Chapter Summaries

Maken’s team sent four D-Class personnel toward the Angel of Wisdom on Venus, despite its warnings, while the company’s forces held position. The angel ultimately incinerated all four with flaming arrows.

• The Mammoth stopped before the Angel of Wisdom, and Maken ordered the lower carriage pressurized so the D-Class personnel could be escorted onto Venus.
• D-33414 became the first human to step onto Venus, and Maken ordered the other three D-Class personnel brought outside.
• Maken ordered the four D-Class personnel to approach the Angel of Wisdom while USS and Heavy Soldiers aimed their weapons at them.
• The Angel of Wisdom raised its Flame Sword and warned that unacknowledged mortals could not enter, but Maken ordered the D-Class personnel to continue.
• After the four D-Class personnel advanced seven hundred meters, the Angel of Wisdom fired four flaming arrows and incinerated them.

Maken's team tested the Cherub guarding the Garden of Eden with a drone and found that its Flame Sword could destroy the drone but not its AT Shield or camera. After reviewing the results, Halsey decided to send John and the others in their divine bodies to contact the Cherub.

• Maken's team watched the D-class personnel die and reported that the Cherub attacked only when they came within three hundred meters of the gate.
• Maken ordered the drone launched, and the pilot moved it toward the Cherub to test its attack range.
• The Cherub swung its Flame Sword when the drone passed seven hundred meters, destroying it and creating a deep crater, while the drone's camera kept operating.
• Serena relayed the Doctor's order for Maken's team to return to Endless after they had gathered enough data.
• Halsey and William reviewed the footage and concluded that the Cherub's attack could be resisted by an AT Shield.
• Halsey decided to send John and the others in their divine bodies to make contact with the Cherub.

William joined the Spartan operation to seize the Life Fruit, using his Super Speed to bypass the Cherubim and enter the Garden of Eden. The battle began when the Cherubim attacked John, leaving the Spartans to engage it as William slipped inside.

• William rejected Halsey's objections and decided to sortie with John and the Spartans.
• William and fourteen Spartans prepared their Specialized Units aboard the Infinity and dropped onto Venus.
• William assigned Blue Team and Red Team to draw the Cherubim's attention, while Black Team and White Team supported them and he and Serena entered the Garden of Eden.
• John crossed the warning line, and the Cherubim drew its Flame Sword and attacked him.
• Two Tungsten projectiles struck the Cherubim's force field and knocked it off balance, while William activated Super Speed and entered the Garden of Eden.

William and Serena entered the Garden of Eden to search for the Tree of Life, while John took command outside and kept the Cherubim pinned down. Inside the vast forest, William and Serena lost contact with the fleet and began scanning for the biblical trees.

• William used Super Speed to carry himself and Serena into the Garden of Eden before the projectiles struck the Cherubim’s barrier.
• John took over as field commander, ordered the Spartans to defend and the escort frigates to bombard the Cherubim, and prepared teams to enter if William and Serena stayed away for more than thirty minutes.
• William and Serena found themselves in a forest of enormous trees, where Serena reported that the atmosphere resembled ancient Earth.
• William and Serena raised their divine body above the forest and saw a small sun, giant flying creatures, and an expanse with no visible boundary.
• Serena reported that they had lost contact with the fleet, and William ordered her to scan the plants for the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

William and Serena found a giant tribe living around the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then stole one fruit from each tree. They escaped the Garden of Eden, but William was left exhausted by the divine body's Super Speed technique.

• Serena detected two unusual trees and a large number of giants, and William flew the divine body toward their location.
• William and Serena observed a carefree tribe of giants and identified the red and purplish-black fruits as growing on the two central trees.
• Serena told William she thought of him as her creator, and he asked her to copy the giants' behavior and check for Jehovah.
• William used Super Speed to pluck one fruit from each tree and escape toward the Garden of Eden's entrance.
• William's exertion left him pale and gasping, and Serena checked on him as he watched the stolen fruits.

