Chief didn't know what to say but his mouth went dry and his hands started to sweat. He suddenly felt venerable without his armor or any form of weaponry.
They stepped into the room and immediately Cortana slammed the door behind them, taking extra time to lock the hidden locks that only she knew about. Of course she knew they were in Halsey's lab. She pressed a button and the florescent lights turned on highlighting all the books, chemicals and flasks in the room. She ran into the center of the room towards the holographic table. She placed her hands quickly on the table to catch her balance, panic on her features.
Chief concluded that the situation was much worse than he originally presumed.
Cortana took a breath and started working her hands darting across the table until finally she pulled up a 3D hologram map of the rings fragment, including Halsey's notes and the mission file.
"Took longer than it should've, this mission file is protected." She sighed and reached up rotating the rings fragment for a better view.
"What do we need to do?" He started to look around formulating a plan in his head.
"Halsey left me some notes in her book, most of them about the meeting but it was a set up. She wanted us to come down here." She glanced at the map and the file before continuing Chief spoke up.
"Why couldn't she have alerted high command?" He crossed his arms shifting his stance.
"Because they would've thought she was crazy." Cortana quickly started typing.
"Explain everything you got, I need my armor."
"Already done," At that moment he heard a hissing of an airlock seal as the door he originally didn't see started to open. It was an armor deck and there like being severed on a silver platter was his dent free clean armor.
"She demanded that she would repair your armor and not the tech team." Cortana stated not looking up from the holograph table.
Chief walked over to the suit and motioned to step on the platform when Cortana stopped him.
"Chief," She sighed as she tossed him the under armor combat suit. The fabric felt thick in his hands, like an extra layer of skin. He was relieved to get the stiff white uniform off.
"I need to go get a sample." She said as she wondered off into the next room. Chief knew this was her excuse for leaving the room. He quickly changed and suddenly felt more at ease with his combat suit on. He stepped on the platform and let the machine do the rest of the work.
Figure out which one of us is the machine…
When his suit was on he stretched his arms and flexed his legs to adapt to the new weight on his shoulders. He jumped off the platform, the sound of his armor made his feel relaxed.
"I see she added some new things…" He noted some extra plates and linings on the armor including an updated HUD. Cortana watched him carefully as he made his way over to the holographic table.
"Pay attention. We don't have much time, I already sealed off a hangar for us in case we need it, and I set up everything in case we need to pull a lockdown." That alone got Chief worried - Infinity has only been in lockdown mode two times in its whole duration of service.
"I feel stupid for not doing this earlier, but turned out Agent Locke is more than we thought he is. He used to run a squad and work for ONI, moved his way up pretty quick. It wasn't until he and his father were captured that he became different." She paused to take a breath.
"Were still talking about the same psychopath that tried to murder both of us multiple times right?" He mumbled.
"He wasn't like that before Chief, or at least according to his files he was a good soldier, barely had a reputation, in fact he was highly respected. He must've been brainwashed Chief, by his own father." She shook her head.
"How do you know that?" He was seriously confused.
"His father worked in the medical branch for many years, but he was never recolonized. According to his shipment records he was always trying to build something – to impress the medical branch. But he always feel short, the results always soured. Until his son was deployed on that mission, that ring held the ingredient he needed – a substance found nowhere else in the universe." She paused an opened another panel.
"I found this transmission record between Agent Locke and his father while he was flying towards the rings fragment." Cortana pulled up the audio recording:
"Locke, how far are you from the landing site." His voice sounded anxious.
"Not far, maybe 10 minutes out." He sounded tense.
"I need a favor."
"This isn't exactly a time to ask for favors." Annoyance filled his voice.
"Do it for your old man." The doctor grunted.
"What." Locke was angry.
"I need you to get a small sample of that substance."
"That is a dangerous chemical, where here to destroy it not study it." Locke stated angry.
"Science is everything even the air you breathe. I expect it in my hands when you return."
"That would put innocent lives and my team at stake, I won't do it."
"I don't care about others' lives, I care about my work."
Transmission Disconnected.
Chief took a breath digesting the conversation.
"Basically, Agent Locke was forced by his father to get this lethal substance for his own research. Did he bring it back?"
"In a small flask, it was found in his combat boot according to this file." She opened the file Chief skimmed it and nodded.
"How does this connect with the Didact and working with him?"
"Remember they were originally captured? That was true however it was a set up. His father worked with the Didact and he would bring his son as a test subject in return for information on the composer. Agent Locke as a test subject lost almost all prior memory and was brainwashed. All his pain and anger emotions targeted towards you, so he would view you as an enemy." Cortana looked like she was spacing out, remembering the facility and what the doctor told her.
