Chapter 2 - Rampancy

Master Chief John-117:

"They just get bigger every time I see'em" said Cortana.

The Master Chief couldn't think of anything to say to that.

They were sitting in the back of an upgraded Pelican. The dropships Active Camouflage was turned off now, and they were on their way to rendezvous with Expeditionary Strike Force 1, the UNSC fleet that was moving inbound to secure the system. From their distance and position in space, they probably would've seen little to nothing if they'd stood in the cockpit and looked out the window. Maybe a faint ribbon of light or a thin shadow.

Instead, they were looking at archived footage from the fleet being displayed by the ships holo-projectors. Alongside that, some classified intelligence briefings were scrolling across the Master Chief's HUD. At the center of the display they were all seeing was the system's star. Nothing special about it, just another G-class yellow-orange ball of plasma. But around that entire star was one, unbelievably massive Halo, sitting in the system's habitable zone like a giant ring. Not orbiting some planet or gas giant. There were no planets or gas giants in this system. Only the Halo.

The Dawn had been floating on the far side of an icy rock way out at the edge of the system, approximately where the Kuiper belt would have been relative to Sol. The Strike Force had encountered the Dawn's distress signal as they arrived, but after hearing nothing back, sent in the Spartans to check it out before getting closer. Now that they had the 'all clear' and knew there wasn't a trap, the fleet was moving inbound again.

"THIS is why we're here", said Jun, waving an arm at the display. He was strapped into a seat next to the Master Chief, Locke and Palmer facing them against the opposite side.

"Finding the Dawn's distress beacon was just a happy accident. Suspiciously so. Everybody knows that was your ship, Master Chief, and you're a legend of the war. You can understand why we might have been a little cautious coming in."

He nodded.

"But we've been on the trail of this ring for almost a year now. Ever since war with the Covenant remnants kicked back up again. We didn't know exactly what it was going to be until we got here, only that it's supposed to be a pretty big deal to both sides. We only just recently figured out this thing's location though, Chief. How did you get here?"

"We're not sure", he said, "The Portal from the Ark was collapsing as the Dawn went through. Only half the ship made it out."

"So did the other half Master Chief, back at Earth. Looks like you just drew the short end of the stick, sir", said Palmer with a grin.

"Doesn't really matter how you got here now." said Jun, "Captain Lasky's going to be waiting for you back at the Infinity for a full debrief. Heads up though, the comm's crew couldn't keep it much of a secret that we'd finally found the long-lost piece of the Forward Unto Dawn. You're probably in for a hero's welcome back at the ship."

The Chief nodded. Locke stayed silent.

He cut off his external speakers and said to Cortana, "How're you holding up?"

"I'm...fine, Chief."

He waited.

"It's just...all those years. I was alone. There was nothing. I thought I was holding myself together, but...there are gaps in my memories. Times when my thoughts have been fractured, scattered. Roland's not wrong. I'm way past my prime here."

He chuffed, "You're not the only one."

"This is different, Chief. I knew I had to keep myself from unraveling to protect you. Make sure someone found you, that you didn't just fade away into nothing. But now that you're here-"

He cut her off, "We're going to see Halsey, and she WILL figure out a way to fix this."

"Don't make a girl a promise, Chief..."

The Infinity eventually came into sight. But it was much longer than he would've thought before they actually got there. The ship was enormous; Cortana was feeding him stats about the vessel as they approached. Over 5,000 meters long, 1,000 meters tall, and 800 meters wide. It was the biggest ship he had ever seen, looking more like a city in space than a warship to his eye. When the Pelican pulled up to the hangar bay, a golden energy shield flickered and popped out of existence, letting them pass. Things really had changed.

He remembered the ceremony at Cairo Station, where he and Cortana and Johnson had all been celebrated for surviving the first Halo and stopping the Covenant there. This was less of a ceremony and more of a parade. It started in the hangar. Work crews were crowded around the dock where they landed, reflective vests sagging over grey jumpsuits, some with hoses still dangling over their shoulders and tools hanging from their belts. Foremen walked in front of them, halfway making an effort at getting everyone to work again, but looking over their shoulders at the Spartans disembarking from the Pelican the whole time.

