Since his assignment to the Halo universe years ago, Leon has been carrying out a series of essential infiltration missions on behalf of Atlas, embedding himself in UNSC and UEG territories to complete various critical unification tasks. He had assumed many identities across planets like Arcadia, Reach, and Earth in Halo, working continuously for nearly two years.
Finally, after the conclusion of the unification war in Halo, Leon returned to the primary universe earlier this year, hoping to enjoy a well-deserved vacation. However, after securing his visa and paying out of pocket for an Atlas civilian flight to Mars, he had barely reached Mars's golden beaches when he received a notification from the company. He was expected to reach a specific spatial gate by 12:00 PM Pacific Time on March 26.
The message provided no details on the mission's purpose or the team members involved. Frustrated, Leon filed a request to have fellow elite investigator Mike Mornady take his place. Unfortunately, the request was denied, and the reply explicitly stated:
"Dear Mr. Kennedy, this assignment has been specifically designated for you by your direct superior. To compensate for the disruption of your vacation, Atlas will offer you an additional two months' salary and a 30% bonus at year-end. Furthermore, the company assures that this mission will involve no encounters with known aliens or heretics; it is strictly a reconnaissance operation."
Seeing the email, Leon could only resign himself to leaving the beach, canceling his high-end hotel room, and calling a hover taxi to reach the orbital elevator for his return to Earth. From the moment he got in, though, the French-accented driver either rambled incessantly or got into minor traffic issues, like the recent encounter with the hovercraft that abruptly veered into their path.
As accustomed as Leon was to bizarre travel incidents, he couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation.
He checked his phone, where the display read, "2004/03/26/07:17 PST." Turning to the humming French driver, Leon spoke wearily:
"I'll pay double the fare. Can you legally get me to the orbital elevator faster? My flight's in just over thirty minutes, and I'm in a hurry."
The driver's eyes lit up at the mention of double fare. Gripping the wheel, he lowered his voice with mock gravity:
"Mon vieux (young man)! Hold on tight; we'll be there in no time! Oh, and if you need a barf bag, there's one in the glove compartment. Don't throw up in the car—I just bought it!"
Seeing the driver's serious expression, Leon shrugged, thinking, "How fast can he really go?" Besides, he was a genetically enhanced investigator—nothing he couldn't handle.
The hover taxi sped through the congested lane, weaving in and out of traffic while staying within the legal speed limit. Nearby drones detected Leon's cab moving erratically, triggering an immediate response. However, the French driver skillfully outmaneuvered the drones, pulling off daring maneuvers while maintaining the flow of traffic. The AI-driven patrol drones were almost overwhelmed, registering the taxi's driving as erratic but technically not violating traffic rules.
In less than ten minutes, the driver pulled into the northern parking lot of the orbital elevator. Once the taxi had stopped, the patrol drones dispersed, resuming their routine patrols.
"Take care, mon vieux!" the driver called out.
Leon, a bit pale, waved back as he exited. "You're the first rushed passenger who didn't throw up! Impressive! Bon voyage, mon vieux!" the driver laughed as he closed the door and took off.
As the taxi disappeared, Leon sighed in relief, shook off his slight dizziness, adjusted his backpack, and headed toward the elevator terminal. The trip had reminded him of his first field exam as a rookie fresh out of the Kenya base, when he'd met a similarly intense French driver during a mission in Congo. "Do all French people drive like that?" he mused.
After clearing ID checks and routine security protocols, Leon boarded the orbital elevator to the space station and boarded the Crunia just as it prepared to depart.
---
In the middle-class cabin on the Crunia, a female flight attendant approached Leon. She was the model of professional appearance, with a warm, welcoming smile.
"Sir, may I see your boarding pass?"
"Of course," Leon replied, handing her his transparent ID card.
The attendant scanned it with disposable holographic glasses, confirming his information before returning the card with a smile. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Kennedy. Please follow me."
Leon followed her to his private room in business class, where he placed his backpack on the table and lay back on the sofa-like seat, gazing out the sealed porthole. As the stabilizing arms released the Crunia, he felt the gentle movement as it departed the docking port, and he closed his eyes for a brief rest.
Civilian flights within the solar system typically took only around 45 minutes, about the same time as a high-speed train journey between cities on Earth. Atlas's warp engines made interstellar travel extremely convenient, and with Atlas controlling all warp-enabled flights, ticket prices were kept affordable.
