In Response To: How Halo Works!!!!! (im really onto something) (Killercow)
: The Halo is not a cudgel. What exactly is a cudgel?
: Webster's defines it as...
: -A short heavy club
: So in other words, blunt weapon. You dont go around using it to bash things.
: It is not a giant bomb. It doesn't destroy everything, but prevents
: certain lifeforms from being able to live. I have a theory on how it does
: this.
: I think the Forerunner did a bit of creation on Halo, creating all sorts of
: species of creature with the likely inclusion of humans and at least some
: Covenant, namely Prophets and Elites (this does not have to mean they
: created them from scratch. They could have created them by taking DNA from
: other members of the species, but creating them nonetheless). The Library
: was where they kept certain specimens, or at least all the information
: necessary to create all the creatures that they created (the entire DNA
: coding of the species). The Index was what its name implies...an index. It
: has all the DNA codes of all the species.
: The Forerunner also created the Flood. The Flood are able to alter the host
: body to suit their needs. How can they do this? Because they know its DNA,
: and know how to change it to acheive their purpose. In other words, I
: propose the Flood are basically an organic AI, and that organisms are its
: 'computers'.
: The Forerunner created the Flood after they had created all other species.
: Exactly WHY they created the Flood I have no idea yet, perhaps to get
: information from the various systems (creatures) they sent out. Or maybe
: it was simply the next technological step. Humans began with simple
: computers, then moved on to more complex ones, and (following Halos
: storyline) developed AI's, supercomputers that can move in and out of
: other computers and change what they wish. AI's could also be said to
: 'evolve', given enough time...They do as stated in Terminator 2 for
: example, and from what I've heard they seem to in Marathon. 343 GS says
: the Flood could soon evolve. It is the same idea, it becomes more
: self-aware and more intelligent.
: We have only seen the Flood infect humans and elites. Because those are the
: only two creatures on Halo with the Flood that were created on the Halo,
: and therefore the only organisms present whose DNA the Flood could alter.
: Since Jackals, Grunts, and Hunters were not created on the Halo, the Flood
: would not have the knowledge necessary to alter their DNA programmed into
: them.
: Now if your DNA is changed just a little bit, a very precise change in the
: right spot, it would cause your body to be altered...it could stop
: producing blood, or stop performing the gas exchange that takes place in
: your lungs, something small that would keep you from living.
: So I propose to say that the Halo's firing causes changes in someone's (or
: something's) DNA. But only changed in the DNA that is in the Index. That
: is why the Index is needed to fire the Halo. Without it, the Halo's pulse
: won't do anything to stop the Flood. Since the Flood (at this point) can
: only take over the bodies of creatures who were created on Halo, It is
: only necessary to eliminate those creatures from the Galaxy. Without them,
: the Flood have no one to take over, and therefore, no food. Now, since the
: Halo is NOT a cudgel, It doesn't kill them outright. Instead it reworks
: their DNA or chromosomes in such a way that the Flood cannot alter it and
: control the creature. An unfortunate side effect of this is of course,
: death to all lifeforms capable of sustaining the Flood...death to all
: humans, and death to many Covenant.
: The reason the Covenant seek the Halo with such a religious zeal is this. It
: holds the secrets to creation. Any being that can create and destroy life
: in such a way, has complete power over those it creates, therefore it is a
: God to them.
I liked the idea that someone came up with a month ago, something about how Halo doubles the amount of water in any organisms body. Halo fires, water amount doubles inside living things, then they explode. This also explains why the Silent Cartographer level is ready for higher water levels. It has a few flaws though. Maybe Bungie will tell us in Halo 2 :-)
-Major Tom
| 
