Chapter Seventeen: Guilty Confessions
November 19, 2552 0830 hours
Blade's Bunkhouse
UNSC Reserve Base Camp Hayes
North America
Laura woke with a start; she'd had another of her strange dreams. They were becoming more frequent of late, and she didn't know why. Frowning, she tried to recall the dream; it had been a test of some sort…
Every soldier on HALO-04 was assembled in the large amphitheater, waiting for a weapons demonstration to begin. Among them was the famed 'Floodwall Platoon,' a group of warriors whose record against the Flood was outstanding. Their captain, a human named Corin, and his second in command, the human Marin, waited in anticipation to see the new weapon the science guild had crafted.
"I wonder what it will be," Corin muttered. "The Flood seem to die quickly enough with out current weaponry."
"No, sir," Marin broke in. "I have a…friend…in the science guild who showed me the current kill rates with our weapons in comparison to whatever the scientists cooked up: this thing, whatever it is, can kill a Flood form in mere seconds. And from what she said, they still have more refinements to make that could improve rate of fire and other things to bring them down faster."
"Well, then, I eagerly await the demonstration."
A scientist walked out on the platform at the front of the amphitheater, and a dead silence fell. She held an unusual device in her hands, which she seemed barely able to carry. Setting it down on a table nearby, she turned to the assembled soldiers.
"Welcome, fine warriors. You have all done much to turn back and defeat the Flood. Now we give you a new advantage to help turn the tide." She moved to a control panel, dimmed the lights, and activated a holographic display of the device she had been holding.
"Our studies of the Flood show that, while they have strong thresholds for heat and cold, they cannot withstand focused temperature extremes. We have also noted increasing instances of Flood combat forms regenerating after being wounded numerous times. Based on battlefield reports, this occurs less with the plasma energy weapons than with others; we theorize that this is due to the high temperatures that is characteristic of plasma in general.
"The Sentinel beam was originally designed for use on our security drones, with a beam capable only of stopping a target with minor injury. We have since modified it for use in combat scenarios, especially against the Flood." The woman depressed a control, and a schematic of the weapon replaced its holographic image. "It fires a focused beam of energy with an approximate temperature of 5,000 standard degrees, and is difficult for non-shielded targets to withstand. As yet, we have only a small fusion cell available to recharge the weapon, but are in the process of developing a better power source. However, the weapon itself is quite effective.
"With the High Council's approval, I have arranged for a small demonstration of the Sentinel beam's capabilities. If you would be so kind as to stand back, we can begin."
The soldiers cleared away from the platform; the scientist hefted the Sentinel beam, nodded, and assumed a firing stance as a containment cage was lowered. Inside the cage, a Flood combat form was thrashing in a vain attempt to escape. She nodded again and the cage was opened.
The Flood form came bursting out, leaping straight for the young woman in front of it. Corin noticed his second-in-command tensed, as the Flood hurled itself at the woman. Not even hesitating for a second, she raised the weapon and fired.
A beam of orange light shot from the weapon and speared the creature, giving off a large amount of heat and causing the room to stink of charred meat. The Flood form staggered back, and the scientist fired a second time, moving it up and down like a scalpel. In a matter of seconds the combat form had been reduced to a pile of blackened flesh. The woman lowered the weapon and turned back to the assembled soldiers.
"As I said, a highly effective weapon against the Flood. The Sentinel beam will be made available to you for combat use in a few days. I trust you will use it to great effect." She turned and walked off of the platform, and the soldiers filed out, impressed by the new weapon.
Alaya was on her way back to the laboratory when Corin and Marin caught up with her.
"Marin, what a pleasant surprise! I trust you enjoyed seeing the new beam weapon?"
"A nice improvement from the standard ballistics we use most of the time. I have to wonder, though, how you managed to convince the Council to allow a Flood form as a test subject."
"By promising them that there would be containment fields in place to contain the Flood form if things got bad. They were turned on the moment the cage came down, and I was more than prepared to burn it down." She turned and discreetly studied the other man nearby. Must be Marin's commanding officer. "Once I finish working on the modifications, the rate of fire and weapon effectiveness will be greatly improved."
"I look forward to testing the new weapon myself," Corin said quietly, finding himself disliking the scientist's blustery ways and apparent lack of concern.
"Captain, I don't think you've met Alaya. Alaya, this is Captain Corin, my platoon leader. Alaya's been a family friend ever since I can remember." Marin quickly made introductions, noticing the cold look in his captain's eyes.
"A pleasure, Captain," Alaya smiled lightly as she shook his hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do. Marin, I imagine I'll drop by later, so stay out of trouble."
Marin shook his head as the young scientist turned and entered the laboratory. "Alaya's looked after me for years. She seems to think it's her duty to keep an eye on me."
