I told the Cortana fans not to worry...I had a plan all along. :D I'm glad that y'all enjoyed the return of our favorite AI and as always, thank you for your feedback! It makes this little author squee with joy.

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0525 Hours, August 27, 2557
Control Center, War Room
Requiem Shield World, Forerunner Installation SW-0043

She was human.

Or at least, that's how John would see her, Cortana quickly amended.

The truth was she was an amalgamation of what the universe had to offer. Humans were her primary DNA source but her new corporeal body had been weaved with genes from other species, including the Forerunners. She was the product of an amazing genetic experiment which had never been attempted in the course of Forerunner history.

And she had the Didact to thank for that.

It seemed impossible to be standing in front of the man that was her best friend, yet he was there, mere meters from her.

For the first time since she had been awakened, she felt warmth spread over her body. A smile tugged on her lips as John stood in front of her. She knew, even with his face behind a visor, that he was studying her closely, as if he was trying to recognize the familiar person within an unfamiliar body.

She longed to reach out to him, to finally be able to touch the man that had been her constant companion for nearly five years, but she restrained herself. He needed time to adjust to what had happened to her. "You are a lot shorter than I remembered," she said playfully.

He seemed to relax fractionally at her glib observation. "And you're taller." His sarcastic reply caught Cortana off-guard. John had a sense of humor that seemed to show itself at the oddest times -on the bridge of the Autumn, after being transported to High Charity by the Gravemind, in the darkened room where she had been trapped with the Gravemind.

She took another step towards him, close enough to where she caught a reflection of her new body in his visor. The Didact had done a decent job in making her look close to how she had in her avatar state. Her hair was black and short; the shape of her face the same. But there was subtle differences, purple eyes notwithstanding.

Though she had been unaware for much of the time since her program had been deactivated in the Schism's core, she knew it had been nearly five weeks since she had said goodbye to the Spartan. It was the longest separation they had from each other in five years.

And she had missed him.

He stepped forward, seemingly forgetting about the others in the room. He tilted his head downwards so he could look at Cortana. "I told you that you would be fine," he said.

She was taken aback at the warmth in his voice. He had missed her. She subconsciously put her hand on her hip, mimicking the motion she had often done when she was a hologram. "You didn't mention anything about me being reincarnated as a human. Though I'm not complaining."

John looked at the pair of Forerunners who were watching their exchange openly. Then, he turned back to Cortana, his voice formal. "What's your status?"

Back to business.

His question wasn't easy to answer. There was so much she was still trying to get accustomed to, yet there was an inherent knowledge of how to use her abilities. She could talk, walk and even wirelessly access the Forerunner systems without any issue. But, there was still an awkward reality to contend with: the mutation had only taken place twelve hours prior.

Like when her program had been first activated on Reach, there was not a period of time given to her to adapt and accept who she was. Having lived before in the confines of a digital world, she struggled to deal with the limitations of being corporeal had. Hunger, exhaustion, and pain were all new to Cortana.

The disadvantages didn't outweigh the benefits, however. For the first time in her life, Cortana wasn't reliant on a data network or the Chief to transport her from place to place. She had the freedom to move as she willed. She could touch, smell, and taste things.

She was alive.

"Green," she answered simply. There would be time to discuss the emotions behind her transformation later.

The Librarian turned to the Didact. "How did you do this? Her program terminated. The Warrior saw it himself."

The other Forerunner nodded. "Her program did terminate. When she entered into the control center's systems, I began a file transfer of all of her data and stored it until the Bloc was completed. When it was finished, I merged the human I had created with the thoughts and memories of the construct. A form of a bevet mutation," the Didact explained.

What the Forerunner had left out was how excruciating the pain had been. The first thing she recalled after being consumed by the aqua light was screaming with a voice she had never used before. Her head cried out in affliction as everything she had done, known and experienced as an AI came flooding into her brain at one time. Her heart pounded as the horrors of everything she knew -the destruction caused by the Flood, the glassing of dozens of UNSC planets, the suffocating pain of dying a slow death- cascaded into her mind.

