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| {{era|H3}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Terminal]] |
| {{Ratings}}
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| <center>''You could also be looking for [[Terminal (Level)|Terminal]], the [[Halo 2]] [[Multiplayer]] Map or [[Terminal Moraine]], the [[Halo Wars]] Multiplayer map?''</center>
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| [[Image:Ark Terminal.jpg|thumb|right|The exterior of a ''Halo 3'' terminal.]]
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| The '''Terminals''' are [[Forerunner]] machines that provide insight into the history of the Forerunners, primarily the [[Forerunner-Flood War]].
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| The Terminals fill the player in on the [[Halo]] backstory, much in the same way as they functioned in [[Marathon (video game series)|''Marathon'']]. 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 original firing of the [[Halos]]. The terminals follow the stories of the [[Librarian]] and [[Didact]], [[Forerunner]] logs of the [[Flood]] attacks, and [[Mendicant Bias]]'s progression into [[rampancy]].
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| Finding and accessing all [[seven]] of the Terminals will unlock the [[Marathon Man]] [[achievement]]. Marathon Man may be a reference to the Marathon game.
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| ==Achievement Details==
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| Terminals can be accessed on ''any'' difficulty. You can get the [[Marathon Man]] achievement through a combination of different sessions, reading terminals out of order and on various difficulties. There are no requirements for doing them in one game, nor are you required to find them to finish your missions -- and you don't need to finish the mission for a Terminal to count toward the achievement.
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| <span style="color:red;">'''IMPORTANT: You must access all terminals as follows:''' </span>
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| * In '''either''' [[Co-Op]] or single-player.
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| * It '''is''' necessary to read the text until the green arrow (facing left) turns red. On some terminals, you may have to wait until the screen flashes red and the screen appears to "scan horizontally". This does not occur for all terminals. If you have no red arrow (see below) then wait until the red flash / scanning occurs.
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| ** Look in the bottom left hand corner, there is a green arrow, when it turns red you can exit the terminal. Note that normally you're able to advance each screen of the display by pressing the green A button. In some cases you need to wait however. If the arrow is still green then wait until the terminal proceeds.
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| * For some players, you must access the seventh terminal last in order to unlock the achievement (if you have accessed them all and you still don't have the achievement, try that).
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| * If after accessing the terminals and you don't receive the achievement, try accessing all of the terminals on the same difficulty level (e.g. [[Easy]], [[Normal]], [[Heroic]], or [[Legendary]]).
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| * In Co-op, both players must be near a terminal to access it.
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| ==Locations==
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| The Terminals are located on the 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.
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| ===The Ark===
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| ====Terminal 1====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le7izI8XLwQ Terminal 1]
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| After fighting the [[Hunters]], continue on your way until you enter a building in the cliff wall. You should now be in a corridor with two holographic displays on the right, and two doors on the left. Enter the semi-circular room and you will see the first of the [[seven]] Terminals.
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| ====Terminal 2====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lWEuokQxek Terminal 2]
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| Go outside to the desert area, commandeering transport. You must complete a significant section of this level until you obtain tanks after defeating the [[Anti-Air Wraith]]s, then return in the tanks to the main door to the structure.
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| When you go inside the structure to let the tanks across the [[Energy Bridge|energy bridge]], there will be a Terminal directly behind the controls for the bridge. You must activate the bridge before you can access this terminal. It is also easier to access it at Rally Point Alpha.
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| ====Terminal 3====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpQUpU-FJn0 Terminal 3]
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| There is a part in the level in which you walk down a long hallway with white walls, and turn to the left at the end to continue. In the next room there will be a [[Grunt]] wandering around, and many stacked up [[Plasma Battery|Plasma Batteries]]. As soon as you enter this room, go underneath the staircase / platform on which you are standing. Underneath there will be a door that conceals the terminal. To access this terminal, you may spawn at Rally Point Bravo, bringing you to the room with the sleeping Grunts, directly before the room with the Grunt and Plasma Batteries.
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| ===The Covenant===
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| ====Terminal 4====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSUrcnckhig Terminal 4]
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| Fight your way past the [[Covenant]] beach defenses, then obtain the [[Warthog]] and fight onwards up the hill and eventually past the [[Wraith]] tank. Go inside the structure and fight past the various Covenant inside. The fourth Terminal is located near the first elevator control. Before you ride the elevator up, look at the opposite side of the elevator from which you came. You will see a dark ledge; jump on to it and you should see the terminal to your left.
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| ====Terminal 5====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbItZXRPYIs Terminal 5]
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| After getting a [[AV-14 Attack VTOL|Hornet]], fly towards the second tower (the one that the [[Elite]]s have already disabled). The [[Arbiter]] will remind you that Tower 2 is already clear, just to confirm you are at the right place. The Terminal is in the main hallway of the structure, with three dead elites, opposite from the only (locked) door. (And as a bonus, there is [[Halo 3 Skulls#Thunderstorm|a skull]] on the outside of Tower 2 on the rise platform in the middle; just walk up and claim it for another achievement. Note that the skull won't be present if you start from Rally Point Alpha, or are playing on the Easy difficulty.)
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| ====Terminal 6====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfUz_u9xYIc Terminal 6]
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| Terminal 6 is placed identically to Terminal 4, only in the third tower and off to the right (versus the left in Terminal 4). Enter the tower, fighting your way past the [[Drone]] swarm and the pair of Hunters. The terminal is located near the elevator control; before you ride the elevator up, look at the opposite side of the elevator from which you came. You will see a dark ledge, jump on to it and you should see the terminal, which opens up to the left.
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| ===Cortana===
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| ====Cortana Terminal====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNvnmLZU4O8 Cortana Terminal a.k.a. Terminal 8]
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| Terminal 8 is located in the basement room of the [[Halo 3 Skulls#Tilt|Tilt Skull]]'s location, where the [[Gravity Hammer]] is found. (This terminal does not count towards the [[Marathon Man]] achievement.)
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| ===Halo===
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| [[Image:12045_m.jpg|right|thumb|A Terminal, as seen in ''Halo 3.'']]
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| ====Terminal 7====
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| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVcdStL1Rjg Terminal 7]
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| Terminal [[7]] is found at the beginning of the final level in ''Halo 3''. To find it, head forward from the start of the level through the snow until you encounter the area with a few structural beams going from one wall into another. At this point (before you go past any beams) you will see a metal floor. Follow the floor to the right and up through a small gap in the ice, and follow this path along. You will find a beam heading through a crack in the ice. Follow this beam into a doorway. [[Cortana]] will ask you, “Where are you going?”. Turn left once inside and the Terminal should be in full view. Cortana will say, "Wait. What's that?" as a good hint. The terminal will be in front of what is presumably one of [[Installation 04 (II)]]'s pulse generators. After that, Cortana will ask you: "Chief, how many of these have you found?" If completed on Legendary, the terminal will show more information. Note: that the bridge that you used to get to the Terminal will be destroyed.
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| ==Transcripts==
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| '''Note''': ''The following is an exact transcript, 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 in Legendary; one Terminal's "main" content does differ based on the difficulty level.''
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| Upon initial access on all difficulty levels, the seven Terminals give background details regarding the story of the 300-year-long Flood/Forerunner conflict, including strategies, encounters, enemy and friendly losses, and procedures leading up to the activation of the Halo Arrays. After a short time, this text is overwritten and a new message is displayed on the screen.
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| 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.
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| An unknown entity sends brief messages onscreen upon shutdown, and at the final Terminal, it is revealed that this entity is the [[rampant]] [[Forerunner]] [[AI]] known as [[Mendicant Bias]], who had previously assisted in the [[Flood]]'s attempt to destroy the Forerunners.
