2401 Penitent Tangent
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| 05-2401 Penitent Tangent | |
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| File:PenitentTangent01.jpg | |
| Biographical information | |
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Began service: |
More than 100,000 years ago |
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Gender: |
N/A (Male characteristics) |
| Political and military information | |
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Affiliation: |
Forerunner |
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Functionality: |
Monitor of Installation 05 |
- "And you know nothing about containment! You have demonstrated a complete disregard for even the most basic protocols!"
- — 2401 Penitent Tangent rebuking the Prophet of Regret
05-2401 Penitent Tangent was the monitor of Halo Installation 05.[1][2]
Biography
Flood outbreak
In May 97,227 BCE, another artificial intelligence construct warned 2401 Penitent Tangent of a pending outbreak in one the installation's Flood containment facilities. The monitor continued to ignore this warning, and those that followed, for millenia. Within 99,779 years, the containment facility, as well as much of the Halo, had been overrun by the Flood.[3] Eventually, the Quarantine Zone was established and the full force of the installation's Sentinels and Enforcers was mobilized.[4][5]
Installation 05 containment failure reports
The Cold Storage Reports are a series of reports filed by an unknown entity on Installation 05 following the outbreak of the Flood parasite. They were posted in two successive Bungie Weekly Updates in mid-2008 to hint at the upcoming release of the level Cold Storage.[6][7] The reports were later posted on Halo Waypoint.[8]
The report
REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] has experienced catastrophic specimen containment failure. All apertures into facility will be locked until further notice. Atmosphere evacuation and [reduction of ambient temperature] protocols have already been enacted. Request maintenance and security detail [at earliest opportunity]. [8 minutes] elapsed since initial containment failure. REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE Waiting for maintenance and security detail. [32 minutes, 9 seconds] elapsed since request. REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE Still waiting for maintenance and security detail. [24 hours] elapsed since request. REPORT: SECURITY BREACH LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] has experienced a security breach via emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits. Emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits have been placed in recursive mode to contain unauthorized hostile life forms. Request emergency security detail. Still waiting for primary maintenance and security detail. [2512332 hours, 14 minutes, 6 seconds] elapsed since initial request. REPORT: DERELICTION OF DUTY 2401 [Penitent Tangent] has been lax in the areas of maintenance and security.
LOG: QUERIED ADJACENT FACILITIES LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility [alpha, beta, gamma, epsilon, zeta, and kappa sites] have all replied [systems normal] within expected constraints. This would tend to signify that the containment failure was purely mechanical in nature; perhaps a manufacturing flaw. As no [outside agent] has accessed [delta site] in the past [874068942 hours, 4 minutes, 46 seconds]—[allowing for a 61360-hour, 54 minute, 2 second margin of error]—sabotage would seem unlikely. LOG: REQUEST UNANSWERED LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] is currently being held at [.01 atm] / [184K]. Local maintenance and security hubs have failed to reply within expected constraints. [Bumping maintenance and security request up] to [quadrant oversight]. LOG: REQUEST UNANSWERED LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] is currently being held at [1 atm] / [278K] as atmospheric seals were showing signs of stress. [Quadrant oversight] has failed to reply within expected constraints. [Bumping maintenance and security request all the way up] to 2401 [PENITENT TANGENT]. LOG: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO FACILITIES LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits have been accessed by unauthorized parties. LOG: FILED COMPLAINT TO INSTALLATION 00 2401 [PENITENT TANGENT], monitor of Installation 05, has been lax in the areas of maintenance and security. Requests for aid in said areas have gone unanswered by both 2401 and [subservient] systems well beyond expected constraints.
Trivia
- The first time stamp "2512332 hours, 14 minutes, 6 seconds" is the equivalent of 290 years, 7 months, 14 minutes, 6 seconds. The second time stamp is equivalent to 99,779 years, 204 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes, 46 seconds.
- In the report, the installation's monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent, is continuously accused of being lax in maintenance and security, implying that the report was filed by another intelligence within the facility, possibly the caretaker ancilla of the local Flood containment facility.
Sources
- ^ Halo 2 level Gravemind. "Greetings! I am 2401 Penitent Tangent. I am the monitor of Installation 05."
- ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 136
- ^ Halo 3, Cold Storage transmissions
- ^ Halo 2, campaign level Sacred Icon
- ^ Halo 2, campaign level Quarantine Zone
- ^ Bungie.net: Bungie Weekly Update: 5/30/08
- ^ Bungie.net: Bungie Weekly Update: 6/6/08
- ^ Halo Waypoint - Cold Storage Reports
See also
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Battle of Installation 05
- Main article: Battle of Installation 05
By November 2, 2552, 2401 Penitent Tangent had been captured by the Flood and was held captive by the Gravemind that had manifested on Installation 05. After the battle on the ring had raged for some time, the Gravemind absorbed and reanimated the Prophet of Regret, one of the Hierarchs of the Covenant. Later, Spartan John-117 and Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee were also captured by the Gravemind. Upon seeing John, a Reclaimer, the monitor urged the Spartan to activate the ring. Penitent Tangent was immediately defied by Regret, who insisted that nothing could be done until he had completed his sermon in preparation for the Great Journey. The monitor countered that the installation had been tested trillions of times and was ready to fire on demand. The Hierarch then torted that the "Oracles" were the most worthless artifacts that had been left by the Forerunners, prompting the monitor to berate Regret for his lack of regard for protocol. Amid the argument, the Gravemind insisted that the four factions represented in the meeting shared a common goal: preventing the ring from being activated. Shortly thereafter, the Gravemind used the monitor's control of Installation 05's teleportation grid to send the Spartan and 'Vadamee to High Charity and the Halo's control room, respectively, in an attempt to stop the activation of the Halo array.[1]
Trivia
- 2401 Penitent Tangent was voiced by John Michael Higgins.
- Like all monitors, 2401 Penitent Tangent's numerical designation is derived from seven raised to one less than the number of his installation (7n-1). This is one of Bungie's numerous references to the number seven in the Halo series.
- "Penitent" means feeling or expressing sorrow for sin or wrongdoing and [being] disposed to atonement and amendment" and is synonymous with "repentant".[2] "Tangent" is part of the idiom "off on a tangent", which refers to digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another.[3] This name may reflect the Monitor's actions; it could be described as sorrowfully digressing from one course of action (neglecting its installation) and turning to another (wishing to activate the Halo). This is interesting, as Penitent is a synonym for Guilty, and Tangent is similar to Spark. It has been theorized that all Monitors were named following this pattern.
- 2401 Penitent Tangent appears in the Halo 2 multiplayer map Backwash. He hovers around the map and is invulnerable to damage.
List of appearances
- Halo 2 (First appearance)
Sources
- ^ Halo 2, campaign level Gravemind
- ^ Dictionary.com: penitent
- ^ Dictionary.com: tangent
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