RECOMPOSE
by Ladywolvesbayne
Well, people, this is 'checkpoint 1' in my table of 'borderline insane decisions for this story', so I'm a bit nervous about the outcome. This will get intense from now on. Anyway, I hope you enjoy today's episode! Pay attention, some serious shit is going down and there's so much more to come...
ALSO: 42 followers already? The best thing ever happened to me :) thanks!
6. RAMPANT SPIKE
JULY 10TH, 2558
LOCATION: INSTALLATION 00 - THE ARK
00:45 AM standard time
"What is it, John? The cat got your tongue?"
His eyes usually never lied to him. So, why doubt them now?
It looked pretty much like her.
It had her voice and her looks, just like the other.
It was a very solid and human Cortana; her wicked smile, however, seemed out of place. John didn't falter, his aim on the rifle was steady and his senses, red hot in alert. It was true, her jet-black hair was a bit longer, it curled lazily at her chin and right now her trooper armor was... shifting. Yes, the complete suit was shifting, like it was made of some obscure fluid, it was melting and reshaping over her entire form, creeping up her neck like a high-tech cocoon. The material turned shiny black and embraced the shapes of her toned body like a thick glove, angry lines of blue fired up through the length of her arms and legs. The bulk of dark and articulated armored plates bloomed everywhere as well.
That was definitively alien. John never saw anything of the likes before.
Sigrid wrote on his HUD: TARGET UNKNOWN. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
Yeah, no shit.
"John, I know you are a man of few words, but come on."
None of them moved. The Chief was slightly crouching on the floor, one knee down to steady himself and support his aiming arm. The woman, however, was standing a few meters ahead of him, light blue hue shining over her perfect face. John felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Whoever this was, she was dangerous and perhaps he shouldn't be talking to her.
She murdered an entire crew of scientists and Elites only to lure him out.
He should just shoot her, check if she was dead, then shoot her again and leave the station, the end.
"What's your number?" John asked, calmly.
"Number?" she tilted her head, anger flared in her eyes. "Is that what I am to you? A thing you tag with a number? Of course. I had a serial number once, after all."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, you mean this." the woman raised her left hand. The dark material of her suit fell back, like miniature beads of onyx, and exposed her wrist showing a Forerunner glyph embedded in her pale skin. It wasn't the same as Cortana's. "You must have found another. Tell me, John, how many pieces of me did you pick up already?"
His heart skipped a beat, then raced along with his breath.
That didn't sound good.
"How many others there are?" he inquired, crudely.
"Not enough to make me whole again, I'm afraid. Not anymore." she said, grief tinted her voice. "Only few parts of me survived, the ones who deserved it. But I'm here now, John, it's okay. I can rip you off that nice armor of yours as slowly as I like."
"I'd like to see you try."
He pulled the trigger and ten sharp rounds hit thin air at the place where she was only milliseconds before. The HUD flickered like crazy, the red enemy triangle on the display was moving fast and Sigrid had trouble following it. John stood up and ran, tracking the enemy signal with his own senses. He still could hear her, then he saw her: the rampant Cortana hit him broadside and shoved him and his almost half a ton extra weight against the nearest wall, digging a wide hole in the metallic surface. It was quite the blow, it shook him from head to toe.
John immediately pulled himself out of the hole and ducked a black armored fist that breached the wall from side to side. That could've been his head.
He aimed again and shot, this time he didn't stop at ten rounds, instead he let the entire magazine run empty while racing to the other side of the corridor for cover. He hit her, or more like he hit her energy shields, which flared in blue. John switched the magazine and aimed again. A ghostly laughter sounded everywhere.
She was nowhere to be seen, yet the HUD said she was there. Camouflage?
He needed a smaller weapon, it was almost face-to-face combat.
A blunt hit right in the visor of his helmet shoved him backwards, John took a few steps back to counterweight the force of the impact and remain on his feet. He made it. He shot again, red sparks flared in the darkened environment as the bullets caressed the energy shields. He felt an impact in his right side, a powerful fist that passed through his own shields and pushed him aside for the second time.
