It had been an hour since the tripped sensor incident occured, and as quick as the unsc always is, a report was placed right on Elara Finch's desk.
Her desk was a small table amidst the retrofitted observatory, right where the faint whirring of machines and the ozone/ persistent floral scent, beside her was the two marines overlooking the security monitors. They glanced every so often in her direction, distracted by the tapping and clicking of her pen.
She had the patrol reports from the last 72 hours till now on her desk amongst many others, and she was... if she was honest: suspicious.
"Everything is... perfect, quiet... the banished are on the retreat and unsc are acquiring new ground and access to more installation 00 facilities... however."
Her mind paused as her eyes skimmed the report, the same report Vaughan had made. It bothered her, like a instinct pulled at her mind, like it spoke of something "other". Not eldritch but not human either.
The sound of the observatory side door opening snapped her concentration immediately, the sound of boots walked over as Finch glanced to the side, ready to send a dry and sharp glance at whatever dared interrupt her.
"Eh?"
Would be the first surprised sound she'd make as her eyes landed on a boy beside her, placing a small stack of files beside her.
"H-hey mom"
Her eyes sharpened but not unkind.
"Milo, wh-what in Sol's name are you doing here?"
She said, her voice leveled but undeniably pointed. The marines beside her glanced, one smirked as the looked at "Milo".
A short statured young man amongst ONI's research division, a young man whose a head and a half shorter than Finch herself, brown hair that persistently covered his eyes despite his best efforts and a way too cinnamon-roll empowered smile.
He fidgeted in place as Finch repeated herself, her voice sharper now.
"Ehem, Doctor Finch, what are you doing here?"
Milo flinched, stuttering through a response.
"O-oh, i-i'm here for u-um..."
Finch sighed.
"Forget it, thanks for the files."
Milo nodded. "N-no problem mo- i mean Agent Finch."
With a quick pivot Milo turned and walked away, his 1 size to large doctors coat bellowing behind him.
"Hm.... cute..."
Finch said absentmindedly, earning a look from the two marines. Finch immediately jerked her head to them, glaring daggers to the back of their heads, forcing them to return their gaze to the monitors before they earn the wrath of an ONI agent.
She'd return to work, glancing at Milo as he himself returned to work... it was odd, why was he here? Doesn't matter, Finch has better things to do than contemplate Milo's presence on such a mystery.
-------
Some minutes passed and the voice of a certain disgruntled odst called out to the ONI agent. Low, knowing and very certain as to why he was called.
"You wanted to see me ma'am?"
Finch looked up briefly from her stack of files, and true enough it was Major Vaughan, odst and veteran of the spirit of fire. His eyes held the evident memory of war, pain, grief and perhaps some hilarious shenanigans with his squad during the banished conflict.
"I did, sit."
The groan of the chair echoed, but Finch's sharp voice and question were louder.
"First question, in these last 72 hours have you or your squad come across anything unusual?"
Vaughan nodded and responded.
"Yes ma'am, I'll get to the point, there are two points of interests me and my squad came across in the last 72 hours. The wreckage fields of the Enduring Conviction and firebase Omikron."
Finch rose a brow, quickly jotting down every word the odst major said.
"Anything specific? Haziness, dizziness.?"
He shook his head.
"None, firebase Omikron was the first, corporal Chloe Turpin, drone operator of my squad spotted strange movement in the perimeter of Omikron base."
Finch sharpened her eyes.
"Correct me if I'm wrong major, Omikron base is a lakeside base near the Ark's foundries."
The odst nodded.
"Correct, the sighting in specific was behind a forerunner surface generator. Chloe stated she saw a silhouette of something vague, an outline of something 'other' with bioluminescent 'curtains' or rivers inside it."
Finch rose a brow, a moment of genuine confusion at the odd descriptions.
"river, curtain, such odd words for this."
Vaughan nodded, eyes narrowing in what appeared to be agreement and caution. Like he didn't know what Chloe saw but understood it wasn't covenant or banished.
"She said it was amorphous, formless... like the flood."
Chills descended down Finch's back, her eyes darkening... the flood... the great monstrosity of the galaxy...
She dreaded the thought but she needed an answer right now.
"Are you certain?"
"No ma'am... i... do not believe it was the flood, the curtains and 'rivers' according to Chloe were pastel colored, but even then that can be wrong."
Finch took a breath, her mind racing with probabilities, protocols and orders she could use to figure what in the hell Chloe saw-. She took a breath, calming the nerves that nearly took her professionalism.
"Let's talk about the 2nd incident at the wreckage of Enduring Conviction."
She spoke almost half beat faster, a slight wave of the voice, sweat formed on her forehead... no matter.
"Yes ma'am, the 2nd sighting was by our marksman, Lance Corporal, Devon Sparks.. a good man he is, his description was slightly different."
Finch's eyes twitched.
"How so?"
The major responded.
"Devon claims he saw a modified ghost, the Light scout for the banished, but it wasn't anything he's ever seen before. Slender, flattened with several 'fins' and 'appendages'... he stated it was almost nigh impossible to see it due to it's unique coloration."
Finch fell silent, letting the major continue, something he saw and nodded.
