Editing Dr. Halsey's personal journal

{{Status|Canon}}

'''Dr. Halsey's personal journal''' was a journal detailing the thoughts and discoveries of [[Catherine Halsey|Doctor Catherine Halsey]] over a period of 42 years, between [[2510|August 2510]] and [[2552#August|August 2552]]. The journal was classified under [[Protocol Aurora-7|Double-Blind Protocol Aurora-7]] and kept from declassification by [[Special Executive Order 0-99-447S]].

Halsey bought the journal at a [[Reach]] shop on August 2510. She kept it with her for the next four decades to document her research to counter the [[Insurrectionist]]s, and later, the [[Covenant]] threat. She also expressed her thoughts on her personal relationships with [[Jacob Keyes]] and [[Miranda Keyes|their daughter]], [[SPARTAN-II program|her Spartans]], and the apocalyptic [[Human-Covenant War]]. Halsey eventually left the journal behind at the [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel]], where it was retrieved by [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] personnel just before the site, along with [[SWORD Base]], was destroyed.

Following its recovery from SWORD Base into the hands of [[ONI]], the journal together with an interactive disk chronicling [[Noble Team]]'s final operations had the reference number '''UNSC X16-69859-02''' and were contained in a [[600 series ONI security container]]. In [[2553]], various ONI personnel and psychologists read and analyzed the journal. Based on information from the journal, AI [[Black-Box]] suggested that Halsey was trying to cleanse her conscience by hiding her Spartans on [[Onyx]].<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 49''</ref> BB, who had an exceedingly negative view on Halsey, also noted based on the journal that Halsey had a sense of ownership over people, yet was confused that Halsey gave her daughter to Jacob Keyes.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 148''</ref> BB believed the journal would eventually become required reading in psychology classes as what he saw as "a glimpse into the mind of a narcissistic sociopath" and referred to it as being "like [[Wikipedia:Mein Kampf|Mein Kampf]] with pictures."{{Citation needed}}

[[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Serin Osman]] after reading the journal came to despise Halsey for her extremely unethical work on the [[SPARTAN-II program]]. This led to [[Naomi-010]] also reading the journal, and having mixed feelings on it.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 349''</ref> When finally meeting Halsey on [[Ivanoff Station]] in March 2553, ONI director [[Admiral]] [[Margaret Parangosky]] remarks that she was impressed by Halsey's abilities as an artist, referring to the plentiful sketches she had drawn throughout her journal.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 433''</ref> Following this the journal was sealed up and finally fully documented on the 1st of June 2553.

By June 1, 2553, the journal was handled by [[W. B. Eton]], who later gave the journal to someone who was involved in [[Operation: WHITE GLOVE]]. At somepoint the individual had passed away and the journal was given to [[Unidentified Beta-5 Division operative|a subordinate operative]]. In [[2610]], The operative later sent the journal to his cousin on [[Earth]]. The operative told his cousin to either deliver it to the curator of the [[Museum of Humanity]], Ms. [[Bjarne]], or give it to the old guard at IN.<ref>'''[[Halo: Reach Legendary Edition]]''' [[:File:Journal Package Letter.jpg|journal package letter]]</ref>

The journal also provides an explanation of why Cortana was seen on Reach as well as mentioned in ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', assisting [[John-117]] and his team of SPARTANs on their mission. It seems Halsey needed to analyze the [[Forerunner]] symbols and systems in Professor Sorvad's site. Halsey and Cortana both independently figured out the "Solomonic solution" which helped "divide" Cortana and allow "parts of her" to help Halsey while updating her "incarnate" self on the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} until the last minute. The two parts were reunited sometime after [[The Package (data storage unit)|Cortana's fragment]] was delivered by [[SPARTAN-B312]] to Captain Keyes before the ''Pillar of Autumn'' left Reach.

The journal also confirms that Dr. Halsey was aware of the existence of SPARTANs who were "not [hers]" well before the events of ''[[Halo: First Strike]]''. She and [[Kalmiya]] had uncovered numerous ONI documents and encrypted files that suggested the existence of [[SPARTAN-III program|another SPARTAN program]] after the {{UNSCShip|Hopeful}} was deployed outside the Epsilon Eridani system for a week, carrying various [[Project CHRYSANTHEMUM|"carcinogenic", "mutanogenic", and "experimental" drugs]]. Upon his return, [[Vice Admiral]] [[Ysionris Jeromi]] informed her that he knew little of what was going on, and could tell her nothing. Finally, Halsey reveals that her suspicions of other SPARTANS were confirmed when she met [[Noble Team]] at [[Sword Base]]. Later, at [[CASTLE Base]], she discovered that they, with the exception of [[Jorge-052]], had been SPARTAN-IIIs.

When the journal was recovered from [[SWORD Base]] by [[Beta-5 Division|Beta 5 personnel]] in 2552 prior to its destruction as part of [[Operation: WHITE GLOVE]], the journal had the following documents and items in it:

*An ONI memo regarding [[Covenant]] glyphs, accompanied by a photo of the symbols on a [[Sangheili]]'s [[Combat harness|armor]]

File:Caleb_Record_1.jpg|Caleb-095's candidate record, page 1/2

File:Caleb_Record_2.jpg|Caleb-095's candidate record, page 2/2

There are two pages (four sides) that were torn out from the journal entry dated September 4, 2547. Dubbed '''REF. UNDD 5213.9-R''' to ONI, the pages document Dr. Halsey's private experiment to create a fractal [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] housing within slipspace. Halsey supposedly tore these two pages out after the experiment, presumably to ensure secrecy.<ref>'''[[Halo: Reach]]''', ''[[Data pads|data pad 17]]''</ref>

==Production notes==

*The booklet is included with the [[Halo: Reach Limited Edition|Limited]] and [[Halo: Reach Legendary Edition|Legendary]] editions of ''[[Halo: Reach]]''.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=25773 '''Bungie.net''': ''Halo: Reach Game Editions'']</ref> The journal was co-written by [[Eric Nylund]] in conjunction with [[Bungie]] and [[343 Industries]], with [[Lorraine McLees]] serving as art director and Mike Vaillancourt as illustrator.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.org/misc/enylund_interview_04_2010.html '''Halo.bungie.org''': ''Eric Nylund Interview, April, 2010'']</ref>

*A small number of copies of the journal — no more than five according to Eric Nylund — did not have the two missing pages ripped out. This was so the ''Halo'' fan community could discover the pages on their own. Nylund expected the fans to find the pages within "a few weeks"; however, the pages failed to surface until May 6, 2016,<ref>[http://ericnylund.com/?p=1288 '''Ericnylund.com''' ''- Missing Halsey Journal Pages'']</ref> when [[Jeff Easterling]] posted them in the [[Canon Fodder]] article "''Noble Intentions''".<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-noble-intentions '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Canon Fodder: Noble Intentions'']</ref> Both pages can be read [https://content.halocdn.com/media/Default/community/blogs/canon-fodder/halseyjournal_excisedleaves-6691217d69c54707b5a0fd97d0b25e77.pdf here] (internal archive {{file link|HR_Halsey'sJournal_ExcisedPages.pdf|here}}).

*In ''Halo: Reach'', Halsey's journal can be found as an in-game object on level "[[The Package]]" in the [[Tribute Room]]. It is seen again in Halsey's office (likely the one in [[CASTLE Base]]) during the first cutscene of ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'' on the mission ''[[Osiris]]''.

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