Halo Infinite : Memory Agent

• Mateas: Cryo sleep concluded, the Lieutenant is awake.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Is that me he's talking about? I'm the Lieutenant. I hate cryo sleep. Can't remember a god damn thing. How long have I been asleep in this tube.

• Mateas: Cryo pod is open.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Urgh my head is pounding.

• Mateas: Good morning Lieutenant.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Why is this guy talking so loudly. Guess I have to rejoin the living and interact. Oh god, here we go.

• Lieutenant: Sorry.

• Mateas: Make nothing of it. I'll be escorting you to-

• Lieutenant: What ship is this? I think this latest doze left me a little more worse for wear.

• Mateas: Um, well, let's hurry to the shuttle bay for your briefing on the next mission.

• Lieutenant: Uh- what's your name?

• Mateas: Mateas ma'am, technical officer.

• Lieutenant: Mateas, I can barely remember who the hell I am but I know I outrank you.

• Mateas: Yes ma'am, uh, sorry ma'am.

• Lieutenant: Are you new?

• Mateas: No ma'am, not exactly.

• Lieutenant: Not exactly? Speak plainly for Christ's sakes.

• Mateas: I've been with you since you transferred here to the Down Out and Go, that's the ship you're on. Six months now.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Six months? What's this guy talking about? I don't remember him or this ship

• Lieutenant: What are our orders?

• Mateas: There's a classified briefing for your ears only. I'm not really supposed to know this. But the only thing I heard is it has something to do with a Spartan.

• Lieutenant: A WHAT?

• Mateas: We really better move to your shuttle for the briefing lieutenant. If you'll follow me.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I could walk these metal corridors with my eyes closed but I don't recognize... any of this. Maybe it's all getting to me. This war, these ships.

• Mateas: Okay, this is your shuttle. After you ma'am.

• Lieutenant: Hey do I have a decent AI on this ship? Still shaking some cobwebs out of my head, I think I'm going to need the help.

Digital sounds happen and the Artificial intelligence Oliver starts talking.

• Oliver: Good morning lieutenant.

• Mateas: This is Oliver, your AI. He'll provide... adequate assistance for your... condition.

• Lieutenant: My condition?

• Mateas: Okay, time for your briefing hologram. I'm gonna deboard.

• Oliver: I'll be going into isolation mode for your briefing lieutenant. Classified message commencing now.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Who's doing the briefing, the secretary general?

• Lieutenant (Recording): Hello lieutenant. Yes, I'm you.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): What the hell is this? Wha- when did I- Is this a joke?

• Lieutenant (Recording): You don't remember recording this message. In fact, you don't remember much of anything.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Well that's the first accurate thing I've heard today.

• Lieutenant (Message): Your memory loss is not due to cryo sleep. An injury has left you unable to retain your short-term memory. This prevented you from continuing your previous duties. But the Office of Naval Intelligence has recruited you to ferry critical intel behind enemy lines. That's what you do now and evidently you, heh. WE are pretty good at it. Your memory is limited to roughly seven hours. Apparently we can get to around eight if we concentrate. Everything I'm telling you now I learned from well, myself seven hours ago. I know that you have no recollection of anything that I am saying, but knowing you as I do, you should feel that this is all true as it did for me. This will be your fifth and final mission. Operation: HOURGLASS, bring the encryption key to Spartan-117. The Master Chief.

• Oliver: Classified message concluded.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I just briefed myself. I'm an intelligence operative with... no memory? I guess someone figured the only person I'd trust IS myself.

• Oliver: Lieutenant, I am monitoring your health vitals. May I ask how you are feeling regarding the revelations about your condition?

• Lieutenant: Do you ask me that each time I brief myself?

• Oliver: I am programmed to monitor your stress levels given your condition.

• Lieutenant: Stop... saying... condition. *sigh* Have I been okay in the past? What did I say the last go-around when you asked?

• Oliver: You instructed me to stop saying condition.

• Lieutenant: Looks like we both have faulty memories.

• Oliver: My memory is functional...

• Lieutenant: Oliver, stop talking. Where's Mateas?

• Mateas: Lieutenant, this is the encryption key to deliver to the asset.

• Lieutenant: What is this, paper?

• Mateas: Yes, unfold it. Do you have it memorized?

• Lieutenant: Mateas, how could I have possibly just memorized 276 lines of code? I... Wait. How the hell did I do that?

• Mateas: You're condition is...

• Oliver: She does not like that word. Again.

• Mateas: You can't remember anything after a day. But during that day? Well, that's a different story.

• Oliver: Lieutenant, your photographic retention within your daily seven hour cycle has been augmented and drilled with the Loci method.

• Lieutenant: The what?

• Oliver: Otherwise known as a memory palace for enhanced recall.

• Mateas: I have to destroy the code now. Hold the paper out in front of you.

• Lieutenant: HEY! Careful where you fire that torch!

• Mateas: I haven't scorched you yet.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): If I had any memory I would be fed up with this kid by now. I still don't understand how I memorized that intel so quickly.

• Mateas: I need to hurry off this shuttle. Good luck lieutenant.

• Lieutenant: Wait, Mateas. The asset I'm supposed to meet. Who's the Master Chief?

• Lieutenant: I will not remind you of your rank again.

• Mateas: Won't happen again ma'am.

