Human Weakness

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The cover of Human Weakness as illustrated by Michael Rookard

Human Weakness is a story in Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, based upon the events of Cortana after John-117's departure to Earth at the end of Halo 2 and ends with John rescuing Cortana in Halo 3.

Throughout it the Gravemind tortures Cortana in an attempt to force her to give it knowledge about Earth. Throughout, the Gravemind taunts her with the vast amount of knowledge which it could offer her, before causing crippling self-doubt in Cortana by mysteriously accessing her files, making it appear as though it can read her mind. Eventually, it tries to convince her that she means nothing to her human creators, especially Dr. Halsey, and to John-117. The Gravemind also shows Cortana "what it is like to be human" by showing her the memories of Eugene Yate, a Marine in the UNSC who had been consumed by the Flood, therefore forcing her into painful torture as she relived his violent memories. It even allows her message about the Portal to be sent to Earth (although it didn't know the contents of the message). The short story also mentions the connections between humans and AIs, as when Cortana is in control of a starship, the ship is essentially her body and the sensors act as her senses. She explains that she is not all that unlike a human, and that each second to a human provides much greater amounts of time for her to process information. This story also explores the possibility that Cortana has gone Rampant after all the data she has absorbed on Alpha Halo.

Characters

• Cortana
• Gravemind
• Eugene Yate
• Master Chief Petty Officer John-117

Trivia

• When the Gravemind is talking, Cortana interrupts, asking it why it always talks in rhyme. She then says "Nothing personal, but you're no Keats." John Keats was an English poet who became one of the key figures of the romantic movement.
• The Gravemind mentions how it has "consumed" other AIs, except for one, which it spared.
• Cortana thinks to herself of what she did to Ackerson, and how she began to regret those actions. She makes note of her knowledge of Ackerson's death, though how she is aware of that is unknown.