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9/20/2014 9:23:25 PM
2
The Embrace of Winter
An EXO Titan slowly walked up to a large hole surrounded by thick vegetation. The EXO was a male model made of dark gray metal with a pair of antenna on either side of his head. His eyes were light blue, and his mouth was dark purple.
"You really should have your helmet on you know," cautioned his Ghost as it materialized beside him.
"It is kind of a moot point now isn't it?" Replied the EXO.
There was a small silence as the EXO easily plowed through the vegetation with his powerful Titan armor.
As he got closer to the chasm his Ghost spoke again, "You don't have to do this you know."
The EXO paused and looked towards his Ghost with a hint of a mournful expression on his robotic face. "We both know I have to do this."
"The darkness is too strong down there," replied his Ghost without thinking. "I won't be able to bring you back."
"Exactly," chuckled the EXO lightly as his feet came up to the edge of the massive hole.
The Ghost analyzed the scene before him and looked down into the hole. Then he looked back up at the EXO and said, "There are a million reasons why you shouldn't go down there. Let's just head back to the tower and think about this over a nice oil bath."
The EXO scooted his foot closer to the edge and a few pebbles fell into the black of the abyss. "You know it's funny," said the EXO as his voice trembled slightly. "I've been looking for somewhere you couldn't bring me back since a few weeks after you brought me back to life. And now," the EXO laughed slightly, and it was full of a sense of madness. "Now jumping off seems so hard to do."
"Please," whispered his Ghost quietly.
The EXO stood there in silence and then he looked over at his Ghost. "You've stuck with me through it all," he said as more pebbles tumbled down. "I still say you brought back the wrong machine."
The Ghost spoke with confidence and defiance as he said, "No. I know I picked the right person."
The Exo let out a small chuckle and looked down into the dark hole. "You shouldn't follow me down. You can find someone else to bring back," said the EXO as he lifted his arms out to his side. "You know where the ship is, and my armory. They'll be better prepared, and there is no sense in losing both of us." He paused and added, "Ghost."
"It's Vector," replied his Ghost. This made the EXO smile as much as a machine like him could. "Besides, I don't want to go through the hassle of dealing with another Guardian like you."
The EXO laughed a little and looked over at his Ghost. As they locked visual receptors his Ghost said, "When your light is extinguished, then mine will be too. We are in this together from start to finish, partner."
Before the EXO could reply he heard a multitude of voices calling out. "Jump," they said. "Jump down. Do it. Do it. Jump. Jump. Do it. Do it. Jump. Jump. Jump!"
As the EXO cringed his Ghost asked, "Are you hearing the voices again?"
The EXO nodded, and his Ghost floated there silently. The silence stayed until the EXO could not stand it any longer.
The EXO closed his eyes and jumped. His Ghost was surprised by how sudden it was, but quickly disappeared back into him as he went down. They both knew this was it, and the EXO thought it was funny that he only had to go to Venus to find the relief he had been looking for since he was first brought back.
-
There you are," said a Ghost with icicles on it as it used the light it held inside to breath life back into a destroyed EXO. The EXO's systems all came back online one by one. He moved all of his digits as he made sure he was functioning correctly. His light blue eyes behind his faceplate focused on the floating thing in front of him as a flash of his memory came to him. "Vector?" He said in a voice covered with static and a mind full of questions without any answers. "No," replied the Ghost firmly. "I am a Ghost, more specifically I am your Ghost." "Where are we?" Asked the EXO as he looked around. He saw that he was in a snowstorm, and for some reason could feel the cold through his armor. "We are near a golden age research station at coordinates 46.79°N 121.74°W," explained the Ghost. "Well more or less, the snowstorm is interfering with my sensors." "46.79°N 121.74°W you say," replied the EXO as he thought about it. "That means we are in the Cascade mountains?" "Yes," replied the Ghost, "but more specifically we are on Mt. Rainier's southern slope. At almost 5,000 feet." "Why are we here?" Asked the EXO. "What is going on? Why can't I seem to remember anything?" "Look," said the Ghost firmly. "I would love to have an existential debate with you, but I'd prefer not to freeze my circuits off. So if you don't mind could we continue this somewhere a little more hospitable?" Before the EXO could reply the Ghost dematerialized. "Don't worry," replied the Ghost from what sounded like inside the EXO's head. "I'm still with you, just keep moving forward." The EXO followed the Ghost 's instructions with the hope that he would be