Composer: Difference between revisions

==Function==

===Overview===

The Composers were originally designed as a means by which to extract the mental pattern (commonly known as an essence) of a biological being of sufficient neural complexity and converting it into data by broadcasting high-energy fields of entangled sympathies. The process, which was not fully understood by even its Forerunner creators, utilized [[neural physics]], a phenomenon once mastered by the [[Precursor]]s — one of select few Forerunner technologies to do so. According to the original design, the Composer would allow old Forerunners to transfer their essences into younger bodies or directly into the [[Domain]]'s vast realms of information.<ref name="wp composer"/><ref group="note">''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]'' and Halo Waypoint's Universe entry describe the Composer's original function as granting the Forerunners immortality by transferring old essences into youthful bodies, implying that Forerunner medical science had not overcome senescence. According to ''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' (page 47) along with a number of other references throughout ''The Forerunner Saga'', the Forerunners were functionally immortal given regular access to [[Forerunner personal armor|personal armor]], could remain youthful indefinitely and died only by accident or in battle. However, it is known that Forerunners could age under certain circumstances, even if such aging was unlikely to result in death: after 1,200 years of self-neglectful isolation, the [[Confirmer]]'s skin became mottled with bulging veins, his fur fell out, and his teeth fused together. The issue of Forerunner mortality by old age is not addressed when the Composer's origins are described in ''[[Halo: Silentium]]''. In ''Halo 4'' the Librarian states that the Composer would have made the Forerunners immortal, although this may be interpreted as ''true'' immortality and invulnerability to the Flood, as opposed to the [[Wikipedia:Biological immortality|biological immortality]] the Forerunners already enjoyed thanks to their use of body-assist armor.</ref> The technology was worked on in obscurity for centuries. In the latter days of the [[human-Forerunner wars]], after the Forerunners' first contacts with the [[Flood]], [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] took note of the Composers and planned to use the devices to cure the parasite's victims.<ref name="wp composer"/> The plan was to save those afflicted by the Flood by scanning their patterns and removing any traces of the Flood from the digital essence, which would then be imprinted on a new, artificially constructed biological body devoid of Flood infection. However, the process was highly flawed. In addition to being extremely painful to the individuals undergoing the process, all attempts to restore the essences to biological form failed as the artificial bodies would quickly decay and inevitably die.<ref name="string3"/> For this reason the Forerunners quickly abandoned the Composers after the first experiments.<ref name="pri271">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 271-272''</ref><ref name="whole" group="note">In ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 9]]'', the monitor [[859 Static Carillon]] indicates that the human essences composed in New Phoenix are being "added to the whole" in accordance with the original design for the Composer, introducing fear, rage, and confusion. This implies that composed patterns are uploaded to a central intelligence, though whether this applies solely to the Promethean Knights or to all who who undergo composition is unclear. Nonetheless, the notion of composed essences being incorporated into a gestalt mind is not mentioned in prior media.</ref>

===Essence preservation===

Minds scanned by the Composer could be processed in a variety of ways. The ancient human personalities extracted and stored by the Librarian at [[Charum Hakkor]] retained their essences in virtually unchanged form, preserving the victims' identities and even the records of their physical bodies, although the latter could not be reconstituted to biological form.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 320''</ref> These stored personalities could also be implanted into the genetic code of living beings, with said personalities achieving self-awareness and retaining their original identity within their new hosts; an example of this are the ancestral memory imprints of [[Chakas]] and [[Riser]]. The Composer could also be used to remove these imprinted personalities, although this did grave physical and mental damage to the individual carrying the imprint.<ref name="p355">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 355''</ref>

<gallery>

File:H4-Concept-ComposerDevice.jpg|Concept art of the Composer for ''[[Halo 4]]''.

File:New Phoenix population composed.jpg|[[Gabriel Thorne]]'s nightmare of New Phoenix's population being composed in ''[[Halo: Escalation]]''.

File:HM-Composer.png|Diagram of a Composer in ''[[Halo Mythos]]''.