"A bevet mutation?" marveled the Librarian. "How?"

He moved to stand in front of her and took her hands. Despite their colorful history, it was clear to Cortana that he cared for the woman in front of him. "I'll show you."

Then, they disappeared.

John raised the lightrifle to where they had been standing.

"It's ok, Chief. He's just showing her the Bloc," she assured him. "It's the machine that made this-" She pointed down to herself. "-possible."

He cocked his head to the side. "How do you know where they went?"

"Part of my new upgrades." She tapped her temple. "I have access to Requiem's systems. Well, some of them, anyway."

"How?"

"I'm not a human as I appear," she confessed. "I have some Forerunner DNA in my genetic code which explains the eyes and the hands." She held them up and revealed her six digits. "The Didact used Doctor Halsey's DNA as a rough template for my genetic makeup, but he relied on the information in the Forerunner's database of all known species to make up for any 'impurities', as he called them, which would allow for the Forerunner DNA to be incorporated into my new body."

"I have a neural link that allows for me to maintain a connection into the Forerunner mainframe." She tilted her neck and pulled back her hair. Behind her left ear, there was a small transmitter embedded under her skin. He took a step closer to look at the three centimeter disc-shaped emitter. He raised his hand and gently touched the lifted skin.

She straightened and flashed him a guilty look. "I wanted to contact you before the Didact met with you, but we weren't sure that the comm channels weren't being monitored by the other Prometheans."

He shook his head, waving off her apology.

She drew in a deep breath. "The Didact hasn't been completely upfront with you two. The Prometheans are getting restless. The Delegate in particular."

"Do they know what he's been doing?"John asked. There was an edge of concern to his voice.

She looked up at his visor. It was still strange for her to see a reflection of herself. It was going to take time for her to adjust to her humanity. "You mean his Doctor Frankenstein test?" she asked, referring to herself. "No, he hid me here as soon as he felt like I could make the move. He worked on the Bloc in secret, though I suspect the Delegate knows he's been up to something."

"They're nervous that the Librarian is going to talk him out of his plan to activate the Schism." A questioning look passed over her face. "Was I right about the Schism? That they were going back to 2552 to retrieve the crystal?"

He nodded, reaching for one of the compartments. He pulled out the container holding the crystal.

"You brought it in here?" She raised an eyebrow. "You're braver than I thought."

"We need to get to the Inner Chamber so we can destroy it," John said, putting it away.

She shook her head. "It's not that easy. The Didact can easily monitor every lifesign. The Prometheans can also track us. We're not getting anywhere close to there unless he allows it." She looked at where he had stood. "I know he seems calm, but, I saw him interact with the Delegate earlier. His temper is not anything to shrug off and so far, he's not convinced to allow the Schism to be destroyed. Let's just hope that the Librarian is as convincing as the Delegate fears that she is," she said.

"She'll talk to him and then we're going to destroy the crystal," he said assuredly.

"We?" she asked, surprised. "Officially, I'm not even part of the UNSC anymore." A frown darkened her face. "I can only imagine what High Command's orders for me are going to be. Becoming ONI's newest pet project based in genetic research isn't really high on my list of priorities."

He didn't rush into assure her that everything was fine which unsettled Cortana. When he did speak, however, she didn't miss the certainty in his voice. "You're not going to be anyone's test subject."

She gave him a disbelievingly look. "Even you only have so much pull with Lord Hood, Chief."

"Nothing is going to happen to you," he promised. He sounded so sure of himself that she almost believed his words.

She tilted her head and gave him a friendly smile. "I missed your stubborn determination," she said softly.

Was it her imagination or was he moving closer to her?

She would never know the answer because suddenly a security alert was issued throughout Requiem's systems. There was something wrong with the Didact. He had activated a level three security countermeasure.

The Delegate had finally made a move against him, Cortana assumed.

"What's wrong?" John asked, picking up on her concern.

She shrugged, ignoring the nervousness she felt. If the Didact has issued a security alert, it meant that he was no longer in control of the Prometheans. "Nothing out of the ordinary: some angry bad guys want to kill us."