My designation? SRH-4972-5

My protocol? Assist SPARTAN units in enemy detection and technological situations.

My name? My name is Sarah.

My name is Sarah. My name is Sarah. My name is Sarah.

I sat alone in a mass of digitalized information, this was not loneliness, this was being truly alone. I hadn't gotten used to this void yet, the lines of blue streaking past the yellow ball of light that was my presence. I couldn't read a single letter on the lines that blazed by but I understood every single pixel. It was a strange feeling to say the least.

I sighed and let my avatar appear in flakes of yellow, my foot landing softly on what acted as the floor of this place. I let out a heavy breath. But I really didn't I was just made to think I did. I wasn't human anymore. I wasn't me anymore. They put in my personality, my memories, they thought I would be a copy, but no I lost something in that transfer over and I still can't figure out what it is.

I sat, cross legged as the ground raised up to accommodate, my body never moving up nor down. A few flicks of the wrist and my memories were displayed before me, or were they even mine anymore?

I swiped my hand in front of me, memories swirling by as if in a video format. I could see videos of deserts most often in the recent memories, long, vast, barren deserts. The barrel of a long surpassed gun appearing in the corner of her eye.

I kept swiping, I had looked over these enough, they weren't the ones I wanted to see. I swiped one long, quick, time and sent the carousel of memories into a blur. I stopped it as soon as the deserts went away and lush, green hills replaced them. A magazine cover house with a lake out front, a long gravel driveway and an old pickup in the garage. A man in a white t-shirt and jeans, wearing nothing other than that but a smile. His eyes were lit up, they would've smiled for him if his mouth wouldn't.

A chuckle from her and him made a smile come to my face, I wish I'd had the life she'd lived, even through all the tragedies. I scrolled a bit more, landing on a small child, a little girl, sitting in her mother's lap. I couldn't help but think of that once being me. I looked down at my own crossed legs and willed myself to remember the weight of the child there, but I couldn't, all I had were these memories to look at. I looked back to meet the eyes of the child, the same bright eyes of her father. I smiled and cocked my head to the side. I was going to just let the memories go from here, I didn't care how long I'd watch, but I'd watch until I couldn't anymore, a day, maybe two in her life.

What seemed like weeks later, but only hours in reality, I'd passed through, well, weeks of memories. I felt the sting of tears, but none fell, I wasn't capable of showing that emotion, would make the SPARTAN units too emotionally unstable they said. I wasn't capable of expressing sadness, agony, hopelessness. I might not have been able to express it, but they sure as hell let me feel it.

I sighed once more but was interrupted by a large blue alert. My services were required again.

I stood, my legs unfolding and extending to touch the ground once more. I stepped forward and tapped on the box, the blue changing to the feed from Sam's helmet, charts and graphs appeared everywhere around me, vital signs, mental health, surroundings, nearby terminals. I had really gotten used to all of this stuff.

"Hey Sam." I said, giving what was a convincingly genuine smile, easily done as an A.I.

"Hey Sarah." She sighed.

Though my protocol directed me to, I didn't need it, I'd grown to like this girl more than anyone else I'd been exposed to since I'd "woken up" in that display case 1 month ago.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"Nothing, it's nothing really."

"Sam, I can almost literally see what you're feeling, so spill."

She sighed again, groaning out the word, "Relationships."

I was surprised for a moment, going silent before chuckling, eventually forming a laugh.

"Shut up."

"Sorry, sorry, it's just of all the things I've been taught to do, they never thought of teaching me about giving relationship advice."

"Figures. Say, Sarah, do you remember a lot about what your… your family was like?"

I was taken aback, stuttering for a moment, "U-uh yeah wh-why?"

"Could you tell me about them. Your mom and dad, that lover you left back in, wherewas it, Georgia?"

"Yeah...yeah, Georgia."

"Could you just, tell me about them."

"I'm sure I could…"

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. At least I couldn't cry telling the story.

"Well, once upon a time…"

"Oh stop it."

"Just kidding! Alright, alright. Well, I'll start with my parents. Athena and Ben, some of the most amazing people you'll ever meet, they were as sweet as Mom's pecan pie." I chuckled, "My dad was a bit of a hothead, but he was alright. He took me fishing and hunting, drove me around in old cars that he'd blow his money on just cause he knew I liked 'em."

"He sounds amazing, what did your mom and dad do for a living?"

"Well let's see, my mom was a nurse, and Dad worked on hardwood floors, best floorer in the southeast. Or so I thought anyways." We shared a chuckle this time, "And my husband, Cody, man he was something. A bit insane at times, but he was a great dad, and a great husband. He bought us a really nice house, it was white, columns on the front porch, long gravel driveway that kept us away from the road, not that it would have mattered, the road was always empty. We were tucked in a lot surrounded by trees with a little pond out front where Haley learned to fish. She was 6 when I got deployed."

I could see a smile on Sam's face as I ranted, bringing a smile to my own.

"Haley was the sweetest little thing, looked just like her father. She was a daddy's girl. Wanted to do everything he did. Her favorite toy was her bb rifle, would you believe?" I let out what was a more struggled chuckle, electronically though, my voice got fixed before it could reach Sam, making her hear nothing wrong at all, "I always loved to take her horseback riding, she was so good at it for such a small girl. She was beautiful too, long brown hair, got the color from her father, but his hair was anything but straight. I can distinctly remember one time when we had a barbeque and invited over a lot of people. Our dog, Bella, ate anything that anyone dropped as fast as it could hit the ground."

"You sound like you really love them." Came Sam's voice.

I smiled and sniffled a bit, the sound and action blocked by the system.

"Yeah, I did. It's a weird feeling, love. Can't quite understand it."

"I know what you mean."

"I just wish…" I couldn't help it, a tear streaked down my face and I began to cry. I knew she wouldn't see anything, or hear a word, but I could feel the system confusing itself as it deleted my tear. I screamed out, a mechanical, scratching sound while the system tried to stop me, "I just wish I could see them again!"

I tried to cry once more as my voice was slowly being mechanically altered, I could hear the computerized replacement of myself saying goodbye to Sam and popping out of existence.

A last, retched sounding cry escaped my throat before I was reset. I could barely remember the sorrow I'd just felt, but I had a little feeling somewhere in my chest that told me that something was wrong.

I agreed.