Editing Cartographer

{{Status|Canon}}

[[File:Ark.JPG|thumb|350px|[[Installation 00]]'s Cartographer, showing a schematic of the construct.]]

The '''Cartographer''' is a dedicated [[Forerunner]] facility designed to contain and provide access to the '''Silent Cartographer''', a program featuring the complete real-time record and schematics of an installation.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Page=295}}

A central component of any installation of Forerunner construction, it is found on nearly all of their [[Astroengineering|megastructures]], such as the [[Halo Array]] and the [[shield world]]s.{{Ref/Book|Id=vis|EVG|Page=30}} Some installations contain a number of discrete Cartographer facilities.{{Ref/Game|Id=log cartographer|HW2|Detail=''[[Phoenix Logs]] - The Cartographer''}}

An [[artificial intelligence]] is able to interface with the Silent Cartographer and, for example, set [[navigation point]]s on the holographic projection.{{Ref/Reuse|vis}} A [[Forerunner personal armor|Forerunner armor]]'s personal [[ancilla]] was able to link with the Cartographer and provide packets of information on the installation's past activities directly into the wearer's brain.{{Ref/Novel|Id=sil243|Sil|Page=243-244}}

 

If a Cartographer facility is destroyed, a new facility is either constructed elsewhere or a different facility is repurposed to act as that installation's Cartographer due to how important the Cartographers are.{{Ref/Novel|PoL|10}} When [[343 Guilty Spark]] accessed the new Cartographer on [[Installation 07]], he was also able to use it to access the installation's historical records. By inserting the [[Librarian]]'s [[coordinate key]], which had specifically pointed to Zeta Halo and with [[Rion Forge]] acting as a [[Reclaimer]] for the system when prompted, Spark caused the Cartographer to turn from a map of the installation into a star map pointing to a location on [[New Carthage]] which was located in an entirely different sector of the galaxy. This suggests that when prompted, a Cartographer can also act as a [[star map]], not just an installation map.{{Ref/Reuse|PoL16}} In addition to the Installation 07 star map, Spark accessed a star map while using the Ark's Cartographer in order to pinpoint the Ark's exact location.{{Ref/Reuse|theark}}

 

On at the very least Installation 07, due to security protocols, data taken from the [[Conspectus network]] could only be decrypted via ports in the ring's Cartographer facilities or at the [[Conservatory (location)|Conservatory]].{{Ref/Reuse|RP269}}

Like all installations involved with the Halos, the [[greater Ark]] possessed a Cartographer. During the final weeks of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], this facility was the site of an emergency meeting between the Forerunner military leaders before the imminent Flood [[Battle of the greater Ark|attack on the greater Ark]]. The commanders conferred in a circle within an enormous hologram of the Ark while updates on the installation's status were provided through their [[ancilla]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|sil243}} [[Omega Halo]], the sole Halo ring present at the Ark at the time, was also projected in the hologram.{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Page=248}}

[[File:TLJ Cartographer.PNG|thumb|250px|The Cartographer's exterior on Installation 00.]]

[[Installation 00]], the Ark, was home to several Cartographers.{{Ref/Reuse|log cartographer}} One of the facilities was located on top of a massive spire structure, the map room itself lying in a wide open area giving a panoramic view over a massive waterfall and an ocean. Facing the desert on the other side, the Cartographer structure was protected by a large wall structure. Inside the wall was a deep chasm and an [[energy bridge]] allowing passage over it. A [[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminal]] was located within the wall near the activation switch for the energy bridge. The interiors of this Cartographer shared many architectural similarities with [[Installation 04|Alpha Halo]]'s Cartographer shaft, although the two are considerably different in general layout.{{Ref/Level|Id=theark|H3|[[The Ark (level)|The Ark]]}}

Preceding the firing of the Halos in [[97,445 BCE]], the [[IsoDidact]] and [[343 Guilty Spark]] visited the Ark's Cartographer to review the preparations for the Halo Array's deployment.{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Page=309}} When the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] and [[Sangheili]] forces landed on the Ark during the [[Battle of Installation 00]] in [[2552]], they were prevented access to the Cartographer by its exterior wall. After the {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} landed nearby and deployed a convoy of multiple vehicles, [[Miranda Keyes|Commander Keyes]] suggested they go through the wall. The UNSC forces returned to the wall and with the assistance of [[343 Guilty Spark]], successfully passed through. The UNSC and the Sangheili breached the [[Covenant]]-held Cartographer with the aid of 343 Guilty Spark, and used the map facility to locate the [[Prophet of Truth]] and determine the Ark's location in [[intergalactic space]] with the Cartographer's [[star map]]. Though they were quickly driven off by attacking Covenant forces, the Cartographer revealed to Spark the existence of [[Installation 08]], a newly-constructed replacement for [[Installation 04|his own lost installation]].{{Ref/Reuse|theark}}

