091 Adjutant Veridity

091 Adjutant Veridity is a ancilla, a submonitor of Installation 07 tasked by the Forerunners with caretaking of the installation.

Helping Spark and Rion
In 2558, the crew of the Ace of Spades encountered Veridity after their ship crashed into the substructure of the ring after an encounter with the tullioc. Veridity scanned the humans and asked for 343 Guilty Spark's designation and was left confused by the former Monitor's armiger body which she found to be most inappropriate. Spark revealed that Installation 04 had been destroyed and asked after 117649 Despondent Pyre, the Monitor of Installation 07. Veridity simply stated that Despondent Pyre was "everywhere and nowhere" and introduced herself. The submonitor started speaking at length about the tullioc and revealed that they had been inadvertently provoked to attack the ship by the Ace of Spades burning through the leaves under which the creatures laid their eggs. Rion Forge revealed that their intention was to find the Cartographer and, as the original one had been destroyed, Spark asked where the current one was. Veridity pointed to some nearby ominous black towers and confirmed that the Cartographer was fully operational. Spark accepted Veridity's help in finding the Cartographer and set parameters for the submonitor's help in repairing the Ace of Spades.

As they made their way towards the cluster, Spark revealed that it was Mendicant Bias' former core and, overhearing, Veridity explained that the IsoDidact had purged the rogue ancilla from it long ago. With Zeta Halo currently only a third of its former size, the ring had no need for a storage facility and power source of such magnitude, though they still made use of it. Alongside being the new Cartographer, it served as the Monument, a place that stored all of the damaged ancillas and composed humans from damaged storage devices gathered over the course of centuries and given a new home large enough for everyone. Billions of lives lost over countless millennia stored in crystal, watched over and created by the ring's ancillas on the orders of the IsoDidact and the Librarian. Due to the danger that the tullioc had posed to it, they had also purified the atmosphere and ended the shroud of mist over Zeta Halo to ensure the survival of the Monument, the tullioc and other creatures present on the installation. At Spark's request, Veridity went into more detail about the Librarian's time on Zeta Halo and the purpose of Veridity and the ring's other monitors.

Finally, Veridity led the two to the new Cartographer and explained that it was also the Librarian's idea and that it served as a Silent Cartographer while there was another functional site closer to the surface half a ring away. After interfacing with the Cartographer, Spark noticed that a record was missing and the submonitor assured him that it was only the one, affronted not by Spark's statement, but by the act itself. However, Veridity didn't know who had done it, stating that it was a very old record. Deciding that it was unimportant for the moment, Spark used the Librarian's coordinate key on the console with the aid of Rion as a Reclaimer. Veridity was left stunned as the Cartographer's map of Halo changed into a star map leading to another location and the console released a second piece of the coordinate key. However, as Rion put the two pieces together, a slipspace portal opened up and dragged her in, although Spark managed to take the coordinate key from Rion first.

Battle for Zeta Halo
On April 27, 2560, Adjutant Veridity encountered the boat crew in Zeta Halo's substructure and scanned each of them before introducing herself and revealing that she already knew who each of them were as Veridity had scanned their rudimentary software. As Veridity had introduced herself as a submonitor, Spartan Nina Kovan recognized that she wasn't the actual monitor of the ring. Veridity lamented not being the monitor, stating excitedly that the Banished would all be dead if she were, but Veridity was a friend to anyone who was opposed to the Banished. Even though TJ Murphy recognized that the submonitor was either eccentric or a bit unhinged, he was too curious not to press for more information and asked who was in control of the ring, if it was Cortana or the monitor. Veridity was disgusted at the mention of Cortana and was glad that the AI was dead after all of the trouble that Cortana had caused in moving and damaging the installation. Veridity realized that as Reclaimers, they could set Despondent Pyre free and restore the installation's ancillas' access to Zeta Halo's systems. Veridity explained that when Cortana first arrived, she had sequestered Despondent Pyre in the Conservatory and limited her communication with the ring's defense network. Although Veridity and the other submonitors had been maintaining systems in the monitor's absence, they were unable to release Despondent Pyre or access to the defense network on her behalf.