Serena piloted the God Body back from the Garden of Eden with the Forbidden Fruits while Mylon extracted a Red Sphere from the defeated Seraphim. By the afternoon of September 4, Halsey and William were preparing to examine the two fruits and the sphere in a laboratory aboard the Infinity.

• John ordered Mylon to inspect the weakened Seraphim, and Mylon snapped open its wings to reveal a Red Sphere in its chest.
• At Halsey's command, Mylon removed the Red Sphere, extinguishing the Seraphim's remaining light.
• Serena reported that she and William had obtained the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then returned to the Infinity with the fruits.
• Fleet Zero transported the lifeless Seraphim aboard a Phoenix-class Aircraft Carrier, and the recovery operation ended early on September 4.
• Halsey, William, Serena, and the Sparta Blue Team gathered in the Infinity's biological laboratory to observe the fruits and Red Sphere.

William, Halsey, and Serena discovered that the Red Sphere held a living creature that likely piloted the Cherubim, and they prepared to cut it open. John led Blue Team and USS into the isolation chamber to oversee the procedure, which began with the cutting equipment ready.

• Serena reported that the two fruits from the Garden of Eden were harmless and ordered them secured for later experiments with D-Class personnel.
• Serena scanned the Red Sphere and revealed a female-looking creature with four wings inside it; Halsey concluded the Cherubim was a machine controlled by the creature.
• William asked Serena whether the sphere could be cut open, and Halsey agreed to bring its occupant out as an experimental subject.
• William sent John, Mylon, and Carl with USS reinforcements into the isolation chamber to protect the technicians and oversee the cutting.
• John authorized the supervisor to begin cutting the sphere after the technicians assembled and connected the laser-cutting frame.

After John authorized the examination, Blue Team and the USS moved the angel to a Biological Laboratory, where Halsey began testing her. The chapter ends as a mechanical arm draws blood from the angel, showing that her skin can be pierced.

• John ordered technicians to cut open the red sphere, releasing a glowing, four-winged angel.
• Researchers found no unknown microorganisms and reported that the angel's overall structure resembled a human's.
• Following William's order, John led Blue Team and the USS through decontamination and transferred the angel to a small Biological Laboratory.
• Mylon pushed the stretcher, and Carl placed the angel on the operating platform and restrained her limbs.
• Halsey used mechanical arms to sterilize the angel's skin and draw blood.

William had the sleeping angel fingerprint Umbrella’s Confidentiality Agreement, and Fleet Zero classified the Gate of Eden on Venus as Safe. After returning to Venus orbit, Dr. Halsey’s team began testing the Life Fruit on four D-Class personnel.

• Halsey reported that the angel’s scan and blood data resembled those of humans, though she had enhanced physical traits and organs that might generate a force field.
• William arranged for technicians to ink the sleeping angel’s thumbprint onto Umbrella’s Confidentiality Agreement, making her an employee before she woke.
• Carl and female employees moved the angel into a standard cell, changed her into casual clothes, and turned her guard duty over to shipboard USS personnel.
• Fleet Zero established a monitoring base near the Gate of Eden, returned to Venus orbit, and had General Ostrovsky warn UNSC officials against civilian travel to Venus.
• Halsey’s team began a Life Fruit experiment with four D-Class personnel, who ate their portions under the supervision of John, Carl, and Mylon.

John and Halsey tested whether the Life Fruits cured illness and granted D-class personnel regenerative abilities. After confirming that severe head damage remained fatal, John prepared further tests using biological weapons aboard the Indomitable.

• The four D-class personnel ate Life Fruits and showed no immediate adverse effects, while technicians found that their illnesses had been cured.
• John ordered the D-class personnel to a firing range, where USS personnel shot them to test their ability to recover from fatal wounds.
• Technicians observed that three D-class personnel regenerated extensive injuries, but the one whose head was destroyed did not recover.
• Halsey ordered John to continue testing the limits of the survivors’ healing abilities.
• John arranged a sealed chamber and biological weapons, including the T-Virus and Blacklight Virus, then led the recovering D-class personnel toward the next experiment.

