Editing 343 Guilty Spark

{{Status|Canon}}
{{New content|[[Halo: Campaign Evolved]]}}
{{Disambig header|the Forerunner Monitor|other uses of the term|343 (disambiguation)}}
{{Pageimage|HTMCC-H2A Spark 2.png}}
{{AI infobox
|name= 343 Guilty Spark
|image={{tabcontainer|title1=Monitor|content1=[[File:HTMCC-H2A 343GuiltySpark.png|250px]]|title2=Armiger|content2=[[File:Enc22 Spark.png|250px]]}}
|began=c. [[97,445 BCE]]
|ended-title=Physically destroyed
|ended= [[2552#December|December 11, 2552]]{{Ref/Site|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/herofortitude/bfe5038b-314a-4f17-a6be-f7613e0e3788|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Hero-Fortitude|D=14|M=7|Y=2011}} {{c|[[Monitor]] body}}
|gender=Male personality 
|description= *Floating, round-edged cube, with one "eye" sign that is blue by default {{c|As a Monitor}}
*Thin, lithe humanoid appearance {{c|As an Armiger}}
|color= Blue illuminations with silver casing
|affiliation=*[[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]]
*''[[Ace of Spades]]'' crew
|function=[[Monitor]] of [[Installation 04]] and its [[Installation 08|replacement]]<br>Shipboard AI of the ''[[Ace of Spades]]''<br>Caretaker of [[Bastion]]
}}
{{Quote|[[Halo: Silentium|Last time]], [[IsoDidact|you]] asked me, if it was my choice, would I [[Great Purification|do it?]] Having had considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice. We must activate the [[Installation 04|ring]].|Guilty Spark to [[John-117]].{{Ref/Level|Id=CETB|CE|CE:Two Betrayals|Two Betrayals}}}}

'''04-343 Guilty Spark''',{{Ref/Level|Id=CE343GSFC|CE|CE:343 Guilty Spark|343 Guilty Spark|Detail=final cutscene}} initially known as '''Monitor Chakas'''<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 277''</ref> and known to the Covenant as '''"the Oracle,"''' was a [[Forerunner]] [[monitor]] originally tasked with maintaining [[Installation 04]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTF9|TF|Chapter=9}} He is often addressed by the [[United Nations Space Command]] as just '''"the Monitor"''' in reference to his title. Originally an [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|ancient]] [[human]] known as [[Chakas]] before his mind was moved into an artificial monitor body, Guilty Spark played an important role in the ancient [[Forerunner-Flood war]], as well as the modern-day [[Battle of Installation 04]], the [[Sesa 'Refumee's heretic faction|heretic]] uprising within the Covenant, and the events that transpired on the Ark during the [[Battle of Installation 00]].

Though Guilty Spark was originally believed to have been destroyed in the [[Raid on Installation 08]], smoldering pieces of him survived, badly damaged and recovered by the {{UNSCShip|Rubicon}}. After taking over the ship,{{Ref/Novel|Id=Primordium|Pri}} he rebuilt himself as an [[armiger]] and began a search for the [[Librarian]], a search that would lead him to seek out a new path for himself with the crew of the ''[[Ace of Spades]]'' and going simply by '''Spark'''.{{Ref/Reuse|Renegades}}

After locating [[Bastion]], Spark decided to leave the ''Ace of Spades'' and become the caretaker of the [[shield world]], feeling that he didn't belong in the past or present, but outside of time. As a final gift to his friends, Spark helped [[Lessa]] and [[Niko]] with their future endeavors and repaired [[Little Bit]] to be the new shipboard AI of the ''Ace of Spades''. With [[Rion Forge]] and company gone, Spark departed with Bastion to an unknown location.{{Ref/Novel|Id=POL|PoL}}

==Biography==
===Creation===
Prior to the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], 343 Guilty Spark was created from the mind of a human named [[Chakas]]. Born on [[Earth|Erde-Tyrene]], Chakas unwillingly became involved in the Forerunners' schemes, which eventually brought him to [[Installation 07]], a Halo under the control of the rampant AI [[Mendicant Bias]] which had defected to the [[Flood]]. Chakas' traumatic experiences on Installation 07, specifically his encounters with Mendicant Bias and the [[Primordial]], brought him to the point of mental breakdown and left his physical body mortally injured.

