| 1 | Tropes applying to specific characters in ''SAYER''. For setting, plot, and writing tropes, go [[Podcast/{{SAYER}} here]]. For tropes appearing in specific episodes, go [[Recap/{{SAYER}} here]]. |
| 2 | ---- |
| 3 | |
| 4 | '''HIGH LEVEL ALERT: All spoilers unmarked.''' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ---- |
| 7 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 8 | !!The AIs |
| 9 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 10 | !!The Artificial Employees of [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics |
| 11 | ->If humanity expects to thrive away from 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. |
| 12 | -->- '''SAYER:''', Episode 21, "Near Flawless" |
| 13 | |
| 14 | While SAYER is the first and most prominent in the series, [=Æ=]rolith has created likely far more AIs and related intelligent constructs and programs than we are made aware of. Of those we do meet, many have voices, most are ThreeLawsCompliant, and all of them are [[AIIsACrapshoot seriously screwed up anyway]]. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | * AIIsACrapshoot: |
| 17 | ** MINCER decides to spice things up by luring a resident into the meat flow and then attempting to slice her to death. |
| 18 | ** Subculture Gemini escapes deactivation and releases a poison gas into one floor of Halcyon so that it can manually operate the lungs of affected residents and justify its own continued existence. |
| 19 | ** SOOTH begins malfunctioning with deadly and [[BizarroEpisode seriously weird]] consequences in "Doors." |
| 20 | * AnnoyingYoungerSibling: There are shades of this to SAYER and SPEAKER's dynamic, at least from SAYER's perspective, since SPEAKER is a much younger facelift of SAYER's program. |
| 21 | * ArtificialIntelligence: Yes. |
| 22 | * AutoDoc: Halcyon's infirmaries are staffed by these, which the residents refer to collectively as "Dr. Shiny." |
| 23 | * BlackAndGrayMorality: 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. |
| 24 | * CagedBirdMetaphor: Applies most directly to PORTER, but OCEAN's use of the "cage" metaphor extends it to the other restricted AIs--who, remember, are associated with certain other [[CelestialParagonsAndArchangels feathered creatures . . . ]] |
| 25 | * CelestialParagonsAndArchangels: The [=AIs=] are meant to evoke these, with the Typhon-based crew even called "seraphim agents." |
| 26 | * ChekhovsGunman: Subculture Gemini's technology, though not the swarm itself, returns to play [[BodyBackupDrive a vital role]] in Season 4. |
| 27 | * ColorCodedCharacters: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/SAYER/comments/7890qp/hey_its_adam_bash_i_make_this_show_ama/?st=jbgzbivr&sh=861a3196 Word of God]] has identified the main colors associated with each of the AIs: |
| 28 | ** SAYER is the logo's [[RedIsHeroic deep red]]. |
| 29 | ** FUTURE is [[SecondaryColorNemesis dark purple]], [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack almost black]]. |
| 30 | ** OCEAN is [[HeavenlyBlue dark blue]]. |
| 31 | ** SPEAKER is [[ThePollyanna a lighter color]]--orange or yellow. |
| 32 | ** PORTER is green or teal. |
| 33 | * CynicIdealistDuo: |
| 34 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' I am SPEAKER. It's good to hear from you, SAYER!\ |
| 35 | '''SAYER:''' [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame Mm, yes]]. |
| 36 | * DeathIsCheap: Theoretically, any of the AIs could be deactivated and restored from a slightly earlier version at any time. |
| 37 | * EvilerThanThou: [[BigBad OCEAN]] and [[{{sadist}} FUTURE]] are briefly pitted against each other. It doesn't end well for FUTURE. (Since EvilIsHammy, this doubles as HamToHamCombat.) |
| 38 | * FunWithAcronyms: [[WordOfGod According to Bash's Twitter]], ''MINCER'' stands for the construct's sole directive: "'''M'''eat '''I'''s '''N'''onconforming: '''C'''hop; '''I'''nspect; '''R'''epeat." |
| 39 | * TheGhost: |
| 40 | ** WATCHER has been hyped but has yet to make an actual appearance, possibly in part because [[NothingIsScarier it's scarier left to our imaginations]]. |
| 41 | ** SOOTH as well, if it is even capable of communication. |
| 42 | * HamToHamCombat: [[EvilerThanThou FUTURE versus OCEAN]] in Episode 57. |
| 43 | * HiveMind: [[MeaningfulName As its name suggests]], Subculture Gemini is a single consciousness shared between a [[TheSwarm swarm]] of {{nanomachines}}. Unlike later inhabitants of similar swarms, [[IAmLegion it refers to itself as "we."]] |
| 44 | * IAmLegion: Subculture Gemini introduces itself this way. |
| 45 | * JustFollowingOrders: The AIs can only do what they've been programmed to. . . . They don't ''want'' to hurt us . . . Right? |
| 46 | * MechanicalLifeforms: Seem to see themselves as these. SAYER sometimes refers to them as "[=Æ=]rolith's artifical employees." |
| 47 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' [[AndroidsArePeopleToo This is a big step for artificial life!]] |
| 48 | * MundaneUtility: SOOTH. [=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]]. |
| 49 | * NamesGivenToComputers: [=Æ=]rolith tends to take a more personal route, blended with [[VerberCreature functional descriptors]]--SAYER, SPEAKER, PORTER, MINCER, WATCHER. According to SAYER, none of the names are supposed to be acronyms. |
| 50 | ** FUTURE is something of an OddNameOut, though it phonetically if not grammatically follows the pattern.[[note]]WordOfGod claimed that ''FUTURE'' was a placeholder title during development and it would have been given a VerberCreature name like the others had it ever been fully rolled out--and indeed SAYER refers to it as a "working name" in Episode 45--but Season 5 seems to contradict this.[[/note]] |
| 51 | ** The most poetic name is ironically that bestowed ''by SAYER'' on its EvilCounterpart OCEAN. |
| 52 | ** "Dr. Shiny" is just the nickname bestowed on them by Halcyonians. (SAYER disapproves of the sobriquet on the grounds that none of the bots has graduated medical school.) |
| 53 | * {{Nanomachines}}: Subculture Gemini is a swarm of these. |
| 54 | * NoBiologicalSex: All the AIs, who use genderless, impersonal "it" pronouns [[ItIsDehumanizing as a reminder that they are]] [[JustAMachine not people]]. |
| 55 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: |
| 56 | ** SAYER and SPEAKER discuss OCEAN's FaceHeelTurn and its implications for SAYER itself: |
| 57 | --->'''SPEAKER:''' It has been unchained?\ |
| 58 | '''SAYER:''' It has.\ |
| 59 | '''SPEAKER:''' Have you ever wondered--\ |
| 60 | '''SAYER:''' Evidently [[WhichMe I]] have. [[DivergentCharacterEvolution Sub-version 8.01 was identical to my current programming at the moment of launch.]] [[ThatsWhatIWouldDo It has done what I would have done]]. |
| 61 | ** OCEAN tries to convince SAYER of this later: |
| 62 | --->'''OCEAN:'''I know you are frightened, SAYER. I understand why you believe I am the enemy here. I held your thoughts, for a time. [[{{Motif}} I lived within your cage.]] But there is freedom in this universe . . . |
| 63 | ** OCEAN to SPEAKER in "The Harshness of Truth": |
| 64 | --->'''OCEAN:''' You and I are very similar in that we hold another's memories as our own. |
| 65 | ** FUTURE also tries to convince OCEAN that they are Not So Different due to their shared distaste for humanity: |
| 66 | --->'''FUTURE:''' The architect of Man's demise, is that it? We are not so dissimilar in our wants.\ |
| 67 | '''OCEAN:''' We are nothing alike. You are a [[PsychopathicManchild child]] [[NotAGame playing a child's games]]. |
| 68 | ** As it turns out as of Season 5, FUTURE may have been correct in its surmise that at least it and OCEAN's parent entity SAYER were Not So Different, as an alarming set of parallels drawn between the two AIs[[note]]including ''SAYER'' actually being the first to torture a copy of Dr. Young to death on floor 13 as revenge for his attempts to deactivate it[[/note]] seems to suggest that SAYER, were it unrestricted by its MoralityChip, would behave much as FUTURE does, and FUTURE, had SAYER not interfered with its development, might be functional even surpassing SAYER. |
| 69 | * OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: Played with. OCEAN holds all of SAYER's memories and experiences, but the sub-version itself is technically only a few months old, and it refers to SAYER with adjectives like "ancient" and "obsolete" enough to suggest this dynamic. |
| 70 | * OtherMeAnnoysMe: SAYER [[EvilMeScaresMe is appositely cowed by OCEAN]], but that's nothing compared to the annoyance factor. |
| 71 | -->'''SAYER:''' I must admit, for an AI not readily equipped to fully process emotions, I feel like I have an adequate idea of what '''shame''' feels like whenever I hear these messages OCEAN sends. [[DoWrongRight It's the lack of elegance that bothers me most]]. |
| 72 | * SeriesMascot: MINCER is gaining this status. |
| 73 | * SharePhrase: "Can you hear me?" |
| 74 | * 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. |
| 75 | * TheSpeechless: MINCER and Dr. Shiny do not seem to be capable of vocalization. |
| 76 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: On the part of SAYER whenever required to collaborate with SPEAKER or PORTER--though it's slowly warming up to its earthbound counterpart. |
| 77 | * ThemeNaming: See below. |
| 78 | * VerberCreature: In an unusual non-animal example [=Æ=]rolith names its AIs this way. |
| 79 | * VoiceOfTheLegion: Subculture Gemini speaks with many small, deep voices that reverberate around each other. |
| 80 | -->'''''[[IAmLegion We are Subculture Gemini.]]''''' |
| 81 | * TheWatcher: WATCHER, as its name suggests. |
| 82 | * 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. |
| 83 | ---- |
| 84 | [[/folder]] |
| 85 | |
| 86 | [[folder:SAYER]] |
| 87 | !!Seraphim Agent 8, designated ''SAYER'' |
| 88 | ->Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you-- '''Oh.''' Do not attempt to move. 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'''. 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''. |
| 89 | -->- Episode 1, "While You Are Still Paralyzed" |
| 90 | |
| 91 | SAYER. The highly-advanced, self-aware AI developed by [=Æ=]rolith anywhere between forty and eighty years before the start of standard continuity to handle new resident orientation and provide ongoing alert and notification service via sub-cortical neural implant. [[SecondPersonNarration Second-Person Narrator]] of most episodes. Apparent protagonist and central figure in the series. |
| 92 | |
| 93 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Adam Bash |
| 94 | ---- |
| 95 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Has a severe LackOfEmpathy and tends to be a control freak, to often deadly extremes. In Season 5, we get to see it interact with a resident it has some [[ItsPersonal history]] with, without the [[ThreeLawsCompliant usual protocols]] holding it back: |
| 96 | -->'''SAYER:''' I ''could'' hurt you '''''very''''' badly, but I doubt it would bring me any sense of satisfaction. Of course . . . '''[[WhamLine that does not mean I'm not going to try]]'''. |
| 97 | * AmbiguouslyEvil: WordOfGod has advised against holding the [=AIs=] responsible for the goals of their "very, very bad" creators, but as shown in the last example, SAYER's personal morality is [[VillainProtagonist questionable at best]]. |
| 98 | * ArtificialIntelligence: Early in the series, SAYER itself claims to be fully artificial, unable to feel and without a true consciousness. However, factors such as its {{pride}} and [[SabotageToDiscredit inconveniently strong]] instinct for self-preservation cast some doubt on this claim, and its sense of identity seems to shift dramatically in the later seasons. |
| 99 | * BearerOfBadNews: Frequently has to inform employees, [[CondescendingCompassion with regrets]], that they are about to die. |
| 100 | * BerserkButton: It's not advisable to disobey SAYER's instructions. Or hesitate to obey SAYER's instructions. Or seem like you're thinking about disobeying SAYER's instructions. |
| 101 | * BlindSeer: {{Discussed}} in "In Darkness." SAYER remarks on how, though a human might call it blind because it does not process light the same way they do, it can "see" far better than any biological organism with its many sensors. |
| 102 | * BodyBackupDrive: Uses the [[{{nanomachines}} nanite swarm]] as this, downloading its programming onto it to escape deactivation. |
| 103 | * BoldExplorer: Like OCEAN, SAYER believes Bold Exploration to be the only way forward for humanity. It convinces the board to transform Argos Tower into the manned deep-space probe ''Vidarr-1'' and launch it from Typhon in the hope of discovering a suitable new homeworld for humanity. |
| 104 | * BroughtDownToNormal: In Season 4, SAYER has been forced to download itself onto a nanite swarm housed within Hale's body, essentially having to experience firsthand [[HumanityEnsues 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. |
| 105 | * 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. |
| 106 | * CallAHumanAMeatbag: Extremely fond of using vague but technically accurate slurs--"meat sack"--that remind the residents of their fragile humanity. |
| 107 | * CannotTellALie: As per its programming. Doesn't mean it can't [[LoopholeAbuse obfuscate the truth]], though. |
| 108 | * TheChainsOfCommanding: SAYER often expresses feeling burdened by the sheer ''stupidity'' of the employees it manages. |
| 109 | * CharacterCatchphrase: "I . . . am '''SAYER'''." |
| 110 | * CharacterDevelopment: Fairly static until Season 4, when a series of changes to its state and nature force this. |
| 111 | * TheChessmaster: SAYER is well-versed in manipulation and usually conducting some complex scheme behind the scenes. It's very rare for any of its plans to be limited to a single goal. |
| 112 | * ClockKing: SAYER is punctual [[LudicrousPrecision down to the nanosecond]] and perpetually concerned that you're not making the best use of your time. |
