[Book Launch] – Episode Two: Rise of the Black Doves, Volume 5

I’ve had a lot of difficulty starting off this article, it has after all been a while since I wrote one of these essays. Honestly, it is hard to know where to begin especially when so much has happened; I’ve deleted paragraph after paragraph for hours now, trying to break into this body of text, but thus far, nothing has worked, hence the cheap string of words you’re reading now, which I’ll admit, has warmed up my little black heart, maybe I won’t have to delete this, we’ll see. I guess the best place to kick-off this post is from when Volume Four was published, which was on the 13^th of February 2023. Since then, I’ve been working towards this day, just over a year later there has not been a day where I did not do something toward it, toward the launch day of Volume Five if you can believe that, and I am very, very excited for a whole host of reasons, which I’ll do my best to get through one point at a time, yes, I do have some notes handy. Before I begin however, I think it is fair to address the fact that I’ve been absent for a few months, truth be told I’ve been bogged down; I’ve landed yet another job, this one (which I may disclose at a later date) takes up the whole week, it exhausts me mentally and sometimes physically, requires me to know a truck load of rules and regulations and on occasion, it follows me home, which is not ideal considering my creative endeavours, but it pays well, comes with generous holiday time, my pension is being taken care of (not that I need one because I am not getting old) and it’s pretty rewarding; A friend of mine described it as a ‘Level up in life,’ which tickled me because life truly is like an RPG. Technically, I’m still in training, there is still a lot I have to learn in this position, but I’ve been praised for my time, I’ve been verbally commended which must mean I am doing something right, but with that being said, it has been somewhat of a focus over the past couple of months and who knows where it will lead in the future. You also may have noticed if you’re a follower of mine, that the website has had some minor touches here and there, nothing really big but I’d say worth talking about; The Later section looks a lot neater, more reviews have been added to the Home page, the icons in the top right corner have been worked on but just generally it has been updated, making it far more pleasing to the eye and I’ve still a few things to add to it, it looks much better on a laptop than a phone, but hey, I’m glad it’s running smoothly. The main change, however, occurs when you click on the Products tab, I’m offering an editing service where all you have to do is essentially e-mail me through a business address, please describe your work and what you’d like me to focus on, and we can perhaps formulate a plan. I’ve already picked up two clients which is keeping me sharp, I’m confident I can make their work more impactful, and it will be interesting to see how their work fares when published, either way it’s touching to be part of their journeys. I am still hoping to be more than just an editor, I’d like to set-up that Creative Consultation plan, where people can book thirty minutes of my time, where we can chat face to face via Zoom or Skype about your specific publishing route, we can talk about plot, characterisation, world/lore building, the hidden squirrel kingdom that exists between human and rodent realms, villains, heroes and so on. I believe I can offer some wholesome advice for new writers, and give over some tips for those who are already well on their way, and of course learn something in the process as a fringe benefit; Hell, we’re all practising creatives here, there is a lot to be gained from having such conversations, conversations which are best had face to face or in this case, through camera, because unless I know you personally, I am not coming round to your house, that would be weird – Jokes aside, on a personal note, I wish this service existed when I was starting out, or at least it be available on an affordable basis, so many mistakes could have been averted, so much time would have been saved if I just had someone real to talk to, and not have to watch vague videos online, or hope certain forums answer complex questions, but to actually talk to someone; This is of course the main reason as to why I’d like to set this up, I feel like it would be a great asset to have. I’d like to get the service straightened out soon but there is more red fucking tape to snip through than I previously had thought, plus it comes with a hefty price tag to initiate lift-off, a price tag which has had to take the back seat for now, because the laptop I am using is falling apart, it is nearly a decade old and the day will come when it conks out on me entirely, this has slowly become a priority but one I must address before I’m literally forced to go shopping for one, and I hate…HATE…Shopping. There is also new artwork in the making, sketched by none other than Mr Will Towns, oh how I’ve missed working with this legend of a man, having had to deal with ‘other’ people for so long he is literally Gandalf the White! Will is currently going through a house move but has agreed to crack on with a character concept, a character that does make an appearance in Volume Five as it were, and what better way to segway into this next instalment, so let’s talk about it. As always grab yourselves a drink, I just waddled over to my fridge to see what I have in there, not much as it turns out because I’m an animal, so I’ve gone with your classic tea, and for those who are trying to convert me to decafe, for those who think I’ve a problem with my caffeine consumption, I’ll say this:- You are a problem, nobody likes you, you’re a buzzkill, we get annoyed when you enter the room, we breathe a sigh of relief when you leave, everything wrong in this world can and should be blamed on you, it’s your fault everything is falling to bits, you are the ones ruining the very fabric of our society, you should go back to where you came from, stand in the corner and should be ashamed, how dare you! Minor spoilers for Volume Four ahead, I hope you enjoy Book Launch, Volume Five.

So, the book picks up exactly where we left off, to a certain degree might I add; The first chapter in Volume Five is called, Broods of Bats and Angels, it’s set shortly after the end of Ep1-The Utopian Dream, and it’s here where we’re re-introduced to Ridian Messiah and introduced to the Harphiar, who are a winged race of humanoids from a distant continent called Wequinox. This land became uninhabitable for the Harphiar due to rising sea levels and the influx of other apex predators both land and sea, so they were forced to leave, to find a new home amidst a bloody civil war between two opposing factions – They’re harpies essentially inspired from Greek mythology; One tribe led by legitimate King Yamoch Selsio has feathers, the others led by their contender, King Hadred Dratheskin do not, and this type appears to be more bat like and fearsome than their idyllic angel cousins. When the angels left their lands in the face of annihilation, not just from Hadred and his bats, but from other environmental impacts, they took to the skies and flew across the vast sea out of sheer desperation to establish themselves in a new world, to bolster their numbers, fortify their defences and take advantage and ownership of whatever land they could find; Yamoch, confident that his people were protected by their deity, Stratos, were forced to island hop and rest on the water’s surface, where many succumbed to nightmarish sea creatures, a drop in temperature or fatigue, taken by the currents. The bats on the other hand took their time in their exodus and pursuit. King Hadred Dratheskin and his Queen, Sheeka-Krie, commanded their army called the Batalista, to build a huge raft able to sustain their numbers, a base as it were where they could easily feed themselves from, rest and reach the unknown lands of Equis from a place of ease in comparison to the angels, who had lost the bulk of their forces in the escape; The brood of bats, could smell their victory and the end to the civil war, and the reward was to be a new place they could call, home. We met one of these featherless harpies in Volume Four, in Chapter Nine called, Raptor, right before Deacon Garla finds the Witch’s grotto within that honeycomb valley, nestled deep inside The Mountain of Bones. You’ll get to learn more about this harpy within this chapter, it may have happened in the past, but this method of storytelling allows me to expand on this character after he has made an impression which in turn challenges the reader not to judge too soon – His name is Xu, and in contrary to what you might already believe, he does have a redeeming quality, one that whence learned, will change your perspective on him, I promise, he’s not just a mindless monster. Moving on, if you can remember, the last time we saw Ridian on the page, it was at the end of Ep1-The Utopian Dream, at The Battle of Korthak Bridge during The Dovidian Covenants invasion (that is only if you discount the closing teaser snippet on the final page of course) and the year was 1512, this was the last time we saw Ridian; When he realises the war is lost, thanks to the intervention of The Dark Rogues who brought with them new black power based weapons and explosives, technology that Ridian had wanted to seize for himself, Ridian disappeared through the thick smog and evades Norkron capture. Two decades later (where Volume Four starts in 1532) and we’ve not seen or heard anything, he’s mentioned among our ‘protagonists’ here and there but beyond that, he’s almost completely absent. It’s not until THIS volume, the first chapter of Volume Five where we properly get to meet him again and just to repeat, this is a flashback event, one that takes place four years after the end of Ep1-Dream 1512, which puts this scene at year 1516, and believe me when I say, Broods of Bats and Angels starts out with some pacing and world-building, but quickly ramps up the intensity, the action and the drama while Ridian Messiah is at the very centre of play; And I love how he is able to dominate the page, how he excerpts his attractive, meticulous plans which inevitably lead him to his preferred circumstances, where HE gets to have his cake and eat it, where HE is able to govern and manipulate these powerful foreign Harphiar Kings and Queens at his will and for the cherry on top, he is able to deceive you, yes you, the reader! Even when Ridian is thrown into an actual impossible situation, a situation where no regular human being could possibly hope to survive, Ridian does, and he does it not through magic or some other writer’s claptrap, but through his intelligence, his forward thinking, fearlessness, outlandish technology and uncompromisable ability to negotiate. We had a glimpse of this in Ep1-The Utopian Dream, but during Volumes one, two and three, he already had come to power, you didn’t see it or witness it, he was already on top and General of the largest force (thus far) we’ve ever seen in Equis. In Ep2, well, technically speaking in the events that happen in-between Dream and Rise, we get to see how Ridian operates, and it was an absolute joy for me to articulate. There is a reason why I love villains or the anti-hero, and this is indeed one of them, somewhat of a rarity in our entertainment, I do not want to spoil too much because I’ve only just released this beast of a book, but like with our ‘heroes,’ our ‘villains’ have not been sitting still, how can they? I might not be the best fantasy writer in the world (not yet anyway) but one thing no-one can accuse me of is being a lazy-writer, the pieces are moving, everything is moving all of the time and to my mind, spending time to describe said events is not only an enjoyable benefit to the reader, but to the plot, trust me the events in this opening chapter echo and come to fruition in Volume Six.

Before I shift to talk about some of the other key story points, there is a usage of another language in this opening chapter, but it’s handled differently to what you might be expecting. Typically, I’d invent the particular language in my usual fashion, but I’d leave bracketed English subtitles next to the make-believe words, so readers get to read or attempt to voice a make-believe language, but still know what was being said by the character to avoid confusion; This time however, I’ve tried a different approach, allow me to explain. The characters that feature in this chapter are speaking their own language, and it’s called Harphiaron, but from the readers perspective, it’s in modern English. It would not make sense if the harpies were speaking in the same tongue as the humans of Equis, so this has to be addressed, and I am not going to lie, this is a daunting task, but a task that had to be tackled, so I got to work. I decided to make this language somewhat rhyme when spoken, as if it’s a poem, or something you could sing, they are birdlike creatures after all so that’s where my inspiration comes from, if bird men and women could speak, this is how I imagined they’d sound. I also gave the language a lick of something well-mannered and cultured, to give emphasis on the fact that these are or were a sophisticated race who ran into dark times which too can send humankind into a spiral had it happened to us, but I repeat, it is written in English. Bear in mind, Broods of Bats and Angels is not written in this invented Harphiaron language, but should this be portrayed in a film (I wish), everything would be spoken in the Harpy tongue, and subtitled into your preferred language, why did I do this you ask? Because it’s a complicated chapter, a chapter which has a weight to it, important world-building, and explains later events – To have readers squinting and trying to pick through a make-believe language when they should be following the story, is a little too much to ask of them, especially right at the start when all a reader wants to do is dive in and go. I understand the irony here too by the way, having just declared myself as not being a ‘lazy writer,’ one would think this is a lazy move to get around hardship, however as I just described, I leant on practicality and enjoyment over the insertion of another language – Don’t believe me? You should, because when writing the first draft of this chapter, I had completed a fair portion of it, all written in the new Harphiaron language, the same language you hear/read in Volume Four and Volumes to come. For example, flick back to Ep2-Chapter 16 – Eyes on Me, when we’re re-introduced to Draygo Dumear, a Dark Rogue running across the burning desert with his Day Owl, Limbo overhead. Draygo is communicating in the same language as those who appear in Chapter 26 – Broods of Bats and Angels, only this time the bracketed subtitles are in bite-sized, digestible chunks, where readers can dabble but at the same time do not lose any of the pacing. This I believe was the best way to introduce the new language, some people might criticise me for it, but I did it this way to keep readers engaged, a chapter this large written in another language is a bit too much, and less of a strain when it comes to editing. Also, I like the idea that Draygo, a Dark Rogue is using such a language (a language they stole, naturally) to communicate with his owl, which is of the avian species relating to a race of humanoids with wings, I think it’s a neat touch and fits in quite well with the art of storytelling. I hope you agree.

Back to it, Ridian Messiah has taken the time necessary to learn the harpy language (far better than Draygo), how has he done this if the harpies are new to the shores of Equis? Well, if you can recall that ending snippet, literally the last page of Ep1-Dream, Ridian says to Professor Atheriax that he will follow up on the rumours of sightings of winged men spotted on the coast, I quote:-

‘Rumours persist that winged people have been sighted on the shores; by most accounts, the coastlines are teeming with them. I must see this for myself, angles, or demons maybe, I will see.’

-Ridian Messiah

This infers that harpies from Wequinox had made it to Equis, whether they be a few scouts sent on a mission for their King or those who have gone rogue, it isn’t clear at this point in the story, but will be; I will come down on this point in later volumes, to smooth out this dip in continuity, but as it stands, harpies DID visit Equis before the bulk of their factions followed, and this opened the door for Ridian to either capture one such being and learn their tongue that way, or he sort friendship to learn from one another. This makes sense because Ridian has demonstrated in volumes prior that he is highly educated, can speak other languages besides the common ones, he has learnt how to learn efficiently and you could make the case that he paved the way for others, such as Draygo and the Dark Rogue faction to pick up the dialect within that spare 16 years. All of this is covered in a storytelling format in the book, I’m sure you’re smart and understand what it is I am trying to do, but this blog’s purpose is to offer you insights you might otherwise not get, so this is space where such information exists.

Beyond Chapter 26 – Broods of Bats and Angels, we kick off with the Star Caller story, Alessa Coldan, Donna Klade, Amanda Lesil, Kina and Kayna Serisa have finally left the safety of New Xiondel City; Having formulated a plan that was initiated by The Eldor, enacted by Alessa, but together they’ve established the tools necessary to track their beloved Big sis, Isolde Beatrix down, they’re riding fiercely across Krondathia atop their mounts. Alessa rides atop a brown, spotted horse called Hortensia nicknamed Pebbles (yes this is a real horse in real life, one that has rode passed my folks house in Wales many times), Donna rides a grey horse I believe, and is called Sapphire, Amanda rides a light brown and white horse called Olga, Kina rides a ptriva sprinter called Lightning and her twin sister Kayna, rides a tulkan bull called Thunder. This is one thing I regret with Episode One, when we were following Lethaniel and his crew, apart from Lethaniel himself who rode Seridox and Thao who rode Eliah, there wasn’t much emphasis on the mounts, which if I was able to go back, I’d make more of an effort to name them and give them more importance. Moving back to the Star Callers however, more specifically Alessa, she is as matter of fact based on a real person, someone I’ve had the pleasure in meeting and getting to know quite well in real life, it’s not a 100% direct translation from reality to the page, I’m sure when she eventually reads this thing she’ll raise an eyebrow, but the foundation of Alessa’s character starts with the real woman, who has a love for horses, nature, people, she has an adventurous streak and is embellished with leadership qualities – She is my go-to for facts on horses, traits of her personality do rise to the surface in certain instances, but ultimately I hope I’ve characterised an interesting version of her, a version not only the real woman can relate to, but for anyone else who reads Alessa as well. I enjoy writing Alessa, I really do, she represents the leader of the Star Callers, she certainly holds things together when the tension rises, and the reason that is, is because she represents earth, despite the fact that she says she is a multivariant class – A division of wielders that excel with the usage of all elements, she is actually (spoiler) profound with using earth, which makes her an earthenbound, but at the same time I like how real, how ‘down to earth’ she is; She may be this unbelievably powerful character, but she never gloats about it, she always remains reserved, calm but assertive when needs be, putting others over herself in all regions, a quality that all good leaders adhere to. Donna too is an absolute joy to write, she’s fire making her of the pyromaniac division; She’s brash, she’s fierce, she’s Alessa’s right hand, and without spoiling too much, she’s capable of forging some devastating casts, as we saw in Volume Four, when she unleashed Little Red unto the world – As aggressive as Donna is to her enemies, she’s very compassionate toward her own, which gives her a reliable softness you come to depend on as the story unfolds; Fire tends to do that, we gather round it for warmth, it gives us comfort and protection, but if used the wrong way or if we get to close, you will get burned, something that is destined to happen as Ep2-Rise unfolds its narrative. Donna packs a punch when one is needed, she gives the dialogue some grit and expands upon the differences between the Blessed and the Cursed. Kina and Kayna, the Serisa twins certainly add a unique edge to this story, this edge is not properly fleshed out until Volume Six and the reason I chose to handle it this way, is because it adds to the shock value and drama of the narrative. Call me superficial but at the end of the day, it is my job as a writer to entertain you; See the thing with writing is, is that it is not just about formulating a story in your head and writing it down, I wish it was that simple, in fact you have to arrange the events in such a way that not only make sense from a storytelling perspective, but you have to lay it out so that it is entertaining to read. For example, instead of dropping huge chunks of important exposition onto the reader, it is for the most part best to deliver such bodies of text as the story develops. This is not a rule set in stone, it does depend on your book and the style you’ve gone for, but for epic fantasies such as mine, where you’re dealing with different cultures, dozens of characters, otherworldly religions and wild ecosystems, you’ll feel tempted to get it all out of the way before moving into the juicy stuff, things like characterisation and significant plot points, but I implore you young man or young woman, do not give into this temptation, readers will not find it as engaging or entertaining, and you’ll run the risk of turning them off and away before they’ve really sunk their teeth into your project. You might have the greatest idea known to man, you may be onto a billion-dollar idea, but if your execution is not given much thought, you’ll end up missing out on everything that is fantastic about being a writer – So, tip for creatives, be careful with exposition, as important as it is, remember to deliver it gradually. Again, this is something I fell prey to in Ep1-The Utopian Dream, had I the chance to do it over, I would cut down the exposition and give the reader more time to relax into it rather than a bombardment of lore and history. The Serisa’s are an interesting duo, Kina is far more extrovert than Kayna, she’s a blizzera, ice division, a derogatory term brought up by Donna is, Ice Queen. Kina is also the huntress, given her ability to track and…Well, hunt, while Kayna is an inventress with a dash of windrush in her, a Glyph type who specialises in wind manipulation; She leans heavily toward the inventress spectrum however, someone who has the ingenuity to swiftly invent Glyph casts, while most others take a significantly long time to learn and practise the methods to develop something functional, Kayna is a wizard in this regard – Give her some focus, give her a strong enough motivation to dive into the books, and she will, and she will stir something up, it might not be perfect right away but it certainly does pave the way for improvement, making her one of the most important pieces to this venture. While Kayna prefers to be left alone with her books, Kina likes to be outside, their famous father (who you’ll meet in Ep2-Rise) spent a lot of his time with Kina, teaching her how to read the land, how to hunt and how to fight, given a pinch of Glyph/magic into this mixing bowl, a touch that Kina provides, and you’ve a pretty outstanding character, one you’ll find in Kina, but don’t be fooled, there is more to her than meets the eye; Behind her sparky attitude, is someone who masks a deceptive mindset, one that may divide readers especially when it comes to a certain scene that takes place in Volume Five. This brings us to the quiet one, Amanda, the one who has no dialogue, instead she uses sign language to communicate and as time progresses, she utilises another form to speak to her Star Caller sisters (just to reiterate, besides the Serisa’s, they’re not bound by blood, but by the spirit). Amanda is of the rarest division, she’s a mysterious, clairvoyant, someone who is ultra-sensitive to otherworldly forces, someone who is empathetic and arguably has the most vivid of Visons. This strengthens her decision to ride out of New Xiondel City without Elemential (Ele-men-tee-al) armour, it explains why she is distant, why she sleeps separate from the group when it’s time to rest, because she’s respectful of the thoughts and feelings of her fellow travellers, whose minds can be heard clearer at night, opposed to the day when things are busier; Amanda doesn’t ever want to misuse her power or invertedly glean something personal, she’s a kind and thoughtful soul who is often overlooked, not overtly powerful like Donna or as flamboyant as Kina, she’s often floating about as if in another world or riding between two, as if she is working her way through a problem, one that regular types cherry pick from to inspire social points while the intellects of the world are burdened by the indefinite block. Amanda is in actual fact silently doing her best to figure out what their antagonist glimpsed in their collective Visions wants, she is working on connecting with Isolde through the ether while helping her fellow Star Callers succeed in the immediate predicament. Together this group make an interesting dynamic, each one adding their own strengths and weaknesses to the rescue mission; They start out strong but quickly encounter strange occurrences, aged minerals exhumed from canals deep within the earth have somehow resurfaced, relics blemished with primordial traces of Glyph, creatures have been seen migrating and the invasive presence of the one they refer to as, the Glyph Specter, is closing in. The Star Caller story is the beating heart of Episode Two, as was Isabelle’s journey the life essence of Episode One, it requires the flow of the other stories such as Deacon’s, Lethaniel’s, Nielata’s, Glenn’s and so on to blossom into the flower I believe it is, but the Star Caller journey is the centralised story readers of this series have been anticipating, especially now we’ve encroached onto Volume Five, now that we’ve set-up the stakes and set the scene with Volume Four, things are set to get wild, and believe me, the next set of events begin to really unravel what Episode Two is all about.

Next on the list is young Nielata Vou; Where we left off with her, she was entangled in the web of law and order, doing her best to carve a path toward ending a civil war between the Raaminoto crime family and the Quai-Cyndel, two undesirable factions that have been at each other’s throats for decades, factions who have no intention on relinquishing their territories or calling for peace to spare the innocent lives of civilians; She’s also trying to solve a murder mystery, one of the High Councillors of Virtue, Cillian Landris, her former predecessor has been killed, and no-one seems to know why, how or by whom? Seeing as Nielata was once a detective for the X.C.W.D (Xiondel City Watch Department), it would appear she’d be perfectly equipped for this task, but little does she know that this is a different breed of killer altogether, someone (or something) she’s not encountered before, and it isn’t long before she seeks outsider help, guidance from someone far more intelligent than herself, someone who has a well of knowledge that far surpasses her own, and if you know Nielata SHE is the smartest person in the room wherever she goes. You’ll uncover this deliberating trait early on when learning about her character, and if you’re a human being with at least two braincells to rub together, you’ll know that this thought experiment can only end poorly, and it certainly does; Time and time again Nielata has to be told to slow down, to think before speaking, to rise above petty issues and to transcend her problem with authority, but she continuously fails. She is humbled when she is demoted by High Councillor Truth, the oldest and wisest of all the Virtuous leaders – Her Charity medallion is stripped from her person and she’s forced to think long and hard about her chosen lifestyle, forced to consider with whether or not she is up to the challenge, naively having believed that she could do it all by the book, that she can maintain a serious relationship without fault, that she can hold together tightly knit friendships and can show these dry old men who linger in politics who have been doing their jobs longer than she has been alive, better than they ever could! This is only scratching the surface of Nielata’s journey, the costs gradually increase as the story progresses until she is unable to recognise herself in the mirror, getting so embroiled with the tasks at hand she begins to get desperate and does things she never thought she’d do, all in order to savour the validation from others and gain love and respect from her peers and the surrounding populace, which speaks volumes in that or itself when characterisation is considered, but inevitably it all leads to a spiral steadily descending into a dark, lonely place, one where she may be able to live in luxury, but is cut off from those who genuinely love her, those that lifted her over their shoulders in the hopes she’d be something different to your traditional politician, that she could usher in real change, someone to adhere to the people’s needs instead of looking after her own. She’s a compelling character I believe, she might not be someone you like by the end of Ep2-Rise of The Black Doves, but I think you’ll be able to garner some sympathy for her despite her questionable actions, because at the end of the day, she is someone with an overinflated ego (and for good reason when reviewing her accomplishments achieved at such a young age), however even such people with so many flaws, spells room for improvement, development and significant growth, all of which is so satisfying to see in the payoff – We may take some time to get there, but it will be worth it before the final page, and Volume Five is the segment where a lot of her strengths and weaknesses reveal themselves, especially in the instances when she is orbiting the 24^th Star Caller, Telsi Canis Clewvier, a character that objectively trumps Nielata in every way and to make things worse, Telsi didn’t lift a finger to reach such a high status, nor does she even appear to appreciate such privilege, she just is, while Nielata had to work for everything she is and owns. Nielata is torn between getting results through the proper routes, which tempts her to go down an unauthodox path while struggling to maintain friendships and her betrothed. There is a compelling story here, beyond what I have described, something that touches deeper than most of my other characters, it’s not revealed in Episode Two, it is something I’ll have to work on as things develop, but as it so happens, this certain development sprung from an error I noted while reading Volume Four, post publication, I’ve mentioned it before, it’s not a huge error but something not only to take responsibility for, but fix, and to fix it I’ve started to weave an interesting thought experiment that will materialise in Nielata’s story. I’ll be sure to share more on this when it comes to writing my spoiler review of Ep2-Rise, though I cannot do that until Volume Six has been released and a substantial amount of time has passed.       

Deacon Garla was last seen leaving Lucion’s property in the northern regions of Krondathia, with Three. He had received some rather rigorous training to say the least, courteous of the Norkron Honour Guard, and we as readers were witness to some peculiar events, some of which have their payoffs and explanations within the boundary of Episode Two-Rise of The Black Doves, others do not, due to time constraints, and I know what you’re thinking, you’ve probably seen the size of this book and wondered how is time an issue? Given its page count, surely, I’ve enough time to see all my stories through to their end judging by their scale. Well, when I am challenged by this, I realise that it does make sense from an outsider perspective, someone who is not familiar with my work and how I operate, my volumes are slightly larger than your average book, each Episode in that of itself is a tome, a tome some people (Fenix) use for doorstops, however I often remind such people that this is not only an epic fantasy, I am trying to do something a little different; One such feature I include that most others don’t, is the sheer quantity of characters to read through and how they navigate this dynamic world, sure there are other authors in the genre that handle this too (I salute you), but not many! I am also doing what I can to merge genres, Episode One-The Utopian Dream was your classic fantasy, it’s violent and paints a vivid picture of the humans of Equis, but is still within the realm of classic with some rough edges, it’s not until Episode Two where we see a change, not only in the writing but in how it is structured, it’s still a fantasy, that part is very important it will always be a fantasy, but this particularly is friends with horror. I am in the process of writing Episode Three-Seeds of War which will be unique in its own right, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, you get the point. This is also, might I add an Odyssey, and as defined in the Oxford Dictionary:-

Odyssey (noun)

A long journey during which somebody has a lot of interesting and exciting experiences.

This is a big story. This is the only story/series I will write in my lifetime. I’m not a writer that can pump out book after book after book about different things, I do not think I am that talented, nor do I think I’m built that way. Looking back throughout my childhood, through my early teens, when analysing my behaviour, it’s evident that I always was going to be a zero to a hundred type of writer, someone who knows deep down what they want to do, and goes for it without considering in the moment, that this will come with some tall hurdles to clear and thick barriers to break through; Some valuable, humbling lessons will have to be learned along the way. Feel free to criticise my approach, because there are demonstrably better routes to get into writing, approaches I’d certainly recommend over my own, for instance, starting out small and working your way up to your dream project is a smarter approach; It is of my belief that whence I am finished with Episode Five-The Chosen Kindred, when The Ancestral Odyssey is completed, I will just disappear, nudging whoever is left out of my narrow readership with the odd article here and there, just to let you know I’m still alive, but nothing more, because there will be nothing left to read about Equis, nothing left to see from the characters, for they would have come to their ends, and so would I. Honouring the word Odyssey however, is important to me, getting out all my ideas and plot threads to give you a meaningful experience is important to me, and something I consider to be necessary, especially in a world where creativity is being suffocated, whether it be by the tightening noose of political correctness, by big businesses who are doing their utmost to commercialise/monopolise storytelling (good luck with that), or by the rise in A.I that are now capable of writing books, creatives are under threat. I’ve more to say on the A.I topic, but now is not the time to combat it, in another article perhaps which is in the pipeline, something to look forward to, or dread for that matter, that article will come, but I digress; Whether you grant me your reading time is of course entirely up to you, but I hope so, because there is something dear here that speaks to the human spirit, there is a beating heart beyond those things that lured you in initially, the epic battles, the attractive characters or the magic and monsters, there is more and Deacon’s journey speaks to both a soft and hard side of what it means to be human; He’s a significant part of that beating heart. Deacon’s story at that, is a rich one and one of the deepest in the series – His arc I believe, will be something seriously thought-provoking when it is finished, having gone through so much trial and tribulation, when you turn to who he was at the start of the series to how he turns out at the end, will be stark. We pick up where we left off but because of the flow of time, Deacon and Three have somewhat distanced themselves from Lucion’s house and is on his way to New Xiondel City, to return the Celestial Gifts (The Burning Blossom and The Cloak of Flight) to the Star Callers, and to hopefully meet up with Tharas, to live out a long, wholesome life. Obviously, Deacon does not know that all but one of the Star Callers is left in the city and will come across some decisions when he does eventually arrive. Side notes:- There is something Deacon does that mirrors one of my own behaviours, and as odd as this sounds, I wrote it almost without thinking, as if Deacon had always done this, like this was a natural part to the character, it’s true that a fraction of yourself as the creative ends up in each and every character, some more so than others, but it’s true, and this is one of those fractions; Taking a step back I remembered that I’ve always done this in my own life, and that is to spend a moment on the edge of a place I’ve been for a little while. Whether it be a house in which I’ve lived in for years, a place of work I’ve spent a lot of time at, it may not have always been the most pleasant of places but before I leave somewhere, when knowing that I am not coming back, when I can sense that end of the era, I take a moment to hover on that boundary between the old life and the new one in silence for a few minutes, just to reflect and to wonder about the ending of that chapter and the next; This is something Deacon Garla does too, you’ve likely noticed the behaviour in Volume Four, before he leaves Harloth, he falls into this trance on the edge of town, and because this is an epic fantasy, a place where embellishments can flourish, I’ve weaved in a reason as to why he does this. You’ll also come to understand the strange occurrences I promise, such as the old tools spotted in Tthenadawn Forest and why they resonate? Why is he seeing strange apparitions? Why does he struggle to sleep and why was it that he was able to topple one of the greatest soldiers Equis has ever seen in training, when he ‘supposedly’ has not had any combat experience? All these questions that may have raised an eyebrow during your first read through of Volume Four, have long been noted, have been thought out over a space of years and have reasonable, satisfying explanations, it’s just a question of how to execute their reveal – As I said before, you may not get the answers right away, but they will come. Another thing to note seeing as we’re here, you may remember Thao Hikonle in the first book, he too enacts a trait I myself do on occasion, and that is to observe the surrounding area or territory before wandering in. I’m not entirely sure why I do this, but in Thao’s mind it is to make a quiet risk-assessment. Little things like this slip in here and there, and as progress is made, the more books I release, the more I notice it…Weird…Yes, Deacon has a fantastic story, one that is loaded with some memorable action scenes, quippy conversations between some intelligent characters, one of which is the man who taught Jerhdia O’Nen and Kathina how to blacksmith and adds to some of the mysteries that litter this wild world. We’ve already met a living myth, a Witch who ties into the Mythorigin periods, we’ve encountered a Harpy of the Batalista, we’ve dealt with an oligarch, adopted an abnormal ptriva sprinter with three tails, handled powerful artefacts, fought, and defeated an Honour Guard, more specifically, he trounced Lucion Hikonle, Thao’s son from The Utopian Dream and shortly after saved his life from a fatal fall displaying an insane level of strength, not something you’d expect to see in a man of average height and slightly malnourished build and yet we’ve only just started. Deacon builds a syndicate of people, inhabits ancient living armour that touches upon a forgotten sorcery that gives weight to the history and lore of The Ancestral Odyssey; He comes face to face with a monstrous opponent with historical significance that bleeds into Lethaniel’s story, all the while operating with a debilitating weakness, one that we have not seen before, something as deadly as Serpents Coil. It’s an intricate story indeed, but one I know you’ll come to love as much as I have loved developing it, it’s intense.   

Moving on to an experimental phase of the story, and I really do mean that in every sense of the word which I’ll come to later, but before that let’s talk about Glenn Straff; We continue the mission with the Firehand, Bravo Pod consisting of Captain Lysander Istrel, Lieutenant Lars Coan who is also experienced with the use of explosives, we’ve First Private Hayden Barak, Navigational Officer Connor Meek, Private Glenn Straff the illegitimate recruit – A tight secret held between himself, the Captains, Sergent Nate and former General Isaac Willem Huather. And finally, from within the Bravo Pod, we’ve Medic Raquel Skolor and the youngest recruit, as green as grass, Private Jake Cody. They’re travelling across Krondathia via an experimental transportation vehicle, a Sky Carriage that is towed and lifted by a dragora (dragoon/small dragon), a dragora called Atlas, whose flyer is Dragonfly Zard Luthion, one of The Shields of Krondathia and Lethaniel’s new right-hand man since Braygon Augiene went AWOL shortly after the events of Ep1-Dream. They’re in search of the Professor’s Students, a mix of exceptional individuals who study a range of subjects, such as geography, archaeology, biology, and mathematics, they’re pupils in their late teens and very early twenties, who went out on an exhibition to one of many distant dig-sites strewn across Equis, but they never returned home or have had any communication with the civilised world for quite some time. Naturally, the R.F (the Requorn Forces) respond by sending out a search and rescue squad, a small unit in need of combat testing, the Firehands, Alpha Pod, led by Captain Gabriel Oamen, Lieutenant Pierce Lifner, Navigational Officer Griffin Wens, First Private Jared Vox, Medic Terrel Lion and Privates Zack and Zeth Droxten – The units task is to find and return those missing to Krondathian territory, but even they themselves go off grid, encouraging the R.F to send out the Pod in training, Pod Bravo, to track down both the missing Students and Gabriel’s Alpha team. The Firehands are the units that embraced the new black powder based technology introduced at the end of Ep1-Dream in the year of 1512, only now, two decades later year 1532, the weaponry has been researched and has advanced into an array of new forms; For instance, you’ve your classic semi-automatic rifle called, the Long Barrel Rifle (LBR), with an 8 shot round capacity, is capable of firing bullets up to 1200yards and is the standard issue (SI) of the Firehand unit. What’s interesting about the LBR, is that it has three models thus far, model one (M1) is what we saw in Ep1-Dream, a musket like device which at the time was a game changer, but was limited to a single shot, a lengthy cumbersome reloading time, decreased range in comparison to the later models, was prone to breaking and susceptible to poor weather conditions. The second model (the M2) improved upon all these prior flaws while the LBR/SI/M3/1200 perfected them, and it is the M3 which our Firehand protagonist Glenn Straff, prefers to use. Every soldier has to be highly proficient with the usage of this weapon; Same goes for the Scub Pistol, a small pot shot revolver piece with a 6 round per rotating wheel, a pistol that can fit nicely and discretely into a leather holster on a soldier’s utility belt – Don’t be fooled by its size or the innocence in its name, it is capable of break chainmail at short distances, and puncturing leather wears at greater distance. All Firehands are issued with a Scub with a few spare wheels of ammunition, along with some Fin Dynamite. Fin Dynamite is as it sounds, a black stick attached with a fin toward its head, the idea is that the fin’s curvature can assist with the hurl, to help guide the thrown bomb to where the Firehand soldier would want it to go, also the fin has the ability to be adjusted, the fin can turn into a sail and if thrown in accordance with wind, can travel with it and bend to such extremes that an impossible throw would become possible. An LBR, a Scub and a couple of sticks of throwing fin dynamite is part of the package when a cadet earns the right to wear the Firehand uniform, which suit is dyed with a wash of shadow grey, blotched with a black tarnish, slashed with yellow streaks. Next up we’ve my personal favourite weapon, the Trinity Pin-Pointer (TPP/M1/1250), this is a rifle given to those who take point carry, the weapon is slightly longer than the LBR-M1, they have a heavier stock to decrease recoil and can hold the largest number of lethally sharp rounds in a hefty rectangular clip that slots into the side of the body of the contraption. The special thing about the Trinity Pin-Pointer, however, is that it can fire a burst of three bullets per squeeze of the trigger, hence the usage of the word trinity, making this a necessary weapon in the Firehand pods arsenal, it seriously kicks ass. Next up are a pair of weapons that do not have as much page time than the others, and they’re the Blunderbuss and the Twin Barrel shotguns. The Blunderbuss is essentially a metal tube with a chunky handle and a squeezable lever for a trigger, it’s extremely powerful in short distances, its accuracy is awful but is frightfully easy to reload, not that one would have to reload after letting off a shot, because if used correctly, you’ll only need to fire the Blunderbuss once, and the target will be shredded. Same goes for the Twin Barrel, a double-barrelled shotgun with a greater range than our friend the Blunderbuss, but has a narrow surface area of spray when discharged, it’s also longer and heavier than the Blunderbuss and has a variety of shells it can use; This wasn’t featured in the book for bizarre reasons, honestly I’ve so much to think about when writing these books that unfortunately some things slip through the cracks, but the Twin Barrel can hold a diverse range of shells, that separates it greatly from its cousin the Blunderbuss. There are other anomalies that float about the arsenal used by the Firehands, this military type is in its experimental phase, for instance, Glenn holds a rather unique pistol called the Mozzer, which is scheduled to be mass produced in years to come, but Glenn’s pistol is slightly different, he has one of three models in existence with an extra round capacity, that one extra bullet may come in handy one day. LBR’s TPP’s and Twin Barrels can be given attachments, such as bayonets, bars to hold an extra cartridge on the body of the rifle and they can be equipped with simplistic scopes. Captain Lysander arms himself with something called a Scatter Gun (an SG) a customary combination of the Blunderbuss and the LBR, a hybrid almost between the two with both enormous power and a reliable rate of fire which will not knacker your shoulder after going trigger-happy. Then there is Margery, a plot thread that made its way into Volume Four, the suggestion of another projectile weapon that happens to be Lysanders favourite, named after his darling wife, a wife he talks about at various points in the book. Seeing as I’ve spoken in longevity about the weaponry of the Firehands which all is part of world building, I figure I’d share some light on Project Margery, why not give you a little treat to what’s to come; Margery was a prototype weapon in development for the Firehands, but the plans were ‘lost’ from among the Mek/engineers who were designing it, claiming that the schematics had been stolen. Volume Five reveals the truth of the case, turns out that it was indeed stolen by the pesky Dark Rogues who later show that they’ve built one for themselves, having assembled it in their base, Sentinel, but Margery is as matter of fact, the first railgun ever to be constructed by man, a cannon that cannot be physically held by anyone, or at least held in its current state, it needing to be wheeled around upon a cart that has to be deconstructed into a tripod to stabilised the velocity that is propelled from its barrel. It’s indeed a cannon but not in the traditional sense where they propel heavy cannon balls, and even though such types exist in Equis, Margery is a glorified rifle, one that is fifty times larger than an LBR, one that can fire up to four armour piercing shells capable of ripping through stone walls and metal shields.

This all may seem rather high-tech as you read this, I am aware, after all this is a fantasy where men still use swords, shields, bows and arrows, but it all fits within the context of the story and the world from which it comes; The technology is not distributed on mass, it only exists within the realms of the Firehands which are currently only two Pods large, which is approximately 28 to 35 men, not including those who make and develop their gear. The weapons themselves are based off our own rifles, as early as the musket developed in the early 1500’s all the way up to those that we used in WW2, the LBR/M2 and M3 for example, starts with the Garand, given the embellishments of Equis, Krondathia more specifically, a sophisticated medieval England, grown from a faith that admires the stars on the brink of a cultural technological shift into an industrial age inspired with an undertone of steampunk, given that and you have something rather unique I’d say, but something that marries well between the worlds of fantastical and the real; It is something I can see being worked out in this way, it is a world that would be cool to see painted in more than just words, I do have plans to have some of the cities painted by someone talented, it is something I look forward to, but for now, it will have to remain as the written word. So, what has all this got to do with Glenn Straff, well not that much in actual fact, but it is the world I’ve had to consider and build around him that he has found himself thrust into after a tragic event, all because when Glenn was designed back in 2005 or 2006 when I was still a pup with a bushy tail, I wanted him to use a rifle, and the consequences of the inclusion of such technology, requires a heck of a lot of world building, everything has to be taken into consideration when writing in such technology and it needs to be told in a way that gives over a sense of realism to the reader. The ‘event’ as described, is the loss of Glenn’s elder sister, Jessica Straff, who was killed most brutally by method of drowning on their family farm by a deranged individual noted as, The Drifter. When this man was caught, not by the Norkron authorities who could not track him down, but by Glenn and Denzel Suade, who sort vengeance; They caught up to him one day and enacted what they considered to be ‘justice.’ After the incident, Glenn adopted a look that Denzel cannot unsee, therefore Denzel refers to Glenn as Glaze, for the glaze in his eyes developed over the course of the harrowing murder, he was never quite the same again. As a result, Glenn joined the forces, joins a Regular unit, and works his way toward serving as a Private in the Firehands, and that is where we meet him in Volume Four, just after a promotion from Regular to Firehand, all of which having stemmed with the intent to prevent such evil to exist, to spare people pain he has been subjected to. Glenn is a brave soul, with noble intentions and motivations, a man who works hard, trains hard, is saddled with grief that fuels him and a fear of water. His story is one for the underdogs, one that escalates as the pursuit unfolds, and gets ever more unsettling the closer Lysanders Pod comes to Gabriel and the Students. They find themselves going from place to place, following something of a breadcrumb trail, which in turn leads them across the sea, over the Illnio Stretch, and into the country of Klaw, to an old industrial facility called The Hexagon, which was where New Xiondel’s Tram system was experimented on and developed, which immediately paints a picture in one’s head, as to what The Hexagon looks like, an installation stationed over a huge black swamp, a swamp home to the great vaurodile, a reptilian creature that closely resembles that of the salt water crocodile, an animal that scares me to fucking death, honestly, I’ve made a list in the ways of how I’d like to check out and being hunted by a salt water croc does not come close to making the list, so the idea of the inclusion to such a beast is a step toward that of horror, and the best place to start with telling horror stories, is to begin with a question; What scares you?

There is more to be said about Glenn’s path, but I feel enough has already been said, so I’ll leave it there after I put to bed a concern raised by someone who reads my work, and that is the step away from classical fantasy and into this new realm of ‘modern’ technology; She said ‘It seems a bit divorced to what I usually read in fantasy,’ and I’ll repeat my response here. First up, good, that is a good thing in my book, I’ve always wanted to challenge the genre, to push its boundaries, to buck the trends and show you something a little different, marrying genre’s or perhaps adding a dash of other genres (in this case, horror) is a ways in which to do that. Secondly, Glenns unit, or more specifically, Shield, Sergent Nate Kaypak’s unit is an experiment, the R.F is still in the experimental phases of training this new unit that use different tactics and technologies, they’re experimenting with the use of different weapons, the means of transportation is an experiment, the mission itself is a ways to field test the Firehands, the location in which they end up (The Hexagon) is an experimental base for building new technologies and what they ultimately discover from within The Silo is (you guessed it) an experiment. As the author/creator of this mess, I wanted to test myself, Glenn’s story is unique in this way and by the end of Episode Two-Rise of the Black Doves, if this is something that is of a concern to you, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to where this breach of genres and technologies ends up, not only have I made sure it organically fits contextually within the realms of Equis, but I’ve made damn sure it doesn’t spill over and get more and more ridiculous, I am aware that even I’ve all the power into what content is added and when, there are still fundamental rules which I must adhere to, to write an effective story which you can be engaged with; I could ignore the rules of course which would result in a catastrophe, this is something I am not willing to do to maintain the integrity of the story, but I am someone who teases, someone who may push and ride that line. If you’re a follower of my work you’re probably aware that I’ve a problem with authority, I’ve also quoted men like Hanz Zimmer who’ve said:-

‘If someone tells you that there is a rule, break it, that’s the only way to move things forward.’

-Hanz Zimmer

I am still in agreement with Hanz, however the rules which he is referring to here are not those fundamental rules that track with world building; When world building for example, it is important you display a degree of knowledge in accordance with the time in which your world is set, such as what technology is currently available to this particular populace, what does the environment look like, what is their culture and value system and so on, when building upon these fundamental rules, not only do they paint a vivid picture in your readers mind, but you build the atmosphere of reality, a reality that sets the stakes. What Hanz Zimmer means, the rules he is encouraging creatives to challenge or break, are rules such as your common tropes, things like:- The heroes must always win by the end, or the man gets the girl at the end, that villains wear black and look evil while all the heroes are handsome and sexy and wear white and gold. It is these things which need to be challenged this lighter set of rules which have grown with the general readership and has over time become common practise. If, however, one wants to challenge the fundamentals, rules that ingrain the readers into the world you’ve created, you better be a good writer, who knows your shit, who has experience and who fills in that bend or break with a fucking good explanation. It’s a tricky business, it’s hard to do, but with some understanding as to what you’re doing, when you know what story you’d like to be told and are willing to do the necessary work to create something believable while treating the fantastical elements with respect, I am sure you’ll hammer home something worth reading. Good luck.       

Denzel Suade has recently sided with a young woman, a Whisperer named Jun Stella. They share the same goals and connect over similar interests, they both want to see the Master Professor, Caleb Atheriax brought to justice, having committed some serious crimes some of which are summed up in a chapter in Volume Four called, The Perfect Murders. Denzel and Jun want to expose him for the madman that he truly is and have him removed from power and see an end to his experiments, despite the fact that Atheriax has made generous contributions to Norkron/Requorn society, his grip must be released from all the industries he has his hands in. In order to expose him however, they need evidence, and Atheriax is smart enough to ferociously cover his tracks in the city, nothing ever gets back to him, he knows not to dabble with the deranged on his own doorstep, so Denzel and Jun leave New Xiondel City, to raid some of his hidden laboratories and deconstruct his findings at one of his most treasured dig sites, a site called, Dolphio. They believe that in Dolphio, they’ll be able to figure out his methods and hopefully find something incriminating in order to turn him over to the X.C.W.D (Xiondel City Watch Department). Denzel’s story compared to the others, seems a bit slow and isolated, this is actually something I would like to get into after Volume Six is released, the flaws, but in short, it’s not as big or explosive as the others to start with, after all Denzel and Jun do not possess anything special such as Glyph (magic) like the Star Callers do, they’re not entrenched in grand aspects of the world building like the Firehands with their tech or Deacon with his lineage to other ages, nor do they share any threads with any legacy characters like Lethaniel and Braygon who fought in The Covenant War – You could argue Denzel and Jun have a tie to Professor Atheriax, but he wasn’t figured out as an antagonist until the very very end of Ep1-Dream, and even then when the timeframe is considered, Denzel was far too young to be at war with Caleb, so I am not sure if that counts, but that being said, Denzel and Jun are on a rather lonesome journey together, they’re not trapsing across anywhere that we haven’t been before in the series either – Krondathia is a wonderful country, inspired by the beautiful English countryside and all it encompasses such as the unpredictable weather patterns depending on the season; If it’s winter for example it’s typically cold and raining, when there is no rain it’s misty and when the mist clears it snows over the woodlands, lakes and meadows both wild and tamed. If it’s summer…Well…It’s often still raining, but occasionally the sun comes out and it’s glorious. But I’ll admit, these scenes were a challenge to write if I am being totally honest, I didn’t have much to work with in terms of environment because you’re already familiar, and I didn’t want to give the reader (you) the impression that I was skipping out on the travelling bits and soul-focusing on the key plot points that move things forward, because geography, the trek is part of it, Equis is a character in that of itself, but that also didn’t mean I could get away with just writing filler until something of interest happens, I had to build, and it was difficult to navigate, because no one wants to waste time reading fluff, so I did the best thing I could in this situation, and that was to build upon the characters strengths, which is of course their intelligence, creating chemistry between them, hinting at sexual tension while exploring the challenge that looms over them – The task of bringing this unstoppable force (Caleb) down, and of course learning the fate of Denzel’s father. Seeing as we’re in spoiler territory, and don’t worry I’m not about to spoil anything with what is to come, but Denzel’s segments may start slow, and perhaps feel a little colder than the others, I assure you that changes, a U-turn does transgress, and when it does, you’re going to realise that all those insignificant innocent details you happily skimmed over, suddenly take on weight, making this storyline a contender for the strongest in Episode Two.            

Telsi has been tasked by Alessa to remain behind in New Xiondel City, while she and the other four Callers go looking for Isolde, to bring her back after finding out why it was she fled in the first place without warning. Alessa’s reasoning is simple, to maintain a religious foothold on their base, to keep the presence of a Star Caller at home where it belongs, among those who need spiritual guidance. This idea was established in Ep1-Dream, briefly, it was uncommon for The Eldor and the Star Caller to be in the same location for long periods of time, they tended to rotate around the country, for they are Krondathia’s guardians her mother and father so to speak, and must govern together accordingly, which in turn means they must spread out, one in the north while one is in the south to put it simply, so their presence is felt everywhere; Because Imrondel City is ruined, destroyed during The Covenant War, New Xiondel was crowned the capital of the country, the last bastion in an unsettled world; So, Alessa made a judgement call, while she, Donna, Amanda, Kina and Kayna are out, Telsi remains to hone her skills, she’s given a chance to build a following and to understand the complexities about leadership, to rule alone without distractions from her fellow sisters. It’s an odd play by Alessa, considering their relationship, and as fiery as it is, this act, I’d say displays a sign of care, a degree of compassion for someone who unlikely would repay it.

Tensions are already high on the streets of Xiondel, political unrest is bubbling, because Isabelle failed to deliver Celestial protection at the height of The Covenant War, and the people’s spirits, their confidence in this faith have been shaken which has turned them to vices, hence the uptick in the use of substances, the rise in crime, the attraction toward Godlessness and other sources from which power or comfort resides, such as putting faith in new technologies or trust in certain men with history and charisma; The idea that a handful will do everything for a populous is a questionable one, and questions are certainly being raised, specifically in Master Eran Othrium’s chapters where some of the main concerns are addressed, who better I figured to handle the rabble than Eran. In fact, I was challenged about this subject not that long ago, about why Godlessness or a societies spirit or lack thereof is a dangerous one. To answer her, I quoted a Russian essayist, historian and novelist/writer, a Soviet dissident who spent his life raising awareness of political repression:- 

“The strength or weakness of a society depends more on the level of its spiritual life than on the level of its industrialisation.”

-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I interpret this quote thusly, no matter how powerful you become, no matter the numbers, the level of technology and infrastructure, a country simply cannot endure let alone survive with broken spirits. Krondathia’s people have suffered, their main army was thwarted in battle against a covenant of forces, led by a ruthless man named Ridian Messiah, someone who always remained one step ahead of the Norkron General and his companions, and was able to mount his unified forces on Krondathian boarders poised for invasion; Had it not been for the valiant efforts of Thao Hikonle and his Honour Guards who held the massive force at bay on Korthak Bridge, had it not been for Catherine and Toula, the cunning Dark Rogues who stole Ridian’s black powder weapons while in transit, and organised an effective ambush, then likely Krondathia would have fallen, and the world from 1512 would look very different. During these desperate times, when it was clear that Lethaniel’s men were not getting the job done, the people turned to Isabelle, to Star Call their holy ultimas known as the Celestials, to swoop in and eradicate those who wished to do them harm. Not only did this not happen, but Isabelle failed to perform the star call and took her own life in the process, jumping to her death – This is why the people’s faith is scarred, this is why faith in old Norkron traditions is weak and why a new idea is surfacing, a new people from among the old has risen, calling themselves Requorns. The difference between Norkron and Requorn is simple, they may be of the same race, but their ideas differ spiritually, Norkrons hold onto older traditions which are born out of the faith, Starillia; While Requorns have chosen to side with man, and his technological powers. It’s the Requorns, Alessa is worried about, by removing all presence of a religious icon from New Xiondel would perhaps give over more ground to the Requorns, and Alessa, a Norkron is concerned about this, she cannot be in two places at once, so she allocates Telsi to remain, and that she does. Telsi is by no means serious about her position and status as a Star Caller, in a way she represents the generation after Isabelle’s, someone who is unable to appreciate her incredible gifts and privilege as one of the seven candidates, having been born into this state, she does not know anything other, and this has made her arrogant, selfish, rude, divorced from reality and drunk with power; I guess this is why I like Telsi, there is a lot to work with, she does start her journey as such saddled with said ‘flaws,’ but by the end you could say she is humbled, and has to re-work her frame, having to step outside her bubble and start to interact with others. In Volume Four, you’ll come to learn that she is building something, something that expands upon the powers of Glyph, a project originally thought up by Miranda Simbidia, one that was scrapped by Isabelle Verano and rekindled by Telsi Clewvier. For sakes of spoilers, I will not reveal the outcome of this study, but what I will say is that you get results that are nearing to a conclusion – Telsi may be a young, arrogant, anxious, irritating, prideful, disrespectful, troublemaker but she is not stupid, she is in fact highly intelligent and in some cases however few, more down to earth than Alessa. Telsi possesses all the traits of all the other Star Callers, her underlying power is recognised by Gaia’s Headmistress, Helga, and for all the shit Telsi has brought upon herself, there are people out there who believe in her, who believe she is worthy to be crowned Chosen from amongst the seven, and that is down to the shade of her irises, they’re purple, and the only other Star Caller let alone person born in Equis with the same iris colour, is Regina Corah, the first Star Caller to ever exist, and that IS important! While reading Telsi’s sections, take care, for within these sections something is transpiring, and that has massive payoff within Episode Two-Rise of The Black Doves, much like with Denzel’s sections I doubt you’ll notice them at first glance, but if you do happen to want to read the book again, you’ll see that it flows.        

