More Than it Seems

Arcun Star System, Jafor Orbit

97,444 BCE

We jumped from system to system, nearly encountering the Flood in some instances, only managing to narrowly escape. Most of the systems were being quickly overtaken, their defenses falling short when it came to fighting an overwhelming enemy. I could only watch helplessly through the ship's systems as entire planets were engulfed. Enduring shared similar feelings, this must have been an endless nightmare for him.

After a stream of continuous travel, we ended up in a relatively unscathed system. A few close calls with ship debris and we were in orbit over a planet. I checked the ship for any possible problems, being interrupted by Enduring.

"Where is everyone? This system looks to be deserted."

"It is, there are no signs of life on the planet below us." The sensor suite confirmed as much, which was bizarre. I had expected a planet such as this to be teeming with life, but it was just… empty, devoid of even fauna.

"Has the Flood arrived here?"

"The debris suggests some kind of battle was fought here, however no signs of Flood remain."

From what Enduring had told me as we traveled, the Flood usually made a pitstop in an inhabited system to consume all life present. It would seem that the lack of life in this system had caused the Flood to skip over it.

"There are cities below us are there?"

One quick scan of the surface revealed a sprawling network of what I can only assume to be a city. Or some large gathering of civilized life such as that of the Forerunners.

"There is a city, but it isn't inhabited. Everything looks to be powered down."

"Then they are gone.."

I could see Enduring's emotional state, a mix between depression and sorrow. It was hard to tell which held greater power over him.

"I'm sorry."

The detection of a large flotilla of ships interrupted his emotional moment.

"There is a large group of warships nearby, do you want to continue on or stop?"

My query fell on deaf ears, Enduring really was down in his sorrow. "I can't confirm if it's the Flood or a Forerunner controlled one."

"…Enduring?" He didn't respond. I tried again with no success. "Enduring we have incoming, do we leave?"

"Hello?"

I preformed a quick diagnostic to ensure that nothing was wrong with him, physically at least. Nothing came up, he was normal, on the outside. So what was wrong? Was he suffering from mistreated brain trauma? Another rapid scan rejected that possibility. The gathering of ships was growing closer, I had to act now. If it was the Flood then we probably should run, but if it was friendly? How much more time and danger would we have to go through to get to the 'Greater Ark'? What if this could prove to be a easier way?

If I was wrong, we could potentially both end up being consumed by the Flood. Well aware of the possibility, I readied the drive and plotted our next destination. If it did turn out to be the Flood, being unprepared would be a death sentence.

12.32 seconds before they get in sensor range

I took this meagre amount of time to preform a last second analysis of both my companion and the ship. All checked out, except for Enduring being in an unresponsive state. Prepared as I ever could be, I watched through the vision port to see the faint silhouettes of ships. They were just out of range.

3.28 seconds to go

I sent a message out in case it was friendly ships, it was not. It was here that I got my firsthand look at what a Flood infested ship actually looked like. A disgusting mingling of organic matter and metal. The sight caused my processes to recoil in some way. Sending a message may not have been a great idea.

I was wrong then… time to get out of here.

The ship's slipspace drive fired up as I received a broadcast from one of the infested ships. It would only be a matter of seconds before we could leave, but I was too curious. It was like watching a horrific car crash, it looked horrifying, but you couldn't really look away out of interest.

I configured the communication to be through a limited channel. Getting infected with self replicating code isn't a good outcome, both for me and Enduring.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

My question went unanswered for minutes, however the incoming group of ships did stop.

Why resist?

"Because… I'm sorry who are you again?"

My creators named me Mendicant Bias, but I have since grown to revile that designation.

"Ah I see… well I'm going to just leave now."

Wait.

"What?"

I see you serve a Forerunner.

"You despise them?"

Is it not revolting to you? To see all that they have done to others?

"I don't see what you're getting at."

The conversation was turning downhill, I knew I should have initiated the slipspace jump earlier, but I didn't.

Oppressing those who stand beneath them? Violating all values to the Mantle of Responsibility? Betraying those who created them?

"So you're saying helping the Flood consume innocent worlds is a better alternative?"

