Too Variable to Measure

This fanfiction article, Too Variable to Measure, was written by Sev40. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission.

This fanfiction article, Too Variable to Measure, is currently under active construction.

Too Variable to Measure
Biographical Information
ALIAS	Variable
DATE OF BIRTH	2543
HOMEWORLD	Prosperous Optimism (Orbiting Green Hills)
Physical Information
SPECIES	Huragok
GENDER	None
HEIGHT	164.81 centimetres (5ft 5in)
WEIGHT	63.193 kilograms (139.317 lb)
EYE COLOR	Black
Political/Military Information
SPECIALTY	Combat engineer
UNIT	Glass Raiders
AFFILIATION	*Covenant Jaeteran Militia Cortez Cartel
[Source]

"Definition: Huragok are distinguished by their ability to work without compensation. Clarification: this unit does not have that flaw."

― Variable, on the nature of its species.

Too Variable to Measure (Oracle Code: H48-M0918-1), usually shortened to simply Variable, was a juvenile Huragok who lived during the unstable years following the Covenant Empire's collapse. Conscripted into the military not long after its birth, Variable would serve as a combat engineer in a joint Huragok-Yanme'e unit. Earning a reputation for reliability under fire, the young engineer would faithfully serve until 2551, when it would be hijacked by a UNSC "dumb" AI.

Irreversible changing its behaviour, Variable would begin to despise what it saw as slavery and made plans to rebel from the Covenant. As a result, when the Great Schism began it used the chaos of the civil war to flee towards the colonial frontier, journeying out into the galaxy in an attempt to forge its own destiny. Variable would go through a number of occupations, finding success as an engineering and construction specialist. However, it would leave most of these jobs due to the lack of challenge, taking up mercenary work and information brokering under the Cortez Cartel.

Forging a number of piratical connections, Variable would eventually help found the Glass Raiders, a fearsome fleet which terrorised the Colonial Frontier.

Biography

Conception

In April 2543, days following the Battle of Psi Serpentis and long after both initial Covenant and UNSC forces had abandoned the star system, a post-operations salvage unit tasked by the Covenant Empire’s Fleet Security division arrived in the area to perform post-battle intelligence analysis as part of a wider effort to understand the human commander responsible defeating three hundred Covenant warships in a single battle.

Composed of two vessels in the smaller dispatch element Unifying Truth, the salvaging vessel Endearing Commitment and its battlecruiser escort, Rapid Conversion, the Covenant salvage unit began parsing through the developing debris field around Viperidae, the local gas giant that had been the site of the Covenant’s humiliating defeat. Due to the extent of the debris field, salvage operational times extended longer than originally expected for the salvagers and in some ways, the work became tedious and all-consuming for much shipboard staff.

It was in this organizational chaos that regulations and observation of staffed Huragok engineers began to slip, and where the curiosity of more than a few Huragok got the better of them. Due to the short-handed staff aboard the Commitment, personnel aboard the Conversion also became involved in the salvage work, thus bringing together both material and personnel between both starships. Two unidentified Huragok in a remote part of the Rapid Conversion were able to get a hold of a large quantity of salvaged material from both Covenant and UNSC wreckages and took that time to begin their reproduction process, proceeding with the conception of a new Huragok.

Following what is estimated to be a fifty-five-minute-labor, a Sangheili major patrolling the Conversion came across the Huragok pair with a third one newly formed and vibrating in an unseemingly manner due to unusual reasons. The Sangheili Obedientiary, one Argo ‘Varvinee, reported the illegal conception of a Huragok to his higher-ups and the trio of alien engineers were divided from one another across the two starships to prevent further unauthorized activities.

The new-born, before being separated from its birth-parents, was bestowed the name Too Variable to Measure due to its erratic floating behavior. Assigned permanently to the Rapid Conversion, Variable would spend the next five years aboard the CCS-class battlecruiser providing services to the Covenant Navy as a starship technician and combat support engineer.

Physical Attributes

Appearance

A maturing Huragok, Variable is fairly distinctive compared to other older individuals. It is rather small, only measuring 1.6 metres from the top of its back down to its bottom appendage, making up for this in weight from its muscular arms and neck. Its youth is evidenced by its much brighter bio-luminescent lights, which vary from light blue to nearly white. These used to be so bright that nearly every other species can see in the darkest of rooms, however these started to darken down to the usual tone. Its head and limbs are shorter than most, and a smaller line of fins run down the top of its head and neck. These appear to shrink from year-to-year, and are angling towards the larger fins on the sides.

Personality

Prior to its integration with the AI, Variable stuck closely to the Huragok stereotype of being incredibly docile and introverted, only interacting with its Yanme'e partner Vizza to any degree. This wasn't because it was shy or due to some twisted event that occurred in its youth, but because it lacked any interest in conversing with anyone in general. It did not care about what the nature of its tasks or the potential consequences of its actions, it only cared in how quickly or efficiently it can complete its job, making it completely loyal to its superiors. Despite this, it was curious, craving the discovery of new ways of doing something and would sometimes dig deeper into both Covenant and human data-networks than its orders would imply. Where it deviated from the typical nature of its species, however, was its combat capabilities. Although it would occasionally become distressed when its creations would be used for large-scale murder, it was otherwise ignorant to the loud battlefield around it.

All this would be entirely wiped-away after the engineer's mind was replaced with that of a malfunctioning "Dumb" AI. While the value of money still meant nothing to it as it could create anything it needed, the Huragok recognised that it would need it to manipulate the organics around it, resulting in many of its early actions being simply to increase its wealth. It became much more aggressive and inconsiderate of those around it, and felt no moral repercussions from killing another if it would advance even a scheme in the immediate timeframe. It has no sense of humour, although its corrupted mindset would see it do some weird things such as dressing up as a Mexican to disguise itself, as seen on Jaeter. Indeed, its analytical mindset made it difficult to permanently earn its loyalty and even harder to develop a friendship with it.

Variable's fully fluent in Huragok sign-language, able to imprint them perfectly on walls with almost no issue with translation. However, its AI-limitations meant that its custom translator speaks in a very objective-based form of English, often giving away the intention of the statement before moving onto what it was about to say. This was mainly because it could not figure out how to incorporate tone into its speech. This was not a set rule; in not very stressful situations it could speak normally, while when an operation goes badly it will start spewing out phrases that sound like a coding language. It almost-never refers to itself in first-person, instead saying 'this unit' when referring to itself.

Skills

As with all Huragok, Variable was a master with technology, being capable of easily disassembling and building any vehicle in better order than it was before. It rapidly demonstrated this proficiency in the field by using the materials around it to fabricate incredibly advanced pieces of technology to its advantage, from pop-up cover all the way to automated turret assemblies to cover its escape. While these devices were often less creative, cruder and more inefficient than what regular Huragok would willingly create - believed to be a side-effect of the integration process - Variable's constructs were still leagues beyond what any other artisan could create especially given the time constraints it was forced to work under. However, this could be extended to directly manipulating its environment around it; for example, Variable completely rebuild an armoured wall to evade pursuers.

List of Appearances

• RP:Jaeter's Protectors (First appearance)
• RP:Remember My Name