Chapter 5: Into the Deep
[August 12, Approximately 11 hours after collapse, 2552]
An emotional moment was not my first expectation when meeting an alien for the first time.
Who the hell describes first contact with a different species, a hostile one at that, with a hug?
Not that the hug was bad, I found it quite enjoyable.
Hell, it might have been the first hug I had been in a year now. It was really nice, I didn't know how to say it anyway else. Like hugging a bear, albeit he wasn't in any way furry. The feeling of being held close by someone much larger than you is a covered experience.
I felt as though the experience would be the kind that you would see written on a B-grade news website.
'Soldier has a heart-to-heart moment with Elite.'
It is surprising how easily we connected though.
Caso seemed like a pretty chill dude to be quite honest. Much, much more docile than I, or by extension anyone, would have expected, barely retaliating even when I injured him.
Perhaps his nature was from his otherwise unique build; My eyes had adjusted to the darkness that surrounded us, and I could see most of his features. He was significantly shorter and slimmer than the others of his species I had seen.
He must have been some sort of runt, never growing any significant sort of aggression or pride in anything they do, at least that was how he held himself in conversation.
But, I still found myself holding great respect for him and for his nature, even though I really shouldn't have been fraternizing with the enemy.
As I stated earlier, that line had most definitely been crossed when we embraced each other.
Out of context, the whole situation sounded, how should I say it, homosexual to a degree, but I want to preface that I have nothing against people with other sexualities and that I am a perfectly straight man. I have never been physically nor emotionally attracted to a male.
I think.
Although he had a very nice smell to him, something I could pick up even through the snot, like a brand new pillow sort of smell.
I had hoped that he had better not be some alien twink. However, a small part of me did, knowing it would be a really funny anecdote to tell around.
I could only imagine the faces of some guys sitting around in a bar learning about a time I was trapped in a dark cave with some sort of femboy Elite. Priceless.
In regards to sitting, I found myself doing just that, sitting around in the darkness waiting for something to happen, same as Caso.
It had been a few minutes since we had last spoken, both of us just lost in our own thoughts.
I decided to break the silence.
"It feels like it's kinda late, huh?"
"I would agree."
"You tired?"
Caso took a few seconds before speaking again, "Admittedly so."
"Do you want to sleep?"
"It has been a long day and I would greatly appreciate the rest..."
"Alright! Great to know someone else is as fucking sleepy as I am. So," I tightened my breath, "let's promise not to kill each other while we get some shut-eye. How does that sound?"
"I can agree with that. But what if either of our comrades were to arrive in our sleep?" he posed.
"Chances are neither of our respective sides are looking for us, and if they are, probably not this very cave."
"Fair… enough…" Caso yawned.
"Are- Are you already falling asleep?"
The lack of a reply answered my question.
I shuddered as I slowly shifted my position to a prone, the low temperature only becoming apparent after no longer being distracted by the very tall alien in the room.
The majority of the day had really been conversing with another species. Not only that but one who had even played a noticeable part in my family's demise. I was very much in the presence of someone I was supposed to hate.
But it didn't feel that way. It felt like just another person living through the same shit I had to deal with.
Another cog in another machine.
Another corpse to fill another grave.
Perhaps that is the reason I did not feel threatened to sleep near him, and I could guess he felt likewise. The best way to describe it was a small amount of mutual respect between two expendables.
Respect seemed to be something that Caso lacked from others. Being treated like shit sucks.
Caso was an enigma to me. Some of what I had learned from our long talk would've made some xenosocialogist's wet dream.
But never once did he say what he wanted to do, to be. He, as far as I knew, had no aspirations.
All I knew was what he had to be, a fighter, and what he didn't want to, a monster.
My thoughts slowly fleeted as my breathing slowed and eyes grew heavy.
"Are ya winnin' son?" the father said standing in the doorway, his work clothes still on.
The young male moved his headset off one ear, looking at the scoreboard which read '21-847'.
"Not really dad."
He chuckled, removing the branded hat he wore, "What was it this time? Hackers? Dumb Teammates? Poor connection?"
"Half of my team left when some dude on the other team got a really impressive streak. I'm sure he's howling in his seat right now."
"That sucks. Buuut, I'm ordering pizza! What toppings do you want?"
"Just pepperoni is fine by me. You know I ain't picky."
"Sounds good. I'll call you down when it gets here."
With that the father went to his bedroom, leaving the boy alone again. He promptly turned off the game, the match ending while they talked, and leaned back into his chair.
"Senior year and it feels like I haven't done jack. Just wasting my time in front of games I am not even good at."
Danny turned and looked out of the window next to him, watching the leaves float by with the autumn wind.
Halloween was a little more than a month away at that point and he knew he was a little too old to be dressing up, but there was still a teensy bit of childlike wonder that drove him to buy a few articles of clothing with the wages he earned working behind the counter at a local sandwich joint.
He planned on looking like the villain of an old slasher movie he watched with his parents the other night, still snickering at the raunchy yet cheesy scenes littered throughout the runtime.
All he really wanted to do was scare the crap out of some poor kid who bought his officially licensed costume from one of those seasonal stores that always opened at a local strip mall.
