Editing Terminal (Halo 3)

{{era|Forerunner|HCW|Post}}
{{Center|''This article is about the Terminals in [[Halo 3]]. For other uses of "Terminal", see [[Terminal (disambiguation)]]''}}
[[File:Halo-3-20070923025938534.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A terminal's interface.]]
[[File:Ark Terminal.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The exterior of a terminal.]]
The '''terminals''' in ''[[Halo 3]]'' are [[Forerunner]] [[terminal]]s that provide insight into the history of the Forerunners, primarily the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. The terminals are a continuation of the ''[[Iris]]'' alternate reality game used as viral marketing for ''Halo 3''. They clarify a great deal of the ''Iris'' story line by naming the authors of different messages and by explaining the circumstances of the [[Great Purification|original firing]] of the [[Halo Array]]. The terminals follow the stories of the [[Librarian]] and the [[Didact]], Forerunner logs of [[Flood]] attacks, and [[Mendicant Bias]]' progression into [[rampancy]]. 

==Overview==
The terminals can be accessed on any difficulty. Finding and accessing all [[seven]] of the terminals in ''Halo 3'' unlocks the ''[[Marathon Man]]'' [[achievement]]; this can be done over the course of several sessions, out of order, and on various difficulties. The player does not need to finish any of the missions in question in order to unlock the achievement.

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'''IMPORTANT: The terminals must be accessed as follows:'''
* In either single-player or cooperative mode.
* It is necessary to read the text until the green arrow (facing left) turns red. On some terminals, it may be necessary to wait until the screen flashes red and the screen appears to "scan horizontally". This does not occur for all terminals. If there is no red arrow (see below) then wait until the red flash/scanning occurs.
** There is a green arrow in the bottom left-hand corner. When it turns red the player can exit the terminal. Note that normally the player is able to advance each screen of the display by pressing the A button. However, in some cases this may take time. If the arrow is still green then wait until the terminal proceeds.
* For some players, the seventh terminal must be accessed last in order to unlock the achievement.
* If the achievement is not unlocked after accessing all terminals, try accessing all of the terminals on the same difficulty level.
* In co-op, all players must be near a terminal to access it.
|}

==The terminals==
The terminals are located on three levels: ''[[The Ark (level)|The Ark]]'', ''[[The Covenant (level)|The Covenant]]'', and ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]''. There is also a hidden terminal on ''[[Cortana (level)|Cortana]]'', but that one does not need to be found in order to get the achievement.

Upon initial access on all difficulty levels, the seven terminals give background details regarding the story of the 300-year-long Forerunner-Flood conflict, including strategies, encounters, enemy and friendly losses, and procedures leading up to the activation of the Halo Array. After a short time, this text is overwritten and a new message is displayed on the screen.

On Easy, Normal, and Heroic difficulty levels, this second screen of text details a correspondence between two Forerunner lovers called the "Librarian" and "Didact". In this transcript, as in the Terminals, "L" stands for Librarian and "D" stand for Didact. 

An unknown entity sends brief messages onscreen upon shutdown. The final terminal reveals that this entity is the rampant Forerunner AI Mendicant Bias, who had previously assisted in the Flood's attempt to destroy the Forerunners.

On the Legendary difficulty level, the second screen of text tells the story of Mendicant Bias. It is revealed that Mendicant Bias was the AI who took control of [[AdjutantReflex]] during the "Iris" campaign. Messages detailing Mendicant's eventual defection to the Gravemind are displayed by '''Terminals 1 through 4''', with the AI having an ongoing conversation with the Flood (tagged '''LF.Xx.3273'''). These messages are incomplete and partially disrupted, with {~} symbolizing the disruptions. A noticeable pattern in the messages suggests that many of the disruptions occur at the use of pronouns, such as "I, we, me, they, it", though this pattern is not entirely consistent. 

'''Terminal 5''' displays several hostile messages sent from Mendicant Bias to its makers, confirming its rampancy. These messages are different on each difficulty level. 

