I want to make a crazy theory just like The Rainbow Theory when I grow up! So... I shall!!!
We all remember the SI, yes? There were seven account created with variation
between i's and l's up to 7 letters. lllllll. His Bnet title was the
superintendent and he had green text. When we got to see the ODST trailer we
noticed that the SI guiding our young Rookie. After evading those nasty brutes
(after a showing off of the new vision mode he has) Rook proceeds to a monitor
which tells him to proceed with caution and stay to the right. This is obviously
the SI at work, as his captions match with things the teaser said.
Now we need to be aware of what the SI is. The SI is an Artificial Intelligence,
much like Cortana. An important note is that Cortana is a so called 'Smart' AI.
She is very capable at performing a number of tasks. While 'Dumb' AIs are
specialized- they can only perform so many functions in a particular task. Those of you who have read ''Halo: The Flood' should remember the AI Wellsey. This AI was a dumb AI capable of
completing military related tasks. In the novel, it was mentioned more than once
how the responses (such as jokes or attempts to make the humans more comfortable) were done by programs and set routines. I believe this was to clearly
define differences between Wellsley, the program, and Cortana, a smart AI who
most people think of as having a quirky personality. Personality. We
think of Cortana as more of a human- though we obviously can tell she's an AI.
The thought processes are much more similar to a human's, so we can relate to it more.
She's also capable of processing data on a much wider scale.
Now with this knowledge, I want to draw your attention to Contact Harvest. In
Contact Harvest the AI there was a Smart AI (albeit in disguise) named Mack.
Mack was actually Loki's counterpart. Basically, Mack and Loki were two separate
AIs in one place- but only one of them could run at a time. Knowing this I want
to tie us back to the SI. The SI was the city's AI we have come to believe.
While we are not certain, it would seem like he is a human made AI and whose job
it was to run the day to day operations. This is a hypothesis. Assuming this, I
have come to believe that the SI is a Smart AI.
Mack was the AI who ran the planet Harvest's surface- which was mostly farming
and other agriculture. This was agriculture. Remember that Earth was humanity's
base. That was our pride and we had to protect it at all costs. Therefore I
believe the SI was assigned to the city, being a smart AI, in order to maintain
the city. In addition to this, SuperIntendent itself is the leader of a group- it performs as an executive or administrator.
Why does this matter? All of that just so we know he's a smart AI? I don't
get it!
Well sirs, that is not all. I call your attention now to the trailer released
yesterday. It seems the goal of the ODST's was to land on the Covenant ship. But
when one says they'll miss it, Dare claims that they're going exactly where she
wants us to.
What does that have to do with the SI?
If Dare was aware of a situation that her squad mates didn't know about, this
would imply that she had an external source of information outside of their
direct commander officer- the one who supposedly sent them down to New Mombasa. Therefore it may also be reasonable to assume that another agency contacted her. Now this could mean she was planted there by another branch (perhaps ONI) or she was chosen after she joined the ODST's.
We see Rook being led by the SI. Dare knew about something the others
didn't. The SI is a smart AI capable of multiple tasks and has a sort of free will of its own. Therefore I have concluded that Dare was in contact with this Smart AI. The AI was aware of the situation prior to their drop and decided to dedicate attention to the matter of the Covenant, which helped Dare's project. If the ODST's were meant to drop with Dare, they obviously would have had to eventually be made aware of what exactly they were trying to accomplish. So after the Slipspace jump in the city, the AI had to make a decision.
What should I do?
The SI decided to attempt and regroup the squad. If his mission was to protect the city or maintain Earth, then it is obvious that Dare's assignment had something of great value- in the eyes of a Smart AI as well, which makes it even more valuable. It would also mean that this is a large assignment she would not be capable of completing on her own (which is also why I hypothesize that the Rook isn't the only survivor since we obviously have to resolve some immediate threat in the game... in addition to finding our allies), else the squad would not have come with her and she would have done a solo operation (unless she planned on sacrificing the lives of her squad mates).
We also know that some time had passed before Rook gets out of his HEV (drop pod), as it's dark when he gets out yet the flashback showed was in the day. This would have given the Smart AI plenty of time to locate all the HEV's and guide them. For all we know the others have already regrouped (yet I doubt this as some probably were KIA and others I'm sure were injured gravely throughout their time on the planet's surface).
So the conclusion:
- The SI is a smart AI
- Dare is not exclusively an ODST, but has an external contact from the direct chain of command.
- The SI is aware of every event occurring in the city despite any damage done to monitors or systems (its observation tools are functioning else he would not be able to guide Rook).
- The SI is aware of Dare's project, else it would be doubtful he'd spend processing time on a single ODST from what I can see.
- This task has something to do with the immediate threat- perhaps something to do with the portal's excavation, but more likely a new issue.
Another possibility, however likely, is that the SI is like Mac and also has two matrix's. The SI could also be an ONI AI sent in to take over and monitor the mission, perhaps subduing the other AI. Dare may have also planted the SI when she landed, assuming they went where needed.
To be honest I have many more possibilities semi related to what I've already said, but I'd like this post to remain on fewer subjects. So I'll just leave you with 6,500 characters and leave it at that.
Thanks.
Edit: The theory about the SI being a Smart AI has been disproved as shown by Bungie updating their project page. The SI is now known to be a second generation dumb AI.
[Edited on 06.02.2009 2:40 PM PDT]