Halo: Primordium

Halo: Primordium is the second novel in The Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear and is the sequel to Halo: Cryptum. It was released on January 3, 2012, with an audio edition released simultaneously.

Plot Synopsis
"I’m having great fun working through the action and growing mysteries in Halo: Primordium, as humans engage in an epic odyssey across a damaged, war-torn Halo, facing the Flood, rogue AIs, and the stunning testament of the last Precursor..."

- Greg Bear

Set primarily on Installation 07, the "rogue" Halo ring used by Mendicant Bias during the events of Halo: Cryptum, the novel follows the journey of several humans, including Chakas and Morning Riser, former companions of Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting. After crash-landing on the Halo ring during Mendicant Bias' assault on the capital, Chakas is discovered by a local community of humans, who have been transplanted there by the Master Builder's researchers in order to conduct research on them.

Chakas, accompanied by the local humans Vinnevra and Gamelpar, begins his search for his friend Riser. As they make their way across the embattled Halo installation, they face the Flood and rogue AI constructs on the way, while the Precursors' ancient plan of vengeance against the Forerunners is revealed. During their journey, they find their way into the Palace of Pain, the lair of the ancient entity known as the Timeless One, which has unleashed the Flood on the Master Builder's researchers on the installation. Mendicant Bias also plays a major role in the story.

Frank O'Connor has mentioned that the story is "closer to the ground" than that of Cryptum, and that it will have "resonant connections" to Halo 4. Greg Bear has hinted at a connection between John-117 and one of the novel's human characters and has confirmed that the novel will explore the Precursors' plan. He has also hinted that the novel may cover events that occurred up to three million years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, though he referred to the entire Saga, not necessarily Primordium.

Plot
The book begins with an ONI team finding a damaged version of 343 Guilty Spark. The ONI team wants to know what Guilty Spark knows of the Didact. The damaged monitor proceeds to tell the story of its origins, revealing that it was once a human named Chakas. The story is then told through flashbacks Guilty Spark has. As the story is told, Guilty Spark breaches the ship's firewall several times, much to the team's dismay.

Before Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting came to Earth, Chakas worked for Riser's family kept Chakas' family alive. Riser, it is revealed, is much smarter and older than Chakas and would tell him what to do. When Bornstellar arrived, Riser had planned to trick him, however this plan changed when his and Chakas' geas told them to help him. After traveling to Charum Hakkor, the old spirit inside Chakas surfaced. This spirit was named Forthencho and was the human in charge of Charum Hakkor's defenses and had fought the Didact for years.

When Chakas, Riser, Bornstellar, and the Didact were captured by the Master Builder, Chakas was separated from the group and crash-landed on Installation 07, where he was then retrieved by Vinnevra, who had been sent to the crash site by her grandfather, Gamelpar. Gamelpar was originally from Earth and also held an old spirit within him, which had caused the other villagers to mistrust him, forcing him to live outside of the town. The villagers thought he was dead, and wouldn't touch Vinnevra in fear of his spirit coming after him.

After regaining his strength, Chakas, Vinnevra, and Gamelpar proceed to follow Vinnevra's geas, which is actually telling her to go to the Palace of Pain, where the group witness the Primordial floating on a platform above the humans following their gei and walking into the building. After this, the three decide to move in the opposite direction. After crossing an ocean, the three stumble upon a collapsing city, in which Gamelpar and Chakas see a Gravemind locked in a Forerunner cell, pleading for death and freedom.

After more traveling, the three are found by a Lifeworker, several other humans, and a large ape 343 Guilty Spark identifies as a Gigantopithecus. Strangely, the Lifeworker and the humans cast off no smell and the bugs are not interested in them. After being fed by the Lifeworker and sent to sleep, Chakas awakens to see Riser, who warns him not to trust the Lifeworker and the other humans. The Lifeworker then reveals that he and the other humans are not actually alive, but archived personalities based on monitors manifesting as life-like hard light holograms. The monitor representing the Lifeworker is following a command to implant all of the humans from Earth into monitors to save the old spirits they carry. The monitor wants to do this to Gamelpar, who is dying, but Gamelpar rejects him and walks into the forest with Chakas, who watches him as he dies. It is there that Gamelpar tells Chakas Vinnevra's true name and has Chakas promise to watch over her. The monitors then power down, leaving Chakas, Riser, Vinnevra, and the ape, whose name is revealed to be Mara by Riser, who can communicate with her, to continue their journey.

