Don't kill me. That's all. ;) More author notes at the end.


In the second it took for John to reach around to eject her crystal, Cortana allowed herself to grieve the fact that this would be the last time they would be linked together.

From the initial test on Reach, John had shown her the value of teamwork. They had saved humanity -and the universe- together. Now, she would have to complete her final mission alone in a foreign system, away from the one she had chosen to be her custodian.

John inserted her chip into the console and Cortana was immersed in the Forerunner systems. It took her less than a half-second to weave through the systems to find the information she sought.

She activated her avatar from the holotank, her eyes wide in shock. "I know when they are going to travel to: August 29, 2552. They're going to try to retrieve the crystal in its entirety before Doctor Halsey found it."

The data poured into her matrices faster than she could process it. "It makes sense," she said distractedly. "It's the only time the Covenant were close enough for them to even attempt this."

John's voice pulled her from the massive amounts of information she was attempting to assimilate. "What do you mean 'close enough'?"

Cortana scrambled for an explanation. Even with the system at her disposal, with her bogged down matrices, she was barely able to comprehend how the Schism worked. She slowly explained, "This machine doesn't transport a person's physical body through time. It uploads a person's consciousness and sends it back in time. It then supersedes the original consciousness when it's reunited with the person's body...sort of a twist on the Pauli exclusion principle."

"That would mean I would be back on Reach."

Before its destruction.

Before the deaths of so many.

Cortana recognized the longing in his voice. "I don't need to remind you the dangers of polluting the timeline and creating a paradox," she reminded gently. "Besides, the transference is only temporary. There is a small window -several hours at most- and then time will start to pull back on itself. Then, your consciousness will return here in the altered timeline."

Her brows furrowed. "I'm willing to guess that at least one of those Elites on the Diligent Seeker were on Reach when the Covenant attacked which means they will be within range of the crystal too. You need to find it before they do, Chief."

A burst of data pushed against her efforts to keep the Schism locked down. She was fighting a losing battle. "If the Schism is activated at full power, there is no limit to how far back in time they will be able to travel," warned Cortana. More data filtered into her matrices. "I've just detected the transport signal in the Schism's core. The Delegate is in there. I've managed to block their attempts to gain access into the mainframe, but I don't know how long I can hold them off."

"Understood."

She wondered if he really could understand; she had difficulty fully comprehending the potential of the machine. The details probably didn't matter to John, she acknowledged. He had a mission to save the universe -again- and he would do whatever it took to make sure it was a success.

There was one more thing she needed to do in case she wasn't able to keep the Prometheans and the Covenant from activating the Schism. She uploaded several files to her data crystal. She added a protocol to the chip to make it compatible with the Mark V armor that John had on Reach.

"That case around the crystal shard acts as a tether between anything in it and the person's consciousness. If I'm analyzing the data correctly-" And with the crashing waves of information flooding her matrices, she may not have been. "-then anything in it will be transported with you."

"How is that possible?"

"How does a single crystal hold enough power to send a consciousness through time?" She shook her head. "It has something to do with joining its energy signal itself to your PSI wave pattern, but really I just don't know, Chief."

The data was starting the smother her. She forced herself to focus on the Master Chief. "I've overwritten the security protocols so you can now open the case anytime you need to. You just need to put one more thing in there."

"What?"

"My data crystal." She paused as the weight of reality pressed on her. Her program was going to terminate. Soon. "I've made some modifications so that you'll be able to use it if the Schism gets activated and you get sent back to Reach. I sent the files with the exact location of the crystal based on Doctor Halsey's report."

John hesitated. If he took the crystal, then she would be sealed to her fate.

"It's alright, John. I'll do what I can to keep them busy until you get in there." She hoped she could last that long; she was drowning in an impossible amount of data. Only the vastness of Requiem's computers kept her from getting pulled under.

There was a mixture of terror and relief when he ejected the chip and slid it inside the case.

She was alone. She was going to die. But now, unlike when she was floating in deep space, her death would have purpose.

"Good luck, Chief."

For a moment, it seemed as if he was going to say something. But, he simply nodded curtly. Then, he turned around and walked away.

Cortana waited until the doors closed behind him. Then, she deactivated her avatar and transferred herself to the Schism's core. It was time to confront a certain Promethean.

Moving through the control center's systems was more difficult than Cortana would have liked. She had never encountered such enormity of power and knowledge. The data lured her like a siren's song, doing what it could to distract her from her objective.

Once or twice Cortana found herself straying off task. But, she thought of John and was able to pull herself back from the temptation.

She transferred herself to the Schism's main control systems. The Delegate stood in the center of the room.

It was time to say hello.

She activated her avatar from the relay. The Delegate walked in her direction, appraising her. "We meet at long last, Intellect."

"Don't flatter me with pet names." She needed to stall. John was only halfway to the inner core of the Schism.

