Editing Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian

{{Title|''Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian''}}
{{Status|RealWorld}}
[[File:Evo MITHOM Artwork.jpg|150px|thumb|The cover of ''Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian'' by April Martin]]
'''Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian''' is a short story written by [[Frank O'Connor]], which is featured in the book ''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''. It follows the story of an [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]] named [[Michael Baird]] in battle aboard the ship {{UNSCShip|The Heart of Midlothian}}, with the help of the [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] [[Mo Ye]]. The story takes place shortly after the ''[[Halo Legends]]'' short film ''[[Prototype]]''; the beginning of the motion comic adaptation even depicts the battle featured in the short film.

The story was adapted to motion comic format by [[Juan Richard Feliz|ONE]] and published on ''[[Halo Waypoint]]''. 

==Plot synopsis==
{{Spoiler/begin}}
The story starts aboard the UNSC ''The Heart of Midlothian'' with ODST Sergeant Michael Baird being told he has [[cancer]]. The ship's [[Unidentified medical technician|medical technician]] tells Michael that his disease is easily treatable and that the procedure will take about an hour. The operation begins with the ship's AI Mo Ye watching over him. While Baird is asleep, the ship is ambushed by a small [[Covenant fleet]] just after it drops out of [[Slipstream space|slipspace]], and the surprised crew members are overwhelmed by the [[Boarding (attack)|boarding parties]]. As Mo Ye tells Baird about the events that occurred while he was unconscious, he asks why she cannot just wipe the NAV database, as per the [[United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1|Cole Protocol]]. She tells Baird that this boarding party was unlike any other, as they systematically separated Mo Ye from these essential systems to prevent her from doing so. She also reveals that they had brought aboard a never-before encountered Covenant [[Huragok|species]]. In order for Mo Ye to start the self-destruct sequence, Baird needs to travel to the [[bridge]] and manually boot her systems. She is able to tell him this because she had left a small piece of her coding behind to watch over Baird's procedure. In addition, while she is limited to this piece of coding, she is physically incapable of doing anything that will harm a human due to [[Three Laws of Robotics|Asimov's First Law of Robotics]]; as a result, she can not self-destruct the ship either, as this would lead to the death of Baird.

Armed only with a fire extinguisher, Baird sets out for the control room to manually destroy the database, but encounters a small group of Covenant, consisting of four [[Unggoy]], two [[Kig-Yar]], and one [[Sangheili]]. He snaps the first Kig-Yar's neck by smashing its head with the fire extinguisher. He then uses the fallen Kig-Yar's [[Vostu-pattern carbine|Covenant Carbine]] to take out the next. As the Unggoy begin to disperse in fear, one accidentally runs into him. As they look at each other, Baird notices an [[Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword|energy sword]] running through the cowering Unggoy and himself. He looks up and realizes the leading Sangheili has stabbed him with his sword. As the Sangheili pulls away, the Unggoy falls dead and Baird loses consciousness. 

Baird is awoken again by Mo Ye, who leads him to a medical cabinet containing "[[Rumbledrug]]s", known to be used by [[Insurrectionist]]s when fighting [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTANs]]. It is known as a suicide drug, slowly destroying the body, but temporarily making it totally impervious to pain and capable of amazing feats of strength. Using these drugs, Baird, with about an hour to live before the medicines kill him, makes his way to the control room, where he encounters more of the boarding party, including the leader, who is the same Sangheili who had stabbed him. Baird drops his weapons and says he will give them the coordinates of [[Earth]] if they let him escape. As the Covenant begin to raise their weapons at him, the Sangheili roars at them to stop and communicates with the Huragok onboard. The Sangheili then agrees to let Baird do what he asked to do.

Instead of giving the coordinates to the boarding party, Baird reconnects Mo Ye to the ship's systems. Despite the AI's restored access to the ship, she notifies him that she still cannot circumvent Asimov's First Law in her current state. Baird then punches the Sangheili as hard as he can, breaking his hand and the alien's jaw. He begins to taunt the Sangheili, who responds by beheading Baird with its energy sword. With no humans left alive onboard the ship, Mo Ye is no longer bound by Asimov's Three Laws and proceeds to self-destruct the ship. After initiating a fake countdown, causing the Sangheili commander to order a retreat, Mo Ye tells him that there is no need for any countdown whatsoever. She promptly detonates the destroyer's nuclear charges, destroying the entire ship. The inferno also engulfs the Covenant ships that had ambushed the destroyer, leaving only debris in its wake.
{{Spoiler/end}}

