: Well, been a Halo fan for about 10 years, played all the games several times,
: have read most of the books(most importantly just finished the Forerunner
: saga)... I still don't understand, really, how the Flood survives into the
: present(future I guess - 2552). Cortana claims Halo doesn't kill them, it
: kills their food. Silentium seems to suggest they do kill the Flood(along
: with almost all other life). Why is there still Flood on the
: installations? Are they safe havens, like shield worlds? I know they're
: referred to as Fortress Worlds at some point. Did the Forerunner really
: think it was a good idea to keep samples around after how much of their
: civilization was destroyed? Perhaps unwilling to commit genocide? The
: creation of the rings seems to strongly suggest otherwise... I know they
: do reseed the galaxy with many species though. Why is there a Gravemind on
: Installation 05?

Yeah the whole "doesn't kill flood, it kills their food" line is a bit confusing, since Halo Legends showed the halo ring's activating as a giant wave that definitely destroyed any flood form it came into contact with. Were the spores left unscathed though? That would seem a little dumb.