It had been 6 months since the New Phoenix event. Since then the U.N.S.C.'s Crimson Fire Team had found a mysterious artifact on Requiem... Before it was blown to bits. Since then John had gotten his armor repaired, upgrading to the MJOLNIR model of the Mark VI series which was recently recontinued.
Captain Tom Laasky had entered the room. He was always a really good friend of John's, after all Tom did owe John his life. When Tom was a freshman cadet the Covenant attacked Corbulo Academy of Military Science, starting the war. That was almost 32 years ago.
"Sir." John said as he stood up and saluted.
"At ease, soldier" Tom replied.
Even though The Master Chief was considered a hero in the U.N.S.C., Tom was still a higher-ranking officer than John.
"How've you been holing up? Not a soul aboard the entire U.N.S.C. Infinity has seen you in a week." Tom said.
"I'm fine sir." Replied John.
"Look, John I know you've been going through quite a lot lately but the U.N.S.C. wanted you to hear this from a good friend." Laasky said reluctantly. "The U.N.S.C. is worried about your mental health... They think you need counseling to get you through this... Your report time is tomorrow ant ten hundred hours, in counseling room seven."
Tom barely managed to get the words out of his mouth.
"I'll be there." John said.
The next day at ten-hundred hours John went down to Counseling room seven. On his way down he saw some old friends of his. They wanted to sit down and chat but he just kept on walking without a sound. John's silence usually said entire volumes.
When he finally reached counseling room seven he walked in and sat down at a table with the Office of Naval Intelligence or ONI logo on it. One side of the table was bright, the side John sat on. The other side was dark. From the darkness a voice said.
"Hello, John."
"So what's been getting you down lately." The voice said.
John stayed silent.
"John the U.N.S.C. is worried. Ever since you've been back you have been exhibiting mildly sociopathic behavior. If you can't get through this you could get discharged."
"Halsey said it would be normal if I acted a little out of line." John finally spoke.
"What Halsey did was she kidnapped 7 year olds, and then gave them fatal augmentations, surgeries, and the most brutal trai-"
"What Halsey did was teach us how to be silent. Then we were taught how to be SPARTANs, who, by the way saved humanity on multiple occasions. And that's all you need us for isn't it. THAT'S THE ONLY REASON I HAVEN'T BEEN DISCHARGES ISNT IT?!" Nobody had ever heard John yell. Ever.
"Does this have anything to do with New Phoenix?"
John didn't say anything.
"John what would you say if we told you there was a way to find her? Talk to Commander Thomas Laasky and Commander Sarah Palmer about having an escort to bring you to The Ark."
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John went and talked to his commanders. Long story short he had 24 hours to get back to the dropship. The U.N.S.C. had known about a mysterious forerunner AI on The Ark that had survived the destruction of The Ark in 2553. Why was this important? The Forerunners were the smartest race to ever exist, their technology was so advanced, that they could transform organic life into digital life and digital life into organic life.
"Take this empty AI chip. If that AI truly exists, then you're gonna need it." Said Sarah handing Chief the empty chip. Little did she know he already one. It was in case she came back somehow.
"We board tomorrow at fourteen hundred hours." Tom said
The next day was very unusual for Chief. He ate his meals with the other marines instead of in solitude. He actually talked with the other SPARTAN IIs, of course he still didn't say much. He had always been a man of few words. In fact he had probably talked more in the last seven months than he had ever said in his entire life.
It was almost time. John knew that he may never come back. If not because of the harsh uninhabitable conditions it would be because of sadness. It was on The Ark that John had made the decision that killed Cortana. After he destroyed The Ark beyond functionality he had raced to the U.N.S.C. Forward Unto Dawn, Arbiter went to go start the ship but as he did the slipspace portal collapsed sending Arbiter's half to Earth and Chief's half adrift through space. They stayed there for four years where Cortana thought herself into rampency.
The ride over to The Ark was unimaginably nerve wracking. Before they left John had to take off his exoskeleton armor, and put on a robe that was once used in Forerunner society, it was tattered and colorless to say the least. When the dropship landed the marines hopped out and went one way while John went the other.
John had his hood up and he could bareley see out from under it as he walked clumsily and awkwardly through the desert's harsh sandstorm.
After miles and miles and miles of traveling he reached a pit. He stood at the foot of it and all of the sudden rocks started floating all around and the sand in the pit was trembling. Suddenly the sand shot up everywhere, the pit collapsed completely, and a bird-like Forerunner robot rose. Chief looked down at the empty AI chip on around his neck. He clutched it as the bird arose. Chief recognized this AI. This AI was Mendicant Bias.
Mendicant Bias was the smartest self-aware entity in recorded human history. During the Forerunner-Flood war, he was in charge of defense against the Flood. The Timeless One, a Flood leader, Sent him rampant and caused him to betray the Forerunners leaving them no choice but to bury him on The Ark if he was ever needed again, and activate Halo, an array of weapons that would wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy. Life went on with the embryos that the Forerunners had catalogued but they were unable to do this to their own species, thus wiping the Forerunners off the galaxy.
No words were exchanged, but instead a panel rose out of the ground. John knew what to do. He inserted one of the empty AI chips and right before his eyes, the great bird Promethian fell apart and almost exploded upon impact with the ground. John made it back to the dropship in time.
After hours and hours of processing, Mendicant Bias was finally able to tell Chief where the remaining fragments of Cortana were located, They were located in the shards of The Composer, which had floated over asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This was the Infinity's next stop.
When the Infinity got there Mendicant Bias was so precise in his measurements, he was able to tell you exactly where each fragment was, only off by a few inches each time. He had gotten all the data stored into an AI chip, but it needed to be reconstructed by Halsey.
Chief couldn't find Halsey and nobody would tell him where she was. Instead he consulted one of Halsey's smartest students for help. Professor Ellen Anders. Ellen had a Cortana-like AI constructed that was an aid on the U.N.S.C. Spirit of Fire. All the memories of the old Cortana were still there. All she needed was the sound card and a new hard drive to extend her remaining lifetime up to 60 times it original length.
Cortana turned on and she worked just fine. As she awoke she was the same size as chief on the display and this time she could be more like a human. As Chief and Ellen were catching up, a Prometian Knight appeared behind John and stole the Mendicant Bias from the back of his helmet.
To be coninued...