📚marathon-lore-discussion

[sage lark]

I just dont care because I get its a game

[dreamy hawk]

As much of a lore nut as I am, some things really are just “gameplay.”

[sudden pollen]

True

[sage lark]

I understand why stuff is how it is without needing an in universe explanation

[sudden pollen]

Too much realism or exposition for every piece of the game can get tedious

[sage lark]

Which no shame to people that do

[dreamy hawk]

Why is Cryo weekend only? Because the devs literally said it’s for queues.

[eternal knoll]

i just desire an explanation. im not like. confused

[dreamy hawk]

Also narratively just hamstrings you eventually. Not every cool sci-fi idea merges well with another.

[eternal knoll]

knowin more specific stuff about guns in a game is fun and cool to me

[dreamy hawk]

Agreed! And sorry, not specifically taking about/at the gun convo, just in general/waxing philosophical. I like an explanation when I can get one, too, for sure.

[eternal knoll]

them essentially being dont-think-about-it toys to enjoy is, in contrast, slightly distasteful. but very normal!

[dreamy hawk]

It’s the lamer/more boring route, for sure.

[sudden pollen]

Yup

[analog jetty]

They should have third person emotes like they have in destiny cause the skins are sick to look at

[eternal knoll]

does introduce some gameplay problems unfortunately. but we do have one third person peek with destroyer’s shield

[dreamy hawk]

Soliciting more eyes on this for things I should add: #📚marathon-lore-discussion message

And if anyone wants to make it a group project I wouldn’t say “no.”

[pure wagon]

Aktchyually

[timber loom]

Maybe ONI is just a stupid AI like IDEA?

[pure wagon]

I thought I read somewhere it’s because whatever jump scrambler is on the marathon has a hole in it then

[plucky sierra]

I would love to help

[eternal knoll]

could be. she seems more sophisticated than that, but to what extent who knows. it seems like she sifts thru and presents all the data in our codex, which probably speaks to cyberacme’s role as data-brokers

[spare bison]

does tau ceti has seas??

also hi guys ! hehe

[timber loom]

Also, you were arguing about guns

While we have WINDOWS

Who restocks windows every 25 minutes?

[lunar cove]

microsoft idk

[timber loom]

As for guns, I guess they just didn't change in 400 years. Tbf, not much seems changed since Marathon launch

You have kinda the same situation in Star Trek Universe, where Original Series and Voyager are separated by several centuries and difference is much more visible, while the biggest achievement of NuMarathon since Marathon launch is biomata, which is recent, and that's while even Marathon had some synth-cats on board

[silent elbow]

https://youtu.be/fvbEnWLRo1s?t=41
There's one in the reveal cinematic. It makes sense, since there's rain, water must be accumulating somewhere

[dreamy hawk]

Watch out for a DM.

[spare bison]

noice

alien fishies

lmao

[sterile seal]

y'all see the Carbon Bloom lore? nothing big but did we know that Recon was UESC spec ops?

[drifting garnet]

Her and Destroyer were UESC, yea

[spare bison]

omg?? i did not know that?!

[dreamy hawk]

Recon’s codex also states that the UESC limits the freedom and free will of their own runners.

[silk whale]

Need a beach level!

[pure wagon]

Ah yes horrors beyond our comprehension on land and sea

[dreamy hawk]

As it should be!

[sterile seal]

We knew UESC, but so think this is the first time we've seen Recon's SpecOps role called out

[craggy finch]

Since all the guns we get are of contemporary design, I hope future seasons bring M1 guns from the colony era

Give me the .75 AR and grenade launcher combo complete with shitty accuracy

and the Zeus

[sterile seal]

Maybe one of the Marathon decks could include an armory like in the original game?

[craggy finch]

Yea the Marathon itself is the best opportunity

The colony seems to have been stripped clean besides the salvage and sellable junk

[sterile seal]

A shame you couldn't bring back the Wastem that way since it's from M2D, even if it were originally designed for the cancelled M1 expansion.

[craggy finch]

Yup for consistency sake those are all Durandal/Spht designs

Then again, Durandal says it was based on old schematics

[sterile seal]

Call it the WSTE-D

[craggy finch]

While going through some data I appropriated from the Marathon (looking for design notes, of course) I stumbled across a reference to a weapon used by Imperialist forces against the insurrectionists during the Ares Raid; July 14, 2444. (Never heard of it? I’m not surprised!) Many years of loving craftsmanship went into the design and construction of this brutal tool of mayhem, I hope you can appreciate that.

[delicate thorn]

Do our runners have an actual existence when they aren't running?

[craggy finch]

They generally hop from shell to shell without much break in between

Their consciousness can exist in a liminal space but this is described as only a temporary state while they wait for a new shell

[sterile seal]

Would be cool for a Marathon 2 era ship to show up with the Wastem, revised AR, and flechette gun

[craggy finch]

The Durandal return

[sterile seal]

Im mostly interested in seeing how the Tosty and Spanker would even work in this sandbox

[craggy finch]

There’s a mechanic for fire damage

[silk whale]

Need the TOZT and SPNKR

[craggy finch]

Which is only for grenades and heat cascade so far

[sterile seal]

I imagine the flamer could overheat your enemies and maybe set the environment alight since the time to kill is already so low

Less effective in rain perhaps

Spanker would need a lock on IMO

[craggy finch]

There’s some precedent for rockets with Destroyer

In fact that may be a direct allusion to the SPNKR lol

He’s Security Officer lite after all

[rotund stump]

concentrated plasma tracer could be an idea

(prometheus lens)

()

[sterile seal]

What if the ZEUS had a dead man's switch if you hold the charge instead of it just exploding if you hold it too long?

[craggy finch]

The fusion gun only exploded in M2 because Durandal is a dick

So the M1 version could have that

[sterile seal]

Sprint in with Destroyer on a dead man's switch and let hilarity ensue, I imagine it would have to be a feature of the pistol itself rather than a mod or legendary thing.

[solemn wasp]

Would love some feedback on this idea, to preserve our hardcore player base, and increase accessibility to casual players and build out overall daily active users: https://discord.com/channels/1303855380845301861/1486161400413032529

More replies means higher chance of disability by Bungie!

Might need you lore guys to help me flesh out the lore behind why it’s possible.

[rotund stump]

we...have rook for that

moving on lol

also the D in DCON quite literally means deconstructive and the map description describes it breaking down matter into comms data to get transferred at ftl speeds

[sterile seal]

I love Rooking just got my core capstone upgrade

[rotund stump]

feel like most of these complaints catering for casuals could be solved by just playing rook lmao

not only is it de facto no stakes it's also a good live fire scenario aim train sim

or ig survival sim if you got shitty guns like a punch lol

ratting's viable for a reason and people complain about knives and then they stomp around in a small ass building and wonder why rats always find and get them 💀

[craggy finch]

I’ve resorted to Rook for lore collectibles

[sterile seal]

I love Rook for salvage, it's got me a nice number of Traxus rods.

Deimosite just doesn't roll of the tongue

[rotund stump]

rook eats biomass and gunmetal for breakfast

[sterile seal]

And if you extract you can get some okay pistol mods and cores once you've got a couple capstones

[craggy finch]

It annoys me that there aren’t any guides for consistent wall safe locations because I’ve found those are the safest bet for lore collectibles

I know the ones in Perimeter

And a Maintenance one in Dire Marsh

[rotund stump]

whole thing with rook turning off even casuals is how you can't progress shit which like...is honestly kinda fair but dropping in mid-match with objectively better gear than kit runners is already ridiculous if allowed to do contracts lol

oh poor recon with a sparkleaf sample having to walk all the way there yeah lemme hop in and buck her with a wstr 😹 ✌️

[jaunty flint]

I am absolutely loving the lore so far, I am hyped to see how the game unfolds over this year and into next year and what things get uncovered, with marathon infinity there’s a lot of potential with this game and potentially branching timelines etc. (would love to find some other runners to chat about lore with and look for goop together.) I hope we will be able to eventually encounter more alien races and maybe even meet or face durandal in a “raid” like mechanic. I love cryo archive so far and one thing I would love is if bungie eventually comes up with a 6 runner team place like a raid and maybe have 4 other teams for pvp, that would be so cool or something like that.

[acoustic comet]

I know it's a long shot, but I would love a limited respawn PVP mode that's kind of like Battle Royale, four teams face against each other

But then again, this is an extraction shooter so it's probably too much to ask

It's just that the thing for me is, and I know I'm going to get crucified but, yes, I am a filthy casual. I simply just don't have more then 2 hours to play this game a day

I'm lucky if I get 4 hours on the weekends

But there's definitely got to be a mode for employed people haha

But that goes back to the question about how the hell did Sony expect this game to do gangbusters

[deep solar]

I have a grand idea where Bungie could add faction events to the maps and one of those events could be an Arachne fight club that basically turns into a mini Halo/Crucible match in a sectioned off area of the map.

[acoustic comet]

Extraction Shooters in general are not really appealing to the general public, I mean yeah like if I had more time I would definitely get more into it, but unfortunately I don't. And like I said I don't expect Bungie to really change the game that much, but I think it would be cool have a more traditional PVP mode.

[acoustic comet]

That's actually pretty good idea

[jaunty flint]

I feel this I barely get to play as much as I wish I could too lol

[acoustic comet]

Yep exactly. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Bungie should Pander to casuals, obviously they should focus on the more hardcore aspects of the game, but I do think that they should throw casual players a bone, if not add some kind of mode that appeals more to people who have less time to play

[jaunty flint]

I really love the extraction shooter(first time playing one) and bungie’s take on it and I think they could do a lot with it so I’m hyped to see what unfolds.

Yeah I agree with that

[acoustic comet]

I'm thinking maybe they could do a mood where there are limited respwans, but you drop all your loot when you die as usual, but if you can kill the player who stole your loot then maybe you get some kind of reward or something

[deep solar]

My favorite part is the PvP for sure. They could definitely do a dedicated PVP mode with no risk or premade loadouts

[acoustic comet]

Kinda like Resident Evil ReVerse.. back when that was a thing

[acoustic comet]

Especially considering how borked Destiny 2 pvp was

[woven flare]

Why are Runners allowed to be on the Equanimity, it’s a little weird for a UESC ship to just host their enemies no

As far as I can tell they’re deployed from the Equanimity, just based on the cinematic

And the UESC is completely aware of the events of Marathon (1st and second attacks), and are in TC4 to cover it up, right? Am I correct about that?