Another one of the Ark's Cartographers, radically different in layout and design from the one encountered in 2552, was utilized by the [[Banished]] during their occupation of the Ark in [[2559]] to map out the megastructure and take control of its [[Teleportation grid|portal network]]. During the [[Second Ark Conflict]] between the Banished and the UNSC forces from the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}, the latter assaulted and successfully took control of the Cartographer. From the Cartographer, Professor [[Ellen Anders]] learned of [[Atriox]]'s use of it to take control of the portal network,{{Ref/Level|Id=The Cartographer|HW2|[[The Cartographer]]}} leading to a successful mission to cripple Atriox's ability to use the network.{{Ref/Level|HW2|[[Lights Out]]}} In addition, Anders learned about the Ark's weapons systems through the Cartographer.{{Ref/Reuse|The Cartographer}} Isabel later used this information to have the ''Spirit of Fire's'' crew take over one of the Ark's [[particle cannon]]s to immobilize the Banished {{Class|CAS|assault carrier}} ''[[Enduring Conviction]]'' and take down its shields as part of a plan to destroy the ship.{{Ref/Level|HW2|[[Hold the Line]]}}

Another Cartographer, located on the Epsilon Spire, was utilized by the [[Keepers of the One Freedom]], [[Prelate]] [[Dhas Bhasvod]]'s [[Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant]] and [[Intrepid Eye]] to locate a facility on the Ark from which the [[Halo Array]] could be fired following the destruction of the [[Installation 00 Citadel]]. Responding to [[Veta Lopis]]' status as a [[Reclaimer]], the Cartographer's defenses allowed them through where the Cartographer's submonitor directed them to [[Epsilon Clarion]], the only facility in the Clarion network that was either accessible or operable.{{Ref/Novel|DW}}

[[File:The Silent Cartographer Building.jpg|thumb|250px|Installation 04's Cartographer.]]

On Installation 04, the Cartographer was located in an immense underground facility, below the middle of a large island. It was protected by a security system accessible by another underground facility on the other side of the island. These facilities were a part of the installation's larger tunnel network, with a massive shaft leading to the depths of the megastructure in between them.

 

After disabling the security system, the main passageway to the map room was opened. For additional security measures, the Cartographer's chamber and activation panel were located on the other side of the island, and buried at least half a dozen floors below ground. The path down to the Cartographer was a labyrinth of twists and turns, making it easy to get lost.{{Ref/Level|Id=HCE|CE|[[The Silent Cartographer]]}}

On [[2552#September|September 20, 2552]], [[SPARTAN-II Program|Spartan]] [[John-117]] and two squads of marines were ordered by [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]] to secure the Cartographer so that they could locate Halo's control room. The soldiers landed on a Covenant-controlled beach, which they quickly captured. The Spartan soon entered the Cartographer facility, though it had been locked from within. After disabling the lock at a nearby security station, the Spartan accessed the Cartographer, learning the location of Installation 04's control room. The AI [[Cortana]] then requested that [[Carol Rawley|Flight Captain Carol "Foehammer" Rawley]] fly John-117 below ground to the control room, though they stopped at [[Alpha Base (Installation 04)|Alpha Base]].{{Ref/Reuse|HCE}}{{Ref/Novel|TF|Page=???}}

The Cartographer of [[Installation 07]], one of the original twelve Halos, was a massive structure, surpassing all of the other known Cartographer sites in scale. The map room was housed in an enormous, triangular structure protruding toward the Halo's interior out of one of the walls lining the ring's edges. The structure was shaped like a flat-topped wedge around 500 kilometers wide at its base, where it connected with the Halo's edge wall and was around 400 kilometers long from base to tip. Most of the structure's upper surface, apart from the tip, appeared largely uniform and featureless when observed from a distance. However, the wedge's tip housed a complex of vast, secondary structures, some of them dozens of kilometers high. A sleek half-arch stretched beyond the wedge's tip and an ornate lattice of cabling attached to this structure supported the main Cartographer control center, itself a complex of enormous structures, each of them the size of a small city.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Page=319-320}}

 

The control center itself housed a series of platforms and walkways, some of them crisscrossing in many directions and facing a variety of complex display terminals monitoring the Halo's systems. Some of the walkways actually faced up- or downward in right angles and allowed passage by means of localized gravity manipulation along their surfaces.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Page=321-322}}

 

