Chapter One
Location: UNSC Infinity
Date: December 28, 2558
Time: 08:00
Cortana's body spins as the machine continues to bolt every piece of heavy metal to her body. Eyes shut, breath hindered, and immense pressure, is all she can think of before her body becomes numb.
Cortana's name, is now a distant memory of the UNSC, for over a year has passed since the events with the Composer.
Her crystal blue eyes dart open as a pitchy voice startles her from her thoughts. "You're all set Spartan Windsor," the engineer announces as Cortana glooms over her armor.
"Thank you," Cortana smiles weakly stepping out of the machine. She slowly looks over at the engineer who is holding the last piece of the painful puzzle. The short young woman with a brilliant smile presents her helmet. Cortana's desolate eyes gaze at the dense metal before her tacky gauntlets pull the material from the engineer's weak hands. Her eyes stare at the shimmery aqua faceplate before her arm falls to her side. I still can't remember what happened, she thinks to herself walking down the massive deck of the UNSC ship, Infinity. This all feels wrong; I can barely even recall his name... she thinks to herself as anguish fills her mind.
"Another life, but the same face," she whispers inaudibly while running a hand through her raven black hair.
She has a new name, a new purpose, a new family- everything is different. But yet she doesn't want this, she yearns to understand her old life as an AI but Brass wanted her quickly dealt with and repurposed. Cortana can imagine the situation Brass encountered after she was discovered in deep space. Men, looking down at her emaciated- broken figure wondering if she was dead or alive, yet also questioning if she was alive, how? Cortana's teeth grit as she remembers the painful memories of her first six weeks of being a mortal. Unable to breathe, eat, move, or talk on her own. She wouldn't have even survived if it weren't for Dr. Halsey's quick thinking to use the newest Spartan augmentation method. For months she couldn't recall what had happened in her past, it was like she was an emotional blank slate but contained ample knowledge of just about everything else. And being around twenty-seven years old didn't help the matter; she was young and attractive by today's standards, which entered even more confusing and new emotions. As time remained a constant, flashes of old memories and passions resurfaced themselves and she began to understand her can remember the Gravemind back on High Charity, bits and pieces from her many years spent on The Dawn, and her last brief conversation with John. Though she doesn't like to think about them much, painful feelings flow from her last memory as an AI. With a gentle sigh she quietly continues to walk towards the hanger deck.
"Fireteam Ares report to docking bay sixteen," a voice commands startling Cortana's frame making her take a deeply inhale. Her eyes gaze upwards at the intercom as her pace hastens to the request of her team. She takes in the sight of the familiar spacecraft as she enters the massive docking station.
Pelicans dot the hanger as Spartan's come and go returning and leaving from missions. "Aye Claire!" Jason's voice rings while a smile seeps onto his face at the sight of her.
Jason Garrett has been Ares' commander before Cortana was even augmented into a Spartan. He is known for two things: being the youngest leader of any current fireteam, and for being the most daring maverick against his CO's. After spending months on end with Claire, he has grown accustom and even fond of her presence. She's captivating, mysterious, and wildly intelligent in his eyes. He can't help but find himself frustrated that he is her commanding officer; he would have asked her out a long time ago. The only problem is he has no clue of her past or her actual name.
"Hey yourself," Cortana smiles looking into his warm hazel eyes. After, her eyes scale his massive frame gazing over his new matte black armor, he's always so damn happy, she mutters in her mind as her eyes continue to trail his attractive frame.
She can always derive tranquility from Jason- she relies on him for that. He is always internally calm and collected- something she is just not. Cortana has always looked at Jason as being her best friend, sometimes even wishing they could be more.
"You got new armor," Cortana mentions smiling as she steps next to Jason traveling towards their designated hanger.
"Well I kinda had to after my other set was melted," Jason mutters rolling his eyes.
"You're still blaming me for that aren't you," Cortana giggles causing Jason's body language to sift at the musicality of her voice.
"Well he was your target, Claire," Jason mutters remembering the plasma grenade at almost stuck his leg during their last mission.