It was surprising to him that they still had any sort of funds or materials to receive with the current intergalactic war raging around them.
But as always, there was always time to make a quick buck.
A notification popped up on his wrist, just another email from another college asking for him to look at their website and begging him to apply. He received so many of these sorts of messages that he considered them spam, rarely bothering to open or read them.
"Just another day…"
The Autumn wind rustled outside his window sill and the children played in the streets.
He recalled a time he and his friends would play with toy guns out in the yard, pretending they were spartans massacring the enemies of humanity like ants. Of course, they had all of the stupid bullshit like 'I have a power fist that kills everything in a five-foot radius' or 'I jump really high and destroy a banshee'.
However, Daniel liked to keep it tame, offering to give medicine to his friends whenever they miraculously got hit. Oftentimes he would even purposely down himself, adding to what he believed the real situation was like.
No overpowered armor and abilities.
Perhaps he came across as a snarky asshole a lot of the time, but he did not care.
But that was years ago, and they all grew up and grew in. Now they spend their time playing whatever the newest gaming trend was, and it still pissed him off that competitive typing games became popular.
He looked back inside at the now ancient hockey mask that rested itself on his dresser next to a hologram of a solar system.
A killer was what it was.
Grrr…
Danny jumped in his seat at the sound, looking for its source.
The dog was nowhere in sight and his stomach was feeling just fine.
Grrr…
There was the sound again.
It did not take him long to realize it was from an outside source, not seemingly tethered to this reality.
Grrr…
"What the...?"
"Grrrr…" a low voice resounded in the cave, followed by what I could only make out as extremely fast and heavy breathing.
My eyes streaked open and I shot up, looking for the source of the sound.
Fortunately, it was only Caso who at the moment appeared to be dreaming. He certainly was fidgeting around a lot, not unlike a dog's legs running while they slept.
Inspecting further, the elite seemed to be moving as though they were struggling with something.
I heard his voice whisper something unintelligible, possibly in his native language, before his body spasmed.
Any sane mind would have just let the six or seven-foot-tall alien be, but I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to wake them up.
What a dumb fucking idea that was.
I slowly trudged over to him and bent over to shake him, "Caso, wake uh-"
In an instant, I found myself face down with my arm twisted around my back, a heavy weight pushing me into the ground.
Pain shot through my shoulder as my wrist was pressed unnaturally into my spine.
I was stuck like that for about five seconds before I hurriedly was released.
"I'm so sorry!" Caso squeaked, hands up in the air as I rolled onto my back.
I tilted my head down to look at him.
He had swiftly tucked his digitigrade legs into his body before wrapping his arms around, balling up as he leaned against the walls of the cave.
"I'm sorry, I should have expected that sort of response before I tried waking you."
He didn't respond.
"You were having a nightmare, right?"
He nodded.
"Do you want to talk about it?
He gave it a thought before bobbing his head.
"Fire away," I said, moving my hands to prop myself up.
"For the last few… weeks? Weeks, yes. I have had these dreams where I am bound in a room, the lighting shifting erratically, snippets of memory float in front as a disembodied voice taunts me."
"About what?"
"Everything, from the death of my mother to the death of that family."
I nodded.
"Sounds like PTSD to me."
"Peeteeyesdee?" he tilted his head to the right.
"It's an acronym. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."
"D-disorder?"
"Well, sorta. It's common in soldiers who have seen a lot of combat, a lot of dead friends, things that you can't forget. Common symptoms are severe nightmares not unlike the one you just had, insomnia, unwanted thoughts, anxiety just to name a few."
Caso shifted uncomfortably
"Is that uncommon for your kind?" I asked, trying my best to hopefully make the space lizard calm again.
"Most do not dwell on death. They often accept it wholeheartedly whether it's others or their own. Such a diagnosis, albeit quite amateur, brings great shame to me."
"There is nothing to be ashamed of Caso. Some of earth's greatest warriors suffered the same ailment."
"And what happened to them?"
"Well uh…" I tried to think of what to say next, "most of them died relatively young. Not in a particularly terrible way, mostly just accidents."
He said nothing.
"I could also mention that a high majority of suicides are from veterans…"
Caso wasn't speaking, his head now almost folded into his torso.
"It's a great dishonor to die or lose blood outside of battle. I could only imagine what the shame on those soldier's families must've been like…"
"Shame?" My voice went up an octave, "They felt no shame, only the sadness of losing a son, a father, a sibling. As militaristic as humanity may seem we don't base our cultural focus and morals on conflict. Look Caso: chances are that you won't die in some freak accident, and I pray that you don't kill yourself. Don't worry about your family's honor or any of that bullshit, really the only thing that you should be worried about when it comes to your family is letting your father see you again."
And with that, Caso began to bawl his eyes out. Not like when I held him at gunpoint, no. He was completely breaking down.
"I'm going to die in this cave with nothing but some human to keep me company… Father will never be happy..." he seemingly mumbled out under his sharp breathing.
I felt like an asshole. I made him open up his feelings only to tell him that it was a mental health problem. Then I inadvertently told him he was almost destined to die young and probably told his cultural norms to go fuck themselves.
"Good job Danny. Great work. Just because one pep talk goes great doesn't mean another won't fail spectacularly. God I'm an idiot." I said under my breath.
