Roland
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Roland | |
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Male personality |
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Description: |
World War II-era pilot Roland Beamont |
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Orange, Yellow |
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Ship AI |
Roland (AI Serial Number: RLD 0205-4) is a fifth-generation "smart" artificial intelligence construct in service with the United Nations Space Command. He is the primary AI of the UNSC Infinity.[1][3] His name and avatar are based on Roland Beamont, a British fighter and test pilot for the Royal Air Force during and after World War II.[1]
Operational history[edit]
Creation[edit]
Entering service on December 5, 2557 on Earth,[2][1][3] Roland replaced Infinity's former shipboard AI Aine, who was destroyed by Cortana when Aine detected her rampancy, however the crew believed she was destroyed when the Infinity crashed on Requiem.[4]
Iona's "trial"[edit]
After almost seven years of service, the UNSC decided to legally terminate the Smart AI Iona's existence in order to stave off the threat of rampancy. In a last-ditch effort to save herself, Iona successfully launched an unprecedented legal appeal against her own death sentence.[5] She managed to petition her appeal through the United Nations Humanitarian Council, which gained the attention of numerous scientists. He and Black-Box were charged with creating an artificial trial for Iona to allow researchers to study the case, without Iona realizing that the trial was simulated.[6]
On January 17, 2558, Iona's "appeal" began. With Black-Box and Roland acting as the trial's judge and Iona's advocate respectively, Iona was questioned about her thoughts and her dreams. The court ultimately decided to place Iona into stasis until a proper decision on the matter was reached. Afterwards, Roland and Black-Box discussed their roles in the trial, with Roland admitting regret for lying to Iona. However, Black-Box expressed his hope that Iona's simulated trial would be analyzed by human scientists and that, one day, smart AIs and humans would be considered equals.[6]
Requiem Campaign[edit]
- Main article: Requiem Campaign
When Fireteam Majestic arrived onboard Infinity shortly prior to the ship's second voyage to Requiem, Roland welcomed them aboard. Before Infinity exited slipspace at Requiem, he gave Captain Lasky intel on the Covenant fleet over the shield world.[7] Later, Fireteam Crimson recovered a Forerunner artifact and brought it aboard Infinity. The artifact soon activated itself, draining power from the ship. Roland was affected also, as his hologram flickered and he noticeably slowed down when informing Captain Lasky of what was happening.[8]
When the UNSC Aladdin arrived with Dr. Catherine Halsey onboard, Roland informed Lasky that the prowler's captain was requesting permission to land. After Dr. Halsey was brought aboard Infinity, Roland locked down the engine room.[9] Later he showed Lasky Fireteam Castle's fate at REQ-153-N. When Fireteam Crimson began chasing Jul 'Mdama, Roland helped them track him through the Slipspace portals, pointing out to Jared Miller, who was having difficulty with the portals, how easy it was. Roland enjoyed taking part in the op, "commanding" Crimson to go to where a portal was, later commenting how much more he liked running ops than ships.[10] For Crimson's next mission at The Gate, Roland had to help Jared Miller run the op, as Sarah Palmer was unreachable. Into a series of missions, Roland found Gabriel Thorne's IFF tag near Crimson at the Cauldron, and tracked him to the Quarry where Crimson began searching for him.[11]
After Dr. Halsey was detained for exchanging transmissions with Jul 'Mdama in secret from the crew, Roland appeared in her holding cell and questioned her on why she chose to withhold the information. Halsey then subverted Roland by speaking the code-phrase "undid-iridium", placing him under her complete control. She forced him to give her access to the ship's computer. Roland managed to free himself from Halsey's control and had her arrested, but not before Halsey had managed to contact Jul 'Mdama. Moments later, Prometheans began materializing all over the ship via the artifact, while Covenant forces attacked the ship from outside.[12]
Initially, when Fireteam Crimson returned to the ship to assist in the battle, Roland was unable to communicate with them or Miller due to the artifact's interference. Eventually, Miller managed to reestablish contact with Roland, who helped Crimson seal Hangar Bay 450 from further intrusions. Roland then warned Crimson that the Covenant were planning to detonate several stolen nukes in the engine room, which he had initially failed to detect due to the warheads being cloaked. Roland assisted Crimson in locating and disarming all the nukes. Shortly afterwards, the ship's aft weapons went offline due to Covenant jamming. After Crimson destroyed the jamming devices, Roland was able to reactivate the weapons and drive back the attacking Covenant ships.[12]
Although Infinity managed to repel the Covenant-Promethean assault, Dr. Halsey was abducted off the bridge. Furthermore, the Forerunner artifact bound Infinity to Requiem, preventing it from escaping. Spartan teams were immediately dispatched to recover her. Roland attempted to trace her signal, which lead Fireteam Crimson to several different locations, eventually winding up at the Lockup. There, they discovered a holographic map of Requiem which Roland and Dr. Glassman used to devise a means of freeing Infinity.[13]
Using the map, Roland and Glassman determined that there were two Forerunner artifacts on Requiem's surface much like the one in Infinity's bay. These two artifacts needed to be deactivated to free Infinity. One of these artifacts was buried inside a mountain at a Covenant dig site that Crimson had disrupted earlier. When Jul 'Mdama set Requiem on a collision course with the system's sun, threatening to take Infinity with it, Roland was forced to devise a desperate plan to restore the Harvester at the dig site (since Crimson had destroyed its power core earlier). Roland sent Crimson to Apex, where he lured a Covenant Lich to their position. Roland then had Crimson board the Lich and steal its power core. Crimson used the power core to restore the Harvester and used its plasma drill to breach the mountain. They were then able to get inside and loca