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SATURN, EPISODE SIX - “I’m coming back with guts this time!"/DEEPER CUTS II
So the Colony was a little bit destroyed, and Pluto didn't manage to steal it, so that means we win! Another resounding victory for Saturn.
Day 6 Emails:
I know it says DO NOT READ SATURN, but it's sitting right there, unread...
Day 6 Comms:
quote:
is this reverse psychology
did I really reduce you to that
im a little impressed by your persistence in nagging me but now im feeling like i pushed you to your limit
Shut up. As always, I am serious.
messing things up is literally the only thing in the world no one has ever needed to specifically tell me to do
and you keep yelling at me when I do!
I've been looking into Iapetus's work on the Eversion project.
oh
how much do you know
More than you now.
Of course it was always suspicious that Iapetus decided to support us.
He was very insistent in his interest in taking humanity to 'the next stage.'
As if that is why any of us wanted to connect with the so-called Existential Threat.
People who already had everything on Earth couldn't possibly understand.
they just want even more for themselves
That's what I thought too.
Iapetus's plan is very attractive to certain factions in Memorial Foundation.
Certain factions in Memorial Foundation really liked the days when humanity was united against the Existential Threat.
except aliens aren't real
okay theyre a nth-dimensional shadow cast by the gravitational impression of human culture in spacetime but that makes them a few shades short of real and much less dangerous than their cousins on Earth, and even those are so weak kids with radios can take them out
anyways pluto wiped them out
that was the whole plan
since humanity doesnt care about them anymore theyd never expect that we would find a way to evert our Tidal Reactors and become the aliens ourselves
The only alien is what is alien to us, and that's fundamentally humanity; we're aliens to ourselves; f(x)= That Which Is Human That Humans Are Not.
and
Iapetus isn't going to give up everything he has for that.
you think hes lying about wanting to
I think he's lying about HIMSELF wanting to.
I think he's happy to let us complete the project and go home.
Because he'll have exactly what he and the rest of humanity is longing for.
a scapegoat
someone to be an alien humanity could guiltlessly fight against
Yes.
I am fine with abandoning Earth. It hasn't given me anything.
but not on his terms
That's probably the most direct reference to We Know the Devil right there. Saturn saying "okay theyre a nth-dimensional shadow cast by the gravitational impression of human culture in spacetime but that makes them a few shades short of real and much less dangerous than their cousins on Earth, and even those are so weak kids with radios can take them out" is referring to the Scout program where kids go to camp to beat "the Devil" by listening to God's commands on the radio. And the game’s endings are all about the characters becoming something very much like how this game describes an Existential Threat, especially in the true ending where they merge into something truly alien.
But you don't need to know any of that to be able to figure out this game, it's mostly just an easter egg, though a very thematically interesting one. Let's move on to the mission!
>LAUNCH
Music - Garden District
"You don't feel like seeing home again? Aw, come on."
"Don't tell me you don't have any fond memories of the Academy."
"I do, despite myself, and that's why I don't have any wish to see it like this."
"A ruined garden that only reminds us how weak the gravity of this whole venture really was compared to Earth."
"Not to mention, it was all for something completely worthless too!"
"Wait, now YOU'RE grumbling about a mission? This is historic!"
"The Lagrange Reactor is just a hollow shell, and there's barely any advantage to have in getting it. This better be a trap to use you as bait to get Memorial Foundation off our trail."
"Oh no, what a terrible trap to fall in!"
"More flirting, I see."
"Is it unbearable?"
"Yes. Extremely. Are you really still getting nowhere with her?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I think you said you were going to crack her open and peel her shell, but I don't think you have."
"Ah, I am completely and utterly correct then?"
"Tch."
"...she's highly evasive. Point blank or sniper shot, I can't seem to hit her."
"Your type, I see."
"Shut up. I got the Academy's most notorious heartbreaker to look like an idiot at me, so I win, so shut up."
"She's even stupider than I thought she was."
"But she's not as stupid as me."
"Ugh. You're the one with your guts all over the place."
"Oh just... ergh. Fine."
"I'm frustrated, alright! But it's not because I'm not getting anywhere, or because I even care!"
"Alright, this time, I'm done playing, happy?"
"If she is that boring, I'll never forgive her. But I'm coming back with guts this time!"
Last time the two of them fought for real, this time, we get to see what all those quotation marks mean.
"Don't be jealous just 'cause I got mine off first."
"You got a wound on me, and the Lagrange Reactor shell. That not a good enough deal?"
"No way."
"In fact, apologize!"
"Hiding so I can't surprise you again is so unfair, Luna-Terra."
"Let me bully you some more."
"Are you suuuuure?"
"You sure YOU don't wanna get bullied?"
"See if you can find me first."
"You like cat and mouse games, don't you. You want to try it again?"
"I won't let you just play a game this time."
"Can you find me even when I'm serious? Then I'll get serious."
Luna-Terra's the one holding the useless shell of that reactor now. Even broken and useless, LT doesn't feel comfortable holding it. It's an unpleasant, untrustworthy object, and it feels wrong to hold.