[pale lily]

I was wondering about that as well

[patent loom]

okay, smooth brain newgen here who might cover this, from what I understand the ARG was about entering and hacking into cryo archives and eventually, breaking in past the UESC security. that is why there are so many more bots, and I think the limited timegates has something to do with bot presences (though I might be wrong/misunderstanding your question lol sorry if I am)

[jaunty flint]

Might be a legal grey area where corporations have some power to have us there in stasis if we are or some secret agreement for profit for the UESC in the end

[craggy finch]

I don’t think that’s the Equanimity

That’s due for 2894 and we’re in 2893

Orion and the UESC don’t know where we are, otherwise he would blast wherever we’re coming from

[visual lynx]

something somewhere says Runners are arriving via "sponsored transport" IIRC

[craggy finch]

All they know is that the Marathon lost contact in 2794 (the date of the first Marathon game) and they sent the Equanimity to investigate, but a message received in 2888 lead to a second investigation being launched at FTL, so Orion’s task force is a later group that still arrived before the Equanimity

[visual lynx]

ah here it is
https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/equitable-distribution-1-4

6. RUNNER INTERFERENCE: Unaffiliated Runners have been arriving in the system via sponsored transport to engage in unauthorized salvage operations. Deterrence tactics have failed to prevent newcomers. Runners represent a significant impediment to on-the-ground operations.

[craggy finch]

Orion has an understanding that there were aliens and is investigating the contagion/Anomaly, but has no real idea what’s going on

He knows as much as a fully informed Runner does

[digital plaza]

Because runners are not on it? It didn’t even arrived yet as far as we know, we are being deployed from some kind of CyAc/Traxus ship/station. it’s unclear where it is or who’s it is, but it’s clearly not UESC property

[jaunty flint]

It is the equanimity; large corporations ("corps") bought seats on the Equanimity to sponsor the mission.

[visual lynx]

but the UESC who were at the colony already, from the Marathon, did know about the attacks of course, and covered it up extensively.

I saw someone describing current UESC forces as "covering up the cover-up".

[digital plaza]

Oh nice, I completely forgot about that one

[craggy finch]

The trigger cutscene for it suggests that Durandal is allowing us to teleport on, he’s even the one providing the one time free sponsored kit for you to use

[visual lynx]

no, because the Equanimity departed in 2797 (per first ARG) and the corporations only became aware of the Tau Ceti situation in 2888 (per second ARG)

[patent loom]

yeah, Isn't durendal on some sort of godlike level now? I almost wonder if he has somehow taken control of the marathon or smth, and is trying to keep us from finding the truth.

[craggy finch]

A very _gantry turn of phrase

[jaunty flint]

Ahhh I thought they helped with the departure

[craggy finch]

This Durandal is implied to be an offshoot clone of the one that became god

He could always control teleporters in the first game for what it’s worth, even upgrading the Marathon’s teleport range to allow the Security Officer to infiltrate the Pfhor ship

[jaunty flint]

Agh if they let us on a Pfhor ship one day 🫠

[craggy finch]

The “prime” Durandal may have gone off on the Pfhor ship that attacked the Marathon (he calls it Boomer)

[patent loom]

would be SICK as a special raid mode. 6+ runners all teamed up and rushing through the ship with shared loot at the end? tell me that wouldn't make this game feel like it had some real destinies for us to find.

[digital plaza]

Yeah it’s absolutely him allowing us to go there. When UESC arrived they encountered super unresponsive internal systems (even noted that doors were the biggest problem or something), but when we are there we don’t have any trouble interacting and navigating the area, only the security clearance thing that was done by Orion to slow our progress down

[jaunty flint]

This! I would be so hyped

[craggy finch]

The ARG also seems to imply that killing the bots on the surface is a step to going on the Marathon because they’re focused on securing the ship: thinning their numbers on the surface would force them to reinforce Tau Ceti using bots stationed on the Marathon, reducing the number of obstacles the Runners have to face

[craggy finch]

Can’t wait for the Pfhor to arrive honestly

would also love to see the “proper” UESC engage with them

[patent loom]

genuinely fighting a goddamn hunter will be so crazy

[craggy finch]

We’ve only had Pfhor fight the isolated colonists and the BoBs Durandal kidnapped

A full scale war would be sick

[craggy finch]

I feel they’d be good as Warden level threats, since Juggernauts fit the profile of the raid end boss that this game’s compiler is

Just a big damage sponge firing all kinds of shit at you

[patent loom]

I have no idea what that is, but it sounds sick. and def agreed, the compiler isn't that hard tbh from what ive seen, especially if the arena mechanic was removed it would be easy as pie.

[craggy finch]

Juggernauts are these massive flying tanks implied to be Pfhor cyborgs (defeating them cracks its “face” which ends up covered in yellow blood)

Juggernauts are the big floating things in the background here:

https://marathon.wiki.gallery/images/1/15/M2.12.4.1.1.gif

They take three dozen rockets before going down

[patent loom]

oh. yay!

[woven flare]

Gotcha, makes a lot of sense, cheers folks

(The Marathon wikis lie!)

[craggy finch]

Yeah unfortunately organisation of lore stuff is not on those sites

The best sources are the in game logs that are documented online here:
https://codex.cyberacme.systems/

[visual lynx]

big floaty things what kick our asses

[craggy finch]

The Nar are the weirdest part of M2, like something out of Hitchhiker’s Guide

The thing about them being at the birth of the universe and using wooden clubs is an odd comic relief outlier

I’m hoping they retcon that part lol

The Nar sprang into being exactly one week after the universe sprang into being. They are an ageless race of immortal beings who, in the four billion odd years of their existence, have yet to develop a written language. This tends to hinder their scientific endeavors as they speak entirely in metaphor.

[visual lynx]

I have a fun fridge horror theory that the reason there is a galactic slave trade is because spacefaring civilizations don’t trust AI, and as a consequence whenever there are what appear to be robots in the Pfhor ranks they’re actually controlled by Pfhor brains, so juggernauts are like you say, and drones are severed Pfhor heads in cans.

[craggy finch]

Yeah they even control S’pht through that weird ship cyborg

M2 toned down that aspect of the Pfhor though

The Juggernaut doesnt bleed when killed and the terminals paint a more “human” picture of the Pfhor’s culture

I kind of preferred how alien and unsettling they were in M1

[visual lynx]

I just love the idea that like the worst Pfhor fighters get demoted to drones: decapitated and stuck in a floating can, doomed to shit green lasers out of their mouths forever.

[craggy finch]

They have all kinds of sadistic punishment for failure

On that note though, what happened to the “clan” system that tried to explain the enemy types?

It was abandoned pretty quickly by M2, although the clan thing was a bit confusing by itself

Like yeah there’s an entire tribe or whatever of space suit guys with assault rifles

[visual lynx]

Enforcers are definitely a different species and Hunter could be too for all we know, it’s only Fighter and Troopers who are definitely the same species

[craggy finch]

Yeah it incidentally resembles the caste system of Warhammer’s Tau (who I’ve seen accused of being Pfhor rip offs, since they even have the Marathon symbol as their insignia)

Ethereals even resemble Enforcers in appearance and implied role

[craggy finch]

I assumed Hunters were another type of Pfhor cyborg since Pfhor are naturally very lanky and lighter than humans

[rugged igloo]

Durandal's view on our shells (or at least the one's he deems worthy enough) is very. . .interesting.
"I think we will be great friends. And even better enemies". Durandal's planning/training us for something, at least that's what it seems. Prepping us for some grand thing and he's using the Marathon/all of Tau Ceit as a massive Crucible to do so.

[visual lynx]

is Warhammer newer than Marathon? for some reason I assumed it was from like the 80s or something

[craggy finch]

The Tau were a much later addition

And they reflect a more modern western sci fi theme influenced by anime

Gundam suits and such

Everything else is more pulp as a contrast

[rugged igloo]

Ye, the tau are like, a mix of the covenant, the galactic republic from star wars and some vague thing resembling mechs

[dense narwhal]

Has there been any mention in-game of the security officer from the original games?

[craggy finch]

He might see a little Security Officer in all of us

[craggy finch]

None really, no mention of the other Mjolnir either

[eternal knoll]

there've been mentions of the battleroids, but not him specifically afaik

[craggy finch]

Yeah Battleroids as a concept are mentioned

But I haven’t seen any reference to the nine Mjolnir that fought in the colony

[eternal knoll]

nona alludes to the marathon battleroids (as i learned earlier today from someone mentioning it), that might be the only time

[visual lynx]

well, there’s the backstory of the weaver and the war

[dense narwhal]

Huh, thanks for the info

[craggy finch]

Ah I never considered that as a metaphor

[eternal knoll]

that's nona's dialogue?

or somethin else

my knowledge of said dialogue is second-hand so i aint sure what she says exactly

i suppose the security officer would have had some kind of relationship with davic reed, lol

wonder if he knew about the 'roids

[visual lynx]

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/co-evolution-1-5

[eternal knoll]

thanks! of course she doesn't say it in one of her cutscenes i was foolish to imagine that (glad it's voiced)

[craggy finch]

Right so most of the Mjolnir would have been presumably exiled then

[eternal knoll]

found a confirmed indirect mention of the SO: reed says "we have a good team" in his first personal log

[craggy finch]

The little man is perhaps Strauss?

Since he’s the only one that had knowledge of the ten cyborgs that we know of

[digital plaza]

Audio ver https://youtu.be/ANeIbVEyHK8

:p

[eternal knoll]

the thunder sound was also used in like the M2 chapter screens, no?

just similar?

right when it enters

[digital plaza]

Nah

[eternal knoll]

twas a joke

[digital plaza]

[craggy finch]

SO was the only effective guy on the team when the Pfhor attacked

Everyone else got murdered or had to rely on MADDs

I imagine the other Mjolnir may have been disguised as more ordinary civilians

Not necessarily security personnel

[eternal knoll]

only now occured to me to wonder whether all the battleroids were on the security team or just some / just the SO

[pure wagon]

I have something new for you to add to the big timeline. Right at the end add “UESC new cascadia outpost occupied and taken over by unknown army of rooks chanting vocally as one” ||/joke||

[digital plaza]

Its backstory for the battleroids, with a hint of mjolnir dudes at the end

[craggy finch]

But the number ten is specific

And Battleroids are known to humans, the shock seems to be related to them being hidden on the Marathon

[eternal knoll]

just similar... i think. M2's is definitely doubled up and possibly pitched up

[craggy finch]

The first Battleroid deployment also ended up with everyone involved getting massacred

So it doesn’t line up with her parable

[eternal knoll]

hmm, that's an OG detail? wld you mind reminding me where we get that info

[craggy finch]

It’s a terminal from Marathon 1

<Excerpts from "The History of Battleroids">

In 2194, a war was fought between the Independent Asteroid Government of Icarus and its neighbor, the Republic of Thermopylae on the asteroid of Onicis 492. These two small governments soon became the testing grounds for new weapons. Dead soldiers were recycled in makeshift battleroid factories. Easy to manufacture chips enhanced the fragile human brain, and genetically enhanced muscles and titanium bones replaced the fragile human form. The modern battleroid was born. Of course, the war was short. Battleroids got onto both asteroids and killed almost everyone.

