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Subject: Datapad AIs and their link to 'ancient humanity' [Version 1.0]
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Posted by: Spartan1065
Posted by: modest too

[quote]3) These AI's seem to have been in this committee for longer than Smart AI's have been around. The variety and complexity of their task, again, indicates they simply must be Smart AI's.

I don't think it necessarily had to be started by smart AI's it could have been started by a normal military AI who took it's duty of protecting humanity and the UNSC to the next level by starting the committee because it saw itself and it's fellow AI's as more equipped than it's human creators to protect the species.


I thought I read somewhere that one of the earliest known recordings was when the first AI was created. Maybe it was tasked with watching over something, and not letting any humans become harmed, so it took that to the extreme. this, of course, doesn't fit in with the Pre-Devolution AI theory, but it could be plausible.

  • 01.01.2011 7:01 PM PDT

Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

1) Why would they not give this committee knowledge of the Flood? That's a MASSIVE mistake if intentional. 'Alright were going to make sure this race has the knowledge necessary to uphold life. But we won't tell them about this Parasite capable of killing them off before they can in turn hand off the Mantle? All agree? Alright suck it Humanity.'

The Flood were a peaceful, advanced sentient "Hive-mind" species before they were enslaved by the Forerunner.

  • 01.01.2011 7:05 PM PDT
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Posted by: cpv18
1) Why would they not give this committee knowledge of the Flood? That's a MASSIVE mistake if intentional. 'Alright were going to make sure this race has the knowledge necessary to uphold life. But we won't tell them about this Parasite capable of killing them off before they can in turn hand off the Mantle? All agree? Alright suck it Humanity.'

The Flood were a peaceful, advanced sentient "Hive-mind" species before they were enslaved by the Forerunner.


Was that from Cryptum or speculation? It seems to me that to survive they still have to infect beings. they can't just divide themselves and multiply [can they?]

[Edited on 01.01.2011 7:10 PM PST]

  • 01.01.2011 7:10 PM PDT

Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

Part of a theory of mine. And yes, they can multiply w/o beings to infect.

  • 01.01.2011 7:12 PM PDT
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but has the whole peaceful hive-mind thing been confirmed? and I don't think that the Forerunner enslaved them, just wanted to study them. As far as I know [without reading Cryptum] they didn't use the Flood as any kind of workforce.

  • 01.01.2011 7:14 PM PDT
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Posted by: VolantAxis
But I thought that the Precursors made them to collect knowledge from dead Precursors since they retain memory from the person they infected. They would then bring it to the GraveMind which was also made by the Precursors as an intellectual hub that any Precursor could access at any time to learn something new. The Flood basic forms would walk around the streets looking for anything dead so that they could infect it and then be absorbed into the GraveMind. Eventually The GraveMind got smart enough to realize he was being used and went on a rampage and the flood took out the Precursors from within their cities.
Tell me if Im wrong but im pretty sure that this is what happened.


What you've got is just speculation. We know almost nothing about the Precursor or the Flood. For all we know, the Precursor my be the Flood. I wouldn't accept that as canon from now on though. it could mess up your perception of certain things.

  • 01.02.2011 12:06 AM PDT
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The Flood attacked the Forerunners. I believe it's in Origins 2 (maybe) but the Flood just appeared in the Forerunner world and started infecting people. The Forerunners only sought to study them after they fired the rings. Hence there was only a small amount located on the rings themselves (who have no natural inhabitants and therefore not enough bio-mass to create a gravemind [until the Covies say to that]).

So I'm assuming the Flood has been a hostile species since before it arrived in the Milky Way (It's Extragalactic no?).

This could support the 'Precursors Data Base' theory, or it could support the 'Oh -blam!- Experiment Gone Horribly Wrong' theory or the 'Precursors and Forerunners Encountered The Flood In The Same Way' theory.

We simply don'y have enough information on Precursor (or Flood) to hypothesize on what happened between the two.

Now back to the AI's:
Occum's Razor: The simplest answer is most often the correct one.

AI's were ancient Humanities last resort to save themselves, knowing they would soon lose their technology. Or, the AI's were created to operate as in similar fashion to other UNSC AI's, and one changed (for reasons unknowns, or randomness) into this Overwatch and then began recruiting other AI's to aid it.

Both do seem plausible, but what really convinces me is the randomness of the AI changing into Overwatch. We all know Bungie has a reason for everything. This makes me doubt that an AI would just up and take on this charge. It could have been programmed to, but then we could assume their dialogs would not treat Humans as completely unaware of them. Also, I do believe the majority (not the named one, simply above 50% of the AI's) must be smart. To have so many AI's deviate from their designated tasks to become part of a committee of an overwatch to me screams it must be so.

