New Life
HALO: John x Cortana
{ After Halo 4 }
\\\\0101100100101101011//--2908
041002 alpha sector 5, NEW data stream--
Colony in question: Algolis II
Re-Terraformed: 2559
Population: Approx. 15 M
Recolonized: 2560
Current Year: 2562
After four years of service since the loss of Cortana, John 117 had been
given honorable discharge from the UNSC with all the respect commanded for a SPARTAN II that saved the universe on multiple occasions. With nothing to do
as being a retired soldier and never having done anything else since the age of six, John moved to the newly repopulated planet of Algolis.
~~~~~~~
" Cortana, come in." John said gruffly as he looked about, calling for Cortana to respond to his comm. Slowly she faded into view, standing out from
the surrounding energy. John was wondering what was happening around him, it seemed like... information, data.
" How...?"
" Oh, I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?" Cortana asked, smiling to
her partner.
" But if we're here-"
" It worked. You did it. Just like you always do. "
" So how do we get out of here?" John asked, eyes scanning the area.
Cortana sighed softly, then took a deep breath, " I'm not coming with you
this time..."
" What?"
" Most of me is down there." She said, glancing downward toward Earth,
opening to a new dawn. " I only held enough back to get you off the ship."
" No. That's not-! We go together. " Master Chief said stubbornly, almost
as if denying the inevitable.
" It's already done."
" I am not leaving you here!" Johns voice raised slightly, and if Cortana
had run a diagnostic test, she'd have heard a slight quaver to it.
" John... " Cortana whispered, stepping forward and resting her hand on
John's chest-plate. " I've waited so long to do that..." She said, her voice shaky and
unlevel, not like it's usual cool, smooth tone.
" It was my job to take care of you..." John avoided Cortana's eyes, not
wanting to cause himself more pain or show more emotional weakness.
" We were supposed to take care of each other." This caught John's
attention, he looked to her eyes now, searching them, hoping that even a
holoprojection could show some sort of emotion in fake eyes. " And we did."
" Cortana-please..."
Cortana smiled sadly up at the taller man, the man she'd grown to love,
she was able to feel, she was able to see how much he meant. She loved him.
Slowly, she retreated, stepping backward from John,
" Wait-" He pleaded.
" Welcome home, John..." Cortana said softly, evanescing into nothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Cortana!" John awoke with a heaviness on his chest and a coldsweat,
eyes wide. His every breath shook as he swung his feet over the edge of the bed,
standing and padding heavily across the room. He reached the nearest wall and
sank his fist into it, a loud thud resounding through the empty apartment. The UNSC's finest living quarters gifted to him when he arrived on Algolis. They expected behavior similar to PTSD, and yes he did show signs, but due to Doctor Halsey's studies, they had made damn sure that everything in the apartment was durable enough to withstand the retired SPARTAN II.
John pulled his hand back, dropping it to his side. He groaned and walked
toward the kitchen, thuds with every weighted step. Life seemed such an
impossible task to the man who had achieved everything else claimed to be
impossible. He hated it, he hated that he didn't have a voice speaking to him when
he was alone, he hated the absence of the cool rushing water sensation in the
back of his mind, he hated the fact the he was now completely, utterly alone.
Only his own thoughts were left in the wreckage Cortana left in her path, damage
John was still sorting through.
John sighed to himself as he pulled on his shoes, fastening them tightly, and walking out the door. His daily run had turned into a jog by the middle of his 17 miles. He no longer had the motivation to do much of anything, and he had begun to waste away. He took very poor care of himself, ate very rarely, and in the first few months of his discharge, how found he never ate due to the shock of no longer wearing armor.
The SPARTAN took off and was running at a steady pace for almost nine miles, but he began to slow not long after. He jogged through the entrance to the local park, along his normal route, his thoughts occupied by a figure in blue. Everything about her was beautiful. Her piercing blue eyes, her short-cropped black hair, and the voice like running water. Only now, he heard her voice as a jolting horrifying sound, he knew her words would only bring him pain. He shook his head to clear his mind, to blow away the haze of emotions Cortana left behind.
Just when he thought he had escaped her and found his own thoughts, his blood ran cold, and he stopped short. There in front of him, looking pale and clueless, was Cortana.
However, not in the sense one may think. She had lost her blue hue, and her digital charm, replacing it was flesh and bone, skin and hair. Porcelain features of soft almost airbrushed looking effects, the same sharp blue eyes that reminded him of the seas on Reach, and raven black hair that looked blue in the sunlight. Her slender frame sat looking about the scenery around her.
Till her eyes landed on John.
--End Data Stream--||Shutdown sequence initiated||
•••
Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I'll be continuing as often as possible.
