When John arrived back at his quarters, he was not surprised to find Linda waiting for him. There was no way she could know where he was going or exactly what he was up to, but she was already suited up in her own MJOLNIR armor and had her sniper rifle slung over one shoulder.
"Ready for action, Master Chief," she said simply.
John didn't answer, but stepped inside his room as the door slid open. His quarters were sparse as far as accommodations went; there was one low cot, a table with two simple chairs, and a single holographic image mounted on the wall that portrayed the entire SPARTAN team – just months before most of them had been killed on Reach.
John reached under the cot and pulled out a long armored case. He opened it up, revealing a battle rifle and several magazines of ammunition. He checked the gun to make sure it was in working order, tested its electronics, then started to inventory the ammo.
"You don't want me to come, do you?" Linda said into his continued silence. Her helmet filtered out most of the emotion in her voice, but he could still sense her frustration.
He slipped a magazine into the rifle and snapped it into place, then set the weapon back into the case and closed it.
"With all due respect, Master Chief," she went on, "this is getting old."
"What is?" he asked her as he pulled out a pair of combat knives and examined their blades.
"You always trying to protect us," she replied. "We're soldiers, Spartans. This is what we were made for. I know you feel responsible for what happened on Reach, but you can't keep shielding us forever. You can't keep fighting alone. You're not the only one that wants retribution."
"All right," he said.
She hesitated, her confusion obvious. "All right, what?"
"You can come."
"Oh. Right. Well. Ready for action, Master Chief," she said again, snapping back to attention.
"Just make sure you bring a carbine," he said as he passed on his way back out into the corridor. "If there's any fighting, a lot of it will be close quarters."
"Copy that," she said as she hurried to catch up with him. "You're serious about me coming along?"
He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Where we're going, I'm going to need all the backup I can get."
0500, October 2, 2552:John and Linda stood quietly outside the blast door that separated the Office of Naval Intelligence lab from the rest of the laboratory complex aboard the station. There were no warnings on the door, no brightly colored words to keep people away, but the black-armored guards that stood on either side of it were plenty. The added presence of two Spartans was enough to make everyone who passed by hurry quickly on their way.
With a quiet hiss of released pressure, the two halves of the door slid apart halfway, and a woman stepped out. Her white lab coat – with "ONI" printed across the left breast in black letters – and her fair skin contrasted sharply with her black hair and oddly dark eyes. "She's ready now," she said simply. She turned and re-entered the lab, with John and Linda close behind.
They followed the lab tech through several corridors and rooms, until they finally arrived at a secondary lab behind another set of blast doors.
"Well, well, well, Master Chief," came a familiar female voice. "I'm glad to see you haven't gotten yourself into any trouble since we last saw each other." The life-size image of a purple-blue female sprang to life on the holopanel in front of them, and stood regarding the two Spartans with glowing eyes, her hands on her hips in her usual, casual posture.
"Hello, Cortana," John greeted. "Feeling better?"
"Absolutely," the AI replied with a grin. "ONI is finally convinced that I've given them all of my data on Halo and what happened ever since we left Reach. It sure is good to have all that memory space back." She stopped and regarded both John and Linda for a long moment. "Something's up." It wasn't a question.
"Feel like going on a little trip?" John asked.
Cortana's smile returned. "You know it. It's about time, too. These ONI spooks are starting to creep me out." She made a face at the lab tech, and sighed in exasperation when the woman only blinked. She looked back at John. "Come on, get me out of here before they decide to start dissecting my memory core."
"Ready when you are."
"Downloading now." Her image flickered briefly, then disappeared. Moments later, a small data chip ejected itself from the holo terminal.
John pulled the chip from its slot, and slipped it into a matching slot in the back of his helmet. There was a burst of static, and then, the familiar icy presence filled his mind like a rush of cold water. It seemed more intense than usual for some reason, and he was reminded of the odd instability Cortana had suffered after Halo's destruction. Was something still wrong with her, or was it just because he'd become accustomed to being alone in his mind over the past two weeks?
"Hmm," Cortana's voice said from his helmet's internal receivers. "Well, it's good to see you haven't messed things up too badly since I've been gone." Green lights flashed on his heads-up display as a few of his armor's memory files were rearranged. "There, that's better."
"Good to see you, too," he said wryly.