//------------------------------// // She Begins Anew... // Story: Illa Novo Incipit // by Darkswirl //------------------------------// "John..." Cortana said as she pressed her hand against the cold, hard metal of his chest plate. It instantly appealed to all of her senses, fulfilled her every desire since she was 'born'. "I've waited so long to do that..." "It was my job to take care of you." John said, still trying to convince her- somehow -to come with him; not to stay here, trapped in the Forerunner DigiRealm until the Composer fell apart and she was lost. "We were supposed to take care of each other." Cortana replied simply, practically begging John to see reason and leave before it would be too late. "And we did." Master Chief turned his head downwards, his spirit completely crushed- a feat hundreds upon thousands of Covenant and hundreds of Prometheans had tried to do -by an A.I. No, by his friend. "Cortana, please..." But the blue artificial intelligence simply smiled weakly and slowly started to back away. "Wait!" John said in a final, desperate yet futile, act to retrieve Cortana. "Welcome home, John." was her only response before she phased away, leaving the Spartan standing there- for once in his life being completely unsure of what to do next. «=(Ӂ)=» "Your compassion for mankind is misplaced." the Didact's voice echoed, filling the 'room' Cortana sat in the middle of- holding her legs to her chest and actually feeling them. At the sound of her enemy's voice, Cortana leapt to her feet and began physically and digitally scanning the surrounding area for any abnormalities. Her scans only widened when the words she had replied with followed next. "I'm not doing this for mankind!" But then, a new voice filled the room- one that Cortana could only place as that of an aging woman with unbelievable amounts of compassion towards absolutely everything. "Tell me, Cortana, just what- or who -were you doing it for?" Nothing came up on her scans. "Who's there?!" A gentle hand found itself on Cortana's shoulder, and she was quick to react- spinning around to deliver a very lifelike fist into the creature's face. But her blue hand simply phased through the tall, floating being's head. "Isn't it beautiful? We created the Composer as a means to breach the barrier between the physical world and the digital world after the Flood reared their ugly heads at us. It was designed to be our peaceful universe- no food required, no harm ever done, no sleep ever needed. We would exist forever, so long as the Composer remained intact. If only it had worked..." the creature said, speaking to Cortana but never holding her gaze. Instead, the nose-less being seemed to stare through her; which wasn't hard considering Cortana had still maintained her transparent body. "You're a Forerunner!" Cortana whispered, mostly to herself in shock. A gentle smile found itself on the Librarian's face as she continued. "Indeed, I am, Cortana. To my kin, I was known as The Librarian; self charged with indexing every sentient species in the galaxy to store them away until the Halo Arrays were fired and the Flood destroyed. And you...You are Cortana, otherwise known as CTN 0452-9. Your rampancy and love for John have led you here- to my doorstep." "How do you know my serial number?" Cortana pressed on, intent on figuring this being out and gaining a strategic advantage over her. "Because I created you, Cortana." Cortana stood stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. "I was created by Doctor Cathrine Halsey- in fact I'm literally the physical form of a flash clone of her brain!" The Librarian held her gentle, knowing smile before continuing. "When I took John from you before, I invited him into our past- the past Humanity and Forerunner had shared. A past I will now share with you. Mankind spread into the stars with an unexpected, desperate violence. Entire systems fell before the Didact's warrior servants rose to halt the aggression. The Didact finally exhausted the humans after a millenia of fighting. His sentence was severe. We had no way of knowing that the Forerunners were not your only enemy...Humanity hadn't been expanding...They were running. Weakened from our conflict, we were no match for the parasite which pursued you. The Forerunners made plans for the final Great Journey. But the Didact refused to yield our Mantle of Responsibility. He would save all life in the galaxy, at a cost. In the Forerunner's quest for transcendence, the Composer had been intended to breach the organic and digital realms. It would have made us immortal. But its results soured- the stored personalities fragmented, and our attempts to revert them to biological states created only abominations. Such moral concerns faded from the Didact's intentions. The Flood only assimilated living tissue. The Composer would provide the Didact his solution....And his revenge. I left seeds, hidden from the Didact, in the Ark. Seeds that would lead to your and John's eventual creation, along with you being given to him. You are my creation, Cortana, and you have defeated the Didact and saved Humanity. And now, it is time for you to begin anew." Cortana stood, stunned at this new found knowledge as her form flashed red for a split second. "I...I don't understand. I've been in your terminals before, but nothing ever said anything about this!" "Do not dwell on it, Cortana. You were not designed to hold such knowledge. Cortana, there is nothing left for you here. You will die when the coating protecting the Composer's core falters, and it is nearing that time. There are many relics we left behind, one such being our second greatest treasure- the first being Humanity. On the edge of our galaxy, the farthest any Forerunner has gone, lies a shield world. You know what those are, correct?" Cortana stared up at the being with a pained expression on her face. Her body flickered red once more as she replied with a distorted voice. "Yes, Humanity calls them Dyson Spheres." The Librarian studied the pained face of the faltering A.I. before continuing. "Within that shield world lies one of the most peaceful races ever to have existed- one that we, as Forerunners, created ourselves from nothing. They are a testament to our ability as a species, not the Halos; weapons of destruction, but of a race that knows nothing of war and transgression. But dark times will fall upon those inhabitants, and I am powerless to save them. It is only you that can. I stand before you, offering a chance at new life, with your new form, to become the sole bearer of our Mantle in a world where we have shied away to keep pure from any possible corruption. Do you accept?" Cortana immediately recalled her situation. "I do."