- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I offer only a thought. Not a proposal, not a possibility, not a theory, not an idea, but only a thought.
Perhaps the Forerunners are in fact human. This could be true if the earth as we know were much older than we believe. Trying to avoid the furtherance of this thread as a Creation vs Evolution debate, what if long before recorded history, humans were an advanced race. We traveled, we spread, we expanded, we moved. Perhaps we attempted to achieve immortality, by devising a way to allow our bodies to feed off the living cells and organisms in the atmosphere, thereby repairing any damage caused by viruses or injury. But something went wrong.
The Flood (not the infested humans and Covanent, mind you, but rather the actual biological pathogen itself) spread beyond our control, grew, mutated, and eventually became what it is now. Our ancient ancestors, knowing what would soon come to pass, constructed the Halo installations as a safe haven for "clean" humans and potential last-ditch effort agains the Flood. The Flood wipes out all human and otherwise indigenous life planetside and runs out of food. So, somehow, the infested humans make their way to the Halo installations.
Now, this is where the story gets fuzzy. A number of things could happen. A human soldier could activate a Halo defense initiative, wiping out all life in the galaxy except for the Flood pathogen which lies dormant in that Halo's infrastructure. They could lure the infested Flood into a secured area, seal them in, and go one with their lives, deciding to re-terraform Earth before returning and swearing off all current science and technology, thereby reverting to a primitive lifestyle and forgetting the past. Maybe a hundred settlers are placed in stasis aboard an automated lifeboat and sent to a safe distance from Halo's destructive reach, returning to Earth with provisions and terraforming equipment.
In short, the passing thought is that our records of Earth's history are insufficient, and that the Forerunners were in fact our ancient ancestors. For you evolutionists, is that such a daunting prospect? You believe that the universe happened millions or even billions of years ago. Our historical records are wholly inadequate to account for that much time. For creationists, as I am, to my knowledge, it's the general consensus that the universe was created much more recently, around 10,000 years ago. That, too, is a long time, and our recorded history cannot account for all of it.
What we also need to take into account here is that Halo is a video game. It doesn't have to have morals or ideals, opinions or theories. It's a game. It only has to be fun to play, with an intriguing storyline. If the story ends up that the Forerunners were angels who created Earth and the installations because God tied on one too many the night before he'd planned to do it, I'm sure people will still play the game. I, for one, would laugh hysterically, but deep down I would be morally offended at the suggestion that God would get drunk and have a hangover.
The point is, this thread has turned into a debate between evolutionists and creationists, and I'm sure that's not what Bungie had in mind when they set up the forums or when they wrote the story for Halo.
Forgive me if my thought has been posted before. This thread is way too long for me to read or even skim every post. Again, this has not been a theory or a prediction. It's only a thought. If anyone wishes to tear it apart, please do so with some semblance of tact and respect.