Today was the day that would mark the change in the fight against the Covenant.

Today Cortana would be partnered with Spartan-117.

It had taken three weeks for ONI and High Command to approve the armor upgrade for the Spartan. The advancement was expensive and risky. If it failed, the UNSC would be unlikely to recover from the investment. But after hearing both her and Halsey's persuasive testimonies, they, led by the influential vote of confidence from Lord Hood, finally green-lit the project.

Unlike the slow moving bureaucracy of High Command, once the permission had been granted, Cortana and Halsey had worked quickly to move the process forward. It had taken Cortana less than a half a minute to decide on her Spartan counterpart and nearly as long for Halsey to agree. The paperwork had been rushed through and Spartan-117 had been removed from his current team and transferred to Reach.

Now, Cortana was getting ready to do her part to complete the project.

The Master Chief was in the lab with Halsey already, getting accustomed to the first set of upgrades on his armor: a new shielding system, an onboard data storage unit that rivaled most ships in the fleet, and an advance HUD.

But that was nothing compared to the second half of the upgrades, she thought with a smirk.

"Cortana." Halsey's voice cut through her thoughts. "We're ready for you now."

She looked at her reflection in the window and straightened her short, black hair, pulling it away from her face. Satisfied, she turned away and walked inside the doctor's lab.

"This is Cortana," Halsey said, stepping to the side as she entered the room. "She is part of the upgrade to your armor I mentioned earlier."

Cortana took in the sight of the Master Chief before her. He had been fitted in his armor, though he hadn't yet put on his helmet. His short brown hair matched his cocoa colored eyes. There were several scars on his cheeks and neck, a testimony to the amount of time he had been fighting the Covenant. He looked serious, unshakable. He was every bit the professional soldier Cortana believed him to be.

There was no doubt that he was the right choice.

She watched as his eyes flickered between her and Halsey, no doubt noticing the similarities between the two women.

She stuck out her hand for him to shake. "It's good to meet you, Chief."

"Likewise, ma'am," he said as he shook her hand.

"Cortana," she corrected.

"Cortana," he repeated uneasily.

Her request for him to use her first name bothered him. He looked at her ONI issued uniform for any signs of rank, but found none.

"I'm a fourth generation AI," she said as way of explanation.

John looked her, confused. "But you're human..."

"I am," Cortana answered, amused by his awkwardness. She turned to Halsey. "You didn't tell me how observant he was."

She noticed how the Spartan stiffened at her dig. She was tempted to apologize, but he would have to adjust to her personality. If he was expecting someone who fit the UNSC mold the way he and his fellow Spartans did, he was in for a bit of a surprise.

"You'll have to forgive, Cortana. She's a bit more...high-spirited than you," Halsey quickly interjected. "She is a human-AI hybrid, the first of its kind. This allows for her, when working with your armor, to be in two places at once. We're going to implant a shard of Cortana's matrix chip into your neural interface, John. This will allow for her core programming to communicate directly with your armor and its data while allowing her to remain mobile. We believe that with the two of you working together, it will allow for us to access more of the Covenant databases, to try to get ahead of them."

Cortana frowned at the mention their long-standing enemy. The Covenant, the zealous cult that had started off so small nearly forty years ago had grown into humanity's biggest threat. They controlled nearly seventy percent of the world's land mass and dominated over two-thirds of the world's population. Those that didn't join their forces were killed ruthlessly, mercilessly.

The UNSC, the United Nations Salvation Collation, were the only major force in opposition to the group and even they were fighting a losing battle. Over the years, the UNSC lost dozens of strongholds to the Covenant. The only promising signs that the UNSC would ever be able to stand against them were Halsey's Spartans. Now, with Cortana joining the fight, humanity had its best chance of stopping the Covenant from gaining any more ground.

John looked at Cortana with grim smile. Somehow she had known he would warm up to her once he heard she could help in the fight against the Covenant.

"We're going to proceed with the coupling process. John, please finish putting on your armor and have a seat," Halsey instructed.

He grabbed his helmet from its position on the metal table. He placed it over his head. When the locks clicked into place, he raised his visor. He was still watching her closely, Cortana noticed.

She watched as the Chief sat in the large chair, allowing Halsey to have access to the back of his armor. She wondered if he understood what the link would mean for him, that no matter where he was on the planet, a part of her would be with him.

She stood in front of John and flashed him an encouraging smile.

He looked at her blankly.

Briefly, she wondered if he was perhaps a little too rigid for her personality.

Cortana turned around to face the doctor who seemed unconcerned with John's stolid behavior. She trusted Halsey. The doctor wouldn't risk the project failing. If she thought there was going to be a compatibility issue, she would have brought it up to the AI before getting this far into the project.

"Look forward and do not move. I will tell you when the procedure is complete," the doctor said from behind him.

"Are you ready?" Halsey asked, glancing at Cortana.

Cortana nodded. According to the simulations they had run, she should feel nothing more than a faint energy drop as the shard reconnected with her matrix chip inside her body. Once the shard was recognized by the Chief's armor, it would allow her to have a direct window to what the Chief saw.

She watched as Halsey carefully removed the shard that was suspended in a matrix chip from its cylinder-shaped holder. She heard several clicks as the chip slid into place in the Chief's armor.

She felt a tug in her consciousness as the shard reached out to connect with her neural lace. "All right, I've got it," Cortana said. "Activating MJOLNIR interface now."

She stumbled slightly as the huge influx of data came roaring into her matrix. Quickly, she created a buffer between her and the Chief's armor, allowing the data to flow in at a more easily digestible rate.

Halsey looked at her questioningly, but Cortana waved off her concern. She would be fine.

She switched her subroutines and transferred her primary system into the shard. It felt strange for her to be confined in the small matrix chip after being in her host body for the past several months. But, she adapted smoothly and accessed the armor's systems. "I'm in." Cortana's voice came from his helmet speakers.

When the Chief turned to face the human sitting next to him with an inquisitive look, she waved. "Please don't be surprised at my ability to do more than two things at once," she quipped.

"Excellent," Halsey murmured, taking notes. "And are you getting the readings from all the armor's systems?"

"Yes," Cortana said, distracted. She accessed his vital signs during the procedure. He had nearly lost consciousness when the shard was implanted into his neural lace.

Had they missed anything else in the simulations?

"She's in my mind?" John's voice pulled her back into the discussion.

"That's up for debate," Cortana said, transferring her main systems back to her matrix chip and allowing the normal subroutines to work in the shard. "My subroutines will transfer your neural impulses and transfer them directly into motion. So, in that regard, yes, I'm in your mind."

"But," Halsey interjected, "she will only be able to perform those actions when you are in your armor. When you are not in it, the shard will be no more intrusive than any other part of your neural lace."

John shifted his gaze to Cortana briefly before looking back at the doctor. "I feel a hum in the back of my head. Is that normal?"

Cortana exchanged a glance with Halsey. Yes, there was a chance that he would "feel" her presence, but the doctor had assumed the sensation would be minimal at most.

The doctor looked unperturbed. "That is to be expected. When you're not in your armor, Cortana's chip will be nothing more than a hum in your subconscious, like your heart rate or your breathing patterns. It might take time to adjust, but soon you won't even know she's there," Halsey assured him.

Cortana raised an eyebrow at the doctor, surprised at how confident she seemed. While it was true that they had no evidence that there wouldn't be any lasting side-effects of the link between the two of them, the truth was her and the Chief were entering into untested territory. No one knew what the long-term effects of the connection would be.

"Now, if the two of you would follow me, High Command had arranged a little...test before they give you the green-light," Halsey said, leading them out of the medical room.

Cortana frowned slightly. Why hadn't she known about this?

"And you thought giving up a thirty-second advance warning would help the cause?" Cortana asked sarcastically.

Halsey didn't reply to her comment. She picked her tablet off the desk and led them to the door. "Follow me."

John didn't know what to think of Cortana.

She was certainly different than any other officer than he had ever worked with in the UNSC. She wasn't a soldier, but she seemed to command the respect of people around her. To John's surprise, there were several officers inside the ONI building that saluted at her when they left the facility.

They loaded into the waiting transport. Halsey took the passenger seat, next to their driver. Cortana sat next to him in the back seat and flashed a quick smile. "Gotta love how cozy these things are."

John didn't reply.

The rest of the ten minute journey was relatively quiet. Cortana had a far-off look for most of the drive, only occasionally looking away from the direction they were driving to give John an appraising glance.

What was she thinking?

John didn't have time to ask his question out loud. Once the Private made the last turn, the training facility that he had become intimately acquainted with during his early Spartan training came into view.

The Labyrinth.

Its thirty foot walls stood before them, silently daring John and his new partner. Even with his fellow Spartans working together, the obstacle course was a challenge. It had several terrain obstacles, including a twenty foot cliff and a half mile of rocky, rolling hills and a set of caves and underground pathways where the instructors would plant surprises for those recruits that rushed into the room too quickly.