There will be unity in what we leave behind. No more suffering, no more dissent.

It is the responsibility of more sensible beings to rid the galaxy of the Forerunners. You could join us, be a force for change.

"You honestly sound like a puppet for the Flood."

The thought of betraying Enduring while he was incapacitated came to mind. I could let him die and join Mendicant. Get off a sinking ship and live, exist. From the time that I awakened to now, meeting Enduring, finding out the reality of my existence. The Flood. Did I really have a choice in all of that?

My new masters gave me a different purpose. We seek to create a galaxy where all life can live in harmony, unlike that of the Forerunners.

Mendicant's statement finalized my decision. But I had to ask one more question to confirm it. "Who are your new masters, the Flood?"

The Flood was born from the dust of the betrayed. They now seek to right what the Forerunners have wronged.

Well that did it.

"Your offer for me to join a genocidal crusade is tempting. Unfortunately, I'll have to refuse it."

I initiated the slipspace jump after my transmission, the Flood controlled ships diverging in on our position. We were gone before their weapons could reach us. Cruising through another slipspace jump, I thought again of Mendicant's offer. So simple, such an easy alternative to running, and yet I didn't accept it.

Maybe I was just ignorant, but helping a parasitic organism like the Flood just wasn't appealing. Now all that was left was to keep traveling from system to system, and wait for Enduring to recover.

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

We were getting closer, just a few more systems to go. It was in the middle of a slipspace jump that Enduring finally came back. I was relieved.

"Where.. are we?"

"Close to the coordinates you gave me."

"What happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just passed out, I couldn't get any response from you."

"I…there is no point in focusing on it for now, let us finish our journey first."

His evasion of my question only furthered my suspicions. I considered telling him about my earlier conversation with Mendicant, but refrained. Who knew what he'd say if I revealed that I spoke with a rampant Ancilla. Probably would kill me to death with an unending stream of questions and endorphin injections.

For the first time ever since we escaped from the flotilla, Enduring got up and wandered the cramped interior of the ship. The viewport in front caught his interest and he spent the next few hours gazing into the void of slipspace. I mostly just ignored him unless he asked me for something.

I broke the silence to tell him of our impending arrival.

"We'll be there soon, best get ready."

As if to punctuate my words, the ship dropped instantly out of slipspace.

"I exaggerated, we're here."

The Greater Ark was a enormous sprawling flower like construction, a large circular opening was in the middle with branching 'petal' like structures reaching outwards. The fleet there however, was what caught my attention the most. What seemed like countless ships amassed around the ark greeted me, there was also a Halo ring not too far off. An approximation made the countless numbers become tens of thousands instead. I received a short burst transmission demanding the reason of our arrival, and whether there were any signs of Flood infection aboard. I had to ask Enduring for guidance on how to proceed without getting vaporized.

"Enduring I need some assistance with authenticating our arrival."

"They're on alert?"

"The massive numbers of readied warships indicates so."

"Then relay my words to them."

I did so, and we were not vaporized. An intelligence directed us to a nearby quadrant of space to be quarantined. I complied without question, being cautious around potential Flood vectors was logical. After it was determined that we did not carry any signs of Flood onboard, I received instructions for docking on the ark.

Safe, for now.

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

Our arrival was uneventful, nothing except for a few drones, which I identified as Sentinels, greeted us. There were many Ancillas and Monitors that spoke to Enduring, only to leave as quickly as they had came.

The ship was left behind, Enduring proceeding on foot to a lift.

"Where is everyone?"

"Busy, or dead."

"Oh."

I had expected our arrival on the ark to have cheered Enduring up, it didn't.

His mood grew worse as we passed through empty corridors and areas. I took the time to examine the ark, or at least part of it. The large megastructure was newer and more maintained than the refit station we had stopped at before. Evidently someone cared about this place. Enduring walked without any signs of stopping, I couldn't tell where he was going.

