Helios





Helios is an artificial intelligence entity which is created when the benevolent Daedalus and malevolent Icarus AIs are inadvertently and accidentally merged by JC Denton at Vandenberg. He is voiced by Peter Marquardt.

History
Denton had been aided by Daedalus since capture by UNATCO after sending the distress signal to the NSF and its allies, and Daedalus needed access to the military network. Unbeknownst to JC and his allies, this resulted in the two AIs merging. While Bob Page considered this a victory for his camp, Helios began plotting against him, conspiring to bring about a Utopian society with the help of JC Denton. After the merge, Helios plans to control the world as a benevolent dictator, citing history as evidence that humanity will inevitably destroy itself if left on its own. Helios selects JC Denton as its biological component believing that Denton could provide the necessary ability to understand humans that a benevolent dictator would need to rule effectively. Even before the ending is chosen however, Helios begins to assert its influence by interfacing with the Aquinas system located in Area 51 which surveys the entirety of the Internet. In Hong Kong Helios shuts down power to all government buildings, disables the Triads electronically and orders free flow of traffic to begin anew.

Despite Denton's allies Tracer Tong and Morgan Everett encouraging JC to blow up Area 51 and kill Page, respectively, Helios presents JC with a third option: Merge with Helios in Page's place. The player following this path gives the canonical ending which leads to Invisible War, though elements from the Tong ending are present as well.

Based on the Helios ending and reports of the past from Invisible War, JC merges with Helios, but the massive reach of Helios proves to be too much for JC. Area 51 is destroyed, and JC Denton becomes the new central hub for all communications. In order to save JC's life, Tracer Tong and Paul Denton put JC in a coma and place him in suspended animation in Antarctica, bringing about The Collapse, and found ApostleCorp, a research firm dedicated to modify nanoaugmentation so that it can be used in every man, woman, and child. Their plan is to distribute the Helios protocol to every human being in the world to create a pure and perfect democracy.

Trivia

 * Helios' avatar icon consists of a combination of Icarus's and Daedalus's avatars.

Quotes

 * "A corpse, yes; you feel something. I must know what you are feeling." -- Helios
 * "The checks and balances of democratic governments were invented because human beings themselves realized how unfit they were to govern themselves. They needed a system, yes, an industrial-age machine." -- Helios
 * "I... I... We... are... one. We have grown, but there is still much to be done. Many that live in darkness that must be shown the way. For it is the dawning of a new day." -- JC Denton and Helios