[SPOILERS] Aaron Ingram

[Lü Bu Pursuer]

Hey guys, so I hit an interesting point in the game, as the title suggests. At first I was really tempted to just let him go because it was the most "gamey" choice to make, instead of a moral one. I mean he would give me access to tons of loot, and god knows that I live for dat sweet, sweet loot. But alas, I killed him. Why? I think he was lying. First of all, his record states that one of his crimes was falsely impersonating (or something along those lines). Then I found a poster of a "Aaron Ingram" in one of the holding cells. Sure, the text implies that, basically, criminals can get a second chance but why would he have a poster of himself in his own holding cell? Somehow in the deepest parts of my tiny brain, those two things clicked even though there might have been a good explanation for it so I proceeded to obliterate him.

What do you guys think about the decision? What did YOU do? Maybe you saw something that I missed? I'm interested in your opinions/thoughts.




Also I saved the game just before killing him, let him go to get the code, reload, open the armory and kill him, so in the end I got everything, even the exotic material from the mimics huehuehuehue

[Woudo]

Lying about what exactly? You can look at his "rap sheet" as he calls it, and he admits he made mistakes and lived a less than honourable lifestyle.

So? You would still willfully end the life of another person? And during a cataclysmic, pivotal event that could decide the future of the human species; where all helping, human hands are valuable?

It's your choice. I chose to save someone from execution and make-do with the resources I had available to me.

[Breach]

Frankly you have to be really evil to kill him. Based on his file he didn't do anything so bad as to warrant capital punishment. Now, 'Will Mitchell" on the other hand.... let's see, battery, murder, cannibalism, Ukrainian accent, yeah, check.

As to the poster: it's TransStar propaganda - they potray him as a re-habilitated criminal who leads a happy life, while in reality he's a test subject and in fact none of the volunteers ever make it back earthside.

[SkacikPL]

Originally posted by Breach:

battery

Nah.

Originally posted by Breach:

murder

Nah.

Originally posted by Breach:

cannibalism

Nah.

Originally posted by Breach:

Ukrainian accent

OH SH*T PRESS THE BUTTON THEN RECYCLE THE REMAINS AND JETTISON THEM INTO SPACE AT THE DIRECTION OF NEAREST SUN.

[Daliena]

I saved him. I wasn't so sure if he was a horrible criminal or not, to be honest, but the way I saw it, -nobody- deserved to be Mimic fodder. If I wanted him dead I'd rather just put a bullet in his head than do that to the poor bastard.

[RCMidas]

It's a good question of just what he has actually done wrong and what is merely claimed that he is guilty of. Take a look at his "rap sheet" again. He was brought in from a Russian gulag, but he sure as hell doesn't sound Russian - and maybe he is just 'fraudulently impersonating' a southern US accent, but there's no slip-ups at all, even if you release the mimics. You'd think someone about to die would go back to their natural accent.

On the other hand, there's no doubt he's done some shady stuff. Admits to it, for one thing, which can be cynically argued to have been done to draw attention away from the worst he's done - and he does talk about not doing anything to children, which is quite suspicious in how specific it is. Realistically, he was a criminal involved with the Russian gangs, but maybe not as evil as he's suggested to be.

Remember, the "volunteers" get murdered to equal-opportunity standards and even the staff on Talos I are not told the full story about them. It's even stated at one point that everything done on Talos I is legal because there are no laws in space. That Ingram's file says he did all those things only means that's what presented as why he was imprisoned and brought up to the station.

It's a tricky scenario to resolve. I guess it comes down to whether you feel as though you have the moral right to kill someone in your power - and here's the other thing: you're being rewarded for doing so. Kill him and you get paid. Correction, releasing the mimics kills him and gets you paid. Because if you really felt as though he deserved death for what he did, which I should say again, we cannot be 100% sure he did, then you could always take responsibility by killing him yourself.

Open the doors. Let him out. Hear him out, maybe. Then kill him yourself. No reward of exotic materials. Just you dispensing justice personally.

[Time Crowdfunding for Elder]

I shot the switch with nerf crossbow and let him out anyways.

[StarlightRac]

actually i got the door open before even finding him, so got not no reward from letting him free....i let him follow me to the armory and took everything from there and lock him in there left a machine gun thingie to guard the area there. if he was going die on the station atleast now it was on his terms and decisions.

