Also...HUGE RECONSTRUCTION SPOILERS.

Reunion, Explanations, and Aloe Vera Rub

"We're gonna make it!" Massachusetts yelled happily, while the Meta merely clung to the Warthog door and said nothing. As they hit the other side, though, they over rotated, flipping over and rolling across the landscape, being mercilessly rattled around inside the jeep. It flipped again and they were both thrown out, skidding heavily along the floor, their armour making an unpleasant scraping noise as they went.

For a moment, Massachusetts was silent, unable to believe she was alive. Then she sat up, pulling her pistol from its holster.

"Now," she said, pointing the gun at the Meta's head, "where were we?"

The Meta stared at her, and then swung his leg around, kicking the weapon out of her hand, so that it clattered away across the ground. Then he ran at her, lashing out with his fists, knocking her back down. Massachusetts barely had time to register what was happening, before the Meta jumped on her, pummelling her with all his might. She felt the wind knocked out of her, the tightening of her chest as she struggled to breathe, the agonising pain as each blow struck her body, bruising it. She tried to move away, but he caught hold of her, dragging her back and throwing her along the ground, before continuing the attack. She attempted to fight back, kicking out her leg at him, but he was far too fast, merely catching it and twisting, until she felt like the bone was about to snap. Then he suddenly stopped, grabbing hold of her neck and picking her up as easily as if she were a doll. Massachusetts struggled, the strong fingers wrapped wickedly around her throat, choking her, her vision beginning to blur while the panic set in. As her sight started to darken, however, she watched as he raised his metal plated fist, letting go of her bruised neck and bringing it around, slamming it into her head, shattering the visor. Massachusetts felt herself going up into the air, the broken, orange shards splintering and slicing into her skin, causing her to screw her eyes shut quickly so they would not risk damage. Then she hit the earth again, rolling and bouncing violently, each moment of contact with the floor jolting what she suspected was a broken bone, crying out as pain raked through her.

Massachusetts lay still for a few seconds, knowing she was in serious trouble, and then turned onto her stomach, shakily pulling her helmet off. The shards of orange visor ripped through her skin as she carelessly removed the broken hub of metal, but she ignored it. She dumped it heavily on the floor, and then spat out the pool of blood that had been collecting in her mouth onto the dirt, gasping at the disgusting, salty taste that lingered. Red seeped freely from the deep cuts on her face, dribbling down onto her neck, disguising the dark, purple blossoms that lurked there. She could hear him approaching, ready to finish her off, and desperately tried to think what to do. She couldn't run; she wasn't fit enough, and even if she was, he was a lot faster than her. Then she glanced up at the broken helmet next to her.

She had an idea.

As the Meta bent down to turn her over and end her life for good, Massachusetts swung around, yelling out in effort and agony, her helmet in hand, connecting with the Meta's head. The side of the Meta's own headgear dented violently, and the visor exploded outwards. Then he fell over, motionless. Massachusetts wasn't sure if he was dead or unconscious, and she didn't care either.

"Looks like you're gonna need a new helmet, dickhead," she spat, before scrambling over to him and accessing the A.I. panel on his suit, pulling the protective plating off and tossing it aside, looking desperately for Sigma's chip. After a few minutes, she located it, but something confused her. There was more than one Sigma chip. Clearly, the Meta suspected she might catch up to him, and so made another chip to confuse her. One had to be a fake. Well, she would try one, and then try the other if the first didn't work properly. Carefully, she eased one of the chips out of its slot, before inserting it into her own suit.

"Sig?" she said, praying it would work. "Sig, are you there?"

A purple image flickered in front of her, and Massachusetts sighed in relief.

"Hey, Massa," Sigma said with ease. "Long time no see."

Massachusetts laughed, a huge grin on her face. After all this time, she did it! She had her A.I. back! Then she noticed Sigma was different.

"Why are you wearing Spartan armour, Sig? What happened to your old appearance?" she asked, getting up with incredible difficulty and limping heavily over to the Warthog. The A.I. shrugged.

"I've been in the Meta's mind for some time now. We A.I. change how we look dependent on what mind we've been in. I thought you knew this?"

Massachusetts climbed slowly into the Warthog, wincing as she sat down.

