Story explained and ending [spoilers]

[jtron365]

I want to make this discussion so there are a better understand of the games story, I have heard one too many time that this whole story is just a dream, and I would like to stop that. First the FACTS these are things the game has written down and I can point to.
• The two characters are white hair lade (Yeong, Ariane) and Elster (real human name Itou, Erika) the two of them are sent out to explore the galaxy.
• Unfortunately, the government who is a dictatorship is very very callous does not tell the two-man crew that there exploring trip is one way. They are told that the Replika unit should just kill the human on board so that she does not suffer.
• Having found this how Elster refuses to kill Yeong, Ariane and so they continue to fly the ship in hopes in finding a planet to live.
• The ship how ever was never Designed to last this long, the time of life for the ship was about 3,000 cycles after that everything would break down, food running low Elster puts Yeong, Ariane in a cryopod in the hope of extending here life however life is not great the ship nuclear reactor is breaking and leaking and both Elster and Yeong, Ariane gets radiation poisoning.
• At this point pain is just existence Yeong, Ariane is just falling apart losing teeth and hair and Elster is not doing to well ether both will die from this alone, but elster still will not kill Yeong, Ariane and put her out of her misery
• At these last moments Yeong, Ariane just wants to die, here is where things get blurry but put a pin on this point.
• Years later a mining facility is formed, everything is going well until a new disease shows up and everyone starts to die.
• The patient zero for this disease is Falke Replika this is where is all started
• Things fall apart, out of nowhere Elster comes back to save Yeong, Ariane

Ok this is the were things get weird so far there are notes for all the things going on after this the note get weirder and speculation become the norm

• First what happen to the Prime Elster and Yeong, Ariane
The ship lands/crash onto a snow planet I am not sure if Yeong, Ariane and elster are still alive at this point but I thiiiiinnng so? Whatever the case Yeong, Ariane interacts with a strange artifact that turns her into a god of sorts. As for Elster she dies of the radiation poisoning.
• Were they called to the planet is the artifact evil?
Not sure honestly if anything it’s seems neutral, was it luck that the planet they landed/crash on had the artifact again not sure?
• Ok what’s all this about Yeong, Ariane being a dreaming god?
It’s exactly as I said Yeong, Ariane is a god that whatever she dreams becomes real just like Lovecraft Azathoth the twist is that every time she turns in her sleep or more likely remembers a bad time in her life and given, she was bullied in school and the government is dictatorship things were not the best in her life. To add to the fun the finale moments of her life were just pain and a slow death.
• What is Elster?
Easy the knight in shing armor, quite literally at the end of the game, she is what Yeong, Ariane dreams of saving her getting her out or at the very least ending her suffering and in turn Elster wishes to save Yeong, Ariane no matter the cost to herself.
• So, the whole thing a dream?
No everything that happen the mining facility happen the monsters everything the things that even the classroom meat world, every time Yeong, Ariane remembering a bad time in her life and turns over in her endless sleep the real world gets more infected by the meat thing!??? How ever place that are remember with better memories are not infected by the meat thing like Rot-Front
that place is what happens when Yeong, Ariane does not hate the place she dreams of.
• Is the ship real?
No the ships seems to be personification of Yeong, Ariane mind the real ship probably dust by the time the game really starts.
• The endings
The ending is real but Unfortunately Yeong, Ariane is a GOD whether or not she “kills”, “stays by her side” or just “leaves” the prime GOD form is not harmed or really help by Elster the nowhere classroom and every sigh of the game make it clear this a cycle. whatever Elster does to Yeong, Ariane nothing will change.
• my only chance (ending)
The artifact ending is the true ending of the game Elster cannot get Yeong, Ariane out or even kill her, so the best she can do is interact with the very same artifact that made Yeong, Ariane a dreaming god and join her in the endless dream unlike the memory ending Elster don’t need force here way into the ship she is just there with Yeong, Ariane and even though they are stuck there they are at least together with someone they care for.
Questions without Answers
• I have no idea who or even what is Itou, Isa
I know she is the sister of Elster AKA Itou, Erika that’s cool and all but WHY are you here? Yeong, Ariane does not know her and Elster would only have vague memory of her so like why is she here I just don’t know.
• Why was Falke the only other one that could go thought the gate?
This one is just weird I again have no Idea why that is the case.

