- GameJunkieJim
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- Exalted Mythic Member
"Plot the temporal irregularities (time log discrepancies) on a space-time surface. Then call up my file on the spatial distortion generated by the alien artifact (the artifact from Reach).On the displays appeared sets of nearly identical curved membranes that stretched about a central location and time: Reach and the recovery of the strange artifact. That thing not only bends space, Dr. Halsey whispered to herself, but bends time as well. That’s not possible, Cortana said. How could the artifact on Reach affect us on Halo - light years away? Don’t think of it as a physical distance, Dr. Halsey replied absentmindedly, staring at the monitors. You and John were on an event path intersecting the crystal. She moved the curves (on the monitors that deal with the alien artifact) over one another; the time and space surfaces were a perfect match. You had to be there at that place and time to recover us and remove the crystal - time and space warped to make that event occur. Cortana gave a derisive laugh. That’s circular logic, Doctor. It directly contravenes several well-established theories— And it fits the know data. Dr. Halsey shut down the files containing here analysis. I see now why the Covenant are so interested in this object. They mustn’t be allowed to get their hands on it. Not them, and certainly not Section Three, either."(p.247-248)
Before I get into Halsey’s secret mission, I have to ask myself, why does the artifact have the MC and Cortana "on and event path intersecting the itself"? In laymen terms, what makes the MC and Cortana "so special"? Well, the MC is the Reclaimer. You’re probably thinking, "Yea, so! There were other Reclaimers. Why weren’t they "selected" by the artifact on Reach?" The answer to that may lie in the Index. Do you remember what happens when the MC places the Index in the control panel in the level TWO BETRAYALS? After Cortana spouts off about 343 GS betraying the MC , she "waved the Index, and added the data contained within it to her memory."(p.256 TF) Remember, Cortana tells 343 GS "I have the Index, so you can just float and sputter". This means that Cortana has effectively become the Index, and whoever has Cortana is THE Reclaimer. I don’t have to tell you who the ONLY person is that has the capability of "carrying/storing" Cortana in their mind/armor... the MC! This is why he is THE Reclaimer, and possibly why the artifact has the MC and Cortana (Index), and only them, on an event path intersecting itself.
Taking all this into account, we can see that the artifact won’t allow itself to be destroyed; therefore, we should also see that the MC’s actions can still be affected by it. Remember, at the end of First Strike the date is only September 13, 2552... 9 days before the destruction of Halo, and 6 days before the Pillar of Autumn reaches Halo. Of course, at the end of FS the MC and his crew are no longer aboard the Ascendent Justice, because the Admiral Whitcomb uses it as a decoy, and crashes it into the Unyielding Hierophant so that the MC can escape. NOTE: The Ascendent Justice is still in existence. At the time Whitcomb destroys the Ascendent Justice, it’s also en route to Halo. The MC and his crew are aboard the Human ship the Gettysburg at the end of First Strike, and are heading back to Earth. However, and this is important, Cortana states before they jump into slipspace, "I’m attempting to attune the Ascendant Justice’s slipspace drive to the Gettysburg’s mass and profile. We pulled the slipspace matrix out of our piggybacked ship (Ascendant Justice) and slapped it into the Gettysburg."(p.329) This statement means that the Gettysburg now has the slipspace capabilities of the Ascendent Justice, and maybe even a little better capabilities due to the Gettysburg’s small size, in comparison to the Ascendant Justice. What does this mean? Well, it took the Pillar of Autumn 18 days to make it from Reach to Halo, but it only took the Ascendent Justice a little under 13 hours to make the same trip! The MC is on a course for Earth at the end of First Strike; however, he has PLENTY of time to go back to Halo... for whatever reasons. One thing to remember is, the artifact found on Reach has created a time loop so that it can’t be destroyed. It’s quite possible that the artifact on Reach could interfere with the MC again, in order to stop it’s destruction. Another plausible thought is that the MC figures out Dr. Halsey’s secret mission, which, as she says, will betray everyone she loves, including the MC. It could be that the MC has to go back to Halo in order to try and prevent the betrayal of Dr. Halsey, which, again, would occur before the PoA visits Halo. This could possibly explain why 343 GS says to the MC: "But you already knew that. I mean, how couldn't you? And, "Last time, you asked me, if it was my choice, would I do it? Having considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed." Oh, by the way. AIs measure time in milli/nano seconds. It takes no time at all for an AI to perform complex thoughts, such as slipspace calculations. So, a "considerable amount of time" for an AI, such as 343 GS, to give an answer a simple question, which he’s already given an answer, could be considered days, and not years;)