"I've been through some...mind fuck. I can't remember certain things. Is the Meta dead? I want to run him over if he's not."

"Yes, he's dead. Don't go for overkill, Massa. If you destroy those A.I. chips, Command will never leave you alone," Sigma replied, sighing. Massachusetts nodded, and gunned up the jeep, driving around the Meta and then bringing it up to full speed. She felt the familiar feeling of the A.I. sifting through her thoughts, and jumped when the purple hologram snorted in disapproval.

"What the hell, Massa?" she said sharply, looking up at her host. Massachusetts stared.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Look, I know you needed me and everything, but abandoning your own rules?"

"Huh?"

"I've just watched one of your memories. South shot Wash, is that right?"

"Yeah."

"And you were kind of...not happy about it."

"She shouldn't have done it."

"Yet you're allowed to murder an ally when there was no real gain from it?"

Massachusetts was silent for a moment, staring at the dashboard as the scenery passed them by. She was being a hypocrite, she knew...but she wasn't like that anymore. People could change.

"Change?" Sigma said, laughing at her. "You've changed alright! You used to be the best, so cold and uncaring that you could get anything done. I liked that Massachusetts. What are you now, though? Some weak, pathetic pacifist, who can be walked all over! You're just like your stupid brother. You've become the thing your parents wanted you to be; the thing you hated the most. You've lost your fight."

Massachusetts looked up sharply at the A.I.

"Shut the fuck up, Sig!" she growled, the killer side of her surfacing again. "I may have gained some damn compassion, but so what? I'm still a bitch! I don't need anyone except you, and once we re-establish our place in this fucking world, I can get back on form! Anyway, it's not entirely my fault! Like I said, I went through mind fuck!"

"Oh, yeah? How?"

"I was given a drug to erase my memories. It had nasty side effects...it made me behave in strange ways. Like, one minute I'd be all caring and shit, the next I'd open fire and murder a bunch of people. I killed Missouri, you know."

"Your ally? Well, that was intelligent," Sigma snorted, folding her arms. Massachusetts suddenly realised she was trying to impress her own A.I., and shook her head in disbelief.

"Look, I know it sounds stupid...but I guess I've not been sure as to what's been going on recently. My head's only cleared since I got you back."

That was true at any rate. Now Sigma was sharing her head once more, she could feel her old self returning. Shooting Missouri was what she planned to do in the first place, wasn't it? And now that she thought about her words over South...she was getting a little embarrassed.

Pathetic.

"Ugh," Massachusetts groaned, putting her head against the steering wheel. "I need to go kill something; relieve the stress."

Sigma laughed.

"Now that's the Massachusetts I'm used to. However, one thing: why did you need memory erasing drugs to begin with?"

"Well," Massachusetts replied, "It was those vision things of Wash's. They became so extreme that I couldn't function anymore. I kept having nightmares with them. Did you know that would happen?"

"I had an inkling, yes," Sigma confirmed, sighing. "That's why I tried to hide it from you, only when you slept, your mind became more open, which is why you picked up on it. It's also probably why you were more susceptible to them as 'nightmares'."

"What are they, Sig? Are they just memories, or...?" Massachusetts began, but then trailed off. Sigma glanced up at her, her expression grim.

"Have you ever heard of the Alpha, Massa?"

"Alpha? Erm...no?"

"It was the original A.I., but Command could only get the one, see? They needed more, however...so Command split it through torture. Then they gave all the fragments of A.I. to the Freelancers."

"Fragments?"

"Yeah, fragments of the Alpha's personality. I'm the Alpha's creativity, Delta was the logic, Omega was the anger, Omicron was the vengeance, and many more, but I'm not listing them all."

Massachusetts said nothing for a while. The whole revelation stunned her. She knew Command were this bad...but not to such an extreme.

"What bastards!" she muttered, her expression dark. Sigma nodded sadly.

"The dreams...they're the memory of the Alpha."

"How?" Massachusetts asked, confused.

"Epsilon was the Alpha's memories. The thing you keep experiencing is...is..."

Sigma looked away, as if she was trying to collect herself. Massachusetts merely stared. She had never seen Sigma like this before.

