RECOMPOSE
by Ladywolvesbayne
AN (Español), para el anónimo de siempre: ¿sabés qué? el fic ya está terminado, es corto para mis estándares; pero voy a subir a cuentagotas porque soy así de forra, nada más. No contesto más mensajes pasivo-agresivos. Suerte.
3. FLIP A COIN
JUNE 11TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY
9:30 PM standard time (same night)
"...you want me to keep more than an eye on her." John confirmed, calmly. In few words, that was Captain Lasky's plan: release Cortana from custody and see what would she do if given autonomy. "Sir... she said she did some 'fireproof hacking' to get a fake ID, and forcefully placed herself in the incoming personnel log. She could sink the Infinity down if she wanted so."
They could have ONI agents all over their asses already as well. Nothing was ever a secret for that long within the lower ranks of the military. Well, nothing was a secret, ever. Period.
"Commander Palmer interrogated Dr. Preston, she confirmed a portable terminal stolen, the device connected to one of the UNSC mainframes. Cortana has no clearance to get anywhere near a computer port inside this vessel, Chief. She has fingerprints now. She needs both voice and fingerprint recognition to even turn on a simple entertainment station, Roland made sure of it."
They were alone in the strategic command aisle, standing across from each other, the holo-table between them. The towering SPARTAN just blinked, silent once more. It was almost scary.
"You don't like it, I see. Hunches aren't exactly approved by UNSC regulation." continued Lasky. "That's why Roland will keep record of her activities; if Cortana even blinks in the wrong direction... she'll have an entire SPARTAN platoon on her heels in thirty seconds."
"Then, why do I have to watch over her?"
The Captain tilted his head. "Close knowledge of the subject."
For long, tense seconds, neither of them said anything else, again. John's face was so unreadable that the Captain took a deep breath and leaned into the holo-table, a bit uncomfortable. Minutes passed by and nothing happened. It wasn't easy to decide if the Master Chief was considering the meaning of everything or if he was simply trying not to walk off the room, as insubordinate as such reaction would be. When he couldn't stand it anymore, Lasky requested: "Speak freely, Chief."
John didn't falter. "Is this a joke, sir?"
"What do you mean?"
"You are doing this because of me."
Lasky smirked a bit. "Reliance is a powerful trigger for action. You trusted your life to her, once. If she believes you trust her as she is now, she might get too confident and make a mistake."
So, it was about pretending. What a strange game.
No. It was a test for both of them. John considered his options.
SPARTANS were field agents, wild forces of Nature built by humans to clash and repel one enemy after another without giving up. It is true they were built to do as they were told, but this was different. The Captain didn't want to hand Cortana over to the ONI or top brass and that was very transparent, he just wasn't saying it out loud. He wasn't saying either that, if things went wrong, he'd probably lose his captainship and be dishonorably discharged. Flying low like that was a risky move.
Then again, why? Maybe Lasky was worried about something?
John couldn't figure that part out. He narrowed his eyes: "Cortana knows I'm hesitant about her condition."
"She's also scared. A friendly face could help. And fireteam Majestic will be your support, if things escalate."
After a short moment of inner deliberation, John nodded once, accepting this new command. There wasn't much to say, anyway; part of him still felt curious yet troubled, and he would never back down from a challenge. In fact, he was eager to engage. If something was wrong, if this perfect Cortana was a trap, then he'll bring her in before she could do any harm.
Except he wasn't that sure about the pretending part, yet.
JUNE 12TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY
5:45 AM standard time (next morning)
"What are you reading?"
She jumped off the crate she was sitting in, clutching the tablet against her chest. It wasn't John's voice what frightened her the most, it was the loud, intimidating canine bark. Cortana closed her eyes, between sheer fear and frustration, and turned around to face him and his gigantic dog, puffing off loose strands of dark hair.
"I swear, Chief, I don't know how such a big guy in armor like you can sneak on people that easy." she huffed.
"It takes some practice."
