[RP Log] Librarian

[one_one_se7en]

Characters: OPN!Master Chief | John (one_one_se7en), AU!Cortana (lightandreason), Guardian Mist (datastreams), OPN!Mizuno Ami | Mercury (waterfell).
Where: Requiem, Librarian's chamber, UNSC Infinity.
When: Some time after Mercury's arrival.
Summary: After Mercury's arrival, the UNSC Infinity is now under the objective to flee from the gravity well. However, the wife of the Didact awaits with a gift, and a warning: He is leaving Requiem.
Warnings: Violence, Blood. PG-13.

The Grunts and Jackals panicked after their leader's head disappeared. They let out screams in their alien language as they tried to reorganize, telling the stupid jackals to pick their beam rifles to aim before they were torn apart by a 14.5x114mm round. The Promethean Knights, guiders of their faith, are the ones that attempt to teleport around to try to spot the assailants -- before being shot and dissolving in a mist of light.

None of the group present knows what to do, or where to hide, as another round outright destroys another body.


"Hit."

Over a mile away, comfortably tucked above a plateau, there is a seven feet tall Spartan laying prone beside his companion, staring at the position below with a pair of binoculars. In spite of carrying another sniper rifle beside the one wielded by the tiny blue girl, he is instead calmly observing and guiding her along, more like a father bringing out his daughter to hunt ducks.

"Focus your breath. Take notice of gravity and wind. Soften your pulse."

Comments

[waterfell]

What a lot of people don't realize, is how much the job of a sniper depends on physics. It's not about aiming and shooting; it's about calculating all the conflicting and varied factors to get that aim right with ever-changing variables.

Ami can do physics and immediate calculations. She doesn't even need to refer to any printed chart, as many trained snipers do. Obediently, Mercury lets John's steady voice calm her. Once she is totally still, she makes a last-second adjustment before she fires.

Her lips pull upward before he even has the chance to confirm the result. She has no pity for this enemy, any more than she would if it really had been nothing more than a hunting trip.

[one_one_se7en]

He doesn't move his sight from his binoculars when her rifle cracks. He spots a Promethean Knight dissolve after two seconds of delay.

"Hit."

The Spartan scans for more threats, marking a Jackal that was taking cover beside another of his kind, signalling to his companion towards a beam rifle as they had a heated discussion too far for even him or Mercury to hear.

He tags the target with his visor to mark it on Mercury's rifle.

"Where'd you learn to shoot straight?"

[waterfell]

She's quiet at first while she sets up her next shot. It doesn't take much imagination to guess the topic of conversation down below, and to decide it's a conversation best cut short.

Mercury finds the exercise strangely soothing. She can lose herself in the calculations, and feel the grim pleasure of her results. And it's a way to spend time with John. When she's ready, she shoots.

Only then does she answer her companion. "I'm just learning quickly." After all, no need to teach her a steady hand and steady head. She'd come from a good starting point.

[one_one_se7en]

John patiently waits for the answer, already used to long times of zen-entranced silence in shooters. He comes to remember Linda would take hours, days in absolute silence and motionless to wait for her target.

With a quick revision of his binoculars, he nods to confirm another kill.

"Keep it up." He tags another Promethean Knight that tried to materialize a binary rifle to seek for them. "Because it will help you. When you least expect it."

His time in the multiverse taught him, even the powers he lived with for a long time could be stripped away or changed in a second, forcing him to rely on other abilities. While not even the Forerunner seemed to show a similar power... he learned not to completely put down some possibilities.

As Mercury prepares for the other target, he mentally requests Cortana for newer calculations of wind, atmospheric pressure, and gravity... and his HUD fuzzes.

[lightandreason]

"I'm sorry..." Her answer comes with a delay she regrets. The information finally appears in John's screen to his side. "Here are they. There are still some targets below. Take them all out before the wind gets stronger."

Her instructions are laid out in a more forlorn manner, as if she had been tired.

Whatever was done to keep her active, Cortana realized, could perhaps only be temporary. Smart A.I. weren't simply able to 'get over' rampancy. Personality matrices fragmented, and more power was needed for all of these new hers.

