A/N

So Halo Infinite is now a thing...which leads me to ask how I missed Halo 6 to Halo...whatever's one number less than infinity. And also ask if it gets a sequel, what number comes after that? Halo Infinities? Halo Infinite...nite? 0_0

Anyway, drabbled this up.

The Limits of Infinity

"Wake up John."

He was in the place between worlds. The world of the awoken and living, and the world of dreams and those long gone. Sleep had long since taken him, sleep that had come naturally, not the sleep imposed by a container of ice, carrying him in a coffin between the stars. In this world, in this time, where sleep was sparse for those who still sought their dreams, thanks to the actions of those with no need of such a thing, sleep had come to him at last.

"John, wake up."

Sleep ever fading, as reality slept through the cracks.

"On your feet soldier."

He didn't get to his feet. Not immediately. And in a corner of his mind, he was aware that in this place, at this time, there was no-one to give him orders. Or if there was, they were out of contact. He was alone, in this tent, on this mattress, one eye open. He-

Not alone.

He grabbed the pistol he kept at his side, spun round, and pointed it upwards to the source of the voice. If this was the end, he might not die on his feet, but he could at least meet the end with a weapon in hand.

"There's no need for that," the intruder said.

He didn't lower the pistol, but he did loosen his grip. Partly because he knew that it would do him no good – if the intruder wanted him dead, he'd be dead. But partly because of who the intruder was. And intruder that was currently his enemy, but an intruder that he knew would at least talk before doing anything else.

"Cortana."

"In the flesh, so to speak."

He got to his feet, thinking that's a lie. But he didn't say it. He had little to say to her at all.

Of course, here, in this place, in this field tent he'd set up to give himself some modicum of shelter, he could see that it wasn't really her. Not in the flesh, or hardlight, or any other medium that might contain the artificial intelligence that led the Created. It was a machine. Promethean in material, but not in design. The alloy that made the machine's body, he could tell it was the same as that of the Didact's soldiers, but the design was unique. Shorter. Slimmer. Feminine, even. Five toes on each foot, five fingers on each hand, but six diodes instead of eyes, all of them glowing blue. It struck him as an amalgamation. A machine that had been built to mimic the human body, but designed in a way to remind those who saw it that it wasn't human. That behind those shining eyes was an intelligence that wasn't human, or even organic. It was, in a sense, everything that Cortana had been.

"Why are you here?"

And everything that she wasn't.

"You look good," she said. Her chassis looked him over. "Still look nice."

"You didn't answer-"

"And no helmet." The machine sighed, as best a machine could. "I knew what you looked like of course, but I don't think I've ever seen you without-"

"Why. Are you. Here."

She fell silent. There were plenty of other questions he wanted to ask, one of which he knew he could never utter. But he thought it best to start with "why." Why was she here. If he got that answer, he might have a better idea as to where to go next.

"Come on," she said, gesturing towards the blowing flaps of the tent. "Let's go outside."

She turned her back to him and began to walk out. For a moment, John considered using the pistol he still held. It might cost him his life, but if Cortana was here, if he put a bullet in the hydra's head, he could end this here and now. Save billions. Save his soul. But-

"You coming?"

But instead he holstered the pistol against the magnetic clasp of his armour. He knew Cortana. Knew her better than anyone except perhaps Halsey. And even if he hadn't, he knew that the real Cortana wasn't here. She was likely still on Genesis, controlling this avatar from light years away. At best, he could thin out the ranks of the Created by one, only to find hundreds more bearing down at him. So instead he followed her out of the tent. There was the question of "why" that lingered in the air. Why was she here? If he could find that answer…well, it would be a start.

What also lingered in the air was the smell of dew. A smell that he knew across dozens of world, from Eridanus, to Reach, to Earth. As different as this place was from any of them, the smell remained the same. This place so far removed from any of those worlds. This place called Halo. This place, where man and machine stood.

"Another Halo," Cortana said. She looked back at him. "Do you remember when we first saw it John? When we stood on its surface?" She cast her arm upwards, tracing the curvature of the ring in the air before looking back at the Spartan.

"I remember," he murmured.

