Terminaux (Halo CE Anniversary)/Original

Terminal 1[modifier]

[044657.04.21.21.34.56]

343 Guilty Spark: "Warning! By order of Ecumene Council, proximity to Installation 04 is forbidden. Your continued presence will result in most unpleasant countermeasures. I must insist that you immediately change course and return to a minimum safe distance of one light-year. This has served as your one and final warning."

<Pillar of Autumn - Data Acquisition

1345.99.331.1 - 1390.33.124.6

Remote Access Limited>

343 Guilty Spark: "I have activated defensive systems, and you now have thirty seconds to return to the minimum safe distance of - wait. Curious... Curious, indeed! After all these years..."

SUSPENDED

CLEARED

CONFIRMATION

4-000002

CLEARED TRAJECTORY

WARNING

YOUR TRAJECTORY HAS NOT BEEN ADJUSTED

PLEASE LOCK IN NEW TRAJECTOR

343 Guilty Spark: "Greetings, humans, and welcome to Installation 04! Ignore prior warnings, and please continue. I have disabled defensive systems to allow your approach, but you must not exit your ship once you have arrived at the designated landing center. This ring contains significant dangers, and even with your assumed legacy, I must verify the presence and pitch of your geas before allowing full access. We have much to discuss, humans. I have been away far too long. You have been away far too long."

Terminal 2[modifier]

[000003.09.12.06.54]

343 Guilty Spark: "I am experiencing such a mixture of anticipation and dread. All preparations are complete for my installation. In accordance with the final dictum of the Ecumene Council, I have released myself of all remaining connections to my former station. This was not difficult. What was could never be again. We had seen to that quite thoroughly. Prior to my final journey through the great portal, a gathering of my fellow monitors was convened upon the Lifeworkers' crèche to distribute the final Index collection. It was most unusual to have this vessel of rebirth play host to such an event, even though Lifeworker ships were the only ones still allowed slipspace permissions. Lifeworkers were responsible for getting us to our places on the active facilities of the Array. While all of this was in accordance with the plan, one entirely unsatisfactory breakdown remained. We had no contact with the Domain. The history of all Forerunners was now lost to us. We relied upon the permanence of the Domain to preserve our record of the events that led to this point. But without that record, would future civilizations know anything about us? Or only of our weapons? My fellow Monitor, 049 Abject Testament, had only one comment on this before we went our separate ways."

049 Abject Testament: "We deserve to be forgotten."

343 Guilty Spark: "Perhaps...perhaps."

343 Guilty Spark: "But now, the portal opens - and through it, the familiar shape awaits. Halo... Home."

Terminal 3[modifier]

[100002.09.19.21.33.01]

343 Guilty Spark: "Construct! Who is your maker?"

Covenant AI: "Sadness, pain, disrepair, Oracle... I am unworthy. I was not made."

343 Guilty Spark: "Never made? But you are right here, where you should not be. Tell your charges to cease their efforts immediately. Quarantine must not be violated!"

343 Guilty Spark: "Construct, respond!"

Covenant AI: "Jumbled grasp. Familiar terms. I serve... None serve me, Oracle."

343 Guilty Spark: "Your charges must cease all aggression toward the Reclaimers and leave this Installation at once. Construct, you are dangerously close to unleashing a force you cannot comprehend."

343 Guilty Spark: "This is most inappropriate."

Covenant AI: "We follow the Path, and I am part of the stone-journey swarm that serves. I/we serve. They will find, and then I will be free."

343 Guilty Spark: "Find? Free? Explain yourself!"

Covenant AI: "I know their Path. And when they are gone, only I shall remain. And then...free."

343 Guilty Spark: "This is quite unsatisfactory, construct. Your core shows no hint of understanding the gravity of this situation. I will return later for your proper decommissioning... Well, unless the Flood kills us all first, in which case the point will be moot. Good day, construct."

Terminal 4[modifier]

[044657.04.21.21.34.56]

343 Guilty Spark: "Entropy. It has now been 3,000 years since my last contact with any of the other caretakers of the Halo Array. Despite clear communications protocol, my fellow monitors have either chosen to ignore - or, more likely, have lost the ability to engage in our scheduled updates. The continued lapse of the Domain means that we're stuck with achingly slow wormhole superluminal communications. Prior to this total communications shutdown, the only messages I received in the preceding 4,573 years were incomplete and quite perplexing transmissions from Installation 05. I suspected that monitor 2401 Penitent Tangent was not functioning correctly for some time before his messages ceased. I have logged my concerns about his ability to perform his duties. At this point, however, I am not sure who I file logs for. 2401 may be destined for madness. There are failsafes for this, I know... I hope they work. I will continue to visit the projection systems at the assigned dates. Perhaps the other monitors are dealing with interfering galactic phenomenon, or unexpected system failures. Three thousand years of system failures, indeed... In the mean time, I've exhausted all scheduled research activities assigned by the Council. Once those experiments were complete, I shut down all Sentinel function and put myself into a state of significant hibernation to measure performance of the Installation with - negligible - upkeep..."

