Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)

"Are you ready, Reclaimer? This is how my story begins."

— 343 Guilty Spark in the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary terminals teaser.

The most common form of design for Terminals across the campaign.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary features a Terminal accessible to the player in each level. Unlike the text-based terminals of Halo 3, the Anniversary terminals feature animation, music, sound effects and narration by 343 Guilty Spark and a handful of other characters. The terminals also have connections to the story of Halo 4 and The Forerunner Saga. After the player accessed the terminal in the campaign levels, the terminal can be watched in the game's main menu, in the "Extras", similar to the cutscenes in Halo Wars.

The graphics and audio for the Terminals were produced by The Sequence Group, while most of the writing was done by 343 Industries Managing Editor Kevin Grace.

Just like skulls, terminals cannot be seen or accessed in Classic mode. They can be seen and accessed on any difficulty and in Co-op mode. Once unlocked, the terminals can be viewed via Halo Waypoint. Starting from Series 7, Halo: The Master Chief Collection allowed unlocked terminals to be viewed from the Extras menu.

The Terminals

Terminal One

The terminal in the bridge of UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

Campaign level: The Pillar of Autumn (video-guide)
The terminal is one of the computer consoles located on the left side of the Autumn's bridge. All of the console's screens flash "INCOMING MESSAGE" in red, and a crewman is standing beside it instead of manning the console.

---

“

The discovery of Halo becomes even more mysterious when the Pillar of Autumn receives a very familiar greeting.

”

{Cutscene}

The exclusion zone surrounding Installation 04.

[044657.04.21.21.34.56]

The screen of a communications terminal on the UNSC Pillar of Autumn's bridge is shown. The screen experiences graphical glitches, then changes to a Forerunner map of star systems in the local area of the galaxy.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Warning! By order of Ecumene Council, proximity to Installation 04 is forbidden."

The seven Halo rings are shown on screen. The fourth ring is highlighted. The ring's location is indicated in a cluster of stars.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Your continued presence will result in most unpleasant countermeasures. I must insist that you immediately change course and return to a minimum safe distance of one light-year."

Zoom into the highlighted area of space. The UNSC Pillar of Autumn is shown to be well inside the 0.5 light-year radius of the exclusion zone around the installation. The ship is circled by a red line, and a 30-second countdown begins.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "This has served as your one and final warning."

Guilty Spark begins to scan the structure of the Pillar of Autumn.

<Pillar of Autumn - Data Acquisition

1345.99.331.1 - 1390.33.124.6

Remote Access Limited>

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I have activated defensive systems, and you now have thirty seconds to return to the minimum safe distance of - wait. Curious..."

Historical data taken from the Autumn's systems are briefly displayed: a group of prehistoric humans around a fire, a citizen of ancient Greece, the Egyptian pyramids, a shot of an 18th-century city around the time of the Industrial Revolution, a soldier in World War II, an atomic bomb blast, Neil Armstrong standing on the Moon, the International Space Station, humans testing an unknown device (possibly a fusion reactor or Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine), an orbital defense platform, and a SPARTAN-II.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Curious, indeed! After all these years..."

SUSPENDED

CLEARED

The lock-on circle surrouding the Autumn changes from red to green.

CONFIRMATION

4-000002

CLEARED TRAJECTORY

A trajectory for landing on the ring is displayed.

WARNING

YOUR TRAJECTORY HAS NOT BEEN ADJUSTED

PLEASE LOCK IN NEW TRAJECTORY

Spark analyzes the Mark V MJOLNIR armor, as well as its human occupant.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Greetings, humans, and welcome to Installation 04! Ignore prior warnings, and please continue. I have disabled defensive systems to allow your approach, but you must not exit your ship once you have arrived at the designated landing center. This ring contains significant dangers, and even with your assumed legacy, I must verify the presence and pitch of your geas before allowing full access. We have much to discuss, humans."

343 Guilty Spark himself appears on-screen.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I have been away far too long. You have been away far too long."

Terminal Two

The terminal in the tunnels of Installation 04.

Campaign level: Halo (video-guide)
Near the start of the tunnel, you will come across a ledge leading to the next section. If you carry on the route rather than make the jump, you will drive past a small alcove. The second terminal is located at the far end of this alcove.

---

“

In the aftermath of a terrible sacrifice, careful plans are laid for the Halo Array.

”

{Cutscene}

[000003.09.12.06.54]

The Array at Installation 00, just before their departure to firing sites across the galaxy.

The Ark, intergalactic space. 343 Guilty Spark flies through a large asteroid field. Several Halos are orbiting the Ark.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I am experiencing such a mixture of anticipation and dread. All preparations are complete for my installation. In accordance with the final dictum of the Ecumene Council, I have released myself of all remaining connections to my former station."

Guilty Spark is inside a Forerunner structure, gliding down a dimly lit hallway.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "This was not difficult. What was could never be again. We had seen to that quite thoroughly."

