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" Alright … This shouldn't be too hard , just one name , all I gotta find … "
It was one name , but one name amongst hundreds , maybe thousands .
Emile-A239 had been carrying on through life not knowing his last name , having been too young to truly retain the information . When his brother , Motley , had died during a Covenant attack on Eridanus II and Emile was taken in by the UNSC , the people processing him thought Motley was his last name — As he was just trying to ask about his brother through tear-stained eyes .
Now , nearly 30 years later , after having explained such trauma to the people closest to him , he was determined to find out his last name . There was a reason he hadn't done so much sooner , though , he wanted to keep his brother's memory alive . Maybe , just maybe , he could keep the memory of his family alive overall if he just finds this damned name .
Scrolling through the lists , scanning through the various files , he honestly wished that Carter and Palmer had made this easier for him to navigate when he asked for the records .
Luckily , he realized he could sort by alphabetical order , and go from there . Having been looking for what could've been five minutes , he switched to alphabetical .
" Just gotta find Motley first , " he mumbled , " then maybe I can find my parents . "
Only in name , of course . Those three were very much likely lost to the atmosphere by now , especially Motley , who had sacrificed himself for Emile during a Covenant glassing .
There was pain in his eyes , memories slowly but surely flooding back , but he kept looking with the knowledge of the fact that it was going to be so cathartic once he found it .
He was at the "M's" now , carefully looking through the names as his finger began to tremble . He was so close , it was going to kill him to find it . Morrison … Moseby — Motley .
Motley … Imani .
There it was , his family name . He wasn't sure what he had expected , not really making any predictions , but it did roll off the tongue for both himself and his brother . With that complete , however , he quickly switched to the records of those who died in the insurrectionist terrorist attacks on his planet . Luckily , it was a smaller list , but was still like stabbing in the dark — At least Emile had a candle .
Both lists were digital , thank God , so he just had to input the name 'Imani' and … Two results were found .
Lawrence Imani , and Lorelei Imani .
Leaning back in his chair with a massive sigh of relief , tears began steaming down his face , as they did three decades ago . He knew that he would have to look up the rest of his family history somehow , but this was enough for him to know if he were to die tomorrow .
After taking a few minutes to let his emotions out , and taking another couple more minutes to collect himself , Emile wrote down the names , nodding to himself .
He had a lot to do now .