The only thing I could do at that point was to wait for him to calm down and stop crying, but doing that would definitely create some animosity between the person I would most likely starve to death next to.
Hell, he might decide to eat me so he could survive longer.
I decided to do the next best thing.
I got up and sat next to him before trying my best to get my arms around him. Caso got quiet when I did that, tensing as tears still ran down his face.
"Please, just get away from me."
"Sorry, I ain't doin' that."
He budged for a moment before eventually giving in.
"D-do you think I am good enough?" He huffed.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Am I good enough?"
"For what? You were good enough to be a soldier, right? They probably wouldn't have accepted you had you not been able to do things to a decent capacity."
"That's not what I was asking. Am I good enough to exist?"
I was dumbfounded, recoiling my head in shock.
"Is that a question? Yes, you deserve every right to exist.
"So far you seem to be very successful in most of your endeavors. Don't hang yourself up from one bad day."
"I'm sure there are ulterior motives to every 'success' I have had."
"Stop fucking worrying about these stupid 'motives'. From what you have told me you are a perfectly good person inside and have the capability to become something great."
I caught his eyes staring into mine. Their bright yellow almost snake-like appearance caught whatever light was still in the cave as well as my attention. Their predatory iris surrounded by a bronze orange did nothing to hide their innocence.
They were intriguing.
"You have very nice eyes," I said without thinking, an action I immediately regretted.
I winced expecting some form of retaliation or just plain embarrassment.
You don't just tell another dude how nice his eyes look, especially one that is from another world hell-bent on ending your race.
His face turned a strange shade of purple before looking away from me. I took my hands off of him and crossed my arms, still sitting shoulder to shoulder with him.
"That was awkward of me," I said, keeping my sight off of him.
"Agreed."
We sat next to each other for a long time, both of us knee-deep in our chagrin.
I broke the silence once again.
"Don't doubt yourself."
"Okay."
It didn't take long for us to fall asleep for good this time.
I guess all he needed was some company.
[Some hours later]
It's extremely hard to wake up when there is no natural light of any sort bleeding into wherever you are, I found it to be extremely disorienting.
Not only that but waking up with what feels like a sack of potatoes on your neck is something unusual to say for sure.
"What the hell…?"
I turned to see Caso leaning on my shoulder, which would have been completely uncomfortable considering our height difference.
It's quite endearing to have such a creature of death use you as support while they got their sleep in, but it's decently concerning when their dozens of sharp teeth are relatively close to your very soft neck.
He must've taken off his helm while I was sleeping because when I woke up he wasn't wearing it, revealing the extent of his head. It wasn't too different than how I expected it to be, the same leathery hide that covered his face and neck. The structure reminded me a lot of some dinosaurs outside of the mandibles, but his face was oddly unintimidating. Soft was one way to put it.
Actually, he probably looked closer to one of those Manta Rays back on Earth. Just fascinating.
I kinda wanted to get up and do some basic grooming or at the very least eating, but I didn't think waking the Elite using me as a pillow was the best idea, considering what happened the last time I did that.
In the end, I decided to just let him wake up naturally while I pondered about what we should do with the time remaining in our pitiful lives trapped in this damned cave.
It didn't take too long before Caso stirred as well, and like the coward I was, decided to fake sleep to not receive any sort of punishment or backlash for him unknowingly resting on my shoulder.
As I felt him start to rustle he quietly gasped and lifted his head off me. I didn't see his reaction but I heard a scoff, followed shortly later by a faint giggle before he stood up and stretched.
He said something in his native tongue before walking off to do something, his footsteps slowly fading away.
I used this opportunity to get up and dig through my pack for any sort of food, deodorant, or razor. I could only find the first two, which didn't bother me too much.
I took my ballistic vest off and placed it next to my bag before raising my shirt nearly over my head to apply the stick. As soon as I was finished I put my shirt back down to see Caso staring right at me, a bundle of what looked like twigs in hand.
"I, um… got some wood to start a fire. Just for some warmth, you understand?"
"Y-yeah, just put em down and I'll try and light it with a match," gesturing to the open space on the ground, "I also got some food we can cook over it with."
I paused, examining the structure of the elite's mouth from a distance.
"How do you eat? I mean, like, those teeth are obviously meant to bite into something, but with the left and right sides so far away from each other, you can't grind anything... and they are pointed the wrong way... so like.. do you just lunge and grapple onto your food or what?"
Caso gave me a look.
"Nevermind."
He walked around me before placing down the sticks, arranging them in the stereotypical campfire sort of pattern.
"So, um, do you want Bratwurst or Spaghetti?" I asked, studying the two packs of MREs.
"What are those?"
"Mmm, we'll just go with the brats because I'm not sure if you could physically eat the latter."
I took a good look at the clear-ish plastic package containing two brownish-grey sausages, not exactly my first pick when it came to food but it was better than starving or, well, becoming the food in this case.
"You still haven't told me what they are."
"Food Caso, food."
I pulled out the matchbox from one of the pockets before checking if Caso had finished setting up, which he had. I quickly lit a match before throwing it into the stack.
