Library: Difference between revisions

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<center>''Were you looking for the [[Halo: Combat Evolved]] level [[The Library]] or the [[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Halo: Anniversary]] feature [[Library (feature)|of the same name]]?''</center>

'''The Library''' is the name given to a structure present on several [[Forerunner]] worlds and the installations of the [[Halo Array]].

The Library's true function is unknown at present. However it is hypothesized 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 Array|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 [[Elevator|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]].<ref name="library">'''Halo: Combat Evolved''' campaign level ''[[The Library]]''</ref> On [[Installation 05]], [[2401 Penitent Tangent]] was unable to assist [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]] in this manner. As a result a longer, less direct route had to be taken. An [[anti-gravity gondola]] spanned a large chasm separating the installation's [[quarantine zone]] from the Library. The quarantine zone was encircled by the [[Sentinel Wall]], a massive barrier which was protected by a [[containment shield]] and filled with hundreds if not thousands of [[Sentinel]]s and [[Enforcer]]s.

On both Installation 04 and Installation 05 the Flood was still able to breach such defenses 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 Chamber. The large hallways suggests that it was designed to hold large amounts of [[Forerunners]], possibly acting as a backup refugee camp against the Flood.

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".<ref name="library"/> Guilty Spark also recommends that the Master Chief should upgrade from his current [[MJOLNIR armor]], a [[Mark V]] (which according to a 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).

Toward the end of this Library, the Chief encountered the body of a [[Marine]] who was Guilty Spark's previous Reclaimer. This Marine was said to have been so mutilated that the Flood could not possibly infest him. He was identified to be [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Marvin Mobuto]].<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''', ''pages 244-245''</ref>

With help from the Sentinels, and motivation from Staff Sergeant Mobuto, 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 [[The Maw|destroyed]] with the rest of Alpha Halo when the Master Chief detonated the [[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn's]] [[Fusion drive|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 room is different than Installation 05's.

While the Master Chief hunted down the [[Prophet of Regret]], [[Commander (UNSC)|Commander]] [[Miranda Keyes]], [[Sergeant Johnson]] and most of {{UNSCShip|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 a larger number of Flood than its Installation 04 counterpart. The UNSC forces were seemingly unprepared for the Flood presence, and many of them were infected by the flood.

*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.