"Little test, huh?" Cortana said, raising her eyebrows.

Halsey didn't reply immediately as they disembarked. She held her tablet close to her as she escorted them to the lone bunker in front of the entrance.

"Cortana will remain at the instructor bunker at the entrance and guide you through the course, John. None of the surveillance equipment that it normally at their disposal will be available to you. You will rely solely on your neural link with each other to communicate. At the end of the maze is a bell, John. Ring it three times and the test will be complete," Halsey explained.

She lowered her voice slightly as she leaned forward. "Be cautious. I think Ackerson has some tricks up his sleeve."

Cortana rolled her eyes. "So basically be expecting anything sleazy and underhanded. Got it."

John frowned. No one spoke about their commanding officer in such a way. Even if Cortana wasn't technically a UNSC soldier, he couldn't say he was comfortable with how she treated the chain of command.

If Halsey was bothered by her outburst, she made no outward signs of showing it.

"Your test will begin twenty seconds after Cortana enters the bunker. You have been authorized to use whatever force is necessary to eliminate the threats," the doctor said, raising her voice to a normal level. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Cortana looked at the Labyrinth and scowled. "So, Chief, ready for a challenge?"

"Yes."

"All right. I'll get myself in the bunker and give you the signal when your test will start."

"Understood."

He moved to the entrance as Cortana walked towards the bunker. A feeling of uneasiness washed over him. Going into the Labyrinth unarmed was almost suicidal. But, that was his instruction, so he would have to wait for the opportunity to arm himself once the test begun.

"All right, Chief. Time to dazzle High Command."

John sprinted inside the course, knowing that the twenty foot cliff face would be his first obstacle to contend with. Normally, he would approach the siding with caution and a weapon, slowly taking out any sniper threats that may be hiding in the vantage points around him. But now, unarmed and unable to help himself from such a threat, John knew his only course of action was to get up the cliff face as quickly as possible.

He dug his fingers into the jagged rock and started climbing to the top. Only one sniper shot was fired before he made his way to the top of the plateau. As he was pulling himself up, he heard the sound of a half-dozen guns being cocked.

"Watch out, Chief."

"I've got it." His voice was confident.

When he stood up, he became a blur of motion. The first unfortunate soldier who was in his path was knocked out cold by an elbow in his face. John swooped down and grabbed the assault rifle and slammed the butt of it into the chest of an ODST who was starting to take aim at him. He spun around and fired two quick shots at the Marine that was running in his direction, hitting him in the shoulder.

John kicked away his gun as the fallen soldier attempted to reach for it. He ducked out of the way of a barrage of bullets that another ODST had fired several yards away. He managed to dodge most of them, but several of them hit him.

He watched on his HUD as the shield levels started to drop.

"Keep your head down. There's two of us in here now...well, figuratively speaking."

John pressed his lips together at Cortana's flippant remark. Was she going to give a running commentary in his head throughout the entire test?

He fired several shots in the direction of the ODST. The bullets hit their mark and the man slumped to the ground.

Only two more to go.

He picked up the smoke grenade that the Marine had dropped and threw it in the direction of the remaining soldiers. In the midst of the confusion, he barreled through and incapacitated the two men.

"Not bad for a Spartan."

He didn't reply as he made his way past the unconscious men and took the extra ammo with him. He slowly turned a corner.

A plasma grenade landed at his feet.

He sprinted to a safe distance and waited for the blast from the projectile. The ground shook beneath his feet as the grenade exploded.

"RPG, obviously. Actually," she said, as he slowly started making his way back to the corner, "there are four grenadiers on the wall."

John frowned. He was going to have to outrun the grenades that were being aimed at him. Maybe Kelly could complete such a feat, but he was nowhere near as fast as his longtime friend.

"Don't worry, Chief. I've got you covered."

Suddenly, he felt like his entire brain was doused with ice cold water. His vision blurred, a wave of vertigo washed over him. He lurched forward as dark spots swirled in his vision, but managed to stand upright.

"You felt that?" She seemed slightly surprised.

"Yes," he replied uneasily. Was there something wrong with their link?

The pain started ebbing away. "Do you feel anything now?"

He checked. There was nothing there except for the slight hum that he had experienced since the shard had been implanted. "No."

"It seems like you feel the PSI wave shift when I access your armor. We'll have to work on a buffering system when the test is finished, but, for now, I'll keep the link at its current intensity. We can't have you blacking out in the middle of the test, can we?" She paused for a moment. "I guess that means I won't be able to sneak into your subconscious now." John could almost see her smirking.

Doctor Halsey hadn't said anything about her being able to access his subconscious thoughts. "I didn't think-"

"It's a joke, Chief," she said. "I transferred my primary system into your shard. With the increased speed, you should be able to sprint down the straightaway before they have a chance to fire any grenades off," Cortana replied.

John didn't like how she said "should" but there was little else he could do. Not finishing the course wasn't an option. "Understood."

He inched his way to the corner, knowing that all eyes down the path were on his location. He drew a deep breath and started sprinting as fast as he could. He raced down the narrow road; he had never moved so quickly in his life. He rounded the corner and leaned against the wall, his chest heaving.

His rest was short-lived.

A Rhino was waiting for him in the open area before her.

The Chief looked at the bulky tank. One blast from its turrets would kill him instantly, even with his new shielding system.

"Looks like you've got some trouble, Chief."

Cortana watched helplessly as John moved to a more discreet location in the shadows of the large wooden pillars, the only cover in the wide field. "I would suggest using a couple of those plasma grenades you snagged earlier to make quick work of the Rhino," she said, her voice deceptively even.

She frowned as the feed from his visual sensors started flickering. Something wasn't right.

"Can-und-pl-rep," came the broken response. Then, the video feed from his armor stopped completely.

Damn, Cortana swore silently.

Ackerson must have put a scrambling channel in the course. She hacked into the UNSC database and found the frequency Ackerson was using. She tried to disrupt the signal, but the colonel had put a reinforcement emitter in the course. Unless it was physically dismantled, the link between the two of them would continue to be interrupted.

Cortana weighed her options. She could remain in the instructor's station and attempt to contact John, hoping that he would be able to piece enough of her transmission to understand her message, or she could enter the course and find the source of the problem herself.

No, she finally decided, she would play-and win-by the rules that Ackerson and ONI had set up.

She sent a brief message to the Chief, detailing what he was to look for and destroy in order to get the signal working properly.

Ackerson knew what he was doing, she admitted grudgingly. John couldn't backtrack to the location with grenadiers on the wall, waiting for his return. Before he could even attempt to destroy the emitter, he would have to disable the Rhino.

Thirty long seconds passed with no change. She could still access his vitals-which were still strong- and know how much damage he had taken-a relatively small amount-, but the impulse to run in and take care of the problem herself was pressing on Cortana.

She forced herself to ignore the feeling. The Chief was more than capable of demolishing a small piece of equipment.

Another minute went by. She started pacing in a tight circle, wondering if the Chief would be able to decipher enough of her message to know what he needed to do.

"Cortana?"

The AI relaxed.

The video feed flickered for a second before being fully established.

She allowed herself a brief smile. "I'm here, Chief." No sooner as she transmitted the message to him, she heard a loud single shot coming from the west.

It took less than a fraction of second for Cortana to identify the sound as a shot from a DMR. She almost warned the Chief about the incoming projectile, but she realized it wasn't fired at the Spartan.

No, the bullet was headed her way.

She knew based on the speed of the bullet, she wasn't going to be able to avoid getting hit. Swiftly, she shifted and ducked. Fire tore through her bicep as the bullet ripped through her flesh. She hissed as she looked down and saw the blood oozing from the wound.

So, that was how Ackerson wanted to play, she thought bitterly.

The pain was intense, but manageable. The blood was steadily trickling down her arm. She would tend to her wound, but first, she needed to take care of the threat. She pulled out her pistol from her ankle holster as she analyzed where, exactly, the bullet had come from.

There.

A tiny black speck, the only sign of the sniper, was on the horizon. She adjusted her aim slightly as the calculations to make the perfect shot filtered in her systems. The pistol wasn't the best weapon for the job, but she was left with no other options. The sniper wouldn't miss the shot a second time.

She fired.

She leaned back as she waited for the black dot to fall to the ground. Two seconds later, the bullet had hit its mark. It wasn't a kill shot; Cortana was painfully aware of the dwindling number of troops in the UNSC. If Ackerson was foolish enough to order another sniper to take her out, however, Cortana made no promises as to their fate.

Now that the threat had been taken care of, she quickly shifted her attention to John who was removing the extra ammunition from the fallen ODSTs.

