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A rush of people ebbed around Chief as they made their way into GameStop. They grabbed copies of Halo 3: ODST, ran to receive their pre-orders, and dug out their wallets for much needed cash.
"If only people were as enthusiastic about buying UNSC war bonds" Cortana remarked "Maybe the war effort would have had more money to combat the Covenant".
As John stood there, he was met with a tap on his shoulder again, but it was the same man in plastic MJORNIR.
"I don't think we got acquainted" he said outstretching his hand "My name is Josh Harding".
Chief was about to say he was Spartan-117, but thought against it, "My name is John". "John what?" Josh asked. "John...Nolastname" Chief answered, obviously foggy on what he actual last name was. "Say, you didn't get a copy" Josh noticed "Want to come to my apartment to play ODST?".
John thought about it, going with this guy would provide him a base of operations in this strange world and this Josh posed no real threat to a highly-trained Spartan such as himself.
"Sure" John finally decided.
They got in Josh's Ford pick-up and drove off. The ride included John's silence and Josh's recital of his vast knowledge of the "Halo Universe". It was odd, how could this man of the past know so much information of the UNSC and Covenant, classified or not.
Josh's apartment could only be described as geek central, well that's how Cortana described it. He had three computer monitors, a wrap-around desk, a big screen television, a fridge full of energy drink, mountain dew, and one carton of milk, and a large bookcase that was filled with DVDs and videogames. Somehow, Josh had managed to remain surprisingly fit.
Josh took off his plastic armor, sat on his couch, and turned on a white box. The words Xbox 360 flashed on the TV. Some menu maneuvering later and the opening cinematic of Halo 3: ODST was playing. ODSTs were discussing a mission, but Chief wasn't listening. He casually moved to the computer, pulled Cortana from his helmet, and found her drive could attach to the USB port.
Cortana's avatar appeared on the screen in a burst of blue light. Josh turned around and freaked out.
"What the -blam!- is this man" Josh asked "What the -blam!- did you just do?".
Before John could explain, Cortana did.
"Listen, this is Spartan-117 and I am Cortana, we are real" she said "We somehow travelled to your time after we destroyed the Ark".
It seemed Cortana's explanation wasn't quite getting through to Josh. He was beginning to hyperventilate until John handed him the Xbox controller. For some reason, that calmed him down.
"Now let's stay focused" John said "We need to work together to figure this out". "This is just so weird Master Chief" Josh responded "I mean how the heck is this even possible, you're a videogame character!". "Looks like we're pretty real" Cortana countered "And we need your help to keep the fact we exist secret".
Made sense to Chief, their presence could lead to panic one way or another. Deep down, he really hoped he could just live a normal life now. During the war, he never felt this way, but the war was over.
"I'm going to get this armor off" John announced as he walked to the bathroom. While he was gone, Josh and Cortana continued their chat.
"So why do you need to be in my computer?" Josh asked the AI "In the games you can just project yourself in a 3D model". Cortana replied with a laugh at Josh's naivety "Do you see a holoprojector around here?". Embarrassed, Josh just shrugged.
Before he could sit down though, Cortana had one last thing to say, "While I'm here, do you think you could stop looking at -blam!-?" Cortana said with disgust "I don't want a virus, no matter how low tech it is".
John walked back to the living room and Josh was in shock at his presence. Chief was as tall as he was described to be, he had a shaved head, and he was wearing Josh's clothing.
"Had to borrow some of your clothes" John said "Hope you don't mind".
Nope Josh thought Not at all.
They both sat down and Josh offered John the controller. John had never played a videogame before so he had a hard time figuring out what to do. The ODST he controlled walked against walls, jumped at random, and got killed by a Grunt because he didn't know how to fire.
"Eh...let me show you the moves" Josh suggested to which John agreed.