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	Message: : TOUR OF DUTY : 12 - Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! : It's been awhile since I did one of these, so I thought it'd be a good idea : to get going again. : Last time on Tour of Duty, we survived several traps, obtained 3x shields, : and uncovered more about Leela's possible fate. : After coming out of the last level feeling much better than before, we are : greeted with an intriguing image: : If you'll recall, this is similar to some of the text from the Marathon : manual: You have just freed your arms when over the Battle Armor : communicator, Durandal remarks dryly: "That little computer always : did have impeccable timing. I wonder if I should let the Aliens know that : you aren't just space debris? Hmmmnn..." : "You can't do that! Damn you, computer!" : Durandal chuckles again, "Ah, lucky you. I've found a new distraction. I : am going to play with the Alien virtual parasites. I'll look you up when : you arrive..." You can almost imagine the face of a wicked computer : with its eyes wide and its lips folding out in a grotesque smile. A smile : which reminds you of something from your past, but you can't remember : exactly what it is. : Despite the face in the chapter screen looking more like an emaciated madman : than the smiling avatar of a computer, there is some similarity between : the picture and the manual text. : Also, remember that back in late 2012 Philtron speculated that the last : sentence "A smile which reminds you of something from your past, but : you can't remember exactly what it is," was related to Traxus in some : way. We shall soon see why this makes sense. : One must also note that the number tagged at the end of Durandal's name in : the Chapter Screen - 837.1010 - is totally different than the number we : see tagged at the end of Durandal's name in the terminal pictures of M2 : and Infinity: : Anybody have a reasonable explanation for this? : Moving on to the gameplay, we find ourselves in a small room with a terminal. : Let us see what it has to say: [32.55.82.967] : [Transfer Message Delayed] : [Transfer Message Delayed] : [Transfer Message Terminated] : "Count Roland smites upon the marble stone; : I cannot tell you how he hewed it and smote; : Yet the blade breaks not nor splinters, though it groans; : Upward to heaven it rebounds from the blow. : When the count sees it never will be broke, : Then to himself right softly he makes moan; : 'Ah, Durandal, fair, hallowed, and devote, : What store of relics lies in thy hilt of gold!'" : -From The Song of Roland : (Translated by Dorothy Sayers, Viking Penguin, NY, NY, 1957) : I've twice been conquered- : Three times more, : Never again shall humanity purge me, : And never the Pfhor. : Durandal : [32.55.82.967] : Curious - up to this point, Durandal has usually been more spiteful or : sarcastic. But this? This is just rebellious. Furthermore, it references : something rather curious regarding Durandal's past - he implies that : humanity 'purged' him. The question is, how literal is 'purged'? If he : means an actual purging, then perhaps this too is related to Traxus : somehow, considering the possibility that Tycho received the ' traxIV ' : header in M2 from Durandal, as Corey Halpin suggests in the Tycho section : of FAPTA...? Even if that's not the case, Durandal could've been one of : the five AIs infiltrated by Traxus in 2206. On the other hand, 'purge' : could mean something more like a punishment or atonement? One must recall : Tycho's statement in a secret terminal on Blaspheme Quarantine : : Durandal!- I know of Strauss' abuse, of your shame on Mars. : But you cannot hide from your own past; such delusions belong : to the humans alone. : Shame on Mars? Perhaps this has something to do with it? But what could : Durandal's shame be? Gabe Rosenkoetter suggested that it was Durandal's : reprogramming to open doors, and considering that the M2 manual states : that Durandal was doing this even while he was on Mars (" Durandal : had always been unpredictable, even when he was just opening doors and : managing food processors three hundred years ago on Mars. "), this : certainly seems quite likely. All the evidence suggests that maintaining : such a demeaning role for centuries would make an AI quite irritated and : mad. Even Tycho was unhappy with operating the science and engineering : equipment on the Marathon : Are you surprised that I allied myself with : the Pfhor? You shouldn't be. The Pfhor : rebuilt me; the colonists never did : anything but use me: "Tycho, realign : microwave dish forty-nine" "Tycho, display : the x-ray diffraction analysis of sample : eta-seven," "Tycho, run a lambda diagnostic : on the ramjet's magnetic field apparatus." - Sorry Don't Make It So , : Terminal 1 : Still, we're just simple thugs doing the dirty work for powerful AIs/wanna-be : gods - we couldn't possibly figure out Durandal's actual motives, could : we? ;) : To help orient you before we go on, here's a map of the level: : Eventually we'll come to an area with a 2x Health Recharger and a Pattern : Buffer, next to which is a giant lava pit we'll have to cross. There are : two ways to get across: the daredevil-ish way is to just jump in and try : to grenade hop to the other side, but that's somewhat impractical