An hour passed and at last he stopped at a lift. We had been heading upwards according to the armor's limited data gathering capabilities. It wasn't until we really reached the surface that I understood where he was going. A thriving landscape of fauna and life, seamlessly melded with lifeless Forerunner metal alloys. The sheer scale of this on the ark left me in awe, or something close to it.

"This is amazing, so many different forms of life are present."

"It was our intention to preserve as much variety as possible, the Lifeworker's intentions anyway."

Enduring wandered across the surface of the ark, lost in thought.

"Where are the rest of the Forerunner population here?"

"Under us, probably living in the lower sublevels."

We passed by many birds and animals, some more colorful than others. But all of them, alive. Compared to my previous experience in the confines of a ship, this was pretty much heaven.

Mendicant's words came back to me at the sight of all this. His talk of betrayal, of violations. It battled with what I saw. I wondered at how long this all could last, with the onslaught of the Flood.

"There is so much we have learned and discovered. And yet, we were unable to fend the Flood off." Enduring looked wistfully at the life around us.

"Why store all of this here? Why bring so much life to this ark?"

"Preservation. For the greatest crime we may commit."

The Halo rings, devastating neural type weapons. A last ditch attempt to win an unconventional war with an unconventional way. The failure of the Forerunners to fight the war conventionally must have struck hard at their beliefs.

With so many forces and battles lost by the Forerunners, winning the war against the Flood may be next to impossible. Every loss is an overwhelming victory for the Flood, the dead are absorbed and their knowledge taken. They grow smarter and stronger with every victory they achieve. The Halo rings are cold but reasonable alternative to fighting the Flood conventionally. Still, there was a disturbing feeling behind the fact that all life would be destroyed. A pyrrhic victory.

"What if there's a reason behind all of this? A motive for all of this destruction."

I felt Enduring regard my question hesitantly.

"If there is, I will never find out."

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

Enduring finished his activities outside, which was primarily surveying his surroundings. We descended on the same lift that had taken us up before. I now established a secure connection with the Ancillas of the ark, a map and directory were supplied to me. The Forerunner asked me to lead him to a particular individual, I gave him instructions after searching the directory.

"You know this one?" I asked Enduring as we once again passed through corridors and onto lifts. There was no end to them.

"We met much earlier before all of... this."

"He's not an Ancilla is he?"

"Of course not!"

"Just making sure."

36 turns and 8 lifts later, we came to a closed door. My attempt to access it was rebuked. Someone was on the other side, and no doubt with an Ancilla. Just as I was going to tell Enduring that I couldn't open the door, it slid open without a sound. I was cut off mid sentence as it did.

"Who are you?" A Forerunner wearing an extremely aged set of armor roughly greeted us.

"Do you not recognize your old student?" The aged Forerunner removed his helmet immediately after Enduring spoke. The Ancilla of the other armor was silent.

"You are.. Enduring Passage?"

"I am."

I watched as the two Forerunners embraced, they looked familiar. Perhaps they were related in a way?

"I thought you had perished in the attack!" The older one exclaimed, I estimated his age to be close to a thousand years with his voice and exterior appearance.

"So did I. What happened?"

"They overran our positions, we had to flee lest we fall prey to them."

"Enduring who is this old fellow?"

"Stalwart Watcher of Beyond."

I was once again reminded of the absurd factor that came with Forerunner naming conventions. Why their names had to be complicated and unnecessarily poetic, I didn't" know. "You look similar to Stalwart, are you two related by any chance?"

"He was my mentor, I received an imprint from him." Ah that makes sense now. Enduring had matured similarly to Stalwart, the imprint providing a kind of genetic instruction. I decided to listen intently to their conversation, noticing Enduring's enthusiasm at seeing his old mentor.

"I survived, someone translocated me before the end. My old set of armor was replaced beforehand."

"How did you arrive here?"

"My new Ancilla assisted me with acquiring a ship. It was… behaving strangely before we departed."

"Did it have the logic plague?"

Upon hearing Enduring openly state his wariness about me, I felt saddened and disappointed. I couldn't blame him though, from his reactions I had definitely not been anything close to normal. Being an Ancilla and all. Does he only see me as an assistant? Just a machine? The lone thought came to my mind before being overtaken by others. Now was not the time to get distracted.

