Virtual Reality: Halo

The Marines seemed happy to see the both of us alive. Together, we made our way down the next few hallways, until we finally arrived in one of the dropship hangars.

"I've tracked the signal from the captain's neural implant," Cortana informed all of us. "I've found the hold he is in. It's not far."

"Brilliant," I heard the Master Chief say under his breath. Then the plasma started flying.

I got my shield up just in time to deflect a salve directed at me. The Master Chief started sniping the aliens on the upper floor from behind his energy shield, and one of the Marines died screaming when a supercharged plasma bolt hit him squarely in the chest. I wisely sought cover.

My heart raced as I watched the battle, and I was frantically trying to think of any specifics about this part of the level. Were there hunters? Invisible Elites? I couldn't remember.

I fired a few more shots towards the upper level, where the Jackals were falling like flies. The Master Chief and the Marines were in constant movement on the floor, trying to make it as hard as possible for anyone to hit them with a plasma beam.

When the upper floor was cleared -- at least as far as we could tell, as there wasn't a way for us to get there from were we were -- we moved on. In the next part of the hangar, the fight started up again. There wasn't anything for me to take cover behind at the moment, so I took several steps backwards, intending to retreat to a slightly safer area.

I spun fast when I heard the sound of a door behind me sliding open. I hadn't exactly walked straight backwards. A Grunt charged at me from two meters away, waving his weapon, and I squarely hit him on the nose with mine. He protested and sidestepped. Then, remembering that I could fire the weapon as well, I sent a plasma bolt into the little guy, which sent him sprawling through the hangar. Otherwise, the room was empty, but I could see another door in it, so I decided to keep an eye on this corner.

The hangar was almost cleared when the invisible Elite showed up. I wasn't sure where he had come from, but as soon as I detected the faint, blurry outline moving along a wall, I let out a scream and pointed. The Master Chief was first to react, sending a round of ammunition in the general direction of the Elite, but only a few of them found their targets. The Marines fired as well, trying to spot the blur. As the Master Chief slapped another clip into his assault rifle, he moved closer to me, opening his mouth to say something.

All I heard was the sound of the additional invisible Elite I had not noticed, saying something in that alien language, then a faintly familiar sound of several metal things dropping to the floor and rolling. Then the Master Chief launched himself at me and sent us both flying into the next room. The explosion happened just a split second later, and I screamed when the heat reached me and I shortly felt like a piece of bread in a toaster oven.

My breath firmly left my body as I finally landed on the floor with the Master Chief still on top of me. He got up at once and shielded his face from yet another two or three grenades that exploded on the other side of the wall right outside the door. Then, he fired at whoever had thrown them. Apparently in reaction to the explosion, both of the doors of the room we were in suddenly shut firmly and stayed that way.

"Cortana?" the Master Chief asked, when the usually proximity-triggered door didn't react to his proximity at all.

"I'm working on it," I heard the cool female voice in my ear. I could tell from the sound of plasma impacting the metal walls that the battle was still very much in progress, and I hoped the Marines would be able to manage without the Master Chief for a short time.

"The explosion short-circuited both door controls," Cortana finally reported. "I can't open them. It'll need to be done manually."

"I don't have the equipment," the Master Chief replied, his eyes darting around the room to look for either useful material or a way out. Neither was present, as far as I could tell. He walked to the door and briefly tested its strength by pulling, but was unsuccessful in moving it even a centimeter.

Cortana was silent for a few seconds.

"One of the Marines that were captured with Captain Keyes had a data pad," she said then. "It is still in the hold, but in an extra cell with some human weapons the Covenant confiscated. If we can free them, they may be able to get these doors back open."

"And by 'we'," the Master Chief said, "you mean..."

"The Marines outside," Cortana finished his sentence. "They just killed the second of the Elites."

Indeed, I could no longer hear any plasma fire.

"Good for them," I said.

"Well the good news is," Cortana said, sounding much too cheerful, "the Covenant have no immediate way of getting in here, and they aren't aware you are here. So you're perfectly safe. And..."

