Loss is simply a fact, entropy the foreordained victor in all things, and the best anyone can do is avoid thinking about it. As far as Cortana's concerned, the half-formed vision of Reach was a slip, something that won't happen again. In the background of her thoughts the blueprints of the cruiser rotate around its center of mass and reform themselves into an exploded view, collapse to unity again, rotate another along another axis, fly to pieces again...a machine mantra to make sense of a world of illusion.

"I couldn't fit in the implant even if Theta weren't already there." It should be banter, but her tone is too flat as she drops the chip into North's gloved hand. "This will just give me a place to jump if the body gets destroyed."