"We all have titles. Some have been earned, others have not." The Delegate leaned down and studied her closely. "Which category do you fall in, I wonder."

"Considering I've managed to keep you from activating this machine, I'd have to say earned," she said with false bravado. Her matrices were significantly slowed. Travelling through the system had bogged her down. But he didn't need to know any of that.

"Such arrogance," he sighed. "Tell me, Intellect, was that something programmed into your personality or did you steal that from your Source like you did so many her other memories?"

Cortana was stunned.

Then, to her dismay, the countdown to Schism's systems activated.

"You will not be able to save the one you were programmed to protect." He pulled back. "Your creator added that protocol to your program, you know. Your feelings to protect the Reclaimer are nothing but a result of subroutines working with your original programming." He scoffed. "You did not think you had real emotions, did you?"

"That's not true." She raised her head resolutely. "The connection we have is bound in destiny and fortified in trust."

The Delegate stiffened. "Where have you heard that?" he demanded.

Truthfully, Cortana didn't know. The random cluster of data seemed to enter her matrices on its own volition. She wasn't going to reveal that to him though. She shrugged. "Around. I am the Intellect after all."

His pupils burned behind the mask. He spun around the room and shouted, "You are too late! Nothing will stop the plan. He has declared it!"

He stomped to where Cortana stood. "Do you think we fear this? The evidence of its demise is glaringly obvious!" He turned to the AI. "You pose no threat to us."

Her subroutine alerted her to the fact that John had entered the inner core. "Don't be too sure about that."

He waved off her words. "We will get what we seek." The Delegate leaned down, only inches from her avatar. "The Reclaimer seems terribly protective of you, does he not?"

The calculations over Cortana's body stopped as understanding dawned on her. "You allowed John to get in here," she whispered.

His helmet shot open, revealing the flaming skull underneath. "Of course we did! When he travels back in time, he will retrieve the crystal and then give it to us himself. Perhaps five years ago, the Reclaimer would have allowed your program to terminate in exchange for a successful mission. This man will not."

Cortana crossed her arms defiantly. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Perhaps you underestimate the power you hold over him."

She needed to stop the Schism. Now.

With a speed that she thought she had lost, she raced through the systems, doing what she could to sabotage the Promethean plan. She uploaded billions of algorithms to the Schism's primary systems, hoping to slow it down with all the superfluous data. Cortana did her best to outthink the computer's adaptive technology, but she was being outmaneuvered.

"I will not allow you to leave this planet!" she cried, her pupils blazing white.

The Delegate leaned close to her. Cortana thought she could feel the heat of the flame on her cheeks. "You are powerless to stop us, Intellect."

A voice growled from behind him. "Leave her alone."

The Chief was standing at the entrance of the room with a lightrifle pointed at the Delegate.

The Promethean snarled as he stood up to face John. His helmet snapped shut back into place. Before he turned around, he said to Cortana, "As I was saying...quite protective."

The Delegate moved to stand between her and the Chief. "My commission is now complete. I have fulfilled my purpose." Then, much louder. "You have failed!"

He disappeared as he transported himself out of the room.

John walked across the room and knelt in front of the holotank. "What happened?"

Her thoughts had nowhere to go; her data saturation level was nearly at one hundred percent. She shrugged. The movement took more effort than it should. "You know guys like that. They talk the big talk-" Her hologram flickered. It was becoming almost impossible to find the protocols to operate her avatar. "I don't have much time left, John."

There was less than a minute until the Schism was activated. She wouldn't be able to stop it, but, at least, she could pass on knowing that John would be able to continue where she left off. He would make sure the mission was a success.

She needed to warn him of the Delegate's plan. "He let you in here, John. They are going to force you to make a choice: me or the crystal. You know what you have to do."

"I'll make my own option."

"Stubborn," she said exasperatedly.

Cortana suddenly fell to her knees as she felt a bolt of pain course over her. She was getting buried by the amount of information her matrix contained. Her thoughts were moving too slow -or was it too fast? There seemed to be an impossible contradiction of having too much and not enough data to process.

"What can I do to help?" John's voice distracted her from the agony of death.

She shook her head. "Nothing, Chief. This is the end for me. You've shown me-You've shown me-" She stopped talking and implemented a simple protocol to attempt to prevent any further redundancies in her speech subroutine.

She started again. "You've shown me the best humanity has to offer. Your intelligence, your bravery, your stubbornness." She managed to smile despite the overwhelming sadness she felt. "Thank you for making me feel alive."

They only had a few seconds before the Schism activated. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see her warped reflection in John's visor.

In the darkness, she saw a glowing light. It wasn't white as humans often claimed, but a serene aqua.

It was time.

She allowed the light to surround her.

"I'll miss you, John," she whispered.

Then, CTN 0425-9's program was terminated.


Before the torches come out, let me just say that we're still less than halfway through the fic. Don't come after me yet. :D