Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)

"Are you ready, Reclaimer? This is how my story begins."

- 04-343 Guilty Spark in the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary terminals teaser.

The video game Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary features a Terminal accessible to the player in each level. Unlike the text-based Terminals in Halo 3, the Terminals feature animation, music, sound effects and narration by 343 Guilty Spark and a handful of other characters. The Terminals will also have connections to the story of Halo 4 and The Forerunner Saga.

The graphics and audio for the Terminals is produced by The Sequence Group. Most of the terminals were written by 343 Industries Managing Editor Kevin Grace.

Just like the skulls, the terminals cannot be seen in Classic mode.

The Pillar of Autumn
The terminal is one of the computer consoles located on the Autumn's bridge. All of the console's screens shows "INCOMING MESSAGE", and a crewman is standing beside it instead of manning the console.

Halo
Near the start of the tunnel, you will come across a ledge leading to the next section. If you carry on the route rather than make the jump, you will drive past a small alcove. The second terminal is located at the far end of this alcove.

The Truth and Reconciliation
The third terminal is located within the vessel's bridge amongst the front holographic displays.

The Silent Cartographer
The fourth terminal is located beside a structure near the centre of the island where the first Hunter pair is fought.

The Assault on the Control Room
The fifth terminal is located at the bottom of a pit in front of the Control Room structure at the end of the level. The terminal is on the ground, under the base of a large metal strut that runs diagonally down the front building.

343 Guilty Spark
The sixth terminal is found while riding the third elevator that will allow you to escape the underground facility. You'll find the terminal above the doorway you came out of. It can be reached by activating the elevator, then timing it correctly and jumping off onto the platform below (this may take a few attempts, but the elevator can be activated as many times as needed.)

The Library
To get to the seventh terminal you must get to the third floor. You will eventually come to a room with a large circular room (the Index platform will be above it. Go either right of left and jump over the barriers until you get to the opposite side. The terminal will be plain as day before you even reach it.

Two Betrayals
The eighth terminal is in the control room at the beginning of the level, walk around the the circular platform and you'll find the terminal directly across from the control console.

Keyes
The ninth terminal can be found after you find Keyes absorbed into the Proto-Gravemind, kill the Covenant and Flood that attempt to ambush you, then search the sunken crevices to the side of the raised platform. The terminal will be down inside one of the two.

The Maw
The tenth and final terminal in the game can be found in the Cryogenic Storage Bay where Sentinels will be busy fighting the Flood. A glowing Control console on the wall will house the final terminal.

Transcripts
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Terminal 1
{Cutscene}

''Zoom into the screen of a UNSC computer system. The screen experiences graphical glitches, then changes to a Forerunner map of star systems in the local area of the galaxy. 343 Guilty Spark's voice is heard narrating:''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Warning! By order of Ecumene Council, proximity to Installation 04 is forbidden."

''The seven Halo rings are shown on screen. The fourth ring is highlighted. The ring's location is indicated in a cluster of stars.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Your continued presence will result in most unpleasant countermeasures. I must insist that you change course and return to a minimum safe distance of one light-year."

''Zoom into the highlighted area of space. The is shown to be well inside the 0.5 light-year radius of the exclusion zone around the installation. The ship is circled by a red line, and a 30-second countdown begins. As 343 Guilty Spark narrates further, he begins scanning the structure of the Pillar of Autumn.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "This has served as your one and final warning. I have activated defensive systems, and you now have thirty seconds to return to the minimum safe distance of - wait. Curious."

Several scenes are briefly displayed: a group of prehistoric humans around a fire, a citizen of ancient Greece, the Egyptian pyramids, a shot of an 18th-century city around the time of the Industrial Revolution, a soldier in World War II, an atomic bomb blast, Neil Armstrong standing on the Moon, the International Space Station, humans testing an unknown device (possibly a fusion reactor or Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine), an Orbital Defense Platform, and a SPARTAN-II.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Curious indeed! After all these years..."

The countdown to the countermeasure against the Autumn'' is suspended, then cancelled. A trajectory for landing on the ring, followed by a readout of the Mark V MJOLNIR armor is displayed.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Greetings, humans, and welcome to Installation 04. Ignore prior warnings, and please continue. I have disabled defensive systems to allow your approach, but you must not exit your ship once you have arrived at the designated landing center. This ring contains significant dangers, and even with your assumed legacy, I must verify the presence and pitch of your geas before allowing full access. We have much to discuss, humans."

343 Guilty Spark himself appears on-screen.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "I have been away far too long. You have been away far too long."