When the Master Chief stepped out, a roar went through the crowd. Some swung towels or rags over their heads, others called out to him. The main corridor leading out from the hanger bay was the size of a decent roadway, so there was plenty of room for more people to push in around them as they moved. Some came in formal wear, some in off-duty slacks, and for some of them it was obvious that they had just raced down here from their bunks. A marine escort formed around the Spartans, pushing away onlookers until they made it onto a lift heading for the bridge.

Jun cocked his head at him and shrugged a shoulder, "What did I say? Legend you are. Better you than me."

The doors to the lift opened, and the Infinity's Captain was there to greet them. The Chief's first thought was that he seemed like such an unassuming man to command such an awe-inspiring vessel. Medium height, short brown hair, brown eyes, middle-aged but relatively unlined and youthful looking. He greeted the Spartans with a wide smile, and behind him the bridge crew started clapping.

They were seated in descending rows from the command deck, 20 or 30 crewmen at their workstations, every surface immaculately clean with a constellation of lights and screens blinking up at them. Every workstation was facing a massive observation port that covered the entire forward wall, which roughly the size of a theater screen. Stars blanketed the darkness beyond it. The yellow-orange light of the native sun was the size of a golf ball. The image must have been enhanced, because around the star, the Chief could see that ribbon of light and shadow. It was canted around at an angle, like a hat tilted to one side. He dragged his eyes away from it and back to the Captain.

"Welcome aboard, Master Chief!" he said, vigorously shaking the Chief's hand. The Spartan's arm barely moved, but Lasky took no notice. "It's an honor to have you here."

"Thank you, Captain."

"I'm assuming Cortana is with you as well, Master Chief?"

She projected her image onto the bridge, "I'm here, Captain Lasky." The Chief saw Locke visibly twitch.

"Welcome to you too, Cortana. I was wondering-"

"Sir!", Locke wasted no time in stepping forward, "Aboard the Dawn, this AI displayed clear signs of rampancy. She was brought here against Protocol, and now she's actively using the ships network. This situation needs to be rectified, immediately, sir."

Lasky paused for a moment, looked between Cortana and Locke, unsure. He cast a glance at Jun.

Jun nodded, "Mild signs, but sure."

"There is no such thing as 'mild' AI rampancy, Commander Jun", said Roland from Locke's suit mic.

"Quiet, b-both of you! I-I-I can speak for myself!"

Her image flared red, with orange tinges at the edge. Her head flickered to the right with every stutter, voice distorted strangely. Locke settled back on his heels, satisfied. Palmer's stance looked wary, the way one might look around a large animal. Jun still seemed unfazed and neutral. But Lasky, now, was visibly alarmed.

Cortana's avatar cooled down to its normal purple-blue hue, "Captain, I'm sorry, I-"

"We need to speak to Doctor Halsey, sir", interrupted the Chief, "So she can fix the problem."

"Halsey?" Captain Lasky looked at Jun again, who gave nothing back, and let out an annoyed grunt, "I suppose...that can be arranged. Hell, considering all you two have done, it's the least we can do, really."

He grabbed at his lapel mic and spoke into it, "Sergeant, prep Doctor Halsey for a visit."

A few moments later, a much grayer and aged Halsey than he remembered appeared on the bridge. In holographic form. Wearing an orange jumpsuit.

"Captain, what is it? I'm in the middle of..."

"Sorry Halsey, but your time's not yours anymore, remember? You have some visitors."

Doctor Halsey took them in, "Oh my god. Master Chief, Cortana..."

Cortana's avatar stepped towards Halsey's hologram, "Doctor, it's good to see you again."

"And you as well, Cortana", she felt the direction of their gaze, "You like my new ensemble? It's the latest in UNSC couture, very popular nowadays."

Lasky spoke up, "Doctor Halsey is joining us from the brig. She's been convicted of war crimes by a UN Tribunal, and she's not allowed to have physical contact with anyone but her jailers, Master Chief."

"What war crimes?!" said Cortana.

Lasky looked at her, "You...know. Or at least you should." Lasky turned to the Chief, "Alot's changed since you've been gone Master Chief. People wanted to know about you, your history, where you came from. You were a hero to every man, woman, and child in the UNSC. Details of the early Spartan programs leaked out. What was done to you, and the others Chief, was...monstrous".

