Chicago had always been one of the cities to live beneath the shadow of bigger, more glamorous and stylish cities, with its own attractions and more traditional way of life. Big city skyscrapers and LED-lit billboards used to stand tall, giving off vibes of technological breakthroughs and human achievements. But, inevitably after the Collapse, all cities lived in the shadow of their former self. Chicago was not any different. Inner Chicago, we had little information about. Most fireteams who tried to dig up evidence from downtown districts or industrial areas never returned. The Vanguard itself had withdrawn from sending out Guardians to those particular areas so as to avoid further human and Ghost losses. Outer Chicago, now that's where things got more interesting than usually. Tower operatives had scanned the suburban areas of Chicago, mostly swamps and cave systems that expanded for miles underneath the surface. The results were alarming, as they uncovered a huge Hive population breeding throughout the whole area. The dense forests combined with the ever-expanding swamps and the uncatered fauna were all excellent conditions for an enemy race to thrive without bringing unwanted attention unto them. Until they want to, that is. Reports kept coming in about considerable enemy forces in the outer swamps of Old Chicago, but everybody seemed reluctant to go out of their way and investigate further. In the Tower's bazaar, between ramen orders and frantic Guardian bounty hoarding, two Guardians, Zhai Zo and Li Akk, are secretively talking about possible oncoming threats. "You'd expect Hunters would be more than willing to leave the Tower", says Li Akk, looking towards the crowds, "but I guess bravery comes both in verbal and actual form. Do Warlocks have to do everything around here?" "I suppose they do", Zhai answers with a hint of irony and thirst for adventure in his tone. "I would have sworn that these reports would ignite a spark in your own Warlock curiosity... even more if you had a friend by your side." Li Akk shifts his eyes from the Traveler ( he was trying to calculate if it is bigger than Zavala's forehead) and stares at Zhai Zo. "How about two friends by my side and my trusty Hand Cannon at hand?" They quickly grab whatever necessities for their trip and make haste towards the Vaults, where they come across another Warlock. "Those weapons and these armors sets are rusting away in your vault, Prome-83. What do you say to an invitation to hone your weapons again?" The words of Zo brought Prome back to reality, indicating that the Warlock Exo was completely lost in its thoughts. "I don't have time for petty errands, especially ones that require me to prove my worth once again", it says, almost in bad manner. The duo look awkwardly towards each other and they try again. " We may not even be fighting anyone, my friend. Our self-given task is to explore Old Chicago's swamps in an attempt to acquire information on Hive populations and ritu-". "I'm in", Prome replies to Li Akk before he even finishes. "Let me grab what I need and I'll meet you in the Hangar", it suggests and happily scours through its Vault to find its gear. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The fireteam's ships had only just hit orbit when, after mere seconds, they had to reenter the atmosphere to land at their destination. They found a convenient opening situated near the northern part of Chicago, parked their ships and started exploring the vast dense area. Zhai and Li's formation was constantly next to each other, avoiding to stray away in case danger was lurking. Prome, on the other hand, fully ignored the movement patterns of his fireteam and kept a safe distance from them, but Zhai and Li brushed it off as something incidental. While Li was cutting off branches and bushes with his Falling Guillotine, Zhai takes a moment to take in the environment and appreciate this n-th life, however short or cruel it is. He gazes through the trees up to the sky and then his eyes meet the ground and his two fireteam members, each on their own path. He looks to Prome closely. Closer. Is this real? Are his eyes deceiving him, is this just a hallucination caused by the poisonous mist or is he perfectly sober? The bracers on his arms. He couldn't see clearly enough, but he thought he saw a glint. Prome had covered his gauntlets and part of his robes with simple cloth and gauze, with the excuse that he couldn't stand seeing his gear get all muddy and dirty after they finished their search. "Li, take a look at that. Are those what I think they are?" Li takes a sneaky peak at Prome's arms between two swirlings of his sword. He turns his head to continue the search, but his brain had just comprehended what he saw. "Why is he wearing those? We have already discussed about those -blam!