Chapter 3- Broken Pieces
HALO 4 SPOILERS
"I'm not coming with you this time, John." Cortana looked up to John with sorrowful, rampant eyes. She was silently pleading him to just let her go, to make this easier for her; for both of them.
"What?" John shook his head briskly. "No, Cortana, I'm not leaving this place alone!" John took a step forward but stopped when Cortana went to him instead. She placed a hand on his chest plate and smiled melancholy.
"I've always wanted to do that." She looked up to him again and gave one last smile and started going backwards.
"No, Cortana!" John tried to reach out but he found that he could not move, and can only stare helplessly at the retreating figure of his A.I.
"Most of me is already down there John; irretrievable, broken pieces of what used to be me. What used to be Cortana." She 'sighed' and smiled again at her Spartan, "Remember this John: they will give you a new A.I., maybe even another Cortana model… but that isn't me… you know that, right? It will never be me…"
John snapped out of his reverie when Captain Lasky left, leaving the area all for himself. He felt another sharp wave of pain in his chest; a pain that has been there ever since Cortana… his Cortana was lost… His sadness was so great, that he couldn't think of anything else. He didn't even have the will to live anymore… He just wanted Cortana back… his Cortana back…
John stared at humanity's motherland—Earth. He felt as though he should be relieved, happy, or even content, but he would never be in peace when his A.I., his partner… his friend, the one who helped him save humanity is forever gone… It didn't feel fair that the ones who fought the most for humanity will also suffer the most… It didn't feel fair that after all the hardships he suffered… they both suffered, that they can't get a happy, or at least a satisfying life…
At that moment, Cortana wasn't the only person who was scattered in irretrievable broken pieces.