Black-Box: Difference between revisions

{{Era|HCW|Post}}  

{{AI Infobox

|name= Black-Box

|image=

|began= [[2552#August|August 2552]]

|gender= Male programming

|description= A blue-lit cube

|affiliation= [[United Nations Space Command]]

'''Black-Box''' (AI serial number: '''BBX 8995-1'''),<ref>'''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]''', ''page 17''</ref> commonly referred to as "'''BB'''", is a fourth-generation [[Smart AI|"smart"]] [[artificial intelligence]] construct built by the [[United Nations Space Command]]. He is under the supervision of the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] and was the personal assistant to then-[[Rear Admiral]] [[Serin Osman]] during her command of [[Kilo-Five]], a highly covert intelligence unit under the direct authority of [[Admiral]] [[Margaret Parangosky]], CINCONI.<ref name="sparkast">[http://halo.xbox.com/Content/assets/en-us/Podcast/343Sparkast_005.mp3 '''Halo Waypoint —''' ''343 Sparkast <nowiki>#5</nowiki>'']</ref><ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''"Chapter 2"''</ref>  

==Operational history==

Black-Box was [[Cognitive Impression Modeling|created]] from the brain of [[Graham Alban|Dr. Graham Alban]], a senior researcher associated with ONI Special Research, and close friend of [[Margaret Parangosky|Admiral Margaret Parangosky]]. Alban had committed suicide out of guilt for his part in the [[SPARTAN-II program]], and had requested that his brain be kept for the AI donor program.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 491''</ref> Black-Box was to be the personal AI companion for Parangosky in [[2552#August|August 2552]]. He later sent a fragment of himself aboard the {{UNSCShip|Glamorgan}} as it was sent to [[Onyx]] in wake of the planet's [[Battle of Onyx|destruction]]. He then picked up massive [[Slipstream space|Slipspace]] readings and the transponder of the late [[Kurt Ambrose]].<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 48''</ref>  

On [[#January 2553|January 26, 2553]], BB observed [[David Agnoli]] and Captain [[Serin Osman]] in section [[Core 5]] of [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6]]. When Osman was called in to see Admiral Parangosky, he introduced himself to her and accompanied her to Parangosky's office. There Parangosky assigned BB to Osman and her black-ops team [[Kilo-Five]], which was tasked with creating [[Sangheili]] insurrection and locating [[Catherine Halsey]] on Onyx. <ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''pages 49-51''</ref> He later introduced himself to the other members of the team, professor [[Evan Phillips]], [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|ODSTs]] [[Malcolm Geffen|Staff Sergeant "Mal" Geffen]], [[Lian Devereaux|Sergeant Lian Devereaux]], [[Vasily Beloi|Corporal "Vaz" Beloi]], and SPARTAN-II [[Naomi-010]]. He was put aboard the {{UNSCShip|Port Stanley}} where he monitored the [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]]s' body signals, deducing that they were excited to have their own rooms.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 80''</ref>  

BB primarily took on a side role on the first three missions enacted by Kilo-Five. During their weapons exchange with Avu Med 'Telcam on [[New Llanelli]], he scanned 'Telcam's ships. As they got back on the ship, Black-Box let his dumb AI functions run the ship while he listened to numerous comms channels at once.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 148''</ref> Mainly taking a managerial role on the extraction of [[Mike Spenser]], monitoring the {{UNSCShip|Ariadne}} until the lack of help from [[Venezia]] led to the death of all aboard when it was destroyed.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 161''</ref>

BB later checked on [[Damien Hogarth|Captain Damien Hogarth]] through his fragment he had left in ONI's system back at Bravo-6. Hogarth was using his personal AI, [[Harriet]], to dig up dirt on Parangosky so that he could eventually usurp her position as ONI director. While at first offended that Hogarth thought Harriet could get past him, he decided to feed her false information instead to "ruin Hogarth's day".<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 148''</ref> As the attempted intrusions continued, Black-Box accessed Hogarth's files and triggered a false "massive overspending" alert to [[UNSC Internal Audit]] as retribution.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 326''</ref>

Later, Black-Box assisted Kilo-Five with seizing the Covenant cargo ship ''[[Piety]]'' and successfully captured an onboard [[Huragok]], [[Requires Adjustment]].<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 237''</ref> BB went on several missions aiding the [[Servants of the Abiding Truth]] and continuing the insurrection against [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]]. Later on, Kilo-Five entered [[Trevelyan|Shield World 006]], a [[Forerunner]] [[Dyson sphere]], and recovered the human survivors inside while arresting [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Halsey]] under orders from Admiral Parangosky.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 385''</ref> Having learned the tragic truth behind the Spartan-IIs and the fate of their parents, Vaz approached Dr. Halsey’s compartment in an attempt to kill her but was convinced by BB to walk away.<ref name="g410">'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 410''</ref>  

After Phillips was rescued from the [[Nes'alun keep]] by Kilo-Five, they visited {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} over Sanghelios. The primary BB faced somewhat of an internal crisis about the reintegration of his damaged fragment into his core [[Riemann matrix|matrix]]. Phillips and BB reluctantly went to see Dr. Catherine Halsey, then aboard ''Infinity'', and asked her if she could help Black-Box. However, the Doctor stated that there was no solution at the moment.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 358''</ref> After Dr. Halsey failed to assist BB, he successfully reintegrated by himself. Afterwards Phillips and BB tried to translate the [[Forerunner symbols]] they discovered from the Forerunner temple in Ontom.