"Obviously. Alaya, is that really her name? Who in their right minds would name their child 'Beloved'? Honestly!"
"She was the firstborn," Marin replied quietly. "Her parents loved her greatly."
Alaya entered the laboratory and clenched her hands tightly into fists. Corin's coldness had bothered her for reasons she didn't understand. It also bothered her how she and Marin had had to pretend to be just friends, rather than be brother and sister as they were. It has to be done, though. No one would believe it if they knew Petrarch's firstborn was a daughter instead of a son. It's best for Marin if I pretend to be his friend and not his older sister. Besides, this way I have no fear of false friends coming out of the woodwork. She noticed a terminal blinking in the corner and walked over; there was a lot of work to be done, and no time to spend on musings and speculations.
Laura shook her dark head, which was disheveled from a night's rough sleep. This is getting ridiculous, she thought. I must be going insane. Getting up from her bed, she got herself ready for the day, but instead sat down at her terminal. Time to do a little hacking. What exactly is HALO-04? She'd avoided looking at that file for fear of getting caught: it was heavily encrypted, and she didn't want to risk Lorienna's exposure. When she powered up the system, though, new files on the Covenant caught her eye. These may be useful.
November 19, 2552 0900 hours
Blade's Bunkhouse
Laura heard the Spartan come in, but her dream had left her in one of her moods and she didn't really care much. Besides, she had plans to make and hacking to do. "What do you want?"
"Just wanted to talk," a female voice replied. She turned around to see Linda in the doorway.
"I'm not in the best frame of mind to chat right now. Not that any of you would really care if I was," she replied, turning back to her computer terminal. Data scrolled across the screen, encrypted with the unusual runic text Linda had seen encoding Laura's private journal. Linda noticed the look on her face turn from boredom to mild surprise.
"That's interesting. Now why would Ackerson be interested in that?"
"What's he interested in?"
Laura shook her head. "I'm really not in the mood today. Please, just go so I can do what a mistake does best." Her tone took on a bitter edge with the word 'mistake.'
"I'm not going anywhere. You know something, something Ackerson wants to keep quiet. He's our enemy too, you know. What's he hiding?"
A small smile tugged at the corners of Laura's mouth. "I don't know, all I have are guesses, really. Most of what I do know is obtained using…less than savory means." As quickly as it had appeared there, the smile disappeared. "From what I can tell, what he's doing is worse than his usual black ops, but all I've managed to pull are little more than shadowed hints and dark clues, nothing concrete."
Laura stared at the screen, thinking about this latest tidbit of information, when Lorienna's voice echoed through the room.
"Ackerson's just requested a number of files from Section Three. About 75 files in all, mostly medical records." Laura's head came up sharply.
"You said 75 medicals files from Section Three?"
"Correct. Having intercepted the files and read them for myself…"
"No, don't tell me, I have an idea as to what they are." Her head bowed, recalling exactly what those files contained, reminded sharply that she was the cause for a number of things in them. What use would he have for those? There's nothing in them that he doesn't know already.
"What's he up to?" Linda asked again. "And what does he want with those files?"
"I don't know what he's doing yet, as I said before."
"No, but you know something," she returned. "What are you hiding?"
"If I keep secrets, it's because I have a damned good reason for it. There are some things it's better to let be. Don't ask me again."
"Oh, really? I think I have a right to know, and the rest of us do too, especially if it involves ONI Section Three."
"She's right, Laura," the AI put in. "They deserve to hear the truth, from you if not from ONI."
Laura frowned, knowing they were right.
"Yes, you do deserve to know the truth, but not all are here to hear it. Besides, I really don't want to tell it yet either."
"Fine, we'll discuss it another day. But remember, we're still going to have a talk." Linda got up and left, while Laura sat with her head in her hands.
Yes, we are going to have to talk, she thought miserably, but you won't like what you'll hear.
November 21, 2552 1125 hours
Blade's Bunkhouse
Camp Hayes
A couple days later, Laura was sitting in her living room playing on her panpipes; not her best pair, since she hadn't had the chance to retrieve them from the Spartans yet. The melody was a simple one, but from the way she played one could swear that she was pouring her heart into her playing. As she finished the tune, she heard someone knocking at her door. Who could that be? I'm not expecting anyone. Setting down her panpipes, she crossed to the door and opened it a crack, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she saw the four Spartans outside.
"Is there something I can help you with? Or are you here on your own?"
"Linda said you had something to tell us." Fred was surprised at her reaction: she seemed to visibly wilt right in front of them. Stepping back, Laura opened the door and let them in.
The Spartans gathered around the living room as Laura nodded to empty air. A holopad flickered on as a slender figure in a flowing gown of blue and silver materialized at her elbow.
