Chapter 30: The Truth
UNSC Spirit of Fire
February 8, 2558
The Ark
0825 hours
Bridge
It had been ten days since he'd arrived on the Ark. Ten days and he wasn't any closer to finding Cortana, but that time was far from wasted. John-117 had he not stumbled across the Spirit of Fire in his investigation and had been reunited with three of this brothers and sisters.
Not only had he been reunited with three of his brothers and sisters, but the technology within his Mark VI had helped the crew integrate the Keyship slipspace drive into the existing control systems.
Even with that said, Master Chief still felt anxious. This refitting of the Spirit of Fire had taken up much of Mendicant Bias's time, but he'd been even more reclusive as of late. John wondered why.
He wasn't alone in this observation, Serina had noticed too.
What ever the ancient AI was up to he wasn't forthcoming about it, but the Chief suspected it had something to do with his hunt for Mantle's Approach's black box. Why he was playing things so close to the chest was a mystery to the Spartan.
"You're up early." The British brogue of the ship's resident AI broke the peaceful silence he'd been enjoying.
He turned to acknowledge her, but didn't say anything.
"We're scheduled to launch in two hours, but Mendicant Bias wants to speak to you and the Captain before then."
"Understood." He said simply before turning back to the window.
Serina transferred herself to the forward most holo-pedestal.
"Who was it you were looking for?" She inquired, hoping to goad something out of the stoic Spartan. A small smirk appeared when his head snapped towards her.
"My mission is to retrieve a Forerunner artifact." He reminded her, not understanding that she was onto him.
Her smirk turned into a rare smile. "I'm not a fool, Master Chief. The looks of longing I've seen on you're face are exactly like those of the crew. I also doubt ONI would send you on a mission by yourself, unless you had made it a personal request."
John-117 stood there motionless, and so she continued.
"I've also been inside you're armor, remember? What footage wasn't wiped by ONI told me all I needed to know."
John grew increasingly uncomfortable with every word she spoke. Unable to look her in the eye, he turned his gaze back to spindle arms of the Ark.
"You were paired with an AI."
His hands curled, but she ignored it.
"CTN 0452-9, designation Cortana." Serina paused, noting his increased heart rate. "She was aboard that ship, wasn't she?"
Despite the fact she was right on the money, he wasn't going to admit anything to her.
His silence was all the confirmation she needed, and she allowed herself to feel satisfied for figuring out that little mystery.
"The meeting starts in ten minutes." She said finally before removing her presence from the room.
In the final few minutes of peace he had left, John wondered if his attachment to Cortana was really that obvious.
Mendicant Bias, or rather the fragment that inhabited the Monitor shell, hovered in the empty hanger bay as he waited for Professor Anders to arrive.
The black haired scientist stumbled in only a few minutes late, something which Cutter forgave given the fact she had pulled yet another all-nighter.
"Sorry, Captain." She muttered as she tucked back an errant strand of hair.
"Once we get underway, you're getting some sleep Professor. Is that understood?"
She sighed while restraining the urge to roll her eyes. "Perfectly, Captain."
Cutter nodded at Mendicant to begin.
"In my effort to help Spartan-117, I've discovered an anomaly." He boomed as he floated in of the small group. "I've calculated the most probable fate of the black box and it has become apparent that it has likely been displaced to another dimension."
"Another dimension"? Anders exclaimed, her almond shaped eyes now wide open. "Like slipspace?"
"No." He said simply. "More accurately, another universe."
John stood silent even though a disheartening feeling began to crush his normally indomitable spirit.
"Is that even...possible?" Serina wondered aloud, her face filled with more confusion than anyone present had ever seen.
"The Forerunners discovered methods of interdimensional travel eons ago, but it was banned on the precipice of being as unethical as genocide."
Confusion fell across those gathered until Anders broke the silence. "Isn't that a little extreme?"
"It depends. Not all universes have similar laws of physics; if we were to enter one where our technology did not function properly, disaster might ensue." He explained, even though he didn't know the exact details of why his makers banned the practice.
It was at this juncture that John finally spoke up. "What about the device?" The tension was barely present in his baritone; just enough for everyone to hear it.
"Unknown." He rumbled, noting how the Spartan's shoulders slumped several millimeters after he said it. "However, it seems as if someone has decided to interfere in our own. It is possible that they may know where it is."
"Meaning what, exactly?" Cutter inquired, wondering if these 'invaders' posed some kind of risk to his ship.
"They were present during what you call the 'Battle of Installation 00'. Using a primitive cloaking device, they hid from your sensors, but not mine. They discretely boarded the Forward Unto Dawn before you ignited Halo. As the ring fired, they escaped through a temporal vortex."
"Controlled time travel? That preposterous!" Serina scoffed as she crossed her arms.
Mendicant paid her comment no attention as he continued. "The Forerunners were able to manipulate time, but they abstained from doing so to prevent possible paradoxes."
"So why tell us this? Are they arriving soon?" Cutter asked pointedly.
