Changed this chapter slightly, nothing too much but it might be a little confusing later down the line.
"Thank you, it's just I feel like your the first person in a long time that I can talk to.", Shi'ae told Oliver.
"No problem, what do you have on your mind?"
"Well, what is human culture like?"
"Well our culture is different every you go. It's truly amazing, the amount of different type of people you meet everywhere you go. I remember going to Earth before to a place called France, which had incredible food and beautiful scenery, aswell as unique people and places everywhere you go."
"Wow. That sounds great, I would love to visit 'France' someday.", Shi'ae responded, deeply interested in what Oliver was saying.
Oliver internally shuddered at the mention of Shi'ae going to earth, because then the covenant would have that info aswell. Was she trying to squirm knowledge of earth's whereabouts out of him? No, she wouldn't do that. Right? Maybe he should be a bit more careful.
"What is your culture like?", Oliver asked, seeing if she would be willing to trade details, but also because he really wanted to know what it was like.
"Like most of my species, I come from a planet called Sangheilios, which is a much hotter and dryer planet than this one. Something I noted from my past experiences on other human planets, was that your kind is not as focused on fighting and combat training as ours, and it is common for people to do other things in life other than fighting. Is that true?"
Oliver knew they were good fighters, but it sounded like nearly everyone's career was military service. "Yeah, we need things like doctors, police and firemen and farmers. Is everyone from Sangheilios a warrior? Or, well what's it like?"
"Yes, from what I know of every male goes through training and joins the covenant's ranks. Very few females do though, we are seen as simply child bearers by most. I was much more skilled than most of my male peers, and I still barely made it. I don't know of any 'policemen' or 'firemen', and unggoy do all the work in the fields."
"That doesn't sound right, does it? Not really accepting people into the military."
"I agree, but I'm afraid there is not much we can do. It has been this way for as long as I know.", trying to change the tone of the conversation, she said with a light chuckle, "You probably shouldn't be wishing for more soldiers to join the covenant, you know?"
Oliver smiled and told her, "I know, but it just doesn't sit right. And besides, what if you hadn't been allowed to join? I would probably be dead at the moment!"
They shared a laugh, Shi'ae then said, "Don't forget you also saved me, so we would both be dead."
"Yeah... but I was kinda the one who shot you in the first place."
"And I was the one who stabbed you. So we are even I guess, but I would gladly aid you again if you ever needed any assistance with anything."
This made Oliver smile. He was happy to know he had someone to rely on if he ever needed anything that he couldn't really ask his UNSC comrades for. It was nice having someone like Shi'ae in his life in general.
"Thanks, Shi'ae. Anything else you want to know?"
"Mmmm... What is it like where you come from?"
"I come from a planet called Mars. I heard it used to be one massive rocky red desert, but they terraformed it, and now it's more similar to Earth. It's kinda boring being honest with you, but most of the people there are nice. This is my first time on Reach, and all the endless green and blue, and beautiful views amazes me."
"I love it too, all the colourful flowers and glistening streams always manage to make me smile, even just a little."
"Yeah, it's relaxing, sitting here and having a chat, you know?"
"Yes, it is. I am really enjoying our conversation, but Oliver do you have somewhere to be? It seemed you were busy with something and your leaders might question your whereabouts if you take too long."
"Oh yeah, it has been quite a while since I left base. Do you... do you want to meet tomorrow aswell? It might be hard to get off but if you want I'll try."
Shi'ae's face lit up in joy, quickly replying, "I will be here tomorrow in the morning, and would love to continue conversing with you. Be careful, I would hate it if your leaders grew suspicious of you because of me."
"Don't worry, I think I'll be fine. See ya later!", Oliver ensured, walking away backwards, facing Shi'ae.
"Goodbye to you too, Oliver."
Oliver hurriedly went around the forest placing the sensors. He was careful to leave space where he wouldn't set off any of them, in case he was going to meet Shi'ae.
'It was nice getting to know her. She appears to be a lovely person. Shame we're at war with each other, it would be much better to talk with her without the fear of being interrogated, or even worse, court marshalled.', he thought, wondering what things would be like if the war never began.
Another half an hour later, Oliver had finished placing the little dark grey circles. It ended up being just a line, covering most areas. It was far from straight however, more of an inverted, stretched out semi-circle. Anyone who came down the middle would be detected minutes after someone who had gone on the edges.
Satisfied with the job complete, he trekked back to the fortress. He was still going to be overdue on when he would've been expected to be back, but it would only be by less than an hour. Maybe they might even think he was thinking extra hard on where the sensors would go, then again probably not.
He arrived back at the base not fifteen minutes later, walking casually through the open gate, which had been set up on the outside the base alongside a metal chain fence.
The woman who had given Oliver the job was still standing outside, pacing around the place talking to various people, but completely ignoring Oliver.
He trudged through the long hallways until he came to the living area. Rooms were small, with three or four people at most in a single room. Oliver, out of pure luck was in a room with Isaac.
He opened the green painted door and stepped in, wasting no time in taking off his bag and putting it at the foot of the unclaimed bottom bunk. It was only Isaac in the room, presumably anyone else who they would be sharing with was on guard duty, or maybe there wasn't anyone else other than the two current occupants.
Isaac looked up from the tablet he had been holding in his hands, and greeted Oliver, which he returned.
"What took you so long just to set up some sensors?", asked Isaac, curious of Oliver was doing out in the woods.
"I wasn't in a rush or anything, so I just took my time, enjoying a stroll in the woods."
"Ok...", Isaac said, sceptical of Oliver's answer, not truly believing him.
Oliver could clearly sense his friend's scepticism, but decided it would be better to not say anything at all in case he ended up saying something he really didn't want to.
He sighed quietly, and then told Isaac he was going to get something to eat before leaving the suddenly tense room. He had no idea where to get food, but he actually wasn't that hungry and just wanted to wander and get to know the place.
When he had been invading the place he hadn't realised how big the base actually was. Not all the rooms had been fully refurbished yet, most having not had a soul in their walls since the building's prime days. It's was creepy, but yet cool to Oliver, checking out all the rooms, seeing if he could find anything. He was half expecting to find a body however, which put him off slightly.
He eventually stumbled upon the mess hall, which by the looks of it had only been recently opened. Very few people were in the large room, the majority being hungry builders on their break.
He got his food and sat down by himself, picking at it with his fork, actually eating very little of the meal. He had promised Shi'ae he would see her tomorrow if he could, and because he gave his word he felt compelled to go. He also enjoyed her company, but he was not sure if the whole ordeal was getting out of his control. It was one thing to help someone who helped you in the moment, but consciously meeting with the enemy in a friendly way was another.
It was hurting his head thinking about it. Would it be easier to just stop seeing her? She was his friend though, he would feel awful if he stopped talking to her through no fault of her own. He would talk to her tomorrow, see what Shi'ae thinks of it.
Bit short, but I was quite busy and my internet broke, which was annoying. Also, for anyone who was wondering, we did up end losing the game that would've won us the league 2-1.
Tell me what you think of the dialogue between Shi'ae and Oliver if you have anything to say.