The boats were moored and the fire was burning. The fellowship were resting. They had set up camp, and are making use of their time however they please.
Pippin and Gimli are busy smoking. The young hobbit is listening intently as Gimli tells him about his people, about the other clans, and of the great plans and preparations that their kings and chieftains are currently putting into action, plans that will make the Dwarven race great again. Legolas meanwhile stands on guard, tense, and apparently on edge within the silent and peaceful glades of Amon Hen.
All are looking out across the view before them, gazing at the lake, the falls and the lands around them. The great waterfall, named the Raurus by the men of Gondor, a landmark that once marked the beginning to their great and powerful realm. It is here that the river Anduin would lead into the expansive lake of Nen Hithorel, a great bowl like structure which at some point in Arda's ancient geological past must have been the crater of a powerful volcano.
The Anduin would collect within the Nen Hithorel, as if in rest, then flow over the triple peaks of the Rorus. White jets of water could be seen streaming down into the channel below, where it will eventually meet the Onodlo of Rohan, the largest river of the Horse lord's realm. Its waters will continue to flow then on, passing through the marshes of Nindall, through Osgiliath, Minas Tirith, and onwards towards the Bay of Belefas, onwards to the sea.
On his heads up display, and with his own eyes, the Master Chief could see all of this. And he thought that it was beautiful. He was standing at the base of the third peak of Raurus, gazing silently at the powerful falls, and towards the marshes and rocky outcrops beyond. He had done this, seen this similar view on a dozen worlds now. He would never tire of it.
The great peak towered above him, like a sentinel, reminding him of a sail catching the wind, but also like the head of a powerful warhammer, similar to ones he had seen throughout his life, human and otherwise. The great waters of the Anduin poured and flooded past the great pillar of rock, enveloping and eroding it, embracing it like a dynamic velvet cloak.
Other than that, and a few patches of moss and lichen, it was utterly featureless and boring. Could these peaks be hewn into colossal statues similar to those that he had seen behind? What had he actually seen back there? They reminded him somewhat to Mount Rushmore on earth, the great monuments to US presidents of a government long since destroyed, destroyed centuries ago by war, and by humanities never ending pursuit of progress. But what were those statues he'd seen? Cortana would surely know, he'd ask her.
"Cortana, what were those statues that we saw? Kings of Gondor, perhaps?" He'd read something about statues commemorated to ancient kings of that kingdom, statues of great and impressive size. But of course he had expected nothing of those proportions.
"Yes Chief, they were kings!" Came Cortana's cheerful reply. "They are the Agornath, carved in the likeness of Isildur and Anarion. They used to mark the beginning of Gondor, and this site would have been a trading hub long ago. It's obvious that their lands have diminished greatly, both in their size and power".
John couldn't help but smile. Cortana always had a way of explaining such important events in such a matter-of-fact manner, all part of her cool and laid back demeanour. It was one of the few things he did actually knew about her, and there was still so much that he didn't know.
He wondered if he had hurt her, possibly. He'd learned, or remembered more so, the sensitivity of humans. Their anxieties and passions, their fragile emotions. He'd seen it in his parents' eyes when he had gazed into the mirror of Galadriel, and he had seen it in his own, the babe in arms, and the scared child running from ONI. John was starting to realise that there was a difference between soldiers and people, and that they needed to be treated differently and accordingly.
"How's the cloak keeping you?" He asked all of a sudden, as soon as the idea came into his head.
"Not bad Chief. It's light, and quite smooth as well. Exactly what I need against this awful biting wind up here!" Chief sighed. This kind of behaviour wasn't automatic, it was hard and he needed to focus. But as he heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see her standing beside him, he couldn't help but feel at ease. He had remembered what it felt like to feel friendship.
She was standing there, happily, looking both stern and gentle against the blue evening sky. The clouds darting overhead, and the lush grasses below at her feet. Her light and naturally-coloured cloak billowed in the strong wind as it focussed around solid peaks and the open cliff face. It was cold, and Chief had learned to hate the feeling of wind. He could only imagine how shocking this all was for Cortana, all these strange and difficult sensations bombarding her. But she seemed to be coping well. In fact, she seemed very content with her new lease of life.
"How is all this possible Cortana?" He asked her suddenly, taking her of guard with the confusing question.
"What d'ya mean Chief? You and I know it's because of whatever Gandalf did to me. It's through him that I've been given life as wonderful as thi-"
"No, what I mean is, that..." Just as soon as he had interrupted her had his voice trailed away. He was silent once again, struggling to realise what he actually meant, looking back out across the lands beyond.
Cortana cocked her head to one side, staring into his visor. Chief felt as if she could see right through the gold-tinted, bulletproof plastic. Her blue and sparkling eyes burning into his own. It made him feel uncomfortable. Her short hair was waving, blown about by the powerful wind. Cortana wondered if it would grow now? Now that would be weird!