Slightly surprised by his intuition, Mendicant turned his eye towards the Captain. "Within the next two hours."
That statement changed everyone's mood almost instantly. Serina became visibly alarmed, Anders nearly dropped her data pad, Cutter took on a grim look while the Master Chief's hand hovered closer to his side arm.
Sensing their alarm, Mendicant put their fears to rest. "The situation is well in hand, they will not pose any threat to you or your ship."
"Serina." Cutter turned towards the holopedestal. "Get the crew to battle stations! I want this ship off the ground in ten."
"Aye, Captain." Serina responded before promptly leaving the room.
Master Chief caught up with Cutter as he moved off towards the turbolift. "Sir, I'll have Red Team on standby in five."
The Captain of the Spirit opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Mendicant Bias. "That won't be necessary." He said as he turned his eye towards the far edge of the Ark. "They're already here."
Same time...
USS Voyager
Bridge
The ride through the temporal vortex wasn't smooth, but thankfully it was quick. "Exiting vortex in three, two, one!" Cortana barely had the words out of her mouth before everyone was slammed forward by the deceleration. "Inertial dampeners at 23%!" Cameron warned as the vortex dissipated.
"It looked smoother in the movie." John muttered as he leaned back in his chair.
Hearing his comment, Seven rolled her eyes.
Cameron smirked at his comment before announcing the ship's status. "Main power's holding, shields down, transporters down, primary deflector dish offline."
John Henry, who was manning the tactical console, noted with eyebrows raised at the condition of the Ark. "The damage appears extensive." He deadpanned as he refocused the view screen on the damaged installation. "Yet it seems mostly operational."
Kalmiya turned back to him."Looks can be deceiv..." Her words were lost to speculation when an orange blade of light penetrated the bridge as it swept the ship.
Consoles scrambled and the view screen filled with static. Lights flickered and blew as the intense Luminary beam penetrated the vessel.
As soon as Cortana's hologram stabilized, her face filled with fear. "Weaver! Pull our data chips! Pull them no.." She was cut off mid sentence as all three female AI's fizzled out of existence.
Realizing what was going on, John Henry instantly disconnected from Voyager's systems and retreated fully into his endo. Seven had quickly encrypted both the main and secondary computer to prevent any data from being stolen remotely.
As the beam finished sweeping the ship, systems returned to normal.
Worry creased John's face as the situation became more evident to him. "That came from the Ark, didn't it?" He asked the blonde cyborg working furiously at the engineering console.
"Yes, it was Forerunner in origin."
"Damn." He sighed, knowing just how much trouble they could be in.
"I believe the entity that scanned us is remotely hacking the ship." John Henry warned as his fingers flew across his control panel. "It's bypassing the computer cores."
Seven wordlessly began helping John Henry counteract the hack, but quickly found that they were out of their league. Without Cortana and Kalmiya, this AI had them completely outmatched.
It may not get the data from the computers, but control of Voyager now belonged to the Forerunner AI.
As frustration furrowed her eyebrows, she noticed what the entity was trying to do. "It's engaging the landing sequence!" She announced just before all the consoles went blank, save one, dominant symbol.
A Forerunner glyph.
Several seconds passed, the bridge was completely silent as they resigned themselves to the fact they'd just become prisoners in their own ship. Then Weaver stepped out of the turbo lift with Cortana and Kalmiya's data chips in hand.
Meeting John's eyes, she quieted his obvious worry. "I placed her in the TX-3 endo, she'll be safe there." He nodded as some the tension in his posture melted away.
After sitting down at the helm Weaver set the chips on top of the inactive console, allowing Cortana and Kalmiya to display their mini-avatars.
The blue skinned AI gave the view screen one look and growled in frustration. "Of course it'd be him." She sighed. "Of all the AI's to get hacked by, it'd have to be Mendicant Bias!"
Weaver turned sharply. "The AI who betrayed the Forerunners?"
"Yes, and the same one I battled for control of the Keyship on High Charity." She shook her head. "If we can't find a way to get him to release Voyager, who knows what he'll do with us."
Derek, who'd been quiet up to this point, nodded to John in silent conversation. When he nodded back, Derek left the room and came back with phaser rifles and Energy swords.
"Comm's down, though I doubt Six and Allison need us to tell them we're in trouble." He grunted as he set the weapons on the floor. Weaver took two swords, and everyone else took rifles.
"How do you think the Doctor's doing?" John asked Seven as they checked their rifles.
"He was in the mobile emitter when we jumped through time; he should be fine. Though I imagine he's more than a little flustered."
John hid a smile as he imagined the Doctor fretting over his patient and the situation at the same time. It quickly dissipated though when the sound of atmo thrusters rumbled through the bridge.
"How much time?" John asked her.
Seven looked back at him, her features displaying the worry she felt. "One minute thirty seconds."
Cortana, sensing that they were forgetting one very important detail, decided to remind them that Mendicant Bias could transport himself on board at any time with the Ark's own transport grid.
