Hunt the Truth Season 2/Transcripts

S2.PRE. THE STORY OF FERO

S2.PRE THE STORY OF FERO

{Lots of typing noises and panting thoughout}

Maya Sankar: When I… joined the cause, I never imagined I’d end up here. Talking to you like this. Benjamin Giraud, Petra, they… they like talking into microphones. It’s their superpower. Me I… I never saw any of this for my life, I had aspirations, hope for a better future for myself, for my friends… but it all got corrupted... just twisted. Until I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.

{Slurp of a drink}

But you know...you don’t even care about that do you? No, you just wanna know how we got here. You heard Ben's story, the journalist turned ONI scapegoat. Mines a different kind of story, perhaps it's not exactly what you were expecting but. This is my story. The story of FERO.

S2.00. THE ONLY DELIVERABLE

ONI(Blog): A rebel rally ends in slaughter, FERO is unmasked, and a new hunt for truth begins.

S2.00: THE ONLY DELIVERABLE

(crowd yelling)

Maya Sankar (to crowd): That's what they do. They conceal their atrocities in a lob work theater. They invalidate the truth with their coordinated swarms of lies!

Ground Trooper #1: Got visual on FERO.

Sankar (to crowd): We have the attention of every man woman and child in occupied space. Even the moderates in the inner colonies are starting to wake up! But the UEG got on the networks and sang them a lullaby, putting the masses back to sleep, smearing those who would speak the truth! That's what they did to Benjamin Giraud.

Ground Trooper #1: What's the headcount down there?

Pilot: About 130, 140, plus half a dozen VIPs.

Ground Trooper #2: Looks like a bunch of Innies in a field to me!

Ground Trooper #1: Perimeter secure, sir.

Wiley: Roger that, hold positions."

Sankar (to crowd): They convinced the public that it was them who lit this fire in the outer colonies, but we've been burning for decades! Not because a journalist cried injustice, but because our children cried in pain. We offered our resources. We saluted their flag! But when we cried for help, no one came.

Pilot: Check your three, Wiley.

Wiley: Roger that.

Sankar (to crowd): While our cities were choking under the Insurrection, the UEG called in the cavalry. They leveled our homes. When our families were melting under Covenant warships, the UEG, our government, stood by and watched us die! Whole planets! But now, they tell everyone that our struggle was Ben's fabrication?

Crowd Member #1: No way!

Sankar (to crowd): That I was his invention?! No. I wasn't invented. I was born in these colonies and our struggle wasn't fabricated. It was forged in the ash and glass that was left after the Covenant attacks. We survived.

(a crowd member cheers)

Sankar (to crowd): And no matter how many lies they shovel on top of us, this fire they started, the ideas we stand for, will never burn out!

Ground Trooper #2: Man, that's some scraggly looking Innies.

Ground Trooper #1: Cut the chatter!

Ground Trooper #2: Oh, we got ONI working as CO now, boys?

Pilot: Shut it down, Wiley.

Wiley: Yes, sir."

Crowd (in unison): Free Giraud! Free Giraud!

Sankar (to crowd): I hear you! And Ben will get the amnesty he deserves, but not until we have the strength to give it too him.

(a crowd member cheers)

Sankar (to crowd): We need to send a message to the UEG, a clear sign that--

Crowd Member: We need to drop a thermal nuke, and spread fear to their guts. That's the message we need to send.

Crowd (in unison): From Fire to Blood

Sankar (to crowd): A UNSC recruitment center or some federal com target isn't going to free Benjamin Giraud! We have screamed from fire to blood for decades, and for decades, blood is what we've been drowning in. That's what they want, a shooting war, something they know they can win!

Ground Trooper #2: There's movement at the refinery.

Pilot: Structure's out of range! Stay focused on the target!

Sankar (to crowd): The day we plot revenge, they grow stronger. We toss ourselves into the flames calling it revolution? No, this needs to be a war of ideas. Not fenced in by battlements, but lifted up by economic prosperity! Building a force that the UEG will have no choice but to bargain with. That's the war we can win.

Crowd Member #2: You've had us sit here for weeks! It's time to strike!

Sankar (to crowd): No! It's time to stop blindly tossing our sons and daughters into--

Crowd Member #3: I was at Mamore with the FLP in the year 2511!

Wiley: Mamore?

Crowd Member #3: Where the hell were you?

Wiley: I heard they all got scooped.

Crowd Member #3: You weren't even born yet!

Ground Trooper #1: Guy's all bark.

Crowd Member #3: Stand up in front of a bunch of real freedom fighters and talk soft, like Sekibo? That's the only suicide mission I see you going on!

Bostwick: You need to back up!

Crowd Member #3: You need to watch yourself young'n. Grown ups are talking.

Bostwick: I said backup.

Sankar: Bostwick, it's fine.

Ground Trooper #1: Old school rebel rat approaching the target. Dud looks ready to go!

Sankar (To Crowd): {Hidden under Extraction teams talking}

Pilot: Alpha team, watch your flank.

Wiley: Rodger that. Alright.

Ground Trooper #1: Go in, now!

Pilot: Extraction's a go in 3, 2, 1, GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!

(the ground troopers open fire, Insurrectionists scream as they die)

Wiley: Target acquired!

Pilot: Copy that. Get back to the ship!

(ship door closes)

Pilot: We're clear! Let's roll!

(ship takes off)

Sankar: What the fu... Get off me!

Lance Corporal: Whoa, whoa! What the hell?!

Sankar: Who's op is this, huh?! Who authorized it?!

Lance Corporal: Whoa, calm down "FERO"! (laughs)

Sankar: Hey, I outrank you, lance corporal! You don't get to call me FERO! It's commander Sankar to you, copy?! And you just ran guns blazing into an active civilian operation, you corn-fed cro-mag! Who authorized it?!

Lance Corporal: Hey, I didn't see any civilians down there. Just looked like a bunch of rebel rats to me.

Sankar: Where's your CO? Your ass is getting put on ice, I can guarantee you that!

Lance Corporal: Huh, yeah, good luck with that.

Sankar: You wanna to make a drop without a pod, trooper, huh?! You wanna slap a KIA on that jacket?!

Lance Corporal: Oh, you're gonna kill a marine now?

Sankar: You know, from this height, you might just live. Those "rebel rats" could send you home a piece at a time as a weekly care package to your mom.

(calls through the ship)

Noah: Maya.

Lance Corporal: Damn. That rebel stink must be sinking into your brain.

Sankar: Do not test me.

Noah: Maya!

Sankar: Noah? What in the hell was that?! You authorized that strike? What kind of--

Noah: Maya, I'll explain everything when you get here. Are you okay?

Sankar: I... No! No, I'm not okay, Noah! I'm not okay at all! Half those people were civilians, and you've got neanderthal helljumpers going in hard with full ordnance?! I mean what... (sighs)

(gunshots are heard)

Sankar: Wait, there's still another team on the ground?

Noah: Yes, there's a second team--

Sankar: Call them back, now!

Noah: I can't, it's still an active op. Bravo Team's on clean up.

Sankar: That's not clean up. That's a slaughter house! Sounds like a bunch of trigger happy jumpers killing civilians! Pull the rest of your team, now!

Noah: No. You were the only deliverable asset.

Sankar: The only deliverable for what?! What is this?! I've risked my cover more times than I can remember and I haven't gotten so much as a whisper from you or command since I wrapped on Giraud! I am com--

Noah: I know, I'm sorry. Command put us on strict no coms three weeks ago. My hands were tied.

Sankar: I have been in the dark for almost a month and right now I am in pitch black on whatever the hell this op you're running is, so please, tell me, what?!

Noah: We had to pull you. It came from the top and it happened fast.

Sankar: What is command even doing? When they activated me for Giraud, the whole point was to create more regional stability! I thought they'd have it all locked up by now!

Noah: They do.

Sankar: Tell that to Petra Janecek. After her last message, people are still pissed.

Noah: You didn't hear? Acquisition team picked her up hiding on a transport freighter out in the fringes.

{recording of Petra's kidnapping plays "---" signifies parts that can't be heard clearly}

Petra (In recording): --- To what to what, god what am I missing.

(A door is heard opening, followed by a siren.)

Petra: Don't stop! Don't stop looking! Connect the dots before it's too late!

Sankar: What?

Noah: Things are changing inside ONI. What you did... killing those agents in Ben's apartment.

Sankar: I can't-- (sighs) I can't believe this.

Noah: I know, listen--

Sankar: They--

Noah: I know.

Sankar: Section Three orders me to murder fellow agents and now they're laying it at my feet?

Noah: It's not official, it's just a political move.

Sankar: (sighs) God.

Noah: Someone's trying to appease some of the other commanders.

Sankar: I looked 'em up, ya' know? The two agents.

Noah: Why would you do that?

Sankar: The younger guy had a three year old daughter. Did you know that?

Noah: (sighs) Maya--

Sankar: He was twenty-seven. And the other agent was a year behind me at the academy. I killed both of them, and for what?

