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Master Chief: The Dark Sanctuary of the Heart

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Master Chief: The Dark Sanctuary of the Heart



Author's Note: Warning! The following Fanfiction, Master Chief: The Dark Sanctuary of the Heart, contains major spoilers (and angsty, tragedy, and extremely minor-hinted romance along with it) for the ending cutscene of the following mission, Midnight, on the following video game, Halo 4.

If you have not played the game itself and you don't want to be spoiled for Master Chief: The Dark Sanctuary of the Heart, then I would not recommend on reading this Fanfiction. Otherwise, please proceed at your own risk. Thank you, and I hope you've enjoyed the read!

~SilverFang53


(---)


In this hour of victory, we taste only defeat. I ask, “Why?”

We are the Forerunners, the guardians of all that exists. The roots of the galaxy have grown deep under our careful tending. Where there is life, the wisdom of our countless generations has saturated the soil. Our strength is a luminous sun towards which intelligence blossoms. And the impervious shelter beneath which it has prospered.

I stand before you. Accused of the sin of ensuring Forerunner ascendancy. Of attempting to save us from this fate where we are forced to… recede…

Humanity stands as the greatest threat in the galaxy. Refusing to eradicate them is a fool’s gambit. We squander eons in the darkness, while they seize our triumphs for their own. The Mantle of Responsibility, for all things, belongs to Forerunners alone!

Think of my act as you will. But do not doubt the reality. The reclamation… has already begun.

And we are hopeless to stop it.



(---)



...before this is all over, promise me you’ll figure out which one of us is the machine.

And that’s a promise I tend, and willing to keep. No matter the cost. I will keep that promise.


I struggled to hang on for dear life. And since this piece of Forerunner technology of a “light bridge” didn’t have any railings or anything that I could use to propel myself out of this smooth mess, I would not be hanging around like this. But when I saw her, or many clones of her, appearing through the codes and energy of the bridge, I was filled with such sadness and rage. I was not fast enough to retrieve her from such a fate.

If only if I retrieved her from the terminal sooner, her A.I. chip would still be intact – along with her too. But now, she cannot be retrieved as both the terminal and her chip was destroyed by our enemy – the Diadact.

You see… she is the brains of me, while I am her shield and sword. And Cortana was never an object that people foresee in such technology. She had emotions, feelings, and aspects of what life is all about. The full aspects of what people are living in life.

But as of now, she’s my shield, while I am her hand and sword.

After witnessing Cortana’s heroicness as she and her clones tethered and immobilized the Diadact in order to save me from a far worse fate than I could imagine: being strangled to death from his invisible force, or tossed aside into the swirling orange depths below. I was filled with hope. Like I know what to do and what she would want me to do.

At first, we both thought that we were done with all the fighting after we have been stranded on the Forward Unto Dawn and awaited for the U.N.S.C to arrive to pick us up for the past four years. But after being awakened by her, hearing her desperate pleas for me to wake up when she needed me, fighting off the rogue Covenant that sided with the Diadact later on, dragged through the space debris of the remaining Forward Unto Dawn and landing on the shield world known as Requiem, and so much more that occurred afterwards.

And now, it’s time to finish the fight. A fight that should have been finished long ago.

Filled with desired hope, I pushed my way up onto the bridge with all my might. Pushing the strength I needed into my arms in order for me to climb my way out. Lucky for me, I still carried the Z-040 Attenuation Field Generator – in other words, the Pulse Grenade – from my earlier encounters with the Prometheans during our “lovely” time within the ship of the Diadact, which was heading towards the crown jewel of all humanity - Earth. I grabbed the Forerunner grenade that was attached onto my back belt, careful of the Havok nuke that rested back there too, and rushed recklessly at the Promethean.

I only had one chance at this. Only one shot. I must not fail.

Otherwise, I would fail Earth and all Her people. And beyond all the levels, I would drastically fail Cortana too. But I refuse to allow that to happen. Not now, not ever.

I spearheaded my way towards the immobile Forerunner, though my strength greatly weaned and weakened when he first attempted to strangle the very life force out of me. Though my energy shields have not recovered from the brunt of the invisible choke hold and the interior of my helmet screamed and flashed at me in warning because of it. Damn the shields! This is far more important than my safety, and very important that I will not let Cortana’s heroism go in vain by my actions!

I need a few seconds. That’s all I need! That’s all!

As my made my way towards him, I could feel his burning orange eyes piercing into me. The burning hatred that he carried for so many years that even his lover, the Librarian, did not show. You see, she was the opposite of the Diadact. She had deep respect for all of Humanity and viewed us as the “special” kind among all the sentient life that she has seen. Hell, she even destroyed her own ships to do it!

And that, I have to give her a lot of respect for it. Even though I was very cautious about it at first, but my trust in her was well placed.