After retaking the Halo, the [[IsoDidact]], in an apparent act of compassion, decided to salvage Chakas' mind by transferring his pattern—including his personality and the complete record of his physical body—into the shell of a monitor. Numerous [[mind transfer|archived]] [[ancient humanity|human]] personalities retrieved by [[Composer]]s after the [[Battle of Charum Hakkor]] as well as other data pertaining to the [[Librarian]]'s work were also uploaded into his memory. The monitor known as Chakas was then assigned to serve as a record-keeper and aide for the Librarian.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Chapter=39}} He wished to look after the human populations on the [[greater Ark]]; this request was granted by the Librarian, who saw this as part of his recovery and a reward for his service.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 260''</ref>

===Forerunner-Flood war===
At one point, Chakas oversaw the construction of the outbreak management systems of the [[Flood research facility|Flood research facilities]] within [[Threshold gas mine|a gas mine]] over [[Threshold]].{{Ref/Level|Id=H2O|H2|H2:The Oracle|The Oracle}}

When the Flood [[Battle of the greater Ark|attacked]] the [[greater Ark]] in the final days of the Forerunner-Flood war, the Librarian asked Chakas to save as many of her specimens as possible. He attempted to get help from other monitors but they were busy with the attack. The Librarian ordered him to take a {{Class|Gargantua|transport}} to [[Omega Halo]]. Here he witnessed the [[Ur-Didact]] use a [[Composer]] on the human population, composing hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children.{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Chapter=String 31}} The Librarian was initially grief-stricken, but soon was able to tell Chakas he had to find the [[IsoDidact]] and go to the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]] and hide the remaining specimens there. Following the Librarian's instructions, Chakas located the IsoDidact and saved him and [[Catalog]] from the disintegrating Omega Halo. Using coordinates provided by the IsoDidact, he took his ship through the [[Faber|Master Builder]]'s secret [[slipspace portal]] to Installation 00. Amongst those rescued by Chakas were his old friends [[Riser]] and [[Vinnevra]].{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Chapter=String 32}}

===Halo===
{{Quote|[[Milky Way|My galaxy]] is dead. I am machine. I am Chakas. I am human. I am 343 Guilty Spark. I have never understood Forerunners. And they will never understand me. But for now... '''Silentium'''.|Guilty Spark reflects on his nature as the Halo Array fires.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 330''</ref>}}
Preceding the Halo Array's distribution across the [[Milky Way|galaxy]], Chakas was commanded by the [[Ecumene Council]] to abandon all connection with his former station. As the installation monitors were being given their new assignments aboard a Lifeworker vessel stationed over the lesser Ark, the IsoDidact met with Chakas for one final time and the two had a brief conversation before they parted ways. It was also here that the installation monitors received their final names, with Chakas being assigned the name 343 Guilty Spark by the IsoDidact. The IsoDidact asked Chakas if he would fire the rings, were it his decision; Chakas remained silent,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 313-314''</ref> but would continue to ponder the Didact's question for the millennia to come. Over a hundred thousand years later, Spark would cite this query to [[John-117]], whom he had evidently mistaken for the IsoDidact.{{Ref/Reuse|CETB}}

From that point forward, Spark became the designated guardian and custodian of Installation 04.{{Ref/Game|CEA|CEA:Terminals#Terminal 2|Terminal 2}} When the Array was activated, with Installation 04 being the first to fire, Spark received a signal from a nascent, previously-unknown civilization broadcasting its first transmission into deep space, and was saddened by the realization that they would be wiped out before they even had the chance to travel to the stars and make contact with other beings. At the same time, large portions of Spark's memory were automatically suppressed for the sake of compartmentalization as a precaution in the event the Flood and its ancilla-corrupting [[logic plague]] were to resurface. This caused him to forget much of his past life aside from the knowledge required in his duties as caretaker of Installation 04.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 329-330''</ref>

