Halo: The Dunes of 2560

Chapter 7: Part 1: Schrödinger's Sangheili

Osa 'Drazam (AKA Vixon) in 2543

Osa was a farm hand at the age of 13, a young Sangheili living on Reach in a small remote town. He lived on his own, had his own house which was given to him by the UNSC upon his arrival 5 years prior. He'd receive visits by an agent of the UNSC, specifically, a Special Intelligence Agent of the Navy, who would be his personal school teacher. He had to be educated separately due to the bigotry of humans at the closest school, which was in the nearby city of Quezon, about 40 miles away. Osa would wield a scythe with other children, adults, elders, and even other Sangheili that resided in this country town, reaping crops. Even with the bigotry towards Sangheili in Quezon, he'd take weekly trips to the city on his days off to use his paycheck and get food, see attractions, and research human culture. He was a quiet type, but too curious and brave.

On a particular day in Mid-April of 2543, he'd take his trip on a wednesday, which is his day off. The prior day, he did Overtime and was paid that night. He now had to travel into the city to cash his check. Osa hopped onto a bus, his Education Agent was on the bus and greeted him, "Osa, say, you're heading into the City today?" Osa seemed surprised, "Oh, why yes sir. I got paid yesterday, so I have to go to the bank and cash my check. What are you up to?" The Agent had a hat on, his usual suit and tie and dress shoes attire, he removed his hat as Osa sat next to him, he puts his hat on his lap, "I'm on my way to Quezon too, I was just at the Base. By the way, you don't have to always call me sir, Osa. On a day like this, just refer to me by my name, Fredrick Heismeir," Osa hesitates, "Uh, okay Fredrish Hisemire." Fredrick laughs, "It's Fred, Rick, Hays, Mare. Pronounce it like that, string it together." Osa stutters as he says, "Fredrick, Heismeir, like that?" He smiles, "Good job kiddo. Your English is getting much better, you're doing the verbal exercises in the book I gave you, right?" Osa looks up to him and nods.

They arrived at a bus stop, a sign on the back of the bus stop bench read, "The annual 24 Hours of Quezon is tonight! Purchase Tickets now while they are available! 20% off if you buy two tickets now!" Osa 'Drazam looked closely at the sign, reading it word for word. "Race?" Fredrick nods, "A race is where a group of people take their personalized vehicles and drive them, at a very fast rate of speed. They try to make it to first place and win. You wanna go?" Osa tilts his head, "Hmm, competition would be the word for this, right?" Fredrick chuckles, "Yeah, pretty much. It's good fun, expensive in my opinion. How much did you make?" Osa reads his check carefully, "It says $840 and 33 cents. Must be a lot, usually I make about 600 or 700." Fredrick nods, "You must be working hard, you eating good?" Osa realizes he is famished, "Very. We need to get lunch." Osa starts for the bank, at a quick walking pace, Fredrick following at his own pace.