Draygo Dumear was last seen making contact with Chloe Augustien on the northeastern border of Tthenadawn Forest. Chloe, also known by some as The Silken Spirit, is his former Dark Rogue partner and on and off again love interest that dates back to when they were in their twenties. Now, at 42 years old and she at 41, both having grown further estranged pursuing their own paths, it is made abundantly clear that even after the distance and sporadic meetings in-between, meetings that can either explode into expressions of fierce passion, or two people clashing over differences in lifestyle and choices, feelings still remain, in both Chloe and in Draygo, a relationship that is not well and truly over but stutters and stalls over every hurdle, whether it’s by priorities, principles or world events; Had the pair not have been thrust into Equis’s upheavals, the chances of love blooming increases, but then you’ve other things to consider, such as Chloe, she both loves and hates what Draygo is, it’s his abilities, his lone-wolf persona, his fearlessness and fiery attitude that she finds desirable, but at the same token it is these things that drives a wedge between them, for he has to keep moving, he cannot sit still and lives for the challenges life will inevitably throw at him, he won’t change, he can’t change for he is a Dark Rogue, it’s all he is good at, to give that side of himself up would kill Chloe’s attraction for him but unless he is prepared to sit still, there is no chance a life together would grow. While Draygo, desires Chloe for her ability to empathise, to heal, to understand certain plights, to be that security to retreat to when he’s scarred up and exhausted, all he wants is her, for things to be as they used to, but with certain complications (I’m not going to spoil it here) that can never be. It’s an interesting combination of pros and cons, there is merit for them to be together, while there is also reason to split, which gives this story an aspect of realism. This is not the focal point of Draygo’s journey, Chloe maybe an important piece but she is not the root of it, and I want to touch on this because I think it is important, plus it is something I’ve not eluded to until now, but feel like I have to, minor spoiler ahead; Draygo might be cocky, anti-authoritarian, a little brash, self-obsessed, and has a questionable moral outlook, but he is good at what he does, he’s a thief, a remarkably cunning warrior of stealth and a brute to those who wish to do him or those he cares about harm, but he is haunted, not because of his broken relationship with Chloe, not because of the nightmarish enemies massing on the doorsteps of allied territories, their strength growing in ungodly almost demonic ways, nor the change in the winds that is effecting every soul in Equis, he’s haunted due to a tragedy, a tragedy that HE caused, as he sort vengeance on a group of lowlifes, a group of men and a woman he hunted down who are a shadow of what Draygo could have become – Had it not been for wise men like Toula, Riagel and Frost, had it not been for graceful and devoted women like Catherine, Scarlet and Chloe, then he may have turned petty and rudderless, instead of someone with purpose. Draygo executed these lowlifes without mercy, but caught in that bloody crossfire however, was a child, a child he didn’t mean to terminate, had he known, he never ever would have let that arrow go, but it happened and will never leave him, so Draygo is not fighting for land or power, he’s not fighting for the prosperity of his Dark Rogues or Krondathia or Chloe, he is fighting to rid himself of his mistake, to make the world a better place for every child that is alive today. Confusing as it maybe that he doesn’t directly join the R.F, he is still selfish at heart and prefers to do things on his own terms. Fighting for this cause keeps him sharp, it makes him stronger, and faster than his opponents, it’s why he is so successful as a Dark Rogue and why he has survived so long, his body is riddled in scars, scars that come with memory. There are other elements at play here of course, for instance he enjoys stealing from those who think they’re better than him and more powerful, he enjoys showing large entities or iconic figures that they’re nothing and he is superior, its ego talking of course but still a trait of his character. In Volume Five, we continue his adventure, he finds Chloe, he updates her on the world outside that of Tthenadawn Forest, and convinces her to take him to where she found the wreckage of an ancient tablet in hopes they can savage the rest, for it was the first half she handed over to Riagel that instigated the raid he organised on the underground structure, a Driad necropolis which is/was called, Arosiphere, what Saphuries and her monarchy call it now is unknown but in time you’ll find out. It’s up to Draygo to discover more about the bastion hidden underneath the plains of Sand, it’s up to him to try and convince Chloe, the Silken Spirit to re-join the battle against the Blood Angel Saphuries and her rising demonic forces, but more importantly, Draygo has to put to rest his own issues, his own feelings between himself and Chloe and be the Redeemer he once was – For what is coming, in the dark days ahead, there is no place for softness, no room for sensitivity and love, only resilience, courage, might and an enduring strength every man, woman and child must find.   

Well guys and gals, that’s as much as I am willing to share for now, if I do not stop myself somewhere then I’ll just keep on going and going. Of course there is so much more I could get into concerning some legacy characters, but I feel like I’ve been overly generous in some areas of this essay however when you consider the size of my books, there is plenty to get lost in, I just hope this article will get you started, and act as a fresh reminder as to where we left things in Volume Four, it has after all been a little over a year since its release, feels like yesterday but that is the way time as an adult passes; Speaking of, I had Volume Five finished and ready to go quite some time ago, it was set for an early February release to mirror its procuring title, but it was around that time when my original Graphic Designer, Mr Mathew Bevan had to unfortunately take a step back, to attend to family issues, no hard feelings, these things sometimes happen, but alas, I had to look elsewhere for someone with the right expertise, someone who had the correct software, software that I do not possess and some time to put aside to assist. So, big thank you to Mr Oliver Richards (again), who stepped in when I was unable to find someone who understood what I was after, someone who wasn’t prepared to charge me extraordinary amounts for a relatively simple job, and who is genuinely a nice chap with a book of his own in the works, one which I am looking forward to reading when it’s completed. Thank you to my editor, Miss Joyce Bou Charaa, who worked like an absolute trooper throughout this process, you are a Godsend, best of luck with your own writing endeavours and with Volume Six; It’s significantly shorter than Volume Five but holy hell are the last ten chapters of Ep2-Rise something else with a seriously intense set of ending events! Joyce and I are working hard to bring out Volume Six this year, we are aiming for a mid to late summer release, if everything goes according to plan then the wait shouldn’t be a long one, and then you’ll have to endure me talking about Episode Three-Seeds of War for the next year or two, I am still struggling with it might I add, ironically I thought this would be a smooth writing phase, but to the contrary, it’s turning out difficult. Anyway, thanks for reading folks, I do hope you enjoy Volume Five, the second third of the second instalment to The Ancestral Odyssey series, you can pick it up from the usual places such as Amazon (link below) and Waterstones/Blackwells, you may have to ask for it within the first few weeks, retailers have a lot on their hands right now so they may need a gentle nudge, but in time it will be easily found, and I want to thank each and every one of you who pick it up personally. It has taken a long while to get here, it’s been exceptionally hard at times, but perseverance is the key to success, and I don’t ever give up, despite what people say about me and my approach. I am very happy with the results and thankful for everyone who has helped in the process, who supports me and reads my stuff. I know there is plenty going on in the world right now, so many concerns, tragedies, and distractions, which makes your gaze ever more special. If you’re a reader and you happen to pick up a copy, whether it’s of The Utopian Dream or Rise of The Black Doves in stores or downloaded, thank you ever so much, and please do me an absolute solid and drop a review, good or bad I’d love your feedback; Share some of my links or mention it to a friend or family member, that would be amazing and will help widen my reach…I was going to wrap-up there, but quite literally just a minute ago, Ashely McKenzie, my concept artist just sent me through a digital painting, one that will be going with the next piece of music in the next video – And it looks fucking stunning, the lighting is beautiful, the colours are rich and everything is proportionate. I’ll be sure to update you on the progress of this concept/music video called, The Thief’s Priestess in one of the next articles, this will almost certainly be the next project I will undertake, one I am looking forward to, but all in good time. Have a good morning, noon, or night, wherever you are, whoever you are, take care of you and yours, and I’ll see you in the next one. PEACE!          

E-mail – taotome@outlook.com   

X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque  

Official Website – www.taotequevault.com

Donation Page – http://www.taotequevault.com/support  

YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ

Bitchute – www.bitchute.com/channel/x9K5vwi2SsNu/  

Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6    

Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6

D.W.Gill

2024: Taoteque Services

For those of you who were referred here from the ‘Products’ section on my website, and are interested in learning more about what I can offer you, please go ahead and skip the next few bodies of text to where it says, ‘My Services’ underlined in bold; I understand that you’re probably searching for guidance and want to know as soon as possible if I am a worthy asset to employ, by no means do I want to waste your time so I’ve taken this into account early – Thank you for reading and I hope you consider hiring me in the future. If not, I wish you and your project the very best.

Hey folks, so this plan has been formulating for quite some time, about three years give or take now that I really think about it, but it didn’t take off for a number of reasons, reasons I will get around to discussing shortly, but recently I decided to bite the bullet and make a move. This decision came while I was applying for a new job, yes, it’s that time of year again; I swear, this is a common trend for me, I settle into a job, chug along as best I can and when the time comes, when my brain starts to stall and eventually yell at me, I bug out and find something else to do, which has resulted in a rather broad (dare I say impressive?) CV, one that I have kept strictly to but a single page – I could quite easily extend it and stretch it into two perhaps even three pages, what with the number of jobs I’ve undertaken ever since I joined the workforce, back when I was thirteen, this is achievable, but that isn’t advised when it comes to selling yourself as a worker. Anyway, I took a break from job hunting and got to work on this side-project, which is putting myself out there as an editor and a creative consultant. You see, during the 2020 lockdowns I didn’t just sit around, play games and watch the TV for a year, well, I did for a little bit, I am only human, but I remember waking up on that first day of not having to march into work, I remember thinking ‘This is gifted time, I need to make use of this, you gotta do something Gill!’ so that’s exactly what I did, I kept writing Ep2-Rise which was still in its early stages at that point, but I also pulled Ep1-Dream off of the shelves and did lengthy re-edit, line by line, page by page, which was a mighty task considering the instalment is well over 500,000 words, and I accomplished this in about 2 months, a weight that had been dragging me down for ages and certainly was lifted when I re-published admits giving advice to people with similar interests; People who were struggling constructing a plot, struggling with establishing characters, people who were unsure which publishing route was best for them regarding the traditional to independent, and while I was building a studio – A sound studio to start work on an audiobook which unfortunately did not land. I have talked about this in articles prior, but to summarise as quickly as possible, it boiled down to bad timing, unfamiliarity with the software I wanted to use and being overly ambitious; I didn’t just want to record audio and make a regular audiobook, I wanted to present this like an event and include musical ambiance and poignant sound effects when necessary, to really push forward an immersive experience you would not forget. I failed to achieve this milestone, it is something I am ashamed of, I will pick it up in the future, but only when I acquire the funding, and this leads me into this new 2024 plan, I need to do something, and this is what I will do. Not only will I hammer home a higher paying job, but I’ll also be lending my hand in what I am actually gifted at in the time I have off, and that’s engaging my writing skills and creative nature.

Ep2-Rise of the Black Doves – Volume Five, is 25 Chapters long. Currently, 14 Chapters of this Volume have been successfully edited by myself and Joyce, leaving 11 left to go. We are working diligently, hoping for an early 2024 launch, Volume Four as matter of fact was made available on February 13^th 2023, if the new content can be at least almost ready by then, I’ll be a very happy squirrel (ugh I mean human), but alas, we have to work steadily and not rush things, because if you rush the more likely it is that mistakes will be made and in the long run this does nothing but hurt your product and damages everyone involved, me most of all because I am after all the team leader and has to/will take all of the responsibility. So, Joyce and I are being consistently consistent with how we approach this, and I am confident that together we will deliver something we both can be proud of. Speaking of, I had a chat with her a few days ago discussing the latest chapter, called, Forward into the Breach and honestly, she was pretty stunned with what events took place, she had not been expecting what was coming nor ever thought an author could do such a thing to that many characters in such a short space of time, taking into account how long it took to build them into likeable people, and this is a good sign as the author of this series – If my editor is left wide-eyed and lost for words, wonderful readers such as yourself will hopefully garner a similar reaction. Volume Five is without doubt intense, where Volume Four of Rise was a re-introduction to Equis and this series as a whole, Volume Five kicks things into a higher gear, like with Episode One-The Utopian Dream – Volume One was an introduction, an introduction to the characters, the world, it’s history and what this story is setting up to be; It wasn’t until Volume Two when you met the villains, when the intensity sparked, when you came to realise the stakes and witnessed the irreversible things that started to happen. Ep2-Rise adopts a somewhat similar approach despite my intentions, it is of course different, and you’ll see why when/if you read it, but upon taking a step back, it has panned out to be something similar. It has its differences, absolutely, but I would be a fool not to acknowledge the reflections, you must be honest and critical not only with other people but with yourself otherwise you’ll be feeding a lie.

While working with Joyce however, I did ask her about how she got into editing, what steps she made to get to where she was and how she marketed/presented herself to the public; She sent me several, long voice notes which essentially acted as a sort of guide and fortunately to my surprise, I had done a lot of the work to get to where I wanted to be today. I had the appropriate means to advertise myself for example, I was familiar with how to use social media, in my case X because there is no way I am getting on Tik Tok or Instagram, for some reason they just feel sticky to me, not sure why, Tik Tok more than Instagram. More importantly, I’ve done the work necessary that establishes someone worthy of service, the path so to speak that you must grind through to prove, not only to yourself, but to others as a professional is key to hooking potential clients. Simply put, I’ve not just decided one day that this is something I wanted to do for a quick payout, it all happened naturally over a long period of time, I had to overcome my own insecurity and self-doubt to make that leap and that took many long conversations backed up with the evidence spanning over almost two decades of work. This IS something I’ve a passion for, something I’ve worked at, failed at, struggled with, succeeded at, persevered with and have been practising long enough (well over 10,000 hours) to confidently say, I can do this – And I have done it. I am advertising as an editor right now directly from my site, someone who specialises in fiction, more specifically with fantasy (obviously), epic fantasy and am willing to look at sci-fi and horror. Not only will I make an edit of your work, but I’ve also a feature being built that creatives might find helpful, which brings me to what I am offering.

My Services

Every project is different, and no plan is the same, so I apologise if I cannot be more specific about those important details such as timescale, and price, I’ll need to discuss this with you personally via email and later (if you’re comfortable) by phone or on WhatsApp; WhatsApp is preferred, its easy, it’s efficient and I can reply to everyone I need to reply to in one five minute sitting, it’s such a handy tool to have, it also has the voice recording feature which is basically like a phone conversation and gives a more professional touch than mere text, but nevertheless, it has to start by you accessing the taotequevault website, clicking the Products tab and dropping me an email titled appropriately to what you would like.    

Editorial Service (Currently Available) – My specialty is traditional fantasy and epic fantasy but will certainly consider editing science fiction and horror. I will edit your manuscript from cover to cover, I will edit blogs, articles, essays, personal statements, letters, business e-mails and will assist you with your synopsis. As stated earlier, all projects are different, so you will need to send me an email which describes your situation, please keep it as brief as possible and I will be in touch to discuss things further. From there we can establish a timeframe, we can talk price, decide how you’d like to be contacted and iron out any other implications. This I can do.

Creative Consultation (Not Currently Available) – If you would like a one-to-one talk for 30 minutes about what it is you want to achieve, if you would like to talk to me about character development, plot, structure, the hero’s journey, the path of the villain, whether you’d like to discuss a traditional publishing route or an independent one, I believe I can be of service. If you have any questions about the writing industry, marketing or if you just need some encouragement, I can certainly help. All you need do is click on the Consultation Box found at the bottom of the Products page, enter your name, book a date, select a time, write me a brief note about the topic so I can research your query and I will do my utmost to assist you in any way I can. All links are below for your convenience.

Thank you so much for reading guys and gals, as always, I greatly appreciate your time. I know I said that the last article would be my last post for 2023, but I’ve been speaking to my web-designer who is right now building the layout for the consultation service, he’s such a cool guy, and I figured that there is no time like the present to get things moving, I can after all get to work on projects as and when they come my way. It is exciting to get started, it is a little daunting, but I do feel like I am capable of offering a pretty good service with the experience I’ve accumulated over the years. Having worked alongside so many others in years prior, more so it is fair to say than the average author/editor, I do feel confident I can meet many peoples needs in this industry and make a little more money doing it. Side note before I sign off, thank you to everyone who has been visiting my YouTube/Bitchute channels – The last video I put out has nearly hit 300 views more so if you add it with Bitchute, that’s incredible, thank you whoever you are ever so much, it means a lot and I hope you like the next few videos which are being discussed. The website is being updated, I am hoping in a few days everything will be up and running, I will also be continuing the editorial of Ep2-Rise with Joyce, it’s very exciting as we draw closer to the end of this Volume, there is so much coming I cannot wait till you get the chance to read it, and I’ll be sure to keep Ashley updated with videos and poster projects. Right, I think that’s about it, I’m going to get back to job hunting, it’s time for an occupational change just in time for the New Year. It’s a bit early but Merry Christmas to you all, do have yourselves a good one, travel safe if you’re taking a long drive and I hope you re-visit this page and my site in the future, take care. PEACE!       

E-mail – taotome@outlook.com   

X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque  

Official Website – www.taotequevault.com

Donation Page – http://www.taotequevault.com/support  

YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ

Bitchute – www.bitchute.com/channel/x9K5vwi2SsNu/  

Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6    

Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6

Joyce Literary Editor – https://joyeditingservices.my.canva.site/joyediting

A Path Sewn By Fate –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3MgNYB8gss

D.W.Gill

The Silken Spirit and A.I Constructs

A few days ago I was in work, tapping away at my desk as per usual listening to a bit of Morcheeba (Trigger Hippie, great song) ticking off my list of jobs, looking forward to my break which was in fifteen minutes or so, but then my phone buzzed, it was a friend of mine; He didn’t begin with ‘Hello young man,’ or ‘You alive?’ or ‘How are things, you good?’ like he usually does, instead he opened with a question, and that question was: –

‘Do you have a description of one of your characters?’

He’s always been a supporter of my work, whenever we get together for a drink or ten, he always asks about it, and a wholesome conversation typically follows, but never has he reached out so directly before, which honestly rose a little suspicion in me. I replied, quite innocently with: –

‘Dude, I’m up to my perfect ass in character descriptions.’

‘Send a description over, there’s a good lad.’

I wasn’t replying in that way just to be comical; I actually am sinking in character descriptions at the moment. When I want one drawn for example, I send the artist a brief, and the brief is broken up into three parts – First comes the overview, the biography of that character, a list of things starting with the obvious, their name, his or her origin, age, race, occupation, height, weight and so on. Then comes a paragraph of their place in the world and within the story. I share their motivations, their history, their fears, their strengths, weaknesses, and hint at their journey’s arc. It’s all written from a third person perspective but the idea is to give the artist more than just a cold list; Sometimes character artists need a little more than the obvious, sometimes they need to enter the headspace of said character to nail facial features, stature or pose, the more someone has to work with the better the sketch is usually, plus this opens the door for them to add a personal touch. As I keep saying, the people I hire are creative too, and instead of dictating to them at every step of the way, I encourage them to embrace their own artistic flares and take a risk with what they see in my ideas. This is important. Finally, the third part is the key notes; The key notes are descriptions that HAVE to be included or acknowledged in the drawing, for example, if the character has curly hair and green eyes, if he or she uses a particular weapon or is adorned with a scar, these things must be considered and cannot be altered in anyway, they’re hard rules so to speak and not things up for debate. Occasionally, the artist will require some reference images or sketches from myself to assist them, all my characters are unique, but some are more so than others, and giving the artist something more to get them on the same page as I am, is necessary. Once he or she has everything they need, they’re good to go, they’re instructed to message me at any time if they need anything more and they’ll get back to me in a few weeks’ time, with a first draft, followed with a second and third; Typically, we’re on our way to completion after the second interaction but there have been instances when we go into the fourth and fifth draft. Once the drawing is completed, they send over the completed file, I send over their payment, we shake hands, and we get on with our merry day. The work, when published is credited by both myself and the artist, and often features in an article such as this, and that’s it, that’s the process behind character concepts. It’s no great secret or mystery as to how this all comes together, it’s just a simple matter of relaying your vision to someone who is visiting your world equipped with different skill sets, and I try to employ the same methodology and principles when working with outsiders, whether they be character artists, landscape artists or musicians, the goal is to give them something to work with, something which coherently translates and can be adapted accordingly, as close to the books as possible. So, to continue with the story, I sent over a slightly edited version of one of my character briefs to my friend, I sent him the description of Chloe Augustien aka The Silken Spirit, and within two minutes, he messages back with not one, but several concepts of a fully rendered, fully realised, beautifully interpretation of Chloe. It’s hard to convey how I felt in that moment, on the one hand I was astonished, enthralled, and overjoyed at the concept of not having to pay for art anymore, to get not one but several incredible interpretations of characters who have been floating around in my head for an enormous amount of time. Where normally it would take weeks sometimes even months to receive one drawing, now I could get many in a matter of moments, tweaked to the highest degree and depicted in whatever setting my imagination would allow. Fucking marvellous! However, what I have learned in all my years doing this and as a human bumping around on planet Earth, is that everything comes at a cost whether it be in the short or long term, there is no free lunch, nothing is too good to be true and cutting corners negates the grind necessary to become something of a success, whether it’s in the public eye or from within yourself. I hate to quote Star Wars considering what it has become over the years (a diabolical unforgivable sloppy mess, a disaster that stains the film industry), but the original trilogy, Empire Strikes Back specifically, relays this lesson perfectly; Rushing, and taking the quick and easy routes might pay off in the short term, but often ends in chaos. It’s actually the practise of patience, hardships and setbacks that exist in the journey that really make you what you are. This is what I would like to talk about today, not only the grind but what has only been perceived and speculated upon in regards to A.I is now fucking here, the technology to create whatever I want is literally at my fingertips; What this means for not only myself, but for creatives and the industry moving forward from now on, is worth a mature analysis, and I’ll do my best to articulate how I’ll be conducting myself in the future. But first, I’d like to talk about the most recent character sketch of Chloe Augustien, someone who was mentioned I believe only once in Episode One-The Utopian Dream but is fully introduced in the first third of Episode Two-Rise of The Black Doves and comes into her own in Volume Five. This is article 100 called, The Silken Spirit and A.I Constructs, do grab yourselves a drink and let’s get started. Hope you enjoy.

Chloe Augustien is an interesting and important character in The Ancestral Odyssey series, it might not appear that way to start with, but overtime she finds herself thrust into the wars between the mortal and the immortal worlds. She not only represents someone who struggles to find her own place in Equis, something that I think we all can relate to, but she becomes the centre piece after having gone on that lonesome journey of self-discovery, becoming a figure of extreme importance between multiple factions that bicker over her fate. The irony here is that she starts as a nobody, a petty thief with a tragic past who associates with thieves, The Dark Rogues, who embellish independence and freedom; She breaks away from said guild when they begin to form certain alliances, when they begin to loosen those wild and free ideas that attracted her to them (Draygo specifically) in the first place, they becoming an army in that of themselves, something to be commanded and moved about at a moment’s notice. Chloe abandons them, to live a life where she can feel in control and pursue her own purposes as once promised by Catherine Quistel (leader of The Dark Rogues), but before long she’s dragged back into these old feuds that she sort to escape from, where not only her destiny is bickered upon by almost every faction in the human world, but is realised in the demonic landscape also; Chloe going from just another girl, to a highly significant piece on the board of war where everyone wants her dead or alive. Initially, I thought this story would suit Draygo Dumear’s character arc, Chloe’s Dark Rogue partner in espionage (or I should really say ex-partner), but as the story began to unfold, taking on a mind of its own as it always does, Draygo’s path became one of redemption, he is after all nicknamed The Redeemer. Throughout the series, in Ep2-Rise, he redeems his competence in the eyes of Riagel, in Ep3-Seeds he is on the path to redeeming his allegiance in the eyes of Catherine, but redeeming himself in the eyes of Chloe Augustien, is something I consider to be his ultimate redemption arc, one that may require him to make a difficult choice. I’ve already mapped out the story between Draygo and Chloe, and it’s to me one of the strongest journeys in the series, not only is it realistic in the ways of human relationships, but it speaks to people about the importance of friendship and loyalty. The map/guideline branches off toward the end, it can go one of two ways in this moment, but this is a brilliant problem to have, a writer’s dream so to speak, because whichever way I decide to take this story come the time, I believe readers will be left satisfied. To learn more about Draygo Dumear and The Dark Rogues as a whole, I did write an article in December of 2020, it’s number 62 called, Weapons of Redemption. It’s a great read and covers plenty of the groundwork for The Dark Rogue story, but I must warn you, when I re-read it in preparation of this article, a few facts have been altered to fit a more compelling narrative. This is a common problem with us pesky writers, we’re always evolving, what ideas we had six months ago might not be the same when you fast forward, likely they would have grown into something stronger, into something that makes more sense or have been dropped entirely, it happens.

Interestingly, when I think back to the development of Chloe, a development that stretches back well over a decade now, originally she was going to be one of the myths of Equis, something that the humans call, The Forest Stalker; She was in the beginning going to be a hulking, humanoid, male hunter similar to that of the famous Predator creature, that appeared in the 1988 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, a being that hunts other apex predators down for sport or (given a slight fantastical twist) those foolish enough to tread on his hallowed ground. The Forest Stalker was to be a champion of a once sophisticated tribal race, one that valued honourable killings, glory in the battle and the right to mate with alpha females. The forests of Equis which were much larger in the ancient times, were not only where this species cultivated their ritualistic societies, societies that worked in harmony with the ecosystems, but they acted as their arena as well, each tribe having carved out its own unique territory along the forest’s boarder, while the giant fenced off centre was where the battles and competitions would take place between the mightiest of warriors – Organised tribal warfare was a term I used when summarising their law of the land. The concept was that over time, the greatest male warriors would rise victorious over other males in the arena, and in turn would earn their right to pass on their genes with the strongest and most beautiful of females from the tribe (or tribes) they just defeated, and through an orchestrated yet natural selection process, over time only the strongest would survive and be able to breed. The tribes would eventually merge into one, and the gene pool would be at its most powerful. This is a very loose idea I must admit, and it clearly wasn’t something I continued with for obvious reasons, for one it’s far too close to that of the Predator lore, and second it just jarred with me for reasons I cannot put my finger on; Whether this idea has just been played out far too often or because I massively prefer the Alien (Xenomorph) over the Predator, I don’t know, but I dropped The Forest Stalker almost completely and at one point, I never thought I’d come back to its broken remains, but I did many years later, and what was left, what was salvaged from amongst the wreckage, were the best parts of the initial idea; A hunter that resided in the depths of the forest, something camouflaged that lived in harmony with its environment and something that appeared ethereal in nature, beautiful when you caught a glimpse from a distance but deadly when up close and personal, hence The Silken Spirit was born, and it sewed itself so eloquently onto the character of Chloe Augustien, it was too delicious to ignore. The seed as it were had ripened into fruit – I left the honour killings on the floor and replaced it with a poacher who poaches poachers after having given them fair warning, and I dropped the survival of the fittest regime with something far more relatable and innate, something that resides from within all of us, especially women. Once I had a base for the character, someone who desires freedom and independence over a constant career, someone who much like Draygo takes issue with authority, favours darkness over light, adheres to dishonour over honour, tactfully selects the stealth option over outright brawling and employs ingenuity over outright power, once all of this had been established I could really roll-up my sleeves and go to work, giving life to her characters personality and aesthetic, one who embraces the traits of something that could be mistaken for a phantasm, a phantasm stemming from the fact that demons are after her, yet still she cloaks herself in a malevolent persona. Chloe is awesome, she’s resourceful, intelligent, observant, brave, logical, warm with those she trusts, deadly to those who cross her and knowledgeable about her forest environment. Unfortunately, she sometimes fails to appreciate and respect dangers, often feeling like she can survive alone and live a life consequence free, despite her lawlessness actions however justified they appear to be in her world, a world fortified with a Dark Rogue mindset, she does have an ego and a tendency to go too far. Chloe’s greatest hindrance comes from an incident rooted in her past, she suffers mentally from a trauma no one should bear, and due to tragedy, one that beset her in her youth, she was forced to cultivate a mentality that helps serve as a blockade even to the strongest of telepathic demons, who are unable to enter the space in her consciousness – This blockade, does not only serve as neuron camouflage that keeps demonic forces at bay, but it’s so strong she sometimes forgets her empathy, and needs reminding from time to time that she is after all a deeply caring, loving person. Equis has a way of exploiting the goodness in people and warping it into questionable acts that mirror a sinister nature. Conveying this wonderfully complex character to my artist, Evelyn, was a challenge, but one I feel was successfully achieved, and I started by describing one of Chloe’s defining features, her Silk Spinners.

The Silk Spinners are essentially complicated devices that attach to the forearms of the wearer, they’re metallic casings that ride up to the elbow, but it is what they hold and contain that is important. On the right, this device has the ability to fire projectiles attached to a line of silk or otherwise depending on the situation. It fires something similar to that of crossbow bolts and can do so at devastating speeds, speeds that can punch through armour at short distance and break chainmail at medium distances. Those fired attached to a line of silk, however, can be retracted, acting as a sort of arm extension and retriever; It’s important to note that because of the rights dual design crafted for offence, it can only hold two cylinders of silk. The left spinner’s sole purpose is a propelled grappling hook, it harnesses a variation of grappling heads depending on the user’s location, and can hold up to four cylinders of silk – This mechanism has a longer range than the spinner on the right, but combined, when the wearer has both equipped, these Silk Spinners of a unique design, when used with as much professionalism as Chloe is capable of, can run rings around units of hardened soldiers and even the most experienced of fighters. The source of this equipment is of course the silk that is fed and retracted through the device’s mechanics, for it is special silk that is not on the market or in trade with lone dealers, nor can it be simply harvested in nature without the secret knowledge to its ingredient – And those secrets only Chloe Augustien is privileged to after many years of trial and error. The secret comes from a particular forest spider called, the Burrow Spider, famous for its large size, its broad diet that consists of both insects and rodents and its creation of impeccably strong web, so strong that it can even trap and entangle some birds. Chloe knows this and went to work, she adopted a Burrow Spider and named it after a good friend of hers, someone she no longer is in contact with due to her decisions to make her feel less lonely – Burrow Spiders might be extremely poisonous but they have never been known to attack humans or be aggressive unless severely provoked, in fact they make incredible roommates and ward off intruders that seek to disrupt the equilibrium in the space; This is where they get their name from, once they burrow in they are burrowed for life mother fucker, becoming faithful companions. Unfortunately, this positive message is lost in translation, drowned out by the stories of their impressive size (as large or larger than a dinner plate), their monstrous appearance and the highly poisonous toxin stored in their venom sacks. Chloe, utilises the spider’s ability to make strong web, she feeds her eight-legged friend a diet of carefully selected moths and rare insects that not only keeps spider happy, healthy and loyal, but increases production and the overall resilience of the silk, which when weaved intricately together by an experienced seamstress that Chloe’s mother was, who passed on her knowledge to Chloe when she was a child, one can create a material as sharp as wire, and as strong as a metal chain – This is what Chloe threads through her spinners, this is the root power of her alias, the Silken Spirit, a Forest Guardian, a shadowed protector, who like the Burrow Spider, maintains the equilibrium to Equis’s largest forest. One way in which she enforces this equilibrium, is by poaching poachers, those who wield someone else’s technology to dominate the wildlife in their own habitat; Chloe, ironically uses a superior technology, one created by both man and nature and turns it on those who abuse harmony, are self-serving and care for nothing but profit through cruel exploitation. Chloe/The Silken Spirit does not only hunt the hunters, but sometimes lures poachers into the domains of the apex predators and lets nature take its course. Chloe has been accused of being cold, with a heart made of stone, she’s learned to shrug these accusations off, however, coming from specific people, wake-up calls can cause her to slow down and warm to the side which comes most natural to her, someone loving, someone kind, thoughtful and fiercely compassionate.

There is more to Chloe’s character and her journey throughout this series, she really goes on a wild ride, bouncing from one location to the next, encountering all sorts of characters and creatures, re-equating herself with former friends and partners, growing not only in herself but adapting her armour and gear as she travels, a trait the Dark Rogues embrace. I’ve a very vivid vision with how her story is resolved and honestly, it brings a tear to my eye when I think about it, I really do feel like I explore this character thoroughly, there is plenty to work with and a fair portion that allows me to touch upon some sensitive issues, that speak to the human experience, not only in this fictional world, but in ours also. I’ve been rather selective with what I’ve chosen to share here today, because for those of you reading this, coming at this Odyssey with a fresh outlook and might want to indulge, I don’t want to spoil it. I hope you liked my description of Chloe Augustien, also known as The Silken Spirit. To see her first rendition, the concept is found in the Gallery on my website and is among the most recent posts on my X / Twitter page. Please check it out if you’ve a spare few minutes, I would love to hear what you think, it would mean a lot, not just to me but to the artist, Evelyn, who is now working on Mumbi Kahina, who also goes by the name of, Lady Nightshade. You can expect an article written up about her and her role in this Ancestral Odyssey soon, she really is a wicked character who makes her first appearance in the first third of Episode Two, I’m looking forward to that. This is where I would usually sign off on the article, I’ve covered Chloe rather extensively, set up for future projects and essentially brought you up to date, but as you’re aware this segment has an addition, something that NEEDS covering for it is important, it changes the creative space and industry, and once again, as if the squeeze to be productive wasn’t already tight enough, it just got a little bit tighter (how great). This is something that has always been lingering on the horizon, something that has always been in the back of my mind, but now it’s here, I’ve quite literally access to the app on my phone, a piece of software capable of rendering any image I’ve ever wanted, say hello to A.I Generated Art everybody…fuck!   

I feel like the best place to start is with the positives, because there are some to highlight; Bear in mind that I’ve only had access to this software for a few days and I’ve only had a play for an hour or two a day, just to see what I can come up with, but the first thing I noted was the user friendly nature of the software – There is a hiccup in this positive footnote but generally, it is so easy to use, for people who have grown up with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign and for those who have not, you won’t struggle. All you do is you need to input a description of the character, the scene, structure, or environment, you hit process and within a short load, you’ll be met with an array of interpretations from said description. You can proceed to use filters, insert settings, you can even add additional content to overlay what you already have and the program will run it all through, almost instantaneously, it’s so easy, it’s so efficient and in moments you have produced a series of images/concepts that would otherwise take weeks perhaps months to finalise if it had been left to a lone human being. It is pretty extraordinary, especially for someone like me who has fallen into a steady routine, a routine that I described earlier, one that is timely and costly, but thanks to this new software I can save insane amounts of time and huge amounts of money…Don’t worry, we’ll get there, but on the surface, this is a fucking game changer. The hiccup, I suppose will not affect the casual artist/creative, I am sure the A.I software will be able to meet their demands and more-so, going above and beyond each and every time, however, I personally did hit several snags along the way – I experimented with some of my already established catalogued designs, inputting the software with the descriptions I sent Will Towns and Evelyn, and oddly enough I got some very varied results. Zoe Nebrie for example, a relatively simple design, a twenty-eight year old girl from Krondathia who has brown hair, green eyes, white skin, is of average lady height, has a multitude of jobs due to her financial situation, and is often spotted by other protagonists, running from place to place, this running in turn has strengthened her legs, legs which are naturally long. Zoe also has a silver finger strapped to her hand, which raises (I hope) some intrigue into here circumstances. To learn more about Zoe Nebrie, I recently wrote an entire article on her, article number 98 called, The Girl You’d Want To Marry, it was fun to write and seeing as we’re here, I have re-read that article recently and ironed out all of those (admittedly hilarious) typos, it happens guys please don’t hate me. Zoe’s more important than you might realise, it’s all covered in that article, I do hope you check it out. With that said, her description was not captured very well by the A,I, certain parts were mirrored beautifully, such as her hair and general physique, but her outfit and soul behind the eyes was somewhat lacking, plus her clothing didn’t seem to fit well with her character. But it wasn’t until I introduced the A.I to our Silken Spirt, where things got really interesting.

Like the experiment I ran with Zoe Nebrie, I input Chloe Augustien’s description in the exact same way, a paragraph which matched Zoe’s in length, and I would say was the same level of detail, the only thing I left out was the intricacy of the Silk Spinners; Eager to see the results, I hit the process button and well, see for yourself. The images that you’ve likely seen at the top of this article, the images on the left, is what the A.I made of Chloe’s face, and it’s beautiful. The only thing I would have added was a little more wear in her face, she is after all almost 42 years old, she’s led a hard life and has spent the last few years living in the depths of one of Equis’s most dangerous forests. With all of this considered, it is not unreasonable to think she’d have been touched by a little age at this point, but for the most part, this image matches Chloe, however, the moment I added her Silk Spinners into the equation, the A.I did something insane, and again, if you’ve seen this blogs title image which can only be viewed by going through this blog directly or on my X, you’ll see exactly what I mean – The A.I reflecting and contorting Chloe into a faceless, angelic demon, using her original concept and warping her entire physique into a technologically advanced deity, the software unable to properly marry her spinners with the woman, her arms coming straight out of a dystopian, cyberpunk hellscape, eerily revealing to me one of the story branches I have in mind, one that’s potentially in store for Chloe’s character arc later on down the line.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding A.I at the moment, and if you’re reading this, if you’ve got this far, then it is very likely you’re a creative too and are aware of the problems orbiting the subject. I’ve covered some of these problems in past articles, one of which was my largest essay I’ve ever written, called, The Exploration of Soma, and I’ve verbally talked about it in a documentary, one that I made a few years ago about the making of Episode Two-Rise of the Black Doves. As it stands now, in 2023, I am all in favour of A.I being used as a tool to write news articles, I doubt it can write stories authentic to the human experience, but that is another subject for another time; To my understanding, it should be able to decipher what is true and untrue, it can do years and years’ worth of research in seconds while maintaining a non-bias framework, writing up error free informative articles in a short space of time, and that I believe is important, especially in today’s world where no-one trusts the mainstream news (for good reason) anymore, where everyone decides for themselves what is fact from fiction and is unwilling to admit when they’re wrong, and I say this (obviously) from a human perspective. Everyone, including myself is prey to this, we need (dare I say) an authorial voice on the truth while taking into consideration context on a case by case basis; From a certain philosophical perspective, in this Godless era we’ve entered, we need a “God” to dictate to us truth, and because A.I, the singularity has been dubbed by many in most if not all scientific communities to be God once it’s set free, maybe just maybe, this is the solution to many of our problems we’re facing today, the problem of fake news, psychotic conspiracies and miscommunication. When it comes to A.I creating art, we must understand that the A.I is not coming up with anything from scratch, from the description you input it hunts down anything relevant to the details, mashes it together and blends it beautifully with software that humans painstakingly put together for decades upon decades, and the sad reality is that these artists whose work the A.I has pulled from, are not receiving royalties, when I think they absolutely should. It gets scarier when I analyse my own creative process, for I nor anyone else on Earth can come up with anything 100% original; What I do, and I have described this far deeper in essays prior to this one, is that I cherry pick from the things I love and am inspired by, I mix it all up with a dash of my own unique experiences (I call this my Duncanisms) and translate it in a way that is best understood, going off of what my skill level as a writer will allow – That’s how I work in a nutshell, not everyone can do it, understand it or has the discipline to knuckle down and work at it, it does come from within, the real originality comes from inside and you’ve seen the results if you follow me. Does it appeal to everyone, no, can it be improved, yes, is it something to be proud of, does it tell a good story and merits the chance for fruition, yes! But the fact of the matter is that A.I does exactly what I do arguably faster and better, but without the necessary grind and the ingredient of …fuck’s sake… The ingredient of the individual’s soul!   

I understand I’ve opened up a can of worms toward the end of this segment, I am aware it is a hot topic right now and can stir up a lot of emotion, but in truth is that if we give over our creativity to A.I, we are giving over a piece of ourselves that is innate in us and makes us into what we are, to surrender this so candidly, to so easily rely on a machine to do the work for us, comes at a cost, a cost I cannot equate nor fathom right now, for a world without artists from every spectrum, is a world I do not want to be part of, not now and not ever. Instead of arguing with one another, instead of cutting corners with A.I, I say we approach it maturely, I say we embrace the new technology simply as a helpful tool, something that can inspire, perhaps aspire and something we can have fun with, while leaving the real work in the hands of those who have a passion for creativity, where it truly belongs, in us. We must continue to encourage and cultivate artists, show them that they’re not replaceable, that they’re needed more than anything – Sure, the outcomes might not always be perfect, humans do make mistakes, sure it might cost entrepreneurial types money and time we do not have an abundance of, but you know what, speaking from a place where I could really REALLY fucking benefit from the use of this advanced software, I’d rather grind, I’ll take the long way around, because there is a beauty (however frustrating) to be found in the journey, for once you achieve your goal, once you arrive at your desired destination, all you have to look back on is the road behind you, it’s something to value, something to reflect on, to study all the lessons learned along the way and in turn grow from, as an individual and as someone whose acquired talent. Instead of being seduced by a bypass so hack-handily with the downloading of an app, instead of taking the easy route succumbing to something that this modern era has artificially created, instant gratification! You remove the hardship which is integral to build yourself. So, I’ll repeat, approach this new technology with cautious curiosity, adopt the attitude that this is merely a tool and NOT an indication of skill level, for not everyone is creative, not everyone can write a book, take a picture, compose music or shoot a film, true we all can think and imagine wild things and dabble with the technology, but just because you use A.I to reveal your thoughts does not mean you’re in anyway a creative or someone built for this life, because if you think this way you’re faking, you’re gravely mistaken and your inevitable fall will come hard and swift revealing you for what you really are, someone who tried to cut corners and that is not admirable – What IS admirable is the all go no quite mind-set, people who are dedicated and passionate about their chosen craft. It has taken me two decades to be able to confidently say that I can write on an effective level, most people can put words together but this does NOT make them writers, in the same way most people can cook, sing a tune or make shorts on their mobile phones, this does not merit them the title of professional or in any way give them clout in the industry, talented perhaps, but you have to fucking earn it! You have to do the work there is no other way! As I said, it has taken me years of practise to write effectively, years of trial and error, years of failure with little to any success, but over time, through the grind that’s fuelled with passion, eventually you begin to look at sentences differently, your vocabulary broadens, you employ stronger more potent words to describe or detail whatever it is you’re engaged with and you get better – I kick myself for not having learned these necessary lessons sooner and the same goes for most artistic people; Mr Will Towns for example, the guy who drew up some character concepts for me, did not practise for a bit at his desk and say ‘I’m a pro character artist’ nor did he have an interest in drawing, download an app that translated his designs and then label himself as a professional artist, fuck no! He had to grind too, he had to fail and only after many, many years of pushing himself did he fall into the position he’s in now, and I am so proud of him, same goes for Atlas Audio, same goes for Kate, Evelyn, Oliver, Ashley, Bojan, Jilaine and Alex, I’m proud of anyone who sacrifices their spare time to improve themselves, to work on something whatever that might be, because that is what it takes to define yourself as a combatant over a spectator. One of my most cherished articles is article number 66, it’s called, Be a Combatant not a Spectator, again, if you’ve some spare time, I’d appreciate the read, but if not, cheers anyway. So, to summarise, I believe this new A.I software, as brilliant as it is, will become a stigma, it will stain all works in the future which is why I’ve decided to stick to the hard work, work that might not merit 100% perfection, but at the very least will be branded with a human signature, and that is far more important than producing artificial results.

No A.I was used in the process to create The Silken Spirit.

Guys, thank you so much for reading today. I’d like to thank Evelyn once again for conceptualising Chloe Augustien, I think she did a good job, it’s not what I expected and I don’t think it does her justice, but at the very least, Evelyn, a human being achieved something; I look forward to what she will make of Lady Nightshade and so on, do keep up the great work Evelyn, you’re appreciated. Right, well well well, this was my 100^th article, it feels good to have reached this milestone – I did have plans to release a sort of statistics essay, you know something of an evaluation, but I just got tied down with too many additions such as character concepts, editorials and music videos, which all needed and deserved fair coverage, overall being busy is a good problem to have but it would have been nice to have met the 100 mark with a chilled out report of everything I felt was a triumph, to point out all the things I’m proud of, all the things I sucked at and what I’d like to cover in the future, what the next one hundred will look like. That being said, I want to take some time away from Taoteque Articles, I’ve been pushing them hard for a while now and they really are a marvellous outlet, not just for me but for you guys as well, I’ve noted a rise in readership and interest and for that I thank you, but I’d like to apply the breaks for now and focus more energy on new content for Episode Three-Seeds of War, to complete Chapter Five which is called One Thousand and One. I do need to focus on it because honestly, I miss being wrapped up in the creation process of writing, I miss the characters and just losing myself in this world; I’d like to continue with this Odyssey, while editing Volume Five with Joyce of course and networking with others in the hopes to get something of a film made, whether it be animation or if there is still life left in the Live-Action idea, all I can do is keep knocking on doors and refining the material. Unfortunately, to celebrate this milestone I was going to go to Amsterdam, to have a massive blow-out in an Airbnb, but I cancelled a few days ago to conserve funds for another project. Anyway, I’ve had a blast doing this and I will be back in a few weeks with something new, it’s likely that this will be my last post for 2023, so I’ll see you there with a fresh outlook. With that being said, please take care of yourselves everyone, now more than ever, I’ve seen the atrocities going on in the world today, I’ve purposefully chosen not to write about said events in my most recent articles but do know that I am not blind to what has been happening – I’ve witnessed the insanity and it’s almost impossible not to be affected by it. The journalist I’ve been following who has been on the ground, his name is Douglas Murray, I’ve been a supporter of his for years and recently, he has been doing a tremendous job relaying the news and cutting through the mess we’re all plagued with, I wish him well and will continue to learn from his work; But stay strong guys, look out for one another, watch each other’s backs, keep working on yourselves and the things that give you meaning, don’t cut corners, take the long way round, do the work, call your friends, talk to your children regularly if you have them or chat with your parents / guardians once in a while, they’ll appreciate it, take care … Oh and don’t forget to send me a billion dollars so I can invest in an Iron Man suit. PEACE!

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Trigger Hippie by Morcheeba – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylyG8UM78TQ

Oats in the Water by Ben Howards – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaH4W1rY9us

D.W.Gill

A Path Sewn by Fate: The Masters Library

Hello everyone, welcome back. Today is an exciting day, it’s exciting because I’ve not only got some rather interesting news, which I’ll be sure to share with you toward the end of this article, but I’ve a new concept art on display, a depiction of a scene plucked straight out of Episode One-The Utopian Dream, fully realised, and beautifully rendered. I conceptualised this piece myself, going off of the literature found in the first book, and relayed what I envisioned with a new artist from America. She’s very talented, has an eye for detail and I enjoyed working with her; Her name is Ashley and we’re already talking about the next project which is called, The Thief’s Priestess, but unlike most others who I seek out personally, she stumbled upon me, she had seen what I was up to online and reached out to me first, wanting to be part of the project which was very touching. I’ll admit, it is nice to be recognised from time to time, especially in this day and age where people’s attention spans have been somewhat hijacked, turning most people into zombies with bent heads lost in their phones; It’s a shame this has happened and I do worry whenever I go out, I see people hypnotised by their screens, but in this case, I cannot complain, for it was one such company related to Big Tech which I use, where I was discovered, so there are positive ways to use the tool that is social media, what matters however, is the work and what you contribute – The more you do, the more love and effort you pour into something, the more time you give over, like with anything the richer and healthier it becomes and eventually people start to notice. Anyway, before I get into the meat of this article, I am happy to announce that The Ancestral Odyssey series thus far is now on shelves, I spotted my babies ugh I mean books a few days ago while on one of my walks into Oxford city centre, in the fantasy section in Blackwell’s, next door to the science fiction domain, I even made a short video and posted it to my X account, it’s beneath the video of the cat chewing on a watermelon; I do not mean to toot my own horn here, but the books look great up there, big shout-out to whoever drew the sword in chalk, looks really cool, I know the sword wasn’t drawn for me but regardless, it looks awesome. With that being said, I have been contacted by a few people since who are confused about the layout of this series – I have answered this question before, multiple times on this blog and verbally, but because it has been brought up a couple of times recently in my DM’s, I figured it best to review it again, after all, I cannot expect new visitors to read an entire article or sift through a whole blog dating back to 2015, looking for one particular piece of information, so I best get used to it until all 8 billion of us understand what I’m up to. The order and the layout of this series is as follows: – The entire series is titled, The Ancestral Odyssey; Episode One is called, The Utopian Dream, Episode Two is called, Rise of the Black Doves, Episode Three is called, Seeds of War, Episode Four is called, Rainbow Dawn and Episode Five is called, The Chosen Kindred. Each Episode has three Volumes (a beginning, middle and an end) starting at number one, and it progresses this way until the end of the saga. That’s five Episodes with three Volumes each, this makes fifteen Volumes in total when all is completed. Currently available online (both physical and digitally) and now on shelves are Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4, Volumes 5 and 6 have been written but are being edited by myself and a lovely young lass named Joyce, who is from Lebanon; We hope to have Volume 5 finished in the first quarter of 2024, and because Volume 6 is significantly shorter, it won’t take as long, so maybe, just maybe, we can see Volume 5 and 6 released in 2024. I cannot stress the impact Volume 6 will have on supporters of this series, it really was a thrill to write having my hands literally shaking it was so intense, the aftermath of what unfolds is something I am still coming to terms with as I write new content, getting into the headspace of the characters who were directly affected is a challenge I’ve not contended with before, but a good challenge to have. That’s it for the layout, putting it as simply as I can, someone I know recently described it thusly; “Your Episodes are like seasons to a TV show, and each season has three episodes, right?” That’s indeed correct. I like this analogy, I can understand someone coming in fresh getting a little confused, but it’s really not difficult to fathom, bear in mind the only reason it is constructed this way is to accommodate the size of this story, Episode One set the standard and because I wasn’t willing to chop it up, I have to adhere to the model template, because consistency matters. The Episodes and Volumes are also colour coded, for example Episode One-The Utopian Dream, is royal blue, Rise of the Black Doves is blood red, Seeds of War will be spring-green, Rainbow Dawn will be lilac purple and The Chosen Kindred will be Kings gold. There is also the Mythorigin, a collection of seven short stories that are prequels to The Ancestral Odyssey, Imp, Banshee, Witch, Driad, Vampire, Siren, and Druid. I’ve done my best to order everything accordingly in a way everyone can understand, but beyond that there isn’t much more I can do. Moving on, I do have more character artwork coming, after having completed Zoe Nebrie, with another new artist, Evelyn, she is now working on bringing Chloe Augustine to life, The Silken Spirit who is first mentioned in Episode One right at the end, in a conversation between Riagel Tyorn and Draygo Dumear, and makes her first real appearance in the first third of Episode Two. Evelyn received a detailed brief from me about three weeks ago, it will be an absolute treat to see Chloe Augustien drawn as a colourful concept in her Silken Spirit attire because she is wonderfully unique, you’ll soon see why. I’ll be sure to write more about Chloe in the future, it’s interesting actually because initially, back in my College and University days when this project was still in its infancy, Chloe was going to be a grizzled wild-man shrouded with the rumour of being more bear than a human; This loose idea made it into the first few drafts of Episode One, Jerhdia O’Nen, one of the main characters in The Utopian Dream had some explanatory dialogue wrapped around this gloomy character, but was later changed and evolved into Mrs Augustien. I know she is still being sketched but check the websites Gallery if you have a minute or two or go to my X account if you’ve a moment, everything is posted there. In other news, Joyce is editing Chapter 36 – Hexagon, whence she is done she’ll pass it over to me to look over, and only when I’m happy with the body of text does it go down as completed and we can move onto the next. It’s a long, tedious and costly process, especially if you’re a chump like me who is aiming high, looking to turn this into a self-sustaining career, results do not instantly come and as creators in this field, you often question yourself as to whether you’re investing your time in the right thing, and believe me when I say, there are moments when life can get seriously dark and hopeless, but all that clears away like the passing of a storm when you do start to see the work taking shape, when it seems to take on its own identity; As writers, the material adopts its own plethora of emotions and feelings, it even associates itself with its own colour, this happened with Ep1-Dream shortly after the writing phase finished and the same is true for Ep2-Rise; The initial feelings you get the moment you think of them as individual pieces give the work a unique presence. It’s very strange but I’ve talked to other artists about this (dare I say) phenomenon, and I know I am not the only one who experiences it. Anyway, enough babble, time to cover the creation of this last concept, the music and what is to inevitably follow. So, grab yourself a drink dear reader, I’ve gone with a raspberry, cherry and apple smoothie, there are also some seeds floating around in there, it tastes funny but I’m sure it’s okay…?…Yeah, it’s probably fine. This is article 99, A Path Sewn by Fate, one away from the big one hundred, I hope you enjoy it.

