Editing 2401 Penitent Tangent

{{Status|Canon}}

|image=[[File:HTMCC-H2A 2401PenitentTangent.png|300px]]

|began= c. [[97,445 BCE]]

|gender= Male

|description=Floating, round-edged cube, with one "eye" sign

|color= Red illuminations with silver casing

|affiliation=[[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]]

|function=[[Monitor]] of [[Installation 05]]

'''05-2401 Penitent Tangent''' was the [[monitor]] of [[Halo Array|Halo]] [[Installation 05]].{{Ref/Reuse|gra}}{{Ref/Book|Id=EVG|EVG|Page=136}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=371}}

2401 Penitent Tangent, as well as the other six monitors, was present at the dispersion of the [[activation index|activation indexes]] prior to the firing of the [[Halo Array|Halo weapons]] near the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]].{{Ref/Game|HCEA|Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminal 2}}

Penitent Tangent was charged with regularly scheduled communications with the other Halo array monitors for updates. Several millennia after the rings were fired, though, he ceased sending these messages. Penitent Tangent was the last monitor to send a message to [[343 Guilty Spark]] on [[Installation 04]], though Guilty Spark described his final messages as "incomplete and quite perplexing," and logged his concerns about Penitent Tangent's ability to perform his duties, believing he had not been functioning correctly for some time before his messages ceased.<ref>[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Terminals]], Terminal 4</ref> These reports were recieved by the [[Edom Terminal\Juridical]] on [[Mars]], and later noted by [[Catalog]] around the [[2558]].{{Ref/Site|Id=Catalog|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/query-catalog-old/7fbf60e8-92f7-4826-ac2a-ab1b5e4e3603/posts?page=5|Site=Halo Waypoint Forums|Page=Query: Catalog(old)|D=29|M=12|Y=2019|LocalArchive=Catalog/Archive/2014#Query: Catalog(old)}}

At some point, [[Unidentified ancilla (Installation 05)|another artificial intelligence construct]] warned 2401 Penitent Tangent of a pending outbreak in one the installation's [[Flood]] [[Flood containment facility|containment facilities]]. The monitor continued to ignore this warning, and those that followed, for millennia. Within [[2552|99,779 years]], the containment facility had been overrun by the Flood, with lockdown protocols in effect within the Halo's [[teleportation grid]] to prevent further infestation.{{Ref/Map|H3|Cold Storage|Detail=[[Cold Storage Reports]]}} By around the year [[93 BC]], the Edom Terminal\Juridical had received an incomplete [[Cold Storage Reports|report]] filed by an ancilla on Delta Halo (presumably the same as the aforementioned), and responded in kind by requesting that the Delta Halo ancillae continue the correspondence through properly-secured channels. These events were also noted by Catalog in 2558.{{Ref/Reuse|Catalog}}

Eventually, the [[Quarantine Zone]] was established and the full force of the installation's [[Sentinel]]s and [[Enforcer]]s was mobilized.{{Ref/Level|H2|Sacred Icon}}{{Ref/Level|H2|Quarantine Zone}}

By [[2552#November|November 2, 2552]], 2401 Penitent Tangent had been captured by the Flood and was held captive by the [[Gravemind]] that had manifested on Installation 05. After the battle on the ring had raged for some time, the Gravemind absorbed and reanimated the [[Prophet of Regret]], one of the [[Hierarchs]] of the [[Covenant]]. Later, [[SPARTAN-II program|Spartan]] [[John-117]] and [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]]ee were also captured by the Gravemind. Upon seeing John, a [[Reclaimer]], the monitor urged the Spartan to activate the ring. This was immediately objected to by Regret, who insisted that nothing could be done until he had completed his sermon in preparation for the [[Covenant religion|Great Journey]]. The monitor countered that the installation had a firing record of 1.2 trillion simulated, and one actual thus making the ring fully prepared to fire on demand. The Hierarch then retorted that the "Oracles" were the most worthless artifacts that had been left by the Forerunners, prompting the monitor to berate Regret for his lack of regard for protocol. Amid the argument, the Gravemind insisted that the four factions represented in the meeting shared a common goal: preventing the ring from being activated. Shortly thereafter, the Gravemind used the monitor's control of Installation 05's [[teleportation grid]] to send the Spartan to ''[[High Charity]]'' and 'Vadamee to  Halo's [[Control Room (Installation 05)|control room]], respectively, in an attempt to stop the activation of the Halo array.{{Ref/Reuse|gra}} The current status of 2401 Penitent Tangent is unknown.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}

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*Like all monitors, 2401 Penitent Tangent's numerical designation is derived from seven raised to one less than the number of his installation (7^n-1). This is one of [[Bungie]]'s numerous references to the number [[seven]] in the ''Halo'' series.

*"Penitent" means ''feeling or expressing sorrow for sin or wrongdoing and [being] disposed to atonement and amendment''" and is synonymous with "repentant".<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/penitent '''Dictionary.com:''' penitent]</ref> "Tangent" is part of the idiom "off on a tangent", which refers to ''digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another''.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tangent '''Dictionary.com:''' tangent]</ref>  

*2401 Penitent Tangent appears in the ''Halo 2'' multiplayer map ''[[Backwash]]''. He hovers around the map and is invulnerable to damage.

 

 

==Sources==

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