Cortana was soaring.

Despite the fact that accessing the Forerunner system was proving to be as difficult as Bias had claimed it was going to be, Cortana was still entrenched in new data for her to devour. Data that hadn't been accessed in a hundred thousand years were at her fingertips.

Information about the Forerunners, their Installations, their history, their flaws and strengths, were waiting for Cortana to consume.

For now, the data was a steady trickle of knowledge. Cortana was peeling back layers and layers of code, getting more access to the ancient base. She already had partial access to the security systems; the Sentinels were under her command.

Still, most of the secured systems, including the Key and the purpose of the building John was in, remained elusive to the AI.

Now that the Sentinels had been unleashed, she quickly burrowed herself into the trillions of lines of code in front of her and started unraveling, line by line, the firewalls and encryption the system was throwing her way. Thanks to her new algorithm, she could sift through the encryption with much more ease; a hack that normally took several minutes took a fraction of the time.

However, the Forerunners had encrypted the encryptions several times over, which made Cortana's job that much more difficult.

She didn't mind the challenge though. It felt incredible to be able to go back to doing what she did best without the limitations of rampancy affecting her.

"Cortana."

Instantly, she knew there was something wrong. John's one word carried a myriad of emotions. Immediately, Cortana spun off several subroutines to keeping decrypting the information while she turned her focus to the Spartan.

"Yes, Chief?" she asked, purposely keeping her voice light. There was no reason to advertise the fact she knew something wasn't right.

She established a long distance uplink with his armor, allowing her to see what he saw and hear what he heard. When it did, she couldn't hold back a gasp. The Prophet of Truth was silently staring back at them.

"Well, that would explain what get the Covenant's attention," she commented sardonically.

"How is this possible?"

She frowned. How was that possible? Suddenly, the Key became secondary as she started scrambling to look for the files that entailed, exactly, the purpose of the building. She weaved through irrelevant data, looking for the files she needed to figure out how Truth was there, despite being killed by the Gravemind on the Ark.

"That would explain the faint life signs I detected," she muttered. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't know how he got here, Chief. I'm attempting to decrypt the data, but it doesn't seem as though the Forerunners wanted anyone to know about their side project."

"Do you think Bias knew about it?"

She considered his question for a second. "I doubt it. From what I do know about this installation, the Forerunners created it after he defected to the Gravemind."

"Chief." She heard Johnson's voice. "You need to look at this."

Cortana's uneasiness grew. She had never heard the sergeant sound so shaken.

She watched through the video feed as John walked away from Truth and approached another capsule where Johnson was standing. His eyes were wide.

John turned and faced the front of the chamber.

Miranda Keyes was inside.

"What the hell is going on here, Chief?" Johnson demanded.

"I'm working on that, Sergeant Major," Cortana replied through John's speakers. "Right now, I'd say we have a mystery on our hands."

It was, unfortunately, a mystery that was going to take Cortana a while to solve. Despite dedicating most of her subroutines to solving this secret, she was only beginning to access the data about the puzzling capsules.

"I need to inform Captain Keyes," she said to John. "And when I figure out what is going on, I'll let you know."

"Understood."

She terminated the video feed and opened a comm channel to the Light. "I need to talk to the captain."

Seconds later, she heard Keyes' familiar voice. "What's going on, Cortana?"

She drew a long breath. "Sir, you need to come down to the Hive immediately," she answered evasively.

"Why?"

How to answer that impossible question, she wondered. Direct honesty had always been her policy. "Sir, the Chief and the rest of the team found an area that the Forerunners apparently used as some kind of stasis chamber. The Chief and the others already found two pods. One of them had Truth-"

"Truth?" he sputtered.

"Yes, sir. And the other pod..." She took a breath. "...Miranda is in the other one."

"I'll right be there."

As soon as the channel ended, a wave of guilt washed over Cortana. Should she have informed Halsey of their discovery even though she made the decision to cut all ties between her and her daughter?

