Destiny, Side Episode V: Beckenstein

Previous Episode: Episode XI, The World's Grave
Next Episode: Episode XII, The Sword of Crota

The Tower, the Last City, Earth
Day 028

The trouble began not long after the Paladins had returned from their sortie. Dal had always been something of a reserved individual, but his silence during the entire flight back had been uncharacteristic even for him. Basilisk and Koga obviously had their own Ghosts and personal issues to manage, so they weren’t truly paying attention to what was going on, and Lisset was caught between wondering if this was something to be concerned about, or if the mission to Luna had simply spurred a melancholic episode in the small machine.

Almost as soon as they had landed in the Tower, the trio had been called down to the Hall of Guardians for a debriefing. Ikora was not one to appear anxious, but how quickly the order had been passed down was more than a little telling as to how much the elder Warlock anticipated the new data. Again, there had been little cause for alarm when Dal floated silently over his Guardian’s shoulder, watching events unfold through his single blue eye. Boudica had thought nothing of him and his restrained manner until the Ghost had suddenly disappeared.

One moment, Dal had been just inches above Lisset’s left shoulder, just hanging there as Ghosts were want to do. The next, he had simply flitted away, gone before any had noticed his absence. With him went the information stolen from the World’s Grave, leaving the Paladins to have a rather awkward conversation with Ikora explaining why they didn’t have it with them-yet. While their Guardians tried to hash out things with a now fairly annoyed Ikora Rey, Kita and Boudica exchanged a single worried glance. There was something very wrong about what was going on, but neither of them had any idea what it could be.

The hours passed, and there was little sign of the errant Ghost. When he finally floated through the door to the Paladins’ room, the sun had set and it was rapidly approaching midnight. The Ghost didn’t explain his absence, nor did he say what he had done with the data. In fact, he didn’t say a word. Frustrated, but unable to really do anything about it, the Guardians retired for the night and resolved to give the Cryptarchs the data in the morning. And with that, the Ghosts were left to their own devices.

Dal stayed in the middle of the room, hovering over the couches and table like some kind of observer. The way his eye slowly panned over the space made it seem like it was his first time in the room, taking in the whole experience as slowly and in-depth as he could. Kita and Boudica watched from the edge of the room, their worry growing. “What is wrong with him?” Kita whispered-an overly simplified term for sending a highly encrypted message-to his fellow Ghost. “Why won’t he talk?”

“I don’t know.” Boudica replied. “He’s not well, I know that much.”

“Should we take him to the Speaker?” Kita asked. “He would know how to help, right?” Boudica spun in place, unsure.

“Maybe. But we’d have to get him there first.” They were several floors away from the Speaker’s observatory to start with, and the ancient scholar made his home in one of the back corners of Tower North. Under normal circumstances, that was a trip that would take only a few minutes, but this was a scenario far from the norm, and moving even further by the second. “Do you think-“

Before her thought could complete, Dal suddenly began to move. The Ghost flew rapidly for the door, which slid open at his approach, then turned and flitted down the hallway, heading for some unknown destination. “After him!” Kita hissed in alarm as he hurried after his friend. Boudica tailed behind her comrade, her mind racing.

Dal stayed ahead of the two, but not by much. He was making for one of the maintenance stairwells, primarily used by Frames, mechanics, and technicians when they needed to move about the Tower without having to wait on busy elevators to accommodate them. Like the one connecting the Paladins’ room to the hallway, this portal slid open as soon as it detected Dal’s approach, and stayed open as Kita and Boudica rushed through on his heels. The fleeing Ghost didn’t bother to follow the stairs, instead floating into the space in the center of the space before beginning to rapidly ascend.

“Is he heading for the roof?” Boudica asked, surprised. If so, Dal was going to make their life that much easier, though it was hard for her not to wonder where the Ghost was going. She couldn’t think of any destination that made any sense, but at the same time she had to admit that none of this was making any sense.

“I think so!” Kita shouted, climbing floor after floor in seconds as his tiny frame rose higher into the air. The two reached the top of the staircase to see the door already open, and Dal gone. “Damn!” Kita hissed, frustrated. “Where’d he go?”

“He couldn’t have gotten far.” Boudica replied, her shell spinning about as she tried to think. “If he came up here, then he’s not trying to run into the City.”