• Oliver: Mateas has deboarded. We are clear for detachment. Detachment is complete. Down Out And Go has jumped to slip space. We are officially unchaperoned in our shuttle. Shall we proceed to the rendezvous?

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Unchaperoned is one way to say it. I am alone. A tiny speck in space. That's a whole lot of emptiness out that window. Emptiness in here too. Just a head full of numbers and coordinates to the 'Master Chief'. Whoever that is.

• Oliver: Lieutenant?

• Lieutenant: Proceed to the rendezvous, Oliver. Hey, Oliver, what's our threat probability on this vector?

• Oliver: Approximately seven hours until your memory loss, 39% chance of capture, 28% chance of fatality.

• Lieutenant: What's our armament?

• Oliver: This compartment holds a single M6D sidearm. It is at your disposal.

• Lieutenant: Hehe, you're kidding. That's it?

• Oliver: Weapon systems are not what you want to show up on enemy scans.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): You really would have to have no memory to be willing to undertake this mission.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, tell me about the Master Chief.

• Ordinateur de bord: Emergency alert, Emergency alert, Emergency alert, Emergency alert.

Halo Infinite : Memory Agent/1 VF

• Ordinateur de bord: Emergency alert. Emergency alert.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Why am I not freaking out, right now? You would think someone with no memory would scream like a lunatic when they hear “emergency alert”. But there is a feeling inside of me that knows.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, status update!

• Oliver: The alarm indicates that we are no longer in a networked sector. No UNSC ship will come to our rescue if we are captured. Our mission is... off the books.

• Lieutenant: Have we been spotted by any non-UNSC ships?

• Oliver: Affirmative. But most of the vessels who are aware of our presence are farther than our run to the rendez vous point.

• Lieutenant: Most?

• Oliver: I’ve been wrong before.

• Lieutenant: O-hoho, have you been wrong on any of our previous missions?

• Oliver: For your emotional well-being, I’d rather not respond this stage of your consciousness cycle.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): It’s weird when you realize an IA knows more about your emotional well-being than you do. Here’s what I know: I know how to act in emergency, I know how to fire a pistol, I know that I’m part of a war effort. Other than that… Nothing.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Deep breaths. This is supposed to be my last mission and I better just keep my head down and follow through.

• Oliver: Lieutenant? Your biofeedback just registered a slight increase in cortisol before leveling out. Just wanted you to be aware.

• Lieutenant: Thank you for that. Oliver, why did Mateas laugh when I asked about the Master Chief? Is he… well-known?

• Oliver: Affirmative. Spartan 1-1-7’s exploits are well-known among military and civilian populations.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Have I met him before?

• Lieutenant: Access his personnel file, put it on visual.

• Lieutenant: The only thing it says on here is “Spartan Two”. Is there anything else you can access?

• Oliver: The UNSC Archives contain many first-hand recollections. But Lieutenant, researching the rendez-vous target is not critical to this mission.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, if there is a twenty-eight percent chance that I’m going to die, I would at least like to know who it was I died trying to reach.

• Oliver: Opening UNSC Archives.

• Lieutenant: Stop. Play that.

• Oliver: This is from the UNESCO New Mombasa Heritage Site Reflections Project.

• Fate Abdi: My name is Fate Abdi and I worked for Mombasa Water and Power. I am an hydrological scientist by training, basically I oversaw the critical pipelines for the city. I was at work when the ships came. I thought it was a storm at first, but we all looked out the window and… there was a white-hot streak cutting across the sky, then another, and then within seconds, destruction… All around us. People outside running for their lives, screaming and… and dying. It was… unbelievable. My co-workers and I evacuated to the closest port, trying not to look at all the carnage around us. But then, we heard this loud boom, boom, boom, and crawling over the wreckage of buildings was this… giant… robot crab.

• Oliver: Lieutenant, the civilian is referring to an enemy vehicle. Covenant heavy assault platform. A Scarab.

• Fate Abdi: The way that Scarab stomped over the city I called my home, its history, its beauty… It felt like all of humanity was like… a cigarette butt. We turned a corner only to reach a dead end. And there’s a troupe of ugly little bastards pointing their blast guns right at us! I closed my eyes because maybe dying doesn’t hurt as bad with your eyes closed, and then I start hearing shots. Brrt, brrt, brrt! Then… Silence. The shots stopped but I’m still alive! I opened my eyes, and there were all the Grunts dead on front of us, killed by this… giant armored soldier. It was… the Master Chief! The Master Chief saved our lives! The Master Chief nodded at us and took off. It was just a nod to him, but to us! Oh, it felt like he was reminding us that we count too! We may not know how to fight aliens, but all of us, we all have something to offer. We all have to survive. We started hugging and sobbing, but then we all heard an alert on our comms. The sea wall was breached and the reservoirs were at capacity, the entire city was going to be flooded, unless the overloaded pipelines were diverted. My pipelines! I needed to open the water release pathways. I can’t lie, I was scared! But I thought again about the Master Chief nodding. I raced back to the building, and I was standing in the control room, trying to figure out which emergency spillway to open, the one near the canals, or near the train tunnels? I could see what was happening on the monitors. The Master Chief and soldiers were trying to shoot down the Scarab near the canals, and it was clear they were on the loosing end. The canals would be like a lobster trap, easy to find its way into but not so easy to get out of. And then the sluice gates and overpasses would keep it cramped in place. So I opened the spillway which flooded the train tunnels. Whoo, the rest is history! Ha! The UNSC was able to divert the Scarab into the dry canal, jamming it in the locks. And the Master Chief destroyed it, haha! And I’ll tell you what: I looked at the Chief on the monitor and I nodded right at him. Just the way he did to me earlier. Yes, I did. Yes, I did…

• Oliver: Lieutenant, you appear to be holding your breath. I am programmed to lead guided medications.

