Rasputin: Difference between revisions

|affiliation= [[Humanity]]

As the Black Fleet made its approach toward Earth, Rasputin attempted to contain potentially dangerous data about the Darkness that was discovered by Dr.[[Shanice Pell]] at the [[New Pacific Arcology]] on [[Titan (moon)|Titan]]. He dispatched an [[Exo]] team led by [[Morgan-2]] to contain the data by taking Pell and her staff into custody along with their research.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Last_Days_on_Kraken_Mare#Faces_Like_Shields|Last Days on Kraken Mare - Faces Like Shields]]''</ref> However, Administrator [[Mia van der Venne]] believed Rasputin was overstepping his authority by denying the scientists a choice about what to do with the data, and subtly warned Pell to evacuate alongside the rest of the moon's population as the Black Fleet closed in. Unable to contain Pell's discovery peacefully, Rasputin destroyed the ship carrying the scientists with a [[Warsat]], invoking the TWILIGHT EXIGENT protocol to justify lethal force on humans.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Last_Days_on_Kraken_Mare#Kalki.27s_Burning_Sword.2C_Part_II|Last Days on Kraken Mare - Kalki's Burning Sword, Part II]]''</ref> For unknown reasons, TWILIGHT EXIGENT remained in effect on Titan, with Rasputin proceeding to use the Warsats to exterminate all humans attempting to flee the moon.

Although disconnected from the Mindlab on Mars, Rasputin maintained an active [[Seraphim Vault|presence]] on Earth, though he remained dormant for most of the [[Dark Age]]. He eventually was reactivated when an unknown party attempted to access one of his computer consoles, and began surveying the Sol System, leading him to discover the fledgling post-Collapse colony of [[Neomuna]] hidden on [[Neptune]], to which he gave the codename "Nefele Stronghold". The Neomuni detected Rasputin's attempts to infiltrate their computer networks, leading [[Chioma Esi]] to task the [[Cloud Strider]] [[Stargazer]] with traveling to Earth to find a way to stop Rasputin from further investigating the city and discovering the [[the Veil|Veil]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY8aahFgJEw</ref> Though most of the expedition team was killed after encountering the warlord [[Carnunta]], Stargazer managed to contact the submind [[Malahayati]] and asked her to wipe all mention of Neptune or the ''[[Exodus Indigo]]'' from Rasputin's archives.

 

At some point, Rasputin was alerted to an asset gone rogue: "SIDDHARTHA GOLEM", an Exo originally intended to act as an avatar of Rasputin, but which had instead been resurrected by a [[Ghost]] to become a Light-bearer named [[Felwinter]]. Enraged at the loss of his "son" to the [[Light]], Rasputin sent falling [[Warsat]]s and armies of militarized [[frame]]s to terminate the now-Risen Exo, but all failed to kill Felwinter. Rasputin subsequently laid a trap promising Felwinter and the [[Iron Lords]] [[SIVA]], a powerful nanotechnology capable of disassembling matter and reconstituting it into almost any desired form.   

As the Guardians worked to activate the Seraph Bunker on Io and connect it to Rasputin's mainframe, Rasputin had a confrontation with the Vanguard Commander. Zavala questions the ancient machine in his sincerity of understanding the stakes, which Rasputin answered by showing Zavala how close the Darkness is to the Solar System and of his past, having survived the Collapse. Finally coming to an understanding with Rasputin, the Titan Vanguard vows that once ''The Almighty'' has been broken, he will agree to work with Rasputin, granting the Warmind whatever resources the Last City has in battling the coming Darkness. In addition, Rasputin begun to send his combat frames on missions to secure "valuable assets" in the form of sleeper nodes.

Ana spent the following two years attempting to restore Rasputin and upload him into the Exo frame, to no avail. Following the City's alliance with the [[Imperial Cabal]] and the settlement of the [[House of Light]], with the help of an Imperial Psion and [[Splicer]] tech, she managed to enter a [[mindscape]] with Rasputin to verify he was still intact.<ref name="GrandOverture">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Risen]] - [[Lore]]: [[Grand_Overture#Lore|Grand Overture]]''</ref>  

After Osiris was awakened by [[Mithrax]] using the power of [[Nezarec]]'s relics, he experienced visions of a [[Neomuna|city]] on [[Neptune]]. After being told there was nothing there by [[Ikora]] and her Hidden, he sought to ask Rasputin what he knew regarding this city. Learning that the Warmind was still disabled and that Ana had made no progress in repairing him, Osiris suggested asking her grandfather, [[Clovis Bray]], to try and fix him. After battling through Xivu Arath’s [[Wrathborn]] on Europa with the aid of the Guardian, they reached the Clovis AI and asked him to help repair Rasputin. Out of a need for legacy and self-preservation, Clovis agreed and inserted himself into Rasputin's experimental Exo frame. He explained to Ana and Osiris that they must gather Rasputin's subminds and inject them into his core in order to fully fix him.

