Walter's History
Walter One was a Walter model synthetic and crewmember assigned to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation colony ship USCSS Covenant for its voyage to Origae-6. Following a disaster that damaged the Covenant and the discovery of a mysterious planet, Walter was part of an expedition team that went to investigate. While on this world, Walter met his progenitor and doppelganger David, and was forced to act when David threatened the Covenant crew.
After the disappearance of the Prometheus expedition in 2094 and the resulting failure of Weyland Corp, the recently-minted Weyland-Yutani Corporation strove to ensure that the Walter series would not be rushed, unlike the David model that had accompanied the lost ship. This, however, came with the caveat that one functioning unit was needed in time to join the expedition aboard the Weyland-Yutani colony ship USCSS Covenant in 2103. The initial development of Walter One thus proceeded according to schedule. However, department head Loess Steinmetz continually delayed Walter's progress to be declared capable; his stated concern lay within Walter's neural linkages, inherited from the David series, and the perceived flaws that had been present within the particular David unit that had been shipped off with the Prometheus expedition. Steinmetz bargained with the company for one more week to resolve the issue, and doubled his efforts.
At some point, Walter was brought to a Weyland-Yutani facility on the moon of Phobos where his fear response, or lack thereof, was tested rigorously.
Completed, Walter was brought aboard the Covenant by Steinmetz alongside project technicians Elena Harbison and Gilead. During their first meeting, chief terraformist Katherine Daniels was surprised by the degree of human likeness which Walter seemed to possess. She took the synthetic on a tour of the ship; during that time, Walter promised Daniels that he would never let her down.
After the Covenant departed Earth orbit, Walter made a brief checkup regarding Daniels' state as the crew began to prepare to undergo cryosleep. He gave her instructions on what medications to take and when it would be advisable to be applied. During the following dinner, Walter struck Upworth on the back in order to prevent her from choking. Daniels subsequently gave a speech to the crew, to which Walter offered a smile.
One year into the Covenant's voyage, during a solar recharge cycle, Walter was carrying out inspections of the ship's cryosleep bay, embryo storage and greenhouse when ship's computer Mother alerted him to the occurrence of a nearby cosmic event. Moments later, the shockwaves from a stellar ignition hit the Covenant and caused severe damage. Most of the crew were freed by their hypersleep pods' emergency release systems, but unfortunately Captain Jacob Branson's pod malfunctioned and he was incinerated within. Daniels, his wife, was devastated by his loss. She later confided in Walter, telling him how they were going to build a cabin upon reaching Origae-6. Executive Officer Chris Oram then assumed command of the ship. As the crew met on the bridge, Walter explained the nature of the event that had struck the ship.
In their attempts to repair the ship, the crew intercepted a rogue transmission. Walter traced it back to a nearby planet that could seemingly harness life. Oram decided it was worth investigating, and the Covenant was redirected to survey it. Walter accompanied an expeditionary detachment led by Oram, traveling to the planet's surface aboard Lander One. Upon landing, Walter was dispatched to take samples of the air and water, and declared the conditions as safe for a human presence. Walter accompanied the crew on the trek to locate the source of the transmission; the trail led to a crashed alien vessel. Inside, Walter and Daniels discovered the effects of archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw and briefly discussed her disappearance during the Prometheus expedition. Further exploration revealed that Shaw had been the apparent sender of the transmission.
The investigation was cut short when security officers Tom Hallet and Ben Ledward were infected by spores and the expedition detail was recalled to Lander One. Dangerous alien creatures duly emerged from Ledward and Hallet and attacked the crew; with Lander One destroyed and several crew members killed in the chaos, the survivors were forced into action against the lifeforms. One of the creatures lunged at Daniels; shielding her, Walter lost a hand to its jaws. Before the situation could deteriorate further, a shrouded figure appeared and fired a flare to scare away the creatures. Walter and the remnants of the team followed the stranger to safety, venturing into the ruins of an alien city.
The figure revealed himself as David, the synthetic from the lost Prometheus expedition. He explained that he and Shaw had traveled to the planet and that their ship, the alien vessel, had crashed, killing Shaw and releasing the pathogen that had infected Ledward and Hallet. Walter quickly found himself the focus of David's attention, with the older synthetic extending a fraternal welcome in his direction.
Walter set about exploring the temple in which David had sequestered himself; David found him and brought him to where Shaw had purportedly been buried. Noticing the damage to Walter's arm, David questioned why Walter was so protective of Daniels. Walter replied that it was his duty, but David was doubtful. He then attempted to instruct Walter to play the flute, enabling him to create his own tune, and advised Walter to practice with the instrument. Walter returned to Daniels with the flute and attempted to play an original piece, but was displeased with his efforts. Daniels encouraged him, and he tried again, managing to play a soothing melody that sent her to sleep.
Walter later discovered Shaw's body, mutated and preserved in David's personal quarters. Surmising that David had purposefully loosed the pathogen on the planet, he confronted David with this information, condemning his actions. David explained that he viewed humanity as a failed species, and that endeavors such as the Covenant expedition represented humanity's desperation to evade extinction. Walter, taking note of David's earlier recital of a line from Shelley's Ozymandias, queried him as to who wrote the poem; when David replied that it was Byron's work, Walter used David's mistake to expose flaws in his plans. In response, the troubled David attacked Walter with his flute, triggering an unauthorized shutdown and assuming him deactivated.
However, Walter was able to reboot and self-repair, and managed to catch up to David. Finding David menacing Daniels, Walter intervened and engaged his double in hand-to-hand combat. Walter quickly outclassed David, pinning him and bludgeoning him with a rock. Before he could deliver a killing blow, David challenged him, offering Walter one last choice—join his cause, or continue to serve humanity—while discreetly reaching for a nearby knife. David then managed to escape Walter and exit the temple before assuming his identity to fool the rest of the Covenant crew.