"Iridescent blue, silver, and white, a strange set of colors but very effective."
Finch twirled her pen for a moment.
"I would like photos of the two incident sites by tomorrow Major.. for now, go to the medical wing for any flood contamination, I don't want to take chances.'
The major nodded and quickly excused himself, leaving with the echoing of his footsteps.
----
Things became quiet for Finch, slightly cold too, either it was from the AC overhead silently whirring away or it was the Flood comment, either way she needed to think.
She rose to her feet, dusted her shoulder and began making way to the entrance.
"M-mom?"
The soft voice of Milo brought her out of the contemplation. She'd glance to the side, seeing Milo walk over with that gentle smile.
"What is it?"
"W-we finished sampling the strange tracks that was discovered by the tripped sensor, w-we believe it might require ONI oversight."
Finch nodded, turning to her son so he may lead the way.
"What have you discovered?"
Milo averted his gaze whilst opening a file in his hands, revealing several pictures of a cluster of cells under a microscope, the cells were unlike anything Finch had ever seen.
One picture was the cluster of cells, twice as large as a humans, slightly oblong with a blue iridescent hue.
That alone was fascinating but the next photo truly sold the idea that this WAS NOT flood in the slightest, but something new.
The next photo depicted the same cluster of cells shifting, slender branching arms in a dendritic pattern, something Finch knew was neural. The next photo depicted the cluster of cells rippling with actin filaments, which was muscle tissue.
"That is.. impossible."
Milo nodded.
"We have several more photos of the cluster of cells shifting forms, the cluster was able to shift and make itself thicker by flexing, or shrink down to become fluid and acidic.. m-mom, th-this is incredible."
His voice rose a pitch before cracking, he'd blush and bite his lower lip.
"S-sorry... p-professor anders has received a copy of the info, soon both Rear Admiral Trent and captain Cutter are to going to be briefed."
Finch looked at the photos once more, her eyes narrowing, sharpening before she abrupt turned around to Theta's entrance behind her.
"M-mom?"
Finch turned to Milo.
"It's nothing, here. Keep up the good work, I'll be in touch."
She turned around to walk away. Milo blinked in confusion.
"O-ok, s-stay safe!"
He called out, voice warming slightly as Finch's steps slowly vanished, for the gears of time continued to turn. Something was coming and whether it was good or bad, preventable or inevitable, no one knows.
------
Several hours would pass by, the mystery had only thickened and a report made by ONI was placed on the desks of Rear Admiral Trent and Captain James Cutter.
In orbit of the Ark and within the bridge of the Spirit of Fire, Captain Cutter and Professor anders held the expression of suspicious confusion. Narrowed eyes, brows furrowed and jaw tight.
"I am not a fan of this report. Anders, what do you make of this?"
His eyes glanced breifly to the professor beside him.
"I can say with certainty, this is not flood nor it is forerunner, covenant, Banished. This is new sir."
Cutter kept reading Finch's report, a low sigh escaped him before he crossed his arms.
"New usually means dangerous Anders. Isabel, can we take Major Vaughan's squad's testimony?"
Upon being called the AI materialized on Cutter's holo-table, scanning the report.
"I wouldn't disregard it, the description is really unique. Bioluminescent curtains, rivers, and a strange Ghost like vehicle near the Endruing Conviction."
Anders responded, voice low but tinged with analytical puzzlement.
"What would be the probability we are dealing with... non-banished forces?"
Cutter didn't like that question a bit.
"The probability of this being non-Banished is very likely, however it's also likely that we are dealing with Forerunner. We did deal with several retriever sentinels."
Cutter fell into a contemplative silence, his eyes closed as a hand rose to his greying beard.
"I want Red team and odsts to recon and establish a mini-base in the area around the Enduring Conviction, i want 100% certainty we are dealing with Forerunner or banished, not something new."
Isabel saluted and vanished, Anders however was not so easily optimistic, she had a gut feeling and the way her eyes glimmered with heavy suspicion made her speak up.
"Sir... i think we should discuss the lab results found by Doctor Milo Finch."
Cutter opened his eyes and tapped the table, the report glowed, shifted, and revealed the 2nd half of the report. Anders began.
"The lab results discovered by Doctor Milo Finch in Theta Base revealed an astonishing and very anomalous cellular activity."
Cutter nodded, his eyes darting left to right.
"Where are you going with this professor?"
Anders continued.
"I mean, with permission, I'd like to go down to the surface and study the cells Milo had discovered, the pictures show that these cells might be Pluripotent or even Totipotent. The cells are obviously different and it might partially reveal who or what we're dealing with."
Cutter took in Anders word's for a second, his eyes looked into hers before he gave a nod.
"Go to the surface Professor, assist Doctor Milo with the analysis of these cells."
Anders nodded, quickly excusing herself, her quick movements echoing in with each step.
The door to the bridge would hiss open and close before his gaze shifted to the viewport where the Dauntless held position.
"I've had to many surprises become catastrophes. Let's hope this doesn't become a surprise."
He'd take a seat, his eyes closed and brow furrowed once more over his aged face. His gut turned as a result as a bad feeling began to settle.