DAY 2
Todd
I expected for there to be bloodshed.
The silver razor blade pulled down the shaving cream, exposing smooth skin.
Anyone would, seeing this selection of soldiers, warriors, criminals and anything thing else acquainted with combat.
I brushed the blade underneath the sink water, leaving a trail of shaving cream and loose hair. I resumed finishing my side burns.
One thing is for sure, though: They made a huge mess.
Ouch, blood dripped from my right cheek. I wiped it away as I carefully rushed the rest of my shave, wiping it whenever it became too much.
The amount of blood practically turned the room into a pool. I managed to get it all cleaned out, refilled the holes in the concrete, and prepared the subjects again.
A towel wiped off the remaining shaving cream. I ripped off a piece of toilet paper and stuck it on the cut, plugging the leak. I ran the tap, washing away the debris with water, washed my hands and slid a black v-neck t-shirt on as I moved out of the washroom and into my bedroom- where the monitor sat in full view, revealing the same scene as yesterday.
I took a seat at my desk, watching the same loading bar reach 99%.
The same people stood in the same row order as yesterday, blood no longer climbing up their ankles and holes patched in with concrete, good as new. The weapons were the only thing missing.
All long range and arm length close quarter weapons- gone. Removed.
If they still wanted to fight, they would have to exhaust their endurance, strength, and the sharpness of small daggers.
So I forgot about their super powers.
Telekinesis, super strength, regenerative abilities, heightened endurance and extra appendages. As soon as they all awoke, they began fighting again.
A one sided slaughter began. Limbs torn off, torso's impaled, heads bashed in, necks twisted and strangled.
A giggle escaped my stretched lips. Despite the setback, some had managed to find the exit.
Arbiter
I charged into the door, ripping it off its hinges, revealing a dark grey hallway, smooth walls and floor.
I turned and called for the chief, who was alive for the secon- no, this would be the third time, actually. The Master Chief kept a group close to the wall in front, using his long arms to protect and guide them towards me, keeping himself between them and the slaughter happening around them.
They went through the door, Chief coming in last. The hallway took us left. Eventually it took us to an open doorway.
The Chief slammed the steel door close behind us. "Barricade the door," he commanded.
"With what?!" A young human female with blue hair and tattoos indicated the empty hallway.
"In here! There's a bed!" Another young female- I recognized her as 'Ellie'- called from inside a room.
I ran into the room, finding a large blue bed, alongside a matching blue desk with drawers, an empty closet, and another door.
I took a look outside the room, scanning the rest of the hallway outside, and sure enough, there were other rooms. A living area of sorts, with two sets of large balconies above us acting as a second floor with more rooms.
Some kind of prison? Do they expect us to live here?
"Hey, lizard thing, are you fucking blind or deaf? Can you even understand me?" my attention caused Ellie to pause, "...the- there's stuff we can use for a barricade in here…"
"Those won't be enough," I replied.
"Holy fucking shit!" She stepped back a bit. "You can talk? How can you with a mouth that's..." She pointed at my face.
"Uh, hey guys?" A dark-skinned human male called our attention away from the room and to the door. "Did you check for a lock?"
The Halo Destroyer searched the door up and down, finding a handle, which upon turning activated a red light above. A tug of the door confirmed it was locked.
Now that we were in the clear, I drew my attention to everyone in the room. 4 people, all humans. The dark-skinned human stood in the middle, sporting a dark-blue short-sleeved button up shirt with a white long sleeve underneath, and black jeans. His puffed out chest and his rigid eyes were among the first tells that nervousness gripped him. The blue haired human female wore a dark blue beanie on her head, a white shirt with a skull emblem underneath a leather jacket, rips on the outer thighs of her jeans which ended in black boots on her feet. Her left hand rubbed her tattoo covered arm, shrinking back a bit as my gaze swept over her.
"What are your names?" Wide eyes met me as I spoke.
"Ch-Chloe Price" The blue haired stammered.
"...Franklin. Clinton." The dark-skinned spoke more clear.
"I'm Joel." He stood forward in his worn out and dirtied green dress shirt, a gas mask dangling off his hip. I remembered these two, shouting out to each other. I remembered how this one died, and how the girl weeped over him.
"I'm Ellie-" He blocked her with his right, keeping us separate. She wore a red t-shirt, stopping at her forearms with a long black sleeve continuing up to her wrist. Her eyes fixated on me, a mixture of awe, curiosity, and nervousness. Both sported backpacks.
"...We need to keep moving" I heard the Chief strode up from behind as he moved to take point of the group, heading towards a door that appeared to lead into another hallway.