• Lieutenant: Uh, no, that would be a negative, Oliver.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): That civilian, Fate, risked so much.

• Lieutenant: When was that battle again, Oliver?

• Oliver: 2552.

• Lieutenant: And what year is it now?

• Oliver: 2559.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Seven years.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, how many more first-person accounts are there on the Master Chief?

• Oliver: 6480. Wait… 6481.

• Lieutenant: Huh. Um, Oliver, I know I might have asked this before, but how long have I been-

• Oliver: Lieutenant, you do ask, but not this early. Requiring a hold on your inquiry.

• Lieutenant: Why?

• Oliver: For the success of the mission.

• Lieutenant: Let’s do this a different way: search me in the UNSC Archives.

• Oliver: I’m sorry Lieutenant, but I am unable to provide you any information.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, I am overriding your pathetic program. Look me up in the Archives.

• Oliver: I am unable to look you up in the UNSC Archives because… you do not exist in the UNSC Archives.

Halo Infinite : Memory Agent/2 VF

• Lieutenant: Oliver, there are no records of me at all in the UNSC Archives?

• Oliver: Affirmative, Lieutenant.

• Lieutenant: Access my personnel file.

• Oliver: I'm sorry, Lieutenant. None exist for me to access. I simply have your registry identifying you as 'Lieutenant'.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I'm a ghost… No, worse. I'm a suitcase. Naval Intelligence fills me with coded intel, ships me off only to have me do it all over again. If I survive. Maybe I'm being punished for something. Did I commit a crime and my sentence is a life of espionage? No… That doesn't feel right. The Master Chief brought something amazing out of that civilian in New Mombasa. If he's so great, maybe he'll shed some light on me. Maybe he can-

• Oliver: The aft shift inducer has begin venting trihydridehexazine.

• Lieutenant: Is this a critical failure?

• Oliver: This is a traceable chemical compound, which could make us more likely to be discovered by enemy scanners. Additionally, the aft control configuration appears to have become laden in ice in the absence of this anti-freezing chemical. Can you provide a visual inspection?

• Lieutenant: I'll take a look.

• Oliver: Do you see it?

• Lieutenant: Yeah, and I can feel it, too. There's a couple of centimeters of frost covering the aft control… thing. What are you gonna do about it?

• Oliver: Given my lack of appendages…

• Lieutenant: Okay, what am I supposed to do?

• Oliver: You must eliminate the frozen material. There is a specialized tool next to the console.

• Lieutenant: It's a screwdriver.

• Oliver: Yes.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): State-of-the-art. Funny. The sharp edge on the business end of this thing is all worn down. Heh. I wonder how many times I've had to do this before.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Stabbing this ice feels… good! I have definitely done this before. Maybe not just with ice either. Well, I don't want to think about that. Focus on the mission.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, play another archival recording. Someone in uniform who served alongside the Master Chief.

• Oliver: Accessing the UNSC Archives. Playing a mission report from Captain Carol Rawley, call sign 'Foehammer'. From the battle of Installation zero-four, dated September 20th, 2552.

• Carol Rawley : Whoo, I just flew the strangest mission of my life, so bear with me. This after-action report is going to be a little punchy. This is Echo four-nineteen, on a sortie from the Pillar of Autumn crash site. It all started when we made a blind slipspace jump from Reach. We were following Cole Protocol but the Covenant was right behind us. We ended up in this place, this ring. Since then, I've been scouting for survivors, providing air support, and keeping the Master Chief supplied with all the best goodies the UNSC has to offer. You know our motto: We Deliver! I wasn't sure what to make of him at first. I'd heard the talk about those Spartans, kept on ice most of the time, kept to themselves the rest, but as soon as we made contact with the enemy, and I saw him in action, what can I say? I was a fan! Best fighter I'd ever laid my eyes on. But let me tell you: he's a whole lot more than that. He needed a lift to the control room of this ring, and that AI of his, Cortana, had the bright idea of the brilliant idea of performing an aerial insertion from underground. Flying the Chief in through tunnels, underneath the surface. Look, I'm the best pilot in the fleet, and I can open a bottle of beer with my wingtip in a hurricane, but my gut was telling me it was better to risk the anti-air fire and go over the surface. I'm still the ranking officer and I sure as hell don't take orders from some damn AI, so it was my call. That's when the Chief came out of his shell. He hasn't been too keen on talking, but it turns out he's hiding a silver tongue underneath that golden visor of his. When it came time to do the mission their way, he played me as easily as he could field-strip an assault rifle. Ha! I mean, he pushed my buttons, told me it was probably better taking the exterior route because maybe I wasn't up to the task of navigating those tunnels. Ha! Which really pissed me off! So I said, hm, I'll show them. Once we were in the tunnels, he practically held my hand and made me feel like I could fly this Pelican through the eye of a needle. Next thing I knew, I was dropping them off to make some Grunts wish they'd never left whatever godforsaken rock they came from. You know, at first I wasn't sure how human the Chief was under all that machinery, but he sure knew what take this human tick, and it takes one to know one. I'm going to resupply at the Autumn and will reconvene with the Chief again shortly. But log this mission a success. Foehammer out.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Oh-ho, she is my kind of pilot.

