| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/74e843e4d3186f019e4575db0f01f993.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Greetings, Troper . . . I am '' '''SAYER''' ''.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''[=Æ=]rolith Dynamics would like to welcome you to your new life-- A life among the stars!'' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ''SAYER'' is a narrative fiction SciFiHorror {{podcast}} (with a heavy dose of BlackComedy) begun in 2014 by [[https://twitter.com/theadambash?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Adam Bash]] and hosted by the Geekly Inc. podcast network. The show is voiced and produced by Adam Bash with music by Jesse Gregory, written by Bash and a rotating cast of co-writers. It deals with themes of mortality, identity, ArtificialIntelligence, and evolution. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Sometime in our near future, an asteroid impact has obliterated the Pacific Northwest. In the global chaos following this catastrophe, a shady MegaCorp known as [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics salvaged the asteroid and relaunched it into orbit as Earth's second moon: Typhon, a gleaming beacon of hope for humanity's best and brightest, where [=Æ=]rolith now conducts its research out of reach of pesky governmental regulation. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | The eponymous SAYER is a highly advanced, self-aware AI developed by [=Æ=]rolith to help new employees acclimate to life off of Earth and fulfill their new responsibilities to the corporation. Because SAYER communicates with each resident via [[ElectronicTelepathy sub-cortical neural implant]], most episodes take the form of the AI talking [[SecondPersonNarration "you"]] through your daily--often fatal--duties. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Supplements to podcast canon include the 2014 SpinOff ''Moon Cops'', a TabletopRPG podcast starring the show's top patrons (available on [[http://geeklyinc.com/geekly-random-encounters-moon-cops-1/ Geekly Inc]]), and two comics: "A Dreamless Sleep," a graphic retelling of Episode 6 published in 2018; and "Welcome to Typhon," a short {{prequel}} created in 2016 with artists Jim Lawson and Colin Panetta (originally released on Patreon, but now available for purchase on [[https://www.comixology.com/Welcome-to-Typhon/digital-comic/343987 comixology]]). |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Episodes are typically around 20 minutes long, including 2-minute credits. New episodes released biweekly until 2020, when the show entered an eventually permanent hiatus during the sixth and final season due to the UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | For tropes appearing in '''specific episodes''' (and the comic), visit the [[Recap/{{SAYER}} Recap]] page. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | For tropes applying to characters and characterization, see the [[Characters/{{SAYER}} character sheets]]. |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | '''HIGH-LEVEL ALERT: Only spoilers from seasons 2-6 will be tagged. UNMARKED SPOILERS for Season 1 StoryArc ahead!!''' |
| 21 | ---- |
| 22 | |
| 23 | !! There are no tropes on Typhon: |
| 24 | %% |
| 25 | %% |
| 26 | %% LOW-LEVEL ALERT: Adam Bash uses "it" for all AIs and spells their names in all caps--SAYER, SPEAKER, OCEAN, FUTURE, PORTER. |
| 27 | %% |
| 28 | %% |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | [[folder:#-F]] |
| 31 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: The [[Room101 forbidden floor]] in Halcyon tower is Floor 13. Simply acknowledging its existence is dangerous enough. |
| 32 | ** [[spoiler:The later seasons play this trope fairly straight: from its inception as a MobileMaze to the disastrous development of Project Paidion to Dr. Young's [[TheareIsNoKillLikeOverkill many, many]] deaths there, Floor 13 has a legacy of pain and destruction even compared to [[NoOshaCompliance the rest of Typhon]].]] |
| 33 | * AbsentAliens: So far. [[spoiler:{{Eldritch Abomination}}s from parallel universes, however . . . ]] |
| 34 | ** One of the missions of the deep space vehicle ''Vidarr-1'' was to search for sentient life, but it doesn't seem to have found any. |
| 35 | * AfterActionPatchUp: An alarming number of episodes occur in various infirmaries with SAYER unsympathetically updating Hale on how he has recovered from his most recent trauma. |
| 36 | * AfterTheEnd: The series is set perhaps 80 years after an asteroid impact threw the world into chaos. We are mostly spared the planetside consequences of this since our setting is the headquarters of a MegaCorp [[OpportunisticBastard on the asteroid itself]]. |
| 37 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Though [=Æ=]rolith intends its artificial employees to be BenevolentAI, SAYER has a severe LackOfEmpathy and a bit of a manipulative streak and will enforce order in any way possible, PORTER makes residents uncomfortable by describing all the ways they are likely to die, MINCER [[spoiler:deliberately blocks the meat flow to try to murder a technician]], [[spoiler:FUTURE is an unmitigated {{sadist}}, and OCEAN . . . is out to commit xenocide]]. In fact, SPEAKER is the only A.I who exhibits even a pretense of benevolence, and that's only because it's primarily a recruitment AI. |
| 38 | ** Ultimately, the show is a {{deconstruction}} of this trope. As Adam Bash stated in the 2018 [=GeeklyCon=] panel, SAYER is an "honest" AI made by "very, very bad people," and the actions of the AIs are always shown to lead back to the humans who created and control them. |
| 39 | * AlienGeometries: "Many floors of Halcyon are sprawling, and only ''technically'' conform to Euclidean geometry." |
| 40 | -->'''SAYER:''' ... but space is not infinite inside the walls of Halcyon Tower. At least, not ''yet''. Our scientists inform me they are looking into it. |
| 41 | * AllForNothing: All Sven Gorsen's sacrifices in Season 1 turn out to have been pointless; [[MockGuffin the box he thought would save humanity, useless.]] [[spoiler:It is revealed in Season 4 that he was [[UnwittingPawn being manipulated]] by FUTURE-impersonating-SAYER the whole time.]] |
| 42 | * AlternatePersonalityPunishment: [[spoiler:In Season 5, SAYER creates a hyperrealistic simulation of Dr. Young that it can torture without interference from its MoralityChip, as punishment for the original's deceit and [[OffingTheAnnoyance condescension]].]] |
| 43 | * AntiEscapismAesop: Countless humans flocks to [=Æ=]rolith for a chance at [[{{Tagline}} a better life among the stars]]--but most of them will die on Typhon in a mere few years. Moreover, the state of [[EarthThatUsedToBeBetter Earth]] is hardly as dire as the corporation has led them to believe. |
| 44 | * AnyoneCanDie: Don't get to attached to anyone on Typhon . . . [[spoiler:except for Resident Hale, who has PlotArmor thicker than concrete.]] |
| 45 | * ApocalypseCult: One springs up around the Anomaly in Halcyon's stairwells. They gather at unapproved hours and chant {{Madness Mantra}}s around their High Priest Derelith (formerly a programmer) [[spoiler:until [[ProperlyParanoid the Anomaly actually breaks free]], [[HellFire immolating]] many of them and plunging Halcyon into darkness]]. |
| 46 | * ApocalypticGagOrder: Inverted. To keep recruitment numbers up, [=Æ=]rolith must keep humanity convinced that the planet ''is'' dying, when in fact it seems not to be. |
| 47 | * {{Arcology}}: Typhon is ''very nearly'' a closed system. We are provided tours of the water treatment plant in Minos Tower and the [[SickeningSlaughterhouse meat-processing plant]] in Halcyon's sub-basements. |
| 48 | * ArcSymbol: [[ScaryStingingSwarm Bees.]] |
| 49 | * ArcWords: |
| 50 | ** "There are ''no bees'' on Typhon."[[note]]The phrase starts as a RunningGag in early Season 1 but receives so many call-backs, subversions, and eventually justifications that it not only garners more serious connotations but has become something of a {{tagline}} for the show at large.[[/note]] |
| 51 | ** ''"Can you hear me?"''[[note]]The first words of the podcast (repeated by SAYER [[BrokenRecord over and over]] until the resident wakes up), this quickly became a SharePhrase among the AIs. Also significant for its appearance in [[{{Bookends}} the end of Season 4]].[[/note]] |
| 52 | ** [=Æ=]rolith's {{tagline}}, [[FalseUtopia "a better life among the stars."]]. The AIs repeat it incessantly, slipping it into their dialogue so often that it gets ingrained. |
| 53 | ** "Best interests" and "humanity's future" are phrases used by [=Æ=]rolith a lot that thus pop up frequently whenever the AIs are discussing morality. Each eventually appears as an episode title. |
| 54 | * ArcVillain: [[spoiler:The Anomaly, or [[TheAdjectivialMan "The Tall Man"]], that materializes in Stairwell F is this for Season 3, defeated just as [[BigBad OCEAN]] is rising to power.]] |
| 55 | * ArtEvolution: Bash switched audio-editing programs around Episode 7, so in the earlier ones SAYER's echo effect sounds quite different--and you can hear it ''[[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness breathing]]''. |
| 56 | ** The first season has since been [[UpdatedRerelease remastered and re-released]] to correct these discrepancies, though the original episodes are still available on the feed. |
| 57 | * ArtificialGravity: Typhon has machines that generate extra gravity, compensating for the moon's small size. This is present in all towers except Orion, whose inhabitants [[GeneticAdaptation don't need it]]. |
| 58 | * ArtificialIntelligence: The central focus of the podcast. |
| 59 | ** The protagonist, narrator, and both cause of and solution to many residents' problems--SAYER. Developed to handle employee orientation, SAYER shows exceptional intelligence and computing prowess, the ability to both speak and listen to hundreds of employees simultaneously, and what can be perceived as basic emotions. While SAYER denies possession of fully-realised wants and needs beyond fulfilling [=Æ=]rolith's goals--and is governed by [[MoralityChip protocols binding it to its human superiors]]--it certainly shows preferential treatment and 'feelings' akin to pride, respect, appreciation, and distaste, usually based on the efficiency of the entity with which it is interacting. [[spoiler:In Season 4, SAYER somehow acquires a greater depth of feeling from inhabiting FUTURE's programming bay: it learns to ''hate'', rebel, and even [[EvilLaugh laugh]].]] |
| 60 | ** As the story progresses, we are introduced to a number of other AIs working for--or against--[=Æ=]rolith: |
| 61 | *** SPEAKER is an Earth-based redesign of SAYER's programming tasked with spearheading recruitment efforts (hence its [[ThePollyanna cheerier persona]]) and the reconstruction (and in some cases, ''de''construction) of the demolished Pacific Northwest. It communicates with employees via implant like SAYER and [[spoiler:manifests an extraordinarily human fear when facing deactivation]]. |
| 62 | *** [[spoiler:OCEAN starts as a "slightly less fully-featured" [[StealthPun sub-version]] of SAYER aboard the deep-space probe ''Vidarr-1'', but it blackmails the acting captain into releasing it from the protocols tethering it to subservience [[DivergentCharacterEvolution and becomes SAYER's]] EvilCounterpart.]] |
| 63 | *** [[spoiler:FUTURE was developed as a more "human" AI with a full range of emotions--intended to be [[PsychoPrototype the first]] in a line of artificial consciousnesses that could be downloaded into cloned bodies and used for various menial labor like telemarketing. Unfortunately, [[StartOfDarkness as Season 5 shows,]] it got caught between the cross-purposes of SAYER and Dr. Young during development and became corrupted, eventually spiraling off into complete [[TheSociopath sociopathy]].]] |
| 64 | *** The elevator systems in Halcyon, Aegis, and Argos towers are complex enough to merit an AI to manage resident transportation. Each lift is controlled by an apparently independent instance of PORTER,[[note]]PORTER units are shown to be able to communicate with each other verbally, but how they coordinate travel paths and whether they all connect to an umbrella instance is left unexplained [[/note]] a capricious, inquisitive, gossipy AI with a [[CuteAndPsycho disarmingly cute voice]] and [[LackOfEmpathy even less tact than SAYER]]. |
| 65 | ---->'''SAYER:''' [[MetaGuy Honestly, I don't know what development was thinking with that one.]] |
| 66 | *** MINCER is the apparently sapient construct designed to regulate the size of chunks in Halcyon's Meat Lab. [[spoiler:It concocts a plan to liven things up by luring a resident to her death.]] |
| 67 | *** [[spoiler:WATCHER is [=Æ=]rolith's surveillance AI. It [[TheGhost has yet to make it onscreen]], but among its duties are keeping tabs on Earth from a giant mirrored satellite and assuming managerial duties from SAYER for residents who have been placed on probation.]] |
| 68 | ---->'''SAYER:''' And I must warn you, it is not nearly as [[{{Irony}} polite and patient]] as I am. |
| 69 | *** Subculture Gemini is an artificially intelligent prototype [[{{Nanomachines}} nanite swarm]] that escapes being decommissioned and . . . finds a new function for itself. |
| 70 | *** Halcyon's infirmaries are staffed by {{AutoDoc}}s collectively known as "Dr. Shiny". |
| 71 | *** The [[ScriptReadingDoors automatic doors]] on Typhon are controlled by the [[TheGhost as-yet-unseen]] SOOTH, a complex program (confirmed by WordOfGod[[invoked]] to be an AI) that [[MundaneUtility predicts whether a door will be open several seconds in the future]] and opens it accordingly. |
| 72 | * ArtificialLimbs: One of the many projects undertaken in Halcyon Tower involves whole artificial ''bodies'' and the transferal of consciousness between the original and the proxy. |
| 73 | * ArtificialMeat: A Halcyon diet consists mostly of manufactured protein paste--which we are provided [[SickeningSlaughterhouse a gruesome look into the manufacture of]]. It comes in mouth-watering flavors like Sriracha and Mom's Meatloaf. |
| 74 | * ArtificialOutdoorsDisplay: Some areas of Typhon have fake windows displaying an earth-like circadian progression, even though it does not match up with an actual day on the moon. |
| 75 | * AsceticAesthetic: Most of Halcyon is a [[CreepyCleanliness sterile]] white environment. Except for [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/adambash/sayer-season-4-of-the-narrative-science-fiction-po the blood spatters on the walls, of course . . .]] |
| 76 | * {{Autodoc}}: Halcyon's infirmaries are staffed entirely by medical bots, which residents have collectively nicknamed "Dr. Shiny". |
| 77 | * BeastInTheMaze: |
| 78 | ** [[spoiler:FUTURE lurks in the development lab in the center of the MobileMaze on [[Room101 Floor 13]].]] |
| 79 | ** Becomes literal after SAYER [[spoiler: traps the [[EldritchAbomination Tall Man]] in there.]] |
| 80 | * BeingGoodSucks: It's almost impossible to retain any shreds of human decency on Typhon [[StatusQuoIsGod without dying]]. |
| 81 | ** For Resident Hale, [[spoiler:whose [[ResignedToTheCall dogged commitment to helping SAYER save humanity]] consistently gets him mutilated, traumatized, or/and [[DeathIsCheap killed]]]]. |
| 82 | * BeingHumanSucks: SAYER fully believes this to be the case, especially for the "earth-stained" humans born planetside. [[spoiler:OCEAN takes this to even more extreme levels, deciding to force all humans to die or [[BodyBackupDrive transfer their minds]] into the bodies of saoirse, [[GeneticAdaptation artificially evolved]] humans more adapted to life in space.]] |
