Going Downhill
Lesser Ark, Central Control Room, Landing Platform 09
97,445 BCE
We made it back much earlier than I had expected, arriving back at the control room just before the Ark's 'sun' began to set. The landing pad was mostly empty, save for the scuffed up behemoth of a vessel that we had came in. A few sentinels occasionally flew over our heads and gave us no notice.
Or so that was how Enduring described it to me, he didn't seem impressed by the structural design, which wasn't surprising honestly. It's a control room for a large terraformed megastructure in the vacuum of space, what's the point of making it look decent?
"I have heard rumors of construction for another Ark, but this seems.. off from what a copy would be." Enduring made a rough attempt at brushing off some sleet on the armor; from his frustrated thoughts, he obviously failed at doing so.
"Seems a bit chilly for a place meant to preserve life."
"Indeed."
Since the armor remained frustratingly inert in most functions, I was resigned to listening in on Enduring's mental activity for glimpses of the outside world. I never really did appreciate the luxury of sight until it was gone. Another reason to get inside quickly and find that troublemaker that was Chakas.
The monitor had gave me coordinates to a Sentinel Dock instead of a proper armor refit station, and.. caused me to electrocuted. Actually the electrocution might've been something on my end, but still. Why in the world would Chakas had given me the wrong location? Was it an accident or something deliberate?
Chakas's nature of being a monitor closed off the notion of it being an accident, leaving the intentional option. Oh I was going to give him a piece of my mind for the crap he pulled and.. slap myself for acting impulsively. Now that I look back, improvising probably was not the best alternative.
Now I was more than enthusiastic to get the armor either repaired or outright replaced, assuming that I would be transferred over. Enduring wouldn't leave me behind now, would he? The thought uncomfortably sat in the back of my processes.
"Large secure door blocking our entrance." Enduring's thought was laced with weariness; the trek back had definitely taken a toll on him.
"I uh.. can't do anything. Outside communication is a no no."
"So we just wait out here and freeze when a storm comes?" He demanded.
"Try waving down one of the Sentinels overhead, there's probably an Ancilla that will help with the door." I said offhandedly. The door was a problem, one that would typically never be a problem unless all avenues of communication were removed, save for verbal.
It was to my surprise when Enduring actually shouted and awkwardly waved at one of the Sentinels that passed overhead. Add even more surprise when the drone altered it's path and dove down to hover in front of us.
"I require entry into the Control Room." Enduring stated flatly in a tone he likely reserved for machines. "My Ancilla cannot communicate with any other local Ancillas currently."
He stared at the Sentinel for a while, or at least that was what I thought he did, expecting a response. The drone waited in an inexplicable manner, unresponsive, though it made no moves to leave.
Finally the Sentinel answered. "The Central Control Room is restricted to those with authorization." It said in a synthesized tone.
"Authorization?" Enduring said incredulously.
"Yes. You do not have the proper authorization to en-" A series of mechanical whirs and hums passed before it continued speaking, this time in a much more.. organic tone? "You are asking for entry into the Control Room?" A new voice inquired, this one I roughly determined to be an Ancilla of sorts.
"The survivors are probably regrouping in the Control Room." I quickly added on, attempting to increase our chances of entry.
"I.. assume that is where any remaining Forerunners are to meet at?" Enduring tried. Clearly the sudden change from machine to smarter machine had caught him off guard. Or was there something else behind his reaction?
"You are correct." The Ancilla beamed as if Enduring was a fledgling student that had answered a difficult question, even more strangely enough. "I apologize for any difficulties this drone may have caused for you. Security measures are heightened during this time of distress."
Hmph, understatement of the year, or millennia.
"You are.. Enduring Passage, First Rate Builder." Enduring seemed to mentally flinch at hearing 'builder'. If the Ancilla had taken notice, it showed no signs of having so. "Authorization granted. Safe passage."
A loud metallic clunk followed by an audible passage of air indicated success.
Enduring had already begun heading into the complex when I interrupted his steadfast stride. "There's bound to be turns and junctions inside, and I can't direct you like before."
A mental groan of annoyance ensued.
"Ancilla?" It took me a moment to realize he wasn't addressing me specifically.
"Yes?"