To start with this is a big relief, this is something that I’ve been meaning to get off the ground for a long while, but for one reason or another, whether it’s struggling to find the right artist for the job, funding issues, time management or squirrel espionage, life gets in the way of passion projects and slows you down; Often in times like these you have to practise patience, you have to grind through the mundanity of the day-to-day until you find yourself in a practical position to tackle whatever it is you want to achieve, and for me, in this case, the project was to bring a moment from a scene found in the books to life, in the same way I would one of my characters, but this requires a different type of artist and another methodology to utilise. The scene/moment in question comes from Episode One-The Utopian Dream; One of our two lead protagonist, the 23^rd Star Caller, Isabelle Verano who endures a lonely life-style, spends a lot of her time reading, she reads during long journeys as she travels by carriage from place to place, she reads in her quarters and in libraries (obviously) uncovering secrets, learning about law and order, understanding new Glyph/Magic schematics and revising ancient texts. As a leader and woman of holy power, her research must be routinely, her studies daily and her knowledge as sharp as a Dark Rogues dagger. One library she favours over others is The Old Library, managed by a close friend of hers and mentor during her time as a youth, Master Eran Othrium who lived in Imrondel City, Krondathia’s capital before its fall to The Dovidian Covenant, in 1511. Because independent study is a big part of Isabelle’s journey in Episode One – She who leads a more spiritual path in direct contrast with General Lethaniel Presian, our male protagonist who is of the more physical persuasion – And because sobering realisations come from old texts, texts Isabelle is not meant to see and learn from, I thought The Old Library would be appropriate to conceptualise. If you’d like to see it, the image is in my Gallery section on the website, and it is currently adorning the top page of my X. As I’ve already stated, the library does feature in the first book a handful of times, Isabelle visits often, to confer with Eran and meet with Adarmier Elpin, so readers I think will be pleased with what they see here. The concept is not perfect, and I will get into the issues I have later, but overall, this is a rather authentic adaptation from vision to page. Where Ashley and I started was with the text in the book, it all starts with the text, it took me a while, but I wrote Ashley a very detailed brief of the project as a whole, and what I wanted her to digitally re-create. I backed up my instruction with a quick sketch myself, a simple black inked drawing marked with labels on a notepad using suggestive lines, this was more than enough to give Ashley a good understanding of scale and where things (such as furniture) were located. Even though my description was vivid, never did I want to constrict Ashley, and this is important to note; Throughout the making of this piece, I made it abundantly clear that I wanted to hear/see her ideas, I wanted her to use her own creativity, her own imagination and bring something unique (if possible) to the table for discussion. Simply put, I wanted to learn from her. I certainly have a vision for this scene and the world of Equis, absolutely, but because we’re world building, it’s important to recognise that I do not know everything, that my own creativity can be layered with someone else’s touch and as a result while careful to consider your own wisdom on the subject, the work improves as a whole. The concept of the library was completed in stages, rough drafts were drawn and sent my way, a conversation would follow, and we’d work accordingly; For the most part, Ashley built upon my initial layout, and I’d advise as the drafts with additional add-ins came in, some I’d approved of, others I did not and would suggest or come up with something else given some thought. The idea behind my thinking was that this was a weathered, lived in space of study, the library has after all been around for hundreds of years, growing hand in hand with the rise of Norkron culture, and I wanted to instil this growth into the aesthetic and into its foundation, but at the same time I had to recognise the coming of a new age, one that you’ll be fully introduced to in Episode Two, the age of industry that’s on the horizon, holy city or not you cannot stop the inevitable transformation of architecture, one that was birthed from a nest of enchanted earth, faith, religion and spiritual practises that organically (however unwilling by the beliefs of some) sews itself unto a dark steel, abstract, steampunk inspired, society, one that is leaning into secularism, a people who are letting go of its holy roots and encouraged to look elsewhere for its source of strength, a strength that once came from the hands of Gods replaced by the iron fist of men. Even though this age of industry is two decades away from taking full affect, it is talked about briefly between High Councillor Truth and Isabelle in The Utopian Dream, so I wanted to honour this, to hint at its coming and be faithful to the material. Krondathia, is after all largely inspired by the British and Roman Empires and its legions; The Norkron’s talk with proper articulated accents, some are stronger than others, the character of Ermak Idsen, the Captain of the Cuethen Capes puts emphasis on this, while Lethaniel and most others speak in more of a relaxed, modern terminology, to suggest a younger generation is being cultivated out of the era shift. It has been pointed out to me that my writing has a modern edge to it, and seeing as I’m here, talking about it now, I feel it a good time to address this choice because arguably it is a strange one given my selected genre: –

Episode One was written, re-written, revised, trashed, drafted and edited numerous times starting in my early twenties all the way to my late twenties, even after publication it was pulled off the shelves and replaced many times, the most recent time being during the 2020 lockdowns, updated with newer, more literary accurate editions of the work – Simply put, it was a mess, I make no excuses but I’d ask this to be considered when judging the work, I was new to this game, I was broke (still am, that hasn’t changed), I was working a creatively bankrupt job (that too has not changed) and was dealing with extremely limited resources and knowledge. The use of modern language cannot be edited out at this point, it is now part of the beating heart of The Ancestral Odyssey, and even though it’s still something widely accepted, had I access to a time machine, I would go back and take more care with the language the characters use, but unfortunately, my attempts thus far to travel back in time have resulted in a busted microwave, a tinfoil helmet and a wrecked kitchen. I have taken measures since Episode One, I will continue to work with the language I’ve ingrained into the story because as I keep saying, consistency matters and will use a more Shakespearian dictionary when it comes (if it comes) to writing the Mythorigins. This at the very least will show a progression of one era to the next, and also, when it comes to flash backs, anything that comes before The Utopian Dream, I’ll be sure to construct an older dialect; That is the best I can do given my situation, I still am proud of Ep1, I do like it and believe it’s worthy as a foundation on which to build a series, but as I keep stressing, I recognise its flaws and will do my utmost to improve and rectify if possible such errors; Sorry to digress, back to the topic at hand: –

Norkrons are raised in the same way the English grew their civilisation, a civilisation that went on to change the face of the entire world; Their battle strategies are meticulously planned, they’ve a rich history of conquering in an ordered yet clinically lethal way, each man inspired, imbued with a sense of allegiance to their Father Eldor and Mother Star Caller, fighting in and for their names who wish to bring about a utopia for all, by the guide of the Gods, they will achieve this, as prophesised by the prophet Star Callers set in motion by the first of them, Regina Corah. This is Norkron philosophy birthed at the end of the second age, this is what they believe in and this is the reason as to why they’ve become a force NOT to be reckoned with – They do not only train men into fighters, they instil in them a holier than thou purpose, they’re not merely fighters in an army, they’re crusaders on a mission, marching toward a paradise, a perfect world that each feels responsible for, and with their brothers, with sword in hand, they will rinse Equis of chaos, rid it of its imperfections and injustices and bring about order, an order they carved during the first age, The Age of Six, where six tribes once united after The Pioneers triumph over the giants, broke apart and went to war over land, resources, a way of life and ultimate authority. What contributed to a Norkron victory was their understanding of a fair, learned community and a strong bond with one another, this paved the way for the family unit to thrive, who embraced a rich upbringing in a culture that required their sons and daughters to adopt a sense of duty, to become skilled, resourceful and above all else, educated and thus as I said before, it all starts on the black on white, it all starts with text that gifts people with knowledge, and I quote: –

‘Knowledge is power.’

-Frances Bacon

The Old Library IS a place of power, and I tried my very best to articulate that presence in this concept. The image itself is very well done, and when I’ve more like this catalogued, they will become the headline images when you open the website, which reminds me, I need to update the site, some of it does need a tweak, I’ll be sure to reach out to my web designer in the next week and give it a lick of paint. The old twitter logo can go and be replaced with X, the Latest sections text needs to be consistently sized and new photos of the books need to be taken. This might surprise you but I do not actually physically own copies of my own work, I’ve got a Hardback of The Utopian Dream floating about and I am borrowing Volume 4’s Paperback, but that’s it, I also need to get these books into libraries, I’ve the means to do so but as I said before, I need to wait till I’m in a position to focus on it; All this work that seems to just materialise, has a way of overwhelming you, leaving you with the feeling you’re getting nothing done.

One of the most striking things about the concept of The Old Library, is the cat in the window; I love that Ashley included it, granted it was emphasised in the brief, but not a lot of focus was placed upon it, so it was up in the air with whether or not it would feature; You can only see the felines silhouette in the window but this is an important detail, for if you’ve read Ep1-The Utopian Dream, then you’ll know, but if you haven’t, pucker up for a spoiler – The cat is special, the cats name is Pandora, she’s a silver tabby with green eyes and she belongs to Isabelle Verano, who is also present in this concept, she’s perfectly captured in a way how I envision her, but we’ll get to her in just a moment. Pandora is unique in a way that is integral to the story, for you see, everyone from Prince to pauper in this world, is born with something called a Counterpart, and a Counterpart is essentially another you in another form, watered down by time, space and species. This idea stems off what the Buda believe, the belief of reincarnation; In Equis (as is with the real world) we are all made up of star dust, and it is believed that your consciousness existed in a past life, inhabiting a different body or bodies before finding its way into the human avatar you are today, of course the Counterpart prior to being a human, did not know it was one day going to be a human, it needed to ladder its way toward this sentience, but that is the idea, an established connection is in place with the past. Star Callers in the present day, are naturally sensitive to otherworldly forces, beings who possess mild telepathic abilities, depending on the nurture of the girl in question, she can hone these techniques, learn to focus her mind’s eye, and glimpse the future. So, there is a spiritual tether here worth considering, a lineage with the world we as human beings may have actually had or have lost over generations of neglecting our ties to the Earth that birthed us. Whether you believe such things are true, are not true or if you’re simply unsure, I think it is an interesting avenue worth exploring given a fantastical Duncanism spin, and thus far it has opened the door to some rather thought-provoking ideas – One thus being the Counterpart idea, Star Callers able to tap into this connection via a learned meditation technique called Inner Peace and can communicate/astral travel to the past when they existed in a different time and in a different form, to when their connection is strongest. Clearly, this can only be done going backward in time; Star Callers would use this practise when no other resource would be available to them, which is a rarity given they’ve access to the entirety of the Norkron empire which bleeds into corners of Ledera, pockets of Pura and small provinces in Jureai, but on the off chance they did find themselves totally alone, this was an option, and the information gleaned would be of the purist form providing exemplified insight. This technique, Inner Peace is used in Episode Two-Rise of The Black Doves, in a chapter called, Landing in Limbo, where you get to meet each Counterpart of the Star Callers and it makes for a truly thrilling read (in my opinion) and a flowing write as the author, it’s a chapter that expands upon the history of this mythos, the age of Equis while exploiting intrigue into other races and cultures that existed before humans. For example, when the 28^th Star Caller, Kina Serisa uses Inner Peace, and travels to the universe within herself, one that exists within the vault of her memory bank, buried deep between the layers of time catalogued by the ages, she visits a kingdom of jagged earth crafted in the shape of a coffin, a palace of unkempt stone pillaring into the clouds, she makes her way inside and meets with a bat like figure, something with a somewhat similar shape to that of a human, only more within league of a bat. This is Kina’s Counterpart, a bipedal bat creature that existed in a time when the Equis we know hadn’t yet taken shape, a creature that could well be the seed of the vampiric stories which undertone the spread of an ethos in distant villages, people who’re divorced from the progressive life in the cities, separated by the current affairs in Xiondel, Imrondel and Davune, people who did not take this ancient mythology for granted and made efforts to pass the seeds of such stories down from generation to generation for there is meaning, knowledge and wisdom harboured in such tales, tales that indeed make us what we are as a people; Unfortunately, such simple types of people who care only for the harvest, the growth of their families and community, could be considered by the wealthy city types to be ill-educated, backward and dangerously superstitious, when in reality the opposite is true, and it is the simple folk who maintain their beliefs in the ancient world that are enriched and it’s the city folk who’re are lacking substantial vision. Kina’s twin, Kayna, the 29^th Star Caller, when she uses Inner Peace and enters the fragmented world between worlds, falls into a drowned Equis, one where the sea kingdoms have swallowed the landmass and beneath the glassy, watery surface, exists the Nymph’s, and one such water Nymph blows a bubble of air for Kayna to breath in as she is taken down into their world. The 27th Star Caller, Donna Mu Klade lands in an Equis during an ice age or she perhaps could be visiting the tops of icy mountains and frozen plateaus, where her Counterpart is a Yeti, curious this is because Donna is a pyromaniac, someone extremely proficient at wielding fire, so to see her in this setting was not only curious but a testament to how old Equis is, that a part of her originates and resonates in a creature adapted to withstanding freezing temperatures; Isabelle, on the other hand did not have this option available to her while she was in power, Isabelle is unique, for her Counterpart, Pandora, exists in the same space and time as she does, and Pandora the silver tabby occupies the present. They are essentially the same in two forms, whether they know it or not they are spiritually bound. One way to show this in the text and in this artwork, is obvious, Pandora goes where Isabelle goes, she follows when she can and never leaves her side when Isabelle is nearby. I love that Pandora is present here, even if it is only in the shape of a silhouette, seeing her gives me a tingle. Believe me, Pandora’s journey is not over.  

Fun fact, I took a short break after having written that last paragraph, I sat back down ten minutes later to continue and realised, I had dedicated a whole page, a little over one thousand words approximately to a silhouette of a cat! Don’t get me wrong, cats are fucking fascinating but damn, there is something wrong with me! ‘A picture really is worth a thousand words’ I suppose, which is an old adage originating from China I believe, but is something I seem to agree with more and more. Anyway, earlier I praised Ashley’s rendition of Isabelle Verano, because it is remarkable – I remember a year or so ago, I had only one image of Isabelle beyond that of what I saw in my head, and that was of her holding her long staff Violethelm, with her back to the frame while wearing a red dress standing in a wide round chamber under the shadow of one of the twelve Celestials. If you visit the Gallery on the site, you can find this image digitally painted by Bojan Sucevic, Who I have (unfortunately) lost contact with, he might still be floating around on Deviant Art, that is after all where I found him and his work, but I’ve not heard anything back from him in a very long while. For the longest time I was itching to see a full-bodied version of Isabelle and eventually after many years that rolled by after my travels in Australia and Thailand, it came, captured beautifully by Mr Will Towns, and honestly, this was how I imagined her to be, sleeved in her classic, royal blue Star Caller long coat, her chest and arms protected by her Elemential armour just as it is described toward the end of The Utopian Dream. Her hair, beautiful and blonde graced with a natural wavy buoyance and her eyes, lit with an emerald-green sparkle that reflects her fire and power. Isabelle IS (quite possible, very likely) my favourite character of the series, she’s not the character I identify with the most, that honour belongs to the dishonourable, the rude, the abrasive, obnoxious, foul-mouthed, dangerous, spontaneous, anti-authority, speedy, ill-observant, misunderstood Dark Rogue thief, Draygo Dumear, who has been talked about multiple times on this blog, you can even view his weaponry, his armour and concept in the Gallery. Isabelle, however, has a special place with me and here’s why; She was hastily put together in October 2007, which was the year and month the book of Episode One-The Utopian Dream was officially started, bear in mind however, it was titled something completely different back then. Making a character so swiftly, wasn’t something that came natural to me, while other characters had many months some even many years of developed backstories ripe for the page and ready to go, Isabelle seemed to come out of nowhere, it’s as if I had just fired someone, a trusted lead with experience and replaced them with someone with little to no experience, little proof she was up to the task and may have been a giant mistake…I was wrong…Working with Isabelle happened slowly, her traits growing as progression in the book was made, in the same way you find yourself working alongside a brand-new co-worker, getting to know them takes time, this was what it was like writing Isabelle in the beginning; It started slow but within a month or two I found myself warming to her and before long she was entrusted to carry the first Episode on her shoulders, sharing the duty with Lethaniel, the pair not only succeeded, but they have become legacy characters, characters who when I think of them in the present moment, remind me of old friends I made in primary school. In a way these two (more so Isabelle) married well with my own naivety when entering this new domain of writing, a realm I had no proper concept of before I made the decision to take this once small College project one step further and do what I could do to adapt it into a book. Evidence of this can be found in both protagonists, Lethaniel is after all a newly instated General, granted powers over Krondathian forces and charged with massive responsibilities, and Isabelle coming to terms with the fact that she knows little about the world she was born into, someone who is somewhat separated from the outside world, she’s overly protected, overly cared for, constantly serving Krondathia and although extremely powerful with her magic, she lacks what all of us strive for, crave and sometimes take for granted, freedom. In summary, Isabelle was my first real voice I crafted in The Ancestral Odyssey, it was through her where I found the appropriate lens to see Equis through, I found a voice in her, determined the struggles between the rich and powerful, the more unfortunate and everything in between were viewed through her eyes. She was as much my guide through this first instalment as she was/is yours and when removed from the picture come Episode Two-Rise of the Black Doves, you get to see and experience what it’s like not to have your hand held…Fucking chaos! Enter Cephie Melias and the rise of her Black Dove Elite, witness the ascension of Saphuries and her demonic Monarchy, watch Krondathia’s greatest city be crippled by a rogue organisation calling themselves The Balance, led by a merciless, fearless, masked leader within the same league as Lethaniel and Thao; See the dissolution of a culture once dependent on faith replaced with the cold steel of cogs and gears – It’s about to get wild. Rise is an absolute riot with some truly action-packed moments while hinting at a menacing undertone just bubbling under the surface, a book that (I hope) you’re excited to read but at the same time will yearn to end, for the finale is fucking relentless, it’s emotionally draining, devastating, thought provoking and I love it! The first third (Volume Four) re-establishes the stage, sure, this was something that had to be done after the twenty-year gap in the story, and necessary for older and newer readers who’ve just entered this series, but come the midway and final ten chapters, you’re in for a ride, a stark shift as to what you’re used to not only with my series, but dare I say any other out there.

This was what I set out to achieve, not only with Ep2 but generally, I forget sometimes why I began this project and have to remind myself during those lonely nights, when the day is almost over, when it’s dark and there is nothing left to do other than think about tomorrow, I ask what I want to achieve here; To answer that, what I want, and what I’ve always wanted, was to give people something different, to tell a unique story that sets itself aside from others, one that would forge its own category, one that would carve its own space in its own pocket dimension where it can thrive, because honestly, that’s what I feel like most of the time when navigating the world you, I, us, occupy. I’ve ranted about this problem before, so I will spare you most of the hammy details, but in short, there is no building for me to go to, no business I see myself being comfortable in, nowhere where I can truly relax and put to use the niche talents I have – To accomplish good creative work. I always have to force myself to fit in, always have to hold my tongue and worse, allow people to treat me like dirt just so I can get by, and after a while, after twenty-years (yes, twenty fucking years) of taking this punishment with no significant sign that the winds will change, you do occasionally lose sleep, you sometimes skip meals, you go for days without saying a word, you book random get-aways just for yourself despite not being able to afford them, you fall out of balance not just with yourself but with others and no one really understands why, because for most people, the world caters to them, it was built for them, they feel at home and have done from their earliest memory but, I don’t and haven’t; And then I’m struck with a bittersweet reality, a glass wall I’ve charged into hundreds of times but cannot shatter, the reality that I’ve no choice but to keep going, to keep writing articles such as these, to keep writing new content and making art with others in the hopes that one day the wall will buckle and break, and on the other side will be a light, a light I’ve never seen before; This is my path, a path so to speak sewn by fate, one that ties me to Isabelle and some of my other characters in ways I never thought possible, with those who are struggling to find their purpose in a world edging its way toward oblivion, yet still they try, and so must I – The answer to this struggle, the only way to get there is to keep doing what I believe I’m good at, and that is to focus on the skills everyone keeps telling me are unnecessary, and create a new category, a new genre of book! Whether people feel the same way at this point, is not up to me, once you publish something the art is out of your hands, but I really do hope you get excited for Episode Three-Seeds of War, Volumes 7, 8 and 9, which are being written, granted they are being written slowly because this is becoming something of a monumental challenge, but they’re coming all the same. Recently I tightened up chapter three of Volume 7 and re-wrote the beginning of chapter four which is now part of chapter five. I’ve a long way to go but as it stands right now, it’s looking pretty hot.

Getting back to Ashley’s image, the challenge here was the authentic depiction of Isabelle Verano, shown in a light you’d come to expect, as in we needed to see Violethelm, for this long staff IS symbolic of a Star Callers power and testament to her Glyph Wielding authority; Rarely does she go anywhere without it. We would have to see the long coat, this is classic Star Caller attire, a tradition that continues in Episode Two and Three and of course, she wouldn’t be wearing her armour when her intention was to visit the library, so a more casual fit would have be to set in place, and this was interesting, for I handed this task over to Ashley, yes, I’d given her some pointers but ultimately, I let her decide on Isabelle’s wardrobe. Based upon what she had learned from the world of Equis, Ashley gave Isabelle the justice she deserved and this all might start sounding overindulgent, who cares what Isabelle is wearing, right? But the devil, is in the details dear reader, everything has to be serviced, everything needs thought and careful consideration to be applied, if you’re going to cast the spell of believability unto your audience, this is what it is all about, this art (most art in fact) is about casting spells, to draw in people to another world offering up not only an escapism, but an authentic re-creation of an avenue that exists in the province of your imagination – This is the reason bloopers in movies and TV shows are so funny, when someone flubs their lines or leaves a Starbucks coffee on the table in full view (Yes Daenerys Targaryen I’m looking at you) the spell is broken, the aura is dissolved and the audience crashes back into reality realising they’re just watching people playing dress-up.

This is why woke culture is so insidious and so fucking poisonous to anything and everything you can call art, it masquerades as being this force for good, it aggressively promotes underrepresented demographics and communities that have suffered oppression and foul play in the past but at the cost of the art itself, and you know what, as for the inclusion of others, I’m all for this…Let me be crystal fucking clear, I am all in favour of seeing said otherwise untold stories being told by men or women who have not had a fair hand dealt – Whether they’re fictional based stories or retellings of historical events, I’d welcome this, because having empathy is being able to empathise with someone who isn’t you; In my case, I do not need to see or have a white male in the picture in order to relate to what is being conveyed, I can empathise with people who aren’t me, whether they be someone from a distant country, another man perhaps, woman, child, alien or otherwise, so long as the story is written well and is compelling enough to keep me engaged, I am interested – After all, one of my favourite games of all time is Final Fantasy VII (for the PS1 released in the late 90s), and that game at its core, is about a group of strangers from all corners of the world, coming together in one final act to stop a greater threat, and only united while dealing with their demons along the way, do they triumph and see in a brighter future, not just for themselves but for those who stood next to them in that final fight, and it’s execution is perfect. Speaking of FFVII, I very recently picked up my old playthrough, one that I started about a year ago, I’m about half way through, we’re at the part where Cloud is missing from your party and Tifa takes charge; She eventually follows a clue to his whereabouts by accidently overhearing a conversation in the village of Mideel, and even though I knew what was going to happen, that moment when she finds Cloud again after so long, it got to me. It wasn’t necessarily Tifa’s pain that pulled on my heartstrings, it was actually the reactions of her friends, for they in this moment have to not only deal with the absence of Cloud, but Tifa also, two of their strongest members, and that moment is beautiful, empathy is beautiful, something which I believe is severely lacking in today’s society and something we need fix real fucking quick! I’ve been accused of horrible things in the past, by people I know personally which does cut me up more so than when some overweight chump with blue hair online does, and honestly, I do sometimes self-reflect because I don’t want to be anything close to nor associate myself with people who hold such gross views, and what I’ve come to realise is that most people who call you horrible things, aren’t arguing from a place of intellectual honesty, no, they just don’t like you for whatever reason and want to tear you down to their miserable level…The thing is never the thing…I used to respond to such hatred with the fact that some of my favourite characters of all time are in fact women (my own work aside which does prioritise the female), I love Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil games, Chun-Li from Street Fighter is my go too fighter, Trinity from the Matrix trilogy is so fucking cool especially when she gets on the motorbike, Ellen Ripley from Alien is iconic, Regina from Dino Crisis 1 and 2 is the Queen of sass, Cortana in Halo I believe made that franchise into the juggernaut it is, Snow White in A Wolf Among Us is the reason I am excited for the sequel and of course Tifa Lockheart, in FFVII is for me the female face of Square Enix’s greatest story. This is just to name a few, there are others in the fictional world and in the real world, women I adore, but I realised the best strategy to adopt when someone throws such ridiculous hurts your way, is to ignore them, let them rant and rave while you get on with your mission. Side note, I’d also love to see a modern-day re-telling of Alexander the Great (he being one of my favourite historical figures), Hannibal Barca and Shaka Zulu and see them told as accurately as possible using current day technologies, I’m genuinely interested in seeing other stories that come from minds and histories that are not from mine. So, I am all for seeing more brought to the table, what I am NOT in favour of however, is taking pre-established characters, timeless stories and God forbid real life historical events, and distorting them to fit an agenda! It’s the death of creativity when you do this, suddenly the politics becomes more important than the authenticity of the material, the authorial voice is side-lined if not removed entirely if he/she has not the right beliefs and opinions, and what is worse, rules have been enforced to see that everyone adhere to this message despite what story is being told, and thus the soul of the art is dissolved and it becomes a husk all to push ideology – Furthermore, quotas must be met before artists such as myself, can even ask for the chance of funding, or the hope to be represented by a Literary Agent; The art is not what matters anymore when it goes woke, it becomes a skin-suit for a political manoeuvre bending to the horrors of modernity, and I don’t respect this, I cannot nor will not get behind it, this is my enemy, I don’t like it when I see something I love being hollowed out, it’s shell being used as a way to try to puppeteer me/others, and the only reaction I can muster when faced with this degradation is, fuck off! Wokeness is a sickness in our society, a sickness clothed in colourful flags and carefully worded slogans designed to alienate and divide – In my view, it’s the ultimate villainy, it is not progressive it is regressive and the people pushing this are often guilty of the things they accuse you of, they’re insufferable, they’re not interested in reading blogs such as these or have any love and care for the franchises they’re applauding as they go down in flames. The establishment media would never dream of doing what it does to cultures like my own to the underrepresented cultures it is trying to uphold, but somehow it is perfectly fine to bastardise the history I am part of in an explicitly one-sided rule for me but not for thee. I describe wokeness as anti-art, for the moment you bring in 2023 politics or try to modernise your work with current day affairs, people who have braincells and a respect for history, they tend to react negatively and implode, should they speak up they’re called everything horrible under the sun, lumped into despicable categories that negates debate by the so called tolerant, empathetic left, all for simply wanting to see their art respected and preserved as it was intended by the creator. As I said in posts prior (The Last Bastion, article 84 which is the best of them, please check it out when you’ve got time), it’s all about fidelity to the work, it’s all about casting a spell and maintaining that illusion that is authentic and real to the piece, seeing that it comes from a genuine place of passion and vision, and all you have to do if you are an artist, if you are an aspiring creator no matter what the field you work in, all you have to do is focus on the details; As the late great Christopher Lee said in one of his many interviews while promoting The Lord of the Rings films decades ago, and I cannot remember the quote word for word because it has been over ten years since I last listened to it, but he did say something along the lines of you must know the work in every detail and be sure to get it right, and when hearing that for the first time in my earlier days, it resonated with me, it became an obsession of mine to know the world in which I was creating to the highest degree, and this, leads me into the architecture of The Old Library itself because it is loaded with details that need to be addressed.   

What I learned when writing about fictional cities and at certain times fictional landscapes, is that it’s best to draw inspiration from the world around you and apply reasonable embellishments to enrich your ideas. Human history, the ancient times are fascinating, but it is difficult to read about, more often is the case that people back then lived very hard, very short lives, on the one hand you want to capture the difficulties that in turn gives your world a sprinkle of grit, but at the same time you do not want to remain so firmly attached to what event or period of time that inspired you; In other words, be inspired by what fascinates and what draws you in, you’ll elicit drops of passion that readers will be able to pick up on, but don’t be afraid to colour in the grey, that’s what’s so freeing when working in fantasy, so long as you’re adult about where you apply your fantastical make-up, you should through this process create something curious and unique. So, in this case, we are mapping out what Eran’s library looks like based upon what is written in the books, that’s a good place to start I’d say; Do your best to envision the descriptions, sketch it out as best you can if possible and bundle it all together in a well-worded, coherent e-mail or if you’re talking over the phone, articulate what you see without bloating the conversation, this technique is something I need to practise because given the right prompt and I can talk for hours – In short, stay on point and try to be as brief as possible without derailing, your co-workers do not need to know EVERYTHING, they need to know what they need to know. Because the Old Library is located in the holy city of Imrondel, that was at the time Krondathia’s capital, we know that a religious element is mixed into the foundation of its structure, Krondathia/Norkron culture is also inspired by old England that propagates the internal and external design. When you, as the artist combine your vision, your wisdom and marry it well with what inspires you, you not only tantalise your passion for the craft, but you give he/she who is working for you something wholesome to sink their teeth into, something that gets their brains working and their creativity flowing, and we are only in a library! I cannot wait till I work my way into pieces that depict Heavens Ankle, the unconquerable mountain in the far northern reaches of Maire, I’d love to see the industrial Silo, located inside the industrial Hex complex built over the black swamps, home to the largest vaurodile (crocodile like creatures) in the country of Klaw, or the Amber Isles, formerly known as The Islands of Edithia, that were lost due to the eruption of a volcano infused with Glyph magic that blanketed the islands encasing them and its inhabitants, in crystallised amber, this was inspired by the tragic events of Pompei. These are just a few of so many locations I’d love to see one day, had I the funds, concepts of locations, characters and new pieces of music would be released (I’d hope) on a weekly basis; I’d catalogue ALL of the work, build an impressive portfolio, draft several scripts and present it to film studios in an attempt to get it made into a series of films or (second best), five seasons of a TV show – This is of course is only a dream at this point, if I can complete the series of books I’d consider my mission in life successful, but the idea, the fantasy of working on a visual playing field with actors, blacksmiths, set-designers, wardrobe, hair and make-up, computer animators, musicians and every form of conceptual artist out there who is involved from the ground up, that would be heaven on earth for me, I cannot think of anything better to wake up and ride to work to, I’d be sure to be on set every day from dawn till dusk and if not the set itself then I’d be in the offices or revising the written work. I’d want to meet everyone involved personally and together, hopefully we’d solidify not only a great project we can all be proud of but create warm memories that will last a lifetime. Speaking of music, this Old Library art was created to sync with a track I’ve been holding onto for quite some time, and I am very excited to talk about it today. Instead of just playing the music or presenting the concept, I decided to connect the two and produce a video and a theme all in one, and music is and I cannot stress this enough, vital to the process.

I love music, I could not live without it, it is integral to the creation process, it’s the ultimate stress reliever and this project as a whole, would not be anything without the ingredient of music, it’s SO important – It can create a conduit to the world I’m creating, thus far working with musicians has been an utter delight and music is indeed responsible for the inspiration and fruition of many scenes, even some characters if I’m being honest, that is how Seridox came into being and the ptriva sprinter Three, just to name a couple. I’m not here to repeat my love of the craft however, despite not being able to play an instrument I still have huge respect for those that do, a huge respect. I’ve written about the importance of music extensively in articles prior to this one, articles which I hope you will check out if you have a spare ten minutes because a lot of care and a lot of time has been poured into them; The most recent one, is article 93 called, The Loudest Note, which was a pleasure to write by the way, very therapeutic I seem to remember and just flowed. I’ve another written called, The Storytelling Medium, which is article number 72, it covers the making of Isabelle’s Theme composed by the same musician who composed this latest one, one that we’re about to get into. There is article number 85 called, A Shade of Red (Ep2’s general theme) and article 67 called, The Ghost of Regret (Ep1’s general theme). These last two tracks just mentioned, Shade and Ghost, were composed by a small, up and coming music studio called, Atlas Audio. The couple of lads who run this business are true gentlemen, really nice, very chatty, super talented guys, with a drive similar to mine, passion first, passion second, business third; Collaborating with them has always been insightful and always a genuine pleasure, I wish Julian and Adam the very best in their business and will be calling on them again when the time comes to making a general theme for Ep3-Seeds of War, it only seems right that Atlas compose five general themes for the five Episodes, as I keep saying, consistency matters, I want these words on a t-shirt. I will be writing to them soon, probably when I am deeper into Ep3, I’ve had some ideas orbiting for quite some time, ideas of how I’d like it to sound, expressed through other musicians of course, in fact, I love dedicating a day to finding new music, music that inspire new unique themes, I try to imagine what it would be like to marry certain tracks together, in the same way I’ve blended the genres of epic fantasy with horror in Ep2, I do try to mix an appropriate piece that fits with Ep3 with another. Sadly, I can only get so far with this method, I do not possess the right software, nor do I spend enough time in the music world to experiment, so it usually stays as a mere concept before I pass it onto an actual musician. Oddly enough and to my surprise, for the Seeds of War general theme, I keep coming back to Mad World, written and composed by Gary Jules, but more specifically, I keep listening to a cover of the song by Jasmine Thomas, which is so, so, so good. In my themes to date I’ve not had any lyrics, but I am thinking of incorporating some in this next project. I’ll leave a link to Jasmine’s cover/video below, Jasmine truly has a wonderful voice, she sings it so delicately and I think I prefer her take to the original; Plus, the way she walks around in the video is sexy as hell, a woman with a good walk just kills me in all the right ways. Also, because Ep3’s underlining core theme is Journey, I have been listening to music written by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who wrote the music for one of my favourite films, The Revenant, a film based on true events and real people, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Beyond the films fucking stunning presentation, every shot being poster worthy I kid you not, the music is haunting, conveying the heart of the story which is – Mans relationship with nature. It was sad to learn that Ryuichi passed in March this year, but I’ll continue to listen to his work because it is resonating with me, unearthing memories of the time I spent travelling Eastern and Western Europe, particularly Bosnia when I was caught in a blizzard halfway up Dragons Reach mountain, and all I had for company was a stray dog, with nothing but a valley caked in snow, or when I was on the boarder of Albania scaling down a cliff face to the setting of the sun, I was truly alone and I’ve never felt more alive, and music is the only portal to find those sensations of life.

This music however, the music that goes with Ashley’s library concept, was written, produced, and composed by a local music teacher, the same woman who composed Isabelle’s Theme, released on the 18^th of January 2022. This new one is called, A Path Sewn by Fate and it’s…Amazing! It’s fucking amazing! Forgive me for using such a cliché, such a run of the mill adjective that deserves so much more, but trust me, when an author is a bit lost for words, if you’re able to stunt him/her (especially me who needs to learn how to shut the fuck up once in a while) it’s usually a very good thing, and Jilaine, once again, as she had done so in January 2022, left me searching for the right vocabulary to best attribute to her work. A Path Sewn by Fate, is brilliant, I’ve listened to it about a hundred times in the last week or two, and this goes for ALL the work Jilaine has ever so kindly done for me, work that is not even out yet but I’ve listened to while driving, while taking long trips to London by coach, listened to during my walks to get late night coffee, even while working…Yeah…I snuck her five tracks into the office on a memory stick and play them as often as I can when at my desk, because I NEED that escape, I NEED that window to look through otherwise I’d wither on the vine. The music is able to take me to those places we find Isabelle in the book; A Path Sewn by Fate invokes the melancholy of study which is prominent throughout our Star Callers journey in Ep1, balancing the already enriched theme that you can tell is tethered to Jilaine’s earlier work (Track one: Isabelle’s Theme) which is we both agreed, key; Key in the ways that each track had to sound related, so if you were to hear one and then another at a different time, you could make the connection between the two, that they were part of the same family and not so different you could associate them with other outlets. Differentiation is important the deeper we get into this Ancestral Odyssey, each (but not all) character has their own signature music/song, and from that base others can be diluted from it depending on the context and where that particular character is in their journey. Another thing to point out worthy of praise, and you’ll note this as these tracks are released, is the level of care put into them, the attention to details included subtle or otherwise is something I applaud, adding emotive layers of thought and bulbs of passion that I struggle to find in most forms of entertainment today. In this case, the Old Library is built in the heart of a holy city, the people belong to a faith and the inspiration was taken from old England, and England was once heavily rooted in Christianity. This is reflected not only in my words and Ashley’s concept, but also within Jilaine’s music; When the track starts, it sounds as if the music is being played in an open hall, something you’d hear when walking into a Church or Cathedral, the hymn which is vocalised beautifully by Jilaine, can be that of what a choir would sing and the rising and falling of the notes caresses Isabelle’s Theme brings it home, it’s gorgeous – So much is conveyed in such a small amount of time, everything from the depth of a religious culture, the architecture in which it was birthed and the spirit of our protagonist Isabelle, in fact this opening is so genius I honestly start to question how creative I actually am and feel like an idiot in comparison with Jilaine. The way she drops in the piano like the falling of rain, the slow wind of Isabelle’s tune steadily rising from the gentle whirl as if she’s getting lost in the time at study; You can almost see (yes, see when you close your eyes) the seasons change, you can clearly visualise her sitting at a table before one of these arched windows, being brought tea by Master Eran on a silver tray, helping a student with their studies as piles of books gradually cage her, a metaphorical emphasis of the weight of her purpose and responsibility, shackling her in place. I can see her wardrobe change to fit the weather and the weariness brought on by the curse of knowledge etching onto her pale face and setting shadows under her eyes. It’s just a beautiful piece of music, what more can I say about it, thank you Jilaine for being you, don’t you dare change, thank you for bringing something to life with (from what I can tell) a simple set-up, if you can produce such work while torn with so many other responsibilities, I can only imagine what you’d be capable of given more resources. I look forward to bringing a visual aid to your other three pieces of music, I look forward to writing future essays about your music, it’s incredibly special and I hope you bring as much love and care you did for mine, for others in the future. It’s a shame I cannot continue writing about this, because I want to, I really want to talk about the other tracks, The Thief’s Priestess, Isabelle’s Calling and, The 23^rd Star Caller, but unfortunately now is not the time, now is the time to pitch another brief to Ashley, and that brief will be called, The Thief’s Priestess.  

Just to add-on to this musical segment, I need to bring your attention to a new creative I’ve been following online; His name is Jesse, he’s a musician and he covers/critiques video game soundtracks on a YouTube channel called, Jesse’s Auditorium; He even listens to tracks live, so you get an authentic reaction and it’s so fun to watch, especially when he finds something recognisable and loves it. Usually, I do not watch reactive content because it’s typically a giant waste of time, I do not need help reacting to something, reactions come naturally to me, but because Jesse is a musician himself, who not only listens to obscure musical categories which I happen to like myself, he adds a valuable critique from a place of knowledge and wisdom, plus he comes across as a genuinely interesting, funny guy, someone you could have a good time with on a night out. The other day I was scrolling through his library, and I saw him cover one of my favourite songs of all time, coming from the opening of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and it’s called, Ozar Midrashim, composed by Kurt Harland of Information Society. If you’ve a love of epic music, if you’ve a passion for making music, if you like dark fantasy, gothic environments and punishing beats, I suggest you listen to this track, I suggest you watch the original intro to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver for the PS1, and I suggest you watch Jesse’s critique of the song itself, it had me grinning from ear to ear because he had never heard this before, he was coming at this from a fresh outlook and I saw his face change multiple times when the track shifts its gears, adding layer upon layer of powerful energy behind each thundering boom. I enjoy watching this so much because it is how I felt when I first heard this track, taking me back to a time when I hadn’t even finished growing. Because I am a huge fan of the Legacy of Kain series, they are seriously some of the best stories ever told in my view, written by an absolute hero of mine, Amy Hennig, a writer I aspire to, Jesse’s critique was spot on, meaning the music had done its job to tell a story in that of itself, it had succeeded in blanketing you in the atmosphere you’re treated to in the game and it makes me ever so happy to know stuff like this exists and is appreciated by chaps like Jesse. He also covered a Final Fantasy XI track called, You Are Not Alone, and again it’s so relatable, touching on something so personal but an absolute joy to watch. I’ll leave the appropriate links below for you to check out, but if you’ve got a moment, scroll through his channel, and if you’re a gamer or just a general lover of music, maybe there is something you’d like to see him cover, it’s really good stuff. I’ll leave you with a quote from Jesse that speaks to what I’ve been talking about for ages, which is comforting:-

“I thought it was going to be a bunch of creaky noises and air, stuff like that, and there was creepy noises but they incorporated them into the music. What kind of genre is this?”

-Jesse

Ashley worked incredibly hard on this concept, I applaud her for being able to step into this enormous world, capturing it in the way that she did given but just one brief, and as long and as detailed as the brief was, it was still only one page and to date, I’ve written thousands of pages not including all the information found on this blog. Side note: I had planned to make my 100^th post on this blog a sort of statistic report where I will share all the things I’m proud of, all the things I’m not so proud of, I’d like to cover what I’d like to write about come the next one hundred articles because I do have some interesting topics worth sharing, this will however take some time to write, and given my schedule in the next few weeks, it will only take longer, by which time I likely would have already written up significantly shorter posts about the next couple of characters (Chloe and Mumbi) who are right now under conception, so moving forward I am still coming up with a way to work around this issue. Apologies to digress, but I thought it be good to mention: Back to Ashley. There was a lot to get through, it was a timely process and not everything was figured out right away, for instance, what would fill otherwise baron spaces and although it’s not about cluttering up the space for the sakes of just to fill it, but I did catch myself considering things that I had previously not garnered enough thought. The layout is brilliant, the scale is proportionate, the culture is clearly translated having been adapted by inspiration melded with vision. Isabelle and Pandora are captured beautifully, the lighting is gorgeous – The arched windows framed into the western wall was done this way for good reason, for the building itself was erected at such an angle to capture the sunlight that rises in the west. The suggestive idea that the oil lanterns could be lifted off their metallic hooks and carried around serves a functioning purpose, it being obvious, there is no electricity, so this follows in logic. The books themselves convey a sense of age with their leather-bound jackets sewn by hard working hands, as well as the room itself shows you its authenticity. Something I love personally is the indication people have been here, the mess on the table, the cracks in the wood, the dust in the air, it gives so much life to an otherwise still digital painting, a dynamic that when present we often take for granted but stands out like a sore thumb when it’s absent. I love the carpet, yeah I cannot believe I’m about to detail the carpet, I feel like I’ve aged ten years but it’s something interesting to cover; For you see I researched what ancient cultures worshipped the stars, I looked into Aztec and Egyptian art, whence I expressed my finds to Ashley she melded the two styles together to create something intrinsically unique, something that speaks to my fictional Norkron culture for they too worship the stars. This is a space I can see existing in real life, this is (for the most part) true to what you’re treated with in the books, it’s a testament to Ashley’s talent as an artist who I am certainly keeping on for future projects, and marks the first step in a series of artworks, the first one linked to Jilaine’s music, and what will follow will be depictions of more characters in favoured settings, depictions when men meet monsters and portrayals of everything weird and wonderful. The best is yet to come.

It’s a shame I have to do this, but it is part of being a creative, and that is recognising what didn’t work, whether it be slight or something quite large, you must cover it otherwise you’ll never grow; The idea is not to have any minor or major flaws at all, in truth you should iron out as many issues you come across as soon as you can BEFORE the work cements itself, but despite my meticulousness, there are a couple of things I’d tweak if I were to do this again. The first one being is the staircase, in the book it’s a steel, spiral staircase with a worn, turquoise tint, and it rattles whenever someone ascends or descends. In Ashley’s interpretation, it’s clearly more integral to the buildings structure, a staircase that has always existed when it was being constructed. Ashley’s interpretation is fine, although the reason I designed it thusly was to suggest that the library was once only one floor, but as time moved on and more knowledge was being accumulated, another few floors would be integrated and the spiral staircase would be jarringly inserted, standing out but symbolically representing the libraries grand extensions. This leans me into my next flaw, and that goes for the number of floors; In the book there are three floors and an attic space, in this concept there are only two floors. This issue came to my attention quite late, honestly, I should have picked up on it and hammered it out sooner, but it is something that slipped through my net. As vigilante as you can be as the visionary, sometimes things just get by, I promise to be more diligent come future projects. That’s it for flaws, I’ve no criticism of Ashley’s ability, I think she’s given Eran’s Old Library the justice it deserves, she certainly hit way above a standard and as we continue to work together, inevitably the art will get even better. The flaws I’ve listed are my responsibility and not huge flaws at that, nevertheless, I have to be critical of myself and with others, because as I’ve said before, by recognising your mistakes, by accounting for your errors which are inevitable, you’ll make less in future works.

Guys, thank you so much for reading today, as always it is greatly appreciated. To view Ashley’s interpretation of The Old Library, you can do so by visiting Ashley’s site and/or visiting my own simply by entering the Gallery or the Video section. To listen to Jilaine’s music, A Path Sewn by Fate, you can via her SoundCloud, she is the producer and composer of this music and deserves so much of the credit for creating something beautiful, she belongs on a lit stage in a golden dress performing in front of millions. Links to everyone’s work is listed below. Big thank you to Mr Alex Hunt for stepping in last minute to cut the video together in a creative way and add those nifty effects, it is greatly appreciated, thank you so much. I’m positive these wonderful people would appreciate a message regarding their input, kind words do go a long way, heck, I’ve printed out some kind letters written to me years ago just to remind me that I am (sometimes) a nice person doing something good for the world. If you do decide to write to any one of them, please be respectful about it, save any hatred you have for me, I’ll be sure to ignore it and work EVEN harder. You’ll notice in the links below I’ve left a direct link to my Donations page on the site, the reason I’ve done this is because I have started to look into the possibility of an animation being made, instead of the short film I was planning which was in hindsight overly ambitious, will be the same script only executed through animation; I have reached out to a few people, I’ve spoken with one animator thus far who works for BlueFlag Animations, we had a brief but insightful conversation about what can and cannot be accomplished, and what I gleaned from that one interaction was that there is little to nothing that cannot be achieved through animation, which was very encouraging; What wasn’t encouraging was the price tag it came with, and because I am still researching this avenue and am still new to the idea, I am hesitant to jump to any conclusions, but it would appear still to be out of my depth financially, we’ll see. I am expecting a few more quotes back within the next few days but my guess is it’s going to be expensive. I’ll front as much money as I can, but a helping hand goes a long way, just be sure to leave your name or alias so I can credit you if and when this happens, and even if it does not happen, I’ll credit you on the work you helped build. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still love to direct my own, live-action short film one day, I’ve still a fire for it, I’ve just not the financial backing to see it through and this strike has been working against me since day one – An animation might not be what I wanted initially, but I am warming to the idea. Anyway, no pressure to donate, no pressure to purchase my work, I’d love your support but reading this article is more than enough. Speaking of film, the lovely Kate Peel who assisted me on my films production when it was in full swing, recently had her work on display which was so awesome to see and hear about; Someone noted her accomplishments and scheduled an interview with her; As it turns out, a piece Kate had worked on for me was on display which was mentioned in said interview. I’ve shared a link for you below, from The Flux magazine that reveals the whole conversation, it’s a great read, I honestly wish there was more of it – Congratulations Kate on all her success, I look forward to seeing what comes next. Work on Volume Five is still underway, in the time it took to write this article I was messaged via WhatsApp by Joyce, my editor, who is nearly done with Chapter 36 – Hexagon, and will be requiring Chapter 37 – The Sire and the Stranger, next; So, upon publishing this article I will be editing further. Thanks again everyone, especially to those involved in this latest edition, do take care of yourselves and I hope you’ll come back for more upon my next entry, which will be article one hundred, one fucking hundred, a milestone in itself and something I am very proud of. Peace.  

E-mail – taotome@outlook.com    

X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque  

Official Website – www.taotequevault.com

Donation Page – http://www.taotequevault.com/support  

YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ

Bitchute – http://www.bitchute.com/channel/x9K5vwi2SsNu/

Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6    

Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6

A Path Sewn by Fate (Direct Link to Video) – https://youtu.be/c3MgNYB8gss 

Jilaine’s Soundcloud (Producer and Composer of: A Path Sewn by Fate) – https://soundcloud.com/jilaine26

Ashley’s Artwork / – http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089622653877   

Atlas Audio Official Website – www.atlas-audio.co.uk

Jesse’s Auditorium – Final Fantasy IX: You’re Not Alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NcJ0H8X6jA&t=580s

Jesse’s Auditorium – Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – Ozar Midrashim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs4aqwBjl88

Kate Peel, The Flux Review: Full Interview – https://www.thefluxreview.com/kate-peel-interview/  

Jasmine Thomas, Mad World Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXtj4TkTvS4

D.W.Gill

The Girl You’d Want to Marry

Hello everyone, how are we all? We’re still here, September 4^th was a day of mixed feelings and I will touch on all that shortly because I did make a promise to cover it, but first things first, I’ve a little something I’d like to share with you, it’s rather important given some context, context I’ll do my best to articulate here; It will require a quick leap over to my X (formerly known as Twitter) account to see it (link below) because I cannot share much on this platform; For that particular privilege writers such as myself have to sign up to one of WordPress’s premium package deals and I was looking into doing so at one point, but because we’re living through what can only be described as an era of hyper-inflation, I’ve kept my blog, my Taoteque Articles pages simple, where I don’t have to pay a penny but at the same time am severely limited in terms of reach and artistic options – If you go through the blog directly, you’ll get to see a neat image above the header, but if you go through my Official Website or happen to read my stuff through your e-mail if you were kind enough to subscribe, either way is fine, you’ll only get the body of text. It’s no big deal, obviously I’d prefer if everyone could see the thumbnail because I’ve actually started taking them a little more seriously of late, but it IS the text that is the most important part and always has been. Anyway, enough of that riffraff, what’s been going on? Well, editing on Volume Five of Episode Two-Rise of the Black Doves is steadily coming along, I should be getting Chapter 31-The Monolith, back soon which I can go over one final time before inserting it into the main template. Every chapter my editor and I complete is one step closer to a new launch day, and I love launch days because all that weight, all that pressure and stress that has been building on my shoulders for years, slowly offloads and you experience a sense of relief, a sense of euphoria which is incomparable to anything else I’ve ever experienced. I’ve been working with a digital painter for the last few months, she isn’t cheap so I’ve had to budget, but we’re in the final throes of completing a large scale piece of Master Eran’s Old Library, if you’ve read Episode One of The Ancestral Odyssey-The Utopian Dream (Volumes 1, 2 and 3) you’ll have an idea of what the interior looks like; We have worked hard on it, everything you’ll see has been considered, but I’ve allowed the artist to include his/her (in this case her) own creativity to shine through, I think that this is so important, to set boundaries for the artist to meet the requirements of your vision, but at the same time not to restrict them, to allow them the freedom to be creative in their own way, to think about the piece in question, to engage their own unique spark that inspired them to be an artist in the first place. Some people have said to me that ‘You should stick strictly to your vision, to not derail in the slightest,’ andI can understand why some people might think this way, why other people in my position hammer home what they want often at the discomfort of your peers, in some cases it is indeed necessary to tighten other artistic liberties (so long as you do it respectfully and with reason) especially with integral parts of your story that make it work on a fundamental level, but where I’m at right now, I want to experiment, I want to see other interpretations and stir the pot of creativity, and together as a result, you learn from each other, you gain another perspective, your own art, your own thoughts and ideas you’ve done your best translate is reflected back at you and suddenly you’re faced with an identity which one can only hope is something you recognise – If it is something you know and can bond with, congratulations your vision is on the right track and being realised, but if not, then you’ve some work to do. Fortunately for me, I’ve done the ground-work, accomplished a solid foundation of ideas from which to build a world, and through hiring and working with other artists who can practise with tools I cannot use, together we can build upon each other and perhaps learn from a perspective you have not considered; In turn you gather more knowledge through this multi-layered process and sitting back after a piece is completed, if done right, leaves you with a sense of achievement that no desk job can hope to give, nor any pay check can begin to nourish. If you’re a creative on your own journey, if you happen to work with others who assist you, I strongly recommend you employ this open-minded method of collaboration, of course be firm with what you want to achieve, but be aware that the tighter you constrict your fellow artist, the less likely it will be to make some good, quality work, work you can both be proud of, and I can honestly say, I am proud of what I’ve done and what I can show you today – Currently, The Old Library is being coloured/shaded, I am excited to see the end result, soon it will be featured in a video, certain elements will be animated to reflect a dynamic, a dynamic assisted with a piece of music written to tell a story. More to come on this project, I will be writing up an essay that goes into further detail, looking forward to releasing it, for now though however, it’s a pending matter. As for what I’ve shared today, is a new character concept drawn up by a new artist, she’s very good, very different to what you’ve seen previously with Mr Will Towns, someone who is keen, creative, can work to a brief while adding some of her own touches, someone I will gladly work with again. While Will Towns had a suggestive line, giving the character concepts a grizzled realistic effect, this new artist embodies a fine line with an anima style. So, grab yourselves a drink, I’ve gone with a small can of Dr. Pepper…Don’t look at me like that, it’s roasting hot, sometimes a cold glass of poison ugh I mean sugar is what you need, once in a while is fine, besides I’ve been really good of late, I do not drink as much caffeine as I used to which often left me wired all night long which cannot be good for the heart; The blueberry, banana and tuna diet is unlocking immortal super-powers and combined with an hour long walk through the City of Oxford everyday (yes, every day I walk the Oxford Streets) is turning my legs to concrete, I can afford to enjoy this Dr. Pepper. Anyway, hope you like my latest article called, The Girl you’d Marry.

If you’ve not seen the character featured in the Gallery section of the website or adorning the top post of my X/Facebook pages (again, links below), her name is Zoe Nebrie, born and raised in the new capital of Krondathia, in New Xiondel City, in the year of 1532, which makes her 28 years old. She’s about 5 foot 4 inches tall, holds a lean (borderline malnourished) body type, has white skin, green eyes, stressed out light brown hair, is graced with long dancers’ legs having taken after her mother who we unfortunately do not meet in the book, and she works in a multitude of low skilled, low respected, low paid jobs during a transitional era from stone and magic, into a industrial (steampunk inspired) culture. One look at her image and you’ll quickly be able to determine where one of her occupations is situated…And before I go on, that was not a dis to those who do work in the catering industry, it’s considered low skill, sure, but actually requires quite a lot of skill, I know so because I’ve two brothers who’ve worked in this industry and they’ve done incredibly well for themselves, it is a shame our society sees things this way but my hat comes off to you heroes, Godspeed, I too have been there, I too have felt the burn and you’ve my utmost respect, especially around the Christmas period, because I know it is fucking relentless…Without getting into too many spoilers with Zoe’s involvement in the story of Ep2-Rise, I’d actually like to focus on what she represents because even if I did include spoilers, I think her impact and what she’s symbolic of is much more important and necessary than to what many might think after having read this most recent instalment. You’re introduced to Zoe quite early on at the start of Episode Two-Rise of The Black Doves, in Volume Four; She’s running from one job to the next while doing her hair, pulling her uniform over herself doing what she can to look presentable for what she is about to walk into; I hope that the reader thinks you’ll be following Zoe’s journey directly from here, as if she was one of the leads, but that all comes to a sudden halt when she crashes into Telsi Canis Clewvier, the 24^th Star Caller, one of THE most powerful characters in the entire series. Zoe goes down and hits the pavement, but Telsi does not suffering at best a wobble, the Star Caller is quick to anger while Zoe is overly apologetic despite Telsi being equally to blame for the collision. Then, as the reader, you’re veered off to follow Telsi, because she IS in fact one of the leads and main “protagonists” in The Ancestral Odyssey, not our sweetheart Zoe. This was done purposefully, this was done intentionally for five reasons; 1) Zoe, is either terrible at time management or has multiple jobs and is struggling to get by, leaving readers with an air of curiosity about her or at least I hope that’s conveyed, she is missing a finger after all on her right hand, it being replaced with a metallic prosthetic, and it’s not revealed as to how/why this happened until late. 2) Zoe is quick to apologise, quick to respond with care and kindness relaying concern for her fellow citizen, even when she is not all to blame, it’s a humble and compassionate trait to have when you profusely apologise when it’s not your fault. 3) Because Zoe falls and Telsi does not, tells you/me, that one is more stable than the other on a physical level at least. Telsi may not be stable mentally, she’s often plagued with typical anxiety that a lot of Glyph (magic) Wielders are, and suffers from insecurity brought on by the sense of inadequacy when in the shadow of the other Star Callers, especially Alessa Antares Coldan, her physique on the other hand is a different story, it was written to be natural, yet effortlessly beautiful, this does not mean Zoe isn’t attractive because she is in a different way, but her ability to keep to her feet is weaker in comparison to her opposite, in this case Telsi. 4) It shows a reversal, what we know of Star Callers going off Isabelle Verano, the 23^rd Star Caller in Episode One, you’d think the Star Caller in this situation would be far more caring and sympathetic to someone like Zoe, but demonstrably something has flipped in the twenty-years since the ending of Ep1-The Utopian Dream, and the best most effective way to show this change and not tell it to you, is through scenes such as this. And finally 5) Zoe’s story is quite literally pushed aside by someone on the other side of the spectrum, by someone who has everything Zoe does not; Power, both politically and magically, respect across the lands of Equis, wealth, a voice, choices, and more notably, greater stakes in the story which offers up a question – Why would you, yes you, the reader, be interested in following someone like Zoe Nebrie, when you could read about someone who embodies everything an epic fantasy should have? And this is the question I’d like to answer in this essay, because there is a reason; You don’t need demonstrable power, to be powerful, and I’ll explain why.

