Isabel

Isabel
Biographical information
Began service:	March 2556
Gender:	Female
Description:	Short-haired young woman in a tank top.
Color(s):	Orange
Political and military information
Affiliation:	United Nations Space Command
Functionality:	Logistics
Service number:	ISA 1307-2

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"Isabel, UNSC logistics, Ark research outpost."

— Isabel identifying herself to Jerome-092.^[3]

Isabel (AI Serial Number: ISA 1307-2) is a smart artificial intelligence of the United Nations Space Command and the impromptu shipboard AI of the UNSC Spirit of Fire as of 2559, formerly serving as a logistical AI at the Henry Lamb Research Outpost on Installation 00.^[3]

Biography

Creation and work on the Ark

"Isabel, our new smart AI, has embraced our new home with a wonder and enthusiasm that matches our own. She is a young AI and this is her first assignment but even so, her excitement for discovery and investigation is infectious among the team."

— From the journal of Nathaniel Palmer, a xenoarchaeologist on the Ark, on April 2, 2558.

Isabel was created in March 2556 by scanning and replicating the neural pathways of Anarosa Carmelo, a test pilot who was killed in an accident on Mars.^[4]^[5] Isabel did not begin her first assignment until early 2558,^[6] however, having first been relocated to Earth for training. When that was completed, she was tasked with managing logistics at the Henry Lamb Research Outpost on the Forerunner Installation 00, where she was in charge of food supplies, life systems, and power management. Isabel was also given the responsibility of guiding the activation and direction of the installation's massive Retriever Sentinels being used to conduct repairs on the Ark.^[7] Before long, those Retriever Sentinels were able to work unsupervised and Isabel and the team set to the immense task of researching and cataloging the Ark.^[7] Isabel's excitement for discovery and investigation was infectious among the team of researchers. Even Brewer, thought by Nathaniel Palmer to be the most jaded of the scientists there, was caught swapping jokes with her.^[6] The work was tragically cut short by the unexpected closure of the portal linking the Ark to Earth on October 28, 2558 and the arrival of the Banished on November 25.^[7] The Jiralhanae, Decimus, led an attack on the outpost that resulted in the deaths of all of its personnel. Isabel remained hidden during the violence and began broadcasting on a secure UNSC channel in the hopes that assistance would come.^[3]

A new purpose

"Captain, I appreciate a good rousing speech as much as the next AI, but Atriox has had months to set up his forces on the Ark. Even if we could find him, attacking him head on would be suicide."

— Isabel to Cutter.

Isabel speaks with Captain Cutter and Jerome-092.

Isabel's distress beacon was eventually encountered by the UNSC Spirit of Fire, which arrived over the Ark through unknown means on March 28, 2559. Spartan Red Team was deployed to the Ark's surface to investigate, where it came across Isabel in a holotable within the Henry Lamb outpost.^[3] Isabel expressed great relief at seeing the Spartans but was perplexed when they asked he about the size of the local Covenant force, being unaware that the Covenant had been defeated years prior. She recovered from the confusion and attempted to warn the three that they were incredible danger right as a booming noise signaled that enemies were nearby.^[3] Jerome-092 pulled Isabel's data crystal chip from the console at that moment in order to bring her back to the Spirit of Fire. The Brute leader of the Banished, Atriox, ambushed Red Team and injured Douglas-042 in the process. Isabel's chip, apart from any integrated systems, afforded her very limited perception of what was happening as the Spartans made their escape via M12 Warthog.^[3] She asked what was going on and where they were going but received little in the way of an answer from Jerome. She admonished her rescuers that she had tried to warn them about the nearby threat and also let them know that the Banished had the ability to use the Ark's portals.^[3] Jerome and Douglas, with Isabel in tow, were exfiltrated safely aboard a D79-TC Pelican but Alice-130 stayed behind to cover their retreat. Isabel responded to this with shock, believing that Alice had perished on their behalf but was assured by Jerome she would be alright.^[3] James Cutter, captain of the Spirit of Fire, signaled that he wanted a full report from both Jerome and Isabel as soon as they reached the ship.^[3]

