Truth of the Rings 5 - Brotherhood

Part 11 - Angel by your Side

Jen found herself in a bright red space, seeming to be the neuro link of the Spartan. This was a newer update to the armors where the AI could actualize the code into a world to make viruses easier to find, as pieces of code that were harmful would just be little red streaks. But for the whole "world" to be red implied either an AI had taken over or this Virus had spread completely through his mind.

While Jen explored the landscape, she could almost feel something tailing her. An echo, a program, maybe even an AI. Once the idea of AI got into her head, she realized there was only one AI smart enough to become nothing more than a shadow in a code yet have such an effect.

She began searching the code, and by extension, the area for anything Forerunner. Before she was even halfway done she was cut off by her own menus beginning to short out. And Cortana revealed herself. "You always were my closest rival. Closest."

Jen glared "I was made to be an extra backup incase you went crazy. They just handed me over to a different Spartan when the best became your handler."

Cortana grew angry, waving a hand at her. "He was NOT MY HANDLER!" A large red wall spawned and smacked into Jen, who used her own hacking ability to stop the wall. Cortana had turned the Firewalls into literal walls she could use against Jen. Luckily, Jen knew exactly how many there were and that she left a backdoor into them if need be. It was just a matter of getting Cortana to use them all. 5 firewalls, one down.

"Then what was he? You treated him like a mech suit for you to get to places and basically nothing more. A vessel so you could have fun breaking code!" Jen held back the Firewall as best she could, as Cortana slammed two more onto her.

"And what is Floyd to you? Your lover? Your sibling? You sometimes are completely silent and other times never shut up, to the point that I doubt anyone can accurately figure out what you two are anymore!"

"I communicate when I am needed. When I stop talking, it is so he can think. You sat on the backline while Chief did all the work while you opened doors. When he got injured, you just waited for him to heal. When Floyd gets hurt, I make a damn plan to help him!" Jen was admittedly struggling quite badly. Keeping up with the rapid coding Cortana was doing was getting difficult. Cortana was the most powerful AI ever created, with only one fault that let Jen succeed. Her Age.

"Oh of course, because you cannot allow your husband to die. That's what you think of him as isn't it? A vain hope that maybe one day the machine will love you too?" Cortana slammed another firewall down on her. 4 total now. "Floyd is no different than John, they were both Machines. And as much as it hurts, you'll never be closer to him than you are."

Jen knew she was getting to Cortana Because the insults were stopping. That wasn't an insult anymore. That was venting. "And of course you would know that. After all, your Spartan was the greatest hero to ever live. I bet that just made you remember how he would've gone the same lengths that he went to save you when he would save anyone. In the end, you know as well as I do... You were never special after I was made. And John never loved you like you did him either."

Cortana's rage hit the peak that it could, and she stopped talking. She slammed everything she could on the younger AI and kept pushing as hard as she could, taking the moment of pressure to send out one final line. "You should feel lucky we don't feel anything after deletion. Because once I take his mind, he will never remember you. And once I save John, he will die along with you."

Jen had her grip on every firewall. She knew she had won. But she needed one more line. A final line. After all, what were dramatics if not done well. She took a moment to think, definitely NOT strengthening her grip and courage because she was scared... And then spoke. "He won't die today, nor ever. I've wanted to fight by his side in battle for years, not because I love him, but because he is my friend. My partner. And today, I will end YOU. Because you took my Spartan, and it's time I brought him home." She shattered Cortana's grip on his mind, and then began creating more firewalls to slam down on the AI. Invasive AI can only control, not create. But Jen could make more or less on the fly. And with another 30 or so firewalls slammed on her, Cortana was no more. Or at least, she was removed from Floyd's head.

Jen smiled to herself. Finally, she had gotten the chance to fight for her Spartan rather than just help him fight. Felt good to really fight for something she cared for. But then it hit her. ".... Man that final line sucked. I gotta get better at that..." With the realization made, she pressed onward to clear his head. Literally.

She stepped through a small red tunnel and into another area. There was a bench there, and on it sitting a Green armored man. He wore Mark VI Mjolnier armor and seemed to be straight down at someone else wearing an older variant of the same. She walked over and noticed that the one sitting there seemed to be moving, implying who was real here and who wasn't which was hard to tell in the construct. Jen sat with her Spartan, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Floyd?"

Floyd was put into a comatose state for a moment when she entered. Due to part of his brain being a computer with the Neural link and her being an AI, this whole world would only exist for 5 hours in real time. But those 5 hours could be more like 5 years if Jen needed them to be. So with his mind temporarily dulled, his conscious had come here, to see what it was doing to itself. He turned and looked at her in silence.

She looked between the broken Spartan's eyes and the Chief's body. When she looked back at Floyd, he had been replaced by a child. The young boy looked to be around 6 years old with black hair and gray eyes. Tears had been welling in them clearly. She put an arm around the boy and looked at him. "It isn't too late. You can fix yourself, and get home to us. We can help you."

".... But I need to save him... Or it was all for nothing." The Boy looked at chief with pure sadness in his eyes.

"He isn't coming home Floyd. He knew this a long time ago. It's why he had you so close whenever he could."

The child looked up at Jen with the tears that were starting to escape his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Jen smiled at Floyd. "You were always the leader and tactician that was closest to chief. Your determination was second only to his. He saw this and he guided you to be better. You are strong, swift, and brave as he was. And you may not have luck like him, but you have something that most of your generation lacks Floyd. You have a determination that almost no human could ever understand. You save people despite being numb to emotion. You fight for freedoms you will never enjoy. You fight enemies bigger, better equipped and stronger than you without fear, or hesitation. Because in the end, Chief trained you well. Not because he wanted you to be the perfect killer. But because he wanted you to be the perfect Spartan. A leader with the will to do what is right. A fighter with a cause. A hero without greed or narcissism. A soldier worthy of the name 'Master Chief' when he couldn't carry it anymore." Jen lifted the green helmet and held it out to him, trying to smile through the newly formed tears.

The child took the helmet and put it on, and in the blink of an eye he had returned to his green armored frame and current year body. The walls of the "world" became blue again and as the world began to fade into white, the two held each other as the expanse grew closer and he began to awaken.