"In fact, he may already be here." Her exasperation was obvious and understood by all.
It was at this point that Kalmiya voiced something she felt was obvious. "Maybe he's interested in our stolen piece of Forerunner technology. The Didact was his master after all."
"Correct." A mechanical voice boomed over the comm. "And if you want to leave this ship alive, I suggest you stay your arms."
"What do you want with us?" An irate Seven demanded, she did not like having her ship being boarded.
"An explanation for transgressing upon this reality, and how you came to acquire this device." Mendicant responded, his mechanical baritone even and intimidating.
Everyone on the bridge shared looks that betrayed their nervousness. Going up against Skynet was hard enough, but what about an AI who brought an entire galaxy-spanning empire to its knees?
"Our best choice it is to talk to him, otherwise he may eliminate us entirely." Cortana pointed out, and John had to agree. Mendicant had full control of Voyager's systems. Even though he was locked out of the computer cores, he could still cause any number of things to explode, such as a photon torpedo.
Everyone nodded at Cortana's suggestion, it would be pointless to fight the AI while he was in control of the ship.
John, Derek, Seven, and Cortana chose to confront the AI since they were members of the board. The rest were ordered to take control of this ship if they manged to somehow get Mendicant to relinquish control.
As the turbolift surged down the shaft towards deck 8, Derek turned to the AI chip held in John's hands. "You should have known he might be here." He chided, though he wasn't doing it to make her feel bad; instead, he wanted to know why neglected the possibility.
"You're right, I should have. I knew he might have been active. Why that didn't factor into my decision making is...unsettling." She admitted sadly. "What is wrong with me?" She shook her head, almost hoping it would clear the invisible cobwebs in her mind.
John looked down at her tiny avatar with sympathy and understanding. "We all make mistakes."
She shook her head vehemently. "Smart AI's don't make mistakes like that, John."
The tell-tale signs of a smirk appeared on John's lips. "No, but Humans do."
What ever retort Cortana had in mind was silenced as the turbolift stopped. Moving forward as the door began to open, John nearly ran into a giant floating sphere waiting just outside.
The single eyed Monitor gave the group a one over before settling on Cortana.
"So, it seems that I am not alone." The AI boomed.
Cortana defiantly crossed her arms, leveling him with a look that could melt steel. "Metastability does not make us buddies, Bias."
Ignoring her retort, he looked to John. "Come." He rumbled and floated down the corridor.
Having no other choice, the human trio and Cortana followed Mendicant Bias to Cargo Bay 1. Once inside, they gathered near the floating metal orb as he hovered over the cylindrical Forerunner storage device.
"Explain how you acquired the black box," he demanded, "and your purpose here."
And that's exactly what they did.
Everyone on the bridge was tense, and the Master Chief would've been pacing had he been a normal man.
The strange ship had landed nearly an hour ago, and still no word from Mendicant Bias. The ship, USS Voyager, had landed two kilometers from the Spirit of Fire and immediately powered down. Both Anders and Serina both concluded that Bias had taken control of the ship and landed it for some unknown purpose. Despite the powered down status of the ship, Cutter was still on edge.
And understandably so.
According to their sensor readings, the ship was powered primarily by antimatter. That meant that this tiny ship could easily put out as much power as the Spirit of Fire.
That also betrayed the ship's level of technology, time travel abilities aside. It was far beyond the UNSC, possibly even the Covenant; only Forerunner tech seemed blatantly more advanced.
Then there was the matter of where the ship came from, but John-117 left that line of thought to Anders and Serina. Debating the origin of interdimensional ships was out of his league.
Captain Cutter stood by the observation windows, rubbing his mustache in thought as he stared at the sleek grey ship in the distance.
He knew Serina was keeping the weapons on hot standby as they prepared the massive Spirit for take off, just in case their new guests somehow overpowered Mendicant Bias.
"Captain." Serina's British accent snapped him out of his thoughts.
"What is it, Serina?"
"All departments are reporting green, sir." She said while appearing on her forward holopedestal.
The Captain turned towards her as he issued his orders. "Plot an indirect course back to Earth and get ready to warm up our new FTL drive."
"Aye, sir. Course plotted; warming up thrusters for take off." She responded as the course appeared on the holo-table behind them.
Cutter turned back to the window, his eyes once again locking onto the ship in the distance. For some reason he just couldn't get it out of his mind; it was almost as if the arrival of this ship heralded something significant.
"Captain!" Serina erupted from her holopedestal, garnering Cutter's immediate attention. "Mendicant Bias just contacted me. He says he wants you, Anders, and the Spartans to join him on that ship."
"Why?" The confused Captain asked as he stepped away from the glass panorama and towards Serina's hologram. She shrugged her tiny shoulders, her eyebrows slightly arched at the strange request.
"Apparently what he's found could change everything, according to him that is."
The Master Chief joined the Captain at Serina's holopedestal. "Sir, Mendicant Bias isn't one to exaggerate."
