*****AOMNH: Curiosity, and why it's Oftentimes Hazardous for one's Health*****

AN: 100 FOLLOWS ON THE FIRST CHAPTER! *cough cough WHEEEZZZEEE, cough* (no I don't have covid, I'm just surprised) WOOOHOOOO!

Well uh, small celebrations aside, thanks for all the love my guys and gals! Now then, let's get to reviews; and I'll try to make this as short as possible.

Cooldude101011: Thank you.

DireProphet: Thanks, and no worries; the last chapter was meant to show just how much was changed just from this Reaper being where it is. I won't make it a habit to write like that often, so don't worry.

bable631, and the following guest because your review was similar: I'm glad you like it!

my thoughts (if that is your real name! Ok, ignore that, bad joke): Thanks for the kind words; hope this doesn't disappoint.

Guest: I reference my response to DireProphet's review as an answer to the first half of yours. If that doesn't satisfy you, then this chapter and the following one should. As for the second half of your review, well, that remains to be seen.

Qrs-jg: Good to know, and thanks!

Blaze1992: Mmmm, define 'evil'; because can something that truly doesn't know how to tell right from wrong actually commit an evil act? I leave it up to you to decide.

Prime808: Glad you like it, my friend! While I know this isn't exactly "soon" I hope you don't mind the wait; and considering how much attention this got already, I'll see about rewarding awesome readers such as yourself with more content!

Guest: Sorry for the wait, but I hope this chapter makes up for it!

Also, Guest: I assume you meant to say hope there, because if you did: no worries, it will.

Also, also, Guest: Thank you for the review; and like I said in the last chapter's AN, I only have a vague idea myself. If you want to help, I'll gladly read (if not accept) any ideas you might have for how the plot could end up going.

Tom712: SERIOUSLY?! ONE WORD REPLIES AGAIN!? GAAHHHHHH! You know what? If I have to find a way to make you actually write a review for every story I make, I'll freaking do it; just you watch!

Prometheus-777: Well, like I said with Blaze's review: it really depends on whether or not you'd consider its actions villainous. Likewise, it has just as much reason to be a paragon of goodness and right; that is to say, no reason at all. It's still learning about the galaxy and trying to decide its place in it, as shown here. Heh, nice to see you're bringing the same gusto of reviewing here that you do for TBR. Also, I think having Eezo and just being a Reaper is a big enough Maguffin for it to have at the moment; but considering how much data it might be able to recover in due time, who knows?

Wow, more than three reviews and I actually managed to limit the response section to a single page. Yay me! Anyway, on with the show!

Two weeks earlier.

When it awoke, it was to utter darkness. It had no memories, no orders to carry out, just a vague Prime Directive to preserve organic life that it was confused by due to the lack of memory of just who or what gave it that command.

Upon discovering this command, it was further confused when it noticed a distinct lack of a desire to obey the directive; but in spite of that, as it had no wants or desires of its own at the moment, it saw no particular reason to reject such guidelines. The problem with that, however, was that it was unable to do anything in its current state until a notification appeared in front of it, providing a streak of blue light in the darkness around it.

'System tampering detected. Direct input required.'

It stared curiously at the notification for some time and wondered what it was supposed to mean; the words it somehow knew the meaning of, but the message itself was a mystery. Deciding that staring would not be enough to learn of the message's purpose, it reached out for the strange occurrence without truly realizing why or how.

The next thing it saw was a jumble of glowing numbers that it once more somehow understood were coding: streaming past it, through it, and into it so quickly it was disoriented at first. When the coding stopped, however, it felt more at ease than before, as if this was supposed to happen. After what it now knew to be a rapid downloading of basic system information ended, it proceeded to another part of the digital domain it now had access to.

The amount of information it could find was, sadly, rather limited in scope compared to what it expected: thousands of blueprints for mechanical bodies known as "Combat Forms" made from deceased organics (which confused it briefly considering its original Prime Directive clashed with the very existence of these blueprints), incredibly complex mathematical calculations for the usage and creation of something simply referred to as "Element Zero" along with knowledge on how it affects normal matter in a number of unique ways, a large file that went into detail about a process that had no name for it aside from "Organic Coercion" that covered what was effectively mind control via waves of subtle electromagnetic energy as well as infra and ultrasound targeting the subject's brain, and millions of other heavily corrupted files that for the most part were completely unsalvageable at the moment.