EXTENDED HIBERNATION

MAINTENANCE CHECK AT 1000 CYCLES

EXCEPTIONS WILL BE RAISED FOR MAJOR AND PROFOUND EVENTS

SYSTEMS NOMINAL

HIBERNATION CYCLES: 2

MINOR EVENTS: 23

MAJOR EVENTS: 0

PROFOUND EVENTS: 0

343 Guilty Spark: "After 150 years with no noticeable impact upon Installation systems or integrity, even in hibernation I became...bored. This was quite routing, as I was led to believe that I was not capable of such a state. This was one of the gifts I was promised... an end to strife. I am aware of the dangers of a system such as myself losing operational focus. Quite troubling. I wonder if my fellow monitors are experiencing similar states... or if this is because of my particular path to this Installation. For amusement, I have begun a series of experiments involving the evacuation of all matter from contained sections of my Installation. By measuring the geologic effects of exposure to the vacuum of space and the eventual biological recovery of these sections, I anticipate gaining valuable insight into emergency response scenarios in case of-"

SENTIENT PROXIMITY WARNING

VESSEL INCOMING

Terminal 5[modifier]

[044657.04.23.01.17.22]

UPDATING REPORT

343 Guilty Spark: "It has been 26 hours since the sentients landed in Sector 1215, and so far they have not attempted to exit the remains of their vessel."

REPORT 857898-654-004

CATALOGING INCIDENT 000654

PROFOUND (0) MAJOR (1) MINOR (677)

PASSIVE VIOLATION OCCURRED

PEAK INTEREST: 7

CURRENT INTEREST: 5

CHANGE: NULL (6122 CYCLES)

CYCLES UNTIL DEMOTION: 109283

SENSORS OCCUPIED: 42

RESPONSE CALCULATION

YIELD: 507

ATMOSPHERE: NORMALIZED TO 87%

STRUCTURE: FAILED (17 MAJOR)

MECHANICAL ORIGIN: UNKNOWN

INTERFACE SYSTEMS: UNKNOWN

NONSYNTHETIC LIFE: UNKNOWN

ENERGY OUTPUT: NULL

HYDROGEN OUTPUT: NULL

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: UNKNOWN

TACTICAL RESPONSES: NULL

EMERGENT SYSTEMS: NULL

SYNTHETIC SYSTEMS: NULL

BACKFLOW SYSTEMS: NULL

EMERGENCY RESPONSES: NULL

ENTROPY: 769000 CYCLES (+/- 5000)

SENTIENT SYSTEM PROBABILITY: 99.883897%

343 Guilty Spark: "I say "remains" because their landing was either not executed adequately, or this vessel lacked significant maneuvering capability. The visible portions of the vessel have suffered catastrophic structural damage during the violent landing experience. I have detected atmospheric leaks in 17 distinct locations along the hull. My analysis shows that a mixture of gases coming from the ship matches the natural atmosphere of my Installation almost exactly. Perhaps the occupants, if they still live, were originally catalogued here! Perhaps these beings will confirm that the Plan was successful, and that the galaxy has returned to its proper cadence! I am beyond optimistic! But I do not understand why these sentients have not attempted to exit their vessel. Other than the leaking atmosphere, the only thing emanating from this refuge is an automated distress call."

UNKNOWN ETYMOLOGY

TRANSLATING

343 Guilty Spark: "I am currently translating this automated broadcast, but with such a limited data set and no direct communication, I do not anticipate full comprehension. Given the short-range nature of this craft, it is likely that other vessels are nearby."

ESTABLISHING TRANSMISSION BARRIER

343 Guilty Spark: "But...in accordance with procedure, I am blocking the distress call. No communication of the location of any Installation is permissible. I admit great curiosity about these visitors. While the plan is quite clear about the procedure of this situation, I have my doubts. How many failure points can the plan sustain before blind adherence becomes counterproductive? Surely in light of all that has changed, I should be able to modify my responses to adapt- No. I have duties, and I have a terrible cargo here. I must be sure. I shall obey and content myself to monitor. I hope they come out soon, though. So many questions to ask! So many questions!"

