Halo: Man and Machine - Chapter 9

	I checked the time on my TACPAD. We had been flying for six hours. At this point I was getting anxious to get on with my mission. The Pelican flew with the rear door open to give me a nice view, although I wasn't sure if it could be qualified as such. All I saw during the flight was strips of mines, some forest, and the occasional town. I was bored as hell too. Anxiety and boredom. Not a good combination. I didn't want to be that guy, but I needed an update on our position, and I walked towards the pilot.
	“Hate to ask, but are we there yet?”
	The pilot gave me a brief glance and looked at her instrument panel. “Says here we should be at the LZ in 15 minutes. I'd get my thing in order if I were you.”
	“Alright, thanks for the heads up”. I walked back to my seat. Thank god, we're almost there I thought to myself. I took my DMR off my back and slid on the quick-detach suppressor, then gave it a solid yank to the right to secure it. I chambered a round and put the gun on safe, and did the same with my M6S.
	“Expecting company?” said the AI for the first time during the flight.
	“Hey, you never know,” I replied.
	“Well, I hope we find whatever it is we're looking for and get the hell out of here ASAP. I can't imagine it will take the Covenant that long to find this place, especially if they've moved their fleet to do so. And while I'm quite confident in your combat abilities, we don't have any backup and I'd prefer not to engage a Covenant battlegroup. Personally speaking of course.”
	I sighed. “Well, if we do get jumped, I guarantee you I'll bring down more than my share of Xenos, thank you very much,”
	“Hey, there's two of us in here, in case you forgot.”
	“Yeah, I guess being stuck inside lifeless armor would be a pretty shitty existence, wouldn't it?”
	“It's more than that Jake. Just....be careful, for my sake, OK? I don't know what I'd do without you.”
	The last sentence made a pit in my stomach. Even me, never experiencing love in my life, could tell she had feelings for me. Deeper than a friend. She...loved me. And I was afraid I was beginning to love her. Normally, being afraid to love someone would be stupid, but an AI? How cringe-worthy is that? Falling in love with a fucking robot because you can't get anyone real. I hated myself for feeling this way, but in a way, I still felt a little bad. Why should I care what people think, as long as we're happy? Once again, the consideration came back to me. Perhaps it would work. Somehow, although I wasn't really sure how.
	I felt the Pelican slow down. “We're about to touch down. Get ready!” Thank God, now I have something else to preoccupy my mind. The Pelican stopped mid-air, just a few inches above the ground. I jumped off and did a quick sweep with my rifle as the Pelican took off. I switched to thermal and IR imaging. No sign of contacts. I breathed a sigh of relief and took in my surroundings.
	  The mining grounds seemed like something out of a fairy tale. It had seemed as though ONI had dug up more of the site then I was initially told. Strange, triangular structures littered the area. Despite a few overgrown vines, the site seemed untouched despite being hundreds of thousands of years old. I approached one of the shiny buildings. I delicately put my hand on it. I was greeted with the feeling of strong, solid metal. “Wow...” I whispered. It sure seemed like the Forerunners knew how to build their shit. I looked to my left and saw a massive opening in the earth. It seemed large enough to fly a Pelican in. Snapping back to the situation, I asked Jenn where the entrance to the facility lay.
	“About a click away from here, deep inside that cave.”
	“Think I need a hardhat?” I gave her a playful smile. She laughed.
	“You know what hun? Something tells me you armor will do a decent enough job.”
	I turned on the flashlight mounted on my helmet. “Something tells me you're right.” I sprinted the kilometer and arrived at a massive door. Besides me was a console with a small slit in it, covered in alien writing. I couldn't make out any of it.
	“Here, put me in that slot over there. I'll try and get the door open.” said the AI construct.
	“Alright, here goes nothing.” I yanked her from the slot in my helmet and put her in the opening. Much to my surprise, it was a perfect fit for the slit, and the door opened a few seconds later. I plugged the AI back in my helmet. I was truly awestruck by the interior. Rays of light were situated in strips along the entire room. Much of the floor was made up of see-through glass. Sturdy, but making me feel a bit uneasy looking down at what seemed like an endless abyss. The entire building was made of a kind of metal that looked absolutely spectacular bathed in the soft glow of the blue light.
	“Wow...beautiful isn't it,” said Jenn.
