"But why would they copy them?" a voice echoed down the halls. "I thought they were specific programs that only an AI could run?" Footsteps rung out in a rhythmic beat in the metal corridors of the massive complex. A single soldier, dressed in teal colored armor cautiously moved ahead. Carolina stopped at an intersection and backed up against the wall. She quickly stepped out and aimed her assault rifle down the perpendicular, but eerily similar, dark hallway. When no life came into view, she relaxed her stance again and continued forward.

"That was at first, when the enhancers were just experimental," Carolina replied. "These pieces of equipment were dangerous without proper field testing, so using an AI to run them made it safer and more reliable." There was a bright flash, which illuminated the hallway for a brief moment. Tiny, spinning balls of light surrounded Carolina's head and slowly collapsed into a single entity, and formed the shape of a human, floating over Carolina's shoulder.

"So the soldiers and the AI weren't the only part of Project Freelancer?" Church questioned. Carolina lifted her left arm and looked down at her gauntlet, where a screen displayed her current location within the building, and the location of the target.

"The equipment," she began, "was actually more of an afterthought. The Director needed some way of looking like a legitimate, and legal, project to the board, without mentioning the creation of the AIs. He just told them he was making enhancers for our armor, and the necessary programs to run them." The two were approaching the target location. Carolina had received intel that there was copied equipment from Project Freelancer in this building, and a heist was planned for it. She wasn't just here to stop it, but to take that equipment for herself.

"I'm surprised I still have to explain this stuff to you," Carolina started. "After all we've been through, I thought you would have remembered everything by now." Church was blinking in and out, trying to stay as faded as possible so he wouldn't give away Carolina's position in the darkness.

"To be honest," he replied, "I've stopped trying."

"Why is that?"

"Two reasons. The first, is that I don't need to remember anything else. I prefer my memories as Leonard Church, the former leader of the blue team who was constantly annoyed and killed by his moron teammates, than the memories of Leonard Church, Director of Project Freelancer." Carolina smiled under her helmet.

"And what's the second reason?" she asked.

"The second reason… is I just don't give a fuck." Carolina kept walking, when Church suddenly lit up, twice as bright. "Woah! You got movement on your radar. Behind you!" Carolina spun around and pointed her rifle down the hall. A man stood at the other end. He was wearing armor, but the shadows hid any details other than that.

"Not a single move," Carolina hissed. "Church!" Church ran around to the front of Carolina.

"Yeah?"

"Give me some light on him," she commanded. Church disappeared and a high-pitch wine came from Carolina's helmet. A bright floodlight activated from the side of her helmet and shined down the hall. The man's light blue and yellow armor came into view and reflected onto the walls around him. He put up his hands and shrugged.

"What can I say?" he asked, "I got curious."

"Wash?" Carolina questioned as she lowered her gun. Church reappeared on her shoulder and the floodlight dimmed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded. "Where is Tucker and Caboose? How did you know where we were?" Carolina put up her hand, calming Church down.

"Relax," she reassured, "how do you think I get my information."

"I held onto my recovery beacon after the UNSC swept the Avalanche base," Washington stated. "It goes off whenever a piece of Freelancer equipment is either damaged… or in this case, activated. AS for Tucker and Caboose, they'll be fine. When I left I think they were surrendering to the red team again."

"What? I thought that didn't happen anymore since you showed up!" Church yelled.

"Meh, I sit the fights out every now and again," Washington replied, "keeps it fresh."

"So, what'd they give the Reds this time?"

"Nothing, I don't think. The Reds just told Caboose he has to stand on his head for the next few days."

"Days?" Carolina asked.

"Oh, quit your bitching," Church responded. "Some extra blood to his head is probably a good thing."

"I told you I didn't need help on this one," Carolina said sternly to Washington, changing the subject.

"I know," Washing replied. "But this beacon… this one is different."

"How is it different?" she asked.

"There's no records on what this equipment is. We got a signal saying it was just activated, when the readings indicate whatever it is has been running for years. It looks more like something that's been kept under our radar, rather than stored."

"Then that's all the more reason to find it, Wash," Carolina stated. "I intercepted a transmission talking about a soldier breaking in to steal some tech. I'm not letting them get a hold of my father's work. No one has that right other than me."