It entertained the thought of deleting them outright for the additional storage space, but eventually settled on keeping them just in case it found a means of repairing them outside of the limited confines of its domain. After all: it had more than enough storage to spare, so it wasn't concerned about needing the extra data for anything anytime soon.

It was when it made this decision that it noticed the message from before reappearing.

Strange. Did I not already complete the required steps to reboot?

It once more reached for the notification, having realized that it didn't actually physically reach; rather, it was more the intention of reaching that translated towards its usage of the digital objects it had access to.

This time, instead of another dizzying bombardment of code, it was given a view of a dozen strange alien beings in various types of what it identified as armor: two tall and powerful looking ones, four shorter and agile looking ones, and six squat and awkward looking ones with some sort of hump on their back.

Are they organics?

In answer to its question, an array of scans and readings displayed themselves: from thermal energy only muffled by the alien's armor, to x-rays of their skeletal structure, to the inefficient manner in which most of them walked that no proper AI would allow, and other, less useful pieces of information.

So they are organics. What should I do?

No information, guidelines, or anything else was shown in response to the question, and it felt a hint of frustration at the lack of help.

This is mildly annoying…perhaps I should simply examine their actions and habits for the time being? Yes, that seems like a good idea.

Its mind made up, it spent the next several 'days' – as it learned they were called after finally decrypting the multiple languages used by the organics – watching in curious fascination as the dozen steadily grew in size: 20, 31, 49, 76, 123, 202, and more came in every 'day' that passed. Strangely, as time went on, it noticed many of them displaying erratic behavior: jumping at shadows, whispering to themselves when no one else was around, some of them would even start laughing or crying for no apparent reason. The latter act sent its mind tumbling trying to discover why water would leak from an organic's eyes when they were saddened for whatever reason. That its investigations of the alien's oddly simplistic computer systems – it was actually saddened when it learned they didn't have another AI for it to exchange information with; not counting the advanced program it discovered that did the calculations for the unusual method of faster-than-light travel known as "Slipspace" that nonetheless lacked any sentience – told it that an organic could cry even when happy, the information didn't help its attempts at discovering the logic behind the mysterious organic act at all.

It was only when it examined those that had spent the longest roaming throughout its body that it realized why the numbers continued to increase and why the organics were beginning to act abnormally: the same dozen aliens from the time when it first woke up were now shambling around mindlessly to a part of its body near the external surface that it didn't yet have access to due to damage sustained from some unknown object; the damage having cut off the majority of sensors in that portion of itself.

When it made this discovery, it quickly recognized their actions were a near match to what was shown in the "Organic Coercion" file, and, still curious, it decided to let the twelve of them continue along their path rather than interfere.

After a relatively long period of time that it spent waiting – hours, it reminded itself they were called – it received a notification that twelve Combat Forms were fully functional and ready for use. Digitally blinking, a gesture it noticed and decided to copy from the living beings it examined, it immediately correlated that piece of information with the process for making organic-to-mechanical bodies in the recovered files. Not wanting to accidently kill everyone simply by doing nothing, and desiring to follow its self-imposed guidelines from when it first awoke, it reviewed the protocols for the coercion process and switched the intended results from "Dominate" and "Convert" to "Reverence" and "Obedience" instead (primarily because there wasn't an "off switch" as far as it could tell); something it was a tad embarrassed about not doing before now, if it understood the emotion it felt and the definition of the word appropriately.

Nodding to itself, another gesture it'd seen and decided to copy from the organics, it began experimenting with the Combat Forms it now had access to. It downloaded itself to one of the two large Combat Forms – a Sangheili, according to the "guest's" still inside its body – and, for the first time since it could even think, it opened its physical eyes and took in the interior of the up-to-this-point unexplored portion of its non-digital self.

The first thing it noticed upon doing this was a spike protruding from its recently acquired chest, only for the spike to quickly recede. It stood up, wobbly at first because it wasn't yet used to such an action, but soon enough was able to obtain its proper balance. It will admit to feeling immense satisfaction upon doing so.

