Rifle

Chapter Five

She searched, asking everyone where Kyle was; she made it appear urgent- so even a liar would tell her the truth. It was urgent- she wanted to find Kyle, the fake Kyle, and the real one, too. She asked anyone she could get a hold of… anyone who hadn't been evacuated.

She stopped by his apartment, and got out a key. It was on the first floor. She had gotten a key from Kyle but never used it; He insisted she keep it, though. She thought she wouldn't ever need it for anything. She thought.

The door unlocked the same way doors always opened, with a click. She made it swing open slow, flipping on the light switch by the door before opening it all the way, stepping in curiously. She had never actually been in his apartment before. How could I be such a horrid friend? First I let him disappear, I sneak into his house…

"You can come over here anytime, if you ever need anything"

His words when he gave her the key. She shoved the thought back into the dark recesses of her mind. She had never come over, because she never needed anything from him. Or did I?

There was no one there, just an empty Standard Lacid Apartment. A few CD cases here and there. Who uses CDs anymore? They were out of the cases, non-labeled, and covered in a thin layer of Dust. That place was clean… surprisingly clean. As if someone hadn't lived there in months. It was almost eerie.

There was a Compact Disk was labeled "Memories" on the counter, but she decided to ignore it. It was probably something really lame, anyways. There was no sign of Kyle here, so there was almost no point. She stopped… curious about the disk of sudden. She missed the old Kyle- she thought she'd maybe find a clue, or at least be able to remember him the way he was. The way she wanted to remember him, even though he annoyed her and made her angry sometimes- but even Elizah had those types of times. She grabbed the disk on the counter and shoved it in her pocket.

She locked the door behind her, but she couldn't find it in herself to turn the light off. She couldn't even tell what it was that made her do that. She just did.

Of all the places Klye could be, she wouldn't know where to start.

She found out, eventually, where she would start looking for him, and that was the Research Center. Kyle had been a researcher, after all, so the other man would keep up that lie as well or maybe she would actually find Kyle.

The research center was almost empty. Not as many people rushing about as usual- the healthy ones had all left for the time being; only the sick and the volunteered remained. She walked down a long narrow hall, the entrance, and towards whatever offices there were- maybe Kyle had one. It would make sense.

A clerk, a sick one, sat at the desk, she looked dopey and red-eyed. She raised her sleepy eyebrows at Aron- a silent question of Can I help you? Aron nodded. "Can you tell me where Kyle Richards Office is? SL823?" the lady clicked and clacked on the keyboard in front of her. She handed Aron a slip of paper with an office number on it. On her way into the office area, she passed someone. Campbell. She caught a glimpse of his yellow eyes for a split second before he was out of her sight. He headed into the bathroom.

She followed the long hallways, following this number pattern and that- looking for where his office could be. When she finally found it, she was surprised to find the door ajar. Someone was inside, at his desk. She peaked through the door, but Haza saw her immediately. "Aron! Hi!" he stood up and waved before falling back down into the office chair…Kyle's office chair. She waved and displayed a small smile. Haza was at Kyle's computer, clicking and typing away.

"I was just…uh…looking for Kyle… have you seen him?" She shrugged and opened the door all the way.

"I think he went to the Bathroom, I'll go get him for you, if you like." He stood up from the desk and brushed himself off. At that point, Aron too thought he looked like a Fairy. Those bright green eyes had a captivation about them- like magic from a fairytale. He passed her in the doorway and she followed.

He went into the bathroom. Thirty seconds later, Kyle emerged.

"Kyle."

"Hm?"

"Will you marry me?" Aron smiled a sweet smiled, her cheeks lifted in a cute pink tint. Her shoulders relaxed, her stick figure poised- Her hands clasped together as if to beg. Her blue eyes looked warm and sunny- like a dream. She looked up into his eyes and pleaded.

"I'd Love to…" he shifted uncomfortably "but we're Spartans… and it's just not the right time right now…" he looked away; he wouldn't dare look into those eyes. Not when so much was on the line.

"O-Oh…" She tried to show a fake disappointment before perking up again and smiling brightly, she held her hands behind her back, fidgeting. She was glad she had learned to act; otherwise this might have been difficult for her. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" her smile could have stretched from ear to ear and made less of a difference.

He was a little embarrassed, it seemed. He scratched the back of his neck and awkwardly looked away again. He was being distant, even on that subject. It was a bad sign, and she could tell. She turned on her heel and skipped off, she didn't want to give that man a single hint about what she knew. She knew he wasn't Kyle- and he could never be. Then who was he?

She went home to her apartment, bummed- Just twenty numbers away from Kyle's apartment. She wondered how they were supposed to get anything out of a fake Kyle? How was she supposed to tell anyone about this? Guess what, Kyle's gone missing, I know because I asked him to marry me. By-the-way Campbell's a fake Kyle and a psycho who tried to kill me.

She sat on her couch…felt an uncomfortable jabbing in her pocket. The CD.
She was even more curious, then. A trace of Kyle- Something he left behind…but what were they memories of? She put the CD in the player, turned on the TV, and sat and waited. One minute- Two- Three, The time passed by with it just on the Menu. It had Pictures of her, Elizah, bant and Kyle flashing across the jaw was open, she half expected it to be him at five or six- in his Pajamas; something funny or awkward of him at a young age.

