Conspectus network

"It's a data storehouse. It contains system protocols and records of all the activity on Zeta Halo—status reports, event logs, maintenance, communications... Even access to its defensive system. It's all stored in local information hubs throughout the ring. There's so much more to this Halo... so much we still don't understand."

— Kate Stalling

The Conspectus network is the localized data storehouse for Installation 07. The network contains system protocols and the entire historical record of the ring from its inception. As such, the network contains records of status reports, event logs, maintenance logs, and communication logs. It also grants access and control to the ring's defensive system.

Overview

The Conspectus network and its data streams are accessible from numerous information hubs located throughout the ring. A Conspectus network hub is a long underground chamber about ten meters high, with a console in the center of the room and numerous translucent screens streaming data—each screen has several layers of data. Reclaimers can retrieve data from the screens by physically plucking the string of code; the code then transforms into a sylloge node, a small rectangular Forerunner device that can fit into the palm of a human's hand. However, a sylloge node must be decrypted in ports at the ring's Cartographers or the Conservatory.

History

Circa 2558, the Conspectus network was discovered by Kate Stalling, an ONI operative and a member of the second exploratory expedition force sent from the United Nations Space Command to Installation 07. However, at some point after the Banished launched an assault on the ring in December 2559, Stalling was captured by the Banished. For months, her captors, the Sangheili Blademaster Jega 'Rdomnai and the Jiralhanae Bloodstar Gorian, tortured Stalling. They stole her research with the intent to take control of the ring's defensive systems.

On April 26, 2560, Gorian and 'Rdomnai found one of the network hubs, they forced a human prisoner of war to extract a sylloge node. Shortly after, they were ambushed by Spartan Bonita Stone, who managed to snatch the node. During the ensuing fight, although Stone was killed,her AI copied the data and corrupted the original recovered by 'Rdomnai, rendering it useless for the Banished. The copied data was later found by Stone's squadmate Nina Kovan, along with a group of UNSC survivors in May. During a battle at a beacon tower that followed, the humans sent a supraluminal message containing that data—including the ring's location—into human-occupied space, in hopes of the UNSC sending reinforcements to the UNSC Infinity forces stranded on the ring.

List of appearances

• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (First appearance)