The chapter presented Umbrella’s completed experiments on the Life Fruit and the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then followed the Angel of Wisdom as she awakened aboard the Infinite. Halsey found that the angel could not communicate and speculated that she might only have powered the Bio-Mecha rather than piloted it.

• Umbrella’s Life Fruit experiments showed that the fruit cured illness and provided limited healing, but the D-Class subjects later died during experiments conducted by 049.
• The Black Team tested the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on four D-Class personnel and found no measurable effects, so the item was destroyed aboard the Infinite.
• On September 10, 2018, the Angel of Wisdom awoke in a recovery pod aboard the Infinite, prompting the guards to alert Serena, William, and Halsey.
• Halsey and the researchers tested the angel and found that she could not understand or communicate with them and resisted further questioning.
• Halsey suggested that the Bio-Mecha might have operated through preprogrammed behavior and that the angel could have served only as its biological battery.

Halsey theorized that the angel was a weapon sustained by a biological battery, and William learned that she seemed instinctively drawn to him. He approved destroying her mecha and ordered the researchers to study her wings, while the angel obeyed his command to stop.

• Halsey explained that the angel’s sphere had powered her mecha and theorized that angels were weapons created by Jehovah with varying levels of intelligence.
• John asked whether the angel should be confined, but Halsey said she posed little danger as long as she could not return to her craft.
• William arrived with officers, and the angel reached toward him until Carl restrained her.
• Halsey briefed William on her theories, while he realized the angel’s attraction to him might be caused by the Confidentiality Agreement.
• William approved destroying the mecha and ordered experiments on the angel’s wings; when he told her to stop, she obeyed.

William secured the angel’s cooperation through the system and returned to the Infinity’s bridge, where Serena presented UNSC intelligence about alien ruins on Kepler-22b. The colony fleet’s reconnaissance had found an alien civilization’s architectural remains in the planet’s northern jungles.

• William used the system to confirm that the angel had maximum loyalty and could understand his orders, then told her to cooperate with Halsey’s tests.
• William told John to keep his Spartans at the medical pod and follow the doctor’s orders before leaving to handle UNSC affairs.
• Serena informed William that the UNSC had sent detailed data about the Alien Ruins project and displayed it on the bridge’s central console.
• The UNSC report described Kepler-22b as a habitable planet targeted for colonization by a fleet that arrived in the system on September 6, 2018.
• UNSC Marine Corps reconnaissance craft discovered architectural remains in Kepler-22b’s northern jungles and identified them as ruins of an alien civilization.

William ordered Fleet Zero to travel to Kepler-22b after the UNSC Colony Fleet reported ruins of an Alien Civilization and requested Umbrella’s help. Fleet Zero arrived in the system, where the UNSC ships were still in orbit and Marines continued testing the planet.

• Reconnaissance craft found animals and Alien Civilization ruins on Kepler-22b but no highly intelligent life or harmful microorganisms.
• William agreed to investigate the ruins with Fleet Zero, ordered sterilization precautions, and sent the fleet into Warp Space.
• William and Serena decided to postpone wiping the colonists’ memories until they determined whether the Alien Civilization still existed.
• Fleet Zero reached the G-type star system containing Kepler-22b, where six UNSC colony ships remained in low orbit as Marines tested the planet.

William and Serena visited the UNSC Colony Fleet’s flagship to exchange information and inspect reconnaissance footage of ancient ruins on Kepler-22b. After seeing a massive stone pyramid, William challenged the researchers’ assumption that its builders had been technologically primitive.

• Umbrella’s Fleet Zero joined the UNSC Colony Fleet in orbit above Kepler-22b.
• Serena accompanied William to the UNSC flagship, where they planned to obtain and analyze the UNSC’s intelligence.
• Colonel Il Hawkzer greeted William and escorted the group to the bridge, where Serena copied information for Umbrella’s reconnaissance troops.
• William, Serena, and the USS units viewed footage of artificial structures and a huge stone-brick pyramid amid the forests of Kepler-22b.
• Hawkzer said the researchers thought the civilization had been wiped out before reaching the interstellar stage, and William warned against judging its sophistication by its use of stone.