"But the file wrote that the doctor went with them?" Chief struggled to comprehend everything.
"It was hacked, he changed it to look like he was captured with Locke but turns out, he was else ware." Cortana pulled up the old file:
Date: May 30th, 2557
Time: 17:22:35 Minutes
Location: Unknown
Logged From: UNSC Cobra Squad
Code Number: 34527-2
Information: Classified – Dangerous Mission level 14
UNSC Cobra Squad dispatched 5 squad members near the entrance of the unknown territory. The members included 2 ODST, 2 Spartans IV's and one doctor from UNSC research branch. The area was heavily guarded with Prometheans who had new and non-recorded weaponry. It is also noted that the race was colored with excessive blue and red, opposed to orange. It is believed that the race has been injected with new DNA; samples were taken from a disarmed member of the race.
Squad Members:
Mission Commander: Chris Walker, Discharged
Spartan IV SDT-225-77654 – Ryan Miller, MIA
Spartan IV SRR-336-88621 — Kelly Jones, Active
ODST 9967 – Jenna Carlton, KIA
ODST 7359 – Mathew Turner, KIA
Doctor Troy K. Taylor, MIA
END.
"Hold on you're telling me that they didn't go to the 'underground' place you were at?" Chief was holding his forehead.
"Not exactly, they went to successfully destroy the ring first, then went to the base."
"That explains why his team completely changed – most of them were killed but the one pilot and Agent Locke, but he managed to get a sample?"
"Correct." Cortana nodded and noticed Chief was still confused so she tried to explain everything:
"Okay, let me put this all together. Agent Locke was a highly respected soldier and worked for ONI. His father, an insane doctor or also known as Dr. Taylor pressured his son, Agent Locke, to get samples from the ring that has a substance that's lethal to humans. Agent Locke retrieved the substance and destroyed the rings fragment getting off with the pilot alive. After that he and his new team, because the others were dead, were deployed on the underground mission, where I was. His father hacked the files to show he was on that mission so when they were all captured ONI didn't suspect anything and just assumed he was MIA." Cortana took a deep breath and leaned on the table.
Chief felt like his head was throbbing like someone hit him with a gravity hammer.
"What happened once they were captured?" Chief glanced at the files.
"I don't know for certain, but I am assuming the Didact found out about the substance and took it from Agent Locke before he brainwashed Dr. Taylor and Agent Locke." Cortana chewed on her lip.
"So the Didact tricked Dr. Taylor so instead they were both brainwashed and tested as experiments?" Chief rubbed his face.
"Correct." Cortana nodded half believing what she was saying.
"What happened to the substance then?" Chief noticed Cortana barely holding herself up and squeezing her eyes shut.
"That," She held her breathe her voice raw, "Was the substance used on me to check my immortality."
Chief felt numb.
She flicked her wrist pulling up one of the videos that ONI tried to display early that were recorded with her mind.
"One of the many injections," She said before pressing play keeping her eyes shut and covering her ears.
Chief watched, horrified, Cortana was in that terribly familiar white chair strapped down. She received another injection and immediately was thrashing around with a blood curdling scream that made Chief feel a mix of anger and hopelessness.
"You'll notice," Cortana paused the video and zoomed in on her arm. "The black lines and the discoloration of skin was the infection, it attacks your organs and turns your veins into dead cells.
Chief tried to swallow but his mouth was dry and he was frozen.
"I'm sorry." He whispered barely auditable but Cortana heard him and stared at his visor, half of her in another place.
"But now you understand. This," She gestured towards the screen, "Will become the ships reality if we don't stop it." She stood up straight and cracked her knuckles her eyes still glazed over.
"How is the substance here, on the ship?" Chief raised his eyebrows under the orange visor.
"During the duration Halsey wasn't or was fighting the brainwash while she was at the underground base with me she was able to snatch the sample and hid it." Cortana started walked over to a locked vault.
"But unfortunately," Cortana placed her hand on the scanner, the vault clicked open. "Agent Locke got here when he first was with ONI"
"Isn't he in a cyropod?" Chief started glancing at the security cameras.
"He was, but who do you think let him out?" Cortana slammed the vault shut and crossed her arms.
Chief shook his head and looked away. He felt betrayed, by the system he protected for so long.
"Serin Osman," Cortana finished walking towards the back of the room.
Chief just shut his eyes, he wanted to punch something, put a fresh hole in the wall. But it wasn't in his nature to lash out, that wasn't how he handled emotions.
"Let's shut it down."