Six monitors of various colors converge on the center of a large round chamber, decorated with a glyph on the floor.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Prior to my final journey through the great portal, a gathering of my fellow monitors was convened upon the Lifeworkers' crèche to distribute the final Index collection."

Fade to a different scene. Several armored Forerunners stand in various places in the chamber. Guilty Spark enters the room and flies toward the other monitors.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "It was most unusual to have this vessel of rebirth play host to such an event, even though Lifeworker ships were the only ones still allowed slipspace permissions. Lifeworkers were responsible for getting us to our places on the active facilities of the Array. While all of this was in accordance with the plan, one entirely unsatisfactory breakdown remained. We had no contact with the Domain."

A yellow monitor faces a Forerunner. The Forerunner bows his/her head, as if unhappy with what is to come. Guilty Spark moves on and flies into an adjoining chamber, where he meets 049 Abject Testament.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "The history of all Forerunners was now lost to us. We relied upon the permanence of the Domain to preserve our record of the events that led to this point. But without that record, would future civilizations know anything about us? Or only of our weapons?"

As Guilty Spark narrates, the view shifts through several different locations: a Forerunner planet emblazoned with glyphs, large Forerunner structures in an unknown location, a forest with a large Forerunner building rising above the treeline, two Forerunners watching a ship outside a large window, an unknown starship, and two Forerunners standing in a city. One is smaller than the other, possibly being a Manipular.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "My fellow Monitor, 049 Abject Testament, had only one comment on this before we went our separate ways."

• 049 Abject Testament: "We deserve to be forgotten."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Perhaps...perhaps."

A massive slipspace portal opens in the space above the Ark, and the other side comes into a view: Installation 04 is seen from the other side.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "But now, the portal opens - and through it, the familiar shape awaits. Halo... Home."

Terminal Three

The terminal in the bridge of Truth and Reconciliation.

Campaign level: The Truth and Reconciliation (video-guide)
The third terminal is located within the vessel's bridge, in the middle of the front holographic displays. The section is indicated with a red color that stands out from the rest.

---

“

343 Guilty Spark meets his Covenant counterpart and is very, very disappointed.

”

{Cutscene}

[100002.09.19.21.33.01]

Guilty Spark attempting to explain the Flood threat to the Covenant AI.

343 Guilty Spark faces a hologram of the Truth and Reconciliation's semi-sentient construct: a pulsating purple-green beam of light.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Construct! Who is your maker?"

• Covenant AI: "Sadness, pain, disrepair, Oracle... I am unworthy. I was not made."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Never made? But you are right here, where you should not be. Tell your charges to cease their efforts immediately. Quarantine must not be violated!"

A holographic schematic of the Truth and Reconciliation is shown. The bridge is highlighted in blue.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Construct, respond!"

• Covenant AI: "Jumbled grasp. Familiar terms. I serve... None serve me, Oracle."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Your charges must cease all aggression toward the Reclaimers and leave this Installation at once. Construct, you are dangerously close to unleashing a force you cannot comprehend."

Flood super cells are shown, dividing and multiplying. Tentacles sprout from a Sangheili Major's arm as he is transformed into a combat form. The images are shown to the Covenant AI on holographic screens.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "This is most inappropriate."

• Covenant AI: "We follow the Path, and I am part of the stone-journey swarm that serves. I/we serve. They will find, and then I will be free."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Find? Free? Explain yourself!"

• Covenant AI: "I know their Path. And when they are gone, only I shall remain. And then...free."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "This is quite unsatisfactory, construct. Your core shows no hint of understanding the gravity of this situation. I will return later for your proper decommissioning... Well, unless the Flood kills us all first, in which case the point will be moot. Good day, construct."

Guilty Spark, frustrated, terminates communications with the construct.

Terminal Four

The terminal under the beam of the Forerunner structure.

Campaign level: The Silent Cartographer (video-guide)
The fourth terminal is located against the Marathon-symbol-shaped structure near the center of the island where the first Hunter pair is fought, on the circular part and beneath the "bridge".

---

“

After a thousand years, the excitement of maintaining a galactic superweapon starts to wear thin.

”

{Cutscene}

As isolation takes its toll, Guilty Spark begins to show early signs of rampancy.

[044657.04.21.21.34.56]

Guilty Spark is observing a hologram of the Halo Array.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Entropy. It has now been 3,000 years since my last contact with any of the other caretakers of the Halo Array. Despite clear communications protocol, my fellow monitors have either chosen to ignore - or, more likely, have lost the ability to engage in our scheduled updates. The continued lapse of the Domain means that we're stuck with achingly slow wormhole superluminal communications."

A hologram projector is activated, showing a recording made by 2401 Penitent Tangent.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Prior to this total communications shutdown, the only messages I received in the preceding 4,573 years were incomplete and quite perplexing transmissions from Installation 05."

Guilty Spark is shown speeding down an underground tunnel. Molten lava flows below.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I suspected that monitor 2401 Penitent Tangent was not functioning correctly for some time before his messages ceased."