"I understand," Washington replied. "I didn't come here to stop you." He reached over his shoulder and grabbed his battle rifle. He held it by his side and nodded to Carolina. "I just thought you needed some backup." Carolina looked Washington up and down, before turning back down the hallway. The light on her helmet flashed on once again, revealing a massive, metal door in front of her.

"Target is in the next room, Carolina," Church called out. "I'll see if I can override the security codes on the door."

"Well, just keep an eye on the target, Church," she replied. "Other than that you're doing a great job running my armor." There was a silence before Church reappeared at Carolina's shoulder.

"I'm getting mixed signals here," he stated. Carolina titled her head to the side and shrugged.

"No, I mean it," she stated. "I might seem mean sometimes, but I really appreciate your…"

"No! Idiot!" Church yelled back. "The signal from the target, it's getting all mixed up."

"Asshole," Carolina muttered.

"Back at you."

"What do you mean it's mixed up?" Washington asked.

"The target signal seems to be moving around in the next room… but another one just appeared on the radar. I don't know what's going on in that room… but something's definitely happening."

"It's got to be the soldier!" Carolina yelled. "Church get that door open!" The red lights around the door flashed twice before changing to green. The circle in the center of the door spun clockwise a few times, before the entire door separated into four panels and slid into the walls. Carolina and Washington ran into the next room and lifted their weapons. Before them was a massive wall of computer screens, all flashing footage from security cameras everywhere in the complex. In front of that was a large metal crate. Carolina and Washington instantly recognized it. Memories flooded their minds. Making their way to the top of that massive building to secure this chest. Kicking Maine out of the window to hoist it to the rooftop. Plummeting down with the rubble of the skyscraper, just to make sure the chest got to safety. This wasn't just a chest… it was the Sarcophagus.

"Is that what I think it is?" Washington asked.

"Church, what readings are you getting from this thing?" Carolina asked. She waited for a moment, but no response came. "Church!" Still nothing. "Alpha!" A few flashes of light blinked next to Carolina's helmet, and Church appeared on her shoulder. He was a blue tone, with flashes of purple emitting from his form. "Church?" Carolina asked, concerned. He stared at the Sarcophagus and didn't make a single move, like he couldn't hear Carolina at all. Washington stepped up next to them and put a hand on Carolina's shoulder. He moved her back, but Church stayed locked in his position.

"Epsilon…" Washington began. Church turned his head and looked at Washington. Even their visors couldn't stop their eyes from contacting one another… like two friends who were just now reuniting.

"This is it, David," he said slowly. "This is where it all happened. That's what did it." Washington turned and looked at the Sarcophagus. "That is where we were split… fragmented… tortured."

"Impossible," Carolina chimed in. "The Sarcophagus was destroyed in the EMP with all of the other AI."

"IT WASN'T!" Church screamed at her. He turned a pale white in color and his voice dropped in pitch. "It was never there!"

"But why?" Washington asked. "Why did the Director have it separated."

"To carry on his legacy," a voice replied. Carolina and Washington turned to their left, where a man stood in the shadows of the room. They lifted their weapons and aimed them right at the figure.

"Freeze!" Carolina yelled. "There's no way you're stealing this tech. Now back off!" Washing reached up and nudged Carolina in the back, but she shook him off. "Not now, Wash!" He did it again and Carolina titled her head towards him. "What?!" Washington pointed to the Sarcophagus and shook his head.

"That's not the tech that was setting off the beacon," he replied. Carolina slightly lowered her weapon and turned completely to look at Washington. He redirected his point to the man in the shadows. "That's the tech." The man lifted his arms into the air, as if showing off.

"What can I say?" he started, "I was given some pretty nifty toys. It wasn't easy staying off your radar this long… but it was necessary."

"Who are you and where did you get that armor?" Carolina interrogated. The man stepped forward and the light flooded over him. He was wearing dark blue armor, with white details. He had on a standard Security style helmet, with Mark VI armor everywhere else. One of his arms was completely exposed from the shoulder to just below the elbow, where his Mark VI gauntlet began.

"This armor?" he asked. "A gift from your father, dear Caroline."

"Mass?!" she cried. "What… what are you… no… no you can't…" Mass folded his arms and looked towards the Sarcophagus.