"No kidding." Cortana mumbled. Her human brain wasn't as good at multitasking as her once powerful digital sub-routines and it was taking its toll with her mood. It felt like information took ages to make sense because she actually had to read the files, not assimilate them. John demanded to see the pad's screen and she handed him the device with upset dignity. "Dr. Glassman cleared me for some files, Captain Lasky approved; mostly research data about the New Phoenix incident and Requiem's core. It's not much and it's not enlightening at all -obviously somebody doesn't want me sniffing around-, but it's a start."
"A start for what?"
"Potential connections between the mark and everything else." Cortana flashed her left wrist, then hid her hand away again holding it against her belly. She leaned in to point at some numbers. "This is data from the New Phoenix episode. I extrapolated a set of outgoing coordinates from ground zero that don't make sense neither fit in the chain of events. It might be coordinates for a slip-space port, but I don't think I can ask Dr. Glassman to take a look at it."
Sigrid AI was recording already, it was standard procedure. So, John nodded.
"Leave Glassman to me." he said. "Good work."
"Why? I didn't do anything. I can't do anything. I've been in this body for almost three weeks -if not much longer- and every day I feel more and more... I don't know, it's like I'm going rampant again."
"Cortana."
She raised her head and locked eyes at the familiar faceplate. The warning in John's voice forced her to calm down and breathe slowly, to restrain herself. "I'm sorry it's just that I..."
"Take it easy. Humans don't go rampant, we get sick. I don't want you to get sick."
"Have you ever been sick in your life, Master Chief?"
"I almost caught a cold once."
Cortana broke a small, thankful smile. Her mood improved instantly.
Several Pelicans' engines hummed to life. It was 5:55 AM standard Earth time.
"Are you leaving?" she asked, hesitant.
John nodded once. "Emergency deployment."
That usually meant no time for chatter, yet there he was. She looked down at the dog, her armored harness and the massive chain John held tight with his fist. Charley's ears were pointing at the woman with outrageous attention. Both of them were a striking sight, intimidating. Across the deck, the electronic voice of the ship's AI informed that all scheduled Pelicans had a green for lift off. Other SPARTANS entered the cargo bay in armor suit, armed and accompanied by other big dogs as well, followed by fireteams Majestic and Crimson. The humming of the engines increased dramatically.
John gave Cortana the tablet back.
"Something bad happened." he added, his voice flat.
"So it seems. You're taking a lot of people with you."
Yes, she knew. His team was going to the sands, again; something about big nasty bugs, unidentified magnetic signals coming up from far beneath the planet's surface and a few missing scientists. Cortana couldn't get much more out of reading Tedra Grant's lips while she and Madsen were talking about it, but it was enough to set off an alarm. So much for some million square miles of dust, heat and dangerously low humidity; all of a sudden that environmentally hostile planet was interesting.
An excited part of her was eager to tag along. Yeah, right.
Something cold and wet hit her hand and she took a step back, then she realized the dog had been sniffing her skin. Cortana chose to change the subject, since thinking about the Chief jumping head first into danger without her to protect him wasn't doing her any good: "So, when will you introduce me to your dog?"
Charley tilted her head when she noticed the reference. Smart beast.
"When we get back." promised John.
"Okay then, I guess I'm stuck here. Doing some slow and boring reading."
The Chief hit the shade of his helmet with two armored fingers, and nodded.
"Don't get in trouble while I'm gone; I'm not bailing you out."
"Ha-ha. Do the Universe a favor and focus on not dying, would you?"
He shrugged. "You know me."
"That's exactly why I said it."
It felt like old times, she couldn't help but smile again. That camaraderie was most welcome.
Charley shot her ears back, upset, and bit her master's wrist in a gentle yet urgent manner; then she pulled him towards the last Pelican awaiting. Back at the carrier, Paul DeMarco stood at the hanging rear door and waved a hand, calling everybody in for departure. There was no more time for goodbyes and it wasn't their favorite subject anyway, so Cortana saluted in formal fashion and got a greeting back from John.
"See you soon."
"Yeah, you hold that thought." he said, and left.