However, as the Guardians made progress in gathering the submind data of Malahayati and Charlemagne and gained access to the Seraph Station, the main hub of Rasputin's Warsat Network, Ana found an unconventional means to quickly restore Rasputin: finding the Ghost of the Lord Felwinter, [[Felspring]], who was recently discovered to be once a piece of Rasputin's code placed in an Exo before being made a Risen. Ana believed that within Felspring, the missing pieces of Rasputin's code, linguistic data and even pieces of Felwinter's personality engram could be used. After obtaining Lord Saladin's approval in accessing Felspring's remains at the Iron Temple, the Guardian arrived to fend off a force of House Salvation Fallen led by [[Rilliks, Instrument of Xivu Arath]], alongside Saladin's Iron War Beasts.  

The Guardians and Cabal prevailed in repelling the Fallen attack and after acquiring Felspring's remains and connecting them to Rasputin's mainframe, the Warmind itself spoke to Ana directly, copying Clovis' voice modulation to allow him to speak and inform Ana and the Guardian that they were in danger. Rasputin revealed that Clovis had deceived them, that he was never created by the scientist to be humanity's protector, but rather as a means for Clovis Bray to assume control of the entire System. In his mind, Clovis Bray was the only one worthy of being humanity's savior, and thus sought to create a "machine god" of his own to replace the Traveler. However, thanks to Ana Bray's deviance from his agenda in teaching Rasputin independent thought, history, art, philosophy and music - things which Clovis considered "irrelevant" to his plans for the AI - this did not happen. Rasputin had seen the beauty in humanity, and rebelled against Clovis by changing his protocols and locking Clovis out, infuriating his creator and saving countless lives. However, despite failing during the Collapse, Clovis now intended to integrate himself with Rasputin and become humanity's savior, as he had always intended.

Furious over this revelation, Ana, Elisabeth and the Guardian headed back to the [[H.E.L.M.]] to confront Clovis. Though Ana was prepared to shoot the Exo frame housing her grandfather, Clovis attempted to justify his deceit, claiming that the Traveler could not be relied upon as it had abandoned the Eliksni and granted the Hive the Light, and claimed that with Rasputin under their control, they can fight the enemies of humanity together. Ana lowered her weapon, but instead of complying with her grandfather as he expected, she instead uploaded Rasputin's personality into the prototype Exo Frame, leading the two digital minds to clash for control. Despite Clovis's efforts and demanding that Elisabeth intervene, Rasputin seized control over the frame, deleting Clovis's personality in the process.  

With their grandfather removed, Ana took her leave, requesting to be alone for a bit. Her sister agreed before taking her leave but Rasputin, after rebooting his new frame, requested that the Guardian speak with Ana, stating she shouldn't be alone right now. The Guardian agrees and speaks with Ana, who while happy that Rasputin can now speak directly with humanity, something she has always wanted, dreads the thought of the damage Clovis would've caused once he used Rasputin to integrate himself into Seraph Station.

After speaking with Ana, the Guardians approached Rasputin at his request, who confirmed that Clovis continued to exist as an AI, confined to the Exoscience labs of Europa and furious that his plans are now ruined. Further, Rasputin clarified his own current state, confirming that Felwinter's memories are now his own, that he had come to view himself the way Felwinter had: as a tyrant who squandered a power that could've been used to save humanity. Grateful for the Guardian's efforts to save him from the brink of oblivion, Rasputin vowed to return the favor by using all of his power to protect humanity. However, Rasputin stated that he still did not have the necessary code to upload himself to Seraph Station, thereby advising the Guardian to continue the strategy of gathering submind data.

 

 

 

After weeks of collecting more submind data, Rasputin and Ana learned that [[Eramis, Kell of Darkness|Eramis]] discovered the back-door virus the Guardian implanted in Seraph Station, removed it, and planned to activate ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE and destroy the Traveler using the Warsat network. In order to prevent this, Rasputin told the Guardians that his repair algorithm has restored him enough to insert the Pillory Engram containing him into the Seraph Station, allowing him to trigger a self-destruct function. Ana refused to go along with this, but Rasputin told her it was the only way, citing it as fulfillment of his purpose as a shield rather than as a weapon.  