It was made by people, but it doesn't seem like it was. It's a fake, but it's unsettlingly close to what Celestial Mechanics eventually intended it to be, when they seized control of the reactor, before the conflict broke out: something not made by humans.
"You can tell what I'm thinking, huh? Or read between the lines. Just like Pluto, but different."
"Something I still can't understand. You've been playing with her too, haven't you?"
"I sure have! Jealous? Of which of us, though?"
"Both. I could never read the story like you both. I'm straightforward."
"That's not even a little true. You're being way too stingy with the narration."
"Narration?"
"You can't perceive spacetime as a story? A narration spun out of the ambient gravity of humans? Telling you about everything that is, if you can listen?"
Here we come to the key difference between 1st gen pilots like Luna-Terra and 3rd gen like the other two. Having grown up far from Earth’s gravity, even their perception of reality is different.
"I'm slipping, huh. Letting out more than I thought."
"But see why I'm jealous? I don't know anything about what you mean. I wish I could speak that language."
"Yeah it's amazing. You should really be sad you don't speak it."
"I just have this absence."
"Your impression on the narrative is something like... spilled whiteout. A gushing ocean of bleach. Which is a pain in the ass for someone like us."
"You also have a habit of acting too fast to get caught up in the story, especially when it's not going your way. Three times faster than the story knows what to do with."
"That's how. You are different from Pluto."
"She would swell into the atmosphere, but you slowly bleed into the space between the lines. I can feel you seeping through."
"Blurring the lines between one and the other."
"What is it you're after?"
Mare Crisium's feet are wet. She's afraid. She's falling right into a trap that feels like it's in every direction at once.
"You can't trick me."
Luna-Terra dodges at the last second, or was never there. If Saturn bleeds into the narrative, then Luna-Terra's trick is having a real habit of interrupting the story just when it's getting good. Good thing she'll never know how much Saturn and Pluto think that's cool.
"I have eyes too, Luna-Terra. Don't think gravity alone is enough."
"Is your game off a little today, Luna-Terra? I thought you were going to be serious?"
"You're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to see me serious."
"Um, you're misunderstanding? I'm going to cheat. You're the one who has to take this seriously."
"How is that arm feeling? Still sparking, still gooey? It doesn't take that much, you know. Have you been cleaning your system regularly?"
"...What kind of fight are you looking for."
"A one-sided fight where you try your hardest and still lose."
"Haha. Looking for payback?"
"What? No, who cares about that."
"It's for you."
"Because you love getting owned."
"You're never holding back, there's no way I can beat you. You're even stronger than any story anyone's told about you."
"You always win and no one touches you."
"If Ship-Self fights were life and death that'd make you a genius."
"But they're not, they're made in the image of plastic toys to fight like plastic toys. So that makes you an idiot for not playing along and being honest."
"Ha. Ahahaha."
"You'll save a lot of time if you give in and say I'm right now."
"If you beat me for real, that'll be all the answer you need."
"Ahahah! Stoic to the last, but that's great. Your holding out on me is actually kind of delicious."
"When's the story going to tell me what's happening. When are you gonna let me hear about all the static in your joints, the trembling in your mask, your slackening grip."
"I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to know."
"Tell me all about that and I promise, without any hate or fear, I'll listen."
"You don't believe me but I promise, I promise, I won't laugh, or hurt you."
"I can't see you, so you can escape, if you want. I'll let you keep that little ball, even. And the poison will wear off. But I wanna see."
"Do you want to show me?"
"..."
"You got so quiet."
"You're so well trained!"
"You're the big strong ace, but you shut down so quickly. You really can't deal with me at all."
"Why is that?"
"...Didn't you say you weren't going to bully me."
"I'm showing all possible restraint."
"You really did make it hard."
"I thought you were kinda cool."
"You really acted like you knew what you were doing."
"Even though you were so so scared."
"Leave me alone."
"Oh no, baby--but you love this?"
"You're looking forward to it!"
"I can see right through you."
"Thinking of this as losing, at all, is actually kind of sad."
"You want to give this all up, and drag me home?"
"Are you really sure?"
"Luna-Terra, you really ought to not lie to me so much."
"This smug, untouchable Luna-Terra that I used to hate, she's so boring."
"But the you that you don't want anyone else to see--that's a much better you, that's the you I want to see."
It's anticipation. If she thought that she trusted Saturn as much as anyone else; not at all. Now that she has no choice, she's surprised. She trusts Saturn so much. Even knowing exactly what she wants to do.
Saturn plucks the broken reactor out of Mare Crisium's hands, and tosses it away like trash.
"Now that I have the power to peel your skin off and see it."
"I'm really happy. I never thought I'd finally get to see you like this. Even though you're letting me."
"Little secrets just for me, that the narration will never tell."
"So only I get to see you twitching and helpless? No one else knows?"
"Not telling. But it's just for you, so keep it ambiguous."
"Got it. I could be straddling you, and pinning you, that's certainly possible. But not for certain. I'm not saying anything definite!"
"You've got it. Thank you. I've got my pride."
"Yeah? Your pride? Tell me about that?"
"It's worth a lot to me."
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