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{{Era|Forerunner}}
{{Status|Canon}}
{{Ratings}}
[[File:ConservationCEA.jpg|thumb|250px|Biological samples being analyzed in a conservation facility.]]
[[File:Origins library.png|thumb|Samples of lifeforms being categorized in a storage facility.]]
{{Quote|The Conservation Measure is the only sweet note in this discordant symphony we've arranged. It's the only constructive activity in decades of destruction.|Unknown Forerunner individual, likely the [[Librarian]]<ref name="ep4">''[[Iris]]'', Episode 4: [[The Great Connection]]</ref>}}
The '''Library Project''',<ref name= "FloodAd" >'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''': ''Adjunct'' </ref> also known as the '''Conservation Measure''',<ref>'''[[Iris]]''', ''[[Episode 4]]''</ref> was a massive undertaking to index and preserve biological diversity during the [[Forerunner-Flood War]].
 
The '''Conservation Measure''',{{Ref/Reuse|ep4}}<ref>'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 14''</ref><ref name="library">'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''' - ''[[Library (feature)|Library]]: Activation Index''</ref> also known as the '''Library Project''',<ref name= "FloodAd" >'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''': ''Adjunct''</ref> was a massive undertaking by the [[Forerunner]]s to index and preserve biological diversity in the [[Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]] before and during the [[Forerunner-Flood war]].


==History==
==History==
When the possibility that the only way to defeat the [[Flood]] would be to use the [[Halo Array]], the [[Forerunner]]s began an effort to take samples of life from the worlds they had found, including sentient lifeforms. These samples would then be taken to [[Installation 00|the Ark]] for preservation. There were a number of problems at first, mainly by categorizing the races into specific categories.<ref name="FloodAd"/>
===Background===
When the possibility of the [[Halo Array]] was first proposed, the [[Librarian]] responded with outrage at the [[Builder]]s' idea of defeating the Flood by committing galactic genocide, and petitioned [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] and the [[Ecumene Council|Council]] to take measures to preserve the galaxy's life-forms in the event of the Halo Array's firing. As the [[Lifeworker]]s could halt medical science if they abandoned their duties in protest, Faber concluded that it would be less expensive to give in to the Librarian than fight her, so he agreed to her request.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 274''</ref> As a result, the installations involved in the Halo Array, including the Halos themselves as well as the [[Ark]]s which produced the rings—first the [[greater Ark]] and later [[Installation 00]]—were constructed to have surface conditions suitable for varying types of life, enabling the Lifeworkers to use them as biological preserves.


As it became increasingly obvious that the Array would be the only means to defeat the emerging [[Gravemind]], the [[Librarian]], the head of the Library Project, urged her husband, the [[Didact]], to fire the Array. But the Didact, still clinging to the [[Mantle]] and unwilling to kill his wife with the Array, constantly delayed activating the Array. In an effort to force the Didact's hand, and knowing that the Flood would soon find the Ark with [[05-032 Mendicant Bias|Mendicant Bias]]' help, the Librarian destroyed her [[keyship]]s on [[Earth]], stranding her in the Array's radius of fire. Without any option left, the Didact fired the Array.<ref name="Term"> '''[[Halo 3]]''' [[Terminal]]s</ref>
===Indexing===
[[File:Origins library.png|thumb|250px|Samples of lifeforms being categorized in a storage facility.]]
Due to the limited space on their installations and ships, only a small number of the indexed beings were maintained as live specimens: the majority were reduced, storing their genetic and neural patterns as data until the repopulation of their respective homeworlds.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 29, 57''</ref> A variety of other facilities aboard the installations, including the [[Library|Libraries]], were used to catalog and study the specimens.{{Ref/Reuse|library}} There were quite a few problems at first, mainly with regards to categorizing the races into specific categories.{{Ref/Reuse|FloodAd}}


After the Flood was defeated, automated systems on the Ark began the process of repopulating the galaxy, sending all the races back to their respective homeworlds. While a success, the Library Project also sent each race back to a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] scale, forcing the sentient races to start over.<ref name="FloodAd"/> Two races (the [[San 'Shyuum]] and [[Sangheili]]) would end up worshiping the Forerunners as gods, something the Forerunner hardly anticipated. And despite being no longer necessary, the data within archives were preserved at the Ark, a revelation which surprised [[343 Guilty Spark]].<ref name="Term"/>
Although the Conservation Measure spanned several millennia, escalating into a more widespread evacuation effort during the Forerunner-Flood war, the sheer number of planets in the galaxy meant that the Lifeworkers never had time or the resources to save even remotely all species. A total of 123 sapient, technologically-capable species inhabiting the three million worlds within the Forerunners' [[ecumene]] had been indexed by the project at time of the evacuation of [[Earth]],<ref name="s18">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 18''</ref> roughly four years before the end of the war.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 197''</ref> However, the Lifeworkers may have had to prioritize the preservation of some of these species over others due to their limited resources,{{Ref/Reuse|s18}} and a number may have perished with the destruction of the major preserves on the [[greater Ark]] and [[Omega Halo]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 307''</ref> On many of the indexed worlds, only a fraction of the sentient fauna would survive; on Earth, for example, only a thousandth of the large species could be saved according to pre-Array projections.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 27''</ref>
 
