~~Chapter One~~
"Damn it! John! I'm locking down your armor for reentry, BRACE!" The voice of his now three months deceased ancilla, Cortana, practically screams in his head as his boots are jarred loose from their contact with the hull fragment he was clinging to moments ago. "Right." Is all he growls to himself as his suit pressurizes and forces his limbs into an almost fetal position. He tries not to think about her right now, there are more important things to think about. Every so often the systems in his suit will expel a microburst of data; remnants of Cortana's former self. Sometimes it's a phrase or a word, sometimes an image. But they always occur when John is least expecting it and they always send a pang of intense loss and wrenching sadness through his heart. He blinks back the threatening tears and swallows hard, focusing on controlling his breathing and remaining calm for the rough reentry.
The covenant freighter is only pieces now, after being torn in half by a slipspace portal that opened and then malfunctioned in a fraction of a second-closing prematurely and transporting only part of the ship to its proposed relocation site in the orbit of Charybdis IX's outermost moon. However, the gravitational slingshot effect afforded by the now smaller mass of the portion of the hull that went through the portal and the next closest moon not only tore the remains of the vessel apart, but sent it hurtling at a great speed towards the nearby planet. Which is, as luck would have it, a human-colonized planet.
Also, as it seems, luck would determine that the Master Chief would be on the part of the ship that did go through the portal. So, here he is, plummeting through this planet's atmosphere at an ungodly speed, surrounded by Covenant and UNSC wreckage, completely at the mercy of gravity and fate. Wherever he lands, it will be a very, very hard landing. This much he knows, and so he falls, waiting to be knocked the hell out whenever he lands.
~~~On the planet surface, life goes on as though nothing is yet happening…~~~
Jo's alarm clock blares to life, waking the hell out of her with a far too happy "Good morning Ponte Verde! It's a beautiful 75 degrees, and mostly sunny outside today, Trafficon reports that the Eastern Interstate traffic is minimal and is expected to clear within the hour. It's 8:05on this Thursday morning. Now, back to-" She smacks the 'off' button and stretches, yawning.
After plodding sleepily through her morning routine, she sits down with a hot cup of black tea in front of the living-room television to watch the morning news broadcast. The first thing that comes through is an emergency broadcast tone, then the accompanying bulletin. "United Nations Space Command Charybdis IX outpost warning system has issued a falling space debris warning for the following counties, Valente, Newport, Haliford, Exodus, Ponte Verde, Greenvale and Northwood. An unidentified mass of metallic debris is entering the atmosphere and will cause a minor disturbance due to its brightness. Residents are advised not to look directly at the burning debris as this may cause temporary retinal damage, and, residents are further encouraged to remain indoors in the event of large debris falling in your area. This warning is in effect for the next hour and a half unless stated otherwise."
Jo shrugs and turns off the television, 'more space junk…great. Whatever, I'm going for my run anyway.' She gulps down the rest of her tea and goes to change into her running clothes.
She is about a mile into her run and she's feeling great. The sun is shining amicably and the air is warm but pleasant. She soon becomes aware of a distant rumble that slowly gets louder. She slows down a bit to try and figure out what exactly that sound is. Then, she spots the bright shapes streaking through the sparse clouds at incredible speed. Her eyes go wide; the shapes are barreling right at her!
The roar of the burning debris hurtling through the atmosphere hammers into her eardrums as she sprints for the relative safety of a huge old pin oak tree with wide sweeping branches. From her vantage point beneath the age old tree she watches as daylight doubles in brightness and chunks of flaming stuff ranging in size from a mailbox to a semi trailer start crashing into the dirt all around the little park she is in.
Just when she thought it couldn't get any brighter, it does. A hulking tangle of metallic junk careens right towards the tree with a bone-jarring rumble, slamming heavily into the ground and skidding a good few tens of feet before coming to a groaning halt. Dirt and chunks of grass spew everywhere and she shields her eyes, coughing and gagging on the smoke.