'''Terminal 6''' details the defeat of Mendicant Bias by [[Offensive Bias]], as perceived by Offensive itself. 

The final message hidden in '''Terminal 7''' is an apology made by Mendicant directly to [[John-117]] for the former's betrayal, atoning by saying it will help the Reclaimer leave the Ark safely.

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'''Note''': ''The following are exact transcripts of all seven terminals in ''Halo 3''. It is all copied directly from each terminal in-game and is not speculative. Most of the Terminals have extra content that can be accessed on the Legendary difficulty. One terminal's main content does differ based on the difficulty level.''
|}

<!-- DO NOT TOUCH OR THE RABBIDS WILL COME AFTER YOU! -->
{{Tabcontainer|
|title1=Terminal One
|content1={{/One}}
|title2=Terminal Two
|content2={{/Two}}
|title3=Terminal Three
|content3={{/Three}}
|title4=Terminal Four
|content4={{/Four}}
|title5=Terminal Five
|content5={{/Five}}
|title6=Terminal Six
|content6={{/Six}}
|title7=Terminal Seven
|content7={{/Seven}}
}}
<!-- DO NOT TOUCH OR THE RABBIDS WILL COME AFTER YOU! -->
{{clear}}

===Cortana terminal===
[[File:Cortana terminal.jpg|thumb|right|The Cortana terminal at the end of the communications room.]]
{{Quote|It was the [[Quarter|coin's]] fault! I wanted to make you strong, keep you safe... I'm sorry, I can't...|Cortana terminal}}
The Cortana terminal is an [[Easter egg]] located in the basement room of the [[Halo 3 Skulls#Tilt|Tilt Skull]]'s location, where the [[Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer|gravity hammer]] is found. This Terminal does not count towards the ''Marathon Man'' achievement but instead plays a secret Cortana moment. This terminal references dialog from ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]].''
{{Clear}}

==Appearances==
{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-4
|title-1=Characters|
*[[Librarian]] {{1st}}
*[[Ur-Didact]] {{C|As "Didact"}} {{1st}}
*[[IsoDidact]] {{C|As "Didact"}} {{1st}}
*[[Filial Devotion]] {{1st}}
*[[Mendicant Bias]] {{1st}}
*[[Offensive Bias]] {{1st}}
*[[343 Guilty Spark]]
*[[000 Tragic Solitude]] {{1st}}
*[[Gravemind]]
**[[Primordial]] {{C|As [[Flood Super Cell|"LF.Xx.3273"]]}} 

|title-2=Species|
*[[Forerunner]]
*[[Flood]]
*[[Human]] {{Mo}}

|title-3=Organizations|
*[[Forerunner fleet]]
**[[Forerunner Fleet Command]] {{1st}}
**[[Security Fleet]] {{Fm}}
**[[Suppression Fleet]] {{Fm}}
**[[Emergency Circumstance Fleet]] {{Fm}}
**[[Primary Pioneer Group]] {{1st}}
***[[Advance Survey Team-Alpha]] {{1st}}

|title-4=Locations|
*[[Installation 00]]
*[[Earth]]
*[[Maginot Line]] {{1st}}
*[[CE-10-2165]] {{1st}}
**[[CE-10-2165-d]] {{1st}}
*[[DM-3-1123]] {{1st}}
**[[DM-3-1123 b]] {{1st}}
*[[LP 656-38]] {{1st}}
**[[LP 656-38 e]] {{1st}}
*[[G617]] {{1st}}
*[[Seaward|G 617 g1]] {{1st}}

|title-5=Events|
*[[Forerunner-Flood war]] {{1st}}
**[[Battle of G617 g1]] {{1st}}
**[[Battle of LP 656-38 e]] {{1st}}
**[[Battle of DM-3-1123 b]] {{1st}}
**[[Battle of CE-10-2165-d]] {{1st}}
**[[Battle of the Maginot Sphere]] {{1st}}
*[[Conservation Measure]]

|title-6=Technology and equipment|
*[[Halo Array]]
*[[Combat skin]]
*[[Logic plague]]
*[[Personality Construct Array]] {{1st}}
*[[Platform interface skin]] {{Fm}}
*[[Probability Model Zeta]] {{1st}}
}}

