| Vergil | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
|
Began service: |
After 2533 |
| Political and military information | |
|
Affiliation: |
City of New Mombasa |
|
Functionality: |
Looking after Sadie Endesha |
Vergil was a subroutine built into the larger Superintendent artificial intelligence construct of New Mombasa. It later merged with Quick to Adjust,[1] a renegade Covenant Huragok who would subsequently be known as "Vergil" among many humans.[2]
Biography
Vergil was created by Dr. Daniel Endesha to look after his daughter, Sadie, because her mother was dead and he had to work very long hours. Using the seemingly endless resources of New and Old Mombasa, Vergil would monitor her through the Superintendent's network of security cameras and microphones. It was even capable of overriding municipally-controlled machines when it believed it was acting in Sadie's best interest. For example, it brought a public train to a halt in an attempt to prevent Sadie from moving towards New Mombasa when her intention was to sign up with the UNSC, which Vergil believed would put her in unnecessary danger. Vergil performed its tasks without fault, although Sadie found it to be a little restrictive. It isn't quite clear whether or not Vergil was truly sentient, or merely an incredibly advanced computer program that simulated the reactions of a sentient mind very well.[3]
Battle of Mombasa
- Main article: Battle of Mombasa
When the Covenant invasion of Earth and the attack on Mombasa took place, Vergil was instrumental in Sadie's escape from harm in her struggle to reach her trapped father, commandeering numerous vehicles to assist her, as well as the defense of the city by local militia, police, and UNSC Marines.
In his attempts to find Sadie, Commissioner Kinsler shut down the Superintendent, in order to prevent it from helping her. Eventually reactivated, Vergil had been badly damaged and was near to total system shutdown, saved only by the efforts of Quick to Adjust, a defected Covenant Huragok. Unwilling to continue as slaves to the Covenant, seven Huragok had made an attempt to free one of them. Six of them were destroyed during this attempt by giving their lives so that the seventh could flee. Eventually, it made its way to the core of the Superintendent, working to repair it. As it worked, Quick began to merge the badly damaged Vergil with itself, a process that was complete just as it was discovered by Captain Veronica Dare and the Rookie. Early in this process, Vergil, now stored within Quick, helped to free Sadie from Kinsler by opening the doors of his private train and letting the mob of refugees rip Kinsler apart.
Later, Quick to Adjust allowed itself to be captured by Veronica Dare and her team of ODSTs, to provide the UNSC vital information on the Covenant, and their intentions for New Mombasa.[4] A month later, Sergeant Major Johnson had a talk with the Huragok, who was in the process of accessing the Covenant battlenet, about the information it had. Quick agreed to share any information it has with the Sergeant and lit his cigar as a friendly gesture.[5] Although the Huragok was interrogated by ONI on information relating to the Portal at Voi, they were unable to obtain any actionable intelligence before the Prophet of Truth arrived in his Forerunner Dreadnought.[6]
The Vergil-Quick to Adjust amalgam entity continued to serve the Office of Naval Intelligence in the post-Covenant War era. Because of Vergil's incorporation into the Huragok it continued to maintain a unique bond with Sadie Endesha, who was assigned as its handler as a result.[2] Years later, the entity, generally called Vergil by humans, continued to retain the original Vergil's care and protectiveness towards Sadie.[7] Quick to Adjust would state at one point that Vergil was the part of him that was most human, the part that made him learn to care about Sadie. As a result, he was safely able to tell Sadie that her father would be proud of her as Vergil was too.[8]
Trivia
The name Vergil itself is likely a reference to the Divine Comedy, specifically to Virgil, the poet that guides fellow poet Dante through the nine circles of hell and purgatory, much in the same way the Rookie is guided through a metaphorical hell-on-earth, a destroyed New Mombasa, and also through the nine "circles" of audio logs, a reference to the nine circles of hell.
List of appearances
- Halo 3: ODST
- Sadie's Story (First appearance)
- Halo: New Blood
- Halo Mythos (Mentioned only)
- Halo: Bad Blood
Sources
- ^ Halo Waypoint - Is there an actual name for Vergil?
- ^ a b Halo: New Blood, pages 8-9 (Google Play edition)
- ^ Sadie's Story
- ^ Halo 3: ODST, campaign level Data Hive
- ^ Halo 3: ODST, campaign level Coastal Highway
- ^ Halo Waypoint: The Halo Bulletin: 9.24.14
- ^ Halo: Bad Blood
- ^ Halo: Bad Blood, page 317