"I think...I know where you're coming from Chief" She said softly, pushing against his shoulder, making him turn back around to face her. "This is really big. Hell, its freaking huge! ONI is gonna flip when they find out what I can do. I'm gonna change humanity forever, if we ever return".
Chief nodded in agreement, twitching to the left slightly as he thought. He hadn't considered this yet. The implications of a fully realised, truly sentient and stable AI, were massive. Would AI's walk the streets of planet Earth and the colonies in a hundred years time? How would humans react to this? How would religious believers react? It was mind-blowing really. Cortana was right, it was huge!
"But, there's more than that Chief" Cortana continued, causing John to look back around at her. "As big as these implications are for humanity, they are just as big as they are for me, and for you" John wasn't quite sure he understood what she meant, but he realised that these related to the feelings that he had been struggling with for the past few days.
"I've got a human life now Chief. My mind is still fast and I can calculate a trillion equations simultaneously. But, my mind is also human. I fear, I worry, and it feels strange. I don't know what all these feelings mean, and because of that they're driving me mad. I have wants, desires even. Above all, I feel scared".
Chief couldn't help but turn and face her now. He felt compelled to. This was Cortana, and it was his job to look after her, just as it always has been. He could feel Cortana in his hands as he took hold of and gripped her shoulders. She was trembling ever so slightly, but he didn't know why.
"I'm scared, of how I'm and if I will ever be able to live a 'normal' life". She continued to confide. "How people will react to me, and how they will treat me. I don't even know if they'll allow us to...stay together..." This was her biggest fear of them all. AI's didn't have rights. ONI would lock her away in some laboratory until the end of time if they ever discovered what had happened.
This had been Gandalf's warning, why he had told John never to reveal her to humanity. He had been so, so right!
"Cortana!" Chief replied, as reassuringly as he could, "Some things change, others don't. It was, and is my job to look out for you. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you!" He was honest and sincere, and Cortana certainly appreciated it.
"Really Chief?" She asked vulnerably, her eyes glistening ever so slightly.
"Yes!" John replied.
"Promise?" She asked, knowing how much a Spartans promise, especially her Spartan's promise, meant.
"I promise" He replied.
Cortana's smile grew, broad and beaming. She was sure that she was human, and sure that she had a heart because she felt its warmth right now. At least one of her many desires were realised. She was sure that with her eyesight, mechanical in nature, and capable of seeing most of the electromagnetic spectrum, that she could see Chief's face. More importantly, sure that she could see his eyes underneath that cold and impassive visor. She wanted this moment to last forever, but knew that the statistical probability of such an event coming true was well and truly-
"Ah! Chief! You're up here to? It's good to know you're still with us!" The bombastic voice of Boromir floated from the valley below them, causing the two to look around. Cortana had been right, the probability of the moment lasting forever HAD been well and truly zero.
"It appears that you have been deceiving me Spartan, along with the others. When were you planning on revealing the existence of your companion to us?" Boromir could feel his resentment building. He felt betrayed, and cheated, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He'd learned to hate this Spartan. He would have liked to make him suffer, to hurt him, but the damned Spartan was too powerful. To fight him would be madness, he had to stay cool, had to remain subtle and coy if he wanted to get what he was after.
Cortana couldn't help but feel on edge. There was something off about him, more so than she had sensed before, something in his voice. Something about his eyes. It was unsettling. Her eyes were fixed on his.
"Boromir" Chief greeted him, seemingly as if he hadn't noticed either, yet stepping between both Cortana and the charismatic Captain of Gondor continued to walk up the hill towards them. He was charismatic, but he was also arrogant, and worse, hubristic. John knew to that something was wrong. He hadn't missed the fact that Boromir's skin was pale and clammy. His pupils were dilated, and more than this, the hardened veteran appeared to be shaking.
"Well? Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" He said rather bluntly. Chief looked back behind him, looking at Cortana. She looked apprehensive, she was obviously scared of him. Chief knew that he couldn't challenge Boromir. He was in an unstable frame of mind. Could snap at any moment. He knew that he had to cooperate.
"This is Cortana" He responded, pulling her gently from out behind him, towards Boromir. If anything happened, anything, Chief could react in an instant. No harm would come to her!
"I am honoured!" Boromir replied, drawing towards her. He had changed again, now he was charming and swarve. Yet, there was still something unexplainably vile about him. "You are very beautiful, Cortana" He continued, taking her hand and kissing it gently, much to her disgust. "He is lucky, to possess and own someone like you as his companion".
Cortana smiled, forcing herself to do so. "Thank you! That's very flattering of you. It's nice to meet someone with class around here! Are you shocked to be talking with someone who looks like a ghost?" She said and asked, coming up with a quick white lie, hurt and outright disguised that he was making her sound like some kind of object. Something to be owned.