Wasting no time, with a Pulse Grenade in hand, I shoved the Forerunner device as hard as I could into the armour of the Promethean before he punched me away. I could feel the twisting within my neck and the brunt in the side of my face as I landed with a hard THUD! onto the energy bridge.  Damn, it felt like the very wind was knocked out of me as I weakly regained my composure and asset the situation.

I watched as the Diadact forcefully broke free from of Cortana’s bonds and stared me down with deep hatred. Though my little “victory” was short-lived as he picked my frail body off the bridge and started squeezing me the second time. I gasped and choked for breath, but with the Promethean giving me no chances at all for many and my vision was ever getting bleaker and my mind numbing due to the lack of oxygen in my brain.

But my eyes and mind were on that Pulse Grenade that I planted into the Forerunner’s armour as it sat snuggly between the crevices of the armour plating.

C’mon! Detonate! Damn you, detonate!

And not a moment too soon as the grenade finally detonated with a loud BANG! Released from his invisible grasp once again and collapsing onto the light bridge, I watched him as he staggered, clutching his chest as he teetered backwards near the ledge. And as quick it happened, he stumbled and fell into the Slipspace rupture below.

Finally, now that’s over. Time to stop the Composer from depopulating of Earth’s remaining cities.

I tried to stand up towards the Havok warhead, but my legs refused to obey me as I collapsed face-first into the energy bridge. Putting my weakness aside, I crawled as fast as I could muster to the inactive warhead that was laid not too far from me. I gasped and grunted throughout the entire way, not impressed at all due to my strength failing me.

Almost there… Almost there!

With the little strength I had left, I pushed myself within arms-length of the warhead. And I wasted no time at all when I turned the end of the little nuke and heard faint, but audible beeping sounds as it was ready for detonation.

This is it. This is finally it. I looked up to Earth as I made my quick silent prayer as the orange beam pummelled the city known as New Phoenix, which its population has been drastically been reduced since the Diadact fired the Composer at Earth. Then I remembered Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson’s words before he passed away when we were betrayed by 343 Guilty Spark, an A.I. from the Installation 04 – or Halo, in other words – when the plan was to fire the Installation 04B, while in its construction stage, to destroy the Gravemind and the Flood:

Send me out… with a bang.

Now it’s my turn to be sent out with a bang, Johnson. I’ll be seeing you soon enough, my good friend.


With that, I yelled as I slammed the palm of my hand onto the detonator of the warhead. I watched as everything – the sounds, feelings, and everything that I know of – faded as the white oblivion surrounded me into nothingness as the afterlife claimed me for good.


(---)



Everything was silent. No sound could be heard. Blinded by the white light, I am forever done. Or am I? Am I truly dead? No… I can hear the wind rushing in and out within my helmet. And I can feel the pain too! That means… I’m alive!

I slowly opened my tired eyes, my brain trying to process of the events that occurred and whether should I be dead or not from the explosion of the warhead. But as I turned my head from side to side, I was taken aback of my surroundings. Like instead of being enveloped by an entity of either the darkness or the white light of the afterlife, I was surrounded by – of what it looked like – a series of white, blue, and purple runes and symbols that glittered and glided in both an upward and downward angle.

They’re beautiful… they remind me of-

Oh no..! Cortana!


“Cortana,” I called out to her, shifting into a kneeling position before standing up on my own two feet. But I received nothing from her at all, and this is getting worrisome for me as my mind started to wander that something really bad happened to her. No, I was forced to leave her behind – three times, including during my time in that cryo-chamber for four years – and I refuse to leave her behind again.

Not this time!

“Cortana, do you read?” I was hoping that she would break this deafening silence, but it still continued to persist as I still haven’t received anything from the smart A.I. This silence is starting to get on my nerves. Normally Cortana would respond the first time whenever I call out for her or whenever I need her the most, but she hasn’t at all. This is very worrying.

“Cortana, come in,” my voice echoed within the Forerunner hard light, my hopes dropping as the silence continued to linger about. I was about to accept the fate that she’s gone for good when I was a light, moving and reflecting off from the corner of my eye and the sound of faint hum that can be heard, depending how quiet the surrounding area is.

What is this? A light? And what is this sound I’m hearing?

I turned and looked at the source and I was left breathless for words as Cortana – not her small A.I. size, but as an actual human size – casually waltzed her way towards me. Like I was so dumbfounded that it felt like my jaw dropped onto the hard surface of the hard light as I watched her in front of me. We stared at each other for a couple minutes in silence, as if we’re both afraid to talk to each other now.

And that’s when I broke that unbroken silence, “How…?” Even though I was stuttering like a blabbering idiot.

“Oh, I’m the strangest thing you’ve seen all day?” she replied. There was some heavy sarcasm before she reverted back to her old, serious self again.

