Slipspace Field Pods are the Forerunner equivalent of the UNSC's cryotubes.
Instead of freezing a being in a stasis, they encase the user inside of a compressed Slipspace field, which removes them from being harmed by events in "normal" space and causes time to pass at a much slower rate for the occupant. It is unknown whether these would work during Slipspace transit, because they freeze units by putting them in Slipspace itself. If they cannot operate in Slipspace transit, then it is clear that they are not intended as a method to prevent aging during Slipspace travel, but maybe as a mini fallout shelter to survive the Halo Array's activation.
Overview
Forerunner Slipspace pods are somehow connected to slipspace and normal space, the actual bodies contained inside the pods are within slipspace, making them safe from nearly everything. (Nearly means that they might be able to get killed if they are engaged within Slipspace, otherwise, normal space cannot hurt the person inside.)
They are visible via an afterimage seen within the pod, essentially a snapshot of the moment they "left" time. Although not technically in our space, those stored "within" the pods may be transported by moving the pods themselves. This method works as the Slipspace generator is located on each pod. If a person comes too close to the pod they will develop nausea, and a feeling of light-headedness due to exposure of an unshielded Slipspace field.
Currently, the method of releasing one from these pods is unknown.
On the sides of the pods there are Forerunner icons which Dr. Catherine Halsey translated into "That which must be protected...behind the sharpened edge of the shield...beyond the reach of the swords...for the reclaimed".[1] However, Dr. Halsey noted that her translation was off, and agreed with Ash when he suggested that is was instead "Reclaimers", when he brought up about his encounter with an Onyx Sentinel. This was not the first time the word has been misinterpreted this way, as the same mistake was made by the Covenant late in their history, in which the Oracle residing within the Forerunner Dreadnaught noted and corrected as "Reclaimers".
Team Katana of SPARTAN-III Gamma Company are in Slipspace Field Pods and are with the other survivors of the Battle of Onyx in the Shield World.
Theory behind the Technology
Being in a Slipspace Field Pod can be compared to getting sucked into a black hole, or what scientists think would happen if that were to occur. The gravity of the black hole distorts time the closer you get, at a certain point, stopping time for those affected (although a black hole singularity would most likely kill a person), and if another person was watching, they would see you frozen in time. You are visibly there, but at the same time you are not, you are stuck in a vacuum of time, which might be what causes those afterimages, from the pods in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.
List of appearances
- Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (First appearance)
- Halo: Glasslands
Sources
- ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 337
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