She had been struggling to contain her sadness. Seeing this, she is realizing that John moved on for all of the five years without her.

[waterfell]

Cortana's slowing down. A part of Mercury's mind notes it - and then notes something about that expression, something about a look she knows has been on her own face far too often in her younger days. It's the look she used to wear looking at Usagi: wanting to be with someone, and knowing so absolutely that there were so many other people instead, so many that your absence would never even be noticed.

The sneaking feeling of understanding makes her irritable, and almost grudgingly sympathetic, at once. She settles for the irritation. In the end, she nods instead of saying anything; she neither snaps at Cortana as a part of her would like to, nor draws attention by offering any hypocritical words.

If the wind if rising, she'd better hurry. She's done well so far, but she doesn't trust herself with conditions much more chaotic than this. A bit quicker this time, she finds her aim, and shoots. She repeats the feat several times in quicker succession this time, and if one of the targets needs a second shot... well, he still goes down.

[one_one_se7en]

John softly mutters.

"Thank you, Cortana."

Right now, a part of John knew these words were necessary. Theirs had been a silent pact for years that they acted for one-another. But reminding her that she's still useful -that they've been wanting to return to Earth for Halsey- is important.

He passes over the information. More shorts follow, muttering 'hit' with every target that falls in one, maybe two rounds such as the higher-ranked Knights. Little by little, it becomes hard for him to spot much movement. He comes to rely on technology to spot them.

A recent addition to his armor lights on, an artifact Mist and Cortana patched from Forerunner technology to operate with the MJOLNIR called 'Promethean Vision'. Threats would usually be a glaring red amidst the blue background.

After looking through his binoculars, he doesn't register anything else. He lowers his binoculars.

"That's the last of them."

John looks around one last time as his arms lean him up, before giving Mercury the 'all clear' signal. He nods to the entrance of the Forerunner installation, in a road below steep hills, artificial roads of the Forerunner, megastructures, and walls that melded with nature.

"The road's clear."

[waterfell]

Mercury's smile is accomplishment, not gratitude; she's pleased with herself for her success. She's also aware they have little time to celebrate it; this is not a hunting expedition, but their way forward for this battle. Quickly, she's ready to move.

"Let's go," she keeps her voice low, as if they might be heard even a mile off, even with no ears left down there to hear them.

She's more interested than she's letting on. This is a glimpse of something left behind by a prior race - something she knows all too well. A vanished civilization. She wants to see what's been left behind.

[lightandreason]

"There should be a way to remotely sabotage the guns from inside the structure. If there is, I think there should be a way to get them to shoot at eachother... Just be careful. I think radio's going to cut off the moment you two get inside."

She remains as the expert in Forerunner technology, even with the changes and improvements John had now. While she had that power, she vowed to make it count.

Cortana marks the nav points for the Master Chief and for Mercury to take, until they reach the structure.

[one_one_se7en]

The Master Chief ignores the clear glass below their feet as they rise through the platforms, passing through caches of Covenant and Promethean weaponry. The supernaturally smooth metallic doors slide open to their sides, with a width that could have gathered a whole squadron in at once -- not that he would ever do such a thing.

Radio begins to fail the second they cross through the wide hallways. Cortana's assessment was correct. They would be isolated from the rest of the task force until they finished their mission.

Another door opens... revealing a colossal room inside, almost resembling the nave of gothic cathedrals on Earth, with their icy-smooth arches that rose above them on a lighted ceiling that could have almost been confused by sunlight for a small second. In some ways, it's almost as if human architecture was inspired by this, ancient knowledge long forgotten, but never truly lost.

His rifle bolts up the second he spots another Sentinel with blue lights... which ignores them as it floats to a door which opens on its own. Its single light turns back on them, remaining motionless. Almost as if it was waiting for them.

[waterfell]

Suspicious by nature, Mercury finds it very difficult to believe they're being shown in by obliging sentinels. She notes John seems to agree quick enough when her sword is in her hand just as his weapon lifts. More likely, this is a trap.