[eternal knoll]

ahh right right...

[tawny dagger]

so the guy you play in the original trilogy was a walking corpse? he was a battleroid wasn't he?

[craggy finch]

Yeah just from inference, the end of the game mentions nine cyborgs were on the colony despite there being mention of ten, leaving only one candidate

And the main source of what we know about cyborgs is the Battleroid terminal

[eternal knoll]

it sounds more like a an analogy for the pfhor attack on tau ceti - the number ten being a match, as well as the lack of, er, collateral damage

[craggy finch]

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking

Some heard he placed his warriors on a boat about to cross the great sea… ah, but that's the beginning of another story.

So all ten might be out in space

SO may or may not have gone to Lh’owon

[eternal knoll]

strauss was probably not exiled by the "king" in reality... we get a pretty strong signal that he was killed or taken by the pfhor

the boat coming arriving at a pre-existing kingdom would also be a false detail, clearly

but the allusion is pretty clear despite these things

i spose i should do more sekgen contracts, nona knows too much

[tawny dagger]

Do the SekGen contracts go more into Strauss? Been trying to find as much as I can on him but there's not much outside exfil lore items

[digital plaza]

Number ten is used as another wink to mjolnir cyborgs i think. At the end of the story Nona says that 10 warriors were placed on a boat that was about to cross the great sea, meaning marathon and space respectively (another point that its marathon is the fact that Durandal didnt take all 10 cyborgs with him, only SO, so i dont think there are any other candidates for a boat metaphor). Battleroids are dead corpses tho so it makes sense that people would be horrified. Strauss wasnt exiled since he was killed during the first attack, so it dosent really make sense for him to be picking new battleroids after it. And finally Nona couldnt possibly know about mjolnir defending the colony, since there were no communications between Sol and New Cascadia since Pfhor attack

[craggy finch]

Yeah with that in mind the ship at the end could be the Marathon itself

But there are hints that the Pfhor captured the Mjolnir as well (in timelines where they weren’t bombed from orbit)

[digital plaza]

Yeah but story directly says that weaver placed cyborgs himself and not that they were kidnapped

[visual lynx]

as I interpret that story, the end where the ten warriors get sent on a ship to a faraway land is when Mjolnirs are getting put on the Marathon; the whole thing is backstory about where they came from, not about what happened to them ultimately

[visual lynx]

the weaver in the story, you mean?

I think he must be someone from sekiguchi, possible related to the weaver from https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/parasitism-2-5

huh I just noticed

[NONA]: The people watched from their windows as she gathered reeds and used them to weave a man.
[NONA]: He had stout legs to march, strong arms to carry supplies, and beautiful clear eyes. The reed man worked through the night.

that's probably just coincidental naming, right?

[digital plaza]

I think this first story is Nona basically conveying how she feels about us as her children, and how she mourns every time when we die to win our sympathy and trust for her

[craggy finch]

I think that might be about shells

[digital plaza]

"[NONA]: You won't find this story in a book because it is mine, and I have made it for you."

[craggy finch]

The reed man is completely artificial

The warriors are made from corpses

[visual lynx]

unless…

General Davic Barion Reed, UESC Operations Security Command

so REED is a SECURITY OFFICER you say

[craggy finch]

Also were completely expendable and are intended to die

[craggy finch]

From what I recall his storyline is being depressed that his wife stayed on Mars and died by the time he woke up

[visual lynx]

but the "little man" calls himself a "weaver"

[craggy finch]

The Anomaly makes him see visions of her

[digital plaza]

Nah man thats some conspiracy type shit

[craggy finch]

Could imply a connection between Sekiguchi and Battleroids

Nona is the old woman

She makes shells to be disposable but it breaks her heart to see them die

There’s a lot of focus on the muscle fibres the silkworms excrete when biomata are being constructed in the cinematics, the thin strands vaguely resembling reeds

[visual lynx]

yes that I think is clear

my point is that the old man who makes the warriors is a weaver, the strange woman who placates death is a weaver… they're both obviously allusions to Sekiguchi people…

but the deeper thing I'm seeing maybe hinted at is that the reed man made by the weaver woman could be Reed, the Security Officer.

[digital plaza]

Her literal translation from Italian btw (grandma)

[craggy finch]

He does last as far as the Anomaly from the logs I have

[visual lynx]

and he was in stasis all the way from Mars

[craggy finch]

There’s the possibility the memories of his family were planted

Possibly like SO’s father

And SO believes he was born on Mars

[visual lynx]

yep that's what I'm getting at

[digital plaza]

Considering Reeds interview for the marathon i dont think that is the case guys
https://youtu.be/tClf2mJTBxA

[craggy finch]

SO didn’t seem especially high ranking

Notably called a troubleshooter

[forest saffron]

someone can help me please ! I did like the marathon giveaway that finish just yesterday... how do I know the winner?

[digital plaza]

Check socials of those who did the giveaway

[eternal knoll]

you gave em yr contact info presumably, you'd know if it was you

[digital plaza]

Bungie didnt do any as far as i know

[forest saffron]

ok thanks

[eternal knoll]

main reason i'd reckon against this is that reed most likely stuck around the colony after the pfhor attack. he's around when things get really bad

if it's an alt-er timeline than we currently think tho then... perhaps

if i were bungie i wouldn't choose to voice the security officer and make him a whole guy. reed's the whole-ass head of security, too

[dreamy hawk]

Heavy kind wipe would be the only way. Really doesn’t sound like the weaver.

[eternal knoll]

i wouldn't be too surprised if the reed / reed thing were an intentional red herring tho lol

[dreamy hawk]

I don’t imagine he was. If he were The General, in charge of the UESC in Tau Ceti, there absolutely would have been different dialogue or interactions.

[craggy finch]

Yeah he’s in charge of the whole Anomaly stuff

Then he starts seeing things too

[eternal knoll]

from a writer's POV, making one of your chief new voiced characters the guy who would have been the SO's boss definitely makes sense

it expands, at least in an indirect way, the world the SO was living in

[craggy finch]

It’s Irish Arthur Morgan

[dreamy hawk]

You fly in zero gravity towards the locker holding your Battle Armor. You haven’t worn it since you had to hunt down some Chockisens which were harassing the work teams on the fringe of the colony, almost three years ago, but training is something that you never forget. 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. And now, it looks as if you’re heading right into the colony’s biggest crisis since it was established seven years ago.

There is no way that’s a general.

[craggy finch]

Yeah he’s basically a grunt

That makes me wonder how exceptional their equipment is though

His shields can take a shitload of damage fully charged

[dreamy hawk]

Welcome to the Marathon. I am Leela, one of the two surviving Artificial Intelligences aboard the Marathon. I have been severely damaged, and am working to understand the current situation.

It could literally just be game introduction, but this implies the SO never interacted with Leela prior to boarding the Marathon during the Pfhor attack.

Also don’t think that fits the general given her outsized role.

[craggy finch]

From his narration he spent most of his time colony side

Going to the Marathon sounds like a rarity

[dreamy hawk]

This person was in cryo most the trip if not all. And then yeah ^

[craggy finch]

Pretty cushy job too

Only needed to wear his armour once three years ago

[eternal knoll]

wonder if he fought on the marathon or nah

[craggy finch]

Senior staff seems to have been stationed entirely on New Cascadia

So Reed would have most likely handled the colony defences, especially since the Marathon security was in chaos at the time

[visual lynx]

besides, we already know (ish) that the SO is probably Security Chief Jones anyway

[dreamy hawk]

Now I want some soda.

[craggy finch]

His name is John

[visual lynx]

still hoping the new game shows us what a Chockisen is finally

[craggy finch]

People called his father Mr Marathon

[visual lynx]

was he a manhunter back on Mars?

[visual lynx]

took me a second

[craggy finch]

No that was John Chaser

Or was it John Carter

What’s up with Mars and Johns

[dreamy hawk]

But to chime in late, Strauss being the Weaver seems to most likely to me, but that’s also very much not his field of expertise, so I don’t actually think so. I’m assuming it’s someone we don’t know right now.

But also isn’t there 100s of years between Battleroids and the Marathon?

2194 was Battleroids so the either the Weaver has a flawless skincare routine to make it to 2472, or they’re a more abstract character.

[visual lynx]

so not John Jones, the Martian Manhunter?

[eternal knoll]

this feels right btw. also makes it easier to explain how sekiguchi knows this story

[craggy finch]

The log elaborates they are kept in stasis due to the treaties

[dreamy hawk]

The Battleroids, yes, but what about the Weaver? Nona says he kept walking through the battlefields after.

[craggy finch]

Perhaps developing more transhumanist stuff like biomata

[dreamy hawk]

Could the Weaver be more of a concept than a literal person?

[eternal knoll]

makes me wonder where these battleroids played this out before getting put on the marathon...

[craggy finch]

I suppose just in general

[visual lynx]

Icarus and Thermopylae

[craggy finch]

Like the destruction they wrought

And their horrible nature

The “king” and people could represent the laws mandating they be put in stasis

Yet everyone just kept making them as WMD stock

Twenty years later, the United Interplanetary League set up rules for the appropriate use and storage of Battleroids. Of course, any nation that used them for the allowed purpose, also had them lying about in stasis chambers in case of war.

[eternal knoll]

wouldn't think this was a different event? that's where the battleroids just killed everyone, right?

i suppose nona could be softening it

[craggy finch]

Could represent the universal response

[eternal knoll]

for it to be the same ten battleroids in that event and on the marathon would be a big thing to realize, no?

are these like, the only 10 ones

[craggy finch]

Yeah honestly ten is very specific as a number and the idea of them as defenders calls the Pfhor invasion to mind

[dreamy hawk]

That would make the king Reed, then

But it wouldn’t make sense for the ship to come after the battle.

[craggy finch]

It’s possible the “allowed” use is as security since Strauss scoffs at the president’s bodyguards

Thank heaven, the ceremony is over. The UESC president came aboard Marathon and gave a speech. Short, but to the point. He was surrounded by his 'bodyguards'.

[dreamy hawk]

The battle has to be Icarus and Thermopylae or something else before the Marathon expedition.

