I was poking around the Marathon story page, and I ran into this again. Which reminded me that I still have no -blam!- clue what's up with the whole Hanger 96 story. Anyone have any ideas?
[quote][url=http://marathon.bungie.org/Story/]Seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses float inconspicuously around the inside of hangar ninety six. I say that they are inconspicuous because it is their arms and legs which demand my attention. I did this, or I could have stopped it. Which is it? It doesn't matter now. I did this and could have stopped it, but nothing in nature ever follows a gaussian curve. Sure, they'll tell you that it does. They say that every five minutes someone dies in a car accident, but how often are there seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses in one hangar?[/url][/quote]By the way, this is freaking awesome: "You might also want to spend a few seconds thinking about explosions and small spaces."
[Edited on 09.08.2007 3:17 AM PDT]
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] un gato Wow. I get the impression that you've told this to other people before, Sardonic.[/quote]Thanks, I'm just a fan who enjoys delving deep into the complex universes that Bungie creates. Admittedly, I'm more knowledgeable of Myth than Marathon. [quote]That still doesn't take into account several things, though: what about the sword he carries? Is that a reference to Durandal, as Durandal is generally the one telling him to kill? Why men in suits, specifically? The enemies he has killed are pretty varied, but representing them as men in suits makes the quite monotone.[/quote]In an attempt to remain as brief as possible, I focused solely on the terms that dealt specifically with Hangar 96. However, the third piece of the Hangar 96 story does reference the other story found in Infinity's dream terminals; namely the story of the knife, black-suited men, and durability. This means that the two stories are likely connected and I do believe that both stories are told from the point of view of the SO. In my first post, I really only scratched the surface of Infinity's dream levels. I could put a hypothesis together concerning the rest of the dream terminals, but it could take a while. The best place to learn even more about these and other Marathon levels from people who have spent far more time thinking about it than me is the [url=http://marathon.bungie.org/story/volunteersseries.html][u]Volunteers page[/u][/url] of the Marathon Story Page. It was only after reading that page that I really started to understand the events of Marathon Infinity. Edit: By the way, great thread. The Underground has been lacking good Old School story topics lately. [Edited on 09.09.2007 8:31 PM PDT]
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Wow. I get the impression that you've told this to other people before, Sardonic. That still doesn't take into account several things, though: what about the sword he carries? Is that a reference to Durandal, as Durandal is generally the one telling him to kill? Why men in suits, specifically? The enemies he has killed are pretty varied, but representing them as men in suits makes the quite monotone. I'm inclined to believe that you're right anyway. Too much of it makes sense.
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what is up with the face masks. some of them look gangsta cool and others look horrible. in my opinion they should have had one where it is just a thin line of glass instead of the whole head.
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The story of Hangar 96 is not a side story. Rather is it a relevant and important piece which adds to the complexity of Marathon: Infinity. Hangar 96's story is told in three pieces, one being found on each of the dream levels in Infinity. In order to try to understand it, it is necessary to examine the entire context of the dream levels and their place in the game relative to the non-dream levels. I still have not been able to wrap my brain around all of the details, but will try to describe my general idea of the purpose of Hangar 96. First, here are the three terms that tell the story of Hangar 96: [quote][quote][b]From [i]Where are monsters in dreams[/i][/b] Seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses float inconspicuously around the inside of hangar ninety six. I say that they are inconspicuous because it is their arms and legs which demand my attention. I did this, or I could have stopped it. Which is it? It doesn't matter now. I did this and could have stopped it, but nothing in nature ever follows a gaussian curve. Sure, they'll tell you that it does. They say that every five minutes someone dies in a car accident, but how often are there seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses in one hangar?[/quote] [quote][b]From [i]Whatever You Please[/i][/b] I'm back in the hangar again, but now they are all screaming at me. Their arms and legs are no longer attacting my attention. It wouldn't be so bad if they were talking, but they aren't. They could talk, too. They aren't screaming in pain, but in protest. They don't miss their arms or their legs. They all agree on one thing, they won't give me the satisfaction of hearing them talk, and I'll never forget their screaming, pointless and wordless, without justification. (I did this and could have stopped it.)[/quote] [quote][b]From [i]Eat the Path[/i][/b] I'm getting sick of coming back to hangar ninety six, but there is no avoiding it. This is what my existence needs. My existence is the demise of many others' arms and legs. The world is not a good place, nor is there innocence for me to hide in. Seven hundred and sixty one pairs of eyes look around the room aimlessly, and mine join the crowd. I see these bodies, massacred, immobile. For all the carnage here, the stench of decay is non-existent. I try to turn away. The hangar spins but nothing moves, and my view is the same. I look, but don't see any sanitation workers, for that matter, I haven't seen the guys in suits since they dissapeared from my hallway.