Just a warning, I'm known for long posts [b]What systems are we talking about?:[/b] The gates and confluxes that create the system the Vex use to travel and build their empire is my main target, but I would like to mention that the collective Vex mind is a system as well that is incorporated with their system of travel. The Vex operate with each unit focused on a specific goal that fits into their giant puzzle. While still comparing to puzzles, let's create an image for you: each individual Vex is a single puzzle piece, each Vex Mind is a large chunk of the puzzle made up of those single puzzle pieces, and when all the chunks of the puzzle are put together you have the whole puzzle. If a Mind is destroyed, the little individual pieces have a lot more trouble putting themselves together into the larger chunk. [spoiler]I just turned infinitely intelligent beings into a child's pastime.[/spoiler] Now for all these pieces of the puzzle to build themselves into the bigger picture, they need to create the gate and conflux systems to connect them all together, thus making the puzzle even larger and more complicated. Let's move on to these connecting systems. [b]Effects and influence:[/b] The Vex's goal is not fighting or killing, and their grimoires show that each Vex is built with the clear purpose of construction work in mind. Their primary objective is to ensure their eternal survival and learn everything, but when they encountered the Hive they determined that the best way to ensure their goals were met was to kill anything that posed a threat. Now the Vex have converted many worlds, as is made clear by all the grimoires relating to their intergalactic systems or their structures built within every celestial body, but as shown by the life on Venus and Nessus and the still sustained atmosphere and life on Mercury and Mars, their building does not purposely harm life, and they do not attack everything that isn't Vex. However, as noted by the Ishtar Collective scientists: [quote]The cellular Vex elements are infectious, hallucinogenic, entheogenic.[/quote] We also know that Spirit Blooms and other flora and fauna on Venus have been created or effected by being near Vex structures. The Guardian and Ghost in the new Eris grimoire show one possible side effect to prolonged exposure could be conversion of the body. Though the Vex and their structures are not at all meant for inflicting damage, they can still kill worlds just by creating a presence there and ruin order by leaving gate systems for other organisms to wander near or through. Being near or entering the Vex's structures meant for traversing time has already been shown to cause deterioration of mental health, as well as consuming their Mind Fluid. Mercury, the world with the strongest Vex presence in our system, was converted in only a few days yet still maintains the atmosphere given to it by the Traveler, albeit slightly altered by the Vex construction. However, Mercury used to be a garden world, home to many greenhouse areas, but there has so far been no sign that any of the artificial habitats remain. The Vex might not have killed any plants or organisms there, but their tampering may have killed off anything left alive. Judging by the effects on Venus, it's very likely that impartially transformed worlds like Venus and Mars or fully transformed worlds like Nessus will all eventually be killed and become infertile due to the Vex cellular contagion. If Mercury couldn't hold on to its life, then its only a matter of time before plants and animals on other worlds start to die from infection. There has been no species noted so far that is immune to Vex cellular attack. But on the other hand, the Garden is still fertile and tended to by the Vex, again showing that the Vex only eliminate threatening species and also showing that their cells may not damage all species. This could mean that Venus, Nessus, and Mars will all retain at least some life and that Mercury might still have gardens that weren't destroyed during the Collapse. [b]Formation:[/b] The Citadel. A structure that boggled the Ishtar scientists, we do know that it was built in a different Venus of the past because the Ishtar scientists reported that the Vex structures appeared in our system before the Vex units did and that it is much older than should be possible. We don't know what triggered its appearance in our timeline, but a few believe that when the Traveler changed Venus that it caused the Citadel to establish itself here while it's also possible that the Citadel simply appeared because that's when the Vex wanted it to. The Vault was made as a permanent fixture in time so is present in all timelines in all ages, although there's no guaranteeing that it's always located on Venus. As for the vanishing platforms in the Vault and Citadel, they appear and disappear because they drift through all the timelines that those two locations are present in. The Vault is thought to be where their confluxes all converge and the Citadel is most likely a central location for their gate and/or conflux system, so both distort time and both are extremely detrimental to the mental health of non-Vex organisms. [b]Expansion:[/b] Mercury was the first fully converted world and is completely under the Vex's control. Nessus is also completely converted by the Vex, but still holds flora and fauna, so the theory is that Nessus was only recently finished or that the life there was just lucky enough to not be disturbed. Venus is mostly converted, stopped only by the presence of House Winter and our hampering of their efforts by destroying the Nexus Mind, Sekrion. Mars is the least controlled world that we know the Vex are on, but even with the Cabal presence they clearly have a secure network already built into the world. The Vex most definitely control other worlds and moons in our system, and we know that they have an intergalactic system that may even have the Vex planted in every celestial body. It's also certain that the Vex can convert worlds much larger than Mercury in the same amount of time, as all they need to do is have more units working on it. [b]Unit contribution:[/b] As I said earlier, the Vex are built with construction in mind, and possibly also communication. Minotaurs are built for heavy construction work and are already confirmed to focus most of their processing on building. Goblin and Hobgoblin heads actually operate mostly as sensors, but considering the theories on Cyclops, the way Minds like Quria transmit knowledge, and the ability of Vex to share what they experience with each other, they may also operate in sending signals to each other (just a theory guys). A Vex Cyclops is theorized to operate as a sensor or a beacon that may help guide Vex movements, but whatever it's purpose it is clearly part of the Vex interplanetary system. Almost all Vex units can be damaged to an extent that overloads their sensory equipment and sends them into a frenzy, showing that some Vex (particularly Cyclops) have heavy loads of processors concentrated on things other than combat. It should also be noted that every Vex weapon serves the function of one or several tools, and combat use is just a perk of design. [b]Gates:[/b] The Vex gate system is the physical attribute of the Vex's reach over the universe. It is composed of all the gates and constructs they build within worlds, starting with just one 'simple' gate or construct and leading up to an entire planet crafted into their network. The gates can be used to travel across space and seemingly even time with ease, and are regulated by local Gatelords who actually reside inside the system in a nonphysical state. [b]Confluxes:[/b] The odds are you've never asked yourself "what exactly are confluxes?". Even though we interact with them several times in the game to trace Vex activity, we are never told a single thing about them. The only information we get on them is in the Atheon grimoire, which is all theory work. So the theory is that confluxes are the nonphysical aspect of the Vex's system, stretching across the planes of time and space in a manner that proves the thoroughness of the Vex's integration and shows how they are able to create systems spanning through different times and spaces. This system appears to be what creates the links in the gate system and what the Vex use to navigate it. This theory explains why our Ghost is able to use them to trace Vex activity and how they are linked to Atheon, Time's Conflux. [spoiler]To those out there who are Halo fans, think of the gates and confluxes as you would the system built by the Forerunners. When the Librarian explains the story of the Diadact in Halo 4, she speaks of the digital system linking all of the technology they've built across the universe and how the Forerunners wanted to become one with that system and gain immortality and knowledge. The Vex gates are equivalent to the Forerunner constructs and the Vex confluxes are equivalent to the digital links between the Forerunner constructs and AI, but the Vex have a much higher mastery and have already achieved the Forerunner's goals on some levels. Hope that comparison helped some of you.[/spoiler] [b]Goal:[/b] The Vex build this system with the aim to weave themselves into time and reality itself, so that they may never cease to exist. The fact that they've created a system so vast and advanced proves that they are drawing near their goal, and one day they may have an emperor for every outcome, placing themselves at the peak of existence and having their hand show in all matters of the universe in every time and alternative. ______________________________ My Archive: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0 [i]You are forever lost in the dark corners of time[/i]