It's quiet for a moment and she hazards a peek out from under the tree. Looking up into the sky she sees still more, smaller pieces of debris hurting towards her and she leaps backwards just in time as another large mass of space junk crashes to the ground a little less than four feet in front of her. "SHIT!" She lets out a terrified scream as dirt covers her from head to toe and get's in her eyes, nose and mouth.
As she manages to get some of the dirt and grime out of her eyes and mouth she notices how quiet it is now. The only sounds are the crackling of fire and the muffled sound of people coughing in the distance. The dust is starting to clear and she is able to begin making out shapes in the debris around her. The closest being the chunk that nearly squashed her. She leans closer to the fairly large crater and peers into the smoking depression to see what she can only describe as a very large, like, almost ten foot tall, humanoid robot looking thing. Her eyes go wide and she squeaks in terror. Leaping back away from the crater and scooting back on her bum, her back hits the tree trunk and she jumps, then realizes it's just the tree and recollects herself.
She is overcome by the overwhelming urge to go look back in the crater though. So, hesitantly she crawls back over and takes in more details. It looks like a very tall robot indeed, in a sort of hunched over seated position, dirt mounded up behind its back, propping it up in this crater it obviously created. It has olive drab colored armor plates over a black, honeycomb patterned under-armor and a helmet with a gleaming golden visor that she cannot see through. Its limbs are stuck forward and up, slightly bent at the elbow, like it fell back-first and got frozen that way. "How strange…" she whispers. There is a hiss and the limbs all go limp and the head lolls to the side. Her reaction is silent this time, though she jerks back a little, still focused raptly on this green robot thing. A sudden sizzle of static washes over her, making her hair stand up. She sees golden shimmers of what look like electricity dance a half inch or so above the entire body of this robot for a moment and hears a soft electronic whine that comes from the inside of the helmet.
Then, it, or perhaps, he lets out a groan and shifts, slumping fully to his right side. Jo's eyes go wide as the robot reaches up to his head and starts to pull it off! But wait, it's a helmet… underneath the helmet is a man's face. Jo's heart stops for a moment as she makes the connection that this human man has just fallen from fucking orbit. The man sets the helmet beside him as he rolls onto his back and lets his head rest on the soil. One of his hands absently wipes his forehead. There's blood on the gauntleted fingers when he pulls it away. That arm falls limply to his side
"Are you ok?" she manages to squeak and the man looks over at her with piercing blue eyes and makes a little nod. There's blood running down his forehead from a gash on top of his head and it's caking up a clump or two of dark brown hair. He blinks, rolls back over and sits up, grabbing his helmet as he gets tiredly to his feet.
"Are you hurt?" his voice startles her, it is low, gravelly, but surprisingly gentle.
"No…I'm fine…how did you…" Jo looks up at the sky, then back at the large man, who is now climbing out of the crater right in front of her. "Oh!" she starts, stumbling back on her bum and he offers her his hand. All she can do is stare at him. He's freaking gigantic!
"Ma'm, Take my hand please, I'm going to need your help." The man says softly but sternly, snapping her from her daze. Jo gingerly takes his hand and he effortlessly lifts her to her feet.
"How can I help you?" Jo asks, staring up at the immensely tall man.
"Primarily, by telling me this planet's name." he says, his voice is low, like he doesn't really want to be heard but by her.
"Uh, it's Charybdis Nine." She says softly. They make eye contact again and a shiver runs down her spine.
"Ok good, at least it's the right system. Now, this second request may be a bit rude but I am in desperate need of a meal, could you perhaps-"
Jo does not even let him finish asking, she impulsively agrees, "Of course! I can feed you, no problem." Then it dawns on her, this man just fell from space, nearly squashed her and is also like, probably ten feet tall…Not to mention she doesn't even know the guy. Sure it's a perfectly good idea to invite this stranger into your home for a bite to eat. No big deal. Mentally, she face-palms. "Um, this way, I guess…" she starts to navigate the debris field and head to her house to feed this giant armored space guy.
