November 11th, 2554 (military calender) ONI Section III Classification: TOP SECRET, CODE-WORD Channel Frequency: Heavily Encrypted Subject: Contact from Mendicant Bias Forwarding Officer: CODENAME: SURGEON Receiver: Major John "Master Chief" 117. Location [REDACTED] Status [REDACTED] [i]Officer's Note: Master Chief. ONI refused to forward this transmission to you, citing it as a security risk. I however remember the sacrifices you made for humanity, and at the very least I owe you this. With heartfelt, undying gratitude, SURGEON[/i] Message begins: Greetings John, I know your Office of Naval Intelligence will probably intercept this message. However, I trust that it will somehow end up in your hands. I apologise if you feel that I left rather in a rather abrupt fashion after Sangheilios. However I was granted a chance to take the Flood and leave to help them begin anew, and decided to seize it before anyone could reverse the decision. As I'm sending you this we're currently in that indeterminable realm between your galaxy and another. By the time it reaches you we may have reached our destination, whatever that is. The Flood are in stasis right now. Well, they're in that primitive frozen hibernation of yours which functions like stasis anyway. I'm all alone on this ship, and it's given me time to think. About many things. I like to think that I have atoned for my sins. Working in collusion with the Gravemind to destroy the Forerunners was a vile, wretched thing, and I will remember it with a bitter taste in my metaphorical mouth always. I will continue to spend the rest of my life making up for what I did, but it will never be enough. I'm looking at a Flood infection form right now, frozen in cryogenics. I see them differently now to how I once did. Where I once saw a miserable, monstrous creature, I now see an intricate thing of beauty and possibility. I see ways to adapt it; to make it a gatherer of food or a healer rather than a dominator. The Flood shall no longer commit acts of evil. This I swear. Of course, I shan't be controlling them as my... predecessor did. They possess individuality, and whilst they will always be a hive-mind, I will serve as their guide rather than their ruler. But listen to me, rambling on about myself. I hope you are doing well, John, and that you recover from the horrific acts my adopted children committed prior to my parentage. Gods, listen to me. Paternal instincts keep crawling into my speech. In addition to the Gravemind's control over the Flood, I also appear to have assimilated his memories. There is not a unit of data measurement large enough to convey just how much information is stored here. I have dispersed it throughout the entirety of my ships and still it threatens to overwhelm me. I have probed at the edges of the memories, but daren't delve too deeply into them lest I lose myself. I am learning more about your ancestors, John. The Precursors. The things they could do... it was like magic, John. Far beyond my comprehension. But not yours. After all, you [i]are[/i] them. And one day you shall reach that height again. Your world is the key, John. I shan't say more than that; you must do this on your own, not have it given to you on a silver planet. I hope that your people and the others can co-exist in harmony, John. You may find it hard to forgive, but one day it must happen, or you shall be forever caught in a cycle of war and destruction. And that brings me to another topic. You need to destroy the Halo array. It may be a technological marvel, but such a cataclysmic weapon should not be allowed to remain. Raze the rings to the ground, John. The fact that I'm saying this will probably be reason enough for ONI to not forward this message to you, but I know you'll receive it. And I know you'll get it done. This universe is a wondrous place John, but it is also a very hostile one. You must all work quickly to rebuild and strengthen. The Precursor empire stretched throughout the universe, John. It almost definitely made a few very powerful enemies in it's time. If you ever find yourself in need of help, call for us, and we shall come. It may take years, but hold out and we [i]will[/i] come, John. This I also swear to you. I will continue to stay in contact with you, John. Send a message back to these co-ordinates, if you are able to with your technology. It will most likely take years to arrive, but I can wait. AIs can be very patient, you know. When I first contacted you on the Ark, I spoke with shame. But now I speak with pride, John. I helped liberate the galaxy of the greatest threat it had ever known, and I am now giving its thralls a second chance. And so this time I am pleased when I say: I am Mendicant Bias. And [i]this[/i] is what I have done. [i]Thus concludes Halo 3: Insurrection[/i] [Edited on 09.13.2010 3:14 PM PDT]