January 11, 13246, 21:12 GST. (January 11, 2008, 21:12 UTC Earth Equivalent.)

System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station

Theglia frantically entered the coordinates into the computer in front of her. The system would be updating in minutes, and when it did her intrusions wouldn't just be detected, they'd be deleted. But only if she wasn't finished. Most of her squad, fellow Forerunners who had gotten her this far, lay dead behind her, their blood staining the rough stone floor.

There wasn’t much she could do for them now, except complete the mission. When she’d joined the Forerunners, it never would've been like this. There had been ways around the system. But every decade there was a new patch, and every patch closed more holes and restricted more freedoms, until they were left with no recourse. Other than to resist using brute force. Her friends behind her hadn’t fallen to beasts, maniacal bandits or killer robots. They’d died deflecting the system away from Theglia. She was the only one with the skills to ensure a smooth integration. To give the next wave a chance to do what they couldn't. Now, only Theglia and her sister Belthar remained.

With the co-ordinates locked in, Theglia moved to connect the integration matrices. These were highly experimental matrices that would allow the new members to have priority access to normally restricted aspects of the system. They’d tried using these cores on system-integrated species, but the system prevented removal of existing cores. And even children couldn't bind these cores. The system started early. Through experiments that Theglia was ashamed to have been part of, they had discovered that even at birth, the system would link proto cores to babies. And you couldn't remove a core without killing the host.

So now Theglia was preparing an AI that would graft these cores into volunteers, though the term volunteers could only be used loosely. There were restrictions on what an integrated could say to free sapients. Especially strict for an AI. So the AI would have to take some liberties. At least it should put them on a relatively safe world for their integration. Whether they'd be able to return to their home would be up to them.

Checking the connection, Theglia paused when she noticed Belthar on her knees clutching at her head. That was a good sign. It meant the system hadn't killed her in a single scan. They might just have enough time.

The irony that the core she was loading was the most impressive space-time related matrix ever discovered by a non-Creator species was not lost on her. Whoever the AI selected for this core was going to have abilities even the Creators would fear.

Ha. Serves them right, the bastards.

Glancing out the window, Theglia saw the accretion disk that surrounded the nearby world of Akilo. Akilo had been inhabited once but then the system had marked it as a training world. The exodus had been one of the greatest challenges of her life. She knew that hidden inside that black hole was an entire star system, reserved for Creators to play in. Black holes were used to keep any but Citizens out of their little developmental worlds. But with a direct connection to a space-time matrix, Theglia expected the user to be able to bypass that restriction. Eventually.

Theglia didn't slow as she ruminated on the Creators and their little pet worlds. She'd practiced this procedure as often as she could before they started, but she still didn't feel fast enough. She had to get everything in place before the patch hit. If she could do that, then her custom code should allow the AI and the matrices to be integrated without being deleted or restricted.

After loading the last core, Theglia turned to her sister to let her know it was done. But she'd been too slow. Her sister was staring up into space, the system having ripped out her soul when she denied it access. If only they'd learned this wave was being integrated sooner. They just hadn't had enough time.

Sitting down next to her sister, Theglia closed Belthar's eyes and prepared to die.

They'd done what they came for. It was a long shot, but they'd done the impossible. This would be their last mission. Looking out once more, she watched the disk continue to spin, slowly making its way around an empty hole in the sky. It was beautiful.

Whatever came of it, the Forerunner Initiative had begun.