She paused, and an explosion shook the entire ship, almost causing the Master Chief to tumble back onto the floor.

"That should keep them busy."

"What was that?" asked the Master Chief.

"A diversion," Cortana said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some Marines to guide. I'm taking the safest route, so this might take a while."

I heard a second's worth of static, then she was gone.

The Master Chief's body was shaking slightly under my hands as I patched him up with biofoam. I knew that he was in pain and exhausted. He had spent the first ten minutes of waiting time pacing up and down, unable to sit still and let everyone else do the work for him. I had finally ordered him to sit down and let me take care of the most recent wounds he had sustained. Now, he sat in front of me half naked and I was carefully touching the white, blood-encrusted skin. The wounds from the hunter's armor were healing rapidly, and I marveled at the miracles the biofoam was accomplishing.

"This stuff is good," I told him, shaking the can. "I wish we had that." I bit my lip when I realized that it probably wasn't wise to make comments such as this, and the Master Chief gave a grunt of dissent.

"What?" I asked.

"There goes that theory."

I laid my hands on his shoulders and attempted to massage out some of the tenseness. "What theory is that?"

"I was thinking you might be a time traveller."

I supposed a thought like this wasn't unreasonable from the information I had given him to work with. He sighed while I kept working the muscles in his massive shoulders.

"But if you were in fact from the future, I would assume you had an even more powerful equivalent of biofoam."

"There might be other explanations for that," I suggested. He was silent for several seconds.

"Are you suggesting that you are, in fact, from the future?"

"It's as close as you're ever going to get," I told him.

He tapped his leg repeatedly with two fingers as he thought.

"What I can't figure out," he said, "Is whether you're here on purpose or by accident. Your lack of preparation and equipment contrasts the fact that you have such extraordinary information about this place, and about me."

"Accident," I told him. "Definitely by accident."

"So how do you know my name?"

"That's a good question," I said, pausing, "and I don't think I can answer it."

He nodded in acceptance. His fingers were still tapping against his leg, and I continued my massage on his upper arms. I had found that I liked touching him. His skin was smooth, and an even ivory color where he wasn't injured or dirty, or had scars. I was careful to avoid the scratches he had sustained.

"Another dimension?" he suggested. "Maybe a slip-space anomaly that caused..." He trailed off, fingers still tapping.

"Trust me," I said. "You're just going to hurt your brain." There was no way I was going to tell him the truth. Apart from the fact that it sounded crazy, I couldn't imagine how he would react when being told that he was nothing but a character in a popular video game. Best case scenario, he would not believe me. Worst case, he would. And I could not imagine what that would do to his psyche. Knowing that he was nothing but a source of entertainment, that his fate was possibly in the hands of some thirteen-year-old kid... I shuddered at the thought. I couldn't do that to him.

He sensed the shudder and turned his head, studying me. I gave him a slightly shaky smile and continued to massage his muscles, but his next question made me withdraw my hands.

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Um," I said. The sudden, fierce blushing of my cheeks seemed explanation enough to him, and he lowered his eyes as well.

I sat there, my heart pounding in my chest. I was embarrassed, but at the same time I considered my situation. Form what I remembered about the rest of the game, there could be only two outcomes for me eventually -- death, or return to the other side of the TV screen. There was no way I would manage to live through the entire game. These were the easy levels, and I had already come close to being killed more times that I could be bothered to count. So in conclusion, I might as well enjoy the moment while I was able to.

I kissed him before I ever really finished my train of thought. He didn't seem as surprised by this as he had been the last time. He responded this time, though reluctantly, and his hand reached out to gently touch my cheek.

Another explosion shook the ship, and we withdrew from each other at once. I was thrown sideways and stayed there, even after the floor was at rest again. The Master Chief looked around the room, frowning.

"Sorry about that," I heard Cortana in my ear. "I needed to draw some more Covenant forces away from the hold area. The Marines ran into more opposition than anticipated."

"Do your best to keep them alive, Cortana," the Master Chief told her, sounding resigned. The AI agreed and broke the connection.