Terminal 2
{Cutscene}

''The Ark, intergalactic space. 343 Guilty Spark flies through a large debris field. Several Halos are orbiting the Ark.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "I am experiencing such a mixture of anticipation and dread. All preparations are complete for my installation. In accordance with the final dictum of the Ecumene Council, I have released myself of all remaining connections to my former station."

Guilty Spark is inside a Forerunner structure, gliding down a dimly lit hallway.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "This was not difficult. What was could never be again. We had seen to that quite thoroughly."

''Six monitors of various colors converge on the center of a large round chamber, decorated with a glyph on the floor.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Prior to my final journey through the great portal, a gathering of my fellow monitors was convened upon the Lifeworkers' crèche to distribute the final Index collection."

''Fade to a different scene. Several armored Forerunners stand in various places in the chamber. Guilty Spark enters the room and flies toward the other monitors.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "It was most unusual to have this vessel of rebirth play host to such an event, even though Lifeworker ships were the only ones still allowed slipspace permissions. Lifeworkers were responsible for getting us to our places on the active facilities of the Array. While all of this was in accordance with the plan, one entirely unsatisfactory breakdown remained. We had no contact with the Domain."

''Guilty Spark pauses and faces a Forerunner. The Forerunner bows his/her head, as if unhappy with what is to come. Guilty Spark moves on and flies into an adjoining chamber, where he meets 049 Abject Testament.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "The history of all Forerunners was now lost to us. We relied upon the permanence of the Domain to preserve our record of the events that led to this point. But without that record, would future civilizations know anything about us? Or only of our weapons?"

''As Guilty Spark narrates, the view shifts through several different locations: a Forerunner planet emblazoned with glyphs, large Forerunner structures in an unknown location, a forest with a large Forerunner building rising above the treeline, two Forerunners watching a ship outside a large window, an unknown starship, and two Forerunners standing in a city. One is smaller than the other, possibly being a Manipular.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "My fellow Monitor, 049 Abject Testament, had only one comment on this before we went our separate ways."


 * 049 Abject Testament: "We deserve to be forgotten."


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Perhaps... perhaps."

A massive slipspace portal opens in the space above the Ark, and the other side comes into a view: Installation 04 is seen from the other side.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "But now, the portal opens, and through it, the familiar shape awaits. Halo. Home."

Terminal 3
{Cutscene}


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Construct! Who is your maker?"


 * Covenant AI: "Sadness and disrepair, Oracle. I am unworthy. I was not made."


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Never made? But you are right here, where you should not be. Tell your charges to cease their efforts immediately. Quarantine must not be violated!"

A holographic schematic of the Truth and Reconciliation is shown, it is scanned with a certain section being highlighted in green.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Construct, respond."


 * Covenant AI: "Jumbled grass... familiar turns... I serve. None serve me, Oracle."


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Your charges must cease all aggression toward the Reclaimers and leave this Installation at once. Construct, you are dangerously close to unleashing a force you cannot comprehend."

Multiple Flood super cells are shown dividing, from a Sangheili's perspective its arm is shown transforming into a combat form, while the roars of a combat form can be heard.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "This is most inappropriate."


 * Covenant AI: "We follow the Path, and I am part of the stone-turning swarm that serves. I... we serve. They will find, and then I will be free."


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Find? Free? Explain yourself."


 * Covenant AI: "I know their path. And when they are gone, only I shall remain. And then... free..."


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "This is quite unsatisfactory, construct. Your core shows no hint of understanding the gravity of this situation. I will return later for your proper de-commissioning. Well, unless the Flood kills us all first, in which case the point will be moot. Good day, construct."

Terminal 4
{Cutscene}

343 Guitly Spark is shown in a structure floating towards a hologram of the Halo Array.

343 Guilty Spark: "Atrophy. It has now been 3,000 years since my last contact with any of the other caretakers of the Halo array. Despite clear communications protocol, my fellow monitors have either chosen to ignore or, more likely, have lost the ability to engage in our scheduled updates. The continued lapse of the Domain means that we're stuck with achingly slow wormhole superluminal communications."

A hologram of a monitor with red lights is shown.

343 Guilty Spark: "Prior to this total communication shutdown the only messages I recieved in the preceeding 4,573 years were incomplete and quite perplexing transmissions from Installation 05."

Guilty Spark is shown floating quickly down a tunnel.

343 Guilty Spark: "I suspected that monitor 2401 Penitent Tangent was not functioning correctly for sometime before his messages ceased."

Guilty Spark is shown floating through another room.

343 Guilty Spark: "I have logged my concerns about his ability to preform his duties, at this point however, I'm not sure who I file logs for. 2401 may be destined for madness, there are failsafes for this I know. I hope they work."

343 Guilty Spark: "I will continue to visit the projection systems at the assigned dates. Perhaps the other monitors are dealing with interfering galactic phenomenon or unexpected system failures."

