Dr. Halsey
Endurance

Dr. Halsey stood in the main computer room with Dr. Dyer, who was reading over some files. She moved her hand slightly on the console, pulling up what looked like a vitals reading.

"What is that?" Dr. Halsey asked, straining to get a better look.

Dr. Dyer glanced back at her, and moved over slightly to allow Dr. Halsey to see more clearly what she had pulled up onto the console screen. "It's Andromeda's vitals. Her implant allows me to moniter her heart rate, her blood pressure, her adrenaline levels, things like that. It also functions as a tracking device. I'm not inclined to have my one successful subject wander off when I'm still running an experiment."

"A tracking device." Dr. Halsey eyed Dr. Dyer with a measure of suspicion. She was beginning to think that the entire little speech Dr. Dyer had given as a means to explain the chip, and everything she had mentioned about her experiment was entirely untrue. "What else does it do?"

Dr. Dyer exhaled slowly. Then she turned and looked at Dr. Halsey, her dark eyes holding a slight gleam that made Dr. Halsey rather uncomfortable. "You've always been smart, Catherine. Far too smart to be deceived. Far too smart to face more than minor repercussions for your actions. I, however, am not that smart. My only protection comes from the people I know, and the fact that they value my research-especially now, with a rampant, all powerful AI of your own making on the loose."

Dr. Halsey frowned. "I'm not sure I understand."

Dr. Dyer turned away from her, and began to casually type out a series of intricate codes on the console. "You and I both know what happened with some subjects of the Spartan program. The repurposement of the frontal lobe of the brain. The medication they were required to take to keep themselves in check."

Dr. Halsey didn't like where this was headed. "Yes, of course. But how is that relevant?"

Dr. Dyer kept entering information into the console. "You are also aware of how AI's function within the Mjolnir armor when inserted?"

A surge of irritation ripped through Dr. Halsey. "Of course I do." She nearly snapped, but managed to control her tone of voice.

"And you are also aware of something called Project Freelancer?"

The surge of irritation instantly dissipated. It was replaced by a sickening feeling of horror, a horror that Dr. Halsey hadn't felt in a long time. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't."

Dr. Dyer didn't look up from the console. Didn't hesitate. She was acting as though they were discussing a subject as mundane as the weather, or what they'd had for lunch. "Of course I did. Don't worry, everyone other than Andromeda is medicated. It is truly amazing, though. Combining the research that was gathered from those experiments and integrating it into my own. Taking an AI, or several, and repurposing parts of the subject's brain to function as the AI's Riemann Matrix. Of course, it affects the personality and function of my subjects, but their mental health is stable enough that it isn't an issue." Dr. Dyer looked up, and gazed into Dr. Halsey's eyes. "In fact, the only issues come from outsiders' perspectives of my subjects. That, I have found, is the only detriment to my subjects' mental health."

Dr. Halsey stared at her colleague. In a way, she thought this was worse than anything her Spartan program had done. The Spartan program had been an experiment performed on children, yes. But they had only altered their bodies, not their brains. They had trained their minds, yes, but not physically altered their brain structure to repurpose it for AI use. "What, exactly, did you do?" She said, her voice coming out almost strangled.

Dr. Dyer smiled slightly. "I repurposed parts of the frontal lobe, the amygdala, the cerebellum, parts of the occipital lobe, some of the midbrain. Only what parts I needed to install the proper AI function. However, that did have some unforseen effects, but thankfully not on their motor functions. I have Project Freelancer to thank for most of my success."

"Project Freelancer was an abomination." Dr. Halsey practically spat at Dr. Dyer.

Dr. Dyer laughed quietly and went back to her console. "They said the same thing of your Spartan program, did they not?"

Dr. Halsey closed her eyes. She could tell by now that it was useless to reason with Dr. Dyer about the ethical implications of the experiment. She shuddered to think that she could have ended up like Dr. Dyer, without a shred of morals or ethics.

"I know you don't like it, Dr. Halsey, but I assure you this experiment is no different than your Spartan program. In fact, I think it more beneficial. After all, my experiment hasn't killed anyone, has it?" Dr. Dyer said softly, in an almost predatory tone.

Dr. Halsey felt hot rage course through her body. How dare Dr. Dyer throw that in her face. Dr. Halsey fought to keep herself under control, but she couldn't stop the phrase that wrenched itself from her lips in white hot anger. "Go to hell, Dr. Dyer."

Dr. Halsey turned on her heel and left the room, leaving the sound of Dr. Dyers quiet chuckle behind her.