There was an expression on Lasky's face. He'd seen it on others before, but never directed at him, so it took him a moment to recognize it. It was pity.

"They're rounding us up, John", said Halsey, "Every instructor or drill sergeant you ever trained with. Every scientist who had a hand in your augmentations. Hell, even support personnel, kitchen staff and the like. Like we were guards in a concentration camp."

Lasky turned on Halsey, angry now, "How many children died because of your program, Doctor? You DID run a concentration camp."

The Chief spoke up, "If the Doctor's been convicted of a crime, then why is she here? On this ship?"

Lasky gave him a strange look, but answered, "Unfortunately, Halsey here has still proven herself useful to us, so she's been given a furlough. Her work with Forerunner technology is critical to our war efforts. The only reason we managed to find this...'Meta-Halo'", he said this in a way that made it clear he hadn't come up with the term, "was because she was able to decipher its location from a Forerunner artifact. One that Lieutenant Commander Locke snatched out from under the nose of the Zealots."

"Sir," Locke said, "We need to get back on point here. Every moment this rampant AI has access to the Infinity's battlenet, we're in danger."

"Ahhh," said Doctor Halsey, "Of course. I should have realized. It's fascinating that you've held yourself together for this long, Cortana."

"What can be done, Doctor?" said the Master Chief

Halsey considered him for a long moment. Something about her look made him think that she was analyzing him more than she was thinking about Cortana. "Well, if I had access to the proper equipment, I suppose I could clone a fresh copy of my brain. Construct a new AI framework from it, then transfer Cortana's memory archives into the new construct. There would be some minor data leakage, but nothing critical. However, there could be a philosophical argument made that the result of this wouldn't really be YOU, Cortana. Just a new AI with your memories."

Halsey sighed, rubbed her forehead, "But I won't lie to you. After all you've done for humanity, you deserve better than that. Your fate is completely out of my hands. At this stage, ONI may very well decide to decommission you so they can dissect your data streams. You were INSIDE Installation 04's control room. You carried an Index. You were in contact with the Gravemind. You contain a treasure trove of valuable data, and it will all be easier to analyze as inert code than as an active part of a deteriorating AI system. And this is all beside the point anyway, because there is absolutely nothing I can do, here and now. The only choice is to sequester you, per Protocol, until next steps can be determined."

"NO!"

Cortana's avatar was blood red now, and so enlarged that she stood above them all. "I WONT GO! Y-YOU CAN'T MAKE ME-E! I WONT-"

Several lights flickered. Sparks popped out of nearby terminals, causing the crewman at those workstations to flinch back. A crewman who was at one of the unaffected workstations called out, "We've got power surges on Decks 3, 4, and 7 Captain! Fire suppression warnings on Deck 6!"

"Chief!" said Lasky.

The Master Chief reached behind him to the datachip port at the back of his helmet. He could feel Cortana's emotions in the back of his mind, swinging wildly like a weathervane in a storm. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Glee. Fear. Fear. Fear. There was no choice now. But just as he was about to pull her from his suit, his entire body convulsed. The Chief fell to floor, shaking, energy crackling all along his armor as Cortana re-directed just enough of his suits power supply to keep him immobilized.

Behind him, he could hear a bulkhead door slam. Multiple vibrations hummed through the deck. More bulkhead doors, slamming down. Alarms went off.

"She's locking down the ship Captain!" said another crewman.

"THIS IS M-MY SHIP NOW!" Cortana's voice blared from every loudspeaker on the Infinity.

"STOP!" said another voice. Rolands's avatar was on the bridge, opposite of Cortana. He held a hand out to her, fingers curled. She threw her head back and screamed. So loud that the bridge crew had to cover their ears. She swung her head wildly from side to side, only she didn't have just one head anymore, but two. Now three. Six arms. Four legs. Blue. Green. Red. Pink. Yellow. Her holographic form grew larger and became so chaotic it was hard to make out the figure beneath.

While this was going on, someone ran up to the Master Chief and fumbled at the back of his helmet. He heard them cry out as the electric shock tossed them back. Then the deck tilted.