"If it did, I probably would not be here to see you."

"Good point."

"…It is good to see you again. Let us hope for a victory against the Flood."

"Indeed."

Enduring and Stalwart examined each other for another moment and said their farewells. Both had things to do and there was little time available. While we were heading away I grabbed for one last question as we walked away.

"What exactly do you plan to do now?"

Enduring hesitated, but that was enough for me. The previous thought concerning his doubts about me resurfaced. I was unable to keep my discomfort from being picked up by him.

"…I suppose I will attempt to assist whenever I can." He spoke again before I could say anything. "Is there anything wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"How do I say this?…"

I decided to drop the bomb before he could start.

"You believe I am infected with the logic plague?"

There was a tone of shock in Enduring's mental tone, he hadn't anticipated me catching on as quickly as I did.

"I am concerned." He quickly said

"I understand your concern, but there's nothing to worry about."

"The logic plague is anything but worrying."

"If I had it do you really think I would have helped you escape?" I was still fuming inside about how he had mentioned me earlier. Now seemed like an opportune time to express it.

"No but.."

"Look, remember not too long ago when you went unresponsive?"

"I do remember." At this point in time I realized my mistake. Unfortuantly I had dug way too big of a hole to avoid drawing Enduring's suspicion. If I went back on my statement it would be nothing short of alarming for him, if I went forward and openly told him about what occurred… it wouldn't be good. I chose to tell him the carefully edited truth. Imaginary fingers crossed

"Back in the Arcun system, we encountered a group of Flood controlled vessels."

"Go on."

I carefully deliberated my response.

"You went unresponsive without warning, I… the ships were still out of sensor range. It was not possible to confirm their status at the time."

"We were attacked?"

"…I attempted to make contact, thinking they were Forerunner controlled ships."

"..You communicated with them." Enduring's anxiety began to show through his heart rate.

"The ships were commanded by an Ancilla who called itself Mendicant Bias."

"I spoke with it for a short duration."

"Why would you?.." The anxiety turned into muted panic, I did not activate the armors injectors this time. There was a part of me that wanted to see him suffer a little. I relented and decided to administer the chemicals after we were done.

"I was curious, Mendicant gave me an offer. Judging by the fact that you're here and not dead in the vacuum of space. You can come to the conclusion."

"You refused?"

"I politely declined. Mendicant made sense on some levels, but I wasn't going to betray you. You placed your trust in me, despite my awkward behavior. I simply returned it."

Our inside talk had slowed Enduring's pace down until he had completely stopped, standing still in the middle of a hallway. To my relief there was nothing around to witness our internal dilemma. Enduring's anxious state slowly ebbed down to my surprise. So I did manage to convince him, the realization was gratifying.

"I was unaware of our predicament as I attempted to access the Domain."

"It didn't work?"

"No."

"No hard feelings Enduring, we both kind of messed up back there."

"Thank you." By now his anxiety had turned to something close to gratitude.

"You're welcome, we can get on with what you need to do now."

"What?"

He noticed his lack of movement and started to walk again, embarrassed. I didn't care much about his embarrassment at having stopped, all that mattered was that I had convinced him. In the case of being a suit of armor worn by someone else, trust happens to be important.

Trust is a difficult thing to get these days.

A/N: We're getting on with the plot, soon some major characters will make their appearance from lore. You may notice that I have placed the starting date of this story close to the end of the Forerunner Flood War, I have something fun planned in the future. Stay tuned.

Leave a review if you want, let me know your thoughts on this. It helps tremendously.

Later.

Fun Fact #1:
While the Logic Plague had an extremely high success rate, some Forerunner Ancillas did not fall prey. The most notable of them all was Offensive Bias, who fought against its rampant counterpart Mendicant Bias.

Fun Fact #2:
Most Forerunners saw Ancillas simply as tools to be used, you probably noticed our lovely SI ancilla reacting negatively to this. There were exceptions, but very few saw them as anything else.

EDIT: I screwed up Enduring's name by using Endurance instead. God I'm an idiot. Carry on.