Noah: Maya... I wish I knew how to make this easier for you. Everything's just... I tried to do what I could, even though I couldn't reach you. There are questions.

Sankar: Questions?

Noah: Mshak Moradi. Your weapon never registered as fired on that mission. The kill was never recorded-

Sankar: It didn't register because I didn't use my weapon.

Noah: What do you mean?

Sankar: I'll spare you the gory details, 'kay?

Noah: You didn't have a choice, Maya.

Sankar: I know.

Noah: He was about to blow your cover, if you had--

Sankar: I know. (sighs) They listen to me, Noah! They believe in me, or FERO. They want a better life, they really do. They've just never been shown how to get there.

Noah: Believe me, I know. Nobody could have predicted what you've been able to accomplish, but the fact of the matter is--

Sankar: It's outside the scope of my objectives, I know.

Noah: Yes.

Sankar: God. Well we're gonna have a hell of a time sealing up my cover after that joke of an extraction. We need to assess the post-op ground narrative as fast as possible for the release.

Soldier: Excuse me, sir. Casualties ready to report.

Noah: Go ahead

Soldier: Twenty-six rebels down, two VIPs, forty-one injured, survivable.

Sankar: I need to get back in Noah.

Noah: And you will, Maya... but not yet. They're bringing you to Midnight Facility.

Sankar (voiceover): There's something that ONI doesn't understand about human cost. Maybe the people do, the individuals, but as a collective when you look at people as numbers on a chart, as probabilities, just factors on a bigger equation... what happens is you actually lose the bigger picture. They... They run these complicated algorithms. They weigh the cost/benefit analysis of what a human life is worth. I recognize every single name on that list of sixty-seven casualties. To ONI they were just sixty seven insurgents, but I knew what their voices sounded like. I knew why half of them were there that night, what they wanted for their lives. Seven people who had sworn allegiance to me... who I'd known for years... were dead. I'd lost two of the best friends I'd ever had in that operation. And as the person who was sworn to protect them... I... I didn't know how to process that loss. But... what terrified me most... was after five years living as FERO... I had no idea what Maya was supposed to think about any of it.

S2.01. CUBE B-349

ONI(Blog): A missing man appears on Midnight, “anomalies” appear in the Colonies, and Maya receives her new assignment.

S2.01. CUBE B-349

Maya (Voiceover): As far as my cover went, no one outside the op could know I was an agent. That’s why they were shipping me to Midnight Facility; a dark ONI secret hidden in the shadows of an asteroid belt. There are a number of penitentiaries throughout space whose reputations precede them, whose very names strike fear in the hearts of the state’s enemies. This facility wasn’t one of them. Midnight wasn’t about reforming criminals - it was about making them disappear. On the ride up, I’d asked three times to verify the list of casualties. I played the video feeds from the ground, over and over, just forcing myself to watch the slaughter, to accept the role I played in it. Not everyone was lost thankfully. Bostwick, my friend and right hand in the rebellion, was among those who escaped. That gave me hope, but I couldn’t take any comfort as I watched my friends and followers die again and again.

Officer: Commander. We’re about to land.

Maya: Thank you.

Maya (Voiceover): I looked out the window but all I saw was a massive asteroid. Hard to believe that inside there was a secret prison with enough firepower to take down a Covenant fleet. As we entered through a hidden entrance on the underside of the rock, the sheer scale of the facility became apparent. Pulsing beacons led us into a dark tunnel. After what felt like an eternity we made it to the hangar bay.

Midnight AI: Clear. Welcome to Midnight Facility.

Maya (Voiceover): As soon as the doors were open, I rushed to get off the ship. One of the ODSTs was happily wiping blood off his boots, and all I wanted to do was get away. I found myself standing on the inside of the massive hangar. Walls a hundred-meters high and totally empty except for a series of lights guiding us towards two small doors. This was a desolate place.

Officer: May I remind you this op is fully blacked out, gentlemen.

Marine: Yes, sir.

Wiley: Hey, FERO. You’re welcome.

Maya: For what?

Wiley: For saving your ass out there.

Maya (Voiceover): I don’t even remember punching him.

[Maya punches Wiley.]

Wiley: UGH!

Maya: You son of a-

Marine: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

[Wiley tries to attack Maya, but is restrained by other ODSTs.]

Wiley: GHHH - You shouldn't have done that!

Maya: You have no idea! There were-

Wiley: I should've left you to die with those rats, you crazy-

Officer: Marine! Shut it down! Shut it down now!

Maya (Voiceover): But I guess I nailed him pretty good.

Wiley: …Yes, sir.

Midnight AI: Hello, Commander Sankar. Welcome to Midnight. Captain Reibach is expecting you on eighteen. If you would proceed to the elevator-

Maya: I need to go down to the cubes, first.

Midnight AI: Commander, I’ve been directed to have you report directly to Captain Reibach.

Maya (Voiceover): I decided to take a detour. There was someone I needed to see. The AI seemed surprised, but I had the clearance.

Midnight AI: Yes. Please follow the waypoint to your destination.

Maya (Voiceover): Blue pulsing lights guided me down a seemingly endless hallway lined with windowless cubes, each identical to the next. Aside from the subtle buzz of the lights, it was silent. I stopped at cube B-349.

Midnight AI: He’s not in a good way, Commander.

Maya: Show me.

Maya (Voiceover): The glass went from opaque to one-way transparency. Inside the cube, between a crude bunk and a small toilet, I saw him; sitting cross-legged on the floor, writing with a tiny, soft pen on real paper. He was deep in thought, mouthing syllables as he worked. The most hated man on Earth. The beloved symbol of protest to tens of thousands in the Outer Colonies. The brave journalist, framed as a traitor. This... was Benjamin Giraud. Or at least, what had become of him. I’d promised my followers I would free him. But I wasn’t going to. No one was. ONI had cast Ben to the very edge of their empire, and that’s where he’d remain. I could barely look at him. Partly because in a strange way, I considered him my friend. But mostly, because I was the one who had put him there. I wasn’t looking for forgiveness though. I felt like I needed to pay... and I was hoping Ben would tear me to pieces.

Maya: Go to two-way.

Ben: I’m sorry… I-I- I’m sorry. I can’t discuss the particulars right now, counselor. I’m still editing. I-

Maya: Ben.

Maya (Voiceover): I didn’t even see his head turn, but he was suddenly staring right at me, his eyes impossibly sharp and locked on mine. This was not the Ben I remembered. This was someone else. I felt exposed, like I’d been caught. He stood up slowly and I froze. I wasn’t at Midnight anymore. I was in Ben’s world. And I was an intruder. He walked right up to the glass and he stopped. I’d wanted to confront what I’d done to Ben, give him a chance to eviscerate me with words. But now that he was right here in front of me, all I kept thinking was that the glass between us felt terrifyingly thin.

Ben: Oh, you!

Maya: Ben. I know... I-

Ben: I knew it...

Maya: Okay, just listen, Ben. I just wanted to tell you that I, um-

[Benjamin slams his hands into the glass]

Ben: You’re alive!

Maya: I…

Ben: I’m- I’m sorry. You’re alive! Oh my God!

Maya: I… Uh…

Ben: I knew you wouldn’t go through with the suicide mission! I just kept convincing myself over and over. This whole time, even after I screwed everything up I kept saying “FERO would find another way...”

Maya (Voiceover): He didn’t know. He was happy to see me. I- I couldn’t believe it. I guess I was- I was so busy punishing myself with guilt that I’d never stopped to consider the possibility that Ben would still believe in FERO. I didn’t know what to say.

Ben: Wait… wait… You can’t be here. Do you know what this place is, FERO? You have to go! You have to go now! The-the- the AI! They monitor everything. And they- they’ll already be looking for you-

Maya: I won’t be here long, okay? Don’t worry about that, trust me, I just… I needed-

Ben: Okay. Okay. Of course you know what you’re doing, obviously. I wasn’t thinking, I- I just.... Oh, God, it’s so good to see you. Are you okay?

Maya: I… Uh… I’m good. How are you?

Ben: I’m fine. I’m totally fine. I- I’ve been writing, keeping busy, you know-

Maya: Is that blood? On your bunk?

Ben: What? Oh. Oh yeah.

Maya: What happened? Is that from one of the guards? Is that what they’re doing to you here?

Ben: No. No, no, no, no, no. It’s nothing like that, no. That was all me. It was all me. It’s, uh… I wasn’t really p-prepared for this? Y’know? Uh, solitary confinement? I’d…I’d read about it, but it’s different in reality.... obviously. And- and I… I had a rough patch, couple times, I-I lost control of my emotions, y’know. It’s a pretty standard psychological reaction, but no. No, that... that, uh, that was my fault... There- there are safeguards now, like if I get too worked up, they play music to calm me down, if I really lose it, they turn on the gas, and I just I go to sleep and it’s… it’s fine.