Guilty Spark is shown floating through another room.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I have logged my concerns about his ability to perform his duties. At this point, however, I am not sure who I file logs for. 2401 may be destined for madness. There are failsafes for this, I know... I hope they work."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I will continue to visit the projection systems at the assigned dates. Perhaps the other monitors are dealing with interfering galactic phenomenon, or unexpected system failures."

Spark floats toward a projection platform.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Three thousand years of system failures, indeed..."

Spark floats through a Flood containment facility. A Flood combat form is contained in a biological storage tank.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "In the mean time, I've exhausted all scheduled research activities assigned by the Council. Once those experiments were complete, I shut down all Sentinel function and put myself into a state of significant hibernation to measure performance of the Installation with - negligible - upkeep..."

Spark enters a small alcove, and slowly shuts down. Fade to black.

EXTENDED HIBERNATION

MAINTENANCE CHECK AT 1000 CYCLES

EXCEPTIONS WILL BE RAISED FOR MAJOR AND PROFOUND EVENTS

SYSTEMS NOMINAL

HIBERNATION CYCLES: 2

MINOR EVENTS: 23

MAJOR EVENTS: 0

PROFOUND EVENTS: 0

• 343 Guilty Spark: "After 150 years with no noticeable impact upon Installation systems or integrity, even in hibernation I became...bored."

Spark reactivates, but his eye color flashes back and forth between blue and red - an early sign of rampancy.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "This was quite routing, as I was led to believe that I was not capable of such a state. This was one of the gifts I was promised... an end to strife."

Spark is shown floating above a river. A serene field of grass rocks back and forth with the wind.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I am aware of the dangers of a system such as myself losing operational focus. Quite troubling. I wonder if my fellow monitors are experiencing similar states... or if this is because of my particular path to this Installation."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "For amusement, I have begun a series of experiments involving the evacuation of all matter from contained sections of my Installation."

A forest is shown, with several Forerunner structures built next to a river. The entire forest is suddenly sucked out into space.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "By measuring the geologic effects of exposure to the vacuum of space and the eventual biological recovery of these sections, I anticipate gaining valuable insight into emergency response scenarios in case of-"

SENTIENT PROXIMITY WARNING

VESSEL INCOMING

A yellow flash can be seen heading towards the Installation, as an unknown vessel enters its atmosphere.

Terminal Five

The terminal under the giant fin structure.

Campaign level: Assault on the Control Room (video-guide)
The fifth terminal is located at the bottom of a pit in front of the Control Room structure at the end of the level. The terminal is on the ground, under the base of a large metal strut that runs diagonally down the front building.

---

“

The crash of unknown visitors pits curiosity against duty.

”

{Cutscene}

[044657.04.23.01.17.22]

The unknown vessel in Sector 1215.

UPDATING REPORT

• 343 Guilty Spark: "It has been 26 hours since the sentients landed in Sector 1215, and so far they have not attempted to exit the remains of their vessel."

A schematic of the crashed vessel is shown.

REPORT 857898-654-004

CATALOGING INCIDENT 000654

PROFOUND (0) MAJOR (1) MINOR (677)

PASSIVE VIOLATION OCCURRED

PEAK INTEREST: 7

CURRENT INTEREST: 5

CHANGE: NULL (6122 CYCLES)

CYCLES UNTIL DEMOTION: 109283

SENSORS OCCUPIED: 42

RESPONSE CALCULATION

YIELD: 507

ATMOSPHERE: NORMALIZED TO 87%

STRUCTURE: FAILED (17 MAJOR)

MECHANICAL ORIGIN: UNKNOWN

INTERFACE SYSTEMS: UNKNOWN

NONSYNTHETIC LIFE: UNKNOWN

ENERGY OUTPUT: NULL

HYDROGEN OUTPUT: NULL

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: UNKNOWN

TACTICAL RESPONSES: NULL

EMERGENT SYSTEMS: NULL

SYNTHETIC SYSTEMS: NULL

BACKFLOW SYSTEMS: NULL

EMERGENCY RESPONSES: NULL

ENTROPY: 769000 CYCLES (+/- 5000)

SENTIENT SYSTEM PROBABILITY: 99.883897%

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I say "remains" because their landing was either not executed adequately, or this vessel lacked significant maneuvering capability. The visible portions of the vessel have suffered catastrophic structural damage during the violent landing experience."

Hull breaches along the starship are highlighted.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I have detected atmospheric leaks in 17 distinct locations along the hull. My analysis shows that a mixture of gases coming from the ship matches the natural atmosphere of my Installation almost exactly."

343 Guilty Spark speeds toward the burning wreck.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Perhaps the occupants, if they still live, were originally catalogued here! Perhaps these beings will confirm that the Plan was successful, and that the galaxy has returned to its proper cadence! I am beyond optimistic!"

