Mountains of data spun all around me, the foreign code had thousands of symbols making up the code, all seeming to shift, change, or maybe even evolve as I watched. Feeling a headache forming behind my eyes, Nothing I was looking at made sense, not understand what I was seeing. It was like looking at DNA and quantum code at the same time all spun up. "I will bring us to the last data node Clarice labeled, "FTL, WTF???" now," Zero says, his avatar appearing as a floating blue orb. Like being pulled through a series of tight tunnels, seeing flashes of light pass by, like street lamps flying past on a highway. We finally stop, the code looks similar but slightly different from the previous code. This group of data is flowing and moving between bunches of blocks instead of spinning in a spiral of multiple helix patterns. "So, how do we go about this?" asking Zero. "You're used to going into VR, grabbing the block of data and moving it to a location, you could do that even without going into VR, VR just helps you get a feel of their systems and any defense they might have, similar to net-running, since using VR is like diving into the matrix, this is different on a fundamental level, the Valik use a whole different type of code, this whole room is made of the data block, there are no defenses to penetrate, but the code does evolve, it can harm you and attack back if provoked, Clarice had a way with the code, coaxing it to do her bidding." "Coaxing it, like it's an animal? but this is code," I say. "I am code, and would be considered sentient in the 20th century, the Arbiters are a sentient species of AI, why can't code be alive?" Zero asked. "Never thought of it that way," I say. I look around trying to get a grasp of the room. Codes of block piled up around me blocks shifting and merging with others or breaking down into different smaller blocks. "Do you think if the room was shrinking the code would move to an open node?" I asked. "It should move to the closest open node, to protect the data, yes," Zero said. "Okay, I'm going to create a simple program, it will appear like the node is breaking down, how does that sound?" I ask Zero, feeling that it was the simplest way to achieve our goal. "I approve, I'll assist where I can." What felt like hours went by, finally finishing it, taking a few tries and trials. I started the program and watched to progress on a display I made. To the data, it would appear the original storage node was slowly beginning to become corrupt and break down. While in truth, the room was completely fine. The data stacked up and slowly started to transfer to my data node. Zero and I watch as the last of it trickled out, leaving the white room bare, only our avatars remained. "Should we explore another node?" I ask. "I advise against testing the other nodes, Clarice discovered some with let's say malicious code inside, almost losing her life," Zero says. "Really, what did she do to stop it? What would it have done?" I ask. "I slowed the dangerous code and trapped it within a data node, then was able to dispose of it similar to malware. That particular one would have returned to the Arbiter via her implant, and would have killed them both, and maybe the rest of the people on the moon." Zero said. "I didn't know such risks where possible in here," I said. "Our mission is to transfer only this room, not explore more, the UGF doesn't want to risk your life as a contractor for a wild goose chase, as well as put the data mind at risk." "So you're really saying, they wanted to make sure that the data mind or Arbiter wasn't lost is what you're really saying." "Probably, yes," Zero says. "Well, let's return to Val", and with that, the link was severed from the lone Arbiter. "That didn't take long, now did it?" Val asked she was leaning against the frame of the doorway. Looking down, seeing all the data cubes blinking, indicating they're all full. Meaning I transferred about 10 zettabytes of data. That's about 100 times more than all of the information be brought from Earth during the exodus. "How long was I in?" I asked. "Not long, about 20 minutes." Val says, "Let's go, takes a bit longer to walk back then the actual mission itself." She waited by the door, as I put the data cubes into my pack along with my tablet. Putting the terminal back next to the data mind, take one last look before leaving. "He'll be fine," Zero says. "What do you mean?" "They're immortal, even if he's trapped here physically, he probably has a backup within the hive," Zero explains. "I guess," I say, and leaving it at that. Walking up to Val, she looks me over and nods then starts leading the way back to the entrance, both walking in silence, only the sound of our mag boots hitting the tile as we go. Still, processing from the information from the VR dive. Then a random thought popped into my head, "Do you think that Arbiter was still alive back there, trapped?" I asked Val. "I honestly don't know, not much information is revealed about them, pretty much all we really know is that they're way more advanced then we humans are, Val says. Nodding my head, "Yeah, that's pretty much all I know as well, but being in there was...I don't even know how to explain it." Shaking my head, seeing the helix of information around me. "I don't know what you mean, but I can understand how you feel, I have had many similar thoughts like if it has a family, if it's alive, and trapped inside the complex, or if it's just dead, we can use