Maya: Oh, Ben…

Ben: No, seriously, it looks bad. You’re right. But that was a while ago. Look, see? See? My hands are all healed up. It’s fine! Oh… Wait. Wait, wait, wait... Nonononononononono…

Maya: What?

Ben: H-hold up. Show me your COM pad.

Maya:: Ben, I…

Ben: No, no, no. C’mon, c’mon. Let’s not slip back into that. Let’s just- Please. Show me your COM pad. I need to see the time.

Maya: Okay.

[Maya places her COM pad against the glass.]

Ben: Okay… Seven forty-three. Got it. Take it down. Okay, show me again. Don’t talk, j-just show me.

[Maya places her COM pad against the glass again.]

Ben: Seven forty-three –Thank you. Thank you. Okay. This is real. This is real. Got it. Okay… Okay, good. Sorry, it’s this... trick... I do to make sure I’m not dreaming. Discontinuity of time is a classic tell, but- but the time didn’t change, so I know this isn’t a dream.

Maya: Oh…

Ben: Hah… Yes, I know. It-it… I know, I know. It sounds insane, but I- I don’t have a clock, y’know? That messes with your head. At- At first, if I was outside the cell, I knew it was a dream, because they don’t let me out in reality. But then, my dreams were in my cell too and it got... confusing. Like, what’s real, what’s not...

Maya (Voiceover): “What’s real and what’s not.” That’s what Ben’s whole story had been about. He’d fought decades of murky cover-ups to shed light on the atrocities our government had buried. Because he believed the public deserved the dignity of knowing the truth. And now, buried in a hole at Midnight, he’d been reduced to fighting for the most basic human truth. Ben no longer had the dignity of knowing if anything was real.

Ben: FERO…

Maya: Yeah, Ben?

Ben: Everybody knows I’m the bad guy, right?

Maya: They still cheer for you, Ben. People all over the Outer Colonies. They want you freed, they want justice, they want- they want you out-

Ben: No...No, no. No! NO! NO! I- I don’t want that!

Maya: What!?

Ben: No! I- I wanna help. See, I think if people hear this... Here, listen. I wanna read you what I’ve been working on. It’s, um…

Maya: Ben…

Ben: It’s my way… of fixing everything. It’s- It’s still rough, but, um… It’s a message of peace. And an apology. At the end, I’m gonna thank you personally.

Maya: Oh, no. Ben-

Ben: No, d-don’t worry. Don’t worry. I’m not going to name you or anything, but you saved my life, FERO. And not just in my apartment either. The- the- the things you-

Maya: No! I didn’t save your life. I killed two innocent people.

Ben: No. Nononono... You were just trying to protect me. You had no choice! If their blood is on anyone’s hands, it’s mine. I put you in that position. I put those agents in that position.

Maya: They weren’t even gonna kill you, Ben, they were just gonna-

[The PA system activates.]

Michael Sullivan (Over Coms): This is Commander Michael Sullivan.

[Ben gasps.]

Sully (Over Coms): You are currently in violation of federal prison regulations.

Ben: Run. Get out of here, FERO. Now! Now!

Maya: I… I…

Ben: Please, go! Now! Go!

Maya: I… I...

Sully (Over Coms): Step away from the glass and report to my office immediately.

Ben: What is he talking about?

Sully (Over Coms): This is your last warning.

Ben: What is he talking about? What’s… happening?

Sully (Over Coms): You no longer have clearance to speak with my prisoner, Agent Sankar.

Ben: Agent Sankar...? What-

Maya: I’m sorry, Ben…

[Classical music (Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 - Marcia Funebre) starts to play in Benjamin’s cube.]

Ben: What is- what is the- what is the- what is the… Nonononono… Show me the time. Show me the time. Show me- show me your COM pad. Show me the time…

Maya: Ben, I just wanted to-

Sully (Over Coms): Step back, Commander.

Ben: Oooooooh… No. No. No. No. No... No!

Maya: I’m sorry.

Ben: But you’re- you’re… you’re my- you’re my friend… What? What, you work- you work for ONI?

Maya: Ben, I’m sorry. I just-

[Ben slams against the glass.]

Ben: HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?

Sully (Over Coms): Calm down, Ben.

[Ben slams against the glass, again and again.]

Maya: No! No don’t! Don’t, Ben, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I just wanted-

Ben: EVERY DAY! EVERY DAY, I’M IN HERE! I’M WORRIED ABOUT YOU! I’M WORRIED ABOUT FERO!

[Ben smears his bloody, wet hands against the glass.]

Ben: AND YOU’RE NOT EVEN REAL!

Maya: I am sorry!

Ben: WHO ARE YOU!?

Sully (Over Coms): Ben, calm it down or we’ll have to shut it down.

[Ben hammers on the glass with his fists, punctuating his words.]

Ben: TELL ME. WHO YOU. ARE.

Maya: No!

Ben: WHO ARE YOU!? WHO ARE YOUUU! WHO ARE YOU-

Midnight AI: Administering sedative.

Maya: Don’t! No!

[Gas floods Ben’s cell.]

Ben: WHO ARE YOU!

Maya: Ben…

Sully: Black the glass.

Maya: No! Please, don’t!

Ben: YOU GOTTA TELL-

[The glass goes opaque, blocking out both sound and vision.]

Maya: No- Ben!?

Maya (Voiceover): And then, silence. I made a beeline for Sullivan’s office.

[Maya bursts into Sully’s office.]

Maya: Are you insane!?

Sully: Maya! Have a seat.

Maya: I prefer to stand.

Sully: I insist.

Maya: Or what? What you’re gonna gas me too!?

Sully: Sedation is an unfortunate measure we have to take when Ben’s hurting himself. Before I got here, he was punching walls, had no human contact for weeks. He’d developed a tic, rubbing his head, all day, every day- He rubbed it raw, nearly took off half his scalp. But then I changed the protocols, got him medical treatment, brought in a rep from Justice. I even gave him writing implements to help pass the time, and you know what? Ben stopped hurting himself. No more gassing. Until today, when you decided to show up and pay an unauthorized visit to a prisoner and jeopardize all my hard work, everything we’ve tried to accomplish here-

Maya: Oh cut the crap, Sully. Why are you here?

Sully: We’re prepping Ben as a potential P.R. asset. A video message for the “Free Giraud” crowd.

Maya: You’re breaking him, so you can parade him in one of your depraved stunts?

Sully: If by “parade him” you mean “resolve civil unrest,” then yes.

Maya: Wow…

Sully: He wants to do it. You heard him.

Maya: That’s not the point. He’s bled out and you are still squeezing him. And besides, your little stunt, it’s not gonna play with his sympathizers. They’re just-

Sully: Listen, I respect your opinion, Commander, I really do. But when making their assessment on this case, the organization’s best analysts apparently didn’t feel the need to consult with you. Although, I’m sure the opinions of someone who’s been relieving themselves in a swamp for the past five years would be very valuable, I’m gonna go ahead and follow chain of command on this one.

Maya: See that’s your problem right there. You’re still in your glass tower in Boston. You don’t have any idea what’s actually happening on the ground.

Sully: Look, I’ve heard the FERO chatter. You’re steering factions away from conflict. That’s great. But unless your coalition of hugs can spontaneously end rebellion, we’re gonna have to destroy some hearts and minds.

Maya: By torturing an innocent like Ben? That’s the answer?

Sully: Ben forfeited his innocence when he tried to tear us down.

Maya: Well, Maybe we should be torn down.

Sully: Spoken like a true traitor.

Maya: Oh save it, Sully. You marched Ben right into this life sentence-

[Sully slams his first into his desk.]

Sully: NO! I tried to warn him. I gave him every chance to back off. But he wouldn’t listen-

Maya: “Glassed planets have bad records”!? Real clear, Sully.

Sully: You may get latitude out there in the shadows, but for those of us in our “glass towers”, it’s not that easy. “Pushback” against our employer looks a little different when you have surveillance up your ass 24/7. We couldn’t just let him air all of our dirty laundry. Then what? Positive change? Open dialogue? No. The public cannot digest real horror. Have you ever seen people tear each other to pieces to get on an evac ship?

Maya: Yes, actually, I have. Up close. How about you?

Sully:Well, I can’t tell you how to sanitize a spaceport after a stampede. But... I am privy to all sorts of data that you are not, that perhaps if you understood, might keep you from turning your anecdotes into Theories of Everything. If Ben’s story had stopped trade for a month, everything would have collapsed.

Maya (Voiceover): As much as I hated to admit it, Sully was right. Panic is a very real monster. For as many lives as the Covenant had claimed, panic had claimed just as many. But Ben had stumbled onto ONI’s quiet cemetery of secret sacrifices. And, while terrifying the masses with the whole truth wasn’t the answer, if you’re Ben Giraud, if you’re any civilian, what other weapon do you have?