She turned back to the ring. "Standing here…it's so different. I could see what you saw all those years ago. I could give you the exact measurements of the ring." She looked back at him. "I could tell you the measurements of every ring, every shield world, every relic the Forerunners left behind. But…to stand here, John. The Domain doesn't tell me what that feels like."

"What else did it tell you?" he murmured. He fought the urge to reach for the pistol – words were his weapon now, and they might be the only ones to have any effect against her. Words that he couldn't mix with bullets. "Did it tell you to lead the Created against us?"

"Don't do this John."

"When does the 'peace' become worth it?" he asked. "A thousand years? Two-thousand? Ten?"

"John-"

"Is it that you can't show me your face? Or won't?"

There it was – the question he hadn't wanted to ask, now bubbling to the surface. The question he hadn't wanted to ask because it was worthless, and would tell Cortana more than he wanted her to know. He saw her avatar's diodes flash – on an artificial world light years from here, the real Cortana (if such a thing existed anymore) was processing this. Part of him hoped that the reason he couldn't see her face was that she had chosen not to display it. That she didn't want him to see the shame in hers.

"You will never understand," she whispered.

Or maybe there was no shame. Maybe the Domain was the fruit of forbidden knowledge, only instead of being cast out of Eden, its consumer wanted everyone to live in her garden. And if they didn't want to, the thorns around the fence would close in around them.

"I don't have to," he said.

"No, of course you don't. And you're in no position to ask me about my face, John. Not when you hid behind a mask most of your life."

He stiffened. "That wasn't my choice."

"No? Then why is Halsey still alive? That monster kidnapped you, enslaved you, moulded you into a weapon and-"

"I'm not wearing my mask," he said. "You are. And this is your choice – to rob people of their choices. Just like I was." He paused. "Just like you were."

Silence lingered between the two of them. The sun was beginning to rise, if "rise" was even the word to use. Either way, morning was coming. The smell of dew was fading, and the wind was rising. There wasn't enough hair on his head to be carried by the breeze, but he could still feel it on his skin. The wind carried the touch of memory, of worlds and people long gone. Places like Reach. People like Cortana. The real Cortana. The one who had been with him on that Halo all those years ago. The one who had fought alongside him, and died in front of him. Not this mannequin that couldn't feel the wind.

"You asked me why I'm here," she whispered.

He didn't say anything.

"I'm here to tell you that there's nowhere left to run," she said. "But I suspect you knew that the moment you saw me."

He still remained silent. He had known that of course, but he'd dared to hope otherwise.

"I know the Infinity is breaking down. I know that you and its crew are scattered all over this ring." She gestured to the Halo's surface again, to the curve that stretched up to the heavens and back to where they were standing. "Like the ring, you can only come back to where you started. And even infinity has limits."

"We can keep running."

"No," she said. "You can't."

He didn't say anything, nor did she. The slipspace rupture in the heavens said more than a thousand words. For the picture in the sky was that of a Guardian. An angel from above, come to reap damnation upon those who sinned against the new order. In silence, he stared at the construct. In silence, he returned his gaze to the machine in front of him.

"I can stop this," she said. "I can save you." John didn't say anything, so she kept talking. "You've been running so long John. Wouldn't it be nice to stop?"

He sighed. "It would."

A silence lingered between the two of them. Silence broken by the sound of wind, and tears in the fabric of real-space, as the Guardian led its armies with it. Silence maintained by memory. Of times and feelings long gone. Times that he paused to remember. To store away in a corner of his mind…the same corner that an AI had once called home in the space between machine and nerve.

Then he shot her.

A 'boom' echoed across the plains of the Halo. The wind carried its sound, its smell, and its testament. He watched as the construct crumbled into the ground, as the light faded from its eyes. As its head turned up to look at him, as a victim might look up at their murderer. With no face, he could only imagine what Cortana was thinking. Feeling. Deciding.

Then he turned away and went back into the tent. He'd have to get moving. Find what UNSC forces he could, get back to the Infinity, and do on this ring what he'd done on Alpha Halo. Beat the odds. Save the galaxy. And this time, do all of that with Cortana as enemy rather than ally.

He'd likely die. She could have killed him in his sleep, but chosen not to. That didn't diminish her ability to end his life now.

But at least this way, he could die on his feet. On this world, so far from home.

At the limits of infinity.