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	Message: : Chapter 3: Prophecy Stage 3: Cosmic Base : : Act 1: S’pht Happens : Last time on Tour of Duty, we saved the S’pht from the Pfhor in the past by : drawing their attention while they activated Thoth. However, Thoth didn’t : appreciate having his sleep disturbed so he sent us to the future world. : With us taken away from Lh’owon in the distant past, the Pfhor fired their : Trih Xeem at least 2000 years too early and released the W’rkncacnter in : the Lh’owon system sun. And it was fully awake, as while I never saw it, : it killed everyone on Inti Station and its personified nightmares in the : form of banshees stalked the ruined space around sol. There were even some : map glitches in the skybox (as I will mention when we get to the Lost : Episodes) whose inclusion actually helped immersion as they gave the : impression of reality breaking down in the Wrk’s distorted world. : Durandal and Thoth were arseholes and sent me right back to when the Pfhor : arrived. Now I need to reunite with Leela and see what she thinks. Right : after I seal the Citadel of course. : After I activate the lava pumps for the second time, I instead go down the : now drained canal on the other side of the weir I raised earlier. There’s : clay F’lickta and some glass puddles from streamlets under the rock walls : along the way. The far end of the lava canal is blocked with pegmatite or : granite dykes and the nearby stairs just past the first lava streamlet : lead to a locked door, so I have to go up the snaking stairway near the : dykes. : : : In older builds, that burn (creek) wasn’t there but the fog and waterfall : sounds were, giving the impression that this map was meant to have rain. : Sadly not, but plenty of others in this WAD/scenario file do. The gold : techno gem building behind me contains a terminal where I finally reunite : with Leela. : : : : : I guess S’bhuth was installed as firmware into K’lia’s AI Cores like a living : System 32 folder. Or perhaps source code is a better analogy; deleting his : remains would have rendered the information Leela mentions unusable, like : a Tomb Raider WAD file without an engine to run and make sense of it, or a : Marathon MML or Lua script with no map file. : : Going by what Leela says, S’bhuth’s madness may have been due to : incompatibility like what happened when the Pfhor restored Tycho using : Durandal’s image as a template, but it doesn’t explain how she was able to : debug him. : : Now, I have to correct you here, Leela. It’s not called the “Outside” at all. : It’s called the Macroverse. I first came across this concept in Stephen : King’s books, namely IT. Even Family Guy had a gag taking place in the : Macroverse in the “Road to the Multiverse” episode. : While the existence of the Deadlights and Maturin the God Turtle can be : safely excluded from Marathon’s version due to being different universes, : the idea is the same: the Macroverse is the void outside the universe : where nothing makes sense and helps define what does or should in the : universe and all parallel ones and timelines. : Think of our universe being something like a level in a game, only titanic : beyond measuring with our limited science: Space and everything in it : makes up the level or levels, with the solid and liquid objects being : geometry and space simply being a 6DOF “Adventure Field” between every : major world, zone etc. If we ever find Slipspace to be real or some other : means of FTL travel, that would be a “fast travel” system. : Now, in most modern 3D games, if you leave the confines of the level, you : enter the void. Normally it’s just black and empty like Null Space except : with gravity. Very boring, but it is useful when noclipping to hidden : areas out of bounds. : Now, in older 3D engines like Goldsource and the PC versions of Tomb Raider, : or all 2.5D ones like Aleph One, Build and id Tech 1, entering the void : instead displays the Hall of Mirrors effect. As the game draws nothing in : the void as no geometry is defined, it fills in the blanks with an acid : trip of past animations from in the level itself. Imagine the Macroverse : right beside our universe as that very void, where the HOM effect : represents hallucinations or dreams that are so strong, they could pass : for and even become real: there’s no laws of physics in the Macroverse so : why shouldn’t they? : Dig deeper and you enter the Source Code of the universe itself, which people : might know as the Ether. All that “real magic” is, is hacking into that : source code and writing your own programs or even editing the