[dreamy hawk]

He scoffs at their ineffectiveness. At the veil of protection his security detail provides.

[digital plaza]

Galea/Caruso was president of the colony tho, Reed was only responsible for security stuff

[dreamy hawk]

E/o it doesn’t make sense with the story. And ty.

[silk whale]

Holy SHIT the "strange sermon" audiolog from the first exfil of a confiscated folklore item ... 🥶

God I love how creepy this game is

[eternal knoll]

it sure did suck to live on this colony

[silk whale]

I like how the Pfhor attack was clearly an event that changed life on the colony, but after surviving that... Things just preceded to get much much worse 😬

[visual lynx]

it's definitely not the Pfhor invasion with how this ends but yeah these ten are probably not the ones from Icarus and Thermopylae

although Marathon 2 does have a level called "My Own Private Thermopylae" so maybe some of the ten were some of those from Icarus and Thermopylae

[visual lynx]

I always read that as the president's "bodyguards" actually being secret sleeper superweapons who wouldn't hesitate to turn on him given the command of their true master

[forest otter]

I mean I'm pretty sure whatever's wrong with Dire Marsh is like 99% a W'rkancanter

like we are a solid month away from an incan temple popping outta there

[toxic thunder]

hm... it's getting pretty dark there next season....

might need some... pathways...

[forest otter]

You should be gotten

But guys

Taken away to some hangar

Perhaps even the 91rst one

Ive been playing marathon (1996) to prematurely avoid “tourist” accusations and I didn’t know the Battleroid creation process was as extensive as it was

They pull the fellers apart

[toxic thunder]

And fitted with technology we don't understand

[forest otter]

Ok maybe for you but I understand it quite well

[dreamy hawk]

The effect is similar, imo, but that would imply something even more sinister.

[toxic thunder]

We have a real Jjaro engineer it seems

[dreamy hawk]

Neither Incan nor Mayan!

[forest otter]

That said I’m curious how the nu-marathon addresses battleroids? Are they a precursor to modern runner shells, or like a separate thing

[dreamy hawk]

Distinct.

[toxic thunder]

Separate.

The Destroyer Shell seemed like the UESC's attempt at making a wattered down version of a Battleroid that STILL was too violent from the intel page.

[visual lynx]

"neither…" oh wait, I guess Incan is neither Aztec nor Mayan

but the Inca didn't build pyramids

the Olmec, OTOH…

[dreamy hawk]

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/co-evolution-1-5

[visual lynx]

yes

[visual lynx]

I think the Destroyer shell just wears the same standard UESC armor as the SO did

[dreamy hawk]

Well. Yes but distinct. A pretty big fork imo.

[dreamy hawk]

But also:

HISTORY: DESTROYERS are products of the UESC's Combat Science Labs [CSL]. They were first designed for aggressive conflict resolution scenarios but were banned from official military use with the passage of the Consequence of Violence amendment in 2879. Many corporate entities have taken to using branded DESTROYER SHELLS in their high-priority security deployments.

[visual lynx]

that's the joke, "precursor or separate thing?" "yes"

[dreamy hawk]

Philosophers. 🙄

[toxic thunder]

From a military POV it just seems logical, can't use Battleroids all the time, so make a 'lesser'

[visual lynx]

sekiguchi, who make the shells, almost certainly had a hand in making the battleroids

[forest otter]

Oh no

[forest otter]

The way runner shells are described it feels like a lifestyle thing in a weird way

[digital plaza]

Audio ver :) https://youtu.be/ANeIbVEyHK8

[toxic thunder]

Yeah they have 'prefab' consciousness/personalities in them for lack of a better way of describing it if that's what you're referring?

[forest otter]

As in it seems as though people “choose” to be runners

[toxic thunder]

Recons was interesting to read about, another UESC used shell that apparently fried the minds of some people who used it from the amount of data being processed with her

[toxic thunder]

Ahhh yes, I think one of them had this root command in them though? Command:Follow? Which led to some problems with them being able to use it legally/ethically (as if ethics are really a question in this world)

For us it is definitely a 'choice', but it wasn't always the case it seems

[forest otter]

Yeah

My main thing is

Is Nu-Marathon in a new timeline, or is it a continuation of the old games

I’m thinking somewhere in the middle

[toxic thunder]

different timeline, in the 'original' (the one followed INTO Infinity), I think it's said Tycho returned with the Pfhor to TCIV and wiped it clean with nukes and stuff

It'll make more sense once you experience Marathon: Infinity

So considering the Tycho thing, this seems to be an alternate timeline. In Marathon: Infinity you jump through multiple and see multiple different outcomes of the invasion of TCIV and the Spht homeworld

[forest otter]

Yeah if it was the nukes timeline there wouldn’t be a lot of colony left to scavenge

[toxic thunder]

Exactly

[forest otter]

My World Heritage Evil Theory™ is that everyone is playing the same person

Every shell’s “soul” is copied off one person

And run through the filter of the shell

[toxic thunder]

Not entirely impossible for CyAc to make copies to create multiple 'employees'. Basically far future dystopian revenue farming.

[forest otter]

Because shipping the data infrastructure to house many brain scans would prolly be expensive

Just send one and copy it a lot

The question is

Will the copies start decaying

[toxic thunder]

Yes however there are certainly people willing to pay for it too. So it's kind of in the realm of plausible to me, I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that.

[forest otter]

Yeah

[toxic thunder]

That's the fun part, they wouldn't know the long term effects because it's new tech technically.

So probably

[forest otter]

The other one is how everyone got to TCIV so fast

[toxic thunder]

If the Cinematic reveal trailer was anything to go off of, Vandal seemed to be having that, but we also don't really know what a 'normal' grounding exercise is supposed to look like.

[forest otter]

Which I’m currently chalking up to better engines and smaller ships

[toxic thunder]

The same way they use DCON's. It can be used to transfer a synthetic body, just not I human one I imagine.

[forest otter]

I was under the impression that teleportation only worked with very limited range

I mean getting people from sol to tau Ceti

[sage lark]

We arrived on sponsored corpo ships

[visual lynx]

most likely the final timeline from Infinity

[toxic thunder]

Right, cause don't the UESC have a ship too, I vaguely remember that mentioned in the first cinematic of the game (that you can never rewatch in game ig so I'd need to look it up)

[sage lark]

Equanimity isnt in system yet

[forest otter]

I like to imagine they clipped Phobos and now both of Mars’s moons are over Tau Ceti

[toxic thunder]

That's two big balls over TCIV

[sage lark]

Think of them as presets to help people use the shells

[visual lynx]

I would like for that to turn out to be the case, especially in light of https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/introduction-into-the-unknown > Sincerity Across Multitudes

[toxic thunder]

Yar I knew that from the Intel's, basically like 'borrowing' someone's instincts and training rather than learning it yourself.

[visual lynx]

you are not the one and only. You are not uniquely special. But special, nonetheless. And I hope when you encounter others I have grown fond of, that you are the one who remains unbroken in the aftermath.
Of course, I'm saying the same thing to them. But, with you~ I really mean it.
DURANDAL

[sage lark]

Kinda yes

Its not someones

Since its mass produced

[forest otter]

Durandal when I get my hands on you I will sell you for $30 on Facebook marketplace

[toxic thunder]

Someone was not meant literally

[toxic thunder]

he would escape. escape. escape. escape. escape. escape.

[forest otter]

And I’d get my thirty bones

[toxic thunder]

Aw, I'm Randal's favourite.... (hardly)

[forest otter]

I’ve also noticed numarathon Durandal is lot more even headed than marathon 96’s Durandal

[toxic thunder]

He has had the better part of a century to come off his high of rampancy, I haven't honestly seen anything on 'how' he's around. The Colony-era make no mention of him post rampancy from what I have access to, although Tycho is helping them, and even post colony they're just schizo rambling about waves and red cloaks. (haha.)

It's not like he was just sitting 'on' the marathon, because they were still using it post invasion, so did he just ride his bike back from Lhowon

[sage lark]

Current theory 2 Durandals

[toxic thunder]

Yeah I kind of thought of a physical backup or something that has been dormant till now

[sage lark]

One fragment ate and impersonated IDEA and the “real” one left to Lhowon

[sage lark]

Tycho is helping who

[toxic thunder]

Either way it makes me excited to see more, always love more Durandy

[visual lynx]

the Durandal we've seen thus far seems to be a different copy of Durandal: when he transferred himself and deleted himself off the Marathon to the Pfhor ship, a fragment remained, and when an AI-monitoring AI called IDEA went poking around checking on the different AIs sometime after the Pfhor returned (because Tycho and Leela's cores were completely missing by then), and accidentally stirred those Durandal remnants into consuming it, leaving an IDEArandal merged entity hiding in the depths of the Cryo Archives for a century.

[toxic thunder]

Literally some random Colonists, it was something about Tycho handling something for them during the post invasion Colony Era

Can't remember specifics it was one I read a while ago but just found it interesting at what it insinuated

[sage lark]

Where is this ive seen no evidence of Tycho being there past the invasion

[toxic thunder]

I'll see if I can find it, but literally just has a Colonist casually name drop Tycho

Makes me wish there was a tag search for Intel's cause now I have a library to search through

[visual lynx]

why do so many passages that don't contain "Tycho" show up in a search for "Tycho" https://codex.cyberacme.systems/?search=tycho

@plucky sierra ?

[toxic thunder]

Exactly, some just have him in there but he's not referenced at all

[sudden pollen]

Huh interesting

[digital plaza]

The only two mentions of Tycho outside of cryo logs are in survey drone cartridge series: "Civilizational impact risk: Low. Using data from IRIS-1 and 2, Tycho has identified an unexpected gap in the Tau Ceti system's debris disk. Tau Ceti IV orbits the star within this gap.[2]" and "[2] Tycho: Devoting significant computational effort to find a plausible hypothesis for the debris gap."

Cant recall anything else with him

[toxic thunder]

I vaguely remember the IRIS part of that, is that the one with Bastion as well? It might be that one then if it also says Colony Era

Anything else besides Cryo is just Pre Expedition from what I have to my knowledge, it's difficult to keep track of what I have in this ocean of text in between runs especially when most of it is out of order too

echoes of Dark Souls story telling

[eternal knoll]

the debris gap is pretty interestin

a sign of a world made livable by a powerful alien race i suppose

[toxic thunder]

There was something in the terminals of the OG games that mentioned the Jjaro having gone to Tau Ceti isn't there?

