Forum:Catalog

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Thought a forum topic on thoughts and speculation regarding Halo Waypoint's Catalog character might be appropriate.

On the whole this is something I've wanted to see for a long time and the best thing 343i has come up with in a while. Not only in providing answers for us fans but also as a two-way process, potentially alerting the 343 Industries writing team to issues they might need to look into or subjects the fans may want to hear about. I hope this thing is going to last as long as possible, though the queries have already piled up so much that Catalog is going to be processing them for months if it doesn't speed up its processing.

I'm not too sold on the gratuitous Latin ("cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelom" = "of which it is only by his even unto the Heavens - what is that supposed to mean?), the avoidance of questions that could realistically be answered (the exact nature of the "sublimation device" at X-50 or the Reverence/Covenant cruiser classification), or the sometimes obtrusive ambiguity.

Moving on, I wonder if Catalog is actually the Halo universe technical writer recently hired by 343i. It could also be many people posting under one alias, mirroring the nature of the in-universe Catalog (though given the consistency of the posts' presentation I'd wager it's one person who consults the rest of the writing team when necessary). --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Johnson's Flood immunity

"Catalog, can the augmentation process that made Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson "immune" to Flood infection be replicated?"

"Query Answer: No known biological [scaffolding] augmentation impedes efficacy of parasite conversion process."

I suppose we finally get a confirmation on the ambiguity of whether Johnson survived because a quirk in his ORION augmentations somehow made him immune or just because of his combat skill alone (I thought the latter was already made clear by Breaking Quarantine). Either that, or it's because the Flood chose to ignore him.--Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Yeah, the idea of a virtually omnipotent cosmic force being thwarted by a more-or-less failed genetic experiment was hard to swallow. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Reclaimers

"Query Answer: "Reclaimer" is not a legitimate client species status. Edom [control] reference New Council emergency directives [leges posteriores priores contrarias abrogant] given on authority of [Librarian] and [Didact]. Master Juridical concurrence not recorded [ius nullum?]. Status conferred by analysis of geas [symphonia]."

"Alert! Substantial alteration of [canonical] implemention of Human [supplicium] detected in [symphonia] scope."

The Ur-Didact is apparently not the only Forerunner who has a problem with the Reclaimer thing. Then again, Catalog has been left out of the loop on some matters for a very long time so its information is probably outdated. I'm thinking the last part is referring to the Librarian's own, unsanctioned modifications to humanity's geas which were, originally, supposed to be punitive in nature as mandated by the Old Council.--Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

The Bestiarum's Reclaimer entry obviously refers to John specifically. However, the confirmation that Reclaimers are genetically modified makes me think Homo sapiens augueous could refer to the entire genetic line of genesong-implanted humans. Then again, it may just as well apply only to Spartans. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Installation 07's quarantine?

"What is the status of Installation 07's quarantine?"

"Query Answer: Records provided to Human naval authorities by allied [macto cognatus] indicate implementation of adequate containment and sterilization protocols within infected zone. Edom [control] unable to contact installation monitor for [ERR,REGRES] cycles. Requesting [site] status from ecumene [control]."

I wonder if this was supposed to be referring to Installation 05? Installation 07 has no quarantine that we know of. And wasn't the Flood on Installation 07 fully contained before it was sent to its final location - as in, it wouldn't have an "infected zone"? --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Maybe Catalog will issue errata soon. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Didact's Epilogue speech

"Query Answer: Selected quote is part of [evidential] proceedings recorded in local [cache] prior to loss of Domain contact."

When this happened is anyone's guess, since we know it couldn't have happened in Silentium.--Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Catalog's records must have been tampered with. I detect logic plague markers. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Technical briefing

"Query Answer: A technical architecture briefing of client species is currently under construction by [scriba]."

343i is working on a proper Halo universe technical manual which actually goes into detail about tech like FTL comms? Would be a dream come true.--Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

A guide along the lines of the Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual would be stellar. I think I'm going to dig out my copy now. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Palmer's rank

"Query Answer: Human records indicate that [exploratore] Palmer was [rated] E-4 and placed for acceleration consideration for E-5 at time of transfer."