[/quote][/quote] Marathon Infinity is a game that takes place across various realities which are different versions of the events of Marathon 2. The security officer (i.e. Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg and from here on denoted as the SO) traverses these different realities trying to stop the Pfhor from using their Early Nova and releasing the W'rkncacnter that is trapped in Lh'owon's sun. After failing to stop the release of the W'rkncacnter in one reality, the SO is transfered to another reality to try again. This process continues until the SO is successful. The act of jumping from one reality to the next always involves a different version of [i]Electric Sheep[/i] followed by a dream level. It seems likely that the surreal dream levels are just that; dreams. This means that they take place not in a physical place in the Marathon universe, but inside of the SO's sub conscience. This implies that the entity "speaking" in the terminals found on the dream levels is the SO himself. As we all know, the SO is a Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg. The purpose of his existence is battle. Whether he is following the orders of Leela, Durandal, humans, Tycho, the Pfhor, or even possibly the Jjaro, he is always fighting and killing. Constantly thrown into hopeless battles, he continually excels through his unparalleled skills of death and destruction. However, as one who survives only through his ability to kill others, his mind is constantly torn between his will to persevere and the knowledge that his actions caused countless deaths. The 761 corpses represent all of the beings that he has killed or have died because of his actions. Whether they are enemies he killed or friends that he was not able to save is irrelevant. The phrase "I did this and could have stopped it" illustrates the guilt the SO feels due to his violent existence. Like any soldier in war, he is forced to become a beast to survive and achieve victory, but is haunted by guilt because of his actions. As early as the first Marathon game, Durandal taunts the SO, encouraging him to fight and complimenting him on his ability to destroy. Here are some examples: [quote][quote][b]From Habe Quiddam[/b] Strive for your next breath. Believe that with it you can do more than with the last one. Use your breath to power your capacities: capacity to kill, to maim, to destroy. And just where do your capacities come from? Why do you always go where I want and do what I say? Perhaps you're just running a fool's errand, doing everything as I've planned, never able to change your course. You would do well to believe that I know the outcome of your battle with the Pfhor already, just as I can decipher the chaotic motion of gas molecules in the clouds of Tau Ceti IV. Or, perhaps, that is not the case. Perhaps, you are doing what you were meant to do. Your human mentality screams for vengeance and thrives on the violence that you say you can hardly endure. Your father told you as a child to always fight with honor, but to always fight. Do you care about honor, or do you use honor as an excuse? An excuse to exist in a violent world. Organic beings are constantly fighting for life. Every breath, every motion brings you one instant closer to your death. With that kind of heritage and destiny, how can you deny yourself? How can you expect yourself to give up violence? It is your nature. Do you feel free?[/quote] and [quote]You should go to this location and retrieve a device that the S'pht have provided for us. It will allow you to slay more Pfhor. Does that make you happy?[/quote] [quote][b]From No Artificial Colors[/b] I am sending you back to the Alien ship to try and rescue Bernhard, but while you're there, kill everything you see and gather as much visual information as possible. At least the killing part appeals to you, doesn't it?[/quote] [quote][b]From Beware of Low Flying Defense Drones[/b] You are really good at killing things. I'm impressed. Why don't you kill everything in this area and get some more ammunition?[/quote] [quote][b]From Nuke and Pave[/b] What fun to watch you work. Berhnard was scared of you. He never dreamed of using you the way that I do.[/quote][/quote]The SO remembers Durandal's remarks and wonders if, because of his actions, he has truly become a beast, rather than a man. The Hangar 96 story represents the culmination of the psychological struggle in the SO's mind between his will to fight, survive, and protect others and the remorse he feels because of all of the death and destruction he has caused. At least that is how I interpret it. Also, as a side note, the picture that goes along with all of the Hangar 96 terminals is actually a screen shot of a secret Marathon Infinity netmap called Hats Off to Eight Nineteen that was hidden in Marathon Infinity. Its story can be found [url=http://marathon.bungie.org/story/hangar96.html][u]here[/u][/url].
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Or cheat and use the website I linked to. Your choice.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Chibi 27 I havent beaten Infinity, and expect thats where Tychos rant is. anyone willing to fill me in on it?[/quote]No. Finish it yourself.
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I havent beaten Infinity, and expect thats where Tychos rant is. anyone willing to fill me in on it? [Edited on 09.08.2007 5:02 PM PDT]
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Marathon: side stories galore! I personally like Tycho's final rant. If Marathon were ever made into a movie, that would be the single most famous quote in history.