A jump to the end…
A jump to the…end…
The end…
What is the end? Is it better than this? Whatever…this…is...?
My arm…it has…threads hanging from it? Are they the threads of my life? Did I pull them? Did I pull them off? Where is my hand?
Where is my Ghost? Did he? Did he leave me? Why would he leave me?
We were supposed to be partners… - together forever… He said I'd never be alone, but I don't see him here. Did he help them?
No.
He wouldn't…would he?
I can't go back there. I can't go back to that…place. The nightmares. The monsters. I don't know about the others. The other Exos. The ones with numbers… How do they do it?
Go back there.
Time and time again.
How do they stay whole? I…I am not whole.
But I still work! I'm still functioning! I can still take them on. I can do everything they say the Awoken can. I can do everything they say a Human can. I don't see them get taken to…that…that place
That…dark.
That dark…dangerous place.
I haven't been the same since.
I can't keep running.
'Compromised'? How can I be compromised? I haven't been captured by enemies. I haven't been reprogrammed by…anyone…anything.
My hand…maybe I took it off…
More threads. This is my reality. Unravelling…
A jump to the end? Which end? My end?
No.
How?
That place? No. That isn't my choice.
Do I need my legs? Why? Why must I run to live?
I AM NOT COMPROMISED! DO YOU HEAR ME? I'M WHOLE! I'm whole! I'm whole…I'm…whole…
What is whole?
To keep fighting for a number to keep a gun in my holster? To have a fireteam.
What was I before this?
If I look inside…does my heart beat? Is my blood warm? My lungs…are they...? Do they...?
No.
I'm different. I don't play the game that…that place wants me to play…
Cayde…6…how does he do it? The bravado? The shield…
Lakshmi…2…she has yet to experience the worst…
But…Banshee…44? He has experienced it…all. He…he is not whole…but he is not compromised like I…what did I do? What am I to them? What are they to me?
I can't go back. They can't make me.
A jump to the end…? Not the end I choose…
Why am I hiding? Why am I scared?
The monsters…the nightmares…of that…that place. Why do they want to take me there?
I AM WHOLE!
I leak…I opened up and I leak. I hope my end is the end I choose.
A jump to the end, but the end I choose.
I will not let that Crypt take a hold of me one more time. I will not let the monsters take me alive. The nightmares – they will not get me this time.
I won't let them.
I WON'T LET THEM!
The Vanguard does not command me anymore…no more fireteams…no more strikes. I won't play their game. I won't listen to their…their rules.
No more.
A jump to the end…but it's the end I choose.
My arm – not part of me. My hand – not at play.
My legs…they run no more. Not from the Crypt. Not from the Vanguard. Not from my Ghost. No-one…
A jump to the end…so soon.
So long…
*Intercepted radio transmission from the Vanguard Spectral Network to the Vanguard*
[VSN 1.1] We found a disembodied Exo out west in the EDZ. His left arm in tatters and his right hand missing. The circuits in his legs were detached and his chest was opened up. He isn't rusty, so this Warlock hasn't been out here for too long. Do you want us to bring in the shell, anyway?
[VNG 1.1] Have we identified him as the compromised Exo due for his reboot?
[VSN 2.1] There's not a lot to identify…
[VNG 1.2] Bring whatever you can in – we need all the help we can get with the Cabal waging war on Mars. Leave no man behind, understand?
*Transmission terminated*
[VSN 2.2] I don't think this guy wanted to be saved…
[VSN 1.2] He isn't the only one. My buddy had a Guardian Exo about to hit 17. He slowly lost him. couldn't bring him back.
[VSN 3.1] This one's mine. He's supposed to hit 11, but then he started freaking out mid-missions. I couldn't bear to see him sink so low, so I thought I was helping him. Then I lost him. Now I lost him for good…
[VSN 1.3] We'll bring him back to you.
[VSN 3.2] No. He wouldn't want that…