Research on the Flood in an attempt to find a means to defeat the parasite was an integral aspect of the Conservation Measure. For safety, the Conservation Measure dictated that [[Flood research facility|Flood research facilities]] be constructed in remote locations.<ref>'''Halo 2: Anniversary''', multiplayer map ''[[Lockdown]]'' description</ref> Toward the end of the Flood conflict, the Master Builder began to alter his pact with the Librarian and authorized the use of the Lifeworkers' biological specimens on the Halos for extended experimentation on the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 334''</ref> [[Human]]s, in particular, were subjected to rigorous tests on [[Installation 07]], due to the supposed immunity they appeared to exhibit to Flood infection. These experiments later proved to be in vain, however, with the [[Primordial]]'s revelation that no human was ever truly immune to the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 364-365''</ref> The fate of the human species continued to hang in the balance throughout the endgame of the conflict: after the [[Ur-Didact]] [[Composer|composed]] the most significant human population stored on Omega Halo, the Lifeworkers were forced to retrieve additional specimens from the nearly empty Earth in order to restore a sustainable population.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 316-317''</ref>
 
===Reseeding===
After the firing of the Halo Array and the subsequent defeat of the Flood, the surviving Lifeworkers on the Ark, under the leadership of the new [[Lifeshaper]], [[Chant-to-Green]], began the process of repopulating the galaxy in a stage referred to as the [[reintroduction]], sending all the races back to their respective homeworlds.{{Ref/Reuse|FloodAd}}
 
While a success, the Conservation Measure also sent each race back to a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] scale, forcing the sentient races to start over.{{Ref/Reuse|FloodAd}} The period directly after the reintroduction was referred to as the "[[dark time]]", as some of the indexed species never recovered and subsequently became extinct.<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-au/intel/related/text/kig-yar/9b24ebed-1954-471b-908d-951528e8120c '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Bestiarum'']</ref> The Librarian estimated that [[extinction]] events and irreparable environmental damage would occur on at least 18 worlds, with post-reseeding cataclysms on 31 worlds.<ref name="Term">'''[[Halo 3]]''', ''[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminal]]s''</ref> Two reintroduced races—the [[San'Shyuum]] and [[Sangheili]]—would end up worshiping the Forerunners as gods, something the Forerunners hardly anticipated. The data concerning the Conservation Measure was preserved at the Ark, and was still preserved as late as [[2552]], a revelation which surprised [[343 Guilty Spark]].{{Ref/Reuse|Term}}


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Origins_samples.png|Cataloged lifeforms being loaded into a Keyship.
File:Origins_samples.png|Cataloged lifeforms being loaded into a [[Keyship]].
File:Keyships.png|Keyships departing to reseed life in the Galaxy.
File:Keyships.png|Keyships departing to reseed life in the galaxy.
</gallery>
</gallery>


==List of appearances==
==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo 3]]''
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo 3]]''  
*''[[Halo: Legends]]''
*''[[Halo: Legends]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]''
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Rebirth]]''
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Shadows of Reach]]''
**''[[Sacrifice]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]'' {{Mo}}


==Sources==
==Sources==
{{reflist}}
{{Ref/Sources}}
[[Category:The Forerunner]]
 
[[Category:Events]]

Latest revision as of 00:59, February 27, 2024

Biological samples being analyzed in a conservation facility.

"The Conservation Measure is the only sweet note in this discordant symphony we've arranged. It's the only constructive activity in decades of destruction."
— Unknown Forerunner individual, likely the Librarian[1]

The Conservation Measure,[1][2][3] also known as the Library Project,[4] was a massive undertaking by the Forerunners to index and preserve biological diversity in the Milky Way Galaxy before and during the Forerunner-Flood war.