Back to Dr. Halsey’s secret mission. At this point in time, I’m fairly certain of a few things concerning the "good" doctor. One, she’s not as one dimensional as most of us have made her out to be. Admiral Whitcomb thinks these’s thoughts about her while aboard the Ascendent Justice: "He’d read enough reports of her "projects" that he’d found it impossible to relate to her. If half the rumors he’d heard about her were true, she’d been mixed up in every black op from here to Andromeda. He didn’t trust her." (p.225 FS) Dr. Halsey has some BIG secrets, and I’m going to say that one of those secrets is that the 30 ash canisters that where shot into space after the Spartans received their augmentations wasn’t 30 dead Spartans. As I showed at the beginning of this theory, it seems unlikely that 40% of the Spartans (30) would die from the augmentations, because the risks show that only 5% may die (3.75). On top of that, the Spartan program is a scientific project, which was funded by the military. If there was a failure of this magnitude (40%) in the program, being that it’s based on science, the bodies of the failed subjects would be kept for study. I believe that when the Spartans were told, "CPO Mendez will be departing to train the next group of Spartans"(p.99 TfoR), that Mendez may have been taken to do something with these 30 "dead" Spartans.
This leads me to another point, Ackerson’s S-III file. Among the various data contained in the file was information pertaining to the experimental procedures used to enhance the Spartan’s strength, agility, and mental resiliency.(p.131 FS) How did Ackerson get his hands on this information, because we’re told that Dr. Halsey destroyed it. Could it be that the complex encryption sequence used on the transmission containing the augmentations info was in fact a precaution that had to be taken because of Ackerson? The only way I could see him gaining "specifics" on the procedures performed on the Spartans is if he was listing in on Halsey... keeping a watchful eye on her, through whatever means, because he knew she was up to something secretive. If Ackerson knew of the procedures performed on the Spartans, then he would have know that only 5% of them should have died, not 40% of them(30). It could be that the S-III file is Ackerson’s pieces to the puzzle that is Dr. Halsey. There is a 512 alphanumerical string attached to the S-III file that is a star chart reference, and CPOMZ is next to this long string. Put two and two together, and you could see that this is where Ackerson believes the 30 "dead" Spartans were trained at, and may still be. This would mean that Mendez was sent to this location, which, as Kalmiya says, isn’t in UNSC controlled space (p.130). But, where is this 512 alphanumeric location?
In the past, I’ve speculated that the 512 alphanumeric string could possibly be Halo. There is another location, though, that holds my interest... the rebel asteroid base. This is what we know about the rebel asteroid base. On the first mission the Spartans went on, which was to extract Col. Robert Watts from the asteroid base, we’re told several interesting things. One, "John took out the panic button. He triggered the green mode transmission and tossed it into an empty locker. If they didn’t make it out, at least the UNSC fleet would know where to find the rebel base."(p.92 TFoR) While the Spartans are leaving the asteroid, we’re told "the insurgent base looked like any other rock in the asteroid belt... but this rock was venting atmosphere and starting to rotate erratically." (p.93 TFoR) So, why is it that when the Ascendent Justice is looking for the base in First Strike, the only one’s who know of it’s existence is the MC , the other Spartans, and Dr. Halsey? Not only do the Spartans leave a beacon pointing to the location of asteroid, but the asteroid vents atmosphere into space, which causes it to rotate erratically. Now, if the asteroid is dependent on its rotation for gravity, as we’re told on p.253 FS, then there would have been HEAVY casualties inside the asteroid city, because of a gravity fluctuations. I find it improbable that the UNSC wouldn’t know about the asteroid base if they had sent their prized Spartans there, who, when briefed after the mission, could have given a first hand account of the asteroids general location, if all else failed.
[Edited on 6/6/2006]