Editing Didact's Gift

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Center|''Were you looking for [[Didact's Hand/The Didact's Gift|the Spartan Ops chapter]]?''}}
{{quote|An alien AI full of human memories.|Dr. Catherine Halsey, after discovering the artifact's true nature.}} 
[[File:H4-DuranceMatrix-ScanRender.png|right|300px|thumb|Views of the "Didact's Gift", in its external container and unlocked Durance shell.]]
The '''"Didact's Gift"''' is a [[Forerunner]] artifact discovered on [[Requiem]]. It is a memory storage device known as a [[Durance]],<ref name="VIS">'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]'''</ref> containing the [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] matrix or "soul" of a [[Promethean Knight]].<ref name="memento">''Spartan Ops'', [[Memento Mori|S105 Memento Mori]]</ref>

==History==
At some point in [[2558]], [[Jul 'Mdama]]'s [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Covenant forces]] acquired the "Gift". During [[Fireteam Crimson]]'s pursuit of 'Mdama, [[Commander (UNSC)|Commander]] [[Sarah Palmer]] called in an airstrike which forced the [[Sangheili]] to drop the device during his escape. Crimson quickly secured the device and brought it to [[Galileo Base]] for examination. A joint Covenant-[[Promethean]] force [[Battle of Galileo Base|attacked the base]] to retrieve the artifact, though they were repelled by Fireteam Crimson. [[Fireteam Majestic]] arrived soon after to secure it. In reality, 'Mdama purposefully dropped the device to be recovered and ordered the attack to help sell its importance to the UNSC.<ref>''Spartan Ops'', [[Didact's Hand|S104 Didact's Hand]]</ref> 

The Gift was taken aboard the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, where it was studied by [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Catherine Halsey]] and the ship's AI, [[Roland]]. Upon being tampered with, the outer casing of the device split into multiple levitating fragments, revealing an object within that Dr. Halsey noted was similar to a [[Riemann matrix|UNSC AI matrix]]. Suddenly, the device released an energy burst, and began to display images on the room's monitors; these were then identified as human memories harvested by the [[Composer]] during the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s [[New Phoenix Incident|attack]] on [[New Phoenix]], [[Unified Republic of North America|URNA]] six months prior. One of these images showed another [[Requiem slipspace artifacts|mysterious Forerunner artifact]] that was currently located in the ''Infinity's'' docking bay, indicating that the artifact was present in New Phoenix during the attack. 'Mdama, who had been communicating in secret with Halsey, set it up so that she would receive the Gift as proof of his intentions and before she was caught, Halsey told 'Mdama that it contained exactly what he had promised.{{Ref/Reuse|memento}}

Upon contacting 'Mdama, Halsey cites that only "the Didact's Hand" could've offered her a Promethean soul as the reason she was able to identify him.<ref>''Spartan Ops'', [[Invasion (Spartan Ops)|S107 Invasion]]</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H4 MysteriousArtifacts Concept.jpg|Concept art for various Forerunner artifacts in ''Halo 4'', which may possibly have been used as part of the concept process for the Didact's Gift.
File:Crimson Didact's Gift.jpg|[[Fireteam Crimson]] finding the "Didact's Gift."
File:Promethean AI Matrix.png|Overhead view of the "Didact's Gift" in an examination room aboard the ''Infinity''.
File:Promethean AI Matrix - Opened.png|The "Didact's Gift" unsealed, revealing an internal configuration most similar to a UNSC AI matrix.
File:H4-SO-Durance-PrometheanSoul.jpg|The energy burst showing a distinctly humanoid silhouette.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''

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

{{Forerunner|artifacts}}
{{Forerunner|technology}}

[[Category:Forerunner artifacts]]
[[Category:Forerunner technology]]