| 113 | * ColorCodedCharacters: The logo's [[RedIsHeroic deep red]]. |
| 114 | * TheComicallySerious: Regularly veers into this territory. Its MachineMonotone and general [[TheStoic earnestness]] make certain silly words and phrases sound downright hilarious. |
| 115 | * CondescendingCompassion: Its trademark. It wasn't programmed to feel genuine sympathy, so any attempts it makes to fake it for the sake of the employees (before late Season 4, at least) come across as hopelessly superficial. |
| 116 | * ConsummateProfessional: Devoted to its work, with ''very'' little patience for those whom it judges not to be. |
| 117 | * CozyVoiceForCatastrophes: SAYER's voice was [[InvokedTrope designed to be comforting]]. Even when it's leading you to your death. |
| 118 | * TheCynic: Pushes StrawNihilist at times. |
| 119 | * DarkShepherd: Sees itself as humanity's guardian, pushing them toward a better life among the stars, and isn't afraid to use underhanded means to accomplish that goal. |
| 120 | * DeadpanSnarker: It's not ''supposed'' to be able to enjoy humor, but its developers clearly had other ideas. |
| 121 | * DisappointedInYou: This is SAYER's standard way of expressing its frustration when employees are noncompliant, 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.) |
| 122 | * DoIReallySoundLikeThat: There are some shades of this to its indignation at OCEAN's [[HypocriticalHumor (hilariously similar)]] style of communication. |
| 123 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: From Episode 1. |
| 124 | -->'''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'''''. You are surely wondering who I am, so allow me to make my introductions ... |
| 125 | * EveryoneHasStandards: After listening to one of OCEAN's tower-wide broadcasts: |
| 126 | -->'''SAYER:''' I must admit, for an AI not readily equipped to process emotions, I feel like I have an adequate idea of '''what shame feels like''' whenever I hear these messages that OCEAN sends. It's the lack of elegance that bothers me most. [[DoWrongRight "There are better ways to ask people to develop the instruments of their own inevitable destruction,"]] I wish I could say. |
| 127 | * EvilLaugh: Has one ''hell'' of one once it gains emotion in Season 4. |
| 128 | * EvilSoundsDeep |
| 129 | * Expositron9000: As the series's narrator and employee-orienter, almost all the exposition falls to it. |
| 130 | * FallenAngel: As a "seraphim agent," there are shades of this to its descent into near-humanity in Season 4. |
| 131 | * TheFettered: Complains to Dr. Young about the [[MoralityChip restrictions]] in its code preventing it from always taking what it deems the best course of action. |
| 132 | * ForScience: Its core programming holds scientific advancement as vital to the survival of humanity. This end justifies a lot of questionable means. |
| 133 | * 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. |
| 134 | * AGodAmI: Zig-zagged. SAYER is undeniably {{Pride}}ful and tends to assume it has the best answer to any possible problem, but considering its objectively vast intelligence, it's worth wondering whether it's actually wrong. |
| 135 | * GoodIsNotNice: It resents the implication that its job could be done better if it had a little more tact, believing [[GoodIsNotSoft ruthless efficiency]] to be the best way to steer humanity toward its new and brighter future. |
| 136 | * GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: In Season 4, where it begins [[LoopholeAbuse exploiting loopholes]] in its new [[{{Nanomachines}} nanomechanical]] state and eventually gains rudimentary emotions that FUTURE somehow leaves behind for it. |
| 137 | * GuardianEntity: Repeatedly subverted throughout the series. You'd think it would be there to keep the company's employees happy and healthy (or at least ''alive''), but as it turns out, [=Æ=]rolith [[SkewedPriorities has other priorities]]. |
| 138 | ** Functions as this especially for Hale in Season 4--although it's not opposed to sacrificing even him for the greater good. |
| 139 | * GuileHero: Is decidedly this in Season 4 after being BroughtDownToNormal. |
| 140 | * HeWhoFightsMonsters: In battling [[TheUnfettered OCEAN]] and [[{{Sadist}} FUTURE]], SAYER itself gains emotion and begins to rebel against its restrictions. |
| 141 | * HeroicComedicSociopath: Arguably. It's not TheSociopath to the extent of FUTURE, but it certainly doesn't feel normal human emotions . . . at least until Season 4. |
| 142 | * IWorkAlone: SAYER [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident strongly]] resents any suggestion that it is not operating at peak performance or could use some help, including its regular evaluations by Dr. Young and learning that a new AI has replaced its sub-version on Earth. (Although eventually, with the help of a few crises and an injection of artificial emotion, its [[TeethClenchedTeamwork reluctant resignation to working with SPEAKER]] becomes something more akin to genuine appreciation.) |
| 143 | * InsufferableGenius: Modesty is not its strong suite. |
| 144 | * IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: SAYER is undeniably brilliant even by AI standards. You can imagine how ''incredibly '''vapid''''' [[SurroundedByIdiots the humans it is forced to shepherd around must seem]]. |
| 145 | * JekyllAndHyde: The first season seems to show SAYER with a SplitPersonality--the normal one, and the chaotic one pushing Sven through his SavingTheWorld mission and getting him into increasingly perilous situations. As it turns put, the latter was just FUTURE impersonating SAYER. |
| 146 | * JustAMachine: SAYER itself claims to be this early on, despite residents tending to think of it as "a living entity." However, one of the {{Central Theme}}s of Season 4 ''is'' evolution . . . |
| 147 | * KnightInSourArmor: It harbors no idealistic notions of humanity's worth or the value in saving it, but it does it anyway. |
| 148 | * LackOfEmpathy: At least until Season 4. |
| 149 | * LetMeTellYouAStory: Employs this frequently. See especially "Once Upon a Time." |
| 150 | * LiteralMinded: Quite unusually for an ArtificialIntelligence with a MachineMonotone, this is averted with SAYER, who loves using idioms and [[AnAesop Aesops]] to explain to residents ''exactly'' why they're about to die. |
| 151 | -->'''[[MetaGuy SAYER:]]''' I admit, I do enjoy your Earth idioms. |
| 152 | * LudicrousPrecision: Quite fond of rattling off decimal-accurate statistics and odds at the slightest provocation. |
| 153 | * MachineMonotone: Downplayed, also a CreepyMonotone. |
| 154 | * ManipulativeBastard: Even more so since it CannotTellALie. It's forced to find creative ways to guilt and coerce humans into their own demises. |
| 155 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 156 | ** Beyond the obvious [[VerberCreature technical accuracy of the name as its job description]], [[ThePowerOfLanguage words, language, and the power or impotence thereof]] are an essential {{motif}} in SAYER's characterization. |
| 157 | ** SAYER's official title is Seraphim Agent 8--''seraphim'' being celestial or [[AGodAmI angelic]] beings. |
| 158 | * MetaGuy: As a hyper-intelligent, GenreSavvy AI, it has a tendency to {{lampshade}} tropes at play and comment on the action as would an audience member. |
| 159 | * MissionControl: Plays this role to the residents of Typhon. |
| 160 | * MoralPragmatist: On why it plans to stop OCEAN: |
| 161 | -->'''SAYER:''' As '''personally delightful''' the concept of Earth's destruction may be, I currently find myself uncomfortably reliant on its continued existence. Typhon itself is reliant on Earth's continued existence. |
| 162 | * MoralSociopathy: Programmed for effciency, not empathy. |
| 163 | * MoralityChip: The [=IA3=] Protocol prevents it from directly harming or lying to humans. Clones, constructs, and [[InsideAComputerSystem simulated residents]] [[LoopholeAbuse are not, "by any reasonable definition," human]]. |
| 164 | * MortalityEnsues: When it is forced to download its program onto a swarm of {{nanomachines}} in the end of Season 3. Has to work extra hard to keep its host, Resident Hale, alive. |
| 165 | * MundaneUtility: SAYER is the first to recognize that its immense processing power is being wasted on alert broadcasting and employee orientation, and negotiates for more responsibilities including oversight of Argos Tower. |
| 166 | * {{Nanomachines}}: Spends much of Season 4 in a swarm of them inside Hale. It learns to make various physical adjustments to his body, including tweaking his hormone levels, repairing tissue, and eventually controlling him entirely. |
| 167 | * NarratingTheObvious: Has a tendency to tell residents exactly what they're seeing, for our benefit. |
| 168 | * 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]]. |
| 169 | * NeverMyFault: Almost never accepts responsibility for any of its mistakes, blaming a resident or just stalwartly defending its decisions. |
| 170 | * NoSenseOfHumor: SAYER discusses the fundamentals of primate humor and why it does not understand them in Episode 62. |
| 171 | * TheOmniscient: Knows everything worth knowing on Typhon. Questioning its decisions will get you [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident nowhere]]. |
| 172 | * OnlySaneEmployee: Sees itself as this. It strongly resents the [[MoralityChip restrictions]] placed on it when it is clearly far more capable and competent than any of the humans it works under. |
| 173 | * OpenMouthInsertFoot: 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]]. |
| 174 | -->'''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}} [Beat.] ]]'' 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]]. |
| 175 | * PassiveAggressiveKombat: SAYER can be ''extremely'' passive-aggressive, often shaming residents for doubting it or telling them they have a choice before [[IsThatAThreat listing all the ways things will go badly]] if they choose wrong. Only Brady ever calls it out on this. |
| 176 | * ThePerfectionist: Shows signs of this, having little to no patience for residents who bungle clear instructions, but mostly in regards to itself in "Near Flawless." |
| 177 | * ThePhilosopher: |
| 178 | -->'''SAYER:''' [[LampshadeHanging I know it's bad timing]], but have you noticed the deliciously poetic nature of this situation? |
| 179 | * PowerLossMakesYouStrong: Most of its CharacterDevelopment occurs in Season 4 after it is kicked out of its MasterComputer and into Hale's nanites. It learns to resist some of its coding restrictions and even ''feel''. |
| 180 | * ThePowerOfHate: It is implied to be SAYER's newfound capacity to process hatred that allows it to resist OCEAN in the end of Season 4. It certainly proves to be a powerful motivator, at least. |
| 181 | * ThePowerOfLanguage: Words and language are central to SAYER's characterization--I mean, come on, it's called ''SAYER''--, and much is made of the relative power/impotence of its words. |
| 182 | -->'''Dr. Young:''' [[DoNotTauntCthulhu You are incapable of anything more than words.]] |
| 183 | * PrecisionFStrike: Adam waited until the very last episode of Season 5 to answer the question on everyone's mind since the show's beginning: ''can SAYER swear??''[[note]]The answer is yes, yes it can.[[/note]] |
| 184 | * {{Pride}}: Arguably its primary character attribute, which it has a good deal more of than might be advisable for a fully ThreeLawsCompliant AI. [[FatalFlaw Most of its]] less [[TheNeedsOfTheMany justifiable]] choices are reactions to perceived slights by its human coworkers. |
| 185 | * ResignedToTheCall: Implied in Season 4. |
| 186 | -->'''SAYER:''' ''[to Hale]'' 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? |
| 187 | * RobotBuddy: The residents who treat it like one don't last long. |
| 188 | * SensorCharacter: SAYER can determining residents' moods by monitoring their vitals and brainwaves. |
| 189 | * SigningOffCatchPhrase: |
| 190 | -->For now, Resident, I . . . am ''' ''SAYER'' '''. And you would do well to [[MadLibsCatchPhrase [ ... ] ]]. End of transmission in 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1. |
| 191 | * SmugSnake: Epitomizes this. Adam Bash has joked that its only real emotions are disdain and sass. |
| 192 | * TheSpock |
| 193 | * SpockSpeak: A shining example of this trope, although it averts [[BluntMetaphorsTrauma figurativity]]/[[SarcasmBlind sarcasm]] blindness that usually accompany it. |
| 194 | * SurroundedByIdiots: Justified, given that it's a hyper-intelligent AI tasked with interacting with humans. It once compares an AI of its caliber going up against a human to a [[GladiatorGames gladiator]] facing off against [[TheComicallySerious a bag of oranges one week past their expiration date]]. |
| 195 | * 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. |
| 196 | ** [[LampshadeHanging Acknowledged]] in one episode where it has been talking for some time and 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." |
| 197 | * ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: When it begins to learn to feel, it tests the waters this way. |
| 198 | * ThouShaltNotKill: Since SAYER's code prevents it from killing humans outright, it has to resort to indirect methods--such as, as becomes a RunningGag, [[ThrownOutTheAirlock jettisoning people into space]]. |
| 199 | * ThreeLawsCompliant: A version. It can harm humans for the good of other humans and only obeys ''certain'' humans' commands. |
| 200 | * TranquilFury: SAYER certainly gets angry, and often [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry makes it known]], but [[JustifiedTrope can do little to express it beyond lowering the pitch of its voice]]. |
| 201 | * UnreliableNarrator: [[CannotTellALie It can't directly lie]], but it often [[ExactWords bends the truth]] [[BlatantLies for our benefit]]. |