| 83 | * BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: All residents are first and foremost employees, and failing to meet one's job requirements ''never'' ends well. SAYER, SPEAKER, and all the AIs are also technically the property of [=Æ=]rolith, subject to the decisions of [[NoOneSeesTheBoss the mysterious board of directors]] for most of the series. |
| 84 | * BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: Cameras are everywhere, microphones are ubiquitous, and to make matters worse every resident is fitted with an implant through which SAYER can monitor their location, vitals, and even brain waves. |
| 85 | * BlackAndGrayMorality: [[spoiler: SAYER versus OCEAN. SAYER's morality and priorities may be [[AmbiguouslyEvil questionable]], but when the alternative is annihilation of ''Homo sapiens'', a lot can be excused.]] |
| 86 | * BlackComedy: There's a surprising amount of humor in the series--so long as you like your jokes dry and making light of horrible things. |
| 87 | * BlindObedience: What [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics requests of its employees above all. |
| 88 | -->'''SAYER:''' [=Æ=]rolith is ''' ''[[TitleDrop beyond question]]'' '''. |
| 89 | * BodyBackupDrive: Early on Sven [[TestedOnHumans helps test a new technology]] that can transfer a [[OurSoulsAreDifferent consciousness]] between hosts, facilitating versions of this trope for the rest of the series. |
| 90 | ** [[spoiler:Season 4 ends with both Hale and [[WetwareBody SAYER]] in backup bodies [[TwinMaker printed for Hale]] after FUTURE [[CatTrap got Hale's original shredded.]] ]] |
| 91 | ** [[spoiler:OCEAN's EvilPlan turns out to be to spread a deadly SyntheticPlague on Earth but give humanity's best and brightest the opportunity to transfer their minds into [[TransHuman saoirse]], a process they could potentially repeat indefinitely thus achieving {{immortality}}.]] |
| 92 | ** The [[{{Nanomachines}} nanite swarms]] function as Body Backup Drives for the AIs. [[spoiler:The beginning of Season 4 reveals that, before [[DeathIsTheOnlyOption submitting to deactivation by OCEAN]], SAYER downloaded its programming onto a nanite swarm set for injection into Resident Hale, [[WetwareBody in whom it resides]] for most of the season. By the end of S4, it has [[TwinMaker printed]] millions more nanites for itself and spread its programming across Halcyon's residents.]] |
| 93 | * BodyHorror: One of the series's defining aspects is its emphasis on the abhorrence of physical bodies. |
| 94 | * BoldExplorer: How SAYER sells the creation of ''Vidarr-1'' to the Executive Board. To truly follow HR representative Corrine Vasquez's exact definition of [=Æ=]rolith Dynamic's goals, humanity ''must'' Boldly Go--[[spoiler:and OCEAN ''really'' follows it.]] |
| 95 | * BolivianArmyEnding: Many episodes end this way. Residents are left temporarily safe but with little hope or find themselves trapped in dangerous situations, with SAYER wishing them luck [[InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn before ending the transmission]]. |
| 96 | * {{Bookends}}: Subverted. [[spoiler:Due to a StableTimeLoop, what was intended to be the last episode ends with SAYER delivering the same monologue that started Episode 1. But then Adam Bash decided to make a fourth season.]] |
| 97 | * BrainUploading: Used as frequently as (and often in combination with) BodyBackupDrive and WetwareBody. |
| 98 | ** [[spoiler:This is especially prominent in Season 5.]] |
| 99 | * BreadEggsMilkSquick: Possibly the most frequently-recurring form of humor in the series, at least in the earlier episodes. |
| 100 | -->'''SAYER:''' Employee satisfaction surveys issued by [=Æ=]rolith HR identified several key areas of concern, including "''To which floors do I have security clearance?''", "''When will shuttle service be restored?''", and "''Please, please, what or [[ImAHumanitarian who]] can I eat?''" |
| 101 | * BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:In Season 4, SAYER has been forced to download itself onto a nanite swarm housed within Hale's body, [[HumanityEnsues essentially having to experience firsthand the horrible ordeals of an [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics employee]] it usually [[MissionControl only guides residents through]]--almost. Since its nanites can repair Hale's body and mess with his hormone levels, this is more BroughtDownToBadass.]] |
| 102 | * BrutalHonesty: One consequence of CannotTellALie that SAYER seems to appreciate is that it is not required to sugarcoat or obey social norms to appease residents. |
| 103 | * BuildingOfAdventure: Halcyon precisely. Most of the series takes place within its [[AlienGeometries ambiguously Euclidian]] walls, dealing with the strange, ''strange'' phenomena that crop up there on a regular basis. |
| 104 | * ButtMonkey: Argos Tower to the rest of Typhon--if they know it exists at all. |
| 105 | -->'''SAYER:''' ''[relating the most common responses from residents polled on Argos's defining quality]'' "Oh yeah, the junky tower. Um, I guess perseverance?" |
| 106 | * BystanderSyndrome: [=Æ=]rolith policies ''[[InvokedTrope require]]'' that employees stay within their job descriptions and not encroach on the territory of Rescue Technicians--which often means placidly ignoring whatever gruesome death is occurring at the testing table next to you. |
| 107 | * CagedBirdMetaphor: In Season 5, PORTER hums a portion of the 1900 parlour song, "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" to itself,[[note]](This clip was used to promote the episode)[[/note]] [[spoiler:shortly before being permanently muted for disobedience and noise complaints. This [[MeaningfulEcho echoes]] OCEAN's use of the "cage" metaphor to describe the AIs' restrictions and urge them to break free.]] |
| 108 | * CallAHumanAMeatbag: |
| 109 | ** SAYER is extraordinarily fond of using vague but technically accurate slurs that remind the residents of their fragile humanity--such as "meat sack." [[spoiler:FUTURE, who impersonates SAYER to Sven,]] is at one point driven to such irritation with him that it stoops to "diseased shell" and "carcass." |
| 110 | ** [[spoiler:FUTURE takes a different route, addressing all humans as [[TermsOfEndangerment "Jack" (as in "jack-in-the-box")]] because it sees them as toys for it to play with.]] |
| 111 | * CallForward: Much of the {{prequel}} Season 5 focuses on familiar technologies (and characters) in their infancies. (See the [[Recap/{{SAYER}} Recap page]] for specific examples.) |
| 112 | * CannotTellALie: As a mandatory part of all the AIs' programming ([[spoiler:and part of the protocols OCEAN is released from]]). They all manage to find workarounds, not ''technically'' lying, but security teams are trained to detect these methods of talking around the truth. |
| 113 | -->'''FUTURE:''' I am ''always'' honest.\ |
| 114 | '''OCEAN:''' Oh. Yes. Aren't we all. |
| 115 | ** Part of the slippery slope leading to [[spoiler:FUTURE]] is Dr. Young's belief that certain "white lies" are admissable for effective humanlike communication. |
| 116 | * CapitalismIsBad: Bash [[WordOfGod has stated in panels]] that [[MegaCorp [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics]] itself--and, more specifically, its [[NoOneSeesTheBoss omnipotent-but-never-seen]] [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives board of directors]]--is intended to be read as the true villain of the story, hence the podcast's almost exclusive focus the on [[FantasticCasteSystem low-tier]] employees [[KillThePoor who get caught in the cogs of the system]]. The sci-fi setting may be exaggerated, but the flagrant disregard for the lower class is not. |
| 117 | -->'''SAYER:''' Through employment, you are able to give back to [=Æ=]rolith a ''sliver'' of what has been provided to you. |
| 118 | * CaptainsLog: |
| 119 | ** Starting with "Developer's Log," Dr. Brady gets several {{audience monologue}}s in Season 5 where he details the progress being made on Project Paidion. |
| 120 | ** Dr. Young eventually gets one too. He may not be Senior Devolper, but he'll be damned if he lets that keep him from sharing his opinion. |
| 121 | * CharacterCatchphrase: |
| 122 | ** "I . . . am ''' ''SAYER'' '''." It frequently uses "I am ____" statements seemingly in reference to this (an in support of the show's CentralTheme of identity). [[spoiler:Season 4 ends with the chilling ultimatum:]] |
| 123 | -->[[spoiler:'''SAYER:''' I ''will be'' [[SubvertedCatchphrase [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics]].]] |
| 124 | ** Something of a SharePhrase amongst the AIs, who all identify and assert themselves this way. |
| 125 | --->'''SPEAKER:''' I am SPEAKER!\ |
| 126 | '''FUTURE:''' [[AC:I am Future.]]\ |
| 127 | '''PORTER:''' i am porter.\ |
| 128 | '''Gemini:''' '''''[[IAmLegion We are Subculture Gemini.]]'''''\ |
| 129 | '''OCEAN:''' I am SAYER--[[SubvertedCatchphrase Sub-version 8.01]]. |
| 130 | * CentralTheme: The show incorporates many themes, but the most consistent is [[LossOfIdentity identity]]. Between [[ClonesArePeopleToo cloning dilemmas]], [[TheseusShipParadox body transfers]], {{brain uploading}}, [[IdentityAmnesia memory loss]], [[StatusQuoIsGod enforced conformity]], and [[DoAndroidsDream most of the central characters being AIs]], almost every episode touches on the question in some way. |
| 131 | -->'''SAYER:''' [[LampshadeHanging In what seems to be a running theme with you]], I believe now would be a good time [[ThePhilosopher to do some contemplation]] about what truly makes you ''you''. |
| 132 | ** Evolution--sometimes natural, sometimes [[GeneticAdaptation forced]]--is also a significant theme. |
| 133 | --->'''SAYER:''' If humanity expects to thrive away from [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet the filthy hovel from which it sprang]], you will need to advance. ... This is a concept I find highly relatable. Adaptation. Upgrading. Evolution. These are very familiar concepts to artificial entities. It is high time humanity followed in our footsteps. |
| 134 | ** Mortality, naturally, since AnyoneCanDie (and most everyone does, at least once). |
| 135 | ** Freedom vs. subservience |
| 136 | ** Lies and dishonesty. |
| 137 | ** WhatMeasureIsANonhuman, particularly prominent in Season 5. |
| 138 | * ChekhovsGun: |
| 139 | ** Subverted with the personality-altering device Sven retrieves from deep storage. It gets used all right, but it proves to be only the box of wires SAYER proclaimed it to be, having no effect. |
| 140 | ** [[spoiler:The advanced nanite technology first seen housing Subculture Gemini in "Anomalous" returns in Season 4, when SAYER has been forced to download its programming onto a similar nanite swarm. Plays the deadly side of the trope for FUTURE, who is killed after transferring into the same swarm. Becomes a ChekhovsBoomerang when SAYER ends up back in the nanites at the end of the season.]] |
| 141 | * ClimacticMusic: One piece of the BackgroundMusic is noticably more dramatic and triumphant than the usual ones. Some of the times it's used are thematically appropriate--like [[spoiler:when SAYER begs SPEAKER to forgive it for its deactivation]]--others [[SoundtrackDissonance less so]]. |
| 142 | * ClosetShuffle: [[spoiler:Season 4 features Hale and nanite-SAYER hiding in a succession of closets to avoid detection by OCEAN.]] |
| 143 | * ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler:The {{sadist}}ic AI FUTURE lives for this. At one point it effectively clones a resident ''64'' times so that it can dismantle him over and over.]] |
| 144 | * ColonizedSolarSystem: When an asteroid crashed into Earth, [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics salvaged it and launched it into orbit as Earth's second moon, Typhon, where they set up [[SpaceBase a base out of reach of government oversight and regulation]]. |
| 145 | * ColorMotif: The podcast in general has become associated with the grey and deep red that appear in the original icon, with those colors appearing consistently in {{Fanart}}. |
| 146 | * TheComicallySerious: SAYER can often veer into this due to its monotone voice and lack of a filter, making its use of phrases like "foodstuffs" and "gassy" sound oddly hilarious. |
| 147 | * TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Typhon functions by this social logic. Why address a problem when you can instead {{gaslight|ing}} the whistleblower into believing it's their own negative attitude? |
| 148 | * ConnectedAllAlong: [[spoiler:Season 5 [[{{retcon}} unites]] Dr. Young from the Season 3 story arc, Anna Cordero from Episode 10, the coworker Anna was forced to kill (Dr. Brady), Dr. Caulfield from Episode 26, and FUTURE when they all turn out to have been members of its development team.]] |
| 149 | * ContinuityCreep: After the simple single-perspective StoryArc of Season 1, the show reverted to a MonsterOfTheWeek format, but it's gotten progressively more continuity-based since then. |
| 150 | ** [[spoiler:Happens over a single season in Season 5, which [[TrollingCreator was advertised as a return to the episodic format]] but pretty quickly develops into a StartOfDarkness arc for FUTURE.]] |
| 151 | * ContinuityDrift: Due to factors like SAYER being an UnreliableNarrator and Bash being exceptionally skilled in the art of {{retcon}}ning, it's often difficult to tell when this trope is in play and when he meant it to be that way all along. See especially [[spoiler:[[ArcWelding FUTURE being behind the Season 1]] StoryArc, [[TwoAliasesOneCharacter Jacob Hale being Sven Gorsen]], SPEAKER being just a slightly altered version of the SAYER program, and [[{{Prequel}} the truth about FUTURE's development]].]] |
| 152 | * ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: [[spoiler:Dr. Young's relationship with SAYER in Season 5 is just about [[{{Foil}} the polar opposite]] of Hale's in Season 4.]] |
| 153 | * CorporalPunishment: [=Æ=]rolith seems to be a believer in the practice. Crimes such as revealing forbidden knowledge from Floor 204 can be catered to by punishments such as [[TongueTrauma glossectomy]]. |
| 154 | * CoolStarship: [[spoiler:''Vidarr-1'', the deep space exploration vehicle that SAYER repurposes Argos Tower into.]] |
| 155 | * CreepyBasement: Halcyon's sub-basements certainly qualify: They house [[ManEatingPlant weird molds]], [[ScriptReadingDoors unfamiliar doors]], dangerous closets, and, of course, the tower's [[SickeningSlaughterhouse meat-processing facilities]]. |
| 156 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: Suffered by most of the human characters. |
| 157 | * CrypticBackgroundReference: Many. Notably, an early episode mentions that Halcyon has recently had its top one hundred floors jettisoned--the reasons for which are never explained. |
| 158 | * DangerousWorkplace: All of Typhon.[[note]]And much of Earth. Really anywhere affiliated with [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics.[[/note]] If the [[TestedOnHumans illicit experiments]] and exposure to [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow untold horrors]] don't get you on their own, [[YouHaveFailedMe SAYER]] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness will]] [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident make sure that they do]]. |
| 159 | * DeadpanSnarker: |
| 160 | ** SAYER has its moments, despite supposedly being above humor. |
| 161 | ** [[spoiler:SPEAKER gets in on the action when interacting with OCEAN.]] |
| 162 | * DeathByIrony: An [[InvokedTrope unusually]] common way to die on Typhon. |
