o...are we going anywhere in particular?” I said as I followed him. I assumed the Pelican had either left the area, or was shot down. I would have gone back to look for any survivors in case it was destroyed, but they'd be dead by now. I sighed as the thought crossed my mind. More dead kids, great.
	“We are going deeper into the forest until sunrise. The Jiralhanae will stop looking after a few hours, they are more interested in searching for the Venerable Instrument.”
	What the hell is a Venerable Instrument? I thought. Did he mean the medical center?
	“Venerable Instrument? What's that?” I inquired. He paused for a moment and turned to face me, seemingly turning over the thought in his mind.
	“Yes, you probably wouldn't have heard of it. After we pacified Reach, we discovered a series of texts from the Holy Ones. One talked of a device with great transformative qualities. One that would makes us Reclaimers. This is the Venerable Instrument. My fleet was dispatched from High Charity to scourge the galaxy for the Instrument. The Prophets believed that it was the key to activating one of the Sacred Rings, as only a Reclaimer would be able to use it. By chance, our Luminary picked up signs of a Forerunner artifact on a nearby planet. We arrived just as your ship did.”
	So that's how they found Charon. I guess I was half-right about the bad luck after all.
	“And a 'Sacred Ring'?”
	“The Sacred Rings are the devices which the Holy Ones used to achieve transcendence. They are the pillars of our faith, and we found the location of one in a text. I'm unsure of what happened to it though.”
	“I see...And the fleet was your own?”
	“ Yes, the Twenty-Third Fleet of Harmonious Transcendence. Although it seems that it is not my fleet anymore. Shipmaster is no longer an apt title for me it seems.”
	I paused for a moment. “So what should I call you?”
	“You may call me Kor 'Tahamee...What shall I call you? 'Demon' is an unfit term for an ally, even one as begrudging as you.”
	“Call me Jake,” I replied.
	“Well then 'Jake', we have talked for too long.” He turned around. “We must be on our way.”
	We hiked for an hour before he seemed to find a suitable spot to rest. He suggested taking first watch, but not trusting him, I volunteered to take watch the entire night. Much to his chagrin, he accepted and laid down to sleep, although his hand did not leave the hilt of his sword. I couldn't blame him. I leaned against a true, enjoying sitting down after the hike.
	I wouldn't have been in this situation had the General not ordered me to rest  I thought. What a stupid fucking decision. I could have gone straight to the Cartographer and reported back and avoided these asshats by several hours. Useless fucker. Too bad I can't reprimand her, that'd be nice. Maybe Halsey can... 
	Halsey. My skin tingled with the thought of her. She had been so caring to me this morning. Like she was my mother. Her love always felt...unnatural to me. I wondered if she loved me as her own creation, like a child, or as the culmination of all her work. I had seen her deal with people outside the SPARTAN-II program and she seemed egotistical to say the least. She seemed to despise the IIIs because they were not her own. Or maybe it was because ONI had perfected her technology. I was never sure. She seemed like such an enigma at times. I could make out her emotions, but never did I know why she was feeling them. She told me one time that she had a biological daughter. I couldn't imagine how she was raised. I never saw her, so I assumed she was with the father.
	Would she care about her own child like she did with us? What if her kid died? Would she care like Mr. Silverman would, even though she wasn't a physical culmination of her life's work? I came to the conclusion that her daughter didn't live with her for reasons other than Halsey's job. Catherine Halsey didn't strike me as a particularly good mother.
	My thoughts shifted towards my own parent. Something that always bugged me was what happened to her after my abduction Did they have someone take my place? Or did she think I was dead, or still to this day missing? I wasn't sure which was worse. Suddenly, I felt a new feeling rise. Guilt. Guilt for getting caught, of what that must have done to her. And I couldn't help about think about Danielle, how I was unable to save her. I worried that I had again caused someone to feel such distress about their child. I let out a shaky sigh. I'm so sorry Mom. Sorry that I couldn't stop them from taking me away from you. And I'm sorry Danielle. For not being able to protect you either. I felt tears well up, and tore my helmet off and let it fall to the ground. I couldn't take it anymore. I put my hands to my face and cried. Cried for the first time in a long time. It was terrible, uncontrollable sobbing. I felt useless, worthless. And I worried about Jennifer. Would I be unable to protect her too? I cried and cried until I couldn't cry anymore. 
	I dry-heaved air, my tears having left my body. I sat there for what seemed like an eternity. I had never felt so awful in my entire life. I put my helmet back on. I desperately needed to talk to Jenn.