She pressed play, and curled into a ball. First it was Christmas, last year, everyone opening gifts. She laughed. Her and Bant had set up a gag gift for Kyle that year- they hid his real gifts under wads of new socks and underwear. Next was everyone watching a scary movie in Elizah's apartment, Aron could only guess that Kyle hid a camera by the TV so he could et everyone's reactions. Aron only laughed more at each memory in the CD- each moment of everyone. Each moment that they'd never have again- a life they could never go back to.

She started to feel sad, she missed the living they did- even as Spartans they had that small bit of free time after the wars. We used it to the fullest, huh?

The memories over, the screen turned black. She sat up, "The research" she heard someone say- it sounded familiar- it sounded like Kyle. Is he back after all of this time? She wondered.

The voice had rung in her ears like music. She spun around like a hurricane.

To see nothing…nothing but a black screen with the letters written across it that his voice had spoke: "The research". The research. The Research! She dove for the remote, re-winded it and heard his voice again: The research.
She pressed the menu button. Went into the scene selection on the old-fashioned CD and went to the one that harbored the words. She got closer to the screen. The chapter was named "Divan".

She had a clue.

She didn't know what the clue meant, but she had one. All that mattered was the clue. It wasn't an English word. It didn't sound Spanish. She didn't know what to do- whom to ask to translate- who could she go to?

Kyle. Kyle…why so many puzzles? Why couldn't you have just left your research on the coffee table? Why? It has something to do with one of us, right? All four of us were bi-lingual. We learned a different one just in case. What did Kyle speak again?
Oh yeah.
French. Kyle spoke French…speaks. He speaks French.

She sighed, it's French for something isn't it? His second language isn't something he told everyone about. It fits- something only the four of us knew.
It's probably not French for Office, or Haza would have found the files…wait…
Why was Haza in Kyle's office?

Aron got up from the couch, took the CD and put it under some papers in a kitchen drawer. Next, she left the house- back to Kyle's. She unlocked the door. The light was off- someone else had been there. She flipped the switch. The Dusty coffee-tabletop had wipes of fingers on it; the nameless CDs had been moved. She ignored it all, the only thing she wanted was his belongings from his past- his French book- notes- a dictionary- anything. She searched the house for a pile of books or a bookshelf of any kind. Nothing.

Getting desperate, he stepped into the kitchen. A bookshelf resided there. They had paper taped to the back of them and labeled various things. They obviously weren't all cookbooks. She pulled a few out; one, with paper over the spine labeled "100 yummy recipes" was actually an annotated encyclopedia. She held it under her arm as she reached for another. "Soda and Ice Cream" ended up being a photo album, and "The best of Potatoes" ended up being a book about adding secret compartments and passageways into a house. Only several more sat with the fake titles on the shelf. Which one would have to do with French?

"From croissants to biscuits" was one to the far left. Obviously, it was code for French to English Dictionary. She greedily grabbed it, setting all the other books down to look through this single one. Divan. She flipped through the pages, and her eyes scrolled down.

Couch. It meant Couch.

She tried to put all of the books, fake paper backing and all, back where they had been, and left the kitchen. The couch. She examined the couch. Nothing special. She removed the cushions. Nothing…except the springs seemed to be messed up or tampered with on one side- in the middle- where no one would sit- and a small area of square inches.

Silently, she flipped the couch over. There were nails holding in the Fabric; she removed two of them carelessly. There was a box, with a heart painted around the locket, embedded into the couch. She couldn't find out what the heart meant. What? Am I supposed to have the Key to Kyle's heart or something corny like that? She sighed. It's worth a shot. With that, she pulled out the apartment key and tried it.
Click.
She opened the box to find some small melody lightly playing. It was a light blue electronic music box. Inside was a file- a file full of notes.

She opened the file and read one;

UNSC RESEARCH DOCUMENT

KYLE RICHARD SL823

REPORT ON HAZARD SUMMARY

HAZARD, is what happens when a GRAVEMIND manifests in a chemical body with similar genetic makeup to a human being. HAZARDS think and calculate; they are strategic and cunning. It is known that one exists on Lacid. Researchers on Lacid are trying, at this current time to locate the being. We have reason to believe that it has been around since The Great War of Wails. The reason for this theory would be for it to learn about humans and not only be unidentifiable from real humans, but so that it can find the flaws in the SPARTAN SEVEN program. Furthermore, the method we used to contain the FLOOD for the past three hundred years has become obsolete with the appearance of the HAZARD. We need to replace ARTIFACT with something that can destroy the FLOOD without harming any human life forms. From scans, we have come up with the theory that the HAZARD can shape shift, in a way. We have obtained evidence that indicates that the FLOOD is planning an attack on the human race. We have no time to waste.

I ask that this not be posted in the UNSC Database.

END NOTE

She found it. The reports on Flood- it was all there. A small piece of paper dropped out of the folder and onto the floor. She picked it up and read it; two Spartan tags were hurriedly scribbled across it.

SL811
SL827

It was Haza and Campbell's Spartan tags.