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Subject: Something caught my eye from a Cortana Letter
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very interesting thoeries, perhaps she is crazy, perhaps she isnt

what exactly would dictate when she went crazy? i mean she was in the High Charity network for some time before the cheif left and if she was gonna go crazy why would she not have then? how is it that gravemind is able to alter her in some way? is he indeed connected to the computer on HC?

these questions need to be answered definitivly, if he is indeed able to do something to cortana then it would stand to reason that it cant be good and that she probably would go crazy, however there still remains a question, how could she do anything to the rings if she is on high charity? i dont think she would have kept from the cheif that she could transfer to the ring if needed

i know i posted alot of questions but they are important

  • 05.29.2006 8:18 PM PDT
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She can detonate the UNSC ship that crashed into High Charity to blow up High Charity and the ring that High Charity is currently stationed near.

I believe that gravemind is already in the computer system. He was able to project his voice on High Charity's COM system. If he's in the computer... he might be able to attack Cortana. And then there's the "Formitable presence" inside High Charity. While she never said it was a Covenant AI, this could mean it was actually gravemind... she just didn't know. *shrugs*

  • 05.29.2006 8:23 PM PDT

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"Would you like some more epic with that fail?"

Good morning Bnet peeps, it's 8:41 AM EST and I'm wide awake now because my damn dog woke me up by jumping all over my bed >.< Anywho, I went back and read on what I had missed last night, very good theories and ideas that I saw. Still Life pointed out that it resembles the Marathon story, true, it does. I remember reading the relation the Cortana Letters had with Marathon, but as Still Life said, why re-use the same story-line from another game? It did sound really good, I liked reading that one. Opog and Still Life have a point about the rampancy part, she *could* be rampant, but only in a certain rampant stability that still allows her to have control. We'll never know for sure, I'm leaning more towards her slowly losing her marbles, but then again that's my own humble opinion. MindFluX said something that stuck out to me:

"So I watched the teaser again and saw 3 rings in the background. So where is the fourth? Well when it shows the big crater, if you look in the background to the right, you can see it. A connection? Who knows?"

Which 3 rings are you talking about? Now to answer a few of Tarius's questions:

"what exactly would dictate when she went crazy? i mean she was in the High Charity network for some time before the cheif left and if she was gonna go crazy why would she not have then?"

**We think that *if* she is indeed going rampant, that she might be in a certain rampant stability that still allows her to have control. I remember reading in the books that Chief had made mention that she was acting "A little weird since being in Halo's systems." Also, if an AI is almost full with data, it could lead to corruption. That explains why Cortana made multiple copies of herself when she had the Halo data, it was so she can still do other tasks. But there were risks that the copies would turn out corrupted as well. Plus another thing that made many people believe that she was going rampant was when she told Gravemind to "shoot" when he said that he wanted to ask questions.

And I do believe the good 'ol Abriel answered your other two questions =). Blah, I'm sorry if I seem all over the place, I just woke up and trying to think when I just wake up is a miracle within itself. Anywho, keep bringin' in the ideas people, I've seen a lot of good ones so far.

[Edited on 5/30/2006]

  • 05.30.2006 5:59 AM PDT

I like my Covenant like i like my woman, screamin and with a sticky on there face.

alot of things caught my eye from the cortona letters

  • 05.30.2006 6:19 AM PDT
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Im not sure about this, but maybe Cortana is at the end of her operable "life". Because in the books it says they after about 7 years ai's get a fatal feedback loop or something and think themselves to death. But in First Strike, it said that the halo data could have taken of any number of time from her "lifespan". So perhaps she is nearing that stage and it is causing her to go rampart. If this is true, then she could do anything while she is in the High Charity, including detonating the ship and/or activating Halo. Yet another theory to confuse your minds with. I just wish that trailer was a bit longer........

  • 05.30.2006 6:20 AM PDT

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Hehe, yay, another good theory to pull in with the rest! Really good point, I'll have to check the books and see how many years she's been around. I'm not going to go further because I would be repeating what you said, but that could be another possibility to think about as well, thanks for contributing =).

  • 05.30.2006 6:30 AM PDT
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People who emailed status@quo.org got a response from "Matt Asher", a reply which was only either "primenumbers.com" or "primenumbers"

If you look through the LYCA pages, the only prime numbers that are surrounded by parentheses are 7, 2, and 2 again (in that order from left to right).

7/22 ?

  • 05.30.2006 7:04 AM PDT

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Shaymus even though I am interested in the whole LYCA ordeal, please make no mention of it in my thread as I do not want it to get locked =).

  • 05.30.2006 7:05 AM PDT
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A J A Q
C A C U
E C E E
...K.....E
..........N

About the Skulls:
{
Also note that Envy is found on Delta Halo.
Angry is found on Gravemind, or physically, High Charity.

A bit more than trivial, no?
}

A forth stage implies that Cortana has surpassed rampancy. She has taken a step past any normal AI, just as Cheif has surpassed his role as a human, a soldier, or a Spartan.