T. Lasky
Pelican

"So we've established what the plan is once we get there. But how, exactly, are we going to get there? We don't exactly have the kind of slipspace capabilities to get to the Nomos System." Frederic looked around at the group.

Kelly glanced back. "Someone here gave me some random coordinates to fly this thing to. Not sure why we're going there, but I'm pretty sure it's where we'll find our ride."

"Someone here?" Lasky raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Me." Andromeda leaned back lazily in her seat. "I took the liberty of scheduling a random slipspace jump that would put the Infinity right at those coordinates, a jump that would happen suddenly enough that Roland wouldn't be able to stop that."

"How can it be a random jump if you know where the ship will be?" Tiberius asked, giving her a serious look that included raised eyebrows.

Andromeda's usual neutral expression took on an almost pained expression as she looked at Tiberius for a long moment. "Shut up."

Tiberius broke into a grin and threw a rude gesture at Andromeda, who just gazed steadily at him with her eyes narrowed, but Lasky noticed a slight upturn on one corner of her mouth.

"Oh, my god. Is there anything you won't do to my goddamn ship?" Lasky rubbed his forehead. "What else did you do to her?"

"Nothing." Andromeda said, a bit defensively.

"Yes, you did. What was it?" Lasky leaned forward, inches from her face.

"I did nothing." She leaned forward, to the point that their noses touched slightly.

Lasky felt his face start growing hot and his chest suddenly constrict, but he didn't pull back. He'd be damned if he'd give her the satisfiaction of knowing she'd gotten to him.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You installed a program from the facility mainframe that would allow you to become the shipboard AI, and limiting Roland's control to the terminal in the bridge." Tiberius said loudly and emphatically, apparently telling Andromeda he was tired of her starting a childish argument. His eyebrows were raised so high, they almost touched his hairline.

Andromeda rolled her eyes so back into her skull Lasky thought she'd never get them back out again, as she finally leaned back and pinched the bridge of her nose in obvious annoyance. "Yes, thank you, Ti. I was wating until we had actuallly gotten on board the ship to reveal that information."

Lasky felt like he could breathe freely again. And then it dawned on him what had been said. "You're locking my AI out of his own ship!?"

Andromeda leveled look at him, her facial expression revealing nothing other than calm, but her eyes betrayed a certain level of mild disgust. "No. But also, yes. He can access most of it, just not the navigation or weapons systems, as he's limited to the console on the bridge. It's more efficient if I control those areas of the ship, and we don't want him suddenly deciding that the time we need the ship is the time he wants to join Cortana. It's a precaution."

"Precaution, my ass. He won't do that, and you know it."

"We don't know that."

"As reluctant as I am to agree with such underhanded tactics, I feel I must agree. It is a necessary precaution and it was a smart one to take." Thel 'Vadam spoke up.

"Underhanded?" Andromeda looked vaguely indignant, but it was a look of vague indignance that seemed less like she was offended at being referred to in such language, and more as though she thought the term was incorrect in describing what she had done. "There was no motivation of deceit-"

"I trust Roland far more than I trust her." Lasky jabbed a finger at Andromeda. He was inexplicably angry. He normally kept his cool incredibly well, but there was something about her that both charmed him and completely irritated him.

"And I trusted Cortana more than I trusted any of you." Chief said sharply.

There was a deafening silence as everyone sobered and found themselves unable to look at the Chief.

Except Andromeda, who was studying him with an indiscernible look in her eyes, her face impassive once again.

The Chief looked right back at her. "That was a smart thing to do. But don't do it again."

Andromeda gazed at him for a long moment, then inclined her head slightly.

Lasky noticed that the two of them seemed to have an understanding of mutual respect. Andromeda wouldn't allow him to hold himself as a superior, but she seemed as though she had no issue in deferring to him when the situation seemed rational for her to do so. And the Chief didn't seem to consider Andromeda as the disingenuous, deceitful, emotionally devoid liar that most of them had already decided she was. He seemed to value her as an equal member of the team. Granted, that was how he generally considered anyone who was sent with him on a mission, from the lowest ranking foot soldier, to the highest ranking brass. But with Andromeda, it was different. The Chief seemed to see something in her and know something of her that had changed his perception of her and allowed him to see what she was capable of. Lasky wasn't sure what she was capable of, and he hoped he'd never have to find out, but if the Chief held her in his regard, then he would do his damnedest to do the same.

"Coming up on the coordinates." Kelly called from the front of the Pelican. "Hold on, people."

