History HeadScratchers / Transistor

The limiters are written by royce, but quite obviously the descriptions in the database are not. They sound somewhat mechanical and a little omniscient (85% that Sybil is lying? That's... precise...). It seems a little weird if it's the process, or indeed admins, so what's the deal?

* The Breach function and the fact that her friend has no dossier in city records implies that Red's friend had mad hacking skillz, and we already know he has unusual strength of will. Perhaps once he was in the Transistor he spirited her to safety... or, given that his corpse is still nailed to the wall next to you, more likely teleported Grant away.

* It's implied that the Transistor teleported both Red and her friend away from The Camerata. Not sure how or why though.

** The last. [[spoiler:It's pretty clearly the service programs/robots that ran Cloudbank's infrastructure, and something the Camerata did triggered its "factory reset" function. What exactly powered it ''is'' unclear, but we know what its function is at least.]]

I completed first run of the game but still unclear. From what I gathered, [[spoiler: The ''Camera''ta wanted to put an end to always-changing nature of Cloudbank.]] by going around integrating traces of [[spoiler: those with right mind, personality, skill and knowledge, so they can use the collected data to build a permanent perfect world.]] Am I right?

The game seems to imply that the reason the Camerata weren't able to [[spoiler: kill Red as they originally planned was because her unamed friend took the Transistor blow for her. The image in one of the scene transitions shows her falling backwards away from Kendrell's attempt to skewer her. But where was Kendrell when Red removed the Transistor from her friend's corpse? He wasn't there at all. It seems like he just left the Transistor (the Restraining Bolt for a murderous army of robots and the lynchpin of his entire plan) lying on the ground and walked off.]]

* When Red uses the Transistor, each Trace she picks up gives her a new way to use it's powers. Presumably it works the same way for the Camerata. [[spoiler: They wanted to build a perfect world, but their capacity to do so was limited by the tools they had (their own Traces). Absorbing others was a way to counteract the problem.]]

*** They all had useful traits and personalities, like charisma, creativity, or mechanical skill. Under different circumstances, I wouldn't be surprised if absorbing a Trace would just give you a new ability, but can actually enhance you as a person.

!What is the nature of the Process

** Then why did they bother to integrate their traces? Shouldn't they just kill the targets?

I completed first run of the game but still unclear. From what I gathered, [[spoiler: The Camerata wanted to put an end to always-changing nature of Cloudbank.]] by going around integrating traces of [[spoiler: those with right mind, personality, skill and knowledge, so they can use the collected data to build a permanent perfect world.]] Am I right?

* Consider the phrase "everyone in Cloudbank has a voice". Given that they outright said [[spoiler: they were "just 4 voices"]] and they were going after the "most influential voices". Their plan was probably as simple as trying to fight the tyranny of the majority (or put themselves at the head of an autocracy, to be more cynical).

* They why did they bother to integrate their traces? Shouldn't they just kill the targets?

* Consider the phrase "everyone in Cloudbank has a voice". Given that they outright said [[spoiler: they were "just 4 voices"]] and they were going after the "most influential voices". Their plan was probably as simple as trying to fight the tyranny of the majority (or put themselves at the head of an autocracy, to be more cynical).

I completed first run of the game but still unclear. From what I gathered, [[spoiler: The Camerata wanted to put an end to always-changing nature of Cloudbank.]] by going around integrating traces of [[spoiler: those with right mind, personality, skill and knowledge, so they can use the collected data to build a permanent perfect world.]] Am I right?

I completed first run of the game but still unclear. From what I gathered, [[spoiler: The Camerata wanted to put an end to always-changing nature of Cloudbank.]] by going around integrating traces of [[spoiler: those with right mind, personality, skill and knowledge, so they can built a permanent perfect world.]] Am I right?

I completed first run of the game but still unclear. From what I gathered, [[spoiler: The Camerata wanted to put an end to always-changing nature of Cloudbank.]] by going around integrating traces of those with right mind, personality, skill and knowledge, so they can [[spoiler: built a permanent perfect world.]] Am I right?

* The act of being Process appears to be a sort of "delete" operation, basically removing an object and freeing up the memory. In another way of seeing it, the "Process" are an out of control garbage collector in Java/C# that's freeing up memories that are still in use. In most cases, a program (people in Cloudbank) that has part of its memories deleted tend to just crash (dies). In other cases, like [[spoiler:Sybil]], the program may have bizarre behaviors. The Transistor's behavior, on the other hand, appears to perform a function pointer reassignment. Instead of deleting the remaining function of a program, it just change the pointer so that the Transistor itself can invoke it.

