The ship slipped back into real space, and Halsey let out a sigh, flopping back in the pilot's seat. "Finally." She huffed, looking around. "Any sign of that cruise ship?"

Keyes frowned, leaning over the sensor screen feed, frowning. "No… but there is something else." He tapped, highlighting the object.

Halsey inhaled, looking at it. "Incredible…"

"Ma'am," Jerrod spoke up, "I'm detecting Mistress Cortana's phone on the surface of that object."

"Very good, Jerrod!" Halsey smiled. "Take us in." She ordered, glancing at the AI's avatar. "'Mistress' Cortana?"

"It was her idea, ma'am." He answered, and Halsey sighed.

"Fine, just get us to it, close as you can."

"Woah…" Mike breathed, looking out at the earth-like landscape going by below, as the ship glided over the surface, into a dense fog blanketing the area. "I can't see shit!"

"A defense mechanism, maybe?" Halsey curiously muttered, looking out of the cockpit as the ship puttered along slowly, floodlights sweeping for any sign of the teenagers. "This ring must have systems that maintain a natural-appearing climate… I wonder if they're malfunctioning? Or if the people in charge wanted this portion of the ring to be obfuscated. Where are we?"

"A swamp, maybe?" Keyes shrugged, "That's what all these water and plants seem to suggest. I see a clearing, putting us down there." He tapped the controls, putting the ship down in the shallow water.

The craft rumbled as the engines wound down, and Halsey stood up, walking to the back.

"Right," She began, slipping on plates of armor, "We'll go out, find the others, then come back." Halsey outlined, looking sternly at her charges. "The lot of you stay here, understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" Jerome saluted.

Halsey nodded, grabbing a gun that she… really didn't know how to use, just in case there was hostile wildlife, and let Keyes lead the way.

"…that was weird," Alice commented, "No one tried to follow."

"Because we don't need to," Jerome walked over to the screen, turning it on, "Halsey's armor has a camera on it. We can watch from here, in reasonable comfort."

"Ooh, I'll get popcorn!"

Halsey grimaced as the foul water got into her boots, and she walked, tracing the pings to Cortana's phone. "Of all the habitats to construct on a space station… I did not expect a swamp to be one."

"They must've come from a swamp planet, then." Keyes's lips twitched. "The aliens who built this place."

"Evidently it was earth-like," Halsey retorted, "But why the people who built this place chose to keep swamps is-" A twig snapped, and she whipped around, facing empty nothingness. "John? Cortana? Blue Team? If that's any of you…"

The only thing that came back was the chirping of crickets.

"I swear, if this is some sick joke…" Halsey muttered, turning around-

"Greetings!" Only to be met with a floating metal eyeball.

"Ah!" She startled, reflexively shooting it, and Keyes joined in.

"Reclaimers, please use caution!" The little lightbulb flashed and hummed as it bobbed up and down. "My casing is quite durable, generating the possibility that a round may ricochet and hit you."

Keyes and Halsey stopped, looking at each other, ceasing fire, but they still kept their guns ready.

"What are you?" Halsey inquired off the bat. "An artificial intelligence, or a drone?"

"Oh my, quite astute of you to notice!" The floating ball of metal replied. "I am 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Installation 04. Someone has released the Flood."

"The what?" Keyes inquired. If there was a flood warning, they had to get to high ground, now. Unfortunately, that wasn't… quite the Flood that the alien construct was speaking of.

"Surely you know-" Spark cut himself off, humming. "Oh, why it appears the adolescent Reclaimers are in a spot of bother! The Flood is coming quite close to breaching their safe zone!"

"Adolescent-" Halsey repeated, getting in the monitor's eye. "Those are my children. I'm here looking for them. Can you take us to them?"

"Why certainly, Librarian!" Spark hummed as he hovered around her head. "Come, this way!"

Keyes looked to Halsey, skeptical. "You're sure we should trust this thing?"

"It knows where my kids are." Halsey replied, checking her pistol. "For now… We trust it."

"Do keep up, Reclaimers!" Spark instructed. "We have much ground to cover!"

Halsey looked at Keyes, and he nodded, following her into the mouth of a structure nearby. The scientist's eyes glided around curiously as Spark let them to a raised platform on the floor, and they stepped on, the construction being an elevator that took them down.

"Such a shame that containment was breached." Spark hummed. "Why, I've maintained this facility for one-hundred-thousand years with no incidents. Oh well. Containment protocols are still holding strong."

"Containment?" Keyes repeated. "What exactly is this place?"

"Hm?" Spark turned to him. "Oh, this facility's purpose is to contain the Flood infection for further analysis, so that a method of inoculation can be devised."

"Wait, a disease?" Halsey repeated seriously, "You have samples of an infectious disease here, and someone let it out?"

"The single most virulent organism in the known universe, to be precise." Spark answered.

"And let me guess," Halsey began, "It didn't get out until my kids showed up?"

"That would be accurate, yes." Spark bobbed.