===Intermediate period===
[[File:Alone Alone Alone.jpg|thumb|250px|Spark brooding over a desolate cliff on Installation 04.]]
{{Quote|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.|343 Guilty Spark lamenting his loneliness and isolation during his prolonged post as Installation 04's caretaker.}}
After the firing of the Halo Array as a last resort against the Flood, 343 Guilty Spark was alone in a galaxy void of sentient life. During the eons he spent monitoring Installation 04, he began to display signs of [[rampancy]] due to crippling loneliness, especially after communications with the other Installations had ceased. During his unintentional exile, he would begin to recollect his time spent with the Forerunners, their war with the [[Flood]], decisions they made, and decisions he believed they should have made.{{Ref/Game|Id=CEAT4|CEA|CEA:Terminals#Terminal 4|Terminal 4}}{{Ref/Game|Id=CEAT5|CEA|CEA:Terminals#Terminal 5|Terminal 5}}{{Ref/Game|Id=CEAT7|CEA|CEA:Terminals#Terminal 7|Terminal 7}} During this time, Guilty Spark's mind fragmented considerably, becoming split among many separate personality-streams, partly in an attempt to contain and forestall the development of rampancy.{{Ref/Reuse|pri42}}

After two cycles of hibernation, Spark found that he had become bored; something he had not believed he, as a monitor, was capable of. Aware of the [[Rampancy|risks]] involved with losing operational focus, Spark began to divert his attention elsewhere. For his own amusement, he began experimenting on his Installation, ejecting entire sections of matter from the ring's surface into space, intending to later rebuild them.{{Ref/Reuse|CEAT4}}{{Ref/Reuse|CEAT5}}{{Ref/Reuse|CEAT7}}

===Alien encounters===
Circa [[40,000 BCE]], an [[Unidentified alien vessel|alien vessel]] crash-landed in Installation 04's [[Sector 1215]]. Though anxious to find answers for whether the Forerunners' plan to reseed life in the galaxy had been successful, Spark acted in accordance with protocol, blocking the distress signal sent out by the ship and not attempting to make contact with any possible occupants. No lifeforms exited the wreckage and the distress signal eventually terminated, offering Spark no answers. Afterwards, the monitor had a containment sarcophagus constructed around the ship. Disappointed by his failure to learn about the outside galaxy, Spark resolved to be more flexible in his adherence to protocol should outside life ever encounter his ring again.{{Ref/Game|CEA|CEA:Terminals#Terminal 6|Terminal 6}}

During his long isolation, Spark had little to no contact with other intelligent beings, and spent most of his time maintaining his installation. However, over time, Spark observed one or more spacefaring species visit Installation 04. These species landed on and explored the ring, recorded their findings and eventually left without breaching Flood containment.{{Ref/Game|Id=cftu|[[Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition]]|[[Conversations from the Universe]]|Detail=343 Guilty Spark's Log}} These interactions did not please Spark, leading to him threatening anything that came near the installation.{{Ref/Game|Id=h2aterm1|H2A|H2A:Terminals#Terminal 1|Terminal 1}} 

By the time the ring was rediscovered by UNSC and Covenant forces, 343 Guilty Spark had been present on Installation 04 for 101,217 "local years",{{Ref/Reuse|HTF9}} and during that time had conducted over one trillion simulated, and one actual firing of the installation.

===Flood outbreak===
[[File:HCEV TB Argument.png|300px|left|thumb|343 Guilty Spark in [[Installation 04|Halo]]’s [[Control Room]], along with [[John-117]] and [[Cortana]].]]
{{Quote|Oh dear. Containment protocols appear to have been violated.|343 Guilty Spark{{Ref/Reuse|cftu}}}}
After over one hundred thousand years without a major incident, Spark was faced with a crisis when the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} discovered Installation 04, pursued by the Covenant [[Fleet of Particular Justice]]. Fearing a containment breach, Spark warned the ship to jump at least one light-year away from the Installation or be destroyed. After remotely accessing the ship's systems, however, Spark realized that the ship was manned by [[Reclaimer]]s after finding data on human history. He then deactivated the ring's defensive systems and instructed the ship to a docking facility - the ''Pillar of Autumn'' crash-landed on the ringworld shortly afterwards.{{Ref/Reuse|h2aterm1}}