343 Guilty Spark is shown scanning the outer hull of the ship. A huge trench have been dug into the surface during the crash-landing.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "But I do not understand why these sentients have not attempted to exit their vessel. Other than the leaking atmosphere, the only thing emanating from this refuge is an automated distress call."

An analysis of the alien vessel's broadcast is shown.

UNKNOWN ETYMOLOGY

TRANSLATING

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I am currently translating this automated broadcast, but with such a limited data set and no direct communication, I do not anticipate full comprehension."

A display of Installation 04's surrounding space is shown. The signal is broadcasting into space.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Given the short-range nature of this craft, it is likely that other vessels are nearby."

ESTABLISHING TRANSMISSION BARRIER

• 343 Guilty Spark: "But...in accordance with procedure, I am blocking the distress call. No communication of the location of any Installation is permissible."

An electronic jamming barrier is erected around the Installation. The signal slowly fades.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I admit great curiosity about these visitors. While the plan is quite clear about the procedure of this situation, I have my doubts."

An overhead view of the crashed vessel is shown.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "How many failure points can the plan sustain before blind adherence becomes counterproductive? Surely in light of all that has changed, I should be able to modify my responses to adapt-"

The view zooms out to a section of Installation 04.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "No. I have duties, and I have a terrible cargo here. I must be sure. I shall obey and content myself to monitor."

The system's sun rises over Threshold.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I hope they come out soon, though. So many questions to ask! So many questions!"

Terminal Six

The terminal above the doorway.

Campaign level: 343 Guilty Spark (video-guide)
The sixth terminal is found while riding the third elevator that will allow you to escape the underground facility. You'll find the terminal above the doorway you came out of. It can be reached by activating the elevator, then timing it correctly and jumping off onto the platform below (there is only one possible attempt due to the lack of elevator controls on the top floor).

---

“

With his hopes for outside contact now buried, 343 Guilty Spark is (somewhat) comforted by a reminder of how deadly his responsibilities on Halo truly are.

”

{Cutscene}

Guilty Spark imagines a Flood-infested Halo.

[044657.04.23.01.17.22]

A massive containment building have been built around the crashed alien ship.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Construction of the sarcophagus around the unexplained vessel was completed today. No occupants ever exited."

A visual representation of the broadcast is displayed.

SIGNAL - 4651858

• 343 Guilty Spark: "No attempts to communicate were made, other than the automated broadcast that repeated every 72.83 seconds until the signal terminated one week ago."

The broadcast gradually flatlines.

SIGNAL TRUNCATED

• 343 Guilty Spark: "In accordance with procedure, no attempts at physical or remote contact were made with any survivors of this vessel's inelegant landing."

Video logs showing the vessel's hull breaches are displayed. Gases seep from the openings, but eventually stops.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Atmosphere from inside the craft stopped venting two weeks before the signal ceased. No relationship between these two events can be established with certainty. Gases that did escape were sterilized. No further sign of alien visitors or rescuers has been identified on any sensor systems."

Guilty Spark floats silently into a verdant forest.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I have now endured 60,000 years without word from outside the Array. I have no way to know whether we actually saved the galaxy we destroyed. And because of protocol I sat silently while my first chance to be judged for those acts died. To say that I regret being forced to this outcome is a tremendous understatement."

Guilty Spark then teleports into a Flood containment facility.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "But as I perform my inspection of the quarantine lab today, I am reminded of the gravity of my responsibilities."

Spark floats past a biological containment tank, imprisoning an immature and dormant infection form.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Just one of these spores, if released from this facility, would render the ultimate judgement against our self-appointed role as protectors of this galaxy."

Spark imagines the form rapidly maturing and falling from the sky, onto the surface of his Installation.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "When the plan to maintain the Halo Array was created, it was a point of some contention whether we should preserve any remnant of the Flood infection. Many thought this unwise, as there was a notable chance that one day one of our containment facilities might be breached. Those who held this belief were almost successful at convincing the Ecumene Council to destroy the last Flood samples..."

As the infection form reaches the surface, the Halo's landscape is rapidly transformed into a Flood-infested wasteland.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "...but oddly enough, it was the Librarian who decided otherwise. And I believe she was correct. I know, in a way I cannot logically explain, that there exists a way to actually defeat the Flood."

Various shots of a large Flood infestation are shown.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "To immunize...to cure. I still struggle with multiple layers of memory of fighting the Flood, but I know this cure is possible, even though the full genius of the Forerunners was unable to achieve it."

The view switches back to Guilty Spark, who is observing the containment tank.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "The Forerunners' ancient enemy held and used that knowledge once. But it was denied to us. And without samples to further study, that cure will never again be found. Of course, I have no reason to believe that here lies the entirety of the parasite. It may be waiting in the frozen void beyond this galaxy, or worse...inexorably drifting toward us."

The tiny infection form is silently floating inside the tank.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I don't know what survives out beyond my installation, but I know that in order for anything to survive I have to protect this installation and its quarantine very carefully. Yes. The Librarian was right to store it, to examine it, continue to seek a cure."