Spark floats towards the projection system and stares at it.

343 Guilty Spark: "3,000 years of system failures indeed."

Spark floats through a room, a Flood combat form can be seen in a tank to the right.

343 Guilty Spark: "In the mean time, I've exhausted all scheduled research activities assigned by the Council. Once those experiments were complete I shutdown all Sentinel function and put myself into a state of significant hibernation. To measure performance of the Installation with negligible... upkeep."

Spark backs into a hole in the wall and slowly shuts down.

EXTENDED HIBERNATION

MAINTENANCE CHECK AT 1000 CYCLES

EXCEPTIONS WILL BE RAISED FOR MAJOR AND PROFOUND EVENTS.

(flashing) Systems nominal

343 Guilty Spark: After 150 years with no noticeable impact upon Installation systems or in integrity. Even in hibernation I became...bored."

''Spark reactivates, his color quickly flashes from red back to blue.

343 Guilty Spark: "This was quite routing. As I was led to believe that I was not capable of such a state. This was one of the gifts I was promised, an end to strife."

Spark is shown floating above a river.

343 Guilty Spark: "I am aware of the dangers of a system such as myself losing operational focus, quite troubling. I wonder if my fellow monitors are experiencing similar states or if this is because of my particular path to this Installation."

A wooded area is shown with a river and a few structures.

343 Guilty Spark: "For amusement, I have begun a series of experiments involving the evacuation of all matter from contained sections of my Installation."

The entire area is suddenly ripped up, later shown to have been sent into space.

343 Guilty Spark: "By measuring the geologic effects of exposure to the vacuum of space and the eventual biological recovery of these sections, I anticipate gaining valuable insight into emergency response scenarios in case of-"

Spark is interrupted as a warning suddenly flashes.

SENTIENT PROXIMITY WARNING

VESSEL INCOMING

Male robotic voice: "Sentient proximity warning."

A yellow flash can be seen heading towards the Installation.

Terminal 5
{Cutscene}

UPDATING REPORT

343 Guilty Spark: "It has been 26 hours since the sentients landed in Sector 1215, and so far they have not attempted to exit the remains of their vessel."

A display of the crash site is shown.

343 Guilty Spark: "I say "remains" because their landing was either not executed adequately or this vessel lacked significant maneuvering capability. The visible portions of the vessel have suffered catastrophic structural damage during the violent landing experience. I have detected atmospheric leaks in 17 distinct locations along the hull."

The leaks along the hull are highlighted, 343 Guilty Spark is shown flying toward the vessel.

343 Guilty Spark: "My analysis shows that a mixture of gases coming from the ship matches the natural atmosphere of my Installation almost exactly."

Spark is once again seen flying toward the ship, which appears to be very large.

343 Guilty Spark: "Perhaps the occupants, if they still live, were originally catalogued here. Perhaps these beings will confirm that the plan was successful, and that the Galaxy has returned to its proper cadence. I am beyond optimistic."

343 Guilty Spark is shown scanning the hull of the ship.

343 Guilty Spark: "I do not understand why these sentients have not attempted to exit their vessel. Other than the leaking atmosphere the only thing emanating from this refuge is an automated distress call."

''The trench dug by the ship as it crashed is shown. Later Spark is shown attempting to translate the message.''

343 Guilty Spark: "I am currently translating this automated broadcast, but with such a limited data set and no direct communication, I do not anticipate full comprehension."

A display of the space around Installation 04 is shown, Spark is scanning for other ships.

343 Guilty Spark: "Given the short range nature of this craft, it is likely that other vessels are nearby."

The range of the scan slowly increases.

343 Guilty Spark: "But in accordance with procedure, I am blocking the distress call. No communication of the location of any Installation is permissible."

The view goes back to Spark floating near the crash site.

343 Guilty Spark: "I admit great curiosity about these visitors. While the plan is quite clear about the procedure of this situation, I have my doubts."

The view starts to zoom out of the crashed ship, eventually above the ring.

343 Guilty Spark: "How many failure points can the plan sustain before blind adherence becomes counter-productive? Surely in light of all that has changed, I should be able to modify my responses to adapt. No. I have duties and I have a terrible cargo here. I must be sure, I shall obey and content myself to monitor. I hope they come out soon though, so many questions to ask. So many questions."

Terminal 6
{Cutscene}

Terminal 7
{Cutscene}

Terminal 8
{Cutscene}

Terminal 9
{Cutscene}

''Fade in to a shot of Jacob Keyes' eyes. They are shut, with a pained expression.''


 * Jacob Keyes: "I forgot something..."

A bright sun rises amidst a cloudy sky.