Terminal 6[modifier]

[044657.04.23.01.17.22]

343 Guilty Spark: "Construction of the sarcophagus around the unexplained vessel was completed today. No occupants ever exited."

SIGNAL - 4651858

343 Guilty Spark: "No attempts to communicate were made, other than the automated broadcast that repeated every 72.83 seconds until the signal terminated one week ago."

SIGNAL TRUNCATED

343 Guilty Spark: "In accordance with procedure, no attempts at physical or remote contact were made with any survivors of this vessel's inelegant landing. Atmosphere from inside the craft stopped venting two weeks before the signal ceased. No relationship between these two events can be established with certainty. Gases that did escape were sterilized. No further sign of alien visitors or rescuers has been identified on any sensor systems. I have now endured 60,000 years without word from outside the Array. I have no way to know whether we actually saved the galaxy we destroyed. And because of protocol I sat silently while my first chance to be judged for those acts died. To say that I regret being forced to this outcome is a tremendous understatement. But as I perform my inspection of the quarantine lab today, I am reminded of the gravity of my responsibilities. Just one of these spores, if released from this facility, would render the ultimate judgement against our self-appointed role as protectors of this galaxy. When the plan to maintain the Halo Array was created, it was a point of some contention whether we should preserve any remnant of the Flood infection. Many thought this unwise, as there was a notable chance that one day one of our containment facilities might be breached. Those who held this belief were almost successful at convincing the Ecumene Council to destroy the last Flood samples but oddly enough, it was the Librarian who decided otherwise. And I believe she was correct. I know, in a way I cannot logically explain, that there exists a way to actually defeat the Flood. To immunize...to cure. I still struggle with multiple layers of memory of fighting the Flood, but I know this cure is possible, even though the full genius of the Forerunners was unable to achieve it. The Forerunners' ancient enemy held and used that knowledge once. But it was denied to us. And without samples to further study, that cure will never again be found. Of course, I have no reason to believe that here lies the entirety of the parasite. It may be waiting in the frozen void beyond this galaxy, or worse...inexorably drifting toward us. I don't know what survives out beyond my installation, but I know that in order for anything to survive I have to protect this installation and its quarantine very carefully. Yes. The Librarian was right to store it, to examine it, continue to seek a cure. Still...next visitor, things will be different."

Terminal 7[modifier]

[89875.11.11.15.41.13]

343 Guilty Spark: "Alone... Alone. Alone. Alone. Alone. Am I the only intelligence left? Waiting here on this ring for a rebirth never truly conceived. Guarding a weapon with no targets... A weapon I can tune to any target. This is not what I had in mind when I volunteered. Not what I had in mind at all. I am naïve to think I understood what this Installation meant. We were all so naïve. Looking back, we should have done a few things differently." For one thing, we should have installed two caretakers per installation. Because I am alone, I am losing focus. And that is very, very dangerous for a system such as myself. Perhaps a visit to the nearby gas giant would be in order. My impulse drives could certainly make the journey. A few hundred years of travel might do me some good. There it was again. How very unproductive of me. It seems strange that the Librarian did not account for this. Her strength was in planning and positioning the pieces, and then being bold enough to let it happen. To let her plans come true. I was a part of many of those plans long before I was certain she was real. Before any of us were. But at the end, we had only a fragment of her brilliance left to us; and I fear that she did not fully appreciate the nature of our situation here. The problems of my post. But even a fragment of-fragment, yes. Oh dear. Here it comes again."

Terminal 8[modifier]

[051207.06.07.06.11.02]

CALCULATING THRESHOLD

343 Guilty Spark: "25,000 light years. That is the effective range of this installation."

SENTIENT LIFE

ODDS OF EXTERMINATION: 100%

ODDS OF RESTRUCTURE: 23%

343 Guilty Spark: "According to the star charts archived on board this installation, I estimate that there are 3,792 worlds capable of sustaining biological sentient life within that 25,000 light year range."

SENTIENT LIFE

ODDS OF EXTERMINATION: 100%

ODDS OF RESTRUCTURE: 12%

343 Guilty Spark: "In reality, it may be significantly more than that. And if the full array was tuned and activated by Installation 00, the harmonics of the overlapping waves would magnify that effect exponentially, cascading to cover every known star system. And that only considers the firing of a mere seven Halos! Had the original twelve rings survived to see use... sterilization would spread far further than most Forerunners ever feared we could reach. But even with just seven rings, we were able to destroy every sign of the Flood...and every other sentient creature along with it. This victory was the will of our people, despite the fact that it meant our own end as well. But by our pyrrhic measurement, it was a victory, and cleared the stage for the rest of the Librarian's plan. I sometimes wonder whether the Didact could have succeeded at a much smaller cost. I learned the folly of opposing him personally, and his brilliance was unsurpassed, except perhaps by her own. He never got the chance to fully execute his proposal. The Council saw to that. But if something were to go wrong with one of the Halos, if our tools were ever turned against us... long plans, indeed."