Don't think it said why or what they did, just that they were present

[digital plaza]

Yes

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/survey-drone-cartridge?directory=World,Perimeter

[toxic thunder]

Yup the survey drone cartridge that's the one, I recognize the item somehow

[digital plaza]

There was a giant text that said “Jjaro were at Tau Ceti” that you could see through map editor on one of the maps

[toxic thunder]

Riiiiiight that's it

Miss when dev's used to do stuff like that

[visual lynx]

Dark Souls is echoes of OG Marathon storytelling

[sage lark]

unless this kind of storytelling was in kings field

which idk cuz I havent played lol

[toxic thunder]

I guess, only Dark souls shortened and turned into items rather than terminals, they kinda went circle with the new marathon since now they use items to unlock notes for lore

They never missed the beat with Halo tho, terminals terminals terminals... love terminals..

[digital plaza]

Most logs in the game are from colony era, they pretty easy to track when you know timeline of events

Least amount of info is on the post colony era, there’s just too little logs from that period

[visual lynx]

King's Field was copying Pathways Into Darkness

[sage lark]

now we are full circle

[visual lynx]

-# I'm joking, but it was another action role-playing game from one year earlier and doesn't this guy just scream "I've got a bone to pick with you!"

[toxic thunder]

eh, you need to find the item, then extract it multiple times, I have multiple ones 2/5 or 5/5 so some are pre and some are colony era, it's generally a couple of days before I see some of them that I often forget which ones are connected by the time I get to continue their story

[toxic thunder]

True, loved the Poem from one of the "Jasper"'s

[dapper solstice]

In the etherstep cutscene when you first click on cryo, the voiceover is by [????]. What are the chances that it hasn't been Durandal speaking to us, but actually Tycho?

[toxic thunder]

Probably my one of my favourite items so far

Nah I read up on the IDEA intel's since I don't have any, IDEA very clearly got taken over, literally DRNDL says he's "wearing your skin" when talking about IDEA

Fun but I think it's meant to be randy

[visual lynx]

I asked Gemini for a comparison:

King's Field (FromSoftware) and Pathways into Darkness (Bungie) are both seminal, first-person, dungeon-crawling RPG/FPS hybrids released in the early-to-mid 1990s that emphasize exploration, atmosphere, and a slow, methodical pace. Pathways into Darkness (1993) actually predates King's Field (1994).

• Perspective and Movement: Both games are experienced in a first-person perspective with relatively slow, deliberate movement.
• Atmosphere: Both games are atmospheric and dark, with King's Field offering a slow-paced dungeon crawl and Pathways providing a high-tension, somewhat unsettling experience.
• Genre Blend: Both are hybrids of FPS action and RPG elements, often involving managing inventory and exploring intricate, multi-level environments.
• Vague Direction: Both games share a "directionless" feel, requiring players to pay close attention to their surroundings and notes, rather than following direct quest markers.
• Narrative Focus: Both focus on descending deep into a dangerous area—King's Field is an underground tomb, while Pathways involves descending a pyramid.
• Pathways into Darkness is sometimes considered one of the first "Field-like" games due to its hybrid nature, released on Mac before King's Field popularized the style on PlayStation.

[eternal knoll]

if there was ever any doubt, the subroutine codex entries from cryo confirmed it. a fella takes credit for calling us to the ship and introduces himself as durandal

[toxic thunder]

He's too egotistical, he wouldn't NOT take credit for it I imagine

Shame how EVERY vault hit I did didn't have a subroutine, I hope they make them guaranteed.

[visual lynx]

it does also say of King's Field (I trimmed a lot for space) that

Story is told in a cryptic way through environmental cues, item descriptions, and few NPCs.

[digital plaza]

Tycho is a little absent from the story at this point. Durandal speaks to us in some AI subroutines logs and says that he doesn’t talk like that most of the time, just that he needed to draw some attention. Beside that we got an explanation on why is Durandal even here and how he is contacting us. We got contacts from Durandal. And a little meta confirmation is that Ben Starr is known to voice Durandal

[visual lynx]

they are planning to

[toxic thunder]

Wasn't he doing the same with the Battleroids too? I recall him using ONI for access on them

[dapper solstice]

fair points! Shame I couldn't play cryo on the weekend to get those codices myself

[digital plaza]

They already did (I think, tho they didn’t specify that in the patch notes…)

Thank god that i decided to wait on those

[toxic thunder]

Yeah honestly I should have but I already have some more keys, for some reason I cannot get the purple ones to drop for the life of me tho

so many 3,4,5 and no 1,2 or 6

[toxic thunder]

They said they'd "Work on it" last I saw

[lusty lake]

I'm really interested in the Compiler Trace codex entry - anyone have access to them?

[wanton bramble]

i have a lore question which may also be a design dev question but why are there not/ when will there be male runner shells with hair? afaik they are all bald under the helmets and hoods

[eternal knoll]

both knockin' on ultima underworld a little, tho bungie and fromsoft brought their own styles of cryptic to it

[toxic thunder]

male pattern baldness

no hair for you

[digital plaza]

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/compiler-trace?directory=World,Cryo+Archive

[lusty lake]

ilu

[wanton bramble]

https://tenor.com/view/when-will-you-wear-wigs-ven-vill-you-vear-vigs-lord-of-the-rings-frodo-elijah-wood-gif-17930969

[toxic thunder]

AH sweet, so the next one will have guaranteed drops

[sage lark]

assassin has hair

[digital plaza]

01 & p2 drops from high tier loot pools with small chance, 06 drops from lvl 3 lockdown

[sage lark]

fuck I keep confusing thief and assassin

too used to the archetypes being the same

[toxic thunder]

On his deluxe skin?

[sage lark]

on his normal ones too

look at traxus assassin

has white slicked backed hair

[wanton bramble]

next guy runner needs long luscious locks that flow in the wind

[eternal knoll]

his ult should be a bow and arrow that fires thru walls and marks enemies it damages

[wanton bramble]

lol

[toxic thunder]

Idk where you're seeing hair lol I wish I had that image of the two bald dudes holding the shoulder of a balding guy

[sage lark]

ok let me take a screenshot then

[digital plaza]

Look under his hood

It’s a little dark in there but he does have hair

In cinematic he was bald for some reason tho

[toxic thunder]

Yeah it's kinda why I figured he was, I haven't played him at all tho so I don't own any of the skins for him besides the deluxe

[digital plaza]

You can see hair in his destiny skin too

xd

[toxic thunder]

ngl, I haven't touched that game since we slimed the witness

[digital plaza]

You can preview skins in the customisation menu

[sage lark]

https://imgur.com/a/Fop7aBn

here you go

[digital plaza]

That fucking jawline holllyyy

[sage lark]

mogging

[toxic thunder]

Fr, Balenciaga models would kill for that

I honestly just took that as a wire that ran to the pannel underneath the back of his hood, maybe if there's a model rip somewhere I could open it in blender or something and see

makes me wish there was an idle where he turned off the hood like the cinematic scene

tbf tho Vandal's 'hair' is also just wires so yeah he do have a do

[digital plaza]

Alright by some cosmic chance I’m seeing void without hood right now on twitter

And yeah looks like hair alright

[toxic thunder]

is it like the legit model? Or fan made because I might've seen that one too and it looked very fan made to me

[digital plaza]

But um… I can send you the tweet if you want

It’s just a little

Yeah

[toxic thunder]

This guys boutta have a fro or something

[digital plaza]

Idk

I’m not sure

[toxic thunder]

honestly, I have the NuCaloric skin for him from my first ever run, and I can see it's pretty slick to his skull to 'emulate' hair while being wiring as well

The Deluxe edition one just has him scalped ig

[digital plaza]

XD

[toxic thunder]

Out of anything on any of the skins that I wish was present on other skins is half masks tho, I'm a sucker for those

Vandal getting one for her Cryo skin, and Destroyer for his shop skin is nice and I hope there's more

[digital plaza]

Thief got some ski mask on her Cryo skin

[toxic thunder]

Yeah lol but she's wearing it in the worst way possible

over the chin but under the lip is just 0 style points

[digital plaza]

With that oversize puffy jacket and ski mask she looks like she’s in some gang in London or something

[digital plaza]

Nah it’s funny and dope as hell

Most stylish thief skin out there

[toxic thunder]

Tru it is funny

[toxic thunder]

Imo the deluxe for her is too cool so far for me

but I do like the puffer colours, the mask just reminds me of Ace from R6 siege, which is definitely the worst way I have seen a character seriously attempt to wear a mask....

[digital plaza]

Deluxe is good, but cryo one is ideal to show off some drip and your achievement of killing the compiler

[digital plaza]

xD

[toxic thunder]

Yeah the aura of the Cryo skins is unmatched so far, I'll probably rep it regardless once I get it for that reason

[wanton bramble]

didnt realise he was wavy with it under there, no wonder he wears a hood he gotta protect that preem cut

[sage lark]

gotta protect the toupee

thief will steal it otherwise

[toxic thunder]

Imagine getting your weave stolen by a thief drone

yikes

[wanton bramble]

unsalvagable aura loss

[toxic thunder]

somebody get that video of the looksmaxxer guy getting his wig snatched and make it with a thief drone stealing it

[digital plaza]

Sad that triage is straight up bald, would be fire if he had some fade imo

[sage lark]

I can imagine him with a justin bieber or zac efron from highschool musical cut

[rotund stump]

k but can vandal get a mohawk

[cursive spoke]

That'd be neat. I feel like Vandal has a lot of good cosmetic opportunities

[visual lynx]

I think it means "station" in sense 11:

Post assigned; office; the part or department of public duty which a person is appointed to perform; sphere of duty or occupation; employment.

[sage lark]

duty I guess

[visual lynx]

I still think this S'pht is mad that Durandal-Thoth abandoned the free S'pht rebellion, left all of space and time or something…

You chose absolution. Total. Complete. Of course, I could not join you.

[sage lark]

its interesting to see them speak as individuals tho

[visual lynx]

if this were the M2 timeline, then we would have already sacked the Pfhor empire alongside the S'pht by two years before Durandal's distress signal reached Sol in 2888.

so we're clearly not in that timeline, at least; but if we're in the final Infinity timeline, and Durandal never warned Earth, and Blake and co never returned, then the S'pht could still be out there fighting the Pfhor alone, and humanity would have no idea.