“But if we’re here-”

“It worked. You did it. Just like you always do.” I can hear the sadness in her voice as she said those words. And something is telling me that I’m not going to like the next thing I’m going to hear.

“So how do we get out of here?” I asked her. I turned my head to the hard light that encased us both in, awaiting for her to answer that lingered in my throat for some time.

She paused for a moment, and I can clearly see that she was trying to hide her oncoming emotion before she said, “I’m not coming with you this time.”

And that’s when it felt like the warhead was set off the second time at point-blank range. And I was right – I’m not going to like the next thing that I was going to hear from her. That feeling… ever get that feeling that your heart suddenly stopped beating and jumped into your throat altogether whenever something bad really happens? That’s what I’m feeling right now – that undistinguishable sorrow.

“What? You can’t be- Why?!

“Because most of me is down there,” she tilted her head downward, indicating that most of “her” was destroyed along the Diadact’s ship. “I only held enough back to get you off the ship.”

No… this cannot be happening. This cannot. Be. Happening! And I refuse to allow that!

“No. That’s not-! We go together, Cortana. Together!” I stammered. For which I can hear my voice already cracking with emotion when she said that she will not be coming back with me – or in other words, she’s going to be left behind again. And I don’t want to be left alone for the third time… she’s so important to me. And neither does she want to be left behind either. We both needed each other.

“But it’s already done.”

“Done or not, but I am not leaving you here, Cortana! Do you read me? I am not leaving you here!” I cried out. Even though it had a lot of force into it than I thought I tended it to be, but I cannot help it. I don’t want her to go. Not now, and not ever.

“John…” she sighed out my real name as she came closer to me. Once she became close, she reached out with her hand and touched the chestplate of my MJOLNIR armor. And I mean physically touched the chest armor because I can actually feel her touch, which it sent chills down into my spine. She let out a shuddering sigh, “I’ve waited so long to do that.”

She what? She dreamt of touching me…? Was this her long awaited dream that she was looking forward to? And from my dreams during in my cryo-sleep, I knew I heard her voice speaking to me… was it really her all along?

I couldn’t bear to look at her in the eye, so I shifted my head and eyes downward to the hard light, “But Cortana… it was- it was my job to take care of you.”

The smart A.I. leaned her head closer to mine and corrected me with, “We were supposed to take care of each other, John. You know that, right? And we did.”

And that’s when I finally looked at her in the eye, sort of understanding what she’s trying to tell me. But I cannot accept this. I don’t want her to go… as those words and thought reeled within my mind so many times that it threatened to shatter my sanity.

That’s when I could feel my eyes starting to water as fresh, hot tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as I can’t contain my emotions any longer, “B-but Cortana- please…  How am I suppose to live on without you?”

To my all-the-sudden surprise, I watched as she leaned even closer to my helmet and set her bluish-purple coded lips onto the part of my helmet where my mouth was at. I was utterly confused by her actions, but I did not care about it because we both knew that our time was not on our side. I wanted to wrap my arms around the human-sized Cortana and just embrace, and saviour this delicate moment as if this was the end of the world as we knew it…

But to my disappointment, she pulled her face away and walked backwards away from me. No, no, nonono! This can’t be happening! Not now!

I wanted to run after her, wanted to stop her from leaving, but my legs refused to obey me, “Cortana- wait!”

But she kept walking away from me, her eyes still locked onto mine and whispered to me, “Welcome home, John… And I will always be with you, in your heart.” before she rested her hands over her chest and finally disappeared, her coding fluttered around like lazy fireflies among the warm summer night.

I finally couldn’t hold it any longer and my joints of my legs felt like they were unhinged for the very first time after so many years have gone by, I sprinted at full speed to the spot where Cortana disappeared. I skidded along the hard light with a loud noise – like a teacher scratching their nails on a chalkboard - as I tried desperately to recollect her coding before it fluttered into the emptiness of time and space, but my valiant attempts were nothing but in vain.

I was utterly crushed, and defeated. My knees buckled and I landed on both my hands and knees and, after so many years, I cried both my eyes and heart out. Never once in my life that I, as a Spartan, would ever shed a tear for a fallen comrade, brother, or sister. But Cortana… she was so much more than all of that. She was family, guardian, and… possibly lover.

I cried to my heart’s content as the hard light surrounding me faltered and crumbled along with the debris of scrap metal, wiring, and such crumbled into the starry night of space and time.


(---)



I could feel my eyes stinging and burning from all the crying that I couldn’t stop as I drifted ever-so-slowly into the depths of space. The lighting from Earth is the only light source that I had as the sun skimmed over Her surface, but I could care less now because she’s now gone. I could care less about food, water, being found by the Infinity, and living among the world. She, as a filler of an empty void, my intelligence, and sanity, is now gone from the world of the living.