Atlas had also replaced the outdated currency system in many universes with a unified credit currency. Based on experience from reconstructing multiple universes and the established credit system from the Halo universe, Atlas had introduced a new digital credit currency.
Normally, implementing a new currency system involves several stages, including concept design, platform creation, legislative adjustments, economic transition management, cultural promotion, implementation assessment, and international responses. However, most residents across the universes had already grown accustomed to Atlas products and services, especially electronic products. As a result, Atlas could simplify the currency changeover to a few key steps, focusing on asset conversion, policy support, and incentives.
Atlas encouraged residents to exchange their old currency for digital credits or "physical" credit cash, which resembled polymer cash with magnetic encoding to prevent counterfeiting. Credit cash came in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100, with each credit (cR) equivalent to around five U.S. dollars.
With AI systems ensuring balanced exchange rates across universes, residents could travel from Earth to destinations like the Moon, Mars, or even Europa and Titan for as little as 60-100 credits—comparable to an intercontinental trip on Earth. Of course, Atlas's civil aviation couldn't recoup its ship-building costs through ticket sales alone, and both Mars's transformation and the interplanetary infrastructure were massive investments.
Mars's rivers, lakes, and seas were filled with water transported from Europa, a moon with a diameter of only 3,200 kilometers but twice Earth's water volume. Beneath its 100-kilometer-thick ice crust lay liquid oceans teeming with microorganisms and indigenous life. This was the first extraterrestrial body in the solar system with confirmed life outside Earth.
Atlas's engineering team transferred a quarter of Europa's water to Mars, installing atmospheric, magnetic field generators, and planting three Dittany trees derived from Samuel Young's psychic energy. In two short years, Mars was transformed into a thriving colony with over 500 million residents. The Acra facilities even relocated some production lines to Mars's northern hemisphere, aiming to turn the colony into the primary universe's manufacturing hub while ensuring environmental preservation for Mars's settlers.
---
By 8:30 AM Pacific Time, Crunia arrived at the Mombasa orbital station, allowing passengers to disembark onto Earth's surface. Leon immediately transferred to a hover train headed for Acra, West Africa. By 11:15, he arrived at Atlas's Acra headquarters, where he boarded a company hover train bound for the Imperial Palace's spatial gates.
Finally, at 11:45, Leon disembarked and sprinted toward his assigned destination. "It has to be Ada Wong! Only she would impose such a rigid deadline!" he grumbled.
Fortunately, the Imperial Palace's vast grounds featured an internal rail system for employees; without it, reaching his destination within the complex's 20,000 square kilometers—nearly two New Acras in size—would have been impossible.
At 11:58, in the vast underground complex housing twelve active spatial gates, Leon arrived at the eighth gate, leading to the Halo universe.
Panting, with his backpack slung over one shoulder, Leon joined a group of several dozen individuals waiting in the assembly area. He scanned the crowd and immediately spotted Ada Wong in a striking red cheongsam.
He knew it!
Leon sighed in resignation, confident his hunch was right. As he caught his breath, Ada raised her left eyebrow slightly, casting him an inscrutable glance.
Puzzled, Leon wondered if he had somehow offended his superior to earn such a stringent time restriction.
"Women," he muttered in exasperation.
Walking over, he took a quick glance at the gathered young recruits, then leaned close to Ada and asked, "Director Wong, what exactly was so urgent that it had to interrupt my vacation?"
"I hear you were having a grand time on Mars's golden beaches?" she replied, her response evasive.
"Uh… it was okay?"
Though he didn't know why, Leon felt oddly guilty. Then he shook the feeling off—there was no reason for him to feel guilty, after all! He and Ada were just coworkers, nothing more.
Straightening up, he continued, "Director Wong, you totally ruined my vaca—"
"Enough complaining," she interrupted coldly. "We're returning to Universe 08, Halo. But this time, it's not a routine reconnaissance or infiltration mission. We'll be representing the company, recruiting candidates for the SPARTAN Program on behalf of
the Biological Division. Plus, we'll be assessing the trainees assigned to the same mission, to determine if they're fit to become investigators."
Ada scanned the group of recruits, most of whom appeared to be in their early twenties, including David, Lucy, and the shorter Rebecca, recent transfers from the experimental division.
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