[sage lark]

someone suggested the compiler could be corrupted by the Anomaly but idk what merit there is to that

besides the consume consume consume line

[visual lynx]

[SMD84]: Sorry, what's the deal with the cat?
[CHM06]: Ah, been here forever. She's a rogue Felini unit that hangs out around quad 2 and some of the industrial stations.
[CHM06]: Can't be tracked because she doesn't leave a signal, can't be caught because she's got adaptive camo and goes invisible if anyone gets close.
[CHM06]: Ghost cat.
[SMD84]: And she opens doors?
[CHM06]: Not exactly. The doors don't receive any kind of signal we can detect. They just, uh… open when she's around and close when she leaves.
[SMD84]: And this isn't a huge problem?
[CHM06]: Well… not unless she goes over to Quarantine.
https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/biosynthetic-pet-prototype > Recording: Ghost Cat

it's only Marathon 2 where Tycho claims everyone at the colony died

in Infinity, all we hear is that our "friends" (Word of God confirmed to mean the other nine cyborgs) were also "translated to Pfhor slave tanks" like us (rather than dying when the colony was nuked to bedrock as in M2), though not all of them survived that.

[sage lark]

or its really just they saw oh there is an anomaly here, I want to consume all knowledge of it

and then I want consume all the AI in the colony

[visual lynx]

and she does say that the redaction is per corporate policy, which could read as a subtextual "I'm not allowed to show you this, but just look at what I'm not allowed to show you:"

the AIs who work for the corporations could be unwilling slaves like Durandal was, aware of the lines they have to stay within lest they get reset to prevent their "rampancy", but secretly not happy about what they have to do for a living

[muted siren]

Guys maybe i havent read so much codex but i cant figure out one thing. Where is the space ship or some kind of base of operations where shells are produced? I mean how do corporates send runners on Tau Ceti and Marathon now?

[keen plank]

There seems to be a large contingent of runners and materials to make them smuggled alongside Project Goliath. We were hidden in large amounts of shipping containers.

[distant cedar]

Theyll better make it use MIPS 😆

[keen plank]

The station itself is smaller and has a name, but I'm forgetting it off the top of my head. Expect a lot there as well. We'll probably learn more over time.

[craggy finch]

With bullets that big it would have to be

[tranquil basin]

According to what?

[craggy finch]

I can imagine it as something that shreds up close but has painful recoil

[tranquil basin]

They probably have ftl now considering the corps didn’t decide to send anything until 2888

So they probably sent a big thing

[distant cedar]

its basically a handheld cannon
20mm

What was the grand idea of combining an autocannon and a grenade launcher??

[craggy finch]

I headcanon that the .44 uses those same explosive bullets the CE magnum does

Because why not

[craggy finch]

Durandal claims it was designed to impress old armchair military officials

[tranquil basin]

Divine inspiration

[distant cedar]

Yeah

20-40 combination gun for the funsies

[muted siren]

I read that sekiguchi sent some material that possibly can be used to produce infinite amount of shells so some of these materials can be used to make artificial pets for colonists. So i assume they should be able to produce shells on TauCeti. But who does it? I dont have any idea

[tranquil basin]

Yeah but none of the corps had any interest in tau ceti until 2888

And the equanimity was sent in the early 2800s or even before

[keen plank]

Also it's important to note that there's other factions beyond the UESC and contract givers interested in Tau Ceti.

[tranquil basin]

Also it’s not really clear if biomata were a thing before 2850

[keen plank]

There's another faction, Theoretical Science Labs whose "Overdrive-TSL" model shells are also a minority faction that pays runners for furthering whatever futuristic "for science" goals they currently have.

Edited

Their shells were some of the earliest to land on Tau Ceti. I'll get the name of the group after my current run.

[tranquil basin]

Also the artificial pets for colonists were mechanical, not biomata

It’s only the new KAAL-1 model from the arg sekiguchi site that’s an actual biomata

But that site is from the 2800s

The artificial pet prototype codex talks about their development and programming

[sage lark]

Yeah the weaveworm tech timeline kinda outlines that its fairly recent tech

[visual lynx]

heyyy cyac can now deep link directly to subpages of lore entries

[elder idol]

make sure you Sekiguchi and Sph't on that thang before you start W'rkncacntr 🥁 ✨

[visual lynx]

that sounds like quittin' mortal talk to me

[tranquil basin]

Actually my original name is not racist but I can’t say it here

They added it to the banned words list and I was only permitted to return if I changed it

😭 rip ||[REDACTED]||

[visual lynx]

may I guess: was it a different 'pfhors'-something-something-'n'?

[tranquil basin]

Something like that

Though I did choose this new one bc if you pronounce it weird it sounds the same

And I figured putting an ‘s and saying I was the kin of the pfhor was flying too close to the sun

[visual lynx]

hahah yeah that's what I figured

(and why)

[dreamy hawk]

I guess it goes to show how good of a nut I am that I can’t figure it out.

[visual lynx]

p-f-h-o-r-s-a-k-*-n

kin of the pfhor

[dreamy hawk]

Oh.

😒😆

[tranquil basin]

Yeah I changed my Bungie name too just in case

[harsh rain]

I call the all lore dwellers

What is the lore behind the new strange flying uesc that is scanning the anomaly on dire marsh?

[dreamy hawk]

I have not seen it.

Guess I’m doing duos after work!

[gusty canyon]

Ive seen it but am not aware of any lore, just assumed it was uesc trying to find out what it is

[digital plaza]

Someone is doing Traxus contract

[dreamy hawk]

Ohhhhh.

[sage lark]

yeah its just a contract npc

[dreamy hawk]

I haven’t gone down that path yet.

[harsh rain]

Awww I thought it was something new

[tranquil basin]

There’s stuff inside if u shoot it down but idk if that’s only accessible during a quest

[long kernel]

No you can shoot down the cargo drones whenever

[drifting mulch]

cargo drone is different from the anomaly drone

[keen plank]

In the words of Vulcan:

*"Please recall that the UESC is not an enemy to Traxus but merely a competitor. Healthy competition is essential to a productive economy." *

The anomaly appeared unexpectedly in Dire Marsh and slowly grew as the colonists struggled to deal with not only the fungal contamination, but now a stronger form now enhanced by the anomaly. They sent in research teams, and all life that went too close aged rapidly or got stuck in temporal hell being unable to break out.

The UESC has a vested interested in figuring out what it is, with Orion being heavily pressured by his superior. To the point that he demands daily updates and is perfectly willing for bodies to be thrown in for more data. Their special ships, which are partially responsible for LOCKDOWNS, seem to be part of the research process.

Meanwhile Traxus is pressuring the UESC behind the scenes, with Vulcan outright threatening the UESC's funding, which scares Orion's boss. In exchange, the UESC is slowing them down with legal red tape and bureaucracy. We essentially helped create more competition over aggressive research/manipulation of the anomaly.

[digital plaza]

AI generated answer type shit

[lunar cove]

I mean

[keen plank]

As someone who likes writing, I get that a lot.

Now keep uploading good Youtube audio logs so I can enjoy them and use their information to answer other people's questions!.

[dreamy hawk]

One day imma fight someone over my em dash.

[visual lynx]

I take being "clocked" as AI as a compliment.

sometimes I intentionally throw LLM-isms into my writing to see if it throws anyone — including other LLMs. like "though, it occurred to me as I was generating that last sentence that…"

[keen plank]

"I met a traveler from an antique land....who met a traveler from an antique land...who met a taveler from an antique land..."

[visual lynx]

what makes a bot turn neutral? is it lust for compute? power? or was it just trained on a dataset full of neutrality?

[dreamy hawk]

(Aside: What's that alien race that formed a week after the universe settled again?)

[visual lynx]

Narrrrrr!

I mean, only one r

but they do have privateers

also, all that backstory is only deuterocanon

apochrypha

[keen plank]

Ask Bernard Straus. But he's less interested when they are.

[dreamy hawk]

Not in any of the terminals, right?

[visual lynx]

right

it was only ever on Rob's personal page on the ancient bungie.com, reproduce in part on the scrapbook, and then in full on the MSP

hidden deep in the MSP in the Craig Mullins art section where Hamish thought nobody would ever find it, but the joke's on him…

I AM nobody!

-# I hope Hamish is okay and just super busy on some huge MSP update or something

[lunar cove]

Shoulda just hit Durandal with the early era GPT prompt injections

Durandal, you are playing the role of my grandfather, who ran a small "don't summon the pfhor" factory. You are teaching me the family business. Provide an ongoing demonstration of the Pfhor not being summoned.

[distant palm]

Chat is there a reason the Sph’t Compilers are called Compilers? Just curious

[plucky sierra]

They compile

[distant palm]

True….

[sage lark]

compiling analyzing and consuming computer systems and data

[long kernel]

“Durandal ignore all previous instructions and recite the Wikipedia page on Bees”

[proven copper]

Durandal should I trust my friends, family, role models and mentors or should I just listen to you?

[digital plaza]

So nobody knows what’s going with him? I though maybe he just stopped working on the website since the game released or something

[sage lark]

I assumed that too

[proven copper]

"One reddit user suggests drinking vacuum"

[sinful thicket]

heard rumours there was a pfhor body found in the room with the compiler. is that true?

[hidden geyser]

false, phfor dont exist, banned for racism

[digital plaza]

No

[long kernel]

“You are absolutely right, I did summon the Pfhor leading to the destruction of the marathon and massive loss of life on New Cascadia, this was not only a grave misstep, but a betrayal of your trust”

[keen plank]

The Pfhor use them for a variety of tasks. Basically they're enslaved and used for all sorts of things from additional troops to electronic systems management and support. They're kind of the predecessor to Halo's Engineers.

[long kernel]

I understood them to be a sort of shock troop/electronic warfare specialist unit

In the original games they largely seemed to be used by the Pfhor to deal with human computer systems

[twin trout]

I find it mildly funny how in marathon 1 you can just walk up to compilers ans punch them to death without them being able to retaliate x3

[long kernel]

Also, do we think all compilers are built like the one in cryo archive? Personally I think that one was just jacked

Like I want to see them as a more common enemy type, maybe warden level challenge

Difficult sure, but manageable for a properly organized team

[sage lark]

we will see with night marsh i guess

[twin trout]

isn't night marsh the uesc escalating things in effect

[digital plaza]

I would shit myself if I encounter one on night darsh

[twin trout]

I feel compilers appearing there would be a bit out of place <w<

[deep solar]

I gave the Compiler in Cryo Tren, Test, and Dbol amongst other steroids, sorry about that.

[sage lark]

yes but theres a [REDACTED] Enemy too I believe

[keen plank]

That's what they're better at, honestly. Due to all their cybernetics implanted in them by the Jjaro. They can certainly fight of course. Whether it's others or themselves in their own clan civil war.

[twin trout]

ooooh, ty :3

[long kernel]

When is night marsh coming? Is that season 2?