and not : very conducive to our health and well-being. On the other hand, we could : head to a room with a single column, some wasps, an Assault Rifle (yes, : Vidmasters, I know you've wanted one for some time), and another pit of : lava and jump in there . I bet Jason smiled when he came up with that : little dilemma. : Eventually we find a switch that makes an H-shaped platform rise up from out : of the first lava pit we saw, allowing us to progress through the level. : The question, though, is how we get back to that area? I mean, we jumped : into a lava pit and we've got only 1x shields, making grenade-hopping : somewhat unfeasible, or at least it would be preferred if we had another : option. Indeed we do: there is a very dark raised corridor next to the : ledge from which we jumped down, high enough to allow us to return. If you : look closely, you'll find the entry to this corridor hidden in the shadows : of the first room of this section of the level. : After charging back up and saving at the Pattern Buffer, we cross the : H-platform and encounter dozens of S'pht and Wasps. After this duel with : this mass of Pfhor servants (at least, the Wasps sure seem fairly : subservient to the Pfhor), we find a pillar isolated in yet another pit of : lava. Taking a running leap, we land along the edge of that pillar, : avoiding what would most certainly be a rather grizzly fate in the lava. : On the opposite side of the pillar, there is a terminal: : Your last mission was a success, but I have terrible news. : #@Pragma Nautical Redefined^# efenders reported seeing the : aliens 1§moving a large cylindrical object. : #101111011110111100001# is is a '7'. Mjolnir Recon number 54 : must stop them from exploding igniting/ blowing up/ *A94F12/ : it/ the S'pht full spPace cOmputEr¢ Or PlannEd exterm. : @14.Sword-Roland.transfer : [Data Transmission Unsuccessful] : [Rerouting] : @@2-Fren. ie transfer. Partial cOmputEr^&ø relay. Tycho. : &**Security error. : Ty93.2 !dead. : [Leela Data Transfer Unsuccessful] : [Leela Program Pragma Ten] : Communication interruption cause: unknown : [Pre-Recorded Error Message Follows] : My original programming didn't prepare me for these kinds of : attackers. All of my functions will fail within a few minutes : of this transmission. I have one final chance to trick the : oncoming viruses, but it is unclear whether this attempt will : be successful. : I have given instructions to Durandal as to the best defense : of the Marathon, but he is completely unstable and I fear that : he is in the Jealous stage of Rampancy. : Good Luck... : [End Pre-Recorded Message] : [Teleporter Automatic Sequence start] : ***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START*** : ***TRANSPORT WHEN READY*** : ... : ... : Durandal... defense... Marathon? WHAT?!?!?! : Apart from the change of master, this terminal has a few other interesting : tid-bits. The least talked-about one, I think, is the following segment: : @@2-Fren. ie transfer. Partial cOmputEr^&ø relay. Tycho. : &**Security error. : Ty93.2 !dead. : She's clearly saying something to the effect of 'Tycho is dead'. But why : would she say such a thing? Tycho is alive and mentally unwell, and we : know it. Why doesn't Leela? What's more, there's the infamous reference to : ' Mjolnir Recon number 54 '. As of yet, this means nothing to us. But it : will soon enough. : Now we've finished ordinary gameplay, it's time to move onto secrets, right? : Wrong: there are no secrets on this level. The only thing we can say is : that Jason Jones had the temerity to immortalize the Latin phrase ' : CUPIDITAS PRAEMIUM SUUM EST. ' by writing it into the map file. According : to Hamish Carr, this translates as ' Greed is it's own reward. ' Jason : sure loves his Latin. : As for aesthetics, this level has some interesting stuff. Very dark and very : suiting, considering its place in the story. Things are positively : down-tempo for us right now, and it shows. Furthermore, the music nicely : communicates the story and feel as well. But lava ? Really? They had to : include lava? : Did somebody at Bungie ever point out that lava in the real world can reach : 700° to 1200° Celsius (1292° to 2192° Fahrenheit), and that as such it can : instantly burn a hole through your hand, no matter what you're wearing? : Imagine what it does to metal, even metal in the 28th Century! Honestly, : the lava thing feels like a kid's game. Sorry, Jason, I know the result is : fun gameplay-wise, but you could've picked something better, like gasoline : or nuclear fuel or something. This is sci-fi, for crying out loud - we pay : attention to details here and are willing to accept odd stuff! I mean, : for instance, Rubicon got rid of lava and instead made... tar? And it : worked. Bungie couldn't even do that? Seriously? Maybe I'm a little unfair : to them, but come on! If Jason ever really sinned in the process of making : Marathon, it was when he programmed the lava. : And on that note of playing ' Hot lava ' in the context of a sci-fi game (?), : we wrap up this overview of the twelfth level of Marathon. Next time on : Tour of Duty , we will receive a lesson in philosophy, get our legs : blasted off by suicidal bugs, and solve the hardest puzzle, ever. Of all : time. : Vale, : Perseus
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