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What is your name? > < Requires Adjustment But you are an AI So like the Forerunner ones > Oh, real y? The Forerunner coht now his priority was to keep the Engineer out of their systems until they’d worked out what to do with hi hih The creature was certainly intel igent enough to understand their reluctance

< I am Black-Box Address me as BB Do not access the ship’s syste work for you to do, but first we must take you on a journey > Requires Adjustned < Good > "So?" Mal twisted his head as far as he could to see where the tentacles had wound around his backpack "What was al that about?"

"It’s a he and he’s cal ed Requires Adjustain "I think I’ to cal him the Adj Gives him a quasi- military chun wel enough to speak to hient," Vaz said

He reached out a wary finger to touch Adj as if he’d never seen a Huragok before These ODSTs had led relatively sheltered lives by ONI’s standards, but in intel igence terms, they were clean; no complicated associations with other ONI officers or senior coe of the service other than a healthy dread BB thought that was a sent rade raw material for Osman to shape to her own unique needs

And you’ll need them when the Admiral finally passes the baton to you, Captain You really will

The Adj slithered one tentacle around Mal’s neck and slackened his grip, visibly cal, aren’t they?" Vaz said

"Wel , you can take him for walks, then" Mal went over to the armor racks with Adj stil draped around his shoulders and tapped his old helineer to look at a new toy "Go on, Adj Look at that nice armor Lovely armor Isn’t that fun? Good boy! Do the business"

Adj reached out a tentacle and explored the helo of Mal and floated free BB decided the language barrier wasn’t going to be a major problem Adj worked over the ar co theeneral y tinkered

Osman had that half-lidded look that said she was pleased "Parangosky’s going to love this"

"But we need another one," BB pointed out How odd to look at Osh human eyes "And it’s cruel to keep one on its own, isn’t it?"

"Yes, it is," Naomi said BB decided to take that at face value

Osman looked over Adj wistful y "I know I should send him back to HQ, but he real y would be useful on a ot to say Was there any food for him in the ship? They do need nutrients, don’t they?"

"If there isn’t, I can formulate an amino acid mix" BB wanted to search Piety anyway There was plenty of work to do to her before she was sent on her Marie Celeste-like way "Co tied the dead Jiralhanae aside to get at the crates She pried one lid open and ru over assorted hand weapons and spare power packs

"BB," she said, "are you sure this ship was heading toward Sanghelios, not away fro me into her nav computer and I’l confirm it Why do you ask?"

"Have you scanned this stuff for tags?"

He hadn’t The only tags he would check for would be those on the arms supplied to ‘Telca

"I’l do that right now," he said, enal via her radio "Oh…"

He got a return Four, in fact There were four weapons in this shipment that had been supplied by ONI and handed over to ‘Telcam

"Maybe there’s a simple explanation for this," Naomi said "Let’s check Piety’s nav computer"

URBAN STRUCTURE, FORERUNNER DYSON SPHERE, ONYX: LOCAL DATE NOVEMBER 2552

The Forerunnersskils, because there were no stairs here

Mendez stood in the lobby and looked around for an alternative to stepping into a rectangular opening that looked exactly like an elevator He already had one Spartanany oddaht, Chief," Linda cal ed She backed out of a smal side lobby, rifle raised, and rejoined the cluster of Spartans watching theonto the lobby "I’ at alIt’s deserted"

The lobby was built in the saold stone as the towers, co been used or occupied

Mendez had cleared plenty of abandoned buildings in his ti room by room for booby traps

The floors were usual y scattered with the sad debris of normal lives that had been interrupted for one reason or another, even if it was just scraps of paper or broken glass But he’d never seen anything as sterile as this There wasn’t a single trace of dust or evidence of wear on anything The place could have been constructed yesterday, except he’d never seen a new building quite this clean

"Wel , if ant a vantage point," he said, "we have to get up top soain and stood back to count the s There were seven openings top to botto s, or if soht He went back in and paused at the entrance to the elevator

I hope that’s what it is, anyway Assuet you killed

"Come on, Chief" Fred put one boot on the floor of the elevator cage "Nobody goes anywhere on their own until we figure out how this maze works Everyone else--stay put"

Mendez stepped in beside Fred The two of the that resens on the wal s at al , recognizable or otherwise The ceiling of the elevator cage didn’t give Mendez any clues either, but then his sto The entrance vanished below the up," Fred said "I don’t knohat the Chief did, but it worked"

"I just looked up," Mendez said

"Okay, so maybe it responds to that Up for up, down for down…"

"And stop?"

They were now looking at a blank wal and it was hard to tel if they were stilMendez shut his eyes for a moment to see if he could detectonto another floor slide slowly past them Another open floor fol owed, then another

"Wel , that’s two, and I counted seven"

"That’s … three" The cage rose past another opening "And four…"

Light spread down fro another floor coe slowed to a stop It leveled out with the fifth floor and waited

"You’ve got a ith elevators, Chief" Fred stuck his head out to take a look, boots stil inside the cage area "Very hygienic No germ-laden buttons"

Mendez tried out his newfound an to rise "Yeah, the more I see, the more I wonder if this is some decontamination facility It feels like a hospital"