The line between insanity and Genius is a very fine line. If she has surpassed insanity(or in this case, become so impossibly insane), she becomes a god. (don't take the use of god as a religious discussion. notice the lack of caps.)

In their journey, they have done the impossible. John has earned a role as a Demon in the Covanant Lore. He has become a demon-god.

The pair have surpassed everything.


  • 05.30.2006 7:08 AM PDT
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okay okay I get it.
I'll just put "psst" or "in my opinion" or "I heard the crazy homeless man who collects soup cans and puts them in a cart and roams around my neighborhood mutter" before all of my posts that talk about it. ;)

[Edited on 5/30/2006]

  • 05.30.2006 7:08 AM PDT

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"Would you like some more epic with that fail?"

EDIT: Shaymus please stay on topic or go to another thread =).

Your mentioning of the skulls is very interesting, I never did look up the location of where you could find them, just what they could do. I can relate Anger to being with High Charity (Also Gravemind), but if you have an explaination, could you tell me how Envy could relate to Delta Halo? You have a good point about the Chief and Cortana surpassing their roles. A previous member stated that "Smart AIs" have a lifespan of 7 years, they become too intelligent and literally think themselves to death. With Cortana being trapped with Gravemind and her having picked up so much knowledge from Halo (It was also said that becomming too full with data can take off years from an AIs lifespan), she might just be at her breaking point now. The Flood are intelligent creatures, learning how to use things around, kinda like the Engineers in the books. Since Gravemind is in High Charity's computer systems and since Cortana is vulnerable to any attacks, I don't doubt that Gravemind can crack Cortana. There's also the possibility that Cortana has learned so much that she could repel Gravemind as well.

EDIT: I'm back now lol =)

[Edited on 5/30/2006]

  • 05.30.2006 7:16 AM PDT
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when you said you can hear a scream... are you talking about the halo 3 trailer or the halo:combat evolved trailer ?

  • 05.30.2006 11:44 AM PDT

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I'm talking about the Halo 3 trailer. I hear a female scream at the 28 second mark. Some people beg to differ, but I think it's a scream. You can also see in the StoryBoard Pictures a picture of Cortana screaming.

  • 05.30.2006 11:49 AM PDT
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ill have to check again and see if i can hear it.
do you think that maybe the "god" she defied could have been Master Chief, and the Demon was Gravemind, maybe she took over the ship (high charity) i believe and killed him somehow. and will not respond to master chief you never know,. just a thought

  • 05.30.2006 11:56 AM PDT

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Killed who? Gravemind? I doubt she killed him, you can hear his voice in the first two sentences when she speaks. Gods could be referred to the Prophets if you think of it another way, the Prophets are resembled as a high being in the Covenant Race. Demons could possibly mean the Flood as you said. She's still in High Charity with Gravemind, so even if she did want to take it over, she'd have Gravemind to deal with. Plus with all the corrupt multiple copies she made of herself, Cortana is vulnerable. AI lifespans are 7 years, she also has the Halo data, in terms meaning that if an AI is too full with data, it can take years off their lifespan, making her even more vulnerable to attack. When she was on the Unyielding Hirophant in the book The Flood, a Covenant AI was able to sneak up on her, pointing out another weak spot.

[Edited on 5/30/2006]

  • 05.30.2006 12:05 PM PDT
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Couple of things really

1. When MC went to unyielding hirophant, he is given a copy of cortana not the "real" Cortana. The "real" Cortana stays witht the admiral aborad the gettysburg and whatever the covenant ship is its attached to.
2. There was time between the end of First Strike and the start of H2 for cortana to "dump" the halo data somewhere. Thats why Miranda keyes has info on halo when they encounter halo 4
3. (Relaise this is more than a couple of things) I don't think Cortana has control over IAC as the flood and gravemind flew in on it so they could have disabled the reacter (just a theroy).
4. High Charity can move. If you look at one of the cutscenes where MC is on Dleta halo and the huge Covenant armada comes in, High Charity Appears, so Maybe it has come to earth, or coratna/gravemind could move it (another theroy)

thats it really.

[Edited on 5/30/2006]

  • 05.30.2006 12:43 PM PDT
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FYI the big rings in the background are talked about on a site who's name i will not mention. it could have a connection.

grvaemind could quite easily torture cortana. it would be as accessing the program and turning it on. and if no such program exists it would take about five minutes to build one.

cortana is like the red monitor and the prophet regret in my opinion. attached and controlled by gravemind.

  • 05.30.2006 1:48 PM PDT
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Posted by: l_l_l
Posted by: Broken Dreamz
There will be no more Sadness. No more Anger. No more Envy.

I HAVE WON.

This means she is not rampant.


I thought it meant she was rampant, but has escaped and become a truly free fully sentient AI with no limitations but the hardware. Kind of like Durandril (sp?) in Marathon, who was rampant and beleived that by escaping the confines of the universe he would become a God (this is what I think the "I HAVE WON" is. Cortana has escaped the normal limitations of AI and becomes fully sentient).

