July 15th, 2523 / 0730 Hours / Dr. Halsey's Office, Reach Military Complex, Planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani System
The datapads scattered across Dr. Halsey's desk were bleeding edge, encrypted and stamped with half a dozen ONI seals, each one screaming "do not open unless you enjoy prison."
I'd already cracked three of them.
With her permission.
Mostly.
Across from me, Halsey tapped the side of her tablet, cycling through vitals, protein synthesis charts, and neurological overlays.
"They'll die," she said, not with fear, but fact.
Her tone was cold. Exact. And it hit harder than any warning buzzer from Mendez ever had.
"The mortality rate from Mjolnir-enhanced bone growth, neuromuscular stimulation, and adrenal overload remains… unacceptable. Thirty-two percent in full." She slid a bioform chart across the table. "Even higher among those predisposed to adrenal fatigue and low-myelin nerve sheathing."
I stared at the overlay. John. Kelly. Fred. My friends.
I didn't care what ONI thought was "acceptable."
I tapped the console. Brought up the notes we'd compiled over the last year—theoretical alternatives to high-failure augmentations. Routes no one had tested because no one cared enough to try.
"New drug sequence," I said, highlighting the compound stream we'd been tweaking in simulation. "Rapid protein scaffolding tied to pre-implantation gene regulation. We replace osteo-strengthening via muscle-shear stimulation with sequential microfusion overlays—less stress, more bio-adaptive growth. Less pain, too."
She raised an eyebrow. "And the nerve rewiring?"
"Electromagnetic lattice templates bonded to non-Newtonian gels," I answered. "No scalpel, no burn-through. Just layering."
She was quiet for a moment.
Then: "You've been busy."
I didn't smile. "So they don't die."
She nodded once. Curt. But something flickered behind her eyes. Approval, maybe. Or guilt. Hard to tell.
We turned next to the delivery method.
Traditional anesthetic wouldn't cut it. Too shallow. Too risky. Too many side effects when combined with radical biochem.
"We put them under," I said. "Medically induced coma. Controlled. Sustained. One hundred percent system override."
"Full neural lockout?"
I nodded. "They'll feel nothing. They'll remember nothing. And we can control the wake-up process based on metabolic pacing instead of scheduled rebound."
It was extreme.
It was clean.
It was necessary.
Halsey leaned back, hands steepled beneath her chin. "If this works, Leonidas… we'll save them."
"If we don't," I replied, "you'll be attending seventy-six funerals."
She didn't argue.
She didn't need to.
The datapads kept humming. The protocol drafts filled line by line. The machines that would shape the next phase of the Spartan program were being rebuilt—and this time, by someone who knew what dying felt like.
Next I type up a report for ONI.
ONI SPARTAN-II AUGMENTATION PROCEDURE REPORT
CLASSIFIED – SECTION III, BETA-GRAY CLEARANCE REQUIRED
Author: Spartan-II Candidate Leonidas-151
Reviewed and Compiled with Dr. Catherine Halsey, ONI R&D Lead
Date: July 15th, 2523
Submission Type: Procedural Recommendation and Protocol Revision
Subject:
Recommended Changes to the Spartan-II Augmentation Procedures to Decrease Trainee Mortality and Improve Recovery Metrics
Executive Summary:
This document outlines a revised set of biochemical, procedural, and technological methodologies aimed at reducing the current Spartan-II augmentation casualty rate from 32% to a projected <1%, without sacrificing the physical and neurological enhancements required for combat deployment.
These recommendations are based on months of biomechanical modeling, AI-assisted pharmacological analysis, and preclinical simulation trials. The proposed changes emphasize survivability, neural integrity, and long-term operational resilience.
Key Procedural Changes:
Full Medical Coma Induction Protocol
Replaces general anesthesia with a controlled neural shutdown procedure.
Allows full-body stabilization throughout the augmentation period.
Reduces autonomic spike risks by 76%.
Facilitates better control of wake-up pacing to minimize cognitive shock.
Osteo-Structural Enhancement Replacement
Original Procedure: High-stress bone reinforcement via chemical stimulation of growth factors.
Proposed: Sequential osteo-scaffolding using gene-regulated microfusion overlays, supported by smart-calcium lattice templates.
Reduces osteolysis, internal microfractures, and vascular displacement.
Neurological Enhancement Modulation
Original Procedure: Direct splicing of nerve clusters and synthetic catalyst proteins.
Proposed: Targeted electromagnetic induction bonding using non-Newtonian conductive gel to promote adaptive neural regrowth.
Avoids spinal trauma and drastically decreases rejection rate.
Muscle Mass Enhancement Support
Augmentation stresses rebalanced through biochemical doping rotation and bio-adaptive nutritional injection.
Muscle hypertrophy spread across a longer integration window (9 days) with metabolic tapering via AI-controlled infusion system.
AI Monitoring Integration
Dejá (or a sandboxed parallel) will monitor all vitals in real-time with override authority to halt and recalibrate sequences.
Ensures adaptive response to individual biofeedback.
Projected Outcomes:
Trainee Mortality Rate: Reduced from 32% → <1%
Neural Rejection Rate: 9.4% → 0.2%
Recovery Time: 23.6 Days → 13 Days (with passive therapy)
Post-Op Cognitive Stability: Up 18%
Long-Term Muscular Retention: Up 21%
Ethical Addendum:
Though the original augmentation process was deemed "acceptable" by ONI Command due to strategic necessity, these recommendations reflect an evolution in both technical capability and moral responsibility. We can achieve the same strength, speed, and precision—without sacrificing lives.
This protocol does not compromise combat efficiency. It enhances it.
