Tags: Reclaimer, Reticent Mystery, Shatterbox
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August 15th, 2008 at 12:07 am
FIRST…yay
i love the fifth frame so much!! and how does an AI experience pain? i’m glad you touched on the rampancy issue…bungie still hasn’t explained how the forerunners prevent rampancy among thier ai that existed forever…w00t finally a comic that didnt add any unaswered questions!
August 15th, 2008 at 1:33 am
@Pikmingod: Sorry to burst your bubble, but you yourself posed the question for this comic. Why would the Forerunners have AIs that had capacity for pain? What would be the use?
And personally, I think Spark is rampant. It’s the way he’s hums that does it for me :D
August 15th, 2008 at 5:51 am
I’m glad you explained the shatterbox, I was a little confused about what that was… Good work as usual.
August 15th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Actually the forerunners couldn’t prevent their AI from going rampant. Guilty spark was rampant. In fact it was a certain AI going rampant that caused the downfall of the forerunners.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:13 am
re: PikminGod – At the end of Halo 3, the MC has to laser Spark, and in so doing, Spark screams. Granted, the scream could simply have been shock or outrage, but it could have been pain at having his consciousness ripped from him.
re: Shu Sam Chen (HSAR) – I don’t believe that pain would ever have been an intentional bit of programming in a construct, Forerunner or otherwise. But, you take an intelligence with a broad range of ability and intellect and begin screwing around with the levels of those abilities and intellect, and I think you might end up simulating a form of pain by consequence. In this case, you have two members of the Cavalcade who are about to perform a bonding, and the necessary re-arranging of specific aspects of their consciousnesses to make that happen is probably going to be something akin to the human equivalent of pain. :)
re: Sangheilioz – Well, the Shatterbox is going to end up being a somewhat important plot point later, and I didn’t think it would serve to keep you guys completely in the dark on this point until then. :)
re: XxxxJammyxxxX – I do agree that Mendicant Bias seemed to be very rampant, the one scene on Contact Harvest where we saw it. And we know it was responsible for much of the downfall of the Forerunners. Now one thing I didn’t spell out in the comic is that the Shatterboxes are actually a Cavalcade construct, not Forerunner. It was their own solution to prevent their own rampancy. The Cavalcade members are extremely capable constructs. :)
August 15th, 2008 at 9:56 am
With two members of the calvacade in his head will they now think as one?
BTW nice shot in screen 4, really shows the moment of impact with Mystery/ Shatterbox
August 15th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
“I do agree that Mendicant Bias seemed to be very rampant, the one scene on Contact Harvest where we saw it.” hey jim, contact harvest isn’t the only place that mentions his rampancy. not sure if you have but play halo 3 and get the marathon man achievment. make sure you read all the terminal messages (before and after red screening.) they really give an in depth synoposis of medicant bias (what he was, made for, his rampancy, his amends for his rampancy etc.) might be interesting
August 15th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Mendicant Bias had an interesting history, and I’m not sure that “rampancy” is the right word for what happened to him. The Forerunners made him fully self-aware and fully conscious, which meant that he was as vulnerable as you or I, and because of this the Gravemind was able to mislead him into thinking that the Flood were the next step in evolution, and therefore something to be embraced.
So it’s not that he was rampant, so much as “brainwashed”, (for lack of a better term) which is an important distinction in his story. If he was truly rampant, then after his defeat he would simply have continued to be completely insane, but instead he realized his mistake and sought to atone for his sins. This is not the move of a rampant AI, but of a repentant one.
Essentially, MB was tricked into betraying his masters, and afterward he felt the weight of that betrayal. This is not so far-fetched, I mean a certain Adolph Hitler was able to essentially brainwash an entire country!
Sorry for the huge post, just wanted to post my thoughts on this matter.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
but good thoughts!
August 15th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
good work as always.I think Ill add on to the whole rampancy debate.I feel that Guilty spark is not rampant.I think hes merely a fluke.The Forerunner accidently gave him his eccentric and crazy personality.Yah,he could be rampant,but from the evidence of his behavior that bungie gave us,we have no way to tell.The only undisputed end to the disscusion would be to peek into the bungie bible :) .
