decoding extinction floating texts

[ToothedJaw]

So if you haven't seen Anthomina's extinction video, you'll find out that the floating yellow, purple, blue, and white words are decodeable and actually tell a story. I am, I believe, the first person to decode and post the translations. I will post as many as possible and will give coordinates to these texts. I may have typos and some might not make sense (I found a "have" that should be a "has"). I would also appreciate it if others posted their translations. Love to find out about the story. Enjoy!

Note: all coords are taken directly inside the text. Also, if you want to decode these yourself, use this site : https://ark.gamepedia.com/Ascensionand
type in each word individually to get an accurate translation.

*=error in translation. substituted with likely translation.


44.8 39.2 : Yellow text.
WARNING: This is a level 5 alert. Arat Prime have gone silent.

42.9 38.6 : Yellow Text.
A riority (priority?) Communication recieved: Arat Prime is locked down.

42.5 40.6: White Text
Hostile forces are inbound.

43.9 41.3: White Text
Manual override initiated. Hostile forces inbound.

47.2 39.7: Blue Text.
WARNING: Hostile contact. Defensive barrier activate.

49.8 51.3: Purple Text.
Overseer Protocol in progress. lockdown your stations.

Purple Text. (text merges here. unclear translation)
WARNING Hostile *contact* active. *Defensive barrier
(the whole thing was merged together. Likely translation: WARNING: Hostile contact. Defensive barrier activated.)


50.4 52.3: Purple Text.
Overseer Protocol in progress. Lockdown your stations

47.3 55.6: Yellow Text.
Overseer Protocol in progress Switching to automated



Prelude: I will continue to translate and upload translations. Getting late and tired right now. Enjoy the speculation

Conclusion: I believe there was an attacking force. Specifically an organized and likely a human force. I feel like the text would be more specific if they were attacked by a titan or corrupt animal. I also think Arat Prime is a person not a place like others might think. I think it might be a priority individual like a president or major nation leader. Then again, Arat Prime could refer to the city we are in. It could be called Arat Prime.

Also, in latin, prime means early or first and Arat means: as a verb--wrinkle, plow, or produce by lowing. As a noun: an estate of arable land, plowing, tilled ground. Also as a noun: cultivators of public land, farmer, plowman. Also as a noun: plow. Again as a noun: plowed field. As an adjective:---essentially in every sense it means to plow and make fertile land.

With that in mind, I believe the name of the city is Arat Prime. It is the first seed: a place where man could make a new and safe begining. It could also refer to the prototype arks being the first fertile lands that would bear mankind back into the world.

Another thing: I think we are in asia. The text is read up and down as it is in asian countries. I could be wrong about that. It would make some sense though. It is one of the most developed areas as far as technology is concerned. It also could just be a company based thing. If the whole world was working on the arks, but they were being produced in asia/other counties, that country would carry its code/language with it in its produce.

Enjoy! I would love to see this in a youtube video someday :)

[ToothedJaw]

More translations:

44.9 53.3: Yellow Text.
WARNING: This is a Level 4 alert. Hostile forces are inbound.

44.7 52.6: Yellow Text.
(very odd text) Vasco Residence Z-

43.9 53.0: Yellow Text.
Cabot Express (hovering to the left of the previous text. May be connected. In that case, the text would read: Cabot Express Vasco Residence Z-. This could be a building name or a tram destination.)

47.2 49.5: Yellow Text.
Livingstone Plaza Closed Y--
(seems to confirm previous theory)


50.1 51.2: Purple Text. (text seems broken)
. progress Overseer lock protocol your in down station
(pretty sure there are typos in these texts)

[ToothedJaw]

also note that I am moving generally from the west side of the city to the east.

[ToothedJaw]

There are small blue notes in the park that read," Please Do Not Touch the Plants." Just being thorough :)

[ToothedJaw]

This one is interesting:

55.5 40.2: Yellow Text.
Emergency rationing is in effect. Violations will result in immediate punishment.

Looks like the people were losing food and water. It is possible the element assumed an intelligence to an extent that it trapped the last humans in Arat Prime and simply bid its time until the last humans starved to death.

[ToothedJaw]

55.9 35.8: Yellow Text.
Arat Prime is locked down. 9 launch initiated. Proceed to nearest shelter /

[Lordbufu]

Try equiping a tek helmet, saves you the hassle of translating them :)

[ToothedJaw]

really???

[ToothedJaw]

Wow. wish I had known about that before. Thanks for saving me another few hours lordbufu.

[Lordbufu]

Originally posted by ToothedJaw:

Wow. wish I had known about that before. Thanks for saving me another few hours lordbufu.

Thank Tiny Hippo, he's the one that told me some time ago :P

[Wansin]

Thanks to share that!! :) @ToothedJaw

[Boomer Voncannon]

Originally posted by ToothedJaw:

Wow. wish I had known about that before. Thanks for saving me another few hours lordbufu.

It was still really cool of you to do that and share with us. Thanks again.

[Snowfire]

I was wondering why he was translating at all.
i jumped over from the island to abberation to extinction and brought my gear along so i never noticed it was encoded in the first place :)
good to know though thx for the heads up.

[🦊 Hermit]

I read through the explorer notes, and the impression I got was that the element was a living thing in itself, delivered to Earth from an asteroid impact (possibly the same impact which shattered the moon).