==Analyses==
===Translation and naming===
It is important to note that phrases such as "[[Maginot Line]]", "[[Eden (place)|Eden]]", and "fairy tale" would not have existed in the Forerunner language(s). Forerunner technology (including terminals) utilizes extremely advanced [[translation software]]. This software is capable of incorporating idioms from a reader's own experience,<ref name="haloenc-165">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 165''</ref> such that a human viewing the terminals will see human idiomatic expressions and human names in relevant contexts.<ref name="haloenc-165"/><ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 6''</ref>

Several pieces of text are bracketed and shown in a darker font color; this is likely done to indicate that the phrases in question have no exact equivalent in the reader's language, and that an approximation has been used. Furthermore, some bracketed phrases also contain sub-bracketed question marks (such as the phrase "[travel the path of demons[?]]"), implying that the terminals' software is unsure of the proper translation for the given dialog.

Interestingly, the word "Ark" does not appear in brackets, meaning that it is a direct translation, rather than a human idiom.

===Reversed messages===
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In certain parts, backwards speech can be heard. Common phrases include "Archive Access", "Interruption", "Lineage Confirmed", "Data Corruption", and "Welcome Child".

===Additional information===
For a moment after a page is initially accessed the text is shown in its original state in Forerunner script. The symbols stand in only for letters, not for numbers or punctuation, and share the same colors (''i.e.'' gold and orange) as the letters possess when 'translated'. They stand in only for the letters in the main sections, not in the text that comes up immediately before the display is redirected.

The symbols bear no resemblance to the other, more well known [[Forerunner#Forerunner Glyphs and Symbols|Forerunner symbols]] and possess no observable meaning, as they replace the English characters at random (this can be seen by flipping quickly between two pages and concentrating on any one particular symbol, observing how the stand-in changes).

When certain terminals are redirecting the player after they have logged in, as the screen turns red on the left side are symbols and the words "I AM MENDICANT BIAS."

==In ''The Forerunner Saga''==
===ONI research===
When the front half of the {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} arrived at Earth on December 23, 2552, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] acquired records of John-117's interactions with the terminals.<ref>'''[[Halo Mythos]]''', ''page 161''</ref> During ONI's interrogation of [[343 Guilty Spark]] (which forms the meta-plot of ''[[Halo: Primordium]]'') the {{UNSCShip|Rubicon}}'s science team references the terminals as a source for their prior information on the Forerunners; however, they note that the terminals' records are (on some points) incompatible with Guilty Spark's account.<ref name="GuiltySpark">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 340''</ref>

Some elements of the terminals were later adapted in ''[[Halo: Silentium]]''; the in-universe conceit for the latter novel's story is the analysis of [[Juridical]] logs found on [[Trevelyan]]. Most notably, the Librarian's self-imposed exile on Erde-Tyrene and her refusal to leave as the Flood approach are carried over rather closely. As in the terminals, she sends the Didact a contemplative message in her final hours while she watches the construction of [[Portal at Voi|the portal structure]] in [[East African Protectorate|eastern Africa]]. Near the end of the novel, Offensive Bias is mentioned as heading off Mendicant Bias' fleet while the Didact prepares the Halos to fire;<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 327-328''</ref> this foreshadows the [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere]], which was introduced in the terminals.

