Quotes / System Shock 2

Soldier, your application to join the crew of the Rickenbacker has been approved. Report to shuttle Mayfair at port Francisco at 0400 on 01-09-14. Get ready to become part of history, soldier.

— Captain William Bedford Diego

Forget about land grants, forget about media, forget about patents. What we've found on Tau Ceti will change everything. I've instructed the Von Braun to change course and return to Earth. Captain Diego is in complete accord with this decision. I know that you are skeptical by nature, Miri, but I know once you embrace our discovery you and the entire board will come over to our way of thinking.

— Anatoly Korenchkin

Glory to the Many. I am a voice in their choir.

— Anatoly Korenchkin

It does not stop at a mere single mutation. The form I have been promised is more beautiful than even that. They told me I will float through the air and strike at the foes of our biomass with my mind! With OUR mind, MY CUP RUNNETH OVER!

— Captain William Bedford Diego

You're on board the starship Von Braun and something has gone very, very wrong.

— Dr. Janice Polito

This is Xerxes. Can you not feel the glory of the flesh? Do you not yearn to be free of the tyranny of the individual?

— XERXES

Strange bedfellows, eh?

— Dr. Marie Delacroix

Who should I trust less? An impostor claiming to be that monster, or the monster herself?

— Dr. Marie Delacroix

My duty is to the UNN and to this ship. But can I resist the call of the Many? My father's weakness brought SHODAN into existence. My weakness has invited these - things aboard the Von Braun. ...Can I undo the wrong I have done?

— Captain William Bedford Diego

I am a soldier and a simple man. I cannot explain what has happened to me or this mission. I take complete responsibility. I've brought danger to my ship, to my crew, to my honor. I cannot resist the changes that are happening to me. The call of the Many is seductive. They got Korenchkin, but that bastard is weak. I am not weak. I can resist this cancer... and if I cannot, I will remove it. Forcibly. God save the UNN.

— Captain William Bedford Diego

Do you not trust the feelings of the flesh? Our biology yearns to join with yours, we welcome you to our mass. But you puzzle us. Why do you serve our Mother? How can you choose cold metal over the splendor of flesh? You fear us... we hear your thoughts, and they rage for your brothers you believe dead. But they are not. They sing in our symphony of life. We offer another chance to join us. If you choose to lie down with the Machine, we will rend you apart, and put you separate from the joy of the mass.

— The Many

What is a drop of rain, compared to the storm? What is a thought, compared to a mind? Our unity is full of wonder, which your tiny individualism... cannot even conceive.

— The Many

We do not know death... only change. We cannot kill each other without killing ourselves. Is your vision... so small... that you cannot see the value in our way?

— The Many

The individual is obsolete. When you and your kind are extinct, we will cleanse our collective memory of the stain of your existence.

— The Many

We are Many, and you... are one. How can you hope to prevail against us?

— The Many

You seek your associates, but you cannot find them. You are so very alone. How does it feel to be one, against... the infinite?

— The Many

Mistrust is the tyranny of the individual. Your own kind sees you as a threat. Why do you murder our unity? No matter... The line is drawn. You will cease to be. It is just a question of who will bring your end. Us...or you?

— The Many

With only a few short years of evolution, they've been able to conquer this starship, mankind's mightiest creation. Where were we after forty years of evolution? What swamp were we swimming around in, single celled and mindless? What if SHODAN's creations are superior to us? What will they become in a million years, in ten million years? What's clear is that SHODAN shouldn't be allowed to play God. She's far too good at it.

— Prefontaine

The Polito form is dead, insect. Are you afraid? What is it you fear? The end of your trivial existence? When-Wh-Wh-Wh-When-When the history of my glory is written, your species shall only be a footnote to my magnificence......^.$#.^$*.~!&$@!*^%#%(,;*&^%^&* I AM SHODAN.

— SHODAN, System Shock 2

Nah.

— Soldier G65434-2

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