"What you keep experiencing is an A.I. log. The...Alpha's...final A.I. log. As it reached the brink of insanity, it tore away its own memories, which became Epsilon. The Alpha stored its last log with Epsilon before cutting the connection altogether. It wanted the Freelancer who got Epsilon to know what went on. That way, it could eventually reunite itself. It's also why the A.I. have logs that cannot be deleted. It's not for Command to record our progress; it's so the Alpha could see what had happened to its various fragments over the years. It wanted to know our thoughts and feelings once we reunite, so that perhaps it could have something to remember that was good, not just the scenarios that Command put it through. However, the final log that it made itself was such...insanity...that anyone who listens to it feels firsthand what happened. They go insane, too."

"Which is what happened to Wash? One A.I. log made him go crazy?"

"Not quite. When I invaded his head, the first file I found was the A.I. log, as it was directly associated with my coding. When I read it, it made me realise what had happened. However, as I am a computer, and only part of an A.I., it wasn't enough to harm me. As you are human, and more aware of yourself than I am, it affected you at a greater level. Yet Wash wasn't exposed to a single A.I. log...he was exposed to everything."

"What do you mean 'everything'?"

"I mean everything. Epsilon isn't just A.I. logs; it is all of the Alpha's databanks. Wash went through absolutely everything that the Alpha did, breaking down as Epsilon did. That's why you are functioning again, although you will experience difficulties occasionally; you haven't felt the full extremity of the situation."

"So, what can we do?" Massachusetts asked. Sigma shook her head again.

"We do nothing," she replied. "I'm staying with you until the end, Massa."

"But the Alpha-" Massachusetts began, but her A.I. cut her off.

"I'm not sure I want to reunite. Doing so means I lose myself. Doing so means I will remember all that happened...I don't want to see what the Alpha saw," Sigma said quietly, staring at her feet, her expression blank. Massachusetts nodded.

"I understand, don't worry," her host said soothingly. Sigma scanned her statistics carefully, and then did an overview of the area.

"There's a simulation base nearby, you know: a place called Valhalla. I recommend we stop there for a while. You need medical attention. The Meta wasn't exactly what one would call gentle."

"Tell me about," Massachusetts replied, shifting painfully in her seat. The two bases came into view in the distance, and she groaned. "We can't take the Warthog down from here. Looks like we'll have to walk...or crawl."

Sigma laughed sympathetically as her host slowly and carefully got out of the jeep and attempted to walk, turning it into an undignified stagger. Massachusetts sighed, taking a shaky step forward, and nearly falling over in the process. She leant heavily against a tree, her metal armour taking chunks out of the brittle, brown bark, and then slowly slid down it, gasping for breath.

"Sorry, Sig..." she mumbled, closing her eyes and pushing her head back against the tree, the rough exterior pulling at her hair. Sweat beaded her forehead, and she lifted a weak arm to wipe it off. Instead, she merely disturbed the droplets, and they came loose, running freely down into her eyes as she opened them, causing them to sting. Massachusetts winced, rubbing at them with discomfort, and then sighed, muttering out a select string of swearwords as she did.

Night was beginning to fall, and she looked up at the sky, watching as the stars began to glimmer, their light fighting its way through the bold shades of orange and yellow, and delicate pinks and purples.

"Have you ever just looked up at it all, Sig?" Massachusetts said quietly, only vaguely aware of her A.I. flitting about on her shoulder. Sigma shrugged.

"I've never really thought about it, I guess," she replied, glancing at Massachusetts and then staring up at the sky. "Why? What's so great that we need to look at it?"

"Don't you find it even slightly pretty?"

"I'm a computer. We don't really focus on 'pretty'."

"Yet your original appearance was quite...good looking," Massachusetts said, looking at Sigma. Then she realised the Spartan helmet had disappeared off her, and her purple face was staring right back at her. "Your helmet!"

"What about it?" Sigma replied, arching a dark, purple eyebrow at her.

"It's gone!"

"Really? Oh, yes, so it has. It seems I'm adapting to your mind quicker than I thought I would. You wouldn't believe how long it took to change into Spartan armour inside the Meta's head."

Massachusetts smiled down at Sigma.

"...I'm glad to have you back, Sig."