  • 05.30.2006 2:05 PM PDT
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good theory.

i read somewhere about the stages of rampancy
Stage 1: Melancholia (Despair)
Stage 2: Anger (Rage)
Stage 3: Jealousy (Envy)
Satge 4: Unconfirmed. Possibly a Meta-Stable existance.
There will be no more Sadness. No more Anger. No more Envy.
notice anything similar? from the quote from the Cortana letters we can see that she has already gone past the first 3 stages of rampancy, which leaves her at stage 4, unconfirmed. maby to be revealed in H3.

[Edited on 5/30/2006]

  • 05.30.2006 4:44 PM PDT

"A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide-awake, with fear, respect, and absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it will live to regret his steps."
Light Fuse, Run away......

This is a very good theory and one thing that I notied when reading the book "The Fall of Reach" on page 270 Cortana says or rather thinks"Whatever the Master Chief had been through in the past . . . it was done.He was in Cortana's care now. She would do everything in her power-short of compromising their mission-to make sure nothing ever happened to him again." This response from her afer reading his files seems extrordinarily like an emotional response which,if I'm correct, is something an AI should not have. Also after getting into the Halo's system and most likely going rampant may be all she cares about.

  • 06.02.2006 3:24 PM PDT
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Personally, I believe she has gone mad; more or less, a specific PART of her has gone mad. In the Fourth Cortana Letter, we see that in the beginning she states " you may disregard all previous communications from the entity CALLING itself Cortana" interesting, right? A paragraph down we see a route error and other things, and then shes comes back on speaking again, only this time, back in the crazy, sporradic ways she had done before.
We're all missing something here, something so obvious that it would almost be too simple. Perhaps we should try reading the letters not as individual ones, but as chunks to a bigger letter, perhaps copying and pasting them on to Word and seeing if we can make some sort of pattern appear?.....
another thing....
"...in my palace deep, Lyca lies asleep..."

Xx_EDIT (IMPORTANT READ)_xX

"there was a FOURTH. You couldn't have known. And I haven't forgotten.It is a blurred line that lies at the edge of Godhood and Insanity. Guess which side of it I am on."

On Lyca.com, I notice something... the sequence of dots, or letters, in braille it goes 3, 5, 2, 1... but there is no four!! perhaps a connection?
never overlook little details. The problem is, finding the right 4 sequence Braille letter to make the word (or name in question) make some sort of bloody sense! so many different combinations....unless the missing letter is G, considering we take the first letter from Godhood... Glyca? I dunno... someone take it from here!


[Edited on 6/3/2006]

  • 06.03.2006 12:33 AM PDT

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"Would you like some more epic with that fail?"

I've been gone a few days and haven't had time to check on my thread. I thank the recent few who have contributed, when I find time later today or tomorrow, I'll come back and post my own two cents. In the mean time, I do not want to see anything about Lyca in my thread, as I do not want my thread to become locked.

[Edited on 6/3/2006]

  • 06.03.2006 3:03 PM PDT
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cortana is going to come back to earth as a human and kill mc cause she is going crazy

[Edited on 6/4/2006]

  • 06.04.2006 11:08 AM PDT
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Posted by: Broken Dreamz
I appreciate input from the both of you =). Night Hawk I want to point out something to you: In the Halo E3 trailer, listen closely at the 28 second mark and you'll hear a female scream. If you go to the Halo 3 Storyboards, you'll see a picture of Cortana screaming. Some people say it's a scream, some people say it's not. To me it sounds like a scream. And how can Gravemind torture a computer program? I have no idea, but that's the creature she was left behind with on High Chairty, and the StoryBoard picture of her screaming indicates that she's going through *something* horrible.


It may be possible Gravemind has uncovered some horrible truth or he just simply talked to her and confused her greatly. Like talking her into something that sounds as though it MUST be true even if she doesn't want to believe it.

  • 06.04.2006 11:32 AM PDT
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Does anyone know if there are new books in the making? Perhaps a lot of answers could come of a new book. Remember, between Halo: CE and Halo 2, an entire book's worth of stuff happened. Although the end of Halo 2 is less conducive to a long period of time.

In any case, I can offer my two cents. First, the Cortana letters seem to be similar to the ILB story in that the letters, in my opinion, are addressed to present-day humanity (2006). Perhaps just some of them. Or perhaps I am way off, but that's just the way they read to me.

Second, people are forgetting a very key point from the books, and that is that Dr. Halsley and a Spartan ran off in secret. Perhaps wherever they ran off to has something to do with Cortana.

Third, Gravemind seems to transcend the "normal" (nevermind he looks like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors), thus he might be able to get to Cortana. Or, he might just be a highly intelligent sentient being (perhaps the last Forerunner) that just pummels Cortana with questions/information to the point where she's tortured.

In any case, I can't wait to see what's in store.

  • 06.04.2006 12:48 PM PDT

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