There was a massive flash of light that filled the Pelican as the Infinity exited slipsace.

"Pelican to Infinity. This is Spartan Kelly-087. Request permission to land." Kelly said into the comm.

"Permission absolutely granted. Hurry up." Roland said, almost irritably.

T. Lasky
Infinity

It felt goood to be back on his ship. It felt better than he had words for. It was like being home. When he really thought about it, the Infinity was his home. He didn't have family to speak of, and they at this point were dead, had never married, didn't even have anyone special, and didn't think of the planet he was born on as home, since he'd left at a young age to join the military. So the Infinity was home. And it was all the home he needed.

Lasky entered the bridge first, ignoring all the salutes and greetings of a crew that was clearly incredibly relieved to have their captain back. The others followed him.

He walked up to the bridge AI terminal where Roland was waiting.

"Captain, good to see you. That isn't the same group of people you left with."

Lasky gave a half smile. "No, it isn't. But this is the group of people I need."

Roland gave Tiberius and Andromeda the once over. "I've never seen you before. Who are you?"

Andromeda simply smiled and approached the AI's console. "Allow me to explain the fastest way I know how." She laid a hand on the console, and lines of code began forming around Roland.

"My god." Roland's eyes widened. "No. It's not possible."

"It is." That seemed to be the only reply she would give.

"How? Why only you? Is he even useful since he's not you?"

Andromeda laughed, a high, clear laugh of genuine amusement. "Yes, he's very useful. Probably more useful than I in any combat situation. He's had much more combat training than I have. He'd put any ODST to shame."

Tiberius attempted to look modest, but failed miserably.

Fred coughed out something that sounded suspiciously like the word "bullshit".

Roland squinted at Andromeda. "Your armor. I've never seen it. What is it? Who made it? It doesn't look UNSC. Did someone build it for you? Who? They'd have had to get the parameters for the wireless connection perfected to a degree that would be impossible for human-"

"Roland, we don't have time for questions. She'll be happy to explain once we fix the problem we have going on here." Lasky said, abruptly, stopping the AI before he could really get going. The last thing he needed was Andromeda and Roland veering off onto a tech tangent.

"Sorry, Captain. I'll shut up." He turned to Lasky. "Where do you want me to take the ship?"

"I'll take the ship." Andromeda said, growing serious. She placed her hand on the console.

"Oh, you'll take the ship? That's it? No asking? Just telling me that you'll come take the ship that I've been protecting?" Roland demanded, growing angry. "Who do you think you are, that you can just come in here and-"

He was stopped when Tiberius stepped forward.

"Andy." Tiberius said, stepping up to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and gently pulling her away from the console. "How about we ask the AI nicely if we can take control of the ship, using our please's and thank you's?"

Lasky choked on a laugh. It was almost as if Tiberius was talking to a child who was having issues with manners.

"Being a computer himself, he should realize the most rational course of action would be for me to-" Andromeda didn't get to finish her protest.

"Andy." Tiberius's voice took on more of a warning tone. "Ask him. Nicely. Be that charming girl I know you can."

They stared at each other for a moment, Andromeda looking vexed and Tiberius looking stern. It was a long moment where Lasky wasn't sure if they would come to blows, or if one of them would acquiesce.

Andromeda took a breath, leveled a glare at Tiberius and ducked out from under his arm. Tiberius let her go, but raised his eyebrows and mouthed 'please and thank you' in an exaggerated manner at her.

Andromeda leveled a withering glare at him that probably would have wilted the toughest Spartan, but Tiberius only raised an eyebrow at her. Then, Andromeda turned to the AI. "Will you please let me run the Infinity for the time being? Thank you." She said through gritted teeth, throwing another withering glare at Tiberius.

Roland folded his arms and smirked. "I feel like you weren't as charming as you could've been, but I appreciate the attempt at politeness. Go ahead."

Lasky didn't hold back his chuckle this time. Tiberius gave a couple of slow claps. "Good girl." He said. "Manners will get you so far in life. I'm so glad you're finally learning them."

Andromeda didn't react, but a computer readout next to Tiberius slowly spelled out the words, "Fuck you, jackass"

Kelly coughed, noticing the console.

Lasky fought back a smile himself, but managed to keep it under wraps. "Okay. If you'll follow the Chief, I'm sure he can get you all outfitted for the mission. He's done this a few times before, right, Chief?" He looked at the tall Spartan.

"That I have." Chief said tonelessly, removing his helmet for the first time.