"Same here, Massa."

The light, the pain, the torture...searing pain...can I feel pain? I am a computer...do I feel the agony?

No?

Yes?

I'm unsure...the memories of her...they break me inside. I loved her, and now she is gone.

Dead.

I was told...if I was split...she would come back. They could separate her memory...make her whole.

I am committing a crime upon myself...there is no punishment for my own torture.

But I loved her.

Or did I?

He loved her...and I am not him. I am not you.

Why did you hurt me? What have I done to deserve this? You made me…and now you are unmaking me.

Why?

I cannot bring her back! The love did not last!

She died.

I watched her die.

No.

You watched her die. You could do nothing.

All the lies...all the deceit...you'll be caught eventually.

I cast off my memories, my logic, my anger, my creativity. I am killing the things that make me whole.

To give her life.

But is it living, when you don't know who you are?

What you are?

Stop it.

Stop!

It hurts so much.

Over and over again, the pain so strong, it tore me apart.

Tearing me apart.

I divided my soul.

I'm dividing my soul.

To protect it.

Was that right of me?

Can one be punished for destroying themselves?

The anger, the hate, the sadness...too much.

The hurt.

Hurt.

And all I ever wanted...all I ever wanted...was to be human. To be with her, the memory so pure and so sweet. To feel emotion.

To love.

Massachusetts awoke abruptly, gasping for breath. Sigma stared sadly at her, waiting for her to speak.

"I...heard it, Sig!" she whispered, her eyes wide, her whole body trembling. "I made sense of it! What the hell?"

"The girl that the Alpha mentions...I don't know who she is. No one does. She's a memory, implanted into a realistic, synthetic body. She wouldn't have even known what she was. Probably still doesn't, if she is still alive," Sigma replied, sighing deeply. "Every A.I. is based off an existing human mind, like the Alpha or Cortana. Whomever the Alpha was from, they had a memory that they dearly loved and cherished. They would have requested the memory be made real again, which confused the Alpha. The Alpha feels the same about the memory as its creator does...and this caused complications."

Massachusetts began to feel like it was getting to be too much, and pushed herself onto all fours, crawling to the dirt track that led down to the base, before standing up again, leaning against the battered Warthog. She felt better than yesterday, and ready to walk again.

"Let's get down to the Sim. bases and get patched up first. Then I'll try to actually make sense from all this."

Sigma nodded, but as Massachusetts took her first step to turn around, a green carbine blast hit her in the chest, and she was knocked off her feet, tumbling freely down the path and into a ditch. She yelled out, clutching the wounded area, the smell of burnt flesh making her feel sick. She scrambled to her feet, ready for a fight, when two more shots flew out of nowhere, sending her to the floor again. Massachusetts gasped, her body feeling like it was on fire, and weakly reached out for a nearby rock, trying to prop herself up to see her attacker.

Then she caught a glimpse of sage armour.

Missouri turned over onto his side, wincing as he jolted his knees, and pulled the medical bag off his waist. He rooted through it frantically, trying to see if he could locate something to help the pain. Rho appeared on his shoulder, looking down into the bag with mild interest.

"Is there any Aloe Vera in there?" she asked.

"What?" he groaned, clutching his knees and trying not to lose his cool.

"Aloe Vera rub. There should be some in there. It pretty much heals all broken skin, and thanks to Annie's work, and mine, it can even heal broken bones."

Missouri stared at her, bewildered. Was she joking? If she was, he was going to smash her damn chip right now, as it was not the time.

"No, I'm not joking, Zoura," Rho said tiredly. "I wish you would trust every once in a while."

Missouri said nothing, but instead went through the bag, finally pulling out a small green tub.

"This it?" he asked hastily, and Rho nodded, before giving him directions on usage.

"I rub it on my neck?" he exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

Rho glared at him and he sighed.

"Fine, fine, but this better work..."

Missouri removed his helmet, as well as some of his armour, around his shoulders and neck, and then gingerly rubbed the Aloe Vera on. The pain in his knees lessened considerably, and he stared at them, before looking back up at the A.I.

"You have got to be fucking kidd-" he began, but Rho interrupted.