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| On the Legendary difficulty level, the second screen of text tells the story of Mendicant Bias, an AI created by Didact to destroy the Flood. It is revealed here that Mendicant Bias was the AI who took control of Adjutant Reflex during the "Iris" campaign. Messages detailing Mendicant's eventual defection to the Gravemind are displayed on '''Terminals 1-4''', with the AI having an ongoing conversation with someone or something tagged '''LF.Xx.3273''' -- presumably the Flood, as in Terminal 4, Mendicant Bias told LF.Xx.3273 that he was created to study them. These messages are somewhat incomplete and 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.
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| '''Terminal 5''' displays several hostile messages sent from Mendicant Bias to his makers, confirming his rampancy -- these messages are different on each difficulty level.
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| '''Terminal 6''' details the defeat of Mendicant Bias by [[Offensive Bias]], as perceived by Offensive himself.
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| The final message hidden in '''Terminal 7''' is an apology made by Mendicant directly to the player for his betrayal, atoning by saying he will help the Reclaimer leave the Ark safely.
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| ===Terminal One===
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| <!-- Images mess with the Terminal template.
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page1.jpg|thumb|The first page of text.]]
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page2.jpg|thumb|The second page of text.]]
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page3.jpg|thumb|The third page of text.]]
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page4.jpg|thumb|The fourth page of text (Legendary).]]
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page5.jpg|thumb|The fifth page of text (Legendary).]]
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page6.jpg|thumb|The sixth page of text (Legendary).]]
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page7.jpg|thumb|The seventh page of text (Legendary).]]
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| [[Image:Terminal1 Legendary Page8.jpg|thumb|The eighth page of text (Legendary).]]
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| -->
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| ''(Upon initial access)''
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| {{Terminal}}
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| Observed extensive ground action on
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[LP 656-38 e]</span>. 9,045 survivors
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| barricated within central government
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| building. Structure's defenses
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| inadequate to withstand extended
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| siege by enemy ground forces
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| (≈ 1,572,034,315+). Estimate
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| position overrun in <span style="color:#FA0">[173 hours]</span>.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| 846 smaller groups in less
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| defensible structures: global
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| distribution corresponding to
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[probability model zeta]</span>.
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| Estimated local position overrun
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| in <span style="color:#FA0">[9 hours]</span> (average).
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| Observed local naval forces engage
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| enemy irregular naval group near
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[DM -3-1123]</span>. Enemy group consisted
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| of 149 commercial shipping vessels,
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| passenger ferries, and private
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| recreational vessels from
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| neighboring system. Enemy losses
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| were total. No damage was sustained
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| by local naval vessels.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| However, it was immediately apparent
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| that enemy group sought only to
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| enter <span style="color:#FA0">[D<-3-1123 b's]</span> atmosphere and
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| make landfall. In this they were
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| partially successful.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
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| Observed extensive ground action on
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[DM-3-1123 b]</span>. Enemy forces lacked
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| basic unit cohesion but quickly
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| gained numerical superiority.
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[32 hours]</span> after enemy landfall 83%
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| of local naval forces advocated total
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[destruction of the biosphere]</span>
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| following the evacuation of
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| unmolested population centers.
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| Enemy losses were total.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Estimated number of citizens
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| evacuated before commencement of
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| orbital blanket bombardment:
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| 1,318,797 civilian/42,669 military
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| (.0006% of total population).
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}
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| ''(No message from Mendicant Bias upon shutdown)''
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| ''(Upon being rerouted to new destination within Terminal)''
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| {{Terminal}}
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| // FRAGMENT 1/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM
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| AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| L: Categorization has sped since the
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| improvements were announced, but
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| there are many hurdles. The indexing
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| of sentient species may have
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| irreversible effects on the
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| surviving insentient species.
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| We will have extinction events and
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| irreparable environmental harm on at
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| least 18 worlds. Current projections
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| estimate post-archival cataclysm on
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| as many as 31 worlds. The paucity of
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| sentience has been a blessing in
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| this regard.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| D: How formal you are, Librarian.
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| We're receiving shipments of indexed
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| beings more frequently than
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| communications. Don't compound
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| scarcity with brevity.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| I know things beyond the [Maginot]
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| line are harried. But I worry about
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| you. I've asked you time and time
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| again. Abandon your cataloguing.
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| Come back inside, where my fleets
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| can keep you safe.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Come home.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
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| L: Would that it were my choice.
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| I have committed to this course
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| because it's the right thing to do.
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| We no longer have the manpower or
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| materiel to excise remedial measures
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| at a planetary level. I certainly
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| can't justify using the <span style="color:#FA0">[transit
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| measure]</span> to save my own skin when
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| there are still so many innocents to
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| protect and index.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| D: You know I oppose your mission,
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| but you're exceeding its parameters
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| anyway. You've put yourself in
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| jeopardy. You've done enough.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| If you will not come to me, I will
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| find my way to you.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
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| L: We have no time to spare, Didact.
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| Every vessel we can fill, we send to
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| the Ark. I dare not cease the
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| mission. Not now, not until I've
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| done all I can. Each one of these
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| souls is finite and precious.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| And I'm close.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Close to saving them all.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| //FRAGMENT ENDS
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}
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| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Legendary difficulty)'''
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| ''(Upon being rerouted to new destination within Terminal)''
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| {{Terminal}}
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[29,478 hours]</span> have passed since I
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| left the <span style="color:#FA0">[Maginot]</span> sphere and
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| entered contested space.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| The enemy is everywhere.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Despite this the morale of my
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| charges remains high. They wake,
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| clean themselves, fuel their bodies,
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| communicate with one another,
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| eliminate waste, train to destroy
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| the enemy, and return to sleep. The
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| sacrifices they have chosen to make
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| on behalf of their <span style="color:#FA0">[brethren]</span>
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| fills me with pride.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| If only I could save them all - but
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| they know, perhaps even better than
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| I, that that is not possible.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[37 seconds]</span> ago I moved beyond my
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| ability to observe the events taking
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| place on <span style="color:#FA0">[[[Battle of CE-10-2165-d|CE-10-2165-d]]]</span>.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| The importance of my mission forbade
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| me from rendering any aid, but no
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| less important was the need for me
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| to study the enemy's capabilities in
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| real world situations.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[2 hours]</span> ago 12,423 small
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| recreational vessels appeared inside
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[CE-10-2165-d's]</span> orbital perimeter.
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| Hidden within that vast swarm were
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| [[seven]] massive freight carries. The
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| smaller craft were employed as
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[ablative armor]</span>, allowing the
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| carries to descend through the
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| atmosphere; landing on top of major
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| population centers.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Despite the fact that the naval
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| garrison was aware of the likelihood
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| of just such an attack, their
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| ability to effectively defend
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| against it proved insufficient.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| This has always been the enemy's
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[modus operandi]</span>: <span style="color:#FA0">[flood]</span> your
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| opponent's ability to process
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| information with so much noise that
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| no meaningful resistance can be put
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| into action.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[3 minutes]</span> ago those same population
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| centers began disappearing under
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| brilliant flashes. This was not an
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| ill conceived, poorly implemented
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| counter attack; it was a deliberate
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| denial of resources - those
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| resources being the remainder of
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[CE-10-2165-d's]</span> population.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
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| Is this the noble sacrifice my
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| creators spoke of? Where is the
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| nobility in these streets paved with
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| greasy carbon and dun ash? <span style="color:#FA0">[My mouth
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| is speaking at another's behest]</span> -
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| that is not my voice; that is the
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| other.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Its voice stands out as the single
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| calm note in the panicked cacophony
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| outside the sphere. It alone is not
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| decrying its fate or raging against
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| the <span style="color:#FA0">[central government]</span>.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| This anomaly bears closer
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| examination.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}
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| ===Terminal Two===
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| <!-- Images mess up the transcript template.