"I've blocked the cameras. Right now, ONI thinks you're still piping away." A shadowy smile crossed the AI's face as she looked pointedly at the panpipes still resting on the small table.
"A mistress of bad puns, eh, Lorienna?"
"You should know as much as I."
Laura shook her head in silent amusement, which dissolved in an instant as she remembered why the Spartans were here.
"You might want to sit down for this. I have a feeling we might be here for a while." She waited, frowned when they elected to remain standing, and took a deep breath. It seemed to all that she dearly wanted to avoid this conversation.
"None of this is going to be easy for me to explain, and even less easy for you to listen to. Technically, I shouldn't even be telling you this, but I think you deserve to know, and you won't find anyone else who will tell you. It's a long story.
"I guess it all begins with a four-year-old girl in a little country town. There was little or no military presence in the area, just a small base used by the reserve companies and trainees. This made the base a perfect HQ for the intelligence personnel to use as a staging point. Somewhere along the way, the spooks decided they needed to test out one of their Special Warfare projects on more than just a computer simulation. They ran a computer check and found what they considered a perfect test case: the daughter of a prominent doctor/microbiologist and an up-and-coming naval officer. Even better, her place of residence was practically next door to one of their staging areas.
"It wasn't easy for them to get a hold of their new test subject, though. She had two prominent parents who might protest, besides two brothers: while the one was only two years old, the other was closer to eight and would remember his younger sister more clearly. They had to make a lot of promises to 'secure' the candidate, one of which being that she would be allowed to visit her family from time to time. By the time they had her under their control, the kid had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that her parents had told her she'd be ok, and so she blindly put her trust in the spooks.
"Once here training was under way, Section Three realized they'd made their first mistake. While intelligent and an avid learner, she lacked the focus and discipline that older children had, and her attention frequently wandered. They'd taken her at too young an age; she hadn't even entered school before her 'conscription'. In the project record they noted that four was too young, and advised the other project members to wait for a few years before selecting the rest of the candidates: the bare minimum for the age group was six years old." A look of disgust crossed her face, and she went on, "After the first few visits home, her observers noticed that the family visits were interfering with her training: she'd come home having been lectured by her mother and father on good manners and disciplined for occasionally bullying other children her age. Since the spooks wanted a killing machine, this was a definite problem. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about it, since her parents had enough clout to demand the visits. They tried, of course, they really did, but when she was denied a trip home she refused to train. Her parents were even angrier than she was, and demanded that the visits continue; her father even went to top ONI officials with his complaint. ONI had no choice but to give in. Their next set of recommendations led to the next set of candidates being kidnapped and replaced with flash-clones."
Her voice began to crack, and she looked down at her feet; it was a while before she could look up at them again, and even then she didn't meet their eyes. The Spartans realized she was talking about herself each time she had mentioned the four-year-old girl. When she spoke, her voice was shaky, as if she was struggling to maintain composure.
"I was sickened and disgusted when I found out what had been done to those children. It was even more appalling when I found out that those flash-clones died young. The other Spartans' parents had no idea anything was wrong. And I had no idea that there were others until I was twelve. Mom had been called to Reach to assist with a flu outbreak, and Dr. Halsey had requested that I come along; apparently she wanted to observe me for herself. ONI was more than happy to allow it, since they wanted to see how well I'd react with the other trainees. I got a little suspicious when they assigned an ONI operative to baby-sit me, and after I was ambushed by a group of Marines twice, I started keeping a knife on me at all times. The only good thing about that trip was a young trainee named Kelly, who actually saved my hide a couple times when she could have let well enough alone.
"When Mom and I returned from Reach, I made my first hack into ONI's computer systems, and started piecing the truth together. I was angry and disgusted with everything I learned, but the worst part was still coming. I saw the research reports they were planning for the SPARTAN-II augmentations, and knew what was going to happen. There was no way I could warn the others, and even if I had they wouldn't have believed me. All I could do was wait and hope.
"They put me on a space station for the augmentation, and pretty much threw the kitchen sink at me. Everything you got, I got, only I got it a few months ahead of time just so they could see the results. Computer simulations and predictions were all well and good, but there's nothing like first-hand field-testing. It didn't matter to them whether I lived or died: they just wanted to see if their new plans would work. To a degree, they did, but I barely survived the procedure. ONI figured that if I had survived with my 'flawed' training, surely the Spartans on Reach would have a better chance.
"As soon as I was fully recovered and back into my regular routine, I hacked into the systems again; I wanted to see if the other trainees had survived. When I saw the numbers…" She paused, hands tightly clenched into fists. She'd never come this close to losing control before. "I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I couldn't take it anymore: I was being used, and had been from Day One. There was no one I could talk to, not even my parents; my own family refused to believe what I tried to tell them, claiming that I was just bitter about being away from my family. 'It's an honor to be asked to serve the way you were,' my father told me; my mother said similar things. How could I tell them what had been done, all in the name of the 'greater good?' People were maimed, tortured, and killed, and the UNSC turned a blind eye." She got up and paced the room, reminding them of holovids from their early days of training: caged animals looking for a way to escape.
