"That's the Warrior's soul?!" Scorch now looked at the chip with apprehension. "What kind of shit have you all gotten yourselves into?"

Cayde held up his hand to calm her. "Perhaps I misspoke! When I say it's her soul, I mean mostly an echo of it. It's definitely her, but with… pieces missing. From what I've been able to analyze of it, the fragment has no memories, just a directive and basic knowledge of the situation." He shrugged. "How much of the situation it actually knows, we won't find out until we test it." He turned to the other Vanguards. "Are we ready to do this?"

They nodded, and with their approval behind him, he walked over to the body and raised its head off the floating stretcher by placing his fingers under its neck, and lifting. "I'm just gonna insert the chip for a few seconds, and pull it out. The consciousness of the fragment should move into the body naturally, and then we'll get some answers."

With the chip in between his forefinger and thumb, Cayde slipped the chip into a slot in the back of its head. He waited a few moments, and then removed it. "There, that should be all it needs. Let's see what-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the sound of motors and servos coming to life was heard coming from the body. Blue lights began to wink on, lighting up parts of the arms and legs. The body began to move and stir slightly. After a moment, the eyes opened and were revealed to be a piercing blue color.

"There, you see?" The head moved to look at the source of Cayde's voice. "Told you it'd be-" Like a snake, an arm shot out and gripped the Hunter Vanguard by the throat. It sat up from the stretcher, and lifted him slightly above the ground.

"She's- got- a bit- of a kick- doesn't she-?" he choked out. Various individuals around the room began to raise their weapons, namely the task force guards and Ikora Rey charging up her void energy, but the Speaker lifted his hands and yelled, "No! Do not attack!"

For a moment it seemed as though the Speaker was crazy, but a moment later the body unexpectedly released Cayde, and he fell to the ground, immediately standing back up and retreating a few paces while rubbing his throat region. The now inhabited Exo raised her hands to her face, and looked at them for a few moments. Raising her gaze, it fell upon the Speaker.

"Scorch. I need to find Scorch." Surprisingly quickly, she hopped off the stretcher and approached him. "Where is she? It is of absolute importance!"

"I'm Scorch!" Scorch called out, hoping to draw her attention. She turned around to look at her, and Scorch felt as though she were being sized up by the Exo. She walked over to Scorch and began to speak frantically, "We don't have much time, there's so much to do! We need-" Scorch held up her hands to stop her. "Alright, alright. I get it, but you need to calm down a bit and explain. We're a bit in the dark as to what's going on, and your behavior is freaking us out a bit."

The Exo's movement was somewhat reminiscent of a child who had eaten too much sugar. She bounced up and down on her feet, and appeared to be quite anxious. Nonetheless, she attempted to control herself as Scorch had suggested, and the next time she spoke, it was quite calm; "I apologize, I did not realize."

Turning around, her eyes found Cayde standing near the Speaker, looking wary of her. "To you as well, I'm sorry. I did not know what to expect when I woke up, and just reacted as though I were in danger." The Hunter waved at her. "That's alright, I forgive you. We can keep talking, just, you know, with you over there." She nodded her understanding of the Hunter's reluctance, and faced the spectators around her.

"I am not the person you think I am, or at least not completely." She moved her eyes over each person, locking gazes with everyone one at a time. "I am the persona of the Warrior, but I am merely an echo. All I know is what the other persona allowed me to know." Zavala interrupted, "Other persona? You mean Ash?" The Exo nodded. "Yes. Until now, I was just a fragment of data in the back of her mind." Cayde clapped, and raised both his arms into the air. "Well then, that proves it! They have to be alive! Or, at least Ash anyway."

The Exo's features seemed as though it was feeling consternation, and struggling with its thoughts. "I am only aware of certain things, such as who you all are, though it is taking some effort to recognize you; it's as though I am pulling up a faint memory from long ago."

The Speaker tilted his head in thought. "Perhaps the transmission's corruption led to some corruption of your persona as well. What do you know? Can you tell us what happened to Ash and her fireteam?" The Exo looked down, an expression of concentration on her face. Shaking her head, she looked back up. "I'm sorry again, but I'm not quite sure. Perhaps, like you said, some of the info was lost. I can't remember many things that Ash has done at all. Everything feels hazy to me." She raised a finger on one hand. "There are, however, several things I do know."