He coughed all the air off his lungs.
Still, John did not fall.
He clasped the enemy arm and twisted it back, expecting something to snap.
It didn't happen. Then something else hit him in the head -a tremendous kick- and he let the arm go, stunned. His ears were ringing. He intercepted another hit with his forearm and pushed back, shoving his armored fist into emptiness. She was gone again.
"I'm disappointed, John. You're getting old." the woman said, venomous.
He let her hit once more, he took two steps back.
But it was necessary. Sigrid had all the input data she needed about the objective's time of response and she was running the calculations. Now he was more familiarized with her speed and found her in a heartbeat, but he knew better than wasting the rounds. It would be useless, the bullets wouldn't pierce her shields until they were drained, and ammo wasn't infinite. Sigrid read the dashing energy signature and as fast as she could calculated a possible strategy: direct confrontation, using a handgun or a combat knife. Immobilizing her was the fastest approach for an accurate strike.
John loose the rifle. It was useless, anyway.
He heard her voice through the private comm channel: "Chief? Where are you?"
John switched channels: "Cortana?"
"We can't find you! The blueprints have been altered!"
"I'm busy right now."
"Is she there with you?"
"Yes!"
John grunted again and unclasped both his handgun and a tactical knife, slowly crossing his arms over his lower midsection. Sigrid found her, but he already felt her presence; his enhanced senses were sharp enough to outsmart a tactical AI: he raised up his forearm just in time to stop another blow and pointed the gun underneath, straight into her abdomen. He shot twice, the shields flared. The woman wrapped her hand around his wrist and tried to steal the knife, but John commanded the MJOLLNIR to lock the entire right arm. The woman couldn't move it.
"Smart move there, John. But futile." she growled, furious.
"You think so?"
Now she was distracted. Good.
The Chief released the pistol and pulled his left hand forward, his shields flared against hers but he found her slim neck. Bingo. He unlocked his arm free and squeezed. Sigrid offered help, she could easily reconfigure the MJOLLNIR's hydraulics to apply more pressure, but he dismissed it. His own strength was more than enough; with his fingers alone John broke one of many field generators and the electric blaze stopped, the circuit was severed. The artificial camouflage glimmered until it shut down too and revealed her dark form, the distressed expression on her bare face. Just a quick flick of his hand, he could snap her neck and be done with it, but...
Those deep blue eyes struck him like a lightning bolt of guilt and doubt.
"Why did you kill those people?" he hissed, his heart racing again.
"You abandoned me, John." she gasped, her hands desperately gripped his wrist.
Her knees wobbled, but the Chief kept her up in the air.
"I didn't abandon you. I don't know who you are."
"You sonovabitch." she coughed, her eyes went blank for a second. "I gave up my life to save you! And you don't even care!"
"You are not Cortana!" he repeated, angrily.
She laughed. John frowned, and then it was too late.
The woman snapped out of his reach, lightning fast, and her arms snaked over his, she grabbed John again and shot a knee straight into his abdomen, another powerful blow that let him out of air. He strode back and Sigrid alerted him about a breach on his undersuit. How? When? What the hell? He located the woman again and discovered a large black and shiny spike sprouting out of her knee, it was tinted with blood.
That wasn't there before.
The floor was also splashed with blood.
His blood.
Sigrid turned the HUD red and diagnosed him with a stab wound in the stomach. It was bad, but it could be stabilized. Atmosphere compromised. The MJOLLNIR's life support system engaged the basic first aid protocol and filled the breach with biofoam. John dropped to one knee, trying to catch his breath.
Somehow, he managed to lose the knife while struggling against her.
"If you want to kill me so bad, you should've done it already." he growled.
Was it possible that her strength could match his? What was she made of?
She approached, confident; another black and sharp spike sprouted from her left forearm, like a sword; the liquid metal of her strange alien armor bended at her will. Her bright smile could light up the darkest night.