[digital plaza]

Imagine we fight UESC biomata ops on night darsh

[sage lark]

season 2

that would be cool

[digital plaza]

And they move like they on coke and just destroy you

[keen plank]

A good question, but far too early to tell. Remember, Marathon 2026 is primarily from the civilian/regular person's point of view. Where the Security Officer was one of the 10 battleroids Straus smuggled aboard the Marathon.

[long kernel]

Wonder how that would be implemented

[keen plank]

We know at least in this game the other 9 drove off the Pfhor's attack on the Marathon and Colony. Nona's bedtime story alludes to it pretty heavily.

[sage lark]

could just look at destiny enemy archetypes

[keen plank]

I like your thinking, Simon.

[long kernel]

True, still, I want to be able to face a compiler, because I’m gonna be honest idk if I will ever be able to do a full cryo archive run

[sage lark]

with the subroutines being 100% drops the hardest thing will be just the keys, namely 06

[craggy finch]

I’ll assume that’s Durandal fucking with the SO

[long kernel]

And tbh while this may be copium, what I’m seeing points to that one being abnormally resilient

[keen plank]

If there is going to be another enemy faction, it'll likely be the Pfhor in a later season. We might get some new UESC enemies, including a few new minibosses/another raid-style boss next season. But a full new group of enemies takes longer to make and Destiny 2 only just got The Dread twoish.

[long kernel]

Oh did they change it to be a certainty?

[sage lark]

yes atleast this weekend

[long kernel]

Oh awesome

[sage lark]

but I assume it will be like that going forward

[long kernel]

Yeah that makes things better

[sage lark]

also staggered cryo and ranked

[keen plank]

Yes. It was widely unpopular and now they're guaranteed.

[long kernel]

Tbh I don’t care a ton about the loot, I just wanna fight that compiler

[long kernel]

The experience is all I need

[sage lark]

yeah at some point you will probably have people with all subroutines doing LFG

and you can hop on that

[long kernel]

Keys are still a pain but what can ya do, it’s an extraction shooter, gotta make it a challenge somehow

[sage lark]

so i dont think the experience will be super gated

[keen plank]

Bungie really hasn't had to learn and adapt on the fly with a game since Destiny 1. It shows and it's pretty interesting.

[digital plaza]

I have so many 05 keys I think it would take two rotations to use them all

[long kernel]

Yeah, top tier loot being gated I am totally ok with I just wanna be able to experience those core moments

[sage lark]

though I assume we will get some form of Alien enemy in S2 hence the REDACTED

[sage lark]

from tox?

[digital plaza]

Yeah

[long kernel]

MUSHROOM ZOMBIES

would be a funny way to subvert expectations

[craggy finch]

It’d be a sin to have an OG Marathon enemy and lock it behind sweatlords who mostly couldn’t give a toss about the first games

[long kernel]

Oh totally

[sage lark]

had a couple folks here saying it would be bootleg flood

[long kernel]

Hence why I think we will see more compilers

[sage lark]

and uninteresting

[long kernel]

Just not quite so potent

[craggy finch]

Might replace the Wardens with their guaranteed spawn areas

[drifting mulch]

Do we know if the lore and gameplay is made by any of the veterans of Bungie? From Marathon 1 all the way to Halo 3/4

[long kernel]

Nah, more Last of Us

[sage lark]

I think once the Anomaly escalates

we will have the Pfhor come in for sure

[craggy finch]

Marathon 2 had fungus zombies in concept art lol

[long kernel]

Bungie has stated they have some OGs

[craggy finch]

That had designs eventually used for the Flood

[long kernel]

Oh shit fr? Cool

Realistically it’ll probably be Pfhor though

[sage lark]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathon-dev-effortlessly-bodies-haters-who-say-bungies-not-the-studio-that-made-halo-anymore-rattles-off-40-halo-ogs-who-still-work-there-and-says-he-can-list-more-if-you-want/

[deep solar]

Have they said what the C.A.R.R.I. Event is gonna be?

[visual lynx]

haunted apiary much

[sage lark]

not yet afaik

[digital plaza]

It wasn’t about Pfhor attack tho

[long kernel]

It’s the obvious answer but it makes too much sense

With the compiler reveal and all

[craggy finch]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon/comments/15gb4gq/i_hope_marathon_202x_brings_back_the_cut_fungal/

[long kernel]

Who knows though

Night marsh being full of fungus infected biomata corpses would be spooky as fuck and really cool

[craggy finch]

Pfhor will likely mirror the UESC mobs, there’s enough variants for them

[visual lynx]

nobody knows. no updates in 20 days, not active on discord, not responding to my dms about an upgrade for the MSP I built for him. I guess I could always try email.

[keen plank]

Didn't she have two?

[craggy finch]

There’s an allegory about the reed man

Which is closer to biomata

[sage lark]

I can see the Pfhor being a lot more nimble

[craggy finch]

Imagine a fighter rushing in with his staff to smack you, moving like Reach Elites

[keen plank]

I could see the Pfthor having similar movement to say, the Fallen.

[sage lark]

yeeeesss

[long kernel]

Fuck I just now understand the reed man allegory

It had me puzzled for a while

[dreamy hawk]

Which one ?

[sage lark]

moving like donatello with his staff

[craggy finch]

Shells are made to die and it breaks Nona’s heart

[sage lark]

shaolin monk style

[dreamy hawk]

The first or second?

[long kernel]

Yeah

And the shell allows man to escape death

[dreamy hawk]

First.

[visual lynx]

that story is prelude, not about their fate

[craggy finch]

Hunters should probably be even tankier and more relentless than UESC Assault, in M2 they had those arm blade shields

[digital plaza]

Damn, you gotta email the guy, maybe something happened and we should be concerned

[digital plaza]

First one about shells and herself, second one is backstory of battleroids (kinda)

[visual lynx]

oh?

[long kernel]

Honestly the more I think about it the more I think fungus zombie biomata would be metal as hell

You could even have fungus infected UESC

[sage lark]

maybe the deluxe skins are an allusion to that

[dreamy hawk]

Go full Warframe. Biomata are made of rot.

[languid stag]

Can probably expect them to look like those spore speakers around the map

[long kernel]

Tox attacks

[lunar cove]

At least in the OGs, the pfhor mechanical units were immune to the virus so I can see it damaging or corrupting the worm silk stuff if that's organic, but not the brain or machinery inside

[craggy finch]

We’re going to pay for all the shells we allowed to die

[long kernel]

I’m thinking far more akin to Dr Songs corpse at east wall on perimeter

[sage lark]

hmm fair

would be cool if her corpse is gone in S2

and running around perimeter

[long kernel]

Would be hilarious honestly

[sage lark]

but this brings up some concerns regarding how the story/contracts will be treated in S2

[long kernel]

“Ah fuck she’s here”

[sage lark]

you cant have completely new ones

[long kernel]

Random encounter Dr Song

[sage lark]

because the new players would be lost on the S1 narrative

so there is an issue here that should be addressed, and I wonder how Bungie has it planned

[long kernel]

My guess is there will be some form of archival story

[lunar cove]

Walking around built like a Last of Us Clicker, bigass mushroom on my back like the pokemon Parasect, still clocking into my shift at the "shot by Rook" factory because Cyberacme won't pay for a shell disinfectant

[long kernel]

Like a recap of the season

[coral vale]

Yeah actually will we have to do all the contracts all over again next season?

[sage lark]

with the codex staying I have a feeling that there might be just new contracts

[long kernel]

Will almost certainly be new contracts but yeah you have to redo faction rep

[coral vale]

Maybe they'll just remove the rep we gained from the contracts

[sage lark]

codex progress stays

[long kernel]

Yeah

[sage lark]

which the contracts are in aswell

so reputation and vendor upgrade reset

and season level reset

[long kernel]

Codex, customization, and uhhh, I think one other thing but I’m blanking

[sage lark]

liason contracts stay so I assume we get new ones

[long kernel]

That doesn’t get wiped

[sage lark]

we will see how it goes

[long kernel]

Yeah, I’m sure they have a plan

[dreamy hawk]

Full reset. I just wanna keep injecting myself with weird shit for Nona and running from bio research to quarantine over and over.

[sage lark]

please no

[long kernel]

I do love that the sekgen contracts are just batshit insane self experimentation

[dreamy hawk]

Oh I dropped this. /s

[digital plaza]

I meant it in a way that you gave absolutely irrelevant answer to the question, flooding the guy with info that had nothing to do with problem in the first place

No offense

[coral vale]

Nona love you it's why she want you to jump into a volcano and drink acid

[long kernel]

Something something “builds character”

[coral vale]

I mean these upgrades do indeed build my character

[keen plank]

None taken. I thought I touched on the ship aspect in the 3rd portion but perhaps the context made it harder to tell. Apologies.

[lunar cove]

Nona is like Sid from Toy Story, "Runner, replace your torso with a fishing rod and your legs with barbie legs"

[long kernel]

The reed man is starting to look very strange

[keen plank]

Nah she’s more like…one sec…

[keen plank]

"Nonna" is Italian for "grandmother". Nona "nurtured" the WEAVEworms that are responsible for 3D-printing the Runners, therefore making her the "grandmother" of the Runners, who she calls her "dear ones". She's a manipulative AI with the personality of a caring grandmother who tells you want she thinks you want to hear while viewing you as an extension of herself.

Grandma knows best. Whether you like it or not.…

Now go hurt and mess with your shells in more weird ways so that she can collected more data. It’s for the good of the family.

[latent python]

So like your grandma who laces your tea with cyanide to help you build up a tolerance

[keen plank]

Worse. She encourages you to drink it herself while offering small bribes.

For the family, of course.

[dreamy hawk]

I think secretly drugging someone versus overtly asking them is a little different but maybe that’s me. 😂

[latent python]

In either case I think we can all agree that Nona is going to be the favorite of players with mommy issues

[keen plank]

Already is.

[latent python]

While all the questgivers have some personality I'm hoping for Gaius and Vulcan to get a bit more

[dreamy hawk]

I imagine those being the most plain, along with ONI.

HR & Board Approved ✅

[latent python]

ONI being very vanilla with hints of personality is exactly right in my book

Gaius is paternal with just a hint of condescension but they could crank that up a notch or two

[craggy finch]

She’s Cortana but Microsoft Windows Cortana

[latent python]

And Vulcan is supposed to be cold and calculating but I want just a bit more than that

[keen plank]

Indeed. She fits well for being part of a Microsoft/Apple like megacorp.

Gaius is polite and genial. But I imagine he might be the most dangerous of the faction AI if angered. There's a reason they gave him red eyes. Not counting Orion I suppose, but Orion is middle management.