===Incongruities===
{{Quote|The terminal dialogs may themselves be questionable, in light of this new testimony.|A science team leader, regarding the terminals and the contradicting discoveries.}}<ref name="GuiltySpark"/>
Parts of the terminals are contradicted by newer information from ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]''. These novels are first-hand accounts of the timeframe covered by the terminals and hold higher canon priority than the source material. The terminals themselves, being in-universe documents, are not infallible. Due to the influence of the [[Rampancy|unstable]] Mendicant Bias, the accuracy of the terminals' content is suspect; it has been noted that the AI manipulated the transmissions to some extent when presenting them to John-117, filtering and editing the information in a way which best suited its own purposes.<ref name="sparkast 17">[http://waypointassets.blob.core.windows.net/mobilecontent/legacysupport/content/assets/en-us/podcast/343Sparkast_017.mp3 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''343 Sparkast 017'']</ref> Thus, the inconsistencies between the sources are attributed to [[Wikipedia:Unreliable narrator|unreliable presentation]], not because the terminals' content has been retconned outright. It was also suggested that Mendicant's communication with John-117, and its reasons behind tampering with the terminals in the specific way it did, may yet play a part in future fiction.<ref name="sparkast 17"/>

====The Didact's involvement====
One of the most notable incongruities occurs in Terminal 3, in which the Librarian asks the Didact if he has learned nothing from 300 years of warfare against with the Flood. According to ''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'', the Didact went into [[Cryptum|exile]] around [[98,445 BCE]] and was not recovered until roughly a decade before the end of the war in [[97,445 BCE]]. Barring a retcon, the simplest explanation is that the Librarian was referring to the [[Warrior-Servant]]s' ability to share sensory information, or that he could have researched the preceding centuries of war via the [[Domain]].

In ''[[Soma the Painter]]'', which acts as a form of primer for ''The Forerunner Saga'' (having been released less than two months before ''Halo: Cryptum'' in ''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe|Halo: Evolutions Volume II]]''), the Didact is referenced by the [[Auditor]] as if he were available and supposedly in command of Forerunner defense during the Forerunners' contact with the Flood around [[97,745 BCE]].<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions Volume II''', ''page 10''</ref>

====The Didact and the Halos====
The transmissions exchanged by the Didact (the IsoDidact in the context of ''The Forerunner Saga'') and the Librarian preceding the Halos' firing also present a number of discrepancies with ''Halo: Silentium''. In the terminals, the status quo of the Didact leading Forerunner defense from [[Installation 00]] while the Librarian catalogs the galaxy's lifeforms is implied to have continued for the duration of the war. The Didact is adamant until the end in his refusal to use the Halos, before the Librarian strands herself on Earth. Even at this point the Didact attempts to send a rescue party to retrieve his wife, but the rescue party is destroyed by Mendicant Bias as it attacks the Maginot Sphere. This finally deprives the Didact of options but the activation of the Array.

In ''Halo: Silentium'', the IsoDidact's acceptance of the Halo Array develops over a longer period of time; by the time he makes it to Installation 00 in the final hours of the war, he is fully convinced of the Array's necessity and shows much less hesitation to sacrifice the Librarian's life. While the Librarian travels to Earth to draw off the Flood, no rescue party is mentioned; however, at the Librarian's request, the IsoDidact sends a vessel which will be converted into materials to construct the [[Portal at Voi|portal to the Ark]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 309, 312, 314''</ref> Much of the Didact's stubborn opposition to the Halos depicted in the terminals is relegated to the Ur-Didact and acts as a motivator for many of his actions.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 230''</ref>

====Mendicant Bias' betrayal====
Another inconsistency involves the timeframe of Mendicant Bias' betrayal. In Terminal 3, the Didact refers to Mendicant Bias as an ally; the context of the message implies that the AI was created during the Forerunner-Flood war. However, ''Halo: Cryptum'' shows that Mendicant Bias had been created prior to the Didact's exile and had already gone rogue [[97,495 BCE|43 years]] before the latter's revival. The novel depicts Mendicant Bias' [[Battle of the Capital|assault on the Capital]], which occurred only weeks after the Didact's resuscitation and before he regained command of the Forerunner military. ''Halo: Primordium'' shows that the "Mendicant Bias" that attacked the capital was only a fragment of the AI's [[personality construct array]] and that the Forerunners attempted to alleviate the shard's rampancy. ''[[Halo: Silentium]]'' states that the procedure was successful and the metarch's components were spread across the galaxy for the sake of compartmentalization. However, as the Flood overran most of the ecumene, Mendicant Bias' disparate parts were found and, within several years, the AI was reconstituted.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 267-268''</ref>