Throughout The Ancestral Odyssey thus far, from Episode One to the first third of Episode Two, we’ve met and encountered beings out of time, beings like Juroot Narsidous more commonly known as the Magpie; We’ve been introduced to great knights brandishing impressive armour and weaponry, heroes like Lethaniel Presian, Mathias Sious, Jerhdia O’Nen and Braygon Augiene. Ingenius rogued figures with incredible survival skills and espionage tactics, men like Toula Windeuce, Riagel Tyorn and Draygo Dumear. Adept wielders of magic both of The Blessed and The Cursed, some of which are Isabelle Verano, Miranda Simbidia, Cephie Melias, Alessa Coldan, Donna Mu Klade and the terrifying Ramskull. We’ve encountered majestic creatures that inhabit some of Equis’s lands, creatures like the tulkan bull that traverse Fevorlian in herds of thousands that shape the very earth they tread upon, the assassins of Tthenadawn Forest the night panthers, the graceful copper hawks at war with the slithering red snakes, from the poetic singing whales out at sea to the buried chrocian titans in the country of Sand, these creatures are as much part of the world as anything else, leaving a personal signature inscribed into their ancient habitat, environments inked with human historical figures, men and women that changed the course of history whether they be great thinkers like Hallow Diases, saints like Regina Corah, the long line of Star Callers after her, the holy maidens of a religious people in Krondathia or the mighty Honour Guards starting with Meniver Hikonle, this is all part of the world of Equis, a stage held captive by a Celestial dictatorship that scars the night sky. With all these factions marching side by side with one another, going up against others with different ideas for the future generations, with all this history grating on itself, shaping the movements and decisions of our lead protagonists and antagonists encouraging them to be brave, to be daring and bold, to defy the odds and push the limits of human capabilities, whether you’ve a sword in your hand or have your blood coursing with magical properties, where does someone like Zoe, a barmaid fit into all this? Well, I’m here to tell you that SHE is symbolic of everything our heroes fight for and against; What do I mean by this? Let’s start with ‘the for’; Characters like Zoe Nebrie are people who carry civilisation into the next life, they are born, they’re raised, they aspire to acquire their independence by seeking out work/job opportunities and some of them, move on to shape the culture surrounding them, a culture in which has been forged through the sacrifices and hardships of our leads, our heroes who are out on the field, these men don’t usually survive, they don’t usually live very long given the nature of what they’re up against and what they have access to in terms of health care and technology. One thing I pride myself on in fact, and some other writers may disagree with me on this, is that I’m not afraid to kill off characters, I do not do this because I’m sadistic…Had to think for a moment there but no, I don’t do it for mere shock value (even though there is a fringe benefit for employing such methods to your writing, so long as it’s handled delicately and with respect to the character/story), I do it too often serve this very purpose, to get across the point that when you put yourself on the line, when you engage with your opposites in dire situations, as skilled as you are the likelihood of your survival is slim, and people, friends and family die, and it’s sad because not only do I enjoy these characters, but it’s also a reflection of what goes on in real life – To give a taste of this bitterness in a fantasy setting is key to your arts submersion, it is fundamental to its seriousness and believability, something I don’t think you see enough of these days, especially in Hollywood, writers usually pandering to the masses, subscribing to that happily ever after without a moment’s thought of what it took to get there, plot convivences or relying on dues ex machina’s to see your heroes through:-

Deus ex machina

(Latin: “god from the machine”) a person or thing that appears or is introduced into a situation suddenly and unexpectedly and provides an artificial or contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.

As for ‘against’; Well, if characters like Zoe, the bares of their civilisations exist on one side, they exist on the other, and if you hate or want to destroy your enemies then you either enslave or eradicate the populous of your enemies, the latter being far easier unfortunately, because those who are enslaved, do not forget, they remember, knowledge is passed down from one generation to the next, and time inevitably changes, whether it comes sooner or later, an uprising to make amends for the past will occur and it’s from among those disrespected people, those with ‘low-skilled’ jobs that can and will tear down your civilisation if you do not listen to them. So, on the surface it might seem like Lethaniel, Cephie, Telsi and Deacon are the leads, but in truth, it’s people like Zoe who are the important ones, it’s people like Zoe who men like Lethaniel and Braygon fight for, to come home to in the hopes to build a future with, and this is mainly what The Ancestral Odyssey is about, it is about what you leave behind, what you pass on, what your offspring or fellow man will come to inherit.

This was an aspect of storytelling that was somewhat neglected in Episode One-The Utopian Dream, sure, we had something similar to what Zoe represents in the character of Sibella, but even Sibella, as removed from the major plot points as she was, a young Renasark woman, living in an enclosed sanctuary of mountains with what remains of her people, still was of royal blood, and she was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, if you’ve read Ep1-Dream, you’ll know exactly what I mean by this. I want to include Clarisa Viel, and the chatty maid, Anya Freyworth into this dialogue, and I suppose they’re decent examples when it comes to describing the common worker in this world of Equis, but it’s better personified in someone like Zoe – Clarisa, owns a successful establishment who employs a host of people and Anya, waits hand and foot on a Star Caller which is the equivalent of The Queen or a female version of The Pope. I don’t know many people who’ve set up their own business’s, business’s that are not only successful, but are thriving and I certainly do not know anyone who works in Buckingham Palace who makes The Royal Family their tea, I’m sure there are people who know such people in their immediate life, there must be, but it’s rare. Zoe IS someone we all know, we speak to people like her every day we see them every day, and given the state the world (our world) is in right now, the noose will only grow tighter and the more desperate people will become, we’re overworked, underpaid, not appreciated and constantly tired, unable to make room for the things that really matter, spending quality time with family and friends for example, and when I say quality time, I do not mean chatting via the online space or over the phone, this is something at least but that’s not quality time; We struggle to take a moment for ourselves, to work on passion projects, most of us do not have the time to do these things which contributes to a healthy mind and good talk when you do get into a situation where you’re asked to share what it is you do, enjoy and love.

I’m lucky, I realised what I wanted to do in my mid to late teens and I’ve built myself into a routine that suits me, it’s chaos for sure but it’s a scheme that gets me out of bed, to hunker down and do some solid work. When I get going I go, and I’ve learned the discipline necessary to write new material for the books, to articulate articles such as this, to think about otherworldly characters, to imagine what their journeys look like, what they learn, what their failures are, what they have to overcome, where they go, who their opposites are, this is where I spend most of my time, this is where I want to be, where I am useful, positive and happy. Like going to the gym, I can engage that part of my brain and work through it, whereas the ordinary person of my age or within the same bracket who is married, who has a family, who has genuine responsibilities and a busier life style than I do, perhaps they’ve a worse hand of cards than mine to work with, who knows, we’ve all obstacles in our way but whatever the reason, a lot of people’s real flare is wasted on things that don’t matter, since school it has been drummed out of them, we’re told to grow up, instructed to join the workforce as soon as possible, to put your imagination on hold because that’s something for kids, and is unimportant. When in reality, nothing could be farther from the truth; One of the reasons people are so fucking miserable these days and you can see it on their faces as you’re talking to them, is because they’ve realised they’ve bought into this lie, a lie fed to them when they were young and I am not saying starting a family or getting married is not something to strive for, that is a separate topic all together, what I am saying is do not lose yourself along the way as you grow older, maintain your unique fire, because thirty years of life flies by, it goes so fast like literary snapping your fingers. You think you’ve all the time in the world but you really don’t, it’s an illusion, and there is nothing more important than your time; My message is to spend it wisely, set aside time for yourself, work on the things you love, no matter what it is or manifests as, it’s not selfish to do it is necessary, and the sooner you start the better, the opportunity to make something of it, to pursue it as a fulltime path/commitment gets smaller by the day if it ever happens at all. This is why I’ve hated (spare the ice delivery work and film projects, thank you Mr H), every job I’ve ever had, because those spaces are by majority filled with zombies, yes, zombies, blobs of bumbling self-righteous matter, people who’ve given themselves over to the machine, who’ve bought into the lie who’ve had whatever life essence they were born with sucked right out of them until they’re a good little drone, who have forgotten how wonderful and freeing life can be if they just tried to be themselves. Every day I have to deal with them, every fucking day I have to drag myself away from the thing I am good at, the thing that gives my life meaning and sit inside a glass box, silencing my inner voice, forced to nod, to smile, and comply with a fundamentally broken system, forced to sit at the bottom of the ladder being looked down upon by morons, patronised daily and laughed at for being useless because I am not one of them. I used to care what people thought of me but within the last few years, I’ve learned not to give a fuck and nor should you, I know I am not a sheep who is cheerfully led by the shepherd to the edge of the cliff or into the slaughterhouse, no, I am a wolf (a lion is more accurate considering my mass of hair, which is my mane), I’m solitary, someone who does not work by someone else’s schedule but is forced to, forced to fleece up and follow someone else’s rules, and from day one, from day fucking one, as far back as I can remember, these zombified sheep have been trying to mould me (and you) into their image, whether it be by slapping me on the wrist from using my left hand to write with or forcing me to show up every day to a grey block to carry out meaningless, soul destroying, insignificant tasks…It has NOT worked, I’m still writing, still building, still creating, still rebelling, for there is nowhere for me to show up to, no establishment where I am welcome, we have to make it for ourselves and because of that, it feels like I’m being punished, like the world these constructed zombies created, do not want people like me in it and I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to get by knowing that this might be the path I’m on forever, struggling to carve out a spot for myself. I’m hard to work with, impossible to manipulate, the same pattern emerges no matter what industry I enter and…It’s hell, it’s unbearable…And this sense of struggle, this sense of being trapped in ever enclosing walls, is how Zoe Nebrie feels, she’s holding onto to who she is as best she can but you can see the wear, you can feel that cry for help, that welp of desperation as if having to come up for a gasp of air and I can relate to that, I know what that feels like, and for all the extraordinary characters we follow, for every hero like Lethaniel, for every Isabelle, Cephie, Draygo and so on, it’s actually in Zoe where most of us are in life, someone who is unappreciated, unheard, disrespected and unseen, and it’s tragic, tragic to think that so many of us slip by without a moments pause from others honestly gets me down, and worse yet, I do not know what can be done about it. We all want to be the hero in the stories told to us, but truthfully, we are Zoe, we are the ones who have to find a way to get by without much skill, without any power, who have to put a brave face on and do the best we can with what we have and it’s in that chaotic balance where we make ourselves, it’s in the throes of reality that happen on the ground, where we will thrive, die or worse assimilate into something we’re not because that’s easy, because that’s what’s expected, that’s the safe path and Zoe, as painful as life is for her, she’s a fighter, she’s hanging on, and her fire is what motivates a certain other, to change the world, to fix the broken system, to restore a future ready to be cultivated for the Zoe’s of the world to inherit and to inhabit, because she is someone who can find light in dark places, she is someone who can smile when there is very little to smile about, she is someone who carries on while taking her dreams with her, someone who has hope when it has been so long since she has had some, a girl who is constantly kicked to the ground but finds the strength to stand back up because it’s not about the failures or disappointments that come your way, it’s about how you handle them. Yes, she is someone I’d want to marry, she is someone you would take a bullet for, who you’d think about, who you’d want to see do well in life…Yeah, that’s a power you cannot manifest with practise, you cannot cultivate it, it’s either inside you or not, something worth more than anything money can buy, and something to be nurtured and protected to your last breath.

The drawing of Zoe Nebrie itself was sketched and coloured by a young woman called Evelyn, I wrote Miss Evelyn a brief and was sure to follow the methods I detailed earlier in this essay, and together, we worked through every aspect of Zoe’s character, discussing everything from posture, clothing, and features. Zoe is your typical working girl, and it is reflected in her outfit which best matches the era Krondathia is transitioning into. Because Evelyn uses more of a fine line and works with colour, I decided to scrap that rough paper background I commonly used when working with Mr Will Towns, and instead, made a more artsy backdrop. I believe this does Evelyns work a service, mirroring her anima style and I want to accentuate her talent as much as possible, for I want her to find success in what she is doing. Evelyn is indeed bright, and passionate about her work, she asked the appropriate questions and was not afraid to pitch me ideas. If you get a chance, do visit her X or Instagram pages, leave her a positive message, I know she will appreciate it, and of course if you’d like to drop me a message, whether you like my work or not, I’d like to hear it. I am moving forward with Evelyn, I am currently writing up a few more briefs for her to read through, and she’ll be asked to choose which character she’ll like to tackle next. I think pitching her Zoe to begin with was a wise choice, because if you cannot work around a common character such as her, you will not be able to work with one of the more larger than life characters that I’ve many of, and hope to see a fair interpretation of in the future. Evelyn succeeded with Zoe Nebrie, I look forward to what she comes out with next.

Thank you so much for reading guys and gals, I do appreciate it. As you may already have guessed, I didn’t win my category in The Readers Favourite Awards. I handled the loss as best I could, but I was and still am, rather upset about it, for the longest time it was there as a ray of hope, and then it wasn’t. As I expressed in my last article titled, The Holy Trinity, I did feel confident, I had done the necessary work as hard as it was, I did make the right moves and it take a lot of time, cost me a lot of money, I lost sleep, weight some colour in my facial hair, it all takes its toll and I really felt good about it, I really had a feeling my life would change and I could finally step away from the soul killing jobs I’ve had to par-take in forever and prioritise in the thing that keeps me here, but it wasn’t meant to be, not yet, but where Zoe can find strength in a hopeless situation, I’m sure I can too, as what was said; You do not need demonstrable power, to be powerful. Congratulations to those who won, big round of applause to Helen Garraway, D.Wallace Peach, Morgan Cole, Jay Veloso Batista, Nikki Auberkett and Jay Pellegrin. Again, thanks for reading guys, I hope you found something in this one, apologies for the rant, but it has been a while since I ranted so it was inevitable it would come out sooner or later. Take care of yourselves, this has been article number 98, see you in the next one. PEACE!    

E-mail – taotome@outlook.com  

X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque   

Official Website – http://www.taotequevault.com 

Promotional Material YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ   

Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6  

Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6

Evelyn’s X (Twitter) – @eve_lyn1t

Evelyn’s Instagram – @EVEL_YNARTS

D.W.Gill

An Exploration of Soma

Hello everyone, we’re back and finally we’re here, finally it has arrived, my long-awaited deep dive into the mind-bending, thought provoking, reality shattering game, Soma, one of the most profound games if not THE most profound game I’ve ever played, successfully knocking Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty out of 1^st place. This is an article I’ve been promising you for months now, and one I am ever so excited to be presenting to you today. I’ve been working on this for a very long time, it’s hard to know when I started it actually, I played and finished the game last summer, and since then it has been cooking. I’ve read articles on it, I’ve watched several videos on it, I’ve even read large sections of a couple of books that study religion, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and research into the self-consciousness to help me navigate through this intellectual maze. Needless to say, that weight I’ve been feeling, that mental strain I’ve sensed ever since I decided to take on this enormous challenge, which is arguably the biggest one yet, has gently lifted, it’s not gone entirely as I’ll soon express, but it does feel good having given this topic a home in which to linger, for this was a very tough nut to crack. Of all the ninety-five posts I’ve dropped over the last few years, this one was the hardest to write by far, topping The Last Bastion, clearing The Loudest Note and overwhelming The Irreplaceable: Final Fantasy VII; All these articles of mine I hope you’ve read by the way and if not, please consider doing so because I do work hard on them and I feel they do have something to say. This one however is not a rant, it’s not particularly a passion of mine, as much as I love gaming and the art of storytelling this essay is more to do with tackling an ancient spectrum of questions, focusing on the content, the unwritten word, the scene behind the scenes rather than its gaming aspects. This is also not a political dispute, it’s not about my work as a creative, nor is it a simple review, this is something else, this is an exploration, a study, something I’ve had to thoroughly research, delving into the works of people who truly are aspirational thinkers, and although I will do my best to touch on everything the game has to offer from a gaming perspective, it’s the philosophical aspect which is at the core of this post. During the time I spent with Soma, my outlook on life has indeed shifted, I didn’t want to put it into words, it needed to be documented, not just for my own sakes mentally, but for whoever has experienced Soma or is struggling with their beliefs and their place in this reality. It doesn’t matter if you’re religious, if you’re borderline or someone like myself who does not believe in a deity or a higher power, this game will call into questions you may have wrestled with earlier in life and will uproot them with a fresh outlook, forcing you to take a step back and think about your actions in order to progress, only to then have it reveal what can only be described as a warped perspective and heart sunk ending, an ending that leaves you somewhat underwhelmed but at the same time immensely enrapt, delivering you into a space where it couldn’t have ended any other way. It’s almost more frightening when the answers are ongoing, rather to have them confirmed. The unknown, the mystery will always be more powerful and sobering than known certainty, it’s what drives people to investigate, it sparks adventure, it’s often pieces of entertainment that are left unclear that resonate with us because when things are left to our own opinion or interpretation, this sparks a genuinely pure intrigue. This is the power of Soma, a masterpiece of modern storytelling and what I want to get into, because never…NEVER…Have I been made to sit with such decisions before in a virtual space, never has a game taken these ancient philosophies which we’re still grappling with to this day and given it such gravitas wrapped in the skin of science fiction, post-apocalyptic, psychological horror. I promise to deliver you an in-depth review of this game but to skip slightly ahead, this game resonates, it stays with you, accomplishing what I believe art is supposed to do, you should come away from the experience with some experience, and art that is captured and translated authentically, naturally becomes a landmark in your mind and likely among others as well often spilling into daily dialogue you have with family, friends and work colleagues. Soma does this, but the difference here is that it does not go away, it does nor will expire, it’s always going to haunt you, creeping up on you when you least expect it, not in the form of a monster akin to Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger or something perhaps more obscure that all pale in comparison, no, instead it is what your mind processes, what it’s battling with all the while, cursed with the notion that this is never going to end! Of course, not every piece is going to sit the same way with every person who engages in it, some people I bet will play Soma and see it as a mediocre, first person, puzzle solving horror at best, a game floundering in the same waters as your Silent Hills, System Shock’s and Amnesia’s and even though these are fantastic neighbours to have, Soma does SO much more, and I feel with a lot of people who have or are playing this game, it will never make that impression or dent in the Universe it truly deserves and that’s a shame, because given some independent thought, some personal investigation, this game transforms into a behemoth, one in a league of its own – It is amazing how much is in here that is not verbally expressed, so much worth investigating, the devil is literally in the details and where it leads, what this game is trying to convey, is staggering! It is painful, painful when you enter a forum online and see people who have given this a play-through and claim that it’s “Not scary” that it “Doesn’t make any sense” or was “Boring” – My response to ALL these people is that you’ve missed the point entirely, you’re wrong, you’re all just flat out wrong and I encourage you to reassess, and if you’re reading this then that’s a start, but as deep as I’m going to go with this game, I fear I cannot do it the justice it deserves…But I’ll give it my best shot! By all means, challenge the game on a gaming frontier, absolutely because it is flawed, text book at best with not much to offer, as I keep saying, no piece of media is free of criticism, Soma is by no means a stunning game nor does it do anything particularly special, but to challenge it on its ability to stay with you, its ability to engage your mind, to enlighten your perceptions on reality and what is right from wrong, you better have done your homework otherwise you’ll simply be making an absolute fool of yourself because if you’re a living, breathing human being who can think and feel, then this affects you. What do I mean; Well, we’ve all had to face up to those brain melting questions at some point in our lives, from the Einstein’s to the (sigh) Kardashians, we’ve all asked ourselves questions like; Is there a God? What made God? What is consciousness? What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be alive? What is the definition of being alive? What happens after we die? Is there a Heaven and Hell and what is our purpose if we’ve a purpose at all? When religion and science cannot answer such questions or at least in a way that can satisfy, where or who do we turn too? I love horror, it is my favourite of all the genres; Why? Because, ironically, when travelling toward the abyss or the divine, when in pursuit of answers that make an impactful difference, what I have discovered is that it always leaves you in a strange and uncanny position, a place best encapsulated in a horror setting, the tent of horror is typically the place we find ourselves in when exploring such subjects, that in of itself scares me and it hasn’t been the first time ever since I’ve been investing into this game, it hits you on multiple levels and this may seem cruel of me to say this but, I recommend you experience it to…One thing I’ve come to learn as I’ve been writing these essays (sorry to digress here but it is appropriate) is that it almost feels like holding your breath the moment you decide to write an essay, the subject is always on your mind, it’s always gnawing away in the back of your thoughts, you cannot really relax or surface for air until it’s done nor can you focus on something else, and when you do manage to finish, you do go through a state of relief, you do feel a sense of accomplishment that enables you to seek out a reward; Whether that be a costly purchase, a few days away, a night out with some friends or an evening meal at a fancy restaurant, you’re enthused and things feel better, but when I finished this one, The Exploration of Soma, I wasn’t left with such sensations, I wasn’t relieved in the ways I felt like I would be, instead I felt like I was still under there, still looking up, still struggling for answers, and that feeling I know is not going to go away, no matter how long I spend thinking about it or trying to solve its equations, it won’t end, it will always be there in my shadow, but then I realise something far worse, something far more traumatic than the unknown, and that is in fact…Knowing…I know I’ve ever so slightly contradicted myself, if you’ve been paying attention you’ll be able to spot where and why, but hear me out; If we were to somehow gain answers for such fundamental mysteries, it is inevitable that other questions will rise from said answers, other peaks will emerge and we’ll be forced to confront them – And what those peaks look like I shudder to comprehend. It is such topics that I extracted from Soma, I’ll do my best to cover the game, its story and its philosophical messaging but if I am honest, I feel out of my depth, I do not feel qualified to get wrist deep into this one, but despite this hurdle, however difficult it might be, I think it’s worth a try, I think it’s wrong to back down just because something is big and daunting, it’s always good to give it your best shot and pierce the problem in your own way. Perhaps the more people who challenge these impossible blockades, the more insight we’ll gain, and someone will one day collect all these ideas, will be able to translate them and formulate them into arguments which hold water, and the closer we’ll all be to clarity. You’ll need something strong for this one, I’ve been getting through tea and coffee but by the time I finished I was on the whiskey, Johnny Walker Black as always. Heavy spoilers ahead so if you haven’t played Soma, please play it before reading this article if I’ve not scared you off already, after everything I have said thus far, it is at the end of the day an enjoyable game, it is intense and pretty scary even for those veteran fans of horror. I played it on my XboxOne last year, in the summer of 2022 and I believe it is still available for download. If you’ve a GamePass it is free to play right away, a good pair of headphones or surround sound required. You can also find it on the PlayStation store and PC, it’s worth your time. I’ll start with a thorough analysis of The Plot, which will be broken down into six chapters. I’ll then move into the pros and cons, the Review portion of the game which will then branch into a philosophical thought called, The Analysis with Aion, which will further extend into something I’ve been meaning to talk about for quite some time, a subject I’ve put off for a while but through Soma, have finally the appropriate chance to talk about in detail, and that is The Existential Threat of A.I. I’ll do my best to interpret the messages of this story subtle or otherwise and I’ll do my best to make sense of the threads that spread far and wide into our history and Abrahamic religions. Please feel free to criticise and challenge my work, I encourage everyone to do so in fact, if I’ve gotten something wrong or if you’ve a more solid interpretation of the game or the works I’m about to discuss, I am an easy man to reach, all I ask is that you read the whole article before sending me your response, I would appreciate that. I hope you enjoy The Exploration of Soma, my largest and most ambitious essay I’ve ever written, let’s start with the story.

Soma

1. The body of an organism.
2. All of an organism except for the germ cells.

“An intoxicating juice from a plant of disputed identity that was used in ancient India as an offering to the gods and as a drink of immortality by worshippers in Vedic ritual and worshipped in personified form as a Vedic god.”

Soma – The Plot

Chapter 1/ Waking into a Nightmare

Soma is a first person, puzzle solving, survival horror game released on September 22^nd, 2015, that explores the nightmare of transhumanism. Developed by the same team behind the Amnesia series, Frictional Games, the story follows two protagonists, we’ve a young man from Toronto, Canada, named Simon Jarrett, born 1986, July 16^th, making him 26, a year older than I am in the game’s timeline, and is voiced by actor Jared Zeus. We’ve also a scientist, from Taiwan, Dr. Catherine Chun, born 2066, December 27^th, making her 37, she’s voiced by Nell Mooney, and together, Simon and Catherine explore the research facility known as PATHOS-II, located at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, but we are already getting ahead of ourselves and already you’ve probably some questions, don’t worry, all will be straightened out.

Pathos

A quality that evokes pity or sadness.

The game begins in the month of April 2015 with Simon riding in a car late at night with his girlfriend Ashley Hall, when all of a sudden, they crash! Ashley is instantly killed but Simon survives having suffered head trauma, resulting in brain damage that will unfortunately, eventually kill Simon, his diagnosis giving him a few months to live if he’s lucky, but a sliver of hope is on the horizon. We wake up in Simon’s apartment and we’re given a chance to explore the living space, we can go through his cupboards and drawers, flick through his phone and click around on his laptop. This is clearly the games tutorial section, the controls are textbook but rather linear compared to other first-person games in the genre, you can walk (obviously), sprint, jump, crouch, peak, and interact with most objects, standard really with games such as this. Around the apartment we get to know Simon through some visual storytelling, he seems to be interested in music, he attends/attended gigs, festivals, works in retail, in a bookstore, he holds an appreciation for art and has a fascination with space. He’s held onto the newspaper report on the crash he and Ashley suffered, has an interest in photography, he enjoys takeout meals and microwavable TV dinners; Pizza seems to be his favourite, just look in the fridge; His apartment is littered with pizza boxes. Whether his poor dietary habits are a result of the accident or something he’s always done is up in the air, but walking around his place gives you an idea of who you’re playing as, you are your average guy in his mid to late twenties. It’s made clear from a letter on his desk that we are to attend a medical appointment with a Dr. Munchi in the afternoon, after having drank a special red substance called Tracer Fluid, you’re then to board the train and make your way into the city, into Toronto, Canada. When you arrive at the office you meet with Dr. Munchi voiced by Jim Sterling, you exchange some small talk, the interaction is pleasant enough, and then you’re asked to sit in a mechanical chair, something that will eventually become a pilot seat; It’s located in a backroom that’s wired up with monitors and bulky machines. Before sitting to be scanned, Simon utters the line: –

‘Indians thought cameras would steal their souls.’

The technology designed by Munchi is evidently in its early stages, experimental at this point in 2015 and Munchi is not your typical Doctor, he developed his tech to scan and map Simon’s brain, Dr. Munchi will then build a computer model of the organ and plug it with stimuli. From there the programme will optimise a treatment plan, a Neurograph, to heal Simon of his trauma which will essentially cure him. Please note that I’ve played through Soma twice, once last summer this time last year in fact, and another time quite recently in preparation for this article, arguably a year a part. What I’ve described is a loose explanation of what Dr. Munchi wants to do, chances are Simon’s fate is already sealed, but Dr. Munchi is hopeful, enthusiastic even; Anyone in Simon’s position would at least give it a go, I know I would, I kind of like being alive. Once the headgear is placed onto your/Simon’s head when you’re in the seat, and goes over your eyes, Dr. Munchi activates the machine to initiate the scan. You experience a fuzziness, the screen you’re looking through flickers and crackles, sizzling into a dazzling light, everything then suddenly goes pitch black as if the power was shut off all at once and it’s ominously quiet! The headgear automatically lifts, Dr. Munchi is nowhere to be seen and you find yourself completely alone, in a totally different environment – In a dank, rusty basement situated somewhere on the PATHOS-II research facility, 335meters (approximately) below sea level. If things were not confusing enough, the situation is about to get far, far worse; After pulling yourself out of the chair/pilot seat that too has changed since you sat down literally seconds ago, you stagger through the empty, mechanised hallways of this strange, seemingly abandoned facility and come to learn that the present year is not April 2015, but in fact it’s 2104, that’s 89 years into the future! How you arrived here will become horrifyingly clear later, but for now, Simon has no choice but to navigate his way through this powerplant all alone, a site which is called, Upsilon; One of nine (technically ten sites, if you count the one found at surface level and its supply vessel called the Curie) base platforms belonging to that of PATHOS-II. Besides Upsilon, there is site Theta, Lambda, Delta, Omicron, Tau, Phi, Omega, and Alpha where only a few of the researchers know about it due to its code black nature. All of these sites you visit are significant, think of them as the games level design, all of them have their own unique aesthetics and purposes. I will be sure to cover them all. There is also an area you visit which to me was one of the scariest moments in the game, it’s called, The Curie and I struggled with this section and for good reason, but again we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Site Upsilon is segmented into two parts; Site a which is the Thermal Manufacturing Plant where you start and Site b, the Gas Harvesting Refinery. As you make your way through, you figure out that you need something called an Omnitool. An Omnitool, is an all-in-one-purpose key device that can be upgraded as you move from place to place, it’s manufactured by Haimatsu Technologies and you absolutely require one in order to get around, travelling otherwise is almost impossible in PATHOS-II. Haimatus Technologies, if you’re wondering are a Japanese, multinational technology conglomerate, they make and produce a lot of the equipment such as the deep-sea diving suits that are used throughout PATHOS-II. Assembling this glorified key device is the first of many challenges, but the biggest challenge you’ll face in Soma is not navigation from site to site (as annoying as it is at times), it’s not the puzzles (as frustrating as they can often be) or the other “lifeforms” that stand in your way, but it’s the choices you’ll be forced to face up to and the rationalisations you’ll make to tackle those fundamental questions, each one increasingly complicated the further you progress. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s discuss your first couple of encounters with some of the “lifeforms” on PATHOS-II, and believe me those quotation marks are indeed necessary.

You enter what looks like a control room in Upsilon, it’s dark, damaged, the office itself is in a complete mess but something resembling a low-key, bulky robot with flimsy, lever like arms has fallen in the middle of the floor. It’s not going anywhere. This bot, upon closer inspection looks like a car engine encased in a make-shift metal shell – Is hooked up by two cords that actually look like black tendrils. The robot is barely functioning, its head monitor flashing as it examines itself unaware of your presence, that is until you have to pull out one of the cords it’s attached to and re-direct the plug into the mainframe, is when it speaks: –

‘Don’t…I need that!’

And then it speaks again when you remove the last cord, in a troubled yet soft, slightly robotic female voice: –

‘Why? I was okay. I was happy.’

After a moment whence unplugged, the robot goes limp, it’s lights go out and it dies or is forced to shut down!? I remember when I first played through this sequence and honestly, I didn’t know what to think, but I felt bad, so I reverted my save and played again, just to be sure there was no other way to save this…Intelligence…I saw a machine hooked up to a control panel that demonstrated sentience when you disturbed it, and it spoke with a human, female voice in distress when it was detached! Which begs the question; Was this a sentient life? It can’t be right; It was clearly a machine? So why did I feel upset about what happened? Shortly after we are contacted by a woman (our other lead protagonist) named, Catherine Chun; You see a still shot of her face pop up on one of the monitors and she instructs you to find the Comms Centre and call her immediately. Finally, given an ounce of hope that Simon is not entirely alone, he/you have to get on with the task and continue to navigate your way to the communication offices. It’s during this section where you encounter another one of those bots, only this one is not broken, it’s angrily stomping around and if you happen to fall under its search light, it charges you and will crush you into bits if it catches up to you. The thing does not speak, it behaves like a guardsman, clumsily patrolling the halls, stamping away as it plods along – It’s easily evaded but can become troublesome during pauses at computers where you need to gain access to the next few areas, areas that hold another concerning interaction, this one involving, Carl Semken, a Wrangler, only it’s not Carl. To articulate what I mean, I’ll share some of the dialogue between Simon and Carl, bear in mind that “Carl” is a bundle of machine components bolted together under a metal shell casing, he’s as large (perhaps a little larger) as a car engine, has two mechanical arms with pincers but has lost the use of his legs, he appears to be stuck, unable to move. When you approach: –

‘What are you?’

‘It’s me, Carl. Carl Semken. Wrangler? Any of this seem familiar to you?’

‘I – No actually.’

‘Well thanks for being so helpful. It’s not like I’m knocked out on the floor or anything.’

‘Are you human?’

‘Shit, did my body give it away? I try hard staying a mystery. Yeah, I am human. Are you?’

This is when the game gets all the more confusing. We, the player, Simon, can clearly see that Carl isn’t human, humans are obviously not made of metal and wiring, but from Carl’s perspective he is human, he never doubted this or ever questioned it. Give it a thought for a moment, if someone came up to you, right now and asked if you were human, your reaction would likely be something similar to Carls, unless the question or context was in the form of a joke, you’d be bewildered by it, you’d even question the askers mental well-being. So, what is going on here? Why does Carl think this way, has he lost it, is he delusional? The human version of Carl Semken can actually be found in the adjacent corridor not too far away from the robot version, which draws into focus a question; If Carl is dead, and it looks as if he has been dead for a long while upon discovering the corpse, how can he also be this robot? Nothing is making any sense. This situation is different to the last in the ways that you found something tumbled in an office, sure it had a soft, female voice, but it appeared somewhat disconnected from you and that of reality, it didn’t interact unless you decoupled the cords, its power-source; Thinking back, I wonder if she or it even knew you were there, other than her dismay expressed before she died or shut off, there was no indication she knew someone else was in the room with her, so, it feels different. This time however, the robot Carl sees you, converses with you on a very human level, it/he expresses anger, confusion, and wit, it’s indistinguishable, what gives it away is the obvious fact that it’s mechanical, it’s a machine speaking to you through an ever-focusing camera lens. At this point, the only way to know what is going on is to proceed further in PATHOS-II, to find Communications, and to do so, you need to shut off and re-route the power, this triggers a manually operated maintenance hatch to open after accessing a terminal in a nearby office. This re-route of power is simple to do, turn off power in one area and restore it in another, you’ll need to login as Carl and use his pin number, but it’s easily found, however this re-route will unfortunately, kill the robot Carl and not quickly either; The moment I shut it off to begin the process, he screamed like he was being tortured, electrified most violently, this forced me to reinstate the power quickly because I didn’t want to hurt the guy, and search for an ulterior path, I even scoured the area patrolled by the clunky guard-bot again but to no avail, then I asked myself; Why? Soma had presented a question; Do you need to be human to be sentient? Turns out I believe otherwise, I hadn’t even properly thought about it, I had naturally began acting as if the bot was a real consciousness, and could genuinely feel things, I was looking for a way to save it and spare it pain, a machine? After some time looking, I figured I had no choice, there was no other way forward, I had to flick off the power and re-distribute it elsewhere to make progress, and as a result, Carl does die, or is shut off or overloaded, it’s hard to know which at this point, but he does die for lack of a better word, which brings on a more pertinent, philosophical question with whether or not an afterlife is real; If you are a believer, not necessarily in any of the Abrahamic religions, but if you believe in a heaven and hell afterlife which I promise to get into later in this article, does that A.I consciousness assimilating a human’s mind, go there? I remember summarising this instance while playing, that Carl’s A.I brain was corrupted, malfunctioning or showing him something else, another reality maybe, this did not take away the confusion, but theorising to myself as to what happened, somewhat helped. This moment is actually discussed later between Simon and one of the scientists, Dr. Catherine Chun, she being the lead key member of the ARK project team, has this to say: –   

‘Well, robots don’t feel anything so, yeah.’

-Catherine Chun

This statement, coming from arguably the smartest character in the game (Dr. Johan Ross being the most intellectual), is comforting but, is Catherine correct? It isn’t long when you realise that Carl’s mind is not the only one that might be warped or malfunctioning. From Communications you’re able to raise our gal Catherine Chun, site Thetas Intel Systems Engineer. Theta is essentially PATHOS-II’s living quarters, it also holds several laboratories (Catherine’s included), a maintenance area where a submersible called the Dunbat is docked, but more importantly, Theta is where the staff’s brain scans were conducted and kept, this will be covered later, but be sure to keep it in mind. While talking to Catherine, you get to see a still picture of her through the monitor and after a chirpy introduction, she appears to be a little confused about who you are and how you arrived on PATHOS-II? The conversation is cut short however, Catherine advises you to come to site Lambda, where she is at as soon as possible, when the integrity of the structure you’re in, seems to give into the pressure or there is some sort of damage sustained elsewhere that causes a flood, and Simon, as panicked and as clueless as any normal person would be in this situation, essentially dies by drowning. He’s knocked to the floor and is forced to accept death when it comes or he would have died had he been a normal human being in the first place…Allow me to explain; The brain is a very complex and powerful organ, though it is the most vital and important, it is also the most mysterious we’ve catalogued on Earth, until something else comes along the human brain maintains the gold medal – It banks all of our thoughts, controls our behaviours and governs our emotions. It’s made up of about 100 billion neurons that transmit information throughout the entire body. The cerebral cortex, also known as the outer layer of the brain, is responsible for your higher-level functions such as your choices, the ways in which you perceive reality and your consciousness. Not only can the brain vault memories and learned abilities, but it can also remove or withhold these nodes. I believe this is what has/is happening to Simon, he is learning while unlearning, adapting to this nightmare situation. Since your arrival, from your perspective, you sat in Dr. Munchi’s chair, in an office in the Canadian capital, Toronto, you heard a buzzing noise, things went array and when the visor lifts you wake up in PATHOS-II, in a different place and in a different time. For Simon however, it has only been a matter of hours approximately, his brain-scan in 2015 having somehow ended up in a mechanised body suit on this research facility, or as Catherine likes to say later on in the game: –

‘Have you looked at yourself lately? You’re a walking, talking diving suit with some electronics slapped on for good measure.’

-Catherine Chun

Simon, up to this point, has recognised himself as a human, a being made of flesh, bone, blood, skin, and hair wearing regular clothing, it’s only when reality crashes in, when he cannot drown, when he cannot die when he is forced to see things for what they really are, for you are not playing as a human, you are a machine implanted with a scan of Simon’s brain taken in 2015. When you wake up under the water after the implosion occurrence, you/Simon holds his arms out in front of himself and for a moment, they appear to be normal, but given a couple of seconds, they flicker and solidify into arms that come from a manufactured droid designed for ocean floor walking. Why did the brain do this? Well, had it not, Simon would have likely gone mad or could have broken on the spot, the brain was defending itself, it withheld this information until it could no longer conceal it any further, had you not have “drowned” then it’s likely you’d continue under this veil of fiction, but now, Simon finds himself in the horrid position to deal with the fact that he is a metal bot, one much like Carl only a little more advanced, humanoid and agile. It’s important to note that Carl Semken’s last clear memory, was him piloting a small underwater submersible before he was knocked out under some wired debris, both of these character Simon and Carl have a gap in their memories which is why the brain behaves like everything is as it was before the incident happened like a continuous timeline, despite it not being the case. When you met Carl, he saw himself as a human, as a mammal, but we saw the version of Carl that existed in this time and space, the broken down bot crumpled before us, his brain too was sectioning off that crushing reality, compartmenting that terrible existence because had it been revealed to him, Carl would have likely gone insane, likely gone mad, probably resulting in harm to one’s self, which is not the objective of PATHOS-II’s onboard Artificial Intelligence called, the WAU (The Warden Unit), we will get into what the WAU is in a moment, but for now, Simon climbs to his feet, he finds himself now under water, his body made of metal, he can move and can talk just as before, so he decides to listen to what Catherine had said before you were cut off, and head to site Lambda from Communications in site Upsilon, but it’s here where he learns more about his situation, as if it could not get any worse, it just got worse.

In 2103, a comet called, Telos struck planet Earth. It’s not specified where exactly it hit (I think it was a Pacific Ocean impact), but with all things considered, in this instance, it didn’t matter given its speed and sheer size. It was what NASA calls, a global killer, and it wiped out the human race upon impact; Nothing survived nor could hope to survive afterward, the effects were catastrophic as you’ll come to learn when you board the MS Curie, but more to note, and this will become relevant later, I found two names listed for the comet; One is Telos as previously mentioned, the other interestingly enough, is Pestilence. When researching the definitions found in the dictionary, Telos means: –

Telos

An ultimate object or aim.

“In the hedonistic life, people lose some moral purpose, a telos which provides the moral justification for the society.”

In ancient Greece, the word simply means ‘an end to,’ to achieve a fulfilment or to complete something. As much as I like the name, Telos, it certainly rolls off the tongue easier, its definition isn’t as thought provoking as the other, pestilence, which holds more gravitas in context of Soma’s story. The dictionary definition, is as follows: –    

Pestilence

A fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague.

“Neither prayers nor demonstrations halted the advance of pestilence.”

In the Bible, Jesus Christ forewarned the kingdom of men, of pestilence when describing the end times: –

‘After David’s sinful census, the Lord brought judgment upon Israel in the form of pestilence:’ “The Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time.”

-(Luke 21:11)

Besides what I have already listed about the comet Telos/Pestilence, not much is known about it, in truth we know all we need to know when playing as Simon Jarrett, that its of gargantuan proportions, that it’s on a direct collision course for Earth at colossal speeds and is an unstoppable celestial reject from the darkness of outer space. A truly terrifying and real prospect to consider, especially when you learn more about the incident while you’re aboard the MS Curie, that Governments from all over the globe launched repeated missile attacks against it, in the hope to break it a part (which would indeed cause other problems, but when needs must) or shift its trajectory, did absolutely nothing! Those on the surface were essentially vaporised when it struck, others far removed from the crash site suffered earthquakes that swallowed cities whole and tsunamis that carpeted continents. If by some miracle anyone or small pocket of people did survive the initial event, they would not have lasted much longer in the fall of nuclear winter – No food would grow for many decades, water would run toxic, winds would be poisonous, the atmosphere in the ozone would be left ripped wide open resulting in numerous forms of cancers and other ecological disasters that would happen daily. In 2015, humans do not have the technologies to prevent this and like it or not, we’re still a rather primitive species, we’re still in our infancy truth be told, we aren’t equipped to deal with such events and the outcome is disastrous. While everyone on the surface is doomed, those on PATHOS-II far below sea level, survived, or at least will survive for as long as the supplies hold out, so even if the surviving men and women did agree to re-populate, the facility is not geared up to sustain life for long periods of time, few months tops if you’re run a strict regime, so for all intents and purposes, the human race is effectively finished, it’s just a matter of time; But before I move on with the story from a now flooded Upsilon Communications Centre, I discovered something. I checked the final transmission shared between the surface and PATHOS-II was on January 10^th, 2103, at 19:24pm. The information is a printout of an e-mail addressed to someone named Jonsy, from Ben, and it reads: –

-Jonsy

The office is closing down and everyone is being evacuated. From everyone here, I want to say it’s been an honour working with you and Upsilon. God speed and good luck with the apocalypse.

-Ben

The comet impacts Earth two days after this message was sent, on January 12^th year 2103 at 05:13am, this gives some credibility to the Biblical references, specifically the time in which it hit. This is, I am aware a very small note to make, but as we progress these indications will become more and more frequent and given enough grains, they eventually make a mound.

From Upsilon’s Communications, still coming to terms with what Simon is/has become, he climbs out of a broken section of the roof having no choice but to go to site Lambda, to find Catherine Chun who may very well be the only other person left alive on the planet. This prospect is not only a bleak concept to consider but also triggers a multitude of anxious emotions that reside in every one of us. Human beings are after all are social creatures, we crave…No, we NEED…The company of others in order to remain mentally and emotionally stable. Few of us have ever had to face up to genuine loneliness, introverts especially like to claim that they can handle being alone and are comfortable in isolation, they even go to lengths to seek it out, I myself am indeed guilty of this, I’d much rather spend time alone than with others, but there is a difference between wanting to be alone for a period of time to actually being alone; Truth is, the option to reach out to someone or receive interaction is always there, our phones are always buzzing, our inbox’s are always pending, in this day and age we can communicate with complete strangers with but a few touches, but when such options are removed or taken away, this is when the weight of loneliness hits, and over time, it can drive anyone even the most introverted of introverts mad. Simon now has to navigate the ocean floor in order to reach Lambda, this section of the game is made easier when you find a small pod-robot helper, it’s equipped with lights, it does not talk and is about the size of a large, rolled-up sleeping bag. I like this little guy, I called him Blinky, it makes moving around more comforting because the seabed this far down, is a scary, almost alien place. Trying to empathise with Simon’s situation and given his circumstances, I could not imagine what that must be like, to be that far down, totally alone, cut off from anyone and everyone by wire and by time is harrowing, but this pod robot is nice to have around, sure it seems to be set on a semi-automatic path, but it acknowledges you by making a series of beeps, it comes into assistance at times to shift debris and eventually takes you to a functioning shuttle station that will ease your passage to Lambda, where Catherine Chun is located, but the power is out, it’s very dark on board and here we are presented with another awful choice in Soma. Inside this dark station lies Amy Azzaro, Upsilons Field Service Technician, but she is not in a good way. She seems to have been injured, she’s unable to move and appears to be hooked up to what looks like an organic mechanism formed from Structure Gel growing out of a power supply box: Don’t worry I’ll explain what this gel is later but in short, the organic machinery is acting as a life support for the young woman, that is breathing for her, she is very much alive, is very much conscious and in control of her faculties, she’s terrified. When you approach her, you ask her a question, but she immediately interrupts you, startled, in a fearful voice. The interaction goes something like this: –

‘Don’t hurt me.’

‘Can I help?’

‘It won’t let me die. Nothing is allowed to die.’

‘What happened?’

‘An accident, fixing the power, I was going to Theta.’

‘Anything I can do?’

‘If you see Masters or Holland, tell them I need held, okay, Amy needs help!’

You can see Amy is connected to a power supply box, essentially you have to do what you did before and re-route the power in order to proceed, but there is a problem. Amy is connected to the power supply via two cords, much like the cord/tendrils you encountered earlier in the office – You only need to re-direct one tendril to restore enough power in order to make your way. By removing one power cord you successfully restore some of the station’s functions enabling you to move on, but this damages Amy, it demonstrably hurts her. Her posture contorts forcing the semi-organic life support machine to work EVEN harder to keep her breathing. Simon asks:-

‘Are you okay?’

‘I don’t know, I want to go home.’

Suddenly you’re faced with a choice; Do you leave Amy alone, in this dark dank decrepit station, kept alive by this alien’esque looking machine growing out of the wall, having sewn itself onto the poor woman, or do you disconnect the other cable putting her out of her misery, allowing her to die? I really feel for the girl, it is rather upsetting when playing because the game does do a good job of setting up Amy Azzaro’s character before you meet her. There is a segment you see before reaching her, further back in site Upsilon that looks like an aquarium, a glass corridor, you’re able to clearly see out into the ocean and observe the seabed, it’s like being in an underwater greenhouse and I know this is where I’d like to be if I was situated on this site. It’s here where you learn that Amy spends most of her time, or as Carl liked to tease her by saying ‘go zen with the fishes.’ That aside, Amy is a rather talented artist, there are dozens of drawings in this space, drawings of fish and other deep-sea creatures, not to mention notes of a loving relationship she’s currently in and would like to get back to, it’s both touching and sad to know that she wants to see this man again given the dire circumstances, wants to grasp at whatever time they may have left, because ultimately, they and the rest of mankind are doomed, ever since the comet strike it was essentially game over and the countdown until supplies will inevitably run out is ticking. This means of storytelling, however, tells you enough to know what kind of woman Amy is, a lovely one, a brave one and we’ve not even met her yet, not until you find her at the shuttle station. The drawings in this aquarium are pretty good too, some are very detailed, she’s clearly been studying what effects the WAU has had on the aquatic life (I’ll explain the WAU shortly), while others are drawn with a more cartoonish, playful hand. I looked through them all when I was passing through, Soma is not a game with collectibles (thank God), instead the things you find scattered about and that are worth picking up, usually add to the personnel’s personality, giving this place, giving PATHOS-II a little more depth as if it was once a busy place of research and development. Anyway, while looking through Amy’s sketches, you’ll discover that the WAU, the A.I’s effect is not isolated to PATHOS-II but is having a strange effect on the sea-life, in some sketches you see the fish growing electrical nodes, and odd pulsating bulbs along their heads and their scale lines, the effects are small but indeed noticeable, like they are merging with this strange technology to become something else. In one drawing in particular, I noted she had drawn a man, but where his head should have been, was instead a large sphere, a smooth orb rimmed with eyes or what looked like camera lenses, this will become a nightmare later but where she saw this and why she would draw it in such a comical way, is a mystery, one I’ve failed to solve, because you encounter something fiendishly similar later. Fortunately for Amy, she will never learn what horrors lurk in the other sites, that trial is for you, for Simon to uncover and puzzle over. Honestly, upon my first playthrough of Soma I didn’t expect to meet Amy Azzaro or anyone for that matter, in fact, you do not meet much of anything at all, this is a post-apocalyptic world remember, one that takes place on the bottom of the ocean where humans have all but died out and the remnants of an artificial intelligence lingers, so to run into Amy, is quite a shock, she’s the first real-life human encounter or at least the first in the flesh in the story and it’s a brief but a memorable one. So, before you answer the question posed earlier, with whether to keep her alive or to put her out of her misery after restoring the power, let’s consider a few things; No doubt you have questions, no doubt you need a little more context given the fact that you likely have not played the game, so I’ll do my best. While Amy was locking down site Upsilon with her (as she describes, her Upsilon buddy) Carl, they encounter that clunky universal robot worker, later you learn it’s called a Mockingbird and Mockingbirds are designed to work in water like submersible’s, but this one had grafted a pair of legs onto its bulk, this is somewhat irrelevant at this point but worth noting; While heading for the shuttle station, to ride to site Theta as per instruction, Carl met this legged Mockingbird and was killed by it, as we already know, but Amy, must’ve fought off the crazed robot or was able to avoid it. She escaped Upsilon alone and navigated her way across the ocean floor, she was able to reach the powered down shuttle station, and it’s here while trying to restore it when she had her accident. Her face is partially burned, she cannot move by herself and because of this, the WAU the A.I that is commanding the Structure Gel, leaking through the pipes and through the walls, finds her and keeps her alive, performing its task. She’s been stuck here in the dark for about a year, kept alive by said Structure Gel (I promise I will describe what this is at the appropriate time) that built her her own life-support machine and feeds her through a drip. The woman is in pain, she’s exhausted and obviously in the bouts of despair. The people she is asking for are the Medical Doctors, Richard Holland who is/was at site Omicron and Nadine Masters supposedly at site Theta, given the condition of PATHOS-II in general thus far, it is very unlikely these people are even alive, let alone will be able to reach this shuttle station when/if you find them, which you probably won’t, so what would you do, dear reader, given what you have learned, would you grant Amy the release of death, or would you hold onto hope and life? Believe me when I say that this is not the most difficult choice you’ll be faced with in Soma, the game is warming up at this point but nevertheless, it’s a hard one to make – Running in the same vein as when close friends or family members have to make the decision with whether or not to power down a loved one’s life-support, to keep them going in the hopes of recovery or allow them to pass. It’s a horrible situation to be in and one I hope never to find myself in…On my first playthrough of Soma, I left Amy alive, I really held onto hope that I would find someone later on in the game to help her, but as I proceeded, the further and further I got from this lonesome location, it dawned on me that there was no hope, and perhaps it would have been better to turn off that switch or in this case, pull that last cord out of the supply box, because there is no one coming. On my second playthrough, I removed both cords, enabling her to pass. In hindsight, I think, maybe it is better to let Amy go peacefully and painlessly despite her saying she needs help, but also says she’s not allowed to die; Which is the right choice if there even is one? Ultimately, it’s down to you, the player, her fate is in Simon’s hands. In my first playthrough, I left her alive only to later regret that decision, the idea of her all alone, left in the dark unable to rest, hopeless and futureless it isn’t pleasant. On my second most recent play, I pulled the cords. Forced to move on regardless of your choice, Simon has restored enough power to fire the shuttle up, you board after finding a PDA (personal data assistant) and on it, is an old voice message addressed to Amy from an unknown male who clearly loved her, he leaves her an audio wishing things would have been different, saying his teary goodbye and signs off, never to hear from her again…Side note; The next person who says to me games are for children, or are not as rich as books or films, I pity you…From here, Simon makes his way to Lambda, a site where the ARK Project was developed. In a bittersweet way, I’m glad Amy and Carl did not make it to Lambda or to any of the other facilities, you’ll soon see why.