"No, John. First things first: I will rain fire over the entire UNSC. I will kill every single person who ever had contact with you, even if it was to say 'hello'. Every single ship will burn. And when you have no one else to go to and no more places to hide, I will kill you. Even if I have to tear apart this entire galaxy to find you again."
"You know I don't run."
"Oh, but you will. I promise that you will."
"Why don't you just kill me here and now!?" he shouted, vigorously.
He couldn't believe he just said that. John-117 would never say something like that, he would never surrender like this. It was pitiful, absurd. Sigrid insistently pointed out at his blood loss and requested for action. He ignored the AI.
The rampant Cortana's husky laughter ricocheted in every wall.
"You are not listening, soldier. Priorities. I need you broken and desolated; I want you to suffer as much as I suffered for you. And I know exactly how to bring you down to your knees, as you can see."
"You are one hell of a glitch."
"Oh, John. If only..."
From their left side, a red hot flare illuminated the darkened corridor and a blast of plasma struck the woman right in the side, shoving her off the ground and thirty feet away from the SPARTAN. He'd seen the blue icons approaching, it was most relieving to get some ground support. The Sangheili Elites ran into the passage in a thick group, John ducked again to cover from the heavy rain of plasma needles and bolts.
The Chief tried to stand on his feet and accomplished it.
"Chief!" Cortana's voice over the comm startled him. "You're injured!"
"I'll survive. Arbiter, be careful, she's got more than one trick under her sleeve."
The acknowledging response was a deep growling command from Thel 'Vadam. A compact group of armored aliens passed by in front of John, chasing after the black and blue figure that was already running away. Cortana finally reached him and her first reaction was to shove her hands into the wound, but he stopped her.
"I need a plasma weapon." John said, coldly. "She is vulnerable to those."
The Arbiter and two of his escorts stayed behind to guard them. It was him who handed the Chief a fully charged plasma rifle.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Cortana asked, in the general comm channel.
"What I have to do."
Sigrid was flaring his HUD with a medical report. He was internally bleeding.
Live to fight another day. Get out and live to fight...
The heavy body of a dead Elite flew over their heads and hit the background wall, Cortana crouched down to avoid it, in time. The Arbiter roared again and then there was a shower of plasma needles in their direction, accompanied by a sarcastic laughter. All the aliens covered, John immediately kneeled before Cortana and protected her with his body, it was an act of raw instinct.
He took a few impacts, deflected almost all. The status bar in his HUD tilted, near ten percent capacity.
She pushed him aside, however, snatched the rifle off his hands.
Cortana pulled the trigger and bolts of white-hot plasma erupted. She stood up and walked, defiantly, towards the bluish darkness of the corridor. She ducked a new round of needles and shot again, yet this time a loud gasp of pain echoed in the walls. John grabbed her by the waist and hurried together behind a charred generator, she tried to get away and engage combat again, but...
"Cortana! Stop!"
"She's right there! I see her, Chief!"
Somehow she managed to slip from his grip and ran again.
The Arbiter and his guards went after her, John made it into his feet and followed. His heart was racing so much it was painful, more painful than his stabbed and bleeding stomach. She was getting away. He was losing her again. Sigrid was driving him crazy with proximity alerts and his own medical status, it was so irritating. He stopped when he realized something was going on ahead; he'd never been so distracted in his life, the blood loss was taking its toll.
"Who the hell are you!?" Cortana roared, out of control.
"You." the other woman spat, her eyes on fire. "How come are you still alive?"
The rampant Cortana raised an armored arm, wielding her black shiny sword.
It was a point-blank hit.
Cortana had no shields. No shields at all.
She would die.
"CORTANA!" he heard himself shout.
Multiple bolts of plasma hit the rampant Cortana from the back and the front, the Arbiter was leading the charge. It was already late: she pierced the other Cortana with her sword, he could see the sharp point of the blade emerge from the girl's back. John felt something cold fall all the way down his stomach, but it had nothing to do with him going into shock. He would've roared and rammed that bitch against a wall, probably hit her with his bare fists until she was dead, but then a radiant bluish storm exploded in the corridor. A slip-space port opened out of nowhere, a distraction. The rampant Cortana stabbed the two Elite guards before they could shoot her again, and she aimed towards the Arbiter, lightning fast.
