Conservation Measure: Difference between revisions

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{{Era|Forerunner}}
{{Status|Canon}}
[[File:ConservationCEA.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Biological samples being analyzed in a conservation facility.]]
[[File:ConservationCEA.jpg|thumb|250px|Biological samples being analyzed in a conservation facility.]]
{{Quote|The Conservation Measure is the only sweet note in this discordant symphony we've arranged. It's the only constructive activity in decades of destruction.|Unknown Forerunner individual, likely the [[Librarian]]<ref name="ep4">'''[[Iris]]''', ''[[Episode 4]]''</ref>}}
{{Quote|The Conservation Measure is the only sweet note in this discordant symphony we've arranged. It's the only constructive activity in decades of destruction.|Unknown Forerunner individual, likely the [[Librarian]]<ref name="ep4">''[[Iris]]'', Episode 4: [[The Great Connection]]</ref>}}


The '''Conversation Measure''',<ref name="ep4"/><ref>'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 14''</ref><ref name="library">'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''' - ''[[Library (feature)|Library]]: Activation Index''</ref> also known as the '''Library Project''',<ref name= "FloodAd" >'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''': ''Adjunct''</ref> was a massive undertaking by the [[Forerunner]]s to index and preserve biological diversity in the [[Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]] before and during the [[Forerunner-Flood war]].
The '''Conservation Measure''',{{Ref/Reuse|ep4}}<ref>'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 14''</ref><ref name="library">'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''' - ''[[Library (feature)|Library]]: Activation Index''</ref> also known as the '''Library Project''',<ref name= "FloodAd" >'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''': ''Adjunct''</ref> was a massive undertaking by the [[Forerunner]]s to index and preserve biological diversity in the [[Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]] before and during the [[Forerunner-Flood war]].


==History==
==History==
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===Indexing===
===Indexing===
[[File:Origins library.png|thumb|250px|Samples of lifeforms being categorized in a storage facility.]]
[[File:Origins library.png|thumb|250px|Samples of lifeforms being categorized in a storage facility.]]
Due to the limited space on their installations and ships, only a small number of the indexed beings were maintained as live specimens: the majority were reduced, storing their genetic and neural patterns as data until the repopulation of their respective homeworlds.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 29, 57''</ref> A variety of other facilities aboard the installations, including the [[Library|Libraries]], were used to catalog and study the specimens.<ref name="library"/> There were quite a few problems at first, mainly with regards to categorizing the races into specific categories.<ref name="FloodAd"/>
Due to the limited space on their installations and ships, only a small number of the indexed beings were maintained as live specimens: the majority were reduced, storing their genetic and neural patterns as data until the repopulation of their respective homeworlds.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 29, 57''</ref> A variety of other facilities aboard the installations, including the [[Library|Libraries]], were used to catalog and study the specimens.{{Ref/Reuse|library}} There were quite a few problems at first, mainly with regards to categorizing the races into specific categories.{{Ref/Reuse|FloodAd}}


Although the Conservation Measure spanned several millennia, escalating into a more widespread evacuation effort during the Forerunner-Flood war, the sheer number of planets in the galaxy meant that the Lifeworkers never had time or the resources to save even remotely all species. A total of 123 sapient, technologically-capable species inhabiting the three million worlds within the Forerunners' [[ecumene]] had been indexed by the project at time of the evacuation of [[Earth]],<ref name="s18">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 18''</ref> roughly four years before the end of the war.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 197''</ref> However, the Lifeworkers may have had to prioritize the preservation of some of these species over others due to their limited resources,<ref name="s18"/> and a number may have perished with the destruction of the major preserves on the [[greater Ark]] and [[Omega Halo]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 307''</ref> On many of the indexed worlds, only a fraction of the sentient fauna would survive; on Earth, for example, only a thousandth of the large species could be saved according to pre-Array projections.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 27''</ref>
Although the Conservation Measure spanned several millennia, escalating into a more widespread evacuation effort during the Forerunner-Flood war, the sheer number of planets in the galaxy meant that the Lifeworkers never had time or the resources to save even remotely all species. A total of 123 sapient, technologically-capable species inhabiting the three million worlds within the Forerunners' [[ecumene]] had been indexed by the project at time of the evacuation of [[Earth]],<ref name="s18">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 18''</ref> roughly four years before the end of the war.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 197''</ref> However, the Lifeworkers may have had to prioritize the preservation of some of these species over others due to their limited resources,{{Ref/Reuse|s18}} and a number may have perished with the destruction of the major preserves on the [[greater Ark]] and [[Omega Halo]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 307''</ref> On many of the indexed worlds, only a fraction of the sentient fauna would survive; on Earth, for example, only a thousandth of the large species could be saved according to pre-Array projections.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 27''</ref>


