Halo: The Machine Breaks
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Halo: The Machine Breaks is a short story in the Halo Waypoint Chronicle series, released on September 5, 2024. The story focuses on a malfunctioning Promethean Knight rediscovering its humanity.
Official summary
| “ | 2558. As Jul 'Mdama's Covenant grows stronger through acquisition of powerful Forerunner technology, one malfunctioning Promethean Knight discovers the last vestiges of its humanity. | ” |
Plot summary
The Third Dignitary Schema (TDS) descends upon the Human colony world Oban, designated CE-174-6 c, and sends dozens of Promethean forces from twelfth-order escort craft. The Promethean Knights and Crawlers, concealed by thick clouds, begin their assault on the rocky mountainous world. Oban's vast rolling hills and untouched lowlands, dotted with early Human colonies, offer little defense against their precision and strength. A nexus of Human prefabricated strongholds, research facilities, and power plants stands isolated among the highland crags.
TDS-009 lands on soft grassy terrain, its anterior shield distributors flaring momentarily. Advancing through the aftermath of the rain season, a two-month engineered weather period designed to make invasion difficult, the Knight moves unhindered. Its Z-250 lightrifle bursts hardlight rounds, easily penetrating Human armor and flesh, recalling the ancient wars between the Prometheans and Humanity over 100 millennia ago. These primitive Human forces are no match for the combat-wisdom of the Strategos, which directs all Promethean units through the battlenet. Without a Composer device, capturing and converting Humans is impossible, forcing TDS-009 to eliminate them instead.
As the last Human in a grey-green structure is blown apart by a nearby detonation, TDS-009's combat performance is recognized by the Strategos, promoting it to Knight Commander. Its new authority subsumes other local Promethean units, including a dozen Crawlers, and grants it deeper access to the battlenet, enhancing its autonomy. The unit's new status is visually marked by hardlight patterns on its helmet and carapace. With its forces reinforced, the TDS marches toward the next objective: A dull rectangular industrial building labeled "UNSC," featuring a large communications dish on its roof.
Six Crawlers flank the building, leaping onto the walls, while another six charge the barricaded entrance, breaking through to attack the Human guards. Some Humans are dragged outside while others scatter, but the chaos is intentional. The Strategos knows fear can be a powerful weapon, using it to distract and create openings. TDS-009 takes aim at one of the Humans being dragged by two Crawlers, prepared to fire, but suddenly pauses.
A new figure appears on the battlefield. It seems to be a small Humanoid child, but closer inspection reveals it is no child. Its face is featureless, its body clothed only in flesh, a being that fills TDS-009 with emotions it should not experience: Revulsion, dread, and fear. The remaining Human soldiers continue to fire in a panicked retreat, but the being stands unmoving seemingly oblivious to the carnage around it. TDS-009 scans it, awaiting a directive from the Strategos regarding this strange entity.
No directive comes.
The Strategos instead commands other Knight units to continue the attack, with the newly designated Alpha Crawler assuming a more lethal role. As the last (male) Human is torn apart screaming by the Crawlers, the Strategos orders the bodies to be left behind, a departure from the usual practice of disintegration. TDS-009, confused by this order, looks back for the strange being, wondering why the Strategos provided no directive for it, only to find that the creature has vanished.
Twelfth-order escorts descend as all Promethean units aboard the Covenant assault carrier Song of Retribution are recalled. Despite having privileged access to the battlenet, TDS-009 receives no information about the outcome of the battle on Oban—whether it was a victory, defeat, or if the fight even concluded. The Prometheans leave Oban's rocky surface, abandoning the Humans bodies behind.
After decontamination sweeps and sensor scans eliminate any alien bacteria, Promethean units are sent for repair in an assembler. This device, crudely grafted into Song of Retribution from Shield World 0001, features a recessed nanofabrication chamber where templates from their design seeds are forged. Despite its inelegance, many Sangheili aboard the ship pause their duties to observe the process, uttering prayers for the wellbeing of these “warrior-angels.” TDS-009 is scanned for damage in its smartmatter machine-cell alloy, with its lightrifle detached and disassembled to extract combat data.