Sully: But enough about me. I’m supposed to be here at Midnight. When I call the Rear Admiral, how should I explain you sharing intel with one of the highest-profile federal prisoners alive? Hmm... Nothing? Okay. Stay away from my prisoner. That’s a warning.

Maya: And you stay the hell away from me. That’s a threat.

Sully: I get to sleep at night, Maya. What about you? How are you sleeping?

Corporal: Commander Sullivan.

Sully: Corporal.

Corporal: Commander Sankar, Captain Reibach is waiting for you.

Sully: Good luck out there, Maya. And don’t worry, this’ll all come back around for you. I promise.

Maya (Voiceover): My blood was on fire, I had no idea how I was going to be able to handle this debrief, but that wasn’t what I was walking into at all.

Noah: Maya!

Maya (Voiceover): Noah Reibach was one of the first people I ever met at ONI. He was one of my instructors in basic. Always looked out for me.

Maya: I think I’ve been through enough for one day, so if we can we get this over with I need to get the hell out of here and re-establish my cover.

Noah: You’re not here because of the Giraud mission.

Maya: What!? Noah, then why the hell am I even here!?

Noah: Please, Maya! Sit down. Yesterday we received some disturbing transmissions. Footage from several colonies in the region.

Maya (Voiceover): I sat there and watched video clips of mass destruction on various planets, seismic events exploding infrastructure and buildings into the air. Leveling cities in a matter of moments.

Noah: We scrambled search and rescue as soon as possible, but… it was total devastation.

Maya: What is it?

Noah: We don’t know.

Maya: Well, who’s shooting? What are they shooting at?

Noah: We don’t know. Something about these events. They fry everything in the area.

Maya (Voiceover): Whatever it was, ONI couldn’t keep it under wraps for long. The force of it was jaw-dropping to witness and the destruction was cataclysmic.

Maya: So, why am I here?

Noah: You’re being reassigned. We still need FERO, but this is your new mission. We need you to go in to one of these colonies and gather intel, hopefully you can help us figure out what these things are.

Maya (Voiceover): I asked him why they needed me to go get this data. They had more than enough scientists on the payroll.

Noah: We’ve done everything we can to secure the sites of these attacks. So far we’ve secured four, but the fifth has fallen into NCA control.

Maya: The New Colonial Alliance? Do you think they’re involved?

Noah: We don’t know. But whatever did this, we can’t risk it falling into their hands. We’re trying to get control of story but rumors are kicking up all sorts of chaos on the colonies. The NCA appears to be making a power move.

Maya (Voiceover): I’d brushed shoulders with fringe NCA factions many times. And I wasn’t keen on encountering them again.

Maya: But still... Why me, why not send in Spartans?

Noah: We don’t want to send in the cavalry until we know what’s going on down there. We need someone on the ground. Someone the rebels will trust.

Maya (Voiceover): Before I could begin to catch up on what was happening, Noah walked over and clasped and NCA pin on my lapel.

Maya: What’s this?

Noah: It’s one of our best. Say hello, Black-Box.

Black-Box: Hello, Black Box. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Awful.

Maya: Are you kidding me? An AI?

Noah: Order came down from the top. This mission is of the utmost importance. We can’t take any chances.

Black-Box: Maya, I’m very much looking forward to our time together. I’ve heard lots of... things about you.

Maya: I’m not okay with this.

Black-Box: Not okay with what? Being deployed on a high-risk operation that is well beyond your pre-established purview? Or is it the part about being partnered with a highly intelligent AI with the proven experience and expertise integral to the success of this mission.

Maya: So I’m being micromanaged now?

Noah: You don’t have a choice, Maya.

Maya: Wait... What about Ari? Isn’t he under with the NCA?

Noah: We’ve been trying to reestablish contact. He went black just after he relayed intel about the attacks…

Maya: Wait... You knew these attacks were coming and did nothing!?

Noah: We didn’t know anything, Maya. The intel came from an unreliable source, we’ve been working hard to verify when-

Maya: Where did the intel come from?

Noah: I can’t tell you that. But let’s just say someone who’s burned us before.

Maya: Is Ari...

Noah: Ari may have been made, Maya. We’re completely blind on the ground. We need to know what’s going on in that camp.

Maya (Voiceover): This assignment was bigger than me or the rebels. As we sorted out my escape narrative, a dark reality hit me. In all my other missions, I’d been dealing with people. Dangerous radicals, sure, but still just people. This was something different. Something massive and powerful. Whatever caused these events, whatever destroyed those colonies… All of humanity could be at risk.

Maya: Okay. I’m in.

S2.INT. FAILED TRANSMISSION

S2.INT: FAILED TRANSMISSION

Maya Sankar (Transmission): This is Agent Maya Sankar. I'm on Conrad's Point in a planet wide dark zone. I managed to make contact. This installation inside could be potentially hostile. But something big, and... and its definitely coming soon. I dont have time to wait, I'm heading into the camp now. No matter what happens, I hope its not as bad I {Static Takes over}

S2.02. FROM FIRE TO BLOOD

ONI(Blog): A city lies in ruins, Maya meets a madwoman, and the Colonies mourn the death of a hero.

S2.02. FROM FIRE TO BLOOD

Maya (Voiceover): As we made our way towards Conrad's Point my head was still spinning. The raid at the camp, seeing Ben, the intel about these events... It was almost too much to handle. But something about it felt familiar too. I thought back to when I was monitoring Mshak Moradi. Right before he was going to expose me to Ben. He had been onto something. The chatter about the anomalies in deep space. Then just a few weeks later, Ari had relayed his own warnings to ONI HQ... Could they be connected? With so many skeletons in ONI’s closet it was just a matter of time before some of them found their way out.

Black-Box: Maya, you need to focus.

Maya (Voiceover): I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize we were coming up on Conrad’s Point.

Black-Box: A world-gone-dark is a scary question hanging in space. You need to be present and ready. There could be anything beneath those clouds and I’d prefer not to die today.

Maya (Voiceover): This operation was rife with uncertainty. We were approaching Conrad’s Point, a world in chaos, controlled by militant NCA rebels. My only link to them was a fellow agent, Ari Rezneck. But he’d gone dark weeks ago, and now this whole planet was dark because of a catastrophic seismic event. All that uncertainly should have been terrifying, it should have felt immediate and sharp, but… somehow, it didn’t. It seemed far away, surreal… I needed to pull it together.

Black-Box: Someone down there is using an analog transponder.

Maya: What?

Black-Box:: Look. “Extreme caution. Ping on final approach. Friendly pings get new coordinates.”

Maya: Ari...

Black-Box: Looks like Captain Rezneck may be alive after all.

Maya (Voiceover): It had to be him. Ari Rezneck was one of the most resourceful people I’d ever known; a gifted mediator, an eccentric tinkerer, and a good friend. As an agent, he orchestrated complex social ecosystems with impeccable technical precision. But ironically, when it came to actual tech, he was more of an artist. Finding a way to send a signal from a dead world? Risking his neck to warn others? That was Ari.

Maya: I’m shutting down for a dead-dive.

Black-Box: The question is, are these cautionary measures in response to human or non-human threats?

Maya: Well… We’ll know soon enough.

Maya (Voiceover): Free fall was rough to say the least. But I held down my lunch, opened the drag as late as possible, and then quietly brought the transporter down in a well-hidden, jagged ravine. I may have had no idea what we were walking into, but I was making damn sure we had a way to get back out.

Black-Box: What a heinous, depressing rock. It’s really no wonder these people are so angry, they make camp on waste-worlds. I mean, I’d be quite angry myself.

Maya: Yeah, well, I don’t think they’re here for leisure

Maya (Voiceover): On the remote fringes, a planet like Conrad is the perfect hideout for the NCA. They take over abandoned mining facilities and establish military training grounds. Life out here? It isn’t for the faint of heart.

Black-Box: This region is lovely. Just lovely. All the... rocks.

Maya: This is it... nobody’s here.

Black-Box: Why don’t you try the vantage point, up there? On that rock.

Maya (Voiceover): I came up the ridge and the sun suddenly crested into view. I shielded my eyes and finally saw the wider landscape. Behind us and to the sides, it was all jutting rocks. But then the ridge dropped off, sloping gradually into a much smoother section. I squinted into the light, barely making out the silhouettes of massive industrial structures in the distance.

Maya: I don’t like this. We’re exposed up here.

Maya (Voiceover): I looked out again and realized what was off about the area beyond the ridge: it was a crater. A vast hole. Like someone had just torn out a massive section of the planet’s surface. I hadn’t seen it because the size of it was impossible. I was so in awe I didn’t even hear him sneak up on me.

Ari: Listen carefully and do exactly what I say.

Maya (Voiceover): I turned around and saw Ari, pointing a gun at me.

Maya: Ari? What are you-

Ari: STOP... talking. Put your hands up! Don’t move, don’t talk. They may be watching. You just showed up here and I don’t know you. I’m pointing my gun and that scares you. Now give me the bag!

Maya (Voiceover): Ari yanked the bag from me, and rifled through it with one hand. I played along.