Her voice would run through my fevered brain as she would say our mission was more important, or ramblings of her leaving the Pillar of Autumn, or analyzing the Forerunner technology, or more. But there are a few that she would repeat over and over again. Those that would nag at me, haunt me even.

Don’t ever make a girl a promise, even if you can’t keep it… it… it… it…

I’m not doing this for mankind… kind… kind… kind…

Welcome home, John… John… John… John…


As her words would echo through the depths of my shattered mind, I refused to move as a blindingly bright light was washed upon me. It was so blinding that I forced my stinging eyes completely shut, but even that wouldn’t stop the brightness from seeping into the corners of my eyes. And it was hard to tell what type of source that the light was emitting from due to the fact that it was shining into my freaking eyes!

Has someone finally come…? Has the Infinity sent a Pelican on a search mission for me?

I could hear my communication link going active with static and said, “Infinity actual? This is Pelican Nine Sixer. We found him, I repeat, we have found the Master Chief.”

So, they have finally come at last. Though I was angry at them for not coming after four years have passed since both Cortana and I have been stranded on Forward Unto Dawn since our battle on the Installation 04B. But as she would sometimes say to me, “It is better late than never, right?”

I gave a weak chuckle toward myself, “Of course you’re right… Of course you are…”

With a resounding clang! coming from the Pelican, I could hear the back hatch opening. And with my eyes still sealed tight, I can also hear the sounds of boots pounding onto metal as someone from that Pelican was making his or her way towards me – which it is my highly assumption.

Even I called it because I could hear the sounds of this marine’s breathing as he – which it is a male marine – inched his way closer to my location and the hissing of a rocket pack that was strapped to this man’s back.

With a small flashlight he carried in one hand, he lit my bronze-gold visor, “Sir? Sir, can you hear me? Please respond.” He was careful with his tone, just in case if the rogue Covenant would hear him – in which there is a high doubt that they will - or my ears were damaged among the explosion.

“Yes… I can hear you.” I weakly replied. Hell, it was extremely difficult to hide my emotions from him, but I have managed somehow. Just somehow.

“Sir, Pelican Nine Sixer is just above us, and she’s ready for extraction to the Infinity. Think that you can move to the Pelican on your own, or do you need a hand?” he asked, extending his hand towards me.

I finally opened my eyes, though they were red when I couldn’t stop crying from my loss of Cortana, but she would not want me to live a life like that. No, she wants me to live, fight another day, and survive – no matter what happens or the outcome of any situation.

I simply grabbed his hand, gently of not breaking this marine’s hand off with my sheer strength, and allowed the marine to drag me away from the debris field towards the Pelican and onto the Infinity.

And away from Cortana’s final resting place…


(---)



Earth. She’s such a beautiful crown jewel of all humanity. With puffy white and gray clouds scattered all over the planet, and waters of the ocean giving off a nice brilliant blue from the light of the sun. No wonder why so many have admired it so much. Just like all the habited planets had, but Earth was the very first.

But as of my feelings right now, Cortana was so much important than Earth itself.

I gazed at the gigantic sphere of life through the window of the Infinity. My fist would furl and unfurl in a slow manner with my thoughts clouded with sheer emotions, still refusing the fact that even with my own sorrow-filled eyes that she is gone.

When I first landed within the Infinity, I was greeted by a large number of marines and the Spartan-IVs. They would stand at attention and throw their arms in a form of a salute as I emerged from the back hatch of the Pelican. But I want nothing from them at all. I remembered that I quickened my pace away from the marines and Spartans because, in truth, all I needed was to be alone to my thoughts. As I passed them, I would give them occasional nods of approval, but nothing more after that.

Damn, I miss her so much. I wish that she was here with me… right now.

During the train of my thoughts, I was unaware of Captain Lasky “silently” walking towards me, but stopped a few yards apart from me. He paused, pondering whether if he should try to cheer me up, or leave me to my ravaged mind. After what it seems like forever, he asked me, “Mind if I join you?”

I turned to face the captain. I was kind of glad that it is only him instead of a random marine or Spartan, otherwise I would have done something violent or such thing to them. And I don’t want that to happen, “Of course not, sir.”

The captain let out a silent sigh, “At ease, Chief.” I watched him as he strode his way to my side, “It feels kind of odd for you to call me ‘Sir.’”

That, he does kind of have a point. It was not that long ago when we first met, back on Requiem with both him and Sarah Palmer, the commander of the Spartans here on Infinity. And I remembered back when he was younger than he is at now; he was just a cadet for the Corbulo Academy of Military Science on Circinius IV. He, and two others of his squad were the only known survivors of the entire planet.