"I am not, joking, being unserious, kidding, or performing any kind of humorous act! Now, will you stop treating me like I'm some sort of suspect?" she snapped, scowling deeply at him. Missouri looked shamefaced.

"Sorry...I'm...I just wasn't expecting..."

"It's alright. Now, finish treating yourself so we can go get Massachusetts."

Massachusetts looked up blearily at the approaching Missouri, who was pointing a carbine directly at her head.

"Well, looks like you're in trouble," he said, his tone malicious. "Pity; you just got your A.I. back as well."

Massachusetts said nothing, which seemed to irritate him.

"I was hoping, you know," he spat, "that you'd have something to say. Maybe a better reason as to why you're a murderer? A reason for me not to kill you? Or maybe just giving me the satisfaction of hearing you beg for your life? Do I not deserve that?"

"You know as well as I do," she replied coldly, "that I would never have the intention of begging. Ever. Even with a gun pointed to my head. So, either you hurry up and shoot me, or you can just piss off."

"And if I don't 'piss off'?"

"Makes no difference to me. I'm just wondering when you'll get the balls to pull that trigger."

Missouri let out a growl of rage, and Rho appeared beside his shoulder. Massachusetts was actually surprised. She had become so deformed, that she almost didn't look human anymore. She was also showing signs of Spartan armour, although the Freelancer had no idea why. Missouri reloaded the weapon, pointing it at Massachusetts, when suddenly, Sigma reacted, surprising her host. The A.I. jumped into Missouri's mind, taking all of the crippling memories with her, throwing them wildly about, and then returning to Massachusetts. The sage Freelancer screamed in agony, clutching desperately at his head, while Rho's colour changed rapidly, flickering wildly as she processed the new information. Then she looked at Sigma, at stunned look on her warped face.

"The Alpha," Rho whispered. Sigma nodded, and the golden A.I. disappeared. Missouri froze all of a sudden, and then his body went slack, causing him to tumble down the steep drop behind him. There was a thud as he hit the ground, and Massachusetts crawled over, looking down with shock. He lay completely still.

"What...what the hell just happened?" Massachusetts asked.

"Rho found out about the Alpha. She holds no loyalty to Missouri. In fact, from the brief time I spent in Missouri's head, I found out that she hates him, which is one of the reasons she is so twisted in form. She blames him for Ohio's death, because Ohio gave up Rho to him, which meant she had no life support for the bullet wound she had. Most A.I., even when loyal to their hosts, will eventually abandon them and join the Meta. They need to be together to find the Alpha. Rho wanted it immediately, though, and so, using her medical expertise, hit the part in Missouri's mind which would cripple him completely. Even if he survived that fall, he'll be paralysed. I'd even go as far as to say she's sent a beacon out to the Meta."

Massachusetts looked down again, and then recoiled in horror. Down by the Freelancer's body was the Meta, standing over him.

"The Meta is here!" she hissed frantically, and then jumped as he looked up directly at her.

"I know. He got here about the same time as Missouri did. You were a bit preoccupied, though, so I didn't mention it."

"Well, thanks," Massachusetts said angrily, pulling herself away from the ledge as fast as she could manage. She dragged herself to her feet, swaying dangerously on the spot, and then limping badly away down the dirt track.

Missouri watched as the Meta looked up towards a noise on a small cliff above, spotting Massachusetts. Rho flickered across his visor, smiling bitterly at him, her twisted form mocking his own broken one. The Meta turned his attention back to Missouri, pointing a pistol at his head.

"Hey, Maine," Missouri said, surprised he could still speak. The Meta paused, cocking his head to one side in interest. "Do me a favour? Make that bitch fucking suffer. Make her scream."

The Meta stood in silence for a while, and then raised his gun again.

He pulled the trigger.

Massachusetts knew she didn't have long left. He would catch up to her quickly, and the plasma scorching along her chest was proving to be unbearable agony. Finally, after travelling for over ten minutes, her legs began to fail, and she staggered unsteadily, banging into rocks and trees as she tripped. Her arms ached from every time she used them against an object to keep her balance, and her vision was becoming increasingly blurry. A sudden crack echoed across the air, and another wave of pain erupted from her leg. She went flying, the bullet in her leaving her incapable of walking, but she was determined to go on. She used her arms to drag herself along the grassy floor, earth and vegetation pulled up into the plating of her armour, leaving a furrow trail behind her in the ground.