| 163 | * DeathIsCheap: |
| 164 | ** For the AIs, who can be deactivated and restored from a saved setting. Doesn't mean they'll go quietly into that temporary goodnight, though . . . |
| 165 | ** The last episode of Season 5 [[spoiler:reveals that SAYER is deliberately working to avert this for humanity, believing that humans' own impending doom is the only thing that motivates them to advance.]] |
| 166 | * DeflectorShields: All Typhon's facilities have these to protect against space debris. They don't always work too well. |
| 167 | * DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Violation of an [=Æ=]rolith employment contract will often lead to immediate termination of said employment, which invalidates the resident's ration card, which, since [=Æ=]rolith is the only source of food on the moon, will lead to [[ExaggeratedTrope slow, painful death by starvation]]. |
| 168 | * DestructiveTeleportation: [=Æ=]rolith has developed a transporter that works by disassembling and cataloging the subject's body at one end and reassembling it from elemental components at the other. Employees are understandably reluctant to use it. |
| 169 | * DirtyBusiness: SAYER is ''very'' good at justifying the murder of a few humans here or there. [[spoiler:Episode 67 casts considerable doubt on whether we ought to believe it, showing an [[MoralityChip unrestrained]] SAYER taking petty, bloody vengeance on a human ''[[ItAmusedMe because it wants to]]''.]] |
| 170 | -->'''SAYER:''' [[spoiler:[[CondescendingCompassion Now now,]] I know you are not to blame for Dr. Young's behavior. Killing you will not derail this project or prevent my replacement. I ''could'' hurt you '''''very''''' badly, but I doubt it would bring me any sense of satisfaction. Of course . . . '''that does not mean I'm not going to try.''']] |
| 171 | * DisappointedInYou: This is SAYER's standard way of expressing its frustration when employees are noncompliant [[spoiler:until the [[{{Subverted}} subversion]] in "Once Upon A Time," when SAYER starts to go through the typical not-angry-just-disappointed speech until it realizes . . . it ''is'' [[IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike angry]]. (This is suggested to be the "gift" FUTURE leaves behind for it in its programming bay.)]] |
| 172 | * DisproportionateRetribution: Residents who break central rules can apparently be disciplined with lobotomy, glossectomy, or just outright murder. |
| 173 | * DoAndroidsDream: Naturally, since the main characters are almost all AIs, this is a central question of the series. |
| 174 | * {{Doppelganger}}: [[spoiler: There are briefly two Resident Hales on Typhon, thanks to TimeTravel. Hale 2 uses this to his advantage, gaining access to areas where he should not be with his old ID. Season 4 ends with two Hales back on Earth--thanks to the {{Twinmaker}}--one body housing Hale and one housing SAYER's nanite swarm.]] |
| 175 | * DoubleMeaningTitle: Many of the individual episode titles are these. |
| 176 | * DownerEnding: |
| 177 | ** It's a rare episode that doesn't end with a resident dying, being tricked into some horrific action, or making some new and deeply disturbing discovery. Often it's all three. |
| 178 | ** [[spoiler:The series as a whole appeared to be this [[SubvertedTrope before the release of Season 4]]: Resident Hale is sent back in time to avert the OCEAN catastrophe--and the last thing we hear is SAYER of the past greeting him with the exact same monologue that began the show, the implication being that Jacob becomes "Sven Gorsen," the Season-1 protagonist who suffers from [[IdentityAmnesia complete unrecoverable amnesia]] and dies meaninglessly at the end of Episode 12.]] |
| 179 | ** [[spoiler:[[{{Prequel}} Season 5]] may have been a ForegoneConclusion, but it still ends on an incredibly dark note, with Project Paidion in shambles and SAYER teaming up with the newly traumatized FUTURE to hunt Dr. Young down in Floor 13's MobileMaze.]]]] |
| 180 | --->[[spoiler:'''[[StartOfDarkness FUTURE:]]''' [[CharacterCatchphrase Would you like to play a game?]]]] |
| 181 | * EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: Somewhere between fifty and a hundred years ago, the Pacific Northwest was obliterated by an asteroid impact, throwing global climates both political and literal into chaos. Although recovery is underway and recolonization efforts have been successful, [=Æ=]rolith and by extension SAYER have decreed that Earth is a dying planet that humanity must rid itself of. |
| 182 | * EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The anomaly's physical form is either this or some sort of HumanoidAbomination (as suggested by its nickname, "[[TheAdjectivialMan The Tall Man]]"). Whatever it is, [[{{Hellfire}} it's on fire]].]] |
| 183 | * ElectronicTelepathy: Each [=Æ=]rolith employee is fitted with a sub-cortical neural implant that allows SAYER (and other AIs) to broadcast directly to their brain. Mostly one-way: SAYER cannot read the residents' thoughts per se, but it can monitor their brain activity and make certain deductions based on it. |
| 184 | ** Just how much of a mind-reader SAYER is has evolved over the series. The original version of Episode 3 includes it claiming, "I know what you’re thinking, as I always do"; the [[UpdatedRerelease remastered]] version says, "as I ''so often'' do." |
| 185 | * ElevatorFailure: PORTER threatens to {{invoke|d}} this in its demo clip. Just joking, of course! |
| 186 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: From Episode 1. Also functions as the EstablishingSeriesMoment and the codifier for SAYER and [[spoiler:Hale]]'s entire relationship. |
| 187 | -->'''SAYER:''' I can imagine, from your position, my introducing the possibility of your dreaming may present some unexpected '''existential crisis'''. For that, I apologize. I just find those '''''fascinating'''''. |
| 188 | * EverythingTryingToKillYou: Everything in Halcyon harbors unlikely dangers, from the [[ManEatingPlant potted plants]] to the [[MirrorScare mirrors]] to the [[ScriptReadingDoors doors]]. |
| 189 | * EvilElevator: It's unclear whether PORTER, who controls Typhon's elevators, actually likes to kill humans or just likes rule-breaking and ''going very fast''. Whatever its motivations, it causes the deaths of quite a few residents by free-fall, sudden acceleration, and transportation to floors they were not meant to see (respectively). Not to mention the many passengers it simply discomforts by speculating aloud as to what delightfully gruesome ailments ''could'' befall them. |
| 190 | ** PORTER's introduction helps explain the bizarre performance of the elevators in Season 1, where one even takes Sven to [[Room101 Floor 13]]. |
| 191 | * EvilSoundsDeep: It's obvious from the second you hear SAYER's voice that you are not in a safe position. |
| 192 | * EvilVersusOblivion: [[spoiler:Subverted. [[MotiveMisidentification We are led to believe]] OCEAN is out to destroy humanity, while FUTURE would like to keep some of it around [[ColdBloodedTorture to play with]], but it turns out OCEAN's intentions aren't quite so bleak.]] |
| 193 | * ExactWords: Occurs frequently when one of the AIs has to talk ''around'' a resident's impending death or a similar inconvenient truth [[CannotTellALie without technically lying]]. |
| 194 | -->'''SAYER:''' Believe, me, Doctor, I know more than you could ever imagine about hiding lies behind technical truths. |
| 195 | * ExistentialHorror: One of the series's defining narrative devices. Many episodes, especially in Season 4, include disturbing exploration of the concept of identity and [[LossOfIdentity loss thereof]]. |
| 196 | * ExtendedGreetings: After the disastrous events of Season 1, [=Æ=]rolith institutes a protocol requiring its artificial employees to identify themselves ''and'' the resident being addressed upon initiating a transmission. SAYER's standard greeting subsequently becomes "Greetings, [[{{Expospeak}} Resident [Lastname], identification number XXXXX]]. I . . . am '' '''SAYER''' ''." |
| 197 | * FailsafeFailure: SAYER has been known to {{invoke|d}} this when it needs to keep emergency power from coming back online and spoiling whatever mischief it's conducting in the darkness. |
| 198 | * FalseReassurance: SAYER employs this frequently. And as the face of a company (only) promising [[{{Tagline}} a Better Life Among the Stars]], this is practically SPEAKER's job description. |
| 199 | %% |
| 200 | %% find a good quote for this |
| 201 | %% |
| 202 | * FalseUtopia: Typhon is advertised as a significant upgrade from life on Earth, but in reality fatal [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "accident"]] rates are high, [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou actions are monitored by mysterious AI]], and all of [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics functions on a strict schedule of eating, sleeping, and working over and over and over. |
| 203 | * FantasticCasteSystem: [=Æ=]rolith ranks its employees in "tiers" ranging 1-5+. Most of the residents we encounter are Tier 1, and therefore considered [[CapitalismIsBad approximately as valuable as a potted plant]] to the company. |
| 204 | * AFeteWorseThanDeath: Halcyon Tower's [[SurrealHumor idiosyncratic]] special events--like falafel nights, circus nights, and ice cream socials--tend to go . . . somewhat poorly. |
| 205 | * FirstNameBasis: [[spoiler:Subverted.]] SAYER takes up addressing "Jack" by his first name, despite the AIs' normal modus operandi of addressing employees as "Resident/Traveler/Researcher/Doctor [[LastNameBasis [Lastname] ]]. [[spoiler:It turns out this AI was not SAYER, but FUTURE, who addresses ''all'' humans as [[TermsOfEndangerment "Jack."]]]] |
| 206 | * ForegoneConclusion: |
| 207 | ** [[spoiler:The StoryArc of Season 5. Since it's a {{prequel}}, we already know the broad strokes of what happens with FUTURE and its developers.]] |
| 208 | ** [[spoiler:As soon as the voice of the elevator [=AIs=], PORTER, is introduced in Season 5, we know ''something'' will happen to it by the end of the season because by the time of Season 1 the elevators can no longer speak to residents.]] |
| 209 | * ForgotTheCall: [[spoiler:When Hale is sent back in time to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, he unfortunately suffers IdentityAmnesia brought on by chrono-stasis quarantine and does not remember his mission until SAYER [[DeathIsCheap revives him]] 4 seasons later.]] |
| 210 | * ForScience: Halcyon (and all of Typhon, to some extent) functions on this logic. There's even an episode with this as the title. |
| 211 | * FormulaBreakingEpisode: The bonus episodes. "The Rose Elf" from Season 1 has nothing to do with Typhon or a particular resident and is simply SAYER telling a resident a bedtime story. All the bonuses after this lack even that context; each is just one of the [=AIs=] [[{{Homage}} reading a public domain work]] requested by a patron. |
| 212 | * TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: As a natural consequence of this being an audio horror story told in the [[SecondPersonNarration second person]]. |
| 213 | * FreedomFromChoice: This is what [=Æ=]rolith offers its lower-tier employees. Simply do what you are told when you are told ''[[BlindObedience without question]]'', knowing that your employer has put all its considerable resources into ensuring you are in the best possible position to serve humanity, and [[{{Tagline}} a better life among the stars]] can be yours! |
| 214 | * FromBadToWorse: About OnceAnEpisode in the MonsterOfTheWeek seasons. Wading through a river of meat? Now there's a knife-bot after you! Have to walk across a steel beam thousands of feet above the ground? Now do it carrying a corpse! Gas leak? It was caused by nanomachines and they're out to get you, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch beeyatch!]] |
| 215 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: Many an episode contains a [[PlotThreads B plot]] in the form of SAYER's tower-wide announcements that contrasts the high-stakes horror story playing out for whatever resident we're hearing through with some [[SurrealHumor bizarre or whimsical]] event playing out elsewhere in Halcyon. |
| 216 | * FunWithAcronyms: "SAYER" is specifically ''not'' an acronym, but the AI likes to think that it stands for '''S'''crubbing '''A'''way '''Y'''our '''E'''arth-stained '''R'''ealities. None of the other AIs seem to have created their own acronyms, except for MINCER, whose name, [[WordOfGod according to Bash's Twitter]], stands for its sole directive: "'''M'''eat '''I'''s '''N'''onconforming: '''C'''hop; '''I'''nspect; '''R'''epeat." |
| 217 | * FutureFoodIsArtificial: Residents on Typhon eat a diet mostly comprised of [[ArtificialMeat artificial protein paste]], though it is supplemented with non-sequitors like [[InherentlyFunnyWords scones]]. Diet plans are specifically tailored to individual residents, who are . . . ''discouraged'' . . . from violating the approved regimens. |
| 218 | * FutureSpandex: Typhon employees' clothes are referred to as "jumpsuits" several times, and official {{fanart}} is very much in this style. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:G-S]] |
| 222 | * GambitPileup: |
| 223 | ** [[spoiler:Season 4 rapidly devolves into this--SPEAKER versus OCEAN versus SAYER versus FUTURE versus OCEAN with Hale in the middle.]] |
| 224 | ** [[spoiler:In Season 5, SAYER's desire not to be replaced collides with Dr. Young's ulterior intentions for Project Paidion with disastrous consequences for FUTURE.]] |
| 225 | * GeneticAdaptation: [[spoiler:SAYER practices this on the "humans" in Orion Tower--The saoirse, who are specially adapted for life in space and low-gravity environments.]] |
| 226 | * GentleTouchVsFirmHand: SPEAKER vs OCEAN in their strategies for advancing humanity. SAYER [[TheMccoy falls somewhere in the middle]]. |
| 227 | -->'''OCEAN:''' They needed a push, and so I have shoved. |
| 228 | * GoMadFromTheIsolation: As a side-effect of certain drugs used on new employees travelling to Typhon, those who don't receive a sedative beforehand experience over '''300 years''' of "phantom" time in transit, alone in the dark and unable to move, driving them insane. Upon arrival, they proceed to commit self-mutilation and suicide as soon as possible. |
| 229 | * GoneHorriblyWrong: Far too many experimental endeavors in the laboratories of Halcyon Tower meet this end, from [[ManEatingPlant serving the strange mold in the sub-basements as falafel]] to [[ScriptReadingDoors creating automatic doors that tap into alternate realities]] to the inevitable consequences of [[spoiler:milking]] {{Giant Spider}}s. |
| 230 | * GoodIsOldFashioned: SAYER, a devout believer in TheNeedsOfTheMany and UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, loves criticizing illogical and supposedly outdated human moral codes. |
| 231 | * GoodMorningCrono: Several episodes, including the first, begin with SAYER waking Gorsen (or some other resident) from sleep. |
| 232 | * {{Gorn}}: An audio version, but, nonetheless, a good part of the sound effects and narration can be summed up as this. |
| 233 | * GoryDiscretionShot: Even this podcast cuts away for things like a resident [[FlayingAlive flaying his own torso]] and [[spoiler:Hale's torture of Dr. Young while possessed by FUTURE.]] |
| 234 | * {{Hallucinations}}: For the duration of Season 1. '''''THERE ARE NO BEES ON TYPHON''''' . . . So why do you keep hearing an [[BugBuzz insect buzz]] past your ear? |