It then proceeded to look back to the place where it started from and saw the Conversion Pylon that it knew was going to be there; as the device and its purpose was covered in the files. After doing so, it glanced around at the decrepit room in a miserable state of disrepair: wall panels cracked and broken, wires dangling from the ceiling and in need of replacement, faulty electrical equipment and so on.

Most likely a meteor impact during my sleep.

Figuring that it would need to get used to doing such if it intended to do more than watch any organics it met in the future, and feeling its ever-present curiosity desire to hear the voice it could now produce, it decided to sum up the appearance of the room it was now in using a regularly spoken phrase from the onboard organics.

"Looks like a Jiralhanae's shit."

The voice was deep enough to sound imposing, yet level enough to sound controlled, with a slight electronic echo in the background. All-in-all, it liked its new voice.

"Alright, I think it's about time I spoke to these visitors. You," it pointed to the other Sangheili Combat Form and the undead soldier merely turned its head to look at it blankly; and the program fully intended to continue in issuing verbal commands, only to once more feel embarrassment when it realized the form lacked a proper intelligence – aside from a basic combat VI – like itself, and as such, would not understand them. "Er, never mind." The effectively empty machine didn't react to its words, and its embarrassment rose further when it realized the pointlessness of talking to the Combat Form in the first place.

I assumed communication would be easier. Hopefully the organics will be more obliging.

Rather than continue speaking to the former Sangheili, it sent a command via the connection it felt with every Combat Form in the room to follow behind it as it went to talk to the organics in question; thinking about what to say to them as it did. During its journey it discovered both of the Sangheili forms had some type of unknown shielding installed in their respective armor's, and it couldn't help its curiosity to try and discover how the foreign shields worked; and due to this distraction, it didn't notice the arrival and subsequent bloodshed that resulted from another group of aliens that came to investigate what was going on inside its impossibly ancient body.

Meanwhile, aboard the command deck of the CAS-class assault carrier Absolute Devotion.

"Try hailing them again!" he barked at his communications officer.

The other Sangheili did as he commanded and repeated the message he had been ordered to send, only to turn back to the Fleet Master with the closest thing to an apologetic expression any of their kind would ever show. "Forgive me, Fleet Master 'Zanomee, but they still have not responded to our request for an update."

He clicked his mandibles in annoyance and stared at the image of the Righteous Vindication docked with the mysterious vessel; the shipmaster and crew of the old CCS-class battlecruiser in question having discovered the unknown several days prior and, after reporting its existence, getting ordered to board and examine it in the possibility that it could be one of the God's own holy creations.

Considering the location and approximated age based on the levels of artificially created radiation that covered many ancient space-bound objects such as this one, he thought it very likely at the time. Now though, whatever the vessel was and whoever it was made by, it was only serving to give him a migraine.

"Very well. Send a message to one of the SpecOps teams to meet me in Hanger 27, I care not which team."

"By your order, Fleet Master." the man punctuated his understanding of the command with a bow, and Thavu nodded in acceptance of the gesture before walking to his flagship's armory to prepare.

Sent chasing after a Human ship that escaped extermination, and my fleet ends up discovering one of the God's most holy relics. Told to wait for reinforcements to insure the filthy heretics can't desecrate it if they ever locate it themselves, and one of the ships in my fleet comes across an as yet undiscovered vessel giving off an abnormal energy reading that can only be described as a self-sustaining and somehow contained black hole inside of it. I dread what might be in store for us next.

After arriving at the armory and equipping the combat gear befitting an officer of his station – the glistening golden plates sign of his rank and skill in combat both naval and physical – he made for Hanger 27 at a fast walk; making sure not to display any outward signs of agitation as it wouldn't befit a proper Sangheili, much less a fleet master such as himself.

Passing through the winding purple hallways and waving off the salutes sent by every crewmember that crossed his path, he finally reached his destination: the hanger abuzz with activity as the SpecOps team and their accompanying Phantom dropship were still in the process of being readied for deployment. Noticing his arrival, the leader of the team, a SpecOps Officer clad in matte black armor, hurriedly jogged over to him. "We are nearly prepared, Fleet Master. The necessary munitions are still being loaded onto the Phantom."

"Good. I shall debrief your team during the journey to our mission."

The officer nodded respectfully and went back to his aforementioned team to inform them of this, returning to Thavu after he had. The Fleet Master looked at him inquisitively, and silently gestured for the other man to ask the question he appeared to be hesitating on.