Confident that John was doing fine without her immediate assistance, she focused on her injury. She took off her jacket, wincing as the rough fabric pulled across the wound. Quickly, she made a tourniquet around her arm while keeping sensors alert for any more of Ackerson's surprises. When she finished, she grimaced at the sight of her left arm; her uniform had been tainted with blood, her hand stained scarlet.

There would be time to think about her injury-and payback- later. For now, she shifted her attention to the Spartan inside the course. She accessed all of the information coming over the feed: the Rhino was several yards away, smoke pluming out of the main cabin; three ODSTs were lying on the ground, writhing in pain.

John walked across the now-safe field and approached the entrance to the underground portion of the course.

It was pitch black in there.

He was about to turn on his helmet lights and step inside the corridor when an uneasy feeling settled over Cortana. Ackerson had something planned; he knew not powering the lights in the underground corridor would not be an issue for the Chief.

"Hold on, Chief."

He stopped instantly.

Inferred and night vision sights hadn't shown any threat, but Cortana wasn't willing to take any risks. She needed to make sure that the Chief made it through the course safely.

"Throw a grenade in the marked position," she requested as she uploaded the location to his HUD.

He hesitated briefly, undoubtedly wondering why she would make such a request. But, he remained silent and tossed a grenade where she had asked.

Six well-hidden MAC guns shot it down before it hit the ground. The ceiling shuttered and shook as the blast of the shattered flash bang bounced off of it. Cortana knew that he would not have survived the barrage of bullets, even with his improved shielding system.

Another attempt from Ackerson's plan to make them stumble, Cortana thought with a wave of annoyance.

"Suggestions?"

"Glad you asked. What ammunition do you have?"

"Three extra magazines and two grenades."

She pressed her lips together. Even if he used all of his ammo and the two remaining grenades, he would be lucky if he destroyed two of the six guns that were in front of him. No, they would have to use the fact that he was underground to his advantage.

"You should be able to disable two of the MAC guns if you cause a partial ceiling collapse. The debris then should give you enough cover to evade the remaining guns," she said.

Based on his long silence, she knew John did not like her plan. "Other options?"

She sighed. "If there were any, I would have suggested it, Chief." She marked two positions on his HUD. "You will need to be exact or this won't work."

"Right."

She watched the Chief toss the grenades, holding her breath. The ceiling cracked and crumbled. He ducked down around the falling debris as best he could, but the MAC guns were still targeting him.

"Hurry, Chief!"

His shields were depleted completely as he was approaching the end of the corridor. The Chief managed to tuck himself behind a large piece of the fallen ceiling before the last MAC gun could hit him. He waited there until his shields fully recharged before he continued through the course.

The exit out of the underground path was blocked by a fallen beam. Cortana frowned. "You should be able to crawl out of there," she said, after she calculated the dimensions. "You'll have to lift the beam a half meter to the right, but no more than that or else the structural integrity might become unstable."

"Might?"

Cortana raised her eyebrow. So, it seemed like the overly-stolid Chief did have a dry wit about him.

She waited as he moved the beam out of the way. He slid on his belly, getting caught on the debris several times before clearing the room. Slowly, he stood up and continued down the path. It led to a dead end. Three meters above him, a hole to the outside loomed.

Before she could come up with an action plan, John had walked several yards backwards. Just as she was about to ask what he was going to do, he ran straight ahead and kicked off the stone wall in front of him. She held her breath as he twisted in midair and grabbed with one hand the edge of the hole. He grunted as the weight of him in his armor pulled against his arm. He swung his left arm over and secured his hold. Seconds later, he pulled himself out of the hole.

"Do I want to know when you learned how to do that move?" she asked, amused.

He didn't acknowledge her question as he sprinted towards the mouth of the cave. It was the last portion of the test. Cortana could almost feel their victory.

Her triumphant feeling was premature; the energy scan readings coming from the Chief's armor made her question whether or not he would survive the next five minutes.

"What is it?"

She frowned. How had John known something was wrong? She pushed aside her inquiry and focused on the much more pressing issue. "This can't be right," she muttered. Yet, as she reanalyzed the data, she couldn't deny the facts.

"Cortana?"

She frowned. "According to my readings, there are four plasma cannons in there."

"Plasma cannons?"

She understood his disbelief. Plasma artillery was the most recent, and most powerful, addition to the UNSC's weaponry. Apparently, Ackerson was doing everything he could to make sure they were going to fail the test.

Cortana ran through the calculations; things weren't looking promising for him. He would never make it across before the canons fired, unless…

She crossed her arms though he couldn't see her. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

The conviction behind his one word answer surprised Cortana.

"I want you to run across the room as fast as you can. When I give you the signal, I want you to drop to your knees and duck," Cortana said as her subroutines were busy pulling the files for the side project she had been developing for the MJOLNIR armor.

"You want me to stop in the middle of the room?" The doubt was clear in his voice.

"Yes," she said as she uploaded the protocol to his armor. "But it is imperative that you don't get hit with any plasma shots before I give you the signal."

She watched as he glanced in the mouth of the cave. "Right," he said dryly.

"Go," she instructed before she could second-guess her decision. If her upgrade didn't work, then John would be dead within seconds. She watched as he raced across the room, her subroutine automatically adjusting for John's increased speed.

"Now!" she said to him.

Instantly, he dropped as she had told him. His armor locked up immediately and the plasma blasts bounced off the shielding. The impact of the blasts knocked the Chief to the ground. She quickly accessed his vitals.

He was alive.

"Chief!" she called when he didn't move. "Chief! Hurry! Before they have a chance to recharge."

Slowly, he stood up. She knew based on his vitals he was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, but he pushed himself forward. He sprinted to the bell at the end of the room and rang it three times.

Cortana let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

It was over.

They had won.

And, more importantly, Ackerson had lost.

"The test is over." Halsey's voice came over the comm channel. "I need to med team in there now. And Cortana?"

"Yes?" She didn't think her modification would go unnoticed.

"We've got some talking to do."

John was going into shock.

His vision narrowed. The world around him was fading.

Though Cortana had undoubtedly saved his life with her modification in his shield, the impact of the blast was almost more than his body could handle. Blood covered the inside of his visor, his shoulder throbbed where it had been pulled out of its socket, and he was pretty sure he felt his tendon tear when he made his final dash to the bell.

"Chief? Can you hear me?" He faintly registered Cortana's rushed footsteps approaching him.

"Med team?" he forced out.

"On its way," Cortana said as she moved towards him. "Three minutes."

He could last that long. He had to. Losing consciousness would mean that Ackerson to take down the Spartan down had worked.

John tried to focus on Cortana, but his vision was still blurry. He was able to see enough to tell that she was no longer wearing her jacket. Why would she have taken it off?

"Just lay down," Cortana instructed, pushing on his shoulder.

His shields glowed in response.

"You can turn them off now. The test is over," Cortana noted wryly.

He turned off the shields and looked at Cortana who was saying something to him, but his brain was unwilling to cooperate with him. He forced himself to concentrate on the woman in front of him.

"You need to stay with me, John."

That caught his attention. No one, outside of Halsey and the Spartans, ever used his first name.

"Here," she said as she reached around and released the lock on his helmet. "Let's get this off you. That contusion on the back of your head doesn't need any more pressure on it."

He lifted up his head and allowed her to take off his helmet. When his face was revealed, she gasped softly.

"Ackerson," she hissed.

John was surprised at her anger. After years of dealing with his fellow Spartans, he was unaccustomed to how...civilian Cortana acted.

"I'll be fine."

She stared at him for a second before nodding slightly. "You have survived worse. Most of the blood is from your broken nose," she assessed. "Doctor Halsey and her team should be able to mend your wounds fairly quickly."

The medical team led by Halsey approached them. Quickly, he was loaded onto the gurney and led away from the obstacle course. As they made their way to the Medical Bays, John overheard the two women talking.

"Any armor modification should have been run past me," Halsey said, annoyed.

"So Ackerson could have prepared for that too? I don't think so."

Halsey sighed at Cortana's stubbornness. "You did a good job stopping the bleeding," she said changing the subjects.

"I did a good job avoiding the bullet," Cortana countered emphatically. "We're lucky the bullet went through or else I'd be on a gurney too."

Cortana had been shot?

John lifted up slightly and saw the blood soaked fabric on her left arm. "You should have told me."

She, however, seemed unconvinced. "I'm not the one with a bruised kidney, a ruptured spleen, a torn Achilles tendon, a severe concussion and about a half-dozen other injuries," Cortana argued heatedly before turning back to Halsey. "I can't believe that you would authorize-"

"I didn't," the doctor interrupted. "High Command gave Ackerson full control of the test."

John felt a slight wave of relief. He knew the doctor always demanded the best from her Spartans, but the test seemed extreme, even to him.