"Yeah- no, that jackal was definitely yours," she mocks pushing Jason's chest plate with her helmet. The irresistible sensation of happiness pulses through Cortana's body as she looks up at the lightly tanned man walking beside her.
"I'm surprised that thing even could throw a grenade that far," Jason sighs shaking his head, "First time anything but an honor guard got my shields down that much."
"Hmm… right," Cortana smiles up at his concentrated yet frustrated face with comic relief. She can't deny to herself that he is handsome, she even joked with him that he should have been a model- more money, less risk. Yet if he were, he wouldn't have the light white scars along his chiseled jaw line that she so desperately loves.
"We should get drinks sometime," Jason offers coolly making Cortana's eyes snap towards him, "I mean- yeah drinks," he laughs cupping the back of his neck, nervously smiling. Cortana gazes at the man for a second, it was the first time he'd ever offered only her to get drinks- usually it was the whole squad.
"That sounds-" Cortana begins to quietly answer but is swiftly cut off by a bellowing voice behind them.
"Jason, Claire!" The two hear someone call making them turn around, Jason's eyes roll as he looks over a familiar yet giant figure.
Liam Doltery is huge- weighing in at 310 pounds of mostly muscle and with an armored height of 7' 5" he was a force to be reckoned with. Being thirty-five, he's the oldest of them all and the most frightening if you were on the wrong side of the battlefield. Believe it or not underneath that hard exterior, Liam is a gentle giant. He would cry at sappy movies and he relied on all his teammates to make it back alive or he'd never forgive himself. Jason and Liam have been best friend's since they started the Spartan IV program, they were lucky enough to be assigned to the same station and fireteam. After years of knowing one another they eventually began to talk about everything together- even Jason's unethical emotions towards Claire.
"Man you just get scarier every time I see you," Jason jokes giving him a giant bear hug. In reaction, Liam picks Jason's smaller frame up of the ground while Cortana watches in amusement at the two muscular Spartan's acting against the norm.
"Break it up we gotta go!" Cortana calls to them, making the two men turn and jog towards her.
"How was your R&R?" Liam asks Claire.
Cortana breathes in as she answers the question once again, "I basically slept, watched old movies and ate salads the whole time," Cortana explains shaking her head, "It was pretty lonely."
"Well speaking of the cure for loneliness, you never answered my question," Jason prods, making Cortana's cheeks flush pink.
"I was about to say sure," she laughs as a small smile pulls onto her cheeks. Cortana watches Liam wildly grin towards Jason, making her eyes pull open in confusion- Jason's hand whacks Liam's forearm making him stop smiling.
"You always know how to make things awkward don't you," Jason mutters towards Liam as his eyes roll. We jog forwards to our designated docking bay and Cortana's eyes dart to her left as she recognizes a familiar Spartan.
Along with every other person on the ship, Spartan Palmer had no clue of Claire Windsor's true identity. Cortana made sure to keep her facial features under wraps around people she had met in her past life due to her firm orders from the higher-ups.
Not wanting to disobey orders, Cortana slips the metal helmet over her head in response to the sight of the familiar face. "Took you three long enough," Cortana hears a British accent from behind her. She turns to see Maria Varian armored up, helmet on, with weapons- ready to go.
Maria is the responsible one, even more responsible then Cortana. She is always very procedural, but whenever she drinks her unregulated fun and joyful self comes out.
Maria's silver and black armor protect her body as she continues to speak, "Gear up and let's get going- come on Jason your slacking," Maria laughs pushing his shoulder.
"Okay mom," Jason mutters, grabbing a battle rifle and shotgun from the weapons rack. Jason looks over the weapons rack hunting for Cortana's standard battle and assault rifle. Once he finds them his hands grip the metal pulling the weapons from the rack- handing them to Cortana.
"Thanks," Cortana smiles under her helmet while pulling the weaponry from Jason's hands. Cortana watches Jason slide his dark helmet over his head, seeing his face slowly disappear.
