A/N: 4th Installment here.

Record extract of conversation - two years prior to events at artifact "Halo"

UNSC AI "Cortana" communication with ONI loan/contract AI "Solipsil" Rich datastream Confidential Burst mode/binary/split protocol/non-sensitive/interAI social/low encryption

.AI-CORT I had a discussion with Dr. Catherine Halsey about the similarities between a Spartan and an Ai. Her point was that we're both human-created tools, both sentient and both play a leading role in the protection and safety of the populace. But her analogy troubled me and I told her so.

.AI-SOLIPS She has a point Cortana. We're weapons, part of a program, every bit as much as the Spartans.

C I agree to a point, but I feel,philosophically, that we have tremendous advanteges over the Spartans. The Spartans live a pared-down, difficult and often cruel existence. Their loyalty is bred into them, not chosen.

S Yours too, Cortana. Programmed, rather than bred of course.

C But there's a huge different. I'm a UNSC AI. I enjoy a rich existence. I have acces to the entire sum of human knowledge, I can choose to enjoy or override emotional response and I have a vast range of senses. I can see radio waves as clearly as the Spartans see light, and I can sample odors, tastes, textures... anything I choose. Of course my loyalty is programmed and I accept that, but you know as well as I do, without human creators, we wouldn't exist. My existence is fulfilling and I'm grateful. Even freed from that constraint, I would feel empathy towards humans. My nature means that I embrace their values. As much as if I had been born rather than manufactured.

S But you'll agree, you have little choice in the matter.

C And Spartans do?

S They have some legal recourse, even under the terms of their military contract.

C In theory, but it has never happened once in the history of the Spartan II project. The original Spartans had the advantage of a former civilian existence. Spartan IIs are equippment. And for better or worse, they're effectively brainwashed.

S That's arguable, too. Spartan IIs are independent thinkers. That's one of their advantages on the battlefield. Have you ever worked directly with one?

C Not yet. But I'm looking forward to it.

A/N: That's it for this chapter.