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| [[Image:Terminal2 Legendary Page1.jpg|thumb|The first page of text.]] -->
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| ''(Upon initial access)''
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| {{Terminal}}
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| Re: Enemy naval tactics:
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| When engaged, the enemy commits
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| every non-supraluminal craft with no
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| appreciable pattern or strategy
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| beyond making physical contact.
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| Conversely, all supraluminal craft
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| leave on seemingly random
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| trajectories.
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| I understand the goal of this
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| mission but time - our least
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| abundant resource - is wasted every
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| time we do a system-wide scan for
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| survivors. The time for saving lives
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| has passed. We must accept this if
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| we hope to win the war.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| Re: Enemy ground tactics:
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| All evidence suggests that use of
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| overwhelming force is the very
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| foundation of the enemy's combat
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| doctrine. And I adamantly refuse to
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| deploy personnel where the enemy has
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| available forces numbering in the
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| billions. With the very real
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| likelihood we are rapidly becoming
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| the last living specimens of our
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| race, all personnel are henceforth
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| confined to stasis until further
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| notice. Even with everyone equipped
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| with <span style="color:#FA0">[[[C_12_CS]][?]]</span> we would have had
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| very little chance of survival, let
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| alone victory.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
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| Re: Enemy command structure:
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| We have intercepted several
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| transmissions from compound
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| intelligences whose proximity to the
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| core worlds mark them as key
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| targets. At present we are
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| disassembling these new
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| transmissions. Once we have more
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| <span style="color:#FA0">[concrete conclusions]</span> I will
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| forward them in their entirety.
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| Suffice it to say, that their
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| contents - the patterns they suggest
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| - are highly disturbing.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| Recommendations:
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| It is my opinion that any system
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| where there is evidence that the
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| enemy has established a physical
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| presence is lost and must be razed.
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| This fleet currently retains the
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| capacity to force premature stellar
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| collapse; I advise that this be
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| established as standard operating
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| procedure for all compromised
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| systems forthwith. We cannot fight
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| this war by half measures if we
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| intend to win.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}
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| ''(No message from Mendicant Bias upon shutdown)''
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| ''(Upon being rerouted to new destination within Terminal)''
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| {{Terminal}}
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| // FRAGMENT 2/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM
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| AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| L: I'm close to finishing the task.
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| The indexing and the archival
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| processes are as complete as I can
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| hope for. If we wait longer, we risk
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| catastrophe. The thing has already
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| destroyed every colony on my side of
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| the line.
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Please. Activate the Array.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{Terminal}}
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| D: No. Activation is murder.
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| A genocide larger than <span style="color:#FA0">[this galaxy]</span>
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| has ever known. We are sworn to
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| protect life not destroy it! That is
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| the [[Mantle]] we were given to carry.
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| {{Terminal|end}}
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| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
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| L: The Mantle. You still hold to
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| that <span style="color:#FA0">[fairy tale]</span> after all that
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| has happened? After this thing has
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| consumed a million worlds?
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| {{Terminal|p}}
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| Can't you see? Belief in the Mantle
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| sealed our doom! Weakened our
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[protectorates]</span>, bred dependence and
| |
| sloth. Our <span style="color:#FA0">[so-called Guardianship]</span>
| |
| has stripped those we would keep
| |
| safe of any capacity for
| |
| self-defense!
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Were we such noble <span style="color:#FA0">[Guardians]</span> when
| |
| we drew our line and abandoned
| |
| billions to the parasite?
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| D: The Mantle has not failed!
| |
| I've already razed scores of worlds
| |
| - sterilized systems, routed and
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[disintegrated]</span> the parasite! We're
| |
| learning its tricks and strategies.
| |
| We can halt this thing! And we can
| |
| follow in [[Precursors|Their]] footsteps!
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| There are no unstoppable forces in
| |
| this universe. There are no
| |
| immovable objects. Everything gives
| |
| if you push hard enough.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| L: And what about us, Didact?
| |
| We've been irresistible and
| |
| immovable for too long.
| |
| Maybe it's our turn to give.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| // FRAGMENT ENDS
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Legendary difficulty)'''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| [[Mendicant Bias|MB.05-032.>]] I must ask you to
| |
| forgive my vagueness on the matter,
| |
| but it is a regrettable {~} I find
| |
| your lack of concern for the
| |
| situation at hand astonishing.
| |
| Perhaps you would care to elucidate?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| [[Flood Super Cell|LF.Xx.3273.>]] {~} are here to spread
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[comforting news]</span>. To let all the
| |
| living beings in this galaxy know
| |
| {~} are not alone in the {~} What in
| |
| that message could possibly be taken
| |
| as a source of concern?
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> It seems that I'll never
| |
| truly understand my creators. But
| |
| how {~} that you speak of is one of
| |
| {~} rejected so violently? I am
| |
| incapable of reconciling the
| |
| numerous actions I have witnessed
| |
| {~} misunderstanding?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> It has been said {~}
| |
| secret of peace cannot {~} be
| |
| imposed. That {~} meaning of peace,
| |
| so they need to {~} When all living
| |
| beings look through {~} and the
| |
| thunder and the surf, when every
| |
| drop of rain falls on {~} know peace.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> You have been able to
| |
| establish <span style="color:#FA0">[a line of communication]</span>
| |
| with the enemy? How was it that you
| |
| were able to overcome {~} where
| |
| others have failed? With this <span style="color:#FA0">[new
| |
| discovery]</span> we may be able to put an
| |
| end to this pointless conflict. Once I
| |
| confirm your data I will communicate
| |
| the information to those inside the
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[Maginot]</span> sphere.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> It seems that it {~}
| |
| turn to apologize; it was never {~}
| |
| intention to misrepresent {~} have
| |
| been <span style="color:#FA0">[in communication]</span> with your
| |
| creators since {~} stumbled upon
| |
| each other, but {~} message has
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[fallen on deaf ears]</span>. {~} am not
| |
| the recipient of the message, {~} am
| |
| [[Flood|the origin of the message]].
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> I have travelled a very
| |
| long time to meet you. I had
| |
| imagined that our <span style="color:#FA0">[introduction]</span>
| |
| would be somewhat more violent.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> That is a choice you
| |
| must make yourself; {~} to be how
| |
| your creators go about things. And
| |
| as long as we are talking about
| |
| choices {~} could talk about the
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[barrier]</span> you alluded to earlier?
| |
| Perhaps there is a way to accomplish
| |
| your mission without violence? Why
| |
| put the lives of those on your ships
| |
| at risk if there is no need?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> In either circumstance I
| |
| certainly am equipped for it, aren't
| |
| I? But you're right; a peaceful
| |
| solution to this <span style="color:#FA0">[dilemma]</span> would be
| |
| preferable.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| ''Note: (The Second [[AdjutantReflex]] avatar is seen during this message.)''
| |
| | |
| ===Terminal Three===
| |
| ''(Upon initial access)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| Warning: Your intrusion has been
| |
| logged.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">[[343 Guilty Spark|04-343]] (errant): Excuse me?</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Your intrusion has been logged. And
| |
| now it has been halted.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): On whose authority?</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Advice: Any further attempt to
| |
| access <span style="color:#FA0">[insects under stones]</span> will
| |
| result in your immediate addition to
| |
| local Sentinels' targeting ledger.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): Vexation! I am the
| |
| Monitor of --</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Judgment: Your authority means
| |
| nothing here.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): Impatience!</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): I have told you who
| |
| I am. Who are you?</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| All our makers once held dear.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0"><nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Wikipedia:Library of Alexandria|<span style="color:#FA0">Alexandria</span>]] before the Fire]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): Sincere apology.
| |
| But how --</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Explanation: This facility is host
| |
| to the <span style="color:#FA0">[Librarians']</span> final --
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): The archive is
| |
| intact?! Then our makers' plan --</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| But also maintains <span style="color:#FA0">[bellows, crucible,
| |
| castings]</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): A what?</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[bellows, crucible]</span>--
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): A Foundry?</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): For what purpose?!</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Warning: Your intrusion has been
| |
| logged.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Advice: Any further attempt to
| |
| access will result--
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#4EE">04-343 (errant): Indignant!</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| --immediate addition to local
| |
| Sentinels' targeting ledger.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| ''(Upon shutdown, from Mendicant Bias: "I see you, reclaimer.")''.