Maya: I assure you there’s nothing threatening in there.

Ari: I see that, so I’m becoming less aggressive. I’m assuming you’re here because of the event.

Maya: Yes.

Ari: I’m giving you back your bag, we’re getting over our misunderstanding. I’m asking who you are.

Maya: I’m the rebel leader, FERO.

Ari: I’ve heard of you. The situation is starting to relax.

Maya: Were you here when it happened?

Ari: No, we came right after. I’m lowering the gun, because I realize we’re on the same side.

Black-Box: Well, now that all of that ceremonious posturing is out of the way, can we get on with the mission at hand?

Ari: A smart AI?

Maya: Yeah-

Black-Box: The name is Black-Box. Your reputation precedes you, Captain.

Maya: It’s good to see you Ari. They were afraid you were dead.

Ari: Yeah, and what’d you think?

Maya: My faith never wavered.

Ari: Heh. So are you the entire brigade?

Maya: Just me and Black-Box. Here to find out what the NCA knows... or has, and report back to HQ.

Ari: Well, I… I don’t have a lot. We were close by when the colony was hit. But by the time we got here it was all over. All I know is it caused major seismic damage, fried every piece of tech on the planet, and left behind that hole, half-mile wide. NCA’s got the site blocked off now, only a select few have been allowed in. Ilsa is planning her next move.

Maya: Ilsa? Ilsa Zane is here? I thought she was dead?

Ari: You didn’t know? It was in my last message before I went dark.

Maya: No... I-

Ari: Damn. They really sent you in here blind. Or they don’t know... After she attacked the UNSC Infinity Ilsa was picked up by some NCA loyalists. She’s been running roughshod over this faction ever since, executing anyone she sees as a problem.

Maya (Voiceover): Ilsa Zane was a walking science experiment gone wrong. At one point, she’d been slated for the SPARTAN Program, an attempt at building the ultimate unarmored killing machine, but she snapped. After defecting to the NCA she was quickly indoctrinated, and promoted to Admiral Drake’s attack dog.

Ari: Then, when the colony was hit by the event, she brought us all here. The bloodletting seems to be over now, but everyone’s still on edge. Unable to use COMS, unable to leave.

Maya: But, why haven’t you escaped?

Ari: I’ve certainly thought about it, but I can’t. I’m trying to keep a lid on things here. They’ve got enough thermo-nukes in the armory to flatten a whole system, and Ilsa’s been setting the table for total war against the UNSC. I’m hopeful I can steer things back from the edge, get her finger off the nukes until ONI can take her out.

Maya: I… I should send a sit-rep to Noah before we go in.

Black-Box: Hold that thought, Maya. We’ve got movement on the perimeter, several guards heading this way.

Ari: Quickly. Brief me. You were abducted by ONI. What happened?

Maya: I escaped custody and hijacked a prisoner transport. They were questioning me about the colony attacks. I was worried, so after I broke out, I came here.

Ari: Geez, that’s the best they could do? Lucky prison break? Alright, we’ll have to make it work. Ilsa’s been pulling rebels in from all over so we say you’re just another fighter joining the party. Now lay low in there. It won’t take a blown cover to set Ilsa off. She’ll kill you if she thinks you’re dead weight. And keep the AI quiet unless you wanna lose him.

Black-Box: I am but a lapel pin.

Ari: Found another one, boys!

Raj: What were you doin’ outside the perimeter, Ari?

Ari: It’s called a perimeter check, Raj. And it worked.

Maya (Voiceover): The crew was heavily arm and looked severely sleep deprived. Ilsa seemed to have them on a hair trigger. It was tense, but Ari worked his magic, cracked a few smiles, and I was suddenly being escorted into the encampment as a guest of the NCA. There were hundreds of rebels with dozens of affiliations packed inside the dilapidated refinery. Drinking and shouting, almost manically festive. It was a party, but it all felt slightly unhinged.

Maya: What’s the occasion?

Ari: That’s a good question, it’s been silent as the grave in here until late last night. Her guys broke out the colonel’s old cases of whiskey, told everyone it was a celebration. Everyone’s been wound pretty tight.

Maya: I can see that.

Ari: Alright, why don’t you go grab a drink? I’m gonna make the rounds. See what I can find out.

Maya (Voiceover): As I laid low, I looked around hoping to spot any familiar faces. But I didn’t see a sympathetic resistance. These weren’t my people. I saw blood lust. Groups responsible for attacks on civilians. Half the people here were mercenaries. No one seemed to stand for anything, except vengeance; “From fire to blood.” Any banner you wanna fly to justify crushing skulls. This was the opposite of everything I had fought for as FERO. I was hoping Ari would hurry up, when I heard a familiar voice.

Bostwick: FERO!

Maya: Bostwick? Oh my g-

Bostwick: You’re alive! I knew it! I knew they wouldn’t get you! When you got taken, everyone scattered, everyone thought you were dead, but not me! I knew you wouldn’t let ONI take you.

Maya (Voiceover): Bostwick had been drinking. A lot. A five-foot-nothing rebel girl who probably weighed 100 pounds wet stood out in a group like this as is, but a drunk one was bound to attract unwanted attention.

Maya: Bostwick, what are you doing here?

Bostwick: I joined after the scatter. Half of our group was killed, rumors were spreading like wild fire-

Maya: And what? What, the NCA offered you protection?

Bostwick: I don’t know if I’d put it that way, I’d say they needed protection from me!

[Bostwick reels around drunk and breaks a bottle.]

Bostwick: See what I did? My bad, I’m just playin’…

Maya (Voiceover): When I first found her, she was an angry 17 year old. Just lost her parents in a UNSC incident on Dekum. They operated a little convenience stand on the outskirts of the military base. Some troopers were drunk, tossing around plasma grenades they seized from a Covenant supply ship. One… went awry. The troopers just got a slap on the wrist. Bostwick got a form letter apology. She coped by getting aggressive, assembling a small group of fellow outer colony kids orphaned by the UNSC. They mostly just engaged in petty theft, but by the time Bostwick and I crossed paths, she was turning her sights to a more violent course. So I took her under my wing. She was dedicated, a fast learner. I’d gotten her to start directing her anger towards positive change, but… she still had a lot of growing up to do.

Maya: What do they have you doing?

Bostwick: Eh perimeter checks, mostly. Around the north end. They got me protecting some operation on the hole. Buncha scientists going in and out, taking readings.

Maya: Readings? Okay, what can you tell me ab-

Black-Box (Over Coms): Maya.

Maya: BB I told you to-

Bostwick: Huh?

Black-Box (Over Coms): I was about to say “Don’t speak.”

Bostwick: Who are you talking to?

Black-Box (Over Coms): I’m broadcasting directly into your ear canal.

Maya: Sorry... I thought I saw... It was nothing.

Black-Box (Over Coms): I transmitted a detailed report back to headquarters. Apparently command is authorizing a strike using our current position as coordinates. Opportunity to kill Ilsa Zane is too great. Time is of the essence. We must go now.

Maya: Ari…

Bostwick: What? You okay, FERO?

Black-Box (Over Coms): Smooth.

Maya: Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. C’mon, we gotta get you out of here.

Bostwick: Okay. Let’s do it. Wait… wh- where are we going?

Maya (Voiceover): They weren't giving me much time to get out before the bombs started dropping. I had to find an exit. That’s when Ari reappeared from the crowd.

Ari: Here, take this.

Maya (Voiceover): Ari handed me a data chip. He looked unnerved.

Maya: What?

Maya (Voiceover): I didn’t have time to ask questions though.

Maya: We need to leave. Now.

Maya (Voiceover): Ari could see the fire in my eyes. He knew it was serious.

Ari: Stick close and walk small.

Maya (Voiceover): We made it about half way to the entrance when the door came rolling down.

[The entrance door began to close.]

Ari: They're sealing it up. Stop.

Maya (Voiceover): They were closing all the doors. We were trapped. Ari was working out another escape plan when Ilsa Zane stepped into the room, seemingly sucking all the air out of it. The entire facility, packed with rebels, had become suddenly, unnervingly quiet. The crowd parted as she crossed the floor, everyone turned to face her, eyes mostly averted. And then she stopped... fifteen feet from where we were standing. Ari carefully slid himself in front of me.

Ari: Stay down.

Maya (Voiceover): I could just see her over Ari’s shoulder. Ilsa was… big. Scary big. I didn’t know what the techs had done to her in the SPARTAN Program. Made her stronger, for sure, but they… they’d broken something too. There was a glint in her eye. Something unhinged. Something inhuman.

Ilsa Zane: This... is a celebration. And it should be. We’ve made a lot of changes in a very short amount of time. When I found you, there was no discipline, no uniformity. Just a bunch of misfits with different allegiances and philosophies. That was a problem of leadership.

