[open] I'll edit this to something clever later

[steelandtemper]

Who| Cortana and whoever
What| Cortana is wandering around the computer systems doing Important AI Stuff (ie, being kind of a creeper)
Where| Various locations on Legion World
When| Not super-relevant
Warnings/Notes| Probably nothing, will edit if that changes

As much as she'd deny she's been behaving like a cat whose owner has just returned from a long trip...Cortana has been behaving like a cat whose owner has just returned from a long trip. Of course, the Master Chief hasn't exactly tried to peel her off, either, but even he has to sleep occasionally. (The rumors that Spartans sleep in their armor standing up with their eyes open are almost entirely unfounded.)

Humans are, it turns out, pretty boring when they're asleep. Legion World is a safe zone, so instead of keeping her usual unblinking watch, Cortana tasks a process to alert her if the Chief wakes up. She'll be back before his eyes finish opening. Meanwhile, she sets off through the vast station's equally vast computer systems, getting the lay of this strange new 31st century land. Occasionally her course takes her to a peripheral node, a boundary where the digital can interface with the slow, analog expanse of the flesh-and-blood world, and she takes a peek out.

Occasionally, she finds something interesting.

NOTE: Cortana's an AI and has no body, so any logs will have to be in a place where she can manifest a hologram or at least use a speaker. If you'd like me to write a starter for you, I'm happy to do so. Drop me a PM or a PP and we can come up with a scenario.

Comments

[steelandtemper]

"Dox?" Cortana might not have batted a virtual eyelash at COMPUTO, but she refuses to use the name Brainiac. "He knows already. My partner marched me over for a checkup the second it occurred to him."

It's not a pressing concern; she still has years. It had made the Chief feel better, though.

"Delta could be optimized for tactics, I suppose. It would explain why he uses armor for his avatar." Even still, Cortana can't shake the feeling something is up. Maybe she should get over herself and ask someone. "It's weird that he covers his face, though. The whole point of the hologram is to interact with humans."

[legionnpcs]

"Brainiac 5, yes." Funny how even those close to him never addressed him by name. "If that's the case, then he's probably already picking at it."

So much for his attempts at subtlety.

"I did wonder why you two went for humanoid forms. Given your natures, I'd have thought you'd find it unnecessary." Building a full body, not just a head? Maybe for body language, sure, but...

[steelandtemper]

"AIs interact with humans a lot more than we do with each other." Even when two of them are in one place, the conversations their holographic avatars have with each other are for human benefit, the real work going on behind the scenes, electronically, at speeds the organics can barely comprehend, never mind match. "And they are our creators. You do tend to take after your parents."

For better or worse.

[legionnpcs]

"Must be a side effect of being patterned off the human brain." That's probably not the politest way to disagree. "Then again, you are, technically, a direct descendant of your creators. Even C.O.M.P.U.T.O. preferred a humanoid form until his evolution. I have many generations in between. Most of the Roboticans don't look quite as humanoid as I do."

He doesn't gesture, but that's mainly because his hands are full. And there's no point in the digital stream they're conversing in.

"My current chassis is by choice. Hardly my original design." Very limited, for one thing. But then... "I'll admit, while it was chosen to make humanoids more comfortable around me, I do find it more comforting to resemble them as well. Inherited code, perhaps."