343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)
From Halopedia, the Halo Wiki
| |
| 343 Guilty Spark | |
| Biographical information | |
|---|---|
| Began service |
c. 100,000 years before 2552 |
| Ended service |
2553 (UNSC Military Calendar) |
| Physical description | |
| Gender |
AI, with male voicing |
| Description |
Floating, round-edged cube, with one "Eye" making the Marathon sign that is blue by default. |
| Normal color |
Blue and Silver |
| Political information and functions | |
| Affiliation | |
| Primary function |
Monitor of Installation 04 and its replacement. |
| Notable battles | |
| [Source] | |
343 Guilty Spark, an Artificial Intelligence construct of Forerunner origin, was the AI, Monitor, caretaker and historian left to keep watch over Installation 04 and its contents when the Forerunner departed.[1] Known to the Covenant as "The Oracle" and to the humans as "The Monitor," 343 Guilty Spark played a pivotal role in the containment of Flood as well as the Heretic uprising within the Covenant. Left to manage Installation 04 despite being obsolete, it became rampant after thousands of years in isolation. After Installation 04 was destroyed, it supervised the construction of a replacement facility. 343 Guilty Spark was destroyed by Spartan-117 during his mission to destroy Replacement Installation 04. The character is voiced by Tim Dadabo.
Contents |
[edit] Original Function
Although difficult to determine due to rampancy in later years, 343 Guilty Spark may be the Forerunner equivalent of a UNSC "Dumb" Artificial Intelligence. It maintained the structure, monitored its systems, and maintained the firing power of the halo's main weapon prior to the Battle of Installation 04. It also has the function of learning about and controlling Flood. As with UNSC and Covenant artificial intelligences Guilty Spark has precise expertise but deliberately limited capability. It knows about a Class XII Armor worn by Forerunner, but not its name. Guilty Spark's programming understands the procedure necessary to fire the halo, but cannot retrieve the Index from the Library or unify it with the Core. A Reclaimer was needed to carry out this task. This is likely a failsafe built into the halo firing procedure.[2]
[edit] Personality
Nothing is known of 343 Guilty Spark's original personality program, although its strict adherence to Forerunner protocol and impaired ability to see living beings as individuals may indicate that its original function was very perfunctory. 343 Guilty Spark had been on Installation 04 for 101,217 "local years"[3] Guilty Spark displays an eagerness, like its counterpart 2401 Penitent Tangent, to activate the Halo Array. Guilty Spark has some sense of self-awareness, but by the time human and Covenant forces encountered it, Rampancy had set in.
343 Guilty Spark has a fragmented personality, although it is consistently eccentric, egotistical, detached, pragmatic, duty-bound, and slightly insane. It displays emotionality by changing the colors of its lights. A bright aqua color accompanies its usual conversational tone, with the intensity of the light matching mood. A red display sets in when it is angry. It alternates between referring to itself in the first and third person, has unstable moods, and does not differentiate between individuals. On meeting Spartan-117, 343 Guilty Spark behaved as though it had met him before, calling him "Forerunner" and speaking as if the Master Chief had personally fired the halos before. Despite Guilty Spark's indifference to loss of life and individuality, it objects to being given nicknames. "Oracle" and "Monitor" are accepted but it protested against being referred to as "Tinker Bell" by Sgt. Johnson.
[edit] The Human-Covenant Wars
When humans and Covenant arrived on Installation 04, Guilty Spark was brought into contact with living beings for the first time in over 100,000 local system years. With the outbreak of Flood, it initiated long dormant protocal, searching for a Reclaimer to allow it to activate the halo array.
[edit] Installation 04
UNSC Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto was first brought to the Library to retrieve the Index, but the ill-equipped Sergeant failed and was killed, forcing the Monitor to seek out another Reclaimer. After discovering Mobuto's mangled body, Spartan-117 marveled at the Sergeant's ability to get as far as he had, and also wishes that he had known him beforehand.[4] Separated from Cortana, Spartan-117 believed that Guilty Spark was an ally and agreed to assist it in stopping the Flood. With superior equipment and training, and despite overwhelming odds, the Master Chief succeeded in retrieving the Index.
Guilty Spark teleported back to the Control Room and explained to John-117 that it was not permitted to reunite the Index with the Core; that was the function of the Reclaimer.[5] However, Cortana, still in the core of the halo's systems, was able to seize the Index. With some annoyance, she explained to the Master Chief that he was being used by 343 Guilty Spark to help eradicate all life in the area, not just Flood. 343 Guilty Spark confirmed this, unable to see how the Master Chief would not have been aware of and happy to perform his duty. With the Index in Cortana's possession and Spartan-117 no longer compliant, the Monitor turned Sentinels against them to regain the Index. This attempt failed and Guilty Spark was forced to seek an alternate way to activate the ring and destroy all sentient life.[6]
The Monitor followed Spartan-117 and Cortana to the wreck of the Pillar of Autumn where it downloaded the ship's databanks, becoming intrigued by Human history. It disabled the vessel's automated self-destruct system to preserve the repository of knowledge he had discovered. The Master Chief fought through the Sentinels guarding the Autumn's engineering room before destabilizing the power cores, a physical override to Guilty Spark's block of the self-destruct mechanism. The Monitor fled the doomed ring, as did the remnants of the armies that had fought upon it. After the ring's destruction, the Monitor decided that it had done his utmost to fulfill its function, and that as the Flood outbreak had been contained, he had been successful in his effort, even if it had been done “inelegantly.”