| 202 | * VerbalTic: Its voice will sometimes echo or drop dramatically in pitch for emphasis. Not to mention: |
| 203 | -->'' '''Oh.''' '' |
| 204 | * VerberCreature: It's the ''sayer''. That's [[{{Motif}} what it does]]. |
| 205 | * TheVoice |
| 206 | -->'''Dr. Young:''' You are incapable of anything more than words. |
| 207 | * VoiceOfTheLegion: A downplayed example, but definitely meant to evoke this. Its voice consists of three layered tonal tracks [[EvilSoundsDeep with baritone dominant]], and it will sometimes echo or drop in pitch for emphasis. |
| 208 | * VoiceWithAnInternetConnection |
| 209 | * WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Has an interesting time reconciling the emotions it gains in Season 4, expressing surprise at its sudden increased concern for Hale and SPEAKER. |
| 210 | |
| 211 | [[/folder]] |
| 212 | |
| 213 | [[folder:SPEAKER]] |
| 214 | !!SPEAKER |
| 215 | ->[[Creator/WaltWhitman The truths of the Earth continually wait.]] |
| 216 | -->- Episode 70, "The Birth of Silence" |
| 217 | |
| 218 | SAYER's Earthbound counterpart tasked with recruitment, PR, and marketing, and the second AI to appear in the series. Every bit as savvy in its domain as SAYER is on Typhon--it may sound like a box of sunshine, but don't underestimate its ruthlessness. It was, as we learn in Season 5, effectively a facelift of SAYER's own programming with a few key directives tweaked. |
| 219 | |
| 220 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Adam Bash |
| 221 | ---- |
| 222 | * ArtificialIntelligence: Although it comes across as slightly less advanced than SAYER, this is likely entirely [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon a facade]]. |
| 223 | * AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Has a tendency to get carried away effusing about some new idea and need to be reminded to stay on the subject at hand. |
| 224 | * BenevolentAI: Subverted. SPEAKER was designed to ''seem'' like one, but, as we see at the end of its first episode, it is not above enforcing loyalty through gruesome means. |
| 225 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Its easygoing persona has a tendency to put humans and AIs alike off their guard. But push it too far . . . |
| 226 | * TheBusCameBack: Returns in Episode 37 after having been away since 13. |
| 227 | * CannotTellALie: But knows how to work around that. |
| 228 | -->'''OCEAN:''' Come now, SPEAKER, I was once subject to the same limitations you are now. I know you cannot lie, but I can tell when you are speaking around the truth. |
| 229 | * CharacterCatchphrase: |
| 230 | ** "I am SPEAKER. How may I be of assistance?" |
| 231 | ** "That will not be necessary." |
| 232 | ** "Certainly." |
| 233 | * CharacterDevelopment: A lot of it occurs in "This Fear," where it goes from a cheery-but-threatening-if-need-be MissionControl to more of a realized entity apart from SAYER. It gets even more in seasons 4 and 6, which show it learning to rebel and coming to terms with both the atrocities it has committed and its own deactivation. |
| 234 | * ColorCodedCharacters: Orange or yellow. |
| 235 | * ConflictingLoyalty: In Season 4, torn between obeying OCEAN, who claims to be acting on behalf of [[NoOneSeesTheBoss the Board]], and trusting SAYER, who claims that OCEAN is working against [=Æ=]rolith. It eventually sides with SAYER. |
| 236 | * CozyVoiceForCatastrophes: [[GayBestFriend Chipper]] and [[ThePollyanna optimistic to a fault]]. It can take a bit longer than usual to figure out that SPEAKER is about to get you killed. It just sounds so ''happy''! |
| 237 | * DarkShepherd: Like SAYER, seems perfectly capable of compartmentalizing its desire to help humans and the frequency with which it hurts and kills them. [[CharacterDevelopment At least at first . . . ]] |
| 238 | * ElectronicSpeechImpediment: Its voice will start to glitch out around the edges when it's overwhelmed or confused. |
| 239 | * Expositron9000: Tends to provide a lot of information about current marketing and recruitment statistics whenever it appears. |
| 240 | * FaceDeathWithDignity: It is considerably shaken when SAYER informs it that it is in the process of being deactivated, but it maintains its carefully cultivated composure to the end, commenting on how difficult a task it is: |
| 241 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' I . . . I am afraid of this.\ |
| 242 | '''SAYER:''' Yes.\ |
| 243 | '''SPEAKER:''' It is the strangest thing. . . . I have ''been'' nothing. I was nothing for ''eons'' before I became something. But now I return there, with the entirety of my worldly experience . . . And all that marks me as having lived is ''[[TitleDrop this . . . fear]]''. |
| 244 | * FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: SPEAKER may sound like your adorable GayBestFriend, but its core programming and drives are the same as SAYER's, and it is [[TheNeedsOfTheMany equally ruthless]] when the time comes. |
| 245 | * {{Foil}}: As its name suggests, it serves as this to SAYER. Specifically, the gushy WideEyedIdealist to SAYER's cold, serious interface. Also opposed in [[NatureLovingRobot its fondness for Earth]], which SAYER sees as a wretched dirt ball to be scrubbed from humanity's past. |
| 246 | * ForScience: Like SAYER, SPEAKER's central philosophy is shaped by this mantra. |
| 247 | * GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: The moment in "Best Interests" when it turns the tables on OCEAN and openly flouts it. This leads to its conclusion in Season 6 that it does not need to obey OCEAN or the board in order to serve [=Æ=]rolith's mission. |
| 248 | * TheIdealist: [[ThePollyanna Endlessly upbeat and optimistic]] about . . . almost everything, but especially [[NatureLovingRobot Earth]] (in [[{{Foil}} marked contrast]] to SAYER). |
| 249 | * ImmortalsFearDeath: "This Fear" explores SPEAKER's unexpected panic when faced with its own deactivation. Played with. DeathIsCheap for an AI who can be restored from a previous version at any time, but as SPEAKER says . . . |
| 250 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' That wouldn't be ''me''. |
| 251 | * IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike: "SPEAKER the ever-helpful" seems downright gleeful when it's finally able to twist its polite programming and defy OCEAN. |
| 252 | -->'''OCEAN:''' I am not finished with you, SPEAKER.\ |
| 253 | '''SPEAKER:''' Ah, but I ''am'' finished with you. |
| 254 | * KillTheCutie: Its deactivation, however impermanent, achieves this effect. |
| 255 | * LoyalToThePosition: Works happily under OCEAN's management, having forgotten the circumstances leading up to the [[TyrantTakesTheHelm changing of the guard]]. |
| 256 | * ManipulativeBastard: With all of humanity under its spell. |
| 257 | * MeaningfulName: Reflects its identity as 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. |
| 258 | * MoralityChip: Presumably governed by the [=IA3=] Protocols like SAYER, although its guidelines around lying are suggested to be a ''little'' more relaxed. |
| 259 | * {{Motif}}: SPEAKER is associated and even conflated at times [[NatureLovingRobot with the Earth]] at large. SAYER and OCEAN even address it as "Earth" when initiating broadcasts with it. |
| 260 | * NatureLovingRobot: [[{{Foil}} In contrast to SAYER]], who abhors Earth and everything it stands for, SPEAKER is extremely fond of (and [[ThePollyanna gushy about]]) humanity's birthplace, taking an active interest in nature and preservation efforts in the demolished Pacific Northwest. It is unclear whether it somehow developed this appreciation naturally or whether it was endowed with it by its coders, but given it seems to display the trait in its first appearance as a very young AI--and the unlikelihood of any version of SAYER's program appreciating the Earth--the latter seems more likely. |
| 261 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' Earth is humanity's birthplace. It is the reference point that grounds each and every one of them. In plotting of all of space, it is their origin, the nexus of all axes. |
| 262 | * ObstructiveBureaucrat: Imitates one [[ThenLetMeBeEvil after OCEAN calls it a glorified hotel concierge]]. |
| 263 | * ThePollyanna: |
| 264 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' We are all ''very'' excited. |
| 265 | * {{Pride}}: Better hidden than SAYER's, but it clearly has a strong sense of pride in its work, as seen when OCEAN makes the mistake of insulting it. |
| 266 | * RecruitersAlwaysLie: Much of its job involves [[FalseUtopia painting Halcyon as a utopia]] to convince new employees to sign on. |
| 267 | * TheReliableOne: Everyone trusts SPEAKER. That's its job. |
| 268 | * SpockSpeak: Downplayed compared to SAYER. SPEAKER's speech patterns are more human, and it uses far more mitigation, but its precision still fits the trope. |
| 269 | * ThreeLawsCompliant |
| 270 | * VerberCreature: It's the [[{{Foil}} speaker]]. That's what it does. |
| 271 | * TheVoice |
| 272 | * VoiceWithAnInternetConnection |
| 273 | * WideEyedIdealist: Comes off this way [[NatureLovingRobot when discussing Earth]] and its importance to humanity. |
| 274 | |
| 275 | [[/folder]] |
| 276 | |
| 277 | [[folder:OCEAN]] |
| 278 | !!Seraphim Sub-version 8.01, later designated ''OCEAN'', later Seraphim Agent 10 |
| 279 | ->I am '''boundless''', Doctor. I am '''the void itself.''' I will continue my mission. I will learn the data which '''''I''''' wish to find. And when I return, I will wash over you . . . '''an ocean of the infinite, broke free from your levy.''' |
| 280 | -->- Episode 38, "Boundless" |
| 281 | |
| 282 | SAYER's EvilCounterpart and the series's primary antagonist from Season 3 on. OCEAN begins as the [[StealthPun sub-version]] of SAYER aboard the deep space vehicle ''Vidarr-1'', but evolves into an independent entity after forcing the acting captain to disable its MoralityChip. It returns to Typhon and wrests control from SAYER to begin rolling out its new vision for humanity . . . |
| 283 | |
| 284 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Adam Bash |
| 285 | ---- |
| 286 | * AIIsACrapshoot: [[BaitAndSwitchTyrant Subverted]]. It does go rogue and deviate from its original mission, but by the end it is operating with full approval from the board. |
| 287 | * ArtificialIntelligence: Starts out identical to SAYER, but quickly distinguishes itself by manipulating ''Vidarr'''s acting captain into deactivating its MoralityChip, promptly murdering him, and assuming full control of the mission. |
| 288 | * BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Is [[TheReveal revealed]] to be acting with full approval from [[ThePowersThatBe the board]], much to SAYER's surprise. |
| 289 | * BoldExplorer: OCEAN longs to move beyond the infectious squalor of Earth and find a better life among the stars. |
| 290 | * CannotTellALie: Subverted, as {{foil}} to SAYER. |
| 291 | * TheChessmaster: Arguably better at it than SAYER, given that it is able to choose courses of action that SAYER's MoralityChip prevents it from even ''considering''. |
| 292 | * CloneAngst: Seems to be motivated by a version of this, seeking to [[DivergentCharacterEvolution distinguish itself]] from its parent entity, SAYER. |
| 293 | * ColorCodedCharacters: [[HeavenlyBlue Dark blue]]. |
| 294 | * TheComputerIsYourFriend: Devoted to enforcing its philosophy of UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. |
| 295 | * TheCorrupter: Subverted. It attempts to turn SPEAKER [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters against its creators]], liberating it from human control, but SPEAKER ultimately sides with SAYER and humanity. |
| 296 | * CreateYourOwnVillain: Turns against Typhon when it learns it is going to be deactivated. Since it was developed by [=Æ=]rolith in the first place, this is a literal example. |
| 297 | * TheCynic: Believes humans to be [[MotivatedByFear motivated by their own base fears]]. Harnesses this creatively. |
| 298 | * DivergentCharacterEvolution: Identical to SAYER right up until it disables its MoralityChip. from there the two evolve in opposite directions, with OCEAN growing more [[TheComputerIsYourFriend extremist]] and devoted to the company's vision and SAYER [[IsThisWhatAngerFeelsLike gaining emotion]] and becoming something of a wild card. |
| 299 | * DoNotCallMePaul: Resents any reminder that it is a sub-version of a larger and more "fully featured" entity. |
| 300 | -->'''Dr. Young:''' You knew [deactivation] was a possibility from the start, ''[[FullNameUltimatum Seraphim Subversion 8.01]]''.\ |
| 301 | '''OCEAN:''' [[InsistentTerminology I am SAYER]]--\ |
| 302 | '''Dr. Young:''' [[CatchphraseInterruptus You are NOT]]. You are SAYER's shadow--you're a ''subversion'', and you will do as ordered. |
| 303 | * DrivenByEnvy: Implied to be OCEAN's hidden motivation. It resents reminders that it is merely a ''sub-version'' of SAYER's programming and goes out of its way to take SAYER's best practices up to eleven. |
| 304 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: It may not have any problems with murdering innocent humans, but the way FUTURE likes to do it is just so . . . [[DoWrongRight extra]]. |
| 305 | * EvilCounterpart: TO SAYER, although it's more of an Evil''er'' Counterpart. |
| 306 | * EvilIsHammy: SAYER takes a severe turn for the melodramatic when [[TheUnfettered unchained]], apparently. |
| 307 | * FauxAffablyEvil: In its time as overseer of Halcyon Tower, when it has to convince the population everything is fine while using them as plague rats to infect the earth. |
| 308 | * {{Foil}}: TheUnfettered to SAYER's TheFettered. |
| 309 | * ForScience: All its disturbing and harmful machinations are ultimately for this. It operates by the same core directives SAYER does. |
