Menachite portal complex: Difference between revisions
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When [[SPARTAN-104]]'s blood touched the wall, a transformation occurred.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 141: ''Fred felt a hot pain in the tip of his finger. He drew his bare hand away and a tiny track of blood smeared the rock.''</ref> The glyphs began to emit a soft red glow comparable to heated metal. The glow spread outward from point at which his blood touched the wall, and the colors in the center began warming to orange and then to yellow-gold. A single white glyph, a triangle, became visible in the center of the spiral. Despite the emission of light, the glyphs did not radiate heat. When SPARTAN-104 touched this glyph with his bare fingertip, all the glyphs along the entire wall glowed white with brilliant illumination. After a moment, the wall itself rumpled and transformed into a corridor leading into the complex.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 141: ''The symbols in the rock emitted a faint illumination of their own: a soft reddish glow like heated metal. The light intensified and spread across the spiral on the wall, starting from where his blood had fallen; those symbols warmed to a pleasant orange, then yellow-gold. A new symbol in the center of the spiral appeared that hadn't been there just a second ago... or perhaps it had been, but had lain just beneath the surface. It heated and became increasingly visible, a single triangle that glowed white. Fred was inexorably drawn to this central figure. He reached for it; there was no heat. He slowly stretched and and touched the symbol with his exposed fingertip. Warm white light raced along the spiral of symbols, then traced a path down the hallway and into the distance. The entire cavern seemed sudden alive with radiance and shadow. Even with the step-down luminosity filters in his helmet, Fred had to blink and squint. The wall before him rumpled and seams appeared at the central figure, dozens of lines that curved in a radial pattern--and then pulled away to reveal a corridor behind.''</ref> | When [[SPARTAN-104]]'s blood touched the wall, a transformation occurred.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 141: ''Fred felt a hot pain in the tip of his finger. He drew his bare hand away and a tiny track of blood smeared the rock.''</ref> The glyphs began to emit a soft red glow comparable to heated metal. The glow spread outward from point at which his blood touched the wall, and the colors in the center began warming to orange and then to yellow-gold. A single white glyph, a triangle, became visible in the center of the spiral. Despite the emission of light, the glyphs did not radiate heat. When SPARTAN-104 touched this glyph with his bare fingertip, all the glyphs along the entire wall glowed white with brilliant illumination. After a moment, the wall itself rumpled and transformed into a corridor leading into the complex.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 141: ''The symbols in the rock emitted a faint illumination of their own: a soft reddish glow like heated metal. The light intensified and spread across the spiral on the wall, starting from where his blood had fallen; those symbols warmed to a pleasant orange, then yellow-gold. A new symbol in the center of the spiral appeared that hadn't been there just a second ago... or perhaps it had been, but had lain just beneath the surface. It heated and became increasingly visible, a single triangle that glowed white. Fred was inexorably drawn to this central figure. He reached for it; there was no heat. He slowly stretched and and touched the symbol with his exposed fingertip. Warm white light raced along the spiral of symbols, then traced a path down the hallway and into the distance. The entire cavern seemed sudden alive with radiance and shadow. Even with the step-down luminosity filters in his helmet, Fred had to blink and squint. The wall before him rumpled and seams appeared at the central figure, dozens of lines that curved in a radial pattern--and then pulled away to reveal a corridor behind.''</ref> | ||
The corridor was twenty meters in height, leading inward at a straight line that gently sloped deeper into the ground. The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned in a way comparable to waves lapping on a shore. The utterly smooth walls were inlaid with centered four-meter tall gold glyphs made of similar shapes of triangles, squares, bars, and circles. When the glyphs began to softly glow, SPARTAN-104 felt himself attracted to them, but resisted his impulse to approach them on an intuitive suspicion that they were dangerous.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 142: ''Fred wanted to stare at the gold symbols and the light that cast, but something warned him that this would be dangerous.''</ref> His radiation counter briefly pulsed, supporting his hesitation.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 142: ''This new corridor was twenty meters high--large enough for a titan to stride down its length. It vanished into the distance, a straight line that gradually sloped deeper into the earth. The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned to look like waves lapping upon a shore. Four-meter-tall symbols of gold were centered and inlaid into the mirror-smooth walls. These giant triangles, squares, bars, and circles began to emit the same soft light... and Fred felt his foot shuffle forward. He stopped, shook his head, and looked away. He checked his radiation counter; it pulsed, and then fell back to a normal background count.''</ref> | The corridor was twenty meters in height, leading inward at a straight line that gently sloped deeper into the ground. Golden light shined from the ceiling.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 143: ''The golden light faded from the ceiling''</ref> The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned in a way comparable to waves lapping on a shore. The utterly smooth walls were inlaid with centered four-meter tall gold glyphs made of similar shapes of triangles, squares, bars, and circles. When the glyphs began to softly glow, SPARTAN-104 felt himself attracted to them, but resisted his impulse to approach them on an intuitive suspicion that they were dangerous.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 142: ''Fred wanted to stare at the gold symbols and the light that cast, but something warned him that this would be dangerous.''</ref> His radiation counter briefly pulsed, supporting his hesitation.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 142: ''This new corridor was twenty meters high--large enough for a titan to stride down its length. It vanished into the distance, a straight line that gradually sloped deeper into the earth. The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned to look like waves lapping upon a shore. Four-meter-tall symbols of gold were centered and inlaid into the mirror-smooth walls. These giant triangles, squares, bars, and circles began to emit the same soft light... and Fred felt his foot shuffle forward. He stopped, shook his head, and looked away. He checked his radiation counter; it pulsed, and then fell back to a normal background count.''</ref> | ||
Further down the corridor, the ceiling stops shining golden light and fades to total black. Pinpoint lights emerge imitating stars, which twinkle realistically.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 143: ''The hallway changed as they continued down its length. The golden light faded along the ceiling, and inky black covered its expanse; tiny stars winked on and twinkled.''</ref> In addition, silver-grey orbs that represent moons pockmarked with craters spin in wide orbits across the ceiling. Along the walls, tall green bamboo-like stalks appear.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 143: ''Moons wheeled overhead; silver-grey orbs, pockmarked with meteorite impacts, spun in wide orbits. Along the walls, tall green bamboo-like grass sprouted and grew up the curved surfaces.''</ref> Dr. [[Halsey]] determined that these apparitions were semisolid holograms with no visible emitters.<ref>''Halo: First Strike, page 143: ''Dr. Halsey brushed her fingertips along the wall, and the grasses wavered at her touch. "Semisolid holography," she said without halting. "No visible emitters.''</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 20:14, November 29, 2008
Template:Ratings The Menachite Forerunner Complex[1] is an underground facility built into Menachite Mountain by the Forerunners to house the Forerunner Crystal.