[mind-boggled]

The story is crap once you start piecing things together. Great atmosphere, but weak story telling in my opinion.

[NuclearRodent]

Good post, I agree, just reposting with spelling/grammar/flow corrections, adding context, and periodically adding my thoughts.


I am creating this thread so that there is a better understanding of the game's story; I have heard one too many times that this whole story is just a dream, and I would like to stop that.

First the FACTS: These are things the game has written down and I can point to:
• The two main characters are the white-haired female Gestalt (Yeong, Ariane) and female Replika Elster (real human name/replika of Itou, Erika). The two of them are sent out to explore the galaxy in search of a habitable planet.
• Yeong, Ariane is a Bio-resonant.
• Yeong, Ariane was not guaranteed to explore the galaxy: In the event she was not chosen, she would be sent to Sierpinski S-23.
• Unfortunately, the totalitarian government is very callous and does not tell the two-man crew that they will only survive the trip if they find a habitable planet (NOTE: Iirc the note in the ship just after "dying", but before the dance is worded as "reminding" them that the trip is one-way and the ship will only last 3000 cycles before the reactor begins leaking radiation, but I haven't found the note). In the (likely) event that they don't find a habitable planet, they are told that the Replika unit should just kill the human on board so that they do not suffer.
• Having found this out, Elster refuses to kill Yeong, Ariane, and so they continue to fly the ship with the hope of finding a planet to live.
• With the ship breaking down and food running low, however, Elster puts Yeong, Ariane in a cryo-pod intending to extend her life until they find a planet. Being preserved by the cryo-pod means a painful, eternal death, however: Leaking radiation gives both Elster and Yeong, Ariane severe radiation sickness; Yeong, Ariane is slowly falling apart, losing her teeth, hair and sanity, while Elster simultaneously breaks down. Yet despite their pain, Elster cannot bring herself to end their suffering despite Yeong, Ariane's pleas.
• Some time later Elster is reawakened by Yeong, Ariane and finds they have crash-landed on a planet (this part will be revisited, as I interpret the planet as being initially Leng, but through reality warping Rotfront). Elster discovers Ariane is not in the cryo-pod, and leaves the ship in search of her.
• Centuries later Sierpinski S-23 is formed on Leng. Everything is going well until a new disease appears that kills all of the Gestalts and reanimates the Replikas. The patient zero for this disease is the Replika Falke.
• At the beginning of the game Elster starts in the first floor bathroom of Sierpinski S-23 to save Yeong, Ariane.


Now for the speculation: The story is difficult to follow as notes start to seem contradictory and paradoxical.

• The planet
The ship crash-lands on to a planet, but where and when they landed is unclear. I believe the two initially crash-landed on Leng, Elster set off a distress signal, then died; somehow the reactor hasn't sufficiently broken down to stop powering the cryo-pod and Ariane is still alive. As the cycles pass Ariane's bioresonance becomes god-like, able to both broadcast across space and time and manipulate the local fabric of reality like the Kolibris. Thus, the snowy planet we see is Rotfront, which was a source of comfort and familarity for Elster, but the actual planet was Leng, where Sierpinski S-23 would eventually be built. Over tens of thousands of cycles, the ship sinks deep into the crust.

