January 11, 13247, 21:29 GST. A long time ago. Specifically, five minutes after the Forerunner Initiative began.

System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station.

Theglia couldn't believe it. She was alive. The System had updated, but it didn't remove her. It didn't send System avatars to hunt her down. It was like it didn't consider her a threat any longer. Fighting against it for years then suddenly it gives up.

It didn't make sense.

She supposed she should be grateful, but she'd been ready to die. They all had. No one had been chosen who hadn't lived for at least five centuries. That was the cutoff. Because no one made six. To live longer, you had to advance past Gold. Whatever came after Gold was off-limits. Unless you were a Citizen. And she hadn't seen a Citizen in decades.

It's possible there had been others, before, but the System controlled access to all reliable long term record storage. And only Citizens or Builders were allowed access to files from before they were born.

And it's not like you could ask a Creator. They're notorious for ignoring the 'lesser species'.

Unless they were hunting them to extinction or playing with them. Safer not to draw their attention.

Theglia shook her head and stood up. Sitting here ruminating on the state of the galaxy wasn't going to help anything. For a second she considered contacting the artificial intelligence, but it was already surfing the mana-swarm. She wouldn't be able to get a clear connection for decades at a minimum. But she could report back, let the remaining Forerunners know her team has done the impossible. She could practically hear their cheers. There'd be a party to celebrate her success and return from the dead.

There'd be no mourning for her dead friends. They'd said their goodbyes and shed their tears before slipping aboard the supply cog. Savagamus, the rite of before and after, had been held instead of a funeral.

I guess I'll get to watch little Barthelm gain his class after all. He's been so excited to join the team. I'll have to keep my eye on him, make sure he grows up strong, like his mother.

Her eyes turned to her sister's body.

It should be you watching over him as he earns his place Belthar. I've always been better with machines than people.

Stepping carefully, Theglia picked her way back towards the supply dock, her way illuminated by her glowing blue eyes. A necessary modification to complete her work. One of many she'd made.

The cog would be gone by now but another would arrive soon enough. The System could transport small objects instantaneously, but it relied on cogs, massive freighters to handle raw material shipments.

And every primary Nexus used substantial amounts of raw materials. The Forerunners theorized that System rewards were created in the primary Nexuses, but no one had ever found proof. The fact that non-Citizens tended to be vaporized if they tried to teleport into a primary Nexus tended to discourage exploration. As did the fact that the supply cogs were actively hostile to integrated civilians. Unintegrated too. Everyone really.

Theglia sighed when she saw Duluth lying at the entrance to the docking bay. It had been his idea to use the temporal matrix as a cloaking device. After all, how do you detect something outside of time? That had been an unsettling experience. One moment cowering in a crate, the next awakening inside the station. But it had worked, they'd remained hidden. Right until they'd needed to step off the cog. Then the System detected them, initiating its emergency counter-insurgency routines.

Routines which hadn't been as overwhelming as Theglia had feared. Yet they'd still been horrible.

Duluth had been the first to fall, forcing the System to focus all its efforts on him. He'd bought them the time to make the hallway. Theglia liked Duluth. They'd taken a tumble more than once, though it'd never been serious. He had the same tendency to disappear into his projects that got Theglia into trouble with her own family.

As they'd made their way up the hall, Juthd had been the next to fall. Theglia hadn't really known Juthd well. She'd been a Forerunner for less than two decades, as green as they came. She'd only joined after losing her entire family to a creator's fanatical purging of her home continent trying to kill a Reaper. Her sacrifice got them to the first door.

Joth got them through that door. He'd volunteered for this mission because he couldn't do anything but fight anymore. Something had broken upstairs. On his good days, he knew it. He'd been glad to have a chance to die helping the cause.

If we'd only realized all those damn puzzle doors would be here, half the team would have survived instead of just me. But no one thought we'd need a dungeon guru in a primary Nexus. I'm just glad I used to run dungeons back when I was young and foolish. I might not be a guru, but at least we weren't stopped for long.

Kithtoper and Amathla got them to the command centre where another door awaited them. It had taken the sacrifice of Thabita and Simoth to make it inside. Which had only left Belthar and Theglia.

I expected we'd have to cut down at least one of our Other Selves the System is so fond of, but the doors were the only obstacle. Other than the System itself of course.

Stepping forward, Theglia removed Duluth's flask from his belt.

"Thanks," she gestured to him as she took a swig. Duluth never went on a mission without his lucky flask filled with Gathenite whiskey. It was awful stuff, but that didn't matter. It was a tradition he'd followed since his first dungeon. Said it saved his life at least once a decade. Theglia had heard a dozen different versions of the story, but there was always a bit involving a bristleback boar, a freet-shooter and a parachute.

She never did find out what a freet-shooter was.

Taking another swig, Theglia stood then walked over to the loading dock window. She didn't know why there were windows in the primary Nexus. She'd never heard of anyone visiting one. She couldn't imagine a creator coming to one of these utilitarian outposts. When they weren't disrupting the Core Worlds, they were either on their paradise worlds or busy playing out their 'little' apocalypse events.

She was about to turn away when she realized she had a notification.

Theglia's hearts froze in shock.

She hadn't had a System notification in nearly a century. Not since she'd started work on the first of the specialized matrices.

Warily she brought the notification up in her vision.

"Hidden Quest completed. Proving your worth V. Requirements: Make a significant contribution to the System. Incorporate a unique matrix into the System 9/1. Exceptional performance effect: Citizen status granted to recipients of all Astral Grade matrices. Reward: Citizen status. Return of System interface. Quest: Another Time unlocked. Quest: Restoring The Lost unlocked."

"Achievement unlocked: The Few Who Stand."

"Welcome to Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009, Citizen Theglia Yhodlath."

"Would you like to know more?"