"…I'll kill them." Halsey took a shaky breath. "I'll kill-"

A furious screeching echoed around the room, before Spark turned red, firing a particle beam past Halsey's shoulder. Keyes in the woman spun around, seeing a humanoid with cracked, disjointed limbs and sickly beige skin fall to the floor.

"Do please be aware of your surroundings, Librarian!" Spark advised seriously. "Sentinels are able to effectively combat low-level infection forms, but combat forms are often able to pose an effective challenge!"

"What on Earth?" Keyes stared at the body in disgust.

"This Installation contains several Cylixes, full specimens to be used for experimentation." Spark answered. "Unfortunate, it appears the Flood Cylixes have been breached. Likely the cause of the outbreak, I would assume."

"But," Halsey looked at it, then to Spark, "It looks human."

"The Flood is able to repurpose and use the body's own calcium source to reproduce and take control extremely quickly." Spark outlined. "I can share the full breadth of the research I have catalogued, Librarian, but we mustn't dilly-dally. This way."

"See!" Jerome pointed at Douglas furiously, "I told you a zombie outbreak was going to be a viral infection!"

A Flood Combat Form screeched as it leapt through the air, before being blasted away by a round of buckshot.

"I am pleased to report that despite containment breaches, Sentinel forces are more than capable of rising to the task of cauterization and sterilization procedures!" Spark happily hummed as he led the two confused humans across a light bridge. "This breach should be contained in just a few more hours!"

Halsey bristled. "We don't have a few more hours, Spark. My children are in danger, remember?"

"Oh, of course, Librarian, pardon me!" Spark hummed as he led them through the next door. "Their hiding spot should be right in here."

Halsey turned the corner, looking down the ramp with a gasp at the sheer number of shambling corpses. She gulped, pulling back, before growing determined. "Keyes. Give me your shotgun."

Keyes, who had a spare weapon just in case, handed it over to her.

Halsey, gritting her teeth, stood and pointed at the bottom of the ramp, firing, pumping, and firing the weapon again at the mass of shambling zombies below. The weakened bodies howled, falling, before Spark came in, burning the corpses to ensure they couldn't reanimate.

"Down this way." Spark guided her down the tight ramp, into a small hallway leading to a sealed door. "One moment, please." He asked, before blasting the door with a white laser. The lighting in it flashed green, and the door opened.

Halsey walked in first, looking around.

"Mom!" A voice exclaimed, as Blue Team, Oscar, and Kai came out of hiding.

Halsey's head snapped over, as Cortana and John came running up to her. She tossed her gun to the ground, pulling them both into a tight embrace. "You're safe…" She let out a relieved gasp. "You're safe…" She looked between them, scowling. "What the hell were you all thinking!?"

Kai, who had an arm in a sling made from a sleeve torn from Fred's clothing, sniffled. "Man, I just wanted to go on a cruise…"

"It's my fault…" Cortana swallowed, "We saw the ring, I wanted to explore it…"

"We weren't…" Linda gulped. "We weren't thinking."

"Obviously!" Halsey raised her voice, before sighing. "How did you release space zombies!?"

"It was my fault." John grunted, "I got curious. Touched one of the stasis devices. It… opened. Then the others did too."

"We're sorry, mom…" Cortana rasped. "Please, please forgive us…" She shook in fear, holding on tightly.

Halsey rubbed the back of Cortana's head, slowly nodding. "Always… This would be the part where I punished you all, but how long have you been in here?"

"Four days." Fred answered. "We brought food and water from the lifeboat we sto- commandeered, but it was about to run out."

"Four days with those things beating on the doors…" Halsey shuttered, still hearing the howls of the feral monsters. "That's punishment enough." Halsey turned to Spark. "The Flood, is it…"

"Contained!" Spark happily reported, earning a surprised look from the Spartans in the chamber. "Sentinel forces are in the process of sterilizing an outbreak at the far end of the facility. Once their mission is accomplished, I will do a systems sweep to ensure no further outbreaks can occur."

"All right," Halsey nodded, letting out a breath, as she fell to the floor.

"Catherine!" Keyes jogged over, looking her over.

"Oh dear!" Spark bobbed worriedly. "Librarian, are you injured? Do you require medical assistance? I would be more than happy to service you."

"No, no…" Halsey waved both of them away. "Just… fucking space zombies."

John nodded in agreement.

"Do not worry, Librarian!" Spark ignored Halsey, "Installation 04 has a full array of medical facilities, suitable to treating all forms of illness. Come! This way!"

Halsey looked up with a scowl, before all of them became surrounded in rings of gold light, and vanished.

Down became up, up became down, and inside out became right-way-round before reality snapped back into place.

"Ah!" Fred yelped as they all materialized.

"Ow!" Kelly grunted underneath him. "Fred, get off of me!"

"…on second thought, I think I'll stay where I am." Fred grinned.

"Fred, there's people around us." Kelly growled, "And if you don't move, they will be witness to a live and celebrated castration."