The colonel had allowed this legendary faction of the NCA to devolve into a forum for individual interests. You were scattered and slow, and that’s a death sentence. I relieved him of his command, because bands of misfits don’t win wars. Big machines do. Big machines, made of lots of little pieces moving with the same purpose. That’s what we needed to build here.

And it’s not easy. Every piece has to have a place and when a piece doesn’t fit, you have to get creative. You cut part of it off, smash it into place so it never pops out again, you do what you have to and you trim the fat. I’m pleased to say that each and every one of you still with us has found your place, and we have built one hell of a machine. And it’s almost time to turn it on.

That hole outside represents our entry point into this war. That’s why I brought you here to Conrad’s Point. The landscape is changing. The UNSC is on their heels because of that hole, and we are going to capitalize on that weakness. We just needed the right moment. Which brings me to my announcement.

Maya (Voiceover): She walked around with incredible control of the room. You felt like she could suck the life out of anyone at any time.

Ilsa: How many of you have lost friends, loved ones at the hands of Spartans? Well, today we get to put a very big one in the other column.

Maya: BB, what is she talking about?

Black-Box (Over Coms): I’m checking the feeds, hold on... Oh my.

Maya: What?

Black-Box (Over Coms): This can’t be.

Ilsa: In the wake of the seismic events that struck here and four other colonies, I have verified with numerous sources that our moment has arrived.

Black-Box (Over Coms): It’s… the Master Chief.

Ilsa: The Master Chief-

Black-Box (Over Coms): He's dead.

Ilsa: Is dead.

Maya (Voiceover): The mood shifted. There was some scattered cheering, but…

Maya: Is it true?

Maya (Voiceover): I don’t think anyone knew what to do…

Ari: I don’t know…

Maya (Voiceover): What to think...

Ari: It’s not good, though.

Maya (Voiceover): The Master Chief was the greatest hero we had ever known. He had saved humanity from the brink of extinction, defeated the Covenant, and almost single-handedly brought an end to the war. What could possibly have the power to kill the Master Chief?

Ilsa: Yes, the poster boy for the UNSC and the SPARTAN Program was killed in action. That’s why we’re celebrating. That’s why this is a party.

Maya: Ari, We need to make a move. Now.

Maya (Voiceover): While the crowd was stirring, Ari bit the bullet and started moving towards a side entrance as we followed. We didn’t make it far, though.

Ilsa: …And that requires expanding our ranks. That’s why I’m glad to see we have even more new faces here.

Ari: Stop. She knows you’re here.

Ilsa: Even today, I hear we got a new shipment of fresh meat. I don’t know you, soldier.

Maya (Voiceover): She was calling me out.

Maya: My name is FERO.

Ilsa: I know that name. You’ve been making a lot of noise recently, haven’t you?

Maya: A little too much perhaps.

Ilsa: You talk about transitioning us out of military conflict, is that right? Build up economic power.

Maya: I think it’s a viable option, if we-

Ilsa: Look around. There’s a reason these people are following me. There’s a reason they scream “from fire to blood!”

Rebel Crowd: FROM FIRE TO BLOOD!

Ilsa: You are naive. Your dreams for tomorrow make us look weak. So what exactly can you offer our movement? Words and speeches? Negotiation? We are done with those.

Ari: Ilsa, she’s got a strong logistical background. Maybe she could help us there.

Maya (Voiceover): Ilsa didn’t speak for a moment. Her eyes were locked on me. But then she relaxed and the tension finally broke.

Ilsa: I think you’re right, Ari. We need some creative thinking on maintaining supply chains here. FERO could be very useful in that capacity. That’s what I’m talking about. Making pieces fit. As a leader, you have to know which pieces can be re-purposed and which ones are just trash.

Ari: No, no, no, no, no, no!

[Ilsa fires her gun.]

Maya (Voiceover): It happened just like that. Ilsa didn’t even look, she just raised her arm and fired. A single shot at point-blank range and he crumpled to the floor. Ilsa Zane had just blown Ari’s brains out.

Ilsa: Now, I’m hoping this is news to all of you here, but our good friend, Ari, as it turns out, was a mole. He was working for ONI.

Maya (Voiceover): She just killed him like he was nothing. I knew he was gone, but I wanted to go to his side and try to help somehow. But I couldn’t move… I- I couldn’t think. Ilsa kept speaking.

Ilsa: He was a treacherous little traitor and that’s not a piece you can make fit.

Maya (Voiceover): Everything was spinning. I was trying to figure out my next move, I spotted Bostwick, lurking at the ready in my peripheral when Ilsa pointed her gun right at me.

Ilsa: Now where were we? That’s right. Ari had just vouched for you. Which means you’re probably another ONI stooge. I could question you, ask what’s in your head, or we could just look.

Maya (Voiceover): Before I could stop her, Bostwick jumped to my defense. Stepping in front of the gun and raising a knife to Ilsa Zane’s throat.

Bostwick: She’s not ONI! FERO’s a real leader, and you should show some respect when addressing her! I vouch for her!

Ilsa: Little girl. The next time you pull a knife on someone... don’t hesitate.

Maya (Voiceover): Ilsa moved with incredible speed and power knocking Bostwick halfway across the room.

Black-Box (Over Coms): Maya, we’re out of time!

Maya: Stop! Ilsa, listen. There’s an air strike on its way.

Ilsa: Air strike?

Maya: We all have to go now or everyone will die.

Ilsa: How do you—

Maya (Voiceover): Everything froze. I could see the rage building in Ilsa as she… cracked a smile. Seemingly enjoying it all. I saw Bostwick look up at me out of the corner of my eye, I knew I’d just broken her heart.

Black-Box (Over Coms): Incoming, in three, two…

Ilsa: You ONI Bi-

[The air strike hits with a cataclysmic explosion. People scream and run through the rubble.]

Maya (Voiceover): I don’t really know what happened next. The impact of the bomb took me off my feet. All I can remember is grabbing Bostwick, blood pouring out of her shoulder, and running, cutting through the crowd, everyone going every which way. The confusion had given me a head start on Ilsa, but in the midst of it all, as I broke outside, I could hear her screaming behind us. She was coming after me.

Ilsa: FERO!

Maya: Black-Box, I need a way out.

Black-Box: The hangar just ahead. They would have brought vehicles for the officers.

Maya (Voiceover): I got Bostwick into the hangar, she was pale and had lost a lot of blood. I tossed her on the back of an old Mongoose, fired it up, and sped off. Ilsa must have had the same idea.

[Bullets ping and whiz off the body of FERO’s Mongoose.]

Black-Box: Maya. If you could go a bit faster, someone is firing at us.

Maya: I know! I’m trying!

Maya (Voiceover): I sped back across the crater, over the rocks and up to the jagged ravine where I’d landed the prison transport.

Maya: Hold on, Bostwick! BB, open the bay door!

Black-Box: Yeah. Opening… now.

Maya (Voiceover): I rode the Mongoose up the ramp and into the ship as Ilsa and her crew came in hot, pelting the transport with a shower of artillery.

Maya: Close the door, BB!

Black-Box: On it. Ship is prepped, we’re ready to go.

Maya: Then GO already!

Maya (Voiceover): As we lifted off, Ilsa was still firing at us from below. I settled Bostwick into one of the bunks and slumped down against the railing as we broke through the atmosphere. I could feel the reality of what had just happened filling my body with every breath. Forget that my cover was blown or that Bostwick would never forgive or trust me again. At least she was alive. But Ari... Ari was dead...

Bostwick: Mother… UGH!

Maya: Shhh...

Maya (Voiceover): But I had to keep going. I took a deep breath, and buried Ari in my mind. I set to finding any medical supplies I could use to extract the shrapnel from her shoulder. The ship was mostly empty, just a vessel to keep my cover intact. But I was able to cobble together enough supplies to tend to her wounds.

Bostwick: Who are you?

Maya: Save your strength. You’re going to need it.

Maya (Voiceover): As Bostwick passed out I made my way to the front of the ship. I finally had a moment to catch my breath. I couldn’t help myself as my thoughts drifted back to Ari. Then I remembered... the data chip.

I pulled it out of my pocket and popped it into the console... A flood of information about the seismic events. Readings, charts, data, predictions... The NCA must have had teams working around the clock, gathering anything out of the ordinary, they were looking for a signature, something unique Ilsa could use to predict where the next disasters would hit. The answers were all in front of me, but I didn’t know how to read them. Thankfully, I knew someone who could...

Black-Box: Maya, we need to get your friend professional medical treatment as soon as possible. We should set course for the nearest ONI facility.

Maya: No, I’ve got a place. Setting course now.

S2.03. SAFE HOUSE

ONI(Blog): A friend returns from the dead, a safe house becomes a trap, and Maya is faced with a decision that will change her life forever.

Maya (voiceover): My ears were still ringing from the bombs. ONI had sent me in on a recon mission, but then hit the base with everything they had, almost no warning, no attempt to protect me or Ori, certainly not civilians. I was just another data-point to them, disposable. I could feel all the hearts and minds I fought for slipping away. The UNSC would always bomb and the rebels would always take up arms and vengeance. Maybe both Sully and Ilsa were right – there was no room for anything else.