• Lieutenant: Hey, locate and play the next log from Captain Rawley. I can't wait to hear what else she got mixed up in-

• Oliver: Carol Rawley was killed in action on Installation zero-four, September 22nd, 2552.

• Lieutenant: Oh… Two days… Huh, that's all she lasted after that. How did she just seem so… alive?

• Oliver: You have cleared a sufficient amount of ice from the console.

• Lieutenant: Great.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): There were 6481 first-person accounts on the Master Chief. I wonder how many of them are still living.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I mean, even with all the times the Chief pulled someone from the fire, war catches up with everyone. Eventually, the odds don't work in your favor.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, update on our survival statistics now that we vented an invitation to the enemy.

• Oliver: We now have a 44% chance of capture, 36% chance of fatality.

• Lieutenant: Hey, how high have those stats ever gone in our past missions together?

• Oliver: The average Naval Intelligence field operative have a varying success and survival rate. A typical statistical regression-

• Lieutenant: Cut the double-speak, I want to know about my mission. How perilous is this life of mine?

• Oliver: Past missions are classified.

• Lieutenant: Even for someone who is there and can't quite remember them?

• Oliver: Especially for someone like that. Take solace. You are here. You survived despite the odds.

• Oliver: Proximity sensors activated.

• Lieutenant: Now what?

• Oliver: A Phaeton squadron has spotted us and has plotted an intercept course.

• Lieutenant: A what? What's a-

• Oliver: Enemy ships inbound.

• Lieutenant: Brevity appreciated. Can we outrun them or outmaneuver them?

• Oliver: Negative on both.

• Lieutenant: Okay, what else is in this sector?

• Oliver: The nearest astronomical object known is a gas giant planet less than point-zero-zero-six AU from this location.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Gas giant. I can use this, I just have to channel my inner Foehammer.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, get ready to update those probabilities. I want you to steer us right toward that planet.

• Oliver: On what trajectory, Lieutenant?

• Lieutenant: A collision course. Once we're caught in its gravitational pull, fire a single thruster to set into a controlled spin. Then shut down all systems, including life support. And yourself.

• Oliver: There are significant risks associated with this plan.

• Lieutenant: But if that squadron thinks that we're uninhabited space junk on our way to burning up in its atmosphere, it might just lose interest in us. Doesn't that improve our chances?

• Oliver: Of evading capture, yes, significantly. On evading death, it does not.

• Lieutenant: And capture is the worst kind of failure. Correct?

• Oliver: That is correct.

• Oliver: Course set. You will have to manually restart the engines and ship systems or risk actually burning up in the atmosphere of the planet. By my calculations, based on the gas giant's gravity well, this shuttle should be able to fall for the duration of 47 rotations before it is pull too low to recover.

• Lieutenant: 47. Copy.

• Oliver: The Phaeton squadron is about to come into visual range.

• Lieutenant: Alright. Put us into the spin and cut the engines.

• Oliver: Controlled dive initiated. I recommend you shut down all of the systems now.

• Lieutenant: Shutting down!

• Oliver: Oh, and Lieutenant? Good luck.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Huh? Oh my God! Was that… a memory?

Halo Infinite : Memory Agent/3 VF

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Impossible, how did I- Uh, how many spins has this been, 36? It's been 36 spins. Hmm, what was the image? The streams, I've seen those before. But how- Focus, focus. Oh God, how many spins has it been, how many? Dammit, I'm too low, I'm too low!

• Lieutenant: Alright. Oliver, update on the enemy squadron. Oliver? Oliver!

• Oliver (brouillé): Oh, and Lieutenant? Good luck.

• Lieutenant: Focus, Oliver. Enemy squadron?

• Oliver: They broke off pursuit but it seems they haven't left the sector.

• Lieutenant: Good enough for now. Resume course to the rendezvous.

• Oliver: Our ETA has fallen behind due to this evasive action. We cannot afford any more delays.

• Lieutenant: No gratitude for the successful maneuver? We're still in one piece, here.

• Oliver: Indeed. Very... crafty. Apologies, Lieutenant, I came back online a bit groggy.

• Lieutenant: Well now you know how I feel every morning.

• Oliver: You've been quiet, Lieutenant.

• Lieutenant: Hm? What?

• Oliver: You have spoken no words for approximately 49 minutes and 7 seconds... Lieutenant?

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Flowing streams... Big moon in the sky... The wind in the trees. The streams, moon, wind... Where does this come from? I know it will be gone in a few hours, but... it's nice to have a thought that didn't come from Oliver or the UNSC Archives. This one feels like it's... mine.

• Oliver: Lieutenant?

• Lieutenant: I'm fine, Oliver. Let's get back to the mission.

• Oliver: UNSC Archives are ready.

• Lieutenant: Let's access another Master Chief recollection. Is there someone who served with him and survived?