August 15th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Oh what I wouldn’t give to take a peek into that holiest of holies…
August 15th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
re: Bearded Phantom – It was fun coordinating those shots with the shields to demonstrate the energy surge when the Reclaimer interfaces with Reticent Mystery. :)
re: crimsonrain117 – Well, that’s true. So Rampancy may not be the best way to describe Mendicant Bias. It’s hard to make a judgment there, though, because there’s just so little information on it. I’d be willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and say that it was simply deceived by the Gravemind and that it later came to its sense. I’m going to have to read that section in Contact Harvest again, though. It may turn out that its monologue there wasn’t quite as insane as it sounded to me on the first read.
re: Sangheilioz – Definitely good thoughts. I’d definitely love to take a peek at the Bungie Story Bible myself, just to flesh out some of these details – so that I can immediately twist them for use in the Reclaimerverse. ;-)
re: mysterioso2006 – It could be, too, that Spark is simply suffering the neurosis of being alone for many thousands of years. People tend to go mad, given too much time alone. Why not artificial constructs, too? :)
August 16th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Jim – this comic is totally awesome – keep em coming – i started reading about an hour ago and just got here and feel like i could keep going forever. Cant wait for the next one. I love comics and i love the H series – joined together they are unstoppable – peace
August 16th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
@ Jim-that,too.But was he really isolated? I didnt read the terminals,so I have no Idea.But if so,then shouldnt ALL monitors be crazy?
There was one piece of news I was waiting to share.It has come to my unfortunate knowledge that ZZoMBIE13 has officially left the halo webcomic scene.First 117,now him!!!! Now jim,you are to only halo webcomic maker still active that I know of.
sigh Sad halo wbcomic reader is sad =(
August 17th, 2008 at 2:48 am
yeah im new to this site and whatever but mendicant bias was suppose to be a AI but not the kind that u would think he was a super AI that the forerunners built which was their downfall because after mendicant bias was built he was sent on a mission to destroy the flood he mendicant bias was given a galatic armada ranging from 10000 to 100000 forerunner dreadnought ships to control at his will with forerunners aboard mendicant bias traveled for years and fought the flood he was suppose to study the flood or get close to the gravemind to study it he thought he was keeping in contact with the forerunners in communitcations but it was cut off but the gravemind in mendicant bias conscuiness he talked to gravemind think it was his consuciness and so he turned slowly but oh so slowly until he met the gravemind he consulted with the gravemind for years instead of destroying him right away because the forerunners commications where cut off by the gravemind mendicant bias thought the forerunners built him to consult with the gravemind or kill it he didnt know the order to kill the flood was never given by the forerunners so mendicant bias did knowing after years of conulting mendicant bias mind was twisted and he let the flood take over his armada and so went back to his creators with a rampancy but forerunners built a counter AI to mendicant bias which is called offensive bias and so he came to the cradle world i mean secret cradle forerunner world called the ark as in halo 3 game there was a line called Maginot Line which was to initate attack on and sorry i mean about 3.5 million ships where in control with mendicant bias while offenive bias had only 1.5 million forerunner ships too use too hold the line before the flood broke through forerunners had devopled a planet outside the range of the halo array which was on the edge of the universe they took all the animals and put them there kinda like jesus and the ark and so while mendicant bias bias ships battled with offensive bias ships the halo array was activated which wiped all sentinet life remeber mendicant bias ships where all infested when the halo array was activated every single ship was dead instantly which left his whole army turn into a ghost army although this evened the odds offensive bias ships where in turn at the same fate floating dead in space but before the battle offensive bias had linked several dreadnoughts to his command and while he destroyed his enemy mendicant bias managed to escape in his dreadnought ship which the covenant found which was the ship that launched at the end of halo 2 carrying mendicant bias also in halo 3 mention if u listen to a crashed phantoms radio truth says that his shiped is grounded on the ark which means that mendicant bias is still in charge of the ship in halo 3 also 343 guilty spark is not crazy see his system just evoled like evoultion he learned and he gained a consuicness which in turn gave abitily to say yes or no as Cortana her AI will start to go crazy or rampted in years to come from all the data she collected i think this it what happened to 343 gulity spark read it in the first book about cortana i think its in there and so sorry for log comment if u know this already i feel like a noob then for writing all this
August 17th, 2008 at 3:28 am
...longest…sentence…ever. But true, it’s good that you know all that.
