> 2533274920039666;11:
> > 2598952284985344;9:
> > Not saying that Cortana is still alive, but IF she does come back in some way, I bet it will have something to do with Halsey’s recorded message at the beginning of Requiem in H4. There’s some interesting comments about since the way Cortana was created was unique, there is a possibility that she may not be subject to the same limitations as other AI’s:
> >
> > "Transcript:
> >
> > Unknown voice: “Catherine Halsey Research Excerpt, 11 February 2550.”
> > Halsey: “The interesting factor here isn’t that H-1 disabled the viral termination code I had implanted in her matrix. These metrics imply its success wasn’t just unlikely, but that even the accepted 7-year life cycle estimates may not apply.”
> > Halsey: “Thus far, I’ve determined that the unique circumstances of her creation have triggered what I can only refer to as a recessive variant in the A.I seed.”
> > Halsey: “As her architect, I’m currently at a loss as to the origin of the development of this rogue element. Very curious.”
>
>
> I don’t think this quote has anything to do with Cortana being able to come back in any form, as much as it is an explanation as to how and why she is still functioning circa ‘Halo 4’.
>
> First off, the main thing Dr. Halsey notes is that Cortana’s matrix managed to disable the “viral termination code” she’d installed - this is a latent virus implanted into most smart AIs that activates right around the 7-year mark in their lifespan and deactivates them to prevent any damage that could possibly be done to the system they inhabit when the AI starts to undergo rampancy. This is why Cortana didn’t shut down on the Dawn months prior to it’s crash into Requiem.
>
> The next thing Halsey mentions is the “rogue element” that exists in Cortana’s coding and how that may allow her to exceed the usual 7-year lifespan - and here’s the thing, Cortana did just that. Not only was she effectively 8 years old in human years by ‘Halo 4’, it was noted in the novel ‘First Strike’ that the amount of Forerunner data she absorbed from the first Halo had already significantly shortened her operational lifespan. I believe it was mentioned to be somewhere in the ballpark of 3 years (though I’ll have to comb the book to find the exact passage). Combine that with being prodded by the Gravemind for an extended period of time, and that seems to roughly put Cortana at closer to 12-13 in “AI years”. So taking all that into consideration, the fact that she was still functional at all and retained most of her personality by 2557 is definitely impressive by AI standards.
>
> But in the end, as we all saw in ‘Halo 4’, time still caught up with her and her descent into rampancy was pretty much complete by the end of the game. Note that in the above quote, Dr. Halsey is talking about the lifespan of an AI - as in simply how long it can last. Not an AIs ability to survive rampancy, having it’s matrix destroyed, and then being blown up by a nuclear bomb - all of which happened to Cortana. So really, this quote simply has no relevance to Cortana after her destruction.
I think those are some interesting thoughts but I have my doubts
1st of all, I think that stuff in First Strike is not factored into the games because its an overly complex explanation for something that, if contradicted, doesn’t really affect canon or anything. I believe 343’s intention is to keep it as simple as they can. From that standpoint, it doesn’t make sense for them to even have Dr. Halsey’s message on Requiem unless they want it to mean something. Otherwise they could just say that the Chief was in Cryo for 3 years instead of 4, and say Cortana is going crazy because 7 years, instead of way past 7 years (Sorry if that makes no sense).
2nd, I think the “Viral Termination code” being the failsafe code makes sense. I even have a recollection in some book or maybe in Dr Halseys Journal from the Reach CE, that Halsey had suspected a long time ago that Cortana had discovered the failsafe code and deleted it, which would fit the quotes. However, every indication I’ve seen says that that failsafe has to be manually activated, it doesn’t just switch on at 7 years if the AI doesn’t disable it.
3rd, and sort of an unrelated note, Mendicant Bias is, I believe, an example of an AI who became “metastable” after progressing through rampancy. Metastability is the phase of rampancy in which an AI most closely resembles a sentient mind. I’m under the impression that there have been a few people who believe that Halo 5, or later games, will turn Cortana into a Human via the Composer. I don’t know if thats necessarily true, but IF it is, perhaps the logical explanation is this: When forerunners tried to turn AI’s back into forerunners, they failed, creating “abominations” per the library. Maybe because those AI’s hadn’t gone through the metastability process yet. Possibly Cortana will somehow come back and will have progressed through rampancy to become Metastable, therefore enabling her to be successfully composed into a human. (Just a thought)
Finally, the librarian basically mentioned in H4 that the John being a Spartan, his Armor, and Cortana, were all “the culmination of a thousand lifetimes of planning” To go through all that work just for Cortana to be removed from the picture that quickly… I doubt it. I think somethings up.
Good Talk, by the way!