She began to pace around the room, others making space for her as she walked near them. "Firstly, Ash and the others are in trouble. I was sent as help, to act as a guide for those who would search for them, and bring rescue." She shook her head at the questions she could see on the Vanguards' faces. "No, I don't know what trouble they're in, only that it is very Dark, and very powerful. Darker than anything even the original Warrior, my predacessor had ever seen."

She spun around, and began to walk in the other direction. "Secondly, I know that Scorch is supposed to be the one who leads the search." She looked at Scorch, and pointed at her. "You are a child of light, the one meant to bring about the Balance." Suddenly, she brought both of her hands up the sides of her head, and closed her eyes tightly, as though she was suffering a massive pain.

"The Balance… it has everything to do with Scorch, with them! If I could only remember…!" A moment later, she opened her eyes and practically shouted, "TIME! The Balance isn't just limited to the light and dark, it has something to do with the fabric of time itself!"

Now Cayde crossed his arms. "That seems a bit far fetched. I mean, time? You can't change time, it's already happened." The Exo shook her head at him. "No, time is written, but it is written with pencil, not ink. They… they discovered something, something that can re-write it, rewrite time itself."

Zavala shook his head slowly. "For five years we've waited without answer, and now you present a very odd solution indeed. I'm not quite sure of how anything could possibly exist in the way you speak of."

The Exo glared at him. "Believe it or not, it is the truth. And I will not stay here as they die!" She looked at the Speaker. "This is my purpose of being, to help them. Would you all honestly risk a chance to save them over a slight disbelief of truth?" All were silent for a moment, and then Cayde surprised everyone by saying, "Hell no. You have a point, if there's even a slight chance to get them back, we're gonna take it. I said it when Ash and Aria galavanted off to save the Spark, I'm gonna say it now; we don't leave Guardians behind."

Ikora sighed. "You're right." She faced the Exo. "We will do everything in our power to help you."

She shook her head. "Not me. Her." She gestured to Scorch, and Scorch jerked her head, taken aback. "As I said, you are the one supposed to lead the search. I'm not sure why myself, but I know that much." Scorch rubbed her temple with her forefinger and thumb. "This is a lot to take in, I'll admit. And I'm not really sure how to deal with it."

Nobody said a word for a moment. Then Ikora softly said, "There is one way you could start." Scorch glanced over at her. "And what would that be?"

"Become a Guardian," she finished, "and fulfill your destiny as a child of light; as the bringer of the Balance."

Scorch didn't know how to react. Before her life on the streets, she'd only wanted to be a Guardian- to be one of the people who would save others as she'd been saved. But now, with her terrible experiences concerning the last few years still a reality of her life, she wasn't sure she wanted to be one.

She thought back to what Aria had said, and how she'd based her survival and everything she did on that one saying; be brave. Right now, she needed to be brave. With very slow movement, she closed her eyes, and nodded.

"Even after all you've been through?" came Spectre's voice, and she opened her eyes to see him looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. "You don't owe them anything!" She pursed her lips. "Actually, I do. The missing Guardians are the ones that saved me seven years ago, during the Battle for the Traveler. I'm in their debt, and you know me. I don't leave debts unpaid." The Ghost vibrated slightly, then hovered over to her shoulder. "Well, then I guess that's it. I know how stubborn you can be, there's no arguing with you here."

Zavala piped up, "I'm proud of your choice, Scorch. Not many others in your same situation would have done the same." She shrugged. "Normally, I wouldn't have either. But this isn't a normal situation." The Titan accepted this, and did not comment. Instead, he moved on with, "All we need to do is perform a test, something to determine what class of Guardian you belong to." Scorch nodded, and waited for the next instructions.

"Empty your mind, Scorch. Allow yourself to picture a source of energy, an aura of power. Think of what it looks like, how it feels, how it acts." Scorch did what she was told to do, and tried to think of something. With her eyes closed, there wasn't anything she could see but blackness. It was quite calming and -

A spark of light. Something appeared in her vision, dim at first, but growing brighter. Brighter…

"I see… purple. Purple streaks of light that dance around, surrounding my body. It looks like-" " A vortex?" interrupted Ikora. "A Shield?" added Zavala, hopefully.

"No," she responded. "It looks like a bow, like a bow of purple light." She opened her eyes with a gasp to see Ikora and Zavala staring at her with raised eyebrows. Slowly, they both turned to Cayde, who seemed just as shocked as they were. "You saw… what now?"