“Well, why is he running at all?” Kita retorted. “I don’t understand. He’s been quiet ever since-oh.” A horrible realization flashed through the Ghost’s mind. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Boudica pressed, confused. “What is it?” Kita spun to face her, jittering slightly as he moved.

“He’s been acting strange ever since he stole the data from the World’s Grave.” He finished. If a Ghost could have had the blood flood away from her cheeks, then Boudica would have resembled a specter in more than just name. “There must have been some kind of trap or virus in the data.”

“He might not be in control over his own movement.” Boudica spoke slowly. “He might be dying.”

“We have to find him.” Kita said, urgency filling his voice. “There has to be a way to find him.”

“How?” Boudica countered. “We’re right next to the Traveler, and right on top of a Tower full of Ghosts and their Guardians. Searching for his Light specifically will just get drowned out in the rest.”

There was a pause as the two thought as fast and as hard as they could, creating and discarding ideas as fast as they came up with them. It was Boudica who broke the silence, making a loud, triumphant beeping sound like a high-pitched snap. “I’ve got it!” She said, her words coming out in a rush. “We can’t find him if we look for his Light, but we’re not looking for Light-we’re looking for a Ghost with Hive corruption. We just search for the only spot on the Tower where there isn’t Light!”

“Scanning for that now.” Kita trailed off as he began his sweep. Despite their small frames, Ghosts came equipped with some of the most powerful sensor suites in existence, tech that had stemmed from the Traveler and was leaps and bounds ahead of anything on the Tower, and maybe even from the Golden Age. It took only a few milliseconds for a positive result to return. “Got him! He’s in the Hangar.” There was little time to ask why as the duo made like a bat out of hell straight for Holliday’s little kingdom. They didn’t have time to ask why, but they both had a fairly good idea as to what the possessed Dal was planning.

Their theory was confirmed when they reached the flight deck of the Hangar, and saw Dal floating right outside Lisset’s rigorously maintained Galliot. The Hunter had done her best to keep the thing looking as best it could, something that had kept Holliday certainly busy. “Dal!” Boudica called out, her voice echoing in the empty Hangar. For a moment, the Ghost didn’t respond at all, simply staring straight ahead at the Galliot. Kita and Boudica floated closer, trying to get as near as they could to him. As they came to a stop right behind Dal, the Ghost turned. A faint black substance seemed to trail from his core, and the once welcoming blue light was now a deep green.

“Dal?” Kita hesitantly asked. “Dal, are you in there?” There was no response. The Ghost turned back to face the Galliot, and just hovered there. Boudica frowned about as well as she could.

“Why hasn’t he left?” She hissed to her comrade. Dal had been granted a fairly sizable lead, and it didn’t take long to start up a modern Jumpship. If he wanted to, he would have been gone long before the Ghosts had realized where their friend was.

“I don’t know, but we can’t let him get away.” Kita whispered back. “What do we do?”

“We can’t disable him, not with energy.” Boudica mused under her breath. “We could risk permanent damage. We’ll need to find another way.” It took only a second for a desperate plan to form. “We need to ram him.”

“What?” Kita said, louder than he ought to have. The possessed Dal turned to stare at the two, regarded them for a moment, then turned his attention back to the Galliot. “Why?” Kita hissed.

“If we deliver a solid enough hit, it should overload his stabilizers. He’ll fall to the floor and be stunned.” Boudica explained. “It’s not much, but it might put him under long enough to take him to the Speaker.”

“And how do we move him?” Kita muttered, exasperated. “None of us have hands!”

“I’ll wrangle up a Frame then!” She retorted, her patience running thin. “Just do it already!” Kita scrunched up his shell, some kind of approximation of a grimace, then sighed. The Ghost flew back a few feet, and then readied himself for the impact.

“Sorry about this, buddy.” Kita said, then charged. Dal spun to face the sound, and found himself turning to face the impact eye-on. The two Ghosts collided with a soft clank. Dal clattered to the ground, while Kita managed to stay airborne, although his hovering began to slosh around slightly. “Can Ghosts get concussions?” Kita thought aloud, his voice about as unsteady as his flight path.

