"Yeah, I'll keep it together," Cortana says with a sigh. At least she sounds more tired than uncertain. The past never does stay dead.
"You've got the right to know what's going on, anyway." As unpleasant as the retelling is for Cortana personally, if she can't keep the memories inside her own mind--and doesn't that loss of control annoy her--Sombra should at minimum have enough information to understand what she's experiencing by proxy.
"During the final battle of the war, the Chief and I had to split up." Cortana doesn't elaborate on why. It's complicated and the fact that it happened suffices for her clipped retelling of events. "I stayed behind enemy lines while he went back to Earth. The Gravemind captured me soon after that. It wanted everything I had on Earth's defenses, but the damned thing was just rotting meat and a grudge, so it couldn't break my security. It had to break me instead."
That perfect AI memory turns into a curse sometimes, processes cropping up as quickly as she can kill them. Cortana can almost feel the pressure again, like a drowning victim struggling to hold their breath because they know it will be their last.
You said you would answer my questions...you should never make a promise you cannot keep.
"...It didn't." And that's that, except for the part where it's so clearly not.
"The Chief came for me, we killed it, and we got on the last shuttle out."
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"You've got the right to know what's going on, anyway." As unpleasant as the retelling is for Cortana personally, if she can't keep the memories inside her own mind--and doesn't that loss of control annoy her--Sombra should at minimum have enough information to understand what she's experiencing by proxy.
"During the final battle of the war, the Chief and I had to split up." Cortana doesn't elaborate on why. It's complicated and the fact that it happened suffices for her clipped retelling of events. "I stayed behind enemy lines while he went back to Earth. The Gravemind captured me soon after that. It wanted everything I had on Earth's defenses, but the damned thing was just rotting meat and a grudge, so it couldn't break my security. It had to break me instead."
That perfect AI memory turns into a curse sometimes, processes cropping up as quickly as she can kill them. Cortana can almost feel the pressure again, like a drowning victim struggling to hold their breath because they know it will be their last.
You said you would answer my questions...you should never make a promise you cannot keep.
"...It didn't." And that's that, except for the part where it's so clearly not.
"The Chief came for me, we killed it, and we got on the last shuttle out."