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I have not been kept fully informed I only know that the Ark has been handed over to the Master Builder, and of course, given his luck and skill, is now under immediate threat

My new mandate is to protect the Lifeshaper and her work Once I was a human, but received such wounds that the Bornstellar Didact stored athering on the Ark, to look after her human populations She saw it as part ofthem so well And I have done my very best

The Lifeshaper’s plan was to keep hue of Halo destruction, until the scoured planets are free of the Flood and ready for reseeding But they have now been moved to the Halo, I presume on the orders of the Master Builder, to reat plans too often meet awful conclusions

Now she asks ofwe can I query the Ark ned to Lifeworkers Only a few respond They have no instructions with regard to the Halo The others have shifted service to Offensive Bias Must I turn against my fellow machines to fulfill the orders of the Lifeshaper? I noait her instructions, as I cannot act without the Lifeshaper’s co, why do you attend a mere monitor, if not to keep ive I aer human You should seek out the little one called Riser and ask him He would offer you his opinions freely

He is still what he was Wake hiive you an earful

Finally, I have received antua-class transport froanisms from the Ark’s population have already been placed by Lifeworkers Many of these are living speci from the Librarian’s Conservation Measure I wonder if this relatively small number will be sufficient to rebuild these reat curved wall of star roads Hu weapon have barely had time to settle in their compounds By the tens of thousands, they walk over crude hills, shallow lakes, and rivers, and between low htness of an artificial sun moves in familiar rhythm, and the people down there may hope that their most recent darkness and dreamless sleep, in the holds of Lifeworker ships, will be but prelude to the chance to regain all they have lost They may hope that they have finally reached a home where they can live in peace for centuries, if not thousands of years

As we inal Didact’s enor up a position above the human compounds It’s followed by thousands of sentinels not linked to Offensive Bias, apparently intent on isolating and controlling this section of the Halo With access to only so e, I have no explanation for this display of force

The Lifeshaper’s ship co in its massive shadow We link She is frantic; and for the first tiinal Didact here?

Star roads grow thick beyond the sky bridge They may soon crush the Ark and the Halo, and with it, all humans, all Forerunners Forerunner history ladness or sorrow

"Take us up!" the Lifeshaper orders Audacity, her face stiff with fear We rise above the Halo’s at more clearly Mantle’s Approach sweeps low over the Halo co protrudes froreat star for bea to stop it!

At the Lifeshaper’s command, Audacity shoots forward She hopes to insert herself into the path of the Co her specihtest, deftest of maneuvers, throws out a torsion field, and Audacity is brushed aside like a gnat

The Didact’s ship freezes above the center of a co, even through the cloud-wracked at to look up and shield their eyes against the brilliance of the targeting beams A blood-colored pall falls over the co will see it all, record it all Is thefor another betrayal?

"Tell the sentinels to kill him!" Lifeshaper cries out

But I cannot The Didact has assu, too powerful The Lifeworker forces are too weak and too few, and cannot stop it

The Composer has locked onto its victiy spread across the compound, echo fro sheets to wrap the crowds below

Suddenly, everywhere, across hundreds of square kilometers, bodies twist and fall Hundreds of thousands are composed before my sensors can make an accurate count

The information flows back to the Composer in a reverse wave Men, women, children … all taken in moments

The Lifeshaper moans deep in her throat Then the moan intensifies, until she screams, "That’s all he ever does--kill my children! Why? Why?"

Audacity tells us that we reat wheel

The Didact’s ship withdraws the Composer, seals itself for transit, pushes away from the compound and the Halo, departs Audacity moves under its own volition to a safe position, near the outer perirace

The next atrocity will soon begin--the firing of the Halo itself Audacity prepares for an immediate jump

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MONITOR CHAKAS • HALO VICINITY

I HAVE SEEN this before I remember the awful sensation I cannot close down my sensors I am a machine The sensation is not optis feel, in the presence of the Coh I remember it too well

The Librarian watches it all, her body seely in conflict with her armor, as if she would reach up and tear at her twisted face--beyond any expressible sadness Such anger rief, both ancient and new …

Our path is cleared, for the tirieve My people are gone! All that remain from the Librarian’s collection are on the transport linked below The last hope of my entire species

The Librarian stops her contortions and recovers enough control to tell me that she and I will part ways I will return to the transport and take the surviving speci my friends--away from here "You must find Bornstellar, he will take you to the lesser Ark That is where we must hide the specimens" But what about her safety? What does she plan to do?

Ihidden is e I feel its potential It is not entirely obedient Have I been affected by the logic plague? No

I am still Chakas

I am still human!

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