Chapter Eighteen
TIME: DATE RECORD ERROR ANOMALY \
Time Unknown, Date unknown \ In slipspace \
aboard Forerunner ship Titan
John had little time to contemplate the situation. Once Johnson and Griffith were reunited, he headed out of the medical ward. The Spartan was not accustomed to wandering; following orders was engrained in his psyche, and even during rest periods he always moved with purpose. This, however, was different. He had nobody to answer to, and very little answers. He was deep in thought when he ran into an old friend.
"Finally!" cried Kelly. "We've been wondering when we'd have you ready for action again."
John smiled. "Good to see you too. Where's –"
"I'm right here," said Fred, coolly rounding a corner. "About time you got out here to see us. We've been waiting for a while."
"Well, I'm here," said the happy Spartan. It felt like ages since he had last seen his squadmates. Much like his first departure to Alpha Halo, John had been unsure if his friends had survived. He was once again glad to be reunited with his fellow Spartans.
The trio walked through the ship, recounting their stories to each other, each one more fantastical than the other. John's encounters on Halo 05, Gravemind, the secrets of Onyx, the Dyson Sphere, and Cortana's miraculous rescue were all retold with fascination and curiosity. The outrageous had truly become the norm for those who now occupied the Titan.Sadness permeated John's mood as well, though, as the realization of his fallen teammates and comrades throughout the tales fell heavy on his heart.
"So there's another copy of Cortana floating around?" John finally asked.
"Well, mostly yes – per se. She calls herself 'Joyeuse', says she's Cortana's sister," replied Kelly.
John frowned. He began to wonder if this was the reason for Cortana's peculiar behavior. He had grown used to her human-like qualities, but she had turned into something much more volatile. That was a discussion best left for someone else.
"So how exactly did you guys get out of the – what was it? Dyson Sphere?" he continued.
"Well, that's a very long story," interjected Dr. Halsey, who had caught up to the group. "But I suppose it can be summed up. We found this ship, with a little help from Mizore, and it created a rift through slipspace that brought us back to this dimension. Quite fascinating, when you think about it –"
"So you guys just had a picnic until you found this ship, eh?" John joked.
"Oh, no, there are plenty of stories to tell about our exploits in the sphere. But we've got no time right now; I'd like you all to meet me here in five minutes." Dr. Halsey handed them a datapad with coordinates overlayed onto the ship's map. "Mizore will guide you."
The Spartans looked at each other quizzically as Catherine briskly walked away.
"Guess we have some more surprises in store," said Fred. "Mizore!"
The old man glowingly rose from the nearest holographic projector.
"Yes, Frederic?"
"Fred!" scowled the Spartan. "Can you get us here?" he asked, pointing to the navigation point on his datapad.
"Certainly. Please be still."
Light enveloped the three soldiers and they vanished. John felt the familiar, gut-wrenching sensation of teleportation, and moments later they were standing at their destination. Queasy, the Spartans noticed that lining the walls and dotting the room were various pieces of equipment, between which several Huragok, or Engineers as John had come to know them, were floating. Though a somewhat bizarre scene, the Spartans began to recognize these pieces.
"Our armor!" exclaimed Fred.
"Yes," said Dr. Halsey, as she hurriedly stepped through the door. "We've finally got the means to modify it. These aliens are very useful," she gasped, a bit out of breath. The Spartans looked at her with concern. "Oh, don't mind me, I just prefer walking to molecular dematerialization," she quipped.
"We've run into some technological advancements since I last saw you," she continued, interrupting John before he could begin to ask any questions. "However, we lacked…technicians. Luckily, now, we have these Engineers to help us!"
"Finally," chortled Kelly. She turned to John and added, "We've been waiting for these for a while."
"Kelly, Fred, please stand in these designated areas," Halsey asked curtly. "Cortana, please have the Huragok begin procedures."
A series of chirps, clicks, and beeps rang out from the communication system in the room, and the Engineers broke immediately broke into action. The tiniest bit of disappointment welled up in John; he was always first to volunteer for better equipment. He pushed the silly emotion aside, however – he was sure there was a good reason for this.
The doctor continued, "These are Mark VII suits with some nifty modifications. As you know, Mizore led us to uncover the technology that we've integrated with ours. On our brief stint on Earth, we were able to recover ONI's last great contribution to the Spartan program before…." She trailed off as the Engineers continued piecing together the armor onto Fred and Kelly. "Well, as you will see, the armor has been tested on Linda –"
John's stomach lurched – how could he have forgotten about Linda?! He turned as a slender-armored figure strode from a room beyond the mass of floating Engineers. The armor was not far from his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor, except it held a pale gold sheen and her visor was narrowed into a 'T' shape. The air around her rippled, though, as though she was encased in another dimension.
Impressive.
The Spartan raised two fingers and swiped them across her visor and John smiled. At least his mind's betrayal had not completely ruined the moment.
"– as you can see, it's fully functional," rambled Dr. Halsey. "We've tested it in the ship's artificial reality chamber, where you'll be testing all yours as well."
Linda marched down and sat on a seat opposite John and removed her helmet. The scars on her face caused his mind to wince as memories of Linda's death and resurrection, or so he thought of it, flooded back to him. She continued to smile, though, and the Master Chief could not be more thankful to have seen his best sniper once again. He had indeed been lucky to save her, but she had returned the favor not long after her recovery.
"Nice of you to join the party," she laughed. "You're gunna love this armor."
John began to answer, but Halsey cut him off, "Actually, his armor isn't going to be quite the same as yours."
"We found one particular piece of technology that stood out, mainly because it was whole. I was planning on having Fred don this equipment in your absence, but seeing as you're here…."
From the ceiling descended an encasement of sorts, a glass tube that neatly contained several pieces of constructed metal and synthetics. Its dulled colors could not take the luster from the container, as each piece seemed to vibrate with life on its own. A pulse of excitement ran through John as the compartment revealed its contents to him as his mind raced:
I suggest you upgrade to at least a Class Twelve combat skin. Your current model only scans as a Class Two, which is ill-suited for this kind of work.
An insidious laugh went unnoticed in the Spartan's subconscious.