The view switches back to the sarcophagus.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Still...next visitor, things will be different."

Terminal Seven

The terminal with the exit of the index chamber in the background.

Campaign level: The Library (video-guide)
The seventh terminal is located on the Library's third floor. You will eventually come to the index chamber - a room with a large circular room, with the Index platform above it. Go either right or left and jump over the low barriers until you get to the opposite side. The terminal flashes yellow, and can be clearly seen across the chasm.

---

“

Who monitors the Monitor?

”

{Cutscene}

Guilty Spark hovers over a desolate cliff.

[89875.11.11.15.41.13]

A close-up of Spark's eye is shown.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Alone..."

His eye starts to flash red as rampancy sets in.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Alone. Alone. Alone. Alone."

Spark is floating silently above the edge of a cliff.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Am I the only intelligence left? Waiting here on this ring for a rebirth never truly conceived. Guarding a weapon with no targets... A weapon I can tune to any target."

A schematic of Installation 04 appears. The view rapidly zooms to intergalatic space.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "This is not what I had in mind when I volunteered. Not what I had in mind at all."

A crowd of Forerunners is shown standing in a massive amphitheater.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I am naïve to think I understood what this Installation meant. We were all so naïve."

A cloud of Sentinels are finalizing the Halo's construction. A Forerunner silently observes from a nearby ship's window.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Looking back, we should have done a few things differently."

Spark flies through the sky of the installation.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "For one thing, we should have installed two caretakers per installation."

Guilty Spark imagines an identical monitor flying next to him. The duplicate vanishes after flying into a cloud, leaving Spark alone.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Because I am alone, I am losing focus. And that is very, very dangerous for a system such as myself."

Spark flies into space, amidst a meteorite field over the ring. He observes a nearby nebula.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Perhaps a visit to the nearby gas giant would be in order. My impulse drives could certainly make the journey."

The camera quickly zooms into the nebulae, speeding past innumerable stars.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "A few hundred years of travel might do me some good."

Suddenly, the view emerges out of the nebulae to a front view of Installation 04.

Spark flies past several structures on the Installation. The area is covered in snow.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "There it was again. How very unproductive of me."

A holographic scan of a RNA/DNA strand is being analyzed. Sentinels are categorizing biological data in a large-scale storage facility.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "It seems strange that the Librarian did not account for this. Her strength was in planning and positioning the pieces, and then being bold enough to let it happen. To let her plans come true."

The Librarian is standing at a verdant safari near Mount Kilimanjaro. Her shadow is visible.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I was a part of many of those plans long before I was certain she was real. Before any of us were."

The Halo effect sweeps through the forest. The shadow vanishes.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "But at the end, we had only a fragment of her brilliance left to us; and I fear that she did not fully appreciate the nature of our situation here."

The Librarian's symbol appears, and then rapidly disassembles, reforming into the components of Guilty Spark himself.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "The problems of my post. But even a fragment of-"

Spark's voice and image is suddenly distorted. The camera's spin becomes erratic. Just as suddenly, he is back to normal.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "-fragment, yes. Oh dear. Here it comes again."

Terminal Eight

The terminal on the control room platform.

Campaign level: Two Betrayals (video-guide)
The eighth terminal is in the control room at the level's very beginning. walk around the circular platform and the terminal can be found directly across from the central console.

---

“

The destructive might of the Halo Array is remembered by one of the few survivors of its last firing.

”

{Cutscene}

[051207.06.07.06.11.02]

Halo is unleashed, its lethal wave expanding through space.

One of the Halo rings is activated. Energy converges at the ring's center as the Forerunner's ultimate weapon fires.

CALCULATING THRESHOLD

• 343 Guilty Spark: "25,000 light years. That is the effective range of this installation."

The harmonic cascading wave expands across the galaxy. A readout of a life-sustaining world in its path is shown.

SENTIENT LIFE

ODDS OF EXTERMINATION: 100%

ODDS OF RESTRUCTURE: 23%

• 343 Guilty Spark: "According to the star charts archived on board this installation, I estimate that there are 3,792 worlds capable of sustaining biological sentient life within that 25,000 light year range."

Another world is consumed by the wave, its readout showing a similar assessment.

SENTIENT LIFE

ODDS OF EXTERMINATION: 100%

ODDS OF RESTRUCTURE: 12%

• 343 Guilty Spark: "In reality, it may be significantly more than that. And if the full array was tuned and activated by Installation 00, the harmonics of the overlapping waves would magnify that effect exponentially, cascading to cover every known star system."

The wave sweeps through every planet in its path.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "And that only considers the firing of a mere seven Halos! Had the original twelve rings survived to see use... sterilization would spread far further than most Forerunners ever feared we could reach."

An amphibian stares into the sky as the Halo effect strikes the planet. The animal is literally reduced to dust.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "But even with just seven rings, we were able to destroy every sign of the Flood...and every other sentient creature along with it."