"Good. Get me the fuck out of here..." Chloe whispered to herself, but I caught it.
"We're getting you all out of here," I said. She could only look at me out of the corner of her eye.
We wandered through the dark-grey hall, a second doorway at the other end. The door had light coming from it. Sunlight.
We picked up the pace, rushing towards the doorway. We were outside; until our eyes adjusted.
We were met with green grass, a small river that pooled into a pond, and a couple of trees. But rather than extend into a horizon, it ended in dark grey walls, concrete, the blue skies replaced by light fixtures and sprinklers attached to a ceiling.
"The fuck is this?" Franklin banged his fist on the wall behind a pine tree.
"An indoor garden?" Joel checked out a tree, tapping on its bark as if he expected it to be hollow. The massive room sent a sense of familiarity through me; Images of the Halo rings floated across my eyes, with picturesque mountains and forests sitting atop artificial structures.
"Exit!" Ellie pointed at a door with a large red sign that said exit above it, on the far of the garden. We all rushed to it, me reaching the handle first and pushing it.
Nothing. I try pulling it.
Not even budging.
I curse in my native tongue. I locked my shoulder, and slammed it hard into the door, a blue discharged preventing me from even touching. I placed my palms on the door and pushed, feet digging into the dirt on the ground, tearing it up.
"Are you fucking kidding? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING?!" Chloe started to freak out, balling her hands into fists, face going red.
"This some bullshit! This some motherfucking bullshit!" Franklin paced back and forth, pointing at the door as if holding a gun.
"ENOUGH!" The chief commands.
"FUCK YOU, YOU GIANT DIRT BIKER!" Chloe screamed at the chief, "I JUST FUCKING DIED! MY FUCKING THROAT WAS SLASHED!" She threw her arms up, "HOW THE FUCK AM I STILL ALIVE?!"
"We all died-"
"A FUCKING MINIGUN! WHO THE FUCK HAS A MINIGUN?!" She pointed at the Chief, "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" She pointed at me, "AND WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!"
"You need to calm down."
"FUCK YOU!"
The Master Chief inched closer and closer to Chloe, "Calm-"
"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK-" She's interrupted from her nervous breakdown when the lights go out, washing us in darkness.
Chloe stopped her screaming at a whimper.
Light appeared; Joel and Ellie both had flashlights on them. The Chief activated the four on his helmet.
"I think I saw a door this way." Joel pointed his bent flashlight at a door, across the fake river.
Chief started walking first, while a cross armed Chloe, a head shaking Franklin, and a flashlight wielding Ellie began following after. Joel and I were preoccupied sizing the exit door.
"I never got your name." Joel didn't face me as he asked, taking a second before he looked up at me.
"Thel 'Vadam." I consciously held a hand out. "But you can call me Arbiter."
He either didn't understand the gesture, or didn't care for it. "What's the big green's name?"
I paused at the question. "You mean you don't know of him? The bane of the Covenant? Hero of Humanity?"
"Hero Of Humanity?" He echoed, "Covenant? Like witches and all?"
"Witches?" Images of the old and frail prophets, enchanting entire crowds with the power of the Forerunners, the Great Journey, and the promise of Halo flashed before my eyes. "I guess you could say that."
The rest of the group were already reaching the door. I pointed a hand at them,"We should catch up."
"Yeah," We started for the door, "In more ways than one."
We continued in a walking pace. We were silent the rest of the way, with me catching narrowed glances from him.
"Holy Shit! Joel, come look!" Ellie called from the far end of the hallway, and so our legs went into a sprint.
When we reached the doorway, we were met with a giant warehouse, about as big as the garden. There were rows of large and long shelves, the ends of them facing us. Containers filled all of them, and there were signs sitting at the ends facing us, declaring what was contained on each shelf: Medicine, Food, Clothing, Tools and Utilities. There were also holo pads underneath the signs and at a height we can reach.
The Chief walked up to one, underneath 'FOOD'. I walked up behind him to look at it. It showed a map of the corresponding shelf, containers showing up as white icons. He tapped a finger on a box.
I instinctively reached for a non-existent weapon when a loud noise erupted from the ceiling. A giant, robotic arm that had been laying dormant awoke, and positioned itself over the food shelves, where it lowered and extended to reach a crate and pulled it out. It lowered the crate to the ground, releasing it from it's grip, then returning to it's spot in the ceiling.
"Okay," A chuckle escaped Chloe, "I gotta admit that's kinda awesome."
