Synopsis
Now on Europa and seeking fuel and repairs for the dying ARK, the player controls a colonial Security Droid afflicted with a split personality (having unwittingly downloaded both Simon's and Catherine's AIs into it).
To complete the mission, the player must traverse several outstations occupied by surviving human communities - now all 'gone feral'. Combat and negotiation with humans are both frequently possible.
When moving between underwater stations hostile aquatic creatures must be dealt with.
The type of ending depends largely upon just which AI personality the player allows to become dominant.
Last toilet stop before Alpha Centauri!
Split-Personality Mechanic
The accumulated playstyle choices made by the player will ‘tip the scales’ to determine who’s AI personality becomes dominant, and thus which skills they will continue to have access to:
Simon's are stealth and negotiation (he's a big softy)
Catherine's are combat and hacking (she's a hard-ass)
A middle way is possible - if the player can both:
Balance the two playstyles (but with reduced powers), and
Deftly negotiate an on-going internal dialogue tree between the two AIs.
Be thankful you only have 2 in your head
Establishing Events
After being pinged by a meteorite on the way out the solar system the ARK begins to shut down its simulations to conserve fuel.
Simon and Catherine manage to hack it's Nav system, then redirect it to Europa for repairs
The ARK docks with an (apparently) deserted orbital station above Europa - it's the dock and Admin Centre for the outstations below.
Simon has to download into a droid found here to complete any hands-on work. But he doesn't get far before discovering a crazy hermit bashing on the ARK with a spanner.
His droid kills the hermit without any command from the player - that's the first reveal that feisty Catherine has also downloaded her AI into the drone.
From there it's down to the surface by shuttle or space elevator.
The Game World
An irradiated surface divided by ice geysers, crevasses and red 'ammonia snow' drifts
Europa is one of Jupiter's moons, having a thick ice sheet encasing an internal water-world. The ARK arrives to discover this moon is still home to a number of research and ocean mining outstations - now occupied by dangerously unbalanced humans. The player must traverse each outstation to get all the parts they need to repair the ARK.
Each outstation is afflicted by its own particular madness (all various reactions to the Earth's recent destruction). And each community poses some kind of unique danger to the droid and its progress:
Two ‘Fundamentalist’ stations on the surface are locked in a brutal war over some minor difference of philosophical opinion (and will both try and co-opt the droid as a weapon).
Anti-AI 'Luddites' occupy another station below the ice. Somehow blaming AI shortcomings for Earth's destruction. They are bent on destroying all remaining sentient machines -including your droid!
'Escapists' occupy another deeper station. They try to disable the droid using a series of elaborate traps, hoping then to clear the ARK's memory cache and upload themselves.
Note that these are very likely Humanity's last organic survivors - so allowing Catherine a brutal 'combat run' will have dire consequences for the Species.
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Additionally. Europa has its own ocean ecosystem, complete with unique but hostile alien fauna. Naturally these pose a hazard to the droid when moving between stations (another thing for Simon and Catherine to argue about killing)
A kind of cosmic Jacuzzi below
The Ending(s)
There are multiple endings, one of which will be triggered shortly after all the parts have been gathered to repair the ARK.
The type of ending achieved depends upon just which AI became dominant during the game:
If Simon dominated, he will judge Catherine's ruthlessness as dangerously homicidal, and will regretfully deactivate her program
If Catherine dominated, she judges Simon's soft-heartedness will compromise the ARK's chances for long-term survival. So she strands him on Europa inside the droid.
If the 'middle way' was sustained throughout the game then the player has the option to navigate one final internal dialogue tree:
If successful, then they both continue to pilot the ARK - but now as a 'unified personality'
If unsuccessful, then the ARK's default executive AI overrides them. They are both deleted to resolve the 'internal system conflict'. The ARK sails on, now cleansed of any awkward human personality.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2976162728
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