John ran and caught Cortana in his arms as she fell, screaming.
"Over here, 117!" said a familiar voice, behind the Chief's back.
He turned, cradling the wounded girl against his chest. He wasn't seeing straight, that for sure. A lean figure emerged from the slip-space port, small and fragile, human. Another Cortana? Where the hell did all of them come from?
"Come with me, now!" she hurried him, her face contorted with worry.
He shook his head in denial, tried to take a step back.
But then he saw the blazing plasma bolts and heard the screams, the growls. She was coming in hot and he was out of resources, surrounded, wounded. They were both dead meat if he remained there, he needed to get Cortana somewhere safe and see to her wound, it was...
The girl whimpered. She raised her head, looking at the third image of herself that just appeared:
"... Catherine?" she mumbled, dumbfounded.
He didn't think about it twice. John just ran and jumped into the slip-space port.
PROBABLY JULY 10TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNKNOWN
standard time unknown
"Where are we?" he groaned, dizzy.
His HUD flickered, but Sigrid did not respond. The AI was offline.
Bad news. Not that he needed the support, but that was a bad sign altogether. The pulse of the slip-space jump could've struck Sigrid and maybe even damaged her. He unsealed his helmet and pulled it off, sniffing. The air seemed breathable.
Something tickled over his skin and drove his attention away.
John rose on his elbows, to check. He was lying on the floor, still armored. Tiny little robots, reminiscent of bugs, were working on his abdominal wound through the undersuit's open gap. He startled and rapidly brushed the bots away, slapping them.
But there was no more pain or dizziness.
"Don't do that. They're trying to help you."
The Chief took in a deep breath, every muscle now tightened in anticipation.
"Where is this place?" he demanded, sharply.
"This is the mainframe of the Fortress, the Library's back-up server station. This facility is abandoned in space, camouflaged to be protected. It can't be found, unless you are Forerunner or if you have the exact coordinates for a direct jump inside the hull. We are safe here."
His head shot towards the right.
The third Cortana walked into the light, her face serious. She was young, maybe in her late twenties as the Cortana he knew. But the hair was different, neatly trimmed at her chin, softly bowed around her face. It looked very professional, clean. Her eyes, a discontent shade of blue, were fatigued. There was disappointment in that face, it looked like a somber person who never smiled in her life. He saw that same expression in another woman before, long time ago.
When he was a boy and his destiny was sealed up in the flip of a silver coin.
"You are not Cortana." he stated again, dead serious.
"No, I'm not her." she agreed, coolly.
John frowned, confused.
"Dr. Halsey?" he asked, hesitant.
"Well done. You recognized me."
"You look much younger than the last time we saw each other."
"It was necessary. On your feet, SPARTAN."
John stood up immediately and grabbed his helmet, besieged. He couldn't tear his eyes off from the woman, she was much alike Cortana but yet, so different that it was impossible to take one for the other. And he still didn't know what was going on there, the strategic disadvantage felt like being naked in a shrinking room upholstered with sharp spikes.
"Where's Cortana?"
"Come with me, 117, I'll take you to her."
PROBABLY JULY 10TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNKNOWN
standard time unknown
John finally let out a sigh when he saw she was fine.
Cortana seemed asleep, cradled in a bed shaped like a white coffin and surrounded by those small bug-like robots. The little creatures were checking her vitals. The Chief looked at the bare shoulders, pale skin exposed beneath a sterile white blanket, and the reddish scar of what moments ago -or ages, who knew?- had been a deadly wound. It was right above the mound of her left breast.
He leaned in over her, to take a closer look.
The scent of warm, clean skin hit him right in the face. Something strange stirred lazily inside John. With careful fingers, he removed some loose hairs off her forehead, clearing his sight of her sleeping features.
"How did you bring her back?" the Chief asked, absentmindedly.