• Prime Elster and Ariane the Lovecraftian goddess
As the cycles pass trapped in the crust of Leng, Ariane's bioresonance becomes god-like, able to broadcast across space and time. This ability is used subconsciously to blend and broadcast many things, including:
-Elster's broken psyche and Ariane's desire for them to end her suffering, on to all replikas on Leng. This is why most of the replikas we meet have gone insane, being unable to distinguish between themselves and Elster, and do not die unless they're burned. Elster's and Falkes are not as affected by the broadcast, as they already contained the memories and are able to process them more easily;
-Her severe pain from the radiation sickness, hence the deaths of the Gestalts reminiscent of radiation poisoning;
-Her psyche, background, and appearance onto Alina Seo. There is a note describing how in the event Ariane is not selected for space travel, she will be sent to Sierpinsky S-23. Instead, I believe this note was fabricated by her subconscious: Ariane was always destined to pilot the ship, while Alina was always destined to go to Sierpinsky S-23. Ariane's subconscious is unable to keep hers and Alina's backgrounds separate, however, and creates to the note based off mixed memories to try and make sense;
-Her memories and feelings, including her boring and painful childhood on Rotfront;
The most consistently broadcasted concept, however, which draws Elsters across space and time to the crash-site on Leng, is for her suffering to end.

• The artifact/monster
By interpreting Ariane's transformation into a goddess I argue she is the monster and there is no artifact: All mentions of the monster are based off unreliable notes, and it frankly makes more sense to me that her subconscious has created these notes based off what she sees herself doing.

• What was Sierpinsky S-23 mining
I believe the mine was established on Leng by a Falke, who are all based off the prime Elster that initially crashed on Leng, in order to reach Ariane.

• Why are Falke and Elster the only Replikas able to go past the gate?
This is because they are the only replikas with memories/psyches that Ariane recognizes. Falke is able to come close to Ariane in fact, but once Ariane's subconscious realizes Falke is not Elster, she pushes her away.

• Falke's final comments
Once Falke reaches Ariane at the bottom of the mine, she is heartbroken because she is not who Ariane desired, and is rejected. Out of jealousy and insanity, Falke attacks anybody attempting to reach Ariane, especially Elster. Her final comments of finally being one are in reference to being one with the deceased prime Elster.

• Why Adler attacks you:
Adler attacks you for killing Falke, who he had attached to as a source of stability, and for aiding in the disruption of reality. Moreover, every time Elster passes the gate a second time, reality becomes more corrupted.

• So, was the whole game a dream?
Short answer, no. Longer answer, not exactly. Some of the events of the game do happen according to our sense of reality, some events did happen but are experienced out of sequence, and some events are fabricated by Ariane's subconscious.

For example Sierpinski S-23 and the reanimated replikas are real, the apartment block of Rotfront was a part of Ariane's childhood out of sequence, and the meat is fabricated by Ariane's subconscious. If we model various parallel realities as strings, Ariane's meddlings have clumped, twisted, tied, and possibly merged those strings together so there is no end in sight.

• Which ending is canon?
All endings are simultaneously canon, and there are signs that it is all a cycle; using quantum mechanics we could say that we don't know which ending is "true" until we collapse the wave function by discovering what ending we get. Because every Ariane across space and time becomes a goddess, it doesn't matter whether one of them dies in the kill ending, and staying by her side or not entering the ship obviously doesn't kill her, restarting the cycle. You could interpret strands of reality continuing past the event, however, for every kill ending received. Incidentally, this is a nice way of explaining the replay-ability of the game: Each new game is restarting the cycle.

• My only chance (ending)
After an undetermined number of cycles some Elsters realize there is no escape. Instead, their only salvation is to respond to Ariane's subconscious in particular ways that are only discovered through numerous loops (playthroughs). When you play a "perfect" loop, and contact Ariane with the lily, one of several things may happen:
-Elster becomes a bioresonant and joins her dream (not likely imo);
-Ariane ejects herself from her body using bioresonance to become a powerful entity retaining her memories;
-Elster goes completely insane and imagines herself dancing with Ariane before dying.

