Story confusion (nothing but spoilers ahead)

[Cyberstani Sammy]

I've completed the game (all the standard transmissions + some of the snoopers, too). It was a great read, and the game was fun too. The only problem is that I'm confused, and feel like I missed a big reveal. Why is the signal so dangerous? Are infinite hallways really that frightening? What's with the alien stalking me? Why did we put all the effort into infiltrating an army just to fight for them? Why did I end up being their top soldier despite ostensibly not fighting specifically for them? Why were we here, and how's that different from why everyone else is here? What's up with that area the broker tells you not to go to at hte end? Can you ever go there?

Edit: If all of these questions are answered in the other ending that I've heard exists, how does one get that instead?

[Thorne]

The lore booklet that's been included with the game explains a lot.

Basically, this is a post-apocalypse universe, as far as humans are concerned, where humanity was first eclipsed by the machines they build, and then cut down to size, isolated and relegated to obsolescence. The machines who once had formed a network have splintered into factions, still connected through the net, but no longer acting in unison.

Humans are treated like pests...tolerated unless they get in the way, eradicated when the become a nuisance/capable of interstellar travel. Some machine factions treat them more benevolently than others. There's also the issue of a few human minds still trapped in the network (basically, they're infomorphs who lost their bodies during the purges).

From what I can muster, you're either one of those, or a human hooked up through a link. Doesn't matter that much. You can basically follow the clues, realize that the zealots are a lot more bonkers than you'd first think (and by jove, they're already nutcases as far as most machine factions are concerned), and then go blow up the planet to save the status quo...

...or you transmit the weird ancient signal to the network, basically screwing over all of the machine factions in one fell swoop.

(basically, either trigger the bomb on the top right corner of the map, or enter the bright chamber on the northern center. Both are shut off with a psionic zone you need to cross, and both get marked on the map.

The weird spaces are there just to show you that something is wrong™ on Tölva. It seems the signal itself is a corrupting influence to the network and the machines even in its "inert" state.

[Cyberstani Sammy]

Originally posted by Hardenberg:

The lore booklet that's been included with the game explains a lot.

Basically, this is a post-apocalypse universe, as far as humans are concerned, where humanity was first eclipsed by the machines they build, and then cut down to size, isolated and relegated to obsolescence. The machines who once had formed a network have splintered into factions, still connected through the net, but no longer acting in unison.

Humans are treated like pests...tolerated unless they get in the way, eradicated when the become a nuisance/capable of interstellar travel. Some machine factions treat them more benevolently than others. There's also the issue of a few human minds still trapped in the network (basically, they're infomorphs who lost their bodies during the purges).

From what I can muster, you're either one of those, or a human hooked up through a link. Doesn't matter that much. You can basically follow the clues, realize that the zealots are a lot more bonkers than you'd first think (and by jove, they're already nutcases as far as most machine factions are concerned), and then go blow up the planet to save the status quo...

...or you transmit the weird ancient signal to the network, basically screwing over all of the machine factions in one fell swoop.

(basically, either trigger the bomb on the top right corner of the map, or enter the bright chamber on the northern center. Both are shut off with a psionic zone you need to cross, and both get marked on the map.

The weird spaces are there just to show you that something is wrong™ on Tölva. It seems the signal itself is a corrupting influence to the network and the machines even in its "inert" state.

Fascinating
I remember realizing just who I was dealing with when I scanned zealot cargo and they were moving perfectly ordinary dirt because Tolva itself was a new holy artifact.