Jo opens her front door and walks in, turning to invite the man in. He ducks into the doorway and she waves him into the kitchen. 'Thank goodness for vaulted ceilings.' Immediately she busies herself with the fixings for sandwiches as a heavy thunk sounds at her kitchen table. She looks over to see the helmet on the table and the tall man maneuvering his massive frame into a seated position against the wall. His arms rest on his bent knees and the back of his head is on the wall. Obviously seeing the utter confusion in her face, the man offers a soft, "I'm a bit too heavy to sit in your chairs. They'll break. This armor's a little over a thousand pounds on its own. But don't worry; I'm just fine down here."
"Oh, okay then…" She goes back to making the sandwich. "Do you like-?"
The man stops her short, "Everything. I like it all."
"Right, got it." Jo finishes the sandwich with all the condiments and layers another slice of ham turkey and roast beef on just for good measure, since this man is rather large she figures he can easily polish off the sandwich without a worry." She hands him the plate with a timid smile, "Here you go mister… um…"
Their eyes meet and she sees a strange sea of emotions behind the hardened wall that she can tell has been there for quite some time. His brow furrows and he looks away. "Just call me Master Chief for now." He says in a low voice, accepting the plate graciously and he digs into the sandwich hungrily.
"So, are you one of those Spartan soldiers I hear about from the UNSC Navy? Because, you're awfully tall."
The Master Chief just nods curtly, continuing to wolf down the sandwich.
After quickly consuming two thirds of the sandwich in a matter of moments he stops and looks at Jo, who has taken a seat at the other side of the table, silently staring at the helmet. "Excuse me," he starts softly and she looks over at him "Sorry to be a burden, but may I have another two sandwiches like this one. I will see to it that you are fully reimbursed, but you might have to wait. Again, I am sorry."
Immediately she is on her feet, "No no! Don't apologize for being hungry, Sir. I am more than happy to accommodate you. I know it's rather unconventional how we came to meet each other, but I still enjoy having a guest for once… Strange as he is…" She trails off and busies herself with making another two sandwiches for the Master Chief.
The next few minutes pass in silence as the Master Chief polishes off the third sandwich and wipes a few crumbs from the corners of his mouth. "Thank you very much." He says softly. "Now, I must excuse myself for a moment. I will be back; I just need to step outside." He gets to his feet and grabs his helmet, slipping it over his head and walking outside; Jo watches him for a moment, he just stands there, looking up at the sky, so she cleans up.
The Master Chief is attempting to hail the UNSC Infinity, which was stationed a few clicks from the junk vessel that was destroyed by the malfunctioning slipspace drive. After three unanswered hailings, He finally gets a response. "UNSC Infinity, this is Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra One One Seven, I have crash-landed on Charybdis Nine, and my status is yellow. However, I have a somewhat secure place to stay while I await extraction. What is your ETA?"
{"Sierra One One Seven, this is Lasky. Good Copy. We read you loud and clear. Glad you made it safe. ETA is unfortunately unknown, you'll have to dig in for a while, that slipspace malfunction messed with our systems something bad, so Infinity is stuck out here till we can finish the repairs. Sorry, Chief."}
"I understand, Lasky. I'm gonna lay low and take a little R&R for 48 hours or so, so just leave me a message if you need to."
{"I hear ya' Chief. Infinity out."}
The Master Chief lets out a sigh and walks back into the woman's house, confronting her in the kitchen as she finishes cleaning up. "Sorry to be a burden but I am going to need to stay here for a while until I can get picked up. Is that Ok?"
"Um, sure." Jo shrugs. "I've got a guest room you can use. My name's Jo by the way." She smiles timidly as the man removes his helmet again. She sees that the blood on his forehead has started to dry and she gestures, "Here, come with me for a second please, Master Chief, sir." She leads him to the bathroom where she pulls her first aid kit out and digs around for gauze and a disinfectant.