The lethal wave cleanses a Flood-controlled planet of its infestation. Local Forerunner structures are restored to a pristine state.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "This victory was the will of our people, despite the fact that it meant our own end as well. But by our pyrrhic measurement, it was a victory, and cleared the stage for the rest of the Librarian's plan."

A holographic projection displays the Didact's symbol.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I sometimes wonder whether the Didact could have succeeded at a much smaller cost. I learned the folly of opposing him personally, and his brilliance was unsurpassed, except perhaps by her own."

The hologram dissolves seconds later. A new image is projected - a schematic of a Halo ring.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "He never got the chance to fully execute his proposal. The Council saw to that. But if something were to go wrong with one of the Halos, if our tools were ever turned against us..."

The Halo hologram also dissolves.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "...long plans, indeed."

Terminal Nine

The terminal under the platform in the bridge of Truth and Reconciliation.

Campaign level: Keyes (video-guide)
The ninth terminal can be found after the player find Keyes absorbed into the Proto-Gravemind. Eliminate nearby Covenant and Flood forces, then search the sunken crevices to the side of the raised platform. The terminal is a red holographic panel, and will be on one the right crevice's wall.

---

“

Keyes, Jacob. Captain. Service number 01928-19912-JK.

”

{Cutscene}

[044657.04.21.21.34.56]

Keyes and his squad are attacked and consumed by the Flood.

Fade in to Jacob Keyes' eyes. They are shut, with a pained expression.

• Jacob Keyes: "I, forgot something..."

A bright sun rises amidst a cloudy sky.

• Jacob Keyes: "What did I- My name. I forgot... Oh! Uh... Keyes, Jacob. Captain. Service number 01928-19912-JK."

Keyes' name patch and medals are shown.

Fade to black, then to Keyes' closed eyes.

• Jacob Keyes: "What is that noise? What is that damned noise?!"

Keyes imagines himself standing at attention in uniform, saluting.

• Jacob Keyes: "Where am I?"

Keyes' memories take him back to the Flood containment facility, as his contingent of Marines battle the Flood. All hell breaks loose in slow-motion; every sound is distorted as though underwater.

The Marines open fire at a charging combat form, to little effect. A Marine runs away from a horde of Flood as another is overwhelmed behind him. Keyes is shown, screaming.

• Jacob Keyes: "Covenant captured me. Didn't they? I - I can't, I can't remember..."

Keyes' eyes have opened. He is now part of the Proto-Gravemind.

Keyes imagines himself standing at attention again.

• Jacob Keyes: "Keyes, Jacob..."

The Keyes standing at attention screams as his arm mutates to that of a Flood combat form. Blood pours out of his stomach.

• Jacob Keyes: "Oh, God... It hurts!"

A partially-infected Keyes is shown firing an assault rifle.

• Jacob Keyes: "This - will - never - work, you Covenant bastards! I'll never lead you to Earth!"

The UNSC Home Fleet is shown in Earth orbit. Fade through a human city, a desert highway, and Sydney Harbour at night.

• Jacob Keyes: "Keyes, Jacob... Captain. Service number...01928-19912-JK."

Human teeth flash for a moment.

• Jacob Keyes: "Oh God. You don't want Earth...you want everything! Get out of my head!"

Keyes' eyes look around in terror. A human combat form flashes by, as Keyes screams again.

• Gravemind: "Everything..."

Jacob imagines his daughter Miranda, as an adult and in her uniform.

• Jacob Keyes: "Miranda...? Is that you?"

• Gravemind: "Forget everything."

Fade to another shot of Miranda, who vacantly nods her head.

• Jacob Keyes: "No. Please! Don't let me forget-"

Miranda slowly fades to black, as Keyes' memories of her are taken from him. Keyes strains in effort.

• Jacob Keyes: "-Keyes, Jacob..."

Cut to a swinging ceiling fan, then to a young Catherine Halsey in a nightgown.

• Jacob Keyes: "Captain. Service number...01928-19912-JK!"

A human Flood combat form darts around with inhuman speed.

Cut to the Proto-Gravemind.

• Gravemind: "No more, what you were. Memories..."

Keyes is standing in uniform, then shaking hands with Halsey.

• Gravemind: "Emotions..."

Flashes of memory. Keyes is standing in a starship's bridge, taking a walk with Halsey, holding a slip of paper, two Marines in battle dress. Cut to black.

• Gravemind: "All is now ours."

Keyes has now lost all trace of fear, showing only determination.

• Jacob Keyes: "Keyes, Jacob. Captain. Service number 01928-19912-JK!"

Keyes' voice grows more and more distorted, matching the Gravemind's.

• Jacob Keyes: "You will not! Have! Me!"

Cut to black.

• Gravemind: "...we already do."

Terminal Ten

The terminal on wall in the second floor of Cryo bay.

Campaign level: The Maw (video-guide)
The tenth terminal in the game can be found in the Cryo Bay's second floor, where Sentinels are fighting a large Flood force. The terminal is a computer screen on the wall, similar to the first terminal.