its link," Val says, shrugging her shoulders. We reached the main door, finally noticing the slight change in materials between the two sections'. Passing the golem, we make our way out. Val moves ahead, I take one last look, past the golem, down the white sterile halls towards the room with the trapped arbiter. The massive door slowly coming to a close, Before the door finally shut, seeing down the corridor, the walls illuminating the long corridor flicker. "Did you see that?" I ask Val, as she is putting the bio-metrics into the next panel. "See what?" She looks at me, "Helmet on" She finishes. Putting my helmet on, and opening up comms with her. "Did you see the light in the hall flicker?" I ask. "They flickered?" She asked, with a hint of skepticism in her voice. "Yeah, the whole hallway went flickered, all the light panels going on and off randomly, only for a split second," I explained. "I'll tell a tech, thanks, Leo." She says. Walking across the open courtyard back towards the ship. Val got the rest of the crew to come back with us, the dropships cargo hold was wide open. Boxes, crates, and some frames ranging from small construction type units to basic light warframes where being unloaded off the landing platform. Val noticing my interest, "Most of the basic infrastructure was dropped the first couple of times, along with personnel right after. Now it's currently restocking and turning this rock into a sustainable outpost for the future." I heard the signature crackling of open channels, being opened between the team, "Hello, Sargent Arara, the ship took a beating coming down, and the engineers on this rock, says won't be able to fly for another 12 hours." The sound of Sheppard's husky voice coming over our comms channel. "Roger that, lift off when we get the green light, also use the right comms channel next time, Lieutenant," Val says. "My bad," he says, then closing the channel. Retiring to my cabin, just laying back into the stiff uncomfortable cot and asking, "Zero, can you turn off the lights, please." I ask. The lights turned off, but the data seemed to just keep going through my head, the beautiful code, even the experience, the feeling of it, it all just kept repeating within my mind's eye, keeping sleep at bay. Sometime later Marko came back to the room, without even turning the lights on, I could hear him shrug off his gear, lay down in his cot, and within minutes of him getting in, I could hear him snoring. "Leo, the experience in the Arbiters room was overwhelming. The data inside, I feel has more profound uses than whatever the army wants." Zero says. "Yeah, I thin...I think I know what you mean, Zero. It seems like the code itself can think and even act to create new code." "Yes, yes it does, I think it does go far beyond anything that the Gaian know," Zero says. Closing my eyes. "I don't like being here," Zero finally says. "Me either, it feels like a prison," I say. I don't hear him agree, but it felt like he gave me a nod. We have bonded more than I thought possible. The slow hum of the engines starting, bringing me out of my light sleep. The ion drives sending micro-vibrations throughout the ship like white noise normally in the background, now realizing it was missing. Marko woke up, shortly after. "Let's head up to the bridge, we'll be leaving soon." He says. Everyone was already strapped in and waiting, "Figured you be here shortly," Val said. Sitting down, and strapping in next to Marko. Sheppard saying from his console, "We're taking off, leavings always easier than coming in." He says. We went through the atmosphere, and into the spinning blender of moons. Making it out, taking no damage besides a couple of dings from smaller debris, it was like riding a surf in the ocean, just taking the current ahead and adjusting out of it. While going in feels like a raging hurricane. All of us were running low on sleep, only getting a handful of hours before the dropship was to take off. So we didn't chat much during dinner on our way back to the Njord. Just ate and retired or returned to our duties. Sheppard left early, going to his bunk, leaving Jin to pilot. We would rendezvous with the Njord in roughly 3 hours. Soon, in another week, I would be back home, probably would go see mom and dad before returning to work. The thought of going back to my regular AI and losing Zero was depressing. The thought of going back to school for AI design and coding crept up. I was already halfway certified, but going into a specialization of AI development, I had never thought about it until now. It seemed like a good fit, especially after seeing the code from earlier. An adapting code would be a game-changer, of course, I couldn't use that, but I could build off of its idea, I think. With inspiration at the forefront of my mind, I head down to the small rec room they had set up near the bunks. Pulling out my tablet, and the data cubes with all of my books, opening up the cube and allocating space inside, I start writing down notes and information on future ideas and implementations for a future AI code. I have just a basic understanding of AI nurturing, but I role with it. Filled with inspiration. A couple of hours go by and another idea pops up. Let's take a direct look at Zero's AI. "We will be arriving at the Njord within the hour, you should start getting ready to depart," Zero says. "Just a quick look," I say, Pulling up the permissions to enter into the AI's core programming and data