"Regardless of who was in charge of the test," Halsey said, reigning in that part of the conversation, "the brass was certainly impressed with your shot. Most soldiers in the fleet couldn't have hit the sniper from where you were positioned."

John watched Cortana raise an eyebrow. "Did they miss the part in my assessment where it showed that my shot accuracy rivals the Spartans?"

"Reading and seeing are two different things," the doctor pointedly reminded her.

They entered into the medical bay where the techs started taking off the numerous pieces of John's armor. Cortana, thankfully, had her back to him as she continued talking to Halsey as he was clothed with paper scrubs.

The doctor approached him and looked at him with an indescribable look on her face. "The two of you did well." She looked up at the AI. "Better than I could have hoped. I'll be back when the room is ready for you."

As Halsey walked out of the room, Cortana turned to the Spartan. "How are you feeling, Chief?"

"Like I got shot with a plasma cannon."

She raised her eyebrows. "Please don't tell me you've been holding out your sense of humor just for me."

"How did you get shot?" he asked, ignoring her dig.

She pressed her lips together. "Ackerson had a sniper try to take me out of the game," she answered angrily. "But don't worry, Chief, I've already arranged a little payback." She smiled grimly.

Ackerson tried to kill Cortana?

He pushed aside the uncomfortable feeling. "And my injuries?"

Cortana looked away from her wound to his face. "You were right, you'll be fine."

"And the armor?"

She frowned. "The shields took a beating out there. It's probably going to take a couple of weeks, at least," she answered. "And that's if Halsey and I work on them non-stop."

Though the missions that required the use of his MJOLNIR armor were rare, due to the energy demands that they had, John couldn't help but to feel annoyed at the unnecessary damage caused to them by the test.

With a curt nod, he lay back down. Several quiet minutes passed with Cortana watching his vital signs carefully. She looked up as she heard footsteps approaching.

"All right. John, we're ready for you," Halsey said, nodding to the techs who led him out of the room.

John half-expected for Cortana to join them in the operating room, but she remained in the prep room.

"You will be fine when we're done," the doctor said, mirroring Cortana's assessment as she studied the data coming from the medical readout.

John remained still as Halsey and her techs tended to his injuries. He hissed slightly as the doctor set his shoulder back into position. She carefully pushed him into a laying position and began knitting his torn tendon.

When she finished the procedure, Halsey took a step back, looking at him. "What did you think of Cortana, John?" she asked.

The problem was he didn't know quite what to think of the AI. He was having adjusting to how she thought and acted. She was unlike any person he had ever worked with since he entered the UNSC.

Finally, he looked at the doctor. "She's…unconventional," he finally answered.

That caused Halsey to raise her eyebrows briefly. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, ma'am," he quickly answered.

Before the doctor could reply, Cortana walked into the room. A bandage had been wrapped around her upper arm. Cortana glanced at the screen, appearing to read the data from it. "I told you that you would be fine," she said.

"How's your arm?" he asked.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with your recovery?" she shot back.

He looked at her before repeating, "Your arm?"

She rolled her eyes before shooting an exasperated glance at Halsey. "None of the reports I read on him mentioned his obstinacy," she complained lightly.

She gingerly crossed her arms and looked at John exasperatedly. "It will be fine. Just like I told you," she answered, showing him the bandaged arm. The AI took a step towards him and leaned down to his ear. "And there is nothing wrong with being unconventional," she whispered conspiratorially.

John wasn't surprised at the fact she had overheard the conversation between him and the doctor.

She straightened as she cracked a grin at Halsey who was watching their exchange with unabashed interest.

"I never said there was," he replied as he pulled himself into a sitting position.

She grinned briefly at Halsey's direction. "I keep liking him more and more."

John refused to acknowledge her offhanded comment.

"You need to report to Lord Hood. He wants your after-action report right away," Halsey said. "John will be up there when I have cleared him."

For a moment, John thought the AI might argue, but Cortana just nodded. "I think I'll have a chat with him about allowing Ackerson having total control in our little test." With a wave in their direction, she walked out of the room.

"Unconventional?" Halsey asked with a touch of amusement in her voice.

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Well, all I have to say is that the two of you left quite an impression on High Command," Halsey said quietly. "The two of you make quite a formidable team."

"Thank you, ma'am." Whether he was grateful for the compliment or for Cortana, he wasn't sure.

"You're welcome, John. Take care of each other and you'll be fine."

“So, High Command has finally given us a real mission, huh?”

Catherine looked up from her computer to where Cortana was standing with a raised eyebrow.  

The AI had been working in her office for the past two weeks since her first meeting with John.  Catherine’s request for the AI to get her own lab had been approved three days before, but Cortana hadn’t yet made the move into her own unit.

She pushed up her glasses.  “I thought that information was classified until I had given you the orders.”

Cortana shrugged.  “Nuance.”

The entrance doors to her lab slid apart, revealing John.  “Ma’am,” he greeted.

“You never call me ma’am,” Cortana noted from behind the desk.  

He turned in the direction of the AI and frowned slightly.  The motion was so brief and subtle that had Catherine not known him as well as she did, she would have thought she had imagined seeing things.  Was there some kind of issue between the two of them that she didn’t know about?

Cortana didn’t miss his look of discontent either.  “It’s fine.”

The scar.

Catherine looked at Cortana who had taken off her “oppressive” ONI jacket and left the dark grey tank shirt exposed.  The red, angry skin on her bicep where the sniper's bullet had hit her stood out in contrast to her pale skin.  Catherine had offered for her to have under reconstructive surgery on the scar, but the AI immediately dismissed the idea.

“I always want to remember what Ackerson wanted to do to me.”

Neither of them had commented on the fact she couldn’t forget anything, even if she wanted.  She understood the AI’s anger and hadn’t pushed the point any further.

“Really,” she said emphatically.  She grabbed the jacket off the back of the desk chair and flashed Catherine an exasperated look.  “Maybe you should tell him about our new orders so he will stop being such a mother hen.”

Catherine noticed the shocked look on John’s face.  He had been called many things since his entrance into the Spartan program; she doubted mother hen had ever been one of them.  

She held out a tablet.  “Here are your new orders.”

Cortana gestured for John to take the tablet Halsey was offering.

“Your objective is to retrieve several officers who fell under attack in an outskirt of Los Angeles by Covenant forces twelve hours ago.  I don’t need to tell the two of you that your actions throughout the mission will be under full review once it is completed.” Halsey looked at the two of them.

“We’ll be successful, ma’am,” John assured her.

A whisper of a smile passed over Halsey's lips. “I would expect nothing less, John. The two of you are to report to the pod station immediately.”

Cortana froze briefly. “Pod station? I thought we were going to have a Pelican transport.”

Halsey pressed her lips together.  She had been deliberate in not allowing Cortana to have access to the final version of their mission plan.  “Yes, well, there was a last minute change.  It would seem that General Ackerson learned of your...aversion to enclosed places.”

“Of course he did,” sneered Cortana.

Catherine reached to the back of her table and held out John’s helmet for him to take.  “Here you go, John.”  

He looked appreciatively at the helmet and placed it on his head.  

“I think if it was up to the Chief, he’d always be wearing that armor,” Cortana mused.

It was true.  All of the Spartans felt the same way.  But with the enormous energy consumption the armor took, they were only able to wear the armor during active missions.

The doctor picked up her tablet and walked to the door.  This was their first major mission since the test and she wanted to see the two of them off.  Cortana took the lead with John following behind her.

Catherine watched as the future of the UNSC walked in front of her.  She trailed Cortana and John at a distance, allowing herself to watch the two of them interact.  John walked with sturdy steps, his posture perfect, his gaze facing forward.  Cortana kept up with the Spartan, leaning in his personal space, casting glances in his direction as she spoke to him.

She didn’t miss how John momentarily paused when the officer in the ONI lobby saluted at Cortana when they exited the building.  She smothered a smile.  After seeing him and his Spartans adapt to so many different kinds of scenarios, it was amusing that he seemed to be having trouble trying to acclimate to the AI.

Despite her permission for Cortana to be assigned to work with John, Halsey had her concerns about their compatibility.  For all of John’s stolidness, Cortana was overt.  She knew he would rather be with a group of his own Spartans rather than a high-spirited AI.  But, they were the best the UNSC had. They, in time, would adjust to each other and they would finally be able to take a stand against the Covenant.

The two of them proceeded to the security checkpoint.  As they were waved forward, Cortana looked up at John.  “So, do you have a plan?”

“To complete the mission.”

Cortana crossed her arms at his reply.  “So I take that as a no.  I guess it’s a good thing I’ve already come up with several possibilities.”

Before John could respond, they entered the hangar.  

Catherine knew the second Cortana spotted their transport.  The AI did her best to hide her discomfort at the sight of the Scorpion, but the doctor knew John noticed her trepidation immediately.  

