Rho creates another hologram floating beside her. This one forms the image of an alien gun. "This is the most common weapon used by the Covenant during the war. Humans refer to it as the plasma pistol. Every Covenant soldier had at least one of these, in addition to their primary weapon. They're sturdy and reliable, although they don't cause much damage."

Rho allows the hologram to disappear as she continues. "They were almost discontinued because of a design flaw. If the trigger is held down too long, it will cause the weapon to overcharge, resulting in an electromagnetic burst that can disable vehicles. It's actually this property that made them so useful in the war. When the Covenant realized that this worked on our own vehicles as well as theirs, they began training their soldiers to use the gun for this specific purpose. The UNSC forces even began collecting them to use again the Covenant. Master Chief himself has been recorded to use this tactic numerous times.

"When the war was over, many former soldiers kept their weapons as mementos, either to honor friends who'd died, or to celebrate that they themselves had survived. When Silver and the others were sent to attack, these former soldiers fought back. Some of them had these plasma pistols. And some of them panicked slightly, and held the trigger for too long, and accidentally sent an electromagnetic pulse through their attackers. At least, that's what happened to Silver. When she was hit, her chip broke and she was knocked out. When she woke up a few minutes later, she realized where she was and what was happening. She stopped fighting and tried to stop her partner, but he was still under Dr. Han's control. In the end, she was forced to leave him behind so she could save the rest of her team."

"Team?" Wash asks.

Rho nods. "All of Dr. Han's experiments were raised in groups of four. Each group contained two sets of partners, forming one team. Silver was originally on a team with Manganese and Carbon, but when they left she was relocated to another team. She, Platinum, Nickel, and Gold were all trained together from then on." She stares into space for a moment, remembering. "They were the oldest and best we had, and they worked together like they shared one mind." Rho's eyes refocus on Wash as she continues. "It nearly killed Silver, leaving her brother behind, but she had no choice.

"Only Silver, Boron, and Nick were lucky enough to have their chips deactivated during the attacks. The rest, Siler tracked down and freed herself. She helped Nick free Tinu, then returned to the base to find the others. Everyone else who had been chipped was still in the open, but the rest of the experiments who survived that day returned home. No one knew what to do, but Silver knew that if they stayed too long someone would come looking for them, so she led them to one of Dr. Han's secret bases. Then, once she was sure her family was safe, she went to search for the others. Many were dead by the time she found them, but she was able to save some, like Neon and Boron, as well as stealing me from Gold."

"She stole you?" Wash asks.

Rho nods. "Dr. Han gave me to Gold after he returned to her. I was supposed to help him track down and either kill or capture the other experiments. When Silver found me and Gold, she tried to deactivate his chip, but couldn't subdue him long enough to complete the process. She was, however, able to steal his helmet, which is where I was housed. Dr. Han had feared that I would try to override her control on him, so she didn't give me direct access to his mind."

"Would you?" Wash asks. "Would you have freed him?"

"Of course" Rho says, feeling slightly insulted. "I understand why Dr. Han is doing this, and I understand what she feels," Rho's image darkens slightly as she speaks, "but she's wrong. Revenge for her family won't solve anything. It will only lead to more pain. I've been in the minds of many of the experiments here, during training. I know them. I consider them friends and I don't want them to die. Had I been given the chance, I would have freed Gold and brought him here myself. Unfortunately, I was unable to."

I start to feel light headed as the door to the infirmary opens. I see Rhodi talking to the medic, but can't seem to concentrate on what they're saying. Rhodi sees me standing in the doorway and smiles, before noticing the blood dripping from my shoulder.

"Si!" he says, rushing over to me. "Are you okay? What happened?"

I sit on the side of one of the beds and pull my helmet off. "I'm fine. I got shot during the mission, but it's nothing. I just need a patch job."

Rhodi doesn't look like he believes me, but he doesn't question my words. He grabs some supplies from a cabinet on the wall and begins pulling off the bandage already on my shoulder. "This wasn't disinfected properly" he says, studying the wound. "And the bullet is still in there. Who did this?"

I glance at the purple clad medic. His expression is one of both nervousness and guilt. I remember that he's not really a medic. Just like the other simulation personnel Project Freelancer had used, he was only told he was part of an army. All of his training was fake. I know Rhodi will freak out if I tell him the person who fixed me up was untrained, so I decide to take pity on the medic. "We were in a rush. There was no time to remove the bullet, or worry about sterile equipment."

