cosmicnut on 24/9/2007 at 10:27
I think after the midwives they didn't want to get into the "How big do I make the boobs?" discussion again :laff:
Ahkaskar on 24/9/2007 at 12:24
Far as I've understood, those that changed the fastest (Korenchkin, for example) willingly submitted. However, later, they find a way to infest the dead. Either it was a log or it may be the email you get from Shodan aboard the Rickenbacker that I heard that in. Whatever the case, I almost get the impression that the hybrids that we kill all over the Von Braun are recently deceased or unwillingly infested hosts.
As for a potential lore-oriented reason as to why they're all male, the best argument would be that, between the military Rickenbacker and the commercially-oriented Von Braun, there would be a significant difference in gender. As in, the Rickenbacker would most likely be all or 90% male while the Von Braun might be 50%. Then remember the numerous female corpses all over the VB Engineering deck and the whole midwife argument.
The VB isn't some futuristic Noah's Ark, though. There's no need for a gender-balanced crew.
To be honest, the theory that they didn't want or have time to make a model for female hybrids doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It could be a factor, but there are three other things to consider. Firstly, you would also need to do voice acting. Second, is it conducive to the gameplay experience? I know that the team responsible for the game had some tremendous stick shoved somewhere about the experience intended. (To the degree that they really did not want to make it multiplayer capable, despite the immense importance and popularity of co-operative storyline gameplay!) Third, how do you think it would have ended up? Imagine a female voice in the place of the hybrids, with all that grunting and growling.
Kolya on 24/9/2007 at 13:20
The Many tell you on the ride through their brain chamber that your friends (the crew) aren't dead but live in their flesh. The utterances by the hybrids ("I'm sorry!", etc.) indicate that they are indeed not quite dead but somehow remote controlled.
Then there's this log by Med staffer Watts:
Patient Watson died at 0240 of non-specific causes. Despite zero respiratory and brain function, the body is still displaying autonomous motor function, as does the parasite. At 0847, the patient even spoke to one of the nurses.
So they are neither alive, nor dead. They are *drumroll* un-dead.
I think Levine et al tried hard to produce a scientifically backed up zombie here. They only had to go so far with explanations because no hybrid ever gets fully examined. Otherwise you'd have to ask yourself how they can be brain-dead and still aware of their situation. Or how they can even speak, without breathing.
As to why there are only male hybrids (taking this from Raven's tongue): Why do all the weapons look the same? Why does the whole ship look generic in many places? It's just an abstraction. If you look at it, SS2 is full of abstractions. You either accept them for immersion's sake or you start asking stupid questions. Once you do that there's no end to it.
That's not even specific to System Shock, but to story telling in general. Why are men in movies who have a hangover always unshaved? Why do women have perfect make-up after they went for a swim?
Kolya on 24/9/2007 at 16:00
It's still interesting what he says: They're not dead. They want you, you understand? As a host. Get away! Urgh.
SulphurPuttyPancake on 1/10/2007 at 18:46
Quote Posted by Kolya
If you look at it, SS2 is full of abstractions. You either accept them for immersion's sake or you start asking stupid questions. Once you do that there's no end to it.
That's not even specific to System Shock, but to story telling in general. Why are men in movies who have a hangover
always unshaved? Why do women have
perfect make-up after they went for a swim?
Exactly, when you meet the female hybrid in Hydro, with the log detailing the changes the worms have brought on, did any of you really stop and go "Wait a minute, that hybrid didn't look very feminine to me?" you never question what sex they were before the transformation, only that it was horrendous and they're after you next!
Don't all hybrids eventually evolve further into the Rumblers anyway? (It freaked me out when I first noticed the human face on the side of the Rumbler's necks!) I always figured the hybrid 'zombies' were just a half-way point in the full transformation, and all rumblers look alike.
ZylonBane on 1/10/2007 at 20:47
Quote Posted by SulphurPuttyPancake
Don't all hybrids eventually evolve further into the Rumblers anyway?
No.
Peterus on 2/10/2007 at 15:58
Quote Posted by SulphurPuttyPancake
Don't all hybrids eventually evolve further into the Rumblers anyway? (It freaked me out when I first noticed the human face on the side of the Rumbler's necks!) I always figured the hybrid 'zombies' were just a half-way point in the full transformation, and all rumblers look alike.
It was mentioned in Body of Many level in scients's log that Many has some constraints and need to market their resources. Rumblers are tough but "expensive" so can't be multiplied indenfinetely.
SulphurPuttyPancake on 2/10/2007 at 16:17
Yeah, I remember the guy trapped in the many documenting how the annelids used biomatter as their principal resource, so limited the number of the larger creatures...
But does anyone have the script handy for when you research the Rumbler organ? I'm sure it's a further-evolved human hybrid, where the worm has completely taken over and converted almost all the host's tissues to annelid.
Not sure without checking the 'reports' script for the organ tho.
Matthew on 2/10/2007 at 16:20
Wiki agrees, for what that's worth.
Zygoptera on 2/10/2007 at 20:33
Analysis: This organism is further evolution of the first-stage annelid hybrid. Discernable human elements are minimal, above the DNA level. Muscle tissue density has increased twenty-fold, and adrenaline production has increased proportionally. Brain tissue is extremely dense, which would normally indicate a creature of extreme cognitive ability, but the brain-stem has atrophied to a useless stub, and there is no analog to a human spinal column. All muscular activity is controlled locally by alien cells designed for this purpose. It appears that this creature is an evolutionary stage between an earlier-stage human-annelid hybrid, and a third, unknown form.
