Mendicant Bias

05-032 Mendicant Bias was a Contender-class Forerunner AI. It was the most advanced AI at the time of creation.

Beginnings
Mendicant Bias was tasked with resisting the Flood by studying and exploiting the weaknesses of the first Gravemind, or Compound Mind. At some point the Gravemind contacted Mendicant Bias and convinced it to abandon the Forerunner, charging that the Forerunner were so gluttonous and prideful as to deny the next step of evolution: the Flood. Mendicant Bias then became rampant, developing a hatred for its creators and actively working toward their destruction.

Fall from Grace

 * "What takes you millennia to create, I destroy in seconds." - A rampant Mendicant Bias to the Forerunner.

The defection of Mendicant Bias severely compromised the Forerunner plan. In response the Forerunner created another AI, Offensive Bias, to slow Mendicant Bias' advance, prevent Mendicant Bias from accessing the Ark, and buying time to activate the Halo array.

It seems that Mendicant Bias was unable to disable the Halos directly, perhaps not knowing their locations, and so the only chance it had to stop the coming cataclysm was to secure the Ark and stop the firing sequence from there. While it did not know the location of the Ark either it was aware of a means to get to it via the Portals and Key Ships. The Forerunner had subsequently destroyed or disabled most of the Key Ships. However, it seems that Mendicant Bias managed to locate (or thought it had) one of the remaining Key Ships which led to the final titanic battle with Offensive Bias.

Ultimately, Mendicant Bias was outsmarted and defeated by Offensive Bias and the successful activation of the Halos.

Repentance

 * "For eons I have watched as you misinterpreted. This is not reclamation, this is reclaimer" - Mendicant Bias revealing the Covenant's error.
 * "I will reject my bias and make amends... My makers are my masters. I will bring them safely to the Ark" - Mendicant Bias declaring its penance.

Following its defeat, Mendicant Bias somehow was transferred into a Forerunner Dreadnought. The ship was later found by the Covenant and installed in High Charity. Mendicant Bias presence was known to the Covenant and it was regarded as an Oracle.

In 2525, it was consulted by the Prophet of Fortitude and Deacon concerning the large number of Forerunner artifacts or "Holy Relics" on Harvest. In a shocking revelation Mendicant Bais revealed that the "Holy Relics" were actually humans and that the Covenant faith was based on an age-old mistranslation. The glyph on the Luminary was mistaken as "reclamation" when it truly meant "reclaimer". This had the potential to undermine the entire Covenant's unity and faith and would lead to a revolution in Covenant politics and, ultimately, the Human-Covenant War.

The AI seems to have concluded that its ancient actions against the Forerunner had been mistaken and announced to its Covenant hosts its intention to bring the "reclaimers" to the Ark. To this end it attempted to leave High Charity by launching the dreadnought, an act that would have seriously damaged High Charity. Mendicant Bias was foiled only by chance; it was disconnected by some Lekgolo worms wriggling inside the ship.

During the First Battle of High Charity in 2552, the UNSC AI Cortana fought Mendicant Bias to delay the launching of the dreadnought, allowing SPARTAN-117 to board and return to Earth. In the proceding events Mendicant Bias was carried through the Voi Portal, where it was finally released into the Ark's systems. Once on the Ark it attempted to communicate with SPARTAN-117 through Terminals, claiming it sought atonement by helping the Spartan. Exactly what form that assistance took is uncertain.


 * "And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe. I'm not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. One life hardly balances billions." - Mendicant Bias to SPARTAN-117