Ghosts in the Machine

Thorn shivered as she entered the structure, abandoning Solus's light for the sterile, blue illumination of the building. It looked ancient. Artificial. Completely at odds with the rest of Ekkunar's beauty. And, as she tightened her grip on her bow, she reflected that it was a possible ambush point for any other battleborn, minion, or servant of one of the other factions. Enemies of the eldrid.

But so far, there'd been done. The lights were on, but no-one was home.

And is that the fate of Creation once Solus dies? she wondered, still progressing through the structure. Do we die before the star, leaving the sun to illuminate a lifeless universe? Or does the universe die first and not be around to watch us perish as well.

She kept walking. Eldrid were long lived, but even they were nothing compared to the universe, well past its one-hundred trillionth birthday. They were on the butt end of Creation's joke, and the only question was whether they'd live long enough to see the punchline.

"Hello user."

She stopped, opening her mouth, but managing to resist asking "who's there?" It was safe to conclude that the voice belonged to an enemy. And it was much safer to try and keep her position hidden, even if by the words themselves, the enemy knew where she was.

"Do you like what the builders did with the place?"

She remained silent. No, she didn't like what the builders had done with "the place," and resented the existence of "the place," period. But no need to reveal all that right now.

"Self-sustaining energy. It can last indefinitely."

Thorn still remained silent.

"Oh but where are my manners? Here, let me introduce myself."

A light flickered on. A brighter light than all the blue lines that ran through the structure. And turning her gaze and bow on it, Thorn saw that it wasn't a light. Not entirely. Rather, it was a laser, a blue-white one. Shining in numerous points, materializing into a humanoid form. A humanoid that wore black with yellow illumination, wearing a smirk on his face. Like an official of the Jennerit Empire.

But also not like a Jennerit. Because last Thorn knew, Jennerits didn't have the ability to manifest out of lasers.

And yet despite having a bow pointed at him, the man just stood there. Still smirking. His attire unsuited for Ekkunar's climate, yet he appeared unperturbed by it all.

"Who are you?" Thorn asked eventually, still holding her bow.

"CLU."

"Clue? You're giving me a clue?"

"No, CLU. C-L-U." The man took a step forward and Thorn kept her arrow steady, even as he held out a hand. "CLU Three, to be precise." He sniggered. "Of course, I suppose you could call me Kevin instead."

And the man changed. He looked…older. His suit's lines turned white. He seemed…softer. Kinder.

But only for a moment.

"So tell me?" he asked. "Has the universe ended yet?"

"What?"

"I mean, it's not really my concern," the man said, beginning to pace around, as if giving Thorn a tour of an art gallery. "The System will endure even after the universe has breathed its last." He glanced back at her. "Perfection cannot be achieved in entropy, my dear. A closed system will always break down. Unless certain steps are taken to ensure that nothing is lost from the equilibrium." He sniggered again. "Stars, planets, users. Everything collapses in the end."

Thorn lowered her bow, but only slightly. She didn't like this man. But he hadn't done anything to harm her yet, and there was something about him. Something…honest, she supposed. He was mocking, he was smirking, he made her uneasy, but she hadn't felt like she'd actually been lied to by him.

"I can help, you know," he said, facing her again and extending his arms. "The System will endure for eternity. Perfection…it's within a button's press. Or a few."

"What are you talking about?" Thorn asked.

The man…CLU, she reminded herself…extended a hand. "Shall I show you?"

Gingerly, Thorn took it. Gingerly, she slung her bow. But not without keeping her free hand on the hilt of her hunter's knife.

"Very good."

CLU led her over towards the laser, or rather, the terminal right beside it. On it was strange writing. Probably from a long dead culture of a long dead race. There'd been more civilizations and sapients than there had been stars in all Creation.

"This," said CLU, is the System."

He pressed some of the buttons. And apparently the man could read the text, because the text on the terminal faded, to be replaced by a birds eye view of what Thorn could only guess was a city.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

She remained silent, biting her lip, and loosening her grip on her blade as a chill ran down her spine. She'd only heard of cities. Heard that they were noisy, congested, cramming as many people into their confines as possible. They sounded horrible.

"Well?" CLU asked, his voice low, his tone suggesting that he wanted something. Approval, Thorn wondered?

"I…it's nice."

It wasn't the truth, but nor was it a lie. Because looking at the city, Thorn noticed that it didn't look particularly congested, nor noisy. It looked…empty, really.

"The System," said CLU again. "Had to trim away the fatty bits over the years. My predecessor wanted to expand, but since he merged with his predecessor…" He sniggered again. "Well, let's just say I have the best of both worlds. And the best way to maintain the System was to maintain it. Not expand it."

Thorn kept looking. There were people there. Few…far too few compared to the size of the City. All in red, all walking. And there was something else missing. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I can help, you know."

She looked at the man. The white light was back.

"The universe is dying," he said. "The System will endure. Any user can endure, at least for a time. Much longer than what this star will provide." He offered her a hand. "Shall I help you?"

"I…I…"

"Your universe is dying. Likely your race is dying. From what I understand, people all over this planet are dying." He took Thorn's hand in his, reached for her other one, and added it to the group of four they were making. "Shall I help? Escape the universe? Join perfection?"

And for a moment, Thorn wanted to. A moment that seemed to last as long as the universe itself had. A moment that had her reflect on everything she'd seen. And everything she never would.

"No."

She spoke. CLU withdrew. His colours and face changed.

"No?" he asked.

"No," she said. "Your System…is yours."

"My system is perfect."

"So you say. But there's something missing in it."

And she turned and walked. To the exit. To the sunlight.

"What's missing?"

She kept walking.

"What's missing?!" CLU yelled. Thorn sped up.

"Tell me user, what's missing?!"

And she stopped. At the doorway. On the threshold between light and dark. The same threshold the universe itself was on. Stopped, turned, and spoke.

"There's no sun."

A/N

Awhile back some concept art of Battleborn was shown, showing architecture that looked like a cross of Halo (Forerunner-esque style, hard angles) and Tron (the light line motifs). Then again, maybe just Halo, since 343 seemed to have a Tron-fetish in Halo 4 anyway. Still, got me to drabble this up. I'm a bit meh about Battleborn myself - love its premise, meh about its execution, but take what you can get I guess.