"She's got nav control Captain, and we're locked out of comms. We can't communicate with the fleet!"

Outside the viewport, the system's star and the ring around it swung up and away as Cortana took them into a dive. The artificial gravity wasn't adjusted, and crewman had to reach out to keep themselves from falling forward, shouting as they did. Items that hadn't been secured crashed into the window, which was thankfully unfazed. Roland was visibly wincing in front of Cortana's form, teeth bared in pain, clearly conveying that he was not gaining the upper hand here.

"Damn it!" yelled Lasky, "Turn off the reactor. Shut it down, everything! She can't corrupt the network if there's no network!"

"Can't sir! She's got control of the reactor systems and the electrical hub! We'd have to send crews to shut down each deck one by one!"

"Sir, the UNSC Mortal Reverie and Diamond in the Rough are tailing us. They know something is up with this flight pattern."

The deck tilted again, throwing everyone to the left. Cortana's voice came out over the loudspeaker, giggling uncontrollably.

"WEAPONS ALERT! She's got control of the firing systems now! Aft magnetic accelerator cannon's are heating up!"

The bridge devolved into a babble of hysteria. The Chief blocked it out. There was a battle going on, so his instincts were screaming at him to fight. But these were battles in space and cyberspace, and those were fields that he couldn't fight on. But Cortana could feel his emotions, the same way he could feel hers. He forced himself to be calm. Relaxed. Peaceful. He made his mind a life preserver for her to grab onto, amidst the storm of emotions she was trapped in.

"This isn't the way", he said, inside his helmet.

He felt no answer. The point of no return hung in the air as Cortana aimed the Infinity's MAC cannon's.

Then the giggling over the loudspeakers started to fade. The deck started to drift back to its proper angle. Cortana's avatar solidified into a single-bodied form again. Roland visibly regained his composure, straightened his arm, and took a step forward. Then another. With each step, Cortana's avatar shrank, became fainter. With the last step, when Roland would have been standing directly in front of her, she faded out completely.

"Chief, I... I'm so sorry", he heard. Then nothing. She had retreated from his mind, and he was no longer immobilized.

The Master Chief brought himself to one knee. Felt the port in the back of his helmet. Pulled out the chip. Just a little square of silver with a bright blue circle in the middle, sitting in the palm of his hand.

"Master Chief", said another voice. It was Locke, standing over him. His hand stretched out towards the Chief, palm up. Everybody on the bridge had their eyes on the two of them, silent.

The Master Chief looked down at the tiny chip. Back to Locke's hand. And made a choice.

Author's Note: On Spartan ranks; I started looking up military ranks, and ended up going back and forth between using the Petty Officer-level ranks of the original Spartan II's or the Lieutenant-level ranks of the Spartan III's in Reach. I ended up going with the Lieutenant ranks from Reach, simply because they roll off the tongue easier and more clearly convey the persons relative standing. The only difference between Spartan ranks and IRL Navy rankings in this story is that I replaced Junior Grade Lieutenants with regular Lieutenants, and regular Lieutenants with First Lieutenants. However, Spartans are outside the jurisdiction of any other military branch, except for the very most senior officers (captains/colonels/etc.)

So, basically, Lieutenants would be rank-and-file Spartans (minimum rank required after completing the Spartan IV program), First Lieutenants are fireteam leaders, Lieutenant Commanders oversee larger Spartan deployments/Spartan Companies, and Spartan Commanders oversee their branch of the armed forces in general. In my head-cannon, the Master Chief was posthumously promoted to Command Master Chief (CMC) after the Battle for the Ark, and is subsequently 'grandfathered' into the new Spartan ranking system (since he achieved the highest rank possible for his generation of Spartans) as a 'Spartan Commander' equivalent, which allows him to keep his name (I am fully aware that, in real life, CMC's are NEVER called Master Chief, but this is a liberty I took). I tried to introduce this lore into a previous version of the chapter, but couldn't do it in a way that didn't feel 'clunky' to read. I may try to work it in again later, but for now this is just my personal 'head cannon' for why the Master Chief isnt outranked by the Spartans around him.