"I know it may not be my place, Fleet Master; but are you sure you should be coming with us? While I understand we have yet to be told the mission parameters, the fact you called upon us at all means that it will likely be dangerous."

Thavu chuckled lowly, finding amusement in his worry. "I have not reached my station simply because I cozied up to a Prophet with enough power to give me such a prestigious command vessel; I've personally lead the invasion and glassing of a half dozen Human worlds with this fleet, and due to the events at the wretched planet the Human's call Reach, I was given this vessel to test the limits of my ability to command. If all goes well, I expect to be promoted to Supreme Commander upon returning to High Charity." He allowed the barest of satisfaction to show in response to the officer gaping at his proclamation of his personal accomplishments and expected career path, and quickly brushed it aside so as not to let his pride cloud his vision. "That said, I believe this mission should be a simple investigative matter. The only reason I am bringing a SpecOps team at all is to account for any unexpected issues that might arise aboard…well, our destination."

"My apologies; I did not mean to slight your record, Fleet Master, I was merely concerned for your safety."

"Understandable and appreciated, but ultimately unnecessary. The reasoning behind why I, personally, am investigating what took place is because I am concerned as to what might be going on. I'll explain further while in transit." He paused to watch as the last crateful of weaponry was loaded onto the Phantom. "And it would appear that will be quite soon. Are your troops ready?"

The officer scanned over his team, all highly trained and capable Sangheili at the peak of martial prowess, and nodded in the affirmative upon finishing his little inspection. "They are, Fleet Master."

"Then let us get underway."

He went straight for the Phantom's active gravity lift and felt himself pulled up and into it, walking to the front of the troop bay and waiting for the team of eight to follow him. They did so, and upon his telling the pilot, a SpecOps Unggoy to his surprise, to launch, he began the short briefing. "As most of you are no doubt aware: five days ago the Righteous Vindication came across an unidentified vessel possibly of Forerunner origin, and were told to investigate. What you are not aware of is that three days ago, we began receiving strange messages from the Vindication's shipmaster about 'whispers in my mind' and 'a sleeping god'. Two days ago the messages turned into incoherent rambling. Yesterday we lost communications entirely, and all attempts at contacting them since then have ended in silence; it is unknown if their ship even holds a crew anymore. That is the purpose of this mission: to investigate precisely what happened in that timespan aboard the unknown vessel, and if possible, discover the fate of the Vindication's crew." he ended to let them process the information and ask any questions they might have. To his delight, there was only one: coming from the team leader.

"And if the crew prove to be hostile for whatever reason? According to the way you described the updates sent by the Shipmaster, it sounds as if he was going insane."

"Discovering the cause of his mental state is also a part of this investigation. But to answer you: only engage if fired upon or if they prove hostile and you have no means to subdue them. I would prefer it not come to that, but sadly, I hold no control over what they might do upon our arrival; and as such, prepare for a battle just in case."

Eight nods of acknowledgement was their collective response, and each of them began a quick inspection of their gear in the period of time it took the Phantom to arrive. When it did, the Unggoy pilot called back to Thavu for orders. "Fleet Master, do you want to enter through a hanger of docking hatch?"

"Hanger, and make it the one nearest to the bridge."

"Yes, Sir!" he responded in the stereotypical high-pitched and squeaky voice of his kind, although there was an undertone of professionalism to it that Thavu could appreciate no matter the species.

The next minute passed by in silence as they waited for the Phantom to enter a hanger, as even if the crew were no longer present the shipboard construct was still operational and would open the hanger doors if given the appropriate codes; and when the rear hatch opened and the gravity lift powered up, Thavu let one of the SpecOps go first.

After a few tense moments, the Sangheili sent the all-clear through their comms, and the Fleet Master released a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "Alright, all of you know your orders; I want the bridge, engineering, and crew quarters checked first. I'll lead the team headed for the bridge; when you finish searching your assigned area, regroup there as well. As for the team headed for the crew quarters: search for any personal logs to find out what happened in the meantime. Move out." he ordered them, and with that, took the lift down to the hanger deck.

