Cortana: The Best AI in the UNSC

by MockingjayNinja

Cortana was the best. Without her guidance, Master Chief may have never defeated the Flood. After destroying the Composer, she was lost. The UNSC will miss the one AI that stood up to the Gravemind, the one that warned us about Halo and its capabilities. But, the one who will miss her the most is the Master Chief. Does Dr. Halsey have a solution? Partial AU after Halo 4 events.

Cortana: The Best AI in the UNSC

Prologue - Reflection

Master Chief: "Welcome home, John." That is the last thing I remember her saying to me before she disappeared. She was not willing to return to Earth to speak with you, not after fighting the Didact.

Doctor Catherine Halsey: John, you were good to her. She must have felt her time was finished. Rampancy is still a perplexing subject when it comes to Artifical Intelligence models. I'm especially surprised with the fact that until you threatened to fire and destroy the Halo at the end of the war, 343 Guilty Spark seemed somewhat unfazed by rampancy. Now, before I get ahead of myself, how are you feeling?

Master Chief: Feeling? I just wanted to save her. I understand that being a soldier involves making difficult sacrifices for the greater good.

Dr. Halsey: John, SPARTANs are not just soldiers, they're human. You aren't a machine. You are a living breathing human. I can tell that you miss Cortana. It's okay to miss her. Soldiers miss those close to them when they die. Just because you have phenomenal militaristic strength doesn't mean that your emotions escape you. I never raised you to believe that.

Master Chief: She said something about a machine before we fought the Didact. It was something like, "If we get out of this alive, please tell me we'll figure out which one of us is the machine." I cannot remember for certain.

Dr. Halsey: She was an AI, techinically a computer. But, she was the best. The best AI in the whole United Nations Space Command, even compared to ONI's AIs. She was a human that was built, plain and simple. She had emotions, a sense of humor, and multiple other human traits. She could techinically be a human if she didn't run rampant, she could have evolved from being an AI, which would have been astounding. But John, you are a human. You were born from human parents, not in a lab. Neither of you, would I consider a machine.

Master Chief: If only she was here to get that answer...

Dr. Halsey: Come to ONI's office in New Mombasa, well the rebuilt one, and I will help you, John. I can't bear to see you in this state. I will have Commander Lasky authorize your leave until we can find a solution for you.

Master Chief: ...okay, ma'am.

Note: New story time. The two others will continue, but this is a short opener to a bigger story I have planned.