> This is my re-imagining of the Master Chief meeting the Librarin during the Reclaimer level of Halo 4. I’ve added some new dialogue, extra details and expanded on the meanings behind events and references mentioned or shown during the meeting. Hope you enjoy it.
“Cortana to Infinity, we are entering the Forerunner structure.”
As Cortana informed the UNSC Infinity of their position, all that she was able to receive was a garbled transition from the vessel’s captain, Andrew Del Rio. She could only surmise that the particle cannon network pinning the ship down must be causing interference with the Master Chief’s communications. However, she was able to make out the coordinates to the cannon’s controls that the Infinity had detected in the structure. Once again, however, the two were on their own. Chief opened a door and was met with brilliant blue lights lining the super-polished metal Forerunner walls, a floor composed of hard-light reverberating beneath his feet. It was easy to see why the Covenant viewed Forerunner facilities of all shapes and sizes as holy places, they had an aura of majesty to them. Cortana could detect Chief’s nerves tightening as a Sentinel flew past only to stop and examine the Master Chief. The curious machine floated over to another door and once again faced the Chief. Was it beckoning them or leading them into a trap? With caution, the Chief approached the construct and saw that it unlocked the previously inaccessible door.
Chief walked past the Sentinel and down the hall until he reach a dead-end. The door behind him closed and the floor began to vibrate until it slowly started to go down. It was only an elevator.
"This elevator should take us directly to the coordinates Infinity provided. Almost like those Sentinels WANTED us to get the particle cannons offline, "Cortana quipped as the elevator continued its descent.
“This could be a trap,” the Master Chief said dryly.
“You say that like there’s a second possibly.”
“I still don’t understand why the Sentinels haven’t been as aggressive as those Prometheans. They usually aren’t nearly as friendly.”
“Then again, there isn’t a psychopathic killer AI out to take your skull and use me as a science experiment to keep his precious ring safe. Though the living Forerunner with anger issues comes in a close second.”
“The Didact seemed to be imprisoned here on Requiem, think there may be a warden of sorts trying to keep him in place?”
“It’s possible, but we likely won’t know for sure until we get to the coordinates Infinity sent us.”
The elevator came to a stop and the door opened up to a Sentinel patiently waiting for their arrival. It turned and sputtered off down the hall with the Chief right behind it. He stepped into another cathedral-looking hall with his rifle clutched in anticipation for a trap that never came. More Sentinels arrived to close more doors, in a sense corralling him towards the destination they wanted him to go. The final door left available to him opened and drowned out the radiant blue Forerunner facility with a cascade of orange light off in the distance.
“We’ve reached the coordinates. This looks like the place,” Cortana confirmed as Chief made his way past giant cylindrical machines that hummed with energy. She marked a terminal hub to be plugged into, the holographic representations of the cannon network lay before her as she materialized on the pillar before it.
Crossing her arms and examining the controls, Cortana remarked, “The particle cannon network must use these arrays for targeting and guidance. It’s an automated system so it won’t TECHNICALLY allow me to redirect the cannons to fire on one another… TECHNICALLY. Cortana to Infinity, the guns should be offline. How’s it look from up there? Infinity?"
Communications with the Infinity had flatlined, but that wasn’t all that concerned her at the moment. Cortana detected the echo of another presence inside the system, a presence that felt like it was everywhere at once. The only other time she had felt this disturbed was when she confronted the Covenant AI onboard the Ascendant Justice just after the destruction of Installation 04, but this new intelligence felt more…alive.
"Cortana, what’s going on?” Chief asked as the structure began to shake around them.
“Something is in here – CHIEF!”
Cortana suddenly disappeared in a blue flash before Chief. He tapped the pillar that once held her and found that he could not retrieve her datachip, it was sealed tightly in place. She managed to say that something was in the system with her before she disappeared, had it been the Didact? Chief pondered this as he aimlessly wandered near the particle cannon controls looking for some sort of clue. Instead, he noticed a group of Sentinels hovering before him and backing up after he had turned to face them. Following the Sentinels ahead seemed to trigger a hard-light bridge to flicker into existence and lead to secret room.
After crossing the chasm, the Sentinels led him through a maze of rooms until eventually getting him to a platform with a hauntingly beautiful blue pillar of light. The Sentinels circled around the pillar and then dispersed, leaving only him and the light. Chief slowly advanced towards the light, yet it felt like he was compelled by the gentle push of an invisible hand. And then, blindness.