"Alright listen up Ares," They hear Palmer's voice demand causing the four subordinate Spartans to move into formation. "Brass want's a team to go investigate Unit-168 on Halo installation 3- They aren't responding to radio calls, and have been offline for 72 hours. Because Blue Team is still in combat, you four are my next best reliable team. This is mainly a scouting mission but- well more like when it turns into something more, you're to contact back to Infinity and wait further instruction depending on the situation. Your mission is to gain information, salvage as much scientific data from the site as possible, and record causality count. We are already stationed above the ring so you shouldn't have an issue with low fuel," Palmer informs Ares causing the four Spartan's to salute.
Cortana watches Palmer walk back towards Captain Lasky as concern crosses his face.
Out of all Cortana's commanding officers Captain Lasky is her favorite, she can't recall why but she can't help but feel thankful every time she looks at his face. The only explanation Cortana can muster for these emotions is something must have happened when she was an AI, as a human she had never actually talked to Captain Lasky.
Why is he so worried? She asks herself slowly as the worried man continues to speak to Commander Palmer.
"Everyone ready to go?" Jason wonders as the cargo door of the pelican seeps open.
Cortana's eyes dart to the side watching Captain Lasky's eyes stare in their direction, "Don't you think the Captain looks worried," Cortana asks turning towards Jason, standing in front of him.
"When does he not look stressed or worried?"
"Well… I mean I guess your right."
"Come on Claire- chill, its just another mission," Jason laughs shaking Cortana's shoulder lightly. Relaxation floods from the touch as Jason pulls off his helmet off. After, a small smile forms on his face, calming her nerves for the time being.
"Yeah- you're right," Cortana mutters softly before storing her weapons then moving towards the front of the pelican. Cortana slips into the pilot's chair gazing over the controls of the vehicle. Her hands glide across the dash and ceiling, flipping on the designated buttons as she goes. Her mind drifts as the sound of the engine revs. Just another mission, Cortana repeats to herself as she hears Infinity's traffic control official inform her she has authorization to depart from the spacecraft. Cortana slips her helmet over and off her head as the final preparations for the pelican's departure continues.
Her raven black hair had grown longer with time, now down to the top of her shoulders, she had to pull the silky wavy substance back into a small ponytail. And unlike all the other Spartan's, Cortana's face was completely clear of all scars, but her body on the other hand was a different story. Riddled with small circular scars, Cortana's smooth, beautifully pale skin is faltered from the medical screws that fixed the broken bones in her body.
I need to cut my hair; the thought pops into Cortana's mind as she feels the elevator descend, placing them into an airlock. The massive tunnel exiting the ship lights with waving lights, indicating the direction of travel. "You know you could go take a seat in the cargo area," Cortana laughs feeling Jason's warm presence behind her.
"Yeah but I like the view from up here," he speaks smoothly, looking down at her face.
"We haven't even left the ship yet," Cortana, mutters rolling her eyes as a small hue of pink shadows her face.
"You know that's not what I meant," Jason whispers in her ear making her body shutter with uncertainty and excitement. Her body swarms with warmth as she feels Jason's presence leave, he's never done that before, she thinks to herself. As she continues to think of Jason's change in character she pulls the pelican slightly off the platform before throwing the thrusters forward sending them into the void of outer space.
The flight down to the ring was a breeze, for piloting terms. But after Jason's warm words had faded her mind, Cortana was engulfed by nothing but anxiety. How could a massive, strictly secure sight go offline with no warning, was all she could think about coming into the ring's atmosphere.
Currently, Cortana's eyes gaze out along the rolling hills of Halo as the excavation sight comes into view. Silence fills the air as Cortana powers down the pelican after landing in a riven a couple kilometers from the site. With her mind alert she slowly places her helmet back over her head and makes her way back to the cargo area.