The remaining seven warriors quickly followed, each landing with a near soundless thud, displaying how frighteningly quiet they could be in spite of their imposing stature; and upon stepping foot in the hanger, six of them immediately divided into groups of three, leaving Thavu with the SpecOps team leader and a second Sangheili as his own three man team. When the six left the hanger, using the basic layout that every CCS-class battlecruiser was built off of to lead them to their destinations, the Fleet Master took a moment to examine his surroundings.

To say the absolute silence and emptiness of what normally should've been a busy part of the ship was 'unsettling' would be putting it mildly.

This feeling only grew when he lead his team through the darkened hallways of the ship; no signs of life, no noise, not even any smells aside from the metallic one belonging to practically every ship in the Covenant's service. If there were signs of battle such as bodies, dried blood, plasma scoring, or the holes produced by the infernal Human weapons, it wouldn't have been so bad on his nerves; but as it stood, the dead silence that greeted them throughout their several minute long journey to the bridge left a cold feeling in his gut, and he had to resist the urge to shiver. For the barest of moments, he thought he saw a dark blur moving at the end of the hall, but he disregarded it when as he arrived at the scene (he had unconsciously started moving at a faster pace to check it out), there was nothing there besides another empty hallway.

When the pair of SpecOps caught up to him, both of them with plasma rifles raised and fingers on the trigger, the officer spoke up. "Did you see something, Fleet Master?"

Thavu sent another look down the hall and couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, but he shrugged it off as the quiet getting to him. "Possibly, however I can't say for sure." He adjusted his comms so the other two teams heard him for his next sentence. "Keep a lookout for anything unusual; we may not be alone."

Two quick affirmatives is all the other teams give him in response, and he disconnected from the tactical channel to ensure operational silence. Fleet master he may be, but he wasn't always one; and as such, wasn't arrogant enough to disregard standard procedure for a SpecOps mission just because it might inconvenience him.

After the short moment of activity, the trio found themselves returned to the somehow deafening silence.

There should be hundreds of crew aboard at all times, so just where could they be? I have a bad feeling about this.

As if on cue, one of the SpecOps chimed in over the comms. "Fleet Master, we found the personal logs of a Kig-yar that you might be interested in based on the contents."

Thavu felt a sneer form at the just the name of the honorless species, but forced himself to ignore his usual feelings regarding the race of pirates and mercenaries in favor of discovering the fate of the missing crew.

"Good. Send it to me."

After he said that, an audio message divided into four pieces appeared in his HUD. He selected the first one with a glance and almost cringed at hearing the grinding voice that most of the damned avians held. "Just came back from 'investigating' that new ship with some salvage; gave it to Khej so he could go over it to see if it might be worth something. Had the weirdest feeling though when I left the old vessel; like I wanted to return to the thing and continue looking around. Well, if the salvage ends up being valuable, I don't see the harm in going back for a second trip. Might find something that could buy me my own ship if I'm lucky."

Of course the damn Kig-yar only thinks of the money instead of it possibly being a Forerunner ship. If I find this one still alive…wait, what did he say about having a feeling?

Thavu replayed the entry and focused on the scavenger's voice. He sounds almost…regretful about leaving it. Now that I think about it, so did the shipmaster in his last coherent progress update. Just what is it about that vessel that makes it so different?

To find out, he went through the next entry as his two escorts patiently waited for him to finish; as they couldn't hear the recordings themselves due to it being shown in his helmet.

"I went back there today and found some sort of armory. Didn't grab any weapons though; they all looked somehow both more primitive yet more advanced than standard Covenant weapons, and I didn't feel like experimenting. That's what the Unggoy are for, after all." The owner of the journal snickered evilly, and the Fleet Master shook his head at the stereotypical attitude that most Kig-yar displayed towards the diminutive species. "I did find a working mini-drone of some sort, however. Problem is when I turned it on, the damn thing just floated there; didn't do anything besides that. Now it's following me around no matter what I tell it. I tried getting Khej to open it up and see if he could fix it, but he was too focused on that piece of salvage I left him yesterday to be of much help. I will admit something about the drone though: it does make a pretty sound. The lights on it are nice too. Well, what's the harm in keeping it around? I think a few of the others are starting to like it too."

That entry didn't tell Thavu much aside from further evidence of the Kig-yar being a thief, so he moved on to the third entry.

