Chapter 8

I felt like I was in a void of nothingness as I couldn't hear or see anything but then I started to hear a faint beeping noise. At first I ignored it but it steadily got louder and more annoying until suddenly I opened my eyes in the real world to find myself laying on a bed with a mobile heart monitor watching my heart rate and other vitals. I slowly started to get up but I was stopped by a purple armored hand. I looked up to see Jaynè standing next to me in a new chest plate.
"You need to rest Devi. You were lucky you had such advanced shields for an ODST or else you would have suffered far worse than a slight head injury."
"How long was I out?"
"About a day."
"What about everyone else? Where are they?"
"The Spartan and the Arbiter are attempting to find a way to either contact their fleets or find us a transport. The civilians and marines are in a fallout shelter nearby and your squad and Rachèl are here guarding the hospital."
"Well I'm feeling much better now that I've had some time to rest."
"Wait don't get up yet!"
Before I understood her warning I was standing up next to the bed. She instantly turned around and it confused me but before I could ask her what was wrong a cold draft came through the door and made me look down only to quickly grab the bed sheets and cover myself.
"WHERE'S MY ARMOR!"
by this time she was visibly blushing a bright purple.
"Your teammates had to remove your armor because it was caved in on the front and back and your helmet was destroyed as well."
Jaynè cautiously looked in my direction before fully facing me.
"your armor was preventing them from helping you and they had to remove it. What they found was something unexpected."
I let a low sigh as I realize my secret is out.
"Did they at least leave me some clothes to change into?"
She nods her head and motions to the chair next to me that had some scavenged civilian clothes.
'Sigh' "I guess those will do. While I'm changing can you get my squad, Rechèl, Arbiter, and the master chief into a conference room and bring the remains of my helmet?"
"I will do that as I am also curious on what your explanation is."
She promptly turned and left the room leaving me to my thoughts. After making sure the coast is clear I put the blanket back on the bed and pulled on the clothes. When I was putting the shirt on I pulled a little too hard and caused the edge to rip. I look down at the new hole as I sigh in annoyance since I forgot that this isn't my armor that can take my strength. After I was fully clothed I walked out of the room and started to follow the signs that lead to the conference room in the hospital. When I arrived everyone was sitting down at the table with the elites looking slightly uncomfortable in the small chairs. As soon as I closed the door everyone looked my way including Cortana who was on one of the office's holo panels.
"I'm pretty sure you all have questions for me."
Cortana was the first to speak.
"How is it that you an ODST has Spartan augmentations?"
Everyone shook their heads in agreement minus the Elites who didn't know about the Spartan augmentation process.
"Well you see I'm part of a massive test that went downhill fast causing the ones up top to destroy all evidence of the test ever taking place."
I turn to the master chief and Cortana.
"Have you two ever wondered why the Spartan program started with the Spartan II's instead of the Spartan I's?"
Cortana spoke first again.
"Wasn't it just to respect the original Spartans in the earth's history?"
"yes and no yes they did it to remember the Earth's history but it's also because there was a Spartan I project."
When I said this all of the humans gasped at the revelation even the master chief uttered the faintest gasp. Cortana on the other hand was unconvinced.
"How was there a Spartan I project. I have full access to the entire UNSC and ONI network and there isn't even a whisper of there being a Spartan I project."
"The project was a complete failure!"
At my sudden outburst everyone including the elites and Cortana flinched.
"Every single Spartan test subject died during the augmentation process. They were about to scrap the Spartan program as a whole since every Spartan that had awoken died within the first few minutes they awoke."
I turned my back to everyone.
"I was the first to wake. I saw horrors no-one my age should have seen."
The room had gone deathly silent.
"it was because of my survival that the Spartan project survived. They found the one gene I have that the others didn't and used that as a search basis for their second attempt. The Spartan II's."
"If that's true then how come there isn't anything that mentions a Spartan I project."
"Because Cortana there were over a thousand test subjects and out of the thousands there was only one test subject that made it through. You try justifying the Spartan project if the first attempt was a mass murder. Because of those deaths Dr. Halsey herself ordered that all data, be it digital or hard copy, be destroyed and that not a single word was to be said about the failed Spartan I project."
The room was silent as everyone was trying to process all of the information I told them then Cortana looked up and was about to ask a question but the Master Chief spoke first surprising everyone.
"If you are a Spartan then how come you weren't integrated into the Spartan II project."
"it would raise too many questions why a slightly older kid was thrown into the group and when it came time for the augmentation process he didn't go through it. I also would have been an outcast among you guys as well."
Cortana gave another reply to that.
"I highly doubt you would have been an outcast."
When she said that I spun to face her with an angry shout.
"you have no idea what I went through. I saw the gruesome death of thousands before I even started combat training."
I quieted down to almost a whisper.
"I had to watch all of those people suffer as they were torn apart by their augmentations or worse. I had to watch them all die. Including my friends. I still have nightmares of me helplessly watching my friends get destroyed by their augmentations"
The room was deathly quiet as everyone had been surprised by my angry outburst and the horrors I had to watch. My squad-mates were all looking down in sorrow while the two female elites had sympathetic looks on their face. Cortana on the other hand looked frightened and scared. After a few minutes of silence Casey was the first to speak.
"Devi. We didn't know."
"It's alright. None of you knew."
I walked over to the table and picked up my helmet before I went to the door and opened it.
"I just need some time to be alone."
I closed the door behind me and went back to my room where I spent the rest of the day. That night the nightmares returned worse than others before.
AN Be advised if you are not ok with graphic content then skip the next chapter.