- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Activating Halo wipes all sentient life off the map. We all know this. The Forerunner built the Halos. We know this as well. Why would the Forerunner build a machine that would end them? We aren't really sure about this. Why were the Halos built? To contain and study the Flood. Now, why are the Flood on the scene? We definitely don't know. If the Flood pose such a problem, the why contain them, instead of destroying them. Cortana states in the Control Room that, "The only way to kill the Flood is to starve them to death." That, I believe, is not true. From what we know, the Flood reproduce without intercourse. "The Infection Forms rewrite a victim's cellular structure and convert him into a Combat Form, and then later a Carrier Form-an incubator for more Infection Forms." This leads me to believe that if the Infection Forms were unable to infect anything, then the Flood would not be able to reproduce. If an effective sterilization team was sent out to destroy all of the Flood, and no one was infected, the Flood would stop there. But how long can the Flood go without food? What is posted below might explain the Flood's existence.
Now, Eagle has not condoned my posting about his theory, or my elaborating on it, which means that views expressed in this post are not those of Eagle 117.
Eagle theorized that Ackerson and a team of cloned Spartans (and most likely others, technicians, scientists, maybe even some ODST's) traveled to Halo. He also theorized that Ackerson created the Flood, or rather, the scientists that went with him. The Flood was to be a weapon with which to defeat the Covenant ( and Dr. Halsey's funding.)
Now, the artifact on Reach. What does it have to do with the Flood? Well, here's my theory. ONI is well aware of the crystal on Reach. They have studied it extensively, and have constructed a time machine. Ackerson uses the machine to go to Halo, hundreds of thousands of years in the past. He deposits the Flood on Halo. At that same time, the Forerunner come back to check up on their installation (Spark and the Sentinals have not yet been created). The Forerunner didn't build the Halos to contain or study the Flood, but, rather, as what their name suggests. "Yes, the Forerunner built this place, what they called a 'fortress world' in order to-." A fortress world. To do what? Perhaps to kill anyone that might have been warring with them. All of the Forerunner would flee to the nearest Halo, and activate it, killing their adversay. Suppose though, that if you are on the ring, then you are immune to the pulse that the ring emits. Then you could activate it safely, without being hurt.
Back to the Flood. If the Forerunner came back to check up on their installation, and found the Flood, some of them would have been infected. Those that survived created Spark and theSentinals, and trapped the Flood. After the Flood were trapped, the Forerunner programmed Spark's first directive. To protect the Index. And the second, to monitor the Flood, and kill any, should they escape from their holding area. If a Forerunner had to activate the ring, it would come in armor, to protect itself from the Flood, if there was an accidental outbreak and not all of the Forms had been eliminated.
[Edited on 8/12/2004 12:06:04 AM]