They gave voice to their destruction,
But its voice eclipsed their own.
That which drove their actions,
And drove them from their homes.
Halo: Primordial
Chapter 2: Stream
"We're calling it the Tide."
The meeting had only just begun, yet Akaash was already drifting off. He didn't care that that Upernavik was talking, the Florian just as commanding as he had been fifteen years ago. He didn't care that Irt was giving him a look of condescension, or that humanity's best and brightest, Forthencho and Yprin Yprikushma included, were here. All he cared about was that it felt like fifteen years since he'd last slept, and dietary supplements could only keep him going for so long.
"The Tide?" Yprin asked. "Why 'the Tide?'"
Because it comes and goes, sometimes going with the river, sometimes defying it.
"Because it comes and goes, sometimes going with the river, sometimes defying it," Upernavik answered.
Told you.
"Bit melodramatic, isn't it?" asked Manush, an apostle all the way from Sankrata. "Usually I'd go with a more formal name."
"If you want the formal name it's in your slates," Upernavik snapped. "But I'm calling it the Tide, and quite frankly, I shouldn't have to explain this to you."
"Rich," Forthencho murmured. "But then explain to us why after fifteen years, no progress has been made."
Akaash had to hand it to Upernavik – he might have been two meters shorter than the lord of admirals, and small enough for said lord to break his neck with a single thumb, but he still sat there in his high chair. Meeting his gaze. Staring down-"
"Apostle Ranjan, perhaps you can tell us about this…Tide."
Crap.
Akaash shot upright, his elbow falling off the table. Irt let out a clicking sound that he'd learnt was the human equivalent of a snort.
"Are we boring you?" Yprin asked, leaning forward. "I can send you back to Charum Hakkor if you want."
I'd like that.
"Well?"
"Not until my task is done," Akaash said, causing some of his fellow apostles to roll their eyes. The number of experts working on the Tide had increased exponentially over the last fifteen years, just as much as the Tide's spread itself had. Regardless, he got to his feet and walked over to the window that looked out into space from the table. Clicking his fingers, a hologram was superimposed over it, displaying facts and figures.
"The Tide," he said, "is what we're calling this pathogen. I say pathogen because it's defying any kind of classification
"Explain," said Manush.
Akaash manipulated the hologram to show cell replication. "This is an image of a Tide super cell, see subject one-six-three for reference. Basic mitosis akin to bacteria. Enters a living organism, replicates, brings harm to the organism."
He altered the hologram again, this time showing images of two gene sequences. One human, one san'shyuum. Both were being consumed.
"This is representative of DNA and RNA alteration of subjects six-two-six and two-five-nine respectively. Their genetic material is being altered to suit the pathogen."
The hologram changed again. It showed a pheru.
"And yet, it arguably bears resemblance to a parasite as well, at least in the pheru. Manipulation of the host's behaviour to further spread the pathogen." He looked back at the group. "That's what we're dealing with. What everyone is dealing with."
"And what, after fifteen years, you have yet to deal with."
The words came from Forthencho himself. Akaash tried to meet his gaze. Unlike Upernavik, he only lasted a few seconds.
It was Irt's turn to rise. For once, he was happy to hear her voice.
"You want solutions, I understand," she said. "My people are also suffering from this. The Tide was capable of crossing the species barrier, and we've set to see a single sentient species capable of resisting infection."
"Excuse me, if I may?" said one of the visitors, a Denisovan named L'kar. "But it seems to me that we're making too much of a fuss of this."
The scientists stared at him.
"Think about it. We know this originated with the pheru. They're its initial vector. However this spreads, its symptoms are clear. All we have to do is enforce complete isolation, separate contagions into their respective sectors, and deal with them as they crop up."
"No."
It was Forthencho who spoke. And it was Upernavik who spoke next.
"Negativity, I like that," he said. "Tell me, why are you even here? This is an issue of health, not a military one."
"If you believe that, you're a fool," Forthencho said.
"Then enlighten me."
"Fine," he said. He walked over to the holographic slate, holding up his hand. A light flashed within the flesh, and the image changed to show a cargo ship heading towards a verdant world. It was heavily damaged, and warships were pursuing it.
"This occurred over M'tesis," the lord of admirals said. "A cargo ship, all its crew infected by a single pheru they were transporting."
"I thought we banned their export," murmured L'kar.
"We did, but demand remains, and when there's demand, people will do whatever they want if there's something in it for them." Forthencho sighed. "But that doesn't bother me. What does bother me was that when customs ships arrived, scanners indicated the loss of all hands. Bio-signs dead."
"So?" L'kar asked.
"So it's quite odd that they'd turn the ship back towards M'tesis, its trajectory being its capital city. And I think it's quite odd that after fifteen years of sickly, dying humans and other creatures, images recovered from the ship's astro-recorder showed this."
The image changed. Gasps and curses rang out through the room. Akaash included.
They were undoubtedly infected by the Tide. But these were different. So far, every human, san 'shyuum, and other alien had been incapacitated bar the pheru. But these were different. They were upright. Warped. Mottled. Clawed. Dangerous. And clearly intelligent enough to fly a starship. At least until it was reduced to debris by the warships surrounding it.
