Inconsistencies between Halo REACH (game) and The Fall of Reach (book) (Spoilers within…)

Question

In the original game, Halo for the Xbox, Master Chief is introduced to Cortana at the beginning of the game as if the two had never ever met before. Cortana is loaded into Master Chief's suit, and she remarks upon how similar the suits architecture is to the Pillar of Autumn's (the ship).

Also, in the game Halo REACH, a prequel to Halo, the story follows a Spartan as they deliver Cortana, from some facility where she appears to be gathering data, to the Pillar of Autumn as it makes its escape from the planet REACH. The Master Chief is already aboard the Autumn.

These two events appear to coincide, with the end result that Master Chief and Cortana end up on the same ship where they are introduced.

However - The book, The Fall of Reach seems to detail things differently, while at the same time being acknowledged as official canon by Bungie. As I understand it, Halo REACH and The Fall of REACH chronicle the same event but from two different view points (Master Chief's point of view, and the NOBLE Team's point of view).

In the book, Master Chief meets Cortana at a training ground on REACH before the covenant invade the planet. Master Chief and Cortana actually build up a substantial relationship before the events of the original Halo game.

Contrary to the events of Halo REACH, the book describes how Master Chief and Cortana are already together when they board the Pillar of Autumn before it leaves the planet REACH. There is no delivery described.

Is there any clarification for these inconsistencies? Are they just artefacts that can be dismissed due to the fact that The Fall of REACH was written a long time before Halo REACH?

Even if that is the case, the book contradicts the introduction scene at the beginning of the original Halo. The book was written after the original game, so it should have taken its events into account.

Answer

I was under the impression that it is possible to split (fork) an AI and merge it back later. This is common practice in programming. From what I assumed, it's possible that the AI deliver to the Pillar of Autumn in Reach is a copy of Cortana containing data about Halo. The two copies would have been merged once back on the ship. This would explain also Cortana's jump coordinates that "coincidentally" had the Autumn arrive at the first Halo.

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