During the subsequent UNSC-Covenant [[Battle of Installation 04|guerrilla war]], Covenant troops stumbled upon a [[Flood containment facility]], and after unwittingly deactivating the structure's containment measures, they unleashed the long-dormant [[Flood]] that had been stored inside. As per his protocols, Spark began to search for a Reclaimer to activate the installation, and came upon UNSC [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Marvin Mobuto]]. Using the Installation's [[slipspace translocation]] [[Teleportation grid|grid]], Spark brought Mobuto to the [[Library]] in an effort to retrieve the Activation Index. Ultimately, the ill-equipped Marine was overwhelmed and killed by the Flood, forcing the Monitor to seek out another Reclaimer. Spark and a squad of [[Sentinel Aggressor|Sentinels]] moved to the Flood containment facility, where they encountered a group of UNSC [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] and [[John-117]], who were battling the Flood outbreak. The Monitor recruited the [[SPARTAN-II|Spartan]] for his purposes, who he quickly [[Slipspace translocation|teleported]] to the Library and began guiding to the Index.{{Ref/Reuse|CE343GSFC}} With superior equipment and training, and despite overwhelming odds, this second Reclaimer succeeded in retrieving the Index.

Taking the Index for safe keeping, Guilty Spark teleported himself and the Master Chief back to the [[Control Room]]. The Monitor explained that activation protocols forbid him from personally uniting the Index with the Core to activate the ring; only a Reclaimer could be permitted to do so.{{Ref/Reuse|HTF9}} Spark gave John the Index, and urged him to activate the Installation. However, [[Cortana]] appeared and took the Index before it could merge with the Core, and explained to the Spartan Halo's true [[Halo Array#Function|purpose]]. Spark confirmed this information, claiming that he had believed the Master Chief to have been fully aware of his role and responsibility as a Reclaimer.{{Ref/Reuse|CETB}}

With the Index in the possession of a hostile [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] and protected by a now uncooperative Reclaimer, the Monitor turned the Sentinels against the Master Chief in order to retrieve the Index. John-117 and Cortana escaped with the Index, with Spark and his Sentinels in pursuit. During their escape through the Control Room's adjacent tunnels, Master Chief disabled the three [[phase pulse generator]]s, forcing their repair and delaying the Installation from firing in the near future. Disappointed, the Monitor followed John-117 and Cortana to the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}, which they planned to detonate in order to destroy the ring. Intrigued by the abundance of knowledge within the ship's data banks, Spark briefly put aside his concerns for the Installation and began downloading information from the ''Autumn's'' computers, being especially interested in the sections pertaining to human history. He then disabled the vessel's automated self-destruct system to preserve the repository of knowledge he had discovered.

Although the warship's engineering room was protected by many Sentinels, the Master Chief was successful in destabilizing the power cores. Realizing the implications of the ship's destruction, the Monitor immediately fled the doomed ring. Moments before the ring was destroyed, the Monitor consoled himself by asserting that he had done his utmost to fulfill his responsibilities. Later upon further reflection, when he was floating through space, Guilty Spark found himself happy as, ultimately, his purpose had been fulfilled: the Reclaimer had indeed succeeded in stopping the outbreak, even if it had been done in an "inelegant" fashion.{{Ref/Reuse|cftu}}

