PART III

SPIRITUS MUNDI

A/N: Took the liberty of changing the story cover. Should give you an idea of what Jack looks like for any you looking for a more exact representation of him.

Chapter 46: The Artifact

It was ridiculous. The whole damn thing. Her first response should have been laughing right in Jack's face.

Drive him mad? The Master Chief. Demon of the Covenant, bane of the Prophets, savior of humanity, and defender of Earth?

Did Jack know nothing about his father? John had endured the loss of his parents, seven years of brutal training, agonizing augmentations, the loss of most of his childhood friends, and thirty years of fighting in a nearly hopeless war against a superior foe. The man who had brought about the destruction of entire Covenant Armadas, who had won a contest of wills against the Gravemind, and who had saved the galaxy so many times that there might as well be a running tally.

No, not her Spartan.

Not her John.

But as the dark shadows continued to swarm above her, the babbling horde of shapeless demons cackling in ancient and indecipherable tongues, a lurking fear and doubt began to creep into her mind, and the more she allowed the doubt to consume her the more John's positive attributes began to look like disadvantages.

This was not a fight that he could simply shoot his way out of. Cortana had no doubt he would try, the man was agonizingly unimaginative after all, but he was far from stupid. It would not take him long to realize that this was another battle of wills. A battle between him and a thousand entities far stronger than the Gravemind ever was. Strangely this solid fact was not what caused Cortana to doubt. Thought it maybe the naïve optimism of the heart, Cortana would bet on her Spartan no matter what odds were placed against him.

No, it was not the odds, but rather something else neither of them could control.

Time, for in this place a single moment could be stretched out into eternity. Every mind had its breaking point. Cortana knew that all too well, and John, as stubborn as he could be, was no exception. The pain and loss that was in his past would give the elder beings all the ammunition they needed. All that was left was pressure and time. Have enough of both, and eventually even the strongest dam would break.

Across from her Jack's brow was furrowed, every possible solution that he could come up with blazing through his mind.

He wants to protect me, Cortana thought. He wants to protect me and his father, but he can't do both. Well there's only one solution to that isn't there?

"Go," Cortana said firmly. The single word was enough to break Jack from his meditative trance.

He seemed at first bewildered, and then determined as he understood what his mother meant. He stepped forward, his posture adamant that he was not going anywhere without her. If Cortana did not know better she could have sword that John was standing in front of her.

"I'm not going to abandon you," Jack said, voice filled with the same faltering confidence and denial that Cortana had heard once before.

"You're not abandoning me if I'm the one telling you to leave," Cortana insisted. "And don't think for a second that you can take me with you. You and I both know that I'm a half step away from falling back into Rampancy. I'll just be a liability."

"Selena will come back for you," Jack said. Stubborn and unmoving.

"Good. "That will just make one more monster that you and John don't have to deal with," Cortana replied, hoping she sounded more confident than she actually was. "Besides, she can't do anything to me that hasn't already been done."

Jack closed his eyes and looked away. He was unable to look at her as he slowly nodded his head. Cortana placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You don't give me enough credit. I'm a lot tougher than I look."

Jack raised his eyes, staring into hers. "I know you're tough."

"But don't believe it," Cortana said, interrupting him. She smiled sadly. "Even after all you've told me there is still so much that I don't know, but all the knowledge in the universe doesn't even come close to what I believe in, and I believe in both of you." She leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on Jack's cheek. He had her by the shoulders. His grip on her was firm yet tenuous. Fragile even. As if one more word from her could break the bonds that connected them and send Jack flying across the void. "Go," she repeated. "Whatever happens I know we'll see each other again." She slipped a hand to her stomach, a single finger tracing the center of her belly. "One way or another."

Jack swallowed hard, his stomach laboring to digest her words. For a moment she thought he would stay. That all her words of encouragement might have been for nothing.

The sudden speed of his movement surprised her, Cortana barely having time to register the rough feel of Jack's lips pressing against the crown of her head.

And then he was gone, Cortana now alone in the middle of the protective bubble. Jack stood right at the furthermost perimeter, his back turned to her. "There are other versions of you out there," he said quietly. "An infinite number, each of them slightly different. I may not go to you, but to one of the other Cortana's instead. Even so…"

He looked upwards, blue eyes piercing through the blackness. Something gigantic was moving just beyond the shield that guarded them, and he could just make out the contours of it. The slithering of mucus covered tentacles. The outline of dragon wings. The flapping of saltwater gills filling the unnatural humanoid creature with blasphemous life. Ancient yellow eyes filled with horrific nightmares.

