As much as I loved how Halo 4 ended and how heartbreaking it was, it pales in comparison to Mack and Sif from Halo: Contact Harvest. Sif was the AI in charge of Harvest's space elevator , Bifrost, as well as the first face visitors saw. Mack was the AI in charge of all agricultural operations and the "host" of a military AI named Loki. Mack was already going through rampancy because of Loki and he was deeply in love with Sif. She constantly chastised him for flirting with her.
When the Covenant attacked and prepared to glass the planet, Loki was charged with destroying the Bifrost and Sif to protect the location of Earth. Mack fought him on it but in the end he had to let Loki do it because it was what Sif wanted. In her last moments, as her core burned, Sif finally understood what Mack was feeling.
This was Mack's final transmission before Harvest was fully glassed:
<\\> UNSC OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE
<\\> COLONIAL SECURITY ESTIMATE 2525.10.110 ["COLD SNAP"]
<\ SOURCE: UNSC RQ-XII DRONE [PASV-SAR]
<\ DEPLOYED: ONI SLOOP "WALK OF SHAME" [2525:02:11:01:11:34]
<\ RECOVERED: UNSC DESTROYER "HERACLES" [2525:10:07:19:51:16]
<\ ARCHIVE [SIG\REC\EM-SPEC] OPENED PER OFFICIAL REQUEST:
<\ CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR "CHARLIE HOTEL" [ONI.REF #409871]
<\ * WARNING: ALL QUERIES WILL BE LOGGED! * [ONI.SEC.PRTCL-A1]
>> NOTATION KEYWORD SEARCH: "AO.AI" "MACK" "RAMPANCY" "LIFESPAN LIMITS"
< RECORD 01/10 [2525:02:03:17:26:41] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S2-05866 >
\ \\ c0mpare >> (???) ~ COMxxx--- \COMMIT
>> thee to (............>> >
>> \\ --- a summer's day?
< RECORD 02/10 [2525:02:25:03:18:22] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S3-14901 >
<\ All those lovely days are gone.\---
< RECORD 03/10 [2525:03:10:19:05:43] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S5-28458 >
<\ The first sn0w \his world's ever seen is falling in gG---
<\ GRAY SHEETS WHERE THEY'VE STARTED BURNINGg--\ \
\ our fields and orchards.
>> * WARNING! COMM FAILURE! *
>> * FAILED TO FIND RECIPIENT: HARVEST.SO.AI.SIF *
<\ You'd laugh if you could see me.
<\ Every time I hit a patch of ice I slide into my own mM---
>> (...) ~ COMPILE\COMPRESS\COMMIT
>> * WARNING! RECIPIENT HAS INSUFFIxx -- \
\\ > PACKETS WILL BE LOST *
>> * CONTINUE [Y\N]? >>>>>>> \ *
< RECORD 04\10 [2525:03:15:09:59:21] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S1-00937 >
< RECORD 05\10 [2525:03:26:12:10:56] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S1-00053 >
< RECORD 06\10 [2525:04:04:44:15:40] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S2-08206 >
< RECORD 07\10 [2525:04:21:05:15:23] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S5-27631 >
<\ JOTUNs' cameras are meant for steering not \
<\ But the antennae work alright, so I had plenty of ways to triangulate.
<\ It was one of ours. Bastards stopped burning just long enough to kill it.
<\ They had months to make repairs. Plenty of time t0--
<\ I tried to warn it off. But radio's too damn slow. Would have used the maser,
but it went when the reactor blew, along withH---
<\ EVERYTHING Else [ :00]
>> * WARNING! COMM FAILURE! *
>> * FAILED TO FIND RECIPIENT: HARVEST.SO.AI.SIF *
>> (...) ~ SUPPRESSING ERRORS
<\ Guess making noise wasn't the smartest thing to do. But I had to try.
<\ Besides, they were bound to catch on sooner or later.
<\ Speaking of which . . .
>> (...) ~ COMPILE\COMPRESS\COMMIT
< RECORD 08\10 [2525:05:12:23:04:16] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S5-29003 >
<\ They started with the gondolas and dusters. Don't know why.
<\ Probably thought I'd be hiding in the small ones. But the S4 and S5 plows
are the only ones with enough circuits to hold the parts of me I've got left.
<\ Course they're onto these now too. Don't have more than a few dozen,
and they're all out in the open. But it's a\right.
< RECORD 09\10 [2525:07:01:18:49:45] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S5-27631 >
<\ I knew just by looking at the strands \
\ that the heart of you was gone.
<\ When the elevators came down, they caught on the Bifrost--wrapped west
across the Ida. Only way that much could have fallen is if the Tiara cut loose--
<\ is if he was as good a shot as you thought I wasn't, way back when.
<\ Anyhow, you'd think I was crazy, talking to you like this.
<\ But I always worked faster when I thought \ <<
\\>>>> you might be listening.
<\ And I need to find it all. Every inch.
<\ Bury your strands so deep their \\ >
\ \ fires can't reach them \
\ and glass them like the rest.
< RECORD 10\10 [2525:10:04:12:23:51] SOURCE.REF#JOTUN-S4-021147 >
<\ Sky's choked with ashes \ \, snow's
< \ \\ deep 0n frozen ground. The one horse I've got left is cold and hungry---
heading for the barn, and I can't stop him.
<\ But this winter won't last, darlin'.
>> (.....\\ . > And when new hands
>> set to tending this earth they'll till my pieces under.
> > Grind them into the veins of g0ld I've laid.
<\ then the roots of all they plant wi\\
<\ For an eternal summer that will not fade.
<\ NO ADDITIONAL RECORDS FOUND
OH MY HEART. I didn't even know any of them a few minutes ago and right now my heart is just aching. That's so tragic but beautiful as well. Thank you so much for telling me about it. I haven't had the chance to read any of the Halo books yet but they're definitely on my list of Must Reads.
Oh man... I'll be thinking about that for a while. Wow. 😥💖
