/-/S'pht-Translator-Active/-/


'You'r past activities. (long)
Posted By: MrHenDate: 10/28/05 9:44 p.m.

The purpose of this post is the following:

I believe I have found a small hint as to Your past in Marathon Infinity terminal from Tycho. The gist of what Tycho says is that 'You' have done some morally questionable things in the far past (possibly a massacre, definitely killing) and have trouble remembering them.

So here's the cold hard terminal (I'm assuming all here include M? in the Marathon canon):

I'm fine, tipped hat at askance.

I've so far held you back from my rantings, but you know what you did was bad, don't you? You've been fighting doubt itself, elusive as I am.

You should have doubts about what you're doing, about what you've done.

Except that you can't remember exactly, is that it?

I should spend some time enlightening you, massacres occur at your beck and call, worlds destroyed, reborn, alight with the screams of the dying. Perhaps S'bhuth will tell you what I cannot accept as truth, but perhaps he will just be lying, overcome by power and deceit, my domain.

Those AI's and their playful vagueness...

You should have doubts about what you're doing, about what you've done.

I read this terminal courtesy of Hamish so I don't remember what just happened in the game. Although, given the nature of Marathon Infinity, I don't think it matters too much. In any case, reading it without context I picked a tone off of Tycho that implies he is talking about something bigger than any current events.

Tycho has just scolded you for something and then starts talking about doubt. He makes the distinction between what you're doing and what you've done and that you should have doubts. I think that what you're doing would be whatever the current story arc in Infinity is and what you've done is something further in your past than whatever you did to irritate Tycho.

This thing is hinted at later in the terminal and for some reason you can't remember exactly what it is.

Except that you can't remember exactly, is that it?

The way Tycho says this reminds me of someone predicting shady excuses. Similar to how a teacher would assume a student will claim the dog ate the homework. Has Tycho heard that excuse before? It seems like it. But who did he hear it from? You?

There have been other hints at Your memory problems. The Marathon manual text trails off its intro with Oddly , this is familiar to you, as if it were from an old dream, but you can't exactly remember...

Not only that, but there used to be a terminal that said the following:

Were you ever curious about the tenth cyborg which was supposed to be
on the Marathon? Why could Leela find only nine? Was it ever
activated? Was it destroyed during the defense of the colony? You are
right to be curious.

There isn't anymore, but it does point out something strange. You have no clue You are cyborg.

In fact, You noticed something different about yourself:

It's funny, but you've always been the colony's trouble shooter. You're bigger and stronger, and a better shot. In games, you always scored the most points and looked the hero.

Weird. So, if nothing else, you don't remember turning into a cyborg. Or do you?

Anyway Tycho also showed us that the cyborgs were recycled from Dead soldiers. Memory fixing isn't such a far fetched idea.

Not only that, but this isn't the first time we've seen Tycho claim to remember stuff. Back in M1 he told Durandal, "The S'pht taught me
much during my reanimation, and I have forgotten nothing.
"

Moving on, Tycho follows his accusation with a clarification of what You do:

I should spend some time enlightening you, massacres occur at your beck and call, worlds destroyed, reborn, alight with the screams of the dying.

It is as if Tycho was around when You did something and then forgot about it. You are designed to be a killing machine and it is possible that someone such as Strauss used You and then erased the evidence within Your memory. Tycho appears to know about something You've done but can't remember. It is that knowledge he seems to be teasing you with and why he can claim to hold the power of enlightening you.

You cause massacres. Did you cause the Misriah Massacre? It doesn't seem likely. The Misriah account:

Misriah Massacre

On January 6, 2345(Earth A.D.), at the United Earth Government
Misriah food distribution center, what had begun as
a commonplace food riot turned into a massacre. The UEG riot
troopers who arrived at the scene had been informed that
the rioters were armed. As UEG troopers approached the scene
in their Randal Hovertank, plasma fire began spraying upwards.
In a flash decision, the commander of the Hovertank ordered
his crew to open fire upon the crowd. It took only five
seconds for over five hundred starving Martians to be
incinerated.

In the ensuing investigation of the Hovertank Vid-cams, it was
clear that only three of the rioters were armed, and that the
rest of the crowd was trying to flee the scene. Those three
became known as the Misriah Three. They have gone down in
history for starting the most destructive and bloody conflict
since Humanity had left Earth. However, it is clear that
these three have gained the credit for starting a war that
would have happened anyway.

There really isn't much room for a cyborg in that story. The only real place for that would be one of the Misriah Three. But this isn't necessarily a job suited for a cyborg. The commander isn't likely to be cyborg. It really doesn't seem as if this is the massacre Tycho is referring to.

Are there any other massacres in the deep past of the Marathon universe? Of course there are. Icarus and Thermopylae could be seen as a massacre of sorts.

The other things Tycho attributes to you are interesting: worlds destroyed, reborn, alight with the screams of the dying. The worlds of Icarus and Thermopylae, perhaps? That is a stretch I'm not too comfortable with. The reborn phrase could refer to the dead soldiers being recycled as they were. A world basically dying, coming back to 'life' and killing again. Maybe.

Perhaps S'bhuth will tell you what I cannot accept as truth, but perhaps he will just be lying, overcome by power and deceit, my domain.

And... this is where my youth shows. I don't know much about S'bhuth or any relevance he may show. Unfortunately, that could be the breaker for this reference.

Something else of note is a small clip in a Durandal terminal:

I am sending you back to the Alien ship to try and rescue
Bernhard, but while you're there, kill everything you see and
gather as much visual information as possible.

At least the killing part appeals to you, doesn't it?

Durandal treats you as a killer, which, of course, you are. The odd thing about the statement is Durandal seems to think you would appeal to killing. I don't think it means too much, it's just another thing I noticed.

So anyway, to wrap it up, my best guess is that Tycho found out about Your history. What that is, I don't know and anything else that relates to this will stay buried for now. I'm tired.

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