• Why is Itou, Isa at Sierpinsky S-23?
We know she is the sister of Itou, Erika, who is believed to be who Elster is based off of, but Yeong, Ariane does not know her and Elster would only have vague memory of her. It could be that the same pull that brought Elster's across space and time had the unintended affect of bringing Isa to try and find Erika/Elster,


Did this all in one sitting, and it's late, so I'll leave citations to anybody who agrees with my interpretation :p.

[KomiChris]

All great discussion I almost entirely gleaned the same ideas as OP after my play-through on Xbox.

My own additions/differences/speculations to build on OP:

Regarding Centuries later Sierpinski S-23 is formed on Leng.
I disagree that centuries have passed.

I make the assumption that the game is using our solar system, I've seen some people against that idea and naturally the number of planets shown is at odds with this but I have some arguments for my notion before I continue:

1. The solar bodies mentioned in game are exclusively those that are inhabited. Both Heimat & Rotfront are moons of what appear as Saturn & Jupiter. The moons are named, gas giants ignored.
2. Vineta is described as the cradle of humanity
3. The superstition of the ever watching eye on Rotfront is a storm, referencing Jupiters great red spot.
4. Lastly, and most importantly the "Oort Cloud" exists in Signalis as it does for you and I.

Continuing, assuming 1 cycle is essentially an Earth day we're in the range of ~16 years from Penrose launch to crash.

Going off notes about bioressonance & changing the clocks on the Penrose. There are points that conventional technologies have not advanced as fast as bio-engineering, and given the slowing of the clock on the Penrose I make the assumption that the Penrose can reach "a" relativistic velocity but nothing near practical enough to possibly breach the Oort Cloud. I've sure some big brain could calculate it but I'm not down that bad.

I agree with the notion that Elster would have tried to get help resulting in them crashing on Leng (Pluto) I've seen arguments surrounding the mechanism for how the ship could be turned but I think those are arbitrary debates. Arianes notes extend past the point of her becoming ill and going in & out of cyro. From a logical standpoint, Elster probably would have "turned around" around cycle 3000 the moment things started going bad.

Regarding Itou, Isa.
She is Itou, Isolde. Isa for short.
There are notes about military enrollment in the Rotfront that clearly say, if you're not cut out for the Military you get sent to the mine instead. Based on medical reports in Rotfront, Isolde certainly seems unfit for duty, presumably, she was sent to the mine.
It's suggested that she and Erika both died prior to Ariane departing on the Penrose by the shrine in the bookstore. Ariane/Falke bring her back to life with each loop.

How is the Penrose is under the mine?
Here I speculate it is the result of bioresonance & a feedback loop.
The mine predates the Penrose program, it was on Leng prior to the crash.
Falke, is the most bioresonant being on Leng, a literal godlike entity, Ariane, while only human is also bioresonant. Consider how we use a signal feedback loop to defeat Kolibris. I would suggest that the moment Ariane and Falke came within a certain range of one another their memories, and subsequently, the physical characteristics of Leng became overlapped, literally. Falke's diary suggests that she was overwhelmed by Ariane's memories.

Regarding who may cross the gate. I'd say the gate is the threshold between the believed worlds of Falke & Ariane, only those with memory/connection of the Penrose/Ariane can cross it. When Falke inherited memories from Ariane, she learned of Elster & the Penrose. As a result, Falke & Elster gained the capacity to cross in either direction.

Regarding "Canon Endings"
I believe that all of the endings are canon and have a sequence to them. The world is not a dream, but nothing is entirely reset each time Ariane wakes. Again, I see it as a 50/50, reality being maintained by Falke/Ariane. Waking Ariane is only a half reset as she continually resurrects the replikas she & Falke knows of, including Falke.
Ariane is ultimately immortal by the time the game begins, and the loops never end.

I propose the sequence of endings are:
1. Artifact
The Artifact ending loops 6 times. Ariane desired to disappear from the world and in this iteration she essentially has. Elster does not remember the promise, nor much of what occurred. She grieves for an obtuse "object of value" unable to see Ariane.