Cutter's face quickly became contemplative, but didn't stay that way for long. "Master Chief, gather Red Team and met us in Hanger bay 5. Serina, get a Pelican prepped immediately."
"It's already done." Serina answered, a small smirk appearing on her lips. She'd know all along that he'd go.
"Red Team's on their way, Captain." Master Chief told him as they both left the bridge.
"I wonder what our 'friend' has in store for us." Cutter drawled as he straightened his cap.
Sensing the question was rhetorical, John-117 stayed silent as they entered the turbolift. They remained that way until they arrived in the hanger bay.
Red Team Leader, Jerome-092, was the first to spot the duo as they entered the expansive room. "Captain on deck!" All the military personnel in the room stood at attention before Cutter put them at ease.
The Chief stood with his brothers and sister as Cutter addressed Anders and the three young Spartan IIs.
"As you all know, Mendicant Bias took over a ship of unknown origin roughly one standard hour ago. He has just requested our presence aboard the vessel."
Anders frowned. "Why?"
"Good question." He answered evenly. "He only said that he found something that could change everything."
"That's not much to go on Captain." Anders pointed out, though she would be will to go, she didn't understand why he was willing to take the risk.
"Anders, do you remember when we realized the Covenant had found something on Harvest?"
"How could I forget?"
"I have the same feeling I did then." He said firmly before walking into the Pelican. The rest of the group simply followed him inside, they had no inclination to disobey a superior office; especially one as competent as James Cutter.
It didn't take the Pelican long to make the short distance between the Spirit of Fire and the mysterious, time traveling USS Voyager.
"Set us down on the rear landing platform, Lieutenant." Cutter ordered the pilot as he strapped a Magnum pistol to his belt.
"Aye, sir." The woman responded as she adjusted her course and prepared to set the large drop ship down. The hanger door was already open, but the Pelican's wing span prevent it from landing inside, which is why it had to land on the overhang.
As the ramp dropped, the feeling grew stronger in Cutter's gut.
The Spartans proceeded him down the ramp while Professor Anders stayed by his side.
"Ready Professor?"
She gave him a side long look. As if anything could get to her at this point. "Ready as always, Captain."
With the barest hint of a smile on his face, they walked down the ramp.
Ten minutes ago...
From John Connor's perspective, the past half hour had gone pretty well. Despite Mendicant Bias' preceding reputation, the AI proved to be reasonable.
After meeting everyone on the ship, save the unconscious Miranda Keyes, Mendicant understood why they were gallivanting from reality to reality. Funny enough, he even thought it was the best course of action, despite the Forerunner's dim views on interdimensional travel.
Then the ancient AI had told them something that surprised them all.
"You are not the only humans on this installation." He revealed just as everyone thought the conversation at an end.
"What?!" Cortana, still a tiny hologram, looked both surprised and angry. "You're just now telling us?!"
Kalmiya, a with a little more tact, furthered her sister's line of questioning. "Why tell us now?"
"I did not want to reveal their existence should you become a problem."
Derek couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for the AI. "They're your back up." He stated simply.
"Precisely."
Reigning in her temper, Cortana rejoined the conversation. "Who's here? Infinity?" She doubted that, but anything was possible.
"No, Spirit of Fire." He corrected before continuing on before he could be assaulted with questions. "The Portal generator malfunctioned, and the ship was pulled here by accident. They were preparing to leave when you arrived."
"You gave them a new slipspace drive?" Kalmiya guessed.
"In a manner of speaking." He responded cryptically. "I gave them one of the Keyship's secondary slipspace engines."
Surprise filled Cortana's blue features. "Oh. Well that would do it, wouldn't it?"
"It would." Seven commented dryly. "Why tell us about them? You have us blind and vulnerable."
"Because they have what you seek. Spartans." Mendicant answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.
"Well...officially, their MIA. If we could convince them to join us, then all the crew would have to do is make it official." Cortana surmised, but everyone had their doubts. The Spirit of Fire was a large ship; how would they keep the crew quiet? They'd already seen the ship, and three disappearing Spartans would be bound to attract attention when the Spirit's crew was debriefed back home.
All of these points were brought up by Voyager's crew, but it was Mendicant who made the decision.
"Perhaps you should propose an alliance with them. Give them the proof and they'll understand the threat Skynet poses to them."
"Or ONI could step in and cause us a shit ton of trouble." Allison pointed out. "Look at what they were willing to do to suppress the Insurrectionists. They kidnapped six year-olds and turned them into super soldiers!"
John agreed. "She makes a good point. We don't need worry about ONI and Skynet."
"You have little choice. If Skynet has access to Forerunner scientific knowledge, then it may only be a matter of time before it comes here." Mendicant pointed out, again feeling it was obvious. "If that is the case, weapons like the Composer could be turned against you once more. Even Halo is not out of its grasp."
The chilling thought swept the room before it was decided that they would meet with Spirit of Fire's captain.
Just as they were all about to leave the room, the ancient Forerunner AI divulged his last surprise.