John was in for one hell of a fight, all the dark forces from the nine circles of hell swiftly descending upon him.

"Even so, I am certain that we will meet again. If that happens I'll have already lived long and wandered far. I will be very different from how I am now. I might even be your enemy."

"No," Cortana said instantly. A knee jerk reaction. The wandering eyes towards his Red birthmark, that giant elephant in the room. He had read her thoughts, but suddenly all her misgiving flew out of the window once Jack had stated the possible implication out loud. "I refuse to believe that anything from me and John could be evil. Least of all you."

"Good and evil?" Jack asked, a phantom, knowing smile caressing his lips. "You know that it's not always that simple. Sometimes it's just two good people with opposing points of view. Views that are incompatible with one another. Sometimes it's not black and white, and instead more like red versus blue."

"Red and blue my ass," Cortana said. "I won't let it happen."

He let out a short laugh and said, "If anyone could defy fate, it would be you." He sighed and added underneath his breath, far lower than Cortana could hear, "But if I were a betting man…" He grew quiet, staring intently again at the void just beyond the blue bubble. No movement now, everything eerily still after so much flurry of activity. No excuses left to stay just a little bit longer.

"I'm going to miss you."

Cortana's face dropped, her hard defiance against Jack's infuriating fatalism melting when she heard him say his goodbye. He was young, and despite a few relapses was nevertheless mature, but something about his tone held the ghost of what had once been a child. It was almost enough to get Cortana to go over there and embrace him again. Almost, but tough love was in order.

"Go. Find John. Be a hero."

Jack nodded at her words, then with a deep breath walked through the blue barrier.

The bubble popped, and Cortana immediately converted from physical back to immaterial. Her data flowed freely through the void, and Cortana struggled to keep it all from flying apart entirely. The effort was a bit like treading water. You could do it for a while, but eventually you were going to sink. Cortana had underestimated just how much Jack's presence had managed to relieve her symptoms of Rampancy. Already she could feel the corruption rearing its ugly head. Like a cancer resuming its malignant rot after years in remission.

No matter, she was a tough old bird, and this was nothing she had not suffered through before. She could suffer for just a little while longer.

(Mom?) Jack's voice cut through the void. It sounded faint and distant, but Cortana seized upon it.

"I'm here."

(I was thinking, about the Artifact. Remember, I said that it wanted to be used.)

A ripple of worry ran across Cortana's emotional subroutines. "What has it done to John?"

(Not to him. To someone else. It will seek out the most vulnerable person it can find and feed off them. You and my father might have to deal with the consequences.)

"Understood," Cortana said. "And Jack? Please be careful."

Jack scoffed arrogantly. Only Cortana could appreciate that kind of hubris. (Have you forgotten who I am? After all, I do take after my…) then he was gone, his voice trailing away completely. Cortana was left alone in the dark silence, desperately attempting to keep herself afloat.

Naomi could tell that Mal was growing restless beside her. Vaz was restless as well, but at least he could hide it, sort of. Then again, Naomi reasoned, it was unfair to compare them to a Spartan. At the very least they were better than Phillips.

Professor Evan Phillips lay snoring in the co-pilot seat, one arm across his chest, another hanging over his right side with the knuckles touching the floor. Next to him Lian was watching in seemingly rapt fascination as a mote of dust continually circled around his mouth. It would descend rapidly as he breathed in, resting between his two lips when he closed his mouth, before shooting back up into the air again when he exhaled.

Mal was busy drumming on the armrest of his chair, listening intently as Black Box cycled through the Marine and Navy comm. channels.

First Romanov.

"All ships pull back and defend the firebases. Provide covering fire for the ground offensive while Infinity deals with the super carrier."

Then the Scorpion tanks.

"Yeehaa, look at the hairy bastards run. Come one boys it's a turkey shoot out here. Commander Scott to Firebase Nathanial Victor we are ETA thirty minutes from your position. Calvary is on its way boys."

To Firebase Nathanial Victor.

"Negative, negative. We are being overrun. I repeat we are being overrun. Won't hold out until you get here. Advise that your reroute to rally point Zulu Foxtrot. UNSC Cold Harbor this is Firebase Nathanial Victor. We have brutes in the wire. Requesting ordinance drop on our position. Drop it right on top of our heads. This is my call."

To the UNSC Cold Harbor.

"Captain Kowalski to Nathanial Victor. Uh, understood Nathanial Victor, this is your call. Rerouting a flock of Broadswords to your position. Find cover if you can."

And then of course there was fireteam Crimson.

