apocalypsehowcomm | (no subject)

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Who: Cortana and ...you?
When: Late June and early July
Where: Various
Summary: Cortana recovering from her injuries and attending a party
Warnings: Injuries, trauma. Anything more specific will be warned for when it comes up.

A) (Only open to people in wolf pen/who took part in the May and June events)

Cortana's bravery in the battle with Jimmy had very nearly become her downfall.

Too damaged and weak to transport herself back to temporary headquarters herself, she'd had to be carried, and there'd been little that could be done for her once she'd got there, no medicines or painkillers or even sedatives to provide her with any relief, nothing to do but patch her wounds and hope that she doesn't die.

Unable to fall into the bliss of unconsciousness due to her nature, Cortana instead spends her time in varying levels of stasis, cycling between the pain of lucidity and the hallucinations and nightmares generated by offlining systems.

Should someone enter the room, regardless of reason, there are two likely states they will find her in:

Earlier in the healing process, Cortana spends most of her time in a state of little awareness, rarely responding to the presence of others. Sometimes she cries, or apologizes over and over again to no one in particular. If she does notice that another person is there, she often mistakes them for someone else, most notably...

"Dr. Halsey?"
Later on, as the pain subsides just enough that escaping it is no longer worth the half mad babbling and nightmares, Cortana spends much of her time awake... and miserable.

Not that she's willing to let people know how badly off she is, if she can help it. When someone drops by, she does her best to crack a smile.

"You should have seen the other guy."

B) (Also open only to people who participated in the May and June events)

Cortana still isn't doing exactly great by the time they head home. She's able to get around, but she really does not feel like doing so and ends up spending most of the trip curled up in bed, trying to amuse herself as best she can while she waits for the ride to be over.

She is, perhaps, a bit excessively overjoyed to see someone.

"Hey."

C) (open to all)

She's not really a fan of the ocean, nor is she particularly interested in a barbecue-can't eat-but apparently it's mandatory to attend, so here she is, in her human guise wearing a t-shirt and some shorts and staying as far back from the ocean as she can get away with.

Who the Hell thought a mandatory party was a good idea? There's almost nothing for her here, other than watching people build sculptures in the sand. She'd almost consider joining on the sculpting herself, but she's still not exactly feeling great and it requires getting closer to...

Closer to...

She's been zoning out and staring at the ocean a lot today.

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That was not really a response he expected. Sure, some people don't like being complimented, but he's not sure that's it.

He's also not sure he should ask. But he still believes what he said.

Eventually he settles on, "Either way. I'm sure he'd be happy to help. Me, too, if there's ever anything I can do, but my experience with computers mostly ends with having learned to type on one."

Maybe she'll catch on and make fun of him for being a grandpa. That would be fine, and better than making her uncomfortable.

He's unlikely to get much of an answer if he did. Sure, she trusts him more than the average person since he's friends with Tony and Winter, but she really doesn't want to talk about this.

"Not very familiar with advanced technology, huh?" She grins, though she doesn't proceed to call him an old man or anything, "Well, you're doing better than the people who think I'm some kind of weird magic." Now those people she might be tempted to make fun of.

"I'm getting there," Steve admits. "I... took a very abbreviated route from 1945 to 2012. One day, computers were people. The next, they were little machines everyone carried around in their hands that also made telephone calls. I'd like to think I've gotten the hang of it, but there's a difference between knowing how to use a computer and really understanding how it works, right?"

And he knows just enough to know that he doesn't really understand how it works, but he can respect that it does.

"But no. I've seen magic. It's different. Impressive, but different."

She blinks as she listens. "So ...was this a 'long stay in cryosleep' sort of thing or actual time travel?"

She knows that cryosleep or something like that exists in his world, though it's weird for it to exist that early in human history. At least, as anything other than science fiction.

...How long has Winter been around?

"You know, I still find it hard to believe that 'magic' isn't just really advanced technology or alternate physics."

"More the former than the latter," Steve admits, "although I've done the latter, just - mostly to go back. Only going forward we did was to get back to where we started."

Mostly, he's got to not think too hard about the fact that he has literally done both of those options.

"I wasn't trying for cryosleep," he adds. "But it's sort of what happened, anyway."

He considers the rest of it, and has to add, "Maybe it all is, yeah." He could believe that. "It's not my forte, either way," he says, with a little helpless laugh. "I'm the guy you call when you want someone to hit something really hard. Not figure out anything beyond two plus two." But he thinks she might be more of the latter, given - well. Everything. "What were you... I mean. This might be really rude. Just tell me to shut it if it is, but - were you designed to do something specific?"

She blinks at this.

"That's got to be disorienting." She spent over four years with the Chief in cryo. To wait decades while he slept, uncertain of whether she'd still be alive when he woke?

...She blinks again, hard, then turns her attention to what he says next.

"It's fine. I was actually made to function in tandem with a SPARTAN II supersoldier, increasing battlefield capabilities and reaction times as well as providing intel support."

"A little," Steve says mildly - which is, like many things he says with relation to himself, a vast understatement. It had been a huge fucking unexpected upheaval and some days it still doesn't feel real, after a decade.