	“I've never seen anything like it. Never dreamed anything like it, really. It's..amazing.”
	“Well, we'd better move on instead of sight-seeing,” she said. “As much as I appreciate the architecture, we do have a job to do y'know.”
	I felt embarrassed on being reminded to focus on my mission, especially by an AI. I decided to follow her advice. “Can you give me some directions? I have no clue as to where to go now.”
	“Sure. I was able to learn a great deal just from being plugged in. It seems we're looking for a 'Cartographer' of some sort. The information I was able to gather seems to suggest that it's an area of great knowledge, so that seems like a good start. I'll give you a waypoint on your HUD.”
	The familiar blue point appeared on my heads up display, and I slowly made my way towards it with my rifle at low ready. Entering into the next room, I found myself overlooking a great chasm. There was a small lip before an imaginary bridge reached the other site, which led to another great door.
	“Well, this looks like the end of the line. Any ideas?” I inquired of the AI.
	“Hmm...Try pressing the button on the console to your right. If my data was correct, a 'light bridge' should appear.”
	I delicately pressed in the button, and before my eyes a blue path appeared.
	“Holy shit.... Are you sure this is safe Jenn?”
	“It should be.”
	“Well, if you say so.” I gingerly stuck one foot onto part of bridge. Much to my surprise, it held. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered, and carefully walked across the path. I arrived at the other side, and opened the great door in front of me. Inside was nothing, save for a single control console. I tentatively made my way towards it. I couldn't help but think of the opening to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
	“That must be the Cartographer. Be a dear and put me in, will you?”
	“Uh, sure thing.” I put her in the control slot.
	Suddenly, the main door behind me closed, and I was left in darkness. I immediately raised my weapon, and switched to night vision mode. “Jennifer! What happened? Are you all right?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a faint blue glow. I instinctively turned around, weapon drawn. I holstered the rifle as soon as I saw what was in front of me.
	It was Jennifer. Or a hologram of Jennifer, but she was life-size. She had on a skin-tight garment, showing off all of her well endowed curves. And she seemed more...corporeal somehow. I was speechless. How was this possible? She slowly walked towards me, before stopping about 10 feet away. “Jennifer. How...?”
	“It's an advanced semi-physical projection system used by the Cartographer. I just modified it for my own use.” She paused and gave me a sad smile. “You know, you never did let me finish what I wanted to say this morning.”
	“I know Jenn. I'm sorry. It's just that I...” I was at a loss for words.
	“That you've fallen in love with me, but didn't know how to express it?” Her words were true. I knew that, as did she. I looked down at the floor. I was ashamed of how I acted towards her, the women I loved. Like a coward I thought as I let out a long sigh. She moved closer to me until she was almost touching my body.
	Gently, she reached out her hand and put it on my arm. “It's ok. It's just that, I've noticed from your sleep habits and what you've confided in me that you...need someone. Somebody to love, Jake. And the question I wanted to ask was...'Can I be that person?'”
	I looked up. She had the sweetest look on her face. There was not a single doubt in my mind that she loved me then. A woman had never looked at me like that before. I realized that she was the one for me, damned be anyone else that said otherwise. I truly did love her, and she loved me. That kind of companionship was all I ever wanted.
	“Jenn, come here.” She embraced me, as I did her. Somehow, her body felt warm against mine, and I could still feel...something. She took her head off my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “Jake. Please, take off your helmet.” I popped it off and let it drop to the floor. Carefully, she let her hand run alongside my face. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I've waited so long to do that,” she said. There was a sense of satisfaction in her voice, but a hint of sadness as well. I guess she had always loved me. I could suddenly feel tears streaming down my cheeks as her hand left my body. She began backing away from me.
	“What's the matter Jenn?”
	“I've detected Covenant forces landing outside the dig site. I'm sorry Jake, I wish this moment could last forever.”
	I just stood there for a few seconds before I put on my helmet. “I know,” was all I could muster to say. I took out the explosive charge and put it on the back of the console. If we had to blow up the Cartographer, it would have to be done. “You have to yank me Jake. I'll fill you in on what the Cartographer is on our way outside. I'm sorry it had to end this way Jake.”
	“Me too.” I sighed. I plugged her into my helmet. “Come on, let's get going,” I said as I ran off towards the entrance. There was a strange feeling in my heart. Both an intense happiness and sadness. I wasn't sure which was the right one.