"Alright guys let's stay alert- we don't know what hostiles we are dealing with just yet. Let's just get to the data center, deal with whatever hostile contacts we find, and return the information to Infinity," Jason affirms pulling his battle rifle from his back. Cortana's eyes gaze over his golden faceplate as her HUD slowly powers up as she directs. Her motion detector, date/time, ammo amount, and shield status, coordinate themselves along the barrier of her faceplate as she checks their reliability. After everything seems to be in order, Cortana pulls her battle rifle from the weapons rack to her left and holsters her assault rifle on her back. "Alight the light is green- let's move out and get this done," Jason announces while his fist slams down onto the door controls, opening the cargo sector. Cortana feels her muscles tense as her eyes squint to adjust to the bright sunlight. Her gauntlets slide along the heavy metal of the weapon as they cautiously make their way out of the pelican.
The team's pace hastens as caution runs through her body due to the lack of cover. The four deadly Spartan's make their way towards the massive human made structure as they check the surrounding area. Cortana pulls to the left, Jason moves forward, Maria takes the right, as Liam covers behind and upwards as the team move around the hillside.
Cortana's eyes loom over the site as silence fills her ears; this was one of the most populated exploratory sites in the UNSC, where is everyone? Cortana ponders to herself as her eyes narrow in hesitation. "Something isn't right," she whispers to the rest of her team while jogging towards Jason. "There were over four hundred people stationed here even more if you include their family members… there would at least be noise, blood, some indication that people died here," Cortana explains through the comms making Jason's head tilt towards her.
"There has to be some other explanation," Liam states as they move towards one of the five outer doors of the building. Cortana moves towards the door's interface unlocking and opening the large metal wall before them. The door slowly pulls upwards, like a curtain. With the door still in motion, Cortana and her team duck under the door and rapidly check the area.
"It's clear," Jason lowly affirms, trying to be as quiet as possible as he switches his in-hand weapon to a shotgun.
Cortana's pulse rises as she stares around the thrown room. Computers had been ripped from their ports and tossed around the room. Her eyes watch Jason's boots skillfully avoid touching the destruction as they make there way to the data center.
"It's so quiet," Maria whispers pulling everyone's attention.
Jason knew she was right, he felt uneasy as his finger continued to anxiously rest over the trigger of his gun. His instinctive nature pulls over his body forcing him to move protectively towards Claire.
"Claire, the data center?" Jason questions while towering over the smaller Spartan next to him.
"We can take a short cut through the extraction point of the Composer, we need to go through those doors, then take a right," she replies pointing to the double doors in front of them. Cortana hastily switches to her assault rifle as they make their way down the massive hallway. Arriving at door, she again moves towards interface and unlocks the barrier of metal. The doors roughly slide open producing a horrid screeching sound as they move. As Cortana's eyes adjust, the dark room presents a massive bridge that connects the two opposing doors. As she takes a step into the massive hollow room, the deep abyss surrounding the catwalk plummets untold depths as she pushes her to stay towards the center.
"This place is massive," Maria whispers looking over the edge of the railing.
Jason jolts and turns as he hears the door slam behind him, "What the hell," he mutters jogging towards the doors interface. "All it's giving me is error," he whispers anxiously fiddling with the screen. Confusion flashes in his eyes as he gazes over at the locked door.
"Here let me see," Cortana demands as her gauntlet hovers over the screen for a moment. Her mind takes in the bleak information on the screen as she contemplates what to do. Nothing was making sense to her. How could a door be fine one minute then malfunction and automatically lock the next, only someone within the system can power down and lock these specific doors, she debates with herself. "Someone is messing with the security system- there is no way the UNSC would program this door to lockdown," Cortana informs Jason looking up into his faceplate.
"Not to mention this door is fine over here," Maria calls through the comms. Cortana's head tilts to the side to look over at Maria and Liam standing in the opposing doorway. "We should get moving," Cortana whispers as fear runs down her spine. She could sense something wasn't right- she knew no human would do this, especially in the current situation.
Jason and Claire jog down the catwalk hastily trying to make their way to the other side.