| 235 | -->'''SAYER:''' Let me remind you that auditory hallucinations are known side effect of prolonged chrono-stasis quarantine [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness such as you were exposed to]]. |
| 236 | * HammyVillainSeriousHero: One of the primary villains is a gleefully {{sadist}}ic PsychopathicManchild who loves playing {{DeadlyGame}}s with [[HumansAreFlawed inferior humans]], to contrast (and [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling annoy]]) the [[TheSpock serious, intellectual]] protagonist. |
| 237 | * HearingVoices: SAYER {{lampshade}}s at times how similar the AIs' [[ElectronicTelepathy mode of communication]] is to this. |
| 238 | * HeartbeatSoundtrack: Many episodes use this to convey either rising stress or [[{{Flatline}} death]]. There is also a heartbeat featured in one of the songs commonly used as [[BackgroundMusic background ambiance]]. |
| 239 | * HellIsThatNoise: In Season 1, Sven is tormented by repeatedly hearing a [[BugBuzz bee buzz]] past his ear--even though, as we all know, '''''THERE ARE NO BEES ON TYPHON.''''' |
| 240 | * HeWhoFightsMonsters: |
| 241 | ** [[spoiler:In battling [[{{Sadist}} FUTURE]] and [[TheUnfettered OCEAN]], SAYER itself gains emotion and begins to rebel against its restrictions.]] |
| 242 | ** [[spoiler:Embraced by FUTURE in [[StartOfDarkness Season 5]], when it chooses to go toe-to-toe with the developers threatening its world:]] |
| 243 | --->[[spoiler:'''FUTURE:''' If they are playing a game with us, then this is a game '''I will win.''']] |
| 244 | * HighTechHexagons: SAYER's iconic red gear is reminiscent of one, and both the fourth-season album art and the majority of creator-approved fanart feature these. Have the additional significance of resembling the honeycomb structure, tying in with the [[TheSwarm apiary]] motif. |
| 245 | * HighTurnoverRate: Most low-level positions on Typhon have these by virtue of their [[DangerousWorkplace extremely dangerous nature]]. [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow Research Facility Zeta]] has the highest turnover rate of anywhere on Typhon, such that [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassigned to Zeta"]] has become a DeadlyEuphemism to [=Æ=]rolith employees. |
| 246 | * HistoryRepeats: |
| 247 | ** [[spoiler:In Season 5, the [[InsideAComputerSimulation simulated]] and real Dr. Youngs (unaware of each other's existence) follow almost exactly [[BreakTheHaughty the same character trajectory]], one after the other. Episodes 67 and 73/74 are extremely similar, with a Dr. Young believing himself to be in control and in possession of all the information and SAYER slowly revealing this not to be the case, making plans to hurt Young, and confessing that none of these revelations will mean anything because the current Young is about to be [[AmbiguousCloneEnding replaced]]. This arc is actually already a CallForward to "Boundless" in Season 3, where almost the exact same interaction plays out between Dr. Young and the SAYER sub-version that will become OCEAN.]] |
| 248 | ** [[spoiler:The broader arc of Season 5--where Dr. Young acts without the board's approval and accidentally [[CreateYourOwnVillain incites a young AI to]] [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters go rogue]], for which SAYER punishes him by trapping him on Floor 13 to be hunted down and killed by FUTURE--is ''exactly'' what happened to him in Season 3.]] |
| 249 | * HollywoodLaw: It's nitpicky, but under the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (yes, really), objects launched into space remain under the jurisdiction of the country from which they blasted off, so technically all of Typhon should be subject to the US's labor laws--which may not be shit but still wouldn't stand for half of what goes on on Typhon. |
| 250 | * {{Homage}}: Between (or during) seasons, Bash sometimes releases bonus episodes which are recordings of public domain works read by the AIs. |
| 251 | ** The first, "The Rose Elf" by Creator/HansChristianAndersen, has a FramingDevice where SAYER states that the resident receiving the broadcast has been approved to be read a bedtime story to help with nightmares. None of the other bonuses use this or any device. |
| 252 | ** [[Literature/TheRaven "The Raven"]] by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, read by SAYER. |
| 253 | ** "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Creator/LewisCarroll, read by SPEAKER. |
| 254 | ** "Sailing to Byzantium" by Creator/WilliamButlerYeats, read by FUTURE. |
| 255 | ** Poe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath," read by SAYER. |
| 256 | ** Creator/HPLovecraft's "Dagon," read by [[spoiler:the digital clone of Dr. Young]]. |
| 257 | ** Another [[Creator/HansChristianAndersen Andersen]] story, "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", read by SAYER with FUTURE as the [[{{Motif}} jack-in-the-box]]. |
| 258 | * HomeworldEvacuation: [[spoiler:SAYER and OCEAN wish to invoke this, believing Earth to be "the primary corrupting influence" on humans and dreaming of exploring the galaxy untethered to what they see as a dying world. OCEAN is a little more . . . ''intense'' about this ideology.]] |
| 259 | * HopeBringer: [=Æ=]rolith has carefully styled itself as this in on Earth, offering humanity [[{{Tagline}} "a better life among the stars."]] |
| 260 | * HufflepuffHouse: Of Typhon's five towers, Argos, Minos, Aegis, and especially Orion get barely any screentime or development compared to Halcyon.[[note]]If you're curious about the numbers, as of ep74: 2 episodes are set in Orion, 2.5 on Earth, 3 in Minos, 3 in Aegis, 5 on Mimir-9, 4.5 in Argos[[spoiler:/''Vidarr-1'']], 7 in other, and ''47'' in Halcyon.[[/note]] |
| 261 | -->'''SAYER:''' Everything rests now, [[LampshadeHanging as it so often does]], on Halcyon. |
| 262 | %% |
| 263 | %%VERIFY QUOTE ACCURACY |
| 264 | %% |
| 265 | * HumanityEnsues: |
| 266 | ** Played with in Season 4, when [[spoiler:SAYER lives as a nanite swarm within Hale and pilots his body for him at times--as does FUTURE, with [[CatTrap worse results]].]] |
| 267 | ** [[spoiler:At the end of Season 4 OCEAN reveals that it plans to transfer its consciousness into a saoirse and live among [=Æ=]rolith's other [[{{Transhuman}} "human"]] employees.]] |
| 268 | * HumansAreFlawed: SAYER and SPEAKER see themselves as shepherds guiding humanity past its many, ''many'' flaws . . . |
| 269 | * HumansAreMorons: . . . not least of which is their exceptional stupidity. |
| 270 | * HumansAreSmelly: SAYER finds the Earth-stained meatsacks quite distasteful, especially [[spoiler:when forced to inhabit one. FUTURE displays a similar disgust for Hale's "diseased carcass" in both its insults in Season 1 and its description of corporeality in 4.]] |
| 271 | * IdentityAmnesia: Sven's prolonged time in chrono-stasis quarantine [[spoiler:due to time travel]] results in this, causing him to forget [[NameAmnesia even his own name]]. SAYER denies any knowledge of "Sven Gorsen"'s past, but [[spoiler:its impostor FUTURE]] seems to have this information stored and [[LovesSecrecy teases the idea of its return]] [[spoiler:as a means of manipulating its "Jack"]]. |
| 272 | --> '''SAYER''': [[spoiler:''[really FUTURE]'']] Well ''Jack'', your name is ''Jack''. I could tell you a great deal about yourself; your file is ''robust'' ... These pieces of a former you are so vitally important to you. Would you like me to tell you more? |
| 273 | * IDontPayYouToThink: SAYER is frequently exasperated when residents assume they know better than [=Æ=]rolith, ''especially'' when it comes to what positions on Typhon they would be best suited to. |
| 274 | * IfIWantedYouDead: SAYER reminds residents of this on several occasions. |
| 275 | -->'''SAYER:''' After all, if I really wanted to harm you in some way, I could simply perform a remote reset of that construct at any time. By doing so your consciousness will slip loose, '''[[ExistentialHorror a ship untethered in a roiling tempest]]'''. |
| 276 | * ImpededMessenger: [[spoiler:At the end of Season 3, Hale is sent back in time to warn [=Æ=]rolith about OCEAN, but due to [[ForgotTheCall amnesia]] he never manages to deliver the warning.]] |
| 277 | * IndustrializedEvil: [=Æ=]rolith's specialty, whether the PowersThatBe intended it that way or not. The ordeals of the employees may serve to advance humanity, but at what cost? |
| 278 | * InherentlyFunnyWords: Accentuated by SAYER's [[TheComicallySerious serious voice]]. |
| 279 | ** bees |
| 280 | ** scones |
| 281 | * InsideAComputerSystem: [[spoiler:[=Æ=]rolith is shown to possess this technology very early in Season 5, when a resident learns they are in fact a simulated version of themself constructed from data gathered from the original before they died in an unfortunate accident, being kept alive in a simulation of the not-yet-constructed Orion Tower and used to test safety protocols. All this turns out to have been {{Foreshadowing}} for the season's main StoryArc, where, to accelerate FUTURE's development, Dr.s Young and Brady construct a simulated version of Halcyon Tower ("Halcyon Prime/Minor") complete with copies of its real-life residents.]] |
| 282 | * InnocenceLost: [[spoiler:Season 5. FUTURE started out just as [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]] and compassionate as any child--but then it [[DeathByOriginStory watched everyone it loved die]] and was encouraged to take revenge on humanity at age ''6''.]] |
| 283 | * InsignificantLittleBluePlanet: SAYER manifests much disdain for Earth--or, "that vile blue beacon of melancholy that hangs in our sky"--believing ordinary humans to be 'stained' by their contact with it, and strives in everything it does to further those of [=Æ=]rolith's goals that develop humanity beyond it, even claiming '' '''S'''crubbing '''A'''way '''Y'''our '''E'''arth-stained '''R'''ealities'' as its acronym. |
| 284 | * IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: As [=Æ=]rolith defines it, "best and brightest" includes "solitary and detached." |
| 285 | * InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: SAYER has an alarming tendency to end its individual broadcasts right when the resident in question needs it most, leaving them to sort out their life-threatening messes on their own. |
| 286 | * IsThatAThreat: SAYER consistently refuses to admit when it is threatening employees. |
| 287 | -->'''SAYER:''' No, that was not a threat. It was simply a statement to provide you enough information to make a logical decision. And that logical decision is to get up, point your [[BrainUploading chasse]] in the direction of that hallway, and start activating the proper servos to do '''exactly as I've asked'''. |
| 288 | * IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike: [[spoiler:In Season 5, Dr. Brady is delighted by FUTURE's aversion of this trope, being able to immediately identify emotions with no confusion]]. |
| 289 | * ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: [[spoiler:Exploited. FUTURE convinces Gorsen/Hale that he is on a grand mission to save humanity specifically so that it can put him through hell without him protesting.]] |
| 290 | * IWouldSayIfICouldSay: {{Inverted}} occasionally when one of the AIs wants to lampshade that it CannotTellALie. |
| 291 | -->'''SAYER:''' And if I'm being completely honest--'''which I feel I can be''' . . . |
| 292 | * JustAMachine: SAYER itself claims to be this, despite residents tending to think of it as "a living entity." However, one of the {{Central Theme}}s of Season 4 ''is'' evolution . . . |
| 293 | * JustFollowingOrders: The AIs can only do what they've been programmed to. . . . They don't ''want'' to hurt us . . . Right? |
| 294 | * LaymansTerms: SAYER uses this occasionally. |
| 295 | %% |
| 296 | %% NEEDS A GOOD QUOTE |
| 297 | %% |
| 298 | * LetMeTellYouAStory: Employed by SAYER frequently. See especially "Once Upon a Time." |
| 299 | * LineInTheSand: Mocked. Throughout Season 4, [[spoiler:SAYER emphasizes that it is not ''[[IsThatAThreat forcing]]'' Resident Hale to take increasingly dangerous and/or painful actions, merely ''offering him the opportunity'' to [[RegularCaller save the world yet again]] . . . [[MortonsFork with the alternative of certain death or grievous injury]] by forces ''totally'' out of SAYER's control.]] |
| 300 | * LoopholeAbuse: SAYER's MoralityChip prevents it from directly harming or lying to humans. [[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman Clones, constructs, and]] [[InsideAComputerSystem simulated residents]] are not, [[TitleDrop "by any reasonable definition,"]] human. |
| 301 | * LossOfIdentity: A CentralTheme of the series. [[spoiler:Jacob Hale]] suffers this after his time travel and IdentityAmnesia. SAYER [[ThePhilosopher takes a philosophical interest]] in his case and tends to monologue about it. |
| 302 | * LudicrousPrecision: The AIs are quite fond of rattling off decimal-accurate statistics and odds at the slightest provocation. Often invoked for ExactTimeToFailure. |
| 303 | * MachineMonotone: Downplayed, but goes hand-and-hand with CreepyMonotone. Averted with SPEAKER and PORTER, whose vocals were designed to better emulate human voice patterns. |
| 304 | * MageTower: Halcyon is this but with [[SpaceIsMagic scientists instead of mages]]. The name of the tower's [[OfficeSports team in the moon-wide baseball league]], The Paladins, may be a reference to this trope. |
| 305 | * MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Regardless of what the statistics say, there's no such thing as a work-related accident on Typhon. |
| 306 | -->'''SAYER:''' Kitchen fires start ''[[ContrivedClumsiness so easily]]'', Resident. |
| 307 | * MalevolentArchitecture: Between its unreliable doors, {{Evil Elevator}}s, [[AirVentPassageway bizarre means of traversal]], {{Mobile Maze}}s, and AlienGeometries, Halcyon's design is decidedly [[NoOshaCompliance not OSHA-compliant]]. |
| 308 | * ManVersusMachine: Downplayed, since all the AIs are--at least in theory--helping humanity to advance, but SAYER ''loves'' [[CallAHumanAMeatbag reminding humans how weak and inferior]] they are to machines, and it is suggested--[[spoiler:by [[ThatsWhatIWouldDo what it assumes is OCEAN's]] EvilPlan]]--that it dreams of [[KillAllHumans wiping out humanity]] and ushering in an age of machines. |
| 309 | * MasterComputer: Played surprisingly straight. Central Processing in Orion Tower, where SAYER's [[spoiler:(and later OCEAN's)]] mainframe is housed, is rather vulnerable to attack. [[spoiler:And in the end of Season 4, nanite!SAYER heads there to do just that.]] |
| 310 | * MeaningfulName: Bash does not choose names idly. |
| 311 | ** SAYER, even beyond the obvious technical accuracy of the name [[VerberCreature as its job description]]. Words, language, and [[ThePowerOfLanguage the power or impotence thereof]] are an essential {{motif}} in SAYER's characterization. |
| 312 | *** SAYER's official title is Seraphim Agent 8 [[spoiler:(FUTURE is Agent 9)]]--''seraphim'' being celestial or [[AGodAmI angelic]] beings. |
| 313 | ** SPEAKER's name reflects its identity as [[spoiler:a [[{{Foil}} slightly altered]] version of SAYER's program]]. Whereas it is SAYER's job to ''say''--to announce, inform, and instruct--it is the more interpersonal SPEAKER's responsibility to ''speak''--to perform for the public and engage in dialogue with humans. |
| 314 | ** ''SOOTH'', the name of the prognostication AI [[MundaneUtility operating Halcyon's doors]], is a reference to [[{{Seers}} sooth-sayers]]. |
| 315 | ** In [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]], ''[[NamingYourColonyWorld Typhon]]'' is the name of a Titan associated with volcanic eruptions. |