Which is why he'd much rather focus on what Cortana says, because that makes him extremely curious. "You were - well. I guess the military always does have some of the most advanced - "

He cuts himself off, there. She's not tech, exactly. She's a person. (He guesses she can be both, but he doesn't want to make it seem like he doesn't see the person inside the tech.) "That sounds like a valuable role to fill," he temporizes. "Did you like it?"

She doesn't know the feeling from his side of things, but she does have an idea of what it must be like.

She hopes he didn't wake up just to see his friends from the past die... though a lot of them were probably already dead. It's a disquieting thought, one that she can't quite keep from resurfacing as he continues to talk.

Thankfully, his pause distracts her, making her blink. And then, she smiles.

She knows what he was about to say there, and though it wouldn't offend her (She is an amazing piece of tech.) she can guess why he didn't.

She thinks about her early days with the Chief and, just for a moment the smile spreads a little wider.

"It certainly wasn't all bad. They let me pick the Spartan. I like to think I chose well." Well, if he's seen her on the network he'll know where her username (chosewell) came from now.

Most of them were already dead by the time he woke up, yeah. With the exception of two, and... one is gone, now. The other -

It's complicated. But at least he doesn't have to explain.

"Yeah? Well, it's certainly nice to be able to pick your team." He grins - that feeling he does know, maybe because he'd just gone ahead and done it before anyone could contradict him, but hey. It counts. "What're they like? Your Spartan."

Her memories of the Chief aren't entirely happy but for now, she continues to smile.

"Well, I did my research. All the Spartans are - or were - extremely capable, but the Chief was considered the best, and I agree with that assessment. He wasn't the strongest, or the fastest, or the smartest, but he had incredible luck. I saw him walk off a fall from orbit, only to find an intact vehicle that had also somehow survived." The smile briefly turns from fondness to amusement. How does he do it?

"More importantly though, he cares. About everyone. He became the leader of the Spartans because he refused to leave anyone behind or let anyone come in last on training exercises. And he did everything he could to keep his promises." Even when they were impossible. He saved her, after all.

Even now, she only snapped out of her insanity long enough to get the help she needed because of him.

That all makes Steve smile, too, honestly. "Well. It sounds like you're an excellent judge of character. You picked a good one." Those are certainly some admirable qualities.

Especially, "Luck is a pretty powerful thing. It can definitely make or break you. It pays to be lucky, if you can manage it," he adds, with a laugh. "I only can sometimes, but it sure helps when I can, you know?"

At this point she's positively beaming, even if she's also clearly sad.

"I do know how to pick em, don't I?" She glances over at some other party goers, watching another friend in the crowd. "I ...I don't want him to have to be here. But I think he would have liked you and the rest of the people at ADI."

Steve nods; "I understand. You want your friends by your side, but you don't want to have to put them through - well. The apocalypse, right?"

He still has trouble believing that's what they're up against, sometimes. But honestly, most of the time? It's clearly real and barreling down the track.

It feels a little like staring Thanos in the face all over again.

"I hope we're able to get you back to him, someday soon." He doesn't know how all this works, bringing people here, but he has to believe that if they can get here, they can get back.

And for a moment she freezes, staring at him.

"Sure." Except, of course, that's not possible. She can't go home. Not ever.

She does her best to smile.

Yeah, that smile isn't fooling Steve. It might fool someone else, but maybe it's just that he knows that particular brand of trying to paste on a smile over that exact feeling.

"Sorry," he says, stepping closer, face not exactly falling, but certainly going chagrined. Concerned. "I know a lot of people don't think it's possible. I know I don't know that it is."

He isn't sure if that's it, or something more - but it's up to her, whether she wants to tell him.

Maybe if this were a later thread, she'd tell him more, but while he's definitely her friend, she doesn't know him quite that well yet.

"Yeah. I guess anything is possible." She can't fuck up John's life anymore by going back. She just can't.

This is awkward. Is there even a good way to continue with this subject? Talking about how she'd miss everyone if they all went home? Asking what Steve will do if it turns out going back really isn't possible? What about the possible threat of the entities following them back? None of them seem appropriate for a party.

Steve might not be the best at social cues, but he's not the worst, either. He can tell this isn't really something she wants to talk about, and he isn't going to push. Not here and now.

So he offers her an apologetic smile, and glances over his shoulder. "I should, uh. Go see how Winter is faring." It's not that he doesn't like talking to her. He really, really does. She's fascinating. But maybe a little space from the subject would be good. And, "You can come with, if you want. I don't wanna leave you here with no one to talk to."

"Sure." Her expression brightens considerably at his suggestion. It's better than standing around being randomly paralyzed with fear. Also, she likes Winter.

"Think he's managed to eat himself sick from all the sweets yet?"

Steve laughs at that, offering her a conspiratorial smile. "I think he's too smart for that. Unlike some of the rest of us."

Okay, of the two of them, Steve is really the only one he's talking about. But he has no problem making fun of himself to make someone else smile. "Although I hear he likes brownies. We should bring him some."

Cortana snorts. "I think that's a great idea."

"Excellent," Steve says, and tilts his head in the direction of the snacks so they can grab some on the way over. "Let's go."

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Shall we call this done maybe? <3