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  • Subject: What constitutes a Neural Weapon?
Subject: What constitutes a Neural Weapon?
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Posted by: goldhawk
We should know better, because we are better.

More specifically, what constitutes a neural weapon that can damage a Precursor structure? I have wondered about this for some time. What allows a neural weapon to destroy a Precursor structure?

Neural weapons are weapons that target neural relays in the body and disrupt/damage them causing the target to die. This is a relatively simple definition but it opens another question: Nerve Gas does that, does that mean a dozen humans armed with Nerve gas could destroy a Precursor structure?

To answer this question, I think that in order for a weapon to be able to destroy a Precursor structure, it must fulfill 2 categories:

1. The weapon must target neural relays and neurons.

2. You must be able to modify the weapon so that it targets specific creatures but not others. This is because the Halos were not originally designed to destroy Precursor structures and could only do so after Faber changed Halo's frequency.

3. The weapon must not be a gas, the reason being Precursor buildings don't breathe and therefore cannot be affected by a gas based weapon. The weapon must be delivered via bullet, laser, pulse, something along those lines.
This way we eliminate things like nerve gas but still include weapons like Halo.
Thoughts? Additions? Revisions?


[Edited on 09.17.2011 1:39 PM PDT]

  • 09.17.2011 12:27 PM PDT

I've always wondered about that since hearing it...

Course, those who read cryptum always seem to use a cop-out "Neural is the closest term to a human from what the Forerunner word is."

and "You act as if you can understand neural physics, you can't!"

  • 09.17.2011 12:40 PM PDT

"I will show you how a true Prussian officer fights!"

"And i will show you where the iron crosses grow..."

- "Cross of Iron"

Maybe there structures are living? Like the zerg from starcraft.

  • 09.17.2011 12:45 PM PDT

I don't think its known really. As for how it can destroy Precursor structures, nobody knows at all. Even the Forerunners didn't think it could.

To understand why Precursors structures are susceptible to only Halo would of course require a better understanding of Neural physics and structures. Which is, cmdr, something that the book makes a point in saying that nobody has ever been able to figure out how neural physics works.

It is not a cop-out explanation, it is something the book repeatedly makes sure the readers realize, that the Precursors' technology was inconceivable to all races, even the Forerunners (so to think we could understand them is foolish)

Just as well, when people say that neural is a closely translated word for its actualy meaning, thats also something the book makes sure the reader recognizes.

The first page on the book has this message:

"AI Translator Note: The best tactical translations involve automatic conversions to immedietely understandable terms and phrases, including colloquialisms. That tradition has been followed in this work."

Its a simple matter of putting two and two together. We have no word for Precursor science in our language, so the AI who translated the book chose a word that most closely resembles its nature, in this case, neural, which is befitting the concept that Precursor science is based on the idea that the universe is a thinking, living creature, existing on a plane far and above anything we can comprehend. Which is why I always say that Precursor structures are the physical embodiement of consciousness, rather then any material composed of atoms or molecules

Posted by: Raptorx7
Maybe there structures are living? Like the zerg from starcraft.


So in a way, yes, just not biologically.

[Edited on 09.17.2011 1:07 PM PDT]

  • 09.17.2011 1:05 PM PDT
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Do not waste your tears, I was not born to watch the world grow dim. Life is not measured in years, but by the deeds of men.

Posted by: goldhawk
We should know better, because we are better.

I am not asking how the structures work, I am asking what would constitute a neural weapon that could destroy them. Frankly, the Precursor's beliefs and such sound more like the Native Americans belief that everything is live and has a soul. I will also make a small change to the definition.
Edit: Change added.

[Edited on 09.17.2011 1:40 PM PDT]

  • 09.17.2011 1:35 PM PDT

*Sigh* So because nobody in universe can understand it, that means us as readers can't?

That's what I mean by a cop out. You literally strangle any debate/intelligent pondering on it by saying that.

It's like saying because Commander Sheppard doesn't know how reaper tech/indoctrination works, us as players/readers can never understand it either.

  • 09.17.2011 1:50 PM PDT

"Find where the liar hides, so that I may place my boot between his gums!" - Rtas 'Vadum

We don't know what Precursor structures are though, so it is hard to imagine what can damage them and how it would do so.

  • 09.17.2011 2:07 PM PDT

Have you seen my mind anywhere? I seem to have lost it...

0x0 x0x 0x0 000 000 x0x 000
x0x 0x0 0x0 0xx 000 0x0 000
x0x x0x x00 0xx 0x0 x0x 0x0

I have seen you future

My theory is that the Halo ring's pulse fires at the same resonance frequency as the material that makes up the precursor material would, in theory cause the material to shatter, similarly to the opera singer breaking the wine glass.

On an even more theoretical idea, if the Halo rings matched the resonance frequency of the atoms in the material to break apart causing the material to either vaporize or cause a reaction similar to nuclear fission.

  • 09.17.2011 2:11 PM PDT
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Do not waste your tears, I was not born to watch the world grow dim. Life is not measured in years, but by the deeds of men.