source : itself. Spells are just cosmic software. As it stands, actual “sorcery” : like that if you excuse the pun is impossible. The energy required just to : open the code for editing alone is too much. I guess you’d still see those : images unless you push past them. Convert your brain’s perception to Open : Source? : I guess the “Informational layer” Leela mentions is the ether. Perhaps : “Outside” could still be right as it could instead be used to refer to the : ether alone, but the ether is still only one part of the macroverse. Maybe : one’s dream worlds can become reality out there and that’s where the Jjaro : live. The gods might have done that already with the Duat. Existential : Rant over. Back to the computer! : : The Jjaro were simply a single species who achieved godhood essentially, but : now it refers to a collective of multiple species -namely all post God : species- who achieve that same level, mirroring the core of the Covenant’s : religion in Halo. : : I saw it first-hand. You think Discord’s idea of paradise is bad? HE WAS : LITERALLY SHAT OUT OF ONE OF THOSE THINGS! Specifically the one under the : Yucatan peninsula, then he was cast out into a broken universe* as if : flushing a turd down the toilet. : : Now this is where things differ from the original Eternal X i.e. 1.0. In : that, I had to go to Second to Last of the Mohicans and do…something or : other before going to the ship with the Trih Xeem and prevent it from : firing. We saw the artifact of this plotline in Killing the Giant’s as : they Sleep, as the uppermost floor of the ship there was that very level, : Forever my Greatest and Only Love. : As of Eternal X 1.1, that map was replaced with the one to come and Mohicans : and Flames of Icarus switched places. Eternal X 1.2 retains that : difference. : *This universe is broken as its laws of physics and chemistry had ceased to : work properly, presumably with glaring holes in its spacetime fabric, : allowing for mere psychokinesis of lesser beings to allow for easy : manipulation of its ether. : Act 2: Third Rock from Lh’owon : : This map first appeared in Eternal X 1.1 as was previously mentioned. Not : only did Mohicans switch places with Flames of Icarus, but Third Rock now : holds its old map slot and the replacement Flames was moved to just after. : As you may have guessed, we are back on K’lia but in the past world. The name : is a pun on this old sitcom I grew up watching, starring John Lithgow : called Third Rock from The Sun. : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Rock_from_the_Sun : To this day at time of writing, Lithgow still owes Funkmon money, as he : revealed in a couple of the Rampancy boys’ streams including Eternal. I : recommend that show as it’s cool. Has an awesome theme song too. : : Anyway, I appear in a glassed-in walkway over a courtyard where the s’pht Kr : and pfhor are fighting. Inside the building ahead is a sunken green Lego : floor and a terminal. A trooper and some fighters rush in from the east : door. : : : : Through the door where the pfhor came from is a pattern buffer and a 2X : shield charger. Good, this map is a very hard one so I will need the : purple shields. There’s 3 square elevators just outside the balcony that : look like they’re meant to be pistons. Some more pfhor teleport onto the : ledges here. : : I don’t remember if there’s anything useful or required in the raised alcove : with white lights across the platforms. The switch down below turns on the : lifts, but you need to turn it off then on first. : : The Solomons are fucked if they actually do come here: there’s Jell-O : everywhere. This is why the column in Map 00 is green in 1.1 and 1.2: it’s : based on the liquid for K’lia’s texture set and it was changed in order to : allow for this jelly. Before, the column was a spider web-like grey. I’m : lucky I was able to take this without getting hit as the Pfhor constantly : respawn, which not only makes navigation annoying but it’s also very hard : to get 2 minutes peace to take photos. : : I have to say the jelly falls make this stairwell more interesting and those : square tiles of grey Lego behind me (not pictured) also really help. They : kind of remind me of Tetraminoes. That said, the bulkhead door at the top : is locked, so I have to find a switch. : I try a Lego balcony to the south where I find a lift that doesn’t work yet. : Just ahead I find another pattern buffer, shield and oxygen chargers and : an ambush that kills me. Reloading, I try the walkway above the square : lifts first. It leads to the south complex, whose rooms are chock full of : lizards, mostly