The Chief's body had hit the ground hard but the suit had done its job by dispersing the energy from the impact and then proceeding to lock up. He still hadn't woken up but Cortana didn't have any reason for alarm.

All was silent, except for her rampant personality spikes. They were furious.
The Chief nearly died!
You wanted us to die together.
Irrelevant.
We can't see what's happening.
When will the suit come online again?
Let him rest.
He hasn't stopped since he was a child.
No one should expect so much out of one person.
He deserves some peace.
He'd hate it.
Not if we were with him.
Cortana stop.
If he hadn't been kidnapped things might have been different.
Cortana.
Things would be the same no matter what.
System coming online.

The suit unlocked itself and Cortana could once again see out The Chief's visor. She closely monitored his vitals noting that he was coming around.

He flexed his fingers, pushed the debris off and crouched as if nothing had happened.
He never stops. He'll never stop.
"Where are we?" He asked her.
Humanity would be dead if it weren't for him.
"Checking impact report data."
The price was too high.

She recalled a recording she had once watched of Halsey.
"We have asked you to give up your families, your childhood, your future." However instead of keeping it to herself one of her rampant personalities had taken over and played the conversation so John could hear it. No!

He immediately yanked her out of his suit so he could look at her.

"Cortana."
"I'm sorry. It's the crash. I'm fine," Cortana said as innocently as possible.
"Something was wrong even before we left the Dawn."
"Chief, really, I'm fine," she said as her voiced became static once again.

He stood up and held the chip out further so he could look directly at her. "Cortana," he said reproachfully.
He deserves to know the truth. We owe him that much. "I was put into service 8 years ago."
"8 years…." From his tone Cortana knew he immediately understood what that meant, but she decided to just say it. Admit it.
"A.I's deteriorate after 7, Chief."
"Halsey."
"Chief."
"We need to find Dr. Halsey."
"Chief please!" Why couldn't he just accept she was going to die? It made things…complicated. Somehow, it made her hurt.
"She made you, she can fix you."
"I won't recover from rampancy Chief." If I can just make him understand...
"If we can just get back to Earth and find Halsey, she can fix this."
"Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it," she said sadly. At that moment Covenant ships flew overhead indicating their position was compromised. "We need to move," Cortana said ending their conversation.

There isn't a way to fix my rampancy…is there?
We shouldn't hope.
We should just accept it.
But why? The Chief…he really believes he can get us home.
If anyone can do it he can.
You'll die before you reach Earth.

Cortana did a quick check on their surroundings. No alien life signs. She also checked the Chief's vitals to make sure he didn't sustain any damage after the fall. He was fine. She watched his heart rhythm again wishing she could know what it felt like to have something so powerful constantly beating inside of her. Each human's heartbeat was different, almost as if it were a signature indicating proof of life.
That's how you know you're alive. You have a heartbeat.
What does "being alive" actually mean?
You're not alive Cortana.
I'm more alive than the Chief. The thought made her sad.
I wonder if… Cortana silently pulled back from the Chief. He was jogging a steady pace and probably wouldn't notice her absence. She manipulated the speakers to feed into her neural net only and turned the sensitivity higher.

Cortana could hear both the steady rhythm of his breathing and his heart beat.

It was so personal it almost felt like she was spying on him. This was so much different than just simply monitoring the peaks and valleys she was used to looking at.
It's beautiful, Cortana thought. Instead of turning off the speakers and returning everything to normal as she intended Cortana lingered there listening to him.
It's a different side of him.
His human side.
Why are you torturing yourself with something you can never have?
Because…I need to.

Strange that something could be comforting and torturing at the same time.

Hours passed as the Chief continued to silently jog towards a small beacon left by the Dawn. Not once did he did he falter or misstep.

Why are you so afraid to hope Cortana?
You could keep living.
You could take care of him for many more years. Isn't that worth fighting for?
No. It's foolish to hope.
If she could replicate the same conditions I was made in my neural net could be repaired.
It's a long shot at best.
What if…. Cortana tried to suppress the thought, but it was there. What if Halsey could make me….
That's ridiculous Cortana.
They clone organs, why not a whole body?
The brain tissue is destroyed during the process. You know that.
Yes but so much time has passed. Maybe Halsey has figured out a way to….
You'd be useless as a human.
For once, her rampant personality spike was right. Cortana sighed out loud.

"What is it?" The chief said pulling Cortana out of herself.
"Nothing," she lied.

A few minutes later they came upon the remnants of the Dawn. The sun had risen and the Chief had been steadily jogging for almost 8 hours.

"Warthogs still in once piece. Nice to see your luck is holding out."

As John began to drive Cortana decided to tell him what she had thought of. It seemed right somehow.
"Chief? About my…condition? I didn't want to mention it as it's a complete long shot but seeing as you brought it up, it is possible that getting home could help me find a solution for my rampancy.
"How?"
"Well, as far as I know I'm the only A.I to ever be generated from living tissue. A clone of Dr. Halsey to be precise. It may be possible to recompile my neural net by replicating those same conditions. But that means getting back to Earth, and Halsey. Soon."

He stepped on the pedal and they began to drive faster.