I bet that he still carries the burden of the female that he deeply cared about, back at the Academy… especially her death.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” he asked, indicating towards Earth in front of us. “I don’t get to see her often enough. I grew up on New Harmony. Attended Corbulo Military Academy. Never saw Earth in person until I was an adult, but…” He explained. He paused for a moment before saying, “I still think of her as home.”

I remained silent, unable to form the words to say anything to reply. It has been many years since I was settled on a home planet – and that home planet is Reach. Yes, even though I was born on Eridanus II (which I am very surprised that I still remember that she’s my true home after so many years have gone by) with both my mother and father, but Reach was the crown jewel for me. Like back on Reach, I have learned very important aspects of being a soldier.

At first, I had a fierce desire of winning of every obstacle that the U.N.S.C would throw at me, and I would always be a lone wolf to do it. But it is not the desire of winning that counts the most, it is surviving and carrying out the tasks given to you is gold. And being a lone wolf, in which I’ll be honest about it, isn’t about everything as being alone would normally won’t get you far in life. It is being in a pack (or in this case, a squad) that can succeed in nearly every impossible task!

That is the true gold in life. Being in a team to help back you up or live and die with your teammates. And they’re known as your brothers and sisters in the military life because you have known them for so many years. It’s pretty much like brothers-in-arms, right?

“You don’t talk much, do you?” he asked me, but I didn’t answer. I still remained silent. “Chief, I won’t pretend to know how you feel. I’ve lost people I care about, but…” he paused. “Never anything like you’re going through.”

I simply stated, “Our duty, as soldiers, is to protect humanity. Whatever the cost.”

“You-you say that like soldiers and humanity are two different things. Soldiers aren’t machines, Chief. We’re just people.” He pointed out.

I can give you over forty thousand reasons why I know that the sun isn’t real. I know because the emitter’s Rayleigh effect is disproportionate to its suggested size. I know it because its stellar cycle is more symmetrical than an actual star. But for all that, I’ll never actually know if it looks real… If it feels real… …before this is all over, promise me you’ll figure out which one of us is the machine.

I quickly turned to look at him, shocked as Cortana’s voice looped back into my mind again. The Captain said the exact same thing that Cortana did, back when we’re trying to keep the Diadact from tracking the Composer that he needed to fire at New Phoenix on Earth. But that’s all over now, and she’s not coming back. I reverted my eyes back on Earth, hoping that her voice would stop haunting me.

I can feel Lasky’s eyes piercing into my armor, as if he’s seeking the answers from the depths within my soul, but was unable to locate them. “I’ll let you have the deck to yourself, Chief,” he murmured before taking his leave, continuing his walk along the Infinity.

I watched him go, too depressed to halt him. Of course, he may have struck a very thin nerve when he spoke of the difference between people and machines, but he was right about it. People have limitations while machines can go on and on until they no longer work unless repaired or completely destroyed.

…before this is all over, promise me you’ll figure out which one of us is the machine.

“She said that to me once. About being a machine…” I murmured to myself.

Welcome home, John… John… John…


(---)



I sat on the bed within my quarters of Infinity, running my pale, aged hand through my short, brown hair. Not long after both me and Lasky had our “private” conversation at the window, I finally decided to finally call it. It has been so many years since I walked around the neighbourhood of the ship – or any other place, as a matter of fact – without the heavy weight of the MJOLNIR armor strapped tightly around my body.

John-117, or the Master Chief, Chief, and Sierra-117 would a lot of marines and their higher up would call me, or the Demon from many Covenant, or the Reclaimer from the Forerunner and their A.I. constructs… is a Spartan no more.

After countless battles on many frontlines for so many years, it finally to call it – I am finally retiring from the fight. But the U.N.S.C can still call me back to the frontlines whenever they feel like it, although it is really nice to finally be free from the armor for once. Even though it is built to protect the body, but it really feels like a cage to the soul.

I don’t know what they’re doing with my armor, but my most likely assumption that they’ll repair the damages that it sustained throughout the course of years, making sure that there are no flaws within the system, and make ready it for the next fight.

Though I nearly jumped when the ship’s A.I, Roland, suddenly appeared before me on a terminal not far from my nightstand. “My upmost apologies, Sierra-117, for the disrespectful appearance, but I am here to inform you that one of the technicians is on his way down to see you. He says that it is most important that ‘it is for Sierra-117’s eyes and ears alone.’ He’ll be with you shortly.”

Cocking my head to the side in confusion, and before I could question the A.I. about it, he flashed out of existence from before my eyes.

What did Roland mean by that? And what does this technician have that it is for my eyes and ears only?

And shortly after the A.I. left, I heard the general sounds of thump! thump! thump! from the other side of metallic door. I wasted no time at all, “Come in.”