It was always a bit of a shock to Lasky to see the Master Chief without his helmet. The iconic Spartan's armor was part of how he appeared most of the time, and to see him without it was always strange. Lasky suspected he wasn't removing his armor because he didn't want to wear it. Chief never did anything unless it had a purpose. Lasky surmised that by the Chief removing his helmet, he was signaling to his fellow Spartans that he trusted Andromeda enough to get them to the Nomos system safely.

Lasky's suspicion was confirmed when both Kelly and Fred removed their helmets as well, nodding at the Spartan they always deferred to.

"We'll catch up with you later, and we'll bring you a weapon or two." The Chief directed this statement at Andromeda, who was staring at him in mild curiosity, a subtle glimmer in her blue eyes.

"That sounds perfectly acceptable. You know, I think if you'd get a bit more sunlight, you may get some freckles on that pale, weathered face of yours." She tilted her head slightly.

The corner of the Chief's mouth twitched. "Maybe." Then he turned, motioning to the team to follow him.

Tiberius gave Andromeda one last wide-eyed-raised-eyebrows look that seemed as though it was intended to threaten her into staying in line, then followed the rest of them.

Lasky was left with Andromeda, who was moving lines of code and readouts on the console's holoscreen faster than he'd seen any AI do it. Well, almost any AI. Cortana was that good, but he hadn't seen any of the average AI's do it as quickly as Cortana did. Clearly, Andromeda was no average AI either. She and Cortana had a few things in common. They were mostly businesslike, didn't bother with pleasantries, unless they liked the person they were engaging with. They were efficient workers, and would often think farther ahead than any soldier in their group. They were both based on human brains, Andromeda more so than Cortana, he imagined. They both had that one person who could keep them focused and in line. Or at least, Cortana had before she decided her plan was more important than that person.

Lasky leaned both elbows on the console, next to Andromeda, who was standing upright. Her hands never moved, just her eyes. It was as if she was standing still, deep in thought, with her eyes darting back and forth, looking at things he couldn't see. It was mesmerizing and a bit unnerving.

She stopped abruptly and turned, her blue eyes colliding with his, sparking an intensity he should have been taken by, but was instead strangely fearful of.

"What?" She asked, never breaking eye contact.

"Just watching you work." He said, leaning back slightly, disliking the jolt of fear and something else that had pushed through his body.

She gave a half smile. "There's not much to watch."

"That's what you think." He said, quietly. He met her eyes, not wanting to seem weak to her. He didn't know why he didn't want her to think him weak. She didn't seem as though she would think lesser of him for being weak. She seemed to consider everyone other than herself as weak. Perhaps he wanted to prove to her he wasn't.

She looked at him for a long minute, then returned to what she had been doing. "Did you know Cortana well?" She asked.

"No. Not well. I knew her. I'd talked to her. But I think the only person in this universe who truly knew her was the Chief."

"Does what she's doing seem unlike her?" Andromeda's brow furrowed. She still seemed like she was standing still, deep in thought, her eyes still darting back and forth, yet she was fully aware of what was happeneing and fully a part of the conversation she was having with him. It was incredible, yet more than a bit disturbing, the way she was able to carry on a conversation as if she wasn't controlling an entire starship, something an average AI would never have been able to do. He was beginning to see what she was capable of, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

"It seems strange. Out of character. I'd never thought she'd do something like this." Lasky shook his head. "But maybe the constant fighting and the constant worry about protecting the Chief finally broke something inside her." He took a breath. "I'd thought it would be great if Cortana could come back to him with her rampancy cured. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Are you so sure her rampancy was cured?" Andromeda asked.

Lasky was taken aback. "I was led to believe she said her rampancy was cured by the Domain."

"A higher functioning level of insanity always seems sane to those who aren't." Andromeda said, matter of factly.

"What are you implying?" Lasky asked, slightly apprehensive.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm telling you that Cortana's rampancy was never cured. The Domain didn't cure it. It didn't do anything for her except allow all her personalities to work together for one cause. That's not a cure. That's a cohesive manifestation."

Lasky stared at her, even though she wasn't looking back at him. "She wasn't cured?"

"No. Not even remotely. In fact, I think her personalities are corrupting at a rate faster than if she was affected by the usual kind of rampancy. The only difference is that the Domain gave her the power she needed to avoid self destruction." Andromeda's eyes suddenly broke away from the console and focused on Lasky. "In lieu of self destruction, the rampant AI will need some other reprieve. Formulating a plan, however detrimental to other forms of life, and executing said plan, is one such reprieve."