Fred paled, shooting up.

"Oh dear, it appears the coordinate data has slipped," Spark hummed, "Forgive me, Librarian. This will only take but a moment." He hovered around, getting close.

"No, no, no!" Halsey pushed him away with a scowl. "I said I'm fine! And why do you keep calling me that? It's Doctor."

"Oh, changed your named again I see." Spark remarked. "Very well, Libra- Doctor. If you're certain there is no damage to be repaired, I'm afraid I must be forced to take you at your word."

"Thank you…" Halsey replied with a sigh.

"Hey, my arm…" Kai frowned, moving it. "It doesn't feel broken anymore."

Halsey looked to Spark, demandingly.

"There is a low-level healing field in this chamber." Spark hummed sheepishly.

Halsey sighed, rubbing her temples. All she wanted was to get back home, take a nice long bath, and maybe get blackout drunk to forget the fact that she fought fucking zombies today. "Look… We fixed your zombie problem, I've got my kids back, can we please just go?"

"Go?" Spark replied, gasping. "Protocol demands that any potential security breaches to any of the active facilities of the array must not be allowed to exit with strategically valuable information!"

Keyes scowled, "And who set that up?"

"Why the Didact, of course!" Spark replied, looking to John, causing the boy to take a step back. "Surely you remember outlining the protocols."

Halsey gritted her teeth, leaning over to Keyes. "Not to alarm you… but I think this thing is rampant."

"There are very extensive protocols outlined in order to ensure the Array isn't compromised." Spark continued. "I was under the impression that when the imprints were awoken, all of this knowledge would return. Unfortunate."

"Look," Sam got in front of the thing, "We don't care about protocols, or security breaches, or whatever. All we want to do is go home."

"Out of the question!" Spark gasped, puttering around through the air. "There's no guarantee you would remain silent about the-"

"We could bring you with us." Cortana suggested. "That way you can make sure."

"What? No!" Halsey looked at her, "What!?"

"It's the best option." Cortana grunted. "I'm sure Spark doesn't want us to blab, but we can't stay here on this ring without things like food." She outlined quickly, looking at the robot. "That thing is a stickler for protocol. I bet it's three-laws compliant, aren't you?"

"Hm?" Spark hummed. "Oh, why of course, Librarian." He tilted forward, causing Halsey to facepalm. "I know all the protocols! I have all the best protocols!"

"It occurs to me," Kelly whispered to Fred, "That we're standing in front of an ever-so-slightly barmy AI of unknown make."

"Oh, no shit, you fuckin' think?" Fred replied under his breath.

"Hmm…" Spark tilted himself curiously. "I would be honored to join you, Librar- Doctor." Spark replied. "But I'm afraid I can't simply abandon my post… Unless…"

The room began to shake.

"Ah!" Oscar looked up in terror. "Earthquake!"

Spark chuckled. "Oh, don't be ridiculous. That's simply my Installation's maneuvering impulse thrusters engaging to propel it into the gas giant."

"…WHAT!?" Halsey bellowed at the monitor.

"Protocol is clear that, without a monitor present to handle potential Flood outbreaks, the installation must be put into a position where it cannot be used." Spark answered happily. "Though I'm certain my creators have devised methods to construct a replacement installation, as well as Ancillae to staff it. Oh, how I wish to see the day-"

"GET." Halsey hissed at the monitor. "US. OUT. OF. HERE."

"Oh, dear, of course, you're right." Spark hummed, before the gold rings surrounded them again.

An enormous streak of light plunged into the atmosphere of the gas giant Threshold, as a small corvette shot away from it like a bullet, transitioning into slipspace.

Halsey flopped back in her seat, sighing, as they moved.

"Hmm, quite regrettable." Spark hummed. "But necessary. Am I to understand, then, that we were successful in vanquishing the Enemy?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Halsey noncommittally replied, wanting nothing more than to throw the lightbulb out the airlock… but they were stuck with him, now.

That was her life now, stuck with people.

Damn it, she thought the constant stress and being worried about the kids' lives would've stopped when ONI kicked her to the curb with the Spartans.

…and then the Spartans somehow managed to stumble onto a ringworld. With zombies. Built by ancient aliens.

Her life was just… weird. So, so weird.

Well, at least with everyone back aboard and on the way home, she could give Blue Team and the rest of them a long talk about why she told them 'no' sometimes, and they could put this whole incident behind them, forgetting it ever happened.

…well, except for the floating, talking lightbulb that seemed to fancy Halsey, John, and Cortana some of his makers, and himself their manservant because of it.

Halsey got a wicked smile as she realized something.

An alien AI. More advanced than anything humanity had made. And he was willingly coming along and pledging himself to their service. Despite Jerrod obviously being a bit jealous at the newfound competition, Halsey could only see the positives.

…besides, the last time she thought it was the end of the world when she found new people in her care, it all turned out okay. Maybe it would this time too.