Installation 00

Installation 00, also known as the Ark, is an enigmatic Forerunner structure from which all the Halo Installations across the galaxy can be activated. It was first mentioned by 343 Guilty Spark at the conclusion of Halo 2, where he explains the fail-safe protocol of Installation 05 after it's unexpected shutdown. Installation 05 brought the entire Halo system to a standby status, where they could be remotely activated from the Ark.

Ark Portal
As first seen in the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer, and numerous other promotional materials, this construct was originally thought to be the Ark itself. However, this was disproved with the release of Halo 3 where it was discovered to simply be a portal to the true Ark. It is located underneath New Mombasa (East African Protectorate, Earth), and was partly revealed when Regret's carrier destroyed the city and completely excavated by Covenant Loyalist forces later on. Apparently, this portal is also come to be known as the Cartographer Building.

In Halo 2, the Prophet of Regret lands his carrier above New Mombasa and deploys extensive ground forces including a Scarab Walker. UNSC Marines are subsequently able to beat the Covenant back, apparently triggering him to attempt a dangerous atmospheric slipspace transition. This manouvere obliterates New Mombasa, and forms a deep crater, partially uncovering the Ark Portal.

By the time of Halo 3, Covenant Loyalists begin excavating the building from the crater and are able to completely uncover it. The Prophet of Truth activates it at the conclusion of the level The Storm. It forms a massive portal, which the Loyalist ships immediately enter, followed by the Forerunner ship (presumably carrying Truth). At the end of the level Floodgate human and Heretic forces resolve to follow Truth's ships through the portal, and end up at Installation 00. At the end of the game, the damage caused to the Installation causes the portal to collapse, severing the Dawn in half as it passes back through. The forward section (carrying the Arbiter) makes it back to Earth, but the rear section (holding the Master Chief and Cortana) does not.

Installation 00
Though the Forerunner structure featured in the announcement trailer and promotional material was widely believed to be the Ark, it merely opened a portal to the Ark's location. The actual Ark (Installation 00) is finally unveiled in mission six of Halo 3. It resembles a massive disk with a series of eight curved arms, similar to a starfish. The entire upper surface is terraformed, with oceans, forests and even a large desert, where Chief first makes landfall. Most interestingly, the Ark is not actually in the Milky Way, and the galaxy can actually be seen in the sky, even during broad daylight. As such, it's outside the believed range of any Halo installation, and the name "Ark" must refer to Noah's Ark, which survived the 'flooding' of the Earth, as The Ark would survive the 'Flood-ing' of the galaxy.

The two shown primary functions of Installation 00 are as a remote for activating the entire Halo network, and as an automated construction facility for the creation of replacement Halo installations (ensuring that the network continues to operate even if any rings are destroyed). It is also far out of range of the existing seven Halo rings, forming a safe haven from their devestating pulse. It is also worth noting that the Milky Way was out of range of the replacement Installation 04 (fired in Halo 3 by the Master Chief).

After the level Floodgate, the entire remainder of the Halo 3 takes place on Installation 00. Whilst there, a number of conflicts including the UNSC and Elites, the Flood and Covenant Loyalists take place. The Ark is ultimately destroyed by the premature firing of the replacement Installation 04 by the Master Chief (which is soon obliterated itself). Somehow, the Master Chief and Cortana survive the Halo firing but remain stranded around where the Ark once was aboard the rear section of the Forward Unto Dawn.

Guilty Spark meets Ark AI
(04-343 is reference to Guilty Spark 343 his name number, 04 his Installation number)

This Transcript is taken from a Terminal which is found in the game, It basically tells that Guilty Spark is warned for accessing Installation 00's systems and is warned that even though he is a monitor of an installation he has no rights to be accessing systems on the Ark. He also learns that another Installation 04 is being manufactured and manages to stop the AI from sending sentinels after him.

Terminal #3, datalog: (bold = red, italic=blue)

Warning: Your intrusion has been logged.