Riser then tells his story to Chakas of how he found them. After being separated from the group, Riser and the Forerunners that were holding him crashed into Installation 07. One of the Forerunners as he and the other Forerunners were on opposing sides of the small civil war caused by the Master Builder's use of the Halo on the San 'Shyuum homeworld. The group's armor then tried to kill them and successfully did so to the Forerunner who couldn't move to save himself. After a while of traveling, the group was covered in Flood spores, killing the Forerunners but not Riser, who continued traveling until he stumbled upon Chakas.

Forthencho and Riser's spirit converse, in which it is revealed the Riser's spirit was a woman named Yprin Yprikushma, who was responsible for excavating Precursor ruins and moving the Primordial to Charum Hakkor, which Forthencho has disapproved of. The woman had also traced humanity's origins to Earth, which Forthencho did not believe due to several other worlds appearing more suitable to humanity's growth.

The group is finally found by a transport which brings them to the Palace of Pain, where they meet Mendicant Bias. Chakas, Riser, and all of the other humans from Earth are gathered and have their old spirits removed and implanted into monitors. Mendicant Bias promises the old spirits revenge on the Forerunners, but first the old spirits and the humans must save the Halo from colliding into a planet. The humans that don't agree are killed, while Forthencho lies to Mendicant Bias that Chakas agrees and the two are sent to the Silent Cartographer to coordinate the Halo's movements. The plan is for the Halo to position itself in such a way that the planet will pass through the Halo, which will suffer heavy damage but will survive. As the Halo moves towards the planet, Chakas is connected to an infected Forerunner and interfaces with the Halo. A fleet led by the Didact then appears from the other side of the planet and the Didact purges Mendicant Bias from Installation 07. Chakas then merges with the Didact to move the Halo through a portal. To do so, however, the halo must drop several pieces of itself, thus reducing its diameter to its current size.

The Halo survives and moves through the portal. The Didact brings Chakas with him to confront the Primordial, who has been imprisoned. The ensuing conversation reveals that the Flood and the Precursors are one in the same and that the Forerunners aren't meant to inherit the Mantle, but humanity is. It is also revealed that there was no real cure to the Flood, but the Flood's choice to infect and not infect people made it appear that there was. Once the Forerunners are eliminated, humanity is going to be tested by the Flood to see if it is truly worthy of inheriting the Mantle. The Primordial itself is actually a Gravemind, and it is never determined if this is what the Precursors truly were or if they created the Flood to continue their existence. At the conversation's conclusion, the Didact kills the Primordial by activating a reverse stasis chamber that forces the Primordial to go through a billion years of aging until it disintegrates.

Chakas is then converted into 343 Guilty Spark and is pleased to learn that Vinnevra and Riser survived. The book ends with him being ejected into space after powering down, but not before he injects himself into the ship's computer and takes control of the ship. He reveals that he wants to find Riser and Vinnevra's old spirits, and needs the Librarian to do so. Knowing that she didn't die and her true location, he puts the ONI team to sleep and has the ship proceed to her location.

Forerunners

 * Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting
 * The Didact
 * The Librarian
 * Faber

Humans

 * Chakas
 * Morning Riser
 * Vinnevra
 * Gamelpar
 * Forthencho
 * Yprin Yprikushma
 * Mara
 * An ONI science team

Artificial Intelligences

 * 05-032 Mendicant Bias
 * 04-343 Guilty Spark

Precursors

 * The Timeless One

Trivia

 * A primordium is an aggregation of cells that is the first stage in the development of an organ or tissue. It is also a derivation of the term Primordial, which is a title given to the last Precursor.
 * The novel's cover illustration, as well as that of Halo: Cryptum, was created as concept art for Halo 4. Both images were illustrated by Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier.
 * A preview of the novel's first chapters was released on December 28, 2011 on Tor.com and Halo Waypoint, with the first chapter released on Tor.com and the second and third chapters as well as part of the fourth chapter on Halo Waypoint.