able to answer all of the questions he had. Trudging forward in the knee deep snow the EXO felt his robotics try and seize up from the cold. As soon as he was sure that they were lost, he saw a white diamond mark on his HUD. He followed it and thinking about not losing that white mark amidst the pearl white snow kept him distracted from the cold. After almost an hour of walking the EXO came up to a run down wooden shack. The white mark on his HUD was over the door. He thought it must have just been a mistake so he walked around the shack, but the mark stayed on the door. "Well are you going to open it, or not?" Asked his Ghost with some frustration. "This looks worse than the snow," replied the EXO with static still saturating his voice. "My scans indicate that this is the back entrance to the research station," replied the Ghost. "So just get in already." "Why didn't you bring us to the front door?" Asked the EXO after a slight pause. His Ghost was clearly getting annoyed. "The main entrance is swarmed with Fallen, aaannnddd over a hundred miles away." The EXO was still reluctant to open the door. He stood right outside of it for a minute. After an especially cold wind he felt he had no choice and opened the door. As the EXO walked inside he saw pretty much what he expected. He forced the door closed, which was made harder by the snow that collapsed inside. After almost a full minute of shoving he finally had it closed. The small shack had almost no furnishings inside. There was an ancient computer terminal, some worn charts on the walls, an old compass on a decrepit desk, and a hard wooden floor that felt just as cold as the snow outside. It even came with a small crack in the wall that let in a breeze that felt like daggers through the EXO's suit. "Now that we made it to the high tech research station," said the EXO sarcastically as he rubbed his sides to try and warm up. "Can you explain some things to me?" The Ghost popped out and floated over towards the ancient terminal. "Not yet," he said as he started to scan the terminal. "I need to see if I can get us inside the facility first. Ahh, just decades of entropy and highly secure encryptions blocking the way. Nothing I can't handle." "I'm sure," said the EXO as he grabbed the compass off the desk and hooked it around his neck. "There got it," said the Ghost boastfully as he made it inside. "Opening the gate now." There was a loud grinding noise, and the EXO felt the floor beneath him move and stumbled to try and keep his balance. Sure enough his Ghost had done it. The floor was traveling down at an angle into the depths of the stratovolcano. As the EXO looked around at the sides of the elevator he could already see that this was indeed a high tech location. Then, before his very eyes, the sides of the elevator gave way to an amazing view. They were traveling down into a facility with scarce lights that still worked and miles and miles of advanced technology. There were massive half formed rockets, odd purple plants that seemed to absorb any light that came near them, robotic suits several stories tall, and many other complex machinery scattered as far as he could see. "Wow," said the EXO as he took in the amazing sight. "You're welcome," gloated his Ghost pridefully. "We should be safe here until we find a ship. I doubt the fallen are smart enough to get into here." "You've said that name before," questioned the EXO, whose voice was still full of static. "What is a fallen? His Ghost thought for a second. "They are," his Ghost's words sounded cautious. "Well let's just say they are bad guys. The Speaker can tell you more." "What's a speaker?" Asked the EXO who seemed to get more and more confused. "Well the Speaker is the voice for the Traveler," replied his Ghost confidently. "OK," said the EXO with an exasperated voice. "What in the name of my motherboard is a traveler?" "The Traveler is the greatest thing to ever happen to humanity," explained his Ghost. "The Traveler brought the stars into humanity's grasp, and protected them from the darkness. It sacrificed itself to save them, and sent out Ghosts like me to find people who could wield the Traveler's light as a weapon and protect mankind while it recovers." The EXO thought about it and ended up shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah I am still a little confused," explained the EXO. "Especially when it is obvious that I am not human." His Ghost had had enough. "Just roll with it until we get to the city," said his Ghost as the platform settled onto the floor of the research station. "Once we get there it should become a lot clearer." The EXO nodded. "Alright," he said as he stepped off of the platform onto the dusty floor. "I guess I can keep waiting for answers." The static was getting to his Ghost who said, "First why don't we do something about that voice. Let me do a quick scan of the area." He paused a second as he searched. "Ah hah!" Declared his Ghost. "I've found just the thing. Follow the waypoints and I will direct you from there."
