What exactly was Johan Ross?

[bloodboil]

Nearing the end and I feel as though I've missed something crucial. What the hell was he?

[MrMuffinz]

I don't know, but I suspected he was corrupted by the WAU, and thus did not punch the heart sphincter.

Ross, however, was someone they found originally covered in structure gel, and they thought him to be dead, but quarantined him just to be safe.

You let him out, and appearantly that ♥♥♥♥♥♥ devloped so many tumors that he gained enlightenment, and raged on only to stop the WAU.

Thinking about it, he probably wasn't with the WAU.

[bloodboil]

Originally posted by MrMuffinz:

I don't know, but I suspected he was corrupted by the WAU, and thus did not punch the heart sphincter.

Well the crew that finds him talks about him being dead - and the way he fades in and out makes me think he's kind of spectral. Yet he clearly is tangible since he attempts to kill you afterwards and is summarily eaten himself. The only thing I can think of is that they used the "clean" structural gel on him so that he was revived but free from WAU's influence. But I don't remember that being mentioned at all.

[MrMuffinz]

Originally posted by Nickles:

Originally posted by MrMuffinz:

I don't know, but I suspected he was corrupted by the WAU, and thus did not punch the heart sphincter.

Well the crew that finds him talks about him being dead - and the way he fades in and out makes me think he's kind of spectral. Yet he clearly is tangible since he attempts to kill you afterwards and is summarily eaten himself. The only thing I can think of is that they used the "clean" structural gel on him so that he was revived but free from WAU's influence. But I don't remember that being mentioned at all.

I updated my post.

The Structure Gel on Ross was a non-contaminated version of structure gel before the WAU accidentally put the wrong code into it (thus driving machines crazy). It completely covered him and advanced so much that he had full control over his being. Or at least as far as I know.
They did not seem to know he was alive at first, and he didn't realise anyone else was alive either, until you showed up and coincidentally let him out.

He was not trying to kill you.
He simply pushed you back and was trying to explain again how important killing the WAU was. Killing the WAU would have in effect let everyone being kept alive involuntairly on the station die.

[bloodboil]

Originally posted by MrMuffinz:

He was not trying to kill you.
He simply pushed you back and was trying to explain again how important killing the WAU was. Killing the WAU would have in effect let everyone being kept alive involuntairly on the station die.

But... if you kill the WAU, he talks about how he must kill the last person immune to the current strain of WAU in order to keep it from returning. He even promises to make it painless. Then he gets swallowed by a fish before he can do any harm.

[MrMuffinz]

Originally posted by Nickles:

Originally posted by MrMuffinz:

He was not trying to kill you.
He simply pushed you back and was trying to explain again how important killing the WAU was. Killing the WAU would have in effect let everyone being kept alive involuntairly on the station die.

But... if you kill the WAU, he talks about how he must kill the last person immune to the current strain of WAU in order to keep it from returning. He even promises to make it painless. Then he gets swallowed by a fish before he can do any harm.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.
This game is full of meaninglessly meaningful choices lol/

[DeusMalleus]

Originally posted by MrMuffinz:

Hmmmmmmmmmm.
This game is full of meaninglessly meaningful choices lol/

Really, that sums it up pretty well - and some of them just feel irritating...

[wizardovoz]

Why did WAU try so hard to reach Ross when they brought him in?

[bloodboil]

Originally posted by wizardovoz:

Why did WAU try so hard to reach Ross when they brought him in?

Probably because he was covered in structure gel and meant to assimilate him. Since he was quarantined, WAU never got to him; it's probably why he isn't a completely mindless monster.

[wizardovoz]

And why does he send messages "we are suffering" etc. ?
He somehow got in touch with assimilated humans? Or their brainscans inside WAU?

[MrMuffinz]

Originally posted by wizardovoz:

And why does he send messages "we are suffering" etc. ?
He somehow got in touch with assimilated humans? Or their brainscans inside WAU?

The remaining "people" are suffering because of the WAU.
A lot of the people you see connected to walls were dead initially, and the WAU brought them back with structure gel, only to just leave them connected to the WAU for all eternity.

Thus why we wants you to kill the WAU.
It will render all of the unpurified structure gel useless and let all of those people and robots die.

[everett]

I know what Ross was: a filler plot device that felt tacked on late in development.

[wizardovoz]

Yes they are suffering, but who sent Simon those messages on terminals?
The one who talked to you was definetely Ross, but that "we" in messages shows that those people are somehow active, and cooperating with Ross

Ross plot line seems more like a remnant from another version of the script, I agree.
But it would be nice to fit him into consistent Soma lore

[Q2]

Ross created the WAU. As in, the WAU already existed, but he was the one experimenting on it at site Alpha with structure gel until it achieved equilibrium and some high level of intelligence. It became some advance AI and all was going well until the comet impact when it apparently decided to become more "pro-active" in its efforts to preserve life.

Source: Ross' notes in his quarters (I think).

[dnrob7]

Originally posted by Nickles:

Originally posted by wizardovoz:

Why did WAU try so hard to reach Ross when they brought him in?

Probably because he was covered in structure gel and meant to assimilate him. Since he was quarantined, WAU never got to him; it's probably why he isn't a completely mindless monster.

Wau did get to him. Ross was in a glass jar but wau was still able to communicate with the gel he was in contact with to "rebuild him".

Lisa Cameron
2104-01-15

** WAU is definitely repairing Ross' corpse. It's the most insane thing I have ever encountered. Somehow the WAU, primarily relegated to the structure gel inside the walls, is bombarding the corpse with every system it can access. The glass jar is surrounded by an unhealthy ammount of electromagnetism and radiation witch seem to be instructing gel already stuck inside Ross's body. Not sure what the WAU expects to happen when it's restored, but at least all the crazy should stop when the body hits 100% **


Structure gel does nothing on it's own. No one had any idea the gel could be used for this kind of stuff. They didn't create a miracle fluid that fixes machinery and electronics by it's self and then never even noticed it could do that. WAU made it do that.
WAU also made what look like mistakes with "bad code" that seems to cause a form of cancer in the gel when used with bodies and dead animals. (rats)
Ross says that they were able to get rid of the bad code by uncalibrating it but I'm not sure "uncalibrating" makes any sense. That sounds like turning it back into it's original form.. That would be useless. Without WAU's algorythms it's just expencive sludge.
They must be talking about ironing out WAU's more obvious errors.

[JonayOfSweden]

I think he was a person subjected to the WAU trapped in the nightmare, wanting it to end. He said he didn't want it to create any more of the monsters, or freaks walking around.