Chapter 8
Date: 2529 07 30 Time: 23:00
Location: Ghibalb
The terrain was so much different from the other planets he had been to. This planet was made of metal chunks protruding from the rocky ground. It had no vegetation whatsoever and that made the air thin. It was difficult to breathe. The landscape was bland, only to be spotted with metal buildings here and there. There was glints of metal floating around the buildings. It was probably the Forerunners. No one had ever seen them before. They created all the beautiful technology that all the planets around use, never thanked or appreciated, only hidden in the shadows of despair.
John walked up to a small building and spotted one of the beings hiding in the corner. He went and knelt before it. It floated away into the next room.
"I have a bad feeling about this," John said to Cortana as he rounded the corner to the next room.
"It's okay Chief, we will be fine," Cortana said reassuringly.
He kept following the being until they came to a laboratory of some sort.
There was wires strung from the ceiling to floor, all connecting to a machine in the middle.
The being floated closer.
John let them circle around him. They scanned and inspected him from every angle, collecting information from a foreign object.
"AI please," it said in a cracky mechanical voice.
"Good luck Cortana," he said as he passed the chip over.
It took it over to the console beside them.
She formed in the Halotank.
"Chief, what's happening," Cortana scaringly asked.
The lights began to flicker.
"Process start," the metallic voice said again.
Screams began to fill the air.
Cortana's screams.
She disappeared from the Halotank. There was blue sparks spraying everywhere, and her screams still continued, ripping at John's heart. He was too close to her to lose her.
"I know this would happen," he thought to himself.
The sadness turned to rage. She exploded into nothingness at his fingertips.
He grabbed the being by the neck.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER," he screamed squeezing harder.
"I have done nothing, she's traveling the system. The system is probably not compatible with hers. Either that or she is using our new machine by accident. We do not know exactly what it does sir," it choked out.
"Find her," he commanded.
"She's forming in the tank in the middle of the room," the being started.
"Her particles are rearranging in a way I have not seen," it continued.
"We will just wait then," John questioned.
"Yes, be patient," it said.
It glided over to the tank and pressed a few buttons, typed a string of foreign text in the box, and the chamber opened.
She, Cortana, was laying on the floor. No blue hologram, but instead baby soft pale skin. He hair was the same, just a dark brown tint. She seemed to be in her teen years, the same as John.
She continued to lay there in the open so they decided to wrap her in a blanket. John carried her to a medical area where more of the robotic humanoids roamed around helping other humans recover, they were converting robots back to full humans.
Cortana's human…..
He placed her in the cot.
"Is she ok," John asked the floating being.
"Recovery is short sir, AI's are fairly fast at recovering and so are other robots here we have changed to humans. We have been working on this project for over four centuries, but never in the history have we had an AI. She seems to be in good health right now, but you should leave her to rest. I will fetch her some clothes as well sir, I will be back shortly," the being said as it floated off into the distance.
Hello guys! I hope you are enjoying reading. There is still more to come! :)