Halo Lighting System First Strike Games User Manual
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ERIC NYLUND
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weren't in any position to make trouble. The Covenant didn't
take prisoners.
"You're expected today, Lieutenant," the receptionist said.
She was a young Chief Petty Officer and looked like she didn't
have a care, or a clue. But her eyes gave her away. She knew
something. Maybe not what, but she had undoubtedly picked up
on the increased security protocols . . . or the haunted looks in
the eyes of her commanding officers.
"Please proceed to elevator eight," she told him and returned
her attention to the screen in front of her.
He made a mental note to find out who this perceptive person
was and see if she could be recruited into Section Three. ONI
had lost a lot of good people in the last few weeks.
Wagner moved to the solid steel wall, and a pair of doors
parted for him. He entered the small room; the doors closed and
locked with a whisper-quiet snik.
A fingerprint pad and retinal scanner extended from the wall.
Wagner pressed his hand onto the scanner, and a needle stabbed
his index finger. They'd check his DNA against the sample
on file. He blinked once and then rested his chin on the retinal
scanner.
"Good morning, Lieutenant," a sweet female voice whispered
in his ear.
"Good morning, Lysithea. How are you today?"
"Very well, now that I see that you have returned safely from
your mission. I assume everything went as expected."
"You know that's classified," he told the AI.
"Certainly," she replied, her tone playful. "But I'll find out
anyway, you know. Why not save me the time and just tell me?"
Although he generally enjoyed this tete-a-tete with Lysithea,
he knew it was part of the biometric scan, too. She scanned his
brainwaves and voice patterns in response to her queries and
matched them to older responses in her memory. She probably
tested his loyalty in security measures as well—he didn't put any-
thing past Section Three; they grew more paranoid every day.
"Of"course you'll find out," Wagner replied. "But I still can't
tell you. That would be a breach of security, punishable under
Article 428-A. In fact," he said in a more serious tone, "I'll have to
report this violation to my controller."