Oh, come on. That wasn't the right answer. I get that they want to tell us how great of a combatant she is (no doubt in reaction to some backlash to Spartan Ops that she never gets her hands dirty) but they could've done that while still maintaining the rank that made sense. But it would certainly explain why she seems to be so out of her depth in her current job. A good foot soldier does not automatically a good leader make.--Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Thanks to Initiation we know Palmer is terribly underqualified in addition to having a colossal inferiority complex. What was Musa thinking? At least it explains her wretchedly unprofessional demeanor. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

To be fair, Palmer did get her hands dirty in Spartan Ops...by going after a fan favorite character...on orders from an organization which is almost universally demonized by the fandom and creators...which probably made people dislike her even more...and I'll stop now. -- SFH (talk) 19:00, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Forerunner Dreadnought

"Query Answer: No [conservation lifeboats] were to be left on indexed planets. Human administrative records indicate archived [Covenant] records are currently being researched by Human and [macto cognatus] [librarian] team at [CE-80-9012 d]."

I like all these mentions of human-Sangheili cooperation. Bit of a breath of fresh air after Kilo-Five and Halo 4. --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 17:13, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

It's a nice throwback to the Halo 3-era notion of the UNSC and the Arbiter's forces getting along quite well, the overly idealistic "everybody's friends now" elements having been thoroughly deconstructed. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Space-time incongruities

Harvest

"Query Answer: [slip stream space] transit records record liminal [sphere] colony [ref: Harvest] as furthest official Human colony. [slip stream space] topology is not consistent with [Euclidean] distance, but significant discrepancy is noted. Updating coordinates from Edom [control]. Searching . . . Location coincident with [CE-309-8 d] [ref: Harvest]. Location coincident with [UC-901-9081] [ref: Epsilon Indi] [CE-309-8 d]: [conservation sphere] [waystation] facility and quadrinary LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility present. Multiple [cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelom] violations inferred. Filing cases. Request Juridical [advocates] [ad litem] for summary judgement. [UC-901-9081] system surveyed by [pioneer group]. No further records found in local [cache]. Discrepancy the result of historical [propaganda] considerations during intial [sphere] expansion [obiter dictum]."

In other words, Harvest isn't especially far from Earth in a linear sense. Rather, the nature of slipspace in the Epsilon Indi system greatly increases inbound and outbound FTL travel time. The propaganda in question was probably an appeal to the hardworking nature of the farmer-types who would one day settle Harvest. The idea of living on the most distant human colony (from a certain point of view, that is) would undoubtedly resonate with the adventurous spirit of the 25th century Vikings who settled the planet. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Path Kethona and the Arks

"Query Answer: Reconciliation costs scale non-linearly with discrepancy in [information] transfer between locations and [brane] tension. Vessel mass is primarily a consideration with [slip stream space] transit energy requirements and [buffer] generation."

This one is kind of a handwave but it's consistent with the nature of slipspace as presented in The Forerunner Saga. Long story short, a ship's mass influences the energy required for slipspace travel but doesn't directly correlate to reconciliation. The metaphorical "thickness" of the space-time brane in a given area determines the severity of reconciliation. I guess the idea that proto-Forerunner or even Precursor tech hampered Audacity's journey by disrupting local space-time isn't so far-fetched after all. --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Latin

I really enjoy Catalog's extensive use of Latin. It provides a nice bit of continuity with Ghosts of Onyx and (to a lesser extent) Halo 3's terminals. "Cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum" is a legal term. It essentially means (in modern parlance) "He who owns a piece of land also owns the local airspace." --Our vengeance is at hand. (Talk to me.) 18:14, 7 July 2014 (EDT)

Shadow of Intent at Earth

I found it interesting that the Shadow of Intent was mentioned as leaving on March 3, 2553. This we knew from the end of Halo 3. What was interesting is that Catalog said it got to Earth on February 29 which is interesting since that would be a leap year day and a date like 2553 ending on an odd number wouldn't be a leap year. Guess Catalog isn't infallible. Also the extra "e" in many uses of the word "judgment" as "judgement" throughout its posts makes me cringe. -ScaleMaster117 (talk) 22:38, 7 July 2014 (EDT)