JUNE 12TH, 2558
LOCATION: BREACHING ATMOSPHERE
10:12 AM standard time
This pretending thing was surprisingly easy, John thought.
Maybe because he wasn't doing such thing, because most of it felt so incredibly familiar, comfortable and close. Few months passed since the last time he lost himself in thoughts of how much he missed her, then there was this solid wall he learnt to build around those memories and strange feelings to keep them from running loose. He had to do it. For a long time, he thought he was going mad with grief, rampant like her. Other people suspected it as well.
But Dr. Waters, the UNSC psychologist, reminded him that SPARTAN or not, he was still human and he was deeply scarred, and those scars needed care. A lifetime as a SPARTAN changed him as much as CPO Mendez and his intensive training did for him in his early age. In all of those years jumping from one colony to another into battle, John learnt that the best soldier wasn't the one who followed all orders blindly, but the one who best served his nation and cause. Nothing was ever that black or that white. He considered he served the UNSC just right, but his future never contemplated anything besides military life. He didn't knew anything else.
There wasn't much to life besides both of them going from one station to another, saving the day. He didn't want to pretend.
Because she felt real again.
JUNE 12TH, 2558
LOCATION: CLASSIFIED
2:35 PM standard time
"The instruments are dead again." said Tedra. "It comes and goes like a wave."
Her HUD flickered for a few seconds. Something was messing up with the neural link and the MJOLLNIR's inner systems again, disrupting long distance range comms and Sigrid's tactical coordination links. Interference was like a rattling sound at the background, peaking and fading slowly.
"I have a bad feeling about this." said Thorne.
"You and everyone else." muttered Madsen, his eyes fixed in the horizon.
A wide trail of debris across the dunes was the only trace of what happened in Red Tusk station: something tore the crystal domes apart. It was no earthquake, that was for sure. No camera feed available, no survivors in the upper levels of the installation; fireteam Crimson was scouting through the subterranean levels with half the K-9 crew, trying to find someone. The dogs picked up the scents in the courtyard and led them away from the station, heading Northeast. The Pelicans wouldn't follow, they could barely make it to land.
The planet's atmosphere was optimal, the air was rich and breathable; and despite its cycles being almost ten hours longer than standard Earth days, it seemed like once upon a time it was a good planet to set up a colony. Now it wasn't anymore.
"We're going in circles. The dogs are getting nervous." said another soldier.
John stood still for a moment, on top of a dune, hearing at the magnetic winds.
The humming sound had a pattern. Whenever the sound was at its lowest point, the instruments were efficient again; and whenever the signal was at its peak, they were blinded, deaf and isolated. Just as he calculated. The cycles lasted nearly two minutes now; three days ago the lapses were up to many hours. It was like a countdown. His best guess, a self-destruction sequence. A bomb, maybe.
He should get his people out of there...
"Master Chief, sir; I'm picking up transponder signals. Seems like there are twelve of them, maybe more." said one of the K-9 crew SPARTANS. "I can't get the readings straight."
"Acknowledged. Stand by." John said, he dropped to one knee beside Charley.
He found a crack in the dusty landscape. It was almost invisible, the shadows of the dunes at that hour of the day hid it pretty well, but he saw a blink of white. A piece of metal reflecting sunlight. The Chief unclasped the heavy chain from the dog's harness and grabbed her by the collar. She didn't push this time but whined, she was anxious as much as her other four legged companions. He waited for another two minutes until the instruments stabilized again, then switched to long distance range comm. "Sigrid, start a chronometer, set it up for 120 seconds at my mark and link me up with Infinity. Three... two... one... mark."
When the light flared green, he spoke: "UNSC Infinity, this is Sierra-117."
The comm link crackled intensely. Sigrid kept the channel open, the graphic on the left corner of the HUD flickered with static. It wasn't working. John tried a different approach.
"Sigrid, open a notepad. Transcribe message: This is Sierra-117 to UNSC Infinity. Send message."
He waited. After thirty seconds, a green icon blinked in his peripheral sight.