"And the worst of it is, everything that was done to you, every ounce of pain you've gone through, was my fault. All of it. The training, the augmentation, everything was done to you because of me, the human guinea pig for the SPARTAN project."
Throughout her story, the Spartans had sat immobile, trying hard not to interrupt but finding it impossible to believe. When they'd realized she was the four-year-old girl that had been chosen first, it had sickened them to think ONI could choose her so young. Hearing how she was allowed visits to her family had angered them, and finding out about the flash clones had infuriated them. They remembered the visit she'd made to Reach, of course, but hadn't expected it to be a test at all. What had disgusted them most was the fact that she felt guilty for everything that had happened to them, when there was nothing to feel guilty about. None of them were willing to believe that she had told them the truth, unfortunately, even though they knew she was right.
"You actually expect us to believe these lies?" Fred hissed through clenched teeth.
"I don't expect anything from you, I never have," she replied quietly. "If I could have avoided this conversation I would have, believe me. I didn't find out the truth until my trip to Reach, and when I learned it I didn't want to believe it. It was hard enough to believe ONI had lied to me about being the only Spartan, but trying to believe that Dr. Halsey and the others were responsible for all this was incomprehensible at first. Over time, I realized it was true, but who would have listened? All my parents knew was that I was a SpecOps soldier; I had no one who would listen to me until I convinced ONI to let me spend time at the local high school. I was forgetting what I was fighting for, I told them, and I needed to remember. They agreed, and I finally found someone I could trust my heart to in safety, someone who would listen to me and stand by me when it counted. ONI realized too late what had happened, but I warned them that if anything happened to Nicole or her family, I'd leak the truth to local newspapers and spread the word." She laughed angrily. "They left Nick and her family alone after that. Ironic that when a friend is in danger, I become the ruthless soldier they wanted in the first place."
"I don't understand, though," Linda mused. "Why didn't Dr. Halsey at least try and stop all this?"
"Because ONI had her over a barrel as well. She did try to intervene at times. When she received the results of my augmentations, she tried to stall it for you. I found a file she'd sent to ONI, asking for more time to run more tests, find ways to increase the survival rate of her patients. ONI sent back a reply which basically said that if she didn't do it, they'd find someone else who would." Laura stopped pacing and frowned as she recalled the terse message. "You Spartans were basically her children. She felt guilty about the whole thing, otherwise she'd never have sent that message in the first place."
"And you? What about you?" Laura gave a short, angry laugh at the Master Chief's question.
"Me? Me nothing! I was the test case. All Dr. Halsey knew about me was what ONI allowed her to know. She never knew who I was until after my trip to Reach. Even then, I doubt she ever connected my name with that twelve-year-old kid. After my augmentations were completed, I practically disappeared from ONI's files. Only the ones with top-level clearance even know my name."
"Then how did you find out?" Fred asked, scowling. "You certainly don't have clearance for anything!"
"That's all you know," Lorienna replied smoothly before Laura could let fly with some very nasty expletives. Having remained silent for long enough, the AI decided to take part in her creator's defense. "Shortly before I was created, Laura began to notice a number of files with less-than-capable encryption schemes, almost as if whoever sent them out wanted them to be read. I've seen a number of them myself, and managed to trace their origins. You were wrong, Laura: Dr. Halsey did remember you, and apparently guessed that you were smarter than ONI thought. She left those files open because she wanted you to know."
"And how would she have even guessed I was snooping around? I certainly didn't leave that many clues behind, and ONI still hasn't found out."
"No, but Dr. Halsey is smarter than ONI herself," the AI replied, crossing her arms in front of her, a gesture Laura herself used at times.
"So she knew I was hacking. Why didn't she report me then? Surely she feared her work would be exposed."
"Maybe she was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt," Will muttered; it was the first words he'd said all through.
"Whatever the case, I've told you the truth. You can take it or leave it, but there it is. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things I need to take care of." The Spartans rose, but the Master Chief still had one more question.
"You said the only good thing to come from your trip to Reach was your friendship with Kelly. Why?"
"She didn't lie to me, she saved my ass when she could've laid low, and she was the closest I ever got to a friend before I met Nicole. If I could have had time to get to know her without ONI spying on me all the time, I would have." All the Spartans noticed as her eyes flicked to a pair of combat knifes in battered sheaths resting on the table. Either she's nervous, or Kelly gave her those, the Chief thought. For some strange reason, he felt grateful to his missing friend for that.