Kovan asked if the Conservatory had access to the ring's communications network and Veridity confirmed that it normally did, but without Despondent Pyre, some system functions had been limited. Murphy asked what Kovan was thinking and she explained that Bonita Stone had followed the Banished to some kind of information center and remove data from its data stream. Veridity revealed that that was what she had come to investigate: the Banished had stolen two sylloge nodes from one of the installation's local data hubs. These hubs were scattered throughout the ring and were a part of the Conspectus network which oversaw the entire historical record of Installation 07 from its inception to the present. Robin Dimik asked what a sylloge node was and Veridity explained that it was a collection of data regarding the installation and that it could be as trivial as the ring's status and coordinates or as significant as control keys to its defense systems. Veridity had reason to believe that the Banished had accessed both of those. Kovan explained that, according to Stone's video feed, the Banished were after data that gave them control of the ring's defensive systems. The Banished wanted to use Zeta Halo as their new homeworld, replacing what Cortana took from them, but one with infinitely more strategic capabilities and firepower. Erik Bender worried that this meant that it was pretty much game over for everyone, but Veridity ordered Bender to calm himself and revealed that, due to security protocols, the data could only be decrypted via ports in either the Cartographer facilities or the Conservatory. Kovan told the submonitor that she didn't think that they had to worry about the Banished deciphering anything as Stone had fought hard to steal the data from the Banished before making a copy and having her AI corrupt the original. Whatever data that the Banished were left with was now useless to them. Murphy was excited by the idea that they might have Zeta Halo's coordinates as it could give them a chance to call for reinforcements from the UNSC. Veridity confirmed that they did have the ring's coordinates if did have the data that the Banished removed from the network. However, Veridity warned that the Banished had already arrived at the Conservatory and it was only a matter of time until they discovered what Stone had done to the stolen data. The Banished might seek to extract the proper information and authority rights from Despondent Pyre instead and take full control of the ring, though it would take a very long time to enter the Conservatory and even longer to find Despondent Pyre's Cradle, if ever. The boat crew began following Adjutant Veridity to the Conservatory to free the monitor and seek her help against the Banished.

On May 3, Veridity and the boat crew encountered Spartan Tomas Horvath who had been following an ONI operative's map to the Conspectus network and found the group. As they caught up with each other, Veridity complained that the humans were very slow and that they must make an effort to keep up. Horvath stopped himself from drawing his weapon when he saw that the others didn't as well and Veridity scanned him. The submonitor introduced herself, but insisted that they really must not delay. Kovan explained that they were following Veridity to the Conservatory and promised to explain more as they walked. As the team stopped for the night, Veridity became interested in Horvath's tale of his own adventures since landing on the ring. After Kovan explained the data that had been stolen from the Conspectus network, Horvath realized that it was information that the UNSC could use to locate Zeta Halo and send reinforcements. As Kovan explained that they just needed to find a way to relay it, Veridity stated that they needed a supraluminal communications array and they could do that from any beacon tower. They only needed access to the beacon towers which Veridity could get from Despondent Pyre. Horvath asked Veridity's take on everything, but she simply stated that it was the same as him: they needed to release Despondent Pyre and expel the Banished from installation. Horvath asked about the Harbinger, but Veridity didn't have any records of the Harbinger or her kind. All that the submonitor knew about her was through the activities of the Banished. Veridity didn't know anything about the Harbinger's loyalties or plans. Horvath decided to assume that the Harbinger was hostile until proven otherwise and that their goal upon reaching the Conservatory their goal was twofold then: release Despondent Pyre and send a message to the UNSC with the ring's coordinates. However, Kovan added a third goal: eliminate Jega 'Rdomnai and Gorian. Murphy called them solid goals and was convinced that with Veridity's help, they could succeed.

