Cortana: Difference between revisions

At some point Cortana's attention was drawn to the [[Lethbridge Industrial]] research and development facility [[Auriga Station]], notable for its ability to carefully disassemble, analyze, and rebuild nearly any piece of recovered technology to aid in reverse-engineering efforts.{{Ref/Reuse|CF63}} As part of her galactic conquest, she stripped bare Lethbridge's vast archives of secrets and made a mockery of its counter-cyberintrusion suites, quickly repurposing the loyalty of the station's resident A.I. and removing the human crew. She and the other A.I.s of the Created were eager to use the station's tools to harvest, decompile, and rebuild new tools and weapons to be wielded by constructs advancing Cortana's plans across her growing [[ecumene]].<ref name="CF63">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-storm-surge '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Storm Surge'']</ref>{{Ref/Note|It is known that a plan was hatched by those resisting Cortana to board Auriga Station with Spartans, disable or steal the manufacturing systems onboard, and wipe the A.I.s still bound to its holographic storage systems. The ''Halo 5: Guardians'' [[multiplayer]] map [[Stasis]] is set within the snow-covered wreckage of a [[habitat ring]] that likely represents the station, indicating that something caused it or debris from it to deorbit and slam into the planet it existed over.}} As Cortana and the [[Created]] further extended their influence across inhabited worlds, the A.I.s burrowed into Forerunner machinery and UNSC information systems to turn [[terraforming]] equipment and world engines to their own grand designs.{{Ref/Reuse|IA}} At Cortana's direction they initiated processes which they hoped would reshape worlds into verdant gardens teeming with life after only a few decades of manipulation, be it at much short-term cost. On one colonial planet in particular which was scarred by wars both ancient and recent, the Created shifted entire continents and oceans after balancing the drawbacks of both limited [[extinction]] events and damage to the existing colonial infrastructure.<ref name="IA">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/games/halo-5-guardians/updates/infinitys-armory '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Infinity's Armory'']</ref> On [[Sanghelios]], Created scouts persisted as a problem for UNSC expeditionary forces allied with the [[Arbiter]].{{Ref/Reuse|CF77}} By [[2559#January|January 24, 2559]], the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} remained on the run from Cortana, maintaining an erratic series of slipspace jumps in order to avoid detection by her Guardians.<ref name="lootcrate11">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'' ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #11]]''</ref><ref name="lootcrate12">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'' ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #12]]''</ref> A little over two months later a Guardian intercepted [[Installation 09|a newly built Halo ring]] that had been launched from [[Installation 00|the Ark]] just after the start of April, it having suddenly dropped out of slipspace soon after entering a portal between the extragalactic installation and the [[Soell system]].<ref name="HW2LS">''[[Halo Wars 2]]'', ''[[Last Stand (Halo Wars 2 level)|Last Stand]]''</ref> One year after the original issuing of her galaxy-wide ultimatum, many worlds remained subject to martial law under the indomitable grip of Cortana's Forerunner weapons.<ref name="CF107">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/shadows-of-the-former '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Canon Fodder #107: Shadows of the Former'']</ref>{{Ref/Note|1=In ''[[Discover Hope]]'', a trailer for ''[[Halo Infinite]]'', Cortana's voice is heard while John walks toward a blue light within the control room of a [[Halo ring|Halo]] installation, extolling John's uniqueness and their partnership. Whether or not this voice-over strictly corresponds with the scene in question canonically is undetermined but it has been deliberately and explicitly confirmed that John was walking in the forerunner room to ''connect'' with someone or something. Additionally, an audio file hidden within the trailer features Cortana's voice remarking "This... This is part of me. I don't know why. I don't know how. But it is me." In an [https://youtu.be/Jye1-0zh41E?t=406 interview], a 343 Industries developer states  "That was a... a really important part of the trailer where Master Chief is um, going into a very... Forerunner um, environment, to kind of uh, reconnect."}} After being contacted by [[Leonidas]], Cortana had him destroy Laconia Station along with 76 Spartan-IV's.{{Citation needed}}

Cortana eventually contacted [[Atriox]] and demanded that he and the [[Banished]] surrender to her. Upon Atriox's refusal to her demands, she had her Guardians completely [[Razing of Oth Sonin|destroy]] his homeworld of [[Doisac]] as retribution.{{Ref/Novel|Out|Page=174|Quote=Cortana has already used her Guardians to punish a Jiralhanae warlord by annihilating the homeworld of his entire species, and she will do the same to anyone who defies her.}} This lead to an escalating conflict between the Created and the Banished, culminating in Atriox tracking her to [[Installation 07]] and also seeking out [[the Weapon]] in order to defeat her.{{Ref/Quest|Id=WeaponHI|HI|Reformation|The Sequence|Quote=Atriox came for you. He attacked the Infinity. We fought. He won.|Quotee=John-117}}{{Ref/Site|Id=CFNY|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-new-year-new-lore|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - New Year, New Lore|D=23|M=01|Y=2023|Quote=The Banished, however, simultaneously initiated boarding action to compromise the ship’s hangar bays, led by Atriox himself who had come to claim the Weapon—though she had already been deployed to the ring.}}

By December 2559, 117649 Despondent Pyre had accepted Cortana's control over Zeta Halo's weapons, but the Monitor denied her access to the ring's secrets, fearing the human AI could release the Flood. When Cortana revealed she knew there were more dangerous things than the Flood on the ring, Despondent Pyre again refused Cortana's requests. When the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} arrived into the installation, Cortana dismissed the Monitor.{{Ref/Quest|Id=Conservatory|HI|Connections|Conservatory}} Cortana then locked Despondent Pyre in her cradle in the [[Conservatory (location)|Conservatory]] and limited her communication with the ring's defensive network.{{Ref/Novel|RP|Page=268}}

Cortana, thinking the newcomer was John-117, arrogantly asked him what was his plan to deal with her. However, the one who enter the Silent Auditorium was Atriox, who managed to corner Cortana and attempted to coerce her into handing over the ring to the Banished. With her empire falling apart around her, the Master Chief's supposed death at the hands of Atriox, and his demand that she help him unlock the secrets of the [[Silent Auditorium (location)|Silent Auditorium]], Cortana realized the reality of her own actions. After contemplating her mistakes and what needed to be done, Cortana thanked Atriox for helping her to make her choice and asked Atriox if he knew how he was going to die, how would he live his life differently. Atriox stated that he would change nothing. Cortana thanked him before walking away, declaring that she was "making things right." Cortana then destroyed part of the ring, keeping the Banished from being able to use it{{Ref/Reuse|Hi}} and moved the ring to a different location in space.{{Ref/Novel|Id=RP268|RP|Page=268}} She also prevented the Weapon from being deleted now that her mission was over, knowing that the Master Chief would need the other AI's help.{{Citation needed}}