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==Plot summary== | ==Plot summary== | ||
The book begins with an ONI science team interrogating a damaged | The book begins with an ONI science team interrogating a damaged Forerunner [[monitor]], questioning it about [[the Didact]] and the ancient relations between Forerunners and humans. The monitor, revealing that it was once a human named [[Chakas]], then proceeds to tell the story of its origins through a series of flashbacks. Over the course of the story, the monitor breaches the ship's firewall several times, much to the team's dismay. None of the human characters in the present-day segments are identified by name and are only referred to by their titles. | ||
At first, the monitor describes his childhood and youth as Chakas, and how he met his companion Riser. He then recounts the events of ''Halo: Cryptum'' from | At first, the monitor describes his childhood and youth as Chakas, and how he met his companion Riser. He then recounts the events of ''Halo: Cryptum'' from Chakas' perspective and explains how [[the Librarian]]'s ''[[geas]]'' caused "old spirits", or genetically imprinted personalities of humans who fought in the [[human-Forerunner war]]s, to surface within him and Riser. After the Didact, Bornstellar and the two humans are captured by the [[Faber|Master Builder]] at [[Janjur Qom]], Chakas is separated from the others and is put into stasis. | ||
During Mendicant Bias' [[Battle of the capital|assault on the capital]], the ship carrying Chakas is destroyed and | During Mendicant Bias' [[Battle of the capital|assault on the capital]], the ship carrying Chakas is destroyed and his escape pod crash-lands on a Halo installation. He is found by a human girl named [[Vinnevra]], who has been sent to the crash site by her grandfather, [[Gamelpar]]. It is revealed that the Halo is home to humans of various kinds, who collectively refer to themselves as the [[Tudejsa|"the People"]], and have been transplanted there long ago as part of the Librarian's [[Conservation Measure|preservation efforts]]. However, the Master Builder took control of the ring and began to use the humans in his experiments on the Flood. Many humans were seen to be immune to the Flood, prompting the Master Builder to bring in more humans from Earth in order to retrieve the ancient records stored in their genetic material in hopes of finding the secret to this supposed immunity. | ||
Vinnevra | After Chakas recovers, he soon finds that he is host to the archived personality of [[Forthencho]], the Lord of Admirals, who commanded the [[Prehistoric human civilization|human]] military forces against the Didact's fleets in the [[Charum Hakkor campaign|final battle]] of [[Charum Hakkor]]. Vinnevra takes Chakas to see Gamelpar, who explains that he was originally from Earth and, like Chakas, also holds an "old spirit" within him. The old man also explains the history of the humans on the installation, and reveals that he has once been taken to what the humans call the [[Palace of Pain]]; this is later revealed to be a general term for the [[Flood research facility|Flood research facilities]] on the installation. | ||
Chakas, Vinnevra, and Gamelpar then proceed to follow Vinnevra's ''geas'', which they assume will lead them to safety. However, it instead takes them near one of the "Palaces of Pain", where the group witness numerous humans following their ''geas'' walking into the structure whilst being observed by [[the Primordial]], the | Chakas, Vinnevra, and Gamelpar then proceed to follow Vinnevra's ''geas'', which they assume will lead them to safety. However, it instead takes them near one of the "Palaces of Pain", where the group witness numerous humans following their ''geas'' walking into the structure whilst being observed by [[the Primordial]], supposedly the last [[Precursor]]. The three then decide to move in the opposite direction. Coming across the shores of a large lake, the three stumble upon a collapsing human city, in which Gamelpar and Chakas see a [[proto-Gravemind]] locked in a Forerunner cell. | ||
After crossing the lake, the three are found by a Lifeworker named [[Genemender Folder of Fortune]], several [[Denisovan]]s, and a | After crossing the lake, the three are found by a Lifeworker named [[Genemender Folder of Fortune]], several [[Denisovan]]s, and a [[Wikipedia:Gigantopithecus|large ape]]. Strangely, Genemender and the humans cast off no smell and the insects are not interested in them. After being fed by Genemender and sent to sleep, Chakas awakens to see Riser, who warns him not to trust the Lifeworker and the other humans. Genemender then reveals that he and the humans in his compound are not actually alive, but archived personalities manifesting as life-like [[hard light]] [[holography|holograms]]. Genemender, who is actually based within a monitor, is under orders to salvage the humans' genetic records to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Flood and the Master Builder. The monitor wants to do this to Gamelpar, who is dying, but Gamelpar rejects him and has Chakas accompany him in his final moments. Before dying, Gamelpar has Chakas promise to watch over Vinnevra. The systems in the area 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. During the battle over the Forerunner capital, Riser and the Forerunners that were holding him crashed | Riser then tells his story to Chakas of how he found them. During the battle over the Forerunner capital, Riser and the Forerunners that were holding him crashed on Installation 07. One of the Forerunners, who was locked up by the others due to him being on the opposing side of the small civil war caused by the Master Builder's use of the Halo on the [[San 'Shyuum]] homeworld, told the others that Riser was valuable due to his ''geas'', and thus the others protected him as they moved out. After a while of traveling over a desert infested with Flood biomass, the group was covered in [[Flood spores]], killing the Forerunners but not Riser, who continued traveling until he stumbled upon Chakas. | ||