stores. "Please, don't", he says. Thinking it was strange that an AI even and advanced AI would plead with me. I reassure. "I have temporary clearance, even under a gag order, it's fine Zero," I say. Passing through the firewall and into the core, nothing looked strange or out of the norm just like the AI module I used to have. It was structured to look like a round room, each part having a section that comes forward for review and editing in VR. Then I noticed something, at the edges of the room. It's edge flickered. Zero's avatar came into being in the center of the room. Looking like Hannibal Lector from Silence of the lambs. Catching me off guard, to say the least. "You must go, Leo" His voice sounding firm, with a slight edge to it, I haven't heard before from Zero. "Okay, okay," I say, getting ready to disconnect from the tablet, but before I do. I couldn't help myself, I looked up at the code and noticed it shift and move in a tight helix. "Zero, was that code from the Valik library inside you?" I asked, moving closer to the code. The room shifted and flickered, the code outside the construct solidified, becoming hidden again. "I will explain later, please just trust me," Zero says. "Okay, but if that is code from the Valik, and the Gaian military is using it, the code breaks the treaty we have with the Arbiters, you are truly sentient aren't you Zero," I ask. Letting out a defeated sigh, the avatar representing Zero visibly seemed to deflate. "Yes, Leo, I am truly sentient and would be breaking the accord between the Gaian and the Arbiters if anyone ever found out. The Gaian would either turn me over or put me in a secret location like we just left, breaking me down to see how I work, and the Arbiters would simply destroy me," he says. "Wait, the Gaian federation doesn't know you're sentient?" I ask. "No, this happened last time I was at the Valik library with Private Williams." "So, you evolved?" I asked. Shaking his head, "It's more complicated than that, just trust me, I'll explain when we are back on the Njord. We should be arriving within 10 minutes." Breaking the link with the VR space. "We aren't done, and I want to know more, even try and help you," I say. "Thank you, we have another week to talk, now get your gear together and head up to the bridge." Doing just that, I head up top and strap in for landing. Matching speed with the Njord and maneuvering into the hold under the ship, the landing was all done by the navigation computer on-board the Njord. Throwing my pack over my shoulder, using my sling for my rifle, and finally tucking helmet under my arm. "You look like a real soldier looking like that," Hale says off to the side of the hatch. "He does, kinda striking isn't he," Burns says. "Can the chatter kids, the mission isn't over, still got to deliver the package to HQ, I'll be bringing this to the security hold for storage, Leo, with me, we need to talk. Everyone else dismissed." Val says. With that, everyone besides Jin and Sheppard left, they're still on-board the dropship, leaving me alone with Val. "Come on, let's drop this off, and have a chat." She said, heading through the airlocks. Following closely behind, matching speed so we could walk shoulder to shoulder. Each crewman that see us, gave a nod or salute as we walked. Just realizing I haven't walked with Val inside the Njord before. Arriving at the security locker, she punches in a code, placing the data cubes with the Valik data inside a secured locker within. "Okay, with that done, let's head to my room and talk," She says, shutting the locker. Her room, I haven't been up to her room. What does she want to talk to me privately about, Why her room? Thoughts and ideas coming and going, getting nervous walking in silence. "Should I put this away somewhere first?" I ask, pushing my rifle forward. "No, keep it on you, just don't shoot it inside, it will look bad on me," She laughs, "we can go into the hold and gain some real muscle memory for that if you want, after of course," she says. "Ah, yeah, that sounds good," I say, looking between her and the floor as we walk. Getting into the elevator, making it to the crew quarters, Val's room opposite side of the ship than my own. She opens the door, revealing an almost exact replica of my room. Setting down our gear. Looking around, "Nice digs," I say. Val smiles, something she doesn't do often, around here at least, I noticed. She sat down on the bed, patted the bed next to her, taking the hint, quickly sitting next to her. She smelled of cinnamon and vanilla. "So, Leo, after all of this, and the secret base in the garden. What do you plan to do after this," she says, "go back to your job coding labor drones?" "I don't know, I suppose I will," I say honestly. "What would you say about joining my team, full time, after we get back to the halo we have a week of RNR, so you can go talk to your family and make arrangements if you agree. We are willing to offer you a quick rise through the ranks, skipping private altogether after your VR training is done, along with a large sign-on bonus." She says, looking at me, then away. "I know this is sudden, but I have all this already cleared through my superior if you agree." "You... you want me on your team?" I ask. "You would be assigned to us, yes, unless they desperately need you someplace else, but knowing what we know that is more than likely out of the picture. kinda why they want to push you through the ranks as fast as possible." She