000 Tragic Solitude

000 Tragic Solitude
Biographical information
Began service:	some centuries after 97,445 BCE
Ended service:	March 20, 2555
Gender:	Male personality
Color(s):	Represented by a green symbol
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Ecumene (formerly)
Functionality:	Keeper of Installation 00

"Yours is not - cannot be - a happy end. And thus I name you Tragic Solitude...for you shall be alone, and your noble sacrifice shall aid the Reclaimers...but in doing so, it shall break what is left of your heart."

— IsoDidact upon Tragic Solitude's creation.

000 Tragic Solitude, often referred to simply as Solitude, was a Forerunner monitor that served as the caretaker of Installation 00. Originally a Forerunner known as Splendid-Dust-of-Ancient-Suns, Splendid-Dust willingly became a monitor, wishing to aid the Reclaimers once they arrived at the Installation. However, millennia of isolation following the the firing of the Halo Array and damage the Ark incurred during the Battle of Installation 00 in 2552 led to Tragic Solitude falling subject to rampancy. Seeking to repair his installation and gain revenge on humanity for their role in damaging the Ark, Tragic Solitude used a captured human to initiate the Halos' firing sequence to eradicate life in the galaxy. However, his scheme ultimately led to his destruction when a joint United Nations Space Command–Swords of Sanghelios team traveled to Installation 00 to stop him.

Biography

Creation and early service

After the Great Purification, some Forerunners attempted to repair the Domain. During their mission they encountered Abaddon, a Precursor construct who attempted to bring them to trial for the Halo Array's activation. The former First Councilor known as Splendid-Dust-of-Ancient-Suns felt an immense amount of guilt in the Forerunners' arrogance. Splendid-Dust wished to do something helpful for the Reclaimers, wanting to act as an interpreter for all the Forerunners had learned; as such, he had himself composed and became the caretaker of Installation 00, the primary installation of the Halo Array utilized to index and preserve biological diversity in the Milky Way galaxy during the Forerunners' war against the Flood. Tragic Solitude was personally given his name by the IsoDidact.

Like most Forerunner ancillas, Tragic Solitude was only given information relevant to his duties; in his case, protecting Installation 00. Following the exile of the surviving Forerunners, Tragic Solitude was left alone in isolation on Installation 00 for millennia. During the dark times that followed the reintroduction of species to the galaxy, the monitor chose his name. The long period of isolation had an adverse affect on the monitor and instilled a distrust and hatred of the Forerunners in the monitor, who felt betrayed by his creators.

Battle of Installation 00

343 Guilty Spark: "I have told you who I am. Who are you?"

000 Tragic Solitude: "All our makers once held dear.
[Alexandria before the Fire]."

— A dialog between 343 Guilty Spark and 000 Tragic Solitude

After millennia of relative peace on the Halo Array, the Halo installations became a battleground for the ongoing Human-Covenant War in 2552. In the resulting conflict, Installation 04 was destroyed by humanity and Installation 05's surface was glassed by the Sangheili to quell a Flood infestation. These acts greatly disturbed Tragic Solitude, but he nonetheless began creating Installation 04B on the Ark to replace the destroyed Installation 04. On December 11, 2552, Installation 00 became a place of conflict for the last battle of the Human-Covenant War. Utilizing the slipspace portal at Voi, Kenya on Earth, the Covenant and a joint United Nations Space Command and Sangheili fleet traveled to Installation 00. When 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Installation 04 that had allied himself with the UNSC and Sangheili, attempted to gain access to the Ark's systems during the battle, Tragic Solitude addressed the former's lack of authority on the Ark and informed Guilty Spark that the facility housed the Librarian's archives of the Conservation Measure. When Guilty Spark continued to persist, Tragic Solitude threatened the monitor with the Ark's Sentinels.

The aftermath of the battle left Installation 00 severely damaged after the incomplete Installation 04B was fired at the installation in a successful effort to eradicate the Flood's presence on the installation. This action also damaged Tragic Solitude and inflicted a state of rampancy upon him. The monitor sought to repair his installation, however he could not gather resources from other worlds as Tragic Solitude had lost connection to the portal after it was disabled by humanity. Seeking revenge against humanity and a way to repair his installation, Tragic Solitude began building an army of heavily armed Retrievers. In addition, he exponentially increased power to his side of the portal to allow objects to travel through at much greater speeds.

Rampancy and revenge

"No, this is not vengeance. This is justice."

