Halo: Contagio Purgatiio/Prologue

9th Age of Reclamation

D'Jal System

Endless Zeal Research Station

"You monster! Have you forgotten the values of our people?"

Zealot Flem 'Methosee flinched. How dare the heretic speak? He laid his gaze upon the bared Sangheili before him, held tightly by two Jiralhanae. The other Sangheili looked back with defiance. A refusal to see the wrong in his sudden action.

Flem walked up to him with slow grace, looking down on him with immeasurable disgust. "You lost the right to speak of the values of our people the moment you betrayed us all." With that, he punched with full force into the heretic's chest. Ribs cracked loudly, and the bared Sangheili jerked his body together in pain, but did not let a sound escape his throat.

''So the treacherous filth have some of his Sangheili nature left. But not enough.'' "Take him into the chamber" Flem said, looking at the Jiralhanae. They growled impatiently, but did as told, trotting off down the purple-glowing corridor.

Flem did not enjoy having to employ Jiralhanae as security, least of all when he was doing such important work on this new outpost. But using Sangheili would have been very risky; they would not have enjoyed being part of such a 'dishonorable' operation as this. Attempting to improve on what was seen as already perfect technology was frowned upon by most Sangheili and considered hubris. Flem dared not think about how the reaction would be if those same Sangheili heard there was an ongoing attempt to master control over an enemy that even the ancients themselves had failed to manage. It would be beyond hubris to even consider it a possibility.

But like the hierarchs, Flem agreed that this new research on the Flood parasite he had been tasked to perform here was not so much attempting to surpass the gods, as merely acting as their instrument to avenge them. Forcing the parasite into servitude with the instruments of the gods would be a just punishment for defying and attempting to exterminate said gods. If anything was to be considered hubris, it should have been the parasite's actions.

But as he was reminded by the heretic, other Sangheili failed to see this. And so he was stuck employing Jiralhanae as security, along with their Kig-yar allies. That was not to say he trusted them; he could not risk trusting any of the beings he commanded for the moment blindly – not even the mostly docile and quiet contingent of Huragok or the San 'Shyuum scientist, Gob Pridem. He kept an eternal vigil on all of them, constantly alert for any sign of corruption or betrayal. Delicate work such as experiments involving a deadly parasite could not afford any mishaps.

Flem turned and walked through a circular door into a chamber filled with holographic screens and the stench of Huragok. Seven of the creatures levitated peacefully before several screens, occasionally tapping the holographic buttons gently. In front of the screens was a broad, thick window which Flem approached and peered through.

On the other side, he witnessed a round chamber which he was so familiar with by now that he knew every detail of it subconsciously. The walls directly opposite to him slid apart, revealing the Jiralhanae and the heretic – whose blood had started to ooze out from his mouth. The mongrel beasts tossed in the Sangheili and quickly slid together the wall, leaving the captive no way out.

Flem clicked his mandibles satisfactorily and turned to one of the Huragok. "Proceed."

The Huragok sputtered something unintelligible in its own mysterious language and tapped the screen in front of it with one of its glowing tentacles. Instantly, a hatch in the quarantined room's roof opened. Moments later, small, round beings with many tentacle legs poured in. Driven by instinct, they latched onto the struggling Sangheili, burrowing some of its tentacles into his chest. Gradually, the skin decayed and the shouted Sangheili mantra turned to primal growls. The head went lifeless and pushed back, making room for several tendrils where the infection form had latched on.

And so the transformation was complete; from heretic to a servant of the parasite. Flem had seen it many times before by now. Studying the infection was vital to discover the inner workings of the Flood organism, and the most effective way to study the infection was to let other beings be consumed.

Yet, each infection had been different; the first infected subject had been turned into a carrier form – and subsequently tried to break through the containment cell by exploding itself. It failed, but more infection forms were still created. The second time, the subject had been shaped into what was designated a combat form, which also tried to break out of containment. From this pattern, Flem discerned that the parasites were actually learning from their failures – they attempted other mutations when the first failed.

Since that discovery, Flem knew he would have to study that adaptability thoroughly; if they were to stand a chance at controlling the beasts, they would have to get past their incredibly fast evolution process, or else they would merely evolve immunity to any possible control measures.

As he had suspected, this new form was slightly different from the previous ones; it stood on all four limbs, with the head and what appeared to be what was once the spinal cord merged and grown into an additional appendage on its back. The appendage stood up stiffly, with a large amount of small spikes lodged in it. Reshaped bones perhaps?

Then, to his utter disbelief, the spikes fired out of the appendage; it was a weapon. The spikes tore through the glass, shattering it into thousands of pieces. One spike flew straight into Flem's harness, cracking the armor but not reaching his flesh. He reeled back out of surprise as the parasite leapt through the new opening.

Surprise still gripping him, Flem drew his energy sword and, with a roar, sliced vertically. The flood form – which had jumped at him – fell apart into a left and a right half and to the floor with an almost liquid bang.

But it was too late; the other infection forms poured into the room, latching onto the Huragok or crawling with surprising speed into the maintenance tunnels.

The Parasite is loose.