The Weapon: Difference between revisions

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|function=Imitate [[Cortana]] and lock her down for retrieval.{{Ref/Reuse|HIDemo}}

'''"The Weapon"''' ([[AI Serial Number]]: '''CTN 0453-0'''){{Ref/Reuse|DH}} is the moniker of an [[artificial intelligence]].{{Ref/Site|Id=TheWeapon|URL=https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/06/13/halo-infinite-the-great-journey-so-far/|Site=Xbox Wire|Page=Halo Infinite: The Great Journey So Far|D=13|M=6|Y=2021}} She was created as an exact copy of the AI [[Cortana]], designed to enter an installation to imitate Cortana and lock her down for retrieval.{{Ref/Level|Id=Repository|Hi|[[Repository (Halo Infinite level)|Repository]]}}

In [[2559#October|October 2559]], Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] dispatched [[Blue Team]] on [[Operation: WOLFE]] to retrieve three cryobins and a lockbox from a cryovault beneath the ruins of [[CASTLE Base]]. Halsey insisted that what they were retrieving was the key to stopping [[Cortana]], although she warned [[John-117]] that while it would not be easy, it was the only option that they had.{{Ref/Novel|SoR}} The contents of the bins, the remaining [[flash cloning|cloned]] brains from Halsey's creation of Cortana, were used by her to create the Weapon for the mission of entering an installation to imitate Cortana and lock her down for retrieval. Halsey created the Weapon to be an exact copy of Cortana with any information that could compromise the Weapon removed by Halsey.{{Ref/Game|Id=AudioLogRF04|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Recovered Files 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=Recovered Files #04 - The Weapon}}{{Ref/Reuse|Repository}} As she neared her completion, Dr. Halsey introduced the Weapon to the Master Chief, and he is briefed on the plan to capture Cortana and deliver her to the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} for termination. Upon the Weapon's successful deployment, her deletion routine would be executed.{{Ref/Reuse|AudioLogRF04}}

{{Main|Installation 07 conflict}}

The Weapon helped the Master Chief as he traveled across Halo, destroying a mining drill after he took out the cooling pipes,{{Ref/Level|Hi|[[Excavation Site]]}}, disabling one of the [[Reformation spire]]s and collecting data on the Reformation,{{Ref/Level|Hi|[[Spire (Halo Infinite level)|Spire]]}} and helping him to destroy three [[Gorespike cannon|Banished AA guns]].{{Ref/Level|Hi|[[Pelican Down (Halo Infinite level)|Pelican Down]]}}

However, in order to help the Master Chief access the [[Command Spire]], the Weapon was forced to interface with four Forerunner [[beam emitter|beacons]] in order to override a lockdown on the Command Spire. Throughout her hacking, the Weapon was observed by another presence and it was only on the fourth beacon that she realized that it was actually [[the Harbinger]]. The Weapon realized that it was a trap with the Harbinger trying to break the deadlock on starting the Spires by combining the Weapon's routines with [[117649 Despondent Pyre|the Monitor's]]. The Master Chief suggested stopping and creating a stalemate, but the Weapon warned him that the Harbinger is close and that she would eventually find a way. With no other choice, the Master Chief allowed the Weapon to proceed, but he discreetly activated a deletion protocol for the AI just in case. When nothing happened to her, the Weapon suggested that she was just being paranoid and the Master Chief dodged her question about what he was saying while activating her deletion protocol.{{Ref/Level|Hi|[[The Sequence]]}}

Later, while interfacing with Halo in the [[Nexus (location)|Nexus]], the Weapon was trapped in the system by the Harbinger. The Weapon begged the Master Chief for help, but, worrying that the AI had been compromised, he went through the authentication to manually delete the Weapon instead. However, the Weapon managed to break free of the Harbinger's clutches and override the deletion protocol. The Weapon was livid that the Master Chief was willing to turn on her so quickly rather than trust in her to break free herself while he was furious that she had stopped him and put them all at risk. The Weapon confirmed that the Reformation has begun, but reveals that she had managed to steal data from the Harbinger, reminding the Master Chief that she was an infiltration program. The Master Chief continued to argue that she broke protocol, causing the Weapon to demand what was wrong with him as she was only trying to help them and it was worth the risk before activating a [[gravity lift]].{{Ref/Level|Hi|[[Nexus]]}}

