The inside of the Forerunner building was so much more futuristic compared to what we had. I had only been inside a Covenant ship once, and so far this looked more impressive. The walls and floors were shiny metal gray, with blue lights running along. I followed the lights that were taking me to wherever the center of the building was. Living here would be okay, but I had no idea what I would do for food, especially if this place was so large. I could get lost just finding the exit to go look for fruit and berries.

Sentinels flew over my head, and a few of them vanished beyond the doors on my left and right. What were Sentinels doing here on Requiem? You could find them on any of the Halo rings working as protectors of the ring, along with a monitor. The most famous one I could recall was Installation 04, destroyed by the Master Chief. Then it was rebuilt by the Ark and then, instead of destroying it he activated it. If only I had been there, I would have loved to see it. 

The Halos were built by the Forerunners, so were the Sentinels built by them as well? There were no experts to answer these questions. The Sentinels were blocking my path. I could not go into any of the doors from my side, so I decided to head for the next large door in front of me.

On the other side, I came to a wide open space. The floor looked like fancy glass, and there were large towers lit by lines of blue light, as if there was an entire city inside this building. The Forerunners must have lived here before, and I began to wonder if they were hiding. They were so afraid of the Flood. I wandered around the towers. This place was incredible, almost too incredible to leave.

I was only going to be resting here, but any place was dangerous on Requiem alone. I walked past the remaining towers and spotted a terminal at the end of the room. I wonder what that contains, maybe it can tell me where the Forerunners have disappeared, or where the Didact was.

Ever since word got out that a Forerunner had returned; nobody on Infinity seemed to care about the danger that it may pose. All they cared about was getting off Requiem. My foster parents were only interested in the science, and I was only interesting in learning about the Forerunners. If they weren't hostile to us, I would like to meet one.

I walked up the metal ramp to the terminal and pressed a button, and then in the blink of an eye a holographic map of Requiem appeared. The technology seemed a lot different than what I had seen on a typical UNSC ship. The map of Requiem started to show a small red dot moving around the planet, as if orbiting it. Was it in the first layer of the planet which we were all inside too? I watched the moving red dot with curiosity, and began to wonder if that was the Didact. Reports had come in that he was moving around the planet in a ship of some kind, which had a unique shape.

Then the hologram began to flash and beep a warning written in Forerunner language. I could not understand. I stood there silently watching to the flashing and the beeping until a red Forerunner symbol appeared: It was a circle with lines connecting to make a hexagon in its center with a small rectangle above it. I didn't know what it meant. The only Forerunner symbol I knew, was the one for Reclaimer. Then the terminal suddenly shut down. I sighed, so much for learning what could have been interesting.

I walked away from the terminal and covered a yawn. I didn't know what time it was but if I went outside it would probably be dark. This large room had too many bright lights to sleep in. However, I thought going back outside after dark would not be safe for many reasons. I sat down in the corner across from the terminal, and crawled behind a small metal post up against the wall that would, hopefully, hide me a little in case anyone came in. Having nothing soft to lie on, I curled up in my little corner and tried to get some sleep.

******

Hours flew by, and as they did, I had that dream again. It was the same dream always had: Ever since I learned of the Didact being freed, I had dreams about him every night. I stood at the edge of the forest looking towards his Cryptum and he saw me as he emerged from it. The UNSC liked to refer to it as a satellite, but it was called a Cryptum. Forerunners of certain ranks had them, which I had learned from research.

He looked at me and pulled me towards him using telekinesis. I looked at his face for some reason he did not scare me. He spoke that he would not kill me, but wanted something else of me. I just couldn't figure out what. Even after having that dream several nights, I still could not remember what he looked like and what he said to me. The dream always ended when his helmet covered his face, and instead of throwing me aside, he let me go and brought me on board his Cryptum. Then everything after that was just blackness again.

I opened my eyes and saw that the Forerunner structure had changed on the inside. It was darker than usual, and the only light was the blue lines on the gleaming walls, towers, and the floor; A power outage? I didn't think so. Nobody should be here. Requiem seemed deserted when the Forerunners went to wherever they were.