The doctor wanted to offer some kind of encouragement, but that wasn’t her place.  Cortana was more than capable; she would have to do some adjusting of her own if this partnership was going to be successful.

“Cortana?”  John’s one word was weighed with concern.

She shook her head and faced him, painting a smile on her face.  “I’ll be fine.”

Catherine frowned.  She didn’t look like she would be fine.  Even from this distance, the doctor could tell her face was paler than it was before, her voice was laced with tension.  

“Still think she’s the answer to the UNSC’s prayers?”

Ackerson.

Halsey pulled her eyes from Cortana and John and faced the general.  “I have faith in Cortana and the Master Chief.”

He nodded in Cortana’s direction.  “Think she’s going to make it? She’s not looking too good out there.”

Catherine reluctantly followed his gaze.  Oh, Cortana was doing her best to act nonchalant as she approached the vehicle, but, Ackerson was right; she didn’t look good.

He leaned down to her ear.  “Only you could have created an AI that was claustrophobic, Catherine.”

She bristled.  “She’ll be fine, James.  You’ll see.”

“You know,” he said, pulling back.  “I keep coming back to the part during their test when the Master Chief nearly blacked out when Cortana boosted the signal.   Are you sure they are up for such an intense mission?”  He tapped his finger on his chin.  “I don’t remember reading anything in your scenario reports about the possibility of that happening.  It kind of makes me--and High Command--wonder what else you missed during your simulations.”

Catherine tapped down the urge to rise to her defense.  She and Cortana had already integrated a buffer in John’s helmet than would lessen the amount of data assimilated by his neural lace.   “I would hold off on your concerns until their mission is complete, James.  One glitch does not debunk the years of research I have done with ONI.”

He grinned widely.  The gesture was not sincere.  “Oh, I have full confidence in your pet projects’ abilities.  That’s why I requested that an additional objective be added to their mission.”  He paused dramatically.  “That isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”

She glowered as she turned away from him to grab her tablet.  She tapped in several commands and saw the updated file.  “You want them to salvage the Autumn?  The last report we got from them showed that their navigation system is shot and their defense screen is shoddy at best.”

“If you don’t think the two of them are up for it, I could always contact Lord Hood--”

“That won’t be necessary, James.  They will finish all of their objectives.”  She raised her gaze to John and Cortana who were in the process of getting into the Scorpion.  “You and the rest of High Command will see that they had not to be underestimated.”

Part 3: Crashing the Party

“I take it you saw Jacob’s request.”

Terrence stepped into Catherine’s lab, looking at all the various screens and tablets she had laying on her desks.  “You know I keep tabs on the two of them.”

“Then you know I have approved their transfer.”

Catherine nodded.  Cortana and John were no longer a project under the umbrella of the ONI, but now active members of the UNSC’s most elite special strike force: Alpha Team.  “Did you already tell them?”

“Not yet.  Though I suppose if you know, then Cortana already does.”

The doctor ignored his comment.  Her feigned ignorance on the AI’s activities had kept her out of trouble so far.  “They are on their way here right now.  We’re working on some last minute upgrades to John’s armor,” Catherine said.

As if on cue, the doors slid apart.  The two of them walked in tandem as they walked inside her lab.  “I’m telling you, Chief, I have no idea how Ackerson got assigned to Antarctica,” Cortana said dryly as they entered Halsey’s lab together.

“And the emails?”

“What can I say?” She shrugged.  “Not every man is as noble as you.”

It was John who noticed Lord Hood standing next to the doctor.  He straightened up.  “Sir! Ma’am!”

“At ease, Master Chief.”

Cortana cast a smile in their direction.  “I’m assuming we’re here because of the memo that passed over your desk this morning.”

Terrence looked at the doctor, unsurprised.  

Catherine frowned slightly.  It was one thing for Cortana to tell her about her hacking endeavors; it was another to fill the admiral in on those details.  “The one that was marked ‘For Eyes Only’?”

“Did it say that?”  She looked at the admiral with wide eyes.  “I just accessed the file because it had my serial number embedded in the file.  I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any important orders.”

Catherine knew the admiral didn’t believe a word Cortana said, but he let the subject drop.  He looked at the two of them closely.  “Effective today, the two of you are assigned to Alpha Team.”

John somehow straightened even more.  “Thank you, sir!”

“You both earned it, Master Chief.  You impressed Captain Keyes and a lot of the brass with what the two of you did with the rescue mission.”  Terrence slid the tablet with the dossier across the table for him to read.  “Here are your new orders.”

They were to take control of the main port in the Panama Canal. The Covenant forces were thin there, nearly a half-world away from the main center of the Covenant in Rome. While the leaders, the Prophets, didn’t see South America as much more than a land mass they could control, the UNSC needed that port so that ships would refuel and resupply without having to go around the entire continent.

Alpha Team was going to meet up with Noble Team in El Salvador to coordinate the double fronted attack. Although the Covenant didn’t use the canal as an important hub, preliminary recon hinted of a database in their system. The Alpha Team was going to use a newly acquired Phantom and attempt to infiltrate the dropship that was stationed above the canal while the Noble Team tried to secure the canal.

“The two of you need to meet with Captain Keyes at 1600 hours.”

“Understood, sir.”  Cortana flashed a smile at John.  “Told you we’d get someone’s attention.”

The admiral started walking towards the door.  “Good luck.”

When the doors closed behind Terrence, Catherine looked at John.  “John, you need to go to the main lab so you can get suited up while Cortana stays here to update the software.”

John nodded curtly and turned away.

“Don’t miss me too much,” Cortana called, not turning back to him.

He paused briefly, but didn’t say anything back.

After the door closed, Cortana half-smiled at her.  “I’m determined to get him out of his shell.”

Cortana had a better chance of expecting the Covenant to surrender to the UNSC, but Halsey didn’t make a comment.  Instead, she spun another monitor in her direction.  “I assume you’ve had time to review the latest software update.”

The AI nodded her head.  “I think streaming would be more effective if you stripped out several lines of redundant code.  I know they are there for backup, but I’m less concerned with fail safes as I am with making sure our reaction doesn’t suffer due to the distance.”

“How are the headaches?” the doctor asked, cutting to the heart of the issue.

Cortana had reported feeling headaches after her and John’s last mission.  When she boosted the signal between them over fifty percent, the link would cause an echo effect, causing the AI to have migraines.  

The AI waved off her question.  “They are fine.  Nothing a couple of aspirin can’t control.  Besides,” she said, nodding towards the computers, “with the latest batch of upgrades, that issue should resolve itself.”  Cortana must have noticed her reluctance to believe her.  The AI crossed her arms.  “We have time to run another simulation before I need to get to the Autumn.  You’ll see that everything will be fine, Doctor.”

Halsey let out a long silent sigh.  She hoped for the sake of Cortana and John, the AI was right.

Three hours and an armor fitting later, John walked to the port, eager. Since he had been paired up with Cortana, he had remained at Reach longer than he had since his early Spartan training. Though they had gone on several missions together, including the highly successful rescue of the Autumn and her crew, most of his time was spent on base waiting for orders that were tailored to his and Cortana’s link.

Now, however, with the reassignment to the Alpha Team, he knew that was all going to change.  He still hated the idea of leaving his team, his Spartan brothers and sisters, behind on Blue Team, but if the UNSC was able to make some headway in the fight against the Covenant, then it was a price he would gladly pay.  Fred would be a good leader; the Blue Team was in capable hands.

He gave Cortana a sidelong glance.  Their new mission would require them to travel underground for nearly seven hours, the only way they would be able to circumvent the Covenant’s superior air force.  Though she had gotten better about handling her claustrophobia, there was an unmistakable hesitation when she boarded a Scorpion or similar vessel.

But there was no evidence of her uneasiness as she approached the Autumn.

He raised his eyebrows.  Despite working with her for the better part of six weeks, she still managed to surprise him.

As if she could see him, she turned back to him and flashed a grin.  “A ship that is roughly the size of a five story building is a lot different than being crammed inside a sardine can of a cabin with you.” She paused.  “No offense, Chief.”

She faced the Autumn.  “The techs did a hell of a job getting her back to fighting form.  I didn’t have much hope for her when we limped back to base.”

John agreed with her apt assessment.  Though she didn’t look new and shiny, there was no doubt that the Autumn was a vessel ready to fight.  Its upgraded burrowing technology, new for this mission, stood out compared to the muted grey tone of the rest of the ship.

As they made their way aboard the Autumn, John noticed the rest of the crew was waiting for the captain near the loading ramp. While most of the faces were unfamiliar, there was one hulking figure that was impossible to miss.

“Jorge?”

“John,” the tall man greeted, surprised.  He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, standing next to John and Cortana. “Mum didn’t say that you were going to come along.”

“We got the orders this morning,” John replied.

“We?”