[Bostwick moaning in pain]

Maya (voiceover): As I looked down at Bostwick, I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I had taken this lost, naive kid and turned her into a foot soldier for my cause. I became an expert at rationalizing my actions, telling myself that ultimately, I was working towards the greater good.

Maya: Can I see the wounds?

Bostwick [screaming]: Don’t touch me!

BB: I’d recommend sedating her until we can effectively treat her injuries.

Bostwick: I’d rather rot!

Maya [whilst injecting Bostwick sedatives]: Just rest.

Bostwick [fainting]: FERO…

Maya (voiceover): As Bostwick drifted out of consciousness I looked over at the data chip. Ori secured prime intel on the anomalies and after that airstrike any shred of faith I had that ONI would do the right thing with it was gone. For all I knew they would just cover the whole thing up and let another colony fall. But in the right hands, this could help save lifes. I wasn’t gonna turn it over to them, I was gonna get real answers. And there was only one person who could give them to me. The only problem was – he’d been dead for months.

[Transporter landing, door opening, Maya stepping out of it]

Maya (voiceover): The safe house barely qualified as a…house. A crumbling old farm on the outskirts of Bintero, a dusty wasteland in the outer colonies. No one around for miles – except for the occasional alien traitor. Not a great place to live, but a perfect place to hide.

BB: What it this place? It’s not in my database of safe houses.

Maya: It’s off the grid.

BB: There’s some sort of signal interference here.

Maya: Yeah, that’s kind of the point.

Maya (voiceover): The safe house was an old lesson from Ori. When ONI puts you undercover, you lose everything. Every trace of who you are is whiped away to protect the mission. Ori taught me, always keep a place for me, a place to keep memories, to stay attached to the life ONI has erased, a place I could run away to when cover got to deep, somewhere to ground myself – or maybe stash a secret.

Mshak [from behind a door]: Who’s this? Don’t come in! I’ve got guns! I’ve got…

[Maya opening the door, Mshak now speaking clearly]

Mshak: …guns!

Maya: Get away Mshak.

Mshak: Maya! You’re back! I thought you’d never come back, I thought…nobody would ever come back.

Maya (voiceover): He looked…rough. Greasy hair, a thin, patchy beard, the weight he’d lost in his face made his darding, blood shot eyes all the more unsettling.

Maya: What have you been doing to my house?!

Mshak: Oh you have no idea what it’s been like. Wait, why are you carrying a dead person?

Maya: She’s not dead, here, help me get her into the back.

BB: Mshak Maradi!

Mshak: Woooooow,is that an AI?

BB: Well, you’re rather energetic for a dead man.

Mshak: You’ve got an AI?

Maya: This is Black Box.

BB: The official report indicated that you’ve been terminated – quite brutally if I record.

Mshak: I wish I had been.

BB: He does looked like he has been tortured.

Maya: He hasn’t been tortured!

Mshak: Oh, really?! Ok, then what would you call it? She left me here with no coms, no access to waypoint, no slush, I’ve been reading paper books. Pa-per books!

[Mshak ranting in the background]

Maya (voiceover): I couldn’t go through it killing Mshak. He figured out my secret and he ws gonna tel it to Ben, he had to be silenced but – when I’d roken into his house that night, he got so scared, he ran head first into a wall and knocked himself unconscious. He is a great hacker, but dangerous? Not even close. So I hit him, stuck him out in the middle of nowhere and put a blackout array cutting off communications for a kilo in every direction. But a few months cut off from the outside world had left him a little text-starved. In honest a goodness AI was the best toy I could have brought him.

Mshak: You know, you’re really top of the line stuff. You live on this chip?

BB: In a way, you see…

Mshak: Ok, I have a question! I’m sure you get it all the time, but other AI’s they look like people, right, but you just like a big, blue cube.

BB: I am pure intellect, I feel no need to affect a façade in order to make myself more palatable to humans. I am what I am. I am Black Box.

Mshak: Yeah, right…but the box is really blue, though.

BB: Black is the absence of light, a hologram can’t display black.

Mshak: I feel I’m gonna call you Blue Cube.

[Mshak getting electro-shocked]

Mshak: Ahh! Did you just electrecued me?

BB: No, oh, hang on…yes.

Mshak: Listen, Blue Cube, I can stick this chip in a microcooker and…

Maya: Mshak, stop it!

Mshak: Hey, ehm, why did you bring him here? He’s ONI.

Maya: Mshak, I’m ONI.

Mshak: And how long is THAT going to last once he tells them you’re keeping me here alive? [whispering] You can’t trust an AI, they want you to think they are these perfect synthetic beings, but you know how they make them? They take some dead guys brain and just rewire it, with new programming, they’re basically computer zombies!

BB: We also have excellent hearing.

Maya: FOCUS, Mshak! The anomalies, the same ones you were tracking? They’re here now and they’re real. They’ve already destroyed five colonies. Now I’ve got a data chip full of intel from one of the sites and zero context, I NEED information, the kind that isn’t sitting out there in the waypoint index, the kind that you can only find in the slush.

Mshak: Wait, do you mean you’re going to give me back my compad?

Maya: Hold on, hold on…

[Mshak celebrating]

Mshak: Yes! Yes, yes yes!

Maya: I’m opening up a limited channel, an encrypted frequency just for you so BB can’t use it to call ONI…

BB: I’m not sensing a lot of trust between us, Maya…

Maya: Find out what’s going on – fast!

Mshak: Absolutely. One billion percent focused. Wow, I have a lot of unridden messages. Oh no!

Maya: What?!

Mshak: The unthinkable has happened. I fell of the leaderboard in Unggoy farmer…

Maya: Mshak!

Mshak: One billion percent focused!

Maya (voiceover): While Mshak tried to uncover the secrets of the slush I went in to check in on Bostwick’s wounds. Mshak had made a real mess of the place: clothes and ration wrappers on every surface. But I noticed Mshak had left one area untouched – my shelf. I picked up an old photo, me as a little girl holding up a trophy, spelling I think, was hard to remember the exact moment, but I remembered the place: my dad’s old cabin. When I was setting up the safe house I kept thinking back to that cabin with its wooden walls and a door my dad carved himself. Something about it always felt so real, so permanent. I was still lost in the past when I looked over and saw Bostwick, awake, staring at me, pure hatred in her eyes. The look on her face caught me completely off guard, she looked like she was ready to kill me. Before I could get a word out, Bostwick was coming at me with a scalpel. She was still weak though. It didn’t take much to restrain her. Eventually she gave in to the pain.

[Maya and Bostwick fighting]

Maya: I know that you’re angry, I would be, too! If you just listen…

Bostwick: Just do it!

Maya: Do what?

Bostwick: Kill me, torture me, I’d rather die than be in the custody of a traitor!

Maya: What? I’m not a trai…

Bostwick: You’re ONI, aren’t you?!

Maya: Yes, but I’m trying to protect you, you’re my friend.

[Bostwick spitting]

Bostwick: FERO and I were friends, I don’t know who you are.

Maya: You’re right, you don’t know me. But we are not so different, you and I, ok? Just trust me.

Bostwick: Trust you?! Were YOUR parents killed by ONI officers?!

Maya: No…

Bostwick: I’m nothing like you. You’re a liar!

Maya: You’re right. But, believe it or not, you were the closest thing I have to a friend and I want you to know the truth – I at least own you that. Come on, ask me whatever you want.

Bostwick: What’s your real name?

Maya: Maya Sankar.

Bostwick: Mh, and how long have you been a rat traitor?!

Maya: I joined ONI when I was around your age, but I didn’t get into spec-ops…

[Maya continues talking in the background]

Maya (voiceover): As I opened up to Bostwick after YEARS of deceiving her I told myself that regaining her trust like this would protect her, but as the answers poured out of me I knew deep down why I was really doing it. I needed to finally start telling the truth.

Maya: No, I had absolutely no idea they were gonna attack. They kept me strictly need to know.

Bostwick: Are you going to try to turn me, make me into an ONI spy like you?

Maya: No! It…it wasn’t like that.

Bostwick: All that stuff you said as FERO about finding the truth, about beating them with ideas and lifting up the outer colonies as equals?

Maya: I meant it! Every word. More than anything I just I wanted…*sighs*, I don’t know. After being undercover for so long I started to feel…sometimes I feel like I am FERO. It’s hard to explain and I want what she wants, you know, and in a lot of ways being FERO makes more sense to me now than any…

Mshak: Maya!

Maya (voiceover): I rushed in and found Mshak with his jaw on the floor.

Mshak: You know, you could have led with: Hey Mshak, here is your compad and by the way: THE MASTER CHIEF IS DEAD!

Maya: Yeah, I’ve been a little preoccupied. What does it say?