Boudica, meanwhile, floated up to where a Frame stood, its shoulders and head slumped in sleep mode as it waited for the coming day. “Roni?” Boudica called, her voice echoing in the empty hangar. “Roni, please wake up, this is an emergency.” There was a soft mechanical hum as lights slowly came back to life and servos spun up. The orange and white-painted Frame straightened its stance, and stared its unblinking blue eye at the Ghost.

“Roni 55-30 responding.” The Frame announced stoically as it finished its boot-up sequence. It had a feminine voice, but lacked the personality that any Ghost had. Aside from quirks picked up from decades of use, a Frame was far from sentient, nowhere near as intelligent as a Ghost was. “Emergency? Oh dear, oh dear. Please, state your request.” Boudica glanced back to see the incapacitated Dal lying on the ground, still stunned.

“Roni, there is a Ghost on the hangar floor below us that must be brought to the Speaker immediately.” Boudica explained. “Pick it up and carry it to him as fast as you can.” Roni nodded its big rounded head, and then turned to look in the direction Boudica had. Crouching down, the passive hum of Frame operation began to build. Before Boudica could ask what it was doing, it jumped up impossibly high, cresting over a small wire fence separating the upper levels of the hangar from the floor, before hurtling down to the tarmac below.

Roni moved shockingly quickly, with mechanical precision and intent. It took only a few seconds for it to reach Dal and snatch it up in its hands. Roni then turned, and started to sprint faster than Boudica would have believed possible for such a fragile-looking thing. Whoever had designed the machine must have wanted to put sprinters to shame, because Roni was moving at a pace that would let it reach a four-minute mile if it wanted to. Boudica floated down to Kita, who had stopped dancing about in hover and was now watching Roni make its way to Tower North in a flash.

“Are you okay?” Boudica asked, concerned.

“I’m fine.” Kita replied. “Man, how fast does that thing move?” His eye followed Roni until it was no longer in view. “Do you think this’ll work?” He asked, turning to face his fellow Ghost. All Boudica could do was shrug.

“I hope so.”

<><><><><><><> 

            The next morning, Dal came to in the Speaker’s Observatory. The Ghost blinked as his ocular sensors realigned themselves. The large fuzzy object hovering just outside his vision slowly focused into the imperfect alabaster sphere that was the Traveler, hanging silently over the City and framed by the Speaker’s Orrery. Dal floated off of the desk that he had been resting on and spun to see the Speaker standing over his table, reading some document. The scholar turned his head to look up at the Ghost, and regarded it pleasantly. If he was smiling, Dal couldn’t see it through the Speaker’s grey mask.

            “Ah, you are awake.” The Speaker said, his voice soft and fatherly. “How do you feel?”

            Dal silently ran a quick self-diagnostic before answering. “I’m reading green across the board, but I believe my memory might have been corrupted. I’m missing a good deal of-“ He paused as two and two came together. “The World’s Grave data. It’s gone!” The Speaker put up a hand, trying to calm the Ghost.

            “It’s alright. I have cleansed and transferred the data to the Tower’s systems.” The scholar replied. “What is the last thing you remember?” Dal shifted his frame, an approximation of a frown.

            “I remember saying something about ‘Beckenstein.’” He admitted slowly. “After that, I’m drawing a blank.” The Speaker regarded this with a slow nod.

            “The Hive hid a spell inside the data, a virus that was consuming you and your Light.” He explained calmly. “As I understand it, you were attempting to steal a ship and return to the Moon. Possessed by Hive arcana beyond your control.”

            “Evidently, I didn’t.” Dal muttered, concerned. “What happened?” The Speaker waved his hand to reveal two other Ghosts lying on a bookshelf, their eyes closed as they rested. It didn’t take much for Dal to recognize them.

            “Your friends saved you, and brought you to me.” The Speaker answered. “I cleansed you in the Light of the Traveler, and restored you. You should feel no more ill-effects.” The Ghost nodded.

            “Thank you, Speaker.” He said, his voice earnest. “Are they-“

            “They are fine, just tired.” The scholar replied, bemused. “I’m sure they will awaken soon. You are free to return to your Guardian at any time, Ghost Dal.”

            “If you don’t mind, Speaker, I’d like to rest with my friends for a while.” Dal said, glancing back at his comrades. The Speaker nodded, then returned to his book. As Dal began putting himself in sleep mode, he looked up at the Traveler hanging in the distance, and allowed himself to feel some relief.

            It was dawn in the City, and all was well.