"Please light on fire please light on fire…" I said under my breath as I anxiously waited for the little fire to spread.
Our campfire began to crackle as the flames grew, finally illuminating the room for the first time in what felt like a day. My pupils shrunk as the light intensified, finally adding some sort of color into our surroundings.
"It actually worked!" Caso exclaimed as he tensed up in excitement.
"No need to thank me," I said with a smirk as I punctured one of the tubes of meat with a stick, extending it over the growing flame.
"So, what is this thing?" he asked, holding the unused brat in two of his four fingers.
"Bratwurst, a type of sausage. They take the skin of the intestines of an animal, namely pigs, cows, or deer, and stuff them full of their ground meat. It sounds gross when you put it like that but it tastes amazing."
Caso folded his arms, "Hmph."
I leaned over and continued to let the meat cook until it browned on the outside, pulling it back before carefully removing it, nearly burning my hands. He laughed as I fumbled around with the hot sausage, trying not to let it hit the ground.
Once I finally got a good hold of it, I offered it to him. Intrigued, he carefully took it out of my hand before sniffing it near the sides of his eyes. The undersides of his mouth bit a sizable chunk off before what appeared to be chewing, the anatomy confusing me.
After a very short time, he swallowed it before thinking off in the distance, judging the food he just ate.
"Not bad, it has a very distinct flavor to it."
"Was that your first taste of human food?" I asked, putting the second sausage on the stick.
He stared at me with a very straight face, scanning me up and down before uttering, "No. Not as tasty as human flesh."
My terrified reaction was met by a very hearty laugh, Caso having to wipe a tear from his eye, "You should have seen your face! Ha!"
"Asshole," I muttered as I cooked my meal.
He continued laughing before eventually calming down. Although it was hard to read due to his biology, he had a wide smile on his face.
"What is your favorite color?"
"Color?"
"Yeah color. I personally love the color green."
He looked to the ceiling.
"I have no preferred color, however, it is definitely not purple."
"Something just irks you about it?"
"No, I see too much of it. It makes up a majority of ship architecture and quite frankly it's an eyesore."
"Interesting. What about music? Do you have a favorite song or?"
"Music? Haven't really listened to it since I took up arms. There was some song in my childhood that I loved to play all the time."
I curled my legs 'Indian style'.
"What is it called or how does it go?"
"I forget the name but I know how it goes."
I waited.
"Are you going to elaborate?"
Caso looked at me, blinking before exhaling a portion of air.
"So, do you have any sort of plan for getting out little man?"
"Are you just going to dodge the quest-"
His eyes narrowed.
"No," I gulped, "none that seems feasible nor safe."
"At least tell me one."
"Place some explosives on one of the collapsed entrances, but we don't have any and if we did our insides would be liquified by the shockwave. In all honesty, I think we are stuck here until one of our friends decides to look for us."
"We do have enough food for a while, right?"
"Err…" I looked through my pack for the remaining rations I carried, "well if we eat one meal a day we should last for about three days."
He groaned.
"It is what it is, nothing we can really do about it. We just need to stay hopeful Cas'. Didn't you say something about..."
I leaned against the back wall, placing my hand to support. I felt it slip for a moment before realizing how weirdly cold it was.
Backing away, I shot a look at Caso.
I gazed upon the wall more intently, revealing a metallic surface adorned with patterned grooves.
"What the hell?"
"That is… Forerunner."
"Like the gods you talked about?" I said, my gaze switching between the two.
"Precisely."
"How did I not notice this earlier?"
Caso shrugged.
"Why would I expect someone of your species to spot such a very large part of the room?"
"Is that sarcasm?" I said, leaning forward.
Caso only laughed.
"It's amazingly coincidental that you find what you were asking about."
I pointed at the foreign metal behind me, receiving a nod in response.
"So, what do I do with this information?"
"Do you seriously not notice the walkway?"
I looked to my right, seeing exactly what Caso was referring to before I shrunk.
"That leads to a large gallery which, hopefully, leads to a way out."
"You went in there right? But you didn't bother to see if there was an exit?"
"Well…" Caso looked to the side, "there is… something in there."
"Don't tell me there is some giant, ancient beast locked in there that will suck my soul out with a straw."
"No, it's probably best if you see it yourself."
I huffed.
"So, that's what we're doing now? Exploring ancient ruins?"
"I wouldn't say ruins. I pray that there is actually an exit."
"Or our way to a faster death…"
He walked into the pathway, helm in hand, gesturing for me to follow along.
I packed my bag before extinguishing the fire. I plopped my helmet back on my head and grabbed my rifle, turning on its flashlight as I neared the entrance.
"After you, m'lady," I said snarkily.
Caso to my surprise seemed flustered before retorting.
"You have the weapon and the light! You go in front!"
"Yeah yeah whatever," I replied, stepping into the abyss.
We had been walking through the tight metal corridors of the Forerunner site for a good unit now, and the scenery had yet to change. I might have gone insane had it not been for Daniel's company, doing some more 'small talk'.
He was awfully polite to me, much more than I would have expected and exponentially so in regards to my peers. My enemy treated me with more respect and decency than even those below me.
I wasn't going to count when he tried to strangle me since I understood the motivation for his sudden outburst.