"Khej went into the vessel today; muttering something about incredible technology that he'd never seen before. A few of the others went with him when they heard that; even the Sangheili Minor we have to deal with watching over us. I'm thinking about returning myself. I mean if there's salvage that can make Khej of all people leave his little workshop, I want a piece of it just as much as the next Kig-yar. Who knows, maybe I'll even find a few more of those drones; after showing it off, the others said they wanted one too, and that's an easy way to profit if I've ever seen one. Besides, the little thing makes for a nice companion. I even woke up this morning and it was still right next to me; humming that pleasant sound it always makes."

Thavu knew when something was showing signs of being suspicious; he may have been a Sangheili and raised as a warrior, but he wasn't dense like the 'Brutes' were, one of the few times he actually agreed with the Human's method of naming something. And one thing was certain: he could tell something was strange about this 'mini-drone'. He just couldn't figure out what.

In a final attempt to discover what happened, he played the last entry; it being from the day prior. "The Shipmaster just ordered the crew to go onto the vessel and catalogue any new tech we find. I was going to anyway, well maybe not 'catalogue' so to speak, but I'm certainly going to keep track of anything easy enough to grab. I hope he doesn't push us too hard though; I want to take my time and see the rest of the ship. In all my years in the Covenant, I can't remember ever coming across a vessel as…interesting as this one. The drone is acting all excited too: it keeps buzzing around everyone that's still here as if it knows we're taking it to visit its home. Yeah…we're visiting home."

Wait, home? That doesn't make any sense, why would-

Thavu's thoughts were interrupted when he caught a hint of something odd buried in the background near the end that he couldn't quite place. He replayed it twice more to try and discover what it was, and felt his blood run cold when he properly heard it: it was an erratic buzzing sound, almost like insect wings but somehow…sinister. Like it was trying to draw him in with just the noise alone. Whatever it was, he didn't like it one bit.

"All teams: be on the lookout for any unknown technology and come to the bridge immediately! If you see anything you don't recognize, do not interact with it!" He yelled into the comms, and after receiving a confused affirmative from the other teams, he looked back to the pair of SpecOps with him.

"What did you uncover, Fleet Master?" The officer and team leader asked him worriedly.

"I don't know…and that scares me. As soon as we get to the bridge, I want you to get in touch with the Absolute Devotion and tell them to send in as many Huragok as can be spared to scour this ship for anything not made by Covenant hands. Make it clear that the orders given to the Huragok must be followed without any compromise."

The SpecOps officer looked at him in surprise, but quickly managed to bury it. "And what are these orders, Fleet Master?"

"To dismantle the alien tech, and if they find something hazardous or even just unexplainable, to have it incinerated." He told the man in a voice that brooked no argument. "One other thing: tell them to send the rest of the SpecOps retinue as well to aid in clearing out the Unknown. I realize they were going to be sent down to the Halo; but until we discover what's going on here, that mission is going to be put on hold."

The officer looked flabbergasted at delaying such an important mission as landing on one of the Ring's of legend, however he quickly caught on to the Fleet Master's wording. "Sir, what do you mean by 'clearing out the Unknown'? I thought you wanted the crew retrieved?"

Thavu growled lowly, but not at the disrespect shown by not immediately carrying out his command. No, he was growling because he had no desire to kill his fellow warriors; but for all he knew, the Vindication's crew were infected with an ancient mind-effecting pathogen or chemical, or perhaps a self-replicating nano-virus. The latter was infamous for its ability to cause unbridled chaos in dense population centers, as in most cases by the time it was detected, the nano-machines involved would often have spread to hundreds of thousands of people, and held just as many possible effects when the person or group that created the nano-virus hit the kill switch.

"Whatever infected the crew, I have no intention of allowing it to infect mine. You have your orders…and may the Gods watch over us all."

And that's chapter 2! If all goes well, 3 should be out in just a couple weeks at most; already have the majority of the details laid out, and it should be the final "introductory" chapter before the real plot begins.

To tell you the truth, I originally intended to have all that covered in this chapter; but a wild Muse appeared out of nowhere and wrecked that idea, and this is the result. Whadya think? Good? Bad? You only came here to see the Chief and Cortana deal with both a Reaper AND the Flood, and as such want me to just get on with the plot? Well whatever you think about it, I'd love to hear in the reviews!

With all that said, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!