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Cortana (Halo)

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This article describes the Halo series character. For the English sword of mercy of King Edward the Confessor, see Curtana.
Cortana
Halo series character
File:Cortana.jpg
Cortana in Halo 2
First gameHalo: Combat Evolved

Cortana is a fictional artificial intelligence with female programming in the Halo series of video games. She is voiced by actress Jen Taylor in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequel Halo 2. She is also purported to be the author of a series of e-mails identified collectively as the Cortana Letters. Throughout the video games, Cortana assists Master Chief on his missions; she is instrumental is preventing Halo from being fired.

History

Cortana is a "SMART" artificial intelligence that was constructed from the flash-cloned brain of Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, the creator of the SPARTAN-II Project. The Doctor's tissue was cloned, and then the synaptic networks became the base of Cortana's processors. The term "smart" means that her creative matrix is allowed to continually expand, unlike "dumb" A.I.s, which have limited matrices. This grants her the ability to learn and adapt beyond her basic parameters, but at the cost of a limited "lifespan" of only seven years, at the end of which she will literally "think herself to death". Her primary mission was to assist the Spartans in the capture of the Covenant High Prophets, and then to negotiate either a truce or peace treaty.[1]

Cortana is never seen to have a physical form, unlike 343 Guilty Spark's avatar.[citation needed] However, she maintains the ability to communicate a strong female voice through available communications systems, and, if possible, project a holographic image of herself. In Halo she projects herself as a woman made of purple light, said to be a younger version of Dr. Halsey.[citation needed] In Halo 2, her appearance changes somewhat to a similar blue figure with longer hair.

In Halo, the core of Cortana was contained in a disk, which could be inserted into most systems; however, in Halo 2 the MJOLNIR Mark VI armor system the Master Chief wears is apparently equipped to allow her to transfer from system to system with a mere touch of the palm.[2] Cortana was designed to infiltrate any security system, and once she is physically inside, there is little that can stop her from taking absolute control.[3]

Aside from that, she is seen to be very proficient in the coordination and use of UNSC and later Covenant military hardware. Because one of the UNSC's primary uses of artificial intelligence is to oversee the targeting of point-defense and ship-to-ship weaponry, space navigation, and calculating Slipspace jumps, Cortana can operate ships and space stations by herself. But, for Cortana at least, this is only a secondary function. Cortana was able to command the cruiser U.N.S.C. Pillar of Autumn to great effect over the planet of Reach and the astrological phenomena known as Halo against hostile Covenant space forces.

Halo/Halo: First Strike

Cortana was made to share the Spartans' MJOLNIR suits. Later the Master Chief is set to escape with her from the attacked ship Pillar of Autumn, guiding him through his various mission tasks on Halo. Master Chief's reaction speed is greatly increased by this, as Cortana resides in the space between his mind and his suit and further boosts his already inhuman reaction speed.[citation needed]

When Cortana and the Master Chief reach the control room for Halo at installation 04, Cortana interfaces and stores herself in a Forerunner computer and is allowed access to extensive knowledge of Halo and its purpose. What she learns causes a significant change in Cortana's attitude, becoming somewhat more aggressive. She retains this knowledge when she eventually leaves the computer, though she has to compress the data to prevent damage to herself by an overload of information.[4]

Cortana is later forced to enter a Covenant computer in order to allow the Master Chief and a group of Marines access to areas of the Covenant ship so that it may be hijacked. Upon entering the ship's systems she is forced to terminate the Covenant AI onboard and learns to create flash copies of herself. This allows her to leave part of herself in the ship's computer so that she can be taken out and still have the availability of an AI inside the ship's computer. The flash copies are, however, prone to mistakes in the programming and corruptions can easily occur within the copied part of the AI.[citation needed]

Halo 2

On the first level of Halo 2, Master Chief and Cortana are reunited after events that mimic events on the previous Halo installation. Eventually, Cortana is yet again inserted into the Covenant system and assists Master Chief's hunt for the Covenant leaders. After the installation is deactivated the Gravemind (an intelligent form of the Flood) speaks to Cortana in verse.

"Silence fills the empty grave, now that I have gone. But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on. I will ask, and you will answer."

Cortana replies simply, "All right... Shoot."

Halo 3

File:H3 e32006 storyboard02 cortana.jpg
Cortana crying out.

The May 2006 announcement trailer for Halo 3 contains a flickering image of Cortana's face several times while she says the words:

"I have defied gods and demons.
I am your shield, I am your sword.
I know you; your past, your future.
This is the way the world ends."

One storyboard[5] listed on Bungie's website also shows Cortana seemingly screaming in pain. Interviews and public announcements by Bungie Studios have implied that something is very "wrong" with Cortana in these scenes.

Significant fan debate sprung up in regards to the "I am your shield, I am your sword" line, where the end of the line was distorted. Some viewers claimed that she was saying "source" instead of "sword" and significant speculation began in regard to this. Bungie cleared this ambiguity up in a Weekly Update, confirming that she was saying "sword". [6]

References

  1. ^ See the novel Halo: First Strike.
  2. ^ Cortana: Put me down on one of those pedestals near the door. [...] Go. It'll be easier to track Truth if I stay in the network. Don't worry, you can pick me up later.
  3. ^ Cortana: You wouldn't believe the number of kill systems the Covenant are throwing down around me. Not to worry, it's pretty sloppy stuff. I guess they never expected a hostile intelligence to penetrate their network from the inside.
  4. ^ See the novel Halo: The Flood.
  5. ^ "e3 2006 Storyboard picture". bungie.net. Retrieved Jan 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Bungie Weekly Update May 12 2006". bungie.net. Retrieved Jan 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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