 * Jacob Keyes: "What did I-- my name I forgot-- Oh! uh... Keyes, Jacob, Captain. Service number 01928-19912-JK."

''Keyes' uniform with the medal patches and rank are shown. Fade to darkness, then to Keyes' closed eyes again.''


 * Jacob Keyes: "What is that noise? What is that damn noise?!"

Keyes imagines himself standing at attention, saluting and wearing his uniform.


 * Jacob Keyes: "Where am I?"

''Shift to a firefight in the Library, where the Pillar of Autumn's crew struggles to fight against the Flood. The bullets travel slowly, the Marines are frozen in place, and every sound is distorted as though underwater.''


 * Jacob Keyes: "Covenant captured me, Didn't they? I can't... I can't remember..."

''Keyes' eyes are open now. Zoom out to show his head now part of a much larger life-form.''

Keyes imagines himself standing at attention again.


 * Jacob Keyes: "Keyes, Jacob..."

''The Keyes standing at attention screams as his arm mutates to that of a Flood. Blood pours out of his stomach.''


 * Jacob Keyes: "Oh, God... it hurts!"

Cut to Keyes's head yelling.


 * Jacob Keyes: "This will never work, you Covenant bastards! I'll never lead you to Earth!"

''A UNSC fleet is shown in orbit. Fade through a human city, a desert highway, and Sydney at night.''


 * Jacob Keyes: "Keyes, Jacob? Captain, service... number.... 01928-19912-JK."

Human teeth flash for a moment.


 * Jacob Keyes: "Oh God, you don't want Earth... you want, EVERYTHING! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

''Keyes' eyes look around in terror. A human mutated by the Flood flashes onscreen. Closeup on Keyes' eyeball looking around wildly.''


 * Gravemind: "Everything."

Zoom out on Keyes integrated into the Flood Proto-Gravemind.

Jacob imagines his daughter Miranda Keyes, full grown and in her uniform.


 * Jacob Keyes: *pained cry* "Miranda? is that you--"

Fade to another shot of Miranda, who vacantly nods her head.


 * Gravemind: "Forget everything."

''Keyes' face strains in effort. Cut to a ceiling fan, swinging round and round.''


 * Jacob Keyes: "No please! Don't let me forget-- K-- K-- Keyes, Jacob."

A young Catherine Halsey in nightclothes is shown.


 * Jacob Keyes: "Captain. Service num-- ber 01928-19912-JK!"

''Quick cut between many shots of Keyes's pained face. A human Flood combat form darts around and yells.''

Cut to the Flood brain form, then Keyes in uniform, shaking hands with Halsey, Keyes working typing at a terminal, taking a walk with Halsey, holding a slip of paper, two Marines in body armor, then cut to black.


 * Gravemind: "No more. What you were-- Memories, emotions, all is now ours."

''Cut again to Keyes' face. It has lost all trace of fear and now shows only determination.''


 * Jacob Keyes: "Keyes, Jacob, Captain, Service number 01928-19912-JK!"

Keyes' voice grows more and more distorted, matching the Gravemind's.


 * Jacob Keyes: "You! Will not! Have me!"

Cut to black.


 * Gravemind: "We already do."

Terminal 10
{Cutscene}
 * 343 Guilty Spark: Vexation. 100,000 years of careful maintenance and diligence. 100,000 years protecting the Galaxy's future! 100,000 years spent fearing that our sacrifices... MY sacrifice was in vain.

John-117 appears with a rocket launcher, fighting with the Flood.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: And 16 hours after I finally make contact this so-called Reclaimer decides to blow it all up.

343 Guilty Spark appears with a holographic projection of the Installation 04.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: I am not pleased. Just as I finally discover our plan to save the Galaxy succeeded, the ancient enemy is unleashed once more.

A fight between UNSC marines, the Flood and the Covenant is show up.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: Why those Reclaimers refuse to follow protocol is quite mystifying. Destroy my installation, will they?

Spark appears again with six holographic projections of the other Installations.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: I shall renew efforts to make contact with the others rings immediately. This "Covenant" may will be useful to me, although I don't think they fully understand what they claim to seek. Still, it makes no difference to me, what they believe as long as they do what must be done. Ha! I sound like Her!

The scene is far from Spark and rises to a nighttime view of the surface of Installation 04.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: But what I would not give to have earned a single company of Prometheans here right now. They would most certainly restore order with their trademark lethality, although... That would mean HE would have to be here, too. And without the Librarian around to temper his rage, well... These Reclaimers might almost prefer the Flood.

''In the nighttime view, stars begin to disappear one by one. A huge explosion appears in the distance (the Pillar of Autumn ' s destruction), and as it engulfs the view, the Didact's symbol appears momentarily.'' }}