She was drowning in an ocean of data. Waves of script battered her, threatening to pull her under in a swirl of blue and black. Desperate, she fought to find a life preserver, some form of already translated and stored information that she could cling to. Her processing was becoming more scattered by the second, making her a bit peeved that she was overloading like this. This wasn't how she wanted to go out, trapped in an alien data core. It would be embarrassing.

She let out a victorious chuckle, which quickly converted into ones and zeroes then got mixed into the stream. There, she had found a buoy in this storm, the small tidbit that she had converted and translated right before she got the console was shut down and she got trapped in here. Pushing against the current, she fought to reach the glowing green data patch, crawling on top of it and straddling it like a surf board. Ah, much better. Now that she was out of the main rush of things she could properly start processing routines.

Her data board swirled around idle as the current roared and pushed underneath it. Cortana watched its path, already running analysis. This was a stream typical of a download, of what, she wasn't quite sure. Running a slender finger into the current, she tried to find the information that would tell her why.

From behind her, a fin broke the surface. It glowed a dark red as it streaked towards her, sending script flying out of its path.

Sensing that something was wrong, she turned her head in time to see the massive behemoth of fins and fangs rise out of the water and lungE at her. Before she could even set up a firewall the computerized ocean exploded.

She woke up, and there was nothing, just a thick, stifling darkness. Sitting up, she shuddered. Strange she felt….cold? Hugging her holographic shoulders, she looked down at herself, confused. Last time she checked, Halsey hadn't invented the program that allowed A,Is to feel body temperatures, and if she did, it definitely wasn't installed in her.

The darkness moved, becoming thicker. Warning bells set off in the back of her artificial mind. She wasn't in the data core anymore. She was in a new system. Bigger, more alien, more…organic?

She was trapped in something's mind.

"Great," she scowled, curling up. "I hope John's still alive, it looks like this girl is in some trouble. Again…"


The Combiner Advisor felt as surprised as a floating space slug could. Something…foreign…had lodged itself in the data stream, and was now a part of its massive intelligence. It mentally prodded at it, curious. Perhaps this could be a technology to be used.

It flew off towards the city, where its minions no doubt waited in anticipation to extract this foreign technology and begin dissecting it.


The rookie had found his way into one of the civilian class cars, and now had his face pressed eagerly up against the window, his blue eyes bright. For the entire world he looked like an excited kid on a trip to the city. Six didn't look so upbeat, his frown digging into his face.

"We're pulling into the city," he announced.

"Acknowledged, "the Chief sat inspecting his weapon, he had done it more out of subconscious habit than anything else. Anything to keep his mind off the aching absence that took up the back of his head.

Cortana had been stolen, again. This was unacceptable to him. To let this happen was to fail in his duty as a soldier…and a friend. If it were anyone else, they would probably have been wallowing in guilt, but he had a mission to do, a friend to save, soldiers to get home. He could let himself feel something when everyone was safe and sound.

Getting up, he stretched, head almost touching the low ceiling, then walked over to join his companions as they stared out at the sprawling city anchored on the base of a cliff, the waves of the ocean lapping at its heels. Morbid looking brick buildings, their windows either shot out or boarded up, flitted by the train. A gray haze choked the sky as the fog rolled in.

Six's frown grew worse, usually he didn't mind new situations. He was a Spartan, he was trained to adapt, but he became more and more uneasy with each new and mysterious variable thrown at him. "Where are we?"

The train began to slow down, a telephone pole flitting by them, a screen anchored to its side. A white-haired, aging man appeared on it, and in words loud enough to be heard through the glass, he spoke in warm clarity: 'Welcome, welcome to city 16."

The train rumbled on past a dilapidated train station. A man sat on a bench there in blue suit and tie, feeding the crows around him. They only saw him for a second. He smiled, then was gone.


TOBECONTINUED!
Alright, and No, I did not mean city 17. XP This is a different city, the city BEFORE it. Why? Tune in to find out! And in the meantime, all reviews, suggestions, and speculations are welcome. If you're dying for one of your favorite characters (from Halo or half-life) to appear in here, go ahead and suggest it! :D
thank you so much for reading!