On May 9, Veridity led the humans to a door that she opened in a sheer wall that stretched solid in all directions with no end in sight. Once they entered, Veridity announced that they were now inside of the Conservatory complex. The Banished were gathered at an exposed part of the facility's exterior in large numbers and were establishing a fortified position. However, the Banished would not find a door and would be forced to create one of their own which would take time. Horvath noted that Veridity didn't seem too concerned and she explained that the Conservatory was a labyrinth that would keep the Banished occupied for the time being. The Conservatory was specifically designed to confuse those who entered without invitation and the Banished might never find Despondent Pyre's Cradle. Kovan decided that they would just have to deal with the Banished later and Veridity began leading them through the Conservatory.

In less than an hour the group arrived at Despondent Pyre's Cradle and Veridity stopped Kovan near the top of the ramp. The submonitor explained that Despondent Pyre and several submonitors had been sequestered within an energy barrier that Veridity and her fellow submonitors had been unable to deactivate. However, Reclaimers might be able to bring about an entirely different result. Horvath and his AI Elfie accessed the console and were able to drop the barrier. When Despondent Pyre failed to reactivate, the submonitor yelled at her to wake up and blasted an energy beam into the monitor's lens without success. Stating that Despondent Pyre got like this sometimes, Veridity resorted to ramming into the monitor which she stated usually worked. Finally, Despondent Pyre responded, but only to ask Veridity to join the other ancillas in contemplation before she began going dormant again. Despondent Pyre found the presence of Reclaimers irrelevant as well as the danger from the Banished and the damage that had already been caused which caused Veridity to become more and more outraged. Despondent Pyre was convinced that they could survive by being discrete and patient as they had done in the past and that eventually the Banished would leave or die as had happened in the past with everything else that had landed on the ring. Zeta Halo would eventually repair itself and the events would be forgotten in a hundred years and they would still be there. Veridity asked for full access to the communications network, but Despondent Pyre refused.

Finally, an incredulous Veridity revealed that the Banished had obtained access to the ring's local defenses from the Conspectus network, had no plans to leave and had awakened the Harbinger. This caught the monitor's attention and Kovan revealed that the Banished had brought the Harbinger's cylix to the surface, used a human prisoner to release her and the Banished and the Harbinger seemed to be working together. This caused Despondent Pyre to act, scanning Kovan and Horvath and releasing the submonitors from their imposed contemplation, giving them orders and sending the submonitors flying in different directions. With Despondent Pyre agreeing that the Harbinger had to be stopped at all costs, Veridity implored the monitor to give her access to the beacon towers so that the humans could call for reinforcements as they needed to rid Zeta Halo of the Harbinger and the Banished. Despondent Pyre revealed that they had lost control of the beacon towers as a result of Cortana's actions and she began working on a security override to bring one of the towers back online, rejecting Kovan's offer of the data chip with the stolen data that Stone had recovered. Despondent Pyre provided the boat crew with a data key that, when inserted into the central plinth of one of the beacon towers, would bring it back online and instruct the tower to send a supraluminal message into human-occupied space with Installation 07's current galactic coordinates and the site's pertinent data. Pleased, Veridity began to lead the boat crew out of the Conservatory and to the nearest beacon tower. However, Despondent Pyre seized hold of the submonitor with a yellow beam, explaining that they had work to do. Horvath and Veridity argued that she was their only quick way out of the facility, but Despondent Pyre was unwilling to expend any of the installation's executor staff to assist them if Veridity was right about the Harbinger. Instead, the monitor provided Kovan with a path out of the Conservatory and pulled the submonitor back to the Cradle.

On May 14, as the surviving members of the boat crew made a last stand against dozens of Banished after successfully sending their message, Adjutant Veridity suddenly came to their rescue and teleported them to safety somewhere else on the ring, having somehow escaped from Despondent Pyre's reach. Veridity vanished again afterwards, presumably either back in the Cradle arguing with Despondent Pyre about what their next move should be or out there going rogue and helping to thwart the Banished.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Point of Light
 * Halo: The Rubicon Protocol