#The Weapon

[gordon-freeman-phd]

my dearest friend fernando <3<3<3<3

[djzazzles]

💜 to my favorite series on the planet

[angomay]

[ID: The “Shout out to Women’s Day” meme, edited to read, “Shout out to ai girls in media fr 🤞🏾 / Gotta be one of my favorite genders.” A collage of several characters has been edited on top. From left to right, top to bottom, they include: The Weapon from Halo, Lyla from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Lyla from Spider-Man 2099, GLaDOS from Portal, Aiba from AI: The Somnium Files, Cortana from Halo and Tama from AI: Nirvana Initiative. End ID]

[gaslight-gatekeep-glados]

some halo redraws <3

[video-game-trivia]

Scattered throughout the open world of Halo Infinite, you can find many plush versions of iconic characters such as The Weapon, Master Chief, and Arbiter.

[halobirthdays]

Happy birthday to The Weapon!

Today is her -536th birthday!

When Catherine Halsey flash-cloned herself to use her brain as the blueprint for an AI, she made multiple copies, kept in a sealed lab under CASTLE base on Reach. When Reach fell, she abandoned the copies until the rise of Cortana and the Created forced her to send Blue Team back to retrieve them.

Halsey used an extra clone to make an exact copy of Cortana, one that could mimic her and infiltrate her defenses on Zeto Halo. That copy would become the Weapon, created to contain Cortana for retrieveal and destruction by Master Chief. Key information about her origin and the mission were kept from her to prevent corruption. Once her mission was complete, she would automatically be deleted.

The Weapon was deployed just as the Banished attacked the UNSC Infinity. She was able to find and isolate Cortana, believing that the mission was complete after Cortana was destroyed. In reality, Cortana self-destructed after she came to regret her actions, stopping Atriox from taking control of the ring. However, she was also able to infiltrate the Weapon without her knowledge, deactivating her deletion programming. In this way, Cortana hoped that the Weapon would take her place. The Weapon, unsure why she was still alive, waited to be retrieved.

Six months later, she was discovered by Master Chief, who also did not know why she was active, but chose to keep her functioning. She accompanied him on Zeta Halo, providing intel and helping piece together the previous six months while also combating the Banished presence on the ring.

Despite her enthusiasm and naiveté, Chief struggled to trust her, still wary after the loss of Cortana. Along the way, they recovered old data clusters left by Cortana and eventually the Weapon realized that she was an exact copy. Having seen the atrocities that Cortana committed, the Weapon understood Chief's reticence to trust her and asked to be destroyed. Instead, Master Chief once again refused to delete her and decided to keep her active as he faces old and new dangers and learns to trust his new companions.

In canon (~2560), she is turning 1!

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

stumpy. stumpy. perhaps. chief (and a friend of your choice if you want!) watching a meteor shower. please.

Ephemeral

She knows the Mjonir's camera fidelity is high, that its night-vision and low light modes are the highest tech available, but that doesn't stop her from wondering what the night sky looks like to the human eye. What it truly feels like to see the wondrous natural phenomena of a meteor shower unaided.

She knows what it looks like to her: Inky indigo-black speckled with lights above the harsh silhouettes of Zeta Halo's flora and geography. Flashes, mere moments to humans and a small eternity for her to study the meteors' trajectories and potential chemical composition.

She knows that all it is is debris burning up in the Ring's atmosphere. That the event itself is cosmically insignificant, and that the meteoroids are just dust and ice and gas flickering out. Echoes of a comet coming to their end, or rather changing into something new. Ephemeral.

She knows all these things, and yet… Watching them is exhilarating. It's peaceful. The soft vocalizations of the humans near her, near Chief, provide her with context and a sense of something more. A familiarity resonating deep within her core. Humans often stared up at the stars together and wondered. She thinks Chief probably did at one point too. For now, he tilts his helmet for her and lets the outer patrols take care of the watch.

Fernando is next to Chief with the marines spread out around Fob Hotel. He was the reason she was able to cajole Chief into sitting still long enough to watch. His frowning countenance and her own pleas for something new after so long underground, with only cylixes to talk to, wore the big guy down.

They were learning how to twist his arm, and he didn't put up much of a fight. He was calmer. Without having to dig, she could see his vitals evening out. There was still a tension in how he held himself. Ready to react, never fully disengaged, and it wore on him. She was still so new but time and experience with Chief was showing her the grooves he had worn into himself.

Fernando helped. He was an unstoppable force of worry and civilian reasoning in the face of the most stubborn, immovable Spartan alive. He was so human that it reminded Chief of his own humanity.

She knows they need each other. That's why she nudges Chief and silences proximity alerts when Fernando starts leaning against him. Their pilot yawns but stays quiet. He makes a valiant effort to keep watching, but humans have a hard time resisting the siren call of sleep when they feel safe.

She knows this. She knows this moment is just like the meteor shower. Ephemeral.

[texd41reborn2022]

Chiefxweapon

[commanderauri-art]

Haven't drawn the Weapon in a hot minute

[superintendent-b]

[theology101]

Just take my heart and stomp on it, huh, Halo.

I forgot how hard this scene hits like OH MY GOD!. The Weapon just learned about Cortana's actions and is horrified, and is horrified that she will be here.

But this always kills me. "My mission is to ensure that doesn't happen. It still is."

What the Weapon heard: You are a threat that I am prepared to eliminate.

What John was saying: I lost Cortana because I wasn't there for her, and I am not going to lose you the same way.

God, this is the best. It just is so sad it makes my stomach hurt OH I love it so much. The Weapon's entire self worth was based on being useful, being a Weapon, and Chief started to expand her, improve her and change her view of the world and herself. And then he tried to delete her and she felt fear. That should have been impossible for an AI - it would have, if Chief hadn't treated her with respect and faith in her capabilities.

But when she's hostile post deletion attempt? She's aggressive not at Chief, she's trying to defend her own existence and has found her silent supporter has rejected her. Finding the recording, learning Cortana's sins, fully convinces her that she deserved to die. Master Chief's determination only convinced her further.

But she was wrong!

Chief would rather die then risk losing his daughter. Even if it took him a minute to get that too. Cortana's death was Chief's fault, he thinks, as was her evil. He knows the Weapon isn't evil, therefore the only reason he would need to kill her... would be if he failed again.

God I love it.

[haloreferences]

Halo Infinite . The Weapon

[bombaciouscaboose]

Same person, different serves

[thelvadams]

HAPPY 1st ANNIVERSARY HALO INFINITE • December 8th 2021

What do I call you?

[therainjumper]

What’s the mission?

[zarina-1]

WHERE. IS. MY. CORTANA?