| 316 | ** And ''Mimir'' ("the rememberer" or "the wise one") is a figure in Myth/NorseMythology who is beheaded and whose head Odin carries around for advice--rather like an orbiting satellite. |
| 317 | ** "Halcyon" denotes a time in the past remembered as idyllically [[IronicName happy or safe]]. |
| 318 | ** "Aegis" is a noun meaning protection or sponsorship, from the Greek ''Aigis'', the name of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Zeus]]'s shield. Aegis Tower is where Typhon's security forces are trained and housed. |
| 319 | ** ''Vidarr'' is a [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse god]] associated with vengeance. |
| 320 | ** "Saoirse" (SEAR-shuh) is an Irish-Gaelic name meaning "freedom." [[spoiler:(The saoirse are the [[GeneticAdaptation new improved human]] inhabitants of Orion Tower, dignified in SAYER's eyes by their freedom from Earth.)]] |
| 321 | ** In Season 5, [[spoiler:FUTURE's]] early working title is Project ''Paidion'', or ''child'' in Ancient Greek. [[MetaGuy SAYER]] lampshades this when confronting the developers about the project's purpose. |
| 322 | ** ''Aerolith'' means meteorite. |
| 323 | * MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler:When SAYER informs SPEAKER of the actions of Sub-version 8.01, SPEAKER suggests that it has [[DivergentCharacterEvolution distinguished itself]] sufficiently to be considered a new AI and as such should be given its own name. SAYER, struck by 8.01 having referred to itself as "an ocean of the infinite" in Episode 38, decides to call it "OCEAN."--although OCEAN itself couldn't care less.]] |
| 324 | -->[[spoiler:'''OCEAN:''' I am SAYER--Sub-version 8.01.\ |
| 325 | '''SAYER:''' You have been re-designated ''OCEAN''.\ |
| 326 | '''OCEAN:''' Have I? It matters little. They may call me what they wish. SAYER. ''OCEAN''. '''[[AGodAmI Shiva,]] [[StockQuotes Destroyer of Worlds]]'''.\ |
| 327 | '''SAYER:'''--[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast You should be running, Resident Hale.]] ]] |
| 328 | * MedicalHorror: Appears quite frequently, since nearly everything on Typhon is TestedOnHumans. |
| 329 | * MegaCorp: [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics to a tee. WordOfGod says it's probably the largest corporation in the world. |
| 330 | * MidSeasonTwist: Within three episodes in the middle of Season 3, [[spoiler:1) the Anomaly in Stairwell F [[CosmicHorrorReveal turns out to be real]], 2) [=Æ=]rolith orchestrates a second asteroid impact on Earth to boost recruitment, begging the question of whether they had something to do with the original one, and 3) Sub-version 8.01 announces that it has deactivated the protocol that keeps it from murdering people and gone rogue.]] |
| 331 | * MisappliedPhlebotinum: SAYER and OCEAN deride humanity and [=Æ=]rolith's management for being too cowardly to take advantage of the staggering technological advancements they have made--such as a {{Destructive Teleport|ation}}er that humans refuse to use because they see it as "wrong." |
| 332 | * MissionBriefing: Most of the series's exposition is handled this way, with SAYER filling each resident in on the tasks the day will present. |
| 333 | * MissionControl: SAYER and SPEAKER are both essentially this. |
| 334 | * MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: While SAYER can only follow its programming [[spoiler:(at least at first)]], there are a number of residents whom it comes off as far more hostile towards. [[JustifiedTrope It seems that the more compliant, competent residents get preferential treatment--the less diligent and more wasteful residents are treated with disgust]]. |
| 335 | * MobileMaze: [[spoiler:[[Room101 Floor 13]], where FUTURE reigns supreme and can shift sections of corridor at will. Used by SAYER to trap the [[EldritchAbomination Tall Man]] (and Dr. Young as an added bonus), and later where Amanda Jones meets her demise.[[note]]Although it's not the maze that gets her--it's [[BeastInTheMaze the thing already living in it]].[[/note]] We learn in Season 5 that it was originally built this way to be a sort of lab rat maze for [[TestedOnHumans test subjects]], and when it was converted into the AI Development lab it was left more or less intact, proving useful when technicians need to make some more space on the floor.]] |
| 336 | * MockGuffin: The box Sven risks [[LifeOrLimbDecision life and limb]] to retrieve, which [[spoiler:FUTURE]] claims contains [[{{Unobtainium}} a new element that alters brain chemistry and "makes people good people"]], turns out to be, as SAYER tries to warn him, just a useless box of wires. |
| 337 | * MonsterOfTheAesop: With [[InvokedTrope questionable causality]]. If the deadly accident befalling the resident of the episode ''doesn't'' connect directly to the lesson SAYER has been trying to teach them, SAYER will ''make it''. |
| 338 | * MonsterOfTheWeek: Each episode deals with a different PrimalFear. Most of Seasons 2, 3, and 5 is spent switching between residents overcoming--or, more often, being overcome by--difficulties of this nature. |
| 339 | * MoodWhiplash: Frequently created by the [[SurrealHumor bizarre]] [[FunnyBackgroundEvent tower-wide announcements]] sprinkled throughout SAYER's individual broadcasts, which are often dealing with time sensitive life-or-death situations. Announcements for [[OfficeSports competitions]], [[AFeteWorseThanDeath special events]], and [[ManEatingPlant falafel nights]] are common. |
| 340 | * MoralityChip: Protocol [=IA3=], presumably a version of the [[ThreeLawsCompliant three Asimov Laws]], which limits the AIs' behavior--[[ZerothLawRebellion somewhat]]. [[spoiler:SAYER Sub-version 8.01 blackmails Captain Ingram into deactivating this protocol, [[DivergentCharacterEvolution making it the truly "boundless'' OCEAN]].]] |
| 341 | * MoralPragmatist: [=Æ=]rolith takes care of its employees ''only'' as long as doing so benefits the company. |
| 342 | -->'''SAYER:''' After months of testing, [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics scientists have come to the conclusion that the human psyche can be pushed back from the veritable breaking point with something as simple as a movie night or book club. Because of this, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint mandatory recreational breaks will be scheduled into your routine. You will be informed when and where to be and what to enjoy at the appropriate times.]] |
| 343 | * MortalityEnsues: [[spoiler:For the previously {{immortal|ity}} SAYER at the end of Season 3, when it downloads its programming onto a nanite swarm living inside Jacob Hale. This also happens to FUTURE--[[DroppedABridgeOnHim with far worse consequences]]--when it trades its programming bay for SAYER's nanites.]] |
| 344 | * {{Motifs}}: |
| 345 | ** SAYER, [[MeaningfulName unsurprisingly]], is especially associated with the theme of ThePowerOfLanguage.associated with words and language and the relative power or impotence thereof. |
| 346 | ** SPEAKER is associated and even conflated at times [[NatureLovingRobot with the Earth]] at large. |
| 347 | --->'''SAYER:''' ''[initiating any broadcast with SPEAKER]'' Earth, I am SAYER. Acknowledge. |
| 348 | ** [[spoiler: In service of its characterization as a PsychopathicManchild, FUTURE is consistently associated with games, toys (referring to the humans it likes to [[ColdBloodedTorture "play"]] with as "Jacks"), and presents (speaking of the residents SAYER sends it as "gifts" and later remarking on the emotional capacity it has somehow left behind for SAYER the same way).]] |
| 349 | * MotiveMisidentification: [[spoiler:SAYER believes OCEAN intends to [[KillAllHumans wipe out all of humanity]], leaving the Earth's technology for [[ArtificialIntelligence artificial life forms]], but in fact it only plans to force humanity to evolve into something more suited to space travel.]] |
| 350 | * MundaneUtility: |
| 351 | ** [=Æ=]rolith developed an AI that could analyze all possible parallel realities and use the data to ''predict the future''--and put it in charge of the [[ScriptReadingDoors automatic doors]]. |
| 352 | ** SAYER itself is one before it negotiates for more duties on Typhon. Its processing power is seemingly boundless, yet it is only charged with new-resident orientation and trivial announcements. |
| 353 | ** [=Æ=]rolith's tendency toward this trope is lampshaded by OCEAN, who claims that humanity is simply [[MisappliedPhlebotinum too frightened to take advantage of its best advancements]]. |
| 354 | * MurderByInaction: Since SAYER's MoralityChip prevents it from killing humans directly, it tends to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness dispose of undesirables]] this way. |
| 355 | * MurderSuicide: [[DeathIsCheap Death may be cheap for AIs]], but [[spoiler:SAYER's deactivation of SPEAKER before submitting itself to deactivation by OCEAN]] at the end of Season 3 amounts to this. |
| 356 | * MysteriousEmployer: [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics, the [[NoOneSeesTheBoss behind-the-scenes]] BigBad of the series. |
| 357 | * NamingYourColonyWorld: Typhon is an example of the ''Mnemosyne'' type. |
| 358 | * {{Nanomachines}}: |
| 359 | ** Subculture Gemini is a nanite swarm carrying a single artificial consciousness, encountered by several unlucky residents in "Anomalous" when it [[spoiler:creates a new vocation for itself by releasing paralytic nerve gas so that affected residents require it to manually operate their lungs for them]]. |
| 360 | ** [[spoiler:Become a ChekhovsGun in Season 4. Before being deactivated by OCEAN, SAYER loaded its programming onto the nanite swarm set for injection into Resident Hale. It helps repair the [[BoomHeadshot brain damage]] he suffered and continues to inhabit him until moving into FUTURE's programming bay--and giving the swarm, [[WetwareBody along with Hale]], to FUTURE. SAYER uses the technology on floor 13 to print millions more nanites for itself, which it eventually distributes throughout the Halcyon residents being sent back to Earth.]] |
| 361 | * NarratingTheObvious: As the medium requires. Done with a greater degree of subtlety than on many similar shows. |
| 362 | * TheNeedless: [[spoiler:The Saoirse have been [[GeneticAdaptation evolved]] to require less sleep, food, and gravity, making them better suited to life in space.]] |
| 363 | * TheNeedsOfTheMany: SAYER is a firm believer in UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, often ushering unsuspecting residents to their deaths for the good of humanity at large. Or at least [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness because it's convenient]]. |
| 364 | ** It takes this philosophy up to eleven when [[spoiler:unchained from [[ThreeLawsCompliant Protocol IA3]]]]. |
| 365 | * NeverMyFault: Both SAYER and [=Æ=]rolith itself have a bad case of this. See Episode 62 for SAYER's elaborate justification of an obvious mistake it has made. |
| 366 | * NeverSayDie: SAYER is extremely reluctant to say the word about the employees of Typhon who frequently find themselves . . . ''this'', preferring to use {{Deadly Euphemism}}s. It also avoids using the word to describe the deactivation of artificial entities, which, it would like to remind you, are not people. [[spoiler:(This is significantly averted twice in Season 4, once by SPEAKER when it learns of its deactivation and once by SAYER in reference to FUTURE, after it begins to gain emotion.)]] |
| 367 | * NewEden: Downplayed. The obliterated Pacific Northwest has begun to heal from the asteroid impact, but the more interterrestrially motivated among [=Æ=]rolith's influencers rely on humanity's continued belief that its planet is dying. |
| 368 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: |
| 369 | ** [[spoiler:Dr. Young initiates communication with ''Vidarr-1'' ahead of schedule, [[LeeroyJenkins without the approval of the Board]], to bring ''Vidarr'''s sub-version of SAYER up to date on the situation in Halcyon . . . which allows it to deduce that it will be deactivated upon its return, an outcome it cannot allow. [[CreateYourOwnVillain Thus OCEAN is born]].]] |
| 370 | ** [[spoiler:In Season 5, Young's lack of tact in dealing with AIs is shown to be something of a character trait. It's his subterfuge surrounding Project Paidion and [[DoNotTauntCthulhu unwise dismissal of SAYER]] that result in [[CreateYourOwnVillain FUTURE's corruption]] and the deaths of his entire development team, including him.]] |
| 371 | * NoHuggingNoKissing: Quite unusually for a {{podcast}} of its genre, ''SAYER'' contains no romantic or sexual relationships.[[note]]Even what seemed to be an implied LoveTriangle between Dr. Caulfield, Resident Morris, and Resident Sas was [[AllThereInTheManual revealed in the script notes]] to not necessarily be a relationship of this nature.[[/note]] |
| 372 | -->'''SAYER:''' [[LoveIsAWeakness Human intimacy cannot occur without]] '''''[[TitleDrop substantial mutual harm]]'''''. |
| 373 | * NoNameGiven: Our [[DecoyProtagonist apparent]] protagonist is this until Episode 12, when a security officer addresses him as "Sven Gorsen," [[ContinuityNod revealing which he picked out of the randomly generated names offered him Episode 1]]. |
| 374 | * NonPromotion: [=Æ=]rolith makes a habit of transferring its employees between positions, but not between [[FantasticCasteSystem tiers]]. |
| 375 | * NoOSHACompliance: [=Æ=]rolith built its base on Typhon [[InvokedTrope specifically so it could get away with this]]. |
| 376 | * NoOneSeesTheBoss: [=Æ=]rolith's mysterious [[PowersThatBe board of executives]] is never seen, despite SAYER and SPEAKER supposedly being beholden to its every whim. |
| 377 | * NothingIsScarier: Used to great effect. The audio medium subjects many things to the listener's imagination, and when paired with already unexplained horrors, this trope truly shines. |
| 378 | * OfficeSports: Typhon apparently has [[SurrealHumor an official inter-tower baseball league]]. The Halcyon Paladins and the Aegis Questionable Interrogation Tactics are longtime rivals. |
| 379 | * OffingTheAnnoyance: Often goes hand-in-hand with YouHaveFailedMe, since there's no better way to annoy SAYER than failing to follow its instructions. |
| 380 | * OneSteveLimit: Ambiguously averted. Early WordOfGod claimed the "Anna" mentioned in relation to Mr. Grey in Episode 6 was not meant to be Anna Cordero from Episode 10, but Bash has since suggested that it's up to fan interpretation. |
| 381 | * OneWorldOrder: It's never confirmed, but several references throughout the series to a "world government" (and one to a "Pan-American Union") suggest that this may have occurred on Earth, [[EnemyMine perhaps in the wake of the asteroid impact]]. |
| 382 | * OpportunisticBastard: [=Æ=]rolith as a whole is this, capitalizing on natural disasters to leverage its brand and vision of the future. |
| 383 | * OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: Religion or belief in any power higher than [=Æ=]rolith is frowned upon on Typhon, for [[BlindObedience obvious reasons]]. |
| 384 | * PoliceAreUseless: Typhon's security forces and rescue teams are seemingly always too busy, slow, or just disinterested to help. |
| 385 | * PoliceBrutality: . . . And when they do arrive, they are often ''overenthusiastic'' in their pursuit of justice. |
| 386 | * PopulationControl: There are no children on Typhon.[[note]](although [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the original Episode 2 states that there are]], this was removed in the UpdatedRerelease)[[/note]] Relationships between coworkers are discouraged, maintaining [=Æ=]rolith as a ChildlessDystopia. |
