhere, this beast really existed made his flesh crawl, if he had flesh right now. A flash of alien numbers clouded his vision. Coordinates, Measurements, hell it could have been a lottery number for all he knew. The numbers cleared, and he saw the… thing again. The strange skeletal flower thing that defied physics and orbited Sagittarius A.

From where he 'stood', the thing was dwarfed by the supermassive monster, yet it beamed that odd green light into the depths of the black hole, stretching forever into eternity. He came by it a couple of times. He passed around it, he went over it, he examined all of it thoroughly, and he could not see what the skeleton flower device was. It didn't resemble any ship he would imagine of, it wasn't a space station, and it certainly wasn't alive in a sense of the word. It could have been a satellite, but what use would it be to beam information into a black hole?

Chris noticed something out of the corner of his vision. A shape of a woman standing in the night. It was her again. The Librarian.

It couldn't have been her though. She fizzled. She popped. It must have been a program of some sort that was stuffed into his mind along with all the other data that was driving him mad. Her glow was gone and she was clearer to the eyes. Chris marveled at her beauty, but noted that she wasn't all that different from Humanity. She was taller than he was, wore a dress that covered her feet, and a headdress that covered the top of her rounded cranium. The Lady blinked big purple eyes at him and smiled. At least that wasn't as alien as he thought it would be.

"At first, it was just the Master Builder and a few select others who knew of this place." She explained as the vision attempted to right itself. "Only a small group of Forerunners ever hoped to learn anything from this place and not become a meal for the monster. You saw what happened to them." The Librarian walked towards him. He made no attempt to back away and instead allowed her to walk up to him. "Two hundred thousand warriors died trying to get close to even see what this device was. They were foolish. They thought that whatever held this thing aloft would support them. My husband wasn't thinking when he sent these Prometheans."

"Your husband? Forerunners got married?" Chris asked curiously.

"Yes, the Didact. Even he didn't know of this device's origins. He thought that it was of Precursor make. But that doesn't seem to make sense today since it still stands after the Array has been fired. Those were his ships and his men. In the end, he was so shocked by his inability to foresee such a natural effect that he chose to bury it."

"So I was seeing a memory of his." Chris reasoned. "One of the... Didact's."

"Indeed." The Librarian nodded. "But the memory of a Forerunner would not be safe for an unaltered Human to simply behold. Along with the rest of the data that has not been unlocked."

"Wait a second… hasn't been unlocked?! You mean there's MORE?"

"Yes." The Librarian nodded. "But that will come in time."

"Will it harm me?" Chris asked.

"Yes." She admitted. "Unless proper steps are taken."

"Such as?"

"The same way my Husband forgot. You must remove the memory and wipe it from your mind."

Chris was confused. "I can do that?"

"The Humans have one of these devices. We created them, and they studied them. That's your next task. Your mind has been trying to get rid of the information its own way. No matter how strong your will is, your mind will eventually win."

"Yeah, you got that right, lady." said a voice in the dark. Kapplin arrived with an army of shades behind him, all of them disfigured. All of them mutilated and dead and rotten years after the war. "Hey cap." Kapplin clacked his jaw. "You remember the boys, huh?"

Chris began to fear them men behind him. "Who are all of these people, Greg?"

Kapplin took a step forward. "Every single man you killed and has died under your command."

Chris tried to plead. "Greg. Don't do this. Don't do this, man."

"YOU'RE DOING THIS TO YOURSELF!" The ghost said. "YOU'RE KILLING US!" The army behind him cracked their knuckles and hissed in multiple languages.

"You think that killing me will fix anything?!" Chris roared. "You'll kill YOURSELF too!"

Kapplin's skull came closer to Chris. He flinched. "I can't stop it. It was NEVER under my control! Only YOU can fix this, or we ALL die right here and right now."

The Librarian stood solemnly with a serious look on her face. "Your companions are correct. Either you act to save yourself, or you all die."

"OK." Chris said quickly. "OK. I'll do it! I'll do whatever you want. Just let me go back, and I'll fix all of this."

"See that you do." The Librarian's image said.

"Or we'll be back." Kapplin hissed releasing him. The army disappeared, the image of the Librarian disappeared, and all that was left was the black hole and the alien artifact surrounding it. He stared where the beam was shooting into eternity, and all he felt was primal fear. He felt small. He felt alone. He felt helpless, and he felt like he understood it all.

Then there was light. He bolted upright and gasped loudly. Sonic, Sally, and Roan jumped back immediately. "What the hell was that?!" the hedgehog gasped. "What's going on, man? You just died and came back to life!"

"I've been trying to tell you!" NICOLE said. "He's been having these flashbacks! He's been going to these places that have to do with the Galaxy Bomb!"

Sally sat next to him and placed a hand on his chest. "Your heart's beating a hundred miles an hour! You're sweating!" She wiped his forehead. "What's wrong?! Tell us! You look like you saw a ghost!"

Chris found his voice. "I… I saw many ghosts. All of them… people that I killed. Or have died around me. They… they want revenge."

Sally tried her best to comfort him. "They… they aren't real. You know that, right?"

Chris snapped at her. "IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THEY'RE REAL! WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME!" He hit his head off the back of the wall. The energy field felt as solid as the material behind it. "Our timetable just got bumped up. We need to end this soon, or else I'm a dead man and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Better get those happy thoughts revved up guys." Allen said. "It's all on the Spartan now."