"A bow," she repeated. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Seven years ago, after Ash and Aria had come back from their mission to save the Spark, they told us how they had unlocked new- or rather old, very old- abilities. What you're talking about is a Nightstalker. We asked them to show the other Guardians, and hopefully have some new strength amongst the masses, but only a very small amount of people ever mastered them. Not once have we ever had a natural Nightstalker since I've been a Vanguard." He gestured to her. "But now, you've come along. Welcome to the ranks, Hunter."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card of some kind. "This here is my "I-owe-you" card. Give it to the Cryptarch, and he'll set you up with some proper gear." Spectre flew forward, and dematerialized it. "I'll take that." Cayde raised his arms halfway in the air, and made a face as though he were saying, What the hell?

"Anyway," he said, trying to forget about the Ghost's odd behavior, "that should about cover what you'll need. After all, you've already got a Ghost apparently." He pointed at Spectre with a look of dislike, and continued, "If you'd like, we can provide living quarters here-" "No thanks," Scorch interrupted, "I'll be fine at my apartment." Cayde shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself. Now, about you." He looked over at the Exo who had been listening to the exchange silently. "From what I can gather, you're not the Warrior, not truly anyway. And you're definitely not Ash, but you kind of need a name other than, 'the Exo'. Any ideas?"

She pondered this for a moment. "It is true, I'm not the Warrior or Ash. I am something new, something…" She said softly, "Something unencountered before."

In an instant, she brought her head up. "I am the dawn of something new, so that is what I will be called; Dawn." Cayde nodded approvingly. "That's a good name. I thought we might be here for a while, I was told it took Ash quite a while to think of her name."

Dawn looked at Scorch, and made a fist in a sign of loyalty. "I will be your guide when you need me Scorch, but you are the one meant to find them. I know that you'll do well." Scorch nodded in appreciation, but realized something. She brought up a point to Cayde; "Wait, aren't fireteams supposed to have at least three members?"

He nodded. "You're right. But, I'm not sure who-" Scorch quickly turned and pointed at the task force Warlock. "Him." "Me?" He asked, stunned. She nodded reproachfully. "You owe me after shooting my sparrow, so this is the least you can do." Eager looked like he was about to argue, but decided against it. "Alright. I'm sure that this will be a lot of… fun." He said fun with a bit of stress on the word, insinuating quite obviously that 'fun' was not the real word he had in mind.

Cayde clapped his hands. "Well, that's decided then. The task force will take you home, and we'll meet back here in the morning. It's been a long day."

-X-

Scorch walked up the steps to her building's door with Dawn, who had insisted that she accompany Scorch. She was fine with it, but it was definitely going to be odd to have a companion that followed you everywhere. Dawn didn't really have anywhere else to go though, so Scorch hadn't argued.

Walking to the end of the hallway to which the doorway led into, she began to ascend the stairs to the second level, Dawn's footsteps following close behind. Once on the second floor, she walked down three doors until she reached the third room on the left, and reached into her pocket. The one item she was always able to keep track of was her room-key since it never left her pocket. Opening the door, she walked in and flopped down on the couch. Dawn looked at her.

"What is our first move?" Scorch glanced upward with a raised eyebrow. "Our first move? I don't know about you, but I'm gonna sleep. Earlier today, I was an illegal sparrow-racer. Now, I'm a Guardian who's supposed to be some kind of legend, a child of light meant to bring about the Balance, an event which somehow ties into three missing Guardians' disappearance, Guardians who saved my life nearly seven years ago." She sighed. "Like Cayde said, it's been a long day. I'm catching some shut eye."

She gestured over to another couch. "If you need to sleep, you can use the other couch or the bed in my room. I'm not getting up from here until I've had some rest, so feel free to choose either."

Dawn glanced over at the couch, and decided that it would suffice. She looked back to thank Scorch, but the newly-made Guardian was already sleeping. Shuffling over to the couch, Dawn laid down upon it, and thought back on the day so far. She still could not quite remember several details of her mission, but she was sure that she and Scorch would find out together. She wished she could tell Scorch what the girl was meant for, what she was meant to do, but the information eluded her probing mind. Closing her eyes, she resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to remember very soon, and let herself drift off to sleep.