Chapter 354 - 351 — The Mother of Spartans

Chapter 354: Chapter 351 — The Mother of Spartans

Chapter 351 — The Mother of Spartans

Tony, Diana, and Gaius looked at the notification.

The title was still displayed above the new member’s name.

[DING! The Mother of Spartans has joined the group chat.]

Tony stared at it for a moment.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Diana looked at him.

"Indeed."

She glanced at Gaius.

"I believe she is."

Gaius nodded.

"It is her."

Tony slowly leaned back.

"Well."

He looked at the notification again.

"That’s unexpected."

The chat immediately became active.

Naruto:

"WAIT."

Naruto:

"IS THAT HALSEY?!"

Mindy:

"Mother of Spartans..."

Saeko:

"Most likely."

Tanya:

"It is definitely her."

Tony glanced at the messages.

"Yep."

Diana nodded.

"So it seems."

Naruto:

"NO WAY."

Naruto:

"SHE FINALLY JOINED?!"

Mindy:

"Doctor Halsey!"

Saeko:

"Welcome to the group, Halsey."

Tanya:

"About time."

Tony chuckled.

"That was fast."

Diana looked at the screen.

"They already seem quite pleased."

"They know her," Tony said.

He glanced at Gaius.

"Well, all of us do."

Gaius gave a small nod.

Halsey had spent enough time with them on Cascade that she was no stranger to any of them.

She knew Tony.

She knew Diana.

She knew Gaius.

And she had become familiar with Naruto, Tanya, Mindy, and Saeko as well.

They had fought alongside one another, spent time together, and shared enough experiences on Cascade that Halsey joining the chat was hardly the arrival of a stranger.

It was simply another friend finally gaining access to the place where the others had been talking all this time.

Then a new message appeared.

Catherine Halsey:

"So this is the Group Chat."

Tony smiled.

"Yep."

Naruto:

"DR. HALSEY!"

Mindy:

"Welcome, Doctor Halsey."

Catherine Halsey:

"Thank you."

Saeko:

"So you’ve been added."

Catherine Halsey:

"As it seems so."

Tanya:

"You sound disappointed."

There was a short pause.

Catherine Halsey:

"I haven’t decided yet."

Tony snorted.

"That’s definitely Halsey."

Diana smiled faintly.

"Indeed."

Gaius simply watched the conversation.

Then another message appeared.

Catherine Halsey:

"It turns out this is how you go to other universes?"

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"That’s one of the things she figured out already."

Diana looked at him.

"She is observant."

"Very."

Naruto:

"YEP."

Naruto:

"IT’S HOW WE GOT HERE."

Mindy:

"Pretty much."

Saeko:

"Although I still don’t understand how it actually works."

Tanya:

"Neither do I."

Tony nodded.

"Join the club."

Another message appeared.

Catherine Halsey:

"I have several questions."

Tony pointed at the screen.

"See? She already has questions."

Diana shook her head slightly.

"She has not disappointed you."

Tony laughed.

"Not even a little."

Meanwhile, in the Halo universe, Halsey was still on Cascade.

She sat inside the workshop Tony had been using before leaving.

The room was quieter now.

Tony’s equipment was still there.

His workbenches.

Fabrication systems.

Tools.

Several projects that had not yet been completed.

But JARVIS was gone.

Tony had taken him with him when he left.

Cortana had taken over the workshop’s active systems, leaving the room running almost as it had before.

Several displays remained active around Halsey’s workstation.

She was reviewing technical data when the blue interface suddenly appeared in front of her.

Halsey stopped reading.

She stared at the screen.

She recognized the interface immediately.

"Are you projecting some kind of panel in front of me, Cortana?"

Cortana appeared beside her in her familiar holographic form.

She looked at the floating interface, then back at Halsey.

"Doctor?"

Cortana’s expression became slightly concerned.

"No. I am not projecting anything."

She paused.

"Are you feeling all right, Doctor? Perhaps you need to rest."

Halsey gave her a brief look.

"I’m fine, Cortana."

She turned her attention back to the interface.

She had heard Tony and the others talk about the Group Chat before, but she had never had access to it herself.