  • 01.02.2011 7:21 AM PDT


Posted by: Gruntpacolypto

Posted by: VolantAxis
But I thought that the Precursors made them to collect knowledge from dead Precursors since they retain memory from the person they infected. They would then bring it to the GraveMind which was also made by the Precursors as an intellectual hub that any Precursor could access at any time to learn something new. The Flood basic forms would walk around the streets looking for anything dead so that they could infect it and then be absorbed into the GraveMind. Eventually The GraveMind got smart enough to realize he was being used and went on a rampage and the flood took out the Precursors from within their cities.
Tell me if Im wrong but im pretty sure that this is what happened.


What you've got is just speculation. We know almost nothing about the Precursor or the Flood. For all we know, the Precursor my be the Flood. I wouldn't accept that as canon from now on though. it could mess up your perception of certain things.


no this actually looks quite likely. There's a few bits of evidence to support this.

1) Instead of the generic name "Hive"mind, the super-being that controls the Flood is called the "Grave"mind. This would indicate he has some affiliation with graves, or the dead, which is what the alleged purpose of his creation was.

2) The Flood come from another galaxy. The only race that could do that is the Precursors. This proves the Flood had some sort of relationship with them. But as they are labled "Tier 7", the Flood alone could not have traveled other galaxies, something that is vital to their survival. This indicates they were created at a time where the Precursors were powerful, so they had access to Extra-Galactic starships to continue consuming for the Flood species and not trapped to one galaxy.

3) The Precursors could accelerate evolution and thus create the perfect bilogical life. It is my personal belief the Flood kinda are the perfect lifeform. Instantly adaptabe to any situation via the FSC, controlled by a nearly omnipotent and omniscient consciousness. Pretty much unstoppable to any force.

It is speculation, but it actually seems quite likely.

  • 01.02.2011 8:27 AM PDT


Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Posted by: Gruntpacolypto

Posted by: VolantAxis
But I thought that the Precursors made them to collect knowledge from dead Precursors since they retain memory from the person they infected. They would then bring it to the GraveMind which was also made by the Precursors as an intellectual hub that any Precursor could access at any time to learn something new. The Flood basic forms would walk around the streets looking for anything dead so that they could infect it and then be absorbed into the GraveMind. Eventually The GraveMind got smart enough to realize he was being used and went on a rampage and the flood took out the Precursors from within their cities.
Tell me if Im wrong but im pretty sure that this is what happened.


What you've got is just speculation. We know almost nothing about the Precursor or the Flood. For all we know, the Precursor my be the Flood. I wouldn't accept that as canon from now on though. it could mess up your perception of certain things.


no this actually looks quite likely. There's a few bits of evidence to support this.

1) Instead of the generic name "Hive"mind, the super-being that controls the Flood is called the "Grave"mind. This would indicate he has some affiliation with graves, or the dead, which is what the alleged purpose of his creation was.

2) The Flood come from another galaxy. The only race that could do that is the Precursors. This proves the Flood had some sort of relationship with them. But as they are labled "Tier 7", the Flood alone could not have traveled other galaxies, something that is vital to their survival. This indicates they were created at a time where the Precursors were powerful, so they had access to Extra-Galactic starships to continue consuming for the Flood species and not trapped to one galaxy.

3) The Precursors could accelerate evolution and thus create the perfect bilogical life. It is my personal belief the Flood kinda are the perfect lifeform. Instantly adaptabe to any situation via the FSC, controlled by a nearly omnipotent and omniscient consciousness. Pretty much unstoppable to any force.

It is speculation, but it actually seems quite likely.


Does the Gravemind refer to himself as "the Gravemind"? I always thought that was a name given to him by the UNSC because the Flood is basically a zombie virus (even though it drastically mutilates the host body) and the Gravemind is just a bunch of Flood-Infected Biomass, like a mass grave.

Also, has it been confirmed that the Flood are extra-galactic? Maybe they were just inhabitants of a planet that the Precursor decided to have some fun with and got transformed into the Flood. While I find it likely that the Precursor and the Flood have some connection, I doubt that the Precursor would have said "Oh, look, here's an organism that could ravage the galaxy! Let's bring it home with us!" and purposely seeded the Flood in the Milky Way.

OT If the simplest answer is usually the correct one, then:

The Assembly is a collection of UNSC AI (who may or may not have achieved meta-stability) That meet in secret to protect and ensure humanity's survival.

  • 01.02.2011 1:12 PM PDT


Posted by: Gruntpocalypto

Also, has it been confirmed that the Flood are extra-galactic?

Yes, the forerunner recorded them as coming from another galaxy.

  • 01.02.2011 1:21 PM PDT


Posted by: TimiderWord8

Posted by: Gruntpocalypto

Also, has it been confirmed that the Flood are extra-galactic?

Yes, the forerunner recorded them as coming from another galaxy.


Ok thanks. I thought that the Forerunner just found them on an outlying planet and tried to study them unprotected.

  • 01.02.2011 1:30 PM PDT
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So, we can conclude that the Flood is most likely connected to the Precursors (Given their ability to traverse Galaxies). However, the name Gravemind is a given name (I personally think his name is Joyeuse), and thus non-indicative of whether or not its original purpose was as a bio-computer.

