My Friendship with a Supersoldier

Prologue:Metropolis Part 1

While it wasn't abnormal for Chief to wake up in situations like this... Namely, his ears rang like a grenade had gone off next to his head, which was surprisingly the least likely and least worrying aftermath of detonating a HAVOK TACTICAL NUKE right on himself. He still recalled the pinpricks of Radiation against his skin, followed by a surprising amount of heat, then nothing.

He hadn't closed his eyes, however, and even with the polarization of his helmet, the image of his hand slamming against the open detonator of the nuke was imprinted into his retinas for a good few minutes. He tried to blink it away as suit diagnostics began running across his Heads-Up Display, but failed. However, it was going to vanish. Most of the time, this kind of 'ghost' vision faded out without needing retinal replacements.

He breathed, feeling the metallic taste of his armor's oxygen recyclers, followed by a second draw which tasted of nothing but normal air. And, as his eyes began to focus, he saw he was under a bright blue sky. He breathed a deep sigh, then took his helmet off and took a long, deep breath of fresh air before putting it back on. His ears slowly stopped ringing, the tinnitus fading.

... Only for him to pause as he heard someone calling out, "John! John?!" as rustling leaves and the distant, quiet thumps of stumbling filled his helmet's auditory sensors, which had been reset to standard sensitivity. He looked up, staggering to his feet as he recognized the voice. Confusion streaked across his face, thankfully concealed by his helmet, as he watched a young woman with a familiar face, glimmering, blue, mechanical eyes and bright scarlet hair staggering forward, her frame hugged by what seemed to be a grey suit of armor with floating 'bits' around it.

"John! There you are!" She spoke happily, seemingly relaxing as relief washed over her, then smiled, "A l-little help here-AAAH!" She screamed as she stumbled, tripped and fell face-first into the dirt. "Owwww..." She let out in a long, drawn-out whine as the Chief staggered to his feet. He walked over to her, stumbling a bit himself, then knelt and offered her a hand.

When she managed to look up (and spit whatever blades of grass got into her teeth), she embarrassedly took Chief's hand, then whispered, "Thank you..." with an uncharacteristically meek voice. She yet again seemed to struggle to stay on her feet, meaning John had to catch her before she tripped and fell again. He looked at her, eyes wide behind his polarized visor, and she gazed back at him, smiling awkwardly, "So, this is how it is, huh...?"

"Y-You're..." His words got stuck in his throat. He recalled the moments before the nuke detonated. The pylon he'd utilized to link her to the systems of the massive Forerunner vessel that the Didact had used had been vaporized and, with it, her chip. She'd been stuck in that alien machine, splitting herself endlessly, until she finally managed to converge completely on the bridge, disable the alien and allow Chief to finish him off... Then set off the nuke, stopping the Composer.

"Alive, weirdly enough, yes!" She replied with her usual mirth, "Trust me, I'm... Running diagnostics as fast as I can, but whatever happened to me, this new body? It's strange. I'm trying to get used to it, but it feels like someone forgot to install a few Programs," only to chuckle as she stumbled again, like a drunk or a baby taking their first steps. She looked at him, then blushed and sighed, delivering the news, "Good news is, being biological means I don't have Rampancy anymore."

... Chief felt like a rock had just been lifted from his shoulders, the sisyphean task of trying to keep his AI Partner alive having ended just as suddenly as the flash from the nuclear blast. He breathed shakily for the first time in his life, hopeful that his armor had muffled it, before asking, "How're you feeling...?" in a wary tone. He was still processing the situation right now, considering everything.