Boromir smiled back, giving nothing away. "I admit, I am a little taken aback, but nothing I cannot overlook!" Well, at least he wasn't completely vile! She thought to herself.
"And, likewise Cortana" He continued, responding to her compliment, "For there are many fools in this world, and sadly many of whom are within our own company!" Both she and Chief couldn't help but flinch, astounded that he could say such a thing.
"They are doing what they believe to be right, Boromir!" Cortana replied back without thinking, her voice hard and deathly serious. Boromir instantly shot her a dangerous and disapproving look. Boromir charm, and his fear of Chief was all that protected Cortana. He also knew that the Spartan was keeping his true thoughts to himself. John was clever. It was obvious that he was against him, but he wasn't actually disagreeing with him. How clever of him!
"Well, I know that I am disturbing. I apologise for interrupting you. I will get back to my duties, we still need a wood for the campfire!" and with a final look at Chief, he kissed Cortana's hand once more. He hadn't actually let go of her yet.
Cortana was afraid. Boromir was not himself. The man she had known at Rivendell had been arrogant, but had also been charming and, if she was honest, attractive. Certainly not repellent or deviant. His palms were sweaty, his skin pale, and his eyes...she couldn't even look into them. Something was wrong, and he almost looked possessed. In realisation, and with the merest flicker of shock crossing her face, Cortana realised. Boromir was NOT himself, and she had a pretty good idea why!
"My lady!" He replied respectfully, finally releasing her. Bowing in respect to them both a final time, and looking Cortana up and down for just a moment too long, he turned and began walking back the way he had come. Back towards the treeline, collecting the odd stick or fallen branch as he went.
As the warrior began to pick his way through the steep and gauss bush ridden ground below, Chief continued to keep his gaze fixed upon him. Cortana exhaled, expelling a portion of the stress and fear that this meeting had produced. "Bloody hell Chief!" She exclaimed, almost breathless. For the first time in her life, she had experience full and proper fear.
Chief sensed this, placing a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, his eyes still fixed on Boromir. "He's not himself" He answered rhetorically.
"I don't like this Chief. Boromir has been pretty depressed lately" It was true, not so long ago he'd broken down completely in front of the group. Chief was a practical man, and he knew the practical advantages of emotion. Boromir was compromised. He'd been displaying signs of GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) for weeks.
As a petty officer of the UNSC it was Chief's responsibility to ensure the efficiency and mental integrity of every man under his command. In his current condition, Boromir was no longer an asset, but a liability to the Fellowship. He had been failing to interact with the group on social levels, increasing their own anxieties and damaging their own moral as a result. Any previously existing friendships he had created had all but been destroyed by him. The man barely ate, and barely slept. He was constantly complaining about muscle aches, nausea, and Chief had even caught the man hyperventilating.
Boromir was struggling to work and was struggling to benefit the group, he was struggling to cooperate with the others on any levels. But beyond this, Chief knew that this rapid development in his mental wellbeing was not due to stress. He knew it was because of the ring. It astounded him that this thing was able to affect Boromir, the others, and himself, in such a powerful way. But, was more important right now was that Chief knew he couldn't let Boromir out of his sight. He knew though, that he needed to ask Cortana a big favour before they proceeded.
"Cortana. I need you to power down. I need to put your core back into my helmet piece" The looks he received from her was nothing short of disappointment. Cortana had a new lease of life, one free to explore the world around her. She didn't want to feel caged again. That's how being uplinked with Chief's armour had always felt, like a prison. But she knew she was not stealthy, and she stuck out like a sore thumb out here. Boromir couldn't be trusted, and Chief needed to follow him without being seen.
"Ok. But you owe me one, Spartan!" She told him playfully, if a little harshly. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if in a trance. Not a second later, her form began to change. Her eyes clouded over, and her hair began to retreat back into her scalp. Her skin began to glow all the brighter, sparkling almost. Her warm and gentle features began to dissolve away completely, her bone structure and the very pours of her skin disappearing completely, smoothing out, flat and utterly featureless. This metamorphis complete, her entire form blinked, glitched and cut out completely. Her fine physique disappeared and the warm elven cloak which had been around her shoulders not a moment ago fluttered down towards the ground below.
John paced forwards, seemingly unfazed by what he'd just seen. Boromir had just disappeared from view, into the treeline, he needed to move fast. Kneeling he picked up the cloak, throwing it to one side. Without hesitation, he took hold of her CPU, and finding the point in the back of his helmet, connected to his very skull, he fitted it in place. They were one once more.
"Just don't forget my cloak you're done Mr dunderhead!" She announced sarcastically over his internal headset.
"Let's just hope the wind doesn't get it!" He replied in kind, smiling ever so slightly as he tore after Boromir, away from the peaceful Raurus falls...