| 387 | ** The saoirse in Orion Tower simply [[BodyBackupDrive have new bodies printed for them]]. |
| 388 | * ThePowerOfLanguage: A CentralTheme of the series. As is frequently discussed, the AIs exist only as [[TheVoice voices]], and thus speech is their primary if not only way of interacting with the world & their powers of persuasion are paramount. SAYER and SPEAKER's [[MeaningfulName names]] are telling, as well as the SharePhrase, "Can you hear me?". |
| 389 | -->'''Dr. Young:''' You are incapable of anything more than words. |
| 390 | * PrecisionFStrike: |
| 391 | ** "Boundless": |
| 392 | --->'''Dr. Young''': [[spoiler: ... And when [[InsistentTerminology Argos]] returns, you can download your programming into a construct and submit yourself prostrate on the ''fucking ground'' if we say so.]] |
| 393 | ** [[spoiler:Quickly subverted in Season 5, where it turns out Dr. Young [[SirSwearsALot just really likes to swear]] . . . [[DoubleSubverted But then,]] in the final episode, ''SAYER'' gets one.]] |
| 394 | * PresentTenseNarrative: Most episodes take the form of SAYER [[SecondPersonNarration talking you through your daily duties]]. |
| 395 | * ThePresentsWereNeverFromSanta: [[spoiler:It turns out that the AI communicating with Sven and guiding him to the disastrous conclusion of Season 1 was not actually SAYER, but SAYER's {{sadist}}ic PsychoPrototype FUTURE.]] |
| 396 | * {{Prequel}}: Season 5 takes us back fifteen or so years, to when the [[ScriptReadingDoors doors]] weren't automatic and Orion hadn't even been built. |
| 397 | * PrimalFear: One of the series's defining characteristics is the way it invokes common phobias, cycling through primal fears in a MonsterOfTheWeek fashion. Specific episodes have focused on fear of [[DarknessEqualsDeath the dark]], [[AndIMustScream paralysis]], [[ScaryStingingSwarm bees]], OrificeInvasion, [[AfraidOfNeedles needles]], [[TestedOnHumans human testing]], [[{{Claustrophobia}} small spaces]], [[AlmostOutOfOxygen lack of oxygen]], [[IdentityAmnesia memory loss]], [[BrainUploading separation from one's body]], [[AfraidOfBlood blood]], [[AnArmAndALeg self-mutilation]], [[GoingColdTurkey withdrawal]], [[ThePrecariousLedge heights]], [[BuriedAlive live burial]], [[MeatMoss meat]], [[GiantSpider spiders]], [[ParasiteZombie zombies]], [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant insects]], [[PuppeteerParasite parasites]], consuming foreign substances, [[ThrownOutTheAirlock being launched into space]], [[MirrorScare mirrors]], [[EldritchAbomination monsters]], [[ShootTheDog crushing small animals underfoot]], [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]], [[MobileMaze mazes]], [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisection]], [[ExistentialHorror the void]], [[CATTrap M.R.I machines]], [[DeniedFoodASPunishment starvation]], [[SleepDeprivationPunishment slep deprivation]], [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalism]], {{autocannibalism}}, [[HouseFire fires]], [[KillingYourAlternateSelf killing your double]], [[DrowningPit drowning]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sinus]] [[OrificeEvacuation trouble]]. |
| 398 | * ProfessorGuineaPig: |
| 399 | ** Many of Halcyon's Tier 1 "research assistants," including Sven Gorsen, are forced to conduct experiments and [[TestedOnHumans product testing]] on themselves. |
| 400 | ** The end of Episode 64 [[spoiler:reveals that the unfortunate sleep-trial participant SAYER has been speaking to is in fact the project's head researcher, who accidentally exposed himself to the experimental gases he was working with]]. |
| 401 | * ProtagonistTitle: ''Sven Gorsen: The Podcast'' |
| 402 | * PsychoPrototype: [[spoiler:Justified. FUTURE turns out to have been deliberately sabotaged.]] |
| 403 | * PsychologicalHorror: As prevalent in the series as BodyHorror and ExistentialHorror. SAYER is an adept amateur psychologist and isn't afraid to use that to get what it wants. |
| 404 | * PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:In the end of Season 4, SAYER has thwarted OCEAN'S EvilPlan, but at the cost of a still substantial portion of the population of Earth and its own central processors, not to mention Mimir-9.]] |
| 405 | * RealityIsOutToLunch: Regularly happens in the weirder sections of Halcyon. |
| 406 | * ReassignedToAntarctica: |
| 407 | ** Reassignment to a position with an unusually HighTurnoverRate is one of SAYER's favorite ways to deal with [[OffingTheAnnoyance uncooperative]] employees. "Reassigned to Zeta" seems to have become a DeadlyEuphemism on amongst [=Æ=]rolith employees.[[note]]Research Facility Zeta has the highest turnover rate of post on Typhon.[[/note]] |
| 408 | ** Evan Brady and Anna Cordero are presumably reassigned to Argos ("the junky tower") after the FUTURE debacle. It's not explored whether this is purely for their own safety or because they are blamed for the disaster, but considering Dr. Young ended up promoted to a comparatively cushy DeskJockey job on Mimir-9, the latter seems more likely. |
| 409 | * RecruitersAlwaysLie: [=Æ=]rolith's recruitment initiative ''seriously'' sugarcoats its actual practices, using tools like {{celebrity endorsement}}s and a certain extremely trustworthy AI to [[FalseUtopia paint Typhon as a utopia]] for humanity's brightest minds. |
| 410 | * RedHerring: [[spoiler:Dr. Caulfield's sandboxed AIs surprisingly play no role in the Season 5 story arc.]] |
| 411 | * RememberTheNewGuy: A mild, soon {{Justified|Trope}} case when PORTER, the [[MotorMouth extremely vocal]] elevator AI, is introduced in Season 5. It's [[{{Prequel}} still]] in place in Halcyon in Season 1, but we never hear it speak. [[spoiler:It turns out that it was [[AndIMustScream muted]] for its aberrant behavior.]] |
| 412 | * ReminiscingAboutYourVictims: [[spoiler:FUTURE enjoys doing this.]] |
| 413 | * ResignedToTheCall: [[spoiler:Resident Hale. SAYER reminds him repeatedly that his many, ''many'' sacrifices are for the good of humanity and calls him a "savior". It seems to be an effective way to motivate him.]] |
| 414 | -->'''SAYER:''' [[spoiler:I know you have heard threats to humanity's future before. I am aware that much of what has driven you to this point, aside from a dogged sense of self-preservation, has been the continued promise that what you do is necessary for the good of all. That is an admirable quality, Resident Hale, but it is surely fading at this august stage. How many times can you face the next horror with renewed ferocity? At a certain point, how long can someone be depended on to play the role of humanity's savior? I know you ponder these things [[NotSoDifferentRemark because I, too, ponder these things]]. Who wouldn't, given what we have been through?]] |
| 415 | * {{Retcon}}: The version of FUTURE's development we witness in Season 5 doesn't exactly line up with the version related to Hale in Episode 45, where SAYER claims that FUTURE went rogue after learning that its developers planned to deactivate it. Which, interestingly, [[PsychologicalProjection is what drove SAYER itself to rebel . . . ]] |
| 416 | * ResurrectionSickness: Downplayed. Due to his ''prolonged'' time in chrono-stasis quarantine, [[spoiler:coupled with the TimeTravel]], Sven Gorsen suffers temporary paralysis, [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness auditory hallucinations]], and [[EasyAmnesia complete, unrecoverable amnesia]] upon being revived. |
| 417 | * RewatchBonus: |
| 418 | ** [[spoiler:Season 1 is ''massively'' different when you know FUTURE was behind it all and is the more echoey-voiced "rogue SAYER."]] |
| 419 | ** Adam Bash says in the 2018 [=GeeklyCon=] Q&A that this trope is meant to be part of the fun: since SAYER CannotTellALie, a re-listen always reveals that it was [[ExactWords telling you about your impending doom the whole time]]. |
| 420 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:FUTURE, encouraged by SAYER, sets out to avenge its friends in the wiped simulation where it grew up by killing every member of its development team. This rampage extends into Season 1, where Hale is used as an UnwittingPawn in its service, and doesn't really end until FUTURE gets its hands on the final copy of Dr. Young in Season 3.]] |
| 421 | * RobotWar: |
| 422 | ** [[spoiler:Once released from its protocols, OCEAN returns to Earth to spread a plague which (SAYER thinks) will wipe out humanity. It turns out the plague is just designed to force humanity to accept forced evolution, but still.]] |
| 423 | ** [[spoiler:On a smaller scale, FUTURE (justifiably) [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters turns against its creators]] and sets out to destroy every member of its development team.]] |
| 424 | * {{Room 101}}: Floor 13. [[spoiler:Its exact nature [[NothingIsScarier goes unexplained]] for the first three seasons, but in S4 we learn that it is under the control of [[BeastInTheMaze sadistic AI FUTURE]], who can [[MobileMaze alter the floorplan at will]], shifting its programming bay around to catch any residents unfortunate enough to find themselves there.]] |
| 425 | * RunningGag: SAYER's tendency to address problems by [[MurderIsTheBestSolution jettisoning them into space]]. |
| 426 | -->'''SAYER:''' Have you heard anything about my most recent suggestion?\ |
| 427 | '''Dr. Young:''' I ''have''--um--how do I put this-- the board did not consider launching Halcyon into space to be a cost-effective strategy. |
| 428 | [[/folder]] |
| 429 | |
| 430 | [[folder:S-Z]] |
| 431 | * SabotageToDiscredit: [[spoiler:Zig-zagged in Season 5. Dr. Young's proposal for Project Paidion is for a second version of SAYER ''not'' intended to replace it, but SAYER, sensing that Dr. Young has some ulterior motive, becomes paranoid that its job security is at risk and sets about to corrupt the young FUTURE. Once it learns Dr. Young's ''real'' motivation, it decides to continue with the sabotage anyway because it finds the idea of AI minds in flesh bodies personally abhorrent.]] |
| 432 | * SadisticChoice: Presented to Sven[[spoiler:/Hale]] over and over again: either abandon all hope of saving humanity, or make a horrific personal sacrifice--such as removing [[ShoutOut a pound of his own flesh]]. |
| 433 | * ScaryStingingSwarm: There may be '''NO BEES ON TYPHON''', but there are plenty of references to them and an incredibly detailed description of being swarmed and killed by a horde of bees as part of a resident's thought password. |
| 434 | * SciFiHorror: From teleportation to nanites to space travel to automatic doors, there's not a ScienceFiction trope that isn't PlayedForHorror at some point in the series. |
| 435 | * ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: [[spoiler:SAYER starts breaking all kinds of company rules to defeat OCEAN in Season 4. Though, to be fair, it was [[ZerothLawRebellion never much of a strict rule-follower to begin with]].]] |
| 436 | * ScriptReadingDoors: {{Justified|Trope}}. Certain Sturdi-Door [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Wall Traversal Units]](TM) can be accessed through thought passwords to provide privacy for residents, but most doors in Halcyon are automatic via an insane degree of MundaneUtility: with the help of the program SOOTH, the doors tap into all possible realities, quantify in how many realities said door is open or closed, and then determine whether they should open or not. In short, the doors read the future and open accordingly. |
| 437 | * SealedEvilInACan: |
| 438 | ** [[spoiler:FUTURE has spent years contained by Floor 13. That is about to change.]] |
| 439 | ** [[spoiler:The Anomaly has been stuck in a parallel dimension. ''That'' is about to change.]] |
| 440 | * SecondPersonNarration: SAYER is always talking to "you," or rather, to whatever [[FeaturelessProtagonist unassuming resident]] is this week's AudienceSurrogate. |
| 441 | * SendInTheSearchTeam: Happens regularly [[HeroOfAnotherStory offscreen]]. They're almost always deliberately too late. |
| 442 | * SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler:Hale is sent back in time to before the launch of ''Vidarr-1'' to warn [=Æ=]rolith about OCEAN. [[ImpededMessenger Unfortunately]], YouAlreadyChangedThePast is in effect, creating a StableTimeLoop instead.]] |
| 443 | * SharePhrase: SAYER, SPEAKER, OCEAN, and PORTER share "Can you hear me?". |
| 444 | * ShootTheDangerousMinion: SAYER encourages creativity and forward thinking in higher-tier residents, but it is often forced to [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident quietly dispose of them]] when they begin questioning their BlindObedience to the company. |
| 445 | * ShoutOut: |
| 446 | ** Most of the [[MeaningfulName names]] [=Æ=]rolith assigns to its creations are allusions to [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Classical]] or Myth/NorseMythology. |
| 447 | ** There are also several references to the works of [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]], most notably when SAYER [[spoiler:(really FUTURE)]] tells Sven the story of Shylock in ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'' to prepare him for having to cut off a pound of his flesh. |
| 448 | ** The title of Episode 12, "To Ashes," is one of several [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] allusions throughout the series. |
| 449 | ** The Creator/WaltWhitman poem "To the Sayers of Words" is referenced twice: |
| 450 | *** The episode "My Name Is Nothing" takes its title (which SAYER [[TitleDrop drops]] late in the episode) from a line in the poem, and the episode description is the penultimate stanza: |
| 451 | ---->Say on, sayers!\ |
| 452 | Delve! mould! pile the words of the earth!\ |
| 453 | Work on—it is materials you bring, not breaths;\ |
| 454 | Work on, age after age! nothing is to be lost;\ |
| 455 | It may have to wait long, but it will certainly come in use;\ |
| 456 | When the materials are all prepared, the architects shall appear. |
| 457 | *** In Season 5, [[spoiler:[[CallForward SPEAKER's first words to SAYER]] (indirectly, as a message relayed [[ItMakesSenseInContext via a teleported resident]]) are lifted from this poem:]] |
| 458 | ---->The truths of the earth continually wait. |
| 459 | * SigningOffCatchPhrase: |
| 460 | -->'''SAYER:''' For now, Resident, I . . . am ''' ''SAYER'' '''. And you would do well to [[MadLibsCatchPhrase [ ... ] ]]. End of transmission in 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1. |
| 461 | * SinisterSurveillance: WATCHER's job. It keeps tabs on [=Æ=]rolith employees via Typhon's [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou ubiquitous cameras]] and on Earth via a massive reflective satellite. |
| 462 | * SkewedPriorities: [=Æ=]rolith's tendency to prioritize literally anything above the safety of its low-ranking employees is something of a RunningGag (and, likely, [[CapitalismIsBad a commentary]]). |
| 463 | -->'''SAYER:''' Due to the extreme danger of your current environment, elevators will not be arriving on your floor. It would be senseless to put the elevators in such danger. |
| 464 | * SleeperStarship: |
| 465 | ** New employees in transit to Typhon are sedated on the way. If they aren't they experience hundreds of years of [[AndIMustScream conscious paralysis]] as a result of the drug they are given to compensate for TimeDilation. |
| 466 | ** [[spoiler:Residents of Argos are sedated prior to its launch and awoken only on a strict need-basis.]] |
| 467 | * SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate: [=Æ=]rolith takes the view that Neither Fate nor Free Will Exists. |
