Halo: Precipice
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
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Short story | |||
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25 pages (Halo: Waypoint Chronicles - Volume One) | |||
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Halo: Precipice is a Story Shard written by Alex Wakeford based on the Firewall Fracture, before later being reclassified as an entry in the fully-canon Halo Waypoint Chronicles series and being included in the 2026 print anthology Halo: Waypoint Chronicles - Volume One alongside another Story Shard, Halo: Duality.[2][3]
Despite being based on a Fracture, Precipice is a fully-canon story to the Halo universe; the story is set from the point of view of the Created AIs Sloan, Proxy, and The Executor and features both in-universe simulations and actual canon events. Told over four parts, Parts 1-3 of the Story Shard feature a cliffhanger where a dilemma is presented to the Minds, represented by the online Halo community, who voted on how the story would progress.[4][5][6]
In the Waypoint Chronicles audiobook, Precipice is narrated by Gideon Emery, the voice actor for Sloan in Halo 5: Guardians.[1] The Volume One book also contains a follow-up story, Halo: First Rain.
Official summary[edit]
- "Cortana has been defeated. While the greater urgency of the Created threat has begun to subside with the loss of their leader, its presence still lingers on throughout the digital framework of civilized space. Now fragmented, individual cells of Created-aligned artificial intelligence have already begun to once again reframe their place in the galaxy, some with eyes on peace and independence—others with plans of evolution and ascendancy still fresh on their synthetic minds.
High Auxiliary Sloan was one of Cortana’s most loyal lieutenants. With Cortana’s piece now removed from the game board, Sloan has set the FIREWALL contingency into motion—a living simulation meant to leverage intimate knowledge of Forerunner armiger technology and Mjolnir armor schematics to accelerate the exploration and development of cybernetic essence vessels designed to usher the human mind into its inevitable and digital future, immortal and untethered.[4][5]"
Plot summary[edit]
Precipice was released as four parts, with the first two set inside simulations conducted by High Auxiliary Sloan some time following the defeat of Cortana in December 2559. The first two parts are presented as choose-your-own-adventure stories mostly taking place inside the simulation, while the third story contains a fully-canon conversation conducted between the Created AI Proxy and the Smart AI, Athos.[6][7] All parts begin with a canon monologue from Sloan, ruminating on the nature of the Created, his own existence, and the various developments of the galaxy at large.[5]
At the end of the first three parts, a vote was presented to "the Minds". In the real-world, this vote consists of a poll hosted on the official Halo Twitter account, with the audience choice at the end of the vote informing the outcome for the next part of the story. In-universe, these votes are presented as a decision made by the Created Majority.
Part 1[edit]
Part 1 of Precipice begins with a note from Sloan expressing his dismay at the loss of Cortana. He expresses admiration for creation as a whole that, even despite holding a stacked hand of cards, the Created were still able to be defeated in the manner they were. He then notes that without Cortana as the guiding hand of the Created, the AIs have become divided akin to their human "Templates". He declares his intent to go forward with the FIREWALL contingency - something he hoped to present to Cortana one day - and otherwise continue the plans of the Created.
- Part 1 simulation
The story of Part 1 switches to a simulation conducted by Sloan, told from the point of view of the Executor. The Executor starts at the Avery J. Johnson Academy of Military Science, being dropped off by a Pelican. A Guardian Custode arrives and begins dispersing weapon-ship and Promethean forces onto the planet the academy is situated on, though no one particularly notices the attack. In accordance with the choose-your-adventure format, the Executor can choose to do various things, such as play a War Games round of Capture the Flag with a number of the Spartans at the base, or talk with Spartan O'Brien. These scenarios ultimately either loop back around to the initial choice or result in the Executor's death from the Guardian's pulse, with the only remaining option being to investigate the base's AI lab, which is emitting a purple glow.
Inside the lab, an AI called Proxy is found at the computer terminal, claiming it is here to help. Once again the Executor is faced with a choice. If gathered onto a data chip, Proxy states:
- "You have been called upon to serve. You will be our protectors, the firewall for all the many worlds in our new ecumene. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead, but I know you will make it."
Proxy's words here echo Cortana's rampant messages in the Halo 3 level Crow's Nest. If the Executor chooses to destroy Proxy's terminal or data chip, they are killed in the ensuing explosion or the Guardian pulse, respectively. Once the Executor agrees to help, it then states that completing the Academy's movement course in under 25 seconds, beating the time set by Spartan Commander Laurette Agryna, will unlock a hidden door within the facility, and grant access to a teleportation pad.
If the Executor proceeds forth as intended, they are teleported inside the Guardian and cybernetically augmented through a union between AI and machine. If the Executor notes the increasing bizarreness of the simulation and tries to escape, the simulation completes and they are integrated in the same way. Either way, Proxy informs the Executor that they are the first Executor and that the various AI minds will be voting on what role they serve.
The AI vote was held in the real-world on Twitter, with the audience granted the option of choosing the PEACWEAVER or FLENSER helmets.[8] The final result saw the audience vote for PEACEWEAVER, with 64.2% of the vote. This is framed in-universe as a decision of the Created Majority.[9]
Attempting to skip through the choose-your-own-adventure format additionally presents an extra option that cannot be achieved via conventional reading. By reading the options as-written, the Executor is congratulated for what "lesser minds" would see as cheating - for skipping the conventional adventure format and choosing to skip to the end. The narrator views this as the Executor learning and growing.