For a brief time we sat there, my face flushed a dark red. I knew I wasn't going to find the courage to kiss him a third time. The Master Chief was tapping his fingers again, obviously restless, but when he finally moved, he grabbed the can of biofoam and looked me over.

"Are you injured?" he asked.

I considered the question. "No. Maybe. I'm not sure." I checked my fatigues for holes or cuts and found one.

"It's no big deal," I announced to him. "Keep that stuff for your own injuries. I'll live."

He moved closer and gently examined the abrasion on my shoulder. I couldn't remember when or where I had gotten that particular injury, I hadn't even noticed it. It stung when the Master Chief plucked the remaining blood-soaked fabric away from the skin, but instead of spraying the wound, he shook his head.

"You'll have to take this off, otherwise the fabric will fuse with your skin while the foam seals the injury, and cause irritation."

He looked tactfully away while I removed the jacket, cradling it protectively in front of me. Then he moved closer again and sealed the injury with biofoam. It stung again, briefly, then he put the can aside.

I waited for him to move away, but instead I suddenly felt one finger running lightly along the curve of my neck and shoulder. When I turned my head, I saw the Master Chief looking at me with something akin to curiosity. I felt goosebumps forming on my skin when his finger wandered back up, lightly brushing my hair aside.

I felt his warm breath on my skin when he shifted closer, then my eyes met his dark ones. I instinctively leaned forward, and he kissed me. This time, he was leading the kiss, almost as if he was getting used to the motions. His hand lingered on my neck. I pressed myself against him, finally dropping the jacket and turning, putting both arms around his neck while I gently parted his lips with my tongue. I shivered when my bare nipples brushed his chest.

He stiffened for a second or so, then relaxed again. His free hand traced the curve of my back several times, as if he was fascinated by the shape. I ran my hand through his closely cropped, dark hair, down his neck and almost jerked it away in surprise when I felt a thick mass of scar tissue and the hard resistance of a foreign object. I realized that this was where his neural interface was implanted. The kiss deepened as the Master Chief seemed to get the hang of tongue action as well, and I wondered when had been the last time he had kissed. I was under the impression that it had been a while. But I didn't mind, in fact, quite the opposite was true.

We broke the kiss shortly when there was a third explosion. Cortana did not inform us of her activity this time around though, which I preferred, since there was nothing we could do at the moment anyway. I briefly wondered if the A.I. knew what we were doing. If she did, she at least wasn't commenting.

The Master Chief's eyes had meanwhile wandered further down, and I was so conscious of his gaze I almost snatched my jacket back up in front of me. But instead I let him reach out and touch me, tracing curves once again, and making me shiver when his finger brushed over my erect nipple. His hands were comfortably warm, and I arched my back when he cupped my breast, still in the manner of careful exploration. The fact that he took his time was starting to drive me just the slightest bit crazy.

I leaned forward to kiss him once more, my hands wandering over his upper body. I traced his scars, then moved further down and boldly tugged at the button of his pants. Once again, I could feel him stiffen under my hands for a second or two, then he relaxed and let me strip him naked.

I hadn't really gotten a good look at his entire body the last time he had lain next to me naked, so now I caught up on that. As before, I marveled at how ghostly pale he was, and how incredibly massive. Of course, he was huge even in fatigues, but only now could I see the lines and sharp curves of his muscles, so densely packed on his body. He was only half aroused, but his size evenly matched the rest of his body. It made me a bit nervous, but still I reached for him and wrapped my hand around his shaft. He made a small sound in his throat, encouraging me. I moistened my lips and bent down, taking him into my mouth.

He tasted slightly salty, probably from sweating, but not unpleasantly so. My tongue ran over the slight ridges of flesh on the underside of his cock, and I could feel him grow larger in my mouth. Several times, I slid my lips as far down as I could without choking and then came back up, sucking as I went. He didn't seem too sure of what to do with his hands, they were stroking my hair, then resting on my shoulders, then he stroked my cheek, but I thought it was cute that this left him so obviously flustered. When I looked up, I could see that his face was flushed, he had his eyes closed in pleasure and he was breathing unevenly now. Seeing him like this made me pretty damn wet as well.