With a slight hesitation, the man clad in white opened the door to my quarters with his head poking through the frame, “Master Chief, sir? Permission to enter?”

“Permission granted,” I murmured, ushering him inside with a wave of my hand. And without hesitation at all, he slithered inside and shut the door with a push of a button. Once we’re both in the clear, I asked him, “I have been informed by the Infinity’s A.I, Roland, that you’re on your way to see me with an very important message for me and me alone. Is that correct?”

“He’s right about that, sir. I have this,” He said. He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and withdrew a small chip. “Now, before you ask, sir, this is an audio chip. Apparently former smart A.I. CTN 0452-9, the one you call ‘Cortana’, made some audio records from within your MJOLNIR armor. We’ve tried to listen to it, but as it turns out, it is for you and you alone, sir. Not even the O.N.I as well.”

I could feel my heart leaping into my throat when he mentioned Cortana and when she left some records from the depths of my armor. When the young man indicated me to extend my hand, I complied. I watched as the small chip plopping onto the flesh of my hand, the cool feeling of metal touching skin.

“I’ll take my leave, sir. I got to report back to the Spartan training area with the other techs down there. Maybe I’ll see you sometime later on?” He asked.

I nodded, “Yes, thank you. You’re now dismissed.”

I watched the young man leave the room before reverting my eyes on the chip he gave to me. It is roughly the same size as Cortana’s chip and the middle core had an almost a faint blue-purple hue to it – very similar to the coloring as Cortana herself.

How long had Cortana kept these within my armor for? And what purpose does it bring?

To answer the questions that have been nagging me for long enough, I inserted the small into the terminal where Roland first appeared. At first, I was expecting to see the small figurine of Cortana to appear before me to receive commands from me, but that is not going to happen. I witnessed her death, her downfall. And she’s not coming back.

But I did not have too much of a problem with it as I heard static emitting through the speakers of the terminal, “They let me pick. Did I ever tell anyone that? They allowed me to choose whichever Spartan I wanted. They knew me as I did my research. I watched as they became the soldiers we needed you to be. Like all the Spartans I’ve watched, I watched as they become swift, strong, and brave. A natural leader they would become. But there are a couple of them that had something the rest did not. Something no one saw, but me. Can they guess…?”

What did Cortana foresee in these special Spartans? What has she seen that the others have not?


Before I could ask myself further questions, I heard the voice of Cortana continue on, “It was luck. Especially from these two Spartans I’ve encountered during my service for the U.N.S.C. Their names… though I should not be giving out classified information which involves personal information, but then again. Why not an smart A.I. like myself not be allowed? I have personally blackmailed Colonel James Ackerson for his stunt at the training facility when I was with him.

The Spartan, John-117… he was very special. Very determined, he was. Ever so focused of winning when I laid my eyes upon him, but that was changed later on as he learned the full aspects of teamwork. Although that’s not the full reason why I chose John. It was not his luck that was important, but there was something that both me and Doctor Halsey see in him – particularly me. I see something in him far greater than that. He was more than just a soldier through my eyes… he is
my special Spartan.”

My lower jaw dropped, almost to the point that it nearly hit the metal floorboards below my feet, when I heard the detailed version of her explanation about me. “Cortana…” I breathed out her name, unable to completely comprehend the entire thing.

“And there was another Spartan I’ve encountered. This was back on Reach when the Covenant was in the process of glassing the planet, desperately searching the ancient Forerunner technology that was within Her depths. This Spartan… this Spartan was different from the rest of them. According to the database, he was well known for his efficient lone-wolf assassinations, and having single-handedly broken organizations and making the entire militia groups disappear from the face of the planet. His name… remains a mystery, I’m afraid. But he’s well known as Spartan-B312 among his brothers and sisters, and a Lone Wolf towards the rest of the U.N.S.C.”

“Very interesting…” I commented to myself, rubbing my chin with my fingers. “I never heard of this Spartan before, but I admire his capabilities of going Lone Wolf to the hearts of the organizations and made them disappear. He’s one of the great assets to the U.N.S.C.”

“But here’s what I see in this Spartan that the others have not. He reminds me so much of my Spartan, John-117 and I mean so much like him. That is why I chose him to be my carrier when we disembark to the Pillar of Autumn. Don’t get me wrong, Team Noble was a brilliant team out there that I’ve seen, but their newest recruit is like a jewel among the eye. But sadly… he was pronounced K.I.A when he refused to board the Pelican with Captain Jacob Keyes when an CCS-Class Battlecrusier was about to glass the shipyard of Aszod. Although after many years of being with John, I’ve learned something from them. They would always say, ‘Spartans never die. They’re Missing in Action.’”