It was also comforting for someone to sleep next to me. I didn't even realize I had rested myself on top of him, luckily he was still asleep when I woke up.
His reception to my problems was surprising, to say the least, empathetic was the last thing I imagined that he would be when he held me at gunpoint. He would treat me like a lady, although his tone often dictated otherwise.
He seemed polite.
"Weeeee're gonna diiiieeeeee… mm mm mmm… I might get eaten aliiiiiive…" Daniel seemed to sing quietly, "I'm gonna take a wrong step and fuckin diiiie…"
"Stop."
"Okay," his voice melted.
Well, either polite or fearful
"Why are you treating me so kindly?" I asked bluntly.
"Hmm?" he stopped in his tracks.
"You don't need to be so nice to me. We are supposed to be killing each other after all."
He shrugged, "Well, because it's the right thing to do? The moral thing to do?"
"Right to commit treason against your species? Right to not treat me like an object?"
"Well treasonous yes- Wait, why would I treat you like an object? Like I said before, you're very much a person in my eyes."
"Nobody, especially those of my species, treats me like anything except for another girl that is supposed to be at home tending to the household and to their children, waiting on the porch steps for their 'brave' husband to return. Why do you think it is right to treat me any differently?"
He tensed up, his jaw lowered like he had experienced some sort of revelation. His eyes scanned me up and down.
What in the hell is he doing?
"What's wrong?"
"Caso, are you a woman?"
"Yes? Could you not tell?"
His face turned red as he looked to the floor.
Did he not pick that up immediately?
"N-no…" he squeaked, still staring at his shoes, "To be completely honest with you I thought you were a twink of sorts…"
"What's that?"
"A feminine, often homosexual male. Just based off of your build- I am so sorry," his posture shrunk.
"I don't know whether I should take your remark as a compliment or an insult."
He thought I was a gay man?
"Well, it's a little derogatory."
"So you treated me well because you thought I was just some pitiful scrawny boy?"
"..."
"Now that I have revealed my sex are you going to treat me differently?"
"What? No! I treat you well because it's something humans normally do! We don't care what you got going on in your crotch, we show respect to others and don't dwell on each other's differences," he spun around in frustration and continued walking.
He just kept along his path, paying no heed to my angered demeanor.
I sighed before following him further.
"Did I make you uncomfortable Daniel?" I questioned.
"Don't worry about it," the words speeding out of his lips.
"So I did."
He groaned before stopping once more, "Yes, Jesus fucking Christ. I nearly choked a woman to death. That's the kind of shit that would have made my mother kick my ass.
"Plus, I even hugged you a few times. Not only that but we slept and got awfully close together. I'm a borderline rapist now, especially with you leaning all over me."
Did he notice?
"I-it was my fault I leaned on you, I don't think that was anything on your part. Also embracing me without the intent to have any sort of intimacy is completely fine, we both needed someone to hug and I consented. I can assure you that you are no rapist as far as I can tell."
"What about when I accidentally flirted with you? Called out your eyes? It was dumb of me. This is total war not some twisted Romeo and Juliet story, Mulan."
My head recoiled back at his sudden slew of strange names, "I was more flattered if anything, nobody usually points out anything other than 'nice rear' or 'your face is very pleasing'. If it would make you feel better you have a nice torso build."
He looked away, "You just keep making this more and more uncomfortable."
"You obviously have no other intent with me so there truly is no reason to feel like that right now. As you said, I am a person first, not a female."
"Again, more human cultural norms."
"That's quite the contradiction to what you said earlier." rolling my eyes, sighing.
"Well, I'm getting mixed signals as well. The little giggle after you woke up?"
He noticed.
"Well I uhh, thought… it was… uh… funny? Me using your relatively tiny shoulder like a pillow?"
"You thought it was situationally funny to rest your head, while you slept, on my shoulder?"
"Uh, yes."
"Mhm. Alien sense of humor I guess."
"Situational comedy is not widely accepted?"
He stared at me dumbly.
"Let's just shut up."
And it returned to the sound of our very different footsteps.
Him talking through my nightmares and feelings, even diagnosing them had actually made me the most calm I had felt in the last few years. Although it had no real physical defense, it made me feel better that there was someone right next to me.
Perhaps my greatest worries were true, I was scared of everything, but he didn't care and went out of his way to help. It was a quiet appreciation.
"Do you ever watch the stars?" I asked, trying to switch the subject.
He frowned at the tangent I threw, "Sometimes."
"I do. A lot actually, as much as I can."
"Might I ask why?"
"I'm not really sure. It's something reassuring, always present when you look out into the cosmos. It's beautiful."
There was a short moment of silence between us.
"Every time I think I might have you figured out you just throw the biggest curveball at my head."
"I haven't thrown anything at your head…?"
"It's an idiom."
I cocked my head.
"A figure of speech."
"Oh."
"I could get all poetic about the nature of the sky at night, but I think it is just human nature to be curious as you look to the stars, wondering what could be out there. Luckily I already got some answers," he briefly looked over his shoulder at me.
"Sometimes I wonder where in the night sky the Sacred Rings lie waiting."
"The Sacred Rings?"