Cortana's strides increase as a sensation of panic looms through her body. As she begins to take her next stride, her body flies forward slamming her body onto the ground. She moans as her head shakes off the fall, pressure swells over her leg making her roll over to face the dilemma. Her eyes widen as she gazes over the massive tentacle slithering up her right leg.
"Claire!" Jason calls running back to her position.
"No! Stay there!" Cortana yells throwing a hand out in a gesture for him to stop.
The tentacle slowly begins to pull on the woman's leg attempting to drag her body into the depths of the room. Cortana ditches her assault rifle and pulls her combat knife from her back slicing the tentacle from her leg but not before it drags her over the edge of the platform. She dangles as she struggles to pull her heavy body back over the edge. Two hands grab her arms swiftly dragging her back onto the catwalk. Jason's hands move to pull her waist as her body becomes limp and a malevolent voice rumbles through her ears.
"You can no longer hide from me," the voice bellows, Cortana's eyes widen as Jason struggles to pull her body towards the exit.
"Claire! Are you okay," Jason yells pulling the incapacitated woman out the door.
"You demon cannot save you now," the voice mocks once again causing Cortana's eyes to blur in and out.
Stress rushes through Jason's body as he is unable to get a response, "Claire- Claire please talk to me," he begs looking down over her faceplate. "Will you guys do something and figure out who the fuck is in our comms!" Jason screams to the rest of his team in frustration as he continues to mourn over the woman beneath him.
Cortana's breaths accelerate as the voice enters her conscience, 'I am in your spirit and mind. Soon our souls will intertwine,' the voice whispers. Cortana's paralysis remains as the horrifying voice lingers in her mind. Nothing but remembrance rushes through her brain as she places a face to the voice.
"Claire, please answer me," Jason pleads shaking her body.
"I- I can hear you," Cortana weakly replies as her body becomes mobile once again.
"What the hell was that thing," Liam exclaims looking at the now locked door of the excavation zone.
Jason pulls Cortana's body into his lap as his hands fidget to remove her helmet to check on her wellbeing. His heart pulsates with the longing of seeing her face as worry envelopes his body. At this moment he realizes how much she means to him, he didn't care about the mission he just wants to see her face.
Cortana's eyes widen as she realizes his intentions, "Jason… stop- I'm fine," she mutters pushing Jason's large frame away from her. She understands he's worried but under the circumstances it's better for everyone to keep their armor on.
"I- I'm sorry," he whispers as he pulls himself off the ground.
"Don't be… I was out-of-it for there a second there," Cortana replies as Jason lends her a hand off the floor.
"What was that thing," Jason asks bewildered as he stares over at the door. He has never encountered anything like that before questions run through his mind as he beings to question what the beast was saying. Demon? The only person I know who has ever had the honor of being called a demon by anyone is the Master Chief… and I don't think he's even been down here before, Jason concludes to himself. "Why was that thing talking about the Master Chief?" Jason asks making Cortana's head snap towards him.
Cortana knew from the moment the tentacle slithered around her ankle who they were dealing with. She contemplates speaking up about her knowledge of the subject but speaking about John wouldn't help her weakened metal state at the moment. "Come on Jason that can't be what he meant," Cortana mutters, her tone obviously trying to put the sensitive subject away. Her hands restlessly fidget not wanting to discuss the matter any further. "Besides the matter- it's over we should keep moving and discuss this later."
"Hey why is your voice trembling," Jason questions with confusion laced through his words. Bewilderment crosses Jason's face as he analyzes Claire's sudden secretive disposition. She never has acted like this in the past- he knows her all to well and understands her motive. "Claire- What aren't you telling me," Jason demands lightly grabbing Cortana's upper arm as she tries to walk away.
"Jason please- I just want to get the mission done and then get the hell out of here," Cortana retorts pushing his larger frame away. After her actions, Cortana's regrets them immediately. She understands Jason is suspect of her behavior but at this point she just needs to get away from the subject.
"Let's get moving," Jason demands harshly pulling his weapon from his back.