Joel reached the crate, perusing his fingers along the seams and edges. He tried prying the lid off with his fingers, "Gonna need a crowbar…"
The Chief walked up, Joel moving out of the way, and gripped the edges tightly, and began tugging. He staggered when the lid popped right off.
Joel scratched the back of his head, eyebrows covering his entire forehead. "...Thanks."
"Not a problem."
Joel looked inside the crate, sticking his hand in. He lifted what appeared to be a steak in a clear plastic bag, all the air sucked out of it.
"What the hell is that?" Ellie exclaimed.
Joel ripped the bag open at the top. He took the steak out, chewing a piece off with his teeth.
"It's food," He said after swallowing.
"I can see that. But...why is it here?" Ellie asked.
"Living quarters, a warehouse, a garden, and an exit that doesn't open…" I thought out loud.
"Not to mention that...room" Ellie hugged chest, rubbing her arms.
Tap tap tap tap tap...I heard something from behind me, and so I turned. A hammer swung over empty space, where I had just stood. A woman wielded the hammer.
"AHHH!" She kept swinging, trying to hit me. The Chief came in, grabbing the wrist holding the hammer, and shoving his other arm into her chest, and pushed her to a shelf, holding her there.
"Enough! We're friendlies!" The Chief shouted at her.
She yelled in a language I was not familiar with.
"She's speaking japanese," Joel pointed out.
I faced him, "Do you understand her?"
"I don't know Japanese!" Joel shrugged his shoulders, not of any help.
I turned back to Chief, "Can Cortana help?"
His head didn't make a move as he held onto her, "...She's not with me"
Oh… I'll have to save this matter for another time. I took a closer look at my would-be assailant, when horror started to settle into me. I recognized her. She wielded a weapon that spoke and blasted a blue beam, taking the life of Joel instantly.
"Quick! Check her pockets!" I ordered the Chief.
He slammed her to the ground, laying her on her chest. He proceeded to ruffle through her pockets. He came up empty...
My blades were also missing. Come to think of it, there wasn't any gun fire whatsoever. They took away our weapons?
The woman seethed, pushing her forehead into the ground.
"...Let her go," I told the Chief. He did so, and she took off on her knees, her back to the shelves, staring at us. She had short brown hair and brown eyes, decked out in dark grey suit with a skirt that hugged her thighs, standing on brown slip on shoes.
Ellie and Joel could now her get a better look at her face. I looked at them, seeing Joel relatively calm, but Ellie's eyes started to grow wide.
"...You. It's you!" She started closing the distance between her and the woman, but I stood in front of her, not letting her pass. "You fucking killed him! You killed Joel!"
Joel's eyes widened at, "What?"
"SHE KILLED YOU JOEL!" She yelled back at him, "Her gun popped you like a fucking balloon! Right in front of me!"
"Jesus Christ…" Joel eyes fixated on the woman.
"That's enough." The Chief stood between Ellie and the glaring woman, addressing everyone. "It's pretty clear that we haven't been thinking straight. We're heading back to the quarters, and all of you are going to pick a room, where you're going to stay for the next 12 hours."
"Wait a minute-" Chloe pointed an accusing finger at the Chief- "Are you fucking grounding us?!"
"Until you learn to calm down, then yes."
"That's fucking bullshit!" Chloe protested.
Ellie was in agreement, "We're not going until we deal with this bitch" She crossed her arms. Joel went to her side, and place his hand on her shoulder.
"Let it go Ellie" His low toned voice almost pleaded Ellie. She looked at him with wide eyes.
"But she kille-"
"Let it go." His voice turned firm, it's message final. She opened her mouth, trying to find a rebuttal.
When she couldn't, she averted her eyes to the floor, "...Fine."
Todd
They left the warehouse, taking the new addition to the group with them.
I set the screen to show me the starting room. Fighting continued.
I switched the screen to that of a chat forum. The profile read 'Klein', the profile image a brown beard.
I pulled up my keyboard and began typing.
How's it going on your end Klein?
I waited a minute, gently chewing my thumb nail. A response.
Pretty decent, how 'bout you?
I type up a response.
Another bloodbath, but some have managed to escape the spawning room. The Master Chief and the Arbiter, Chloe Price, Akane (I don't know the full letters to her other name so I won't even try), Franklin, Joel and Ellie.
Ping. He replies again.
You'll have to send me a video of the first one. You could use another take on this.
"Cortana?" I called out. My witness appeared as a glowing blue orb in the air, ready to take my instructions. "Edit and send a video of the first trial to Klein, please."