William and Halsey led Umbrella and UNSC personnel to Kepler-22b to investigate the ruins of an apparently vanished civilization. After the teams established an outpost, William followed Serena into the ruins, leaving the investigation underway.

• Serena told William that the data had been copied, and William arranged for Hawkeze's Colony Ships to remain under Umbrella's protection while the fleet investigated.
• William, Halsey, Serena, researchers, and combat personnel prepared for a surface expedition aboard the Infinity.
• The fleet deployed Mammoths and Assault MS units to transport and protect teams investigating Kepler-22b's ruins.
• William's team reached a ruin complex in the rainforest, where Halsey entered with John and others while the researchers set up an outpost.
• Serena asked William to enter the ruins, and he led her and several Shark Company Helljumpers inside.

William and Serena discovered an underground chamber beneath the ruins, where an ancient ring activated after a paratrooper triggered a mechanism. Serena identified the glowing device as a possible teleportation device.

• William and Serena investigated the ruins and discussed the similarities between the civilization’s writing and Mayan writing.
• A paratrooper reported a suspicious underground entrance, and William led Serena and the guards down into the chamber beneath the pyramid.
• William’s team found a bridge over a vast pool, rows of armored humanoid statues, and a floating ring on a central platform.
• Serena determined that flowing water powered the ring’s anti-gravity system.
• A paratrooper accidentally pressed a sunken stone brick, causing the ring to rotate and shine blue.
• Serena approached the activated ring and told William it seemed to be a teleportation device.

William, Serena, and Halsey activated an ancient Teleportation Device on Kepler-22b and sent an exploration vehicle through it. The vehicle emerged in an ancient structure on another habitable planet, where it found a vast desert and a pyramid nearly buried in sand.

• William and Serena identified the energy-generating ring as an ancient civilization’s Teleportation Device, and Halsey led researchers and security personnel underground to investigate.
• Halsey interpreted a mural as a star chart and guessed that the civilization had used the device to reach a resource-rich planet inhabited by a low-level civilization.
• Serena and the researchers prepared an exploration vehicle, and paratroopers lowered it into the teleportation gate.
• The vehicle traveled through a tangible dark-blue passage and emerged from another ring inside a structure estimated to be at least two thousand years old.
• The vehicle found an atmosphere similar to Kepler-22b’s and emerged onto a platform overlooking a vast desert, likely the top of a pyramid being buried by sand.

William and Halsey investigated the ruins on Kepler 22-b, where they suspected an ancient civilization had fallen to disease after attempting interstellar travel. After securing the planet and establishing research bases, William prepared to lead a reconnaissance mission through a portal to a desert city.

• William, Halsey, and Serena discussed how a plague might have destroyed the ancient civilization and agreed to take precautions against microorganisms.
• An exploration vehicle spotted a distant desert city, and William ordered an operations base built near the ruins and directed Serena to secure Kepler 22-b from further UNSC traffic.
• Colonel Hawkzer cooperated with Umbrella’s orders, the UNSC colony fleet left Kepler 22-b, and engineering teams established bases near the ruins.
• Halsey and her team continued studying the ruins while William assembled a reconnaissance unit with John, Serena, Sparta Blue Team, and Madtooth paratroopers.
• After technicians confirmed the portal communications station and William’s armor were ready, William ordered the team to move out.

William’s reconnaissance team explored a buried pyramid and a ruined city on a barren planet, finding signs of an intelligent species. Serena’s drones detected an injured individual and its pursuer nearby.

• William led Serena and the others through the teleportation tunnel and instructed the Marines to maintain communications and protect the technicians.
• The team drove six Warthogs from the pyramid toward a ruined city, where they found surviving plants and small animals.
• John reported possible signs of an advanced life-form, and the team discovered fresh blood, clothing scraps, and boot prints.
• Mylon estimated that the incident had happened less than half an hour earlier, so William ordered Serena to deploy drones.
• Serena’s drones located an injured individual fleeing from a pursuer and reported the suspicious targets to William.