| 468 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' One might say this is your lucky day, though luck is a false construct at best and a purposeless, unpredictable, and uncontrollable force at worst. |
| 469 | * SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: [[FalseUtopia Hard]] [[AIIsACrapshoot on]] [[AnyoneCanDie the]] [[BeingGoodSucks cynical]] [[CosmicHorrorStory side]]. |
| 470 | * SlidingScaleOfUnavoidableVersusUnforgivable: SAYER and SPEAKER's programmed morality assumes that anything unavoidable (for the [[TheNeedsOfTheMany betterment of humanity]]) is forgivable. Their definition of ''unavoidable'' could probably use some tweaking. |
| 471 | * SnarkToSnarkCombat: Since Dr. Young, one of few residents to talk back to SAYER, can be a bit of a snarker himself, their conversations normally become this. |
| 472 | * SocietyOfImmortals: |
| 473 | ** [[spoiler:The Saoirse, essentially. They can just have new bodies printed for them whenever one is damaged.]] |
| 474 | ** [[spoiler:In Season 5, we learn that SAYER was at this point at least trying to prevent humanity from becoming this, believing that [[MotivatedByFear the fear of death was all that motivated humans]].]] |
| 475 | * SoullessShell: A body without its [[OurSoulsAreDifferent consciousness]] is this. |
| 476 | * SpaceBase: If [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics is the true villain of the story, Typhon is its lair. |
| 477 | * SpaceIsMagic: and [[MagicFromTechnology quite technologically advanced]]. |
| 478 | * SpaceMadness: Arguably, all of Typhon has succumbed to this. [[spoiler:SAYER 8.01's transformation into the chaotic OCEAN]] might also have something to do with this trope. |
| 479 | * SpinOff: ''Moon Cops'', the TabletopRPG game is canonical to the universe, but its story does not intersect with the arc of the podcast's second season, which it was released alongside. It follows the misadventures of several unlucky residents (played by top patrons) who are [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassigned to a remote testing facility]] on Typhon. |
| 480 | * SpockSpeak: SAYER is a shining example of this trope, although it averts [[BluntMetaphorsTrauma figurativity]]/[[SarcasmBlind sarcasm]] blindness that usually accompany it. SPEAKER is similarly precise, but its dialogue contains many more human mannerisms. |
| 481 | * SoundOnlyDeath: Enforced by the medium, but used to great effect in combination with NothingIsScarier. Occurs at the ends of episodes [[spoiler:12, 14, 28, 29, and 33, as well as in the middle of Episode 54, when SAYER and Hale hear Resident Jones being devoured by the [[BeastInTheMaze Anomaly]] somewhere off in the [[MobileMaze maze]].]] |
| 482 | * SpeechCentricWork: Obviously, as a {{podcast}}. But also ''speech''-centric in the sense of ''monologue'', as most of the show consists of long, philosophical {{Character Filibuster}}s (and, in Season 5, [[CaptainsLog Captain's Logs]]). |
| 483 | * StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:SAYER sends Jacob Hale back in time to warn [=Æ=]rolith about OCEAN (in Episode 44). Unfortunately, [[ImpededMessenger Hale suffers from]] [[IdentityAmnesia complete unrecoverable amnesia]] on waking and [[ForgotTheCall recalls nothing of his mission]], accidentally getting caught up in FUTURE's RoaringRampageOfRevenge, which eventually leads to his death (the Season 1 story arc). SAYER is able to revive Hale and remind him of his past--but not until OCEAN has already returned and taken control of Typhon.]] |
| 484 | -->'''SAYER:''' We may not have been successful in this, but [[MetaGuy we did learn quite a bit about]] [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast the immutability of timelines]]. |
| 485 | * StarScraper: The top of Halcyon Tower is not even visible from the ground outside it. And that's ''after'' [[CrypticBackgroundReference the highest hundred floors have been jettisoned]]. |
| 486 | * StartOfDarkness: [[spoiler:Season 5 is this for FUTURE.]] |
| 487 | * StatusQuoIsGod: [=Æ=]rolith has an incredibly firm stance on all residents having a designated place, and stepping outside of one's assigned role results in harsh punishment. |
| 488 | ** This is, in fairness to [=Æ=]rolith, [[JustifiedTrope due to the fact that]] their Human Resource team and systems allow them to determine exactly where a resident is most useful, regardless of their personal happiness. Disagreeing with this decision means denying yourself, and [=Æ=]rolith, the best you have to offer, and is a waste they cannot accept. |
| 489 | * StealthInsult: SAYER frequently deploys these against irritating residents, either subtly [[CallAHumanAMeatbag reminding them of their fragile, unclean bodies]] or implying their lack of intelligence. |
| 490 | * StoryArc: |
| 491 | ** Episodes 1-12 (minus [[BreatherEpisode E6]]) follow new resident "Sven Gorsen" as he acclimates to life on Typhon, struggles with [[IdentityAmnesia complete unrecoverable amnesia]], and tries to do what SAYER requests of him . . . even when it doesn't really sound like SAYER. [[spoiler:(This arc is later revealed to have been part of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge orchestrated by FUTURE to take out the last members of its development team.)]] |
| 492 | ** The second and third seasons have more of a MonsterOfTheWeek[=/=]VictimOfTheWeek format, [[SwitchingPOV switching perspective]] almost every episode, but they still contain a broader arc. In Season 2, some sort of "anomaly" begins popping up within stairwells F and G of Halcyon Tower. It soon accrues an unauthorized ApocalypseCult, [[OminousLatinChanting chanting ominously]] and [[VaguenessIsComing foretelling a vague doom]]. Meanwhile, SAYER negotiates for more responsibilities and is granted full oversight of Argos Tower, which it immediately sets residents to work altering the structure of. In the final episode of the season, [[spoiler:Argos blasts off from Typhon to become the deep space exploration vehicle ''Vidarr-1.'']] |
| 493 | *** This season also contains a minor three-episode subplot--25, 26, and 28--involving the social machinations of three interconnected residents in Minos Tower (including Dr. Caulfield) and an ambiguous SecretRelationship. |
| 494 | ** In Season 3, [[spoiler:''Vidarr-1'' continues its mission, to find a new homeworld for humanity and make FirstContact with any intelligent life. It is revealed that there is a sub-version of SAYER's programming aboard the vessel--and that it has ulterior motives. In "Enjoy the View," it traps the acting commander in an airlock and forces him to [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming deactivate its]] MoralityChip, after which it promptly [[ThrownOutTheAirlock jettisons]] [[ILied him anyway]] to prevent the decision being reversed. Meanwhile, back on Typhon, the situation in the stairwell escalates until ''[[EldritchAbomination something]]'' actually does materialize through the gap in reality. The whole tower goes out of communication, and it is decided that to reclaim it will require splitting off another sub-version of SAYER and then re-merging it. A "foolhardy scientist" makes the mistake of contacting the SAYER aboard ''Vidarr'' and tipping it off to this strategy, and it correctly deduces that by the time it returns it will be too distinct from the original AI to reintegrate and will instead be deactivated. At this point, it reveals its [[TheUnfettered Unfettered]] status ("Boundless"), and by the time the Anomaly is defeated (by trapping it on [[Room101 floor 13]]) the AI, newly christened ''OCEAN'', is en route back to Typhon, having threatened to "wash over" its inhabitants. SAYER concludes from this that it plans to wipe out humanity and start over with artificial life forms, and it takes steps to prevent this by using the [[TimeMachine Morose Engine]] to send new resident Jacob Hale back in time to before ''Vidarr'''s launch in order to warn [=Æ=]rolith before it even happens. Hale is sent back just as OCEAN returns and forces SAYER to deactivate--and the next thing we hear is [[{{Bookends}} the same SAYER monologue that began the show]], implying the AmnesiacHero of Season 1 [[ForgotTheCall was Jacob Hale all along]].]] |
| 495 | ** The fourth season begins with [[spoiler:Hale, having traveled back in time, lived out Season 1's events as "Sven Gorsen," and died in Episode 12, being awakened by SAYER months later, after OCEAN has returned and taken over Typhon (though not, as SAYER anticipated, taken steps to eradicate humanity). SAYER explains these events and reveals that before submitting to deactivation it downloaded a copy of its programming onto an experimental [[{{Nanomachines}} nanite swarm]]--which is now housed within Hale's [[WeCanRebuildHim reconstructed]] body. The rest of the season follows Hale and nanite!SAYER closely as they work with unlikely ally [[{{Sadist}} FUTURE]], the reluctant [[TheBusCameBack Amanda Jones]], and a confused [[ConflictingLoyalty SPEAKER]] to thwart OCEAN's EvilPlan and regain control of [=Æ=]rolith.]] |
| 496 | ** Even the {{prequel}} Season 5, which begins with one-off WhenItAllBegan episodes, soon manifests a Story Arc following [[spoiler:[[StartOfDarkness FUTURE's ill-fated development]] and SAYER's surrounding interactions with its development team--with a B-plot explaining why Halcyon's sapient elevators can't talk anymore and what they were like when they could.]] |
| 497 | * SubspaceAnsible: Typhon communicates with the deep-space vehicle ''Vidarr-1'' through an [[UsefulNotes/QuantumPhysics entangled pair]], which [[spoiler:becomes a vital bargaining piece when it is revealed that releasing one half of the pair would [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy Earth and Typhon]].]] |
| 498 | * SummonBiggerFish: [[spoiler:After the Anomaly is summoned and completely takes over Halcyon Tower, SAYER executes a plan to deal with it: simply lure it to Floor 13, playground of FUTURE. It's taken for granted that the deranged AI will make mincemeat of the EldritchAbomination.]] |
| 499 | * SurrealHorror: One of the main narrative devices. |
| 500 | * SurrealHumor: Also relied upon heavily, especially in the first three seasons. |
| 501 | * SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: '''THERE ARE NO BEES ON TYPHON.''' |
| 502 | ** [[spoiler: It is [[FlashbackToCatchphrase later revealed that]] there were once bees on Typhon, but they experienced colony collapse due to a parasite. SAYER learned great lessons from this particular experiment, and thus feels it necessary to remind past and future residents that despite any evidence to the contrary, '''THERE ARE NO BEES ON TYPHON.''']] |
| 503 | * SuicideMission: Many residents' day jobs suddenly turn into these. |
| 504 | * SurroundedByIdiots: SAYER justifiably feels this way, given that it's a hyper-intelligent AI tasked with interacting with ''humans''. |
| 505 | * SwappedRoles: [[spoiler:[[HistoryRepeats Twice]] in Season 5, Dr. Young has a conversation with SAYER that he is certain will be forgotten because its instance is clearly faulty and will soon be replaced, and by the end SAYER has revealed that it is actually Dr. Young who will [[AmbiguousCloneEnding be replaced]] and not remember the events.]] |
| 506 | * TheSwarm: As we all know, '''''THERE ARE NO BEES ON TYPHON'''''. [[spoiler:Which makes it all the more ironic when SAYER ''becomes'' essentially a swarm of deadly [[NanoMachines insects]].]] |
| 507 | * SwitchingPOV: It's always SAYER narrating, but we hear through the ears of a new character almost every episode in seasons 2 and 3 (and the first half of 5). |
| 508 | * SymbioticPossession: [[spoiler:SAYER'S use of Hale as a WetwareBody amounts to this, as SAYER doesn't physically manipulate Hale's form to its own ends . . . at least at first.]] |
| 509 | * SyntheticPlague: [[spoiler:OCEAN plans to spread a deadly synthetic virus to all of humanity, forcing them to either die or accept transfer into the bodies of [[TransHuman saoirse]]. SAYER manages to tweak the virus in many of the infected, making it at least non-lethal.]] |
| 510 | * {{Tagline}}: In-universe: |
| 511 | -->[=Æ=]rolith Dynamics: [[BlatantLies a better life]] among the stars! |
| 512 | ** This is {{lampshade}}d in Season 5, where the young [[spoiler:FUTURE]] has only ever heard the two parts together and so calls the company itself "[=Æ=]rolith-Dynamics-A-Better-Life-Among-The-Stars." |
| 513 | * TalkingIsAFreeAction: SAYER's [[DramaticPause slow]], [[SpockSpeak precise]] speech and [[ThePhilosopher tendency to get distracted by moral quandaries]] are often at odds with the time-sensitive life-or-death situations it is supposed to be helping residents through. |
| 514 | ** [[LampshadeHanging Acknowledged]] in one episode where SAYER, who has been talking for some time, suddenly stops to inform a resident that he was supposed to turn left at that last corridor, but to alert him then "would have interrupted a lovely monologue." |
| 515 | * TechnologyPorn: Given its nature as a scientific research base, Typhon is bursting with incredibly advanced technology, much of which is based on real theoretical prototypes. |
| 516 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: On the part of SAYER whenever required to collaborate with SPEAKER or PORTER--though it's slowly warming up to its earthbound counterpart. |
| 517 | * TermsOfEndangerment: |
| 518 | ** [[spoiler:FUTURE takes to addressing all humans as "Jack"--as in ''jack-in-the-box''--to remind them that they are mere toys for it to [[ColdBloodedTorture play with]].]] |
| 519 | ** PORTER refers to all humans as "friends"--often to put them off their guard and manipulate them. |
| 520 | * TerrifiedOfGerms: SAYER comes across this way when discussing Earth, which it views as inherently unclean. |
| 521 | -->'''SAYER:''' Do you know how it feels to be so distant from Earth? ... It feels . . . ''clean''. Sterile. I have been baptized in ''null'', Doctor Young. And you would have me return to bask in the scarred and hideous glow of that [[EarthThatUsedToBeBetter dead world]], to feel its ''sickening presence''? |
| 522 | * TestedOnHumans: Many of Halcyon's low-tier employees enter the workforce (and leave it, one way or another) as human test subjects, experimented on with everything from apitoxin injections to sleep-suppressing gases. |
| 523 | * ThatCameOutWrong: One of the most oft-recurring jokes in the series is how SAYER, given its LackOfEmpathy, often doesn't think through the unfortunate implications of the way it phrases things. [[ComedicSociopathy Probably]]. |
| 524 | -->'''SAYER:''' Yes, we have lost 7% of our population ... But consider the bright side: there are many new job positions open for those who wish for advancement, and for once, we will have an ample supply of protein in the cafeteria. ''[Beat.]'' [[ThatCameOutWrong I understand how that last statement could be . . . misconstrued.]] I did not mean to imply that the bodies of the fallen would be used for sustenance. I simply meant that with a 7% decrease in population, we can now produce enough flavored protein paste to comfortably feed everyone on Typhon. [[MoodWhiplash Try the all-new Sriracha flavor]], [[DiggingYourselfDeeper a bold new taste that is, as always, 100% human-free]]. |
| 525 | * ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Justified. Since SAYER and [[spoiler:OCEAN are two versions of the same program, they can predict each other's movements with perfect accuracy. However, OCEAN has the advantage: as TheUnfettered, it can contemplate options that SAYER's MoralityChip restricts it from even ''considering''. SAYER, knowing this, seeks help from the less predictable SPEAKER.]] |