[Daliena]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

It's a good question of just what he has actually done wrong and what is merely claimed that he is guilty of. Take a look at his "rap sheet" again. He was brought in from a Russian gulag, but he sure as hell doesn't sound Russian - and maybe he is just 'fraudulently impersonating' a southern US accent, but there's no slip-ups at all, even if you release the mimics. You'd think someone about to die would go back to their natural accent.

On the other hand, there's no doubt he's done some shady stuff. Admits to it, for one thing, which can be cynically argued to have been done to draw attention away from the worst he's done - and he does talk about not doing anything to children, which is quite suspicious in how specific it is. Realistically, he was a criminal involved with the Russian gangs, but maybe not as evil as he's suggested to be.

Remember, the "volunteers" get murdered to equal-opportunity standards and even the staff on Talos I are not told the full story about them. It's even stated at one point that everything done on Talos I is legal because there are no laws in space. That Ingram's file says he did all those things only means that's what presented as why he was imprisoned and brought up to the station.

It's a tricky scenario to resolve. I guess it comes down to whether you feel as though you have the moral right to kill someone in your power - and here's the other thing: you're being rewarded for doing so. Kill him and you get paid. Correction, releasing the mimics kills him and gets you paid. Because if you really felt as though he deserved death for what he did, which I should say again, we cannot be 100% sure he did, then you could always take responsibility by killing him yourself.

Open the doors. Let him out. Hear him out, maybe. Then kill him yourself. No reward of exotic materials. Just you dispensing justice personally.

Don't forget that later we find out that some are definitely political prisoners and the like. 32's heinous crime for example was to speak out against the Russian 'intervention' in India. He's told that if he signs the consent form he'd get to see his daughter again, and instead his demands are ignored as the science staff watches a Mimic murder him to see if the subject's age has any effect on Mimic reproduction.

[Fedex780]

Reading this article started making me think about the difference between Aaron Ingram's situation, and the situation regarding the entire station

For instance, you KNOW about the nullwave emittor, but January tells you to blow up the station regardless. You know Dahl's perogative, so is it wrong to help him? What's the difference bewteen the survival of Aaron Ingram and the survival of Talos 1? Aaron Ingram admitted to his crimes willingly, offering to help you, whilst those on Talos 1 were morally 'avoiding' knowing those who they tested on, even keeping some of the most sensative details away from you, the co-owner.

What I'm getting at is what is the difference between letting the station blow up and letting the mimic loose on Ingram if in both situations there is an alternative to save everyone? Or is it not surprising that most of the people aboard Talos 1 turn into monsters?

[Lü Bu Pursuer]

I feel that I should expand on what I originally since I don't think I fully expressed myself well on the OP.

First; when I said "lying", that was probably the wrong word to use. My thought process was, "oh, you did some wrong things but you're not telling me so that I can get a better assement of you? Let me scare you with this mimic. Still not opening up to me? Ok, no one is probably going to get back to earth so I care little about your fate now." It wasn't so much about judging or having power or anything, it was more about lack of caring, for him or anyone.

Second; I did try to let him out before reloading my save and ultimately ending him but there was no option to talk to afterwards. He just gave me the code and that was that. Probably a bug or something, I don't know.

And thirdly; the connection I made with the poster was that he used Aaron's name so that it would be ambigious whether or not the rap sheet on the computer was actually his or not. In hindsight, I realize this doesn't make a lot of sense but you know what they say about hindsight.

Meeting him was literally the last thing I did so I kinda skimmed on most of your replies to not spoil myself. Sorry. Also, when you kill Aaron with the mimic, and you "recycle" the spawns, it gives you a ton of exoctic material. So in the end, loot still won me over morality.

It's interesting to see that most of you, if not all, decided to let him go. Really questioning my morals now...

Thanks to everyone who replied so far!

[Daliena]

I finished the game with over 100 exotic material myself.. Now if killing him yeilded synthetic or metal materials it might be something of a debate.

[Dr.Abscondus]

If you kill him (and in a most foul way) then there is a certain achievement you will never get. Just in case you're motivated by achievements.

[Majestic]

Shot the door open with a toy dart by crouching on a gloo-ball in front of the window slot.
That's why the game is pretty great.

[Machine Spirit]

If you save him he comes back towards the end of the game and gives you an experimental gun, a jet pack, 10 neuromods and a pat on the back. Too bad you killed him.

[RCMidas]

Originally posted by Machine Spirit:

If you save him he comes back towards the end of the game and gives you an experimental gun, a jet pack, 10 neuromods and a pat on the back. Too bad you killed him.

I thought you got the jetpack by saving Lockwood. Or was that just another way to go about getting that?