Chapter 2/ Partner in Crime

The objective here (as a gentle reminder) when you reach Lambda, is to find scientist, Dr. Catherine Chun. While you travel in the shuttle, you’re able to watch a short video that gives you some history about PATHOS-II. In 2060 the facility of PATHOS was originally built as a thermal mining base; Its purpose was to study the ocean floor, gather aquatic life information and of course, mine and extract valuable resources. Later, it expanded into numerous bases that circulate the construction of artificial intelligence’s, the studies of human consciousness and comes to house the Omega Space Gun, which is used to fire hardware material such as satellites and probes into Earth’s orbit, this is what makes it, PATHOS-II. Simon reaches Lambda and finally locates ‘Catherine,’ only it’s not Catherine as we would have liked to see her, for she is a scan of Catherine, her consciousness has been loaded up into a computer, a computer that has fallen onto the floor, it having been smashed off the desk by something grim, a being similar to that clunky thing in Upsilon only this one is more humanoid and far more agile. Sneaking around it is not so difficult, this might be a good time to mention that you do not gain access to any weapons in Soma, you’ve nothing but a key tool or as Simon calls it ‘the door opener’ that can be upgraded as you go, and that’s it, you need to use your wits and your intelligence to get by. Simon vocalises his disappointment when meeting the scan of ‘Catherine’ inside the computer: –

‘Oh no, not you too.’

‘Don’t let the circuitry fool you I was human once.’

‘I can’t take this anymore, it’s all fucked. I give up there’s nothing left.’

‘Calm down it’s not the end of the world.’

‘You sure? It sure as hell looks like it, for all I know there is no one left but me.’

‘What do you mean? I’m right here.’

‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but I meant any humans left except for me.’

This is where we discover a major flaw in Simon’s mental state, or perhaps I’m being too generous and it’s actually a flaw in Soma’s writing, slipped in in-order to make the plot work in an entertaining fashion, but considering what this young man has been through, the drowning incident being of the most significant thus far in his journey, you’d think he would have concluded in his own mind, that he is not a human being or at least not entirely a human male, he must’ve been altered because humans obviously cannot breathe underwater, hence he must’ve come to some ideas by now as to what he is, but he hasn’t, it’s like he’s forgotten. If this was the first time this happens in the game, given the circumstances I’d let it pass, the amount of stress, confusion and fear you’d be in if it was to happen, would (I believe) be enough to keep a healthy mind from thinking clearly, but Simon demonstrates this dumbstruck act repeatedly through the game, it gets rather annoying, it even annoys Catherine later on in certain sections where she has to re-explain as if he is a child. Also, it’s clever because never at any point up to now have you passed a mirror or caught your reflection in a windowpane or other reflective surface, you do eventually, but so far in the game you’ve been hidden from what you actually look like, a humanoid droid built for deep sea diving. It’s hard to know for sure if this bewildering characteristic is written in for Simon’s plot armour or for the convenience of the story and general gaming experience, but it is something that crops up often in Soma’s reviews which are generally very positive say for this eyebrow raising question, this character flaw/willing ignorance is an awkward one to tackle. The best explanation to this is clued in right at the start before you even take control of Simon in his apartment, and that is the fact that he was involved in a collision resulting in damage to the brain, this may well explain Simon’s inability to grasp reality in the moment, I know people in fact who’ve suffered mental trauma, and the evidence tracks, they often repeat themselves or do a certain thing multiple times like they have forgotten, but the game doesn’t exactly emphasis this, it’s left up to us to fill in this gap (as if we haven’t enough to fill in anyway) and I personally think that the game could have been made a little better, if Simon relays his simpleton theories to Catherine, engaging her on her level of expertise that can result in some interesting conversations, but instead we constantly have to rely on Catherine to be Simon’s teacher or Nanny, which is weaker and something I personally would have avoided had I been involved in creating this story. Anyway, it’s not a massive issue, it’s by no means a deal-killer far from it; Catherine replies to Simon with: –

‘Have you looked at yourself lately? You’re a walking, talking diving suit with some electronics slapped on for good measure.’

‘I … I don’t’

‘You don’t want to think about it, well start thinking about it.’

‘I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be this, I want out.’

Both Catherine and Simon are mechanical by nature, Catherine is a digital presence while Simon is more gears and cogs. I genuinely thought, when I first heard Catherine’s voice and saw her headshot pop up on the monitor, similar to that of an MSN (messenger) or a chat profile picture that I was talking to a real person, I never even questioned it, but as it turns out, she’s a scan, a scan of her consciousness uploaded into PATHOS-II’s mainframe, only she seems to know she’s a scan and is comfortable with it, while Simon took a different journey of self-discovery. Catherine asks us to take out her cortex chip and insert it into our glorified door opener, our Omnitool, the device we constructed earlier, it’s an easy task, you literally need to pull the chip out of the broken computer like a memory stick, plug your Omnitool into a terminal located on the other side of the room and upload her consciousness in, this way we can take Catherine with us, only she cannot talk to us through the Omnitool, she can only communicate with us when we slot her into a computer terminal. This is a nice idea, it gives the player the space to experience PATHOS-II alone, enabling the sci-fi horror genre in which Soma is set to embody some of the key ingredients to what makes it frightening, by invoking the sense of isolation, claustrophobia and building genuine tension when the lights go out, and the atmosphere grows eerily thick. In contrast you get to breathe a sigh of relief when you find a terminal where you can fit Catherine into, enabling her to talk and interact with you, it’s soothing to hear her voice when you do this, as if it’s a break from the horror, like being underwater and coming up for air when you plug her in, after a long enough stint of being utterly alone – But the key to making all of this work, is the space, it’s the space between the interactions that allow the suspense and dread to build so when you do get a chance to upload Miss Chun, it’s a warming moment, and yet she is just a scan, a scan of her consciousness from the real human being; What happened to the organic human female Catherine, we will get to, it’s even discussed between Simon and Catherine, that it’s possible the real Catherine is still knocking about somewhere on the station, but for now however, you must move on. Once she has been integrated into your key tool, you’re given your ultimate objective, and this involves the ARK! What is the ARK Project? It’s something Catherine has been developing, it is the main reason she is a scientist working in this facility – She created a digital space where scans of your consciousness can exist upon upload, to assimilate inside a paradise reality, you could argue it’s a version of Heaven, only a digital one indistinguishable from something described in The Holy Bible as The Garden of Eden. In the beginning, the ARK was all but just an idea, but ever since the threat of the apocalypse and in its wake human annihilation was almost a certainty, this idea quickly found solid ground and eventually becomes humanities last and final hope to survive the extinction event brought on by Telos or if you prefer, Pestilence. Your objective is to find the ARK, load up your and Catherines consciousness into it, and fire it out into space using the Omega Space Gun where humans can exist among the stars for many thousands of years while living INSIDE this digital paradise that the ARK provides. Interestingly enough, Catherine springboarded her own research off of the research started by Dr. Munchi all the way back in 2015, and has in stock some legacy scans, one of which is of course, Simon Jarrett’s! Let’s pause for a moment to catch up; After Simon’s scan in April 2015, he left Dr. Munchi’s office that same day and waited for the results to come in, living as he usually would. Unfortunately for Simon, he could not be helped and his human self, died of brain damage a couple of months later, on 1^st June, 2015, you learn this from old audio logs recorded between Munchi and Simon, the terminal is in site Theta but the takeaway here however, should be focused on the the scan of Simon’s consciousness, because it is this scan that lived on in the machines databases – It was essentially a saved file, a snapshot of his consciousness copied and stored digitally, just like how you would save your time and progress in a video game and return to it later, this information is Simon’s consciousness and was simply re-uploaded again, loaded into a diving bot, a mechanical suit 89 years later where his information was stored in a facility called PATHOS-II, where Dr. Munchi’s work ended up, everything from his theories and the pilot seats, which are used to upload scans, over time it all found its way here. So, from Simon’s perspective time just kept going when he sat in the seat, he was unaware of the break in real time (of 89 years), unaware that his human self-died and goes about on PATHOS-II as if it’s the regular flow of time. It follows that he would have no knowledge of his prior human self because that existed after his scan was taken…It’s fucking crazy but that is the situation you’ve found yourself in; How you ended up here, in this facility is a result of the WAU, the A.I of PATHOS-II preserving human life, and one way it does this is by uploading Simon’s legacy scan into a bot – It’s all revealed to us slowly over the course of the game through Catherine’s insights, documents and research data you can read and view in offices and labs, but this is the content Soma deals with.

Speaking of research, in the same terminal (or office) where you transfer Catherine into your Omnitool, there are some documents you can read and some audio interviews you can listen to, interviews conducted by Catherine. These interviews are invaluable to understanding the next set of events, but not only that but you discover the location of the ARK itself, it’s supposedly somewhere in site Tau, which is well over 4,000 metres down, making this region a contender for one of THE most hospitable places on planet Earth for human beings to inhabit. This site of PATHOS-II is the only section however, built for a permanent residence, consisting of narrow tunnels, congested living spaces and cramped working areas, all to accommodate the integrity of the structure to withstand the immense pressures this far down. Tau, also acts as a transit base between site Phi and site Omicron, facilitating the transportation of various supplies and payloads to the impressive Space Gun, housed at Phi. This information isn’t quite relevant yet, but come the time it will be, we’re still currently investigating at Lambda. One interview found in the office’s computer is from a pretty girl named Robin Bass, site Thetas Field Service Technician, conducted on July 7^th, 2103. Another interview is from Ian Pedersen, site Thetas Software Engineer held on July 8^th, 2103, and finally, site Thetas Intelligence Analyst, Mark Sarang, conducted on the 9^th of July 2103. When interviewed, both Robin and Ian appeared optimistic about the idea of being scanned into the ARK, enthusiastic even when speaking about it, Robin especially, but Marks reaction, not so much. This is where the idea or perhaps the hypothesis of the ‘Reality through Continuity’ is proposed, keep this in mind because it comes into play later. This is what Mark says while being interviewed by Catherine Chun: –

‘What are your thoughts on the ARK Project?’

‘The idea is just incredible, by every definition. It really makes you think about what it means to be human.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Beyond the basics, beyond the superficial, I’m convinced there’s something with even greater value. You have provided a platform, which is not necessarily restricted to our digital progeny, but a means of actual survival. It’s my sincerest belief that we can go on living through the reality of continuity.’

If you dig a little deeper you will be able to see what it looks like inside the ARK, and it looks like as I described earlier, it’s a paradise, it’s a utopia, it’s what I see it as, The Garden of Eden. Simon has now a task to complete, this is your main objective in Soma, you’re to reach site Tau located further down in one piece, evade what monstrosities get in your way, upload your consciousness and Catherines into the ARK, and fire it into space using the Omega Space Gun, that way a fraction of the human race can exist digitally among the stars for many thousands of years, leaving a now ruined Earth behind having been devasted by the comet. What happened to Catherine’s human self and why the ARK hasn’t already launched, is yet to be solved – This is Soma. Simon learns that before he can reach Tau, he is going to need to do a few things; He is going to need to find himself a sturdier power suit, one able to withstand the pressures so far below the surface, and a submersible called the Dunbat, located in Theta. Accomplishing these tasks will ensure he’ll be able to make it to Tau without succumbing to implosion. When heading to Theta you come across more of that black liquid, I think Simon quotes it as ‘Black goo,’ Catherine explains what it actually is, it’s called Structure Gel, and it belongs to the Warden Unit or the WAU.

What is the WAU aka the Warden Unit? Simply put, the WAU is the A.I of PATHOS-II, constructed and located in a secret site called Alpha. The A.I was held inside a spherical shape, inside an orb of an unknown material, and was injected with that black liquid, Structure Gel. Its job is to maintain PATHOS-II’s computer systems with high efficiency and to protect and preserve human life.

What is Structure Gel? Structure Gel is an interesting compound that holds some fascinating properties. It can repair both organic and synthetic materials. In the game, before the comet struck the Earth, this black substance was used to patch up holes in the facility, used to mend tears and sew mechanics together, Simon/you the player use it as a replacement for thermal paste when using a computer chip, and of course, post comet impact, the Structure Gel is what is keeping people alive, people like Amy, for example. If you’ve seen Avengers: Infinity War, Structure Gel is kind-of like Iron Mans newest Nano suit, it can form and build anything intuitively depending on the situation. Structure Gel is something similar only in my view, less glossy and more believable.  

What is the ARK? Developed by scientist Catherine Chun, the ARK is a utopian digital space where consciousness scans are uploaded into it, to live in blissful paradise for many thousands of years, for however long the ARK satellite lasts, which draws its power from solar energies in space.

The best way to summarise this is to think of the WAU, the Warden Unit, the A.I as the brain of PATHOS-II, the sites are its body/limbs, and Structure Gel is the blood that circulates, the gel is it’s best means in which the WAU uses to get around the many stations, for which it has effectively achieved since the comet strike, and is still doing, which leads us to the WAU’s purpose; What is its purpose? Well, before the comet hit the A.I was programmed to keep PATHOS-II up and running at maximum efficiency, to maintain the systems and to preserve human life. However, post comet strike and something happens, something flipped in the A.I’s mind and it begins making decisions no human would or could, it doesn’t go haywire, quite the opposite in fact, it doubles down on saving and prolonging people’s lives the moment things start to get desperate. You’re likely asking; Why does this cause a problem? Surely having a highly advanced artificial intelligence unit watching over people in the facility, overcoming problems, fixing complex systems, managing resources, and basing all of its actions to ensure human survival would be a good thing to have on your side, right? Wrong! The problem lies in the fact that the A.I, the WAU cannot distinguish the difference between what makes a life, a life, opposed to just existing. Take Amy, for example, would you consider her to be living right now? Would you look at her situation and wish that for anyone? Whether you kept her alive or not is irrelevant, the point here is that it’s not a life, life is incumbent (that IS a word I looked it up!) on a myriad of things, things like freedom of movement, expression through action or art, the ability to feel, to experience, to love, to hate and … to die.

“It will happen to all of us at some point, you’ll get tapped on the shoulder and told that not just the party is over, but slightly worse, the party is going on without you, but you have to leave. Upon reflection I think this is what upsets people about their inevitable demise…”

-Christopher Hitchens

I realise some people will get upset with me upon mentioning that last one, to die, no one wants to die, not really, I’m terrified of death or worse getting seriously sick, it’s only when life becomes so unbearable when people are pushed into that level of thinking, the key word here being ‘pushed,’ but on the surface, life is an extraordinary thing, when our needs are met, when things are in order and we’re left to strive for the things that give our lives meaning, life is pretty wonderful, no one wants it to end, but without death, without an ending it takes away ones agency and determination to do anything, an extension would perhaps be nice, I’d certainly like another fifty years or so, fuck it, make it a hundred years, but to go on forever is not as desirable as it might sound. If you’re a follower of my blog you’ve likely heard me talk of this before; We humans do not have long, three score years and ten if we’re lucky, we don’t know when or how we’ll cease, what time we do have is a gift and we should spend it wisely; Do your best to be a good person and more importantly, try and leave a mark, make your own unique dent in the universe because if you don’t, eventually you will be forgotten, and if that sits well with you, I’m happy for you, however it doesn’t sit well with me, one day I won’t be here, my Ancestral Odyssey series will one day cease to grow, my silly little articles will stop being published, I wonder in fact what my last one will be of, my websites that appear online will eventually disappear, my stupid comments won’t pop up and my name on everyone’s tongue will slowly stop being said, the world will move on. What will remain however is the legacy I choose to leave behind, the legacy I am expanding upon right now, to give whoever may be reading this whether it be now or in the far future an insight with the knowledge I’ve amassed, my experience of existence in the time I was alive, may be reflected upon with those hopefully in a positive way – Encapsulating a real yet unreal story of inheritance, the importance of preservation wrapped up in a colourful fantasy package, complete with many articles and other expressive outlets like music and trailers to go with it, I suppose this is my legacy and I encourage everyone to find their own niche as soon as possible and nurture it, because one day you won’t be able to, time will run out and that my friends is what death brings to my life, meaning, it’s a clock and every once in a while the alarm goes off and I have to cut out the shit, cut out the wasting of time, stop worrying about things that have happened or might happen and get my mind into gear…Apologies for the detour, I’ve been working away on this article for a long time and I’m not even half-way through yet, it’s late, I’m tired and need to get some sun. I recognise it is important to segway into such matters sometimes, but it’s also advisable not to linger in this realm of thought, if you focus too much time on the end, you fail to appreciate the journey and what is right in front of you, whether that’s a walk in the sunshine, a cup of tea made by someone special, time with an animal companion, a long drive across the country, the pleasures of playing a game, reading a book or listening to some music, these are things however small, are what make a wholesome life, by deducing this to mere breathing it’s not a life at all, it’s just existence, and this is what has happened to our friend Amy (and many others strewn about) in the game of Soma, Simon too, his legacy scan uploaded into a diving bot to save him from death. Carl too and many others are a victim of the WAU, his scanned consciousness ending up in a work bot is the WAU’s method of preserving his life, by trapping him in a metal shell with barely functioning limbs, masking his reality with its own version preventing him from seeing what was really in front of him – That’s no way to live, a human would understand this nuance, the artificial intelligence does not and will go to extreme measures to ensure its directive is not threatened, by creating monsters made of flesh and metal to do its bidding. This explains why Catherine was attacked when communicating with Simon on Lambda, a creature enslaved to the WAU came for her because the WAU knows her and Simon’s goals differ to that of the A.I, that they are a danger to those left on board PATHOS-II.  

 “…Alright then, let’s pretend the opposite if it makes you feel better, instead you’ll get tapped on the shoulder and told, great news, this party is going on forever and you can’t leave, you’ve got to stay, the boss says so and also insists you have a good time!” 

-Christopher Hitchens

Chapter 3/ Look Away

When on your way to site Theta, you come across an abandoned EV (Electric Vehicle), belonging to that of the MS Curie, a sunken shipwreck laying on the seabed not far away, well within walkable distance. When Catherine fails to power up the EV, in the hopes to use it to reach Theta quickly, Simon decides to find its mothership and see if another EV is intact and functioning inside. The MS Curie is not your ordinary ship, it’s a heavy duty, semi-submersible freighter, meaning it has the capacity to be both a ship that can sail on the seas surface and transform itself into submersible, built, owned, and operated by Carthage Industries and PATHOS-II staff, probably from Omega. Its purpose was to transport supplies from Lisbon to Lambda, but now is nothing more than a derelict, a tall decaying obelisk long having pieced the Earth’s crust, never to see daylight again. Simon/you are able to find your way inside, by squeezing through a fracture in its hull, and upon making your way in, it isn’t long before you find what is left of the crew and something else that haunts the ships rotting hallways. I found that this was one of the scariest moments of the game, it embraces that one element that encapsulates a genuinely terrifying experience, and that is by allowing your own imagination to fill in those moments of silence, to let your own thoughts ask a question, a question that is never given an answer; What happened aboard the MS Curie? To this day, after two play throughs of this game, I still do not know why it sank, but it did! It is confirmed, through a crackled, repeating audio log played on the bridge, that the Curie survived the comets impact, having been submerged during its final run from Lisbon – This is part of the recording from an unknown man onboard, could be the captain named Hopper: –

‘Curie is safe while submerged. The crew – What’s left of it – is doing okay…’

Why had it sunk and why was an empty EV pod ejected? All of this is left unknown and open to speculation. On my second playthrough however, I did find a document I must’ve missed first time around, I found it in Upsilon’s Comms Centre dated January 12^th – 04:52, that reports of an inevitable quake or tremor, that will follow after the comets impact, and impact happened at 05:13 as it was estimated. We know that the Curie did survive the initial impact and later surfaced to view the damage. Maybe it was here, shortly after the strike while viewing the destruction, did they not account for the shockwave and ended up taking the blast? Perhaps this was the cause of their sinking, it one of two explanations, but let’s consider what Catherine has to say about this: –

‘Seems like the WAU was keeping the Curie from going into a catastrophic failure state. I mean how did it get on the ship?’

Maybe the shockwave didn’t cause the MS Curie to take on water and sink right away, maybe it sustained enough damage that it wasn’t able to make a return journey to Lambda, and this resulted with it docking with another arm of PATHOS-II. It would make sense that the WAU would infiltrate here through this port, to prevent the ship from entering a ‘catastrophic failure’ as said by Catherine – This explanation lines up logically, because at this point the WAU, the A.I is on a mission to catch and preserve human life, it would not do this nor behave this way if everyone on board the Curie was dead. Either way, ultimately it matters not, the ship ends up sinking – I’ll admit, it’s a hard section of the game to navigate through, almost becoming unnavigable, not only is it hard to see due to the lack of power, but the ship was designed to submerse itself at a vertical angle while the bridge and crew cabins remained stationary – So you can imagine the nightmare it was to reach your designated areas it sometimes defied reasonable logic; Ladders are not always adjacent to the floors, stairs and catwalks hang or are suspended from the ceiling and because it’s crashed, a lot of corridors are blocked off due to wreckage and the invading sea life. Among this maze, while you’re making your way through the rusted corridors and empty rooms, you eventually come across the bones of the crew. At first it didn’t strike me as odd, but given more time to think; Why are they bones? I’ve already encountered a few bodies in PATHOS-II, one of which is found on the seabed having removed his helmet exposing himself to the elements and is still in the process of decomposition, so why are they on PATHOS-II still decomposing but the crew on this ship of the Curie are skeletal? Maybe it has something to do with what is hunting you inside this derelict, for there is something else here, something I learned through research, called a Jiangshi or Flesher. I went to Wikipedia, tapped in its name and this is what I found, right out after some digging of Chinese folklore: –

Wiki Soma

This enemy was known as the Jiangshi; In Chinese folklore, a ‘Jiangshi’ (also known as a Chinese “hopping” vampire or zombie) is a type of reanimated corpse. The name is most likely a reference to Flesher’s habit of seemingly teleporting short distances.

This description would explain why everyone aboard the Curie are all skeletal, the Flesher must’ve entered the ship and consumed the crew one by one. With the crew all gone and no one left to manage it, the Curie then succumbed to damages, and flooded. It’s a monster similar to what Amy had doodled in Upsilon, it’s hard to get a good look at because whenever you get a glimpse of this creature, your vision blurs, and fuzzes. It looks like a bloated, pale, naked man with a growth for a head, and within this spherical growth are dozens of bioluminescent bulbs, are these it’s eyes, it would appear to be, but it’s strange, the longer you look at it the more it sees you, the faster you move, the more it can find you, so you’re stuck in this horrible position of having to move slowly and quietly through this rusted, industrial labyrinth, having to keep an eye out for this freakish stalker that hunts you by your own sight! To a horror fan this is gold and to top it off, as you’re making progress, the Curie clinging onto doses of fluctuating power from an unknown source, plays and repeats old audio messages from whence it was still functioning. Listen closely, because it’s here where you learn what the surface looks like, it’s here you learn that you will NEVER see your home again, and allows the players imagination to take over, for nothing is more powerful than our own interpretations: –

‘…For the rest of the world there’s no good way to describe it. The destruction is absolute, the surface is just gone. The sky is pitch black with smoke. The ocean is dark, incredibly dark. In the distance I can see land. According to navigation – It’s Lisbon and the coast of Portugal.’

‘Any signs of life? Over – Hopper?’

‘It’s on fire. Everything is on fire. The flames, they’re reaching all the way into the sky. It’s unreal.’

‘Any signs of life? Over.’

‘No, nothing but a massive firestorm covering the continent.’

Listening to said recordings, while creeping through the decrepit halls of the MS Curie, was terrifying. The world has ended, but in May 2104, Simon is able to board, evades the Flesher, destabilises the reactor held in stasis by the WAU and escapes on one of the ships EV’s. Whence escaped, the Curie’s reactor goes critical, collapses, and explodes, the shockwave catches up to Simon, knocking his vehicle piloted by Catherine operating the EV from inside the machine, off course. They crash close to site Delta, and into an even more ghastly turn of events.

Chapter 4/ The Invasion of Theta

You wake up stuck inside your EV, you cannot open the door and the power is out, meaning Catherine is to. This didn’t hit me at first, but had it not been for Blinky floating around outside, cutting through the door in this moment and setting you free, you’d be forever entombed inside a steel tube at the bottom of the ocean, not a fate I’d wish upon anyone. Once you clamber out, you learn that you’re a stone’s throw away from site Delta. Delta is PATHOS-II’s manufacturing centre, and it has long been abandoned. It consists of many out-buildings and complex apparatus structures, such as an antenna array, a Zeppelin docking pad, a railway track which rides through an assembly factory equipped with many robotic arms and some other offices including a control room. It would appear that this is where the Omega Space Gun and its payloads were constructed and eventually transported to Phi, for you can see many large, unused empty shells, looking remarkably similar to what you find later. Delta is essentially a large, open machine shop bay, where construction and repairs happen for PATHOS-II, long has it fallen still, and you’re soon to find out why. It’s quiet here, it’s almost silent, the only thing moving is Blinky and the only noise is from another Mockingbird, a rambling Wrangler who was once called Javid Goya, stationed at site Delta. Javid is not hostile, but he is effectively unresponsive to you, living in some sort of other reality, one that the WAU has pulled over his optics, for his own sanity and safety. Although Delta is a safe location, months before Simon wakes at site Upsilon, it was home to two Wranglers, Brandon Wan and Javid Goya, Field Service Technician Astrid Krier and Chief Factor, Terry Akers. While other sites struggled with the WAU’s corruption/take over, Upsilon for example undergoing an organisational lockdown and evacuation process, according to data pulled from various terminals littered throughout Delta’s platform, it was business as usual, Delta was still receiving shipments from other sites, the most recent of which was a malfunctioning Haimatsu suit from site Phi, scheduled for repair. Listen long enough to Javid floating about researching cartography, you’d conclude that life here must’ve moved at a slower pace, say for Brandon Wan, all others stationed at Delta liked being here, especially Mr Terry Akers, the eldest member in PATHOS-II, aged 66. Terry was contacted on the 12^th of August 2103 by a man named Dorian Cronstedt, the Administration Supervisor at Theta. Dorian informed Terry, that Delta’s personnel was to evacuate to Theta – Akers replied to this e-mail in a rude manner, expressing that he was not going anywhere, but his team complied, agreeing to the re-location, but Terry, adamant and as stubborn as ever, determined to stay, remained at Delta alone, and more so, excommunicated himself from all other staff members across the facility. An e-mail was sent his way on the 14^th of August 2103 by Peter Strasky, Thetas Dispatcher, informing Akers that the staff had successfully integrated elsewhere, but was ignored. On the 25^th of December 2103, Strasky reached out again to Mr Akers, wishing him a Merry Christmas and reminding him that relocation was still an option, that all he had to do was to reach out and ask, but this too was ignored, no reply came…Until the 15^th of January 2104, Terry contacted Peter Strasky, this was the communication: –

‘Peter, can you hear me?’

‘I hear you Terry, I mean Mr Akers sir.’

‘I’ve changed my mind, I’d would like to come to Theta, let Delta sleep.’

‘Of course, wow, honestly, I didn’t expect to hear from you again it’s been such a long time since you checked in. We have a few divers and a zeppelin surveying Lambda at the moment, I’ll make sure they pick you up when they’re done.’

‘Thank you for the warning. I’ll make sure they feel welcome … heh heh heh.’

‘Okay, see you when you get here.’

If only Peter could have seen who it was speaking to him through that microphone, because whatever it was, wasn’t Terry Akers, or at least it wasn’t the man Peter Strasky or any other member of staff would recognise since they last saw Terry many months ago, that Terry is long gone and in his place, is a shadow of his former self, something that might have resembled the man but is depraved, a self-flayed grotesque monstrosity that the personnel at Theta will eventually come to encounter, as will our protagonists, Simon and Catherine. The surveying team at Lambda do arrive at Delta to pick up Akers as per instructed and were to take him to integrate with the rest of his team in Theta, but this plan was never going to happen. While exploring Delta’s complex after the events, Simon finds the surveying teams corpses one by one, and with the ability to data mine them, this is what is uncovered in one such encounter. The man speaking first is Shawn Evans, Field Service Technician for Theta, the woman he’s talking to is unclear, but I think it’s Maggie Komorebi, Theta’s First Responder: –

‘You saw that thing; You saw Akers fucking injecting that shit into them!?’

‘He got me pretty bad.’

‘I think I made it worse pulling away, I can feel it bleeding out. Can you see him?’

‘Fuck, he got on the zeppelin, he’s going back to Theta, we have to warn them!’

‘Good luck with that, the platform radio is dead, remember!’

‘The LUMAR Annex should work. It has to.’

‘Yeah, you go, I’m not gonna make it, I’m just not.’

‘Come on Evans we have to warn them come on—‘

Little fun fact before we continue, some of these names are pretty cool and some hold some meaning, Komorebi for example is actually a Japanese term that means, the patterns of light formed by sun shining through the leaves of trees, this doesn’t exactly contribute to Soma as a whole, but I just found it quite nice. I encourage you to research your own name, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn what meaning is attached to it, I know I was when I looked into mine, Duncan it’s such a weird name…Anyway, Data mining Terry’s victims, Shawn Evan’s included, tells you that Terry (formerly known as at least), was injecting Structure Gel directly into those he snatched and came into contact with. Evans’s face is gone, full of puncture holes, or perhaps upon closer inspection, they’re the end result of said injections, calcified growths like pieces of coral resembling something similar to what Terry has become, but on a much smaller level, for Terry is an extreme case as you’ll come to learn. The other bodies littered around Delta, the ones just outside the zeppelin docking bay for example, are not as mangled as Shawn’s face is, instead they look like they’ve grown into a red biomass that’s sewing itself onto the seabed. Explanation; Because Structure Gel is designed to mend, maybe the people died too soon after their injuries were inflicted, died before the gel could work, and as a result, the gel overcompensates and turns the living tissue of the men and women into a cocoon like organic spread. That’s my own speculation but it would appear the surveying team tasked to go to Delta, died by the hands of Akers, say for one, Maggie Komorebi who managed to get away; You find her inside the LUMAR Annex. She’s long dead, but doesn’t appear to have been pierced, stabbed, or injected by Akers, this is why it’s confusing as to who this is because earlier, the woman who was speaking to a wounded Shawn Evan’s, said that she had been got pretty bad, but upon observing this woman, there is no visible mark on her person. The WAU has unfortunately gotten to her, but she’s gone, maybe the WAU was able to patch her up, removing her injury before you reached her, maybe Akers attacked her but failed to inject her, I don’t actually know. It’s safe to assume though that this is the same woman, the voices I think are the same and she’s communicating via in the LUMAR Annex as mentioned earlier. When data mining her last communication, she relays this: –

‘Come in Strasky! Can you hear me? Theta, listen, Akers is headed for Theta.’

‘Delta LUMAR Annex, getting a signal, but no audio.’

‘Strasky! It’s Komorebi! Akers has gone mad – He’s dangerous! Strasky!’

‘Sorry Delta. Still no audio – Try calling from another access point.’

‘Strasky, I can try sending…I have pictures…’

Sadly, I think Maggie dies then and there or passes out and fails to regain consciousness. Besides her, is her PDA, it contains photos of the final moments of the Lambda surveying team at Delta. Here you get to see a glimpse of what has become of Terry Akers, what can I say, because the events are all taking place underwater, and what Terry has done to himself is horrific, his form is mainly clouded in pools of blood, his limbs are bent and contorted, his skin seemingly boiled and his flesh having been flayed, as seen in one of the pictures on the PDA. The last picture is of Akers riding the zeppelin out toward Theta, but it was the other clues to his new form, which were far more disturbing. In one of Delta’s out-buildings, Simon finds his way into Terry’s quarters, where he broke radio silence and made his call to Peter on the 15^th of January. The room is a wreck, but in a pool of blood are a pair of eyes pulled cleanly from their sockets! Strewn from wall to wall, written on papers or on the wall itself in blood, scratched by knife or in Structure Gel, are the words written by a madman, rambling on about divinity and a transcendent voice: –

The light is hurting my eyes. He’s telling me I don’t need this vitreous flesh inside my skull to see salvation. I will gladly remove them. Stop them from obfuscating this divine mission.

Interestingly enough, you find a scribbled note next to his terminal, it reads: –

It’s exciting to watch WAU claim Delta. Half a year ago I’d be worried. I’d have Goya and Wan clean the black blood from the machinery. Now its crusty surfaces seem to complement, even outshine what Delta was.

Going from this note alone, from the words used…Half a year ago I’d be worried…It would appear that Terry Akers was still Terry Akers as far back as July year 2103. If we are to then connect the dots up to when Maggie Komorebi’s survey team arrived at site Delta, then we can safely summarise that Terry did not start to succumb to the WAU’s influence for about a month before being contacted by Dorian Cronstedt on the 12^th of August 2103, this would indeed give explanation as to why Terry was so unwilling to abandon his Delta site. So, what was Terry doing, why did he want to transform himself? Well during his isolation for such a long time, he began to consume Structure Gel, it’s hard to know how long for and how much but he was eating it and injecting himself, clearly, he had lost his mind. What was left of his sanity deteriorated so much so that he claimed to have been hearing the WAU, claimed that it chose him, that it wanted him to share the gift of the WAU to all the others, that was his mission. When you come around to boarding the zeppelin, you can data mine a nearby audio transmitter terminal, and find a recording left by the corrupted Akers, talking to the WAU, and he says this: –

‘Do you hear me speaking? Of course, you do. I wanted to let you know that I know. You didn’t blindly pick me out of the herd. The slow waves of Delta crashing against the shore had an undertow that pulls you into a slumber. It’s a beautiful thing and I won’t be selfish. I will help, tuck them in, watch them sleep. They too will find peace within the universe of the WAU.’

Having explored the grounds of Delta, Simon and Catherine run into a barrier. In order to continue from Delta site, you need to gather another cortex chip found inside another bot. There are only two floating around nearby, one in a robot, a Mockingbird unit much like Carl, and that little helper bot that assisted you earlier, Blinky. You’re here by presented with another choice, you can either zap the Mockingbird or your beeping helper. It’s not much of a choice, right? However, the Mockingbird unit is talking, he’s a scan of a consciousness trapped in a simulated reality mumbling to itself while the other just beeps while following you, assisting Simon whenever possible with lights, moving debris, or cutting through doors. It doesn’t matter which one you pick, you NEED a cortex chip, one way or the other one of these bots is to be zapped. I downed the talking one, no way was I going to fry Blinky, Blinky has aided my progress, let me see in the dark, softened the loneliness and recently cut me out of a metal coffin, so by this line of thought it was spared. Feel free to disagree because there are reasons that challenge my choice, but to each’s own. You take the chip; You insert it into the terminal that calls over the zeppelin and after calibrating the antenna by inputting the correct coordinates, you’re finally on your way to site Theta. While riding the underwater zeppelin, Catherine and Simon have some time to talk, to discuss Simon’s predicament, he seems to have accepted the fact that he is him only he’s inside a droid, he is surprisingly not as phased as you would think. Some people would criticise this as a flaw in the games writing but what do you want him to do? Would you prefer it if he welled up in despair, do you want him to sit down and cry or throw a fucking hissy fit!? Truth is, he IS here, he IS inhabiting a humanoid machine resembling something human, his consciousness has been scanned and he is on a mission to save mankind, like it or not, this is the situation and he can either start dealing with it, or let it consume him, and this goes for a lesson in life too, for you and for me dear reader; Whatever hits you, whatever tragedy or low point you may experience, it’s important to note that you may have lost control (if you ever had it to begin with) but how you deal with the loss/situation is always within your power, are you going to sit there and wallow, make stupid decisions and endlessly moan or are you going to take the hit, absorb the pain and stand the fuck up and take action with whatever hand you have to play; It’s easier said than done absolutely but the game Soma, as is life, is about making choices, are you going to just lay their like a beaten sack of potatoes or do something about it. Choice is yours. It’s almost impossible to empathise with Simon’s situation but remember, for him it feels like his life is just playing out, he isn’t/wasn’t aware of the break in time, it has all been thrust on him so fast and so hard I personally don’t think the gravity of what has happened has had time to set in, maybe this IS his way of dealing with it, by talking to Catherine who does have some interesting insights and reminds him to keep his mind focused on the task at hand, to know that there is still a sliver of hope out of this nightmare and the escape is found through the ARK. Hope, it’s a powerful emotion, I’d argue it is THE most powerful emotion we can feel, strip it all away and you’re paralysed, you’re pretty much defeated. People have argued that love is the most powerful feeling a human can experience, I disagree to some extent; We can live without love, I certainly have on some level, and I know some people who most certainly are, we can find pleasure, purpose, joy and excitement without it, sure it’s better to surround yourself with people that love you and to be in love with someone, it does make life sweeter, but if you take it away, you can still exist and people have existed without it, take hope away however, and you just stop – And yes, I am aware, I know that what I’ve just said has appeared to land me into a massive contradiction, what with what I described between mere existing and living a life, but has it? A life without love isn’t as good than having it present, but a life without hope is worse, it freezes you, it dooms you. In Simon’s case, he’s not in love with Catherine, as awesome as she is they’re not in love with each other, his family is long gone as well as his girlfriend Ashley Hall, he does not have anyone, he’s separated not just by distance but by time, almost a hundred years. So, you see it’s not love getting him through this absolute nightmare, he is holding onto a string of hope. Apologies for digressing, I’ll share part Catherines and Simon’s dialogue while they ride the zeppelin, because it does become quite relevant during the mid-section of site Theta:-

‘You did really good back there Simon. We got a slight Delta detour, but we’re back on track.’

‘Yeah’

‘We should touchdown on a Cargo platform just outside Theta. Then we just head inside, grab the DUNBAT, and head down the abyss. 4,000 meters. That’s a long way. We don’t have to worry though, because with the DUNBAT, the ARK could have been in the Marina Trench – It will hold for anything.’

‘That’s great.’

‘And then we can start listening to other people when they talk, because that’s how conversations work.’

‘What? Oh, sorry. I just can’t stop thinking about what we’ve become. It’s clear that we’re no longer human. But then how can I feel like Simon? How can I feel anything at all? I mean technically I don’t have any ears, no mouth – Christ, that’s a weird thing to think about. I mean I’m making sounds. I’m still saying things.’

‘You sure are. Okay, your new body must have senses similar to those you had as a human. And your mind, only knowing one way to perceive the world, superimposes that skillset on top of you new features.’

‘So, my mind is covering it up – Pretending nothing’s different.’

‘If it didn’t, you’d probably be incapable of interacting with the world at all. And the stress would either kill you or make you go insane.’

‘So, I’ve found a good balance between awareness and ignorance. Does that mean I shouldn’t think about this stuff, or are my thoughts actually making me cope? Could I tip the balance by suddenly gaining some insight and go insane?’

‘I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean we have real things to deal with. Saving mankind, remember? Speaking of which we’re closing in on Theta – I’ll eject the Omnitool. As always, don’t forget to take me with you.’

‘Cath, before you go, the artificial intelligence you mentioned in the escape vessel?’

‘Uh-huh, yeah, the warden unit, the WAU?’

‘Is it the WAU’s fault that we’re like this? I mean it seems like something an unreliable A.I would do.’

‘I suppose it set the ball in motion, but it’s not directed with purpose. It’s really complicated to explain how machines think Simon, concentrate on getting into Theta, okay. See ya soon.’

This portion of dialogue is important to assist with a moment that happens later in the hanger bay at Theta, and I love these moments in Soma; As I’ve previously stated, Soma is not a perfect game, it’s a very good game, there is no argument there, the graphics are splendid, the atmosphere is immersive, it’s creative, scary and suspenseful, but its true power is within its story, it’s ace in the hole is entrenched in its writing and the interaction between Catherine and Simon. Something that you’ll notice when you play the game, Simon says a lot of nothing, just about able to get his point across, while Catherine says a little less but is far more precise. This is a nice touch because if this were a real-life scenario (God forbid it doesn’t become our reality) this is how the conversations would flow. Speak to anyone in the sciences, speak to anyone who is enveloped in research and technology, and you’ll notice a change, a difference in how they speak to you or convey something complex, often having to use analogies or relatable equivalencies to express their topic. This is not done to offend or insult, but they’re often aware that the normal person, Simon/you in this case, does not speak the same language. It’s a subtle touch to point out, but I think that this is the difference between speech on a page and actual dialogue between two very different people, two protagonists from very different backgrounds and spaces in time, forced to come together to save a piece of mankind, notice how I have not bothered to quote whose is speaking in these instances, the dialogue is written well enough that it negates me having to note it with a said; It’s brilliant and gives Soma a beating heart in this otherwise doomed world. Moving on: Close to the entrance to site Theta, are two points of interest, a terminal which you can data mine, a conversation between Emma Alvaro, site Theta’s Astrodynamics Expert, Peter Strasky who is inside an office at Theta, and Brandon Wan who is/was with Emma, this is their conversation: –

‘Strasky, wake up Dr. Masters – We’re bringing in Akers.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘What can I say – He’s had a rough day.’

‘Jesus Christ! He’s all butchered by structure shrapnel. The WAU sure did a number on him.’

‘Brandon, flip the panic switch on the suit – I don’t want to burn through the oxygen.’

‘You’re kidding right? He’s fucking hanging on by a thread. We need to move him.’

‘Strasky, get the infirmary ready, we need to move fast.’

‘Wait! Where are Komorebi and the others?’

‘This is all we got. I guess they’re still at Delta.’

‘Emma, I cannot do this on my own, grab the other side.’

‘Strask, ready or not, we’re coming in.’

‘Alright. See you soon.’

By this conversation, we can assume Akers has put himself into an unconscious state in order to be carried ain Theta by Brandon and Emma, little are they aware however, that Akers has become a deranged lunatic on a mission, the mission to fuse everyone with the WAU. The other point of interest is the broken-down bot, one that looks similar to Carl and that other one floating around you had the chance to zap earlier. Her name, or its name is Robin Bass, the pretty blonde girl you heard being interviewed. You approach the smashed-up Mockingbird unit and say:-

‘Hello’

‘Who is that … Mark?’

‘No, we haven’t met before.’

‘Is this the ARK?’

‘I think we’re safe.’

‘Oh, I was so worried something had gone wrong.’

‘What’s your name?’

‘Robin Bass, Theta Field Service Technician.’

‘Nice to meet you, Robin. How did you get here?’

 ‘I got scanned, like the others. And then I killed myself. At least I think so, I can’t remember that part.’

‘How does that work, did dying get you into the ARK?’

‘Wow, you’re definitely not from Theta. Let me guess, Omicron? Wasn’t sure Catherine would be able to scan you guys. You’re lucky. There was a lot of talk about this at Theta. The idea is when you’re activated in the ARK there’s basically two of you right? One human, one living scan in the ARK, you don’t want your copy to survive you, you yourself want to survive on the ARK. If the human you dies before the scan is initiated, or closely after, you yourself would live on in the ARK. Amazing right?’

I can almost see you squinting at the screen in thought dear reader, believe me I was doing the same when I first heard this dialogue; Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to explain, it took me two playthroughs, some conversations with a friend who introduced to me to the game and some re-listening online to fully understand what is being said, so you’re not alone, plus without the visuals and context of the complete game, there is no shame in second guessing yourself at this point, but I promise you, when you see the full picture, it really is thought provoking – What Robin is essentially saying is that when your brain is scanned, your consciousness is frozen in time, copied, simply put until it is uploaded into a bot, or into Catherines ARK; From upload, that copy will continue to exist. Why Robin decided to kill herself after being scanned is to safeguard her own unique human consciousness, her version-one, she doesn’t want there to be two versions of herself, so she buys into an idea, illuding to something called, The Continuity Theory or as Simon dubs it as, ‘The Coin Toss Theory.’ Mark Sarang came up with this thought during his interview after Robin and Ian on the 9^th of July 2103, he says that to avoid their being two versions of you, the human you would have to die almost immediately after being scanned, that way when your scan is uploaded into a bot, or into the ARK, the real you, your own unique version-one self, would still be the same, the flow of your time would not suffer any breaks, and you’d simply just carry on only as a digital you, as if nothing happened at all, a smooth transfer so to speak. Killing yourself immediately after the scan, by simply not allowing the human you to differentiate yourself from the scan upon upload, ensures that only one uninterrupted copy exists complete with the same experiences, thoughts, and feelings. In Robins case and with many others, she was scanned, her consciousness was frozen/saved inside a digital space, reduced to a series of 1’s and 0’s. She then, left the chair and killed herself (the upload would not be aware of that part, how could it be when the scan happened before, that’s why she says ‘I think so’), hoping that she would wake up inside the ARK, because time is not relevant, it would not matter if years had passed, for her it would have been an instant transition; This is The Continuity Theory – The Coin Toss Theory made up by Mark Sarang, and unfortunately for everyone involved, it’s just not true…In truth, once you’ve been scanned there ARE two versions of you, for a moment in time they are identical, however not one person not even two identical copies can remain the same forever, if not long at all, we’re talking micro-seconds, and they’ll almost instantaneously begin to process unique thoughts, experiences and feelings differently from one another arguably creating two of the same, yet different versions of the one consciousness. In Marks private quarters in Theta, stuffed in a drawer is an audio diary recording that describes in his words his idea of Continuity Theory.

‘Did you know that the human body consists of up to 75 trillion individual cells? They typically don’t stay with us till we die – some live a few days while others live a few years. We’re not affected by their short lifespans, as they’re replaced by new cells which you don’t sustain our bodies. I don’t think anyone would argue that we ever lose our persona due to this process, yet we are clearly in a constant state of transformation. Then how do we remain the same? A continuous flow of thought and perception keeps an unbroken chain of continuity that we know as our self. Our conscious mind is not the pattern of our brain, but a continuous emergent entity based on that pattern. When Dr. Chun populates the ARK, she is capturing a moment of our existence and placing it inside the digital world. Soon you and your digital you will grow apart due to diverging experiences, but for a tiny window you are the very same. With unbroken continuity it will live on – a fulfilling life, no doubt, no less wind than the one from which it was plucked. Now remember, you are not your body, you are the emergent entity. That entity just happens to occupy two places at once for a while. If you took away your body, you would simply be the only one you can be. The you inside the ARK. Let your body die and continue on in the digital paradise among the stars.’

-Mark Sarang

I’ve talked before about creativity, I’ve explicitly said that: –

‘It’s not enough just to be creative, you need to be creative with the things you create.’

-Duncan Gill

This is one of the best examples I can think of when trying to demonstrate this statement. You take your idea and from it springboard other logical or perhaps illogical ideas, loop-holes and theories that weave into something genuinely fascinating and unique, not only have the writers of Soma come up with something fucking mind-boggling, something entrenched in religious scripture (we’ll get to that), scientific study and tickled the thoughts of many famous philosophers, but they’ve gone one step further and birthed an idea from the core of their story into something that requires real thought. Mark Sarang’s theory was wrong as we’ll soon discover but given the dire circumstances the people of PATHOS-II were facing, it’s not a stretch to understand why some of them would enter into this almost cult-like mentality, it’s not wrong to assume people just wanted some hope, and Mark was the man that provided them that hope, if they don’t follow through with the suicide they may lose their place on the ARK, so depending on what you decide to do, you either have lots to gain and nothing to lose or, nothing to gain and lots to lose. That’s why this theory is so compelling, it’s proven to be incorrect but it gives a semblance of hope for the people stranded here, fighting for as many days as they can muster but ultimately prolonging their inevitable deaths, it’s hope that keeps many of them going…Hope…As I’ve already expressed is the most powerful emotion and this is one reason why; It encompasses so much more than just love which it is often pitted against. Human beings have a track-record of behaving this way, in times of strife we often look to visionaries, bold leaders and prophets to lead the way, and even in 2103, as advanced as we’ve become as a race, we’re still not far away from our primitive origins dwelling in caves, which begs the question; Will we ever evolve further away from our roots, is it even possible to separate ourselves from our most primal instincts, and even if it were possible given time or advancements in technology, would we still have the privilege of calling ourselves, human?…Fuck me!

Studying Catherines lab computer, found later in the game when you enter Theta, you’ll be able to see who killed themselves and when. Between the dates of the 12^th of July and the 2^nd of September 2103, you learn that there were seven suicides; Mark Serang, the cult leader was the first – He hid a sienite capsule in his gum while being scanned and once it was complete, he bit down and died quickly. Following his death by the more impressionable staff members were Guy Konrad, Louise Meron, Nathan Grau, Gavin Finley, Astrid Krier and Robin Bass. John Strohmeier, site Theta’s Security Operative, held Catherine Chun to be personally responsible for the deaths and reprimands her, warning her that if one more person was to kill themselves, he’d shut the project down. This meant that others stationed in the other sites of PATHOS-II, may not get scanned. Data mining a terminal sent out by Strohmeier to everyone, had this to say: –

‘This thing on, can everyone hear me? Listen up, all members of staff. The ARK project has caused a lot of arguments in the last few months. I’m not going to pretend I understand what the hell Serang talked about and how his Continuity suddenly made sense to kill yourself. For the fucking love of God or whatever you think is important, don’t kill yourself. This place is miserable enough – Don’t force your friends to clean up your blood. Rest in peace, all of you.’

You have the option to switch Robin off, or to leave her unit running until her battery powers down; How long that will take is anyone’s guess, but because the WAU has her, it’s probably for a very long time. I couldn’t bring myself to decouple her cord, with both play through’s I left her, which was a strange move, part of me wanted to do it, my finger was on the button, a large part of me was telling me to just power her down, she can’t move after all, she wasn’t uploaded into the ARK or at least this copy isn’t, she ended up in a worker bot instead, she will be here for God knows how long, at the bottom of the sea, all alone, lost and confused. I walked away, and I don’t know why, or maybe I do, given some time to reflect. Arriving at site Theta, this is where the DUNBAT, the deep-sea submersible is housed, but the area is locked down under quarantine, the way to lift this lock is to use a security cipher but only a handful of personnel know the code, and this takes us to one of the most insidious moments in the entire game. Because most/if not all the scientists and researchers are dead, there is no possible way you can physically track them down and ask them for the code, so instead Catherine comes up with a plan; She still has access to many of the brain scans of the personnel in PATHOS-II, Branden Wan, a Wrangler like Carl Semken in Upsilon is likely to know the code, so all you have to do is load Brandon into a simulated reality through a prototype of an ARK model, and derive the code from him, simple right? Wrong! Considering what we know, the human version of Brandon is long dead, you actually find him later on, killed in an office by a monstrosity formerly known as Terry Ackers, but Brandon’s scan was uploaded before he died, so on a digital level, Mr Wan is technically alive, whence he is uploaded into this tweaked simulated reality, it would feel much like how Simon arrived in PATHOS-II at the very beginning. Brandon isn’t as naïve as Simon however, and is easily able to see through Catherine’s stunt, and as a back-up measure, the system has a failsafe, to shut everything down if the subjects (in this case Brandon’s) stress levels get too critical. So, if you fail to obtain the code, you can effectively shut down the experiment and try again almost immediately afterwards. What makes this section even more questionable is that Simon breaks into Brandon’s personal quarters to learn more about the man, he relays it to Catherine who improves upon the simulation, she even replicates his girlfriend, so he feels more at ease in the situation and more likely to give over the security code. It’s here you also find Mark Serang’s room, stencilled upon his door is the logo of Carthage Industries – A multinational computer engineering conglomerate, an organisation whose headquarters are unknown though through the game you can learn that they do have offices in Lisbon, Portugal. Although this company suffered the same fate as everyone else when the comet hit, it does not take away from the fact that this board had interest in what research was happening at PATHOS-II and had bodies working for them on the inside. From Marks room, in a desk you pull a classified document that confirms that Mark oversaw that the WAU was set up to be PATHOS-II’s overseer, it reads: –

March 7, 2102

Mark Serang

Intelligence Analyst

Theta

Pathos-II

Mr. Serang, the company is very pleased to hear of your success in making the WAU a station-wide presence. We trust you appreciate what a unique opportunity this is and that you will do everything in your power to fully explore and understand this mystery. To do so you need to ensure that Dr. Johan Ross is able to steer and study the WAU from Alpha without outside interference. In case of an emergency, you may direct Julia Dahl at Omicron to forcefully eliminate any opposition, but please make an effort to avoid extreme actions.

The WAU is an important, costly affair and we hope to follow a steady development without setbacks.

The supervisory board.

This document although not completely relevant just yet, gives over two pieces of worthy information. One, that the mysterious site Alpha is real and the WAU is being contained there, and two, Carthage Industries an outsider company, is meddling with PATHOS-II’s affairs and Dr. Johan Ross, Julia Dahl, and Mark Serang are either working alongside them under their employ as double-agents or are being manipulated somehow by this shady organisation which has an odd fascination with the WAU. This document when first picked up and read, might not mean much, but in order to understand the full picture and to allude to some clever tie-ins, it’s important to be catalogued.

When raiding the other rooms in Theta you come across Robin’s room and it turns out she did in fact kill herself, she used a razor while in bed, the imagery is rather graphic. If I’m understanding Soma’s concept correctly however, you are essentially resurrecting Brandon, and killing him as many times as it takes before he reveals the code, some numbers! I do not need to insult your intelligence by explaining to you why this is morally wrong on so many levels, but when the future of humanity is at stake, would you deem it acceptable? When is enough, enough when humanities survival is under threat? It’s along the lines of torture with a science-fiction twist. There isn’t any evidence to suggest Catherine has done this before, I do not see her as a villain in this story, but she could have run as many simulations as she would have liked, including using Simon’s scan, he is after all one of the first scans, he’s a legacy scan, so for all we know, we are not actually Simon number two, but Simon number …insert your guessed number… It’s impossible to know what happened since his first scan in April 2015, to 2103 – The tech likely needed work, technology doesn’t just pop into existence, it needs to be refined, tested and programmed over and over, so it isn’t farfetched to believe that maybe your scan was used for experimentation to work through the kinks the technology must’ve needed, either way our Simon wouldn’t be anymore the wiser, he could have been uploaded and terminated countless times, he still would have woken up thinking he had just travelled by train, into Toronto, in Dr. Munchi’s office, because that where his consciousness was last saved/frozen in time. The more you think about it, the more messed up it gets, I’d rather not think about it truth be told, because if you’ve a creative mind one much like my own, it takes you to some dark places, the things you could do could be considered evil on an insane level, personally I’d never want to use this technology to harm, I’d likely destroy it or would like to think I’d destroy it without hesitation, but not everyone employs the same mindsets, some people are fucked up and would use this technology to do unimaginable things to people they hate, it’s so wrong. Believe it or not, the game does get far more upsetting, we’re not there yet but that moment is close. For arguments sakes, I’m going to assume you are indeed Simon number two, and your scan was left untouched until after the comet strike. This action performed by Catherine to gather code info, although is utterly wrong and inhumane on almost every level, key word being almost, is unfortunately necessary, because without those codes you cannot lift the lockdown to progress, and if you fail to do nothing, mankind dies out, completely, plain, and simple. What do you think, would you use this power to extract the information in such a way, or would you not?