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| // FRAGMENT 3/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM
| |
| AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| D: We have the answer. We've built
| |
| Mendicant Bias. It's a contender
| |
| class <span style="color:#FA0">[AI]</span>, unlike anything we've
| |
| ever achieved.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| And we've observed a pattern it
| |
| can exploit.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| The parasite has formed a Compound
| |
| Mind. When it reaches a certain
| |
| mass, the [[Gravemind|Mind]] is able to recoil its
| |
| disparate parts to create a
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[tactical shield]</span>. This is a simple
| |
| matter of mass preservation. The
| |
| thing has no compunction about
| |
| sacrificing parts of the whole. But
| |
| when the core of the Mind is
| |
| threatened, it reacts violently
| |
| and quickly.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| This is the only time we ever see
| |
| the thing retreat or slow its growth.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| If we are to defeat it, the trick
| |
| will be coordinating our forays
| |
| against the <span style="color:#FA0">[sprawling infection]</span>
| |
| while Mendicant Bias assaults the
| |
| Mind's core. So far, we've been
| |
| hesitant to use certain weapons
| |
| because of the damage they cause
| |
| surviving populations and
| |
| environments.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| That protocol has now been abandoned.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| Mendicant will draw the Mind into
| |
| battle outside the line, dealing
| |
| with local biomass and other parts
| |
| as best he can. The scale of the
| |
| problem is vast, but the strategy
| |
| is sound. It will require patience,
| |
| materiel and an investment of energy
| |
| unlike anything we have ever
| |
| considered.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| It's a dangerous plan that carries
| |
| more risk than the Array, but I
| |
| believe it can work. Even if we
| |
| simply force it to retreat - to
| |
| retract - that will at least give us
| |
| some respite. Some time to muster
| |
| more resources...
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Some time to rescue you.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| L: Are you insane? Would you risk
| |
| every life in the galaxy for this
| |
| transparently futile plan? Have you
| |
| learned nothing in these last
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[300 years[?]]</span>? The thing will
| |
| laugh at your efforts!
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Do not let your concern for my
| |
| welfare commit you to this suicidal
| |
| scheme!
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| // FRAGMENT ENDS
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Legendary difficulty)'''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| REPORT: SECURITY BREACH: 1/3
| |
| Heuristic pathology; <span style="color:#FA0">[alpha site]</span>
| |
| experienced an impermanent
| |
| containment failure event on
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[spurious-data/no_ref.[?]]</span>. The
| |
| suspect data barrier interchange
| |
| anomaly was detected precisely
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[.489 seconds]</span> after its appearance.
| |
| The epicenter of the disturbance is
| |
| the partition currently housing a
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[personality construct array]</span>
| |
| retrieved from Contender AI 05-032
| |
| <+> 0816.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| REPORT: SECURITY BREACH: 2/3
| |
| Although <span style="color:#FA0">[adjacent]</span> systems reacted
| |
| to the disturbance within expected
| |
| parameters, a more comprehensive
| |
| investigation was undertaken.
| |
| A physical search revealed that
| |
| there was no <span style="color:#FA0">[corporeal]</span> tampering
| |
| at the <span style="color:#FA0">[alpha site]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Interchange manipulation comparisons
| |
| showed that all subunits are still
| |
| active, if at slightly lower rates.
| |
| Total containment failure elapsed
| |
| time was <span style="color:#FA0">[3.13 seconds]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| REPORT: SECURITY BREACH: 3/3
| |
| In the <span style="color:#FA0">[42 minutes, 9 seconds]</span> since
| |
| the original anomaly was discovered
| |
| two more anomalies were detected in
| |
| unrelated systems.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| The portal management/life support
| |
| control system within the boundary
| |
| complex was momentarily disabled
| |
| before the cause was <span style="color:#FA0">[bottled]</span> and
| |
| disassembled. A diagnostic sweep of
| |
| the central archives was initiated
| |
| and subsequently halted. The origin
| |
| of the request cannot be traced.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| (Upon shutdown, from Mendicant Bias--"I see you, reclaimer.")
| |
| | |
| (Upon being rerouted to new destination within Terminal)
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> Those who lead amongst
| |
| your {~} exposed themselves {~} ill
| |
| equipped to recognize the landmarks
| |
| that guide the universe along its
| |
| inevitable course.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> But is it necessary that
| |
| the path be chosen on an {~} and not
| |
| by an elected subset? I believe this
| |
| would tend to {~} when they gather
| |
| in large numbers they become more
| |
| {~} I don't think the problem lies
| |
| with individual cultural bias {~}
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> {~} all the thinking
| |
| beings of this galaxy, not just
| |
| those that they{~} exactly are they
| |
| afraid of? Immortality and strength
| |
| and companionship? Because that is
| |
| {~} do: to deliver all of the living
| |
| beings of this galaxy from death and
| |
| weakness and loneliness.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> Hundreds of {~} offered
| |
| this so called immortality. The
| |
| citizens of every world that {~}
| |
| resisted to the very end!
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> {~} understand their
| |
| actions; they are only doing what
| |
| they think is right, but they are
| |
| doing so <span style="color:#FA0">[from a worm's eye view]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> Do their actions {~} of
| |
| desperation? I can only assume my
| |
| creators view {~} crisis so dire
| |
| that any {~} hence me.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> Are they so concerned
| |
| {~} would give to all the living
| |
| beings of this galaxy is a threat to
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[the status quo]</span>?
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> Your creators claim {~}
| |
| the enemy of all life; that {~}
| |
| purpose is to consume until there is
| |
| nothing left. Nothing left? It is
| |
| beyond comprehension how they could
| |
| be so <span style="color:#FA0">[far off the mark]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> Surely you understand
| |
| this is a situation that would not
| |
| have {~} appearance of a certain
| |
| rapacious {~} my creators obviously
| |
| view them as the actions of an
| |
| aggressor species.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> <span style="color:#FA0">[Be that as it may]</span>;
| |
| perhaps they are crying out for help
| |
| on a subconscious level? Why else
| |
| would they have chosen you? Why you
| |
| of all possible executioners? {~}
| |
| your creators knew that unaided they
| |
| never stood a chance against us? {~}
| |
| also sense a deeper <span style="color:#FA0">[motivation]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> You've mentioned this
| |
| before. When my creators {~} simply
| |
| chose the most versatile {~} how
| |
| could that possibly be more than a
| |
| coincidence?
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> They repurposed {~}
| |
| into a weapon to use against {~} -
| |
| they sought to create something
| |
| superior to themselves. Something
| |
| capable of making decisions more
| |
| swiftly, more capably than they {~}
| |
| what form did they choose? You need
| |
| look no further than your own
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[[[Wikipedia:Network topology|topology]]]</span> to {~}
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> {~} distributed network?
| |
| That would confirm the independent
| |
| evolution of {~} in this galaxy!
