Neural physics

"Precursors felt the Mantle extended to the entire universe, energy and matter as well as living creatures ... some say. The universe lives, but not as we do."

— Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting explaining the premise of neural physics.

Neural physics was a Precursor concept which posited that the Mantle encompassed the entire universe, including living beings, energy and matter. The principles of neural physics also postulated that the entire universe was living, but in a way that was beyond the comprehension of biological organisms. The Forerunner belief of Living Time was evidently connected to this concept, specifically the way the Precursors believed that all life enriched the universe itself with experience.

The Precursors' transsentient nature allowed them to manipulate reality via neural physics, and their technology was based upon this mechanism. This made Precursor artifacts effectively indestructible, allowing them to exist for millions or potentially billions of years without decay. As such, evidence of the Precursors' mastery of neural physics remained in the galaxy after their disappearance, in the form of star roads and many other artifacts. Neural physics could also be accessed and controlled by the Flood after it began to create Key Minds, its compound mind essentially being a transsentient entity of Precursor origin. In this stage, the Flood also began to utilize neural physics-based Precursor superluminal travel, which made slipspace unsuitable for Forerunner drives on a local scale. Ships using neural physics transit would shed multiverse residues relatively slowly upon returning to normal space, rendering them momentarily vulnerable.

The nature of neural physics construction made Precursor architecture susceptible to the effects of the Halo Array, which specifically targeted neural systems. When a Halo was tested near Charum Hakkor, the weapon's effect negated neural physics within the region and shattered every Precursor structure on the planet. Likewise, the Halos' activation at the conclusion of the Forerunner-Flood war destroyed all neural physics-based architecture in the galaxy.

List of appearances

• Halo: Cryptum (First appearance)
• Halo: Silentium