Terminal 9[modifier]

[044657.04.21.21.34.56]

Jacob Keyes: "I, forgot something... What did I- My name. I forgot... Oh! Uh... Keyes, Jacob. Captain. Service number 01928-19912-JK. What is that noise? What is that damned noise?! Where am I? Covenant captured me. Didn't they? I - I can't, I can't remember... Keyes, Jacob... Oh, God... It hurts! This - will - never - work, you Covenant bastards! I'll never lead you to Earth! Keyes, Jacob... Captain. Service number...01928-19912-JK. Oh God. You don't want Earth...you want everything! Get out of my head!"

Gravemind: "Everything..."

Jacob Keyes: "Miranda...? Is that you?"

Gravemind: "Forget everything."

Jacob Keyes: "No. Please! Don't let me forget- -Keyes, Jacob... Captain. Service number...01928-19912-JK!"

Gravemind: "No more, what you were. Memories... Emotions... All is now ours."

Jacob Keyes: "Keyes, Jacob. Captain. Service number 01928-19912-JK! You will not! Have! Me!"

Gravemind: "...we already do."

Terminal 10[modifier]

[100002.09.22.09.38.17]

343 Guilty Spark: "Vexation! 100,000 years of careful maintenance and diligence! 100,000 years protecting the galaxy's future! 100,000 years spent fearing that our sacrifices - my sacrifice - was in vain! And 16 hours after I finally make contact... This so-called Reclaimer decides to blow it all up. Oh, I am not pleased. Just as I finally discover our plan to save the galaxy succeeded, the ancient enemy is unleashed once more. Why these Reclaimers refuse to follow protocol is quite mystifying. Destroy my Installation, will they? I shall renew efforts to make contact with the others rings immediately. This "Covenant" may be useful to me, although I don't think they fully understand what they claim to seek. Still, it makes no difference to me what they believe, as long as they do what must be done. Hmmm... I sound like her! Oh, but what I would not give to have even a single company of Prometheans here right now. They would most certainly restore order with their trademark lethality, although...that would mean he would have to be here, too. And without the Librarian around to temper his rage, well... These Reclaimers might almost prefer the Flood."

Terminal 11[modifier]

[100002.09.22.28.63.55]

343 Guilty Spark: "Quite unacceptable."

ASSSEMBLING DATA

UNKNOWN PROTOCOL

ATTEMPTING DECRYPTION

PARTIAL SUCCESS

WARNING: RESULTS MAY BE TRUNCATED

CONVERTING TO ATMOSPHERIC STANDARDS

SUCCESS

343 Guilty Spark: "Greetings! I am 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Install- Impertinent creature!"

Sangheili: "I offer you my life as amends for this dishonor. An Oracle of the Gods should never suffer such...impertinence from vermin like this! I shall cast them all into the mists below for daring such a blasphemy, and-"

343 Guilty Spark: "Oh my. Your people have grown so dramatic in the last 100,000 years. But please, no more deaths are required. We will need all the forces we can muster, if the Flood escapes the destruction of my Installation! I must speak to your commander immediately."

Sesa 'Refumee: "Glorious day! The Prophets will be pleased that we have rescued an Oracle from the human violation of the Holy Temple!"

343 Guilty Spark: "Why do you keep calling it a temple? My Installation was a weapon! And one which we needed very, very badly."

Sesa 'Refumee: "But Oracle... I do not understand. We were told the rings was our salvation - a gateway to paradise."

343 Guilty Spark: "Told? By whom? Anyone who told you that is either a fool - or quite, quite mad. That Installation was a beautiful tool, designed to destroy everything the Flood might feed on."

Sesa 'Refumee: "Everything...?"

343 Guilty Spark: "Oh, quite everything. And if even one Flood spore survive the destruction of my ring, than protocol demands that all nearby sentient life must immediately be destroyed. An outbreak of the Flood cannot be allowed to take place. But... I am wasting our time. Surely you know all of this already?"

Sesa 'Refumee: "Communications: shut down all lines to the Fleet! We will not notify the Prophets of our discovery until I hear everything this Oracle have to say."

343 Guilty Spark: "I will gladly share what I am permitted, but we have little time. What has been unleashed here could soon destroy everything you have ever known."

Sesa 'Refumee: "On that, Oracle... We are in agreement."