I stood up reluctantly and looked around. Waking up from my dream about the Didact always left me shaking, but this time my heart was racing. Did this mean something? I thought it was feelings I had to come in the future, for something or someone. But I could not determine it yet. There was silence in the darkness. I walked up to the terminal and looked around some more.

The shiny metal towers were no longer completely illuminated, except for the blue neon. Even the glass floor was invisible. Were Forerunner structures rigged to reduce power usage at a certain time of night? I didn't know for sure if the Forerunners even used something such as that used by humans.

The silence almost frightened me, but I was not afraid of the dark. I walked down the dark ramp from the left of the terminal, and suddenly I heard a sound. It was the sound of scampering, not like a mouse, but scampering metal clinking up against the walls and the floor. Someone was running.

"Hello......is someone there?" I called. No answer. The metal scampering was heard again, followed by a strange robotic sound.

Whatever that was, it wasn't the Sentinels.

"Hello?" I called again, and there was no answer.

The scampering sound of metal was louder this time, and I looked up and saw a small orange speck on one of the towers in the middle of the room. I walked closer to figure out what it was. It was moving, crawling along the side of the tower. I walked closer and saw it; A small dog-like creature with a bright orange light. It had spikes and insect-mandibles for a face. It growled at me, and I backed away.

"Oh okay, I'm too close I get it," but the creature snarled again and to my surprise something formed in its mouth that looked like a pistol. 

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be then?" I asked and then I remembered the Magnum I had found outside the entrance. I took it out, aimed it at the creature then pulled the trigger.

The bullet popped straight into the creature's head, and it instantly dismantled into tiny pieces at my feet. I wanted to laugh; I had no weapon training at all and managed to kill something. But now that there were little creatures inside the building I knew this one was not alone.

The sound of scampering metal was heard once again only this time it was all over the place, and then there was another strange sound, a creature hissing and footsteps. But no matter the number of those easily breakable things there were inside this building, the rounds on the Magnum would not kill them all.

I backed up against the tower and knew they would flank me. I peered around the corner of the tower to see what I was up against. I saw five of those metal spiky dog things crawling along the wall. But on the ground was a large metal creature that was glowing orange, with a big shell on its back, and it had long legs and two sets of arms: the longer arms carried a blade and gun, and the shorter ones had nothing on them.

Okay, that's a big threat. I thought and quickly looked away. Were they looking for me? Had the Forerunners not disappeared after all, and this was what they looked like all along?

I stood there in silence; waiting for them to find me as I knew a pistol would not kill all of them, especially the big one. But suddenly there was another weird sound, and a wide orange beam went through the entire room, as if scanning the place. I gulped and then my heart raced. Then at that very moment a dark and mysterious voice was heard.

"You cannot hide human; I know where you dwell in the darkness. Come out now, and face what lies before you. Engaging is irrelevant, they will not hurt you,"

My heart jumped. "Who are you?" I asked, but when the voice spoke again, it did not respond to my question.

"Come out now, I shall not harm you, human."

I didn't know if I could trust whoever this was, but they knew where I was. I gulped again and walked around the corner. The creature with the large carapace hissed at me, but did not point its weapon. Instead, it looked at me and then grabbed my arm. I wanted to struggle but inside I still wanted to believe that voice said they would not mean any harm, so I stayed still and walked beside it out of the dark room.

Soon, we exited the Forerunner building. Night had fallen upon the jungle, but there were no stars, not even a moon. I looked up at the sky as I walked beside the large creature and the little ones. I began to wonder if these creatures were the Prometheans I read about in the books. They certainly were not Covenant.

Then we came to a halt in a small meadow. I heard a rumbling noise, I looked up at the sky once again, and I saw a large sphere descending. It was a dark brown with orange streaks. I gazed at it with curiosity, and began to wonder if this strange shaped object was what the Didact was using to get around, since the Master Chief was manipulated to releasing him. When the sphere was only a few meters from the ground, I watched in awe as an opening appeared at the bottom of it, and a small platform emerged. I had eyes only for what was on it.