UNSC Infinity Strategic Command to Sierra-117: We read you. Come in.
Good, text messages could slip through the blocking. It was a different, almost obsolete frequency, last resort channel. He spoke to the silent AI again: "I need eyes on my location."
Infinity responded:
UNSC Infinity Strategic Command to Sierra-117: We don't have eyes on planetary surface, 117. Our sensors and probes cease transmitting at stratosphere.
"Run a new scan after this message, then contact me exactly four minutes after the scan. We have a breakthrough."
Eyeing at the chronometer, John waited a few seconds and sent the message. The numbers reached zero and started over. When the countdown started by the fourth time, he received another text:
UNSC Infinity Strategic Command to Sierra-117: We have eyes on you. Grid 33 by 23, 12.3 kilometers Northeast from Red Tusk Station. Half a mile ahead of you there is a magnetic well, we can't read any further.
The crack among the dunes. Very well.
"We have a comm window for two minutes every two minutes. It's getting shorter. We might have survivors. Attempts of reaching the area via airship or any other vehicle will be unsuccessful, the magnetic winds are increasing."
UNSC Infinity Strategic Command to Sierra-117: What do you suggest, 117?
John wasn't afraid of an EMP as much as he was worried about blowing in pieces with all of his team and maybe the entire Infinity and the rest of the fleet. They should probably get the hell out of there, immediately.
He waited until the chronometer started over again.
"Tell Captain Lasky that I need her on the bridge, she knows this technology. And she needs to learn as much as she can about this facility in the next sixteen minutes."
UNSC Infinity Strategic Command to Sierra-117: Acknowledged. Infinity out.
He closed the channel and reached out to the rest of his men.
"All teams, ready. I just found the hole and we're going in, regroup at my position, double time."
Everybody approved. The dogs became even more upset at reaching the top of the dune, tugging at their chains. John looked down at Charley, she wasn't struggling but she was showing off her enormous fangs. Yes, there was something down there.
Something nastier than last time, maybe.
"Let them go." John ordered, and released Charley's harness.
All teams moved in fast. The dogs shot ahead galloping across the sand, silent and synchronized, the SPARTANS followed. They crossed the entrance of the cave in three minutes, accessed the dark inner chambers in another two, and finally descended down a cavernous formation until they reached a rectangular hole and two heavy blast doors ripped off, laying in the rocky floor.
The air was contaminated. Sigrid could read high levels of ammonia.
The dogs growled and processed the scents, heading up through the broken doors with their ultra-sensitive noses stick to the ground. There was barely a blue glow around but it was enough for SPARTAN's eyes. They went after the K-9 agents, now entering a wide, hollow space, overflowing with the distant and strong humming and buzzing of machinery. A very long and narrow catwalk provided passage to what seemed to be the center of the room, in the middle of the enormous area there was an elegant and silvery structure. It seemed to be powered down.
"Look at that. It's a terraforming station." Tedra said, amazed. "Does this seem Forerunner to anyone?"
"It is." said John. The infrastructure was somewhat similar to the inner design of a Halo ring, but seemed obsolete, probably older than the rings. Early attempts? "Careful, we're not alone."
"I lost the transponders, sir."
"Then we split. Two teams." the Chief ordered. "I'll take..."
The dogs stopped before touching the catwalk and regrouped in battle formation before their masters. John readied his weapon as the other soldiers did, trying to identify the sound. Bad feelings crawled through his skin. It was like a hissing pressure leak and hundreds of spikes tingling against metal, and then...
Darkness. Gunfire and furious barks.
JUNE 12TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY
3:03 PM standard time
"Roland, get all personnel ready, prepare for slip-space jump. We've got to pick up and leave ASAP." said Captain Lasky to the small yellow figure at his right.
"You got it, sir." the AI saluted and vanished.
"He'll make it." Cortana said, bravely. "Give him some credit."
"I trust his skills as well, but this is unprecedented. Are you ready?"