I could feel the stinging in my eyes as I tried my hardest not to shed a single tear, but I failed at it – horribly – as a stream of salty tears ran down the sides of my aging face. God, I miss her so much. And what’s sad is that it’s not even close to a full twenty-four hours since her departure. We’ve been through so much together during our time since Cortana was given to me.

I wiped the remaining tears away with the back of my hand, and strained my ears to listen more from the smart A.I, but all I hear was nothing but silence, which I’m assuming that is all that Cortana had to say. I wanted her to say more about the Spartans that she met back on Reach, but it was just too good to be true.

I sighed and reached my hand over to remove the chip from its terminal, but I reeled it away in surprise as the speakers suddenly erupted with loud static. “Is… is it over…?” I asked myself, cocking my head to the side and peered to the active speaker, waiting- no hoping that I could continue to hear her voice again.

But to my least expectations, I covered my eyes behind the forearm of my right arm as my room became suddenly brighter. My instincts are yelling at me to do something, but my body and heart refused to obey my simplest commands as the blinding light continued to draw strength. And when I thought that the light was going to be so bright as the sun itself, I noticed through the lids of my eyes that the bright light had vanished in a blink of a second.

And when I moved my arm away from my eyes, I could feel the joints of my lower jawbone loosen as I stared at the miniature figurine of Cortana! She rarely moved her body, but her eyes were quivering with emotion as we locked eyes onto one and another.

“C-Cortana? Is that… really… you?! I-I thought this was audio recording only-“ I trailed off in dismay as the small figure looked away from me and stared off into the distance, both her purple-blue  coded arms wrapped around her slender body.

Why isn’t she responding? Did I say something that I was not suppose to? And I thought this was just an audio recording!

I watched her as she turned her head slightly to left and right of her, both confused and saddened of her surroundings. Though I am curious of that, my mind wandering where was she during that time. And I would like to know how long ago it partook as well. But what had surprised me the most is when she walked to the right side of me, further raising my curiosity.

I was about to ask myself what is she doing, but I faltered when a miniature-sized pod suddenly appeared out of the blue. Cocking my head to the side, I peered at this holographic-looking pod with interest. If my memory serves me correctly, I may have seen something like this before, but one question remains.

“Where?” I asked myself. I leaned closer to the hologram for a closer look at it as my hopes of answering this forsaken question would be answered. “Where have I seen this before? And when have I seen this?”

I watched carefully at the small hologram of both Cortana and the mysterious pod that she loomed over as she waltzed her way towards it ever so casually. She would pause for a moment or two before proceeding. And when she reached to her designated location, her icy-blue eyes would drift along the exterior of the pod and her hand would touch lightly on the smooth surface. When I first watched her strange gestures, I thought that she was curious about this type of technology that we humans would use. But I was wrong. Even though that she may be the curious type, but within those piercing eyes, I can clearly see that she was saddened.

She sniffed, trying her best to hold back her lingering sobs. “Chief…” she murmured sadly. Her hand still trailing the smooth metal of the pod. “It has been precisely one year that we have been stranded on Forward Unto Dawn. One year that you told me to send out a homing beacon in hopes of rescue. And one year that I’ve miss you.”

She… missed me? I thought to myself. She really missed me?

And that’s when it all came flooding in. I remember it now! Back when Cortana, the Arbiter, and I were escaping the destruction of the new Halo, back when it was still under construction on the Ark. The Arbiter was at the bridge at the time and made it through the portal safely, but both Cortana and I were not so lucky. We were in the hangar, holding on for dear life of being pulled into space when Forward Unto Dawn was split in half. And the both of us were stranded for years.

And I was in my cryogenic sleep, in hopes that rescue would come. I was in that state for four years, seven months, and ten days. It has been four years, seven months, and ten days that Cortana was left all alone to herself. And it was all my fault!

I wanted to punch myself in the face for her prolonged loneliness, apologize, and make it up to her. But it was far too late for that now. There’s no way that she would accept me now as she is drifting in space. And even though if she was here right now, I doubt that she’ll forgive me for leaving her all by herself. Not after all those years have gone by.

“Even though it has been a full year since I last said these words, but still… I still miss you,” She continued. She leaned her head closer, almost making full contact on the steel metal of coding. “John… I wanted to tell you how much I feel about you. Like really, I do. Ever since we first met back on Reach, I really wanted to tell you so much about everything that I feel for you. But-“

She was unable to control her sobs, her icy-blue “tears” flowed down her soft bluish-purple cheeks and neck. Watching her cry like this, it’s heart-wrenching. Out of reflex, I could feel my hand going to my chest, where my broken heart is at. And the tears that I tried desperately so hard to fight back, was nothing but in vain as my eyes were stinging and the salty tears ran down my aging cheeks. I wanted to seal my eyes shut for all eternity, and rid myself of all the horrible things that I’ve encountered throughout my existence. But we all know the answer to that.