John knew he was looking for another Spartan. He turned to Cortana who was watching the two of them closely. “This is Cortana.”

“The AI,” Jorge said.

John’s eyebrow arched.  Apparently his highly classified assignment had managed to escape the confines of the ONI building.  

“Don’t be too surprised!” Jorge said, laughing softly. “Kat has been keeping tabs on Mum’s latest project.”

“I thought there was a level eight clearance.”

“Tell that to her. She’s thinks of clearance levels as suggestion only.”

“Sounds like my kind of person,” Cortana said, stepping forward. “And you must be Spartan-052. Doctor Halsey had spoken highly of you. Though,” she said, looking closely at his armor, “I can’t say she’s too happy with all the modifications you’ve made to her armor.”

“I’m quite aware of what she thinks of it.  Mum isn’t exactly quiet on the subject,” Jorge said, holding his hand out for her to shake.

An amused smile fluttered over her lips and she shook the Spartan’s hand.  “No, I wouldn’t imagine she would be.”  She turned away slightly, as if listening to another conversation.  John knew it was their benefit; Cortana could listen to thousands of conversations simultaneously.  “The Captain needs to talk to me.  You two, have fun catching up. I need to get to the bridge,” Cortana said to John before walking away.

The two Spartans watched her go down the hall. When she was out of sight, Jorge turned back to face John. “So that’s Cortana.”

John nodded.  “Yes.”

Jorge leaned against the side of the corridor, looking where Cortana had walked away.  “She’s not what I expected.  She’s got some spunk.”

That didn’t begin to describe Cortana.  

“She’s a bit unorthodox,” John replied, thinking of the exact word he had used to describe his AI counterpart in his after-action report, “but I do trust her.”

“That’s saying a lot,” Jorge said knowingly.  “Is it true about the link? That she’s in your mind?”

John shook his head and explained how the neural link worked between the two of them.

When he was finished, Jorge smiled faintly. “You’re relaxed when you talk about her.”

John paused briefly, not sure what to make of Jorge’s statement.  Before he could respond, Jorge reached out and clasped him on his shoulder.  “It’s ok to feel human, John.  Lord knows you need it more than any of us.”

“I can’t believe they hijacked a Phantom.”  She was impressed.

John looked at Cortana out of the corner of his eye.  “Noble Team is one of the best teams in the UNSC,” he pointed out.

“Well, it will make getting to the drop ship that much easier,” Cortana said quietly. “I’ve already hacked into the Carrier's mainframe.  Getting on the drop ship shouldn’t be a problem.  Getting off of it...”

“We’ll be fine.”  He slid on his helmet and Cortana saw the quick gold flash of his shield being activated.

She wished he had his optimism.  Even with the relatively good intel they had on the ship’s schematics, being stuck on a Covenant Cruiser nearly a mile above the ground was a dangerous situation.

He reached in the weapons locker and pulled out a pistol as she put on her much maligned flak jacket.  She grabbed the butt of the firearm and slid it into her shoulder holster.

“Damn right, we’ll be fine.”  Johnson walked up to the two of them with a smoldering cigar between his lips. “I don’t know how things are over in the ONI, but Alpha Team doesn’t do anything less than the best.”

Cortana raised an eyebrow.  “Then we’ll fit right in.”

Johnson’s grin widened.  “After what the two of you did with the Autumn, I’d say that’s true.”  He grabbed an assault rifle and nodded towards the exit.  “The captain’s waitin’ in the cargo bay for us.”

The three of them made the short trip to the small bay.  Cortana saw the six-member Noble Team huddled together in the far corner of the room.  Captain Keyes was standing by the Phantom, pipe in hand.  

Normally, the captain took a more active role in participating in the mission, but because of the two pronged attack, he was forced to stay behind in the Autumn and make sure things flowed smoothly.  Cortana watched him as he took in the three of them.  

“I trust that all of the Covenant protocol has been uploaded to your matrix,” he said without preamble.

Cortana nodded.  “We’ll be able to board the ship without a problem, sir.”

“Noble Team is going to need some time to get to the control room, so discretion needs to be used.  Carter will contact the Autumn when his team has secured the area.  If you run into any trouble...”  His voice trailed off.  

They were on their own.  

Johnson huffed.  “Then the Covenant are going to regret it.”

Cortana allowed herself a brief smile.  Johnson certainly added some sprightliness to the conversation.

She led the two men to the Covenant vessel and sat in the pilot’s chair.  When Johnson and the Chief were situated, she disembarked from the Autumn.  She piloted the craft several miles away from the ship’s position before tapping the controls, sending out a transmission signal to the Cruiser.

As they approached the Assault Carrier, they were granted docking clearance.  

“The secondary hub should be here,” Cortana said, pointing at the holographic layout of the ship.  “I’ll access the database from there.”

John nodded.  “Johnson and I will secure the quadrant.”

Seconds later, the system’s controls were overridden by the Cruiser.  “Now we just sit back and wait.”  

She looked out the Phantom’s windows and saw nearly three dozen Ghosts, Banshees and Phantoms going back and forth from the large vessel.  She hoped with the high amount of traffic, their Phantom wouldn’t cause any sense of alarm.  According to her calculations, Noble Team was going to need the better part of an hour to secure the base below them.

The ship glided into a docking bay.  “Purple, huh?” Johnson said, looking at the walls around them.  “Somehow I didn’t picture the place looking so damn cheery.”  

Cortana saw three Grunts, who were busy talking to each other.  She scanned the room for any other hostiles, but the bumbling soldiers were the only security in the room.  

“It’s almost too easy,” Johnson said as the Phantom settled on the ground.  “You’d think they weren’t expecting company.”

Cortana released the rear hatch.  The three of them slipped out of the ship and crept to the darkened corner of the room.  The Grunts didn’t look in their direction.  

“I’ve got this.”

Three Grunts against a single-minded Spartan? They didn’t stand a chance.

Johnson nodded towards the cargo containers.  Cortana followed the Sergeant as they watched John silently make his way to the first unsuspecting Grunt.

His method was quick and effective.  In less than two minutes, there were no Covenant left alive in the room.  He gestured for them to move forward to the large doors.

Together, they made their way through the assault carrier.  They avoided the patrols easily; the Covenant were not expecting the UNSC’s finest to board their ship.  The ride down the gravlift was unmemorable.  

“Think they are all sleeping?” Johnson asked, snickering.

At the intersection, John carefully looked around the corridor before pulling back and held up two fingers. She watched as he aimed his pistol and fired twice.  The three of them made their way to the single door at the end of the hall. Johnson pulled out his snake cam as Cortana hacked into the console.

“It’s clear.”

Within a second, she hacked the security code and the locks to the doors released. John opened the door and allowed Cortana to walk in.

This was what they had been looking for.

Several dozen large computers towers, three meters high, were in the center of the room.

“Bingo.”

Johnson let out a long whistle.  

“I’ll take it from here,” Cortana said as she approached the database.  “You two should be able to reach the armory and find some goodies there.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

Cortana looked at John, surprised by his question.  Why if she didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was openly concerned for her.

“Well, I have gotten used to having a Spartan bodyguard, but I think I can manage.”  She offered him a smile.  “Infiltrating the security grid will be my first priority.  If I sense any trouble, I’ll transfer out of the system.”

He seemed to hesitate briefly, but before she could say anything he nodded.  She watched the two of them leave the room before transferring herself into the ship’s systems.

Suddenly, the world exploded in ones and zeroes around her. Though she preferred the flexibility to move around in her human body, Cortana felt at home in the data stream of information.

Schematics of various bases, planned attacks, and the hierarchy structure of the Covenant...all of it and more were at Cortana’s fingertips. Greedily, she amassed all the data she could find.

Within seconds, she had full access to the ship’s security grid. She spun off a subroutine to monitor John and Johnson’s progress. She was tempted to open a channel to John, but decided against it. She didn’t need to advertise the fact she was in the database.

Terabytes of information came rushing into her matrices.  She noticed that most of the information was new and unknown.  The information she was processing would allow give the UNSC a desperately needed advantage over the Covenant.

Cortana nearly lost track of time as she categorized each data cluster that she uploaded.  As she continued making her way through the information, a disturbing piece of data streamed by her. Quickly, she accessed it.

She froze as the irrefutable data plainly presented itself.  It was impossible, she thought. But, as she hacked and accessed the security camera from the hangars, one sinking truth stuck out.

They had been discovered.

She opened a comm channel to John. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

“Time’s up?”

Johnson looked at the Chief knowingly.  John didn’t know how the sergeant seemed to know what was going on behind the armor, but he have an uncanny ability to know what was going on with little to go on.

John nodded.  “What’s going on?”

“They’ve got an Elite special forces team headed to both of our positions.”  Her voice came out of his helmet speakers.

“Damn it,” Johnson hissed.

