The activation of the Halo Array was not something that could be accomplished overnight. It required extensive preparation in advance.
Inside the central control chamber of Installation 00, within the spacious and dim hall, complex high-dimensional geometric edges interwove in a colossal tetrahedral structure.
Even after one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand five hundred years had passed, the walls still clearly bore the distinctive textures and magnificent carvings unique to Forerunner civilization, appearing exceptionally grand and geometrically beautiful.
At this moment, the chamber stood empty, just as it always had—deathly silent.
Suddenly—
Bzzzz.
The room lit up in an instant. The smooth, polished floor began to deform and rise, and at the far end of the forward wall, a skybridge extending directly to the entrance emerged.
Ssshh—!
Mendicant Bias manifested instantly within the control chamber and reported to Selene, who stepped out from a spatial rift: "Your Majesty, I have initiated the Halo Array recall protocol for Installation 00, but one final authorization remains required."
"A genetic command?" Selene asked as she stepped forward, holding 000 Tragic Solitude in front of her and casually kneading it like a toy.
From close range, Selene could clearly see the dark gray control pillar rising from the core control platform in the center of the chamber. Rectangular in shape, a matte metallic sphere the size of a basketball floated above it.
Upon closer inspection, faint cyan-blue streams of light leaked from the thin seams along its surface.
"Yes. Although I have forcibly bypassed 000 Tragic Solitude's authority with superior computational capacity and seized control of the facilities aboard Installation 00, all of my original permissions have been silenced and erased."
"The construction of Installation 04B Special Region—that is, the Halo, as the Forerunners and Monitors designate it—and the recall control of the Halo Array require the genetic commands of the Creator and the Reclaimer."
Clearly, Mendicant Bias' betrayal had deeply wounded the Forerunners.
From that point onward, even when the Forerunners, under the pressure of Mendicant Bias' treason and the Flood armada, created its sister construct—Offensive Bias, another Contender-class ancilla—the new entity existed solely to replace Mendicant Bias as the fleet command AI of the Forerunner navy, and its authority was greatly reduced compared to its predecessor.
The Monitors created afterward possessed even less power. They were granted only the independent operation and defense authority of facilities on individual Halos, without permission to activate the Halo Array.
Unlike Mendicant Bias—if it so desired, it could not only exercise complete control over a single Halo installation, but could instantly seize control over multiple Halo Arrays simultaneously.
After a brief pause, Mendicant Bias continued, "Forcible decryption cannot be achieved in the short term. It would require extensive time, and there is a probability exceeding ninety-six percent that it would trigger the Ark network's defensive protocols. The outcome... I cannot guarantee."
"Your Majesty, please issue your command."
After studying the control pillar's core for a moment, Selene subtly cast a sidelong glance behind her. Yes—bringing them here had not been in vain.
Mendicant Bias' regret toward Forerunner civilization and its desire for atonement toward the Reclaimers—humanity—were nearly overflowing.
Exploiting that weakness in its personality consciousness, Selene had already completed a lossless alteration of its awareness.
A fly does not bite a seamless egg.
With humanity—the inheritors of the Forerunners' "Mantle"—standing nearby, a crack had formed in that seamless egg. The Master Chief and Halsey had provided excellent assistance. It had not been for nothing that Selene had specifically dragged them over from Reach.
Simply aiding Selene in completing the infiltration and control of Mendicant Bias had already made it worthwhile.
Next, Selene raised her hand. A flash of violet light appeared, and two hollow triangular crystalline objects manifested instantly.
Seeing this, 000 Tragic Solitude cried out, "You are activating the Index?!"
"Correct."
"Are you intending to activate the Halo Array?! No! Please do not do this! Once the complete Halo Array is fired, it will exterminate all life in the galaxy! That violates the Mantle's inheritance and covenant!"
"Outsider, your actions will bring catastrophe to the galaxy—"
000 Tragic Solitude continued chattering in strict adherence to its duty.
"Catastrophe? What if traces of the Flood have already reappeared within the galaxy?" Selene interrupted, her eyes filled with a smile that Halsey and the others could not decipher.
Flood? What was that? They had never heard of it. Yet why did that alien AI show such fear?
"What?! The Flood? You mean signs of the Flood have appeared in the galaxy again?"
