Author's Notes:

This is Chapter one. It and Chapter two should cover everything needed in this story. Descriptive writing will improve I swear. This is my third fanfic so it should have been a little better than my first. I am All That Is Legendary. None are like me. These stories are mine.

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Master Chief ducked and rolled, shooting into a patch of tall grass. Grunts screamed in agony as bullets pierced their scaly flesh. One of the uninjured grunts fired a charged plasma shot. Master Chief's shield drained instantly. He turned and ran as a Brute Captain hurled a plasma grenade at him. It landed in front of him. He dived over it as it exploded. He clenched his teeth in pain as the plasma burned through his armor. He landed running towards a nearby Pelican. The Pelican had dropped him off an hour prior to this chaos. He ran at full force, knowing the Pelican would leave if the Covenant behind him got too close. He jumped into the back of the Pelican as it lifted off.

Pain. It was all John could think of. He looked down toward his burned armor. The plate covering his stomach had melted off. His abdomen lay nearly open. He could clearly see his own intestines. He passed out as a shadowy image passed through his visor. It was a woman. She looked familiar. Dr. Halsey?

John woke up. His head hurt. Then he remembered what had happened to him and whom he saw. Holy Shit! He sat up quickly.

"Woah! Slow down, you'll tear your stitches. Do you know how fucking hard it is to inject antibiotics then stitch an open wound in a moving Pelican?" The woman sat next to him in a chair. She smiled warmly. "Welcome back John." She looked exactly like Dr. Halsey. But she couldn't be. Dr. Halsey was dead. Wasn't she?

"Dr. Halsey, your alive I thought back on REACH that—

The woman laughed, "I'm not Dr. Halsey John, I can't believe you don't know its me!" Then John's brain clicked.

"CORTANA!?" The Master Chief passed out yet again.

Cortana watched with mild interest as the Master Chief slept. Back on the Pelican she had though that he'd seen her. After he passed out she administered double o negative sutures to seal the wound. Keeping John alive to see his reaction really was worth it. But now it was time to get to business. She stood up and walked the two feet to his IV. She smiled as she unplugged it. She turned to the life support system keeping his heart from stopping. She grinned in wicked excitement as she switched it off. His pulse was being monitored on a nearby wall screen. She watched with growing anticipation as John's pulse flickered and died. She chuckled to herself, now not even this bastard can keep me from Miranda. The thought of Miranda Keyes made her wet.

She exited the hospital and walked to her car. Amazed at her own guts to kill John, she marveled at her body. This body is so great! I can finally do things I used to think of as dangerous! She looked down and felt her firm, perky breasts. Wow. Cortana gunned the engine and shot off onto a freeway. The Orbital Elevator loomed ahead. The sun's light barely reached the ground, the smog blocked it so that it was merely an orange glow. The Orbital Elevator's silhouette appeared like a menacing giant, it was a dark mass reaching to the heavens and beyond. It was really an impressive sight. With her new eyes she could switch between night vision and her normal vision. Her limbs were made of a tungsten-titanium alloy capable of hammering through stone. Her legs could withstand enormous amounts of friction without wearing down. Her internal organs were made of an organic compound, making them only somewhat susceptible to attack from bacteria. Her vagina, by special request, could generate one quart of ejaculation per orgasm. I want Miranda to drink all she can. Cortana had thought. Each orgasm felt as real is it would for any person. She was for the most part, human. She was still marveling at her different abilities when her back wheel blew out. The rogue wheel shot out from under her car and impacted another. It exploded as the wheel punctured the nuclear piles inside the engine. Fifty other cars piled on top of each other, one after the other. Holy shit! Cortana struggled to keep her car in control. "Aargh!" She yelled as her car flipped over and slid into another car. She ricocheted off its side and began to roll. Roll after roll she groaned in pain. The Air bag deployed, hitting her in the face. She screamed as she watched in horror a sheer wall of rock came flying into view. After that she only saw flashes of what was happening. The wall. Its coming. She nearly fainted. Then her car lifted. It flew over the wall and plunged a hundred and eighty feet into the water below. BOOM. Thud. She opened her eyes and slowly took in the water's darkness. The sting of the chemicals on her eyes made her want to inhale, but she couldn't. The light was leaving her. She felt lonely. Dark webs began to move across her vision. I am dying. Cortana felt cold as the darkness swallowed her whole.

