The Good, the Bad, and the Didact

Captured

The inside of the Forerunner building was so much more futuristic compared to what we had. I had only been inside a Covenant ship once, and so far this looked more impressive. The walls and floors were shiny metal gray, with blue lights running along. I followed the lights that were taking me to wherever the center of the building was. Living here would be okay, but I had no idea what I would do for food, especially if this place was so large. I could get lost just finding the exit to go look for fruit and berries.

Sentinels flew over my head, and a few of them vanished beyond the doors on my left and right. What were Sentinels doing here on Requiem? You could find them on any of the Halo rings working as protectors of the ring, along with a monitor. The most famous one I could recall was Installation 04, destroyed by the Master Chief. Then it was rebuilt by the Ark and then, instead of destroying it he activated it. If only I had been there, I would have loved to see it. 

The Halos were built by the Forerunners, so were the Sentinels built by them as well? There were no experts to answer these questions. The Sentinels were blocking my path. I could not go into any of the doors from my side, so I decided to head for the next large door in front of me.

On the other side, I came to a wide open space. The floor looked like fancy glass, and there were large towers lit by lines of blue light, as if there was an entire city inside this building. The Forerunners must have lived here before, and I began to wonder if they were hiding. They were so afraid of the Flood. I wandered around the towers. This place was incredible, almost too incredible to leave.

I was only going to be resting here, but any place was dangerous on Requiem alone. I walked past the remaining towers and spotted a terminal at the end of the room. I wonder what that contains, maybe it can tell me where the Forerunners have disappeared, or where the Didact was.

Ever since word got out that a Forerunner had returned; nobody on Infinity seemed to care about the danger that it may pose. All they cared about was getting off Requiem. My foster parents were only interested in the science, and I was only interesting in learning about the Forerunners. If they weren't hostile to us, I would like to meet one.

I walked up the metal ramp to the terminal and pressed a button, and then in the blink of an eye a holographic map of Requiem appeared. The technology seemed a lot different than what I had seen on a typical UNSC ship. The map of Requiem started to show a small red dot moving around the planet, as if orbiting it. Was it in the first layer of the planet which we were all inside too? I watched the moving red dot with curiosity, and began to wonder if that was the Didact. Reports had come in that he was moving around the planet in a ship of some kind, which had a unique shape.

Then the hologram began to flash and beep a warning written in Forerunner language. I could not understand. I stood there silently watching to the flashing and the beeping until a red Forerunner symbol appeared: It was a circle with lines connecting to make a hexagon in its center with a small rectangle above it. I didn't know what it meant. The only Forerunner symbol I knew, was the one for Reclaimer. Then the terminal suddenly shut down. I sighed, so much for learning what could have been interesting.

I walked away from the terminal and covered a yawn. I didn't know what time it was but if I went outside it would probably be dark. This large room had too many bright lights to sleep in. However, I thought going back outside after dark would not be safe for many reasons. I sat down in the corner across from the terminal, and crawled behind a small metal post up against the wall that would, hopefully, hide me a little in case anyone came in. Having nothing soft to lie on, I curled up in my little corner and tried to get some sleep.

******

Hours flew by, and as they did, I had that dream again. It was the same dream always had: Ever since I learned of the Didact being freed, I had dreams about him every night. I stood at the edge of the forest looking towards his Cryptum and he saw me as he emerged from it. The UNSC liked to refer to it as a satellite, but it was called a Cryptum. Forerunners of certain ranks had them, which I had learned from research.