2. Promise
Elster eventually remembers the promise as things deteriorate each loop. She goes into this loop guns blazing and despite her emotions goes through with the promise.

3. Memory
The promise didn't work. Elster makes another loop, she can't bring herself to needlessly kill Ariane again. She lies back to die peacefully.

4. Leave
Dying peacefully didn't work. Elster can't manage the grief. She tries to escape it all.

Lastly, some quick thoughts on:

Falke's final comments
I suspect by this point she has largely lost her concept of self, when she says "we've become one" I think this is a double entendre, she is speaking as Ariane to Elster and speaking as Falke to Ariane.

Why Adler attacks you
By design Alder is more or less built to adore and depend on Falke. By corruption, Alder comes to love Falke. Adler is sharp, and his journal makes him aware of the loops. Eventually, he identifies Elster as the cause of the looping and tries to prevent Elster from crossing the gate.

Just my thoughts! Time to get back into cryo.

[samvaio]

First of all, apologies for the necro but this is the post with all the best theories I have found and it deserves a necro.

Before we begin, I’d advise you to read all the comments above to understand what you are about to read.

A dream about dreaming or red dream (the start, red hole on the ground), is not really a dream but rather a twisted reality.

The mission was never about finding life with a degraded ship, it was about disposing Ariane Yeong, just like the late empress.

Ariane never had the knowledge of the ability of altering space and time but with her suffering and desperation it surfaced with her resonance and to save Elster.
It was also what the Spy was afraid of. More details on 1.2 patch about Synchronicity, the ability of mind to alter the physical world.

The artifact which represents Signalis is quite possibly the manifestation of Ariane’s mind, which well sends signals.

The promise, the one Elster forgot was not to end Ariane’s suffering but to always be with her, but she thanks her on Promise ending as Elster tried to end her suffering. (A lil late)

Also, it was the merged body of Ariane, Alina Seo and Felker and not the real Ariane Yeong.
The one with evil smile we see with red background is Alina-Ariane.
Yes, Falke saying "we've become one" is about her merging with Ariane.

Alina photograph on Penrose was left by Alina-Ariane, which can turn to damaged "Elster and Ariane Yeong" and "Anna Huang and Alina Seo".
Note Anna Huang is most likely the Gestalt of Elster, not Erika Itou.

Isa was not just there to find Erika but also to remind Elster of her promise. But it's interpreted as her promise to save Ariane.

You also find the Death (tarot card) in their shrine, representing the regret Ariane feels for them.

Adler was stopping you from doing the same thing again and again, also to save Falke who has merged with Ariane.

Artifact end is what ends Ariane's real suffering, the longing for Elster.

[Wind_Falcon]

Actually this thread is full of inaccuracies. The LSTR unit Gestalt is the blue haired person next to Alina Seo in the photo (most likely named Anna Huang). Ariane can't alter space and/or time. Actually the game never even establishes that bioresonance can do that. The only thing she can do with her bioresonance is called Remote Viewing (peering into other people's dreams). Ariane and Alina are two completely different people, as well as Falke. The perceived melding of these characters happens because of the Pareidolia effect Elster experiences during her persona degradation (and subsequent Synchronicity).

And many many more.

Read my comments in these threads. I go over these and many other points in greater detail there (among other random threads):
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1262350/discussions/0/4352240624605763492/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1262350/discussions/0/5855270367475629404/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1262350/discussions/0/4032473436330126655/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1262350/discussions/0/4518885092854637309/

[n13e86]

引用自 Wind_Falcon：

Actually this thread is full of inaccuracies.

Please, dude, stop calling other people's interpretation "inaccuracies". That's not what the word means.
You're giving me a strong second-hand embarrassment.

[Wind_Falcon]

Falsehoods is a more appropriate choice, you are right.

[Adam]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.