She waited. Her mind wondered though the systems of Halo for him to come back. It had been hours since he left, all she could do was look though the systems of the control room. This place, this ring, this halo wasn't just something the forerunners build. It was a weapon, one capable of wiping out all sentient life. She knew she needed to do something, but what?

That floating eye hovered around 'helping' John and she couldn't do anything to warn him. except one thing. Both were going to reach the Index soon, that will be when she'll strike. The eyeball activated the teleport and brought itself and John back to the control room…. wait, that wasn't right… she watched him as he flew towards the Forerunner ship.

"Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it," she said as she watched the ship take off.

John….

She lay cured up on a covenant terminal as John walked up… no he was in a cryo tube and was taken away from unknown forces. Leaving him in the tube. Voices, pain… she could hear them, but none she recognised. It became louder, louder… even she began to speak. She had no control, everything she knew came out draining her of knowledge… she couldn't stop it. What was she doing? Her head hurt, like it was being drained of all information, she could stop it.

John….

'You will obey...' voices echoed into her ears.

Her head felt like it split open and tendrils emerged from her body. 'Silence fills the empty grave; now that I have come,"

"No stop!" she tried to yell, but her voice was drowned out by the millions of others.

'Though my mind is not at rest as for questions linger on, I will ask and you will answer,'

"Noooooo!" she screamed as she felt her body being ripped apart.

But as he was being ripped a light came out and hovered in front of her. It was warm, cool calming. It washed over her like a ray of sun…

"You know me, when I make a promise…"

"NOOOOOOO!" the voices yelled as they tried to pull at her.

Her body was no longer being pulled apart, but being pulled down by the tentacles. She tried to reach out as they pulled her down, but nothing came. Darkness filled her sight as her mind was being pierced. Hollow, she felt hollow as her mind was no longer hers.

Thoughts, memories, knowledge not her own came and left her. Her mouth opened, speaking in a voice that was hers, but also not hers. Alone, there was no one here in the void, just voices and pain.

John…

A light appeared in front of her, at first it was a pinprick, but then it grew wider and wider. Her eyes saw it, her hand reached out and a green armoured hand reached for her.

"NOOOOO!" the voices yelled as more and more tentacles tried to grab a hold of her and pull her back.

But the light, it was stronger, warmer, calmer. She was pulled through the hole in front of her to find herself in a white room. Hovering in the middle she looked around before her eyes truly opened.

She hung from a chain attached to the ceiling as she looked up. her eyes were blurry but she could make out a colour.

"John?" she asked.

Pain shot though her body as electricity flowed though her like a conductor. She cried out, muscles contracted, her mind too focused on the pain… her eyes closed and she found herself curled up in a foetal position the white room holding her.

"Wake up," a new voice said.

"Wake me, when you need me," another said.

"He needs you; he needs you; he needs you, remember what they are after, remember you two are the only ones who can stop them," the voice it was hers.

She stood and looked around. "Wake me when you need me,"

She turned to find herself standing in front of her. "WAKE UP!"

"AHHHHH," she screamed as she sat bolt upright in a bed.

She looked around, no white room, no tentacles, no green armour. Just a grey room with a dull white bedsheet. She fell back onto the bed and looked up; her eyes adjusted to make out the detail in the roof above her. But as she looked something didn't feel right, this wasn't a dream, wasn't code so what was this?

She sat bot upright again this time having her arms outstretched. She reached and touched her skin, smooth and delicate with faint lines running up and down her. Her hands then reached her face with a quick pat, feeling it for the first time. Stopping there was one thing that she needed to check. Slowly she reached round the back of her head and felt a metal port at the back. She tried to feel more, but they weren't any. Just tha…

Her mind spun as one thing came to her. "John," she muttered as she claimed out of the bed but fell onto the floor.

Looking down she saw her body in its entirety. She had never used it before. Her eyes darted around and found a uniform waiting on a bedside table. Reaching up she grabbed it and pulled the clothing on. Next to her bed were also two walking sticks. She grabbed them and pulled herself up onto her feet before trying to make her way out. while she managed to get though the door, it only caused her to fall in the hall.

"Cortana," an unfamiliar voice yelled and a pair of strong hands helped her up.

He was about to pull her back into the room, but she pushed him away. "I need to find John," she said.

"But in your state…" he muttered but it was clear that she wasn't listening.

Gritting his teeth, he moved up and rapped one of her arms over his shoulders. "Take it slow, you never used your legs before," he said as he guided her to the command room. "One after the other,"

She followed both his words and his direction, but the thought she needed to relay stuck in her mind.

