2401 Penitent Tangent

"Hello, I am 2401 Penitent Tangent. I am the monitor of Installation 05."

- 2401 Penitent Tangent greeting the Master Chief and the Arbiter.

"Of all the objects our Lords left behind, there are none so worthless as these Oracles! They know nothing of the Great Journey!"

- The Prophet of Regret.

"And you know nothing about containment! You have demonstrated complete disregard for even the most basic protocols!"

- 2401 Penitent Tangent.

2401 Penitent Tangent is the Monitor of Installation 05. Although only shown briefly during the encounter with the Flood Gravemind deep in the bowels of Halo, 2401 Penitent Tangent is nearly identical to its brother monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, with the exceptions that its voice is deeper than Guilty Spark's and its light glows red instead of blue, possibly indicating a state of Rampancy. This is unlikely, however, as he behaves much like 343 Guilty Spark does in his non-rampant state, and still shows regard for protocols and rules which Spark lost when he turned rampant. This Monitor was captured by the Gravemind whilst in combat as it is in "defense mode" and glows dimly and its outer casing appears to be damaged.

The only other difference from 343 Guilty Spark apart from his deeper voice and red glow is that the holes on the side of 2401 Penitent Tangent are rectangular instead of round. He is not encountered again after the Master Chief sees him beneath the Library of Installation 05, and he isn't seen when Gravemind occupies High Charity. It is unknown where he went after the first encounter, it is unknown if he is even alive.

Penitent Tangent is slightly younger than 343 Guilty Spark since Installation 05 was built after Installation 04.

Quotes

 * "Greetings. I am 2401 Penitent Tangent. I am the Monitor of Installation 05." - In the beginning of level Gravemind.
 * "A Reclaimer? Here? At last! We have much to do! This facility must be activated if we are to control this outbreak." - When he saw the Master Chief.
 * "Not true. This installation has a successful utilization record of 1.2 trillion simulated and one actual. It is ready to fire on demand." - To the half - Flood form of the Prophet of Regret.
 * "And you know nothing about containment! You have demonstrated a complete disregard to even the most basic protocols!" - To the half- Flood form of the Prophet of Regret.

Appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Gravemind Inside Job Cutscene
 * Backwash (Multiplayer map on the Multiplayer Map Pack).

Trivia

 * 2401 when added together equals seven, a number often referenced to in the Halo games (2+4+0+1=7).
 * 2401 is also 7^4, or seven to the fourth power.
 * 2401 Penitent Tangent appears on the Halo 2 multiplayer map Backwash.
 * 2401 Penitent Tangent' s color may be his normal color or rampancy color.
 * 2401 Penitent Tangent is mentioned in the most recent Bungie weekly update (5-30-08), in the section about Smuggler:

REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE

LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] has experienced catastrophic specimen containment failure. All apertures into facility will be locked until further notice. Atmosphere evacuation and [reduction of ambient temperature] protocols have already been enacted. Request maintenance and security detail [at earliest opportunity]. [8 minutes] elapsed since initial containment failure.

REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE

Waiting for maintenance and security detail. [32 minutes, 9 seconds] elapsed since request.

REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE

Still waiting for maintenance and security detail. [24 hours] elapsed since request.

REPORT: SECURITY BREACH

LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] has experienced a security breach via emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits. Emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits have been placed in recursive mode to contain unauthorized hostile lifeforms. Request emergency security detail. Still waiting for primary maintenance and security detail. [2512332 hours, 14 minutes, 6 seconds]elapsed since initial request.

REPORT: DERELICTION OF DUTY

2401 [PENITENT TANGENT] has been lax in the areas of maintenance and security.