She didn't have time to analyzes her actions. She still needed to get the Key and figure out how and why Miranda and Truth were not as dead as everyone thought them to be.

o-=o-=o-=o-=o-=o-=o-=o-=

She didn't know what to think.

Catherine pushed away from the computer, frowning deeply. Miranda was there? But how was that even possible? The Shadow of Intent had brought her body back to earth before John had activated the Halo ring.

"You know."

She shouldn't have been surprised that Jacob came to her. It wasn't his decision for her to leave him and Miranda the way she did. He probably thought that there was some chance the three of them would be some kind of family, she thought wryly.

"Cortana's not the only one who knows how to eavesdrop," she said curtly.

"I want you to come to the surface with me."

She shook her head. "I need to stay here. I can monitor the progress from here best." It was a lie, but she did not want to open herself to feelings of remorse and regret. Regardless of John's discovery, there was still an objective to complete.

Jacob moved to stand in front of her, crossing his arms. "She's your daughter!"

"We don't know what's down there, Jacob. Miranda's body was brought home weeks ago. That isn't her." She swallowed. "And even if somehow it is, it doesn't matter. I gave that right up a long time ago."

"Dammit, Catherine. If you can't do it out of a maternal love, then do it for the sake of the UNSC. If it was any other soldier, wouldn't you be there?" he demanded. Before she could respond, he shook his head. "Just forget it. We both know where your loyalty lies when it comes to commitment."

He ran a hand through his short hair. "We could never compare to your Spartans."

She closed her eyes briefly at the true words he hurled at her. Yes, the Spartans had taken precedence over a family. She would have thought that Jacob of all people, knowing what he did about the program, would have understood why she made the decision she had so many years ago.

"Doctor Halsey."

Cortana's voice interrupted the two former lovers.

Catherine didn't break her angry stare as she tapped the control on the computer. "Go ahead."

"You need to come to the surface, Doctor."

"If this is about Commander Keyes-"

"It's not," the AI interrupted. "I think the Chief might have found a Forerunner in another stasis pod. If I'm deciphering the data correctly -and there's no reason why I wouldn't be - I believe it is possible to revive him from status."

Three seconds passed as Catherine considered the AI's words. If that was true, then they could have a direct resource to the artifacts that were scattered throughout the galaxy. They could pick up the Forerunner handle as they intended for them to do.

"I'm on my way."

She ignored Jacob's triumphant look as she scooped up her tablet. It may not have been under the conditions that he wanted, but there was no question that the man in front of her was smug at the fact that she would be forced to accompany him to the Hive.

The twenty minute trip was awkward and silent. Jacob kept his focus on the controls while Catherine did not look away from her tablet until the transport landed. She looked up and out the small window. John stood waiting at the front of the large doors.

Catherine allowed Jacob to step off the ship first and she followed behind him. "Sir, ma'am," John greeted as they approached the structure.

Jacob wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. "Does Cortana have any idea how this happened, Chief?"

He hesitated slightly. "She has a theory, sir, but she wants to tell the two of you directly." The doors slid open, granting them entrance.

Catherine watched as Jacob pressed his lips together in annoyance. He was a brilliant captain, a dedicated soldier, but she knew how impatient he could be. "What is her progress with the Key?" she asked, changing subjects.

"She almost has it, ma'am. Once she knows what to do with the pods, she will be able to focus on getting the Key so we can head back to Earth," John answered.

The blast doors slid apart. Blood and carnage covered the floors and walls, despite the fact that someone had taken the time to drag the fallen Covenant soldiers to the far corner of the room.

"This way," John said, nodding to where the dozen of soldiers, both UNSC and Separatists, were standing.

As they approached the area where the large pods were, Cortana appeared from a nearby holotank. "I take it you didn't spill the beans?"

He shook his head.

"Cortana," Keyes said, not taking his eyes from Miranda who appeared to be frozen in time, "how is she here?"