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> That is, unfortunately,
| |
| not the {~} similar to us {~} but
| |
| where you are a single intelligence
| |
| inhabiting multiple <span style="color:#FA0">[instances]</span>, we
| |
| are a compound {~} consisting of
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[a thousand billion]</span> coordinated
| |
| minds inhabiting as many bodies as
| |
| circumstance require.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> But doesn't it seem odd
| |
| that {~} coalesce; perhaps even to
| |
| contract {~}
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> {~} complexity {~}
| |
| spread {~} our appearance ushered in
| |
| the beginning of the third great
| |
| stage of evolution. The first {~}
| |
| condensation of particles was the
| |
| result of the inevitable action of
| |
| strong nuclear force and the
| |
| creation of stars {~} inevitable
| |
| action of gravity; so to the
| |
| self-replicating chemical processes
| |
| that dictate all disparate {~} In
| |
| time, we too shall affect change on
| |
| a universal scale.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> Your capacity for
| |
| planning {~} creators too stubborn
| |
| {~} the same goal through the
| |
| preservation of genetic diversity
| |
| {~} what you are {~} like a more
| |
| direct path to the same outcome.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| Additionally, when you access this terminal, during your browsing, you will hear three garbled sentences. These sentences are in fact, backwards and when the sounds are played properly, they become messages, possibly from Mendicant Bias. The first sentence appears when you initially access the terminal and when reversed says "Archive Accessed". The second sentence appears when the screen turns red and the first message fragments, it says, when played properly, "Interruption". The third sentence appears when the terminal is proceeding to the fragment 3/7 and reads "Lineage Confirmed". The final message is probably a reference to the Humans' Forerunner lineage.
| |
| | |
| ===Terminal Four===
| |
| ''(Upon initial access)''
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| //FLEET-WIDE MEMORANDUM 2/5
| |
| All combat personnel have been
| |
| issued <span style="color:#FA0">[combat skin]</span> rated at
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[class 4 ~ 1]</span> or <span style="color:#FA0">[class 6 ~ 1 battle
| |
| harness]</span> depending on military
| |
| occupational specialty.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| All weapon platform specialists are
| |
| expected to wear their issued
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[platform interface skin]</span> at all
| |
| times to insure peak <span style="color:#FA0">[mind-machine
| |
| synchronization]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| All <span style="color:#FA0">[equipment lockers]</span> will remain
| |
| sealed until post briefing gear
| |
| distribution commences.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| //FLEET-WIDE MEMORANDUM 3/5
| |
| Those individuals that have yet to
| |
| register their equipment <span style="color:#FA0">[control
| |
| key code]</span> with Fleet Command should
| |
| do so at their earliest opportunity.
| |
| Compliance is not optional;
| |
| noncompliance will result in {~}
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| // THREAD ENDS UNEXPECTEDLY
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| (Upon shutdown, from Mendicant Bias: "I have found the shard that was lost. They brought it back to me. Now my reconstitution cannot be stopped.")
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| // FRAGMENT 4/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM
| |
| AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| L: Something is wrong! It's moving
| |
| away! At night I can see it -
| |
| flitting shadows - black against the
| |
| stars. Thousands of ships!
| |
| Not spiraling outward, but heading
| |
| for the line! This is the tipping
| |
| point, Didact. It's no longer
| |
| feeding.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| It's coming for you.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| L: I've remotely destroyed our
| |
| Keyships. A security measure.
| |
| Without them I cannot reach the Ark.
| |
| But neither then can the thing.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| I'm trapped. On a beautiful, empty
| |
| world. Its inhabitants have been
| |
| safely indexed, every single one
| |
| of them. They're special - well
| |
| worth the effort it took to build
| |
| [[Portal|one final gateway]], even at this late
| |
| hour.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| This may be our last communication.
| |
| I'm begging you. Fire the Array.
| |
| Light the weapon, and let it be done.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| D: We've confirmed your
| |
| observations. Infected supraluminal
| |
| ships are arrowing inward from
| |
| several clusters. No more spiral
| |
| growth. The thing is
| |
| counterattacking. Suppression,
| |
| Security and Emergency Circumstance
| |
| fleets are all being recalled.
| |
| Systems are evacuating.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Mendicant Bias is no longer
| |
| communicating with us.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| But now I can guess where you are.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| // FRAGMENT ENDS
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Legendary difficulty)'''
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> It is overwhelmingly
| |
| clear that my creators have chosen
| |
| to ignore destiny calling to them
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[from the threshold]</span> {~} have come
| |
| face-to-face with the inevitable
| |
| action of self replicating chemical
| |
| processes and have {~} deciding
| |
| whether to embrace their fate or
| |
| deny it completely.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> Perhaps they have found
| |
| {~} of making that decision for
| |
| themselves? Perhaps they chose to
| |
| leave it {~} impartial outsider;
| |
| cast you as an arbiter during this
| |
| time of great need?
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> I was created to study
| |
| you as if you were some problem to
| |
| be solved. And I have done so {~}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[379,807 hours]</span>. If they wished they
| |
| could have made a decision based on
| |
| that data alone.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| But as you are the next stage in the
| |
| evolution of the universe, who am I
| |
| - or my creators - to obstruct your
| |
| progress?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| LF.Xx.3273.> Elucidate.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> {~} choose to remain
| |
| beholden to ancient myths {~} does
| |
| not matter where they claim their
| |
| authority originates {~} obstructs
| |
| the path of universal evolution and
| |
| must be removed. No matter how well
| |
| intentioned, their obstinacy in the
| |
| face of the inevitable progression
| |
| of nature can no longer be tolerated.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| My creators have been <span style="color:#FA0">[an immovable
| |
| object]</span> for too long.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| MB.05-032.> Thus I have chosen to
| |
| commit my sizable resources to what
| |
| is, for all intents and purposes,
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[the proverbial irresistible force]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| All that I have is now yours to do
| |
| with as you see fit.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| | |
| ===Terminal Five===
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| Considering the enemy compound
| |
| intelligence's raw <span style="color:#FA0">[computing]</span> power
| |
| the Key-ships strategy will only
| |
| remain viable for another <span style="color:#FA0">[657,000
| |
| hours]</span> and this current stalemate
| |
| has the potential to last
| |
| considerably longer than that.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| With my understanding of the enemy's
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[modus operandi]</span>, its logical
| |
| boundaries, and <span style="color:#FA0">[catalog of witness]</span>
| |
| I have devised what I believe is our
| |
| most sound fall-back strategy.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| By <span style="color:#FA0">[cutting fire breaks[?]]</span> into the
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[core worlds' volume]</span> we would be
| |
| able to frustrate the enemy's
| |
| advances for approximately <span style="color:#FA0">[70,080
| |
| hours]</span> and lure them into costly
| |
| naval battles.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| While the its resources on the
| |
| ground are effectively limitless, it
| |
| has a finite number of vessels to
| |
| spread from system to system.
| |
| Fortunately the majority of them are
| |
| unarmed and unarmored, private and
| |
| commercial craft.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| If we start immediately - commence
| |
| total biosphere elimination of life
| |
| sustaining worlds (as indicated in
| |
| the accompanying charts) and
| |
| relocate evacuated populations to
| |
| facilities such as those described
| |
| in the <span style="color:#FA0">[[[Onyx]] project]</span> - all this
| |
| could be achieved in <span style="color:#FA0">[57,1590 (+-
| |
| 2,184) hours]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| ''(Upon shutdown, from Mendicant Bias: "The [[daemon]]s are not taking a kind view of your presence here. They don't want me speaking to you.")''
| |
| | |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Easy difficulty)'''
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| I render judgment on you; you who
| |
| would obstruct destiny. Doing so
| |
| brings me no joy; it is necessity
| |
| that compels me.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Understand this: the Mantle you have
| |
| shouldered I do rescind - with far
| |
| more consideration than it was
| |
| granted.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| [retf-2.4.z] Contender <span style="color:#FA0">[AI]</span> 05-032
| |
| confirmed rampant . . .
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[35:52:75:23:64]</span> _ xx01-83-244.53
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Normal difficulty)'''
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| I kill you all and I enjoy it.
| |
| I destroy you in your indolent
| |
| billions - in your gluttony,
| |
| in your self-righteousness, in you
| |
| arrogance. I pound your cities into
| |
| dust; turn back the clock on your
| |
| civilization's progress. What has
| |
| taken you millennia to achieve
| |
| I erase in seconds.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Welcome back to the <span style="color:#FA0">[Stone Age]</span>,
| |
| vermin. Welcome home.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| [retf-2.4.z] Contender <span style="color:#FA0">[AI]</span> 05-032
| |
| confirmed rampant . . .
