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126	HALO: FIRST STRIKE

desk. She turned down the blinds that separated her office from the medical bay, but only halfway, so she could keep an eye on Kelly.

"Let's have it, Kalmiya."

Kelly's medical history scrolled across a display.

"Here," Kalmiya said, and highlighted a surreptitious data re- quest at the end of the file. "It's dated three months ago. That's Araqiel's routing code."

Dr. Halsey picked up the snowglobe off her desk, shook it once, and set it down, watching the swirls of particles.

"Araqiel? That's Ackerson's watchdog, isn't it?" "Affirmative, Doctor."

"Can you trace the request?"

"Done and terminated contact at node FF-8897-Z. Access re- stricted to X-ray level clearance."

"Restricted?" Dr. Halsey gave a short, soft laugh. "Does that mean anything now? There's no one here to stop us, is there, Kalmiya?"

"Entering those files without proper clearance is a treasonable offense, Doctor."

"They can come and arrest me, then. Do as I have instructed, Kalmiya," Dr. Halsey said. "Override your ethics center subrou- tine four-alpha. Nullification code: 'Whateverittakes.' "

Dr. Halsey found a half-full cup of coffee on the floor and gin- gerly picked it up. She sniffed its contents and, satisfied it wasn't rancid, swirled it once then downed its cold contents.

"Yes, Doctor. Working. Done."

Kalmiya was Cortana's older "sister." Dr. Halsey had designed and tested the software intrusion routines on her. Once the process had been debugged and streamlined, she'd incorporated the routines into Cortana. The brass in ONI Section Three had been quite explicit in their instructions to destroy any prototype routines—an order that Dr. Halsey had promptly disobeyed.

"There is an unusually voluminous amount of counterintru-sion software, Doctor."

"Show me," Dr. Halsey said.

The holographic display flickered and solidified into colored crystal blocks representing the code barriers. Dr. Halsey traced a

Games specifications

Halo Lighting System Games have revolutionized the way players experience immersive environments in video games. Known for their cutting-edge lighting technologies, the Halo Lighting System enhances gameplay by creating lifelike visuals that cater to both aesthetics and realism. As a staple in the gaming industry, this lighting system plays a critical role in visual storytelling and seamless gameplay.

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HALO: FIRST STRIKE

Games specifications