The voice in my ear made me freeze up momentarily.

"The Marines are very close to the hold now," Cortana announced to the both of us. I looked up to find the Master Chief's eyes pop open. During the past few minutes, I had almost completely forgotten where we were, and it appeared that he had allowed himself to do the same. After a few seconds of consideration, I firmly flicked my tongue and watched as he bit his lip, then I returned to the task a hand and left him to deal with the A.I.

"Uh, good," he said, managing to make his voice sound perfectly steady. I felt the muscles of his stomach clench as he talked, then stay that way even after Cortana winked out. He exhaled deeply as I busied myself lapping up his pre-cum, then let him slip from my mouth. He was fully erect now.

He also seemed to have decided to take a more active role in things. Once I withdrew, he pulled me into his lap and kissed me hard, his tongue plunging into my mouth. One of his hands was holding me close while the other was pulling on my fatigue pants, yanking them down my legs. I moaned into his mouth when the zipper scraped my leg. His fingers were already elsewhere by this point, running over my body as if he was taking lightning-quick inventory. His hot breath brushed my skin as he moved his head lower, and I shuddered. I pulled him to my breasts impatiently, and he took the invitation, his lips closing around one of my nipples.

Yet another tremor ran through the ship. The Master Chief used the moment to bring us in a different position, rolling on top of me. I could see just the slightest sheen of perspiration on his upper lip before he kissed me again. He used his massive thigh to part my legs, then lowered his gaze, looking interested.

I moaned out loud when one of his fingers brushed my clit. He took his time exploring, running along my folds with one finger, pushing another inside me. It drove me crazy, and I squirmed against him, gasping when he added another finger to the one inside me. His hands were large enough so this stretched me out a bit. Finally, he found my clit again and watched my reaction as he massaged it thoroughly with his thumb and forefinger, spreading my juices at the same time.

"Please," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut and doing my best to control my bucking hips. I was wildly grinding against him, which he seemed to enjoy. I wanted him to fuck me so badly by this point, it wouldn't have mattered if the Covenant had broken the door down and marched inside the room at this point. But they didn't, and I spread my legs further in invitation until I could feel him move fully on top of me and then start to slide inside me.

He felt as big as he looked -- a little too big if I was honest with myself. I gasped when his filling me got to the point of pain, biting my lip and then burying my nails in his shoulders. I didn't want him to stop, but I did hurt like hell.

"John," I whispered, and he gave me a comforting kiss. I opened my eyes and looked into his, reading real emotion in them for the first time. There was fear, and lust, and dozens of traces of other feelings bubbling to the surface. He was usually so guarded about what showed on his face that this came as a surprise to me. I touched his cheek, trying to be comforting. He continued to push inside me, and I could feel myself stretching around him like a rubber band.

"Elizabeth," I heard him murmur, the first time he had ever used my name. I smiled and enjoyed the feeling of relief when he was finally fully inside me, I could feel his hips grinding against mine, and the pain lessened.

"Just Liza," I told him.

"Liza," he repeated, an actual smile on his face. He pulled out suddenly, making me gasp when I was left empty. I strained to pull him closer again. When he did push into me once more, there was less pain, and a lot more pleasure that made me moan out loud and drag my nails across his shoulders.

Impatiently, I raised my hips.

"Please," I begged him. "Please, faster."

He did me the favor. Smoothly, the pace of him sliding in and out of me increased, and I heard the slightest of grunts from him together with the slapping of his flesh against mine. My heart was hammering in my chest as I urged him on.

We both froze when we heard a burst of static from our earpieces once more. The Master Chief was hovering above me, trying to get his breathing under control, his eyes closed. Cortana spoke just a moment later.

"We got the captain and the data pad and are now on our way back to you."

"Good," the Master Chief said, not looking happy about that particular prospect. I could feel his muscles tense and used the opportunity to gently push him away from me. He looked mildly surprised by my actions, but obeyed and rolled over onto his back. I was on top of him in one swift movement, and I closed my eyes and moaned in enjoyment when I sank fully onto him. It felt even better now that I had gotten used to his size and was in control.