Cortana and bridges.

[wolfriordan]

Does anyone know any explanation given for why if Cortana could physically manifest herself from hard light technology, and she'd long wanted to physically touch the chief, (probably long wanted to physically touch literally anything, having had no body previously.) she completely passed up such an opportunity on any of the several occasions when hard light bridges are present? The earliest to my knowledge being the hard light bridge in Halo CE that you activate in that unnatural cave formation, although there are others. Additionally, if she could have made herself hard light through the use of forerunner tech, why did she only use this ability after the human-covenant war? Are we to believe that her hard light body would have been vulnerable to plasma weapons? Seems like in Halo CE you should power up the bridge and Cortana should stop you all excited, plug in, and hop out of the bridge, pick up a plasma rifle and hop in the passenger seat of your warthog with a big stupid grin on her face as she touches everything within reach.

 

[ReClaimer8015]

Tis makes no sense at all to me too.
But why does everyone assume that this was the first time Cortana "touched" something? A.I.s aren't purely their mind only. They hook up to many machines simultaneously, from drones to massive UNSC ships. These are the sensors they experience the World through. They can indeed switch bodies. What they are able to do is beyond human understanding. The wish to touch John is probably what comes from Cortanas origin. Birthed by a clone of Halseys brain she carries human wishes and needs deep inside her.

UNSC A.I.s of later generations which are created by other A.I. maybe won't have these strong urges anymore.

It just shows how important humans (including the storytellers) think there ways to exist are.

 

[ReClaimer8015]

If Cortana has access to the domain, she is almost immortal. Destroy her hard light body and she will respawn somewhere else in the galaxy.
But the domain is neurotech and can be destroyed by what.......?!

A HALO!!!
Maybe we will get to fire a halo next game
I would just like to do it myself rather than be done in a cut scene. Havoks aren't good enough anymore, I wan't the big stick!

 

[wolfriordan]

Y'know, I hadn't considered that she has indeed had a physical presence before in the form of ships and any other physical device she has interfaced with. Which would actually include the chief's armour. Which means she's technically encasing the chief through most of the series. But, none of those mechanical forms include a capacity for the sense of touch. So, though she has likely had opportunity to physically manipulate her environment before, she still hasn't really had an opportunity to /feel/ her environment. Nor has she felt the chief, despite occupying a suit that touches his flesh directly. Touching his armour is the most she's ever /felt/ him or anything else, except for maybe the Didact.

 

[ReClaimer8015]

Well, now that she has that new body, she probably could do more than touch the chief a little Oh my...

But forerunner tech can't fully transform her into a human. Or can it?
The Composer could transform biological life once into digital form, but not back again. Would be an interesting plot twist if she would be defeated and punished by being made human.....