Rejection, washes over his body as Jason instructs the team to continue through the final doors to the data center. All he could feel was hopeless confusion at Claire's complete rejection of the important and critical subject. She knows damn well 'Demon' is the Master Chief- but why? Why is she so anxious about it, Jason wonders to himself as the skillfully enter the next room with caution. Jason watches Cortana's body move swiftly towards the main computer of the lab as he continues to survey the area.
As Cortana gathers the information on the storage chip, Jason looks over the destroyed screens and computers that litter the room. Jason's short attention span takes over as he begins to open desk and file cabinet drawers of the establishment. Since when did we use paper? Jason asks himself as he looks over the cover of the classified file. He slowly opens the folder and ghastly images arise causing his breath to cease. "These are flood spores," Jason whispers to himself as he continues to flip through the pages. The images continue to show the development and new aspects of the parasites evolution. His hands move to grab the next file and what he sees on the heading stuns him. 'Human Experimentation' the file reads making Jason's mouth- part in disbelief. He swiftly flips through the hundreds of pages containing doctor's notes, horrified at the amount of test subjects. What were the experimentations for? Jason asks himself as he begins reading the first page of the massive file and a section catches his eye, 'Do to the mass extinction of wildlife on Earth and many of the nearing colonies, humanity's destruction shows devastating ramifications towards the ecosystems of many planets. If the parasite were used in a controlled situation- in three months time humanity and all other destructive sentient life would be cut in half. Project Metempsychosis would produce an easily dispersible immunization for the remaining sentient life. By enacting these experiments would produce the immunization agent and prove its reliability.' Hundreds of people are in these files, Jason says to himself looking at the first subject. A massive stamp had been pressed over the page labeled 'DECEASED.' Gruesome images lie underneath the red ink making Jason's teeth grit. He swiftly flicks through the following pages more deplorable stamps paint every page as he continues to flip. "Claire," Jason calls his voice breaking making Cortana's head snap up.
"What's going on?" Cortana asks gliding towards him.
"Look at this shit," Jason mutters handing Cortana the massive paper file.
"Who uses paper anymore," She whispers shaking her while pulling the file from his hands.
"When you see what's inside you'll understand," Jason murmurs placing a hand on the back of his neck nervously.
"Their project must have backfired on them," Cortana whispers looking through the dark pages. "No one of any moral standing would have authorized this project."
"Claire- they recorded that the flood had mutated since the last time humanity dealt with them… though it didn't go into much detail but then again most of the pages were ripped out," Jason states throwing the other file on the desk.
"What's going on," Liam asks walking up to Jason.
"See for yourself," Jason replies handing the large Spartan the classified file on the desk.
"What the hell, the statistics show over two hundred subjects were involved in testing," Liam states closing the file.
"And this one shows only 110 of those 200 people were confirmed dead through either euthanasia or 'natural causes'- whatever the hell that means," Cortana mentions brutally.
"Commander," Maria calls anxiously to Jason making his faceplate stare over to look at her.
"Let me go!" Jason's ears hear a little girl scream making his eyebrows narrow.
"Please we aren't trying to hurt you!" Maria loudly whispers pulling a young child out of an empty file cabinet.
The girl must be no more then seven years old, fear drowns her emerald eyes as the rest of fireteam Ares makes their way closer to her.
"Hey- Hey calm down," Cortana calls trying to calm the child down. Cortana's eyes scan the child's figure, needle marks in her arms and the bruises littered over her body, tell Cortana the people here must have done something to her but to what extent- she doesn't know. The young girls curly blond hair tangles itself with dirt and mud as the smell of urine seeps from her clothing. She must have been in that drawer for days, Cortana thinks to herself standing in front of Maria who continues to hold the child by the forearm.
"Leave me alone- my mommy told me to stay here," she cries trying to pull her arm away from Maria.
"It's okay- we're here to help you, your mom was probably wanting you to wait for us," Cortana whispers, kneeling down to the young girl's point of view. The girl remains silent as her eyes fill with forsaken tears. "Can you tell me your name?" Cortana asks kindly- tilting her head to the side.