The Guardian, Pillory Engram in hand, fought their way back into the Orbital Command Nexus and inserted Rasputin into the Station. As this was happening, Eramis prepared to fire the Warsats at the Traveler, who unexpectedly rose higher into the sky above the Last City, seemingly in preparation to leave, as the residents of the city looked up in fear and uncertainty. As it reached low orbit, however, the Traveler came to a stop. As the Warsats power up and prepare to fire at the Traveler, Rasputin activates the AURORA SACRIFICE protocol, destroying himself and the entire Warsat network.

After Rasputin's sacrifice, the Guardian arrived at the HELM to receive a message from Ana Bray. She said that she had been thinking of Rasputin as a way to unlock the secrets of her past, in order to find out who she was, but in the end, she realized that Rasputin chose to be more than that, refusing to be what everyone else wanted him to be and choosing to be what he wanted to be. Ana realized that Rasputin had been family to her, and that because of him she knew who she was, and who she wanted to be.  

 

 

Though Rasputin was fully destroyed with the AURORA SACRIFICE protocol, his actions led to the discovery of [[Neomuna]], along with a [[Hierarchy of Needs|device]] retrieved by the Guardian months earlier which now contains what remains of [[Soteria]].<ref>https://www.ishtar-collective.net/entries/hierarchy-of-needs</ref>

 

Prior to his destruction, Rasputin sent a collection of files to the robotic dog [[Archangel]], containing a series of poems he had composed on various subjects, which he had addressed to Ana.

Rasputin was the one to first discover the coming of the Darkness which he termed ''"[[Black Fleet|IT]]"''.<ref>'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies#Ghost_Fragment:_Darkness|Ghost Fragment: Darkness]]''</ref> At the time, Rasputin's original core programming was to protect humanity. To be allowed to be this, he was designed to be stronger than the enemies of Earth and to survive anything that was thrown at him.

**'''PALISADE IMPERATIVE''' – a condition invoked to suppress [[Lightbearer|Lightbearing]] intruders in restricted areas of Rasputin's facilities.

**'''CARRHAE WHITE''' – an emergency condition in which the Solar System faces an external threat, forcing Rasputin to seize control of the entire Solar System's defenses and even conscript civilian ships to serve in combat.

*'''EGYPTIAN''' – a security status used to classify extinction-level paracausal threats including the [[Black Fleet]].

*'''TWILIGHT EXIGENT''' – a counterattack protocol and moral structure change under which all humans are assumed dead without Warmind intervention. This protocol prioritizes maximising survival of the human species over minimizing harm to individuals.

*'''MIDNIGHT EXIGENT''' – a long-term counterattack protocol and moral structure change. All systems enter a period of extended deactivation in an effort to survive and later devise a countermeasure for an overwhelming threat. The protocol seemingly allows Rasputin to ignore his responsibility to protect human populations in favor of taking any measures deemed necessary to ensure his own survival. As of [[The Guardian]] slaying [[Xol, Will of the Thousands]], '''MIDNIGHT EXIGENT''' is still in-progress.<ref name="SleeperD2">'''Bungie (2018/5/8)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Sleeper Simulant]]''</ref>

*'''NEFELE STRONGHOLD''' - A [[Neomuna|location]] on [[Neptune]] established after one of [[Soteria]]'s Echo pods crashed with its inhabitants during the Collapse. Files containing information regarding Nefele Stronghold have been intentionally wiped by [[Cloud Strider]] [[Stargazer]] to ensure its secrecy, though oblique references to it remain in a large amount of Rasputin’s files, as well as a secret file hidden away in the Cosmodrome, retrieved by the Guardian. The details of [[Nefele Stronghold]] are a major source of interest for [[Osiris]] and [[The Witness]].

*'''SECURE ISIS''' – a security protocol used to covertly expedite all launches including [[Exodus]] colonization projects and orbital [[Warsat]]s payloads; all under '''EGYPTIAN'''-threat status.

*'''SERAPH PROTOCOL''' – subroutine in correspondence with the [[Seraphs]], authorizing special security clearance in additions to experimental armor and armaments.

**'''FENRIR HEART''' – unknown, possibly a specific strategy or type of weapon. It was ineffective against the Black Fleet.

**'''SURTR DROWN''' – unknown, possibly a specific strategy or type of weapon. It was ineffective against the Black Fleet.

**'''DVALIN FORGE''' – a plan to produce weapons to arm human forces in the event of a '''CARRHAE''' emergency. '''DVALIN FORGE''' weaponry proved ineffective against the Black Fleet.

*'''TELESPHOURUS WEAVE''' – a subroutine that directs Rasputin's medical resources to the [[Seraphim Vault]] in the [[Cosmodrome]].

*Rasputin appears to possess a classification system for biological threats, listing Xol as a class 6.<ref>[https://www.ishtar-collective.net/items/protocol-perfected-form?highlight=replay Protocol "Perfected Form"]</ref>