Ch 2
Doctor Catherine Halsey entered the bridge of Infinity, looking for Captain Lasky.
"Captain, I need to speak to Chief and Cortana." Halsey said.
"What for?" Palmer asked.
"I've heard that Cortana has returned." Halsey said.
"That's classified." Palmer coldly said.
"I don't care. I need to see them." Halsey said.
"Halsey, they are aboard the ship. And here are their quarters. Don't visit at nighttime." Roland said.
"Roland, you're out of line." Lasky said.
"We saw what he did on Requiem. You want that to happen on the ship?" Roland asked.
"What did he do on Requiem?" Halsey asked.
"Tore the place to hell looking for Cortana. Hell, they're joined at the hip." Palmer said.
"Interesting metaphor." Halsey said, walking to John's quarters.
"It's not a metaphor. And if you want to know where they are, they're at the gym." Palmer said.
Entering the gym, she heard the two speak.
"Cortana, I'm a soldier. Not a dancer." Chief said.
"Come on, Chief. Don't tell me you've had some interest." Cortana said.
"Spend most of my life fighting and killing. Not much time for other pursuits." Chief said.
"We'll have to change something about that, won't we?" Cortana asked.
Chief shrugged his shoulders in response. They weren't fighting anyone at the moment, though the covenant remnant was still around.
"The Chief and the AI dancing. Never thought I'd live to see anything like this." Palmer said, as she headed to lift some weights.
Halsey hid herself and watched her two creations dance, as well as a super-soldier and an AI in a hard-light body could. She snuck out and headed to John's quarters. Wondering how her favorite Spartan kept himself busy, she opened a drawer and looked at his PADD, containing what amounted to be journal entries.
August, 2558
Can't believe she's gone. We were so close. So fucking close, right in Earth's orbit. If she'd held on a little longer, I could have fixed her. Contacted Halsey, something. I wish… I'm sorry, Cortana. I should have told you I loved you.
August, 2558
Me and Blue team are fighting on Requiem, the forerunner shield world. The 4s… are an interesting bunch. We've lead them in dozens of firefights against the forerunner-covenant forces. Anything to keep myself busy at this point.
September, 2558
I can't believe it. Roland told me, the captain, and Palmer about his discovery of the knights we've been fighting. I knew they were composed humans, but not from millennia ago. From the New Phoenix attack. But I destroyed the didacts ship, and the composer.
Cortana died there. Maybe she's here, somewhere.
September, 2558
Palmer… she's a bit of a bitch. I'm doing everything I can to find Cortana, if she's here at all. She thinks I'm nuts. Maybe I have gone insane. But I have to take the opportunity. It may never come again. Lasky's been accommodating to a degree. He's not giving me immense resources, which I understand. It'd probably slow me down.
October, 2558
I've found her. I found Cortana. She says she's been in some forerunner thing, called the Domain. She's alive, and cured of her rampancy. She could live forever. I still can't believe it. If this is a dream, I'd rather not wake up.
November, 2558
Well, Requiem is destroyed. You can thank that bastard, Jul. I deposited a 7.62 slug in his cranium as a thank-you note. One other note. Cortana clearly wants to try anything with her new hard-light body. And said anything involves me. Not that I mind. She surprised me while I was taking a shower. Hot water mixed with her cool touch doesn't make for good senses.
Halsey put the notes down in shock. The two clearly loved each other. It was not something she planned or had foreseen at all. Using the pad, she pulled up the camera footage of the room, isolating interactions of the Chief and Cortana.
"Oh my." Halsey said, putting her hand to her mouth in surprise. She watched as Cortana and John had sex, and held each other in an intimate embrace.
"Well, our conversation should be interesting." Halsey dryly noted.
Halsey heard the door open, and saw the two walking in. The trio were frozen in their spots, looking at each other.
"Dr. Halsey." John said.
"It's nice to see you again, Chief." Halsey said, with a grin on her face.
Halsey looked to Cortana, seeing the AI who was now as tall as the chief.
"Cortana?" Halsey asked, approaching her.
"Believe me, it's true." Cortana said, as Halsey grabbed her hand.
"How…" Halsey asked.
"Requiem had some technology that brought her back to life. Cured her rampancy." John said.
"So, you two are a couple now." Halsey said.
John locked the door, and glared at Halsey.
"What makes you say that?" He asked.
"First, Lasky, Palmer, and Roland all but confirmed it. Palmer says you two are paired at the hip. I then saw you two dancing, which is cute by the way. And I saw the recording of your nightly activities." Halsey said, smirking at the last part.
Chief and Cortana could only let their jaws drop.
"So, it's true." Halsey said.
"Fuck you, Halsey." Cortana said.
"Just saying. I think it's nice. You two deserve each other." Halsey said.
"Thank you, doctor." John said.
Cortana was in deep thought, when something came to her mind.
"You know I'm based off your mind. So it seems that my attraction to John stems from you." Cortana said.
John and Halsey looked at Cortana, as if she had gone mad.
"Cortana, are you implying I have some physical attraction to John?" Halsey asked.
"Oh shit." John muttered to himself.