Research on the Flood in an attempt to find a means to defeat the parasite was an integral aspect of the Conservation Measure. For safety, the Conservation Measure dictated that [[Flood research facility|Flood research facilities]] be constructed in remote locations.<ref>'''Halo 2: Anniversary''', multiplayer map ''[[Lockdown]]'' description</ref> Toward the end of the Flood conflict, the Master Builder began to alter his pact with the Librarian and authorized the use of the Lifeworkers' biological specimens on the Halos for extended experimentation on the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 334''</ref> [[Human]]s, in particular, were subjected to rigorous tests on [[Installation 07]], due to the supposed immunity they appeared to exhibit to Flood infection. These experiments later proved to be in vain, however, with the [[Primordial]]'s revelation that no human was ever truly immune to the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 364-365''</ref> The fate of the human species continued to hang in the balance throughout the endgame of the conflict: after the [[Ur-Didact]] [[Composer|composed]] the most significant human population stored on Omega Halo, the Lifeworkers were forced to retrieve additional specimens from the nearly empty Earth in order to restore a sustainable population.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 316-317''</ref>
Research on the Flood in an attempt to find a means to defeat the parasite was an integral aspect of the Conservation Measure. For safety, the Conservation Measure dictated that [[Flood research facility|Flood research facilities]] be constructed in remote locations.<ref>'''Halo 2: Anniversary''', multiplayer map ''[[Lockdown]]'' description</ref> Toward the end of the Flood conflict, the Master Builder began to alter his pact with the Librarian and authorized the use of the Lifeworkers' biological specimens on the Halos for extended experimentation on the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 334''</ref> [[Human]]s, in particular, were subjected to rigorous tests on [[Installation 07]], due to the supposed immunity they appeared to exhibit to Flood infection. These experiments later proved to be in vain, however, with the [[Primordial]]'s revelation that no human was ever truly immune to the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 364-365''</ref> The fate of the human species continued to hang in the balance throughout the endgame of the conflict: after the [[Ur-Didact]] [[Composer|composed]] the most significant human population stored on Omega Halo, the Lifeworkers were forced to retrieve additional specimens from the nearly empty Earth in order to restore a sustainable population.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 316-317''</ref>


===Reseeding===
===Reseeding===
After the firing of the Halo Array and the subsequent defeat of the Flood, the surviving Lifeworkers on the Ark, under the leadership of the new [[Lifeshaper]], [[Chant-to-Green]], began the process of repopulating the galaxy in a stage referred to as the [[reintroduction]], sending all the races back to their respective homeworlds.<ref name="FloodAd"/>
After the firing of the Halo Array and the subsequent defeat of the Flood, the surviving Lifeworkers on the Ark, under the leadership of the new [[Lifeshaper]], [[Chant-to-Green]], began the process of repopulating the galaxy in a stage referred to as the [[reintroduction]], sending all the races back to their respective homeworlds.{{Ref/Reuse|FloodAd}}


While a success, the Conservation Measure also sent each race back to a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] scale, forcing the sentient races to start over.<ref name="FloodAd"/> The period directly after the reintroduction was referred to as the "[[dark time]]", as some of the indexed species never recovered and subsequently became extinct.<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-au/intel/related/text/kig-yar/9b24ebed-1954-471b-908d-951528e8120c '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Bestiarum'']</ref> The Librarian estimated that [[extinction]] events and irreparable environmental damage would occur on at least 18 worlds, with post-reseeding cataclysms on 31 worlds.<ref name="Term"> '''[[Halo 3]]''', ''[[Terminal/Halo 3|Terminal]]s''</ref> Two reintroduced races—the [[San'Shyuum]] and [[Sangheili]]—would end up worshiping the Forerunners as gods, something the Forerunners hardly anticipated. The data concerning the Conservation Measure was preserved at the Ark, and was still preserved as late as [[2552]], a revelation which surprised [[343 Guilty Spark]].<ref name="Term"/>
While a success, the Conservation Measure also sent each race back to a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] scale, forcing the sentient races to start over.{{Ref/Reuse|FloodAd}} The period directly after the reintroduction was referred to as the "[[dark time]]", as some of the indexed species never recovered and subsequently became extinct.<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-au/intel/related/text/kig-yar/9b24ebed-1954-471b-908d-951528e8120c '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Bestiarum'']</ref> The Librarian estimated that [[extinction]] events and irreparable environmental damage would occur on at least 18 worlds, with post-reseeding cataclysms on 31 worlds.<ref name="Term">'''[[Halo 3]]''', ''[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminal]]s''</ref> Two reintroduced races—the [[San'Shyuum]] and [[Sangheili]]—would end up worshiping the Forerunners as gods, something the Forerunners hardly anticipated. The data concerning the Conservation Measure was preserved at the Ark, and was still preserved as late as [[2552]], a revelation which surprised [[343 Guilty Spark]].{{Ref/Reuse|Term}}


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Origins_samples.png|Cataloged lifeforms being loaded into a Keyship.
File:Origins_samples.png|Cataloged lifeforms being loaded into a [[Keyship]].
File:Keyships.png|Keyships departing to reseed life in the galaxy.
File:Keyships.png|Keyships departing to reseed life in the galaxy.
</gallery>
</gallery>
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*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminals]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Halo: Rebirth]]''
*''[[Rebirth]]''
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Shadows of Reach]]''
**''[[Sacrifice]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]'' {{Mo}}


==Sources==
==Sources==
{{reflist}}
{{Ref/Sources}}


[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:Events]]