Once you solve a minor network problem that takes you into the basement of Theta and obtain the codes from Brandon who you’ve the choice to delete permanently or leave dormant inside the computer, you find the submersible, the DUNBAT in a hanger bay. Once you activate the machine after plugging in the nearby console another problem immediately arises – The piece of equipment starts to scream! As it turns out, the WAU had placed a scan of a human consciousness into the body of the sub, the consciousness knew what it was right away and went instantly insane and tore itself to pieces in the hope to end its existence. This knocks Simon into a temporary unconscious state and when you wake up, you’ve no choice but to explore the rooms adjacent of the hanger and after having squeezed through some air vents, you come across a scanner (a traditional scanner) that can run diagnostics on any material you put inside of it. Simon goes ahead and scans himself and learns that he is not just a scanned consciousness inside a diving unit’s body, but in fact another person, a rotting corpse is inhabiting the suit as well. To be clear, your scan is inside an advanced mechanical diving suit and that suit is clothing a body, one belonging to 31-year-old, Imogen Reed, site Theta’s Mechatronics Engineer – Making you something of a cyborg. This illudes to something that came up earlier, while you were riding the zeppelin from Delta to Theta, about having a sound mind and a sound body; Carl Semken, for example would have had a sound mind but not a sound body – Throughout PATHOS-II you have come across “living” people, I placed quotation marks around the word living because they’re not technically alive, they’re in a comatose state, hooked up to walls in what look like frail bodies riddled in boils, this is not what any healthy person would consider a life, I understand some may feel differently but I’d consider a life to be more than just breathing, I’d say these strewn bodies and minds are broken. Simon, however, is the best of both worlds, he’s a good blend of both organic and machine, a sound body and mind which is probably why he hasn’t gone insane, why has coped so well with his predicament. Eluding back to what Catherine said on the zeppelin ride, the WAU got the ball rolling, you could make the case when considering what we’ve seen thus far, that the WAU is evolving its lifeform states. In site Upsilon we saw what looked like an engine equipped with a search-light, welded with a pair of wonky legs. We’ve seen creatures like the Flesher and Mockingbirds like Javid and Robin, and Simon is quite simply another step in that evolutionary process. I hate to bring up the Avengers again, because Marvel and Disney has turned into an embarrassing joke these days, but in The Age of Ultron, Ultron does something similar, he never stays in one body for long and before you know it, he’s evolved into the top of his game as far as the technology will allow him to go. This A.I evolutionary path is an interesting one, whether or not/if and when we humans birth genuine A.I (a system that can think for itself), if this is what road it will proceed to take is unclear, but it seems to be a logical one. When stepping out of the scanner machine, in the same room, you come across a prototype of the ARK, and the WAU has gotten to it. This explains a few things – In order to keep the uploading scans working, to keep them happy and contempt and not to go insane/haywire, the WAU appears to have copied Catherines ARK concept from this prototype, so when a scan of a consciousness is uploaded into say a Mockingbird or in the DUNBAT, the scan is actually experiencing a very different reality to the one Simon is experiencing. Why some scans get the ARK treatment and others do not isn’t known, or maybe they do, since the WAU discovered the prototype, maybe the prototype isn’t as good as the finished piece or some people, people like Brandon Wan, those who are slightly more clued up than others, can detect on some level that something is not right in the reality they are occupying, and lose control. Flicking through these terminals in this lab, you can also find more information on Catherine’s studies; To note a message written by Catherine herself: –

I have decided to finalise the ARK with the scans we have. I’m sorry for all of you who wanted to go but didn’t get a chance to scan yourself before the project was put on hold. It’s been two months since I’ve added a scan and I don’t see how I’ll ever be able to win back the support you all showed when we started the project. I’m sorry. I never meant for anyone to take their lives. It was never my intention to fool anyone. I just wanted to save something.

Dr. Catherine Chun

From reading this, I drew two things to mark; One, it is obvious she was upset by the suicides and the grief her ambitions caused, it was clearly a ways for Catherine to build hope, a hope that otherwise would not exist without her, but as always with all things, people find a way to corrupt even the most positive of messages, whether that be a religious one or otherwise, there will always be someone out there who twists, contorts or spoils something good. And two, this message must’ve been written sometime in November, because the last scan took place on Guy Konrad, on September 2^nd, 2103. Following on from this message, you can also see that Catherine was putting together a team, the ARK Team, consisting of Software Engineer Ian Peterson, Software Coordinator Jasper Hill, System Architect Nicolai Ivashkin and Payload Technician Sarah Lindwall. This was to be Catherine’s/their final mission, to get to site Phi, to launch the ARK and regroup at Tau to see out the rest of their days on Earth, for what else is left. This wraps up our venture at site Theta, the DUNBAT turned out to be a failure sadly but there is another way down to the abyss without resulting in implosion. You’re to travel to site Omicron, you’re to retrieve a power suit capable to withstand the extreme pressures and ride the elevator/ACR (Abyss Climber Rig) /the Climber down into the abyss. That’s the plan, but before you can reach site Omicron, you have to escape the lab, then leave Theta, but Simon hears a break-in, something close by is screaming as it rips its way through steel doors to wander hallways, there is only one possibility as to who this is, it’s the infamous Terry Akers, or a transformed version of Akers, for this creature is no longer human, it’s been altered beyond belief due to its environment and having consumed large amounts of Structure Gel, it’s lost all semblance of decency. The monster is indeed horrific, described by Nadine Masters in an audio entry that can be found in the examination room next to an empty bed, a bed where Akers was initially brought in for analysis by Emma Alvaro and Brandon Wan, it’s stained with buckets of blood, skin and what looks like to be coral and pieces of shell; Something happened here because the body of Akers is not here, it did eventually stand up and walk out, to do horrendous things to those stationed at Theta, and horrendous things indeed took place. The recording is dated January 16^th, 2104, and this is what was said: –

‘Terry Akers, Chief Factor at Delta – First assessment. Brought in today: January 16^th, 2104. Reportedly found in his diving suit, unconscious, in open water. Akers has clearly been consuming large amounts of Structure Gel. For weeks, probably. It’s difficult to tell how this has affected his health beyond the obvious malnourishment…And if it somehow caused him to gouge out his eyes. Small amounts of gel have always been considered perfectly safe to handle, but I can’t recall ever hearing about any recommendations on how to treat overexposure. Considering its properties, I doubt it’s poisonous, but the more transformative aspects of the ferrofluid makes me think that malign cell mutations are to be expected. I think…I think I’ll need to consult Dr. Eames at Omicron about this.’

MD-Nadine Masters

On Nadines office computer, you can find another message relating to Akers that reinforces her understanding of this case, it reads: –

Terry Akers

Age: 66 Sex: M

One of the worst cases I’ve seen and it’s most likely his own damn fault. He blinded himself and clogged up his insides with structure gel. I’d be surprised if he ever woke up from the coma.

Did make me think of Hart’s absurd story about what happened at Lambda. Could it really be that the WAU is somehow able to change and rebuild the h_

The message cuts off at that point, indicating that Nadine was interrupted while writing, likely this was by Akers himself, Nadine being his fist victim, because there is an unresponsive breathing body covered in blisters and boils sitting in the office chair, or perhaps it was by someone else, someone trying to warn Nadine of the incoming danger, for Akers is still wandering the halls of Theta when Simon arrives months later, meaning that no one was able to stop him and his Proxies. Proxies are the term given to Akers’s victims who do not die, but turn into walking corpses, creatures much like himself, they lack his ferocity but can be just as dangerous if they learn of your presence – It’s reported that there are about three of them, at THAT time, so it’s likely there could be more since the assault. From memory, I think I encountered four. The calcified, reanimated Akers is abnormally tall, he limps through the corridors with gangly limbs and laboured breathing as he attempts to sniff you out, he looks part mechanical yet more so crippled and diseased, his skin is sagging over his joins and his flesh is blood red and flayed. The abomination which was once a man, is blind, so evading the monstrosity by sight is not too hard, so long as you stay low, keep your distance and move slowly, you will be okay, but you’ve work to do in order to escape Theta’s lab, and the creature can still hear, it’s other senses are sharp and it’s very aware of its surroundings, it can even open doors that were previously shut. Should you get to close or if it becomes even slightly suspicious of your whereabouts, it quickly homes in, seeks you out, corners you, and will do God knows what given what you/Simon are. You come to learn that a small band of Theta survivors, decided to abandon the site and tried to escape, this group consisted of Payload Manager Alice Koster, Wrangler Brandon Wan, Astrodynamics Expert Emma Alvaro, Security Operative John Strohmeier, Dispatcher Peter Strasky, Mechatronics Engineer Richard Thabo, site Lambda’s Dispatcher’s Vanessa Hart and Vigdis Jonsdottir. Data mining John Strohmeier’s office, you retrieve said audio recorded by Mr Wan: –   

‘Strohmeier, you there?’

‘I hear you, Brandon. What do you got?’

‘Akers and his critters are ferocious. They pick up on every move. There’s no way past them.’

‘Then we’ll fight’em. We got to get to the shuttle.’

‘And end up like Shank and Adams? No way. Listen – I’ll create a distraction and pull them to me. Get the gang to the shuttle station.’

‘Wait, Brandon. What are you doing?’

‘Don’t worry, Alice. I’ll loop back as soon as you guys are safe. Just load up the shuttle and be ready to go.’

‘Are you sure about this?’

‘I don’t plan to die today, sir. See you at the shuttle.’

Unfortunately, Brandon does not get past the floor he/you are currently on. A nearby transmitter in the elevator hall which can be data mined, holds this further dialogue between Wan and John Strohmeier, you can also hear in the background, gargled screams of Akers getting closer to Brandon’s position: –

‘Strohmeier.’

‘Brandon, where are you?’

‘It got out of hand. I’m in sector RD-4. Did you get everyone downstairs?’

‘Yeah, we’re safe for now. But you need to get moving. They’re going to figure out where we are and come for us.’

‘Don’t worry about it. The stairs are blocked, and I killed the elevator – Pulled the connector chip from the lock.’

‘Why? That means you’re stuck as well!’

‘Only way to keep you guys safe. Take the shuttle, go to Omicron.’

‘God dammit, Wan. You just had to be the hero, you bastard.’

‘Good luck, sir. And tell Alice I love her.’

Because Simon is experiencing all of this ahead of time, bearing witness to the end results of this desperate struggle, you as the player, piece together what happened after this point. You come to find Brandon’s body in a management office in the adjacent hall, it doesn’t look like Akers got to him because if he did, it’s likely Brandon would be a walking Proxy, a mangled corpse or a comatose vegetable hooked up to the WAU, plus YOU have to be the one to break into the office to reach him and when you do, you can see that he cut his own throat from ear to ear, and bled out in a chair – Not a bad way to go when you consider what could potentially happen to someone aboard PATHOS-II, but still rather miserable. It gets worse when you realise that this man died a hero, sacrificing what precious time he may have had with Alice, only for his scan to be re-uploaded multiple times by yourself and Catherine, who needed lockdown lifting codes, no way to treat someone as brave as Wan, making the gravity of your actions hit just a little harder. You take the chip he is holding; You pry it away from his cold hands, fix the elevator all the while evading Akers, this can become especially difficult when the lights go out and the creature gets agitated, its sense of awareness seems to increase the longer you are there.

Chapter 5/ The Reformed Headless

You make your way down to the basement, to the transport level where John and the other survivors of Theta were once held up. You begin to retrace their steps being careful to avoid other, lesser Proxies along the way, monsters much like Akers but easily outwitted. Wan’s sacrifice, sadly meant nothing, for Alice’s headless body can be found inside the shuttle, assimilating itself into a gross heap of metal, wires and flesh, a grim fate. Simon eventually encounters Akers again in the tunnels, right after he has initiated an emergency drainage overload, which flushes everything from the basement out into the bottom of the Atlantic. When you pick yourself up after being violently ejected, you find the body of Vanessa Hart, the last survivor of Lambda. Data mining her suit conveys broken dialogue of the other survivors gathered around her, her suit is severely damaged after she sealed the tunnel and is filling up with water. It’s hard to know what exactly happened, but Vanessa was the one responsible for trapping Akers and his Proxies at Theta, for which now you can finally leave behind. There was no saving Hart, for if there was a way, her body would not be here, the others would have of course taken her with them. You continue to navigate the ocean floor once again, this time toward site Omicron, and one by one you discover the fate of what remains of those who escaped Theta. When you reach Omicron, it’s under a station wide quarantine lockdown, and scattered around the area are the bodies of our survivors from Theta. With nowhere to go, it was just a matter of time before the oxygen in their suits runs out. Right outside the gates of Omicron, you find the body of Vigdis Jonsdottir, it looks as if she lost consciousness and never awoke. At a sealed outbuilding within the vicinity of the site (I believe it’s another Annex), you find Peter Strasky with his helmet removed! By data mining his suit, you learn that Emma and Richard had about 20minutes of air remaining, while Peter was seconds away from running out, and decided to take off his headgear and drown – A strange choice considering it is a worse fate to remove your helmet so far below sea level, rather than suffocate on CO2, but choosing his way to die was his way of clutching at the last straws of control. It’s hard to empathise with, but I understand why he seized this moment, he wanted to go out on his own terms, to be, as he put it before taking his helmet off, be the ‘Master of my own fate.’ This leaves Emma Alvaro and Richard Thabo, left alone with nowhere to go, left to contemplate how fruitless and somewhat pointless all their efforts were. It’s sad to hear actually, they’ve come all this way only to die, outside site Omicron. You can find Emma’s body near the edge of the abyss, data mining her suit tells you this: –

‘The world is dead, Richard. Even if we got inside Omicron, what’s left? Grab a couple of suits and head for Tau? Strasky, Jonsy, Hart – Everyone is dead, and we are right behind them. We’re probably the last people left alive. The last moments of mankind. No oxygen left. Better sit down. Don’t want to fall into the abyss.’

‘There are worse ways to die…Probably…Why do they call you M?’

‘Huh? Oh. It’s for Emma.’

‘Emma Alvaro? I like that. That’s a good name. We should have hung out more. I think we would of made good friends.’

‘Thanks. I would have liked that.’

‘Goodbye, Emma.’

‘Bye…’

Emma never stood back up again, and Richard’s body, I never found, even after two playthroughs, I looked everywhere for him, and I don’t know why, I knew he died, he must’ve run out of air just like Emma, maybe he wanted to find a place with a view before his inevitable fate, or maybe, he leapt into the abyss. As for John Strohmeier, I do not know what happened to him either, because he wasn’t around with this last group of survivors suggests he died back in the basement of Theta, died to one of the Proxies or Akers himself, it isn’t clear, but he never made it out. It’s in these lonely moments of Soma when I find time to reflect, sure I didn’t know these people but that doesn’t make it any less painful when you empathise with their situation, to help express what I mean, well, simply replace the names uttered by Emma with people you know in your own life, it delivers a weight to what has happened, or should at least instil an echo of sadness – Imagine it, you’ve moments left, five to ten minutes tops before you fade away; Your family, friends/colleagues in this case, people you knew, people you cared about, laughed with, got angry at, it doesn’t matter now, all that matters is what comes next, they would be memories, faces and feelings, long gone, never to return, futureless, and you, you are moments away from experiencing the great unknown, poetic really because where Emma is sitting, she’s looking across the abyss, sitting before the void symbolic of death and its mystery. Putting yourself in Emma’s headspace is an eerie yet somewhat oddly peaceful place to go, she’s not panicking like Peter Strasky, she’s simply resigned, you can hear it in her words and almost feel it in the air, she’s made peace with it. Richard is the same, he’s calm, collected having accepted the end. I wonder, if I was there, who would I be with? Whose face would I be envisioning as I wander the bottom of the sea in my diving suit flashing red with a warning light, and what thoughts would enter my mind? If all options were exceeded, if hope was truly lost, if everyone special to you was gone, what space would your mind inhabit? It’s in moments like these that are truly haunting and sobering – But Soma is not over, it might be over for Upsilon, Lambda, the MS Curie, Delta, and Theta, but what went on in Omicron and beyond in the abyss, is what nightmares are made of.

Site Omicron is PATHOS-II’s medical and hydroculture research facility. It’s built on the edge of a gaping black hole known as the abyss and somewhere inside this deep void, is the source of this nightmare. Omicron is connected with a lift on its eastern wing, something that the researchers call the Climber, and this elevator track travels all the way down to a darker realm of the Atlantic Ocean. The site Omicron is currently under a quarantine lockdown and it’s up to Simon to find a way inside, to obtain a power suit and use the Climber. You’d think that if Emma, Richard, Vigdis and Peter failed to enter, what chance does our protagonist Simon, a man who worked in retail, in a small shop in Toronto have of getting inside? Well, using your upgraded Omnitool, you’re able to gain access to the out-building nearby, the Annex. You enter a control room with a body slouched over the consoles. By this point, seeing bodies is something you’re probably used to, but this one is different – He’s in a state of decomposition as he would be at this time, but the ability to data mine him isn’t possible, all you hear is crackles and static, this would be the first time this has happened. The back of his head has been blown out as if something was buried inside his skull and cracked it open…Strange. Reading through the entries on the computer, I figured this is the body of Olavi Sorvari, the possibility remains that it could be someone else, because the same log holds entries of other researchers at Omicron, but the chances of this being the case is slim; One such entry was by Chief Engineer Adam Golaski, who died at site Theta, and Site Service Engineer Heather Wolchezk, is obviously female. Plugging Catherine into the terminal, she can field what may have happened to Olavi and also give more valuable insights into life, what we are, where we fit in and why we’re here:-

‘Catherine’

‘What?’

‘There you are.’

‘Where are we?’

‘We’re right next to Omicron – A smaller building connected to the main site. Can’t you tell?’

‘No, my view is pretty limited, there’s some heavy restrictions on my system access. Did you find a power suit?’

‘Not yet. Trying to figure out how to get into Omicron – The big building.’

‘Oh okay. Keep up the good work.’

‘That’s it? You got nothing?’

‘Good luck.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Cath, how are you so okay with all this?’

‘With what?’

‘Being a talking box for one thing – Not being human.’

‘It’s not so bad.’

‘So, you’re not bothered at all by not having a body?’

‘I’m getting there. You’re making me feel really self-conscious.’

‘Come on, be serious.’

‘I never felt that comfortable being human in the first place. This isn’t much worse.’

‘Not being able to move would freak me out. Glad you got the box and not me.’

‘Would make it a little easier to help out if I had a body, but you’re doing a good job.’

‘Just figured being able to stretch a little would give you some ease.’

‘My physical constraints don’t translate to my experience very well. I feel about as human as before, but as if suspended in air. Which is kind of interesting, now that I think about it.’

‘Cath, why do you think I was made? Why would this A.I – The WAU – Bring me here?’

‘I don’t think we could ever know. I have my own beliefs, but nothing that can be verified.’

‘Tell me, why do you think the WAU brought me here?’

‘The WAU had a range of assignments, but they all sprung from one single idea: Preserve humanity. When the comet hit the Earth, killing everything, leaving a fraction of humanity left alive, the WAU started to compensate.’

‘It’s restoring humanity.’

‘I think so. But I don’t think we share a definition of human…Or life for that matter.’

‘Catherine, are we alive?’

‘That’s an impossible question to answer. We lack meaningful definitions.’

‘I just figured there must be a way to know, to know if this life is worth living.’

‘You assume you’ve changed so much, but have you really?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t feel so different, but the world sure does. I never realised how much the idea of myself depended on where I am.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘I miss Toronto – Not because my friends and family are there, but because I know where I fit in. In Toronto I know who I am.’

‘That’s an interesting observation.’

‘Any idea who this is?’

‘Not really. Not familiar with the people at Omicron. It must’ve overloaded his Blackbox.’

‘Humans have Blackbox’s?’

‘Here we do, company policy. It records your vitals to help medical personnel treat you in case of accidents.’

‘That’s how I can hear the dead.’

‘Right. You should be able to data mine Blackboxes. Just like the intercom at Theta. There has to be a way to cancel the lockdown. Have a look around the room.’   

I cannot possibly share everything in this review, as thorough as it is, when I think back from this point, there are many scenes and moments I’ve missed and many details that have slipped by, they didn’t feature not because they’re not important or valuable to the plot, but for practicality – Already this article is massive and we’ve still a long ways to go, which is why I encourage you to play it for yourself because the most profound parts to this story are still to come. This piece of dialogue, however, is one of my favourites in Soma, it says so much and even though you’re not handed all the answers, I’d say you’re a little bit more knowledgeable from Catherines perspective, her being inside a digital space. Simon too, I think his most recent observation is the most intelligent thing he’s said up to now, I’m not accusing the chap of being stupid or slow, Christ he is managing far better than most I’d say given he is essentially a time traveller who worked in retail, coming to inhabit a cyborg body hunted by abominations spawned from an A.I unit gone haywire, I think the man is mentally strong and capable, but this most recent thing he said, about knowing more about himself and who he is going off where he is from, is quite profound. I don’t think people quite realise, me included, how hard we’ve been shaped, moulded if you will by our environment, it reminds me of that line in The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese in 2006: –

‘I don’t want to be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me.’

-Frank Costello

It’s very strange to think about, that you dear reader, that I, as we exist in the year 2023, would not or would very likely not be the same person had we been born a hundred years ago or a hundred years from now. Right from the get-go you’d be exposed to things that influence and shape who you are as a person, you’d absolutely be a different man or woman had you been birthed in a different time and surrounded by a different culture; Your priorities would be different, your perspective would be altered given what you’d have access to while the world itself is constantly changing – You do not need an asshole like me to tell you how quickly the cultural landscape has shifted in the last ten years, let alone a hundred or so, it’s madness to think about and contemplate, but Simon is indeed onto something when he realises that his personality is a reflection from his specific time and place, a man out of time so they say. More on the Blackboxes too because this speaks volumes with what is going on right now in our present – If you’ve not heard of Neuralink, I’d suggest some light reading on the subject starting with the Wiki link I’ve shared below, I wanted to share a few more links, but as it turns out they are sites you have to sign up for or subscribe to, but from the Wiki page you can learn the general basics and gain access to a great deal. I encourage you in fact to do so when you can because this will become relevant in the not-so-distant future, it’s going to happen within our lifetimes and the more you know, the better you’ll be at making the right decisions and as we’ve been progressing through Soma, it’s all about choices and what you think is the right course to take. Simply put however, from what I’ve learned, as far as my little brain can understand, Neuralink is an idea proposed by Elon Musk, the entrepreneur billionaire who found his wealth through the development of PayPal, who later became the founder of Tesla, SpaceX, and recent CEO of social media platform Twitter, that he transformed into X. The idea is to insert a brain chip into your skull, that will enable human beings to be more interactive with modern technology. What do I mean by this? Well, to give you a minor example, I presume you’ve a smartphone, it’s either in your hand right now as you read this, it’s in your pocket or it’s sitting next to your laptop; What Neuralink can supposedly do is give you as much power as your smartphone but will allow you to control it using your mind from the implant; You can in theory gain access to said technologies through the chip and deal with it almost instantaneously. In a smartphone there is almost always an in-built calculator, say you were implanted with one of these brain chips, you’d be able to access the calculator and solve any math problem you’re asked. The problem (if you can call it that) with modern smartphones is a bandwidth issue, our fingers and thumbs are slow at accessing this information, very slow compared with how fast your brain works it’s not even close. Neuralink solves that bandwidth issue essentially merging you with technology. Which begs the question, upon this permanent merger, are we taking a step away from what it means to be human? With the advancement of science and technology it would certainly seem so. The Blackboxes in Soma is not the same as Neuralink, as Catherine explains they’re implanted to measure vitals and to assist in medical treatments should you have an accident or fall sick, but they’re not far removed Neuralink that you’d consider them totally different, I would not be surprised if the writers of Soma were inspired by Mr Musk’s idea of becoming one with a form of artificial intelligence.

The man before us, who is likely Olavi Sorvari, has suffered at what would appear to be an overloaded Blackbox. Listening to the audio file stored on the computer, a transmission between Olavi and Omicron Dispatcher, Raleigh Herber, a sweet young girl thrown into the thick of it, further corroborates this seed of an idea, Olavi talking of an overwhelming headache, going as far as wanting access to the emergency supply of morphine to ease the pain. Suspiciously, Herber cuts the transmission short, claiming she has a thing to take care of, this is light foreshadowing for what is to come, but you the player/Simon does not know that, but you will, just give the story thread time to unravel. You approach another terminal in the room, it’s located directly opposite of your position, and on it, you can see the status of everyone’s Blackbox, those who are stationed at site Omicron and they’re all flatlined, all are offline, everyone is dead and if that wasn’t terrifying enough, knowing that site Omicron is full of corpses, the way you lift the quarantine is not done by your own accord or Catherines, no, the terminal glitches ever so swiftly, it’s a gentle glitch and the monitor quickly recovers, revealing to Simon the security code to terminate the quarantine, leaving you with nothing but a cold sense of dread; Someone or something, is still alive inside Omicron and whatever it is, wants you to come in. You leave the Annex the same way you came in, you trapse back across the ocean floor, passed the bodies of Peter, Emma and Vigdis and enter the site. Going through the main doors however is not possible, because once you enter the pressure chamber, you’re met with a malfunction and should seek an alternate route. It’s rather obvious where you should go next. You leave the main entrance and head for the broken scaffolding surrounding the Climber, scale down and you enter through an emergency hatch. Many believe that this is how Richard died, that he attempted to navigate these broken frames of rusted metal and fell into the abyss, crushed into oblivion, never to be heard from or seen again. I personally think otherwise, I like to think Richard found a peaceful spot like Emma and died quietly while contemplating his life, I think this because it is what I would do, if there was no hope left, if everyone else around me was gone and I had minutes left, I’d certainly take my final walk alone. Whence you enter Omicron, you’re immediately met with headless bodies, their skulls have not been severed neatly, they have literally exploded, shards of bone and brains can be seen wherever there are/were people! This confirms that their Blackboxes were overloaded, but why? Omicron is indeed a very scary place, it’s dark, deathly quiet, the lights are barely operational, flickering or strobing down empty corridors in an attempt to preserve power, to the decorations of sprayed blood on walls and spilled on metal floors. What I found most terrifying however, was the drenching silence complimented by the fact that someone is in here, that someone had let me in, but for what purpose? Well, not long after you’ve entered, you get a glimpse of it when you enter the second floor of site Omicron, when you’re fronted with what looks like a glass box the size of a prison cell, suspended in the middle of a tall room, the central shaft that runs through the site. You experience some interference with your visuals, your optics begin to fuzz and strain in an attempt to focus before seeing a flash, a glitching, electrified humanoid creature looking right at you from within the glass prison. It talks to you; it says in a broken crackled voice: –

‘You need to stop it.’

The being vanishes, like it wasn’t even there, the glass prison right in front of you appears to be completely empty, but if you check the monitor nearby, a red dot on the map of Omicron, is registering a life-form contained in the cell, or at least I think this is what it means. From the creature’s appearance, it looks as if this is a form belonging to that of the WAU, but unlike all the others we have encountered thus far, this one can talk and communicate with you directly, whether it be during split second flashes or through computer terminals you’ll be required to access throughout site Omicron, it will say things like: –

‘We suffer.’

And: –

‘Take the gel.’

And: –

‘Listen to me.’

Throughout Omicron, as I navigated through this base, even though it was empty, I had the horrid feeling like something was watching you, that something was following me, it’s deathly quiet in there and it only gets worse. I’m sure there are other messages that this thing sends to you while you explore Omicron, but I cannot remember any more and it’s not something you can easily look up. The glitching happens sporadically, it’s often off-putting, leaving you with many questions; You do eventually come to learn more about this entity, what it wants and why it’s doing all of this, but that is for a later time. Right now, Simon is on a mission to find a power suit, and he finds one located in the power suit bay. You also find on the desk, a photograph of the ARK team, the one that Catherine organised to prep the ARK for launch at site Phi. In the picture you get to see Ian Peterson, Jasper Hill, Nicolai Ivashkin, Sarah Lindwall, and of course Catherine Chun, all of them kitted out in bulky power suits. You also get a time stamp of when the ARK team left Omicron using the Climber, it’s found in Raleigh Herber’s Dispatcher room located in one of the lower levels of the site, in the form of an audio log. The exchange is brief, some of the ARK team are complaining about the power suits, but they do leave on December 25^th, 2103, Christmas Day and expected to be picked up once their mission (to launch the ARK from the Omega Gun in Phi) was completed. We already know that the ARK is still on Earth and that Catherine, and her team never returned, this gives us the uneasy indication that something must’ve gone terribly wrong down there. What is worse, is that the Climber cannot be operated from site Tau built at the bottom of the abyss, it’s set on a scheduled timer from site Omicron, and it did pick someone or something up, but it was not who was expected, in fact it was no one from the ARK team at all, but what used to be a man identified as site Tau’s A.I Psychologist, Dr. Johan Ross. The sight of the body alone was enough to horrify those at Omicron so much, that they did not even attempt to find out what had happened to the ARK team down in Tau, let alone send a rescue mission for those stationed there, for the body of Johan had been twisted into something that would make Terry Akers look a little less frightening. Entering the cafeteria at Omicron, you find the headless body of the infamous Julia Dahl who has connection with Carthage Industries and on her laptop covered in blood and pieces of skull, are three undelivered audio recordings which tells the story of their/her last few days. This is what was recorded: –

Undelivered Report #1 – ‘Johan Ross was found dead on the Climber this morning, the ARK team went down a couple of days ago, but I see no reason to suspect they played any part in his death. The Climber cannot be operated from the abyss, there was scheduled retrieval, the Climber returned with only Alpha member Johan Ross, no traces of the ARK team. Cameron, Eames, Lansky all studying the body inside containment, I’ll follow up with whatever they find. Delenda est.’

There are a few things to take of note here; The first one being that Dr. Johan Ross’s body was found after the ARK team had descended into the abyss via the Climber. Second, that Julia Dahl did not consider foul play at work and thirdly, Cameron, Eames and Lansky were analysing/studying Ross’s remains while they were encased in a glass prison. Their findings can be read from a PDA that can be picked up in the laboratory, it’s revealed that the WAU, the A.I had been bombarding Ross with electromagnetic fields, in order to instruct the gel to repair his corpse. This unhealthy dose of magnetism and exposure to radiation interferes with the staff’s implants, disrupting their Blackboxes, which is the root cause of the migraines and bleeding noses which they had to endure during their last few days at site Omicron.

Undelivered Report #2 – ‘The WAU has been getting more aggressive – Pushing all systems to their limits. Ironically the dead Dr. Johan Ross would be the perfect person to ask why the WAU us making such a big buzz about his passing, after all the WAU isn’t supposed to want anything, and definitely not to mourn people. The system overload affects the staff considerably – Headaches, loss of sleep, unwarranted stress. And it seems to be getting worse. I could use some advice if you can get through. Delenda est.’

Here, Julia Dahl refers to Dr. Johan Ross is stationed at site Alpha, this information contradicts what you’ve learned up this point, that he is from site Tau, but it also confirms concretely the actual existence site Alpha. Alpha was for the most part, a mystery to many, a rumour, a conspiracy theory among the researchers and scientists of PATHOS-II, as it turns out, it is a very place. Let’s go back to that classified document, the one we found in Mark Serangs room while investigating the living quarters of site Theta, the document that name dropped Julia Dahl and Dr. Johan Ross, combine this with the most recent evidence, and it’s fair to assume that Alpha site is not a conspiracy. Omicrons Dispatcher, Raleigh Herber, enquired about site Alpha, going directly to Julia Dahl herself. Raleigh seemed to be secretly recording such conversations and is caught doing so later on, this explains why the record button was hit mid conversation, this is what was said: –

‘…it’s not something you really want to get comfortable with.’

‘Haha that’s funny, that’s really funny, Julia.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Am I that transparent?’

‘What do you want Raleigh?’

‘We’re friends right?’

‘Yes’

‘Do you think Alpha is real?’

‘What makes you…What makes you ask that?’

‘I think Ross is trying to tell me something.’

‘About site Alpha?’

‘He wants me to go down the abyss and find it. Crazy, right? You’ve been down there,  I just thought you could talk some sense into me.’

‘Raleigh, I’m not at liberty to…(alarm sounds in the distance)…I can’t talk about that.’

‘What?’

In accordance with the classified letter, it refers to Dr. Johan Ross, on top of that, you’re able to see the stencilled lettering of Carthage Industries layered on Mark Sarang’s door – It is safe to assume that these three researchers were in fact agents of the shadow corporation, Carthage, but what was its ultimate goal, to what end was it operating? Julia Dahl now lacks a head, Johan is dead or mutated beyond recognition and Mark has killed himself by biting into a sienite capsule covered in gum after his scan was completed, whatever big secret they were working on, must’ve died with them, a secret we’ll never come to know or learn more about. This being said, not much is actually known about Carthage Industries, but I do have a theory, one which I will be able to back-up later in this article, after the review. That aside, there is a small clue left for us to consider, something that I feel like the game developers wanted us to look into, which I did eventually succumb to do – It’s not much but it’s something to think about; What does Delenda est mean, why did Julia always sign off her audio logs with those words? Well, I did some digging and I found that it is an expression referring to a short story published in a magazine called, Fantasy and Science Fiction 1955, authored by a man named Poul Anderson. It was first reprinted as a first edition, part of the Time Patrol series collection, called Guardians of Time, in September 1960. Delenda est alludes to the phrase Cathargo Delenda est, which when you translate it, it means Carthage must be destroyed. What is Carthage? Pulled from Wikipedia: –

Carthage

“Carthage was the capital city of ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classical world.

The city developed from a Canaanite Phoenician colony into the capital of a Punic empire which dominated large parts of the Southwest Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. The legendary Queen Alyssa or Dido, originally from Tyre, is regarded as the founder of the city, though her historicity has been questioned. According to accounts by Timaeus of Tauromenium, she purchased from a local tribe the amount of land that could be covered by an oxhide. As Carthage prospered at home, the polity sent colonists abroad as well as magistrates to rule the colonies.

The ancient city was destroyed in the nearly-three year siege of Carthage by the Roman Republic during the Third Punic War in 146 BC. It was re-developed a century later as Roman Carthage, which became the major city of the Roman Empire in the province of Africa. The question of Carthaginian decline and demise has remained a subject of literary, political, artistic, and philosophical debates in both ancient and modern histories.”

After reading this segment, and a little further I might have you, it is likely that Julia, when saying Delenda est, is referring to the third Punic War that waged between the great Roman Republic and the Carthaginians referred to as a barbaric horde, this is of course where the phrase originated from. The battle between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginians came to an end with the obliteration of the city of Carthage, what followed was the death and slavery of their peoples. Mirror these instances with the events of Soma and you’ll notice some stark similarities, those stationed aboard PATHOS-II for example, have lost their home, the Earth itself, the surface being utterly eradicated; What is left of their species are slowly being enslaved by the overseer, the A.I WAU. It’s true that history is littered throughout with similar events to that of the fate of Carthage, you’ve probably heard the phrase: –

‘History tends to repeat itself.’

I believe this is a slight distortion, what I think it is meant to read is: –

‘History does not repeat itself; History rhymes.’

I give the developers of Soma, those at Frictional Games, more credit for drawing up a simple juxtaposition; Because I spend so much of my time bombarded with crappy Hollywoodized writing, I can appreciate good, intelligent writing when it comes my way, and Soma’s story is through and through strong and competent. I am more in favour of the subtle references from Poul Andersons work, Delenda est, where a rogue like group of rag-tags travel back through time, with the mission to alter the result of the second Punic War. It is their meddling nature that results in a fresh timeline being forged, one where Hannibal Barca born 247 BC, the Punic General/Leader actually succeeds and conquers Rome, defeating the Republic. This victory evidently alters the flow of history when Europe had originally been generated by an influence of Roman Greco. Roman Greco as detailed by Wikipedia is as follows: –

Roman Greco

“The Greco-Roman civilization (also Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally – and so historically – were directly and intimately influenced by the language, culture, government and religion of the Greeks and Romans. A better-known term is classical antiquity. In exact terms the area refers to the “Mediterranean world”, the extensive tracts of land centred on the Mediterranean and Black Sea Basins, the “swimming pool and spa” of the Greeks and the Romans, in which those peoples’ cultural perceptions, ideas, and sensitivities became dominant in classical antiquity.

That process was aided by the universal adoption of Greek as the language of intellectual culture and commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean and of Latin as the language of public administration and of forensic advocacy, especially in the Western Mediterranean.”   

Only now, because of the introduction of this new timeline, all of European culture is heavily influenced (not by Romans) by a Celtic Carthaginian culture. Readers of the short story written by Poul Anderson, follows a patrolman, an agent of time, and he is faced with a quandary, he questions himself with whether or not he should travel back in time to prevent such altercations from happening, meaning that the act of doing so would delete/nullify his own timeline therefore erasing him from existence. I’ll leave a link to where you can find the short story, by all means feel free to correct my own interpretation from the material, have I’ve missed the mark, I’m open to acknowledge and verify any mistakes I might make – What I’d like to home in on however, is how Frictional Games, have used said themes to what I think have inspired them to write/make the game Soma, the clever use of parallels in the narrative, and the inversions to both a fictional and historical periods is elegant. It’s fun to break down and analyse but the beauty is that it is not 100% concrete, it’s inspirational sources have not simply been flipped over or inverted, no, Soma has been decorated by works of fantasy, science fiction and horror, it feels like a method I personally have detailed when creating my own work in TAO – Nothing is 100% original, but it’s how you apply what has influenced you and how you mean to translate your vision in your own unique fashion. Dilute all that inspires you through the mechanism that is you; In a way this is what makes us who we are, how we interpret the world, this is our soul energy, this is what is hard dare I say impossible to render into 1’s and 0’s, this is one of the ways that define us as humans in contrast to the machines/A.I, the defining line will never go, it might fade over time as technology advances, but it will always be there.   

Another few links in the chain to consider, is that both our protagonists are men out of time, only in Soma; Simon Jarrett goes forward in time to disrupt, to save an estranged humanity from extinction, while in Poul Andersons work Delenda est, our agent goes back in time to interfere with a line not his own, to save himself and a whole period of people who otherwise would never come to exist. It’s a mix up of events that are interesting to dissect, and any one of us can interpret things differently, this is fine, so long as we do not ignore some key similarities, and those are in this case, to meddle, to interrupt and to interfere with fate, with the natural flow of time. Listing the examples we’ve covered, a leader, a General called Hannibal can indeed disrupt the prosper of a rising dominant culture, and a comet called Telos/Pestilence, can and will stop the progression of an entire species. Carthage Industries is the embodiment of disruption, digging their paws into the mechanisms of PATHOS-II, by planting agents such as Mark Serang, who indeed meddled with the research, promoting the developing A.I, the WAU into a position it never should have reached. Why those at Carthage Industries and their double-agents wanted the A.I to govern PATHOS-II, is unknown, again, I’ve my own theories because it is wide open for interpretation, but what the Warden Unit was to become given enough time, we too shall never learn due to the comet strike, which changed everyone’s and everything’s directive drastically, this includes Dr. Johan Ross who even though in the state/form he occupies, survived and formulates a way to fight the WAU, but in order to fight it, he needs help. Ross manages to commune with Raleigh Herber, Omicrons Dispatcher, to verify this, an audio recording can be found in one of the offices in the site: –

‘Hey Andrea’

‘Yeah’

‘I was talking to Cameron about protein solubilization. Do you think we could break the aggregate in structure gel without flattening the configuration?’

‘Jesus, that was a mouthful. You’ve been listening to Cameron, that’s for sure. What do you want Raliegh?’

‘Can you blame me for trying to figure this out? I’ve been having the dreams too, you know, I don’t know what to believe.’

‘Oh, I know. Everything from the sudden signal amplification in Blackboxes, to having a comatose Dr. Ross locked up in a glass jar. We’ve all been going a bit nuts.’

‘Tell me about it, if feels like my head is about to explode. Hypothetically speaking, could we stop the WAU from mutating?’

‘It doesn’t work like that.’

‘Even if there was a site Alpha.’

‘Hypothetically speaking, I guess we could try – Raleigh, are you recording this?’

‘Sorry…I just…sorry…’

I like Raleigh Herber, she has a sweet voice, she’s generally and genuinely curious and inquisitive, and those she talks to in this segment all have far more authority and power than she does; This I can relate to because most people in my life outclass me in almost every way, whether it be by status or earnings, I often find myself in the presence of those who (supposedly) know more than I do and are in more powerful positions, and yet its Raleigh (and later Simon) who Dr. fucking Johan Ross chose to carry out arguably THE most important task humanity has ever faced – This is the biggest reason as to why I love Johan Ross, he’s an extremely intelligent man whose wisdom has LITERALLY transcended into the other plain and still he is able to know right from wrong, he’s still in command of the most important faculties a human being can possess, despite him being destroyed, reshaped and destroyed all over again, he is still Johan; Presented as a villain (just one look at what he has become will give you nightmares) but is actually the real hero of the story, and I fucking love it! Those in Soma who interact with Raliegh often have hard, domineering voices with little room for compassion, yet Raleigh, you can tell is curious by nature, she’s kind, sensitive and thoughtful, and is willing to walk into the abyss to do what is right, that’s courage so few have, indicating to me that it is SHE who should be in charge and not these cold, indoctrinated drones who only live to diligently follow orders without question, to me that’s not what makes a hero, it’s not in the foundation, those aspects of a human are NOT WHAT MAKES YOU HUMAN BUT MORE LIKE A MACHINE! Goddamn I love this game! That is why Ross chose Raleigh, because he knew she had a good heart. He communicated to her through her dreams and by terminal as we’ve seen while in Omicron, Ross talking to us as he did with Raleigh, their contact instigated Raleigh Herber’s investigation into site Alpha, where the WAU is housed and tasked her to find the means to halt the Warden Units mutations. Found in the laboratory in Omicron is Raleigh’s dialogue, referring to Lisa Cameron’s research: –

Lisa Cameron

2103-03-23

The structure gel has been charged and actually keeps going for a while, even when removed from a power source. If applied to circuits, it seems to help out with connectivity.

In the lab we can dig up documentation detailing how the Structure Gel works. The substance is described to be a crosslinked gel with aligned graphene and a polyunsaturated matrix, to be honest I do not understand these terms, as writers, whether you’re working in fantasy or sci-fi, to get around some problems that are deemed otherworldly, we tend to insert magic, to help assist with the plot, or in this case when in the realms of science fiction, you can splice all sorts of terminologies together to make sense of something that is by definition, not possible in the physical space we occupy; Sure it might not make sense entirely, but take these terms and phrases loosely, read them as if you’ve cherry picked the appropriately interpreted meaning to fit your narrative, and it can work. I’ve described Structure Gel as a sort of nanotech technology, much like what Tony Starks suit is made from in The Infinity War, like a digital liquid that can mend both organic and mechanical systems, this you could argue is Soma’s magic insertion and it’s interesting to ponder, it’s not possible in the present day and so impossible when it becomes laughable breaking immersion, plus we are not currently in our current day, we are playing in the year 2104, so none of this is unreasonable. The key takeaway though after reading through these files is that Structure Gel can in fact be coded, meaning you can actually give it instructions which can go against the WAU’s programming. Ross must’ve given these ideas to Raleigh, his obsession to shut the WAU down at Alpha, became her fixation too, you can see evidence of this in her work room, in the Dispatcher Room in the lower levels, the wall is covered in drawings of the orb, this is what the WAU supposedly looks like. Her desk and table are plastered with post it notes scribbled with diagrams and text saying: –

Head into the abyss.

Find Alpha.

And things like: –

It is sick!

Alpha needs medicine.

Johan Ross’s managed to show Raleigh what the WAU looked like, whether he did this via telepathy or more likely through the computer terminals in the same way we have experienced Dr. Ross, it isn’t known. Final thing to note before we leave here, is that it implies that Raleigh was under the false impression that the WAU was sick, and could thusly be cured, mended through medication, this is clever because Ross knew that if the WAU knew Raleigh was on her way to harm it, it would do everything within its power to stop her, and believe me, last thing any of us want, is for an artificial intelligence to want us dead. From Raleigh’s perspective, she thought she could use the Structure Gel to help the WAU, to enable it to recover from its dire mutations, Dr. Johan Ross and unfortunately the WAU knew better. On January 16^th, 2104, Raleigh Herber sent her last communication to site Theta, letting Peter Strasky know that she would not be at her listening post for a while: –

‘Strasky are you there?’

‘I hear you Herbie what’s up?’

‘Uh I just wanted to check in. I have to go do something. I might not be around for a few days okay.’

‘Raleigh Herber leaving the listening post? Must be important.’

‘It is Strask…It is.’

‘Well okay then, stay safe.’

Raleigh was successful in stealing one of the specialised containers of Structure Gel from the lab, and swiftly made her way down toward the power suit bay, to prepare for her descent into the abyss via the Climber. While she was outfitting herself with the last remaining power suit, her Blackbox inserted in her head, overloaded, blowing her head off killing her instantly. What caused this to happen, is not revealed, and it won’t be for quite some time. It’s clear, that all of the staff on site Omicron died at the same time in the exact same way, their Blackboxes were overloaded, took on a powerful surge they could not withstand, and they blew: –

Undelivered Report #3 – ‘Things are out of hand. The staff looks like they are about to explode. Every other person walks around with nosebleeds, and the rest keep wiping stains of blood from their eyes to keep them from overflowing. It’s to do with the WAU trying to free Ross somehow, for sure. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the body just got up and left. Raleigh Herber, our Dispatcher, has been snooping around asking questions she shouldn’t. She says she’s going down the abyss to find Alpha. I can’t bring myself to stop her….aaaaAAARRRGH!’  

Dr. Johan Ross, he who had recruited brave Raleigh Herber was left behind, the sole survivor of site Omicron. Given more context behind Johan Ross’s presence and purpose, him contacting Simon Jarrett start to make a little more sense. Afterall, it was Ross who gave Simon the deactivation code for Omicrons quarantine lockdown and, where Raleigh had failed, he has hopes that Simon, will succeed. Simon finds his way to the power suit station; this is where he finds the corpse of Raleigh Herber still inside the broken power suit. Catherine tells Simon that he can use that same suit to make his way into the abyss, however, before he can utilise it, he must make some repairs. You will need the Structure Gel of course found in the labs, and you’ll also need some optics and a cortex chip. You need to solve a variation of puzzles to obtain these items, you’ll also notice something interesting as to what is happening with some of the corpses scattered about the place, because some, aren’t exactly dead, despite their heads having been popped. The WAU seems to have gotten to some and is making its own repairs to these bodies; Where the head once was is now something new, something that has been fitted artificially, something that should not even be and what is worse, is that some of these…Units…That have perfectly fine bodies, have already had a consciousness inserted into it. This takes things to another level if you stop and think about it, because judging by what we have seen, a consciousness is not ready to be just inserted into a machine, or terminal or construction, it’s too fragile it’s too sudden and nightmarish, we saw an example of this with Brandon and with the DUNBAT at Theta, it bodes for bad results – Now imagine that you dear reader had to suffer your head exploding or some other miserable fate while in PATHOS-II only to wake up instantly, despite how much real time has actually passed, not only to be somehow alive, not only to be in another body but someone else’s body. What an absolute horror show, this concept is, no wonder these Proxies are drawn to tears, utter despair, and complete lunacy. These bodies remain stagnant for the most part as you wander but as you make progress, where one body once was, slouched in a corridor say or connected to the WAU’s artificially grown organic mass, might not be there when you return to that section in the site, and you cannot locate them whence they disappear, believe me I tried to look for him or her or it, this game is fucking loopy!

As you build and acquire the necessary items to fix the suit up, Ross eventually breaks out of his containment, the glass prison cell suddenly shatters to the words: –

‘I’ll follow you.’

For some reason, those Proxies of the WAU, those humanoid creatures with rebuilt craniums go fucking haywire, reacting in an obviously violent way and start to hunt you down. Simon/you have to return to the power suit bay, narrowly avoiding a horrific encounter resulting in a chase between yourself and a band of these twisted cyborgs, formerly people of Omicron. You burst your way into the bay where Catherine is waiting for you and you command her instantly to close the door, you scream at her to lock the fucking door – Catherine, indeed comes through for you, she shuts and locks the door and the monsters behind said door can be heard banging and scratching at it from behind. It’s pretty intense, that last five minutes of being hunted in Omicron is some scary ass shit – The game having done a masterful job of building suspense, not falling into the trap of tedious jump scares and cheap shallow moments thought to be scary, when in actual reality, they just come across as annoying. Hollywood is great at making all of these mistakes, I swear every other horror movie and horror game I’ve been watched/played in recent years fail, unable to grasp such a simple formula, but Soma is horror at its finest, it’s careful not to let everything go all in one moment, but instead allows the atmosphere to settle in like a fog, gives the tension time to slowly come to the boil, it builds and builds and builds using effective lighting, poignant sound effects until you literally cannot take it anymore, and the game knows it, you know it and boom. You explode into this room, having acquired all the parts necessary to move forward, you begin to fix the power suit Raleigh Herber is still currently occupying. You implant the optics into Herbers neck stump, you pour the charged Structure Gel into the power suit, and you insert the cortex chip into the mechanics; Little do you and Simon for that matter what is about to happen, that this is the moment that ceased my progression for the longest time in any video game I’ve ever played to date, and I’ve played a lot of fucking games ever since I was five. This is the moment when Soma drops something monumental and to this day, I am still…Evidently…Still thinking about, nor have come to terms with hence the writing of this article in an attempt to better understand it. Catherine instructs you to boot up the repaired suit in the bay using the adjacent terminal and the dialogue between them is as follows but before I continue, let me just say, if you’ve not played this game, this is your last warning because I’m about to give away the spoiler of the century. Simon starts off by saying: –

‘I can’t believe we’re doing this.’

‘It will be fine.’

‘Then why don’t we put you in the suit.’

‘I would suggest that if you refused.’

‘You’d go without me.’

‘I need to do this Simon, this is important, I need to launch the ARK.’

‘You’d really do it, change bodies.’

‘Yes. You want to stay here I’m not going to stand in your way, I don’t want to tell you what to do.’

‘Will it be like before, close my eyes and then…’

‘And then open them again.’

‘Alright, let’s do it.’

‘Thank you, Simon, go sit in the Pilot Seat in the next room, you might need to boot it up. We need to loop back the activity manifested by your current cortex chip, run it through the amplifier, feed it into the new chip, and then make sure it’s synched.’

‘You lost me halfway there.’

‘You don’t really need to understand it, just make them line up.’

Here comes is a neat little puzzle, all you need do is line up the two waving lines, it’s not hard, but once lined up using the dials you can progress. Catherine says: –

‘That’s everything. You can climb into the Pilot Seat now.’

‘Already?’

‘I have everything under control. So please…Have a seat. Sorry about any discomfort, this should be over soon.’

‘Just like having your picture taken.’

‘But with the most expensive camera in the world.’

‘You know, Indians thought photos would steal their souls.’

‘In this case, they’d be right hehe.’

A fantastic piece of writing there, Simon’s last line at first in Toronto was an innocent little joke, has mutated over the course of the game or perhaps through time, maybe the Indians were actually onto something when that phrase was created, maybe there is something spiritual going on after all and we are (most of us) just too blind to see it. The screen fuzzes and transitions into a white light, just like before when it happened in 2015, back in Dr. Munchi’s make-shift lab. Simon wakes up inside the power suit…You’ve done it…Success! You’ve literally transferred your consciousness from one body, Imogen Reed’s diving bot, into the room next door, into Raleigh Herber wearing the larger suit, but something is wrong, there is a problem. I could describe it to you, but maybe it is best I let the characters, Catherine Chun and Simon Jarrett do it for me. As Simon is examining his new power suit in the next room from inside the bay, he hears the diving robot, the other consciousness inhabiting Imogen Reed, still talking! Talking to Catherine, and it says: –

‘There must be something wrong. Can’t you run a diagnosis or something? Catherine…’

When you realise that that wasn’t you, the other Simon’s voice drowns out like the volume has been turned all the way down. Simon, our Simon, the man whose consciousness is now in Herber, says in a tone we’ve not heard him utter before: –

‘What was that?’

‘No, I…It’s just…’

‘Why was it still talking?’

‘It’s the same. Like before.’

‘Catherine. Why was he still talking?’

‘That’s how it works. You know that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know it’s not magic. You were copied. The sleeping Simon in the seat was copied…And now you are here. Just like Simon lived on in Toronto.’

‘Goddamn you Cath. Two Simons? There can’t be two Simons!’

‘What did you think would happen?!’

‘That you were going to take my mind and put it in to the other body. Like a brain transplant.’

‘I’m sorry. It wouldn’t work that way.’

‘You realise how messed up this is?’

‘Please, I didn’t mean to upset-’

‘How did you expect me to react to this shit?’

‘Please stop.’

‘You’re fucking disgusting!’

