Today We’ll talk about the bizarre and disturbing details behind Captain Jacob Keyes’s assimilation in Halo: Combat Evolved and how the horrifying infection process works from the victim’s perspective.
Because the Flood doesn’t just absorb its victims; it takes pleasure in torturing them physically, mentally, and emotionally until their soul is shattered and nothing remains but a sinister void.
Just a Remember. In the first chapter of this mini-series, I explained the origin of the Flood and how it started to spread, and If you want to know the complete story of Halo, including the books, games, and comics, you should check out our Halo Full Story series. I’ll drop both links below, okay?
Jacob Keyes’s Fall
This ghastly tale kicks off on September 20, 2552, after Master Chief pulled off a daring rescue of Captain Keyes from the clutches of the Covenant in the mission Truth and Reconciliation, from Halo: Combat Evolved.
Captain Keyes made his way back to the UNSC’s forward post on Alpha Halo, or Installation 04, if you prefer. Just a bit earlier, a Sangheili had been captured and brought to the base for interrogation. For some reason that wasn’t quite clear, this Elite was disillusioned with the Covenant and was very willing to share secrets and battle tactics with the humans, offering up this intel to the UNSC freely.
He disclosed the location of a Covenant arsenal deep within Halo, situated in a swampy, hard-to-reach area. The squad was promptly formed and sent to verify the accuracy of this information, a team which Sergeant Johnson was a part of, led by the newly freed Captain Jacob Keyes. Yeah, the guy had just been freed and was already diving into another mess, smart cookie, huh?
But anyway, in no time, the squad boarded a Pelican and headed to the coordinates provided by the Elite.
The reason for such a large team was their anticipation of heavy Covenant resistance while attempting to secure the powerful arsenal. But upon arrival, the humans found quite the opposite. The place was eerily silent for a high-value target and showed a distinct lack of any enemy activity – no elites, Jackals, or even grunts.
As they entered the facility, one of the soldiers stumbled upon the remains of those who were supposed to be guarding the place. The body was completely torn apart, as if something had burst out from inside with tremendous violence. Such an act of savagery clearly couldn’t have been committed by a human, and it was highly unlikely that any member of the Covenant had done this either.
Well, maybe the Brutes, but as far as anyone knew, they hadn’t been part of Thel ‘Vadam’s fleet that arrived at Installation 04. But despite being intrigued and strangely disturbed, the Marines had a mission to complete. So, they pressed on, believing they had struck it lucky by not encountering any enemy resistance. It was just a matter of grabbing the weapons and getting out, right?
As they made their way through the hallways, the platoon encountered a locked door that was heavily reinforced and very… suspicious. Nevertheless, Sergeant Johnson ordered the soldiers to blow it open with some C4 to make a passage, but upon crossing the threshold, they found themselves in a dead end. And it was at this point, folks, that things get out of control, unleashing horror from which only a few members of the platoon managed to escape the ambush.
One of those who made it out was Sergeant Johnson, who was overlooked by the Infection Forms, but unfortunately, Captain Keys wasn’t so lucky. Amid the chaos, an Infection Form managed to latch onto his neck, officially starting the Flood‘s assimilation process.
At this point, the parasite’s outbreak was still in its first stage, which as I covered in the previous chapter, is the disordered form, where they are nothing more than dumb zombies hungry for food, lacking any strategy or organization. Therefore, the creation of a Proto-Gravemind is crucial for the Flood to continue the contagion and devise a strategy to maximize their gains.
So, whenever a host is infected, the Flood sifts through their memories to check if there’s anything of importance and interest, deciding thus how to utilize the host, either as cannon fodder if they don’t find relevant information, or to form their nerve center if the host possesses confidential info. And that’s when the Flood realized that Captain Keys was no ordinary human.
Even though he was initially transformed into a combat form, it was soon realized that he was too important to be discarded. Thus, that twisted piece of flesh that Keyes had become was destined to be something much, much bigger. So, guys, think twice if you believe Captain Keyes was just a fool who always got into trouble.