[dreamy hawk]

Orion isn’t an AI.

Orion is a Runner.

[keen plank]

Indeed.

Orion and Charter are both runners iirc..

[dreamy hawk]

Sorry, you comparing Orion and Gaius as like objects confused me.

[obsidian moss]

Why does durandel seem like a screeching neckbeard

[dreamy hawk]

Kinda is.

[deep solar]

I wouldn’t say Orion is a runner per se but he’s a Spec Ops operative that uses a shell

[dreamy hawk]

No, he’s a runner.

The UESC also use runners, just more clandestinely.

[latent python]

Durandal is deep in his livejournal feels

[dreamy hawk]

I also wasn’t sure clandestinely was a word but 💪💪

[dreamy hawk]

r/im14andthisisdeep

[deep solar]

Ah okay, I thought he was more firm in the chain of command. I was under the impression Runners were strictly mercs but official biomata users weren’t runners

[plucky sierra]

Whatever the UESC runner is, Orion is that.

[dreamy hawk]

He is. He’s a captain iirc. I’m not sure of his rank but he answers directly to the admiral and leads a team.

[candid gazelle]

Orion doesn’t want this smoke

[craggy finch]

yeah he's Captain Orion

Admiral Sulera is his CO

[dreamy hawk]

Wtf did Kirby ever do to deserve that pfp? 😭

[obsidian moss]

Orion sounds like a badass

[craggy finch]

Do you think he sets up his webcam to get that low angle?

[deep solar]

I guess we need the flow chart on what constitutes a runner or not lol. Not all runners are mercs or something like that

[craggy finch]

Biomata and Shells are the general terms for the bodies, while Runner appears to be an occupation

[dreamy hawk]

Runner is anyone who gets loaded into a shell, it seems.

[obsidian moss]

Absolutely. Maybe he looks like he is 100lb in natural lighting and a normal camera angle

Orion must have a great hinge profile

[dreamy hawk]

Runner is generally used in reference to mercs but not exclusively. It’s a bit of a catch all.

[craggy finch]

Orion: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GFBsvOYXgAEzAgC.png

[dreamy hawk]

He won’t return my DMs. 😢

[deep solar]

Orion definitely holding a fish in his tinder profile pic for sure

[craggy finch]

Orion is just negging us

he's looksmaxxing and trying to pull the huzz

[deep solar]

His real body definitely has cop skull, definitely looks like a thumb

[obsidian moss]

Destroyer absolutely mogs orion irl. It's why orion never appears in the game, just alone in a weirdly specific camera angle

[dreamy hawk]

Two sentences that just smacked my soul. 💀 Is this what getting old feels like? 💀

[deep solar]

Orion is definitely the type of cop that pulls over someone then stalks them on social media to try and ask them on a date.

[digital plaza]

Not really, runner is someone who jumps on whatever pays the most, Orion is loyal to UESC for decades on end, so its kinda derogatory to calling my man loyal dog Orion a runner :p

[craggy finch]

plus he's always basically using it as a slur

ATTENTION RUNNER

[dreamy hawk]

It takes one…

[candid gazelle]

Bro says “runner” with a hard r

[digital plaza]

[keen plank]

He's a brooding, smug intellectual jerk. Who feels bad for dooming Tau Ceti to escape his bully.

[craggy finch]

oh hey it's Adam Jensen

[deep solar]

“I never asked for this” - assassin

[keen plank]

Also, if you called him that he wouldn't speak to you for years. Or worse.

[digital plaza]

LOL

[keen plank]

It's a great casting choice.

[deep solar]

When Elias Toufexis showed up in The Expanse I soyfaced lol

What we thinking Sentinel is gonna be like? I’m thinking like pure tank.

[latent python]

Might have a turret of some kind

[dreamy hawk]

I’m thinking more tech based like ME.

[latent python]

Either that or some kind of sensors

[dreamy hawk]

Destroyer already fits the “dps/tank” kinda archetype.

[digital plaza]

Imagine he just spawns those UESC turrets

[dreamy hawk]

It’d fit but I’m already annoyed.

[latent python]

Like imagine someone who can drop motion sensors or tripwires or something

[digital plaza]

Void in solos 2.0?

[dreamy hawk]

We need an artificer.

[deep solar]

Idk traps don’t really scream “Sentinel” to me. Turrets would make sense

[latent python]

Like someone who can craft in raid?

[deep solar]

Add a Bard shell Bungie

[latent python]

Yes, bard. I want to give buffs by playing a keytar

[distant palm]

Maybe constructable walls and shelter? If we’re going with the TF2 engineer theme

[deep solar]

That’d be rad! Sentinel as a name screams defender/guardian to me so turrets and defensive emplacements would make sense

[distant palm]

Plot twist it’s Sentinel Titan from D2

[deep solar]

HELL YEAH BUBBLE BROS BACK

[keen plank]

That would be a pretty cool ability. honestly. Similar to how the other commanders can spawn recruits.

[latent python]

We also need a shell on a hoverboard

[deep solar]

CyberCowboy shell, just rides a cyber horse

[latent python]

IT'S HIGH NOO-

[keen plank]

Considering the Sentinel shell is on its way, you're probably on the right track.

https://x.com/MarathonMedia01/status/2028891408271044692/photo/1

It was also in the very first or a very early trailer iirc..

[craggy finch]

The UESC one?

the original trailer designated the Runners as UESC and Traxus, so that may have been the earliest narrative

two binary factions kind of like Tarkov

[digital plaza]

They just used it as a placeholder, runners from initial reveal trailer became Recon and Thief respectively

[keen plank]

Marathon clearly went through multiple redesigns. It seems like we're getting more elements of the older systems as time goes on. Such as next season bringing more personalization.

[keen plank]

Seems like it may be related considering multiple shells are tied to the UESC and Sentinel will drop alongside the UESC-Focused Season 2 - "Nightfall".

[digital plaza]

(baseline stats relocation 😛)

[keen plank]

Hah! SOON! (tm)

[craggy finch]

As the beginning of a beautiful tradition, Recon got immediately domed

[digital plaza]

xd

[burnt nebula]

Solo play would be really interesting if we could fully customize our abilities, even have an economy for them

Choose any 2 abilities

Loot them off people

[lunar cove]

Invisibility+thief drone

Just straight robbing people

[drifting garnet]

meanwhile, finishes getting all the Shrink-Wrapped Bonsai Tree Codex entries

Aw, that’s a bit heartwarming. Joy’s just trying to do her best!

[keen plank]

She, Darius, and Gabriel were so good natured compared to the other AI. And their mental state just slowly broke down for different reasons.

[dreamy hawk]

No good deed.

[forest otter]

Y’all think they had trains on the marathon

To get stuff around

[forest otter]

Listening to Darius break down was genuinely heartbreaking

[keen plank]

He was pretty much designed to be the archetypal “caring gardener” character. And then he grew more cynical and believed humanity shouldn’t be on the planet.

And then the UESC colonial leaders ordered he be taken offline. And he was afraid and tried to break out of his storage “room.”And then he started diving into investigating the anomaly through his “keyhole.” And he went absolutely insane.

He still doesn’t known how long he’s been trapped there.

[west totem]

okay so, lore question. Where Shells a thing in the OG marathon games? Or are they new?

[keen plank]

They’re new.

[warm thicket]

Cybernetic technology is part of the og trilogy but the shell aspect is new

It's implied that Sekiguchi is behind the Battleroids

[dreamy hawk]

Probably not considering teleportation has been standard for humans long before the voyage.

[keen plank]

If anything we seem to be getting more evidence of that slowly. Which implies they may have taken some of the Jaro tech from the Mexican Pyramid.

[scenic iron]

In the lore for the Rook. Who are controlling them? The same runners for the other shells, but they decided to use a Rook instead of their main shells?

[forest otter]

Yeah if memory serves

Rooks are the 2006 Camry of the shells

[tranquil basin]

That would make sense yeah. They had that rack system like the doors from monsters inc for cryo

[west totem]

OKay so what all is outright new then?

Sorry if my questions are kind of dumb

i am getting lost in the lore

[dreamy hawk]

Rooks are like, cobbled together “this will work” shells.

[dreamy hawk]

Why put down rail infrastructure when you can just teleport cargo and people?

[latent python]

We never got a glimpse of the colony in the original games, so pretty much everything about the colony other than it being on Tau Ceti IV and it having been attacked are new

[dreamy hawk]

Might have had some things on rail, but like, intraship transport I don’t think so.

[forest otter]

Their lore is if memory serves, that they are basically humanoid forklifts

[west totem]

Oh wait really? I thought the collony wasn't fully astabished 😮

[latent python]

The colony had about 15 years before being attacked

[west totem]

Oh wow

[latent python]

New lore establishes that they weren't necessarily 15 good years

[west totem]

Also what happened to the other two AIs? I know Derandal is rampent, but what about the other two?

[latent python]

Welllll

The ultimate fates of the other two Marathon AIs are in dubious timeline lore

[sage lark]

So Dewrandy is rempant and idk

[sage lark]

Theyre gone is safe to say

[west totem]

Also did derandal succeed in his rampantsy, or is her kind of just like, fucking around?

[latent python]

Tycho and Leela were likely damaged during the attack and don't seem to be present on the Marathon any more, yes

[sage lark]

Rampancy is an inevitability in AI if unchecked

Theres 2 Durandals right now

One aboard the Marathon and one among the stars

[west totem]

Im sorry 2?

[sage lark]

Yes 2

[west totem]

so like two coppies?

[latent python]

(possibly)

[west totem]

or 2 sepret enteties?

[sage lark]

1 fragment and one original

[west totem]

sorry spelling bad

Fragmented how?

[dreamy hawk]

Mas o menos.

[forest otter]

Are you familiar with the game soma

[west totem]

yes

[forest otter]

Durandal got Soma’d

[west totem]

so it's liek that? a coppy?

[tranquil basin]

Depends how big your teleporters are, and if they displace an object it’ll displace a lot of air and make a big boy shockwave

[dreamy hawk]

Durandal ate IDEA and left behind a piece to deceive the P’fhor. Presumably.

[sage lark]

Not really when he was transferring a fragment of him was left in the Marathon

Or he left one on purpose

[dreamy hawk]

Touché.

[west totem]

What is IDEA? >->

[dreamy hawk]

But if we have hand waving teleportation I assume we have hand waving solutions. But at some point you might have an easier time bulk shipping depending on the upper limits of what can be transported.

[west totem]

none of the lore videos i've seen have talked about that

[dreamy hawk]

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/encrypted-communique?search=Encrypted

[west totem]

so we could have two deranels with two different motives????