Master Chief sits down with his back against the wall behind Jo, a little hunched over, his legs bent up with his feet out a bit wider than his hips for better balance. He rests his forearms on his knees. Jo turns around and catches him with his eyes closed and head hanging. She gives him a moment, noting his clenched fists. She listens to his slow breathing while she waits, watching the subtle rise and fall of his rather large chest. After a minute or so she kneels in front of him and puts a hand on his forearm. "Chief?" Her voice is very soft.
Master Chief looks up and blinks a few times. "Sorry. Go ahead."
Jo smiles softly and pours some of the liquid onto a pad of gauze, scoots up closer to Master Chief and gently takes the side of his face in her free hand. She tilts his head a little so that she can better reach the cut and carefully wipes away the dried blood from his face. She cleans the blood from his hair and then brushes it aside to clean the actual wound.
"This will probably sting," She warns as she positions a wad of gauze at the bottom of the wound to absorb the disinfectant as she pours it meticulously across the cut on his head. His brow furrows a little as the cold liquid dribbles across the wound. With another pad of gauze she wipes the cut carefully and puts a glob of gel antiseptic on it and tapes some gauze over it. "There, it ain't pretty but it'll do."
For the first time in over three months, Master Chief lets the corner of his mouth twitch up in a momentary lopsided smile. "Thank you, Jo." He says very softly, his voice distant
"You're welcome. Here let me show you to the room you can use." She leads him down the hallway to the other end of her house to the bedroom across from hers. It has a queen size bed and small walk-in closet, nothing fancy but suitable for a guest to make their own.
"Again, thank you very much, Jo." He says in a soft tone.
Jo points over her shoulder, "You know where the bathroom is. I'll let you settle in." She parts with a small smile and heads back to the living-room and turns on the television to watch the news, not sure what else to do.
The Master Chief closes the door softly, turning to face the empty room. He heaves a heavy sigh and sets his helmet on the bed. He then turns and sits on the floor, back resting on the bed. He holds his head in his hands for a moment before laying his head back on the bed and letting his bent legs slide to the floor. He crosses his arms over his chest and closes his tired eyes.
"John," Cortana reaches out and puts her hand on his chest armor, "I've waited so long to do that." She breathes, looking up into John's eyes. There are tears on his cheeks. Her hand goes from solid to what he can only describe as ethereal and passes through his armor to his bare skin, where he feels a cool snap of static and then a gentle touch. Cortana is pressing her palm to his chest. His jaw clenches. His mind urges him to pull her body into his but when he reaches out she steps back. "Cortana, please!" Cortana continues to back away forlornly. "Welcome home, John." She whispers as she vanishes. "Cortana! Wait!" He cries out and jolts awake at the sound of his own voice shouting those very same words. He can feel the pounding of his heart throughout his body and he trembles. The clock on the wall says 4:45 pm. Cold tears are on his cheeks and he blinks in the muddled confusion of his exhausted mind for a moment. He gets his bearings again and wipes his face, swallowing hard.
There's a knock on the door to the room and it startles him, adrenaline once again coursing uninvited, through his veins. "Jo?" He ventures, and she answers with a concerned "Are you alright? I heard you yell." She opens the door to find him sitting on the floor against the bed. His face gleams with a sheen of sweat.
"I'm…" He hesitates, letting out a soft breath through his nose. "I'm struggling, to be fully upfront with you." He hangs his head, having no idea why he feels like he can, and should, tell her what happened, what he is feeling, and why his heart feels like it's been torn apart. All feelings he does not fully understand. And it terrifies him since he never before truly had to deal with them. He did seek therapy at captain Lasky's prompting, but only went to two sessions. He couldn't talk to the therapist. All he could manage was to stare at the floor and nod yes or no to a few questions. He shut down. Any mission he could take, he did, trying desperately to fill the void with action.
With something.
Anything.