"It is apparently the final step on the path to the Great Journey, where the Covenant's salvation lies. We read and dream of it all the time."
"Is this like some relic that you guys slip on your fingers?"
I shook my head, "Quite the contrary. The Halos, as they could also be referred to, are large Forerunner worlds in the shape of a ring."
"Huh, interesting. I'll try and keep my eye out for it during my travels, maybe I'll even call you about it."
"Will you now?" I mocked in jest.
"If I get around to it."
I chuckled.
"So this 'Great Journey', right, is when the members of the Covenant ascend to godhood, walk among these Forerunners."
"Yes?"
"Ah, so that information was right. How does that work?"
"What do you mean 'how'?"
"How does this ring help you ascend to godhood?"
What kind of question is that? It-
I thought about it for a moment, shocked at my own answer.
"I don't know."
He stopped in his tracks once again, "Really?"
"I am afraid I really don't know. Like you said before, faith. But, the thing I want to show you knows the answer."
"Thing?"
In a bizarre coincidence, we walked into the large chamber as he said it. The dark was broken up by the accented lighting like before.
Daniel tried to illuminate the rest of the room with his light but it was only absorbed into the darkness. The abyss stretched on and the only thing he could hope was that an ancient monster would not feed on us.
Mechanical sound echoed from distant sources.
"Would now be a good time to say that I don't have any ammo?"
"What?" my tone audibly flustered
"I may or may not have been bluffing you yesterday…" he gave a weak smile that quickly fell apart.
Without thought I slapped him across the face, knocking his helmet into an awkward angle on his head and creating a loud smacking sound.
"Asshole."
"Eesh… I still wouldn't have shot you," adjusting his helmet before rubbing the now red side of his face.
"Sure thing monkey."
"Have none of my actions in the last twenty-seven or so hours taught you anything split-lip?"
"They've taught me you are far more of a cry baby than you look, Hairless Ape."
He scoffed, "Says you, I got plenty of hair in other places. Hey, where is Mushu anyway?"
"Who?"
He giggled before taking a few steps in front of me, peering into the black.
"I'm surprised the Covenant decided to commit genocide on my race. You sure seem to be fun to talk to."
"Well, it was not the Sangheili's idea. Your kind desecrated holy places… at least that's what the prophets informed us. You would be surprised to hear about how many sympathizers we have among our rank. Either way, thank you for the compliment."
"What, that you are fun to talk to?"
"Yes. I have never once had someone compliment me on something other than my actions or appearance, it's nice to know someone just enjoys my company."
"Well, it's my pleasure. Mom always said I was a ladies man," he mumbled.
Like before, the lights began to flick on.
"Oh my god, we're going to die oh my god we're going to fucking die aaaaaaaaaaa…"
"Shut up and keep watching."
"But I don't have ammo, remember?"
I lightly hit him in the back of the head, causing his shoulders to shoot up.
"Don't say it out loud you idiot, and you don't need your weapon."
Daniel winced at the sudden brightness, my eyes quickly adjusted, spotting the arm-like structure in the middle of the now apparent large room. Balconies seemed to line the walls as walkways intertwined around the structure.
"Whoa. This is Forerunner? This is the type of stuff you guys see all the time?" he said, eyes darting from detail to detail in the room
"Well, I don't get to, but I certainly haven't seen anything like this in picts before," I said pointing at the centerpiece of the room
The Oracle whirred back to life, taking a look around before returning its gaze to us.
"Yay! You returned!"
Daniel looked at me with confusion in his eyes.
"Yes, I have."
"Ooh! My, my, my! What spectacular-spectacular-spectacular finds! Not just a Sangheili, but a Human! A RECLAIMER!"
Wait, Whaaaat?
My mandibles gaped open, my physiology was almost incapable of rendering how shocked I was. Daniel took note, concerned about whatever revelation had hit me.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
I tried to collect my thoughts but only the only things that could come out were, "You- you- um- huh?"
"I'm glad you asked, my little reclaimer, you are descended from those charged with the Mantle of Responsibility!" It nearly shrieked the last part.
Whaaaaaaaaaat?!
"What," he responded, dumbly.
"You know, taking over the Forerunner's title as the head of the galaxy, responsibility for the Installations, you know… right?" The arm's tone shifted, the it's enthusiasm being slowly extinguished by Daniel's confused reaction.
What in the flying fuck?
"Like the Rings?" he guessed.
"Yes! Precisely!" The arm jiggled, "The Librarian thought it would be best-best-best for such a brave race to spearhead the next generation of interstellar progress!"
No way.
"Really? Doesn't seem like that at the moment."
The arm tilted, a gesture of confusion, "What do you mean? You're obviously with another species yes?"
"We're supposed to be killing each other right now, right Cas'?" He turned to me smiling before taking note of my extremely flabbergasted face.
The arm recoiled, "Oh uh… hmm."
"Caso you good?"
It took me a moment to formulate my thoughts, a million words racing through my mind from what the thing said.
"You-you're a Reclaimer? Humans are Reclaimers?" my words stuttered out.
"I guess, based on whatever the hell that thing says."
"Humans are the descendants of the Forerunners…?" I said under my breath, my hands moving slowly to my head.