She nodded. Lasky led her to a chair and Cortana sat in front of a screen, her fingers trembled over the smooth surface of the virtual keypad. With the corner of her eye, she saw Commander Palmer lurking in the shadows of the bridge, her face was grim. She was armed as well. Good, no pressure at all. Cortana sighed, and the screen showed a very disheartening countdown: barely thirty six minutes left for whatever was going to happen down in the planet.
"Open the comm channel." Lasky ordered.
"Chief?" she typed, as fast as she could. "Do you read me?"
After impatient seconds of waiting, the screen flared and the message decrypted instantly before her eyes:
Sierra-117 to UNSC Infinity Strategic Command: Cortana.
"It's me. Come in."
Sierra-117 to UNSC Infinity Strategic Command: This thing will blow up.
"How curious, things always blow up whenever you're around. Find a terminal, hook in Sigrid's chip and request her for console command with remote control, I'll take it from there. She's not programmed for this."
Writing that fast made her fingers hurt, but if she could save them...
Sierra-117 to UNSC Infinity Strategic Command: OK. Give me a minute, big bug infestation down here.
She looked at the Captain. He nodded. Her eyes turned back to the chronometer in the screen. Thirty four. Thirty three. Thirty two minutes. Suddenly, the screen went black and then back on, a window with lines of code crept up, protocols running in sequence. Finally, a simple prompt appeared. Sigrid established the uplink and the two terminals were connected.
With the current turn of events and the little information John provided earlier, Dr. Glassman calculated estimated deadlines. At the point, she only had interventions of merely one minute five seconds of viable communication. Cortana read as fast as she could the information from the terminal. The system was Forerunner but it was ancient. For instance, it was designed for self-autonomy as the Halos, although it was built for testing purposes, therefore...
"Shit." she mumbled, under her breath.
"What is it?" Lasky asked.
"I'm sending texts to fireteam Crimson, they have the Pelicans."
"The Pelicans can't fly with these magnetic winds, is..."
"I'll get them out of there. That thing is definitively blowing up."
Lasky crossed his arms, hopeful. She texted to John again. "Bad news. You can't stop the self-destruct, it's a firmware protocol; but you can override the magnetic shields of the installation for the Pelicans to approach. Manually, it is."
The Chief responded instantly:
Sierra-117 to UNSC Infinity Strategic Command: What do I do?
"I'm on it."
She brought up files of blueprints until she found what she was looking for. The connection died and returned a few times, but she didn't fell into despair, she pinpointed the location of the set of manual overrides and converted the archive into text code. The chronometer hit the twenty minute barrier.
Cortana gasped, her heart throbbing. They still had to make it out of the planet.
She finally hit "send" along with the message: "Here are the blueprints. Hurry."
Sierra-117 to UNSC Infinity Strategic Command: Get the medics ready, we have a few injured. If I can't make it in time, get the hell out of here."
Her fingers trembled. So did her lips.
She wrote: "You made me a promise, now keep it. Infinity out."
JUNE 12TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY
3:40 PM standard time
The Infinity made it into slip-space barely in time, the Pelicans touched deck when the FTL drives activated and sent the entire fleet twenty million kilometers away. A few rocks and debris from the exploding artificial planet crossed the barrier with them, and a lot of sand, but it was safe now.
Just as Glassman predicted it, when the countdown reached zero, kaboom.
Cortana was waiting in the medical bay, she wanted to see John and check if he was in one piece. Being this disconnected from him was distressing. The Chief breached first into the white corridor, leading a diverse group of injured soldiers, scientists and animals.
He held in his arms something furry and covered in blood...
"Oh, no." she whispered, as he approached.
The Chief deposited the body of Charley on a white gurney and immediately a vet hurried beside him, leaning over the animal. Cortana covered her mouth with one hand, terrified. The poor beast had nasty patches of charred skin, open gushing wounds across her ribs and a leg twisted in a strange angle. She noticed other dogs were injured as well, their handlers stood beside them as John did. His armor was also covered in blood and acid burns, whatever happened down there it was hell of a fight.
Then the doors closed and she stood outside the intensive care deck, alone.