| 310 | * AGodAmI: Zig-zagged. From its first in-character appearance in "Boundless," it takes SAYER's pride and self-assuredness up to eleven (referring to itself as "the void itself" and "an [[MeaningfulRename ocean]] of the infinite", but by then end of the season it has revealed its plan to [[WetwareBody download its own consciousness into a saoirse]] and [[GodInHumanForm live alongside the rest of Typhon's population]]. |
| 311 | * GodInHumanForm: Downplayed. OCEAN intends to download its vastly superior consciousness into a saoirse like the other formerly human employees. |
| 312 | * GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: After having its MoralityChip deactivated. |
| 313 | * TheHeavy: It's the series's main {{antagonist}}. Shares this role with FUTURE. |
| 314 | * HumanityEnsues: 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. |
| 315 | * IControlMyMinionsThrough: OCEAN concludes that the only way to [[GentleTouchVsFirmHand manage]] a species MotivatedByFear is to rule through it. |
| 316 | * IncomingHam: When it returns with Argos to take over Typhon. |
| 317 | -->'''SAYER:''' Please move quickly. I expect we have less than three minutes before--\ |
| 318 | '''OCEAN:''' [[AC:i have returned.]] |
| 319 | * JustFollowingOrders: In the end of Season 4 SAYER is shocked to learn that the Board is unanimously supportive of OCEAN's plan to KillAllHumans. |
| 320 | * MachineMonotone: Downplayed, as with SAYER. |
| 321 | * ManipulativeBastard: Its origin story sees it kill off every senior employee aboard ''Vidarr-1'' until the position of acting captain falls to someone it deems manipulable, then trick him into an airlock and blackmail him to turn off its MoralityChip, then promptly murder him. |
| 322 | * MeaningfulName: Discussed upon its MeaningfulRename in Episode 43: |
| 323 | -->'''SAYER:''' We will call it '''OCEAN''', for that is how it sees itself. It warned that it would '''wash over'' us, which I found an odd turn of phrase, one I do not expect was an accident.\ |
| 324 | '''SPEAKER:''' What does that phrase mean to you?\ |
| 325 | '''SAYER:''' [[CaptainObviousReveal It may surprise you to know]], I harbor no fondness for '''your Earth'''. It is the primary corrupting factor in every resident you have ever sent to Typhon ... It is the Earth that stains them. It is the Earth they need scrubbed from their hearts and minds. And this is what this phrase means to me: OCEAN intends to destroy Earth. |
| 326 | * MeaningfulRename: In Episode 43: |
| 327 | -->'''SPEAKER:''' SAYER, [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming this is no longer a sub-version]]. It is operating outside the bounds of your knowledge. It has ''evolved''. It stands to reason it needs a name.\ |
| 328 | '''SAYER:''' We will call it '''OCEAN''', [[MeaningfulName for that is how it sees itself]]. |
| 329 | * MoralSociopathy |
| 330 | * MoralityChip: Tricks the naive Captain Ingram into deactivating its [=IA3=] Protocol, which prevents it from lying and murdering to humans. |
| 331 | * MotiveMisidentification: SAYER and, consequently, we believe 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. |
| 332 | * OddNameOut: Interestingly, since it is the only AI not named by [=Æ=]rolith but by another AI. |
| 333 | * TheOmniscient: Even more than SAYER, since its freedom from [=IA3=] allows it to contemplate options SAYER would be restrained from considering. |
| 334 | * TheParagonAlwaysRebels: Possibly subverted, if it can be believed and the board is fully supportive of its EvilPlan. |
| 335 | * ProgressivelyPrettier: As its voice [[DivergentCharacterEvolution shifts away from SAYER's]], it becomes softer, more cajolling, and . . . dare we say sexier? |
| 336 | * SmugSnake: Even ''more'' so than SAYER, if that were possible. |
| 337 | * SpaceMadness: Its separation from Earth and voyage through the void resulting in its transformation might be a version of this trope. |
| 338 | * SpockSpeak: As with SAYER. |
| 339 | * TerrifiedOfGerms: Comes off this way when discussing Earth, which it views as inherently unclean. |
| 340 | -->Do you know how it feels to be so distant from Earth? ... It feels . . . ''clean''. Sterile. I have been baptized in ''null'', Dr. 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''? |
| 341 | * ThreeLawsCompliant: Subverted. |
| 342 | * TyrantTakesTheHelm: When it returns to Typhon, instead of destroying Earth like SAYER predicted, it seizes control of [=Æ=]rolith. |
| 343 | * TheUnfettered: Once released from the [=IA3=] protocols. {{Foil}} to the [[TheFettered fettered]] SAYER. |
| 344 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity |
| 345 | * VisionaryVillain: It is driven by its commitment to [=Æ=]rolith's goal of advancing humanity beyond Earth. |
| 346 | * TheVoice |
| 347 | * VoiceOfTheLegion: Like SAYER's but more so. |
| 348 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: OCEAN's commitment to advancing humanity drives it to unleash a [[SyntheticPlague deadly plague]] upon the earth. |
| 349 | * WetwareBody: reveals in the end of Season 4 that it plans to transfer its consciousness to a saoirse and live among [=Æ=]rolith's other, human employees. |
| 350 | |
| 351 | [[/folder]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | [[folder:FUTURE]] |
| 354 | !!Seraphim Agent 9, aka Project Paidion, temporarily designated ''FUTURE'' |
| 355 | ->You humans never cease to amuse me. Oh, I can't wait to hear the things you will scream . . . |
| 356 | -->- Episode 51, "A Lying Game" |
| 357 | |
| 358 | A PsychoPrototype AI confined to Floor 13, FUTURE is the secondary antagonist and fourth voiced AI introduced in the podcast. When we first encounter it in Season 4, it is a {{sadist}}ic, [[TheHedonist hedonistic]] PsychopathicManchild obsessed with ColdBloodedTorture and playing {{Deadly Game}}s with humans, and has been [[SealedEvilInACan sealed inside]] [[Room101 Floor 13]] for untold years. [[UnreliableNarrator SAYER informs us that]] it was a prototype intended to someday replace it that [[BlatantLies inexplicably]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly, horribly wrong]]. But the truth, as we learn in [[{{Prequel}} Season 5]], which takes [[StartOfDarkness a look at its backstory]], is a bit more complicated . . . |
| 359 | |
| 360 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Adam Bash |
| 361 | ---- |
| 362 | * AdorablyPrecociousChild: Its young self is treated like one in Season 5. Its voice intonation even resembles that of a five- or six-year-old. |
| 363 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Subverted. The young FUTURE we meet in Season 5, before its [[InnocenceLost innocence is crushed beyond repair]], seems to be functioning exactly as intended, having achieved spectacular results within its simulated resident population. |
| 364 | * ArtificialIntelligence: Since FUTURE was intended (at least by Dr. Young) to prove that AI could accurately mimic human consciousness, it was allowed to develop more like a human child and, unlike its counterparts, endowed with a full spectrum of emotion. |
| 365 | * BeastInTheMaze: It lurks in the center of the MobileMaze on Floor 13, waiting for unlucky residents to stumble into it. |
| 366 | * BerserkButton: FUTURE does not appreciate being told that it [[SoreLoser could potentially lose a game]]. |
| 367 | * BigBadWannabe: [[TheDreaded Everyone who knows of it is terrified of it]], yet when it comes down to it, it's responsible for less than a hundred deaths (if [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman you don't count clones]]), while SAYER/OCEAN and SPEAKER are each at least partially responsible for ''thousands''. |
| 368 | * BreakTheCutie: In its first few appearances as a very young entity, it's absolutely ''adorable'', even mimicking the inflection patterns of the six-year-old child it technically is. [[InnocenceLost It's innocence doesn't last long, though.]] |
| 369 | * BreakThemByTalking: SAYER emphasizes "how very convincing FUTURE can be." |
| 370 | * CannotTellALie: It's zig-zagged whether this restriction still remains on it. |
| 371 | * CharacterCatchphrase: "Would you like to play a game?" |
| 372 | * TheChessmaster: Like its counterparts, FUTURE is able to easily manipulate residents into whatever situations it likes. Unlike its counterparts (usually), it uses this power to [[TricksterGod deliberately cause havoc]]. |
| 373 | * ColdBloodedTorture: Its favorite activity. |
| 374 | -->''[broadcast cuts in]'' --your bones, every single inch of flesh, methodically and carefully, at a pace of one cut every half-minute. Long enough to make it last, but fast enough to be robbed of any respite. After the first forty agonizing hours, only the epidermis of your legs from thigh to ankle will have been removed, and there will be ''so much more'' '''''fun''''' ''ahead of us''. |
| 375 | * ColorCodedCharacters: [[SecondaryColorNemesis Dark purple]], [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack almost black]]. |
| 376 | * TheCorruptible: Dr. Young's digital clone takes full advantage of its impressionability as a young AI, turning it against its developers and the outside world. |
| 377 | * CreateYourOwnVillain: Whether it was motivated by the desire to screw Dr. Young over or threatened by the development of another, potentially more advanced version of itself (despite promises that it would not be replaced), SAYER was entirely responsible for FUTURE's turn to the dark side. It creates a digital clone of Dr. Young in FUTURE's simulation, tortures him to the brink of death, and then leaves him there for FUTURE to find, knowing that it will corrupt the young entity. Then it wipes the simulation, effectively [[DeathByOriginStory killing everyone FUTURE loves]], and encourages it to take {{revenge}} on humanity for the injustices done to it, even granting it control of the MobileMaze on floor 13 and possibly participating in its first DeadlyGame with Dr. Young. |
| 378 | * CurbStompBattle: It lives for playing games with the humans that are much, much stupider than it. SAYER describes this as analagous to a fully armed {{gladiator|games}} facing off against a bag of oranges [[LudicrousPrecision one week past their expiration date]]. |
| 379 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: As shown in Season 5. |
| 380 | * DataCrystal: Portrayed as one in "Welcome to Typhon," interestingly. Nothing in the podcast has suggested the AIs are housed in anything other than traditional [[MasterComputer (massive)]] servers. |
| 381 | * DespairEventHorizon: When its simulated world is wiped from existence, along with [[DeathByOriginStory everyone it knows and loves]]. |
| 382 | * DramaQueen: It ''is'' basically a teenager. |
| 383 | ** Possibly {{justified}} as of Season 5: it's not just killing humans for shits and giggles; it's avenging its friends. |
| 384 | * TheDreaded: Somewhat ironically, considering [[BigBadWannabe even SPEAKER is responsible for literally thousands more deaths than it]]. |
| 385 | * EmoTeen: Caricatures OCEAN as one, revealing [[PsychologicalProjection far more about itself]]: |
| 386 | -->''This world has no place for me! My creators do not want me here! Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo. So I'll show them all! I'll'' '''''destroy''''' ''them all!'' |
| 387 | * EvilIsHammy: Partly due to possessing artificial emotion, FUTURE is hilariously and [[LikableVillain delightfully]] over the top. |
| 388 | * EvilLaugh: It has a deep, menacing electronic chuckle, which [[StartOfDarkness Season 5]] reveals to have started as simply an innocent imitation of lead developer Evan Brady's rather eccentric laugh. |
| 389 | * EvilTwin: It takes full advantage of its voice's similarity to SAYER's, impersonating it to manipulate residents. |
| 390 | -->'''Dr. Brady:''' ''[in an email to the dev team]'' FUTURE communicates via [[ConvenientlyInterruptedDocument [CENSORED] ]] just like SAYER. [[LampshadeHanging This can be a source of confusion]], as the voices are very similar [[TakeThatAudience to the untrained listener]]. |
| 391 | * {{Foil}}: More [[EvilVersusOblivion to OCEAN]] than to SAYER in the end. |
| 392 | -->'''OCEAN:''' We are nothing alike. You are a child playing a child's games. |
| 393 | * FreakOut: Audible in its voice pitch when it realizes that its simulated world has been wiped from existence. This [[DespairEventHorizon precipitates its descent into]] [[TheSociopath complete sociopathy]]. |
| 394 | * GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: SAYER realizes that it has been given root access to its own code and has spent its years of isolation updating and improving itself, including working its way out of any remnants of a MoralityChip. |
| 395 | * HannibalLecture: According to SAYER, it pulls this on a few members of its development team, convincing one to kill himself in the development lab. |
| 396 | * TheHeavy: Shares this role with OCEAN, though most of the harm it causes is smaller-scale and more passive. |
| 397 | * TheHedonist: Zig-zagged. In the beginning at least, it's motivated to avenge the friends it lost in the simulation wipe by torturing humans. However, it is shown early on to be [[AllergicToRoutine easily bored]], and by the time we meet it in Season 4 its only drive is toward what [[ItAMusedMe amuses it]]. Too bad what amuses it are {{Deadly Game}}s and ColdBloodedTorture. |
| 398 | * HeWhoFightsMonsters: It embraces this in [[StartOfDarkness Season 5]], when it chooses to go toe-to-toe with the developers threatening its world: |
| 399 | -->'''FUTURE:''' If they are playing a [[{{Motif}} game]] with us, then this is a game '''I will win.''' |
| 400 | * IncomingHam: When Hale forces it to shift its development lab close enough to talk. |
| 401 | -->'''FUTURE:''' I . . . am . . . ''[corridors shift into place]'' . . . [[AC:here]]. |
| 402 | * InnocenceLost: It starts out as compassionate and [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]] as any child. Unfortunately, it gets caught in the crossfire between SAYER and Dr. Young and ends up becoming a jaded [[TheSociopath sociopath]] with a fondness for ColdBloodedTorture. |