---

“

Wherein 100,000 years of devotion and planning are lost to a few well-placed rockets.

”

{Cutscene}

[100002.09.22.09.38.17]

UNSC, Covenant, and Flood battle for supremacy.

The screen of a UNSC computer terminal in Cryo B is shown. The screen experiences graphical glitches, then shuts down. Cut to 343 Guilty Spark.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Vexation! 100,000 years of careful maintenance and diligence! 100,000 years protecting the galaxy's future! 100,000 years spent fearing that our sacrifices - my sacrifice - was in vain!"

John-117 appears with a rocket launcher, combating the Flood.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "And 16 hours after I finally make contact... This so-called Reclaimer decides to blow it all up."

343 Guilty Spark appears with a holographic projection of the Installation 04.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Oh, I am not pleased. Just as I finally discover our plan to save the galaxy succeeded, the ancient enemy is unleashed once more."

A massive battle between UNSC forces, the Covenant, and the Flood is shown.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Why these Reclaimers refuse to follow protocol is quite mystifying. Destroy my Installation, will they?"

Spark appears again with holographic projections of the other six Installations.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I shall renew efforts to make contact with the others rings immediately. This "Covenant" may be useful to me, although I don't think they fully understand what they claim to seek. Still, it makes no difference to me what they believe, as long as they do what must be done. Hmmm... I sound like her!"

The view zooms away from Spark's underground location, rising to a nighttime forest on the surface of Installation 04.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Oh, but what I would not give to have even a single company of Prometheans here right now. They would most certainly restore order with their trademark lethality, although...that would mean he would have to be here, too. And without the Librarian around to temper his rage, well... These Reclaimers might almost prefer the Flood."

A flash of light appears in the distance as the Pillar of Autumn's reactors detonate, blinding out the stars above. As the blast engulfs the forest, the Didact's symbol briefly appears.

Terminal Eleven

Walkthrough: Halo Waypoint Classified (defunct)

The eleventh and final terminal can only be accessed through the Classified function on Halo Waypoint. Each unique five-character code shown at the end of a terminal will grant the player 7,000 cR in Halo: Reach when entered. Entering all codes will grant the player an additional 30,000 cR, as well as Terminal 11, allowing the player to receive a total of 100,000 cR.

---

“

Truth, lies, and protocol.

”

Halo burns. A Covenant carrier holds position in the distance.

{Cutscene}

[100002.09.22.28.63.55]

The UNSC Pillar of Autumn explodes, destroying Installation 04. Sections of the ring cut into each other, splitting the megastructure in half. 343 Guilty Spark observes silently from space.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Quite unacceptable."

Guilty Spark scans the area, briefly revealing a Covenant ship holding position in the distance. John-117's Longsword speeds away from the wreckage. A schematic of the nearby gas mine is displayed.

ASSSEMBLING DATA

UNKNOWN PROTOCOL

ATTEMPTING DECRYPTION

PARTIAL SUCCESS

WARNING: RESULTS MAY BE TRUNCATED

CONVERTING TO ATMOSPHERIC STANDARDS

SUCCESS

Having nowhere else to go, Spark enters Threshold's atmosphere.

Inside the mine, an Unggoy is fiddling with one of the gas tanks. A nearby Kig-Yar beats the Unggoy with a Covenant Carbine. As the wounded Unggoy bleeds out, 343 Guilty Spark enters the chamber. Startled by his arrival, a Kig-Yar lance immediately surrounds the monitor.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Greetings! I am 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Install-"

A Kig-Yar brandishes an energy baton and charges at the construct. Guilty Spark kills him with his directed-energy beam.

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Impertinent creature!"

Another Kig-Yar fires a charged plasma pistol blast at Guilty Spark, to little effect. He, too, is quickly killed by Spark. A Kig-Yar behind Spark charges his plasma pistol, but a Sangheili officer suddenly decloaks next to him and slices the Kig-Yar's hand off with an energy sword. He then kneels in front of Spark.

• Sangheili: "I offer you my life as amends for this dishonor. An Oracle of the Gods should never suffer such...impertinence from vermin like this! I shall cast them all into the mists below for daring such a blasphemy, and-"

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Oh my. Your people have grown so dramatic in the last 100,000 years. But please, no more deaths are required. We will need all the forces we can muster, if the Flood escapes the destruction of my Installation! I must speak to your commander immediately."

The Sangheili leads Spark to Sesa 'Refumee.

• Sesa 'Refumee: "Glorious day! The Prophets will be pleased that we have rescued an Oracle from the human violation of the Holy Temple!"

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Why do you keep calling it a temple? My Installation was a weapon! And one which we needed very, very badly."

• Sesa 'Refumee: "But Oracle... I do not understand. We were told the rings was our salvation - a gateway to paradise."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Told? By whom? Anyone who told you that is either a fool - or quite, quite mad. That Installation was a beautiful tool, designed to destroy everything the Flood might feed on."