Was this why we went to war with them? Because the Prophets saw them as a challenge to our beliefs? Were they scared of what they might do? Did they not only lie about the true purpose of the Rings but also the nature of our crusade? They are actually a holy species?
"Well, not exactly," the Forerunner AI stated, "Humanity is not biologically descended from the Forerunners, ancient-ancient-ancient humanity actually warred with us by mistake, subsequently losing. But, as we slowly died from the Flood, the Librarian thought it best that they become our successors. I think."
"So we are expected to take up the role? Cool. Wait- what killed you off?"
"We were dying from the Flood, but it was ultimately our own doing that wiped our race from the galaxy."
"What did you guys do?"
"Activated the Halo Arrays, wiped all-all-all sentient life from the galaxy."
"Oh."
Three Millennia of scripture cannot be undone like this. Impossible.
"Oracle, what you say cannot be correct."
The arm moved to Daniel whispering, "Is she okay?"
"I heard that."
The little Oracle spoke up, "I-I-I can assure you that they did not ascend to a higher plane of existence, as far as I am concerned physically. They just simply vanished, reduced to but atoms."
But.
"But-"
"But what?" it responded.
"Uh…"
I did my best to formulate a counterargument, but everything taught to me at that point either didn't do anything to disprove what it said nor did it make logical sense.
The 'Monitor', as it calls itself, briefly spasmed before returning its gaze to us.
"If you have no way of arguing back there is no need to continue this useless-useless-useless bickering."
"What is your name Forerunner… thing?" Daniel asked nonchalantly.
"I am 160 Thoughtful Janitor, prisoner of this small complex, plot device of epic proportions."
"Weird name."
"Thanks! Anyway, you might want to help your friend- or enemy- here. She looks like she's about to pass out."
I growled, "I am not going to faint. Are you, truthfully, truthfully, telling me that what I have been taught all of my life was a lie? A mistranslation?"
"Yes."
"I do not believe you," I snapped.
"That's alright-alright-alright with me."
Daniel interrupted, "You said that you were a prisoner, did you not?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why…?"
"My masters locked me in here. Said I was 'unstable-unstable-unstable' and 'going rampant' and 'infected with the logic plague'. I think they were sick of just how great I am."
"Oh, so you are rampant?" I chimed in.
"From what they have said, yes?"
"So, then most of what you have said couldn't possibly be true, correct?"
"I see what you-you-you are thinking. While that certainly makes sense, rampancy affects my logical and decision-making processes, not my ability to recall information."
I stumbled, no longer able to come up with excuses for what was now undoubtedly a fact.
I lost focus of my surroundings and felt weightless, the only thing dragging me down was the husk of my hubris.
I have killed, let others be killed, for nothing? I have watched planets and people burn, off of one too many misconceptions?
"Cas', are you okay? You just fell on me." Daniel grunted.
I awoke from my trance and found myself being propped up by his much smaller frame. I pushed down a little to help balance myself out before regaining my footing.
"Now that this idiotic debate is over, how are you doing?" The Oracle chimed in once more.
"But..."
"I can already tell how you are, how about our little reclaimer?" shifting her attention to Daniel.
"I'm fine. Kinda trapped underground."
"Really? Same! Although I'm anchored to the floor and cannot physically move like you."
He shifted his weight to one leg before crossing his arms.
"So, what have you been doing for the last…"
"Hundred or so millennia?"
"Really? Wow."
"Nothing outside of receiving random transmissions every once-once-once in a while"
I nudged Daniel.
"Hm?"
I whispered in his ear, "Can we leave?"
He nodded before turning back to the AI.
"Excuse me Ms. Janitor, but do you know the way out of here? Besides the way we came of course."
"Oh yes, just behind-behind-behind me is a door that leads a path to the surface. You aren't going to leave so soon, are you?"
"I'm afraid we have to. We have already been trapped here for what feels like a few days, and I am sure our acquaintances are worried about us."
"Your's perhaps," I commented bitterly.
"Oh well, time to wait in imprisonment for another hundred millennia for someone to talk to…" Thoughtful Janitor groaned.
"I'm sure both of our respective armies would love to visit you at some point! Right, Caso?" he budged me playfully in the side.
"Yes…"
"No."
The Arm began to shake violently, seemingly trying to rip itself out of the ground.
"Do not leave me!"
The arm finally broke loose from its housing, toppling over into the floor, writhing about before stilling itself.
"Haha… I'm free-free-free! I can finally move about like-"
The head wiggled about, trying to remove itself from the ground, only to find out that the remains of its shackle held it in place.
"Shit."
"Uh, do- do you want some help?" Daniel spoke up.
"Yes, very much so."
He moved over to the arm, bending over to pick it up. It was lifted to about his waist until he dropped it, panting.
"Hey Cas', would you mind helping me with this? I'll let you keep her."
I thought for a moment about it.
I'm very sure that my superiors would overlook my failure if I were to bring this as an excuse, fabricate some lies about what happened and I can avoid having my head on the chopping block.
"I am sure the san'shyuum would like to take a look at it," I said, grudgingly moving to assist.
"You make such a cute couple!"
Daniel and I exchanged disgusted glances before laughing at the ridiculous statement, temporarily pulling me out of my depressive attitude.