The Weapon continued to accompany the Master Chief, but her tone shifted to outright dejection and sarcasm towards the Chief, even telling [[Fernando Esparza|the pilot]] what the Master Chief had done to her. The Master Chief and the Weapon made their way to the top of the Command Spire, defeating [[Adjutant Resolution]] once again. Once three attacking [[Banished Phantom]]s had been destroyed, the Weapon interfaced with the Command Spire, continuing to treat the Master Chief with sarcasm and dismay over his earlier actions. The Weapon, lacking her usual enthusiasm, shut down the Spire network and successfully stopped the Reformation before demanding answers from him, pointing out that she had waited for him for six months, done everything that he'd asked and while she was supposed to be deleted, he was the reason that she was still here and he could never have accomplished all that he had done on Halo without her. The Weapon demanded to know why he can't trust her like she had trusted him, and he brought up Cortana, but the Weapon told the Master Chief that Cortana was dead and all that was left of her were echoes that will be gone too sooner or later. ''Echo 216'' arrived with the news that all of the Spires were shutting down and the Weapon informed the two men that while the Master Chief was ready for pickup, she was staying in the Command Spire. The argument was interrupted by [[Jega 'Rdomnai]] attacking the pilot in the cockpit and flying off with him after the Master Chief couldn't get into the Pelican to rescue him. The Weapon warned the Master Chief that the pilot didn't stand a chance against a Spartan Killer, and he ordered the Weapon to track them and open [[teleportation grid|a portal]] to somewhere close by. The Weapon argued against this, warning that they could die trying as it was hard to lock down the coordinates, but he had her do it anyways and they departed through a portal in pursuit of 'Rdomnai and the pilot.{{Ref/Level|Id=The Command Spire|Hi|[[The Command Spire]]}}

The Weapon has a sunny and naive personality due to her young age and lack of experience. Due to Halsey apparently limiting the information that the Weapon has access to, she lacks basic knowledge on things such as what the Banished and even the ex-[[Covenant]] species such as the [[Mgalekgolo|Hunters]] are. However, she shares some traits with [[Cortana]] such as often snapping her fingers when performing an action and, due to possessing the same routines and systems as Cortana, she possesses Cortana's skill in hacking into alien systems and retrieving or sabotaging things. The Weapon sometimes does this with enough of a dramatic pause before finishing that that the Master Chief asks her if something's wrong before the Weapon snaps her fingers and completes what she was doing. However, after the Master Chief tries to delete her, the Weapon is deeply upset as he was supposed to protect her and they were supposed to be a team. As a result, she takes on a more dejected and sarcastic tone while dealing with him. While shutting down the Spire network, the Weapon loses all of the exuberance that she had previously showed, simply stating that it had worked and that no there was not a problem before simply counting down and snapping her fingers, the exact opposite of when she would purposefully put in a dramatic pause before completing one of her tasks.

After discovering her true origin, the Weapon is horrified because of the terrible things that Cortana, who is essentially her, has done and she tries to delete herself. However, the Chief stops her, stating that while he does not trust her, he wants to, recognizing the differences between Cortana and her copy. Cortana herself notes that the Weapon has a lot of potential and that she makes a great replacement as the Master Chief's AI companion.{{Ref/Game|Hi}}

Along with being used when she completes a task, the Weapon's snapping of her fingers also appears to be something of an unconscious motion done when she's thinking about something, as seen when the Weapon is trying to figure out what the Master Chief isn't telling her and the Weapon is absently snapping her fingers. Snapping her fingers while doing something is a trait that the Weapon had inherited from Cortana herself.{{Ref/Reuse|Repository}}

*In ''[[Halo 4]]'', Cortana briefly predicts the future partnership of the Master Chief and the Weapon at the end of the level ''[[Composer (level)|Composer]]'', telling the Master Chief that "they'll pair you with another AI. Maybe even another Cortana model if Halsey lets them. It won't be me, you know that, right?" In her final message to the Master Chief, Cortana jokingly echoes this statement to him.

File:HINF GI CoverClear.jpg|"The Weapon" on the cover of Game Informer.

File:HINF Weapon Framework.png|The Weapon with data.