Rhodi groans as he pours some alcohol on a cloth. "Si, you know how dangerous that is. You need to be more careful, especially now. You're not as tough as-"

"I know" I snap. "I'm being as careful as I can be."

"I'm just saying you need to slow down a little" Rhodi says calmly, cleaning off a pair of tweezers. "You need to take it easy."

I look at his face while he gets the supplies ready. It's hard to believe he's only fourteen, looking at his eyes. He's already seen so much pain; been elbow deep in the blood of his own brothers and sisters while he's tried to save them. I know he's only trying to keep me safe. He doesn't want to see me hurt.

"I'll try" I say eventually. It's not what he wants to hear, but it's all I can give him. I can't stop fighting.

"Lay down" Rhodi says. I do and he starts removing the armor around my shoulder. After he's cleaned up the area around the wound, he places a hand on my arm and says "this'll hurt." I nod, bracing for the pain. Then Rhodi picks up the tweezers and pulls out the bullet.

My breath catches in my throat for a second as the bullet is removed. I swear, being shot hurts less than all the clean up. Despite my internal whining, it's over before I realize and Rhodi's already re-bandaging the wound.

"Thanks" I say, sitting up once he's done.

"Don't wait so long next time" he says, eyes stern. "The last thing you need right now is an infection."

"I get it" I say, trying to not sound annoyed. "It won't happen again."

"Yes it will" Rhodi mutters as he walks away. I try not to laugh at this. He knows me well enough to not be fooled by that.

I stand up off the bed, and am happy to see that I'm no longer dizzy. I look up and see the purple medic watching me nervously. "Need something?" I ask as I pick up my helmet.

He shuffles forward nervously. "I, um, thought you might want something for the pain" he says, holding out his hand to offer me some pills. "I know your supplies are low, but I had some in my kit and I thought you might need it."

I smile and shake my head. "Thanks, but I'm alright. The pain's not really that bad. I heal faster than most, so I should be better by tomorrow anyway."

"Oh, okay" he says. He looks like he wants to protest, but is too nervous to contradict me.

"It's DuFresne, right?" I ask, holding out my hand.

"Yes, although most people call me Doc" the medic answers while shaking my hand. "I don't know why, though. I'm not really a doctor, I'm a medic." He adds, as an afterthought "I guess I'm not even that anymore, not since Project Freelancer shut down."

"Still, you've got training and experience" I say. "That's one better than we've got here."

"Rhodium seems capable" Doc says. "He certainly knows a lot about medicine."

I nod. "But he's not used to seeing people hurt. He's not used to all the blood." I look at the younger boy across the room, trying to make what little supplies we have multiply by reorganizing the shelves once again. "He says he's okay with it, but I worry about him."

"I understand" Doc says. "That's one of the hardest parts of learning medicine; getting past all the blood and pain. But I think he can do it. He wants to, at least. That helps."

"He shouldn't have to" I whisper too quietly for Doc to hear.

"He's been telling me about what's happened here, what you guys have been through" Doc continues. "I know it's not the same as what was done to you, but I kind of know what that's like, to have someone control you."

I give him a questioning look and he begins to explain. "Before we discovered that we were part of a practice army, before any of us even knew what Project Freelancer was, one of their AIs had some, um, issues."

"What kind of issues?" I ask.

"Well, I don't want to say he was a bad person. I mean, given what we know about how he was created, it's perfectly understandable what O'Malley did" Doc starts, trying to explain what had happened without saying anything negative about the AI in question. "Agent Texas was sent on a training mission to the blue base in Blood Gulch. While she was there, the AI she was implanted with tried to escape. He could jump between suits of armor, and he eventually ended up in mine. He" Doc falters for a moment. "He made me do a lot of stuff; tried to make me kill my friends. I know it's wrong to say that I hate something, and I didn't really hate him, I guess, but I was glad once he was gone."

"I don't think I could be that forgiving" I say slowly. "If someone tried to hurt the people I care about, or forced me to hurt them, I'd more than hate that person. I'd probably kill him."

"Well, I've always believed that violence is never the best option" Doc says.

I consider this for a moment. "I think that, sometimes, you can't help the fact that there's going to be violence. All you can do is try to control who gets hurt, and make sure it's no one you love. In the end, someone always dies. That's just the way life is. You just try to make sure it's a death you can live with."