The guy was pretty hardcore, to put it mildly. Because he still managed to regain consciousness even after being assimilated by the Flood mass, actually when he had already become a Proto-Gravemind. To show you it’s no small feat, when an Infection Form attaches to someone, it not only suffocates them; it often breaks the individual’s neck and liquefies the victim’s organs, leaving practically nothing in its place, and Keyes managed to wake up for a brief moment after all this had happened.
The first thing that came to mind was a sudden urge to repeatedly recite his name. After a few repetitions, he then felt there was an intruder in his mind, a sort of third party that was angry at him for remembering his name.
Although he didn’t know where he was, his memories were slowly starting to reorganize, despite not being able to remember who or what these enemies were. He could only remember that there were many of them, far more than his team could handle.
Followed by a memory and an intense sharp pain, like a stab, he realized he had been captured, and that this strange feeling was a new form of interrogation being used by the Covenant, little knowing it was something much worse.
So, he kept reciting his name, rank, and service classification, striving to hide from the enemy all the secrets he knew—secrets about the UNSC, about humanity, and the location of Earth. Yet, as he clung to these repetitions, the pressure only grew more intense, delving deeper into his mind, terrorizing Keyes.
Still, he persisted, unaware that his resistance was futile. Suddenly, personal and family images began to flash before his eyes, realizing this entity was picking through his memories like a grave robber, and he was powerless to stop it.
Out of nowhere, he felt the sensation of his first kiss and the first woman he kissed, accompanied by a warm feeling that was ripped away in an instant. It felt as though his very essence was being pulled apart, a sensation as painful and horrific as skin being torn from flesh.
Captain Keyes tried to hold onto his memories, but they were being stripped away faster than he could grasp them. Time seemed irrelevant; even if he tried, he lacked the mental capacity to focus on it, as all his remaining energy was wholly concentrated on maintaining his consciousness and sanity.
In a moment of realization, he understood that this presence wanted something. It wasn’t scanning his memory for no reason; it sought something specific, deep within. As this realization dawned, the presence approached, fueled by its primal desire to consume all existence.
The Flood craved Earth, and Keyes‘ mind was Flooded with visions of the planet, sunsets, and cows being led to slaughter. Yet, the captain tried to resist, replaying images from his childhood, fully aware that if the Flood escaped the ring, it would be the end of everything.
He then condensed all written memories of Earth, his childhood, adolescence, essentially his entire life, pushing them as deep as possible, camouflaging them with smells, tastes of foods, and other trivial information. Keyes was prepared to sacrifice his life to protect humanity’s last bastion; now that Reach had fallen, Earth was all that remained for humans.
As he continued erasing his precious memories, he felt his essence fragmenting, crumbling into the void. During this process, Keyes heard voices—it was Master Chief and Cortana. With his last breath, the captain pleaded for the only two crazies who had set out to save him to leave, because if they were captured, all of Keyes‘ sacrifices would have been in vain, allowing the Flood easy access to Earth.
However, this turned out to be a stroke of luck for the captain, as he was fighting a battle he definitely couldn’t win, and defeat was rapidly approaching.
As his energy dwindled, he felt the intruders getting closer to their goal. As his life left him, Keyes felt death drawing near, but it seemed he had been waiting for this escape from torture for a very long time. As his life force was absorbed, Captain Jacob Keyes died at the hands of the Flood.
When Master Chief and Cortana finally reached his position, they were horrified to find the captain had been used as a base for a Proto-Gravemind. Had they not arrived in time and taken his transponder, this centralized intelligence would have learned how to launch and operate the Covenant ship, leading them to Earth and consuming what little remained of humanity.
Captain Keyes died as one of humanity’s bravest heroes, and despite his death being a torture beyond the comprehension of a mere mortal, he was still willing to endure that torture as long as necessary to save the billions of lives on Earth and in the Milky Way.
Well, that’s exactly what was happening to Keyes during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. That’s right, while you were turning aliens into Swiss cheese, the guy was undergoing unimaginable torture at the claws of the Flood. So, Keyes was a hero in protecting humanity.
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