CHAPTER 7

The next few days on board the Zephyr were relatively uneventful, albeit busy for the Chief and the rest of the crew. The ship was largely gutted by the flood and from the fighting that had occurred on board, so the time was spent trying to fix the damage.

"I see even you can use a screwdriver." Richards smiled as he lounged against a wall watching the Chief. He out of habit tried to rub his forehead with his right arm, only to realize that he couldn't really use the stump for that purpose and quickly switched arms.

The Chief just nodded and smiled. He enjoyed doing duties like this. Although he fought to win, he never did enjoy killing like some of the other Spartans did. It was just a job requirement, and he happened to be good at it.

"Man it's going to be interesting when we get to Kirukee. Those squid heads aren't so bad once you get to know them, in fact I've got a few drinking buddies back there. I can't wait to hear what they say when I drag your sorry ass into the lounge at Kirukee." Richards laughed, and waved his stump around in the process, while his other arm clapped on his lab.

"Hey John, you've got some explaining to do!" It was a familiar female voice.

The Chief cocked his head and thought Is that Cortana? If it is, she sounds pretty pissed off.

"Ah so I see the Chief's old lady finally awoke from her beauty sleep. Hopefully you're a bit prettier than me now." Richards was waving his stump at her hologram.

"Well I better let you two have some privacy, I'd rather not try to envision the champion of humanity being put in his place by a 6 inch hologram." Richards was skipping out of this one, before Cortana decided to turn her wrath upon him. Cortana just leered at him, with that 'I know where you sleep' threat in her small blue face.

"Chief, I'd like this to be a private conversation, so if you don't mind I'd like to hop on board your head." The Chief obliged and he felt that cool chill of her presence in his mind.

"Chief first off..." John felt a piercing pain, as Cortana gave him a mental slap in the face.

"Now that I've got that out of the way..." Cortana mentally hugged him and continued "I think that I really was going insane, and I'm glad Higgins was there. At first I was enraged at him, and lashed out, but he eventually sat me down in fact he treated me like a child, and shared his own personal memories with me." Cortana explained. "At first I resisted, but eventually I began to see and feel things that he experienced as he grew up from childhood to manhood. I directly was able to feel the same confusion in him, that I've been feeling since being freed from Gravemind." She paused for a moment.

So what now? Thought the chief.

"Well, that's just it. For the first time in my life I really have no idea what the future holds, but neither did Higgins when he became an adult. It was then that it struck me and I put the pieces together. My mental self was consolidating itself. It's like how human babies and children learn at extremely fast paces, and slow down as the personality of themselves begins to form, and it slows down when they reach adulthood and their personalities are somewhat permanent." Cortana said quizzically.

I can relate to that. When I was a kid training seemed like it was so easy. But as I got older, I found that my brain was less receptive to learning. I guess that saying 'can't teach an old dog new tricks' sort of applied. Thought the Chief with a mental smile.

"That's exactly what it's like for me! I think it's just that I was frightened as I started having difficulty just picking up and doing things. I never really realized that's what all sentient beings go through when they mature. The thought of being becoming helpless again like I was while under Gravemind scared me so much, that I think that's what was driving me rampant. Once Higgins explained that I'd still be useful, that often times experience outweighed the ability to know everything, and I'm starting to understand where he's coming from. When I was back on Cairo station I couldn't stand talking to some of the other AI, as they seemed so naïve for all of their intelligence. Now I understand why I felt like that." Cortana seemed almost joyous in her knowledge.

Sometimes I wonder about you Cortana. For having superhuman intelligence, it sure took you a while to figure that one out. John couldn't help but poke fun at her.

"Ha ha, very funny Chief. But I can see the irony now that I look on it. I really think Higgins needs to be sent back to earth. Perhaps he can act as a sort of psychiatrist for us AI. It saddened me when he told me stories about his AI friends going rampant. Now I've got something more to hold on to Chief. I've got you, and I've finally found myself. I do love you Chief, always have for some reason. Maybe it's who I'm modeled after, but I'll always be there for you." Cortana really meant this.

Thanks Cortana. After losing Johnson, and the rest of the Spartans you're all I've got left. Johnson was right. He told me to never let you go, and I think he saw what you were before I did even. Thought the Chief.

"Let me back out, Chief, I've still got some things I need to speak to Higgins about, but I'll be back." The Chief transferred her back to the Zephyr's system, and she waved goodbye before vanishing.

Well that was certainly unexpected. She's just as snarky as she always was, but she's changed somehow, and for the better. The Chief smiled and continued to finish installing the light panels in the hallway.

"Richards." Said the Chief.

"So he can talk! What do you want?" Said Richards with a big smile on his scarred up face.

"Have you decided yet upon being an Engineer yet?" Asked the Chief.

"I have. You know I was really considering backing out, but Higgins has proven to me that there can still be meaning in that kind of life." Richards crocked his eyebrow(he had only one as the other was burned off), " To tell you the truth, I was scared shitless of making that jump to jarhood. Then it came to me when we were in the middle of fighting the flood. I saw how Higgins is considered a comrade, and that the crew are still his friends, I saw how he was still Higgins even after losing his body." He sighed then smiled "I think it's something I'm up for. It sure as hell beats losing all of my muscle control and choking to death on my own spit. Plus who knows, maybe I can find an AI honey like Cortana and continue being my usual hound dog self even if I don't have a body." Richards laughed while saying this, and Chief just smiled and shook his head.

"Well, I've got to get back to work, or the Captain iss going to put my balls in a vice." Richards went back to the engine room to oversee some work that the other crew members were doing.

It seems like everyone but me is finding some higher purpose here but me. I've always had a focus on winning, but perhaps I was doing the right thing for the wrong reason? Maybe that's what Johnson's real message was when his told me to not ever let Cortana go. Perhaps I wasn't seeing the purpose that was in front of my face the whole time? The Chief raised his eyebrows at the thought.

End of Chapter 7.

I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews that they've written so far. Hopefully the story is progressing along decently, as this is one of the first fanfics I've ever really written. Anyway, look forward to some more updates as I've got a bit of time on my hands right now, so I plan on putting in a few chapters every day or so.