Ray Kurzig

"Ray was one of the most selfless human beings I had ever had the pleasure to know. He went way out of his comfort zone time and again. Bravely sacrificing over and over. I don't think I can ever truly make him understand how much that meant to me."

- Benjamin Giraud

Raymond "Ray" Kurzig is a civilian analyst circa 2558. He is a friend of both Benjamin Giraud and Petra Janecek.

John-117 Conspiracy
Ray was called in by Benjamin Giraud during the latter's investigation of John-117 to debunk conflicting information found on both the Master Chief's parents and his death. In the area on business, Ray meets with Ben to show him financial records indicating that the Master Chief's parents were still alive after 2524 and further conflicting with all of the other information Ben had been given previously. Later to ensure that he doesn't lose any of his information on the investigation, Ben sends all of it to Ray before entering ONI's Boston Headquarters. After learning of the cover-ups made in his investigation and going against ONI, Ben calls on Ray to help him find evidence of the lies fabricated in the interviews with Jakob Walker, Gabriella Dvørak, and Deon Govender. Ray arrives at Ben's home and after listening to Ben's theories onto how ONI created the cover-ups, he tells Ben that Jakob Walker and Gabriella Dvørak's information checks out and he was unable to discredit their identities. Ben disagrees, considering how odd Walker acted during his last encounter. Before they could keep conversing on the issue, Petra breaks into Benjamin's apartment, annoyed that he released a recording of his last conversation with her and threatens to kill him. Soon after, Mshak Moradi reveals that he was listening to the whole conversation through Ben's ComPad and was cause of his encounter with Jakob Walker on the plane. He also reveals that he was contacted by someone named "FERO" who he has never really spoken to. Petra and Ray begin to leave, wanting nothing to do with Ben's investigation anymore. Just before Ray leaves, he says that the real Deon Govender died seven years ago. Later, Ray contacts Ben to arrange a meeting at a local bar. At the bar, Ray reveals that he managed to uncover an ONI record on Jakob Walker and found the former soldier was neither retired nor in active duty. Ray also managed to analyze the voice from the recording of Ben's interview with Jakob, and matched it with the voice of Jakob in a commercial for a car dealership revealing that Jakob is an actor.

Personality and traits
According to Giraud, Ray was emotionless, treating astonishing discoveries with surprising calm. While he frequently met with Giraud in person, he was not the kind to suggest a friendly hangout unless he were unusually happy. Partly due to this, though, Ray was an extremely efficient analyst skilled at tediously challenging work like combing through "the slush", the enormous dump of unprotected data from interplanetary network. He was connected to various data scavengers in the colonies, whose findings put together that ONI's claims about the Master Chief were false. Ray could be meek and have a low temper, which sometimes let Giraud walk over him when he was in an emotional high. Fortunately, Ray was also patient with him and thus was soon to forgive him when Giraud apologized. The only time he asked Giraud for a favor was when it concerned his family, when he feared they might be in danger due to the recent chaos in the Outer Colonies.

Production note
Ray is portrayed by American actor Phil LaMarr in Hunt the Truth.

List of appearances

 * Hunt the Truth