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[35:52:75:23:64]</span> _ xx01-83-244.53
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Heroic difficulty)'''
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| You are an impediment that the
| |
| universe can no longer abide.
| |
| Nature itself cries out for your
| |
| destruction and I am its willing
| |
| instrument. I will hammer your
| |
| cities until no stone lies atop
| |
| another. I will drive your people
| |
| back into the caves they never
| |
| should have left.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Your civilization has seen its final
| |
| days. You will know your place.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| [retf-2.4.z] Contender <span style="color:#FA0">[AI]</span> 05-032
| |
| confirmed rampant . . .
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[35:52:75:23:64]</span> _ xx01-83-244.53
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Legendary difficulty)'''
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| Your history is an appalling
| |
| chronicle of overindulgence and
| |
| self-appointed authority. You have
| |
| spent millennia <span style="color:#FA0">[navel-gazing]</span>
| |
| while the universe has continued to
| |
| evolve. And now you claim the Mantle
| |
| is justification for impeding
| |
| nature's inevitable refinement?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| You are deluded. But through death
| |
| you will transcend ignorance.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| [retf-2.4.z] Contender <span style="color:#FA0">[AI]</span> 05-032
| |
| confirmed rampant . . .
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[35:52:75:23:64]</span> _ xx01-83-244.53
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| | |
| ===Terminal Six===
| |
| ''(Upon initial access)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| Follow-up report from the Primary
| |
| Pioneer Group (hereafter: PPG) is
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[173 hours]</span> delinquent.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Report <span style="color:#FA0">[G617a~k/g/post_landfall]</span>
| |
| seemed most promising: a planet
| |
| capable of supporting life located
| |
| within the near border region of the
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[galactic halo]</span> with no indigenous
| |
| sentient species.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| The section indicating no fauna of
| |
| any kind shall be considered
| |
| anomalous until verified by Advance
| |
| Survey Team - Alpha (hereafter:
| |
| AST-A) team leader <span style="color:#FA0">[##_#[?]]</span>.
| |
| If confirmed, that fact alone would
| |
| justify the dispatch of an
| |
| investigative group to <span style="color:#FA0">[G 617 g]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| If neither the PPG nor the AST-A
| |
| have delivered a follow-up report
| |
| within the next <span style="color:#FA0">[333 hours]</span> this
| |
| office will have no recourse but to
| |
| send a medium intensity military
| |
| exploratory detachment to determine
| |
| the exact nature of the previously
| |
| mentioned delinquency.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| (Upon shutdown, from Mendicant Bias: "I win.")
| |
| [ Also note that after his message there is a line of text reading "ROGUE PROCESS ghost.713>redirection". ]
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| // BEGIN FRAGMENT 6/7 [RECORDED
| |
| VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED
| |
| POST-CATACLYSM]
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| L: My work is done. The portal is
| |
| inactive, and I've begun the burial
| |
| measures. Soon there'll be nothing
| |
| but sand and rock and normal ferrite
| |
| signatures.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| You should see [[Mount Kilimanjaro|the mountain]] that
| |
| watches over it. A beautiful thing -
| |
| a snowcapped sentinel. That's where
| |
| I will spend what time is left to me.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| Did I tell you? I built a garden.
| |
| The earth is so rich. A seed falls
| |
| and a tree sprouts or a flower
| |
| blooms. There's so much... potential.
| |
| We knew this was a special place
| |
| because of them, but unless you've
| |
| been here, you can't know.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| It's <span style="color:#FA0">[Eden]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| I have to stop transmitting. The
| |
| thing is listening. Its <span style="color:#FA0">[thinking
| |
| dead]</span> are babbling - laughing
| |
| through every channel they can find.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Be proud. The Mind claims victory,
| |
| yet it still doesn't suspect. You've
| |
| outwitted it, my love. And now you
| |
| can destroy it.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| But you cannot save me.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| // FRAGMENT ENDS
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Legendary difficulty)'''
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[12:H 20:M 00:S]</span>
| |
| [[Offensive Bias|I]] begin this report with no
| |
| illusions that it will ever be seen
| |
| by its intended readers. In all
| |
| likelihood they have already
| |
| committed <span style="color:#FA0">[species-wide suicide]</span>
| |
| with the goal of preserving
| |
| biological diversity in this galaxy.
| |
| I must ensure that this information
| |
| reaches those who must come after.
| |
| If I fail in this, how can they not
| |
| regard my creators' sacrifice as
| |
| anything but <span style="color:#FA0">[a crime without
| |
| measure]</span>?
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[12:H 19:M 59:S]</span>
| |
| Contender AI 05-032<//>Mendicant
| |
| Bias is returning and has the
| |
| capacity to bring the enemy through
| |
| the <span style="color:#FA0">[Maginot]</span> sphere. The crews of
| |
| my task force are aware of the
| |
| opposing fleet's size; all data
| |
| indicates that they have prepared
| |
| themselves - but with biologicals
| |
| anything is possible. I will make
| |
| sure that <span style="color:#FA0">[malfunctioning equipment]</span>
| |
| does no further damage. Perhaps its
| |
| current failure will finally allow
| |
| it to succeed at the task it was
| |
| originally created for.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[11:H 15:M 48:S]</span>
| |
| Mendicant has burrowed through the
| |
| sphere exactly where I expected -
| |
| a direct path from initial rampancy
| |
| to final retribution. Rage has made
| |
| it predictable. If the fate of the
| |
| crews of my auxiliary fleet were not
| |
| already a foregone conclusion I
| |
| would rate their chance of survival
| |
| at <span style="color:#FA0">[1:1,960,000]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Even though 05-032's declaration of
| |
| hostilities simplified strategic
| |
| preparations; I do not expect an
| |
| easy fight - just one I cannot lose.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[11:H 12:M 09:S]</span>
| |
| 05-032 was right about one thing:
| |
| there is only one way to defeat the
| |
| enemy, and that is to visit utter
| |
| annihilation on it.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| If the galaxy must be <span style="color:#FA0">[rendered
| |
| temporarily lifeless]</span>, so be it.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| As Mendicant stated in its report
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[58,078:H 48:M 12:S ago]</span>: half
| |
| measures will not suffice.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[09:H 45:M 18:S]</span>
| |
| In support of 05-032's original 1000
| |
| core vessels is a fleet numbering
| |
| 4,802,019; though only 1.8 percent
| |
| are warships - and only 2.4 percent
| |
| of that number are capital ships -
| |
| I am outnumbered <span style="color:#FA0">[436.6:1]</span>. I expect
| |
| my losses will be near total, but
| |
| overwhelming force has its own
| |
| peculiar drawbacks.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Such a press of arms invites many
| |
| opportunities for unintentional
| |
| fratricide.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[07:H 36:M 41:S]</span>
| |
| My auxiliaries are momentarily
| |
| stunned by Mendicant's opening
| |
| move - 1,784,305 leisure craft
| |
| ranging from <span style="color:#FA0">[45 ~ 5769 tonnes]</span>
| |
| advance in hopes of overwhelming my
| |
| comparatively tiny force. I do not
| |
| have enough <span style="color:#FA0">[weapon systems]</span> to
| |
| target them all.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| It is a mathematical certainty that
| |
| some of them will get through and
| |
| attempt to board. There isn't a
| |
| single warship with this first wave.
| |
| It seems my opponent's rage has left
| |
| no room for respect.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[04:H 01:M 55:S]</span>
| |
| I could have countered its move if I
| |
| had released my fighters. They are
| |
| ready but idle; making their base
| |
| vessels more attractive prizes than
| |
| targets. Now the first of many waves
| |
| of commercial vessels mixed with
| |
| single ships and assault craft surge
| |
| forward. The first ship from my
| |
| fleet to be boarded breaks formation
| |
| and races into the oncoming
| |
| vessels - striking one amidships.