Submitted By:
Spartan-II Candidate Leonidas-151
R&D Assistant to Dr. Catherine Halsey
Clearance: BETA-GRAY – Approved by Direct Oversight
The report transmitted cleanly. The ONI interface confirmed receipt with its usual sterile ping, already feeding it into a hundred internal review queues.
Leonidas leaned back, fingers resting against the cooling edge of the console.
Across from him, Dr. Halsey tapped a command into her terminal—prepping backup files, pre-clearing material shipments, scheduling automated test cycles.
Then her console blinked.
Incoming Message — AI: Dejá
[PRIORITY: INTERNAL RESEARCH LEVEL ALPHA]
She raised an eyebrow. A rare thing, for her.
"Dejá," she said aloud. "Unusual timing."
The message hadn't auto-opened.
It was waiting.
Like it wanted her attention first.
The holopad pinged.
Then it pinged again.
And again.
Eight times total.
I frowned. That wasn't a security alert. That was… something else.
Across the room, Dr. Halsey leaned back from her terminal with a look that might've qualified as a smile—if you tilted your head and squinted through four inches of glass and seventeen years of emotional distance.
"Well," she said, steepling her fingers, "it's official. ONI has decided to stop pretending you're just a Spartan."
I blinked. "What?"
She gestured toward the pad.
I checked the notifications.
One by one, they popped open. All stamped with ONI black-bar clearance seals, each bearing the same header:
ONI Academic Accreditation
PH.D. CERTIFICATION: CONFIRMED GRANT STATUS
Then came the specifics.
Computer Science.
Medical Science.
Genetics.
Biology.
Engineering.
Physics.
Mathematics.
Nuclear Engineering.
AI Formulation.
I looked up.
She actually grinned this time.
"You've completed the course material, passed internal simulations, and submitted more publishable material than most military-backed doctoral teams in the past decade. So I filed the paperwork behind your back."
"You—what?"
She waved it off. "Standard ONI protocol. You're a walking research lab. Might as well make it official."
I stared at the holopad again. The digital certificates pulsed faintly, rotating in midair like medals. Medals for thinking.
I couldn't stop the grin that pulled at my mouth.
"I'm… a doctor?"
"Technically, you're nine," she said, standing. "But yes. Also—ONI has approved full clearance for your proposed research portfolio. Including the old speculative media project."
I froze.
"You mean—?"
"Yes. That one."
My hands moved before I could think—swiping windows, opening modeling programs, data plots, experimental schematics that had been buried in drafts for nearly two years.
Halsey walked past me and tapped the main holotable.
"Congratulations, Doctor Leonidas. A new world of problems just dropped into your lap."
I was already elbow-deep in planning mode.
And I was smiling.
The holotable was already cluttered before I dumped half my brain onto it.
Schematics stacked over layered drafts. Holograms of jump kits flickering beside rough ballistic weapon 3D models. An early outline of a simulated vertical combat environment rotated slowly at the edge of the workspace like it was waiting for me to stop playing around and start building.
Dejá's avatar shimmered to life just above the table—her classical toga flickering slightly with her processing load.
"You've been… busy," she said with the kind of dry understatement only an AI could master.
"Just getting started."
I pulled open the folder I'd kept private for almost three years—marked TITANFALL_ADAPTATION. Inside, the entire foundation: custom models of ballistic rifles, SMGs, and semi-auto pistols designed for Spartan hand strength and recoil management. They were kinetic, simple, and elegant in their brutality. Just pure, efficient death delivery.
The files pinged as I sent them to the R&D Production Fabrication Division, flagged as Experimental Test Assets.
Next, I loaded the core plans for the Jump Kit.
Compact. Magnetic. Powered by an ultra-light directional burst module, with twin thrusters capable of fast-cooling between vertical pulses. Built-in stabilizer fins and micro-gravity gyros. The prototype wouldn't be pretty—but it would fly.
I attached notes. Sent that to R&D, too.
"Parallel initiative?" Dejá asked.
"Yeah," I said, flipping over to a secondary console and opening a fresh request form.
TO: ONI High Command, AI Assets Division
FROM: Leonidas-151 (Doctor, Spartan-II Program)
SUBJECT: SMART AI ASSIGNMENT REQUEST
I wrote it straight.
Requesting assignment of a Smart AI construct—ideally with strategic warfare and digital combat simulation familiarity—to assist in testing, optimizing, and overseeing large-scale VR and pilot-interface integration for the TITANFALL SYSTEMS INITIATIVE. Project scope includes weapons, mobility, neural interface syncs, and future armored platform compatibility.
I hit send.
Then I turned back to the holotable.
New window. New project.
BT-7274.
He'd been more than a Titan in the game. He was a partner.
I didn't need him to be a Smart AI. Not yet. But I wanted him close.
Something stable. Loyal. Functional. Fast. Longer lived than traditional smart AI.
So I started coding.
His core routines would use modified UNSC AI scaffolding with embedded friend-or-foe priority modules, tactical flexibility charts, and memory reinforcement. Purely digital. Shackled. But alive—in the way AIs could be.
He would start as my assistant.
One day, he'd be more.
Then I opened another project tab.
To: UNSC Army Corps of Engineers
Subject: Infrastructure Request – VERTICAL WARFARE TRAINING ZONE
Attached were designs for a modular facility with simulated city blocks, vertical parkour lanes, variable terrain, and environmental stressors. Every inch meant to challenge Spartans to think and fight up, down, and everywhere in between.
Sent.
Last, I submitted a revised Spartan Training Protocol Proposal. Focused on spatial awareness conditioning, reflex-based pathing, and motion prediction in three-dimensional combat spaces.
Not VR simulations.
Real training.
I stood back as Dejá began cataloging everything into silos for ONI's mandatory logging.
"You've just redefined our battlefield," she said.
I didn't smile.
I was already sketching the next system.