"This is the tactic of invasion," Forthencho said. "Your Tide has got enough brains to take over a ship and try to spread from a civilian population centre. So yes, this is military."
"But not a solution," Upernavik said. "What are you going to do, purify every world the infection has touched?"
"If that solves the problem, yes."
Shouts echoed throughout the chamber. Finger pointing, name calling, accusations, declarations, everything under Charrum Hakkor's sun. Akaash sunk into his seat. Irt rested her face in her hands. Forthencho and Upernavik looked like they were about to come to blows.
"Enough!"
And might have if not for Yprin's voice. She glared at those assembled around her. Slowly, they returned to their seats.
"This is pointless," she murmured. "This bickering, these solutions, they aren't mutually exclusive."
"They are," Upernavik protested. "We're trying to save lives, not eradicate them."
"And so far, you've failed," Forthencho pointed out. "Curing this disease has failed. It's spreading. What happens if it spreads outside our space? What if it's already done so?"
"So what?" Akaash asked. "If it infects aliens, who cares?" Irt glanced at him. "Besides the san 'shyuum of course.
"At best, we'd be dealing with enemy strongholds. At worst, it could enter Forerunner space."
"What?" Yprin asked.
"If a pathogen from our space enters theirs, what then?" Forthencho asked. "An attack, an excuse, however those bigots see it, they have the reason to enter our territory to deal with it. There's no way to survive a war from without or within."
"And even if it remains within," said Magnon, a Neanderthal and aide to Forthencho, "if the Forerunners see us as weak, they could think us destabilized enough to annex our territory."
"Would it come to that?" Akaash asked.
"The Forerunners are bigots who think the Mantle theirs, who think themselves better than ourselves, and think they're the apex species of the galaxy."
"So what's the difference between you and them then?" Irt murmured.
If anyone besides Akaash heard her, they didn't show it. He glanced at her. She glanced back. Then they both glanced at Yprin.
"I want projections," she said eventually. "Infection rates, number of infected, dispersion." She turned to Upernavik. "If you don't have that data now, coordinate with all our other research stations and get them to me within the interval."
"That's not solving the problem," Forthencho protested.
"No, but it might help. So our finest minds here will do their work. You, on the other hand, are going to help enforce containment."
Upernavik went to speak but was cut off.
"And when I say containment, I mean containment. Keep it where it is. Don't let it spread. And if it leaves our space, find it, burn it, and anything it comes into contact with. But I don't want human lives sacrificed because it's the easy solution."
"And if it enters Forerunner territory?" Forthencho asked. "What then?"
"Then gods have mercy on you, because rest assured, I won't."
Another silence filled the room. Though Akaash could tell it would last longer. That the meeting was over. And as everyone else rose from their chairs, as conversations were held in the sides of the room, as Upernavik stormed out ahead of everyone, it was an assumption that held true. So in turn, he made his way over to Irt.
"Hey."
She let out a grunt.
"That went well."
"I shouldn't be here." She glanced at him. "I should be with my own people."
"Come on Irt," Akaash protested. "We're all allies in this."
She snorted. "If the jaggermaw scatters the pack, it's every colo for itself."
"Jaggermaws aren't found on Sanghelios."
"Well biology's overrated. Point is, a collapse is nearing. And if we're all going to be…" she shuddered, "infected, I want to be with my own people."
Akaash opened his mouth, then closed it. He wanted to protest, that they were still a single alliance, that helping here would help the san 'shyuum too. But he remained silent. Partly because after only being allowed to visit his own homeworld once a year, he could sympathize. And partly because, deep down, he knew she was right.
"Akaash?"
He turned, seeing Yprin before him.
"You hanging in there?"
He shrugged. "Sort of."
"Yes or no," she said. "Trust me, I'll be getting so many 'maybes' in the next interval, it'll be nice to have a distinct answer."
"Well I'm sorry, I can't give it to you," he snapped. He blinked his eyes. "Sorry. I just…"
"No, it's fine," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "We're all fighting the same battle."
"Is it a battle though?" Akaash asked. "I mean, I heard what Forthencho said, but-"
"We're all fighting the same battle. I didn't say you have to worry about every front."
Akaash nodded. Smiling back, Yprin walked past him. He went for his own chair, wanting some rest before he returned to the day's schedule.
"Oh, and Akaash?"
He turned back to face her.
"Talk to Upernavik will you? I respect him, but this disease, I think it needs a better name than 'the Tide.'"
"Sure," Akaash murmured, barely listening and rubbing his eyes. "You're our political and morale commander. You got a name?"
"A few," she said. "But I was thinking of 'the Flood.'"
"Flood? That's a bit melodramatic isn't it?" Akaash asked, though remembering that Manush had said the same thing. "I mean, if it's a river, it's only just started…well, running."
"Maybe," she murmured. She looked around, before heading over. She leant down beside him.
"The problem though," she said, "is that I have my fears that the river is flowing faster than we know…" She stood up straight again. "So it's about time we dammed it, don't you think?"
Akaash nodded. He couldn't disagree with that statement.
Or ignore the threat behind it.
A/N
Minor note in that ch. 3 will have a bit of a wait behind it, as I'll be down in Canberra from August 1st to the 4th, which covers my usual update period. Expect the next chapter in the week afterwards.