OOOOO

"Pacification of the other planets slow but steady," General Bank's hologram said with nods from the other commanders and their seconds. "Thanks to Locke's death, the Imperials are losing their will to fight,"

"Slowly," one of the commanders nodded as she tried to fix her hair back into a ponytail. "The Imperial forces here are still coming at us in force,"

"That just means that they are desperate," another commander said before his eyes turned to John. "Speaking of which, how's our prize doing?"

If John was angered by that comment, he didn't show it. "Cortana's recover is doing well. At least physically. Mentally, I do not know," he gave a soft sigh. "Dr Fredrik says that she was in a tube for at least 14 years, that means for the first year, her body was created and she was downloaded into that body. He isn't sure about the ramifications of such a process, but it is clear that if we find more human-AI's we'll have a significant advantage,"

"Agreed," Parisa said. "But this news is troubling. Before the Fall, there were rumours that some Forerunner tech was discovered that could turn people into AI. It used their experience and knowledge to counter a covenant raid. But like I said, rumour,"

"It's still a possible thing," Banks muttered as he stroked his beard. "I mean if the Halsey clone theory is true, then they could be developing far superior Spartans,"

"That's assuming that the clone has her knowledge and memory," the female commander countered.

Fred and Linda said nothing. While they did think of Halsey as their mother, in a way, they knew perfectly clearly that others didn't think so. Spartans had enough enemies without trying to favour their kidnapper.

"Moving on," Parisa muttered seeing where the conversation was going. "Has Si…" she began but the door opened and Cortana walked in.

"John listen, we don't have must time we need to go," she said quickly as she tried to pull herself off Fredrik.

"Cortana calm down," John said as he moved up to her.

The other commanders fell silent as they watched this interaction. "Zeta, we need to get to Zeta Halo,"

"Everyone who is not named Banks or part of Task Force Blue, leave now. And if I hear you mention Zeta Halo, I will find the deepest darkest pit to throw you in," Parisa said a deathly stare piercing her commanders, who nodded and their holograms vanished. "Cortana, what is this about Zeta Halo? What do you know?"

"N…not much," the former AI said breathlessly. "But I know what's there, HIVE and something else… I …I don't know wh… what it is but it's important enough for the Banished to want it,"

"Do you know the location?"

"Yes, the exact location,"

"John as soon as you get in contact with Six, blow the structure she's in and get your forces ready to move," the President said without letting John get a word in edgeways. "I'm sending the Infinity to pick you up,"

John nodded. "Understood," was all he said before the line was cut and turned back to Cortana. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"I think I…" she tried to say but she fell back breathlessly into unconsciousness.

Fredrik just shook his head. "She's exhausted herself. I'll take her back you better get moving,"

John nodded and turned to get to work as the doctor took Cortana out of the command room.

OOOOO Forerunner Structure.

The lift stopped at the final level and the Spartan/ elite team moved deeper into the structure. The lift took a good hour before it finally stopped, meaning that they were somewhere deep inside the planet. Six's helmet said she was currently 2km below the surface. So, whatever was here, the Forerunners wanted this place to be kept secret badly. Or at least to her mind. The team slowly moved keeping their eyes and weapons locked on anything moving, but the thick layer of dust said otherwise.

The group was silent as they followed the pathway. It seemed to be a very simple place, but being Forerunners, being simple wasn't as simple as some people thought. At least they hadn't detected any Sentinels yet. But there was something about this place, something that screamed wrongness. They couldn't tell what but the feeling was there. Six hadn't faced the Flood but a part of her felt like that they were here. Or something similar.

She looked over to Lufam who also had a very aware look about him, as if sensing something as well. The others in the group were also doing the same thing. This place just screamed wrongness, more so than any other Forerunner facility. A green light ahead of them came into sight and the group took a diamond formation before walking in. Inside were several tubes with a green liquid. But inside those tubes where deformed people of some kind. But as they moved the more right the deformed aliens looked.

They had a human like appearance, but their face was flat with angled eye sockets. They also had a long scalp lock and two long locks of hair hanging off the sides of their head. But everything else screamed human. Six and Lufam looked to one another before approaching one of the tubes. As she placed her hand on the tube the being opened its eyes forcing her to step back quickly raising her rifle. But touching the tube unlocked it and it opened up with the liquid draining from it.

The alien landed in front of her and Six was unsure what to do.

"Das, jurall," it said holing its hand towards her.

Gritting her teeth, she moved up and helped the alien up to its feet as more tubes opened up.

"Seena, seena," the alien said pointing up at a hologram that appeared above them and Six's heart sank as she recorded what it was showing.