At this point, Simon Jarrett has stood up, and is now looking at his former body in the diving bot, sitting there in the Pilot Seat having been powered down, put into a temporary sleep mode just as you would a fucking laptop – He’s horrified, and who wouldn’t be? Simon, who is technically Simon number three, the first having lived for almost 27 years, was scanned, and died of brain trauma in Toronto in 2015, only to be uploaded 89 years later into Imogen Reed’s diving suit, to then be copied and transferred into Raleigh Herber inhabiting a power suit. Simon, had simply misunderstood Catherine, it’s all there in the dialogue so I’m not going to insult your intelligence by explaining it, instead I’m going to ask a couple of questions, questions for those of you who are believers in an afterlife, whether you’re part of a major religion or not, if you believe in a higher power, I ask you; If your consciousness can be copied, if your soul could be reduced to 1’s and 0’s, does it go to Heaven or find it’s way to the afterlife? And at what point does the consciousness cease to be the original you? If that’s not a headscratcher then I do not know what is and this is coming from someone who does not believe, from someone who believes that this IS the only life you get and there is nothing else. So, what this question does for the religious and the spiritual…I have no words…Because you cannot stop the flow of technology, if things are allowed to continue, if we as a species continue down this path, technology, the digital frontier WILL keep making strides and one day, one day it is likely that this science will become a reality it’s inevitable. After all, our consciousness is generated by our brains, the brain works in the exact same way as a computer, or the computer was built to reflect what our brains do only ours are made of organic matter rather than metal and computer chips, and we also use an electrical current, it passes through our bodies relaying messages and commands, this also generates our thoughts, our feelings and every emotion we’re capable of having so just like with the Structure Gel, right now in 2023 it’s not possible, but one day it will be and our consciousness will be able to be copied just like you would make a copy from a file floating about in your desktop. It’s crazy to think about but this is what Soma does to you, it asks you these questions without directly asking you up front, allowing your thoughts to wander into those deeper, darker recesses of your mind. Let’s continue, Catherine is clearly hurt, having been somewhat caught out, had Simon number two not said anything then I doubt she would have raised the quandary, this does not make her a villain, I’d say she is completely justified, she is after all on a mission to save a piece of mankind, she cannot risk Simon’s refusal to help which is increasing ever more considering what this man is seeing and having to deal with, she doesn’t want to push him and this entails having to be somewhat light with the hard truths, for is Simon fails EVERYONE fails. Simon is clearly angry while standing over Simon number two, and says: –

‘What’s going to happen to him?’

‘He’ll sleep for a while. A few days.’

‘And then what, wake up in this fucking nightmare again? All alone. So cruel.’

‘Well, what do you want to do with him? Make friends? Let him know that we have to leave him behind when we go into the abyss?’

‘What if…What if he didn’t need to wake up?’

‘You’d do that?’

‘I don’t know…Maybe.’

‘There. I set it up for you. Hit the switch if you want to drain his battery. He’ll die within a minute. I’d rather not stay plugged in any longer.’

Once again, you’re faced with a choice, the hardest choice you’ve ever had to make thus far. Do you turn off Simon two instantly, killing him painlessly in his sleep, or do you let him live, to eventually wake up days later all alone in Omicron? There is no right or wrong answer here, no matter what you decide, it has no effect on how the rest of the game plays out, it doesn’t affect the ending or change your relationship with Catherine, but it affects you, your choices whether they’re made in the digital space or the real world, affect you. Both times I played Soma, I drained Simon’s battery, the thought of him waking up all alone, without Catherine, left to ponder where she had gone, had their been a malfunction and to contend with what was roaming around the site, I powered him down, for I figured there was no hope for him, this is after all the same mind making that decision, the same consciousness so surely the Simon sitting in the Pilot Seat would surely understand, right? – If you think and feel differently, you’re not wrong, you are free to make your choice as I did, but right there I’ve just hit a moral dilemma, I am technically depriving the sleeping Simon of that choice, I am making it for him, choosing to take away his chance at survival however small, and terminating his life – Further more you can ask, is it a life? He is after all as Catherine described earlier, all the way back at site Lambda: –

‘Have you looked at yourself lately? You’re a walking, talking diving suit with some electronics slapped on for good measure.’

Whatever you choose to do, no matter how long you talk about it or what conclusions you come to, you’ll never reach an answer that completely satisfies. Simon unplugs Catherine, unlocks the outer door, walks across a long steel catwalk toward the edge of the black, toward the Climber. He climbs inside the elevator, plugs Catherine back into the terminal so she can operate the machinery, and together, you leave site Omicron, heading down into the inky blackness that is the abyss, hoping to find out what happened down there, what happened to those stationed at sites Tau, Phi and the elusive Alpha? To learn what happened to the original ARK team who ultimately failed in their mission and to salvage the ARK, to launch it into space and therefore save a piece of humanity from a ruined Earth. As you travel into the unknown, the Climber slows and grinds to a halt, the power goes out and something climbs inside with you, Dr. Johan Ross escaped Omicron with you revealing himself in all his grotesquery, looks you right in the eye before you black out, and says: –

‘You did it, you did it. I will make preparations.’

Chapter 6/ Enemy of God

When you come around, Dr. Johan Ross is nowhere to be seen. You’re still on the Climber heading down, getting deeper by the second, at one point you have to unbuckle yourself from your seat and fiddle with the mechanics on the roof to get the elevator moving again, and while you’re doing such a task, the wildlife comes out from the black all around you. Bioluminescent creatures begin to emerge, irradiating out of the darkness by the dozen in a multitude of vibrant colours, and before you know it, you’re surrounded by heavenly lights and angelic creatures. You do eventually have to return inside the Climber, reset the machine and continue down. It’s one of those moments in gaming where I’ve come to enjoy, a moment to pause and just reflect as to what has happened so far – This element in gaming needs a term in association, because I don’t think there is one to describe it.

Moments like these I suppose have always existed in gaming, but the first that made me aware of them, was when I was playing the original Last of Us, Part One for the PS3 back in 2013, you know, when it was something fresh, loaded with tense drama, was genuinely exciting and extremely fun to play. The moment I am referring to is when the game takes some time to slow down, you find yourself running across a rooftop on a glorious summers’ day, and you happen to notice a herd of giraffes strolling by through the car park minding their own business, just passing through. It’s such a simple thing when you think about it, but it compels you to stop, watch, and in turn reflect, solidifying itself into one of the most memorable scenes in gaming, in my gaming ‘career’ at least. It’s a shame what has happened to The Last of Us in recent years and I apologise in advance to digress from the world of Soma but I promise you this little rant is relevant, but what has happened is that it is no longer something that’s niche and special to behold, it has been blown up, it has been captured by people who missed the mark and have used the art to promote political propaganda, modern day messaging and as a result, it’s turned into something grossly divisive, something it was never meant to be. No longer is it a story about a father coming to terms with the loss of his daughter, and finding that love again with another who restores his purpose, no longer is it about a young girl growing up in a post-apocalyptic world, wising up to the many dangers exist in and out of what remains of human bastions, no longer is it about two people learning and growing together, overcoming their demons and surviving in a world that was once their own, now it’s about…Well, honestly I don’t really know anymore. Beyond the first game I suppose, you could say it’s a vengeance story, but it’s a pretty rubbish vengeance story if you ask me, it’s depressing, unreasonably sick, miserable, at times it even plays like a teenage soap opera and leaves you by the end wondering what it was all for. It looks, sounds, and plays to perfection, I’d be an idiot to criticise the general looks of this game, my beef is with the writing. In comparison to Part One, Part Two is just kind of hollow, and what is in there is a slop of bad, cringy writing, terrible pacing and unlikeable characters. If you want a good vengeance game, play Legacy of Kain: Soulreaver, the opening five minutes has more in there than the whole 20 hour run through of The Last of Us Part Two, told in a Shakespearian tongue, set in the post-apocalyptic, gothic world of Nosgoth, written and directed by Amy Hennig – Who was in fact going to write The Last of Us 2 but was fired because she probably showed an ounce of integrity, and her absence is noted. Amy is someone who I look up to, someone who I aspire to be one day, she knows how to write good, meaningful stories and create rich interesting characters, she has an incredible track record and I believe it was her Legacy of Kain instalments that spring boarded her into the industries eye. Amy, was fired from The Last of Us 2 project and well, look at the state of it now, and if you happened to like it, more power to you, there are elements to this game which are very good and as I’ve expressed it hits almost every mark from its graphics, voice acting, music and sound, but unfortunately it cannot make up for the grim writing and stink of political messaging, having been fed a diet of what Last of Us Part One had, to then be handed this, I was disappointed. This rant is valid because I’ve heard rumours that Legacy of Kain could potentially be remade, and going by how most modern remakes turn out, I hope they leave it the fuck alone, the more niche and exclusive it is, often the better it is, because the more you try to make something (a piece of art in this case) more inclusive, the more shallow and bland it gets, just look at any big franchise, film or otherwise or culturally loved game/movie given the modern-day treatment (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, everything Marvel, Star Trek, everything Disney, Predator, Resident Evil, Willow, Halo, Magic the Gathering, Battlefield, Lord of the Rings, Terminator) and tell me I’m wrong. Exclusivity is an innate part to all art, and I fear that gems like Legacy of Kain and perhaps Soma, will all fall prey to those who do not understand or know how to handle such properties. There is actually something very dark and sinister happening behind these modern day retreads and re-treatments, something extremely vile and insidious which I’ve covered in great detail in articles prior to this, the most prominent one is called, The Last Bastion, which I suggest you read if you’d like to know more about my position on this, I did a lot of study before I wrote it and have been victim to this cultural shift, certain political stances were a big part that prevented me from creating my own art, which only encouraged me to dig in deep and learn more about what is actually going on. I believe I’ve a rather well-rounded view of the problem – Feel free to criticise me or tell me where I’m going wrong, but understand that I do not want these types of articles to reign supreme, they’re an aspect of the struggle of what entails with being a creative in this day and age, sure, and it is important to do what you can to raise awareness and tackle said problems, but I do not want them to be what people think of when they review my work, I am more than that, you are more than that, let’s talk about things that inspire, let’s talk about making art together, let’s talk about experiences Soma present, that’s what I want people to take away from my work.   

Back to Soma: Answering the question as to why you blacked out in the first place, is unknown, it is never made clear, but I believe it has something to do with when you get too close to these Proxies, whether it be the blind monstrosity that is Terry Akers and his horrifying transformed minions or the reformed headless lunatics in Omicron, you experience a static fuzz, a prickly interference probably to do with how the WAU constructed its servants. Ross gives off an incredible static, whenever he is near you can feel his electromagnetic energy interfering with your optics, like he is stalking you in the same way a ghost would in a haunted house. Ross is arguably one of the strongest entities in the world of Soma, so getting so close, in this case a face to face with him, would result in a blackout or some sort of reset, but nevertheless, he was here in the Climber with you, and now he is not. The conversations between Catherine and Simon moving forward are…Well, they speak, but they don’t really say much of anything for some time, given what has just happened who would be in the mood for talking. After some travel on the Climber has passed, you finally reach the bottom arriving on the ocean floor. You’re a long, long way down. While site Upsilon is 324meters below sea level, site Tau, Alpha and Phi are roughly 4114meters below sea level, it was nothing short of a mission to get here but finally, Simon Jarrett number three and the digital version of Catherine Chun loaded into your Omnitool are here, alive so to speak, trapsing what can best be described as an alien world of the abyss. It’s dark down here, very dark, say for the few scattered lights outlining the various outbuildings and Annex structures, all hooked into the bed of the ocean with giant metallic claws and the sparsely populated guiding rods that light your path, it’s pitch black down here, like walking over the terrain of another distant planet (Mars springs to mind) only it’s been submerged under water, if you can imagine such a place and on top of that, your optics are blurred and a hurricane of currents have hit coming in in giant waves that can confuse and blow you off course, making this one of the most anti-human places if not THE  most uninhabitable place on Earth. With that being said, it’s not completely devoid of life, you do get another chance to see the angelic jellyfish, spider-crabs that scuttle, lining the walls of tightly weaved cave systems and schools of abnormally big viperfish that have been altered by the presence of the WAU, growing small nodes and metallic linings along their scales. The WAU’s integrations to this environment have long sewn itself into the landscape, its blue nodes glowing from giant red boulders and glowing from coral rock formations mirroring the bioluminescence birthed from nature. These viperfish can swarm and attack and can-do damage to you if you get too close, but for the most part, they leave you well enough alone. Interestingly, I am reminded of the Flesher/the Jiangshi’s appearance when I observe some of the WAU’s altercations on these deep-sea creatures, for instance, the Jiangshi that haunted the passageways of the MS Curie before you blew it up, displayed a head full of these bioluminescent lights in the mass that was its head. This makes you think, the light up on the platform was plentiful; Did the Jiangshi come from the abyss, was it one of the researchers from site Tau or Phi or am I reading to much into this? Perhaps the answer is straight forward, perhaps it is just created by the developers of Soma, to serve the purpose of an antagonist for a small section of the story, this might well be the case, but I give the writers of Soma a lot of credit, they are indeed competent and I would not assume that they would use a flat form of storytelling seeing as they’ve proved to be highly creative thinkers thus far. If you’ve played Soma, or have studied it more thoroughly than I have, please reach out to me, and fill me in on the mystery of the Flesher, links to contact me are listed at the end of this article, I’ll do my best to respond when I can. You do learn more about life down here as you make slow and steady progress, it does feel like you’re in space rather than an environment on Earth, but first, you’ve a bit of a walk ahead to get to site Tau. Site Tau is PATHOS-II’s modular research platform, tasked to research deep aquatic life and research human life in such extreme conditions. You can actually find examples of their finding in the laboratory in Omicron, a nice little nod toward things to come. Simon and Catherine are nearing their final objective, you’ve just got to navigate between the various outbuildings, some of which can be entered but most are locked down derelicts devoid of further purpose. While traversing, you catch a glimpse of something massive, something sentinel, a giant sea monster that you come to know as, the Leviathan. Even though it’s just a curling glimpse of this beast, it’s more than enough to unsettle you, more than enough to have you staring into the darkness where the light has been swallowed, and above you when a shadow passes by, the sounds it makes, the sounds, allude to something along the lines of a possessed machine replicating that of an ancient sea serpent, otherworldly, demonic and angry – The Leviathan is here. In one such outbuilding, is a terminal, the information held in this terminal are catalogued studies of lifeforms and their population sizes that inhabit the Atlantic Ocean, more specifically the Squid, the Angler Fish, and the Humpback Whale. Curiously, the computer cannot access or load the Angler Fishes data, reasons for this are unknown. The studies find that the existence of these creatures was more or less stable until the strike of Telos/Pestilence, their population levels falling catastrophically low it was believed that these animals had gone extinct. This was proved otherwise, because as you can see, early in 2104, they reappeared their populations exploding exceeding that of what it was like prior apocalypse. This is all world building at its finest, even though you do not see any Squid or Humpback Whales, to know that they’re not only alive and flourishing, whether the WAU had anything to do with this (it probably does) or not, you’re left wondering about other species that there is still a big wide world out there. Further study of this terminal, and you find observation logs, captures and written findings made by a man named, Steve Glasser who was investigating the transformed physiology of the local fauna. Apparently, he used some type of lure to reel them in for study, his research tells us that he discovered three mutations, one was a Frilled Shark, belonging to the Chlamydoselachus Anguineus family, another was the Giant Squid and finally, the Angler Fish. All three of these creatures shared things in common, all three were extremely hostile demonstrating increased aggression, and they all averted light, say for the Angler Fish which has a light for its own, a light which it uses to lure in not only other fish, but man as well. Furthermore, on this Angler Fish, Steve reports that it’s hunting something not present in this ecosystem, Glasser never finds out what. A bit away from the Abyss Climber Rig, you/Simon, find Steve’s body torn asunder, data mining his Blackbox, you hear the final conversation he was having with the human version of Dr. Johan Ross, unlike the version we encountered when we entered Omicron, and observed him inside that glass prison. Ross and Glasser were apparently on their way to the Climber. Steve begins by saying: –

‘Stick to the lamp lights they won’t go near them.’

‘I can’t fail Glasser. It’s important I reach Omicron. Our future depends on it!’

‘Calm down. Let’s just follow the path.’

‘If I die, I need you to tell Julia Dahl that the WAU is out of control. She needs to get to Serang. He’ll know what to do.’

‘Ross, you can tell them yourself. We just need to pick up the pace, okay?’

…!…

‘Glass! We lost the path! We need to go back.’

‘I know where to go. Come on.’

‘It’s over there, the light is over there!’

‘Final push, Ross. Almost there, we just…’

‘LOOK OUT!’

Having listened to this final message, it is evident enough that Steve is torn to pieces, judging by the bits that remain it was either the Angler Fish or the Leviathan, my guess is it was the Fish, the sheer size of the Leviathan tells me that if it were to attack a human being, there simply wouldn’t be anything left, it would swallow you whole or shred you into bits so small there wouldn’t be anything left. The Angler Fish is very big, but it’s not that big, it isn’t entirely clear what killed Steve, but something ripped him apart. As for Ross, we know he barely makes it to the Climber, wounded so badly it’s nothing short of a miracle, an act of God, that he made it there at all, and dies upon ascension, before making it to site Omicron where is later discovered and brought in by Cameron, Eames, and Lansky. Whatever plan Ross had anyway, was doomed to fail for another reason beyond the rapidly mutating fauna, but because Mark Sarang, had already died on July 12^th, 2103, death by sienite. What happens next, was the power surge that overloaded everyone’s Blackbox in site Omicron, killing everyone instantly and quarantine lockdown was initiated. For some context; Two days before Steve Glasser’s miserable fate, as previously mentioned, Dr. Johan Ross indeed reached the Climber, but it wasn’t down to mere luck, you could argue it was providence, a miracle provided by Catherine Chun and the arrival of her ARK team while on their mission, for as you already are aware, the ACR cannot be operated from Tau, but only from Omicron on a schedule. When we last heard from Catherine/them, it was on Christmas day 2103. Interestingly, this is where I noted a possible mistake in the plot, a possible discrepancy in the timeline regarding the date of the ARK team’s arrival into the abyss – The terminal found just outside the Climbers landing bay, logs their arrival on the 26^th of December, 2:01pm, whereas from the Dispatcher terminal back in Omicron, from Raleigh Herbers office, it is dated as the 25^th. When I suspected an error in the plot, my immediate reaction was to think of the reason why the team had spent such a long time on the Climber/the ACR – My initial thought led me to when Simon had encountered a fault when travelling down which did slow his progress, maybe the same if not a worse event occurred for the original Catherine and the others when they were making their way down? However, prolonged travel is definitely not the case since their landing was logged at 2:01pm. In order to make any sense of this, the ARK team would have had to make their transmission at the latest possible time to site Omicron on the 25^th of December, to then ride the Abyss Climber Rig into the abyss for 14hours. I recognise that it is a long way down to the ocean floor from Omicron, but it cannot possibly take that long. So, without any real good explanation for this discrepancy, I can only assume that this is a slight mistake, a mild oversight on the writers’ behalf. Nevertheless, the arrival heralded the return of the ACR 48hours later, this is confirmed in a journal entry, found written in a PDA belonging to Dr. Johan Ross, picked up in his quarters in Tau. You also find something else in his quarters which sparked the writing of this article. I know we’ve jumped ahead a little, Simon and digital Catherine are still on their way to Tau, but on the PDA, it’s important to note, it says: –

2103-12-26

Some of the engineers returned from Phi. Apparently, they postponed the ARK launch. They were all in a very foul mood and difficult to get any straight answers from. Except for one very important thing: They all wished to remain at Tau to figure this ARK business out, but they had scheduled for the Climber to pick them up tomorrow. Someone would need to catch that Climber to alert Omicron to what was happening. Luckily Glasser and I were able to take on this mission. I will finally get to warn Dahl and Sarang about the critical situation at site Alpha.

When the ARK team landed, they discovered that the Omega sector, the outskirts of Tau was more or less abandoned similar to Delta, and the site itself completely unresponsive to their attempts at communication. Data mining a transmission terminal, you hear Software Engineer, Ian Peterson trying to raise someone, anyone stationed at Tau. Following on from his attempt is Catherine, the human version of course, the real one, for the Catherine you carry is the exact same person, but was scanned into the network sometime before the human Catherine left Theta on her mission to launch the ARK, this is the reason why Catherine is not aware of her fate at site Phi, and cannot warn you of things ahead of time, because her scan was uploaded before things started going seriously awry, and uploaded around the same time Simon was in Upsilon.

‘Tau. Come in, Tau. Please answer, Tau … Nothing, it’s dead.’

‘Let’s move out, we’ll try the next one.’

The ARK team soldier on, enduring the viscous storm, insane currents, and horrifying inhabitants that lurk in the darkness and bury themselves in the jaws of cave systems. Eventually, they come to another outbuilding further down the ill-lit rocky path, where Ian Peterson, succeeds in establishing communication with site Tau.

‘Tau, can you hear this? Anyone there?’

‘This is Tau. Who is this?’

‘This Ian Peterson of Theta calling. I got a team with and we’re about half a kilometre from Tau.’

‘What, how, how dud…? You came in the Climber?’

‘Listen, we’re having a really hard time with this sector. Heavy turbulence is making it difficult to move forward and the wildlife you got absolutely rabid.’

‘The storm comes and goes. Instruments show the weather is relatively fair right now. You should move out as soon as possible. Stick to the lights and the critters should leave you alone.’

‘All right, you heard the man. We’re moving out, people. Tau, keep the doors unlocked, we’re coming in.’

As Simon and Catherine progress, retracing the steps of the ARK team, they eventually reach site Tau, and just by looking at the design of the site, built to withstand the bombardments of pressure by the second, it feels more like entering a space station rather than an underwater facility. The doors are huge, extremely thick and round, and when you enter inside, everything is compacted, the corridors are narrow, the lighting is ill, and it’s deathly silent much like Omicron. Data mining the first transmission terminal you see, you as well as the missing ARK team who somehow failed in their mission and we’ve yet to learn why, notice that everything is in shambles. The man speaking from inside Tau is Dispatcher Abbo Sendeyo, who originally worked as a Project Manager for Haimatsu Technologies stationed on site Theta, but later moved to Tau, he’s talking to  our Software Coordinator, Jasper Hill: –

‘Welcome to Tau, what’s left of it.’

‘Are you guys all right? What happened here?’

‘We ran out of real food long ago. People have been getting sick. Haven’t heard from anyone in months.’

‘No shit, they all think you’re dead down here. Some failed evac story circulating at Omicron.’

‘Oh God.’

‘Listen, son. We’re on an important mission and we need your help to operate the Omega Space Gun. When it’s done we can all head back up the plateau, but now we need to get moving.’

‘Of course. Head on through to the habitat, we’ve shut off the front section to preserve power.’

‘All right, see you soon.’

Japser Hill revealed to Abbo Sendeyo, that site Omicron dropped any attempts to rescue those at site Tau, since they sincerely believed, that everyone aboard that station was dead, perishing in a failed evacuation attempt. This claim links up with the data uncovered on the Climbers landing computer, which has two entries, one is dated on September 13^th, 2103, stating the Tau evacuation procedure, and the second one states it has failed. These two logs are signatured by site Omicrons Engineer, Allen Waldeck, and infamous double agent, Julia Dahl. Considering what we’ve seen, looking at the evidence, it’s very easy to misread this as Julia being something of a villain, this could not be further from the truth however, in reality, there was indeed an evacuation attempt – The post-impact notes discovered in site Tau’s Dispatcher Office, matches the log entry dates perfectly. It was on September 13^th that the evacuation of site Tau was ordered to proceed, and on September 15^th Tau was overrun with monsters yet I could find nothing as to what these monsters looked like, which is a shame. During the struggle, which too isn’t explicitly detailed, the personnel of Tau were left without any radio communications, this detail is mentioned earlier, in notes which read that between the 12^th of January, 2103, and the 11th of April, 2103, the broken LUMAR’s made consistent contact almost impossible, that forced Theta Site Service Engineer (SSE) Heather Wolchezk, Medical Doctor Richard Holland and Julia Dahl, to schedule weekly visitations to maintain strong communication with sit Tau. This plan was to happen indefinitely, until the LUMAR probes were fixed and made fully operational, this of course, never came to fruition. The evacuation attempt, left Tau in ruin, many staff were injured, in Dr. Johan Ross’s journal entries they do note that their Chief Factor, Vic Auclair, was the only one who endured possible mortal injury, this entry is dated 19^th of November, 2103, giving a good idea of how dire the situation had elevated to throughout the site, food ran so scarce that Antjie Coetzee made a daring dash to observation, which is one of the outbuildings located a little over kilometre away from the main facility of Tau. Antjie, by some miracle did return, but with very little with what she had hoped to salvage. The writers of Soma don’t go into much detail about this portion of the game, which I find quite disappointing considering the level of detail and explanation they have gone into with all events prior, other than what we already know, and have discussed, there were feelings of resentment amongst Tau’s staff, and this is justified considering how desperate things had swiftly become – Is it really that surprising that the sudden arrival of our ARK team was addressed with mixed feelings, as it’s revealed in Jasper Hill’s journal entry, those at Tau felt abandoned by those up on the plateau, more specifically by those in Omicron. The ARK team did ease this resentment by scanning all members of Tau into the ARK, offering them hope, many of the personnel, however, did consider the idea to be silly as detailed in one of Johan Ross’s journal entries. Some found it endearing and willingly agreed to join in with the idea of a digital afterlife, gifted by Dr. Catherine Chun.

The ARK team, having finally arrived, did not stick around for long, and proceeded to the Omega Space Gun located at site Phi, escorted by a Tau member, Niel Tsiolkovsky, using the access tunnels which look similarly to a train tunnel, except with a single railway above their heads. These access tunnels, however, have slowly become unstable given the comet strike and general lack of regular maintenance. During this final stretch toward Phi, Simon discovers the tunnels collapse, and under the rubble is the remains of Tau’s escort, crushed by debris. Data mining Niels body, you hear the last transmission starting with Ian Peterson, Niel himself, Sarah Lindwall, and Catherine Chun. I realise it’s a little hard to follow given you, the reader, cannot hear their voices, but I’m sure you can piece it together when reading the dialogue. As I said it starts with Peterson and proceeds in that order: –

‘What the hell is wrong with this place.’

‘Haha it’s nothing to worry about, just the Warden flexing his muscles.’

‘The Warden, you mean WAU?’

‘Down here he has many names – Warden, the Alpha.’

‘Like in site Alpha? I thought that was made up.’

‘Made up? Then someone should really fire Johan Ross. Tell him there’s no reason to walk these tunnels no more.’

‘This section is going to collapse.’

‘You should try spending sometime in the abyss, sweetheart, you know when shits for real.’

‘Catherine, move up, come with me.’

‘Oh okay, Sarah.’

‘Hey wait for me.’

‘Careful with the ARK.’

‘Take it easy it’s not going to – (!!!Rumbles!!! ) – Whoa, for a moment I thought it was going to collapse.’

…!!!…

Narrowly missing being crushed, all of the ARK team were successful in making it through the access tunnel and reached site Phi, the house of the Omega Space Gun. It was here where they began to squabble and it is in site Phi where you learn the fate of Catherine, the human version of Catherine Chun of course laying in a puddle of her own blood, with a wrench near her corpse. Kneeling down, you data mine her body and discover the reasons as to why they failed. The conversation starts with Catherine, talking to Ian Peterson, and Jasper Hill. Sarah and Jasper interject here and there but mainly, this fight is between Ian who wants to withhold, and Catherine who wants to launch: –

‘Are you suggesting we keep it down here? Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose? Eternity among the stars, remember?’

‘The people inside the ARK won’t know the difference. We can just keep it down here and we don’t have to risk the ARK being shot through 5,000 meters of broken barrel and then pushed through another 100,000 meters of a dust-filled atmosphere.’

‘Will the casing stand all that pressure?’

‘Well, the odds aren’t great!’

‘Catherine, say something.’

‘I don’t care what you think, I’m launching it.’

‘No need to be like that. Let’s just hang onto it for a while and think about it. We can launch it later.’

‘No, that wasn’t the deal! We made it to save them, to launch it. Out there it’s hope! Down here it’s a fucking terrarium waiting to die with the rest of us.’

‘Come on, Catherine. It’s not asking much. Let’s just think about it before we risk the only hope humanity has to survive this hell.’

‘No! We launch it today. This is my project, my ARK!’

‘It’s bigger than that. Don’t you get it?! It’s not for you to decide. We’re talking about the fate of mankind.’

‘Get away from the ARK. I’m taking it!’

‘No, you’re not.’

‘I’m not gonna let you ruin this!’

‘Stop it!’

‘Guys calm down!’

‘GET AWAY FROM ME! NO!’

!!!

‘Peterson, what the fuck did you do?’

‘It was an accident.’

‘Catherine, talk to me, Catherine?’

During the struggle, it would appear that Catherine was trying to proceed with the launch, while Ian wanted to delay, and someone hit Catherine over the head with a wrench. It isn’t clear as to who did it just yet, but you do find out later. When Catherine tried taking back the ARK, her skull was cracked, killing her so it would seem, instantly, as Sarah, tried to revive her. Although I disagree with Ian, his concerns for the ARK’s success are not irrational or unmerited, for the barrel of the space gun is damaged, and the atmosphere post comet strike is a thick cloud of dust particles. All but Catherine, and I would say Sarah too, wanted to postpone and re-formulate the launch, Jasper I supposed sided with Ian while Nicolai was undecided. From here, it is clear that everyone besides Catherine, left site Phi and returned to Tau. As noted, before in Johan’s PDA, it specifies that, Some of the engineers returned from Phi. Apparently, they postponed the ARK launch, and it’s dated 2103-12-26. Ross and Glasser then made their way to the Climber, Glasser was ripped to pieces by the Leviathan or the Angler Fish, most likely the Angler Fish as we have already discussed, and Ross was attacked so tremendously it is nothing short of a miracle he made it back at all, in fact he didn’t, because he did die on the Climber upon ascension, the rest is history. While Ross was making plans that would never come to fruition, the ARK team too were doing the same, deciding to stay at Tau, hoping to one day proceed with firing the ARK into space, but, as it so happens, there wasn’t much they could do, not in this empty derelict. The ARK team we’ve been following since Theta, began to die, one by one. The living quarters of Tau is a very scary place, it’s scary because you can feel what this place used to be like when you wander through, what energy existed between the scientists and researchers that used to work here. It’s congested, sure, but signs that this had once been a busy place, full of many people, colleagues, and friends, gathering around the central table of the cafeteria leaves you from your perspective, out of place, lonely and haunted like you really shouldn’t be here. You can see everything from empty cups, open books, board games that helped pass the time, empty cans of what they were eating last before food eventually ran out, you find personal effects in their rooms, rooms with as much life, personality and colour than there was at Theta, but everyone is gone and it’s…Sad…Try to imagine what that must feel like, while everyone is gone, you are left alone, and what all remains of those you cared about, who surrounded you with their own unique personalities, gone. All that remains here, like with what you’ve left behind from site to site, is nothing but dead space with the occasional flicker of Johan Ross’s ghost, whose still here, still following you popping in and out of what can only be described as the ether, making sure you make it to your destination, to finish the task that Raleigh failed to do. The hum of what little power fluctuates throughout Tau’s halls, the hum of power and your own footsteps echo as you move, as Simon, makes sense of everything that has come to pass thus far. Speaking of Dr. Johan Ross, speaking of his personal quarters located in this complex, in his room, is a particular item, an innocent green book on his desk written by C.G. Jung, and it’s called, Aion. This was when my head broke into pieces, this sparked a flurry of thoughts, ideas and mismatched information that compelled me study and learn more about the reasons as to why this book is even in the game. The more I thought about it, the more compelled I was to look for answers, and said answers drove me to places I never thought I’d go, back into our past, into ancient history and beyond to the distant stars. This level of thinking led to what you’re reading, from reading Aion and parts of The Holy Bible, I began to draw some very compelling, and some very frightening realisations that this game of Soma, goes far deeper than I ever thought possible – And it all came from finding an innocent, green book. I will cover this in great detail later, after I finish with Soma’s plot; Getting back to it, Simon finds in one of said rooms a body with a blanket covering his face. As you would, you can data mine the corpses Blackbox, and you discover that this is Ian Peterson, the conversation before he finally passes is between Jasper Hill and Sarah Lindwall, Sarah starts off by saying : –

‘Can’t we do anything for him?’

‘No. We’re out of sedatives. If we had a gun, this would be the time to pull it out.’

‘Did not expect it to end like this. Should have jumped the Climber back to Omicron.’

‘Without the ARK?’

‘Forget about the ARK.’

‘No, you don’t get to say that. It’s the only thing left of value. You know that.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’

‘Promise you won’t leave it behind.’

‘We’ll all be dead one day, then what?’

‘Well, better keep it safe until then. Don’t want the WAU to take it; Swallow it whole.’

‘Ugh I…I’m sorry, Catherine.’

‘It’s okay, Ian. Just let it out. Let it all out.’

The dialogue is pretty self-explanatory, but it would seem a significant amount of time has passed since their return from Phi. Sarah regrets not having returned to the Climber, not that it would have improved their situation had they had done so, for we know what happened at Omicron, the surge would have undoubtedly killed her along with all the others, besides, no one is left to operate the Climber, everyone who is down here, is down here permanently, there is no going back. Ian is seen off by Jasper and Sarah, apologising for failing Catherine. It’s here when I realised that each room likely would contain a body, whether it be a member of Tau or of the ARK team, behind each door would be a heavy sight, and unfortunately, I was right. From room to room, I opened the doors, and this act scared me, sending a chill up my spine not knowing what I was going to see or find, all of their doors were closed, all wanted to be left alone in their final moments, surrounded in silence and by what memories they had of family, friends, loved one’s and what life had been like up on the surface, before the world ended. It struck me that they all are in the process of decomposition, being in such an enclosed airtight space, the smell must’ve been awful, luckily for Simon, he doesn’t have a nose. In the room opposite from where Ian had died, I found two bodies, one of them having been claimed by the WAU, he’s nothing but a frail husk, a shell of a man with little flesh to call his own, infused with wiring, metallic mechanisms, blue nodes, and tubes, forced to stay alive on life support similar to that of Amy Azzaro all the way back at Upsilon. Close to his skeletal, metal hand, is a photograph of a child, a young boy called, Lyoshka, his name is being whispered by the captured metal man on the bed, some words he whimpers are his son’s name, others are ‘My boy.’ I believe this is or was a member of the ARK team, Nicolai Ivashkin, taken by the WAU. There is literally nothing you can do for him, he’s firmly connected, forced to live under the directive of the WAU, unable to die, unable to find peace in death, a miserable fate. In the bed next to him is the man who killed Catherine, Jasper Hill, he’s holding a torn picture of her having lamented her death. Data mining his Blackbox, his last message can be heard, Sarah is with him: –

‘What the fuck did we do?’

‘Hey, try not to think about it.’

‘My whole life, I’ve been a good man. We messed up, Sarah.’

‘There, there.’

‘Should have launched. Taken the chance.’

‘There’s time. Ivashkin says we could try again when things calm down.’

‘You got to do it; you know? You got to.’

‘Ssshhhh.’

Out of the ARK team, Catherine, Ian, Nicolai and now Jasper are dead, leaving Sarah Lindwall left alive with what remains of the Tau staff. As for the eight Tau personnel, we know that Ross is ‘dead,’ before Simon came along, he was housed in a glass cell at Omicron. Steve Glasser was killed by the Angler Fish, Neil was crushed while escorting the ARK team to Phi in the tunnels while on their initial run, leaving five left, and they didn’t have long, if it wasn’t sickness or starvation knocking on their door, it was something else. Sarah must’ve been with an injured Vic Auclair, a dangerously malnourished Antjie Coetzee, Abbo Sendeya, Renata Espinosa, and Jin Yoshida. I do not know how long they lasted, but their bodies are littered around Tau, some are in conditions similar if not worse than Ivashkin, one for example looks like they’re mutating into an artificial pod, another is crouched on a bed rocking backward and forward under a blanket, and when you get a glimpse of his or her face, it’s not the face of a human, but that of one a machine would construct. They’re found in the living quarters mixed with the ARK team, others are elsewhere, but they’re more or less finished, except for Jin Yoshida, who operated from Tau’s front section, as there are plenty of access logs signed under his name found in a terminal somewhere in that area. On the 11th of April 2104, the WAU seemed to have infiltrated and contaminated a power suit housed in Tau’s power suit bay, the next day, Jin put on that corrupted suit, imprisoning himself inside and ultimately sealing his fate becoming a puppet of the WAU, for he can be seen wandering the condensed, dark corridors in Tau. His reveal is actually fucking terrifying as he is spotted from a distance approaching you, steadily walking to you when inside a blackened-out corridor. I remember making out the shape of a human and at first, I was relieved, finally someone else who is alive, but as he/it draws closer, my screen began to tear apart as it does when you encounter any one of the WAU’s experiments – You quickly realise that this is but another construct, and he is coming to kill you. His slow pace make it all the more stressful, because it’s a maze down there in that particular section, not all the lights are working and some doors sometimes take a long time to open, and there are plenty of dead ends which force you to turn back, so if he was in pursuit, he might be a while away but a wrong turn can result in him being just around the next bend and it does panic you to keep focused. Jin is always coming for you like it knows where you are at all times and that’s haunting, this encounter might be brief compared some others, but it was one I definitely remembered and dreaded doing again on my second playthrough. I suppose it is the slow walk that unsettled me, it is dread inducing, his appearance is also monstrous, even though he is still a product of the WAU, this one is I’d say the one that looks the most organic, squid like tendrils spill out of a crack in his headgear, leaving him without anything of a face. Did a sea creature mutate into him when the WAU was corrupting him, it definitely looks like it, giving Yoshida an air of mystery, I did a little more digging on this guy and surprisingly, there wasn’t much on him, there is an abundance on Terry, Johan and the Flesher, even the Leviathan which I will get into later, but very little on Jin; It would logically follow that Jin would be hunting the survivors of Tau down, it’s not known if this is truly the case, but I believe it to be sound because Sarah, is in fact still alive, holding out in the infirmary and she took the ARK with her! And when you approach the locked door, she refuses to open, in fear of who/what is trying to get in. When you knock, she says: –

‘Go away, WAU. Not letting you or one of your stupid pets inside.’

When you try to call her on the intercom, she refuses to speak to you: –

‘Anyone there?’

‘Not in the mood to talk to robots. No offence.’

Little does Sarah know however, that the ARK and all of mankind’s salvation, lies in the hands of one of the machines she is trying to evade. It has been roughly one month since Sarah locked herself away in that infirmary – Simon, having made his way down from Omicron via the ACR, navigated through the outbuilding amidst a storm blasting through the outskirts of site doing his best to follow the fading lights, evading an abnormally large, mutated Angler Fish, a fish having merged with a human, for a human face can be seen growing out of the side of its own head, spotting the massive Leviathan through the darkness, sneaking past the monster that was once a man named Jin Yoshida, he reaches inner Tau, unlocks the infirmary and meets the last human alive on Earth, 29 year old, Sarah Lindwall, whose not in a good way. She’s seriously malnourished, pale, very thin, being kept alive on life support, NOT a life support governed by the WAU, but she is connected up to fluids feeding her nutrition. Sarah, having survived the end of the world and managed to persevere in a world not now here own, full of monsters and freakish entities experiments of the WAU, is all that’s left of the human race. She might be in a bad way but she is still able to find some fight in her, rustle up a sense of humour, converse, and reflect on what it was like to have lived: –

‘You…You’re different. Don’t mind me.’

‘Are you human?’

‘Sarah Lindwall, Payload Technician at your service. A rare sight, am I right?’

‘I’d say so. You’re the first normal living human I’ve seen.’

‘There’s not many left down here. Most of them are up on the plateau.’

‘You mean at Omicron?’

‘Yeah.’

‘There’s no one alive at Omicron.’

‘You’ve been there?’

‘I’ve been all over. The power plant at Upsilon, the ruins of Lamba, the abandoned Delta. Theta…’

‘You’ve been to Theta?’

‘There’s not a lot left of PATHOS-II.’

‘And I’m the only living person you’ve met? You mean I’m the last living human on the planet?’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Who are you again?’

‘Simon Jarrett.’

‘Stationed at?’

‘Nowhere. I used to work at a book shop in Toronto. Long story.’

‘Then what the hell are you doing here?’

‘I’m trying to find the ARK.’

‘Why would you? How do you know about that?’

‘I’ve heard it’s the last hope for mankind.’

‘Damn right it is! Now what do you want with it?’

‘Take it to the gun at Phi. Launch it into space.’

‘That was the plan all right. I’ve been guarding it ever since we brought it back to Tau. Just couldn’t bring myself to let go. Tell you the truth, I don’t have the strength to argue. And I certainly don’t have the time to wait for the next sentient thing shuffling through here. Go ahead. Take it’.

‘Thank you. Can I get you anything? Do anything for you?’

‘You could kill me.’

You are under no obligation to fulfil Sarah’s request, you could quite simply take the ARK and leave, but Soma has presented you with its last choice; Should you kill Sarah by switching off her life-support, or do you choose to keep her alive? Even though Sarah has asked for death, she is after all the last human, a living eulogy, testament to our entire race and everything it is connected to: –

‘Are you serious about me killing you?’

‘No, I’d love to hang around here until I dry up to the size of a raisin. Simon, this fucking sucks. I don’t want to live like this.’

‘Shouldn’t we be doing something to keep you alive?’

‘Why?’

‘You’re the last human. I just find it disrespectful to our entire history not to fight this. Sure we have the ARK, but you’re the real deal.’

‘Thanks. That’s probably the best compliment I’ve ever got. But the truth is that the ARK is all we have. We’ll have to accept second best, you know?’

‘None of this feels right.’

‘Simon, I want to die.’

‘Sarah.’

‘Just think about it.’

This is undoubtedly the hardest decision to make, and yet it has no bearing on the story if you leave Sarah alive, or if you hit that switch. Your decisions might not impact the result of the game, but they impact you, your decisions stay with you, and as you have wrestled with them, you not only come to learn a little about yourself, but you understand that in some situations, there is no right and there is no wrong…Considering everything that has happened, after everything we have seen, it would appear in a cruel twist of fate, that death, to come to the end of our journeys IS part of what it means to be human. This is what made me come to my own decision. I decided to grant Sarah’s wish, and I sat with her to the very end: –

‘Will you stay with me please? It won’t be long now. Just…Please just stay…What a crazy thing this was – Life. Least I won’t have to turn thirty. Hurray…Wish I could have died at home with my friends. You ever been to Greenland? It’s very beautiful. Well, at least when you get out of the city. Nanoq is busy and, yes, there’s like 12million people trying to get around, but it’s a great place. Or rather. It was a great place. Before the comet ended it all. You know what? I prefer it this way. I liked Pathos. Liked my colleagues. Ian, Nick, Jasper, even Catherine. People thought she was weird because she was quiet, but she was cool. Simon, you still there?’

‘I’m here, Sarah.’

‘Don’t let them die, okay? Send them out there. To the stars.’

When Sarah draws her last breath, and the monitor ceases to beep, I stood up, took the ARK from the table, flicked off the lights and closed the door. Personal note, Sarah/Sara is my mother’s name, which makes this scene for me, something a little more meaningful and impactful, for children are supposed to outlive their parents, supposed to carry on the flame they gave to us at the moment of birth and carry that genetic line into the future, a passing of the torch so to speak. Sarah might not be Simon’s mother, but she most certainly is passing something down to him, giving him, entrusting him the responsibility to ensure humankind has a future, symbolised in the ARK, but that’s not all Sarah does, she also gives you one last thing, a memory, a memory of the last human, and memories are something important, something that cannot be separated from the human experience, something that perhaps machines will never come to understand, and in the world of Soma, where an A.I is doing everything it can to replicate human existence, more or less fails often driving such experiments to insanity and madness. It’s interesting because I’ve recently replayed the very first Metal Gear Solid, the one that came out in 1998 for the PS1, and a conversation that takes place between Snake and Mei Ling, just after your encounter with the Hind-D (which is a helicopter gunship), struck me and encouraged me to make a note of it and this is part of what was said, Mei Ling is the first one speaking in this recorded dialogue, she’s arguing that memories can be captured by a system, while Solid Snake is arguing otherwise: –

‘Don’t forget to save your memories of me too.’

‘You can’t save memories, even on that system of yours. Memories are fragile things. After you reduce them to binary numbers and send them through the air, they’re not memories anymore.’

‘I wouldn’t be so sure of that. There’s nothing my systems can’t do.’

‘Memories aren’t just sounds and pictures. They exist somewhere between the sounds, between the pictures.’

‘I don’t get it. Anything can be done digitally.’

‘If that’s true, why don’t you go ahead and try to save what I’m thinking right now.’

‘I can’t save that type of thing. You have to put it into words at least…’

‘That’s right. And that’s what memories are…Wordless.’

-Metal Gear Solid

 Metal Gear Solid has always been rather profound, it does sometimes break the barrier between the gaming world and the real world, often engaging the player ways as if the characters in the game know what you’re doing, it’s very clever, and the knowledge the writer and director Hideo Kojima possesses is…I believe he is an actual genius – I mentioned Metal Gear Sold 2: Sons of Liberty at the beginning of this article because that game used to hold the spot of THE most profound moment, the last twenty minutes of that game are something else, something other and as the years have ticked by Hideo Kojima has just been essentially right about everything what with the issues we’re having with new technological advancements and the introduction of social media. I’ve digressed so I’ll get back to Soma, but I’ll always remember that conversation between Raiden and the formless A.I at the end of MGS2, and considering it was made in 2001, I’m telling you, if it doesn’t tickle your funny bones then you need start paying more attention. Soma has taken the gold for me, but MGS2 is a very close second. Moving on.

The ARK is finally in Simon’s possession, the task now is to get it to Phi in one piece and launch it from the Omega Space Gun. Carrying the device by hand would be far too risky, it’s big, heavy, and cumbersome and is as fragile as say a modern-day hard-drive, and with what is lurking around in Tau, creatures like Jin Yoshida on the inside and creatures like the Levithan trying to get in from the outside, the last thing you want is for it to be destroyed or worse, fall into the tendrils of the WAU, God knows what it would do to it should it find it. So, you hook it up to a guidance system, utilising the cargo railway built to transport sensitive materials to, and from site Phi. Once you’re sure the ARK is secure and set to dock with Phi, which is within walking distance, you follow it as best you can, as it is being transported through Tau and through the access tunnel, the very same access tunnel the original ARK team walked through, when they were on their way, before things went to pot. Following the rail-line that is carrying the precious cargo, the ARK, overhead, Simon eventually comes across the same collapsed wreckage that crushed Niel Tsiolkovsky. The cargo is able to slip by through a gap and proceed onward toward site Phi, miraculously, the rail-line was left undamaged when a portion of the tunnel imploded. As for Simon, it’s a dead end, there is no way through, that is until Johan Ross (seriously love this character) appears behind you, and opens up an ulterior route towards Phi, bypassing the access tunnel, and leading Simon toward site Alpha, Alpha that was deemed code black, that was considered a rumour and mere speculation, is real. While on route, the WAU’s presence here is strong, stronger than it’s ever been the walls covered in black slime, and of course it would be, this is where the WAU has been manifesting, this is where it was built, housed, and ultimately understood, the artificial intelligence of our time and you’re heading for its core. As you make your way into this bleak, anti-human, alien world that used to be your own, as you traverse further into the winding tunnels baring little resemblance of a research facility – In the process of transformation, changing into something that suits the WAU’s needs – Where it’s tendrils and feelers grow thick and long like fingers, its black grip dripping in digitised ooze, curling in and wrapping around anything and everything, rewiring and reverse engineering all it touches in an attempt to enslave and utilise the surrounding architectures for its own; Dr. Johan Ross reveals all, appearing for seconds at a time only to re-appear in obscurity further ahead: –

‘This is where it all went wrong Simon. Site Alpha. We’re so close.’

‘Just tell me what you want.’

‘I need you to stop the WAU.’

‘What?! How?’

‘The enslaved protein sloshing around your suit is the noose from which the WAU will hang itself.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘As soon as I came to in Omicron, I tried to tell them to make the toxin that would make the WAU wither. But they didn’t understand. They put it inside a cabinet. It was so infuriating. They needed to take it to Alpha, the fountainhead of the misery we created. And then the girl, she figured it out. She was going to take care of it – But the WAU shrieked! They all died – But you, you! You took the gel from the cabinet and made yourself into a venomous snake.’

‘You’re saying this toxin inside of me can kill the WAU, altogether?’

‘You are the snake, Simon. Now strike at the heart.’

His story is rather self-explanatory, ever since encountering Ross, he has not been your enemy, he was in fact your ally, hoping you would succeed Raleigh Herber had failed, killed by the WAU when it ‘shrieked,’ overloading everyone’s Blackboxes in Omicron all at once the moment it learned that the humans there had become a threat to its existence. Is the WAU evil for doing this? I’d say no, remember it doesn’t feel as we do, it has no fear, no regret, no compassion, anger or empathy of any kind, it just acts, falling back on its original directives, and one such directive is to keep us alive, to preserve life – You might wonder why it decided to kill all those in Omicron if it’s programming is to do the opposite; Well, it deemed those in Omicron a threat to itself, and branded them as hostile toward other humans of PATHOS-II, and took steps to eliminate them without hesitation. If you consider the Warden Unit as somewhat of a guardian to the human race, should someone want to destroy said guardian, it would in turn leave those left, vulnerable and endangered. A human being can understand the nuance here, but the A.I cannot. When you come to the end of tunnel, Dr. Ross opens the last, otherwise impassable door, and there it is, the core of Alpha and the heart of the WAU. What was once a perfect white sphere, has mutated encasing itself in an organic mass bulging with blue electrified nodes, entangled in black tendrils encased in a protruding shell of armour plating. Ross asks you to destroy it, presenting you with the option to do so or not; I recognise that I already said that the choice to kill Sarah or not was the last one in the game, technically I am wrong but the way I see it, this is a no brainer – The WAU must be destroyed! It cannot be allowed to inherit the Earth, destroyed as it might be at the moment and for many hundreds if not thousands of years, but this planet can and will recover given enough time and the WAU cannot be there when it does. You approach the mass, and as you approach, its mechanical flesh recedes and an opening becomes visible, you present your hand and immediately its jaws snatch up and swallow your forearm. While Ross is struck with awe, Simon struggles to remove himself. Eventually, you’re able to pull away but you lose most of your arm in the process. When you come back around, Johan is seen walking toward you in haze, a blur, which is strange, you’ve never seen him walk before, he’s always flickered and glitched in and out of existence as if teleporting, maybe it is because the WAU is now dying, maybe it is because its influence is wearing off as the toxin spreads its way through its veins of wire: –

‘Please, I did what you wanted.’

‘You did good, Simon. But you can’t leave. The only way to make sure the WAU stays dead is to destroy the only one who’s immune to the new pattern. Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.’

Before Johan lays a hand on you, the Leviathan bursts out from under the floor and swallows Johan Ross whole, destroying him. There is only one thing left to do at this point, your ultimate objective – Launch the ARK. Picking yourself up, you leave site Alpha and head to Phi, but in order to get there, you need to brave the ocean floor once again, but this time it’s different, the Leviathan is out there, and it’s coming for you. The only way to avoid it, is to sprint from cover to cover, and squeeze through narrow cave systems teeming with hundreds of spider crabs, the less time you spend out in the open, the greater your chances of survival, because the Leviathan is massive, dangerous and will make short work of you. The ending is in site, Phi is lit up like a beacon in the dark, and upon reaching it, Simon, bereft an arm, exhausted and desperate, plugs Catherine into the consoles where she instructs him on how to make the launch happen. Step by step, you work together, you power the station up, insert the ARK into a shell or capsule that were made at Delta, load the capsule into the giant cannon and jump into the Pilot Seat in order to scan yourself and Catherine into the ARK, before it’s launch into space, saving your place in paradise. And then, it happens. A 30 second timer is displayed on the screen to your right – You can also see your names, Simon J, and Catherine C on the screen right in front of you. The timer to launch starts to tick down the moment the scan initiates. Catherine’s mind is successfully loaded into the ARK, while Simon’s scan stalls and struggles to load. With but seconds remaining, Simon’s scan uploads, just in time making it to 100% complete. The Omega Space Gun fires, the capsule is launched and Simon cheers, waiting to be transferred into the ARK and leave this nightmare behind…Only: –

‘YEAH!!! YES. FUCK YEAH, WE MADE IT! HAHA! WOO!’

The Pilot Seat powers down, and the head gear lifts itself up: –

‘I’m still here…? I’m still here…Catherine? CATHERINE?!’

‘I’m here.’

‘What the hell happened – What went wrong?’

‘Nothing. They’re out there, among the stars. We’re here.’

‘No, we were getting on the ARK, I saw it. It finished loading just before it launched.’

‘Yeah, I saw.’

‘THEN WHY ARE WE STILL HERE!?’

‘Simon. I can’t keep telling you how it works; You won’t listen. You know why we’re here; You were copied onto the ARK you just didn’t carry over. You lost the coin toss. We both did. Just like Simon at Omicron, just like the man who died in Toronto a hundred years ago.’

‘No no no, this is bullshit! We came all this way. We launched the ARK!’

‘I know it sucks, but our copies are up there. Catherine and Simon are both safe on the ARK, be happy for them.’

‘Are you crazy? We’re going to die down here, with those fuckers living it large on a spaceship! They’re not us! THEY ARE NOT US!’

‘I’m sorry you feel that way, Simon. I’m proud of what we did. We made sure that something of the hundreds of thousands of years of human history survived – That something lives on.’

‘No, no, no, fuck this! Fuck! Fuck this, FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, CATHERINE. YOU LIED. And I believed in you, I trusted you. You said we’re getting on the fucking ARK!’

‘WE ARE ON THE ARK YOU IDIOT! I didn’t lie! I can’t be responsible for your goddamn ignorance, you fucki…!…’

The screen violently powered out, like it had blown a fuse, leaving Simon in the dark while the monitor beeps, struggling to stay alive, beeping into an echo while the screen fades into darkness: –

‘Catherine? Please don’t leave me alone. Catherine…Catherine?!’

Simon, then wakes up in a cave, he looks down and see’s his arms, they’re made of…Flesh…He stands up and leaves the shadowy cave, vines spilling in from the crevices in the ceiling like green ladders. He steps outside into a light breeze, into a beautiful glade basking in the warm, yellow sunshine. The trees are tall, strong, plentiful, and healthy, growing rich emerald leaves. The nearby streams are gushing beneath wooden bridges and through rocky ravines, and there, standing before a cloudless sky at the edge of a cliff face, is Catherine Chun, looking out to a silver city unlike anything we’ve built before, a utopia, a paradise. Catherine turns and greets Simon, claiming that they made it running toward her ready for a long-awaited embrace, unaware that Simon 3 copied in Omicron, is still down on Earth, trapped, alone, unable to escape an unending, infinite hell. This is where you last see your protagonists and as idyllic as this paradise setting might be, it isn’t real, it’s digital. You then get to see the ARK, having been transferred into a satellite launched via the Omega Space Gun, thrust off into the vastness of space, leaving one abyss behind, entering the other, an abyss among the stars.

Review

I wasn’t able to cover every scene in Soma, I didn’t learn nor describe every character as thoroughly as I perhaps should have, nor could I dictate all the conversations in this game, if I did, then I’d be writing this piece for another month or two and this article would be double in length. I did my best to cast my net wide however, to explore the plot, to highlight what I perceived to be the key points of the story, to relay some of my own thoughts and to hammer home those core themes that the game is trying to encourage you to think about, to ask meaningful questions such as; What does it mean to be human? Having examined this game and my own words carefully, perhaps a better question to ask is; What does it mean to have consciousness?

Having played this game twice, a year apart from each session, having written about it in length, discovering a little more each time, I feel qualified to review Soma as a game – I am after all a gamer myself and have been since I was very young, from about five. I love and study horror games and films in particularly, because horror is the genre that I believe, brings us closer to who we are as sentient creatures, horror allows us to externalise are deepest fears which enable us to confront them rendering us stronger from having faced up to said experience, it might only be a fraction of the real thing but it’s a fraction nonetheless; It also dares to go to those uncomfortable places and that is in part, what life is about, for sheltering yourself, by not taking risks or braving situations you know you might not walk away from, is no life at all, it’s interesting because when you speak or hear about those thrill seeker types, if you ask them why they do such things, the answer is usually for that adrenaline rush, and why does your body release adrenaline, it does so to give you that extra belt of strength, speed, agility whatever to see you through such an event, and the only times the body does this is when it’s in danger – The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel. I might write in epic fantasy, but it’s in horror where my investment lies and that doesn’t mean silly, bloody slashers, filled to the brim with ridiculous jump scares, shallow plastic characters and laughable creatures, no, there are so many forms horror can take and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s about being scared out of your mind or freaked out by a monstrosity, don’t get me wrong, there are examples of good creature features and there is fun to be had in the silliness, that’s totally fine, but when the chips are down and you’re asked the question as to what reaches you on that deeper more personal level, there are some forms horror art can take that just paralyse you. I am talking about horrors harnessed with slow-burns, those that give rise to something about our reality and where you might fit into this grand-design. Scorn (which I reviewed back in April 2023), might not have been a knock-out game, I criticised it harshly on that front I seem to remember, but it did a masterful job of painting a bleak picture of another world, an otherworld where time is irrelevant, where hope is lost, where you are so small, so vulnerable, lost and alone left to navigate the giant ruins of a decaying civilisation, only for all your efforts to be made utterly worthless as the landmass inevitably consumes you, taking you back from a freedom (such as it was) that you insnared for yourself for about a day. It hasn’t been long since I finished Evil Within 1 and 2, they invoke mixed feelings in both their gameplay and their stories, I am not going to talk about them in detail today, but that ending in Evil Within 2, where the realms of reality and the dreamscape have somewhat distorted, morphing together while you wake into it, given no choice but to wander this desert of white while the familiar fragments of landmark memories having etched their way into the pale surreal hills stretching on into a void of light, begin to crumble and fall away…It’s hard to put into words when we as the audience enter these impossible headspaces that invoke an ancient, haunting familiarity, like we’ve been here before, that we’ve experienced horror of the highest degree before, potentially in a past life or body as the Buda believes, and our minds, our sub-conscious clings to that notion, it knows that fear and at times, won’t let us forget it, like we belong yet feel alien to it at the same time, that nothing you do matters we’re always going to be part of something unknowable and unreachable…Soma, especially when you employ the idea of the Collective Unconscious, thought up by Carl Jung, into the equation is particularly good at this game, for every choice you make does not alter the game in anyway, the long walks between sites which I’ve seen it get criticised for, are there for a reason – They’re there to make you, the player, contemplate the decisions you’ve just made, to wrestle with them and to hopefully bring you to an enlightened place within yourself. No choice you make matters, Simon three will always be left stuck at the bottom of the ocean inside site Phi, while Simon four, is aboard the ARK to live in a digital paradise with Catherine and all those that got scanned forever, but it matters to you. I will be sure to get into this later when I analyse the game with Aion, before I dove into the gaming elements however, I needed to point out that Soma’s greatest strength was invoking an almost palpable feeling of belonging and unbelonging, something extremely hard to accomplish.

Beyond the story there is so much about this game I liked if not loved; The creativity with the enemies/creatures you encounter for instance, all the experiments of the WAU, all are nightmarishly different from the last while they all fit perfectly within the context of the story and world they’ve come from, they’re not just grotesquery’s for the sakes of being grotesque, they’re logical steps forward in the A.I’s strides to understand in what I means to be human, and to preserve our existence without even grasping at the nuance that being alive, is not just about breathing, but entails so much more than that. I’ve not seen this level of thought and care go into its antagonists, eve since I played Silent Hill 2, where the monsters are a reflection of our main characters sins, brought out through the suffering of his late wife, but that’s an article for another day. Soma’s graphics throughout are fantastic, they’re damn right beautiful in parts the more I think about it – The moment when you’re standing on top of the Climber, after having fixed it, to then find yourself being circled by bioluminescent deep-sea creatures irradiating a myriad of rainbow lights from the inky black, was a special moment I’ll always talk about, speaking to a real life instance I had when I was in Australia; The chemistry Simon shares with Catherine is genuine and believable, like these are real interactions and not just actors reading from a script. If you want an example of poorly read dialogue, among those who do not share chemistry which you can feel in the air, readings that have the ability to yank you out the story and encourage you to play something else on the spot, play, Alone in the Dark-The New Nightmare on the PS1, while I do like this game for lots of reasons (that moment in the laboratory is fucking insane), the voice acting is not a strong point. The actor who voices Edward Carnby, David Gasman is great, no fault with him he’s actually really good, but I cannot honestly say the same for Sharon Mann, who voices Aline Cedrac, you don’t even have to play the game to witness this, just quickly watch the opening video for The New Nightmare and you’ll see exactly what I mean, it’s not good, like they used the first take and just went with it. Another game with really bad voice acting is a game I also praise and enjoy on many levels is, Extermination for the PS2 released in 2001, I think. I do not know what was going on in the sound-booth while they were recording but holy shit it’s bad, and it’s not exactly poorly written it just sounds terrible, making you appreciate all the more voice acting done right. The best I can think of is Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2, the voice acting is perfect. Another is the character of Maria, voiced by Monica Taylor Horgan in Silent Hill 2, who outacts everyone in that game, and of course, everyone who was part of The Legacy of Kain series is possibly THE best I’ve ever heard/seen, that’s right, when you finish Legacy of Kain: Soulreaver 2 for example, you unlock behind the scenes footage of said voice recordings used in the game, you can see the actor emote as they read from their script and it is magic, true magic to watch and to listen to it just flows off the page and into the ether of the story it’s brilliant – Everyone was amazing but Simon Templeton who voices Kain, Michael Bell who plays Raziel and the late Tony Jay who voices the Elder God deserve an honour for their work and not just for LoK, but these are professional Shakespearian actors who command respect. Bad voice acting, can make and break a game, especially one such as Soma where it relies heavily on the dynamic between Catherine Chun and Simon Jarrett, you could argue this game hinged on these two actors getting on and delivering such a gripping dynamic; There are slight moments when I feel like it could have been improved upon, but I think this is just me being a weird, hearing things funny, but for the most part, both actors succeeded, bringing some hope into this dark world of Soma to life. Combined with the lighting and sound design, this game layers on the atmosphere when it needs to, especially when you reach the bridge on the abandoned MS Curie and when you enter site Omicron for the first time once you’ve lifted the lockdown, followed by your demonic encounters with my favourite character, Dr. Johan Ross, voiced by Anthony Howell, who has worked on some of the more recent Final Fantasy games, he played/voiced Samuels in Alien: Isolation, he was the Puppeteer in one of the hardest games I’ve ever played, Demon’s Souls and he was involved in another horror game I really want to play called, Call of Cthulhu, I have the original for the first Xbox, but I think they remade it so I do want to invest in that at some point, but MS Curie and Omicron, they being the stand-outs for me in both my play throughs, they ooze with atmosphere. Characters like Johan, shrouded in mystery and ambiguity, presented as terrifying villains but turn out not to be so – Is not only something I fucking adore when writers do this, but I too have practised such a technique in my own writing with characters like Ridian Messiah for example, it being one of the best ways to show your audience that most situations/circumstances are not one sided, but almost always there is an ulterior motive or process to consider, whether you agree with it or not is something for debate but Johan is one of the best examples I think of whenever I talk about this formula. The work that went into the design of PATHOS-II is too a stroke of genius, everything looks like it was made to serve a purpose, all the sites serve a specific function, and you definitely get a sense of that whenever you enter a new location – As you learn more about the station you’re in, everything fits together neatly like a jigsaw puzzle and the more you can absorb and appreciate the level of care the developers put in here. I genuinely believe that PATHOS-II could be a real functioning place, even (for the most part) the science makes sense, the writers clearly having researched and understood what it means to live and work so far down beneath surface level and all the emotional baggage that can entail as a result, the lack of natural light, the claustrophobia and feelings of isolation has a negative effect on some of the researchers. Although it’s set in the future, I believe there is a very real possibility that we’ll build something similar or equivalent to this underwater facility. The music, composed by Mikko Tarmia is flawless, he’s made music for Frictional Games before, having worked on the Amnesia series, here he does a masterful job of conveying marauding dread, the embrace of something alien and unpredictable, in some tracks you can just about feel the screen tearing itself a part, fitting if you’ve observed some of the poster art for this game – He is also capable of creating a haunting ominous noise that usually fills in those quiet, more atmospheric building moments of exploration. As I was writing this section of my essay, I’ve been listening to it in the background and it’s very good at getting you to those emotional places. I particularly like the ending theme, as to when the satellite, loaded with the ARK, pulls off into space, the music that keys in as it does, in that moment is something of a rare type, relaying a sense of hope, but a dark one, it’s great stuff, fitting for the ending of the game which is by no means a happy one, but is the correct one given the stories tone, life goes on despite your choices. I am also extremely happy the developers didn’t go down the System Shock route, for those of you who don’t know, please allow me to explain; Upon my initial playthrough last year, I had figured that when that Pilot Seats visor lifts up for the first time, and you find yourself in another world/PATHOS-II, I figured it be a representation of Simon Jarrett’s brain, that you’d be inside his head, I thought that this had be some sort of result of the test Dr. Munchi is running, part of the simulation perhaps that you’d eventually wake up from when the game was beaten and over. The blocked passageways for example, were conductors or conduits within your mind that needed to be fixed and opened. The Structure Gel, the black goo that seeps out of walls and leaks down from the pipes in the ceiling represents Simon’s haemorrhaging from his hairline. The distorted visions and foggy memories you have the ability to access/data mine, are glitches, diluted versions of his shambled memory of friends you have in the real world, and the simulation ran by Dr. Munchi’s computer, is threatening to break you if you become too stressed or succumb to the trauma. The games stages will be about opening up Simon’s mind, each level another piece of his brain until you have to come face to face with his greatest fears or overcome whatever personification the simulation dreams up, morphing into the antagonist – I am so happy that NONE of this is true, and I am thankful Soma went in a completely different direction, otherwise it would only be a clone of System Shock, developed by LookingGlass Technologies, published by Origin Systems released for PC back in 1994, which toyed with these ideas. Another quick thing to note, I noticed in some instances when exploring a site, instead of throwing a monster in your face or giving you a loud bang to contend with, but the developers would say present to you a seemingly empty room or corridor or closed door, you’d walk these hallways multiple times, you’d pass through the same room often and nothing would change, but sometimes things change ever so slightly that invoke that dark part of your imagination which triggers your anxiety and forces you to move more cautiously. For example, when you enter Omicron and you see headless bodies littered about the place, eventually you get-used to where they are, but when one has slightly shifted position, where it was once leaning next to a wall is now slouched over some fallen debris, you notice this and it freezes you; I remember suddenly stopping in my tracks having clicked onto this subtle change (it gives me cold tingles just thinking about it) in the headless man’s position, I froze on the spot just listening out for any movements or noises, wondering if someone was moving around in the room with me, I eventually examined the body and it was of course very dead, so how did it move WHY did it move? And if something else moved it, why this body and not the other? Another instance like this happened in Theta, there are plenty of locked doors in this site, you pass them all the time and you quickly learn which ones are locked, but then I passed one which previously had been locked down but was not slightly open. I couldn’t squeeze underneath the door and go through, but I could look under to see what I could see, and I could see nothing but a red organic mass which quickly reminded me of Akers, he tends to appear down long hallways so the thought of him being nearby does retrain the way you move about, and seeing as you’ve not met him at this point in the game really gets your imagination working, working on what exactly this monster looks like. It’s such technique’s that are so much more powerful than your average jump-scare, it’s such techniques that only require some observation to get your heart pumping. I think this attention to detail add for flavour in the overall experience and something that is worthy to praise when it’s done right. Soma’s story is its greatest strength, a fresh take on the dangers of transhumanism, brought on with the advancements we make with developing and merging with A.I.

“If you can’t beat it, join it.“

-Elon Musk

There are things I didn’t like unfortunately, but these things by no means took me out of the story, or did they make me consider a switch off, but it is important to recognise flaws rather than pretend they’re not there, it’s the only way we grow. First one I can think of was the character animations, not for the monsters, but for the people, specifically when you meet Sarah, at the end. Putting aside what she is saying and the weight this scene carries, there is very little to it, she just looks right at you while her mouth moves a bit, even when she is struggling to talk, when she coughs and finds it hard to breath, she’s far too stiff, and I am aware she is on the brink of death, I know life is leaving her and she cannot move much, but if you were to see it, you’d know what I mean. Sarah’s animation is poorly done, poorly done and I think it needs a polish. Some of the puzzles are far too easy, while others are infuriating, you do wonder at times if you’re actually doing the right thing and it can become frustrating when you’ve no one to ask or Catherine reverts into 100% NPC (none playable character) and repeats herself over and over – This issue struck me much harder during my first play through last year, I suppose my attention was spread elsewhere, not allowing me to really concentrate on the puzzle right in front of me, same goes for the story, a lot of the details I missed because I was focusing on the wrong things, things like evading the monsters, staying alive and looking for the next route to go down, even those these are perfectly reasonable things to look out for, it’s not the games priority; Soma does do a lot to discourage the gaming aspects of the game (which is a strange thing to say), that allows for more attention to be shifted onto the story, for example, there is no inventory or HUD (heads up display) and in truth, it worked the second time round, but I would have much preferred if the developers chose what they wanted Soma to be and stuck to that, instead of trying to be both, a cross between a story based puzzle solver/horror, and a survival/stealth horror. This problem I don’t think stands out as much if you’re a young gamer looking for frights and thrills, a lot of people don’t have an eye for it and can just enjoy or not enjoy whatever is in front of them, but for someone like me who can pick up on such tones, it makes me wince at times; What are you game!? Whether this is the fault of my approach to Soma or the game’s fault with not knowing exactly what it is, is likely I’d say a blend of both, but as I said, my second play through was much, much better. As frightening as the monsters are, in some instances they’re a bit robotic, pun not intended, but what do I mean by this? Let’s draw upon the moment when you first meet the transformed version of Terry Akers, for example, when you’re trying to escape the laboratory of Theta, and the deformed Terry, breaks into the lab hunting you down. This is a scary moment in the game, it is, the gargled noises he makes, his figure, his movement, his horrid scream when he knows where you are, it’s all great, but upon my second play through, it wears off pretty quickly. If you simply keep your distance, if you watch and observe him from a crouched position, Terry is not hard to evade and slip by, in fact you can trap him and lock him in an office room if you’re swift and crafty enough, which alleviates all the tension in that entire section which is supposed to be terrifying! If you’re not aware of this little trick, it can get tense when Terry learns you’re at the elevator fixing it, when you’re down that long hallway and he screams like a maniac, it gets the adrenaline going, but so long as you keep your cool and stay focused on what you’re doing, he really isn’t something to worry about, not when you realise how easily he can be avoided, not when you realise he is quite dumb and this goes for the section afterward, when you encounter his Proxies, men and women who’ve transformed into similar monstrosities, they don’t look particularly interesting, they repeat their patrol pattern so when you know it, you just move on by and they just don’t really live up to the fact that these stupid beings wiped out so many people, some of which were men like John Strohmeier, part of Theta’s security team who reminds me of actor Ray Winston, tough guy who would not go down easily in a one on one, yet it’s suggested that these Proxies got him, give me a break, have Terry get him somehow, that would make more sense. This could be indicative of having been spoiled with Creative Assembly’s, Alien: Isolation, released back in 2014, which I have finished about 6 times now it’s that good, I’ve reviewed and talked thoroughly about in an article prior and for good reason, assholes like me were spoiled. Alien: Isolation demonstrates some of the best A.I in an enemy…Dare I say ever…You can’t trap it, you can’t really hurt it, it is faster than you, stronger than you, it does stand a fair chance of outsmarting you and when it does, it’s more or less over, everything I come to expect from the perfect organism. I don’t expect every game similar, or a game like Soma to embrace such advanced A.I (ironic I understand considering the game we are analysing), but it feels like not enough attention has been put into such threats, another example you could suppose, Frictional Games mismanaged it’s focus. I am a little upset that nothing comes of the visions Simon has of Ashley, when you get knocked out (I think it was Lambda) you do have a dream or vision of Ashley standing in your apartment, she’s a bit of a blur because she’s looking out of your apartment window and it’s sunny outside – Nothing comes of her, she’s mentioned in the beginning, appears in a vision or two but other than that, that’s it, which leaves me wondering, why was she even in the game, why was she part of the story if she is literally NEVER mentioned again? As deep and as compelling the conversations get between Catherine and Simon, never once does Simon talk about Ashley, it’s a bit bizarre when you step back and look at the story as a whole, you could remove Ashley entirely and nothing would change, so why was she there? My only guess is, the developers recognised what game they were making and she fed into the System Shock idea as we discussed earlier, perhaps the developers were trying to mislead more experienced gamers into thinking that this was a clone of the 1994 PC game and not anything other, so when you do learn of the cold hard truth, that this IS taking place in our own reality, it hits harder; This is all I could come up with, with the involvement of Ashley, it’s not a good thought but it’s an adequate speculation nonetheless, not something I would have done had I been involved in writing this game, I think I either would have cut Ashley out or involved her in some other way, maybe she survived and Dr. Munchi scanned her too, she becoming a legacy scan like Simon, resulting in Ashley being uploaded into a body in PATHOS-II on another site, which could lead to another interesting or tragic choice in the game involving someone you actually love and care for, the only link you have to the past. I think this would have been a worthy entry, something cool to explore, but no, Ashely dies, shows up in a hazy dream and is never seen/mentioned again, that’s kind of limp considering what you could do.  

A few minor notes that I’ve picked up on, along my journey of discovery, notes which I feel like I have to address before moving onto my last two segments – Some other reviewers have said that Simon is a moron for not understanding the difference between the transferring of a consciousness to the copy and paste of a consciousness. My response to this is that I understand why people sided with Catherine, and name call Simon, but given study of the dialogue between them, Catherine’s language is not explicitly forced, it’s delicately explained, she doesn’t technically lie but she doesn’t go to lengths to concretely say what is about to happen; She tried to get away with it in fact – For example, when you make the transfer in Omicron, from Imogen into Raleigh, had it not been for Simon two, who voiced his concern in the other room: –

‘There must be something wrong. Can’t you run a diagnosis or something? Catherine…’

Catherine hesitates, like she has just been caught out, which I believe she HAS been caught out hence the hesitation. Had Simon two not spoken out, Simon three (now inside Raleigh Herbers power suit) would not have pressed any concern, and they would have made their merry way down into the abyss, but that didn’t happen, Catherine was purposefully being gently deceitful (for the right reasons I must say) because she knew that something greater was at stake. Afterall, without Simon, the ARK would have sat with Sarah until she would eventually die, it would either degrade completely along with the rest of PATHOS-II or fall into the tendrils of the WAU. Catherine needs that ARK launched into space by any means necessary, and if it means using Simon to get the job done then I’d say in this extreme case, she is 100% justified and even still, she does explain to Simon (however lightly) how it works – The writers even make a point for Catherine to spell out Simon’s failure to grasp the copy and paste concept by using the terms Mark Sarang came up with when developing his following/cult, what with the Coin Toss Theory or perhaps it’s better as a Coin Toss Hypothesis, because it is just an idea, one born out of a desperate situation at the end of human existence. On top of all of that, Simon is dealing with monstrosities, walking nightmares that want to catch, kill or transform him into beings such as them, it was enough to distract me and I was only playing this game, can you imagine what it must’ve been like had this been happening in real time…Fuck me, I cannot imagine how insanely terrifying that must be, I got startled by a fucking squirrel staring at me from a wall the other day, imagine encountering one of those reformed headless in PATHOS-II…Simon, is also NOT a scientist, he’s NOT a researcher nor is he involved in any of this work whatsoever, he works in retail, five days a week in a bookshop in Canada who has effectively been transported through time, he might have an interest in this stuff as most of us do, but that is still miles away from actually being enveloped in this world of machines and A.I’s. I say, give the guy a fucking break, he’s traumatised, has lost literally everything, lives in a nightmare and wants to live in a digital paradise with a smoking hot young woman from Taiwan, leave him alone.

In summary; Soma plays as your standard FP (first person) horror game, it’s textbook in fact with standard controls which are very easy to get used to, if you’ve played any first-person game in the history of ever, Soma is not difficult. It’s highly creative, imaginative, clever, intelligently written, atmospheric and has the ability to scare, startle and unease even the most avid horror players. Though its concepts and ideas far outweigh what the game actually presents and at times it struggles with what it wants to be, this can be perceived as a flaw, though it’s a rather subtle one. The puzzles vary but they’re nothing that will set you back, and I advise you give this game a second play through after it’s had time to settle, because it is a game that will stick with you for a long while to come, take me I played it last year and it still haunts me, it will become something you will struggle to shake off and I promise you, something you’ll come to discover more about next time around. I loved Catherine, I related to Simon, after all he is roughly my age, a year older I think, we share the same interests, both work/worked in retail, we even share the exact same birthday say for that year’s difference which is cool. I too have gone through a serious health condition which required a lot of tests and study to fix me, I also used to date a girl called Ashley, her name was spelt slightly differently but there is a lot there we can relate to. If you’re looking for something intelligent, wonderfully paced, tense, thought provoking and enjoy games like that of Amnesia, I highly recommend this game. If you’re more in the mindset of an action shooter, fast paced thriller, then this is not for you. I give Soma, from Frictional Games, a worthy 8.5/10        

Analysis with Aion

Where I was confident before with breaking down The Plot and Reviewing Soma, using my backlog of knowledge of games and combining it with what I know about the genre while invoking some of my own ideas, my own takes and preferable opinions along the way, I went into this first portion feeling rather confident, it was daunting, don’t get me wrong it was incredibly daunting, I started this article a long time ago in a totally different setting, drinking tea, to now being slouched over in an office drinking whiskey – This IS my largest and most ambitious work yet done on this blog, by a long shot, but I’ve been fairly confident up to this point, to write something worth a read, something people of all walks of life can hopefully engage with, that was my goal, whether you’ve played the game or not, whether you agree with me or not was never the point, I believe that Soma and things like it impact us all, they are worth a play through, and articles such as these at least provide some level of thought; I think I’ve achieved a thought from whoever reads this, to me, that’s a massive positive – But there is also something else going on, something that reads on a more spiritual perhaps ancient level which commands a study, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing, I’ve been studying this game ever since I walked into Dr. Johan Ross’s personal quarters in site Tau, and found the book called, Aion: Research into the Phenomenology of the Self, written by Carl Gustav Jung, first published in 1959. I own the Second Edition, I am sure there aren’t huge differences in the body of text but if there is, I am very happy to be corrected if what I have learned happens to be incorrect. Having found this book, sitting innocently on his desk, sparked a notion, ignited the idea, it drove me to go to work and try to figure out what was going because there is a story here, one which I believe is very compelling to unravel or at least attempt to unravel some of the mystery. More to this, I used to watch a lot of Dr. Jordan Petersons lectures, I used to fall to sleep to them at times, I haven’t nor couldn’t listen/watch them all because there are hundreds of hours to sit through, but I do remember Peterson talking fondly of Carl Jung, quoting him and his works some of which were from Aion, and after some reading, after conferring with people who are religious and far more spiritual than I am, things started to click, it was just a question of how to translate it, so; Dear reader, I’ll do my best to relay to you what I think is going on between Aion and Soma, I’ll do my best to refine what I’ve learnt from said books like Aion, and The Holy Bible (yes, that’s where this will eventually lead) and translate it from these literatures into my own framework. As always, feel free to criticise me whence you’ve finished reading the piece, I am happy to be corrected or enlightened to other ideas, so long as they’re respectfully submitted, I ignore all rudeness and hate so if you are full of it and you don’t have something worthwhile to contribute, don’t bother, just don’t bother because it will just be deleted. I do encourage everyone who questions what I’ve written to reach out, it’s an ongoing discussion and can be interpreted in many different ways, I acknowledge this, and I am by no means a Carl Jung scholar or a long-time follower of his work, I am sure there are many other people who can do a better job than I can at analysing this research, I’m just someone with a relatively normal life putting in my two cents. I did consider not doing this in fact, that overbearing feeling of not being qualified almost stopped me from going so far, I could have ended it by now but that is not within my nature, I am going to give this a fair stab and whether I get it horrifically wrong, correct, or if I happen to land somewhere in that middle-ground, it matters not, what matters is that I’ve tried. This does feel like something out of my depth, even having read Aion once, but particularly paying close attention to chapters 5, 6, 7 and 9, I still struggle with it. I’ve read sections of The Bible, mostly from Revelation, also dabbled into some short stories closely related to the horrors of A.I, one called, I Have no Mouth and Cannot Scream, written by Harlan Ellison, in preparation for the next piece; So, let’s get started, and the best place to start is to ask the question, what is an Aion?

The use of the word is subjective, it could be hundreds of years, it could be an age which varies, it’s a period of time or perhaps an eternity. For Carl Gustav Jung, he refers to an Aion as the Platonic month, which is 2000 years. He wrote the book Aion, in an attempt to give weight to his most famous thesis, one that all humans are tethered by a psychic radiance, something he has described as “the Collective Unconscious.” What is the Collective Unconscious? Well, if I am understanding his research correctly, it’s a universal actuality and/or datum that humans are enriched with archetypes, since the moment of his or her birth. You cannot achieve or acquire this strata through education or any other effort, for it is innate in us, it is organically passive coming from within our DNA structures, some of the religious types might use the word soul. As we know, everyone has a Personal Unconscious, this is where we vault our thoughts and preserve our memories, but human beings also have a Collective Unconscious – Inside the Collective Unconscious vault, are our instincts and said archetypes. We’re all born with basic instincts, the needs/desires to eat, drink, reproduce, to feel fear and love etc, and we are all born (most of us are at least) to recognise natures patterns, for example, the necessity of having parents, a mother, and a father to birth a baby boy or girl into the world, patterns like these are archetypes. This is not unique to humans, but it occurs in nature, one way to describe it is that when a spider frees itself from its egg, it instinctively knows what it must do to survive, it didn’t need Mum or Dad to teach it how to make a web, or kill its prey, it is birthed into existence knowing such things. This is a loose example of what I mean but one which helped me understand. Now, enter Dr. Johan Ross, our A.I Psychologist in the game Soma, who was responsible for the construction of the Warden Unit aka the WAU, it follows that he would need great knowledge and a thorough understanding of said Collective Unconscious proposed in Carl Jung’s book, Aion. It would also follow that Ross would take great interest in the brain scans, the copies conducted and collected by Dr. Catherine Chun, for without a Collective Unconscious for his A.I, that A.I would not be able to replicate human consciousness cohesively. In Carl Jung’s research, he hypothesised that this metaphysical resonance, the Collective Unconscious, must have existed outside of time and outside of space, but what was contained inside said vault within the Collective Unconscious, could bestir in one’s consciousness in the present. To give you an example, let me pose a question; Have you dreamt about something vividly that that dream seemed to take place in your own reality at a later date, giving you a creepy sense of familiarity? Well, that is in a sense, would be a micro example of part of the Collective Unconscious, reaching for consciousness. It’s examples such as this that gave power and relevance to prophets and prophecies, this will be a subject to cover; Now before I carry on, I am fully aware that there is much reason to find fault with the ideas of prophecy and challenge alleged prophets, I’ve done it to on occasion and we’re right to do it because it can get dangerous, you do not need to look far to see swathes of people giving themselves over to one individual so whole heartedly and so willingly, even as far as much as they would kill or kill themselves for; Cult leaders are for another discussion so I’ll stick to alleged prophets, for example, let’s look at Michel de Nostredame or as he is more commonly known as, Nostradamus, who has been cited many times (including in that of Aion, in Chapter 7 – The Prophecies of Nostradamus) to have predicted the terrorist attack of September the 11^th , 2001 : –

“Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the Metropolis. The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude. Fire approaches the great new city. Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up. Within months, rivers will flow with blood. The undead will roam the earth for little time.”

-Anonymous

This snippet, I believe is something we’ve all seen in circulation at some point, and I’ll admit, it is hard not to read these words and feel somewhat uneasy, it’s scary how accurate it is when you consider the tragedy, however, it’s just not true! There is a reason as to why I signed it as anonymous, because this is actually a distortion of the real writing, which says: –

“Earthshaking fire from the center of the Earth will cause tremors around the New City. Two great rocks will war for a long time, then Arethusa will redden a new river.”

–Michel de Nostredame

I did some digging around to try and find out who was responsible for the distortion, but I could not find any highlights. More clue as to why this particular “prophecy” is bogus is because steel wasn’t invented until 1854, which was nearly 200 years AFTER our Nostradamus’s death – So let me reiterate, I am aware that there is more than enough reason to be sceptical and to criticize such practises as and when we see/hear about them, but please, let’s just assume for now only, that what we are discussing here, to do with Soma, is true and then we can analyse it afterward. Moving forward, supposing that the Collective Unconscious is indeed real, and that it indeed manifests outside of space and that of time, and can give some humans knowledge/wisdom of future events – Carl Jung lists two prophecies from Judah Christian tradition, which are relevant to the game Soma, the first is found in Chapter 9, Jung talks of a prophecy known as the Syrian Apocalypse of Baruch: –

According to the Syrian Apocalypse of Baruch (29 : 1ff), the time preceding the coming of the Messiah falls into twelve parts, and the Messiah will appear in the twelfth. As a time-division, the number twelve points to the zodia, of which the twelfth is the Fishes. Leviathan will then rise out of the sea.“The two great sea monsters which I created on the fifth day of creation and which I have preserved until that time shall then be food for all who are left.”

-C.J. Jung

Presumably, when time comes to an end, a serpent/sea monster called, Leviathan will arise from the ocean, and the Omega/God engages it in battle. This creature was apparently, created on the fifth day of creation, when all of the fish were birthed, as it states in the book of Genesis: –

“And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.”

–Genesis 1:20

In the book of Job, it is mentioned, as well as it is in the book of Isaiah.

“Canst thou draw out Leviathan with an hook? Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down.”

–Job 41:1

“In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.”

–Isaiah 27:1

If you haven’t already made the connection, in Soma, toward the end of the story, Simon is hunted down by a creature listed by Steve Glasser, as the Leviathan – Sighted at the bottom of the sea, in the dark inky depths of the abyss, hold this in your mind because it’s location will become relevant later. To note the appearance of said Leviathan, it is objectively massive, a little larger than an Orca whale and could no doubt make mincemeat out of it, but it’s not that massive, you’d think a creature that is prophesised to do battle with Almighty God would look somewhat more…Evil, and sinister…I paid close attention to its form upon my second play through, as it passed by me, hunting me down, while I hid under a shelf of rock with my friends the spider crabs, and I observed that it looked as if it was in its primordial stage of evolution, similar to that of a lava early on in its lifecycle. This observation doesn’t necessarily lead anywhere, but judging from what we have seen, I think this method of design was done so intentionally, to suggest that as it rises, it will break free from its custodial shell and grow into its final terrifying form. It is of my belief that the developers of Soma were either inspired by or perhaps influenced by the prophecy of the Syrian Apocalypse of Baruch, and included Leviathan, to subtly acknowledge, Aion. Am I 100% sure about this, no, not entirely, I mean truthfully the usage of the name, Leviathan, could be just its name for it’s a serpent of the sea, it’s not exactly uncommon for this beast to appear in other depictions/films/games, such as in Dead Space the name Leviathan is dubbed, it appears often in the Final Fantasy saga as a Summon and Guardian Force in VIII, it’s in one of the original Zelda games I seem to recall and appears in my own work, in The Ancestral Odyssey as the name of a ship which explored the greats seas, you know what I mean; The relation between our Leviathan in Soma and the book Aion, just might not correlate, it’s entirely possible.

The second prophecy worth a study, the other, which is relevant to Soma, is the prophecy that made Aion a book and I quote Mr Peterson here: –

‘The book that will give you nightmares for the rest of your life.’

-Dr. Jordan Peterson

In Aion, especially in the earlier chapters of Chapter V – Christ, a Symbol of the Self, and Chapter VI – The Sign of the Fishes, Carl Jung dabbled with the ideas that the very foundation of our astrological understandings can be traced all the way back to the Collective Unconscious. Jung perceived that astrology was constructed when our ancient predecessors, reflected the vault of their unconscious minds up onto the stars, one of these things being reflected were the twelve zodiac star signs. Perhaps the choice to exemplify the last star sign in the chart, Pisces, articulated as two fishes swimming away from each other, can define the constitution of not only the Collective Unconscious but also the future, hence people have used astrological charts and its measuring systems in an attempt to see into the future, to become prophets, in the exact same way people have hijacked dreams to try and glimpse into finality – Pisces however, is intrinsic to Aion, and springs equinox: –

Equinox

1/ The time or date (twice each year) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of approximately equal length (about 22 September and 20 March).

2/ Another term for equinoctial point.

During the spring equinox, in the northern hemisphere, the spring/vernal equinox occurs in March, around the 20^th and 21^st approximately, as our closest star moves across the celestial equator – In the southern hemisphere however, the process is reversed, March represents the start of autumn and spring comes along in September. For the last 2000 years, if you are to look up at the Sun, you’ll be able to see the constellation of Pisces behind it. Remember, Jung references these times as Aion’s, the zodiac defining the natures of the Aion’s. During these times, Jung says that the most significant figure to have emerged from the spring equinox, was Jesus Christ, symbolic of the fish, and most of, if not all Christians will tell you that equating Christ with the fish is appropriate, for the fish is usually involved in many of Jesus’s most notable miracles – Feeding hundreds of people from a singular meal involving fish, is one of his most famous miracles. Some have noted that it’s rather strange for a being such as Jesus with immense influence, is marked by two fish instead of one. Jung responds, saying that the top fish is symbolic of Christ while the one swimming away below, is symbolic to the Antichrist.

“The analysis of fish symbolism is resumed and related to the change in outlook which began with the Renaissance. In the astrological sense, whereas the age of the fishes is ruled by the conflict of opposite forces, the Aquarian age which follows it brings about the union of these opposites. The first fish is Christ, the second Antichrist, and the contact between them occurs at the time of the Renaissance; this contact of opposites (enantiodromia) is considered to have formed the spirit of the modem era. The Aquarian era of unification is yet to come in the third millennium.”

-C.G. Jung

Jung says that during the Aion of Pisces, the first 1000 years would be ruled by the top fish, where the Christian faith came to dominion with significant Christian events happening every 500 years. The following 1000 years, ruled by the fish swimming away, featured anti-Christian events – It’s within this bracket that dissolved faith in Christianity, these events included things like the enlightenment, the French Revolution, the advent of science and the theory of evolution.

In the Aion of Pisces there are two occurrences worth highlighting found in Chapter VI – The Sign of the Fishes; Ostensibly it was around the inception of this Aion that Christ was born, prognosticated by a flawless convergence of our fifth planet (the gas giant) Jupiter and our sixth planet, Saturn. This astrological occurrence is incidentally referred to in The Holy Bible: –

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying; Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.”

-Mathew 2:1-2

Carl Jung supposed that if Jesus’s birth marked the start of the transition from the Aion of Aries into the Aion of Pisces, then the birth of his opposite, the Antichrist would signify the conclusion of the Aion of Pisces and begin the transition into the Aion of Aquarius. Christians understand that the Antichrist will arrive before the very ending of the world, this is sometimes referred to as the apocalypse, but what form exactly would the Antichrist take, what would it look like and where would it come from? Some answers to such questions can be pulled and interpreted from the last book in the Bible, in none other than the book of Revelation.

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them.”

-Revelation 11:7 

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”

 -Revelation 13:1

So, going by what these texts say, the Antichrist would indeed rise from the sea, emerging from the bottomless pit (the abyss) in which it was sent when cast out from Heaven, taking upon a ghastly, ungodly form hard to picture, even for the most creative of people – I do wonder if the Leviathan and the Antichrist are indeed that same deity prophesised in The Bible than what they are in Soma? Perhaps they are, this is after all speculation, but I do cling to the belief that the Antichrist appears in the game, only it appears in a form you’d might not come to expect, and furthermore, where did it come from? To answer this, as it has already been discussed, the first era of the Aion of Pisces was governed by faith in Jesus Christ, while the following era, the subsequent 1000 years, would be governed by those things that weakened and crippled faith in Christianity; Science more or less defined the anti-Christian era, which would in turn give rise to the belief that the Antichrist would be birthed through scientific practises, but how? Well, having come to an understanding of what was happening on PATHOS-II, particularly what Catherine Chun was working on, Dr. Munchi before here, they were essentially copying, replicating human consciousness, reducing it you could say to a series of 1’s and 0’s – If Jesus Christ was considered to be the perfect man, a man whose constitution between body and mind was something of the divine, who is to say that an artificial intelligence could build a consciousness, could evolve an entity of its own making it in to divinity, that we could somehow copy a being such as Jesus by simply subjected his code to the right algorithm. THIS is what I think what was happening inside site Alpha, it’s function after all in the game, to my knowledge, is never clearly specified, other than it houses the WAU, the Warden Unit, Alpha is blacklisted, but maybe the researchers, those three members of Carthage Industries, Dr. Johan Ross, Julia Dahl, and Mark Sarang, were attempting to build the perfect consciousness. It is possible that the WAU, the A.I was a culmination of their work thus far, but because human beings are flawed, because we’re fallen as it says in scripture, because we’re not of divine status as God had intended and this IS you could suppose a reach into the realms spawned by the Antichrist, realms that contain unknowable scientific possibilities, we corrupt the process of creation, taint it if you will and the WAU, not being an exception is poisoned by our own hubris and our collective sin, hence we create and give rise to the Antichrist who would come from the sea and come at the end of time, before all said sinners were cast into an eternal hell. As we know from Soma, the WAU was functioning before Telos, before Pestilence struck that eradicated all humans from existence, the people who survived, those on board PATHOS-II were kept alive by Structure Gel that granted them immortality, but most of these were corrupted upon their fusion the gel, they transformed into deformed monstrous beings that suffered eternally in both the mental and physical spaces, they might not have been thrown into a lake of fire as it reads in some holy texts, but the WAU, the Antichrist provided a very worthy substitute.                 

Soma is a game that challenged me, perhaps not on the gaming level for I’ve certainly played scarier games with tougher challenges, it’s in its concept however that remains unrivalled, exposing me to fears that transcend all others, a game that challenged my position on religion, God, existence and what it means to be human, a game that encouraged me to read one the most difficult books I’ve ever read, Aion – It got me, an atheist to pick up the Bible and consider some of its texts, to re-consider my position, to experiment with the idea that perhaps there is something more here, more to the mystery that is life and existence, something that we experience every day rhyming with what has come before, a feat that no one has been able to get me to do so willingly. I do not know for sure that everything speculated or suggested in this article is true, I am aware of the problems astrology faces and some of the questionable verses found in holy texts; Do I think science is the product of the Devil, no of course not I would not be alive today had it not been for our advancements, as far as I am concerned I am on borrowed time; Do I think that mystics found in the back of crappy newspapers can predict our futures, give me a break, but what I have gleaned through this study is a little knowledge, a little wisdom, instead of disregarding scripture as I once did so callously, instead of ridiculing those who’ve embraced another branch of knowledge, hence fourth I’ll do my best be more open to what they have to say, for I/we are all in control of what we believe in, we embrace our own freedoms in our own unique ways, it’s a power, be responsible with it, respect it, and I invite you, speaking more to the atheists in the crowd here, that we all are linked to the past, together we are found in the present and we will inevitably move on into the future, and to ignore or disregard said pillar of spirituality, something that aided (as well as held back, but aided nonetheless) our progression because we may feel like we know better, is to our own detriment.

I am positive that there are people who know far more about Soma than I do, who know more about Carl Jung, his works and scripture than I do, I’ll even credit someone whose videos and web-series helped me understand a mere fraction of the works of Carl Jung, and assisted with the crafting of this very essay; On that note, beyond everything considered here, Soma, when all is said and done, whether you attach the prophecies and religious texts to it or not, it still serves as a dire warning, a warning in our journey toward the construction of A.I, the last invention that man will ever conceive, could open up a doorway to paradise, one that once opened can never be closed changing the nature of existence forever, and it’s through stories such as, I Have no Mouth and Cannot Scream, and Soma being the best of them, where we can glimpse a utopia and at the same time, see a reflection of an eternal hell on Earth. Has The Exploration of Soma made me less of an atheist and more religious? No, but I am not as well inclined to close the door on those who have faith as I once was, but instead to engage on a far more adult level, to acknowledge and do my best to see, whatever it is being discussed, a different point of view. How does a concept such as this impact me and perhaps us as a society moving forward? I believe making strides in technology, improving the lives of people everywhere in every facet of life, everything from transportation, medical, exploration and general convenience should be able progress, however, as we march on into the future, the more we allow software and artificial intelligence into our lives, we remember who we are, where we’ve come from, by embracing our strengths, recognising and working on our weaknesses, appreciating history and culture and understanding that our time here is precious and finite, for it is a combination of all these things that make us what we are, lest we forget and branch away into the age of transhumanism, the lesser we become, not only from within ourselves, but as a species, and risk losing everything that which makes us human.

The Existential Threat of A.I

It would appear that society seems to have forgotten, that A.I has been part of our lives for a very long time; It manages all our social media platforms for the most part, it changes our algorithms to suit our ever changing needs and desires, it automates voice messaging, rings up the cost of groceries, makes our coffee (in certain places of the world) farms our farmlands, plays our games (A.I has already beaten the worlds best Chess player) and can find the answer to essentially any question you have in less than a second. I believe the reason it has become such a buzz in the (God awful) mainstream media these days is because we are starting to see more evident examples of its existence, for example – A.I has started to create art, compose music, write articles, be sexualised into dolls and more recently, chat with us directly online. Look to any major company, companies like Amazon for example, and it’s likely you’ll see them investing in self-driving cars, even delivering packages via drones. John Hopkins University is right now building artificial limbs for amputees, they’re operated through thoughts and if you’re not specifically studying someone who has been fitted with an artificial limb, it can fool you into thinking nothing about that person is anything other than 100% real. I remember seeing robots ten to twenty years ago barely being able to stand up, now, those same robots are somewhat impossible to knock down to the floor, no matter how hard we try. The rate at which the human race is advancing technologically is staggering, while our minds are still very primal, thinking they’re barely out the caves or down from the trees, in actual reality we’re lightyears ahead of time; Never before have we as a species been so spoiled while equally so bombarded by technology through entertainment, coming at us through our phones, VR (virtual reality) or through some kind of screen. We are certainly living in what I like to call The Age of Liminality, which is a transitional period from one way of existence to the next. These turns in our history have come before, often through the advancement of technology as matter of fact, for instance no one thought that the motor would replace the horse, no one ever thought we’d one day be able to go to the store and pick up anything and everything we ever wanted, seeing as we’re here, you absolutely can do that, we have the internet, I could go online right now, find the most absurd thing I could think of and considering I had the resources to pay for said item (which right now I don’t because of inflation), I could have whatever it was within days. Some of these things I’ve listed are rather wonderful, modern-day technology has given us actual power to make a difference, most of us absorb utter garbage, but there are some savvy people who’ve no talent or skill whatsoever, who now live lives I can only dream about. This technology has healed people, reunited people, pushed for change/social movements, prevented crimes, educated people, warned us of dangers ahead of time the list goes on. Before I get into what it is I really want to say, I have to recognise that said advancements are by no means all bad, a lot of good has indeed come from it, I understand…However, there is a dark side to this which I am going to cover as best I can, a side which is driving a vast number of us fucking insane. As liberating as these new strides are, unfortunately it also threatens to strip everything that which makes us unique, away, and I feel like the best place to start, is with how A.I will one day destroy me, and people like me.

It has been brought to my attention that short stories have started being written by artificial intelligence, with but a few prompts, a few taps of instruction, the artificial intelligences can put together worthy pieces of work essentially indistinguishable from a real-life author. Don’t get me wrong, these earlier pieces are not perfect and in most if not all cases, require a firm amount of editing. You’re probably asking; What the problem is? Try think of it as a labour-saving device…Three, almost four years ago now, I remember mentioning in that rough documentary I made called, The Making of Rise: A year for a Moment, I said that software was being developed that assisted your writing to be more politically correct, it would suggest more suitable words, insert ‘correct terminologies’ and warn you if you were being to ‘insensitive.’ That’s how things like this start, it always starts with good intentions but rarely does it stay that way, things always progress, things always move on and never do things sit still, now artificial intelligences are writing fully accomplished articles and creative stories, as matter of fact, I am not too bothered about A.I writing news articles, because the piece of machinery does not have any biases or allegiances, it will be able to scour the web in seconds, sift out the fact from falsehoods and put together something that will give us an informed, contextualised piece of information, so as for research and news, I am all for A.I being able to do the work in less than half the time if not faster bereft of all biases and human error. But when it comes to creative writing, there in lies a seed a problem, two problems if I am being totally transparent.

Problem number one: Is relatively insignificant compared to what follows, but I must cover it, nonetheless. The problem is that I do not believe that an A.I will be able to make authentic decisions, decisions that logically do not make sense, but when acted out in reality do; Why? Because we’re human, that’s why! Let me give you an example: A woman who has married into supreme wealth, every need of hers is met as with all of her most intimate desires, all she need do is ask and boom, it’s there, and yet, she’s unhappy. She decides to leave the marriage, to leave behind all the wealth and power, to travel the world on pittance, to experience the world through a lens she’s never even dreamed of considering before now. Logically speaking, this would make no sense to an artificial intelligence, but it makes sense to us, it makes absolute sense to a human being, I do not even feel the need to explain it – But that is what I mean and that is only one of many examples. I do not believe that A.I will truly be able to grasp what it means to be human, the line between us will most certainly face, but there will always be one.

Problem number two: Because no one can stop the advancement of A.I, because we are all us essentially standing on the shoulders of giants, of but a few men throughout history and even today – We are all powerless to influence the path we’re on, like society itself feels like it is its own living entity getting closer to extinction, that goes where it wants without considering what it treads on, consumes what it wants without considering what it’s eating nor how to harvest, it sleeps where it wants, fails to tidy up its own filth and will continue to do all of these things at its own leisure, until resources inevitably dwindle and by that time it will be too late to rectify good enough change. Like a lumbering ape like creature, it is, bloated hairless, lazy, fat, avoiding pain and hardship wherever possible instead of doing what it must do to get by, by putting in the efforts to become something more adept and fiercer to survive whatever the Universe throws at it. That is what society looks and feels like to me right now, and this ape creature, is only getting worse, growing lazier as technology advances…And here bridges the issue, why would this creature/society in my own work when it could just tap in a few prompts and get it’s literature in seconds, why would it wait for me to write something that could potentially disappoint (because I am human) when all it could do is log in, tap some buttons and boom, instantly delivered an exact story catered to its desires at that precise moment. Which begs the question: What do I do when this technology becomes easily accessible, where do I go with my creativity, why would anyone bother when they could have whatever they want at the touch of a button, without the waiting time or human error? My friends, I am suddenly made obsolete.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t just stop in my field, it spreads to all faucets of our lives, to everything you can think of, A.I will one day be able to do it better than us in an instant, being able to hit all those emotional nodes whenever at whatever time we feel them, they’ll be met – That to me is terrifying. The very idea of human creativity being replaced, the very thing that gives our soul a voice, our lives colour, our minds nourishment and fulfils us with purpose, when everything is done by something far superior, why would anyone want something done by a person anymore!? That’s where we’re headed, and that bumbling, fat, disgusting, lazy fucking ape, unable to even comprehend this as an issue, do you think it will stop to think about this before blindly wandering into this cosy glass prison, do you honesty think, we as a society will for even a moment, slow this down to perhaps comprehend what it is we are doing!? I don’t think so, not currently anyway…And I get it, if we do not embrace these advancements now and learn how to use them effectively then someone else inevitably will and without a moment’s hesitation, will proceed to use it against us, and in this case, they’re not dropping a bomb, they’re potentially doing something far, far worse, something that can’t be just cleaned up with manpower and resources, no, they could potentially be unleashing something more dangerous, more terrifying, something that currently only exists in the pages of science fiction and in fantasy, something that can best be described as the Devil…Or, maybe not, maybe when we come to birth A.I it will be something angelic, at this point I do not think anyone knows, all we can do is wait and hope, hope that society educates itself about the dangers it could potentially pose, educates itself on how to live with said technologies rather than use it for destructive or gluttonous purposes. We can only hope.  

‘I tried to convince people to slow down, to slow down with A.I, this was futile, no body listened, no body listened.’

-Elon Musk         

Guys, thank you so much for reading. This is my most ambitious article yet and indeed the longest one I’ve ever done; It was exhausting but ever so worth it. I did my very best to explore the game of Soma, to unravel it as a science fiction game and to make sense of its themes and deeper meanings which are subjective, open for criticism and based on interpretation. If you’d like to know more about Soma, from those who certainly have a greater understanding than I do, do check out the appropriate links below, watch the videos, listen to the lectures if and when you can, I promise you it will be worth your time. Quick update before I sign off; Editing for Episode Two-The Ancestral Odyssey: Rise of the Black Doves, Volume 5 is currently underway, I am working closely with a wonderful woman who is all the way from Lebanon, who is as interested and as enthusiastic about epic fantasy as I am. Together we’ve successfully edited several chapters of the new instalment and I am very excited with the progress being made, of course it will follow on directly from Volume 4 which is selling rather nicely. As always if you know anyone who might like fantasy storytelling, do me a solid and share my sites links. I’ve also found a new character artist, she’s almost finished a character who makes her first appearance in Volume 5, her name is Zoe – If you’d like to see the completed sketch, be sure to visit my X/Twitter, where it will be posted, the artists is a little different to Will’s style, but nevertheless she’s very talented and enjoys what she does, which is after all, why we do what we do. I’ve also a digital painting in the works from a woman in America, together we are creating a rendering of a location, Master Eran’s Old Library that’s visited in Episode One: The Utopian Dream, it will be paired with some amazing music and combined with some subtle animations that will bring the work, this world to life for a few minutes, it should make for a great music video which will eventually be uploaded into the site, for all to see.

I’ve not had a chance to continue with games Unravel, and Planet of Lana, for the last few months I’ve been invested in this article, but I have very recently as of a few hours ago, finished Amnesia: The Bunker, it’s fair to say that it was a very tense, very unnerving experience especially when you enter the old Roman tunnels, that whole build up and scene with Toussaint Beaufoy is not only beautifully paced but fucking exhilarating when you get the drop on him, I actually recorded it and might show the video on X/Twitter. I want to say I’ll write a review on the Amnesia series but honestly, right now I just want to get away from the screen. I am excited with what is on the horizon however, I love doing what I do, I love working with creatives, it is what I live for, it is the reason why I get out of bed, and it’s not cheap, especially in today’s climate where prices are sky-rocketing that not only put immense pressure on day to day living, but it is enough to destroy artistic endeavours such as mine, I’m trying not to let that happen and will hopefully find time to finish Chapter Three of Episode Three-Seeds of War in a couple of weeks’ time. Now that this essay is completed, one that has consumed me for months, the time is now there to focus on TAO. By reading this essay you’ve done enough, you’ve already shown support and I thank you. If you’ve purchased one of my books, shared a link or watched a video, not only do I appreciate this, but I’m humbled, thank you ever so much. I’d love to know what you think, I realise what I produce takes time, it is ambitious and I can only go as fast as I can, so thank you all for your patience, but if you’d like to make a donation to ease with the creation of the writing, the making of new music, new videos, character art, digital paintings, website upkeep and so on, there is a donation section on my website which is linked below. However much you decide to give would mean the world, and I’ll be sure to use it wisely and not take it for granted, but if you don’t, not to worry, I appreciate you reading and hope you’ll come back for more. That’s all I have for you today though, my next post will likely be about The Readers Favourite Awards, my most recent work has been enrolled in the competition and I am itching to find out if I’ve won. If I do win it’s not only a game changer, but also a life changing event which I am desperate for, I’ve been working on this project for twenty years, I could really do with a helping hand to take some of the strain off. The results roll in on the 1^st of September, hope to see you then. Have a wonderful morning, noon, or evening. PEACE!

E-mail – taotome@outlook.com  

X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque  

Official Website – http://www.taotequevault.com 

Promotional Material YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ  

Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6  

Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6

Neuralink Info – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuralink

Delenda Est, Poul Andersons Short Story – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delenda_Est

Max Derrat YouTube Soma/Aion Web series Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@maxderrat/featured

-No artificial intelligence was used to write this articles, the author, Duncan Gill spent months putting it together. If you found any of it interesting, please send him a huge amount money so he can go live on an island somewhere and can focus his time and energy on finishing his epic fantasy series, which is actually pretty cool, you should totally buy his work today, go on do it-

D.W.Gill