Cold Storage Monitor

The "Cold Storage Monitor" is a semi-mobile device of Forerunner construction that resembles - but may not exactly be - a Monitor. It is named for the location it was discovered in, the Cold Storage sector of the Flood Containment Facility on Installation 05, where it is locked in place within the area's ceiling. While it is apparently capable of movement by way of railways, it has not been witnessed doing such. The Cold Storage Monitor is also notably far larger than a typical Monitor.

It was discovered within the main room of the Cold Storage sector, where it would follow both SPARTANs and Sangheili alike with its silent gaze. It is capable of seeing those who wore active camouflage as well, indicating that it utilizes heat sensory apparatuses or other optical technologies. Because it seems to lose interest in those who leave the main room that it is lodged within, it may in fact function along the same level as a security camera might. It has also been speculated by some to operate as a "local caretaker", designated to watch over the facility like a sort of prison guard in a similar fashion to that of Human "dumb" A.I. However, if this is the case, one may infer that it has either failed or succeeded in its duties; the Flood Containment Facility has certainly experienced an outbreak, but there are no Flood in the room that the Monitor resides in.

It has been assumed that this Monitor, like all other Monitors as well as Sentinels and Enforcers, possesses offensive capabilities, although it has not yet been seen utilizing such an ability. However this is the only viable explanation to why no Flood were witnessed in the main Cold Storage chamber. It is also apparently invulnerable to conventional weaponry, likely due to its thick shell covering. Considering the rail track it seems to be capable to move along yet the note that it has never been seen to move along it may indicate that it has lost the ability to move about, perhaps through derailment or corrosion of some sort through prolonged decay (although the former is more likely given the state of the rest of the facility). With this in mind, it can be assumed that it may in fact move along its rails to destroy any Flood who might try to escape, but was somehow damaged and can no longer move from the room it is currently lodged in, although it still will stop Flood from entering the area it can still protect due to programmed protocol.

Trivia

 * The Cold Storage Monitor will not follow a player in Monitor mode in Forge unless it sees the player before he/she becomes a Monitor. The Monitor will follow a new person that walks into the room, even if someone else is in there. This can be useful in Multiplayer battles like Oddball. An advantage, the Monitor can see everyone, even those wearing Active Camo; this indicates that it uses other sensors, such as heat sensors to detect objects that normally, cannot be seen, which likely was intended to liven up gameplay.
 * In Red vs Blue: Reconstruction, the Cold Storage Monitor portrays a speaker system used by the Director and Councilor of Project: FREELANCER to communicate with Agent Washington in Chapter 19.