==Appearances==
{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-5|title-1=Characters|
*[[Michael Baird]] {{1st}}
*[[Mo Ye]] {{1st}}
*[[Ghost (Marine)|Ghost]] {{Mo}} <ref name="HE82">'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''page 82''</ref>
*[[Unidentified medical technician]] {{1st}}
*[[Maud Baird]] {{1st}}
|title-2=Species|
*[[Human]]
*[[Huragok]]
*[[Jiralhanae]] (video) (motion comic only)
*[[Kig-Yar]]
*[[Sangheili]]
*[[Unggoy]]
|title-3=Organizations|
*[[Covenant]]
**[[Covenant military]]
***[[Special Warfare Group]]
****[[Covenant Special Operations]]
*[[United Nations Space Command]]
**[[UNSC Defense Force]] 
***[[UNSC Marine Corps]]
****[[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]]
****[[UNSC Marine Corps of Engineers]] {{Mo}}
***[[UNSC Navy]]
****[[UNSC Special Forces|Naval Special Warfare Command]]
*****[[Spartan-II program]] {{Mo}}
*[[Insurrectionist]] {{Mo}}
|title-4=Locations|
*[[Algol system]]
**[[Algolis]] {{Mo}}
*[[Sol system]]
**[[Earth]]
**[[Wikipedia:North Sea|North Sea]] {{Fm}}
***[[European Union]]
****[[Scotland]]
*****[[Wikipedia:Water of Leith|Water of Leith]] {{1st}}
*[[Fumirole]] {{Fm}}
*[[Hellas]] {{Fm}}  
|title-5=Events|
*[[Human-Covenant War]]
**[[Algolis Invasion]]
*[[Insurrection]] {{Mo}}
|title-6=Vehicles|
*[[Covenant cruiser]]
**{{Pattern|Ket|battlecruiser}}
*[[HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark I ADS]] {{c|Motion comic}}
*{{Pattern|R'sisho|Tick}}
*{{Class|Halberd|light destroyer}}
**{{UNSCShip|The Heart of Midlothian}}
|title-7=Weapons|
*[[M7/Caseless Sub Machine Gun]] {{c|Motion comic}}
*[[Type-1 energy sword]]
*{{Pattern|Anskum|plasma grenade}}
*[[Type-25 plasma pistol]]
*[[Type-33 Needler]] {{c|Motion comic}}
*{{Pattern|Vostu|carbine}}
|title-8=Other|
*[[Artificial Intelligence]]
**[[Smart AI]]
***[[Avatar]]
*[[Cancer]]
*[[Emergency lighting]]
*[[Human augmentation]]
**[[Rumbledrug]]
*[[Combat harness|Sangheili combat harness]]
*[[Self-destruct]]
*[[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]]
*[[Shipnet]]
*[[Syringe]]
*[[Three Laws of Robotics]]
*[[Unggoy combat harness]]
*[[UNSC Marine Corps Battle Dress Uniform]] {{c|Motion comic}}
**[[CH252 helmet]]
**[[M52B body armor]]
*[[Fire extinguisher]]
}}

==Motion comic==
{{#widget:YouTube|id= RlIS-8MRk0M |width=350|right}}
''Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian'' had three installments that were later edited into one long episode referred to as ''The Complete Saga''. From January 28, 2012, the series was available for download on the Zune Video Marketplace before the Zune marketplace shut down in 2013. Each episode could be purchased for 80 points or a season pass could be purchased for 280 points. {{Ref/Site|URL= http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/01/25/The-Halo-Bulletin-12512.aspx|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page= The Halo Bulletin: 1.25.12
|D=28|M=01|Y=2012}} The motion comic would later be uploaded in one piece onto YouTube by [[Halo Studios]] on January 27, 2025.{{Ref/X|Code=1883941801305780630|Tag=Halo|Name=Halo|Quote= The Covenant have boarded, the ship’s crew is dead, and only one lone ODST is left to initiate the Cole Protocol. Revisit Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian from Halo: Evolutions; the 2010 motion comic adaptation was animated by @Art_Of_One.|D=27|M=01|Y=2025}}

==Trivia==
*The story is similar to that of the original ''[[Marathon]]'', as the protagonist is the last human survivor aboard a ship and is helped by an AI who can only open doors. In ''Marathon'', the AI is [[marathongame:Leela|Leela]], and in ''Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian'', it is Mo Ye.
*In the motion comic adaptation of the story, Baird was voiced by Leonard Meyer and Mo Ye was voiced by [[Wikipedia:Mona Marshall|Mona Marshall]]. The medical technician was voiced by Frank O'Connor, the author of the story and [[343 Industries]]' Franchise Development Director.
*[[Wikipedia:Heart of Midlothian F.C.|Heart of Midlothian]] is the name of Frank O'Connor's favorite association football team, based in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, Scotland.
*This takes place after the ''[[Halo Legends]]'' episode ''[[Prototype]]''. The {{UNSCShip|The Heart of Midlothian}} is mentioned to be investigating [[Algolis]] based on the reports from the surviving civilians. Also, [[Ghost (Marine)|Ghost]] and his actions are mentioned.
*In the motion comic version, the ''Heart of Midlothian'' is being sent to investigate the attack based on a transmission from [[Algolis]] which features the prototype suit before cutting out. Unlike the short story's version of events, the ship has not yet met up with any survivors and the opening of the comic states that part of their mission is in fact to rescue any survivors.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Evo MITHOM Artwork Draft.jpg|A draft of the artwork made for the story.
</gallery>

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Evolutions}}
{{Navbox/Media/Film}}
[[Category:Canon]]
[[Category:Halo: Evolutions]]
[[Category:Motion comics]]