Jerome proceeded straight to the bridge after disembarking the Pelican and plugged Isabel's chip into a holotable.^[8] He attempted to introduce her to the captain, but she noted that she was already fully aware of who he was as the story of the Spirit of Fire and its mysterious disappearance was known to her. For a brief moment, it seemed as if she would be hesitant to speak, but Cutter spurred her to fill him in on the situation they were facing. Isabel did this by recalling the events of the last five months, principally the shutdown of the portal and the attack from the Banished. To provide context regarding their new enemy, she shared what she knew concerning Atriox's past and his violent faction. Her recommended course of action was to flee, as she had no reason to think the Spirit did not at that moment possess a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.^[8] Not one to show fear and retreat from a challenge, and believing that it was their duty to stop Atriox before he could acquire dangerous weapons with which he could threaten humanity, Cutter ignored her pleading and gave an rousing speech to the bridge crew. His words inspired Isabel as well and when he said they would be making a stand there against the Banished, she affirmed her agreement with his decision.^[8] She did caution, however, that attacking Atriox head-on would be a mistake even if they could find him, as he had been setting up forces on the Ark for months at that point. Cutter asked about the Jiralhanae's chain of command and she directed his focus to a salvage operation being overseen by Decimus.^[8]

Upgrading the Spirit of Fire

"As requested, I've conducted my initial evaluation of the Spirit of Fire's manufacturing and support capabilities. No surprise, the ship's compliment of arms could use some... attention. Being offline for three decades will lead to a few missed upgrades, I suppose. I'm still sorting out the ship's factory control AIs and I'm a bit out of my element without access to Joint Planning and Execution System data at the Lamb station, but I do like a challenge."

— From an intraship communication delivered to Cutter from Isabel.^[9]

Given the age of the ship and the amount of time it had spent is isolation from the rest of human civilization, Isabel was able to use her logistical background to make many improvements to it's security and safety protocols, as well as to various other systems.^[9] She scheduled 32,810 Critical System Updates and 1,201,924 Optional System Updates. Though not all of them would be compatible with the ship's architecture, she was confident that she could complete them within sixteen hours. Factory module repairs undertaken by Isabel included the reactivation of Assembly Lines 1-5 and the retooling of Line 6, which she projected would take 244 hours. Thanks to the Contingency Support Plan implemented by Serina, the previous shipboard AI of the Spirit of Fire, all repairs, refactoring, load-balancing, and agile reconfiguration was much easier than Isabel had initially anticipated.^[9] In addition, Isabel generated new signage and pamphlets for the crew for them to review, as they were decades out of compliance with UEG, UNSC and MILSAFE safety regulations. Isabel also made many improvements to the technology to be employed in the field by the Spirit's troops. One of the first things she did was integrate the design blueprint of the M121 Jackrabbit due to it being cheap and easy to manufacture.^[10] Power generators for firebases, which once had used expensive and bulky systems for hydrogen-burning reactors, were adapted with modern UNSC vertical axis turbines.^[11] She improved the design of the HRUNTING Mark III Cyclops with modern UNSC cyberlink protocols and module concepts,^[12] she adapted modern UNSC targeting software to the older hardware of the ship's M9 Wolverines,^[13] and dramatically simplified AC-220 Vulture production and maintenance.^[14] The M400 Kodiak was introduced for the first time by Isabel and quickly became a favorite.^[15] The G81 Heavy Gunship, Isabel's reconfiguration of the D81-LRT Condor which uses old, bulky capacitors to power pulse lasers and a Ballista Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, broke a large number of UNSC weapons platform and other safety regulations but Isabel was confident Cutter would defend her should the design ever be questioned.^[16] Finally, Isabel set up War Games training simulations aboard the ship and began to continually run optimization routines on the multiple design templates she uploaded to the ship's databanks, including those which she had gleaned from logs kept by Serina.^[17]

Decimus and the portal network

A group comprised of Jerome and several squads of marines, designated Strike One, was deployed to make its way toward a Banished camp with the eventual goal of crippling the salvage efforts. Isabel kept in contact with the Spartan to keep him informed of other troops being directed by Cutter. She informed both of them at this time of the last battle that had taken place here as an explanation of the wreckage being encountered. Isabel was able to intercept a transmission from Decimus to his underlings and Cutter told her to keep doing this and forwarding them to him.