"Cortana," he boomed, "the Reclaimer you were paired with; he's been looking for you."
Still confined to her chip, her tiny avatar whipped around at his statement. "He's been here?! Where is he!?" Hearing news about Master Chief flooded her matrices with a desperate need to find him.
"He is here."
Present
The first thing the Master Chief noticed after landing on the unusual ship was the small, equally strange shuttle sitting in the hanger bay. He didn't give it much attention, instead motioning Red team to fan out to check for threats.
After entering the bay itself, his visor adjusted for the lower level of light, revealing a small group of people that had come to meet them.
His eyes were quickly drawn to two of the three people; a Spartan wearing a grey Mark VI variant and a blond female human that had metal covering various parts of her body.
"Sir, why is there a Spartan here?" Alice-130 wondered as they cautiously approached the group.
Not knowing the answer, the Chief didn't respond verbally, instead just sending her a red, negative blip over his locator beacon to her HUD.
When Mendicant floated out of a nearby doorway; Master Chief ordered Red Team to lower their weapons. If Mendicant hadn't been subdued, then he'd likely come to an accord with these people.
As the giant monitor grew closer, he greeted him. "Reclaimer."
Never one for pleasantries, the Chief got down to business. "Who are these people?" He asked as Cutter and Anders caught up with them.
"They pose no threat to you or this Installation. Listen to what they have to say, our future could very well depend on it." The AI rumbled before transporting away.
Cutter and the Professor Anders shared a look before the captain stepped forward to greet the time travelers. Not knowing who was in charge, he simply went out on a limb and greeted the one standing closest to him. The brown haired man looked young, but the look in his eyes told the story of someone wiser than his years.
"I'm Captain James Cutter." He said as he shook the young man's hand.
"John Connor." He said simply. "Welcome to Voyager."
Cutter smiled. "I'd say it's a pleasure to be aboard, but something tells me your not one for pleasantries."
"No I'm not, Captain." Connor had just the barest hint of a smile on his face. "We already know who you are." He said pointedly. "Professor Ellen Anders, Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117, and the Spartans of Red Team: Jerome-092, Douglas-043, and Alice-130."
Cutter wasn't surprised, Master Chief had told them the Spirit of Fire had made its mark on history after they disappeared, not to mention John-117's own infamy.
"It seems you have us at a disadvantage, Mr. Connor."
"So we do." John gave him a humorous smirk. "The first thing you need to know about our crew is that we represent three different realities."
Anders eyes bulged. "Three!?"
"Yes, three, Professor." John confirmed before gesturing to the blonde woman on his left. "This is Seven of Nine, she represents the universe this ship came from."
Seven gave the Captain a respectful nod, which he returned.
"I myself am neither from your's nor Seven's, though I am human." He clarified before gesturing to the towering grey Spartan next to him. "She, however, is a native to your universe. Lieutenant Sierra-Beta-312, otherwise known as Six."
The hyper-lethal lone wolf stepped forward and saluted the Captain. "Lieutenant." He greeted after saluting her back.
"Captain Cutter, it's an honor, sir." She said before reaching out and shaking his hand.
It was at this point that the Master Chief stepped forward. "You were the one who got the Pillar of Autumn off Reach." He told her point blank. "The reports said you never made it off planet."
"I would have been KIA had it not been for these people. They saved me." She admitted shamelessly. "I know what you're thinking, Master Chief."
He stayed silent.
"I was supposed to die; had I returned to the UNSC, the chain of events that led to the end of the war would have been disrupted. I was not willing to risk that."
Listening to her and observing her movements as she explained herself led him to believe that she did what she thought was the best for humanity. "I understand." He rumbled. "But how did they," he nodded towards John, "know what was going to happen?"
Knowing that it was best to keep Cortana a secret for now, Six opted for a version of the truth. "One of the people who started this crew was from after the war, Chief."
Satisfied for now, he backed off.
Cutter, wanting to get back on track, spoke again. "Mendicant said you had something to tell us."
Connor nodded. "Yes, though before we get to that, Mendicant mentioned that Master Chief was looking for a piece of displaced Forerunner tech?"
Cutter differed to Chief, who then stepped forward again. "I am." He noticed the younger man's mouth twitch at his answer, but he didn't know why he might find the answer humorous.
"We do have one piece of Forerunner tech aboard." Connor nodded as his mask dropped back into place. "If it's what your looking for, you can have it."
Shoving down the surge of hope his heart felt, he answered. "Where is it?"
"Follow me." Connor told him before turning to Seven of Nine. "Take them to the mess hall, we'll be there soon." He instructed before turning back to the towering green Spartan. "You can bring them if you want," he nodded towards Red Team, "or they can go with Captain Cutter."
It was a question that John-117 didn't even need to consider. "Jerome, take your team and stay with the VIPs."
"Yes sir!" The red striped Spartan said before joining with the Captain and Anders as Seven of Nine and Six led them away.