In the terminals, Mendicant's defection immediately precedes the Flood's gathering into one massive force and subsequent attack on the Maginot Sphere; it is implied that the AI had not directly engaged Forerunners before the final battle against Offensive Bias. The novels describe Mendicant Bias as fighting on the Flood's side for several years, beginning with its attack on the Capital.

====The Precursors and the Mantle====
The prominent exploration of the [[Precursor]]s in ''The Forerunner Saga'' (including the Flood's use of their artifacts as weapons or the Precursors' relationship with the Flood) is not discussed in the terminals, as the details about the Precursors were not conceived until the writing of the novels. The Precursors are mentioned only in passing, as the mythical beings the Forerunners believed them to be; even in the endgame of the war, the Didact insists that the Forerunners, once they succeed, can "follow in their footsteps". In ''The Forerunner Saga'', the Didact already knew the truth about the Precursors and their transmutation into the Flood at this point and certainly would not have regarded them with such a reverential tone.

The terminals present the Forerunners' stagnation and their refusal to accept the Flood as the next step and salvation of galactic life as being Mendicant Bias' primary motive for [[Logic plague|defecting]]. In ''Halo: Primordium'', Mendicant Bias states that it "fulfills the wishes of those who created us all", implying that the [[Primordial]]'s Precursor-derived authority and the [[Domain]]'s revelation of [[Forerunner-Precursor war|the truth]] about the Forerunner-Precursor relationship were a major contributor to the AI's turning against its creators.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 338''</ref> The terminals describe the Forerunners as making their first contact with the Flood on [[Seaward|G 617 g]] in the beginning of the three-century-long Forerunner-Flood war; the novels establish that the Forerunners were aware of the Flood ten thousand years in advance, having taken part in its sterilization in the later half of the [[human-Forerunner war]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 36''</ref>

In the terminals, the [[Mantle]] is depicted as little more than a Forerunner belief system which the Librarian outright shuns as superstition and the cause of the Forerunners' weakness at the face of the Flood onslaught. In ''The Forerunner Saga'', the Mantle is established to be something more multifaceted and universal, with different characters having varying views as to its nature and interpretation. The Librarian is portrayed as being against the stagnation and decadence of Forerunner society and the oppression they committed in the name of the Mantle, but maintains her belief in the ideal of the Mantle itself, even grooming humanity to reclaim it.

==Trivia==
In Terminal 4, the Librarian states that she can see the Flood's ships blotting out the stars at night as they gather from across the galaxy and converge on the Line. This should be impossible, as the light from different stars in the galaxy would take any number of centuries or millennia to reach Earth to be seen with the naked eye. Given that the terminals utilize imperfect translations, one may infer she is speaking metaphorically or using an exotic form of sensor equipment allowing her to observe the starfield in real-time.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H3-ArkTerminalOrb.png|Detail of the orb of a ''Halo 3'' terminal.
File:21275120-Full-crop.jpg|Close-up of an Ark Terminal.
File:Halo 3 Terminal.jpg|Another Terminal on the Ark in ''Halo 3''.
File:Halo-3-20070923023513975.jpg|[[John-117]] encountering a terminal aboard the [[Installation 00|Ark]].
File:Halo-3-20070923030012049.jpg|Text on an Ark Terminal.
File:Terminalclosed.jpg|A closed Terminal.
</gallery>

==Sources==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://haloterms.bungie.org/ ''Interactive Terminal archive'' compiled by '''halo.bungie.org''']
{{Terminals}}
[[Category:Halo 3]]
[[Category:Canon]]