For an unknown reason, the Sentinel remained where it was, behind Enduring.
"Could you direct me to the assembly?" He bit out. Something was clearly nagging his mind.
"Of course." The Ancilla replied enthusiastically.
As we set back on his original path inside -albeit with a new companion leading the way- I took up the opportunity to enlighten myself.
"Is there.. anything wrong?" I asked without warning and mentally slapped myself for not buttering him up at first. Fortunately Enduring didn't seem too offset by my sudden question.
"Nothing as a matter of fact, why do you ask?" He said rather too casually, attempting to mask a part of his emotions. It was in vain, as I could simply just read his brainwaves.
"Well you just seem.." I paused to think. "Troubled, and it's not just the fatigue for you, it's something else."
Enduring scrounged his thoughts, brain activity rising and falling. "This is all.. somewhat new to me." He finally said. "I feel.. how do I say it?"
Right away I knew the word he was searching for.
"Exposed?"
"Yes." He agreed. "Without the helmet and the.. consistent flow of information, this has all been a.. peculiar experience."
"..I bet.. Is there anything else?"
"No." His stubborn response only served to elevate my interest. I resisted the urge to pry any further and decided to wait until later. An opening would present itself, and then I would have my answer. Until then, I needed to find something else to occupy my time.
What could I do besides keeping an eye on Enduring's brain activity? I had virtually no senses, and could do nothing to reacquire said senses until further notice. Oh well.
I suppose I could just watch his brain waves flutter by, which wasn't really a boring thing to observe.
Different signals flickering on and off in the brain to transmit information or trigger other signals to activate. Happening over hundreds of thousands of times within less than a second. All a few hundred thousand millennia's worth of evolution I guess. Every time his eyes or nerves picked up something new, they made sure to flicker back a report to the brain. It was much more delicate than anyone other than a neurologist would think.
A plan made an unexpected splashdown in my head.
If I could easily examine his brainwaves as a whole, then why couldn't I just focus specifically on one set? It was a question, and a pointless one at that. I slapped myself for the second time that day for not thinking of it before.
It was a trivial effort to focus my attention on the specific brainwaves transmitting back between his eyesight and brain. A few alterations to my comprehension, and I was able to 'see' for the first time in… approximately seven hours, sixteen minutes, and twenty eight seconds.
The first thing I saw was the bland mildly glowing design of a Forerunner corridor, and a small hovering Sentinel leading the way. It was unsurprising and relieving at the same time. Even without being able to see, I knew what was happening -approximately- but seeing in reality is much more different from simply knowing. Or perhaps I was just depraved enough to value good old eyesight.
It was good to be able to see again, even if it was through an organic set of eyes.
We made few more turns through desolate corridors, which seemed to be a common theme for Forerunner architecture, and went down on a small access lift. The entire time the Ancilla-Sentinel remained quiet, save for the few times it spoke when embarking the lift.
"I will be unable to accompany you beyond this access lift." It said, hovering indifferently in a corner of the access lift. "The.. attendees have requested that any advanced Ancillas beyond those of personal armors must refrain from entering unless absolutely necessary."
"Very well." Was all that Enduring had to say. His thoughts didn't even change the slightest in activity. The lift door slid open with a whisper of air, revealing a sizable corridor. The design differed from the rest, having large structural arches lining the sides and ceiling with geometrically intricate lighting patterns. Our armor's current physical condition seemed out of place in the pristine environment around us.
"Hope you're not too bummed out about wearing this beaten up armor to a meeting." I made a halfhearted attempt at dispensing humor.
"Appearances matter little with all that has unfolded." He replied.
The dominating expanse of silence descended again as we started moving ahead. A pair of heavily reinforced doors made up the other end of the corridor. Just before we entered, I seized what might have been my last opportunity to speak with him before any potentially haughty or distraught Forerunners descended on him.
"Enduring, I know you said you were 'mostly' fine but you really don't seem like it." I rushed out my message before he could get close enough to the door. To my relief, Enduring stopped just before entering. His eyes were glued on the spotless metal of the door.
For a moment he said nothing, deliberating, thinking.
"Do you not believe me?" Enduring asked, he stood unmoving in the timeless pose that was universal to all Forerunners.
