New Connections

[Frogwart]

Something else to ponder about the Flood and their place in not only this ARG as related (or not) to AdjutantReflex, but in the Halo universe as a whole.
Some of this info is copped from http://halosm.bungie.org/story/flood.html

It appears the Flood are well-contained until an exterior force acts to facilitate their release.
When encountered on Installation 04 in Halo 1, the Flood had been contained until the Covenant stumbled into their containment facility and opened that "locked down" door that Keyes later ordered opened a second time.
When encountered in Halo 2, some of the Flood had been contained in the Gas Giant facility where we track the Heretic--not a Halo--until the Heretic and his crew released them. Also, Gravemind is ensconced in Installation 05--perhaps where the Flood originate, or where they've come to call home after travelling the universe?

What if every Halo installation is home to a Flood containment? From what we've seen so far, this seems possible. If that is the case, I'll take the next step: what if the Flood ARE the Forerunner, or what they've evolved into or been overrun by (meaning, all that's left of the Forerunner is the Flood)?

Every form of Flood we've seen, with three exceptions (the first being Gravemind), are in the midst of mutation from the host body to a Flood form. The two exceptions left are 1) the Carrier/Incubators, which create more of 2) the Rangers (the little, pod-like ones that attach and take over host bodies). It's possible the Flood built the Halo installations as their homes. Since we don't know the whole Forerunner story (http://halosm.bungie.org/story/forerunner.html), can we be sure the Flood are not the Forerunner in some way, shape, or form?

Another angle (referencing "Aliens," a film that influenced Halo): if Gravemind and the Flood built the Halos and were living in/on them, and the Forerunners encountered the Halo installations and colonized them, perhaps the Flood were then encountered by the Forerunner in a similar unfortunate way the colonists of LV-426 met their (offscreen) fate in the film "Aliens."

[shamanistcrage]

pretty sure the forerunners created the flood. and the rings as a way to study them and kill them, if thay had to.

[Switchblade]

It makes no sense for the flood to be left alive while the rest of sentient life dies.

And it's impossible that the flood built the halos for their own habitiation: the sentinels attack the flood on contact, as the flood do likewise (Halo 1 in 343GS/library levels etc...); and also the flood need sentient life so survive - none found on either of the halos until the humans and Covenant arrived.

If the forerunner wanted to kill the flood, why not just burn them/shoot them/squish them ?? Destroying the first Halo seemed to be safer for humanity while still acheiving the same goal of stopping the flood. (However, don't forget that it seemed to be being rebuilt in the first view of High Charity in Halo 2...)

There is no real reason for the Forerunner to keep any of the flood alive after activating the halos - but that idea also begs the question - how WERE the flood (presumaably rangers) kept alive for 100,000 years anyway??

I know there's nothing to do with AR in there, that's my two (Aussie) dollars of speculation.

[shamanistcrage]

you get the same sci-fi answer you always get when you ask how something is around 1000s of years later. cryogenics.

remember the lab on the gas giant, rangers were still alive in that lab, that is, before you blew them all to hell.