Well, that's fine. Sharp eyes and ready hands should still get them out of the trap - and right now, this is still where they need to go. Onward, then. She shows no fear, and goes forward, alert.

She can't fail to notice the similar architecture, much as the Grecian temples and palaces of old, and even the ancient Earth Palace, strongly resemble the Silver Millennium's styles. There had been nothing better to emulate.

[one_one_se7en]

There is silence as John continues moving by the side of Ami, the four of them agreeing without a word that it was a trap. What continued to puzzle him was how they had the same colour before the Didact was awakened... and yet, these Sentinels were unlike the ones of the Halo rings, or of the Prometheans of the Didact.

One of them joins its partner in showing a door to the Spartan and Mercury, and turns to them. With the humans, and those allied to it, they seemed almost friendly.

They cross through more of these colossal structures, not once lowering his guard. John fought away the constant feeling he got of strange familiarity when moving inside Forerunner structures. A bigger door the height of the room opens in front of them, to slowly reveal dozens of reactors to their sides flanking a lone bridge hanging in the abyss. All of the sentinels remain blue, hovering many meters above them, while the few still on a height close to them make way for the pair.

The reactors, and the defense systems on the console, are orange... they are in the control of the Didact.

[lightandreason]

"Mist. Keep your guard of him. I'm going in."

Cortana gives her a brief warning. She knew something was going to happen, but not knowing was what bothered her the most. The Captain Del Rio thought they would have to do without scouts -without intel!- in their rush to leave the planet. All this was doing was forcing the four of them to correct his mistakes! Endangering the lives of others...

No. She had to focus.

When she enters the console, the sights and sensors of the weapons come within her senses. With everything she learned back at the Halo rings, this would almost be no problem. While she cannot lock on the targets, she can disable the FOF sensors on the machine, blind the current programs protecting the machine from friendly fire, and calculate a trajectory for all of the canons into their own following positions within the Shield world.

Mercury and John would be able to hear rumbling from outside of the installation. Her plan worked.

"Done. Let's get out of here and..."

Another A.I. It moves in through her systems without effort. It's not like the one of High Charity, but strong. It moves too fast. She entered her systems. She had to get out of here.

"Chief, someone's here--"

Her avatar vanishes.

[one_one_se7en]

His hand immediately came over to the terminal.

"Cortana? Cortana!"

He turned back -- but the Sentinels are still ignoring them. Something is off. His combat senses run high once again.

"Mist. Where did she go?"

[datastreams]

"There was another AI here. I've already begun tracking their signal," Mist answered. There was an almost palpable sense of hesitation, so brief it might have been imaginary.

"You know they expect you to follow her." It was a warning. What happened to Cortana, in Mist's view, was a pretty transparent trap. "Keep your guard up."

They were words that probably weren't needed by the Spartan and the senshi; but the advice was given anyway.

[one_one_se7en]

What puzzled him the most was that the A.I. didn't fight back until now. That they were still expecting them to move was even stranger. Not even Promethean Knights are appearing.

A bridge of light appears all of a sudden, along with a door sliding open.

The Spartan pauses for a moment, expecting enemies to come out... but nothing appears on the radars. He carefully nods Mercury forward, telling her that they were going in through more passages.

The Sentinels guide them once again, not even in hostile chase or retreating speed. They eventually lead them to another big door. Seven of them, which once again give way to let it open, revealing a beam of energy in the center.

Another sense of familiarity.

Without a warning, even lowering his weapon... John walks towards it.

[waterfell]

That willingness to lower his weapon earns John a quick look, and Mercury tightens her grip around the hilt of her sword. Nothing on the radars doesn't mean nothing there. She knows that all too well. He knows that all too well.

"The energy reading inside here is extremely high," Mist warns. The edge to her voice says much more than the words themselves. She is nervous. The readings are abnormal, then.

For a second, Mercury considers calling John off, blocking his progress, telling him to stop. But even to her, the way forward is, well, forward. She's drawn, more by curiosity than by whatever innate force impels her comrade, though her eyes move quickly, already searching for any tiny thing out of place that might give a clue to the truth behind this 'welcome'.