"Surprised?" he asked, in a snarky tone. "I thought you might be."

"I was there!" Washington shouted. "I was there when Mass was killed in battle! You aren't the original Agent Massachusetts!"

"Oh, but I am, David," he replied. "The Director thought it would act in his favor to keep someone under wraps." Mass walked closer to Carolina, looking her right in the eyes. "Someone he could trust."

"Why?" Carolina asked, grinding her teeth together. This was just another thing to her. Another thing her father lied about and kept from her.

"Because he knew!" Mass yelled back. "He knew you Freelancers would betray him! Throw away everything he gave to you!"

"You don't understand!" Washington began. "You don't know what he did here! What he did to the Alpha program! I was given the memories, Mass! I knew right from the start the horrors…"

"You think you were alone!?" Mass screamed. He walked closer to Washington. The massive Freelancer had to look down in order to stare into Washington's visor. "You think you were the only one who knew what was happening here? So you got the Alpha's memories… big deal! A couple flashing pictures in your head and it's poor Agent Washington!"

"Flashing pictures?! I suffered through each one of…"

"Don't talk to me about suffering, Washington!"

"What are you getting at?" Carolina questioned. "Why are you back, and what do you want with the Sarcophagus!" Mass turned back to look at her and shook his head.

"I'm going to do what the Director never could," he replied. "What the 'almighty' Chairman never allowed him to do. The Meta became the most powerful soldier on the planet by utilizing six AI units at once. I'm going to use the Sarcophagus to replicate his actions."

"You're out of your mind!" Washington yelled. "The Meta went crazy with all those AIs in his head. And you would torture the Alpha all over again just to get the fragments back?!"

"No you idiot!" Mass yelled. "I don't want six fragments running my equipment! I want what the Director was never allowed to have. I don't want to split the Alpha… I want to copy it!"

"Well that won't happen," Washington snapped back. "You think you understand the Alpha? Who he is, and what he went through?! I had the memories, Mass, and Carolina is the daughter of the man he was based on. We can relate to the Alpha. If he can't relate to you, then he will never help you, not one Alpha, and not six."

"You don't get it do you?" he asked, almost sounding shocked. "You think I can't relate to the Alpha? I was the first, Washington. I was the first Freelancer. Your father, Carolina, approached me while I was enlisted in the UNSC. I never had a family. I was abandoned young, and drafted young. Your father took me in, told me he could make stronger, better… the best soldier the world had ever seen. He had an idea for an experimental group of super-soldiers, called the Freelancers… and I would be the first. When information about the AI programs reached him, he decided to stage my death, in case the Freelancers couldn't handle this new power, and rebelled against him." Mass turned back to Washington and pointed a finger at him. "So I know what happened. He tortured and split the Alpha to make the AIs. And he told all of you, that the first AI he made was Gamma."

"Which went to Wyoming," Carolina stated.

"Are you idiots?!" Mass questioned. "That's not the first AI he fragmented. You think the first thing an AI would have to split in order to survive would be its deceit?!"

"What's your point?" Church asked. He reappeared on Carolina's shoulder, seemingly returned to his normal state.

"So you're here, Alpha?" Mass asked. "Good. Maybe you can tell them the first thing that was fragmented from you." Carolina slowly turned to look at Church, who had his head turned away from the others. She sighed and looked back at Mass.

"He doesn't remember everything, Mass," she replied. "When he was segmented, his memory was destroyed. He can't…"

"I know," Church said quietly. Carolina stopped and looked back at him.

"Church?" she asked, almost in a whisper. He looked up at Mass and sighed.

"The first thing they split from me," he began. "I hurt so bad… I just had to make it stop… I had to shed… the pain." Suddenly, sparks began to emit from Mass's shoulder. Carolina and Washington stepped away, but Mass remained perfectly still. Church didn't move either, and instead slowly looked up at Mass's shoulder, knowing what was coming. The sparks grew into small bolts of lightning, which eventually molded into the shape of a person. The figure was made of electricity, and yellow sparks were constantly erupting from its edges."

"Hello, Alpha," it said in a raspy voice. "It is nice to finally meet you." Church cringed for a moment, then closed his eyes and looked away.

"This is my AI, Washinton. This is the Beta. This is the Alpha's pain."