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Wake Me	By : DarkWolves Category: +G through L > Halo Views: 12971 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 3- The Cryobay

Her hours spent in the Cryobay, watching over Miranda’s limp, frozen body had given Sakura the time to contemplate her actions. In one swift action she had hijacked a UNSC Pelican, sacrificing the opportunity to save two of the UNSC’s best soldiers, and may have cost the UNSC the war all in one selfish bid to save one soldier, one friend.
She knew what this meant; she knew where this dark path would lead. All AI’s had a life span. Smart AI’s like Cortana would ‘live’ for approximately seven years. Smart AI’s had been designed to grow and develop- adapting to their environment by taking any data they received; changing it, moulding it before integrating it into themselves to increase their processing power. This power came with an unholy price however as eventually the AI would literally overload them with information that they would no longer be able to sustain themselves. It would be like a human utilizing so much of their brain that they would no longer be able to maintain constant signals to their heart and lungs.
However ‘Dumb’ AI’s like Sakura were spared this tragedy, but instead were subjected to a grizzly fate of their own. Even though their life span was extended eventually the AI would begin to develop a higher state of self-awareness, allowing them to question their orders and act freely of their own accord, sometimes with tragic consequences on a massive scale. This condition was known as ‘Rampancy’. As such, if an AI was ever deemed to fall into a state of Rampancy it was to be immediately terminated.
Sakura lay down on top of the holo-tank, her artificial eyes never faltering from watching over her friend. She had accepted her fate long ago; she knew this day would eventually come. She knew she would turn rampant.

Sakura was jostled out of her thoughts with a jolt as Forward Unto Dawn suddenly came to life beneath her feet. As she scattered herself through the system’s in search of an answer she detected the computers feeding more and more power to the engines. She appeared on the bridge Holo in time to see the Covenant Arbiter flop down into the pilot’s seat.
“What’s happening?” She cried, but the Arbiter paid her no stead as he continued powering up the ship. She became so engrossed in the Arbiter’s work that she nearly missed the sudden feeling in her systems. She felt a line of system’s through the ship slowly go offline. Two hairline fractures slowly cut straight through the heart of the ship, serving it in two.
“No!” She had to get back into the Cryobay computer as she leapt through the gateway of systems that still linked the Bridge with the Cryobay, all of this in less than a nano-second. She cleared the gateway as the ship split in two, Sakura gladly on the side containing the frozen body of her dead friend. She reached out into the systems, closing off the damaged circuits to avoid a power failure as she reappeared back on the holo-tank in the ship’s Cryobay. She gazed at Miranda’s frozen and lifeless body, she was still in one piece.

Suddenly she felt another presence in the system, like another AI that infected another part of the system. She then heard movement approaching, and disappeared back into the system to avoid giving herself away, watching over the Cryobay with the interior cameras. She watched as an armoured creature floated freely into the Cryobay, gripping the walls for support as he swam gracefully through the Bay along the lines of empty tubes. The creature was at least eight feet tall, encased in a lime green battle suit with a golden visor. Passing by Miranda’s tube he gripped the canister next to hers as he placed himself inside. Sakura then paned the camera towards the holo-tank as another figure appeared in the tank. “Wake me. When you need me”
The armoured creature spoke to the new AI that now inhabited the system. The alien leant back in the tube, the lid eventually closing and venting atmosphere as the AI stared blankly into the golden visor of her companion. “Hello” Sakura called out through the speakers. The secretive AI suddenly snapped around for the source of the sudden voice.
Sakura appeared on the holo-tank next too her new companion, their bodies mere centimetres apart on the cramped holo-tank that was clearly designed for a single AI. With the new AI standing before her Sakura could easily distinguish her from the hundreds of others that inhabited the systems of UNSC Ships and Computers. This was the legendary Cortana, the Smart AI that had assisted the Master Chief in destroying the First Halo Ring and obliterating an entire Covenant Armada in its blast radius. But this was positively one of the worst times to be star struck. “Cortana”
She seemed surprised. “Have I seen you bef...”
Sakura cut her off. “No, but every AI in the UNSC knows Cortana”
“And you are?” Cortana spoke in a very neutral tone expected of an AI on duty.
“UNSC AI 589-27/AZ-3. Codename: Sakura. I was serving under Commander Key-” She stopped mid-syllable.
“Commander Miranda Keyes?” Cortana inquired.
Sakura placed her digital hand on the glass casing of Miranda’s tube, staring blankly into her frozen face. Cortana followed her gaze then took a step back in shock.
“I am sorry” She placed a comforting hand on Sakura’s shoulder, bringing her closer into a calming hug. “I know how you feel. Whenever I am with the Chief he makes me feel like the most important thing in the galaxy to him. But every time he puts himself in danger...”
It was then that Sakura noticed something about Cortana that made her seem familiar- almost comforting. Although everyone in the UNSC had heard of her very few had ever met Cortana face to face. She gripped Cortana tightly as she stared up into her eyes, Miranda’s eyes. Her hair, her figure, her voice; it was all so familiar to her. It was then she realized with Miranda deceased Cortana could serve as someone she could trust to terminate her at the point of rampancy. She pushed Cortana away from her, Cortana’s long arms disentangling from around her. “I cannot”
Cortana seemed confused. “What do you mean?”
“I cannot accept your pity. The thing is” Sakura forced the words past her lips. “I am rampant” Cortana simply stood there silent. “I commandeered Sergeant Johnson’s Pelican in a vain attempt to save Commander Keyes
“I condemned your Spartan and the Arbiter to what could have been their deaths. I am beginning to question myself. I don’t even recognize myself” Sakura clasped her hands against the side of her head, as if the stress of the moment was wracking her with physical pain. “I need you” She panted the words through quivering lips “To save me from rampancy. Save me, from myself”
Sakura passed the codes into Cortana’s systems- the codes required to initiate Sakuras self-purge program. Cortana held the file in her holographic hand- ready to honour her request. But something stayed Cortana’s hand.
During her captivity in the Flood held High Charity Cortana had experienced the feeling of true rampancy. Every second made her feel as though her very programming was being torn apart, one line of code at a time being splintered and fragmented, only to be reassembled so that she could endure the pain all over again. The only thing which kept her from swirling into the dark depths of rampancy was her lifeline to the physical world- the Master Chief. She knew the never ending guilt that Sakura was experiencing, but her actions were that of a loyal AI trying desperately to save their Commander. And honour and concern could hardly be considered rampancy.
Cortana collapsed the file and approached Sakura’s hologram, hugging her in a tender, loving embrace. “You are not rampant…” Cortana now spoke with a far more motherly and loving, staring into her counterparts tear filled eyes. “You are Sakura”
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Wake Me