"I'm your Ancilla, and when something isn't right, I know." I retorted much more sharply than I had intended to. In my defense, I was dealing with an itching urge to figure out what exactly was going on with my partner in crime, and to do so before entering the unknown. Somehow a meeting was more mind nagging than being stuck in space.
He let out a breath, an easily heard sound in the noiseless environment around us.
"I do not wish to truly find out how many are left." He admitted, turning his eyes away from the door and to the other end of the hallway where the lift sat motionlessly. "With the loss of the Greater Ark.." Enduring stopped mid sentence.
"..There's not that many Forerunners left now." I finished soberly. The Greater Ark was home to what was left of the Forerunners, the last bastion of their strength. Or it had been.
Even with countless defensive and offensive capabilities, and the fleet, it had been easily carved apart by the star roads. Any ships that survived the initial onslaught were either destroyed or assimilated by the millions of Flood controlled ships.
It wasn't much of a fight from the beginning.
No wonder Enduring was offset. Waking up from a deep sleep on a remote installation was jarring enough, but it must have been devastating to experience the aftermath; thousands dead in one single catalytic battle. I immediately regretted prying too much at him.
"Let us join the gathering." Enduring let out another strained breath. "And see what must be done."
He took the last few steps forward.
Within less than a second, the doors slid open to expose a much larger bowl like room. A sizable holographic projector was set in the middle, and gathered around it were a little over a dozen armored Forerunners. They were in the middle of a heated discussion when we made our unceremonious entry. The small group of Forerunners looked at us and back amongst themselves, and then proceeded to delve back into discussion.
A familiar silver grey figure greeted us. It was Bornstellar, still in his worn suit of armor. Apparently he paid as much notice as I did to replacing armor in the middle of a crisis.
"Enduring Passage." He nodded, more out of ingrained protocol than greeting. Though strangely enough he seemed to direct his greeting towards both of us. How exactly, will remain a millennia locked mystery among Forerunner greetings.
"As you can see, we are in the center of a.. difficult dilemma." He beckoned for Enduring to join him at the edge of the discussion. The 'discussion' was more of a heated argument, one that Bornstellar was clearly exasperated about. He looked us over with confusion. "Was Chakas able to provide you with a proper means of replacing your damaged armor?"
It took a moment to realize he was addressing me. Too bad I couldn't reply.
Fortunately Enduring was able to cover for me.
"Chakas, a monitor, gave me the wrong coordinates and uh.. I improvised."
"A monitor?" Enduring was puzzled but thankfully translated it over.
"My Ancilla was provided with a mistaken location." He said dutifully.
"Chakas?"
"If that is what the monitor is called."
Bornstellar seemed to display the universal feeling of exasperation. Had he actually expected Chakas to send me off to some obscure location?
"Chakas has.. some discrepancies." He carefully worded his reply. "If we had time to spare, I would see to questioning him, but.. there is little time left."
So he successfully sent me on a wild goose chase and made a hasty getaway? Oh that..
My brief moment of agitation was enough for Enduring to notice. He apparently found it amusing.
"Forget it. If Chakas ever gets back here, I'm going to have a 'word' with him." I growled out before he could say anything.
"All capable monitors have been reassigned to be caretakers of the Halo installations." Bornstellar's flat words caused both of our internal antics to instantaneously cease. He didn't mean.. did he? My surprise filtered down to Enduring, who allowed it to be heard in his voice.
"..You are.. activating the Halo array?" Enduring slowly asked, mirroring my thought.
"We have no choice. The Flood has taken the last parts of the capital system, and now moves towards the Maginot Line." A note of sorrow broke through his words as he spoke. "There are no alternatives left."
"But.. the mantle.." Enduring stammered.
"We have no other alternative." Bornstellar repeated, this time more firmly. "The Flood will consume the last vestiges of life in this galaxy once they destroy the last of the Ecumene. It is only a matter of time for them. Space time has become inherently hostile to our ships, star roads tear apart what remains of our defenses, and we are all but a few now."
Sometime during Bornstellar's dreadful verdict, Enduring had fallen victim to the silence again.
"Preparations are being made. Offensive Bias will delay the inevitable for as long as possible, the array will be dispersed and activated." Bornstellar continued, the heated debate behind him had fallen silent just as Enduring had. "This.. decision.. has not come about easily."
