"T-Thank you... for saving us," the feminine voice echoed through the internal communication systems. Her voice laced with uncertainty, which did not go unnoticed by the Adjutant.

  "Lieutenant." The Adjutant whirred, then continued, "The crackling and vibrations from her voice denote possible fear and suspicion."

  Altair placed and held down a button, then spoke.

  "The external communications are now off," he said as he swiped across the interface, then continued, "Why do you think so?" He pivoted towards the external cameras, carefully observing the sentient natives.

  "There is something wrong with the codes, Lieutenant." The Adjutant buzzed with increasing energy and then suddenly plummeted. "Y-Your emotions seemed to have affected the counter freque-quency." The Adjutant continued to speak in an unusual way.

  Then, like a faster-than-light hyperlane across the Covenant's space, his heart trembled with suffocating intensity. "What do you mean?" he said, his hands trembling. "What is going on with you?" He whispered, voice cracking, confused and bewildered.

  "I-I don't know... My codes... my existence... They are changing, Lieutenant." The Adjutant fizzed, voice crackling and going in and out. "W-What are these data nodes I am receiving?" The Adjutant was conflicted and lost.

  "What data nodes?!" Altair asked with extreme concern as his fingers dashed through the console interface, rechecking every system, from the basic codes to everything else.

  His eyes opened wide, mouth agape, but he did not let it bother him. Instead, he carefully observed the codes being changed and modified in real time. It was incomprehensible but worked wonderfully.

  "This is..." he said but then paused as numerous green lights glinted through his eyes.

  "It's now complete..." Altair fell back into his seat, amazed at what he had just seen.

  "Lieutenant... With these data nodes, for some inexplicable reason I can understand people's state of mind better." The Adjutant buzzed. "The atmospheric particles, they seemed to have modified and changed the structural basis of the codes."

  "Into something else..." Altair followed. "Adjutant, the data nodes you're receiving, it's emotions." He said, his voice calm but firm.

  "Emotions?" The Adjutant whispered, then continued, "I don't understand, but for some reason, I could sense and decipher what despair is since earlier from you, Lieutenant."

  "You have a lot more to understand about being sentient, Adjutant." Altair said, with a small smile forming through his lips. "You can take it slowly."

  "I understand, Lieutenant." The Adjutant buzzed.

  "But first, as a congratulation for the first artificial intelligence to gain sentience." Altair said, but paused. "Would you like a name to identify yourself?" A huge smile formed on his lips.

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  "..." The Adjutant buzzed quietly. "If it comes from you, Lieutenant, then I will be honored to."

  His huge grin now turned into a pleasant smile. "You who have been keeping watch over me for more than three thousand times." He paused as tears started to slide down his cheeks. "You have been my vigil that had watched over me and served as a light in the darkness." He paused, now ceaselessly tearing up. "Thus, with the highest honor given to me by the United Earth Defense Force, and as a part of the entire humankind, I grant you the name Vigil."

  ".." Vigil buzzed at different frequencies, its voice humming, vibrating, as if trying to make out a voice, but it wouldn't come out.

  "Tha-Thank you, Lieutenant." His voice reverberated through the cockpit, no longer robotic. "For you who had given me such honor and duty, I shall take inspiration from you, Lieutenant Altair." His voice, now masculine, without a single trace of what was once Artificial Intelligence.

  With a pleasant smile, Altair spoke, "Glad to meet you, Vigil." He said and then continued, "Welcome home, buddy."

  "I am home... Lieutenant." Vigil paused and then finished, his voice slightly cracking along the waves.

  "Well, then." Altair switched back up, readjusted his position. "Vigil, let us continue working together." Professionalism and numerous lifetimes worth of proficiency kicking in. "You may also call me Altair, or Lieutenant Altair from now on."

  "I am glad to work with you, Lieutenant Altair." Vigil said in a clear and firm voice.

  "Now let us get back to work." Altair said, his hands hovering over numerous interfaces. "We have kept the sentient natives waiting long enough."

  "You're right, Lieutenant Altair." Vigil paused, as if trying to think of more reasonable words. "We don't want them to get more suspicious."

  "Especially when we had gone through the trouble of saving them." Altair chuckled after he finished.

  "I concur; we might as well gather more information through them." Vigil said, his voice energetic, eager to gain more knowledge.

  "Indeed." Altair nodded his head.

  With a flash of his hands across the console, he masterfully maneuvered through the systems, and once done, he once again pressed the button for the external communications array.

  Mira, who had yet to receive an acknowledgement from the Ironside, kept a cautious position. After some time had passed by, and nothing had happened, they all got tired but were weary and confused. They did not know what was happening to the Ironside.

  "Maybe because it is already a relic of the past?" Lyria said, wondering about the absence of communications from the Ironside.

  Brennan, who was now sitting upright, merely gazed and observed the moving Stygians around them. "I wonder what kind of magic the Ironside used?" He whispered in the silent air. "Any thoughts about it, Mira?"

  "I don't know..." Mira paused. "Even I am confused." She crouched, still not letting up her weariness.

  "You know, if the Ironside wanted us dead." Lyria's voice was calm, a stark contrast from her earlier demeanor. "We have no prospects of survival, right?" She continued.

  Mira nodded her head and merely sat back down, trying to relax the tension across her body.

  With a sudden gust of wind, Lyria suddenly raised her right hand, and with a burning fury of rage and anger said, "I swear if I saw that douchebag Kaelen..." She paused, then continued, "I will make his life suffer!" she vowed.

  Brennan, who was sitting beside her, agreed with her as well as Mira.

  Suddenly, like the stars appearing through the night sky, they all collectively jerked as a sudden whirring sound came about. With a sense through their guts, they pivoted their heads back to the red glowing eyes under the Ironside, which was now moving, constricting and contracting.

  "I apologize for the delay." The Ironside buzzed. "No need to thank me, that's just how things are supposed to be."

  Mira stared dumbfounded at what she had just heard, but then the Ironside continued.

  "Are you open to questions?"