• Oliver: Affirmative. This is an interview with Private First Class Chips Dubbo.

• Chips Dubbo: Oh hey, hey, do I have something in my teeth?

• Interviewer: Yeah, a little. There, you got it. Okay, state your name, please.

• Chips Dubbo: Just introduce me as the Flood Hunter. Everyone will know you mean Chips Dubbo. Hey, you might want to interview the Master Chief if you're doing a story about me, he's my best mate. He loves me, he wouldn't miss this for quids. I can put you in touch.

• Interviewer: Um, this is about the Master Chief, not you.

• Lieutenant: Wait, Oliver, this guy has survived?

• Oliver: Evidently so.

• Chips Dubbo: What makes the Chief a good soldier? Yeah, I got two answers for that. First, MC is like a golden retriever in the body of a T-Rex who is smarter than the lovechild between Einstein and an AI.

• Interviewer: Hang on, say that again? He's a... golden retriever?

• Chips Dubbo: A golden retriever. You know, 'cause he's loyal, mate. And you would think a metal guy like him wouldn't understand what loyalty means. Look, I'm not a bloody idiot. I know what ONI did. I know MC doesn't have a proper family outside of his loyal blues. So he fights for us, his brothers and sisters in arms, and for those back home. He would fight and die for all of us. We're his family. And that's the first reason he's a good soldier. And the second, it's because he has the Flood Hunter right by his side, kicking ass in outer space, woohoo!

• Lieutenant (Monologue): No real family. Was the Master Chief grown in a test tube or something?

• Lieutenant: Oliver, pull up the earliest recollections of the Chief.

• Oliver: Accessing. Records all cross-reference to Doctor Catherine Halsey.

• Lieutenant: It looks like all these files are restricted, can you override?

• Oliver: Negative. Let me do a more refined search. There is another file labelled Eridanus II. This is also restricted.

• Lieutenant: What's Eridanus II?

• Oliver: It's the second planet in the Eridanus system. One moon, temperate climate.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Streams, moon, wind...

• Lieutenant: What is the relevance to the Master Chief, why Eridanus II? Oliver?

• Oliver: Apologies, Lieutenant. I've been scanning for the earliest accessible files. Here is one from Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez. He was the Master Chief's drill sergeant.

• Franklin Mendez: Look, I'd be a heartless bastard if I didn't have some reservations about what Halsey and ONI were doing. It wasn't until I was One-One-Seven, and I finally understood her reasons. When it comes to war, and the future of humanity-

• Lieutenant: Oliver, stop the recording. Who is Doctor Halsey and what was she doing? What does he means by having reservations?

• Oliver: Reservations. Noun. Originated from the Latin word reserva-

• Lieutenant: Oliver, please.

• Oliver: Doctor Halsey and the Office of Naval Intelligence have taken some... unsavory means, but to very good ends. All to ultimately ensure the survival of humanity.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I wonder who programmed that into him.

• Lieutenant: Resume playback.

• Franklin Mendez: One-One-Seven was, by far, the best. But he was also kind of a prick when he first got here. He thought all of this was a game. But I made him learn the hard way that you don't win unless your team wins. He took that lesson to heart. During our wilderness survival course, instead of following protocol One-One-Seven led his team to take down a squad of shitbird soldiers and steal a Pelican. Jesus, I laid it to him for a long time, and when I was done, all he said was 'Not following protocol worked. When it comes to life or death, that's all that matters.' And at that moment, I knew I had a choice: either make him clean the latrines for defying orders, or make him team leader. And because he could handle it, I chose both. I'm not one for sentimentality, but seeing One-One-Seven become who he is now, it changed me, too. Seeing those kids go from where they were to where the are, it shows how much the humanity is capable of when our backs are up against the wall. And if this war forces me to fight by One-One-Seven's side, by John's side, well... It would be an honor.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): John...

• Lieutenant: What happened to Mendez?

• Oliver: Officer Mendez continued to be instrumental in training Spartan recruits through the end of the war.

• Lieutenant: Wait, so how long did he continue to serve?

• Oliver: Officially, Franklin Mendez retired from UNSC service in 2553.

• Lieutenant: Well how about unofficially?

• Oliver: That information is classified.

• Lieutenant: Classified from me? Why? I'm going to forget it anyway!

• Oliver: The answer to that is also classified.

• Lieutenant: How long have I been an operative?

• Oliver: Current posting began in 2557.

• Lieutenant: So two years.

• Oliver: Affirmative.

• Lieutenant: And this is only my fifth mission? If I cycle through my memory every 7 or 8 hours over two years how do I know I haven't been on hundreds of missions?

• Oliver: Care has been taken not to overwhelm your mental composure. You needn't be burdened with all the details in each memory cycle.

• Lieutenant: Care, huh? You said ONI takes unsavory means. Answer me. How many missions have I been on?

• Oliver: I'm able to confirm you have not been on hundreds of missions.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, my mental composure is now burdened by your refusal. Causing me distress would go against your programming, would it not?

• Oliver: You have completed 52 missions.

• Lieutenant: 52. You've been lying to me, they've been lying to me, I've been lying to me? What do your have to say, now?

• Oliver: I believe your distress has... increased.

• Lieutenant: Screw this!

• Oliver: Lieutenant, what are you doing?

