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This topic has moved here: Subject: Humans not Forerunners - Johnson, Boren's Syndrome, Forerunner ...
  • Subject: Humans not Forerunners - Johnson, Boren's Syndrome, Forerunner ...
Subject: Humans not Forerunners - Johnson, Boren's Syndrome, Forerunner ...

A lot of this is assumption, but I think they are reasonable assumptions and make sense.

The Covenant first gained their knowledge of plasma weapons from the Forerunners, Cortana notes how poorly and inefficiently they “copied” the technology. Forerunners, having invented and created the original technology, would have been exposed to heavy amounts of plasma during firing, testing, development, and implementation.

Now, if Forerunners are human it seems highly likely that they would have encountered Boren’s Syndrome, which results from heavy exposure of the nervous system to the electromagnetic fields emitted by plasma. Johnson obtained Boren’s Syndrome after using a crate of plasma grenades, a fairly small amount of plasma.

Dr. Halsey questioned how Johnson escaped the Flood, and survived his previous encounters on Alpha Halo. She concluded that Johnson was “immune” to the Flood because he has Boren’s Syndrome.

Before the Halo’s were built, it seems highly possible that there was an unknown surprise encounter between Forerunners and the Flood, probably lasting a significant amount of time. Around that time, Forerunners would have noticed that the Flood did not attack certain Forerunners. With their technology and intelligence I find it hard to believe that they would have not tested these “immune” individuals, and pinpointed the cause of their “immunity”, much like Dr. Halsey did. With that, Forerunners probably would have developed a “cure” against the Flood, noting how much effort was put into the creation of the Halos it’s reasonable to believe that much more time was put into defenses before the Halos.

With the advanced Forerunner technology one would think they would pick up on this. If ONI would test and try to develop a “cure”, I’m sure the Forerunners would.

I know it’s possible that since Humans would be distant descendants of Forerunners maybe Forerunners couldn’t get Boren’s Syndrome, or maybe didn’t have a nervous system at all, but that seems like a lame explanation.

Please correct me if I'm wrong about anything relating to Johnson, I havn't read the books in a while.

  • 06.25.2006 3:27 PM PDT
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I too find it unlikely that the flood just showed up and attacked and dominated forruner, i belive there were other forces at work.

  • 06.25.2006 3:30 PM PDT

Ya, so I guess this could be Humans not Forerunners, or the Flood is not natuarally accuring or didn't flat out come in contact with the Forerunners.

  • 06.25.2006 3:33 PM PDT
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Location: Outlaws' Summit.

not bad, not bad at all. i like your thinkin

  • 06.25.2006 3:35 PM PDT
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If halo is meant to starve out the flood...how did they feed the flood for 100.000 years.

  • 06.25.2006 3:40 PM PDT
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Posted by: quezcatol
If halo is meant to starve out the flood...how did they feed the flood for 100.000 years.


With all the dead bodies. And other flood.

  • 06.25.2006 3:45 PM PDT

Facts are the enemy of tru7h....

Could be that the forerunner plasma technology advanced that they didn't experience health risks like Borens syndrome. So it may never have come up on their research. It may also be that it's something that they wouldn't consider doing because it actually makes the host sick.

Posted by: quezcatol
If halo is meant to starve out the flood...how did they feed the flood for 100.000 years.


Some were kept in stasis for study...

-Stu

  • 06.25.2006 3:45 PM PDT

Posted by: quezcatol
If halo is meant to starve out the flood...how did they feed the flood for 100.000 years.


It seems that all forms of Flood except Infection forms can be "starved". Infection forms lay dorment when they are in lack of food. That's how they surved locked inside the Library for so long. They only became a threat when the Covenant broke in and gave them food, their bodies.

  • 06.25.2006 3:46 PM PDT

Posted by: Sleepystephen
Could be that the forerunner plasma technology advanced that they didn't experience health risks like Borens syndrome. So it may never have come up on their research. It may also be that it's something that they wouldn't consider doing because it actually makes the host sick.



It's possible but at sometime the Forerunners would have created "primitive" plasma technology. At that time they could have been infected with Boren's Syndrome. Also, they were willing to kill all sentient life in the galaxy to stop the Flood, a host as a sacrifice probably wouldn't have been that hard of a decision.

  • 06.25.2006 3:48 PM PDT
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I'd wait until you get the Graphic Novel. It details Sarge's escape from Halo.

1.) The Flood move fast, damn fast. They are a locust. They swept through High Charity within a number of hours, the Covenant's mightiest stronghold in a number of hours.

It's highly unlikely they could have built the Halo network while simultaneously fighting off this relentless enemy. I believe that the Halo prior to any interaction with the flood and was designed as a general doomsday device should some form of threat invade the galaxy.