But still, he felt hollow and broken. He refused any offers of taking another AI. He was so broken, he even avoided Doctor Halsey. He didn't know what to do, so he did what he knew; work missions. This last mission was debris clean up. The mission was simple, transport the decommissioned covenant vessel to Charybdis IX to be disassembled for valuable metals and parts. He was there as the muscle and protection if needed.
John's brow furrows when he realizes Jo is now squatting next to him, reaching out to his chest. Instinct kicks in and he immediately jolts to the present. His body going on the defensive, his armor responds in kind with clicks and whines as his muscles tense and he scoots back into a predatory crouch five feet away. This all happens in a split second and Jo lets out a shocked cry at Chief's raw power and almost feral behavior, drawing back, eyes wide. Realization dawns in the next moment for John and he immediately drops to his hands and knees and crawls the few feet back to Jo, kneels in front of her and puts a reassuring (he hopes at least) hand on her shoulder. "I am so very sorry Jo. I did not mean to startle you, it's just, you kind of startled me."
Jo blinks a few times, her mind going a mile a minute. He really moves wickedly fast. "I'm sorry," are her first words then she instinctively puts her hand over the one he has on her shoulder, holding him there for a moment before she pulls his hand away and puts it in his lap. Then she reaches for his forehead, wiping the sweat away and checking the bandage. "Are you sure you're ok? You kind of drifted off for a moment there."
John takes a long breath and lets it out. He looks down at the floor, "I'm not sure I am ok." He sighs again and looks up at Jo, again feeling that urge to tell her everything.
So, he does. He talks more than he ever has in his life. He tells this complete stranger about everything. It would be safe to say that pretty much all of it is classified above top secret, but he doesn't much care. He tells her about what happened to him regarding the Halo Rings, with the Covenant, and most importantly about Cortana. How, through everything, she was there for him, keeping him sane. Guiding him. Protecting him.
John at last relates his final exchange with Cortana to Jo. How she acted, what she said…he gets lost as a sharp pain twists and clenches in the center of his chest at the thought of the last time he saw her. She had touched him, actually touched him for the first, and only time. He finds himself wishing with everything he has that he could have felt her hand grace his chest instead of his armor and he swallows hard on the knot in his throat and clenches his fists again.
"Master Chief… She loved you. You do know that, right?" Jo's words hit him like a freight train, and stop him cold for a moment.
His rational mind kicks in, "But, she was an Artificial Intelligence construct, how-"
Jo interrupts him, "From what you've told me, she was no normal Artificial Intelligence construct, Master Chief. You said she was a direct scan of Doctor Halsey's brain. That makes her very different. That also means that if Halsey is still around, you can quite possibly get Cortana back. I may not know everything, but I do have a pretty damn good working knowledge of AI constructs and theoretically, how scanned constructs function and store data."
John looks confused, how would she know all this?
"Master Chief, I'm sure you know that the UNSC never populates a planet with regular civilians. When they repopulated Charybdis nine after the Covenant wiped out that first colony, it was repopulated with scientists. Like me. We pretty much all served in the ONI Science wing in one way or another. That's why there's even a colony out here to begin with. My particular job was researching and developing new AI's. Lucky you, huh?" Jo offers a soft smile.
Master Chief is reeling. There is a shocking amount of 'luck' he's been having lately. Seriously it's just his luck that after losing his closest friend and AI companion of nearly eight years, that he should practically fall into the lap of someone who could very well be the key to bringing Cortana back.
He tries not to get his hopes up though, it may not even work and even if she does somehow get another Cortana created, it wouldn't be her. Not the Cortana John knows. There are so many memories, so much they went through that made them who they were, and are. Chief drops his eyes and hangs his head. "It wouldn't be her…" he breathes.
"I'm pretty sure you can help with that part. But that's enough for one day. So, what's your actual name, Master Chief? You've told me so much…but that's the one thing you've skirted around…"
Master Chief turns his head up to look at Jo and blinks. His eyes focus here and there for a few moments before he looks Jo in the eyes and takes a deep breath. "John. My name is John."