Like several other control facilities across the ring, the Cartographer was equipped with stations allowing biological beings to interface with the Halo's systems in an emergency. During [[Mendicant Bias]]' and the [[Primordial]]'s attempt to save the ring from collision with the [[wolf-faced planet]], [[Chakas]] and a number of other humans were connected to one of these systems along with [[Composer]]-processed Forerunners, the latter supposedly necessary because the humans alone did not possess the knowledge or intellect necessary to properly interface with the ring despite having been previously imprinted with the knowledge necessary for the task.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Page=303-304}}

 

This system used an elaborate webbing projected by a rod-like object to directly connect to each human-Forerunner pair via their skin, completely melding their neural networks with the Cartographer's controls. With the individual's consciousness now merged with the Halo's computer systems, they were flooded with the vast amounts of information and sensory input flowing through the Cartographer. The organic controllers, along with the Halo, formed a cybernetic gestalt intelligence which perceived the surrounding reality through the Halo's sensor systems and abstractions provided by the Cartographer.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Page=329-330}} Numerous different event-paths and outcomes were consistently being calculated and processed while the controllers steered the ring and incessantly performed minute adjustments to its numerous systems.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Page=342}} After the IsoDidact arrived to retake the ring, he entered the Cartographer and connected to the system with Chakas in order to see the ongoing salvage effort to the end.{{Ref/Novel|Pri|Page=339}}

The original Cartographer was subsequently destroyed due to the damage that it had sustained {{Ref/Novel|PoL|13}} and its function was transferred to the former Mendicant Bias' core{{Ref/Novel|PoL|15}} by the installation's ancillas and the [[Librarian]] who spent most of her time on Installation 07 creating the new Cartographer and setting the parameters for [[the Monument]]. Another Cartographer existed closer to the surface, half a ring away, but the silent Cartographer in the Monument was another one of the Librarian's ideas.{{Ref/Reuse|PoL16}}

In August 2558, the new Cartographer was visited by [[Rion Forge]] and [[343 Guilty Spark]] who had once been Chakas when he was human. When Spark accessed the Cartographer, he was able to access Zeta Halo's records and discovered that a record of a single very old event had been deleted by an unknown party. Having been led to Installation 07 by the [[Librarian]]'s [[coordinate key]], Spark inserted it into the Cartographer while Rion activated it as a [[Reclaimer]]. The Cartographer displayed a [[star map]] pointing to a location on [[New Carthage]] and provided the two with the second part of the coordinate key. However, Rion was suddenly pulled through a [[slipspace portal]] to [[Erebus VII]] by [[the Precept]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=PoL16|PoL|16}}

On [[2560#April|April 27, 2560]], [[Submonitor]] [[091 Adjutant Veridity]] revealed to the [[boat crew]] that, due to security protocols, the data that had been stolen by the [[Banished]] from the [[Conspectus network]] could only be decrypted via ports in the ring's Cartographer facilities or at the [[Conservatory (location)|Conservatory]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=RP269|RP|Page=269}}

A Forerunner city in what the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] referred to as [[Zone 67]] on [[Onyx]] was home to a Cartographer facility. This map room was located below a massive domed structure in the city.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Page=270-271}} From the outside, the facility could be accessed via one of seven massive landing pads inside the structure's dome. Below the landing pad, a spiraling staircase led down into a smaller chamber.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Page=273-274}} The chamber housed an [[energy bridge]] leading into the map room itself: a half-spherical chamber about 20 meters across. The center of the room housed a holographic console which could project detailed schematics of the entire Onyx megastructure.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Page=275}} The room also featured a [[Teleporter|translocation platform]].{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Page=311}}

[[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Halsey]] used this Cartographer structure during the [[Onyx Conflict]], when she was trying to find a way to the [[core room antechamber|portal]] that led to the [[Sarcophagus|shield world]] in the core of the artificial planet.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Page=276}}

A localized Cartographer facility was accessed by [[John-117]] and [[Cortana]] shortly after their arrival on [[Requiem]] during the [[Battle of Requiem]] in [[2557]]. From this facility, they learned the name of the shield world, although Cortana's further attempts at accessing the data within were quickly deterred by the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] who briefly shut the device down. After its reactivation, the Didact manipulated the Cartographer to make it appear as if the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} was in the core of the shield world. Cortana was able to use the Cartographer to locate the nearest terminus on the shield world's [[teleportation grid]] and as they left, the Cartographer flashed the symbol representing the Didact.{{Ref/Level|Id=requiem|H4|[[Requiem (level)|Requiem]]}}

The multiplayer level ''[[Construct]]'' takes place in the Cartographer building of Installation 00.