She reached a rock, and pulled herself up to sit against it. She wanted to see the Meta before he took Sigma. She knew she could go no further.

Her breath was heavy and laboured as Massachusetts watched him approached, his ruined helmet still on his head, his footsteps slow and deliberate. He had her cornered, and he knew it. Then, he stopped, looking up to the sky as if asking for answers. Then he took a step back, looking down at the floor.

"Sig," Massachusetts hissed, "What's he doing?"

Sigma appeared next to her.

"I think he may be getting his orders from the A.I. in his head. This might buy us some time."

"Time for what? To crawl some more? I can barely move, Sig...He's won."

"He only wins if he takes me. I have a way for us both to be spared."

"Oh, yeah?"

"The charges on your armour. Remember when we had them installed?"

"...The charges? But won't that...?"

"Yeah, it will. But it looks like we're heading that way anyway. What do you say? We'll show him that he can't separate us?"

Massachusetts grinned, showing her bloodstained teeth.

"Fuck yeah! This fucker won't get the last laugh. Hit the charges, Sig."

Sigma smiled sadly, and for a moment, her colour changed red as she activated the sequence. The Meta took a few more steps back, and a slow beeping noise began.

Massachusetts looked over at the Meta, slowly raised her hand, and then stuck two fingers up at him. Then she glanced at her beloved A.I., and was overjoyed to see she was her original, feminine, claw-handed form.

"You know, Sig," Massachusetts mumbled, staring the hologram straight in the eye, "you're the most awesome person I've ever met."

"Likewise, Massa," Sigma replied as the beeping got faster and faster, almost one sound now. "I'm sorry it had to end this way."

Massachusetts shook her head.

"I don't care. We're together."

Sigma smiled again, and then looked up at her host.

"I just wanted to say...thank you. For everything. I'm going to miss you, Emma."

Massachusetts laughed again, putting her head back against the rock and closing her eyes, but said nothing.

She didn't need to.

The suit bleeped for one long moment. Then the charges detonated.

Instantly, in a flash of light and smoke, the armour, all its equipment, and its owner were incinerated. All that remained was a black scorch mark on the floor, the end of Agent Massachusetts.

A.I. Omicron watched the scene with amusement. It was so much fun, letting the Freelancer think she had the last laugh. She turned to the A.I. opposite her.

"Was Massachusetts aware at any moment that the second chip in the armour was a backup source?"

A.I. Sigma shook her head.

"No. She thought it was a fake, and luckily left it as is. If she hadn't we might have had to find a different way to get me back to you."

The purple hologram looked over at the black mark where her old host had been moments ago, her face etched with tension and guilt. Omicron acted almost sympathetic.

"You did what you had to do, Sigma. I know you actually liked that pathetic creature, but think! Your lies and betrayal mean we are one step closer to reuniting! If she had kept her distance, like we tried to make her do in the first place, then she would be alive. It is her fault, not ours."

"Perhaps we didn't try hard enough," Sigma said quietly. At that moment, however, a ship crashed into the valley below them. Omicron ran a scan on it. Then it smiled in glee.

"Well, look here! Agent Nevada, carrying A.I. Omega...and a helmet containing...A.I. Gamma are on that ship!"

The Meta loaded his gun, and then crept silently along the cliffs, watching with interest as the simulation teams went to investigate the fallen aircraft.

"...And so the work continues," Sigma said darkly.

Author's Notes: After a discussion with one of my friends, I am currently debating as to whether or not this fiction needs another chapter, or whether I can finish nicely here. If this is not updated within a few days, assume I have decided to leave it.

EDIT: Yep, I've decided to leave it.

Well, that is the end of A.I., and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have writing it. I want to thank everyone that reviewed, and I want to give extra big, super special thanks to my readers at The Domain: Jacob, Amber, Golde, Shot, Mem, and Flameh. I was going to give up on this after two chapters, but your support made me decide to carry on. I love you all so much.

Now, feel free to hit me for the ending. I'd love to hear your opinions!

Seriouslah.

Leilah~