The Way Of The Spartan

II. For What It's Worth

"Medic!" Chief shouted as his boots thudded against the metal ramp. In his arms, was a woman. She was unconscious. Several of the medical officers came running out of the building to assist him. Dr. Halsey was with them. "What happened?" She questioned.

The medics took the woman from his arms, turning around and walking back into the building. John was silent. "Caught in the crossfire. She was injured. I told her the UNSC could help." He said. He started to follow the medics when Dr. Halsey stopped him. "I'll need to run diagnostic tests on you. Make sure the A.I. is functioning properly." "It's fine." He said, shortly. Her hand pushed against his chest plate. "Meet me in the lab in 10 minutes." She said. John let out a sigh.

John removed his armor before making his way to the lab. Once inside the lab, Dr. Halsey gave him a medical gown to change into. It might've been uncomfortable if his mind hadn't been somewhere else.

With a violent jolt, I jumped awake. The metal table was cold. Bright lights were shining all around, blinding me. There were people in coats wearing facial masks. "Ma'am? Can you hear me?" The voices were echoing as the pain was searing again. The throbbing was so loud, I couldn't hear anything else.

"She's going to go into shock if we don't sedate her." "We have to know if she's coherent first." "We're wasting time!" One of the assistant's stuck the needle into the tube, injecting the sedative. The throbbing pain in my head began to slow, but at the same time...I began to get tired. My muscles relaxed against the metal and I fell asleep.

"Don't play around like that anymore." The doctors continued to bicker among each other. "She's sedated. We should just get to work, we don't know what's wrong with her." The assistant said. Immediately, they began to work on fixing her up.

John sat up from the table, swinging his legs off the edge as the machine began to power down. "Satisfied?" He asked Dr. Halsey. "Well, the only question on my mind is why? Why bring her back here to us?" "She needed medical attention, which I could not provide." "Yes, but the mission clearly stated to clear out the infestation, no matter the cost." John knew he was treading into dangerous waters.

"Yes, but if there are human lives to save, we should attempt to preserve them." He responded. "That was not your mission." John simply straightened his back, that look passing over his face where it seemed like he was nonexistent in his own mind. "Are we through here?" He asked. Dr. Halsey was going through the test results on the tablet she was holding. "I'll call you if I have anymore questions." She said, not even looking back at him.

John got off the table's surface and headed back into the locker area. Something was nagging at his mind. Something that wasn't there before. As he walked back to his quarters, all the soldiers moving about the area seemed different to him. Maybe he was different.

Back in the Spartan's quarters, Riz and Kai were sitting in their bunks talking. John came walking in. "We heard you were back, Chief." Riz commented. John said nothing in response. "How was Miridem?" Kai asked. "Lots of hostiles. Nothing else." Kai had always been good at knowing when something was wrong with John, despite their inability to have feelings of any kind. Like machines, they were programmed to do only their tasks. But as humans, its nearly impossible to erase the desire to feeling things and discover things. All machines are only as good as their creators.

Riz excused herself from the bunk and Kai moved over to try to engage Chief further. "That woman you brought in didn't look like nothing to me." She said. Chief was rifling through the small nightstand, looking for something. "She was injured and I promised her help." "You know what the UNSC will do to her." His back stiffened and his jaw started to clench. "Are you alright?" She asked. "No." He said.

There was a pause before he looked over his shoulder at her. "I'm not alright. Something isn't right. I can—I can feel it." It was strange to say the words and even more strange to understand the meaning of them. "I'm not sure I follow." Kai said. He sighed. "Something happened on the ship, while I was helping her." He said. Kai listened with intent and preparedness for whatever her superior was about to spring on her. "I was helping her and then...something started to happen. Like my brain was being overridden by these...these feelings. I can't even describe what was going through my head. I've never thought any of those things before." His cheeks were growing red from embarrassment as if Kai had access to those...inappropriate things floating around in his brain.