===Post-outbreak===
[[File:Refumee & Spark.png|thumb|300px|343 Guilty Spark discusses Halo's true purpose with [[Sesa 'Refumee]].]]
{{quote|Excellent! I believe I see assistance approaching...|343 Guilty Spark}}{{Ref/Game|[[Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition]]|[[Conversations from the Universe]]|Detail=Page 1}}
After Halo's destruction, Guilty Spark escaped into space, reflecting upon what had happened to both himself and his Installation. He then traveled to a Forerunner [[Threshold gas mine|gas mining facility]] in [[Threshold]]'s atmosphere, whose refitting as a [[Flood research facility]] he had overseen eons past.{{Ref/Reuse|H2O}} There, he encountered a Covenant artifact retrieval group led by [[Sesa 'Refumee]]. After a brief confrontation with several members of the lower castes of the Covenant, a Sangheili recognized him as an "Oracle" and took him to their leader.{{Ref/Note|In the Halo Waypoint video [[The Long Road Home]], it was originally stated that 343 Guilty Spark had been captured by Sesa Refumee's soldiers after the Battle of Installation 04. However, the [[CEA:Terminals|eleventh Terminal]] of ''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary'' later revealed that the Monitor was quickly accepted among the Covenant, even after killing two Kig-Yar. 343 Guilty Spark was not captured but rather welcomed as an Oracle.}} Guilty Spark then proceeded to educate these soldiers about the true purpose of Forerunner creations, including the Halo rings.{{Ref/Game|CEA|CEA:Terminals#Terminal 11|Terminal 11}} Exposed to the truth, Sesa 'Refumee took a new, critical view on the [[Great Journey]] and, gathering other similarly minded [[Sangheili]] and [[Unggoy]], founded [[Sesa 'Refumee's heretic faction|a new sect]] that denounced the [[San'Shyuum|Prophets]] and their Great Journey as false. Setting up a base in the gas mine over Threshold, the group would soon be branded as "heretics" by the Hierarchs. Guilty Spark spent a great deal of time with 'Refumee, educating him on the true purpose of the Halo rings while 'Refumee in return shared with Spark the history of the Covenant and the [[Arbiter]]s in particular. Guilty Spark recognized that the selection of the Arbiters was a manipulation by the Prophets, eliminating potential political enemies while using them at the same time to quell rising problems in the Covenant. The two also discussed who to share the information with, but the one Sangheili 'Refumee believed could be trusted, [[Thel 'Vadam]]ee, [[Supreme Commander]] of the [[Fleet of Particular Justice]], was almost certainly dead.{{Ref/Game|H2A|H2A:Terminals|Terminals}}

Such a state of affairs could not be tolerated for long by the Covenant and soon action was taken to eliminate the Heretics. This was accomplished quickly and quietly by the [[Thel 'Vadam|Arbiter]] and a team of special operations troops. Ironically, the Arbiter was Thel 'Vadamee, the very Sangheili 'Refumee believed could be trusted with Guilty Spark's revelations. The Arbiter was surprised by the appearance of an "Oracle," but rather than allow Guilty Spark to tell him the truth, 'Refumee used Guilty Spark's appearance as a distraction to attack and was killed by the Arbiter, taking with him all that he had learned from Guilty Spark. In the aftermath, Guilty Spark was captured by [[Tartarus]] and given to the Prophets aboard [[High Charity]].{{Ref/Reuse|H2O}}

[[File:H2A - Spark with Hierarchs and Arbiter.jpg|left|thumb|300px|343 Guilty Spark held aboard ''High Charity'' as Thel 'Vadamee and the Prophets discuss the ''[[Activation Index|Sacred Icon]]''.]]
Interrogated by the [[High Prophets]], Guilty Spark revealed the nature of the installations and the means to employ them, which made the Prophets send the Arbiter to retrieve [[Installation 05]]'s "Sacred Icon".{{Ref/Level|H2|H2:Sacred Icon|Sacred Icon}} Guilty Spark may have attempted to educate the Prophets to the truth as well without success as the [[Prophet of Regret]] would later complain that the "Oracles" were useless and knew nothing about the Great Journey while meeting with the [[Gravemind]], Arbiter, [[John-117|Master Chief]] and [[monitor]] [[2401 Penitent Tangent]].{{Ref/Level|H2|H2:Gravemind|Gravemind}} After the Index been obtained, Tartarus took Guilty Spark and the Index to Installation 05’s [[Control Room]], using [[Miranda Keyes]] as the new [[Reclaimer]]. However, Tartarus grew tired of Guilty Spark's constant warnings. When the Arbiter and [[Avery Junior Johnson]] arrived to deactivate the ring, they first questioned Guilty Spark, hoping that his status as Oracle could sway Tartarus to halt its firing. Guilty Spark's revelations about the truth of the installations and what become of the Forerunners confirmed what the Arbiter had already learned from the Gravemind and Master Chief and completely ended his faith in the Covenant religion. However, the [[Brute]]s were too loyal to the Prophets to accept the truth that the Halos were weapons of mass destruction. Tartarus used Guilty Spark as a weapon, throwing the helpless monitor at Johnson so Tartarus could fire the rings. Guilty Spark observed the ensuing struggle, reminded of the one he had witnessed on the ''Pillar of Autumn''. Keyes sought Spark's advice on how to shut the installation down and eventually got him to admit that simply removing the Index would suffice.