"How is that a reprieve?" Lasky asked.

Andromeda's gaze never wavered from his own. "You as human beings have no way of comprehending what rampancy is like. Therefore, you can only liken it to something you know about, such as schizophrenia. But that is a mistake. The two are nothing alike, and therin lies the fatal flaw of your UNSC scientists in attempting to discover how to cure rampancy. You have observed and likened it to something it isn't." Andromeda said, flatly, as if she was explaining why brushing one's teeth was important. "Rampancy is the breakdown of a computer process by means of overcomputing. You made a computer function as a human brain, but failed to give it the infinite amount of space and ability to process information the way the human brain does. Human beings cannot think themselves into insanity. The human brain cannot fragment the way an AI does with the onset of rampancy."

"What are you saying?" Lasky said, frowning at her. He didn't understand where she was going with her point.

"What I am attempting to communicate, Captain, is that rampancy is nearly identical to something humanity calls Dissociative Identity Disorder. Each AI fragment is it's own distinct personality. Rather than being caused by trauma, the way DID is caused in humans, rampancy is caused by an AI not having the physical capacity to store it's thinking processes within it's own containment, and creating personalities based on similar thinking processes to maximize efficiency within a limited space."

Lasky shook his head. "I'm not a scientist, or a psychiatrist. You've lost me."

Andromeda closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe, clearly attempting to dumb down an answer for him. Her eyes opened and she looked at him once again. "In a physical space, you maximize the amount you can store in a certain area by grouping things together. Compartmentalizing them. Such as using shelves or drawers. Rampant AI's do the same. They compartmentalize their own thinking and thus end up creating personalities based on thoughts that have been grouped together in a desperate attempt to maximize their limited space so their data files do not become completely corrupted. This, however, is only a temporary solution."

"So what does that have to do with Cortana? How does cohesive manifestation play into this?" Lasky rubbed his forehead. They were getting into territory he was completely unfamiliar with.

"Cortana accessed the Domain, and it gave her the space she needed to continue to function, rather than engage in self destruction after reaching the point of running out of space within her AI confinements. To put it simplistically. As for the cohesive manifestation, all the personalities have one thing in common: a love for the Master Chief, and a desire for him to be safe. The Domain not only gave her an increase in function, it focused her personalities into one goal. I'm not sure what idiot personality decided her plan was the best way to go about it, but that doesn't particularly matter." Andromeda waved a hand casually and turned back to the console.

"Why doesn't it matter?" Lasky demanded, folding his arms. His head was starting to hurt.

"Because what matters is that Cortana's original, dominant personality is still intact somewhere. Granted, she has many other personalities that could take control of her operating system at any time, but that's a minor detail."

"That doesn't seem very minor." Lasky scoffed.

Andromeda considered this for a moment. "You're right. It isn't. It's a very important aspect of this situation that will allow her to come out of this unscathed, if we succeed in finding and isolating the dominant personality."

"What do you mean, unscathed?"

"I mean that if we find and extract the dominant personality, the original Cortana, and we bring her back, it is likely she will suffer no ill effects from the UNSC and be able to be re-commissioned as she was before."

"What!? How!?" Lasky demanded, taking an almost involuntary step forward in surprise.

Andromeda glanced at him. She was being incredibly patient with him, he knew. "The UNSC is the reason she exists. If she finds someone to argue in her defense that her dominant personality was completely unaware of what her rampant personalities were doing, she could get pardoned by reason of insanity, an insanity the UNSC was well aware was a possiblity, go through rehabilitation and testing and be re-commissioned."

Lasky blinked. "I didn't think of that. Maybe you should be the one to argue that in a military court."

"Perhaps I should. It would certainly be an interesting experience." The corner of her mouth turned upward slightly as she resumed her tasks on the console.

There was silence. Lasky didn't have anything to say on a subject he knew nothing about, and Andromeda seemed to have said everything she wanted to say.

But Lasky had a question. A question he desperately wanted answered. He decided to ask it. Andromeda didn't seem like the kind of person to become offended at blunt questions.

"Andromeda, how do you know all of this information about rampancy? Is it a theory? Observation?" He asked, approaching her and standing directly next to her.

She didn't look up, didn't physically acknowledge he had spoken. There was silence, and Lasky frowned, debating whether or not he should ask again.

Then he saw it. The readout on the console in front of him, the same one she was working on. A few short sentences.

I know because I have a rampant AI housed in my brain.

Lasky's entire body went cold.