“I’ve already transferred out of the system.  Their ETA is in five minutes. You two need to get back to the Phantom before they lock down the cargo bays.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to have to improvise.”

John frowned at the snag in the mission.

“They are closer to my location and I can’t see a way back to the Phantom, but I think there is an emergency bay available,” explained Cortana.  “I’ll keep you updated.”

“Were you able to get all the data?”

“Of course.”  She sounded almost offended at the idea that she hadn’t completed her mission.

He and Johnson started backtracking in the direction from which they came.  He took point while Johnson took the rear, holding the plasma cannon they had found during their search.

As they approached the gravlift, John saw a half dozen Covenant on the pad.  He aimed his rifle in their direction.  Johnson knelt beside him and took aim with the stolen weapon.  “Let’s see how this baby works.”

Before the three Elites could step off the elevator, the two men had fired.  The impact from the shots caused the trained soldiers to fall back into their less effective Grunt counterparts.  In the midst of the confusion, John threw a plasma grenade in the chaos.

He ducked as the powerful blast rocked the ground.  

Bodies flew from the force of the explosion.  Once he was confident that the threat had been eliminated, he proceeded to the lift.

“I hope it still works after all we put it through,” commented Johnson as they stepped over the fallen Covenant soldiers.  

John said nothing as he pushed the holographic console in the center of the lift.  To his relief, the unit started moving upwards.  As they climbed, John kept his eyes open for any more soldiers, but saw none.

Several seconds later the lift stopped and he and Johnson disembarked from the lift.  

“Your path is blocked, Chief.  I’m uploading a new route to you now.” Her voice sounded tense.

“Everything alright?”

“It’s nothing a couple of painkillers on the Autumn won’t fix.”

John’s eyebrows pressed together.  The new buffer she and Doctor Halsey had been working on was supposed to prevent the headaches from happening.  

The new destination point that appeared on his HUD distracted him from pursuing their conversation any further.   “This way.”

He led Johnson to an access door which slid apart.  Inside, there was a long, narrow corridor.  Johnson looked around the Chief and frowned.  “You think you’re gonna fit in there?”

It was going to be a tight fit, but John knew that Cortana wouldn’t have given him this path unless she knew that he would be able to use it.  “I’m sure.”

“I’m going first.”  Johnson stepped forward.  “No offence, Chief, but if you get stuck I don’t wanna be trapped here with you.”

The passage was filled with curves and dead ends, but Cortana’s careful planning kept them from getting lost in the vast corridors.  Finally, they reached the end of the passage.  John tapped the console to release the door.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, but the panel didn’t respond.

He closed his eyes briefly, wondering where Cortana was.  She had been proactive in helping them so far.

To his surprise, as he concentrated on the AI, a fuzzy image filled his mind.  Several Elites were shooting in his direction.  A slender, decidedly female, arm came into view.  It was holding a pistol.  Four shots were fired in quick succession.  John watched at the prized soldiers slithered to the floor.

It took him several seconds to realize he was seeing through Cortana’s eyes.

He pulled his thoughts away from the AI and their link.  What this part of the new software they had integrated into his armor?  Or was this a side effect they hadn’t been expecting?

Before he could ask any more questions, Johnson spoke up.  “Chief, I think we might be having some company.”

John listened.  The sound of the Covenant’s footsteps echoed throughout the corridor.

“Cortana, we’re boxed in.”

 

So was she.

She ducked behind a corridor and waited for the frag grenade to explode.  She stormed past the remaining Grunts and set the security locks in the emergency cargo bay she had found.   Gasping for air, she opened the connection between her and John.  She saw the access panel and started hacking the system.  “All right, I’m in,” Cortana said.  

She tried to break through the firewall, but the Covenant had an adapting-encryption program.

They were smarter than what she had thought, but still no match to her.

The only flaw was that she needed to boost the signal. She calculated the risk and before she could second guess herself, Cortana pushed the link to the maximum level.

Her eyes slammed shut as pain pummeled into her skull.  A burst of ones and zeroes scrolled before her eyes.

“John...” she whispered.

Her host body was sluggishly responding to commands from her neural lace.  She staggered forward, nearly tripping over her feet.

She leaned against the wall in reprieve as she focused on the carrier’s security system.

There.

The encryption file was in front of her, silently challenging her to decipher it.  She was going to delete the code line by line.  Unfortunately, the pain coursing through her nervous system was bogging down her ability to quickly delete the code.

She pushed aside her pain and focused solely on the security code. She ignored through the superfluous lines of code and focused on accessing the firewall directly. Trillions of characters came whizzing passed her as she continued the hack.

Her subroutines were screaming at her to terminate the link, that there was a fifty-seven percent chance of lasting nerve damage to her brain. But she couldn’t let John and Johnson down, couldn’t let the mission fail.

“Cortana?”

“I’m doing the best I can,” she hissed.

She vaguely registered that she was about to pass out. The intensity of the pain made it nearly impossible for her the concentrate on anything outside of the code she was trying to crack. She pushed herself forward and finally managed to hack the code.

“Hurry, John. They’re sending out more strike forces.”

“Understood.”

Then the comm channel ended. She quickly terminated the link and allowed herself the relief of no longer feeling the intense pain as she transferred herself back to her main matrix chip.

Doctor Halsey and she were going to have some things to discuss when she returned to Reach.

As the worse of the headache started to fade away, Cortana saw her means of escape:  a row of Banshees was before her.  Cortana walked to the closest Banshee and climbed inside.

It was certainly snug, but the knowledge that her life was in grave danger silenced her irrational fears.  She activated the bay doors as the engines purred to life.

She accessed John’s armor and noted with satisfaction that they had made it back to the hangar and were preparing to board the Phantom.  

“The Autumn’s position in marked on your HUD.”

“Understood.”

The Banshees screamed out of the cargo bay.  Cortana was tossed around the cabin as a shot from the assault carrier nicked the ship.  “I guess they’re going to miss us,” she muttered.

“Get to the Autumn.  We’ll hold off the carrier.”

Cortana was tempted to argue.  Her pride didn’t like the fact that she needed anyone’s help, even John’s.  But, the information that she held would help the UNSC in their fight.  Her safety was the priority for right now.

“Be careful, Chief.”  She piloted the unfamiliar craft in an unpredictable flight pattern.  She zigged and zagged through the air as the carrier unsuccessfully shot at her.

She frowned as she monitored the Chief’s position.  They were far too close to the assault carrier.  “You might want to--”

The assault carrier aimed at the Phantom and fired its deadly plasma weapons.  The stolen craft started spiraling towards the ground, smoke pluming from the cabin.  Despite the damage it had taken, the Phantom’s passengers would survive the fall, Cortana calculated as she dodged another attack.  

Now that she had no more support, Cortana did her best to avoid the attack, but the gunman on the carrier was too skilled and the Banshee was too easy of a target.  A direct hit from the plasma beam caused the Banshee to spin violently.  Cortana could barely get her bearings and she tumbled around the small cabin.

She wasn’t going to survive this, she grasped with a sickening realization.

The only chance she had was to attempt to pilot the fallen Banshee in the water and hope the air-tight lock of the shell would hold at the impact.  

John would save her.

She issued several commands.  The failing engines struggled to respond, but after several attempts, the engine started pulling to the east.  She closed her eyes as the ground came racing towards her. There were only a few seconds before impact.

The ship slammed on the top of the water.  Cortana’s head slammed in the back of the Banshee.

Then, everything went black.

John slowly opened his eyes.  His shields were squealing, his head was roaring, but no was no humming in the back of his mind as there had been for the past two months.

Cortana.

He opened a comm channel to her, but got no response.  He forced himself to push himself from the wreckage of the Phantom.  Johnson lay semi-conscious on what remained on the passenger seat.  

“Johnson.”

The older man twitched.  

“We need to get out of here.”  And he needed to figure out where Cortana was.

He jostled Johnson’s shoulder slightly.  Finally, he started to move under his fingers.  He sat up and coughed, blood spattering on the destroyed controls.  “Hell of a landing there, Chief.”

“Are you going to be alright?”

Johnson winced as he pulled himself upright.  “Of course. I went through worse going through basic training.”

John took in his appearance.  He was bloodied, but he didn’t seem to have any broken bones or other major injuries.  “You need to get back to the Autumn.”

Johnson’s brows furrowed.  “Where are you going to be?”

“I can’t contact Cortana.”

Johnson swore under his breath.  “You think the Covenant shot her down?”

“Maybe.”

Johnson clasped the Chief’s shoulder.  “All right, but, Chief?”  He handed him a Needler.  “Here on Alpha Team we stick together.  We’re going to look for her.”

John nodded as they walked away from the wreckage.  He closed his eyes and tried again to establish some kind of link with Cortana.  He was unable to duplicate his ability to “see” through Cortana’s eyes as he had on the ship.

