Editing Design seed

{{Status|Canon}}
A '''design seed''' was a piece of technology used by the [[Forerunner]]s to encode data that would be used to quickly assemble a machine at the appropriate time. 

==Design and operation==
[[File:HW2 DespairDock.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A ''Despair''-class fighter under construction by a design seed.]]
Designed by a Forerunner "pattern-weaver" assisted by [[ancilla]],<ref name="uncharted waters">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-uncharted-waters '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Uncharted Waters'']</ref> a design seed contained the schematics for the piece of technology it was designed to craft, as well as the machinery required to convert the construction materials into the object under construction. When required, design seeds could be fed into [[assembler vats]] for mass-replication.<ref>'''[[Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo|Halo: Warfleet]]''', ''p.90''</ref>In the absence of dedicated manufacturing facilities, the construction materials could be obtained from resources available on-site.<ref name="c88">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 88-89, 94''</ref> According to [[343 Guilty Spark]], the seeds are codes that are drawn with hard light filaments and coded with quantum commands.<ref>'''[[Halo: Renegades]]''', ''page 210''</ref>

The [[Librarian]] acquired a design seed that was placed inside a mountain near the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s [[Cryptum]] on [[Earth|Erde-Tyrene]], which then gave birth to [[Didact's ship|a large ship]] for his escape. The machinery worked remarkably quickly; the mountain at the center of [[Djamonkin Crater]] was dismantled and reshaped into the core components within a single night. Once fully assembled, the seed had generated a large octagonal platform surrounded by eight curved pillars, each rising a thousand meters from the ground.{{Ref/Reuse|c88}} When the machine was activated, these pillars began to rotate around the central platform. As they spun, they projected [[hard light]] components, which used the raw materials obtained on-site and reconstituted them into the alloys and components needed to build the ship. The construction process was extraordinarily rapid; the Didact's ship was approximately one kilometer long, and yet the entire vessel was materialized in a matter of minutes.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 98''</ref>

Design seeds were also placed on [[Installation 00]] containing weapons, ships and other technology. In [[29,823 BCE]], [[000 Tragic Solitude]] dismantled a {{Class|Despair|fighter}}, rendering it back into design seed form.<ref name="atb">'''Halo Wars 2''', ''[[Phoenix Logs|Phoenix Log]]: A Tensed Bolt''</ref> Thousands of years later during the [[Second Ark Conflict]] in [[2559]], the [[Huragok]] [[Floats Low But Steady]] and its [[Sangheili]] handler [[Val 'Telram]] found this dismantled ''Despair''-class fighter buried within the Ark. Within the span of a day, the huragok began to "talk" with the ship and the launching systems holding it, describing the concept of a design seed to the Sangheili.<ref name="flbs">'''Halo Wars 2''', ''Phoenix Log: Floats Low But Steady''</ref> The ship began to regrow and rebuild itself under [[Banished]] supervision, with [[Colony]] eventually taking charge of the project and setting up a formidable defense of the site with the intention of using the Forerunner ship to destroy the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} in recompense for the destruction of ''[[Enduring Conviction]]''. However, [[Operation: SPEARBREAKER]] led by [[Sunray 1-1]] was able to beat back the Banished defence and destroy the partially-constructed ship before it could be used.<ref>'''[[Halo Wars 2: Operation: SPEARBREAKER]]''', ''campaign level [[Gatecrashers]]''</ref><ref>'''Halo Wars 2: Operation: SPEARBREAKER''', ''campaign level [[Not on My Watch]]''</ref>

Design seeds can be used to direct the operations of [[orbital reformer]]s, with the seeds directing the [[reformation]] of matter.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=360}}

==Variants==
Forerunners were known to use a special type of design seed called an [[upgrade seed]] to upgrade the vessels of other races when proper resources were unavailable for design seeds to create a Forerunner vessel for them.<ref>'''[[Halo: Renegades]]''', ''page 178''</ref> A design seed containing the plans for a starship was known as a '''ship-seed'''.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 128''</ref> Ship-seed technology provides all the building blueprints needed to built a ship upon activation using on-site materials.<ref>'''Halo Wars 2''', ''Phoenix Log: Forerunner Ship''</ref> Fully-assembled ships created using ship-seeds are capable of being dismantled and turned back into design seed form.{{Ref/Reuse|atb}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Librarianseedworld.png|Librarian talking about design seeds that lie dormant in twelve moons. 
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''
*''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Forerunner|technology}}
[[Category:Forerunner technology]]