Library

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The Library is the name given to a structure present on each of the Halo Installations created by the Forerunners.

Background
The Library's true function is unknown at present. However it is hypothesised to be a collection of all information regarding the Flood known to the Forerunner and also collated cloned DNA sequences. All of this information is contained within the Index, which is housed within the Index Chamber and is used in the process of activating the Halo system and wiping the galaxy clean of sentient life.

The Index is held in suspended animation within the core of the Library, out of reach of possible Flood outbreak. The only internal access is via a giant lift that descends from the highest level of the Library to the Index's suspended position.

Access to the Library itself usually occurs via each installation's internal teleportation grid. On Installation 05 2401 Penitent Tangent was unable to assist the Arbiter in this manner. As a result a longer, less direct route had to be taken. An Anti-Gravity Gondola spanned the distance between a Forerunner base and the Library. This large Forerunner base was the Sentinel Wall which was protected by an energy shield and filled with hundreds if not thousands of Sentinels and Enforcers. Then, beyond the wall is an artificial lake and a great chasm that the gondola must cross.

On both Installation 04 and Installation 05 the Flood was still able to breach such defences and infest the Library. This may indicate that the Library is not as secure as the Forerunners had hoped it would be or that it was initially a containment facility for the Flood. The interior of both Libraries consists of multiple gigantic hallways of geometric design interconnected to one another, finally leading to the Index Room.

The Library of Installation 04
343 Guilty Spark teleported the Master Chief from 04's Flood Containment Facility, after deeming him to be a Reclaimer, into the Library of Installation 04 and instructed him to retrieve the index.

It is here that 343 Guilty Spark remarks upon both the nature of the Flood and the Forerunners. Making specific reference to their technological superiority, he wonders why the Chief had brought "such ineffective weapons to combat the Flood". Guilty Spark also recommends that the Master Chief should upgrade from his current MJOLNIR armor, a Mark V (which according to an Forerunner ranking system is only Class 2) to a Class 12 Combat Skin, which is stated as a necessity in order to combat the Flood. However, he later tells the Master Chief that his suit will serve him well as the Flood would try to alter the atmosphere for their own needs(possibly referring to the Flood spores spreading throughout the facility).

The Flood had heavily infested this library in the few short days since their initial breakout, with large groups using the ventilation shafts and access corridors to make their way through the facility. There were Flood in almost every part of the complex, including the Index Chamber itself, and the Sentinel drones assigned to the facility were mostly overwhelmed. By the time the Chief arrived, the Sentinels were reduced to small groups using the shafts to avoid destruction and the Flood had begun terraforming, spreading their spores through the facility by using the ducts.

Toward the end of this Library, the Chief encounters the body of a Marine who was Guilty Spark's previous Reclaimer. This Marine is said to have been so mutilated that the Flood could not possibly infest him. He is identified to be Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto.

With help from the Sentinels, the Master Chief fought his way through three levels of the complex and retrieved the index. The Library's subsequent status and Flood infection is unknown, although it was destroyed with the rest of Alpha Halo when the Master Chief detonated the Pillar of Autumn's engines. The library is not seen from the outside, so it is unclear whether the libraries on each ring are different. e.g. Installation 04's control tower is different than installaion 05's.

The Library of Installation 05
In Halo 2, while the Master Chief hunted down the Prophet of Regret, Commander Miranda Keyes, Sergeant Johnson and most of In Amber Clad's Marines attempted to break into the Library in order to find and retrieve the Index. Due to the significantly larger Flood outbreak on this Installation, the Library and its defenses were seriously damaged and as a consequence were filled with larger numbers of Flood than its Installation 04 counterpart. The UNSC forces were seemingly unprepared for the Flood presence, and many of them were infected.

The Arbiter traveled to the Library of Delta Halo. (This journey encompasses the Sacred Icon and Quarantine Zone levels.) Dropped into the Sentinel Wall from Tartarus' Phantom, the Arbiter battled his way through swathes of Flood and Sentinels to find the gondola that would carry him into the core of the Library. By removing the containment plugs, he then lowered the Containment Shield guarding the Quarantine Zone enabling him to enter the Library proper. Unfortunately, this also released the Flood and allowed them to gain access to victims and vehicles from both Covenant and human forces, adding to the magnitude of the outbreak.

The Arbiter took the gondola into the depths of the Library to find the Index Chamber. This inner section of the Library was identical to Installation 04's. After neutralizing both Keyes and Johnson, the Arbiter retrieved the Index, only to be betrayed by Tartarus and the Brutes After being thrown to his death by Tartarus, the Arbiter is rescued by the Gravemind, who then held him captive for his own motives. It should be noted that in the Index Room there are what appear to be multiple destroyed Enforcers, as well as a number of the Gravemind's tentacles. A large part of the Gravemind exists beneath the Library itself, and this is where the Flood infected 2401 Penitent Tangent and Prophet of Regret were held.

The Library of Installation 04 (II)
Although it is never seen, it can be assumed that the Library of Installation 04 (II) is almost identical to that of its predecessor. One can infer this for the simple reason that the Control Room is identical between the structures as well.

Trivia

 * The foremost structure of the Library is similar to the symbols on the stone slabs on the top floor of the bases in the Halo: Combat Evolved map Blood Gulch. It could mean that the structure of the Library is somehow related to Blood Gulch, or that it is purely a common Forerunner symbol.
 * It can only be assumed that every Installation (except Installation 00) had a Library assuming that they all have the same function.

Related Links

 * Index
 * Halo
 * Control Room