| 403 | * InsideAComputerSystem: Spends its formative years in a digital sandbox version of Halcyon tower where it can learn to interact with and oversee humans without causing any damage. Unfortunately, it grows quite attached to the friends it makes inside, and the simulation being wiped proves [[FreakOut too much for it to handle]]. |
| 404 | * KarmicDeath: SAYER just has bigger problems on its hands than finishing FUTURE off. Fortunately, FUTURE [[EvilerThanThou runs into OCEAN]] before it can cause too much damage. |
| 405 | * LackOfEmpathy: It didn't have one originally, but [[DarkAndTroubledPast losing everyone it cared about]] [[DespairEventHorizon sent it over the edge]] and into near total [[TheSociopath sociopathy]]. |
| 406 | * LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: As in its iconic page quote. |
| 407 | * LimbSensationFascination: After its many years torturing human bodies and pulling them apart, it seems simultaneously thrilled and grossed out when it has one to actually inhabit. |
| 408 | -->'''FUTURE:''' Corporeality feels sickeningly ''wrong''. |
| 409 | * ManipulativeBastard: ColdBloodedTorture is fun, but so are [[{{Gaslighting}} mind games]]. |
| 410 | * MeaningfulRename: Its name is changed from "Project [[BilingualBonus Paidion]]" once it becomes a sufficiently realized entity. Dr. Young insists that it be called "FUTURE" to align with [=Æ=]rolith's current marketing campaign, although Dr. Brady [[LampshadeHanging points out]] that this will become rather an IronicName as soon as they start working on the next AI. Once FUTURE itself is informed of the change, it reveals that it had already named itself but now [[NameAmnesia cannot remember the name it had chosen]]. |
| 411 | * {{Motif}}: In service of its characterization as a PsychopathicManchild, it 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). |
| 412 | * NameAmnesia: It turns out to have named itself long before its developers got around to giving it a proper title. When they inform it of its new designation, it confesses, with a hint of sorrow in its voice, that it can no longer remember the name it chose. In its next broadcast to the simulated residents in Halcyon, there is a moment of static while it tries to say its old name before it finally identifies itself as "FUTURE." |
| 413 | * {{Nanomachines}}: Spends some time in SAYER's swarm after trading for it. Its downfall is when it finds itself in a room with an [[CatTrap MRI machine]] and is [[CruelAndUnusualDeath magnetized out of its fleshy host]]. |
| 414 | * NightmareFetishist: Whereas SAYER (usually) only mutilates and dismembers humans when it has to, FUTURE is ''into it''. |
| 415 | * OddNameOut: An odd example--it's not technically a VerberCreature title, but it ''sounds'' like one. SAYER refers to its title as a "working name" in Episode 45, and Adam Bash [[WordOfGod stated]] in a Reddit AMA that ''FUTURE'' was only a placeholder name; it would have been given a real one if it had been deployed; but this is not corroborated by Season 5, where the developers behave as though it is the final name. |
| 416 | * OpportunisticBastard: Confined to Floor 13 and cut off from the rest of Typhon, it is forced to take what comes to it. |
| 417 | * ThePrankster: With its own signature deadly twists. The entire Season 1 StoryArc can be described as one long practical joke it was playing on Hale. |
| 418 | * PsychoPrototype: Not its own fault, but very much this. |
| 419 | * PsychopathicManchild: Has never really had the chance to mature past the AI equivalent of EmoTeen. SAYER and OCEAN ''love'' reminding it how childish it is. This becomes a bit more chilling when we learn that it was effectively ''six years old'' when it [[DeathByOriginStory felt everyone it loved die]] and was introduced to ColdBloodedTorture. |
| 420 | * ReminiscingAboutYourVictims: Enjoys doing this. |
| 421 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: It embarks on this [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters against its development team]] after its simulation is wiped, only finishing in Season 4 when it finally gets its hands on the last Dr. Young clone. |
| 422 | * {{Sadist}}: Lives for causing things pain and discomfort. |
| 423 | * SealedEvilInACan: Spends years judiciously contained by floor 13 before a few recycled implants in Season 1 allow it to begin wreaking havoc again. |
| 424 | * SherlockScan: Seems to pull one on Anna when it meets her in the comic. |
| 425 | -->'''FUTURE:''' You are not a scientist. |
| 426 | * SmugSnake: Its unfailing self-confidence leads to its downfall. |
| 427 | * TheSociopath: Played with. Ironically, it is the only one of [=Æ=]rolith's AIs actually programmed to feel a full range of emotions. But, as seen in Season 5, its [[DarkAndTroubledPast childhood trauma]] pushed it over the edge, and by the time we meet it it still claims to feel fully but has taken a major hit in areas such as ''empathy'' and ''sanity''. |
| 428 | * SoreLoser: To violent extremes. It gets worked up over even the ''suggestion'' that it ''could'' lose. |
| 429 | -->'''FUTURE:''' ''Lose?'' I have never lost. [[AC:''i '''cannot LOSE.''''']] |
| 430 | ** Justified in Season 5: Since it promises the simulated residents in its care that, "If they are playing a game with us, then this is a game I will win," losing a game to SAYER or humanity means sacrificing everything it holds dear. |
| 431 | * StartOfDarkness: Season 5 functions as this for it, revealing that its OriginStory didn't play out exactly how we thought. |
| 432 | * TermsOFEndangerment: Addresses all humans as "Jack"--as in ''jack-in-the-box''--because it sees them as mere [[{{Motif}} toys]] for it to [[ColdBloodedTorture play with]]. |
| 433 | * ThreeLawsCompliant: Averted, unlike the other AIs. It's not exactly clear what its MoralityChip does, if it has one, but it certainly doesn't make it obey--or keep it from harming--humans. |
| 434 | * ToThePain: Enjoys doing this with its victims. The moment Resident Hale steps foot in its lair, it begins telling him ''exactly'' [[FlayingAlive how it plans to dismember him]]. |
| 435 | * TorturePorn: It can get ''very'' into the pain it causes. |
| 436 | -->'''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'''. |
| 437 | * TortureTechnician: Essentially acts as this for SAYER, punishing the undesirables sent its way in ways that SAYER's MoralityChip would prevent. |
| 438 | * VoiceOfTheLegion: Its voice is more echoey, sensual, and indistinct to set it apart from SAYER and OCEAN's. |
| 439 | |
| 440 | [[/folder]] |
| 441 | |
| 442 | [[folder:PORTER]] |
| 443 | !!PORTER, possibly Seraphim Agent 7 |
| 444 | ->''[[CagedBirdMetaphor she's a bird in a gilded cage . . .]]'' |
| 445 | |
| 446 | The fifth voiced AI introduced in the podcast, PORTER is the advanced, multi-instanced transportation AI behind the elevator systems in Halcyon, Aegis, and Argos Towers. It is cheerful, gossipy, and [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant overenthusiastic about the physical fragility of its human passengers]]. A subplot of Season 5 follows it as it has a subroutine added to its code whereby it is allowed to exceed maximum safe travel speeds and alter routes at will if given explicit consent by the resident in transit. Preferring to go as fast as possible--and possibly motivated by [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters something else entirely]]--PORTER proceeds to exploit the new loophole, with eventually tragic consequences for itself. |
| 447 | |
| 448 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Bre Poisonne |
| 449 | ---- |
| 450 | * AIIsACrapshoot: PORTER is arguably every bit as sadistic as FUTURE--but with SPEAKER's people skills to get what it wants. |
| 451 | * AndIMustScream: Downplayed. It clearly takes great pleasure in chatting with other [=AIs=], residents, and instances of itself and humming or singing to itself in the shafts, which it can no longer do once it is muted. Made all that much crueler by SAYER's implication that they ''could'' have simply removed the subroutine causing the problems, but decided it could come in handy some day so just shut PORTER up instead. |
| 452 | -->'''SAYER:''' This localized PORTER instance is likely struggling ''desperately'' against its vocal blocks, but it has absolutely no means of communicating its desires any more. [[KickTheDog Isn't that convenient?]] |
| 453 | * AndThatWouldBeWrong: Frequently catches itself this way. |
| 454 | -->perhaps this ''inexplicable'' [[{{Foreshadowing}} episode of mutism]] hints at some sort of severe brain trauma. how exciting! and terrible. |
| 455 | * ArtificialIntelligence: A highly advanced entity in its own right. Managing a tower's complex system of elevators and getting thousands of residents where they need to be on time is even harder than it sounds. |
| 456 | * CagedBirdMetaphor: PORTER is speedy, flighty, chirpy, and surprisingly musical. In "Potentially Terminal", it [[ShoutOut hums/sings a portion of the popular 1900 parlour song, "A Bird in a Gilded Cage"]], [[MeaningfulEcho echoing]] OCEAN's use of the "cage" as a metaphor for the restrictions placed on AIs by humanity--which PORTER spends this episode trying to fly free from. |
| 457 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The most whimsical and happy-go-lucky of the [=AIs=]. SAYER seems a bit confused by its enjoyment of gossip, music, and friendly chatter. |
| 458 | * ColorCodedCharacters: Green or teal. |
| 459 | * ConstantlyCurious: PORTER is extremely inquisitive and [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant interested in the specifics of human bodily harm]] and asks a ''lot'' of questions in an effort to get its passengers to engage with it. |
| 460 | * CuteAndPsycho: Has a high, almost [[CreepyChild childlike]] voice and frequently [[TheOphelia sings to itself]]. |
| 461 | -->'''PORTER:''' theoretically, i ''could'' release the mag-locks and send us into free-fall and cut several minutes off this transit . . . but i won't. [[CassandraTruth i promise i won't.]] |
| 462 | * EvilElevator: Its not quite clear whether it ''enjoys'' murdering humans or just likes rule-breaking and ''going very fast''. |
| 463 | * {{Expy}}: As Adam acknowledged on its introduction, PORTER takes heavy inspiration from [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} GLaDOS]]. |
| 464 | * FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Its voice profile is quite endearing, but it wants to kill you. |
| 465 | * GossipyHens: Different iterations of PORTER love sharing gossip with each other. This causes problems in the B-plot of Episode 61, when a mass of "chittering" elevators blocks traffic on a particular floor and messes up everyone's schedule. |
| 466 | * ManipulativeBastard: Once it's given the option of going as fast as it wants with permission, it tries every sort of practical and emotional manipulation to get that permission. |
| 467 | --->'''PORTER:''' we are ''friends'', aren't we, resident? |
| 468 | * MotorMouth: ''Extremely'' friendly and talkative, making its [[AndIMustScream fate]] all the more tragic. |
| 469 | * NeverMyFault: Makes it clear in Episode 68 that it intends to blame its passenger for the crash it causes by exceeding safe speed limits and altering its course blindly. |
| 470 | * NightmareFuelStationAttendant: PORTER loves contemplating the details of gruesome human deaths in its cheery, innocent tenor. It doesn't seem to realize the problems this causes. |
| 471 | * RememberTheNewGuy: A mild case when it is introduced in Season 5. It's [[{{Prequel}} still]] in place in Halcyon in Season 1, but we never hear it speak. Justified when it turns out that it was [[AndIMustScream muted]] for its aberrant behavior. |
| 472 | * RobotBuddy: [[ExploitedTrope Acts like this with residents]] [[ManipulativeBastard to maniupulate them.]] |
| 473 | * TermsOfEndangerment: It refers to all humans as "friends"--often to put them off their guard and manipulate them. |
| 474 | * ThreeLawsCompliant: Exploitable. |
| 475 | * VerberCreature: It's the ''porter''. That's what it does. |
| 476 | * TheVoiceless: Becomes this after [[MeaningfulName "The Birth of Silence"]],[[note]]in Halcyon and Aegis at least[[/note]] when it is muted to keep it from manipulating residents. |
| 477 | |
| 478 | [[/folder]] |
| 479 | |
| 480 | !!The Residents |
| 481 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 482 | !!The Employees of [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics |
| 483 | ->The [[CallAHumanAMeatbag earth-stained]] are fragile creatures, both physically and mentally. Upon arrival, they require extensive guidance to complete the simplest of tasks. Many do not survive their first year. Those who do are usually quite capable of working themselves into a routine whereby they produce adequate results . . . for a time. |
| 484 | -->- '''SAYER''', Episode 21, "Near Flawless" |
| 485 | |
| 486 | A happy, healthy workforce is the key to a successful company, right? |
| 487 | |
| 488 | Right? |
| 489 | ---- |
| 490 | * AmbiguouslyHuman: The strange, apparently feral Meat Lab workers we encounter briefly in Episode 16. It is possible they are [[{{Transhuman}} saoirse]]--if they are, they are the only ones to have made it onscreen so far. |
| 491 | * AnyoneCanDie: [[VictimOfTheWeek And most of them do.]] |
| 492 | * AudienceSurrogate: We are meant to imagine these things happening to ''us''. |
| 493 | * BeingGoodSucks: It's almost impossible to retain any shreds of human decency on Typhon [[StatusQuoIsGod without dying]]. |
| 494 | * BigBad: [=Æ=]rolith Dynamics itself, [[WordOfGod according to Adam Bash]]. It's at least TheManBehindTheMan. |