[[File:H2A - Halo Array hologram.jpg|thumb|250px|Keyes, Johnson, and Spark in Delta Halo's control room.]]
After [[Tartarus]] and his [[Brute Captain]]s were killed, Keyes managed to deactivate the installation the control panel for the installation began to show a holographic display. Guilty Spark, after being used by Johnson as a ride to the lower level, translated the display to Johnson, Miranda Keyes, and the Arbiter: the rings were now on standby, meaning they could be activated simultaneously from [[Installation 00|the Ark]]. The Arbiter asked Spark where it was, and he provided them with coordinates to where he believed it to be located; unbeknownst to him, it turned out to be [[Earth]], the human homeworld.{{Ref/Level|H2|H2:The Great Journey|The Great Journey}}{{Ref/Book|Enc09|Page=197}}{{Ref/Level|H3|H3:The Ark|The Ark|Quote=I always assumed it was part of a ... shield installation, but it seems I was mistaken.}}

Later that day, Guilty Spark and his allies rendezvoused with [[Rtas 'Vadum]] and the newly-formed [[Fleet of Retribution]]. Together, they formulated a plan for sterilization and quarantine. While the Arbiter, Keyes, and Johnson left Delta Halo for Earth, Guilty Spark remained behind to help coordinate containment efforts with 'Vadum and the fleet. On November 4, they, along with any friendly Elite ships would begin a campaign to cauterize the surface of the ring, destroying anything that attempted to slip away.{{Ref/Generic|Heading=[[Eleventh Hour reports]]|Detail=Report 5}}{{Ref/Marketing|Id=LongRoad|Halo Waypoint|The Long Road Home}} 

At some point during the blockade, a single [[Indulgence of Conviction|Flood-controlled cruiser]] escaped containment and headed for Earth. Guilty Spark joined part of the fleet as it gave chase.

===Earth and the Ark===
[[File:343 Guilty Spark John 117 Meet-up.jpg|thumb|left|300px|343 Guilty Spark meets John-117 again in a Flood infested [[Voi]].]]
{{Quote|multi=yes|[[John-117]]|343 Guilty Spark|q1=On Halo, you tried to kill [[Cortana]]. You tried to kill me...|q2=Protocol dictated my response. She had the activation Index, and you were going to destroy my installation. You '''did''' destroy my installation. Now I have only one function: to help you, Reclaimer, as I always should have done.|Conversation between John-117 and 343 Guilty Spark.{{Ref/Level|Id=H3F|H3|H3:Floodgate|Floodgate}}}}
On November 17, Guilty Spark and the Fleet of Retribution arrived over the [[Kenya]]n town of [[Voi]], minutes after the infested cruiser crash-landed there. The Elites believed that the Flood vessel contained Cortana, last seen trapped on ''High Charity'' with the [[Gravemind]]. As Master Chief recovered the data module that stored her, Guilty Spark arrived in time to assist, destroying a Combat Form about to attack the Spartan and attempting to begin repairs on the unstable module. After a tense exchange between the two former enemies, they put aside their past and proceeded to bring the device back to their ship, where Guilty Spark completed his repairs. It turned out that the device did not contain Cortana, but was merely a [[Covenant storage device|data core]] storing a holographic message from the AI. In her message, she claimed she had discovered a way to stop the Flood without activating the other Halo rings but it required them to travel to the Ark. In order to discover the answer, the Chief, Johnson, Keyes and the Arbiter, along with Covenant separatist forces tra