- bracers." "Keep one eye at all times on him", Zhai advises and they talk no more of it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Several minutes later, after the trio took a quick break, they reached the Grottos. These were dark, secluded cave systems, once vacant and beautiful with stalagmites of rock and stalactites of salt, now occupied by unwanted residents and harsh even to look at. They knew they would encounter heavy opposition if they marched in from the front door, so they began scouring the area for some clue or some other way in. Both Warlocks and the Hunter were at a dead end, no point of interest or a crack on the cave's walls to enter. In a last attempt to salvage something useful, Li Akk turns on his flashlight and enters one of the small side caves, hoping for something, anything. "Luck is finally on our side, boys", he exclaims loudly, not thinking about all the Hive probably surrounding them. "Come and feast your eyes!" Zhai and Prome barge in enthusiastically and, to everyone's astonishment, they come across something actually useful; a totem of Hive origins, made up of runes and next to it, a pile of Hive tablets, probably used recently at this very site. Ah, the possibilities, the knowledge, the sheer power these could hide. "That's it! Grab those and transmat them back to a safe place, Li! Prome, contact Ikora and let her know we fou-" It wasn't a sudden noise that stopped Zhai. It wasn't the sighting of some Hive ogre or some mighty Knight. Hell, it wasn't even the telecom broadcaster that kept buzzing in his ears and disoriented his thoughts. It was something far more sinister, far more dark and yet, far more familiar, too. Zhai and Li turn their attention to Prome's god-forsaken bracers. The glint is now stronger, slowly turning into a full-scale greenish glow and illuminating brightly the small side cave. They switch attention to Prome-83's face. They can't make eye contact. Its head is looking away, like in shame. "Warlock, are you ok? Is this... supposed to happen?", Li now stutters, fearful. "... more" "What? More? More what?" "... more.. me..." "OK, this is starting to freak me out." "........" "... Prome?" "......." "Abandon everything, we have to-" "THERE ARE MORE LIKE ME!" Prome erupts from his stature, violently ripping off his robes. Underneath those robes, another set of robes, blazing with dark matter moving chaotically all along Prome-83's body. His gauntlets, an instrument of death, are so bright now that no one could look directly to them. The corruption seems to spread endlessly on the Exo. It liked the corruption. The corruption liked it. The bond was getting stronger every passing moment. The remaining Warlocks stood in awe and confusion, hands on their holsters. The corrupted Exo takes his distance and looks the other two Guardians deep in the eyes. There is silence but so much tension in the air. What started as a simple exploration had taken the darkest of turns. The Exo unholsters its Hand Cannon and, without even flinching, shoots Zo straight in the heart. Zo reacts accordingly, activating his Arc Staff just in time to parry the incoming bullet. Li Akk blinks to the nearest hill and sets down a healing rift. With the help of his Boots of the Assembler, the rift turns itself into a floating orb and shields Zhai, who is still in his Arc state, defending his sole existence against their former friend. The Exo was corrupted but it was not a fool. It takes a moment to gather itself, it takes one more to fully evaluate the fight. Prome notices that the angry Li Akk is ferociously charging his Nova Bomb, while Zhai Zo keeps closing the gap between them, parrying anything in between. The end is nigh if it doesn't act quickly enough. It takes little to no effort to decide. As the arc Hunter approaches ever so valiantly, as the void Warlock channels his inner powers to summon a Nova Bomb, the Dark Exo lets out an angry scream and vanishes into thin air with the help of his ship's transmat. "THERE ARE MORE. THE END IS THE BEGINNING. THE BEGINNING IS THE END. THERE ARE MORE." Zhai turns back to Li, not arc empowered any more. "We don't talk about this. Ever", he almost threatens. "It doesn't take but a single moment to lose yourself in this madness. We stay vigilant and we stay away from those gauntlets. For ever." Prome-83 has yet to be seen since that day. The day that stained the fireteam's solidarity, the day that fractured the fireteam's composition. The day that followed an Endless Night...