Posted by: goldhawk
We should know better, because we are better.

At Cmdr: Indeed. Viewers if a universe can see the whole pictures opposed to in-universe characters who can see only a small chunk. We can think in ways they can't. For example: The Great Scavenger Hunt for Bias. We see all the universe and can draw conclusions based on connections in what we see. In-Universe characters cannot draw the same conclusions even though they have the same resources because none of them has seen enough to connect the dots.

At CTN: I disagree with that. If that were the case, any pulse/wave based weapon or device could be tuned to the vulnerable frequency and cause the whole thing to shatter. That is a far cry from "indestructible". If that was the case however, the buildings would be easy to destroy. Humans today already have devices that could cause an object to resonate. Tesla also claimed to have built one that caused a mini-earthquake and the Mythbusters produced a device no bigger than a shoebox that acted similarly.

  • 09.17.2011 6:59 PM PDT

Have you seen my mind anywhere? I seem to have lost it...

0x0 x0x 0x0 000 000 x0x 000
x0x 0x0 0x0 0xx 000 0x0 000
x0x x0x x00 0xx 0x0 x0x 0x0

I have seen you future

Posted by: Xd00999
At CTN: I disagree with that. If that were the case, any pulse/wave based weapon or device could be tuned to the vulnerable frequency and cause the whole thing to shatter. That is a far cry from "indestructible". If that was the case however, the buildings would be easy to destroy. Humans today already have devices that could cause an object to resonate. Tesla also claimed to have built one that caused a mini-earthquake and the Mythbusters produced a device no bigger than a shoebox that acted similarly.

If Nikola Tesla created an object that caused an earthquake, imagine what resonance from a device the size of a Halo ring would do. This is the most likely explanation for the destruction of the precursor artifacts, as the rings kill with resonance that affects the central nervous system of its victims. It is possible that it happened to be using the same frequency as that of the precursor material and that is what caused it to be destroyed.

  • 09.17.2011 7:26 PM PDT
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Do not waste your tears, I was not born to watch the world grow dim. Life is not measured in years, but by the deeds of men.

Posted by: goldhawk
We should know better, because we are better.


Posted by: CTN 0452 9
Posted by: Xd00999
At CTN: I disagree with that. If that were the case, any pulse/wave based weapon or device could be tuned to the vulnerable frequency and cause the whole thing to shatter. That is a far cry from "indestructible". If that was the case however, the buildings would be easy to destroy. Humans today already have devices that could cause an object to resonate. Tesla also claimed to have built one that caused a mini-earthquake and the Mythbusters produced a device no bigger than a shoebox that acted similarly.

If Nikola Tesla created an object that caused an earthquake, imagine what resonance from a device the size of a Halo ring would do. This is the most likely explanation for the destruction of the precursor artifacts, as the rings kill with resonance that affects the central nervous system of its victims. It is possible that it happened to be using the same frequency as that of the precursor material and that is what caused it to be destroyed.

That means that any resonance based device could destroy Precursor structures. That means theoretically I could hook up a massive subwoofer, tune it to the correct frequency, and watch the most powerful buildings in the universe crumble to dust.

  • 09.17.2011 7:36 PM PDT

Have you seen my mind anywhere? I seem to have lost it...

0x0 x0x 0x0 000 000 x0x 000
x0x 0x0 0x0 0xx 000 0x0 000
x0x x0x x00 0xx 0x0 x0x 0x0

I have seen you future

Posted by: Xd00999

Posted by: CTN 0452 9
Posted by: Xd00999
At CTN: I disagree with that. If that were the case, any pulse/wave based weapon or device could be tuned to the vulnerable frequency and cause the whole thing to shatter. That is a far cry from "indestructible". If that was the case however, the buildings would be easy to destroy. Humans today already have devices that could cause an object to resonate. Tesla also claimed to have built one that caused a mini-earthquake and the Mythbusters produced a device no bigger than a shoebox that acted similarly.

If Nikola Tesla created an object that caused an earthquake, imagine what resonance from a device the size of a Halo ring would do. This is the most likely explanation for the destruction of the precursor artifacts, as the rings kill with resonance that affects the central nervous system of its victims. It is possible that it happened to be using the same frequency as that of the precursor material and that is what caused it to be destroyed.

That means that any resonance based device could destroy Precursor structures. That means theoretically I could hook up a massive subwoofer, tune it to the correct frequency, and watch the most powerful buildings in the universe crumble to dust.

Theoretically, yes.

The Halo ring would have been emitting waves in the electromagnetic spectrum, since sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum, i.e. outer space. So this subwoofer would have to be able to put out a frequency in excess of 1 x 10^6 Hz, while the typical subwoofer can't go higher than 200 Hz.

The Halo ring would probably have resonated with the individual atoms, which resonate with frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, unlike the example I used earlier which resonated at a much lower frequency.

  • 09.17.2011 7:50 PM PDT