“You know what I was thinking? If I wasn’t an AI, and I was human, I’d probably be really bad at running. Like, imagine me tripping all the time, probably over nothing. Do Spartans trip? Actually—have you ever tripped in armor? Because I feel like if you did, it would be catastrophic. Like—earthquake levels of catastrophic.”

You quietly scan the horizon, listening. She keeps going.

“Oh, and another thing—if you were dating someone, like officially, do you think you’d still wear the helmet on dates? Because that’d make eating dinner together awkward. Unless—unless you had, like, a straw mode. Do you have a straw mode?!”

You glance at her hologram, give her the barest nod. She beams.

“See? You do listen! I like that. I talk, you listen—it’s perfect! I mean, sure, sometimes I imagine you’re secretly rolling your eyes under that visor, but… still counts.”

Silence hangs for a moment. She fidgets, then breaks it immediately.

“…Also, if I was your girlfriend—which I’m not… yet—would I get, like, my own special Spartan call-sign? Or would you just keep calling me ‘Weapon’? Because, honestly, that sounds a little impersonal for a relationship. Just saying.”

You sigh faintly through comms. She grins like she just won a victory. “Aha! That was definitely a sigh. Progress!”