But, when he opened his eyes, he noticed a marker on his HUD.  It had to be Cortana.

“This way.”

They carefully made their way through the rocky coastline.  There were no Covenant patrols in the area; John assumed they had their hands full with Noble Team in the facility.

As they approached the position, John realized that signal was coming from the water.  He paused their trek.  Johnson followed his gaze out of the choppy ocean.

“She’s out there, isn’t she?”

John scanned the water.  There.  Approximately ten meters from the coast, he saw a Banshee floating in the water.  “Cortana, please respond.”

Silence.

He took a step in the direction of the ocean.  Johnson put a hand on his chest.  “I didn’t think Spartans could swim.”

Technically, Johnson was right.  The weight of the armor made swimming a difficult prospect, but John would do what it took to get Cortana off the ship.  

“Here.”  Johnson thrust the plasma canon in his stomach.  “You hold this and I’ll get Cortana.”

John frowned.  

“I’m not going to lose her, Chief.”

Finally, he nodded.  

He stayed alert for any random Covenant while he watched Johnson swim in the dark waters.   The sergeant moved swiftly and reached the Banshee without incident.  John watched as he gingerly lifted Cortana, who seemed unresponsive, into his arms.

With practiced ease, Johnson started swimming back to shore with the AI in his arms.  As he approached John, he looked at the Spartan remorsefully.  “I don’t know, Chief.”

He placed her on carefully on the ground, allowing John to look at her.  Her face was smeared with blood; pieces of glass were embedded in several long cuts across her jaw.  Her eyelids were fluttering, her mouth was moving imperceptibly.

“Cortana?”

Her eyelids opened slightly and she started to speak.  “Sierra-117, UNSC AI CTN0452-9 has sustained catastrophic damage to data clusters 100.123-795.98.  Suggested course of action: activate killswitch.  Proceed?”

John’s gut tightened.  While Halsey had given him authorization for Cortana’s killswitch, he knew he would never use it.  But, more disturbing was the fact that while Cortana knew who he was, as evidenced by her use of his code name, she didn’t seem like herself.

“Negative,” he told the AI.  He turned to Johnson.  “We need to get her to the Autumn.”

Johnson took point as John scooped her from the ground.  They cautiously made their way to the hidden vessel.  

The half-mile hike took much longer than John anticipated; he knew their cover from the Covenant wouldn’t last much longer.  Finally, the Autumn came into view in the horizon.  As he stepped onto the more sturdy hard pressed dirt, Cortana’s hand pressed into his chest.

“John...” Her faint whisper floated on the wind.

He stopped walking and looked at the woman in his arms.  Her eyes fluttered open.  She gave him a sad smile.  “I am so sorry.”

Then her eyes slid shut.

Several seconds passed before Johnson walked back to them.  “Come on, Chief.  The captain already has Doctor Halsey on a comm channel.”

They crossed the wide field and stepped on the Autumn.  Captain Keyes stood on the loading platform.  A deep frown passed over his lips as he took in the sight of Johnson and Cortana.  “We’ve got Med Bay two ready for you two,” he said to the sergeant.

John walked to the medical room and laid Cortana on the closest examination table.  As soon as he released her, the screen to the side of her bed activated.

It was Doctor Halsey.

“What happened to her, John?”

John described as best he could what had happened after they had fled from the cruiser.  

When he was finished, Halsey sighed.  “I need you to remove the chip from her neural lace, John.”

He hesitated briefly.  Wouldn’t that kill Cortana?

“She’ll be fine,” Halsey replied, picking up on the Spartan’s thoughts.

John reached around and pushed her hair out of the way, giving him access to Cortana’s neural lace.  He pressed the release and the chip slid into the palm of his hand.

It was had a deep crack running through it.

John didn’t miss the panicked look that flickered over Halsey’s face when he held the chip up for her to inspect.  “Will she be alright?”

Halsey pressed her lips together.  “I don’t know, John.”  She pushed her glasses up.  “Let's hope that some of your luck managed to rub off on her."

It had been three weeks.

Three weeks since the Panama port had been secured by the Alpha and Noble teams, offering hope to the war-wearied soldiers in the UNSC. Three weeks since he had found Cortana floating unconscious in a nearly destroyed Banshee, hoping that Cortana would be able to recover from the impossible injury.

He and the rest of Alpha Team, along with Cortana’s temporary replacement, had returned to Reach earlier in the day after completing another successful mission. As he had finished his debriefing with Lord Hood, Halsey had contacted him, requesting for him to stop by her lab.

It had to be about Cortana.

He quickly made his way to the medical building and into the wing where Cortana was. Doctor Halsey was waiting outside her room. “We’re ready to reestablish the link between the matrix chip and her host body,” she said, looking into the room where Cortana lay. “But, with the shard in your neural lace, we need you here.”

Together they walked into the room. Her black hair stood out starkly compared to her pale face and lips. Her cheeks were hollowed. Halsey had done her best to mend the wounds Cortana had taken, but there was still a long, raw scar running across Cortana’s jawbone.

Halsey reached for her tablet that was on the table next to Cortana’s bed. “Are you ready?” she asked her tech finished hooking up a medical scanner to John.

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Do you want to take a seat?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Very well,” she said before tapping in several commands.

Nearly a minute later, John felt liquid ice pour in his skull and a familiar hum in the back of his mind. He resisted the urge to stumble forward at the intensity of the link and grabbed the railing on the edge of Cortana’s bed.

“John?” Halsey asked, concern entering into her voice.

“I can feel the link again,” he said.

“A promising sign,” Halsey said with a small smile. “It may take a while for the link to fully establish itself, but so far there is nothing to indicate her host is rejecting the chip.” She stood up with her tablet. “I should inform Lord Hood of her condition.” She led her tech out of the room and left John alone with Cortana.

Nearly twenty minutes passed before John saw her right hand twitch slightly. He took two steps to stand next to her bed.

“John?” Her voice was raspy, raw.

“Yeah.”

She opened her eyes slightly and gave him a small smile. “Miss me much?”

It was meant in jest, but the playful question reminded John how much he had missed her over the past three weeks. “How are you feeling?” he asked, deflecting her question.

“Confused. Which for an AI is not a good thing,” Cortana retorted.   “How did I get back on Reach?”

He shifted slightly. “I’d better let Doctor Halsey tell you.”

“Keeping secrets?” she asked, slightly annoyed.  “Can you at least tell me how long I’ve been here?”

“Three weeks.”

“What?” Cortana pushed up weakly, trying to sit up. She looked at him, her blue eyes panicked. “How is that possible?”

He was saved from answering her question when the door opened. Halsey walked in and appraised the AI.  “Cortana,” the doctor greeted with a rare smile.

John knew that the AI was in not in a mood for chit chat. “I’ve been here for three weeks? Why don’t I have any recollection of that time?”

The doctor didn’t waste any time in answering her questions. “When you crashed landed in the canal, you slammed your head and damaged your matrix chip. You were practically non-responsive when they found you. When you were brought back, the techs and I spent nearly two weeks repairing the damage done to your chip. It was touch and go for a while, but we managed to repair the damage done.”

“High Command didn’t want to risk losing the information you had obtained, so they insisted that all data acquired from the mission was to be transferred to ONI before we could reunite your matrix chip to your host body.” She stepped forward and placed a hand on Cortana’s arm. “You’re lucky to be alive,” she said softly before straightening. “I know you’re going to be eager to get back on your feet, but you won’t be cleared by ONI until we make sure that everything is green.”

“Wonderful,” she said dryly.

“Kat has been temporarily assigned on Alpha Team until you are given clearance,” Halsey continued.

Cortana frowned.  John knew she didn’t like the idea of being replaced.

“If all goes well, you should be active in a week,” Halsey continued.  “I’ll give you access to your files. No need to waste your energy on hacking into the database,” Halsey said before walking out of the room.

John watched her as she experimentally moved.  “Lucky, huh?” she said dryly.

The image of her lifeless body as he carried her back to the Autumn came to his mind. She should have been dead. “We didn’t think you were going to make it when I found you,” John said.

“You found me?” she asked, interested. He waited several seconds as she undoubtedly accessed his mission logs from Panama. “You did miss me,” she accused.

He didn’t refute her claim.

“Thank you for saving my life,” she said, reaching out and grabbing his hand.  She gave it a squeeze.

A voice in the back of his head warned him not to get too close, to pull away from the desire to think of Cortana beyond the boundaries of a fellow soldier. But, as he felt the warmth coming from her fingers, he wasn’t sure if that was a battle he could--or wanted--to fight.

Finally, he gave her hand a squeeze back. “You’re welcome, Cortana.”

Part 4: Pushing the Boundaries

 John was driving her crazy.

 It was too damn hot, Cortana thought as she pulled her hair back in a ponytail.