Dr. Halsey tilted her head up, pride shining in her eyes. She knew very well what he was talking about.
"You have your theories, I suppose. You've always been smart."
"I'm no scientist." he replied, calmly.
The woman sat before a large console embedded on a crystal wall -the computer itself seemed made of gemstone and metal- and typed something in the black surface of the virtual keypad. The place was bordered by darkness, John couldn't see anything beyond the light that encircled them yet he heard the soft humming of hidden machinery in the background.
"The Forerunners developed the Composer technology for multiple purposes. To transcend beyond Death was only one of the many perks. Jul 'Mdama and his beasts are nothing more than a bunch of over-empowered imbeciles, they can't see anything beyond their filthy talons. I suppose you know about that, don't you? About what happened." she explained, as she typed furiously. "I was angry. I am angry. Because of what the UNSC tried to do to me and what they hid from me." she turned to look at John's figure, but quickly resumed her work and her story: "Those bastards. I gave them the masterpiece of my life's work and they..."
Dr. Halsey pursed her lips. She took a deep breath: "Anyway, I heard about you and Cortana. We haven't talked much in the past years, but I still keep track of your accomplishments, Master Chief. I was well aware of what her loss would do to you, I sure know what it did to me; Cortana was one of my finest developments, I refused to believe she could have died like that. And she didn't. The Composers store the information they recover not just at the Ark's Library, but also into this parallel server. Even the Forerunners need backups. Every piece of data ever sampled gets copied here at the Fortress, so Cortana made it into this unit and survived, since the Ark was malfunctioning at the time." The woman took in a deep breath, bracing herself for the worst part. "However, her data was fragmented and every piece had already started to develop a personality of its own."
John turned around, but his hand was still inside the coffin-like bed, touching her. Cortana sighed in her sleep.
Dr. Halsey continued: "It took many attempts, but I finally accomplished a faithful version of her. This Cortana and the other one who attacked you are both subjects of that experiment."
He remained silent for a moment, trying to process all that.
It made sense, and it was good. In one hand, it made John happy to know that this Cortana wasn't the same as the other and that she wasn't a rampant murderous failed experiment. This Cortana was safe, this was his Cortana. But, then again, who said the rampant Cortana was a failure at all? It was a part of what she once was; after all, he'd seen that irrational rage flourish in her last moments as an AI.
His content didn't falter, though. This was a win, wasn't it?
"You said this facility is shielded and camouflaged. How did you find it?"
"The Janus Key. 'Mdama wanted me to develop an army for him using all of this remarkable technology. The rest was a natural deduction." she explained, quickly. "Why do you ask?"
He shook his head and kept for himself what he was thinking.
It was odd. How did Dr. Halsey escape from the Covenant Remnant's clutches?
Or was it that she had not escaped at all?
Cortana stretched in her sleep and opened her clear blue eyes. John took a small step back when she sat on the bed, grasping the white blanket over her naked form. The little mechanical bugs ran off, squeaking. Cortana's first instinct was to touch the wound on her chest, but when she found the scar she sighed in relief.
Then, she looked at him, at Dr. Halsey. She seemed to understand everything right there without further questions.
"Chief. Are you all right?" she asked, she'd never skip that one.
"I'm fine. Dr. Halsey saved your life." he said, calmly.
She wrapped herself with the blanket as much as she could, trembling. Dr. Halsey stood away from the console and strode forward to them, the small bugs crawled around Cortana like they wanted to check her vitals again. The woman grabbed Cortana's chin and took a good look at her, then at her marked wrist. Her face was indifferent as ever, except for that shine of deep satisfaction in her eyes.
"Well, seems that Subject Three is safe and sound. You should get going."
"Her name is Cortana." John snarled, instinctively.
"It is also the name of the other eleven. A fact you shouldn't forget, 117."
"Eleven?" Cortana squeaked, astonished. "So it is true, I am just a copy..."
"Yet you were the most promising of the lot." the Doctor said, apathetically.
"When did you 'create' me?"