There is obviously no more pretense of their own secrecy. Finally, she speaks out, steeling herself to keep her voice clear and firm. "Who's there?"

[one_one_se7en]

The beam absorbs them.

Then, as the light dims, Mercury and John begin to see the same visage. Something that didn't feel too different from the dreams they would share. The lines of his HUD turn absent in this visage, and yet he raises his weapon when he sees something coming from the light.

Familiar.

His weapon lowers. As the figure lowers... she turns familiar.

"I am a personality imprint. All that remains, of the Forerunner once known... as 'The Librarian'."

John blinks from behind his visor as the tall Forerunner takes shape, much different from the Didact. Whereas the warrior-god was a grotesque figure with only hatred and domination in his mind, encased in dark armor with orange linings, this one...

Was different. Almost human. Gentle, solemn, and mournful, but kind.

She levitated, wearing a softer version of Forerunner armor, unlike the Didact whose cumbersome armor was meant to destroy. The similarities to all women John had known in his life become strikingly familiar, as if she had been an old person he had seen in his birth. For a split second, he could see Parisa, Halsey, Cortana, Ami, and even his first mother in her.

The Forerunner illusion looks down to him -- more like a mother watching over a child that had grown after years in absence.

"I have waited for you for a long time, Reclaimer. All plans that had been set in motion for this very moment... Have all come to pass."

At first, the Forerunner watches John. Then, her sight turns to the girl, puzzled. Curious. A new creature within her watch.

"But you, you are familiar... and yet so different. Like everything humans had, and could become if humans inherit the Mantle to shelter all living things."

She is fascinated. She accompanied this Reclaimer, had much more advanced technology... and yet it is reminiscent of everything she sought to protect, and accomplish, for humanity.

"Who are you?"

[waterfell]

The words, the benign presence, it all calls up something in the very back of Mercury’s mind. She has a sense of something like a half-remembered dream. She almost knows what it is, almost remembers the form of a queen stored in the computer systems as a safeguard against what, none of them knew until those final moments…

A queen she’s turned against. One who betrayed her loyalty, and so forfeited it. The similarities between the two personages make Mercury guarded, where the same warmth makes John welcomed. She shifts her posture, and her weapon is still at hand, though she makes no threat with it yet.

No threat, but she does not bow even to this Forerunner; she stands tall and proud at her full height. She presents her sword formally, “The soldier of Water and Intellect,” she announces herself to the Librarian, “Mercury.”

This does not go unsupported by Mist, a perfect miniature duplicate of her mistress as she hovers in the air and announces her further titles. “She is the soldier of the Water Planet,” Mist affirms, “but furthermore, she is the royal heiress to the Mercury Kingdom.”

In a world where humans still thrived on Earth, Mercury, too, must be known. Right now, in battle dress with her royal sigil hidden beneath the gem of the soldier’s tiara, the styled princess looks more ready than regal; but there is a certain innate poise that gives credence to the titles.

[one_one_se7en]

The Forerunner entity looks at the new A.I. in awe, clearly speaking through the mind of the Reclaimer. This ancilla, Mist, was of a familiar weave, but different in its execution. More woven into the fabric of reality itself.

And this visitor. From the ancilla's memories, he understood what she meant. The goddess Mercury, of the human Parthenon after the sacrifice of their race.

"It's amazing." The Librarian whispers. "You are not from our universe. You are something else completely different from this world... and you came through their engines. For the Reclaimer."

The Spartan turns to the Librarian.

"This... was beyond our wildest dreams, for the thousands of generations of planning for the ascent of humanity. Beyond what the seeds we implanted in mankind would achieve." She turns to John, for a moment envying human ability to smile freely as she caressed the human's armor. "Your mutations... your combat skin... even your ancilla, Cortana. While different, there is so much in common between the two of you, like the branches of a flower giving way to different flora."

Then, her expression almost returns to sadness.

"You two... could restore humanity, and let it ascend, to what it was before my husband, the Didact, wrathfully committed against mankind."