A field of orange light initiates a deep scan of TDS-009, and the voice of the Strategos resonates as it accesses the Knight's memories from the battle on Oban. It sees the TDS launching from their escort craft and Crawlers routing the Humans from their bunker, dragging them out and pinning them to the ground. TDS-009 expects the appearance of the strange Humanoid, but sees nothing. Once repairs are completed, TDS-009 is directed to its crèche for hibernation as Song of Retribution departs. Yet a thought lingers in TDS-009's mind—a query it chooses not to ask the Strategos.
The ship reaches Aktis IV—designation F309-R 2—an oceanic world covered by an opaque foamy substance that prevents sensors from scanning through it. The Strategos informs TDS-009 of a battle between allied Covenant forces and a rogue Sangheili group attempting to usurp Jul 'Mdama's command. United Nations Space Command forces are also present. Jul 'Mdama orders his forces to round up traitors loyal to rival Sali 'Nyon. Some beg for mercy while others are dragged down by Crawler units.
As Jul 'Mdama listens to a message from Sali calling for rebellion against him, he bristles with anger; their plan to secure the UNSC's half of the galactic cartographer Janus Key has been impeded. He agrees to return to Song of Retribution and leaves command to his red-armored Zealot escort, tasking them to eliminate all Humans except Henry Glassman. TDS-009 and TDS-002 follow their respective Zealots, but soon after, a blue-armored Spartan bursts through the trees, engaging the Zealot in combat. The Sangheili activates its energy sword, attacking swiftly, but the Spartan evades.
In the chaos, a strange being reappears, now in the form of a young Human girl in a messy blonde bun. She stands unarmed and unbothered by the plasma fire around her. TDS-009, momentarily unsure, hesitates instead of firing at the Spartan. As the Zealot prepares to strike the downed Spartan, TDS-009 reacts, launching itself at the Zealot and striking it in the chest.
The Spartan rolls away confused, but seizing the moment to flee. The Zealot, enraged and bewildered, turns to TDS-009, questioning this interference. The Knight screeches, revealing its fiery Humanoid skull and engages the Zealot in combat. In the ensuing struggle, the zealot deflects TDS-009's lightblade and, with a powerful slash, impales the Knight. As TDS-009's armor cracks and disintegrates, its gaze locks onto the girl. She is screaming too, her body disintegrating layer by layer until she vanishes into dust.
In a personal journal interlude dated two days after Aktis IV, Dr. Catherine Halsey reflects on the success of the Covenant's latest operation; after attracting the UNSC Infinity's attention with an attack on Oban and leading them to Aktis IV, she and her allies obtained both parts of the Librarian's key. With this, she believes she is closer to unlocking a deeper mystery. Meanwhile, Jul 'Mdama, her collaborator, is occupied with resolving internal dissent among his forces. Once Jul finishes, they will begin the search for the Absolute Record's location.
During this time, a subordinate of Jul presents Halsey with an intriguing anomaly: A malfunctioning Promethean Knight that turned against its commander. Jul, frustrated that a supposed "warrior of the gods" would attack his own forces, fears this could trigger more discord among his ranks. Halsey muses on Jul's precarious leadership, suggesting that even he might be starting to believe in the facade he has maintained for so long.
Halsey reviews the history of the Promethean Knights, noting that they were originally created by the Ur-Didact using the Composer, which converted his commanders into digital forms to battle the Flood. Later, the Composer was turned on ancient Humans to increase his army. Halsey recalls studying a Promethean mind that displayed memories of New Phoenix, a city attacked by the Didact a year ago.
Halsey observes that the earliest Promethean Knights, composed of willing Forerunner volunteers, retained some individuality. In contrast, those formed from ancient Humans, who were less intelligent, behaved in a more feral manner. The latest generation of Prometheans, however, were created from modern Humans—some of the most advanced minds in Human history. She speculates that the forced sublimation of these complex minds may lead to issues, such as hallucinations and echoes of their previous existence. This reminds her of the difficulties encountered during the SPARTAN-II program, where the adaptability of children's minds and bodies made them more accepting of the enhancements.
