Cortana brought up the cameras for the path between where they were and the nearest communications tower. Flood forms and spores were sporadically strewn about, not organized in any way.

In the tower itself, the cameras revealed several dead marines in the basement, along with a severely damaged, haphazardly repaired terminal. The camera in the control room was offline.

"Alright, I've got the path planned." Cortana said.

Novikova and Resso walked over to look at the screen.

"…what are we looking at?" Novikova asked.

"…oh, hang on." Cortana said, hands a blur over the keyboard. She brought up a map of UNSC-11, highlighting the relevant cameras along the path and matching them to the cameras being viewed. "Here, this is our path."

"Alright, good. We'll get there, radio for help, and hopefully we get good news." Novikova said.

Resso muttered something, the word "babysitting" audible. Novikova moved to smack him again, but was interrupted by Hewlett.

"Hit him later, not when we need to keep quiet!" Hewlett protested.

Cortana sighed and closed the windows, returning to the list of operable cameras. She wondered how many people like 2Lt. Resso she would meet. As an AI, nobody dared to question her importance, or the importance of keeping her safe. Was the fact that she could store security information and provide tactical services the only reason anyone cared? Logically, of course; Smart AI's were one step away from coming off a production line. But now that she was just a human and couldn't do as much, nor could she be of much use in combat, did that make her useless baggage?

Surely, the Resso's of the world were the minority, or there would be no 'leave no man behind' policy. But the fact that Resso's mindset could exist at all was suddenly much more troubling to Cortana than it used to be.

Cortana was about to get up, when she noticed that a lot more of the cameras had red exclamation points beside them. In the past five minutes, many more of the cameras had been disabled.

"Guys, we might have a problem here." Cortana said, pointing at the screen.

"What is it?" Hewlett asked.

"See those exclamation points? That means the camera's been taken out." Cortana explained. "Five minutes ago, it was just these few up here. Now, it's up to… thirty of them."

"So the base is losing power, so what?" Resso asked.

Even as he spoke, another exclamation point appeared beside one of the cameras. Cortana opened her mouth to speak, when another camera corresponding to that hallway also went offline.

"Open another one in there." Novikova said.

Cortana brought that camera. It was a random hallway, plain concrete all around. A single Flood form slowly walked towards the camera, staring right at it. As everyone watched, the Flood form stopped in front of the camera for a second, staring at it. It then jumped, swiped at the camera, and the feed was cut. An exclamation point appeared beside that camera on the list.

"…they're killing the cameras? They've never done that before." Resso said.

"Actually… in some of the quarantined zones, there have been reports of the Flood doing exactly that in the quarantined buildings with that kind of security." Novikova said. "We're hoping that they're just… curious, or something, but…"

"But what?" Cortana asked.

"There's a chance that they're getting smarter." Novikova replied.

"But… that's not what they do, that goes against their whole biology." Hewlett said. "The only way they'd get this coordinated is…" She stopped, realizing the gravity of the answer.

"…a Gravemind." Cortana finished.

"It's just a theory, we really have no proof of it aside from these camera attacks and how similarly the Flood try to break out of Quarantines." Novikova said.

Slowly, one by one, exclamation points appeared beside more cameras on the list.

"Well, we can't just sit here and think about it. Let's get to the tower." Novikova said.

Cortana got to her feet. Novikova immediately thrust an M6D into her hand.

"…I've never-" Cortana began.

"Exhale for long range shots, inhale for short range. We need all the firepower we've got." Novikova said, demonstrating how to reload the second M6D before handing it to Hewlett. Resso just shook his head, snickering to himself, and unslung his MA5B.

Cortana gave an uneasy look to Hewlett, expecting a usual quip of encouragement. This time, however, Hewlett just returned the look. She was a doctor, not a marine.

Novikova and Resso pulled the furniture away from the door. Novikova put her head to the door, listening for nearby Flood. Hearing nothing, she pointed at Resso and pointed to the left, telling him to check that way once the door opened. He nodded.

Novikova slowly pulled the door open. Resso immediately took point, stepping out and looking down the left hallway. Novikova quickly stepped out to look down the right. Both paths were clear.

Cortana's path dictated that they go right. Novikova motioned for Cortana and Hewlett to follow, and took point down the right path. Cortana and Hewlett came up behind her, with Resso watching their backs.

The room they were in was the closest to the stairs leading topside. The hallway took a left, leading directly to the stairs up. The group followed them, entering a long, narrow room. The door out was to the left, and throughout the room on each side were doors leading to other rooms. The door out was open, and right outside was the broken frame of the escape pod they landed in. Though there was blood and spent ammunition around it, there were no bodies.

Cortana wiped the sweat from her face. How did John manage to do this every day? With the gurgling of the Flood coming from everywhere at once, you couldn't trust what you heard. The thick, musky dust of the Flood stung the eyes. The Flood could spring up from any direction, so at any second, Cortana knew she could die. The idea of dying without seeing John again was painful, but even more than that, this was the first time Cortana felt real mortal fear. She wasn't just a chip inside a helmet anymore; she was the target of virtually every living thing in UNSC-11. She couldn't calculate the odds of survival anymore, but in actually having to live through them rather than figure them out, she realized that ignorance was not bliss.

Once outside, the path was simple: go right, make their way to the end of this stretch of road, take a right, get to the end of that, left, there's the tower. Novikova stepped out first, checking both directions. There was no sign of life to the left, but to the right were a pair of Flood forms, standing motionless. Novikova signaled their presence, then stepped back in and closed the door.

"Two of the walkers are up there." Novikova said. "I couldn't see any others, but this place will probably go straight to hell once they hear the shots."

"So what's the plan, then?" Hewlett asked.

"We run and gun. Suppressive fire on anything coming at us." Novikova replied. "Aim for the legs so they can't follow. Once we get to the tower, choke point defense at the door until they stop coming."

"You two, make yourselves useful and cap the two up there first." Resso said.

"Now is NOT the time for-" Novikova started.

"Have they ever used one of those before? No!" Resso interrupted. "They need a practice shot on something stationary before my life is placed in their hands!"

Novikova was ready to smack him, but what he said was true. Cortana and Hewlett needed to experience the recoil of the sidearms before any actual combat.

Cortana and Hewlett stepped outside. The two Flood were still there, backs turned.

"Alright… both hands, arms straight, remember to lead the target if they start moving…" Novikova whispered, realizing as the words left her mouth that spouting common sense wasn't helping.

"On three." Hewlett said, taking aim. "One… two…"

Cortana wiped her forehead and took aim. She wasn't thinking about any one thing. She had to stay alive, she had to see John, she had to make the first shot, exhale for long range, a new Gravemind, John…

"…three!"

Cortana and Hewlett opened fire on the Flood. Hewlett's was hit square in the chest, while Cortana's took it in the thigh. They stumbled backwards, gurgling in rage.

"Go!" Novikova yelled, leading through the doors. Resso again brought up the read, and the four of them began to run.