ARES:Gods of War

Absolute

"Indeed," The AI replied, pushing a strand of her white hair over her shoulder in a fairly human action, "And you are?"

"My name is Cortana," Her UNSC counterpart replied, jovial, "I suppose I should tell you I'm with the Chief, the man that Andersen and the others hired and sent to the Outpost."

"Ah, yes, the one the CEO of Missilis demanded to be handed over," Hummed Enikk, sighing, "An alien by all intents and purposes to us. As you are..." before her auburn eyes glowed clearly visible for a single moment behind the veil. She blinked, "I can't get a read on you whatsoever. You mask your presence in the Ark's systems quite well, for someone standing right in front of me."

Cortana shrugged and smirked, "I am an infiltration AI, so..."

"Your masters must've made you a truly special case, then," Enikk hummed, which got Cortana to smile. The Ark's AI then sighed, "Apologies, but foreign systems are hard to accept for now... A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Cortana. Both yours and the Master Chief's. I know that he and Commander Alyosha Harris, CO of the Counters Squad, have recently called for evacuation from Grid V22 on the Surface."

"And I'm acutely aware a clandestine mission is grounds for judgement," The AI quipped, crossing her arms. Enikk motioned for her to take a seat nearby, which she did, materializing her own chair out of thin air as the Ark's administrative AI sat herself back at her desk, "It's that specific judgement I wanted to talk about, since I've read up on some files while I was here. I know there's precedent for Commanders receiving lenient sentences due to their missions being for the benefit of mankind, which this was."

"Oh? Then...?" Enikk quirked a brow up.

Cortana nodded, "This is about the Captains of the Counters, Lucky Strike and Wardress. Rapi, Delta and Mihara, specifically," And she brought up the two's files. She noted, "Standard punishment for Nikkes deployed into combat while risking their commanders' lives is usually a MindWipe. Something Chief and Alyosha would probably like to avoid, since Rapi seems to be quite close with our Commander, Delta's a good friend and exemplary soldier... And Mihara sort of grew on me and the Chief."

"I see..." The AI hummed, intrigued, "Go on?"

"Well," Cortana smirked, "How about you pretend that the Mind Wipe happens when we get back and you complete judgement? Syuen is technically at full fault for this outing and the risk presented upon the Commanders, not the girls. I have evidence to support that and a bunch of other illicit things our diminutive common friend has done. She'll probably throw a fit at it, too..."

"I would... Very much like to see that..." Enikk's interest seemed double-piqued now, considering the faint smile Cortana could make out behind the Veil. The AI smirked, forming the data package which contained Blabla chatlogs, some of the videos from Chief's armor and various other smaller bits of info into a spherical light in her hand and throwing it Enikk's way. The grey-skinned AI caught it mid-air, then clenched her fist around it, absorbing the data, which made her blank, "Oh, my..."

"Indeed," Cortana chuckled, "Now... As much as I'd like to take Syuen down a peg or two, I want to gather more data about her actions. You know, just so you can drop the maximum punishment available on the little runt," Which Enikk soon realized Cortana knew. She had read the files, so it was obvious she probably knew it. And Enikk wasn't sure if she should be concerned for her newfound AI Compatriot, or afraid of her.

"I see..." She replied as neutrally as she could, then noted, "So, you wish me to lie about the Mind Wipes?"

"Yes," Cortana chuckled, "The girls aren't at fault, after all. The Commanders are fine and healthy."

Enikk seemed to take a moment to ponder this, before sighing and noting, "I suppose that's fine, if it means Syuen's little escapades will be punished in the future. Keeping tabs on her work should earn you some favor with me and the rest of the Central Government. I'll see about doing as you asked for Rapi and Mihara, but I'm afraid I cannot fully promise anything..."