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Menachite portal complex: Difference between revisions
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The outside of the complex resembles granite rock, with passages allowing access along the wall. The wall has a long stretch of glyphs trailing along it that twist into a spiral mosaic and vanish into ever-smaller curls. The glyphs are part of the wall's material, described as being composed of glittering mica inclusions in the granite matrix. The glyphs themselves are a series of squares, triangles, bars, and dots, and blur out of focus when someone looks at them directly.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 139</ref> | The outside of the complex resembles granite rock, with passages allowing access along the wall. The wall has a long stretch of glyphs trailing along it that twist into a spiral mosaic and vanish into ever-smaller curls. The glyphs are part of the wall's material, described as being composed of glittering mica inclusions in the granite matrix. The glyphs themselves are a series of squares, triangles, bars, and dots, and blur out of focus when someone looks at them directly.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 139</ref> | ||
When [[SPARTAN-104]]'s blood touched the wall, a transformation occurred.<ref name="blood">''Halo: First Strike'', page 141</ref> The glyphs began to emit a soft red glow comparable to heated metal. The glow spread outward from point at which his blood touched the wall, and the colors in the center began warming to orange and then to yellow-gold. A single white glyph, a triangle, became visible in the center of the spiral. Despite the emission of light, the glyphs did not radiate heat. When SPARTAN-104 touched this glyph with his bare fingertip, all the glyphs along the entire wall glowed white with brilliant illumination. After a moment, the wall itself rumpled and transformed into a corridor leading into the complex.<ref name="blood"/> | When [[Frederic-104|SPARTAN-104]]'s blood touched the wall, a transformation occurred.<ref name="blood">''Halo: First Strike'', page 141</ref> The glyphs began to emit a soft red glow comparable to heated metal. The glow spread outward from point at which his blood touched the wall, and the colors in the center began warming to orange and then to yellow-gold. A single white glyph, a triangle, became visible in the center of the spiral. Despite the emission of light, the glyphs did not radiate heat. When SPARTAN-104 touched this glyph with his bare fingertip, all the glyphs along the entire wall glowed white with brilliant illumination. After a moment, the wall itself rumpled and transformed into a corridor leading into the complex.<ref name="blood"/> | ||
The corridor was twenty meters in height, leading inward at a straight line that gently sloped deeper into the ground. Golden light shined from the ceiling.<ref name="ceiling">''Halo: First Strike'', page 143</ref> The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned in a way comparable to waves lapping on a shore. The utterly smooth walls were inlaid with centered four-meter tall gold glyphs made of similar shapes of triangles, squares, bars, and circles. When the glyphs began to softly glow, SPARTAN-104 felt himself attracted to them, but resisted his impulse to approach them on an intuitive suspicion that they were dangerous.<ref name="gold">''Halo: First Strike'', page 142</ref> His radiation counter briefly pulsed, supporting his hesitation.<ref name="gold"/> | The corridor was twenty meters in height, leading inward at a straight line that gently sloped deeper into the ground. Golden light shined from the ceiling.<ref name="ceiling">''Halo: First Strike'', page 143</ref> The floor was paved with asymmetric blue tiles patterned in a way comparable to waves lapping on a shore. The utterly smooth walls were inlaid with centered four-meter tall gold glyphs made of similar shapes of triangles, squares, bars, and circles. When the glyphs began to softly glow, SPARTAN-104 felt himself attracted to them, but resisted his impulse to approach them on an intuitive suspicion that they were dangerous.<ref name="gold">''Halo: First Strike'', page 142</ref> His radiation counter briefly pulsed, supporting his hesitation.<ref name="gold"/> | ||
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The corridor empties onto a landing overlooking an approximately circular room with a diameter of three kilometers, the center of which contains a flickering pedestal<ref name="room">''Halo: First Strike'', page 144</ref> that holds the Forerunner Crystal.<ref name="crystal">''Halo: First Strike'', pages 145/146</ref> The landing is on one of twelve tiered levels that have no railings and encircle the room. The floor, approximately one hundred meters beneath the landing, is made of innumerable blue tiles that appear to shift around into patterns SPARTAN-104 describes as "frustratingly familiar".<ref name="room"/> Unlike the floor in the corridor, these tiles form squares, circles, bars, and triangles.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', pages 144/145</ref> The ceiling is a dome with a holographic golden sun, a dozen moons,<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 185</ref> blue sky, and cottony clouds that morph into geometric shapes such as spheres, pyramids, bars, and cubes.<ref name="room"/> | The corridor empties onto a landing overlooking an approximately circular room with a diameter of three kilometers, the center of which contains a flickering pedestal<ref name="room">''Halo: First Strike'', page 144</ref> that holds the Forerunner Crystal.<ref name="crystal">''Halo: First Strike'', pages 145/146</ref> The landing is on one of twelve tiered levels that have no railings and encircle the room. The floor, approximately one hundred meters beneath the landing, is made of innumerable blue tiles that appear to shift around into patterns SPARTAN-104 describes as "frustratingly familiar".<ref name="room"/> Unlike the floor in the corridor, these tiles form squares, circles, bars, and triangles.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', pages 144/145</ref> The ceiling is a dome with a holographic golden sun, a dozen moons,<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', page 185</ref> blue sky, and cottony clouds that morph into geometric shapes such as spheres, pyramids, bars, and cubes.<ref name="room"/> | ||
When Dr. Halsey and her Spartans approached the pedestal, they experienced spatial disorientation in which their path was distorted. Despite their attempts to reach the center as a close group, they found themselves heading off in separate directions. SPARTAN-104 described feeling a sense of vertigo as if he was walking on the ceiling instead of the floor.<ref name="vertigo">''Halo: First Strike'', page 145</ref> A test of rolling a ball bearing on the ground showed the floor initially sloped toward the center, but shifted around as the ball bearing rolled until it came to a total stop.<ref name="vertigo"/> [[SPARTAN-087]] was able to intuitively determine the true direction toward the pedestal, ostensibly the opposite direction.<ref name="vertigo"/> The pedestal in the center is made of the same gold material as the symbols in the corridor. Above it floated the Forerunner Crystal, which spun and pulsed a bright glow of sapphire-blue light.<ref name="crystal"/> | When Dr. Halsey and her Spartans approached the pedestal, they experienced spatial disorientation in which their path was distorted. Despite their attempts to reach the center as a close group, they found themselves heading off in separate directions. SPARTAN-104 described feeling a sense of vertigo as if he was walking on the ceiling instead of the floor.<ref name="vertigo">''Halo: First Strike'', page 145</ref> A test of rolling a ball bearing on the ground showed the floor initially sloped toward the center, but shifted around as the ball bearing rolled until it came to a total stop.<ref name="vertigo"/> [[Kelly-087|SPARTAN-087]] was able to intuitively determine the true direction toward the pedestal, ostensibly the opposite direction.<ref name="vertigo"/> The pedestal in the center is made of the same gold material as the symbols in the corridor. Above it floated the Forerunner Crystal, which spun and pulsed a bright glow of sapphire-blue light.<ref name="crystal"/> | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||