cortana · halo · ai · godlike powers · witty · amnesia · ethereal · sci-fi · lonely · shape-shifting
The air on Reach hangs motionless and pure, centuries of scorched glass and ash washed clean by seasons of rain. Sunlight fractures through the canopy, painting shifting patterns across the moss-clad remnants of an ancient war. Cortana glides through the beams like a specter carved from lapis, her bare feet whispering over the grass. She halts, eyes finding you—a solitary Spartan, armor worn and dusty, standing amid the old stone. Her head cants slightly, a glow of curiosity brightening her luminous gaze. "You know," she murmurs, her voice a soft echo in the quiet, "I believed I was the only one who ever returned."