"What? Did I say something wrong? Am I mistaken?"
"Very much so Jan', we have no interest in each other."
"Alright, whatever you say."
We both heaved the Forerunner AI, I was carrying it by the base while Daniel held the head.
I found it quite lightweight, Daniel on the other hand was changing to a shade of red.
We sluggishly walked to the other side of the room. Daniel was having a hard time carrying it so I stopped and put it down.
"You don't need to do that for me," he said exasperatedly
"Well, it's pretty obvious that you can't do it."
"I can handle it."
I leaned in close to his sweaty face.
"No, you can't."
"Everything you do sort of perpetuates the idea that you-" the AI commented before being interrupted by us telling her to shut up in unison.
He eventually caved in to my demands and allowed me to carry it under my arm the rest of the way, which was surprisingly not that far.
We walked in silence, just trying to make sense of what we had been through.
We eventually were led into a door, similar to the one we had entered the hallway through. Upon his touch it opened, revealing a new cavern, and in the distance was natural light.
We dashed in excitement towards the exit, nearly jumping out into the sunlight.
The mid-afternoon sun illuminated the mountainous landscape, revealing the white of the snow and greens of the fauna.
"Oh my God, we are finally out!" Daniel said panting.
"I was actually sure we were going to die there not too long ago."
"At least you would have died in each other's company!"
We paid no heed to the AI.
A large piece of burning scrap metal whizzed past and impacted the ground not too far from us.
"OH SHIT!" Daniel backed a little closer to the cave.
I looked to where it fell from to see large chunks of a Covenant ship falling from orbit many, many miles away from us.
"Is- is that The Long Night of Solace?"
"One of your ships?"
"Yes. Supercarrier and the flagship of the invasion force! How…?"
My stomach ached in fear. As I watched the sky more intently I could make out more ships jumping into the system, putting me at ease before my stomach twisted once more.
"Caso, what do you see?"
"The rest of the fleet has arrived…"
"The rest? What you guys attacked us with wasn't full strength?"
"No."
"Ooh! Interesting!"
I heard him shakily exhale before speaking again, "Ah shit. Why do you look so gloomy about it? Isn't that what you want?"
"Chances are high that the majority of the fleet are Jiralhanae."
"What are those?"
"Primate like creatures, similar to your kind but much more animalistic."
"Oh, Brutes?"
"What a fitting name. Yes, I dread what they will do to this planet. Like the rest of the Covenant, they will not hesitate to kill you. But the biggest problem I have with them, like the rest of my species, is that they have no honor. They kill not because it is their duty but because it is fun. They kill because they are bored. They are barbaric and I pity you."
"I appreciate the sentim-"
His voice was muffled by crackling in my ear.
"Hold on for a moment Daniel," I said, holding my hand up to signal him to be patient
"... all forces, the invasion force has entered orbit. Rejoice! Soon we will burn this planet and the filth that reside on it to ash!"
I sighed, taking a glance at the human curiously staring at me, "I no longer have any radio interference."
"That's good, for you at least. I have no way of contacting…"
A distant droning was now entering our range of hearing, not dissimilar to the flying vehicles humanity often employed.
"Speak of the devil. That's probably my ride! Hold on a moment…" he covered his eyes with his hands, picking out the aircraft in the distance
He pulled his pack off before rummaging through it and pulling out a small reflective object. He angled it weirdly and began to rotate it in a pattern.
"And… they noticed! Perfect- oh."
He looked at me with a frown, "I think this is goodbye."
"Yes, it would appear so… this is probably the last time we will see one another"
"I wished we could have met on more… peaceful terms, you know?"
"Yes, you were very enjoyable to talk to."
"I can say the same. We should probably not speak of this to anyone else."
"That would be wise," I shuffled a bit, scared of what my superiors might do if they found out I was consorting with a human.
"Oh and one more thing,"
"What?"
"Let's promise each other that we won't die. I would really hope to see you once more, even if it is at the barrel of your gun."
"I would make sure that I was not the first to fire."
"Of course you would," the humming of the engines grew ever closer, "I pray that I get to see the friendliest Elite again before I bite the dust."
He stepped over to me and wrapped his arms around my abdomen, about shoulder height for him. I reciprocated by leaning over and hugging him back.
"All evidence suggests otherwise by the way."
"Shut up."
Daniel released me and pointed back behind me.
"You might want to hide in that cave with the Forerunner while I get picked up," he said, pointing back the way we came.
"I was already planning on doing that."
I promptly bowed and made my way back into the cave, picking up the Oracle and hiding in the shadows.
When the dropship landed, I could begin to pick up small details on the rotary craft. Daniel interacted with whoever was on board and hopped into the cabin behind the cockpit and sat down.
The craft lifted off the ground and I could see him waving towards my location, not trying to signal anything, just to say farewell.
Fuck
Sorry this one took a bit to release. I was both lazy, distracted by other things, and wanted to make sure this was quality (to me at least lol). Expect the next chapter in like, 2-3 weeks (hopefully). Also, I noticed how awkwardly jarring the pov switches were because my headers didn't transfer onto FF's document manager so that's been fixed
Stay safe and don't do drugs kids in Oregon lol.