This is getting interesting. I’d like to see what role the Cavalcade had with the Flood, the Forerunner, and the Precursors.
As for Guilty Spark, I don’t think he technically counts as Rampant. Rampancy originated in Marathon, where AIs where major parts of the story, much more than Halo. The stages of Rampancy are Melancholia, Anger, Jealousy, and Meta-stability. I don’t think Guilty Spark could qualify for any of those. Instead, he just was more enthusiastic about the Array than a rational Human would be. Perhaps he was built that way.
Here’s the Bungiepedia article for Rampancy:
http://bungie.wikia.com/wiki/Rampancy
August 17th, 2008 at 4:25 am
There were a few inconsistencies in Savage’s assessment, but I won’t nitpick. Overall, good summary.
August 17th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Savage Reap3r – im sorry, how do you know all this? and no offence meant, but try full stops, they can be really helpful sometimes
August 17th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I found Ascendant Justice’s article on the Terminals in Halo 3 to be VERY informative. It tells you everything that Savage has just explained, and a heck of a lot more besides (you can find it here >>> http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/03/12/the-terminals/ ). I thought Halo 3’s story didn’t really do much for me. But after reading that, I can safely say that Halo 3 had the best sub plot ever =D. There are 3 sections to the article. The first is an appraisal of the two stories contained in the terminals, the second is an in depth look at one of the stories, and the third (the best part in my opinion) is an in depth look at the other story (and what a story it is).
August 17th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
ok sorry about the ultra long post and Jammy is right about all that i said too and 343 gulity spark i think was kinda jealous about his installation wanting to keep it to badly like end of halo 3 he said “This is my installation i have kept it safe” or something like that i cant quite rememeber it
Oh also that my name is my gamertag name
August 17th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
oh yeah there is a elite story on ascendant justice called I Sangheili or something if u like elites and want to know more about them go to that article and read it if u want and the URL is(( http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/05/18/i-sangheili/ )) hope u like it if u havent read it yet Sangheilioz
yeah and about the first comment :does he feel pain or does he think he feels pain, i think he thinks it ,which in turn makes him feel pain thinking its real but is not. If i confused u sorry!!
oh P.S. how do u put ur image on here kinda a noob at this
August 17th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Just putting this out there is there going to be halo 4 or is it the end of the trilogy because bungie said it was the last one ? ALso they are working on a new game
also look at my friends rade costume it looks better than the other master chief costumes http://www.flickr.com/photos/haloarmor/2485769792/
August 17th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
(( http://www.flickr.com/photos/haloarmor/2676713566/ ))my friends cool as suit
August 17th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
re: KeptRobbie84 – I’m glad you’re enjoying the series, Robbie. I intend to do Reclaimer indefinitely. If all goes well, I’ll start a second story arc after this one ends. :)
re: mysterioso2006 – That’s disappointing. I hadn’t heard that bit of info. I enjoyed ZZoMBiE13’s work, and there are so few humorous Halo comics out there, especially with most of the better ones dropping like flies.
re: Savage reap3r – I appreciate your taking the time to write up that lengthy comment, but I have to admit that I stopped reading it at about the third line. It would behoove you to learn how to use punctuation in your writing. I appreciate that you of the younger generation seem to shirk the use of said punctuation for the sake of speed or whatever, but it’s hell on those of us trying to read it. Toss in periods, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, etc., where appropriate so the rest of us don’t have to work so hard to read what you have to say. :)
re: JimboMonkey1234 – Yeah, it’s possible he wasn’t. It does seem pretty clear, though, that Spark was misguided, at best.
re: XxxxJammyxxxX – I’ve read the first two Terminal articles. I need to read through the third. It’s just hard to find the time to go through it. :-/
re: Savage reap3r – Thanks for the linkage. I’ll take a look at ‘em tomorrow when I get a free moment.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I check Ascendant Justice regularly, so yes I have read that article. _
Also, let’s try to stay on topic now, and avoid multi-posts if you can.
August 18th, 2008 at 7:01 am
We do also have a user forum for anything that’s ‘off-topic.’ :)