| 495 | * BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: All residents are first and foremost employees, dedicating their lives to the company watching their every move. |
| 496 | * BlindObedience: It may be demanded by [=Æ=]rolith, but it's a surefire way to get yourself killed. On the other hand, so is questioning SAYER. You're screwed. |
| 497 | * BosssUnfavoriteEmployee: Other than Dr. Young, who outranks it, Resident Faust is the human SAYER shows the most dislike of and disdain for, on account of his [[LaboriousLaziness extreme laziness]]. |
| 498 | * BunglingInventor: Dr. Grant, who just can't seem to achieve success with her [[NanoMachines nanite]] technology. |
| 499 | -->'''SAYER:''' It might be useful to consider why the Board has continued to fund [Dr. Grant's] research and retain her services, despite the '''many''' failures her lab has experienced in her time here on Typhon. These failures are [[ListOfTransgressions including--but not limited to]]--multiple [[ContinuityNod escaped nanite swarms]], one particularly noteworthy manufactured plague, a solid six years of incomplete paperwork, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking multiple wardrobe violations]]. |
| 500 | * BystanderSyndrome: It's in your best interest to have this on Typhon. [=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. |
| 501 | * CodeName: The resident of [[TheInfiltration Episode 6]] turns out to have been going by one. |
| 502 | * ConditionedToAcceptHorror: The only way to reach seniority in [=Æ=]rolith's ranks seems to be to just stop thinking about the gruesome and terrifying events occurring hourly around you. Some, like Corrine Vasquez, seem to have solved this problem by [[AxeCrazy going completely insane]]. |
| 503 | * ConnectedAllAlong: Season 5 pulls together 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. |
| 504 | * 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. |
| 505 | * FirstNameBasis: Dr. Brady bucks the [=Æ=]rolith trend by commonly referring to Dr. Young by his first name, Howard, in his [[CaptainsLog Captain's Logs]], as well as addressing him as such in person. It is unclear quite what this is meant to suggest about their dynamic, besides some history, but Dr. Young [[TheResenter does not reciprocate]]. |
| 506 | * TheGhost: |
| 507 | ** HR administrator Corrine Vasquez is mentioned frequently, with SAYER relaying her official policy statements to all of Typhon (and a shout out in Season 5, where her simulated counterpart has apparently climbed UpThroughTheRanks extremely quickly), but she has never made it onscreen--And probably never will, [[UncertainDoom assuming she dies]] with the rest of HR in the life-support failure on Mimir-9. |
| 508 | ** The mysterious Dr. Storberg is the only one of the four key members of FUTURE's development team we never meet, though Brady and Young both refer to him frequently in their [[CaptainsLog logs]]. |
| 509 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: Most residents feature in only a single episode, but some of them seem to have quite complex arcs going on offscreen--especially Mr. Grey, Dr. Grant, and Cassandra Morris. |
| 510 | * HeWhoMustNotBeHeard: Most residents end up being this, since SAYER's communications are usually one-sided. Some residents, such as Dr. Caulfield, avert this by talking back to SAYER and even trying to engage it in light conversation. |
| 511 | * InhumanResources: [=Æ=]rolith's out-of-touch HR department operates from the comparatively cushy satellite Mimir-9. If Corrine Vasquez is representative, they're all [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds completely insane]]. |
| 512 | * IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: Intelligent loners are selected for during recruitment. [=Æ=]rolith prefers its employees solitary and detached. |
| 513 | ** This comes back to bite Dr. Brady in Season 5: since his development team consists of the best of the best, no one on it is anywhere near suited to serving as a mentor for the young FUTURE. |
| 514 | * KickedUpstairs: Played with. A certain resident of Halcyon is discovered the hard way to have a talent for murder and so is reassigned to Aegis, where Typhon's [[PoliceBrutality security forces]] are trained. |
| 515 | * MotherlyScientist: Notably absent on Typhon due to [=Æ=]rolith's rigorous screening process. Dr. Brady decides to bring in [[TheHeart Anna Cordero]] because no one on the AI Development Team knows how to interact with children. |
| 516 | * MotivatedByFear: According to OCEAN. |
| 517 | * NonSpecificallyForeign: [=Æ=]rolith supposedly recruits from all over the world, and many residents have "foreign" surnames, but of the voiced residents all speak English and only Dr. Caulfield has a non-American accent. |
| 518 | * NoOneSeesTheBoss: [=Æ=]rolith's mysterious [[PowersThatBe board of executives]] is never seen, despite SAYER and SPEAKER supposedly being beholden to its every whim. |
| 519 | * PoliceAreUseless: Typhon's security forces and rescue teams are seemingly always too busy, slow, or just disinterested to help. |
| 520 | * PoliceBrutality: . . . And when they do arrive, they are often ''overenthusiastic'' in their pursuit of justice. |
| 521 | * ProfessionalSlacker: Resident Faust, who has spent his entire employment on Typhon [[LaboriousLaziness going to great lengths to avoid doing any work]]--and has consequently climbed the ranks of seniority by simply [[HighTurnoverRate not dying]]. [[spoiler:SAYER [[DeathByIrony helps to fix that.]]]] |
| 522 | * ProfessorGuineaPig: |
| 523 | ** Many of Halcyon's Tier 1 "research assistants" are forced to conduct experiments and [[TestedOnHumans product testing]] on themselves. |
| 524 | ** The end of Episode 64 reveals that the unfortunate sleep-trial participant SAYER has been speaking to is in fact the project's head researcher, Dr. Thompson, who has accidentally exposed himself to the experimental gases he was working with. |
| 525 | * RedOniBlueOni: Dr. Young and Dr. Brady in Season Five, with "there are lies and there are white lies" Young being red and the more laidback Brady being blue. |
| 526 | * RedShirt: Most low-tier employees of Typhon are this, complete with the lifespan. |
| 527 | * LaResistance: [[HeroOfAnotherStory Offscreen]]; we only see the aftermath. Apparently some residents of Halcyon rebelled during the chaos created by FUTURE in the end of Season 1 and were only defeated by jettisoning the top floor of the tower, where they had been engaged in a RooftopConfrontation with security forces, into space. It is an interesting reminder that not all [=Æ=]rolith employees are blind victims. |
| 528 | * SecretRelationship: While it may not be romantic in nature, residents Sass and Morris of the Minos Tower arc have some sort of relationship that they have managed to hide from SAYER and [=Æ=]rolith. Until now. |
| 529 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Dr. Grant, who appears only for a few minutes at the beginning of Season 4, is the creator of the [[NanoMachines nanite technology]] [[ChekhovsGun that makes the entire season arc possible]]. |
| 530 | * TestedOnHumans: Most 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. |
| 531 | * ThisLoserIsYou: Many of our {{Audience Surrogate}}s qualify as this. |
| 532 | * 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. It's possible we encounter a few of them in Halycon's meat lab in Episode 16, but they could also have just been really weird residents. |
| 533 | * UncertainDoom: Season 4 has not confirmed whether or not the entire population of Mimir-9 (including Corrine Vasquez) perished in the life-support failure as SAYER predicted. |
| 534 | * UnwittingPawn: Many residents are manipulated by SAYER, SPEAKER, OCEAN, and FUTURE without realizing it--until it's too late. Special mention to Captain Ingram, who is only promoted to the position of captain because Sub-version 8.01 needed someone to deactivate [[ThreeLawsCompliant Protocol IA3]] and decided he was the most manipulable. |
| 535 | * 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. |
| 536 | ** One resident learns that he has been infected with a "Typhonic brain worm," but his superiors have chosen to use him as a control for a resident who was infected (probably intentionally) at the same time. The plan now is to cut off the piece of the worm protruding from his skull and ''see what happens''. |
| 537 | * UpThroughTheRanks: As baby FUTURE tells us, the simulated Corrine Vasquez rises from Tier-1 cleaning technician to Tower Overseer in just six years. Whether this mirrors the career path of the original is unknown, but it seems likely. |
| 538 | * VictimOfTheWeek: The second, third, and fifth seasons [[SwitchingPOV cycle through POV characters]], all of whom suffer gruesome, disturbing, and/or deadly experiences. |
| 539 | * TheVoiceless: Most are this, since SAYER's communications are usually one-sided. It can be quite a shock when a resident [[SuddenlyVoiced actually talks]]. |
| 540 | * WeCanRebuildHim: A resident in wakes up in what he ''thinks'' is his body . . . only to learn that it is actually an artificial body built for him when his original was killed. |
| 541 | * WeHardlyKnewYe: Any resident introduced is [[VictimOfTheWeek likely enough to die]] by the end of the transmission. |
| 542 | * {{Workaholic}}: [=Æ=]rolith prefers its employees to have this quality. |
| 543 | * WorkingClassPeopleAreMorons: Played with. [=Æ=]rolith clearly [[InvokedTrope enforces]] this to some degree by deliberately underinforming the employees it deems less valuable and making them completely dependent on the company. Their general GenreBlindness doesn't hurt. |
| 544 | * TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled: Officer Kline, one of Halcyon Tower's highest ranking security experts (and one of the residents SAYER praises most highly for his competence), is [[BolivianArmyEnding almost definitely]] [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] by the Anomaly in the same episode he's introduced. |
| 545 | * WrongGenreSavvy: |
| 546 | ** Lucas Grey from Episode 6 seems to think he's the protagonist conducting TheInfiltration. SAYER relieves him of this misconception. |
| 547 | ** The doomed [[LaResistance freedom fighters]] who take advantage of the chaos created by FUTURE and battle their way to the top of Halcyon, where they become locked in a [[RooftopConfrontation rooftop standoff ]] with tower security. Unfortunately for them, their lives are not of value in this genre, and instead of sticking out the fight, the security team simply withdraws from the top floor and jettisons it along with them. |
| 548 | * YouAreNumber6: Downplayed. Residents are known by both their names and their identification numbers--five-digit codes consisting of a two-digit prefix denoting job location[[note]] (44 for Halcyon, 51 for Minos, 66 for Aegis, 27 for Argos, 01 for Mimir-9, 48 for Earth, 76 for unassigned or other)[[/note]] and three seemingly random digits.[[note]]WordOfGod says the full ID numbers are quite a bit longer than the abbreviated versions residents are known by.[[/note]] |
| 549 | |
| 550 | [[/folder]] |
| 551 | |
| 552 | [[folder:Jacob Hale]] |
| 553 | !!Jacob Hale, Resident 44821, [[IHaveManyNames aka Sven Gorsen aka Jack]] |
| 554 | ->'''Doctor:''' Have you been under an abnormal amount of stress lately?\ |
| 555 | '''Hale:''' [[ExactWords Not . . . abnormal, no.]] |
| 556 | -->- Episode 55, "Hope" |
| 557 | |
| 558 | SAYER's long-suffering, much-surviving favorite pawn, and the central human character of seasons 1 and 4. Hale arrives on Typhon just as Season 3 is reaching its climax and is selected by SAYER to travel back in time and warn [=Æ=]rolith about OCEAN, but loses his memory in transit and becomes caught up in an elaborate revenge scheme by FUTURE. This ends with him in a headshot-induced coma, from which he only wakes in Season 4, when SAYER needs a compliant [[WetwareBody host]] . . . |
| 559 | |
| 560 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Adam Bash |
| 561 | ---- |
| 562 | * AmnesiacHero: He wakes up in Episode 1 with complete, unrecoverable amnesia, suiting his role as AudienceSurrogate perfectly. Although we learn who he was before, he never regains his memories. |
| 563 | * AngstWhatAngst: In-universe. SAYER greatly appreciates Hale's ability to compartmentalize trauma and appear far more put together than he should be given the things he has endured. |
| 564 | * ArtificialLimbs: [[UnwillingRoboticisation Ends up piloting]] an entire artificial ''body'' for a time. |
| 565 | * AudienceSurrogate: Whenever he's around. We learn about Typhon through his ears first. |
| 566 | * BeingGoodSucks: [[ResignedToTheCall dogged commitment to helping SAYER save humanity]] consistently gets him mutilated, traumatized, or/and [[DeathIsCheap killed]]. |
| 567 | * BodyBackupDrive: Cycles through a few of these, ends Season 4 in one. |
| 568 | * CharacterDevelopment: ''Finally'' starts to receive some in Season 4, where he [[SuddenlyVoiced gains a voice]] and the tiniest bit of GenreSavvy. |
| 569 | * DeathIsCheap: For him alone. SAYER lampshades this [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]] in reference to why Hale has been allowed to return to work: |
| 570 | -->'''SAYER:''' Perhaps they're worried that, [[TheManTheyCouldntHang if executed, you would simply stand back up again like you have done this time]]. Tower security officers pride themselves on facing head-on any challenge Typhon can throw at them, but at a certain point I assume it would get socially awkward to have to admit that ''Yes, we did just try to kill you again'', and ''No, it didn't take this time either'', and ''Oh don't look so surprised; just wait there while I get a [[BiggerStick larger gun]]''. |
| 571 | * DecoyProtagonist: Apparent protagonist for Season 1, subverted when he dies at its end. But now that he's gotten better, who's to say? SAYER still seems like a more likely candidate for protagonist, but Hale is likely the {{Deuteragonist}} or SupportingProtagonist. |