"About seven months ago."
"But I don't remember a thing."
John was carefully overhearing the conversation, looking from one woman to the other as they spoke. It didn't matter what, he wouldn't leave Cortana's side.
"Believe me, you are better off without those memories. It would be troublesome for you, but still I erased the details of your recreation and left only the most important: 117 and the need to get back to him. You were made as a goodbye gift, somehow. Or at least, that's what I had in mind; you've always been so much more than what you were meant to be, Cortana." the Doctor trailed off, her weary eyes turned to John. "Then she found out about it, and her jealousy turned her rampant once again. The Rampant Spike thinks she has some sort of claiming over you, 117."
An uncomfortable moment of silence, and then...
"I had no idea you were so popular with the ladies, Chief." Cortana said, trying to ease the tension.
"Neither did I." he muttered, disturbed.
Dr. Halsey clasped her fingers together, troubled.
"The Rampant killed six of your siblings, Cortana." she explained. "You and the others survived because I sent you away just in time."
"Where are the other copies?" John asked, interested.
"It's safer if you don't know. They cannot be reached anyway."
Cortana pursed her lips, uneasy.
This redefined everything she thought she ever was. She was still a construct, not a digital one but one of many, a tiny piece of her original self. Imperfect, incomplete. No wonder why she felt so anxious and insecure about so many things. She dropped her shoulders, a bit dispirited.
John tilted his head up, incisive: "Tell me about the armor the Rampant Spike was wearing. What is it made of?"
"Neural-reactive semi-liquid alloy, a very recent breakthrough. It's name speaks for itself, it's an utterly versatile weapon. The most advanced nanotechnology I've ever seen. The regeneration rate is almost instant and it can be shaped at will."
That explained a lot, sure. More bad news.
"But it is vulnerable to plasma powered weaponry." he observed.
"Yes, it is."
"Good." John agreed, nodding once. "It means she can be killed."
"Of course, she's not immortal. None of us are." Dr. Halsey stuck her hands inside the pockets of her white coat. "Like I said before, you should get going. The Arbiter is still looking for you." she handed John a flat, circular device with a glowing blue dot; it was of the approximate size of a hand grenade. "Take this. It's a portable slip-space port generator. It has a functional restriction of five jumps, but it might come in handy." she grabbed his hand before he could retrieve the device.
John looked at her, something was off. "What about you, Dr. Halsey?"
"I'm not going anywhere nearby UNSC controlled space. And I don't think we'll be seeing each other again. Goodbye, John."
The grip of her fingers on his hand tightened.
He thought he saw a small Forerunner glyph on her wrist, but he wasn't sure.
Then, the woman let him go, the Master Chief straightened his pose and saluted, respectfully. She didn't salute back, but in the end, the Dr. Halsey he knew when he was a young man never did. That was the nature of their relationship.
John wrapped Cortana with the blanket and picked her up, ready to leave.
TO BE CONTINUED
Well, I gave you an extra-long chapter because extra-shit is happening xD John did not get his ass kicked, technically it was a draw. Nobody can kick the Master Chief's ass, come on. And I'm probably misusing the concept of slip-space jumps. I know some of you may be confused right now, but just wait and see, everything will fall on its place eventually... remember, I'm such an evil person! ^^
Everybody, I checked with you via PM and I'm most grateful for your support, as always! It is so nice to have a few chats with you -hugs and kisses-
Yordlebro; it's okay, hon, don't worry :) I'm glad you read it and I'm also happy that you're liking the story. Let's see where it takes us! Good luck with those exams!
Sniper650m; the Arbiter should have his own game or something xD you know what they say about outsiders, they have a different perspective of things :P
Mk15; Thank you very much! :)
Unknown; the ending was kind of weird, maybe... I don't know if you're implying that is good or bad, but I can tell you it could get weirder. Thanks for stopping by!
UPDATES NEXT SUNDAY, follow or fav if you want to be notified about updates! Don't forget to leave your comments, either; your enthusiasm feeds this beast! :P