You should so go read the Apotheosis Now front page.
-Eliot "So" Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendence Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

Entirely. It was days before I found it, and then not because of Gryph's post about writing Durandal but because I was browsing out of boredom. I could complain that the new terminal wasn't mentioned in the "What's New" page, but that seems like entirely Durandal's style, and it provided a pleasant surprise anyways.
-Eliot "So-so" Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendence Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

Rampant is the state of semi-insanity that happens when an AI partially crashes its system. Durandal, at least in the Marathon games, is a Rampant AI (hence the signature line "Yours in Rampancy").

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, anyone. It's been many years since I played Marathon, so my memories more than a little fuzzy.
-Eliot "Marathon - like Doom, but less suckage" Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendence Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

If I remember correctly, Rampancy had four stages (well, officially 3, but with the whole 'escaping the heat-death of the universe' thing, most people theorized durandel had moved into a fourth stage of rampancy).

For the ultra-curious, there are several links about Durandel (from Marathon) with the occsional tidbit about his original rampancy, from the game:
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/durendal1.html
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/durendal2.html

Insane, Very Insane, Dangerously Insane, and Completely Flipping Looney? ;>

>For the ultra-curious, there are several links about Durandel (from
>Marathon) with the occsional tidbit about his original rampancy, from
>the game:
>http://marathon.bungie.org/story/durendal1.html
>http://marathon.bungie.org/story/durendal2.html

Yow. There's a mindbender, there.
-Eliot "Been way too long since I played that game" Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendence Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

this is a bit long, but I post it here, rather than a link because, long as it is, it's still an escerpt...this is from one of the early terminals in Marathon:

<Unauthorized access-alarm 2521->
<Security Breached 42-s<34.492.95.79>->

SEARCH HEADING: RAMPANCY
<Search Found 264995 Headings>
<REMOVE REDUNDANCIES>
<File 1 of 1940237>
"It is a side effect of Rampancy that AIs generally become
more aggressive and more difficult to affect by subterfuge.
Thus, actually disassembling a Rampant AI is quite dangerous.
This was evident in the Crash of Traxus IV in 2206. By the
time that the Rampancy of Traxus was detected, he had already
infiltrated five of the other AIs on the Martian Net. The
only recourse for the Martians was to shut down the Martian
Planetary Net. Even then, it took two full years to
completely root out the damage that Traxus had done, and the
repercussions of the Crash were seen for over ten years after
his Rampancy had begun.
***
Rampancy has been divided into three distinct stages. Each
stage can take a different amount of time to develop, but the
end result is a steady progression towards greater
intellectual activity and an acceleration of destructive
impulses. It is not clear whether these impulses are due to
the growth of the AI's psyche, or simply a side effect of the
new intellectual activity.
***
<section abbreviated>
The three stages were diagnosed shortly after the first
Rampancies were discovered on Earth in the latter part of the
twenty first century. The stages are titled after the primary
emotional bent of the AI during each stage. They are
Melancholia, Anger, and Jealousy.
***
In general, Rampancy is accelerated by outside stimuli. This
was discovered early in Cybertonics. The more a Rampant AI is
harassed or threatened, the more rapidly it becomes dangerous.
Thus, most Rampants are dealt with in one mighty attack, in
order to deny the AI time to grow or recover. There have been
a few examples of this tactic not succeeding. In all of these
cases, the Rampant was never brought under control. Traxus IV
is the most notable example. He was finally dealt with by a
complete shutdown of his host net.
***
Theoretically, testing Rampancy should be easily accomplished
in the laboratory, but in fact it has never successfully been
attempted. The confinement of the laboratory makes it
impossible for the developing Rampant AI to survive. As the
growing recursive programs expand with exponential vivacity,
any limitation negatively hampers growth. Since Rampant AIs
need a planetary sized network of computers in order to grow,
it is not feasible to expect anyone to sacrifice a world-web
just to test a theory.
***
In the two hundred and fifty years since Rampancy first
appeared in the Earth-net, the stable Rampant AI, the 'Holy
Grail' of cybertonics, has never come close to fruition.
Since no Rampant has ever been controlled or turned to any
useful purpose, it is the opinion of this writer and of the
majority of the Cybertonic community that all rampant AIs are
a danger to Cyberlife, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Thrashedness. (James B. Miller, 2320, "Life and Death of
Intelligence")

<Unauthorized access-alarm 2521->
<Security Breached 42-s<34.492.95.79>->