Hunt the Truth/Episode 01: A Hairline Fracture

Episode 01: A Hairline Fracture
Benjamin Giraud: There’s a story you tell yourself when the world blows up in your face. There’s no way you could have seen it coming. No one could have, so there was no way to stop it. This is what lets you sleep at night. But go back in your mind before it all happened; replay it in your head, except this time, maybe you’ll see it. Something small, out of place, maybe it’s just a single thread, but it’s the truth. Nobody saw it coming when they arrived, and alien race known as the Covenant. Before 2552 there was no way anything like that could happen on Earth. On one of those distant planets in the outer colonies, maybe. But an attack on Earth? Couldn’t happen. Until it did. It’s called glassing. Covenant warships rain plasma down on a planet until everything and everyone on the surface melts. Usually its complete world destruction; Earth only got a taste. The prolonged orbital bombardment destroyed East Africa, killing millions before it ended. None of us were safe anymore.

But something else happened that day too. Or someone. You’ve heard the eyewitness accounts; every skeptic has seen it in the footage. I was there and yet still to this day, it’s unbelievable. A massive man, in green armor, appeared seemingly out of nowhere in New Mombasa, performed superhuman feats, to singlehandedly repel a global invasion and then disappear. This was the Master Chief. The Unified Earth Government’s military body, the UNSC, eventually released a statement; who he is, where he came from, and that he’s continuing to keep us safe. And that was that. But … who is the Master Chief? Where did he come from? Is he continuing to keep us safe? I’m Benjamin Giraud and this is Hunt the Truth.

For all us cosmopolitan earth-types who don’t venture into the far reaches of space there’s a planet way out in the outer colonies called Eridanus II. If you’re thinking of visiting; don’t bother - it was catastrophically glassed in a Covenant attack in 2530. But 19 years before it got wiped out, our hero, Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, then known as John, was born in a metropolis called Elysium City. That’s where I started.

Deon Govender: Do I remember him? Oh yeah you don’t forget a kid like that.

Giraud: (voiceover) That’s Deon Govender. He chatted with me in his home in the outer colonies. Deon’s retired now, but years ago he taught John at Elysium City Primary Education Facility Number 119. Apparently schools in the outer colonies don’t have the catchiest names.

Govender: (continuing) John was something else. He was sharp and quick always evaluating his situation. Other kids just gravitated to him you know?

Giraud: (voiceover)Deon seemed most excited to talk about John’s athletic ability. The kids used to play king of the hill after school. You know, the old game where you wrestle and push each other to try to be the last man standing.

Govender: (continuing) I would walk by sometimes, see ‘em playing after school and without fail, I swear, it was always John, standing alone at the top of that hill. (he laughs) Every single day - matter of fact I think the other kids ended up fighting for king halfway up the hill. Cuz nobody was messin’ with John.

Ellie Bloom: I definitely remember John. You’re going way...

Giraud: (voiceover): That’s Ellie Bloom, another lifelong resident of the outer colonies. When she was young, she and John lived on the same street, just a few houses down.

Ellie Bloom: Well he a little younger than me...