343 Guilty Spark: Difference between revisions

|began=101,217 B.C

As with [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] and [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] artificial intelligences, Guilty Spark's programming prohibits him from carrying out certain actions outside of his function. He cannot, for example, retrieve the [[Index]] from [[the Library]] or use it to activate Installation 04, instead needing a [[Reclaimer]] to carry out this task.<ref name="343GS Final Cutscene"/>

343 Guilty Spark was presumably constructed well before 100,000 B.C.E., as his activation predated the Halo Array's completion. Prior to the end of the Forerunner-Flood War, Spark occupied an unknown position in Forerunner society. However, he was commanded by the Forerunner Council to abandon all connection with his former station following Installation 04's construction. From that point forward, Spark became the designated guardian and custodian of the Halo ring.

By the time the ring was re-discovered by human and Covenant forces, 343 Guilty Spark had been present on Installation 04 for 101,217 "local years"<ref name="quirk"/>, and during that time had conducted over one trillion practice, and one actual firing of the installation. During his long isolation, Spark presumably had little to no contact with other intelligent beings, and spent most of his time maintaining his Installation.

After over one hundred thousand years without incident, Spark was faced with a crisis when the {{UNSCship|Pillar of Autumn}} discovered Installation 04, pursued by the Covenant [[Fleet of Particular Justice]]. Fearing a containment breach, Spark warned the ship to jump at least one light-year away from the Installation or be destroyed. After remotely accessing the ship's systems, however, Spark realizes that the ship is manned by [[Reclaimer]]s after finding data on human history; he then deactivated the ring's defensive systems and instructed the ship to a docking facility - the ''Autumn'' crash-landed on the ringworld shortly afterwards.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''', Terminal</ref>  

During the subsequent UNSC - Covenant guerrilla war, Covenant troops stumbled upon a [[Flood Containment Facility]], and after unwittingly deactivating the structure's containment measures, they unleashed the long-dormant [[Flood]] that had been stored inside. As per his protocols, Spark began to search for a Reclaimer to activate the installation, and came upon UNSC [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Marvin Mobuto]]. Using the Installation's slipspace translocation grid, Spark brought Mobuto to the [[Library]] in an effort to retrieve [[the Index]]. Ultimately, the ill-equipped Marine was overwhelmed and killed by the Flood, forcing the Monitor to seek out another Reclaimer. Spark and a squad of [[Sentinels]] moved to the Flood Containment Facility, where they encountered a group of UNSC [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] and [[John-117]], who were battling the Flood. The Monitor recruited the [[SPARTAN-II|SPARTAN]] as another Reclaimer, who he quickly teleported to the Library and began guiding to the Index.<ref name="343GS Final Cutscene"/> With superior equipment and training, and despite overwhelming odds, the Master Chief succeeded in retrieving the [[Index]].

Taking the Index for safe keeping, Guilty Spark teleported himself and the Master Chief back to the [[Control Room]].<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''', page 253</ref> The Monitor explained that activation protocols forbid him from personally uniting the Index with the Core to activate the ring; only a Reclaimer could be permitted to do so.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''', page 255</ref> Spark gave John the Index, and urged him to activate the Installation.

However, [[Cortana]] appeared and took the Index before it could merge with the Core, and explained to an ignorant John about Halo's [[Fortress_World#Function|purpose]]. Spark obligingly confirmed this information, claiming that he had believed the Master Chief to have been fully aware of his role and responsibility as a Reclaimer. With the Index in the possession of a hostile [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] and protected by a now uncooperative Reclaimer, the Monitor turned the Sentinels against the Master Chief to attempt to retrieve the Index. John and Cortana escaped with the Index, with Spark and his Sentinels in pursuit.  

During their escape through the Control Room's adjacent tunnels, Master Chief disabled the three [[Phase Pulse Generators]], forcing their repair and delaying the Installation from firing in the near future. Disappointed, the Monitor followed John-117 and [[Cortana]] to the ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn]]'', which they planned to detonate in order to destroy the ring. Intrigued by the abundance of knowledge within the ship's data banks, Spark briefly put aside his concerns for the Installation and began downloading information from the Autumn's computers, being especially interested in the parts pertaining to Human history. He then disabled the vessel's automated self-destruct system to preserve the repository of knowledge he had discovered.