Mo Ye

Mo Ye was a UNSC "smart" artificial intelligence and the shipboard AI of the. She took the appearance of a small, elderly Chinese woman in a peasant's garb. She had a strong Mandarin accent.

Battle of Algolis
She was heavily damaged when a Covenant Special Operations boarding party attacked the Heart of Midlothian. Huragok brought onboard separated Mo Ye from her core, leaving just a chunk of her connected, which was watching over a surgery. Unable to self-destruct, the AI told the only survivor on the ship, an ODST Sergeant named Michael Baird, to make his way to the control room and instigate an attraction coordinate. After Baird was severely hurt by a Sangheili wielding an energy sword, Mo Ye gave Baird a Waverly augmenter, used by the Insurrectionists to fight Spartans-IIs, which would keep him alive for one or two hours. Mo Ye couldn't help Baird to go on without being connected. Mo Ye was then reconnected by Baird, who was surrounded by Covenant, with the intention of "giving the Covenant the coordinates of Earth". Baird, aware that she couldn't destroy the ship with any human alive, punched the Sangheili commander as hard as he could, breaking his hand. Baird began to taunt the Sangheili until it recovered from the impact and beheaded Baird. Mo Ye started the countdown. While the boarding party left, Mo Ye and the Sangheili glanced at each other until she said "Just kidding. There's no need for countdown whatsoever." Mo Ye was destroyed when she put the ship into self-destruct, leaving nothing but the midnight of space.

Production notes
The author of Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian Frank O'Connor wanted to have an AI character with similar values of strength, devotion and dignity as Cortana, with a similar theme around a legendary sword but with origins in an Asian culture. He consulted with his mother-in-law, a Chinese folk tales enthusiast, who suggested the story of Mo Ye, a swordsmith who sacrificed herself in order to successfully forge a sword that was named after her.

Trivia

 * In the motion comic adaptation of Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, Mo Ye was voiced by Mona Marshall.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian