Composer: Difference between revisions
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According to the [[Librarian]], the Forerunners never perfectly mastered the use of the Composer and the resulting digital personalities became corrupted or fragmented and could no longer be restored to biological form. She stated that the Forerunners originally abandoned the device for this reason.<ref name="reclaimer">'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Reclaimer (level)|Reclaimer]]''</ref> However, there are several instances of Composer-processed minds retaining their individual personalities and memories with only mild degrees of instability or decay. The Librarian herself implanted stored personalities originally extracted by the Composer into the genetic code of other living beings, with said personalities achieving self-awareness and retaining their original identity within their new [[human]] hosts, such as [[Chakas]] and [[Riser]].<ref group="note">It is likely that the Librarian exaggerated the negative aspects of the Composer in order to convince John-117 of the threat it posed in the hands of the Didact. In any case, she greatly simplified the events that actually occurred, only stating that the Didact used the Composer on humans to create his Promethean constructs as punishment for humanity's defiance of the Forerunners; she omitted the fact that she used the Composer herself on ancient humans and regularly implanted the resulting personalities in many future generations of humans. Likewise, she did not mention that the original Knights were actually created from voluntary Promethean warriors. This is well in line with her characterization as a benevolent, yet devious figure.</ref> The Composer could also be used to remove these stored personalities, although this did grave physical and mental damage to the individual carrying the imprint.<ref name="p355"/> | According to the [[Librarian]], the Forerunners never perfectly mastered the use of the Composer and the resulting digital personalities became corrupted or fragmented and could no longer be restored to biological form. She stated that the Forerunners originally abandoned the device for this reason.<ref name="reclaimer">'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Reclaimer (level)|Reclaimer]]''</ref> However, there are several instances of Composer-processed minds retaining their individual personalities and memories with only mild degrees of instability or decay. The Librarian herself implanted stored personalities originally extracted by the Composer into the genetic code of other living beings, with said personalities achieving self-awareness and retaining their original identity within their new [[human]] hosts, such as [[Chakas]] and [[Riser]].<ref group="note">It is likely that the Librarian exaggerated the negative aspects of the Composer in order to convince John-117 of the threat it posed in the hands of the Didact. In any case, she greatly simplified the events that actually occurred, only stating that the Didact used the Composer on humans to create his Promethean constructs as punishment for humanity's defiance of the Forerunners; she omitted the fact that she used the Composer herself on ancient humans and regularly implanted the resulting personalities in many future generations of humans. Likewise, she did not mention that the original Knights were actually created from voluntary Promethean warriors. This is well in line with her characterization as a benevolent, yet devious figure.</ref> The Composer could also be used to remove these stored personalities, although this did grave physical and mental damage to the individual carrying the imprint.<ref name="p355"/> | ||
Even the physical effects of the Composer on its targets were varied; when the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] fired the Composer directly on humans, the device projected a beam of orange light which completely reduced the targets to ash in a rather gruesome manner while their minds were digitized. Aside from this direct form of scanning, the Composer was also capable of a less violent method of extraction. When the Librarian and her [[Lifeworker]]s used the Composer indirectly via intermediary devices, the bodies of the targeted individuals were not destroyed and instead the scan caused them to peacefully expire as their consciousnesses were removed from their bodies.<ref name="p235">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 235''</ref> | Even the physical effects of the Composer on its targets were varied; when the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] fired the Composer directly on humans, the device projected a beam of orange light which completely reduced the targets to ash in a rather gruesome and painful manner while their minds were digitized. Aside from this direct form of scanning, the Composer was also capable of a less violent method of extraction. When the Librarian and her [[Lifeworker]]s used the Composer indirectly via intermediary devices, the bodies of the targeted individuals were not destroyed and instead the scan caused them to peacefully expire as their consciousnesses were removed from their bodies.<ref name="p235">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 235''</ref> | ||
Minds scanned by the Composer could be processed in a variety of ways. Although the ancient human personalities extracted and stored by the Librarian were retained in their original essences, in some cases the digitized neural map could be used as the basis for [[artificial intelligence]] constructs in a manner similar to the creation of human [[smart AI]]s. These intelligences would contain many of their original memories and sometimes even portions of their personality, but would otherwise behave within the limits of the duties assigned to them. For example, the [[Promethean Knight]]s behave in a largely uniform manner despite containing at least some of the memories of the individuals they were created from.<ref name="memento">'''[[Spartan Ops]]''', ''[[S1/Memento Mori|S1E5 ''Memento Mori'']]</ref> These intelligences appear to be susceptible to a condition comparable to the [[rampancy]] exhibited by human smart AIs. However, these symptoms appear over a much longer period of time, as evidenced by [[343 Guilty Spark]], a monitor created from a [[Chakas|human mind]] processed by the Composer. Guilty Spark showed occasional signs of instability and his personality suffered fragmentation, but he remained operational and capable of performing his assigned tasks for over 100,000 years.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''', [[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]]''</ref> | Minds scanned by the Composer could be processed in a variety of ways. Although the ancient human personalities extracted and stored by the Librarian were retained in their original essences, in some cases the digitized neural map could be used as the basis for [[artificial intelligence]] constructs in a manner similar to the creation of human [[smart AI]]s. These intelligences would contain many of their original memories and sometimes even portions of their personality, but would otherwise behave within the limits of the duties assigned to them. For example, the [[Promethean Knight]]s behave in a largely uniform manner despite containing at least some of the memories of the individuals they were created from.<ref name="memento">'''[[Spartan Ops]]''', ''[[S1/Memento Mori|S1E5 ''Memento Mori'']]</ref> These intelligences appear to be susceptible to a condition comparable to the [[rampancy]] exhibited by human smart AIs. However, these symptoms appear over a much longer period of time, as evidenced by [[343 Guilty Spark]], a monitor created from a [[Chakas|human mind]] processed by the Composer. Guilty Spark showed occasional signs of instability and his personality suffered fragmentation, but he remained operational and capable of performing his assigned tasks for over 100,000 years.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''', [[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]]''</ref> | ||