Halsey theorizes that an unwilling mind will inevitably rebel, perhaps explaining the rogue Promethean Knight. After returning the malfunctioning Knight's brain to its storage unit, she hopes that other Knights will exhibit similar failures. She concludes that the effectiveness of Prometheans created from modern Human essences is limited and Jul's control over them is waning. As her plan nears completion, Halsey considers ending her alliance with Jul sooner than expected.
Afterwards, TDS-009 has achieved satisfactory results, meeting all completion parameters. However, an outlier note indicates actions taken outside expected behavioral patterns, observed and flagged by thrall units during the deployment. A review of executable data reveals 67 deviant processes across both operations, exceeding the acceptable range for this deployment type. It is conjectured that TDS-009 is likely experiencing an 89% chance of catastrophic failure in its durance membrane, leading to unacceptable personality dissonance.
Because of this, TDS-009 will undergo immediate remote severance for extended isolation and quarantine. Further observation and a recomposition evaluation will be considered upon reacquisition of the unit frame. Additionally, the frequency of these deviant behaviors over the past solar year suggests they are not linked to the rogue ancilla process detected within the command mesh. This warrants further investigation, with a preliminary recommendation to enact more remote severance measures if the rogue ancilla process gains network control.
TDS-009 awakens unexpectedly and attempts to connect to the Strategos command pattern, seeking directives and a network connection with the TDS. However, it cannot detect the pattern, and its connection to the network fails. As its visual sensors activate, it observes that it is no longer on Aktis IV or aboard the Song of Retribution crèche. Instead, TDS-009 finds itself in a Forerunner holding facility, with curved grey walls and a blue hardlight barrier covering the entrance.
TDS-009 tries to query its situation but realizes it is uncertain who or what it was trying to ask; without access to the Strategos, it is completely isolated. No backup protocols or commands remain in its archives. It has no enemy to engage, no directives to follow, leaving it without function or purpose. So, the Knight scans its surroundings, finding itself in a small six-meter-squared room. It doesn't know how it arrived there, and in the corner of the room stands a Human girl, now older, dressed in grey overalls with a white-blue coat. She remains calm and unmoving, just as she had each time TDS-009 had encountered her before.
TDS-009 attempts to reconnect to the Promethean network, failing each time. Over the span of 37 attempts, the result remains unchanged, and the girl continues to watch from the shadows. Unable to handle the isolation, the Knight tries to shut down its optical sensors and enter hibernation, hoping that it will be detected by the Strategos and reconnected later, anything to avoid looking at the girl.
A phantom sensation sweeps over TDS-009, as if a hand is gently lowering its primary weapon arm and guiding its head. Its gaze is drawn back to the girl, and suddenly, old data floods its mind. While the combat directives and strategies had been expunged, suppressed memories begin to surface, overwhelming the Knight as it recognizes the girl's face and name.
A jovial voice outside the cell interrupts the Knight's chaotic thoughts and comments on a collection of specimens brought to Genesis by the Guardians. A group of Spartans outside the cell pause to observe TDS-009 as it violently batters its head with its micro-driver arms, trying to escape what feels like a nightmare. It slams itself against the wall, desperate to break free. One Spartan comments on feeling pity for the Knight, while another dismisses its frantic behavior before the group moves on, leaving TDS-009 alone again.
The girl is gone, now just a fading shadow in the corner. TDS-009 is left to sift through its memories, piecing together fragments of a past life: Memories of Coral, a young girl digging for fossils in her garden, and a bright future as a student of archaeology. She was 19 when Humanity made first contact, a student at the Pegasi Institute, then...fire and destruction, plasma strikes burning her home, her family gone, the remnants of her life to be unearthed like fossils one day. She was evacuated to Lodestone, offered a new job, a fresh start far from home.
The memories flood in: The Office of Naval Intelligence, Gamma Halo, Ivanoff Station, Service Number CC-728304. All these details coalesce until they collide with her old identity: Sandra Katherine Tillson, Doctor of Xenoarchaeology.
But now, she is no more. She is TDS-009, the Third Dignitary Schema.
Appearances
External links
- Halo: The Machine Breaks- The official Waypoint post in which the short story was released for free.
- Official Halo: The Machine Breaks PDF - The PDF of the short story released on Halo Waypoint (Archived copy).
- Halo: The Machine Breaks | Audiobook - The audiobook narrated by Alex Wakeford.
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