— 000 Tragic Solitude on his plans

In August 2554, UNSC Rubicon arrived at Installation 00 for research and survey purposes. Tragic Solitude unleashed the installation's fauna and constructs on the remote contact teams deployed by Rubicon and destroyed nearly all teams. However, RCT-06 returned with the remains of 343 Guilty Spark. Guilty Spark eventually took control of Rubicon's systems and left the installation for his own purposes. Meanwhile, Tragic Solitude oversaw the destruction of RCT Broadside at the hands of chaefka. The squad's leader, Bobby Kodiak, was heavily injured in the attack, but managed to escape the animals. Using the human's earpiece for communication, Tragic Solitude spoke to Kodiak and offered to save him if he surrendered himself to the monitor. With no other chance of survival, Kodiak accepted. The monitor "healed" the soldier, but the outcome resulted in Kodiak becoming a cyborg with disfigured body. Tragic Solitude then forced Kodiak to initiate a countdown that would lead to the activation of the Halos. The countdown to the activation sequence was discovered on Installation 07 by Doctor Luther Mann and Henry Lamb. In response to this discovery, the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios formed a team tasked with traveling to Installation 00 to stop the activation sequence. As expected by Tragic Solitude, the team reopened the slipspace portal that led to the Ark. Tragic Solitude sent a Retriever through to begin mining Earth, but it was promptly destroyed by UNSC forces, as was the next Retriever that followed. When the UNSC–Sangheili's SDV-class heavy corvette—Mayhem—entered the portal and exited over the Ark, Tragic Solitude initially intended to use his army of heavily armed Retrievers to destroy the vessel, although decided to allow them to live upon learning that Huragok Drifts Randomly was aboard the ship. Seeking to capture the Huragok and a human to replace the wounded Kodiak, Tragic Solitude tested the humans and Sangheili by pitting animals on Installation 00 against them, hoping that those who were weak would perish.

While the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios forces battled morolaath and chaefka on the Ark, Tragic Solitude communicated with Olympia Vale through her earpiece and manipulated a psychotropic effect generated by an agent released by the chaefka to make her walk away from a battle and towards the Citadel. As she neared the Citadel, Tragic Solitude opened the ground beneath her and Vale descended down an angled tube that brought her to a long hallway. Tragic Solitude soon personally traveled to Vale's location and transformed himself into a golden replication of Vale, as he believed that this form would make her more comfortable. As the monitor revealed his intent to her, Vale fruitlessly attempted to convince Tragic Solitude to stop his plan. Vale attempted to convince Tragic Solitude to stop the Halo Array's activation and mine other worlds to rebuild the Ark, rather than Earth. However, the monitor remained unmoved by Vale's arguments and eventually induced her to sleep. Shortly after, the humans and Sangheili succeeded in averting the Halo Array's activation. However, Tragic Solitude proceeded to launch his army of Retrievers through the portal to Earth, where some began mining the planet's surface while others engaged local defense forces. The monitor intended to use the Retrievers to force humanity to submit to him, where he would then use Vale to reactivate the Halo Array and eradicate all life in the galaxy.

Destruction

"Fools! Did you think I would be so easily deterred? I made the mistake of trusting your kind before. Never again! Betrayal! This place is mine! I am the Ark!"

— 000 Tragic Solitude's last words, directly before his destruction

As the Retrievers continued their destruction, Drifts Randomly succeeded in infiltrating Tragic Solitude's systems and seized control of Installation 00. Tragic Solitude agreed to a compromise with Vale, claiming he would recall the Retrievers if Vale convinced Drifts to return full control of Installation 00 and bring the Huragok to him. When the monitor provided Vale with the opportunity to speak to Drifts and Doctor Mann remotely, she defied Tragic Solitude and told them to not give into his demands. As Tragic Solitude cut off the broadcast, Vale declared that she would rather be killed than have to continue to be with the monitor for another moment. Returning to his original monitor form, Tragic Solitude proceeded to bring Kodiak forward and ordered the two to fight to the death—the "victor" of the duel was to reactive the firing sequence of the Halo Array. Kodiak attacked Vale, though she was reluctant to fight and severely overpowered. Just as the cyborg was about to kill her, Spartan Frank Kodiak—a Spartan-IV member of the UNSC team and the brother of Bobby Kodiak—arrived at Vale's position to assist her. Meanwhile, Spartan Elias Holt, Commander N'tho 'Sraom, and Zon 'Vadum discovered the monitor's data stores and began firing upon them. Tragic Solitude agreed to recall the Retrievers if they stopped, to which Spartan Kodiak accepted and had his allies stand down.

As the humans and Sangheili recouped, Tragic Solitude summoned the Retrievers back to Installation 00. Just as the group began to relax, Tragic Solitude suddenly attack them again and fired an energy blast at Spartan Kodiak, knocking him back and dazing the Spartan. As Holt moved to attack the monitor, Tragic Solitude hit him with an energy blast, knocking him across the room. Seemingly mistaking the humans for the Forerunners amidst his state of rampancy, Tragic Solitude declared that he would not trust them again and claimed the Ark as his alone. Out of options, Vale grabbed on to the monitor's "body", but she was easily thrown off. Vale attempted to calm him down, but Bobby lunged at the construct and grabbed on to the monitor. Tragic Solitude attempted to fling the cyborg off of him, but Kodiak was able to plunge his bladed forearms into the monitor's housing, fatally damaging the construct. Tragic Solitude rose high up above the ground, before promptly plummeting back into the floor and violently exploding, killing Bobby Kodiak in the process. Following the monitor's death, the members of the UNSC–Swords of Sanghelios expedition returned to Earth shortly after, having averted the crisis on the installation. Despite the monitor's actions, Vale felt pangs of regret for not being able to convince Tragic Solitude to stop his plans, despite her skills in diplomacy.