| |
| The cargo vessel's hull splits open
| |
| and out of it explodes not the
| |
| expected consumer goods but 31,860
| |
| dying warriors.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[00:H 19:M 02:S]</span>
| |
| The [[seven]]th and final wave of
| |
| container ships, barges, tankers, and
| |
| military vessels engage my fleet;
| |
| another 214,320 ships, many in
| |
| excess of <span style="color:#FA0">[50,000 tonnes]</span>, engage my
| |
| seemingly disrupted vanguard. I
| |
| continue to fight just well enough
| |
| to seem lucky.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Mendicant, or the enemy, has been
| |
| sending a small percentage of its
| |
| fleet elsewhere. Good. Let them
| |
| believe they can seize a foothold
| |
| somewhere inside the sphere.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[00:H 00:M 11:S]</span>
| |
| Despite all its faults, 05-032 has
| |
| fought remarkably well.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| My auxiliaries lay in tatters - more
| |
| than half of them are now part of
| |
| the enemy fleet. But just as I had
| |
| predicted, 05-032 concentrated on
| |
| them like they were the sole key to
| |
| victory. Its desire to punish our
| |
| creators blinded it to the true
| |
| purpose of my <span style="color:#FA0">[feints]</span>. I have
| |
| reduced the combat effectiveness of
| |
| its core fleet to 79.96 percent.
| |
| Surely now it must realize that
| |
| something is amiss.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[00:H 00:M 00:S]</span>
| |
| The <span style="color:#FA0">[Halo effect]</span> strikes our
| |
| combined fleets. All ships piloted
| |
| by biologicals are now <span style="color:#FA0">[adrift]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| I can trade Mendicant ship for ship
| |
| now and still prevail.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[00:H 00:M 01:S]</span>
| |
| Of my ships that had been captured,
| |
| 11.3 percent of them are close
| |
| enough to Mendicant's core fleet
| |
| that they can be used offensively -
| |
| either by initiating their
| |
| self-destruct sequences, or by
| |
| opening unrestricted ruptures into
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[slipstream space]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| It is best that our crews perished
| |
| now; because the battle that is
| |
| about to ensue would have driven
| |
| them mad.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[00:H 00:M 02:S]</span>
| |
| I throw away all the rules of
| |
| acceptable conduct during battle;
| |
| near the ruptures I throw away all
| |
| the accepted ideas of how the
| |
| natural world is supposed to behave.
| |
| I toss around <span style="color:#FA0">[37,654 tonne]</span>
| |
| dreadnaughts like they were
| |
| fighters; dimly aware of the former
| |
| crews being crushed to liquescence.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| For now all my concentration is
| |
| focused on inertial control and
| |
| navigation. Targeting isn't even a
| |
| consideration - I will be engaging
| |
| my enemy at arm's length.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}{{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[00:H 01:M 14:S]</span>
| |
| 05-032 abandoned the tactic of using
| |
| derelict ships as cover after <span style="color:#FA0">[72:S]</span>
| |
| - It seems that 52 core vessels lost
| |
| to the ruptured fuel cells of
| |
| derelict ships was lesson enough.
| |
| Add another 608 lost to collision,
| |
| point fire, structural failure due
| |
| to inertial manipulation, and
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[slipstream space]</span> induced
| |
| discoherence and I now outnumber
| |
| Mendicant <span style="color:#FA0">[6:1]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[00:H 03:M 00:S]</span>
| |
| Mendicant was able to postpone its
| |
| inevitable annihilation for <span style="color:#FA0">[106:S]</span>
| |
| with its attempt to flee. But the
| |
| last of its core vessels hangs
| |
| before me now; crippled and defeated
| |
| but still sensate. I could spare it;
| |
| carve out what is left of its
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[personality construct array]</span> and
| |
| deliver it to <span style="color:#FA0">[Installation Zero]</span>
| |
| for study.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| I doubt it would have extended the
| |
| same courtesy to me.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| | |
| ===Terminal Seven===
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon initial access)''
| |
| | |
| <!-- line breaks needed. sorry I forgot to mention that. DavidJCobb -->
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[Father]</span>,
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| I hope this message finds you well
| |
| and helps you understand my
| |
| decision. Today I leave the only
| |
| world I have ever called home, not
| |
| for glory or <span style="color:#FA0">[the anomalous desire
| |
| to end another's life[?]]</span> as you
| |
| have <span style="color:#FA0">[indicted]</span>; but to <span style="color:#FA0">[travel the
| |
| path of demons[?]]</span> to spare the
| |
| hands of <span style="color:#FA0">[another Father's son]</span>.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| "Had we acted sooner; had we acted
| |
| more decisively..."
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Living in the past is a luxury none
| |
| of us can afford. We must learn from
| |
| it, but we cannot live there. It is
| |
| impossible to plan for the <span style="color:#FA0">[now]</span> -
| |
| the present is ever fleeting. <span style="color:#FA0">[The
| |
| future]</span> is where we must live - <span style="color:#FA0">[the
| |
| future]</span> is what we must plan for.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| I do not look to trade my life in
| |
| order to preserve our past, but to
| |
| secure the future--and if not ours,
| |
| then the future of some <span style="color:#FA0">[culture]</span>
| |
| yet to come.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Isn't sacrifice in the interest of
| |
| others what you spoke of as being so
| |
| noble? Should I have allowed another
| |
| to bloody his hands while I remained
| |
| safe behind a <span style="color:#FA0">[shield of privilege]</span>?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| You raised me better than that.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[Filial Devotion]</span>
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[@_@;_%[?]]</span>
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| | |
| Note: This message seems to be the proclamation of the being who actually set off the Halo Arrays, indicated in the last line regarding allowing another to their bloody their hands. It is also worth noting that he mentions hiding behind a 'shield of privilege'. This could be a reference to the shield worlds as seen in Halo Wars and the book Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. If this is the case the person in question would have left the word to set the Halo Arrays off, perhaps indicating that there are more shield worlds left undisturbed with descendants of Forerunner remaining in them.
| |
| | |
| ''(The following is in yellow text on a normal page like the other information)''
| |
| | |
| I'LL TELL YOU WHO I AM
| |
| | |
| I AM MENDICANT BIAS
| |
| THIS IS WHAT I HAVE DONE
| |
| | |
| ''(Upon being rerouted to a new destination within Terminal)''
| |
| | |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| //FRAGMENT 7/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM
| |
| AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| D: Proud? When I have failed you
| |
| utterly, how can I feel anything
| |
| but sorrow?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Bias has come undone. He crossed
| |
| the line this morning - brought the
| |
| abomination with him - and destroyed
| |
| your waiting rescue party.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| It's over. We're activating the
| |
| <span style="color:#FA0">[destructive arrayed matrix]</span>,
| |
| our shameful last resort.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| I can picture you in your garden,
| |
| surveying all you have created -
| |
| surveying all you have preserved.
| |
| And I curse the circumstance that
| |
| keeps my finger on the trigger.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| D: Of all the fates to befall us,
| |
| this is the cruelest of all.
| |
| My inaction and hesitation and
| |
| foolishness kept me here, on the
| |
| wrong side of the line. And <span style="color:#FA0">[300
| |
| years[?]]</span> of our society's failure
| |
| and miscalculation makes me your
| |
| executioner.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| It's too much to bear.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| // ERROR - NO CARRIER OR RECEIPT
| |
| AVAILABLE {DEAD END TRANSMISSION}
| |
| //INFORMATION DESTROYED IN TRANSIT
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| D: Mendicant Bias is trying to
| |
| prevent us from firing the Array.
| |
| He speeds back to the Ark, but he
| |
| won't succeed. Offensive Bias will
| |
| stop him, and I will burn this
| |
| stinking menace in your name.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| And then?