Mshak: Well, the official news is that there os no news. Same speech on a loop: He died in the line of duty, protecting us all, bla, bla, bla, what a hero. BUT, lots of speculation on the slush. Theories, other theories debunking those theories, some people claiming the UNSC is using his dead to cover up a bigger story, they think he’s still alive.

BB: Reliable, I’m sure.

Maya: What would the UNSC have to gain from presenting the chief as dead? Why destroy his legacy?

Bostwick: It cements his legacy.

Maya (voiceover): Bostwick had made a way to her feet and stumbled into the room.

Bostwick: You once said that heroes are born out of sacrifice, but cemented in death.

Maya: Yeah, but still: why? What, to cover up the anomalies? How does killing the Chief publically cover THAT up?

Mshak: It doesn’t. UNLESS the truth is scarier than the cover up. What if the whole Beko story was a dry run? If the Chief isn’t following orders anymore and he’s proving to be more trouble than he’s worth. You’d have to get rid of him, right?

Maya (voiceover): I was processing everything very slowly at that point. But what Mshak said had struck a core. If the chief wasn’t following the rules and the ONI AI bots statistical analysis pointed to his death being more valuable than his life, they wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger – I should know, I just been the victim to the same analysis.

Maya: Ok, so is there anything specific about the anomalies?

Mshak: I did finde one theory, but it’s a little new, new, new testament. You know the triad?

Maya: The religious cult?

Mshak: Yeah, they’re popping up all over the place, claiming that the anomalies aren’t random, that they are part of the transcendence and that their leader Dask has returned and that these anomalies are basically the galactic end times.

Maya: The Triad was a religion - sort of. I’d run into small pockets of their members a few times while undercover. They were always preaching about multiple lives, transcendence, the end of the universe. Crazy ideas that didn’t sound so crazy if you were desperate enough. Lucky for them, there were a lot of desperate people in the outer colonies. Their leader, a man named Dasc Gevadim had gained millions of followers across Waypoint, then suddenly disappeared. ONI was pretty sure he was dead or in hiding, but his followers were convinced he transcended into another realm.

Mshak: ONI keeps blocking the posts, but words getting out. Here, take a look.

[Message starting]

Dasc: For your struggles I have willed myself back to this plane of causation and particle, so that I might illuminate the meaning of these events. Squizid transcendence is yours for the taking. Oh children, we are now upon the rebirth! These so called disasters held a new age of unification through disentanglement. A glorious unbecoming. Freedom from the quivering vessels of self we've clung to for so long. Do not fear these events. Do not fear their power. For as the world's shake, we are inevitably arriving at the precipice of existence. The edge of a metaverse that is awakening for us. As we who have only known the night are about to bear witness to the first dawn. That is the advent of the third life and I find myself humbly bestowed with a genetic imperative to release your fear. To help you step lively from the edge into ascendance. The spiritual genocide that awaits those who do not open their eyes, the abyss beneath them, I cannot bear. This is only the beginning.

Maya: Could he possibly have intel on these things?

Mshak: I suppose. I mean, anything is possible. We live in a galaxy where the human race was almost whiped out by an alien race that breathes farts.

BB: Actually it’s methane and I’m fairly certain that grunts were far from whiping out humanity single handedly.

Mshak: Ok, now we’re just splitting hairs.

BB: Alright, well, on that note: Maya, I believe this detour has gone on long enough, it’s time to return to the realm of rational thought.

Maya: I can’t go back. I can’t trust ONI anymore, not after everything that’s happened. There’s no telling what they do with the intel we’ve gathered.

BB: Maya, I wish ONI was run with the monstrous efficiency you and Mshak imagine.

Maya: So tell me then, what’s really going on here?!

BB: What’s really going on, Maya is that you’re walking a treacherous and narrow path but if you return with me and the data to ONI you may just avoid falling off.

Maya: Is that an offer or a threat?

[Compad ringing]

Maya: What the hell?

BB: Sounds like an incoming call.

Maya: But I blocked all com-signals?

BB: It would appear that you did not.

[Call is being answered]

Noah (call): Maya!

Maya: Noah, what the hell?! How did you get through?! Why didn’t you warn me about the bombings?!

Noah (call): I tried to hold them off as long as I could, I was overruled. They decided taking out the target was worth losing the asset.

Maya: Damnit Noah!

Noah (call): Maya, listen...

Maya: I am not an asset I’m a...

Noah (call): Maya, they are coming, your location isn’t secure.

Maya: What? But how...how did they even know where we...

Noah (call): Why didn’t you check in? They think you’re on the run! There’s an extraction team inbound right now!

Maya: What?! But how did they...

Noah (call): Listen to me Maya, they just wanna bring you in. Nothing bad is gonna happen, I promise!

Maya: No, no, no, no, no...

Noah (call): Maya, stop! Listen to me: Whatever you do...

Maya: Goodbye Noah...

Noah (call): Maya, you’re making a terrible mis...

[Call is being cancelled]

Maya: We gotta move, everybody, now!

Maya (voiceover): I understood what he was saying: Bring me in - that means Midnight Facility. When they “bring you in”, you don’t come out again. That wasn’t gonna happen to me.

Bostwick: How did they find us?

Mshak: It was Blue Cube! The little rat bastard sold us out!

BB: My communications had been incapacitaded by the blackout array since we arrived, perhaps they tracked us from Conrad’s Point...

Maya: No time, help me flip the bed!

Mshak: Ok! Why are we...

[Bed being flipped over]

Mshak: Holy crap, my bed is full of grenades.

Maya: Bostwick, are you ok?

Bostwick: Yeah.

Mshak: Why is ma bed full of grenades?!

[Transport incoming]

Maya: Can you run?

Bostwick: I don’t need your help!

Maya: I’m setting a ten second timer, that should give us enough time to get clear. There’s no cover out there, so once we get outside: run!

Mshak: Oh god, I should have paid more attention in PE class.

Maya: The explosion should distract them long enough for us to get to the ship.

Bostwick: What about before the explosion goes off?

Maya: Pray they miss.

Mshak: Hey Maya! Yeah, ehm, I don’t mean to keep harping on this, but: Why is my bed full of grenades?!

BB: Maya, you can still end this!

Maya: No I can’t.

[Agents screaming]

Maya: Everybody ready? Timer’s are go in three...

Bostwick: Let’s do it.

Maya:...two...

Mshak: Oh god...

Maya:...one...run!

[Everybody starts running, timer counting]

Maya (voiceover): Those ten seconds felt like eons. It took them five just to spot us, the next five...

[Sound of gunfire]

Maya (voiceover):...were an eternity.

Maya: Get on the ship!

[Explosion; transport starts]

Maya (voiceover): The next thing I can remember: I was standing in the cargo bay, feeling the familiar tug of acceleration as the engines engaged. Bostwick was doubled over in pain.

Maya (voiceover): Are you OK?

Bostwick: I’m fine...I’m fine!

Maya (voiceover): As we left the planets atmosphere, I didn’t know where I could go. My employer had just tried to light me up, Bostwick would out me to the rebels the first chance she got, FERO was gone, commander Maya Sankar was gone and with the few memories I’d kept now burning up in that safe house below, whoever It was I used to be was gone, too. All I had now was an AI who wanted to turn me in, a betrayed friend who wanted me dead, a hacker with a heart of lettuce and a data chip filled with information that could get me killed. I had no idea what to do next. But then somebody made that decision for me.

[Alarm goes off]

Mshak: What is that?! What did the zombie do now?

BB: It’s not me, there’s a ship approaching fast of our starboard.

Maya: Damnit ONI! I’m moving to full thrust. All away.

BB: I recommend securing your person instead, now!

Maya: You heard him, strep in.

Maya (voiceover): Normally you can’t feel how fast you were going in space. Unless of course, somebody grabs you by the tail.

[Transport decelerating abruptly]

Maya: Forced deceleration is nasty. If we hadn’t been warned, it would have smashed us into a pile of guts on the bulkhead. But even strapped in, the g-forces can be gut wrenching. By the time I unbuckled and fell out of my seat, all the ships systems were shutting down.

Maya: Everybody OK?

Maya (voiceover): They’d killed our power. We were helpless. I could hear them coming through the air lock door. An ONI acquisitions team . I tried to stand up and face them but I was too dizzy, collapsed on the deck. There was a pneumatic hiss, as the boarding tube bolted through our hull. The clink of their mag-boots as they stepped across the gangway, even the sound of their tac-coms hacking our lock system. I’d been on the other side of that door. I know what happens when they take you. I wish I could say I was brave. FERO would have been brave but I’d seen what happened to Ben. I was afraid of the pain, I was afraid to lose myself, I didn’t want to die. I looked up as they came in. There were three of them but my eyes were immediately drawn to their leader. I saw his razor sharp beak first, bright red quills spilling out over his neck and finally his talons, gripping a needler, pointing it right at my chest. This wasn’t ONI – this was something worse… something more unpredictable…

[Jackal screaming]

Maya (voiceover):…jackals.