At first Humans didn't realise it was alive, and took it as just a superpowerful substance which could be used in technology, eventually basing all of society upon it. But during that time, the element seeped into the planet and cemented it's place on the world, then began the corruption of the planet's inhabitants and the construction of new, corrupted-element creatures to try and take over.

By the time Humans realised what was happening it was too late to stop it themselves, so they designed the Ark network in an attempt to save life and return it to Earth once the corruption was destoryed. And a select few people 'Ascended' in that they uploaded their consiences into the network itself, becoming the Overseers of the Arks, to control the system and keep it running.

But as She Who Waits says, there was an error in the system - they didn't realise how entrenched the element had become, and how intelligent it really was. So it just fortified it's position, building the titans to retain it's control of Earth, and so the Ark's purge protocol could not activate. As time went on the 'Ascended' uploaded Humans slowly lost their humanity, becoming little more than robot caretakers themselves (She Who Waits says this in her notes, that they had lost their independance and sentience before she arrived).

At least, that's the understanding I got from it all. But I could well be mistaken, idk.

The one thing which I'm struggling with is the question: What happened to Helena. A lot of people have said that she is 'She Who Waits', and the ascended figure in the final cutscene, but I don't understand how that can be the case. In the explorer notes, She Who Waits explains that she is the last Ascended Human still alive in the system, and that she was the one who instigated the Ark's respawn mechanic, bringing back first of all Diana, then perfecting the system on the orbital Arks to train up survivors for combatting the corruption on Earth.

However it seems that Helena's notes, Mei-Yin's, and Diana's all take place at roughly the same time, and if so, that would mean that Diana was revived BEFORE Helena ascended. For example, Mei-Yin leaves Helena in the ascension chamber, then it seems she is only wandering alone for perhaps a day or so before Diana finds her in the mech. However in Diana's notes, we see that she spent several days at least, possibly even several weeks, gathering supplies in the city and repairing said mech before setting out to look for Mei-Yin, and all of that took place AFTER she respawned.

I dunno for sure, just my musings from how I understand the plot.

[Labrat-dk]

You also have to be standing on the ground, not riding anything. I played alot of houres on this map before I saw the first translation: Manual override initiated. Hostile forces inbound.
I had just killed a Defender in malee with my new pike whan I saw it. It made me stand there for a bit, wondering what to do. I maybe I had just started some kind of attack I did not know of and needed to hurry back to base. Maybe it had always been there but I never saw it? Then I saw then next translation and it all made sense.
I kind of like this way of setting the mood for the map, giving you an insight of the last few hures of the city.

[ToothedJaw]

Originally posted by Wild Male Gigantopithicus:

I read through the explorer notes, and the impression I got was that the element was a living thing in itself, delivered to Earth from an asteroid impact (possibly the same impact which shattered the moon).

At first Humans didn't realise it was alive, and took it as just a superpowerful substance which could be used in technology, eventually basing all of society upon it. But during that time, the element seeped into the planet and cemented it's place on the world, then began the corruption of the planet's inhabitants and the construction of new, corrupted-element creatures to try and take over.

By the time Humans realised what was happening it was too late to stop it themselves, so they designed the Ark network in an attempt to save life and return it to Earth once the corruption was destoryed. And a select few people 'Ascended' in that they uploaded their consiences into the network itself, becoming the Overseers of the Arks, to control the system and keep it running.

But as She Who Waits says, there was an error in the system - they didn't realise how entrenched the element had become, and how intelligent it really was. So it just fortified it's position, building the titans to retain it's control of Earth, and so the Ark's purge protocol could not activate. As time went on the 'Ascended' uploaded Humans slowly lost their humanity, becoming little more than robot caretakers themselves (She Who Waits says this in her notes, that they had lost their independance and sentience before she arrived).

At least, that's the understanding I got from it all. But I could well be mistaken, idk.

The one thing which I'm struggling with is the question: What happened to Helena. A lot of people have said that she is 'She Who Waits', and the ascended figure in the final cutscene, but I don't understand how that can be the case. In the explorer notes, She Who Waits explains that she is the last Ascended Human still alive in the system, and that she was the one who instigated the Ark's respawn mechanic, bringing back first of all Diana, then perfecting the system on the orbital Arks to train up survivors for combatting the corruption on Earth.

However it seems that Helena's notes, Mei-Yin's, and Diana's all take place at roughly the same time, and if so, that would mean that Diana was revived BEFORE Helena ascended. For example, Mei-Yin leaves Helena in the ascension chamber, then it seems she is only wandering alone for perhaps a day or so before Diana finds her in the mech. However in Diana's notes, we see that she spent several days at least, possibly even several weeks, gathering supplies in the city and repairing said mech before setting out to look for Mei-Yin, and all of that took place AFTER she respawned.

I dunno for sure, just my musings from how I understand the plot.

I love your ideas here. The way I see it, Helena described that the city was still using energy from the element. That's the same energy that has been allowing us to repawn. I blieve she mentions that in a note. She also mentions that once the king titan is killed and the arks are returned, the element and its energy will fade, making respawns imposible. It's possible she has been feeding off that same energy and at the end, she was able to use the last of it to welcome us home.

As for the diana notes, she could have been writing more frequently than mei yin and that's why their notes don't coincide.