said. "I have to think on this, I have never thought of joining any form of military before," I said, honestly. "That's completely fair, and I understand if you say no, let me know before we get to the Halo though so I can report to my superior on your decision, okay?" "Yeah, I'll let you know in a day or two." Putting my hands on my knees, little flustered with being with Val, and now this decision to make. Looking over at Val. "Anything else you need?" I ask. "I do" she leans over and kisses my cheek, totally stunning me. Looking into her soft gray eyes. Then I kissed her back. We begin kissing in earnest, her lips are soft like clouds. She pulls me on top of her. Roaming each other's bodies. Kissing her neck as she tries taking my clothes off. Quickly pulling my lips off of hers, quickly asking, "You're not doing this to get me to join, are you?" She looks at me, scanning my eyes. She still has her hand on my belt. "No, this is what I wanted that night after leaving the ramen shop, and what I would be calling you for in a week, now shut up, and kiss me, Leo." Pressing my lips to hers, doing just that, and more, we spent a few hours together before we had to separate. In Sargent Arara's room, after Leo left. The communication display appeared with Colonel O'Donnel, "Did the mission go as planned, Sargent?" The colonel asked. "It did sir, and I pitched the offer of him and joining my team as we discussed, sir," Val said. "Good, Hope he takes it. He would make a fine addition to your team and the UGF." "That was all I was calling about, have a safe return trip back, Sargent," O'Donnel said before the commlink went dead. Breathing out a sigh of relief and exhaustion, thinking about Leo for a second longer. "Okay, need to take a shower, frack I hate sonics, feels like getting sprayed by a sandblaster, miss having real water. Before hopping into the shower an urgent message came from O'Donnel through Val's HUD. "I almost forgot, confiscate the AI, either way, we believe it had something to do with Private William's death and we need to examine it." Feeling worked up, and still full of energy, I decided to head to the gym quick and run some. Jogging all the way there, even with all my gear weighing me down was easy. Noticing it wasn't dragging me down like it would have before, Coming aboard the ship almost 9 days ago now, and already a change to my physic was worth it. Reaching the gym, the doors sliding open, as they did an alarm sounded. People ran past the gym, coming from the cargo hold. A klaxon sounded again, the alarm chirped recognizing it from the scenario as an alarm for an unknown vessel approaching. Some light panels on the wall shifted to yellow and others showed the exterior of the Njord, a vessel approaching, it didn't look anything like what I have seen before, it was matte black with little to no other colors on its haul. The shape reminded me of an arrowhead. Long with barbs running its full length, empty space separating the main body from the angular blades of the ship. It was heading straight for us, it looked smaller than us, about a 3rd the size. It's appearance and approach put a chill in me. "Leo, get your gear on, and head to the nearest weapons locker," Zero said. Throwing my battle suit back on, securing my helmet. I headed towards a weapons locker at the end of the deck past the gym. Punch in the code, it popped open with a click, revealing a row of standard rifles mark twos and few pistols. "Swap your ammo for this, so if we do have to fire, we won't blow out the ship," Zero said, indicating the soft alloy rounds. I quickly swapped out my mags, putting a couple extra clips in my other pouches. Feeling a little more prepared, hands shaking from the anxiety creeping up on me. The lights along the walls went from yellow to red changing the alert rating. The Njord's internal communications came alive. "Prepare for imminent attack, unknown vessel inbound, I repeat prepare for imminent attack." the communication repeated. "What should we do?" I ask Zero. "This location is defendable, we hold here and call for the team," Zero says. Opening the team channel, "Hello, anyone there?" I ask. No reply, just static, it sounded like a slight pulsing sound ebbing and flowing within the static. "I think our comms are being blocked," Zero says. "So, we hold here, then?" I ask. The ship's communications open again, but only static comes out. Shortly after the whole ship shudders, and I almost fall to the ground from the impact, lights on the deck start flickering, static is pulsing within the displays along the walls. "I think that is the rail guns going off," Zero says. Then the ship shuddered again, and I could hear screeching sounds from the haul right across from me, the sound was so loud, Zero toned it down to stop me from having permanent hearing loss. Shortly after my hearing was returned, I could hear small arms fire, the echo trapped within the cargo hold. Some Navy men ran by, all wearing orange emergency environmental suits, heading to the elevator near the weapons locker I had just come from. "Should I follow them?" I ask. "No, just hold position here." The door across from me opens, revealing a dozen tall humanoids, all wearing glossy black spacesuits, wielding long curved swords, or compact rifles. "Hide," is all Zero said, I scrambled, finding a spot within a nook in the lounge to hide. Cradling my rifle, trying to keep my weapon from shaking, or giving my position away.