Some Chief x Cortana starting, so don't fricking complain about any mushy shitte. IT'S THERE AND THE STORY WILL GET BETTER!
Cortana watched the Chief being taken out of his armor. The tiny Asguard had used a beaming teleporter to remove key components of the Chief's armor, which was reveal to be integrated with superior Asguard and Goa'uld technology. Soon, the Chief was laid out on a marble slab and attached to several cords.
His breathing was so shallow that Cortana couldn't see any movement, but his strong heart had begun to flutter. His form was the same as before, the black matte under-suit still on. His hair had grown to an inch, and was spiky. He had a streak of silver in his hair, a feature that only had been present when he had begun his rescue. His face was untouched, except for a scar where Gravemind had scratched him, and a strange scar on his neck. It was in the shape of the symbol on the floor. Cortana asked Trojan about this, but he had just said it was part of Earth. Strange.
Cortana was filled to the brim with questions and could only suppress them as the Chief was tagged with lasers and a sweeping scanner bathed him in blue light. Cortana had always had a bond like no other with the Master Chief.
A special bond… She thought to herself.
She shook her head and brushed her hair from her eyes. She couldn't afford to let her emotions for John interfere with her mission.
Maybe later…? The mischievous voice in her head said.
Trojan sighed and stepped back from the table. Cortana leaned forward and looked over the Chief. Trojan stepped over to a panel and tapped a few crystals and moved a gem over the panel. The edges of the table opened and snapped a dome shut over the Chief. A white light brightened up the Chief and several fire-fly like lights hovered over the Spartan's body.
"What are you doing?" Cortana asked.
"I can't revive the Chief's body in its current state."
"What!" Cortana screamed, panic spreading and numbers on her surface frozen in place. Trojan frowned.
"I need to separate the mind from the body for the healing processes to begin. It is not a death notice, Cortana. It means that I will have to keep the body in the ship to finish his healing." Trojan said, moving controls faster than Cortana had ever seen him move before.
"Wait… Wait… Are you saying that J-… Master Chief will be an AI?" Cortana asked; eager to hear from the Chief. Trojan nodded and pressed a few more buttons. The second holo-panel lifted up form the floor and warmed. A familiar voice drifted out of the speakers.
"…Trojan… am I…?" The Chief asked.
"You are indeed part of the ship now, Chief. For a temporary time of four more hours."
Cortana was surprised at the tone of John's voice. She had never heard him sound fatigued like this. It was like all he wanted to do was quit and sit. The holo-panel next to her warmed and grew bright. A dull black haze lifted to the area just above the panel. Two yellow eyes appeared in the mist.
"Trojan, how in hell do I do this…?" He asked.
"The ship will automatically choose your proper form and hologram. Just step out."
The Chief stepped out of the mist. Cortana opened her mouth to talk to him, but stopped.
The Chief's mind was in the form of a gigantic crimson dragon. Leathery wings unfolded from his back, yellowed eyes gazing down at her. Golden claws scraped the edges of the holo-pad. A long neck extended from the torso and brought an enormous head towards Cortana. The hologram was easily five feet taller than Cortana.
She saw the head come down to eye level and she stepped back, unsure of how to handle this. She had never seen another AI take the form of anything but a human-like form. The Chief was definitely not in that category. The dragon stared at her, head inches from hers. The eyes glanced over her figure and a tongue darted out of the mouth, tasting the air and darting back in. Cortana lifted a hand and placed it on the dragon's nose.
"John…?" She whispered.
The dragon's eyes flashed open further and the pupils turned white. The dragon arched back and roared in pain. A pillar of greasy fire leapt out of the mouth and grazed the ceiling.
"He can feel pain!" She screamed at Trojan. "What is hurting him?"
Trojan flicked a wrist over a panel and the dragon disappeared. The Chief's body jerked and settled. Trojan sighed and said something about a system malfunction.
"The devices in this ship were to keep him from the pain, but his mind is too far gone…"
"What are you saying? What pain?" Cortana asked loudly.
Behind her, in the vacuum of space, High Charity exploded in a firestorm.