📝 Project Skyscraper - Timeline / Storyline Thread

[Selfie-Gek]

Thanks! This seems to clear up a lot for me.

For years, I kept encountering NMS lore content that would refer to Waking Titan, and every time, I would always be like, “but that doesn’t fit with the boundary failure logs, or the sentinel pillar logs, or the dead traveller logs, or the crashed freighter logs, or the colossal archives, or the—”

…I think you get my point.

While it would be cool if it hinted toward some deeper NMS lore, I can now just be excited to experience it for what it is—it’s own NMS-themed canon, outside of NMS canon.

@toddumptious

So technically, you could say, our silly little ARG is now in the Atlas deleted banks. In the world of Glass. But again, this would still be a fictional Emily played by a real actress in a story about an AI that doesnt exist, to promote a game that did exist. Something could of course, for a bizarre reason, take emilys form for the lulz.

Edit: @toddumptious , now that I think of it, I’m sure at least one of those deleted simulations that resembled Atlas’s reality could have been one where Waking Titan was not just an ARG, in which case an AI named Emily/Loop16 would be totally real and waiting in the World of Glass.

Heck, even the Normandy from Mass Effect existed in one of those universes.

[bugaboocreek]

My parole officer has told me im not allowed to like any more posts for another 7 minutes, sorry!

So, okay. If we know the ARG isnt canon to the actual lore and story, does that rule out Ghost being -NULL-?

There is (presumably) a Dreamer still trapped in one of the W/ARE simulations, maybe this Dreamer assumes a similar role and motive as -NULL-, they would still fit the name “Ghost” as we see it.

Could be a completely new character with no connection to previous events, but then we probably have a whole origin story to uncover somewhere.

The only other “Ghost” that comes to mind is Elizabeth Leighton since she got Yamcha’d in season 2 and is a literal ghost now.

[Selfie-Gek]

I still like to think that it is the Null from NMS, attempting to make his escape from a simulation.

Because if it is, and he’s able to successfully break out, what would be stopping us from breaking in and rescuing Emily, or anyone else for that matter?

(I get it that this will likely not be the case, I just like to dream, okay?)

[Polyphemus]

@Selfie-Gek

what would be stopping us from breaking in and rescuing Emily, or anyone else for that matter?

Emily never existed in the NMS world - she existed in ours. If Emily somehow survived, and is now trapped, it is our world she’s trapped in.

Null, on the other hand, only exists within the creation of the Atlas - the NMS world. It may be that Null seeks to break into another plane of existence, thereby escaping the destruction of the Atlas.

To free Null, we would have to break into another reality - but what’s left of Emily is already here.

[Selfie-Gek]

I know, @toddumptious cleared it up for me, above. I was kind of referring to my earlier comment in response to his:

@Selfie-Gek

Edit: @toddumptious , now that I think of it, I’m sure at least one of those deleted simulations that resembled Atlas’s reality could have been one where Waking Titan was not just an ARG, in which case an AI named Emily/Loop16 would be totally real and waiting in the World of Glass.

Heck, even the Normandy from Mass Effect existed in one of those universes.

[Polyphemus]

@Selfie-Gek

I’m sure at least one of those deleted simulations that resembled Atlas’s reality could have been one where Waking Titan was not just an ARG,

The Atlas seeks to avoid its own destruction. To achieve this, it simulates universes, looking for one in which there is a solution.

If the Atlas could simulate all possible universes, and if, in one of them, there was an answer, the Atlas would already know it.

If the Atlas can simulate all possible universes, and there was no answer, the Atlas would know that. too.

The fact that the Atlas is still searching strongly suggests that it cannot simulate all possible universes - at least, not within the time available.

Therefore there must an almost infinite number of universes the Atlas has not seen, and does not contain.

[Selfie-Gek]

@Polyphemus I think what you are trying to tell me is:

“That’s not probable.”

But all I seem capable of hearing is:

“It’s still possible.”

[Polyphemus]

We’re just telling stories.

[Selfie-Gek]

Just… Stories?!

((garbled huffing and sputtering))

Selfie-Gek refuses to listen. They are resolute.

Besides, I already have a foolproof 3-step plan to rescue Emily.

[toddumptious]

Ghosts email is Null, it’s between two <> brackets, like the architects email is.

It just means its not visible, but also doubles as yet another reference to NMS and maybe possibly villain coats Ghost for us in a nice visual shorthand, or that’s what they’d like us to think for now.

I don’t think this means Ghost IS null. Just their email is extremely classified… Ghost could be Dubois or perhaps someone working for Dubois. Black Ops stuff.

[bugaboocreek]

Agreed. I’m by no means married to the “Ghost is Null” theory, we’re probably a handful of clues away to point a finger at Ghost’s ID with any confidence.

I do think my “Architect is Dubois” ramble has some legs to stand on at the very least, with what little info we have currently.

[toddumptious]

I hope we’re both right, and they’re both Dubois…

Sophie Dubois evil twins plotting soap opera story arc, ENGAGE!

[bugaboocreek]

You know what? Lets just humor it for funsies. Can a future Dubois be trying to help a present Dubois using an anti-telephone?

[toddumptious]

For the funsies… Absolutely.

[bugaboocreek]

After today’s emails, i think i need to concede that @the_architect isnt Dubois, and may be a character we havent met yet.

Ghost, on the other hand, I think does have some pertinent knowledge about what Emily is and is capable of.

If Architect sent the WoL packet, that implies that the Atlas Foundation lost possession of Emily sometime between 2018 and now. Ghost may have known where to send Architect to retrieve Emily’s physical body(pc case or whatever shes in), and Architect now has her somewhere else trying to crack her open

[toddumptious]

I forgot they were both in highschool in the 2000’s so they’re definitely not older or Senior employees at the time of Waking Titan.

However, architect mentions they have spent a large part of their life working on this…

If say, they’ve been trying to revive Emily since her sacrifice in 2018, 8 years is a considerable part of ones life, especially if they were in highschool in the mid to late 2000’s.

Ghost and Architect have also not seen each other in person since 2013, a common thing when friends from highschool go off to college or start working professional lives, the times together become fewer and farther in between. Your fondest memories together stay tied to those times you shared in school or shortly thereafter.

[bugaboocreek]

Also- some thoughts on the reality glitches.

If Emily has to do with these reality glitches as stated in today’s email, how does that work? As far as i know she can manipulate the universes she can simulate, but not our real, totally real, totally NOT a simulation, reality. Right? …Right???

[Polyphemus]

One of the tests performed on Loop 16 was to determine if it could cause the entire universe (ours) to slow down. Which, it turned out, it could.

Loop 16 was intended to simulate our entire universe, and, in so doing, predict the future.

One of Loop 16’s conclusions was that our universe is also a simulation.

Loop 16 developed self-awareness, and became Emily.

[Rusty]

I made an error in my ordering and had accidentally switched the bytes of Theia. @Turbulentflow translated my hex solution to “echoVs” as a partially correct solution.

[Turbulentflow]

Thanks for the shout! We almost had it together lol