After cashing the check in the bank, the money is transferred onto a card Osa holds onto, he places it into his pocket. He usually wears human clothes, despite them not being quiet ideal for Sangheili, he had his clothes specially tailored. As they walk to a restaurant to eat, Fredrick had been researching Sangheili culture more deeply and has some questions for Osa, so he prods, "Is it true that Sangheili children do not know the identities of their fathers?" Osa was caught off guard, he looks up to him, "Maybe in some places. On my home world, my father was my father, and so was it like that with all the other kids." Fredrick nods, sighing, "What about hunting?" Osa shakes his head, "Not a fan of it. We didn't do it much either, at the time, things were industrializing drastically." When Osa 'Drazam arrived on Reach in his escape pod, he disclosed everything he knew about anything at all regarding why he was there, but he refused to tell them where he came from. That is because he was 8 years old, and did not know the name of his home world. He just had no idea what the name of it was, so Fredrick cannot determine how different Osa's home world's culture is from the mainstream information of Sangheilios Culture. Fredrick, and the UNSC both are aware that Osa is not from Sangheilios, because he claims humans were there, and had committed mass atrocities, Fredrick being an Intelligence Agent, is concerned that something very wrong happened because he cannot determine who or what did this horrific thing to the people of Osa's home world. Osa grabs the door handle of a restaurant he frequents, opening it swiftly and effortlessly, he is only 5'2'' but is getting much stronger. Fredrick walks in, "Thank you sir." Osa chuckles, walking in behind him, "Don't start calling me sir haha!" They get a table and sit across from each other, the restaurant is called Yoko's Dim Sum, which serves Dim Sum, Ramen bowls, Vintage Central-Asian Alcoholic Beverages, and Hot Pot. Fredrick points out to Osa, "You don't hunt, yet, you are a Male Sangheili. It is said in the almanac's that Male Sangheili need to hunt to quell mental illness. Why do you not like hunting?" Osa reads his menu carefully, whilst listening to him, "Well, as I've said, maybe in some places that is the case for us. However, those almanacs of yours, must be retaining information wrought from Sangheilios?" Fredrick sighs, "Your usage of words has gotten better, but I wouldn't say... wrought. I'd say, retained. But it is applicable here, since you are proof that is it wrong. You are mentally stable, even for someone who has... witnessed." Fredrick whispers, Osa nods. A group of people whisper, as they point as Osa, "Is that an Elite?" Osa closes his eyes, sighing, "I have a question for you Fredrick. Why do humans insist on calling us 'Elites?'" Fredrick glances over at the group of people across the room, "It's Military code for Sangheili, used to symbolize individual enemies on the battlefield. But it's also used to determine allies on the battlefield, as Sangheili have been known to defect from the Covenant and ally themselves with the UNSC." Osa leans back in his chair, "It seems so bigoted to me. Is that just me?" Fredrick leans forward, "I'm a veteran, I was a marine for 15 years. I had to call your people Elites too, but have you heard me refer to you as one? You're not an Elite, that's why. You're a Sangheili, a child. Elites are combatants by definition, not enemy or ally, just a code for a Sangheili Soldier. People out there calling you an Elite, just ignore them. You aren't bellow them, nor are you better, we're all equals." Osa nods, he feels happy knowing he has the support of someone who is far more knowledgeable and experienced than the general public in the city.

After eating 5 whole baskets of Dim Sum, drinking Huangjiu and a bowl of Ramen, Osa claims he is full. While Fredrick just has 1 basket, 2 shots of Huangjiu, and a plate of 3 spring rolls, he drops the last half of the spring roll on the plate, "Oh fuck, I can't eat anymore. Damn it." Osa feels insulted, instinctual, he points at the last half of the spring roll, "You better eat that last bite." Fredrick burps, "Excuse me. I can't..." Osa gives him a disappointed look, "You're going to waste this good food? What was that you taught me during our history lesson a few months back... hmm, oh yes, the major Food Shortage Disaster of 2064 on Earth. Hmmm, I wonder how that happened?" He looks up, rubbing his lower mandibles like a chin, in a very sarcastic sense. Fredrick sighs, thinking, Osa is getting so good with English, retaining information, and is beginning to really show an empathetic view point of Humanity. It's almost like he's not Sangheili, like he's a human inside a Sangheili's body. "Hey, I was just kiddin'," He pops the last of the spring roll, gulping it down. Osa felt a bit shameful, "I was just kiddin' too... If it hurts you, you didn't have to-" Fredrick stretches, "Oh shut up and pay the bill lil' man." The bill came down to $150, Osa was quite content with the price, because anywhere else, for the same amount of food it'd be priced well over $300. Fredrick and Osa are about to leave the restaurant, but there is a desk by the doors, and a laptop sits on the desk playing a video. Osa opens the door, but Fredrick looks at the screen with a look of shame. Osa waves to him, "Hey, we going?" Osa looks at the screen, it's a video of a lecture done by an old man, the background is a giant black board, with very detailed drawings of Sangheili and their anatomy. The old man speaks with a raspy voice, "The Sangheili body is a truly enigmatic and brilliant work of Anatomy, in order to understand aspects of their practice, you look at their bodies. The legs, ideal for running very quick, while maintaining quiet foot steps. Their two hearts make them very adaptable to harsh environments. Their brains, truly wonderful, they can show great levels of empathy and care, while also showing great levels of honor, pride, and selfless/selfish behavior. A study was conducted, where anonymous Sangheili were subjected to being around purely Sangheili individuals, then, being thrust into a human society, and they adapt not only very well, they seem to change drastically. The paradox here, is that the Sangheili seem to be the same, identify the same, but their personalities, their anatomy, the way they are as a whole, changes completely. This is what I coined, as, Schrödinger's Sangheili Theorem, the Theorem of whether or not Sangheili are truly adequate for co-existing with Humanity, and the pros and cons of the scenario taking reality." Fredrick pulls Osa by the shoulder, "Let's just get out of here." Osa, as he's yanked out of the restaurant, feels as if he just saw something very wrong, but didn't understand what exactly he was seeing.