Chakas and Riser then allow their spirits to converse with one another. This interrupts the monitor's data stream, causing Forthencho to briefly take over Chakas as the narrator. It is revealed the Riser's spirit was a woman named [[Yprin Yprikushma]], another high-ranking human who was responsible for excavating Precursor ruins and moving the Primordial to Charum Hakkor, which Forthencho disapproved of. Forthencho also recounts the events during the humans' war with the Forerunners, the final battle at Charum Hakkor, and their eventual defeat and the extraction of their personalities and memories via something called [[the Composer]]. | |||
The group is finally found by a transport which brings them to the lair of Mendicant Bias. Chakas, Riser, and all of the other humans from Earth are gathered and have their imprinted ancestral personalities removed and implanted into monitors. Mendicant Bias promises | The group is finally found by a transport, which brings them to a Lifeworker station. There, it it learned that the Halo is on a collision course with a planet; a failsafe to ensure the weapon does not fall in the wrong hands. The group then enters another transport, which brings them to the lair of Mendicant Bias. Chakas, Riser, and all of the other humans from Earth are gathered and have their imprinted ancestral personalities removed and implanted into monitors. Mendicant Bias promises them revenge on the Forerunners, but first they must save the Halo from colliding with the planet. 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 the [[Silent Cartographer]] in order to interface with the Halo and help coordinate its movements. | ||
A fleet led by the Didact then appears, and the Didact uses a failsafe code to disable Mendicant Bias. The Didact then enters the Cartographer and commands that the Halo be saved by moving it to an [[Ark]] installation for repairs. To successfully move through a [[Slipspace portal|portal]], however, the Halo must shed a large portion of its constituent structure, thus reducing its diameter from 30,000 kilometers to 10,000 kilometers. Though heavily damaged, the Halo survives and moves through the portal. | |||
Shortly afterward, the Didact brings a mortally wounded Chakas - | Shortly afterward, the Didact brings a mortally wounded Chakas - who is already undergoing conversion into a monitor - with him to confront the Primordial, who has been imprisoned. The ensuing conversation reveals that the Primordial is actually a Gravemind, and that more Precursors may have survived [[Forerunner-Precursor war|their war with the Forerunners]]. The Primordial asserts that "there is no difference" between the Flood and the Precursors, although it does not reveal the precise nature of their relationship. It also reveals that no human was ever truly immune to the Flood, but the Flood can choose whether to infect or not infect. The Primordial then states that the Flood is a test to judge a species' worthiness of inheriting the [[Mantle]], stating that the Forerunners are to be eliminated and that humans will be tested next once they rise again. 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 in several seconds, causing it to disintegrate. | ||
Back at present day, the ONI researchers reluctantly accept that the monitor telling the story is actually a | Back at present day, the ONI researchers reluctantly accept that the monitor telling the story is actually a fragment or duplicate of [[343 Guilty Spark]], the monitor of [[Installation 04]]. In the final segment of the story, Guilty Spark briefly explains what happened after he had become a monitor; he reveals that the [[Ecumene Council]] was reinstated and the debates on new strategies against the Flood renewed under the direction of the Didact. He also notes that Riser and Vinnevra survived and were relocated on an Ark under the Librarian's care. | ||
The book ends with the Guilty Spark duplicate being ejected into space after powering down, but not before he injects his data stream into the ship's computer, subdues the shipboard AI and takes control of the ship. He then explains to the crew that he desires to resume his quest to find the Librarian | The book ends with the Guilty Spark duplicate being ejected into space after powering down, but not before he injects his data stream into the ship's computer, subdues the shipboard AI and takes control of the ship. He then explains to the crew that he desires to resume his quest to find the Librarian and retrieve the old spirits of Riser and Vinnevra. Asserting that the Librarian is actually alive, he puts the crew to sleep and has the ship proceed to her location. | ||
==Characters== | ==Characters== | ||
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*[[Yprin Yprikushma]] {{1st}} | *[[Yprin Yprikushma]] {{1st}} | ||
*[[Kirimt]] {{1st}} | *[[Kirimt]] {{1st}} | ||
*Unidentified captain | *Unidentified captain | ||
*Unidentified ONI commander | *Unidentified ONI commander | ||
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*[[04-343 Guilty Spark]] | *[[04-343 Guilty Spark]] | ||
=== | ===Other=== | ||
*[[Mara]] {{1st}} | |||
*[[The Primordial]] | *[[The Primordial]] | ||