troopers. I lose my shields and am killed again soon : after. Then it happens a third time. After that I lose my shields again : but am able to run back to the charger to heal and charge them up again. : Simply jumping from the balcony to the 3rd lift comes in handy more than a : little bit, especially since fighters keep crowding the 2nd one, which : just won’t stay still. : The east end of the complex over a tetramino floor has a 1X shield terminal : and pattern buffer. The room under it has a 2X shield terminal, an oxygen : terminal and a circuit board. I break the latter, assuming it opens the : door by the jelly falls. Sure enough, it does. : Past the bulkhead are jelly filled sewers and a large basin containing what : is my favourite glitch in the whole game, and one worthy of keeping as an : Easter egg: : WELCOME TO JELL-O HELL! MWAHHAHAHAHAHA! : Unpleasant memories of the ending of season 2 aside, it does tie into the : theme of the level. In 1.2 however, the glitch was fixed. The image above : is from 1.1. Here’s what the basin looks like now, and what remains of the : Jell-o hell glitch: : : I don’t know what was causing the world hole or why there wasn’t any HOM : effect. The texture could be the corona and distant star in the actual : skybox and the green color could be due to the liquid filter. : Exploring the jelly basin while swimming under the surface to avoid getting : shot by an enforcer with a scatter rifle, I have a quick poke around for : the chip Leela mentioned. It’s not here though: I forgot it actually : spawns just northwest of the basin. : Climbing out of my nice, thick, gooey swimming pool, I follow the tunnels to : the east past more waterfalls. I can’t jump through the gaps to reach them : as the lines in the window polygon are solid. Just around the corner is a : teleporter and an ambush from troopers, hunters and drones. I think : enforcers too. I quickly run into the far room and mercifully find a 2X : shield terminal to heal up. They follow me in however, so I am forced to : flee and snipe them with the scatter rifle after just barely recharging : the second layer. I lose my shields getting to safety though, but charge : up again after the pfhor are dead. : The easternmost tunnel just has some low “waterways” for the Jell-o river and : one hallway that’s locked. I can’t remember what the switch by the : chargers and pattern buffer does but I think it controls the elevator : between the falls on the east river by the waterways. Up the stairs next : to the save terminal is a teleporter pad with the chip floating above it. : : : I follow the waterfall lift I mentioned back outside to the south pond. This : area is flooded with troopers so I shotgun them all with the scatter : rifle’s secondary fire. Then I use the plasma flamethrower to mop up the : continually respawning fighters and hunters, picking up a good cache of : havok rifle ammo, scatter rife ammo and too many staff batteries. I clean : out the pfhor in the south room I died in before. I don’t know the purpose : of the little stepped platform in the middle. : The south elevator is now working and I take it up to another, smaller : elevator that takes me to an umbilical leading to a higher building. : There’s a hulk in the antechamber and an enforcer and trooper ambush in : the lobby, and all of the former have plasma flamethrowers. The S’pht Kr : fire on them from the top of the stairs to the left. : I deal with another Drinniol past a tiled hall at the top of the stairs and : find a large room on the west end of the map with the exit across the gap. : A pattern buffer sits on some pillars on the west side and the chip slot : is in the southeast corner on a ledge over the Jell-O at the bottom. Using : the chip triggers the maintenance lift back up. : ***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM THE BIG GIANT HEAD*** : Good job. Our work here is done. K’lia will soon depart Lh’owon. But there is : one more step we must take, to ensure that she shall return in due time. : We must leave now before we are transported away with S’bhuth. I will brief : you further when we are on the ground. : ***TRANSMISSION ENDING IN 3,2,1*** : Achoo! : : Act 3: Flight of Icarus : “Say what?” I hear you say. “Isn’t this supposed to be Flames of Icarus like : you told us?” Yes. Yes it is. Just like the Citadel Lh’owon levels, this : map takes place in My Own Private Thermopylae back when it was : operational, except it’s flooded with lava instead of water, which didn’t : make a lot of sense. This was back in the original Eternal X and 1.1. In : 1.2 however, the water was restored and the