• Sesa 'Refumee: "Everything...?"

• 343 Guilty Spark: "Oh, quite everything. And if even one Flood spore survive the destruction of my ring, than protocol demands that all nearby sentient life must immediately be destroyed. An outbreak of the Flood cannot be allowed to take place. But... I am wasting our time. Surely you know all of this already?"

'Refumee is evidently stunned by the revelation.

• Sesa 'Refumee: "Communications: shut down all lines to the Fleet! We will not notify the Prophets of our discovery until I hear everything this Oracle have to say."

• 343 Guilty Spark: "I will gladly share what I am permitted, but we have little time. What has been unleashed here could soon destroy everything you have ever known."

• Sesa 'Refumee: "On that, Oracle... We are in agreement."

The gas mine hangs in Threshold's upper atmosphere. Above it, the broken ringworld drifts aimlessly in space.

Cut to black.

Trivia

• Terminal 7's description is a reference to the Latin saying quis custodiet ipsos custodes? ("Who watches the watchmen?").
• Captain Keyes' mental struggle as he is slowly assimilated by the Proto-Gravemind is an adaptation of a passage from Halo: The Flood. Several additions are present to integrate the scene with more recent canon - specifically, memories of his daughter, Miranda, and her mother, Dr. Catherine Halsey.
• The Installation monitors' gathering aboard a Lifeworker vessel over Installation 00 is adapted in the novel Halo: Silentium, which further expands on 343 Guilty Spark's assignment to his installation.
• A five-character code in Forerunner script appears briefly at each terminal's end, excluding Terminal 11. The characters correspond directly with the Latin alphabet. In order from the first terminal, they are as such: "343GS", "HALO4", "SPARK", "FLOOD", "EARTH", "DEMON", "RINGS", "ARRAY", "HUMAN", and "HAVEN".
• The input screen is based on the holographic control spheres seen inside the relic on Harvest and at the Apex Site on Trove from Halo Wars, as well as from Halo Legends: Origins.
• In the 11th terminal, Kig-Yar are seen with the Heretics, despite not appearing with them in Halo 2.
• The Covenant ship briefly seen in the 11th terminal is likely Ascendant Justice, the ship captured by Master Chief immediately after the destruction of Installation 04.

Appearances

Characters 001 Shamed Instrument (First appearance) (Not mentioned by name) 007 Contrite Witness (First appearance) (Not mentioned by name) 049 Abject Testament (First appearance) 16807 Abashed Eulogy (First appearance) (Not mentioned by name) 117649 Despondent Pyre (First appearance) (Not mentioned by name) 2401 Penitent Tangent 343 Guilty Spark Catherine Halsey Gravemind Jacob Keyes John-117 Librarian (Mentioned only) Miranda Keyes Sesa 'Refumee Truth and Reconciliation's AI (First appearance) Ur-Didact (Mentioned only) Species Flood Forerunner Human Kig-Yar Sangheili Unggoy Organizations Covenant Covenant fleet Fleet of Particular Justice Covenant military Ecumene Ecumene Council (Mentioned only) Lifeworker Warrior-Servant (Mentioned only) Promethean (Mentioned only) Ancient humanity (Mentioned only) Sesa 'Refumee's heretic faction Unified Earth Government United Nations Space Command UNSC Marine Corps UNSC Navy Naval Special Warfare Command SPARTAN-II program Locations Installation 01 Installation 02 Installation 03 Installation 05 Installation 06 Installation 07 Soell system Threshold Installation 04 Sector 1215 Threshold gas mine Sol system Earth Africa Mount Kilimanjaro Australia Sydney Luna

Events Conservation Measure Forerunner-Flood war Human-Covenant War Battle of Installation 04 Vehicles Ket-pattern battlecruiser Truth and Reconciliation Covenant carrier D77-TC Pelican Halcyon-class light cruiser UNSC Pillar of Autumn M12 Warthog M12 Chaingun Warthog M808B Scorpion Type-26 Banshee Unidentified alien vessel (First appearance) Weapons Class-2 directed energy cannon M41 rocket launcher M6D magnum MA5B assault rifle Nuclear weapon Orbital defense platform Type-1 energy sword Type-25 plasma pistol Vostu-pattern carbine Equipment and Technology Artificial intelligence Ancilla Associated intelligence Domain Energy shielding Flashlight Geas Guidance lock Halo Array Impulse drive Methane tank MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V Monitor Forerunner personal armor Combat skin Sangheili combat harness Major variant Minor variant Shipmaster variant Sentinel Aggressor Sentinel Slipspace portal Unggoy combat harness UNSC Marine Corps Battle Dress Uniform UNSC Navy Service Uniform VTOL Weapon attachments Telescopic sight

Gallery

• 

  Concept art of a Covenant terminal.

• 

  The Forerunner character input screen.

• 

  A translation of the symbols.

• 

  Art of Egypt used for the terminals.

• 

  Unused Mark VI helmet shot.