- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
AI's go Rampant after 7 years of life, roughly. It all depends on how much knowledge they accumulate. Whoever stated that earlier is correct. This has been explained in the books, in the Marathon games, and in the I Love Bees storyline. They don't just die.
It is my opinion that Cortana began going rampant as early as Halo 1, when she was first introduced into the Halo control center. She hasn't been the same since then, but at this point she has experienced four major things.
* 1. She was already arguably the most powerful human AI.
* 2. She got to get into a Halo control center.
* 3. She was put into the Holy City's computer systems.
* 4. She has, at the very least, had a long conversation with the Gravemind, whose existance dates back to the time of the forerunners.
That's a wealth of knowledge, ladies and gentlemen. Whether the gravemind is influencing her in some way... There is no way to tell. But she is most definitely rampant. I never played the Marathon games, but if I'm not mistaken Durandal (the rampant AI in that series) was eventually powerful enough to develop time travel of a sort. Past? Future? Quite possibly all the same to her, and with some of the things that 343 Guilty Spark said, perhaps they are factually the same, and mankind is forced to repeat the same exact existance over and over - anyone like Wheel of Time?
The part of all of this that sends chills up my spine is the fact that, even through her rampancy, the bond between her and the Chief is still there, and perhaps stronger than ever. In the depths of insanity, with her spouting religious gibberish, she is still entirely loyal to him. Let's hope it stays that way.