There is an empty bus stop in front of a dense forest. A bus comes by and stops at the bus stop then after a few seconds it leaves. Now standing in the once empty bus stop is our Crimson soldier, Ash. With a suitcase next to him.

"I can't believe I missed my flight." Ash complains. "Had to take a stupid bus, it was a long ride!" Ash grumbles as he walks into the forest.

"Who even schedules a flight at 3:32 in the morning!" Ash complains as he walks though the forest. 

Ash walks deeper into the forest. "They don't even take Discover Card! Like seriously!"

Ash walks through a stream. "And they won't even allow me to bring any explosives." Ash groans. "Like it's my only unique character design is explosives and weapons!" 

Ash stops walking. "And Caboose just wouldn't stop talking till he got to his stop." Ash then looks down at Battye Bombs, Citron Foug and Sigwart. "At least you guys don't talk too much. ...." Ash laughs. "You guys are so funny!"

Ash continues to walk through the forest. "I'm gonna miss my old team... Well, mainly just Simmons and Sarge. Grif is just to stupid too miss, And Donut is.... Donut."

Ash keeps walking and he hops over a stump. "I'm gonna miss someone yelling at me that I'm crazy or insane every morning. Well, maybe my new Commander will yell at me. Then I can blow up the Dirty Blues." 

Ash's laugh echoes through the forest. 

Ash then comes to a tunnel and he walks through it. "Who even builds a base in the middle of a large forest?"

Ash gets to the end of a tunnel and sees a small town.

(It's just Ghost town from Halo 3, but not run down.)

Ash looks around. "Hello?" No response. "Private Cyprus Ash, reporting for duty!"

Ash looks around waiting for a response. "Is there anyone even here?" Ash yells.

Ash walks into the town and looks around. "Are there any Reds here?" Ash yells. "You may respond if you're a blue, but I won't promise not to shoot you!"

Ash keeps walking around. "I do hope you have good insurance! 'Cause my experiments like to explode!"

Ash stops walking. "Was there some kind of miscommunication?"

Something pink flashes off to the side and Ash turns to see a flashy pink figure walk up some stairs.

"Hello?" Ash asks as he follows after the pink person.

"Will I ever see you again?" A female voice appears in Ash's mind.

The pink flashy person walks around a corner.

"Of course." Ash? hears himself in his mind. "I promise."

Ash comes to a room on the second level of a building. He sees a box in the middle of the room with a weird symbol on it.

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep." The female voice says in his mind.

Ash walks over to the box and crouches down to it and opens it. Inside is a knife in a sheath and a weird chip.

Ash picks up the chip and looks at it.

"Take her somewhere safe." Ash? hears himself say.

"I will, you have my word." Tex says.

"What's this?" Ash asks as he looks at the chip.

Suddenly the chip lights up and a small pink figure appears from the chip. 

A pink figure teal eyes look around the room then land on Ash. "Ahhh!" The pink girl yells in suprise.

"Ahh!" Ash yells in surprise and he drops the chip on the ground.

"Ahh!"

"AHH!" Ash jumps back and out of a hole in the wall and falls two stories down and lands face first on the ground. "OW!"

The small pink figure flashes over to the edge and looks down. "That looked like it hurt." She says.

A little later.

The pink figure and it's chip is on a table and Ash is looking down to her.

"So, you're an A.I-" Ash starts.

"Fragment." She corrects.

"A.I. Fragment from Project Freelancer. And your name is Xi."

"Yes."

"And you were assigned to Agent Minnesota."

"That's correct."

"And you're saying I sound and look like him?" Ash asks.

"No, you are him." Xi corrects.

"But that doesn't make any sense. I'm just a simple Red soldier that has no memory before entering the army."

"That means something happened to you after you had me shutdown and hidden away."

"I had you hidden away?" Ash asks. "Why?"

"You said it was for my safety."

"Safety?" 

"Dangerous things were happening, and you feared for my safety so you had entrusted agent Texas and Agent York with my safety." Xi clarifies. 

"Agent York?" Ash asks.

"Another Agent of Project Freelancer."

Ash groans. "So many things, it makes my head hurt..... Now my shoulder hurts."

Xi hums. "It seems you don't have your implants. So if you can Minnesota, please pick me up and insert me in the back of your helmet."

"OK?" Ash picks up Xi's chip and inserts it in the back of his helmet. "Wow, so that's what that little port if for."

Xi appears in front of Ash. "It's nice to be back in your service again, Minnesota."

"Um.... Call me, Ash. It feels weird to be called Minnesota."

"Alright."

"And I'll call you Emily." Ash says.

"Why Emily?" Xi asks.

"I dunno, I like the name. But I guess we have a lot of time to talk."

"We have many things to talk about. What should we start with, Ash?"

"How about, Explosives."

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07-06-2022