Also, a quick question: Can we discern a time frame for when the first record (and varifiable) of these AI's? We should make a time frame as to when theses AI's first appeared so we can estimate how many would be required for this 'revolving door' theory, and then apply that against the estimate of how many AI's actually exist between those two points. In doing so we can establish whether it is possible or not that this theory could exist, and to what extent the AI network (as a whole) is involved with this committee.

  • 01.02.2011 2:02 PM PDT

I did some research but couldn't seem to find the Assembly on Halopedia

  • 01.03.2011 12:23 PM PDT

A few things I noticed while reading this thread.

1: Where could the A.I's be hiding? Well, anywhere....we didn't know of the Portal under New Mombassa, and that is a massive megastructure. The lore also states that the Portal has a massive complex under it, and we can't yet get in.

If we missed that, they could literally be anywhere. Or in slipspace, using it as an infinite datachip. Like Halsey theoried.

2. Who is that human with the datapads? The last datapads make it very clear its an A.I. who imprinted itself over the consciousness of a living being. Reversing the path. So its a member of either the Minority or Majority given human form. It's very clear on this.

As to why he is doing what he/she is doing, its because he wants someone, anyone, to know. It's not related to Cortana in any way, shape, or form.

3. Why wouldn't they know about the Flood? Well, who says they don't, honestly. The same reason they withheld information on the Covenant approaching/existing, the same way they withhold information on weapon systems they can reproduce (becoming wolves themselves) and planets of importance, the same reason they manipulated the war and fed the Covenant entire human wars.....because we, in their opinion, aren't ready for the full story and need to be babysat, fed peacemeal.

The Flood were a peaceful, advanced sentient "Hive-mind" species before they were enslaved by the Forerunner.

Entirely untrue, nor hinted at in any medium. Don't pass off fanfiction as fact. The Flood spores arrived in ancient human territory on ancient (to those humans) automated ships. It was dormant, and made their pets smarter when treated with it.

Eventually those pets mutated, went feral. Then their owners did. Humanity had beaten and kicked the Flood out of our galaxy before the conclusion of the Human-Forerunner war, and the Forerunner didn't believe them as they found no evidence.

Your theory is entirely, entirely wrong. The only thing they hint at is the Captive, who claims to be the last Precursor, is using the Flood as his answer to the Forerunner destroying the Precursors ages ago.

  • 01.08.2011 12:16 AM PDT


Posted by: forthnback
Entirely untrue, nor hinted at in any medium. Don't pass off fanfiction as fact. The Flood spores arrived in ancient human territory on ancient (to those humans) automated ships. It was dormant, and made their pets smarter when treated with it.

Eventually those pets mutated, went feral. Then their owners did. Humanity had beaten and kicked the Flood out of our galaxy before the conclusion of the Human-Forerunner war, and the Forerunner didn't believe them as they found no evidence.


Moral of the story: stop playing dress up with your dogs. Elsewise they get pissed and eat you.

This (Cryptum) sort of sheds a whole new light on these theories (EG: burning them to the ground).

Especially when you consider the extensively strong evidence that the Gravemind is a Precursor. Can you imagine and intergalactic RACE of him???

  • 01.08.2011 5:55 AM PDT
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"Time was your ally human. But now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners....have returned. And this tomb... is now yours". - The Didact


Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Posted by: forthnback
Entirely untrue, nor hinted at in any medium. Don't pass off fanfiction as fact. The Flood spores arrived in ancient human territory on ancient (to those humans) automated ships. It was dormant, and made their pets smarter when treated with it.

Eventually those pets mutated, went feral. Then their owners did. Humanity had beaten and kicked the Flood out of our galaxy before the conclusion of the Human-Forerunner war, and the Forerunner didn't believe them as they found no evidence.


Moral of the story: stop playing dress up with your dogs. Elsewise they get pissed and eat you.

This (Cryptum) sort of sheds a whole new light on these theories (EG: burning them to the ground).

Especially when you consider the extensively strong evidence that the Gravemind is a Precursor. Can you imagine and intergalactic RACE of him???


WIN

  • 01.08.2011 6:28 AM PDT

And this is why I love the Universe forum, very constuctive, witha lot of sharing og info.

Back on topic, isn't the Flood a precursor invention? I only assume this as the Flood are extra galactic, and the only race to have that technology are the precursors. The only other explanation is that the precursors were conquered, and thats not too likely.

  • 01.08.2011 9:45 AM PDT

I can't find anything new to point out relevant to the topic so it's probably dead. It ain't comin back.

  • 01.14.2011 7:02 PM PDT
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Posted by: chotato
smart, interesting, seems out of place.


Official fan of Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, (Problem with that?) Halo, and Bungie, also a total gaming junkie.

Yet again, your reasoning and intellect amazes me. Good job Wolverfrog!

  • 01.14.2011 9:12 PM PDT

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