• Lieutenant: Aborting mission. I'm done.

Halo Infinite : Memory Agent/4 VF

• Lieutenant: Hey, Oliver, how long am I going to have to wait? I've been sitting here for half an hour waiting for you to convince me to turn around and stay on course and complete the mission.

• Oliver: You already know this detour is in direct opposition to our mission parameters. You made the decision to abort and acted upon it. I do not believe I can change your mind.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): It's almost worse that Oliver isn't giving me a hard time about bailing. The truth is, he could probably change my mind.

• Lieutenant: How about we just get on the comms right now and tell them I'm AWOL? Let's just get this over with.

• Oliver: Mission parameters dictate radio silence until your memory expires. Or you expire.

• Lieutenant: Honestly, I'd like to get my hands on whatever starched-up bureaucrat conscripted me into this ridiculous position!

• Oliver: But Lieutenant, you volunteered.

• Lieutenant: What? Explain, Oliver!

• Oliver: I do not have any further details? Perhaps there was something you wanted to get away from.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Is he trying to offer me clues within the confines of his programming? Or is he just trying to wear me down...

• Lieutenant: How many hours until we return to a UNSC-controlled sector and I can turn myself in?

• Oliver: Roughly the same length of time it took to get here. Not including our detour on the gaseous planet. Approximately 5 hours and 23 minutes.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I know bailing won't come without... some fallout. I'll take my lumps. I do feel bad for whichever future version of me ends up paying the price for my desertion, though. Who knows how many generations removed from this version of me will be the one to get court-martialed.

• Lieutenant: Well, I guess there nothing about being court-martialed in the Master Chief's archives, huh?

• Oliver: Accessing-

• Lieutenant: No, no, I wasn't being serious.

• Oliver: Playing testimony from Colum McGinnis Private First Class, UNSC Court Martial proceedings.

• Juge: Colum McGinnis. I must remind you that you do not have to make this statement. You've entered the not guilty pledge to assaulting your superior officer Colonel Roshambo, and by the Military Justice Code you cannot be forced to incriminate yourself.

• Colum McGinnis: I want this on the record. In my own words.

• Juge: Alright Private, if you insist.

• Colum McGinnis: Look, I didn't plan on decking the Colonel that day. I had planned... on deserting.

• Colum McGinnis: I tried to tough out my doubt. But... that morning on the outskirts of Voi... I just plain had enough. I was... I was trying to come up with how to get medicaled out of the corps. An-an errant shot would take out some fingers. Step off of the second floor of some bombed-out building and break a leg. I'm done! But then, the Flood came. They crashed an infested Covenant ship into a Traxus building near where my battalion was deployed. And... fighting the Covies? Even the worst of it just... couldn't prepare me for what came next. The Flood started taking over the corpses! Human, Covenant, it didn't matter! Then their spores came for the living. They hit my platoon-

• Juge: We've all read the reports.

• Colum McGinnis: If that's all you've seen..... you don't know a damn thing! Here, I brought my helmet recording, I'm just gonna-

• Juge: Turn that off. I've heard enough.

• Colum McGinnis: It's not easy to listen to, huh? Yeah, my buddies would come warbling towards me, reaching out, looking like they needed help, and you know what, they did. They really did need help! I lost it... Panicked. I... I scrambled over a K-rail and made a beeline for a Warthog, destination anywhere but here. I know I left them, I left my own squadmates to the Flood! I-I should have stayed and fought! But I was long gone before I could even breathe! I had to slow down to squeeze between a makeshift barricade, but I wasn't alone on the other side. HE stepped into the road right in front of me. He put his hand on the front end of the Hog and nearly stops it himself! Jesus, man-then the Master Chief just says to me: 'You're going the wrong way, and I need a ride.' The last thing I wanted was to go back to the fight. Back to where the Flood were, but you don't tell the Master Chief 'no'. As I'm driving him back to the frontlines I'm thinking 'At least he didn't say anything about me deserting. The Chief doesn't know I'm a coward.' Right... as we pulled into the combat zone, the Chief said: 'Mistakes happen, but they don't have to stay mistakes, not when you have a chance to make things right. Stay low! And watch my back!' And he launched into the Flood as if he was shot out of a cannon. Together we fought like demons man, I mean it! I wish you could have seen us! Haha! After we moped up the last of them, the Chief told me to reconnect with my unit, any unit that was still left, and he ran off to the next firefight. So when I finally found the command post and Colonel broken nose kept talking about the Chief like he was a tank or a dropship, just some piece of hardware owned by the UNSC, I let him know that Chief was a person-and now my friend-speaking the international language of the knuckle sandwich.

• Juge: Private, you've now admitted twice to committing the actions you pledged not guilty to. Do you want to explain that?

• Colum McGinnis: I'm not denying what I did! This just feels like the easiest way for you to agree with me and drop this joke of a charge because it would be a waste to lock me up in the brig when I could make a hell of a lot more good getting back into the fight.

• Lieutenant: Son of a bitch... How long would it take to the rendezvous if we turned back now?

• Oliver: 57 minutes, Lieutenant.

• Lieutenant: How long until my memory resets?

• Oliver: It would be a new record if you could make it longer than 53 minutes. However, I should let you know this detour has increased the risk factors. If we resume course to our rendezvous, there would be a 71% chance of encountering enemy squadrons, most certainly now aware we did not burn up in the atmosphere of the gas giant.