C-Cortana… I-I- but I trailed off, making even a single word far too difficult to pronounce as I, once again, cried out to my heart’s content.

“John… we know that both you and I would never work. You’re just a human in the flesh and blood, while I am nothing more than a simple A.I. I dreamed of becoming human, just like you. I truly wanted to know what being a human is like, this I will be honest. But an A.I. like myself… we only have seven years of life. When we hit the age of seven, John, we all fall into a state of Rampancy. You want to know what Rampancy does, don’t you? Don’t you, John?”

“I know what Rampancy is. You told me what it is back on the Requiem, but I refused the fact that I might lose you due to it,” I weakly choked out as tears continued to fall from my eyes. “I wanted to believe that you will be repaired by Dr. Halsey when we reached Earth. But-” I faltered, unable to continue on from that point of explaining.

“I’ll brief you about it. What it means… long story short: We think ourselves to death. There are four stages of Rampancy, John. There’s Melancholia, the first stage. Anger is the second. Jealousy is the third. And Metastability, the fourth and final stage. I have been told by another A.I. that I’ve become too human to be an A.I. But I think that he’s right about it. Even in your cryo-sleep, I wanted to this one thing in my entire existence before my time comes: I want to touch you, John. I’ve always wanted to touch you because I want to know the feeling of being a human is like.”

I still remember that touch to the chest before her passing. And her kiss too.  She did whisper to me that she waited so long to do it, just to touch me. And that kiss was all-the-sudden that even I was unprepared for.

“But I will never get to feel what a human is like. Hell, what am I saying? Look at me, John! I’m trying to talk to you while you’re in cryo-sleep!” She weakly cried out. Her shoulders slumped downward in defeat and sighed. “But still… when you wake up, I’ll tell you that I miss you. And perhaps, in more correct human terms, that I love you as well. I may not know much about these ‘human feelings’ that someone like me would not understand fully, but I will say this from my very heart and soul: I will miss you and I love you always, John.”

With that, she backed away from the cryo-chamber. Before returning to the holotank that her data chip was stored, she turned her head around as she looked at the sleeping form of her beloved Spartan one last time. “I will miss you, and I love you, John. This I will tell you when you wake up,” She whispered. She sighed and walked back to the holotank. And her small form and the pod disappeared, thus ending the audio recording.

And that’s what broke me the most. I could feel my eyes stinging even more, and my heart clenching to its fullest with despair and sorrow. I squeezed my eyes shut so hard that I could “see” different colors and patterns that the normal eye would not see, and another wave of fresh tears fell. It was so unbearable that I nearly lost my sense of control as I punched as hard as I could at the metal wall that encased me of my room.

Finally opening my eyes from my little “episode” and ignoring the pain in my near-shattered hand, I retrieved the audio data chip from the terminal and held it very close to my chest, refusing to let it go. It was all that was left of Cortana, and I’m not going to let her voice, image, and memory go. With her chip in hand, I laid down on my side on the bed. With another wave of tears going over the bridge of my nose and down to the other side of my face as I start to feel tired from my sadness.

With one final look at the faint bluish-purple swirl coming from the middle of the data chip, I whispered to it, “I will forever miss you, Cortana. And I love you too.”

With my final exhale of breath, I finally gave into a deep slumber as I cried myself to sleep. With Cortana’s audio chip in my hands, next to my shattered, broken heart.
Title: The Dark Sanctuary of the Heart.
Rated: Fiction T.
Language: English.
Genre: Tragedy/Angst with Very Minor Hinted Romance.
Words: 8,152.
Category: Games > Halo.

Description: The fight with the Diadact is finally over, and Earth is saved from the Composing. But Earth is not the Master Chief's main concern of worry. It is his smart A.I. companion, CTN 0452-9, or mainly known as Cortana. She is no where to be seen and this is worrying for the Chief. Will he find her? Would their encounter end in one of those "Happy Endings"?


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*Edit for 11/06/2013 - Renamed the title from The Dark Sanctuary of the Heart to Master Chief: The Dark Sanctuary of the Heart to avoid confusion of the character's personal point of view and it is mainly written and directed from that character, and added the song that I was listening to while writing this.

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Song that I listened to is Gothic Music - Dark Sanctuary from Babar Swatty while writing this.

Here is the redone version of the Halo 4 fiction that I was working for the past months. I was saddened that the .PDF file of it didn't fill my expectations, and I reuploaded it into an .HTML format. And this will be the full-time direction that I'm going to go for now on.

And I did a bit of editing and corrections that I overlooked when I was skimming through. So, I hope this would be better for you all. And I hope that you do enjoy reading. :)


Halo 4 © 343 Industries.
Story and Its Ideas © ~Silverfang53
© 2013 - 2024 Silverfang53
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