After the operation on Sanghelios, Kilo-Five were assigned to track down Naomi's father and known Venezian insurrectionist [[Staffan Sentzke]], who was seen in the company of [[Sav Fel]], the current owner of ''Pious Inquisitor''.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 430''</ref> Shortly thereafter, Mal and Vaz landed on Venezia with the goal of joining the [[Venezian militia]].<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 84''</ref> Aboard the ''Port Stanley'', Phillips and BB discussed previous events and BB admitted that he had come to terms with his broken fragment.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 46''</ref>

Once Mal and Vaz had infiltrated the militia, they were tasked with getting aboard the ''Pious Inquisitor'' and let BB insert one of his fragments into the systems, so they could take control of the ship.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 147''</ref> Although the two managed to get aboard the ''Inquisitor'', their plan had become complicated when they learned that the ''Inquisitor'' had a [[Huragok]], [[Sometimes Sinks]], aboard the ship. Sinks would be able to detect BB if he was put into the ship's systems.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 194''</ref> Using a tracer planted by Vaz, BB attempted to remotely seize control of ''Pious Inquisitor'' from Venezia using a local [[Superluminal communications|slipspace communicator]], but Sometimes Sinks detected and blocked the intrusion.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 217-219''</ref> Believing that they were responsible for the intrusion, Sentzke had Mal and Vaz captured and interrogated. Black-Box used Mal and Vaz's [[Neural interface|neural transponders]] to locate them on Venezia.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 300-305''</ref> Naomi took the team's new dropship, ''[[Bogof]]'', to free Mal from the rebels' compound while Devereaux went after Vaz on ''[[Tart-Cart]]'', also taking Sentzke prisoner. They return to the ''Port Stanley'' and Staffan Sentzke is soon allowed to reunite with his daughter.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 324-338''</ref> Wanting to find out more about her childhood, Naomi asked BB to connect with her neural implant and use ONI recordings to spark some of her long-forgotten memories. BB agreed to her request, although he acknoweledged the risk associated with such a procedure and the potential fallibility of the memories.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 368-369''</ref>

Meanwhile, a crew of [[Kig-Yar]] contracted by 'Telcam located and boarded ''Pious Inquisitor'', attempting to commandeer the ship for themselves. [[Sometimes Sinks]], distrustful of the Kig-Yar and only compliant to Sentzke's orders, placed the ship in complete lockdown.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 398''</ref> After Staffan convinced Sinks to allow Kilo-Five aboard the ship, the team worked to put BB into the ''Inquisitor'''s systems so he could take control of the ship.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 401''</ref> Once BB was placed into the ship's systems, he helped Kilo-Five make their way to the [[bridge]], while taunting the Kig-Yar.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 425''</ref> With Mal and Naomi pressing on the bridge, the leader of the Kig-Yar privateers, [[Shipmaster|Shipmistress]] [[Chol Von]], set the ship to explode and escaped with her remaining crew. BB and Sinks worked to restore enough control to get everyone out.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 446''</ref>

While Kilo-Five escaped to their dropships, Sentzke took a [[Type-25 Spirit|Spirit]] from the [[hangar bay|shuttle bay]] but stayed in range to ensure Naomi was safe.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 445''</ref> Assuming Sentzke had no chance of surviving the explosion, Vaz told BB to send the ONI file on Naomi's kidnapping to Sentzke in the hope that he would manage to relay it his family and prove his theories right. While sending the files, BB personally appeared in Sentzke's Spirit. Immediately noticing the slipspace drive and deducing Sentzke's true intentions, the AI indicated that ONI would never cease hunting Sentzke if they knew he had survived.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 452''</ref> However, out of both sympathy and trust that Sentzke would stay true to his word and leave Earth alone, BB wiped his memory of the incident immediately afterward; this left Kilo-Five and ONI to assume that Sentzke had been killed in the explosion.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 457''</ref>

After almost seven years of service, the UNSC decided to legally terminate the Smart IA [[Iona]]'s existence in order to stave off the threat of [[rampancy]]. In a last-ditch effort to save herself, Iona successfully launched an unprecedented legal appeal against her own death sentence.<ref name="Witness Protection">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-witness-projection '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Witness Protection'']</ref> She managed to petition her appeal through the [[United Nations Humanitarian Council]], which gained the attention of numerous scientists.<ref name="st12">'''Halo: Saint's Testimony''', ''page 12'' (Google Play edition)</ref> He and [[Roland]] were charged with creating an artificial trial for Iona to allow researchers to study the case, without Iona realizing that the trial was simulated.<ref name="st25">'''Halo: Saint's Testimony''', ''pages 25-28'' (Google Play edition)</ref>

On [[2558#January|January 17, 2558]],<ref name="st24">'''[[Halo: Saint's Testimony]]''', ''page 24'' (Google Play edition)</ref> Iona's "appeal" begun. With Black-Box and Roland acting as the trial's judge and Iona's advocate respectively, Iona was questioned about her thoughts and her dreams. The court ultimately decided to place Iona into stasis until a proper decision on the matter was reached. Afterwards, Roland and Black-Box discussed their roles in the trial, with Roland admitting regret for lying to Iona. However, Black-Box expressed his hope that Iona's simulated trial would be analyzed by human scientists and that, one day, smart AIs and humans would be considered equals.<ref name="st25"/>

Possessing a male personality, Black-Box is noted as being incredibly egotistical and fully comfortable with being an entity of pure intellect, and has an innate sense of superiority over not only his human creators, but also other AIs. Due to this, Black-Box chooses not to represent himself with a humanoid [[avatar]], as the majority of "smart" AIs do, and instead appears as a featureless box bathed in blue light; at times, it is mentioned that he uses the brightest side of the cube to indicate which way his avatar is facing. He has been described as deeply narcissistic, and has been noted to speak in a supercilious manner.<ref name="sparkast"/> He has also been noted as having a sarcastic sense of humor. Additionally, he tries not to get too invested in humans, such as he believes [[Cortana]] did.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 148''</ref>

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