"Olivia," the little child whispers almost inaudibly.
"Well Olivia can you tell us what you saw here?" Cortana asks lightly.
"There were monsters… My mommy hid me in here before the screaming," Olivia replies broken.
Cortana nods in response and looks up towards Jason, her small frame moves towards his and her head reaches towards his ear. "We should head back and get her medical attention- those needle marks will get infected soon," she whispers, Jason nods moving his faceplate to look at hers.
"Should we take the files?" Jason asks looking back at the stack of papers.
"Yeah but that's all we should do- none of us looked at those, alright? We don't want to play a game where we don't know our opponent," Cortana warns, gesturing towards the files. "We have no clue- who authorized the actions that took place here, let's just get our stuff and go," she continues while walking back over to the little girl. "Do you like piggyback rides?" Cortana asks, kneeling down to the child's height. The little girl nods and moves to jump onto Cortana's back. She does so just as Jason tosses the satchel of incriminating papers to Liam.
"Let's move," Jason affirms straightening his weapon and moving towards the opposite way they came in. "Which way?" Jason asks looking at the three directions right outside of the data center door.
"Left," Olivia directs quietly behind Cortana's figure.
Jason nods and moves in the direction of the little girl's instructions. "This is Commander Garrett to Infinity do you read?" Jason announces through the comms as he continues to maneuver his way warily through the structure. Static fills the teams radios as Jason tries again. "I repeat this is Commander Garrett of Fireteam Ares to Infinity- do you read?" Jason waits a moment before a frustrated sigh leaves his mouth. "Something is interfering with the comms down here- I guess we should have expected such results," Jason mutters shaking his head.
"Let's just get outside… This place is like a labyrinth- Claire don't you have a map?" Liam asks turning towards Cortana.
"That's the thing… After that contact touched me back in the control room. My armors hardware has been acting up and the map is completely distorted," Cortana informs him with a sigh.
"You just keep going straight from here until you get to the end of the hall, after that you take a right then that should lead to outside," the little girl speaks quietly.
"Well let's keep moving then," Jason whispers following her directions.
Cortana smiles under her helmet as she feels the little girl shift on her back and soon her weight becomes heavy allowing Cortana to understand she had fallen asleep. Cortana's mind wonders as they make their way down the hall, I wonder what it would be like to have a 'normal' life, Cortana thinks to herself looking towards Jason. No missions, no death, no unimaginable circumstances just blissful ignorance of what is really happening in this galaxy. She can even have a family if she wanted too, but do to the recent discoveries she knew that if she did they wouldn't be safe.
"Claire?" Jason calls; Cortana eyes flash upwards to look at his large armored frame in confusion. She realizes due to her distance she must have stopped as her thoughts took control of her body.
"Sorry," Cortana mutters jogging towards him.
"What has you so stuck in thought?" Jason wonders as they continue down the vacant hall.
"Nothing," she murmurs avoiding his gaze.
"It couldn't have been nothing if it made you completely stop," he whispers, his pace slowing allowing Maria and Liam take the lead.
"I was just thinking about what if things were different," Cortana replies quietly as they continue down the hall.
"If people were actually not selfish for once?" He questions, shaking his head in reaction to the discovery back in the lab.
"Well that, I just never had the opportunity to choose to have a normal life," She mutters, turning right at the break in the hall.
"What like civilian life?" Jason asks confused.
"I guess so," She sighs heading towards the outer door's interface. Cortana's eyes trail over the controls as her fingers type hastily to open the large barrier. As her mind yearns for peace and change in the world she senses a warm presence behind her.
As she continues to type in the security codes, Jason's charming voice speaks to her, "You'd want a family?" he questions sincerely in her ear as the door begins to open.
"Yeah… maybe but right now that doesn't seem possible to me," Cortana dryly laughs turning towards the opening door. Fading sunlight seeps under the door as it slowly begins to pull upwards, "Looks like we've spent all the daylight in here," she mutters.