2.) If I remember correctly, Boren's Syndrome was supposed to degrade the nervous system of the humans infected with it making it a fatal sickness. It would be tantamount to giving a person cancer to protect him from a possible car accident. Sure he won't die in the car accident... but sure as hell the cancer will get him.

Also, if I remember correctly, Johnson is a special case. I think he was infected by the flood. Only his Boren's syndrome and flood infection are balancing each other out, fighting each other to a standstill within his body. Some of us have theorized that he has lent him something of a flood style regenerative ability.

  • 06.25.2006 3:49 PM PDT
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Make no sense,forerunners couldn't terminate all flood they kept under obersveration when they used the Halo's?

They know they are gone,and want to still have the most dangerous threat in the galaxy,left in a -blam!- halo cage.

WHY KEEP SOMETHING,when you not gonan study it anymore...

[Edited on 6/25/2006]

  • 06.25.2006 3:50 PM PDT
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It's an interesting argument, but you could say the same thing about the Covenant. Granted they are not the same race, but how come the radiation does not seem to affect them?

Also to note, Johnson contracted Boren's syndrome because he used an entire crate of plasma grenades, which was a very high dose of radiation. Perhaps plasma weapons are not meant to be used so often by any indivudual from any race?

Finally, the Forerunners likely had advanced technology (e.g. further advanced armor, medicine, etc.) that could help them overcome the radiation. For example, the crystal from First Strike emits dangerously high radiation when "activated." Perhaps this is part of the reason 343 GS tells John-117 he needs level 12 armor because the MC is only wearing level 2.

  • 06.25.2006 3:54 PM PDT

Posted by: My Liege
I'd wait until you get the Graphic Novel. It details Sarge's escape from Halo.

1.) The Flood move fast, damn fast. They are a locust. They swept through High Charity within a number of hours, the Covenant's mightiest stronghold in a number of hours.

It's highly unlikely they could have built the Halo network while simultaneously fighting off this relentless enemy. I believe that the Halo prior to any interaction with the flood and was designed as a general doomsday device should some form of threat invade the galaxy.

2.) If I remember correctly, Boren's Syndrome was supposed to degrade the nervous system of the humans infected with it making it a fatal sickness. It would be tantamount to giving a person cancer to protect him from a possible car accident. Sure he won't die in the car accident... but sure as hell the cancer will get him.

Also, if I remember correctly, Johnson is a special case. I think he was infected by the flood. Only his Boren's syndrome and flood infection are balancing each other out, fighting each other to a standstill within his body. Some of us have theorized that he has lent him something of a flood style regenerative ability.


I never really thought of it, but it does seem like the Halos would have been built prior to the Flood. I agree with you about the cancer bit, but it seems that with Forerunner tech they would have been able to develop something more medicinal or scientific, rather than a massive weapon.

  • 06.25.2006 3:55 PM PDT
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ok as for the forerunners being human, no i dont think they are, however i do think they were probably allied with them or something like that

as for the flood moving thru HC the covies were right at the start of a civil war when that happened, they couldnt put up an effective defense

  • 06.25.2006 3:57 PM PDT

Posted by: Zerodev
It's an interesting argument, but you could say the same thing about the Covenant. Granted they are not the same race, but how come the radiation does not seem to affect them?

Also to note, Johnson contracted Boren's syndrome because he used an entire crate of plasma grenades, which was a very high dose of radiation. Perhaps plasma weapons are not meant to be used so often by any indivudual from any race?

Finally, the Forerunners likely had advanced technology (e.g. further advanced armor, medicine, etc.) that could help them overcome the radiation. For example, the crystal from First Strike emits dangerously high radiation when "activated." Perhaps this is part of the reason 343 GS tells John-117 he needs level 12 armor because the MC is only wearing level 2.


I was thinking about the crystal from First Strike but I'm not sure if radiation plays the same effect on a person as electromagnetic fields. Also, a crate of plasma gernades is a rather small amount when comparing it to the massive Covenant weapons used in space.

The level 12 armor probably plays a key role.

  • 06.25.2006 3:59 PM PDT

Posted by: Tarius
ok as for the forerunners being human, no i dont think they are, however i do think they were probably allied with them or something like that


That seems like a stretch, but maybe if some kind of time change occured.

  • 06.25.2006 10:34 PM PDT

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You also need to remember that organisms evolve on what is needed. We were not near Plasma for some time, so it's likely that our immnity to it decreased after a while.

Did you know that house cats only have 1/3 of the brain cells than they have when they are born? But they can easily gain the other 1/3 if needed in the future for survival reasons.

  • 06.25.2006 10:37 PM PDT