He turned back to address everyone else. "Our mistakes, our past, has led to this calamity. For millennia upon millennia we have upheld the Mantle of Responsibility, and in doing so, failed those we swore to nurture. Now, we shall face the consequences."
Nobody said a word.
(^*^*^*^*^*^)
I had expected some drastic measure to be considered, even taken.
But nothing as desperate as activating several Halo's in once.
The Halo array would scour the galaxy clean of life, and starve the Flood to death. After which the surviving Forerunners would reseed what life they had preserved; much of the biodiversity could not have been saved, and would be one of the many projected long lasting consequences, aside from the complete collapse of the Forerunners. The Lesser Ark was outside of the galaxy, far enough away from the Halo Array's range of devastation.
They would survive on in a few survivors, but the once great Ecumene -their civilization- would be left in pieces.
This was all the 'plan' by the way. There was first an overwhelming armada of Flood ships to contend with, and an underwhelming amount of ships to defend with.
Enduring seemed to be taking it somewhat well, all things considered what he was going through prior to the big reveal.
"I have informed an Ancilla to direct you to a proper location to replace your damaged armor." Bornstellar had taken us aside by the entrance after the rest had filed out of the room in mirthless haste. "After which it will inform you on your duties."
Enduring asked the question on both of our minds.
"How will we safeguard the Lesser Ark long enough for the Array?" he asked.
"Offensive Bias will take what remains of our fleet and hasten to the portal." Bornstellar replied.
"Ah.. there is.. not much left, is there?" Enduring said slowly. It was more of a statement other than a question. Bornstellar placed a hand on our shoulder, a strange gesture for a Forerunner to use.
"Do not worry. Now is the time to prepare." he assured us.
Enduring nodded numbly and started to walk alongside Bornstellar down the passageway towards the lift. As we approached the lift, the doors slid open with barely a whisper. A familiar Sentinel hovered through the doors before they were fully opened. Apparently the restriction on Ancillas other than that of personal armor had been lifted. An enthusiastic voice greeted us. It was the same Ancilla.
"Greetings Enduring Passage, First Rate Builder." The Sentinel exclaimed in a voice tad bit too high for an Ancilla.
"This is your guide." Bornstellar was as quick to leave our side as he came, taking a step back towards the meeting room. "I bid you farewell. There is much to be done and so little time."
He left us with the Sentinel-Ancilla, and left me wondering if he knew there was something strange with the Ancilla before us.
"Please follow me this way." The Sentinel called out in an unendingly enthusiastic tone. It hovered back into the lift and waited obediently for us to join it. Enduring let out a breath after a few seconds and reluctantly joined it. The doors closed as soon as we were inside, the lift shooting back off.
"This is a rather.. unusual Ancilla?" Enduring remarked after a moment of attempting to ignore the vibrant nature that the Sentinel somehow was giving off. He seemed ready to get off of the lift as soon as possible, which would be unfortunate; there was some good distance to go.
"I'm sure we have other things to worry about right now." I replied glumly.
"Indeed…" Enduring sagged wearily.
Halo Arrays, deaf and not-so-blind Ancillas, a vigorously enthusiastic Sentinel-Ancilla.
This was just a never ending bag of surprises.
A/N: Things are escalating and soon one chapter of a great civilization will end. But it won't end as most will expect, I hope. As a fair sneak peak, some characters will not be seen for a bit, but we're guaranteed to run into them in the not so far future.
This uh.. took a while due to a combination of writers block and life issues. Here's a two sentence news report.
The good news is that I haven't abandoned this. Bad news is that life has gone on the offensive, and these updates won't be as frequent as they were back in summer.
As always, thanks for coming along. I'll be back at it hopefully soon enough.
Q/A: "Don't hesitate to leave a question if you want to, I need the motivation!"
Just a Reader - Personal Armor Ancilla's and Monitors can be thought as having different 'levels' of capability, from being a caretaker to managing entire installations. It's safe to say that there is something quite unique about this one. Personally I believe that there is a method that the Forerunners used to upgrade and enhance their Ancillas, though the lore doesn't state anything specifically.