Mind transfer
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Mind transfer is the process of duplicating or transferring the consciousness and memories of an individual from their original brain substrate into a digital or quantum-based computational system or another biological neural network. Through a simulation of the original brain's neural functions, the mind is able to continue its existence as a conscious and self-aware entity; in cases of advanced mind uploading, there is virtually no distinction between the original and the upload.
Once mastered and employed by the Forerunners to a great extent, a more limited form of mind uploading was later adopted by humanity as their only viable means of creating self-aware "smart" AIs.[1]
Forerunner[edit]
Terminology[edit]
In translations of Forerunner records, a mind, by itself and particularly when separated from its biological body, is often referred to as an essence;[2] this is in many ways comparable to the metaphysical concept of a soul, especially in contexts involving the Domain.[3] Pattern is a largely analogous term, although it appears to particularly emphasize the physical and quantifiable aspects of the neural and biological content;[4] essence referring more to the mind itself, with pattern being its organic or virtual framework. A pattern also often contains the complete information of the accompanying physical body in addition to the neural map.[5] The act of uploading the essence or pattern into another housing system is known as imprinting;[6] by extension, the product of this process is known as an imprint, although this term is often used interchangeably with the term pattern.[7] An impression is seemingly an incomplete or partial essence, containing assorted thoughts and memories from an individual's final moments.[8][Note 1] The uploading of a biological mind into a machine-based storage system has also been referred to as scanning[9] or sublimation in some contexts, with a machine designed to perform such transfers being referred to as a sublimation device.[2][10]
The primitive humans living in the Forerunners' time called their imprinted essences spirits, a rather apt descriptor in light of their existing cultural framework.[11]
General[edit]
The transfer and quantum foam-based storage[12] of mental content were ubiquitous in Forerunner society. The computing systems of the personal armor worn by virtually all Forerunners were integrated with the wearer's mind to such an extent that the Forerunner's consciousness virtually occupied the armor alongside their organic brain. The armor's dedicated AI construct—ancilla—was likewise melded with the wearer's mind and aided them in the organization of memories and other tasks. As an emergency measure, the armor could delete memories and experiences deemed excessively traumatic, or even "reset" the wearer's personality to its normal state in the event of external tampering with their brain.[13] In the rare event of the wearer's death, the armor would preserve the consciousness—or the final impressions of it—which would then traditionally be collected and placed into an "imprint matrix" known as a Durance.[14][15]
Thanks to the same integration, Forerunners could also upload offshoots of their consciousness to be housed in computing systems managed by ancillas; such an imprint could be created and uploaded into said systems at will within moments,[16] with the resulting intelligence being, for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from the original mind. An example of a machine imprint created in this manner is the Librarian's stored essence she left on Requiem to guide future visitors.[17] Another personality imprint was left in a Lifeworker pod inside of Kilimanjaro on Earth. This imprint suggested that there were even more imprints out there that had gone to the Absolute Record. This imprint displayed the knowledge of the actions of her imprint on Requiem.[18]
War sphinxes retained impressions of the final moments of their deceased pilots. Although these essences were less complete than Durances, they were nonetheless preserved for study by Warrior commanders.[8][19] It was also a Warrior-Servant tradition to extract the memory impressions of their defeated enemies, partly for the purposes of interrogation.[20]
An automated sublimation device on X50 extracted the final patterns of Spartan Edward Davis during the Battle of Draetheus V in 2554.[10] Davis' impressions were placed into a Durance which was recovered by the UNSC at the conclusion of the battle.[21]
Full pattern uploading[edit]
Forerunners were capable of extracting not only an organic being's brain state, but also simultaneously retaining the complete pattern of their biological body.[5] The body could then be simulated—either virtually or in hard light form—so perfectly that the archived individuals themselves may potentially be left unaware of their incorporeal state.[9]
In the later stages of the Conservation Measure during the Forerunner-Flood war, the Lifeworkers used this form of pattern extraction technology to "store" individuals they did not have space for as raw data, to later recreate them from their virtual forms. The extraction process itself was gentle and painless, unlike that of the long-abandoned Composers.[22] On Installation 07, the Lifeworker known as Genemender Folder of Fortune scanned and archived himself as well as all humans he came across in this manner, lest they be exploited by the Master Builder. This technology also extracted and preserved the ancestral personality imprints the humans carried as part of the Librarian's geas. Genemender held the stored essences in stasis but occasionally "refreshed" them by allowing them to simulate physical interaction within his compound—itself largely a hard light simulation.[9] In the case of Genemender's station, specialized monitors were involved in the scanning process.[23] Genemender later became submonitor Adjutant Vigilance.[24]
The monitor later known as 343 Guilty Spark was created through a process of gradual uploading; Chakas' dying biological body was connected to a harness which gradually transferred his consciousness into the artificial computing system of a monitor. Chakas was conscious for some portions of this process and existed as a hybrid of his biological and virtual self for a time; for example, he found he was able to measure distances with exact accuracy while still connected to his body.[25] According to the IsoDidact, the intelligence Chakas would become—initially known as Monitor Chakas—would be capable of simulating physical sensations,[5] much like the archived humans in Genemender's village.[9]
In 2556, Dr. Genie Dawson and her UNSC science team from the Zeta Halo Project were sent to Lifeworker Central to study it. They were able to gain access to the Monolith Adjunct and hoped to study and catalogue the Forerunners' achievements in life sciences. Unfortunately, the scientists triggered an archiving process, resulting in their genetic patterns and consciousnesses being stored while their physical bodies were lost. The scientists were able to use hard light generators to manifest projections of themselves with likenesses so exact that it was nearly impossible to distinguish them from their biological counterparts. However, the team was limited to the Monolith Adjunct as the collapses left them cut off from many access points and Forerunner technology, including other control consoles that were still working.[26] With the help of Joyeuse and four UNSC technicians, the scientists were later downloaded into a salvaged submonitor carapace.[27]
Biological imprinting[edit]
Through the means employed in a mutation—the artificially-induced process through which Forerunners traditionally matured into higher forms—it was possible for the mentor to imprint their complete pattern over the Forerunner undergoing the mutation. This would transfer the mentor's essence and, in time, enable said essence to function wi