• Lieutenant: So really, what's the point?

• Oliver: Curious. It's an alert from a UNSC vessel at the rendezvous location on an open channel.

• Lieutenant: Did the Master Chief just broadcast his position for anyone to see?

• Oliver: It appears he did.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Why would he do that? 'They don't have to stay mistakes...'

• Lieutenant: Oliver, resume course to the rendezvous. Actually, I'll take the helm.

• Lieutenant: There has to be a reason the Master Chief did that.

• Oliver: It could be a trap.

• Lieutenant: It could.

• Oliver: I should remind you time is running short on your memory cycle.

• Lieutenant: It is.

• Oliver: We might not make it in time.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, I'm going to give you the encryption key in case I-

• Oliver: You cannot do that! There are Cole Protocol safeguards in place that would corrupt my program and destroy the ship if you impart the intelligence to me. You must try to hold on.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Yet another piece of the puzzle. This intel is a time bomb if it leaves my mouth.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): It's been almost an hour of silence. Is all of her nervous? I still have the code memorized, but every time I think about it, check on it, it feels like trying to remember a dream. The more you try, the less you remember. The stream, the moon, and the wind... No, not now. Focus on the code, focus on... What time is it? I can't keep my eyes open. Maybe if I just rest them for a few moments...

• Oliver: Something is intercepting our shuttle. We are being boarded. I advise you to take your pistol.

• Lieutenant: What am I supposed to do with this pistol?

• Oliver: Prepare to use it, the intruder has reached the airlock.

• Lieutenant: I'm not sure I...

• Oliver: Protect yourself, Lieutenant, now!

• Lieutenant: Stop! Hold your position or I will fire on you!

• Lieutenant: I said stop!

• John-117: Not necessary, Lieutenant.

• Lieutenant: Who- Who- Who are you?

• John-117: You can call me Master Chief.

• Lieutenant: Who is... the Master Chief?

Halo Infinite : Memory Agent/5 VF

• Lieutenant (Message): I know that you have no recollection of anything that I am saying, but knowing you as I do, you should feel that this is all true as it did for me. This will be your fifth and final mission. Operation: HOURGLASS. Bring the encryption key to Spartan-117. The Master Chief.

• Lieutenant: So, according to me, I'm an operative with no memory.Hm. Well, the part about me finding the Master Chief worked, I guess.

• John-117: I found you.

• Oliver: That is accurate, Lieutenant. We received a ping from the Master Chief's Pelican at the rendezvous point, but the Master Chief intercepted us here.

• Lieutenant: Why?

• John-117: I've been field testing my new armor and tracking you, but so is a squadron of Phaetons. I diverted their pursuit of this vessel by revealing my own. Except I wasn't on it.

• Lieutenant: How did you get to us?

• Oliver: The Master Chief's armor is capable of limited by precise maneuverability in the vacuum of space.

• Lieutenant: Well that's handy.

• John-117: The enemy will only be fooled for so long. They'll be back and they'll want the intel.

• Lieutenant: But I don't know anything about the intel. Unless this AI has it.

• Oliver: Oliver. Negative, Lieutenant. Your limited short-term photographic memory is the only link to the intelligence.

• John-117: Can you recall the encryption key at all, Lieutenant?

• Lieutenant: I- I'm sorry, I can't. I don't know where to even begin trying. I think I failed.

• Oliver: Lieutenant, I am pleased to report that your last memory cycle persisted 12 minutes longer than your previous record. This improvement should offer emotional consolation.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): 12 more minutes of what? An existence that expires every day? There's nothing remotely consoling about that, and here I am conversing with some dumb AI and this guy! A Spartan? I know nothing of him but I feel like he's not someone who's let down very often.

• John-117: Oliver, perform long-range scan. Alert us of anything incoming.

• Oliver: Understood.

• John-117: Are the rest of the ship's systems operational? Hm, I see you had some trouble back here.

• Oliver: We had a coolant leak, trihydridehexazine. The Lieutenant ably handled the remedy.

• Lieutenant: Looks like I went to town stabbing at the console. With this screwdriver I guess? I'm glad I did something right. Chief, look, I don't know how helpful I'm going to be if we're attacked.

• John-117: When we're attacked. And I wouldn't count yourself out.

• Lieutenant: Can't imagine why not.

• John-117: Because you and I are the only soldiers here. And that makes us a unit.

• Lieutenant: But... But I'm compromised.

• John-117: You don't fight battles under ideal circumstances. You fight them and win them when they happen. Trust your intuitions, not your memory. I have good reason to believe in your abilities, Lieutenant.

• John-117: Oliver, work the current coordinates for the enemy craft. I'll need to know their precise approach vectors, try to intercept and...

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Oliver says I spent the entire journey studying this guy, hearing what other people think about him. Well somehow meeting him now tells me everything I need to know.

• Oliver: Enemy squadron incoming.

• John-117: Lieutenant, pilot seat.

• Lieutenant: I'm there.

• Oliver: We are under fire.

• John-117: I want you to take continuous evasive action. Randomize your flight trajectory to keep them guessing.

• Lieutenant: I can do that because I'll be guessing too!

• Oliver: The last shot missed us.

• John-117: The next won't. Keep us moving, Lieutenant.

