Didact's Gift

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"An alien AI full of human memories."

— Dr. Catherine Halsey, after discovering the artifact's true nature.

Views of the "Didact's Gift", in its external container and unlocked Durance shell.

The "Didact's Gift" is a Forerunner artifact discovered on Requiem. It is a memory storage device known as a Durance,^[1] containing the AI matrix or "soul" of a Promethean Knight.^[2]

History

At some point in 2558, Jul 'Mdama's Covenant forces acquired the "Gift". During Fireteam Crimson's pursuit of 'Mdama, Commander Sarah Palmer called in an airstrike which forced the Sangheili to drop the device during his escape. Crimson quickly secured the device and brought it to Galileo Base for examination. A joint Covenant-Promethean force attacked the base to retrieve the artifact, though they were repelled by Fireteam Crimson. Fireteam Majestic arrived soon after to secure it.^[3]

The Gift was taken aboard the UNSC Infinity, where it was studied by Dr. Catherine Halsey and the ship's AI, Roland. Upon being tampered with, the outer casing of the device split into multiple levitating fragments, revealing an object within that Dr. Halsey noted was similar to a UNSC AI matrix. Suddenly, the device released an energy burst, and began to display images on the room's monitors; these were then identified as human memories harvested by the Composer during the Didact's attack on New Phoenix, URNA six months prior. One of these images showed another mysterious Forerunner artifact that was currently located in the Infinity's docking bay, indicating that the artifact was present in New Phoenix during the attack.^[2]

Gallery

Fireteam Crimson finding the Didact's Gift.
Overhead view of the "Didact's Gift" in an examination room aboard the Infinity.
The Didact's Gift unsealed, revealing an internal configuration most similar to a UNSC AI matrix.
The energy burst showing a distinctly humanoid silhouette.