It's not a question about you being a cyborg or not. Durandal is speaking to you in the final quantum moment before the collapse of the universe. You are, somehow, still there. Both you and Durandal-Thoth exist in that final moment, and, I am quite sure you both must be beings of pure thought at this point given the nature of the Big Crunch. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. Through the course of the three games, you've defied all odds, survived more potential deaths than any man has the right to, and then, to top it all off, you have skipped through a number of timelines, ultimately preventing the destruction of reality as we know it.
And if that weren't enough, you may very well have previously saved the world from such a fate way back in 1993. Things seem familiar to you... as thought from a dream...
Remember the Kill Your Television terminal from M2? It's heavily metaphoric, but discusses the player as being analogous to Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, and other heroes of legend. And this is what Infinity takes as fact. That the Security Officer IS a hero of legend, but not just any hero, the final and ultimate hero. You represent something greater than the other heroes of the past. You surpass any and all things: you are destiny.
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I always interpreted it as if Durandal-Thoth was describing the Security Officer as something beyond his understanding; a force of the universe as potent as gravity or nuclear force. The idea that he, the Cyborg, is destiny is mirrored in the structure of Marathon's levels; the story winds around the Cyborg, your actions determining the way the universe is. The Universe reacts to HIM, rather than the other way round. Marathon: Infinity particularly re-inforces this idea; the choices you make in the game affect the order of the levels. But ultimately, no matter how many times the Cyborg fails, he always eventually succeeds in forming whatever reality he is trying to create; he really IS destiny. He determines space and time. Some would say this makes him God.... Keep in mind the meta-fiction of Marathon constantly also hints at you being a greater existence, i.e YOU, the player playing the game. Something which the characters of Marathon cannot comprehend, not even Durandal; that the Cyborg operates from a plane of existence (the real world, where you are playing the game) that is beyond theirs and is determining the events of their universe.
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[quote]Both you and Durandal-Thoth exist in that final moment, and, I am quite sure you both must be beings of pure thought at this point given the nature of the Big Crunch.[/quote] Ok, I realise this has absolutely nothing to do with what was a really well written post, but "The Big Crunch" is all but a discredited theory. As you may have heard, the expansion of the universe is increasing in speed, as energy overpowers the force of gravity. The closest thing I've heard of to the universe ending is that one of the laws of matter is that it's all slowly breaking down into energy. Though I suppose a literal destruction of the universe is possible, as at the start of the universe several dimensions (at least 6) curled up into a ball less than an atom in size. So, we know that the fabric of the universe can be horribly warped. Anyway... sooo, yeah. Thx for making a completely inconsequential scientific error so that I could go on a tangent about it that had nothing to do with this topic in the first place and then procede to lampshade my actions.
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In 1994, when Marathon was originally made, The Big Crunch was the accepted theory at the time. When Infinity came out, it was a waning idea, but the collapse of the universe had already been established as a coming event prior to the final game.
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Oh, it's specifically stated to be the big crunch?
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Yes, as far back as the original Marathon. "Time is limited. For you, it is limited by the breakdown of the neurons in your brain. I have no such limitations. I am limited only by the closure of the universe." --Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap (Terminal 3)
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Edited by asoulliard: 2/5/2013 6:47:11 PMEDIT: Apparently I can't reply to the proper message. EDIT 2: Or, I can, and threading doesn't follow the same rules here as everywhere else. *sigh* I miss the old forums.
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In the marathon universe, the galaxy is collapsing. This might be because it was made in the 1990s or simply because its more dramatic.