History[edit]

Background[edit]

When the possibility of the Halo Array was first proposed, the Librarian responded with outrage at the Builders' idea of defeating the Flood by committing galactic genocide, and petitioned Master Builder Faber and the Council to take measures to preserve the galaxy's life-forms in the event of the Halo Array's firing. As the Lifeworkers could halt medical science if they abandoned their duties in protest, Faber concluded that it would be less expensive to give in to the Librarian than fight her, so he agreed to her request.[5] As a result, the installations involved in the Halo Array, including the Halos themselves as well as the Arks which produced the rings—first the greater Ark and later Installation 00—were constructed to have surface conditions suitable for varying types of life, enabling the Lifeworkers to use them as biological preserves.

Indexing[edit]

Samples of lifeforms being categorized in a storage facility.

Due to the limited space on their installations and ships, only a small number of the indexed beings were maintained as live specimens: the majority were reduced, storing their genetic and neural patterns as data until the repopulation of their respective homeworlds.[6] A variety of other facilities aboard the installations, including the Libraries, were used to catalog and study the specimens.[3] There were quite a few problems at first, mainly with regards to categorizing the races into specific categories.[4]

Although the Conservation Measure spanned several millennia, escalating into a more widespread evacuation effort during the Forerunner-Flood war, the sheer number of planets in the galaxy meant that the Lifeworkers never had time or the resources to save even remotely all species. A total of 123 sapient, technologically-capable species inhabiting the three million worlds within the Forerunners' ecumene had been indexed by the project at time of the evacuation of Earth,[7] roughly four years before the end of the war.[8] However, the Lifeworkers may have had to prioritize the preservation of some of these species over others due to their limited resources,[7] and a number may have perished with the destruction of the major preserves on the greater Ark and Omega Halo.[9] On many of the indexed worlds, only a fraction of the sentient fauna would survive; on Earth, for example, only a thousandth of the large species could be saved according to pre-Array projections.[10]

Research on the Flood in an attempt to find a means to defeat the parasite was an integral aspect of the Conservation Measure. For safety, the Conservation Measure dictated that Flood research facilities be constructed in remote locations.[11] Toward the end of the Flood conflict, the Master Builder began to alter his pact with the Librarian and authorized the use of the Lifeworkers' biological specimens on the Halos for extended experimentation on the Flood.[12] Humans, in particular, were subjected to rigorous tests on Installation 07, due to the supposed immunity they appeared to exhibit to Flood infection. These experiments later proved to be in vain, however, with the Primordial's revelation that no human was ever truly immune to the Flood.[13] The fate of the human species continued to hang in the balance throughout the endgame of the conflict: after the Ur-Didact composed the most significant human population stored on Omega Halo, the Lifeworkers were forced to retrieve additional specimens from the nearly empty Earth in order to restore a sustainable population.[14]

Reseeding[edit]

After the firing of the Halo Array and the subsequent defeat of the Flood, the surviving Lifeworkers on the Ark, under the leadership of the new Lifeshaper, Chant-to-Green, began the process of repopulating the galaxy in a stage referred to as the reintroduction, sending all the races back to their respective homeworlds.[4]

While a success, the Conservation Measure also sent each race back to a Tier 7 scale, forcing the sentient races to start over.[4] The period directly after the reintroduction was referred to as the "dark time", as some of the indexed species never recovered and subsequently became extinct.[15] The Librarian estimated that extinction events and irreparable environmental damage would occur on at least 18 worlds, with post-reseeding cataclysms on 31 worlds.[16] Two reintroduced races—the San'Shyuum and Sangheili—would end up worshiping the Forerunners as gods, something the Forerunners hardly anticipated. The data concerning the Conservation Measure was preserved at the Ark, and was still preserved as late as 2552, a revelation which surprised 343 Guilty Spark.[16]

Gallery[edit]

  • Cataloged lifeforms being loaded into a Keyship.

    Cataloged lifeforms being loaded into a Keyship.

  • Keyships departing to reseed life in the galaxy.

    Keyships departing to reseed life in the galaxy.

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b Iris, Episode 4: The Great Connection
  2. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 14
  3. ^ a b Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary - Library: Activation Index
  4. ^ a b c d Halo: The Flood: Adjunct
  5. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 274
  6. ^ Halo: Silentium, pages 29, 57
  7. ^ a b Halo: Silentium, page 18
  8. ^ Halo: Silentium, page 197
  9. ^ Halo: Silentium, page 307
  10. ^ Halo: Silentium, page 27
  11. ^ Halo 2: Anniversary, multiplayer map Lockdown description
  12. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 334
  13. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 364-365
  14. ^ Halo: Silentium, pages 316-317
  15. ^ Halo Waypoint: Bestiarum
  16. ^ a b Halo 3, Terminals
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