"Claire… There are places you can go where you don't have to be involved with what's happening around Earth," Jason whispers standing close to her. Jason's feelings for her pulsate as he stares down at her faceplate understanding underneath that armor she is only human.
"Even so- my past would haunt me," Cortana replies stoically, her tone forcing Jason's body back an inch. Jason's eyes narrow as her words reply in his mind, what happened in her past that is keeping her from being happy?
"Guys are you coming or not?" They hear Maria ask through the local comms breaking their conversation. Their head's turn to see their two teammate's silhouettes with the remaining sunlight fading behind them, waiting for their answer.
"Yes we're coming," Jason affirms, then looking back down towards Cortana's frame. "You shouldn't be so pessimistic, whatever happened hasn't affected you yet has it?"
"It affects me everyday," Cortana whispers, as her body slowly brushes past the man in front of her. What she is saying is true. She is unable to use her real name, unable to truly do what she wants- due to the agreements that were forced upon her. She can never decide her own fate- not as an AI and not now. She will always be completely isolated from everyone around her- never able to truly talk to someone as herself. It's a lonely existence.
In silence, the team jogs towards the familiar riven in which their ride home lay dormant. The sun slowly seeps beyond the nearing planet leaving them in almost complete darkness. Cortana's eyes gaze upwards at the endless ocean of stars as her feet continue to travel. She can never get over the beauty human eyes can receive. Remembering her AI form, everything was always calculated- artificial but yet she had real feelings that she could never explain with mathematics.
"Every time we go on missions where we actually have time to look up, I'm always amazed by all the stars," Jason murmurs next to her, Cortana's eyes move to view the man standing next to her. Just like hers a moment ago, Jason's faceplate was glued, looking up at the stars. "I was born on Earth, so when I was a kid I was never able to see them. My parents told me hundreds of years ago you were able but because of the light pollution they remained a mystery to all of us," Jason explains while his eyes tear away from the sky.
"You were born on Earth?" Cortana asks astonished. She hasn't met many people who were actually born on Earth, yet then again whenever she talked to people not many of them go into personal details such as those.
"Yeah, it was… not the best but it was where I had to be at the time," Jason murmurs softly as they continue to walk across the silent plains of Halo.
"I wasn't questioning it as a bad thing- I just haven't met many people born on Earth," Cortana frets, worried about the delivery of her blatant question.
"I know you didn't," He chuckles shaking his head. "So if you don't mind me asking- where were you born?" Jason asks softly gazing over at the woman beside him.
Cortana waits a moment before she responds. Born? Thinks to herself as Jason patiently waits for a reply.
"It's okay if you don't wanna answer," He whispers while pulling his eyes to look back up at the sky.
"No it's okay," Cortana murmurs as her hands fiddle with the weapon in her hands. "I was born on Reach," she whispers, struggling to use the third word in her answer.
"I'm sorry," Jason breathes with sorrow laced in his words. Reach was a touchy subject and Jason knows this, he never thought that would be her answer. "Is that what you meant by your past haunting you?" He questions out loud, instantly regretting his word choice.
"Um, no actually… that's a whole other story," Cortana replies, unaffected by his word choice.
"What the hell?" Cortana and Jason hear Liam mutter through the local calls as smoke barrels from the riven in front of them. Both mentally distant Spartan's sprint forward rapidly turning around the corner of the rock wall and they are met with their pelican up in flames.
"Damn it!" Jason yells as they stand gazing at the nonfunctional machine.
"What?" Cortana hears the little girls voice mumble as Jason voice bellows in the wind.
"It's okay," Cortana coos to the little girl, as Cortana's frame stands alert with her weapon pulled and aimed.
"Secure the surrounding area- we obviously aren't leaving right now, and because out comms aren't working, Infinity will send a recuse team," Jason orders causing Maria and Liam to split and survey the area. "Claire- head up to the ledge with the girl," we should stay close but not out in the open," Jason demands notching his head in the direction of the ledge.
"Affirmative," Cortana complies, as she hastily makes her way into the cliffs above.