MASTER JURIDICAL: What did you do with the Ur-Didact when you discovered he was aboard the cruiser?

FABER: Bringing back the Didact … bit of a coup, that. I decided to take the cruiser under tow and carry it to a research center.

MASTER JURIDICAL: Was it possible you thought returning the Didact, the original Didact, might cause problems for his duplicate?

FABER: That’s harsh.

MASTER JURIDICAL: After you recovered the Ur-Didact, did you notice a change in his behavior?

FABER: He was calm, sullen even. Seemed completely lacking in resentment or hatred. He told me he had experienced the Flood firsthand, knew much more about it … and it only confirmed his belief that Halos were not the best way to respond.

MASTER JURIDICAL: He had not changed his opinions.

FABER: Not in the least. He seemed subdued, but otherwise, unchanged from the Didact who had disagreed with me for so many thousands of years. Still adamantly opposed to the use of the Halos. But it was clear he was hiding something from me, I do not know what. He wished to be taken to Requiem, his primary Shield World.

MASTER JURIDICAL: He did not ask to be reunited with the Librarian?

FABER: No.

MASTER JURIDICAL: How long has it been since you last communicated with the Librarian?

FABER: Years. Not at all after I was taken into custody and charged with corruption and unauthorized use of a strategic weapon.

MASTER JURIDICAL: You have never had contact with the Primordial, nor with any advanced form of Gravemind?

FABER: I have not … but the Didact may be another story. Have you questioned him?

MASTER JURIDICAL: Your testimony shows internal inconsistencies. How do you explain them?

FABER: I’ve been on the front lines, fighting for years now, without credit and with very little support. Thankfully, my Builder Security forces have proven strong and loyal. We accomplished much.

MASTER JURIDICAL: In fact, you were capturing smaller, weaker Flood-infested ships and putting them through inadequate decontamination before handing them over to Warrior-Servant crews, and doing this for extortionately high payment, under a regional commandant’s Letter of Marque. Many of the crews assigned to those captured vessels were in turn overwhelmed by undetected Flood components. The cruiser carrying the Didact was taken with that business in mind, was it not?

FABER: I know nothing about that.

MASTER JURIDICAL: The rate of Forerunner retreat and defeat in the area you claim to have been defending was more than five times greater than in neighboring themas. Your contingent of ships began with five hundred, of which only twenty survive.

FABER: It was hard duty. We did our best.

String 22

STRING 22

RETURN OF THE DIDACT