Boren's Syndrome

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This article is about the disease. For the writer, see Brannon Boren.

Boren's Syndrome is supposedly a human neurological condition.^[1] The disease was most notably used as a cover-up by the Office of Naval Intelligence to keep the identity of the ORION Project's candidates classified.^[2] Since the best documented incidence of Boren's Syndrome is the cover story, it is unclear whether the condition is actually genuine, with the ORION augmentations only causing similar symptoms, or if it was entirely fabricated as part of the cover-up.

Summary

Boren's Syndrome supposedly causes tumors and migraines, and is believed to be caused by exposure to certain types of radiation. Claims as to the cause of the disease include inhaling the gases released when a Vostu-pattern carbine magazine is ejected^[3] and being exposed to radiation from plasma grenades.^[1] Several Insurrectionists on Victoria claimed to have this condition, hoping to bargain with the UNSC to gain treatment for the condition in exchange for some FENRIS nuclear warheads they had in stock. However, their status was false, as the bargain was revealed to be a trap set up by General Howard Graves in an attempt to capture the Spartan-IIs of Blue Team.^[4] Notably, John Forge's father died of Boren's Syndrome.^[5]

ORION Project

The Office of Naval Intelligence used Boren's Syndrome to cover up the side effects experienced by the surviving subjects of the ORION Project once the program was discontinued and the augmentees (retroactively designated "Spartan-Is") had been dispersed back to the United Nations Space Command armed forces at large.^[2]

ONI falsified the medical records of at least one of the Spartan-Is, Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, to describe him as a sufferer of Boren's Syndrome. He was said to have contracted the disease on Paris IV after absorbing a dangerously high amount of radiation originating from a crate of captured plasma grenades.^[1] This cover-up (known to ONI as the "Paris/BS Spoof") was likely used as a means of deterring any investigation into his altered DNA and physiology, which would have revealed him as a Spartan-I.^[2]