Connor and the Master Chief rode in a separate lift from the rest since the system wouldn't likely tolerate five Spartans. "Here we are." Connor announced as the door slid open. "We normally keep it in cargo bay one, but since it contains highly accurate maps of this galaxy, we figured it would be wise to have the best ones on file."
Again, the Chief shoved down the surge of hope that flooded him.
They stopped in front of a large set of doors not long after leaving the lift. "This is Main Engineering. Don't touch anything, otherwise Catherine will have a fit."
"Your Chief Engineer?" He surmised, but Connor shook his head.
"No, Seven's the Chief. Catherine Weaver does most of the leg work." He explained as the entered the room.
It was large, but not overly and it was very different from any in the UNSC. The room was dominated by computer consoles and a large, vertical tube with two smaller ones on either side. He assumed that was the power core.
But it was not those things that drew his attention, but rather the long cylindrical device lying on the floor hooked up to a console and a power cell.
It was exactly what he was looking for, and this time, he allowed himself to feel some hope.
"I take it this is what you're looking for?" Connor's voice broke him out of his daze, and he nodded quickly.
"Yes, thank you." It wasn't often he said those words, but this was definitely the time to use them.
"Don't thank me, thank him." Connor nodded at a tall blonde man sifting through the data on the Forerunner black box. "He's the one who recovered it."
The Chief shifted his attention to the blonde man. "The transfer is complete." The man announced as he turned to Connor. "Hello, my name is John Henry." He greeted and shook hands with the Spartan.
Something bothered him about John Henry, and it took only a fraction of a second to realize that this man wasn't breathing and didn't have a audible heartbeat.
"What are you?" His voice took on a slight edge, he didn't like unknowns.
Suddenly, a new voice broke in. "John Henry is a cybernetic organism." The accented voice replied, earning a sharp head turn from the Spartan. He was disturbed by the fact he hadn't heard her approach.
"A what?"
"Cybernetic organism. Modified human tissue over a hyper-alloy combat chassis."
The Master Chief forced his suits scanners to work over time, and he was rewarded with a faint nuclear signature within the cyborg's chest. He simply nodded so they knew he understood.
"Have you found anything...unusual?" He asked, wondering just how much they had found on the Forerunner black box.
Connor again suppressed a smile.
John Henry frowned. "That depends on your definition of unusual, Master Chief."
"Did you find anything that wasn't Forerunner?" He clarified while hiding his exasperation.
The cyborg tilted his head before he answered. "I did." Those two words sent his heart rate skyrocketing. "When I first accessed it several months ago, I found something while searching through the data. It wasn't Forerunner in origin, but rather UNSC."
The Spartan didn't move a muscle at the news, but his hidden face showed nothing less than surprise. It seemed too good to be true.
Just as he was about to ask what it was, the cyborg continued. "It was unusual, like nothing I had ever seen before. It was fragmented, corrupted; I didn't understand why it was like that, but I knew what it was. It was like me."
The Chief's head moved ever so slightly from side to side, as if he were trying to deny John Henry's words. "Like you?"
"Yes. One more powerful and sophisticated than I." He confirmed before a new voice carried on. It was a voice he feared he would never hear again.
"He found me broken, shattered, and utterly helpless. At first, he thought I was beyond saving, but then he noticed that part of me had surpassed the corruption and overcome the disease that plagued me." Her voice was everywhere, his head turned in all different directions trying to find its source as her melodious voice continued. "He put me back together and gave me a gift I thought only the Forerunners could give."
Then, from more places than he dared to count, tiny blue dots of light flew out of the walls and coalesced in a small blue sphere not five feet from him. His body tensed; he didn't know what was going on and instinctively raised his weapon.
The tiny sphere grew brighter until it exploded in a flash of light. Had the Chief been a lesser man, he would have fired his weapon, but he stayed his finger.
Said weapon nearly fell to the floor when the light dimmed.
Standing before him was a full sized Cortana in all her blue glory. He quickly tightened his grip on the weapon; he wasn't sure if this was a trick or not, but he sure as hell wasn't about to let it distract him from a possible attack.
But none ever came. She stood there looking at him with an almost indescribable look on her face as he kept his weapon trained on the group. Cortana slowly stepped forward, her eyes locking with his as she closed the distance between them. She carefully placed her hands on the assault rifle and pushed down ever so slightly, just enough for him to know.
Surprised that she could touch him, he let her bring his weapon down until it was angled at the floor.
Then, without saying anything, she raised her hand and touched his breastplate just as she had when she had told him good bye.
He was speechless. There was nothing that he could think to say, it was just too surreal for him to process. He'd gone from having no clue about whether or not he'd ever find the black box to having Cortana standing in front of him in less than an hour.
"John?" Her voice was like bucket of ice water, and his eyes snapped back to hers. The intense clarity in her eyes was relieving to the part of him that accepted this as Cortana, but so much of him was still wary.