[edit] Instigating Schism
After Halo's destruction Guilty Spark drifted through space thinking and pondering its mistakes. Within a few weeks Guilty Spark was retrieved by Covenant soldiers which called it "the Oracle." Spark educated these soldiers about the rings' true purpose, which was utterly contrary to what the Covenant believed. Rather than being a portal to salvation through the Great Journey, the Halos were weapons of annihilation. Exposed to the truth, one Sangheili led dissilusioned Elites and Grunts in founding a new sect that denounced the Prophets and their Great Journey as false. These Heretics set up a base on a Forerunner gas mine in Threshold's atmosphere, where they continued to be "enlightened" by 343 Guilty Spark.
The Covenant took quick action against the Heretics. This was accomplished quickly and quietly by the Arbiter and a team of special operations troops. Guilty Spark was captured by Tartarus and given to the Prophets aboard High Charity. Interrogated by the Prophets, Guilty Spark revealed the nature of the rings and the means to employ them, which made the Prophets send the Arbiter to retrieve Installation 05's "Sacred Icon". After it had been obtained, Tartarus took Guilty Spark and the Index to Installation 05’s Control Room, using Miranda Keyes as the new Reclaimer. When the Arbiter and Sgt. Johnson arrived to deactivate the ring, Guilty Spark observed the ensuing struggle. Tartarus and his Brute Captains were killed. 343 Guilty Spark translated the holographic display for Johnson, Keyes, and the Arbiter, informing them that the rings were now active and on standby. They could be activated from the Ark, which was located on Earth.
[edit] The Ark
The Covenant Separatists brought Guilty Spark to Earth to help locate a storage device. He was reunited with the Master Chief and even defended him against a Combat Form. Spartan-117 put aside his dislike of Guilty Spark, realizing that as a machine its behavior was not personal, but could be useful. The storage device contained a transmission from Cortana, still onboard High Charity. She claimed to have a solution to stop the Flood without activating the other Halo rings. In order to discover the answer, the unlikely alliance of humans, heretics, and Guilty Spark traveled through the recently-opened Portal.
Following the Loyalist forces led by the Prophet of Truth through the portal, Spartan-117 and the allies discovered a Forerunner Installation similar to the Halos but not in ring form. Upon touchdown, Guilty Spark informed all Sentinels that UNSC and Separatist forces were friendly and not to be attacked. Guilty Spark aided the Master Chief and the Arbiter in their pursuit of Truth, opening doors and ordering Sentinels to provide backup. The trio met up with Sgt. Johnson and allied forces, and were able to disable the shield barrier protecting Truth. However, before Truth could be reached, High Charity appeared from out of Slipspace, nearly destroying Rtas 'Vadum's ship and spreading debris and Flood on the Ark. Seeing the danger of infestation on the Ark, Guilty Spark insisted that they focus their attention on the Flood. Keyes and the Separatist leaders decided to kill Truth first. The Gravemind began invading the Ark with Flood and Guilty Spark revealed to the Master Chief and the Arbiter that Forerunner constructs began the construction of a new Halo ring to replace Installation 04. When asked what he could do with the Halo system, Master Chief replied: "Light it". This cheered up Guilty Spark, who went off to set up preparations for the firing sequence.
[edit] Replacement Installation 04
After rescuing Cortana from the Flood-infested High Charity, Master Chief, the Arbiter and Johnson landed on the newly constructed ring. Spark aided their progress through the Installation by providing Sentinels to combat the Flood. Once the initial wave of Combat and Pure forms were destroyed, Spark opened the main blast door to the Control Room. Replacement Installation 04 was not ready to be activated, but Sgt. Johnson attempted to do this anyway as it would destroy the Gravemind and permanently eradicate the Flood. Guilty Spark shot Johnson to stop him, sealed the Arbiter out of the room, and attacked Spartan-117.
Guilty Spark made it clear to the Master Chief that nothing would stop it from following protocol and ensuring the safety of the ring and the Ark. Johnson, mortally wounded, cracked Guilty Spark's protective casing with a Spartan Laser and then gave the weapon to the Master Chief, telling him to "kick his ass". Guilty Spark malfunctioned ever more erratically as it sustained damage, finally exploding.
[edit] Gameplay
343 Guilty Spark is the only non-playable character in Halo: Combat Evolved that cannot be killed. With the exception of its destruction in Halo 3, it is immune to damage. Shooting directly at Guilty Spark will result not in damage but rather snarky comments from the AI. Its action in combat matches its goal to see that the Halos are successfully fired. If a player kills fellow marines or teammates, Guilty Spark will sometimes become hostile and fire its laser in retaliation. Guilty Spark has weak weaponry but broad control capabilities. It shoots a beam similar to both the Forerunner Sentinel Beam and the UNSC Spartan Laser, although weaker. Despite not being the Monitor of The Ark, Guilty Spark had control over the installation's Sentinels.
[edit] Sources
- ↑ Halo: The Flood p.238
- ↑ 343 Guilty Spark (Level)
- ↑ at the time of Spartan-117's arrival. It had no regard for life, but this is due to being mechanical and not to any lack of empathy. After Master Chief reminds Guilty Spark of its attempted murder of himself and Cortana, its response is simply, "Protocol dictated my response."<ref>[[Floodgate (Level)|Floodgate]]</li> <li id="_note-3">[[#_ref-3|↑]] [[Halo: The Flood]], p.244</li> <li id="_note-4">[[#_ref-4|↑]] [[Halo: The Flood]], p.253-255</li> <li id="_note-5">[[#_ref-5|↑]] [[Halo: The Flood]], p.255-262</li></ol></ref>