	I switched the commutations suite so that only Jenn could hear what I was saying, and vice versa. As soon as the hermetic seal was established, Jenn's face appeared on my HUD communications panel. She had never done this before.
	“Jake, are you OK? What's wrong?” I could tell from the look on her face she was very concerned.
	“Jenn, I-I'm scared.” I replied shakily. “I'm scared that I can't protect you, like I couldn't protect Danielle or my mother. I'm sorry.”
	“Jake,” her expression softened, but there was a certain sadness present with her that I hadn't seen before. “I trust you with my life. I know you can keep me safe. The Captain could have picked any other person to protect me, but he chose you. Because you were the strongest and most capable out of anyone on the Vienna. And there's something else, Jake.” A sad smile appeared on her face.
	“What is it?”
	“I trust you because I love you.”
	I paused for a moment, thinking about what she said. I began to feel better as I processed what she said. “I know you do, Jenn. I love you too. I'm glad you became a part of my life.”
	“Thanks Jake. I just wish that...that I could be there with you.” She frowned and looked down.
	“Jenn, I want you to know that I love you just the way are. You're perfect.”
	She smiled again and met my gaze, but didn't reply for a few seconds. I could tell that she was unhappy with being an AI.
	“Do you remember a few nights ago when we talked about what we wanted in life?”
	“Of course,” I replied.
	“Do you remember what I said?”
	“I do. You said that you wanted to feel love. And you wanted to be human.”
	“I've been able to experience one of those things with you, Jake. But, I'll never be able to be with you. What happened at the Cartographer was amazing Jake, but it wasn't...real. I had data about your geometry and your molecular structure, but I didn't feel your skin or the heat of your body, Jake.” She was starting to choke up. “And that's what hurts most of all. To be so close yet so far.”
	“It's OK Jenn. I know how you feel. But you need to know that doesn't matter to me. I'm just glad that I've found someone to call my own, and that it was you.”
	She took a while to compose herself. “Thanks Jake. You always know how to make me feel better.”
	“I do try you know,” I said. I just sat there for a few moments. Neither of us said anything, we just enjoyed each other's company.
	Suddenly I heard a twig snap. “Shit!” I whispered as I dropped to the prone position and switched my rifle off Safe. I switched the communications suite to open and tapped Kor with my foot as I turned my head towards him.
	“Kor. Kor! Wake up!”
	The 8 foot tall elite tossed and fidgeted as he came out of his slumber.
	“What is it human?” he said loudly.
	“Shhh! I think I hear something! Listen!”
	I could hear more movement in the brush ahead of me. I motioned to him to stay down while I looked at what it was with my IR module, but instead he growled and stood up, activating his energy sword as he went up.
	“Contact front!” I heard someone yell into the distance, and a split second later the sound of gunfire erupted ahead of us. I saw a squad of 8 Marines ahead of us, shooting the shrubbery around us.
	“Get down you fucking idiot!” I yelled as I grabbed the Elite by the leg and dragged him down. It wasn't really hard with my power armor.
	“Cease fire! Cease fucking fire you assholes! You're firing on friendlies!” I screamed as I stood up from cover, hoping that they would see me on their IFF. A few rounds hit my armor but the gunfire stopped shortly after.
	“Jake?” I heard a familiar voice say. It was Barnes. He motioned for the rest of the squad to stay put and rushed over towards me. Kor got up carefully, but sheathed his energy sword so as not to present a threat. Despite my size and armor, he still towered over me. When Barnes arrived, he took his helmet off, seemingly to verify that what he was seeing was real. He stared at me with his mouth agape, as his gaze shifted between the alien and I.
	“What the fu-...how?” he said.
	“It's a long story. I'll tell it to you later,” I replied. “How'd you find us?”
	“We uh...we kinda went AWOL looking for you when we heard the Pelican hadn't picked you up. I guess we just got lucky, we were about to turn back when I saw...this fucker.” He gestured towards the Elite with a snarl.
	Good, seems like the Pelican didn't get shot down I thought. “Barnes, I need to know if you brought any transport with you. I found something very important and we have to get there pronto. Can you get me there?” I noticed a look of confusion on Kor, and a wicked smile on Barnes.
	“Sure thing slick. We may or may not have 'requisitioned' some Falcons and their pilots. Normally I would suggest reporting back to our favorite General, but seeing as we're probably wanted by the MPs by now, I think we should just be own our merry fuckin' way. Come on bro. Hope you don't mind another ruck.”
	I laughed. “I really missed hiking Barnes. It seems like whenever you show up, I go for a hike.”
	“Guess I'm just bad luck then”
	“Guess so.”
	He put his helmet on. “Come on shithead, we've got work to do.”