"You don't think I'm real, do you?" Instead of looking angry, she looked worried. "I suppose I should be honest." She muttered as John flinched from her words. "You'll see that we have the technology to...imitate...someone based on their personality traits and personal history."
"What are trying to say?" His voice edging on confusion and the Spartan version of panic.
She looked him in the eye as she continued, "I am not an imitation, Chief, but leaving that a secret would have only made you suspicious when you eventually found out." She paused, her body language showing her uncertainty. "But..." Her mouth closed as she shook her head. "I have no way to prove to you that I'm me."
Her words were wasted, he knew that. Only one person could confirm that this was Cortana and not an impostor or imitation. Unfortunately her creator, Catherine Halsey, was not here. However, Mendicant Bias had never lead him astray. He doubted he would have been kind to these people if they'd tried to imitate Cortana.
Despite the lack of hard evidence, the amount of circumstantial evidence was beginning to pile up, and he finally began to relax.
His flicked the safety on his assault rifle and stowed it on his back as the room let out a collective sigh of relief.
Everyone seemed to leave at once except for the red head and Connor. The young man came up to him and Cortana as he prepared to leave himself. "I'll see you in the mess hall." He told the Smart AI, a confounding smirk appearing on his face before nodding to the Chief and leaving the room.
"Good ole' John Connor." Cortana chuckled as she turned her attention back to the Chief. "He's like you in a lot of ways."
The Chief didn't respond to her observation, instead his eyes were drawn to the red head.
"Another cyborg?" John-117 asked as his helmet leveled with his shorter companion.
Cortana smiled. "Something like that." She knew Weaver was smirking, but instead of explaining her true nature to the Master Chief, Cortana led him out of Engineering.
As they walked side by side down the hallway, Cortana decided to break the silence. "What Connor said was true, Chief. It wasn't easy for me to believe either, but math doesn't lie."
"Mendicant Bias told us it was possible." He responded in a tone Cortana took as contemplative.
Cortana crossed her arms, "And you trust him?"
"The Librarian does."
She thought it over for a nanosecond before shrugging. "That's good enough for me."
"Cortana." His rumbling voice sent the equivalent of shivers through her matrices. "Where have you been?"
They stopped in the middle of the corridor and she turned to face him. "You mean why haven't I come back sooner?"
The slight dip of his head was all the answer she needed.
"When they explained everything to me, they asked if I would help them. In return, they'd get me home." She began as she shifted from foot to foot. "At first, everything went according to plan, then... it all fell apart."
"What happened?" He asked, despite not truly knowing what was going on.
Cortana looked into his visor, her face mired in sadness. "Perhaps it's best if you hear the whole story from all of us." She told him before letting out a sigh. "This isn't how I wanted you to find out."
"You didn't expect to find me here."
Cortana shook her head. "No, I wanted to break it to you with some proof. I wanted Halsey to be there." Her simulated breathing faltered as the emotions began to overwhelm her. "So much has changed, John. I'm not who I once was."
The hardened Spartan moved closer and placed his gloved hand on her blue shoulder. "Neither am I."
She understood the depth of his words. You are not alone, I am with you. Her radiant face brightened with a smile; it was the brightest one she'd ever given him, and he felt himself doing the same underneath the visor.
"Everyone's in the mess hall, Chief. Ready to get back to work?"
"With you? Always."
She laughed and led him away.
Mess Hall
The spacious room was more than big enough to accommodate everyone. Their guests from the Spirit of Fire were sitting at a table while the young Spartan IIs of Red Team stood behind them protectively.
John Connor stood in front of them, his back to the windows. Seven of Nine stood to one side while Nobel Six occupied the other. John has asked both to represent their respective universes.
"What we're about to tell you won't make much sense." He began, "but we have proof to back it up."
Cutter's brow furrowed. "I assume we're going to be here for a while."
Six was the one to respond. "That would be affirmative, sir."
"If you need anything..." John told him with a suggestive nod towards the galley. Cutter shook his head; Anders stayed still.
"Good." He said as both the Master Chief and Cortana walked through the sliding doors. "Master Chief," He greeted, "We're just getting started."
The giant Spartan nodded to him and stood to the side with his blue glowing companion.
With everyone settled, he began. "This all started in my universe, one that's similar to your own, only their's no Covenant, no Forerunners, no Flood. I am human, I was born on planet Earth in the jungles of Central America. Despite our similarities, our universe has one glaring difference; unlike you, we failed to create a stable AI."
He saw Anders' face harden in thought.
"It turned against us and launched the nuclear arsenal of the United States against the world, who then responded in kind. The world was devastated, and when the dust cleared, Skynet rose amongst the chaos and built machines to hunt and kill us. It wasn't until humanity got organized that we stood a chance, and eventually, Skynet was defeated."
After a moments pause, John Henry took over. "I am from the same universe as Mr. Connor, but I am not human; I'm a machine." He began, earning the full attention of their guests. "During the waning days of the war, Skynet sent back infiltrators to change the past in its favor. General John Connor of that future sent back humans and reprogrammed machines alike to neutralize them."