Personality and traits

"I have had the ability to observe what sentient life has been doing with the opportunities presented it. The war, the destruction. There seems to be no regard for life's sanctity among your kind, or others. It matters not the species, or the place, or the age—it always ends the same."

— 000 Tragic Solitude

Following his rampancy, 000 Tragic Solitude became self-obsessed and rather narcissistic, and subject to sudden mood and personality changes. Tragic Solitude was very dedicated to his role as the keeper of Installation 00. The monitor held that Installation 00 was the foundation for all life in the galaxy and the single most important vestige of those left behind by the Forerunners. Without the Ark, Tragic Solitude believed that there was no life, hope, or peace left in the galaxy. Tragic Solitude considered it his ultimate duty to protect Installation 00 and repair it at all costs, even if it meant eradicating all species in the galaxy to protect it from further damage. Despite the monitor's lack of regard for humans and his desire to kill many of them, Tragic Solitude attempted to accommodate and displayed a sympathetic and apologetic nature towards several of them, most notably Olympia Vale. The monitor assumed a form that he felt would comfort Vale and later allowed her friends and allies to communicate among each other after realizing that the prospect of their inability to communicate upset her. Vale believed the monitor was insane, especially after witnessing Tragic Solitude's demented laugh after he learned that Huragok Drifts Randomly had seized control of his installation. During their conversations and debates during her capture, Vale noted that Tragic Solitude had always appeared to be formidable and domineering when he spoke. After the monitor's data banks were damaged and Drifts had seized his control, Tragic Solitude spoke in a strange and weak voice.

Tragic Solitude came to resent sapient species in the Milky Way galaxy for their destructive natures, believing that all species were inclined to war and conflict, even the Forerunners. In particular, Tragic Solitude did not care for humanity in the least and was even genuinely confused when Olympia Vale implied that he should. He believed that humanity was a utterly destructive species as the monitor was aware of the damage installations of the Halo Array had sustained due to human action and was aware of humanity's ongoing civil war and previous conflict with the Covenant. As such, Tragic Solitude believed that it was better for the galaxy to perish and then be have a chance of being reborn again, free from humans and other sapient species that shared their hostility. As a form of restitution for the damaged the humans had incurred on the Halo Array, Tragic Solitude believed that it was fair to mine the human worlds in the Sol system for materials to repair Installation 00. The Sangheili were another species that Tragic Solitude regarded as overly violent, assuming that the Swords of Sanghelios' peace with humanity would inevitably collapse as both species turned back to their destructive ways. As did many Forerunners, Tragic Solitude considered Huragok to be nothing more than machines. Though he did value the Huragok's technological skills and sought to capture Drifts Randomly to force him to repair Installation 00.

While the damaged done to Installation 00 in 2552 certainly contributed to Tragic Solitude's rampant state, the millennia he spent in isolation on his installation also had adverse effects that led to the monitor's erratic personality. Having to endure what he felt was abandonment by his makers, Tragic Solitude came to regard the Forerunners as failures. Tragic Solitude, having once placed a great amount of trust in the Forerunners, felt betrayed by their abandoning of the galaxy and believed that they had broken the loyalty he had pledged to them. The monitor eventually resolved that he did not need the Forerunners to care for his installation. He believed that the Forerunners' fall to the Flood was the judgement of his makers and their penalty to resisting the "punishment" was their sacrifice by using the Halo Array to wipe out the Flood. In this respect, Tragic Solitude compared himself to the Flood as he considered himself the judgement of other species in the galaxy and eradication was their "just" punishment for their destructiveness. Ultimately, after his data banks were damaged and Drifts had seized control of Installation 00 from him, Tragic Solitude acted erratically. Apparently mistaking the humans on the Ark for the Forerunners, Tragic Solitude claimed that he had trusted them only to be betrayed and resolved that he would not let it happen again, also declaring Installation 00 as his alone.

Description

Olympia Vale: "Why don't you look like the other monitors? From the Halo rings?"

000 Tragic Solitude: "I was created just like the others by my maker, yet, over the great passage of time, I found such a form unaccommodating. I needed to merge with this facility in order to keep it. I have become one with it: I am the Ark. But I have created this shape in order to interact with you. To put you more at ease."

— Olympia Vale and 000 Tragic Solitude, after the monitor replicated her appearance

000 Tragic Solitude was originally created by the Forerunners to resemble his fellow monitors. Like most monitors, Tragic Solitude resembled a spherical construct composed of metallic armatures and a single "eye" in his center. However, over time following the firing of the Halo Array, Tragic Solitude found the form to be unaccommodating and merged himself with Installation 00 to "become one with it". The monitor modified himself to allow him to form nearly any shape he desired. During his time speaking with Vale, Tragic Solitude contorted himself into an exact physical replica of her, albeit one that was glittering gold rather than flesh-colored. Solitude had assumed this form as he believed that it would make Vale more comfortable, though the form had actually unnerved her.

List of appearances

• Halo 3
  • Terminals (First appearance)
• Halo: Hunters in the Dark
• Halo Mythos (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Fractures
  • Promises to Keep