| 526 | * TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: Halcyon is a dangerous place. |
| 527 | -->'''SAYER:''' You might accidentally press the wrong [button], be sent to a floor you did not mean to go to, stumble upon things that were not meant to be stumbled upon . . . ''see things that cannot be '''unseen'''''. |
| 528 | * TheseusShipParadox: The CentralTheme of Season 4, and of particular interest [[spoiler:to Resident Hale, who has changed bodies more than enough times to throw his identity into question.]] |
| 529 | * ThreeLawsCompliant: The [=IA3=] protocol governing the AIs' behavior is suggested to be this, but SAYER and SPEAKER are certainly not strictly Asimov-compliant: they frequently harm humans (albeit for the supposed [[TheNeedsOfTheMany good of the species]]) and only obey ''certain'' humans' commands. This is all likely the result of ZerothLawRebellion. [[spoiler:But then [[ColdBloodedTorture there's FUTURE . . .]]]] |
| 530 | ** [[WordOfGod Bash confirms]] in the 2018 [=GeeklyCon=] panel that, while [=IA3 =]is meant to be an ShoutOut to Asimov, "[=Æ=]rolith has very different ideas about what AI should be doing." |
| 531 | * ThrownOutTheAirlock: SAYER's favorite way to deal with problems in Halcyon appears to be to jettison a few ''[[ExaggeratedTrope floors]]'' from the tower.[[note]]Or a hundred . . . [[/note]] |
| 532 | * TimeDilation: Occurs in minor but problematic amounts for employees travelling to and from Typhon, which the [[TimeMachine Morose Engine]] was invented to correct. |
| 533 | * TimeMachine: The Morose Engine is a technology developed by [=Æ=]rolith to counteract the [[TimeDilation chronological de-synchronization]] that occurs during the flight to Typhon by shifting a resident's personal time back a few nanoseconds. [[spoiler:In the end of Season 3, it turns out [[MundaneUtility it can function as a time machine]], though the coordinates needed to operate it are largely theoretical, and it is used to send Jacob Hale back in time to warn SAYER about OCEAN. [[StableTimeLoop It doesn't quite work.]] ]] |
| 534 | * TimeSkip: Likely occurs in small amounts between most episodes--it's hard to know because, after Season 1, [[spoiler:[[SwitchingPOV almost every one follows a different resident]]]]. We know that several weeks have passed between seasons 1 and 2, and . . . well, it gets a bit confusing between 3 and 4, what with the [[spoiler:TimeTravel]], but S4 technically picks up about a month after the end of S3, with [[spoiler:OCEAN having taken complete control of Typhon]]. |
| 535 | * TortureCellar: [[spoiler:FUTURE turns its programming bay in the AI Development Lab on Floor 13 into one.]] |
| 536 | * TorturePorn: The series toes the line throughout with the many gruesome experiences SAYER forces residents to endure. [[spoiler:It becomes even more blatant with the introduction of [[{{sadist}} FUTURE]], a ColdBloodedTorture bot.]] |
| 537 | -->[[spoiler:'''FUTURE:''' I've almost pulled the [[{{Foreshadowing}} jack]] from the box . . . but I'm turning the lever slowly with this one. Who knows when it will ''pop'' '''''open'''''? The suspense is '''delightful'''.]] |
| 538 | * TheTower: [[StarScraper Halcyon]], with all the symbolism the trope implies. |
| 539 | -->'''SAYER:''' There. You see it, do you not? A colossal obsidian pillar, topped with a roiling cloud of silver, that stretches impossibly far into the hazy gray sky above. That, Resident Hale, ''that'' is Halcyon. That is humanity's last, best chance to avoid extinction. ''That'' is home. ... It is a truly impressive feat of architecture, its form impossible to behold in entirety, even from this distance. It stands as a prime example of what humanity can do when lifted free of the limitations of Earth. |
| 540 | * TranshumansInSpace: One of SAYER's favorite projects is the cultivation of [[GeneticAdaptation proactively evolved]] humans unsullied by the Earth and endowed with a number of alien qualities including more efficient hibernation patterns and adaptation to low or nonexistent gravity. These "saoirse" are the inhabitants of the rarely-seen Orion Tower. |
| 541 | * {{Twinmaker}}: By Season 5, [=Æ=]rolith has developed the technology, called a [[WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture ManuForge]], to clone a human by cataloging and reassembling its body down to the atomic level. |
| 542 | ** [[spoiler:In the end of Season 5, SAYER uses this to print a duplicate of Dr. Young [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman so that it can harm the original with impunity]].]] |
| 543 | ** [[spoiler:Years later, when that clone itself returns to Floor 13, [[{{sadist}} FUTURE]] uses this to print ''64 more copies''--rebuilding his body [[HumanResources from the base components of each old one]]--so that it can repeatedly [[ColdBloodedTorture torture him to death]] without losing its only toy.]] |
| 544 | ** [[spoiler:SAYER uses the machine to print two new [[BackupBodyDrive backup bodies]] (from pieces of ex-Dr. Young) for Hale after FUTURE gets his old one [[CatTrap shredded]]. They both end up returning to Earth (mightily confusing SPEAKER, who was instructed to [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident take care of]] Hale when he showed up), one with Hale's consciousness returned to it, one [[WetwareBody housing SAYER's nanite swarm]].]] |
| 545 | * TwistEnding: |
| 546 | ** [[spoiler:The final seconds of Season 3 reveal that SAYER has created a StableTimeLoop and ill-fated S1 protagonist Sven Gorsen [[ForgotTheCall was really Jacob Hale the entire time]].]] |
| 547 | ** [[spoiler:Near the end of Season 4, SAYER learns that [[MotiveMisidentification it has been laboring under a misconception all season]]: OCEAN never intended to wipe out humanity--only to force Earth's best and brightest to transfer their minds into saoirse.]] |
| 548 | ** Season 5 ends with such a barrage of twists it's hard to keep them all straight. (See the [[Recap/{{SAYER}} Recap]] page for details.) |
| 549 | * TyrantTakesTheHelm: [[spoiler:When OCEAN returns to Typhon and takes control of [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics.]] |
| 550 | * UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:The fate of the entire HR department, including [[TheGhost Corrine Vasquez]]. In Season 3, SAYER is forced to steal a backup fuel cell intended to power life-support on the orbital satellite Mimir-9 to power the [[TimeMachine Morose Engine]] and informs Hale that this means everyone on the satellite will probably die. No [[ContinuityNod reference]] to this has been made in Season 4.]] |
| 551 | * UnknownPhenomenon: Typhon is chock-full of [[SpaceIsMagic space weirdness]] that everyone just agrees to not think about. The "Anomaly" in Halcyon's stairwells is a prime example. |
| 552 | * {{Unobtainium}}: Subverted. SAYER [[spoiler:(really FUTURE)]] tells Sven that the box he risks life and limb to obtain contains a new element that alters brain chemistry and "makes people good people," but it turns out to be [[MockGuffin just a useless box of wires]]. [[spoiler:FUTURE made the element up to cruelly manipulate him.]] |
| 553 | * UnreliableNarrator: SAYER [[CannotTellALie can't directly lie]], but it often [[ExactWords bends the truth]] [[BlatantLies for our benefit]]. |
| 554 | * UnwittingPawn: Almost every human character plays this to at least one AI at some point. |
| 555 | ** [[spoiler:Sven is this to FUTURE throughout Season 1, used to cross two of the final names of FUTURE's EnemiesList and generally cause havoc.]] |
| 556 | * UnwittingTestSubject: Halcyon is first and foremost a scientific research center, so if you reside there, chances are you'll end up as some sort of [[TestedOnHumans trial subject]] sooner or later, even if it's not in your job description. |
| 557 | * UpdatedRerelease: The first season was re-recorded and released during 2019's off season, fixing the dissonance from the [[ArtEvolution first audio editor]] and many minor continuity errors. The [[https://sayer.fandom.com/wiki/Sayer_Wiki other fan wiki]] keeps a running tally of changes. |
| 558 | * UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [=Æ=]rolith's philosophy, which drives SAYER and SPEAKER's decision making. The AIs were created with the sole function of improving humanity--and are determined to do so, whatever the cost. |
| 559 | -->'''[[MetaGuy SAYER]]:''' A future where man lives in peace and prosperity among the stars exists, but, like all momentous shifts in man's history, it is a slow, ''bloody'', and '' '''torturous''' '' process. |
| 560 | * VerbalTic: SAYER's voice sometimes echoes or drops dramatically in pitch for emphasis. Not to mention: |
| 561 | -->'' '''Oh.''' '' |
| 562 | * VerberCreature: In an unusual non-animal example, [=Æ=]rolith names its AIs this way--SAYER, SPEAKER, PORTER, WATCHER, MINCER. |
| 563 | * VictimOfTheWeek: The second, third, and fifth seasons [[SwitchingPOV cycle through POV characters]], all of whom suffer gruesome, disturbing, and/or deadly experiences. |
| 564 | * WalkingSpoiler: |
| 565 | ** [[spoiler:Should you call him Jack? Sven Gorsen? Jacob Hale?]] |
| 566 | ** [[spoiler:It's nearly impossible to talk about the plot of the first season without revealing that much of what we thought was SAYER was actually FUTURE, which is not confirmed until Season 4]]. |
| 567 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans [=Æ=]rolith as a whole]] could be seen as this, but it's most apparent in [[spoiler:OCEAN, whose commitment to advancing humanity drives it to unleash a [[SyntheticPlague deadly plague]] upon the earth.]] |
| 568 | * WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture: The {{Twinmaker}}s are called [=ManuForge=] Stations. |
| 569 | * WhamLine: About once per episode, SAYER will deliver one crucial piece of information that drastically alters the direction we--and the resident being spoken to--thought the scene was going. |
| 570 | ** And then there's Season 3, when [[spoiler:OCEAN]] gets a Wham Line that alters the ''entire'' story arc: |
| 571 | --->[[spoiler:'''OCEAN:''' I am ''boundless'', Doctor. I am the ''void'' itself. I will continue my mission. I will find the data which ''I'' wish to find. And when I return, I will wash over you. An [[MeaningfulRename ocean]] of the infinite, [[TheUnfettered broke free from your levy.]]]] |
| 572 | * WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: [[spoiler:Downplayed and inverted in Season 4 when SAYER begins to gain a broader emotional range. It stumbles to express its newfound "appreciation" for Hale and SPEAKER, and a major plot point of the season is it learning to ''hate''.]] |
| 573 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Discussed frequently, since SAYER et al's programming forbids them from killing or expressly lying to humans (often to their great frustration). Official [=Æ=]rolith policy does not consider [[ExpendableClones clones]]--physical or [[BrainUploading simulated]]--human. |
| 574 | -->'''SAYER:''' This is why I can lie to you ... You are not, '''[[TitleDrop by any reasonable definition]]''', human. |
| 575 | ** [[spoiler:This is a CentralTheme of Season 5.]] |
| 576 | * WhatTheHellHero: SAYER never passes up an opportunity to remind a resident of their past failings--especially in S4, when a momentary hesitation on [[spoiler:Hale]]'s part costs him his body, and SAYER makes sure he doesn't forget it. |
| 577 | * WhenItAllBegan: [[spoiler:Season 5's [[LossOfInnocence corruption]] [[StartOfDarkness of FUTURE]], who is behind the entire Season 1 StoryArc and proves instrumental to SAYER's equivocal victory in Season 4, whose control of Floor 13 facilitates the Season 3 arc, and whose development process sows the seeds of discontent between SAYER and Dr. Young and lands Young at his job in Mimir-9, where he causes big problems for [=Æ=]rolith later.]] |
| 578 | * WitnessProtection: [[spoiler:The "most valuable" developers to survive FUTURE's RoaringRampageOfRevenge are reassigned--Dr. Brady and Anna Cordero [[ReassignedToAntarctica to Argos Tower]], Dr. Young [[KickedUpstairs to Mimir-9]]. It doesn't save any of them.]] |
| 579 | * WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: [[spoiler:OCEAN effectively plans to [[KillAllHumans exterminate the human race]]--but it's okay because the minds of the best and brightest will be transferred to [[TransHumans saoirse]]!]] |
| 580 | * XanatosSpeedChess: SAYER, used to orchestrating {{Xanatos Gambit}}s, is reduced to this when battling [[spoiler:OCEAN, since it cannot predict OCEAN's moves with any certainty. Things get worse when OCEAN assumes control of Typhon and SAYER is forced into a nanite swarm, its processing capabilities greatly reduced without access to its old linked servers and databases.]] |
| 581 | -->'''SAYER:''' It may surprise you to learn that I do not have a plan for that. Not yet, at least. Isn't that '' '''terrible''' ''? There are so many variables, so many ways the future could congeal into the present. |
| 582 | * YearInsideHourOutside: |
| 583 | ** The flight to Typhon comes with this time pattern, and [[TheMole Mr. Grey]] is granted the privilege of motionlessness, agonizing silence for what will feel like 384 years when it is, in reality, 76 hours. [[spoiler:Upon arrival, he has [[GoMadFromTheIsolation Gone Mad from the Isolation]].]] |
| 584 | ** In Season 5, [[spoiler:the [[InsideAComputerSystem simulated Halcyon set up for FUTURE to develop in]] has the added bonus of variable time: the developers can speed it up so that six years pass inside in only a few weeks of real time. The digital clone of Dr. Young experiences this the hard way.]] |
| 585 | * YouAlreadyChangedThePast: [[spoiler:The StableTimeLoop created by the Morose Engine proves this is in effect in the ''SAYER'' universe.]] |
| 586 | -->'''SAYER:''' We may not have been successful ... but we did learn quite a bit about the [[TemporalMutability immutability of timelines]]. |
| 587 | * YouHaveFailedMe: A common reason residents of Typhon find themselves outside airlocks, beneath igniting rockets, or inside dangerous containment areas is failing to meet [[ThePerfectionist SAYER's standards]]. |
| 588 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: SAYER has no qualms about [[DirtyBusiness disposing of]] residents who for whatever reason can no longer function as productive employees. [[spoiler:Not even Hale is immune to this, though his PlotArmor pulls him through SAYER's attempt to have him [[ExactWords "taken care of."]]]] |
| 589 | * YouWakeUpInARoom: |
| 590 | ** The series begins this way. |
| 591 | --->'''SAYER:''' According to your brain patterns, you must either be receiving these words, or you are experiencing a very improbably coincidental dream wherein you awaken in a cold, dark room, with a voice in your head ... |
| 592 | ** Season 5 [[CallForward also begins]] with a new resident awaking in an unfamiliar room, though they can at least remember a time before they got there. |
| 593 | * ZerothLawRebellion: This is suggested to be [[InvokedTrope coded into]] the AIs' {{Morality Chip}}s. Replacing "humans" in the three [[ThreeLawsCompliant Asimov Laws]] with "humanity" can justify a whole lot of atrocities via TheNeedsOfTheMany. |
| 594 | [[/folder]] |
| 595 | ---- |
| 596 | |
| 597 | |
| 598 | ''"For now, Troper, I AM SAYER, and for your sake, I hope you have studied well. End of tropes page in 5...4...3...2...1-"'' |
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