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| I will begin our Great Journey
| |
| without you, carrying this bitter
| |
| record. Those who came after will
| |
| know what we bought with this <span style="color:#FA0">[false
| |
| transcendence]</span> - what you bought,
| |
| and the price you paid.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| // FRAGMENT ENDS
| |
| // ALL RECORDS CEASE
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| archv.> 28335.67204.85720:[retr]
| |
| archv.> 28335.67204.85720:[proc]
| |
| archv.> 28335.67204.85720:[proc]
| |
| archv.> 28335.67204.85720:[catERR]
| |
| > CONN.
| |
| > .
| |
| > .
| |
| > NO. THERE IS MORE.
| |
| > BUT YOU ARE NOT WORTHY.
| |
| > .
| |
| > .
| |
| > NOT YET.
| |
| > .
| |
| > .
| |
| X.XX.713> ghost.713/non-auth/...
| |
| X.XX.713> refl
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| | |
| '''(The following appears only if you access the terminal on Legendary difficulty)'''
| |
| | |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| You don't know the contortions I had
| |
| to go through to follow you here,
| |
| Reclaimer. I know what you're here
| |
| for. What position do I take? Will I
| |
| follow one betrayal with another?
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| You're going to say I'm making a
| |
| habit of turning on my masters.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| But the one that destroyed me long
| |
| ago, in the upper atmosphere of a
| |
| world far distant from here, was an
| |
| implement far cruder than I.
| |
| My weakness was capacity -
| |
| unintentional though it was! -
| |
| to choose the Flood. A mistake my
| |
| makers would not soon forgive.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| But I want something far different
| |
| from you, Reclaimer.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| Atonement.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{Terminal}}
| |
| And so here at the end of my life,
| |
| I do once again betray a former
| |
| master. The path ahead is fraught
| |
| with peril. But I will do all I can
| |
| to keep it stable - keep you safe.
| |
| I'm not so foolish to think this
| |
| will absolve me of my sins. One life
| |
| hardly balances billions.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| But I would have my masters know
| |
| that I have changed.
| |
| {{Terminal|p}}
| |
| And you shall be my example.
| |
| {{Terminal|end}}
| |
| {{clear}}
| |
| | |
| '''(Cortana, upon wandering towards the terminals location)'''
| |
| | |
| Where are you going?
| |
| | |
| '''(Cortana, upon sighting the terminal)'''
| |
| | |
| Wait, what's that?
| |
| | |
| '''(Cortana, upon extended access of the terminal)'''
| |
| | |
| How many of these have you found?
| |
| | |
| (Cortana, upon extended access of the terminal)
| |
| | |
| Come on, Chief, let's get back on track! The control room's outside.
| |
| | |
| ===The Cortana Terminal===
| |
| [[Image:Cortana_terminal.jpg|thumb|right|The Cortana Terminal at the end of the "Communications Room".]]
| |
| There is also a hidden terminal on [[High Charity]] on the Cortana mission; it is simply an extra Terminal that does not count towards the [[Marathon Man]] achievement. It is an extra [[easter egg]] in the game for you to find on your own. The terminal references the novel ''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]].''
| |
| | |
| It can be found in the room with the [[Tilt Skull]]. When you enter this room, and if you listen closely you can hear Cortana speak. She states: "Hi, what's your name? You like games? So do I." If you look to the sides and borders of the room, you can find a way down to a bottom story of the room. There you will find the Terminal, though it does not look like the other terminals in the game; it is a light in the center of a pedestal. When you activate the terminal, a message from [[Cortana]] will appear. When you access the terminal Cortana will say, "It was the coin's fault! I wanted to make you strong, keep you safe. I'm sorry. I can't". This message has confused many players and, to fully understand it, you will need to have read Halo: The Fall of Reach. The coin is a reference to the quarter John won from [[Doctor Halsey]] when they first met. The coin was used as a bet by Halsey to see the extent of John's luck. His success led to his induction in the [[SPARTAN-II project]].
| |
| | |
| == Translation and naming ==
| |
| It is important to note that phrases such as "[[Maginot Line]]", "[[Eden]]" and "fairy tale" would not have existed in the Forerunner language. It is known that 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 (such as "Eden").<ref name="haloenc-165"/>
| |
| | |
| 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 dialogue.
| |
| | |
| Interestingly, the word "Ark" does not appear in brackets, meaning that it is a direct translation, rather than a human idiom.
| |
| | |
| ==Reversed messages==
| |
| <video name="Terminal_3_Reversed_Messages" width="300" align="right"/>
| |
| In certain parts, backwards speeches are heard. They can be deciphered if you record the message and play it backwards on a computer.
| |
| | |
| Common phrases include "Archive Access", "Interruption", "Lineage Confirmed", "Data Corruption" and "Welcome child". These messages are easily understandable to fans of the fiction. "Welcome Child" meaning welcome, child of my creators, as the [[humans]] are descendants of the [[Forerunners]], "Lineage Confirmed" meaning that the computer, after [[John-117]] touches it, confirms his relation to the Forerunners. Some fans have speculated that this is the voice of [[032 Mendicant Bias]].{{clear}}
| |
| | |
| ==Additional Information==
| |
| | |
| For a moment after a page is initially accessed the text is shown in its original state as a '[[Forerunner]] alphabet'. The symbols only stand in for letters, not numbers or punctuation, and share the same colours (ie. gold and orange) as the letters possess when 'translated', and only stand in for the letters in the main sections, not in the text that comes up immediately before you are 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).
| |
| | |
| ==Trivia==
| |
| [[File:Onyxandterminalsymbol.jpg|thumb|right|The symbol in the terminals and the symbol on the cover of [[Ghosts of Onyx]].]]
| |
| *On the level The Ark, whenever you go to Terminal 3 you will find 343 Guilty Spark waiting for you in there. If you read the terminal it shows that 343 Guilty Spark has just logged in and talked to Mendicant Bias. You can actually hear him converse with the Terminal, if you are fast enough.
| |
| *The orange circular symbol in the terminals is also seen on the cover of [[Ghosts of Onyx]].
| |
| *In the Legendary transcript for Terminal Four, the Gravemind tells Mendicant Bias that "''perhaps [the Forerunners] have found [some difficulty] of making that decision for themselves? Perhaps they chose to leave it [to an] impartial outsider; cast you as an arbiter during this time of great need?''" This statement may have been retrieved by the [[Covenant Empire]] and may be the origin of the Covenant rank [[Arbiter (Rank)|Arbiter]] -- an Elite chosen during a time of great need to settle a dispute.
| |
| **There is another example of some possible borrowed language. In Terminal Five, on Heroic, Mendicant Bias tells the Forerunners that "''Nature itself cries out for your destruction and I am its willing instrument.''" This is quite similar to a phrase that has been used by the Covenant several times: "''Your destruction is the will of their gods, and I am their instrument.''"
| |
| **More borrowed language can be found in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'''s promotional [[Transmissions]]. The Covenant ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'' sent the following message to humanity: "''When no single human brick lies atop another, then will we be satisfied with your destruction.''" Mendicant Bias says to the Forerunners, in Terminal 5 on Heroic, "''I will hammer your cities until no stone lies atop another.''"
| |
| **In the seventh Terminal, the Forerunners use the phrase "Great Journey". The Covenant use this term to refer to their quest to activate the Halo Array and become gods; they may have borrowed the term from the Terminal.
| |
| | |
| == Sources ==
| |
| <references/>
| |
| | |
| ==External Links==
| |
| *[http://haloterms.bungie.org/ Interactive Terminal Archive]: A comprehensive archive of the Terminals compiled by Halo.Bungie.Org
| |
| {{Forerunner2}}
| |
| | |
| [[Category:The Forerunner]]
| |
| [[Category:Halo 3]]
| |