JUNE 12TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY
6:45 PM standard time
She woke up when someone poked her arm.
"Hey."
"Chief." she whispered, and realized she'd been curled up in the hard long-chair of the waiting room. What time was it? He was still in armor, still covered in blood. "Are you alright?"
"I'm a lucky guy, remember? Come with me."
She jumped off the long-chair and fixed her tussled hair straight.
John led her to the veterinary section of the medical bay, where six dogs were laying connected to life support machinery. They weren't alone, but the doctors wouldn't bother them. She recognized the colors of Charley, John's particular companion, under a heavy battery of bandages and life-support sensors. Cortana stepped closer to him and hugged herself, suddenly she felt cold and sad; it sure looked painful, but the animal was kept sedated for its own safety.
"Cortana, this is Charley. Charley, this is my best friend, Cortana."
She looked at him, confused.
"Chief, what...?"
"I made you a promise, didn't I?"
"But, why now? I wasn't serious about... " she started, but he interrupted:
"Now is a good time. Perhaps we won't have another chance."
She felt heartbroken; that brave animal could die. She understood why he wanted her to be there at that moment, why he was caressing so softly the dog's ears, maybe the only part of her body that wasn't injured. He was trying to face it. Cortana leaned in and touched Charley's nuzzle, her whiskers and forehead.
"Hello, Charley. Nice to meet you." she said, her voice shaky.
The dog moved slowly and sniffed at her fingers, then licked her skin.
John nodded. "Seems she likes you."
"Her fur is soft." Well, what was left of it anyway. Cortana flinched. John pulled two reinforced chairs and sat down beside the gurney, leaving the other chair empty for her. She sighed heavily and looked at him. "I understand why you care so much about this dog. She's like me to you. I'm sorry, John. I never thought someday I'd choose to die in someone else's behalf, but..."
He didn't respond to that, and she kind of expected it.
She just sat by his side, quietly.
She wasn't sure about what reaction she might get from him, but she wanted to try it anyway. Hesitant, Cortana placed her hand on the cold piece of armor over John's thigh, her skin erupted in pleasurable goosebumps at the smooth feel of the recently wielded metal. She managed to do that, once, when she thought she would never see him again. You could call it a dying wish.
It sure didn't felt this good or real.
He merely leaned back, not away from her but to get a better view.
"I'm here. I don't know how or why, but I'm here, Chief." she said, softly.
"You saved our lives." he said, instantly. "I'm not losing you again."
She smiled, her lips trembling, her vision suddenly blurred. Something was stuck inside her throat and prevented her from swallowing the embarrassment away. Cortana gasped and touched her left cheek, surprised at the tears that slid down her eyes. She felt so good and yet she wanted to cry so bad.
Then, she saw the blood dripping in the floor.
TO BE CONTINUED
Okay, that was it for today! Nice. Be sure to check the next update for John's debriefing and a very special situation, plus a very special visit from an old friend. And plot development, because this fanfic has a plot, yes.
Rory; yes, I believe that as well, or at least I want to believe it. H5 could be very good if 343 and Microsoft don't neglect this important part of the fanbase's expectations. Otherwise, there will be blood xD
Trance Sephiroth; I'm deeply honored that you want to keep an eye in this story. I'm also glad that you find the details and reactions realistic, it's pretty much what I do, I write "realistic" fantasy :P I see this hope about the chip in H5's trailer is unanimous, we all share it xD
Narbwhal; Hey there! I'm currently reading Fall of Reach and loving it, the novel is very illustrative and seeing John grow up is quite enlightening. Since you put it that way, then I'll "wake you if I need you" ;) -OMG such a bad pun xD-
Cor Tenebrae; Thank you! :D I'm glad you like the story so far, I'm doing some reading right now and it's helping a lot to develop things I didn't know how to manage; I'll read your suggestion next, I'm very interested! :D
Thanks for your support, guys! You're awesome -hugs-
Don't forget to share your thoughts! :D we people who write have this strange hunger for knowledge about readers' opinions and theories. See you next sunday!