unforum

[Nova]

Personally I think the whole Durga/Melissa relationship is fascinating. Melissa believes Durga is a danger in that she "does not understand the nature of the truth". That is, Durga is not obsessed with seeking, beholding and revealing the truth as Melissa is. Melissa is the insane one, but from her own insane point of reference it is Durga who appears to be insane. When you're crazy, stuff that's normal seems crazy and stuff that's crazy seems normal.

It's been made fairly obvious that Melissa and Durga are fundamentally similar - Melissa seems to care deeply about her crew, and Durga seems to care deeply about her crew - namely, Jersey. Both Melissa and Durga have demonstrated a willingness to kill in order to protect themselves or their crew (Melissa is willing to kill Dana; Durga was willing to kill George the auditor). Both are extremely difficult to dissuade from a course of action once it has been decided upon - our efforts to talk Melissa out of going after Dana were met with as much success as Jersey's efforts to stop Durga messing with his tax records.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this post, other than to point out that it seems fairly obvious that Durga and Melissa at least share a common ancestry, that is if they aren't two parts of a divided whole.

I also like the SP/Durga/Melissa as a single fractured entity idea, or perhaps Melissa + SP = Durga before she was split, or something along those lines. Melissa's unwillingness or inability to kill the SP certainly lends support to SP being a part of Melissa.

To wander slightly into meta territory for a moment, it sounds as if the SP was voiced by the same actress as Melissa on the phone calls. I think that is significant. It's not as if they couldn't afford to hire two actresses. The similarity implies connection. Just as the similarities between Melissa and Durga's speech imply a connection. Whether or not this is all a red herring remains to be seen.

Still, this stuff is all absolutely fascinating so I hope my rambling about it is forgiven.

[Monkeyboy]

To Quote Nova:


I also like the SP/Durga/Melissa as a single fractured entity idea, or perhaps Melissa + SP = Durga
before she was split, or something along those lines. Melissa's unwillingness or inability to kill the SP
certainly lends support to SP being a part of Melissa.


OOooh... I like this SPEC... It just seems right.

However, I would argue that the AI "equation" is SP+Durga =Melissa. My reasoning here would be that Melissa has mannaged to "reflect" both the SP (during the rescue) and (SPEC) is reflecting Durga from accessing the "voices"

Besides, doesn't it seem that Melissa is a more "complete" (albeit insane) personality than either Durga or the SP.

eh... It's just my $0.02

[daboking]

I can buy the reflecting, Monkeyboy... good SPEC!
And I also agree with Nova that the voice acting by same actress is no coincidence, but what about Rani and Jan... they sound like the same VA as well?

[skyhawk0000]

From Halo Library:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNSC General Order 098831A-1 ("The Cole Protocol") is the order that was instituted by Vice Admiral Preston Cole after the Battle of Harvest in 2531.

THE COLE PROTOCOL

To safeguard the Inner Colonies and Earth, all UNSC vessles or stations must not be captured with intact navigational databases that may lead Covenant forces to human civilian population centers.

If any Covenant forces are detected:

1. Activate selective purge of databases on all shipbased and planetary data networks.

2. Initiate triple-screen check to ensure all data has been erased and all backups neutralized.

3. Execute viral data scavengers. (Download from UNSCTTP://EPWW:COLEPROTOCOL/Virtualscav/fbr.091)

4. If retreating from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream space with randomized vectors NOT directed toward Earth, the Inner Colonies, or any other human population center.

5. In case of imminent capture by Covenant forces, all UNSC ships MUST self-destruct.

Violation of this directive will be considered an act of TREASON, and pursuant to UNSC Military Law Articles JAG 845-P and JAG 7556-L, such violations are punishable by life imprisonment or execution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the Three AI's May be fraqctional parts of melisaa/operator, but its Probably not a result of folloing the Cole protocol. The triple check is simply a triple check to make sure all Navigational/directional data is fully purged. As for the random vector.. was the Apocalypso retreating from Cov. activity or coming home on schedule? If they had not detected any covenant activity in the area, most likley there would be no blind jump.

.02

[weephun]

[Mike_Was]

[weephun]

[AngriBuddhist]

A few points before my [WILD SPEC].
In the Bungie "Making of Halo2 Documantary" that you can find on almost
all Xbox related websites including Xbox.com or on either Xbox offical mag
demo disks or the newer prints of Halo1, there is something strange.
One part of a sentence jumps out.

They are discussing many different locales and then:
"...Halo2 is a romp across the galaxy..."
Or something to that effect.

1. It really implies that MC will be traveling to strange locations beyond
Earth. They even mention a Forerunner Installation that is manned by the
Covenant.
2. In the novel "The Fall of Reach", Cortana plots the course for Halo
using the strange symbols found on a unique stone. These symbols
are similiar to the Covenant language but are Forerunner and turn
out to be star charts.
3. The "Artifact" on the Apocolypso has what appear to be the same
kinds of symbols.
4. The Covenant have sacrificed thousands of lives to obtain these
types of items.
5. It is still a possibility that SP came from the "Artifact".

Ok [WILD SPEC]:

The "Artifact" can be used to travel through time and it's symbols can
most likely be translated to provide a location. The recipe3.wavs are on
their way to showing this so Melissa is hiding all information pertaining to
it (including the Sleeping Princess) from Durga. The possibility of time
travel allows a choice, which Melissa is against, to be made.

Although she would kill the tax auditor, Durga refuses to tranfer Jersey's
father because he has a duty to protect mankind. I believe that her
choice would be to reunite the "Artifact" with it's AI (SP) and attempt
to change the outcome of the Covenant invasion.

Being infected by the Flea, Melissa may be trying to keep that from
happening. On the other hand, her attempts to block the reunification
of the "Artifact" and SP could be more convoluted.

The Covenant are present on the Forerunner Installation. The invasion
of Earth could have led to them gaining knowledge of the star charts
on the "Artifact" and Melissa's actions are in hopes of keeping the key
to the Installation (SP) away from them.

In a more Halo2 related outcome, us reunifying SP and the "Artifact"
could lead to MC being able to use it to "romp around the universe" and
save the human race.

[detayl]

[Gemini]

Good spec, that. Seems to fit.

Has anyone thought that the truth Melissa is trying to protect from Durga is the existence of a link between them? Durga doesn't know, obviously, as she rebuffs Jersey in his idea of someone listening to them. Durga is also quite powerful, as we've seen, and it might be the Flea's agenda to keep her from getting to Melissa, the ILB server, and consquently the flea himself.