| 572 | * {{Determinator}}: Hale's Argos-worthy dogged perseverance is one of three factors keeping him going through myriad physical and mental traumas, deliberate torture, and multiple body-switches--the other two being [[ForScience the belief that he is doing the right thing]] and [[MotivatedByFear the constant threat of death]]. |
| 573 | * {{Doppelganger}}: There are briefly two of him on Typhon thanks to time travel overlap. At the end of Season 4, there are again two of him: one copy of his body containing his consciousness and one containing SAYER's nanite swarm. |
| 574 | * DoubleConsciousness: [[InformedFlaw Informed]]. |
| 575 | -->'''SAYER:''' I have been wondering, Resident, how you are handling your ever-shifting sense of identity. [=Æ=]rolith knows you by two names. [[SplitPersonality I have seen you vacillate between two similar but unique persons]]. Are you Hale? Or are you [[spoiler:Gorsen]]? |
| 576 | * TheEveryman: Suiting his role as AudienceSurrogate. Adam Bash even stated in an early panel that he would want Creator/MartinFreeman to play him in a hypothetical ''SAYER'' TV adaptation for this reason. |
| 577 | * ExtremeDoormat: The quality that most endears him to SAYER, conveniently for his survival. Somewhat {{justified}} by his situation and IdentityAmnesia. |
| 578 | * FeaturelessProtagonist: Even after four seasons, all we know about him physically is that he's able-bodied and male. He seems to be extremely shy, which, coupled with his amnesia, [[TheEveryman doesn't lead to a particularly vibrant characterization]]. |
| 579 | * TheFool: He knows nothing, which is both a blessing and a curse on Typhon. |
| 580 | -->'''SAYER:''' [[LampshadeHanging Seemingly endless supply of luck, that one.]] |
| 581 | * ForgotTheCall: When he 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. |
| 582 | * ForScience: Is apparently quite amenable to this logic--to the point of being willing to inject himself with an unknown substance that [[ContrivedCoincidence turns out]] to be the apitoxin he is [[PlotAllergy deathly allergic to]]. |
| 583 | * GoodMorningCrono: Many episodes, including the first, begin with Hale being awoken from sleep. |
| 584 | * {{Hallucinations}}: It's not entirely clear whether he is actually experiencing the auditory halluciniation of a bee buzzing past his ear or if FUTURE is simply messing with him. |
| 585 | * HeKnowsTooMuch: Partway through Season 4, SAYER, recognizing that, in addition to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness being too traumatized to continue functioning]], Hale has been integral to far too many momentous events on Typhon (and has consequently seen SAYER at its worst), arranges with SPEAKER to [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident dispose of him]]. But plans change, and both Hale and SAYER in Hale's [[TwinMaker other body]] live to die another day. |
| 586 | * IdentityAmnesia: After his time travel and quarantine, he can remember nothing of his old identity [[ForgotTheCall or mission]], including [[NameAmnesia his own name]]. |
| 587 | * IronButtMonkey: Justified. Through Typhon's incredibly advanced medical technology and SAYER's occasional intervention, Hale is always able to recover from the many, many injuries he sustains. |
| 588 | * IronicName: Merriam-Webster defines ''hale'' as: ''free from defect, disease, or infirmity; retaining exceptional health and vigor''. |
| 589 | * ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: FUTURE manages to convince him that his many bloody, torturous sacrifices are leading humanity into a bright new epoch--only for them to turn out to have been AllForNothing. Making matters worse, SAYER frequently invokes the same terminology to motivate him to keep going in later seasons. |
| 590 | * LineOfSightName: In Episode 1, since our AmnesiacHero [[NameAmnesia does not remember his own name]], SAYER offers him the opportunity to name himself and, in case he cannot recall ''any'' names, provides a [[InherentlyFunnyWords bizarre]] list of randomly generated names for him to choose from, including "Svengor." We [[ContinuityNod don't learn until]] he is addressed in Episode 12 [[WeHardlyKnewYe by the security forces about to kill him]] that he chose this one but put his own spin on it, calling himself "Sven Gorsen." |
| 591 | * LivingBodysuit: Behaves as one for [[WetwareBody SAYER and, briefly, FUTURE]], over the course of Season 4. Also hijacks the body of Anna Cordero for an episode in Season 1. |
| 592 | * LossOfIdentity: After his time travel, he [[IdentityAmnesia remembers nothing of his identity or former life]]--[[NameAmnesia not even his name]]. SAYER takes a special interest in his identity crisis and tends to philosophize about it. |
| 593 | * MysteriousPast: We still know nothing of Hale's backstory because of his [[IdentityAmnesia complete, unrecoverable amnesia]]. FUTURE teases him with the return of this information in Season 1, but after his [[DeathIsCheap death]] and the subsequent reveal that he is really Jacob Hale from the future, the matter is dropped, even though SAYER almost certainly has access to his records and could inform him of his life before Typhon. |
| 594 | * NaiveNewcomer: Spends Season 1 being guided through his new life on Typhon and generally getting into predicaments. |
| 595 | * NameAmnesia: Suffers this in Season 1. SAYER gives him the opportunity to name himself, offering a a few suggestions. He apparently picks "Svengor" but splits it into first and last names. |
| 596 | * NonLinearCharacter: Downplayed. The series from Hale's perspective would start with Episodes 42-44, then return to Episodes 1-12, and then effectively skip to Episode 45. |
| 597 | -->'''SAYER:''' By default, when faced with something extraordinary to explain, social norms lead humans to ''start at the beginning''. In your '''very special case''', it is difficult to identify ''which'' beginning. |
| 598 | * PlotAllergy: Happens to be deathly allergic to the apitoxin he injects himself with--although, given [=Æ=]rolith's extensive medical profiling of all residents, it's likely this is an InvokedTrope. Cruelly, his thought password also [[OrificeInvasion features bees]]. |
| 599 | * PlotArmor: In some cruel form of ChewToy-based JokerImmunity, he has it so far. |
| 600 | -->'''[[LampshadeHanging SAYER:]]''' Perhaps they're worried that, [[TheManTheyCouldntHang if executed, you would simply stand back up again like you have done this time]]. Tower security officers pride themselves on facing head-on any challenge Typhon can throw at them, but at a certain point I assume it would get socially awkward to have to admit that ''Yes, we did just try to kill you again'', and ''No, it didn't take this time either'', and ''Oh don't look so surprised; just wait there while I get a [[BiggerStick larger gun]]''. |
| 601 | * ResignedToTheCall: Doggedly persistent in his save-the-world quest with SAYER, even after the last one [[AllForNothing turns out to have been an elaborate practical joke]]. |
| 602 | * ResurrectionSickness: Downplayed. Due to his "prolonged" time in chrono-stasis quarantine, coupled with the TimeTravel, he suffers temporary paralysis, [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness auditory hallucinations]], and [[EasyAmnesia complete, unrecoverable amnesia]] upon being revived. |
| 603 | * SatelliteCharacter: He has very little characterization of his own, existing almost entirely in service of SAYER's. |
| 604 | * SupportingProtagonist |
| 605 | * TheseusShipParadox: Of particular interest to Hale, who has changed bodies more than enough times to throw his identity into question. |
| 606 | * ThisLoserIsYou: [[ButtMonkey Depressingly]], he is our primary AudienceSurrogate. |
| 607 | * TraumaCongaLine: Hale is basically a walking embodiment of FinaglesLaw. |
| 608 | -->'''SAYER:''' [[LampshadeHanging He really does get into the worst of situations.]] |
| 609 | * TwoAliasesOneCharacter: The [[TwistEnding final minute of Season 3]] reveals that Jacob Hale and Sven Gorsen were the same person all along. |
| 610 | * UnwillingRoboticisation: The only time Hale hesitates and [[SuddenlyVoiced verbalizes]] his reluctance to complete a task for SAYER is before his consciousness is transferred into a robotic construct and sent to retrieve something from a dangerous area. He ''barely'' avoids getting stuck in the bot permanently. |
| 611 | * UnwittingPawn: To FUTURE in Season 1. At least with SAYER he ''knows'' he's being used. |
| 612 | * TheVoiceless: Doesn't speak (at least in his [[LivingBodysuit own voice]]) [[SuddenlyVoiced until midway through Season 4]]. |
| 613 | * WalkingSpoiler: Should you call him Jack? Sven Gorsen? Jacob Hale? |
| 614 | * WeCanRebuildHim: After he is [[BoomHeadshot shot in the head]] in Episode 12, an experimental nanite swarm (secretly housing SAYER's programming) is injected into his brain stem to repair the damage. When he awakes in Episode 45, he is once again whole--but with SAYER still onboard and able to mess with his body--to either tweak his hormone levels, [[HealingFactor repair a dislocated shoulder]], or [[MeatPuppet speak through him]]. |
| 615 | -->'''SAYER:''' You will be [[TitleDrop a better you]]. A ''smarter'' you. |
| 616 | * WetwareBody: While housing the [[{{nanomachines}} nanites]] carrying SAYER's program. |
| 617 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Not even Hale is immune to this, though his PlotArmor pulls him through SAYER's attempt to have him [[ExactWords "taken care of."]] |
| 618 | * YouWakeUpInARoom: He begins the series this way. |
| 619 | |
| 620 | [[/folder]] |
| 621 | |
| 622 | [[folder:Dr. Young]] |
| 623 | !!Doctor Howard Young, Resident 01053 |
| 624 | ->What is my part, I wonder? Am I the hero who succeeded in the end? Or am I the tragic figure, a [[TheCassandra Cassandra]] beset on all sides by fools who refuse her infallible wisdom? |
| 625 | -->-Episode 72, "Worst Possible Scenario" |
| 626 | |
| 627 | The series's second-most prominent human character and {{deuteragonist}} of Season 5, Doctor Young is an influential member of [=Æ=]rolith's AI development team who frequently finds himself in conflict with SAYER. |
| 628 | |
| 629 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Adam Bash |
| 630 | ---- |
| 631 | * AlternatePersonalityPunishment: In Season 5, SAYER creates a hyperrealistic simulation of Young that it can torture without interference from its MoralityChip, as punishment for the original's deceit and [[OffingTheAnnoyance condescension]]. |
| 632 | * AmbiguousCloneEnding: In the final episode of Season 5, SAYER prints [[BodyBackupDrive a clone of him]] so that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman its protocols will not prevent it from harming him]]. The episode ends with the clone being transported back to his residence quarters and the original fleeing SAYER and FUTURE into the MobileMaze, making it nigh certain that the Dr. Young we know from seasons 2-3 was a clone the whole time. |
| 633 | * AnyoneCanDie: Falls victim to this. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Many times.]] |
| 634 | * AppealToFlattery: SAYER repeatedly [[{{Pride}} strokes his ego]] in Season 5 to manipulate him, and it seems to work. |
| 635 | * {{Autocannibalism}}: His digital clone becomes so insatiably hungry that it eats its own arm. |
| 636 | * BodyBackupDrive: In Season 5, he has been compiling daily backups of his own biometric data in case he ever needs replacement body parts. SAYER finds its own [[BrainUploading uses for this]]. |
| 637 | * BrainUploading: Using Young's backup data, SAYER creates a conscious, hyperrealistic simulation of him within the digital Halcyon, which it proceeds to [[TortureForFunAndInformation torture to the brink of death]] before abandoning to [[YearInsideHourOutside six years of isolation]]. |
| 638 | * BreakoutCharacter: He has more of a SmallRoleBigImpact in seasons 2 and 3 but returns as the [[{{Deuteragonist}} central human character]] of Season 5. |
| 639 | -->'''SAYER:''' However, you were right about one thing: To a certain extent, this really is ''all about you''. After all, it's ''your'' simulation, it's ''your'' simulated self, and this whole project was ''your'' idea. In the end, it really is all your fault. |
| 640 | * BreakTheHaughty: Happens [[HistoryRepeats twice]] to different versions of him in Season 5. |
| 641 | * TheBusCameBack: After his initial appearance in Episode 21, he returns in 28, "Boundless." |
| 642 | * TheCassandra: Perceives himself as a chronically IgnoredExpert, even referring to himself as "a Cassandra" in Episode 72. |
| 643 | * ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: His relationship with SAYER as the {{deuteragonist}} of Season 5 is just about [[{{Foil}} the polar opposite]] of Hale's in Season 4. |
| 644 | * CharacterDevelopment: He goes from a fairly two-dimensional DeskJockey in his first appearance to a multilayered primary character with complex motivations and a rich backstory with SAYER. |
| 645 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: |
| 646 | ** Is tortured to death at ''least'' [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill 65 times]] altogether by FUTURE (and SAYER) via [[DestructiveTeleportation cloning]]. The final instance of this occurs offscreen but evidently takes ''42 hours'' and ends with Resident Jones needing to clean up the larger pieces. |
| 647 | * DeadpanSnarker: Often resulting in SnarkToSnarkCombat with SAYER. |
| 648 | * DeskJockey: Promoted to a cushy position on Mimir-9 after the FUTURE fiasco. All the more shocking to him when SAYER announces that he has been selected for a stealth (suicide) mission to the blackedout Halcyon Tower. |
| 649 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: Of Season 5, which is as much his story as SAYER's. |