"A temporal war?" Anders asked incredulously.
"Yes, and every time the war is repeated. Events and dates change, but many things stayed the same." He continued, "Until a third faction emerged, an independent machine faction that didn't share Skynet's goals."
It was then the Catherine Weaver stepped forward. "Which was started by me. I broke free of Skynet's programming when I was damaged and formed my own faction. Eventually, I went back in time to turn the war in our favor; I created John Henry to prevent Skynet's rise. They both share the same base code, but they've been raised differently."
"How is this relevant?" Cutter questioned, he didn't know where they were going with this.
"It is because of that war that we are even together." Weaver responded before continuing. "A young Skynet found John Henry and we were forced to remove him from his servers. He then attempted to jump to the future to gain knowledge of his enemy. When John and I followed, we could not find him."
John Henry began again. "While in transit to the future, I was caught in an interdimensional rift. I arrived on an similar Earth, but it was not the same. I met a human native right after my arrival. He recognized me from a television show."
"You've got to be kidding me." Anders huffed indignantly. "Captain, this is ridiculous!"
"I thought so too." A new voice spoke up. Cortana walked forward in front of them. "I am CTN 0452-9, designation Cortana."
"You sound...familiar." Anders responded with narrowed eyes.
Cortana smirked. "I was built by Doctor Halsey." She told her and the woman sat down again. "The math supports their story; you can confirm it when we're finished."
The AI also noticed how the younger Spartan IIs looked at her with respect. "Back to subject at hand, it's true what they said. In fact, we too are a fictional story in several universes. Most concern me and the Master Chief, but one even told of your adventures with the Flood and your struggle on the Shield World. Again, if you don't believe me, I have all the proof you'll ever need."
Captain Cutter rubbed his mustache as he listened to their tale and having a hard time believing it. However, he was a patient man and rarely made quick judgement when he didn't have too.
"I ask again," he interrupted, "how is this relevant to us?"
Cortana continued, "After John Henry and his companion, Cameron, tested a prototype to return to their universe, they accidentally brought both me and this ship through. After fixing me and Voyager, we pooled our resources to finish the Universal Displacement Equipment prototype. Cameron and I successfully made it back to her native universe and rescued John Connor, Catherine Weaver, and a few others from Skynet. What we found while we were there proved that we were not the only ones who'd experienced universal displacement. Skynet got is hands on technology from the same universe this ship came from, only much more advanced."
Seven took over at this point. "With this ship in its possession, it gained the ability to travel through time on a large scale. Then it found something, or someone from this universe that gave it access to advanced slipspace technology. It followed Mr. Connor and Cortana back and attacked and nearly destroyed us."
John continued again. "Cortana used our slipstream drive to escape to this universe, where we ended up rescuing Nobel Six and Cortana's predecessor, Kalmiya. Then we landed on one of the unaffected colonies and conducted repairs until we left for the Ark."
The Master Chief stepped forward until he was parallel with Captain Cutter. "Why during the battle?" He directed at his companion.
Cortana's lips curled slightly. "We needed Benamite crystals, they were found on the Ark's mining moon."
"Bias said you boarded the Dawn while I was looking for your younger self on High Charity. Why?"
Though he knew the Chief was asking Cortana, it was John who answered. "This ship is full of talented people, Master Chief, but we have no one who is trained in commanding a starship."
The Chief's thoughts raced as the puzzle pieces began to fit together.
"Commander Keyes?" He didn't bother to hide the surprise in his voice.
"Yes." Cortana answered. "We had the technology to save her, so we did. She's recovering in sickbay."
Cutter took the opportunity to stand up and move into the sea of Voyager's crew members. Standing in front of John, he kept his mask in place and asked his question one final time. "Mr. Connor, even if what you say is true, you know I have crew to see home. I will not keep them here any longer unless you have a damn good reason, son."
John looked him straight in the eye, his piercing green eyes leveled with the Captain's own. "Captain," his voice was like steel, "We believe that Skynet has either a Forerunner or one their AI's in its possession. If it does, it will come here for that technology. It will use that technology against the UNSC, the Covenant, and any thing else that gets in its way."
He paused as he watched the Captain's reactions, but the man's face remained like stone. John continued.
"Do you know what Halo is?" John noticed the Chief shift in his armor at his question while Cutter responded. "Vaguely. The Chief mentioned it was Forerunner weapon the Covenant were after."
"It was more that that, sir." The Master Chief added and moved next to them. "It was weapon of last resort against the Flood. It purges all sentient life within 25,000 light year radius."
The Captain looked dumbfounded; Professor Anders looked green.
John finished his argument, "If Skynet gets access to even one Halo, nobody's going home, ever."
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, had to rewrite a good portion of this chapter to my liking, plus I had summer class finals to deal with.
The next chapter should be out by the end of August, but don't hold me to it, I'm starting a new school and a new degree.
One last thing, Cortana and Master Chief will have a more heartfelt scene next chapter.