As 000 Tragic Solitude's electronic voice turned sharp and urgent, the UNSC personnel standing quietly in the chamber erupted into murmurs.
"That alien metal shell doesn't seem to be lying."
"That ring-shaped structure is actually a weapon?"
"Does Her Majesty truly intend to kill all life in the galaxy?"
"Impossible. The Jiangbo System, Reach, even the Solar System—all have Her Majesty's legions engaged in war. She would not eliminate her own forces!"
"What is the Flood? Some alien species we haven't encountered yet...?"
"That AI is just being alarmist!"
...
"Your Majesty, is it truly as it claims? If the Halo Array is activated, will it exterminate all life in the galaxy?"
Selene stepped forward and pressed a control node. From both sides of the chamber, sections of the wall suddenly unfolded, forming a semi-circular apparatus that assembled together into a continuously rotating vortex of energy.
"Ah, yes~"
"All life will be cleansed."
After completing her actions, Selene turned back to look at the stunned UNSC officers. Flickers of light seemed to flow within her eyes, her lashes fluttering gently as she regarded the conflicted and struggling soldiers with an amiable expression.
"I would like to hear your thoughts."
"If I were truly to activate the Halo Array, what choice would you make?"
As she spoke, Selene rested her chin in one hand and reclined slightly in midair, crimson eyes blinking softly as she observed them at leisure.
Yet in the very next instant—
"Do you believe you possess the qualification to choose?"
Her expression changed abruptly, so swiftly it was astonishing.
Ah, no less impressive than those politicians in the United Nations Assembly who specialized in wrangling and evasion.
Vmmmm—!
Precise gravitational force enveloped the UNSC personnel, slamming them to the ground.
"Use your brains. If I intended to annihilate humanity, would I require something so troublesome? As for other applications, those are not included in my agreement with you." Selene said irritably.
"Ugh..."
The chamber fell into oppressive silence.
"Hmph."
With a light snort, Selene said no more. Amid 000 Tragic Solitude's alarmed cries, she placed both Index components into the energy vortex at the center of the semi-circular structure.
Vmmmm—!
The moment they were inserted, it was as if the core device had been successfully activated. Brilliant light burst outward from the seams of every pattern lining the control chamber, dazzling and blinding.
A three-dimensional star map unfolded above the surrounding platform before Selene's eyes. Apart from the extragalactic coordinates of Installation 00, six brilliant Halo coordinates within the Milky Way illuminated one by one.
Releasing the gravitational pressure suppressing the UNSC personnel, Selene made a courteous gesture for them to rise. Then she turned to the Master Chief.
"Spartan-117... mm... John. I may address you that way, correct? You will initiate it."
She could have extracted the Forerunner genetic command codes embedded deep within the Master Chief's DNA and activated it herself. She could even have controlled their minds and made them truly "volunteer."
But after a moment's thought, Selene decided to let them do it of their own will.
Yes—if asked, the answer would be voluntary.
"...No problem."
As a Spartan-II, the Master Chief's nervous system had undergone extensive augmentation. He could suppress his desires and emotions with exceptional precision. Even if this decision might lead to the deaths of countless lives, the resolute face beneath his helmet remained perfectly calm.
"Your Majesty, I hope you will keep your word—and remain humanity's Empress."
Toward alien species, whether Selene chose enslavement, subjugation, or even extermination, it did not matter. As long as human civilization was protected, that was enough.
"As soldiers, our duty is to protect humanity at any cost." —John-117.
That was his oath. He would uphold it for all eternity, until death.
Clang. Clang.
The Master Chief stepped forward from the crowd without arrogance or servility. Guided by Mendicant Bias, he approached the control pillar and extended his right hand, pressing his armored palm against the floating sphere.
Zzzz—
The sensation was indescribable. He vaguely perceived something within his body being stirred—an involuntary shiver passed through him—and then, nothing.
No further feeling.
Whirrr—
With a sharp shing! the walls of the control chamber began to shift like interlocking building blocks, quickly transforming into a floor-to-ceiling observation window.
Through the transparent wall, the view opened up completely.
They stood within the "stamen" of the lotus—the very center of the Ark world.
Warm sunlight poured down from above. Beneath their feet stretched an endless expanse of emerald grasslands and forests.