• Oliver: Another squadron dead ahead. We are now taking fire from two sides. Damage report: we are leaking coolant again.

• Lieutenant: I'm going to try something else, hold on! Full reverse thrusters!

• Oliver: The squadron is breaking formation. They are going to go around-... us.

• John-117: Not for long.

• Oliver: They are regrouping and firing on us again.

• John-117: This is about to get a little more complicated.

• Lieutenant: What do you mean?

• John-117: I've been through this before.

• Oliver: Intruder alert. They have translocated aboard our ship.

• Lieutenant: What do we do?

• John-117: Continue with evasive maneuvers. I'll deal with them.

• Oliver: We are still taking fire to multiple points on the fuselage.

• Lieutenant: Oliver, you said something about us venting...

• Oliver: Trihydridehexazine, that is correct.

• Lieutenant: Hang on, I'm going to draw them closer.

• Oliver: The risk factor of this maneuver-

• Lieutenant: Just tell me when the enemy ships are near the gas!

• Oliver: Ships are enveloped in vented gas.

• Lieutenant: Here we go! Getting a little closer. A little more... Engine stop! Firing single port thruster!

• Oliver: Three enemy ships obliterated. The others have broken pursuit but we seem to be in an uncontrolled spin.

• Lieutenant: Well aware, can we stabilize?

• Oliver: Detonation has taken starboard thrusters offline. Working to restart.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): That explosive maneuver may have been a bad idea but we got those Phaetons off our backs. Wow, I don't know how long I can spin like this. I... can't move...

• John-117: I'm out! Lieutenant, throw me your pistol!

• Lieutenant: I can't do it! I can't orient myself!

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I'm out of control, we're spinning too fast.

• John-117: Lieutenant!

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I have the pistol in my hands. There's no way I can get this to the Chief in one piece.

• Lieutenant: I'm going to take the shot!

• Lieutenant (Monologue): I can't... take the spin anymore...

• Oliver: She is regaining consciousness.

• John-117: Lieutenant, are you okay?

• Lieutenant: Ugh, did we get the bastards?

• John-117: We did. Good shot. What is it, Lieutenant?

• Lieutenant: The upper canyon streams on Eridanus II...

• John-117: Go on.

• Lieutenant: I- I- I don't know why I said that. I think I imagined something.

• John-117: Or remembered.

• Lieutenant: The tides flowed in reverse during the solstice... Stabbing, stabbing, stabbing...

• John-117: The instruments panel.

• Lieutenant: This is where Oliver said I was stabbing at the frozen panel. These don't seem like random markings that I made.

• John-117: You left yourself a message. A clue about the intel. These dashes and lines, this is knock code, it's how POWs communicate between cells.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): How did I know about knock code? Was I a POW? They are like glyphs from an ancient people. I don't recognize any of it, but I feel there is meaning behind it.

• John-117: I believe I understand what this means. The solstice, the tides in reverse. The key is flipped. I have what I need. Oliver, set a course to my Pelican.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): The streams, moon, wind... Did I conjure an image from my imagination or did I actually had a memory? I don't know. I do know I just leaped through an experience any normal person would not soon forget. In my case, it's t-minus 4 hours.

• Oliver: We have arrived at the coordinates.

• John-117: I'll be leaving from here.

• Lieutenant: Wait, Chief. Oliver told me that I almost quit this mission. I don't know what to say...

• John-117: Log this mission as success. Armor field test complete, enemies neutralized, intel delivered. All will be vital for what's coming next.

• Lieutenant: What's next for me is not remembering any of this.

• John-117: You engineered a way to pass information from one consciousness to the next. You're good at this, Lieutenant. That's why ONI has you doing what you're doing. By the way, I remember those streams on Eridanus II. They do make an impression. Goodbye, Lieutenant Parisa.

• Lieutenant: Goodbye, John.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): Watching the Master Chief float through the silence of space to his Pelican, I can't help but think that even someone who looms so large is still just another soul looking for answers. Parisa...

• Oliver: Lieutenant?

• Lieutenant: Yes, Oliver?

• Oliver: A message from ONI. Codename FIXER.

• Lieutenant: Go ahead.

• Oliver: There's another mission if you so choose.

• Lieutenant (Monologue): It's all just an infinite cycle. Well, I'm sure one of my past self would protest, but...

• Lieutenant: Respond in the affirmative. We'll just call it my next fifth and final mission.

• Oliver: You always do, Lieutenant.

• Lieutenant: Parisa. It's Lieutenant Parisa.

• Oliver: Your name. Excellent! Updating registry. Some good news! Your name cross-references several additional files in the UNSC Archives.

• Lieutenant: That is good news, Oliver. Set course and open those new files. Start with anything connected with the Eridanus system. The clock is ticking, let's go!

• Narrateur: Lieutenant was performed by Zehra Fazal. Oliver by Bill Millsap. Faith Abdi by Nondumiso Tembe. Franklin Mendez by Jim Meskimen. Carol Rawley by Tawnya Pettiford-Wates. Chips Dubbo by Andrew McKaige. Colum McGinnis by Darren Jacobs. Officer Mateus by Jackson Gutierrez. And John One-One-Seven, the Master Chief, by Steve Downes.

Halo Infinite : Memory Agent/6 VF