Layout
The outside of the complex resembles granite rock, with passages allowing access along the wall. The wall has a long stretch of glyphs trailing along the wall that twist into a spiral mosaic and vanish into ever-smaller curls. The glyphs are part of the wall's material, described as being composed of glittering mica inclusions in the granite matrix. The glyphs themselves are a series of squares, triangles, bars, and dots, and blur out of focus when someone looks at them directly.[2]
When SPARTAN-104's blood touched the wall, a transformation occurred.[3] The glyphs began to emit a soft red glow comparable to heated metal. The glow spread outward from point at which his blood touched the wall, and the colors in the center began warming to orange and then to yellow-gold. A single white glyph, a triangle, became visible in the center of the spiral. Despite the emission of light, the glyphs did not radiate heat. When SPARTAN-104 touched this glyph with his bare fingertip, all the glyphs along the entire wall glowed white with brilliant illumination. After a moment, the wall itself rumpled and transformed into a corridor leading into the complex.[4]
The corridor was twenty meters in height, leading inward at a straight line that gently sloped deeper into the ground. Golden light shined from the ceiling.[5] The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned in a way comparable to waves lapping on a shore. The utterly smooth walls were inlaid with centered four-meter tall gold glyphs made of similar shapes of triangles, squares, bars, and circles. When the glyphs began to softly glow, SPARTAN-104 felt himself attracted to them, but resisted his impulse to approach them on an intuitive suspicion that they were dangerous.[6] His radiation counter briefly pulsed, supporting his hesitation.[7]
Further down the corridor, the ceiling stops shining golden light and fades to total black. Pinpoint lights emerge imitating stars, which twinkle realistically.[8] In addition, silver-grey orbs that represent moons pockmarked with craters spin in wide orbits across the ceiling. Along the walls, tall green bamboo-like stalks appear.[9] Dr. Halsey determined that these apparitions were semisolid holograms with no visible emitters.[10]
References
- ^ Conjectural description
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 139: Fred followed the trail of odd symbols along the left-hand stone wall until they twisted into a spiral mosaic and vanished into ever-smaller curls. The symbols were part of the rock, composed of glittering mica inclusions in the granite matrix. There were a series of squares, triangles, bars, and dots, similar to Covenant calligraphy he had seen--but at the same time it was simpler, cleaner, and when Fred focused on them, the characters seemed to blur around the edges and fade from his stare. He blinked, and the symbols were there again.
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 141: Fred felt a hot pain in the tip of his finger. He drew his bare hand away and a tiny track of blood smeared the rock.
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 141: The symbols in the rock emitted a faint illumination of their own: a soft reddish glow like heated metal. The light intensified and spread across the spiral on the wall, starting from where his blood had fallen; those symbols warmed to a pleasant orange, then yellow-gold. A new symbol in the center of the spiral appeared that hadn't been there just a second ago... or perhaps it had been, but had lain just beneath the surface. It heated and became increasingly visible, a single triangle that glowed white. Fred was inexorably drawn to this central figure. He reached for it; there was no heat. He slowly stretched and and touched the symbol with his exposed fingertip. Warm white light raced along the spiral of symbols, then traced a path down the hallway and into the distance. The entire cavern seemed sudden alive with radiance and shadow. Even with the step-down luminosity filters in his helmet, Fred had to blink and squint. The wall before him rumpled and seams appeared at the central figure, dozens of lines that curved in a radial pattern--and then pulled away to reveal a corridor behind.
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 143: The golden light faded from the ceiling
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 142: Fred wanted to stare at the gold symbols and the light that cast, but something warned him that this would be dangerous.
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 142: This new corridor was twenty meters high--large enough for a titan to stride down its length. It vanished into the distance, a straight line that gradually sloped deeper into the earth. The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned to look like waves lapping upon a shore. Four-meter-tall symbols of gold were centered and inlaid into the mirror-smooth walls. These giant triangles, squares, bars, and circles began to emit the same soft light... and Fred felt his foot shuffle forward. He stopped, shook his head, and looked away. He checked his radiation counter; it pulsed, and then fell back to a normal background count.
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 143: The hallway changed as they continued down its length. The golden light faded along the ceiling, and inky black covered its expanse; tiny stars winked on and twinkled.
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 143: Moons wheeled overhead; silver-grey orbs, pockmarked with meteorite impacts, spun in wide orbits. Along the walls, tall green bamboo-like grass sprouted and grew up the curved surfaces.
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 143: Dr. Halsey brushed her fingertips along the wall, and the grasses wavered at her touch. "Semisolid holography," she said without halting. "No visible emitters.