[waterfell]

"I'm not here to help humans ascend," the Senshi tells the Librarian plainly, naming them as though she sees herself as separate from them. Perhaps once, long ago, she had believed all that rhetoric about supporting humanity's growth and guiding their evolution and development, bringing them to what they should be. It had ended in suspicion, mistrust, and war. It had ended by the very hand of the one who was supposed to be destined to protect it. Ideals do poorly in that type of soil. So now, if she is offering aid at all, it's for the sake of the man standing beside her. And it's a very different, harder, type of help. "We're in the middle of a battle."

It would still be easy to lose herself in investigating all the implications of this parallel evolution, and for a moment, she has a keen understanding of the Librarian's interest. It softens her only enough to relax her posture. She almost, almost thinks of suggesting that she might return, for both of them to discuss this, to share their worlds with each other, to have the deep, unfathomable pleasure of conversation with someone who understands that same drive and impulse, to breathe in the possibilities of what might be...

She shuts her mind to that. If it happens, it will be later; here and now, she is still not entirely at her ease. "You led us here for a reason," the senshi prompts the Librarian. "What do you want?"

[one_one_se7en]

The Librarian's expression slowly drops, as she closes her eyes. So like what the Didact was before his descent into madness, before he turned into the monster even the rest of the Forerunner condemned.

She is helping the Reclaimer. If not to help humans ascend, to protect him, and let him achieve that.

"The Didact is leaving Requiem. He is on his way to reactivate his ship, the Mantle's Approach. Neither of you must allow it."

The Spartan raises his head. Leaving? Forerunner were paranoid enough not to leave tools... but this world was different from any of the rings. There was a reason these warriors -these Promethean Knights- were not present, either.

"He seeks an artifact the Forerunner hid from his reach, the Composer." From behind them, a representation of the mechanism appears. A behemoth almost the size of the UNSC Infinity. It makes John wonder how big would have Forerunner ships really been. "It was an artifact first meant to erase the line between digital and biological entities. It was meant to make us immortal, immune to the Flood..."

The expression of the woman turns regretful.

"But its results soured. Personalities were fragmented, even the ancillas were vulnerable to the corruption of the disease. When we tried to return the minds to their original forms... All it did was create abominations."

John stepped back. The environment began to change. Little by little... he saw visions -- not so much being set loose into his mind, but unlocked. Of an empire the humans ruled that defied even the might of the Forerunner, of the Flood, of their defeat and the last war of the Forerunners.

And of the Didact's desperation, and revenge.

"And yet, in the Didact's madness... he sought it. Against his own children... and my own..."

The Librarian's expression almost cracks. John comes to not remember, but feel her grief when another visage arrives.

Of the Composer firing. Of the men, women, and children consumed.

[waterfell]

This is not the time for pity, but the sight cannot fail to unnerve even Mercury. It shows in the tension of her shoulders, the way her hand grips itself tighter. She may have refused to be their benefactress, but the humans in this simulation are no enemy of hers; she finds she dislikes the sudden, abrupt, wanton destruction unleashed among them.

She is not so silent as the man beside her, not so accepting. She listens as sharply as she speaks, and she already imagines this artifact in other hands.

"The Composer should also be destroyed," she says simply. Her advice would be different if this world were her own, and if she could have the opportunity to examine and study it herself. But if that cannot happen, she has no intention of seeing it with someone else.

Of course, this sends them precisely where the Librarian wants them to go anyway. "Tell us where this ship is located, and about its defenses."

[one_one_se7en]

The Prometheans. They're human.

The realization strikes John. It was not the Elite Guard of the Didact. They were victims of the Composer and trapped in those bodies. Enslaved. Corrupted.

If he is not stopped, more would follow. More slaves.

Did the Didact not realize his own hypocrisy? That he was unleashing the same horror as the Flood?

"The Didact is resting beyond your ship's reach. It is trying to connect with the rest of Requiem to awaken his vessel. If that happens..."

[magistermilitum]

Even in death, she continues to meddle.