* ENDING SPOILER! [[spoiler: Red can recreate the entire city as she possesses the Transistor, and with it, every bit of processed data of Cloudbank. If that's the case, why doesn't she simply remake everything and revive everyone trapped in there, including the man she kills herself to be reunited with?]]
** The people are [[spoiler:not the city. Only the architecture is malleable, you couldn't modify flesh and blood people. When someone is 100% processed, they don't leave behind a trace nor a corpse. If you notice the corpses whose traces you find, you see that they are at about 65-83% Processed. Fully processed means they are completely reverted back into blank data, no memory. The citizens are essentially turned into building blocks.]]
** Royce mentions the Transistor is [[spoiler:a one way trip. You can get IN, but you can't get OUT. So, those who have been fully processed... are stuck like that. The best you can get is preserving a trace of them.]]
* What exactly happens when somebody is processed? The first boss you fight, [[spoiler: Sybil, is shown to be processed and completely out of her mind as a result; the boss fight is set up in a manner which suggests you're putting her out of her misery]]. However, at the very end of the game, [[spoiler: Red processes herself, and... wakes up peacefully in The Country, fully restored, voice and all]]. Is it ever made clear what determines a person's reaction to processing?
** Sybil is [[spoiler:only mostly processed. Her meter hovers around 83%. She was also Camerata so there may have been some experiments that led to her absorbing Cells and becoming the monstrosity she is.]]
** [[spoiler:Red and her boyfriend]] are fully Processed by [[spoiler:getting stabbed by the Transistor.]] They weren't being turned back into building blocks by Process, they were directly shot into the device. The other traces who are collected by the Transistor are shown to be stored in metaphorical silos (the ones you use to break [[spoiler:Royce's]] line of sight during their boss battle), and even then, they were shown to have been partially processed somewhere around 63-84%, meaning they left behind a corpse. The Camerata likely killed them via partial processing, absorbed their trace, THEN fully Processed the body now that all was left was a husk.

*** Actually, the Transistor only needs sufficient contact with someone to record their trace and derive a Function. This is how [[spoiler: Royce, Grant, and Asher]] provide Flood(), Tap(), and Void() via levelup unlocks, potentially before you even meet them. If you look at the "trace status" on their bio pages, they're listed as "recorded" as compared to Red's "intact", Mr. Nobody's "non-recoverable", or anyone else's "integrated". Presumably, processing someone and ''integrating'' their trace instead of just recording it would do more than just produce a personality-appropriate form of Process-blasting... but I never quite figured out what the Camerata needed integrated traces for...
** The act of being Process appears to be a sort of "delete" operation, basically removing an object and freeing up the memory. In another way of seeing it, the "Process" are an out of control garbage collector in Java/C# that's freeing up memories that are still in use. In most cases, a program (people in Cloudbank) that has part of its memories deleted tend to just crash (dies). In other cases, like [[spoiler:Sybil]], the program may have bizarre behaviors. The Transistor's behavior, on the other hand, appears to perform a function pointer reassignment. Instead of deleting the remaining function of a program, it just change the pointer so that the Transistor itself can invoke it.

** The act of being Process appears to be a sort of "delete" operation, basically removing an object and freeing up the memory. In another way of seeing it, the "Process" are an out of control garbage collector in Java/C# that's freeing up memories that are still in use. In most cases, a program (people in Cloudbank) that has part of its memories deleted tend to just crash (dies). In other cases, like [[Sybil]], the program may have bizarre behaviors. The Transistor's behavior, on the other hand, appears to perform a function pointer reassignment. Instead of deleting the remaining function of a program, it just change the pointer so that the Transistor itself can invoke it.

** Red was only partially processed in the beginning of the game. Perhaps she was grazed by the Transistor or her friend had defended against an initial attack, which is why Red's trace is in the Transistor as Crash() but she is still physically in the real world. (Or, as real as Cloudbank gets.)

* Red was only partially processed in the beginning of the game. Perhaps she was grazed by the Transistor or her friend had defended against an initial attack, which is why Red's trace is in the Transistor as Crash() but she is still physically in the real world. (Or, as real as Cloudbank gets.)

* Royce mentions the Transistor is [[spoiler:a one way trip. You can get IN, but you can't get out. So, those who have been fully processed... are stuck like that. The best you can get is preserving a trace of them.]]

** [[spoiler:Red and her boyfriend]] are fully Processed by [[spoiler:getting stabbed by the Transistor.]] They weren't being turned back into building blocks by Process, they were directly shot into the device. The other traces who are collected by the Transistor are shown to be stored in metaphorical silos (the ones you use to break [[spoiler:Royce's]] line of sight during their boss battle), and even then, they were shown to have been partially processed somewhere around 63-84%, meaning they left behind a corpse. The Camerata likely killed them via partial processing, absorbed their trace, THEN fully Processed the body now that all was left was a husk.

* What exactly happens when somebody is processed? The first boss you fight, [[spoiler: Sybil, is shown to be processed and completely out of her mind as a result; the boss fight is set up in a manner which suggests you're putting her out of her misery]]. However, at the very end of the game, [[spoiler: Red processes herself, and... wakes up peacefully in The Country, fully restored, voice and all]]. Is it ever made clear what determines a person's reaction to processing?

* ENDING SPOILER! [[spoiler: Red can recreate the entire city as she possesses the Transistor, and with it, every bit of processed data of Cloudbank. If that's the case, why doesn't she simply remake everything and revive everyone trapped in there, including the man she kills herself to be reunited with?]]