"Going, going…Yeah! Stuck that motherfucker! Wait till folks see that vid on waypoint. Oh, what's that little grunt? You say that you don't want to fight anymore? That you're afraid of a big bad Spartan? Well how about I give you A SHOTGUN TO THE FACE! HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES BITCH!"

"Does anybody else think that Crimson is a bit…weird?" Naomi asked.

Vaz shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't noticed anything."

Mal snorted. "You're a goddamn Russian. You were drinking vodka and learning how to swear before you could even walk."

"And you Brits are any better?"

"Well, at least we don't suck vodka out of a baby bottle." Mal let out a long groan, rubbing his face with both his hands. "Jesus tap dancing Christ. Romanov need to die or get off the pot. Six hours. Six hours of watching empty space and listening to the radio. I wish to God something would happen."

Right on cue the red alarm sounded, BB's voice blaring through the speakers. "Slipspace ruptures incoming. Elite signatures. I count twenty vessels. Maybe more."

Phillips woke with a start and fell out of his seat. Mal felt Vaz's hand wack him upside the head. "You just had to open your mouth didn't you ya dumb bastard?"

"I didn't do shit," Mal complained, rubbing the back of his head where a large lump was already forming. A few astronomical units away from them Covenant ships began popping out of slipspace, the Elite fleet stumbling into the system. BB rattled off his analysis.

"Twenty-two ships in all. Some corvettes, but it's mostly heavies. One assault carrier. Three ships have heavy damage. Evidence of them recently being in combat. Looks like this is what's left of the fleet that Lord Hood engaged."

"Lord Hood?" Vaz asked. "So, he's coming here?"

"No, Romanov will have to engage these reinforcements alone."

Vaz looked bewildered. "Why? I mean I understand that Romanov needs to lose this battle, but he can't be so dangerous that HIGHCOM would be willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of soldiers and Infinity just to get at him."

BB sighed. "Vasily, you have to understand. Romanov isn't someone…"

Vaz never heard the rest of what BB had to say. The entire world had gone muted. Unnaturally silent. There was a poke on his shoulder, Mal attempting to say something to him, but no words came out of his mouth.

And when did everything become so dark? Not dark in the sense that there was no light. The bridge of the Port Stanley was lit up as bright as it ever was, but it seemed muted. Everything seemed muted, as if a black film had been placed over his eyes. Like he was wearing sunglasses.

Then he heard it. The sound of bells ringing in his ears. Beautiful and maddening. Lacking all harmony, rhyme, and reason. The sound was unbearable, Vaz falling out of his chair and clamping his hands over his ears to try and drown out the sound. His mouth filled with the taste of molten copper, and his nose was invaded by the stench of rotten meat and onions. To his left Liana, Philips, and Mal writhed on the ground in agony alongside him, and to his right there was a loud thud as Naomi also sank to her knees.

But she did not cover her ears. Instead her eyes were wide, and through those eyes she saw the future.

The Artifact had chosen her.

Naomi could not move. Her neck was warm and wet, her body filled with painful stiffness. She was laying on her back. Above her a woman in Mjolnir was looking at her, a bloody combat knife in her hand. To Naomi's confusion the woman looked almost exactly like Dr. Halsey, only younger. Much, much younger.

The woman stared blankly at Naomi, then at the figure lying next to her. Naomi turned her head to see what Halsey's doppelganger was looking at.

No, Naomi thought desperately. "No, no, no, no!"

Vaz lay next to her, his body rattled with bullets, and covered in blood. His skin pale, and his eyes doll like and lifeless. They stared at her without blinking.

"Vaz," Naomi tried to speak, but it came out as a choked gurgle. Blood poured from her neck. With what strength she had left Naomi reached out a hand towards him. "Vaz!"

A woman was screaming. Somehow above the sounds of the bells Vaz could hear it. It was the screams of a woman swiftly losing her mind. Vaz struggled to get up, his stomach lurching with each movement he made. When he finally did manage to get back up to his feet he could almost not believe what he saw.

Naomi was screaming her lungs out, hands pulling at her blonde hair.

Vaz attempted to move forward and only succeeded in falling flat on his face. He got back up and crawled towards Naomi as fast as he could. When he reached her he cupped Naomi's face in both hands and yelled, "Naomi!"

Naomi did not register his presence, her eyes staring at a spot a thousand yards away. Vaz shook her head. "Naomi, look at me!"

With those last words Naomi's eyes snapped into focus. They looked directly into his, and when they did the bells stopped ringing. Her eyes watered, a tear spilling out and rolling down on her cheek. "Vaz?"

Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and Naomi collapsed backward into unconsciousness.