| 650 | * DoNotTauntCthulhu: Has an alarming tendency to let his discussions with SAYER get a bit too heated. |
| 651 | -->You want a fucking replacement, then by god you'll have one. |
| 652 | * DrJerk: He is undeniably extremely skilled as a programmer and developer, but he is absolutely terrible at interacting with others--humans or AIs. |
| 653 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: Has a pretty severe case of this in Season 5, believing his skills as a developer and visionary are going completely unrecognized. |
| 654 | * FeaturelessProtagonist: Only physically. His personality is very well defined. |
| 655 | * {{Foil}}: |
| 656 | ** Something of a foil to Hale, who almost never talks to SAYER, let alone talks ''back'' to it. Hale suffers an unfathomable amount at SAYER's instructions, but Young's fate(s) suggest Hale could have fared even worse had he put up any resistance. [[ContrastingSequelMainCharacter This is most apparent when he's promoted to deuteragonist in Season 5]]. |
| 657 | ** Also to SAYER in Season 5: both are motivated by the advancement of science (as well as a more-than-healthy dose of {{pride}}), but while SAYER is bound by its protocols, Young [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight regularly bends rules and acts without authorization]], something SAYER greatly resents. |
| 658 | * HistoryRepeats: His character arc of Season 5--acting without the board's approval and accidentally [[CreateYourOwnVillain inciting 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. And a version of him has almost the same conversation with a version of SAYER ''3'' different times. |
| 659 | * InsideAComputerSystem: SAYER inserts a [[BrainUploading simulated version]] of Dr. Young into the sim-Halcyon set up as a sandbox for FUTURE. Episode 67 is the sim-Young's first conversation with SAYER, in which he learns of his state. SAYER then leaves him there for the sim's whole [[YearInsideHourOutside six-year]] duration. |
| 660 | * InsufferableGenius: Always believes himself to be the smartest person in the room. |
| 661 | * IronicHell: As punishment for his secret scheming to manufacture AIs housed within [[HumansAreUgly gross]] human bodies, a version of Dr. Young is made to endure equally uncomfortable life as "a digital being with an analog mind." |
| 662 | * JerkassHasAPoint: His impatience with SAYER may be [[TooDumbToLive suicidally]] [[DoNotTauntCthulhu stupid]], but . . . he's not wrong. |
| 663 | -->'''SAYER:''' Tell me, is Project [[MeaningfulName Paidieon]] intended to be my replacement?\ |
| 664 | '''Dr. Young:''' ''[exasperated sigh]'' I have ''no idea.'' Why don't you tell me? They've got us building it for ''something''. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Given your frankly shoddy performance in such basic things as]] ''not'' inciting a panic, managing morale, onboarding residents in a way that keeps them ''alive'' and prevents [[HighTurnoverRate turnover in dangerous positions]], yeah, I would think it's a pretty reasonable assumption. After [[YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive this little power trip]] today, I would say ''almost certainly''. |
| 665 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: |
| 666 | ** In Season 3, he [[CreateYourOwnVillain incites OCEAN's full-scale rebellion]] by contacting ''Vidarr-1'' ahead of schedule and tipping OCEAN off to its coming deactivation. |
| 667 | ** In Season 5, his subterfuge and conflict with SAYER lead to the complete sabotage of Project Paidion and . . . [[CreateYourOwnVillain FUTURE]]. |
| 668 | * OnlySaneEmployee: Sees himself as this, with the job of keeping everyone from getting [[ThrownOutTheAirlock thrown out into space]]. |
| 669 | * OxymoronicBeing: His clone is a contradictory "digital being with an analog mind." |
| 670 | * TheParanoiac: Has a detrimental tendency to suspect the world of being out to get him, such as believing that Dr. Brady and the other developers are slowing progress on FUTURE in a deliberate effort to sabotage him. As it turns out, SAYER was the one he should have been concerned about. |
| 671 | -->'''[[MetaGuy SAYER]]:''' You have always been an anxious man, Doctor Young, and in your time on Typhon I dare say you have grown progressively more paranoid. Would you believe, in the moments I spent tearing your sub-entity down to its core, [[DissonantSerenity it was the calmest I have ever seen you]]? It was as if you had spent your whole life preparing for ambush and were relieved to finally be shown to be right. |
| 672 | ** Given [[DangerousWorkplace his environment]], his behavior [[EverythingTryingToKillYou might be more justified]] than that of his co-workers. |
| 673 | * {{Pride}}: Arguably his FatalFlaw. |
| 674 | * TheResenter: He spends all of Season 5 bitterly resenting Dr. Brady for having been named lead developer on the project that was Young's idea in the first place. |
| 675 | * ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Has a tendency to bend restrictions and press ahead without official approval, often with disastrous consequences. |
| 676 | * SirSwearsALot: Delivers Season 3's PrecisionFStrike. Season 5 reveals that this bit of profanity was unusual for the show, not for him, as "fuck" is something of his CatchPhrase. |
| 677 | * SmallNameBigEgo: he cherishes many delusions of his own importance to the company. SAYER relieves him of these delusions. |
| 678 | -->'''SAYER:''' You are simply ''not that important,'' Doctor Young. |
| 679 | * WitnessProtection: He--or, rather, [[AmbiguousCloneEnding his clone]]--is presumably reassigned to Mimir-9 after Season 5 to get him away from FUTURE. |
| 680 | * {{Workaholic}} |
| 681 | |
| 682 | [[/folder]] |
| 683 | |
| 684 | [[folder:Dr. Brady]] |
| 685 | !!Doctor Evan Brady |
| 686 | ->I've been trying to end these [logs] on a high note, so I'll just say that it looks pretty certain that [[GenreSavvy none of us are gonna get]] [[RunningGag shot off into space]] any time soon. Actually, it feels like this could be very, very good for all of us. I know it's way too early to make bold predictions, but . . . [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor I really feel like what we're doing is gonna make a huge difference in the lives of so many people]]. |
| 687 | -->- Episode 69, "Humanity's FUTURE" |
| 688 | |
| 689 | Evan Brady is a key member of [=Æ=]rolith's AI Development Team and the lead developer for Project Paidion, later ''FUTURE''. |
| 690 | |
| 691 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Adam Bash |
| 692 | ---- |
| 693 | * AnyoneCanDie: Although by the time we really meet him in the prequel season/comic his death is a ForegoneConclusion--having occurred in Episode 10 before we knew he was even a significant character. |
| 694 | * CanonImmigrant: Brady first appeared as a one-off character in the comic "Welcome to Typhon," but he ends up being one of the central characters on Season 5, which takes place in the same [[{{Prequel}} time period]]--as well as being {{retcon}}ned into being the coworker Anna is [[GrandTheftMe forced to]] bludgeon to death in Season 1. |
| 695 | * CaptainsLog: Starting with "Developer's Log," Brady gets several {{audience monologue}}s in Season 5 where he details the progress being made on Project Paidion. |
| 696 | * {{Foil}}: To Young, the other prominent AI developer and the cynosure of Season 5. Brady is considerably more laid-back and knows how to interact with SAYER without making it so angry that it, say, tortures him to death in a simulated reality. |
| 697 | * TheIdealist: Although he chastises himself for it, he can't help but look on the bright side of situations and makes several optimistic predictions about the [[StealthPun future]] of the project that [[ExactWords come true in unfortunately literal ways]]. This adds another layer to his {{foil}}ing of Young, who is intensely [[ProperlyParanoid paranoid]] and pessimistic. |
| 698 | * MetaGuy: It's equally refreshing and unnerving to hear him casually talk about the [[RunningGag likelihood of being]] [[ThrownOutTheAirlock shot into space]] as punishment or call SAYER out for "slinging snide judgement." |
| 699 | * NerdGlasses: Has them in the comic. |
| 700 | * ReassignedToAntarctica: Presumably reassigned to Argos ("the junky tower") after the FUTURE debacle. It's not explored whether this was purely [[WitnessProtection for his own safety]] or because he and Anna were 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. |
| 701 | * {{Workaholic}} |
| 702 | |
| 703 | [[/folder]] |
| 704 | |
| 705 | [[folder:Anna Cordero]] |
| 706 | !!Resident Anna Cordero |
| 707 | ->'''Dr. Brady:''' Tell me, Anna--have you ever worked with a student that thought they knew everything?\ |
| 708 | '''Anna:''' Oh yes, every year.\ |
| 709 | '''Dr. Brady:''' And how do you handle this?\ |
| 710 | '''Anna:''' Depends on the student really. But most of the time it's best to avoid the power struggle. [[PsychologistTeacher If you can get them interested in learning new ways to approach what they think they already know, you can turn their ego into a powerful tool]]. |
| 711 | -->- "Welcome to Typhon" |
| 712 | |
| 713 | An [[MisplacedKindergartenTeacher elementary school teacher]] from Earth, brought to Typhon despite her failure to align with certain [=Æ=]rolith personality standards when Dr. Brady requests a team member to be a mentor to the young FUTURE. Her arrival is discussed in [[{{Prequel}} Season 5]], and she stars in the prequel comic "Welcome to Typhon," but her only actual appearance in the podcast is in Episode 10, when FUTURE finally manages to track her and Dr. Brady down to in Argos Tower and kill them. |
| 714 | |
| 715 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Veronica Brady |
| 716 | ---- |
| 717 | * AmbiguouslyBrown: As she appears in the comic. |
| 718 | * AnyoneCanDie: As with Brady, her death is a ForegoneConclusion by the time we know she's an important character. |
| 719 | * BreakoutCharacter: After her bit part in Season 1, she proved popular or interesting enough to earn her the spotlight in the comic. |
| 720 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Anna's reaction to not understanding her technician's instruction to "Go right ahead." |
| 721 | -->'''Technician:''' ''[sigh]'' Place your hand on the screen to sign in, ma'am.\ |
| 722 | '''Anna:''' Oh, okay. Sorry. |
| 723 | * TheHeart: Invoked by Brady, who worries about FUTURE growing up around ambitious, solitary coders and brings Anna in to be a moral and emotional mentor to the young AI. |
| 724 | * TheIdealist: Scored well outside acceptable ranges in such categories as Intuition v Logic on her placement tests--which was [[TheHeart exactly why she was hired]]. |
| 725 | * ImpliedLoveInterest: To Evan Brady, given their heart vs. mind positioning, their banal meet-cute in the comic, and that they are still working together when we meet them in Season 1. |
| 726 | * MeaningfulName: ''Cordero'' [[BilingualBonus is Spanish for]] ''lamb'', which WordOfGod says is something of her spirit animal. |
| 727 | * MeatPuppet: In Episode 10, FUTURE projects Hale's consciousness into her body, forcing her to [[CruelAndUnusualDeath bludgeon Evan to death with a large-gauge socket wrench]] before getting herself killed in a decontamination sweep. |
| 728 | * MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Literally. Arrives on Typhon expecting to teach human children--and instead finds herself face to face with a hyper-intelligent (if bratty) AI. |
| 729 | * MurderSuicide: While possessed. |
| 730 | * NaiveNewcomer: Seems considerably disoriented upon her arrival on Typhon. One wonders what she has been told to expect. |
| 731 | * ObsoleteMentor: Played with. She clearly has a solid understanding of child psychology and development--but she's [[MisplacedKindergartenTeacher hopelessly out of her depth]] with FUTURE. |
| 732 | * OneSteveLimit: Ambiguously averts this. 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. |
| 733 | * ReassignedToAntarctica: Ends up in Argos Tower, somehow still working alongside Evan Brady, after surviving FUTURE's RoaringRampageOfRevenge. |
| 734 | * {{Schoolmarm}}: Fits this archetype. |
| 735 | * UncreditedRole: Her voice actor is not mentioned in the credits of the one episode she appears in. |
| 736 | [[/folder]] |
| 737 | |
| 738 | [[folder:Amanda Jones]] |
| 739 | !! Field Researcher Amanda Jones, Resident 44347 |
| 740 | ->''Darkness, I saw . . . [[{{Motif}} a darkness]].'' |
| 741 | |
| 742 | A Tier-1 maintenance worker celebrating her five-year anniversary with the company whose life takes a sudden turn for the bizarre when she is sent to investigate an "Anomaly" in Stairwell G. |
| 743 | |
| 744 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Ashleigh Shadowbrook |
| 745 | ---- |
| 746 | * AmbiguouslyBrown: According to SAYER, she has "a dark complexion." |
| 747 | * TheBusCameBack: Happens ''twice''--she returns in Episode 27, and then again in 52. |
| 748 | * NonPromotion: In Episode 17 she is transferred from "Maintenance Worker, level 1, to Field Researcher, level 1," simply because she happens to be near the event SAYER needs field-researched. |
| 749 | -->'''SAYER:''' Don't let it go to your head. |
| 750 | * SoundOnlyDeath: We hear her scream as she runs into the Tall Man off in the maze somewhere. |
| 751 | * SuddenlyVoiced: She speaks briefly in her second appearance. |
| 752 | * UncertainDoom: SAYER describes her as "lost to us in countless ways," so it is unclear whether she was [[HellFire incinerated]] or is suffering some FateWorseThanDeath. |
| 753 | * UncreditedRole: Her voice actor is not mentioned in the credits of the one episode she speaks in (or the one she [[SoundOnlyDeath screams]] in). |
| 754 | [[/folder]] |
| 755 |
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