She was slapped awake. She coughed up water. Cortana shivered in the coldness of the room. Racking coughs shook her body.

"Wake up you bitch!" She was slapped again. She looked into the light and began to cry at who stood before her. John.

He loomed over her, clearly pissed off. His eyes shone angrily as he seethed with an unpleasant grimace. "You tried to kill me!" He slapped her again. She cried even harder. "Thought I would just stay down and die like a fucking dog!" He moved away, grabbing a wet towel from a nearby sink. Cortana looked at her surroundings. She seemed to be in some sort of closet, probably in the hospital. She looked toward the door and tried to stand up. John whipped her across the cheek with the towel at her attempt to escape. He grabbed her head and shoved it back, laying the towel across her bleeding forehead. "So what the hell was that all about anyway?" He growled. "I hope it wasn't for some stupid reason. Murder is a new trick for you Cortana." He grinned, though clearly not at all amused.

Cortana spat at him, "You have Miranda. You've been able to enjoy the physical benefits of life. You can speak using real lips, you can touch someone with fingers of flesh, and you can love with a real beating heart."

John snorted, "Yeah, well life ain't always a picnic. I don't know what kind of corny movies you've been watching, but Life isn't great. It's a pain in the ass in fact. Quite literally too. You think that life is all about sex and love all that other shit. Well guess what bitch, there's pain too and I'm glad you finally got a taste." He slapped her again, "That's to make me feel better."

Cortana remained angry, her tears dried on her cheeks. "I should have just cut your heart out and shit on it." Cortana felt angry with John, not just because he had not died, but because he was right. She realized how painful a short experience could be. She had also realized that she did not think of the future repercussions of killing of John. It was a stupid mistake, and she had done it out of sheer…what was the word? Impulse. All that Cortana had cared about was Miranda and she had no time to think about anything else. She had made her first serious mistake. This was bad.

"So," John said, "this is what's gonna happen. I will be taking you to the Cairo and we are going to have a little chat with the Commander. 'Cause honestly, you have some serious issues to work out with her. Then, we are going to the Andromeda System, to remove you from your body and put you back into AI form. After that, we will return to Earth and offer our services until death. Get the picture?" John smirked. He had to hand it to Cortana. She stole five hundred million credits from the UNSC and stowed away on a barge heading toward the Andromeda Galaxy. Once there she had tracked down the planet from which the website had come. After that it was child's play to pay for her body and get herself transplanted into it. The whole process had taken one week.

John walked behind Cortana and pulled the chair out from under her. She fell with a squeak to the dirty floor. John grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up. "Its time to go." He said. Cortana opened her mouth to insult John but decided against it.

He turned to her and said, "You're lucky I followed you into the parking lot of the hospital. Had I not stashed my self in your trunk while you played with your self, you probably would have died. I punched the wheel out from under your car and jumped out. Watching you roll and bounce like put me in a good enough mood to save your life. So, I have one question. Why try and kill me, huh? 'Cause I fucked your precious Miranda senseless? That's not such a good excuse."

"I made a mistake!" Cortana screamed, "I wasn't thinking! I suppose that happens to you imbeciles sometimes. You stupid inferior human."

John grinned savagely, "Stupid we may be, but your one of us now, or hadn't you noticed?" He let out a small chuckle at Cortana's disgruntled face. Anger lines crossed her brow, from one end to the other, stopping at her raven colored hair. Her eyes were wild with indefinable rage. "Hate to break it to you princess, but your not an AI any more, you're one of us lowly, dirty, stupid humans. Fortunately for you that's reversible, but hell, why not roll in the mud with us, eh Cortana?"

"Cod off!" Cortana pushed past him and made for the door. She received a whip on the behind for her trouble.

John whipped her again, "No leaving until I say so you little cunt."

Cortana was simply infuriated. Why were they dilly-dallying around here when they could go see Miranda?