Now it was floating directly in front of her.

A list of names appeared along the side.

Tony.

Diana.

Gaius.

Naruto.

Mindy.

Saeko.

Tanya.

She knew every one of them.

Halsey looked through the names again.

There was nothing particularly surprising about seeing them there.

If anything, it answered one of the questions she had been wondering about.

They really had been communicating with one another through this system.

Then another notification appeared.

[DING! The Mother of Spartans has joined the group chat.]

Halsey looked at the notification.

Her eyes moved from the message to the title displayed above it.

She paused.

"Mother of Spartans?"

She stared at it for a moment before realizing what it meant.

The title was attached to her name.

Halsey let out a quiet sigh.

"Really?"

She leaned back in her chair.

"That’s what it chose to call me."

There were certainly worse titles.

Still, she would have preferred something simpler.

Halsey moved her hand toward the interface.

It responded immediately.

She tried several basic commands.

The system reacted to each one.

No keyboard.

No terminal.

No visible hardware.

It simply responded to her touch.

Her attention sharpened.

This was what interested her.

Not the title.

Not even the fact that she had been added.

She looked at the member list again.

Tony was currently connected.

So were Diana and Gaius.

Naruto, Tanya, Mindy, and Saeko were there as well.

All of them were people she already knew.

Friends, in their own way.

She could even see the conversation they had been having before she joined.

Halsey read through the recent messages.

Tony’s comments.

Diana’s responses.

Naruto’s excitement.

Mindy’s welcome.

Saeko’s usual calm response.

Tanya’s brief comment.

It was strangely familiar.

Almost like walking into a room where everyone she knew was already talking.

The only difference was that the room did not physically exist.

She shook her head slightly.

Then she noticed something else.

The interface had not simply appeared in front of her by accident.

She had been added.

Which meant whatever controlled the system had decided that she belonged there.

That raised a few questions.

Halsey leaned forward.

"Why now?"

Tony and the others had already left Cascade.

The Covenant situation was still unresolved.

Their connection with Cascade remained important.

And now she had access to the same system they used to communicate across universes.

That was useful.

Very useful.

She opened the chat again.

Her fingers moved across the interface.

Catherine Halsey:

"So this is how you’ve all been communicating."

She paused before sending another message.

Catherine Halsey:

"I’ve been wanting answers for quite some time."

She looked at the names on the screen.

Tony.

Diana.

Gaius.

Naruto.

Mindy.

Saeko.

Tanya.

The first three were in another universe.

The others were still on Cascade with her.

Halsey’s fingers moved across the interface.

Catherine Halsey:

"I’ll come to you guys now."

Tony, Diana, and Gaius looked at the message.

Tony glanced back at it.

"So it really is Catherine."

Diana nodded.

"Indeed."

Tony smiled.

"We literally just left Cascade."

Gaius looked at the screen.

"That does not mean the connection is no longer useful."

Diana nodded.

"Especially with the Covenant still present."

Gaius’s expression remained calm.

"They are still there. We do not know what will happen next."

Tony’s expression became more serious.

"Exactly."

He looked at Halsey’s name.

"Having someone we trust still there gives us a way to keep track of things."

Diana nodded.

"Halsey is well positioned to do so."

"Yeah," Tony said. "She knows what’s happening on Cascade better than anyone else in this chat."

Gaius added,

"And she understands the Covenant."

Tony nodded.

"That too."

A few more messages appeared.

Naruto:

"SO SHE’S COMING HERE?"

Mindy:

"That’s what she said."

Saeko:

"Then I assume she will."

Tanya:

"She probably wants to see what this chat is all about."

Tony chuckled.

"She’s definitely going to have questions."

Diana looked at the screen.

"She already has."

Tony smiled.

"Yeah."

He leaned back.

"But honestly, I’m glad."

Gaius looked at him.

Tony continued.

"She’s our connection to humanity of that universe now."

Gaius nodded.

"That is useful."

Diana looked at the notification.

"And it is good that someone familiar remains there."

Tony glanced at her.

"Exactly."

~~~

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