04-343 (errant): Excuse me?

Your intrusion has been logged. And now it has been halted.

04-343(errant): On whose authority?

Advice: Any further attempt to access [access insects under stone] will result in your immediate addition to local Sentinels' targeting ledger.

04-343 (errant): Vexation! I am the Monitor of --

Judgement: Your authority means nothing here.

04-343 (errant): Impatience!

04-343 (errant): I have told you who I am. Who are you?

All our makers once held dear.

{Alexandria before the Fire]

04-343 (errant): Sincere apology. But how --

Explanation: This facility is host to the [Librarians'] final --

04-343 (errant): The archive is intact?! Then our makers' plan --

But also maintains [bellows, crucible, castings]

04-343 (errant): A what?

[bellows, crucible} --

04-343 (errant): A Foundry?

04-343 (errant): For what purpose?!

Warning: Your intrusion has been logged.

Advise: Any further attempt to access will result --

04-343 (errant): Indignant!

-- immediate addition to local sentinels' targeting ledger.


 * terminal gets overridden*

A lot of commands show up, including this message:

I. SEE YOU. INQUIRER.

Trivia

 * In the biblical story of Noah's Ark that was built to save Noah's family and a number of animals from a massive flood. This runs parallel to the Halo Universe story line where the Forerunner use the ark to save their species from the Flood. Also, in yet another reference to the number seven in Halo, the Noah's Ark story is in Genesis chapter 7|seven.
 * In the end of Halo 2, the conjecturally-named "Forerunner Ship", carrying the Prophet of Truth, jumped into Slipspace from near High Charity and Delta Halo, heading for Earth. By Halo 3, it had landed in the centre of the completely uncovered Ark Portal. The reasons for this landing are curently unclear.
 * Within the Halo Graphic Novel, in the short comic Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa, a transmission is intercepted between the Covenant assault forces stating that once the humans were dealt with in the First Battle of Earth, they would start uncovering the Ark.
 * In the real world, a concept sketch found in the Behind the Scenes DVD (seen right) names the artifact as the ark--more specifically, it names it as "Earth_Ark", which suggests that the artifact is in fact the actual Ark, altough now disproved.
 * There is also, of course, the strongly supported theory that human life originated in East Africa, usually said as the Great Rift Valley. New Mombasa is in this area, so the Ark Portal also is.
 * In the EGM September issue (leaked) on the page featuring the Hornet the text above mention that the UNSC is sending at convoy of Warthogs to clean up the Covenant air resistance at Voi to allow access to the Ark for Commander Keyes.
 * In the third server of the Iris VMC (Viral Marketing Campaign), the Log3_transcript text file held in it an extension of the quote from the video on the server:"Who has the right to live?/The light with the will to create me?/Or dark with the will to consume?" It has been suggested that the "light" described here refers to the Forerunners and the "dark" refers to the flood. This might indicate that the Forerunners are the creators of humanity and the ark is where we were released onto earth.
 * In the fifth server of the Iris VMC it was confirmed that the ARK was built to protect humanity from the Flood and the Activation of the Halos.
 * The real world Ark of the Covenant which according to the old Testament contains the stone tablets of the ten commandments, is the holiest object of the Jewish faith. The Ark of the Covenant is popularly believed to rest somewhere in east Africa, albeit in Ethiopia rather than Kenya.
 * The "Ark" seen in the announcement trailer is structurally identical to the Forerunner sanctuary described in the final chapters of Ghosts of Onyx (albeit on a much grander scale), complete with thirteen metal fins and a brilliant, blue-white portal in the ground. However, it is shown without the thirteen concentric rings rising around the portal, which means that it was either built without them or they will raise as the Ark opens. The Ark could be another safe haven from the effects of the Halos like the shield world. Also the Ark could contain at least one Forerunner or pictures of them.
 * The trailer took place around the levels of Tsavo Highway and The Storm.

Links

 * Halo.Bungie.Org's Ark forum.