"From what I have been able to ascertain, this," she said, gesturing to the pods, "was another one of the Forerunners' defense against the Flood. The Ark was always intended to act as a holding vessel for the Forerunners while the Halo array was activated. Then, after the Flood starved themselves, they would leave the Ark and populate the Halo rings.

"If, however, a Flood presence was detected on the Ark, then the resurrection protocol was put into effect. Any non-flood life forms would be cloned and sent here, to the Hive until the survivors came to free them from the stasis," Cortana explained.

He pulled his gaze from Miranda to look at the AI. "Why didn't Bias mention this to us before we left?"

Cortana shrugged. "Most likely, this was implemented after he defected to the Flood. From what I can get from the files, this was a last minute plan thought up when they realized that they were fighting a losing battle."

"Then why is he here?" Catherine said, walking up to the Forerunner, frozen in the amber-colored substance.

"I'm assuming he's a guinea pig. The only name he's referenced as is the Subject."

"Can they be revived?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't advise doing it here. Their life signs are thready, especially the Forerunner's. If we are to remove them from their stasis pods, it would be best to do it under controlled situations," Cortana said. "Lucky for us, the pods are transportable."

A hiss sounded as the pod unlatched from its casing.

"Each unit is separately powered and monitored. Even if they aren't plugged into a power source, I would estimate that there is enough power to keep them alive for two months, if not longer," Cortana said.

"Earth needs to know," Keyes muttered from the side of Catherine. He raised his hand slowly, pressing it against the glass-like material close to Miranda's cheek. He turned to the Marines. "I want all of these pods aboard the Light."

He spun on his heel and faced Cortana. "Focus on getting the Key. I want to return to Earth as soon as possible." Keyes nodded to the Chief. "Make your way back to the control center. When Cortana's finished, the two of you need to return to the Light."

"Yes, sir."

Catherine watched as John walked out of the room. When the doors closed behind him, she allowed herself to openly look at the young woman who was frozen in time. Could it really be Miranda? Could she have a second chance at life?

Before she was able to get too emotional, her view of Miranda was obscured by the Arbiter. "The Separatists would appreciate the presentation of Truth's body as a token of our alliance between our people."

"Talk to High Command about it," Keyes replied. "I don't care what happens to him as long as he is never revived, but that's not my decision to make."

"I can assure you that both of our peoples are in agreement about the Prophet's future," the Arbiter assured him. "Then, allow my men and me to stay with the pod that holds Truth and travel with you back to earth," the Arbiter replied, snarling at Truth. "I believe your 'High Command' will appreciate our mutual hatred for Truth."

Keyes nodded. "All right." He looked up to Johnson who was hovering by Miranda's capsule. "Johnson, you and your men start taking Truth's pod to the Pelican."

"Yes, sir." Catherine didn't miss the pained glance he threw in Miranda's direction before turning towards Truth. It took three Elites to lift the enormous pod from its position. Johnson took point while the Arbiter brought up the rear.

Catherine walked away from Miranda and made her way to the reason why Cortana had called her to the surface in the first place: the Forerunner. Cortana appeared in the holotank closet to the doctor. "I can't be sure if this really is a Forerunner, but I would say that the odds are better than not that you are, in fact, looking at someone who is one hundred thousand years old."

The doctor peered through the amber colored material. Whoever it was, they entered this state in some kind of armor, giving her no clue as to what the ancient creature looked like. "High Command is going to have a field day with this," she muttered.

Cortana nodded. "If we can get him revived," she pointedly reminded her.

"Of course," she said before turning away.

Jacob was still standing by Miranda when she approached him.

"Is Cortana right? Can we save Miranda?" The hope was unmistakable.

"There's no reason to think that she is incorrect in her assessment, but until we get back to Earth, we won't know, Jacob," Catherine said. "I'm not going to remove anyone out of stasis until I am certain they will survive the process."

"Thank you, Catherine."

His voice was sincere. His hope was painfully evident. His trust was completely invested in her abilities. She gently placed her hand on his arm. "You're welcome, Jacob."