title changed to a different : Icarus reference to reflect that. : : : Raven was here. Left: Seventh Column : I start on a grey techno gem walkway overlooking the waterfall room I : recognise from Marathon 2. Durandal’s old terminal is ahead past a pair of : troopers, a clay F’lickta and a Drinniol. : : : The tanks next to us must have been sewage filtration tanks: the upper ones : have greyish green poo in them and the bottom ones are clean water. The 5D : space piston room also has the pistons moving at a sensible speed as the : machinery hasn’t broken down yet. Maybe they’re pumps? : : : : This whole place may be a waste processing plant. Perhaps it was a foundry : back when the map was Flames of Icarus. Gold carved blocks and blue techno : gems are found here. Perhaps during the 1000 years before we first came : here, the machines broke down and instead of powering off, went haywire, : and the F’lickta ate all the sewage in the upper tanks, which is why they : are clean in My Own Private Thermopylae. : Downstairs, I find a S’pht coral hiding in the same place we find a hiding : Bob in Marathon 2 by the clean water tanks. : : S’pht Translator Active : “This is my hiding spot, and I’m not moving until the situation has : drastically improved. Now go away! And don’t tell anyone I’m here!” : End Translation : Out in the main room where you started the original level, there’s a bunch of : ticks. They’re neutral and it’s a crapshoot whether they decide to feed on : you or not. There’s also a new waterway under the wall to the waterfall : pool. I find that the transparent liquids option seems to work on any : waterfall it can, or so it seems. This causes errors in the success plank : dreams but it looks so good on the old waterfall here: : There’s an extra sector around the waterfall that prevents me swimming up to : it or reaching the centre of the sunken circle under the falls. I think : they are made by simply lowering the ceiling as a column and texturing it : to look like a waterfall. There’s more troopers on the ledge behind it : near the Bob battle zone, now with S’pht corals and even more troopers as : well as enforcers. My shields are down after dealing with the first : troopers though, so I swim back to the health terminal by the stairs and : the pattern buffer up the left staircase. The wall lifts are now a small : room with a place for chips to beam in behind a door, but the terminal is : still here. : : Using the terminal is the only way to open the door and get the chips. First, : I head back to the battle zone after dealing with the troopers that : followed me back. On the way, I check out the old assault rifle room, : which now has a hulk instead of a stalker cyborg and sewage tanks instead : of clean water. However, the door on the balcony where you’d leave this : room is locked, so I have to swim past the waterfall again. : Back at the battle zone, I kill more Pfhor and a hulk before returning to the : start to heal. The locked door from before doesn’t open on this side on : the second waterfall balcony either so I do have to swim back. There’s : also extra terminals that don’t work on the bare rock by this second : balcony. They have greenish yellow text on their screens. : : Unlike both versions of Flames of Icarus, now that the water or in this case : sewage has been restored this area is much easier. You’d inevitably get : burned by the lava in the old map and more troopers and plasma : flamethrower enforcers attack from above. There’s even a few ticks. Just : ahead, I enter one of Thoth’s databanks and insert the chip. This seems to : power on the databank? : I ask because the towers light up like in Marathon 2. With the hardest one : done, I return to the start to save and pick up the other chip before : throwing the switch opposite which is now active. Then I head back to : Durandal’s old terminal at this map’s start up the 5D piston rooms to : reach the other databank. There’s a 2X shield charger in here so I can get : my shields back at last! Then it’s a simple matter of returning to pattern : buffer and throwing the other switch. : : : Hathor is still alive! Well, of course she is but she’s rebuilt and coherent : again. She’s left this time zone and fled somewhere else. Quickly, I : return to Durandal’s old terminal to contact Leela again. : : : The S'pht worldnet is described in a similar sense to the Domain from Halo, : introduced in the Forerunner saga of tie-in books: it’s relied on and used : constantly by the main people with access to it, it functions more like : wetware memory in animals than it does hardware memory storage in : computers, and it can even forget things. But that’s all for the cliffs : notes for when I cover Halo 1 SPV3. (Last part is an artifact from the : original log posting which was written in 2019 before I covered SPV3 here) : : : : So you did find me the future world after all. Could have contacted us, but I : guess HE (if the W’rkncacnter even is a “he”) wouldn’t let you or would : attack you next. Leela’s words remind me of something else I saw in a : dream, around the time something similar happened: You are in a maze in a : maze. But which one counts? Your maze their maze my maze. Or are all the : mazes all the same, defined by the limits of their paths? There is only : one path and that is the path that you take. But you can take more than : one path. : Cross over the cell bars, find a new maze, make the maze from its path, find : the cell bars, cross over the bars, find a maze, make the maze from its : path, eat the food, eat the path. : : I guess there’s some similarity to the Deadlights in the Stephen King : universe after all: there’s no malevolent energy life form outside the : universe (that we know of) but seeing the macroverse and looking at our : universe from Outside can still drive you insane. Can you comprehend all : those spiralling timelines and parallel universes as well as the extra : layers of reality of top of those (following the FREE method) twisting : everywhere with even the most minute choices at all times having their own : separate timeline that splits and joins further still, like a river delta : crossed with the puke piles outside the noodle bar, even if it’s literally : right in front of you, staring you in the face? Didn’t think so. We can’t : even leave our universe to find out. : That must be how the W’rkncacnti (is that right for plural?) became chaos : gods: they grew bored of our tiny universe and left it. However, they saw : what it’s like in the macroverse and cracked, leading to their wars which : in turn, led to the backstory of Pathways into Darkness. Guess the : hypothetical question I asked in the prologue of my Pathways Tour of Duty : really did have an answer after all. Now, I activate my Junction again and : slip through a space/time rift to Solaris knows where. : Act 4: The Land in the Sky : : You know the drill. I’m back on the cliffs below the stormy ocean in the sky, : floating above the Soleanna bay in Egypt. I ride the river downstream over : the falls, then climb back up a little bit and look at the waves in the : sky. : : There’s a lot of sea foam in the rushing water and clouds over the valley. I : head down the small hole again to speak with Durandal in that tiny capsule : in space. : : : : : : : That is what the universe looks like when the W’rkncacnter is free: a : distorted world where everything breaks down, leaving only a maelstrom of : matter, energy, biology and physics doing whatever the hell they want. : Even the W’rkncacnter as a species themselves cannot control their own : existence, flickering in and out of reality. Despite speaking fairly lucid : to me in the future world, I doubt any one W’rkncacnter even knows what : it’s doing nor cares. Reminds me of Gyiyg from Mother.** : Just remember that back on Third Earth before the Marathon was even complete, : before even certain other events regarding Deimos, Mumm-Ra is another : agent of those when Hathor wasn’t available, which given he’s a Flood : combat form allowed to keep its mind, that means the Flood and by : extension the Precursors are in cahoots with Other Gods. Unlike the : parasite, Hathor has been more successful. They share the same end goal.So : going by this game alone, what is Hathor’s goal? Hathor doesn’t just want : to take revenge on humanity: All she wants to do to achieve that is : destroy the world. She wants nothing more than to turn the world into : firewood for the W’rkncacnter to burn. : : : : : With that, the dream ends and I continue through time to my next time zone. : Tune in next time for Stage 1 of Chapter 4: Legacy. Don’t miss it! : **Gyiyg was such a powerful psychokinetic, he became like the W’rkncacnter : simply from a despair induced mental breakdown. : : Everyone knows Gyiyg as this formless, agonised mess of a creature right? : Well, before said breakdown and becoming like the W’rkncacnter, he used to : look like this: : There’s more to this elsewhere on Starman.net, which is why I’ve left it in : only as a footnote. Here's a copy of that post I put on my log: : https://lion-o-cyborg-iii.tumblr.com/post/188477686297/extension-of-footnote-in-tour-of-duty-chapter-3
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