They could even clearly feel the gentle breeze flowing in from beyond the transparent wall, cool and refreshing, instantly broadening the heart.
"An artificial sun. A Dyson sphere. Utilizing slipspace rupture containment technology to imprison a star and provide the Ark with perpetual light and heat—though it will extinguish after several billion years."
It made sense. A structure on the scale of Installation 00, adrift in the endless void far beyond the Milky Way, could scarcely obtain the vast quantities of raw materials and reaction mass required to fuel a natural stellar body.
Other than an artificial sun, there was no viable means to sustain it.
Selene did not yet know whether the Ark was powered by an artificial star or by a star relocated from another system by the Forerunners—but it no longer mattered.
It was her palace now.
There would be plenty of time to study it.
The sensation of having such a grand marvel of the universe within her grasp made Selene's heart surge with excitement.
Looking upward, the incomplete yet largely constructed Halo mentioned by Mendicant Bias came into view.
It was a contingency measure left by the Forerunners—a replacement Halo stored atop Installation 00 to substitute any installation destroyed by accident.
Vmmmmmm—RUMBLE!
Amid tremors, dazzling pillars of light rose from every direction around Installation 00, stretching like radiant beams connecting heaven and earth, replacing all other sight as they distributed evenly around the Ark.
Soon, six slipspace portals unfolded above the Ark and began expanding.
The sheer scale of those portals was terrifying.
As the Halo Array emerged, everyone reacted differently.
Even the Master Chief's focus wavered for a fleeting moment. A powerful, indescribable sense of awe pressed against his heart.
The Spartans and UNSC officers alike were seized by belated dread and swirling thoughts.
Selene's expression, however, did not fluctuate in the slightest. She had long known. Nothing here surprised her.
Halsey and the technical staff from Spartan Operations, after an initial gasp of astonishment, allowed their scientific fervor to overwhelm their fear. They hurriedly activated portable instruments to record everything unfolding before them.
From within the six vortex-like slipspace exits, six colossal ring-shaped celestial constructs—each ten thousand kilometers in diameter—slowly emerged before Selene's eyes.
Good. The goods have arrived.
Time to pack them up and take them home.
As for whether Selene would leave such objects for subordinate legions to allocate or submit them upward—was that even a question?
Do not ask. They are not weapons. They are palaces.
"If the Greater Ark and the original twelve great rings had not been destroyed, what a magnificent sight that would have been," Selene said with visible delight.
The first array of twelve Halos had been commissioned around 101,000 BCE by the Master Builder, intended to solidify the Builder caste's superiority within Forerunner society.
Later, the weapon was optimized further, and a new array of six smaller yet more lethal rings was constructed.
At the height of Forerunner dominance, eighteen Halo installations had existed: the original array of twelve massive thirty-thousand-kilometer rings built by the Greater Ark, and the newer array of six ten-thousand-kilometer rings constructed by the smaller Ark.
Unfortunately, after the Flood War, only the smaller Ark and its six rings remained—along with Installation 07, a reduced derivative of one of the original great rings.
"I am deeply sorry, Your Majesty. I am guilty."
Hearing Selene's reflection, Mendicant Bias once more sank into profound remorse, its tone heavy with regret. The sight made Selene chuckle softly.
"However..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Now is not the time for regret. I can sense it. Within the rings—there are neural signal fluctuations of the Flood."
"What?!"
000 Tragic Solitude immediately stiffened, its attitude shifting completely. "I will summon the Monitors at once."
It moved to the control console and began contacting the Monitors stationed on each Halo.
The three-dimensional projection shifted repeatedly before stabilizing into six separate holographic displays.
"...Installation 04. Installation 05... there are serious problems," 000 Tragic Solitude said in a low voice.
The images magnified.
Landscapes that should have been scenic and vibrant under the Halo life-support systems were now viscous, murky, and exuding corruption.
Though some regions still appeared intact at first glance, beneath the surface they had already been completely infested by Flood conglomerations.
"Your Majesty, please activate the Halo Array immediately and cleanse the Flood. They are a catastrophe to the entire universe!"
Even 000 Tragic Solitude did not realize that its form of address had subtly changed, nor that it had begun instinctively believing Selene's words.
"Do not worry. They will not spread."
My property is not something you are permitted to contaminate.
"Lockdown."